Gita summaries - chp 11

The Vedas present “God” depending on the stage of maturity of the seeker. In the beginning there is a “personal god”, ekkah rupa eshwara or Ishta Devata Ishwara (IDI). A personal god with attributes. This is valid and helps a seeker to grow. Every person faces a lot of emotional problems in the rigour of life; a devotee can tell the Lord all his problems; he is allowed to share all his troubles as no one would be available or each one so busy in their own problems or they are terribly busy. Nobody has the time to listen but a personal god has all the time!! My relations with my Ishta Devata is an ideal relation; a God is conceptualized with human attributes. A personal god is required in the initial stages.

Then the Vedas say that one must not stop with this stage only. One’s appreciation of the Lord must improve. It must change to accommodate not only one particular form but also all the other forms including human beings, animals, trees, animate and inanimate things. When I grow to appreciate my Isha Devata as samastirupa, then my vision of the Lord is Viswa Rupa Ishwara (hereafter VRI) or Anakkah Rupah Ishwara. Ishadevata becomes viswarupa in the second stage. This will expand the mind of the devotee to totality but even this is not sufficient.   

As long as you are seeing any rupa you are within the realm of time and space because you can exist only within time and space and any form is subject to vikara or change whether it is anekarupa or ekarupa. So a seeker has to go beyond IDI and VRI which is called arupa-ishwara-darshana. So the maturity of the devotee progresses from ekarupa to anekarupa and then finally to arupa.  

In Bhagawad Gita, Ekkah Rupa Ishwara is not emphasized too much. Krishna feels that students of Gita have crossed that stage! Gita emphasizes only on the second and third stages – visvarupa and arupa Ishwara. And for these stages Krishna has prepared the ground in the seventh, eighth, and ninth chapters in which we saw Bhagawan Himself appearing as the universe. Just as gold, the material cause, expresses itself in the form of many ornaments. Just as wood expresses itself in different forms of furniture, one Ishwara becomes all. Similarly, as one God HE is expressed in all beings; both the formless (like space, vayu, mind) and formed (fire, water, earth, physical body). Baghawan expresses HIMSELF as the world. Our Sadhana is to train the mind to appreciate the Lord in every form. First learn to appreciate the Lord in an idol and temple; and then graduate to appreciate Lord in creation. We don’t see the Lord “in” creation, but the Lord is creation HIMSELF.

            To appreciate the Lord thus, we need to go through two stages. Even the appreciation of the Lord as the universe involves two stages, because we have divided the world into good and evil. Everything has got its purpose. But we have divided the world as something wonderful and ugly and something favourable and unfavourable. We may love to see a cow as God but not a mosquito or a scorpion. Therefore in the tenth chapter, we learnt to see the positive aspects of the creation of lord. That is called vibhuti yoga. In this chapter we are going to consider everything in the creation, whether you call it positive or negative and good or evil. Everything should be appreciated as the Lord, which means I must develop the maturity for everything is valid and beautiful and it has its purpose in life. If I don’t like a particular part of creation then it is not because it is defective but because of my short sightedness. I have got a wrong appreciation. In Vedanta, we call it jiva drushti. When we have got a coloured selfish eye then we look upon the creation as evil, bad or disagreeable, dangerous, crooked or useless. But once jiva drushti goes (with learning and becoming more matured) I look at creation in totality. I find that creation does not have pairs of opposites but only complementary pairs. I understand that only by being together, they can make a whole. If one of them is removed, totality is not possible. Hence everything has a place and nothing is distasteful. Example: a devotee stands in a queue in Tirupathi and he finds the line moving very slowly. A supervisor asks; what do you want? The devotee feels that the line should move faster. It immediately moves very fast and when he has the darshan; then shoves him out in 5 seconds!!! “Jarugandi”. On the other hand we have to expand our minds to think: if the queue is moving slow or fast I will enjoy moving with it. If I want to see the Lord for five minutes, I will have to accept that everyone also should have five minutes. Accept one law for others and a different law for oneself is jiva drushti. It is the cause of samsara.  There visvarupa darshana is our aim – dropping our selfishness, dropping our short-sightedness and learning to see things in totality.  

The joy of totality is of a different order and Arjuna wants to enjoy this vision and Arjuna gets this vision also. But later Arjuna realizes he is not immature to even accept the vision; one has to drop one’s individuality. Though Krishna was willing to give it for free!!! As Arjuna was not yet ready and so he says,” Thanks but withdraw the VRI”.

With this background let us enter into the eleventh chapter. Arjuna tells the Lord: bhavāpyayau hi bhūtānāṁ śrutau vistaraśo mayā tvattaḥ kamala-patrākṣa māhātmyam api cāvyayam. evam etad yathāttha tvam ātmānaṁ parameśvara draṣṭum icchāmi te rūpam aiśvaraṁ puruṣottama. Arjuna says,” I have understood that you are the material cause of the universe. You are srsti-sthiti-laya-karana. Therefore you are appearing in the form of the very vishwa, the creation. In fact there is no creation other than YOU as there is no ornament other than gold. I have clearly understood that. I have also understood that whatever glory belongs to creation, all the glories legitimately belong to you alone”. Therefore if the whole universe is “Ishwara” I should be able to see divinity everywhere; enjoy viswa rupa darshanam (VR darshanam) everywhere. But I am not able to enjoy that vishwarupa darshanam. Something must be lacking in me. Therefore Krishna please bless me to enjoy VRI. Is it possible for me?

Krishna replies,” Arjuna! Why should I withhold? I will certainly bless you with Vishwa Rupa darshanam. I will show you my viswarupa.  But you cannot appreciate it with ordinary eyes. You need a special eye, divya chakshuh, for that.” The Lord blesses Arjuna with divyachaksuh, and Sanjaya gives the description in verse-10. aneka-vaktra-nayanam anekādbhuta-darśanam aneka-divyābharaṇaṁ divyānekodyatāyudham. The viswarupa describes the Lord as having thousands of eyes, faces, legs, hands and thousands of ears. Arjuna enjoys VR darshanam. Generally, Viswa rupa is assumed as another form of the Lord that God created temporarily for Arjuna’s benefit. Such an interpretation is incorrect. The very word viswarupa means the Lord in the form of the very universe and it is already there. Whatever is in front of me is vishwam, the jagat, the prapancha. Space, Vayu are already there; The Lord’s form is in the form of the very universe. The universal form is already there. Bhagawan cannot be present at a particular ‘time’ and ‘space’. The universe only dissolves at the time of pralayam. Therefore, vishwarupa can never be taken as a particular form which appeared and disappeared. Even in the Upanishads, virat darshanam is described; sun and moon as eyes of the Lord; Vedas as mouth, earth as the feet of the Lord, 10 directions as the ears of the Lord, and Vayu the prana. The Viswa rupa form of the lord is always in front of us. ; all the time almost helplessly. So, one need not work for VR darshanam.

Then why should Arjuna ask for it and why should Krishna give a special darshan?

Even though we see the world all the time, we don’t have the attitude/reverence to the world as Bhagawan Himself. Take an idol at a temple; for a foreigner it is just a stone (granite or marble or 14th century sculpture) but for a devotee he will do namaskara and even talk to the stone. He sees divinity in that. Similarly, we see the world but we don’t have that reverence. Everything in creation must be respected and reverent; even a mosquito. We should learn to look at totality as Bhagawan where everyone is to be respected, everyone is to be revered; even a mosquito is a form of the Lord. Then we should become incapable of killing even an ant. A person becomes an embodiment of ahimsa. Therefore developing reverence towards the creation as the manifestation of the Lord needs attitudinal change; it is called divya chakshuh. It means removal of personal vision, removal of jiva drushti. The Bhakta learns to see everybody’s face as the Lord’s face.  That is “divya chakshuh” or divine eyes wherein my raga and dvesha is eliminated. Removal of R & D is to efface one individuality or private vision. Therefore learn to see every face as the face of the Lord including my own face. Respect pancha bootas as Lord and respect every aspect of creation; both animate and inanimate.

            Arjuna gets this vision and goes through three types of emotions on seeing the VR darshanam.

a) Ashcharyam (Surprise), wonderment: Ocean is a wonder; eg Nigara Falls though it is just water falling. Why? Sheer magnitude! So is Everest! In our daily life, we never get an opportunity to appreciate nature always bothered with problems of when gas cylinders will come after booking, water motor not being switched off etc. Busy and bothered with all the worries of daily life, we forget to appreciate the elements. We are leading such a fast life that there is no time to stand and stare. There is an ideology that states: most of our problems are because man has come away from nature. Learn to appreciate the beauty of blue sky; it is the neck of Shiva.

b) For Arjuna this wonderment soon gives way to fear as he sees Bhishma, Drona,- their prarabda karma is coming to an end – go into the mouth of the Lord. So kind and karunamaya Lord; how can HE be the worst cannibal and so cruel? The Lord presents this kalatattva. The whole world is governed by the time principle. Kala alone is responsible for shristi and laya. We appreciate the lord as Brahma, the shristikarta. Bhagawan says it is not sufficient if you appreciate the birth aspect of creation. If you are to have a holistic vision, you must learn to appreciate death as auspicious, wonderful ad complimentary action of the Lord. Kala has two sides – one is birth and another is death. A vishwarupa bhakti should never criticize old age and death.

            The mouth of the Lord is the kala thattvam; it swallows everything….shuthi, sthithi, and laya. Never criticize old age and death. The moment individuality comes, death is seen as a great tragedy. But from totality, death is a blessing. It is only when one generation goes, another comes into being for life is a cyclic process. vaktrāṇi te tvaramāṇā viśanti daṁṣṭrā-karālāni bhayānakāni kecid vilagnā daśanāntareṣu sandṛśyante cūrṇitair uttamāṅgaiḥ. Arjuna happens to see Kala swallow everything. All the people are rushing towards the mouth of the Lord, only difference is some are nearer and some are farther in the queue. Some have entered the mouth, some stuck between the teeth, and some people are swallowed. Arjuna loses his objectivity when he sees Lord crush and eat some people. The moment individuality comes in, death becomes bhaynkara. Imagine if death is abolished or Yamadharmaraja goes on strike. What will be the condition? The law of conservation of the universe does not allow this for everything in this world is cyclic. One generation has to go for the next generation to come. When a plant perishes it becomes a fertilizer for the next one. Death is not amangalam; rather it is auspicious as death paves the way for the next generation. Arjuna becomes sacred when he sees Bhishma and Drona are going in the mouth of Kala. He does not mind others dying but he is not able to accept the separation from Bhishma and Drona for whom he has a tremendous attachment. Therefore the wonderment gives place to fear.

            Arjuna raises a question,” Krishna! I thought of you as dayamurthi, karunasagara. You are so wonderful and so kind. But seeing this you seem to the worst cannibal. You seem to enjoy eating. You appear to be cruel. Who are you?”

            Krishna answers: śrī-bhagavān uvāca. kālo ’smi loka-kṣaya-kṛt pravṛddho lokān samāhartum iha pravṛttaḥ ṛte ’pi tvāṁ na bhaviṣyanti sarve ye ’vasthitāḥ praty-anīkeṣu yodhāḥ. Krishna says: I am the mighty world-destroying time, engaged here in annihilating all beings. Even without you, not one of all warriors arrayed here in these rival armies shall survive.” The Lord as is the Kala thattvam who is responsible for both birth and death. Learn to appreciate both of them as Ishwara mahima, learn to appreciate both day and night, birth and death, summer and winter; see everything as Ishwara Mahima. Never complain about anything.

Krishna says in verse-33: tasmāt tvam uttiṣṭha yaśo labhasva jitvā śatrūn bhuṅkṣva rājyaṁ samṛddham mayaivaite nihatāḥ pūrvam eva nimitta-mātraṁ bhava savya-sācin. “Arjuna! The parabdhakarma of all the people are over. The time has come for the death of Drona, Bhishma, Karna and all the Kauravas. Therefore, the karma itself has removed their lives. Because I am Bhagawan I cannot directly do it.” The God requires some agent through which He can get the karma fulfilled. Krishna says,” You are the nimmittamatram. You are My instrument through whom I want to get their deaths accomplished.”

This can give arise to many misconceptions. Are we only puppets in the hands of the lord? Do we not have any free will at all? Is everything predestined? Do we have no choice at all? These can lead to fatalistic conclusions which our sastras never accept. Rather the whole scripture is based on free-will and hence all the human goals are called purusharthas. The very word purusharta means “goals accomplished by free will of human beings”. In the sixth chapter Krishna says uddhared ātmanātmānaṁ nātmānam avasādayet ātmaiva hy ātmano bandhur ātmaiva ripur ātmanaḥare. “Arjuna, you are responsible for your growth. You are responsible for your destruction. Therefore take responsibility of your life. Do not blame Me. My job is only to support you when you use your free-will.” In the 9^th chapter Krishna says: I am not responsible for anyone’s bondage or anyone’s liberation; I am sama. I am impartial to all. So if this purusharta is not accepted and if we say we are instruments of the Lord, then it would lead to a lot of fallacies and problems.

If Bhagawan alone is responsible for all our actions then He is kartha and we are not kartha at all for we are only karana or instrument. Then all the karmaphalla in the form of punya-paapa will go to the Lord. Then jivas will become asamsaris and Lord the mahasamsari!!! When there is an accident the driver is punished and not the scooter. Likewise if we are just instruments then the Lord alone must suffer all the punishments.

Then the second defect will be, if Bhagawan only makes everyone do his job then why are some people noble and some people are criminals. I cannot say this is my karma because I am no more kartha and not responsible to any karma (as instruments don’t have any karma). Then we have to conclude that the Lord is partial. Wherever there is suffering; who should remove the suffering? Bhagawan alone should be the remover. If HE does not then HE is open to the charge of being cruel and sadistic. For god alone is responsible for differences.

            Then there is another defect. Suppose I do not have freewill at all and Bhagawan is going to decide everything in life, the greatest advantage will be that we will never have any conflicts in life. Conflicts arises only when there is choice. Suppose we want admission for our son or daughter; we try all over and if you get admission only in one college then there is no conflict at all. But if all the five colleges are willing to admit, which one will you choose? Conflicts come only when you have a choice. But every day we have conflicts; and this indicates the presence of freewill. Animals on the other hand do not have conflicts. Cows are herbivores; lions are carnivores. They have no say at all in their choice of food. But since we have choice, we must conclude that we have a freewill.

Finally and most importantly, if you do not have a freewill (that is everything is predestined) then we would not require dharma sastra at all. A good person is destined to be a good person because he is going to be dharmic; and if a person is destined to be adharmic; he is not going to be dharmic. Then humanity will not need dharmasastra. So nimmittamatra does not mean that everything is predestined. It means that we have a choice in the way we live our life; either according to our raga-dvesha or according to dharma-adharma.

So, what does “nimitta matram” (instrument) mean? We can always lead our lives according to our will; through our Raga and Dvesha or lead a life according to Dharma or God’s will. There is always a choice between “my personal will” and “God’s will”. When I choose to live my life as per dharma, I am fulfilling God’s will. If Arjuna decides to fight, in keeping with dharma, Arjuna is fulfilling God’s will. When one is aligned to God’s will, then he becomes an instrument of the Lord. Even though you might not like to follow God’s will –like killing Bhishma and Drona - it is always better to go by God’s Ichcha. God’s will is called dharma and my will is called raga-dvesha. If my raga-dvesha is in keeping with dharma, I fulfill it. If R-D are against dharma then I should learn to vote for dharma.

Suppose you love getting up at 8 in the morning whereas Dharma says that you must wake up before sun rise; then learn to follow that by sleeping in early in the night. But if you naturally get up 5 in the evening then continue following your will!!! Then your R-D and dharma there is no conflict. But if there is a conflict between your R-D and dharma then go according to God’s will. That is called nimmittamatra.

The first emotion of Arjuna on seeing VR darshanam was wonder and next fear. The last emotion is “saranagati”. Krishna tells Arjuna,” You have to accept totality, which means you have to accept the Lord as kalathatvam. That means you have to learn to accept birth and death, growth and decay.”

Arjuna assimilates the idea a little and responds with devotion. Arjuna does namaskara to the Lord. namaḥ purastād atha pṛṣṭhatas te namo ’stu te sarvata eva sarva ananta-vīryāmita-vikramas tvaṁ sarvaṁ samāpnoṣi tato ’si sarvaḥ. Salutations unto thee, the all-formed, from before and from behind and from all directions! Infinite in puissance and limitless in might, thou pervades everything and thou art verily the all.

Even if you see the Lord in the form of Yama; have reverence for HE is only doing God’s job. Arjuna finds the fear of death overwhelming – he can accept the deaths of everybody else except Bhishma and Drona. Fear of death can never be conquered as long as there is attachment to the body or to any body. (Body is common!!!). Arjuna does namaskara after having gone through these three emotions – surprise, fear and surrender.

Though Arjuna finds the vishwarupa darshanam wonderful , he pleads with the lord to remove the VR darshanam. adṛṣṭa-pūrvaṁ hṛṣito ’smi dṛṣṭvā bhayena ca pravyathitaṁ mano me tad eva me darśaya deva rūpaṁ prasīda deveśa jagan-nivāsa. Seeing this form unseen before, I am overjoyed but my mind is also perturbed with fear. Reveal to me the other familiar form of thine and be gracious unto me O thou god of all gods, and dwelling spirit of the worlds.

Then Krishna says,” I will withdraw the divya chakshuh.” By removal of divya chakshuh the objectivity is gone. Krishna says,” You had the unique vision of vishwarupa only because of your devotion. Even though you were immature, being a bundle of raga-dvesha, I showed you my Vishwa rupa form by setting aside your R-D temporarily.”

Then he concludes bhaktyā tv ananyayā śakya aham evaṁ-vidho ’rjuna jñātuṁ draṣṭuṁ ca tattvena praveṣṭuṁ ca paran-tapa. Continue in bhakti and grow in bhakti and then you will graduate to Arupa Ishwara darshanam. Then there is no sense of separation from the Lord for I am never away from the Lord. Therefore Arjuna! Continue to remain a bhakta.

Using bhakti as a tool, convert all your actions with God as the goal; pursue dharma, artha and kama; be subservient to the Lord. You will attain Him soon. With the glorification of bhakti the eleventh chapter is complete.

Bhagawad Gita summaries - chp 10

This chapter deals with vibhuti yoga; introduces the Lord as jagat karanum (the cause of the universe).

In any object, there are 2 causes: Take a pot; it needs an intelligent cause (Nimitta karanum, hereafter NK) who is the pot maker and it also needs a material cause (Upadana karanum, hereafter UK) which is clay, the raw material in this case. Every product needs both NK and UK.

If the Lord is the cause of creation, what cause is HE? NK or UK
If he is intelligent cause; where did the material come from?
If he is material cause; who was the intelligent principle behind creation
Before the creation of 5 elements and elementals; there was only Lord.
So Lord cannot be either NK or UK; He is both.

From our experience in every product NK and UK are distinct (goldsmith is distinct from gold, carpenter is distinct from wood etc), but take the case of a spider. It produces its own web taking material from itself. It has the intelligence as to where the spin the web and how to spin it. It is both the intelligence cause NK and material cause UK.

How do you describe or what language do you use with respect to NK and UK?
We use the verb “create” in the case of NK; the potter creates the pot.
And we use the verb “appear” to UK, the clay itself appears as the pot.
Similarly the Lord is both NK and UK.

The Lord as Nimitta Karanum created the world. (Beginning of creation)
The Lord as Upadana Karanum Himself appears as the world. (the entire world is an expression and manifestation of God). So to see God, one need not go anywhere else if I learn to look upon any object in creation as God’s manifestation. To appreciate gold, where should you go? Then you will discover gold in all the ornaments. Actually there is no ornament without gold.

So, where do you see gold? Your answer will be: How can you miss gold?

Similarly God is everywhere and not confined to just a place; we need not close our eyes or stand on one leg to see god. Through his wisdom born out of understanding you can see God everywhere. A person who understand God as a material cause will see the Lord everywhere in creation. Therefore learn to appreciate the world as god’s manifestation. All the glories of the world are only the special manifestation of the Lord.
(Ordinary manifestation –bhuti- and special manifestations- vibhuti- categorized as per the maturity of the seeker).

So whenever you see any glory in creation; one should remember it as Lord’s glory.
Like when you see a great building; you remember the architect. Therefore every special object in creation becomes a means for worshiping the Lord.

Arjuna asks for all the special manifestation and the Lord enumerates some of them. However we shall restrict to all the Vedic portions only.

The meaning of the word “Vibhuti” is cowdung and it is the abode of Lakshmi. Another meaning is ash; that which is left after everything has been burnt. What remains after everything is resolved in creation; the Lord.

a) All the Vedas are manifestations of the Lord; Krishna says that among them I am Sama. Why Rig is inform of poetrical verse; yajur prose, sama is musical. Since music is attractive, Krishna identifies himself with Sama veda.

b) Veda Vidya: Veda Purvah is the section of Vedas that stems from the premise: how to manipulate jagat to be happy? Here one is trying to change one’s wife, get a job, house etc. You take your horoscope to various astrologers and each one will say differently and different appeasement rituals, Adjusting the world or planets is an unintelligent approach. Even should change something, it will not remain that way for the world keeps on changing.

In Vedanta one does not seek to change the world but oneself. I must have the inner strength not to be affected by circumstances. It is like walking on shoes on a pebble pathway.

So among, Veda Purvah and Vedanta, I am Vedanta; being Para Prakruti and Apara Prakruti, I am PP

c) Among Vaidika yagna, I am japah. Why?
- Easily accessible to all without discrimination of gender, varna, or ashrama
- It does not involve any expenditure
- Does not involve any himsa (no cutting plants or animals)

It is a mental activity; if your mouth is tired better still do japa mentally.

d) Among all the mantras, I am Gayatri.

One Gayatri is equal to the entire Vedas; each line of gayatri represent one veda.
Tat Savitur varanyum is taken from rig
Bhargo devasya dhimayi is from yajur
Dyoyona prachodayat is from sama

The chanting of Gayatri converts an animal-man to a man-man.
One who lives by instinct is an animal man; if he is hungry on waking up he will immediately eat. Whereas a man-man will do all the ablutions, bathe, pray and offer naivedyam before eating. He has a certain regard to values and customs.

Gayatri is initiated at the time of upanayanam. The parents are the cause for the physical body while for a cultured person, Gayatri is the mother and Acharya the father.
If you are initiated into gayatri but chant other slokas, then it is futile!!!

Gayatri mantra is so beneficial that it confers all the benefits; health, prosperity, protection etc. It is a mahavakya and deals in Ishwara-Jivatma Ikyam.(The essence of the sun is the same as the essence of the jiva; the macrocosm is identical to the microcosm)

e) Among all the vedic words, I am Omkara. I am “Om” contained in the words of the Vedas. Why Om? It is the last condensation of the Vedas.

In the earlier yugas, one has supposed to know all the four Vedas; with Brahmins started to complain that it was so laborious. Brahmaji assigned one Vedas out of the 4 for each section. In the Kali yuga, the Lord condensed even that because people complained that they were busy and so HE gave the Gayatri. The condensed form of Gayatri is “Om”. If you still claim that you are busy, Brahmaji will throw you by the scruff of the neck to hell!!.

Om is from bhu; bhuvah, and Suvah; If a person chants “om” he/she will derive the benefit of chanting the entire Vedas. “Om” chanting protects a person for all ills

Ah – represents the jagrat avastha or prapanja
Oh – represents the svapna prapanja
Hm – represent sushupti

So this word represents the entire viswarupa of the Lord; all the names of the gods.

Om is the best word from Vedas; and Krishna is that.

f) Veda Akshara: Vedas has many letters and the most glorious is “Aa” . That is the basic sound produced by any being on opening the mouth in any culture or civilization. All other sounds are modifications of that only. Aa Kattu, a mother urges while asking the child to open their mouth.

But unfortunately there is no “aa” sound in English

Krishna enumerates some of HIS glories. He is:
Indra – Devas Prahlada – Asuras Brighu – Rishis Lion- Animals
Ganga – River Himalayas – Mountains Ocean – Reservoir Aswatta – Trees
Arjuna – Pandavas etc

Which means, whatever is the best in any field, those glories are the Lord’s glory only. Every glory in this world must remind you of the Lord; they represent the Lord only.

Gita summaries - chp 9

In the Dyana sloka, the Upanishads are compared to a cow; Gita is the milk; milker in Lord Krishna and Arjuna the calf. The essence of the Upanishads and the essence of Gita is one and the same which is Tat Tvam Asi. This is jivatma-paramatva aikyam – the essential identity or the essential oneness of jivatma, the individual soul and paramatva, the total.

The Bhagawad Gita can be divided into 3 shudgams; the first 6 chapters (Prathama Shudgam) deals with the nature of jivatma, the nature of the individual or the tvam portion; the next 6 chapters deals with Ishwara Svarupam (Madhyama Shudgam) which corresponds to the tat portion and the last 6 chapters deal with Jiva-Ishwara Aikyam. This is the broad vision of the Gita.

So the IX chapter occurring in the madhyama satkam or the central portion focuses upon the paramatma swarupam or Ishwara. The ninth chapter is closely similar to the seventh chapter. The ninth chapter is titled Raja Vidya and Raja Gruhyam yogah. The word rajavidya means the greatest knowledge. Raja means shining and here shining means excellence or superiority. Therefore rajavidya – para vidya as expressed in Mundakopanishad – is the greatest knowledge. Any other knowledge with regard to the world is called aparavidya or inferior knowledge. This rajavidya which deals with the nature of the Lord happens to be rajaguhya also, meaning it is not easily available. It is almost a secret; it is impossible to know. It is this secret knowledge that Krishna is imparting to Arjuna because Arjuna not only requested but also surrendered to the Lord.

The first topic of this chapter deal with Ishwara Svarupam; Lord as the cause of creation (Jagat Karanum). What does the Lord consist of? Ishwara is a mixture of two parts:

a) The higher nature called Para Prakruthi (hereafter PP) otherwise called Brahman in Upanishadic literature

b) And the lower nature called Apara Prakrtuhi (hereafter AP) otherwise called Maya.

            This mixture alone is the cause of the entire universe. What is the nature of PP and AP? They have got some common features as well as uncommon features. The common feature is both of them are principles without a beginning – anadi. He is the cause of everything, but Himself is without a cause. Therefore the Lord is the causeless cause of creation; parentless parent of the creation.

There are four distinct features that distinguish paraprakruthi from aparaprakruthi:

- The first distinguishing feature is PP is chethana tattvam or conscious principle (Spirit) while AP is Achathana tattvam or matter principle. Chetana+achetana is Ishwara.

- PP is free from all attributes Nirgunam, it is formless, it is colourless, asabda, asparsha, arupa, arasa, agandha etc. AP is Saguna and endowed with attributes either in the potential form (unmanifest form) or manifest form.

- The third difference is PP is Nirvikarah. It is never subject to modification or change. The consciousness principle remains the same eternally while AP, the matter principle, is Savikarah; it always (eternally) keeps changing. It will remain in unmanifest condition for some time and then it will evolve to come to manifestation. Even during its existence in the world, it will not remain the same. Between the time I started this talk and the end of this talk, a lot of changes would have taken place in our body. That is why we become hungry; so many changes takes place even without our awareness.

- PP exists independently; therefore it is satyam having an existence of its own and hence it is superior. On the other hand AP can never exist independent of PP. Infact the very existence of AP is due to PP and therefore it has got a dependent existence and hence inferior. PP lends existence and is higher; AP borrows its existence and therefore it is lower. In Sanskrit whatever has dependent existence is called Mithya – PP is satya and AP (matter principle) is mithya.

            The common feature is both are anadi and this mixture together is called Ishwara. This Ishwara alone is responsible for the origin of the world, for the existence of the world and for the dissolution of the world. How does it happen? PP is consciousness principle is changelessly present and is the “Sakshi” tattvam. It is like the screen of movie; heroes come and go, villains come and go and it is totally unaffected; it provides existence to everything. On the other hand, AP keeps changing from unmanifest to manifest state and from manifest to unmanifest; much like the seed of a tree begins to sprout into a plant and thereafter grows into a huge tree (of the universe). Before shristi, it is avyakta aparaprakruthi and at the time of shristi, the very same aparaprakruthi is vyakta aparaprakruthi, which is manifest matter. This manifest AP is called prapanchah, the cosmos or the universe. So with time AP goes from unmanifest form to manifest form and vice versa. Krishna says in v-10: mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram hetunānena kaunteya jagad viparivartate. Under my direction and control, Nature brings out this mighty universe of living and non-living things. Thus does the wheel of this world revolve.

            “Arjuna, I am paraprakruthi, the consciousness principle, the witness principle in which the aparaprakruthi projects in the universe, dances about and then again resolves back. Therefore the first definition of Ishwara is shristi-sthithi-laya karanam.

            The second definition that Krishna gives is v-6: yathākāśa-sthito nityaṁ vāyuḥ sarvatra-go mahān tathā sarvāṇi bhūtāni mat-sthānīty upadhāraya. Know that, as the mighty atmosphere ever abides in space, so do all objects abide in Me. This AP, matter principle, does a lot of work. It evolves to panchabhootas, then evolves into chaturdasabhuvanani, then into all our minds. Then it evolves into all these physical bodies and there is an interaction and endless karma-bundles are produced; which in turn produce sukha or dukham resulting in “punarapi janam, punarapi maranam” and all kinds of chaotic changes that we experience.

            Krishna gives an example. Just like space is unaffected by whatever happens in space; the fire cannot burn space nor water wet space so to is PP. It is Asangah; ever unsullied and unpolluted. This is not because space is away, space is in and through everything. It accommodates everything but remains unpolluted. Similarly the Ishwara like PP who blesses AP to do everything, always remains asangah.

The third feature is that the Lord is Akartha and Abogtha; maya adhyashena prakrutihi suryathe sacharacharam. “I am the presiding principle – sakshi tattva. In My presence AP does everything but I do not get any karmaphalla for that.” He says in IV verse-13: tasya kartāram api māṁ viddhy akartāram avyayamit “Though I am their originator, know me to be not an agent but the spirit unchanging”. Just because a saint is created, the Lord does not have punya and just because He created some terrible thing He is not going to incur paapa. Why? He is adhyaksa; He is sakshi, which means He is uninvolved. Which means He is akartha and abhokta.

Finally Krishna introduces an important technical feature in v-4 and 5. mat-sthāni sarva-bhūtāni na cāhaṁ teṣv avasthitaḥ. na ca mat-sthāni bhūtāni paśya me yogam aiśvaram. “All objects subsist in Me, but not I in them. And yet objects do not abide in Me. Behold my mysterious divine power! In the first line He says in Him the paraprakruthi, the whole world exists. He says in the next line that the world does not exist in Him. How to we reconcile this seeming contradiction? There is only one conclusion – that is, if you accept the existence of a thing, and the next moment negate the existence of the same thing, it only means it has got a seeming existence or an apparent existence like a dream. It does not have a factual existence. In a dream, the dream-world does exist but really speaking it does not exist. Therefore Krishna accepts the world and negates the world simultaneously. Therefore the lord supports this mithya jagat.

The next topic we find in the ninth chapter, from verse -11 to verse -19, is bhakthi.  Krishna says, every human being, right from birth faces a very grave problem. He is able to recognize the aparaprakruthi which is the material aspect of the Lord in the form of the very universe. He ends up only recognizing the AP or lower nature of Ishwara while not being aware of paraprakruthi of Ishwara, the spirit principle which is behind the entire phenomenon of this creation. This causes havoc in his life. avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam paraṁ bhāvam ajānanto mama bhūta-maheśvaram. “Foolish men, without an understanding of My higher nature as the Supreme Lord of all that exists, disregard Me manifested in the human body.” And when a person does not recognize paraprakruthi, the tragedy is that he will hold on to aparaprakruthi for his happiness, for his fullness, and for security. Right from our birth we want to hold on to something for our security. Even a baby holds on to a piece of cloth from the mother’s saree or jeans! Whatever we hold on to is fleeting like a Taranga, wave of the waters. Therefore by holding on to a changing AP, the insecure AP, dying and decaying AP, we are never going to find security. There is a constant worry of losing that. Example; first buy a house for security and later you worry about the house’s security. Whatever I hold on to security does not give me security and ultimately when it goes away, when there is a separation, the sorrow is unbearable. In fact Arjuna has asked for the Gita teaching only because he was worried about losing things which he was holding on to. And whatever he holds on to is aparaprakruthi which only causes eternal anxiety. This eternal anxiety, eternal insecurity is called samsara. This is born out of ignorance of paraprakruthi. If only I had known PP I would be holding on to PP for my security and playing in the world of AP. So coming of samsara Krishna presents the solution as bhakthi.

People hold on to trigunatmika aparaprakruthi are deluded as they are seeking what is not there like the Brahmin who went to Mahamagham tank. One person went to Mahamagam and lost his ring while bathing in a tank. That tank was dark and full of people while the next tank was bright and spacious. He went there and started searching the ring. A second man came in and joined the search. Another social service minded person joined and soon there were more than 25 persons searching for the ring.  Suddenly one wise person asked (until then nobody had asked the question): What are you searching for? Where did you lose the ring?” The Brahmin said, In the mahamagham tank!” Then why are you searching here?” The fellow said,” It is less crowded here and there is also enough light to search, so I started searching here.” Is it not foolish? But we are exactly doing the same thing: aparakruthi is the other tank which does not have the ring of prunatva, which does not give security or joy. Still we go on searching the thing over and over again. We go to pre-school, kinder garden, become a graduate, take up a job, get married, have children and yet are always searching for happiness and peace.  Holding on AP is like looking for a wrong thing at the wrong place.

Happiness, peace, security can only experienced by knowing PP; so hold on to PP. Enjoy sunrise, relations with people but remember that purnatvam can never be had here. Once I hold on to PP then AP becomes a sport. Otherwise the very life becomes a burden. We have to get rid of samsara using bhakti. 

What is Bhakti? It is a series of Sadhana which will take one closer to God (or PP). There are 3 stages of bhakti: Karma Lakshana Bhakti (Karma Yoga), active life contributing to society or Ishwara Arpanam. Karma yoga is performance of duty to one’s family, to the society, to the religion and others. This is an active life of contribution and converting every action into Ishwara arpana. yat karoṣi yad aśnāsi yaj juhoṣi dadāsi yat yat tapasyasi kaunteya tat kuruṣva mad-arpaṇam. “O Sun of Kunti! Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer in sacrifice, whatever you give in charity, whatever austerity you perform – do that as an offering unto Me.” This is the first stage of Bhakti, Karma Lakshana Bhakti, and everybody has to go through it. Just like you can only get admission to a university after passing through primary and secondary school education. Karma Lakshana Bhakti is very important to purify the mind and refine the mind.

Upasana Lakshana Bhakti is bhakti in the form of meditation upon Ishwara. The initial stage of upasana is ekarupa Ishwara where one meditates upon the Lord in any particular Ishta Devata rupa. When a person is involved in activity, his mind becomes highly extrovert. An extrovert mind cannot discover the true nature of God. That is why immediately after retirement many people have a lot of problems. An active mind finds it extremely difficult to remain calm. Meditating upon a form of the Lord not only purifies the mind but also makes the mind focused. This is ekarupa-upasana. Then the very same meditation can be extended to vishwarupa ishwara. If one’s Ishta devata is Rama then learn to see the entire universe as ramamaya; to a Krishna bhakti – sarvam krishnamayam. One has to learn to see the entire cosmos as Lord.

Then comes the final stage of bhakti which is Jnana Lakshana Bhakti. This is a bhakti which involves enquiry into the Paraprakruthi nature of the Lord. Until now I have been holding on the AP nature of the Lord. I study the scriptures under the guidance of a guru and learn to appreciate the PP, the real nature of the Lord. This is jnanalakshanbhakti. Is all the three stages of bhakti compulsory? Or is there a choice of sadhana?

There is no choice at all; our fundamental problem is ignorance. Ignorance will go away only with knowledge; but then the mind must be prepared. KY and Upasana are preparatory disciplines aimed to make the mind “yogyatah” or qualified. If jnana alone will remove ignorance, when why should I do karma and upasana? It is like a child asking, if by going to college alone I can become a graduate, then why should I go to a school? Therefore karmalakshana bhakti and upasanalakshanabhakti are the stepping stones; they are preparatory sadhanas. One will get jnana yogyata prapti and when he goes to jnana yoga, he becomes a jnani. Only when he becomes a jnani, moksha or freedom is gained.

Finally Krishna deals with the third part of this chapter; the two types of Bhakti. Bhakti has to fructify into moksha there is one condition. It must be Nishkama Bhakti (NB) and not Sakama Bhakti (SB). The latter is a worship for AP; material acquisitions. Nishkama Bhakti is the devotion and the motive is the attainment of the Lord and nothing else; mumushutvam.

We can use Bhakti for two types of benefits; one is for material benefit: artha and kama and the other for moksha. Samasara is a travel between pain and pleasure; after pain, pleasure is most wonderful. From pleasure, pain is big knock. One might enjoy the pleasures of swarga but they have to come back to mosquito madras one day. So, which is better? Swarga or Ishwara Prapthi. Sakama bhakti will give anityaphala, which will lead to sorrow whereas Nishkama bhakti will lead to moksha or ananda. People come to spirituality after undergoing many knocks in life; they realize that peace and happiness cannot be found in this jagat. Prapancha is anitya and only Ishwara is nitya. Anything which is so fleeting, it is dangerous to rely on it. So Krishna advises that one must not be enamoured by this impermanent world.

A basic question may arise: if I am going to convert my bhakti to nishkama bhakti; if I am going to get interested in the Lord more and more and if I am going to dedicate my life for spiritual pursuits, then who will take care of my material needs? Who will take care of my security? Krishna gives an assurance; whoever has dedicated himself to spiritual pursuits, He will protect him. Ananya chinthyantho maam. For a sakama bhakti; the world is the end and God is the means. While for a nishkama bhakti, the world is the means and God is the end

One must develop nitya-anitya vivekah; learning to discriminate between what is real and what is apparent and develop vairagyam to transcend Ragah and Dvesha.

The fourth and final topic of this chapter is the glories of Nishkama Bhakti. If I go through spiritual disciplines then who will look after me? Here we are only asking for a change in focus. First we go through God, for getting things from the Lord. Now shift the focus to; go through the experiences of the world to attain the Lord. Krishna affirms that a spiritual aspirant will never be abandoned. “I will take care”. Actually security and insecurity are both mental conditions. One person feels security with whatever he has and another might have everything and yet feel insecure. “I feel I am protected by the Lord”. In Sakama Bhakti, I have to observe all the rules and regulation; for getting material things or have a child etc. (When, how, how many priests, kinds of food, naivedyam etc). In Nishkama Bhakti there are no rules or regulation; I can offer anything even a flower or leaf to the Lord. Anybody can practice Bhakti; unlike Jnanam where the mind must be trained.

Krishna glorifies bhakti by saying that anybody can resort to bhakti. For practicing jnana yoga you need a number of preparatory steps but for bhakti anybody can start as a arthabhakta or a sakamabhakta. Gradually it will be converted to Nishkama bhakti. Even the worst sinner can resort to bhakti. api cet su-durācāro bhajate mām ananya-bhāk sādhur eva sa mantavyaḥ samyag vyavasito hi saḥ. kṣipraṁ bhavati dharmātmā śaśvac-chāntiṁ nigacchati kaunteya pratijānīhi na me bhaktaḥ praṇaśyati. Even a confirmed sinner, if he worships Me with unwavering faith and devotion, must verily be considered as righteous; for he has indeed taken the right resolve. Soon will he become righteous and attain to lasting peace. No devotee of Mine will ever perish; you may swear to this effect, O Arjuna!. Therefore the essence of the ninth chapter is – follow the three-fold bhakti, know paraprakruthi and be free from samsara. With this I conclude the summary of the ninth chapter. 

Gita summaries - chp 8

This is an odd chapter; we need some background knowledge before we can go into it. Vedas can be classified into 3 kandams; Karma Kandam (hereafter KK); Upasana Kandam (hereafter UK); and Jnana Kandam. KK deals with Karma and rituals. There are two types of karma contained in the karmakandam; sakama karma and nishkama karma. In sakama, the rituals are performed to fulfill worldly desires of the people. These are kama based desires and not compulsory in nature. It depends on different needs of people and their temperament. For example putrakamestiyaga will be done only a married couple and not having any issues for years.

Then the scriptures talk about another type of karmas called Nishkama Karma (hereafter NK). Whether one likes it or not he is supposed to perform them. Niskama karmas are otherwise called vihitakarmas or nihitakarmas; compulsory karmas. The benefit of NK is not material in nature; the benefit is spiritual growth; mental purity and refinement (Chitta Shudthi). These include daily sandhya vandanam and pacha maha yagna. Sakama Karma (hereafter SK) is for immature people while NK is for more matured minds for it reduces Ragah and Dvesha; or instilling vairagyam in the mind.

People who do these obligatory karmas, they will get rid of all the papas. A person in the initial stage of life will give maximum importance to sakama karma. He will have time for everything else except sandhyavandanam but as a person grows in maturity he will be more and more interested in vihita karmas or nishkama karmas. It is alright for a child of five to be interested in balloons but it would be a tragedy if a man of 25 is still interested in balloons. One has to come to nishkama karma someday. But remember Karma Kanda can only make a person Jnana yugyatha; it cannot give liberation. As karma cannot give jnana and therefore karma yoga cannot give moksha. But jnanayogyata is so essential for spiritual growth.

Then comes the next kanda called Upasana Kanda (UK): This primarily is a mental activity; physical body does not play much of a part; mana pradhana or manasa vyavahara. Mental activity in the form of meditation on the Lord’s attributes. Meditation is a flow of similar thoughts unobstructed by dissimilar thoughts. The Upasana kanda of the Veda prescribes many upasanas and they are broadly classified into two types:

            Sakama Upasana (SU): These sakama upasanas are desire-based and they are meant to get worldly benefits including siddis. A person can get miraculous powers by the practice of upasana. We hear many tales of Devi upasakas and Anjaneya upasakas who predict future just by looking at the face. All these are only for material benefits! It has nothing to do with spirituality. While Nishkama upasana is for jnana yugyatha; fit for knowledge by making the mind sharp and subtle. The mind must be made non-extrovert.  Niskkama Upasana is recommended because karma kanda makes the mind extrovert in nature; it needs to develop the faculty of introspection and concentration. In fact our regular sandhyavandanam itself is called sandhyopasana. Here Gayathri devata is meditated upon. But as in Karma yoga we must remember that upsana also will only give jnanayogyata only and not jnanam because upasana is not a pramana. So after the practice of KY and Upasana an aspirant must necessarily come to Jnana yoga.

Jnana Kanda (JK): Have the qualifications; go to a guru; study scriptures and gain liberation. This is the bird’s eye view or grand design of Vedas. Even the ashramas are designed keeping this in mind. Brahmacharya ashrama; get the roadmap and learn which route to take. In Grishasta ashrama he is supposed to follow Karma Kanda (KK) and attain chittasuddhi. In Vanaprastha ashrama he follows Upasana Kanda (UK) he attains jnanayogyata and then in Sanyasa ashrama he has to enter into Jnana Kanda (JK) and effortlessly attain moksha. How beautiful and well thought out is the design of the Vedas? We are the ones who break the steps. It is so well-designed.

In addition Vedas talk about an exceptional case, a peculiar situation. Suppose after KK a person gets chittasuddhi and UK, a person gains chitta ekagrata also. Now he only has to approach a guru for knowledge but for some reason could not get a guru or not have an occasion to study the scriptures or his body may not be fit. Then what do the Vedas recommend? One has to continue with nishkama ishwara upsana throughout and develop vairagyam. He will not get moksha here but upon death go straight on Brahma Loka as special consideration and attain liberation there. Whenever you have a yearning for knowledge, those noble desires will always be fulfilled. He will effortlessly go to Brahma loka and get ideal conditions for study (there is no escaping studies!!!). Such a moksha is called krama mukthi. Nishkama upasakas going to Brahma loka gaining knowledge there and becoming free is called kramamukti where if nishkama upasakas going to a guru in this janam itself and gaining knowledge and attain moksha are called jeevan mukti or sadyomukti – freedom here and now.

With this background let us enter the eighth chapter. This chapter deals broadly in these three topics:

a) Bhakthi

b) Nishkama Upasana

c) Krama Mukthi

The lower type of bhakti is sakama bhakti.  For instance, a person who has no water in the house prays to the Lord for water. At such a time if the Lord appears and asks,” Shall I appear before you?”  the bhakta will say,” Please give me water now and you may come another time; as it is we are in difficulty and if you come you will be an additional burden on me.” Sakama Bhakti (SB) uses the Lord as a means for worldly ends. One is so caught up in one’s circumstances.

            In this chapter Krishna talks more about Nishkama bhakti. In Nishkama Bhakti (NB) is not the means for anything. He is the end in itself. This state of a devotee is called mumushutvam or moksha Ichcha. Here we are using Ishwara and moksha are synonymous in this context.

One has to choose between SB and NB through Vivekah. It is the knowledge of the superiority of Ishwara over inferiority of jagat or the world. Nitya-Anitya Vastu Vivekah. Joy arising out of anitya vastu is potential sorrow. Delusion is the wrong choice we make enamoured by this bewitching world. But with clear understanding we will never have a doubt; choose the lord all the time!!! Any goal you choose will end one day. The duration of existence may vary; one may have a shorter life, another a longer life, but none has an eternal life. Even Brahma in Brahmaloka cannot remain permanently. Brahmaji one day is equal to 2000 chattur yogas, One kali yuga is 4,32,000 years. One chattur yuga is 43,20,000 times 2000. The present age of Brahmaji is 51; even he has come down to earth one day!!!! Having enjoyed the wonderful Brahma’s post he may have to come to Madras or may even go to a lower world. How miserable it will be!

            We have two goals in life – the anitya jagat and the nithya Ishwara. We have all been given voting power to choose. Bhakthi is the faculty of choice; choosing Ishwara as the goal; not out of fashion but clear understanding.

II) When I have got a desire for Ishwara my mind thinks of Him and I learn to practice Upasana. Now one cannot directly think of the total Ishwara because our mind, our intellect, and our sense organs are too small to conceive of the totality. Just as a flag and anthem represents a nation, we can also choose any symbol (alambanam in Sanskrit); saligrama, linga, temeric ganesha, Rama/Krishan rupam to represent Ishwara. From this limited form, visualize the limitless Ishwara. The mind is soaked with thoughts of the Lord. In this chapter Krishna talks about meditation upon Omkara. oṁ ity ekākṣaraṁ brahma vyāharan mām anusmaran yaḥ prayāti tyajan dehaṁ sa yāti paramāṁ gatim. “One should meditate on Me along with the utterance of the single-syllabled mantra Om denoting Brahman. Departing from this body in this state, one attains liberation.” Thus the upasaka can take omkara as alambana and do the upasana. From Nishkama Karma there are two routes: Go to a guru and through jnanam attain moksha (Sadhyur Mukthi) and is the topic of seventh and ninth chapters. However in this chapter the upasaka is not able to find a guru because of some pratibandhaka (getting a competent guru requires a lot of punya!). Such a devotee continues with Ishwara upasana throughout his life. His mind is soaked with Ishwarachinta alone even in his sub-conscious state.

            anta-kāle ca mām eva smaran muktvā kalevaram yaḥ prayāti sa mad-bhāvaṁ yāti nāsty atra saṁśayaḥ. yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvaṁ tyajaty ante kalevaram taṁ tam evaiti kaunteya sadā tad-bhāva-bhāvitaḥ. “Whoever thinks of Me alone even at the time of death, attains to My state on abandoning the body. There is no doubt about this.” The next verse reaffirms,” O Son of Kunti! Whatever object a person thinks of at the time of death, having been absorbed in its thought all through, he attains to that object alone.”

Whatever thoughts a person has prior to death; that determines the path of travel for next janma. This is called Antha Kalam. You can’t wait to think of God only at the last stage; you cannot cheat God that way. As we grow older and older, freewill gets weaker and weaker. The conscious mind becomes weak and it taken over by subconscious mind; if that is soaked with samsara thought then it would be impossible to summon “God thoughts” in the end. Once Parvathi took pity on a devotee and told Shiva that they would go to the man and help him at the time of his death. If he said, “amma” the goddess would go to rescue and it he uttered “appa”, Lord Shiva would rush forth. He said “aa” and both were waiting for the next syllable. He said “ayyo”. So think of God all the time and in that case, it becomes natural to think of the Lord at the time of death. Then it does not matter whether we are conscious or in coma, but thought on god would predominate the mind. If I have to think of the Lord all the time, how can I have the time for daily living? Even when you are engaged in the affairs of the world, it is possible for the mind to think of the Lord. Krishna says,” Even as you do your daily duties think of Me simultaneously.” Like a musician; he will have one part of the mind on Shruthi always. Always remind yourself that all these worldly activities are only incidental; my top priority is the Lord or moksha.

Krishna says such a steadfast bhakti will remember the Lord at the time of death also. A yogi when he dies thinks of the lord and withdraws all the sense-organs (he sends all the relatives away and concentrates on the lord. Like Bhishma). Through yoga he withdraws from the body and sense-organs and brings the mind to the heart. When he dies he goes through a particular nadi to Brahmaloka.

III) The third and final topic of this chapter is Krama Mukti. Both Sakama Upasaka and Nishkama Upasaka travel after death; the nucleus containing the sukshma shariram, mind, papa-punya karma, and samskara travel after the jivatma leaves the physical body. The physical body alone does not travel as it is cremated here. You cannot rely on anybody after your death except your dharma quotient.

There are two routes this nucleus can take:

a) Krishagati: This is for Sakama Upasakas who will go through krishnagati to swargaloka. They will fulfill all the desires in different lokas. They reach swarga loka and exhausts all the punyas and then come back to mosquito Chennai. For every dance programme of Rambha or Urvasi, which goes on throughout the year, you have to pay through the nose in punya currency. And once the punya is exhausted the devas will  push you down to earth.

b) Shuklagati: This is path of a nishkama upasaka; aided by agni and shukla he reach Brahma loka where Brahmaji will be the guru. Gain Jnanam and achieve liberation.

(Both these routes are not available for human perception or logic. We get this idea from the scriptures only and therefore they are called Apauruseya visayah).

            Lastly, is time of death got anything to do with the path? Whether one dies in uttarayanan or dakhinayanam, it does not matter. What matters is the type of life an individual lives and not the time of death.

Now Arjuna what do you choose: Swarga loka or attaining me? Between Jeevan Mukti and Krama Mukti, Jeevan mukti is better (for liberation is here and now). Since the eighth chapter begins with the topic of aksharam brahma, the chapter is titled akshara brahmayoga. But the real title ought to be “antimakala-smarana-yogah” – remembering the lord all the time even at the time of death.

Gita summaries - chp 7

The Bhagavad Gita consisting of 18 chapters can be broadly divided into 3 shudgams of 6 chapters each. The first shudgam (chapters 1-6) deal with jiva svarupam; importance of Karma Yoga (KY) as a sadhana, and emphasize on “self-effort” (prayatnah). Without effort we cannot get any purushartha including moksha. The second shudgam (chp. 7 -12) deal with Ishwara svarupam, Upasana yoga or meditation on saguna Ishwara to refine and integrate the mind and the role of Ishwara Anugrah. The grace of the Lord is very important without which any amount of individual effort is incomplete. So from the first two sections we learn that both self-efforts and God’s grace go hand in hand. Keeping this background in mind let us enter Chapter 7 which deals with two topics: Ishwara Svarupah and Bhakti.

            Krishna begins this chapter by emphasizing the role of “God’s grace”. mayy āsakta-manāḥ pārtha yogaṁ yuñjan mad-āśrayaḥ asaṁśayaṁ samagraṁ māṁ yathā jñāsyasi tac chṛṇu. Everything is because of my GRACE. Therefore, take shelter in ME and pursue your sadhana. “Arjuna, do not think that you alone are responsible for your success, everything is because of My grace. So take shelter in Me, you puruse moksha.” Both effort (prayatna) and grace (anugraha) must go hand in hand like the two wheels of a cart.

What is the nature or definition of God? God is jagat karanum; the cause of this universe. If God is the cause of the universe, what type of cause is HE?  For any product, two types of causes are required.

- raw material cause or material cause or Upadana Karanum

- Intelligent cause who possess both skill and knowledge; nimitta karanum.

Unless there is a carpenter, they can be no furniture. Bricks on their own cannot form into a house, it needs a mason. Cloth by itself does not become a dress, it needs a tailor. Therefore Material + Maker = Creation. Thus we require two-fold causes: the upadana karanam and nimmittakaranam. Maker minus material; there is no creation. Material minus maker is again no creation. Both maker and material are required.

Now the question is, if Ishwara is the karanam (cause) of this world, type of karanam is He? If HE is the maker, what is the raw material? Or if HE is the material, who is the maker then? In the case of creation the Lord is both the material and maker; abinna nimmitha upadana karanum. The scriptures gives this wonderful example in Mundakopanishad: Spider. It does not go anywhere to find the material; within itself it takes the substance and creates the web. It is so intelligent that it create a web in a remote corner where no one looks for catching the insects. It is both the material and makers of its web. Normally in our experience both the material and maker are different; but every rule has an exception. Similarly the Lord is both the material cause and maker cause of creation.

            The scientists say that one of the most unique threads is the spider’s thread. Not only does the spider has the skill to make it, it also knows where to make it – those places where the insects will be found, its food. Where does the spider get the material to make the web? On observation you find it does not go anywhere to find the material, within itself there is a peculiar gum like substance in the stomach. The spider uses that substance and weaves the web. The spider not only creates the web but also withdraws into itself.  It is both the maker and the material of the web. Similarly Ishwara is both nimmitta and upadana karanam of creation.

            The next question is what is the nature of Ishwara? Lord Krishna says that the Lord has two aspects: apareyam itas tv anyāṁ prakṛtiṁ viddhi me parām jīva-bhūtāṁ mahā-bāho yayedaṁ dhāryate jagat. “This, O mighty armed, is My lower nature. Know that, as different from it, is My higher nature forming the source of all jivas and the support of the whole universe.” One is paraprakruthi and another is aparaprakruthi.

The Lord consists of two parts: Para Prakruthi (hereafter PP) and Apara Prakruthi (hereafter AP). PP is the higher nature of the Lord while AP is the lower nature. Both PP+AP is GOD.

There are some differences between PP and AP; chiefly

- PP is consciousness or spirit principle (Chetana tattvam) while AP is matter principle (Achetana tattavam).

- PP is Nirguna tattvam (attributeless principle) while AP is Saguna tattvam.

- PP is nirvikarah tattvam (changeless principle, it cannot undergo any change, it is modificationless, it is beyond time-space principle; unconditioned by, unaffected by time factor) while AP is Savikarh tattvam. AP is subject to modifications, subject to change.

- PP is Sathyam (absolute reality and independent) while AP is mithya and it depends on PP for its existence.

So chetanam-achetanam, nirgunam-sagunam, nirvikaram-savikaram, satyam-mithyam are the four main differences between paraprakruthi and aparaprakruthi. These put together is Ishwara, the cause of creation.

Spirit and matter are eternal; they both existed at the time of creation. AP modifies into the 5 elements, which becomes the 5 elementals (modification of pancha boothas). Aparaprakruthi modified becomes everything. Hence our body, our kind, this mike are all Bhagavan’s AP. The mind changes, body changes, the world changes; whatever changes is savikara. Savikara prapancha is a product of savikara aparaprakruthi. Our body is God’s AP; so is our mind, inert objects.

Then the question arises as to what happens to paraprakruthi?  This question is invalid as we have already defined PP to be changeless principle; therefore the consciousness continues to remain the same throughout, in the past, present, and the future. So wherever you see AP, PP is also there; both PP and AP are inseparable. 

Every individual B-M complex (body-mind) contains the changeless PP and a changing AP. Everyone is a container with two parts; PP enclosed in an individual container is called Jivatma and PP without the container is called Paramatma.

Example: A lump of clay exists in space. It is converted into a pot. What happens to space? That continues to exist while clay was in lump form, where there was a transformation and after the pot has been made. In pot space is enclosed inside the pot!!! Nothing happens to space! The all-pervading space continues to exist. There is only a change in language; first clay “in” space and now space “in” pot. But space in reality does not change at all. Similarly new name of an enclosure after creation is Jivatma; break the enclosure and Paramatma is there. PP is comparable to space and AP to the lump of clay. The clay can be transformed to any shape called the body-mind complex but nothing happens or changes the PP in the body-mind complex except the entity is called jivatma.

            Now we will come to the next and most important point. For this you must remember this law: Any product is ESSENTIALLY non-different from its cause. Eg. Take clay and pot. Pot is non-different from clay. There is no substance other than clay. Pot is just a word; it has a nominal existence only for there is no substance called pot. Names and forms (nama rupa) are many but the substance is one. Ex. Cloud, rain, brook, lake, river, ocean are all words only for the substance is ONE water.

This principle is applied here. The Lord who is both PP and AP  and the entire creation is a product. Our scriptures say that the creation is non-substantial and just a word only. It has only a verbal existence, like the pot. What is the tangibility or solidity of the world that I experience? If ocean is non-substantial, the substantiality belongs to the cause, water. The solidity of the dais on which I sit does not belong to dais but it belongs to wood. The solidity of the ornaments belongs to gold. Similarly the solidity of the universe, the substantiality of the universe belong to only one and that is Ishwara. It all belongs to the Lord (the cause). As Krishna explains in verse -7: mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañ-jaya mayi sarvam idaṁ protaṁ sūtre maṇi-gaṇā iva. O Arjuna! There is no being higher than Me. As a row of pearls threaded to a string, all the worlds are held on Me.. In fact I ALONE MANIFEST AS THE UNIVERSE. There is nothing else in creation but Ishwara. It would be foolish to look for Ishwara darshanam; like ornament doing tapas for gold darshanam or wave for water!!! It is Ishwara manifesting as Viswa rupa Ishwara or Virat Ishwara in the world.

There is no need for a new darshanam of a new God. You just need to have a new attitude; look at the world as Ishwara’s manifestation. Learn to see the divinity in everything that you experience. This is DIVINIZATION of the universe. Whenever you see matter, it is the AP of the Lord; consciousness (sentiency) is PP; other than these two there is nothing in creation. So whatever you experience, you should learn to appreciate it as Ishwara.

            The next topic is Bhakti. Krishna says even though AP+PP mixture is the manifestation of the Lord, people commit a big mistake. tribhir guṇa-mayair bhāvair ebhiḥ sarvam idaṁ jagat mohitaṁ nābhijānāti mām ebhyaḥ param avyayam. “Deluded by the mental states accruing from the three gunas of Prakruthi, the world knows not Me, the imperishable, transcending the three gunas. PP is Nirgunam (attributeless and hence not attractive at all). But AP is full of gunas (Sattva, Rajas, Tamas) and so enticing that we are enamoured with the variety. We fall in love with the kaleidoscopic changes. Because AP keeps changing, we experience varieties of experiences (rasa, rupa, gandha, sparsha etc). There is no harm but unfortunately attached to AP we forget or lose sight of PP. It is much like getting lost in a movie and getting attached and forgetting the screen. Initially it will be wonderful but you will end up screaming and crying. A non-substantial movie moves me; you lose balance.

            Similarly, Krishna says: once you get lost in aparaprakruthi the problems of insecurity rises. Once immersed in AP – you enjoy change – the human mind needs something steady to hold on; something permanent (need for security). If I lose sight of PP and hold on to dying/changing AP then I lose my balance and become a samsara. Example, holding on to a crutch I fall; money, status, people are all changing things. Does it mean we have to throw away AP? One need not do so. The trick is to hold on to PP and appreciate AP; then life becomes a sport. Love everyone; have transactions but do not depend on anyone or any experience for security and permanence. You have your own support called PP, the higher nature of Ishwara. And if this is not realized, it is like being in a swimming pool. Is swimming enjoyable or frightening? You should ask the counter question,” For whom?” For a person who knows swimming, it is a game, it is wonderful, and it is enjoyable. But for a person who does not know how to swim, the swimming pool becomes a graveyard. So hold to PP and then life becomes a sport.

How to come to PP? Krishna says in V-14: daivī hy eṣā guṇa-mayī mama māyā duratyayā mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te. “My divine Maya (power) constituted of the three gunas is difficult to overcome. Whoever takes refuge in Me alone, in utter devotion, overcomes it.” For those who do not have paraprakruthi –swimming-knowledge, life becomes misery. So the knowledge is the key; and that is the knowledge of PP. While ignorance which is AP will freeze you to death – knowledge frees you, ignorance freezes you. How is one to know PP ad what are the means? Krishna prescribes bhakti as the means. Bhakti means the “love of God”. Which form of Lord? It can be any form: Shiva or Vishnu or Rama or Krishna or Ganesha.

Bhaktas have a lot of problems fighting amongst themselves. Some Vishnavas will not go to a Shiva temple. This is wrong attitude. In truth, any form of God is appropriate as Ishwara is in all forms (nama and rupa), so any form represents God. Choose any form you like, for no form is superior or inferior to another. The mind cannot conceive totality and hence we take recourse to a form. Much like a country symbolized by a flag and anthem. You choose any form from a human being or trees or animals (cows), mother or father. There is only ONE Ishwara manifest through all the different symbols. In our religion it is not there are many gods but there gods only everywhere. So accept any God as God is represented by any blessed thing in creation. That is why in our culture we have worship of different forms of the Lord. Inert things like sun, moon, rivers, mountains are worshipped. Ganga is worshipped. Kaveri is worshipped; trees, plants etc. Animals are worshipped as cow-worship is common in our culture. Human beings are worshipped; that is why I worship my father and mother as Ishwara. People think our religion is confusing because there are many Gods. It is not so. We have only one God who is represented by many alambanas (symbols).

That is why Vishny declares that He does not approve of his bhakti who has a hatred for Siva; then that bhakta will go to hell. Devotion to one God does not mean hatred for the other. That is why we accept all Gods. That is why in our religion we are ready to accept even a few Christian and Muslim gods also. We do not mind that as Bhakti towards Ishwara in any form is accepted. We are only invoking the limitless Ishwara using a limited symbol. Siva linga is small, it does not mean Siva is 2.5 cms high. Bhakti is the worship of Ishwara, the totality – PP+AP in any form.

Then Krishna talks about this Bhakti in various stages. Everybody has to go through these three stages:

a) Sakama Bhakti: Worship Ishawara to acquire worldly things. Ishwara becomes the means the worldly goals the end, either Sukha Prapthi or Dukha Nirvrithi. Ishwara is the sadhana and worldly ends the sadhyam. I take a vow like this,” If this goes well I will break a coconut for you. If I win this litigation I will tonsure my head.” Between sadhana and sadhyam which one do you love more? Obviously the “ends.” The love for sadhana is only secondary. So this bhakti is a business deal,” Lord let me get a job and I shall do angapradakshanam”.

Nobody knows the value of God, in fact our parents introduced God saying,” If you do namaskara and go to examination, you will get maximum marks.” Such a kind of bhakti should not be scoffed at; it is not nishida karma. It is perfectly allowed to pray to the Lord for worldly ends. It is not paapa. Instead of falling at the feet of useless people, it is far better to fall at the feet of the Lord for getting something. As Krishna says in verse-22: sa tayā śraddhayā yuktas tasyārādhanam īhate labhate ca tataḥ kāmān mayaiva vihitān hi tān. “Endowed with that faith, a votary performs the worship of that particular deity and obtains the fruits thereof, these  being granted by Me alone.”

Artha Bhakta is a sakama bhakta praying to get rid of trouble; while Arthatha Bhakta is a sakama bhakta who wishes to acquire something. Gradually because of sakama bhakti itself the mind becomes more mature. Even though his desires are for worldly things, he goes to Tirupathi at least for that. He slowly gets to realize that by acquiring worldly things, he is not making his life any better; as worldly things are themselves perishable and not secure.

B) Jignasu: The mind becomes more and more matured as desire for material things comes down. I realize that by acquiring things I am not necessarily making my life any better. How one can insecure person holding on to another insecure person find security? Earlier I used to worry about myself and now I worry about two persons. Insecurity + insecurity == More insecurity.  To understand this, it will take many years, many decades or even many janmas. In other relegions you have to do everything in one short life. For us we can do it in installments, like the CA examination! The world of objects is not really a worthy end; my end changes. Now I use the world to attain God. The world becomes the sadhana and Lord the sadhyam. I realize that family life is not an end in itself but an incidental thing we go through to attain the Lord.

No more of worldly pursuits (Sakama) but desire for Ishwara (desire for God); Apashika Nishkama Bhakti. That means at this stage an aspirant is no more after worldly goals for he understands them to be anitya. But he is not entirely free from desires. He wants to attains Ishwara. Such a bhakta Krishna calls jijnasu.

Final Stage: I discover that the Lord is never away from me; the Lord is AP+PP. The goal is already reached; no desire even for the Lord. Because if the Lord is away he has to accomplish his goal but when there is no Lord separate from himself then where is the question of separation? Or accomplishing? This jnani is one who has discovered Ishwara to be non-different from himself. There is no further desires – neither desire for the worldly things or desire for God. I discover security in myself; he is complete within himself. purnatvam and moksha. Since it is only jnanam that makes an aspirant complete Krishna averts that the Jnani alone is the greatest bhakta. 

            With this Krishna concludes the seventh chapter. This chapter is titled, “Jnana Vijnani”; the first jnanam refers to seeing Ishwara as different from me. The second “Vijnani” is seeing that the Lord is no more different from me. Seeing Ishwara as an object is called jnana, seeing Ishwara as one self is vijnana. Since both are talked about, this chapter is called jnana-vijnana yoga.

Gita summaries - chp 6

The essence of the Gita and the essence of the Vedas is the same.  And the essential teaching of the Vedas is moksha alone. No doubt the Vedas do talk about artha-purusharatha, which is the goal of prosperity. They talk about kama-purushartha which is comforts and happiness. Then there is dharma-purushartha – acquisition of punya but these are all secondary goals of Veda. The primary goal of Vedas is moksha-purushartha only. Therefore Gita is moksha pradhana only.

            Vedas uniformly prescribe jnana as the sadhana for moksha. If that is so, the Bhagavad Gita cannot deviate from the Vedic teaching and therefore the essence of Gita is also jnanadvara moksha praptih.

            We have to consider the circumstances in which the Gita teaching took place. In the Mahabharata battlefield, Arjuna faces the problem of samsara which is in the form of Ragah-- Dukha—Moha. Raga is dependence or attachment on external factors to be happy. Sorrow arises when the external factors are not favourable. And that is grief. When mind is overpowered by attachment and greed, it does not know how to judge situations properly. The intellect is clouded and it sees dharma as adharma and vice versa. This utter conflict and confusion is called moha. Attachment- grief- conflict is a vicious cycle.

One must understand clearly that material acquisitions do not solve the problem; wasn’t Arjuna wealthy, skilled, and possessed everything that a person can aspire?  Inspite of having all these worldly achievements, he is not able to overcome sorrow and even contemplates suicide. Jivathena va kim prayojanam. If life itself becomes a burden then where is the question of accomplishing the goal of life? Throughout the first chapter of Gita it is clearly seen that worldly accomplishments do not solve the problem of grief.

When Arjuna fails to find any solution; he does the most intelligent thing of surrendering at the feet of Krishna. kārpaṇya-doṣopahata-svabhāvaḥ pṛcchāmi tvāṁ dharma-sammūḍha-cetāḥ yac chreyaḥ syān niścitaṁ brūhi tan me śiṣyas te ’haṁ śādhi māṁ tvāṁ prapannam. Now I am confused about my duty and have lost all composure because of miserly weakness. In this condition I am asking You to tell me for certain what is best for me. Now I am Your disciple, and a soul surrendered unto You. Please instruct me. So Bhagavad Gita emphasizes that moksha can be gained only through jnanam and jnanam can be gained only through guru-sishya parampara. Krishna Himself makes this point (IV-34): tad viddhi praṇipātena paripraśnena sevayā upadekṣyanti te jñānaṁ jñāninas tattva-darśinaḥ. Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized souls can impart knowledge unto you because they have seen the truth. Therefore Gita teaching begins from the second chapter onwards. We soon realize that bondage is never there; it is only self-hypnosis, self-deception, self-disowning. Moksha is not an event that has to take place in space and time or a process through effort. Moksha is a discovery; it is like waking up from the dream state. Remove the delusion and claim; I was free, I am free, I will ever be free.

Now we will enter the sixth chapter which deals in meditation. We should not take dhyana or meditation in an isolated way and try to practice it exclusively. There are many people who do not want to study the previous chapters and plunge directly into meditation. If only the sixth chapter alone one can get liberation then why should Krishna unnecessarily teach the rest of the chapters? If there is a short-cut for moksha in the form of meditation and instant liberation, Krishna would have applied that method in the battlefield. Instead Krishna gives all other disciplines; the main one is guru-sishya samvada which is technically called as sravanam and mananam. In this chapter the Lord deals with meditation exclusively here. We can divide the chapter into 6 topics:

a) Qualifications for meditation

b) Preparation for meditation

c) Process of meditation

d) Object of meditation

e) Obstacles in meditation and their remedies and finally

f) Benefits of meditation

a) Qualifications: Even though there are many qualifications Krishna mentions 3 qualifications: a) Tranquility/Equanimity in day-to- day transactions which is samatvam. Equanimity, poise, tranquility, mental balance should be maintained in daily transactions. The mind must not be either too elated or depressed otherwise it cannot remain quiet during meditation. Imagine the excitement of a player winning Wimbledon; he will be too excited to sleep that night. One cannot ask him to meditate then!!

How is equanimity attained in daily transactions? Equanimity can be maintained only by reducing ragah and dvesha. As long as strong and powerful likes and dislikes are there, they will make the mind turbulent. How to reduce ragah and dvesha?  By learning to accept all situations, especially the adverse situations, as the will of the Lord for my own growth. Why should HE will in that manner? It is for my growth only, just as a doctor gives different types of medicines for the health of a person. Sometimes the medicines are sweet like cough syrup, most times the medicines are bitter. The doctor has only one aim and that is to help a person to recover health. No doctor wants to give pleasure or pain. So also the Lord gives pain for the sake of my inner growth only. Implicit faith in the Lord and His will and trust will reduce raga-dvesha. I must develop that implicit faith and trust. Therefore by surrendering to the Lord and ragah and dvesha are neutralized and samatvam maintained. Whatever comes, I must have to attitude to welcome them. Every experience is given to me for my growth only.

b) Vairagyyam is the second qualification. There is this maxim: whatever you give top priority that will occupy the mind automatically. Example, a chess player whatever he does, he will always be thinking of the game or the lover would always be absorbed in her love despite doing so many things outside. If the top priority is Bhagawan/Ishwara/Moksha/Brahman, mind will automatically go there. Ex. Gopis!!! Whatever they were doing their minds were in Krishna. This is called mumukshitvam where mokha becomes the primary goal of life. Then other purusharthas will become secondary. Vairagyam is the maturity of an aspirant who clearly understands the priorities of life. Money is required, entertainment is required, everything is required but the main goal must be moksha. That is why Sankaracharya says in the Bhajagovindam, Govinda is the top priority.

c) The third qualification that Krishna emphasizes is Self-confidence: Never look down about yourself. This inferiority complex is the biggest obstacle coming from oneself as though there are no enough external obstacles to tackle. Even God cannot help such a person; even if He offers to help you, you will say,” O! God! You do not know who I am. I do not think I can!”

There is a difference between arrogance and self-confidence. In arrogance I think I can achieve on my own efforts. While self-confidence is that I can achieve the goal through the grace of god and guru. The courage and confidence comes not because of my arrogance but because of my devotion to Ishwara. No doubt, spiritual growth is an uphill task; you be the engine in front to pull and the lord will be the engine in the back to push.

b) Preparation of meditation: Physical preparation and Mental preparation.

First choose a quieter or secluded place; that which is associated with spirituality. If you meditate in the dining room you will always have thoughts of food! Fix the asanam neither too high nor too low; neither too hard nor soft. The idea is that breathing must not be disturbed. The mind and prana are interconnected. Therefore keep the breathing normal and harmonious. Body should be relaxed and straight. Observe the breathing for a few moment and feel its smoothness and evenness. We need not do special pranayama with appropriate proportion etc then our mind will concentrate solely on inhalation and exhalation and dhyana will be missed. Do not concentrate on the breathing except making sure it is smooth and even. Then the sense-organs need to be taken care of; concentrate on the tip of the nose or in the middle of the eyebrows; the essence is that the eyes should be closed or half closed and withdrawn from the external world.

Mental preparation: Even when the sense-organs are withdrawn the mind is capable of projecting its own world and then worry about the mental wife, mental children, mental house, mental factory etc. So Krishna says withdraw the mind from all external objects – tyathva sarvanasheshatah. Our greatest worry is about our yogakeshma – who will look after us in the future? If we depart, who will look after our children? Whenever the mind is quiet, these future worries will occupy the mind. And as we grow older, these worries increase. So instead of dhyanam the mind is worrying about past mistakes or future insecurities. The only thing we do efficiently all the time is worry, chitta!!! These twin rakshasas – past regrets and future anxiety – hijack our mind. The only remedy is “Surrender to the Lord”; Please forgive me for my past mistakes and Please give me strength to face the future. Now let me dwell on the present and meditate!!

c) Process of meditation: Meditation can be defined as a constant flow of similar thoughts centred on an object of meditation. We do not insist upon one particular thought. The thoughts can change but they must be centered on the object of meditation; unobstructed by dissimilar thoughts is called Dhyanam. Meditation is definitely not blankness or empty or shunyam; meditation is a mental activity. Krishna talks about three stages of meditation which closely follow the yoga sastras. These are: a) Dharana means focusing the mind on the object of meditation. I am using the word “focusing” because the mind is out of focus. Just as a cameraman goes behind, forward, or even lies down we should bring our mind to focus.  b) Once the mind is focused the next aim is maintenance or retention of the mind on the object of meditation. In taking pictures also, it is not enough if you focus. Until you click, the hands should be steady and unshaken.  This is called dhyana. and c) Samadhi: Through continuous and steady effort the mind gets absorbed on the object of meditation. Once that absorption comes, effort is not required; the mind can be withdrawn from the present activity and without will the mind dwells on the object. Samadhi is not a mysterious state; we are all the time in samadhi; job worry, children’s worry, business worries etc. When you read an interesting novel or watch a movie your mind instantly goes into Samadhi! In meditation we are only determining the object of Samadhi. Krishna gives an example of a mind in Samadhi (an absorbed mind). yathā dīpo nivāta-stho neṅgate sopamā smṛtā yogino yata-cittasya yuñjato yogam ātmanaḥ. The flame of a lamp from the wind does not flicker. This is the comparison used to describe a yogi’s mind that is well under control and united with the athman. An absorbed mind is like the glass cover placed on a flame; it protects it from the wind. The fluttering flame becomes steady!!

d) Object of Meditation: Meditation can be on any chosen object. It can either be Saguna Ishwara; meditate on the Lord’s attributes and this is called Upasana Dhyanam. And if you are exposed to Sravanam and Mananam then meditate on Nirguna Brahman. Then a mysterious thing happens: the object becomes the subject itself. The subject-object division goes away. This is Brahman meditation or Nidhi dyasanam. So these are the two possible types of meditation. In this chapter Krishna talks about nirguna ishwara dhyanam = advaitha dhyanam = atma dhyanam. Remember this fact: Atma dhyanam can only be done by a person who has understood atma swarupam as discussed in chapters 2, 3, 4 and 5. If not exposed to vedantic teaching then the meditator can meditate of saguna ishwara – there are so many Krishnas (guruvayurappan, kutti Krishnan, Radhakrishna, Parthasarathy Krishnan) or Lakshmi or Venkatachalapathy, Ayappa, Rama etc.

e) Obstacles to Meditation: Dozing off/Nidra.

Remedies for overcoming sleep during dhyana or meditation: give sufficient rest to the body; don’t meditate after a meal nor when physically exhausted or mentally overwrought. That is why early morning is better for meditation because the day’s work has not yet started.

The mind must be given time to develop a taste and habit for meditation; it should not confuse with its old patterns; I close the eyes only to sleep!!! I must keep telling the mind; this is not the time for sleep. Constant auto-suggestion is required in the initial stages.

            The second obstacle is Vikshapah (wandering mind). The mind must not swing between two extremes: sleep (tamo guna) or overactive ness (rajo guna). It must come to Sattva. At first Krishna says,” Do not feel guilty if your mind is wandering.” Spirituality should not create guilt because we are already suffering from guilt and we are trying to come out of it. If religion and spirituality add to the guilt, what is the use of spirituality? But once we know that a wandering mind is common to all people then there is a relaxation! I am not the only one! So first be free from guilt; understand that the problem is there. The mind is let loose all the time and suddenly I am forcing it to concentrate. It is not going to be easy. Krishna prescribes two methods – sheer practice and auto-suggestion. It is always better to meditate for 15, 20, or 25 minutes in the beginning. Instead of increasing the length of meditation, it is better to have quality in meditation. I tell my mind,” that for the next 30 minutes I do not want to think of anything”. Let God take care of everything during these 30 minutes and afterwards I will take over! Hence practice this auto-suggestion.

The second is vairagya – your mind wanders in the field where it has attachment. The mind naturally runs towards those things to which it is attached. So if the attachment is shifted from jagat to Ishwara, from world to God, naturally the mind will run towards Ishwara because the mind has got a value. Therefore know the value and greatness of Ishwara as the top priority of life. Everything else is perishable and insecure. I am not going to find security and fullness by holding on to an insecure world, and therefore let me hold on to the ever secure and ever full Ishwara or Brahman. So shifting the attachment from anatma to atma, dvaita to advaita, world to god, is called vairagya. Once vairagya is there the mind naturally gets out of the world and gets absorbed in Ishwara. 

f) Benefits of meditation: Suguna Ishwara dhyana converts my mind into a temple; and because of repeated dhyana the Lord occupies my heart all the time. And if Ishwara is there all the time in the heart, the greatest advantage is, I feel the strength and I am not worried about anything. The diffidence, the fear, the insecurity goes.

Nirguna Ishwara Dyanam, the phalam is purnatva - I am ever full and complete, nothing in the world can add to my purnatva. Therefore the presence or absence of anything will not affect me as I do not lean on anything. I do not have any psychological crutches around. I enjoy independence which is called jnana nistha = atmanishtha = brahmanishtha. It is also called jivanmukti.

In the end, Arjuna asks a query: What happens if a meditator does not attain moksha and dies in between. Then what will happen? Krishna says,” In spiritual sadhana there is no loss or going back. In the next birth, he will be born a spiritual genius and learn what is left over”. There is no room for pessimism at all. There may be stagnation, or slow progress but there is no question of going back. In the next birth you will be born a spiritual genius from a very early age. You will pursue knowledge and attain liberation. With this Krishna concludes the beautiful sixth chapter called dhyanayoga or atma-samyama yoga.