\
तेषां ज्ञानी नित्ययुक्त एकभक्तिर्विशिष्यते ।
प्रियो हि ज्ञानिनोsत्यर्थं अहं स च मम प्रियः ॥ १७ ॥
Of them, the wise man, ever – steadfast, (and fired) with
devotion to the One, excels; for supremely
dear am I to the wise, and hs dear to Me.
(VII - 17)
He
mentions two unique aspects of a Gyaani.
He is Nityayukta. He is ever
engrossed in Me. He is Ekabhaktih. He has no point for devotion other than
Me. The other three types of Bhakta are
also Nityayukta, they are Ekabhaktih.
The Arthaarthi wants favours,, while the Aartha desires removeal of
hurdles and irritants. Jigyaasu desires
to know my swaroopa, while the Gyaani has only Love and wants nothing from Me.
The
Kripaa or Grace of Paramaatman falls equally on all of us, but only Gyaani gets
it. Rain falls evenly everywhere. But, only that shell which keeps itself open
recieves a drop, nurtures it into a pearl.
The Gyaani does not accumulate any dirt in his mind. The old among us are seen more in number in
temples and religious discourses. Almost
all of them have turned twards God due to fear, fear of death. The Gyaani has no desire, no fear. He is ever turned towards God. He is ever engrossed in Him. Hence, he is greater and more eligible for
His love and Grace.
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उदाराः सर्व एवैते ज्ञानी त्वात्मैव मे मतम् ।
आस्थितः स हि युक्तात्मा मामेवानुत्तमां गतिम् ॥ १८ ॥
बहूनां जन्मनामन्ते ज्ञानवान्मां प्रपद्यते ।
वासुदेवः सर्वमिति स महात्मा सुदुर्लभः ॥ १९ ॥Noble indeed are they all, but the wise man I regard as My very self; for with the mind steadfast, he is established in Me alone, as the supreme goal.
At the end of many births, the man of wisdom takes refuge in
Me, realising that all this is Vasudeva (the inner most self). Very rare is that great soul.
(VII – 18, 19)
All
the four are great. They seek
Paramaatman and not the worldly objects and comforts. They do not know whether they will attain
their objective. They do not know how
many years, may be many births, will be needed.
Even then, they have bound themselves with the Paramaatman. When worshipped in the prescribed way for
fulfillment of desires, Gods bless the devotees and fulfill their desires. Paramaatman gives only that which will
ennoble the devotee, that which will draw him towards Self. But, His devotees remain firm in their
devotion to Him and hence are great.
Gyaani
is unique among these four. ‘He is Me in
form. He is My Aatmaa’, says Shri
Krishna. He has travelled long, through
many births to attain this state. Such
Mahaatmas are rare. We attain human
birth after so many cycles of births and deaths as so many other lives. In human form, we go through so many births
living sensual life and accumulating Vasanas, then realizing the transient nature
of sensual experiences and eliminating vasanas and then finally vanquishing Ahankaara,
we reach Him. The path we have to
traverse is long.
Darwin
stated that human is born out of monkeys.
Essence of his research was that there has been evolution in lives with
passage of time. He concludes that human
life is the ultimate stop in evolution.
Our Rshis talk about evolution expected in and as human. There is one basic difference between the
route travelled upto the human birth and the route to be travelled further in
human birth. The evolution till now has
been natural. Further evolution demands
tremendous effort. We, as humans are at a
crossroad. We have two paths before
us. One leads towards worldly objects
and the other towards Paramaatman. We
have the liberty to choose. Man usually
swings between these two paths. He takes
one, gets dejected and shifts to the other.
Gyaani has remained steadfast on one path and moved on without any
vacillation, whatsoever. He is
unique. Bharat, as a Nation, is unique
too, as there has been a stream of Gyaanis here in every corner and in every
decade, since last so many milleniums.
We have a great, long tradition of Gyaanis.
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कामैस्तैस्तैर्हृतज्ञानाः प्रपद्यन्तेsन्यदेवताः ।
तं तं नियममास्थाय प्रकृत्या नियताः स्वया ॥ २० ॥Others again, deprived of discrimination by this or that desire, following this or that rite, devote themselves to other gods, led by their own natures.
(VII - 20)
The
powers that preside over various aspects of creation are called Gods. There is a specific method of worship of
these Gods. If followed, the specific
God can offer favours within its field of power. The man whose Intellect has been abducted is
faced towards the world. According to
his own nature, he desires an object or a status or a potential in the world. He approaches God for that and worships
methodically.
What
is the impact of a desire rising in us?
A petty trader was on his way to meet a big businessman in search of
brighter prospects. Cold breeze was
blowing in the opposite direction. His
face and body got chilled. He wanted to
warm up and stopped by a roadside shop.
He bought a cigarette and tried to light it. The wind blew out his efforts. He turned to the opposite direction. Now, he could stop the wind from blowing out
the flame and was successful lighting the cigarette. He drew a deep puff of the ignited tobacco,
experienced the spread of its heat in his body and felt charged. He began walking. He was walking in the direction of his
house. He realized this, not before a
few minutes had passed after total exhaustion of the cigarette, which he had
enjoyed to the last bit. He cursed
himself and speeded his steps towards the businessman. The businessman had left his home after
waiting for him. He lost an opportunity,
worth a few lakh of rupees for ten paise worth cigarette. The desire rising in us causes tremendous
ripples inside and abducts our intellect.
If
a desire for an inert, worldly object rises, even for a second, in the mind of
a devotee travelling towards the Paramaatman, it causes lasting impact. It is only a desire, just a wave of thought,
not the real object, that causes the harm.
If he changes course and chases the desire? He finally attains an inert object, a
momentary pleasure. What he loses is
precious Bliss, he could have got, had he not been distracted.
This
is true in the reverse order too. One
who is plunged in worldly pleasures may drastically change course and travel in
the path of Paramaatman, due to ripples caused by Divine desire in Him.
An
unconnected thought interrupts when we are deeply engrossed in a particular
thought. The intruder thought drags us
in all directions. The moment we realize
this, we shake ourselves and try to throw the intruder thought out and come
back to our own thought. A sadhu tried
this technique on his devotees. Usually,
man is ever caught in hurricanes of desires.
The Sadhu used to hold the heads of men coming to seek spiritual
guidance from him and shake vigorously.
The devotees asked him the reason.
He would laugh and come out with a story. “I was on a pilgrimage to the Himalayas. There were many donkeys, loaded fully and
climbing the mountain. When any one of
the donkeys was naughty, would not listen and ran helter skelter, the herdsman
would put handful of mud in its mouth.
The donkey would then start behaving properly. I asked him the logic behind his action. “What is the relation between mud and donkey’s
behaviour?” He did not know. I thought over this. The donkey, sad at being overloaded, is
engrossed in sorrowful thoughts and tends to revolt. A handful of mud in mouth abruptly interrupts
its thought flow and it returns to normalcy.”
The devotees were annoyed at being treated like a donkey. He replied, “I want to shower Blissful,
Divine thoughts on you. You also want
the same and hence come to me. But, I
find your thoughts running erratically behind various desires. I just hold your head and shake. I am sure, you are ridden of your thoughts
may be for a few minutes and are ready to be driven in a different direction.”
We
have many regulation for temple visits and worship. We must take a dip in the tank and walk to
the Deity in wet clothes. On occassions
of special worships, we must wear freshly washed and dried clothes. These regulations are more for disrupting the
regular thought flow in us and preparing the mind for devotional, Divine
thoughts.
What
does He mean when He says, ‘They worship other Gods’? Is it similar to Jesus saying ‘I am the only
God’? Paramaatman is One. Not many.
We have created many Gods, according to our own tastes. Thousands of forms of Gods, we find around us
are nothing but our own creation. I
choose one form and worship for fulfillment of a particular desire of
mine. If the desire is not fulfilled, I
switch to some other form of God. The
previous form of God is in no trouble by my ditching it. If my desire gets fulfilled, the God is in
trouble. I boast my success story to the
whole community. The God is then swarmed
by more and more number of devotees. It
is branded as powerful, a wholesale stockist for that particular desire. We accord power to the Deities. If Shri Krishna is worshipped merely as a fufiller
of our desires, He also turns out to be same.
He mentions this in the 24th shlokam. A village Deity, if worshipped as
Paramaatman, becomes one. Shri Krishna’s
words here should not be treated in the same vein as the words in Bible, ‘I am
a jealous God’.
-\-
यो यो यां यां तनुं भक्तः श्रद्धयार्चितुमिच्छति ।
तस्य तस्याचलां श्रद्धां तामेव विदधाम्यहम् ॥ २१ ॥
स तया श्रद्धया युक्तस्तस्याराधनमीहते ।
लभते च ततः कामान्मयैव विहितान्हि तान् ॥ २२ ॥Whatsoever form any devotee seeks to worship with Shraddha, - that Shraddha of his do I make unwavering.
Endued with that Shraddha, he engages in the worship of
that, and from it, gains his desires, - these being verily dispensed by Me
alone.
(VII – 21, 22)
We
find the prominent religions indulging in the business of proselytizing,
converting others into their own religions.
Hindu thought does not believe in this.
There is not a mention of conversion or the rituals to be adopted for conversion
in Vedas or other Hindu texts. The Hindu
idea in this regard is clearly stated by Shri Krishna in this verse. I strengthen his conviction, I deepen the
roots of his devotion to any form that he worships, in any way. That is an amazing statement. This statement exhibits the tremendous confidence,
the unshakeable faith a Hindu has in truth.
A falsehood can never convert itself to truth merely on the strength of
numbers, herded together. It is a
statement which outrightly rejects all the conspiracies, frauds, allurements,
threatening, betrayals, violence and all such criminal activities, resorted by
these religions to trap the gullibles in their web of conversion.
It
is a statement declaring that man has complete liberty to choose the form of
God, the way of worship to that form.
Man has unique attitude and he can base his form of God on his own nature.
With
a perfectly focussed mind, giving no space for any other thought, if one
pursues a goal, he is bound to attain that in his lifetime. If one dreams of a specific political post,
if every bit of his personality echoes his dream and if he puts in efforts with
firm conviction, he is sure to ascend the post of his dream. The post is his God and the devoted, focussed
efforts he put in is his worship. Way of
Worship, Form worshipped to, has to be subjective and can not be tailor made
and duplicated.
-\-
अन्तवत्तु फलं तेषां तद्भवत्यल्पमेधसाम् ।
देवान्देवयजो यान्ति मद्भक्ता यान्ति मामपि ॥ २३ ॥But, the fruit (accruing) to these men of little understanding is limited. The worshippers of the Devas go to the Devas; My devotees too come to Me.
(VII - 23)
Why
and whom does He call ‘men of little understanding’? ˜˜They regard petty things as invaluable and hence seek perishables. ˜
They seek and obtain worthless things from men who have the potential to give
invaluable treasure: one who demands a
piece of glass from an owner of diamond mines.
˜ They put in
huge efforts to obtain rubbish. They
perform prayers, sacrifices, penance etc. and seek perishable worldly objects
as boon. ˜
They beg from a beggar. If at all one
has to beg, let him beg from someone who can give everything, not from one who
can give ordinary things and who draws the power to give even these from
someone else.
It
is wisdon to seek that, after attaining which there remains no need to seek
anything else. To seek anything elase is
intelligence of narrow understanding.
Nachiketas is a glaring example.
His father conducted a fire sacrifice and was giving away old and
non-milking cows in donation.
Nachiketas, sad at father’s dishonesty, asked him, “To whom will you
give me?” Father ignored him, but he
pestered him with his question. Father
lost patience and said, “I offer you to Yama, the lord of death”. The boy reached the world of Yama. He had to wait without food and water, for
three days at the doorsteps of Lord Yama’s palace. To compensate this, Yama offered him a boon
in which he promised to give kingship over a wealthy state, long life,
beautiful wives, and unlimited comforts.
“Will your state remain ever?
Will the wives remain ever beautiful?
Will the long life offered by you prevent you from coming to me to
snatch my life? Will the status never
diminish?” Nachiketas showered his
questions on Yama. “The one worded
answer for all your questions is ‘No’.
None of these is permanent”, replied Yama. Then, I do not want any of these. Please tell me the secret of death and
deathlessness. Yama tried, in vain, to
divert the young boy’s mind and finally had to bow down before his
firmness. Yama advised Nachiketas on the
secret of death, which is revealed in the Upanishad called Kathopanishad. A person of petty intelligence would have
agreed to take the luxuries offered by Yama, after so severe efforts. Nachiketas was wise. What he insisted on getting from Yama, has
been of immense help to the whole human race.
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अव्यक्तं व्यक्तिमापन्नं मन्यन्ते मामबुद्धयः ।
परं भावमजानन्तो ममाव्ययमनुत्तमम् ॥ २४ ॥The foolish regard Me, the unmanifested, as come into manifestation, not knowing My supreme state, - immutable and transcendental.
(VII - 24)
Shri
Krishna was born in a harsh jail, to Devaki and Vasudeva. He lived a lively and active childhood, took
out the cows for grazing, played on flute, danced and played many pranks. He grew up and killed Kamsa, released jailed
parents, established a state in Dwarika.
He must have been around 75 when he was in Kurukshetra as Arjuna’s
charioteer and talked Gita. In the end,
He left this world when a hunter shot an arrow at His feet. We have seen and known these facts.
Shri
Ram was born to Dasharath and Kaushalya in Ayodhya. He also had a lovely childhood. As a boy, He went to Vasishta’s
Gurukula. He grew up, married Sita, went
to the forests, killed many demons, fought with Ravana, returned to Ayodhya and
ruled the state for many years. In the
end, He also gave up His body by entering Sarayu river. We have seen and known these facts.
Usually,
we have a tendency to take the perceived experience as final. That Shri Ram and Shri Krishna had physical
presence, they grew old and died like any of us is a fact. But, they are beyond their physical forms is
also a fact. They had taken a body and
the dharma of a body is to grow old and perish.
(It is a different matter tha artists project them as ever youthful
witha view to establish their eternity).
It is our ignorance to consider them as physical forms.
How
do we know electricity? Through the
light bulb or other application of electric power. Will it not be our ignorance to consider the
bulb itself as electric energy?
We
feel the governmental power through the local police station or the office of
RDO or the magistrate’s court. Yes. It is true that the governmental power is
exhibited in these offices. These
offices by themselves are not ‘Government’.
The Government is much bigger than these local offices. The Government is in and beyond these
offices. Similarly, Shri Ram and Shri
Krishna might have carried bodily forms, but are beyond these forms.
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नाहं प्रकाशः सर्वस्य योगमायासमावृतः ।
मूढोsयं नाभिजानाति लोको मामजमव्ययम् ॥ २५ ॥Veiled by the illusion born of the congress of the Gunas, I am not manifest to all. This deluded world does not know Me, the Unborn, the Immutable.
(VII - 25)
None know Me as the Unborn, the Immutable. Birth, growth and decay are only the body
taken by Me. I am not born, nor do I
die. The world does not know this. There are two reasons for this. One, I am veiled by the Maya and the second
is ignorance of man. There are the
highly luminous focus lamps. If you look
at it for a few seconds and then look elsewhere, your eyes are blinded for a
minute. The allurement of Maya is also
similar. As you see and get lost in the
dazzling world the Paramaatman, hidden behind becomes hard to know. A wise man would take his away from the focus
lamp or wear dark glasses. Then, he is
not lost in the dazzle of the lamp and is able to see the beyond. The Paramaatman veiled in Maya, can be
realized only if we can get away from the lure of this world.
-\-
वेदाहं समतीतानि वर्तमानानि चार्जुन ।
भविष्याणि च भूतानि मां तु वेद न कश्चन ॥ २६ ॥Oh Arjuna! I know the beings of the whole past, and the present, and the future, but Me none knows.
(VII - 26)
We
all have the three periods, past, present and future. The Paramaatman has only present. The past and future are interwined with the
present for Him. A film reel has all the
three periods enclosed in it. We are
bound by time. He is beyond time and
periods. That is hence, He knows every
one, everything and every period. We do
not know Him.
It
is very difficult to grasp the subtle or the hidden. We know the letters in a book and may be able
to read those. Are we able to grasp the
meaning? The Gita is a text of 700
verses. Do we know it, even if we read? Pages and pages of commentary have been
written by so many. We can not
understand even the commentaries and hence, books explaining these commentaries
have been written. As it is in Sanskrit,
Sant Gyaaneshwar wrote Gyaaneshwari, Gita in Marathi, with around 10,000
verses. Even that is not grasped. Now, commentaries have come up explaining
Gyaaneshwari. Even then, it is beyond
our grasp.
We
see the tree. Can we realize and know
the essence hidden in every atom of the tree, the essence that has manifested
as the tree? The tree is not if That is
not. Without That, the tree is a mere
log of wood. We are not able to ‘see’
That. Tremendous effort is needed to
realize that ‘something’ is hidden as essence in the tree. OK.
The tree is outside. Can we realize
‘That’ essence within us? As long as we
are in a body, bound with the body, we will not be able to ‘see’. How can a ‘limited’ and ‘bound’ see an
‘Unlimited’ and ‘Unbound’?
-\-
इच्छाद्वेषसमुत्थेन द्वन्द्वमोहेन भारत ।
सर्वभूतानि सम्मोहं सर्गे यान्ति परन्तप ॥ २७ ॥Oh descendant of Bharatha! By the delusion of the pairs of opposites, arising from desire and aversion, all beings fall into delusion at birth, Oh scorcher of foes.
(VII - 27)
He
means humans although He say all beings.
The other lives need not have Viveka.
Their connection with the world is predetermined, at their birth. For instance, a tiger will not think of
hunting some other life ‘today’ as ‘I am bored with daily deer flesh’. Or, a cow will will never think of changing
its feed from ‘the same old grass’ to tender rice crop or fresh wheat
grass. Where to take rest at night, when
to mate, and evrything elas is determined for other lives. The human is fitted with Viveka or discretion
and has been given choice to use or reject it.
He can base his connection with the world on the basis of Viveka or
desires, likes and dislikes. For instance,
he may use Viveka and choose food that is good or chase likes and dislike and
eat junk. Similarly he may buy anything
in the market or go for the absolutely essentials. He can relate with other humans and other
lives using Viveka or worthless emotions like ego, jealousy, selfishness etc. Except for a few actions like closing the
eyelids when an insect flies near, all his other actions have to be based on
discretion or likes and hatreds.
He
will be elevated if he uses Viveka.
There is every chance of his moving closer to the Paramaatman. Viveka cements his link with the Paramaatman. His fall is definite if he bases actions on
likes and hatreds. Likes and dislikes
cause duals like pain and pleasure.
These duals produce delusion and cements his link with the world and its
objects.
-\-
येषां त्वन्तगतं पापं जनानां पुण्यकर्मणाम् ।
ते द्वन्द्वमोहनिर्मुक्ता भजन्ते मां दृढव्रताः ॥ २८ ॥Those men of virtuous deeds, whose sin has come to an end, - they, freed from delusion of the pairs of opposites, worship Me with firm resolve.
(VII - 28)
Favourable-unfavourable, pain-pleasure,
like-dislike, right-wrong, are all twin opposites. The mind, released from the clutches of these
duals is ennobled. The bhavana is
purified. He worships Me in that
sinless, pure state. What is a pure
bhavana? I was once waiting at
Nungambakkam bus stop. It began raining
heavily. I, on an urgent mission, cursed
the rain. An old woman, a seller of
flowers, standing near me said spontaneously, “You seem to curse the rain. The whole of Chennai, dry and thirsty, is
eagerly awaiting a good rain.” In fact,
she was going to be more affected by the rain.
But, her bhavana was nobler.
Wishing well, seeking welfare of all, is Punya. The one who is rid of duals like likes and
dislikes, can regard the rain as a Divine grace. The one caught in selfish duals sees the rain
benefitting the whole population as a hindrance to self. The ability to see everything as Divine
blessing is devotion or Bhajan.
-\-
जरामरणमोक्षाय मामाश्रित्य यतन्ति ये ।
ते ब्रह्म तद्विदुः कृत्स्नमध्यात्मं कर्म चाखिलम् ॥ २९ ॥Those who strive for freedom from old age and death, taking refuge in Me, - they know Brahman, the whole of Adhyatma, and Karma in its entirety.
(VII - 29)
Jara
is Old age. One who relies on Me and
puts in efforts to be liberated from Old age and death, knows Brahman,
Adhyaatma Purusha and Karma. He must be
totally reliant on Me and continue efforts as well. Reiance on Me without efforts will turn him
into Tamasik. Lazy, sleepy and adament,
he will get engrossed in acquisition of worldly objects and pleasures. Effort without reliance on Me, will make him
arrogant and stiff. He should put in his
efforts and leave everything, including fruits unto Me.
What
ought to be his efforts? Realizing
Paramaatman is impossible so long importance and priority for body and the
worldly objects remain alive. The only
effort by the seeker is to use Viveka and try to gradually eliminate importance
of body and the world. This effort is to
be put in with total reliance on Him. He
may get liberated from old age and death.
The body is sure to get old and die.
For the seeker, with the importance of body eliminated and with complete
reliance on Him, it is only the body which gets old and dies, not Self.
Rely
on Me. Surrender to Me. Dedicate on Me. Shri Krishna often repeats these words. This is very tough and hence has to be
reminded again and again. Once, I
started for airport with a friend in his car.
Finding a parking space there, is a very tough job. As we left the house, he prayed loudly, “God,
Please arrange a parking lot for me without difficulty.” We reached the airport and entered parking
area and there was a parking space right in front of us. Immediately, the friend said, “Oh God! don’t you bother. I have found one.” Whether I get or do not get is your
will. It is your wish whether I complete
my effort or not. Reach or not, solve or
not, everything is your will and pleasure.
I am not bothered. I have no
desire. I have no plan. I perform actions according to my attitude,
only because mind will drag me downwards if I remain idle. The completion and result is totally your
wish.
He
will know the Brahman. That is not known
by senses, mind and the Buddhi. That is
beyond Gunas. That has been described
only through indirect and suggestive words in texts, because That is beyond
words. ‘He will know My true
Nature.’ He will know Brahman. He will know the Tattva that is behind and is
the cause of everything in this world.
He will know that Self is different from the body. He will know that Self is but an essence of,
a drop of the Brahman. He will know all
Karmas, know the secret of creation, the cause of creation. He will know that creation is action by
Prakriti and will know that Karma does not bind Self. When Shri Krishna says, ‘He will know’, He
does not mean knowing intellectually. He
will realize. He will experience.
Shri
Ramakrishna says: “What is a fruit? The outer shell, seed, fiber and pulp,
everything together is the fruit. We
remove outer shell or peel, the seed and the fibers and eat only the pulp and
claim to have eaten the fruit. Is it not
a foolish claim? Similarly, the devotee
who has experienced the bliss of Nitya, Nirguna, Niraakaara Paramaatman, knows
that the world in form, perishable, is also a Leela of the Paramaatman, beyond
forms and attributes.
-\-
साधिभूताधिदैवं मां साधियज्ञं च ये विदुः ।
प्रयाणकालेsपि च मां ते विदुर्युक्तचेतसः ॥ ३० ॥Those who know Me with the Adhibhoota, the Adhidaiva, and the Adhiyajna, (continue to) know Me even at the time of death, steadfast in mind.
(VII - 30)
Adhibhootam is lives
with physical bodies. Adidaivam is the
Divine power behind this creation. It is
also called the Purusha. Brahma, Vishnu,
Maheshwar and other Gods are Adhidaivam.
Adhiyagyam is the Paramaatman, Nirguna, Niraakaara, doing nothing and
beyond everything else. The one who
knows Me as all these three reaches Me on departure from the world.
He
refers to the Shri Krishna in bodily form, when He says ‘Me’. Anyone who knows Me as the Whole, as all the
three together, reaches the Paramaatman.
The worshipper worships Saguna or Nirguna Paramaatman. In Saguna worship, there can be Saakaara or
Niraakaara worship. Every devotee,
whether he worships Nirguna or Saguna, a form or the Formless, has got direct
experience of the Paramaatman.
Ultimately, all is One.
-\-
ॐ तत्सदिति श्रीमद्भगवद्ग़ीतासूपनिषत्सु ब्रह्मविद्यायां योगशास्त्रे श्रीकृष्णार्जुनसंवादे ज्ञानविज्ञानयोगो नाम सप्तमोsध्यायः
Thus concludes ‘Gyaana
Vigyaana Yog’, the seventh chapter in the grand dialogue between Shree Krishna
and Arjuna, called the Shreemad Bhagawad Geetha, which is verily an Upanishad,
elaborating on ‘The Divine Knowledge’ and also describing the ‘Way to Godhood’.
\\\\\ HARIH OM TAT SAT \\\\\
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