PHRASES IN THE GITA - 152

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PHRASES IN THE GITA - 152

आवेश्य मनाः  ... (अध्याय १२ - श्लोक २)
ஆவேஶ்ய மனாஹ  ... (அத்யாயம் 12 - ஶ்லோகம் 2)
Aaveshya Manaah ...  (Chapter 12 - Shlokam 2)

Meaning :  Firmly fixed Mind ..

Shri Krishna uses this phrase while discussing Saguna Saakaara Bhakti or Devotion to a Form ..  "Mind firmly fixed on Me" is the first condition laid by Shri Krishna for devotees of this kind ..

Firm on Only One ..  Firm on 'Thee .. Only Thee'  Firm on worship of Thee' ..

Extra ordinary situations challenge firmness or strength of our minds ..  The mind may seem to be firm and fixed during normal times ..  A mild storm in life may blow it and uproot it ..  We come across persons who worship and do Pooja for years and yet stop worshiping and throw away the God Form on death of son or a dear one ..  There are some 'Honest' persons who remain unperturbed by smaller amounts of bribe or commission offered , but buckle under pressure of huge unimaginable amounts ..  There are persons who face difficulties arising in life with a smile , but the tenacity of their minds breaks down with challenges continuing over a longer period of time or when tougher and harsher difficulties arise ..

There are many examples of men , otherwise great and reputed men , firmness of whose minds has been shattered by extra ordinary situation arising in life and they fall .  No use discussing those examples ..Let us discuss examples of those who stood firmly and faced the severest storms in life ..  Shri Guru Gobind Singh appears first on my memory screen ..  He was a boy just entering his teen , when his father Shri Guru Tegh Bahadur was brutally beheaded by Aurangazeb for refusing to accept Islam and the head brought to young Gobind ..  He resolved to re-orient attitude of Hindu society and organize it militarily .  Naturally , he must have faced successes and failures , insults and cheers in the work ..  He had to carry on many military struggles against the sadist mughal Aurangazeb ..  He faced many victories and defeats ..  He had bear death of not one but four sons , the elder two , aged 16 and 13 , died in battles against the Muslim army and the younger two , aged 10 and 7 , were buried in wall built of limestone for refusal to accept Islam ..  Shri Guru Gobind faced betrayal of men whom he trusted ..  But .. Shri Guru Gobind Singh was as though made of steel .. His mind remained calm , firm and fixed , in all these situations ..  Wahe Guru !!

Whether it was his youth when he carried doubts and questions in his mind and enthusiastically chased men of reverence for answers , whether it was his last few days when he carried disease in his body and he calmly rested in the Himalayas , whether it was the most testing period when his family faced acute shortage of funds and wreathed under the burden of debts or during those days when he brought in huge amounts from Amerika for establishing the Ramakrishna Mission , whether it was the Parivrajaka days when he walked all over Bharat anonymously as a nameless , faceless wanderer or post Chicago conference days of immense popularity , whether it were the days when he had to starve and did not have proper place for rest and sleep or those days post Chicago Conference , when he was the privileged guest of richest and most influential men and was offered the best foods and comforts .  his mind was the same ... firm and fixed ..  That was Swami Vivekananda ..