A Quintessence ofUddhava Gita

Swami Shantananda Puri

Parvathamma C.P. Subbaraju SettyCharitable Trust

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A Quintessence of Uddhava Gita

Author : Sri Swami Shantananda Puri

© Publisher : Parvathamma c.P. Subbaraju SettyCharitable Trust

13/8, Pampa Mahakavi RoadShankarapuramBangalore - 560 004.Ph. : 080 - 22423011

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First Edition: Curi Poornima (17th July 2008)

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ii

b.. _

H.H. Srimad Swami Purushottamanandaji Maharaj

SAMARPAN

This book

is dedicated with veneration

to the Lotus Feet of

my revered Guru

Swami PurushottamanandajiVasishtha Guha, U.P., Himalayas

- Swami Shantananda Puri

iii

Introduction-------'Dddhava Gita' forms the major part of the11th Skandha (known as the Jnanaskandha)of Srimad Bhagavatam authored by Vyasa.Vallabhacharya, the founder of'Suddhadvaita' philosophy has given thename "Samadhi Bhasha"* (the language ofthe state of Super Consciousness) toBhagavatam. Profound meanings will berevealed if we maditate on each sloka,which may be far from the meanings givenin the· dictionary as also by thecommentators. Even if we understand it in

an ordinary way it can help us substantiallyin our spiritual progress.

It almost starts with the episode of thenaked monk (Avadhoota) and his 24 Gurus.

* iRr: ~'t>Wlql<t!-lIH <X.Iltl~If(J1 ~ m~ ~ >n=nui d=lnl\Go!.l~11

v

The story is symbolic. The one who couldmake the entire existence - a worm, a bee,an elephant, a bird, a serpent and even aprostitute as one's Guru required no otherformal Guru. A Guru is a small window

into the Infinite. If you can learn from theriver and the mountain, sun and the moon,the flora and the fauna, the Infinite itselfwould become your Guru.

Osho, in one of his books has narrated thestory of Hassan, a great Sufi saint.Somebody asked him at his death bed as towho was his Guru. Hassan said - "Do notask me now. You cannot understand even

if I tell you. I am waiting for my friend Mr.Death. I do not have much time to make

you understand." His disciple insisted ­"Now that you are going, please do notleave us in suspense permanently. There isstill time for you. Please tell us atleastbriefly."

Hassan began to narrate - "In my youngdays I was once sitting on the bank of a

vi

river, when a dog came there. When it bentdown and saw the waters of the river,another dog was seen inside the waters. Hewas afraid. When he barked at the secondone, the latter could be seen barking inreturn. The dog was very thirsty. Its thirstwas so torturing that it had to jump intothe river in spite of its fear, after hesitatingagain and again and shaking with terror.The moment it plunged into the river, thesecond dog disappeared and it was notseen. After all, the second dog was its ownimage - a shadow. It never existed. Thisdog was my first Guru. All our fears areour own shadows. Jump into the Infiniteand the duality will disappear. The onewhose thirst for the Lord is intense has to

take the leap with all his fears and doubts.Nothing ventured, nothing gained. This wasthe lesson, the most valuable one, I learntfrom the Dog, my first Guru. In due coursethere were many more such Gurus."

These lessons based on real experiencewhich can come to us from the entirety of

vii

Existence are more direct and betterabsorbed in our mind than what we cangather from the formal Gurus (of coursethe role of a Sadguru in life has its ownsupreme place).

Uddhava Gita has not left untouched anyimportant factor contributing to ourprogress in spirituality - e.g. Satsanga orholy company, Yoga, Jnana, Scientificanalysis of bondage, mukti and sufferingsor miseries, bhakti etc. The special featureis the short cuts in sadhana delineated bythe compassionate Lord when Uddhavapointed out the difficulty in controlling themind which was the main part of thesadhana in the various types of paths.

As the title 'Uddhava Gita' suggests, LordKrishna speaks here from the level of thedisciple in a language comprehensible tothe seekers while, in Bhagavad Gita, theLord has talked from His supreme height.After all, Uddhava Gita is a very smallchunk out of the large Gulabjamun called

viii

Srimad Bhagavatam whose every word isseeped in the syrup (Rasa vai Sah) calledthe Supreme Lord. May this text induce thereaders not familiar with SrimadBhagavatam to go through it and beendowed with its blessings.

Love and Hari OM

-Swami Shantananda Puri

ix

Sri Swami Shantananda Puri

CHAPTER-I

A Quintessence of Uddhava Gita

Introduction

Out of the numerous Gitas like the

Bhagavad Gita, Surya Gita, Brahma Gita,Siva Gita, Rama Gita etc, extant nowadays,Bhagavad Gita and Uddhava Gita are givenmaximum importance as both these Gitashave come out of the mouth of Lord Krishna

Himself who was verily the BrahmanAbsolute. The main difference is that theformer i.e., the Bhagavad Gita (sung byBhagavan) has been titled so in order toemphasise that the author is BhagavanKrishna himself and the subject matter of theGita is also Bhagavan. In Uddhava Gita, theemphasis is on the eminence of the discipleUddhava whom Krishna wants to make a

repository of all the knowledge of all the

paths for liberation so that it may be passedon to the posterity undistorted by time.Srimad Bhagavatam describes1 Uddhava asthe best among those belonging to thelineage of Vrishni, as the most beloved ofKrishna, the most intelligent and both aminister and a companion of the Lord. He isone of the three persons who have beengiven the title of 'Haridasa' in Srimad

Bhagavatam, the other two being KingYudhishtira and Govardhana mountain.

Uddhava Gita occurs in the Eleventhskandha(part) of Srimad Bhagavatam (verseno. 19of chapter 7 to verse no. 34 of chapter29 - Total 1030 verses). One strikingsimilarity in both these Gitas is as follows.In Bhagavad Gita, when once Arjuna wasbeset with grief on account of his ignoranceand ultimately surrendered2 himself to the

1 ~ >rcrU l1r5fi ~ ~; mID I

~ ~; m~ ~r.&~'Ol-f;II (XI-46-1)

2 ~; ~IGl~ct ~ ~

~~ m lfi ('qf ~ II (B.G. 11-2)

2

Lord, an excellent pathway to liberation, a

yoga, flowed out of the divine lips ofSri Krishna and the first chapter of that Gitawas rightly known as 'Vishada Yoga'. In thesame way, when Uddhava feels unhappyand grieves over the impending separationfrom Krishna who is preparing to depart forhis Divine Domain, leaving the world, hesurrenders3 himself at the feet of the Lord,when again the unparalleled compassion ofthe Lord flows out of His lips in the form ofUddhava Gita. Further when once theinstructions are over, both avow4 that theirdelusion has been dispelled.

In Bhagavad Gita Krishna finally exhortsArjuna to take up his bow and arrows andfulfil his duties as a kshatriya by fightingwith the Kauravas. In Uddhava Gita,

3 f.rfciuur~ ~ ~~ ~ muT ~ II (Bhagavata XI-7-18)

4 (a) ~~; ~m C"qC">l~I~Irl-f<lI~d (B.G. XVIII-73)

(b) 1cls:,llcldl ~ lfGFqq;ffi

<:r 31Tf~ it ('fCf ~~ I (Bhagavata XI-29-37)

3

Krishna commands Uddhava to return to theforest of Badri and live the life of a reclusewith all austerities practised as per Hisinstructions merging his speech and themind in the Lord. This is because of thedifference in the fitness (Adhikari Bedha) ofthe two respective devotees.

While the Bhagavad Gita instructsArjuna on the various Yoga paths and thesadhanas in a plain unadorned language, inUddhava Gita Krishna intersperses hisdiscourse with a lot of parable-like and otherillustrations so that it will be easier tounderstand and remember it too besidesbeing attractive enough to make it moreinteresting for an aspirant.

4

CHAPTER-II

The Story of the Avadhoota

Krishna starts his discourse by sayinghow the aspirants with an enquiring anddiscriminative mind try to rid themselves oftheir latent undesirable tendencies (vasanas)by contemplation. Even by observingNature, including the insentient objects likethe trees, mountains, water, the birds,animals, reptiles etc, which are all aroundus, one can get a lot of lessons, negative aswell as positive, which will equip us in ourquest for liberation and teach us how toremain happy while living our life in thisworld. In illustrating it, Krishna starts withthe story of an Avadhoota Brahmin, a nakedBrahmin (presumed to be Lord Dattatreyahimself) who was always bubbling withirrepressible and ebullient inner joy. A kingcalled Yadu, who saw this holy manwandering fearlessly, asked him the secret

5

of his never-waning happiness while allpeople around him were burning in theuntold miseries of this world. While the latter

were involved in this world being motivatedby Dharma, earning of wealth and getting ~all the desires for enjoyment in this worldfulfilled (Dharma, Artha and Kama), theAvadhoota was found moving without asingle purpose or desire, sometimes like adull fellow (though his scholarliness wasevident), sometimes like a child or a madman. The Avadhoota began to narrate howhe had twenty-four masters (Gurus) innature, from whom he learnt various lessons

as to how to get liberated and live happilyirrespective of the environment, by applyinghis intelligence.

The 24 gurus were :- earth, air, space,water, fire, moon, sun, pigeon, python,ocean, moth, honey-bee, elephant, honeygatherer, deer, fish, Pingala-a prostitute,osprey (a small bird), a child, an unmarried

6

maiden, arrowsmith, a serpent, a spider anda wasp. The Avadhoota began to expoundin detail the lessons learned from each :-

The mother earth5 is reputed for itsforbearance and tolerance. It remainsunmoved and undisturbed however much

people may subject it to suffering bystamping and treading on it hard withbooted feet and by wetting it with theirspittle, and urine etc. Even though othersmay perpetrate atrocities on us out ofignorance and also due to the will of theprovidence, we should remain unmoved likethe earth and continue to walk on our own

path, as the sorrows we get are ascribed toour destiny.

The mountains and the trees are onlymodifications of the earth. They exist onlyfor serving others (by giving fruits, shelter,

5 ~\lstJ~j.jI\J~sfi:r mu ~qq:(lIj~: I

~ ~ ~~o-j.jllil ~a.f f~11 (XI-7-37)

7

shade, etc). In the same way, one shouldlearn to live a life devoid of selfishness

devoting oneself solely to actions which willpromote the welfare of other people.

2.. I learnt from the air which has becomemy vital force (Prana ) that one shouldremain content with the food just adequatefor maintaining one's body and not go afterthings which attract one's senses like thepala te so tha tone's mind, speech andknowledge do not get dispersed.

The external air6 in the atmospherearound us wanders over all the places andobjects but it does not imbibe thecharacteristics or qualities of the latter. In thesame way while moving in the world withvarious types of people we should remainuntainted by the atmosphere. We should notgo on absorbing all the defects and

6 (qCj~lx:lIRl~I'i. <Wft ~~ fICfu: I

~VI<;ICj<X.l~dl\l-l1 ~ ~ ~II (XI-7-40)

8

weaknesses of other people and should notalso develop any attachment or revulsiontowards any of them. Theair carries the smellof objects it comes into contact with butremains pure in itself. So also even thoughwe carry our body with us including itsdiseases, ,hunger, thirst, etc., we shouldremain detached from the body by seeingourselves as the pure Atman.

3. The all pervasive Akasa (Space)pervades7 everywhere both inside andoutside all the gross objects like pots,furniture, houses etc.but continues to remainas one integral space, undivided or not cutby the objects and unpolluted. The AbsoluteSupreme Being (Brahman) also (having noform of its own like the electric energy)pervades all beings - moveable andimmoveable - as their very self (Atman). It

7 3-ird~d:(-q ~ ~'l1fCR ~l-l...q~..j I

~ <X.lq~<;-l-l~'l'fl-ll\l-l..jl ~~ ~

~II (XI-7-42)

9

remains unattached with and uninfluenced

by the body. Just as the same electricitypervades all the bulbs, one should considerhis own Self as pervading all the bodies ofall beings. It remains one whole withoutbeing divided.

4. Water, by its natureS, is pure, sweet todrink, friendly to all (wets everything) andis capable of purifying us. In the same way,a seeker on the spiritual path should besweet, kind to all an'd capable ofcommunicating his vibrations of sanctityand purity towards all who come intocontact with him.

5· Fire is always glowing with itseffulgence and full of light which cannot beovertaken and suppressed by others. It neveraccumulates any objects but absorbs themall into its stomach (by reducing them toashes). Even though it eats all types of things

8 ~:~: ~m lfI~~ I

~: ~ ~~ll-l:"HlcQ~: II (XI-7-44)

10

(good and bad) indiscriminately, it nevergets polluted by the latter's defects. Oneshould emulate fire on these aspects byremaining shining with one's austerities, notquelled by the senses, keeping one's mindand senses under control and not allowing

anybody's defects to creep into one.

Fire9 has no form of its own. It just takeson the form of the fuel it consumes becomingas long and as wide like the wood used asfuel. An aspirant should understand that ina like way, the Self (Atman) has no specificform ofits own but projects itselfin the formsof the various objects of the world andpervades the entire world created by it inthe form of cause and effect.

6. As a resultlO of the passage of time, thedigits of the moon wax and wane but their

9 ~ CM1T mID ~~: I

ucf~a.1lsfq ~ ~ l-lc1l-lf?!qCl.,1I(XI-7-45)

10 IclWI"';.lI::{l-l~lIo1lrdl: \l1Cll ~~: I

, . r> ~ ct>1~o1l~mq('~o1ll1 (XI-7-48)

11

core i.e., the Moon as such remainsunchanged. The lesson is that birth, growthand death are all only for our bodies whilethe Self (Atman) remains the same withoutany change.

7. The SunIl absorbs water from the earthand in proper time releases it in the form ofrain. Soalso a yogi may absorb the vibrations(in the form of smell, taste, form, touch, etc)from the various objects through his sensesbut should renounce them when the time

comes. At no time he should get attached tothem.

When the Sun shines reflected in thewater in the various vessels, it is the foolishpeople who consider the various reflectionsas different ones while the Sun remains oneand the same.

In the same way, it is the one Self(Atman) who is reflected in the body-mind

11 ~oli1ull:1,YI~~(J~ ~~I

";J ~ ~ <ITrft ~ ~ ~: II (XI-7-50)

12

complex of various persons as if they areseparate Jivas (individual souls). The wiseaspirant should learn from this that there isonly one Self which is reflected differentlyin various bodies.

S. One should not cultivate excessive loveor attachment towards anybody. Anybodycontravening this principle will have to rueit when confronted with miseries andsorrows as in the following story of a pigeon.

There lived a pigeon and his wife in anest on a tree in a jungle. The couple were

closely attached to each other and alwaysmoved together wherever they flew. In duecourse they got children and both of themloved their children dearly. They were soinvolved with each other that no thoughtsof death or the other world ever crossed their

mind. One day when the parent pigeons hadgone out in search of food for the children, ahunter caught all the fledglings inside thenest by throwing his net over them. When

13

the parents returned home, the she-pigeonbecame highly upset and miserable on seeingthe pitiable plight of her children strugglinginside the net. Forgetting her own body, shevoluntarily fell into the net and got herselfentangled in it. On seeing this the pigeonbegan to wail and lament thus :-

Oh my Lord, my dear wife who alwaysdoted on me and never failed to execute even

a single command of mine has abandonedme and leaving the house vacant isproceeding to heaven along with all thechildren. With all my children and wife deadwhat purpose will be served by mycontinuing to live alone in misery?

On seeing his wife and childrenstruggling to escape from this certain death,the pigeon also deliberately fell into the net.The hunter, happy in the prospect of asumptuous lunch took all the pigeons withhim and went home.

A householder, who finds happiness inthe company of objects of senses loses his

14

mental peace while looking after his familyand becomes extremely miserable like the

pigeon. This human body12may be deemedas an open door to liberation. Havingobtained it, the person who wastes it bybeing attached to his family and house likethe pigeon in this story is the one who havingascended substantially falls down (AroodhaChuta).

12 <:f: >nt<l ~ ~ ~~lil~~I.\I~<1~J

~ ~ BUi: <1~I~<D~d ~: II (XI-7-74)

15

CHAPTER - III

Avadhoota's story continued

The naked mendicant continued thedetails of his 24 Gurus from Nature.

q. A python never goes out in search offood. It remains lying in one place for daystogether and eats whatever comes on its way,small or big. So also a person should remainindifferent13 to food and should eat whatever

he gets, tasty or not, small or big irrespectiveof its quality or quantity as decreed by

. destiny just like a python, without makingany efforts to go and seek food. Even thoughhe may possess enough strength of mind andstrength of all the senses, a person shouldremain bereft of all actions lying down as ifasleep. This is a lesson to be learnt from thepython.

13 nm ~ fcm{ ~ «flch~q err I

';\ r''':\ :\.sfsf;<:r: II (XI-8-2)

16

10. The ocean neIther overnows In raInyseason due to the abundant water from the

rivers flowing into it nor does it get dried

up in summer. In the same way one shouldlearn neither to exult in prosperity nor to feel

unhappy in adversity. A seeker shouldremain bubblingI4 with joy, fathomless,

profound, deep, unperturbed and free fromall limitations like the ocean.

r I. A mothlS with its fatal attraction for lightand fire, perishes by immolation into the fire.

Similarly, a foolish person blind with passionfalls into the fire-like pitfalls of sex, gold,

ornaments, c10things etc. (the products of

Maya) being tempted by the prospects of

14 (a) ~: ~mu ~1cf'1I~1~: I3io1rdlll~ Q1~'RJ: I«tf'ldl<:; ~: II (XI-8-5)

(b) ~~""chll-ll ~ err o1l~I<!.IUlll~~: I

~ ~ ~ ~fl.~fl.q "flllR: II (XI-8-6)

15 <!.I'I~~~U<!.lI'l-t~UIII.."wR ~ l-lI<!.lI~Rld?!~: I

~~ ~'liM ~urr lld'l'j·q';F(<!.Iid~: II (XI-8-B)

17

enjoyment and not being capable ofcontrolling the senses.

12 . A mendicant16should survive on a lifeof alms by begging, like a honey-bee, a littleat a time from each house (MadhukariBiksha)just adequate for the maintenance ofhis body in order that he may not become aburden to the donor-householders.

Just as a bee collects the essence (thehoney) from a number of flowers (big andsmall), in the same way, a wise man shouldabsorb the essentials from all types ofscriptures (small and big).

A monk should not keep and store foodfor the evenings or for the next day. Heshould use his hand and stomach as a vessel

for taking the food and keeping it; otherwisehe will perish like the honey-bee whichstores the honey and finally meets its deathwhen the honey stored up is taken away byother people.

16 00 00 ~ ~ ~ qffiy <:rfCfffi I

lJQI-1fc;t1<jlfdB~~ lfTwR1 lJf.r: II (XI-8-9)

18

13,. A mendicant should not touch17even awooden icon of other sex and should keepaway from such company. This lesson canbe learnt by seeing a male elephant which isgot seduced by a tame cow elephant andthen caught and bound.

1i. Even though the greedy people18of thisworld accumulate a lot of money by workingfor it, they neither enjoy it themselves nordo they give it away in charity. Ultimatelythat money will be plundered and enjoyedby somebody else just as the honey storedby the bees is taken away by the honey­gatherer.

15. The deer,19which run away from thehunters, are halted, lured and caught as they

17 ~ ~ N~ ~ «1(cl1~fyI

~ Cfitlq ~dm C!1ftmrr ~: II (XI-8-13)

18 ;r ~;ftcr~ 'Cl W~ ~:<Sfffi~1

~ ~ ~ l1~~~11 (XI-8-15)

19 ~I~lnd;r ~ ~fdcf-1-q(:~I

-m~ ~ ~o&l.-l;Ill~llrrdl.i\l~dl~1I (XI-8-17)

19

stop in their tracks being tempted by thelilting music from the flutes played by thehunters. This is a lesson for a wanderingmonk not to hear wordly songs or music.

A question was once raised withBhagwan Ramana Maharshi as to whetherone could realize God through music.Bhagwan remained quiet withoutanswering. When the lady repeated herquestion and added that saints likeSaint Tyagaraja (founder of Carnatic music)Saint Purandaradasa and Saint Meera gotGod only through their devotional songs,Bhagwan told :- 1/ Those saints did not get itby singing but on the contrary sang whatthey got./I Ihave come across a number ofsinging monks who were experts in musicand scriptures and used to sing in concertsand cassettes, came into contact withadmiring young women and it ended inmarriages even though the monks were intheir forties or fifties, with years of sanyasbehind them.

20

16. A person under the sway of theinexorable delights of the palate is caughtand drawn to death just as a fish is baitedand trapped by the thorned hook with apiece of meat, as he loses his discriminativewisdom.

A person who has controlled all his20

senses except the palate cannot be declaredto have conquered his senses so long as hedoes not conquer his palate. When a personhas won over his attraction towards taste hecan be deemed to have conquered all.

17- Now comes the story of Pingala, aprostitute. Pingala was a prostitute inMithila, a city ruled by King Janaka. Oneday, she dressed herself and decoratedherself beautifully in order that some richcustomers may get attracted to her. She wasfondly hoping that some rich fellow willcome to her and pay her generously for

·20 <llq~dR<!·il ~ ~ fq~dl..2jR<l: ~I

~~~~~~~II (XI-8-21)

21

enjoying a few hours with her. For more thanhalf the night she continued to wait at herdoorstep, with unfulfilled hope, losing hersleep. Slowly she began to lose hope and herface became pale and sunken withdisappointment. By the grace of God, anintense dispassion ( vairagya ) suddenlyarose in her mind. Her mind became

detached from all wordly desires and sheburst into a song of dispassion. TheAvadhoota, at this stage of the story, warnedthe king that a man is always hangingfrom the gallows of desire and the onlysword which can cut it off is vairagya(dispassion). Nobody can get out of thebondage of the body without detachment.Now the Avadhoota repeated the song21

sung by Pingala repenting the life offolly led by her so far:-

What an ignoramus I have been that Ihad ignored such a nice customer (The

21 ~~~~~H("".l~~~1

~ ~:"@wrrfullilq,l.i'1l5~~~ ~ ~~ II (XI-8-31)

22

Supreme Lord) who was always very nearto me and who was capable of giving me reallove, pleasure and plenty of wealth. He is alover who is eternal. Ignoring him, I havebeen after insignificant men who had no lovefor me and were capable of giving memiseries, fear, worry and sorrow only. Whoelse but myself could be attached to such adespicable body full of bones and fleshcovered by a skin with hair and nails, havingnine outlets out of which urine, faeces etc.are ever flowing out. I am perhaps the onlyperson in this city of videhas (liberatedpeople) who has been desiring for personsother than the Lord who is always preparedto give Himself to us. ThisLord ismy master,a well wisher of all beings, friend, mybeloved and my own Self. In future I shallrevel only in the Lord who has beencompassionate enough to arouse vairagyain me. I am leaving all my desires and takerefuge at His feet. In future I shall be contentwith whatever money or comforts come myway as per the prarabdha (decree of

23

destiny).Thus she went back to her bed tocatch some sleep with a peaceful mind.

The naked mendicant concluded22 this

story saying :- "Desire is the greatest misery.Vairagya or dispassion is the greatesthappiness. When once Pingala got rid of herdesire for the night customer, she was ableto sleep in happiness."

22 3lmT f% "!Wi ~:-ci~ "!Wi~I

(:f~ ~ ct>1r{11~li wsi ~ ~ II (XI-8-44)

24

CHAPTER-IV

Conclusion of Avadhoota's

story of 24 Gurus

Avadhoota continues:-

ta. A kurara bid (osprey) which managedto get a piece of flesh was attacked by otherstronger birds. Only when it dropped thepiece of flesh, it became happy and peaceful.The lesson learnt23 from this story is thataccumulation of possessions which are likedbest, leads to strife and unhappiness. A wiseman who possesses nothing lives in infinitehappiness.

/9. Neither honour24 or dishonour perturbsme nor do I worry about my house and

23 Wrm?t f% ~:~ ~ '4~'4d~ ~I

~ ~(9I-milid ~ ~ '4~fct,-q-1: II (XI-9-1)

24 ~ it l-Il-1IQl-ll-1'1 «it ~ FRn ~Q~Glulil-fJ

~ ~-fcf-q~~n ~II (XI-9-3)

25

children. Iwander like a child revelling inmy own Self and finding entertainment inmy own Self.

will be gossiping. One should always movealone like a single bangle in the hand of themaiden.

20. Now the mendicant tells the story of a 2-1. An arrowsmith26 was so absorbinglyyoung unmarried girl and her bangles. An engaged in his work in his shop that he wasunmarried poor maiden was pounding not aware of what was going on inside orgrains in a mortar with a pestle, in the sly, in outside. Thus he failed to notice even theorder to feed the guests who had come to king who was passing by that way. Likewise,see the girl for a probable alliance for one should keep his mind concentratedmarriage. She was alone and she did not one-pointedly on his Self. The mind is to bewant the guests to know that she was too brought under control by breath controlpoor to keep a servant. When she found that exercises, by remaining vigilant and withthejinglingsoundofthebanglesinherhands vairagya and repeated practise. By thuswould alert the guests, she removed all the keeping the mind firmly on the Lord, thebangles till only one was left in each hand Sattva guna increases while the Rajogunaand no sound came out of it. The Avadhoota and Tamoguna wane away. Then the mindhappened to be at that place at that time. He becomes quiescent.

learnt25a lesson from the young maiden that, '1 A b h b 'ld• -L.. • serpent never ot ers to Ul a nestwhenever several people lIve together, there f't b 'd . h' h h f' .. 0 1sown ut res1 es WIt In t e oles 0 awIll anse stnfe and quarrel among them. d t t b'l b h' /.. mu s ruc ure Ul t Y w Ite ants ratsEven Ifonly two persons lIve together, they _

25 cnit~~~~1

~ ~ ·tj(\1*"iI<1 ~ ~ ~: II (XI-9-10)

26

26 O~ql-lI("l-l~q(lo&~\1I;r ~ m~~ Cffl

Gf~ ~ Sl"1o"{1~tfl TRmll1;r~ ~II

(XI-9-13 )

27

entire universe through His Maya and

destroying it in due course of time at the endof each of the four yugas. Lord alone is real.

without advertising its presence. Thefollowing lesson was learnt from the serpentthat a mendicant should never build an

ashram or any shelter. He should live incaves etc., as a man of few words in such a2.Y .. A worm is kept inside a muddy nestway that nobody would find out from his with a hole by a wasp and it lives in constantbehaviour and conduct, that he is a great fear of the wasp stinging it. It is constantlysaint. Building a house27 for an impermanent thinking of the wasp so that eventually itbody will entail a lot of sufferings and one identifies itself with the form of the waspshould emulate a serpent which lives without abandoning its original form. Ihappily in the shelter prepared by other learnt29 that if a being keeps its mindanimals etc. ; one-pointedly on any object either out of

love, hatred or fear it attains that form.23, A spider brings28 out through its mouth

the fineweb string from its inside and havingmoved in that web for some time retrieves it

and puts it into its stomach again. In the sameway, the supreme God plays by creating the

27 ~.sRr ~:"@]<:f fcll/'>~~-ql~: I

wi: ~ ~ ~ ~~II (XI-9-15)

28 <J~"3iUTT ~ Cfc.BRf: I

w.n ~ ~ ~ ~: II (XI-9-21)

28

After narrating the lessons learnt fromall the 24 Gurus, mostly from Nature, theAvadhoota finally says30that his own bodyhas been the greatest of all Gurus as it is the

29 ~~>Rl~~~ftr<nl~ ~ ~<.!I<i,qlfY<JTffid\1ct-t~'-ldll-UI (XI-9-22)

30 ~ ~ fcl~~fcl~ct>~Q~~ fl1 ~ (-tddl~~.tJ.f Id~I~~oi fcll-l:tll~ <J~ (f~ 1:fl{Cf<l r> C') ~

(' -: II (XI-9-25)

29

cause of detachment and discrimination. It

is always subject to birth and death and goes,on giving us sorrow after sorrow. Eventhough this body had been helpful to him incontemplating on the Reality, he neverconsidered it as belonging to him. Sosaying,he detached himself from any attachment tothe body and he was wandering aroundhappily.

In conclusion, the Avadhoota gave apertinent advice31 to King Yadu as follows:-

After countless births in lower yonis(species) we have got this precious humanbirth. Hence we should try at the earliest toget liberation as quickly as possible beforedeath overtakes us. Thepurpose of the entirelife is to get Moksha and not to revel in

material pleasures. The enjoyment ofsensuouS objects can be had in any yoni asan animal or a bird or even an insect.

Dattatreya, the mendicant, took leave ofthe king and went away. On hearing theseinstructions King Yadu was able to renounceall attachments and become a man of equalVlSlOn.

31 ~u:n ~ ~ ~~ ~H~~41Q ®::I

~ ~ ~ lld~:!~~~ f.r:~ ~: ~ wffl:

~II (XI-9-29)

30 31

CHAPTER-V

Liberation and Bhakti

Krishna continues his discourse.

A sadhaka should completely surrenderhimself to the supreme Lord and shouldfollow the laws pertaining to his station andstatus in life as promulgated by the LordHimself (in Gita etc). He should observe thedos and donts (yama and niyama)prescribed in the scriptures and should servea Guru who has the knowledge of theSupreme Lord, considering him as GodHimself. He should be skilful in all hisactions and having no sense of possession,should be indifferent towards his wife,children, land ,wealth and relations. It is thethree Gunas (Sattva,Rajasand Tamas)whichare responsible for the building up of thegross body. It isbecause of our identificationwith the body considering it as our Self thatthe transmigration of our subtle soul i.e.

32

rebirths take place. All external actionsmotivated by desires result in miseries. It isbecause the Jiva considers his body as theSelf that we are subject to the cycle of birthand death. It is the three Gunas (Sattva, Rajasand Tamas) which prompt us to do actions.If we have a prominence of Sattva guna inus, we go for Satsanga, we do charity, westudy scriptures and we worship God etc. Ifwe have the prominence of Rajo guna, itmakes us run about here and there andengage ourselves in activities, like buildinghospitals, temples and schools and in theprocess, desires and anger are generated.Excessive Tamo guna results in indolence,lack of vigilance and procrastination. As youconsider the body as your Sel( you considerthe actions as having been done by you andits results-the sins and virtues - also asaccruing to you and thus you are subject topleasure and pain. So long as we considerthe body as ours on account of the influenceof the gunas, we cannot experience that thereis only one undivided Self which isoccupying all the bodies and there is nomultiplicity at all.

33

Uddhava was bewildered. He asks

Krishna to tell him by what qualities aliberated soul is recognized and as to howto get rid of the gunas to reach that state.Just as in the dream, a dream world is createdwhich looks real (but actually unreal),similarly this world is also unreal. When onegets the knowledge of the Self as to who oneis, one becomes liberated. The one who hasnot made any Self-enquiry and has notattained Self-knowledge continues to bebound and suffers. Even though I may be amillionaire sleeping with lakhs of rupees inmy pocket, the moment I see myself as abeggar in the dream, I identify myself withthe body of the beggar and become unhappywith my poverty. The moment I wake up Ibecome aware of who I am and the sorrows

suffered as a beggar cease.

A liberated person does not considerhimself as the doer of any action as all actionstake place in the Totality and the bodies areonly instruments through which the Totalityseems to work. So he is not at all concerned

with what happens in this world drama. He

34

is undifferentiated in his outlook and has aneven mind which has no preferences orchoice. Whether somebody does a work wellor in a bad way, he neither praises norrebukes. He does not do, talk about or think

of anything as good or bad. He is alwaysdrowned in the bliss of his own Self. He is

not concerned whether people worship himor torment him.

Hence through Self enquiry32 andcontemplation, the delusion that each Self(Atman) is different and there are as manysouls as there are beings, should be removed.We should keep our pure mind concentra tedon the all-pervasive Supreme Self (Brahman)and completely withdraw ourselves from allworldly activities.

If a Sadhaka finds himself 33 unable to

keep the mind concentrated on the Supreme

32 ~ ~~I~~I~I(iJ ~ 'W-ll-llrl-lH I

~~1RT~~11 (XI-11-21)

33 ~ ~ 1RT~ f.r~1

1JFl wITfUr Cfl11ffUT mq8J; W1ffi II (X 1-11-22)

35

Lord, he should continue to do actions afterdedicating them all to the Lord and withoutany expectation of the fruit. He should hearthe stories of Lord's leelas and glories, thinkof them again and again and sing His glories.Thus, completely taking refuge in the Lord,he should do all actions motivated by threepurusharthas viz. Dharma, Artha and Kama.Doing like this, one gets unwavering andfirm Bhakti (Devotion) in the Lord.

Uddhava then questions Krishna aboutthe characteristics of a Sadhu (a bhakta) andhow to do Bhakti. Krishna details thecharacteristics of a Sadhu, namelycompassion, forbearance of sorrows,truthfulness, helping everybody andfreedom from desires. The one34, who at the

final stage renounces even all the laws(Dharma) prescribed by the Lord in thevarious scriptures and is solely devoted tothe service of the Lord is the best of the

34 ~ ~ ~ wn~Rf!I-1fq ~I

~ ~ "<1:~ m ~ "ff ~: II (XI-11-32)

36

Sadhus. Similarly, the one35 who devoteshimself exclusively to the Lord whether withor without any knowledge of who the Lordis and what are his attributes or glories isalso the best of the Sadhus.

The next question was how to do Bhaktii.e.what external sadhanas are to be done inthe Bhaktipa th? The following sadhanas areprescribed by Lord Krishna :-

The sadhanas are to prostrate to serveand to worship Bhagvan's idols and as alsothe devotees of the Lord, and to sing thestories and glories of the Lord. One shouldhave faith in hearing the stories of the Lordand his avatars and should continuouslymeditate on Him. One should surrender36 inLord's service whatever one earns andfinally dedicate oneself to the Lord with the

35 ~1("ql~l("ql~ it ~ m ~ "<1~ ~: I

~ -a- -q ~ l1W: II (XI-11-33)

36 l1('<fl~~~ ~urR ~ I

~~ <:;1~-1I(""iH~<:;-1~1I(XI-11-35)

37

attitude of a servant. One should undertake

pilgrimages to holy places and should takeinitiation of a Mantra from a Guru. Oneshould remain humble without the least egoand should leave off hypocrisy. Whateverfood item is offered as 'Bhog' (naivedya) to

/ any deity should not be used as offering to• the Supreme God. Even the light37 of the

lamp kept before the Lord should not beused for our purposes. I am reminded of astory. Chanakya was the mentor of KingChandragupta but was living in a smallcottage. When once a visitor went to meetChanakya, the latter was engaged in stateaffairs and doing it under the light of a bigcandle. On seeing the visitor, he put off thecandle with him and lighted a new candle.The visitor who was surprised askedChanakya as to what was the need forputting off an existing candle and to light afresh one. Chanakya said that the candle hewas using belonged to the state and he was

38

then working on something which relatedto state affairs. Now that he had to meet a

private visitor he had no right to use thegovernment candle for his personal dealingsand so he had to put it off. Similarly oneshould not use anything meant for theexclusive use of the temple or the Lord forany personal benefit to be derived.

One should worship the Lord by doingfree social service (poortha) and byperforming fire sacrifices (ishta). Servingsadhus (saints) bestows knowledge of theLord. There is no easier wafS to reach theLord except through Satsanga (company ofholy men) and Bhakti Yoga.

Glory of Satsanga:- It is only throughSatsanga (company of holy men) that one canannihilate one's attachment and desires. No

other means - neither Sankhya, Yoga,Dharma, Austerity, Renunciation, Study of

38 ~~~<lI~"i~~1

~ ~ ~~~~I<.jui 1% ~dll-lQl{1I

39

Scriptures nor social services - can draw ustowards God as Satsanga. Even animals,birds and demons who had no knowledgeof scriptures' nor had served any saintsnor had done any austerities hadGod-realization solely through the glory of5.atsanga.

40

CHAPTER-VI

God's incarnation as Hamsa

(swan) (Hansavatara)

Krishna continues his discourse to Uddhava:

Rajas, Tamas, and Sattva are the threegunas (modes) which belong to the intellect(Buddhi) and do not belong to the Self.People normally possess all the three gunasin different proportions. By increasingSattva guna, Rajas and Tamas can bequelled. Finally, through our peacefulthoughts generated by Sattva guna we haveto extinguish Sattva guna too in order to getliberation (JeevanMukti). That stage is calledgunatIta (transcending the three gunas). Thequestion is how to increase Sattva guna. Theten factors39 which influence and determine

39 ~Sq: ~ ~: CflR1: Cfllf 'q ~ 'q I

un;f lRiTS'2l ~ ~ ~: II (XI-13-4)

41

the growth and predominance of a particularguna (say Tamas or Sattva) are thefollowing:-

1. Agama: The gunas depend on whattype of books you study. If you readbooks on philosophy or religion, theyincrease your Sattva. If you read bookson Political Science and History, theyincrease your Rajo guna.

2. Apah: The type of water we drink i.e.whether it is from a holy river likeGanges or from a tap near a gutter etc.,influence your gunas .

3. Praja: What is the type of people youkeep company with or come intocontact? Do you move with saints andsadhakas or do you move with deceitfuland dishonest people or with convictsand murderers or with attractive

members of opposite sex?

42

4. Desah: How is the environment of theplace you live in? Is it conducive tomeditation and other Sadhana ?Do youlive near a temple or an ashram or doyou live in a slum area or near a cinematheatre?

5. Kalah: Do you spend your time inplaying cards for stakes or in gossip ortalking about God or scriptures or insleeping?

6. Karma: What is the type of activity inwhich you are engaged? Are you alecturer on philosophy or an assistantin a butchery or ajail worker controlling

. the convicts or are you doing sadhanadaily doing japa and prayers?

7. Janma: Whether you are born in a familyof politicians or crooked businessmenor in a family of scholars steeped in theknowledge of philosophy and religion?

8. Dhyanam: Are you meditating onthema tic deities like the crude local

43

village deities not mentioned in ourscriptures or on the Supreme Being? Doyou medi tate on household affairs orhow to serve your country?

9. Mantra: Do you do japa of mantrasrelating to ghosts, ghouls, dead peopleor gods or japa for abhichara i.e.causingharm, death, disease etc. to enemies ormantras for liberation or mantras for

getting mystic powers?

10. Sanskara: The conditioning or training

you get at home and hostel etc. areimportant. Are you trained to prostratebefore elders and saints and to serve

them or are you trained as a NCCcadet to wield a gun and a rifle?Are youtrained to pray to God for atleast tenminutes daily and to help the needy andthe poor or are you taken to the lecturesof politicians or discourses of saints?

Except for the 7th factor "Janma(birth)"rest of the factors can be changed to our

44

benefit by choosing those which will increaseSattwaguna. As 'Janma' is fixed bydestiny, the choice looks limited. Even here,when one is aware that he is handicappedby this factor, he can certainly make extraefforts to make up for it by his sadhana as inthe case of Prahlada who was born in the

family of demons to Hiranyakasipu who wasa sworn enemy of the Supreme Lord but henever swerved from his faith in God and acontinuous Sadhana for constantremembrance of God.

Now Uddhava asks a pertinent questionas to why, even after knowing that thewordly objects are the repositories ofcalamities, people are drawn helplessly tothe enjoyment of the objects, like dogs anddonkeys. His intention was to know theremedial measures to be taken byunderstanding how the inexorable but fatalattraction to sensuous objects is caused.

Lord Krishna begins to answer: Theattraction towards objects is caused mainly

45

by Rajo guna and sometimes by Tamoguna.The person is put under a delusion whenthese gunas disturb and overwhelm themind. The only warD to prevent it is to keepthe mind concentrated on God repeatedlywith great vigilance and bringing it back to

. God whenever it tries to slip away. It is aslow process and requires repeated practice.One should never feel despondent when ittakes a long time to establish the mind firmlyon God. We should cultivate patience andbe prepared to wait for the entire lifetime, ifnecessary, but we should be so enthusiasticand zealous as if getting liberation is a matterof few hours. Breath control and sitting onone posture (Asana) for at least three hourscontinuously will also be of help. In thisconnection Krishna begins to narrate theepisode of his Hansavatara, where taking theform of a swan he had instructed Sanaka,Sanandana etc, in the same connection.

40 3n;[11~fb~~~d lV'l1 l-j up:! <4 ~~: I3-iHlcluu~ <l~ ~d~ql(·il~: II (XI-13-13)

46

Once Sanaka and other Maharshis who

were the mind-borne sons of Brahma, the

creator, approached their father and put aquestion relating to the higher subtle aspectsof Yoga. They as~ed: liThe mind has enteredinto all the objects of senses on account ofenjoyment of the objects several times in thepast and has become completely attached tothe objects. Factually also, all the objects arethe products of imagination of the mind. The

mind is the material cause of all the objectsand as such is immanent in them. The objectsalso have entered into the mind as they arein every thought (Vritti) of the mind. Thusthe mind and the objects are intricatelymixed with each other. As it is essential to

take the mind away from the objects as partof the sadhana to get Moksha, please tell ushow they can be separated from each other."

As Brahma could not think of an answer,

he mentally invoked the help of the SupremeLord, his own father. The Supreme Lord tookthe form of a swan and went before them.

47

Along with Brahma, all the sages prostratedto his feet and asked the swan- "Sir, whoare you?" The Hansa quipped back- "Asthere is no multiplicity of objects and thereis only one Self (Atman), how can such aquestion arise at all?Even if Iwere to answer,

-as Atman has no species, quality, activity,relationship etc.,on what basis can I describethe indescribable Atman?" Having beenmade of the same five basic elements, all thebeings being equal and in reality too, yourquestion of "Who are you" is meaningless.Now the Hansa took up answering theoriginal doubt posed by the Maharshis toBrahma.

He answered41 it in three words­

"Madroopam ubhayam tyajet" and thenelaborated it in various ways. If theingredients, say, beaten rice and sugar wereto be kept mixed as they are, it is possible toseparate them with some effort. If you were

41 ~ -q11cl~1~"dl-lma:uT ~\Jltlq<-lll

"TfTlS ~ ~ ~ ~II (XI-13-26)

48

to make a 'halva' (pudding) of them bycooking them all together, the ingredients areinextricably merged with each other andthey cannot be separated. You can onlythrowaway the entire 'halva'. Similarly, oneshould not try to separate the mind and theobjects. Throwaway both. How can onethrow them away? If you want a child tothrowaway the lighted candle it has caughthold of, you have to tempt the child with amore attractive object.So think of the Lord'sform constantly till y.ouare transformed intoLord's form when automatically the mindand the objects - both leave you. As youthink so you become. In Advaita, it is calledBrahmakara Vrtti. Bycontinuously thinkingof the Lord and assuming His form, all Hisattributes come to us automatically andVairagya is automatic. Vairagya is one of thesix qualities of excellence (Bhaga) forBhagawan. Once when Ravana who wantedto coerce Sita into accepting him was tryinghard without success, one of his ministerssuggested that he should assume the form

49

of Rama through his power of maya and thenseduce Sita. Ravana said "I had tried it alsowithout success. When once I became Rama,

his vairagya also caught hold of merendering even the attainment of Moksha as

.i!lsignificant enough to strive for and I could. not bring myself to look at anybody else's\

wife."

Just as the dream world in a dream,though it looked real was only a thought i.e.,the product of imagination of the mind, allthe three states viz., waking, sleep and dream'are part of one cosmic dream. The one whowas the witness of all the three states of the

mind is the Supreme Lord. The three statesof the mind are caused by the mind throughthe power of maya and are unreal. Beconvinced of it through the words42 of saintsand logic and cut off your ego (the

42 ~ ~ ~ ~.,*1~Xlq~~ ~.-l-II<.j<.j1 ~ cprr ~

f.lf~~:1.~ 01~~'i~I"*1~Rtl(f1~I:(1I"IRi"1 ~ ~

~WlII (XI-13-35)

50

identification as 'I' with an individual body)with the sword of knowledge andconcentrate on God, the Supreme Self.Hence withdraw your eyes from all theobjects including the body and with all yourdesires quelled, enjoy in silence theexperience of the bliss of the Atman (Self).Even though the world including the bodymay intrude sometimes while taking foodetc, they will not be capable of again puttingyou into delusion as you have alreadyrenounced them after having been convincedthat anything other than the Self is all unreal.

51

CHAPTER - VII

Glory of Bhakti andDhyana Yoga (Meditation)

Now Uddhava asked Krishna- "Various

people hold different views as to what is thesadhana which can bestow the highest good

(some say Dharma, others say truth, controlof mind, sacrifices, austerity, charity etc). Are

they all equally important or is only one ofthem important? You yourself told that oneshould remove all attachment and keep the

mind solely on GOD-which is tantamountto Bhakti yoga." The Lord answered asfollows:

The one who possesses43 nothing, has hismind and senses under control, has an even

mind (with an equal vision) and is happy by

43 3-l1ct,-q-1~ ~ ~ ~: I

l1<ll ~C1!:!l-l-1~: ~ ~ ~: II (XI-14-13)

52

thinking of the Lord finding happiness inevery corner and direction. He does not wanteither heaven or moksha but desires to have

Me only.

When a devotee is free44 from all desires,has an equal vision, has no enemies and isfull of peace, he becomes so holy that he canpurify anybody who comes into contact withhim. I walk behind him always so that I maybecome sanctified from the dust of his holyfeet.

Even a devotee who has not been able

to conquer his senses and is being disturbedby the objects, will in due course, cease to beinfluenced by the objects by the effect ofBhakti which is growing in him.

Yoga practice, the path45 of knowledge,practice of righteousness, Japa, austerities,

44 f.Rq~ -wr ~ ~ ~l-lC;~I..\'l-l

3-tjSj'>1II-<.l~ ~ 'i..44("'!l~~: II (XI-14-16)

45 ;r m~ -m <WiT;r Bi&i wf ~I

;r ~t.<jI<j«1'-l~I,r1 ~~ 'l-j~.rl-ll~dlll (XI-14-20)

53

renunciation-none of these things are ascapable of leading one to God-realisation asexclusive devotion (Bhakti) towards theLord.

In Bhakti yoga, by discoursing46 on or by,_hearing the sanctifying stories of the

~upreme Lord one's mind gets purified. Asand when the mind becomes pure, one isable to see the subtle Reality.

Your rise and fall depend47 upon themind which is the steering wheel. If you turnyour mind towards objects and continue tothink of them you will be entangled in themire of objects. If you turn the steering wheelof your mind towards God and continue tothink of Him constantly through meditation,Japa, prayers, singing His praises etc., you

46 ~~ ~'4fi'Iif '1n,~~dsB'tl-l(!U~'II~~~: I

(f~ (f~ ~ ~ ~&->i :q~~ql<XJj';.f;i"l>l~m~11

(XI-14-26 )

47 ~~I~d~~~~1

l-lll-l';~{d~ ~ l>lfqd1~dII (XI-14-27)

54

will ultimately get dissolved into Him andget merged.

In answer to Uddhava's question as tothe manner in which and the form on which

meditation (Dhyana) is to be done, Bhagwangives a brief description of Dhyana Yoga.

One should sit in a posture with a

straight back but in comfort and keep hiseyes fixed on the tip of the nose. One shoulddo pranayama (breath control) and side byside control his senses too. Along withpranayama one should chant 'OM' by takingit up through prana. Then he should imaginehis heart to be an inverted lotus. He shouldinvoke therein the sun, the moon and the fireand inside the fire he should think of theform of Narayana with his four handsbearing the conch, the chakra, mace, lotusetc. adorned with a garland of jungle flowersand a shining diadem and other ornaments.After practising to concentrate on that form

exclusively, keep the attention on the smilingface of God.

55

After having established oneself inthinking of the Lord's face one should drawthe mind away from the face and keep it onthe Space.Then, after some time, one shouldleave off concentrating on the space also andthen exclusively think of the transcendental

" ' Supreme Being. One will in due course• experience that one has merged completely

in the transcendental Supreme Being andthere isno meditator separate from the Lord.Thus, through this Dhyana Yoga one getsliberation.

56

CHAPTER - VIII

Varnasrama Dharma

Now, Krishna tellsUddhava the varioustypes of Siddhis or mystic powers that onecan get by concentrating on various aspectsof the Cosmic form of the Lord. But heconcludes48 that for one who has controlledhis mind, senses and breathing process andconcentrates on the Supreme form of theLord there is no siddhi which will be difficultto get.

Uddhava asks Krishna to tell him thevarious laws and duties prescribed for thevarious castes and stations in life(Varnasrama), by practising whicheverybody irrespective of caste etc, will beable to develop Bhakti in the Lord.

48 ~dR~~ ~ ~(,PI:lI~lrl.j.;1~: I~~: CfiTm~: ~'l1T1I (XI-15-32)

57

"God does not play dice". He created thefour castes and made people be born in therespective castes based on the gunas theyhad developed in their previous births andthe type of activity they were engaged in(Gunakarma vibhagasah). He also

. / established specific dharmas for each casteby following which all can reach God finaHy.,

There are various departments in anindustry - Research, Production, Marketing,Stores etc. People working in .eachdepartment are afforded scope to reach thehigher levels of management by workingefficiently in their own respectivedepartments. It is not that executivesbelonging to one department are superior toanother. In the same way the caste systemwas evolved. Further all the departments areto work together in harmony helping eachother in order to•.promote the growth of theIndustry forgetting their selfish interests.

Control of senses and the mind,austerities, contentment, forbearance, truth,

58

compassion and devotion to the Lord are thecharacteristics of Brahmins.

Strength, courage, valour, ability to bearany amount of pain, gen~rosity, industry, anatural flair for leadership etc, is the natureof Kshatriyas .

A deep faith in the Lord and the Vedas,a philanthropic and charitable disposition,absence of hypocrisy and not to be satisfiedwith whatever money they accumulate arethe nature of Vaisyas.

Serving and helping the Brahmins andgods and to be satisfied with whatevermoney they get out of it is the nature of thefourth varna.

There are some characteristics which are

common to all the castes and a sine qua nonfor all human beings in general. They are ­non-violence, truth, non-stealing, to be freefrom desires including lust, anger and greed,love towards all beings and taking interestin their welfare. Then Krishna narrates howa celibate (Brahmachari) is to live and

59

conduct himself while in Gurukula.

Especially a celibate, a vanaprasthi and asanyasi (monk) should refrain from havingintimate contacts with persons of oppositesex by touching their body, gossiping withthem or by cracking jokes to make them

, laugh etc. Observing purity, cleanliness,daily prayers, going on pilgrimage to holy•

places, to see God in all beings, doing japa,control over mind, speech and body are allthe disciplines prescribed in common for allthe four stations in life from a celibate to amonk.

Apart from the other duties, ahouseholder should live by his earnings ofwhite (pure) money or whatever has cometo him by chance without effort. He shouldnever treat his servants cruelly. He shouldnot get attached to his family and neverneglect worship of God. One shouldcontemplate on the transient nature of allobjects and always live like a guest49 in his

49 ~~ yll.l;!~14rt>1 ~~ ~I

;r ~ciffi f./1:fm H(Q~~d: II (XI-17-54)

60

own house by not getting involved in theproblems of the household and allowing theother people of the house to take their owndecisions and run the house in any mannerthey like. He should have no ego of his ownand should have no sense of possessiontowards any object.

When a person desires to take sanyasa(monkhood), nobody in the house includinghis parents and wife are prepared to acceptsuch a situation. Often enough, more thanthe attachment, it is their own selfishinterests of losing a bread - earner, securityand a prop for the future which influencestheir attitude. Krishna reveals a divine secret

cause for the opposition by the people of thehouse. The gods become jealous of theperson who desires to become a monk as thismeans that the latter will reach mokshamuch earlier than themselves (Gods willhave to be born as human beings and doSadhana). So they possess the bodies of theparents, wife, etc., oppose the person'sproposal, if necessary, by resorting to

61

emotional blackmail and create

impediments in his way. If the vairagya isvery strong, the person will be forced frominside to flee from the house and take upsanyasa. Wherever there is doubt orhesitation on his part, it means that he is not

. ,yet ripe for that course of action. After all,when a fruit on a tree becomes ripe, it falls•

by itself and neither hesitates nor does it askfor advice from the tree as to whether it can

fall now itself or it should wait. If anybody,whose dispassion is not the strongest runsaway from home in a mistaken notion of hisown fitness or in a moment of emotion, hewill fall into danger and rue the result of hisimpulsive action. One has to develop bhakti,austerity, dispassion and control of mindand make himself eminently fit for the finalstep while remaining in the house itself.

A sanyasi should normally live bybegging alms. He should always wanderalone and shun all company. He shouldnever reveal his excellence as it would draw

praises from others increasing his own ego.

62

Though intelligent50 one should behavelike a playful child. Even though he may bean expert, he should conduct himself like amoron. Though a scholar, he should babblelike a mad man. Though well-versed in themores, he should live like a cow,unconventional and uncivilized like eatingdirectly from the plate.

He should never involve himself in

arguments including on spiritual topics. Heshould never give the least offence toanybody elsenor take offencefrom anybody.He should remain unconcerned whether hegets food and shelter or not and be satisfiedwith whatever comes to him of its ownaccord.

A person whose dispassion has just beenaroused and has practised self-controlshould approach a proper Guru and serve

50 ~m <St1c1ctlq~~ ¥Tcit ~Sq,:r:i{~1

q~~~\lq~ ~ ~ ~~II (XI-18-29)

63

him considering him as God Himself, till hegets the knowledge of the Brahman.

The dharma 51of a sanyasi is, mainly,control of the mind and refraining fromcausing any harm to anybody. The dharmaof a householder is to protect all beings andperforming sacrifices [even giving in charity,

• expounding the scriptures to others, doingausterities have been categorized assacrifices (yagnas) in Bhagvad Gita]. For ahouseholder,52 celibacy (by restricting hisenjoyment with his wife to the prescribedseason), austerity, purity, contentment,friendship with all beings are his dharma.For all castes and for all stations in life themost overwhelmingly important andcommon dharma is worshipping the

51 NaTI'<$f: ~sf%BT Cf11 ~&TIcRtcnB: I

~ ~M ~'Jj~1-q14~q--t~1I (XI-18-42)

52 ~ Cf11: ~ ~ ~(1~'h~«~11

~~~I'1dl ~: ~ l-l~'-lI~--t~11 (XI-18-43)

64

Supreme Lord. It is a must for all. The onewho lives by the codes of conduct afore­mentioned and is devoted to the SupremeLord exclusively gets an intense Bhakti.

65

CHAPTER-IX

Jnana and Bhakti Yoga

Uddhava now raises a very relevantquestion: "The Vedas (scriptures) are allLord's own words and they contain anordinance of actions which must be done

(injunctions) and actions which areprohibited. Obviously such injunctions andprohibitions are based on the different goodand bad aspects (merits and demerits) of thevarious actions. In other words, they arebased on differentiation. If suchdifferentiation is not there, how can Vedas

do good to the people? They are also yourteachings contained in the Vedas. Youyourself have been now tellingme as to whatis the necessity of looking at all thingsalike and non-differentiation. This

contradiction in your words bewilders me.Please clarify it."

66

Bhagavan now begins to clarify that bothare correct but they apply to different stagesof sadhana. He says,

There are only three paths of sadhanasJnana, Karma and Bhakti. Those who havebecome detached from actions and have

renounced, they are entitled to pursue Jnanayoga. On the contrary, those whose mind isstill attached to rituals and activities and whoare full of desires are entitled for Karma

yoga. Those who are nE:itherdetached fullyfrom activities, nor are they so muchattached to them but whose faith has beenaroused in the stories of the leelas of the

Lord, by chance, due to some good deedsdone in the past and merit earned from itare fit for Bhakti yoga.

One should follow53 the injunctions andprohibitions and perform the actionsaccordingly only till either one gets complete

5 3 ~ Cfi1lftUT ~ ~ f.rfcfil(f <ITCf(ff I

~'m ~ err ~ ~ ~II (XI-20-9)

67

vairagya (detachment) or till one gets faithin discoursing on or hearing the variousstories of disportation (leela) of the Lord.Thus a person who observes the dharmasrelating to his caste and station in lifewithoutbeing motivated by any desire, refrainingfrom doing any prohibited actions, does not

• have to go to heaven or hell but either getsthe knowledge of the Reality in the form ofSelf-Realizationor gets devotion by the graceof God. Bhakti is considered as far superiorto even Mukti as that is a path of dance andmusic of the soul while Jnana is a dry anddrab prosaic faith.

The human body54is rare and difficultto get as it is attained after going throughseveral transformations from an insect or acrawling worm to animals. Now it has beeneasily made available in this birth. It isstrong and capable of carrying us across the

54 ~ W1~~ ~ ~ ~~II., ~~~~~"{1~11

(XI-20-17)

68

ocean of samsara and the Guru is the one

who pilots the boat. God's graceis an everblowing favourable wind and it is alwaysstanding ready to help us. With all thesein-built facilitiesif a man neglects to use themby setting sail to his boat and cross the oceanof the cycle of birth and death, he is to bedeemed as one who commits suicide ofhis Self.

When once a man has got detached fromactions, is full of vairagya and has controlledhis senses, he should practise to keep themind still and concentrated on the SupremeSelf.For this, he will have to cajole,persuadeand convince the mind to co-operate andthus bring it under control. There are twofamous compositions where some saintshave addressed their mind and tried to cajoleand persuade it, which will be of greatguidance to a Sadhak. One is called"Manache Slok" by Samarth Ram Das (theGuru of Shivaji) in Marathi (Englishtranslations available in plenty). Another oneis also an address to the mind (name

69

"

forgotten) by Pujya Mota in Gujarati*. Bymeans of the disciplines of dos and donts(yama and niyama), meditation etc., in theyoga path or by the Self-inquiry methods inthe Jnana marga or by worshipping the Lordthrough idols, the mind finally comes undercontrol.

If a Sadhaka, though disgusted withactions and full of faith in the stories of the

leelas of God and knowing fully well thatall desires end in sorrows is not able torenounce his desires and actions, he need notfeel despondent. Having firm faith and witha resolute mind let him pray, worship andsurrender himself to the Lord while still

enjoying all the sensuous objects andcondemning them at the same time. As aresult of this -Bhaktiyoga, the Lord becomesactive while residing in his heart and as aconsequence all the desires rooted in the

* English translation available with Hari OmAshram, P.B.No.74, Nadiad (Gujarat), Pin 387001or with Hari Om Ashram, Jahangirpura, Surat,Pin - 395 005.

70

heart perish. Here Krishna quotes anUpanishadic55 statement: When once one

realises the Lord who remains as the Self o~all, the knot in the heart is cut asunder. On

account of ignorance we, the pure conscious)energy which is in no way bound wIthany body while pervading all the bodies,identify ourselves with the body consideringit as 'I' (the Self). The body is a perishableinert matter. On account of this identificationof the untainted eternal consciousness withthe body, it looks as if the Atman is boundwith the body and as if it has taken over allthe sufferings of the body and is subject tobirth and death. This imaginary bondagedue to wrong identification is called a knot(granthi) . On the final realization of whatwe are, this delusion called the knot

disappears. Till the last minute we get a lotof doubts and even'after a lot of clarificationfrom the Guru/Scriptures they persist in a

55 ~ ~~'Cl..(j ~cl'ti~I"lI: I

~ ~ Cfil1ffUrl1'Fr ~~R9~I("l-lH II (XI-20-30)

71

seed form. All these doubts are dispelledcompletely on Self-realisation.So,unheedingto the doubts one should carryon theSadhana till the very end instead of waitingfor all the doubts to be clarified which cannot

happen in Sadhana stage. No doubt, any, doubt about the Sadhana itself, in the• absence of the solution for which our

progress is likely to be impeded or stopped,must be got clarified by the Guru or anyevolved saint or prayers to the God Himself.Here is an incident from my own life.

A Gurubhai of mine who was highlydevoted to my Guru and who was a greatfavourite of my Guru approached me insecret after nearly thirtyfour years after myGurudev's leaving his body as he was in agreat dilemma. He had been a great devoteeof Sri Rama from His childhood and had

been repeating His mantra. He was giveninitiation into a mantra of a different deityby my Gurudev sometime in 1950s. Thiscaused confusion and an opposition in hismind. After a little while he was unable to

72

do Japa of the Guru-mantra and on accountof a guilty conscience he could not also doJapa of Ram mantra. Thus all Japas stoppedeven though he used to sit in meditation anddo reading of Ram Charit Manas and VishnuSahasranam etc. In 1995or so he approachedrilein confidenceand wanted a solution from

me to get out of his dilemma. As dictated tome inside by my Divine Mother, I told himto pray to the Gurudev ceaselessly for thenext three days within which time Gurudevhimself would give him the solution. On thesecond day, he came running to me withtears streaming from his eyes and told me"Swamiji, you were absolutely right. MyGurudev himself came in my vision andgave me a solution. Thanks to you, I amgreatly relieved." Inwardly I was horror ­stricken that a devotee could live with such

a serious and calamitous doubt for nearlythirtyfour years. After all, it must have beenmy Gurudev who inspired him to approachme finally.

73

On self-realisation, all the past karmasincluding sanchita and kriyamana get wipedoff so that there will be no more birth and

death in future. This is the stage of the finalbliss experienced by a person liberated whilealive.

Krishna says, Oh Uddhava, a devotee•who has intense love for me and is constantlyremembering me with Bhakti can getheaven, Moksha or whatever he wants andhe has no need56 of vairagya or Jnana even.Such a devotee wants God alone and refuses

c

even liberation57 if offered by the Lord. Thisis the unsurpassable glory of Bhakti yoga.

My Gurudev used to say th~t one wholoves (has bhakti) God intensly comes toknow all about Him (jnana) and the one whohas known everything about the Lord from

56 <1~IN.l~Rh~tt>~ <itfi'r;IT ~~: I~ ~ ~ :q ~ m<l: W:iT ~ II (XI-20-31)

57 ~ m~ m~ ~ ~ iJcf1Ik1.11 lllli~' __A~.I? lp1[ ~ ~q~l-l~o1~11 (XI-20-34)

74

the Guru and the scriptures (jnana) beginsto love Him (bhakti) just as Rukmini beganto love Krishna, though unseen. In fact, thedistinction between Jnana and Bhakti is onlyfrom the viewpoint of ignorant sadhakas,while in reality they are all the same.Everything ends in Jnana i.e. knowingoneself (Jnane parisamapyate).

75

CHAPTER-X

Secret of categorisation of

things into Good and Bad

A pertinent question arises in the mind• of a sadhaka as to why at all the Scriptures

have taken the pains to categorise things asgood and bad with reference to the meritsand defects (Guna and Dosha) whe'n thepilgrim on the spiritual path is finallyexhorted to renounce all the objectswhethergood or bad.

In order to answer such a probabledoubt, Krishna starts defining Guna (merit)and Dosha (defect).These are purely relativeterms and the categorization of the sameobject changes from good to bad in differentcircumstances. The merit (Guna) of a thingis not decided based on the thing itself but itis based on its user's status. What isconsidered as righteous (dharma) in one case

76

may become adharma (unrighteous) foranother person.

Hence merit or guna is defined as a firmobservance of dharma with reference to a

thing according to one's eligibility as per theinjunctions. While killing of an animaldeliberately by a person is prohibited as itentails a sin (adosha or defect), the killingof the animal in a fire sacrifice is a dharmafor the one who conducts the sacrifice

(a guna or merit). Using of a thing by aperson not eligible for it is defined as adosha(defect).Even though ultimately all theobjects are the same, all being the productsof imagination, this procedure ofcategorizing them as good or bad, pure orimpure, meritorious or defective is meant torestrict the natural inclination to accept allobjects indiscriminately and in order tochannelise a disciplined life by controllingthe mind by wi thdra wing it fromundesirable and prohibited things. Thiscategorization of good and bad ensures thata man will not entangle himself in actions

77

motivated by his natural inclinationstowards wrong things as a result of hisvasanas (latent tendencies) but by strictlyadhering to the injunctions of scriptures hewill be able to restrict his life within theaccepted parameters and keep his mindunder his control (an essential sadhana in the

" / path to spirituality). A man's natural" inclination based on three modes (Sattva

Rajasand Tamas) is always to allow his mindto run freely, untrammelled by anyrestriction to enjoy material pleasures whichwill ultimately end in sorrow. In order tocurb such freedom of the mind which isdangerous, separate divisions of caste andstations in life depending on the innatefitness of the individuals with different lawsof injunctions and prohibitions have beenordained so that everybody could learn tocontrol the vasana-oriented actions bycontrolling the mind and be able to achievethe four objectives of dharma, wealth,enjoyment and liberation. With a similarpurpose only, the categorization of good andbad (guna and dosha) have been extended

78

to places, times, fruits of action, grains, etc.The places where there are temples and holymen are classified as good. Similarly wespeak of a good and auspicious time (to starta work) and a bad time. Similarly substancesare also declared as good or bad, pure orimpure. A freshly cooked food is consideredas good while the food left over from theprevious day is considered as polluted. Theflowers over which water is sprinkled isconsidered as pure while the flowers'whichhave been smelt by taking them to the noseare considered as impure. A vessel whereGanges water is kept is considered purewhile the same vess~l containmg whisky orsuch drinks is considered as impure. Certainimpure things can be sanctified by the useof mud or fire. The body and mind getpurified by taking bath, by giving in charity,practising austerity, sadhanas and also byconstantly thinking of the Lord.

58 ~: ~ CiT ~ l'f(1)sfq CiTI

<i: ~ ~u.s·ClctJl~~ ~'l..!lr(1~~~lRt: II

79

While starting any ritual, a verserepeated by the priest affirms58 that"Irrespective of whether a person is pure orimpure, regardless of the state in which heis (he may have just got out of the bed andmay not have bathed or he might be in apolluted state due to death of closerelations),

'one who thinks of the Lord becomes pure'both in..<;ideand outside."

Even the Mantras if directly read from abook or told by a person or a friend will besterile and of no use. But a Mantra heard

from the mouth of a Guru and any actiondedicated to God are of tremendous benefit

as they become pure and effective.

Ultimately, when once control over themind is established by directing it to thingsclassified as good, one has to withdraw hismind from all things, good and bad. Themore he withdraws59 his mind from all

59~~~~~;1

~ wn ~ @l; ~; II (XI-21-18)

80

things he will be able to liberate himself fromthe bondage of attachment to things. Thisdharma of final and thorough withdrawalis the highest discipline (dharma) to befollowed which will ultimately drive awayall sorrows, fear and delusion.

When the mind is attracted towards the

good qualities (guna) attributed to an objecta deep attachment ensues. This attachmentgives rise to desires to enjoy more ofit. Whenimpediments come in their fulfilment, angeris generated and mutual fight takes placewith people. As a result of anger, one loseshis sense of propriety and impropriety,dharma and adharma and ignoranceoverwhelm him, as a result he loses his senseof right and wrong. Having thus lost hismemory, he becomes empty and loses hishuman faculties. He is as if he is dead or likea zombie.

60 ~~~~~OO-cR1~~ ~ ~2T[ ~ ~II (XI-21-23)

81

All the Vedas60 extol an attractive heaven

full of enjoyment and prescribe performanceof sacrifice etc. The intention of Scriptures isnot to project the heaven as a,worthy goalbut is meant to generate a taste in a personto do the Vedic rituals whose real purposeis to purify the mind as preparatory to theperformance of sadhanas for getting Mokshawhich is the only worthy goal of a humanbeing. As a human being is naturallyattracted towards enjoyment of sensuousobjects,his wife, son etc. this will impede hisspiritual growth. The ignorant peopleaddicted to performance of actions believein the lolli-pop of a heaven held out by thesweet words of the Vedas and thus go onwandering between births as gods in heavenand the births in inferior species on the earth.They suffer as they do not like to take interestin God's own words even. All the three parts .of each Veda dealing with karma, meditationand Jnana are meant unanimously to revealthe oneness of Brahman and Atman (Self)but

82

it is revealed in a hidden indirect way. Vedasare Lord's own forms in the guise of speech(Sabdabrahman). They are so profound thatone cannot easily understand their innermeanings. The secrets of the Vedas areknown to nobody else except the LordHi~self. All the Vedas, with their focus onthe S1.,1premeLord, superimpose all thethings like earth, space etc. on the Lord andthus appear as if they are propagatingdifferentiation but the Upanishads whichrepresent the Jnana Kanda of the Vedasnegate them all so that the Supreme Lordwho is the substratum remains alone.

83

CHAPTER-XI

Birth and Death versus Atman

Uddhava raises another question:"People who have turned their intellectawayfrom the Lord are transmigrating by takingbirth again and again in lower and higherspecies (yonis) of beings like Gods, animalsetc. based on the good and bad deeds donein the past birth. How can such atransmigration for an all-pervasive singleSelf, the birth and death of an eternal realitybe possible? Kindly explain this to me!"

Krishna begins to elucidate. The mindof a man (chitta) is a store house of all theimpressions of past deeds. In order to enableone to experience the results (reactions) ofpast actions, the five senses of perceptionhave been attached to the mind. This is called

the subtle body which alone transmigratesand goes on moving from one body to

84

another according to the actions done in theprevious births. The Self is absolutelydifferent from the subtle body. It has nocoming or going. But when it identifies itselfwith the subtle body (Linga Sareera) itappears as if the Atman is coming and goingfrom ,birth to birth. When a Jiva(Atmanidentifi~d with the body is called Jiva)accepts the body as its own, it is called birth.In the dream also when the Atman identifies

itself with the dream body, it is called adream which looks real as long as it lasts.When due to some reason or other the Jivaforgets the body, it is called death. Whenonce the Jiva begins to contemplate on thevarious objects of the world, it completelyforgets the past and its previous body justas in a second dream we forget the body ofthe first dream. Every minute, every part ofthe body is changing but as it is subtle, it isnot palpable. Sobirth and death are actuallytaking place every second. Even a deludedperson is neither born nor does he die inreality. The entire thing is only a delusion

85

just as even though firenever dies, when fuelor wood is lit up and finally extinguished, itlooks as if the fire was born with the woodand perished later. The entire world wherethe Self appears to experience the variousobjects is as unreal as a dream world. TheAtman is eternal and ever liberated. So oneshould not61 seek enjoyment of the objectsthrough the senses. So long as the Jiva62continues to contemplate on these objects, itcannot prevent the continued recurrence ofthe birth and death cycle. One mustunderstand that the multiplicity of the worldseen is only due to the ignorance of 'who wereally are'. One has to uplift himself throughSelf-inquiry.

61 cttl-ll~o&q llT '!!~Jql::l<H.J(-iRR.~:I3-l1\~I~QUI f.p:ffif 1Wl ~ct>Plct, ~II (XI-22-56)

62 312l Q.l Jq 'Cl ~ I ~ sfil ~ f.rc«rn I

'alT«<il Jql::l<lI.J+<-\mYf~ <l"~ II (XI-22-55)

86

CHAPTER - XII

Forbearance ­

The Song of a Bhikshu

Klishna had ended the previousdiscourse saying that a person seeking God­realization should learn forbearance and

should be able to bear uncomplainingly anyinsult or opprobrium or tortures to whichothers may subject him. Otherwise, therankling thoughts and anger will betransformed into indelible vasanas which

will impel him to do actions entailing futurebirths. So Uddhava says, "Krishna, it is soeasy to advise a person to cultivateforbearance (titiksha). It is really beyondendurance if some wicked people were toattack us physically or with words. Natureis so strong that however intelligent we maybe, we perforce retaliate or have reactions inour mind. It may perhaps be easy for those

87

who have reached a high state where theyhave surrendered themselves to you."

Krishna began to narrate the story offorbearance of a Brahmin reduced to penuryand forced to become a monk. A song ofphilosophical import sung by the monk(bhikshu) is known as Bhikshu Geetam.

There was once a very prosperousBrahmin in Ujjain, who was a greedy miser,full of lust and highly irate in his temper.He never used to talk sweetly to any closerelatives or guests. His own wife, sons,daughters, servants and relations were allresentful of his treatment of them and beganto hate him. When once the past punyas(merits earned in previous births) gotexhausted, that miserly Brahmin lostgradually all the wealth he had accumulatedwith great effort. His own relatives grabbedsome of his wealth and some wealth was '

looted by thieves. Some property was lost

88

in a conflagration of fire. He had neitherearned any merit by doing charity nor didhe enjoy.All his own people began to neglecthim. At that time of suffering, a dispassion(vairagya) arose in his mind. He began toregret how he had wasted his life. He beganto cdritemplate as follows:

"Wealth and mon~y never contribute toa man's happiness. A wealthy man suffersin this world and goes to hell after death. Aman never enjoyshis wealth. On the contraryhe is constantly worried about earningmoney, how to increase it (by investment),how to keep it safe, about its probable lossby theft or taxation etc. As concomitants ofbecoming wealthy, he is exposed to fifteentypes of dangers - namely, burglary orthieving, violence, lies, hypocrisy, desires,anger, pride, ego, differentiation, enmity,lack of faith, competition, bad habits namelyaddiction to sexual enjoyment drinking andplaying dice.

89

If a person who has been63 bestowedwith such a precious gift like a human bodywhich is verily an open door to both theheaven and liberation ignores it and revelsin wealth, the store house of calamities, hecommits a spiritual suicide. It is a greatblessing that atleast now God has endowedme with vairagya (detachment), a boat whichcan carry me across the ocean of Samsara .

All his close relatives, wife, son, fatheretc. became antagonistic. The Brahmindecided to get out of the house and strivefor self-realisation by subjecting the body tosevere austerities. He became a monk(bhikshu) and began to wander throughout.He went to various cities and villages inorder to beg for alms. The wicked people inthose places poured abuses on him andsubjected him to various indignities. Peoplebeat him, urinated on his head, snatchedaway his vessel and his stick etc. and evenkept him bound with ropes. None of these

63 ~'t:Cff 'J1.-l-jIl-l«'~I&<f~ ~ Q,'J1I~<'{dl~ I

~~~ ~ ~m ~II (XI-23-22)

90

atrocities affected the bhikshu's mind in anyway. He understood that these sufferingswere the result of his deeds in past birthsand they had to be tolerated. His Sattwaguna endowed him with enough courage tobear all these miseries with equanimity andhe b~rst into a song (known as BhikshuGeetam).•

Bhikshu Geetam

These people64 who torment me are notat all responsible for my happiness orsorrow. Neither is it due to my karma (inpast birth) nor the nine planets nor my bodynor any god. Our mind is the only cause andit is that which runs this world. Happinessand sorrow are only mental modificationsdue to previous conditionings of like anddislike etc. Just as in a dream it is the mindwhich creates this world and all the objectsand begins to think of these objects.

-Motivated by these thoughts (or desires for

64 -;wi ~ -q ~:~ ~ ;f ~qdl\l-ll !.lQct>~ct>I(.1I:Il1-l: ~ ct>1«'UIl-lIl-l-iki~tll«.-q';' y~qJ~~ ~ II (XI-23-43)

91

objects) we perform actions which result inrebirths. All the activities are impelled by themind. The Self is pure and does no actions.It is the eternal friend of the Jiva. But whenit identifies itself with the mind and

considers itself as the enjoyer of the objects(bhokta) it gets attached to the objects andthus gets bound to them. So the greatest65

Yogaiswhen the mind withdraws itself fromall the objects and remains integrated(Samadhi). For this purpose, varioussadhanas are prescribed like giving charity,observing one's respective dharma (rules ofdiscipline), observing yama and niyama (thedos and donts), study of scriptures, resortingto good deeds and undertaking of vows likecelibacy etc. The purpose of all thesesadhanas is to ensure control of mind.

Mind is our greatest enemy. The foolishpeople do not try to conquer it and instead

65 ~ ~~ H<P:IT <:p:f~, ~ :q Cfi11ffUr :q ~~d.IH I~ l-I.lIH!.lQI1~: -qit fum lffil: 'B'11lfu: II

(XI-23-46)

92

quarrel with people whom they wronglyconsider as responsible for their sorrows andmake enemies.

Even this body is a product of theimagination of our mind like the bodyassumed in a dream. The ignorant peopleconsIder their body as "theirs" while theother bodies conceived by the sameimagination are66 considered as "others"different from themselves. When all the.

bodies are the products of the sameimaginatioillike the various people seen inthe dream, they are not separate from usand it is foolish to hold them responsible forour sufferings. So the ignorant people whodistinguish saying "This is I" and "This issomebody else" wander in the darkness ofignorance, being overcome by delusion.Neither other persons or gods or self orplanets or actions or time can be considered

66 ~ l-I·lll-1l:;t~~ l[~, l-Il-IIQ~('4r~ ~: I

~~~~, ~ Cfllfu WlRfII(XI-23-50)

93

as responsible for our sorrows as Atman hasnothing to do with planets, gods or actionsor time. If Atman (Self) is considered asresponsible, it is our own self and where isthe question of blaming it ?

Atman (Self) is supreme and67 beyondall. It remains pure and untainted by any ofthe pairs of opposites (dvandva) like painand pleasure, sorrow and happiness.Nobody, nowhere and by no means caninduce happiness or unhappiness in Atman(Self).All these dvandvas affectonly the egowhich remains wandering in the viciouscircle of birth and death. The one who isawake to this fact becomes fearless. The

bhikshu decided to spend the rest of his daysin the exclusive contemplation of theSupreme Lord.

67 ~ iRf-~ El'iTfq Cfl'4~, 1i~illj~lll:"%f: crw:rl

<l'4TQl1: +i~fd~fqul: ~ ~ ~ fcf~ ~: II

(XI-23-57)

94

CHAPTER - XIII

Effects of the three Gunason man's nature

Krishna continues:

The nature of each person differs widelyfrom others. This is because of the three

gunas (the building blocks of a personality)which exist in different combinations, whichmay be infinite in numbers, by permutation.The three gunas are Sattva, Rajasand Tamas.The thoughts in the mind vary as per thegunas.

Sattva guna endows one with verydesirable saint-like qualities: namely, controlof mind and senses, forbearance, austerities,truthfulness, compassion, contentment,renunciation, lack of attachment, faith etc.

95

Rajo guna induces desires, effort, pride,dissatisfaction, differentiating mentality,enjoyment of objects, zeal for fight, pursuitof fame, wit and humour, valour, persistentefforts etc.

Tamo guna results in anger, greed,lying,violence, hypocrisy, quarrel, sorrow,delusion, grief, sleep, fear and laziness.While in combination, as in a normal man'slife, sattva endows us with faith, Rajas withattachment and Tamas with money.

When a person worships68 the Lord withdevotion and performs actions without anymotive, selflessly, he or she is of Sattvicnature.

The one who worships the Lord withdesire-oriented actions is Rajasic. The onewho serves the Lord in order to cause harmto his enemies etc. is Tamasic.

68 <RT ~ 1Ti ~ f.Rita:f; ~; I

cf ~~~ct>fd ~ ~ ~ CfTII (XI-25-10)

96

All the three gunas69 are again thecreations of the mind through imagination.Because of these gunas a person getsattracted to his own body, wealth etc. andgets bound. Atman has nothing to do withthe gunas.

.When once the Chitta remains happy,the senses are at rest, the body is fearless andthe mind free from attachment, you take itthat Sattva Cuna is predominant in thatperson.

By knowing what qualities he shouldcultivate to make Sattva predominant andwhat qualities he should prevent to freehimself from Rajas and Tamas, a man willbe able to cultivate qualities which will takehim to the Supreme Lord. That is why LordKrishna is discussing them in detail. Theother two qualities Rajas and Tamas aredangerous to a man as they will disturb the

69 ~~~~~~.ql

~ ~ ~ ~~~I';I~umll (XI-25-12)

97

mind and the body and the mind beginswavenng.

Thewaking state70 isbased on Sattva, thedream is caused by Rajas and the sleepingstate induced by Tamas. The Self or theAtman (4th state) pervades all the threestates.

The classifications of the three gunasapply also to the nature of the place wechoose to live, the type of food we take andthe type of action we do.

If one does his duties (dharma) bydedica ting them to the Lord andunmotivated by selfish desires, he is Sattvic.If the action done is motivated by the desirefor its fruit, it becomes Rajasic. Any actionwhich causes harm to other beings isTamasic.

70 ~p':jI"'1I'I{ui ~ "{"~ ~1..i~IR~I~1

>R<lfli ('flfffi 'Jjr(1I~£l...j~ ~~II (XI-25-20)

98

To live in a jungle is Sattvic, to live in avillage is Rajasicand to live in a house of ill­repute is Tamasic.

All healthy and nutritious food obtainedwithout effort is Sattvic.

The food which is delicious and

appeq.lingto the palate is Rajasic.The impurefood which gives trouble (to the stomach etc)is Tamasic.

It depends on our constitution71 of thethree gunas as to in which yoni and status,we get our birth. The actions we do dependon the predominant guna. Based on theactions and the gunas, the nature of our nextbirth is determined. All the gunas are theproduct of our mind. Hence a person who iscompletely established in the contemplationof the Supreme Lord through Bhakti yoga

71 ~:~: ~ ~ulct>~·IT~"lr<.t-1I: I

~ f.lffim: ~ "TlTT ~~: I

~~~I~-1l1fuit ~ ~ II (XI-25-32)

99

on account of his having conquered all thethree gunas (gunatita) finally attains theSupreme Lord's form, also called asliberation. One has to go beyond the SattvaGuna also by stopping all thoughts throughyogic methods and also by being thoroughlydesireless. Then the Jiva leaves off itsindividuality and merges in the SupremeLord.

100

CHAPTER - XIV

King Pururavas' Vairagya

Bhagavan Krishna Continues:

A man should use his human birth to

realize God and not expend it in theenjoyment of sensual pleasures. In thisconnection, the story of King Pururavas whocompletely forgot himself in his infatuationfor the divine nymph Urvasi who mercilesslyabandoned him and went away is relevant.Earlier the king had spent a number of yearsin pursuit of sensual pleasures but his thirstnever got satiated. One day, when he wokeup from his days of folly he sang a songcontaining the lessons he had learnt:-

"Woe to me who has been completelyoverhelmed so much with my lust that I wasnot aware of the passage of time at all for all

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these years. Having been an Emperor I lostall sense of shame and dignity and wascontent to remain a teddy bear in the handsof a woman. When once a person becomes aprey to the charms of the other sex, nobodycan rescue him except the great LordHimself. I have been reduced to the pitiablestate because of my lack of control over mysenses and the woman (Urvasi) is not at allto blame. Urvasi herself instructed me on the

reality and tried to wake me up by quotingpassages from scriptures but I was undersuch a delusion that her words had no effect.

A man of discrimination72 should never keepthe company of people of opposite sex or ofpersons who pursue the company of othersex. No reaction takes place in the mind inrespect of an object which we have neitherseen nor heard of. It is only when the sensescome into contact with objects that the mindgets attracted, disturbed and then attached.In'order to keep the mind undisturbed and

72 3l~ ·i\Yti~d ~ ~ ~~I

~.~::>.r.L";Ji\"."': ~ ~II (xl-26-n)

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peacefut one should avoid one's senses

coming into contact with the objects bywithdrawing from them. When suchthoughts came into the mind of Pururavas,his delusion began to wane slowly and hewas able to realize God in the form of hisown'Self.

Benefits of Satsanga

One should leave off the company ofbadpeople and always seek the company of holymen and maha tmas. How can one recognizethe holy men and mahatmas?

They have no need for anything/3 havean equal vision and treat important thingsand insignificant things alike. They arealways peaceful and their mind is alwaysfixed on the Supreme Lord. They haveneither ego nor any sense of possession anddo not accumulate things.> The pairs ofopposites likepain and pleasure do not affect

73 ~.s;Na:n~: '5r.ITRff: ti~c;moj: I

f.n:fm H{,,~I{I ~ H~yf{%I: I (XI-26-27)

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them. The beauty is that iri'the presence ofsuch Mahatmas, discourses on the stories

relating to Lord's leelas always take place.the glory of hearing these stories is that theywipe off all the sins and impurities of thedevotees who hear them.

Those people who hear74 these stories orsing begin to be completely devoted to an~dependant on the Lord, their faith isintensified and ultimately they attain Bhakti.There is nothing greater than Bhakti towards

the Supreme Lord, so one should seek refugein the holy feet of saints. For people who arebeing drowned in the frightening ocean ofSamsara, the best refuge is afforded by saintswho are like strong boats for the drowning

people. These holy men bestow you withinner eyes with which to see them as alsoGod. They are gods and friends of all. Inshort the Mahatmas are really of the fonn of

the Supreme Lord and they are your Atman(Self) too.

74 (fl ~ ~ ~ ~:!~Ic:kl~: I

If(qU: ~m;n~ ~ ~ it ~ II (XI-26-29)

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CHAPTER-XV

Kriya Yoga

.Kriya yoga is a term used by differentsaints in different senses. The 'Kriya Yoga'propagated by Paramahansa Yoganandji isa discipline handed over by his grand-Guru,Lahiri Mahashay and combines some yogicpractices like Pranayama, concentration onthe anahata sound from the heart etc.

Patanjali yoga sutras talk of a different Kriyayoga. Here Krishna speaks of a Kriya yogawhich is the process of performing formalpuja to the idols or icons of gods like Siva,Vishnu, Ganesha, etc. as given in 'Kalpa', oneof the six limbs for the study of the Vedas orin various Tantras. There are three methods

of doing any Puja-Vaidic (based onSriptures), Tantrik (as per Tantra texts) anda mixture of both. The Puja can be done byinvoking the Supreme Lord in any form inan idol, on a sacrificial platform, in fire, Sun,

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water and heart etc. The idol can be made of. stone, wood, metal, mud, sandal etc. In the

temples normally two types of idols are keptfor the same deity, one mobile which is takenout for procession on some special days andthe other static. Once installed, in respect ofthe static idol, the Avahanam (invoking thedivinity) and Visarjanam (abandoning it) is

not to be -done ev,eryday: The God is very ,pleased even with mere water if offered withfaith and sincerity. It is not the items likedhoopa, deep a, food consecrated that pleasethe Lord as much as the faith with which

they are offered. Then the idol of God shouldbe bathed with water along with thechanting of Vedic hymns like Purusha Sukta.Then five types of upacharas includingarghya and padhya (symbolic washing of thehand and feet of the Lord with water) areoffered. After the puja is over, we have tolight the fire for the havana (a small firesacrifice) or homa and then do meditationon the form of the Lord. After giving the

<?blationsof the 'samit' (small twigs of trees)

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and other articles one should give specialoblations of ghee along with the chanting ofthe mantra of the chosen deity and thesixteen hymns of Purusha Sukta. Finally, oneshould sing the leelas q~ the Lord, givediscourses and also dance being intoxicatedwith love for God. Whenever we do

'vi'sarjan' (the retraction of the power•

invoked) we should imagine at that time thata light which emanates from the idol has

come and merged with the light shininginone's heart. "Being the Self of alL the Lord isresiding in all th~ beings." Hence one shoulddo puja of idols accordingly as where andwhen one gets faith.

Thus by doing the puja of the Lord in a

formal manner through worship of symbols,one gets Bhakti yoga which finally leads oneto the Lord Himself.

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CHAPTER - XVI

The Supreme Reality

Sri Krishna continues:

In the empirical world, though dualityis seen in the form of subject (the seer) andobject (seen), there is only one substratumof pure Consciousness which alone is real.So all the objects in the world are only oneand the same. In such a circumstance, asthere is nobody ~lse but the one Self, oneshould not either praise or condemn others.When the individual soul (jiva) forgets hisform as the Self and begins to see themultiplicity of objects,just as in the so - calleddream state, a man is entangled withattraction or revulsion or attachment etc.

towards all those false objects (waking state)or gets absorbed in deep sleep (sleepingstate) which is akin to death. Thus when allthe objects are only an appearance and there

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is nothing called duality at all, the questionof differentiating, saying 'this is good' or 'thisis bad' should not arise at all. It is true that

this body as also the other objects are falsebut till this knowledge comes to a personthrough practical experience, the impressionof tl1ereality of these objectsdoes not vanish.

In the entire world, everything is the Self.He alone has75 taken the form of this worldand He is the creator of the world too. When

a pot is manufactured from clay, the claywhich takes the form of the pot is called thematerial cause (Upadana karanam) and thepotter who created the. pot is called theefficient cause (Nimita karanam). LordHimself isboth the material cause as also theefficient cause. He is the creation and the

creator too. He protects the world and He isthe one who is protected in the form of theworld. Finally, He is the destroyer of the

75 ~~fcf~~~~:1

~ ~ fcf~ ~ ~-'!R: II (XI-28-6)

109

world at the time of the deluge and in theform of the world He alone appears to havebeen destroyed. Even though from anempirical view point it looks as if theuniverse is different from the Lord but from

the view of the ultimate reality there isnothing but Atman or Self. The three - folddivision namely seer, seen and sight in thisworld is a projection of Maya.

Now Uddhava raises a question: "OhKrishna, Atman is the seer and the body isan object seen. Atman is all consciousnesswhile the body is insentient. This samsarain the form ofbirth and death cannot happento the body. Nor can it happen to Atman.How then does birth and death take placeand to whom ?"

Krishna answers:-

This entire samsara76 where the birth and

death take place has no existence of its own.

76 31~ ~1cl'Cl~I~sfq~ ~ I~ Hq<.jl"~ ms;r~ <t~ II (XI-28-13)

110

This is just a delusion that Atman seems tobe closely related to our body, senses andthe vital force (Prana): In the dream, manycalamities take place but they neverhappened in reality. But so long as one doesnot wake up from the dream, its apparentreality persists. Similarly the waking state isalso a dream projected by the mind and after•projecting it, the mind has established arelationship of father, husband, master,ownership (of house etc.) etc. with variousobjects. The mind goes on thinking of theobjects and is fully involved in them.Naturally various calamities overtake us asin the dream and they all look real until wewake up to the ultimate reality. Till thewaking up, the samsara dream involvingbirth and death continues. When once we

wake up, the dream world of the so - calledwaking state disappears and all thecalamities too.

It is true that neither the Atman nor the

body transmigrates and they cannot. Whenonce we get a body in the dream-like world

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we identify ourselves with that non-existingdream body and the entity which hasconsidered the dream body as "I" is calledego or ahankara. This ego has createdindividuality and differentiation that thisbody is 'I' and theother bodies are differentfrom it, even though it is the one Realitywhich is acting in the form of all the peoplein the dream- just like one actor takingseveral roles in a cinema and creating anillusion of several different people. It is thusthe ego which undergoes birth and deathand encounters grief, pleasure, fear, greed,delusion, attachment, etc. This ego is alsocalled as jiva, the individual soul. This egoas such has no existence of its own. This

world of multiplicity is the product of thisego along with mind, speech, prana (vitalforce), body and actions. One has to d077

continuous meditation and self-enquiry,

77 3ilt.~~d~ ~ ~ ~:~lullll£l(ct>4 I

- ...ri ~ f'd::J c; -rr&rrt .....,(:>,---, , ._~, ~''''ll Iq-q(~<;!~UI: II

(XI-28-17)

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wielding the Jnana which results out of it asa sword, cut off the body sense called egoand then continue to move in the world fullyliberated.

In this connection one is reminded of thefamous Kuon of the Zen Budhists "if everyou see Buddha on the road, cut him to•

pieces." Buddha is the state of Turiyatita - afully mature state of Pure Consciousness andnot any personality. So any Buddha whomyou meet in the market place or road cannotbe a Buddha but some illusion of an ego. Soone has to cut it off and proceed.

Knowledge is the discriminative ability(viveka) to distinguish between Self andnon-self. When once we start exercising thisviveka, we will know that ultimately thereis only one reality and duality vanishes. Theway to achieve it is through the sadhanaconsisting of austerities, hearing thescriptures, inferences and our ownexperience. We will know that the one whoexisted in the beginning before creation, that

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one will continue to exist at the end after thedestruction of the world and the one who isthe cause of the creation has to be in themiddle also (in the form of the world). It waspure gold which existed before it wasconverted into various ornaments and it is

the same gold which exists when all theornaments are melted down. In the middle

also it is the gold which existed in differentforms which were called by different nameslike ear rings, bangles etc. This example willmake us understand that at all times the

Supreme Reality alone exists. This everchanging creation has no independentexistence of its oWn, but still it is shiningbefore us. All the various names and forms

like the senses, objects, mind etc. are in fact,the supreme Brahman who appears in all theforms. Atman remains untainted by andunrelated to all other things. The three gunas·Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas cannot even touchthe imperishable Atman who is beyond allthese gunas. The one who is wanderingaimlessly like a rudderless boat is the ego.

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Despite78 this, one has to withdraw himselffrom and avoid all contact with all objectsmade up of the three gunas through Bhaktiyoga till such time as the impurities of themind are removed. One has to be verycareful and alert in this path till one reachesthe goal. Until and unless the desires of themind, the inclination to be involved in the•activities of the world and attachment toobjects are completely removed throughSadhana, any yogi who has not yet becomefully mature may again be pulled down bythose tendencies and rendered "yogabhrashta' (one who has slipped down froma higher state). Such people who have losttheir way doing sadhana wilt in due course,be made to restart their efforts on yoga pathon account of the practice done in earlierdays.

The one who has once realized theSupreme Reality, though involved in the

78 Cfmfq mY: '-lf~q~.f)~1,~ lWn ~ ~I

j.j'\l\irh~l~o1 ~ ~ ~ fuBtq l8: ~: II

(XI-28-27)

115

,"

f

activities of the world as per the will of theProvidence, is not affected by them nor doesone's mind undergo the modification ofPleasure or sorrow as all the desires have ,,<Jt

bee~ dissolve~ long back o~ account of one's,),havIng expenenced the blIss of the Atman .­(Self).Such a person79 who is established inhis original form remains completelyunaware of his body and what it is doing,whether it is sitting, walking or eating. He islike a person fully drunk who is not awareeven when his garments fall away from hisbody leaving him stark naked in the streets.There is a hear-say-story attributed toRamakrishna Paramahamsa. Once Sri

Ramakrishna was going in the streets ofCalcutta,along with his disciples when abeautiful bhajan song describing the pangsof separation of Radha from Krishna washeard emanating from some street nearby.

79 fd8~~I~fl-1~d ~ ~&1~~~~~~~1~ Iq~~(\ Ich~YI6~1-1~I('~1-1~I('~~ ~ II

(XI-28-31 )

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Ramakrishna, moved by that song ran aheadthrough so many winding lanes and stoodentranced before the house wherefrom thesong was coming, oblivious of his

~" surroundings, lost in Samadhi with tearst~ streaming from his eyes which were closed.

When the disciples went in pursuit of himand at last reached him, they found to ~heirdismay that the master was standing naked,his 'dhoti' having fallen off somewhere onthe way. With a disapproving look whenthey questioned Sri Ramakrishna "Where is .your dhoti? This is Calcutta a big city andwhat will people think of you?", the latterrebuked them saying "Iam trying to find outwhere my body is and you people are askingme about my dhotil"

The Atman had always been there. Onaccount of ignorance a person has alwaysbeen considering his body, senses whichwere tainted with the association of gamesand activities as his own self, identifyinghimself with them. Now on realization of thereal Self,the ignorance had vanished and the

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Atman, the only reality stands revealed. It isnot that a Jnani, through his Sadhanaattained the Atman. Atman can neither becaught hold of from somewhere norrenounced. It is only a question of removingthe ignorance and its effects (Le. the body,world etc.) like removing a curtain.

Who can describe the80 Atman, theSupreme Reality? We are the constantwitnesses of its effects, namely the mind,

speech, prana etc. which are all impelled toact only by the· Atman (referenceKenopanishad). Who can describe electricity_ its colour, its dimensions etc.? We are allseeing its effects daily in running the fan, inlighting the bulb, in activating the ironingmachine, in the electric heater etc. but evenAddison the first to discover it had never

80 ~ ~~~lld~~I~~~: ~ct>I:.1I~~: Iv:cnT~ CFmi fcRm

~ CWTBC{~ II (XI-28-35)

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seen nor described the electricity. No wordscan describe the Atman nor the mind can

ever conceive it. It is a great Self-experiencewhich can take place only when allexperiences of the objectsof the world cease.It is called 'Mahahubhooti'- the greatest ofall. experiences. Nobody can deny itsexistence as it will be tantamount to a denial

of one's own existence.You and I are existingat this moment. Existence is highlyproximate - nothing else can be nearer toyou. Are we able to see this existence, thoughit is so close to us? Not at all. But we are

always aware and have the knowledge that'I AM' 'I EXIST'. How did we get thisknowledge? Everybody is hundred per centcertain that 'I AM'. This is because this is not

a second hand knowledge from the booksor from your parents or friends. This is a'direct' knowle4ge (aparoksha Jnana) whichhas coine directly ~rom the 'I' which existsi.e. from the very existence.How did you getyour knowledge that 'this is my hand', 'Jhisis my ball pen' 'this is a pot' etc?Do the hand,

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ball pen or pot come and inform you thatitis a hand or a pot etc.? The various senseslike the eye perceived the form, smell, tasteetc. of the objects and passed on theinformation to the mind. As the mind has

been conditioned by learning from books,teachers etc. as to what is a hand, a pot etc.and this information is stored in the memory,the mind recognizes it and tells you 'this is apot' etc. So this knowledg~ comes indirectlythrough the medium of the senses whichcollaborated with the mind. That is called. -

'Pratyaksha' knowledge i.e. obtainedthrough the medium of thesenses, the sensesbeing not always reliable as in the .case ofseeing a mirage in a desert. On the contrary,in the case of the Atmani the awareness(Chit) of existence (Sat) is an immediateknowledge, not acquired through a medium.Atman reveals itself. So it is called self::.

effulgent (Swayam-Jyoti). A torch lightthrows light on all the objectsin a room lyingin darkness but it does not require any othertorch light to see the first torch light. A torch

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light can be seen by its o~n light-SwayamJyoti. If I had no existence I could never haveseen any of the objects of the world. Your

existence cannot be different from myexistence. There is only one Existence-theAtman. It is because of my Existence, theAtman, I am able to perceive and experienceall th~ objects. It is the Atman which throwslight on and reveals all the objects. So it iscalled 'Sakalanubhooti'. There is a logos inthe fifth' gospel of the Bible by St. Thomas(discovered from a cavenear Egypt in 1940's)which runs something like ,III am All. Allcame from me". Further, just as when theclay is known, all the pots are known, byknowing the Atman (which is the same asthe Brahman) everything else is known(Sakalanubhooti). He is the one by knowingwhom all else is kn9wn - "Yena jnatenasarvamidam jnatam, bhavati"(Upanishad)- "Sakalanubhooti".

When Be is all, beyond the bounds oftime and space, who can measure him andhow can one measure the infinite? He is

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immeasurable (aprameya) and is non-dual(advitiya).

These beautiful ideas are all contained

in one small verse (verse no.35 of chapter 28in the 11th Skandha). It is said that thelanguage of Srimad Bhagavatam is 'SamadhiBhasha' (the language of meditation). WhenVyasa expressed his inability to write SrimadBhagavatam, Narada Maharshi directed himto meditate ('samadhina'nusmara) so thatthe entin~subject matter to be written can berevealed to him. The more one meditates on

these verses the more the inner meaningswill be revealed to one.

Now Krishna gives us tips as to how theimpediments which may come during thesadhana period before we reach maturity, forexample, diseases, anger etc. can beremoved.

When too much cold or too much heat

occurs, some yogis resort to concentratingon the Sun and the Moon respectively. Otherdiseases can be cured through Asana and

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Pranayama or through medicines. Theimpediments due to fear from serpents orthe effectofplanets as per the horoscope, canbe driven away through mantras ormedicines. The universal 81 panacea! for allills is constant meditation on the Lord or thechant~ng of the names of the Lord orfollowing the advice of people who are..expert In yogas.

Theyogi who is solely dependent on theLord and is performing the yogas as detailedin previous pages with all persistence willnever be beset by any obstacles. He will befreed from all desires and will reach his goalof infinite bliss.

81 Cflif~ '1ll-1~c:f;)J'1IRRi: I

<ITi1~(lojcj("<.l1 err ~: II (XI-28-40)

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CHAPTER - XVII

Easier Short Cuts in Sadhana

Uddhava who was patiently hearing allthe teachings of Sri Krishna was bewilderedby the details of the various yogas. He foundthem to be difficult to be practised by acornman man as they all laid emphasis oncontrol of the mind. He told Krishna that themajority of people trying to make the mindone-pointed have failed miserably and it hasmade them unhappy.

Now, Krishna began to tell Uddhavacertain easy short cuts in sadhana bypractising which one will be able to conquerdeath effortlessly:

1. Dedication of Actions

If we cannot do actions prescribed inYoga Sastras, which will take us to thehighest divinity, let us divinise all actions,

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by dedicating them to the Supreme Lord.Even if you have to take a cup of tea,mentally offer it to the Lord, all the whilethinking of Him and then drink the tea asHis·/Prasadam'. Do all your actionssurrendering them all to the Lord and at thesal;Iletime remember the Lord slowly whiledoing the work. Gradually, your mind will .be completely merged in the Lord and themind will derive pleasure in the Self and infollowing all the disciplines prescribed for aBhakta, called the 'Bhagavata Dharma'.

2. Satsanga (Holy C~mpany)

Periodically one should go to and residein such holy places where saints anddevotees of the Lord abound and practisethe disciplines followed by the bhaktas. Onehas to do ]apa, Puja, Prayers, either hear orgive discourses about God's glories, sing thenames of th~ Lord and develop compassionand magnanimity by emulating the Lord'sbhaktas.

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3. Celebration of Festivals

One should celebrate the various

seasonal festivals relating to the Lord likeRam Navami, Janmashtami or Siva Ratri etc.either separately or collectively along with'Bhajans, instrumental music etc. Doingsadhanas continuously, one is sometimesliable to fall in depression or lack ofenthusiasm. Celebrating such occasions offestivals will boost one's zeal for sadhana.

4. Seeing the Lord in all and Equal Vision

Next to Satsanga, this is the mostimportant and effective sadhana. When wemeet people, immediately a mentalclassificationtakes place that 'he is good','heis bad', 'he is my enemy' etc. and it disturbsthe mind. Ifwe are to consider that the same

)

Supreme Lord is seated in the heart of all asour very self and thus consider them to bethe various forms assumed by one and thesame Lord, then we will treat all with love

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and the mind will be at peace. As declaredalso in Isavasya Upanishad,82when one seesthe same Self residing in all beings and inhis heart, there will be no more sorrow ordelusion. As a concomitant he has an equalvision. He treats alike a Brahmin or anuntouchable or a thief, the sun and a smallspark of fire, the compassionate and the cruelas he sees only the God who resides in themall. In such a person of equal vision seeingthe one Divinity in all, his ego, spirit ofcompetition, cavilling at others, contemptetc. will all vanish. Krishna considers this

sadhana of seeing the Supreme Lord in allbeings as the best means for attainingGod-Realisation.

Krishna concludes his discourse thus:­

"I have now told you a summary of the entireknowledge of Brahman (Brahmavidya). Theone who hears this Uddhava Gita daily withfaith and a concentrated mind will get

82 ~ BCIffUr ~: I

'ffif CfiT~: Cf):m: l.!.ct>('Cjl-l1'l~~q:II (Isavasya - 7)

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transcendental bhakti and will be released

from all the bondage of karmas.

"When a man after havingB3 renouncedall activities has completely surrenderedhimself to me, he gets immortality and istransformed into my own form on accountof his having merged in me."

At the bidding of Lord Krishna to go tothe Badri forest and to live there practisingthe disciplines as instructed by him,Uddhava, after having prostrated to Krishnatime and again, being reluctant to beseparated from the Lord went away carryingthe sandals of the Lord on his head. Glory toLord Krishna and my own humbleprostrations at His holy feet.

HARIOM

83 ~ <:RT ~ (-tl-l«1ct>l-l1H~Rdl("l-l1 jqRlchl~dl ~ I

. r'. \ wnSXll~ 'Cf ~ ~ 1/

(XI-29-34 )

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