Shloka # 15:

12.14 He who is ever content, who is a yogi, who has self-control, who has firm conviction, who has dedicated his mind and intellect to Me-he who is such a devotee of Mine is dear to Me.

Continuing his teachings, Swamiji said, after talking about five stages of Bhakti yoga, now Sri Krishna is talking about a person who has successfully gone through all stages of Bhakti Yoga; such a person is known as Parabhakta, Advaita Bhakta, or Gyani bhakta. A bhakta at the highest level is necessarily a Gyani. He believes Lord in his original nature is not away from me; and in fact, is not different from me in my original nature.

And because of this wisdom; and this advaita bhakthi; this person enjoys a particular benefit or phalam, which the scriptures call jivan mukthi or moksha. This benefit is not promised only after death, rather it is promised here and now. This benefit is at a mental level. No miraculous powers or sidhi’s are promised as a benefit. A Jivan mukta is one whose mind is free of regular emotional disturbances.

What are these regular emotional disturbances that makes one a Samsari?

And what are the regular emotional disturbances which everyone goes through; which we put together and call samsara. They are nothing but samsara, basic self-inadequacy. Not being happy with the present as I am; leading to krodha; leading to lobha; leading to moha; leading to mada, matsarya. These are all the permanent disturbances, which afflict us all during the waking hours. And therefore Sri Krishna defines moksha as freedom from these fundamental mental problems, fundamental problems. And that is enumerated in the fifteenth shloka, which we saw in the last class.

Sri Krishna mentioned four of the fundamental and chronic mental disturbances that we suffer from; they are harsha, amarsha, bhaya and udvegaha. This constant fluctuation of emotions; at one time, I am very hyped; I am extremely elated (harsha) and at another time, I am at the bottom of the world; amarsha; So, therefore, this constant emotional swings, up and down, if this happens, according to my will and plan, it is an enjoyable game. But all these are happening, not with in my control; I have to helplessly go through such a situation, and that is called samsara.

Amarsha means intolerance. I can’t accept success of opposite party. Decency in failure is difficult. I am not able to accept better situation of another person, a competitor. When another succeeds, I don’t like it. I always find something to put him down. This envy is amarsha. There is no remedy for jealousy. Even Swamiji’s suffer from this; thus one says, I have 100 devotees while another has 110 devotees. To put jealousy down and admire goodness in another is a great quality. Citing a Doctor’s joke: a patient came to see a doctor and said I have got this problem; however, I went to that particular doctor first; someone whom this this doctor considers an enemy; he is a foolish doctor; what advice did he give you; patient said, he asked me to come to you.

Musicians can’t accept other musicians’ success. So moksha is freedom from jealousy. You see goodness in all. Capacity to admire and have a good word for everyone is a great quality.

Bhrthari says, with a magnifying glass (convex lens), a noble person looks at the good quality of others and their minus points, he sees with a concave lens. We also have both these lenses; but the problem is we use concave lens to see good virtues of others while using a convex lens to see their drawbacks; thus drawbacks are magnified while good qualities are muted. This is called samsara; and therefore he is one who is free of elation as well as envy.

He is free from Bhayam or innate fear. Fear and insecurity, all start in childhood and continues into old age until the last moment. Brthahari says, the fear is because we hold on to wrong things and most of the things we hold on to, cause one form of fear or the other. And he gives a list of things which we generally hold on to; and how they all cause fear.

Bhoge rogabhayam: Problems caused by sense pleasures in life.

If you enjoy sense pleasures it will lead to physical problems. Generally all things you like; are not good for you, while things you don’t like are usually good for you.

 Kule cyutibhayam

Being proud of family lineage (kula) also causes fear. I am afraid that my children may not protect family name. In Indian society, this matters. Prestige is very important; we are always worried about what others think about us. Such rumors, about family falling from grace, also spreads quickly.

Vitte nrpaladbhayam: Fear of tax due to too much money. Having plenty of money is also a cause of fear, as I fear the taxman. I always find ways to keep money.

Mane dainyabhayam: Fear of dishonor.

Fame is enjoyable, however, the more I am honored the more I am worried about dishonor. Here one can even be blackmailed.

Bale ripubhayam: Fear of rival king.

If I am a King with a large army, I am always afraid of rival kings; fear of rivals, in general. This can be true in office politics as well.

Rupe jaraya bhayam: Fear for my beautiful body.

If I love the beauty of my body it is also a cause of fear. To such people old age is the biggest fear, as old age will deform your body. Therefore all those things used to cover up wrinkles; such as talcum powder; somebody defined powder as that which will not allow the other people read between lines; reading between lines; means your age.

Shastre vadibhayam: Fear of challengers.

When I am committed to sciences, I am afraid of people who are challengers of my theories.

Gune khalabhayam:

If I am dharmic person, unfortunately majority are not interested in Dharma, they laugh at you and put you down. When one wears Kukum or one wears Vibhuti, one is teased. Children especially face peer pressure in this scenario. Going forward becomes an uphill task for me.

Kaye krtantadbhayam:

If I am attached to the physical body, then my fear is from death; that can come at any time.

Brthahri says anything you hold on to causes fear. He says the only solution to such a fear is Vairagyam. Learn to depend on yourself. Don’t throw the world away; enjoy it so long as it is available, but don’t lean on the world.

In Chapter 2 we talked about a man with a stick. One man uses a baton during his walk; he does not depend on it; it is just for style. Another uses a stick, but he leans on it; if the stick falls, he also will fall.

Udvegaha:

Means mental disturbance, sorrow or anxiety; all caused by Amarsha, Bhayam etc. One who is free from all these things is a Parabhakta.

And how did this Gyani achieve that. Sri Krishna does not mention that here; but it is a very gradual process; as I have said the seventh chapter, the travel is gradually from world dependence to God dependence to self-dependence; First learn to switch the dependence from the world to God; which is a better and safer dependence, because all the other things are subject to end; but not God. And thereafter I discover that Lord in myself; and once I discover the Lord in myself; God dependence will become equal to self-dependence. And self-dependence is independence. So therefore mukthaha is a person dearest to me.

Shloka # 16:

12.16 He who has no desires, who is pure, who is dextrous, who is impartial, who is free from fear, who has renounced every undertaking-he who is (such) a devotee of Mine is dear to Me.

Continuing the qualities of a Gyani Bhakta:

Anapekshah: free from expectations

One who is not emotionally dependent on external factors to be happy; he has no expectations. Dependence expresses as expectations. Freedom from dependence means freedom from expectations and as such freedom from disappointments as well.

So true freedom is freedom from expectations.

Even expecting some body to behave in a particular manner is an expectation.

Shastras say, if you want to have expectations at all then accept whatever comes, welcome them. Have non-binding expectations. This way, whether they are fulfilled or not, either way I am happy.

Therefore develop the mental strength to hope for the best and be prepared for the worst. Citing an example: So this person failed in CA for 28th time and he came out and there was this board on the road outside: Jesus Never Fails: and this man wrote underneath; Let him try CA. So frustrated he was; he got angry with Jesus also; so also Shastra says what: but after a few minutes, we should be able to ask: so what; I will try again; I will change; there is always one way or another; this resilience of the mind is what is required. Not that we should be totally free from disappointment; disappointments are natural; but the capacity to come out of it is inner strength. And therefore anapeksha means one who is free from all expectations; or one who is free from binding expectations.

Shuchihi: Cleanliness.

 One who is clean internally (mentally) and externally.

Udasinaha: literal meaning is, Indifferent. One who is not partial, an impartial person; does not belong to any group. One who belongs to everyone.

Gatavyathaha: Free from sorrow.

 One who is free from sorrow. He knows he can’t control his experiences as Desha, Kala and Prarabhdha determine them. Prarabhdha can bring favorable and unfavorable situations. Vedanta can’t change the world. It helps in developing a healthy attitude towards a situation. Any experience that I obtain is God’s gift for my growth. Our ultimate goal is spiritual growth. Life is similar to seeds; different seeds require different conditions to grow; so also we require different experiences to grow. Ishwara especially chooses every experience for me; He is one who does not know injustice. It may appear as unjust due to my limited vision. Let me not pass judgment. So whatever experience God gives me I have to learn from it.

And therefore my question is: why people are behaving like that is not the question; Why death happens is not the question; why robbery happens is not the question; why people leave me is not the question. My question is: from such an experience what spiritual lesson have I to learn? And when I ask this question; I will find that it is from tragic experiences only that we really we learn more.

Even Arjuna learned he needs the Gita, only when he was faced with the prospect of killing his Kith and kin. Every sorrow is a spiritual sadhana. I am willing to learn spiritual lessons. and therefore from Gyani’s angle, no experience is unwelcome; he welcomes all experiences; Therefore gatavyathaha is one who is free from negative reactions such as, “Why me?”

Sarvarambhaparityagi: One who has given up binding actions.

What are the binding actions? Any action that you do thinking that once the action becomes successful my life will become complete; once that karma produces

successful result; my life would become poorna. With this attitude; for the sake of purnatvam; when you perform any karma, it is a binding karma; no karma or karma phalam can really give purnatvam.

No karmaphalam can give purnatvam. Action is finite, result is finite, I am finite and so it can’t give infinite purnatvam.

One success will lead to more actions; I become a workaholic. Therefore, life becomes a struggle or bondage. Gyani understands this fact. His actions come out of fulfillment, not for fulfillment. Ventures may succeed or fail; I am still full.

So I am purnah; and I am taking up a new venture; and as even I am taking up a venture; I am purnah; the venture may succeed; I am purnah; the venture may fail;

I am purnah; So purnatvam becomes a way of life; it is no more a destination of life; purnatvam as destination makes the life miserable; purnatvam as a way of life makes life a leela; thus Gyani enjoys doing things; sarvarambhaparityagi; and such a devotee of mine; he is dearest to me.

Take away:

A Jivan mukta is one whose mind is free of regular emotional disturbances.

Not being happy with the present as I am; leads to krodha; leading to lobha; leading to moha; leading to mada, matsarya. These are all the permanent disturbances, which afflict us all during the waking hours.

To put jealousy down and admire goodness in another is a great quality.

Dependence expresses as expectations. Freedom from dependence means freedom from expectations and as such freedom from disappointments as well.

So true freedom is freedom from expectations.

With Best Wishes,

Ram Ramaswamy