The verses 40 to 47 discuss the
final topic of advaita prakaranam, nidhithyasaam.  In the first two verses,
we get the introduction to nidhithyasanam. 
The primary benefit of self-knowledge is discovering that I am thuriyum;  I the Sathya thuriya chaithanyam is never
affected by the three maya sareeram. 
Moksha is not an event, but it is the very nature of I the thuriyum.

The secondary benefit, this
knowledge, which takes place in intellect, it gives certain emotional benefit.  It gives a mind which is no more an emotional
burden.  This emotional transformation is
the second benefit of self-knowledge and is called jivan mukthi.

Even though the sasthra talks about
this emotional benefit, all vedantic students do not derive this emotional
benefit uniformly.  The difference is
because of the different level of preparation by the student and this preparation
is indicated by sadhana sadhushta saṃpatti. 
Since sadhana sadhusta saṃpatti is graded among students, the emotional
benefit or jivan mukthi is also graded.

Based on the degree of sadhana
sadhushta saṃpatti, we broadly categorize students into three groups:

1. Mandha adhikari:  When SCS is low.  The problem is vedantic teaching is not received properly.  They feel vedanta is irrelevant teaching for our day to day life.  Vedanta appears mostly impractical.  These people should acquire SCS by karma yoga and upasana.  For these people vedanta sravanam will also be a karma yoga.  For a mandha adhikari, there is no gyanam or gyana palam (jivan mukthi) through vedanta.
2. Madhyama adhikari when SCS is reasonable.  Vedanta appeals to him; knowledge also comes to him but he doesn’t get the gyana palam.  Jivan mukthi is not there.  Gowdapadha deals with this madyama adhikar.  Gyanam but no gyana palam.  Gyanam and samsara co-exist.  There is a block in converting gyanam into benefit because there is a block.  What is removing the block which is insufficient SCS.
3. Uthama Adhidkari. when SCS is high.  He gets gyanam and gyana palam from vedantic study.  He gets intellectual knowledge and emotional transformation.  These people do not require any other sadhana.  Gyanam is gyana palam.

What should the three adhikaris do:

• Uthama does not need do anything additional.  We need not discuss him as he has high SCS and sravanam will give gyanam, gyana nishta, gyana palam and jivan mukthi.  Sravanam itself is an end itself.
• In the case of mandha adhikari, SCS is very low, he has to concentrate more on karma yoga and upasana.  This will fill his mind with SCS.  Vedantic study can’t be pre dominant focus, but focus must be on karma and upasana,
• In the case of madhyama adhikari who is able to receive the knowledge but does not get the benefit.  He need not go back to karma and upasana;  He can keep practicing them, but need not practice additional karma yoga and upasana.  What he requires is nidhithyasanam.  This will convert him from madhya adhikari to uthama adhikari and block will be removed and the gyanam will convert to gyana palam or jivan mukthi.

Mano nigraha is mental discipline or samaha  from the fourfold qualification or sadhana sadhusta saṃpatti from tatva bodha.  Gyanam and gyana palam depends on the level of Sadhana Sadhusta Sampatti.

Jivan mukthi or gyana palam or
benefits of knowledge are:

1. Abayam:  Free from fear and insecurity
2. Dhukha shayaha:  Freedom from sorrow
3. Shanthihi akshya:  Lasting peace of mind;
   Permanent peace

All three benefits are dependent on level
of SCS.  There is no concession on SCS.

Verse 41

Mind functions in the form of
thoughts and therefore the quality of mind is determined by the quality of
thoughts.  Mind is like a building which is made up of bricks called
thoughts.  Start monitoring the quality of thoughts; monitor thought
pattern; be aware of mental biography.  Hypocrisy is possible at the
thought level.  I only know what I am.  First is to be true to
yourself.  Don’t be a hypocrite. Quality of thoughts can be known directly
(through words coming out of mouth) and indirectly (action at physical
level).  Actions are crystallized version of thoughts.  So, thoughts
must be refined as described in asuri sampath and daivi sampath; (16th Chapter
of Baghawat Geeta).  Let asuri sampth arise, but don’t encourage that
thought pattern.  Weed out unhealthy thought patterns.  This process
is mano nigraha.  This is a difficult and
time taking process, because we have allowed our mind to wander for many years.

Example given:  Suppose there
is a huge reservoir of water, lake or ocean;  There are infinite drops of
water in the reservoir; a bird wants to empty the reservoir by using the tip of
a grass – drop by drop.  It will take much perseverance, patience and the
blessing of lord.  It will take a long time, so start now. 

This example is comparable to this puranic story:  Eggs of a bird got submerged under ocean; because of the attachment, the bird wanted to remove the water by dipping the tip of the grass.  Seeing the perseverance of the bird, Garuda baghawan came to the rescue of the bird by flapping the wing; because of that the ocean dried freeing the eggs.

Verse 42

Gowdapadha advises that we give
maximum effort to SCS

Nidhidhyasana sadhana is meant for the
madhyama adhikari.  Nidhishdyasanam is defined as dwelling up on the
teaching.  As often as possible, as intensely as possible and as long as
possible; studying any text book dealing with jivatma paramatma aikyam. 
Dwelling is only mental process and the physical posture is not relevant. 
This dwelling up on the teaching can be done several ways and anyone can be
chosen:

1. Repeated listening
2. Repeated reading or reading your own notes
3. Repeated writing
4. Discussion or exchange of ideas of the teaching
5. Teaching
6. Samadhi abyasaha; Vedantic meditation in which yogic stages of meditation are employed.  Ashtanga yoga stages are employed.  Asana, pranamya, prathyakara, dharana, dhyānam and samadhi.

Shloka # 8:

(Shloka # 7 in
some books)

Humility, unpretentiousness, non-injury,
for-bearance, sincerity, service of the teacher, cleanliness, steadiness,
control of body and organs;

Continuing his teaching Swamiji said, From the 8th verse of the 13th chapter, Sri Krishna has taken up the third topic for analysis. He has already dealt with two topics; Kshetram and kshetragna and now he is dealing with the third topic called Gyanam and we saw that in this context, the word Gyanam refers to a set of virtues, which will keep the mind a healthy one. Just as there are certain physical parameters, which indicate the physical health, such as the pressure, the level of cholesterol, the level of hemoglobin, etc. similarly there are certain parameters or virtues, which indicate mental health. And this mental health is useful for every human being to enjoy a peace of mind and this mental health is particularly required for a Vedantic seeker because only if the mind is healthy, the intellect will be freely available for higher pursuit. If the mind is not healthy, the intellect will be a hostage of a sick mind. You will not allowed to think properly because a disturbed mind will suppress your intellect and that is why when you are mentally disturbed, you can never read anything where intellectual application is required. You cannot hear a discourse where intellectual application is required; intellectual application is possible only when the mind is relaxed. Mind is relaxed only when the mind is healthy; mind is healthy only when these parameters are handled and maintained. And therefore Sri Krishna gives the list. We covered the 8th shloka in which some of them have been mentioned; amanitvam, adambhitvam, ahimsa, Kshanti, arjavam, acharyopasanam, shaucham, sthairyam, atmavinigraha; 9 virtues have been enumerated; now in the next shloka, we are going to get some more virtues.

Shloka # 9:

13.9 Non-attachment with regard to objects of
the senses, and also absence of egotism; seeing the evil in birth, death, old
age, diseases and miseries;

Indriyartheshu vairagyam: these two words together, refers to the next virtue, viz., mastering of the sense organs. Sense organs are a set of instruments gifted to us by the Lord and they are very important instruments, as we interact with the world through them alone. We have two sets of sense organs, one set is called Gyanendriyani, through which we receive the input from the world, and we have another set of sense organs called karmendriyani, through which we express ourselves, we respond to the external world.

Therefore,
sense organs are extremely important for interaction with the world and not
only for ordinary interactions but for all the spiritual sadhanas too, you
require these organs. And since they are a set of instruments given to us, we
have to make sure that they are under our control and we are not the slaves of
our sense organs.

Sri
Krishna calls this avoidance of slavery to the sense organs, indriya nigraha or
indriya jayaha or damaha or even prathyahara. And this requires a constant
alertness on our part, because the sense organs are generally in contact with
the sensory world; and the five sense organs namely shabda, sparsha, rupa, rasa, and gandha;
each of them functions in its own respective field. And when the sense organs comes in contact with any object on a regular
basis, unknowingly, the sense organs develop an attachment to the sense
objects. So every sense organ is prone to develop attachment to any particular
sense object; thus forming an addiction is the very nature of every sense
organ. So when you see an object or a person or a particular program in the
TV for a few days; initially, you say it is nice, it is wonderful, but gradually
the sense organs demand association with the sense object. And when they demand
it, it is for us to decide, whether we should fulfill the demand of the sense
organ. It is like bringing up a child.

A
child when you give some thing to him begins to demand more of it and the
mother gives in. Slowly the child’s demand becomes an addiction and when demand
is not met, it goes into tantrums and the mother continues to cave in. Then, a
time comes, when the child knows how to make the mother do what it wants. Every
sense object is like such a child. Initially you allow the sense organ to
function in a field; later the sense organs begin to demand; and once you
pamper the sense organs, you have become an addict or slave. And afterwards, when
you try to master, the sense organ has become powerful enough that it will know
how to throw tantrums. They will not allow you to master them.

Thus, if you are addicted to coffee, if you don’t get it on time; you are upset; some even get headaches. Pampered by me, the sense organs can become so powerful that they can even drag the mind to its field; and then the intellect tells, that it is not good; I should not pamper, I should not become a slave; because I want to attain Moksha from the whole creation. And being the slave of coffee, cigarette, liquor or something else, if I am not a master of even few small things, how can I become a master of, how can I get the freedom from, the whole creation? And therefore the intellect begins to feel the guilt and that is how the tug-of-war begins; intellect decides I want to get out of the habit and even after I give up the habit for a few days; thereafter he gets addicted. Mark Twain said: Who said giving up smoking is difficult. I have given up many times. Then begins the big tug of war as the intellect says that I am a Gita student, and I should be a master, I should not be a weakling, and its takes a wonderful decision; and for a few days it is implemented, and again it falls back in the same old rut, called relapse. And then once the intellect fails a few times, intellect does not know how to handle the guilt. Then intellect uses another method; because the guilt is really painful, at the same time, the intellect is not able to find a method of getting out of the addiction. So it decides that, if you cannot defeat your enemy, join it. And the joining is called, justification. So the intellect knows how to justify every addiction.

Like that person who wanted to show the harm of taking liquor and he did an experiment, he just put an insect inside the liquor and the insect died. In front were sitting a lot of liquor addicts. He showed the experiment and asked them what is the conclusion you arrive at? Because the insect died in the alcohol; one fellow got up and said: Whoever takes liquor will have a clean stomach without any germs, because, they will all be killed and I will have a clean stomach. So, any argument you give, the intellect knows how to manipulate. And therefore the best solution with regard to any addiction is: prevention is always better than trying to cure. And therefore alertness becomes important and that is why they say, once in a while, say No to anything that you regularly do. So all forms of tapas, vrthams that we practice are all meant for avoidance of sense-slavery. In yoga Shastra, it is called pratyahara; in Vedanta Shastra it is called damah; sadhana chashtutaya sampathi calls it sama, dama and uparathi. So indriyartheshu means vairagyam which, means dispassion, not hatred; you are allowed to enjoy legitimate pleasures without becoming a slave of that pleasure. While you can enjoy any pleasure, let not the sense organs decide what you should do. So it is an important virtue.

Anahankara: Ahankara
is self-conceit; Anahanakara is freedom from self-conceit. Amanitvam also means
freedom from self-conceit. Why dies Sri Krishna repeat the same quality, again?
In normal context both would mean the same thing. However, in this context
there is a difference:

Amanitvam: Is lack of
self-conceit at the thinking level.

Anahankara: is freedom from
self- conceit at the verbal level. I don’t use the word I at all times in all
my conversations, always using first person singular, I, mine etc. Any subject
you talk about, this person with self-conceit will convert into a subject
matter relating to him. You talk about an event in America; when I went to that
place, he will convert it into ‘I’. Any topic under the Sun, this fellow will
convert into ‘I’ topic, that is called self-propagation, self-proclamation, blowing
his own trumpet; that is ahankara.

Janma mrtyu jara vyadhi dukha doshanudarshanam.

It conveys the meaning, don’t
be body oriented. Life is not only in physical existence; you are something
else than this body. Body orientation will cause obstructions in spiritual
growth. What are problems caused by body orientation?

Vedanta does not recommend
neglecting your body. Body is required for both spiritual and material
pursuits. It is only a means; it is annamaya kosha, the very first sheath.

How to be detached from
body? By, constantly reminding ourselves of the various defects of Deha
abhimana will help us. Thus, body is subject to five problems:

1. Birth or Janma.
2. Jara; or old age,
   with its related problems. As I age, I will have no power to decide on
   functioning of the body. I will be helpless.
3. Vyadhi: disease.
4. Mrthyu: Death; or
   separation from everything I own or love.
5. Dukham: These are
   the problems or sorrows of life.

Constant remembrance of these five doshas will assist
one in not having Deha abhimana; a pre-requisite for atma gyanam.

Shloka # 10:

13.10 Non-attachment and absence of fondness
with regard to sons, wives, homes, etc., and constant eqanimity of the mind
with regard to the attainment of the desirable and the undesirable;

Ashakti: means mental detachment with respect to any object, situation or person. It is avoidance of mental slavery with regard to any external object, situation or person. Previously we talked about indriyartheshu vairagyam. Now we are talking about ashakti. Both mean detachment, but the difference is, previously it was detachment from the standpoint of sense organs; it was indriya nigrahah; here ashakti deals with mano nigraha, detachment at mental level. So previous one is damaha; the present one is Samaha. And why does Sri Krishna talk about both of them?

Mental detachment cannot be easily attained, because mind is a subtler instrument. Therefore taking the mind away from the object of attachment is extremely difficult; whereas sense organs are external instruments; they are grosser instruments and therefore, they can be controlled in a relatively easier manner. And how can you control the sense organs, by physically being away from the place. If a person has a
tendency to use an addiction causing object; he can be physically separated
from it. In all de-addiction centers, the object of addiction will not be
available.

The
problem is: even when the sense organs are physically separated from the sense
objects, the mind can continue to dwell on it. And as long as the mind dwells
on that, again re-addiction or relapse is possible. Therefore as long as the
person is physically away, he will have control.

So
initially you start from sense control; and even after sense control; mind continues
to have a vasana and
therefore we have to handle the mind also. To handle the mind it has to be
educated on the evils involved in the addiction, and once the mind is mastered;
thereafter, even if the object of addiction is in front, I remain aloof. I have
got out of habit of smoking or drinking. If the other person is using that
right in front, I can remain there without having a temptation. So this is a
higher stage of detachment born out of viveka shakti. And only when I say NO out
of discrimination; it becomes transcending. If I stop them, because of the
others’ pressure, it becomes suppression. Therefore, suppression should be
converted to transcendence. And that transcendence is inner detachment. After
inner detachment, I am not worried about temptation.

Once
the mind is mastered; let this person be in any field; he can never get
addicted to anything or temptations. Until that possibility is there, I have to
physically get away from the tempting situations and therefore ashakti; that is
detachment or dispassion at the mental level.

Putradaragrhadishuanabhishvangaha: To be read as putradararagrhadishu anabhishvangaha. Bhishvangaha means over attachment or intense attachment. Anabhishvangaha means absence of over attachment or absence of excessive attachment. Sri Krishna gives a list of important things one can get attached to. They are one’s child, spouse, own house and other such things. These are people with whom your life is closely intertwined.

And
with regard to them you can never avoid attachment. Sri Krishna admits that attachment
cannot be avoided with regards to a few things and beings with which you
regularly move.

And
therefore Sri Krishna says, I do not ask you to avoid attachment. I am only saying,
avoid over attachment.

This
applies mainly to Grihasthas and not Sanyasis.

Now
the next question is: How to differentiate between attachment and excessive attachment?

Saint Anandagiri, who writes a sub commentary on Shankaracharya’s commentary, gives a beautiful explanation on differentiating attachment and over attachment. He defines attachment as mamakara; claiming a thing or a person as mine; he belongs to me. I belong to you; you belong to me.

But when the attachment is excessive; then it is no more mamakara; my identification becomes so complete; that I become one with that object; and therefore I do not see any difference between that object or person and myself. That means whatever happens to that person I take as happening to myself. And naturally, when that person is dead, instead of saying that person is gone and I continue to survive; I feel that I myself am dead and gone; that means my life appears to be empty. If I think my life has no meaning, without another person; this is excessive attachment. If I think my life has no meaning without another person, it is excessive attachment, because the fact is, every life has got its own meaning, irrespective of other people being there or not; because we have all come to the earth for the particular purpose of spiritual evolution and every one of us has come independently; we are never born together.

We
are also never going to die together. As Swami Chinmayananda says: All alone is
Life. And therefore we have come here for our spiritual growth; and God has
connected a few people, so that our growth is helped. And the people will be
around as long as there is needed for my growth and once that purpose is
served; thereafter each Jeeva has to continue his own journey. It is like a train
journey. I have entered the compartment at a particular station and I have started
the journey. People come and go during journey but we all have our own
destination.  The whole earth is like a
compartment alone; we have all come together and we progress and thereafter, we
have to continue our journey in our own direction. If this is forgotten; I will
think my life is purposeless without another person; and once that thought
comes, it has become excessive attachment.

That
means I cannot imagine living without that person.

Sri
Krishna says you can cry, nothing wrong in it. Attachment will give grief; but
you should never forget; that everyone is an individual and we have to make our
own journey. And therefore not forgetting the fact that life is like a train
journey is the virtue.

Nityam samacittatvam
ca ishtanishtopapattishu: This gives
the essence of karma yoga.

Whether
situations that arrive are favorable or unfavorable, I have freedom from
elation or depression. All situations change. Learn to maintain equanimity in
all situations. Let it be a manageable disturbance. How to practice this? Sri
Krishna says, every human being must practice equanimity.; this indicates that
Sri Krishna accepts that every human being will face favorable and unfavorable
situations. Reading puranas one sees that every avatara faced ups and downs.
How can I, a small being, avoid it? Nalla, Rama, Yudhishtira all suffered; so
life is a mixture of both.

According
to God and shastra, spiritual growth requires suffering. Only in suffering
there is greater growth. Opposites will always arrive in our lives. Vedanta
teaches one to have equanimity in all situations.

How
to maintain equanimity? Vedanta gives us two methods.

Karma
yoga is considered a short-term response, like a first aid. Karma Yoga was
detailed in Shloka 2.48

Gyana
Yoga is more of a long-term response, the ultimate cure.

Karma
Yoga gives relative peace of mind while Gyana yoga gives permanent peace of mind.

In
karma yoga one has to accept every experience as Ishwara Prasadam. Equanimity
must be maintained throughout the waking state.

And why is it called prasadaha? The word prasadaha means tranquility of mind; and when you look upon anything as a gift from the Lord; it gives you tranquility of mind; and therefore the object is called prasadaha; So by implication vadai, kadalai, chundal; why are they prasadam; They are not prasadam; When you receive them, as a gift coming from the Lord, because of your devotion, you have got a sense of fulfilment; and that gives you tranquility and therefore I should have prasada bhavana; that it is coming from the Lord.

Prasada
Bahvana is possible only if I have devotion towards God; else there is no karma
yoga. Dayanada swamiji used to say that Karma yoga exists only due to Bhakti
yoga. It is one of the levels of Bhakti yoga. There is no secular karma yoga;
an atheist can’t be a karma yogi.

Karma
yoga presupposes
faith in God. And of course karma yogi does not know the ultimate nature of God.
If he knows, he will be a Gyani; so he has got his own concept of God, in any
form he likes an ishta devatha, as eka rupa Ishvara or aneka rupa Ishvara.

And
therefore Sri Krishna wants to say without
bhakthi, karma yoga is not possible. And therefore Arjuna, Mayi bhakthi is
the next important virtue. So Mayi means in Me. In Me means, in Ishvara; and what
type of devotion should it be?

Take away:

And
when the sense organs comes in contact with any object on a regular basis,
unknowingly, the sense organs develop an attachment to the sense objects. So
every sense organ is prone to develop attachment to any particular sense
object; thus forming an addiction is the
very nature of every sense organ.

The
best solution with regard to any addiction is: prevention is always better than
trying to cure.

So
all forms of tapas, vrthams that we practice are all meant for avoidance of
sense-slavery.

Constant remembrance of
these five doshas (birth, old age, disease, death and related sorrows)will
assist one in not having Deha abhimana; a pre-requisite for atma gyanam.

With Best Wishes,

Ram Ramaswamy

Handling the mind is called amani bavaha
or mano nasaha; atma gyanam helps in two ways:

1. The mind does not see duality as sathyam and it sees it
   as mithya.  Then the mind does not create any problem.  Ignorant
   and problematic mind is dissolved by atma gyanam
2. When the whole duality is seen as mithya, it includes
   the mind also.  The mind also falls within dwaida prabanja; therefore,
   gyanam helps see the very mind as mithya; seeing mind as mithya is as good
   as destroying mind.

Atma gyanam viswa, taijasa, pragya
and thuriya atma; Thuriya atma gyanam alone will solve problem.  This is
discussed in verses 36, 37 and 38.  Giving and taking represents all
transactions or vyavahara; Thuiryum is defined in seventh mantra as avyakaragam. 
There are not even thoughts in thuriyum.  Thoughts are possible only in
sukshama sareeram; Thuriyum is beyond sareeram.  This is the atma a wise
man recognizes.  Knowledge abides in thuriya atma and it does not
objectify anything.  Abiding in atma means thought is centered on
Thuriyum.  Aham Thuriyum asmi.  At the time of gyanam, look up on
everything as Brahman with different nama roopa; nama roopa may be many and
varied but the substance is only one thuriyum brahman.  At the time of
knowledge I look up on the whole word as thuriyum; I look up the body, mind and
knowledge (aham brahma asmi)  as thuriyum brahman.  Every knowledge
takes place in the mind in the form of a thought.  World, body, mind,
thought, knowledge are all Brahman plus nama roopa.  All of this is caused
by mithya nama roopa.

Verse 39

Gowdapadha gives a new title for
atma gyanam asparsha yogaha:  Thuriya atma is asparshaha; or asnagaha or
relation-less.  Thuiryua atma is relations-less.  All the
realtionships are possible only in duality.  Viswa, the waker is in
duality and therefore the waker relates to the body and with the body he
relates to few people; Taijasa is also in duality, but he develops relationship
with swapana objects and people; in Pragya manifest relationships are in
potential form.  In Thuriyum all relationships are falsified.  One
who claims as thiriya atma never claims any relationship.  Gyani never claims I am father, husband,
etc.  This discovery of relation-less I the thuriyum is called asparsha
yogaha.  Thuiryum is extremely subtle and very difficult to comprehend and
it not available for all the seekers.  Many of the seekers are afraid of
this knowledge.  This is because every human being thinks that I am insecure
by myself and to find security I should have people around me.  For this I
should strike a relationship.  If I have many relatives around, then I
will be secure.  When I say atma gyanam takes you away from all
relationships, people are afraid of losing relationships and be without
security.  Advantage of dwaidam is I can have all relationship. 
Common man thinks that relationship is security and freedom from relationship
is insecurity.  That is why advaidam and sanyasa frightens people because
there is no relationship.  Vedanta says relationship is insecurity and
samsara; that is why vedanta calls every relation as bandhu.  Previously
you are worried about your own security; after striking relationship, you are
worried about others security.  That is why majority of people are afraid
of advaidam and advaida moksha does not appeal to everyone.  People afraid
of advaidam can remain in dwaidam as long as they want and go through all the
experiences.

Verse 40

From 40th to 47th verse, Gowdapadha
discusses nidhithyasanam.  Normally, if a
sincere seeker listens to vedanta properly, the teaching is capable of
producing gyanam.  If atma gyanam, arises in the mind, the gyanam will
produce the palam also.  The benefit of this gyanam is twofold:

1. Primary benefit is the knowledge that I am asanga
   thuriyum, the reality which is ever free from bondage or samsara. 
   Sthula sareeream, sukshuma sareeram and the karana sareeram and their
   problems are mithya.  These can never touch me, just like the dream
   fire can’t burn the sleeper’s body.  Mithya can’t affect
   sathyam.  I am mithya vidhehaha.  Dheha thrya rahitha; This is vidheha
   mukthi; Even though a gyani gets vidheha mukthi after death, but a wiseman
   knows that he is ever free from dheha all the time; this atma gyana palam
   is instantaneous.  Moksha is not an event, but it is the very nature
   of thuriyum.
2. Secondary benefit is when the atma gyanam takes place
   in the mind, this knowledge can bring about transformation in the mind, in
   the form of shanthi – peace of mind.  Freedom from fear; ever feeling
   secure or samthvam:  poise of mind is another benefit; there are many
   emotional benefits which take place at the level of mind.  This
   emotional refinement is a benefit of this gyanam.  But this is secondary because improving
   the mind is not the primary aim of vedanta.  Primary aim of vedanta
   is telling you that you are not the mind; therefore, this is only
   incidental benefit that makes the mind stronger and this is called jivan
   mukthi.  Majority of the people are interested in this secondary
   benefit alone, In Baghawad Gita, Krishna talks about this jivan mukthi
   many times.  Even though many students study vedanta, all the
   students do not get the same degree of jivan mukthi; some will get a high
   degree of emotional benefit; some will get lower emotional benefit; there
   is a gradation in getting the mental transformation.

A student ignores sadhana
chadhustaya sambathi (SCS), fourfold qualifications of the student, is
extremely important and that alone determines the degree of jivan mukthi
palam.  Even though there is no gradation is gyanam, in gyana palam or
emotional transformation is heavily dependent on sahdahna chadhustha
sambathi.  Students are classified as

1. Mandha adhikari:  When SCS is low.  The
   problem is vedantic teaching is not received properly.  They feel
   vedanta is irrelevant teaching for our day to day life.  Vedanta
   appears mostly impractical.  These people should acquire SCS by karma
   yoga and upasana.  For these people vedanta sravanam will also be a
   karma yoga.  For a mandha adhikari, there is no gyanam or gyana palam
   (jivan mukthi) through vedanta.
2. Madhyama adhikari when SCS is reasonable.  Vedanta
   appeals to him; knowledge also comes to him but he doesn’t get the gyana
   palam.  Jivan mukthi is not there.  Gowdapadha deals with this
   madyama adhikar.  Gyanam but no gyana palam.  Gyanam and samsara
   co-exist.  There is a block in converting gyanam into benefit because
   there is a block.  What is removing the block which is insufficient
   SCS.
3. Uthama Adhidkari. when SCS is high.  He gets
   gyanam and gyana palam from vedantic study.  He gets intellectual
   knowledge and emotional transformation.  These people do not require
   any other sadhana.  Gyanam is gyana palam.

Shloka # 8:

Humility, unpretentiousness, non-injury, for-bearance, sincerity, service of the teacher, cleanliness, steadiness, control of body and organs;

Continuing his teaching
Swamiji said, having
talked about the topics of Kshetram and kshetragna up to
shloka No.7, now from shloka no.8 onwards, up to shloka no.12, Sri Krishna
deals with the topic of Gyanam which in this context means, those virtues which
will make the mind fit for receiving the self-knowledge. And he gives a list of
20 virtues here; which has to be carefully cultivated by every person. In fact, gaining self-knowledge really does
not take time; it is relatively easier; but cultivating these virtues alone
involves time and effort.

And therefore, this is as important or more important than even Vedantic study. And therefore Sri Krishna will deal with this topic again and again. The 16th and 17th chapters are exclusively dedicated to deal with this topic. So we will deal with this again later. And now we have seen some of the virtues mentioned in the 8th shloka; that is amanitvam, adambhitvam and ahimsa.

Amanitvam is freedom from self-glorification, or humility or vinayaha; adambhitvam is simplicity and ahimsa is non-violence at the physical, verbal and even mental levels. Up to this we saw in the last class.

The fourth value is Kshanti.

Kshanti has
two aspects.

1. Titiksha is
   acceptance of all choice-less situations, without any resistance. While we have
   freewill, unfortunately, reality is that, we have no control on many aspects of
   our life.

And all such
uncontrollable, helpless situations, I call choice-less situations and in the
second chapter, Sri Krishna uses the word, apariharya artha; artha means a
situation, apariharya
means over which I do not have a control at all. And since I do not have any control over the situation, I have to only
change my attitude in such a way that I welcome, I accept the situation and
this acceptance of the situation is called titiksha.

When we look at life, the
past I cannot change; as such it is choiceless. Thus, I should accept my past;
such as my parents, my age etc; as it is. I have to accept my gray hair, my age
etc. They are all choice-less.

Present is also choice-less
as it has already arrived. So, prepare mind to accept it. This acceptance is
known as Titiksha. The more you put resistance to accepting it, the more you
get heated up. Now there are two types of acceptance: 1) Healthy acceptance and
2) unhealthy acceptance.

Unhealthy acceptance: the feeling, what cannot be
cured has to be endured. It is acceptance with bitterness; self pity, anger
towards the world and god. This unhealthy acceptance is not Titiksha.  A mind with this thinking is not available
for positive action. He constantly complains. He distributes his grief to others
as well. Mind is not constructive. I
become a complaining person.

2. Healthy acceptance: I don’t allow choice-less situation to overcome and
immobilize me. I ignore the situation and work constructively. It is difficult
but possible to ignore an unfavorable situation and continue with life. When
you read life stories of handicapped people it provides inspiration. Stephen
Hawkins is an example.

This is the first aspect of
Titiksha.

Even though past and
present can’t be changed, I can change the future. Astrology can tell us our
past but it too can’t predict future as Prayaschitha can affect future. Future
is choice-full. I can use freewill and resources to improve future.

I can work for improving and transforming the future. But here also we should remember any transformation requires time. Any transformation, any growth, any Change, requires its own time.

So, I need patience. If I
have disease, I don’t have to suffer, as medical science advances every day.
When you want to change people, one can change them but it takes time. So, I
need to wait.

And
this capacity to wait with regard to the future is the second part of the titiksha called Kshama. This capacity to wait for future is called Kshama. Even in front of a traffic
signal, one needs Kshama. You can see lack of kshama in front of the traffic
signal, especially during rush hour, as people don’t have patience. Everything
takes its own time. Even a child takes ten months to grow.

Bhartrhari says, Oh Mind, why are you always in a hurry, you want tomorrow to come today itself. You want next year to come this year itself. Ask your mind to wait and be patient. The future has to unfold in its own time; and you cannot hasten the process. Let the future unfold; you face it when it comes; we will cross the bridge when it comes; not brooding over the past too much; not getting concerned over the future too much.

There is no brooding over
the past, nor be concerned about the future; develop patience in the present.
If I don’t have Titiksha (acceptance) and Kshama (capacity to wait) there will
be stresses and strains in personality.

Anayasa: means
freedom from stress. Sandhyavandanam, performed several times a day is to help
ease the day-to-day stress in life. Thus physical and mental stress makes you
irritable. You are at a flashpoint, in tamil: Mukulai Shundi (anger at nose
tip).

Dayananda saraswati says, this irritable
condition is the accumulated stress and often the children are the victims; and
previously when father is stressed out, mother was there as a cushion; now both
of them are working; therefore generally the temperature at home is above 100.
And children becomes victims and they also get the internal stress; when they
grow up, they take it out on their wives and spouses, and thus we have a
nuclear family, ready to explode. Therefore Kshanti is an extremely important
value to avoid stress; Stress is inflicting
injury
on myself. And when the stressful person explodes it is inflicting injury on
the other people too. Therefore a stressed person is always practicing himsa, upon
himself and others. Therefore, if ahimsa has to be followed, Kshanti is required. Kshanti is the only method to develop ahimsa. And
therefore it is very important value in the shastra and it is called anayasaha;
meaning a stress free relaxed mind.

So to practice Ahimsa, Kshanti (patience) is
essential.

Aarjavam: meansalignment of threefold personality;
Kayika, Vachika and Manasika. If thought, word and deed are integrated one has
a healthy personality. If there is no alignment; where, I think one thing, say
something different and act even more differently; this causes a split
personality. This causes stresses and strains in a person. It causes disintegration
and destruction.

Like
any machine with several different parts; all of them should be in alignment.
Adjustment is required, when you install huge machinery; the mechanics have to
come and align. Even in a tape recorder, the head has to be aligned; there also
it is said ‘head’ has to be aligned and cleaned at regular intervals; otherwise
recording does not take place. Similarly your head, not only tape recorder. And
your ears, they all must be aligned; otherwise after one hour, if someone asks,
how was the class, you will say it was wonderful; what did swamiji say; that is
what I do not know. What was wonderful, I do not know?

When my organs are not integrated, then I am destroyed. Destroyed not in the physical sense, but destroyed in the spiritual sense; I cannot accomplish anything higher. And therefore integrity, or uprightness or alignment or harmonization of the personality is important. If you go to a music concert, there are many instrument players like Mridangist; gadam, violinist, ganjira, and musician. You will find that they are spending a lot of time adjusting the sruthi. Aligning of the throat and the tampura is required. If it is a north Indian music concert, they are very particular about shruti. According to them, carnatic musicians do not have shruti at all.

The
North Indians take more time to adjust the shruti than even the concert time.
So if a music concert requires alignment,
life is the greatest music, which should give happiness
to me, and which should give happiness to others. There should be no apasruti, that means my thought, word, and deed should be
harmonized. That is why we have one
of the most wonderful upanishadic prayers that say;
let me not have a split personality.

Let me not have a split personality. Let me not have a multiple personality syndrome. And Dayanada Swamji beautifully says that Ravana shown with his 10 heads, indicate his multiple personality and the best method to develop arjavam is starting with punctuality. I feel the first exercise in arjavam is punctuality. And it is one thing; we do not have at all in India, because nobody values punctuality. So, first exercise in arjavam is punctuality.

If for some reason I am not
able to make it on time, I need to inform other person. This is Aarjavam.

So being punctual and or
meeting commitments is Aarjavam. Satyam is a subdivision of Aarjavam.

Acharya Upasanam: is a very important virtue for Vedantic students. It means worship of
teacher. Here worship of teacher does not go to a person. Guru represents
Shastra Gyanam within him. He is a temple of scriptures. A question comes up as
to why I should worship Shastras or Vedas?

Why
should I worship the Veda?
This is a very important thing for us to know. The knowledge that we want to
acquire through the Shastra
is a knowledge, which can be acquired through Shastra alone. It is not a knowledge,
which can be acquired through any other source of knowledge. The Shastra is like a
sixth sense organ. Every sense organ like eye, ears, etc. is capable of giving
a unique knowledge, which the other sense organs cannot give. Eyes can give the
knowledge of color; the other four sense organs cannot give that. Similarly,
ears can give the knowledge of sound; other sense organs cannot give that. And
Veda is like the
sixth sense organ and it gives me a knowledge, which cannot be gained through
any other means of knowledge. And since it is a unique knowledge, which cannot
be gained through other sense organs, the other sense organs cannot confirm or contradict
that knowledge. Other sense organs can never verify the Vedic knowledge. So we have
to accept what vedas reveal, as
a new knowledge and this accepting capacity is called Shraddha. Shradha means learning
to accept the knowledge given by the veda as a unique knowledge which is not available for any
other sense organs to verify. And this Shraddha is an extremely difficult thing to
develop and one of the methods to develop shraddha is through worship or Upasana. Imagine
there is a person with only four sense organs. From birth he has got only four sense
organs. He does not have eyes; he is blind from birth. And he has got total
faith in these four sense organs. And, at the age of 50, I give him the gift of
a fifth sense organ called eye, and I tell him eyes are another means of
knowledge; and the eyes give a unique
knowledge which you have to accept as a fact. And suppose this person argues that he will not accept. whatever the eyes reveal; He
says I want to verify through the other four
sense organs. because I have faith only in the 4 sense organs; the 5^th sense organ, I do not want to accept; therefore I want to
verify the color, which the eyes reveal with the ears. The ears can never
confirm the color; ears cannot contradict the color either. Therefore, I should
never attempt to verify the knowledge given by one sense organ with the help of
another sense organ. Then what is my attitude? Every sense organ reveals a
fact, which cannot be proved or disproved by the other sense organs and in our
tradition we say that veda
is like the sixth sense organ And that is why in our tradition right from
birth, they tried to cultivate Shraddha in the veda; learn to
look at the veda as the sixth
sense organ, so that the knowledge received from the veda, I accept as
a fact. And suppose a person says; like this blind man; I too will not accept
the eyes, if it cannot be verified by the other four sense organs; and he
refuses to accept the eyes. In this case who is going to be the loser? If I
refuse to accept the eyes, only I will not get the new knowledge of color. Similarly,
if I refuse to accept the veda
as another instrument of knowledge, I will never get unique knowledge given by
the Veda and I will
continue to strive to prove the vedic wisdom by other means, which I will never
be able to prove; that is why science can neither prove God nor disprove it. Because God can be understood only through
the sixth sense organ, called the Veda. And therefore the shraddha towards the veda should be exactly like my shraddha towards my sense
organs.

And
how to develop that shraddha;
it has to come from birth itself and that is why they kept acharya upasana, as part
of our culture. Veda
is another form of eye called Veda
Chakshu; and
therefore acharyopasanam is the
capacity; the attitude towards Veda, as a pramanam. This is extremely important.

Shaucham: Cleanliness
and or purity of surroundings. Keep surroundings clean. Keep dress clean and
simple; keep body clean; keep speech clean, Vaktapas. Then there is
cleanliness at the thought level. And that means ultimately all those virtues, which
will keep my mind healthy. And what are those virtues, which keep the mind healthy.
Amanitvam, Adambhitvam,
Ahimsa, Kshanti, Acharyopasanam, etc.
they are called mental hygeine, which will lead to mental health.

These virtues lead to
mental hygiene, which leads to clean thoughts.

And,
the opposite of each one of them are: Amanitvam’s opposite is manitvam. Adambhitvam’s opposite is dambhitvam. Ahimsa’s opposite is
himsa. Anarjavam’s
opposite is arjavam. The
opposite of each one of these virtues is mental un-hygiene if that quality is
there; which will cause mental sickness and therefore enjoyment of a healthy
mind by cultivating all the virtues prescribed here is called Shaucham.

Sthairyam: And the next virtue
means sthiratha. It includes, Will
power; Perseverance, Commitment, all is called Sthiram. When we start any
pursuit, certainly there will be obstacles and setbacks. Some of them are
actual obstacles and some are imaginary obstacles. And because of the actual or
imaginary obstacle, if I withdraw from my pursuit, it is asthirathvam.
Sthirathvam means any type of obstacle may come, but I will continue.

Brthrahri,
in his niti shastra, says there are three types of people.

Lowest
level person is one, who does not start anything, as he is afraid of failure.
The second level person is one who starts but at first sign of obstacle stops.
The third level person, Uttama person, is one who continues despite obstacles;
or as saying goes, when going gets tough, tough get going.

Stories
such as Bhagirtaha prayatnam; Samundra manthanam; are all examples of tenacity.
It is an important virtue for spiritual seekers.

AtmaVinigraha: The next one
is atmavinigraha.
Atma vinigraha
means
self-mastery. Being the master of my own equipment or instruments. We have seen
in Tatva bodha, we have got seventeen organs. pancha jnanedrianis, karmendriyanis five are
there; pranas, five are
there; mind, the emotional faculty and buddhi, the intellectual faculty;
seventeen instruments, we have got inbuilt in us and through these instruments
alone, I have to accomplish any goal in life. And before using any instrument,
I have to make sure that instrument is healthy and the instrument is under my
control. In Kathopanishad,
we saw the example of the chariot, the horses, the reins, the driver, etc. The
horses are like the sense organs; and so are the reins and they are controlled by
the mind and intellect is comparable to the driver. We required an informed
driver and we require the controlled steering or reins and the horses must be
tamed and obedient, then alone I can reach the destination. In the same way, we
have the body, senses, the mind and the intellect. Unless I can manage myself,
there is no question of managing a company.

Ashtanga
Yoga is to help us with Atmavinigraha.

Asanas
help us control the body; Pranayama helps control pranamaya kosha; Pratyahara
controls the mind; Then they got dharana, dhyana
and samadhi, that
provide mastery over the mind, developing attention span, developing focusing
capacity. For developing these faculties the three exercises are: dharana, dhyana and samadhi, or absorption.
Swami Chinmayanda used to tell that the student must be so absorbed in the
class that even if the ceiling comes down, student should not know what is
happening. Otherwise, if someone comes late, we will be watching his movements,
what dress, color, etc. That the I should die to the world, that is samadhi, the absorption
capacity.

Take away:

Titiksha:
And since I do not have any control over the situation, I have to only change
my attitude in such a way that I welcome, I accept the situation and this
acceptance of the situation is called titiksha.

Kshama: So to practice Ahimsa, Kshanti (patience) is
essential.

Shradha means learning
to accept the knowledge given by the veda as a unique knowledge which is not available for any
other sense organs to verify.

With Best Wishes,

Ram Ramaswamy

Atma Gyanam is the solution to the
problem of samsara caused by mind.  Gowdapadha has pointed out since the
ignorant mind is the cause of problem, by interpreting the world improperly,
the solution is to tackle the mind by atma gyanam.  Atma Gyanam solves two
problem.

1. It converts ignorant mind in to wise mind which does not create any problem because it does not see duality.  It doesn’t see duality as reality.  It perceives duality but it knows that perceived reality is mithya and sathyam is non duality.  This mind does not create any problem.
2. Atma gyanam not only makes the world mithya, it converts mind into mithya.  Falsification of mind is as good as destroying mind.

Making the mind mithya does not
create any problem; the second approach is figuratively destroying or mano nasa
of mind.  Thereafter the wise person looks at everything, including mind,
as Brahman plus nama roopa.  Just like the frightening snake is converted
into rope plus name and form, the frightening mind is converted to Brahman plus
nama and roopa.

Verse 36

The wise person looks at the whole
world as thuriyum and that thuriyum alone appears as viswa and virad (pradhama
padha), with shukshama nama roopa appear taijasa and  hinranya garbha
(dwidya padha) and with karana nama roppa appears as pragya and eeswara
(thriyatha padhaha).  From its own stand point it is only thuriyum. 
Thuriyum is viswa vilakshanam; thuriuum is taijasa vilakshnam; nidhra
vilakshanam; pragya vilakshanam.  It is vilakshanam for avastha, sareeram
and pada thraya vilakshanm.  All of them are mithya nama roopa and I am the
athishtanam.  All three bodies are aroopam. 
Aroopam means absolutely free from all attributes.  Thuriyum is the nature
of consciousness which is ever evident in all three avastha.  It is ever
evident because it is the nature of chaithanyam.  Not only it is in the
form of chaithanyam it is also in the form of entire universe.  According
to Vedanta matter is nothing but consciousness with name and form. 
Vedanta doesn’t accept matter.  Vedanta says solid matter is nothing but
intangible consciousness with name and form.  How can intangible
consciousness appear as tangible matter?  How do the scientist say
intangible energy appear as matter?  If intangible energy can appear as
matter, intangible consciousness can appear as energy as well as matter. 
In that thuriyum, no transactions are possible.  Transactions require
duality, thuriyum being non dual, transactions are not possible.  In
jagradha avastha and swapna avastha transactions are possible.  In sushukthi
transactions are in potential form.  In thuriyum transactions are not
possible.  Neither worldly transactions nor religious transactions. 
Religious transactions are two types:

1. Karma viakara:  sodasha upacharas; they are in mithya or dwaidam; in thuiryum there is neither devotee nor deity.
2. Upasana vivakara; here there is duality of mediatator and  meditated.  In thruiyum there is no question of mediator and meditated duality.

Verse 37

All transactions are absent in thuriuum because thuriyum is free from all the transacting instruments – Pancha indryani, Pancha karmendhriyani and pancha gyanandhriyani.  They will be experiences but they are as good as not there.  They are mithya similar to a movie screen free from character when you are watching a movie.  Freedom means it is mithya not physically away.  Thuriyum is free from internal organs also.  The word chintha stands for the thought process or the instrument, the organs manaha, budhi, chitham and ahamkara.  Thuriyum is free from internal and external organs.  Worship, meditation of thuriyum is not possible because they need an instrument.  Because there are no organs, there are no transactions.  Thuriyum is absolutely tranquil, free from all noises, all thoughts, all movements eternally evident in the form of consciousness because of which alone everything else is evident.  It is the only source of security in which you are free from all form of insecurity.

Samdhihi has two meaning:

1. Adhishtanam for everything.  Thuiryum is samadhi because all are based on thuriyum only.  Everything else is mithya; Thuriyum alone is sathya and that alone can be samadhi for everything.
2. A mind which has full focus.  Because Thuriyum is knowable through a mind which has absorption or concentration.  This is samadhanam.  Thuriyum is knowable through a concentrated mind; concentrated in vedanta.

Verse 38

Atma gyanam means thuriyum
gyanam.  35th verse second line through 1st verse of 38 are all description
of thuriyum.

Since there are not internal or external
transactions, in Thuriyum there are no thoughts.  In 37th verse, the word
chintha is instrument of thought and in this verse it means the thought
process.  In the thuriuum there are no thoughts and no transactions. 
All transactions are divided into receiving and giving.  In Thuriyum there
is no give or take.

Shloka # 8:

Humility, unpretentiousness, non-injury,
for-bearance, sincerity, service of the teacher, cleanliness, steadiness,
control of body and organs;

Upto shloka # 7 Sri Krishna
dealt with Kshetram and Kshetrgnya. Kshetram and Kshetragnya are also known as
Atma and Anatma; and also called Deha and Dehi in chapter 2. One is matter
principle while other is Consciousness principle. Sri Krishna was clarifying
the six questions raised by Arjuna.

Now from the 8th shloka, which I introduced in the last class, up to 12th shloka, in five verses, Sri Krishna is now dealing with Gyanam, which is the third topic. In this shloka, Gyanam means the group of mental virtues required to enjoy a fit mind for gaining spiritual Knowledge; or spiritual-knowledge-friendly virtues.

If knowledge is given to an
unfit mind, such a mind will resist it and it will not be assimilated.
Unassimilated knowledge, like unassimilated, undigested food can become a
poison. Now these virtues are also known as Dharma. Dharma is the steppingstone
for moksha. Many virtues are enumerated in the Gita and shastras. Brthhari
wrote the Niti Shatakam a book of 100 virtues. Sri Krishna is introducing this
topic now and each of 20 virtues will be discussed.

Amanitvam: Manitvam
means self-glorification; thinking I am a great person, while Amanitvam is
freedom from self-conceit or the humility. Why is self-conceit a big obstacle?
When we accomplish something, society admires, recognizes and rewards.

It
often starts with the family itself; the parents admire when we do even a small
thing. When we listen to this glorification, admiration of others, generally
our tendency will be, to easily join that group, and along with the society, we
also start enjoying admiration of ourselves. When the society admires or
rewards, it is the duty of the society and it is perfectly OK, but unknowingly
we also start, like others, admiring ourselves. This self-admiration is the beginning,
the seed for self-conceit.

What is the problem due to
it? Vedanta says problem of self-admiration is a very big trap for spiritual
seeker. Once we start self-admiration,
it causes addiction to it and we look for more and more of it. Once addicted,
we want it all the time; and when deprived of it, it causes great disturbance
in us. Like
a smoker, suffers deprivation symptoms when he quits smoking, like a liquor
addict suffers when he tries to stop it; once we get addicted to the glorification
of others, the deprivation causes lot of problems and therefore, just as any
other sense addition has to be carefully avoided,

Similarly,
admiration addiction also one has to carefully avoided. Therefore the first
problem is that it causes addiction.

Second problem with self-admiration
is that I get so excited about it that I get carried away and my discriminatory
powers get robbed by name and fame. Once this is lost, we get delusional. I
forget important facts of life. What are these important facts of life:

1) Whatever be my accomplishments, I can never take full credit for it, as there are many other factors as well. This forgetfulness is caused by excitement. So, most of the credit goes to many others. Whatever be the accomplishment, my contribution is only one of the factors; for every accomplishment, there are innumerable people involved, innumerable factors involved, I can never take full credit, but in excitement, I do lose sight of this fact and I claim and feel that “I”, with my full power, I have accomplished that. This is the forgetfulness caused by excitement. I should remember that whatever be the name and fame I get, 99% of the credit goes to many other factors; I can perhaps take a little credit. This is first fact that is lost sight of by a conceited person.

And the second fact that is forgotten in self-conceit is, even if I have contributed something for an accomplishment; whatever it be; may be music; may be education, may be sport; according to the Gita which we have seen, even that little contribution from me, is really speaking, not my contribution. I find I am born with that talent; that talent is a gift from the Lord, which is a fact, revealed in the 10th chapter of the Gita, called Vibuthi yoga: I do not enjoy any credit, any glory, it is a grace of the Lord’s glory, which is expressing, manifesting through me, and therefore, the so-called limited contribution too, I cannot claim. That is the fact; but in self-conceit, I forget this fact also. I forget others’ contribution; I forget Lord’s contribution. Thus, self-conceit is an obstacle to devotion. Self-conceit and bhakthi cannot co-exist, because a self-conceited person forgets Lord’s contribution, which is the only contribution.

Third, however great I am,
I can never claim I am greatest one; in world there are people, there will be
people, who will be greater than me.

It is a world of sadishayatvam. It is a beautiful word used in shastra. Sadishayatvam means anything can be bettered. Anything can be improved.

Anything can be improved,
say the shastras. Self-conceit robs me of this fact. I can never appreciate
another person who is greater than me. When I come across such a person my
self-conceit does not allow me to admire. I alone want to be center of
admiration. I develop jealousy, anger etc. In its extreme, I can even tend to
eliminate the other person from the field.

A way to test my
self-conceit is to ask if I can comfortably admire glory of other people? This
will tell me how self-conceited a person, I am.

In our village, there was a temple nagaswaram person. He used to play in the temple rituals, daily. It is told that he was so self-conceited, he thought that he is the nagaswaram vidhwan. And just to tease him, somebody asked him: Hello Sivarama, how is Karikurichi Arunchalam? He was one of the nagaswara vidhwans. How is he?

And you know what was his answer: Ah.., he will also blow air’. He cannot accept others’ greatness. That is the indication of self-conceit. And once this self-conceit comes, the door of devotion is blocked; and without bhakthi, Gyanam is never possible.

So one has to develop
humility. Puranas have many stories related to manitvam. Every self-conceited
person will be humiliated at some point or other.

Humiliation is called humbling experience. Every conceited person will be humiliated at one time or other; what do you mean by humiliation; a lesson in humility is humiliation. Humiliation means humility creation. And all our acharyas you find in any field, they all were embodiments of humility. They were all great in their field and they were all embodiments of humility. If you read the works of Kalidasa, he has written, (he is supposed to be, or the greatest Sanskrit scholar) several poems and several dramas.

In
all of them, he writes an introductory verse. In all of them, you can see how humble
he is. And not only he expresses his humility, he teaches humility to others.

All Acharyas were
embodiments of humility. From this we come to know how much importance is given to
humility. And in one of the works,
known as shatpadi
sthothram, Shankaracharya’s first
prayer is: O Lord remove my self-conceit; make me humble. Humility is required
in all fields; humility is particularly required for Vedantic seeker,
because without humility bhakti cannot come, and without bhakthi Gyanam cannot come.

Adambhitavam:

Dambhitvam means physical
expression of self-conceit. Here I want admiration at physical level as well. I
want an attractive body, attractive dress, a head turner, through my walking,
attention seeking expression and all forms of pretensions. Thus, Adhambhitvam
means unpretentious, simple, inconspicuous, even though he is great. Hence the
saying empty vessels make noise.

Ahimsa: It
means non-injury to other beings. Like different weapons to hurt others,
we already have three weapons to hurt others. They are: Kayika, Vachika, and Manasa; the very body
is a weapon, which can cause injury to others; hands and legs, which bhagavan has given
with good intention, but we use it terribly. And similarly vak is another
instrument; animals do not have this instrument; therefore, animals cannot
verbally injure; human beings are the unique ones who have this most wonderful
instrument. It can be used or it can be terribly abused; verbal abuse you know
is worse than physical ones. So there is a saying that the wound caused by the tongue will not heal
easily. And the third instrument is mind, anthakaranam; and mentally also himsa is possible,
through thoughts. Mentally cursing others and remember thoughts are powerful
forces and therefore kayika,
vachika, and manasa are three
forms of himsa.

In the Ten Commandments,
Ahimsa is the first commandment. It is a major vow for a spiritual seeker.

I should not do what I do not expect others to do, to me; is a very simple law. I do not want any living being to injure me, even mosquitoes. And if I do not want others to hurt me, it becomes a universal law and it is an instinctive expectation; nobody teaches this; it is instinctive and natural expectation; what is my expectation; nobody should hurt me, which means everyone, else has got the same instinctive expectation that I should not hurt him or her and therefore this becomes a universal law and therefore only when I follow a Universal law, as Dayananda swami says, only when I do not rub against universal law, I can have peace of mind. Any time I am violating a universal law, also called dharma, I am hurting myself.

Dayananda Swamiji used to
say, the Tamarind tree has a rugged bark and if you rub yourself against the
tree, the bare body can be hurt. Dharma is like a Tamarind tree; nothing
happens to Dharma; I hurt myself.

Second: Whatever I perform
in world remains as a deposit and that alone I can take back. If I contribute
Himsa, I will get back Himsa from world. If I give love, I get back love. If I
don’t want injury from world, I should not injure.

Third: The tendency to hurt others is natural and impulsive. We have a lot of expectations from family, friends, neighbors etc. Raga Dvesha, which, when fulfilled, I am happy; but when others behave according to their own free will, most of my expectations are then not met and if that expectation is not fulfilled I get into a rage. When expectations are not fulfilled, the natural consequence is that I am hurt. Non-fulfillment of expectation is bound to hurt me. And once I am hurt, the immediate reaction is attacking that object which is the cause of my hurt. The object means, the person who did not behave, and the set up which was not up to the mark; a hurt person, reacts causing hurt to others. So the psychology is hurt person hurts others. An injured person injures others. And there is no gap between my injury and my causing injury to others; it is so impulsive.

If this should not happen,
it can occur only in one condition, my mind should be sensitive to feel the
pain of the other person. Once I feel the pain of the other when I hurt the other
person in impulse; I also go through the pain. I also go through the pain like
the mother who beats the child; and afterwards the mother is never comfortable
because the mother goes through the pain, which the child goes through.

So for a
sensitive person hurting another person is like a self-injury. I don’t want to
hurt myself, so I don’t hurt others.
I go through sleepless nights when I hurt another. My mind registers others
pain. So, my mind has to be sensitive (empathic) to follow Ahimsa. Vedanta
requires a sensitive mind. Even reading newspaper and reading about pain should
hurt me. Crime itself becomes punishment for a sensitive mind.

Kshanti: This word has several meanings. One meaning is mental immunity, where mind is not disturbed when my expectations are not met. I need to develop the immunity to weather, economy, people etc. Just as a person has physical immunity, I can have mental immunity as well.

Take away:

Ahimsa:
I should not do what I do not expect others to do, to me; is a very simple law.
I do not want any living being to injure me, even mosquitoes.

For a sensitive person
hurting another person is like a self-injury. I don’t want to hurt myself, so I
don’t hurt others.

A
lesson in humility is humiliation. Humiliation means humility creation.

Once we start self-admiration,
it causes addiction to it and we look for more and more of it. Once addicted,
we want it all the time; and when deprived of it, it causes great disturbance
in us.

With Best Wishes,

Ram Ramaswamy

Note: My Gita book has only 34 shlokas in Ch.13, while
swamiji’s book has 35 shlokas. Thus, the numbering of shlokas is different.

Shloka # 3:

Hear from Me in brief about (all) that as to
what that field is and how it is; what its changes are, and from what cause
arises what effect; and who He is, and what His powers are.

 Continuing
his teachings Swamiji said, in the beginning of thirteenth chapter Arjuna asked for
clarification of six words or technical terms. They are: Kshetram, Kshetragnya, Prakrti,
Purushah, Gyanam and
Gneyam. Sri Krishna
is now talking about Kshetram and Kshetragnya starting from Shloka # 2 till
Shloka # 7.

Kshetram
is the physical body and any objects experienced in creation. Kshetragnya is
the Experiencer, the subject, thus, I am Kshetragnya and I am experiencing
Kshetram.

And
having defined Kshetram and Kshetragnya, now
Sri Krishna wants to give a simple elaboration of these two words; for which he
gave the introduction in the third verse.

Arjuna
may you know what is objective universe, may you know what is the nature of the
objective universe. May you know what are the products belonging to the

Objective universe, and May you also know the various causes, which produce these effects. And therefore what is Kshetram, what is the nature of the Kshetram, what is that part of the Kshetram which is called effect, and what is that part of the Kshetram which is called the cause, and from this we get a corollary that all the causes come under Kshetram and all the effects also come under Kshetram. O
Arjuna, I am going to briefly elaborate on Kshetyragnya, May you learn
carefully.

In
shloka’s # 2 and # 3, the knowledge of these two words alone is considered
liberating knowledge. Now Sri Krishna wants to enter the elaboration. However,
before that he wants to glorify this topic again.

Shloka # 4:

It has been sung of in various ways by the
Rsis, separately by the different kinds [The different branches of Vedic
texts.] of Vedic texts, and also by the rational and convincing sentences
themselves which are indicative of and lead to Brahman.

This
topic is so important that all scriptures have talked about it. Kshetram is the
material universe and Kshetragnya is Consciousness; or we can say, it is about
matter and spirit. If both these words are understood, you have an
understanding of whole creation. Science claims it is working on a Theory Of
Everything (TOE) that is still eluding scientists. Vedanta says this TOE is
matter and consciousness.

All
Rishi’s have sung about this topic. All Vedic mantras (chandas) also deal with
this topic. All sciences such as astronomy, physiology, biology etc come under
Kshetram. Science has not yet been able to understand the relationship between
matter and consciousness.

Vedanta,
however, has distinctly talked about it. Consciousness is satyam; matter is
mithya and I am the consciousness principle. Brahmasutra, written by Vyasa, is
where all Upanishads have been analyzed. Purva mimasa provides a logical
analysis of ritual aspects of sutras. Upanishad portion of Veda is called
Vedanta; it is also known as Vyasa Sutra. A sutra means it is an aphorism, a
brief, packed, idea statement.

Nyaya
shastra says consciousness is a property of matter. Sankhya philosophy says,
consciousness is separate from matter. Thus, Brahmasutra has 555 sutras, 16 sections
and 192 topics. Shankaracharya has written an extensive commentary on
Brahmasutra with many lower level commentaries from many others, as well. The
topic is large and takes a long time to study and they talk about Kshetram and
Kshtergnya.

Shloka # 5:

The great elements, egoism, intellect and the
Unmanifest itself; the ten organs and the one, and the five objects of the
senses;

Here
Sri Krishna talks about Kshetram. All philosophers in our tradition have
analyzed and categorized the topic into divisions called Tatvani. It is like
science has been categorized into electricity, magnetism, organic chemistry,
inorganic chemistry etc.

And
therefore in all the philosophies, we have got mainly 12 branches of philosophy
in our tradition; all of them try to categorize the universe into various tatvams;

Vaiseshika philosophy, has divided the whole creation into seven tatvas. Nyaya philosophy has divided into 16 tatvas. Sankhya philosophy has divided the whole objective
universe, into twenty-four tatvas.
And here Vyasacharya temporarily
borrows from Sankya philosophy
and he categories the universe into 24 tatvams. And what are those 24 tatvams? In Tatva bodha also,
when we talked about the creation,  this  categorization is present. There is no rule
that the category should in a particular manner; it can be categorized
according to our convenience. Suppose I want to categorize the whole class into
groups. I can divide into two groups, male and females; or I can divide based
on qualification, graduates, postgraduates, non-graduates; according to mother tongue
etc. Here we are borrowing the categorization of Sankya philosophy
and they talk about the evolution of the universe in four stages; gradually
increasing the number of tatvams.

First
stage: was Prakriti, a beginning-less principle or basic matter or condition,
just before the big bang.

Prakrti does not have origination. Prakrti is basic matter. If you want to understand in scientific language, it is the condition just before the big bang.  Then they say, the Prakrti evolves partially and the first stage of evolution is called mahat tatvam. Prakrti, then mahat; so Mahat is total matter in the first stage of evolution.

Then
from Mahat, the next stage of evolution occurs, they call it ahamkaraha. Ahamkara, is the name
of total matter; we are not talking here about the individual ego. Individuals
are not yet born, this is even before the birth of the individual, the total
matter has evolved into Mahat and the next one is the Ahamkara, let us call
it cosmic ego. Prakrti to Mahat, is stage No.1, mahat to ahamkara is stage 2.

In
stage 3, from ahamkara,
15 tatvams originate or
emerge; and what are the 15 tatvams?

No.1
is the cosmic mind; Manah;
not the individual mind of yours or mine; we are talking about the cosmic mind,
Manah.

No.2
then dasha indriyani; the ten
sense organ principles or powers of perception, dasha indriyaṇi; one plus 10;
eleven,

And
then, panchca sukshma bhutani, 5 subtle
elements, come up. So in the third stage 16 principles come; Prakrti, mahat and
ahamkara total to 16.

And
then in the fourth stage from the subtle elements, the five gross elements
come.

Thus:
Prakrti, mahat, ahamkara,
the 16 principles, and then at the 4th and final level, five gross elements all
add up to 24 Tatvams. And all these twenty-four tatvams put together is Kshetram, the inert
material objective universe. And consciousness is not the nature of any one of them.
All of them are matter and therefore Sri Krishna enumerates them.

The
shloka says:

In the first line, you see the avyaktham, which represents Prakrti, the topmost one; then buddhi means the mahat tatvam, the second stage; buddhi here is not the individual intellect, but buddhi is the cosmic intellect, the mahat tatvam, and the second stage, then ahamkara, is the cosmic ego the third stage; avyaktham, buddhi, ahamkara, (three) and then from ahamkara 16 items; they are the mahabhutani, the 5 subtle elements: akasha, vayu, agni, apaha, prithvi; space, air, fire, water and earth; in their subtle form; subtle form means invisible form. In Tatva bodha we have dealt with this. And then indriyani means the ten sense organs. Sri Krishna himself says: ekam means the mind, mana tatvam, the cosmic mind; so mahabhutani, dasha indriyani, ekam, these are the 16 tatvas at the third stage;

And then comes the fourth stage;  means the five gross elements; thus 1+1+1+16+5; this is the addition; If you add it will be 24 tatvams; all of them come under Kshetra. And not only that, these 24 tatvams do not remain changeless; they constantly undergo change and as a result of their change and interaction, various properties are generated. And they are called the various gunas or vikaras of the Kshetram; and what are the generated properties? Sri Krishna enumerates them in the next shloka.

Shloka # 6:

Desire, repulsion, happiness, sorrow, the
aggregate (of body and organs), sentience, fortitude- this field, together with
its modifications, has been spoken of briefly.

Now
we have a material universe with 24 Tatvani and our physical body is also a
part of it. Mind too is in it. Now, Mind is peculiar form of matter. While it
is an inert matter, it appears as though it is sentient. Citing example of
electricity, when it passes through water, nothing happens; but the same
electricity passing through tungsten filaments, makes them glow; the glow is
due to nature of Tungsten. Similarly, Wood does not allow electricity to pass
through it, another property of wood.

Mind
is like the Tungsten filament; it is able to absorb Consciousness principle and
then reflect it; then the reflected consciousness (RC) looks sentient. This
borrowed sentiency is called Chetana.

Now look at the sloka. Sanghataha means the body mind complex; and chetana means borrowed sentiency. And if you want another example, imagine you have a mirror in hand and up above the Sun is there during the day time, the mirror is able to reflect the sunlight; and the non-luminous mirror; mirror does not have a light of its own, but with borrowed sun-light, mirror itself becomes itself a luminous and a bright object and what is the uniqueness of its luminosity; it is not intrinsic luminosity; but it is borrowed; whereas the light of the sun is intrinsic but the light of the mirror is borrowed. So, the kshetragnya is like the Sun; mind is like the mirror and borrowed consciousness is like the reflected Sun. And in Vedanta it is called chidabhasa; or cit prathibhimba or prathibhimba chaitanyam.

Chiddabasha,
this reflection, exists wherever there is a reflecting medium, the Kshetram.
Thus, Reflected Consciousness (RC) becomes a part of Kshetram, while OC (original
consciousness) is not part of Kshetram.

Thus
the mind is able to experience the world, and such, a live mind immediately
categorizes the world as:

1. Through Ragaha or Ichha.
2. Through Dveshaha

Thus the
objective world is replaced by my subjective world that is qualified by Raga
and Dvesha. Once this division occurs, next comes sukha and dukha. Now,
strangely, both desirable and
undesirable things cause sukha and dukha. How does this happen?

A desirable object produces happiness in me via its arrival;
but it also produces sorrow in me, through its departure.

Even undesirable object produces sorrow and happiness. This capacity is not intrinsic in the
world. It is “I” who classify this
world in this manner.

Thus iccha is Kshetram; dvesha is Kshetram, sukham is Kshetram; sanghataha, the body mind complex is Kshetram; the chetana, the reflected consciousness is also Kshetram.

Then, dhrti means will power. Because once we have classified the world as the cause of sorrow and happiness, then you use your will power to acquire the so-called object of joy, which is called pravrthi; I want this, that, etc. you have got an increasing list. And you use your will power to run after those objects. And similarly, you have got of list of objects to be removed, which is called nivrithi, one is running towards, another is running away. So pravrithi-nivrithi- dhrtihi or will power. So, Dhriti and all fall under Kshetram.

Padartha means object. Padartha with ragaha and dveshaha gets
capacity to hurt or please me hence it is called Vishayaha. So the world is
padartha, but it is converted to Vishayaha, an object that can bind me.

Sangathaha
means body mind complex.

Dhriti
means will power.

Nivrithi
and Pravrithi: Tendency to Desire and tendency to dislike.

The
above list constantly changes and we struggle with this list, life long. So,
there are the 24 properties of Kshetram.

Shloka # 8:

Humility, unpretentiousness, non-injury,
for-bearance, sincerity, service of the teacher, cleanliness, steadiness,
control of body and organs;

Sri
Krishna now concludes analysis of Kshetram and Kshetrgnya that started in
shloka # 2.However, there appears to be an incompleteness in Sri Krishna’s
teaching. In shloka # 4 he promised, he will talk about Kshetram and
Kshetrgnya. In shlokas # 6 and # 7 he elaborated on Kshetram but not on Kshetragnya.
Shankaracharya gives an explanation for this. He says, Kshetragnya is identical
with Gneya and Purusha; thus, all three represent the spirit.

Arjuna
does not know this fact; it is like wanting to learn Vedanta and Upanishad;
both are synonymous.

So
Gneya and Purusha descriprtion is description of Kshetranyaha. But Sri Krishna
feels even though he leaves out kshetragnya now, he is going to elaborate on
that through the discussion of Gneyam and Purusha later. Therefore, Shankaracharya says, Sri Krishna has not forgotten.

Now
Sri Krishna comments on the third topic, that is Gyanam,(shloka’s # 8- 11 in my
book.)

Gyanam,
here, has a special meaning. Its normal meaning is knowledge while philosophical
meaning is spiritual knowledge; but here it means, all virtues of a person or the
Satgunas. These 20 Virtues are called Gyanam.

Shankaracharya
says if these virtues exist in a person, he can obtain Gyanam easily; hence it
is called Gyanam.

Take away:

Both desirable
and undesirable things cause sukha and dukha. How does this happen?

A desirable
object produces happiness in me via its arrival; but it also produces sorrow in
me, through its departure.

Even
undesirable object produces sorrow and happiness. This capacity is not
intrinsic in the world. It is “I” who classify this world in this manner.

Padartha means
object in its original nature. Padartha with ragaha and dveshaha gets capacity
to hurt or please me hence it is called Vishayaha. So the world is padartha,
but it is converted to Vishayaha, an object that can bind me.

With Best Wishes,

Ram Ramaswamy

Up to 30th verse, Gowdabadha established
thuriyum is kariya karana vilakshanam and hence it is advaidam.  Whoever
misses the truth of advaidam and has the false version of dwaidam, that person
will have samsara.  Adaidam is a fact; dwaidam is not a fact and is a
myth.

From 31to to 39th verse, this dwaida
dharishanam is because of mind alone and therefore to tackle the dwaida
dharishanam you have to tackle the mind by mano nasaha which is explained in
two different ways:

1. In the 31^st verse, Gowdapadha says that the destruction of mind should be understood as the destruction of the problematic mind, not the real mind, which is required to enjoy poornatvam, moksha etc.  A mind which sees dwaidam as sathyam will create problem. As long as mind sees duality as reality that mind will create problem.  You must change the vision of the mind; let the continue to exist and see the duality, but let it understand that the perceived duality is mithya.  It is like continuing to see the dream with the knowledge that it is a dream.  When the mind sees no more dwaida dharshanam, you have destroyed problematic mind.   This is mano nasaha.
2. In the 33rd Verse, Gowdapadha talked about uniqueness of advaida atma gyanam.  It is a unique knowledge where the subject, object and the instrument of knowledge is all atma.  Atma knows itself by itself.  By this it appears as though it is an event that happens in time.  Atma does not require some instrument to know itself, it only means atma is ever evident for everyone because it is consciousness principle, and everyone knows that I am a conscious being.  If atma is self-evident, why are we studying the scriptures.  Atma gyanam means removing the misconception regarding the ever evident atma, the I.  Misconceptions are that I am the localized individual associated with this body, this mind.  Self-knowledge is nothing but removing the misconception regarding the ever-evident I.  This misconception removal is an event.  For this event to take place, guru is required.  Guru and sasthram remove the misconception regarding me.  This misconception removal is called atma gyanam.  Sthula, shuksma and karana sareeram have nothing to do with me.  I am a conscious being not connected to any sareeram. This sareera sambandha misconception is removed.  The walker hood misconception, the sleeper hood and dreamer hood misconceptions are removed.  For that you require sasthra and guru.

Verse 34

This gyani and gyani mind does not have dwaida
dharshanam.  A person who sleeps is also free from dwaida dharshanam. 
What is the difference between the two?  Both are in advaidam.  
A yogi in samadhi is also sleeper.  A person who is in sleep does not
perceive duality, but the duality is only temporarily dissolved.  In fact,
duality continues in sleep in potential form.  Temporary advaidam is not
real advidam, it is potential dwaidam.  When the sleeper wakes up this
potential dwaidam comes back with the family etc. coming back.  Therefore,
a sleeper or meditator in samadhi is not in real advaidam.  But a gyani is
one who has understood that dwaidam is mithya even when he perceives
dwaidam.   It is a cognitive and intellectual process by using budhi,
sasthram and guru.  He knows mithya dwaidam is as good as nonexistent
because it can’t be counted on.  Gyani’s advaidam is not the end of
dwaidam experience.  He knows there is always advaidam whether there is
dwaidam experience or not.  Gyanis’s advaidam is in spite of the advaidam experiences.  Gyani’s advaidam is not disturbed dwaida
experiences.  Therefore, gyani is free
from dwaidam all the time.  The state of wisdom is different from the
state of sleep.  Gyani and the sushukthi.    The condition
of mind in sushukthi is different than the knowing mind of a gyani; a sleeper’s
mind can’t be equated to a gyani’s mind.  Sleeper’s mind is potential
dwaidam.

Verse 35

In deep sleep state the mind has
gone to only potential condition and therefore dwaidam is also dormant, and not
negated for good.  It is only escapism from the problem of samsara and not
solution for the problem.  Whereas the mind which is disciplined though
wisdom does not go to potential dwaidam and it is not temporarily resolved. 
For a gyani mind has become brahman.  Gyani understands that mind is nothing
but brahman plus nama roopa.  It is like for a wise person pot has
become clay, now he has understood that there is no such thing called pot; what
he called pot now he understands it is clay with a name.  There is no
substance called pot and there is no weight for the pot; weight of the pot is
weight of clay.  There is no change in mind, but there is change in my
understanding.  There is no change in pot, there is change in my understanding. 
This change is called conversion of mind into Brahman.  The advantage to
this conversion is similar to seeing rope as rope and rope as snake.  I don’t
runaway from a rope but when I see rope as snake, there is fear.  When you
see mind as mind, there is samsara, when you see mind as Brahman there is no
samsara.  When you see dwaidam as dwaidam, there is fear; but when you see
it advaidam, there is no fear. Amani bava is learning to see mind as
Brahman is the destruction of mind.  This is nothing but light of
consciousness.  That consciousness is all pervading.  In Gyani’s
vision, mind, body and the world are all Brahman, and no one can harm
anyone.  A wise mind is permanently free from problem; a sleeping mind is
temporarily free from problem.