Shloka 15.4:

15.4 Thereafter, that State has to be sought
for, going where they do not return again: I take refuge in that Primeval
Person Himself, from whom has ensued the eternal Manifestation

Greetings,

Continuing his teachings Swamiji said, in the first part of the 15th chapter, Sri Krishna gave a description of samsara, so that a person would get a desire for moksha; because unless one diagnoses the human problem, there will never be an attempt to get out of the Problem, and therefore he gave the description of samsara by comparing samsara to a huge tree.  This was done in the first 2-1/2 verses and thereafter Sri Krishna has now entered into the sadhanas meant for obtaining moksha or samsara nivrtti.

And many disciplines are discussed in the shastras and Sri Krishna is here highlighting four disciplines, which I introduced in the last class; the first one is vairagyam; which Sri Krishna called asangatvam. And by the word vairagyam, we saw the idea conveyed is deciding to depend upon the Lord more than the world. So shifting from world dependence to God dependence is vairagyam. So that later, we can discover that the Lord is none other than my own higher nature. The scriptures do not reveal this fact in the beginning; in the beginning, Lord is presented as a third person, other than me. Thus he srishti and sthithi karta, he is omniscient, he is omnipotent, God is described as a parokshavastu, as someone different, and we are asked to depend upon that Lord in any form we like, in the form of Ganesha, Shiva, Vishnu, etc. And thereafter alone, we discover the fact that the Lord is not away from me, that the Lord is my own higher nature, and therefore, God-dependence will later be converted into self-dependence, which is total freedom. So thus vairagyam is shifting the dependence from the world to the Lord.

The next one, the second one, that Krishna mentions is sharanagathi or surrender to the Lord, to pursue the moksha marga. This is based on the discovery of the fact that any human undertaking can be successful only when two factors are favorable. One is my sincere effort called prayathna. Without my effort, nothing can happen. As they say, ten people can take a horse to the water, but the horse alone has to drink. Similarly, if my effort is not there, even God cannot help me. Therefore, prayathna is one factor, and the second factor is Ishvara anugraha; the grace of the Lord, so that all the other factors are favorable to me. All the hidden factors are favorable to me, and to seek this grace of the Lord, I surrender to the Lord. Sharanagathi or prapathi is the second sadhana and the third one is the development of healthy virtues. So, sadguna sampadanam means only in the atmosphere of healthy virtues, self-knowledge can take place. Just as in chemistry, when they talk about various chemical reactions; they always specify the temperature and the pressure; in whose conditions alone the reactions can take place.

Vedanta says that
self-knowledge can take place only in certain conditions. Therefore the ideal
condition of the mind in which self-knowledge can take place is called sadhana chatushtaya sampathi or
healthy virtues. Some of the virtues, Sri Krishna will Himself enumerate later,
some we have already seen in the 10th. 12 th and 13th chapters.

The
fourth virtue is Vedanta vichara; enquiry into the scriptures or scriptural study. Unfortunately,
this sadhana is not
emphasized nowadays. Vedanta Vichara is a systematic study of shastras consisting of shravana, mananam and nidhidhyasanam, and Sri Krishna
uses the word here parimarganam. Parimarganam means self-enquiry, through the instrumentality of
scriptures.

Self-enquiry
requires the instrument called shastra pramanam.

That
is why we always say; self-enquiry is equal to shastric enquiry.  Atma vichara is equal to Vedanta vichara. It is like
looking at your own reflection in a mirror.

Similarly,
the more you get into the shastras properly with the right guru, greater the shastric study,
the greater the understanding of myself. The
deeper you penetrate into the shastras, the deeper is your understanding of yourselves. So this is the
fourth sadhana.

What is the
most important virtue of the four?

Sri Krishna
does not mention, but we should remember that the most important one is Vedanta vichara alone. The other
three are only supportive causes, because they only prepare the condition of
the mind.

And ignorance is removed only by knowledge generated by Vedanta vichara; sharanagathi cannot remove ignorance, all the virtues cannot remove ignorance. If you have all virtues, you will be a virtuously ignorant; previously viciously ignorant; now virtuously ignorant; virtues cannot remove ignorance. Vairagyam cannot remove ignorance,

therefore
vairagyam, sharanagathi and
sadguna, they only
create the condition, the actual job is done by vedantic study, which generates the
knowledge and in the process, removes the ignorance.

 Therefore three are supporting causes and Vedanta vichara is the primary cause. All these four are mentioned in the third verse; vairagyam has been mentioned in the 4th verse; Sri Krishna is mentioning Vedanta vichara and sharanagathi. So look at the third line first.

Without Ishvara bhakthi,
any amount of intellectual acumen will not bless a person, we do require a
sharp intellect, no doubt, but bhakthi is very important.

And
that is why we start the class with a prayer;

Therefore the last two lines are within quotation, the surrender expressed by the devotee. He address the lord, Oh Lord, I surrender to that Lord who is called purusha, the word purusha has two meaning, one meaning is the all pervading one, purayathi sarvam ithi.

Another
meaning is pure iti vasathi, iti purushaha; puram means the body, vasathi, one
who dwells; therefore purusha means the one who indwells the body and that is natural
because if the Lord is all pervading, the Lord will be in my heart as well.

So Purusha also means that all pervading Lord who is in my heart to whom I surrender. And What type of Lord he is? The Lord from whom the creation originates

 And when did all this start, when does this origination Begin? Sri Krishna says the most ancient creation proceeds or emerges from that Lord to whom  I surrender to. So this is called sharanagathi. This is the second upayaha. And then we will go back to the first line, in which the third sadhana is mentioned, viz., Vedanta vichara, and means after preparing the mind very well or after sadhana chatushtaya sampathi anantharam. That is how brahma sutra also begins.

Vyasacharya wrote the
famous brahma sutra, consisting of 555 sutras, most important vedantic literature
and it begins with athatho brahma jijnasa. And Shankaracharya writes an elaborate commentary on the first word, atha, by reading which
itself you get heated up. He analyzes various possible meaning of the word Athaha and dismisses
all other possible meanings and arrives at the meaning thereafter.

For that 1-1/2 page commentary, for which 10 page sub-commentary and 100 pages of Others have written sub-sub-commentary for word athah. And once he establishes the meaning as thereafter, he himself asks the question, thereafter means where after?

Then shankaracharya himself answers the question, sadhana chatushtaya sampathi ananatharam or after preparing the mind. In fact our entire religious life is for this preparation. All our rituals are called samskara, the very conception is a samskara, thus: garbhadhana samskara, pumsavana samskara, seemantha samskara, jatakarma samskara; samskara means refinment process. Everything that we do in our religion, including navarathri kolu and also chundal; all are meant for refinement of the mind or samskara, what a beautiful name. And a mind, which is refined, is called samskrita anthakaranam. So here the word tataha means athaha of brahma sutra.

So, tataha is equal to athaha. What should you do? parimargitavyam; enter into vedantic study seriously, systematically. Find out what is sthula shariram, what is sukshma shariram; what is karana shariram; is there something beyond, if there is something beyond; what is its nature; it is a very elaborate enquiry.

In
Vyasa sutra it is
called Brahma jijnasaha. jijnasaha means parimarganam. What do you enquire into? We enquire into padam.

Padam
in the last class I explained; one meaning is the ultimate goal of every human
being, which is Brahman.

There
is a second meaning as well meaning it is the basis or substratum. And according
to the second meaning also, it is Brahman only. So Brahman, which is the destination
and Brahman which is the substratum of the whole creation, which is the root of
the samsara vrksha; of that
Brahman may you enquire through Vedanta.

What is the advantage of reaching that destination. Sri Krishna tells that this is the best destination because this is the only destination reaching Which, there is nothing further to go to. A person has reached Home. So Brahman alone is the real home, where you can feel at Home. With any other goal you fulfill, for a day, you are fulfilled and relaxed; then you are ready for what next? Education over? what next?

Employment over? Getting married? Then what? Children? Then, what
next? They should be settled.

Then what next? Grand children; they should be settled. I am
eternally unsettled. Looking for some settlement or the other; I am always
unsettled; the agenda never ends. And this has been going on from anadi
kala.

Whereas this is the destination where you feel at home with yourselves and thereafter whatever you do, it is not a struggle, but it is a sport or enjoyment. And, therefore, Sri Krishna says yasmin gatha, reaching Brahman destination, moksha destination, one does not come back to samsara, which is the perpetual struggle. Perpetual struggle ends once and for all.

With this three sadhanas,
have been talked about, that is Vairagyam;
sharanagathi, and Vedanta
vichara. Now the fourth is in next verse.

Shloka
15.5:

15.5 The wise ones who are free from pride and
non-discrimination, who have conered the evil of association, [Hatred and love
arising from association with foes and friends.] who are ever devoted to
spirituality, completely free from desires, free from the dualities called
happiness and sorrow, reach that undecaying State.

So the fourth discipline is sadgunaha; cultivation of healthy virtues; Vedanta-friendly virtues, which serve as a catalyst for the Moksha reaction to take place. So what are those virtues? We have already enumerated in the thirteenth chapter, from verse No.8 to 12; amanitvam, adambitvam, etc. and Sri Krishna will again elaborate in the 16th chapter, in the form of daivi sampathi and later in the 17th chapter as well. So Sri Krishna wants only to give certain sample of virtues.

And what are they? Krishna says, nirmanamoha; first and foremost develop humility; get rid of arrogance; pride, vanity, which unknowingly creep into our personality; a few achievements can easily get into our head. And when a few people glorify us, we lose our balance. And therefore our scriptures emphasize Vinaya or humility as one of the most important virtues required and as I said, the thing in one of the classes before, one of the exercises prescribed is learning to do namaskara. The very physical prostration has the capacity to develop humility; and in our culture left and right, any occasion namaskara is there; Not only in front of the Lord, namaskara to parents, to elders, to teachers; So this is one method; and the second one is to constantly remember that there are people who are greater than me; and superior to me in any field. I am never the greatest one in the creation. If I remember this fact, humility will be automatic and secondly and more importantly I should remember; whatever glories or faculties I have, they are all gift from the Lord, it does not take much time to lose them; a wonderful voice can be easily lost with one ice-cream; or anything. So any faculty that I have can be lost at any time; Remember the 10th chapter of the Gītā; everything I possess is Bhagavan’s gift. And any glorification I receive, you do not have that problem!!, It is OK, if no one curses! Any glorification I receive, any namaskara I receive, I directly handover mentally to the Lord.

If these two points I remember; first point, that there are people who are superior and greater and second point, whatever I have is Bhagavan’s grace. If these two I remember in my mind, and physically I keep doing namaskara wherever appropriate, without hesitation, satsanga namaskara, if there is a back-ache, pancanga namaskara, or at least the short cut namaskara, you do, nirmana is nothing but amanitvam of the 13th chapter, vinayaha. Then the next virtue is nirmoha, meaning freedom from delusion. And that means proper thinking or discrimination and what is proper thinking? We should remember, every individual is a mixture of a spiritual personality and a material personality. Spiritual personality is the atma tatvam and the material personality is the anatma personality and every individual is a mixture of spirit and matter.

We are both spiritual and materialistic. As Dayananda Swamiji says; even the greatest spiritual person when he is eating food, he is a materialist; because he is dealing with matter to nourish the matter; there is no atma involved in eating. So we have both the personalities; our growth is balanced growth in which I take care of my material needs and I should also take care of my spiritual growth. And that is why we have divided the purusharta into four: artha kama are also important; dharma moksha is also important. There should not be a lopsided approach. That is what Sri Krishna said in the 16th chapter; 100% spiritual pursuit nobody can have. 100% material pursuit is also lopsided. Therefore Sri Krishna says; Give balanced time for artha kama, earn well, eat well but at the same time have time for attending the Sunday classes. And therefore mohaha means the misconception that pursuit of money alone will give me fulfillment in life. And therefore, nirmoha means the one who gives equal importance to spirituality as well.

And the next virtue is jita sangha dosha. Sangha means emotional slavery; emotional attachment, emotional addiction, emotional leaning upon external factors is a risky proposition; because the external world is constantly changing; So leaning upon a changing support is not a healthy one and therefore use everything but do not lean on anything; and if at all you want to lean upon something, lean upon something sashvatham. And that is why I told in the beginning itself, from world dependence to God-dependence. So jitasangadosha means those who have mastery, those who are not emotional slaves of people, of situations and of things. So this will take time, but we have to work on that. In fact all our vrithams prescribed in the scriptures are meant to develop that self-dependence only; whatever we are used to, we are asked to give up for a day. For a week; those people who take vrtham for Shabarimalai, they learn to live without those dependences. See what happens if coffee is not there for. You have start there. So therefore, freedom from slavery.

Then
the next one vinivrttakama that means not developing new dependencies.

Previous value is giving up present dependence and there are some people who give up, they say I have given up smoking and now I do; pan parag; you have left one and replaced by something equal or worse Therefore do not replace one dependence with another. So vinivrttakama means free from fresh attachments or desires.

Then the next virtue is dvandvai vimukta; those who can withstand the opposite experiences of life; the capacity to withstand the opposite experiences of life; which are inevitable in life. So there is prosperity, lot of money, and then there is also situation, lot of debts also, and health is there; ill-health is also there; and gain is there; and loss is there; victory is there; failure is there; mana apamana, in fact life is a series of opposites. In Sanskrit we call it dvandvam. Dvandvam means pair. And that is why reading puranic stories, which is useful because from the puranas we come to know that even the greater emperors and even great bhakthas and even avath aras have faced opposites;

When
faced with choice-less situations, irremediable situations, how can I help
myself. I have toughen myself, I have to thicken my skin; that is called shock absorber,
through viveka and bhakthi; discrimination and devotion will give a mind with a
shock absorber. It frees us from violent reactions. You cannot avoid reactions
totally, but the shock absorber would reduce the intensity. I would not go Mad,
I would not think of committing suicide, I may be upset a little bit; but it is
a withstandable, manageable condition. So those who are free from violent
reactions with regard to adverse circumstances. And what are the adverse
experiences, sukha dukham sama; in the form of pleasure and pain; and others.
So when that well known proverb, you might have heard, when going gets tough,
the tough gets going.

In Sanskrit, we have got a beautiful shloka, in which they divide the human beings into two types of balls. One is a wet clay ball; a ball made-up of wet clay; and another is a rubber ball. The wet clay ball once it falls, never gets up. Fallen for good. It does not have the capacity to bounce back. Low resilience; permanently scarred and damaged; whereas the rubber ball, the moment it falls, it bounces back; in fact, the harder the fall, more is the bounce. I have to decide whether I am clay or ball. And one who is like a ball, is called dvandvairvimukta.

And the next and the most important virtue is  adhyatmanityaha; means regular study of scriptures; In fact they nourish these virtues. Just as physical health requires a consumption of regular nutritious food; physical health requires regular consumption of nutritious food; not junk food, similarly, mental health requires regular consumption of nutritious food called scriptural study. It is a nutrition for the mind and the intellect. And if you read any other book such as star dust; what will happen, we will go to dust; that is all. That is called like junk food; therefore, reading Gita, reading the saying of the mahatmas. Remember, that is nourishment to the mind and intellect and therefore Sri Krishna says adhyatmanityaha that means regularly committed to adyatma or spiritual study. It can also be by sharing your knowledge of scriptures with others.

And if a person follows these virtues, along with the other three; that is vairagyam, saranagathi and Vedanta vichara, then people who follow all these sadhanas, become wise people or amudhaha or they become Gyani’s.  And then they will reach the destination of Brahman, the destination of God or the destination of moksha; they will certainly attain; guaranteed.

Avyayam in shloka means
the destination is a permanent one, as the wisdom is never lost. Money
you gain, it gets depleted; exhausted; but knowledge when you share with others,
it will never get depleted. As I teach Gita more, reality is that, the more I
teach, the more I know.

The
more you use your knowledge, the more it increases; and therefore moksha is a permanent
benefit. It is never lost.

Take Away:

Shifting
from world dependence to God dependence is vairagyam.

Sharanagathi or
surrender to the Lord, to pursue the moksha marga.

Humility:
I should remember that there are people who are superior and greater and second
point, whatever I have is due to Bhagavan’s grace.

With Best
Wishes,

Ram Ramaswamy

Shloka 15.1:

The Blessed Lord said They say that the peepul
Tree, which has its roots upward and the branches downward, and of which the
Vedas are the leaves, is imperishable. He who realizes it is knower of the
Vedas.

Continuing his teachings Swamiji said, in the beginning of the 15th chapter, Sri Krishna gives a description of Samsara, so that a seeker will know what is moksha;because moksha is defined as samsara Nivrithi; or as freedom from samsara. So if I do not know, what samsara is, I will not know what is samsara nivrithi. And only when I know what is samsara, I can understand samsara moksha and only when I value moksha; I will turn my attention to the means of attaining moksha.

We will be committed to this spiritual sadhana only when we clearly know what is the sadhyam, the destination, which we are attempting to reach. And therefore, we get the description of samsara in the first 2-1/2 verses of this chapter.

We have covered the first verse, in which Sri Krishna compared samsara to a huge and eternal tree of birth and death. And this tree comparison continues in the next verse as well

Shloka 15.2:

15.2 The branches of that (Tree), extending
down-wards and upwards, are strengthened by the alities and have sense-objects
as their shoots. And the roots, which are followed by actions, spread
down-wards in the human world [According to A.G. and M.S. manusya-loke means a
body distinguished by Brahminhood etc.].

In the previous verse Sri Krishna has mentioned that God or
Brahman is the primary root of the samsara tree and the entire
visible universe is the trunk as well as, the branches and all the karma kanda or
the ritualistic portions of the veda are to be taken as the leaves of the tree,
which sustain the samsara tree.

Now in this verse, more details about the branches of the samsara tree are given. Sri Krishna says the branches of the huge samsara tree, the tree of life, are spread far and wide.

Some of the branches are up above, and some of them are down below; and some of them are in the middle. All the 14 lokas are the branches of the huge samsara tree. Some lokas occupy the upper branches; some the lower branches; and some the middle branches. The branches are far spread.

Now in every loka there is a corresponding body to experience in the specific world. Higher lokas means the superior body such as Deva Shariram, Pitr Shariram etc. These bodies have more refined physical bodies.

Similarly the middle body, the human body, is neither superior nor
inferior; it is madhyama shariram.

Adho lokas have inferior bodies like the animal body, the plant body etc. And the jiva is not the body itself because we have seen body is not the individual rather body is the tenement or house in which the jiva comes for occupation. Now jiva consists of the subtle body with the reflected consciousness (RC).  And this physical body is in madhyama branch; mediocre branch and occupying this branch the jiva is experiencing pleasures and pain. And at some point due to karmas the jiva leaves this branch and then the body dies. A jiva can occupy any shariram at any level.

Thus
Indra shariram is not the
Indra, it is only an abode or tenement; even I can occupy the Indra shariram, a body
which is superior.

So
we saw in Kathopanishad, 2.II, that a human being
need not always progress. It
is not that a jiva always goes
higher and higher.
According to veda, after manushya janma, a
person can come down to lower janma also. While the theory of evolution says one
evolves to a higher-level veda
does not accept the linear progression. If we do not lead a proper life, there is a chance of
slipping as well.

But
our goal is freedom. We want to be free birds and therefore do not worry about upper
branch or lower branches.

Now how are these branches, which include the three forms of bodies, how are they generated? We ourselves give our order for the type of body we want. What will be my next body is not decided by Bhagavan; not decided by fate, but decided by my freewill which I can use or abuse or misuse. So each body is determined by the three gunas.

All
the sense objects are like all the shoots, which are responsible for the
branch; before a full fledged branch comes on the tree from the trunk of the
tree, initially the branches emerge in the form of a small shoot and that shoot
alone, it is called shoot, because it shoots forth, and this shoot is the rudimentary
form of the branch and the shoot alone is gradually nourished and will become a
full fledged branch.

Similarly
my next body must exist in this janma itself, in the form of a shoot. I am
preparing my next body, now itself by the type of activity I perform.  Sri Krishna says the sense objects of the world
are responsible for the type of activity I choose to perform. Because these objects
alone create a desire in me. Every sense object is the producer of a desire.
That is why we have an overkill of advertisements; every time, they show
something, they want to generate a want in you. And therefore sense objects are
responsible for kama;

And
kama means
desire. Every sense organ is a potential kama. And Kama
leads to desires that can be fulfilled only by activity. If you see a particular
brand of Benz I have to start to save now to be able to afford it.

That means Vishaya leads to Kama; kama leads to karma; karma leads to karma phalam called punya papa, punya papa determines next shariram. See the grand connection: Objects to desire, to action to punya papa to next shariram. And once you get the next body, do we keep quiet. We continue the same process.

And therefore sense objects are the shoots that are responsible, for the next shariram. And not only that, any tree, will have several roots; one the main root, and several secondary roots, all-spreading all over. Bigger the tree, more the number of secondary roots and more vast it is.

The
samsara vrksha also must
have primary as well as secondary roots.

Brahman
or Bhagavan is the primary
root.

Sri Krishna says there are many secondary roots, spreading all over, as well. He does not actually name them but they are raga-dvesha or vasanas that are the spreading secondary roots. Raga-dvesha vasanas are Well-entrenched vasanas. These are tendencies, in the form of raga, I like these things, and I dislike these things. In fact, every experience makes me judge the experience. As I go forward in my life every experience makes my intellect classify things, as this is welcome, this is not welcome. You meet a person for two days or three days, youwill classify. Even in the class if you do not like, you will sit elsewhere. In the camp,do not put this person as my room mate.

Clear
slotting or categorization; such as, this is welcome; this is not welcome. And
every raga leads to pravrtti.
When I consider some thing as favorable, I have to chase that object. I have to
go after that object. Thus raga leads to
pravrithi and once I dislike something, dvesha, that leads to nivrtti; withdrawal or
avoidance. So thus raga-dvesha lead to pravrtti, nivrtti; pravrtti nivrttis are karma
and karma will lead to punya papa; punya papa will lead to punarjanma.

 Anubhanda in shloka means consequences. Consequences of raga-dvesha vasanas are karmas. What type of karmas? Either pravrtti karma or nivrtti karmas; or going after or going away.

And all these are happening in manushyaloka. This
wheel of samsara goes round and round and we as human beings are helplessly
stuck in this wheel.

And why does Sri Krishna specifically use the mention manushya
loka?
Because it is only in this loka that karma can be performed. All other Lokas
are Bhoga Pradhana Lokas.

Shloka
15.3:

 15.3 Its form is not
perceived here in that way; nor its end, nor beginning, nor continuance, After
felling this Peepul whose roots are well developed, with the strong sword of
detachment-;

In first half of this shloka Samsara description continues. Here Sri Krishna tells us a very important technical information. The more we try to understand this life, the more mysterious it becomes. Thus creation is a mystery and is also called Maya. Scientists have been thinking that they will have clear explanation to every phenomenon. They are all working for a theory of everything. It is called the TOE. They want a theory of everything. They solve certain mysteries and find

 they are replaced by further and deeper
mysteries. And therefore, Sri Krishna says the nature of the universe is not
comprehensible. It is anirvachaniyam.

Question
comes up, why are you born; due to our Karma. Why did I do that karma, because
of your perevious janma. How did previous janma come; it came due to previous
karma. How did first janma come? How did first Karma come? Gaudapada talks
about this Theory of Causation in Mandukya Upanishad.

Now,
beginning of creation involves beginning of time, they are inseparable.
Beginning of time is a contradiction, as you need another time to measure it.
(Thus one may say the creation started at 9 O clock. It is similar with space.
It is a paradox. Like the chicken or egg, which came first, this is also a
paradox. Even scientists say these questions may never be answered.

Maya
is samsara. So, we can’t talk of beginning of universe nor its end (end of
time). After time, before time, are all contradictions. Hence they say Na anthaha,
na adihi. What about the middle? Citing example of a hall, if I ask you to mark
the middle of the hall, the first thing you do is try to find out both the ends
of the hall. Without locating the beginning and end, you cannot pinpoint the middle;
therefore, if you do not know the beginning and end, you cannot talk about the
middle.

So
never try to understand Samsara; only try to remove it. If dream creates a
problem, there is no sense in trying to understand the dream; we just need to
wake up from the dream. So how to get over Samsara is now described in the next
line of this shloka. We are in the next topic of the chapter of how to get out
of the Samsara Chakra. Sri Krishna talks about four disciplines and none of
them is optional to achieve this.

They
are:

1. Vairagyam or Dispassion.
2. Brahma Vichara: Enquiry into Brahman.
3. Sharanagathi: Devotion or surrender. Prapatti is a very
   important concept in Vishnu Sampradya.
4. Sadgunaha: developing a healthy and refined mind.

The
above four Upayas or methods will now be described.

Sri
Krishna says with the axe of Vairagya learn to reduce your dependence on the
world, as the world is unpredictable.

It
is not hatred of the world. It does not mean hatred rather it means from world dependence,
gradually develop God-dependence. God in any form initially can be worshipped,
such as in the form of an ishta devatha. And later, when we discover that Lord
in our own heart, in the form of our own higher nature, then, from
God-dependence I will come to self-dependence, which is otherwise independence.
What is independence; it is independence of myself. And therefore turn your
attention from world dependence to God dependence. So:

World
dependent>God dependent>Self dependent.

What
should you cut?

May
you cut the dependence on this samsara vrksha.

And what type of samsara vrksha; one with very strong roots; this well rooted, well entrenched samsara, you are leaning upon, is a risky thing.

I
have often told you that when there is a cardboard chair; a well-decorated
cardboard chair is there; it is beautiful and nice, you can keep for showcase it
but you can’t sit on it. Similarly, love people, move with people, and show
your care, everything you do; it is a gift from the Lord, whatever I have, but when
you need stability and security, have the Lord as the source of security. So stage
No.1. is from world dependence to God
dependence. This is called Vairagyam. Not hatred. Maturity. Having done that, don’t stop with
that; there are three more disciplines, which you have to practice. What are
those three?

That
is given in the next verse.

Shloka 15.4:

15.4 Thereafter, that State has to be sought for,
going where they do not return again: I take refuge in that Primeval Person
Himself, from whom has ensued the eternal Manifestation.

After getting vairagyam one goes to parimargitavyam, that is towards Brahman.Vairagyam is not suppression, but mature dispassion. Suppression is never correct; it is growing out of the dependence, just as we grow out of the attachment to the dolls and play things we used in our childhood, only thing is the physical growth from childhood is a natural process. But we need emotional growth as well. Emotional growth requires working on it. That is called viveka janya vairagyam.

We
have to study our experiences and learn and after getting that dispassion, healthy
dispassion; you have to go to the second upaya known as parimargitavyam. Parimarganam
means enquiry. Vichara
means searching and seeking of padam. Padam here means that ultimate
destination of life and also the ultimate substratum of the samsara tree that is
the Brahman. So may you enquire into Brahman through Guru Shastra Vichrara or
Vedanta Vichara.

Take Away:

Moving
from world dependence to God dependence is called Vairagyam.

Objects
lead to desire that lead to action that leads to punya papa that leads to
next shariram.

With Best
Wishes,

Ram Ramaswamy

Greetings,

Continuing his teachings Swamiji said, having completed the 14th chapter, now we will enter into the 15th chapter, one of the smallest chapters in the Gita, with only 20 verses; but one of the most important and popular chapters of the Gita, and it is often used as a prayer verse before taking food; therefore generally, when this chapter is chanted, people remember the food, rather than the Lord, but it is a very important Vedantic chapter.

And
since it occurs in the last shatkam
of the Gita, all the three
important topics of the last shatkam
are dealt with in this chapter. The three important themes of the last shatkam, if you
remember, are:

Gyana
yoga as the sadhana,

Jivatma paramatma aikyam as the subject matter; the importance of values or sadgunaha as a preparatory step, for the aikya Gyanam.

All these three topics have been well dealt with in this chapter. And this chapter is titled Purushottama yoga and the word Purushottama here means Nirguna chaitanyam. It does not refer to saguna Ishvara, nor to Vishnu or Sri Krishna or Shiva. It refers to Nirgunam Brahma or Nirguna chaitanyam and this meaning Lord himself gives at the end of the chapter, so there can be no controversy, because Sri Krishna himself says Purushottama means attributeless consciousness and yoga here it means the subject matter. So Purushottama yoga means the topic of Nirgunam brahma, which is the main teaching of this chapter.

With
this background we will enter into the Chapter proper.

Shloka 15.1:

The Blessed Lord said They say that the peepul
Tree, which has its roots upward and the branches downward, and of which the
Vedas are the leaves, is imperishable. He who realizes it is knower of the
Vedas.

As
the very title of this chapter shows, the topic is Nirguna Brahma and by
the study of this chapter, one will get Nirguna Brahma Gyanam. And naturally a person
will have a question, why should I get nirguna Brahma Gyanam at all, because a person would not go after
any knowledge, unless he expects some benefit out of it.

The
subject we study in the college is from the standpoint of employment, so the question
will come, why should I get Brahma Gyanam? We should remember Sri Krishna is
giving here Brahma Gyanam as a means of moksha
or freedom.

Then
the next question will come, what do you mean by moksha? We say Moksha is samsara nivrtti,
freedom from samsara.
And naturally, the next question will be what is samsara? Samsara is the
varieties of problems that a human being continuously faces, and to get out of
the problem he continuously runs about.

So samsara means continuously facing problems and running about to get rid of the problem. And this struggle is called samsara. And freedom from that samsara is called Moksha and; Brahma Gyanam is the remedy for moksha. And according to the Vedanta, Brahma Gyanam is not one of the remedies, it is the only remedy available. And therefore, Brahma Gyanam is for moksha; moksha is freedom from samsara.

Now
the thing is: I would like to get rid of samsara, if only I think samsara is a problem.

If a person says I am very comfortable as a samsari  he would not like moksha and for him Brahma Gyanam is irrelevant.

So
seeing the problem of samsara is the pre-requisite for the desire of moksha, and moksha iccha is a
prerequisite to develop interest in Brahma Gyanam. And interest in Brahma Gyanam
is a pre-requisite for continuously attending the class. So therefore Sri Krishna
wants the students to continue and that is possible only if they have diagnosed
the problem.

Without
diagnosing the disease, I will never attempt an appropriate treatment. And everybody
has got this basic disease called bhava roga.

We
have to scan our life to discover the disease called bhava roga only then we
can go through the treatment of Gyana Yoga. Therefore, Sri Krishna begins the
15th chapter with a description of samsara. Samsara means the whole life of
change; the whole life of birth and death; the old age, disease and death;
association and disassociation.

He
talks about this in the first 2-1/2 verses.

And in the 15th chapter, we do not find Arjuna asking any question. Therefore Sri Krishna himself volunteers to continue the teaching.

Arjuna, (whether you like it or not), I love teaching, and Therefore, I would like to clarify further. And to give a description of this samsara, the ever-changing universe, Sri Krishna compares samsara to a huge Peepal tree (Arasha maram in tamil).

And
this comparative study is not Sri Krishna’s own original version but this has
been already done in Kathopanishad.

In Kathopanishad in mantra 2,3.1, the universe; the changing universe and life; is compared to a huge ashvatha tree. And Shankaracharya gives a very  elaborate commentary on this, both in his Kathopanishad Bhashyam as well as the Gita Bhashyam. In his commentary, he studies the common features between the samsara and the ashvatha tree. Common features are called Sadhramyam.

The
common features are:

1. Mahatvam: both are very huge.
2. Adhyanta rahithatvam. You cannot trace the beginning of both.
   People ask when did the

universe start? Why am I born? I came because of karma. Where
did karma come from; from previous janma. Where did previous janma come from?
Why did God create me? The answer is there is no beginning for creation;
Universe ever was, is and will be.

Same questions come for the tree as well. How did tree come?
It came due to the seed. How did seed come? So one soon gets caught in this
never ending paradox of which came first, the seed or the tree? Thus, Samsara
is a cyclical phenomenon

3.
Anivarchaniyatvam: Inexplicability; Logically cannot be categorized; In what sense?
You can never say a thing is a cause or an effect. You can never pinpoint a thing
is a cause or an effect, because from one standpoint a thing is a cause, the
very same is an effect, from another standpoint. So today is cause or an
effect? From yesterday’s standpoint today is an effect. From tomorrow’s standpoint
it is a cause.

Fate
and free will also fall into this argument.

If
you look at a particular point and see as an effect of the cause, you will call
it fate. And if the very same point is seen as the cause of the future, you
will call it Freewill. You can never pinpoint whether a thing is absolutely
freewill or absolutely fate; absolutely cause or absolutely effect; or
absolutely parent or absolutely children; nobody is an absolute parent. Nothing
is logically classifiable. The more you probe the more mysterious it becomes.

4.
Moolavatvam: A tree has a root and it is not visible. But you are aware that
there is a root. Similarly, the universe also has a root called Ishwara. He is
also not visible like the root. I know that without a root a tree cannot stand;
similarly, the universe cannot stand without a god.

5.
Shakavatvam:

A huge tree has many branches, some at top, some in middle and some at bottom. Similarly, Universe also has higher, middle and lower Lokas. So the higher lokas and the higher bodies; deva shariram, represents urdhva shakas, the upper branches; manushya lokas comes under the middle branch and the athala, vithala, suthala, rasatala mahatala, talatala, patala, all the lower lokas will come under the lower branches. Thus, the universe is a vast tree with the fourteen lokas as its branches. So shakavatvam is the next common feature.

6.
Parnavatvam: Tree is so full of leaves that one cant even see the trunk. Similarly, the
universal tree has got the leaves
in the form of karmani; or karma kanda of the vedas are compared to the leaves of the
samsara tree. So
here you will require a slight explanation. Why do we

compare
karma kanda to the leaves
of the tree? The leaves are very important for the perpetuation and the growth
of the tree. In fact, leaves protect the tree and help the tree survive. And
you know the leaf alone has got chlorophyll; that is why it is green, and it
does photosynthesis and it cooks food and because of that alone, the tree
survives. And through osmotic pressure, it absorbs the water.

The
karma kanda of the vedas is called
chandas because it protects the samsara tree like the leaves of the original
tree.

How
does the karma kanda protect,
perpetuate and help the growth of the tree? You must have inferred by now.
Karma kanda talks about varieties
of karmas and also tempts all the people to do those karmas by promising

many varieties of results. If you perform this karma, you will get children. If you perform that karma, you will get money. You do that karma and you will go to heaven. Full of advertisements.

And
naturally a person is attracted to karma kanda; in fact Gyana kanda is never appealing.
If I ask, how is mandukya upanishad? You will probably say it is very dry.

So
Gyana kanda is generally
not appealing,

Whereas, karma kanda is the most appealing thing, because he asks you to do varieties of karma to get varieties of results. And therefore this person will take to varieties of karmas and karmas will produce Karma phalam. And from karma phalam you get punya or papam. Punya papas, as they increase, will lead to punarapi jananam, punarapi maranam. Thus the samsara cycle of birth and death is perpetuated by karma kanda by tempting the people to do varieties of karma.

Punya karmas will
take you to higher lokas. Rajas karmas will take you to the middle loka or manushya
loka; Tamo karmas will take you to lower lokas.

While
Gyana kanda puts an end to
the samsara tree, karma kanda nourishes the
samsara tree. And
therefore they are like the leaves of a tree. Therefore parnavatvam.

7.
Phalavatvam: Now trees bear fruits; some are sweet, some sour and some a
mixture of both. Samara tree also gives three types of phalam. It gives Sukham,
Dukham and Mishra phalam, mixture of both sukha and dukha

8. Ashrayavathavam: The tree helps the birds by providing them with a nest. So the trees serves as the nesting site for the birds, which alone would eat the fruit. The tree is not going to eat; only the birds which occupy the tree, they alone enjoy this sukha dukha phalam; Similarly in the vast universe, all the jivas are like the birds. Some jivas are on the higher branches, or like svarga loka with Deva shariram, some of them are in the middle branch, meaning like in manushya loka with manushya shariram, some of them are in the lower branches, meaning adho loka with adho shariram and therefore the tree supports the birds. Similarly the samsara tree supports the jiva world. This same concept is referenced in Mundaka upanishadic mantra (III.1.1) as well.

9. Chalanavatvam: The huge tree moves because of the wind; especially when there is powerful cyclonic wind. Even though it is a huge tree, it moves up and down, here and there. In the same way, the whole samsara tree along with all the jivas are taken here and there by the wind of prarabdha karma. So we are all taken to various conditions, various places, various situation, lashed by Prarabhda’s winds. A person wanted to be transferred to Madras but got transferred elsewhere. Such situations can affect life and is governed by the prarabdha karma wind and hence chalanatvam.

10.
Chedyathvam: Even
though the tree is very huge, by appropriate effort, this tree can be uprooted.
It is possible to put an end to this tree by using the appropriate axe.
Similarly, the special axe called Gyanam also can uproot the huge samsara
chakram. In fact the very word vrikshaha means
that which can be uprooted. It is derived from the root vrasch; Shankaracharya says the
uprooting is not easy.

If
it is a small plant, we can effortlessly remove, but if

it
is ashvatha tree it is not that easy.

So,
all the above were common features between the tree and Samsara.

In
Shloka ashvattham
prahuhu means this entire samsara; the life of change is considered to be
similar to ashvattha tree. Urdhvam also means superior or sacred as well as
incomprehensible.

Urdhvamulam
means one, which has got a root. Urdhwam also means spatial aboveness. Thus
Brahman is superior and incomprehensible. This Brahman is the moolam or root of
the samsara tree.

Avyaya:
means eternal. The beginning and end cannot be traced. Thus we have the seed
and tree paradox; similarly human life is a paradox; we can’t say when first
jiva was born.

Chandamsi yasya parnani in shloka
means:
So
the protecting sustaining leaves of the samsara tree are none other than the veda prescribed
karmas.

And
karma kanda always makes
the people to remain in the field of rituals. There are many who love the
rituals but they never like Gita and Upanishads.
They are highly religious people; they love the ritualistic portion, but never
come to Vedanta. Thus, they
successfully perpetuate the samsara.

It does not mean that karma kanda is our enemy to be thrown away. We say is, karma kanda must be used, up to a particular limit, and sooner or later, one should transcend the ritualistic portion and spend more time in philosophical portion.

Generally,
people tend to go to two extremes. One extreme is people never like religious
poojas or rituals. For them, they have no way of purifying the mind. Pooja is the only method of purification.

And the other extreme are people who stay with puja alone; that is also not correct. One should enter karma kanda, purify the mind and then come to Gyana kanda.

Yah tam veda in
shloka means, the one who understands this universal tree with its many
branches, leaves, fruits etc. the one who knows this universal tree and Shankaracharya adds; along
that knows that the root is Brahman. He says, He alone is a wise person, who
has understood the scriptures properly. Vedavit in shloka means the one who is a Gyani.

Take Away:

Swamiji
says that Puja (a part of Karma kanda) alone is the method of purification of the mind.

With Best
Wishes,

Ram Ramaswamy

Continuing his teachings
Swamiji presented the summary of the chapter today.He said the 14th chapter, like theprevious chapter, falls within the third shadkam of the
Bhagavat Gita; the third
groupof six chapters and I had
pointed out that in the third shadkam,
Sri Krishna concentrates on Gyana yoga. And therefore we find the topic of Gyana yoga, theessential teachings of the Upanishads,
condensed in these chapters, especially the 13th, 14th and 15th chapters. In
the 16th and 17th chapters, we will see later, Sri Krishna deals with Gyana-yoga friendly
virtues.

Gyana yoga is the pursuit of self-knowledge or atma Gyanam. Though, these three chapters are relatively small, they are very significant chapters and this is known as Gunathraya vibhaga yoga and in this chapter, Sri Krishna deals with the three gunas as the stepping-stones and through these three gunas he takes us to the gunathitha atma. Using the three gunas as stepping stones and going to the gunathitha atma, is the subject matter of this chapter and therefore, it is called guna thraya vibhaga yoga.

Shlokas
# 1-4:

And in the first four verses of this chapter, Sri Krishna gives an introduction in which he mentions the subject matter of atma Gyanam as the liberating wisdom and therefore the greatest knowledge. All the other disciplines of knowledge are called apara vidya; inferior knowledge; whereas this is the knowledge, which is called para vidya in the upanishad and raja vidya in the 9th chapter; this knowledge is the greatest knowledge because this alone releases a person from samsara. All the other disciplines of knowledge will make me only smaller and smaller because the more I study I come to know how little I know. So instead of growing bigger in terms of knowledge, I only feel smaller and smaller as I study more, further. This is the only wisdom, which makes me own the fact that, I am Brahman, the biggest. Therefore, Sri Krishna says this is a liberating knowledge, which gives liberation while living and is called jivan-mukti; and it also gives liberation after death, which is then called videh mukti. And by videha mukti we mean freedom from punarjanma or cycle of birth and death.

Thus
having introduced the subject matter, later Sri Krishna gives the foundation
for the teaching and in that foundation he briefly mentions the process of creation.
He points out that God is the cause of the creation, and God consists of two
aspects, consciousness aspect and the matter aspect or Chetana and achetana.

In
the 7th chapter, Chetana
tatvam was called para prakrti; achetana tatvam was called apara prakrti.

In
the 13th chapter, Chetana
tatvam was called purusha and achetana tatvam is called
prakrtihi.

And
in the upanishads, chetana tatvam is
called brahman and the achetana
tatvam is called Maya.

These two principles together are called Ishvara and he is anadi and from this Chetana- achetana mishram alone the entire universe has originated, including every individual as well. And from this we can easily infer that every individual also must be a mixture of Chetana – achetana tatvam because as the cause is, so the effect will be. As the parents are so the children will be. So based on the same principle, I, the individual, is also a mixture of purusha and prakrti; brahman and maya; chetanam and achetanam. Otherwise, technically, I am atma-anatma mishraha.

And
from this we can infer that anatma
is a part of the mind, which is born out of prakrti, as such it will have the
three gunas, which
belong to prakrti.

So
prakrti is responsible for the origination of my anatma part and
therefore; my anatma part will
have three gunas and that anatma part is the
body-mind complex, otherwise also called ahamkara. So the body-mind complex is equal
to the anatma part is
equal to the ahamkara
part, which is sagunaha, endowed with
the three gunas, because it
is a product, originating from the prakrti.

And
similarly I have got a purusha aspect also; the chetana aspect
also; which is called the atma
aspect; which is nirgunam
in nature and this nirguna
atma is technically
called sakshi. Therefore saguna ahamkara plus nirguna sakshi; Saguna matter plus nirguna consciousness,
is the individual.

Saguna means with guna or properties and nirguna means without guna; or properties or attributes. The pure ahamkara also cannot interact in the world. Pure sakshi also cannot interact in the world. All the interactions are done by the mixture of sakshi + ahamkara.

And
the whole aim of this teaching is I should learn to own up more and more of my higher
sakshi svarupam, which is
the persistent and permanent nature of mine and I should not be over obsessed
with my inferior ahamkara
materialistic nature. Not that ahamkara should be neglected, because without ahamkara, pure sakshi cannot transact.
So ahamkara is needed;
but obsession
with ahamkara will lead to
all types of problem. And therefore instead of seeing myself as ahamkara, I should
learn to see myself as sakshi, now
transacting through ahamkara.
For this purpose, Sri Krishna talked about the creation and the essence of this
topic is, I am also a mixture of saguna and nirguna
aspects.

And having presented this foundation, Sri Krishna begins the teaching from the 5^th verse onwards. He talks about the three gunas of ahamkara, to show that all the three gunas are causes of bondage; we need to know how to make use of them properly, like anything in the creation. If I know how to handle things, it can help me grow; if I do not know how to handle, the very same thing will cause problems.

You
take fire, it is a blessing or a curse; it depends upon whether I know how to handle
fire. Electricity is a blessing or curse? By itself it is neither; but if I do
not know how to handle it, it becomes a
curse. Similarly, the three gunas also; if I do not know how to
make use of them, they can become binding chains. Word Guna has a second meaning, they is ‘ropes’ or “chains”
that bind me.

Shloka’s 5-18
(Analysis of Ahamkara)

And
therefore I should have a thorough understanding of the three gunas. So from 5th
verse, up to 18th verse, we get an analysis of the three gunas, essentially
an analysis of the ahamkara;
because ahamkara has the
three gunas. And for the convenience of our study, Sri Krishna classifies
this analysis into five parts.

First he gives the
lakshanam or
definition of the three gunas.

Second he gives the
mode of bondage; how each guna
binds us. This is called bandana prakaraha.

Third, he gives the
lingam, indication
to find out which guna
is dominant in me.

Fourth is Gathi,
which means post-death travel; the travel after life.

Fifth is phalam, the
consequences of the predominance of each guna.

Sri
Krishna gives the definitions: satva is prakashatmakam; rajas is raghatmakam, tamas
is mohanatmakam.

Satva
is that disposition of the mind, which makes the mind knowledge friendly. So
satva makes the mind endowed with that disposition, which is knowledge
friendly, which makes the mind a bright mind;

So
he is disposed to the acquisition of knowledge; whereas rajo guna makes the
mind karma friendly; activity friendly; a disposition, which is suited for
dynamism.

Whereas tamo guna makes the mind unfit for, inimical to both others, thus it is neither knowledge friendly nor activity friendly. Such a disposition of mind is called Satva, rajas and tamas are propensity-based definition that indicate disposition of one’s mind.

Then
the next one is the mode of bondage. How does it bind? When my mind is knowledge
friendly, naturally I become a bookworm; all the time interested in operating
the Gyanendriyas; not karmendriya-active
person; and therefore I look for an infrastructure, which is conducive to more
and more study.

A
learning person will first look for those things.  This becomes a bondage when such a conducive
atmosphere is not available; then this person becomes restless and unhappy. This
is the bondage caused by satva guna.

Whereas
rajo guni does not like
library or knowledge.

He
wants to do a lot of things; and therefore he looks for activity friendly
atmosphere; and, when such an atmosphere is there; that mind is very happy and
if that is not there he becomes mad.

And
tamo Guna is looking for sleep and if it is not available he gets mad.

These
are the three types of bandana prakaraha.

Then
the lingam, the
indication of the three gunas;
this is a corollary we get from the previous discussions.

When
satva is dominant then Gyanam increases; reading increases; study increases; thinking
increases; it is an indication of satva vritti.

Whereas
when activity increases, it is an indication of rajo vritti and when
sleep and sleepy condition increases, it is an indication of tamo vritti.

And then Sri Krishna talked about the gathi after death. When a Satva dominant person dies he goes to higher lokas; when a Rajas dominant person dies he is born in the manushya loka; because manushya loka is meant for Karma. When tamo guna dominant person dies that person goes down; hence, urdhva gathi, madhyama gathi and adho gathi.

And
finally, the consequences of these three gumas were also pointed out; that is the phalam or the
consequences in this life. When satva guna increases, Gyana vriddhi occurs; when rajo guna increases,
the ambition and activities increase; and when tamo guna increases,
nidra and negligence
in life increases and his life will be closer to an animal. So thus,  all five topics Sri Krishna discusses from the
5th verse up to 18th.

Shlokas 19 and
20

And then comes the crucial two verses #19 and 20, in which Sri Krishna talks about transcending the three gunas. And for transcending the three gunas one will have to make use of the three gunas. Just as a fruit requires skin for ripening and once it is ripened, it does not require the skin and naturally the skin is shed.

Similarly,
the entire spiritual sadhana is a gradual
journey from tama pradhana
life to raja pradhana
life to satva pradhana
life to gunathitha life. And
how does the scripture accomplish that? The scripture prescribes lot of karma
to a person who is now tama pradhana. And what type of karmas? It prescribes Sakama karma.

Selfish
activities to fulfill worldly and materialistic desires; In fact scriptures
encourage such desires; because it wants to inject desires in the tamoguna person, who
is always sleepy and refuses to get up and wants to make him rajo guni.

And
once a person has got into sakama
karma, then the scriptures, gradually change his status.

At
first his rajo
guna is tamo guna or tainted
rajo guna, the first
phase. Then satva guna
tainted rajo guna should be the
next phase.

What is the difference between the two? Both rajo gunas will activate a person. It will make the person extremely ambitious; it will whip up the ambition but the difference will be initially all desires are personal and selfish-oriented; that means the beneficiary of my activity will be only I, or my family.

Whereas
when that rajo
guna is converted
to the higher rajo guna, sakama karma will
be converted into nishkama karma, which
means the beneficiaries of my activity will be more and more people. Not only my
family alone, but also others will also be benefited.

As the beneficiaries increase, sakama karma is getting converted into nishkama karma. This is travel from tamo guna; from lower rajo guna to higher rajo guna. To use the 4th chapter language, one goes from guna shudra to guna vaishya to guna kshatriya. Guna kshatriya is a person whose life and activities will benefit the entire community and even the nation.

Once a person has lived a guna kshatriya life, which is otherwise called karma yoga, then the scriptures ask you to graduate you to the next stage of a satva guna pradhana life; after the peak of activity, gradually one has to withdraw; from Grihastha ashrama to vanaprastha ashrama may occur

And at this stage alone, the scriptures talk about more of upasana and less of karma. So upasana is the sadhana which converts an extroverted active person into a quiet and withdrawn; and self or atma oriented person. Thus, upasana sadhana makes me a satva pradhana purushaha.

When
I become a satva pradhana purusha, the
activities are gradually dropped, and one does not feel any guilt because he
has contributed to the society sufficiently.

He
is not a selfish person he has contributed for so many years. Now he can turn to concentrated spirituality. And not only that,
physically also, this person becomes incapable of more activity, by this time.

Thus tama pradhana to raja pradhana to satva pradhana
he has reached; by following karma yoga and upasana.

Then, the satva guna to nirguna travel, is a totally
different type of travel. There is no corridor connecting satva guna
and nirguna. Tamo guna
can be changed to rajo guna, rajo
guna
can be changed to satva guna; but, satva guna can never be converted into nirguna. If satva guna
is converted, it will again become tamo guna
or rajo guna only. There is no corridor connecting guna
thraya and Nirguna or gunathita and therefore the only sadhana available is
Gyanam.

So after a person becomes a satva guna pradhana, karma yoga is dropped, upasana is dropped, because they have done their job by making me satva guna pradhana. In fact satva guna pradhana person is called sadhana chatushtaya sampanna adhikari. Then he has to move to Gyana yoga. That Sri Krishna tells us clearly.

As I said the crucial word in that 19th verse is Vetti; meaning,
he comes to know. And Sri Krishnadoes not say how to get the knowledge, because he has already said
that in the 4^th chapter. Knowledge does not automatically happen.  No knowledge, for that matter, can happen
naturally.  If you sit quietly in
meditation, knowledge does not happen. Then, what should you do?

Gyanina
yoga means going
to a guru. sthrothriya brahmanishta
guru means systematic study of the Vedanta. Not a casual now and then listening to some satsanga here and
there, and all of them are meant to inspire you, inspiration is different;
teaching is different. Dayananda Swamiji says: Preaching is different; teaching is different.

And
systematic study of scriptures includes shravanam,
mananam and nidhidyasanam,
for a length of time, and there afterwards removing all the doubts by proper
mananam or analysis and thereafter internalization of the teaching. So through shravna, manana
and nidhidhyasana, I become
gunathitha.

Now the question is: How do I become gunathitha by shravanam? As I said, the body, mind complex will be eternally saguna, it would not become nirguna. Then what do I do through Gyana yoga? I learn to dis-identify from the body by knowing the fact that body is only an incidental instrument I am using for worldly transactions exactly like the spectacle and when I remove the spectacles, I am not gone, but I am not able to see the people, similarly when the body mind complex is not there, I do not disappear, but I also do not have the medium to interact with the people; and we do experience such a situation daily; When; during the deepsleep state. And in sleep the body mind complex is temporarily used and then it will be dropped, I should take the instrument as myself.

Then,
if I am not the body mind complex, who am I? For that Sri Krishna gave the
answer:

in Shloka 14:
20.

I am not the body, but I am the experiencer of the body; I am not the mind; I am the experiencer of the mind; and therefore, all the known attributes belong to the known body mind complex only. This is a very important law. You should remember. Any experienced attribute, belong to the experienced object. If I seegreen color, the color belongs to the eye or the object? The seen color belongs to the seen object; it does not belong to the seer eye. Whatever color I am seeing, they all belong to the objectified-attribute that belong to the objectified-substances; no attribute belongs to the objectifier-I. And therefore all the gunas belong to the body mind complex. “I” am free from all the three gunas. So you do not contact the gunathitha atma, you do not become the gunathitha atma, you own up the fact that I was gunathitha; I am gunathitha, and I will be gunatitha. For how many days, will I be Gunathitha? I am incapable of becoming saguna. So this transformation in the I takes place and this knowledge based transformation is called mokshaha or jivan mukti.

So after death, will I have urdhva gathi or madhyama gathi or atho gathi? If I have satva guna I will have urdhva gathi; if I have rajo guṇa I will have madhya gathi; if I have tamo guna I will have atho gathi. However,if I am Nirguna, I will have no gathi. Aham agathihi asmi. I am agathihi, because I cannot move from one place to another, because I am the atma, the chaitanyam, which is all pervading, in Me the consciousness, the saguna matter appears and in Me the consciousness the saguna matter resolves. And I am never affected by the three gunas. This is called moksha.

And
naturally Arjuna is curious to know what will be the lifestyle of such a gunathitha person,
and therefore he asked three questions in the 21st verse,

Shloka 14:21:

The three questions are: What are the indications of the gunathitha? Characteristics of gunathitha and then what is the conduct of the gunathitha: acharaha, and the method of becoming gunathithah.

And
Sri Krishna gives the answer, the indication is that the very knowledge makes
the mind less and less reactive to the situation because the mind has become an
enlightened mind and an enlightened mind learns to have the right attitude
towards the saguna creation. And
what is the right attitude? Understanding that the the proportion of the gunas varies from
individual to individual therefore no human being can be like me. And therefore
there is no question of compatibility. So looking for compatibility is the worst
thing that you can do and even if by chance there is any compatibility between
two persons, it cannot be for long, because both have dynamic and changing
mind; and therefore differences are natural in anatma. Association and dissociation are
natural in anatma. Birth,
growth, declension and death are natural in anatma. And therefore I cannot change the
anatma, I should
only change my attitude. And this changing of the attitude takes place gradually
only because the old behavior continues.

And through Nidhidhyasanam, which is called dwelling upon the teaching; I reduce my reactions gradually. Now, when the reactions reduce, knowledge does not Improve; Knowledge does not become brighter, but knowledge seems to improve, because the reactions are decreasing. Just like on a paurnami day, the moon seems to be brighter and brighter in the evening, but you know that moon is not becoming brighter but as the sunlight recedes, sunlight is an obstacle to the brightness of the moon; As the sun light recedes, the moon seems to be brighter and brighter; similarly my reactions come down as a result of the assimilation; as a result nidhidhyasanam.

And
as I had said before, we can see the decrease in reaction at three levels: frequency
of unhealthy reactions, like frustration, like fear, like insecurity, anger,
etc. the frequency of these comes down. Do not expect a flashy transformation.
It is not going to happen immedately. It is a gradual assimilation.

Not
only frequency comes down, the intensity of the reactions also come down. The
decrease in the intensity occurs at three levels; manasam, vachikam, and kayikam. That is
why when there is extreme reaction, there is butterfly in the stomach. Before
writing an examination, the stomach may get upset and with it mind, speech and
body as well. Therefore Arjuna, mental intensity comes down and later even
verbal and physical reactions come down.

So
this is reduction in intensity and finally there is a reduction in the recovery
period also; previously once I got angry it continued for days; but now it
comes down in hours; and then it comes down to minutes; then it comes down to
seconds; so I get a mental resilience to bounce back, even though I reacted
violently, I am able to forget that and continue with my life. So thus nidhidhyasanam, converts
Gyanam into Gyana nishta,
reducing the violent reaction. But we should remember, reactions can never
become zero. Zero reactions are only in the case of a table, the chair, etc. they
do not have it; they do not get angry. So our mind is a live mind; therefore we
can reduce the frequency, intensity, recovery period, but it can never become
zero. Once I reach this state my meditation or nidhidhyasanam becomes
slightly different; and that nidhidhyasanam is that I should not be too much obsessed with the
mind and its reactions; because to be over obsessed with the mind, is again
identification with the mind. That is ahamkara; and therefore, I reduce the reaction and
thereafterwards, I learn to distance from my mind, and I do not worry too much
about the reacting mind. That is reaction to the reaction.

So
every Gita student has to
face two reactions; one is the natural reaction to the situation; and the
second is reaction to the fact that I reacted, leading to depression.

So, after a some time, I drop my secondary reactions as well; I am not over-obsessed with the reaction of the mind. And I say that I do not have any reaction because I am now the witness of the reacting mind. So one should first reduce the reactions and then give up the reactions to the reactions.

Shlokas 22-27:

This
is called Gyana nishta
that Sri Krishna tells us about in verses 22 to 27. In the 22nd verses, he is
talking about the absence of reaction to the reaction. In one of the guru
purnima talks, I have dealt with this topic very, elaborately. Reaction to the
reaction is a greater samsara
and a Gyani does not react to the reaction. And thereafter as a Gyana nishta I
am not obsessed with my mind and its tendencies.

And
then the second question was how does he conduct himself in life. Sri Krishna emphasizes
that the Gyani has equanimity of the mind; his mind is free from violent
reactions and even if there are small reactions, he does not react to those
reactions. So samatvam is his acharaha.

Final
question of Arjuna was how to become gunathitha? The answer is Knowledge is gained
with the bhakthi to the Lord; surrender to the Lord and by the grace of the Lord.
May you get Gyanam and that Gyanam is the only solution.

Through Bhakthi you do not get liberation. Through bhakthi you get a conducive atmosphere for knowledge and a conducive personality as well; and then through knowledge you will attain mokshaha. So with this the answers to Arjuna’s question are complete and the 14th chapter is over.

Take Away:

Ahamkara has the
three gunas.

Therefore
saguna ahamkara plus nirguna sakshi; Saguna matter plus
nirguna
consciousness, is the individual.

Dayananda
Swamiji says: Preaching is different; teaching is different.

I
learn to dis-identify from the body by knowing the fact that body is only an
incidental instrument I am using for worldly transactions exactly like the
spectacle and when I remove the spectacles, I am not gone, but I am not able to
see the people, similarly when the body mind complex is not there, I do not
disappear, but I also do not have the medium to interact with the people;

I
am the atma, the
chaitanyam, which is all pervading, in Me the consciousness, the saguna matter
appears and in Me the consciousness the saguna matter resolves. And I am never affected by the three gunas. This is
called moksha.

With Best
Wishes,

Ram Ramaswamy

Shloka 14:21

14.21 Arjuna said O Lord, by what signs is one
(known) who has gone beyond these three alities? What is his behaviour, and how
does he transcend these three alities?

Continuing his teachings
Swamiji said today,after elaborating about the three gunas, and how
they bind a human being, Sri Krishna pointed out the method of becoming gunathitha which is
the only means to liberation and that method was given to us in the two
important verses of 19 and 20. The anatma cannot become gunathitha while the atma is ever gunathitha; and
through knowledge and by using the saguna anatma
as a medium of transaction, I come to know that I am everthe gunathitha.

Now, Arjuna raised a question in the verse # 21 that we saw in the last class. His question has three parts: the first part is gunathitha lingam; the second part of the question is gunathitha acharaha; and the third part of the question is gunathithava sadhanam. Gunathitha lingam means what is the indicator by which I can know whether I have become gunathitha?

The
second question is what are the gunathithaha acharaha
or the way of the life, or the conduct of the gunathitha purusha or the Gyani?

The
third question is: What are gunathithatva
sadhanam or the
means by which one can become a gunathithaha?

Sri
Krishna now gives the answer in the following verses.

Shloka # 14.22:

14.22 The Blessed Lord said O son of Pandu, he
neither dislikes illumination (knowledge), activity and delusion when they
appear, nor does he long for them when they disappear.

In the first two verses, that is 22 and 23, Sri Krishna answers the first question related to gunathitha lingam; then in verses, 24 and 25, he talks about the gunathitha acharaha, the conduct, and then in the 26th verse, Sri Krishna answers the last question gunathithatva sadhana.

Regarding the indicator to know whether I am gunathitha or not, Sri Krishna says a gunathitha is one who is detached from his own body-mind complex. So gunathitha is one, who is detached from this own body-mind complex, and therefore, he is able to look at his own body-mind complex as part of the world and therefore he enjoys objectivity with regard to his own body-mind complex. So this objectivity, freedom from too much worry and anxiety with regard to one’s own body-mind complex is the indication of gunathitha. This Gyani, or this gunathitha, because of his very source of sadhana, enjoys a better health at the body and mind level, because he has gone through karma yoga, upasana yoga, etc. and therefore his mind is predominantly a satvic mind. A Gyani’s mind is a predominantly satvic mind, which he has attained through sadhana. And because of the very same sadhana, Gyani has got a strong mind, a refined mind, and a mind, which is free from violent reactions. In fact that is the definition of the satva pradhana mind and therefore, the reactions are less, to life’s situations, and even if there are reactions in the mind, they are milder and even if they are milder reactions, he has the capacity to recover quickly from them, as well. Thus a Gyani enjoys a healthy mind. But he knows that even if I enjoy a healthy mind as a result of the sadhanas, a 100% healthy mind is not possible even as there is no possibility of a 100 % healthy body.

Gyani
accepts the fact that his mind is subject to the fluctuations of the three gunas. Even
towards such a mind, Gyani does not violently react or get upset. And
therefore, he has got objectivity with regard to his own mind, and therefore,
if the mind has got certain problems, Gyani always has a healthy response.

What do you mean by healthy response? He is neither too indifferent nor inactive. At the same time if mind has certain disturbances he is not going to be over-reactive to that situation. He remembers the fact that the conditions of the mind have nothing to do with my purnathvam, because I am the atma who is different from the mind.

And
therefore Sri Krishna says his mind
enjoys prakasham, that is predominantly satva
guna although Raji
Guna and Tamo Guna also occur. Even a Gyani’s
mind has satva, rajas and tamo gunas; the only
difference is that his mind is dominantly satvic. He realizes that his mind is
not 100% satvic. For that
matter, no mind is 100% satvic.
He realizes that there are times when tamo guna is predominant; and other times when  rajo guna is predominant. However, most of the time, he is satvic. And
because of this the appreciation he
does not hate his mind, based on its guna.

Furthermore,
he is neither attached to satva guna or rajo guna or tamo guna, nor does he
hate any of them; he knows these three gunas are inevitable compositions of everything including my
own mind. And therefore he is able to accept his own mind. Accepting one’s own body and accepting one’s own mind is the indication of gunathithatvam.

Shloka 14.23:

14.23 He who, sitting like one indifferent, is
not distracted by the three alities; he who, thinking that the alities alone
act, remains firm and surely does not move;

Sri
Krishna explains the same idea in this verse again. What do you mean by the acceptance
of one’s own body-mind-complex; or objectivity, or a healthy response?

Generally, the problem an agyani faces is extreme response to situations. One extreme response is total indifference. It is a tamasic response. When the physical body has got some disease or sickness, imagine I do not feed the body at all; I am not careful at all, indifferent or carelessness or inaction is one extreme response, which is called tamasic response.

Then there is another extreme response, the moment the doctor says that you will have to go through the blood test, this fellow presses the panic button, this fellow is extremely worried about the body, the moment the body is sick, he imagines only the worst possible disease; would it be cancer etc?

So one extreme is inaction; another extreme is reaction. What is a
healthy response; it is neither inaction nor reaction, but healthy action to
improve the situation. If the body has some problem, there is no panic; at the
same time there is no complacency as well; what needs to be done, I do.

Similarly, the mind is there; it is not going to be all the time
sama, the mind will have disturbances and that I have to handle, neither
inaction nor reaction, but whatever can be done to improve.

While the mind can be infinitely improved there is no question of
100% perfection of the mind, No Jivan muktha has got 100% perfect mind, just as
he does not have 100% perfect body.

And therefore Sri Krishna says: Gyani appears as though he is indifferent, because when the body falls sick he does not violently react to the sickness, it appears as though he is indifferent to his health. But Sri Krishna says he is not indifferent; he is “as though” indifferent; as though indifferent, means there is no violent reaction but at the same time, there is no inaction also; whatever is to be done; he will do to the body; therefore, udasinavat means he is balanced with regard to his own body mind complex.

So even with the fluctuation of the three gunas he is not disturbed.

Then what is his attitude when these three gunas
are there and fluctuate?

Even with this knowledge he remains balanced; without self-criticism, without self-judgment and without a low self-image. He remains with a balanced mind; So this objectivity with regards one’s own body and mind, is the indication of the gunathitha or a Gyani.

.

Shloka 14.24:

14.24 He to whom sorrow and happiness are
alike, who is established in his own Self, to whom a lump of earth, iron and
gold are the same, to whom the agreeable and the disagreeable are the same, who
is wise, to whom censure and his own praise are the same;

So
with the previous two verses, Sri Krishna has answered the first question. Now
he answers the second question.

The second question is: How does he respond to the worldly situation? And answer is the same. Just as the body mind complex is made up of the three fluctuating gunas, the entire world is also made up of the three gunas alone and therefore you will have to interact with people who are satvic, which will be a happy interaction and you will have to interact with rajasic people, who are all the time tense and angry and irritable and you will also have to interact with those people who will not move at all. After half an hour of repetition, they will just ask what did you say? You will have to wait for eons for them to complete any job.  

So,
these three types of people will be there eternally in the world; and not only
that; one and the same person, himself or herself, will not be satvic all the time,
or rajasic all the time, and therefore the people in your own family will
change. And that is why they said with regard to marriage: Do not choose based
on the character because nobody’s character will remain the same; Marriage is dharma based and not
compatibility based according to our Shastra, because compatibility is impossible; and even if there
is a compatibility, husband is also changing, wife is also changing, after a
few years, the compatible couple would have changed sufficiently to become an
incompatible couple.

Therefore
different people are different, and the situations are also made up of the
fluctuating prakrti; therefore situations will change. And Gyani accepts this
fact of the creation and the very acceptance gives him a balanced state of mind.

.

And
therefore Sri Krishna says Gyani is one who always abides in his higher nature
that is Guna athita.

So he always abides in gunathitha atma svarupam. And what do you mean by abiding in atma? Abiding in the atma means not forgetting the fact that I am gunathithaha. Self-abidance is not forgetting one’s real nature. Just as a sangita vidhvan, whatever song he sings, one corner of the mind is aware of the tampura sruti. It is not that he thinks of sruti alone;  it is just that in one corner of the mind he is aware of the sruti and whenever there is a doubt he will go behind and check up. So, just as a musician is aware of the sruti, Gyani is aware of the sruti. What is sruti, here? Vedaha and what is the teaching of the sruti? It is that, I am not the changing guna. While the body is saguna and world is saguna, I am different from both the saguna body and saguna world. This constant awareness is called svasthaha.

And
because of this awareness, he is samadukhasukha. There is no resistance to favorable and
unfavorable situations,
which are inevitable in life. Now desha, kala and prarabhdha, these three things will
affect our life all the time. Desha: if you are in
a tropical country, you are affected
by weather.

Kala, the time will affect the situation, the body will grow older and the people around will grow older.

Finally
our own prarabhdha karmas will
also affect us.

So
the prarabhdha will also fluctuate
and they are bound to bring sukham and dukham. Health and ill health; financially better or adverse
situation; they are bound to happen; and when such situations come; he is samaha. Samaha, is not indifference to
the situation, nor is it overreaction to the situation but it is doing whatever
can be done to
improve the situation, all done with poise.

Therefore
samadukhasukha; he
will have neither
raga nor dvesha, because
things will come and go; gold will come; gold will go; wealth will come, wealth
will go.

Previously,
it was said that he was balanced towards sukham and dukham, now he says, he is
balanced towards the sukha dukha
sadhanams or things
that are the cause of sukham and dukham; pleasant and unpleasant situations.

He is balanced towards criticisms and glorification coming from people. Whatever you do some people will glorify; and there will be some other people to criticize, if you want 100% approval from all people, you can never do anything in life. Therefore, approval seeking is an indication of low self-image. And therefore a Gyani whatever be the course of action he has to take, he will see the pros and cons, the demerits and merits, and if he has to take opinion from known people, he will take, perhaps he will consult shastra, and thereafter, once he has decided a course of action, he will plunge into that; whatever be the opinion of others.

Sri
Rama has been
criticized; Sri Krishna has been criticized; Shankaracharya has been criticized. Nobody can escape the criticism of
others; and therefore do not be carried away by ninda and stuti. And
if somebody criticizes and enjoys in the process he says, you be happy, because
at least somebody is happy criticizing me.

So
he is one who is balanced in censure and praise.

Shloka 14.25

14.25 He who is the same under honour and
dishonour, who is eally disposed both towards the side of the friend and of the
foe, who has renounced all enterprise,-he is said to have gone beyond the
alities.

Samatvam is further explained here.

Again you cannot escape maanam or apamanam. Thus a a sambhandi may feel he is not respected.

The difference between Nindha sthuthi and Mana
apamana is: Ninda Sthuti is at verbal level while mana apamana is at
Kayika or body level.

Gyani is samaha or equanimous with both.

Again he is the same towards friends and foes.

While a Gyani does not have enemy, but there are people who look
upon Gyani as their enemy.

Towards both types of people, he maintains samatvam.

He has given up binding activities.

Arambhaha means all the binding activities; and parityagi means
the one who has given up. What do you mean by binding activity? A binding
activity is that by the fulfillment of which I consider that I will become purnaha. When
I expect purnatvam through an activity, it is a binding activity, because there
are expectations.

Non-binding activity is one which is done out of purnatvam. And therefore the success of the activity and the failure of the activity has nothing to do with my purnatvam. At the anatma level activities are going on; but whatever happens at the anatma level, aham purnaha asmi. Even the activity to improve your own body mind should not be a binding activity. I should remember I tried to improve the body and mind, but that also has nothing to do with my purnatvam.

With this awareness, I enjoy improving everything, including the
improvement of the body mind complex. Such a lifestyle is a game.

This is the life of a jivan muktha. For him,
whole life is a game; both the success and failure has nothing to do with my purnatvam.
 So, he has samatvam and freedom from
binding activities.

Shloka
14.26:

14.26 And he who serves Me through the
unswerving Yoga of Devotion, he, having gone beyond these alities, alifies for
becoming Brahman.

The third question as to what is the means of ‘becoming’ gunathitha
is answered here. In fact, Sri  Krishna
has already answered that question in verse No.19 and 20. He says Gyanam is the
only means of “becoming” (becoming within quotes) gunathitha.

Arjuna’s present question is what is the means of getting Gyanam;
or what is the means of becoming Gunathita. What do we
have to do?

Question can also be stated as how to attain Gyanam by which one
can become gunathitha.

And Sri Krishna says the means of Gyanam is bhakthi. So bhakthi yoga consisting
of karma and upasana, which we have, saw in the 12th chapter; that consists of
five levels of bhakthi.

That bhakthi yoga is the sadhana.

Suppose a person worships me with bhakthi yoga consisting of five levels as explained in the 12th chapter, and and he worships me with unflinching devotion he will certainly cross over the three Gunas.

And what do you mean avyabhichara bhakthi? For that
you have to go to the 7^th chapter, where he talked about arta bhakthi,
artharthi bhakthi and jignasu bhakthi.

That jignasu bhakthi is here called avyabhichari
bhakthi. A bhakthi through which I seek the Lord and Lord alone; through that
one who worships me that person will certainly cross over the three gunas.
In this Bhakti, he will be going through all levels of sadhana consisting
of karma, upasana and the finally vedanta
sravana, manana and nidhidhyasana.

Going through all these levels, he becomes eligible to become one
with Brahman.

Brahma
bhava means Brahma
svarupam. Brahma
svarupa means nirguna svarupam, because
Brahman is nirgunam. Nirguna svarupam means gunathithatvam.
Such a person will attain Gyana and become gunathitha.

With
this all the three questions are answered. Now Sri Krishna concludes the
teaching:

Shloka 14.27:

14.27 For I am the Abode of Brahman-the
indestructible and immutable, the eternal, the Dharma and absolute Bliss.

Here
Sri Krishna says: Arjuna, that Brahman which you want to attain which is gunathitha is none
other than I myself. So I myself am the embodiment of that Brahman.

What
type of Brahman am I? He is one who is immortal, free from decay, changeless
and free from all forms of modifications. One who is beyond time, and one who is reached through dharma. One who is the goal
of dharma. And the word dharma here means the vedic teaching. So, he is the one who is the destination of all the scriptural teachings and one who is
unmixed with sorrow or the ananda swarupa.

So such a changeless and ananda svarupam
Brahman,

I am, and that I, you will reach by following this sadhana.

So with this Sri Krishna concludes the teaching.

Thus is concluded the 14th chapter of the Gita, which is happily titled gunathraya vibhaga, the classification of the three gunas, satva, rajas and tamas, and also guna athitham brahma. Guna thraya, guna athitha vibhaga yoga.

Take Away:

The three gunas
and marriage:

Marriage
is dharma based and not compatibility based according to our Shastra, because
compatibility is impossible; and even if there is a compatibility, husband is
also changing, wife is also changing and after a few years, the compatible
couple would have changed sufficiently to become an incompatible couple.

With Best
Wishes,

Ram Ramaswamy

Shloka # 14.19

When the witness sees none other than the
alities as the agent, and knows that which is superior [i.e. different from.]
to the alities, he attains My nature.

Continuing his teachings
Swamiji said today,
Sri Krishna has analyzed the
three gunas elaborately
from verse No.5 to 18, and pointed out that each guna binds a
person in one way or the other. Now, each guna demands a particular set up. Thus:

if
it is satva guna, it demands
knowledge and a set up conducive for it.

If
it is rajo guna, it expects
activity and an infrastructure for activity.

If
it is tamo guna it wants to sleep
and wants a conducive atmosphere for sleeping.

Thus
each guna is a
demanding guna, asking for a
specific set up and if that set up is not provided, it throws lot of tantrums,
and the creates lot of mental disturbances. And therefore, I can never accept
the set up as a bhokta,
if it does not suit my particular guna and therefore there is a struggle. Pravrtti means looking
for a conducive set up and while Nivritti means getting away from the
unconducive set up. So, each guna
leads to lot of pravritti and Nivritti.

This,
favorable and unfavorable, classification is determined by the type of guna. So, a
particular set up, satva will consider as favorable. The very same set up, rajo guna will dislike.

And therefore, as a bhokta, I divide the set up into favorable and unfavorable and I want to adjust and fine-tune the set up and therefore, I develop strong raga and dvesha; and to change the set up, I have to become a karta. As a bhokta I am not satisfied; and therefore I want to change the set up and to change the set up I have to become a karta. And having done a few things, I again look up at the set up as a bhokta and still find no satisfaction. And this goes on; dissatisfied bhokta becomes a karta and again he becomes bhokta and again he begins a karta; in short, he is never allowed to think of his higher nirguna sakshi svarupa. The three gunas keep this person busy with the body complex alone.

Thus
the three gunas tie me up to
the physical body, never allowing me to think of the possibility of something
else.

Thus, the saguna physical body, the saguna mind and the saguna set up, keeps me so busy all the time, that I can never think of the Nirguna-I and this is caused by the three gunas, which keeps me in deha abhimana, and therefore Sri Krishna said the sakshi-I is tied down to the physical body and is never allowed to think of the all-pervading Brahma svarupam; and I am made to think only of my limited ahamkara svarupam.

This
is called the guna dragging the
Sakshi to the ahamkara level and by
adjusting the set up you are never going to improve the situation, because
there is no such thing called an ideal set up at all.

Thus, with the three gunas constantly fluctuating, set up also fluctuates. There is constant expansion/contraction of mind (you do not have to ask itself) now satvik, now rajasic, now tamasic, and therefore this person is in eternal struggle; and this a few people understand and the only remedy is transcending the triguna ahamkara; transcending the triguna body mind complex or anatma is the only remedy.

And how do you transcend the saguna ahamkara. As I said in the last class, ahamkara can never be made Nirguna. Because ahamkara, is body-mind complex and it is made up of prakrithi and therefore the three gunas are bound to be there.

Even
the MahaGyani will
have a satvic, rajasic or tamasic mind. A nirguna mind does not exist at all. Is Gyani’s
mind is saguna or nirguna? Do you have
doubt?

Even
Bhagavan’s mind, Maya, is trigunathmakam, thus,
the mind will be saguna,
body will be saguna,
and therefore there is no question of converting anatma into nirguna or
transcending the guna.
Then what about the sakshi? You cannot
make the sakshi nirguna either because
it need not be made Nirguna,
because it is already Nirguna.
Therefore the only remedy is switching the
identification from saguna ahamkara to nirguna sakshi. This is called atmanatma viveka and knowing the fact that I am not the body with consciousness, but I
am the consciousness with a temporary body. I am not a body; it is a temporary
bodywith permanent consciousness,
or I am the permanent consciousness with a temporary body. And as atma, the sakshi, I am ever
Nirguna, I am ever
akarta, and I am ever
abhokta and this Gyanam
alone is the solution.

And
therefore transcending the gunas is equal to atma Gyanam. And atma Gyanam means
guru mukhathaha
vedanta shravana manana
nidhidhyasanam.  You have to have shastra guru upadesha and know that
I am ever the Nirguna
sakshi.

And
what is that sakshi chaitanyam?

It
is one beyond the three gunas,
which includes the physical body, which includes the mind, which is beyond the
body-mind complex, beyond the anatma. So consciousness is beyond the material body.

Now
the next question is what do you mean when we say beyond. Because we normally
we use the word beyond to convey something farther in distance. If I say that
particular house is beyond the car, a physical distance is understood.
Similarly, we may

Misunderstand,
when we say that Sakshi is beyond the
body, as though sakshi is something
that is somewhere in the clouds. So here beyond does not mean physically
remote.

Then what is the meaning of the word beyond? It is in and through the body mind complex, but not related to or affected by the body-mind complex, just as the light principle is beyond my hand; here beyond means that light is in and through the hands, pervades the hands, but whatever happens to the hand, light is not affected.

In
Sanskrit it should be translated as asangatvam. The sakshi,
the consciousness, is in and through the trigunatmaka shariram; it enlivens the trigunatmaka shariram; but it is not tainted by it.

Hence the shloka that says, the diseases of the body do not belong to the consciousness; the disturbances of the mind do not belong to the consciousness, this asangatvam, is said here as param and that sakshi chaitanyam I am.

Thus,
this person recognizes the consciousness

which
is beyond the three gunas
as himself.

And the day I know my purnatvam is not dependent on the set up, that day I stop all my struggles to change the set up. Changing the set up for practical purposes is different. If the table is in this place, and if you change to the other side, and it is convenient for working, that is a different thing, when I change the set up to improve my image, then that is called samsara, once I discover that I am purna sakshi, I do not expect a change in the set up for my improvement. I am perfectly satisfied with myself; whether the set up is satvic set up, or rajasic set up or tamasic set up. He is one who is not moved by set up.

And
therefore drashta, an
intelligent person changes himself, rather than set up. He discovers that
higher I, the sakshi-I, the gunathitha-I.

And
here, in the word is anupashyati,
anu means in keeping with the teaching of guru and shastra. This
discovery will never come independently, if I am left to myself, without shastra; I will
continue my mistake of changing the set up all the time hoping that one day
everything will be ideal. Wife will be exactly as I expect here to be, the son will
be exactly as I expect him to be; the roads will be exactly as I want to be; he
will be working towards the ideal set up, without questioning his pursuit. Shastra alone gives
a jolt and asks: Did you ask or did you think whether there is some other method
of discovery of fulfillment? And therefore that insight, the shastra and guru
alone will give. So the intelligent seeker recognizes this fact.

He
also recognizes the fact that all the karmas belong to the anatma; that the
anatma will be
eternally a karta. There is no
retirement for anatma.
Retirement is what? taking up some other work and not only that, if anatma really
retires, it will become sick also. Therefore, Anatma has to be eternally a karta and if you
have to transcend kartrtvam,
we have to come to atma
alone.

Sri
Krishna uses a double negative language here. He wants to say that anatma is the karta, anatma being the
body mind complex. If you put it in positive language, it will be Anatma alone is
Karta. In negative
language, there is no karta other
than anatma. Both are
the same. Anatma alone is
karta, is equal to, there
is no karta other than anatma. And who am
I? atma or anatma? I am the atma; therefore
eternally akarta and abhokta.

The
day a human being recognizes this fact; Only then, he will be free from the
rat-race called life; the eternal journey of bhokta; not satisfied;
therefore, becomes karta;
improves the status of bhokta;
improved but not totally satisfied; again becomes karta, again becomes
bhokta, and at the
time of death also if you ask, are you satisfied: You say I am satisfied, But!
Only one small thing; Something or the other will be there. Since the ahamkara dies with
dissatisfaction, the dissatisfied ahamkara again take birth and continue the struggle. Thus, the
never ending journey of  punarapi
jananam, punarapi maranam
occurs. The struggle will end like the poori when it is in the oil, it will be
running around.

And
as it runs it expands and once it has become purnam, full, then you will find that it is atmana eva atmaiva thushta,
it will be floating there itself; it has become purnam. And that is why it is called puri; puri is shortened
form of purnam.

Similarly the day I discover I am the purna sakshi; the running about for purnatvam will stop. Thereafter also I may run around, but not for purnatvam but it is out of purnatvam. If I am acting for purnatvam, there is eternal anxiety and I cannot sleep properly. If I am acting out of purnatvam, there is no anxiety.

And therefore Sri Krishna says: The one who has discovered the sakshi, he attains Ishvara bhavam. Sri Krishna says madbhavam, he being the Lord, it is Ishvara bhavam; Ishvara Bhavam means Ishvara Svarupam. Ishvara Svarupam means purnatvam.

And
therefore Madbhavam means purnatvam, means jivan mukti.

The
most important point to be noted here is that Sri Krishna says this purnatvam is only
through knowledge. So the word Vetti should be underlined. Vetti means the one who knows; discovers
purnatvam. And
therefore how many paths are there for Moksha? Sri Krishna says even if there
are many other yogas (karma,
bhakti, Kundalini,..) and we are willing to accept all other yogas, and they
are all for preparation of the mind; the ultimate discovery of purnatvam is only
through vedanta shravana, manana,
nidhidhyasana; otherwise
called Gyana yoga.

Next is a very important verse. This verse is very important not
only in the 14^th chapter, but in the entire Bhagavat Gita as
well.

Shloka
14: 20:

14.20 Having transcended these three alities
which are the origin of the body, the embodied one, becoming free from birth,
death, old age and sorrows, experiences Immortality.

In this shloka the Gyana phalam is clearly mentioned. Here dehi
means this jiva, this individual, with the help of the knowledge learns to dis-identify
from the three gunas. Athitya means transcending;
here transcending means dis-identifying from the three gunas;
and the three gunas represent the three sharirams,
the five koshas, in short, the entire anatma. Instead of claiming I am
the body, I say that I have a body; gifted by the Lord for the temporary use.

And
what is the purpose of this temporary use? Not for eating, the body is given by
the Lord to a human being only for gathering knowledge. What is that knowledge?
The knowledge is that, I am not the body and I have this body only for my
temporary use. This is called athitya. In Taitariya Upanishad, it was said all these three gunas belong to dehasamudbhavan. Samudbhavaha means karanam, and deha means body. So
dehasamudbhava
means the cause for the physical body, and cause for the body means cause for janma, because janma
is defined as acquisition of
a new body. Therefore the three gunas have given me this body and the three gunas alone will
give me the next body also. And what type of body will be given will depend
upon the guna. Thus, Satva guna
will give a higher body. It will still be a perishable body.

Rajo guna will again
give body alone and not moksha.

Thus
all the three gunas are the
cause of the body; cause of punar janma.

Thus
the Gyani dis-identifies from the three gunas, which are the causes of repeated acquisition of bodies.

And when a
person dis-identifies from the gunas and the body, he is free from all the problems, which
belong to the body.

When I identify with the body; the body’s problems are my problem. When I identify with the car, and if it is brand new car, every small scratch is like a scratch on my heart; It is my car; the conditions of the object of abhimana become my own condition. Similarly, the bodily conditions will be my conditions when I identify with the body and therefore when the body is mortal, I say I am mortal. Body being mortal is not a problem, as hundreds of bodies are mortal and dying daily; just read the obituary columns.

So mortality of the body itself is not problem. Death itself is not the problem, because hundreds and millions of death we are seeing and hearing about.

The problem is my
thinking that I-am-mortal.

Mortality
is not the problem; I-am-mortal is the problem. And Vedanta does not
remove the mortality of the body; vedanta removes the
idea that I-am-mortal. And how does it remove the idea; by teaching me the fact that I am not the mortal body,
but I am the immortal-I, behind the
mortal-body.

And
therefore, vimuktah
means he is free from all the problems of the body. What are the problems of
the body; the first problem is janma, it is birth; birth itself is a problem in
the sense, initially one has to be in solitary confinement, one has to remain
in the womb of the mother, and coming out of womb is a problem for both the
mother and the baby, and once there is janma, the inevitable consequence of maranam is the next
problem, then there are people who say: Swamiji I am not frightened of death
and then they add my only prayer is that I should die instantly. I just should just
pop off in sleep. So those people who say I am not afraid of Maranam, they are
afraid of jara, meaning old
age with all its consequent problems. I need not describe and remind you of all
those problems.

The
body being born, grows, decays and dies, these steps are really speaking not
problems, and they are the nature of the body. Just as heat is the nature of
the fire; it is svarupam of the fire, similarly, the cold is the nature of Ice.
Similarly vikaraha, asthi,
jayathe, vardathe, viparinamathe;
the vikara, means
modification is the nature of body. And a nature becomes a problem if I refuse
to accept the nature of a thing as it is. Resistance to the fact is sorrow.
Imagine I complain fire is hot, fire is hot, fire is hot; that is foolishness.
Similarly, body’s vikara
becomes a problem, when I resist the vikara.

And
I will resist the modification if I have got strong abhimana in the body.

Abhimana removes my
objectivity; Identification removes my objectivity. I will say let
everybody else die except people from my house, because that is nature.

That’s
why Sri Krishna warned in the second chapter shloka 2.27, when I discover the
fact that I am the sakshi; I learn to
look at my body objectively. And the moment I get the objectivity I accept this
body does not have any specialty; Therefore this body is like any other body,
therefore it has to grow and it has to go. Thus, the sakshi Gyanam gives me
objectivity with regard to my own body. Therefore old age is a fact; it is welcome;
even if it is not welcome, at least I have no resistance; And along with old age,
joint will say that I am here, I am here, and the ear will hear less, eye will
see less; buddhi is always a problem; therefore these things are natural. I objectively see and accept. And once the
objectivity comes, the intensity of the problem comes down. This is called
Abhibhava method; you do not remove the problems of the body; the body would
have to go through its condition. But you develop a different perspective and
from the new perspective problems will not appear to be a major tragedy in
life. Like when the sun rises, what happens to the stars? We knowthere are stars during the daytime too.
But what happens; starts are as thoughremoved,
because of the powerful sunlight. So what does the sunlight do; it doesnot destroy the stars, but it makes
the stars as though non-existent by making theirlight extremely insignificant. Similarly, I am the Sakshi Gyanam, will
not change thephysical conditions;
will not change the family members, all the prarabhda conditions will be there, but I develop
a new perspective from which they are not worth talking about.

That’s why they give the example of Anjaneya. Anjaneya thought that crossing the ocean is big task. But the moment he thought of Rama, the ocean became a small pool of water; the ocean did not change its size; but because of the remembrance of the Lord, he got the extra strength and from that standpoint, the big ocean became small; Similarly, all the powerful rakshasas. became mosquitoes. So, even if they bite, it is not felt.

What
preparation do you need for destroying the mosquito? You do not require any
great effort. You effortlessly destroy. Therefore this knowledge gives me a new
perspective; from which all the so-called problems are insignificant pinpricks.
And therefore vimuktaha;
they are not worth talking about.

And this is called Jivan mukti. So jivanmukti is making the lives’ problems insignificant; and changing the perspective through knowledge is called Jivan mukthi.

And a result of this knowledge, not only the mortality of the body is not a serious problem for him; he has also owned up to his immortal nature and therefore he attains immortality. And, again, what is meant by, attaining immortality? Is it the ahamkara that attains immortality or the sakshi that attains immortality? Ahamkara or body cannot become immortal. Atma need not become immortal. Attaining immortality is shifting my abhimana identification from the mortal body to the immortal atma. This is called Jivan mukthi. And this is also called gunathithatvam. Therefore, Gyani is called here gunathithaha.

Shloka 14:21

14.21 Arjuna said O Lord, by what signs is one
(known) who has gone beyond these three alities? What is his behaviour, and how
does he transcend these three alities?

Lord’s
teaching inspires Arjuna. And naturally he wants to know more about that Gyani
who becomes a gunathitha. And
therefore Arjuna asks the Lord:

So what are the characteristics of the indicators (Lingam) of a person, who has transcended the three gunas successfully. Exactly as he asked in the 2nd chapter: Will there be any change in his physical body; whether he will be slim or fat, or will there be a halo around him; because in the pictures, you see a halo on Gyani’s back. Arjuna also is curious to know whether there will be any such indications.

Second question: How does he conduct himself? How does he relate to the people? How does he interact with the people; because a Gyani also lives in the same society; therefore will there be a change in his language; Will he start talking in Sanskrit suddenly? how will he walk?  How does he eat? We have all kinds of misconceptions.

We
have a misconception that there should be external change such as a shaven head
etc.

We
should look for what is inside the head rather than what is outside.

There is no mysticism connected to Vedanta. Any thing mystical belongs to non-vedantic subject. Vedanta has no mysticism, even an iota of it. This confusion even Arjuna has; therefore his question as to how does he conduct himself. This the second question: What are his Characteristics? How does he conduct himself?

And
the third question is how does he transcend the three gunas? Is it a
physical journey, some people expect some kind of a physical journey for
moksha; going to some other loka, some people expect
a transformation in time. And some people expect some kind of a sudden flashy
event. So there is no event called liberation; there is no time-wise transformation;
there is no spatial journey, it is nothing but a clean understanding of an ever-obtaining
fact. What is the fact? Fortunately, that I am ever free. So therefore, he asks
the question. How does he transcend the three gunas? So this is Arjuna’s question for
which Sri Krishna now gives the answer in the following verses.

Take Away:

A nirguna mind does not exist at all Therefore the only remedy to transcend the three gunas is switching the identification from saguna ahamkara to nirguna sakshi. This is called atmanatma viveka and knowing the fact that I am not the body with consciousness, but I am the consciousness with a temporary body.

Therefore
transcending the gunas
is equal to atma Gyanam.

And
when a person dis-identifies from the gunas and the body, he is free from all the problems, which
belong to the body. When I identify with the body; the body’s problems are my
problem.

So
jivanmukti is
making the lives’ problems insignificant; and changing the perspective through
knowledge is called Jivan mukthi.

There
is no mysticism connected to Vedanta.

With Best
Wishes,

Ram Ramaswamy

Shloka # 14.13:

O descendant of the Kuru dynasty, when tamas
predominates these surely [i.e. without exception.-M.S.] come into being: non-discrimination
and inactivity, inadvertence and delusion.

Greetings,

Continuing his teachings
Swamiji said today,
analyzing the three Gunas Sri Krishna has
dealt with three topics: Lakshanam; Bandha Prakaraha; and Lingam.

Finally Sri Krishna discussed the topic of lingam, the indicator to find out which particular guna is dominant in us. And there, he pointed out that when satva guna is dominant Gyanendriyas will be more operational, whereas when rajo guna is dominant, karmendriyas will be more functional; whereas when tamo guna is dominant, neither Gyanendriyas nor karmendriyas will be operational. I hope you remember that Gyanendriyas means instruments responsible for knowledge and karmendriyas means instruments responsible for activity; therefore Sri Krishna said in the 13th verse, Tamo guna will suppress the Gyanendriyas and therefore all the Gyanendriyas will be dull. And similarly when Tamo guna is predominant, it will suppress the karmendriyas also, and there will be no dynamism and there will be no activity and there will be no ambition as well and laziness will dominate. Therefore a tamo guni should never attempt to directly become satva pradhana. For, him only Karma can help where he has to start with Sakama Karma then graduate to Nishkama Karma. 

Now Sri Krishna is going to
discuss the fourth topic, Gathihi, what happens to Each Guna pradhana jiva
after death?

Shloka # 14.14:

When an embodied one undergoes death while
sattva is exclusively prodominant, then he attains the taintless worlds of
those who know the highest (entities).

Here Satvagati is discussed.
Dehabhrta in shloka means Jivatma; Pralayam means death. Suppose a Jivatma dies
when Satva is dominant in it, is it a Gyani or Agyani?

Now, a Gyani does not travel
at all. His sukshma sharira does not travel at all. He just dissolves. So,
here, we are dealing with an Agyani (Satva Guni). He will go to higher lokas.
He will enjoy greater level of happiness. He reaches Loka of great Upasakas; of
Saguna Ishvara Upasakas; so he has upward travel.

Shloka # 15:

When one dies while rajas predominates, he is
born among people attached to activity. Similarly, when one dies while tamas
predominates, he takes birth among the stupid species.

Here travel of Rajo guna and
Tamo guna Pradhana Jivatma is discussed.

Rajo Guna Pradhana Jivatma,
after death, will be reborn in a loka where people are given to karma or
Manushya Loka or Bhu Loka. In Upper Lokas one can only exhaust Punya karmas but
one cannot earn Punya or Papa Karmas. It is the same with lower Lokas as well.

Now if a Tamo Guna Pradhana
Jivatma dies, he will be reborn in lower planes of existence; the seven lower
lokas are: athala,
vithala, suthala, rasatala, mahatala, talatala and pathala; either the people
will go to the lower lokas,
or even if they are born in Bhu loka,
they will not get manushya
janma where free will and buddhi are there; but they will be born as animals or
plants where also they will never have a freewill to acquire fresh karmas and
that is why they are called mudhayoni.

Thus Gathihi of the three
Gunas has been discussed.

Shloka # 16:

They say that the result of good work is pure
and is born of sattva. But the result of rajas is sorrow; the result of tamas
is ignorance.

Here Sri Krishna comes to the
fifth topic of Phalam of each Guna.

Now,
Gathihi is consequence after death whilePhalam is consequence felt in this life itself.

A
Satvik person’s activities are Punyam (balance, tranquility, purity etc); one
can feel shanti when in front of such a person while his house is a home.

Rajasik
person has great activity; but there is tension, anxiety and intolerance. Sri
Krishna says Dukham is present; flare ups occur; Himsa is present; it is not a
happy home; it is just a house. Home means a place where there is harmony
amongst its members. In a house, material prosperity may be there but inner
peace does not exist. Nimmadi ( tamil word for inner peace) is not there. In a
Satvic person material accomplishments are fewer but there is greater inner
peace.

Tamasic
person; here ignorance is perpetuated; advantage of human birth is lost; they
live like animals.

These
are the three Phalams of each respective guna. Thus fifth topic is also over.

Shloka # 17:

From sattva is born knowledge [Knowledge
acired through the sense-organs.], and from rajas, verily, avarice. From tamas
are born inadvertence and delusion as also ignorance, to be sure.

So
the same idea is repeated in this verse also. That is the consequence of the predominance
of the three gunas in this life
itself.

Out of satva guna Gyana is born, because when satva guna is dominant, the Gyanendriyas are all operational and bright, and therefore the learning capacity; the absorbing capacity; the retaining capacity; the building up capacity, everything is high. Therefore, knowledge increases in leaps and bounds, whether it is material knowledge or even spiritual knowledge; for both knowledge; satva is required. So sattvatsanjayate Gyanam.

With
Rajo Guna, persons’s Lobha (greed, ambitions) are dominant. He has no Tripti.

With
Tamo Guna, Pramadha is born in person. Pramadha means he becomes delusional, he
has ommisions, conflicts, and is indecisive; and perpetuation of ignorance
continues.

Shloka # 18:

People who conform to sattva go higher up;
those who conform to rajas stay in the middle; those who conform to tamas, who
conform to the actions of the lowest ality, go down.

Here
Sri Krishna is talking of Gathihi topic again.

People
with Satva Guna go to higher Lokas. Six higher lokas are: bhuvah, suvah,
mahaha, janaha, tapaha, and satyam. Out 14 lokas, 6 are up, 7 are down. Do not ask about the missing one.

What
about the rajasic people? They neither go
up nor down, they remain in the manushya loka or bhu loka
and they stagnate; here plus point is that they have not come down; the minus
point is that they have not gone up; therefore both are there.

Those
who continue in the Tamo guna,
they continue downwards.

Incidentally
we should remember, when we say svarga loka is higher, patala
loka is lower etc.
the word higher and lower do not indicate any spatial location.

The
higher and lower discussed is a relative thing; it means in a different time and space. So, for the people who are
in America, higher is different from for those who are in India.

Therefore,
higher and lower have nothing to do with particular time and space, because
according to shastra, each loka has a
different time and space. So we can never locate another loka in terms of our
time and space. If you have to understand this, it is like our dream objects.
So you experience objects in dream, they are all located in dream-time and
space; you can never talk about the location of dream object in terms of this
particular time and space.

You can never locate the objects of one loka in the time and space of another loka. Then how do you say svarga is higher? There, the higher, does not mean spatial location at all. And similarly, time location also we cannot talk about and that is why in dream, you obtain months of experience, in terms of waking time, in 1-1/2 minutes. During that brief time itself, your grandson is married and had children and they also got married. Why so? because dream time is different from our time. That is why when we offer food etc. for the pitrus or devas, we do not have to feed them every 3 hours; as in this loka. For the deva lokas, our one year is just 1 day for them. That is why the word higher is not in terms of time and space but in terms of quality. higher loka means qualitative superior loka, which means the body and sense organs enjoyed by them is of a higher refinement. And similarly the sense objects also are of higher refinement. Like within the earth itself, in some country’s, everything is good, including water. They say in some other country, they can drink water directly from the tap. Here, even if you buy Bisleri, one has to suspect. Why? We are in this loka.

So, therefore, when we find the relative refinement within the bhu loka itself, what to talk of higher loka? where is this Loka? Svarga is here and now, you cannot say beyond the cloud, etc.  In fact, you are able to change this body even while here; suppose you can remove this physical body and put on Indra Shariram, then, here itself you can experience svarga, therefore the field of experience depends upon the type of medium that you use. So if you have got a top body, then you hear certain sound, which you do not hear now. Now even the normal sound is itself difficult to hear. If you have ‘dog-ears’; when everybody says it is silent for you it will be very noisy. And therefore remember, different lokas are different planes of experience. It has nothing to do with our time and space and that is why, by travelling in this loka, you can never reach svarga loka. Just as by taking the vehicle of the jagrat avastha, can you travel and reach the Kasi of the dream; there is no corridor or road connecting the jagrat prapancha and svapna prapancha; by travelling any amount of distance in svapna, you cannot reach jagrat avastha; by travelling any amount of distance in waking state, you cannot reach svapna loka, there is no corridor connecting these two lokas. Any amount of travel, you cannot reach svarga. For reaching svarga, what is the first qualification?

One has to die. With this body; in this time and this space and this vehicle, you can never, because it is in a totally different plane. Thus, they are all in terms of the quality, not in terms of spatial location.

Shloka # 14.19

When the witness sees none other than the
alities as the agent, and knows that which is superior [i.e. different from.]
to the alities, he attains My nature.

So
with the previous shloka Sri Krishna completes the analysis of the three gunas, which he started
from verse 5. Through this analysis, he revealed some fundamental points; the
first point is that nobody can escape from these three gunas. The body
mind complex is called the ahamkara, with the reflected consciousness, the cidabhasa.

This
ahamkara, which is my
lower I, which is called the ego, can never escape from these three gunas. Either I
have to be satva pradhana
or I have to be Rajo pradhana
or I have to be Tamo pradhana;
you can only reshuffle the gunas;
the ahamkara cannot
escape from the gunas.
That is point No.1.

And the second important point that Sri Krishna indicated is, whatever is the type of guna, bondage cannot be avoided. Because each guna binds a person and that is why the second topic discussed was as to how each guna binds a person. So, from that it is clear, each guna will bind; only difference is the method of binding would be different; like a person asking should I kill by shooting or cutting the head; which is better; this is better or that is better; the result is still death only. The mode of destruction may vary. Therefore all these three gunas are going to bind me, how the three gunas bind we saw, and a satvic ahamkara will naturally be addicted to a particular type of environment and if that is not available, it will be disturbed. And what is the environment we seek; one that is knowledge-friendly environment.

Similarly
rajasic ahamkara is going to
seek another type of set up; it will be attached to; it will be addicted to; if
not, it is going to be unhappy. You ask him to remain in a room for a long time;
he will break down the wall.

Similarly
tamasic person; expects his own environment; and therefore all the three gunas are going to bind;

And therefore
what is the solution; the only solution is I should transcend the three gunas. I should
transcend the three gunas;
I should become guna
athitha; that is the only solution.

Now the question is: How can I become guna athithaha? guna athithaha, is another word for Nirguna, remember. Now here alone, we face the problem. Ahamkara is nothing but the body-mind complex with the reflected consciousness and therefore ahamkara can never become guna athithaha. So the distressing news is that ahamkara can never escape from the three gunas. Ahamkara by a process of change can become only a satva guna pradhana to rajo guna pradhana to tama guna pradhana; therefore ahamkara cannot become guna athithaha.

Now
the next question is other than ahamkara, is there another entity in me? What is the other entity
other than the body-mind complex and the reflected Consciousness?

What
else is there? Do not say there is nothing. If there should be a reflected
consciousness, (if the mirror and reflected face are there, there must be something
other than the mirror and the reflected face); what is that? It is the original
face, without which reflection is impossible. That original one, is called the
chit, the original consciousness which I called sakshi chaitanyam; the higher nature of the
personality.

And
this higher I, the sakshi has got what
guna; or Consciousness
has got which guna?

The consciousness fortunately or unfortunately is free from all the gunas and therefore, the higher I, is nirgunaha; and therefore the question is can the sakshi become gunathithaha? That is the question; What did we ask first? Can ahamkara become guna athithaha? The answer was ahamkara couldn’t become gunathithaha.

Now
the question is: Can Sakshi become guna athithaha? What will be the answer?

If
you say it cannot, it is wrong; if you say, it can, it is also wrong. You
cannot say that Sakshi cannot become
guna athitha, you
cannot say sakshi can become guna athitha, because
there is no question of becoming guna athitha, because Sakshi is already guna athitha;
therefore it need not become guna
athithaha.

So,
ahamkara cannot become
guna athithaha, sakshi need not
become guna athithaha and
therefore who becomes guna
athitha. Nobody becomes guna
thitha; therefore the very question how to become guna athitha is
wrong.

OK.
Now I have understood. Now tell me: how to become guna athithaha? If
you insist upon an answer to that question, I can give you only a compromised
version of the answer: you become guna athithaha, by
shifting your identification from ahamkara to sakshi. You become guna athihaha,
“become” in quotation, you become guna athithaha, when you shift your identification from the lower I; the ego to the
higher I; the consciousness; From anatma to atma;
from body to consciousness; from kshetram to KshetraGnya. As long as I take myself to be the bodymind complex, I will be saguna ahamkara. As long as
I identify, with my body-mind complex, I will be saguna ahamkara, and as
along as I am saguna ahamkara, I can never escape from samsaara.

Therefore the
only way is, to shift the identification from the body-mind-complex to the sakshi chaitanyam.
Instead of saying I am the body with a sakshi, you have to practice, reversing the statement; saying, I
am the sakshi, with an incidental and temporary body given by the Lord.

And,
incidentally, for the sake of transaction, there is nothing wrong in
identifying; but this is done with an awareness; just like an actor identifies
with the role; with the awareness that I am not the role.

So therefore you need not disclose this outside, but you remember the fact that I am ever the guna athitha sakshi, and I am functioning in the world through the saguna ahamkara, and as long as I am playing the role, I have to do everything properly, and therefore the only solution is knowing the higher nature and identifying with it.

And
therefore, in these two verses; which are the most important verses of the 14^th
chapter, namely 19 and 20th, Sri Krishna tells you can become guna athithaha
only by knowing your higher nature and it is not enough that you know, but you
should learn to identify with your higher nature; and look upon the ahamkara as a temporary
vesha. Make your
life into a drama with the ahamkara role. ahamkara is only the vesha. Ahamkara atma viveka is going to be discussed in the next two verses.

Take Away:

When
we say svarga loka is higher,
patala loka is lower etc.
the word higher and lower do not indicate any spatial location.

The
higher and lower discussed is a relative thing; it means in a different time and space.

All
the three gunas bind us. And
therefore the only solution is I should transcend the three gunas.

How
to transcend is addressed below:

As
long as I take myself to be the bodymind complex, I will be saguna ahamkara. As long as
I identify, with my body-mind complex, I will be saguna ahamkara, and as
along as I am saguna
ahamkara, I can never
escape from samsaara.

Therefore
the only way is to shift the identification from the body-mind-complex to the sakshi chaitanyam.
Instead of saying I am the body with a sakshi,
you have to practice, reversing the statement; saying, I am the sakshi, with an
incidental and temporary body given by the Lord.

With Best
Wishes,

Ram Ramaswamy

Shloka # 14. 9:

14.9 O scion of the Bharata dynasty, sattva attaches one to happiness, rajas to action, while tamas, covering up knowledge, leads to inadvertence als

Continuing his teachings
Swamiji said today,
in the last few classes, we saw that our higher nature known as the sakshi svarupam is ever
nirgunam and
therefore is free from the influence of the three gunas; but our vyavaharika nature,
our lower nature, which is called ahamkara is a mixture of the body-mind complex, as well as the
reflected consciousness. And till the ahamkara consists of the body-mind complex and till the body-mind
complex is born out of prakrti, the ahamkara can never escape from the three gunas. And
therefore, our body-mind complex is made up of three gunas and the
ahamkara which
consists of this body-mind complex is the necessarily made up of these three gunas, and therefore,
we can never escape from them. We have to live with this saguna ahamkara. And once we
are forced to live with this ahamkara, it is better that we understand the ahamkara well, so
that we know how to handle it properly.

Science
is able to handle the nature more and more only because science has been able
to know nature more and more. Knowledge gives the capacity for better handling.
And therefore Sri Krishna says: you have to understand your own ahamkara very well.
For that, you must know what type of ahamkara you have; which guna is dominant, which guna is in middle; the second place, and which guna is the
lowest; better you understand and you also know how these gunas influence
your vyavaharika life; both
material life, as well as the spiritual life.

And
therefore Sri Krishna started an enquiry into the three gunas which we
divided into 5 topics: the first topic being the definition of the three gunas where he
gave the definition that satva guna is Prakashatmakam
and rajo guna is ragatmakam; and tamo guna is mohanatmakam. By the
word Prakashatmakam means, a
mind that is pre-disposed to the pursuit of knowledge. A mind with more and
more knowing tendencies, a mind, which wants to use Gyanendriyas more, is
called a satvika mind.

Whereas
rajo guna is said to
the ragatmakam, which
is a personality that has doing tendency, it is a dynamic mind, which wants to
use the karmendriyas more
than the Gyanendriyas.

And
therefore, karma pre-disposition or karma tendency is rajo guna lakshanam; knowledge
tendency is satva guna
lakshanam.

And
tamo guna is defined as
mohanatmakam, which
means a personality, which is always in doubt; always indecisive; always
procrastinating; always not sure what to do. A mind which is in eternal
conflict, delusion and procrastination and if you try to help them resolve the
conflict; not only you do not resolve their conflict they will put conflict in
your mind too. So powerful is their moha. So this constant vacillation tendency is the expression
of tamo guna, which we
called mohanatmakam. This is
the first topic, the definition.

Then
the second topic that we did was bandha prakara, how the three gunas bind a person which we can easily infer, a calm mind has
always a knowing tendency; learning tendency; therefore, naturally it is
addicted to any infrastructure which is conducive for learning. It always loves
learning infrastructure, which means quietude, which means seclusion, which means
silence, which means withdrawal, which means reduction of relationships, because
relationships requires extroverted-ness. And therefore, a calm mind is attached
to knowledge infrastructure whereas a rajasic mind hates knowledge infrastructure of quietude,
withdrawal etc.

A rajasic mind craves for a karma infrastructure. It wants to do something or the other; therefore it wants gadgets, it wants to go out, i.e. it wants an infrastructure in which karmendriyas can be active. And this is called bondage as it is addicted to such a set up and if such a set up is not available, that person feels like a fish out of water. He is unhappy and therefore, whether unhappiness is caused by silence, or whether unhappiness is caused by noise, unhappiness is unhappiness and Vedanta defines moksha as that state of mind, in which there is no unhappiness, be it in noise or in silence; it is not bound by either noise or silence. Therefore, sattva’s attachment is with Gyana while Rajo Guna is attached to Karma and tamo guna binds with nidra and alasya. It does not even know what it wants and is still groping in darkness. It also does not want to decide. Tamo Guna is attached to vagueness, negligence and carelessness.

Shloka # 14.10:

O scion of the Bharata dynasty, sattva
increases by subduing rajas and tamas, rajas by overpowering sattva and tamas,
and tamas by dominating over sattva and rajas.

The
third topic that Sri Krishna is going to deal with is the lingam or the
indicatory signs of whether one is satvic, rajasic
or tamasic; but
before entering into this topic Sri Krishna is taking a small diversion. The
10th verse is a diversionary verse.

It
is a deliberate diversion, as Sri Krishna considers it important.
Here Sri Krishna says everything and every being is made up of three gunas because
everything and being is born of prakrti. From an inert object to the most
intelligent human being, every blessed thing in the creation is the product of
prakrti and therefore everyone has all the three gunas.

But there is one difference and that difference is that even though everything is made up of three gunas, the proportion is not uniform. The proportion was uniform before the creation, in pralaya state all three gunas were in equilibrium, but once the creation started, there was no more equilibrium and in-equilibrium sets in.

And
therefore in the case of an inert object, all three gunas are present,
but tamo guna is dominant
hence the reason the object does not have a learning tendency; which is why a
wall does not learn.

And
once you come to the plant kingdom, it has also has all three gunas but it has
more rajas and satva than an inert object. But you will still not see a plant
going to school or for a walk. So, the plant has more satva and rajas than an
inert object but still only in limited amounts.

And
when we come to animals, we find satva and rajas are still more dominant
relatively and their capacity to learn, and understand is more than the plant.
They are also not stationary living being as animals move, which means rajo guna is more.

And
once you come to the human being, satva and rajas are still more dominant and
therefore human beings have schools and colleges; books and knowledge goes on
increasing. Similarly, the number of activities undertaken by them are also many.
Sri Krishna points out that all the human beings do not have the same proportion
of gunas; among the
human beings themselves, some of them have got more satva, some more rajas and
some have more tamas, and therefore, their character varies.

And
therefore, a satvic person is
defined as one who has got the predominance of satva; it does not mean he does
not have rajas and tamas, it only means satva is dominant and similarly in rajasic person,
rajas is dominant, and in a tamasic
person, tamas is dominant.

And
this tamas can be so dominant that some people can be closer to animals and some
people can be closer to plants; and some people can be closer to stones.

Then comes a very important question. If a person is Satvic, Rajasic or Tamasic, is it a fixed character or is it possible for us to change the character of a Person? Is it possible for a person to change the proportion of the gunas? If we cannot change the character of a person, we are doomed, because we are helpless; our future is already decided. Fortunately scriptures point out that the character of a person can be transformed. The rate of transformation will defer from individual to individual and the amount of transformation also will defer from individual to individual, but transformation is possible. In fact, all spiritual sadhanas are meant to change the proportion only because every sadhana requires a particular guna as a dominant factor. And according to shastra most people are born with tamo guna predominant because as a baby we only eat and sleep.

To convert from tamo guna pradhana person to rajo guna pradhana person; the scriptures want us to be active in life; and that is why Veda begins not with Gyana kandam rather it begins with karma kandam. Your life has to start with karma or activity.

Vedas say, let your life start with selfish activity; you have any number of personal desires and Vedas say nothing wrong in fulfilling your personal desires And once a person has been selfishly active, Vedas say, and then gradually change the character of activity. If previously it was Rajas Tamas Satva (RTS) in composition then the composition should be changed to Rajas Satva and Tamas (RST).

So
when a person converts himself from RTS to RST, and the person’s activity
although self centered becomes more beneficial for more number of people.

So
one moves from sakama
karma to nishkama karma.

Thereafter
Veda says, once mind
becomes mature and a

time
should come when your rajasic
tendency should be converted into satva guna.

Thus,
through activity what karma can give, upasana can never give. What upasana gives,
karma can never give. And therefore karma yoga is a must, upasana is also a
must; upasana will
convert a person from RST to SRT.

Therefore, one goes from inactivity to selfish activity; and then to selfless activity; and then to enquiry. This is our gradual transformation. Inactivity to selfish activity to selfless activity to enquiry is our journey and in fact if you take the four ashramas, brahmacharya , grihastha, vanaprastha and sanyasa, all these four ashramas also represent the gradual transformation.

And then a person finally comes to enquiry. Even though predominantly knowledge, he does not have any regret, he has already contributed to society through karma yoga. If one Contributes and then withdraws, there will be no guilt. Without contribution if I withdraw, I will always have guilt. What have I done for the world? And therefore, contribute, withdraw, learn, know and be free. And therefore character can be changed and final character required is satva guna pradhana. To use the 4th chapter language, we all should become guna brahmana. From a guna shudra to guna vaishya, to guna kshatriya to guna brahmana.

Guna shudra is lazy, guna vaishya is selfishly active; guna kshatriya
is self-lessly acting; guna brahmana
is pursuing knowledge, withdrawn or contemplative.

Therefore, Arjuna you have to understand where you stand and you
have to adopt the appropriate sadhana and finally come to
self-knowledge. This analysis is required only to change our character, not to
change others character.  We are not here
to study and judge other people unless they are or they are under our care. Our
primary concern is how to change our svabhava. We have to find out as
to what is my Guna? Am I a guna shudra; am I a guna kshatriya,
am I a guna brahmana, which guna
is dominant in me, how to know? Sri Krishna says I will give you the clue to
find out, which is the third topic, also known as guna
lingaani, the indicator, to find out where I stand.

Shloka
14.11:

14.11 When the illumination that is knowledge
radiates in this body through all the doors (of the senses), then one should
know that sattva has increased greatly.

Sri
Krishna says through our five sense organs (eyes, nose etc) we gather the
knowledge of the external world. When all the five sense organs are bright and
alert and we have great absorbing capacity, then we are able to acquire
knowledge faster because the absorbing capacity is more. Such a mind is always alert
and can absorb knowledge fast. Such a mind indicates satva pradhana.

When
the sense organs are bright and therefore there is more knowledge acquisition;
one can judge oneself to be a satvic
person.

Shloka
14.12

14.12 O best of the Bharata dynasty, when
rajas becomes predominant, these come into being: avarice, movement,
undertaking of actions, unrest and hankering.

When
rajo guna is dominant,
lobha is present.
Lobha here means
inordinate greed to achieve worldly things; a super ambitious person; of course
such people accomplish so many things in the society, in fact, a country’s
material progress is dependent on such people; we should be very careful here,
we are not criticizing rajasic
people here, because if a nation has to progress, we require lot of activity as
well. At least, Swami Vivekananda felt that our country required more rajas
than satvam as he thought our people were tamasic.

Therefore activity is very important for material progress, but the problem is, there should a limit and after some time a person should gradually change to satva pradhana. So these people are highly ambitious, even at an old age. They are workaholic people, they have no time for nithya karma; they have no time for japa, they have no time for puja, they have no time for Gita; they have no time to question what is the real goal of life. So therefore, they initiate many activities, without bothering whether they can take care of all of them.

Therefore
their mind is ever, a restless mind, an impatient mind; they also expect the
same amount of speed from the people around them.

Generally
rajasic people
are impatient; they are highly irritable, they cannot stand other people as
such they become very unpopular; they are very high achieving people, but generally
people who are close by, they know the problem of working with them.

Anger
is at the tip of their nose.  Though they
are great achievers, they are highly restless and short-tempered.

They have strong attachment to their accomplishments, and are highly egoistic. Dayananda Swami says, Self-made men are most dangerous type people. They keep telling everybody that as well; and if someone does not listen, they feel angry; this makes them subject to deep disappointments as well. Thus they are highly volatile. But on the positive side they are Great achievers.

Therefore
somebody has written about how rajasic people pray to God: Oh Lord! Give me Darshan right now! or
else I will beat you.

Shloka 14.13:

14.13 O descendant of the Kuru dynasty, when
tamas predominates these surely [i.e. without exception.-M.S.] come into being:
non-discrimination and inactivity, inadvertence and delusion.

The
tamasic person does
not take part in living itself. Their Gyanendriyas and karmendriyas are
dull. There is an absence of Satva and Rajas in them meaning both Gunas are
overpowered by Tamas.

And
therefore, generally, he does not do anything. And if you force him to do
things, you will have to go behind and make him to get it done and if he does
independently invariably you will have to rectify it later. You may conclude that
it is better to have done it yourself.

So
hallmarks of Tamo Guna are: Negligent attitude, Carelessness, Procrastination,
delusion and indecision.

Shankaracharya answers as
to why we require inference; inference is required because three gunas are not
pratyaksham or visibly
evident. Where pratyaksham
does not work, anumana has to be
made use of. If I cannot see the fire, I have to indirectly go to the indicator
and through the smoke; I have to infer the fire, because the fire is not seen.
Similarly which guna
is dominant in me, I cannot see with the physical eyes, because gunas are not
visible. So, we have to look for clues, indicators, and the indicators are the
details of the lingam and therefore judge yourself, find out where you stand and
choose appropriate sadhana but never
develop a complex, never compare yourselves
with other people; be happy with what you are at present, and gradually progress.

Take Away:

Scriptures
point out that the character of
a person can be transformed.

In
trying to decipher your own gunas, never compare yourselves with other people;
be happy with what you are at present, and gradually progress.

With Best
Wishes,

Ram Ramaswamy

Shloka # 14.5:

O mighty-armed one, the alities, viz sattva,
rajas and tamas, born of Nature, being the immutable embodies being to the
body.

Continuing his teachings
Swamiji said today,

 For analyzing the three gunas, Sri Krishna has given the introduction and in the introductory portion we saw that every individual is a mixture of two portions; one is called sakshi-amsha, the higher part of the individual and second is ahamkara-amsha, the lower part of the individual. Of these two portions, the sakshi portion the higher part consists of only consciousness which is pure chaitanyam; whereas the ahamkara the lower part consists of two things, one is the inert-body-mind-complex, is part of ahamkara, and this inert-body-mind-complex, enjoys the reflected consciousness or borrowed consciousness and because of that, the body-mind-complex has become sentient. It is just as a mirror, a non-luminous-mirror, becomes a bright-mirror when it gets reflected sunlight. So when I look at a bright-mirror, I should remember it has got two parts; one is the mirror part and the second is the reflected sun. In the same way, the ahamkara, like the bright-mirror, has got two parts, one is the inert body-mind-complex, like the mirror, and the second is the borrowed or reflected consciousness; in Sanskrit we call it Prathibhimbha chaitanyam plus the body. And this mixture prathibhimbha-chaitanyam plus the body together is called ahamkara and what is the sakshi? Sakshi is neither the body, nor is it the reflected consciousness.

Sakshi is different
from both the body and the reflected consciousness; it is the original
consciousness. If you remember Tatva Bodha, RM + RC = Ahamkara. RM means
the reflecting medium, the body + RC, the reflected consciousness is equal to
the ahamkara.

Then what is the sakshi? It is neither the RM, nor is it the RC, but it is OC.  So this OC part is called the higher part, the sakshi-amsha, RC plus RM is called the lower part, the ahamkara amsa, the sakshi-amsha and the Ahamkara amsha are together inseparably. When I use the word, I, it is a mixture of both the sakshi and Ahamkara. And of these two amshas, the sakshi is the nirguna amsha, because it is pure consciousness, whereas the ahamkara contains the body mind-complex, and the body-mind-complex is matter. It is prakrti and therefore Ahamkara is endowed with three gunas. So Ahamkara amsha is saguna amsha, whereas Sakshi-amsha is nirguna(amsha means aspect, facet or part). So my lower nature is saguna nature and my higher nature is Nirguna sakshi.

And having said this much, Sri Krishna wants to point out that the ahamkara can never escape from the three gunas; because ahamkara consists of prakrti, it is made up of the prakrti and therefore ahamkara, body-mind complex, is born out of prakrti principle. You have to remember that always, then only ahamkara and saguna can be understood clearly.

Therefore,
my lower part; the ahamkara
amsha can never
escape from these three gunas
and the only juggling that I can do is change the proportion of the gunas.

Like some political parties do, they change the ministers to party work and from party work to ministry and then to governorship. The party consists of the same type of people. I am not telling whether they are good people or bad people. You can decide the composition.

Ahamkara can never escape from the three gunas. Ahamkara can only be dominant in satva guna; in which case it will be satvic ahamkara, dominant in rajo guna in which case it will be rajasic ahamkara or it can be tamasic ahamkara. And Sri Krishna wants to say that whether it is satvic, rajasic or tamasic, all these three gunas are bound to bind the individual. Only the type of samsara caused will change; the mode of bondage will change, one may be a golden shackle; another may be silver shackle; another may be an iron shackle; but all the three are shackles. Like in Saudi

Arabia, when a member of the royal family commits a crime and they have to behead, they will use a golden sword; what will be difference when it will be cut by a golden sword or a silver sword? Therefore Sri Krishna wants to say that all these three gunas would bind; therefore if you want to be free, you have to transcend the saguna ahamkara, and you have to own up your higher gunathitha, nirguna, sakshi-amsha.

But one thing that Sri Krishna admits is, to become a gunathitha, initially; you will have to use the three gunas as a stepping-stone, as I gave the example of the pole, used by the pole-vaulter. The pole will have to be used to go above the bar; but having gone above, the pole will have to be dropped. Not using the pole is also foolishness; not leaving the pole is also foolishness; use the pole, cross the bar and leave the pole. Similarly use the gunas and then drop the guna; drop means, transcend the guna. This is what Sri Krishna is going to teach. This analysis of Gunas is started from verse No.5, which will continue up to verse no.18. And Sri Krishna gave the introduction in fifth verse. There are three gunas associated with ahamkara.  And that ahamkara, the jiva, is associated with all the three gunas in different proportions and all the three gunas will bind differently.

Shloka
# 14.6:

14.6 Among them, sattva, being pure, [Nirmala,
pure-transparent, i.e., capable of resisting any form of ignorance, and hence
as illuminator, i.e.a revealer of Consciousness.] is an illuminator and is
harmless. O sinless one, it binds through attachment to happiness and
attachment to knowledge.

For the sake of our convenience, this analysis of the three gunas
can be divided into five topics.

1. The first topic is the definition of each guna also called Lakshanam. What is the definition of Satva, Rajas and Tamas is the topic?
2. Mode or method of bondage of each Guna, also called Bandana Prakara.
3. Indication as to which Guna is dominant in a person also known as Lingam; not to be confused with Shivalingam.
4. Type of travel or course of each Guna after death, also called Gathihi.
5. Consequence of the domination of each Guna in this life, also called Phalam. Now Gathi is the consequence after death while phalam is consequence before death.

Shloka
# 6 says when Satva is dominant in an Ahamkara the other two Gunas will not
pollute. Thus if Tamoguna pollutes Satva Guna mind will become turbulent. But
if it does not pollute Satva, mind will be clear in thinking. Clarity of
thinking will be there.

If
Rajoguna pollutes Satva, mind will be restless and wavering. Without Rajoguna
pollution, mind will be free from restlessness, a relaxed mind.

Satva
Guna is of the nature of brightness and calmness; quietude and tranquility And
this seems to be a wonderful nature; if the mind is bright and calm, it is
capable of learning things; it is capable of absorbing; it is capable of contemplation,
it is capable of self-analysis.

 If so, why does Satva Guna bind? Sri Krishna
says, Satvik mind seeks seclusion, freedom from noise. The problem is that we
cannot control our external atmosphere. If you cannot control it then you
become disturbed. Thus, for him, quietude becomes a source of bondage.

Now a liberated person is defined as a person who does not depend on quietude or seclusion for fulfillment and happiness. Any type of dependence is bondage, satva guna leads to noble dependence, but noble dependence is also a dependence.

Satvic
mind is attached to knowledge it is introverted and wants to know more and
more. Satvic mind is Gyanendriya Pradhana. What is wrong with greed for
knowledge? Any amount of knowledge you gain and assimilate, omniscience is not
possible. So, Satvic person is not happy with his material knowledge (not
spiritual knowledge).

Sri
Krishna says, O Ananta, which means you, one with a pure mind.

Shloka # 14. 7:

14.7 Know rajas to be of the nature of
passion, born of hankering and attachment. O son of Kunti, that binds the
embodied one through attachment to action.

Rajoguna
is about attachment and passion. It wants to relate to things and people. It is
extroverted. Satvic people prefer seclusion; while Rajasic people want action;
they don’t like quietude.

We
require each Guna for liberation. Thus Pancha maha yagya requires us to use all
three Gunas.

Since
it is a restless, dynamic mind, it wants to acquire things. If husband and wife
are of different Gunas it can be a difficult life says, Swamiji. Now desire may
be selfish or selfless. Once he acquires something he wants to hold on to it. For
Rajo Guna, possession is important, while Satva wants to drop possessions. Desire
and attachment are hallmarks of Rajo Guna.

How
does Rajoguna bind? By making him attached to Karma. It makes him a workaholic.
What is wrong with work? Up to a certain stage Karma yoga is acceptable, but
then one has to shift to Gyana Yoga. He is Karma Pradhana.

Shloka # 14. 8:

14.8 On the other hand, know tamas, which
deludes all embodied beings, to be born of ignorance. O scion of the Bharata
dynasty, that binds through inadvertence, laziness and sleep.

Tamoguna
is born of Agyanam or out of Prakriti or Maya. So one cant escape it. Sleep in
itself not a problem; if Sleeping itself is not a problem then what is the
problem? Continuing to sleep is the problem. Everyone has to sleep. If one does
not sleep, insomnia is a problem; for that person as well as for the other
people as well. Therefore, we do not condemn tamo guna but we are talking about the problems created by predominance
of tamo guna. They are:

The first problem is that it suppresses the satva guna and rajo guna. Since satva guna is suppressed, there is no clarity of thinking. And therefore one even does not ask what is the purpose of life. Human life is never taken seriously. The precious time is never taken seriously. The young age is never taken seriously. All this happens because of lack of clarity of thinking. And because of  mohanam or delusion; It means there is no clear thinking and also often there is no goal in life; it is just moving along with the current; there is no goal and even if goals are there; the priorities are not clear. How much money is important; how much health is important; how much knowledge is important; with regard to all these, there is no clarity and therefore it causes delusion for all those people, and the definition of tamo guna is delusional mind.

How
does Tamoguna bind? Carelessness with using body, laziness, and sleep are all
qualities that bind Tamo guna. They cannot meditate.

Thus,
Tamo guna binds a
person. There is an advantage in Tamo Guna; this person does not acquire punyam or papam, why? punyam and papam are karma
phalam; and this person does not do any karma; only by performing karmas one
gets you do karma punyam
and papam. Therefore
the advantage for this person, he will not acquire much agami, he will not
acquire fresh punyam and papam, but
remember that is not a great achievement, animals also do not acquire punyam or papam. If I say I
have not acquired any punyam
or papam, it means I
have been like a buffalo. Is it a credit, therefore it is perpetuation of bondage.

Shloka # 14. 9:

14.9 O scion of the Bharata dynasty, sattva
attaches one to happiness, rajas to action, while tamas, covering up knowledge,
leads to inadvertence also.

Here,
Sri Krishna repeats how each Guna binds us. Each binds us by creating
addictions. Satva causes addiction to silence and or quietude. Sukham in shloka
means seclusion.

Rajo
Guna causes addiction to Karma. Performing Karma is acceptable but addiction to
it is a problem. Addiction can even be to Guru, Shastra and even Ishwara.

Tamo
guna binds us via carelessness, lack of attention to the job etc, all due to
lack of clear thinking. So by covering the discriminative power, the tamo guna makes a
person addicted to lose jobs all the time. So that means you cannot make that
person responsible as there is no assurance that the job will be completed.

He
can never be a responsible person.

With Best
Wishes,

Ram Ramaswamy

Shloka # 14.4:

14.4 O son of Kunti, whatever forms are born
from all the wombs, of them the great-sustainer is the womb; I am the father
who deposits the seed.

Continuing his teachings
Swamiji said today,
in this chapter 14 the first four verses were introductory ones where Sri
Krishna mentioned that we are going to deal with topic of Self Knowledge. He
glorified self-knowledge as a liberating knowledge. In third and fourth shlokas
he talked about creation. He did so to point out that every individual is made
up of two parts, the Prakriti and Purusha. He said Ishwara, the cause of
creation is also a combination of Prakriti and Pursuha; also known as the
father-mother principle. Purusha cannot create without Prakriti and Prakriti
too cannot create without Pursuha. So God is a mixture of father and mother
principle. Hence, the Puranas talk of Parvati 
Shiva, Laxmi Vishnu and Saraswati Brahma. They can’t be separated from
each other and this mixture alone is
called God. Since cause of creation
is a mixture of two the effect is also a mixture of both.

Thus, if the Gold has got 6% silver or copper, then all the ornaments also will have the same percentage; because the law of karana guna is that the features of the cause will inhere the effect also. And therefore every individual Jiva, you and I, is also a mixture of Purusha tatvam and Prakrti Tatvam, and therefore to understand oneself thoroughly, we should clearly know how to differentiate/distinguish these two features within ourselves. And therefore for the sake of self-study, Sri Krishna is introducing creation.

O
Arjuna, I am the Purusha Tatvam and definition of Purusha Tatvam is:
Nirguna, Nirvikara, Sathya, Chetana tatvam.
Purusha means the changeless,
attributeless, consciousness principle, which is an independent and absolute
reality. Whereas prakrti tatvam is saguna, savikara, mithya, achetana tatvam,
that which has attributes, that which is subject to changes, and that which is
of the nature of jada, achetana or inert principle. In English we can say consciousness
plus matter is equal to Ishvara tatvam and Ishvara paramatma is karanam while jivatma is karyam. If a karanam is a mixture
of consciousness and matter, karyam is also a mixture of consciousness-principle and matter-principle.

So in me too both are there, and therefore, I should understand both these features. And this analysis is going to be the subject matter of the 14th chapter. Thus you have both, changing feature and changeless features.

You have a nature which is attributed, saguna feature and you have got a nirguna feature as well, and similarly, you are a mixture of matter and consciousness and you are a mixture of lower Mithya principle and higher Sathyam principle. And, therefore, I should thoroughly understand both and that analysis is going to start hereafter.

So
from 5th shloka, the analysis is going to begin.

Shloka # 14.5:

14.5 O mighty-armed one, the alities, viz
sattva, rajas and tamas, born of Nature, being the immutable embodies being to
the body.

Before
entering this analysis I would like to give you a bird’s eye view of this
analysis.

I said Bhagavan is a mixture of consciousness and matter, and
therefore every one of us is also a mixture of both.

And what is the material aspect of the individual? The physical body is material in nature; it is made up of prakrti tatvam; because body is made up of matter and body has got attributes or saguna it is  savikaram subject to change therefore body comes under the prakrti part of the individual; Similarly the mind also comes under the prakrti part of the individual; And other than the body mind complex, there is the purusha tatvam, which is the consciousness principle. And what is that consciousness? Consciousness is not part, product or property of the body, consciousness is an independent entity which pervades and enlivens the body and consciousness principle is not limited by the boundaries of the body, it goes beyond and the consciousness principle does not die when the body dies; and finally, this surviving consciousness principle cannot be contacted by us; not because it is non-existent, but because there is no medium of contact. I have given you the example of light, which is pervading this body and this consciousness principle in me, which enlivens the body-mind-complex, is called purusha tatvam.

And in vedanta, we use two technical words that I would like to introduce. The pure consciousness principle, which is nirguna and nirvikara, that consciousness, is called sakshi tatvam. It isthe witness principle; the changeless-witness of all the changes that happen. Now the mind is in peaceful condition; there is a witness of the peaceful state of mind; Next moment the mind is turbulent; the mind changes, but there is a changeless witness-consciousness that is aware of the previous condition of the mind as well as aware of the present condition of the mind. This changeless witness consciousness is called sakshi tatvam, which is one aspect of mind. This Vedanta calls my higher nature; my superior nature; my diviner nature; my loftier nature.

Then, of course, I have got this body principle and the mind principle, both of whom are in themselves inert in nature. Why is it inert? Because it is made up of matter, it is a bundle of chemicals; a bundle of five elements; this body by itself is inert; but even though intrinsically the body is inert, because of the pervasion of consciousness, the body has got borrowed consciousness. Just like now, my body is shining for you; not because the body has got its own luminosity; now my body is shining because of what? the light pervading the body.

Similarly, this body is inert; but because of the pervading consciousness, body has got borrowed consciousness; it is like the hot water. The hot water is hot not because heat is its intrinsic nature, but because water is pervaded by the invisible agni tatvam. You cannot see it with the visible eyes. If you put your finger, you will know. Water looks the same; hot water is hot, not because heat is its nature, but it is borrowed from the fire principle. Similarly, this body is now sentient; not because of the intrinsic-sentiency but because of borrowed-sentiency; in Sanskrit we call it; Chidabhasha pratibimba chaitanyam or reflected consciousness (RC); we had discussed this long ago in Tatva Bodha as OC, RC, RM.

So now this body has got borrowed sentiency; therefore it is a live body. It is prakrti but a live prakrti. Similarly, the mind also is made up of subtle matter only, subtle Elements only and therefore the mind is also intrinsically insentient; but the mind has become sentient due to borrowed sentiency, which is technically called chidabhasha. So, thus, we have got a live body; with borrowed-consciousness and we have got a live mind with borrowed consciousness. In short we have a got a live prakrti, prakrti means the body mind complex, with borrowed consciousness. And in Vedantic parlance, this body-mind-complex, otherwise called prakrti, with borrowed sentiency, borrowed-consciousness, this body-mind complex is called Ahamkara.

Ahamkara is equal to body-mind complex; otherwise called prakrti-plus-borrowed consciousness; i.e. chidabhasha. So, Shariram-plus-chidabhasha is equal to ahamkara. Prakrti-plus-chidabhasha is equal to ahamkara. Matter plus borrowed consciousness is called ahamkara. And what is the name of the original consciousness? It is Sakshi Tatvam. So sakshi is the name of the original consciousness; Ahamkara is the name of the body mind complex, plus the reflected or borrowed consciousness. And every individual is a mixture of Sakshi and ahamkara. When I say, Sakshi, you should remember; OC, the original consciousness; ahamkara means the body plus reflected consciousness (RC). In Tatva Bodha we used the expression RM plus RC. RM means reflecting medium; what is the reflecting medium? It is the body-mind-complex. RC means the reflected consciousness.

So
now let us put the formula. OC is the sakshi, RC plus RM is equal to Ahamkara. I hope it
is not confusing. And every individual is a mixture of Ahamkara and Sakshi.

So, when a Gyani says Aham brahmasmi, that Aham refers to the sakshi aspect, the original consciousness (OC), which is nirguna, nirvikara, sathya, chaitanyam, whereas when you take the ahamkara aspect of mind, your mind should shift to the body mind complex, that is with borrowed consciousness. Now, Ahamkara being body mind complex, body mind complex being prakrti, ahamkara is saguna and Ahamkara is savikara. Ahamkara is intrinsically achetanam, but it has borrowed chetanatvam. And Sri Krishna wants to say O Arjuna you are a mixture of ahamkara and sakshi. And you should be able to differentiate between nirguna sakshi and saguna ahamkara.

And Sri Krishna wants to point out Ahamkara is your lower nature. It is your individuality, whereas Sakshi is your higher nature. And then Sri Krishna wants to point out that as long as you are taking yourselves as ahamkara, as long as you are remain as ahamkara alone, samsara cannot be avoided. Ahamkara is vulnerable to samsara and the only way of getting out of samsara is for you to transcend your lower ahamkara-nature and to own up to your higher sakshi-nature.

And for this purpose, Sri Krishna wants to point out, how the
Ahamkara is poison; it is a problem. And why it is a problem, because it
is saguna. The very saguna nature of ahamkara
makes it a problematic aspect of yours. And naturally the question will come;
how the gunas become responsible for samsara.

And for that Sri Krishna wants to talk about the various gunas of ahamkara. And he points out that ahamkara has got three gunas; because it is made up of prakrti, which has got three gunas.

The three Gunas are: Satvika ahamkara, rajasa ahamkara, and tamasa ahamkara, and Sri Krishna says all the three ahamkaras are samsari-ahamkaras. And each ahamkara is bound in a different way. Satvika

ahamkara is bound by satva guna;
rajasa ahamkara is bound by rajo guna;
and tamasa ahamkara is bound by tamo guna.

And therefore Sri Krishna wants to talk about the nature of each guna and how each guna binds a person and what are the indications of the presence of each guna and what will be the consequences of the respective bondage; all these Sri Krishna is going to analyze; hence name of Chapter as:  guna traya vibhaga yoga. Domination of each guna binds the ahamkara.

And in Sanskrit language, the word Guna
has two meanings; one meaning is it is a property or an attribute. And the
second meaning is, it is a ‘rope’ or a shackle. So the very word guna
indicates that it is a rope that will bind you to samsara
and which will never allow you to be a free person. Therefore, you have to
break the shackles of three gunas and discover the freedom of moksha.

And now, we will briefly see the expressions of each guna.
At the time of creation, in the prakrti or in matter all the three gunas
are present; but they are in equilibrium or in the same proportion.

And in equilibrium state, there is no creation. And when the time
for creation comes, the gunas are disturbed; the proportions are disturbed,
and in creation the proportion will vary and the percentage of these three gunas
will vary.

And, according to the scriptures, even the most inert object in
the creation has three gunas as well as the plants, animals and human
beings.

Every one is a mixture of three gunas;
the differences are in the proportions of the gunas.

And in the human being, how does the domination of each guna
express itself?

Sri Krishna points out that satva guna
make the character or the nature of the individual to be Gyana Pradhana
Purusha. It makes a person a cognitive individual, an intellectual
person interested in or thirsting for more and more knowledge. So in his case,
the Gyanendriya, the five sense organs of knowledge, as well as the controlling
intellect will be highly active.

And diagonally opposite is the raja pradhanam. In a rajasic character, it will be karma pradhana or activity oriented. So, here Gyanenndriyas are generally passive; The Gyanenndriyas are the eyes, the ears, nose, the tongue and the skin and the intellect; the analyzing-intellect; the thinking intellect, judging-intellect; that will be active, whereas in a rajasic personality, it will be karma pradhana, which means karmendriyas will be active.

So therefore vak, pani,
pada, payu, upastha and behind that the pancha pranas,
the energy is highly active.

So satva guna is Gyana pradhana
while rajo guna gives a karma pradhana
personality.

And Tamo guna
will be the suppression of both. Neither the Gyanendriyas nor karmendriyas
are active; more inertia will be there; So tamas is the suppression of both
Rajas and Satva.

And when a person is a Gyana pradhana
person; generally that person will be turned inwards, internal oriented;
because a mind, which seeks knowledge, is always intellectually active,
analyzing, thinking, hypothesizing, theorizing, in fact, intellectuals live in
their own world of ideas; they are not even aware of the surroundings.
Therefore Satva dominant will express itself in the form of Nivritti pradhana.
Nivritti means turning inwards or withdrawal.

Whereas when rajoguna is dominant, it will be pravritti pradhana, the person will be highly turned outwards; One is inward, another is outward. When satva guna is dominant, and a person is thinking, contemplative, etc.; naturally that mind will not like to relate itself with the external world of objects, because very relationship or interaction or transaction will make the mind extrovert; whereas satvic mind being turned inward, it does not like sanga.

Therefore it is asanga- pradhana whereas a rajasic mind loves turning, outward. Socializing, interacting, talking to people.  So, one is asanga, the other sasanga.

The fourth difference that we can see is that a thinking mind
would naturally love a set up which is conducive for contemplation, and
therefore it loves silence.

Tranquility, quietude; It wants nishabdhatha,
whereas the silence is poison for the rajasic mind, it cannot withstand
silence.

And Tamoguna
is just the opposite, it suppresses both satva and rajas and Sri Krishna wants
to point out that all the three gunas
are bondage. All the three gunas cause bondage in different ways.

How do all the three gunas cause bondage? A satvic mind will love a set up which is quiet, and which is conducive for thinking, contemplation, study, etc. and if that set up is disturbed, by any sound or any visitor; then a satvic mind is upset. And therefore, it is a dukha-misritha condition, because as long as the set up is favorable to me, the satvic mind enjoys.

A satvic mind is also a bound-mind, because it cannot totally control
the set up and when the set up is disturbed, it is disturbed.

Similarly, a rajasic mind, of course hates silence and quietude.
It cannot keep quiet because he cannot face silence. Therefore a rajasic
mind also will face dukham. So long as it is able to order the set up as it
wants, it is fine; but when the set up is disturbed, it is unhappy.  

Tamasic mind also will have problems. Sri Krishna will talk of the
details later; the greatest problem being there is no scope for progress at
all. So, therefore, all the three gunas are
mixed with pain or sorrow. And Sri Krishna points out that all the three gunas
cause dependence. A person who loves silence is addicted to silence. And he is
not a free person because to enjoy happiness, he requires silence.  So, Satvic
person is also bound, because he is addicted to silence. What about rajasic
person? That person is also bound, because he is addicted to noise and the
company he wants.

Therefore, dependence and bondage are common to all the people;
pain is common to all the people, wherever dependence is there; pain is also there.

And thirdly, all the people will have athrupthikarathvam . So common to all three are features of dukha-mishrithatvam, athrupthikarathvam, and bandhakatvam. Athrupthikarathvam is also common to all the three. A satvic person wants to gain more and more

knowledge. He has a got a great hunger for knowledge. And without knowledge, he feels a limited person; and therefore he wants to remove the knowledge-wise limitation. Satvic person alone will have the unique sense of limitation; what I know is less; and therefore, he goes on acquiring knowledge, because he wants to become omniscient. But to his utter desperation and dismay he finds out any amount of knowledge he gathers, his limitation, knowledge-wise limitation, does not go away.

In fact, the more you learn, the more you know that you do not
know. Therefore greater your knowledge, more you know about your ignorance, and
that is why in every field, he goes on specializing. Thus, Swamiji says, a dermatologist
has only skin-deep knowledge.

So therefore, as somebody nicely defined it, a specialist is one who learns more and more about less and less things. And therefore I am never going to become omniscient in the field of any branch of science and therefore samsara; this is called intellectual samsara. I want to know more about; and I am not able to know.

Similarly, a rajasic person also suffers from samsara, not in terms of knowledge but in terms of activity. He wants to do more and more; accomplish more and more. He becomes a workaholic. And at any time he looks at himself, he is not satisfied. Satvic person travels from finitude to finitude, rajasic person travels from to finitude to finitude, tamasic person does not travel at all.

And therefore Sri Krishna says: all the three gunas
will bind you. And all the three forms of ahamkara
are bondage. Satvic ahamkara is also bondage; rajasic
ahamkara is also bondage, tamasic
ahamkara is also bondage.

If you want to transcend bondage, you have to transcend ahamkara
and own up to your higher nature. What is your higher nature? The Nirguna Sakshi
is that higher nature.

But Sri Krishna wants to point out that even though the three gunas are
causes of bondage, for liberation, you will have to use the three gunas
alone as stepping-stones. Even though they are the causes of bondage, you will
have to intelligently use them and transcend them; like a poll vaulter.

An intelligent person uses the pole, goes up, drops the pole and
wins the Commonwealth gold medal.

Similarly use the ahamkara
pole. You require tamoguna
as well. If you do not have tamoguna
at all, if you are all the time Gyana pradhana
and karma pradhana, you will never go to sleep. And if you have no sleep at all,
that is a problem in itself.

Therefore we require Tamoguna for sufficient rest and recuperation.

Suppose in the class you have got tamasic ahamkara,  you will end up dozing. If you have a rajasic ahmakara your mind will be wandering all over So a wandering mind cannot learn, a dozing mind cannot learn; only an alert, vigilant and non-wandering mind absorbs the teaching like sponge. And once it gets wisdom that I am not this inferior saguna ahamkara nature; because it is mithya and inferior; but my real nature is Aham gunathitha sakshi asmi.

Thus, we have to know the nature of the three gunas
and how they bind us and we also should know how to intelligently use the three
gunas, and become gunathitha and gunathitha is
a liberated person. This is going to be the analysis in verses beginning from
the 5th verse.

Take Away:

This
mixture of Purusha and Prakriti alone is called God.

Individual
Jiva, you and I,
is also a mixture of Purusha tatvam and Prakrti Tatvam,

This consciousness principle in me, which enlivens the
body-mind-complex, is called purusha
tatvam.

The pure consciousness principle, which is nirguna
and nirvikara, that consciousness, is called sakshi
tatvam.

There is a changeless witness-consciousness that is aware of the
previous condition of the mind as well as aware of the present condition of the
mind. This changeless witness consciousness is called sakshi
tatvam, which is one aspect of mind.

Ahamkara:
And in Vedantic parlance,
this body-mind-complex, otherwise called prakrti, with borrowed sentiency,
borrowed-consciousness, this body-mind complex is called Ahamkara.

The only way of getting out of samsara
is for you to transcend your lower ahamkara-nature
and to own up to your higher sakshi-nature.

With Best
Wishes,

Ram Ramaswamy