GITA 2.71

GITA 2.71

We are in front of the gate of Navaratri mandapam. During Navaratri festival the Lord graces the devotees along with the Alwar. Navaratri festival is for Sri Thayar. Alwar has imagined himself as a girl [lover] and sent emissaries to the Lord. The Thiruvaimozhi has 100 decades of 10 songs each [each is called a Thiruvaimozhi]. Of the 100 Thiruvaimozhi, 27 are sung imagining himself as a woman. In some he imagines himself to be the lover and in some other he thinks of him as the beloved’s mother and in some others, he sings as the beloved’s girl friend. In the Margazhi adyanothsavam the Alwar is decorated as a lady and graces the devotees. His longing to get married to the Lord is one of the states of a true devotee. That is Bhakthi yoga and one has to master Gyana yoga to reach this stage. In the 59^th sloka we saw that if atman darshan is available then all the organs and mind get controlled and there will not be a trace of desire for inferior pleasures. Nirahara, that is starving, will prevent the organs from seeking such cheap pleasures, but mind will still remain uncontrolled. If we can see the param or atman, then even this mind also gets controlled. So Arjuna queries as to what should be done to see atman or have atman darshan. Here we should understand that atman couldn’t be seen with our eyes as we see materialistic objects. Here it means perceiving the atman. Its magnificence can be felt.

yatato hy api kaunteya
purushasya vipascitah
indriyani pramathini
haranti prasabham manah

The senses are so strong and impetuous, O Arjuna, that they forcibly carry away the mind even of a man of discrimination who is endeavoring to control them.

"The senses are so strong and impetuous, O Arjuna, that they forcibly carry away the mind even of a man of discrimination who is endeavoring to control them."

If organs could be controlled atman darshan will be achieved. As told in the last lecture, this is a peculiar situation. This is called anyonya asraya dosham or inter dependent fallacy. It is like asking location of A and in reply it is told it is by the side of B. And, where is B located, and reply is it is by the side of A. This will create confusion. Here also it appears like that. In the previous sloka, Sri Krishna told that if atman darshan is acquired, the organs get controlled. But here, He says that controlling organs could enable one to achieve atman darshan.

Vipaschita means one who can differentiate and understand or rational thinking. He is said to have viveka gyana. One who distinguishes that the body is perishable and atman is eternal. He tries to control organs and concentrates his mind on the atman. Purusha, here indicates atman. Yati is effort and api means even. So, even a person who tries to take efforts in Gyana yoga, is the meaning of first part. For him also the organs and mind will not get controlled. He says the organs have lot of strength. That is the strength of seeking pleasure or desire. This desire is in the mind and the organs exhibit this as strength. The organs compel mind and drag it in their way. This desire becomes ammunition for organs and so they are able to forcibly take in their direction. Like a hurricane uprooting large trees the desire in the organs uproot the mind. In Thiruvaimozhi [7.1.1] Alwar says that he has five tenants in his house. But they are all enemies. That is, in his body [house] the five organs are occupying as tenants and are forcing him in their way. In emma veetu thiran poem, he complains to God that He is partial and rescues an elephant Gajendra but not the Alwar. God told that it was an animal and was suffering for the past 1000 years seized by a crocodile, so He had to rescue. Alwar replies that then, it is all the more he deserves immediate rescue. Compared to the big elephant he is a weaker being. The elephant was suffering only for 1000 years while the Alwar has been suffering for thousands of births. One crocodile grabbed the elephant while five crocodiles, in the form of organs have seized the Alwar. So, organs are a great menace to all including the Nithyasuris who are doing intimate service to the Lord at Vaikuntam. We see persons doing very noble service to the Lord in temples. But they are not free from the power of organs. We are daily witnessing the fights for position and greed for money in such persons involved in sacred assignments also. This is the domination of organs in persons. The organs function very well in youth time. But that time only the mind is uncontrollable. When the person becomes old his mind is some what controlled, but now the organs do not function properly. Organs are so strong that they dictate even learned persons. So to control the organs it is necessary to have,atman darshan. Sri Krishna says controlling the organs is difficult even for viveka gyana persons. We should see the subtle difference Sri Krishna is making. He did not say control the organs to get atman darshan. But He says even for rational thinking people, controlling organs is difficult. It gives an impression that there is a negative thinking by Sri Krishna that controlling organs is not possible and so atman darshan is never possible. But actually, He drives home the great effort required to bring the organs in control. Also when we see the next, 61^st sloka ,then the real import of this sloka will be clear. It is said that once Nithyasuri Garuda was chasing a snake for food. The snake sought asylum in the Lord and so He prevented Garuda from capturing the snake. Garuda got angry and picked up quarrel with the Lord. So the anger arising out of mere hunger is not controlled even for such persons. But there is a way to control and Sri Krishna tells that in the next sloka.

                                                                          (continued)