GITA 4.31

GITA 4.31

meenODu Amai kEzhal ari kuraLAi munnum rAmanAi

tAnAi pinnum rAmanAi dAmOdaranAi karkiyum |

AnAn tannai kaNNapurattu aDiyan kaliyan oliseida

tEnAr in sol tamizh mAlai seppa pAvam nillAvE

Though Sriman Narayana has many avatars, ten avatars are prominently mentioned, as in this Periya Tirumozhi pasuram. These avatars can be of two categories: one, mukya or important avatar and two, aavesh or transient and partial avatar. In the second category, He does not directly descends on the earth but possesses any living person for a specified period to achieve certain results. Sri Parasurama avatar is of this category. Sri Rama and Sri Krishna avatars are in the mukya category. Sri Balarama was born as avatar of Adisesha. Today's [25th October, 2007] lecture is from Dauji mandir.

 River Yamuna flows nearby, thanks to Sri Balarama for having changed the course of the river. Sri Vishnu Puran tells us the story of the avatar of Sri Balarama. Due to the misrule and atrocities by persons like Kamsa, the sufferings of Sri Bhooma Devi [Mother Earth] became unbearable and so all devas under the leadership of Devendra, approached Sriman Narayana at Thirupparkadal [Milky Ocean] and prayed for relief. Agreeing to help, Sriman Narayana plucked two hair strings from His head and threw them on the ground. One was white and the other was black. This was to indicate that white represented Sri Balarama and the black Sri Krishna. After growing and playing for ten eventful years in this Vrajabhoomi, they came to Mathura and after killing Kamsa remained there. In the highway from Delhi to Agra, at a place called Kosi, Seer ghar is there and Ramghat and Dauji mandir are nearby. The entire place is pollution free and can be a welcome change for city dwellers.

 Now we will see three more Karma yogis described in the 29th sloka and in the first half of 30th sloka. All the three described practice pranayamam or breathing exercise. Now the sloka:

apane juhvati pranam

prane ’panam tathapare

pranapana-gati ruddhva

pranayama-parayanah

apare niyataharah

pranan pranesu juhvati

And there are even others who are inclined to the process of breath restraint to remain in trance, and they practice stopping the movement of the outgoing breath into the incoming, and incoming breath into the outgoing, and thus at last remain in trance, stopping all breathing. Some of them, curtailing the eating process, offer the outgoing breath into itself, as a sacrifice.

Pranayamam consists of three stages : poorakam, rechakam and kumbhakam. Poorakam is deep inhaling through one nostril with the other nostril blocked by our hand. Releasing the breathed air through a nostril is rechakam. Retention of the inhaled air is kumbhakam. The prana air in our body raises from stomach to the wind pipe. During poorakam, the inhaled air enters the wind pipe from the nostrils and pushes down the raising prana air. Apana air goes down from our stomach to anus. We have to now imagine the apana air as the agni or sacred fire and in this the prana air, which is pushed down by the poorakam process in pranayamam, is offered as havis, like in a yagna. This is described by the words apane pranam juhvati = prana is offered into apana. This is poorakam action. Now, during rechakam, the exhaling forces air to go upwards from stomach to the nostrils via the wind pipe. This changes the direction of apana air from going down to raising up. Here, we have to imagine prana air as the agni and in that, apana air is offered as havis. This is mentioned in the words prane apanam = in prana apanam, tata = similarly, apare = by some others. Thus in rechakam stage apana is offered into prana as havis by some Karma yogis. Prana apana gati = the flow of prana air and apana air, ruddhva = are arrested, pranayama parayana = by those involved in the pranayamam exercise, pranan = prana and other four air [apana, vyana, samana and udhana] , pranesu = in their respective air [ that is prana into prana, apana into apana, etc.], juhvati = are offered as havis. This is the kumbhakam process , when we retain the breathed air in our body. At this time the prana air flow is stopped from going up and the apana air is arrested from flowing down. This pranayamam is not to be done just like that and Sri Krishna tells that niyata = controlled, ahara = food. Here the necessity to maintain the food intake limit is mentioned. Dharma shastras say that we have to consider our stomach to be of four equal parts, and food should occupy two parts, water one part and air the remaining one part. This way the body is maintained properly. Pranayamam apart from being a Karma yoga as mentioned here, could be done for our health. It is said that a normal person inhales and exhales 16 times a minute. Perturbed persons and sickly do these, may be, 20 times. But by reducing these to say, 12 times, our health is improved. By meditating on the Lord, pranayamam can be a karma yoga and control our mind.

                                                                                                   (continued)