GITA 6.20

GITA 6.20

svadharmaj~nAnavairAgyasAdhyabhaktyekagocaraH . 

nArAyaNaH paraM brahma giitaashaastre samiiritaH

This is the opening sloka in Gitartha Sangraham by Acharya Swami Alavandar. He says that Sri Krishna is the Paramatma and to reach Him, bhakti [devotion] is the only way and this is evident from Bhagavat Gita. There is none equal to or above Him. Among all tatva [entities], He is the only true entity. Tatva gyana thu moksha laba, so say the great people. That is, a true understanding of tatva will yield moksham. Lack of this knowledge will push us in the cycle of births in samsaram.Tatva means the true entity. If we do not know the truth, we get into this endless cycle of birth and death. So we have to be in search of the truth. In Srimad Bhagavatham, sage Sukhacharya narrates the chorus of the devas. Sri Krishna, to redeem the sufferings of the devas, got into the womb of Devaki. Realizing this the devas praised the Lord and Devaki. At that time they all say of Sri Krishna as the Truth in all and He dwells as the Truth in all inanimate [achit] matters. He is the Truth inside the Atman [chit]. He is the cause for all true things we see in this world. He graces in the Paramapadam, that is true, always. "We the devotees surrender unto You, the Truth", say the devas. Upanishads when trying to identify the Lord, say He is Satyam, Gyanam, Anantham. Anantham means endless in space, time or place. He can not be bound by any measurement nor He can be told that He was there in the past only. He is present at all times and at all places in all forms. There is no beginning, no middle and no end. Gyanam means He knows all happenings of the past, present and future, at all places and at all times. He creates just by His knowledge [sankalpam]. Sathyam means permanent or everlasting. It does not undergo any change at any time and at any place. 'Avikaraya suddhaya nityaya paramatmane'. His qualities, forms, etc., will never change. So search of truth is search of God. And, He graces in this Kshetram as Sri Sathya Narayana.

Sri Satya Narayana Perumal

Thirumangai Alwar was especially attracted by the Lord here and that is why even while praising the Lord of Thirunarayur [Nachiarkoil] or Nagappattinam or Thirukkannapuram, he mentions this Lord. Brahmam remains illuminating the surroundings like a lamp glowing steadily. Sri Krishna tells in the 19th sloka how a person practicing yoga would be. Sri Krishna uses not the analogy of the hill which is steady, to describe the state of a yogi. Perhaps, a mountain or hill may describe stability but not the glow. Now the 19th sloka:

yatha dipo nivata-stho
nengate sopama smrta
yogino yata-cittasya
yunjato yogam atmanah

As a lamp in a windless place does not waver, so the transcendentalist, whose mind is controlled, remains always steady in his meditation on the transcendent Self.

"As a lamp in a windless place does not waver, so the transcendentalist, whose mind is controlled, remains always steady in his meditation on the transcendent self."

Just like a lamp glows steadily in still air surrounding, the yogi would be seen. Yatha = just like. Yatacittasya = controlled sense organs and mind, yunjata = involved in yoga, yogina = yogi's, atmana = state, sa upamasmrta = that is shown as example. Nivatastho = air-circulationless or still air, dipa = lamp, yatha = just like, nengate = motionless or steady. Atman and its glow is compared to a lamp with glow. If the lamp should not flicker or glow steadily, then there should not be disturbance by air circulation. If, similarly, Atman has to glow steadily, it should not be disturbed by the senses that drag the sense organs and these senses are comparable to air. This 'air' will make the Atman lamp to flicker and will not allow it to be steady. By controlling the sense organs, the mind is able to meditate steadily on Atman. This is the reason why Sri Krishna took for comparison the lamp instead of the hill. Just as to keep the lamp to glow steadily, we provide enclosure, we have to withdraw ourselves from material distractions and remain in an enclosure. Just as periodical addition of oil would ensure the lamp glowing always, we have to do karma yoga periodically and keep the Atman glowing. We can imagine the Lord's image in temples as the enclosure for the lamp. Bhakti or devotion is the oil. Atman will glow steadily and always

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GITA 6.19

GITA 6.19

sarvo panishado gavo

dogdha gopala nandanah

partho vatsah sudhir bhokta

dugdham gita amritam mahat 

Sri Krishna gave us the elixir of Gita, which, we have been tasting in various Kshetrams. We are now in Sathya Giri Kshetram, also known as Thirumeyyam. On the top of the hill is the fort and at bottom is the temple. There are two garbagruha in the temple, in one the Lord is reclining and in the other He is standing, to grace the devotees. If we want to divert our mind from the worldly matters, then we need to come to these temples and that is why the idols are called Subhasraya Divya mangala vigraham. When we visit the temples, we realize some attraction in these idols. God is everywhere, and so this fort, the pond , the sky, the earth, etc., all should attract us. But they do not. Whereas these idols of the Lord with Discus, Conch, Bow and Sword weapons, many ornaments and garlands and with His Consorts, attract us. That is why the periodical festivals are held. Prasadams are distributed. All these are done to attract the devotees towards Him. By such attraction, the directionless wandering mind is restrained and disciplined. Yogam is directing the mind coherently on the Atman. Now the 18th sloka:

yada viniyatam cittam
atmany evavatisthate
nisprhah sarva-kamebhyo
yukta ity ucyate tada

When the yogī, by practice of yoga, disciplines his mental activities and becomes situated in Transcendence-devoid of all material desires-he is said to have attained yoga.

"When the yogi, by practice of yoga, disciplines his mental activities to think only about Atman,he is said to be well qualified to practice yoga and becomes desireless in worldly objects."

Tada =then, yukta = person practicing yoga, ity ucyate = is qualified. When? is the question. It is something like taking a test on-line to see whether one is qualified or not. Sarva =all, kamebhya = from [all] desires, nispraha = desireless. That is one becomes desireless from all in which one had desires. Then one is qualified to start yoga. It may create a fear whether this is possible for us. But let us see further the sloka. This desireless stage has to be reached slowly and steadily, just as we climb a gigantic hill. Yada =when, cittam = mind or thoughts, atmanyeva = towards his Atman, vineeyatam = fully involved, avatishtate = exists. So, the person who is starting to practice yoga, has to train his mind to be involved in thoughts about his Atman. Such a person qualifies to start yoga. First he has to divert his mind from all objects in which he had desire, towards Atman. It may be for a small time, say 15 minutes to start with, and as he progresses, this duration can increase. Let us not forget that the yoga Sri Krishna is telling is not for 24 hours but for specific periods only. In such chosen time, one chooses a proper place and seat and sits erect and with eyes looking at the tip of the nose, starts meditating on Atman. It may be for an hour or two. After that he is in his normal routines. We have to agree that Atman is different from body and that was explained by the Lord in Chapter 2. To meditate on Atman we have to first have a liking for it. Liking will come only if we have understood Atman and its superiority. During this meditation naturally, we can not be thinking of other things and that is what Sri Krishna is driving at, by saying our thoughts and mind should be directed on Atman alone. In other words Atman has to order the inanimate mind, which is also identified as an organ of the body, to think only about Atman and nothing else. Mind has to be commanded, otherwise it will go its way and drift away. It is like a computer which does not have its own intelligence. We write the programs to be followed by the computer and it obeys all those commands. But sometimes due to bugs in the software, the computer encounters virus and starts malfunctioning. To correct the corrupted software we call experts and get the software cleaned up. Virus in our mind is the age old papa. So we have to remove this 'virus' in our mind. Karma yoga acts as the antivirus here. Once the mind obeys the command of the Atman, after it has been debugged, it functions according to the commands and yoga is accomplished. This will make the person desireless. As an example, if a person was living in a hut, with his work, he achieves better salary and goes in for a better accommodation. Then, further progressing in his profession, he goes to a bigger flat and then an independent bungalow. At that time we find him having no desire for the hut or the small flat he used to live in. Because, he has accomplished bigger things and so smaller things no longer attract him or create a desire. Similarly, after enjoying Atman, one would become desireless in the transient and cheap desires of worldly objects. Because we are yet to taste atman, we have doubts as to how we can forsake our desires on worldly matters. Once atmanubhavam is experienced, then automatically our desires for worldly matters would vanish. Initially, just like a parent diverts the child's attention from smaller things to better things in life, we have to give commands to the mind and divert it from other matters to Atman. 

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GITA 6.18

GITA 6.18

We are in the Pandya Kshetram Thirumeyyam. Accepting the prayers of Adisesha, the Lord is gracing the devotees in the reclining posture and to the request of sage Satya, He is gracing in the standing pose. His vahanam [vehicle] Garuda is standing near the Lord in the garbagruha.

Sri Satyamoorthy Perumal in Garuda Vahanam

 Garuda wanted to end the slavery of his mother, by bringing the Amrut. So, he prayed the Lord to bless him with success. We will now see the 17th sloka:

yuktahara-viharasya
yukta-cestasya karmasu
yukta-svapnavabodhasya
yogo bhavati duhkha-ha

He who is temperate in his habits of eating, sleeping, working and recreation can mitigate all material pains by practicing the yoga system.

"He who is regulated in his habits of eating, sleeping, recreation and work can mitigate all material pains by practicing the yoga system."

Dukha ha= capable of removing the distress, yogo bhavati = yoga is accomplished, yukta = just the sufficient, ahara = food, vihara = [just the sufficient] strolling, yukta = just the sufficient, cestasyakarmasu= work in his business, yukta = just sufficient, svapnavabhodasya = sleep and alertness, such a person can accomplish yoga and can vanquish distress. Distress, He is talking, is not just the suffering of not getting sleep or uneasiness due to excessive eating or tiredness due to excessive work. Earlier while understanding the word shanti, we saw six oormis or sufferings - asanaya [hunger], pibhasa [thirst], soha [ agony], moha [faint], jara [aging] and maranam [death]. Yoga removes all these oormis. To accomplish yoga, one should have the required food, sleep, walk and involvement in work. All these are activities of a common man, like us. We can, therefore, have a sigh of relief that Gita is preached for people like us only. First He talks of food we eat. It should be pure so that the effect on our body also is pure. Such food will grow satva quality in us. We eat to live and not live to eat. We have to have balanced diet. Our stomach capacity has to be divided such that we fill half of it with solid food, one quarter for water and the balance one quarter is kept empty for air movement. This will ensure health. We have svasam, vadham and pittham [according to Ayurveda or Siddha vaidyam]. If all these three are in equal proportion, body is in good health. All medicines are administered to ensure this equal proportion. Healthy body ensures proper functioning of mind. We should not take food that do not agree with our system. We should never consume food that has not been offered to Sri Krishna. All defects in the food are removed when we offer the food to the God. Vihara means some play or walking to digest the food taken. We have to mention here about the importance of observing fast on ekadasi, which occurs every fortnight. It ensures overhauling of the body system. Fasting in a fortnight will not cause any problem. When a patient is admitted in a hospital, he does not eat the normal food for a couple of days and just the saline water drips sustain the system and the patient is quite cheerful. So it is not necessary that we have to have our regular food to keep our systems in proper condition. After all, this fasting is just for a day in 15 days. More than this, we also get the satisfaction of following Sri Krishna's advise [He is going to tell the importance of fasting on ekadasi]. We have to involve ourselves in our work to the extent needed. We have to prioritise our requirements. Look at the Garuda here. He is used for procession for a maximum of 6 days or so, in a year. All the other days he is resting only. So we have to have a balanced work schedule. Sufficient amount of sleep is to be there. Moderate food, stroll, work and sleep will make one to accomplish yoga, capable of eliminating one's distress. Before going to bed, everyone can draw a balance sheet of that day's papa and punya deeds. Papa is expenditure and punya is revenue. We should at least repent for the papa done and close that account and not prolong it or carry over. We should not repeat such papa deeds. On the other hand, in case of punya deeds instead of patting ourselves for such deeds, we should try to excel them in the ensuing opportunities. 

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GITA 6.17

GITA 6.17

Sri Uyyavandha Nachiyar

To get salvation the only way is to have devotion in Archa moorthy [Idols] in various temples, says Thirumangai Alwar, who is given a unique position among all Alwars. He is the one, who has composed hymns on maximum number -86- kshetrams of the 108. Also among the 108 DivyaDesam, on 47 Kshetrams, he alone has praised in his pasurams. On the balance 61 kshetrams he and/or other Alwars have sung. When he visited Thirumeyyam, he offered his composition Thirukkurunthandakam. In the end of it, he says, among others, he who has devotion to this Kshetram, gets salvation. Others do not get salvation. Tamil word for salvation is Uyyal and the name of the Thayar of this Kshetram is Sri Uyyavanda Nachiyar or Sri Ujjeevana Nachiyar. So it is evident that those who seek asylum at Her feet will be salvaged. As we enter this temple, on the left is Sri Thayar sannidhi, facing the East. Today [17th January 2008] we will pray for Her blessings and with Her recommendation [Purushakaram], we will go to the Lord. On the left the Lord is in reclining pose. Right of Him is  Sri Satyamoorthy, in the standing pose.

 On further right we can worship the Sri Varaha Perumal on the banks of the Pushkarini. East of all, is the temple pond with all over compound walls. All are below the hills and on the top of the hills are fort and other buildings giving a wonderful sight.

 To preserve this monumental structure Archaeological Survey of India is maintaining all these. Sculptures are quite famous and with Her blessings we will go to sloka 16. In the 10th sloka Sri Krishna told the need to practice yoga. In the 11th and 12th slokas, He told how the external surroundings have to be. In the next two slokas, He told how to concentrate and focus eyes to start yoga. In the next sloka [15], He told that to make meditation successful, we have to think of the suddha satva guna embodiment -subhasrayam- of His image. In the next two slokas-16th and 17th - He is going to tell about another important aid to practice yoga. These two slokas are the most important and other aids are secondary only. Now, the 16th sloka:

naty-asnatas ’tu yogo ’sti
na caikantam anasnatah
na cati-svapna-silasya
jagrato naiva carjuna

There is no possibility of one's becoming a yogī, O Arjuna, if one eats too much, or eats too little, sleeps too much or does not sleep enough.

"There is no possibility of one’s becoming a yogi, O Arjuna, if one eats too much or eats too little, sleeps too much or does not sleep enough."

By repeating the word 'na', Sri Krishna negates certain things. He says about our food, sleep, movements and our work. Na = no, aty = excessive, asnata = eating, yogo = yoga, asti = can not be. He who eats excessively can not practice yoga. Na ca = and also no, ekantam = continuous or altogether, anasyata = fasting or not eating. Person, on the other hand, totally fasting and does not eat altogether, also will not be able to practice yoga. Na = no, ati = excessive, svapna silasya = person dreaming [actually this does not talk about dreams, but sleep], jagrato = always awake [ without a wink of sleep] , naiva ca = also not, Arjuna = Arjuna. Persons who are habitual of excessive sleep as also persons with no sleep altogether can not practice yoga. This implies that we have to have moderate food habits and timely and required sleep only. People normally think that yoga is very difficult to perform as it involves fasting and keeping awake for longtime, etc. Sri Krishna allays all these baseless fears and makes yoga practical for all ordinary people like us. It also does not mean that we continue with our bad habits. We have to progress and move forward, by slowly and steadily eliminating our defects. It is like the recurring deposits which fetch us good returns at the end of the term. Similarly, by improving our habits in a small way, we can achieve great results over a period. Vedas never advise wrong things nor advise for our ruin. It says to take ghee to prolong life. But in the modern times doctors advise us to reduce fat by eliminating ghee. These are to be critically examined and we have to alter our food habits to make us healthier and live longer. What use is there for milk without fat? It will be like having a flower without fragrance or  diamond without lustre. We have to use the objects for their natural properties. We have to follow the footsteps of our ancestors and take food accordingly and in that moderate way. In sleep also, a person may need 2 to 3 hours of deep sleep. But he needs to have the sleep with dreams as a prelude and so normally one sleeps for 6 hours or so. Sleep is needed to recharge all our organs. According to shastras, during deep sleep our Atman is in unison with the Lord and that rejuvenates our entire system. Only when our organs remain passive with mind still awake, we get sleep with dreams. When the mind also is passive, then we get the deep sleep and it recharges all our organs including our mind. Deep sleep is also called brahmanubhavam as the Atman is in unison with Paramatman. Late going to bed and late raising are not good for health. Waking up at least by 5 a.m. is good. 

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GITA 6.16

GITA 6.16

We are at the Sru Varaha Parumal sannidhi mantapam, in Tirumeyyam.  Sri Krishna tells Arjuna that the person who is starting yoga should concentrate on Him. Here we may get a doubt. We are talking about Atman sakshatkaram. Why should one meditate on Sri Krishna? In the last Six Chapters nowhere did He talk about meditating on Him. He was describing the way to have Kaivalyam or Atman anubhavam only. There are three types of anubhavam or experience. What we experience in this world with our sense organs is called Aiswarya anubhavam or materialistic pleasures. The second is Kaivalyam, which makes one to enjoy one's own Atman, and after death, this Atman will be self enjoying somewhere and there is no rebirth for that Atman. The third is the most supreme experience of the Atman with the Paramatman in Vaikuntam and that is called Mokshanubhavam. Sri Krishna talks of Kaivalyanubhavam only till Chapter 6, by repeatedly mentioning Atman sakshatkaram. Only from Chapter 7, He is going to tell about Bhagavadanubhavam, Bhakti, Bhagavat sakshatkaram, etc. But then why does He mention about concentrating on Him, in Chapter 6? To clear that doubt He says in the 15th sloka:

yunjann evam sadatmanam
yogi niyata-manasah
shantim nirvana-paramam
mat-samstham adhigacchati

Thus practicing control of the body, mind and activities, the mystic transcendentalist attains to the kingdom of God [or the abode of Kṛṣṇa] by cessation of material existence.

"By concentrating on Me and controlling the mind, the yogi, after releasing this body, attains peace just like Me"

Sada = always, atmanam = directing the mind, yunjann evam = only on Me [Sri Krishna], yogi = such a yogi, niyata manasa = controls the mind. The yogi who is meditating on Sri Krishna gets the mind controlled and gets the kaivalyanubhavam. So the result is Kaivalyam only, but even that has to be through Sri Krishna. We have to understand one thing very clear. Though all these three experiences are different, anyone of these can be attained only from Sri Krishna. So, He is to be prayed whatever be our goal. Sri Krishna also appreciates those who pray for Him as the reward and so our aim should not be Aiswaryanubhavam or Kaivalyanubhavam, but Bhagavadanubhavam only. But to make us understand yoga, He is mentioning kaivalyanubhavam here. In Sri Varaha charama sloka,

sthithE manasi susvasthE sarIrE sathi yO nara:

dhAthusAmyE sthithE smarthA visvarUpam cha maamajam (1)


tathastham mriyamANam thu kAshtA paashaNa sannibham 

aham smarAmi madh bhaktham nayAmi paramAm gathim (2),

  the Lord tells that when the mind gets concentrated anytime, one should devote the mind on Him. A doubt may arise here. Are we to devote in Him when the mind is concentrated? Or, are we to devote in Him to concentrate our mind? Actually, our mind gets controlled and concentrated occasionally. Whenever such a situation arises, we should devote in Him. With this He will grant more and more power for us to concentrate and devote in Him. Whenever we find our mind controlled, at that time we should go to a temple or meditate on Him. This will start the process and slowly we will find our mind gets controlled whenever we are in devotion to Him. Why the mind gets controlled only if we direct our mind in devotion to Him? Why not we meditate on so many things we see? Our mind drifts in various directions because of the influence of the three qualities- satva, rajo and tamas. All we see also have these three qualities. Only the Lord is an embodiment of pure satva quality alone and we call it suddha satvam. So when we concentrate our mind in Him, our mind does not wander and gets controlled. What do we achieve by this controlled mind? This is explained in the latter half of the sloka. Nirvanam = discarding this body, paramam = at the border of [nirvanam], shantim = peace, adigacchati = attains, matsamstham = [similar to] the state in Me [Sri Krishna]. He attains some of the qualities the Lord possesses. Kaivalyam means one discards the body and this world. So such an Atman has none of the six deficiencies nor has to be reborn. Six deficiencies are: asti = existing, jayate = born or created, parinamate = changes, vivarchyate = grows, apasyate = decays and vinasyate = gets destroyed. Any matter we see has these deficiencies. The state without these six deficiencies is called shanti. There are yet another six sufferings called oormi: acanaya = hunger, pipasa = thirst, soham = hardship, moham = delirium or unconsciousness, jara = aging and maranam = death. A person in shanti does not have these six sufferings also. This state is reached after discarding this body. A person starts yoga, for which he has to control the mind and so meditates on him. He practices yoga continuously and steadily and after discarding the body [after death], he attains himself [Atman]. This state is called shanti. That stage is similar to the stage the Lord possesses. The Lord neither has the six deficiencies nor the six sufferings and so He is always in shanti, like the person who, after yoga, has attained. But please note that here the Lord has told about kaivalyam,and we should never aspire for that and have Paramatma anubhavam as our only aim.

Note; On 19th and 20th January 2008 [Saturday and Sunday], to commomorate the 1000th Birth anniversary of Swamy Koorathalwan, Varadaraja Sthavam, will be lectured in Sri Varadaraja Swamy temple, Kanchipuram, between 8am and 10am, 230pm and 430 pm and 6pm and 8pm [total of 2X 6 hours for two days]. On 26th January 2008, devotees could join the Utsavam in Kooram village [in Kanchipuram and Arakkonam rail route]. 

                                                                                                       (continued)