Commentary on the Srimad Bhagavad Gita- Discourse 7.7. - Swami Krishnananda
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Wednesday, April 14, 2021. 03:07. PM.
Chapter-7. The Third Chapter Concludes: The Knower of Reality.-7.
Post-18.
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This is a procedural method of the application from the lower orders to the higher orders. But there is a direct method of subjugating the sense organs, which is the rousing of the aspiration of the soul for establishing itself in Universal Consciousness. This is called the rousing of the brahmakara vritti in the mind. A vritti is a modification of the mind. Ordinarily there is a visayakara vritti in your mind. A modification of the mind in terms of the objects of sense is called visayakara vritti, but the modification of the mind in terms of Universal Existence is called brahmakara vritti. When you try to analyse the interrelationships of the circumstances of life, you will notice that everything is connected to everything else. Therefore, any particular passion or anger in regard to an object is not permitted. This kind of meditation, which is your attempt to locate or fix your consciousness on a universal concept, will immediately put a check on the instinctive activities of the mind and, secondarily, on the impetuous activities of the sense organs.
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Gita : Ch-3, Slo-42.
"Indriyani paranyahur indriyebhyah param manah
manasas tu para buddhir yo buddheh paratas tu sah"
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Translation
indriyāṇi—senses;
parāṇi—superior;
āhuḥ—are said;
indriyebhyaḥ—than the senses;
param—superior;
manaḥ—the mind;
manasaḥ—than the mind;
tu—but;
parā—superior;
buddhiḥ—intellect;
yaḥ—who;
buddheḥ—than the intellect;
parataḥ—more superior;
tu—but;
saḥ—that (soul)
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Slokam translated
BG 3.42: The senses are superior to the gross body, and superior to the senses is the mind. Beyond the mind is the intellect, and even beyond the intellect is the soul.
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Commentary
An inferior entity can be controlled by its superior entity. Shree Krishna explains the gradation of superiority amongst the instruments God has provided to us. He describes that the body is made of gross matter; superior to it are the five knowledge-bearing senses (which grasp the perceptions of taste, touch, sight, smell, and sound); beyond the senses is the mind; superior to the mind is the intellect, with its ability to discriminate; but even beyond the intellect is the divine soul.
This knowledge of the sequence of superiority amongst the senses, mind, intellect, and soul, can now be used for rooting out lust, as explained in the final verse of this chapter.
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Gita : Ch-3, Slo-43.
"Evam buddheh param buddhva sanstabhyatmanam atmana
jahi shatrum maha-baho kama-rupam durasadam."
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Translation
evam—thus;
buddheḥ—than the intellect;
param—superior;
buddhvā—knowing;
sanstabhya—subdue;
ātmānam—the lower self (senses, mind, and intellect);
ātmanā—by higher self (soul);
jahi—kill;
śhatrum—the enemy;
mahā-bāho—mighty-armed one;
kāma-rūpam—in the form of desire;
durāsadam—formidable
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Slokam translated
BG 3.43: Thus knowing the soul to be superior to the material intellect, O mighty armed Arjun, subdue the self (senses, mind, and intellect) by the self (strength of the soul), and kill this formidable enemy called lust.
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Commentary
In conclusion, Shree Krishna emphasizes that we should slay this enemy called lust through knowledge of the self. Since the soul is a part of God, it is divine in nature. Thus, the divine bliss it seeks can only be attained from a divine subject, while the objects of the world are all material. These material objects can never fulfill the innate longing of the soul and so it is futile to create desires for them. We must exert and train the intellect to think in this manner, and then use it to control the mind and the senses.
This is explained very beautifully in the Kaṭhopaniṣhad with the help of the model of a chariot:
"Atmānagvaṁ rathinaṁ viddhi śharīraṁ rathameva tu
buddhiṁ tu sārathiṁ viddhi manaḥ pragrahameva cha
indriyāṇi hayānāhurviṣhayānsteṣhu gocharān
ātmendriyamanoyuktaṁ bhoktetyāhurmanīṣhiṇaḥ" (1.3.3-4) [v21]
The Upaniṣhads say there is a chariot, which has five horses pulling it; the horses have reins in their mouths, which are in the hands of a charioteer; a passenger is sitting at the back of the chariot. Ideally, the passenger should instruct the charioteer, who should then control the reins and guide the horses in the proper direction. However, in this case, the passenger has gone to sleep, and so the horses are holding sway.
In this analogy, the chariot is the body, the horses are the five senses, the reins in the mouth of the horses is the mind, the charioteer is the intellect, and the passenger seated behind is the soul residing in the body. The senses (horses) desire pleasurable things. The mind (reins) is not exercising restraint on the senses (horses). The intellect (charioteer) submits to the pull of the reins (mind). So in the materially bound state, the bewildered soul does not direct the intellect in the proper direction. Thus, the senses decide the direction where the chariot will go. The soul experiences the pleasures of the senses vicariously, but these do not satisfy it. Seated on this chariot, the soul (passenger) is moving around in this material world since eternity.
However, if the soul wakes up to its higher nature and decides to take a proactive role, it can exercise the intellect in the proper direction. The intellect will then govern the lower self—the mind and the senses—and the chariot will move in the direction of eternal welfare. In this way, the higher self (soul) must be used to control the lower self (senses, mind, and, intellect).
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These last slokas of the Third Chapter are like medicine, a prescription by a doctor, which you may repeat every day. The indriyas are strong, no doubt, but the sense organs being strong does not mean that they are the only authorities in the world. The mind is stronger than the sense organs. The intellect, or the higher reason, is stronger than the instinctive mind. Higher than the reason is the strength of this Universal Spirit, which you really are. So try to root yourself gradually by the process of self-analysis, through which you realise the interconnection of all things, on account of which particular love and hatred cannot be sanctioned in this world. There cannot be desire for something or hatred for something. Kama and krodha can be subjugated in this way by a direct push that you give from the top, from the Atman that is universal. When the order from the universal Atman is communicated to the buddhi, it communicates that order into the mind, and the mind communicates the order to the sense organs, and puts a check on their activities. Kama and krodha cease. This is how you may control these hindrances to spiritual practice. So concludes the Third Chapter of the Bhagavadgita.
End.
Next - Chapter-8.The Fourth Chapter Begins: The Avataras of God
To be continued ...
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