Commentary on the Bhagavadgita : 6 - Swami Krishnananda
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Wednesday, December 01, 2021. 7:00.PM
Commentary on the Bhagavadgita :
Discourse 40
The Thirteenth Chapter Concludes – Understanding Purusha and Prakriti
POST-6.
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Now there is a reference, as a kind of diversion, as it were, to the methods of practice. How are we to come in contact with this Supreme Being? Varieties of sadhana are mentioned in different places in the Bhagavadgita, and some of the diversities of sadhana are stated in the Fourth Chapter:
"daivam evapare yajnam yoginah paryupasate brahmagnavapare yajnam yajnenaivopajuhvati." 4.25), etc.
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Gita : Ch-4. Slo-25.
"daivam evapare yajnam yoginah paryupasate
brahmagnavapare yajnam yajnenaivopajuhvati." BG 4.25:
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Translation :
daivam—the celestial gods;
eva—indeed;
apare—others;
yajñam—sacrifice;
yoginaḥ—spiritual practioners;
paryupāsate—worship;
brahma—of the Supreme Truth;
agnau—in the fire;
apare—others;
yajñam—sacrifice;
yajñena—by sacrifice;
eva—indeed;
upajuhvati—offer.
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Translation of the Slokam :
"Some yogis worship the celestial gods with material offerings unto them. Others worship perfectly who offer the self as sacrifice in the fire of the Supreme Truth."
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Commentary :
Sacrifice, or yajña, should be performed in divine consciousness as an offering to the Supreme Lord. However, people vary in their understanding, and hence perform sacrifice in different manners with dissimilar consciousness. Persons with lesser understanding, and wanting material rewards, make offerings to the celestial gods.
Others with deeper understanding of the meaning of yajña offer their own selves as sacrifice to the Supreme. This is called ātma samarpaṇ, or ātmāhutī, or offering one’s soul to God. Yogi Shri Krishna Prem explained this very well: “In this world of dust and din, whenever one makes ātmāhutī in the flame of divine love, there is an explosion, which is grace, for no true ātmāhutī can ever go in vain.” But what is the process of offering one’s own self as sacrifice? This is performed by surrendering oneself completely to God. Such surrender has six aspects to it, which have been explained in verse 18.66. Here, Shree Krishna continues to explain the different kinds of sacrifice that people perform.
Here also there is a brief statement of the varieties of spiritual practice, or sadhana.
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Some people try to behold the Supreme Being by meditation, pure and simple.
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Gita : Ch-13. Slo-24.
"ya evam vetti purusham prakritim cha gunaih saha
sarvatha vartamano ’pi na sa bhuyo ’bhijayate."
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Translation :
yaḥ—who;
evam—thus;
vetti—understand;
puruṣham—Puruṣh;
prakṛitim—the material nature;
cha—and;
guṇaiḥ—the three modes of nature;
saha—with;
sarvathā—in every way;
vartamānaḥ—situated;
api—although;
na—not;
saḥ—they;
bhūyaḥ—again;
abhijāyate—take birth.
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Translation of the slokam :
"Those who understand the truth about Supreme Soul, the individual soul, material nature, and the interaction of the three modes of nature will not take birth here again. They will be liberated regardless of their present condition."
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Commentary :
Ignorance has led the soul into its present predicament. Having forgotten its spiritual identity as a tiny fragment of God, it has fallen into material consciousness. Therefore, knowledge is vital for resurrecting itself from its present position. The Śhwetāśhvatar Upaniṣhad states exactly the same thing:
sanyuktametat kṣharam akṣharaṁ cha
vyaktāvyaktaṁ bharate viśhwam īśhaḥ
anīśhaśh chātmā badhyate bhoktṛibhāvā-
jjñātvā devaṁ muchyate sarvapāśhaiḥ (1.8)
“There are three entities in creation—the ever-changing material nature, the unchangeable souls, and the Master of both, who is the Supreme Lord. Ignorance of these entities is the cause of bondage of the soul, while knowledge of them helps it cut asunder the fetters of Maya.”
The knowledge that Shree Krishna is talking about is not just bookish information, but realized wisdom. Realization of knowledge is achieved when we first acquire theoretical knowledge of the three entities from the Guru and the scriptures, and then engage accordingly in spiritual practice. Shree Krishna now talks about some of these spiritual practices in the next slokam.
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By intense concentration on the pure Self, some people try to behold the Self in the self. That is, they behold the Universal Self in their own self, and they behold their own self in the Universal Self.
Similar to that is this statement: yo mam pashyati sarvatra sarvam cha mayi pashyati(6.30).
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Gita - Ch-6. Slo-30.
"yo mam pashyati sarvatra sarvam cha mayi pashyati
tasyaham na pranashyami sa cha me na pranashyat." BG 6.30
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Translation :
yaḥ—who;
mām—me;
paśhyati—see;
sarvatra—everywhere;
sarvam—everything;
cha—and;
mayi—in me;
paśhyati—see;
tasya—for him;
aham—I;
na—not;
praṇaśhyāmi—lost;
saḥ—that person;
cha—and;
me—to me;
na—nor;
praṇaśhyati—lost.
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Translation of the slokam :
"For those who see me everywhere and see all things in me, I am never lost, nor are they ever lost to me."
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Commentary :
To lose God means to let the mind wander away from him, and to be with him means to unite the mind with him. The easy way to unite the mind with God is to learn to see everything in its connection with him. For example, let us say that someone hurts us. It is the nature of the mind to develop sentiments of resentment, hatred, etc. toward anyone who harms us. However, if we permit that to happen, then our mind comes away from the divine realm, and the devotional union of our mind with God ceases. Instead, if we see the Supreme Lord seated in that person, we will think, “God is testing me through this person. He wants me to increase the virtue of tolerance, and that is why he is inspiring this person to behave badly with me. But I will not permit the incident to disturb me.” Thinking in this way, we will be able to prevent the mind from becoming a victim of negative sentiments.
Similarly, the mind separates from God when it gets attached to a friend or relative. Now, if we train the mind to see God in that person, then each time the mind wanders toward him or her, we will think, “Shree Krishna is seated in this person, and thus I am feeling this attraction.” In this manner, the mind will continue to retain its devotional absorption in the Supreme.
Sometimes, the mind laments over past incidents. This again separates the mind from the divine realm because lamentation takes the mind into the past and the present contemplation of God and Guru ceases. Now if we see that incident in connection with God, we will think, “The Lord deliberately arranged for me to experience tribulation in the world, so that I may develop detachment. He is so concerned about my welfare that he mercifully arranges for the proper circumstances that are beneficial for my spiritual progress.” By thinking thus, we will be able to protect our devotional focus. Sage Narad states:
loka hānau chintā na kāryā niveditātma loka vedatvāt
(Nārad Bhakti Darshan, Sūtra 61)[v23]
“When you suffer a reversal in the world, do not lament or brood over it. See the grace of God in that incident.” Our self-interest lies in somehow or the other keeping the mind in God, and the simple trick to accomplish this is to see God in everything and everyone. That is the practice stage, which slowly leads to the perfection that is mentioned in this verse, where we are never lost to God and he is never lost to us.
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