Commentary on the Srimad Bhagavad Gita- Discourse- 9.1. - Swami Krishnananda.

 

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Monday,  May 24, 2021. 6:30. PM.
Chapter - 9. The Fourth Chapter Continues: The Performance of Action as a Sacrifice - 1.
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Srimad Bhagavad Gita - Chapter-4, Slokam-7.

Incarnation is the descent of God for the ascent of man. This has been briefly touched upon in two verses which we studied yesterday : 

Slokam-7.

"yada yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavati bharata

abhyutthanam adharmasya tadatmanam srijamyaham."

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Translation  :

yadā yadā—whenever; 

hi—certainly; 

dharmasya—of righteousness; 

glāniḥ—decline; 

bhavati—is; 

bhārata—Arjun, descendant of Bharat; 

abhyutthānam—increase; 

adharmasya—of unrighteousness; 

tadā—at that time; 

ātmānam—self; 

sṛijāmi—manifest; 

aham—I.

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Tatvam (Essence) :

BG 4.7: "Whenever there is a decline in righteousness and an increase in unrighteousness, O Arjun, at that time I manifest myself on earth."

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Srimad Bhagavad Gita - Chapter-4, Slokam-8

"paritranaya sadhunam vinashaya cha dushkritam

dharma-sansthapanarthaya sambhavami yuge yuge."

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Translation :

paritrāṇāya—to protect; 

sādhūnām—the righteous; 

vināśhāya—to annihilate; 

cha—and; 

duṣhkṛitām—the wicked; 

dharma—the eternal religion; 

sansthāpana-arthāya—to reestablish; 

sambhavāmi—I appear; yuge 

yuge—age after age.

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Tatvam (Essence) :

BG 4.8: "To protect the righteous, to annihilate the wicked, and to reestablish the principles of dharma I appear on this earth, age after age."

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Commentary :

In two Slokas, the great mystery of incarnation has been stated. Still, this incarnation is a mystery. It is supposed to be a response of the cosmos to the demands of the individual, but only when the demand arises from the deepest recesses of the heart of the individual. Otherwise, the response will not come, just as a radio can receive the signals that come from the broadcasting station only if its heart, which is the receiving capacity, is on the same frequency as the broadcasting station.

When the heart cries, God is supposed to come. What is the meaning of the heart crying? We usually do not have such an experience in this world. Our hearts never cry, because we are—at least most of us are—not in such an urgent need of God. “It does not matter if He comes after ten days. I have the capacity to get on without Him for ten days.” Do we not have such subtle thoughts? Is it so urgent that He must come just now? It shows how shallow our hearts are, and how foolish our thoughts are, and how inadequate is our understanding of what God is. To say that God may come tomorrow or the day after is like saying, “I can breathe after ten days. Today I need not breathe.”

God is a greater necessity than our daily diet. The only comparison that I can make is to the breath of life. We cannot say, “Let me breathe after ten days. It doesn’t matter if I do not breath now.” Breathing is an immediate necessity. The necessity of God as an immediacy is not felt by the ego-ridden individuality, which feels self-conscious and not God-conscious. The karmas of the individual bind it so fast with the ropes of its own desires that even the coming of God may not be recognised.

To be continued ....

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