A Study of the Bhagavadgita : 9-11. Swami Krishnananda.

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Monday, February 21, 2022. 20:00.

Chapter : 9. The Yoga of Meditation.11.

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Great difficulty is there. Arjuna, hearing all this great instruction, said, “Lord, it is wonderful! Is it possible to achieve this state in this life? Life is short, time is fleeting; how long are we going to live in this world? Maybe for a few years. In these few years, will I be able to attain to this supreme state of bliss that you have been describing as the consequence of this meditation on the Self?” Suppose the person dies in the middle, before achieving anything palpable in meditation. What is the state of that person in the next birth?

No problem! Great consolation comes from the Master. Even a little good effort in this world in the right direction will pay its dividend. Even a minute of thought of God correctly, properly, with faith, from the bottom of your heart, will not be a waste. You should not say it is only one minute. Let it be only one minute; that minute will come to your aid one day or the other. There is no loss of effort in this practice of Yoga. Every little thing that you do is a virtue because even a half step that you take in the direction of the achievement of this great goal is a great credit for your life.

Therefore, do not be under the impression that in case the body drops in the middle of Yoga nothing will come, that everything is gone. No. This practice will be ushered forward by the very force and the impulse and the momentum of the practice that you have carried on in your previous life. Very early in age you will suddenly rise up into the memory of the need to practice Yoga. Are there not children who, at the very early age of four or five years, are religious and good-natured? From where does this idea of goodness and religiousness arise in small children? It is the samskara of their previous performances, some karmas of good deeds they did, etc.

Hence, a Yogi who is not in a position to achieve the highest goal and departs from this world in the middle of the practice will be reborn in such conditions where it will be possible to continue the practice from the point where he left it in the previous birth. So there is no loss of effort. You may be born as the progeny of some great master, a great Yogi's son, or you may be born with such affluence, such facility and such comfort and freedom from difficulty that you will be able to carry on your practice there without any kind of hindrance from outside. Either you will be able to carry on the practice by yourself because you have automatically been placed under suitable conditions by the fact of your birth, or you will be the son or the daughter of a great master. 

SBG- 6.43

"tatra tam buddhi-sanyogam labhate paurva-dehikam

yatate cha tato bhuyah sansiddhau kuru-nandana."

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Translation :

"On taking such a birth, O descendant of Kurus, they reawaken the wisdom of their previous lives, and strive even harder toward perfection in Yogam."

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tatra—there; 

tam—that; 

buddhi-sanyogam—reawaken their wisdom; 

labhate—obtains; 

paurva-dehikam—from the previous lives; 

yatate—strives; 

cha—and; 

tataḥ—thereafter; 

bhūyaḥ—again; 

sansiddhau—for perfection; 

kuru-nandana—Arjuna, descendant of the Kurus.

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Commentary :

God, who is seated within the heart of every living being, is perfectly just. Whatever spiritual assets we had accumulated in the past life—detachment, wisdom, devotion, faith, tolerance, determination, etc.—are known to him. So, at the appropriate time, he gives us the fruits of our past efforts and enhances our spirituality from within, in accordance with our previous attainments. This explains why some people harboring materialistic views suddenly become deeply spiritual. When their spiritual sanskārs awaken, they get the benefit of their sādhanā of previous lives.

A traveler may break journey to rest the night in a hotel on the wayside. But when he wakes up, he does not need to again tread the distance already covered. He simply moves ahead to cover the remaining distance. Likewise, by God’s grace, the yogi of past lives receives the previous spiritual assets accumulated, to be able to continue the journey where he had left off, like someone who has woken up from sleep. That is why such a yogi never gets lost.

"labhate paurva-dehikam yatate cha tato bhuyah  = That is a great blessedness, very difficult to achieve." (SBG-6.43)

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Do not expect to be a child of a great master so easily like that. You must be a most blessed soul to have such a birth in the next realm. But there is no loss.

So even if the body is dropped and death takes place in the middle of the practice, there is nothing to grieve. Be happy under any circumstance. All is well in this world which is created by God. “All is well. Everything is fine, and I shall attain the goal.” With this faith, carry on the practice. God bless you.

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NEXT - 10. The Hidden Meaning of the Seventh Chapter of the Gita

To be continued ....

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