The Central Intention of the Bhagavadgita - 5. Swami Krishnananda.

Chinmaya International Foundation (CIF).

Soundarya Lahari: Mambalam Sisters

The Saundarya Lahari Camp Part 5 held at Chinmaya International Foundation from 12 to 16 May 2026 was a deeply elevating and transformative experience for the campers.

The camp saw participation of 63 seekers from across India and different parts of the world. 44 campers were new participants reflecting the growing enthusiasm for the study of Shakta and Vedantic traditions.

Guided by the illuminating unfoldment of Saundarya Lahari by Swami Sharadananda Sarasvati the camp immersed seekers in the profound Tantric exposition of Shiva Shakti Sadhana exploring both its resonances and distinctions from Advaita Vedanta.

The camp began with an insightful exploration into the evolution of Devi from the Rig Vedic era and unfolded the integral role of Devi-Shakti within the Indian spiritual framework guided by Prof. Gauri Mahulikar.

The first three days were beautifully enriched by chanting sessions on the Shyamala Dandakam conducted by Brni Devaki Chaitanya along with meanings and contemplative insights. Seekers were also blessed with a satsang session by Br. Ved Chaitanya and the divine Lalitambika Puja.

Over five days of intense scriptural study the camp progressed from Verse 42 to Verse 55 of the Saundarya Lahari unveiling many profound philosophical and spiritual dimensions.

The valedictory session was blessed by Swami Sharadananda Sarasvati and Brni Devaki Chaitanya during which participation certificates were distributed to the campers.

Participants departed with gratitude inspiration and eager anticipation for the forthcoming camp on the Prashna Upanishad

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Sunday 31, May 2026, 05:00. 
Article
Scriptures
The Central Intention of the Bhagavadgita: 5.
Swami Krishnananda.
(Spoken on November 26, 1972)

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Sattva, rajas and tamas constitute the five elements, and every element has all the three characters. The tamasic aspect of the elements makes them appear as gross objects, the sattvic principle present in them makes them instruments in perception by a subject, and the rajasic element present in them creates this urge for perception. So sattva, rajas and tamas, the three strands of the elements, become responsible for perception and external knowledge. Thus, the perceiver and the perceived are not really independent of each other. “Arjuna, you thought that the world is outside you, that you have enemies outside, that you have father and mother, brother and sister, friends and relatives. No such thing is possible. They do not exist at all. What you see in front of you is neither your relation, nor your friend or enemy. It is something inseparable from the structure of your own being.” Guṇā guṇeṣu vartanta iti matvā na sajjate (B.G. 3.28): Gunas operate upon gunas. It is not Arjuna operating on Bhishma, it is guna operating upon guna. One guna of prakriti operates on another guna of prakriti. There is a mutual concourse of these gunas, or properties of matter, and therefore, O seeker, do not get confused. Where is the question of loving and hating now? Impossible is this attitude of emotion.

Oh! Now the eyes are open. We have a wonderful vista in front of us, quite different from the world we saw before. We felt that we had a father and mother, brother and relatives, friends and foes in the world as objects of sense. Now it does not appear to be like that: “These are all certain principles, centres, independent units connected inseparably with my own being. So it is not I that look upon the world, but something else looking upon itself.” This is a far-reaching consequence of the Bhagavadgita analysis in the Second and Third Chapters.

Oh, wonderful! We are in a different world altogether now. We are not in India, we are not in the world, we are not on planet Earth. This is also a kind of restricted notion of our minds. There is no such thing as a country, a geographical area or a nationality, not even a planet Earth. They do not exist. They are only notions in our minds due to an erroneous way of thinking. There is a vaster field permeating before us, inseparably connected with ourselves. The universe is so wondrous in its stretch, and we have to deal with it: “How can I deal with it? What shall I do? What is my duty in this new universe that has now been brought before my eyes?” We do not know how to deal with it because our knowledge seems to be insufficient.

But the Fourth Chapter of the Gita tells us that this is not the whole truth of the matter. This is only one aspect, and the truth is still deeper. When we are ready to receive this illumination and understanding of the novel structure of the cosmos in front of us, a new power will take possession of us. We need not call it or invite it; it will come of its own accord. When disease goes, health comes of its own accord. We need not tell health, “Please come. The disease has gone. Why are you not coming?” Health will be there automatically when disease goes. So when this ignorance has left us, a new insight will take possession of us; divinity will manifest itself in ourselves. This is the avatara of God, which is mentioned in the Fourth Chapter of the Gita. God descends into our hearts uncalled for, uninvited. God is a health principle that descends into us when the illness of world perception leaves us. We need not call God. He is already there as the principle of health and integration in us, but the disease in us does not allow Him to manifest Himself properly. Thus, the illness has gone with the Third Chapter.

Now health manifests itself in the Fourth Chapter as God-consciousness, as the Incarnation: yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata, abhyutthānam adharmasya tadātmānaṃ sṛjāmyaham (B.G. 4.7). When this knowledge, this insight, this illumination of divinity manifests itself in us, we become totally detached from the world of objects in a new manner altogether, not in the way in which we did in the initial stages. The detachment of the wise person is different in calibre from the detachment of the novitiate. It is something like a wise man saying he knows nothing and a foolish man also saying he knows nothing. There is a difference between these two people saying that. The wise one says he knows nothing for one reason, whereas the foolish one says he does not know anything for another reason altogether, but both make the same statements. Likewise, the detachment that comes upon us when this insight takes possession of us is different in quality from the detachment which we try to impose upon ourselves when we leave home, etc. Here we have the detachment born of knowledge, whereas earlier we had the detachment born of emotion and enthusiasm.

In the Yoga Vasishtha we have a similar reference. Rama was reluctant to do anything. “Oh, it is all useless. The world is nashwara, perishable,” Rama said. Vasishtha reprimanded him for this kind of attitude, but he taught the very same thing to him from a different angle of vision: “Be detached, O Rama.” Yes, we are already detached, so what are we being taught now? This previous detachment was a different thing, and now the detachment that we are to learn is born of a different force altogether. This is the Fifth Chapter of the Bhagavadgita where the detachment born of knowledge is described, with which we gird up our loins, integrate our personality, concentrate it and fix it for the achievement of the goal.

Then there is the Sixth Chapter, which is on dhyana yoga, concentration. Now the personality is integrated, while in the beginning it was disintegrated. Arjuna's personality was a disintegrated psychopathic personality. In the Sixth Chapter we have a healthy, mature, wise, integrated personality ready to take a jump into the unknown. These descriptions of yoga are quite different from what we hear in other scriptures such as the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali or even in some of the Upanishads.

The Seventh Chapter gives us a description of the world before us, with which we have to establish a proper relation in such a manner that we come to a realisation of its identity with us. The Seventh, Eighth, Ninth and Tenth Chapters gradually take us into the deeper and deeper layers of cosmic relationship until we touch the very borderland of God-existence when we reach the Tenth Chapter. In the first six chapters we try to overcome our individuality; in the next six chapters we try to overcome even universality itself because, finally, that also is a limitation. Individuality enters into universality when it crosses the border of the Sixth Chapter and enters the Seventh onwards, but after the Tenth and Eleventh Chapters the Universal is reached, and even that idea or concept of universality is shed by a different technique altogether. So from the individual we have come now to the cosmos. The integration of individuality is over. Now we have come to universal integration of the identity of the cosmos with the individual. These themes are treated in great detail through the Seventh, Eighth, Ninth and Tenth Chapters.

From a perception of a universal, impersonal cosmos before us, we begin to see twinklings of light in the cosmos itself. The world is not a dark mass of matter, as it appeared to be earlier. It is spirit camouflaging, masquerading as matter. We will begin to see stars twinkling in the fibres and atoms of matter. God will begin to speak gradually, slowly, from every corner of the world. He has covered Himself with a screen, as it were, and makes us feel that a world is before us. But there is no world before us; it is God before us. This insight will come to us gradually. The truth will be described in the Gita with greater and deeper emphasis through these chapters from the Seventh onwards. Divinity begins to be revealed more and more in these chapters. Previously, only how to train the individual is mentioned. There is no mention of God until the Sixth Chapter, but God begins to take a place in our scheme of things when the Seventh Chapter begins. Even in the Seventh Chapter the mention of God is scanty, but it receives greater emphasis as it proceeds further.

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