The class started off with our Omkar routine followed by prayers and Pranayama & meditation.
We did a recap from our last class of verses 10,11 12 and 13 of Chapter 8.
We chanted verses 14 through16 and discussed the explanation & meaning.
Excerpts of verses 14,15 and 16
Analysis and Theme:
- Constant remembrance of Brahman at all times.
- Intellect guides the mind.
- Clarity of thought- Intellect and choice-temporarily gives up desires and attachment.
- Intelligent vs power of intellect.
- Mahatma’s have realized that they are complete & full- Sense of contentment.
- Path of no return (materialistic desires) vs path of no return (practicing detachment).
Excerpts of verses 14,15 and 16
Lord Krishna says to Arjuna – O Partha- I am easily attainable to those Yogi’s who always think of me with exclusive devotion due to constant absorption in Me.
To the one who is ever steadfast in the life divine and remembers Me, always and daily, with a mind unshuttered,to him I am easily attainable.
Lors Krishna is very emphatic and with all the strength insists that the divine consciousness must be maintained by the seeker constantly and continuously all through the day and just not as an occasional activity.
Having Attained Me,these Mahatma’s(great souls) do not again take birth, which is the house of pain and in non-eternal, as they have reached the highest perfection- Moksha.
Lord Krishna says that , he who has through the process of constant meditation of the Self and who has during his lifetime, learnt to control all his senses, to regulate the mind and the heart,to control and arrest all pranas in the intellect- he comes to directly identify himself with the Infinite and the Eternal- and thus shall no more come back into the cycle of birth-rebirth.
Lord Krishna says that all the material world rolls up to Brahma- which is still subject to rebirth- but the one who reaches me- O Kaunteya- has no rebirth and is liberated.
The theory of gradual liberation (krama mukti) accepted by Vedanta says that karma accompanied by meditation takes the ego to the realm of the creator(Brahma-loka)where at the end of he kalpa(cycle of broth and death) it merges with the Supreme. Even in Brahma-loka, it is necessary that the ego must follow all the spiritual advices of the Creator and through constant contemplation earn the total liberation. Hence reaching Brahma-loka doesn’t guarantee everyone a ticket to liberation as some of them will have to again come back to exhaust their Vasana’s at the end of the cycle before merging with the Supreme Self.
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Theme:
- Pravritti vs Nivritti - These are the two paths, light and dark, considered to be the eternal paths of the universe. Departing by one, rebirth is not attained but departing by the other, rebirth is a must.
- Bandham vs Moksham- Bondage and Liberation.
Story No 1: Raja Janak and his dream
Raja Janak after having eaten a filling lunch, King Janak fell asleep and dreamed he had lost a battle, his kingdom and ran for his life to a forest. Now he was hungry and was a beggar looking for food.
Extremely hungry and thirsty, he desperately approached a hut from which an old lady gave him rice & Dal (Lentils) and told him to cook his own meal. King cooked food and as he was about to eat a dog came and snatched his food and ran away.
King suddenly awoke in a sweat. He was in his quiet, serene palace, with a full stomach and servants fanning him. He was then confronted with the question of What was real? Was he a beggar, as in the nightmare, or he is a king?
With this question, King Janak assembled all of his advisors. All attempted to give an explanation, but Janak was not satisfied with any of their answers.
Then a young crooked boy Ashtavakra entered the court and surprised everyone with the answer: “King Janaka, neither beggar nor emperor is real. You alone are real. You, yourself, are the truth. The you who was present as pure consciousness in the dream state playing the role of the beggar and who is present in the waking state playing the role of the king, this you who witnessed both these states, is your true entity.
Story No 2: Vali’s liberation at the hands of Lord Ram
Rama's slaying of Vali had a special significance. In the beginning, Vali argued with Rama about his killing. Rama explained to him about the various reasons and how everything was pre-ordained. He then asked Vali that he can take back the arrow that felled him but Vali was by then convinced that its better for him to die at the hands of Lord Ram and be granted Moksha.
Story No 3: Pandavas- Yudhisthira and poor man seeking help.
Yudhisthira asks a beggar seeking alms to come the next day as it was very late at night. On this, Bheema rejoices that Yudhisthira his brother, has conquered death! He is sure that he will be around the next day to give.
Yudhisthira gets the message!
One does not know really whether one will be there tomorrow to give! The time to give therefore is now
Story No 4: Raam Naam more powerful than Raam Naam
Once Narad Muni tried to test Hanuman ji.
After defeating demon Ravaan, when Lord Raam became the king of Ayodhya. All those who had accompanied Lord Rama to Ayodhya were going to all the elders and every saint present there to touch their feet and get their blessings. Lord Hanuman was not only a staunch devotee of Lord Rama, but also purely innocent at heart.
While present there as a guest in the court of Lord Rama, Narad Muni secretly told Lord Hanuman that while touching the feet of all the sages present there, he should not touch the feet of Sage Vishvamitra as he had been a king earlier, thus he was not fully a sage.
Observing diligently the orders of Narad Muni, he touched the feet of all the sages, except Vishvamitra. Vishvamitra was the Guru of Lord Rama. Unlike what Narad Muni had expected, sage Vishvamitra did not feel bad about it and took the mistake of Hanuman ji lightly. But Narad Muni instigated Sage Vishvamitra against Hanuman ji. Enraged by Narad Muni's words, sage Vishvamitra became too angry on Hanuman ji ordered Lord Rama to kill him.
Following his Guruji's order…Shri Raam attacked Hanuman ji.
Hanuman ji started chanting 'Raam Raam'. And the magic of the words was such that even Lord Rama's constant attacks could not affect him. Raam nama became the powerful invincible armour of Hanuman ji. Determined, Lord Raam finally attacked him with the Brahmastra.
However, the powerful chant of Lord Rama's name and the power of Lord Hanuman's devotion towards him saved him from this most powerful weapon as well.
Story No 5: Plight of a Man- Analogy story
There is a story that depicts the plight of mankind,
Once a man was chased by an elephant in a forest. Seeing no respite, he jumped down a pit . He looked up and saw there is a big python snake that is at the bottom of the pit. Immediately he sees a rope and clings on to it and climbs a little bit up out of reach of the python. He also notices that there are 2 rats(one black and one white) that are nibbling away at the rope constantly.
He knows that the elephant is waiting to kill him and two rats, one black and one white, were slowly nibbling the rope he was hanging on to. He understood that very soon the rope would fall to the ground where the python is waiting.
Suddenly a drop of honey fell on his face. He pulled his tongue out and licked it. There was a honeycomb atop a tree that was far above on the top.
Forgetting the obvious (elephant, snakes, rats,), he just adjusted his tongue to get drops of honey straight on his tongue.
Now, he was happy indeed forgetting his precarious situation temporarily.
This analogy from Mahabharata perfectly fits a common man.
The man represents the common man or ourself. We are stuck in this precarious situation of this material world (samsara). Death (elephant) is chasing us continuously; it will not leave us without devouring. The black and white rats represent night and day respectively. They are slowly reducing our age. The python snake represent the big obstacles in life.. The sweet honey represents the pleasures’ of this world in its myriad forms.
If only we can focus on Lord Krishna, we can save ourselves a lot of trouble but we are too attached to the drops of dripping honey.
In the next class, we would watch Swamiji’s video of verses 14 15 and 16.
