Bhagavad Gita - Hidden Secrets - 1

Theme : Vishada or despondency as a yoga.


Namaste,


Bhagavad Gita has many secrets. Infact every sloka in the B.Gita could reveal many secrets or hidden meanings. 

Here is the first and the most important open secret:

Secret 1-1:

"Bhagavad Gita is the only shAstra or scripture in the world that was given directly by Bhagavan / the Supreme God to humans through Arjuna". 

No other scripture in the world enjoys this position. This fact should make every true Hindu proud.

In the Vedic Hindu religion God himself follows what He preaches. The entire universe is His manifestation. In the form the universe He is teaching sanAtana dharma to all true humans. How? Every entity in nature is giving itself for others. Earth, water, fire and so on are engaging in their respective service according to their nature.

Humans are thus encouraged to just follow the same by engaging in their svadharma according to their nature! sanAtana Dharma is thus eternal and everliving.

Anything that goes against the above leads to ajnyAna or ignorance which is the root of all problems.


Here are some more interesting secrets from the first chapter – Arjuna Vishada yoga:

1. Our own body is a Dharmakshetra and Kurukshetra

2. Vishada  could be a yoga or means to attain God.

3. One should realize that he is afflicted with Vishada

4. One should not analyze and conclude while in that confused state.

5. There is a need to share vishada and voluntarily surrender to an able AchArya like Sri Krishna.

who is in a better or higher position to .

6. Similar to Vishada- dharma Himsa is also a yoga.


vishAda in Sanskrit means:

dejection, depression, despondency, dullness, stupidity, insensibility, fear, weakness

There is no doubt that vishAda is something that is negative. Yoga in the spiritual context is the process of union with God.

Q: Positive practices like jnyAna and Bhakti could be a yoga. But how could vishAda be a yoga? Or what makes it a yoga?

A: 
vishAda will never be a yoga if the person is alone. Anyone going through vishAda must seek advice from another person, like a Parent, Guru, Acharya or even a friend who are in a better or higher position. If the other person is in a lower or even in a equal position we may unnecessarily disturb them or our own vishada may increase. Safest person to surrender is one’s own Guru or Acharya.

Q: Arjuna was lucky as he had the Lord Krishna himself with whom he could share his vishAda. But what about ordinary humans like us?

A: Vedas teach that the Jiva and Ishwara are two birds in the same body/tree. So no jiva is spiritually alone. Lord Krishna / Ishwara is present in all completely.  

This Ishwara is also everywhere. Infact the entire universe is Ishwara’s body. When we realize this, we can easily start feeling the presence of Ishwara and share or surrender our everything to Him.

Dharma kshetra is the place where dharma is performed. Kuru in Sanskrit means ‘to do karma or actions’. Every sane human has the ability to do dharma (selfless service and adharma/karma (selfish actions). So, our own body could be dharma kshetra or kuru kshetra (accumulating adharma/karma).

Pandavas had seven akshauhini (about one hundred thousand) warriors and kauravas had eleven. These numbers have spiritual or philosophical significance. The entire universe of five elements along with Ishwara and jiva are totally seven. These are the pandavas.

The jiva’s body has eleven organs: 

1. Five jnana indriyas through which we get knowledge – eyes, nose, ears, tongue and skin (touch).

2. Five karma indriyas through which we do action – hands, legs, speech, excretory and genital organs. 

3. One mind.

When we do not recognize Ishwara / God manifesting as the universe then we will end up looking upon the universe as mere object for sense gratification. We thus end up as kauravas using our eleven senses fighting against the God/universe.

On the other hand when we recognize God manifesting in the form of the universe, we will be aligning our personality with it and end up using our eleven sense organs in the service of the universe / God. When Iswara thus enters our personality, he manifests in eleven forms of Rudra in us.

The solution for any problem does not lie in the same dimension as the problem. It will always come from a higher dimension. Arjuna tried to analyze the problem and conclude while still engulfed in vishAda and so was dejected at the end of the first chapter of BGita.

But later in the BG:2-7, he surrendered himself completely to Krishna always at the higher dimension. We need to do the same thing for every problem we encounter in our lives.

Word to word meaning of related B.Gita slokas:

(Source: www.asitis.com)

BG 1:1

dhrtarastrah—King Dhrtarastra; uvaca—said; dharma-kshetre—in the sacred place righteousness; kuru-ksetre—in the place named Kuruksetra; samavetah—assembled; yuyatsavah—warriors desiring to fight; mamakah—my sons; pandavah—the sons of Pandu; ca—and; eva-certainly; kim—what; akurvata—did they do; sanjaya—O Sanjaya.


TRANSLATION

Dhrtarastra said: O Sanjaya, after assembling in the place of righteousness at Kuruksetra, what did my sons and the sons of Pandu do, being desirous to fight?


BG 1:46

sanjayah—Sanjaya; uvaca—said; evam—thus; uktva—saying; arjunah—Arjuna; sankhye—in the battlefield; ratha—chariot; upasthah—situated on; upavisat—sat down again; visrjya—keeping aside; sa-saram—along with arrows; capam—the bow; soka—lamentation; samvigna—distressed; manasah—within the mind.


TRANSLATION

Sanjaya said: Arjuna, having thus spoken on the battlefield, cast aside his bow and arrows and sat down on the chariot, his mind overwhelmed with grief.

BG 2:47

karpanya—miserly; dosa—weakness; upahata—being inflicted by; svabhavah—characteristics; prcchami—I am asking; tvam—unto You; dharma—religion; sammudha—bewildered; cetah—in heart; yat—what; sreyah—all-good; syat—may be; niscitam—confidently; bruhi—tell; tat—that; me—unto me; sisyah—disciple; te—Your; aham—I am; sadhi—just instruct; mam—me; tvam—unto You; prapannam—surrendered.

TRANSLATION

Now I am confused about my duty and have lost all composure because of weakness. In this condition I am asking You to tell me clearly what is best for me. Now I am Your disciple, and a soul surrendered unto You. Please instruct me.


Namaste
Suresh

Is the world of samsAra, a problem?

Generally in the religious circles it is believed that the samsAra or the
world is full of problems. So it needs to be shunned or avoided. The ultimate
aim is to go to the God's world or heaven, which is always perfect.

This may be true apparently. But is it really so? In my humble opinion, it all
depends on how one SEES the world.

For some (buddhists and advaitins), the world is not real, just an illusion.
For some (dvaitins and V.Advaitins) the world though real, is undesirable.
For some (atheists?), it may appear that the world is "just out there" by
sheer accident!. Some others may feel that the world won't care for them and
they don't care either. Many views are possible.

But the individual perception of the world has nothing to do with what the
world really is.

According to the Vedas the entire world is a manifestation of God. "Purusham
evEdagm sarvam" (everything is Purusha) , "Sarvam khalvidam brahma (every-
thing is Brahman) and so on explicitly state that. It is also a fact that all beings
are absolutely dependent on the world it for existence.

It is also a fact that from the body point of view, we all are IN THE WORLD.
We derive our existence from the world. All of our so called possessions
belong to the world. We as embodied individuals, are born in, exist / subsist
and return back to the world of elements only.

There seems to be no selfishness in the world. Everything like food, air,
water are given to us for free. So the ideal for humans is to mimic the same.
The world will work with us if we work with it. But the same world would
oppose us when we oppose it.

Yes, the world would be a problem if we look upon it as a mere object of
sense enjoyment. But the same world would turn out to be a solution or the
source of true happiness when we look upon it as a manifestation of God and
engage in selfless service.

All do's and don'ts, good and bad when defined from the individual point of
view would be different and conflicting. But when the same when defined from
the point of view of the world, it will always be universal and aligns with all.

As per the Veda, the world as a whole is the body of God and so service to the
world is service to God. This is the real essence of Vedic scriptures / dharma.
Unlike other individual views, this Vedic view can stand by itself as it is defined
from the point of view of the world which is common to all.

Probably that is the reason why it is called apourusheya or impersonal!??
Interestingly, when the entire world is realized as the personality of God, then
that which is impersonal ends up as extremely personal!!

The seer alone SEES!

Namaste
Suresh

Truth and False

Advaitin / Non-Dualist:

Brahman/Atman/Self alone is true and the world is false.
Self is true because it is unchanging in all periods of time.
Body/world is false as it is continuously changing - or undergoes
creation/sustenance/destruction.

All the many embodied selves or jivas are also ultimately false.
They are like the one Sun/Brahman reflected in many bodies/pots filled
with water. When the body/pot is destroyed the reflection/jiva merges
back into the Sun.

Dvaitin / Absolute Dualist:

The non-dualist claim has self contradiction.

If all that is created/sustained/destroyed is false, then that very
statement, which is based on sense perception, ends up as false also.
If the statement is true, then the self/Brahman will not be non-dual.

If the self is real then the body/senses/perception dependent on that
must also be real. Similarly If Brahman is real then the world dependent
on that must also be real.

Advaitin:

There are many false views and non-existent things in the world.
If everything is out-rightly real then all such false also ends up as real.

Body and sense based perception can be taken as 'transactional or
temporary reality'. They are valid as long as the body is existing.
But the unchanging self alone can be taken as absolutely real. This
self is the all-pervading  Brahman as per Veda.

Truth is always un-created. False is that which covers the truth
or make it appear differently. When the truth is revealed false
gets destroyed. Body covers the self and make it appear differently.
When the self is identified with the non-dual Brahman which is
everywhere, the universe/body which is false will disappear or
becomes non-existent.

Dvaitin:

If the self is the all-pervading non-dual Brahman then it cannot get
covered by any second entity. But we are all currently covered by our
bodies and suffering because of that. So the self cannot be the non-dual
Brahman. The body which is dependent on and also covering the self
should also be real.

Advaitin:

If the body is real then the self will never get liberated.

Dvaitin:

If the body is false it can never cover the self

Reconciliation:

Look upon the entire universe as the Supreme Truth/Brahman/Iswhara/God.
Every being is created / sustained and destroyed/absorbed back into That.

All divisions like true/false, self/body, dharma/adharma and so on are
within that supreme Brahman manifesting as this very universe.
Truth manifests when there is oneness in thoughts, words and deeds.
That can happen only when the thoughts, words, deeds are always
directed toward the good of the world/universe/God. True Self or
selflessness will get revealed, only then. All actions that do not have
the good of the universe as the objective is false.

Advaita says the world of plurality is false. Dvaita says it is true.
They can be reconciled only when the entire universe of plurality is seen
in the non-dual Self/Brahman and vice versa.

Namaste
Suresh