The perception of oneness in the pluralistic world

Sarva bhoothastham atmanam sarvabhoothani cha atmani |

Eekshathe yogayukthatma sarvatra samadarshinah || 6.29 ||

"With the mind harmonised by YOGA he sees the Self abiding in all beings, and all beings in the Self; he sees the same everywhere."

Yo mam pashyathi sarvatra sarvam cha mayi pashyathi |

Tashya aham na pranashyami sa cha me na pranashyathi || 6.30 ||

"He who sees Me everywhere, and sees everything in Me, he never gets separated from Me, nor do I get separated from him."

Sarvabhootha sthitham yo mam bhajathekatwamasthitah |

Sarvatha varthamanopi sayogi mayi varthathe || 6.31 ||

"He who, being established in unity, worships Me, dwelling in all beings, that YOGI abides in Me, whatever be his mode of living."

Atmaoupamyena sarvatra samam pashyathi yo arjuna |

Sukham vaa yadhi vaa dukham sa yogi paramo mathah || 6.32 ||

"He who, through the likeness (sameness) of the Self, O Arjuna, sees equality everywhere, be it pleasure or pain, he is regarded as the highest YOGI."

Meaning:

The man of perfect self-knowledge, is not merely one who realized his own divinity, but is also one who has equally understood and has come to live in an experience of the divinity inherent in all creatures, without any distinction whatsoever. The awareness in us is the awareness everywhere in all names and forms. To contact the infinite in us, is to contact the Eternal everywhere. Just as the mud in all mud-pots, the gold in all gold ornaments, the ocean in all waves, the electricity in all bulbs, the Self is the Essence in entire world of objects.

The meditator, on transcending his intellect, becomes the Self, and to the Self there is nothing but the Self everywhere. To the mud, there are no pot; to the gold, there are no ornaments separate from itself. Such a Perfect One, who has realized the Unity in the world of diversity, can afford to entertain the equality of vision in all circumstances and conditions. On transcending the intellect, the experience of the ego is not that it sees or perceives the Eternal but that it discovers itself in essence to be nothing but the Self(Shivoham). The dreamer, on awakening, himself becomes the waker, the dreamer can never see the waker as separate from himself.

The Lord also says that, not only the seeker come to feel the Self-hood, But I, the Self, become one with him. An actor playing the part of a beggar, is not really a beggar. The moment he drops the part he is playing, he becomes what in fact he is. In fact, even while he was playing his role, he was not a beggar. Work, in fact, can be performed only when the worker is established in the Self. Such an individual, whatever be his activities in the external world, ever established in Self through a conscious awareness of the Self. He can maintain his divine consciousness in all states of existence, in all conditions of life and under all happy or unhappy circumstances. Everything experienced in the gross world outside, and in the subtle realm within, is nothing but an emanation from the Eternal Self.

The Yogi, after his experience of the Self, comes to recognise the whole world as nothing but himself. As all the limbs and parts of one's body are equally dear to an individual, one can easily experience one's intimate identity with all the different parts of the body. If your tongue were to be accidentally bitten by your own teeth, you would never think of punishing the teeth for the crime they had done, for, both IN the tongue and IN the teeth you pervade equally. Such an individual, who has in his realisation come to feel the entire universe as his own form, is called a true Yogi.

My meaning:

The true Yogi, experiences the Self everywhere, in everything, in every circumstances. He comes to realize the Self in everything, and everything in Self. With the pure awareness this can be experienced. We are all part of the that big ocean, the Self. For everything happening good or bad, we are only responsible since one wave affects the other wave in the big ocean. If we give pain to others, it also hurts us and if we share the happiness, we also feel happy, why? Why because we are all connected in inner world. So If we realize this, there is no more wars, no more complaints about others, no more sorrows, all these are ended. The true Yogi experience the Self in all circumstances,equally in pleasure or pain. He accepts everything as they are. If we realize this truth, we are free from ego, and liberated ones.

Stages of Progress accomplished through Dhyana Yoga

Yada viniyatham chittam atman eva vathishtathe |

Nihspruhah sarva kamebyo yuktha ithi uchchyathe tadha || 6.18 ||

"When the perfectly controlled mind rests in the Self only, free from longing for all (objects of) desire, then it is said: "he is united" (YUKTAH) ."

Yatha deepo nivathastho nengathe sopamasmrutha |

Yogino yatha chittasya yunjatho yagam atmanah || 6.19 ||

" As a lamp placed in a windless place does not flicker" --- is a simile used to describe the YOGI of controlled-mind, practising YOGA of the Self (or absorbed in th e YOGA -of-the-Self) .

Yatroparamate chittam niruddham yogasevaya |

Yatra chaiva atman atmaanam pasyan atmani tushtathi || 6.20 ||

"When the mind, restrained by the practice of YOGA, attains quietude and when seeing the Self by the self, he is satisfied in his own Self;"

Sukham athyanthikam yaththath buddhi grahyam athindriyam |

Veththi yatra na chaivayam sthitashchalathi taththvanthah || 6.21 ||

"When he (the YOGI ) feels that Infinite bliss --- which can be grasped by the (pure) intellect and which transcends the senses --- wherein established he never moves from the Reality;"

Yam labdhva chaparam labham manyathe na adhikam tatah |

Yasmimsthitho na dhukhena gurunapi vichalyathe || 6.22 ||

"Which, having obtained, he thinks there is no other gain superior to it; wherein established, he is not moved even by heavy sorrow."

Tam vidhyah dhukha samyoga viyogam yogasamjitham |

Sa nishchayena yuktavvyo yogoh nirvinana chethasa || 6.23 ||

" Let it be known: the severance from the union-with-pain is YOGA. This YOGA should be practised with determination and with a mind steady and undespairing."

Sankalpa prabhavaan kamamsthyaktva sarvaanasheshathah |

Manassaivendriya gramam viniyamya samam tathah || 6.24 ||

"Abandoning without reserve all desires born of SANKALPA, and completely restraining the whole group of senses by the mind from all sides."

Shanaishanairuparame udhbudhdhya dhruthi gruhitaya |

Atmasanstam manah krutwa na kinchith api chinthayeth || 6.25 ||

"Little by little, let him attain quietude by his intellect, held firm; having made the mind established in the Self, let him not think of anything."

Yatho yatho nishcharathi manah chanchalam asthiram |

Tathah tatho niyamaith atmanaiva vasham nayeth || 6.26 ||

"From whatever cause the restless and the unsteady mind wanders away, from that let him restrain it, and bring it back under the control of the Self alone."

My understanding:

The mind which is perfectly controlled, is not interested in type of enjoyment. It is only established in Self. Thus any person having such type of mind is named as Yogi. He is free from all longing behind desires of enjoyment. He always rests only in Bhrahman. Here desires in themselves are not dangerous and actually they will not bring sorrow unto us. But our clinging to those desires brings the pain in the life. The Geetha only advises us to renounce yearnings for all objects of desires. The limited and finite sense-objects, agitate the mind, while the unlimited and infinite Self brings peace and joy into it.

Thus for a Yogi, any type of attractions in the world, can not attract him, in any ways. His mind is like a lamp of Light, which is placed in a windless place. It will not get flickered. Here, the example of flame is appropriate because, mind is also fickle and unsteady like a tip of the flame. Thoughts appear in the mind, every second like a continuous stream, and these constant thought distrurbances gives the apprehension of a solid factor called the mind. Similarly, the tip of the flame also is never constant, but the flickering is so fast that, it gives the illusion of a definite shape and solidity.

When this flame is protected from the wind, it becomes steady. In the same fashion, the mind should be protected from the constant flowing thoughts. If this is accomplished by an individual, then such an individual is called Yogi, and he has a fully integrated personality.

For such a person, what would be the Stages of progress accomplished? This is described below.

When the mind is under control, because of constant Yoga-Practices, then it sees self by the self and attains peace and bliss in its own self. In that silence it gains the experience of the 'self'. so he is satisfied in his own self.

This Bliss of Self recognition is perceivable only through the pure intellect. When he feels that infinite bliss, by controlling/transcending the senses, he never moves back from reality. He rests in reality. He never gets disturbed in the world.

When he attains this state, he thinks that, there is no other thing to gain superior than this. When he established in this state, he never get disturbed by any type of sorrow and sufferings.

Thus one should know that, "This method of separating from the union with the pain is called Yoga". This Yoga should be practiced with determination and steady mind. To get detached from the mechanism of perceptions, feelings and thoughts, would naturally be the total detachment from the pain. Krishna here insists, "The yoga is to be practiced with an Eager and Decisive Mind". To get away from the limited objects and their joys, one have to enter the realm of Bliss which is the Self. This is the Yoga.

Krishna further gives some instructions regarding Yoga are explained here.

Renouncing the all desires fully by the mind, one can control all the sense-organs from their sense-objects. Even the desire for this perfection in the Yoga, is to be, in end, totally renounced. Once this this renounciation of all disturbing desires has been accomplished, the individual's mind gains strength, to assert itself. When the seeker attains quietude as a result of his withdrawal from the world of sense-objects, slowly, the mind gains more and more quietude.

With the pure intellect and patience, the mind is to be controlled and rested in the contemplation of the 'Self'. The mind is "Thought-Flow', therefore the constant thought of the Nature of the 'Self' is to be exercise for the mind, by which mind should be restrained by the intellect. He should not think of any other thing other than 'self', when once he has reached this state of peace within.

The mind is, by its very nature, "restless" and "unsteady". Every seeker realize this nature of mind, when it wanders away from the point. So Krishna instructs here that, "whatever be the reason because of which the restless and unsteady mind wanders away, the seeker is not to despair, but should understand that it is the nature of the mind to wander, and that the process of mediation is only a technique to stop wandering. Then he should bring his mind back under the control of self alone. His mind should be applied in the contemplation of the self alone. "

Body Consciousness in Meditation

Na athi ashnatashtu yogosthu na cha ekantha manashnathah |

Na cha athi swapna sheelasya jagrutho naiva cha Arjuna || 6.16 ||

"Verily, YOGA is not possible for him who eats too much, nor for him who does not eat at all; nor for him who sleeps too much, nor for him who is (always) awake, O Arjuna."

Yukta ahara viharasya yukta cheshyasya karmasu |

Yukta swapnava bodhasya yogo bhavathi dhukhaha || 6.17 ||

"YOGA becomes the destroyer of pain for him who is moderate in eating and recreation, who is moderate in his exertion during his actions, who is moderate in sleep and wakefulness."

My understanding:

Yoga is not possible for him who eats very much, nor for him who does not not eat at all, nor for him who sleeps always or nor for him who does not sleep at all. Because he is very much attached himself to the body and vasanas created by sense organs. If one wants to become Yogi, everything should be balanced in him, while doing meditation. If body is not ready to sit and do meditation, forcibly it is not possible to do. So give respect to body. If it wants food, give it, If it wants sleep, give it. Dont force it to eat, whenever your tongue likes to eat something, even though it is not hungry. And also dont leave it hungry even though you have food to eat. Same with the sleep also. Give it when body really wants.

One golden rule is there for a successful meditator: "Eat whatever comes to us handy, without creating unnecessary destruction to the living kingdom just for our personal existence, and intelligently consume a quantity which does not load the stomach."

Our metal status is directly depends on our body status. Thus a Yogi is one, who knows, how to balance his body and mind naturally. If he knows how to balance the food, walking, work and sleep, then he gets the way of getting rid of pains and sorrows associated with the body. One should have the knowledge that, this body is the basic vehicle for any achievement in any field of life, but it is not the everything in life. It is just an outer layer of our being. Just be aware of the body. That is enough. Intelligent moderation is the law.

Through what method can one attain highest goal?

Yogiyunjeeta satatam atmanam rahasi stitah |

Ekaki yatha chittatma nirasheera aparigrahah || 6.10 ||

"Let the YOGI try constantly to keep the mind steady, remaining in solitude, alone, with the mind and body controlled, free from hope and greed."

Shuchoudeshe prathistapya shtiramaanasam atmanah |

Nathyuchchritam naathineecham chailaajina kushottaram || 6.11 ||

"Having, in a clean spot, established a firm seat of his own, neither too high nor too low, made of a cloth, a skin and KUSHA -grass, one over the other, . . ."

Tatra ekagram manah krutwa yata chitthendriya kriyah |

Upavishyasane yunjyadhogam atma vishuddhaye || 6.12 ||

"There, having made the mind one-pointed, with the actions of the mind and the senses controlled, let him, seated on the seat, practise YOGA, for the purification of the self."

Samam kaya shirogreevam dharayan achalam sthirah |

Sampreksya naashikagram swam dhishashchan avalokayan || 6.13 ||

"Let him firmly hold his body, head and neck erect and still, gazing at the tip of his nose, without looking around."

Prashantatma vigathabhih bhrahmachari vrathesthitah |

Manas samyamya machchitho yuktha aseethamatparah || 6.14 ||

"Serene-minded, fearless, firm in the vow of BRAHMACHARYA, having controlled the mind, thinking on Me and balanced, let him sit, having Me as the Supreme Goal."

Yum jannevam sath atmanam yogi niyathamaanasah |

Shanthim nirvanaparamaam math samsthama adhigachchathi || 6.15 ||

"Thus, always keeping the mind balanced, the YOGI, with his mind controlled, attains to the Peace abiding in Me, which culminates in total liberation (NIRVANA orMOKSHA) ."

My understanding:

Here Krishna Paramatma is telling Yogi that, it is only through constant practice of mediation, one can attain highest goal in spirituality and not by any other shortcut routes. Everybody has to struggle to get success. Only through the real experiences, one can get wisdom. One should do constant practice of controlling the desires and hopes. Krishna is giving some steps for self-development, for attaining the Supreme Goal.

1. First one is Sitting in Solitude: for beginners, it is needed to sit in solitude to get concentration. But it does not mean that mediation can only be practiced in the jungles or in the caves or in the corner of the house. It only means that, the seeker should withdraw his mind from his outside world. One is having full desires and constantly meditating upon the sense-objects, cannot gain any solitude, even in forest. Self-control is not possible, unless we know how to free ourselves from the "eager to possess", and "anxieties in saving, hoarding and protecting what we possess". In the first step, the seeker is asked to sit steadily on his clean seat, because physical movements contributes to the shattering of mental concentration and inner equipoise. So seat should also be comfortable. This step is all about getting awareness of gross body.

2. After establishing on the perfect seat, the seeker should practice Yoga. For that, he should make the mind single-pointed. In initial stages, mind becomes very confused and disturbed when it gets, the inner forces of its own imaginations or the outward pull by the hallucinations of the sense-organs. If these two are blocked, then mind becomes single-pointed, by its own nature. Through steady and regular meditation, mind become pure and steady, then the Consciousness, comes to rediscover Its own Real Nature.

3. In this step, Krishna is adding more details to the technique of meditation. The meditator should firmly hold his body in such a fashion that his vertebral column is completely erect. The head and neck should be erect in this posture, which is perpendicular to the horizontal seat upon which the Yogi is firmly settling himself. The body should be held relaxed and mind should be of tension free. Now the seeker should gaze at the tip of his nose. This does not mean that he should, with half-opened eyes, turn towards the tip of his own nose. But, he should have his attention, as though turned towards the tip of the nose, so that his concentration may not be dissipated and his mind may not wander all around.

4. When the meditator practiced meditation for certain period of time, he comes to experience a peace in his mind. As the Yogin slowly and steadily gets unwound from his sensuous vasanas, he gets realeased from his mental cruel nature. A state of complete deatachment from the mind's courtings of the external world-of-obejcts, which is called Brahmacharya(wandering in Brahma-Vichara), is reached now. Brahmacharya is not ONLY the control of the sex-impulses but is also the practice of self-control in all avenues of sense-impulses and sense-satisfactions. The human mind must have one field or another to engage itself in. Unless it is given some inner field to meditate upon, it will not be in a position to retire from its extrovert pre-occupations. Thus Krishna is giving instruction to meditator that, "Let him sit in Yoga having Me as his Supreme Goal".

5. When all above details are worked out by anyone, that individual becomes a man steadfast both in his physical and in his subtler life and thereby he comes to realize his own Infinite, Eternal, Blissful and quite Nature, the Self. When one, well established in these necessary physical self-controls and essential mental and intellectual habits, sits meditating upon the Truth in all secrecy, he is a true seeker striving on the right path to achieve and aquire the highest that is possible in life. When a meditator controls his mind and constantly keeps his mind away from its agitations, he can easily and surely reach the Supreme.The term 'always' (Sada) should not be misunderstood as suggesting that the practitioner should live, criminally neglecting all his duties towards his home and the world around himself. Here the term 'always' only connotes "a duration of constant and consistent inner silence," during one's meditation. When the meditator has come to the moment of perfect silence within, he comes to experience, at first, a peace that is unknown in the world without. In fact in the last stage of fulfilment in meditation, the meditator 'awakens' to his status of Self-hood.

[Reference: Swami Chinmayananda's commentary]

Self is raised by the Self

Uddhareth atmanatmanam na atmanam avasaadhayeth |

Atmaiva hi atmano bandhuh atmaiva ripuh atmanaha || 6.5 ||

Translation:

"Let a man lift himself by his own Self alone, and let him not lower himself; for, this Self alone is the friend of oneself, and this Self is the enemy of oneself."

Bandhuh Atma Atmaha tasya yena atmaiva atmana jithah |

Anatmanasthu shatrutwe varthate atmaiva shatruvath || 6.6||

Translation:

"The Self is the friend of the self for him who has conquered himself by the Self, but to the unconquered self, the Self stands in the position of an enemy like the (external) foe."

My understanding:

Here Krishna is giving very inspiring message for youth that, "MAN SHOULD UPLIFT HIMSELF BY HIMSELF". Then grace will shower on him automatically, from unknown source.

Every one of us is having one ideal picture, in our intellectual mind, about what we should be. But in fact, we might not be a match of that ideal concept. The difference between these two is the measure of the man's fall from his perception. We can discover that, we are intellectually feel that, we should be, perfect person, having loving heart, moral mind, socially disciplined personality. But in mind we have our likes,dislikes,loves,hatreds, attachments, appetites and passions. Thus we should train our mind by ourselves,we should uplift ourselves by ourselves, with the help of Guru and Grace of God.

Actual happening in us, depends upon how far we ourselves learn to haul ourselves out from our own misunderstandings.

So Krishna here warns that, "DO NOT ALLOW THE SELF TO FALL DOWN AND BE DRAGGED AGAIN "back to your old habit patterns.

For a man, self is friend of him, if he is in correct path of spiritual evolution and also it is enemy, if he goes in different direction, if he refuses to come in that way. That is the Self helps the lower self, lower instinct if it surrender to be get lifted, but if it opposes for that then Self becomes enemy for that. Thats why it all depend upon us how we improve ourselves.

When is a man said to have attained to Yoga?

Yadahinendriyartheshu na karmaswanushajjuthe |

Sarva sankalpa sanyasi yogarudhah tath uchyathe || 6.4 ||

Translation:

"When a man is not attached to sense-objects or to actions, having renounced all thoughts, then he is said to have attained to YOGA."

My understanding:

In this verse Krishna is explaining complete 'non-attachment'.

If a man is attached to sense objects, or fruits of actions, then he cannot be in Sanyasa, and thus he cannot be in Yoga. Because Sanyasa itself is Yoga. If one feels difficult to renounce attachments (in mind) towards external objects, he cannot attain Yoga. This doesn't mean that one should go away from family and society. It is not a real Sanyasa. One should stay here, in society, in family and should be detached like Lotus leaf in water. Even if it is in water, it is there without sinking into water and without affected by water.

If the mind is not going behind the sense objects and external activities, it becomes completely engaged in seeking greater Truth-- the Self. When the mind has been withdrawn from the sense-organs and detached from all external activities, it is possible that it is still agitated by the inner instincts of willing ans wishing. This Power of Sankalpa can bring more disturbances into bosom of a man than than disturbances from outer world. Thus Krishna indicates here that, when a man withdraws his desires towards sense-objects and actions, he should also be free from disturbances of Sankapla in his own mind, then only he attains Yoga.

What sort of a man attains Brahman?

Yo antasukho antararamah tatha antarjyotirevayah |

Sayogi brahma bhootho adhigachchathi || 5.24 ||

"He who is happy within, who rejoices within, who is illuminated within, that YOGI attains Absolute Freedom or MOKSHA, himself becoming BRAHMAN."

Labhanthe brahmanirvanam rushayaha ksheena kalmashaah |

Chinnaddaidha yathathmanah sarvabhoota hithe rathah || 5.25 ||

"Those RISHIS obtain Absolute Freedom or MOKSHA --- whose sins have been destroyed, whose dualities are torn asunder, who are self-controlled and intent on the welfare of all beings."

Kaamakrodha viyuktaanam yathinaam yathachethasam |

Abhitho brahmanirvaanam varthathe vijitatmanaam || 5.26 ||

"Absolute Freedom (or BRAHMIC Bliss) exists on all sides for those self-controlled ascetics, who are free from desire and anger, who have controlled their thoughts and who have realised the Self."

Sparshaan krutwa bahirbahyamsh chaksushcha avantarebhruvoh |

Pranapanou samakrutwa nasabhyantara charinou || 5.27 ||

"Shutting out (all) external contacts and fixing the gaze (as though) between the eye-brows, equalising the outgoing and incoming breath moving within the nostrils,"

Yathendriya manobuddhih munih moksha parayanah |

Vigatha ichcha bhaya krodho yah sada mukta yevasah || 5.28 ||

"With senses, mind and intellect (ever) controlled, having liberation as his Supreme Goal, free from desire, fear and anger --- the sage is verily liberated for ever."

Bhoktharam yajna tapasaam sarvalokamaheshvaram |

Suhrudam sarvabhootanam jnatwa mam shanthimruchchathi || 5.29 ||

"Knowing Me as Enjoyer of sacrifices and austerities, the Great Lord of all worlds, the friend of all beings, he attains Peace."

My meaning:

He who is established in Anthakarana, who is happy there, who illuminates through Atma, that person is a Yogi. He attains Brahman. To him, his entire within is flooded with the Light of Pure consciousness. He gains the joy of self within. Those sages, whose sinful mental impressions are destroyed, who are free from dualities, who have control of sense appettites, attain mukti. They are engaged in helping all living beings. Also, who have control of mind which is free from desire and anger and who have known the Self clearly, those Yathis gains the Bliss of perfection.

Here Krishna is explaining perfect path of getting Moksha. For that one should follow the path of mediation:

- Complete detachment (in mind) from reactions to the external worldly things and thoughts.

- Concentrate in between eyebrow (this is activating the third eye), balance the breathing in and out of nose ( by doing Pranayama exercises).

- Control over senses, mind and intellect.

- Free from desire, fear and anger.

Then he is definitely liberated forever.

And lastly Krishna announces here that, he who know (realize) me( Self in the individual) as, master/Lord of all worlds, enjoyer of all yagna-tapasas and friend of all living beings, that person get peace in his life. The Self, is the real vitality behind the ego(Jiva). The term Yagna is the self dedicated work, performed in any field of activity. And Tapas means all self-controlling practices, which ego undertakes in order to regain consciousness to seek its real identity with the Eternal.

Being happy

Shaknothi haiva yaha sodhum prak shareera vimokshanath |

Kamakrodheedbavam vegam samyuktah sasukhi naraha || 5.23 ||

"He who is able, while still here (in this world) to withstand, before the liberation from the body (death) , the impulse born out of desire and anger, he is a YOGIN , he is a happy man."

My meaning:

He who do renounce all impulses born out of intense desire and anger, before his death, he is a Yogin and having real peace and happiness in his life. Whatever we have to do is, in this very life itself. Who knows when this death may arrive to take away from this world. Waiting for one good time to come, for beginning a happy life, is not at all possible. Because we are so unaware that, if that time/moment comes also we are not able to recognize it. So just be peaceful, joyful at this very moment itself, then desire and anger will go off automativcally. Renouncing the impulses in the sense not forcibly, but by just observing with full awareness. We have to understand one thing that, the greater the desire with which we ponder over an object, the greater shall be the anger against any obstacle that comes in between us and our object -of - desire. We are only responsible for whatever happens to us in this world, no body else is responsible. So by making the adjustments within ourselves, we are able to live that perfect happiness in this very world.

Resting in Brahman

Ihaiva tairjitah sargo yeshaam samye stitam manaha |

Nirdhosham hi samam brahma tasmath brahmani thesthathah || 5.19 ||

"Even here (in this world) , birth (everything) is overcome by those whose minds rest in equality; BRAHMAN is spotless indeed and equal; therefore they are established in BRAHMAN."

Na prahrushyeth priyam prapyano dwijeth prapya cha apriyam |

Stira buddhih sammodho brahmavith brahmani stitaha || 5.20 ||

"Resting in BRAHMAN, with steady intellect and undeluded, the knower of BRAHMAN neither rejoices on obtaining what is pleasant, nor grieves on obtaining what is unpleasant."

Bahya sparshen asaktaatma vindathyatmani yath sukham |

Sa brahmayoga yukthatma sukham akshayam ashnuthe || 5.21 ||

"With the self unattached to external contacts, he finds happiness in the Self; with the self engaged in the meditation of BRAHMAN, he attains endless happiness."

Yehi samsparshaja bhoga dukha yonaya ywvathe |

Adhyanthavanthah kountheya na theshu ramathe budhah || 5.22 ||

"The enjoyments that are born of contacts are only generators of pain, for they have a beginning and an end. O son of Kunti, the wise do not rejoice in them."

My meaning:

Whose mind is established in equality, will succeed in Samsara here in this world itself. Because, Brahman is pure and equal. Thus he is established in Brahman. He can differentiate between the truth and false-hood of thisvery life. Such an individual who has conquered his mind and has come to live in perfect equanimity, in all conditions of life, in all its relationships,he indeed rests in Brahman.

Who are undeluded and steady minded and also they are interested in Brahman, those wise men neither feel joy for getting pleasant things nor feel sad for unpleasant things. They are equipoised for any situations or relationsships. Because They have discovered the truth behind the life and death. So they will not identify themselves with the worldly things or relationships. One who knows Brahman becomes Brahman.

They are not attached to outer worldly things, thus are introverted. Those men get eternal happiness and peace easily, which are the ultimate goal of every living beings. In this world, every creature strives to attain that permanent happiness, but unfortunately, they end in sufferings, because of their ignorance and attachments. But who had realized the self, certainly found eternal happiness in Self, and thus he is established in Brahman.

The enjoyments born out of Vasanas and sense organs, are reasons for sorrows. And they have both birth and death. But wise men do not rejoice in them. Those vasanas can not bind them. Man, if he is wise, is satisfied only with the infinite. Finite things only torture us with the hopes of getting a more satisfactory joy, but the Diviner joy, is gained only when we come to experience the Self.

How do wise men see Truth?

Vidyaavinaya sampanne brahmane gavi hastini |

Shuni chaiva shwapaakecha panditaah samadarshinah || 5.18 ||

Meaning:

Sages look with an equal eye upon a BRAHMANA endowed with learning and humility, on a cow, on an elephant, and even on a dog and an outcaste.

My meaning:

Wise men, whose ignorance of the self has been removed by the knowledge, see equality in a Brahmana endowed with humility, a cow, an elephant, a dog and even in all lower beings. If everything is part of that universal Self, then how can one differentiate between lower and higher beings. Only tides are different from each other, but ocean which forms those tides, is same. Like this, the self in every creature is the same. Thus wise men can see divinity in everything.

Commentary by Chinamayananda Swami:

The wise cannot but see and recognise the same presence of Divinity everywhere. The ocean has no difference in feeling for different waves. Gold cannot recognise itself as different in different pieces of ornaments. From the stand-point of mud, all mud pots are the same. Similarly, an egoless man, having recognised himself to be God, can find in no way, any distinction in the outer world of names and forms. The distinctions generally recognised, are all the distinctions of the containers. Man to man, there may be differences in form, shape and colour of the body, or the nature of the mind or the subtlety of the intellect. But as far as Life is concerned, It is the same everywhere, at all times.

Therefore, it is said in this stanza, that the Self-realised cast an equal eye on a Brahmana endowed with scholarship coupled with humility, on a cow, on an elephant, on a dog or on a pariah. Everywhere he realises the presence of the same Truth, whatever be the container.

Equal vision is the hall-mark of Realisation. The perfected cannot make distinctions based upon likes and dislikes. In and through all forms and situations, he sees the expressions of the same dynamic Truth which he experiences as his own Self.

Who will get liberated?

Tadbuddayah tath atma nastannishtah tath paraayanaah |

Gachchanthya punaravrutthim Jnananirdhoota kalmashaah || 5.17 ||

"Intellect absorbed in that, their Self being That, established in that, with That for their Supreme Goal, they go whence there is no return, their sins dispelled by Knowledge."

My meaning:

Who is having constant mind, intellect in Brahman/Self, who feels that Brahman is the ultimate and who has cleaned his impurities created by vasanas, through pure wisdom, would get liberated. With the pure knowledge, with the pure awareness, his ego is also dissolved in the Brahman/Self. Knowledge is not just collection of words of book, but an awareness of spiritual divinity, realization of the truth/God/Self. Who is having such knowledge, for him, everything is Brahman. He is liberated.

Commentary by Chinmayananda Swami:

With a deep study of the Reality, the seeker in all his various personal identities, thereafter comes to live in unison with that understanding of the Divinity. His intellect gets, as it were, absorbed in That Knowledge and his mind cannot but sing the song of Godliness through everyone of its emotions. He becomes ever intent upon the Infinite Bliss which he has come to recognise as the essence in him. to such an individual the very Goal is nothing but the Self, which he has understood as illimitable and unlimited.

An individual who has thus educated himself upon the World-of-Truth within himself, shall thereafter, have no reason or chance to get caught up again in this world of likes and dislikes. This is the result of full PARTICIPATION in the studies. The next stage is to live up to what is understood from the studies; the active INVOLVEMENT in spiritual life. Then comes complete COMMITMENT.

How can we say that the ego will not rise again in such a man's bosom? The reason is indicated here, when Krishna qualifies such men as "THOSE WHOSE IMPURITIES HAVE BEEN SHAKEN OFF BY KNOWLEDGE." The impurities mentioned here are the vasanas which are the very materials with which the ego is conjured up. These vasanas together constitute what we philosophically call: "the ignorance of Spiritual Divinity." The antidote for ignorance is Knowledge. Thus, when, with the rise of the Knowledge of Spiritual Bliss, the dreary darkness of ignorance ends, the ego too comes to a total extinction from which it cannot re-start its career. Without a cause no effect is ever possible. In short, in this stanza, we are meeting the most optimistic philosophy in the world, declaring courageously that, Self-Realisation is the final experience in the pilgrimage of evolution, and that, in it, the evolver in us shall come to fulfil himself. God-realisation is the last stage of growth, and thereafter, to be the 'Supreme' is the goal of all evolutionary struggles, to achieve which, the ego, in its self-evolution, roamed about so long in the field of its own self-created world-of-finitude and imperfections!

AtmaJyothi

Jnanenathu tath ajnanam yeshaam naashitam atmanah |

Teshaam aadithyavath jnanam prakaashayathi tatparam || 5.16 ||

"But to those whose ignorance is destroyed by the Knowledge of the Self, like the sun, to them Knowledge reveals the Supreme (BRAHMAN) ."

My meaning:

For whose ignorance is destroyed in the presence of Knowledge, his knowledge of the self, shines the Bhrahan, like in the presence of sun, darkness disappears automatically and brightens the world. If there is no disturbance in that person (Jnani), no darkness, then automatically what gives raise to is Paramatman/Supreme, that is light(Atma-Jyothi).

Commentary by Chinmayananda Swami:

In the case of finite mortals, sighing and sobbing in ignorance, the Self is screened off from them by lifeless walls of nescience (Avidya). The man of realisation is one in whom Knowledge has lifted this veil of ignorance. Darkness is removed by Light not by degrees but instantaneously --- however old the darkness may be and however thick its density. Similarly, in one who has Knowledge (Jnana) of the Self, the beginningless ignorance is lifted and within a lightning flash, his ignorance ends. Ignorance creates the ego-centric concept and the ego thrives in the body, mind and intellect. With the end of ignorance, the ego too ends.

At this stage of Vedantic discussion, the dualists (Dwaitins) generally feel like collapsing in sheer despair. they fail to understand how the Self can be experienced when the experiencer, the ego and the instruments of experiencing, which are familiar to them in perception, feeling and thinking, have all ended. Any intelligent student must surely entertain this doubt. Foreseeing this possibility, Krishna is here trying to explain how, when the ego has ended, Knowledge becomes self-evident.

This explanation cannot be brought so easily within the comprehension of a thinking intellect but by the example, which the Lord gives in the second line: "LIKE THE SUN." It is the experience of all of us that, during the monsoon, we do not see the sun for days together, and we, in our hasty conclusions, cry out "the sun has been covered by clouds."

When we reconsider this statement, it is not very difficult for us to understand that the sun cannot be covered by a tiny bit of a cloud. Also, the region of the cloud is far removed from the centre of the Universe where the sun, in its infinite glory, revels as the one-without-a-second. The minute humans observing from the surface of the globe with their tiny eyes, experience that the glorious orb of the sun is being veiled because of a wisp of cloud. Even a mighty mountain can be veiled from our vision if we put our tiny little finger very near our eyes!

Similarly, the ego (Jiva) looking up to the Atman finds that ignorance is enveloping the Infinite. This ignorance is not in Truth, just as the clouds are never in the sun. The finite ignorance is certainly a limited factor compared with the infinitude of Reality. And yet, the mist of Self-forgetfulness that hangs in the chambers of the heart gives the ego the false notion that the Spiritual Reality is enveloped by ignorance. When this ignorance is removed, the Self becomes manifest, just as when the cloud has moved away, the sun becomes manifest.

To see the sun, we need no other light; to experience the Self we need no other experience. The Self IS Awareness. It is Consciousness. To become conscious of Consciousness, we need no separate consciousness; to know knowledge we need no knowledge other than Knowledge; Knowledge is the very faculty of knowing. Similarly, when the ego rediscovers the Self, it becomes the Self.

When a dreamer has ended his dream-career along with his dream, he rediscovers himself to be the waker. The waker is never known or understood or recognised as an object by the dreamer. The dreamer himself transcends the dream-world and enters the realm of waking, wherein he knows himself to be the waker. In the same fashion, the deluded ego, when it walks out of ignorance and enters the realm of pure consciousness, it BECOMES the Consciousness which is the Atman. This relationship between the ego and the Atman, and the technique of rediscovery of the Atman by the ego, are beautifully described by this metaphor which is full of deep significance --- for those who know how to chew upon it in independent thinking. THE SAGE, WHOSE INTELLECT IS ABSORBED IN TRUTH, WILL HAVE NO MORE BIRTHS.

Knowledge and Ignorance

Naadatte kasyachit paapam nachaiva sukrutam vibhuh |

Ajnaanena aavrutam jnanam tenamuhyanthi jantavah || 5.15 ||

Meaning:

"The Lord takes neither the demerit not even the merit of any; knowledge is enveloped by ignorance, thereby beings are deluded."

My understanding:

God will not take result of good actions or bad actions, merits or demerits of anybody. God is pure. We are only responsible for our actions and non-actions, and only we have to experience whatever it gives as result of actions. After getting the knowledge, these merits and demerits also will not affect to Yogi. One he have found the taste of knowledge, he does not want to come back to taste the ignorance. But in this world, ignorance is covered the knowledge, like dust covered the surface of pure water pool. Thats why, all living beings get attached to 'Maya' and believed that this is only the Truth. Once this ignorance is removed, knowledge can be found automatically. There is only one truth. That is Atman/Self. This is the eternal and permanent truth.

Comentary by Chinmayananda Swami:

The Supreme, who is All-pervading (Vibhuh), contrary to all our Pauranic concepts of stock-taking gods and deities, is declared here as not taking any note of the merit or the demerit of the living creatures. It is such passages that shock the story-reading devotee-class, and therefore, they generally ignore the Geeta and read instead the glories of Krishna. The concept that God sits just over the clouds, peeping down and observing every sin and merit of all the people all over the world, and that He keeps a perfect account of all these so that on the Day of Judgement each one will approach the Father who will pass the judgement --- is a concept which can appeal only to simple folk in whom the intellect is the least developed faculty!

The Eternal-Principle underlying life's activities cannot be conceived of as taking any active note or interest in the created or in the finite. From the Infinite standpoint, the finite exists not. It is only when the Supreme functions through Self-forgetfulness that It comes to see Itself split up into the concepts of agent, action, fruit, etc. Sunlight passing through a plane glass, in spite of the medium through which it has passed, emerges in its pure nature, if the glass be clean, flawless and colourless. If, on the other hand, a pencil of light were to pass through a glass prism, we all know that it would emerge in its seven component colours, constituting the spectrum. Similarly, the Self passing through Knowledge (Jnana) emerges as Self, which is the One-without-a-second, All-pervading, All-perfect. But the same Self, when It passes through ignorance --- meaning, the body, mind and intellect --- It splits up into the endless world of plurality.

The relationship between Knowledge and Ignorance is very beautifully explained here. Ignorance cannot be Knowledge, nor can Knowledge be a part of Ignorance. Where Ignorance is, there Knowledge cannot be. Where Knowledge has come, Ignorance must depart. But here, we are told "KNOWLEDGE IS ENVELOPED BY IGNORANCE," just as a solitary light in a dark jungle, seen from a distance can be described as a light encaged in darkness.

Diffrence between a Karma-Yogi and Others

Yuktah karmaphalam tyaktwa shanthim aapnothi naishtikim |

Ayuktah kaamakarena phalesaktho nibadhyate || 5.12 ||

Meaning:

"The united one (the well-poised or the harmonised) , having abandoned the fruit of action, attains Eternal Peace; the non-united (the unsteady or the unbalanced) , impelled by desire and attached to the fruit, is bound."

My understanding:

For one who is Karma-Yogin, bondage of karmas will not be there because of his awareness and knowledge of Karmayoga. He gets full of peace even though he is acting in the world, because he has no attachments. But for others, who are non-Yogins this Karma/action will be a bondage, because they have expectations and attachments with the fruit of their actions.

Commentary by Chinmayananda Swami:

Through right actions, undertaken without any self-dissipating anxiety for the fruits of those actions, a Karma-Yogin can reach an indescribable peace, arising out of the sense of steadfastness within him. Peace is not a product manufactured by any economic condition or cooked up by any political set-up. It cannot be ordered by constitution-making bodies or international assemblies. It is the mental condition in the bosom of the individual when his inner world is not agitated by any mad storms of disturbing thoughts. Peace is an unbroken sense of joy and it is the fragrance of an integrated personality. That, this can be brought about through selfless actions undertaken in a spirit of Yajna, is the revolutionising theory given here. When the worker is "ESTABLISHED IN HIS RENUNCIATION OF THE EGOISTIC SENSE OF AGENCY" and when he has "RENOUNCED HIS EGO-CENTRIC DESIRES FOR THE FRUITS OF HIS ACTIONS," he soon becomes integrated and comes to experience the peace of steadfastness.

Not satisfied by this positive assertion, the Lord is re-emphasising this very same philosophical truth in the language of negation. He says that when one is not ESTABLISHED (Ayuktah) in the renunciation of "agency," and because of his desires, gets himself tied down to some expected results of his actions, he gets bound and persecuted by the reactions of his own actions. Some medicines, which, in small doses can give a complete cure, can also spell death in larger doses --- for example, the sleeping tablets. An instrument by which we can defend ourselves can itself be the instrument for our own suicide.

In the same way, when we work in the outer field unintelligently, instead of gaining a greater glow of satisfaction and joy within, we will get ourselves more and more bound, and hurled down into bottomless darkness. The cause for this has been beautifully explained by Sri Krishna. Due to desires for specific fruits, we are mentally attached to those wished-for patterns to be fulfilled in future. This is compelling life to patternise itself to our will at a future moment; if a frog were to imitate a bull and grow to the bull's size, it would end in a tragedy; a mortal finite mind ordering a pattern for a future period of time, is in no way better equipped than the frog that tries to expand to the size of a bull.

Why does Yogi perform actions?

Kayena manasa budhya kevalaih indriye api |

Yoginaha karma kurvanthi sangam thyaktwa atmashuddgaye || 5.11 ||

Meaning:

"YOGIS, having abandoned attachment, perform actions merely by the body, mind, intellect and senses, for the purification of the self (ego) ."

My understanding:

One who is practicing Karma-Yoga, does actions only for purification of self/ego. Even though he is performing action, his attachments with the actions, world, body, intellect and mind are complitely vanished, by having full awareness that is Sakshi. But still he might having ego of knowing everything. Thus he is doing actions, to come out of this ego also.

Commentary by Chinmayananda Swami:

A Karma-YogiN's attempt is to keep himself within himself --- as a detached but interested observer of all that is happening around and within himself. When he thus observes himself, from within himself, as a worker in any given field, it becomes easy for him to see that all actions belong to the above-mentioned instruments-of-action and not to the detached OBSERVER in him. Here, however, he must realise that the OBSERVER in himself is not the Truth, but this OBSERVER is "Truth standing on the open balcony of the intellect." Even while thus observing ourselves in action, we are ever conscious of the very OBSERVER in ourselves. "The Consciousness that illumines the very OBSERVER, is the Spiritual-centre, the Self," is the declaration of all Upanishads.

If thus, the Spiritual-centre itself is something beyond the "observer," why should a Karma-Yogin practise this technique of self-observation called in our Shastras the "witness-attitude" (Sakshibhava)? This is answered at the end of the verse when Bhagavan says, "for the purification of the ego." By such a practice, the seeker will be entering into the field of activity and pursuing the work without the self-arrogating ego, thereby rendering himself available for an easy and effective purgation of the existing vasana-impurities. To the degree these are removed, to that degree the inner equipments become clearer and steadier, rendering the reflection of the Divine-Consciousness in them more and more vivid.