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Bhagavad Gita Chapter 1 9
Chanting only of Chapter 1 by Pujya Swami Dayananda ji
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Bhagavad Gita - Chapter 2 - Saankhya Yoga 46
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Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4 Jnana-Karmasannyasa Yoga 30
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Bhagavad Gita Chapter 5 Sannyasa Yoga 20
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Bhagavad Gita Chapter 6 Dhyaana Yoga 15
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Bhagavad Gita Chapter 7 Jnana-Vijnana Yoga 16
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Bhagavad Gita Chapter 8 Akshara Brahman Yoga 17
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Bhagavad Gita Chapter 9 Rajavidya Rajaguhya Yoga 20
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Bhagavad Gita Chapter 10 Vibhuti Yoga 22
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Bhagavad Gita Chapter 11 Vishvarupa Darshana Yoga 10
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Bhagavad Gita Chapter 12 Bhakti Yoga 16
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Bhagavad Gita Chapter 13 Kshetra-Kshetrajna vibhagah yoga 37
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Lecture15.1
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Transcription:
7.15:
na māṁ duṣhkṛitino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante narādhamāḥ
māyayāpahṛita-jñānā āsuraṁ bhāvam āśhritāḥ
न मां दुष्कृतिनो मूढा: प्रपद्यन्ते नराधमा: ।
माययापहृतज्ञाना आसुरं भावमाश्रिता: ॥ १५॥
The ones who perform acts of adharma, duṣkṛtino (दुष्कृतिनो), they are mūḍhāḥ(मूढा:), they are deluded. Nobody wakes up in the morning and says “I’m going to do something wrong today.” You just can’t help it. You just end up saying things that hurt the other person, or are very careless, or very insensitive. You don’t care about how resources are used because you know, “my happiness matters most” etc. So, different acts of adharma (happen), just in terms of hurting another person. This is a lifelong discipline, to not hurt. And it’s not that once you’re wise it is done, of course a lot of things are spontaneous, but there is some effort involved here, that to the extent I can, I will not hurt. It’s a very important value, ahimsa. So it is one of the values in the context of dharma, but to those who do these acts of adharma, “I don’t care. I do what I want. If people get hurt, so be it. If people lose certain things, so be it, what matters is what I want.” And those who are narādhamāḥ (नराधमा:), those people who are lower in the sense that they almost behave animal-like. They justify everything. It’s like this in this movie, which said, it sounds very crude, “What shall we do about the hunger of the body?” (referring to the sexual desire) What will you do about it? Like a rhetorical question. So, there are a lot of people who justify that, ultimately, what matters is pleasure, and we are animals after all. So, as long as I’m having fun and pleasure, then all these values go to the dustbin. And we’re not being judgmental here. We’re just pointing out that those who are given to adharma, because it hurts people. Even a lot of people who try to justify that anything goes in the name of pleasure, (they) also get hurt. One of my friends, she’s seeking a divorce because they tried having an open marriage and both were okay with it. But, then she found it just doesn’t work for them. The husband still insists that it’s fine. And “you have to be more broad minded.” But it doesn’t work for her. So, whatever the acts of adharma, what do they do? For them, artha and kama are so important, and so all consuming, that they take refuge in āsuraṁ bhāvam āśritāḥ (आसुरं भावमाश्रिता:). The definition of asura is not somebody who is ugly looking. They are one who revels in sense pursuits, which pretty much makes a lot of us as asuras. “I love this fine music and fine dining, after all life is all about these experiences, you know, these lovely delicate flavors, and fragrances. Whatever, this is life, nothing else.” It’s one thing to enjoy all of this, but, anywhere I go, I am engineering and manipulating my situation so that the senses are pleased. There is always something nice to see, nice to smell, everywhere you go, and so on. And with all of that, you condition yourself by an obsession with sense pleasures. That is asura actually.
So, what Bhagvan is saying is, because they are so consumed by all of this (which is really talking about modern society), what is a good life? If you own a lot of money, then that’s a good life. If you have a lot of pleasure, kama, that’s a good life. Dharma, then what is that? If from time to time, you do some charity and all, that’s okay. That’s fine. This modern society emphasizes the pursuit of artha and kama to the exclusion of other things. And even our mental model regarding how we are bringing up children, also is only artha and kama. You ask most parents, what do you want for your child? They may say, “oh, I want my child to be happy. I want my child to be successful, get a good job or have a good career, eventually get married and have children.” What you’re really saying is you want artha and kama for your child. Now, which parent will say “I want my child to be a contributing citizen” or “I want my child in time to seek moksha so that his or her life is complete.” Very doubtful that any parent will say this. Because, understand this, we are obsessed with artha and kama and the moksha pursuit is just a little bit. “If I have time, I will come on a Saturday class, otherwise, it’s okay. We have so much socializing to do. If we can fit in, we fit in the Moksha pursuit a little bit. It’s good, you know, in the Indian culture. A little exposure is nice.” This is māyayāpahṛtajñānā(माययापहृतज्ञाना).
(Due to) This māyā shakti, (one) is robbed of jñanam, viveka, the discriminative inquiry into what is eternal (versus) what is temporal. (This) is not fully clear to me, and therefore, I will justify all my pursuits of pleasure and wealth and consider that as the goal of life. There is nothing wrong with artha and kama. In fact, a good section of the Veda is only about artha and kama, and dharma of course. There’s nothing wrong with it, but if you make that the goal of your life, or even if just before we came to class, maybe even now, a good life for me is having money and feeling good. Whatever may be my pleasure pursuits, and then also having harmonious relationships, all that is also kama only. So if all my relationships are fine, everybody’s peaceful, happy, and in harmony, my life is made. That is the pursuit of kama. And you are expecting Moksha from the pursuit of kaama, emotional companionship. And then of course, when things fall apart, as they often do in one or two relationships, then everything goes for a toss. Right? Then we start questioning “Oh, is this all to life? I have sworn off all relationships.” This māyā shakti, or the play of māyā, the play of the gunas, it is not willfully torturing you. Don’t think like this. Because of the obsession with artha, kama, and dharma, they don’t seek me(Bhagavan). That’s what he said. So then, he now talks about four types of devotees.
7.16
chatur-vidhā bhajante māṁ janāḥ sukṛitino ’rjuna
ārto jijñāsur arthārthī jñānī cha bharatarṣhabha
चतुर्विधा भजन्ते मां जना: सुकृतिनोऽर्जुन ।
आर्तो जिज्ञासुरर्थार्थी ज्ञानी च भरतर्षभ ॥ १६॥
There are four types of devotees, caturvidhā bhajan mām(चतुर्विधा भजन्ते मां), the ones who worship Me, and these people who worship me are sukṛtinaha (सुकृतिन:). They are the ones who are given to dharma, who do perform good actions. Good actions meaning actions aligned with dharma, aligned with truth. They are not very possessive. They don’t hold too much. They practice some contentment, some values of samanya dharma and who are these four fold people?
One is ārtaha(आर्त:), the one who has distress, sorrow and conflict. And prays to Bhagavan only when he or she is in distress. So, naturally when you need some help, you will look to someone who you think can help you. Someone who is more powerful than you and so on. The second type of devotee is arthārthī(अर्थार्थी), the one who seeks something of value, seeks security, seeks finances, seeks pleasure. And so this person is arthārthī. He/she has looked into all the visible factors to start the business or working on the startup, and he’s also aware that there is an invisible factor that is operating and anything can go wrong. So I pray, I seek help for all my pursuits. To “let my children be okay. Let my family be fine. Let nobody get COVID, they have taken all the precautions. We are going on vacation, we don’t know how the situation is going to be. So let it be all okay. Let me succeed in my job. Let me get my promotion. Let my parents be fine, let them not fall ill when I’m going on vacation.” So, whatever wish you have, you pray for it and you see that God will help you because in the past, Bhagavan has helped in many situations, is your perception. Then there’s a third type of devotee called jijñāsu(जिज्ञासु). So jijñāsu is the one who wants to know Bhagavan. How would the person become a jijñāsu? The person transformed from a mumuksu to a jijñāsu, and this is a very important transformation. Mumuksu means the one who wants moksha, which is pretty much all of us, right? We want happiness at all times, in all situations, in all places. Everybody, whether you admit it or not, is a mumuksu. I want moksha, I may be looking in weird directions, but I want moksha. But, (jijñāsus are) zeroing in on the nature of what this moksha is, which is fullness, which is me. And therefore the pursuit is from avidya to vidya, ignorance to knowledge. That is what makes the mumuksu into a jijñāsu. The one who wants to know, otherwise, mumuksu is the one who wants to feel happy all the time.
Now, that happiness is in the form of self-knowledge, which has no sense of lack. So, there is some education involved. And, vyavasāyātmikā buddhir ekeha kuru-nandana (व्यवसायात्मिका बुद्धिरेकेह कुरुनन्दन), bahu-śhākhā (बहुशाखा), २.४१, there are different branches, so many different modalities. And everything is worth trying for the ones who have a really high need for novelty. “Have you tried pranic healing? Have you tried Reiki? Have you tried past life regression analysis? Have you tried kriya yoga? Have you tried hatha yoga?” Okay many, many branches are there and then it is worth asking the question that okay if I try this, what will I get at the end of it? And, here in the moksha pursuit,the sadhana is really śravaṇam (श्रवणम्). Why? Because the goal is me, the limitless being. So, the nature of the pursuit is very different. And so to settle down in the pursuit can take years. This is really the nature of the question. So, it’s actually very good if one has done some experimentation and has explored all these different modalities, and then you will know what it gives you. And then you say I know but that’s not enough for me. So then, at least you are clear about what certain pursuits don’t give you, then it will not entice you any longer.
So this jijñāsu, the one who seeks the grace of Bhagavan, who wants to know Bhagavan, but why? Because, the mahavakya is tat tvam asi, you are that Isvara. “Really? I know I am related to my family, but ‘you are that’, like Isvara/Bhagavan? Nobody said that to me!” The Veda says it! “Ah, then who is Bhagavan? I want to know more.” Jijñāsu.
And the fourth devotee is jñānī. The one who knows me as oneself. So the definition of bhakti is parama prema svarūpa (परम प्रेम स्वरूप). Bhakti is Love, the highest love that you have. The relationship is defined by parama prema, the highest form of love which you have, is really for yourself, in other words is for Bhagavan. A lot of parents may think that they love their children unconditionally and it is as close to unconditional, but still, if your child doesn’t smile at you, or, does certain things and suddenly it seems to fade away.There are some conditions attached, and it’s good to be honest about it. So, this love for Bhagavan, that the jñānī has, is in the form of knowledge. Knowledge in the sense that I and you are not separate. Because, really when you look at love in our relationships, can you love someone you don’t know? No, not possible. That’s why people take ages to commit. I can only love someone when I know (them). Now, you can know Bhagavan completely. You may not know all the glories of Bhagavan, because you don’t have the buddhi to fully appreciate, we only understand things three dimensionally and there are so many other dimensions. So, all the manifestations maybe they won’t get, but swarupa (they will) definitely (get). That is a jñānī.
7.17:
teṣhāṁ jñānī nitya-yukta eka-bhaktir viśhiṣhyate
priyo hi jñānino ’tyartham ahaṁ sa cha mama priyaḥ
तेषां ज्ञानी नित्ययुक्त एकभक्तिर्विशिष्यते ।
प्रियो हि ज्ञानिनोऽत्यर्थमहं स च मम प्रिय: ॥ १७॥
Among all these four types of devotees, the one who is distressed ārtaha, the one who seeks security and pleasure arthārthī, the one who wants to know me jijñāsu, and the jñānī, the wise one, the one who knows that I am he or she are the same. Amongst all of them, jñānī, the wise one is always connected, united to me because his or her devotion and love culminated into oneness. You know how when you deeply love someone, you feel like you’re one with that person? There’s no separation, there’s no difference, there’s no distance to cross, you are so in sync. And Bhagavan says this jñānī is very dear to me and it is mutual. We are in this mutual admiration club. So I am dear to jñānī, jñānī is dear to me. So “oh my God, Bhagavan sounds really partial now. I thought he gave and he blessed all His devotees.” Well, of course he does. But for all the others, all the other types of devotees, I am a means to an end right? So you pray, “please give me this promotion, or let my child get admission.” Then, out of sight out of mind. Now, I’m fully focused on the promotion and life is great. Then one more desire comes up and again you pray. Bhagavan becomes a means to an end. But for the jñānī, I Bhagavan, am the goal, I am the end. The jñānī has been through the stage of bhakti earlier also. It’s possible that the devotee grew in trust by depending on Bhagavan for situations when the person was struggling in difficulty, and then slowly, slowly, also began to pray every day perhaps or just a chit chat conversation with God and then wanted to know a little more about who God is, etc. So the desire to know Bhagavan culminated into jñanam, when jñanam is complete, then of course, you and Bhagavan are one. You always were one, but one did not know it. And so that’s how Bhagavan says that I am the goal for the jñānī. I see the effort the jijñāsu made to completely know me. It’s not like Bhagavan says that I will feel validated or at least some people in this world fully recognize me and my worth. Because, you know if really Bhagavan had to think like a human being, what a tragic life! It’s like there’s somebody in the room and all the other minions just take credit for everything. Right? First of all, totally ignore the presence of Bhagavan and usurp and just take credit when things are going well and then blame some unknown factor when things are not going well. One of the most misunderstood beings, it would be tragic if God had a human mind. That lament would never end, because who really understands God. So, understand as in swarupa, that I and you are me. We are one. And that’s why he’s dear to me because he has seen that I Bhagavan am him or her. And that’s why that devotion has culminated in knowledge. So the jñānī is always connected to me. The other types of devotees are off and on, they’re connected through some thought or emotion or meditation or karma or something. But jñānī, always everything is Bhagavan. I am Bhagavan, and that is it. More to be said about what the nature of this devotion is, which we will see in the next class.