Bhagavad Gita Ch18 part 01 on 18 December 2021
Full Transcript(Not Corrected)
Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18 online Class 18/12/2021 by Swami Dayatmananda
Om Jananem Sharadam Devim Ramakrishnam Jagadgurum padapadme tayo Sritva Pranamami Muhur Muhur
ॐ वसुदेवसुतं देवं कंसचाणूरमर्दनम्
देवकीपरमानन्दं कृष्णं वंदे जगद्गुरुम् ||
Vasudeva sutham devam, Kamsa Chanura mardanam,
Devaki paramanandam, Krishnam vande jagat gurum
I worship Lord Krishna, who is the spiritual master of the universe, who is the son of Vasudeva, who is the Lord, who killed Kansa and Chanura, and who is the bliss of Devaki.
सर्वोपनिषदो गावो, दोग्धा गोपाल नन्दन:|
पार्थो वत्स: सुधीर्भोक्ता, दुग्धं गीतामृतं महत् ||
Sarvopanishado gaavo, dogdha gopala nandanaha|
parthovatsa: sudheerbhoktaa, dugdham gitamrutam mahat |
All the Upanishads are likened to cows. The milker is Krishna, the son of Gopala. Partha is likened to a calf, while the drinkers are the wise ones. The nectar of Gita is the milk.
मूकं करोति वाचालं पङ्गुं लङ्घयते गिरिं ।
यत्कृपा तमहं वन्दे परमानन्द माधवम् ॥
Mookam karoti vachalam pangum langhayate girim |
Yat-krupa tamaham vande paramananda madhavam ||
By the grace of the Lord, we have been successfully studying the Bhagavad Gita. By His grace, we have completed 17 chapters. And today, we are entering into the 18th and the last chapter of the Bhagavad Gita.
Now, this chapter is also one of the longest chapters. This chapter is considered by many to be the very essence of all the previous chapters of the Bhagavad Gita. I will very briefly mention something very interesting and very important. Bhagavad Gita has got 18 chapters. But the first chapter is considered as the foundation.
Vishada means bondage. A soul deeply bound, but awakened to the fact that it is bound and restless, wanting to get out of that bondage. Yet it is unable to understand the nature of the bondage and how it came to be, and how it can be destroyed, how it can fly back. In the words of Sri Ramakrishna, like the chicks of the Homa bird trying to fly back to its mother. If they do not fly back, they will be smashed.
Understanding that but finding no other way, Arjuna takes refuge in the Divine Lord. And so, the Bhagavad Gita actually starts in the second chapter, 11th shloka. The 18th chapter has got 78 verses, it is the longest, the next longest is the second chapter, which has got 72 verses. And in that He gives the very essence of the Bhagavad Gita.
So, second chapter beginning from the 11th verse to the end, 72nd, is the essence of what He is going to tell Arjuna. From the 3rd chapter until, I would say, the 13th chapter, all the four yogas are covered, four pathways which expound the nature of reality and what is its relationship with each one of us, with each Jiva, which is nothing but Jivo Brahmaiva Naparaha.
But he is caught in the middle, in the mesh of the samsara, which is called Jagatmithyatvam or Maya. And the four pathways, called the four yogas, how through each one of us, independent of each other, though they can never be separated from each other, but emphasizing one more than the other, can reach the goal, can know that Aham Brahmasmi, I am none other than Brahman.
And that has been expounded from the 3rd to the 17th chapters. And again, in the last chapter, the Lord is not saying anything new. He is only summing up the essence of what He has said in all the previous verses.
But there is an extraordinarily great pointer towards the end of this 18th chapter. He says, ‘Oh man, you can practice Karma Yoga, you can practice Bhakti Yoga, you can practice Raja Yoga, you can practice Jnana Yoga. No yoga is superior to any other yoga. Every yoga contains all the other yogas, but depending upon which particular yoga we emphasize, we call that aspirant either a Bhakta or a Karma Yogi or a Raja Yogi or a Jnana Yogi’.
This special point, the Lord clearly points out to each one of us.
So the question is, can someone reach God either through Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Raja Yoga or Jnana Yoga? No. And in the end, he also says, every yoga, he renamed it as Dharma. And he says :-
सर्वधर्मान्परित्यज्य मामेकं शरणं व्रज |
अहं त्वां सर्वपापेभ्यो मोक्षयिष्यामि मा शुच: || 18.66||
sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śharaṇaṁ vraja
ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣhayiṣhyāmi mā śhuchaḥ
[Abandon all varieties of dharmas and simply surrender unto Me alone. I shall liberate you from all sinful reactions; do not fear]
What does it mean?
It means all yogas, their job, the essence is to prepare each one of us to receive the ever flowing grace of God. In other words, without completely surrendering ourselves to God, nothing can be achieved. God's grace comes in the form of our ability to surrender ourselves, to understand what is surrender and to try our level most to surrender ourselves.
And through His Grace, the understanding comes, the effort comes, the progress comes. Finally, the culmination also comes, which is called Moksha. And that is why this chapter is considered the most wonderful chapter. And it is also by some, aptly titled as Sharanagati Yoga. The chapter entitled as the chapter of complete self-surrender to the Lord.
Some people may not accept this concept of self-surrender and say it belongs to the devotional path. They say their path is to become one with the divine, claiming Aham Brahmasmi. But even to say Aham Brahmasmi, this I, which is common to all bound souls, so long as there is I, it leads to bondage. So to get the complete destruction of the I?
Here destruction means it doesn't become non-existent, but it expands until it becomes one with God.
This becoming one with God is called Saranagati or complete self-surrender.
Like a huge river flowing through various places, starting as small droplets, trickling, becoming a stream, becoming a small rivulet, then a river and ultimately wending its way, doing lot of good on the way to billions of people. Ultimately, its mission accomplished, it joins the ocean, its mother from where it has risen by the compassionate Lord in the form of the sun. And again, out of compassion, this same river becomes steam and is carried away by wind to high places. And again, there it descends in the form of water called rain and again it starts its journey.
Thus it is the ocean, the grace of the Lord that starts creation, that maintains creation and that absolves creation by drawing it into its own self. This divine Leela is going on.
So this last chapter is also called Moksha Sanyasa Yoga. It is a most marvellous chapter, the very essence and whether it is Ramanuja, Madhva or Shankaracharya, even for that matter, everybody considers this chapter as the very culmination.
Even if someone has not read the other chapters, if he reads this chapter, if he understands it at least somewhat, then he will become blessed. He understands, O man, abandon yourself, surrender yourself to God and that is the very essence of Gita.
There have been, as I mentioned earlier, thousands and thousands of commentaries on the Bhagavad Gita.
Sri Ramakrishna's some words which we can consider, include in those commentaries is also one of them and it is one of the shortest and best commentary on the whole Bhagavad Gita. Sri Ramakrishna takes the word Gita and says by repeating it fast for some time, for some number of times, Gita reverses itself. Gita, Gita, Gita, tagi, tagi, tagi. Thagi or Thyaga, means surrender.
Surrender first the fruits of every action that is done and in an advanced stage, surrender not only fruits of actions but even some actions completely.
What are those actions? Desire-ridden actions, Kamya Karmas. As we understand, the scripture advocates regulatory daily activities which one should never abandon called Nithya Karmas. Then Naimittika Karmas. Occasionally on such holy days, Christmas, Deepavali or first year day, special attention should be paid is called Naimittika, occasional.
Every day Nithya means get up, pray to the Lord, do Sandhya Vandana, do Japa, do meditation, study the scriptures, remind yourself what to do, what not to do, especially today how I should live my life, etc, Nithya Karmas.
Occasionally holy days, special occasions we have to do special type of Karmas. Not doing them we incur sin. Third type of Karma is called Kamya Karmas. Everybody has special needs. A person doesn't have a job, he requires it not because he is not wealthy, he has to live. There is nothing wrong in desiring such a prayer, offer prayer to the Lord, please provide me a means of livelihood. Not greediness.
That is why the Lord clearly indicated earlier, I am desire which is not against Dharma. Anything that we desire unnecessarily is called Adharma. So let us pray for that. Suppose there is a householder, he doesn't have children and both the husband and wife long for a child. Nothing wrong with it. But pray to God and through His Grace try to obtain, not by hook or crook. Since the topic has come, could we use modern scientific methods? Yes, because that is what God has given. Try them. If they don't work, ultimately pray to God. Somebody wants something else.
So these desire-based activities are classified into two ways. Those who are in distress are called Arthas and those who are not in distress, they have been saved by God. But they have some unfulfilled desires but legitimate desires. I would say a little extra more than even legitimate desire. Okay, one sweet is fine. One cake is fine. But I want to enjoy another two, three sweets. Fine. But not forgetting it is all possible only by God's grace and it should be eaten after offering to Him and it should be eaten keeping one's health and other people's necessity in mind. This is called ArtharthiBhakta.
Artha means those who are in distress. Artharthi means those who are still ignorant and have unfulfilled desires. By the way, prayer comes naturally, automatically. You cannot have artificial prayer. I read in the Gospel, I should not pray for worldly desires but at the same time my heart, my whole 99% of the unconscious mind is longing for the fulfillment of such a desire. No, that is hypocrisy.
Pray to God but pray like this, Oh Lord, I have this desire. Kindly do what you think is best. Leave it to God. That is a person must have that faith. My mother knows more than I know. She knows what is best for me. Let her take the decision but I will cry like a baby. So it is not possible to abandon these three types of daily prescribed activities, occasionally prescribed activities and especially praying for unfulfilled desires provided they are not greedy and they do not fall under adharma, unrighteous desires like harming others, depriving others, stealing from others, etc.
But when a person's mind, his heart is somewhat satisfied, he enters into the third stage and that is the first class desire which is called Jignasa, I want to attain to God because I have tasted the world. I know its worthlessness. I no longer long after it. It is okay for maintaining life. I have to eat, I have to drink, I have to work. It is fine and unasked for if certain things come, enjoy them after offering to God within limits of health, both physical and mental, fine. But if they don't come, I don't care. But my mind is longing, thirsting for finding out the ultimate truth. I want to go back to my origin, my mother, my father and that is called Jignasa - inquiry.
Slowly, that is how a devotee inevitably and all by the Grace of God progresses. He is guided by intuition, by the Grace of God and he soon overcomes. I am not saying this. The Lord himself has said that a person who turns his face towards God is soon taken under the umbrella protection of God and very soon he becomes a Dharmatma.
That means he will do what is right. That means he will long for liberation, Moksha, which is the special subject matter of this particular 18th chapter, the very name Moksha Sanyasa Yoga. So ultimately he becomes a completely mature devotee called a Jnani Yogi.
Jnana means he knows now I am Brahman, I am God, I was never separated. I thought I was separated. That was a delusion in my mind that produced a lot of Vishada, suffering. But now through His Grace I was able to struggle. Through His Grace I was able to progress. Through His Grace I was able to understand that I am none other than God because the infinity can never tolerate finiteness. If there is anything, it will simply swallow it up.
That is the nature of God. God will never keep us away from him as his servant, as his friend, as his soulmate. No! He will always say, I cannot tolerate separation from you because my love for you is infinite. I would not like to be separated. I would not like to suffer from the separation of anybody even for a millisecond.
Of course this is human understanding. There is no bondage, there is no liberation from the view of God, from the Paramarthika view. So, ultimately it is God only, His Grace only, which will unite himself to himself all this time playing in the form of the world, in the form of all of us called Jivatmas.
So this is the final chapter having 78 shlokas. The very name of this chapter is called Moksha Sanyasa Yoga. I will soon come to that point. Why is this important? Let us analyze a little bit.
Moksha means liberation. Liberation automatically means freedom. The moment a person says that I want freedom, freedom means I am not free, I am bound. If that idea were not to be there, then the question of desiring liberation doesn't arise at all. So liberation from the sorrows and delusions of early life, in the reverse order.
First comes delusion, wrong understanding, leading to wrong decisions, then wrong activities, then wrong results, which ultimately end in sorrows. So liberation from the wheel of birth and death. Such liberation can be attained only by renunciation, Tyaga. This is a very important point. That's why I am taking so much time. Tyaga means, as Sri Ramakrishna says, Tyaga, Gita, Thagi, means man -renounce!
Renounce what?
The whole bondage, the whole suffering, the whole worldly life, the entire world depends upon only one factor. What is that factor? “I” - give up your egotism because you can't give up ego. It's a very important point to understand. We sometimes, people who do not understand English language, they use the phrase : give up your ego.
Ego cannot be given because ego is existence. But to think I am only this, is to forget our true nature. That is called “ism”.
Ramana Maharshi had a very funny way of putting it. Aham is Brahma. But ahamkara in South Indian languages, kara means the hotness of chilly. So the moment I am the body, I am the mind comes, then that kara is added. And that kara naturally burns. Burning means suffering. So it is the whole sadhana, spiritual practice is to give up this kara and remain what remains, what cannot be destroyed, what cannot be changed, what cannot be made big or small because Aham is infinite.
That is why Ramana Maharshi says all problems are solved whenever anybody goes to him with any problem or question. He used to say, “find out who you are”. Because the moment we find out who we are, we understand we are none other than Brahman.
And for that, there are various paths out there. As many religions, so many paths. Sri Ramakrishna went one step further and said, “infinite paths to infinite God”. Whatever opinion an individual cherishes, this is my idea of God. This is my idea of attaining to God. Sincerely if he believes, he will attain through that path to God. There is no one particular path.
Not only that, the same person doesn't cherish the same idea all the time. Every few passages of time, the person's understanding improves, develops, so he changes his opinion. Sri Ramakrishna's literal translation is as many opinions, so many paths. Joto moth, toto path.
So supposing somebody, according to others, thinks that this is a wrong path. Here is a secret. We are judging some persons that that person is going in the wrong path. Nobody in this world wants something false, something untrue, some delusory thing. Everybody wants truth. Everybody wants only what is existence, existent. Everybody wants what is real. Nobody wants what is unreal.
But sometimes we may mistake the reality which is called unreal, untrue, mithya, but in such a person's mind, what he thinks is not mithya. If he knows it is mithya, he will not want it. But he thinks this is real. We are all, all of us are after reality only. Maybe we are mistaken. But if we have shraddha, help will come, let me quote Sri Ramakrishna :-
“Once a man from Calcutta, he wanted to visit Lord Jagannath at Puri, which is in the southern direction. But out of mistake, he started walking towards the north and on the way, he started asking, I want to visit Jagannath Puri, am I walking in the right direction? And somebody took pity upon him and said, my man, this is not the way. You are going further away from Puri. You travel towards the south, you will reach Puri.”
So that somebody is called Guru, but provided the person is sincere, then only the guidance will come. This is an inviolable law. If we are sincere, guidance will come, right guidance suitable for our purpose. So many stories are there. If occasion comes, I will tell you. But now, this much is sufficient.
So, if a person is possessed of Shraddha, even if he is mistaken, very soon, the Divine Lord comes and corrects him in the form of Guru and anybody who gives right guidance is a Guru and ultimately, the Lord will attract him towards himself.
He is watching all of us 24 hours a day, life after life. He will not close his eyes even a single second and that is why Divine Mother's title is Meenakshi. Akshi means eye. Meena means fish. The eyes of a fish do not have any eyelids. So, why is this title given to the Divine Mother? Because she is the Mother of the Universe. There are billions and uncountable billions of creatures, not only human beings. It is human egotism, human delusion that thinks, She is the Mother of only human beings. She is the Mother of even the inert matter. She has to keep eye on each one of her children so she cannot afford to close her eyes for a single second.
The Divine Lord is watching us and He will take us in the right direction. So, our goal is to develop this Shraddha and if we develop this Shraddha, slowly we travel in the right direction.
And what is the right direction?
We have seen, first of all, in the 14th chapter, the Divine Lord has revealed to us the secret of this entire what we call, finite world, Jagat. It is born out of three Gunas, Sattva, Rajas and Tamas and it is manifesting in the form of Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. So each one of us start our journey from the Tamoguna, what we call food.
Tamoguna, Ideal. Tamoguna, Austerity. Tamoguna, Dana, Charity, Philanthropy, Caring and Sharing.
But if we have Shraddha, that is the most important point. A person is full of Tamoguna. There is no equivalent English word for these three qualities. That's why I am forced to use the Sanskrit words.
· Tamas means darkness.
· Rajas means twilight.
· Sattva means full light.
Perhaps this will help. So Tamoguna is not full darkness, semi-darkness. Because in full darkness nothing is possible.
So slowly man is travelling from semi-light to twilight, where the light is much more and full light in the form of knowledge. Light means knowledge. So the Divine Mother is guiding, provided a person is having Shraddha.
So in the 14th chapter, the nature and the result of Gunas is described - Sattva, Rajas and Tamas.
And in the 15th chapter (V.1), the Lord has very clearly pointed out we are all coming from God :-
ऊर्ध्वमूलमध:शाखमश्वत्थं प्राहुरव्ययम् |
छन्दांसि यस्य पर्णानि यस्तं वेद स वेदवित् || 15.1||
ūrdhva-mūlam adhaḥ-śhākham aśhvatthaṁ prāhur avyayam
chhandānsi yasya parṇāni yas taṁ veda sa veda-vit
[The Supreme Divine Personality said: They speak of an eternal aśhvatth tree with its roots above and branches below. Its leaves are the Vedic hymns, and one who knows the secret of this tree is the knower of the Vedas.]
The whole Jagat world including you, me and everything is all originating from the root which is God. And how to go back to Him, that is the essence of the 15th chapter. That is how we transcend both Kshara and Akshara. And then in the 6th chapter, a practical way. We have to acquire certain qualities. There are two types of qualities :-
· Daivi sampad [pure Sattvika qualities] and,
· Asuri sampad [pure Tamasic qualities]
By expounding them, the Divine Lord is clearly making us understand that these are the qualities each one of us have to aim for, to perfect for. Nobody is born perfect. We are all having a little good quality and very bad qualities too, but no need to despair. Slowly by understanding and providing we have that word Shraddha, that quality called Shraddha, (Shraddha is God), then slowly, the person travels from Tamoguna to Rajoguna to Satvaguna.
Now, where do we apply these three Gunas? That is being beautifully described in the 16th chapter - the goal is to acquire Divine qualities. What is a Divine quality? That quality which aids us, helps us to manifest our true Divine potential is called Divine quality.
There are many qualities. As I mentioned all these qualities come both in tandem. There cannot be any isolated development of one particular quality, good or evil. So, by understanding which are the demonic qualities, we can avoid them slowly, albeit surely. Similarly, Divine qualities slowly 0.001%, 0.005%, 0.01%, 0.1%, 1%, 1.1%, that is how progress takes place.
But slowly as we grow, as we develop these qualities our Antahkarana, Chitta, our heart, mind becomes purified. The more it gets purified, the more understanding comes and that is how we progress from Tamas to Rajas to Sattva Guna and this is inevitable. There is no way to what is called ‘jump the queue’ from Tamo Guna to Sattva Guna. No.
So the travel must be from Tamo Guna to Sattva Guna and when we develop sufficient amount of Sattva Guna, that Sattva Guna acts for us as a ship which carries the rocket and it will take us to some distance, height and then the Atma becomes completely free, it is thrown from that stage to travel independently to give the modern analog – we hit the so called “escape velocity”.
The Sattva Guna having aided the development of the Jivatma to a certain extent, it will give one final push and helps us to separate which is called Yoga. Yoga means Viyoga, separation, detachment and then it goes back again, reusable like a loving mother, takes up other souls who are travelling from Tamas to Rajas to Sattva.
For each one of us, She assumes a different form, a particular form, an individual form, a private tutor form and carries on. As soon as the person has developed sufficient Sattva, that Divine Mother in the form of Sattva Guna pushes us into the orbit of God and goes back to earth to aid other souls.
This is the beautiful conclusion in the Sankhya Karika, one of the most brilliant schools of Indian philosophy - the result of which has matured into Yoga philosophy later on.
So the journey is from Tamas to Rajas to Sattva. But in what particular departments this Tamas, Rajas and Sattva have to be employed as a practical means of developing into spiritual progress, has been beautifully dealt with in the 17th chapter.
With that most practical teaching in the 17th chapter, it is very aptly named as Shraddha Traya Vibhaga Yoga [Yog through Discerning the Three Divisions of Faith].
There are four stages of development in every personality.
1. Stability achieved through food both physical as well as mental.
So by giving us that discriminatory knowledge, we can see :-
o this is dampening food,
o this is food which makes a person becomes deluded,
o becomes restless and not caring for higher ideals and,
o this is the food which helps a person slowly to gain control to purify the heart.
This is what is called foundation, stability, okay, I am stable. This is horizontal expansion. What next? Now you must take off.
2. Vertical expansion is necessary.
For that, I have to formulate crystal clearly certain ideals in life represented by various great people representing such various ideals. Broadly these can be classified into what we call four characteristics :-
o one person is a karma yogi,
o another person is more of a bhakta devotee
o another person is more of a meditative type and,
o another person is full of true discrimination and knowledge.
But, as I mentioned, no yoga can be separated from any other yoga.
They are what is called conjoined, not twins I don't know what they call it four babies joined together! They all four have to work together, but one particular one in some personality, in one particular life, maybe dominates the other three; but without the help of the other three, one particular pathway cannot be achieved.
It is, as I sometimes compare inadequately, like a four lane motorway. All of them equally take us to our goal, our destination. But, depending upon what type of vehicle we drive, we may take the slow lane and change to a little faster lane, as we know we change sometimes between these lanes. That is very important for us to understand.
So for that purpose, we have to worship, we have to adore, we have to idolize, we have to become fans of Gods, of Brahmanas. A Brahmana here in the sense of an idealistic person, what Socrates called philosophers; not these professional philosophers but real philosophers.
Then teachers. Anybody can teach, he is a teacher and Pragnas, there are many wise people because life has got many many departments so we can learn certain things from many different people so these are :-
deva—the Supreme Lord;
dwija—the Brahmins;
guru—the spiritual master;
prājña—the elders;
pūjanam— we worship
What this indicates is - I want to progress by progressing in certain ideals and these are the people who represent those ideals. By worshipping them, by adoring them, by remembering them, by keeping their pictures etc, by constantly interacting with them intellectually, I slowly understand the ideals and develop faith in them. I try to practice them and progress slowly from birth to birth.
This is the second step, to get to a higher personality.
3. Undertaking Tapasya : hard work on our Ideals in the right way
For a still higher personality, we have to understand for achieving anything, sooner or later, we have to work hard! There is no easy way out! Everyone of us has to pay the price - somebody has said inspiration is only 1%, the rest of the 99% is perspiration - meaning hard work!
This hard work, also along with Shraddha, has to be done in the right way and that is called Tapasya, Austerity.
What is Austerity? It is voluntarily, intelligently, skillfully undertaking hardship.
It is not just for hardship’s sake but for the sake of progressing and developing these respective higher ideals which we have determined for ourselves in our second step.
This is called Tapasya – our third step.
4. Dana – sharing our experiences
Having achieved something in our third step, we then move onto Dana.
What is Dana?
It is not charity, it is not philanthropy, it is not giving away, it is not losing something. Just as we have taken the help of great people for progress in life, because they shared their experiences, their wisdom, their energy, so also a time will come when we have to share what we have achieved with those who have not reached that state.
That is called Dana.
If we can do this successfully, the highest Dhani, the highest giver is God himself. That is why it is said, when we read especially, the Gospel of Ramakrishna in Bengali, those who share this wisdom of Ramakrishna with others, those who spread the glory of the divine name in the world, they are the greatest givers.
Why? Because the people who receive them are receiving the greatest Dana!
But we must understand that this Dana, it is not really charity! Suppose somebody donates money, then it is not donation, it is not losing something, it is not lessening, it is increasing because there is the law of Karmaphala. It will come back a thousand fold! If it is given to other people, it will come back a thousand fold, not only in this life but in life after life after life! So it is a divine investment!
The other definition we can argue that it is not Dana - we have borrowed something from somebody, and after some time, we are simply returning what we have already received. Nobody calls you a great charitable person but an honest person. You are giving back what you received without cheating that person.
We are already debtors to :-
· Guru Yagna (Gratitude to all our teachers)
· Deva Yagna (Gratitude to God)
· Pitra Yagna (Gratitude to all our ancestors)
· Manushya Yagna (Gratitude to all fellow humans)
· Bhuta Yagna ( Gratitude to all other living and non-living entities)
So whether you consider charity as an investment or you consider it simply getting rid of the debt that we have already taken, like paying off a credit card bill; in either way, if it is done properly as a Karma Yoga, with the idea of pleasing the Lord, then it comes back many, many fold.
We are taking the wise teachings from wise people and spreading these teachings as a wise investment on our part – not for our selfish reasons but for the purification of our hearts. It is not to give us any extra results.
The highest, the eternal, infinite investment is : surrender yourself to God and that is what every great soul has said.
Holy Mother said :-
Take refuge my children in the Divine Mother,
I am your Mother when you take refuge in me!
I will look after you, so you are my child
Each soul is potentially divine - you are my divine child!
Never forget that and behave like my child”.
So this is the idea about Dhanam.
Now, because you are my own dearest friends, let me explain Dhanam in a humorous way! Suppose you encounter God and say :-
o “Oh Lord, you have put me through infinite trouble by creating this maya.
o Now I am giving back your maya with compound interest!
o You take back your maya!
o And I’ll claim my inheritance which you have postponed giving me by deluding me that I am still a small child and lacking understanding.
o Now I have woken up and you take back with compound interest everything that you have given, let me reclaim what I seem to have lost!”
I have not really lost anything, I am only playing on the lap of the Divine Mother.
So these four steps in each aspirant, who is :-
Þ endowed with shraddha, physical and mental health which is represented by food,
Þ vertical growth in the form of high ideals, by worshipping great souls who represent those ideals, and
Þ working hard, intelligently and with alertness which is called austerity or Tapasya, and
Þ finally giving back to God what belongs to God; giving back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar; giving back to the world what belongs to the world : Dana.
Thereby I understand what I am.
Dana means : I offer my entire ego into the lotus feet of the Lord.
I will never want to be separated from the Divine Lord.
That brings on Moksha!
So this 18th chapter it is called Moksha Sanyasa Yoga. This is a most marvelous thing that we have to understand - we have to develop jñāna-chakṣhuṣhaḥ ज्ञानचक्षुष: the eye of wisdom, of knowledge.
We need to put on the cellarium of discrimination :-
jñāna-chakṣhuṣhaḥ [right knowledge]
right desires & thoughts
right activities
we become liberated (Moksha)
That is the first interpretation of Moksha and Sanyasa. It is a very beautiful combination of two words, Moksha means liberation, Sanyasa means giving up and when we give up what doesn't belong to us and remain as we are, that is called liberation.
The second interpretation, as Ramana Maharshi used to say is that Moksha, Mukti, Nirvana (Liberation), Nirvikalpa Samadhi, Maunam, Shanti (Peace) - these are all synonymous words. So another name for Brahman is Moksha.
Hence Sanyasa means renunciation of all acts along with their fruits to the Divine Lord. Thus, Moksha Sanyasa means the surrendering of all karmas and karma phala, actions and their results to the Supreme Lord. Moksha means God, Sanyasa means giving up our entire life, surrendering our life to the Divine Lord is the second interpretation.
The third interpretation uses Mokshasya, the sixth case is used.
Mokshasya Sanyasaha means giving up the conscious desire for Moksha. Now that may bring about some laughter! How many people are not even thinking I want Moksha, are they equivalent to those people who have given up the desire for Moksha?
No! No! No!
That is not giving up the desire for Moksha! If you don't know you have wealth and you are not thinking of giving it up, then that cannot be called giving up wealth! You have to be aware and then if you decide to give it up, that alone is called Sanyasa, otherwise ignorance is not Sanyasa.
Here is a person, who through scriptures or wise people, comes to know that the goal of life is Moksha or liberation. After he grows up in spiritual life, he becomes a mature person and then he understands Moksha.
“Why do I want Moksha? I don't want Moksha! I just want to be divine! I just want to be a devotee.”
So the final giving up or surrender, which is called very interestingly in the Vedantic language, Brahma Akara Vritti [thoughts that have the shape of Brahman]. That thought that, “I am Brahman”, that should be completely nullified, destroyed, cut off. The desire for Moksha has to be given up.
Naturally the question arises, for so many lives I have strived for Moksha, and in the end you want me to give up this idea of liberation!
That is not the intention of the scriptures – they say God will give you that understanding that you are ever free, not that you have to have Moksha.
Sri Ramakrishna’s 5 Commandments
is the essence of
Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna
is the essence of
Bhagavad Gita
is the essence of
Upanishads
is the essence of
Vedas
So, after thinking Moksha is the highest ideal, a time will come when we understand that I don't need to strive for Moksha because I am already Moksha!
अहं ब्रह्मास्मि [Aham Brahmasmi]
means Aham Moksho Asmi - I am Moksha all the time! So when I am already that, the question of renunciation doesn't arise for two reasons :-
1. I don't need to desire it, nobody desires oneself.
This is the greatest fact! Everybody desires what one is not, what one does not have. If I have it, I don't desire it! If at all there is a desire, I want to enjoy what I have, without trying to accumulate, that is the first interpretation.
2. I don't need Moksha - I am ever liberated, I am never in bondage.
You cannot do this at the beginning, we have to do it only when we grow sufficiently and understand this scripture is not teaching us to desire liberation; this scripture is saying, ‘you be liberated from bondage, maya’. When we reach a certain stage, the desire for Moksha will disappear.
When the light comes, nobody says I don't want this darkness. When does the light come? When does the darkness disappear? Only when the light comes!
It is like being with the sun - where is the night for the sun? Where is the darkness for the sun? We understand these ideas.
So who is it that seeks Moksha? He who thinks I am a bound soul. The man who thinks I am bound seeks liberation. But having understood the Lord's magnificent message of freedom and perfection through the 17 chapters (I would say 15 chapters, from 3rd to 17th), then who can remain still a bound soul?
So that person understands as has been beautifully put in the 2nd chapter :
अजो नित्य: शाश्वतोऽयं पुराणो
न हन्यते हन्यमाने शरीरे || 20||
ajo nityaḥ śhāśhvato ’yaṁ purāṇo
na hanyate hanyamāne śharīre
- I am unborn,
- I am eternal,
- I am infinite and,
- I am timeless beyond time.
Thus knowing the birthless, the deathless, the ever free, the ever blissful, omniscient, omnipotent, ever glorious Atman, where is bondage? Where is the bound soul? Where is the Jiva who is seeking liberation?
It is all fiction! When the truth is known, the Jiva understands that his bondage was a myth, that he was never bound, that freedom and perfection are his true self, and that is the state when the idea of liberation is gone.
He has discovered that he was not bound at all at any time, the idea of seeking for liberation falls off because he knows I am ever free!
Vasudeva sutham devam kamsa Chanoora mardhanam,
Devaki paramanandam Krishnam vande Jagat Gurum.
वसुदेवसुतं देवं कंसचाणूरमर्दनम् ।
देवकीपरमानन्दं कृष्णं वन्दे जगद्गुरुम् ॥
May Shri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with bhakti and right knowledge we will meet hopefully tomorrow night.
Jai Ramakrishna.