Bhagavad Gita Introduction Part 01 on 16-March -2016

Do you have the mahātmyam in that? It is there? Is it there? Pranam. Yeah. So we will start first how to pronounce properly. That's one of the joys. If you don't pronounce, it doesn't bring you any sin, but it's a joy to do it, learn.

There are two types of verses here. One type is called mostly—95% of it is, I would say 98% of it is—called anuṣṭup chanda. Chanda means meter. Sanskrit meter is called chandas. So 95% or even more is what we call anuṣṭup, which means there is a verse, it is divided into four parts, and each part will have eight syllables. So 8 times 4, how many? 32. This is the simplest. There are certain verses which are in a different meter of different length. First we will practice it. You know, you see, does it start with pārthāya? Yes. Okay.

Pārthāya, then two, three, four, five, six. Seven is a little bit difficult. Then eight. Let us practice it with, let us say, I'm just thinking... second, third, fourth, fifth. Let us practice second, third, fourth, and fifth. Then slowly we will improve in coming classes. It goes like this.

oṁ namo'stu te vyāsa viśālabuddhe |
phullāravindāyatapatranetra || yena tvayā bhāratatailapūrṇaḥ |
prajvālito jñānamayaḥ pradīpaḥ ||

prapannapārijātāya totravetraikapāṇaye | jñānamudrāya kṛṣṇāya gītāmṛtaduhe namaḥ ||

sarvopaniṣado gāvo dogdhā gopālanandanaḥ | pārtho vatsaḥ sudhīrbhoktā dugdhaṁ gītāmṛtaṁ mahat ||

vasudevasutaṁ devaṁ kaṁsacāṇūramardanam | devakīparamānandaṁ kṛṣṇaṁ vande jagadgurum ||

Let us practice this fifth one two, three times. Do you want to hear once more or can you join me?

vasudevasutaṁ devaṁ kaṁsacāṇūramardanam | devakīparamānandaṁ kṛṣṇaṁ vande jagadgurum ||

So now let us start with second one... not second, third. Third, fourth, and fifth, we'll say.

prapannapārijātāya totravetraikapāṇaye | jñānamudrāya kṛṣṇāya gītāmṛtaduhe namaḥ ||

sarvopaniṣado gāvo dogdhā gopālanandanaḥ | pārtho vatsaḥ sudhīrbhoktā dugdhaṁ gītāmṛtaṁ mahat ||

vasudevasutaṁ devaṁ kaṁsacāṇūramardanam | devakīparamānandaṁ kṛṣṇaṁ vande jagadgurum ||

So we will practice, and those who have recorded, they can follow me. What I would like to do now, a bird's-eye view of the Bhagavad Gītā. Since today we are going to start Bhagavad Gītā, we must have a bird's-eye view, the whole essence. So I will give you one, one copy. Distribute one, one copy.

Everyone got? Okay. So before undertaking the study of any book, secular or spiritual, if we have a bird's-eye view, then it is very helpful in grasping the essence of the book very quick, very clear, and everything falls into place. Otherwise, if you go on studying without a bird's-eye view, what happens is, here something is told, something else is told, and it will take time to find out what is the connection between all these things.

So this is what—you look into the notes I have given you about what is Bhagavad Gītā about, what is the essence of it. So first I will take, at the end of—if you have noticed—at the end of every chapter, how the Bhagavad Gītā ends: iti śrīmadbhagavadgītāsu upaniṣatsu brahmavidyāyāṁ yogaśāstre śrīkṛṣṇārjunasamvāde... such-and-such adhyāyaḥ, chapter.

So what is the first thing? Upaniṣads. That means what? Bhagavad Gītā is nothing but the essence of the Upaniṣads. And what is Upaniṣad about? Brahma-vidyā. What is brahma-vidyā? Vidyā means knowledge. Brahma-vidyā means knowledge of Brahman. Knowledge of Brahman means knowledge of Truth. Knowledge of Truth means knowledge of myself.

So that is the first meaning. I will come back to the word upaniṣad because very interesting. Then what is the last word? Yoga-śāstre. Bhagavadgītāsu upaniṣatsu brahmavidyāyāṁ yogaśāstre. So we have already Upaniṣad, brahma-vidyā. What is Upaniṣad? Nothing but brahma-vidyā. What is brahma-vidyā? Nothing but ātma-vidyā. What is ātma-vidyā? The truth about reality, truth about reality. What is reality?

So do we know what is reality now? We think we know. So it is not reality, it is not unreality. It is not reality, it is not unreality. It is seeming partial reality. It is called māyā. Many people mistranslate, misunderstand māyā means non-existence, unreal means non-existence. No, the world is not unreal. It's an English word. We use mithyā or māyā, avidyā. What does it mean? There is truth. That truth is perceived in a distorted way. It is not untruth, it is a truth, but it is perceived in a distorted way, and that creates all the problems.

And it is also yoga-śāstra. The word yoga-śāstra has several meanings. One meaning is it's very practical. If any scripture is not practical, it is totally useless. It is very practical. Another meaning is, yoga means we all know about four yogas. So what is the meaning of the word yoga? We all know about it. What is it? Union. Yes. Union with what? God. Yes. What does it mean? What does God mean? God means our own self. That means it is not even a union, it is realization that I am me, I am God. That is the meaning of yoga. Otherwise union means what? There are several meanings are there. You put salt in water, sugar in water, it's one kind of union.

But what we are talking about is, suppose there is a body of water and you put a stick. It seems now to be divided into two, and you remove the stick. What happened? As though they were divided, as though they were united, that is not the meaning. It is only the stick only appears to have divided, the waters appear to be divided, but never divided. That is the meaning of the word yoga.

What is the first meaning we said? Yoga-śāstra means very practical. And Patanjali yoga-śāstra, what is it? Yogaḥ citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ. Every yoga's function is only that. Remove all the mind. What is the stick here? The stick is citta. In this word, the stick is citta, mind. And the Brahman appears to be divided because of citta into two. What are those two? Jīvātman and Paramātman. Never divided. So you remove the citta, and everything will be one. That is the another meaning. First meaning is very practical. Second meaning is, it is practice any of the yogas: karma-yoga, bhakti-yoga, jñāna-yoga, rāja-yoga.

"Can I ask something about that, Swamiji? With the yogas, ought you to focus on one yoga, or does it matter if you focus on more than one yoga at a time?"

Yes, you can practice, you can combine. We will come to that point later on. I'm just defining what is Bhagavad Gītā about. How do we know? So it is there at the end of every single chapter: Bhagavadgītāsu upaniṣatsu brahmavidyāyāṁ yogaśāstre, then a dialogue, Śrī Kṛṣṇārjuna-saṁvāde, a dialogue. And most of our Upaniṣads are dialogues. And the name of the chapter. The name of the first chapter, what is it? Viṣāda-yoga. So we will come to that point later on. So what is Bhagavad Gītā about? That which reveals the truth about one's own self, that is all Bhagavad Gītā is about. Clear? What is it? That which reveals the truth, and it's a practical thing. The whole Bhagavad Gītā is only just practical.

Second, what is—it is one of the prasthāna-trayī. Bhagavad Gītā is one of the three foundational scriptures of Vedānta or Hinduism. Three foundational scriptures, that is why it is called prasthāna-trayī. Trayī means three. What is prasthāna? Sthāna means a place. Prasthāna means that which takes us to the highest abode is called prasthāna. Of these prasthānas, three we said: Upaniṣads, Brahma Sūtras, and Bhagavad Gītā. Upaniṣads is called śruti-prasthāna. Brahma Sūtras is called nyāya-prasthāna. And Gītā is called smṛti-prasthāna. Smṛti—do you know the difference between śruti and smṛti? Śruti means revealed, direct revelation from God. Smṛti means after hearing from someone who had heard this revelation from a person who directly experienced the truth (śruti)—we will explore the deeper meaning later on, what is śruti, very important—but here there are some people who realized the truth, then they expressed their experience, someone else heard from them, usually their disciples, devotees, and taking their words as truth based upon their faith in the person from whom they have heard, they have formulated certain other scriptures.

Simple example, Shankaracharya. Millions, Shankaracharya... What did Shankaracharya do? He did not write Bhagavad Gītā. He had faith in the Bhagavad Gītā, and then he commented upon it. So that commentary itself is a smṛti. Smṛti means secondary scripture. Śruti means direct revelation. Anything based upon direct revelation is called smṛti. So this is called smṛti-prasthāna. Other things we will talk about later on.

So this is a book about truth. Naturally the question comes: it teaches brahma-vidyā, self-knowledge. Why do we want Brahman knowledge? Is not life going on merrily without studying Bhagavad Gītā? It goes on. But then there is a problem. What is the problem? Saṁsāra is a problem. So the first chapter is very relevant. What is the relevance? Before that, I will quote you something. See, what is philosophy? Do you know what is philosophy? "Philosophy is a search for a black cat in a dark room long after it has fled." This is about Western philosophy, called also speculative philosophy. Indian philosophy is totally different. What is it called? Darśana. Darśana means what? Direct vision. Darśana means direct vision. So philosophy is a direct vision. That's why philosophy and religion in India have never become separated, which again we will discuss during our deep talks.

But what it means is, a philosophy is useless if it is not truth, and philosophy must be practical. The practical side of philosophy is called religion, and the theoretical side of religion is called philosophy. Nothing to do with speculations.

Okay. So why philosophy? This was questioned in a philosophical school called Sāṅkhya—Sāṅkhya Yoga. Now Sāṅkhya Yoga, there are certain authoritative books. It says: duḥkhatrayābhighātāt jijñāsā. Jijñāsā means the deep desire, intense desire to know. Know what? Because of tāpatraya. The example is, suppose you are burning, and what is your immediate desire? How to quench the fire? Suppose you see a body of water—dīpta-śirāḥ jalarāśim iva, the whole head is on fire, jalarāśi, means you see a lake, a pond of water, what would be your natural instinct? To go there. That is called jijñāsā, the desire to know.

Okay. So why the desire? When does the desire come to know? Simply can you sit and then say, "Now I desire to know about truth"? It will not come. Unless you suffer, it will not come. That is why the very first chapter is the most relevant chapter. Had not Arjuna gone through this hellfire, he would never have surrendered to God, he would never have asked for the teaching, and he would never have got it. And we see it as we go along, that first he did not seek knowledge, he thought he had knowledge. And then what did he say? He said that "I am perfectly justified in taking my own decision in not fighting." Krishna didn't say anything. Then he got confused: "Why is there no response? Why is there no approval? Why is there no applause? I gave such a big talk, and there was nobody to applaud. There must be something wrong with me." Then he understood. Then he surrendered. Surrendered means what? What is the meaning of surrender? "I want to know." The meaning of surrender is, "I am dying to be rescued." That is called surrender. Nicely after nice breakfast, "I surrender myself to you," is not going to work.

So what is the point we are making? Philosophy comes because of deep misery, suffering from three sources. What are those three sources? Tāpatraya we call it. That's why when we say śānti, how many times we say? Why three times? Because one peace, peace from one side is not going to solve the problem, because I am burning from three ways: the body is burning, the mind is burning, and my soul is also burning. These are three separate issues again. Beautiful analysis: gross body, subtle body, and causal body. So there is a physical body, there is a subtle body, and there is a spirit body. We will come to that.

So when there is so much suffering, the next question: can you not find remedy in this world? So you can find the remedy, but it has two defects. One, it is a partial remedy; it is a temporary remedy. Partial means if it relieves in some part, then the other part is burning. And it is only for a short time. There is no complete and permanent remedy. Only philosophy can give complete and permanent remedy. So that is the point here, that viṣāda. Viṣāda means what? Grief. So why does viṣāda come, and how long does it stay? I'm talking—every religion tells it, but I'm talking especially from Vedāntic point of view.

This world is another name for suffering. That's why it is called saṁsārī. Sam-sorry. A person who is in saṁsāra is called saṁsārī. He wants to be sam-sorry, and doesn't want to have any sorry. The nature of this world—what is the nature of this world? Change. That's why the very Sanskrit words, two words I will give you. Saṁsāra is one word. You know what is the meaning of saṁsāra? That which is constantly fluctuating, changing, flowing, is called saṁsarati. That's why saras—dhyāyetcittasarojastham—Holy Mother's meditation mantra: dhyāyetcittasarojastham. Saroja means lotus. Saras-ja means born. What it means—saras. What is saras? That which is always flowing: a stream, a body of water, a river, everything. Water is flowing. That's one word, saṁsāra, always changing. What is the second word? Jagat. Jagat means what? Gati. Gati means what? Movement. Constant movement, that is the nature, name of the world. And also another word is there, prapañca. Prapañca means what? Made up of five elements. But what is the nature? Constant change.

So viṣāda, what is viṣāda? What is misery? That which never stays steady, but always changing, it is a source of misery. That means what is that? Insecurity. One way of describing it, though it is a very light way of describing it: suppose there is a round ball, try to stand steadily on it, or stand on a bicycle without any stand. What happens? You'll have to constantly balance, isn't it? You'll have to make balance. And by the way, yoga also means balance.

Okay. What is the point we are discussing? Anything that never remains unchanging is a source of insecurity, insecurity. This is a wonderful point. Again we will discuss it later on. What is the meaning? So long as we are identified with the body and mind, and body and mind is another name for the world, so long there would be suffering. That is why it is called ṣaḍ-ūrmi. Six changes. What are the six changes? Conception, steadiness, birth, growth, old age, disease, death. So we—every body, everything in this world, sooner or later it has to go through this. And that is the cause of misery. We want something of which we say, "I am secure." There is no security here. Two problems we say: insecurity and incompleteness, insecurity and incompleteness.

So these can spring, and would spring, like Murphy's Law, Murphy's Law, from three sources. What are those sources? Body, mind, and spirit. Or another way of saying: from my body, from the external world, from gods—ādhyātmika, ādhibhautika, ādhidaivika, three sources. So what is the remedy? Remedy is to find out that which never changes. And what is it that never changes? Ātman. Because it is never born, so therefore it will never change. That which is not born means it doesn't go through these six changes. That means it is complete, and it is secure. That is, the only thing that is secure and complete is what? Ātman, Brahman. So we want to be free. Freedom from three tāpas, sufferings, sources of suffering, is called mukti. You heard the word mukti? Mukti, mokṣa, liberation—all these are synonymous terms.

So every human being, every living creature in fact, but consciously a human being, he wants only two things in this life, after life, in this world. How many? Two things. I want to interact, you know, you have to say yes, two things, because that will not for my sake, for your sake, it will reinforce. What are those things? Duḥkha-nivṛtti, paramānanda-prāpti. Destruction of duḥkha—duḥkha, you understand? Misery, suffering—duḥkha. And paramānanda-prāpti, attainment of complete happiness, eternal happiness, infinite and eternal happiness. Why two words? Infinite means what? Complete happiness. Eternal means what? For all time. And that is the nature of Brahman.

That is why another way of putting this is, defining God, in a way of speaking—God cannot be defined really, but in a way of defining for our sake: sat, cit, and ānanda. Sat means what? I don't want to die. Cit means what? I don't want to be ignorant of my existence. Ānanda means what? I want to be infinitely and eternally happy. That is God. That means I want to be God. That is—that is why Swami Vivekananda says, "Each soul is potentially divine."

Here is an important law factor: that which is our nature, we don't struggle to get out. That which is not our nature, instantaneously, instinctively, naturally, even unconsciously, we want to get out. What is that? If we are unhappy, do you struggle or not? A mosquito is biting, what will you do? "Okay, I will deal with it two days later." Will you say that? Unconsciously, even in your deep sleep, if a mosquito sits there, you are trying to kill it, or scratch it, or do whatever you want. What is the law? Whatever is our nature, we don't want to get out. What is not our nature, we want to get out.

Now what is the point here? The point is, if we are trying to get out—reverse this nature, this law—if we are trying to get out of something all the time, that means we are living in our nature, or in some other nature? Some other nature. What is that? That is called anātmā, anātmā. Okay. This leads us into a very deep concept. In this whole universe, if you are asked, how many things are there? How many things are there? Infinite, almost infinite, not infinite, but almost, means uncountable. But according to Vedānta, there are only two things. What is it? Ātmā and anātmā, self and everything else, self and everything else, truth and everything else, reality and everything else, okay?

So duḥkhatrayābhighātāt jijñāsā. What is the Bhagavad Gītā about? It's about how to get out of our non-nature with which we are identified now, and how to be permanently established in our true nature. Call it brahma-prāpti or whatever it is about. So Gītā shows us the way, the whole Gītā. Not only Gītā, Gospel, Complete Works, any scripture: Bible, Quran, Tripiṭaka. What is it going to show? How to get out of what is not our nature. So they don't put it that way because—I will we will discuss it again later on—they don't put it that way because only Advaita Vedānta tells the whole world is non-self, whereas dualists and qualified non-dualists, what do they say? It is a real creation of God. So if it is a real creation of God, there is no way you can deny it, and yet they pose you will have to go to God and it has nothing to do with His creation. The essence is: get out of the creation, prapañca. That's what he says. So Gītā shows us the way. What does it show us? Upaniṣads, brahma-vidyā, yoga-śāstra.

Now a little talk about Upaniṣad. You all heard about Upaniṣad, you heard about Upaniṣads, you read about Upaniṣads, you heard about Upaniṣads. What does that mean? See, I want you to interact with me so that, you know, you will understand it better. You heard about Upaniṣad, what's your idea about one or two of them? What does Upaniṣad mean?

"Does it not mean to destroy delusion?"

Yeah, but I am talking about a precise meaning. I'm not talking about the summary. Okay, I'm talking about the very word upaniṣad. Okay, the word upaniṣad is divided into three: upa, ni, sad. When in Sanskrit grammar—I won't go into it, bore you with it—when ni + sad join together, according to Sanskrit sandhi rules, sa becomes ṣa. It's actually sad. Sad, not sat, sad. So ni-sad becomes niṣad. Upa-ni-ṣad.

Okay, what does upa mean? Upa means what? Near. Upa means near. Upavāsa, live near. Upāsana, sit near. Very wonderful word. What does the Upaniṣads do? It takes us near, near home, near to—who is the nearest to us? Self. There is nothing nearer to us than self. Therefore, that knowledge which takes us to our own nearest to us—nearest means not sitting side by side; nearest means to be only oneself—that is Upanishadic knowledge, the knowledge which takes us...

So the other meaning is, three meanings are given, very simple. Simple translation is sad means that which loosens the bondage, that which totally burns the bondage, and that which takes us nearest to God, and here nearest not in a physiological sense. Nearest means you become one with God. And how does it do it? It doesn't take you. The analogy of a stick on water. So what does the Upaniṣad do? It simply takes away the stick, then you get unstuck. When stick is removed, you become unstuck, and you realize, "Oh, I thought I was somebody else. Now I know who I am." That is the meaning of the Upaniṣad.

What is Bhagavad Gītā? The essence of the Upaniṣads. How do we know? We will explore it: sarvopaniṣado gāvo, all the Upaniṣads are compared to many many cows. Why many cows? I'll make a little bit fun now and then. Why many cows? Because they are not England's Jersey cows, they are Indian Naciketa's father's cows, so they will give little little milk. So there are so many Upaniṣads, therefore the essence of all those Upaniṣads is brought out in the Bhagavad Gītā. And Bhagavad Gītā is also very difficult scripture, but if you cannot understand Bhagavad Gītā, then you read the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. What is the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna? It is the commentary on Bhagavad Gītā. So what we are going to do: study this Bhagavad Gītā in the light of the teachings of Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother, and Swami Vivekananda and other direct disciples, okay? Right.

So what does Gītā do? It shows us the way. How does it show us the way? How does it show? What does a yoga do? I want to dispel some wrong idea about the meaning of the word yoga. One meaning is union. It gives immediately you are separate from something, and this path is going to take you and unite you with something. But in Vedāntic terminology, yoga means viyoga, just the opposite. It doesn't take you to God. It disintegrates that glue which separates you from God, destroys ignorance. The purpose of every yoga is to destroy the What is the obstruction we said? Citta. So the citta is first purified, then concentrated, then it is destroyed. When the mind is destroyed, what remains? Just imagine, in deep sleep what happens? There is no mind. So what happens? You have no problem, no Gītā class there, no Gospel class there, no Sunday class there, no doing japa business there, as well as no eating, no drinking, nothing business is there. You are perfectly alone, and you are very happy, very secure. But consciously we attain to that state.

So how does Gītā do it? That's where Sri Ramakrishna comes to our help. There are literally thousands of commentaries from small to big. Of all these commentaries, Sri Ramakrishna's commentary is the shortest. What is the commentary? What is the essence of Gītā? Tyāgī. And what is the what tyāgī means what? Renunciation, tyāga. Tyāgī means what? Tyāga. Tyāga means what? Renunciation. Renouncing what? Renouncing what? Only one thing: renounce ignorance, renounce ignorance. This is what Sri Ramakrishna meant.

You become a monk, and you become nun. Then you see, what did you renounce? Can you become a monk or nun just from where you are, doing everything? Yes. Why? Because it is not outward renunciation, though some people do that. What is the renunciation? Renunciation of whatever is standing in the way of knowing who we are, and become free from this bondage. Renounce it, renounce the bondage. That's what Sri Ramakrishna meant. That's what Bhagavad Gītā meant.

Where is the connection? The last verse of Bhagavad Gītā, what is it? Sarvadharmān parityajya. That is the key that we get. Sarvadharmān means renounce all yogas, renounce all duties, renounce everything, until there is nothing to renounce. If there is nothing to renounce, what remains? You, the renouncer. Do you remain, the renouncer? No, even the renouncership doesn't remain. Renouncership belongs to the one who is trying to renounce. When he has given up everything—can you follow what I'm talking?

Suppose there is a person says, "I want to give away everything." So he may be very rich person. One after the other he is giving away. During the process of his giving up, what is he called? The giver, giver. And once he has finished giving everything away, would he still be called a giver? No, he was a giver, not he is a giver. Then what remains? Simply he remains. That is what is called what remains after everything is sarvadharmān parityajya. That is also called śaraṇāgati, the act of totally surrendering oneself to God. That's what Sri Ramakrishna said, that's what Bhagavad Gītā is said. That is the relevance between these two.

So what is tyāga? What is renunciation? Renounce the cause of saṁsāra, cause of bondage. If you renounce the cause of bondage, what happens? Okay, let me put it this way: bondage is an effect. That bondage comes because of what? Ignorance. So if you renounce the ignorance, then what remains? The bondage also goes. When the bondage goes, only the self remains, nothing else remains. That is the essence of Bhagavad Gītā, which Sri Ramakrishna's commentary so beautifully illuminates.

So how to achieve this renunciation? Bhagavad Gītā tells us five ways, though I have not mentioned it, but four yogas, you know. Into it either through karma-yoga, bhakti-yoga, rāja-yoga, jñāna-yoga, by one, by more, by all of them together, and be free. So that is what Bhagavad Gītā is going to show us. Beautifully, all the four yogas have been enumerated in this Bhagavad Gītā. Okay.

Now yoga. Four yogas we said. How renunciation—what is the essence of Gītā? Renunciation. How to achieve renunciation? Through yogas. How many yogas? Four yogas. What is yoga? Of course, we already discussed one definition of yoga is yogaḥ citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ. But here, how—what is the definition of yoga? Means when we are practicing, how do we know that we are slowly progressing in the path of yoga?

Now I'll ask you something very interesting. If I ask you, "Who are you?" you know, what would be—suppose you go to some new ashram, nobody knows about it, and a Swami or whatever asks you, "Who are you?" What would be your CV? How do you introduce yourself to them? "I am a devotee." That's very fine because we are bhakti-yoga. But suppose I ask you, "You are a yogi," would you accept that definition? "I am a bhakta," very happy. "I am a yogi"—are you happy to be called a yogi? What is so much of the—after all, that is what we are doing through japa, meditation, and other things.

So how do we know we are bhaktas? Why I'm coming to this point? You have objection to be called yogi, but you don't have any objection to be called as a devotee. Now who is a devotee? A devotee is none other than a yogi who is trying to become a perfect yogi through practicing a particular path, is it not? What is that particular path? Bhakti-yoga for us predominantly, but everything else is there as a background, as a support, as an auxiliary it is there.

So Bhagavad Gītā gives three important definitions of yoga. Not don't take citta-vṛtti-nirodha is the highest stage. We are not talking about highest stage, but when we start practicing, what should be the condition of our mind so that we know we are slowly making way towards that? Three. What are the three? The first definition is: samatvaṁ yoga ucyate—all from Bhagavad Gītā. Samatvam, what is samatvam? Balance. What is balance? There should be balance between your sleep, your activities, your food, and everything else. Samatvam is one meaning. Another meaning is: whatever happens in life, keep the mind in balance. So suppose you're very happy, should you not be happy? Should you be like that? So how is rasagulla? See, it doesn't give happiness, and second time you may not get it. Suppose it's a painful event, so what should be done? So the idea is you fix a balance and say, "This is the middle way. You can go a little bit high, you can go a little bit low, but don't go below that and don't want to go also above it." That samatvam, equanimity of the mind is one definition of samatvaṁ yoga ucyate.

"How do we know that going down and going up..."

Because when you go up, you'll be very excited. When you go down, you'll be depressed. Slight observation, or take a good mirror and look at your face. Or if nothing works, ask your wife. Yeah, don't come to me every time. Okay.

What is the second definition? Yogaḥ karmasu kauśalam. Yogaḥ karmasu kauśalam. Yoga is dexterity in action. You know what it means? It means—I'll have to give a slight explanation, very simple, but we will discuss it later on. We are doing karmas and there is a law of karma. What is the law of karma? I'm not talking about karma-phala. Suppose there is a light switch. You press the light switch below, pull it down. That's a karma. What is the what is the result of it? Light comes on. And you pull it up, what is the action? The light bulb goes off. So for every action, a totally different result comes. So dexterity in action has two meanings. One meaning is dexterity, lower meaning, not superior meaning, inferior meaning is a yogi who is steadfast, who is equanimous, who is focused, he can do any work he undertakes quicker, more efficient, and in a better way. In every way a yogi can do, whether it is reading book, whether it is eating food, or anything he can do much better than a person whose mind is disturbed. So dexterity means here what? Focus, use your intelligence, use your logic, rationality, and finish that work in the best possible manner. That is called kauśalam. This is a lower meaning.

There is a higher meaning, and that that is where I gave this example. If you push the switch below and light comes on, if you push—I can't give this example in America, I have to give the opposite. Yeah. So you push up, light goes off. Every action has a different result. But for a yogi, whatever action he does, it gives only one result. What is that result? Going towards Brahman, removing the stick. That is called yoga.

So karma-yoga means what? Through karma, I don't want any different result. I want only self-realization, self-knowledge, God-realization, samādhi, whatever name you call it. Two meanings we give: the first meaning is to perform any action with concentration, with rationality, with intelligence, finish it very quickly and in a much better qualitative way, very efficiently, that is the lower meaning, and a yogi can do that. What is the real meaning? Convert every action into one result. If I'm a bhakta, I will get more devotion. If I put on the switch, more devotion; if I put off the light, that is also more devotion. So if I serve somebody, more devotion. And if I kill somebody, more devotion. Is it true? Yes.

What did Arjuna do? What was he doing in the battlefield? Killing, more efficiently, kill. That's why when his teacher asked him in that test—so the test is to pierce the eye of a bird—and he said, "What do you see?" "I don't see you, I don't see the tree, I don't see the branch, I don't see the bird, I see only the eye of the bird." That is called the state of yoga. How difficult it is, but that's our goal.

That is why whether you take some incidents in Swamiji's life, take incidents in Sri Ramakrishna's life, when they do something, they can do most efficiently. Simple example: if Sri Ramakrishna wants to light up something, how many matches will he use? How many? Only one. That's because he focuses his mind. Yeah. If he does cooking, he will do the best way of cooking. Whatever he does, that is why he succeeded.

How many days he took in attaining nirvikalpa-samādhi? How many days Totapuri had taken? 40 years! How many days Sri Ramakrishna had taken? How much time he had taken? Three days! Three days. Wrong information. The moment his guru told him, the only obstruction was, "I can remove my mind from every thought excepting the Divine Mother." And once he succeeded in it, what happened next? He plunged himself into nirvikalpa-samādhi, and then Totapuri started wondering that "I took 40 years. This man had achieved instantaneously. Why was he able to do it? Is it a miracle? Because he was first-come-first-served basis, God-incarnation?" Because how much of preparation he had done! Ah, that's why so many incidents we will discuss in course of time. Okay.

"So why Bhagavad Gītā teaches violence, Swamiji?"

This would be for the next class. It doesn't teach violence. It's a wrong opinion. Just now you heard, what is it Bhagavad Gītā teaches?

"I mean, the story goes like that. That's why..."

No, no. Story doesn't go, it's a wrong notion, because people don't understand what Bhagavad Gītā is—it is not teaching about violence, it is not teaching about anything else. It is only teaching about the self, God, nothing else.

"Story, somebody asked the story, Swamiji."

No, no. That story also you have to interpret it properly. That's why we will come to that later on.

Okay. So what is the third definition? Two definitions we have here. What is the first definition? Samatvam. What is the second definition? Kauśalam. What is the third definition? Duḥkhasaṁyogaviyogaṁ yogasaṁjñitam. Even if a person is in the midst of the most imaginable suffering, he will be happiest person. Saṁyoga means deep union with duḥkha, but as though he is viyoga, as though he is not attached at all.

One simple example is there. Latu Maharaj, he was not able to sleep, not to speak of Sri Ramakrishna's example, he was not able to sit, he was not able to lie down because asthma. So he said, "I am in great distress." Then he said, "I found no relief." Then I said, "There's only one remedy. I will sit in meditation." And within a few minutes, he totally detached himself from the body and mind. He said, "My mind—absolutely God, what rest it had to get in that state!" And when I after 45 minutes or so, when his mind became conscious of the external world, he said, "The physical pain also, distress has become much, much less."

Now Sri Ramakrishna's case you know, he's totally detached. How do we know? Only one hint I will give you. So one day he had a vision of the Mother Kali, and you know Sri Ramakrishna's neck was bent. And what was his vision? Mother Kali's neck was also bent. Then he asked, "Mother, why is this?" And what did She say? "Because of yours." That means what? You and me are not separate at all.

Another incident. Somebody suggested, "You pray to God, to Mother, She will listen to your prayer, that She should cure you." Then he said, "Do I have a will of my own? Long back I offered it at the lotus feet of the Mother. Whatever happens, it is Her will." Now, very important point here: whatever happens is whose will? Her will. If whatever happens is good or bad, who gets the credit or debit? That's we understand. But what we don't understand is, if Sri Ramakrishna is suffering, who is suffering? Mother. And if Sri Ramakrishna is enjoying, who is enjoying? Mother. That is called total. You simply can't say, "When I am enjoying a sweet, I am enjoying, of course, by the grace of the Divine Mother; and when I am suffering, I am suffering, that also by the will of the Divine Mother." No, because self-surrender means what? They have become totally one.

And if you want to understand in a simple way, Holy Mother, one day a woman came whose son, grown-up son died, and she started sobbing. Holy Mother started sobbing. What was Holy Mother doing? She became that old woman, and by sharing, she took away. What did she share? Did you ever question yourself? Only you say she took away the unhappiness, sadness or unhappiness of that woman, but did she give anything? She had also given a bit of her knowledge to her so that she could withstand, and that's why she became consoled and went away. Innumerable examples are there.

What is the point here? The point is, even in the midst of the greatest sorrow, a person remains absolutely joyful. That's another definition of yoga. Duḥkhasaṁyogaviyogaṁ yogasaṁjñitam. Three definitions. Why are we discussing these three definitions? Because that is how we can judge: is my mind calm and quiet? Doesn't mean like a rock. A little bit leeway is there. Yes, you can be happy; you can also be a little bit unhappy. Only two constraints. What are the two constraints? First, it should not go too much and too much down, only this much. And second is, for a short time. How long? For a short time. A yogi doesn't go on grieving for a long time.

Example: Holy Mother's son died. Holy Mother started weeping from 3:00. It was our past arati time, somebody came and informed. You know that incident. Then Holy Mother washed her face. Afterwards there was no trace of grief at all. How do we know? We know because even if the greatest tragedy strikes them, for a moment like they behave like human beings, and suppose after that they have to sit for meditation. Suppose you sit, I sit for meditation after such news come, will I be able to do it? No. But what do you think Sri Ramakrishna does? As though nothing has happened, his mind will straightaway plunge into samādhi. That means this is not touching even the fringes at all. We are far away from that, but that's our goal.

So as we progress, how do we know? Take these three definitions: our mind will become more equanimous; second definition, we become more focused, more rational, more logical, and more expert; third, even if the greatest tragedy, not only of the world, but my own—a doctor comes and tells, "You are going to die in another few minutes," or somebody comes, "I am going to blow your brains"—what do you think? "Thank you very much! I want to go to my Mother, She's waiting for me," like Socrates. You know what happened to Socrates?

"No."

You don't know?

"No, I don't know."

Okay, he was sentenced to die by taking poison called hemlock, and the time has come. He asked the jailer, the gaoler, "What happens?" because he had seen so many people. So he went graphically described, "The numbness starts from the legs, and when it reaches your heart, that is the end." So Socrates is slowly describing to others, "Now the numbness has come up to the ankles, up to the knees, up to the thighs, etc.," happily. And somebody asked, "How you are going to die? You are talking as though you are describing some this." He said, "You know, because I know there is a better world waiting for me there than this world line. Unless a person is certain of that, in comparison with which death is nothing, I am waiting for something million times happier, then he will have no regret at all. Otherwise, to leave something which we know only, it is very difficult, even if it is a world of unhappiness."

Okay, as we progress, what is the touchstone? These are the three touchstones. Whatever happens, our mind is calm, our mind is very efficient, very focused, and it is never pulled down to a great extent; it recovers very quickly.

And here I want to insert something. By these definitions, you know nowadays millions of books, self-help books: Power of Positive Thinking. Gītā is the most wonderful book on power of positive thinking. There is no negative thinking at all. We will explore it, but I will specifically give an example, example very briefly, then we'll discuss it. When Arjuna was grieving, Sri Krishna tells why he should not grieve. He gives three reasons.

The first reason why you should not grieve, he says, "Oh Arjuna, you are grieving for whom? Bhishma and Drona, etc. Okay, what is your problem? "I am going to kill them." So supposing you don't kill them, already they are one foot in the grave. They are not young people, they are already one foot in the grave. So if you if you don't kill also, they will be killed very soon. Nobody can stop that. Just because you don't kill, nobody kills, do you think that they are going to survive? They are going to go.' The first reason.

The second reason, he says, "If you think they are virtuous people, dharmic people, if they are dharmic people, that means they have accumulated lot of punya. Punya, you understand? Merit. By doing good deeds, they have accumulated lot of merits. And when a person dies, whether natural death or somebody kills, after death if he had accumulated lot of merits, where do you think he will go? To heaven! So in fact, they will thank you for sending you there, you know, fast-track! Fast-track." So second reason, this is the second reason. Third reason he says that, "If you know that they are not bodies, but they are self, what is the self? Self is never born, self is never... So which viewpoint you want to take?"

And then later on, he inserts a little bit, you know what he says? That before birth, creatures are in not non-existent, but in an unmanifested state. And after death, they will go back to the unmanifested state. In between, they remain visible, experiencable, manifest. So tatra kā paridevanā, he says, why are you grieving? Because with you or without you, this is the nature of life, so they are going to be for some time, and this is aparihāryārthe tatra kā paridevanā. This is not in your hands. Aparihāryārtha means inevitable. If this is the fate of any creature, inevitable fate means what? Nobody can change it, then why worry about it?

Beautiful reason! That's why power of positive thinking. Don't-worry clinic! Don't-worry clinic. A doctor had a clinic, he named it as "Don't-Worry Clinic". So some patient asked, "What is this nonsensical title, Don't-Worry Clinic, what do you mean?" Says, "You know, if a patient comes to me and I start treating, only two things will happen: either he gets cured or he doesn't. If he gets cured, nothing to worry. And if he doesn't get cured, only two things will happen: either he goes to heaven or he goes to hell. If he goes to heaven, nothing to worry. Suppose he goes to hell, he will meet lots of his old friends! Nothing to worry! After all, he will rejoin with lot of his old cronies!" This is Bhagavad Gītā belongs to that Don't-Worry Clinic.

Whether you are alive, you are dead, whatever it... Even if you are the greatest sinner, "Oh, I am the greatest sinner!" You know, api cet sudurācāro bhajate mām ananyabhāk, sādhur eva sa mantavyaḥ, have you read somewhere? Samyag vyavasito hi saḥ. Bhagavad Gītā says, "Even if you are the worst of the sinners, do not worry, because this sin and merit, these are temporary things. You take refuge in Me, kṣipraṁ bhavati dharmātmā, instantaneously, the moment you decide, "O Lord, I have done so many things in my ignorance. I take refuge in You," that very moment his whole life is turned over." If this is not a power of positive book, I don't know!

And then he says, "Yes, power of positiveness, but you have to work a little bit." That's why what does he say in Bhagavad Gītā? Uddhared ātmanātmānaṁ nātmānam avasādayet. Lift up yourself by your shoestrings! Because you have that mind, I have given you that knowledge, this opportunity, this time, and everything I have given you. You just work." How much you work? Bhagavad Gītā, so many quotations are there: svalpam apy asya dharmasya trāyate mahato bhayāt. Even a little bit of practice of this yoga saves you from the greatest disaster. What a beautiful word! You will never get one single, "You are going to go to hell." No, temporarily, yes! But sooner or later, you'll come up. Okay.

So how does spiritual progress take place from the viewpoint of Bhagavad Gītā? This overall bird's-eye view: first education is dharma. You practice, become dharmic. Perform your duties to your station, to your nature, to your intelligence, to your capacity, perform your dharma. From dharma, what results? Purification of the heart, citta-śuddhi. From citta-śuddhi results, only one result will come: when our hearts are pure, one one result. You know what is that result? Jijñāsā, the intense desire to become liberated, to know God. And from jijñāsā, you can take any of the help of the yogas. And if you pursue with My grace, then you will reach the goal. So this this is Another point that gives Bhagavad Gītā gives is, all yogas are equal, valid, and any yoga is capable of taking one to the truth: jato mat tato path, as many faiths, so many paths, that's what Bhagavad Gītā.

So what is the point here? You read Gītā in the light of Sri Ramakrishna's life and teachings; you read Sri Ramakrishna's life in the light of the Bhagavad Gītā, you will not find any difference. Why? Why don't you find any difference? Because he who was Rama, who was Krishna, he only teaching the same thing in the form of Ramakrishna, same thing. Why? Because truth is one, language differs, expression differs, but the truth doesn't differ. Then what differs? Swami Ranganathanandaji's title is that, Eternal Values for a Changing Society. How they have to be implemented, that methods change from time to time according to the changing times, but the truth never changes. That's what he says.

"Maharaj, one question. So leading a dharmic life aids in citta-śuddhi, but also leading a dharmic life is itself a source of happiness. So where does the where does the link to having a conscious awareness of your suffering, or the negative connotation of suffering come, and lead into the jijñāsā?"

That's a wonderful question. Very briefly I will answer now. A person leading what is called a dharmic life, the first point is, there are two sources of suffering, two sources of suffering. What are two sources, you know? First source of suffering is, by the nature of the world itself: it can be hot, it can be cold, there would be enemies—you may be good person, there may be enemies, there would be what is called terrorists, and all those people can give trouble, mosquitoes can give trouble, anything can give trouble. The second source is our past karma. So dharma automatically doesn't remove suffering, because dharma is a virtuous action, and virtuous actions usually give their result in future.

If you are doing an virtuous action right now, don't expect—like that fellow, there was a fellow, he had faith in Puranas, and he heard stories: anybody goes for austerity in a forest, Indra will send beautiful woman. So he wanted beautiful woman, so he went into a forest, sat down under a tree with closed eyes, after five minutes he was opening whether anybody has been sent. Do you see the point?

So dharmic actions slowly purifies—we are not talking about yoga, we are talking about dharmic action. Dharmic action produces merit. Meritorious action gives two results. First, it leads because he's only following scripture-directed path, it slowly purifies his heart, and the second point is, as a result of puṇya, he might go to heaven. If he wants if his desire is to go to heaven, then what do you think he will do? He will go to heaven. But even when he comes back, that saṁskāra, you know, many times he did this good actions, so his that habits become very strong, and he will do more, and more, and more. Then as a result, a time will come when he slowly the jijñāsā will come: "I don't want this coming and going. I want to have permanent happiness." Now that is called, that's why I said: first dharma, then citta-śuddhi, purification of the mind. That leads to inquiry, jijñāsā. That leads to study of Gītā, study of Gospel, study of Bhāgavatam, whatever. That leads to the particular yogas or a guru, and guru gives the direction, then he practices yoga, then this is the spiritual progress we are talking about.

An ordinary man, he is if when he gets something, he is very happy, dharmic man; when he loses something, he can be very unhappy. The only merit is, he's doing good actions, good results will come, means his life will be a happier life, but he cannot avoid certain things. In nature of the world he can't change, so even if Dharmaraja is going out to call answer the calls of nature under Pañcavatī or Jautala, the mosquitoes will still bite him. Just because he's Dharmaraja, maybe dharmic mosquitoes might bite him! And get their own mokṣa! Is that point clear, or still you have doubt?

"I have still some doubts, I'll ask..."

Okay, we will ask later on. Let me conclude this one.

So this Bhagavad Gītā has got 18 chapters, about 700 verses, and it comes in Mahābhārata. And Mahābhārata has got 18 how many chapters? How many parvas it is called? How many? 18. Bhagavad Gītā is considered by most people is the aphorism, and Mahābhārata is the its explanation, detailed explanation with stories and all those things. The essence of Mahābhārata is Bhagavad Gītā. That's one point.

This Bhagavad Gītā, by many acharyas who commented, is roughly divided into three parts, six chapters each. 1st to 6th, 7th to 12th, 13th to 18th. First six chapters is called karma-ṣaṭka. Ṣaṭka means six. Karma-ṣaṭka. The next six chapters are called bhakti-ṣaṭka, and the last six are called jñāna-ṣaṭka. Means, first six chapters emphasize more of karma, karma-yoga; middle six chapters emphasize more of devotion, and the last six chapters emphasize more of knowledge. And it is roughly it is true, but it is not true that in the first six chapters nothing else is discussed—there is also devotion, there is In fact, second chapter is full of knowledge. But third chapter, fourth chapter, fifth chapter, these six chapter, they are full of karma. It is there. Roughly, it is some people divide.

So ultimately, there is only one way to get rid of any misery. What is that? Sri Ramakrishna's tyāgī, sarvadharmān parityajya, śaraṇāgati, self-surrender. We discussed it. Last point, very important point from the Bhagavad Gītā: God's grace alone can remove ignorance. God's grace alone can remove. Why? Because the ignorance belongs to whom? Māyā. Māyā belongs to whom? God. That's why He says: daivī hy eṣā guṇamayī mama māyā duratyayā, mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te. This māyā is divine, consisting of three guṇas, impossible to get rid of it by anybody excepting through My grace. And when My grace falls upon a devotee, by leading a dharmic life and prayer, what do I do? I give him that desire to progress, to take to yoga, become a yogi, and progress in spiritual life. That is what Sri Ramakrishna confirms and says, "By Mother's grace alone can one progress in spiritual life." And this is also confirmed by the greatest non-dualist Shankaracharya saying in the second or third verse of Vivekacūḍāmaṇi: durlabhaṁ trayam evaitat devānugrahahetukam, manuṣyatvaṁ mumukṣutvaṁ mahāpuruṣasaṁśrayaḥ. It is only by God's grace a person obtains three unattainable things in this life: a human birth, desire for spiritual progress, and the company of spiritual people. Only available by God's grace. This is what Sri Ramakrishna also tells: without God's grace, not possible to realize God.

This is the overall view. To summarize in one simple sentence: Bhagavad Gītā teaches us how to know who we are, and then only we can get rid of this suffering completely and permanently.

vasudevasutaṁ devaṁ kaṁsacāṇūramardanam | devakīparamānandaṁ kṛṣṇaṁ vande jagadgurum ||

So next Saturday, we will have what class? The life of Great Master. So you got already certain notes, isn't it? So we will complete that one, then as we progress, I will give you the notes what we are going to discuss in future. Then week after that, one week Great Master, and one week Bhagavad Gītā.

Bhagavad Gita Introduction Part 01 on 16-March -2016

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