Bhagavad Gita Ch14 part 06 on 30 May 2021

Full Transcript(Not Corrected)

OM VASUDEVASUDAM DEVAM KAMSACHANURA MARDANAM DEVAKI PARAMANANDAM KRISHNAM VANDE JAGADGURAM SARVO PANISHADO GAVO DOGDHA GOPALANANDANA PARTHU PATSA SUDHIR BHOKTA DUDDHAM GITA AMRITAM MAHAT MOOKAM KARUTI VACHALAM PANGUM LANGAYATE GIRIM YAD KRIPATA MAHAM VANDE PARAMANANDA MADHAVAM We have been studying the 14th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita. The Lord is beautifully enlarging our understanding about the nature of the world, about our own selves. The first point, he said that the whole creation is because of the mixture of Prakruti and Purusha, Brahman and Maya called Ishwara. As the cause in here severe effect, the whole universe is nothing but potentially divine. Potentiality has been attained because of the influence of Prakruti which consists of three Gunas. What do these three Gunas do? They produce an Ahamkara. Ahamkara is always a combination of Consciousness plus Prakruti or Nature. Pure Consciousness doesn't have any egotism. Pure Prakruti is completely inert. Only when both these come together there would be the production of what we call Ahamkara and every creature in this world has an Ahamkara so long as there is a waking state. A mountain also has an Ahamkara. In fact our Puranas are full of these stories. Mountains were completely conscious and they used to fly and they used to land wherever they want. So it is said Indra had cut their wings so that they cannot move and thus cause unwarranted destruction to people. According to Vedanta the whole universe is throbbing with pure Consciousness so each soul is potentially divine and why do we say potential? Because these three Gunas are choking it or covering it up in different ways. Tamas covers it up more than 90%, Rajas more than 50%, Sattva almost it uncovers maybe 10% and even that too the higher part of the Sattva Guna always takes a man to God. But all the three Gunas means what? Attachment to body and mind is forgetting our infinite nature to mistake ourselves as finite. Finite means limited, limited in existence, limited in knowledge and limited in happiness. So these three Sattva, Chit and Ananda are limited not eliminated but limited. Tamas limits very much, Rajas limits little less and Sattva Guna almost uncovers and as a result when there is light we have the knowledge not only where we are but where we have to go forward, how to go forward, what obstacles are there, how to overcome the obstacles all this is the result of Sattva Guna. So the goal of life is to travel from Tamo Guna to Sattva Guna and evolution, physical, biological evolution proves it. There is a lot of Tamas in what we call inert things. There is very less of Sattva Guna in creatures like one-celled creatures, insects etc. and a little more in the scale of evolution birds have more and plants much less, birds are more, animals are much more, chimpanzees and monkeys much much more, human beings even more and an evolved human being is having much more, morally evolved human being, aesthetically evolved human being, intellectually evolved human being and in the order intellectual, aesthetical and moral evolution. This was the point Swami Vivekananda had explained to Ranada Babu in the Calcutta Zoological Gardens. Anyway, biologically evolution has peaked, human life is the greatest. How do we know? Because so many people have realized God in the human way. Now all the Gunas bind. We discussed the deep significance of the parable of Sri Ramakrishna, three robbers. Life is the forest, we are traveling in the forest, our goal is to go beyond the forest, that means to God and on the way we have to encounter these three robbers. The lowest Guna is the most ferocious robber. It deprives us of knowledge, of happiness, of right understanding. Not only that, it counterproduces wrong knowledge, increases what is called lethargy, sloth etc. We all know there is an animal called sloth, that is one of the deadliest, seven deadliest sins according to Christianity. This sloth is an easy prey for many many birds and animals. By the time it understands and tries to escape, already it has become food to many things. So that is the Tamoguna. But as I mentioned, every Guna has a good side and a negative side, positive and negative side. Our goal in life is always keep the positive side because every Guna, every single day has its own usefulness and we discussed it also. Just as an example, Tamoguna is good for children, eating and sleeping, sleeping and eating. But it's not good for a grown-up child, for an adolescent, for a youth, much less for an old man. Similarly, when a person wants to be active, driving, dangerous, piloting etc., it's very important he must have the higher side of the Rajoguna. That means he must be one-pointed, focused and he must be extremely alert and take decisions at every step according to the progress made. Similarly, when Sattva Guna is very good and we want to meditate etc., our goal in life is to gradually wean ourselves away from the lower side of each Guna, keep the higher side of the each Guna and transcend slowly life after life from the lower scale of evolution which is called Dvaita. Dvaita means everything is separate from everything else but then when we struggle, strive to move forward, we move to the next higher step which is called Visishtadvaita. That means there is a unity, there is also a diversity. Unity in diversity. There is separation, there is also union. There is something positive, there is also something negative. Both are good. Negative is good in its place, positive is also good in its own place. Similarly, Sattva Guna that is also very good. A lower Sattva Guna is not so good but it is good better than Rajas. Similarly, lower Rajas is much better than even higher Tamas. So this goes like this. Higher Tamas is better than lower Tamas. Lower Rajas is better than higher Tamas. Higher Rajas is better than lower Rajas and lower Sattva is better than higher Rajas and higher Sattva Guna is much better because it shows us the way out like the robber who came guiding the person to the end of the forest and said there is your home. Mano chalo nijani kethane. Oh mind, there is your house and all this time you are in a foreign country, now you go there. The Lord is so graphically describing how these three Gunas bind. By this we should never understand that the Gunas only bind but they do not help us. Implied within the teaching is that every Guna helps us very much. For example, I'll give you when you are terribly tired and there are circumstances, surroundings which are negative. The microphones, the amplifiers, loudspeakers are blaring, people are quarrelling but there you are dead tired and there is no good bed or good environment for good sleep but if you are overcome by the Tamo Guna it's very good. So apply these examples in every instance you will see every Guna is helping us to move forward towards the realization of who we are. This tremendous secret of nature, in fact Sankhya Yoga goes so far as to say this Prakruti consisting of three Gunas. Sankhya philosopher Eshwara Krishna calls it like a loving mother. It takes each soul by its hand and it leads through the best path outside of itself and it will not rest. Prakruti will not rest. Maya will not rest until it takes us to its master who is the Divine Mother or Brahman or Eshwara, whatever God, whatever name you call it. Everything in this world is good. Misuse is what is the problem but the point I am trying to emphasize is that is what I understand in the light of Shri Ram Krishna's teachings that the whole life is nothing but Divine Mother leading us from a lower state to a higher state. So we must never resist but we must lend a hand and naturally and with less effort this Mother will take us to our destination and according to Shri Ram Krishna this Divine Mother which seems to be completely different and according to Advaita Vedanta which is interpreted as a deadliest enemy of every traveling soul. In the light of Shri Ram Krishna's words, She is none other than God. God assumed the form of Divine Mother for the sake of leading us to our real nature. That is why even Avidya Maya if we understand it in the positive way is very good. If we have never undergone any suffering we would never have been better people. Swami Vivekananda said in one of his poems, Blessed misery, it is because of misery that I have become what I am today and Holy Mother also says misery is a gift of God and God comes in the form of the misery and that is what Kunti just before Shri Krishna took leave of them after Kurukshetra war was over after establishing Dharmaraja as the king and Vimshenaya as the main prince Kunti went there said Shashvat Vipadaha Santunaha Shashvat Tatra Tatra Mahamate O Divine Lord may difficulties, sufferings always envelop us and she explained so long as we had problems, sufferings you were with us all the time now that we are free you are going away from us. Deep significance is there in every one of these hymns. Not only the gunas bind, they bind us, they give that peculiar experience. Each guna gives a peculiar experience so that every travelling soul learns its lesson and then moves forward. This is the positive light through which we have to understand life itself and then journey becomes very positive, very creative, very happy, blissful journey and that's why every good devotee always joyfully moves forward. Okay, we have come to the sixth verse and what did we discuss in that sixth verse? What is the characteristic of the Sattva guna? Let me first quote it. Tatra means in the context of the discussion about the three gunas Sattvam, Sattva guna, Nirmalatva, Prakashakam, Anamayam, Sukha Sangeana Padnathi, Gnana Sangeanacha Ananga Of these, Sattva being stainless is luminous and healthful. It binds O sinless Arjuna by creating attachment to happiness and attachment to knowledge. What are the characteristics of Sattva guna? First of all, Nirmalatva, that means mind becomes extremely serene just as even if there is water mixed with dirt, keep it for some time. Slowly the clear water will be coming to the surface and all the dirt and dust settles down. Of course, there are certain things which can help us. So if we put a little bit of that catalytic agent, the dirt and dust goes down quickly and clear water is found out. Nirmalatva and that's why Nirmalatva means what? Like a clean mirror, it catches the brilliant light of the Atman, Atma Jyoti and wherever we focus it. This buddhi, the knowledge, the secrets, the nature of many things, wherever it is focused, that object reveals its true nature bringing us to the clear understanding, therefore clear decision, therefore clear reaction. Prakashakam is of the nature of light. Not only the mind will be lighted up, that's why you know when somebody's mind is focused and a creative idea pops up in his brain, they show in the cartoons a bulb lighting up above the head. The Sattva guna is of the nature of light. It drives away darkness of incomplete knowledge, wrong knowledge. When we get the right knowledge, we can take right decisions and Anahamayam makes the body healthy, makes the mind healthy and makes our life healthy, makes our journey healthy. These are the three beautiful descriptions Nirmalatvam, purity, Prakashakam of the nature of light, Anahamayam of the nature of the fitness of the body and mind, so that we can enjoy this life. Therefore, how does it bind then? Sokha Sanghena Bhadnaadi Jnana Sanghena. Always Sattva guna produces better knowledge, always it produces more right knowledge. The more Sattva, the more right knowledge. That is why if we are striving to attain the Sadhana Chaturstaya Sampadhi, any amount of discrimination, I must have this is good, this is wrong, this is not good, this is helpful, this is not helpful. Any amount of discrimination will not be clear because without Sattva guna, we are trying to discriminate with an impure mind. So we have to strive to increase our Sattva guna, then Viveka comes naturally and it flows and it manifests and it makes our life happy. But it also binds us through Sokha because whenever we are enjoying, experiencing happiness, mind becomes more and more happy. We have to understand even that quality belongs to the Sattva guna. Even I would go so far as to say, suppose there is a great Tamasic person. Let us take the example of Kumbhakarna and he gets up after many days, maybe many months and he eats. Does he enjoy? Very much he enjoys the food and when he enjoys that food, whatever be the type of the food, that enjoyment element belongs to the Sattva guna. Whenever we are happy, belongs to Sattva guna. Naturally, whenever we are unhappy, it belongs to Tama guna. But as I mentioned, always remember, keep in background, every guna is good if we stretch our hands and help, at least put our hands in the hands of the nature, then we will evolve quickly, faster. But if we resist, anyway mother takes our hands and she will drag us over the cobbled roads and it could be and it is a very painful journey. Sokha Sankhena Padma. How does Sokha come? In the form of Jnana. What is the Jnana comes here? Always remember the point that whenever we are experiencing happiness or unhappiness, it comes in the form of a mental vritti. I am happy, I am experiencing this object and this object is giving me happiness and that is a vritti, a thought in our antahkarana mind and happiness is in the form of the thought. Unhappiness also in the form of thought. Right knowledge is also in the form of thought. Wrong knowledge is also in the form of thought. Everything is vritti. Not only that, even when a person is completely devoted to God for many lives and his only thought is God, that is also a vritti. It is called Brahma Akara Vritti, Kali Akara Vritti, etc. Okay, so this is how by the production of knowledge, by the production of awareness, by the manifestation of more of the Atma Jyoti, Sokha is produced, Dukkha is reduced because right knowledge always leads to right discrimination, right decision, therefore right result, which is called Sokha. But of course in this world, nothing comes completely free. 100% happiness is not there. 100% unhappiness is also not there. This is how this Sattva Guna binds. What are the characteristics of the Sattva Guna? First of all, it is pure, secondly, it is of the nature of knowledge or light, thirdly, it always produces right decisions. So health, both physical and mental health would be the result. When we see in anybody these three, then we can understand that Sattva Guna is more prevalent. Now what Sri Ramakrishna has got to say about this? This is what he says, I quote, These three Gunas, Sattva, Rajas and Tamas, of these Sattva alone points the way to God. But even Sattva cannot take a man to God. Every sentence teaching of Sri Ramakrishna is a death. I will only just point out a few things. Sattva alone points the way to God. That means it takes us nearer to God. That means it gives us understanding going to God is not an option. It is our destiny. When we want to go to God, what does God mean? Sat Chitana. Sat means what? We have in the lowest terms that we can understand. Sat means a happy and a healthy and a long living in this world is called Sat. Chit means what? Clear knowledge about what is good, what is positive, what is negative of every object, of every experience leading to right knowledge, right thought etc. That is why Bhagawan Buddha's teachings, it is called eightfold way, eight-stepped way. What is the first one? Right understanding and that is what Sattva Guna gives. And right understanding, Buddha says, leads to right decision and right decision leads to right way of living, right way of speaking and right way of thinking. Then only right concentration, right meditation and right illumination. This is the eightfold way of Buddha. But what is important for us? After all, Buddha was not a Buddhist. Buddha was not different from Hindus. He was a Vedantin. He was nurtured from the very beginning with the milk of the Upanishads. Sarva Upanishad Ho Gahu. Only he emphasized the Maya nature of this world, that's why he came misunderstood as Anatmavadi, a person who advocates, propagates a theory of no God. It's completely wrong. He's not talking about God. He's talking about the nature of this world, which is temporary, but he was not fool. He told, here is a body, keep it in mind. Middle path, enjoy life also. Not so that you will be attached, not so that you will be deprived, but you will be satisfied. It will lead to a healthy life, healthy thinking, right thinking, right understanding, right decision, right speech and right action naturally leads to right result. This one is Sat. Sat means healthy, long, happy life because we understand what is good for the body is good for the mind. This is what is called Dharmika life. It is what is called Preyas and Preyas is Dharma, Artha and Kama. These three are called Preyas and Preyas means the whole first part of the Vedas, Karmakanda is devoted only how it can help us every human being to be a desirer of Preyas. It is, there are so many foolish understandings about the Upanishads. So especially when we are talking about Kata Upanishad, Yama Dharmaraja teaches. Yama Dharmaraja, Naira Brahman, to whom was he teaching? To Nachiketa. Who was Nachiketa? Sadan Chetustaya Sampanna, how did he become such an Adhikari because he went through the path called Preyas for many many lives, enjoyed life, understood the ephemerality of life and then he became awakened and said that was good but that is not enough. I want something much more, not a negative attitude. It is grapes are sour. He enjoyed life to the full and said that was good but that has an inherent defect and as we discussed earlier, however higher the enjoyment in this world, every samsaric enjoy Sukha, worldly happiness has three defects. First of all, it is temporary and then it is incomplete and then it binds a person. First of all, it is only temporary. Even if you are craving, how many sweets can you eat, how long can you eat until your stomach is full? It is only temporary. After that you may not get and even if you get, you may not enjoy it because variety is the spice of life. If any fool is there to think I like sweets, I want to eat morning, afternoon, evening that's not going to happen because very soon he would develop such a distress. I would never like to see a sweet again in my whole life and that's what happens to a grihasta after many a birth, whether it is husband or wife, enough is enough. I had my fill and I had my complete satisfaction that was good but it's not enough. Then slowly he turns his attention inward. This is what happens to all of us. We have to be commonsensical about it. What is the second defect? Incomplete. What does it incomplete mean? Even while a person is enjoying sweets, he would like to enjoy many other things also. He wants power. He wants position. He wants beautiful wives or husbands. Many times funny things come to my mind. In the Chandi, in the very introductory hymns also, it is written, Give me a wife who will always remain the darling of my heart. Psychology tells us there is no such thing because if always you are happy, you'll be disgusted of happiness. Always you eat sweets, be disgusted of sweets. If you are always eating bitter things, you'll be disgusted of bitter things. So both are necessary. Opposites are necessary to bring about perfect happiness. But what are we discussing? Second defect of every worldly object. What is it? Incomplete. Incomplete means I have millions of desires of which only one desire perhaps is being experienced by me now. At the same time, I cannot experience many things. This is called incompleteness. What was the first one? Temporary. Very short time. What is the second one? Incompleteness. What is the third one? Once we experience something, it produces so much of what we call positive samskara. That was very very happy experience. What does it mean? I want it again. That is God. It binds us by producing, strengthening our samskaras to experience the same things again and again. What is wrong with it? Wrong thing with it is there are higher experiences. As I mentioned many times, happiness is not only of vishaya, sukha, vishayananda. There is medhananda, intellectual happiness. There is kalananda. It is the happiness of the aesthetic happiness. Enjoying music, enjoying painting, enjoying poetry, enjoying natural scenery. This is called rasaswadana. And then there is also dharmananda. There is a great happiness in living a pure, moral, restricted, mind-controlled life. This is called dharmananda. That gives much higher happiness. The higher the happiness, it includes lower happiness like a million dollars includes one dollar, thousand dollars, one lakh of dollars, etc. And finally, of course, brahmananda. Until brahmananda, everything is temporary. Everything is incomplete. And not only that, by producing strong attachments, it will not allow us to move forward. The goal of life is the very purpose nature. The propensity of life is to make us evolve not only biologically, but intellectually, aesthetically, morally, and finally spiritually. Every jiva, every living creature, inevitably, inexorably, helplessly, we will be pulled towards God because that's our true nature. Like every seed must manifest its own true nature. However, many may be the obstacles. So, these are the three defects. And when these defects come, it produces a shock and it makes us thoughtful. And then slowly think, how can I avoid it? This is very wonderful something. It's a brilliant invention of God. Whenever dukkha comes, it makes us thoughtful. This has given me so much of misery. It's giving me misery. And then our false hope would be, yes, yes. Until now it has given, but I am so clever. I am going to do something so that it will not give me the negative effect, only positive effect, but that's not going to happen. And that's why Bhagavan himself, Prakruti itself makes it so painful that we will have to struggle to get out of it. The more misery, the more will be our struggle naturally to get out of it. That is the very purpose inbuilt within the evolutionary scale. We are all, as I said, sitting or standing or moving on the evolutionary escalator. Inevitably, it's carrying us to God. So, sattva guna, because of these three qualities, that it increases sattva, increases chit and increases what is called ananda. Anamaya means increase in sat and jnana means increase in knowledge, chit and ananda increases. But because it is lower ananda and we don't want to move forward for some time until a kick comes and makes us move forward. This is how sattva guna binds. We discussed all these things because sattva guna, as I mentioned, let us not forget the lower aspect and the higher aspect. What is the higher aspect? Sattva alone, Sri Ramakrishna says, shows the way to God. It produces virtues like compassion, righteousness and devotion. Again, sattva is like the last step of the stairs. Next to it is the roof. What is the roof? The Supreme Brahman is man's own abode. That is our own home. Mano, man, shado, nija, niketana. Swadeshi, allide mammane, illi bandhe summane. Sattva begets bhakti, Sri Ramakrishna says. Even bhakti has three aspects. Sattva, rajas and tamana. Sattva bhakti is pure sattva. When a devotee acquires it, he doesn't direct his mind to anything but God. He pays only as much attention to his body as is absolutely necessary for its protection. Since the topic came, I would just elaborate slightly. When the occasion comes, I will elaborate it. It says that bhakti, there are sattvika bhaktas. There are rajasika bhaktas and there are tamasika bhaktas. You may wonder, is it not contrary to what is being taught? No, bhakti is a very higher quality. It is that aspect of the mind which springs from sattva guna. But at the same time, sattvika sattva, sattvika rajas and sattvika tamas. Ramakrishna elsewhere explains, a rajasika bhakta, he does elaborate pujas. He invites lots of people and he decorates God and Vedis very nicely. And he arranges beautiful bhajans, harikathas, etc. He enjoys thoroughly. He of course enjoys being praised also. But at the same time, his mind is diverted only towards God. His attention is all on God. Otherwise, he cannot be a bhakta. By definition, bhakta means one who is devoted only to God. But in him, rajas is dominant. So he expresses his devotion, a rajasika. Ramakrishna funnily says, he has a japa mala and in between he will have some golden beads will be there. I would add a little masala and say, maybe some diamonds will be there. Some precious jewels also will be there in that mala. There is nothing wrong in it because he is also a bhakta. What is tamasika bhakta? He beats his head against the feet of God and says, what? I belong to you and you are not showing your devotion to me. If you don't show your devotion to me, I am going to beat my head towards you. May not be, my interpretation is not that right. But anyway, I will give you. You can enjoy it. Sri Ramakrishna wanted uninterrupted vision of the Divine Mother in the first stages of his spiritual devotion. When he accepted the priest who did Dakshineshwar Kali temple and he said, he used to sing songs. Oh Mother, you have shown yourself to Brahmaprasad, Kamalakanta, Premi, many other people. Why are you not showing to me? Why have you excluded me? Ami ki maa jagatu chheda? Am I not, am I outside your creation? Everything is in your creation excepting me, the wretched fellow. Why are you not showing your devotion? Now, if you don't show your devotion, I am going to take a sword, your own sword and I will cut my throat. And you will get bad name that this mother with her own sword, with her own hand, she killed her own devotee because she is like a stone. Even Ramaprasad had gone to the extent of saying, I am praying and praying, applying and applying. No reply from you. You are really the daughter of Himalaya. What is Himalaya? Cold mountain and you are the daughter of that cold mountain. Therefore, your heart also has become like a stone, absolutely cold, irresponsive to our earnest prayers. This is chiding. Every Bhakta expresses it in the same way. So, this is called example of Tamasic Bhakti and that means what? Very forcible type of Bhakti and that is Tamasic Bhakti and that is not belonging to the lower Tamoguna. That is belonging to the higher Tamoguna. Now, let us move on to the next shloka which is very important. How does Rajas, Rajoguna bind a person? Prajoragatmakam viddhi krishnasangasamudbhavam tat nivadnadikam teya karmasangena dehinam Here also the characteristics of Rajoguna and the effect of the Rajoguna, both are being briefly described here. O Arjuna! O Sannakunti! Know that Rajas is the essence of passion and the cause of thirst and attachment. It binds first embodied Jivatma by attachment to action. There are also other things but here these two will do. O Arjuna! He kaunteya! O Sannakunti! This Rajah, Rajoguna, Ragaatmakam. Now Raga means red color. Red is always a color representing danger. It is also the most attractive color. Of course the police have evolved a color, if they wear a particular colored jacket from a long distance, it is visible and clearly seen. Similarly we see where there are lights, street lights, that is at the junction traffic lights. Green is always a signal to travel and red is always the signal for stopping. It is for danger. Rajoguna is always compared to a dangerous red color. Ragaatmakam. Here Raga means what? Attachment. But we can play a little bit on the words. Without Raga there would be no Anuraga. Without passion there would be no compassion. There would be no devotion also. So passion is very necessary. So what is the nature of Rajas? Deep attachment. Attachment to what? Lower nature to the worldly objects. So what Sri Ramakrishna graphically says Kama and Kanchana. So this is how this Rajoguna can be recognized, characteristic. When you see deep attachment, the Rajoguna. Tamas, it just sleeps. Tamoguna person, Tamasic person has no capacity even to bind himself. That is a tragedy. Only this person has tremendous energy. Mind is alert but it is all completely one-pointed and becomes like super glue. Attachment to money, to name and fame, to power and position, to wife, to husband, to children, to parents and the opposite. Opposite of terrible anger etc. towards the opposite. So Rajoragaatmakam. Vidhi. Vidhi means you recognize, you know, have the understanding. And how do we know her? What is the origin? What is the source of Rajoguna? Trishna Sang Samudbhavam. Samudbhavam means what? It is born or it is more nurtured. That is it is more nourished, made like a person goes to a gymnasium and then eats very healthy foods and goes on exercising. You will develop strong muscle. So also this Rajoguna becomes very strong. How? Trishna. This word Trishna in thirst. Thirst doesn't mean only for water. Thirst means deep longing for the enjoyment of any what is called worldly objects. Especially we get about food, that very strong foods, very sweet, very sour etc. We will come to know about it in the 17th and 18th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita. Here Buddha uses the word Trishna. Only in Pali language he uses Tanha. What is the source of all this? What is the cause of all this Samsara? Trishna. And Trishna is born of what? Desires. Deep desire. Not only desire, terrible thirst. When you are terribly thirsty, your one-pointed thought, attention is only where can I get water and quench my thirst. There is a beautiful book called Vedanta Sara. There he says Deepthasaraha. So a person's head is burning. Jalarasmiva. Suddenly he is searching for water. How to put out this fire? And he sees a body of water and then he rushes there. If it is even a bucket of water, he will just plunge his burning head into that bucket. So this Trishna will not allow a person to sit quiet. He will be rushing madly looking at it. That is called Trishna. How do we know? This person is rushing madly like a mad bull where he thinks he is Trishna. His thirst can be quenched and he tramples aside Dharma and Adharma. Everything. Whatever can fulfill his desire, that's where he will be rushing and through that act. This Rajoguna, not only it stays there, it gets nourishment from Trishna. It flames like as petrol is poured into fire and it goes on increasing. And how does it bind? Tat nivad nadi kaunteya. He kaunteya. Tatan. Tat raja. Rajoguna. What does it do? Karma sangena dehinam bad nivad nadi. Karma sangena. If this Trishna is there, then means deep thirst. But how to fulfill? Simply you cannot go, break the glass and go on eating the sweetmeats found in there. You cannot grab any person like that because there are rules and regulations. So he understands that. He does action. Doesn't allow him to keep quiet. Whatever is necessary, whatever it takes the person to fulfill his desire, even by murdering, even by maiming and throwing aside all the good name and fame, everything. This is the nature of the thirst. So it binds a person through karma. Endless karmas. Mind becomes restless. We will discuss about it. This is how Rajoguna is described. This is how Rajoguna is more manifest. This is how Rajoguna binds a soul to the body and mind, that means to this world. Here a fact which I have mentioned many times, a point. When we say we are attached to the world, there is no attachment to the world. Attachment to the body is the only thing. And through the body, the whole world is there only to serve the quench, the thirst of the body and the thirst of the mind. And without body, the mind cannot quench its thirst. For example, somebody wants to be famous. Simply thinking a thought, I want to become famous will not help. A person has to go on doing something through his body, some actions which will bring about the good name and fame. Other people will come to know, cognize him, recognize him. Here is a person who is doing a lot of good or he has to do something to get a higher position of power and salary, wealth, etc. So this karma is very necessary to quench this thirst and body is used for that purpose. All the ten sense organs, five sense organs of knowledge, five sense organs of action are all concentratedly attached and we find it mostly in the Rakshasas. Whether it is Ravanasura, whether it is Hiranyakashipu, they were never Tamasic people. They were of course not Satvika people. They are represented by this Rajoguna and because of that, whatever they acquire, it is not enough. Nothing can quench their thirst. Nothing can satisfy them. They want more and more and more. I have a lot to speak about it but I will not speak in this class. So what are we talking? Know that Rajas is the essence of passion and the cause of thirst and attachment. It binds first the embodied soul by attachment to action. Now the point we have to understand is, is it good or is it? It is good. I said everything is good. How is it good? Because only a person of passion, he can develop great devotion to God. When this passion is directed towards God, first of all it becomes purified. Then all the desires become unified and they are directed. They were completely focused only upon one object and without this Rajas, which at the beginning stages binds and makes a person completely restless, peaceless, that is only when a person has that kind of restlessness, then only he will turn towards God and spiritual progress is possible. As I said without Raga, there can be no Anuraga. Whatever way we want to direct, we must have the basic material and that is what the Rajoguna provides us. Sri Ramakrishna about the second robber representing Rajoguna. The second robber is Rajas which binds a man to the world and entangles him in a variety of activities. What does he do? Rajas makes him forget God but it makes him more aware of the world, worldly objects and it makes him ignore the defects of every object, the negative side of every object and makes him aware of the only one side. This gives me happiness. That gives me happiness. The other thing gives me happiness. That object gives more happiness than this happiness. That position is better than this position. That food material is more tasty than this material etc. That is how it is born of Krishna and it expresses an insatiable thirst and it binds a person to activity and Krishna himself will tell something else. Let us proceed to the eighth shloka. tamas tvajnanajam viddhe mohanam sarvati hinam pramadalasya nidrave tad nivadnati bharata And no further, that tamas is born of ignorance and that it deludes all embodied creatures. It binds fast, O Bharata, by inadvertence, indolence and sleep. Three characteristics are there. Tamas is born of what? Ignorance. Always tamas is born of ignorance. Let me illustrate it. First, let us analyze this shloka. Hey Bharata, O Arjuna, you are born in the lineage of Bharata. tamah tu tu tamah But it's tamoguna. I already described about sattva guna, draja guna. tamoguna sarvati hinam Everybody without exception. mohanam ajnanajam viddhe What nature is it? It deludes people. Delusion means what? Understanding something wrong as right. Understanding right knowledge as wrong. Wrong knowledge as right knowledge. Therefore, the decisions will be wrong decisions. Therefore, the activities will be wrong activities. Therefore, the result also will be terrible amount of suffering. And what is it born out of? Ajnana. If a person is not ignorant, he will never do such. But as I mentioned for a baby, tamoguna is the best guna. Because that is the one which makes him grow. Sleep most of the time 18 hours, 22 hours. Only he wakes up to drink some, take some nourishment from mother and then goes to sleep. That is very good. But gradually he has to be weaned away. When a person is grown up, all these gunas we have to judge only when a person is sufficiently grown. You know in law, there is something called you cannot punish a minor. It is taken by law that any child, any young person below the age of let us say either 16 or 14 or 18. It is constantly we are changing. Supposed to be ignorant. It is not true always. But that is the general rule. It is true also. So because of this ignorance, a tamoguna will come. What is tamoguna? Do not always mistake tamoguna as only sleep. Tamoguna comes we call. Hey, I can do it tomorrow. Procrastination. Or if this much is done also, it is quite okay. That is also a tamoguna. And a wrong way of doing. Oh, this will produce the same result. They do not know. Of course, there is a right way. Right amount of effort has to be put in the right way. Everything has to be fixed in the right way. Just give an example because these are real life examples. A British pilot was piloting a plane and that plane landed somewhere on the destination. It has to change itself. So this person has landed somewhere and then after some time discharging the passengers there he has to get up. And then again what happened? He noticed one of the bolts that is fixing the in front of the pilot. There is a huge glass is there. Like every car, I forget its name, is a huge front glass is there and one of the bolts has come out and he noticed it and as soon as the plane is landed, he called the maintenance engineer said this bolt is gone. It is dangerous. So please fix it. And this person did not have that particular type of measurement bolt. He found out equivalent and said that's okay. It will serve the purpose. And he fixed it. It seemed to be fixed and again the pilot took off and mid-air this whole front glass had come off and then the pilot was sucked through that small gap and the co-pilot he went on catching his legs and did not allow him and the situation was informed SOS and slowly the plane landed somewhere else and by that time the pilot was frozen. There immediately the emergency ambulances were there. They took him and then there was a process how this frozen blood can be slowly brought back into a flowing state. A technology was available and they put him and they recovered. What is the illustration for that exactly the same manufacturer's direction should have been followed but he did not follow it. The nearest even one millionth difference is there. It could produce that thing. Ignorance produces tamoguna and tamoguna manifests in the form of and pramada alasi. Pramada means taking dangerous wrong decisions. That is very dangerous. That's why many times you know dangerous. Be careful like that. Most accidents take place because of this alasia procrastination. I can do it later on. What is the hurry? Anything can be done. Sri Ramakrishna gives a beautiful example of two farmers. We will come to that in our next class. Nidra, even if there is satsanga going on, he will sleep. Good speech is going on, he will sleep. Good cinema is going on, he will sleep. Good book he is reading, he will sleep. That has become a kind of habit and through these three, pramada, indolence and then inadvertence, indolence and sleep. This tamoguna binds a person over juna. Very interesting. We all of us are subjected to these things. Only we may not recognize it but that's why I am taking time to give practical examples how we can recognize and how we can slowly overcome. We will discuss these points in our next Saturday class.