lOOking Ourselves in the mirrOr Of

srimad Bhagavat gita

C. a. suBramanian

LOOKING

OURSELVES IN THE MIRROR OF

SRIMAD BHAGAVAT GITA

LOOKING

OURSELVES IN THE MIRROR OF

SRIMAD BHAGAVAT GITA C. A. SUBRAMANIAN

Notion Press Old No. 38, New No. 6 McNichols Road, Chetpet Chennai - 600 031 First Published by Notion Press 2017 Copyright © C. A. Subramanian 2017 All Rights Reserved. ISBN 978-1-947697-51-5 This book has been published with all reasonable efforts taken to make the material error-free after the consent of the author. No part of this book shall be used, reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. The Author of this book is solely responsible and liable for its content including but not limited to the views, representations, descriptions, statements, information, opinions and references [“Content”]. The Content of this book shall not constitute or be construed or deemed to reflect the opinion or expression of the Publisher or Editor. Neither the Publisher nor Editor endorse or approve the Content of this book or guarantee the reliability, accuracy or completeness of the Content published herein and do not make any representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose. The Publisher and Editor shall not be liable whatsoever for any errors, omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause or claims for loss or damages of any kind, including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage arising out of use, inability to use, or about the reliability, accuracy or sufficiency of the information contained in this book.

Contents Mangalaacharanam and Meditation on Srimad Bhagavat Gita

vii

Prefacexi Key to Pronunciation of Sanskrit Words in This Book

xv

Introductionxvii 1. Arjuna Vishaadha Yoga (Dilemma & Confusion for Arjuna) (अर्जुन विषाद योगः)

1

2. Saankhya Yoga (साङ्ख ्य योग:)9 3. Karma Yoga (कर्म योग:)

21

4. Jnaana-Karma-Sanyaasa Yoga (ज्ञान-कर्म-सन्यास योग:)28 5. Karma Sanyaasa Yoga (कर्म-सन्यास योग:)39 6. Aatma Samyama Yoga (आत्म संयम योग:)43 7. Jnaana-Vijnaana Yoga (ज्ञान विज्ञान योगः)50 8. Akshara Brahma Yoga (अक्षर ब्रह्म योग:)57 9. Raaja Vidya Raaja Guhya Yoga (राज विद्या राज गुह्य योग:)65

Contents

10. Vibhoothi Yoga (विभूति योग:)72 11. Viswa Roopa Darsana Yoga (विश्व रूप दर्शन योग:)76 12. Bhakthi Yoga (भक्ति योगः)81 13. Kshetra-Kshetrajna Vibhaaga Yoga (क्षेत्र-क्षेत्रज्ञ विभाग योग:)85 14. Guna Thraya Vibhaaga Yoga (गुणत्रय विभाग योगः)90 15. Purushotthama Yoga (पुरुषोत्तम योगः)95 16. Daivaasura Sampath Vibhaaga Yoga (दै वासुर सम्पद् ः विभाग योग:)99 17. Sraddhaa Thraya Vibhaaga Yoga (श्रद्धा त्रय​ विभाग योग:)103 18. Moksha Sanyaasa Yoga (मोक्ष सन्यास योग:)110 Appendix125

vi

Mangalaacharanam and Meditation on Srimad Bhagavat Gita Salutations to Lord Krishna प्रपन्नपारिजाताय तोत्रवेत्रैकपाणये। ज्ञानमुद्राय कृष्णाय गीतामृतदु हे नम:॥

Prostrations to You, the Supreme Lord Krishna, who squeezed out the milk of nectar in the form of Srimad Bhagavat Gita, and for being the one who actually holds the Jnanamudra in His one hand, but as a Gopala in Nandavraja, holds a cane in the other hand to manage the cows and calves along with the other Gopa boys, as if to show His availability to all without any high qualification except having Love for Him. You are verily the Wish-yielding Tree for those who surrender at your Lotus Feet. वसुदेवसुतं देवं कंसचाणूरमर्दनं। देवकीपरमानन्दं कृष्णं वन्दे जगत्गुरुं :॥

With folded hands, I salute Lord Sri Krishna, the Supreme Teacher – Jagat Guru – who incarnated in the

Mangalaacharanam and Meditation on Srimad Bhagavat Gita

world as the son of Vasudeva; who bestowed the supreme bliss to Devaki for being His mother and also destroyed evil doers such as Kamsa and Chanoora – to establish Dharma. मूकं करोति वाचालं पङ् गुं लङ्घयते गिरिं । यत्कृपा तमहं वन्दे परमानन्द माधवं॥

I salute the greatness of the overwhelming grace of Maadhava – Lord Krishna – the storehouse of the supreme bliss, which can convert a person without the power of speech into an eloquent one who can hold an assembly spell-bound, and a crippled person to jump over many mountains in one stride.

Salutations to Mother Bhagavat Gita पार्थाय प्रतिबोधितां भगवता नारायणेन स्वयं व्यासेन ग्रथितां पुराणमुनिना मध्येमहाभारतं। अद्वैतामृतवर्षिणीं भगवतीमष्टादशाध्यायिनीं अम्ब! त्वामनुसन्दधामि भगवद्गीते भवद्वेषिणां ॥

Oh Blessed Mother! The Srimad Bhagavat Gita, the scripture imparted to Arjuna – the son of Pritha (Kunthi Devi) – by Bhagavaan Narayana Himself that has been codified into Eighteen chapters by the divine sage Veda Vyaasa – the author of various Puraanaas – in the midst of Mahabhaaratham. You showered on us forever with the nectar of philosophy of Self-Knowledge and Devotion. Having come out of the lotus face of Bhagavaan Narayana, you are the repository of His divine glories, recitation of which removes all the afflictions of Samsara. I meditate on Thee. viii

Mangalaacharanam and Meditation on Srimad Bhagavat Gita

Symbolic Presentation of Gita सर्वोपनिषदो गावो दोग्धा गोपाल नन्दनः। पार्थो वत्सः सुधीर्भोक्ता दु ग्धं गीतामृतं महत्॥

All the Upanishads are represented by Cows; the Supreme Lord Krishna, who bestowed supreme happiness to all as a cowherd boy in Vrindhaavana, is the Milker, what is milked out is the nectar of Gita, Arjuna, the son of Pritha is the calf and those who drink this milk are the blessed ones with pure wisdom.

Greatness of Gita गीता सुगीता कर्तव्या किमन्यैः शास्त्रविस्तरै ः। या स्वयं पद्मनाभस्य मुखपद्माद्विनिःसृता॥

What is the need to study a host of scriptures when the Gita which has come out of the lotus face of Lord Krishna (Padmanaabha) Himself is available? One should perform one’s duties as instructed in the Gita.

Salutation to Veda Vyasa Rishi नमोऽस्तु ते व्यास विशालबुद्धे फुल्लारविन्दायतपद्मनेत्र। येन त्वया भारततैलपूर्णः प्रज्वालितो ज्ञानमयः प्रदीपः॥

Salutations to you, the Vyasa Maha Rishi, of broad wisdom and compassionate eyes like that of a Lotus flower just blossomed (which gives happiness to others). You lit the lamp of eternal wisdom with the oil called the Mahabharatha (which enlightens all on all aspects of human life). ix

Preface Srimad Bhagavat Gita is a mine of treasures for any human being who has the conviction: human body is an invaluable gift; one’s duties and responsibilities have to be discharged with honesty, integrity and efficiency; common good arising out of actions should be the measuring rod for a work well done, and devotion to Lord Krishna is the quintessence of a purposeful life. The gem of Viveka Buddhi is exclusive to the human beings. Srimad Bhagavat Gita enlightens us that we are children of immortality; advises us to discharge our duties and responsibilities as Yagna with common good as the aim and shows us the Karma Yoga, Bhakthi Yoga and Jnaana yoga as the means to live up to that Truth, depending upon each individual’s maturity levels to understand their nuances to adopt in the day-to-day life. This scripture enables us to experience the beauty of human birth by living and performing our work in the ways instructed by Lord Krishna. The gateway to this beautiful experience is mainly through the performance of our duties with the control of our senses and mind, coupled with devotion toward Lord Krishna.. We have to make a self-assessment of

Preface

our ability to come up to the level of balancing ourselves, in order to make an estimate of the extent of our reflection in the mirror of the Srimad Bhagavat Gita. There may be practically no speaking language in this world in which the Srimad Bhagavat Gita has not been translated from Sanskrit language. However, a good number of the devotees would like to enjoy the essence of the Gita in English language exclusively, not as a translation of the 700 Sanskrit slokas in the scripture, but as a discourse on the different Yogas and their application in practical life. From a deep and devotional study of this scripture, I felt that many subtle truths revealed in this scripture still remain hidden. Some of the translations/commentaries even appear to criticize certain statements in the Bhagavat Gita as not applicable to the present day societies. Some translations/ commentaries make it appear as if this scripture is mainly intended for those who are aspiring for liberation from the clutch of repeated births and deaths – renouncers of world – or who are pure devotees of the Lord with no wants to be fulfilled. These may not be strictly correct. In each Chapter of the Gita, we can find Lord Krishna exhorting us through Arjuna to discharge one’s duties and responsibilities as Yagna, sincerely, efficiently and with the Fire of Knowledge in the intellect and the honey of devotion to Lord Krishna in the heart, as explained in this scripture – without attachment to the concerned objects and the fruits of the actions. xii

Preface

Any action done in the form of Yagna contributes to an increase in production of food items from the earth, which directly goes for common good. Lord Krishna Himself says in the Gita that He is ever-engaged in His work for the welfare of the individual souls, who have taken birth in the different worlds, although there is nothing that is binding Him, nor does He have anything to gain from His work. Lord Krishna goes to the extent of saying in the 18th Chapter that human beings attain the Supreme Lord by discharging their duties in the manner discussed in this scripture. In other words, He teaches us that Work is Worship. In whatever field one may be, if the teachings in this Yoga Sastra are applied, the high quality and effectiveness of that person’s work will speak for itself. A doctor will be a better doctor to the patient; an engineer will increase the technical quality of his work, and an administrator will improve the functioning of the Units under his charge and so on. I, therefore, felt that – as a devotional service to Lord Krishna and His devotees – a commentary on this scripture purely in English in the form of a thorough discussion on the various aspects of the Eighteen Yogas enunciated by Lord Krishna should be prepared Chapter-wise as a Jnaana Yagna. I have tried my best to amplify a number of statements given in the Bhagavat Gita in secret/indirect ways after taking sustenance from Srimad Bhaagavatham. My effort has been in the direction that reading of this commentary would give the reader a complete picture of the purpose of teachings of Lord Krishna to regulate his life, as far as possible, to be in xiii

Preface

the way Lord Krishna exhorts us in the Bhagavat Gita for a purposeful birth as a human being. With all humility, I take this opportunity to place this work on the Srimad Bhagavat Gita before the devotees of Lord Krishna in the form of a Jnaana Yagna. I shall be grateful for any suggestions. Sraavana Shukla Ekaadashi, 2017

xiv

C. A. Subramanian

Noida (UP)

Key to Pronunciation of Sanskrit Words in This Book In this book, appearance of aa in the start or middle of a Sanskrit word indicates the sound of आ – as in Aarjavam or Ahamkaara. A few words normally end with single alphabet of (a) with the sound of अ but for pronouncing them in plural, two (a)s have been given (as in Veda and Vedaas). The places where the word itself at the end requires elongation as आ, it ends with aa, as in Sraddhaa. While the alphabet u indicates the sound उ, as in yuyutsavaha, oo indicates the sound ऊ, as in yogaarooda. Use of tt or dd before the alphabet h indicates the requirement for emphasis – as in Purushotthama and Buddhi. Use of ee indicates the sound ई, as in Eekshanam and e generally gives the sound of ए, as in Ekantha. For the benefit of the readers, the specific Sanskrit words in this Book taken from the Srimad Bhagavat Gita have been represented as English transliterations. The corresponding Sanskrit versions have been given at the end of this book for reference. The different chapters have been indicated in Sanskrit with English transliterations in the Table of Contents.

lOOking Ourselves in the mirrOr Of srimad Bhagavat gita Srimad Bhagavat Gita is a scripture for the entire mankind. This scripture which took birth in the middle of a war field as the teachings for a warrior – whose emotions overtook his commitment to duty – is capable of leading us in the right path. It instructs us on the arts of living, working, worshipping, looking at our relationship with Nature (Prakrithi) and, thereby, leading a purposeful life. Srimad Bhagavat Gita is a mine of treasures for any human being. It enlightens us that we are children of immortality, and exhorts us to discharge our duties and responsibilities with the Fire of Knowledge (Jnaanaagni) as the means to live up to that Truth. In this book, the reader is taken step-by-step to reach the final goal of experiencing that bliss and seeing the Prakrithi as the cause for performing all bounden duty. The uniqueness of this book is that it gives the entire essence of the teachings of the Gita, chapter-wise, as contained in its eighteen chapters, in a precise, concise and simple form to understand the eternal principles of living without any dogmatic presumptions. This book explains how the teachings in the Gita are relevant for the present society. C. A. Subramanian had done his schooling in the Palakkad District of Kerala and his higher studies from the University of Delhi. He had had the fortune of studying the Yajurveda post the school timings under erudite teachers who also impressed on him the message of those scriptures. He has good background knowledge about the Sanskrit language and is well versed in Srimad Bhagavatham, Bhagavat Gita, Durga Sapthasathi, etc. as a fruit of contact with saintly monks of Sri Ramakrishna Mission in New Delhi and other Grihastha scholars on those subjects. He is familiar with the Divya Prabandham of Azhwars. He had retired from the Central Civil Service as Joint Secretary in the Department of Personnel and Training. He had contributed articles on various facets of administration in various seminars. During his tenure in the Ministry of Defence, the Sections under him were consecutively rated as the Best Maintained Sections for three years. He presently stays in Noida. Price 160