Geeta Dhara – Gurukul

Sri Krishn has preached in Bhagwad Geeta:
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upadrastānumantā ca bhartā bhoktā maheśvarah
paramātmeti cāpyukto dehe’sminpurusah parah
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“Although residing in the body, the Soul is transcendental and said to be the witness, the granter, the enjoyer, and the great God and Supreme Spirit.”

The Soul dwelling in the sphere of the heart is even closer than one’s hands, feet, and mind. Whether we do good or evil, he is unconcerned. He just stands as a witness-an onlooker (updrashta). When the right course of worship is taken and the wayfarer rises a little higher, the approach of the witnessing Soul changes and he becomes the granter (anumanta). Now he begins to grant and confer intuitions. When the seeker is yet closer to the goal by further spiritual discipline, the Soul begins to support and sustain (bharta). Now he also provides the propitious yog. Then he turns into the enjoyer (bhokta) when the worship is even more refined. He accepts whatever yagya or penance is performed, and at the stage after this acceptance he is transformed into the great God (Maheshwar). He is now master of nature, but since he is master of nature it follows that nature yet abides in some part of him.

At even a higher stage than this,after the soul is endowed with the attributes of the ultimate,he comes to be known as the the Supreme Spirit.Thus although dwelling in the body,this soul or Purush is yet transcedental- quite beyond nature.Witness at the beginning is transformed into the Supreme Spirit himself.

As expounded by Swami Adgadanand Paramhans,Most revered Gurudev.

Humble Wishes!!!

Sri Krishn has preached in Bhagwad Geeta:
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अव्यक्तोऽयमचिन्त्योऽयमविकार्योऽयमुच्यते ।
तस्मादेवं विदित्वैनं नानुशोचितुमर्हसि ॥

avayakto’yam acintyo’yam avikāryo’yam ucyate,
tasmād evam viditvai’nam nā’nuśocitum arhasi
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“Knowing that the Self is unmanifest, a non-object to the senses, incomprehensible because he is a non-object to the mind, and changeless, (O Arjun), it does not befit you to grieve (over him).’’
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The Soul is unmanifest and not an object of the senses. He cannot be grasped by the senses. He is present even when there is the association of senses with their objects, but he cannot be comprehended. He is beyond thought. He is eternal and he is present even when the mind and its volitions persist, but he is beyond perception, enjoyment, and access. So the mind has to be restrained.Sri Krishn has told Arjun that the unreal has no existence and neither is the real ever nonexistent. The Self is that reality. It is the Self that is changeless, constant, eternal, and unmanifest. They who know essence have found the Self adorned with these traits. Not linguists nor the affluent, but only seers have known the unique character of the Self.

In Chapter 18,Sri Krishn has affirmed that the Supreme Spirit alone is real. By restraining the mind, the worshipper sees him and becomes one with him. At the moment of attainment he realizes God and, the very next moment after this, he finds his own soul adorned with Godlike traits. He sees then that this Self is true, eternal, and perfect. This Self is beyond the reach of thought. Free from any deviation, it is called immutable.                       

“Most Revered Gurudev”

He adds:
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आश्चर्यवत्पश्यति कश्चिदेन- माश्चर्यवद्वदति तथैव चान्यः ।
आश्चर्यवच्चैनमन्यः शृणोति श्रुत्वाप्येनं वेद न चैव कश्चित् ॥

āścaryavat paśyati kaścid enam āścaryavad vadati tathai’va cā’nyaḥ,
āścaryavac cai’nam anyaḥ śṛṇoti śrutvā’py enam veda na caiva kaścit
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“Only a seer views the Soul as a marvel, another one describes him as a marvel, andyet another one hears him as marvel. While there are some who hear him and yet know him not.’’
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Sri Krishn has said before that only enlightened, realized, sages have viewed the Self. Now he elaborates the rareness of this vision. Only a rare sage sees the Self-views him directly rather than just hear of him. Similarly, another rare sage speaks of his substance. Only he who has seen the Self can describe him. Yet another rare seeker hears him as a wonder, for even hearing the voice of the Self is not possible for all because it is meant only for men of high spiritual attainment.There are people who hear the Self and yet know him not, because they are incapable of treading the spiritual path. A man may listen to, countless words of wisdom, split hairs, and be eager to acquire the highest wisdom. But his attachments are possessed of irresistible might and after only a short while he finds himself reversed to worldly business.

As expounded by Swami Adgadanand Paramhans,Most revered Gurudev. 

Humble Wishes!!!

Sri Krishn has preached in Bhagwad Geeta:
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अन्तवन्त इमे देहा नित्यस्योक्ताः शरीरिणः ।
अनाशिनोऽप्रमेयस्य तस्माद्युध्यस्व भारत ॥

antavanta ime dehā nityasyo’ktāḥ śarīriṇaḥ,
anāśino’prameyasya tasmād yudhyasva bhārata
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“Fight, O Bharat (Arjun), because while the bodies which clothe the Soul are said to come to an end, the embodied Spirit itself is for ever, indestructible, and boundless.’’
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Arjun is exhorted to get up and fight because all these physical bodies that embody the indwelling, boundless, and eternal Spirit are said to be ephemeral. This Spirit, the Self, is imperishable, and it cannot be destroyed at any time. The Self is real, whereas the physical body is subject to death, and so unreal and nonexistent at all times.

Sri Krishn’s injunction to Arjun is, “Fight because the body is mortal.”. But it is not evident from the exhortation whether Arjun is required to kill only the Kaurav. Aren’t the men on the side of Pandav, too, “bodies”? Are the Pandav immortal? If physical bodies are mortal, who is Sri Krishn there to defend? Is Arjun not a body, too? Is Sri Krishn there to defend that body which is unreal, without being, and unceasing? If it is so, may it not be assumed that he too is ignorant and lacking in discrimination, the power that distinguishes between the visible world and the invisible Spirit. Doesn’t he himself say later that the man who thinks of and toils only for the physical body (3.13) is ignorant and wanting in discernment?There is also another problem. Who really is this Arjun?

If to interpretate the hidden concepts of Geeta verses with metaphysical angle,Arjun is an embodiment of affectionate devotion. Like a faithful charioteer, the revered God is always with his devotee. Like a friend, he guides him and shows him the right way. We are not a physical body. The body is a mere garment, a dwelling for the Soul to live in. The one who lives in it is the affectionate Self. When one body is forsaken, the Soul just assumes another body. It is with reference to this that Sri Krishn has said that there is change from one body to another just as a man grows from childhood to youth, and then to old age.

The real base of the body is constituted by sanskar, the merits-the influences and impressions-earned during a previous existence. And sanskar rests upon the mind. Perfect subjugation of the mind, so that it can be changeless, firm, and constant, and the dissolution of the last sanskar, are all different aspects of the same process. The disintegration of the last crust of this sanskar marks the end of physical existence. To bring about this dissolution we have to undertake aradhana, worship and adoration, of the desired God.Sri Krishn has named it action (karm) or the Way of Selfless Action (Nishkam Karm Yog).For a true seeker and devotee, this struggle is the real war which is conflict between the opposed impulses of righteousness and unrighteousness, the forces of piety and those of impiety, that is fought within person’s Soul-the seat of all thought and feeling.

Sri Krishn adds further:

“Poojya Gurudev”

य एनं वेत्ति हन्तारं यश्चैनं मन्यते हतम् ।
उभौ तौ न विजानीतो नायं हन्ति न हन्यते ॥

ya enam vetti hantāram yaś cai’nam manyate hatam,
ubhau tau na vijānīto nā’yam hanti na hanyate
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“They are both ignorant, he who believes that the Self slays and he who thinks that he is slain, for he neither slays nor is he slain.’’
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He who regards the Self as the slayer and he who regards him as the slain are both unaware of his real nature, for he neither kills nor can he be killed.

Sri Krishn says:
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न जायते म्रियते वा कदाचि- न्नायं भूत्वा भविता वा न भूयः ।
अजो नित्यः शाश्वतोऽयं पुराणो न हन्यते हन्यमाने शरीरे ॥

na jāyate mriyate vā kadācin nā’yam bhūtvā bhavitā vā na bhūyah,
ajo nityaḥ śāśvato’yam purāṇo na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre
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“Neither (ever) born nor dying, neither at any time coming into being nor ceasing to be, the Self is birthless, perpetual, unchanging, and timeless, and he is not destroyed when the body is destroyed.’’

The Self, the God within soul, is neither at any time born nor does he at any time die, for what he undergoes in the name of death is a mere change of apparel. He cannot also be anything other than Self, because he is birthless, permanent, eternal, and primeval. Disintegration, death, of the body does not annihilate the self. The Self alone is real, timeless, unchanging, and eternal. Who are you? A follower of the eternal Dharm? What is for ever? The Self. So you are a follower, a disciple, of the Self. The Self and Brahm (God) are synonymous. And who are you ? A worshipper of the eternal Dharm. What is immutable? The Self, of course. That is to say that you and I all are adorers of the Self? But if we are not familiar with the spiritual path to the eternal truth, the way of following the dictates of the Self until he is one with the Supreme Spirit, we have nothing that is worthy of being described as changeless and everlasting. We are on trial for the final absolution and in close proximity to God if we pine for him, but we cannot be deemed as having been admitted as long as we are credulous enough to accept blindly one wrong convention or the other masquerading as Sanatan Dharm.

Be it in India or any other country, the Soul in all is identical. So, if anywhere on the earth there is a man who is aware of the true nature of Self and his ultimate goal, and who is eager to take to the way which will eventually lead his Self to the Supreme Spirit,he undoubtedly also belongs to the fold of Sanatan Dharm-the changeless and eternal.

As expounded by Swami Adgadanand Paramhans,Most revered Gurudev. 

Humble Wishes!!!

Sri Krishn has preached in Bhagwad Geeta:
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vāsānsi jīrṇāni yathā vihāya navāni gṛhṇāti naro’parāṇi,
tathā śarīrāṇi vihāya jīrṇāny anyāni sanyāti navāni dehī
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“Like a man who puts on new garments after discarding his worn out clothes, the embodied Self, also, casts off tattered bodies and transmigrates into other bodies that are new.’’
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The Soul rejects bodies that have been ravaged by old age or some other disease and dresses himself in new apparel just as a man throws away old, torn clothes and puts on new clothes. But if new clothing is needed only when the fabric of old clothes is weakened, why do young children die?

These “garments” have yet to grow and evolve.The body rests on sanskar, the impressions from action attained in the course of a previous existence. When the store of sanskar is depleted, the Self discards the body. If the sanskar is of two days’ duration only, the body will be on the brink of death on the second day itself. Beyond sanskar there is not even a single breath of life; sanskar is the body and the Self assumes a new body according to his sanskar. According to the Chandogya Upanishad,” A man is primarily his will. As is his will in this life, so does he become when he departs from it.”It is the firmness of his will in one life that determines what a man will be in the next. Man is thus born in bodies that are shaped by his own will. So death is a mere physical change: the Self does not die.

Sri Krishn says:

“Most Revered Gurudev*

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nai’nam chindanti śastrāṇi
nai’nam dahati pāvakaḥ,
na cai’nam kledayanty āpo
na śoṣayati mārutaḥ
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‘‘This Self is neither pierced by weapons, nor burnt by fire, nor made damp by water, nor dried up by wind.’’
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Weapons cannot cleave the Self. Fire cannot singe him. He cannot also be drenched by water, nor withered by wind.

HE adds further:
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acchedyo’yam adāhyo’yam akledyo’śoṣya eva ca,
nityaḥ sarvagataḥ sthāṇur acalo’yam sanātanaḥ
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“The Self, which cannot be pierced or burnt or made wet or faded, is uninterrupted, all-pervasive, constant, immovable, and eternal.’’

The Self cannot be cut or pierced through; he cannot be burnt; and he cannot be soaked. Even the whole firmament cannot contain him within its expanse. The Self is beyond doubt, ever-fresh, omnipresent, immovable, constant, and everlasting.

The Self alone is eternal.That which is eternal is so strong and impregnable that arms cannot pierce it, fire cannot burn it, and water cannot wet it. Nothing that belongs to the material world can touch it. That is why the spiritually adept Sri Krishn refutes and points out that the Self alone is perpetual. If we do not know the way to this embodied God, we are yet uninitiated into the spirit of Sanatan Dharm.

As expounded by Swami Adgadanand Paramhans,Most revered Gurudev. 

Humble Wishes!!!

The four essential requirements of the evolutionary discipline
by
which a man can achieve spiritual perfection or transcendence
(of which human life is the means)
are
indicated by the terms:
“matkarmah,” “matparmah,” “sangvarjitah,”
and
“nirvairah sarvbhooteshu.”

Sri Krishn has preached in Bhagwad Geeta:

“My four-armed form which you have seen is beyond knowing
by either study of the Ved
or
by penance or by charity,
and
not even by munificence or performance of yagya.”

The one way by which he may be perceived is disclosed
in the following verse:

bhaktyā tvananyayā śakya ahamevamvidho’rjuna
jñātum drastum ca tatvena pravestum ca parantapa

“O Arjun, a man of great penance,
a worshipper can know this form of mine directly,
acquire its essence,
and
even become one with it
by
a total and unswerving dedication.”

The one way to attain to Supreme Spirit is perfect intentness,
the state in which a worshipper remembers
nothing besides the adored goal.
Even knowledge is finally transformed into total devotion.

Sri Krishn said that no one besides Arjun had seen him before
and no one would ever see him in the future.
But he now reveals that by such single minded devotion
worshippers can not only see him,
but also realize him directly
and become one with him.
So Arjun is the name of such a wholly dedicated worshipper:
the name of a state of mind and heart rather than of a person.
All-absorbing love itself is Arjun.

He says:

matkarmakrnmatparamo madbhaktah sangavarjitah
nirvairah sarvabhūtesu yah sa māmeti pāndava

“This man, O Arjun, who acts only for my sake (matkarmah),
rests on and is dedicated to me alone (matparmah),
in complete detachment (sangvarjitah)
and
freedom from malice towards all beings
(nirvairah sarvbhooteshu),
knows and attains to me.’’

“Matkarmah” means performance of the ordained act-the act of yagya.

“Matparmah” is the necessity of the worshipper’s
taking refuge in Sri Krishn
and
of complete devotion to him.

The required action is impossible to accomplish
without total disinterestedness in worldly objects
and
the fruits of action
(sangvarjitah).

The last but not the least requirement
is
“nirvrairah sarvbhooteshu”:
absence of malice or ill-will towards all beings.

Only a worshipper fulfilling these four conditions can attain to Sri Krishn.
Metaphysical vision is that if the four ways
urged by the last verse are observed,
the resulting state is one in which external war and physical bloodshed
are
simply out of the question.

When we have sacrificed ourselves through yagya,
remember only God and no one else,
are
completely detached from both nature and the rewards of our action,
and
when there is no malignity in us towards any being,
with whom and for what shall we fight?
The four observances lead a worshipper to the stage
at which
he stands entirely alone.

Hence for understanding of true seekers
struggling for self accomplishment and eternal peace,
it looks that the war waged by Arjun in the Geeta
is
against fearful enemies
such as
attachment and repulsion,
infatuation and malice,
and
desire and anger,
that rise up in the way of the worshipper
when he engages in the task of single-minded contemplation
after having achieved an attitude of detachment
to worldly objects
as well as
rewards.

~Revered Gurudev Swami Adgadanand Jee Paramhans~

Humble Wishes!!!