The Yog Of Devotion…..!!!

God,rather than being known by penance or yagya or charity,can be easily known by unwavering devotion and contemplation which is constant and uninterrupted like a stream of oil. Firm and single-minded devotion is the means for achievement of the supreme goal. This naturally whets seeker’s curiosity to know which one of the two kinds of devotees, they who worship the manifest God like Sri Krishn and they who contemplate the unmanifest Spirit, are superior?

In fact, Arjun has raised this question many times in Geeta. He had asked Sri Krishn why he was urging him to undertake a dreadful task if he thought the Way of Knowledge superior to the Way of Selfless Action? According to Sri Krishn in both ways action is a necessity.

Despite this, however, if a man restrains his senses with unnatural violence and is yet unable to forget their objects, he is an arrogant impostor rather than a man of knowledge. So Arjun was counselled to do the ordained task, the deed of yagya. The mode of yagya, which is a special form of worship and which provides access to the supreme goal, was then elucidated. What difference is there then between the Way of Knowledge and the Way of Selfless Action if the same action-the deed of yagya-has to be embarked on for both? Whereas an affectionate devotee engages in the deed of yagya after having surrendered himself and his action to the desired God, the yogi of knowledge undertakes the same action with a due understanding of his own strength and reliance upon it.

Sri Krishn says:
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mayyāveśya mano ye mām nityayuktā upāsate
śraddhayā parayopetāh te me yuktatamā matāh

ye tvaksaramanirdeśyam avyaktam paryupāsate
sarvatragamacintyamca kūtastham acalamdhruvam

samniyamyendriyagrāmam sarvatra samabuddhayāh
te prāpnuvanti māmeva sarvabhūtahite ratāh

“I believe them to be the most superior of all yogi who always meditate upon me with concentration and worship me (the embodied,manifest God) with true faith.” ….”And they who restrain all their senses well, always adore the Supreme Spirit who is beyond thought, all-pervading, indefinable, filled with equanimity, immutable and immovable, and formless and indestructible , with total concentration, and who serve all beings viewing them with an equal eye,also attain to me.”These attributes of God are not different from those of Sri Krishn.But….Sri Krishn further adds:
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kleśo’dhikatarastesām avyaktāsaktacetasām
avyaktāhi gatirduhkhah dehavadbhiravāpyate

“Achievement of perfection by men who are devoted to the formless God is more arduous, because they who feel conceited because of their physical bodies find it more difficult to realize the unmanifest.’’
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Accomplishment is harder for worshippers who are devoted to the God who is devoid of all qualities because of their attachment to their physical existence. Attainment of the unmanifest, formless God is most difficult as long as a worshipper takes pride in his birth and prowess.

Yogeshwar Krishn was a Godlike accomplished teacher and the unmanifest God was manifested in him. According to him the seeker who, instead of seeking shelter under a sage, goes ahead with trust in his own strength, knowing his present situation and what it will be in the time to come, and with the awareness that he will ultimately realize his own unmanifest, identical Self, begins to think that the Supreme Spirit is no different from him and that he is “him.’’ Entertaining such thoughts and without waiting for fulfillment he begins to feel that his body itself is the real “he.” So he wanders about in the mortal world, the abode of sorrows, and at last comes to a dead end. But this is not so with the worshipper who goes ahead under Sri Krishn’s gracious shelter.

He says:                                                                 
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ye tu sarvāni karmāni mayi sannyasya matparah
ananyenaiva yogena mām dhyāyanta upāsate

tesāmaham samuddhartā mrtyusansārasāgarāt
bhavāmi na cirātpārtha mayyāveśitacetasām

mayyeva mana ādhatsva mayi buddhim niveśaya
nivasisyasi mayyeva ata ūrdhvam na sanśayah

athacittam samādhātum na śaknosi mayi sthiram
abhyāsayogena tato māmicchāptum dhananjaya

“And, O Parth, I soon deliver my affectionate devotees who have set their mind on me and who, coming under my shelter and dedicating all their action to me, ever contemplate and worship me-the God-with unshaken intentness, from the abyss of the mortal world.’’

Sri Krishn then prompts Arjun to such devotion and throws light upon the way by which it may be accomplished.He adds:”There is no doubt whatsoever that you will dwell in me if you devote and apply your mind and intellect to me.’’Sri Krishn is conscious of his disciple’s weakness, for Arjun has already confessed that he considers restraining the mind as difficult as restraining the wind.

Sri Krishn says:‘‘If you cannot firmly set your mind on me; O Dhananjay, seek me by the yog of incessant practice (abhyas-yog).’’

“Practice” here means repeated drawing back of mind from where-ever it roams and fixing it upon the desired goal. But if Arjun is incapable even of this, he should just long for Sri Krishn-only devote himself to his worship, If all his thoughts and actions are only for Sri Krishn, he will have the fulfillment of realizing him.

He adds:
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abhyāse’pyasamartho’si matkarmaparamo bhava
madarthamapi karmāni kurvansiddhimavāpsyasi

athaitadapyaśakto’si kartum madyogamāśritah
sarvakarmaphalatyāgam tatah kuru yatātmavān

‘In case you are incapable of even following the way of practice, you may yet secure fulfillment by the performance of actions which are meant only for me.”

“In case you fail to accomplish even this, abandon all the fruits of action and take refuge in my yog with a thoroughly subdued mind.’’
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If Arjun cannot even do this, he should give up all desire of the rewards of action as well as considerations of profit and loss, and with a sense of self-surrender find shelter under some sage with an accomplished Soul. The ordained action will then commence spontaneously under the prompting of this accomplished teacher.

And finally Sri Krishn points out about the importance of giving up all desires of the rewards of action with complete surrender.He says:
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śreyo hi jñānamabhyāsājjñānāddhyānam viśisyate
dhyānātkarmaphalatyāgastyāgācchāntiranantaram

“Since knowledge is superior to practice, meditation better than knowledge, and abandonment of the fruits of action higher than meditation, renunciation is soon rewarded with peace.’’
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To engage in action by the Way of Knowledge is better than just the exercise of restraining the mind. Meditation is better than the accomplishment of action through knowledge, because the desired goal is always present in contemplation. Even better than contemplation, however, is the abandonment of the fruits of action, for when Arjun has given up the fruits of action and surrendered himself to the desired goal with the purpose of realizing it, the burden of his exercise of yog is borne by the adored God. So this kind of renunciation is soon followed by the achievement of absolute peace.

Sri Krishn has so far said that the yogi who performs selfless action with a sense of self-surrender has an advantage over the follower of the Way of Knowledge who worships the unmanifest. Both of them accomplish the same action, but there are more hurdles in the way of the latter. He bears the responsibility for his profits and losses himself, whereas the burden of the dedicated worshipper is borne by God. So he soon achieves peace as an outcome of his renunciation of the fruits of action.

As expounded by Swami Adgadanand Paramhans,Most revered Gurudev. 

Humble Wishes!!!


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Who Is Dear To God ?

Sri Krishn has preached in Bhagwad Geeta:
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advestā sarvabhūtānām maitrah karuna eva ca
nirmamo nirahankārah samaduhkhasukhas ksamī

santustah satatam yogī yatātmā drdhaniścayah
mayyarpitamanobuddhiryo madbhaktah sa me priyah

yasmānnodvijate loko lokānnodvijate ca yah
harsāmarsabhayodvegairmukto yah sa ca me priyah
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“The devotee who has malice towards none and loves all, who is compassionate and free from attachment and vanity, who views sorrow and joy equally and is forgiving, endowed with steady yog, contented alike with both profit and loss, restrained in mind, and dedicated to me with firm conviction, is dear to me.”

“The devotee who does not upset anyone, nor is upset by anyone, and who is free from the contradictions of joy, envy, and fear, is dear to me.”

Apart from these qualities, this worshipper is also one who neither agitates any being nor is agitated by any being, and who is free from joy, misery, fear, and all such distractions. Such a worshipper is beloved of Sri Krishn.

This verse is most salutary for worshippers, for they should so conduct themselves that they do not hurt anyone’s feeling. They have to be so, although others will not act in the same way. Being worldly-minded they cannot but indulge in venomous fulminations. However, whatever they say to denounce and hurt should not disturb and interrupt the seeker’s meditation. Whatever they do, his thoughts should be steadily and constantly set on the coveted God. It is his duty to protect himself from the onslaughts of men who are-as it were-intoxicated and out of their senses.

He says:
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anapeksah śucirdaksa udāsīno gatavyathah
sarvārambhaparityāgī yo madbhaktah sa me priyah

yo na hrsyati na dvesti na śocati na kānksati
śubhāśubhaparityāgī bhaktimānyah sa me priyah
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“The devotee who is emancipated from desire, pure, dexterous at his task, impartial, free from sorrow, and who has achieved the state of actionlessness, is dear to me.”
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That man is pure who is liberated from desire. “Dexterous” means that he is adept in worship and meditation, the one ordained action. He is unaffected by fortune and misfortune, free from sorrow, and one who has given up all undertakings because there is left no worthwhile enterprise on which he can embark.

“The devotee who is neither joyous nor envious, neither troubled nor concerned, and who has given up all good and evil actions, is dear to me.”

This is the crowning point of devotion when the worshipper is not wanting in anything that is worthy nor in possession of anything that is impious. The worshipper who has reached this stage is dear to Sri Krishn.

He further adds:
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samah śatrau ca mitre ca tathā mānāpamānayoh
śītosnasukhaduhkhesu samah sangavivarjitah

tulyanindāstutirmaunī santusto yena kenacit
aniketah sthiramatirbhaktimānme priyo narah

ye tu dharmyāmrtamidam yathoktam paryupāsate
śraddadhānā matparamā bhaktāste’tīva me priyāh

“The steady worshipper, who regards friends and foes, honour and dishonour, cold and heat, happiness and sorrow, as equal, and who is detached from the world, indifferent to slander and praise, meditative, contented with any manner of physical sustenance, and free from infatuation for the place where he dwells, is dear to me.”

“And the devotees who rest in me and taste well the aforesaid nectar of dharm in a spirit of selflessness are the dearest to me.’’

In the concluding verse of the chapter,Sri Krishn adds that he loves those devotees most who take refuge in him and partake well of the aforesaid imperishable substance of dharm.

As expounded by Swami Adgadanand Paramhans,Most revered Gurudev. 

Humble Wishes!!! 


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GOD Dictates Are Received In Four Ways !!!

GOD stands inseparably by the worshipper’s Self as a charioteer to destroy spiritual ignorance. Worship does not really commence until, through a sage who has known God, the Supreme Spirit himself has not come awake in the worshipper’s Soul and taken upon himself the task of guidance from one instant to another as also of restraining and disciplining him, and escorting him safely across the incongruities of nature. At this stage God begins to command from all sides. But at the beginning, it is through an accomplished sage that he speaks. If a seeker is not fortunate enough to have such a sage as a teacher, God’s voice is only faintly audible to him.

Sri Krishn has preached in Bhagwad Geeta:
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tesāmevānukampārthamahamajñānajam tamah
nāśayāmyātmabhāvastho jñānadīpena bhāsvatā

‘To extend my grace to them, I dwell in their innermost being and dispel the gloom of ignorance by the radiance of knowledge.”
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The charioteer, whether he is the worshipped deity or a teacher- preceptor, or God himself, is the same. When the charioteer has awakened in the worshipper’s Self, his dictates are received in four ways.

At first there is the experience that is related to gross breath: of the infusion into it of a thought that was earlier not in it. When a worshipper sits in meditation, he is confronted with a number of questions. When is his mind going to be truly absorbed? To what extent is it already absorbed? When does his mind desire to escape from nature and when has it strayed from the path? The answers to these questions are signalled every moment by the adored God through physical reflexes. Twitching of limbs is an experience related to gross breath and it appears simultaneously at more than one point even within a moment. If the mind has deviated, these signals are transmitted minute after minute.

But these signals are received only if the devotee holds on to the form of the worshipped Godlike teacher with undeviating firmness. Reflex actions such as twitching of limbs are a much too frequent experience of ordinary beings because of the clash between their contradictory impulses, but these have nothing to do whatsoever with the signs that are transmitted to worshippers who are wholly dedicated to the sublime object of their worship.

The other experience is connected with the awakening of breath in dreams. Ordinary men dream according to their desires, but when a worshipper cleaves to God even dreams are transformed into divine instructions. Rather than dreaming, yogi perceive the act of becoming.

These two experiences are both preliminary. Association with a sage who has known reality, having faith in him, and rendering him even a token service suffice to bring about these experiences. But the two subsequent experiences of a worshipper are more subtle and dynamic, and they can be had only through active practice-only by really walking along the path.

The third experience is that of awakening into profound sleep. All of us in the world after all, as it were, lie immersed in slumber. We are but lying in a state of insensibility in the dark night of ignorance. And whatever we do, day and night, is but a dream. Profound sleep here refers to the condition that follows after the stage when the memory of God flows through the worshipper so very like a perennial stream that his vision of God is permanently fixed in the mind. This is that serene and blessed mood in which the worshipper is led gently on by his affections, and in which, while the physical breath is suspended and he is laid asleep in body, he becomes “a Living Soul.” This is the state of harmony and of deep joy in which the worshipper is blessed with an insight into the very life of things.

In such a condition the worshipped God transmits yet another signal, which manifests itself in the form of an image that is in consonance with the yogi’s prevailing mood and provides the correct direction, thus acquainting him with the past and the present. My revered teacher would quite often tell us that even like the Surgeon who first renders a patient unconscious and then cures him by the application of a suitable remedy, God-when the flame of worship is strong and steady-imbues the devotee with awareness of the state of his faith and worship to cure his spiritual sickness.

The fourth and final experience is of the spiritual awakening that leads to evenness of breath. This is the state in which the worshipper is on par with that God whose thought he has fixed his mind on as on a tangible object. This realization arises from within the Self and once this awakening has taken place, at every moment while sitting idly or up and active, the worshipper pre-visions occurrences that shall be and thus gains omniscience. This is the state, too, in which there arises a sense of oneness with the embodied Self. This final experience is generated when the darkness of ignorance is dissipated by the light of knowledge through the agency of a timeless and unmanifest sage who has awakened in his Soul.

As expounded by Swami Adgadanand Paramhans,most revered Gurudev. 

Humble Wishes!!!

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Attributes Of A Steady Minded Sage, A Real Guru !!!

That Soul which has resolved his doubts is in the state of samadhi or perfect absorption of thought in the Supreme Spirit, the one worthy object of meditation. One who has achieved even- minded discrimination by identification with the eternal essence, which has neither a beginning nor an end, is said to be in the state of abstract contemplation of the nature of the Supreme Spirit and only such may lead spiritual aspirants as a real Guru.

Sri Krishn has preached about the qualities of the man with a mind of equanimity engaged in such contemplation.

How does a man with steadfast wisdom speak? How does he sit? What is his gait?

Sri Krishn has preached in Bhagavad Gita:
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prajahāti yadā kāmān sarvān pārtha manogatān,
ātmany evā’tmanā tuṣṭah ̣sthiaprajñas tado’cyate

duḥkheṣu anudvignamanāh sukheṣu vigataspṛhah,
vītrarāgabhayakrodhah ̣sthitadhīr munir ucyate

“A man is then said to be steadfast in mind when he has renounced all the desires of his mind and achieved contentment of the Self through the Self.”
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When a man has renounced all his desires and achieved his Soul’s contentment through the contemplation of his Soul, he is said to be a man of firm discernment. This Self is apprehended only through complete abandonment of passion. The sage who has viewed the ineffable beauty of his Self and found perfect satisfaction in him is the man with a steady judgement.
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“He is indeed a steady-minded sage who is unmoved by sorrow and indifferent to happiness, and who has overcome his passion fear, and anger.’’

He whose mind is untroubled by bodily, accidental, and worldly sorrows, and who has rid himself of desire for physical pleasures, and whose passions, fear, and anger have been subdued, is the sage with discrimination who has achieved the culmination of spiritual discipline.

Sri Krishn then points out other qualities of this saintly man in next verses.

He says:
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yaḥ sarvatrā’nabhisnehas tat-tat prāpya śubhāśubham,
nā’bhinandati na dveṣti tasya prajnā pratiṣṭhitā

yadā samharate cā’yam
kūrmo’ngānī va sarvasah ̣,
indriyān ̣ī’ndriyārthebhays
tasya prajñā pratiṣṭhitā

“That man has a steady mind who is entirely free from attachment and who neither gloats over success nor abhors failure.”
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That man has a firm wisdom who is totally free from infatuation and who neither welcomes good fortune nor repudiates misfortune. That alone is auspicious which draws a Soul to the being of God, whereas that which pulls the mind to temptations of the material world is inauspicious. The man of discrimination is not too happy in favourable circumstances and he also does not scorn adversities, because neither is the object which is fit for attainment different from him nor is there for him any evil that may sully the purity of his mind. That is to say that he has now no need for further striving.
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“As a turtle pulls in its limbs, this man reins in his senses from all objects, and then he truly has a steady mind.’’

When a man pulls back his senses from all sides and restrains them within his mind like a turtle pulling its head and feet within its shell, his mind is steady. But it is only an analogy. As soon as the turtle knows that the danger is gone, it again expands its limbs.

Does a man of steadfast wisdom also, in the same way, let his senses loose after restraining them, and resume enjoyment of worldly pleasures?

Sri Krishn says:
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viṣayā vinivartante
nirāhārasya dehinah,
rasavarjam raso’py asya
param dṛṣṭvā nivartate

“While objects of sensual pleasure cease to be for the man who withdraws his senses from them, his desire for these objects yet remains; but the desires of the man of discrimination are completely erased by his perception of God.’’
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The objects of sense come to an end for the man who has rejected them because his senses no longer perceive them, but his desires yet survive. The feeling of attachment lives on. But the passions of the yogi, the doer of selfless action, are annihilated by his perception of the ultimate essence that is God.

The accomplished, or enlightened, sage does not, like the turtle, re-extend his senses to objects which are pleasing to them. When once his senses have shrivelled, all the influences and impressions (sanskar) he has carried with him from a previous existence are irrevocably dead. His senses do not then return to life.

By apprehending God through the observance of the Way of Selfless Action, even the attachments to objects of sensual pleasure become extinct. Force has often been a feature of meditation, and by its use seekers rid themselves of objects of sense. But thoughts of these objects persist. These attachments are brought to an end only with the perception of God and never before that, because before this stage residues of matter persist.

Sri Krishn proclaims that although a man’s association with objects of sense ends when he restrains them from reacting to these objects, he is rid of desire for these objects only when he knows his own Self as the identical God through meditation. So we have to act until we have achieved this perception.

Sri Krishn adds:
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yatato hy api kaunteya
puruṣasya vipaścitaḥ,
indriyāṇi pramāthīni
haranti prasabham manaḥ

tāni sarvāṇi sanyamya
yukta āsīta matparaḥ,
vaśe hi yasye’ndriyāṇi
tasya prajñā pratiṣṭhitā

“O son of Kunti, men ought to subdue their senses which seize forcibly even wise and striving minds, and devote themselves to me with perfect concentration, because only that man’s mind is unwavering who has achieved control of his senses.”
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Mutinous senses ravish even discerning and active minds, and undo their steadiness. So with full control over his senses, equipped with yog and devotion, seeker should find shelter in God, for that man alone has a firm mind who has subdued his senses. Here Yogeshwar Krishn explains what ought to be prevented in the course of worship, as also the components of spiritual seeking which it is the duty of men to undertake. Restraint and prohibition alone cannot subdue the senses. Along with negation of senses there must also be incessant contemplation of the desired God. In the absence of such reflection, the mind will be preoccupied with material objects, the evil consequence of which we see in the words of Sri Krishn himself.

Further He says:
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dhyāyato visyān punsaḥ
sangas teṣu’pajāyate,
sangāt samjāyate kāmaḥ
kāmāt krodho’ bhijājāte

krodhād bhavati sammohaḥ
sammohāt smṛtivibhramaḥ,
smṛtibranśād buddnināśo
buddināśāt praṇaśyati

“They whose thoughts are of sensual objects are attached to them, attachment gives rise to desires, and anger is born when these desires are obstructed.’’
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The feeling of attachment persists in men who have got over their concern with the objects of sense. Desire is born from attachment. And there is anger when there is an obstacle in the way of satisfaction of desire. And what does the feeling of anger give rise to ?
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“Delusion is born from anger, by which memory is confused; confusion of memory undermines the faculty of discrimination and, when discrimination is lost, the seeker deviates from the means of absolution.’’

Confusion and ignorance arise from anger. Distinction between the eternal and the transient is obliterated. Remembrance is shaken by delusion. Sri Krishn says again that in such a state of mind one cannot determine wisely what to do and what not to do. Confusion of memory weakens the seeker’s dedication and loss of discrimination makes him deviate from his goal of being one with God.

Here Sri Krishn has emphasized the importance of cultivating unconcern with sensual objects. The worshipper’s mind should rather always be concerned with that-word, form, incarnation, or abode-by which his mind may be enabled to be one with God. The mind is drawn to sensual objects when the discipline of worship is relaxed. Thoughts of these objects produce attachment, which in its own turn results in desire for them. Anger is generated if the satisfaction of this desire is obstructed in any way. And ignorance finally undoes the power of discernment.

The Way of Selfless Action is also said to be the Way of Knowledge, for it has always to be kept in view that desire must not be allowed to enter the worshipper’s mind. There are, after all, no real fruits. Advent of desire is inimical to wisdom. Steady contemplation is, therefore, a necessity. A man who does not always think of God strays from the right path that will lead him to ultimate bliss and glory. However, there is one consolation. The chain of worship is only broken, not completely destroyed. Once the joy of worship has been experienced,when taken up again, it resumes from the same point at which it was discontinued.

This is the fate of the worshipper who is attached to sensual objects. But what is the lot of the seeker who has mastered his mind and heart?

He adds:
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rāgadveṣaviyuktais tu
viṣayān indriyaiś caran,
ātmavaśyair vidheyātmā
prasādam adhigacchati

“But that man achieves spiritual tranquillity who has mastered his mind, and who remains unaffected by sense-objects although he may be roaming amidst them, because his senses are properly restrained.”
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Possessed of the means of spiritual realization, the sage who has experienced an intuitive perception of the identity of Self and the Supreme Spirit achieves the state of the most sublime peace, because he has subdued his senses, and therefore remained untouched by their objects even though he may be wandering in their midst. No prohibitions are needed for such a man. There is for him nothing unpropitious anywhere against which he should fight and defend himself. There is also for him no good for which he should yearn.

And:
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prasāde sarvaduḥkhānām
hānir asyo’pajāyate,
prasannacetaso hy āśu
buddhiḥ paryavatiṣṭhate

“After realizing the ultimate repose, all his (the seeker’s) sorrows disappear, and the blissful mind of such a man quickly grows in firmness.”
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Blessed with a vision of God’s ineffable glory and his divine grace, all the worshipper’s griefs-the temporal world and its objects which are the abode of all sorrows-vanish and his power of discrimination grows strong and steady. Hereafter,Sri Krishn dwells upon the lot of those who have not achieved the saintly condition in next verse.

He says:
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nā’sti buddhir ayuktasya
na cā’yuktasya bhavanā,
na cā’bhāvayatah ̣śāntir
aśāntasya kutaḥ sukham

“A man without spiritual accomplishment has no wisdom nor true faith, and a man without devotion knows no peace of mind. Since happiness depends on peace, how can such men be happy?”
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A man who has not undertaken meditation is devoid of selfless action oriented wisdom. This impoverished man is even deficient in the feeling of devotion to the all-pervading Spirit. How can such a man, without an awareness of the Self within and the God without, be at peace? And how can he, without peace, experience happiness? There can be no devotion without knowing the object of devotion and knowledge comes from contemplation. Without devotion there can be no peace and a man with a disturbed mind cannot experience happiness, much less the state of changeless, eternal bliss.

And:
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indriyāṇām hi caratām
yan mano’nuvidhīyate,
tad asya harati prajñām
vāyur nāvam ivā’mbhasi

“For, as the wind captures the boat on water, just so even one of the senses, that roam amidst objects of their gratification and with which the intellect dwells, is strong enough to sweep away the discrimination of one who is unpossessed of spiritual attainment.’’
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As the wind drives a boat far away from its destination, even one out of the five senses roving amongst objects perceived by the intellect can get hold of the man who has not undertaken the task of spiritual quest and discipline. Therefore incessant remembrance of God is essential.Sri Krishn again dwells upon the importance of action-oriented conduct.

He says:
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tasmād yasya mahābāho nigṛhītāni sarvaśaḥ,
indriyāṇī’ndriyārthebhyas tasya prajñā pratiṣṭhitā

‘‘Therefore, O the mighty-armed (Arjun), the man who prevents his senses from straying to objects has a steady discrimination.”
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The man who restricts his senses from being drawn to their objects is a man of steady wisdom. “Arm” is a measure of the sphere of action. God is called “mighty-armed” (mahabahu), although he is bodiless and works everywhere without hands and feet. The one who becomes one with him or is inclined to him and is on the way to his sublime splendour is also therefore, “mighty-armed.”

He adds:
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yā niśā sarvabhūtānām
tasyām jāgarti sanyamī,
yasyām jāgrati bhutāni
sā niśā paśyato muneḥ

“The true worshipper (yogi) remains awake amidst what is night for all creatures, but the perishable and transient worldly pleasures amidst which all living creatures stay awake are like night for the sage who has perceived reality.”
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The transcendental Spirit is like night for living beings because he can be neither seen nor comprehended by thought. So he is like night, but it is in this night that the spiritually conscious man remains awake because he has seen the formless and known the incomprehensible. The seeker finds access to God through control of senses, peace of mind, and meditation. That is why the perishable worldly pleasures for which living beings toil day after day is night for God’s true worshipper.

The sage alone, who beholds the individual Self and the Universal Self and is indifferent to desire, succeeds in his enterprise of God-realization. So he dwells in the world and is yet untouched by it. Let us now see what Sri Krishn has to say on the way in which this realized sage conducts himself.

Sri Krishn says:
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āpūryamāṇam acalapratiṣṭham
samudram āpaḥ praviśanti yadvat,
tadvat kāmā yam praviśanti sarve
sa śāntim āpnoti na kāmakāmī

“As the water of the many rivers falls into the full and ever constant ocean without affecting its tranquillity, even so the pleasures of sense merge into a man of steady discrimination without producing any deviation, and such a man attains to the state of the most sublime peace rather than yearn for sensual enjoyment.’’
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The full and changeless ocean assimilates all the rivers that flow violently into it without losing its repose. Similarly the man who is aware of the oneness of his Self and the Supreme Spirit assimilates all worldly pleasures within himself without in any way staying from his chosen path. Rather than longing for sensual gratification, he aims at the achievement of the most sublime bliss of uniting his Self with the supreme God.

Ravaging everything that comes in their way- crops,men and animals, and their habitations-and with a frightening roar, the violently sweeping currents of hundreds of rivers fall into the ocean with a tremendous force but they can neither raise or lower its level by even an inch; they only merge into the ocean. In the same violent way sensual pleasures assault the sage who has attained knowledge of reality and merge in him.They can impress on him neither weal nor woe. The actions of the worshipper are non good and non evil: they transcend good and evil.The minds which are conscious of God, restrained and dissolved, bear only the mark of divine excellence. So how can any other impression be made on such a mind?

In this one verse, thus, Sri Krishn has answered several of queries. With the single word- “ocean”-the omniscient Sri Krishn answers all these questions. The mark of a sage is that he is like an ocean. Like an ocean he is not bound by rules,that he must sit like this and walk like that. It is men like him who achieve the ultimate peace, for they have self control. They who yearn for pleasure can have no peace.

He adds:
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vihāya kāmān yaḥ sarvān
pumāmś carati niḥspṛhaḥ,
nimamo nirahamkāraḥ
sa śāntim adhigacchati

eṣā brāhmī sthitiḥ pārtha
nai’nām prāpya vimuhyati,
sthitvā’syām antakāle’pi
brahmanirvāṇam ṛcchati

‘The man who has renounced all desire, and who conducts himself without ego, arrogance, and attachment, is the one who achieves peace.’’

Men who have given up all desire, and whose actions are entirely free from the feelings of I and mine, realize the ultimate peace beyond which there is nothing to strive for and achieve.

“Such, is the steadfastness of the man who has realized God; after attaining to this state he subdues all temptation and, resting firmly in his faith, even at the time of his death he continues in this state of rapture of the union of his Self with God.’’

Such is the state of one who has realized God. Rivers of temporal objects merge into these ocean-like sages who are endowed with self control and an intuitive perception of God.

And only such totally accomplished and fully enlightened sages are “Real Guru” who can lead and guide an honest seeker to traverse upon dedicated devotional spiritual path for attainment of ultimate bliss.

~ Revered Gurudev Swami Adgadanand Jee Paramhans ~

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Humble Wishes.
~ mrityunjayanand ~

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How One Who Is Immaculate Achieves Realization Of The Supreme Being!!!

“Renunciation” is complete self-abnegation. It is the condition in which the seeker abandons whatever he has and only then does he reach the point when no further action is needed. “Renunciation” and “Attainment of the supreme state of actionlessness” are synonymous.The yogi who has reached the state of actionlessness attains to the Supreme Being.

Sri Krishn says in Bhagwad Geeta:
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asaktabuddhiḥ sarvatra jitātmā vigataspṛhaḥ
naiṣkarmyasiddhiṁ paramāṁ saṁnyāsenādhigacchati

“He whose intellect is aloof all round, who is without desire, and who has conquered his mind, attains to the ultimate state that transcends all action through renunciation.”
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He says:
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siddhiṁ prāpto yathā brahma tathāpnoti nibodha me
samāsenaiva kaunteya niṣṭhā jñānasya yā parā

“Learn in brief from me, O son of Kunti, of how one who is immaculate achieves realization of the Supreme Being, which represents the culmination of knowledge.”
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He adds:
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buddhyā viśuddhayā yukto dhṛtyātmānaṁ niyamya ca
śabdādīnviṣayāṁstyaktvā rāgadveṣau vyudasya ca

viviktasevī laghvāśī yatavākkāyamānasaḥ
dhyānayogaparo nityaṁ vairāgyaṁ samupāśritaḥ

ahaṁkāraṁ balaṁ darpaṁ kāmaṁ krodhaṁ parigraham
vimucya nirmamaḥ śānto brahmabhūyāya kalpate

brahmabhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na kāṅkṣati
samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu madbhaktiṁ labhate parām

“Blessed with a pure intellect, firmly in command of the Self, with objects of sensual gratification like sound forsaken , with both fondness and revulsion destroyed,dwelling in seclusion, eating frugally, subdued in mind, speech and body, incessantly given to the yog of meditation, firmly resigned,giving up conceit,arrogance of power,yearning,ill humor and acquisitiveness,devoid of attachment,and in possession of a mind at repose,a man is worthy of becoming one with God.”
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Sri Krishn says:
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brahmabhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na kāṅkṣati
samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu madbhaktiṁ labhate parām

“In this serene-tempered man, who views all beings equally, who abides intently in the Supreme Being, neither grieving over nor hankering after anything, there is fostered a faith in me that transcends all else.’’
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Now faith is at the stage where an outcome can ensue from it, namely, in the form of God-realization.

He adds:
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bhaktyā māmabhijānāti yāvānyaścāsmi tattvataḥ
tato māṁ tattvato jñātvā viśate tadanaṁtaram

“Through his transcendental faith he knows my essence well, what my reach is, and having thus known my essence he is at once united with me.”
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The Supreme Being is perceived at the moment of attainment and, no sooner has this perception come about than the worshipper finds his own Soul blessed with the attributes of God himself: that his soul is-like God-indestructible, immortal, eternal, ineffable, and universal.Sri Krishn has said that the Self is real, eternal, permanent, ineffable, and of the stuff of immortality. But only seers have apprehended him endowed with these qualities. So naturally the question arises as to what is meant by perception of the essence? There are many who set out to make rational tabulations of five or twenty-five principles. But Sri Krishn’s verdict on the problem in is quite clear, that God is the one supreme essence. And one who knows him is the seer. If you desire to know the truth and crave for the essence of God, contemplation and worship are an inescapable necessity.Here Yogeshwar Krishn has laid down explicitly that one has to act in the way of renunciation, too. As promised by him, he will expound in brief how through constant exercise of renunciation-through the Way of Knowledge-the worshipper who is free from desire and attachment, and who has an upright mind, attains to the supreme state of actionlessness?

When the maladies of vanity, brute power, lust, wrath, arrogance, and infatuation-that force one down into the ravines of nature-are rendered feeble, and virtues such as discernment, non-attachment, self-restraint, firmness of will, abiding in solitude, and meditation-that lead one to God-are fully developed and active, the seeker is equipped to be united with the Supreme Being. It is this ability that is called transcendental faith and it is by this that the worshipper comes to apprehend the ultimate reality. He then knows what God is and, knowing his divine glories, he is at once merged with him. Putting it differently, Brahm, Reality, God, the Supreme Spirit, and Self are all substitutes for each other. Knowing any one of them, we come to know them all. This is the final accomplishment, the final liberation, the final goal.

So the Geeta is unambiguous in its view that in both the Way of Knowledge or Discernment (or the Way of Renunciation) and the Way of Selfless Action, the ordained deed-meditation-has to be entered upon and accomplished for the attainment of the supreme state of actionlessness.

Humble Wishes!!!

As expounded by Swami Adgadanand Paramhans,most revered Gurudev.


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Who The Author Of Yog Is, As Well As The Stages By Which This Discipline Has Evolved?

Yogeshwar Krishn had given the assurance in Bhagwad Geeta that if a man followed his precept, free from delusion and with sincere devotion, he would be liberated from the bondage of action.Yog (both of knowledge and action) has the power to effect liberation from this servitude.The idea of waging war is embodied in yog. Let us discuss what Sri Krishn says about who the author of yog is, as well as the stages by which this discipline has evolved?

Sri Krishn says in Bhagwad Geeta:
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imaṁ vivasvate yogaṁ proktavānahamavyayam
vivasvānmanave prāha manurikśvākave’bravīt

“It was I who taught the eternal yog to the Sun- (Vivaswat), who then taught it to Manu, who taught it to Ikshwaku.”
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It was he,Sri Krishn says, who at the beginning of devotion (kalp), imparted the knowledge of eternal yog to the Sun (symbolizing righteous impulses), from whom it was passed on to Manu (symbolizing mind), son and then to Ikshwaku (symbolizing aspiration).Sri Krishn, as we have seen, was a yogi.

So it is a yogi, a sage dwelling in the Supreme Spirit, who initiates the everlasting yog at the beginning or, in other words, at the commencement of worship and transmits it into the life breath. The Sun represents the way of God-realization. God is the “one light that gives light to all.’’Yog is everlasting.Sri Krishn has said earlier that the inception, the seed, of this process is indestructible.

If it is but begun, it does not cease until it has achieved perfection. The body is cured by medicines, but worship is the remedy for the Soul. The beginning of worship is the beginning of Self-cure. This act of devotion and meditation is also the creation of an accomplished sage. To the primitive man lying unconscious in the night of ignorance, who has not given a thought to yog, is brought to the perfection of yog when he meets with a sage-just by looking at the great man, by listening to his voice, by rendering albeit an inadequate service to him, and by associating with him. Goswami Tulsidas has also said this: “Ultimate bliss is granted to the man who has perceived God as well as to the man who has been noticed by God.”Sri Krishn says that at the beginning he taught yog to the Sun. If a realized sage just casts a glance at a devotee, the refinement of yog is transmitted into the life-breath of the lucky Soul. All beings that live are animated by the sun-by God who is subject to himself alone. Since light is life or breath, it is ordained that the Supreme Spirit can be attained only by the regulation of life-breath. Transmission of pious instincts into early man is the imparting of knowledge of yog to the Sun, after which in due time the seed of this perfection sprouts in the mind. This is how gods pass on the knowledge to Manu. After the seed has sprouted in the mind, there will arise a wish for the realization of the sage’s utterance. If the mind has something in it, there is also the desire to achieve it. This is Manu’s preaching yog to Ikshwaku.

There will be a longing, or aspiration to do that ordained act which is eternal and which liberates from the bondage of action. If it is so, there is the will to act and worship is quickened.Sri Krishn now speaks about the point to which yog takes us after it has been set in motion.

He says:
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evam paramparāprāptam
imam rājarṣayo viduḥ,
sa kālene’ha mahatā
yogo naṣṭaḥ parantapa

“Derived from tradition, this yog was known to sages of the royal stage (rajarshi),but at this point, O the destroyer of foes, it declined and was almost extinct.’’
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This yog, transmitted by an accomplished saint into the breath of the primitive, barbaric man, and thereafter flowing from breath into the mind, thence to longing (or aspiration), and from that to active practice, thus developing by gradual stages, reaches the royal stage and is then revealed to the seeker. Extraordinary powers are generated in worshippers who have reached this level. At this critical stage, yog almost ceases to be in this world (body). So the problem is how to carry it beyond this dividing line? It seems that every seeker is destroyed after reaching this stage, but according to Sri Krishn it is not so. One who has taken refuge in him as a loved devotee and dear friend is spared.

He adds:
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sa evā’yam mayā te’dya
yogaḥ proktaḥ purātanaḥ,
bhakto’si me sakhā ce’ti
rahasyam hyetad uttamam (3)

“That is the timeless yog which I now impart to you, because you are my devotee and beloved friend, and because this yog embodies a supreme mystery.’’
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Arjun is a Kshatriya worshipper, of the level of rajarshi at which, lashed by waves of achievement, worshippers are in danger of being destroyed. It is not that the beneficial nature of yog is cancelled at this stage, but worshippers usually stumble after arriving at this point. That eternal and supremely mysterious yog Sri Krishn now imparts to Arjun, because his disciple is in the same way on the brink of destruction. And he does this because Arjun is devoted to him, single-mindedly reliant upon him, and a beloved friend.

When the God we crave for-the accomplished sage-abides in the Soul and begins to instruct him, only then does real worship begin. Here God and accomplished sage- teacher, as prompters, are synonymous.If God descends into heart at the level at which we stand, begins to check and guide, and support in case the worshipper stumbles-only then is the mind fully restrained. Unless God stands by as a charioteer, close to the Soul as a prompter, there cannot be an adequate initiation to his path. Before this the adorer is on trial; he has not yet achieved the state of true worship.

When God begins to resolve doubts like a friend, only then can the worshipper cross the destructive stage safely.

This is the inception of yog by a sage, the obstacles in its way, and the means of overcoming them.

Humble Wishes!!!

As expounded by Swami Adgadanand Paramhans, most revered Gurudev.

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