Geeta Dhara – Gurukul

There is constant growth of wisdom after the commencement of spiritual adoration, or worship.Scholars of great erudition have ascribed four stages to this process,
they are
brahmvitt, brahmvidwar,
brahmvidwariyan,and brahmvidwarisht.

The mind of an ordinary man is some how different to these stages.Brahmvitt is the mind that is embellished with knowledge of the Supreme Spirit (brahmvidya).Since at the beginning this wisdom is endowed With knowledge of God, it is called brahmvitt.

Brahmvidwar is that which has achieved excellence in such knowledge.Gradually, as evil impulses are subdued and the knowledge of God is enriched, this wisdom is said to be brahmvidwar.

As it ascends yet higher and gets more refined, it comes to be known as brahmvidwariyan. Rather than just achieving distinction in the knowledge of God, brahmavidwariyan is the mind that has turned into a medium for the dissemination of the knowledge and for guidance to others who wish to go along the way.At this stage, the sage who is blessed with knowledge of God also achieves the capacity to bring others on to the way of spiritual growth.

Brahmawidwarisht represents that last stage in which it is flooded with consciousness of the adored God. The highest point of wisdom is brahmvidwarisht, that state of divine inundation in which the spirit of God flows through it like a crystal current.

The mind has its existence until this stage, because the God who irradiates it is yet removed from it.The worshipper is yet within the bounds of nature and, although in an elevated state, he is still subject to recurrent birth and death.

When the mind (Brahma) dwells in celestial radiance,
the whole being and its current of thought are awake and alert.
But they are unconscious and inert when they are beset by spiritual ignorance. This is what has been described as brightness and darkness or day and night.These are but figurative renderings of different states of mind.

Even in this superior, Brahma-like state, blessed with knowledge of God and overflowing with his radiance, the relentless succession of the day of spiritual knowledge
(which unites the Self with the Supreme Spirit)
and the night of ignorance, of light and darkness, persists.
Even at this stage maya is still in command.
When there is resplendence of knowledge, insensate beings come to consciousness and they begin to see the supreme goal.
On the other hand, when the mind is submerged in darkness, beings are in a state of nescience (the lack of knowledge). The mind cannot then ascertain its position and the progress towards God comes to a standstill. These states of knowledge and ignorance are Brahma’s day and night. In the light of day the numerous impulses of mind are lit up by God’s effulgence, whereas in the night of ignorance the same impulses are buried
under the impenetrable gloom of insensibility.

Realization of the immutable, unmanifest God, who is indestructible and much beyond the unmanifest mind, is effected when the inclinations to both good and evil, to knowledge and ignorance, are perfectly hushed, and when all the currents of will-the sensible as well as the insensible-that disappear from view in the darkness of night and emerge in the light of day are obliterated.

An accomplished Soul is one who has gone beyond these four stages of the mind.There is no mind within him because it has turned into a mere instrument of God.
Yet he appears to have a mind because he instructs others and prompts them with firmness.But, in truth, he is beyond the sway of the mind’s operation, because he has now found his place in the ultimate unmanifest reality and won freedom from rebirth.
But prior to this, when he is still in possession of his mind,
he is Brahma and subject to rebirth.

Men who have attained to this state enter into and dwell in the Supreme Spirit from whom all mankind is born. The minds of such sages are mere instruments and it is they who are called “prajapati.”

Casting light upon these matters, Sri Krishn says in Bhagavad Gita:
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sahasrayugaparyantamaharyad brahmano viduh
rātrim yugasahasrāntām te’horātravido janāh

“Yogi who know the reality of one day of Brahma
which is of the duration of a thousand ages ( yug)
and of one night
which is also equal to a thousand ages
know the essence of time.”
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*
In this verse, day and night are used as symbols of knowledge and ignorance. Brahma comes into being when the mind is endowed with the knowledge of God (brahmvitt), whereas the mind which has achieved the state of Brahmvidwarisht marks the crowning point of Brahma. The mind which is possessed of knowledge is Brahma’s day. When knowledge acts upon the mind, the yogi makes his way towards God and the innumerable predilections of his mind are suffused with his radiance.

On the other hand, when the night of ignorance prevails, the mind and heart are swamped with the contradictions of maya between manifold impulses. This is the furthest limit of light and darkness.

Beyond this there is neither ignorance nor knowledge, because the final essence that is God is now directly known. Those yogis who know this essence know the reality of time. They know when the night of ignorance falls and when the day of knowledge dawns,
and also the limits of the dominance of time-the point
to which it can pursue us.

The sages of yore described the inner realm as thought or sometimes as intellect.In the course of time, functions of the mind were divided into four categories which came to be known as mind, intellect, thought and ego, although impulses are in fact endless.
It is within the mind that there are the night of ignorance and also day of knowledge. These are the days and nights of Brahma. In the mortal world, which is a form of darkness, all beings lie in a state of insensibility.Roaming about amidst nature, their mind fails to perceive the radiant God.But they who practice yog have woken up from the slumber of insensibility
and
begun to make their way towards God.

According to Goswami Tulsidas in the Ram Charit Manas, his version of the Ramayana, even the mind possessed of knowledge is degraded to the state of ignorance by evil association. But it is re-imbued with light by virtuous company.This alternation of spiritual ascendancy and decline continues till the moment of attainment.

After realization of the ultimate goal, however, there are no Brahma, no mind, no night, and no day. Brahma’s day and night are just metaphors. There is neither a night nor a day of a thousand years, nor even a Brahma with four faces.

The brahmvitt, brahmvidwar, brahmvidwariyan, and brahmvidwarisht,
four successive stages of mind, are his four faces, and the four main divisions of the mind are his four ages (yug). Day and night abide in the tendencies and operations of the mind. Men who know this secret understand the mystery of time-how far it pursues us
and who can transcend it.

Sri Krishn then goes on to explain the deeds that belong to day as also those that belong to night: what is done in the state of knowledge and that which is done in the obscurity of ignorance?
He says:
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*
avyaktād vyaktayah sarvāh prabhavantyaharāgame
rātryāgame pralīyante tatraivāvyaktasanjñake

“All manifest beings are born from the subtle body of Brahma at the outset of his day and are also dissolved in the same unmanifest body at the fall of his night.’’
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*
With the dawning of a day of Brahma’s, that is, with the inception of knowledge, all beings come awake in their unmanifest mind, and it is within the same subtle, unmanifest mind that they lapse into unconsciousness. They are unable to see the Supreme Spirit, but they have an existence. The mind, unmanifest and invisible,
is the medium of both consciousness and unconsciousness,
of both knowledge and nescience (the lack of knowledge).
He adds further:
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bhūtagrāmah sa evāyam bhūtvā bhūtvā pralīyate
rātryāgame’vaśah pārtha prabhavatyaharāgame

“The beings who thus wake up into consciousness are compelled by nature to relapse into unconsciousness with the coming of night and they are then, O Parth, reborn with the advent of day.”
*
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As long as the mind persists, the succession of knowledge and ignorance goes on. So long as this continues, the seeker is only a worshipper rather than an accomplished sage.He adds further:
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parastasmāttu bhāvo’nyo’vyakto’vyaktātsanātanah
yah sa sarvesu bhūtesu naśyatsu na vinaśyati

“But beyond the unmanifest Brahma there is the eternal, unmanifest God who is not destroyed even after the destruction of all beings.”
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On the one hand, the mind that is Brahma is imperceptible. It cannot be known by the senses. On the other, there is the eternal, unmanifest Supreme Spirit who is not destroyed even with the destruction of physical beings, or of the invisible Brahma (mind) which gains consciousness with the arising of knowledge and sinks into unconsciousness with the setting of knowledge into the darkness of ignorance.

God exists even after the destruction of inclinations of the mind which wake up in the light of day and fall back into insensibility in the darkness of night. These upward and downward motions of the mind cease only after the attainment of God who is the ultimate abode. With the realization of the Supreme Spirit, the mind is coloured by him and becomes what he is. This is the point when the mind is annihilated and in its place
only the eternal, unmanifest God remains.

And finally Sri Krishn concludes:
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avyakto’ksara ityuktastamāhuh paramām gatim
yam prāpya na nivartante taddhāma paramam mama

“The unmanifest and imperishable God who is said to be salvation and after realizing whom one does not come back to the world, is my ultimate abode.”
**
That eternal unmanifest state is immortal and that is called enlightenment (or attainment) of the supreme goal !

Sri Krishn says,

“This is my ultimate abode,
after attaining which one does not return to mortal life
and is not reborn.”

As expounded by
Revered Swami
Adgadanand Paramhans,
most revered Gurudev.

“Humble Wishes”

Sri Krishn has preached in Bhagwad Geeta:
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pravṛttiṁ ca nivṛttiṁ ca kāryākārye bhayābhaye
bandhaṁ mokṣaṁ ca yā vetti buddhiḥ sā pārtha sāttvikī

“That intellect is immaculate, O Parth, which is aware of the essence, of the way of inclination as also of renunciation, of worthy and unworthy action, of fear and fearlessness, and of bondage and liberation.”
*
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In other words, the righteous, morally good intellect is that which is aware of the distinction between the way that leads to God and the way to recurrent birth and death.

He adds:
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yayā dharmamadharmaṁ ca kāryaṁ cākāryameva ca
ayathāvatprajānāti buddhiḥ sā pārtha rājasī

‘‘That intellect is of the nature of passion and moral blindness, O Parth, by which one cannot even know the righteous and the unrighteous as well as what is worthy or unworthy of being done.”

He says further:
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adharmaṁ dharmamiti yā manyate tamasāvṛtā
sarvārthānviparītāṁśca buddhiḥ sā pārtha tāmasī

“That intellect is of the nature of ignorance, O Parth, which is enveloped in darkness and which apprehends the sinful as virtuous and views everything in a distorted way.”
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Intellect is graded into three kinds. The intellect which is well aware of the action that has to be engaged in and the action that has to be shunned, as well as of that which is fit or unfit to be done, is characterized by moral excellence.

The intellect which has only a dim perception of the righteous and the unrighteous action, and which does not know the truth, is dominated by passion. The perverse intellect that deems the sinful as virtuous, the destructible as eternal, and the inauspicious as auspicious, is shrouded in the gloom of ignorance.

Sri Krishn also explains of how one who is immaculate achieves realization of the Supreme Being, which represents the culmination of knowledge?

He says:
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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

“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 humour,and acquisitiveness, devoid of attachment,and in possession of a mind at repose,a man is worthy of becoming one with God.”

Humble Wishes!!!!

As expounded by Swami Adgadanand Paramhans,most revered Gurudev.

Sri Krishn says in Bhagavad Gita:

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sparśān kṛtvā bahir bāhyāmś
cakṣuś cai’vā’ntare bhruvoḥ,
prāṇāpānau samau kṛtvā
nāsābhyantaracārinau

yatendriyamanobuddhir
munir mokṣaparāyaṇaḥ,
vigatecchābhayakrodho
yaḥ sadā mukta eva saḥ

“That sage is liberated for ever who shuts out of his mind all objects of sensual pleasure, keeps his eyes centered between the two brows, regulates his pran and apan, conquers his senses, mind and intellect, and whose mind is fixed on salvation.”
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Sri Krishn reminds Arjun of the vital need of excluding from the mind all thoughts of external objects as well as of keeping eyes fixed steadily between the two brows. Keeping eyes between the brows does not simply mean concentrating them at something. It is rather that while the worshipper is sitting erect, his eyes should be pointed ahead in a straight line from the midpoint between the brows; they should not wander about restlessly and look right and left. Keeping the eyes aligned with the ridge of the nose- we must be careful that we do not start watching the nose-and balancing pran against apan and keeping the eyes steadily fixed all the while, we should direct the vision of mind, the Soul, to the breath and let him watch it: when does the breath go in, how long is it held-if it is held in for only half a second, we should not try to prolong it by force, and how long does it stay out? It is hardly necessary to say that the name in the breath will ring audibly.Thus when the vision of mind learns to concentrate steadily on the inhaled and exhaled breath, breathing will gradually become constant, firm, and balanced.

There will be then neither generation of inner desires nor assaults on the mind and heart by desires from external sources. Thoughts of external pleasure have already been shut out; now there will not even arise inner desires. Contemplation then stands steady and straight like a stream of oil. A stream of oil does not descend like water, drop by drop; it comes down in a constant, unbroken line. Similar to this is the motion of the breath of a sage of attainment. So the man, who has balanced his pran and apan, conquered his senses, mind and intellect, freed himself from desire, and fear and anger, perfected contemplative discipline, and taken refuge in salvation, is ever-liberated.Sri Krishn finally discourses upon where this sage goes after liberation and what he achieves.

He adds:
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bhoktāram yajñatapasām
sarvalokamaheśvaram,
suhṛdam sarvabhūtānām
jñātvā mām śāntim ṛcchati

“Knowing the truth that it is I who enjoy the offerings of yagya and penances, that I am God of all the worlds, and that l am the selfless benefactor of all beings, he attains to final tranquillity.”
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This liberated man, who knows that Sri Krishn-God of the gods of all worlds-is the recipient and enjoyer of the offerings of all yagya and penances, and that he is the selfless well-wisher of all beings- knowing all this he achieves the ultimate repose. Sri Krishn says that he is the enjoyer of the worshipper’s yagya of inhaled and exhaled breath as well as of austerities. He is the one in whom yagya and penances are at last dissolved and so their doer comes to Him, the ultimate serenity that results from the completion of yagya. The worshipper, liberated from desire by selfless action, knows Sri Krishn and realizes him as soon as he is blessed with this knowledge.This is named peace; and the one who achieves it becomes God of gods just as Sri Krishn is.

Humble Wishes!!!!

As expounded by Swami Adgadanand Paramhans,most revered Gurudev. 

He is a superior man who exerts inner (rather than external) control over his senses, so that his mind is freed from passions, and who does his duty in a state of total desirelessness. Now, although we have known that work has to be done, the difficulty is that we do not yet understand the precise nature of this work.We often discuss about “Karma” but fail to understand what in fact this is in views of Sri Krishn which is key preaching of Gita.

Sri Krishn says in Bhagavad Gita:

niyatam kuru karma tvam karma jyāyo hy akarmaṇaḥ,
śarīrayātrā’pi ca te na prasidhyed akarmaṇaḥ

“You ought to do your prescribed action
as enjoined by scripture,
for doing work is better than not doing any,
and in the absence of it
even the journey of your body may not be completed.”

Arjun is prompted to do prescribed action-the ordained task – which is distinct from all other kinds of work. Performance of this action is preferable to inaction, because if we do it and traverse even a small part of our way, it can rescue us from great fear of birth and death. Performance of one’s spiritual duty – the ordained action – is, therefore, the better course. By not doing it we cannot even complete journey of our Soul through different bodies.

This journey is usually interpreted as “sustenance of the physical body.”

But what kind of sustenance is this?
Are we a physical body?
This Soul, the embodied Self, that we know by the name of Purush-what else has he been doing except making his physical journey through endless lives?

When clothes are worn out, we change them and put on new ones. Just so, this whole world, from lowest creatures to most highly evolved, from Brahma to its most distant limits, is mutable. Through births, low and high, this Soul has been making his physical journey since an unknown beginning.

Action is something that completes this journey. If there is yet to be another birth, the journey is still incomplete. The seeker is still on his way, traveling through bodies. A journey is complete only when the destination is reached.

After being dissolved in God, Self does not have to travel any further through physical births. The chain of the Self’s rejection of old bodies and assumption of new ones is now broken.

So action is something that frees the Self, the Purush, from the necessity of journeying through bodies.

Sri Krishn tells Arjun in the sixteenth verse of Chapter 4:

“By this action you shall be freed from the evil that binds the world.”

So action, as used in the Gita, is something that liberates from the bondage of world.

However,the question of what this ordained action is still remains unresolved. Sri Krishn says in Chapter three of Bhagavad Gita:

yajñārthāt karmaṇo’nyatra loko’yam karmabhandhanaḥ,
tadartham karma kaunteya muktasangaḥ samācara

“Since the conduct of yagya is the only action
and all other business in which people are engaged are only
forms of worldly bondage,
O son of Kunti,
be unattached and do your duty to God well.’’

Contemplation of God is the only real action,the true Karma. That conduct is action which enables the mind to concentrate on God. It is a prescribed act and, according to Sri Krishn, tasks other than this are only forms of worldly bondage. Anything other than performance of this yagya is a form of slavery rather than action.

It is important to remind ourselves once more of Sri Krishn’s injunction to Arjun that he shall be freed from evils of this world only by doing the one real work. The accomplishment of this work, of yagya, is action; and Arjun is urged to do it well in a spirit of detachment. It cannot be performed without disinterest in the world and its objects.

Before we proceed, let us recall what Sri Krishn has said of another aspect of action: that it is a prescribed ordained conduct and that what is usually done in its name is not true action.

The term “action” was first used in Chapter 2 in Gita.Its characteristic traits as well as the precautions needed for it were pointed out. But the nature of this action has remained unspecified. In Chapter 3,Sri Krishn has so far said that no one can live without action.Since man lives in nature, he must act.

Nevertheless there are people who restrain their sense organs by use of force, but whose minds are still occupied with objects of the senses. Such people are arrogant and their efforts are vain.

So Arjun is told to restrain his senses to perform the ordained action. But the question yet remains: what action should he perform? He is told that the accomplishment of yagya is action.But according to Sri Krishn, they simply are not what he means by action. Whatever other than yagya is done is only a form of worldly bondage, not true action.The performance of yagya is the only real action..

True that yagya is action; but what is yagya?

A proper understanding of this definition of action is the key to our comprehension of the Gita. All men are engaged in some work or the other, but that is different from true action. Some of them do farming, while others are engaged in trade and commerce. Some hold positions of power, while others; are just servants. Some profess that they are intellectuals, while others earn their living by manual labour. Some take up social service, while others serve the country. And for all these activities people have also invented contexts of selfishness and selflessness.

But according to Sri Krishn, they simply are not what he means by action. Whatever other than yagya is done is only a form of worldly bondage, not true action.

Nature and form of Yagya, the deed of accomplishing which is ordained action defined as “Karma”…..can be seen here, the link of which is:

http://mypath.geetadhara.org/nature-form-yagyathe-deed-accomplishing-ordained-action-defined-karma/

~ Revered Gurudev Swami Adgadanand Jee Paramhans ~

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Humble Wishes.

~ Our Facebook Page – World Eternal Peace Mission Through Metaphysical Vision Of Bhagavad Gita ~

Most popular,ever liked and much frequently quoted verse around the globe from Bhagavad Gita preached by Sri Krishn is about the true concept of the performance of action i.e ” Karma” where HE says that seeker has the right to action but not to its results. So seeker should persuade himself that fruits of action simply do not exist. He should not covet these fruits and neither should he grow disillusioned with action.

Sri Krishn sings in Chapter two of Bhagavad Gita:

karmaṇy evā’dhikāras te mā phaleṣu kadācana,
mā karmaphalahetur bhūr māte sango’stv akarmaṇi

“Since you are entitled only to the performance of action
but never to the fruits thereof,
you should neither desire rewards of action
nor be drawn to inaction.”

Sri Krishn has first used the term “action” (karma: meaning both action and its consequence) in the thirty-ninth verse of the chapter two. He has described its characteristic traits.

(a) He has told Arjun that by the performance of action he will be freed from the bonds of action.

(b) He has then said that the seed or initial impulse of action is indestructible. Once it is initiated, nature has no means to destroy it.

(c) There is, Arjun has been told, not even the slightest flaw in this action, for it never abandons us while we are stranded amidst the temptations of celestial pleasures and worldly affluence.

(d) Performance of this action, even in small proportions, can emancipate us from the great fear of birth and death.

As for the way of doing it, he says in the forty-first verse of the same Chapter:

“On this auspicious path,
O Kurunandan (Arjun),
the resolute mind is one,
but the minds of the ignorant are divided and many.”

The mind which is earnestly and firmly oriented to selfless action is unified. Selfless action is only one and its outcome is also one. Spiritual accomplishment is the only true achievement. The gradual realization of this attainment by fighting against forces of the material world is an enterprise. This enterprise and resolute action, with a single goal are also one and the same. Then what about those who propagate more than one mode of action? In Sri Krishn’s view they are not true worshipers. The minds of such men are endlessly divided and that is why they conjure up endless ways.

Explaining why it is so, he adds that the minds of men without discernment are riven by endless divisions, because of which they tend to invent and elaborate an unlimited number of rites and ceremonies. So they are not true worshipers. They use pretentious and ornate language to describe these rites and ceremonies. So that man’s mind is also poisoned who is lured by the charm of their words. The ordained action is, therefore, only one. 

In the forty-seventh verse of Chapter two, Sri Krishn has told Arjun that he has a right to action, but not to its fruits. So Arjun should not desire these fruits. At the same time he ought not to lose faith in the performance of action. In other words, he should be constantly and devotedly engaged in its performance. The verse is usually interpreted as meaning:

Do whatever you wish,
only do not desire its fruits.
That is, say those who interpret the verse thus,
what selfless action is all about?

Further Sri Krishn adds which is very important to understand in reference to the concept of Karma. He says:

“The equipoise of mind
that arises from profound absorption
in the performance of action after renouncing attachment
and being even-minded in respect of success and failure is,
O Dhananjay (Arjun),
given the name of yog.”

Resting in yog, renouncing infatuation for worldly ties, and looking at success and failure with an equal mind, Arjun should undertake action.

Sri Krishn’s pronouncement is that men should do selfless action. Equipoise of mind is what is called yog. The mind in which there is no unevenness is full of equanimity. Greed destroys its evenness, attachments make it unequal, and desire for the fruits of action destroy its serenity. That is why there should be no hankering after the fruits of action. At the same time, however, there should also be no diminishing of faith in the performance of action.

Renouncing attachment to all things, seen as well as unseen, and giving up all concern about achievement and non-achievement, we should only keep our eyes fixed on yog, the discipline that joins the individual Soul with the Supreme Spirit, and lead a life of strenuous action.

Yog is thus the state of culmination. But it is also the initial stage. At the outset our eyes should be fixed on the goal. It is for this reason that we should act keeping our eyes on yog. Equanimity of mind is also named yog. When the mind cannot be shaken by failure and success, and nothing can destroy its evenness, it is said to be in the state of yog. It cannot then be moved by passion. Such a state of mind enables the Soul to identify himself with God.

This is another reason why this state is called Samattwa Yog, the discipline that makes the mind filled with equanimity. Since there is, in such a state of mind, complete renunciation of desire, it is also called the Way of Selfless Action (Nishkam Karm Yog). Since it requires us to perform action, it is also known as the Way of Action (Karm Yog). Since it unites the Self with the Supreme Spirit, it is called yog. It is necessary to keep in mind that both success and failure should be viewed with equanimity, that there should be no sense of attachment, and that there is no desire for the rewards of action. It is thus that the Way of Selfless Action and the Way of Knowledge are the same.

~ Revered Gurudev Swami Adgadanand Jee Paramhans ~

 _/l\_
Humble Wishes.

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