T N Dhar Kundan
Spiritual-cum-pragmatic quotations from Shri Gita-1
T N Dhar Kundan
For the last a few years we have been having regular meetings of about ten people every Sunday afternoon by rotation at the homes of the participants. We talk about and discuss various chapters of Shri Gita and then try to see how best the lessons given therein can be implemented in our day to day life. Since the spiritual message contained therein may not interest one and all, there is a lot more on the mundane platform for us to learn, imbibe and then derive benefits there from. Sometimes we supplement these lessons by taking up other scriptures like Upanishad and all this has been found very useful by all those who have been attending these sessions. We have been taking a very serious note of some stipulations as we have found these very practical and useful for achieving success in whatever we do.
Dozens of terminologies have been defined lucidly in various chapters of the Gita. Almost everything under the Sun has been classified into three categories of Sattva, Rajas and Tamas or those giving light and piety, those creating passion and lust and those covering with ignorance and darkness. These include not only subtle aspects like our behaviour, temper, thought etc. but also gross items like food, charity etc. Then there are definitions of various terms related to the spiritual aspect of our lives and worldly matters. I am particularly fascinated by the two definitions of the term 'yoga'. Yoga has become popular globally and is generally taken as physical and breathing exercises. Shri Gita tells us ‘Samatvam Yoga uchyate’, Poise and balance are called Yoga. This definition can be applied to the spiritual realm as also to our worldly demeanour and attitude, both. There is another very interesting and meaningful definition, which can be applied to their lives with great advantage, by the common people. It says, ‘Yogah karmasu kaushalam’, or efficiency in your tasks and deeds is the real yoga. In other words, whatever you do and perform in your day to day life as your duty, you should do it efficiently with deep commitment and you will be entitled to be called a yogi. I am sure this definition is not only universally applicable but also practical, useful and acceptable.
Shri Gita stipulates that our area of authority is only to perform actions. Therefore, we should not act with an eye on its fruits. Fruits should not be the cause of action or an inspiration for us to work. 'Maa krmaphalaheturbhuh’. We should take pleasure in doing our allotted duties and remain self-satisfied. We should not seek satisfaction from outward things like reward, recognition, name and fame. We are doing our duty and that should give us solace and peace. ‘Aatmanyevaatmana tushtah
- remain satisfied within self’. Care has to be taken that we do not abandon our duties for any callousness and foregoing of our duties will bring us defame and dishonour. Gita says such infamy is worse than death for anyone, Sambhavitasya chaakeertih maranadatirichyate - To the honoured ones, infamy is worse than death’.
Times have changed. Globalisation and international trade ties have brought peoples of the world closer. Technology has also played a decisive role in closing the gap between nations. In some countries cheaper raw material is available. In others labour is cheaper. Some countries provide fertile market for the goods produced in other countries. When it is day in the east, there is night in the west and vice versa. This has necessitated people to work during nights as well. Call centres and customer service centres work during nights in order to provide service to those countries where it is day at that time. Besides these, there are services which need people to work during nights when others are taking rest. Security guards, police force, army at the boarders, people at the airports and railway stations besides emergency services like medical personnel, fire fighters, coast guards etc. fall in this category. Lest these people feel that they are ill-fated, Shri Gita has placed them in the exalted category of sages and monks. It says, 1Ya Nisha sarva bhutanam tasyam jagarti samyami - Sages are awake (engaged in their pious work) during nights when all others are fast asleep’. This lends dignity to labour and work performed at odd hours and puts it at par with meditation and contemplation.
There are a few more important things stated about actions and deeds in this great treatise. First, it says that one cannot remain action-less even for the fraction of a second, ‘A/a hi kaschitkshanam- api jatu tishthatyakarmakrit’. This is very obvious because apart from willing and well thought actions we are all the time performing deeds involuntarily, like breathing, thinking, smelling, feeling et al. So, we cannot remain action-less. Then it goes on to say that our own duty is beneficial and better than taking over another person’s deeds, even if we find no virtue in our own assigned duty, 'Shreyan swadharmo vigunah’. If we ponder over this statement, we will find that this is very essential to ensure order and smooth functioning in society or an establishment. Obviously, with this end in view only society has been grouped into four categories of intellectuals, warriors, traders and agriculturists and the rest, not on the basis of birth but on the basis of qualities and actions, lguna and karma’. It has also been stated that the great men are like a role model for the rest of society. Whatever these knowledgeables do is emulated by others,
‘ Yadyadaacharati shreshthah tattadevetaro janah’. Charity and philanthropy have been given great importance. Shri Gita says,1Bhunjate te tvagham paapah ye pachantyaatmakaaranat - Those who cook food for their own consumption only are committing a grave sin’.
Shri Gita states that a person is himself his friend or foe, ‘Aatmaiva hyaatmanobandhuh aatmaiva ripuraatmanah’. If one controls one’s mind, learns from the knowledgeables and overpowers passion, one becomes helpful to the self. If the opposite is the case it makes him his own enemy. Mind is fickle; it has to be tamed by constant practice. 'Chanchalam hi manah, pramaathi balavad dridham’. To gain knowledge one has to surrender before a learned person, ask clarification to his doubts and serve him so that he gives him knowledge, wisdom and intellectual brilliance. ‘Tadviddhi pranipaatena pariprashnena sevaya’. It has to be noted that passion creates lust and anger, which are the two road blocks for smooth, safe and successful life. 1Kama esha krodha esha rajoguna samudbhavah’. Again, one has to understand that performance of action in a detached manner is superior to giving up action altogether; the latter is not even possible.1Karma sanyasat karmayogo vishishyate’. Having understood this and having gained wisdom and knowledge one has to adopt a balanced attitude in one’s dealing with everything, animate and inanimate, superior and inferior, high and low. ‘Panditah samadarshinah’.
It has further been stated that the attribute of light begets knowledge, the attribute of passion creates greed and the attribute of darkness causes heedlessness, delusion and ignorance,
‘Satvatsanjayate jnanam rajaso lobhaevacha, pramaadamohau tamasah bhavato-ajnanameva cha’. Therefore, it has been enjoined upon us to imbibe divine traits and shun demonic traits. Divine traits liberate us from all ills and sins but the demonic ones tie us in bondages of sorts, ‘Da/Vee sampadvimokshaya nibandhaya-asuri mata’. For this we need unswerving devotion to the Divine for it has been clearly stated that, ‘Bhaktya tvananyaya skakyah’. This enables us to remain attached to the Divine all the time and that being so, He takes care of us by protecting what we have and by providing what we lack. There is a promise to this effect in Shri Gita made by the Lord, ‘Tesham nityabhiyukhtanam yogakshemum vahamyaham-Uose who are constantly attached to Me, I take care of what they have and what they need’. ■
1 the community becomes of national concern, If Pandits represent the Ian nation, then the state bllity to protect their lives n the Valley, to provide In exile, and to facilitate .The state's failure to fulfill ty constitutes an act of it, deliberate indifference xplicable and ignoble moral failure Is a betrayal of the nation , (International Journal of Hindu y Duschinski, Assistant Professor of Ohio University, Athens) ts main obstruction in Islamlzation ldits are represented as a small and lunity whose very presence in Kashmir :he movement of fundamentalist Islam. :lon suggests that the militants have olence against the Kashmiri Pandits iresent the secular values of the Indian I rulers realize that as long as Kashmiri ugh miniscule in size stay In Kashmir, Islamization of Kashmir will remain 3 article states. "A Kashmir without ir their numbers, would be a theocracy tmentalists to establish their command orays Into the very heart of India" (0, 9 conflict in Kashmir thus emerges as Iminatlon of the clash between Hindus dia and Pakistan, and secularism and In South Asia, with Kashmiri Hindus International Journal of Hindu Studies ichlnskl, Assistant Professor of Ohio University, Athens)
DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed in the Article above are Author’s personal views and kashmiribhatta.in is not in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. The article belongs to its respective owner or owners and this site does not claim any right over it. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing."
Courtesy: T N Dhar Kundan and March2019, Koshur Samachar
T N Dhar Kundan
Spiritual-cum-pragmatic quotations from Shri Gita-1
T N Dhar Kundan
For the last a few years we have been having regular meetings of about ten people every Sunday afternoon by rotation at the homes of the participants. We talk about and discuss various chapters of Shri Gita and then try to see how best the lessons given therein can be implemented in our day to day life. Since the spiritual message contained therein may not interest one and all, there is a lot more on the mundane platform for us to learn, imbibe and then derive benefits there from. Sometimes we supplement these lessons by taking up other scriptures like Upanishad and all this has been found very useful by all those who have been attending these sessions. We have been taking a very serious note of some stipulations as we have found these very practical and useful for achieving success in whatever we do.
Dozens of terminologies have been defined lucidly in various chapters of the Gita. Almost everything under the Sun has been classified into three categories of Sattva, Rajas and Tamas or those giving light and piety, those creating passion and lust and those covering with ignorance and darkness. These include not only subtle aspects like our behaviour, temper, thought etc. but also gross items like food, charity etc. Then there are definitions of various terms related to the spiritual aspect of our lives and worldly matters. I am particularly fascinated by the two definitions of the term 'yoga'. Yoga has become popular globally and is generally taken as physical and breathing exercises. Shri Gita tells us ‘Samatvam Yoga uchyate’, Poise and balance are called Yoga. This definition can be applied to the spiritual realm as also to our worldly demeanour and attitude, both. There is another very interesting and meaningful definition, which can be applied to their lives with great advantage, by the common people. It says, ‘Yogah karmasu kaushalam’, or efficiency in your tasks and deeds is the real yoga. In other words, whatever you do and perform in your day to day life as your duty, you should do it efficiently with deep commitment and you will be entitled to be called a yogi. I am sure this definition is not only universally applicable but also practical, useful and acceptable.
Shri Gita stipulates that our area of authority is only to perform actions. Therefore, we should not act with an eye on its fruits. Fruits should not be the cause of action or an inspiration for us to work. 'Maa krmaphalaheturbhuh’. We should take pleasure in doing our allotted duties and remain self-satisfied. We should not seek satisfaction from outward things like reward, recognition, name and fame. We are doing our duty and that should give us solace and peace. ‘Aatmanyevaatmana tushtah
- remain satisfied within self’. Care has to be taken that we do not abandon our duties for any callousness and foregoing of our duties will bring us defame and dishonour. Gita says such infamy is worse than death for anyone, Sambhavitasya chaakeertih maranadatirichyate - To the honoured ones, infamy is worse than death’.
Times have changed. Globalisation and international trade ties have brought peoples of the world closer. Technology has also played a decisive role in closing the gap between nations. In some countries cheaper raw material is available. In others labour is cheaper. Some countries provide fertile market for the goods produced in other countries. When it is day in the east, there is night in the west and vice versa. This has necessitated people to work during nights as well. Call centres and customer service centres work during nights in order to provide service to those countries where it is day at that time. Besides these, there are services which need people to work during nights when others are taking rest. Security guards, police force, army at the boarders, people at the airports and railway stations besides emergency services like medical personnel, fire fighters, coast guards etc. fall in this category. Lest these people feel that they are ill-fated, Shri Gita has placed them in the exalted category of sages and monks. It says, 1Ya Nisha sarva bhutanam tasyam jagarti samyami - Sages are awake (engaged in their pious work) during nights when all others are fast asleep’. This lends dignity to labour and work performed at odd hours and puts it at par with meditation and contemplation.
There are a few more important things stated about actions and deeds in this great treatise. First, it says that one cannot remain action-less even for the fraction of a second, ‘A/a hi kaschitkshanam- api jatu tishthatyakarmakrit’. This is very obvious because apart from willing and well thought actions we are all the time performing deeds involuntarily, like breathing, thinking, smelling, feeling et al. So, we cannot remain action-less. Then it goes on to say that our own duty is beneficial and better than taking over another person’s deeds, even if we find no virtue in our own assigned duty, 'Shreyan swadharmo vigunah’. If we ponder over this statement, we will find that this is very essential to ensure order and smooth functioning in society or an establishment. Obviously, with this end in view only society has been grouped into four categories of intellectuals, warriors, traders and agriculturists and the rest, not on the basis of birth but on the basis of qualities and actions, lguna and karma’. It has also been stated that the great men are like a role model for the rest of society. Whatever these knowledgeables do is emulated by others,
‘ Yadyadaacharati shreshthah tattadevetaro janah’. Charity and philanthropy have been given great importance. Shri Gita says,1Bhunjate te tvagham paapah ye pachantyaatmakaaranat - Those who cook food for their own consumption only are committing a grave sin’.
Shri Gita states that a person is himself his friend or foe, ‘Aatmaiva hyaatmanobandhuh aatmaiva ripuraatmanah’. If one controls one’s mind, learns from the knowledgeables and overpowers passion, one becomes helpful to the self. If the opposite is the case it makes him his own enemy. Mind is fickle; it has to be tamed by constant practice. 'Chanchalam hi manah, pramaathi balavad dridham’. To gain knowledge one has to surrender before a learned person, ask clarification to his doubts and serve him so that he gives him knowledge, wisdom and intellectual brilliance. ‘Tadviddhi pranipaatena pariprashnena sevaya’. It has to be noted that passion creates lust and anger, which are the two road blocks for smooth, safe and successful life. 1Kama esha krodha esha rajoguna samudbhavah’. Again, one has to understand that performance of action in a detached manner is superior to giving up action altogether; the latter is not even possible.1Karma sanyasat karmayogo vishishyate’. Having understood this and having gained wisdom and knowledge one has to adopt a balanced attitude in one’s dealing with everything, animate and inanimate, superior and inferior, high and low. ‘Panditah samadarshinah’.
It has further been stated that the attribute of light begets knowledge, the attribute of passion creates greed and the attribute of darkness causes heedlessness, delusion and ignorance,
‘Satvatsanjayate jnanam rajaso lobhaevacha, pramaadamohau tamasah bhavato-ajnanameva cha’. Therefore, it has been enjoined upon us to imbibe divine traits and shun demonic traits. Divine traits liberate us from all ills and sins but the demonic ones tie us in bondages of sorts, ‘Da/Vee sampadvimokshaya nibandhaya-asuri mata’. For this we need unswerving devotion to the Divine for it has been clearly stated that, ‘Bhaktya tvananyaya skakyah’. This enables us to remain attached to the Divine all the time and that being so, He takes care of us by protecting what we have and by providing what we lack. There is a promise to this effect in Shri Gita made by the Lord, ‘Tesham nityabhiyukhtanam yogakshemum vahamyaham-Uose who are constantly attached to Me, I take care of what they have and what they need’. ■
1 the community becomes of national concern, If Pandits represent the Ian nation, then the state bllity to protect their lives n the Valley, to provide In exile, and to facilitate .The state's failure to fulfill ty constitutes an act of it, deliberate indifference xplicable and ignoble moral failure Is a betrayal of the nation , (International Journal of Hindu y Duschinski, Assistant Professor of Ohio University, Athens) ts main obstruction in Islamlzation ldits are represented as a small and lunity whose very presence in Kashmir :he movement of fundamentalist Islam. :lon suggests that the militants have olence against the Kashmiri Pandits iresent the secular values of the Indian I rulers realize that as long as Kashmiri ugh miniscule in size stay In Kashmir, Islamization of Kashmir will remain 3 article states. "A Kashmir without ir their numbers, would be a theocracy tmentalists to establish their command orays Into the very heart of India" (0, 9 conflict in Kashmir thus emerges as Iminatlon of the clash between Hindus dia and Pakistan, and secularism and In South Asia, with Kashmiri Hindus International Journal of Hindu Studies ichlnskl, Assistant Professor of Ohio University, Athens)
DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed in the Article above are Author’s personal views and kashmiribhatta.in is not in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. The article belongs to its respective owner or owners and this site does not claim any right over it. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing."
Courtesy: T N Dhar Kundan and March2019, Koshur Samachar