UB: Last two days, we have seen the words ज्ञान & कर्म seen from the perspective of त्रिगुण. This approach will continue for a few more words over the next few days – कर्ता or doer, बुद्धि, धृति or will power and सुख. By the end of this, we will be fed up of course 😊but the idea of त्रिगुण orientation for every value should sink-in quite well. And ज्ञानेश्वर analogies make the narrative quite interesting.

PK: Interesting … so you are saying that thoughtless actions are tamas – even if they are well intended?  Sometimes our actions are poorly executed due to lack of ability and therefore  cause harm – I thought

PK: I wonder if there is a difference in karmphal between actions that intend to cause harm vs those that thoughtlessly harm? Is there forgiveness ever described in terms of wiping the slate clean? From my understanding until know seems like in Hinduism every action has a karm ohalbresult that had to be endured (vs the confession and forgiveness of Christianity – Christ will assume your sins and all that)

UB: PK – you raise a good point regarding intent and execution. I must confess I am not sure of the answer. My own sense is that is a सात्विक् act is an act done with perfect clarity of mind and objective and hence this is an act which ought to be done. Now if this is therefore done, the impact to other in terms of harm is incidental as per the कर्म of the other. Our act may harm the other, may be perceived as harmful by the other even though it is not so or may harm the other but may be taken as प्रसाद by him. So the moot issue is not whether our act has caused harm to the other or not but whether our act had ought to be done and done with perfect clarity of mind. If yes, our act is an act सात्विक्. If a सात्विक् one does not have the ability to execute, he will not execute.So a सात्विक् can either never be executed wrongly or if this still happens, it is destiny for the other I guess, good or bad. 😊

UB: How does one wipe our slate clean in Hinduism? First, I think in Christianity, on repentance, sins are taken over by Jesus (and not Christ) who sacrificed himself for entire mankind while Christ is their equivalent of ईश्वर – hope I got this right. In Hinduism though, there is no idea of दुष्कर्म transference to a dead man (to my knowledge though I see people seeking help from समाधि of dead people too but this is a physical place too and not mental). So if I have taken to junk food over a period of time, my stomach will get impacted or if I have taken to alcohol excessively, my liver will get damaged – so the फल of a physical act has to get erased in the physical realm only and no self-obliteration through some magic is seen as rational in Hinduism. So how does one wipe our slate, if at all? One does have to go through pangs of deep regret and seek forgiveness from ईश्वर. So if our आत्मा senses that this regret is genuine, an opportunity is provided to restart all over again. With the tears washing away our wrong orientation within our mind, clarity of thought descends leading to us being able to secure the right medicine to treat ourselves or a liver donation gets facilitated thus giving us another chance. Or if this body has got messed up beyond repair, another human life happens with a fresh start. Another way to wipe out our पाप is to do पुण्य कर्म – even with the idea of doership, it has the ability to counteract the impact of दुश्कर्म.

UB: But there is a third way too that is explained in the case of Saints like रामकृष्ण परमहंस. Out of compassion for their disciples, they take over the दुश्कर्म of their disciples onto their body. Since the फल has to shaken off in the physical realm only, they undertake a कर्म transference of sorts and therefore the परमहंस Himself eventually developed throat cancer caused owing to this transference of दुश्कर्म of their disciples onto themselves. Of course, to get such a गुरु is rare.

PK: Interesting .., the first method of true regret sounds similar to confession and receiving absolution – they call it Jesus Christ – not sure if that matters 😃😃. The third method is intriguing as well – to some extent the same concept of another taking over our sins – not sure if it is truly feasible but that could be me and my scepticism. I guess the point is to be aware of our actions , the intent including the rightness to the best of our ability and then just going ahead without worrying about the outcome – much easier said than done but definitely a worthy goal

UB: 👍👍 Indeed true. कर्म transference across bodies involves specific Yogic processes and there are texts which refer to these processes. I have read commentary on Yoga Patanjali Sutra where the person has referred to these texts. But I have not read these texts directly.

UB: मुक्तसङ्गोऽनहंवादी धृत्युत्साहसमन्वितः। सिद्ध्यसिद्ध्योर्निर्विकारः कर्ता सात्त्विक उच्यते।।18.26।।

18.26 That doer (कर्ता) being free from attachment (मुक्तसङ्ग:) (ie., not requiring the result), not claiming I (अनहंवादी) (did this), endowed with (समन्वितः) resolve (धृति) and enthusiasm (उत्साह) and being without change (र्निर्विकारः) in success (सिद्ध्यि) and non-success (असिद्ध्यि), is said to be (उच्यते) predominantly सत्व (सात्त्विक).

रागी कर्मफलप्रेप्सुर्लुब्धो हिंसात्मकोऽशुचिः। हर्षशोकान्वितः कर्ता राजसः परिकीर्तितः।।18.27।।

18.27 That doer (कर्ता) who has attraction (रागी) (towards things), who has a requirement to obtain (प्रेप्सु) the result of an action (कर्मफल), is miserly (लुब्ध:), whose nature is to hurt (हिंसा-आत्मक:) (another or oneself), is unclean (अशुचिः) (physically/ mentally) and subject to delight and grief (हर्ष-शोकान्वितः) – is said to be (परिकीर्तितः) predominantly रजस् (राजसः).

अयुक्तः प्राकृतः स्तब्धः शठो नैष्कृतिकोऽलसः। विषादी दीर्घसूत्री च कर्ता तामस उच्यते।।18.28।।

18.28 The doer (कर्ता) who is not integrated (अयुक्तः), lacking in manners/ etiquette (प्राकृतः), unable to bow or impolite (स्तब्धः), deceptive (शठ:), harmful to others’s goals (नैष्कृतिक:), lazy (अलस:), depressed (विषादी) and procrastinating (दीर्घसूत्री च), is said to be (उच्यते) predominantly तमस् (तामस).

UB: 18:26/28 (1) – A सात्विक doer performs plenty of good कर्म with sincerity and yet feels no conceit as their doer. While doing कर्म in plenty, कर्म fit to be dedicated to परा, he takes due care to keep proper time, to select a suitable place and if in doubt about validity of कर्म consults the शास्त्र; he brings harmony between his natural inclinations and senses, not allowing the mind to turn towards फल, observes restrictions with regard to self-control. He never looks to his own physical comfort while doing actions out of love to gain Him. He rids himself of laziness and never feels pangs of hunger nor keeps comforts for his body. And in such a state, he feels greater enthusiasm for doing कर्म as desires for enjoyment of sense objects diminishes and conceit about his body is rid of.

UB: 18:26/28 (2) – Just as a dung hill is a proper place for accumulation of village dirt and funeral ground for coming together of inauspicious things, a रजस् doer is a sink place for greed-driven कर्म. He will zealously perform innumerable कर्म that will secure him uninterrupted फल and while not preparing to forego a single Rupee of money earned, he hugs his acquisitions to his bosom as the highest love of his life. He torments others through his शरीर, वाक् & मन and remains indifferent to others’ interests while securing his own selfish ends. He never engages his mind in any sentiment that does not interest him in any way howsoever noble it may be and is inclined to acts devoid of internal and external purity. If he secures his fruit, he will be overjoyed and indulges in grinning while goes into deep misery if he does not secure his object of interest.

UB: 18:26/28 (3) – A तामसी is unable to integrate all layers of personality –  physical/mental/ intellectual in his conduct. He lacks in manner of conduct with others or lacks etiquette or to use an Indian term – he does not live a life of अनुष्ठान nor does he follow आचार. Thus, a तामसी does not know the harm he causes to others as fire does not realize how others are getting burnt up in its presence or weapon does not know others are getting killed owing it its sharpness. Good actions to others prick him like thorns just as salt when mixed with milk makes it unfit for drinking. Just as sweets eaten by one eventually turn into waste matter (crazy analogy 😊), while he mentally receives good actions of others, they change into opposite when passing his mind just as milk consumed by a snake converts into poison. Key reason for this aspect in a तामसी is laziness and even though he may recognize certain acts as good, he will run away from performing these owing to laziness. And state of no activity makes him depressive and he keeps complaining about things or gives phenomenal arguments to justify his state of non-action. Why do पूजा? Why read scriptures? Why be active at all? And he offers wonderful arguments that may selectively (mis)quote from Gita too to prove his point while the real trigger behind his arguments is laziness.

PK: *तेरी बन्दगी से मिली है*

*मेरे वजूद को शोहरत*

*मेरा जिक्र ही कहाँ था*

*तेरी रहमत से पहले*

PK: This made me think of The Gita 😃-something good is happening

UB: बुद्धेर्भेदं धृतेश्चैव गुणतस्त्रिविधं श्रृणु। प्रोच्यमानमशेषेण पृथक्त्वेन धनञ्जय।।18.29।।

18.29 Listen to (श्रृणु) what is going to be told (प्रोच्यमानम्) separately (पृथक्त्वेन) and completely (अशेषेण) about the threefold (त्रिविधं) difference (भेदं) according to (predominance of) गुण’s (गुणत:) of the बुद्धि (बुद्धे) and of resolve (धृते च एव), O धनञ्जय

प्रवृत्तिं च निवृत्तिं च कार्याकार्ये भयाभये। बन्धं मोक्षं च या वेत्ति बुद्धिः सा पार्थ सात्त्विकी।।18.30।।

18.30 O पार्थ! The बुद्धि that (या) knows (वेत्ति) the nature of (when to do) engagement (प्रवृत्तिं च) and dis-engagement (निवृत्तिं च), what is to be done (कार्याकार्ये) and not to be done (अकार्ये), what is dangerous and not dangerous (source of security) (भयाभये) and what is bondage and complete freedom (बन्धं मोक्षं च), that बुद्धि (सा बुद्धिः) is predominantly सत्व (सात्त्विकी).

यया धर्ममधर्मं च कार्यं चाकार्यमेव च। अयथावत्प्रजानाति बुद्धिः सा पार्थ राजसी।।18.31।।

18.31 O पार्थ! The बुद्धि (बुद्धिः) with which (यया) one wrongly knows what is धर्म and अधर्म (धर्मं-अधर्मं च) and, indeed, what is to be done and not to be done (कार्यं च अकार्यम् एव च), that (सा) (बुद्धि) is predominantly रजस् (राजसी).

अधर्मं धर्ममिति या मन्यते तमसाऽऽवृता। सर्वार्थान्विपरीतांश्च बुद्धिः सा पार्थ तामसी।।18.32।।

18.32 O पार्थ! The बुद्धि which (या), covered with (आवृता) ignorance (तमसा), considers (मन्यते) अधर्म to be धर्म (अधर्मं धर्मम् इति), and all things as contrary (to what they are) (सर्व-अर्थान् विपरीतां च एव), that (सा) is predominantly तमस् (तामसी).

UB: 18:29/32 (1) – What is the best use to which we put our बुद्धि or intellect to – when our बुद्धि can make a distinction towards when to indulge in प्रवृत्ति viz activism and when in निवृत्ति viz stepping back. So towards what must बुद्धि take on प्रवृत्ति and from what must it engage in निवृत्ति? प्रवृत्ति must be towards a कर्म that gives us an opportunity to know our आत्मा and निवृत्ति must be towards कर्म that keeps us glued to our प्रकृति. Or both प्रवृत्ति & निवृत्ति कर्म must enable us to expand while those कर्म that are रजस् & तमस् must be avoided. An opportunity for चित्त शुद्धि must be grabbed and an engagement focussed on फल based on काम & राग/ द्वेश must be avoided. “Work is Worship” is a good slogan but equally one must be clear what work is to be seen as worship and which one is to be seen as dangerous. If बुद्धि is taking to a कर्म that seeks security in a material sense (wealth, bigger house, acquiring power via career, etc), it is a source of भय while कर्म focussed on expansion is a source of the अभय.  And pursuing कर्म that is our धर्म is a zone of अभय and whether we obtain material security as an outcome of such a कर्म is incidental.

UB: 18:29/32 (2) – There is no distinction such as day or night in the case of a blind one or a black bee devours honey in the flowers as well as carves wood but remains a blackbee. Similarly, रादसिक् one pursues both धर्म & अधर्म without being in a position to distinguish between the two just as one purchasing pearls with closed eyes can hardly secure the best ones. This intellect is incapable of distinguising between acts that are pure and impure just as one extending a mass invitation to public does not consider worthiness or otherwise of people being invited.

UB: 18:29/32 (3) –  A thief considers as a byway the high road taken by the King or what is a day time to others is night time for an owl or असुर. He considers the आत्मा as non-existent because does not see it. Such a one sees a heap of coal whereas it is actually treasure. This बुद्धि considers all पाप as घार्मिक् कर्म and considers all that is false as real, this intellect converts all right qualities as defects and considers all that is sanctioned by the वेद as perverse. A lazy mind that is unthinking, depressed, cynical, unable to go beyond the senses – such are the reasons why the बुद्धि of a तामसी makes such errors in its use. It is a rusty intellect. Thus, he who knows not, and knows not that he knows not or thinks he knows everything while really knowing nothing is a तामसी 😊.

UB: 18:29/32 (4) – A तामसी encounters a lecture that extols ध्यान. He gets excited and from the very next day, he immerses himself in it by taking up long hours of ध्यान. And in Day 3 itself, he feels भगवान् is communicating with him. And he tells the whole world about it and also posts a selfie of himself doing ध्यान. By Day 7 the enthusiasm abates but luckily he comes across a Youtube video where he learns that reading of शास्त्र is critical to master ध्यान. So he straight goes to the complex text of योगसूत्र / ब्रह्मसूत्र. Of course he struggles to go past a single page itself but as he was flipping channels, he hears a Guru say that in कलियुग, what is enough is नामजप of श्रीराम and there is no need for doing intense ध्यान or reading complex and confusing texts. So he abandons reading and takes up a 5 hour नामजप. He even posts a selfie on Facebook wearing a shirt littered with the name of श्रीराम. Finally, he reads a paper article by a rationalist who says that he wasted all his life reading scriptures and concluded that all these texts are a piece of junk and one should eat and be merry and help the neighbours rather than wasting time in नामजप. Our तामसी is able to connect perfectly with this wisdom and he then returns to his earlier way of life convinced that अध्यात्म is a waste of life based on his own “intense” experience. 😊😊

UB: धृत्या यया धारयते मनःप्राणेन्द्रियक्रियाः। योगेनाव्यभिचारिण्या धृतिः सा पार्थ सात्त्विकी।।18.33।।

18.33 O अर्जुन! (the) unswerving resolve (धृत्या) with which one sustains activities of the बुद्धि, the physiological functions, and the organs (of actions and sensing), through (unswerving) योग, that resolve is predominantly सत्व.

यया तु धर्मकामार्थान् धृत्या धारयतेऽर्जुन। प्रसङ्गेन फलाकाङ्क्षी धृतिः सा पार्थ राजसी।।18.34।।

18.34 Whereas (तु), O पार्थ! resolve (धृत्या) with which (यया) one, being desirious of results (फल-आकाङ्क्षी), sustains (धारयते) (activities for) धर्म, काम and security (अर्थान्) (and not for मोक्ष), according to opportunity (प्रसङ्गेन), that resolve (सा धृतिः) is predominantly रजस् (राजसी).

यया स्वप्नं भयं शोकं विषादं मदमेव च। न विमुञ्चति दुर्मेधा धृतिः सा पार्थ तामसी।।18.35।।

18.35 O पार्थ! The (resolve) by which (यया) one whose thinking is distorted (दुर्मेधा) does not give up (विमुञ्चति) sleep (स्वप्नं), fear (भयं), sorrow (शोकं), depression (विषादं) or intoxication (मदं एव च), that (सा) resolve (धृतिः) to not change) is predominantly तमस्.

UB: 18:33/35 (1) – If anyone claims that अध्यात्म pushes people towards a life of fatalism,  this verse can be shown to such “wise” ones. धृति stands for perseverence or will power. And if everything is taken as destiny, भगवान् would not have talked how to mould our धृति in an appropriate path. And while all people have a certain kind of a strong will power, key point to check is what is such a धृति oriented to? So the धृति of a सात्विकी is moulded towards अनन्ययोग viz unswerving adherence to the अनुष्ठान or discipline in pursuit of कर्मयोग. No matter what temptations come about or what disturbances happen, he will not abandon his नित्यक्रिया of getting up at ब्रह्म मुहूर्त, daily ध्यान, daily reading of शास्त्र, helping others, chanting मित्रं while eating, bathing, sleeping,  etc and living by the principles of कर्मयोग & ज्ञानयोग every moment of his life. Such a strong will power is rare and cannot come about unless it is backed by a strong conviction towards अध्यात्म.

UB: 18:33/35 (2) – Our राजसी is also a focussed man. He is always reading books on wealth maximization, best restaurants to eat, racy fiction novels to read, best movies to watch, best games to play with friends, etc and then pursuing such कर्म. The धृति to continually seek a life of भोग is very strong. Such a person always seeks activity to get some फल or the other of some sensual experience.  He is upset to hear about people who retire and seek relaxation – this man does not want to retire but if there is no job to do, he will travel, be part of local committees and contest elections, will be doing some work or other to obtain some benefit or other. If he joins an आश्रम, he will take up “Public Relations” or “Secretary” role within such an आश्रम.

UB: 18:33/35 (3) – And our friend तामसी also has will power which is very powerful. You can even move a mountain but not a तामसी. He will not give up laziness, sleep, etc. He is extremely averse to gaining any ज्ञान except about how to prolong his spell of laziness. Naturally, one who lacks ज्ञान will carry a lot of fear of being exposed about his lack of ज्ञान and this fear makes this person violent (in words or actions) with others.  And one in a prolonged state of fear will naturally descend into depression. One must therefore not expose such a person to a संयासी lifestyle as this will be extremely dangerous for him as well as others around him. It is better to spur him into रजस् by putting a fear of “no-work no-food” truism. Depression will naturally reduce for one who does some work and gains some ज्ञान in the process. Once depression comes down and fear abates, only then can such a तामसी who has become रजस् oriented now may be exposed to idea of सात्विक् बुद्धि.

UB: सुखं त्विदानीं त्रिविधं श्रृणु मे भरतर्षभ। अभ्यासाद्रमते यत्र दुःखान्तं च निगच्छति।।18.36।।

यत्तदग्रे विषमिव परिणामेऽमृतोपमम्। तत्सुखं सात्त्विकं प्रोक्तमात्मबुद्धिप्रसादजम्।।18.37।।

18.36/37 But now (इदानीं तु), O भरतर्षभ! Listen to me (श्रृणु मे) about threefold (त्रिविधं) happiness (सुखं). That in which (यत्र) one discovers happiness (रमते) by (daily) repetition (अभ्यासात्) (of listening and contemplating the teachings) and gains (च निगच्छति) the end of sorrow (दुःखान्तं), that which (यद् तद्) in the beginning (अग्रे) is like poison (विषम् इव), upon a change (in clarity of mind) (परिणामे), is like (उपमम्) immortal nectar (अमृत), born of clarity (प्रसादजम्) of self-knowledge (आत्म-बुद्धि), that happiness (तत् सुखं) is said to be predominantly सत्व (सात्त्विकं).

विषयेन्द्रियसंयोगाद्यत्तदग्रेऽमृतोपमम्। परिणामे विषमिव तत्सुखं राजसं स्मृतम्।।18.38।।

18.38 That which (यद् तद्) is (born) from the contact (संयोगात्) of the senses (इन्द्रिय) with (their) objects (विषय), which in the beginning (अग्रे) seeks like nectar (अमृत-उपमं) (but), upon (any) change (परिणामे) (in the object, capacity to acquire, senses or mind), becomes like poison (विषम् इव), that happiness (तत् सुखं) is said to be (स्मृतम्) predominantly रजस् (राजसं).

यदग्रे चानुबन्धे च सुखं मोहनमात्मनः। निद्रालस्यप्रमादोत्थं तत्तामसमुदाहृतम्।।18.39।।

18.39 Happiness (यद् च सुखं) that arises (उत्थम्) from sleepiness (निद्रा), laziness (आलस्य) and carelessness (प्रमाद:), which in the beginning (अग्रे) and in the end (अनुबन्धे च) is self-deluding (आत्मन: मोहनम्), that (तद्) is said to be (उदाहृतम्) predominantly तमस् (तामसम्).

न तदस्ति पृथिव्यां वा दिवि देवेषु वा पुनः। सत्त्वं प्रकृतिजैर्मुक्तं यदेभिः स्यात्त्रिभिर्गुणैः।।18.40।।

18.40 There is no (न अस्ति) being (तद् सत्वं) on earth (पृथिव्यां), in स्वर्ग even among the देव (दिवि देवेषु वा), that (यद्) can be (स्यात्) free from these (एभि:) three गुण’s (त्रिभि: गुणै:), born as प्रकृति (प्रकृति-जै:).

UB: 18:36/40 (1) – Can even सुख have varieties? भगवान् here conveys that even सुख is of three types. And an ideal सुखी is one who has a sharp बुद्धि which knows that our real nature is that of आनन्द – and one who knows himself is always happy. And because he holds on to his real nature, his बुद्धि does not get carried away by storms created by emotions or other physical hardships just as a man caught in a flood is unaffected by the fury of the river once he is able to get support of a strong boulder. But support from आनन्द aspect of our own persona does not come easily – one has to encounter a lot of pain initially just as one wanting to access a Sandal tree has to pass through fear of snakes or conduct of any happy event like marriage makes one go through a lot of hardship involved in organizing a big event or like our tongue has to bear the bitter taste of medicine first before getting benefit of the medicine. But once the अमृत is obtained, one is सुखी forever.

UB: 18:36/40 (2) – While a राजसी may be inspired by the अध्यात्म ideal, his sense organs feel as if the end of the world has happened while leaving the home of sense objects. And one having सात्विक् धृति bears all this pain just as an athlete bears a lot of pain during training to eventually earn an Olympic medal or just as only after intense churning of the सागर that अमृत was delivered. The extreme sour taste of green grapes is more burning to the tongue yet these very grapes taste very sweet once the grapes turn ripe. Thus similarly, attributes of असङ्ग and cultivation of देैवी संपत्ति fully ripen our आत्मज्ञान and all duality born of अज्ञानं perishes. Then our बुद्धि merges with परमात्मा just as गंगा merges into the सागर. That आनन्द that has as its root total असङ्ग with जगत्, this root developing and producing at its end the enjoyment of the bliss of आनन्द is सात्विक् आनन्द.

UB: 18:36/40 (3) – People hold celebrations at the visit of a high official to their house or for a marriage but they incur high debts (which causes pain later) or both a plantain fruit and sugar taste sweet (in the beginning) to a diseased person who is prohibited from eating them or friendship of thieves or sweet words of a prostitute or humour or jokes by a flatterror or a fool all prove fatal in the end. Similar is pleasure derived via union of senses with the sense objects which fattens the beings, ends drying up whatever पुण्य one has acquired. And when whatever happiness is enjoyed vanishes as if it was all a dream, the only thing left is for the being to rot in total ruin. Such सुख eventually causes harm not only while living but also post shedding this body.

UB: 18:36/40 (4) – तामस सुख is self-evident. ज्ञानेश्वर says that all सुख derived from drinking undrinkables, eating uneatables or that derived from killing others or robbing others of their property or that which is fed on laziness or is found in slumber or that which from the first to the last leads one away from the right path and leads him to the wrong one, such a सुख is तामस सुख. All kinds of beings – both Earthly and non-Earthly are bound by these three गुण – there is no escape for anyone since all of life is composed of प्रकृति only.

UB: Thus far, we have seen seven “value-traits” viz त्याग, ज्ञान, कर्म, कर्ता, बुद्धि, सुख & धृति and observed that each such trait is seen differently by one as per his or her गुण-complex. Other value-traits can also thus be similarly broken up. So the question that comes up is – what कर्म must one do to attain अध्यात्म सिद्धि given that each of us have different गुण-mix? And next few verses focus again on the idea of वर्ण संस्कार and how following a कर्म as per my वर्ण will give me अध्यात्म सिद्धि. Tomorrow will be a slightly long backdrop to the idea behind वर्ण संस्कार to get into the spirit behind this idea of fourfold classification. Debates of course are welcome.

PA: Very interesting verses. Heard something similar yesterday. So basically the rajsik persons finds happiness or let us say sensory pleasure be being in constant contact with external objects. The person goes through periods of sorrow and happiness as things are either pulled away (loss of something) from him or given to him (acquire something). He does not realize that this roller coaster ride is now really a lasting happiness as the happiness is dependent on something external which keeps changing (prakriti). A satvik person knows this aspect hence finds his happiness – bliss inside of himself /herself and is ever contented he is not affected by these external ups and downs. Everything that happens around him /her is accepted as it is as part of the divine play or the divine order or the Hukum as called in sikhi. A beautiful formula: Expectation – reality =dukh or Sukh

UB: 👍👍 There is nothing in this chapter that has not been conveyed earlier. But it all comes together quite well in a clear manner. Tomorrow’s one will be long – be prepared

UB: ब्राह्मणक्षत्रियविशां शूद्राणां च परंतप। कर्माणि प्रविभक्तानि स्वभावप्रभवैर्गुणैः।।18.41।।

18.41 O परंतप! The कर्म of (कर्माणि) ब्राह्मण, क्षत्रिय, वैश्य & शूद्र (ब्राह्मणक्षत्रियविशां शूद्राणां च) are divided (प्रविभक्तानि) by (the predominance of) गुण’s (र्गुणैः) arising from (प्रभवै:) their nature (स्वभाव).

UB: 18:41 (1) – And we return to a discussion on the (in)famous idea of वर्ण संस्कार. How do we formulate a society? Do we conceive a society as one where people come together so as to milk the society to its maximum? A Modern Constitution of most countries grants every person “Equality” in their “Rights” to pursue the activity of their choice so that they can maximize their happiness. But this noble document does not define सुख (on the lines seen in previous verses). So the lowest common denominator viz maximization of accretion of material comforts is seen commonly as a measure of society success (higher GDP, higher per-capita income, etc). With this idea, we create a framework where everyone is given a “skill-based” विद्या obtaining which everyone ends up doing vocations that makes them pursue अर्थ using which people can maximize their happiness (by buying goodies viz objects & experiences). This means the Constitution is attempting to conceive of a society that is orderly so that all people can collectively milk the cow viz our Earth (or the Universe) to the maximum. And this world view is supposed to be highest intellectual achievement of modern world 😊 (I know I am being over-cynical here).

UB: 18:41 (2) – No matter how much we browbeat the world into instilling a false idea of equality, even a child who is capable of thinking can see that the world is blatantly unequal. All beings do not have the same skill. All humans are not born in similar ecosystems. All parts of the world do not have same living conditions. All beings are not equipped with same thinking abilities or physical attributes. Inequality is natural while equality is unnatural. So we have two paths to take to address this “unfair” act of nature – first path says “Let us strive to make everyone in a society equal”. Communism thus sees inequality as a problem and it tried to solve this “problem” but it appears to have failed (wrong problem definition means wrong solution applied and thus see wrong outcomes). In a perverse way,  Capitalism also seeks to make people equal by putting up an ideal of wealth maximization as the ultimate state of achievement and make everyone strive for it. Pick any magazine or a book on successful people of modern world and you will come across names like Gates,  Ambani, Warren Buffet, etc who have achieved wealth maximization and thus making others feel “unequal” and thus pushing them to adopt a lifestyle that may make them an equal of  Gates. Thus while this system rewards merit, it makes many who are seemingly lacking merit to feel “unequal” and live their whole life with this regret. Thus, using Maslow, “self-actualization” can happen only after all the material needs are met – this silly theory is taught as a Universal truth to all of us in schools today

UB: 18:41 (3) – वर्ण संस्कार approach chooses an alternate path. It recognizes that all people are not equal in terms of their ability and orientation just like all fingers in a hand do not have the same size. Owing to their own कर्म, everyone is in a different state of being and thus their capabilities and interest orientations are different. How do we therefore tap into these innate differences among people in a manner that while each person continues to live and retain his or her orientation, each will use their respective skill to achieve the highest goal of अध्यात्म while also contributing their best to the society?

UB: 18:41 (4) – Our texts have visualized a human society as One Being with four parts – the head, the arms, the thighs and the legs. The head thinks, the arms protect, the thighs support and the legs enable movement or activity. The पुरुष सूक्त refers to चातुर्वर्ण्यं visualizing these four aspects as true for the entire Universe. Ancient India used this idea to conceive of an ideal human society. Can any human being live a good life in the absence of any of the four parts of a body? He cannot as all four are important. Thus the ब्राह्मण is seen as performing the role of the head, क्षत्रिय of the arms, वैश्य as the thighs and शूद्र as the legs. If we create a society for “takers” only,  all four will collectively milk the cow dry and will eventually kill and eat the cow.  However, if we see all aspects of nature acting in the role of “givers” and attempt to build a human society where every human is given value because he “gives” rather than as a “taker”, each part will thus be asked to contribute as per their own गुण matrix that is part of their स्वभाव. Thus, one whose गुण-mix has सत्व as primary and रजस् as secondary is ब्राह्मण, रजस् as primary and सत्व as secondary is क्षत्रिय, रजस् as primary and तमस् as secondary is वैश्य and तमस् as primary and रजस् as secondary is शूद्र:. Now if each part takes on the role of a “giver”, the various other parts will benefit while the entire Earth will prosper too.

UB: 18:41 (5) – A ब्राह्मण is focussed on gaining ज्ञान as a full time vocation. The entire corpus of वैदिक ज्ञान is immense and people cannot finish this even after taking multiple lives. And in the earlier era, in the absence of proper media to store the books, it is common for ब्राह्मण’s to spend their whole life rewriting from old media to a new media. And it is not possible for all normal people nor can it be their interest to spend their entire life with books and education. So we had a dedicated class of people who spend their whole life reading and writing and also guide the society on matters of धर्म & other aspects. And similarly, we have a class of people naturally driven towards leadership and doing governance and fighting for protecting the kingdoms. A society cannot function without commerce and presence of a strong economic system is essential to sustain movement of goods and services. And lastly, we have a significant class of people who neither have a high level of education nor driven towards taking on leadership roles nor have commerce know their blood – the entire class of salaried people today and others like carpenters,  masons, garbage collectors,  those serving food in restaurants,  etc may be taken to fall under this class.

UB: 18:41 (6) – One who does ब्राह्मण कर्म is not meant to take up leadership position, take up commerce or do jobs that keep him away from his zone of focus viz ब्रह्मज्ञान.  So the society allows him to pursue education full time by giving him money on special occasions to maintain his family.  A क्षत्रिय is expected to get advice from ब्राह्मण and funding from वैश्य and services from शूद्र – without this support, he cannot discharge his role as a leader. A वैश्य cannot take on a political leadership role nor be consulted on matters of  ज्ञान and a शूद्र cannot take on the other three roles.  The basic idea is that each role has an innate conflict of interest with another and putting 2-3 aspects into a single person will create conflict in a society. Just as we have this idea of taking aptitude tests today before recruitment, वर्ण संस्कार system also attempts to ensure that one’s own स्वभाव is tuned to zone of responsibility.

UB: शमो दमस्तपः शौचं क्षान्तिरार्जवमेव च। ज्ञानं विज्ञानमास्तिक्यं ब्रह्मकर्म स्वभावजम्।।18.42।।

18.42 The कर्म of ब्राह्मण (ब्रह्मकर्म), that is born of their nature (स्वभावजम्), is composure (शम:), self-restraint (दम:), तप:, cleanliness (शौचं), accommodation (क्षान्ति:) and also straight-forwardedness (आर्जवम्), knowledge (and its) assimilation (विज्ञानम्) and acceptance in the veracity of the वेद (आस्तिक्यं).

शौर्यं तेजो धृतिर्दाक्ष्यं युद्धे चाप्यपलायनम्। दानमीश्वरभावश्च क्षात्रं कर्म स्वभावजम्।।18.43।।

18.43 The कर्म of क्षत्रिय’s (क्षात्रं कर्म), that is born of their nature (स्वभावजम्), valour (शौर्यं), self-confidence (तेज:), धृति, dexterity viz ability to act with confidence (in sudden situations) (दाक्ष्यं) and also not fleeing from battle (युद्धे च अपि अपलायनम), generosity (दानम्) and leadership (ईश्वर-भाव-च).

UB: 18:42/43 (1) – Now we see the definition of a ब्राह्मण in terms of गुण (and not as per birth). This verse says that certain people, as a natural course of selection choose ब्रह्मकर्म.  And by गुण, they have qualities which are essential for pursuit of ब्रह्मकर्म which are enumerated as

शम, दम:, तपः, शौचं, क्षान्ति:, आर्जवम्. The meaning of qualities have been discussed earlier in Ch 16. These qualities make them suited to pursue ज्ञानं and विज्ञानम्, which as we saw at the start of Ch 7 refers to theory and practice of अध्यात्म ज्ञान. आस्तिक्यं is translated as “religious” but it actually means conviction in Oneness or in the word of the वेद. And thus he devotes his life to ब्रह्मकर्म meaning that he will spend his entire life learning, teaching and living as per the देैवी गुण. Nowhere is this verse referring to one born in a ब्राह्मण house as a criterion but again and again uses the word स्वाभजम् (natural disposition).

UB: 18:42/43 (2) – And the गुण of a क्षत्रिय are given as one who has शौर्यं, तेज:, धृति:, दार्क्ष्यं viz confidence in handling difficult situation and one who never thinks of running away from a युद्ध. The last one may have been meant for अर्जुन since he has been pushing to run away from the battle. And of course, a क्षत्रिय is one who has a big heart in giving viz दान as well as have leadership qualities as a natural disposition. This does not mean that other वर्ण do not have these गुण but a क्षत्रिय demonstrates these so visibly that this leaves no one confused as to what such a person must pursue as their chosen profession.

UB: 18:42/43 (3) – Key message is – choose a role that is in keeping with one’s स्वभाव. Thus throughout our history, while we have had people who claim superiority based on कुल they are born into, there is also a recognition that it is गुण that makes one eligible to claim access to the rolw that they seek to do. Thus, a devotee by the name वरदराज was born in a शूद्र family during the time of श्रीरामानुजाचार्य but he had access to the गर्भ गृह of the temple owing to his high level of piety. Or a Shivaji who was made क्षत्रिय owing to his deeds though not born in such a कुल. Equally, you have the Sunga dynasty or the Peshwas recently who were ब्राह्मण turned kings. And in the पुराण, we see विश्वामित्र becoming a ब्राह्मण or नारद who was born to a शूद्र woman in his previous life was given अध्यात्म विद्या by various गुरु’s and eventually achieved ब्रह्मऋषी status. So if one demonstrates a strong गुण orientation toward a certain vocation, society becomes accommodating enough to accept them disregarding their कुल or जाति. One must admit though that for masses at large and women in particular, especially in the last thousand years, the struggle to prove one’s गुण for taking up a certain vocation may not been easy though one cannot be sure about this too.

PK: You raised a very pertinent point about the status of women. Also, while money is important not everyone uses it as the sole driving force – a very important force to be sure in modern times. The Guna vision is utopian and involves too much dependence on the good will of society – I not sure if it will work or if folks would like to be subject to being in submissive positions (like shudras who serve) unless they see it as a choice ( maybe I speak for myself ) and if they see it as a choice , I would assert that I prefer today’s system of equality – today too a teacher’s child can become a businessman so what is the difference ? And a teacher does not need to depend on society’s alms (although they are not paid enough IMO😃)

Not sure if I see the point you are trying to make in taking us to the past – caused lot of problems and as a woman, my life today is way more independent 😃😃😃… not an iota of desire to go back to the kitchens and serve the menfolk unquestioningly ( I will do it every now and then out of love , never if it was a rule😃😃😃)

PK: All these shlokas do is try to give one an idea of their inclinations – nothing more, noting less . And does little when folks like me want to teach/ learn but also like business/ handling finances and are interested in leadership (and a woman just imagine the arrogance 😂) – these subtypes are fluid and nothing is talked about that 😃😃

UB: I agree with all your points – and this is why the discussions in the days ahead will get interesting 😀. As for the so-called challenges with society imposition in earlier times, even today, aspects like how education is imparted or Corporate structure are run or Laws are enforced are a society imposition only that we have to accept and our so-called freedom is also within these imposed templates. Now whether this is better or worse is a point of opinion really. But as I said, the days ahead should address the points you have raised…. I think

UB: But I agree that things are a lot better for women today primarily thanks to Technology developments.

PK: 🙏🙏

UB: कृषिगौरक्ष्यवाणिज्यं वैश्यकर्म स्वभावजम्। परिचर्यात्मकं कर्म शूद्रस्यापि स्वभावजम्।।18.44।।

18.44 The कर्म of वैश्य (वैश्यकर्म), that is born of their nature (स्वभावजम्), is Agriculture (कृषि), maintaining animals (गौरक्ष्य) and commerce (वाणिज्यं). The कर्म of शूद्र (शूद्रस्य कर्म), that is born of their nature (स्वभावजम्), is in the form of service (परिचर्या आत्मकं).

स्वे स्वे कर्मण्यभिरतः संसिद्धिं लभते नरः। स्वकर्मनिरतः सिद्धिं यथा विन्दति तच्छृणु।।18.45।।

18.45 A person (नरः) dedicated to (अभिरतः) his or her own कर्म (स्वे स्वे कर्मण्य) attains (लभते) success (संसिद्धिं) (ie a satisfaction of having done happily what is to be done and not requiring a change to become happier). In which way (यथा), one gains (विन्दति) success (सिद्धिं), being dedicated (निरत:) to an action in tune with one’s own  inclination (स्वकर्म), to this, please listen (तत् श्रृणु).

UB: 18:44/45 (1) – One oriented towards business, commerce, etc is a वैश्य. And just thighs provided stability to a body, commerce provides a strong basis for engagement of people in a society with one another. And a शूद्र is engaged in serving people of other वर्ण. On his own, a शूद्र does not have leadership qualities or studious enough to spend a lifetime in books, no capacity to hold on in a battle to fight others, etc. So what do such people do? They follow or serve others and follow the lead given by the leaders. If a शूद्र selects a good leader, he will prosper since he is comfortable living a life taking instructions from others. He thus lives relying on the good advice of more learned people and focuses his ability to do the work well as instructed. In a sense, people doing execution-only salaried jobs today (teller-clerks, waiters, sweepers, etc) may be seen as शूद्र-like in that they serve or execute the mission given by another. And if I assess myself honestly that I do not have skills to lead a big bunch of people or ideate new initiatives, I can join another who can lead and serve as his “implementation man” and live joyfully serving a good cause. And this can be done if one knows oneself very well.

UB: 18:44/45 (2) – If success in life is defined as being engaged with what one likes, what we like is to do work tuned to our own स्वभाव. Now we may or may not earn much or may not be appreciated much but as long as no pressure from society exists to do something else and our essential survival needs are met, our work itself will give us joy if this is tuned to our स्वभाव. Stress happens when one is in a कर्म not tuned to our own स्वभाव. The beauty is that भगवान् is not saying here that one engaged in ब्रह्म कर्म is engaged in a superior work or a शूद्र कर्म is inferior. No need for a शूद्र to become a ब्राह्मण or a ब्राह्मण to take on role of a वैश्य or a वैश्य to become a क्षत्रिय – as long as one does what one is tuned to, one gets सिद्धि both on Earth as well as in an अध्यात्म सिद्धि. While he is joyful on Earth is understandable since he is doing what he likes, how are all these diverse people having different inclinations and thus doing different कर्म equally capable of attaining अध्यात्म सिद्धि? This will be taken on in the next verse tomorrow.

UB: 18:44/45 (3) – Question may be raised here as to why did the birth based choice of profession come about in earlier eras? Firstly, birth based profession choice may not have been fully true as we often come across exceptions. Second, till a century back, there was not a proliferation of sub-varieties of job roles as there are today in the world and choices earlier may have been limited (though often this view may not be true). Third, भगवान् says clearly in Ch 7 that one is born in a family that is tuned to our गुण and thus choosing such a vocation is a sensible choice, whether forced or not. Last aspect is key which suggests that while we may be seen as taking up a same vocation, there are nuances in terms of different roles we may end up taking. If we take people who work with a hospital cum Medical College, one may say that all such people must have the attitude of care for fellow beings. But one must note that all roles in this institution do not need the same गुण-mix.

UB: 18:44/45 (4) – And this is a thought idea. The Security guards, counter-clerks, sweepers, etc may operate with a 20:30:50 (Sattwa-Rajas-Tamas) ratio, a teacher at 60:30:10, a doctor treating patients at 40:40:20, a nurse at 30:30:40 while a CEO at 30:50:20. A good academic may not make a good CEO while a good CEO may not be a great finance person, etc though both may have same degrees. Thus, though the choice of profession (viz working in a hospital) may look the same, what people actually do may vary significantly from role to role as driven by the role demand. Equally, we may say superficially that one running a 7/11 store and one in charge of a Tech company are both doing business but it should be evident that the गुण-mix of both these roles is vastly different with the former requiring a higher dose of तमोगुण while the latter needing a higher degree of सत्व. And thus while my father worked in a science establishment and myself in Banking, the गुण-mix of both our roles do appear similar to me in all aspects. So have I really chosen a different profession from that of my father? But can our गुण-mix not change as we grow? This will be taken up much later in verse 61-62.

MK: Actually none of these verses specify whether the women can or cannot be part of these 4 categories. It doesn’t say that they cannot be fighters or teachers or do business etc, but it also does not say that they can go ahead and do them. Frankly speaking if I think of the role of women in that era…it’s submissive…kunti could not be a single mother, Draupadi had no say in choosing her husband and mother-in-law’s word prevailed, Draupadi could be brought in court to be assaulted…I think the men in our society even now get all these ideas of subjugating women to atrocities probably from our old texts which is sad.

MK: I don’t know whether a teacher is 60:30:10, because most of the teachers choose the profession so that they can have school hours as their kids or holidays at the same time or because they didn’t get any other job. Very few actually do it for the love of learning. But the same can be applied for other jobs as well.

UB: From an अध्यात्म lens, all of beings, women or men or even animals are life forms only and their sex does not change the message. Later, I will use a “submissive” woman model as an example for one of the verses and will then leave it to the women here to rule whether I am allowed to remain in this group or not 😀.

7/26/17, 17:20 MK: 😀😀

7/26/17, 17:40 PK: I agree- this distribution is not a one size fits all professions and neither is it static – for example there are phases when one may feel energized at work and family slides while other times family issues takes precedence and one slightly backs off at work in order to deal with it 😃😃😃. These are guide posts for us , not lakshman Rekhas to obey me thinks 😃😃

UB: When a decision has to be made, a लक्षमण रेखा had to be established. So the question arises – how do we define a लक्षमण रेखा? Today, we have psychometric tests developed that ask questions and frame their views about the person based on underlying models. The idea here is to explore opportunity to use the गुण-mix as a basis to construct a model and then use it to evaluate roles and assess people against this. So this is the not about whether we need to follow a rule laid down by others but whether we can make the rules ourselves using an अध्यात्म variables. If yes, how do we build it but if not, there is nothing to do.

PK: I agree with what you say i.e follow rules that make sense to us after thoughtful introspection and with some knowkedge ( i.e. Not arbitrary or at least then aknowledge in  our heart that the decisions are arbitrary 😃😃😃) ; IMO , whether the rules are modern or based on past are to some extent less relevant as both paradigms have positives and negatives ( which is not to say that adhyatmic principles are wrong but just that some( not all )  principles laid down in any realm are contextual 😃😃😃…

PK: This process to me is the gaining knowledge part … recognizingbif course that this is a start and that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing and all that 😃😃😃

PK: We agree that the Lakshman Rekha in any situation is a personal one .., not one driven exclusively by society norms – I do think thar very few people introspect much – most just follow the current norms as it is much easier for many folks to not think 😃😃😃😃… following rules set by others is easier … to me that feels like slow / painful torture 😃😃😃

UB: Even if it is a personal choice, question comes as to what model do we adopt to even make a personal choice 😀

MK: Totally agree…

MK: Whatever model we apply, it’s tough to make a personal choice…the personal choice is more for the guys however strong the woman is, she ends up compromising ….can give many examples but then the topic will change from Adhyatam to Feminism 😀😀so will 🤐

UB: Maybe we can begin this after 18th Ch is over 😀

MK: 😀😀👍👍

PK: No single model works all the time me thinks 😃😃women’s rights/ choices/ freedoms I will take the modern paradigm anyway with its flaws; for trying to not obsessively control outcomes of our actions and learn to be a little detached/ go with the flow of what life offers ( after trying our best effort) I will follow the Gita policy ; for nityapuja etc I will adopt the @ “live and let live” approach with the uncomfortable luxury of changing my mind in the future 😃😃😃… for the shloka had of impure wombs and eternal damnation I reject and say ” thanks but no thanks ” and move on 😃😃😃. Why cannot one seek truth in multiple arenas?

UB: 18:46/48

यतः प्रवृत्तिर्भूतानां येन सर्वमिदं ततम्। स्वकर्मणा तमभ्यर्च्य सिद्धिं विन्दति मानवः।।18.46।।

18.46 From which (यतः) is the origin of all beings (प्रवृत्तिर्भूतानां) and by which (येन) all this (सर्वम् इदं) is pervaded (ततम्), invoking (अभ्यर्च्य) That (तं) with one’s कर्म (स्वकर्मणा), a person (मानवः) attains (विन्दति) success (सिद्धिं).

श्रेयान्स्वधर्मो विगुणः परधर्मात्स्वनुष्ठितात्। स्वभावनियतं कर्म कुर्वन्नाप्नोति किल्बिषम्।।18.47।।

18.47 One’s own धर्म (स्वधर्मो), (even if) devoid of merit (विगुणः) (even if does not create पुण्य), is better (श्रेयान्) than a different धर्म (परधर्मात्) (even if) well performed (स्वनुष्ठितात्) (because inner maturity, not social climbing, leads to श्रेयस्). Doing (कुर्वन्) कर्म enjoined (नियतं कर्म) according to one’s disposition (स्वभाव), one incurs no (न आप्नोति) fault (किल्बिषम्) (eg., conflict).

सहजं कर्म कौन्तेय सदोषमपि न त्यजेत्। सर्वारम्भा हि दोषेण धूमेनाग्निरिवावृताः।।18.48।।

18.48 O कौन्तेय! One should not give up (न त्यजेत्) कर्म that comes naturally to oneself (सहजं कर्म), even though defective (स-दोषम्-अपि) (even though it consists of त्रिगुण and hence part of संसार), because (हि) all other undertakings (सर्वारम्भा) are covered with the same fault (दोषेण), like fire (अग्नि इव) is enveloped (आवृताः) by smoke (धूमेन).

UB: 18:46/48 (1) – And we are back to कर्मयोग again 😊. And thus it is not just enough to perform your धर्म, it is essential to do it as His agent, He from whom is created this universe of beings. He who prepares the dolls in the form of जीव using rags in the form of अज्ञान and makes them dance to the movement of the string in the form of अहङ्कार made by twisting together the त्रिगुण – He who like a lamp pervades by His own light the entire universe – if a seeker worships such a भगवान् who pervades the हृदय of all जीव, offering flowers in the form of one’s धर्म, such a worship is what is meant to be the attitude that is uplifting and beneficial. In return, He grants प्रसाद in the form of संयास and thus such a person then thinks of nothing else but भगवान् and feels the physical world as akin to vomit. This state of mind is so great that even though one has still not achieved the state of universal Oneness, the very longing itself makes one identify with the ultimate state of Unity. Thus, do your धर्म thinking of Him all the time. What कर्म you do is not relevant – be it ब्राह्मण कर्म or वैश्य कर्म or शूद्र कर्म but what attitude you possess while doing the कर्म is the key differentiating principle. Thus, for work to be seen as worship, hard exertion alone is not enough but hard committed exertion needs to be done as Her agent; the former called as कर्म and the latter as कर्मयोग.

UB: 18:46/48 (2) – Verse 18:47 is a verbatim repeat quoted earlier in the Gita. One’s धर्म may seem difficult and the grass looks greener on the other side but one should not grudge one’s own धर्म just like we do not grudge bitter neem juice when feeling unwell. Though one’s own mother is hunchbacked, yet her maternal love on which one lives is not crooked. There are better qualities in Ghee than water, yet could a fish live in it? That which proves as poison to others is अमृत to the germs living in it while the same germs will die when they take to eating Gud. So what is धर्म is to do a कर्म that is tuned to one’s own स्वभाव or गुण-mix.Note that any धर्म one picks up will have some occupational hazard or another – let this hazard not be seen as the basis or the trigger for one to change one’s धर्म. And if you do this well, this is enough to give you the freedom you are seeking.

UB: 18:46/48 (3) – The glory of fire is covered with smoke, similarly, the role of a क्षत्रिय involves killing. Any role one takes up will have good and bad aspects – one cannot give up any activity just because it has some bad aspects. If one cannot avoid death by getting stabbed by turning his back to the enemy, why not face the enemy directly and face death fighting directly? Both the powerful वानर as well as small squirrel helped राम build the bridge to लंका but even though the boulders placed by the वानर were much larger than the small pebbles placed by squirrels, both secured freedom since both exerted in line with their capacity fully. It does not matter how big or small your choice of activity may seem in the external world but as long as the exertion is full and in tune with one’s own धर्म, one is certainly moving closer to one’s freedom, there is no doubt about it.

UB: 18:46/48 (4) – Ideas of dignity of labour is what I takeaway from these verses and to me this is the real idea of equality. Whether you are a stone cutter or a Prime Minister, do work with कर्मयोग attitude and you become free. Take up whatever vocation thrown to you by your environment that is in tune with your स्वभाव – whether it is a family vocation or not is immaterial. And as long as कर्मयोग attitude is brought into the work, do this work proudly with a swagger that should be an inspiration for all. And no matter what work anyone really does, respect all people who do work with such a swagger. Do you remember Him while doing the work is the key question to consider. But if you do not like the work you do, what does one do in that case? Start liking the work probably 😊.

PK: Mayi sarvani karmani sanyasadhyatma (3:30)- I memorized this and was reminded of it by your explanation 🙏

UB: Perfectly apt 👏👏 Given that this verse is reminding us of कर्मयोग, the verses of Ch 3 are indeed the right ones to remember here. And as I have conveyed earlier, the commentary today and next few days broadly taken word to word from ज्ञानेश्वरी.

7/27/17, 11:54 MK: 👍👏👏😀 i like the ending ‘if you don’t like the work, start liking it’ 😀😀

UB: असक्तबुद्धिः सर्वत्र जितात्मा विगतस्पृहः। नैष्कर्म्यसिद्धिं परमां संन्यासेनाधिगच्छति।।18.49।।

18.49 One whose mind is not attached (असक्त-बुद्धिः) anywhere (सर्वत्र), (who) has mastery over the mind (जित-आत्मा), and free from yearning (विगत-स्पृहः), (then) by संयास (संन्यासेन), attains (अधिगच्छति) the exalted (परमां) accomplishment that is actionlessness (नैष्कर्म्य-सिद्धिं).

सिद्धिं प्राप्तो यथा ब्रह्म तथाप्नोति निबोध मे। समासेनैव कौन्तेय निष्ठा ज्ञानस्य या परा।।18.50।।

18.50 O कौन्तेय! In which way (यथा) one who has attained success  (सिद्धिं प्राप्तो) attains (आप्नोति) ब्रह्म, which (या) is the final conclusion (परा निष्ठा) of knowledge (ज्ञानस्य), in that way, in brief (समासेन एव) pay heed to me (निबोध मे).

UB: 18:49/50 (1) – What is the end goal of pursuing कर्मयोग? It is the attainment of नैश्कर्म्य सिद्धि or Perfection in Actionlessness. As a fruit attains ripened, it cannot remain attached to the stem. In that way, attachment for the worldly affairs gets milder and feeble and although his relations and objects continue to remain in his control, he does not call them “his own” just like one having a cup of poison in his hand does not swallow it. In short, the intellect feels a disgust for an association with sense objects and enters the solitude of the heart. Then even when the mind of such a one might be moving and coming into contact with the worldly objects, it does not transgress its limits. He then holds the mind in the grip of Unity and compels it to fix its gaze of the inner आत्मा.

UB: 18:49/50 (2) – The mind thus restrained, the desires disappear on their own accord. The fruit of all actions of his past life get spent up in the way the stored water supply gets exhausted by its gradual use while the mind ensures that it does not do fresh actions. It is through conduct of धार्मिक कर्म that the state of समत्वम् is attained and in such a state, the person without any effort on his part gets a vision to meet his worthy गुरु. The seeker than gets fully perfected by the grace of the गुरु. Then just as darkness should disappear along with the night, the triad of कर्म, कर्ता & करणं lying in the womb of अज्ञान is killed and with this, the aggregate of actions also perishes automatically and त्याग idea reaches its very roots. And with elimination of total अज्ञान from its very root with ज्ञान, also gets wiped out the idea of mundane manifestation and what remains is the seeker himself as an object worthy of ज्ञान.

UB: 18:49/50 (3) – Does a person ever try to rescue himself from a deep spot within a lake where he finds himself in a dream after he gets awake? Similarly, the dream “I am ignorant and shall secure knowledge” goes away and one himself becomes the all pervading knowledge as the actionless sentience. The original form of आत्मा gets restored and appearance of distinction born of अज्ञान gets eliminated. In that way, what emerges as the state “Not to be” ie ceasing to be distinct is what is called नैश्कर्म्य सिद्धि and when this state has been attained, it is called the state of Highest Perfection

UB: 18:49/50 (4) – भगवान् now says that attainment of नैश्कर्म्य सिद्धि is still not the end and there is some more distance to go. One may not contact the आत्मा with the very first word utterred by the way गुरु even though 1) he may have burned up the रजस् & तमस् in the fire of performing prescribed कर्म only and 2) he has kept under control the cravings towards his relations/ sense objects or attachment to a स्वर्ग and 3) he washes and cleans his sense organs in the Holy waters of restraint and 4) attained a state of सात्विक् त्याग as a result of dedicating all his actions to भगवान्. Despite having all these four traits as a raw material including a गुरु and he may be even teaching these ideas to others, he still remains a slight distance away from the Highest state? Why so?

UB: 18:49/50 (5) – Does an illness go away as soon as a medicine is taken? Could there be midday immediately after सूर्योदय? Despite planting the best seeds into a fertile ground, it takes a while for an immeasurable yield of crops to materialize. While the road may be clear, he may have a सत्संग and he will reach his goal without hardship, he still has to walk the path which takes some more time. Delicious food served to a hungry person goes on giving him added satisfaction as each morsel is taken; in that way, the secret hoard of the essence of the परा becomes more and more exposed to the seeker as the light of right thinking gets more and more bright on the strength of संयास trait. Little exposure to ज्ञान brought conviction that was strong enough to make a person choose कर्मयोग. Now having lived this life and attaining नैश्कर्म्य सिद्धि, the initial ज्ञान has to be deepened to bring about the ultimate level of clarity. So we move next to ज्ञानयोग.

UB: Navin – you had raised a point many many months back as to whether ध्यान is essential to achieve the परा state. As भगवान् is doing a summary of the message, we did कर्मयोग yesterday and today and He will talk about ध्यान tomorrow post which the भक्ति state is reached. Thus, it does appear that ध्यान is a state one also probably needs to go through in this journey.

PA: I hope the meaning of the sanyas trait really means a mindset of living in the world having a family with a detached attitude .. and not what we traditionallly think it to be in terms of not having a family life.

UB: It is both PA and not just going to Rishikesh

UB: बुद्ध्या विशुद्धया युक्तो धृत्याऽऽत्मानं नियम्य च। शब्दादीन् विषयांस्त्यक्त्वा रागद्वेषौ व्युदस्य च।।18.51।।

18.51 Endowed (युक्त:) with a clear mind (बुद्ध्या विशुद्धया) and by resolve (धृत्या), gaining mastery over (नियम्य च) the body-mind complex (आत्मानं), giving up the requiring of (त्यक्त्वा) sense objects (विषयां) beginning with sounds, etc (शब्द-आदीन्) and giving up (व्युदस्य च) attraction and repulsion (राग-द्वेषौ),

विविक्तसेवी लघ्वाशी यतवाक्कायमानसः। ध्यानयोगपरो नित्यं वैराग्यं समुपाश्रितः।।18.52।।

18.52 Having the disposition to repair to a quiet place (विविक्त-सेवी), having the habit of eating lightly (लघु-आशी), whose speech, body and mind (वाक-काय-मानसः) are mastered (यत), always (नित्यं) keeping contemplation and dedication as the ultimate (ध्यानयोग पर:), completely committed to (समुपाश्रितः) objectivity (वैराग्यं)

अहङ्कारं बलं दर्पं कामं क्रोधं परिग्रहम्। विमुच्य निर्ममः शान्तो ब्रह्मभूयाय कल्पते।।18.53।।

18.53 Free from (विमुच्य) notional “I” (अहङ्कारं), power (बलं), arrogance (दर्पं), desire (कामं), anger (क्रोधं) and possession(s) (परिग्रहम्); free from judgement “this is mine” (निर्ममः) and is clear or tranquil (शान्त:), that one is fit (कल्पते) for being ब्रह्म (ब्रह्मभूयाय).

UB: 18:51/53 (1) – We have said earlier that कर्मयोग is pursued with the intent of चित्तशुद्धि (purify the mind). Once the mind becomes clear meaning it has developed ability to perceive things and events as they are (and not based on prejudice or favour), what does such a बुद्धि do? It abandons राग & द्वेश and has gained complete mastery over its senses. With this having attained, it gets perfectly positioned for attaining आत्मसिद्धि. The five senses which were pampered and lionized by the sense objects are eliminated by putting a check on their innate tendency just as the mirrage disappears with the withdrawal of Sun’s rays. He becomes fit to pursue ध्यानयोग (covered earlier in chapter 6 and to be seen as part of ज्ञानयोग). Whatever good or bad he has to experience owing to his own past कर्म, he faces these experiencing neither jubiliation for good ones nor aversion for bad ones that come his way.

UB: 18:51/53 (2) – And what does ध्यानयोग entail? Firstly, one ends up wanting to be in a solitary place for doing ध्यान. One will want to adopt a lifestyle of need based eating and living a frugal life. He never bestows any thought, while taking his meal, on making his physique strong or satisfying his hunger or satisfying specific tastes of his tongue and feels contended in his frugality. Tongue speaks only when needed, body moves only when needed and inner proclivities will not be allowed to touch the mind. The meditator, the meditation and the object of meditation become one and united in his हृदय. Commentators bring out the पतंजलि योगसूत्र here where the person who has already finished the first three stages – यम, नियम & आसन progresses deeper into प्राणायम followed by प्रत्याहार, धारण, ध्यान and ending in समाधी. ज्ञानेश्वर talks about moving the कुंडलिनी up from मूलाधार to सहस्रार चक्र. Getting into such details will not be possible here given the vast scope of the topic, besides my own ignorance on these domains 😊.

UB: 18:51/53 (3) – As one gets into an intense ध्यान mode, one again encounters numerous enemies who attack with renewed vengeance – they will not give up this fight easily and the numerous पुराण stories come to mind where the देव’s get worried when a certain ऋषि achieves prominence in ध्यान and they send numerous obstacles to unsettle the ऋषि. But while अहंकार, दर्पं (pride), बलं (in the form of ascetic सिद्धि) and क्रोध do rear their head and attack, the idea of परिग्रह (possessiveness) proves a tough barrier to cross. So if one becomes head of an आश्रम, love for being the owner of an आश्रम, pride in seeing its numerous disciples, its collection of शास्त्र and joys in attainment of योग सिद्धि’s comes about entangling the one doing ध्यान. But a true seeker is able to beat this barrier too as the idea of ममकार (My-ness) also gets conquered as he proceeds using विवेक and holding in his hand a mace in the form of ज्ञान of ब्रह्म.

UB: 18:53/54 (4) – A funny story of a miserly one is quoted to explain the problem of परिग्रह. So we have this miser who is never used to stretching his hand out to “give” anything to anyone. One day, he falls in a well and calls out for help. A noble आत्मा comes to the place and asks the miser to “give” his hand. The miser refused given his hatred for the idea of “giving” 😊. The helper sensed the nature of the miser and told him – “Take” my hand. Now since the miser is comfortable with “taking”, he took the hand of the helper and came out of the well. And we find many people around us who are adequately endowed but still prefer to be in a state of “wanting” and this is the disease of परिग्रह that is very difficult to let go because of this idea of “My-ness” that inflicts mankind.

UB: 18:53/55 (5) – With the approaching of स्वराज्यं (I simply adore this word) in the form of union with the परब्रह्म, all the three worlds appear to him as bedecked in bliss. In this state of समत्वम् there is none to whom he can call as enemy or friend and were he on some rare occasion call another person as a friend, the latter cannot take a dual stand before him since the seeker has become all one with no duality whatsoever. He embraces the entire world as one single entity. As he approaches this state of unity, the horse in the form of योग ध्यान slows down, he loosens a bit the tight and closely fitting steely armour of संयास, breaks the sword of ध्यान and slackens the hand of कर्म, there remaining nothing else other than the आत्मा. Just as a man slows down as he can see his destination, our seeker lays down weapons in the form of various types of योग as these means make no sense when one is already united with the परा. This state is called here as the state of ब्रह्मभूयाय.