Gita 18.33 What intelligence discerns, that determination sustains

Transcript

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thank you vrityāyādhārayate mana-prāṇendriya-kriyā yogena vivicāriṇyā vṛtti-sāpārtha-sātvikī vrityāyādhārayate Krishna is now in these three verses 33, 34 and 35 speaking about determination determination in the three modes vṛtti and here he speaks about determination in goodness vrityāyādhārayate there is an alliteration over it vṛtti and dhārayate that determination which sustains mana-prāṇendriya-kriyā the mind senses the life air the actions yogena vivicāriṇyā by the unflinching practice of yoga vṛtti-sāpārtha-sātvikī that vṛtti and that determination is in the mode of goodness so as long as we are practicing spiritual life or even practicing any kind of principle centered living at that time we need to focus constructively on taking steps forward towards increasing our self-mastery and the self is actually the soul so what does the self-mastery mean there is the soul who is the self and the soul that is associated with the self that means there are various aspects of our being which we often identify with the self for example we may identify the body as the self we may identify the mind as the self so self-mastery means the actual self masters the extended selves that means the soul masters the body soul masters the mind masters means the body, the mind they are directed according to the intention of the soul that is self-mastery and to the extent there is self-mastery to that extent there can be purposeful productive action if we consider the chariot body example for example the warrior in the chariot has a particular purpose to go somewhere and the rest of the chariot is meant to be directed accordingly so the actual action implementation in the body happens through the mechanism of the mind, the senses the life air that’s how actions take place Krishna talks about buddhi and dhruti successively 18.30-32 talk about buddhi and 33-35 talk about dhruti and the way he talks about it here is that dhruti is what enables us to sustain the intended course of action dhruti, buddhi enables us to discern the right course of action buddhi enables us to among the various courses of action which action is to be performed that is understood through buddhi so in 18.30 when Krishna talked about buddhi and goodness he said sattva guni buddhi means that which enables one to come to the mode of goodness and to live, to discern to come to the mode of goodness means to act in the mode of goodness by knowing what is the right course of action what is dharma, what is dharma, adharma what is to be done and what is not to be done now just having this understanding about the right course of action is not enough we have to translate that understanding into action and that is where determination comes into the picture there is a statement associated with the Mahabharata that is often attributed to Duryodhana but it can apply to all of us I know what is dharma but I don’t feel like doing it I know what is adharma but I don’t feel like giving it up so our emotions frequently don’t go along with our intentions so determination means to keep our intention above our emotion that our senses may feel eat this senses may feel go to sleep do this, do that but we stay determined and do what needs to be done with single pointed attention that is determination that is determination and so the senses, the mind all that is involved in translating our intention into action that is associated with the mode of goodness that is associated with determination and determination is in the mode of goodness then we are able to act in a healthy constructive way we act for elevating ourselves we act for purifying ourselves we act for fulfilling our higher purpose in life so what the intelligence discerns that the determination sustains that which is discerned this is the right thing to do to continue in that is not easy so what enables us to persevere to continue is our determination and that determination is what we all seek in the mode of goodness determination will enable us to regulate the mind and senses broadly speaking and act for our spiritual evolution, act for our making constructive material contributions act overall for our all round well being this capacity to translate our intention into action is the essence of determination so knowledge and goodness or intelligence and goodness helps us to discern the right course of action and determination and goodness helps us to execute that action and all of us need this kind of determination and it’s interesting Krishna says yogena vibhicharenya that how will this determination come it won’t come simply by the practice of bhakti or anything like that it won’t come just simply by our intention it requires some specific practice so that practice is yogena to the extent we are fixed determined in the practice of yoga to that extent we will be able to do the actions properly just like if we have a lever then it requires weight it requires strength to lift a heavy weight but if we have a lever then we can apply lesser strength and lift of the same or larger quantity of weight similarly for us the practice of yoga is like the lever and this practice can enable us to lift our weight accordingly to lift the weight means to actually be able to raise our consciousness upwards to translate to act according to our higher intentions so when we practice it requires will power, it requires determination to practice yoga, it requires determination to control our senses but when we practice yoga when we use whatever determination we have to practice yoga that acts like a lever and that boosts our determination to do other things including practice attain mastery of the senses