Gita 06.14 – Use material dispassion to establish spiritual connection

Bhagavad-gita 6.14 prashantatma vijatabhir brahmacharivate sthita manasa immyamachitto yuktasita matparaha so here Krishna talks about how after the external postures are there what is the inner disposition that one should cultivate many significance points in this verse prashantatma so the person should be prashant so prashant is actually very deeply peaceful shanta is peaceful prashant is deeply peaceful so prashantatma now yogis of course found a secluded sacred place like which is akin to hermitage so their externals are peaceful but and the yogi because the mind is controlled because the most of the agitating desires are under control or have been purified so there is prashant there is deep level of peace and of course that peace increases as one progresses also that we will discuss prashantatma vijatabhir a very important characteristic is vijatabhir free from fear generally our attachments are the cause of our anxieties we may sit in the temple for lecture but if you are worried oh who will steal I kept my chappal outside the temple and I'm hearing lecture but what if somebody steals my chappal then we can't concentrate so this is of course there should be some arrangement in the temple so that people are not having this anxiety chappals can be kept safely somewhere or whatever but the point is that our attachments cause anxieties so when the yogi is free from attachment the yogi is also free from fear vijatabhir, fear is departed from the yogi and brahmachari vrata sthithaha the serious yogi situates oneself on in the vav of brahmacharya vrata sthithaha so vrata is a very serious thing wow brahmachari vrata, brahmachari has two aspects to it is the affirmative and the regulative so the affirmative aspect is brahmacharati ti brahmachari one who situates oneself in spirit one who lives at the spiritual level or one who lives in pursuit of the spirit so charati is to walk about to live in or to walk towards we can say also brahmacharati so one who walks to walks in spirit or one who walks towards the spirit so brahmacharati that is the affirmative aspect that the purpose of brahmachari is so that we can pursue and live in spiritual truth you know in the truth of our spiritual identity and the truth of our spiritual relationship with the supreme spiritual reality which the yogi will ultimately understand to be Krishna so here brahmachari vrata sthithaha so now brahmachari has this positive side affirmative side of living in spirit and the regulative side is that the opposite of spirit is matter and attachment to matter comes in various forms but the strongest form of attachment is sexual attraction so brahmachari vrata involves giving up sexual pleasure by which the strongest form of attachment to matter of entanglement in matter is cut off so now brahmachari can be brahmachari is also ashram which is the first one of the four ashramas and brahmachari is also vrata so normally person who is situated in the brahmachari ashram takes the brahmachari vrata but along with that others can also take brahmachari vratas sometimes some people take a vrata or brahmachari for a particular period maybe a sacred month maybe for one month during a sacred period or whatever but the yogi who is practicing serious yoga the yogi has to become situated in the brahmachari vrata and thereby because few things catapult the consciousness outwards as forcefully and you could say as irrevocably as does sexual infatuation and especially sexual indulgence because sexual indulgence practically we could say that it revets the soul to the body when something is revetted then it's quite there is a whole process by which it is fixed to that other object which is revetted and it requires quite a elaborate process to take it out so like that when the soul engages in sexual pleasure there is identification with one's body and there is infatuation, captivation, attachment to the other body also with which one is coming in contact for the sake of getting pleasure so if one wants to go inwards towards the indwelling spirit then this forceful catapulter of consciousness towards the external material level this needs to be checked and countered and the brahmachari vrata serves that particular purpose so brahmachari vrate sthithaha one situates oneself in the vrata of brahmacharya and manasaiyamya machitto yukta seeta matparaha so manasaiyamya one brings the mind under control manasaiyamya machitto and fixes the consciousness on me machitto so in this particular chapter the sixth chapter is the first verse that Krishna has talked about himself machitto fixes the consciousness on me now here and then he says further yukta seeta matparaha so matparaha comes once again yukta seeta in this way we engage in yoga we situated in yoga yukta that yukta is a variant of the word yoga aasika is situated matparaha with me as the goal with my consciousness fixed on me now this phrase yukta seeta matparaha has come earlier in 2.61 tani sarvani sanyamya yukta seeta matparaha vashayi yasi hriyani dasya prajna patishthita that was the first introduction that was the first introduction of Krishna to Arjuna of that first introduction of Krishna Krishna sublime position supreme position as the as not just the teacher of yoga but as the goal of the control senses so here Krishna is talking about how one should I mean the yogis fix the mind on him now here there can be different conception with the yogis fix the mind on him so some yogis may be bhaktas and they may be just using the method of yoga for gaining better control over their minds and their bodies by which they can do bhakti better there may be others who may think of Krishna of the indwelling Vishnu Krishna as a tool of meditation by which one can move towards moving words and what the ultimate in a reality is that is not known at this stage but so they might consider Krishna as a tool for meditation as an object so like the previous was it was said it fix the consciousness on in the tip of the nose but afterwards as one becomes more calm more focused then one turns and fixes the consciousness in words turns it in words and fix itself on Krishna so yuktaasita matparaha Krishna is of course giving an hint over here that making him as the ultimate goal and he will talk about that specifically in 6.47 when he says and he will say the topmost Yogi is the one who fixes his consciousness on him alone so here this was Krishna is focusing on the internal aspect of being peaceful by being free from fear by making a vow of being free from desires which is actual desire shanta atma with a severe brahmacharya with this data and thus regulating the mind when a senior me up much it though fixing the consciousness on Krishna and yuktaasita matparaha in this way we can engage in yoga with Krishna as the object of focus thank you.