Gita 15.02 We are bound by action and knowledge can guide us to action that leads to liberation

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
thank you Krishna is speaking over here explaining the nature of the material world by comparing it with the spiritual world and he is saying that he earlier said that there are upside down tree and there are some there are some issues with it that this world is like a place where there is no where the roots are upwards and the branches are downwards now he says that actually there is also the fact that the branches also go down it’s not that they go up alone they are nourished by the modes and the fruits which manifest on the trees are the sense objects and the soul becomes bound in material existence by karma so we all are at different we are all bound to this tree of material existence so Krishna says how does this bondage happen it happens through karma it is karma which binds us karma is something which we can’t very easily get rid of karma is something which we can’t easily overcome because karma is what we all have to suffer actually there is time, place, circumstance in which we may get different karmic reactions but the fact is every one of us has to suffer has to suffer the reaction to karma and it is that reaction which binds us so the way to overcome this karmic bondage is actually by purification by changing our actions by ensuring that we move forwards and doing actions that elevate our consciousness so Krishna is continuing the description of the three modes of material nature and in that description he is speaking about the nature of material nature so he speaks here that we can’t very easily just wish away this tree karmanubandhini the twigs which are the sense objects the fruit is described in another verse by Shankaracharya he says that whatever we do we eventually get the fruit of bondage that’s a fruit that we can’t get rid of that’s a fruit that is going to bind us and the fruit is that there is dukkha samsarvukshagabhijam mahok so samsarvuksha is born from the root of agha of sin and it leads to bondage bondage and suffering which we can’t overcome if we wish to overcome it then we need to move forwards and we need to learn to look at things from a bigger, broader deeper perspective wherein we learn to see what is real beyond what is visual that is everything that we see is not real we need to see that the real is something which every one of us has to experience, to encounter to face and the way we face it is based on our time, place, circumstance therefore if we understand that we at our core are spiritual beings then we are able to face the duality of material existence the infliction of karma which will come upon us so what does it bind us what does karma refer to karma at one level can refer to the reactions to our actions at another level it can refer to our actions themselves just by our actions that we do they kindle reactions just first of all the desire to do action itself binds us and then when we have done certain actions the reactions to those actions also bind us and this is how we stay entangled in material existence and the only way out of this extreme entanglement of material existence is by going through the gradual process of bhakti which purifies us so if we wish to become purified what we need is to first of all recognize that this world is a place of entanglement and that we are bound and that there is no shortcut to escape this bondage so the whole metaphor of the tree Krishna has introduced in the previous verse and has developed in this verse is meant to help us recognize the reality and the gravity of our bondage so the it is nourished by the modes the twigs that grow on the tree so actually as long as we are captivated by worldly things we cannot escape from material existence as long as we are entangled by worldly objects we stay bound over here so the previous chapter was about guna about the modes and Krishna is connecting that over here saying guna pravratha vishaya pravala we are drawn by the sense objects to drawn towards the sense objects and that’s how this tree of material existence keeps growing this is also significant that the primary bondage happens in in the planet of in the world of human beings in the other abodes heavenly planets and the hellish planets where also we are accountable for our actions but the primary factor or primary thing over there is that we simply undergo reactions to our actions to actually experience purification to actually experience elevation of consciousness to actually experience focused conscious execution of will by which we change the destination that we are destined to go to that kind of conscious change occurs in this world so the whole purpose of this chapter will be to help us change the direction of our karma so the kruta krutischa bharata that is the last line of the last verse of this chapter 15.20 iti guhyatamam shastram idamuktam mayanagha etad buddhva buddhimansyat kruta krutischa bharata so it says that if we work in this way kruta krutischa we will become successful in what we are doing that means we will become purified we will become elevated, we will become liberated how will that happen? if we practice our bhakti steadily if we strive to become elevated then the same karma which is binding us, karmanubandhini manashiloke that if we understand the nature of the material world and if we understand the nature of the source of the material world the lord who is purushottama this chapter is known as purushottama yoga then by knowing that lord our actions will attain success they will attain perfection so this chapter guides us from actions that lead to bondage to actions that lead to perfection