Gita 16.23 Those who reject scripture suffer both in this life and the next

Transcript

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Thank you. Bhagavad Gita 16.23 यः शास्त्रविदिम उत्सुरुज्य वर्तते कामकारतः यः सिद्धिमवाप्नोति यः सुखम् नपराम्गतेम् Krishna here is continuing his description of the demoniac nature. यः शास्त्रविदिम उत्सुरुज्य Those who reject the direction from śāstra यः शास्त्रविदिम उत्सुरुज्य वर्तते कामकारतः and they act simply impelled by their desires कामकारतः यः सिद्धिमवाप्नोति such people cannot attain any perfection यः सुखम् नपराम्गतेम् nor the supreme destination So the point being made here is that we all need to progress towards auspicious destinations and that progression requires certain choices to be made Now when we are studying we would like to get good grades When we are working we would like to get increments and promotions We wouldn’t want to be fired So it’s important for us to recognize that every single one of us has to make choices and these choices need to be made consistently based on the way we are living and the way we are acting To the extent we learn to choose our actions maturely to that extent we will be able to progress To the extent we don’t act properly then our destination will be inauspicious We will not progress but we will regress And scripture is the guidebook to help us make wise choices In this chapter Krishna has not talked about Shastra till now directly In fact Krishna doesn’t use the word Shastra too often in the Gita He talks about These are my words and one should have faith in them Some people may be so habituated to driving that they may not even need or feel the need for a guidebook for driving But if they find that they are repeatedly getting tickets they are making indiscreet choices that are causing accidents to them they are doing things wrong then they may have to go back to the basics and read the books that enable them to choose Similarly for us we too need to choose wisely and choosing wisely requires us to focus properly on that which is important and to neglect that which is unimportant Business of what is important and what is not important comes from scripture If we find that our disposition is becoming destructive that we are engaging in actions that are hurting us and hurting others then we need to protect ourselves and that protection comes from the education and the direction given in scripture So Krishna says over here One who neglects Shastra, rejects Shastra Utsrujya is rejects and one acts simply as per one’s own desires which are often short-sighted which are often destructive So what happens to a person? That person will not attain auspiciousness and one will not get any happiness So if we want an auspicious destination we want elevation then we need to move forwards progressively in our life These three things which Krishna says We can easily understand that What we remember at the time of death will determine our destination after death and obviously we will not be able to remember anything uplifting and not Krishna which is what is required for attaining Krishna so that is clear But what about Sukham? In fact, Kama allures us with the promise of Sukha Oh you do this and you will enjoy so much Why don’t you do it? But actually what Kama does is gets us into trouble Kama makes us bound to our lower desires and Krishna has talked earlier also It’s a little pleasure but followed by a long tail of misery Not only that, it’s also said that Kama is what we succumb to when we don’t choose wisely when we choose indiscreetly If we are not thinking and consciously choosing then our lower desires do the choosing for us and the way these lower desires choose is very much conducive for our degradation It is not at all conducive for our elevation or liberation That’s why we need to work steadily and progressively to the extent we can work in this way to that extent we will be protected we will be elevated we will be saved from ourselves We all need to be saved from ourselves and for us to be saved from ourselves scripture is the guideline that protects us Sukha doesn’t come, although it promises Sukha There is a little pleasure followed by a long tail of trouble As Krishna says in 18.38 And what about Siddhi? If one simply is impelled by one’s lower desires then actually one cannot achieve anything in life One cannot even work for one’s basic elevation Even if one wants to become good at music or good at writing or good at sports then one cannot be simply impelled by any and every desire that comes in One has to follow some guideline some kind of discipline and only then one will be able to fulfil that aspiration of becoming good in that field Otherwise we will be simply dragged here, there and everywhere and not get to any meaningful destination So perfection in terms of becoming good, becoming high class at any particular ability that cannot be attained.
Perfection can also refer to Yoga Siddhis and certainly they require the performance of austerities One simply who is driven by one’s lower desires cannot attain that So in a sense by succumbing to our lower desires we get happiness neither in this life nor in the next How to prevent this terrible fate will be explained in the next verse