Gita Study Mumbai 2012 06.01-07 Understanding how the mind deludes

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Great. We will start with the sixth chapter. The sixth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita is known generally as Dhyan Yuga.
Now, a precursor of this chapter was given in 5.27-28, where Krishna had to discuss Parasharana, Dukta, Vibhaya, and shut out all the sense objects outwards. In the fifth chapter, established how, by practising Karna Yoga, by Atma Gyan, one can straightly be conflicted, and by Paramatma Gyan, one can attain liberation. Now, Paramatma Gyan, to be attained properly, one has to eventually go beyond Karma Yoga, to practise an alternative higher process, a progressive higher process.
So, there are three ways one can go from Karma Yoga. From Karma Yoga, one can go upwards to Gyan Yoga, Nihana Yoga, and Bhakti Yoga. So, Krishna will explore the process of Gyan Yoga in this chapter, and then he will explore the process of Bhakti Yoga in the next six chapters.
When Krishna talks about Gyan Yoga in this chapter, Arjuna will tell that this is not practical, and then Krishna will address that concern of Arjuna, by talking about alternative process starting from 7.1. So, this is the overview of the chapter. So, Arunaksha is the beginning stage. Arudha is the situated stage.
So, if you have a ladder, at the bottom of the ladder, someone is trying to climb up the ladder, that’s the Arunaksha stage. You have Arohan, climbing up, moving upwards. So, Arunaksha means to move up.
So, when one is in the stage of moving up, that is called the Arunaksha stage. So, basically, this first set of nine verses in the chapter describe how the seeker moves upwards on the ladder. So, it describes the perfect stage, Arun also.
Then, after giving an outline of this process, Krishna goes into the details of the practises that are to be adopted, by which one can attain that destination. So, that means how one can move from Arunaksha to Arudha, ultimately. And in Arudha, one can go towards Samadhi, that’s what Krishna talks about.
So, now when Krishna talks about the Sadhana, then he talks about it in three successive ladders. The flow of the chapter 2, verses 10 to 32, is not one ladder which moves towards the top. It’s rather like a ladder which moves up to the top, then again it starts, again it moves up, again it stops, again it moves up.
So, Krishna does that as he is giving progressively higher realisations of the Absolute Truth. And he also gives glimpses of the perfection and also talks about the process of the perfection, alternating them, so that the perception of the perfection doesn’t appear too lofty. And one also remembers that there is a practise by which one can attain perfection.
So, the distinctive characteristic of this chapter is that this is the only chapter in the Bhagavad Gita that talks elaborately about Sadhana. There are other chapters also which talk about it, but elaborately, this is the chapter which talks about Sadhana. And it talks about Sadhana primarily in terms of dealing with the mind.
So, we can get many valuable verses about how to deal with the troubles in mind in this chapter. And these insights are helpful even for our chanting. So, that is the time when we have to confront the mind directly face to face.
So, after Krishna has described the Sadhana in detail for almost 33 verses, Arjuna has his doubts. And his doubts take the form of two questions. So, first question is, this process seems impractical.
And Krishna doesn’t reject the process. He says, yes, it is difficult. It is difficult, no doubt.
But it is difficult to control the mind. Actually, what Krishna says is, this process doesn’t seem practical because to control the mind is very difficult. So, Arjuna agrees.
Krishna agrees that controlling the mind is difficult. But if you have the right process, you can do it. And what that right process is, Krishna doesn’t talk about explicitly in this chapter.
Then Arjuna asks the second question. Fine, it may be that by right process one can attain perfection. But what if one is not able to attain the perfection in this life? Either because one dies prematurely, one dies before attaining perfection, or because one gives up the path before one will attain perfection.
What will happen? And Krishna answers that question in verses 38-45. 38-40 is the question of Arjuna. Three verses question.
And 41-45 is Arjuna’s question being answered by Krishna. And Krishna gives a summary of what he has talked about till now, specifically in this chapter. And overall in the first section of the Bhagavad Gita, in verses 46 and 47.
In 46 he talks about becoming a yogi. And then he talks about 47. Who is the best yogi? One of the pixels is mind only.
So this is the overview of the chapter. We will start with the verses. If you are writing it in the right form, you can look at the Bhagavad Gita.
śrīmad-bhagavān uvāca anāśritaḥ karma-kalaṁ kāryaṁ karma karotiyaḥ sa sannyāsī ca yogi ca na niladhir na cākriyaḥ anāśritaḥ karma-kalaṁ So, one who does not take shelter of the fruits of karma. I discussed in the earlier classes how materialistic people take shelter of the fruits of karma. That means a person, a sports star is working very hard.
A sportsman is working very hard. Practising and doing all the exercises. And then his dream is, one day I will hold aloft the gold medal.
And that dream makes him keep going on. Actually, materialistic people take āśraya of the quality in the karma. śrīmad-bhagavān uvāca anāśritaḥ karma-kalaṁ kāryaṁ karma karotiyaḥ So, there are three words starting from त in this.
But all of them are different. कर्म is action. करोति is to do.
And कार्यम is prescribing. So, do the work as per your prescribing. कार्यम in our normal conversation in the Marathi, refers to just action.
But in Sanskrit, कार्यम refers to duty, prescribed duty or like obligated duty, obligation. स सन्यासि च योगि च Which a person is both a sannyasi and a yogi. That means he is both.
Now, Krishna has explicitly equated the two in one person. Earlier, Krishna had said that actually both paths are equal. Remember, at the start of the 5th chapter, 5.23, he said, that actually those who think that these two paths are different, 5.34, he says that no, they are not, they are तुध्धः पाला.
तुध्धः पाला न प्रवधान्धुन्दिः पन्दिः. So, wise people don’t think like that. So, Krishna is saying, actually both of them are same path.
Now, Krishna has said something deeper and he is saying, actually, the person who works without any shelter in the thrones is both a sanyasi and a yogi. So, here, if you know the dichotomy, yogi, generally we might think of yogi as person who does yoga, sannyas, person who is practising the Bhagavad-Gita. In general, the whole Gita refers to yogi, at least till now, as person who is living, currently.
So, yogi here refers to one who does action and sanyasi refers to one who renounces action. So, Krishna is saying, one who works without taking shelter of the thrones. So, sanyasi, chaiyogi, chaiyogi, chaiyogi, sanyasi and yogi.
And, what is this referring to? Is there any ambiguity? नदिरगनिरप्लचात्मियः That not one who does not light a fire and does not do any activity. So, agni refers to the daily sacrifices like Agni Bodra, Yudhisthira Yama. There are some sacrifices which are being performed by special departments every day.
And if the Kshatriyas have the sacrificial fire that is going on constantly. So, one who does not light a fire means one who has renounced the world. So, Krishna is saying, one who physically renounces the world, giving up the duty of the fire sacrifice or the various activities, kriya, such a person is not a sanyasi or yogi.
So, Krishna is quite emphatic as far as he is starting the verse. नदिरदिरप्लचात्मियः Now, Krishna will describe in the next section, next verse. So, Prabhupada, actually Prabhupada holds about how the sanyasi and yogi are equivalent.
And he explains that the sanyasi and yogi are manifested in their fullest form in a bhakta. Prabhupada goes on and I am going to resume that in a moment here. So, if Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s prayer does not focus so much on what a person is doing whether he is renouncing the world or engaging in the world.
In fact, what he says is that I am ready to take birth again and so on. But I want only your service. I want nothing else.
That is from Prabhupada is a perfect sanyasi or perfect yogi. यंसन्यासनिधिः प्राभूर् यंसन्यासनिधिः प्राभूर् योगम् कम्विद्धिः पाण्ड़व योगम् कम्विद्धिः पाण्ड़व नयसन्यसतसंकल्को नयसन्यसतसंकल्को So यंसन्यासनिधिः प्राभूर् He said that which is said to be sannyas, uttarishas. That is also you should know to be yoga.
So sannyas and yoga are the same. So the previous verse he created the two in a person. Now Krishna, this was equating the two in path also.
And what is the basis for the equalisation? na yatha sannyasta sankalpa Sankalpa is the desire for mental enjoyment, isn’t it? ya yasthi sarve samaarabha kama sankalpa gajita In 4.9, Krishna talked about how the Krishna and Karni are the studio of all sankalpa. Sankalpa is the desire for enjoyment. na yatha sannyasta sankalpa One who has not renounced sankalpa, one who has not renounced the desire for mental enjoyment, one such a person cannot be a yogi.
He certainly, kashchani certainly cannot be a yogi. yogi, bhagati kashchana So let us look at this. These two verses seem similar, but there is some difference between the two.
So we come to 6.1. So 6.1 is saying same person is sannyasi and yogi That is talking about equivalent. 6.2 is talking about sannyas and yoga equivalent, common denominator. What is the common denominator? That is sannyasta sankalpa and same person What is the criteria when you come to sannyasi and yogi? 6.1 has a focus on person 6.2 has a focus on path but essentially the factor is one should be detached.
So the 6.1 is affirmative such a person is indeed a sannyasi and yogi who is detached and 6.2 is negative If a person doesn’t have this he cannot be a sannyasi and cannot be a yogi also Although if you just read two verses, they may seem to be saying the same thing Affirmative assertion and this is a negative assertion So this way basically the verses are saying the same thing but in different ways What is the common thing they are saying? One has to be detached. Now Krishna will describe in the next verse what is the stage that needs to be attained to move forward in the path of yoga 6.1 6.1 6.1 6.1 6.1 6.1 6.1 6.1 6.1 6.1 6.1 So now naturally after hearing the first two verses the question comes up But then is there nothing like sannyas at all? Is there nothing like sannyas at all? Because you are saying that a person who is doing karma himself is a sannyasi. But we see that there is an ashram for sannyas.
There are people who are sannyasis. So if you are saying Krishna that actually the karmayagami itself is a sannyasi, then what about those who are actually physically also renounced the world? What about them? So Krishna describes that actually that is a particular level of spiritual advancement. So anuruksha is the seeker stage.
So when one is in the anuruksha stage, karma karanam ucyate. So here karana, generally speaking, we use in Hindi or Marathi, karana to mean the cause. But in Sanskrit, karana means the means, not the cause, the tools.
Karma karanam ucyate. Karma is the means for advancement. Or you can put it another way, karma is the cause of advancement.
But it is not, it means karma is the sadhana that is usually used for advancement. There is a verse in the 13th chapter which is, vishnu supraduktanam bhoktu tve hetu ucyate. kare karanam karanam tve.
Very confusing verse. That is the part repeated in the English and Bhagavatam. It’s almost identical.
So that will come to the significance of these words hetu and karanam. A little bit. So when the muni or the yogi, muni is at the anuruksha stage, anuruksha is the beginning stage, for him he should do work.
And by work he will make advancement. And when he becomes anuru, when he becomes well situated, at that time, kshama, he should give up work. So vishna now acknowledges anuruksha.
Yes, there is a level where manju, now he is stable. And at that time, kshama, giving up activity, is the means of advancement. So now, when is this? Yoga anuruksha and anuru, means ashtang yoga has these eight stages.
So, the first four stages are said to be the anuruksha stage. And the last four are said to be the anuru stage. So, the first four can be practised even without renouncing the world.
Yama, muni and masam pranayam can be practised even by a person who is a householder. Even a person who is engaged in the world. How much Prabhupada says, you will see later on, he will say that actually to practise yoga one has to go out into the forest and cannot stay at home.
He is talking about yoga as a path for spiritual perfection. Yoga cannot give us spiritual perfection if one stays in the house. Eventually, one has to go to praktyahara dharmakarana samyama.
Praktyahara cannot be done in the householder’s life. Praktyahara means shutting out all the sense objects. So, if one stays in the house, sense objects shut out all sort of transcendence.
It is very difficult to shut out the sense objects. When they don’t shut out the sense objects and the worldly concerns occupy a substantial amount of time and substantial area of one’s consciousness. Therefore, praktyahara is from praktyahara onwards one has to renounce the world.
So, aaravaksha or merayogin karmakarana samyama. That means one is an aaravaksha. When you are still in the seeker stage, preliminary seeker stage, person who has done yama, masam, pranayam what do you prescribe to him? When one says to start praktyahara at that time one can go out of the world, renounce the world and practise inaction.
Now, how will I know that now I have come to a level where I can start practising praktyahara? Now, anybody can say I will shut out the sense objects. But no. A behaviour shut out of sense objects, there has to be a certain level of advancement.
A certain level of deep attachment. And when one can do shamaha that Krishna will describe in the next verse. So, when one can renounce the world, Krishna describes in the next verse.
yadahinendriyartheshu yadahinendriyartheshu nakarmasvanusajyate nakarmasvanusajyate yogarudhasthaduchyate yogarudhasthaduchyate yadahinendriyartheshu yadahinendriyartheshu one has no attraction to the sense objects. yadahinendriyartheshu nakarmasvanusajyate nakarmasvanusajyate So, one doesn’t work for the sense objects. One is not attached to karma.
One does not have material desires. Such a person is yogarudha means situated in a way that he can practise spiritual life. yogarudhasthaduchyate yogarudhasthaduchyate Now, this verse can refer either to the yogarudha stage beginning or it can also refer to the yogarudha end because yogarudha is actually a process where all these three deepen.
Now, what is Prabhupada telling in this translation if you see? Having renounced all material desires. So, Vande Guru Devashree underscores the point that Krishna is telling sarva sankalpa sanyasi. Krishna is not telling sarva karma sanyasi.
We should give up all desires not all actions. What is the meaning of this? That a person can very easily give up actions but to give up desires is not enough. So, till one has not given up desires one should not give up the actions.
And when one has become you see, when one is doing the actions when one realises actually there is nothing substantial in this world the desire fails. Then one can give up the actions. Sarva sankalpa sanyasi is important for the person who is situated in Arjuna’s stage.
So, this is talking about three things. One, so indriyarthe means one does not engage in sensual gratification. Karamasma means one does not do work to get future sensual gratification.
And sarva sankalpa sanyasi means one does not desire sensual gratification. So, these are three different things that I will talk about in this verse. So, actually sensual gratification has three phases.
One is desiring, engaging, pursuing. I desire sensual gratification. So, the mind of the person is contemplating and enjoying.
Engaging that means, okay, I am engaging in sensual gratification. Right now I am engaging in sensual gratification. Third is pursuing.
That means I have to make some arrangements. Okay, I have to get some… I want to eat this delicious food. I have no money for it.
I have no job for it. So, I am pursuing sensual gratification. There are three different aspects of sensual gratification.
All these three one has to give up. So, desiring, Krishna is telling in 6.4c. That means I should give up the desires. Engaging is indriyarthe.
And pursuing is nakarmasu anusanjate. Anusanjate. So, there are three characteristics of yoga or yoga.
Normally we do not pursue or engage or even desire sensual gratification. It’s quite a tall order, isn’t it? People think of it this way. Maybe to some extent we have stopped pursuing.
To some extent we have stopped engaging. But to stop desiring is quite difficult. And that happens.
Brutal activity means it’s for pursuing sensual gratification. Brutal activity another way refers to the pursuit of sensual gratification. Activity that will eventually give the fruit of sensual gratification.
kama-atma svarga-para janma-karma phala-pradam kriya-vishesha-pranam govaishya-yatim So, in the second chapter, in 4.7, 4.4 verses, he is talking about the karma karmic desires. They do these activities for svarga-para janma-karma phala-pradam phala that they want from their kids. So, brutal activities are not themselves directly sensual gratification.
In fact, brutal activities evolve and then reduce in that way. For example, when a kichaman, when a person is doing yagya, he is roasting the sacrifices. At that time, often he is supposed to eat fruits.
So, he may not eat at any time during the whole time of the yagya. The sacrifices should not eat anything. In fact, when it is described that Maharaja Vivekananda was performing the yagya and the brahmanas were offering the abhuti, but the devatas were not coming to accept the abhuti.
So, the brahmanas said, we are doing everything perfectly, but devatas are not coming. So, then he was disturbed, but then he asked the brahmanas permission, can I speak? And then he asked all the, there were priests and there were other brahmins, elderly brahmins and other learned persons. He said, please tell me, if any of you can tell what is the cause that the devatas are not coming? Have I committed some offence? And then they told him, actually, there is not a single offence that you have committed in this life.
But because of offence in a past life, you don’t have a son. And because you don’t have a son, so, because of that strain, the devatas are not coming. When you perform a yagya, you satisfy the Supreme Lord.
And by that, how? You get a son. And then when you do the sacrifices, the Supreme Lord also comes. He will get a son also and devatas will also come.
When the Supreme Lord comes, when Ganeshwara comes, dada devatas will also come. At that point, they are making yagya. Yagyaman is also accepting the problem.
The practise is known about that. So, it is because of engagement in sensuality. So, spiritual activities often lead by giving up sensuality.
Many people in India do some sort of strict fasting during Shravanmas. They may give up meat or they may stop giving up their chappals. There were a lot of things like that.
They don’t shave. I think that is more of a… Is that austerity for people? I don’t know. Maybe it is.
It is just a fashion statement for many people also. But whatever it is, yeah, people do that. So, often spiritual activities are themselves not sensuality.
They are meant for the purpose of sensuality. So, now, what is the main challenge in coming to this? Why is it that one cannot become yoga prematurely? Why can one not adopt shamaha, the giving up action prematurely? That is because the mind is not the seeker. So, essentially what the seeker has to do is give up everything.
So, after talking about Arunakshan and Arudra and describing the characteristics of Arudra, how will one complete the Arudra stage? That is very significant. And that’s why Krishna seeks to focus the next set of verses on the mind. So, essentially the journey from Arunakshan to Arudra is not a physical journey.
It is an internal journey. And what changes along the journey is the ability to control the mind. The more one controls the mind, the more he will move forward in the spiritual path.
Then Krishna has described the nature of the mind and he will look at the process of controlling the mind. He isn’t going to continue the process. He more or less describes the result of the process than the practises of the process.
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … There is only one self. So sometimes there was 3.43 is transmitted. Conquer the lower self with the higher self.
Conquer the lower self with the higher self. So this is a metaphorical use of the lower self. And the lower self will refer to the mind.
The higher self will refer either to the individuals or it can refer to its overalls. Depending on what is being referred to. So generally Shatrupa avoids most metaphorical messages.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean that those messages are banned. Because in such a regime, I think either Vishwanath Chaturvedi or Baldev Dev ji translate the soul same as Shankaracharya. I think Chakravarti Bhatt also in the same way.
The self should elevate the self to the self and not negate the self to the self. And Baldev Dev ji translates one of the selves as the mind. So that is fine.
So the word Atma can refer to the soul and cannot refer to the mind also. So when we talk about here, Krishna is saying you should elevate the Atma higher. So what does that mean? That could mean that actually one has to use one’s will power to lift oneself.
So isn’t it? Rise yourself by yourself. Some child has fallen down. He is lifting me up.
No, get up yourself. So you should lift yourself up. Because Krishna has not yet introduced Bhakti over here.
Krishna is saying you should elevate yourself. So that is one way of understanding. That is what I have understood.
You should elevate yourself. But other way is what Shri Padmakarti used over here. That actually I am the soul here and here is my mind.
And the mind is always proposing nonsense to me. So if I listen to the mind, then I start doing nonsense. If I make the mind listen to me, then the mind slowly starts seeing things and starts becoming well-behaved.
So this is relatively simpler to understand. Prabhupada says that one should elevate the mind and not degrade the mind. One should elevate.
One should not deliver himself with the help of his mind. One should elevate himself with the help of his mind. Because ultimately we cannot give up our mind.
Mind is going to be there with us. So either we control the mind and we direct it or we let the mind control us and we get distracted from the problem. These are two trajectories for us.
So Prabhupada says we should learn to use. Ultimately even I have to control the mind. But even after controlling the mind I have to use the mind.
As long as I am in the world, even I have to think. Just think of Krishna. Krishna says, So how do I think of him? With the mind only.
So ultimately I cannot just force the mind. Sometimes I neglect the mind. That’s fine.
We have to neglect the mind. The mind has some undesirable tendencies which we have to neglect. So here, before we understand this verse, I would like to explain one concept.
Yesterday, where were you? So after that there was this question when nobody was asking about lust. What exactly is the mind? Anand Singh was asking. Where do the emotions come from? Do they come from the mind or do they come from the soul? So we had a long question and answer after that.
In fact, I put that in the 45 minute question and answer which we had afterwards. I put it on my site also. But I will keep it simple over here.
So essentially he didn’t express the question properly over there. What he is asking is, Is lust an entity separate from us? And this principle applies to all the anathemas. What is lust? So, is it an entity separate from us? Or is it just our own misdirected desire? That means, is there something called lust existing inside the mind? Or is it just when I start desiring a sense object, it is my own desire that is lust? So, is the question clear here? So is there something separate from me that is existing called lust? Or is it just my own misdirected desire? Actually, the answer is both.
The answer is both. How is that? If we see, Krishna describes in 3.14 that, Indriyāṇī-mano-buddhir asyādhiṣṭhāna-mukyate He says that lust exists in the senses, in the mind and the intelligence. So now, ultimately, the soul is different.
And the soul’s desired capacity exists in the soul. It will be directed to the mind, say, as it is. So Krishna talks about lust as residing in particular places.
And then he also says, yadi kṣetraṁ mahāvāho He uses kāma also to refer to our desires. Don’t become lust. So, lust is also a distortion of our desires.
I’ll explain this now. He uses the word to refer to our own desire. Actually, in fact, this whole section, 3.38-3.40, Krishna is referring to lust.
He’s actually referring to it in terms of an entity that covers. The covering of the womb on the embryo, the covering of lust on a mirror, the covering of smoke on fire. That would indicate that there is something that is there originally and something that is covered.
So, now the covering is different from the original object. Isn’t it? So, what is the original object? That is the soul. And the covering is the lust.
So now, we know the soul is covered by the subtle body. So, lust exists within the subtle body. Now, if lust exists within the subtle body, Krishna uses also the word kama in terms of desire.
To desire something. Don’t desire something. So, that means, can you think of any words where Krishna uses the word kama in terms of desiring something? Not in terms of such an entity, but in terms of desiring something.
kama-atmanah sva-yatah He has made it. The atma is made of kama. kama-atmanah.
It is filled in with kama and desire. But when Krishna says that sarva-kama-yajet sarva-svarga-kama-yajet When one who wants swarga, he performs yajnu. Standard phrase in the Vedas.
In the Bhagavad Gita we have one is free from kama and yoga. That could refer to, that he is free from the covering of the entity also. Isn’t it? And this particular covering is removed.
It could refer to that. Kama. There are many words in which we talk about it like this.
When Krishna asked, Arjuna is asking the question, kena palitoyam paapam chaitanam? Krishna is asking, krama-nesha-krodhesha So now, it is pushing us towards action. This also would indicate that there is something separate. There is something separate which is existing and which is causing us to act.
So as they say now, when Krishna says to Arjuna that you should become nishkama. For example, 2.17. What did they say? It was after 2 am in the morning. vihaya-kama-nyasarvam bhumam sharthi-nispuha nirmama-nirahankarasya nirmala-nispuha nirm-kama-nishkama This is become free from kama and act.
So that means here Krishna is saying that you should give up the desire and act. So we will see that the word kama, I can’t think of a verse in the purvi-dharma specifically, nishpure-nanam nityam No, it is talking about avarana. avaratam jnanam nityam Okay, I got the index there.
Okay, I’ll find out a verse. There are many verses like that. I just thought about this one.
There are many verses in the purvi-dharma also. See, kama refers to our desire. It is natural.
Somebody is desiring something. Kama-nami used in hrithi also. So the desire is in there.
So now, how does this work? ekavartisha Yes, very good. kama-bhoga-parvayana They are certain that actually the enjoyment of self-realisation is what they want. kama-krodha-parvayana That section also comes 16.11.12 Kama, they are completely dedicated to fulfilling the desire of kama and bhoga.
So now what does this mean? That here there is only soul and then there is the covering also, filter. For example, the white light is covered with a reddish filter, reddish film. Then that red light, what will come out of it will be a reddish light.
So the same light, which was soothing white earlier, becomes a jarring red afterwards. So now kama can refer to both the red, red film and the red light that comes out. It can refer to both.
So, when we say that we should control our senses, that means don’t let the red light come out. Don’t let the red light come out. That means these desires are there, but I don’t let the desires express themselves.
Purify yourself. That means what? Remove the reddish film entirely. Remove the reddish film entirely.
So, essentially, lust is both the covering on our consciousness and it is the desire that comes out through the covering on our consciousness. So now, initially what we do is, we don’t let that desire express itself. And eventually we remove the covering itself.
So what is this covering? A covering is like a kind of programme that covering makes us desire in a particular way. Rather, that covering changes our desire in a particular way. The original soul’s desire to love and serve Krishna, like the white light of the human, then it passes through lust.
So lust is like, remember I talked about the mind is like a programme. Mind is like a software programme. So now the mind itself is a programme.
So you could call the mind like an operating system. But other than the operating system, you can have different Internet browsers. You can have Internet Explorer, you can have Mozilla, you can have Chrome, you can have Opera, whatever.
So these are all different programmes which are there within or above, which exist above the foundation of the main programme that is the operating system. The operating system, technically we may not use the word programme, but the point is it’s a software. It’s like layering of softwares.
So within the mind, which is like the operating system, which is also one kind of software, there is lust, which is another kind of software. And then this lust makes us desire in particular ways. So now there are certain programmes which come in it.
For example, as soon as we get a body, in that body lust is there. Gradually it exposes itself. Child may not be expressing lust, but an older person expresses lust.
But there are certain programmes which we get by association. Lust, to become lusty is more or less natural for all learning things. But say to become mad about cricket, that is not a natural programme.
That is an acquired programme. So in India people become mad after cricket, in Europe people become mad after football, in America people become mad after baseball, rugby or whatever. So that is an acquired programme.
So the acquired programmes are easier to delete. But the innate programmes that are there, they take more time to delete. But the point is, that actually once we start getting that programme, then our desire naturally gets transformed in that.
So now what happens is, the more I run the programme, the more it becomes like the default. So initially a person has more attraction to cricket, then you see cricket is a waste of time. But then, the person gets excited, the more he runs the programme, he is like, this is the square, this is this, this is this, this is this.
And then even before the match starts, his mind is wild with anticipation. What is happening? The desire is getting filtered. The desire is getting filtered.
So purification means, first we stop letting the desire go through that and expressing itself, in that programme. Second is, we just delete the programmes. We shut the programmes.
So, what is the context over here? Krishna is telling, you should conclude, uddhare, atma na atma anam, na atma anam, avasahate. So basically here Krishna is talking about, so now, that’s for the timing. Is this point clear about programme, multi-level programmes that are there? Clear? No, no.
So now, as those of you know, may not be from computer background, you may find it a little difficult. But I think everybody knows a little bit of computers. And, the important thing is to know how, to become free from lust.
Not necessarily know how lust works. There can be people who become free from it by surrendering to Krishna, without knowing about it also. There can be others who can know everything about it and still fall prey to it.
Ultimately, analysis can be a tool for purification. But, analysis itself is not necessarily equal to purification. An analytical ability, does not necessarily mean purity.
There are two different meanings. So, here, so here now, we will take Prabhupada’s translation. We are not going to elevate the soul by the soul.
It’s a little complex. Let’s keep, there is the mind and there is the soul also. So, uddhare atma na atma anam.
So one should elevate oneself, that is mind. uddhare atma na atma anam. Elevate the mind.
Elevate oneself with the mind. What does that mean? That means, actually for us, at our stage, the mind has to be the instrument of thought and action. Without the mind, we can neither think nor act.
So therefore, uddhare atma na atma anam means, use the mind to think and act in a, beneficial way. na atma anam avasadhe. So don’t degrade yourself with the mind.
That means, now within the mind, the gear that Krishna uses in the mind, it’s more of a generic sense. the mind can be the friend, the mind can be the enemy. That means within the mind, there are beneficial programmes and there are harmful programmes.
So for example, you may have some attraction to the world, some aspects of devotional service, you may have some attraction to devotees, some limb of devotion, like service you may have to do. That is like a beneficial group. And you may still have some residual, but like that.
That’s like a harmful group. Krishna is saying, the mind is the friend and the mind is the enemy also. So what does that mean? That within the mind itself, there are certain tendencies which are friendly, which are beneficial, and there are certain tendencies which are harmful.
So we need to nourish the tendencies, which are beneficial, and suppress the tendencies which are harmful. So Krishna will make this more explicit in the next verse. I will discuss more about this verse, this one quote, when we complete the next verse.
vandurātmātmanastasya vandurātmātmanastasya yenātmai mātmanājitā yenātmai mātmanājitā anātmanastuśaśrutve anātmanastuśaśrutve vartekātmai vaśatruhā vartekātmai vaśatruhā tasya, vandurātmātmanastasya ātmā, the ātmā, the mind is the friend of the person who has conquered the mind. That means that person doesn’t let the default programme of the mind run by themselves, without control. He controls, and he guides the mind according to his will.
yenātmai mātmanājitā anātmanastuśaśrutve He will not control the mind for him. mātmanastuśaśrutve vartekātmai vaśatruhā vaśatruhā means he has a normal tendency to be like a Shakti. vart means like.
Normal tendency is like a Shakti. By default the mind will be an enemy. But gradually, with purification, he can make it into a friend.
In Prabhupada’s course here, I think, he shows an equation, amṛtabindu-vaṁśe. So he says that, manaya vaṁśāna, kāraṇa-vaṇya-vaṁśe dhāya viśaya nā samyama, So Krishna is only telling that the mind can be the friend and the mind can be the enemy. Prabhupada quotes another Shruti to explain when the mind is the friend and when the mind is the enemy.
The attached mind is the enemy. The detached mind is the friend. The attached mind means that which has its own default programmes which are never going on.
That is the enemy. The detached mind means its default programmes are stopped. It does not have its own agenda, its own business.
It is ready to listen to what you intend. The detached mind is a friend. So now in the next purport Prabhupada continues this theme.
Sometimes when the verses are connected, if you look at Prabhupada’s purport, Prabhupada’s purport does not seem to be related to the direct verse directly. Actually what Prabhupada is doing is he is simply continuing the previous purport in the next purport. You will see this in many places.
But we can’t find a connection between the purport and the verse. We need to look for a connection between that purport and the previous purport. So now in the next purport Prabhupada says that ultimately the soul’s position is to be served.
If the soul has to obey Krishna or the soul has to obey the earthen elements, that means there is a default programme within us. If we don’t want to run the default programme, we have to run some other programme. The other programme is the programme given by Krishna.
It comes through Guru Sadhu Shastra. So Prabhupada explains that we always have to be the servant. Institutional position of the living entity is to carry out the order of the superior.
So ultimately the perfection of yoga will be that when one connects with the Supersoul in the heart and carries out the direction. So the devotee even before that is carrying out the direction of Krishna. That’s why the devotee is also a perfect yogi.
So here, if we wish to disobey the mind, we must obey Krishna. We must obey. And if we don’t obey Krishna, we will have to obey the mind.
We don’t have any alternative apart from these two. So we have these two alternatives. Some programme has to run.
So either we take the programme from Guru Har Shastra or we take the programme from the mind. And the mind means the programme that is there within it because of the past instincts. And that programme will cause our degradation.
Now after describing that the mind is the enemy, one has to control it. Then in the next verse Krishna will describe, how do I know I have control over it? What is the symptom of somebody who has control over the mind? So we will discuss this verse in the next verse. So here Krishna is describing three kinds of equality.
Equality at the physical level. Equality at the mental level. Equality at the egoistic level.
Equanimity means to be undisturbed, to be equivoiced. So, At what level? It’s at the bodily or sensual level. Physical level.
Then? At what level? It’s at the mental level. Mana or human is at the egoistic level. So these are all the levels of covering on the soul.
And one has transcended all these. She told him, So Krishna described, one has conquered the mind. What is his characteristic? Prashanth.
He is peaceful. Krishna used the word prashanth two more times in the Bhagavad Gita. We will discuss about the word more when he talks about it.
In this chapter it’s surprising. If you have conquered the mind, Krishna gives an amazing assurance. He says, we have actually reached the Paramatma.
So now, this is the only occurrence in the Bhagavad Gita of this word. Paramatma is a composite. Paramatma is a composite.
When we represent the super soul, Paramahamsa will come, Purushottama will come. There is a composite word, Paramatma has come many times. The super soul is already reached.
What does it mean? Actually speaking, The soul is here. The super soul is here, right next to each other. But there is something which makes this world blind and deaf to the super soul’s presence.
We can’t see the super soul. We can’t hear the super soul. We are blind and deaf to the super soul’s presence.
And what causes this wall, that is blinding and deafening, is actually in such a way. But I am in the mind. The mind misdirects our consciousness away from Krishna, the super soul.
Externally, when we try to focus on Krishna, the mind distracts us there also. And internally, we can’t connect with Krishna and the super soul because of the mind. So when the mind is conquered, it’s as good as having reached the super soul.
Paramatma, Samadhi, all that. And this is, internally the mind becomes peaceful and gets connected to the super soul. And that connection to the super soul manifests externally as a human being.
Once one has got the inner treasure, then the worldly ups and downs don’t matter to the super soul. This is this. That is one level of perfection.
Now, this Jatmana Prasanthasya, the characteristics of this will be expanded in the next two verses also. So the characteristics of the control mind is not just that it will be poised towards physical, mentally poised phenomena. This four verses will be elaborated in the next two verses.
Any questions? The mind knows what is the right path. It’s attracted to Krishna. But gives strength for the inner spiritual being.
But still, It is the momentum of our past samskaras because we have acted in that particular way. So just like if a train has been moving for a long time and even if the brake is put on it, still the train will keep moving. So like that we have acted towards self gratification in this lifetime as well as in previous lifetimes.
So there is momentum is there. So we are trying to stop the momentum. We are trying to place a brake.
But still the default momentum keeps moving in that direction. That’s why there has to be consciousness, awareness. What does Indracharya say? वस्यान रत्न अपहाराय अस्मान जाखुण जाखुण So the default tendency is to steal away our knowledge.
Therefore be aware, be aware. So actually it’s our own past conditionings. It’s like a programme.
Both programmes are there. But it’s a programme that we have used again and again and again. That’s why it’s become like a default programme.
So we have to resist it, resist it. And then it will subside. Question? Okay.
Last question. क्रोधा किस्करः क्रोधा किस्करः क्रोधा किस्करः क्रोधा Animals’ frustration is suppressed anger. So when I don’t express my anger, then that becomes frustration.
So when I express my anger, that becomes a mental explosion. I showered somebody. So that’s why it’s more or less equivalent.
शुक्र तो पाधी जाय वरूद वरूद वरूद वरूद वरूद Thank you.