[00:00:00] Om Sahana Vavatu, Sahana Bhunaktu, Sahavidyan Karavavahai, Tejasvi Navadhi, Tamas Thumavidvi Shavahai, Om Shanti Shanti.
[00:00:25] Good, welcome back. Before we begin our class today, I should mention that many of you had come on the bus to join me at Arsha Vidya Gurukulam last Sunday for their anniversary celebration. And you saw that Pujya Swamiji's health was not good. He's actually in a hospital now, nothing life-threatening.
[00:00:49] But basically they're trying to get him healthy enough to return to India. So he made an extraordinary effort to come here, to really to see us one last time. And now he wants to return, you know, India is his home, he wants to return home. And he's not healthy enough to travel, so they're trying to get him in good shape to travel. Since he is in the hospital and struggling a bit, it would be appropriate, we'll chant Mahamrityunjaya Mantra just three times.
[00:01:23] Praying for his recovery and speedy recovery and then a moment of silence and we'll end with Om Shanti. We can chant together. Om Triyambakam Yajamahe Sugandhim Pushtivardhanam Urvarukamiva Bandhanan Mrityormukshiya Amritahata.
[00:02:38] Om Shanti All right, we'll return to our overview. We're using these last few classes as a chance to spend some time with this very beautiful Gita Dhyana.
[00:03:08] So we'll begin our class today as we have been with reciting these very beautiful verses. It begins Taught to Arjuna by Lord Narayana himself compiled by Rishi Vyasa in Mahabharata The sacred rain of nectar in 18 chapters O Mother Gita, I venerate you, destroyer of suffering. Repeat after me, please.
[00:03:37] Om Parthaya Pratibhodhitam Bhagavata Om Parthaya Pratibhodhitam Narayanena Swayam Vyasena Kratitampur Anamunina Vyasena Kratitampur Mahabharata Advaithamrata Varshanim Bhagavati Ashtada Shadhyayanim Ashtada Shadhyaya Ambatva Manusandha Dhammi Ambatva Manusandha Bhagavad Gitae Bhavadveshanim Salutations to you Vyasa Whose intellect is vast Whose eyes are like petals of a lotus By whom the lamp Filled with the oil of the Mahabharata Was lit By whose flame of knowledge? Vyasa's flame of knowledge Namostute Vyasa Vishalabuddhe.
[00:05:07] Pullara Vindayata Patranetra Pullaya Vindayata Patranetra Yenathvaya Bharata Thailapurnaha Yenathvaya Bharata Thailapur Prajwalito Gnanamaya Pradipaha Phracvalito Gnanamaya Pradipaha Salutations to Krishna Who blesses the surrendered In whose hands are a staff And a symbol of knowledge Who milks the Gita's nectar Prapannaparijataya Totrat vetraikapanaye Totra vetraikapanaye Jnana mudraya Krishna Jnana mudraya Gita mrataduhe namaha Gita mratanuhe namaha The Upanishads Here's a beautiful poetry The Upanishads are like cows Krishna the cowherd Arjuna the calf And we the wise people Get to enjoy the sacred nectar Milt from the Gita Sarvo Panishadogavoo Sarvo Panishadog Dugdha Gopalanandhanaha Dugdha Gopala.
[00:06:34] Párto Vatsa Sudhir Bhokta Párto Vatsa Sudhir I revere Sri Krishna Teacher of all Sanu Vasudeva Destroyer of Kamsa and Chanura The light of Devaki Chant together Vasudeva Suttam Devam Kamsa Chanura Mardhanam Devaki Paramanandam Krishnam Vande Jagadkurum More poetry The river that represents The battlefield Bhishma and Dronas Are the river's banks Jai Dratha the water Shakuni is a better translation The blue lily Shalya a shark Kripa it's current Karna it's waves Ashvatam and Gvikarna Are crocodiles Duryodhana a whirlpool This river of battle Crossed Was crossed By the Pandavas With the help of Sri Krishna As the boatman Bhishma Dronata Jaya Dratha Jala Bhishma Dronata Jaya Dratha Gandhara Nilodpala Shalyagravati Kripenavahani.
[00:08:02] Shalyagravati Kripenavahani Karnena Velakula Shalyagravati Kripenavahani Sotirna Kalupandavairanadhi Sotirna Kalupandavairana Kaivartaka Keshavah The Mahabharata is a lotus Born of Vyasa's words The fragrance of that lotus Is the Gita Its petals are its stories It is blossomed By Sri Krishna's discourse It is enjoyed each day By bees go to the lotus We go to the Mahabharata Good people of the world It destroys suffering May it bring us liberation Parasharyavachasaroja mamalam Parasharyavachasaroja Gitartha Gandhokatam Gitartha Gandhokat Nanakhyanakakesaram Harikatha.
[00:09:30] Nanakhyanakakesaram Sambodhana bodhitam Loke Sajjana Shadpadairaharaha Loke Sajjana Shadpadairaha Pepiya manam muda Pepiya manam Bhūyadbharata pankajam Kalimala Bhūyadbharata pankajam Pradvamsina Shreya I revere Sri Krishna Source of Ananda By whose grace The mute become eloquent And the lame cross mountains Mukam karotivacalam Pangum langhayate girim Pangum langhayate Yat kripatamaham vande Yat kripatamaham Paramananda madhavam And the last verse Salutations to Ishvara Praised by Brahma, Varana, Indra, Rudra, Maruts Invoked by chanting the Vedas and Upanishads The one who Yogis realize with meditative minds.
[00:10:59] The one whose greatness is not known Even to the devas and demons Yam Brahma varu nendra Rudra marutaha Yam Brahma varu nendra Rudra Stunvanti divyaisthavaihi Stunvanti divyaisthav Vedai sangha parakramopanishadhar Vedai sangha parakramopan Gayantiyam samagah Dhyanavasthita tadgate namanasadhyanavasthita tadgate Pasyantiyam yogino Yasyantam navidusura suragana Nasyantam navidusura Devayatasmai namaha Nice to begin with these beautiful verses We proceed today with chapter 6 is Dhyana Yoga, Meditation And it's nice to proceed as we have been By seeing the English verses Which we'll do once again So this is the English verses.
[00:12:28] And somewhat condensed And we chant them in the same meter As the original You'll see that the opening And I'd like to explain a little bit As we go through these verses So I'll interrupt our chanting from time to time You'll see that chapter 6 opens with the subject matter of chapter 5 Occasionally you'll see in many texts Where the subject matter of the prior chapter Will kind of spill over into the next chapter So the prior chapter was on sannyasa Renunciation So you'll see some reference To sannyasa renunciation In the opening verses of chapter 6 And then I think by verse 10 We get back into the meditation topic Maybe it's first verse Listen and repeat Then we'll chant together The blessed Lord said Those who fulfill their duties hear Those who fulfill their duties Not impelled by the fruits of work Such Yogis are renunciates Not those who merely forsake deeds Not those who merely forsake Together When they are no longer attached To objects or experience.
[00:13:56] Giving up all other pursuits In Yoga they have mastery A Yogi whose mind is fulfilled By this wisdom By knowing God Everyone Enemy Friend Sinner And pause here So this is the Material carried over From chapter 5 Excuse me What a funny expression Frog?
[00:14:39] Okay So those are the verses Carried over From Sannyasa Yoga The prior chapter 5 Now chapter 6 Dhyana Yoga The main topic of meditation Begins We'll chant And mostly the verses Are Self-explanatory So we'll go The main part The middle of the chapter Is all instructions About meditation We'll chant A Yogi in deep solitude Whose mind and body Are controlled Free from attachment And desire Should meditate Upon the Self Withdrawing to a wholesome place Neither too lofty Nor too low Making a firm seat For oneself Cushioned by grass Deerskin and cloth Fixing the mind On a single point Sense and thought Movements all restrained Seated there One should meditate For purity Of mind and heart Head, neck And body Held erect Remaining Steady Motionless Gazing Toward the Tip of the nose Looking Not At anything Else The Yogi Meditating.
[00:16:09] Thus Whose mind Is always Well controlled Attains Nirvana In a perfect Peace In a state Of union With me Like a lamp In a windless Place Does not Flicker The same Is true For Yogis Whose mind Are controlled Meditating Upon the Self When their thoughts Have finally Ceased Restrained By meditation Strong Seeing the Self With watchful Minds In the Self They remain Content Before we continue As Shri Krishna Teaches Meditation What is the Object Of meditation According to Shri Krishna's Instruction We meditate On something We call it An alambana Or object Of meditation What is the Object that Shri Krishna Tells us to Meditate on Is not an Object The Self This is how Shri Krishna Teaches meditation To meditate On the Self We'll continue Having Attained That lofty State No greater Gain Can they Describe Thus Established They will Remain Unshaken Even By.
[00:17:38] Grave Pain So Bit By Bit Withdraw Your Mind Firmly Grasping The Intellect Fix Your Mind On The Self Alone Thinking Not Of Anything Else Those Who Always Meditate Thus Easily Gain The Highest Bliss They See The Self In Everything And See Everything In The Self Those Who Perceive Me Everywhere And Perceive Everything In Me Constantly Abiding In Me Such Yogis Are The Best Of All Arjuna Said O Krishna My Mind Wanders Much It Stubborn And Impassioned Too I Find It So Hard To Control Like Trying To Restrain The Wind The Blessed Lord Said Oh Arjuna Hits Hard Indeed To Restrain A Wandering Mind But With Practice And Detachment You Can Bring It Under Control But With Practice And Detachment Abhyasa.
[00:19:08] And Vairagya Abhyasa Practice Stands To Reason Vairagya Dispassion Means Turning Your Attention Away From Other Things Turning Your Attention Towards Meditation So It's A Matter Of Commitment What Is Your Commitment If Your Commitment Is To Meditate You Have Vairagya And If You Go Practice That Meditation Abhyasa And Practice How Often Once A Week On Saturday Mornings Every Day Alright Now Before We Continue The Chapter Ends With One More Subject Matter And The In Sanskrit We Call That Subject Matter Yoga Brashta Refers To One Who Has Fallen Away From Yoga Someone Who Practiced Meditation But Died Just Before They Got Enlightenment Just one Day Early They Died And So Arjuna Asks What Happens To Such A Person And I Think The Verses Are Self Explanatory We'll Arjuna Those Said Those who From Yoga Fallen Those who From Yoga Before They gain Perfection Here Do They Not Then Become Lost Souls Stranded Like Isolated Clouds The Blessed.
[00:20:38] Lord Said Not Here Nor In Their Later Lives Would Their Efforts Ever Be Lost Because No One Who Strives For God Shall To Misfortune Fall Again They Might Go To Heavenly Worlds and Dwell In Peace For Countless Years Or Be Reborn In A Pious Home Such A Birth Here Is Rare Indeed Whatever Wisdom They Once Held Will Be Regained In Later Lives Then They Shall Continue Again For Perfection To Further Strive The Yogi When Cleansed Of All Sins By Effort And Restraint Of Mind Gains Perfection Through Many Births Lastly Reaching The Goal Supreme So that Last Topic Not Really On Meditation But Associated So the Yoga Vrashta Now We'd like To Return Having Chanted Chapter Six We'd like To Return To That Summary Sheet That I Gave You And Let Me Get To The Right Page Here Oh Sorry.
[00:22:07] There We Go Sorry I Should Have Queued This Up There We Are So We've Posted This On Our Website As I Mentioned Before I Highly Recommend You Print This Out This Is Topic By Topic Summary Of The Bhagavad Gita It Will Help You If You're Trying To Find A Topic Or A Verse This Will Help You And That's The All Purpose Of Our Summary Is To Empower You In The Coming Months And Years When You Want To Find Something In The Bhagavad Gita You Have To Know Where To Look So That's Renunciation Of Karmapala Self Control Equanimity These Are Topics Carried Over From Chapter Five Sannyasa Yoga And Then The Teachings Of Meditation Really Begin With Verse Ten Preparation For Meditation Life Of Meditation Results Of Meditation Followed By Meditation Instructions What Is The Joy Of Meditation And One Of The Fruits Of Meditation Is Seeing Ishvara In All Seeing All In Ishvara Along The Right Hand Column You Remember Those Numbers Are Specific Verses That I'm Calling To Your Attention As Very Important Verses Let's Just See One Or Two Of Those Verses.
[00:23:36] Which Really Epitomize This Chapter Six Meditation Repeat After Me Yatha Deepo Nevatasto Yatha Deepo Niva Nengate So Pham Smrta Nengate Sop Pham Yogi No Yata Chittasya Yunjan Yunjanto Yogam Atmanah Yunjanto Yogam One Of The Most Beautiful And Important Metaphors That You'll Find In The entire Bhagavad Gita Describing Meditation As A Deepaha A Lamp Which Is Nivatastaha In A Place That Doesn't Have Any Wind No Vata And What About That Lamp Na Nengate It Doesn't Flicker That's Meant To Describe The Nature Of Your Mind And This Is Not The Time For A Big Long Lecture On Meditation But Please Note That The Flame Appears To Be Motionless But We've Discussed Whenever We've Seen This Metaphor We've Brought In A Little Bit Of Science Which You Need To Know That Flame Is Consist Discs Of Superheated Particles Glowing.
[00:25:06] Particles Which Are Actually Moving Up Right It's Not Motionless Inside The Flame Is Motion But That Motion All These Tiny Particles Glowing Particles Are Moving In Such A Uniform Way It Looks Motionless Now This Is So Important Because Meditation Is Not Making Your Mind Stop Meditation Is A Uniformity Of Your Mind Just As All The Glowing Particles Are Traveling In A Uniform Manner In The Same Way Most Forms Of Meditation Can't Say All Most Forms Of Meditation Involve Having Your Mind Engaged In An Activity Like Chanting A Mantra But To Be Engaged In An Activity That Is So Perfectly Uniform That It Brings The Mind To A State Of Deep Silence So This Is The Beauty And Importance Of This Metaphor Of The Lamp And Some Very Practical Advice Here Yato Nish Chalati Manish Chalam Asthiram Manish Chalam Tatas Tatoniyam Yaitata Tatas.
[00:26:36] Tatoniyam Atman Yevava Sam Nayet Atman Second Line Manaha Your Mind Which Is Chan Chalam Which Is Moving Asthiram Not Stable By Nature The Very Nature Of Your Mind Is Constantly Moving And Unstable So Then How Should You Meditate Yataha Nish Chalati Wherever Your Tatah Tataha Niyam Yataha Bring It Back That's a Simplified Translation Wherever Your Mind Goes Bring It Back If You're Sitting And Meditating And Your Mind Goes To India Okay By The Way Pretty Amazed Talk About Agility Of Mind In One Second Your Mind Can Travel 8000 Miles Amazing For Example I Was Meditating This Morning Before Class My Mind Went To Pujya Swamiji Knowing That He Is Not Well What Do I Do Tatoh Yamyah Bring It Back That's The Basic Instruction Of Meditation We Recognize The Mind Is Going To Wander Each Time You Bring Your Mind Back You Are Training.
[00:28:05] Your Mind To Meditate That's The Secret Of Meditation Then The Chapter Concludes Remember Arjuna's Question Oh Krishna My Mind Is So Hard To Control And Then Shri Krishna Says Your Mind Can Be Controlled By Practice Abhyasa And Dispassion Vairagya Then We Saw That Last Topic We Called Yoga Vrashta The One Who Falls Away From Yoga Before Attaining Enlightenment And Shri Krishna Basically Says Any Effort You Make In This Life Towards Enlightenment The Effort Will Never Be Lost You'll Pick Up The Thread In A Future Life That's The Basic Message And That Is Chapter Six Now I Didn't Want To Stop That Because After Chapter Six We Conclude The First Third Of The Bhagavad Gita When We Began This Summary We Saw This Slide Which Describes How The Eighteen Chapters Of The Bhagavad Gita Fall Into Three Groups Of Six The First Group Of Six Dealing Mostly With The Individual Person Jiva And The Prevalent Topic Not The Only Topic The Prevalent Topic Is Karma Yoga Now With Chapter Six We Finish Those First That First Third Of The Bhagavad Gita And We Enter Into A Very Different Subject.
[00:29:35] Matter When We Start Chapter Seven It's Really Quite Dramatic The Shift Of Subject Matter Where We Now Start Talking About Ishvara And Teachings About Bhakti Will Come But You'll See And Just Introduce The General Approach Of Shri Krishna When He Teaches Bhakti If You Wanted To Summarize His Teaching It Would Go Something Like This At Least In My Words If I Were Going To Summarize His Teaching Of Bhakti I Would Summarize It Like This How Can You Worship An Ishvara That You Don't Know Make Sense You Can't Worship Someone You Don't Know So Therefore You Will See Throughout These Middle Six Chapters You Will See The Emphasis Is On Knowledge Of Ishvara Emphasis On Knowledge Of Ishvara Because In Order To Worship Ishvara You Must Know The One To Whom You Address Your Worship So We Will See That Knowledge Is Especially Prevalent In Chapters Seven And Nine I'll Point That Out As We Go Along So With That Introduction Now Shall We See The English And I'll Interrupt Us Several Times As We Go Through Chapter Seven The Title Of Chapter Seven Is Jnana Vijnana Yoga Jnana Means.
[00:31:05] Knowledge Vijnana Means Special Knowledge This Is How He Introduces A Chapter On Ishvara Is He Saying This Is A Chapter About Faith In God This Is A Chapter About Knowledge Of God Okay We'll Chant Together And I'll Interrupt From Time To Time The Blessed Lord Said Oh Arjuna Please Listen Now So You Can Know Me Totally When You Completely Understand Nothing Here Will Remain Unknown Among The Thousands In The World Just A Few For Perfection Strive Even Then Among Those Who Few Know Me In Reality Notice Both of These Verses Are Talking About Knowledge Of Ishvara Together All Beings Everything That Is From My Own Nature Did Evolve I Am The Source And Atmost End Of The Entire Universe I'll Interrupt One More Time To Point Out That When Shri Krishna Refers To Himself In This Chapter He's Not Referring To Arjuna's.
[00:32:35] Charioteer He's Not Even Referring To Himself As An Incarnation Of Lord Vishnu Occasionally He'll Refer To Himself As Arjuna's Friend Or Charioteer Sometimes He'll Refer To Himself As An Incarnation Of Lord Vishnu Here He Refers To Himself As Ishvara Itself As God So We Have To Know That Shri Krishna Refers To Himself In Different Ways So Here He Takes The Highest Point Of View The Bottom Verse There Exists Nothing Here Indeed That Transcends Me O Arjuna The Universe Is Strung On Me Like Pearls Upon A Single Thread I Am The Light Of Sun And Moon And The Sweet Fragrance Of The Earth I Am The Brilliant Glow Of Fire And In All Creatures I Am Life For All Beings I Am The Seed And The True Wisdom Of The Wise I Am The Glory Of The Great And The Might Of The Powerful From My Nature All This Evolved From Sattva Rajas And Tamas.
[00:34:04] The World Deluded By Maya Fails To Know Me Beyond These Three Fold Is My Divine Maya It's Difficult To Comprehend Only Those Who Resort To Me Can Hope To Ever Cross Beyond Four Kinds Of People Worship Me Among Those Who Do Noble Works The Desperate Those Wanting Wealth Seekers Of Knowledge And The Wise All The Four Are Commendable Yet The Wise They Appear To Me To Be My Very Self Indeed In Me The Highest Goal They Dwell But Those Whose Wisdom Has Been Robbed Due To Their Passionate Desires They Worship Other Gods Instead Driven By Their Own Selfishness Worshiping To Fulfill Desires Limited Are The Fruits Obtained Praying To Gods The Gods Are Gained But Those Who Seek Me Come To Me To All I Am Not.
[00:35:34] Visible Hidden By Maya Vailing Power The World Deluded Knows Me Not As Unborn And Immutable But Those The Righteous Free From Sin Who Worship Me Wholeheartedly They Know The Full Reality Of Karma Brahman And The Self This Brings Chapter Seven To An End Those Who Worship Me Wholeheartedly They Know That's The Emphasis Of This Whole Chapter Emphasis Is On Knowledge Of Ishvara So Let Us Return Now To That Summary In The Summary Here We Go So The Title Again Jnana Vijnana Yoga Jnana Knowledge Vijnana Special Knowledge And That Really Sums It Up The Topic Of This Chapter Knowledge Of Ishvara Nature Of Ishvara Pervades Everything And Ishvara As Krishna Is Not Recognized Due To Maya Everyone On The Battlefield Sees Krishna As Arjuna's Charioteer Little Do They.
[00:37:04] Know The Truth Of Who Krishna Is And Then Talking About Worship And I Want To This Four I Want Now Let Me Show You These Verses There Are Two Verses I Want You To See We'll Chant We Can Yeah Repeat After Me Mat Parataram Nanyata Mat Parataram Khen Chedastidhananjaya Mayi Sarvamedam Protam Mayi Sarvamedam Sutre Manigana Hiva So It Says Mat Compared To Me Parataram Nanyata There Is Nothing Beyond Me Nothing Superior To Me And Again Shri Krishna Obviously Is Not Referring To Himself As A Charioteer Or Even An Incarnation Of Vishnu But He Says This Is A Famous Part Of The Verse Mayi Sarvamedam Protam Sarvamedam All Of This World Is Protam Is Threaded Mayi On Me How Like Sutre Manigana Like Gems On A Thread So If You Have A Mala With.
[00:38:33] Gems On It There Is A Thread That Runs Through All The Gems That Thread Represents Ishvara In A Two Fold Way I Want To Remind You About Two Important Sanskrit Terms That We Used To Describe Ishvara And It's Represented By The Thread That Runs Through Creation Is Ishvara's Presence In Creation How Is Ishvara Present In Creation In A Two Fold Way And The Terms Are There Are Technical Terms I'll Explain Them Upadana Karana And Nimitta Karana Means Cause Upadana Means Material Cause And Nimitta Means The Technical Term Is Efficient Cause But Efficient Doesn't Get The Right Sense In English So We'll Call It Knowledge And I'll Explain These Terms Briefly There Is A Cause In A Form Of Material For The Universe There's A Cause In A Form Of Knowledge For The Universe Which Is To Say That Just As This Pot.
[00:40:02] Exists Because Of Clay Which Is In The Pot Clay Which Is The Upadana Carna The Material Cause For The Pot In The Same Way Ishvara Is The Upadana Carna For The Entire Cosmos As Clay Is The Reality Because Of Which The Pot Exists Ishvara Is The Stuff If We Can Use That Term Because Of Which The Cosmos Exists This Pot Exists Not Just Because Of Clay But Because Some Place I Happen To Know This Was Made In India You Can Tell So Some Place In India There Was A Potter Who With His Hands Made This Pot That Potter Had Intelligence Knowledge Of Pot If The Potter Knew Nothing Of Pots This Pot Could Not Exist Which Shows There Is A Second Factor Required In Any Act Of Creation Material Is Necessary Upadana Karana And Knowledge Is Necessary Nimitta Karana So Then We Say That Ishvara Like The Thread In That Passes Through The Gems In The Same Way.
[00:41:31] Ishvara Is In The Cosmos In This Two Fold Way Ishvara Is In The Cosmos Like The Clay Is In The Pot And Ishvara Is In The Cosmos In The Form Of Knowledge What Does That Mean How About Laws Of Nature The Universe Is Not Made Of Random Stuff The Universe Is Highly Intelligent Where Does That Intelligence Come From The Creator So Ishvara Is The Source Of The Stuff Of The Universe Ishvara Is The Source Of The Intelligence Because Of Which The Universe Exists That Is The Upadana And Nimitta Karana And That's Represented By The Thread That Runs Through The Gems One More Verse To See In Chapter Seven Shri Krishna Says Shri Krishna There are Four Kinds Of People.
[00:43:01] Bhajante Maam Who Worship Me Four Kinds Of People Worship Me And He Then Lists Them Who Are The Four Kinds Of People Who Worship God First Is The Arta The One Who Only Prays In Times Of Distress The One Who Prays Only When They're In Trouble And At No Other Time And Shri Krishna Says This Is One Of The Four Please Note That Shri Krishna Praysing The Person Who Only Prays In Times Of Distress In Fact The Opposite Shri Krishna Is Praising The Person Who Prays In Times Of Distress Because At Least They're Praying Right So That Person Is Not Criticized Here That Person Is Praised But Then Better Than The Arta Who Only Prays At Times Of Distress Is The Arta Arti The One Who Prays For Specific Reasons The One Who Prays Oh Please Restore My Health Oh Please Help Me Get More Money Oh Please Give Me This Ye Do Ye Bhi De Do This Kind of Prayer Give Me This Give Me That Kind Of Prayer Again Is This Being Criticized Being Praised Because At Least A Person Recognizes That Whatever We Receive In Life We Receive Because.
[00:44:31] Of Bhagavan's Blessings So At Least A Person Is Praying Then The Third Of The Four Kinds That Worship Is The Jigna Su Means One Who Wants To Know One Who Has A Desire To Know Whom Ishvara And The Final Is The Jnani One Who Knows What Ishvara Notice The Order And I'm Taking In Slightly Different Order Than They Are In The Verse But Notice They Go From The Order I Took Was From Lowest To Highest So They're All He Says All Of Them Are Sukratin They're All Good People But Of Those Good People We Can Arrange Them We put The At Those Who Only Pray At Times Of Distress We'll Put The Artharthi Ones Who Pray For Specific Worldly Goals We'll Put Them In The Middle Above Them Are The Jignasus One Ones Who Truly Want To Know Who Is Ishvara And The Highest And The Next Verse Goes On We Won't See The Next Verse Goes On To Praise The Jnani As The Highest The According To Krishna All Of These Four Are Great But The One Who Worships Ishvara Best Is The One Who.
[00:46:00] Knows Ishvara Makes Sense Right If You Don't Know Who Is Ishvara And You Say Ishvara Is Great How Do You Know How Great I Don't Know Sort Of Great Kind Of Great The One Who Truly Knows Who Ishvara Is Will Say Immeasurably Great This Is What That Knowledge Is About Okay Just To Finish Up Our Chapter So That's What We Saw You See That Verse 16 Four Kinds Of Devotees The Enlightened Is The Best Devotee And The Final Parts Of The Chapter All Worship Is Blessed By Krishna But Krishna Is Not Known Due To Maya Etc So This Then This Topic Summary Can Help Guide You Through The Topics In Chapter Now We Come To Chapter Eight Is An Anomaly Why Is Chapter Eight An Anomaly It Doesn't Fit So The Middle Six Chapters Are Mostly About Ishvara Except For Chapter Eight Begins With A Very Complex Question Of Arjuna And He Talks About What Is Akshara Brahma.
[00:47:30] Very Complicated Technical Question What Is The Immutable Reality Because Of Which The Universe Exists But Then Very Quickly The Discussion Turns Towards What Happens When We Die And That Ends Up Being The Topic Of Chapter Eight It's Called Akshara Brahma Yoga Akshara Brahma Refers To Arjuna's Question About The Unchanging Reality Because Of Which Everything Exists But That Opening Question Is Like A Pretense For The Chapter To Be Unfolded The Real Topic Of The Chapter Is What Happens When We Die And You See Now I'm Calling It Out Of Place Because The Middle Six Chapters With This One Exception The Middle Six Chapters Are All About Ishvara But Chapter Eight Is A Little Bit Outside Of The Envelope So To Speak Since It Deals With Death So It Be With Arjuna's Very Complicated Question But You'll See As We Proceed How The Topic Immediately Turns Then To What Happens After We Die Let's Chant Arjuna Said What Is Brahman And What Is Self What Is Karma Creation To At Death When Souls Continue On How Are You To Be Realized The Blessed Lord.
[00:49:00] Said Brahman Is True Reality Your Own Real Nature Is The Self Karma Is The Cause For Rebirth Creation Is All Finite Things When Souls Leave Their Bodies At Death With Their Minds Fixed On Me Alone They All Reach My Supreme Abode About This Fact There Is No Doubt At The Final Moment Of Death Whatever Is Then Dwelled Upon Unto That Very State One Goes And Is Ever Absorbed Therein Therefore At All Times Constantly Think Of Me As You Fight The War With Your Mind Always Fixed On Me You Shall Certainly Come To Me When Dying Those With Steadfast Minds Devotion Strength And Yogic Power Close Every Door Way To The World And Merge Their Minds Into Their Hearts Uttering Home The Sacred Word While Meditating Upon.
[00:50:28] Leaving Their Bodies Going Forth They Reach The Highest Goal Supreme Down From Heaven's Highest Domains All Creatures Do Return Reborn But For Those Who Have Come To Me There Can Be No Rebirth Again Unchanging And Unmanifest Thus They Call The Ultimate Goal Reaching Which There Is No Return That State Is My Supreme Abode Their Heart To Pass One Bright One Dark Thought Eternal Throughout The World By One Souls Go Without Return By The Other They All Come Back Yogis Who Clearly Know These Paths Into Delusion Never Fall Therefore Harjuna Always Be Steadfast In Yoga Constantly So Definitely Dealing With That Topic Of What Happens After Death And Not Exactly Fitting In With The Middle Six Chapter So We Recognize It For What It Is And We Can.
[00:51:58] See That In Our Summary So Akshara Brahma Is Refers To Arjuna's Opening Very Philosophical Question But Then Arjuna's Question Also Includes What Is Brahman What Is Karma What Is Creation And What Happens When We Die And Shri Krishna Answers The First Three Questions In Half A Verse And Spends The Rest Of The Chapter Talking About What Happens When We Die And That Begins In Verses Five And Just Continues Remembering Krishna At The Time Of Death Preparing For Death Cycle Of Creation And Dissolution But Consciousness Is Never Destroyed Part Of The Chapter Is Devoted To Yogis Who Die Who Spend Their Entire Lives Training Themselves For That Moment Of Death But Then The Chapter Also Talks About The Rest Of Us How Do We Handle Things At Death And That's Kind Of We'll Just See This One Verse Which Really Typifies The Whole Chapter We'll See This You've.
[00:53:19] You've heard This Many Times Yom Smaran Bhavam Whatever You're Thinking About At The End Of Your Life When You Give Up Your Body Whatever You're Thinking About Thumb Eva Kaunteya Sadat Bhava Bhavitaha O Arjuna Your last Thought will Determine Where you Go After this Death Now this Is Very Frequently Quoted And discussed And Massively Misunderstood And We're Not This Again We don't Have An Opportunity To Go Into This Very Deeply But Please Don't Look At This In A Very Mechanical Way Don't Think That It's The Mechanic So All I Have To Do Is Make Sure I Think About God At The End Of My Life I Can Spend My Entire Life Robbing And Stealing And Cheating And Killing And All I Have To Do Is Think Of God The Moment Before I Die Absurd The Truth Of The Matter Is The Condition Of Your Mind At The End Of Your Life Is.
[00:54:48] Determined By How You Lived Your Whole Life Right Of Course The Condition Of Your Mind At The End He Says Where You Go In The Next Life Depends On The Condition Of Your Mind At The End Of Your Life Good But The Condition Of Your Mind At The End Of This Life Depends On How You Have Lived Your Entire Life So We Can Understand That Very Clearly So This Is Chapter Eight Akshara Brahma Yoga Don't Let The Title Fool You It's All About What Happens When We Die Then Chapter Nine Returns Now To The Main Theme Of The Middle Six Chapters Is Ishvara In General Knowledge Of Ishvara In Particular And We're Going To See A Real Emphasis In Chapter Nine On Knowledge Of Ishvara The Title We'll See In The Summary Raja Vidya The King Of Knowledge Raja Guha The Most Secret Knowledge We'll See That When We Come To The Summary Let's See The Content We'll Chant Some Verses The Blessed Lord Said Unto You I Shall Now Declare Of All Knowledge The Most Obscure Knowing This Highest Sacred.
[00:56:18] Truth You Will Be Freed From Suffering This Entire Vast Universe Is Pervaded By Me Unseen All Things Exist Because Of Me But I Do Not Depend On Them Just As The Atmosphere Above Though He Normus Abides In Space In The Same Way Please Understand Everything Here Abides In Me All Creatures At The End Of Time Unto My Nature Must Return When The World's Next Cycle Begins Once Again I Will Send Them Forth Nature Under My Soul Control Produces Everything That Is Animate And Inanimate Thus The Cycle Of Life Proceeds The Ignorant Perceive Me Not Since I Assumed A Human Form They Fail To Grasp My Higher Truth As The Great Lord Of All That Is But Those Whose Minds Are Vast Indeed Recognize My.
[00:57:48] Nature Divine They Worship Me Most Faithfully Knowing Me As The Source Of All Always Chanting My Holy Names Committed Firmly Striving Hard Bowing Down With Great Reverence Ever Absorbed They Worship Me Others Through Knowledge Worship Me Regarding Me In Diverse Ways As Being One Or Many Fold Or Manifesting As All Forms I Am The Rites And Sacrifice I Am The Fire And Offerings I Am The Veda Mantras Too And The Sacred Syllable Home I Am The Lord And Highest Goal Shelter Refuge And Friend As Well Source Sustainer Destroyer Too The Everlasting Reservoir Wanting To Dwell In Heaven's Realms They Worship Me Through Vedic Rites Indra's Kingdom They Can Achieve And There Enjoy Divine Delights Having.
[00:59:18] Enjoyed That Paradise When All Their Grace Has Been Consumed They Return To This Mortal Plain Seeking Pleasure They Come And Go Please Pause Here Something that's not properly understood Is that Hindus Believe In Heaven And Hell But In A Very Different Way Than Our Christian Jewish And Muslim Friends So we All Believe In Heaven And Hell What Is The Difference For Those Who Follow The Biblical Tradition Heaven And Hell Is The End Of The Road Heaven Is The Ultimate Goal According To The Bible But Look At This Wanting To Dwell In Heaven They Worship Me Through Rituals They Can Get To Indraloka Or Some Other Heavenly Realm But Having Enjoyed That Heavenly Paradise When They Exhaust The Punya Karmas They Accumulated What Happens They Get Reborn Seeking Pleasure They Come And Go So In The Hindu Tradition Heaven And Hell Are There Just As They Are In The Biblical Traditions But Heaven And Hell Are Not Permanent Eternal Conditions It's One More Life Which Means The Goal Of Hinduism Is Not To Go To Heaven Is Temporary The Goal.
[01:00:47] Is To Be One With Ishvara And We'll See That More We'll Continue Chanting But Those Who Pray Me Steadfastly Even Those Praying Other Gods Full Of Faith They All Come To Me Even If They Break Vedic Rules Of Flower Leaf Water Or Fruit Anything Given With True Love All Such Offerings Things I Accept From Those Whose Minds And Hearts Are Pure Whatever You Eat Or You Do Whatever You Give Or Sacrifice Whatever Penance You Perform Do As An Offering To Me Even If The Most Wicked Ones Worship Me With One Pointed Minds They Soon Acquire Righteous Hearts None Devoted To Me Can Fail Worship Me With Your Heart And Mind Offer Sacrifice And Respect Be Devoted Entirely You Shall Certainly Come To Me That's The Goal The.
[01:02:17] Goal Is To Be Non Separate From Ishvara This Then Is Chapter Nine We'll See The Summary Briefly Here We Go Raja Vidya The Kingly Knowledge Raja Guhya That Which Is Most Secret The Secret Knowledge Of Ishvara And It Begins Notice How Chapter Eight Was The Diversion Talking About Death Notice How We're Back On Track Talking About Ishvara And We'll See In Chapters 10 11 12 Ishvara We'll See That Here Shri Krishna Says I Will Give You Arjuna That Divine Knowledge What Is That Divine Knowledge Krishna Pervades All Krishna Meaning Again Krishna Refers To Himself Not As An Incarnation Krishna Refers To Himself As Ishvara And You can See The Topics Here We Just Chanted So All Those Different Topics Are There I'd Like To Show You This Pair Of Verses We'll Conclude Our Verse Our Class Today With These Two Verses You Can Repeat After Me Maya Tatamidam Sarvam Maya Tatamidam Jagadavyaktam Murtinan Jagadavyaktam Matthani Sarvabhutani Matthani.
[01:03:46] Sarvabhutani Nacaham Teshvavas Tithaha Maya Sarvamidam Tatam By Me The Entire Universe Is Pervaded Like Clay Pervades The Pot We're Back To Talking About The Upadana And Nimitakadana He Says Matthani Sarvabhutani All Beings Have Their Existence In Me Shri Krishna Says But Now I Want To Show You Something Amazing See That Line Matthani Sarvabhutani Nacah Matthani Bhutani Say What Look At That Matthani Bhutani Sarvabhutani All Creatures Have Their Being In Me Nacam Matthani Bhutani Is He Contradicting Himself This Is One Of The Loftiest Teachings Of Vedanta Which I'm Going To Teach You In 90 Seconds Because We Want To Finish Our Class Which Means Don't Take Me Too Seriously But This Is This Really Is One Of The Most Lofty Teachings Of Vedanta We Can Understand It Simply So To Look Upon Ishvara As The Upadana Karana And Nimitta Karana.
[01:05:16] This Is One We Call Ishvara Means God Now Some Technical Terms To Be The Material Cause Is A Quality Is It Not It's A Quality It's An Adjective Upadana Karana Is An Adjective Telling Us What Kind Of Ishvara An Ishvara Who Happens To Be The Material Cause An Ishvara Who Happens To Be The Knowledge Cause These Are Qualities These Are Gunas Which Means Ishvara Is Saguna With Gunas And Then We Use This Fancy Vedantic Term Saguna Brahman The Term Ishvara God Is Identical With The Vedantic Technical Expression Saguna Brahman But If You Have The Term Saguna Brahman There's Another Term That Comes What Is The Difference Between Saguna Brahman Which Is Everything Up On Top Is Saguna Brahman Ishvara As Creator Sustainer Destroyer Ishvara As The Stuff Because Of Which Universe Exists Ishvara As The Knowledge Because Of Which Universe Exists All Of This Is.
[01:06:46] Saguna Brahman And It's What's Referred To In The Prior Verse Maya Tatamidam Sarvam This Verse Talks About Saguna Brahman Now When We Go To This Next Verse We Flipped Entirely To A New Topic We're No Longer Talking About Saguna Brahman Then What Are We Talking About Obviously Is Nirguna Brahman Who Has No Qualities Brahman Who Has No Attributes And To Explain This Thoroughly I'll Overstep My Ninety Seconds So I Would Just Like To Leave You With Two Terms From Western Philosophy That You Might Find Helpful The Two Terms From Western Philosophy Are Immanent Means Immediately Present And Transcendent Means Beyond Transcendent We Look Upon Brahman As Immanent And Transcendent As Saguna And Nirguna The Saguna Brahman Ishvara.
[01:08:15] Is Immanent Here Now Ishvara Is Here Now Where Ishvara Is The Stuff Because Of Which The Chair Exists Because Of Which The Table Exists Because Of Which Your Body And My Body Exists Ishvara Is Immanent Here Now As The Upadana And Nimitta Karana But Then We Also Recognize That There Is Another Aspect Which Transcends The World Which We Cannot See Here Taste That Smell We Can't Even Conceive Because It Is Pure Existence Pure Knowledge Without Any Form Pure Existence Satyam Pure Knowledge Jnanam Without Any Form Or Attribute Anantam This Comes From The Taitriya Upanishad Satyam Jnanam Anantam Brahma That Nirguna Brahman Is Pure Existence And Knowledge With No Form No Attribute No Way Of Understanding Conceptually In Fact This Nirguna Brahman Is The Reality Because Of Which Concepts.
[01:09:45] Exist Concepts Exist Because Of Brahman But Brahman Cannot Be Grasped By Any Concept Very Lofty Vedantic Teaching Advaita Vedanta Distinguishes Then Between Nirguna Brahman And Saguna Brahman Nirguna Brahman Being Absolute Existence Saguna Brahman Being The Ishvara Who Is The Creator Sustainer Destroyer This Very Lofty Teaching Is Taught In Chapter Nine Very Important By The Way If You Want To Go Through Some Of This In More Detail All Of My Lectures Are On The Website So You Can Go Back And Listen To Particular Chapters Particular Verses It's All There Okay We've Concluded Our Review Of Chapter Nine When We Meet Next Time Chapter Ten Some Important Announcements At The End Of Our Class Tomorrow Sunday At 6 15 We Have Our Saksang Question Answer Period Weather Should Be Nice We'll Sit Outside In A Garden It's Very Lovely Come And Join Us Two Weeks From Today We'll Be Celebrating Jan Mashtami So Instead Of The Meditation And Gita Class We'll Have Our Celebration Of Jan Mashtami Two Weeks From Today If You're Coming You Can Bring A Dish Of Food There's A Sign Up Sheet Over On The Counter Oh One Of.
[01:11:15] My Guru Bhai A Fellow Student Of Mine Is Neil Dalal He Studied In A Three Year Course With Pujya Swamiji In Kwaimbatore And His Wife Is A Professional Filmmaker And Together They Have Made A Very Professionally Produced I Mean First Rate Professional Production A Movie Full Length Movie About Pujya Swamiji Ashram In Kwaimbatore The Name Of The Movie Is Gurukulam Why? The Name Of His Ashram Is Arsha Vidya Gurukulam So The Name Of The Movie Is Gurukulam And It's New York Premiere If You're Going Into The City Or If You Like To Go Into The City It's New York Premiere Is This Evening Go Quickly 6 PM You have Plenty Of Time It'll Also Show On Sunday Afternoon And Monday Evening If You're Interested There's Flyers And Cards In The Lobby Library Will Be Open After Class Will Conclude With Our Press.