Gita Chapter 18

Gita Chapter 18

This chapter summarises many key concepts propounded in the first 17 chapters.  Sort of a recap of the main principles:  What is karma yoga, what are the three qualities of nature and their relevance to what we do and how we do,  waht is best way to realize The Lord.

Karma Yoga as explained in Chapter 18:

One could be a Sanyasi and a Tyagi ( renouncer ) while at the same time being  engaged in action.  How ?  If you are not attached to the outcome and the fruits of your actions than even though you may be busy performing actions, you are a Sanyasi and Tyagi.  But if you have left the home but are performing what appears to be religious and spiritual actions but are doing them with attachment to your ashram or matha, than you may appear to be a Sanyasi, but you are not.  It is seen that someone may have become a sanyasi but now is very attached to  his asgram or congregation and the whole arrangement that goes with it.  They are namesake sanyasis only.

 If someone has given up action due to some delusion or due to being afraind of discomfort, than that type of renunciation is Raajasic/Taamsic renunciation and has no spiritual benefit to the seeker.

Often we feel we are causing the actions to happen,  But truly we have very little control on what is happening.  Five factors that determine what happens are :  who is acting to perform, where is he situated ( the place ), what tools he has at his disposal, what kind of effort he is making and the fifth but most important  being the sanskaras, the impressions from all the experiences from our previous lives and this life.  It is easy to see how these would influence the outcome.  Often we make the best effort but our tools do not perform like we expected, or we have the right tools but we do not make the effort required, or we have the right place, right tools, right motivation but the doer is week and incapable.  even when all these are fit, things may not go as we expect them to be and that is when the predetermined sanskaras or Divine will has played a role to cause the outcome to be other than what expected.

Knowledge that gives us the vision where we see Him in everything and see everything in Him only is considerd Saatvic knowledge.   That is the most desirable and tru knowledge.  But if we see everything in this world as a separate entity and we do not see the unity in this existence, it is Raajsic knowledge.  But for someone who is entirely self centerd on himself only than that knowledge is Taamsic knowledge.  so one can see the progression from Saatvic where a unity is seen in everything, it is saatvic from one extreme to the other extreme where a taamsic person only thinks of himself and nothing else.

Similarly examples are given of who is the Saatvic doer, raajasic doer, Taamsic doer.  Same thing applies to the inteligence,  resolve, pleasures and happiness.  Lord gives examples of how each of these can be saatvic, raajsic or taamsic.  Finally He states that there is nothing in this creation which is not characterized by one of these three gunas of prakriti.  ( The seeker may ask the question: so what does it mean for me ?  The answer is given in chapter 14 where Lord advises:  See yourself to be separate from these and not be influenced by the interpaly and interaction of these gunas )

Verses 41 - 48 introduce how one can achieve God Realization.  Lord describes the duties of all four varnas of the society.  some of these appear to be superior to others.  But Lord emphasizes that no task or duty is inferior to others and one should not think that my duty is inferior to the other person's duty.  As long as one performs his duties with full devotion to Lord and with all the qualities described earlier in the chapter, he will, no doubt, achieve God Realization.

From verse 50 thru 59 Lord is describing who and how one unites with The Lord.  he is describing the qualities of the right kind of seeker.These include:  sense control, self discipline,  established in dispassion, consumes very little, avoids crowded palces, firmly established in yoga etc.  Such a seeker gets established in the Para Bhakti ( supreme devotion ).  Once he is established in such supreme bhakti he is becomes qualified to truly know what od is, and once he truly knows what God is, he is able to unite with The Lord.  Once he is established in The Lord, than he is still able to perform all the actions but at the same time not be affected by them.  To the outside world he may be appear to be acting performing but he is completely free of any binding effects of these actions because he has offered all these to The Lord.

Most important verses of this chapter;

Verse 65:

Always think of Me and become My devotee. Worship Me and offer your homage unto Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are My very dear friend.

Verse 66:

Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reaction. Do not fear. Finally arjuna accepts the knowledge givenby The Lord and he says: Arjuna said, My dear Krishna, O infallible one, my illusion is now gone. I have regained my memory by Your mercy, and I am now firm and free from doubt and am prepared to act according to Your instructions. Sanjaya says the concluding verse: Wherever there is Krishna, the master of all mystics, and wherever there is Arjuna, the supreme archer, there will also certainly be opulence, victory, extraordinary power, and morality. That is my opinion.

PurportFFiFf

Gita Chapter 17

Gita Chapter 17

Lord discusses the concept of  The Good ( Saatvic ),  The Bad ( Rajasic )  and The Ungly ( Tamasic)

If we do not understand these concepts and how they apply to what  ever action we do, material or spiritual, than the results of those acttons could be very good or could be very dangerous.  Even actions that appear t to be good such as Charity, Penance and Pooja etc, if done with  a certain mindset, can have good or bad outcomes. 

any given human being behaves according to his Swabhava, innate nature or tendancies.  These inturn depend on Sanskaras which in turn depend on the past Karmas.  Based on these Swabhavas, human beings can be classified in three main groups:

Saatvic  ( The good )
Rajasic  ( The Bad )
Taamasic ( The Ugly or really Bad )

Each category of individual will have certain way of acting and doing things.  This is what the main teaching is of chapter 17 of Bhagwadgita. 

Saatvic Person:   Will like food which  promotes longevity, happiness, cheerfulness, easy to digest  and promotes a calm mind.  He will follow the scriptures and will not engage in poojas which are done with a motive to hurt others.  He performs pooja as a matter of his duty.  He gives charity to the well qualified  recipient  at the right time and at the right place.  He honors the learned, and practices control on his senses, body and mind.  He performs charity and yajna without any expectations of any returns.

Raajasic person:  Will like food which is bitter, sour, salty,  hard to digest and food which promotes ill health.  He engages in severe penance causing pain and suffering to the body and the ONE residing inside him ( The Paramatma ).  He performs poojas and yajnas with a desire for recognition and fame.  His religious actions are prompted by desire for fruits.  He practices charity unwillingly and  with the hope of gaining fame and popularity. 

Taamasic Person:  He likes food which smells, poorly cooked, impure and polluted.  He engages in poojas and yajnas without following the proper methods and his religious actions are driven with the desire to harm others.  when he gives charity, it is to those who do not deserve it and he does it insultingly to the wrongful recipient in wrong place and time.

On a separate note Lord refers to OM TAT SAT.  He explains what these are and how these are applied.

OM represents the LORD as the  primordial sound, the very first manifestation of The Lord, in the form of sound.  Because OM was the firs manifestation of The Lord, whenevr the learned start anything auspicious they chant OM to recognize that OM came before the rest of the craetion did.  and also the sound of OM is the closes one can come to the Lord

TAT represents the LORD as 'that'  without specifying what is 'That', because one can not define what 'That' is.  Encompasses everything there is. " I am offering all my actions to That" is the feeling when one chants 'That'.  In this way one offers everything to The Lord. 

SAT represents the LORD as the Truth, Praiseworthy, auspicious and underlying all spiritual actions. So to denote something as pure or praiseworthy we place SAT before that. For example we say Satnaam, denoting purity or Godliness in the name.  or we say Satkaarya, meaning purity or  Godliness in actions.  or we say Satsanga denoting purity or Godliness in the company and so on and so forth.

 Lord is the Absolute Truth (SAT) , not  subject to time or place.  Everything else is a relative truth, being subject to and defined by time and place.  Everything we can sense with our sense organs and mind is true now and here but it was not true in the distant past and will not be true in the distant future.  What we sense is only true at a certain place only for a short time.  On the contrary Lord always was , is and will be and He is everywhere at the same time.  Therfore He is the Absolute Truth or SAT in the true sense.

ओम् तत् सत्

Gita Chapter 15

Gita hapter 15

Key Point:

Lord is the basis of everyhing, everything originates from Him, He is beyond what we see, He illuminates everything, what we see is perishable, Lord is imperishable, He could be realized by those Pure hearted Gyanis who are free of ego, attachment, desires and who are free from the duality of love-hatred, hot-cold etc.  once seeker has come to His abode than he is freed from this cycle of birth and death.

Simile of a tree is used to describe this creation.  Lord being the root of this tree.  Everything including Brahma springs from Him.  The interaction of Jivatma and three gunas of Prakriti along with the senses, mind etc creates this ongoing play that we call the Tree of the  world.  The Jivatma stays bound by this never ending cycle.  The ignorant ones who do not see this, keep going back and forth between birth and death.  Only the ones with the qualities described above are able to see this play with the help of  this wisdom.

Even though Jivatma is considered immortal but Lord is beyond that Jivatma as well.  Knowing Jivatma is not good enough.  One has to know The One that is not only beyond the apparent physical structure or body, but the one which is beyond Jivatma as well.   He is the source of all knowledge, He is before and after everything perishable and imperishable, He is the light of the Sun and Moon, He is the sustainer of all living entities, He is the One who just  IS ! ( has been, is and will be, He is not subject to the definition of past, present and future ).

Such a  One who is  beyond Sharira and  Jivatma  has been called Parameshvar, Paramatma and Purushottam.  He is the One that should be known.  Once He is known and realized than there is no more any birth or death.

Gita Chapter 12

Bhakta Shiromani

Gita Chapter 12

Summary of key messages;

Saguna vs Nirguna
Saakaar  vs Nirakar

Both can be realized by the one who has the following qualities:

Ananya Bhakti
Mind fixed on Lord only
Intellect fixed on Lord only
Firm Faith in Him only
Engage in the good of the others
Perform all actions as an offering to the Lord
Perfom all actions without being attached to the outcome.

BUT:

Realizing the Niraakar or Nirguna is very difficult for the one with the physical body.  Therefore for the devotee who posseses the above qualities, he can realize The Lord and reach the same Supreme abode while worshipping the Saguna, Saakar form of The Lord.  And it is relatively lot easier.  ( It is lot easier to relate to the form than to the formless, it is easier for us humans to relate to a form which we can toucn, see and feels with the physical senses )

Lord gives four easy ways for the devotee to be able to realize the Lord:

Think of Him only all the time  or
Steadfastly engage in spiritual practice or
Offer all your actions as an offering to The Lord  or
Perform all actions without attachment to the fruits of actions.  ( They will happen no matter what )

Lord also describes the qualities of a Bhakta in verses 13 - 19.  some of these qualities include loving, compassionate, equanimous, non clinging, friendly, kind, non egoist, forgiving,  having offered his mind and intellect to The Lord, one who is neither disturbed by others nor disturbs others, firmly established in the pursuit of his sadhana.


These are some of the many qualities described in this chapter.

Gita Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Arjuna wants to see Lord's divine form.  Since he has been hearing about it from Lord, now he wants to see it.  Lord is everything and everywhere so anything and everything is Him alone.  But he wants to see it.  so gracefully Lord offers him the vision of His divine form.   Until now Arjuna is primarily using his senses, mind and intellect to listen and understand what Lord is saying.  These being physical intsruments, Lord tells Arjuna, that these physical instruments are incapable of beholding Lord's Divine form.  so Lord bestows upon Arjuna, Divine Eyes ( Divya Chakshu ).  No one but Lord can grant these divine eyes.  Here the point being no matter how much effort one makes on the spiritual path, the realization happens when Lord is pleased with the seeker and grants him the boon of Divine eyes.  A Brahmnishtha Sadguru can also fulfill this role. with the help of divine eyes now Arjuna was shown Lord's limitless, timeless, all encompassing cosmic view ( Vishwarupa).

Because everything is  Lord only, when Lord reveals His form to Arjuna, everything in creation appears placed within His Form.  Arjuna was able to see  that the entire creation which appears to be in varied forms, was all situated within Lords form.  This form had no end in sight, had countless arms, faces, as bright as thousands of solar systems. He could not see where this Form began adn where it ended.  He could see all the devtas, rishis, everything that people behold as divine was contained within this form of the Lord.  all those devtas etc that people worship asking for worldly gains were seen disappearing and being devoured  in Lord's mouth.   Bhishm, Drona and everyone else that Arjuna knew was seen rapidly being devoured by this. 

Arjuna could not handle this sight.  He implored the Lord to tell him who this was.  Lord than told him that " I am the ultimate destroyer of all these galiant warriors.  You think you are doing this, you think you are killing them.  No, you are just an instrument to carry out what I am doing.  these people are going to die any way." 

  Lord also emphasizes the value of Bhakti.  A special form of Bhakti called "Ananya Bhakti"   Lord says:  " It is not possible to realize My Form by engaging in the studies of scriptures, doing intense Tapas, Giving Dana or charity or engaging in any type of Karma or action, but only through the practice ananya Bhakti." 

नाहं वेदैर्न तपसा न दानेन न चेज्यया।
शक्य एवंविधो द्रष्टुं दृष्टवानसि मां यथा।।11.53।।
na aham vedaih na tapasaa na daanena na ca ijyayaa
sakya evam vidhe drastum drustuvaan asi maam yathaa.

Not through the four Vedas, not by tapas (austerity like chandrayana etc.,) not by giving gifts like land, gold etc., not even by sacrifices and worship I can be seen in the form that has been seen by you.

भक्त्या त्वनन्यया शक्यमहमेवंविधोऽर्जुन।
ज्ञातुं दृष्टुं च तत्त्वेन प्रवेष्टुं च परंतप।।11.54।।
But only through "bhaktyaa ananyayaa" (bhakti based on "no second thought") it is possible.
Ananyayaa bhakti is where thought of the Lord is always there, even when we are engaged in any worldly task.  Where we depend on the Lord only for everything,  Where there is no other.  Lord has emphaiszed the importance os this exclusivity in other places in Gita.  Chapter 18, verse 66

सर्वधर्सान् परित्यज्य मामेकं शरणं व्रज।
अहं त्वां सर्वपापेभ्यो मोक्षयिष्यामि मा शुचः

The key message from Chapter 11:

Everything is pervaded by Lord, He is in everything.  To be able to Him in everything you need divine vision, Divine vision can be granted only by Him,  He will grant that Divine vision only to those who engage in Ananyayaa Bhakti, that is one pointed devotion to God while we go about doing things in this world,.

Gita Chapter 7

Gita Chapter 7

The focus in the last five chapters was primarily on NISHKAAM Karma.  Now the focus shifts to NISHKAAM Bhakti.  The core message and the most important take home message from this chapter is NISHKAAM BHAKTI towards Lord only.    Also Lord is going to give a glimpse in His true nature.

Lord is going to give a glimpse of His true nature to Arjuna.  Focus is now going to shift from Arjuna and his actions to the true nature of Divinity and Lord himself.  Once truly understood this knowledge of the Lord will have liberating effect for teh devotee.   Lord puts forth qualities a devotee need to have:

Thinking only of Me

Devoted only to Me

Loving only Me

If you have theses qualities, you are qualified to know Him.:

Trying to understand Him is not easy.  Of the millions who try only a rare one is actually able to truly know Him.

He is  in everything that you can see and can not see.  Material and non material both.  He is in earth, water, fire, air and space.  He is in sun, moon etc.  There is nothing that He is not present in.    He is Omnipresent.  Even three gunas of prakriti can not exist without Him.  He is the source of their existence although He is not affected by them like us human beings are. 

  He is also immanent across time.  he always was, is and will be.  He knows what has ever happened, whatever is happening and whatever is going to happen.  One can make a garland with a cotton thread.  The beads of garland are made by weaving knots from the same  thread.  so these knots look different but they still are made up  of the thread itself.  Similarly it may appear that all these things that we see are different but they are nothing but He alone manifesting in all these forms.   

Sakaam vs Nishkaam Bhakti

Human beings are so influenced by the myriad manifestations and play of three gunas of Prakriti that they are not able to see the TRUE SOURCE that exists beyond these three gunas and they engage in all kinds of Sakaam bhakti.  They engage in all kinds of worship of different dieties and devas desiring woeldly things.    It is the law of cause and effect that their actions  bear fruits.  Although Devas  grants them the fruits of their bhakti, but these fruits are temporary in nature.  Lord calls these Alpabuddhi( individuals with limited  knowledge)  as opposed to Jnani.    These alpabudhi ignorant  humans are constatntly striving after their  material worldly  desires.  They are always under the grips of the Duality Complex ( Sukh-dukha, laabh-haani, heat-cold, love-hatred etc)  These strivings cloud their true knowledge and this ignorance causes them to not realize Lord's true nature.

  But the the one who is a Jnani ( has realized wisdom) that one does not go after the worldly gains. He is endowed with EKBHAKTI ( senses, body, mind and intellect are all the time engrossed in Lord ONLY ).  This Ekbhakti leads him to Lord only and  he reunites with Lord.   His Bhakti is also Nishkaam.  He does not ask for anything in return for his bhakti towards the Lord. Such Jnanis  easily realize and gain true understanding of  what  Brahman, Karma and Spirituality are.  And that allows them to understand the true nature of the Lord. 

Gita Chapter 5

Arjuna as usual seems to be confuesd.  So he wants to know should he give up the performance of action or he should engage in the performance of action.  He is asking the same question again.  So Krishna explains to him again:

Both are equally good but in your particular circumstance it is better for you to engage in the perfomance of the action.  Performing of the action  for you will be liberating BUT it has to be performed in a certain way and with a certain special mindset. If you act in such a special way than you are going to the  same place as the one who is a Sanyasi ( does not engage in the performance of action.)  The following qualities are necessary;

Free of dualities  ( Nir dwanda)  Be free from being caught up in profit-loss, attachment-aversion, etc.  He is than able to overcome and withstand the upheavel caused by the forces generated by the Kama and Krodha.

Free of Raag dwaesha, and wants and desires

Performing actions only  with the goal of purifying his  Antahkarana ( mind, intellect etc)

Being engrossed forever in The Lord with mind and intellect and have full faith in Him

Established firmly in Samta bhava ( Equanimity )

Cultivating and acquiring Wisdom.  This Wisdom than removes the ignorance and allows the divinity to shine through the clouds of ignorance  Thsi divinity is not outside somewhere.  It is within but has been covered by the cloud of ignorance and thereore is not seen or experienced.


Practice Karma Yoga:  This would entail performing action with full control of senses, body, mind and intellect.  Most of the time when we are performing actions we are driven by what our senses, body and mind want rather than what is the right thing to do. We are driven by the desire for sense gratification.  If I have control on these three ( senses, mind, body ) than my actions will be non binding and that is Karma yoga.  He is able to separate himself from the functioning of the senses etc and even while senses are engaged in their activities, he being able to stay separate from them,  is able to see such sense activities happening.  Such as eating, drinking, walkin etc, he KNOWS and SEEs that these are just the activities of the senses that the senses are engaged in, due to the inherent nature of the senses.  When he is able to achieve that state (of separation from teh sense body mind complex ) he is freed from the actions of the senses and he experiences a special kind of peace that comes only from the Brahman.  He than resides in this city of nine doors with peace. ( two each of eyes, ears, nose and one each of mouth, organs of excretion and reproduction. )

He develops equanimity and he than sees all aspects of creation ( Brahmin and untouchable, cow and dog etc ) without  being perturbed by the apparent differences.  When all of the above are practiced with full devotion and vigor than the following happens:


All his doubt get clarified

He gets released from all his impure deeds, (Paap )

He withdraws from the outside objects and firmly established within himself, commited to making ceaseless effort towards Moksha

With the help of of a mind that he has under his control and with a pure intelelct he is able to get in touch with the Brahman situated inside himself and experience that peact that comes from Brahman. 

After this he is able to realize my true nature and reunite with me.

Gita Chapter 4

Gita Chapter 4

Lord is introducing Arjuna to the concept of time and at the same time reminding him of the cycle of life and death that He alluded to in the first half chapter 2.  Here He si giving His own example by telling Arjuna that I gave this knowledge to Sun in the beginning of time and Sun in turn imparted that knowledge to Vaivasvat and  who in turn gave this to Ikshvaku.  and so forth.  Arjuna, being the doubter can not beleive that Krishna was around so long ago.  That is when Krishna tells him about His own Divya Janam, Immanance, Eternal nature and Omnipresence.  Lord tells Arjuna not to be hung up just on this life time.  He tells him that Arjuna and everone else has taken birth and gone through death several times in the past.  But Arjuna does not remember that, and that is why he is so attached to this life time.  Once a person has truly realized  the fact that I have existed before and i will be, in the future although in different form, the attachemtnt to this one particular body and family will be overcome.  Thus allowing us to carry out our duties without being handicapped by this attachment  or Moha.  Here Lord also tells him how HE, from time to time,   comes to save the good people from the bad ones and also to re-establish Dharma. 

Understanding this concept of cycle of life and death in such a way and contemplating on Him in such a way clears the path for us to becoem one with Him and become like Him.  We become what we think and contemplate.  If we contemplate strongly enough about the Divine qualities of the Lord, than we will become like Him and become ONE with Him.

I am immanent, omnipresent, eternal, omniscient.  Those who contemplate me like that they they unite with me or become like me.  Jiva is considered to be the ansh or a  part of the Lord.  The process of contemplation on the qualities of God, makes it possible for the Jiva to reunite and regain the same qualities as of the Lord

Ignorance, doubt and scepticism is an obstacle in the spiritual path.  Acquire knowledge and overcome  these.  To acquire knowledge go to, respectfully ask question and serve a qualified sage.  That sage will give you the knowledge.  There  is nothing as beneficial as   knowledge in this world.  Just as fire burns the wood completely, similarly, knowledge ( of what  is action and what is inaction) will burn all the, karmas or  binding actions. ( knowledge will help you perform action without the binding effect, in essence meaning that  fire of knowlede has burnt the actions )  It helps you overcome doubt and scepticism and help you understand what it means to be engaging in action which is non binding.  You will be able to continue to perform non binding actions while you still appear to be engaged in activity.  It is really difficult to understand what it means to be perfoming an action, without acting, and what it is to be non performing an action and still be engaged in activity. 

When you engage in an activity without attachment to the outcome it means non performance of action.  But on the contrary if you are, all the time worried about the outcome and are engaging in activity with attachement to  the outcome and with the desire to enjoy the fruits of activities, than even if it appears that you are not doing anything, it is a binding action. 

Another way to be a non performer, but at the  same time engaging in activity is if you  perform all actions as Yajna or as worship to the Lord.  If all your actions are performed as an offering to the Lord, than also, those actions are non binding. 

Scriptures have described so many ways an individual may be performing Yajna:

    Sense control
    Pranayam practice
    Hatha Yoga
    Performing Homa and Havan to please various Devas
    Charity
    Vows of non violence etc
    Studying of the scriptures

These are some of the examples of Yajnas.  All these are performed with the help of  senses, body and mind etc. These all are physical actions or karmas But If these are performed as an offering to the Lord and some of the leftover  fruits are used for meeting the needs of the body, than  the fruits of thses Yajnas are like Prasadam. Than these will not have any binding effect.  But the ignorant ones may be performing these but if they keep all the fruits of these Yajnas for themselves only  than they are never going to be liberated. They keep going throught the cycle of life and death.  The wise ones understnd this and are freed and they come to me.

Gita Chapter 3

The core message from the first part is:  Perform actions as a Yajna or a worship of the Lord.

In the  first part of  2nd chapter:  Lord explained how one could perform actions without attachment to the body because Jiva or the Soul is indestructible, In the 2nd part of the 2nd chapter  He showed how to perform action without concern for the outcome.  By folowing  either of these paths one attains liberation or Moksha, here and after.

Even though Arjuna had been given enough teachings in the first chapter but he is not satisfied.  Not only he is not satisfied, it appears that he is very confuse. He is telling Lord, "you are confusing me" and "You are asking me to engage in this inhuman, grave action like war"  He does not realize that Lord is  only telling hi to do his duty and not to run away from his duty.  Which in Arjuna's cse happens to be fighting, becasue he is a Kshatriya.  So Arjuna is complaining that Krishna is asking him to engage in grave sinful actions.  Neo Lord hs to come up with another way to show him how he can look at his actions adn hwo he can perform them in a way that he won't fell the way he is and hewon't be bound by the outcomes of those actions.  Lord also gives him teh example fromteh past.

In this first part of the 3rd chapter now He is providing another way to perform non binding action:   that is performing every action as a form of worship of the Lord.  Once we perform our actions as a form of worship of the Lord, than the fruits of those actions will come as Prasadam.  Becasue we are performing it as a Yajna no matter waht the outcome is going to be, we will be happy.  He give example of Brahma ( not Brahman) who created the current Srishti ( Physical existence as we know it ) He did it to fulfil the command of God and did not do it for his own personal sake. After creating teh Srishti,  Brahma commanded the Devas and humans to mutually benefit each other by performing all actions as Yajna.  When we perform our actions as Yajna, than God permeates those actions.  He gives the example of how food stuff is finally originated from God through, rain, worship, knowledge. finally knowledge having come directly from the Lord.

He gives the following examples of how others are following this method of performance of actions as Yajna and therefore not getting bound by the effects of the actions:

First He gives the example of Raja Janak:  He is considered Videha.  Janak is considered to have overcome all attachment but  at the same time he is living in this world and carrying out all the kingly  and householder duties.  For him every one of actions was the worship of the Lord.  And he was able to stay Nirlipta ( unattached) even to his body ( Deha) therefore he was called Videha.

Secondly He gives the example of Himself.  He says, I do not really have to do anything but if I stop doing things ( sustaining the world), this world will come to an end, so I keep doing my duty without these actions of maintaining the world, causing any binding effect on me.  So His advice to Arjuna:  Just like People from old days like Janaka, Devas and Lord Himslef continue to  perform the actions, even though they do not have to:  Similarly Arjuna should  carry out his duties.

Kamkrodha Mardan yog ( That is how see it )

In the second part of Chapter 3, Lord is expounding the role of Desire and anger and how to overcome them:  Arjuna wants to know why even an intelligent person and a person with good intentions engages in wrong actions ?  Lord attributes this to Kama ( Desire ) and Krodha ( Anger ).  He says these are borne out of the Rajas element of nature ( Rajoguna ).  These reside in our indriyas ( senses ), Mana ( mind ) and Buddhi ( intellect ).  These being an element of Prakriti, they obscure the True knowlede in the humans and after the knowledge has been obscured, the individual engages in all these unwholesome actions.  He explains that the  body, sense, mind and intellect are the gross elements and they are part of the Prakriti while Atma is pure and without blemish of the Gunas of Prakriti.  He tells Arjuna to get in touch with the  pure nature of his Soul and with that strength he can derive from his soul he will be able to  over come the  Desire and anger borne out of Rajoguna residing in the body, senses, mind and intellect.

Gita Chapter 2 part 2

Part two is really Yoga of Equanimity. Samatvam Yoga, Karma yoga
Understanding the value of Action without preoccupation  with the outcome, and performing all actions with equanility towards the desirable or undesirable outcomes.

Have firm resolve to achieve Him only.  Avoid getting caught up in the actions which are driven by desire for gains in this life and in the next life, or go to Heaven.  Practice of Karma yoga, Samtvam yoga, Equanimity will help

Even though Vedas have many rituals and routines, but they all lead to material gains here and hereafter,   We all know from experience that all the worldly gains are temporary.  many people do not realize heavenly gains are also temporary.  After we have used up all the punyas residing in heaven we have tocome back to theis earth again. You should go beyond those vedic rituals which promise material gains here and Heaven after death.  Because, just like if you have acquired the ocean than why would you want to acquire a pond.  What ever is in the pond, many times more of that is in the ocean.  When one is established in Brahman, the bliss and happiness that is experienced, is not only inclusive of worldly and  heavenly pleasures, which are temporary, but that Brahmic Bliss and Happiness is infinitely more than anything else.

Karma yoga:  You have control only on the performing of the action.  You do not and can not have a control on the outcome.  Once you have realized this and perform your actions with an equanimous mind you will be freed from the bondage that is bound to arise if you are focused on the outcome.  Performing the action with full excellence without being focussed on the outcome is also called Yoga of Excellence.  (  A form of Karma Yoga ).  People get scared thinking that they do not want to be attached to the fruits of their actions.  But if we really think about it, does being attached to the fruits of the actions guarantee  a certain outcome ? the answer is NO. We all know that.  How many times we perform an action but the out come is not the way we thought it would be.  Sometimes the outcome is better than what we expectd and sometimes it is worse than what we expected. Simply because the out come depends on many other factors besides our actions.  But if we focus so much on the outcome, it weakens our focus and concentration in the task at hand and that diversion itself would reduce the effectiveness of our actions.  But if we are fully focussed on the task we are able to give it our 100% and it is more likely, although not guaranteed that we will get the  outcome that is meant to be.  Realizing this point and than perfoming the actions is Karma Yoga.

When we practice this Karma Yoga, we won't be influenced by the outcome of the action.  Normally, when there is a favorable outcome we want more of it and that creates greed for more of that.  ( when we go go a slot machine and it pays out lot of money, what happens, we play more and more hoping for a bigger payout, and most of us know what happens in the end.  That greed for more ultimately causes us to not only lose what the machine gave us, we also lose everything we had in our pocket. )  And if the outcome is unfavorable we get distressed  and troubled and unhappy with the outcome.  That itself leads to lot of unhappiness.  But if you do not care what the outcome would be than, when there is a positive outcome you will accept it as a God given gift and as Prasad and it there is an unfavorable outcome you accept it as Go'd will and accept it as such.  Since neither  of these are  creating any greed or aversion, there is no long lasting effect on the mind and no new Sanakara for the future is created.

An individual who is able to live like this is called Sthitpragya.  It means one who whose wisdom has become stable in himself, one whose wisdom has become self contained, one whose consciousness does not fluctuate from one to another. It does not jump from one sense object to another, one who has a mastery on his mind. He is like a tortoise who has retracted his limbs, he retracts his senses away from sense objects and stays equanimous in both and favorable and unfavorable outcomes and situations.

The one who is not Sthitpragya, his senses are constantly running after sense objects and just as  a boat is bounced around by the wind, his mind is bounced around by the sense driven restlessness caused by running after the sense objects.  Controlling the senses leads to calming of the mind and calming of the mind allows the intelect to stabilize. If you do not practice this way, than the unfulfilled desires will upset the mind, this will lead to anger which leads to loss of memory and the ability to discriminate between right and wrong  VIVEKA.  Once Viveka is lost it leads to loss of intelect ( BUDDHI ) and once a perosn has lost his intellect he will lose all his knowledge and that will lead to  complete destruction.

Sthitpragya Muni is compared to an ocean where even with all the rivers flowing into the ocean, those rivers not change the nature of the ocean. Ocean stays the same.  Similarly for a Sthitpragya even though he is going around living like any one else and the input from the sense objects into his senses, mind and intellect he is not adversely influenced like that ocean.  He stays unperturbed and lives in this world.  Such a person appears to be doing all those things that everyone else is doing, but he experiences adn is constantly is in touch with the  unlimited Bliss and Tranquility that is inherent in Brahman.  Such an individual even at the end of his physical existence leaves his physical body, while abiding in that Brahmi Bliss ( Brahman Shanti )

Bhagwadgita Chapter 2 part 1

Arjuna is deeply attached to his family, esp Bhishma and Drona. He is very sad that he has been in a situation where he has to fight his close family members and his teachers. In life at times we are faced with situations where carrying out our duty means causing grief to our family members. Like if a student as to leave his home to go away to school. He knows going away will cause his parents to become sad but he has to do it. If he decided not to go to school in a distant town, than although he will be keeping his parents from getting sad but he will not be carrying out his duty, that is to study and acquire knowledge from whereve rhe can. Arjuna was faced with a situation even of greater significance. because here carrying out his duty meant that he would end up killing his own teachers and family members.

So what to do ?

So he surrenders to Krishna and says, i have come to you and you are the only one who can help me deal with this situation. My intellect is not helping me figure out what to do. I would rather beg than to fight because that would end up causing harm in so many ways.

Krishna knows Arjuna and Krishna is also a great psychologist. He is going to employ several strategies to try to tell Arjuna how to get over this attachment and do his duty. First point Krishna brings up is:

These people are going to die any way. they were not there until few years back and few years from now they won't be there any more. The life force in them, the Jiva, however has always been there and will always be there even after the pysical body is not there any more. He gives him a real life example that of how we change clothes. Just like we in day to day life change old dirty clothes for new ones, similarly Jiva discards old worn out body and assumes a new body. Itself Jiva is Forever, Eternal, Not affected by the forces of nature such as fire, water weapons etc.

But this did not really help Arjuna, so krishna put forth a different argument, the second point:

He said, so Arjuna, even if you believe that Jiva is perishable and the body is perishable, you see people dying around you. Can you stop that from happening ? You know you can not stop that from happening. Than why not accept the fact that everyone is going to die any way, than why grieve over this. It is eternal truth that every entity that takes birth WILL die and every entity that has not taken birth yet, will take birth in the future. and you can not do anything to change that. So why griev about it.

Arjuna still did not get it. so Krishna used third strategy that a worldly perosn would understand. He told him that you have a great reputation of an expert and the best archer on earth. People consider you one of the bravest fighter. If you abandon the battlefield people are going to call you coward. Can you live with that. They are going to call you AWOL. Absent without leave. People are going to badmouth you. Do you really want them to do that. Now look, if you died fighting, you will go to heaven and if are victorius than you will rule this kingdom.

Gita Chapter 1

Gita Chapter 1

Most important message from chapter one is:

Arjuna was going through lot of conflict with his cousins for many years and finally he wa ready to fight.  But when it came down to the final act of war he got confused and did not know what to do.  He could not see anyone who could help him figure out what his duty was.  so he goes and surrenders to the Supreme Teacher, The Supreme Yogi, Yogeshwar, Shree Krishna and ask for guidance.  He had become so distraught that he lost all logic, all decision making power and a warrior who was second to none forgot this and started acting like a coward.  So he was lucky enough that he had the sense to ask for help from no other than The lord Himself.