GEMS OF BHAGAVAD GITA - (SERIES - POST 1) - INTRODUCTION

GEMS OF BHAGAVAD GITA

(SERIES - POST 1)

I want to write a new series on the GEMS OF BHAGAVAD GITA. I was a student of Swami Paramarthanandaji for about 4 years and attended his classes on Vedanta.

I read a lot of what he said in his lectures on Bhagavad Gita. Apart from that, I read Ramakrishna Mission’s Bhagavad Gita and a few others. What I write here is therefore knowledge derived from all these sources.

Here is the first Post. This is introduction is almost wholly derived from Swami Paramarthanandaji’s lectures on Bhagavad Gita - introductory chapter. I start with my pranams to Swamiji.

Here we go :

We find that the desires of our children are totally different from what we desired during our childhood.

From age to age, time to time, person to person, season to season, the goals seem to vary.

But if we deeply probe into this phenomenon, we can find that  there are certain goals which are common to all  human beings.

They are universal goals and they are basic goals and not only they are universal, but they do not change from age to age.

These Goals are –

1.Security

2. Peaceful life

3. Happiness

Different people seek these Goals in different methods.

Scriptures point out that all these three are available within ourselves.

Not only these three are within us, they say they are within us ONLY.

Within us, if they say, it is OK.

They add that all those three are within us ONLY and what is the significance of the word ONLY.

Can we guess?

The significance of the word ONLY is - they are not available outside. And therefore, if we seek them outside, all of them will elude; all of them will evade us;

According to scriptures, the fundamental human problem is

'misplaced search' for something in a place, where it is not available. And therefore, the intelligent approach is to search for something in a place where it is available.

The scriptures point out that these three basic needs are available within us but they are hidden. We have to explore within ourself and discover.

But, three layers are covering these three goals and therefore, we have to cut through these three layers to discover our goals within ourself.

1.  Malam : or impurities within us. These are our mental problems – like kaama, Krodha, Lobha, Moha, Madha, Maatsarya, Bhaya

2.   Vikshepa : or  extrovertedness  or disturbance - caused by outgoing tendency.

3.   Aavaranam : Ignorance – of the fact, that I am the only source of my 3 Goals

We must remove these 3 layers by appropriate Sadhana. 3 different Yogas need to be practiced for this Sadhana

1.  Karma Yoga – for removing the impurities

2.  Upasana Yoga – for removing outgoing tendencies

3.  Jnana Yoga – for removing the ignorance

Proper action plus proper attitude is Karma Yōga. Karma Yōga

removes the first layer of impurity.

Upasana Yoga consists of different types of meditations to achieve mental steadiness and freedom from restlessness and stop the outgoing attitude.

Jnana yōga consists of enquiry into our real nature, or self analysis.

All the three  Yogas are elucidated by Lord Krishna in Bhagavad Gita.