त्वमेव माता च पिता त्वमेव ।
त्वमेव बन्धुश्च सखा त्वमेव ।
त्वमेव विद्या द्रविणम् त्वमेव ।
त्वमेव सर्वम् मम देव देव ॥
Today, I am here, with the most precious and valuable book summary, the summary of holy SRIMAD BHAGAVAD GITA, preached by LORD SRI KRISHNA. Although, deciphering the whole knowledge of GITA is impossible for anyone, for it is the most mysterious and valuable book, giving a whole new set of knowledge with each reading, but I have tried to summarize it, as far as, it was possible for me, so that everyone could learn some priceless values from GITA. Fill you mind with devotion and hold your patience, as it is going to be a long post. Enjoy reading. JAI SRI KRISHNA!
THE GREATNESS OF HOLY GITA –
Truly speaking, none has the power to describe in words the glory of GITA, for it is the book containing the highest esoteric doctrine. It’s language is so simple and sweet that anyone can easily understand it with little practice but the thoughts are so deep that none can arrive at the end even after constant study throughout their lifetime. Everytime they exhibit new facts of truth, therefore remain ever fresh and new. When scrutinized with a concentrated mind, possessed of faith and reverence, every verse of the holy GITA will appear as full of deepest mystery. Everyone irrespective of caste and religion posses the right to study GITA, the only qualification required is faith and reverence, for it is the God’s injunction to propagate the GITA only among his devotees. And those who think that on reading GITA they would become monks or ascetics. They should consider that fact that Arjuna, who had, being influenced by the most mysterious and secret teachings of GITA, lived a life of a householder all his life and performed all his duties, so how can that very GITA produce a diametrically opposite result?
THE PRINCIPLE TEACHINGS OF HOLY GITA –
In the KURUKSHETRA (battlefield), on seeing surrounded by his own family, prepared for the war, Arjuna got nervous and scared of being cursed for killing his own relatives. His mind was clouded with doubts and questions. He didn’t want to fight. So, he urged Lord Sri Krishna to instruct him, clear his doubtful mind, and enlighten him.
Lord Sri Krishna then addressed the most secret and mysterious teachings of GITA to Arjuna and enlightened him.
[The following sections are the lessons taught by Lord Sri Krishna to the entire world to enlighten their lives]
O Arjuna! you are grieving for them who are not eligible to be grieved over, wise men do not sorrow over dead or living, heat or cold, pleasure or pain, etc, as these are transitory and fleeting, so don’t endure them. Both of them are ignorant, he who considers the soul to be capable of killing and he who takes it as killed, for verily the soul never kills nor is killed. The soul is never born nor it dies. For it is unborn, eternal, everlasting, and primeval; even though the body is slain, the soul is not. As a man sheds off worn out garments and takes new ones, likewise, the embodied soul casts off worn out bodies and enters that are new. Those whose minds are attached to pleasures and worldly powers, cannot attain the determinate intellect concentrated on God.
कर्मण्ये वाधिका रस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन।
मा कर्म फल हेतु र्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्व कर्मणि॥
O Arjuna!, your right is to work only and never to the fruit there of. Do not be the cause of the fruit of the action; not let your attachment to inaction. Perform your duties established in Yoga, renouncing the attachment, and be even-minded in success and failure; this evenness of mind is called Yoga. Action with selfish motive is inferior to this Yoga in the form of equanimity. Endowed with equanimity, one sheds in life both good and evil. Skill lies in the practice of Yoga. For wise men, possessing equipoised mind, renouncing the fruit of actions and freed from the shackles of birth, attain the blissful supreme state. When your intellect, confused by hearing conflicting statements, rest steady and undistracted in meditation on God, you will then attain Yoga (everlasting union with God / Brahma). When one thoroughly casts off all carvings of mind, is satisfied through the joy of self, is unattached to everything, and meeting with good and evil, neither rejoices nor recoils, his mind is said to be stable. Man dwelling on sense objects develops attachment for them; from attachment springs desires; from desire (unfulfilled) ensues anger; from anger arises delusion; from delusion arises confusion of memory; from confusion of memory arises loss of reason; and from loss of reason, one goes to complete ruin. But having controlled the mind, while enjoying the various sense objects through his senses, which are disciplined and free from likes and dislikes, one attains placidity of mind and all his sorrows comes to an end, and the intellect of such a man becomes firmly established in God, and he overcomes all his delusion.
O brave Kunti-putra, Arjuna! listen, there are two courses of Sadhana (spiritual discipline) in this world, I have enunciated. In case of Sankhyayogi, the sadhana proceeds along the path of knowledge; whereas, in case of Karmayogi, it proceeds along the path of action. He who outwardly retraining the organ of sense and action, sit mentally dwelling on the objects of senses, that man of deluded intellect is called a hypocrite. On the other hand, he who, controlling the organs of sense and action by the power of his will, and remaining unattached, undertakes the Yoga of selfless action through those organs, he excels. Those who don’t perform their duties, leads a sinful and sensual life, he lives in vain. There is no duty in all the three worlds for Me to perform, nor there is anything worth attaining, unattained by Me, yet I continue to work, because if I ever cease to act all these worlds would perish.
The Karmayogi, who is contented with whatever is got unsought, is free from jealously and has transcended all pairs of opposites (like, joy and grief), and is balanced in success and failure, is not bound by his actions. All his actions get dissolved entirely, who is free from the feeling of mine, who is free from attachments and has no identification with the body, whose mind is established in the knowledge of self and who works merely for the sake of sacrifice. And finally, Brahma is the everlasting goal to be reached by him. Sacrifice through knowledge is superior than through material things. In the light of knowledge, you will see the entire creation first within yourself and then in Me (the Oversoul). There is no purifier as greater as knowledge in this world, he who has attained the purity of heart through practice of Karmayoga, automatically sees the light of Truth in the self in course of time. He who has mastered his senses, is exclusively devoted to his practice, fully devoted to Me and is full of faith, attains knowledge and hence attains the supreme peace in the form of God realization. But O Arjuna, the Karmayogi, if you do not care to listen Me, you will be lost.
However, the self-controlled Sankyayogi, doing nothing himself, and getting nothing done by others, rests happily in God – the embodiment of Truth, Knowledge and Bliss. He who is happy within himself, enjoys within himself the delight of soul, and even so is illuminated by the inner light of soul, such a Sankhyayogi, identified with Brahma attains Brahma, who is all peace. Endowed with a pure intellect and partaking of a light, Sattvika and regulated diet, living in a lonely and undefiled place having rejected sound and other objects of sense, having controlled the mind, speech and body by restraining the mind and sense through firmness of a Sattvika type, taking a resolute stand on dispassion, after having completely got rid of attraction and aversion and remaining ever devoted to the Yoga of meditation, having given up egoism, violence, arrogance, lust, anger and luxuries, such a man becomes qualified for oneness with Brahma.
He who performs his duties without expecting the fruit of actions is both a Karmayogi and a Sankhyayogi.
प्रकृते: क्रियमाणानि गुणै: कर्माणि सर्वश: |
अहङ्कारविमूढात्मा कर्ताहमिति मन्यते ||
All the actions are performed by the mode of Prakriti (Primordial Matter). The fool, whose mind is deluded by egoism, thinks, मैं ही कर्ता हूँ” (I am the doer). However, he, who has true insight into the respective spheres of Gunas (modes of Prakriti) and their action, does not get attached to them. Therefore, O Arjuna, dedicating all the actions to Me with tour mind fixed on Me, the self of all, freed from desire, feelings and cured of mental agitation, fight. Those who follow my teachings are released from bondage of all actions. Though birthless immortal, and the Lord of all beings, I manifest Myself through My own Yogamaya (divine potency), keeping My nature (Prakriti) under control.
यदा यदा हि धर्मस्य ग्लानिर्भवति भारत ।
अभ्युत्थानमधर्मस्य तदात्मानं सृजाम्यहम् ॥
परित्राणाय साधूनां विनाशाय च दुष्कृताम् ।
धर्मसंस्थापनार्थाय सम्भवामि युगे युगे ॥
Whenever, the righteousness is on the decline, and unrighteousness is on the ascendant, then I body Myself forth. For the protection of the virtuous, for the extirpation of evil deeds, and for the धर्म स्थापना (establishment of righteousness) and firm footing, I manifest Myself from age to age.
The worship of Gods, the Brahmanas, One’s guru, Elders, and Wise-men, purity, straight-forwardness, continence and non-violence – all these are called Penances of the Body.
Words which cause no annoyance to others and are truthful, agreeable, beneficial as well as the study of Vedas and other Shastras, and the practice of chanting Divine Names – all these are called the Penances of Speech.
Cheerfulness of mind, placidity, habit of contemplation on God, control of mind and perfect purity of inner feelings – all these are called the Penances of Mind.
My birth and activities are divine. He who knows this reality is not reborn on leaving his body, but comes to Me, completely rid of attachments, fear and anger, wholly absorbed in Me, dependent on Me, and purified by the penance of wisdom, become one with Me. Howsoever, seeks Me, even so do I respond to them, for all men follow My path in every way. The four order of society, (viz. Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaishya, and Shudra) are also created by Me and assigned respective duties.
O Arjuna! know that, this Yoga is neither for him who overeats, nor for him who observes complete fast; neither for him who gives too much sleep, nor for him who is ceaselessly awake. Yoga, which rids one of woe, is accomplished by him only, who is regulated in diet and recreation, regulated in performing actions and regulated in sleep and wakeness. When the mind is thoroughly disciplined gets riveted on God alone, then the person who is free from yearning for all enjoyments is said to be established in Yoga. A Yogi is always superior to those versed in sacred lore, and even to those who act with interested motive.
एतद्योनीनि भूतानि सर्वाणीत्युपधारय।
अहं कृत्स्नस्य जगतः प्रभवः प्रलयस्तथा।।
O Dhanurdhar Arjuna! All beings have evolved from this twifold Prakriti, and that I am the source of this entire creation, and into Me again it dissolves. There is nothing beside Me. Everything is within Me and I am there in everything. The whole world is my creation, and that I am the only destructor of it. I am omnipresent. I am the परम ब्रह्म परमेश्वर (the ABSOLUTE, the LORD, the TRUTH, the DIVINE, the SUPREME SPIRIT, the INDESTRUCTIBLE, the IMPERISHABLE, the BRAHMA, the UNMANIFEST, the PURUSHOTTAMA).
The whole world is evolved by the three modes of Prakriti – the SATTVA (the quality of goodness), the RAJAS (the principle of activity), the TAMAS (the principle of inertia). For this most wonderful Maya (veil) of Mine consisting of the three Gunas (mode of nature), it is extremely difficult to breakthrough, those, however who constantly adore Me alone, are able to cross it. Those whose wisdom is carried away by Maya and are of demoniac nature, such foolish and vile men of evil deeds do not adore Me. O Arjuna, now listen in detail the characteristics of the three modes of Prakriti.
Sattva being immaculate, is illuminating and flawless, it binds through attachment to happiness and knowledge, it draws one to joy. Owing power to Rajas and Tamas, Sattva prevails. When light and discernment dawns in the body, as well as in the mind and senses, then one should know that Sattva is predominant. When a man dies during preponderance of Sattva, he obtains the stainless ethereal world (heaven) attained by men of noble deeds (attains the God and is not reborn).The reward of righteous act is Sattvika, wisdom follows Sattva. Men of Sattvika worship Gods. Food which promotes longevity, intelligence, vigour, health, happiness and cheerfulness, and which are juicy, succulent, substantial and naturally agreeable are liked by men of Sattvika nature. The sacrifice offered by the men, who expect no return, are Sattvika. The threefold penances (Penances of Body, Penances of Mind, Penances of Speech) performed with supreme faith by Yogis expecting no return is called Sattvika. The gift which is bestowed with a sense of duty on one from whom no return is expected, at appropriate time and place, and to a deserving person, that gift has been declared Sattvika. A prescribed duty which is performed simply because it has to be performed giving up attachment and fruit is Sattvika. The knowledge by which man perceives one imperishable divine existence as undivided and equally present in all beings is Sattvika. That action which is deprived of the sense of doership and has been performed without attachment for its fruits, is Sattvika. Free from attachment, unegoistic, endowed with firmness and zeal and, unswayed by success and failure, such a doer is Sattvika. The intellect which correctly determines the paths of activity and renunciation, what ought to be done and what should not be done, what is fear and what is fearlessness, what is bondage and what is liberation, such an intellect is Sattvika. The joy which is observed through adoration, meditation and service to God, whereby one reaches the end of sorrow and the mind is placid, is Sattvika.
The Rajas has the nature of passion, as born or desire and attachment. It binds the soul through attachment to actions and their fruits, it draws one to action. Overpowering to Sattva and Tamas, Rajas prevails. With preponderance of Rajas, greed activity, undertaking of action with interested motive, restlessness and a thirst for enjoyment make their appearance. Dying when Rajas predominates, he is born among those attached to action (humans generally). The fruit of Rajasika is sorrow, greed follows Rajas. Men of Rajasika temperament worship demons. Foods which are bitter, sour, salty, overhot, pungent, dry and burning, and which cause suffering, grief, and sickness are dear to the Rajasika. The sacrifice which is offered for the sake of mere show or with an eye to its fruit, is Rajasika. The austerity which is performed for the sake of renown, honour or adoration, as well as for any other selfish gain, is Rajasika. A gift which is bestowed in a grudging spirit and with the object of getting a service or a reward in return is Rajasika. When a prescribed duty is given up for fear of physical strain, is Rajasika. The knowledge by which man cognizes many existences of various kinds, as apart from one another in all beings, is Rajasika. The action performed for seeking enjoyment, or by a man full of egoism, is Rajasika. Who is full of attachment to fruits, is greedy, is oppressive by nature, is of impure conduct, and is affected by joy and sorrow, such a doer is Rajasika. The intellect which cannot truly perceive what is Dharma and what is Adharma, what ought to be done and what should not be done, is Rajasika. The delight which follows from the contact of the senses with the objects, is Rajasika.
The Tamas are the deluder of all those who look upon the body as their own self, as born of ignorance. It binds the soul through error, sloth and sleep, it draws to clouding wisdom. Overpowering Sattva and Rajas, Tamas prevails. With growth of Tamas, obtuseness of mind and senses, disinclination to perform one’s obligatory duties, frivolity and stupor – all these appear. Dying Tamas preponderates, the person is reborn in the species of deluded creatures like insects, beasts, etc. Ignorance is the fruit of Tamasika act; obstinate error, stupor and ignorance follows Tamas. Tamas worships spirits of the dead and ghosts. Food which is ill cooked or not fully ripe, insipid, putrid, stale and polluted, and which is impure too, are dear to Tamasika men. A sacrifice which is not in conformity with scriptural injunctions, in which no food is offered, and no sacrificial fees are paid, which are without sacred chant of hymns and devoid of faith, are Tamasika. Penance which is restored to out of foolish notion and is accompanied by self mortification, or is intended to harm others, is Tamas. A gift which is made without grace and in a disdainful spirit, out of time and place, and to undeserving persons, is Tamasika. Duty which is abandoned through ignorance, is Tamasika. The knowledge which clings to one body as if it were the whole, and which is irrational, has no real grasp of truth and is trival, has been declared as Tamasika. The action which is undertaken through sheer ignorance, without regard to consequences or loss to oneself, injury to others and one’s own resourcefulness, is Tamasika. The doer who lacks piety, self control, is arrogant, is deceitful, is inclined to rob others, is slothful, is despondent and is procrastinating, is Tamasika. The intellect which imagines even Adharma to be Dharma, and is wrapped in ignorance, is Tamasika. That which stupefies that self during its enjoyment as well as in the end-driven from sleep, indolence and obstinate error, such delight is known as Tamasika.
There is no being on earth, or even among the Gods in heaven are anywhere else, who is free from these three Gunas, born in Prakriti. Keenly devoted to his own natural duties (as assigned by God) attains the highest perfection in the shape of God-realization.
Now, Arjuna! know that, the supreme Indestructible is Brahma, one’s own self (the Individual Soul) is called the Adhyatma; and the discharge of spirits (Visarga) which brings forth the existence of beings is called Karma (Action). All perishable objects are Adhibhuta, the shining Purusa (Brahma) is Adhidaiva, and in this body I Myself, dwelling as the inner witness, am Adhiyajna. All the world from Brahmaloka (the heavily, realm of the creator, Brahma) downwards are liable to birth and rebirth. But on attaining Me there is no rebirth (for, while I am beyond Time, regions like Brahmaloka, being conditioned by time are Transitory). Those Yogis who know from realization Brahma’s day as covering a thousand Mahayugas and so his night as extending to another thousand Mahayugas, know the reality about time. All embodied beings emanate from the Unmanifest (i.e., Brahma’s subtle body) at the coming of the cosmic day; at the cosmic night fall they merge into the same subtle body of Brahma, known as the Unmanifest. The multitude of beings, being born again and again, is dissolved under compulsion of its nature at the coming of the cosmic night and rises again at the commencement of the cosmic day. Far beyond even this Unmanifest, there is yet another Unmanifest Existence, that Supreme Divine Person, who does not perish even though all beings perish, that is the Supreme Goal. And the only way to attain that Supreme Purusa is Devotion. People having no faith in this Dharma, failing to reach Me, continue to revolve in the path of world of birth and death. Whosoever offers Me with love a leaf, a flower, a fruit, or even water, I appear in person before that selfless devotee of sinless mind, and delightfully partake of that article offered by him with love. Whatever you do, whatever you bestow as gift, whatever you do by way of penance, do that as an offering Me. My devotee never suffers degradation. Know that, neither God nor the Great Seers know the secret of My birth (My appearance in human or other garb out of mere sport), for I am the prime cause in all respects of Gods as well as of all Great Seers. He who know me in reality as unborn and without beginning, and as the Supreme Lord of the Universe, he undeluded among man, is purged of all sins. I am the beginning, the middle, and the end of all creations. I hold the entire creation of Universe by a fraction of my Yogic power. I am the mighty Kala (the eternal Time-Spirit), the destroyer of the world. The eternal Jivatma in this body is a fragment of My ownself, and it is that alone which draws around itself the mind and the five senses, which abide in Prakriti. O Arjuna! there two kinds of Purushas in this world – PERISHABLE (the bodies of all beings) and the IMPERISHABLE (the Jivatma). Since, I am wholly beyond the Perishable world of matter and superior even to the Imperishable soul, hence I am the PURUSOTTAMA, the Supreme Self, in the world as well as in the Vedas.
अद्वेष्टा सर्वभूतानां मैत्रः करुण एव च ।
निर्ममो निरहङ्कारः समदुःखसुखः क्षमी ।।
सन्तुष्टः सततं योगी यतात्मा दृढनिश्चयः ।
मय्यर्पितमनोबुद्धिर्यो मद्भक्तः स मे प्रियः ।।
He who is free from malice towards all beings; is friendly and compassionate; and free from the feeling of ‘I’ and ‘mine’; balanced in joy and sorrow; forgiving by nature; ever-controlled; mentally united with Me; has subdued his mind, sense and body; has a firm resolve; has surrendered his mind and reasons to Me; is a devotee of Mine; is not a source of annoyance to others and in turn does not feel vexed with his fellow creatures; is free from delight and envy, perturbation and fear, joy and pain, grieves and desires, good and evil, hates, actions; who wants nothing; is internally (from mind and soul) and externally pure; is wise and impartial; has risen above all distractions; has renounced the sense of doership; deals equally with friends and foe; is alike in honour and ignominy, praise and reproach, heat and cold, pleasure and pain, and other contrary experiences; is free from attachment; is calm, composed and contented internally; is non-violent, truthful, genial; has absence of anger even on provoking; has absence of hypocrisy, arrogance, pride, hate, sin, cruelty, vilest, sternness and ignorance – that devotee of Mine is dearest to Me, and has Divine Endowment. The Divine Endowment has been recognised as conductive to liberation, and the Demoniac Properties (opposite of Divine) are one as leading to bondage. Desire, anger and greed are the triplet gate to hell, and bring about the downfall of soul. Freed from these gates of hell, one attains the Supreme Goal. Knowledge is better than practice without discernment on God, meditation on God is superior to knowledge, and renunciation of fruit of actions is ever superior to meditation, for, peace immediately follows from renunciation.
O Arjuna!, the body is termed as Field (Kshetra) and he who knows it, is called the Knower of the Field (Kshetrajana) by the sages of discerning the truth about both. Know Myself to be the Kshetrajana in all the Kshetras. And the knowledge of Kshetra and the Kshetrajana, I consider as the true knowledge. Constancy in self-knowledge and seeing God (the only object to be known in this world) as the object of true knowledge- all this is declared as knowledge and what is contrary to this is ignorance. The moment man perceives the diversified existence of beings rooted in the one Supreme Spirit, and the spreading forth of all beings from the same, that very moment he attains the Brahma. As one sun illuminates the whole Universe likewise, the one Atma (spirit) illuminates the whole Kshetra. Those who by practicing this knowledge, have entered into My being are not born again at the cosmic down, nor feel disturbed during the cosmic dissolution (Pralaya).
OM, TAT and SAT – this has been declared as the triplet appellation of Brahma, who is Truth, Consciousness and Bliss. Therefore, acts of sacrifice, charity and austerity, as enjoyed by sacred precepts, are always commenced by noble persons, used to recitation of Vedic chants, with the invocation of divine name OM. With the idea that all this belongs to God, who is denoted by the appellation TAT act of sacrifice and austerity as well as acts of charity of various kinds, are performed by the seeker of liberation, expecting no return for them. The name of God, SAT is used in the sense of reality and goodness; praiseworthy; auspicious action; and steadfastness in sacrifice, austerity and charity. An oblation which is offered, a gift given, an austerity praised, and whatever good deed is performed, if it is without faith, it is termed as ASAT, thus is of no avail here or hereafter.
O brave Arjuna!, this most esoteric teaching has thus been imparted by Me, grasping it in essence man becomes wise and his mission in life is accomplished. Give your mind to Me, be devoted to Me, worship Me, bow to Me,resign all your duties to Me, take refuge in Me, doing so, you will come to Me, I truly promise you, for you are exceptionally dear to Me. I shall absolve you of all sins, worry not. This secret gospel of the GITA should never be imparted to a man who lacks in austerity, nor to him who is wanting in devotion, nor even to him who is not willing to hear, and in no case o him who finds fault with Me. He who, offering highest love to Me, preach the most profound gospel of GITA among My devotees, shall come to Me alone, there is no doubt about it. Whosoever studies this sacred dialogue of ours in the form of GITA, by him too shall I be worshipped with Yajnas of knowledge, such is My conviction. The man who listens to holy GITA with reverence, being free from malice, liberated from sins, shall reach the propitious world of pious and virtuous.
After listening this holy, sacred, mysterious and knowledgeable GITA, Arjuna says, ” O Krishna! by your grace my delusion has been destroyed and I have gained wisdom. I am free of all doubts. I shall do your bidding”. And he prepares himself for the war and brings victory.
So, this was all about the priceless teachings of GITA by LORD SRI KRISHNA. Hope, everyone has learned something out of this. Keep yourself devoted to SRI HARI and practice his teachings, and you will find yourself enlightened with the most precious knowledge, and your mind will be contented with the ultimate source of joy and wisdom.
JAI SRI KRISHNA
RADHE RADHE!
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