Thoughts on The Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 3: Verse 1 - Verse 5)

WEBVTT

00:00:02.178 --> 00:00:06.049
Hello and welcome to The Bearded Mystic Podcast.

00:00:06.108 --> 00:00:09.228
And I'm your host, Rahul N Singh.

00:00:09.528 --> 00:00:16.649
Thank you for joining today and for taking out the time to either watch or listen to this podcast episode.

00:00:16.885 --> 00:00:25.783
Today, we will be continuing on with my thoughts on the Bhagavad Gita, and we will be beginning chapter three today, which is titled Karma Yoga.

00:00:26.083 --> 00:00:38.673
Now, if you would like to support The Bearded Mystic Podcast and if you have found value in what you've been listening to or watching, please do join The Bearded Mystic Podcast, Patreon community.

00:00:38.914 --> 00:00:43.804
You can find the link in the video description or show notes below.

00:00:44.054 --> 00:00:45.374
So let's do a recap.

00:00:45.374 --> 00:00:52.543
We finished chapter two last week and we looked at verses 70 to 72.

00:00:52.694 --> 00:01:03.627
There Krishna explained how a person that is full of peace, who's not overwhelmed by their material desires can watch all these desires appear and disappear.

00:01:03.926 --> 00:01:10.510
The unrestrained ones run towards the sense desires and the current of those desires are endless.

00:01:10.540 --> 00:01:19.114
They're always continuously occurring within us and they are endless and limitless until one has the knowledge of Brahman, their True Self.

00:01:19.382 --> 00:01:27.781
The Sage only functions to maintain the body and yet has no attachment to the body and therefore is always at peace.

00:01:27.902 --> 00:01:34.561
Whatever is received is not considered as one's own, but just needed for a particular function.

00:01:34.682 --> 00:01:39.721
The knower of Brahman remains as Brahman now and forever.

00:01:39.852 --> 00:01:44.352
And this wonderfully sums up what chapter two is all about.

00:01:44.652 --> 00:01:50.781
Now we're going to begin with chapter three and we're going to be looking at verses one to verses five.

00:01:51.081 --> 00:01:56.871
This chapter begins with Arjuna asking particular questions.

00:01:57.191 --> 00:01:58.162
The first verse.

00:01:58.382 --> 00:02:15.211
Arjuna said, O Krishna, if it is your opinion that enlightened introspection through the discerning use of buddhi is the best process of yoga, then why do you ask me to engage in this ghastly conflict?

00:02:15.361 --> 00:02:26.252
So the first line is Arjuna said, O' Krishna, if it is your opinion, that enlightened introspection through the discerning use of Buddhi is the best process of yoga.

00:02:26.431 --> 00:02:33.391
This first line that we going to be looking at, we know that Arjuna is asking as a sincere devotee, as a disciple.

00:02:33.692 --> 00:02:36.181
He's addressing what he's understood at this minute.

00:02:36.331 --> 00:02:44.588
He knows his mind is not clear, he just wants to make sure that he understands Krishna's words and just seeks for that clarification.

00:02:44.729 --> 00:02:54.058
We know that in chapter two, how it's necessary to utilize Gyana Yoga or Sankhya Yoga, and to have that discernment between the Real and the unreal.

00:02:54.359 --> 00:03:00.598
Now, 'buddhi' here that Arjuna's understanding is, is that it's just knowledge.

00:03:00.799 --> 00:03:10.878
'Buddhi' here is to be understood as that mind, that acts without any expectation for any results, because it is centered in Brahman.

00:03:11.229 --> 00:03:24.082
But here Arjuna thinks that Buddhi is knowledge only and does not see it as the unfluctuating awareness of Brahman, the understanding of what Sat is.

00:03:24.383 --> 00:03:34.282
Then he asks that question that if you've given this knowledge of what is Real and unreal, then why do you engage me in this ghastly conflict?

00:03:34.582 --> 00:03:36.092
And this is a valid question.

00:03:36.356 --> 00:03:45.997
If utilizing the intellect and realizing Brahman is the best process of yoga and is the one Supreme way to get there, then why does Arjuna need to fight?

00:03:46.296 --> 00:03:52.086
Why does he need to act and therefore face consequences and face reactions for this?

00:03:52.387 --> 00:04:01.347
So he's asking the right question and if knowledge is Supreme and renunciation is the best thing then this is what he only needs to do.

00:04:01.347 --> 00:04:03.146
He does not need to fight in this war.

00:04:03.447 --> 00:04:07.586
But see, the renunciation is not about not doing any action.

00:04:07.586 --> 00:04:14.342
If we remember renunciation in chapter two was the renunciation of the results or the fruits of our actions.

00:04:14.643 --> 00:04:16.202
That's what Shri Krishna says.

00:04:16.442 --> 00:04:19.920
But obviously we see that Arjuna did not fully understand this point.

00:04:20.182 --> 00:04:22.932
And like us, we need clarification.

00:04:22.932 --> 00:04:25.012
We'd probably have the same questions too.

00:04:25.312 --> 00:04:28.012
So let's not mock Arjuna for these questions.

00:04:28.223 --> 00:04:31.252
We should actually thank him for asking what we're thinking.

00:04:31.572 --> 00:04:34.442
When our thinking is not clear, we have such doubts.

00:04:34.762 --> 00:04:45.713
So the context of this whole verse is that Arjuna wants to establish what is the best process going to be for him and whether it should be the path of knowledge or the path of action.

00:04:45.762 --> 00:04:46.483
Next verse.

00:04:46.483 --> 00:04:59.391
He continues on and says that your seemingly contradictory instructions have confused my buddhi, tell me the one best path of yoga by which I can attain the highest outcome.

00:04:59.692 --> 00:05:04.382
So he says your seemingly contradictory instructions have confused my buddhi.

00:05:04.701 --> 00:05:12.591
So he's talking about his mind being confused and Arjuna knows that Shri Krishna cannot give contradiction here.

00:05:12.891 --> 00:05:18.242
And he understands that there's no way that these two paths are contradictions.

00:05:18.541 --> 00:05:23.341
So there is a bit of a understanding there, and that's really good.

00:05:23.401 --> 00:05:29.362
Now, what Arjuna wants to know is how he can intellectually understand what is the better path here.

00:05:29.512 --> 00:05:32.661
That's what he wants to know, he wants proper instruction.

00:05:32.901 --> 00:05:34.581
He wants a clear instruction.

00:05:34.882 --> 00:05:39.081
He understands that his mind is still a bit hazy and bit confused.

00:05:39.182 --> 00:05:46.141
So then he asks, tell me the one best path of yoga by which I can attain the highest outcome.

00:05:46.242 --> 00:05:56.410
Simply, does he need to fight in this war and accumulate the results of those actions or is he meant to renounce and leave the war and just attain wisdom?

00:05:56.410 --> 00:05:57.550
What is he meant to do?

00:05:57.850 --> 00:06:12.423
And if attaining wisdom is the highest and from what he understood from the previous chapter that we learned from, he thinks that attaining wisdom will be the highest, hence his confusion as we knew from the previous line.

00:06:12.689 --> 00:06:18.958
But what Arjuna needs to understand is that the path of action and knowledge, they reach the same place.

00:06:19.057 --> 00:06:22.670
Krishna will have to explain this to him so he can understand.

00:06:22.783 --> 00:06:34.874
The context of this whole verse is that Arjuna's confusion needs to be eliminated and whatever contradictions he's been finding needs to be removed so that Arjuna can know what path he needs to take.

00:06:35.173 --> 00:06:37.471
In verse 3, now Krishna will speak.

00:06:37.930 --> 00:06:45.451
'Shri Bhagavan said, there are two methods of achieving Self Perfection that I have taught since time immemorial.

00:06:45.750 --> 00:06:53.343
The first is Gyana Yoga of the sankhya darshan, which is pursued by those inclined to analytical thinking.

00:06:53.644 --> 00:07:16.744
The second is Karma Yoga, which is pursued by those inclined to action.' So the first line is that'Shri Bhagavan said there are two methods of achieving Self Perfection that I have taught since time immemorial.' We know that what Krishna is talking about here is two paths that have been there from the very beginning, since this world has been manifested, this universe has been manifested.

00:07:16.790 --> 00:07:21.889
There's two methods that Arjuna can take that will achieve Self Perfection.

00:07:21.889 --> 00:07:24.470
So there will have the same goal in mind.

00:07:24.750 --> 00:07:29.843
And these methods have been here forever, they're not something new either.

00:07:30.142 --> 00:07:40.365
Now, whatever path Arjuna will choose, it will take him to the highest and it will take him to Self Perfection or it'll take him to mukti, to moksha, towards liberation.

00:07:41.036 --> 00:07:50.163
So Shri Krishna says that the first is Gyana Yoga of the Sankhya darshan, which is pursued by those inclined to analytical thinking.

00:07:50.163 --> 00:08:00.682
So in chapter two, we know that we've learned about Gyana Yoga, which is the discernmen of Sat and asat, the Real and unreal, the changing and Changeless.

00:08:00.932 --> 00:08:08.060
If you're intellectually inclined and you would like to just focus and analyze on what is Real and unreal, then that's the perfect path for you.

00:08:08.360 --> 00:08:16.920
Now, those people tend to be single-mindedly focused on this path and they will only contemplate on the discernment of the Real and unreal.

00:08:17.220 --> 00:08:22.800
They will give up all other modes of life and will give us all duties of life.

00:08:23.129 --> 00:08:27.639
In the pursuit of this understanding, in the pursuit of this darshan.

00:08:27.839 --> 00:08:37.330
Those people, that will be inclined to continuously think about this One, this Ultimate Truth, Ultimate Reality Sankhya Yoga is the one place.

00:08:37.330 --> 00:08:39.610
Gyana Yoga is their method.

00:08:39.759 --> 00:08:44.557
The second is karma yoga, which is pursued by those inclined to action.

00:08:44.857 --> 00:08:48.691
Now, if you think about it, everyone performs actions.

00:08:48.841 --> 00:08:57.998
This can be actions that serve the world and whoever is inclined towards those actions, which most of us are, Karma Yoga seems to be the way.

00:08:58.298 --> 00:09:02.707
In fact, in this world, can we be without any action?

00:09:03.008 --> 00:09:08.644
So for example, we are householders, we are performing actions accordingly.

00:09:08.945 --> 00:09:17.658
If we are in the brahmacharya stage, the stage where we are children, we are learning, isn't learning an action?

00:09:17.807 --> 00:09:23.908
The context of this verse, the setup that Shri Krishna's giving is that there's no contradiction here.

00:09:24.057 --> 00:09:28.258
There's always been two paths and they all lead to that one goal.

00:09:28.557 --> 00:09:38.192
One is the path of knowledge, Gyana Yoga, for those that are able to go through that single minded focus of analytical thinking.

00:09:38.192 --> 00:09:42.774
And the second is a path of karma, where one is inclined towards action.

00:09:42.924 --> 00:09:45.784
Both can lead someone to self-realization.

00:09:46.085 --> 00:09:46.924
Verse four.

00:09:47.225 --> 00:09:58.312
Shri Krishna continues that'one cannot avoid karma must simply by giving up action nor does one attain perfection by taking sannyas and entering into a monastery.

00:09:58.368 --> 00:10:02.962
First line one cannot avoid karma simply by giving up action.

00:10:03.113 --> 00:10:11.496
Shri Krishna is very clear here that simply saying that one will not do action is not enough and neither can one avoid karma.

00:10:11.797 --> 00:10:13.356
And there's three types of karma.

00:10:13.626 --> 00:10:19.447
There is sanchita karma, which is a store of karmic debts that we've accumulated from previous births.

00:10:19.596 --> 00:10:23.366
Ultimately whatever we do in life, these karmas will come up.

00:10:23.397 --> 00:10:29.746
Even if we renounce life and we say we were only going to be focusing on Gyana Yoga, it's impossible.

00:10:30.047 --> 00:10:33.379
Even the pursuit of Gyana yoga will have action.

00:10:33.679 --> 00:10:35.570
We cannot renounce everything.

00:10:35.850 --> 00:10:52.254
There's parabhda karma, which is that part of one's sanchita karma, which must be worked out in the present life because in the law of karma implies determinism in human activities, parabdha karma is often translated as destiny.

00:10:52.553 --> 00:11:00.647
And then there's agami karma which is new karma accumulated in the present lifetime, which is carried forward in to future lives.

00:11:00.947 --> 00:11:02.986
So nobody can escape action.

00:11:03.136 --> 00:11:13.336
Whatever you've done in the previous life, you will have to explore in this life and whatever you do in this life may go into future lives or in this life.

00:11:13.486 --> 00:11:19.447
Nobody escapes action even the pursuit of knowledge, as I mentioned is a subtle form of action as well.

00:11:19.596 --> 00:11:25.447
We need to remember that Shri Krishna has told us to not be attached to the fruits of our actions.

00:11:25.777 --> 00:11:27.726
We are not to think about the results.

00:11:28.027 --> 00:11:32.736
We are just to act knowing that we are the Atman, we are Brahman.

00:11:33.037 --> 00:11:34.687
We are pure consciousness.

00:11:34.917 --> 00:11:40.649
Karma of past lives and this life will always appear until we die or attain liberation.

00:11:40.809 --> 00:11:48.256
The next line Shri Krishna says, nor does one attain perfection by taking sannyas and entering into a monastery.

00:11:48.557 --> 00:11:54.894
Shri Krishna is addressing Arjun's dilemma before where he said he would leave and he will become a beggar.

00:11:55.033 --> 00:11:57.703
If you remember, Arjuna has mentioned this previously.

00:11:57.884 --> 00:12:00.494
Simply by taking sannyas will not be enough.

00:12:00.644 --> 00:12:07.364
Arjuna is a warrior and he is a prince and has a right over the kingdom, he needs to perform his actions.

00:12:07.663 --> 00:12:12.644
So going into monastery and taking sannyasa doesn't mean that one will move on psychologically.

00:12:12.943 --> 00:12:19.094
Arjuna could leave and then will still be thinking about the war and what the outcome would be of the war.

00:12:19.094 --> 00:12:20.673
What would happen to the people?

00:12:20.754 --> 00:12:22.173
What will happen to his brothers?

00:12:22.173 --> 00:12:23.703
What will happen to his wife?

00:12:23.894 --> 00:12:40.101
That will constantly haunt him, even though he has claimed renunciation, just in the form of action of not fighting in this war, but even leaving the war is an action in which he will have to face his karma too, he will have to face the results.

00:12:40.251 --> 00:12:48.677
So it's very important that we exhaust the influence of our desires and results within our manas, this requires us to act.

00:12:48.878 --> 00:13:00.518
Here we need to understand that until we get rid of every desire that we have, that we want to achieve until we exhaust those things, we're not going to go towards knowledge.

00:13:00.668 --> 00:13:04.927
We're not going to go towards Gyana, we're not going to go towards wisdom.

00:13:05.077 --> 00:13:08.355
We must renounce the doership of all actions.

00:13:08.654 --> 00:13:14.115
That's what Shri Krishna has been telling us because the Atman does not act.

00:13:14.414 --> 00:13:15.975
The Atman is not the doer.

00:13:16.125 --> 00:13:18.315
Only the body and mind acts.

00:13:18.572 --> 00:13:26.672
Therefore, all karma happens to the body and mind and if we think we are the body and mind, then we're going to face the fruits of those actions.

00:13:26.942 --> 00:13:34.294
But if we know we're not this body and mind, we are not going to face the fruits of those actions because we are established in Brahman.

00:13:34.615 --> 00:13:43.988
Yeah remember in the previous chapter we looked at being of steady wisdom that steady unfluctuating awareness of Atman and Brahman.

00:13:44.317 --> 00:13:48.758
So the outer appearance of renunciation is not enough for mukti.

00:13:49.057 --> 00:13:52.477
By entering a monastery can one truly give up action?

00:13:52.898 --> 00:13:53.918
Who will feed the monk?

00:13:54.455 --> 00:13:56.394
Who will serve others in the monastery?

00:13:56.394 --> 00:13:57.804
Who will clean the temple?

00:13:57.804 --> 00:13:59.845
Who will perform the rituals?

00:14:00.144 --> 00:14:04.375
Therefore Shri Krishna is ensuring that Arjuna's doubts are answered here.

00:14:04.674 --> 00:14:11.034
He's establishing that even if you go to the monastery, you still have to perform some actions.

00:14:11.335 --> 00:14:16.784
Shri Krishna will talk more about this and establish more of that understanding later on.

00:14:16.934 --> 00:14:34.274
The context of this whole verse is to ensure that one, Arjuna doubts are answered and two, so he can tell him the importance of not running away from action, and that moksha is not just attained by taking Sannyasa and renouncing life and entering a monastery and living in a monastery.

00:14:34.575 --> 00:14:35.684
There's much more to that.

00:14:35.985 --> 00:14:37.184
Now verse five.

00:14:37.485 --> 00:14:43.394
No one can exist even for a moment without acting and receiving the karma of their actions.

00:14:43.695 --> 00:14:51.264
Everyone is within the grasp of Prakriti and is forced to act because of the constant fluctuations of the gunas.

00:14:51.652 --> 00:14:58.158
So no one can exist even for a moment without acting and receiving the karma of their actions.

00:14:58.457 --> 00:14:59.538
And this is very true.

00:14:59.837 --> 00:15:01.607
Who can escape actions?

00:15:01.908 --> 00:15:03.337
Who can escape karma?

00:15:03.707 --> 00:15:05.538
No one, not even renunciants.

00:15:05.628 --> 00:15:12.227
Remember the parabdha karma, the actions from previous births that they have to address in this lifetime.

00:15:12.345 --> 00:15:13.754
That's always going to catch up.

00:15:14.085 --> 00:15:18.648
Whether it is the memories that we have in this mind, those will appear.

00:15:18.947 --> 00:15:26.418
If we have desires from previous lifetimes that have not been exhausted in this lifetime, they will appear even if we are a monk.

00:15:26.717 --> 00:15:30.368
So every action has a consequence that we label as good and bad.

00:15:30.398 --> 00:15:35.687
We have to understand this and without action, where is life and all its activities.

00:15:35.988 --> 00:15:36.347
Yeah.

00:15:36.648 --> 00:15:39.437
Every even meditation is an action.

00:15:39.652 --> 00:15:46.282
People need to understand that renunciation is only about results, not actions themselves.

00:15:46.341 --> 00:15:52.672
We cannot renounce actions, but we can renounce the results and its implications upon us.

00:15:52.971 --> 00:15:54.111
We can do that.

00:15:54.412 --> 00:15:55.942
We are in control of that.

00:15:56.241 --> 00:16:01.341
The only people that don't accumulate karma or don't perform actions are dead people.

00:16:01.642 --> 00:16:03.182
Those that die, they don't.

00:16:03.351 --> 00:16:07.162
And as long as you breathe, you are always going to be performing karma.

00:16:07.365 --> 00:16:08.085
Always.

00:16:08.384 --> 00:16:19.087
The second line to that verse, Shri Krishna says that everyone is within the grasp of prakriti and is forced to act because of the constant fluctuations of the Gunas.

00:16:19.388 --> 00:16:25.153
As we know there is , there is sattva, tamas and rajas, purity, inertia, and activity.

00:16:25.274 --> 00:16:27.585
They are the basis of our human existence.

00:16:27.884 --> 00:16:35.294
When we are pure, we have a still mind and we're able to remain in the flow of existence.

00:16:35.595 --> 00:16:38.611
When we are lazy, we cannot be bothered to do anything.

00:16:38.812 --> 00:16:43.152
And when we are active, then our mind isn't focused and is here, there in everywhere.

00:16:43.438 --> 00:16:51.275
So no matter who you are, what you are, our body is part of prakriti, it's part of nature and the manifest world of objects.

00:16:51.576 --> 00:16:53.405
So we cannot avoid action.

00:16:53.706 --> 00:16:56.706
Even seeking knowledge, as I mentioned, is an action.

00:16:56.796 --> 00:17:01.446
Doing meditation is an action, the fruits of which we have no control over.

00:17:01.745 --> 00:17:10.486
And that's the thing that creates buddhi yoga, is that understanding that we are not going to receive the fruits of actions because we are Brahman.

00:17:10.546 --> 00:17:12.135
We are this Ultimate Reality.

00:17:12.435 --> 00:17:20.476
Nature wants us to perform actions and we should, the moment we go against nature, the more nature will impose itself upon us.

00:17:20.806 --> 00:17:24.413
So to sustain nature, we need to look after our bodies.

00:17:24.502 --> 00:17:30.532
We need to clear our minds and we need to understand we have a part of ourselves in nature.

00:17:30.833 --> 00:17:34.913
And therefore not have any duality or resistance to it.

00:17:35.063 --> 00:17:44.276
The context of this whole verse is that no matter what you are, who you are, we are all subject to perform actions because we are manifested in this world.

00:17:44.576 --> 00:17:48.715
Whatever actions we do, we receive the reaction or response to it.

00:17:49.016 --> 00:17:53.939
It's very important that we go according to our nature and act accordingly.

00:17:54.239 --> 00:18:02.098
If we know that we desire something, then we need to work on that desire and see its beginning and its end.

00:18:02.338 --> 00:18:07.469
Even if we mentally do it and not physically go and act according to that desire.

00:18:07.769 --> 00:18:14.638
But we need to look at the thought of that desire and see where it begins and where it ends to transcend it.

00:18:14.939 --> 00:18:17.588
Then we are ready for that wisdom.

00:18:17.843 --> 00:18:20.818
This brings us to the end of this episode.

00:18:20.962 --> 00:18:24.363
Just to remind you that a new episode is uploaded every Sunday.

00:18:24.663 --> 00:18:30.932
You can follow me on social media to keep getting updates, details are in the show notes and video description below.

00:18:31.232 --> 00:18:34.673
You can subscribe to the monthly The Bearded Mystic Newsletter.

00:18:34.855 --> 00:18:37.766
Details are in the show notes and video description below.

00:18:38.066 --> 00:18:45.385
You can join The Bearded Mystic Podcast discord channel the details again are in the show notes and video description below.

00:18:45.538 --> 00:18:53.333
If you would like to support The Bearded Mystic Podcast as I mentioned in the beginning of the episode, there are a number of ways that you can do so.

00:18:53.633 --> 00:19:00.502
If you would like to utilize Patreon, you can get extra content by paying something monthly.

00:19:00.653 --> 00:19:09.323
Or you can give a one-time donation and you can find those ways to support The Bearded Mystic Podcast in the linktree account.

00:19:09.502 --> 00:19:14.002
If you can please rate and review the podcast, that would be greatly appreciated.

00:19:14.153 --> 00:19:17.393
I would like to thank you for listening to this episode.

00:19:17.782 --> 00:19:24.286
Aum Shanti Shanti Shanti Aum Peace Peace Peace Namaste.