In Bhagavad Gita’s chapter 4 verse 11, Sri Krishna shares that the way people relate to Him is the way He relates to them. There are three types of seekers, those who are seekers on account of their sincerity, those who are seekers on account of their luxury, and those who are seekers on account of their utility. Those who are seekers on account of utility are those who want a hack to bring a little bit of calmness into their lives. Those who are seekers on account of their luxury are those who are more successful in a secular way so they have the resources and time to seek, so it’s convenient for them and is a Saathvik hobby. The seekers who are sincere are those for whom it is not a hobby but a lifestyle. Our course will work for those who are sincere, Bhakti is not for those who are tuned into utility and luxury.
Recap:
In Sutra 44, Rishi Narada shares that those who are incomplete are always seeking completion. If we do this outside, we become more incomplete, there will be Kama and Krodha. If we seek completion inside, there will not be vices but virtues.
In Sutra 45, Rishi Narada teaches us to check when we start to devolve. By checking the negative people we interact with, the negative thoughts we interact with, we won’t devolve but be managed. A stitch in time saves nine!
In Sutra 46, Rishi Narada changes the texture of thought to ‘who is going to be the one who becomes free’. Those who tune their individual will into His will, are the ones who feel more free everyday and eventually feel free forever!
This Class:
Sutra 47: yah vivikta-sthānam sevate yah loka-bandham-unmūlayati, (yah) nistraigunyo bhavati, (yah) yoga-kshemam tyajati
Yah means the one, vivikta-sthaanam means who goes to a solitary place where they feel solitude, unmulayati means the one who has rooted out, loka-bandham means the bondage to society , nistraigunyo bhavati means the one who is being beyond the three gunas , tyajati means the who has let go, yoga-kshemam means this plan to procure and protect.
The word vivikta comes in Chapter 13 of Sri Bhagavad Gita, when Sri Krishna is explaining to prince Arjuna that virtues are knowledge, and one of the virtues is ‘vivikta desha sevitvam’ meaning the one who is regularly in a place of solitude. In the same chapter, the word ‘asakti’ is used which means the one who has let go/renounced. This Sutra says that the one who becomes free is the one who is in solitude (externally and internally).
Pujya Swami Chinmayananda shares ‘Therefore, we have to, as a sadhana, go to a spot where other men or the environment are not disturbing us, where atleast for ten minutes we can temporarily retreat into the within in ourselves. Throughout the day we act the part of the mother, the elder, the officer, the shopkeeper but never are we ever ourselves. To interview oneself with oneself and to feel our essential oneness with God, is resorting to aloneness (viviktadesha sevanam)’.
The word ‘nistraigunyo’ in the second line of this Sutra also comes in the second chapter of the Bhagavad Gita. Sri Krishna shares ‘nistraigunyo bhavaarjuna’, meaning being beyond moods. Then Sri Krishna starts teaching about Karma Yoga. In Chapter 9 Sri Krishna shares ‘niryogakshema atmavan’, one should be united with their own Self in which case they don’t have to live to procure and protect.
The first line of the sutra teaches us to ‘wake early’, the second line teaches us to ‘live beyond change’.
Pujya Swami Chinmayananda shares ‘He who renounces both yoga and kshema crosses maya because such a one declares , “I do not want the joy that is inherent in the objects of pleasure. I want the happiness that is inherent in me. I want to explore and reach the source of happiness, not the reflected happiness in objects. I seek only the supreme source of all bliss”’
Sutra 48: yaḥ karma-phalaṁ tyajati, karmāṇi sannyasyati, tato nirdvandvo bhavati
Karma-phalam tyajati means the one who does but they don’t do it for what they can get, but they do it for what they can give. This indicates one who is becoming free. Karmani sannyasyati means it is not just what comes that we offer to the one we love, but also all that we do is for the one we love! One gives deservership because Bhagavan is the deserver, then one gives up doership because the one who does is also Bhagavan.
Nirdvandvo bhavati means the one who is beyond separation. Dvandva means separation – if we cannot project or expect joy from dvandva then living in duality is not a problem. It is the project and expectation that is never fulfilled that causes us to be bound. The second greatest fear that humans have is public speaking. Deeper than that is we fear the judgment with public speaking, deeper than that is we fear the judgment of failure, deeper than that is we fear the judgment of failure that we project will bring us sorrow. But if we can take out this projection, it will make us courageous and fearless.