# 15: Bhagavad Gita Class by Swami Tadatmananda - Ch.2 Verses 42-46

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edAcOrFLzMU

[00:01] [Music]
[00:05] [Applause]
[00:07] [Music]
[00:08] [Applause]
[00:12] [Music]
[00:12] [Applause]
[00:17] [Music]
[01:04] Good.
[01:04] Welcome back to our weekly Bhagavad-Gita class.
[01:09] We continue on our study of chapter two.
[01:12] We've just begun the topic of karma yoga.
[01:16] We'll begin our recitation today with several verses beginning with verse 39.
[01:24] Please glance at the meaning while I'm chanting so that you can recite after me with the meaning.
[01:55] [Music]
[03:58] is
[04:01] [Music]
[05:08] So we'll stop there
[05:11] And pick up the thread
[05:15] We finished oh
[05:18] Yeah, we finished verse 41.
[05:22] So we'll begin today with verse 42.
[05:25] The context as we, as we discussed in the previous class, where you have several verses here to introduce the topic of karma yoga.
[05:34] The topic of karma yoga actually begins with the famous verse 47: karma vadi kharesta ma palaishuk.
[05:44] Everyone quotes that and mistranslates it.
[05:49] We'll see that soon.
[05:52] So these verses are introducing the topic of karma yoga.
[05:57] And as I mentioned in the previous class, where first, first Shri Krishna wants to make sure we understand what karma yoga is not.
[06:07] And I mentioned in the prior class a
[06:09] Common confusion with regard to the word karma, at least the common confusion in ancient times when karma meant vadika karma, vedic karma, vedic rituals.
[06:25] The word karma was frequently used in a sense of vedic rituals in ancient times, and Sri Krishna wants to make it really clear that karma yoga is not the performance of vedic rituals.
[06:38] In fact, as you'll see, he's highly critical of the excessive focus on ritualism, the same complaint that many people have today about Hinduism.
[06:50] Shri Krishna himself had the same complaint about Hinduism as commonly practiced many thousands of years ago, several thousands of years ago.
[07:02] In this context, at the end of the last class, I made a differentiation between two sections of the Veda.
[07:07] I want...
[07:10] To remind you about that two-fold division.
[07:13] We can divide the current Vedas in several ways.
[07:16] There are four Vedas, each with their own name.
[07:19] But within each of the four Vedas, there are two broad sections.
[07:26] There are other ways of dividing up as well.
[07:28] But the two broad sections are karma kanda and gnana kanda.
[07:31] Kanda means part, portion.
[07:33] Karma kanda is the portion of the Vedas devoted to karma.
[07:42] Remember, karma here means rituals.
[07:46] And then at the end of each Veda is a small part which is the gnana kanda.
[07:53] The part of the Veda devoted to gnana, spiritual wisdom.
[08:00] Because those portions occur at the end of each Veda, they're called veda anta, Vedanta.
[08:08] So we talked about that in the prior class.
[08:10] So here he's...
[08:11] Shri Krishna is going to criticize those who are excessively focused on the karma kanda of the Veda.
[08:21] Those who ignore the nyana kanda of the Veda.
[08:28] Before we proceed, one point I'm not sure if I made it clearly in the last class.
[08:33] It's an important point.
[08:37] The performance of Vedic rituals was done for the sake of specific goals.
[08:43] In fact, we did talk about the first three of the four purusharthas: gaining kama, pleasure; now gaining artha, wealth, so that you can enjoy pleasure for the remainder of this life; pleasure or contentment; and then dharma, accumulating religious merit, so that you could enjoy pleasure and contentment in whatever state follows this life.
[09:10] The point I...
[09:13] I want to make before we plunge in here is that the performance of Vedic rituals were for the sake of that pleasure and contentment, pleasure and contentment, now later and in the next life.
[09:26] The purpose of those Vedic rituals was dharma, artha and kama, the first three of the four purusharthas.
[09:36] And the anaconda is for the sake of moksha, the fourth.
[09:40] Of those Buddhists, if you're not familiar with this topic of the four purusharthas, we discussed it at the end of the prior class.
[09:49] Classic, go back and listen to that.
[09:53] So with that in mind, here Sri Krishna is critical of those who focus on the karma kanda, seeking pleasure and contentment, and those who overlook the anaconda, which leads you to discover the true source of pleasure and contentment within.
[10:12] We'll have all that.
[10:13] Discussion will come so let's resume.
[10:48] Good excuse me start in the third line.
[10:52] Partha o Arjuna, he's addressed by Sri Krishna.
[10:56] Sri Krsna says he's talking about those who are Veda vara.
[11:04] Those who revel in the Vata in the teaching of the Veda and specifically in the Karma Kanda.
[11:15] Of the Veda, that's the context, you see.
[11:17] It very clearly.
[11:19] So he's criticizing those who revel in the karma kanda of the Veda.
[11:25] He calls them in the second line end of the pasht.
[11:29] They're not clear thinking.
[11:33] They haven't clearly discerned that the ultimate source of contentment and pleasure is within.
[11:44] And so, since they haven't discerned the true source within, they're focused out in the world, gaining happiness, contentment, peace, and joy through worldly activities, through worldly pursuits, supported by the performance of Vedic rituals.
[12:04] Vedic rituals are done to help you gain worldly goals.
[12:12] Let me say that again: Vedic rituals were done to help you.
[12:16] Gain worldly goals dharma, arta, and kama.
[12:19] So Shri Krishna criticizes them.
[12:23] Those who are committed to the karma kanda of the Veda, they are of the avi.
[12:31] They haven't properly discerned what's really going on.
[12:35] They haven't properly discerned the true source of contentment within.
[12:41] And because they're ignorant, pravadhanti.
[12:45] In the beginning of the second line, they say.
[12:49] They utter.
[12:53] In the first line, they utter imam vacham.
[12:57] These words, the imam yam imam.
[13:04] They utter such words that come from the Vedas.
[13:08] Which Shri Krishna here calls pushpitam vacham, flowery words.
[13:15] Flowery words in a sense of very appealing.
[13:18] Words of the Vedas, so since the karma kanda says that by doing these rituals you can go to heaven, you can attain, you can get the birth of a son, you can acquire wealth, these various worldly goals available through Vedic rituals, Shri Krishna calls all that pushpitam vacham, flowery words, and hasn't criticized.
[13:43] Those who are committed to the vedavata, to the karma kanda, he concludes not concludes.
[13:50] He says further in the fourth line, he says they are vadi naha, they are people who say, people who say what na an asti, it feels like a close quote uh anyarasti, there is nothing else, there is no other way, and I'll paraphrase now.
[14:18] There is no other way to gain contentment, joy, happiness, peace, love, there is no other way to gain these except through the performance of vedic rituals.
[14:35] And this is what Sri Krishna is highly critical of.
[14:39] And he continues.
[14:52] [Music] is [Music] so those speaking still about those who are committed to the karma.
[15:21] Kanda of the Vedas, those who are committed to this highly ritualistic form of the practice of Hindu and Hinduism, he calls them in the next in this verse.
[15:38] Those people here, atma means heart or mind.
[15:41] Atma doesn't always mean sachitan on the atma, your true self.
[15:45] Atma can simply mean yourself.
[15:48] Here it means mind.
[15:52] Come out, those whose minds are filled with karma desire.
[15:55] What do they desire?
[15:59] They desire pleasure now, comma, they desire pleasure for the rest of their lives.
[16:04] Arta, and they desire pleasure in whatever follows this life.
[16:08] Dharma, the first three of the four puducharthas, and they are swarga.
[16:17] They are focused on swarga, getting to heaven.
[16:21] Their ultimate goal is to get to.
[16:23] Heaven.
[16:24] There they realize perhaps that the pleasure they can enjoy in this life is limited.
[16:35] As a human being, there's only so much pleasure you can enjoy.
[16:39] And there's a lot of suffering associated with a human birth.
[16:43] So they're focused on going to heaven and having a devastating, having a godly body which is not going to be subject to suffering at all.
[16:54] So in heaven they can have pleasure with no suffering.
[16:58] And you see a reference to that in the final line.
[17:02] We'll get there.
[17:05] Oh, in the final line, pick up that word prati.
[17:06] We need that word.
[17:09] They are towards.
[17:12] They're focused on what?
[17:13] In a second line, they're focused on janma, the rituals which are pradam, the rituals.
[17:24] Which give the rituals which give karmapala, the fruits of one's actions.
[17:32] And here the karma specifically is ritual karmapala is the result of Vedic rituals.
[17:42] And actually a better way of interpreting this, the pala in my translation here is helpful.
[17:50] So they want the pala of doing the rituals, and the pala of doing those rituals is twofold here.
[17:57] Janma, a better birth, specifically a birth in heaven, and karma, punya karma, religious merit.
[18:10] So they are focused on these rituals which bestow good karma and better rebirth.
[18:18] And those rituals are kriya, the sheisha baahulam.
[18:26] Those rituals are bakula.
[18:29] They're filled with the sheisha.
[18:32] Many specific actions.
[18:36] There are many steps in those rituals, many parts.
[18:42] There's, if you've watched a skilled Hindu priest performing a, um, a homa or a heaven, a fire ritual, you see there are so many steps involved.
[18:58] So those rituals are filled with so many steps and parts to the rituals.
[19:02] And they are prati, they're focused on bhoga aishwarya gathem.
[19:10] They're focused on a gati, a goal.
[19:11] The goal was heaven, and the goal of heaven is a condition in which there is boga, pleasure, and aishwarya, power, sovereignty, absence of suffering.
[19:26] So they're focused on getting to heaven,
[19:30] as opposed to being focused on moksha.
[19:34] Moksha has reached through the fourth of those four purusharthas we discussed in the last class.
[19:43] I'll put them back up on the board a little later when we get to that part.
[19:50] Continuing, he's not done with his criticism of rituals.
[20:04] Foreign.
[20:19] [Music]
[20:26] So the prior verse talked about.
[20:32] Those focused on bhoga, pleasure, and aishwarya, a power.
[20:36] So he's referring to those.
[20:39] Bhoga aishwarya prasaktanam.
[20:43] For those who are prasakta, attached, dedicated to, dedicated to what?
[20:50] Boga and aishwarya, pleasure and power, which you gain by performing rituals and going to heaven.
[21:00] So about those he says, by their attachment or by their ignorance, they are apachrita chaitasam.
[21:16] They're chaitha's, their minds are up carried away, their minds are carried away by their attachment to power and pleasure.
[21:28] Does that sound a little familiar?
[21:31] This is the human condition.
[21:35] So many people are riveted.
[21:41] One whose mind is carried literally, carried away.
[21:44] Those whose minds are carried away by their attachment to power and pleasure, what about them?
[21:54] If Shri Krishna says for them which is well ascertained, we saw that expression, uh, in verse 41.
[22:19] So back right here on top first line via sayat mika buddhir, same expression.
[22:28] The buddhi, an understanding which is, we had a long discussion when we saw.
[22:35] verse 41
[22:37] in fact it was a discussion of the four
[22:40] purusharthas
[22:41] so we said viva sayatmika buddhi
[22:45] the well ascertained understanding
[22:48] is the ascertainment let me get the
[22:51] slide back
[22:53] is the ascertainment that the pursuit
[22:58] of dharma arta and kama
[23:01] can never lead you to
[23:05] complete peace and
[23:09] uninterrupted contentment
[23:13] i should have talked about this before
[23:15] let me mention it right now
[23:19] anything you achieve
[23:23] through karma effort whether it's a
[23:26] worldly effort
[23:28] like going to work in the morning or
[23:30] whether it's a ritual effort doing
[23:32] complicated rituals
[23:34] the results of any ritual of
[23:37] any karma any worldly karma or any
[23:41] religious karma
[23:42] the results will always be limited
[23:46] finite so it means if you work really
[23:50] hard
[23:51] you get a paycheck but the paycheck is a
[23:54] finite amount if you do lots of rituals
[23:58] you collect religious merit
[24:01] but the religious merit is a finite
[24:03] amount
[24:04] with that finite paycheck you can only
[24:07] buy a finite number of things
[24:09] with that finite religious merit you can
[24:12] perhaps go to heaven but
[24:14] as many of you know the hindu concept of
[24:17] heaven
[24:18] is that when you exhaust all your
[24:20] religious merit
[24:22] you get reborn again into another life
[24:25] so the result of any karma whether it be
[24:30] a worldly karma or religious karma
[24:33] is finite it's limited
[24:36] and the problem is
[24:39] we want perfect peace
[24:43] we want perfect contentment
[24:47] i uh of story i made up i've told many
[24:50] times i'll tell it right now it fits
[24:52] in um i joked i jokingly
[24:56] invented and i invented a medication a
[24:59] pill
[25:00] suppose some scientist develops a pill
[25:05] you take this medication and you will be
[25:09] happy 99 percent of the time
[25:12] by taking this medication you'll be
[25:14] happy 99
[25:16] of time suppose i have that pill will
[25:18] you take it
[25:20] well that would be a reasonable thing to
[25:23] do
[25:24] because being happy 99 of the time is
[25:28] not bad better than what you normally
[25:31] experience but suppose the next time
[25:35] i see you is
[25:38] the one percent of the time when the
[25:41] medication
[25:42] doesn't make you happy and i see you so
[25:45] miserable and i ask you
[25:47] what happened i thought you took the
[25:49] pill and you said yeah 99
[25:51] of the time i'm happy right now i'm
[25:54] miserable
[25:55] and here's the point can you accept
[25:59] being miserable one percent of the time
[26:03] when you're happy 99 of the time well
[26:06] while you're
[26:07] in that one percent of misery you can't
[26:10] accept it at all
[26:13] we want perfect peace
[26:16] perfect contentment uninterrupted
[26:21] contentment and that state of perfection
[26:27] cannot be accomplished through finite
[26:30] karmas so finite worldly
[26:34] actions will not lead you to a state of
[26:36] perfect contentment and
[26:38] peace and the finite rituals you do
[26:41] will never lead you to perfect peace and
[26:44] contentment
[26:44] on the other hand shifting
[26:49] your attention away from dharma
[26:52] arta and kama shifting your attention
[26:55] towards the
[26:56] fourth purushartha moksha
[26:59] you are now seeking the true
[27:03] source of contentment and peace
[27:07] and when you have found that true
[27:10] source of contentment and peace you will
[27:13] in fact enjoy perfect
[27:17] unbroken uninterrupted contentment and
[27:21] peace
[27:22] the other sayat mika buddhi is that
[27:25] dessert
[27:26] that discernment the discernment
[27:29] of the fact that the pursuit of dharma
[27:33] artha and kama
[27:34] through any amount of effort worldly
[27:37] effort and religious effort
[27:39] you cannot possibly gain perfect
[27:42] complete contentment and peace it can
[27:46] only be achieved through seeking moksha
[27:50] liberation enlightenment that
[27:53] discernment
[27:54] is vivasayat mika buddhi
[27:58] and here in this verse shri krishna says
[28:00] for those
[28:01] who are attached to pleasure and power
[28:04] for those whose
[28:05] minds are overcome by their attachment
[28:09] to
[28:09] pleasure and power for them the other
[28:13] side
[28:15] this discernment of the
[28:18] limitation of what you can achieve
[28:21] through effort and the recognition
[28:25] of what you can gain
[28:28] by gaining moksha that is for those
[28:31] people who are carried away by their
[28:33] attachment to pleasure and power
[28:35] this discernment not the deity
[28:39] it will not arise in their minds
[28:42] they will not that this
[28:46] this discernment is like a
[28:48] transformation
[28:49] of of priorities
[28:53] in life generally our pride do you have
[28:56] a to-do list
[28:57] many things you have to do and maybe you
[28:59] prioritize your to-do list
[29:02] so there are so many things to be done
[29:05] in life
[29:06] the other sayatmikabuddhi is the
[29:09] discernment
[29:10] where moksha spiritual growth
[29:14] is the number one
[29:18] goal in your to-do list it's number one
[29:21] other things also have to be done and
[29:23] you'll continue to do all of those
[29:26] but when seeking moksha is in the number
[29:30] one position on your to-do list
[29:32] that is the proper discernment via the
[29:35] sayatmika bhuti
[29:36] but for these people who are committed
[29:39] to vedic
[29:40] rituals and gaining going to heaven
[29:43] that discernment not the deity it will
[29:47] not
[29:47] arise for them samadhao
[29:51] my translation here is maybe
[29:54] it actually not it's not in keeping
[29:58] with the commentary of madhusudana
[30:01] saraswati which i
[30:03] referred to when i prepared for class so
[30:05] you can say it will never
[30:07] lead to samadhi it's it's correct and
[30:10] it's meaningful
[30:11] but madhu sudana samadhi as you know is
[30:14] a state of meditative
[30:15] absorption which is the common
[30:19] meaning of samadhi but madhu sudhana
[30:22] saraswati in his commentary goes to the
[30:25] root meaning of samadhi
[30:29] when you can break down the word into
[30:31] the root
[30:32] dha to place with the prefixes
[30:36] some and ah some ah
[30:39] da to place well
[30:44] samadhi is in one sense it's a
[30:47] well-placed
[30:48] mind in a meditative sense you can kind
[30:51] of
[30:52] see how it gets that meaning so a
[30:54] well-placed
[30:55] mind is a mind established in the
[30:58] absorption of samadhi
[31:00] but the meaning madhu sudha takes here
[31:03] is samadhi a mind which is
[31:06] well placed well placed in truth
[31:10] well placed in brahman this is how
[31:13] madhusudana takes it so my
[31:16] he wouldn't like my translation but
[31:18] that's
[31:19] there are several ways i should mention
[31:21] there's several commentaries on the
[31:23] bhagavad-gita
[31:24] and they will interpret that word
[31:27] samadhi differently
[31:29] so you can definitely translate it as i
[31:31] did here
[31:32] in the absence of if you are focused
[31:36] on doing vedic rituals to go to heaven
[31:40] you're not going to gain samadhi and
[31:42] gain enlightenment
[31:45] or in the sense of madhusudana's
[31:48] commentary
[31:49] if you are focused on rituals you will
[31:51] never gain the discernment
[31:54] and gain that enlightenment in which
[31:56] your mind is established in truth
[31:59] established in brahman
[32:02] okay next
[32:25] [Music]
[32:45] and remember in context he's referring
[32:48] specifically to the
[32:50] karma kanda of those three vedas the
[32:53] portion of the vedas
[32:54] focused on ritual he says
[32:58] those vedas are trigna
[33:03] the subject matter vishaya the subject
[33:05] matter
[33:06] of those vedas are trigona
[33:11] you know of the three gunas
[33:15] the three gunas are the pre-scientific
[33:18] way of
[33:19] understanding the world in modern
[33:22] science we understand the world in terms
[33:24] of
[33:24] matter and energy in ancient times they
[33:27] understood the world in terms of satwa
[33:30] rajas and thomas so we can refer to the
[33:34] world as matter and energy or we can
[33:36] refer to the world
[33:38] in terms of the three gunas sattva rajas
[33:42] so trigona means worldly
[33:45] that which is composed of sato rajasthan
[33:48] the three gunas trigonia
[33:55] have as a subject matter that which is
[33:57] trigonal
[33:58] that which is worldly
[34:02] i'm smiling because there's nothing
[34:06] fun to
[34:09] let me say this and then explain there's
[34:11] nothing
[34:12] fundamentally spiritual
[34:16] about the performance of vedic rituals
[34:20] now understand first of all the word
[34:21] spiritual the
[34:23] spiritual is a translation of the
[34:25] sanskrit word adhyatmika
[34:27] that which is focused on the true self
[34:30] that which is focused on reality
[34:33] that which is focused on gaining
[34:35] enlightenment
[34:39] but vedic rituals as we saw before
[34:43] are are focused on
[34:46] gaining their the vedic rituals are for
[34:50] the sake of
[34:51] dharma artha and comma these
[34:55] three i keep i
[34:58] i want to get them up on the board so
[35:00] let me do that now
[35:02] because we're going to need it later
[35:05] anyway
[35:06] so i keep referring to these four
[35:08] purushartas
[35:09] we discussed them in a prior class and i
[35:13] want to
[35:14] return to that now so the let me make
[35:17] sure i'm on the board
[35:18] so the for the term
[35:25] the the arta the goal of a purusha
[35:28] person there are four
[35:34] dharma
[35:37] artha kama
[35:41] and moksha
[35:46] and we've see we discussed this at
[35:49] length in a prior class but just to
[35:51] return to this
[35:52] there's some really important teaching
[35:55] we've said that
[35:57] comma is for the sake of contentment
[36:00] now comma means pleasure
[36:03] arta is gaining wealth wealth which is
[36:06] necessary to enjoy contentment
[36:09] later in this life and then dharma
[36:12] is the accumulation of religious merit
[36:15] so that whatever
[36:17] follows this life would be a condition
[36:19] of contentment so
[36:20] we'll jokingly call that much
[36:24] later
[36:27] but notice contentment and pleasure now
[36:31] contentment and pleasure later
[36:33] contentment and pleasure much later
[36:36] how worldly is that there's nothing
[36:40] spiritual about it there is something
[36:42] religious
[36:44] about it because prayer
[36:47] is involved all the way through so
[36:50] but we distinguish between religion and
[36:54] spirituality
[36:55] religion is prayer and deals with
[36:58] matters of belief spirituality as
[37:03] we use the word in advaita vedanta it
[37:06] feels differently in
[37:08] other places but in advaita vedanta
[37:11] we refer to spirituality as i said it's
[37:14] a translation of the word
[37:20] adhyatmika
[37:22] for the long sanskrit word here
[37:26] ah
[37:30] literally means spiritual and it gets
[37:33] its meaning you can see the word
[37:35] atma inside focused on
[37:38] atma adhyatmika means focused on
[37:41] atma pursuing truth
[37:45] and pursuing truth where adhyatmika
[37:49] within yourself so here we can
[37:52] distinguish
[37:53] between an outward turned
[37:57] pursuit and an inward turn
[38:00] pursuit this worldly pursuit
[38:06] that which is concerned with the world
[38:09] is an
[38:10] outward turn pursuit and that is a
[38:12] pursuit of dharma art and comma
[38:15] as opposed to an inward
[38:18] turned pursuit which is the pursuit
[38:22] of absolute truth which is the pursuit
[38:25] of
[38:25] moksha so this is
[38:29] the key distinction in that view sayat
[38:32] meka buddhi that discernment
[38:35] that discernment is a radical shift
[38:39] of orientation where your orientation
[38:42] shifts away from that which is external
[38:45] in our verse called trigona
[38:48] worldly and the shift is from the
[38:52] worldly
[38:53] to moksha that which is
[38:56] other worldly that which is
[38:59] transcending the world well we'll come
[39:02] back to this and just
[39:03] while i'm up here let me just make one
[39:05] more comment or
[39:06] one more connection that we discussed
[39:09] before
[39:10] we said that the first three
[39:13] of these purusharthas are gained by
[39:16] following the
[39:19] karma kanda
[39:23] of the veda as opposed to moksha which
[39:27] is gained by
[39:28] following we saw this last week also
[39:31] by following the anaconda
[39:34] of the veda okay this is extremely
[39:38] important material okay
[39:49] am i back good
[39:54] so now sri krishna begins by saying
[40:01] here veda means the karma kanda of the
[40:04] veda
[40:04] and as we just saw the karma khan of the
[40:07] veda
[40:08] has the subject matter which is trigna
[40:11] worldly the pursuit of dharma artha and
[40:14] kama
[40:14] is a worldly pursuit
[40:18] and then comes
[40:22] the very powerful direction
[40:25] to arjuna in the third line he addresses
[40:28] archana by name arjuna
[40:30] arjuna
[40:35] bhava you should be niskaigna
[40:40] free from the three gunas literally free
[40:44] from the
[40:44] three gunas but contextually
[40:47] free from worldliness
[40:51] free from the pursuit of dharma
[40:54] arta and kama and you should be free
[40:57] from that and obviously
[40:59] focused on moksha is a sense here
[41:04] excuse me
[41:11] the karma kanda of the veda is concerned
[41:13] with worldly matters
[41:15] so therefore arjuna
[41:18] bhava oh arjuna you should be free from
[41:21] worldly matters
[41:22] meaning you should reject
[41:26] the karma kanda of the veda
[41:30] this is very powerful
[41:34] rejection of the excessive ritualism
[41:38] of ancient times some of which persists
[41:41] even to this day he continues to tell
[41:45] arjuna that arjuna bhava
[41:47] you should be nirdwandwaha
[41:51] free from these dualities
[41:55] do and here dwandua means a pair
[41:58] and a pair they're generally called
[42:01] pairs
[42:02] of opposites uh you've got
[42:05] pleasure and pain cold and heat
[42:09] these pla these opposites where you seek
[42:12] one and want to avoid the
[42:16] other you seek pleasure you want to
[42:19] avoid
[42:20] pain that's kind of the basic rule of
[42:24] life
[42:25] but if you remember i think in the last
[42:27] class we discussed how the problem is
[42:30] one of compulsivity
[42:36] and we need to return this won't make
[42:38] any sense unless we return to that
[42:42] teaching we discussed before and the
[42:44] this
[42:45] the the difference between likes and
[42:48] dislikes
[42:50] and binding likes and dislikes or raga
[42:53] and duisha
[42:56] we said in a prior class that having
[42:59] likes and dislikes is normal
[43:02] when he says near dwandu aha be free
[43:05] from
[43:06] these these likes and dislikes
[43:10] doesn't look does it mean anything is
[43:13] okay
[43:15] that's unnatural i gave the example that
[43:18] my own guru prefers coffee
[43:21] over tea having been born in south india
[43:25] he grew up drinking
[43:26] coffee he also drinks he also drank tea
[43:29] but
[43:29] he had a preference for for coffee the
[43:32] point is is
[43:33] having likes and dislikes
[43:37] is normal it is not the problem
[43:40] the problem is when you get compulsive
[43:43] about it
[43:44] where you have to get what you like
[43:47] and you have to avoid what you dislike
[43:51] the problem is not likes and dislikes
[43:54] the problem is being
[43:56] emotionally compelled to seek what you
[43:59] like
[44:00] and being compelled to avoid what you do
[44:03] don't like the problem is compulsivity
[44:08] and when he says
[44:12] you should be free from from these
[44:15] pairs you should be you should be
[44:17] impartial as a
[44:18] literal translation you should be free
[44:20] from these pairs the context says you
[44:23] should be
[44:24] free from this compulsivity you should
[44:27] be
[44:27] nitya you should be
[44:31] always established in satwa
[44:34] a state of purity what he's referring
[44:38] here
[44:39] to here is a state
[44:43] of mind in which
[44:46] you can break free from
[44:50] pursuing dharma artha and kama
[44:53] and instead pursue moksha
[44:56] the problem is a problem that's well
[45:00] a problem that's well known to you and
[45:02] that is
[45:03] we only have so much time available
[45:06] in each day and if a hundred percent of
[45:10] our time
[45:10] is engaged in dharma arta and kama
[45:14] how much time is available for seeking
[45:17] moksha
[45:19] that's the problem so the instruction to
[45:22] arjuna
[45:23] nist turn your back
[45:28] on seeking these
[45:31] worldly goals dharma artan kama
[45:35] and turn your back means
[45:38] not to ignore them completely because
[45:40] you have to live in the world
[45:42] unless you become a sannyasi a hindu
[45:45] monk and live in an
[45:47] ashram or a cave you have to be involved
[45:49] in
[45:50] worldly activities but as i said before
[45:53] the trick is to make moksha
[45:57] the number one priority
[46:00] and that's the message being given to
[46:02] arjuna here
[46:04] nerdwandwaha break free of this
[46:07] conventional
[46:09] worldly pursuit of chasing after your
[46:12] what you want and
[46:14] running away from what you don't want
[46:16] nitya
[46:18] always be established in a state of
[46:21] mental purity
[46:23] where your mind is available to pursue
[46:26] moksha yoga
[46:30] be free from there's a common expression
[46:33] yoga
[46:34] and shema here yoga has nothing to do
[46:37] with
[46:37] what you commonly understand as yoga
[46:41] in this expression yoga means getting
[46:44] what you want
[46:46] and shema means preserving
[46:49] what you've attained yoga
[46:52] is a state of getting what you want
[46:54] shema is the state of preserving it
[46:57] so yoga is getting the cup of tea
[47:01] shama is not spilling it
[47:04] so that you can enjoy it so you the
[47:07] life is characterized as yoga and shema
[47:11] acquisition of what you want and shame
[47:14] protection or preservation of what
[47:16] you've gained
[47:17] and here sri krishna says break free
[47:20] from that
[47:22] break free from this conventional
[47:25] worldly attitude so that you can focus
[47:28] on gaining moksha and he
[47:32] ends that sentence by saying arjuna you
[47:34] should be
[47:36] atmavon
[47:41] possessed of atma but what does that
[47:45] mean i said before
[47:46] who is not possessive or not everyone
[47:49] has
[47:50] atma atma here doesn't mean
[47:53] sachitananda here atma simply means self
[47:57] atmavan means self possessed
[48:01] and in our context we could say
[48:05] being internally focused we distinguish
[48:08] between being
[48:09] externally focused in the pursuit of
[48:12] dharma art and comma
[48:14] externally focused in the pursuit of
[48:17] those worldly goals
[48:19] as opposed to being internally focused
[48:23] for the sake of gaining moksha that's
[48:26] condition of being
[48:27] internally focused is called here
[48:29] atmavan
[48:31] literally self-possessed
[48:34] now to
[48:37] introduce the next verse
[48:43] let's just get the context here suppose
[48:46] you have let me introduce it properly
[48:50] suppose you have undergone
[48:54] this transformation of priorities
[48:57] and intent so that you're no longer
[49:01] focused exclusively on pursuing dharma
[49:04] art and kama your primary focus
[49:07] in life is moksha that's the viva sayat
[49:12] mika buddhi
[49:13] as a discernment we discussed before
[49:16] suppose you have
[49:17] gained that discernment
[49:20] having gained that discernment
[49:24] what would be your perspective
[49:28] on all these vedic rituals here shri
[49:30] krishna is concluding his
[49:32] criticism of all those vedic rituals
[49:36] so for one who has made this
[49:41] where am i here to come back
[49:45] for for one who has made that
[49:49] shift of intent that shift of
[49:52] of uh of shifting one's
[49:56] goal shifting one's orientation from
[49:59] that
[49:59] external orientation to the internal
[50:03] orientation from that external worldly
[50:06] orientation to this
[50:08] internal spiritual orientation
[50:11] such a person who has made that
[50:13] discernment
[50:15] what would be their attitude towards
[50:18] vedic rituals and that's what shri
[50:21] krishna describes
[50:22] quite wonderfully in this next verse
[50:36] [Music]
[50:38] servata
[50:40] [Music]
[51:01] and that last line vajanatha for one who
[51:05] understands properly brahmana here
[51:08] doesn't necessarily mean one who belongs
[51:11] to that caste
[51:12] but rather one who is pursuing brahman
[51:15] is another meaning of brahmana
[51:18] several meanings of brahmana one of
[51:20] course is the caste
[51:22] but another meaning often used in
[51:24] vedanta
[51:25] is one who pursues brahman absolute
[51:28] reality
[51:30] so brahmanas for
[51:33] that one who has the proper discernment
[51:38] for one who has discerned the limitation
[51:41] of worldly pursuits
[51:43] for one who has shifted the orientation
[51:45] away from external
[51:48] pursuits and towards internal pursuit of
[51:51] truth
[51:52] for such a person what is their attitude
[51:54] towards vedic rituals
[51:56] well sri krishna gives this metaphor
[51:59] yavan
[52:00] ar taha udapane yavan as much
[52:04] artha has much value
[52:07] urapan a urapana is a well
[52:11] a of a source of water a well which is
[52:16] sarvataha
[52:19] [Music]
[52:23] a well which is which has
[52:26] some pluta udake a well which is
[52:30] on all sides surrounded by
[52:34] water and here we need we need to
[52:36] understand the metaphor
[52:39] in dry parts of india and other places
[52:43] it's not uncommon for villagers to dig
[52:46] a well in a dry stream bed
[52:51] and the reason you might dig a well in a
[52:52] dry stream bed is stream bed means water
[52:56] so you might presume that the water
[52:58] would be closer to the
[53:00] surface in that dry stream bed
[53:03] so imagine villagers dig a well in that
[53:06] dry
[53:07] stream bed and they have access to water
[53:10] that is their
[53:11] their udapana there well
[53:14] is in that dry stream bed but then
[53:17] suppose
[53:17] when the rains come in july and august
[53:22] september the heavy rains come and it
[53:25] rains so much that the dry stream bed is
[53:28] no longer dry
[53:30] it's now running with water now
[53:33] in picture it the villagers built that
[53:36] well
[53:37] in the middle of that dry stream bed but
[53:39] now the well is surrounded by water all
[53:42] over the place
[53:43] and sri krishna uses this matter
[53:46] metaphor
[53:47] what is the use of that well
[53:51] when the well is surrounded by water you
[53:53] don't need to go to the well
[53:55] you just go to the stream and you get as
[53:58] much
[53:58] water as you want so the point is is
[54:01] that the
[54:02] well becomes superfluous
[54:06] is the right word the well becomes
[54:09] superfluous
[54:11] so this is what sri krishna is teaching
[54:13] here
[54:14] it says
[54:18] as much value as one has for a well
[54:22] which is sarvatus pluta decay
[54:25] for that well which is surrounded all
[54:28] over the place by water for that well in
[54:30] the stream bed
[54:32] when the stream is flowing with water
[54:35] tavon so that you recognize
[54:39] that the well is superfluous
[54:42] that is the value of the well yavan arta
[54:47] you the value of the well is that the
[54:50] well
[54:50] is superfluous tavan
[54:55] that much is the value
[54:59] sarveishu vedeshu in
[55:02] all the vedas and again he's
[55:04] specifically referring to the
[55:06] karma conda of the veda
[55:09] the just as the well becomes superfluous
[55:14] when the rains come in the same way
[55:17] the performance of vedic rituals becomes
[55:21] superfluous and the teachings of the
[55:23] karma kanda
[55:25] become superfluous
[55:28] for one when you have undergone that
[55:31] shift of orientation when you have that
[55:34] via
[55:35] sayatmika buddhi when you have
[55:38] that discernment that the pursuit
[55:41] of limited worldly goals
[55:45] is not worth worth it it's not worth the
[55:48] effort
[55:49] with that discernment you turn your
[55:52] orientation
[55:53] away from worldly pursuits you turn your
[55:56] orientation within brahmanas
[56:04] for one who has made this discernment
[56:08] just as you just as the well
[56:11] surrounded by water is superfluous
[56:14] in the same way the ritualism
[56:18] taught in the vedas becomes superfluous
[56:22] having made that shift of orientation
[56:27] and we'll end our class now but i just
[56:31] want to show you the verse with which
[56:33] we'll begin our next class
[56:35] karma vadi kaduste
[56:38] with this verse shri krishna begins to
[56:42] teach what
[56:43] karma yoga is so far he's been teaching
[56:46] what it is not
[56:48] and he's been teaching the shift of
[56:50] orientation
[56:52] which is the basis for karma yoga i'll
[56:54] explain that in the next class
[56:56] and we'll see this very important verse
[57:21] [Music]
[57:39] on that set
[57:59] [Music]
[58:06] you