Sri Ramakrishna and Bhagavad Gita
Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa is known to the world as a monk, a mystic, or a sanyasi. Bhagavad Gita as most of us know is a religious classic which millions of Hindus for centuries have found comfort and solace to their lives. The subject of Gita is the crisis of the active human in the midst of worldly responsibilities. The entire Bhagavad Gita gospel is in the form of a dialogue with several questions and answers narrated by Sri Krishna to Arjuna.
Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa was not given to the study of Gita or any other scriptures. But he taught us, ordinary mortals, what he experienced in his prolonged and intense spiritual life, with simple words, similes and stories, which brings out the essence of Gita Shlokas to ordinary humans in his inimitable style.
Here is an attempt to correlate the Gospel of Gita with the sayings of Sri Ramakrishna. No sequence of the chapter or verse is followed. The Sanskrit version and the translation is copied mainly from “ THE BHAGAVAD GITA “ by Swami Chidbhavanada. ( Tapovanam Publications ).
Also from Swami Mukundananda ( Bhagavad Gita- The song of God )
=========================================================================
( Samkhya yoga / The Yoga of knowledge )
BG 2.38 सुखदु:खे समे कृत्वा लाभालाभौ जयाजयौ |
ततो युद्धाय युज्यस्व नैवं पापमवाप्स्यसि || 38|
BG 2.38 Fight for the sake of duty, treating alike happiness and distress, loss and gain, victory and defeat. Fulfilling your responsibility in this way, you will never incur sin
Having motivated Arjun from the mundane level, Shree Krishna now moves deeper into the science of work. Arjun had expressed his fear that by killing his enemies he would incur sin. Shree Krishna addresses this apprehension. He advises Arjun to do his duty, without attachment to the fruits of his actions. Such an attitude to work will release him from any sinful reactions .
Sri Ramakrishna :
A weakling totters while carrying a small load to a short distance. But a strong man coming from a long distance with a heavy load of two maunds on his head stands by and sees a wrestling match, unmindful of the burden on his head. To the strong in body and mind problems are but few .
BG 2.44 भोगैश्वर्यप्रसक्तानां तयापहृतचेतसाम् |
व्यवसायात्मिका बुद्धि: समाधौ न विधीयते ||44
BG 2.44 With their minds deeply attached to worldly pleasures and their intellects bewildered by such things, they are unable to possess the resolute determination for success on the path to God
Sri Ramakrishna :
The vulture soars high up in the sky . But its eyes are always on the carrion and carcass below on earth. However much can be learned in the Vedas, as long as one’s eyes are fixed on sense-pleasures one acts like a vulture. Spiritual enlightenment is not for the one given to lust and greed.
BG 2.47 कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन |
मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि || 47 |
BG 2.47 You have a right to perform your prescribed duties, but you are not entitled to the fruits of your actions. Never consider yourself to be the cause of the results of your activities, nor be attached to inaction.
Do your duty, but do not concern yourself with the results. We have the right to do our duty, but the results are not dependent only upon our efforts. A number of factors come into play in determining the results—our efforts, destiny (our past karmas), the will of God, the efforts of others, the cumulative karmas of the people involved, the place and situation (a matter of luck), etc. Now if we become anxious for results, we will experience anxiety whenever they are not according to our expectations. So Shree Krishna advises Arjun to give up concern for the results and instead focus solely on doing a good job. The fact is that when we are unconcerned about the results, we are able to focus entirely on our efforts, and the result is even better than before.
Sri Ramakrishna :
A boat may be floating on water, but no water should be allowed to get into it. Man may live in the world, but no worldly desire ought to take possession of him.
BG 2.48 योगस्थ: कुरु कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा धनञ्जय |
सिद्ध्यसिद्ध्यो: समो भूत्वा समत्वं योग उच्यते || 48|
BG 2.48
Perform action, O Dhanajaya, being fixed in Yoga ,renouncing attachments and even minded in success and failure; equilibrium is verily yoga.
Sri Ramakrishna :
Be in the world even as a maid servant in a richman’s house. For all intents and purposes she claims her master’s children and property as her own. But at the core of her heart she knows that they don't belong to her and she remains firm in that attitude. Seemingly own worldly things; but have no attachment to them. As the maid servant can with ease relinquish her assumed ownership of the master’s property, be prepared for separation from earthly possession.
BG 2. 50 बुद्धियुक्तो जहातीह उभे सुकृतदुष्कृते |
तस्माद्योगाय युज्यस्व योग: कर्मसु कौशलम् || 50
BG 2.50 The one fixed in equanimity of mind frees oneself in this life from vice to virtue alike; therefore devote yourself to yoga. Work done to perfection is verily yoga.
Sri Ramakrishna :
A Yogi seated in a Himalayan cave allows his mind to wander on unwanted things A cobbler in a corner at the crossing of several busy roads of a city, is absorbed in mending a shoe, as an of service. Of these two, the latter is a better yogi than the forme
BG 2. 58 यदा संहरते चायं कूर्मोऽङ्गानीव सर्वश: |
इन्द्रियाणीन्द्रियार्थेभ्यस्तस्य प्रज्ञा प्रतिष्ठिता || 58||
BG 2. 58
One who is able to withdraw the senses from their objects, just as a tortoise withdraws its limbs into its shell, is established in divine wisdom.
Sri Ramakrishna:
Poisonous snakes fatally hurt people. But the snake charmer handles them as if they are no creatures of consequence. More than that, he has quite a few of them coil, creep and writhe about his body. The senses, likewise, are undependable and treacherous too, in the case of the ordinary man. But they are ever tame and subservient to the knower of Atman.
BG 2.59 विषया विनिवर्तन्ते निराहारस्य देहिन: |
रसवर्जं रसोऽप्यस्य परं दृष्ट्वा निवर्तते || 59
BG 2.59
Sense objects drop out for the abstinent man, though not the longing for them. His longing also ceases when he intuits the Supreme.
When one gives up eating, as in a fast, the desires of the senses become feeble. Similarly, in sickness one loses interest toward the objects of enjoyment. These states of dispassion are temporary, for the seed of desire remains within the mind. Again when the fast is terminated or the sickness goes away, the desires return.
Sri Ramakrishna :
A brother and sister were playing in a dense and bushy garden .All of a sudden the brother went missing. While the other was anxiously searching for him, a bear came out of a bush. The girl became stunned with fear. Finding the joke too severe for her , the brother threw off the mask of the bear and presented himself before her. The terrified girl then came to her senses and wondered that it was all play of her own brother. In this way the Brahman puts on the mask of the phenomenon and allures or frightens the ignorant . But the Enlightened one is no more frightened or enticed. He transcends the senses.
BG 2.63 क्रोधाद्भवति सम्मोह: सम्मोहात्स्मृतिविभ्रम: |
स्मृतिभ्रंशाद् बुद्धिनाशो बुद्धिनाशात्प्रणश्यति || 63||
BG 2.63
Anger leads to clouding of judgement, which results in bewilderment of memory. When memory is bewildered, the intellect gets destroyed; and when the intellect is destroyed, one is ruined.
Sri Ramakrishna:
A holy man was living in a temple. Nearby was the house of a harlot. Noticing how the profligate ones were frequenting her house he once called the woman and warned her against her evil ways. She lamented over her lot and prayed to the Lord for forgiveness although she could not put an end to her base profession. The annoyed anchorite now started recording her lapses by piling a pebble every time a libertine visited her. When the heap of pebbles grew large , the holy man summoned the prostitute to his presence and censured her severely, pointing out the pyramid-like enormity of her sins. The heart broken whore died that very night appealing to the Almighty for deliverance from the debauched body . Strangely enough, that very night the holy man also passed away. The defiled remains of the former was cast away as food to vultures and jackals; but that of the latter was interred with due honors. Lo, the development of this scene was quite different in Yama Loka. The soul of the prostitute was escorted to Vaikunta while that of the anchorite was consigned to hell. The excited holy man demanded an explanation for this injustice. The reply came that inviolable justice alone prevailed in the creation of the Lord. Although living in a polluted body, the prostitute's mind was ever fixed on the Divine, whereas the mind of the man in the holy body was always wandering on unholy concerns. While the earthly remains of both were fittingly disposed of, their souls as well were assigned their fitting regions. Beware of your thoughts and everything will be alright with you.
BG 2.65 प्रसादे सर्वदु:खानां हानिरस्योपजायते |
प्रसन्नचेतसो ह्याशु बुद्धि: पर्यवतिष्ठते || 65||
BG 2.65
By divine grace comes the peace in which all sorrows end, and the intellect of such a person of tranquil mind soon becomes firmly established in God.
Sri Ramakrishna :
After curdling, the milk is to be kept undisturbed in one place only so that it may coagulate into curds. Change of place will have adverse effects. Likewise the mind is to be fixed on the Lord only for it to become calm and divine.
BG 2. 71 विहाय कामान्य: सर्वान्पुमांश्चरति नि:स्पृह: |
निर्ममो निरहङ्कार: स शान्तिमधिगच्छति || 71
BG 2.71
That person, who gives up all material desires and lives free from a sense of greed, proprietorship, and egoism, attains perfect peace.
Sri Ramakrishna :
When the goat is slaughtered its body shakes for a while as if imbibed with life. Similarly the ego of the jnani undergoes slaughter when he attains illumination. But a trace of the ego lingers just to carry on the bodily sustenance. But it has no power to bind him again to worldliness.
BG 2.72 एषा ब्राह्मी स्थिति: पार्थ नैनां प्राप्य विमुह्यति |
स्थित्वास्यामन्तकालेऽपि ब्रह्मनिर्वाणमृच्छति || 72||
BG 2.72
O , Partha, such is the state of an enlightened soul that having attained it, one is never again deluded. Being established in this consciousness even at the hour of death, one is liberated from the cycle of life and death and reaches the Supreme Abode of God.
Sri Ramakrishna :
The newly married daughter - in- law is given plenty of domestic work by the mother-in- law. But as she advances in pregnancy her work is reduced. After the birth of the child she is permitted to be busy all the while caressing the baby. Attainment of Brahma-jnanam is analogous to this. Through the devout discharge of one’s duty one’s mind gets purified and comes to know of the presence of the Lord in one’s heart. Then Work is steadily abandoned and constant communion resorted to until atonement is reached.
=================================================================
No comments:
Post a Comment