Sri Ramakrishna and The Bhagavad Gita - 2

                                      

                                         KARMA YOGA  /  THE YOGA OF ACTION

                                                              

                   BG 3.5

                   न हि कश्चित्क्षणमपि जातु तिष्ठत्यकर्मकृत् |

         कार्यते ह्यवश: कर्म सर्व: प्रकृतिजैर्गुणै: || 5||                                          

BG 3.5: There is no one who can remain without action even for a moment. Indeed, all beings are compelled to act by their qualities born of material nature ( three guṇas).

Sri Ramakrishna :

Those who are enlisted as indoor patients in a hospital can not get out of it until they are cured. After the cure effected they have no need to be in hospital. Similarly beings that suffer from the ailment of ignorance are hospitalized in Prakriti. They are effectively treated with karma for for enlightenment. With the dawn of Brahma-jnanam  they quit Prakriti, and get to  actionlessness .

                 BG -3 .6

              

                कर्मेन्द्रियाणि संयम्य य आस्ते मनसा स्मरन् |

        इन्द्रियार्थान्विमूढात्मा मिथ्याचार: स उच्यते || 6||

BG 3.6: Those who restrain the external organs of action, while continuing to dwell on sense objects in the mind, certainly delude themselves and are to be called hypocrites.

Sri Ramakrishna :

Two friends went out one night intent on any entertainment that they came by. As they walked on they met with a pious gathering listening  devoutly to the Holy Bhagavatam being explained. One of the two suggested that they sat there and derived benefit from that sacred discourse. But the other preferred some earthly enjoyment and walked away to a house of ill-fame. After a while the first man thought he made a mistake in choosing that holy assembly. All the time he was cogitating over the pleasure his companion was enjoying. The second man on the other hand, was repenting of the base choice he had made and was imagining of the divine bliss his friend was sharing with the devotees . The first man was sitting in a house of God and sinning while the second was craving for the divine though physically placed in a bad environment. Sin and Virtue accrue ever from the frame of mind and never from the restrictions imposed on the senses.

          

            BG -3.13

           

            यज्ञशिष्टाशिन: सन्तो मुच्यन्ते सर्वकिल्बिषै: |

       भुञ्जते ते त्वघं पापा ये पचन्त्यात्मकारणात् || 13||

BG 3.13: The spiritually-minded, who eat food that is first offered in sacrifice, are released from all kinds of sin. Others, who cook food for their own enjoyment, verily eat only sin.

Sri Ramakrishna :

It is God Himself who has become the entire creation. All beings  are therefore to be revered as the various manifestations of Narayana. The tiger-Narayana, however, has to be respected from a safe distance.

(  The King Yudhishtira performed a great Rajasuya -Yajna when he ascended the throne after the great   war  was over. The learned and the wise unanimously praised that the Yajna was  unparelled . A mongoose having one side of its body turned golden entered the  sacrificial hall, rolled on the ground and pronounced the extollers as liars But the assembled great men  pleaded  that they only spoke out their considered opinion and they did not lie. The half- golden creature then explained itself:-" A few years back a terrible  famine raged in a particular province death to people in large numbers. A pious teacher, his wife, son and daughter in- law lived in a humble but dutiful life in that region In the midst of privation the teaching went on regularly. When life was somehow lingering in that family, a scanty offering of flour was made to it by a devoted disciple The famished  four backed four pieces of bead with that flour, offered them to the Lord and sat to partake of the sanctified food , when there was a knock on the door. The family felt itself blessed because the deity of a guest ha d arrived just in time when they had the semblance of a meal to offer. All the four fading souls  reverently parted with their little shares, intent on appeasing the increasing hunger of the new comer He  blessed them heartily for their hospitality and went his way. But the whole family perished of hunger. Just then I entered their hut and rolled back myself on the floor. The remnants of the flour there came in contact with a half of my body and turned it golden as you all see. It was so because of the purity of the motive and the intensity of the spirit of self-sacrifice in their act of cooking and serving the guest. Since then I am on the look out for another Yajna of that type that would turn the remaining half of my body golden. What the King Yudhishtira  is doing here is no great Yajna as it has not brought any change whatsoever on my body" .  The assembly meekly submitted to the view of the strange  mongoose. 

  

                     BG 3- 18

                      नैव तस्य कृतेनार्थो नाकृतेनेह कश्चन |

          न चास्य सर्वभूतेषु कश्चिदर्थव्यपाश्रय: || 18||

 BG 3.18: Such self-realized souls have nothing to gain or lose either in discharging or renouncing their duties. Nor do they need to depend on other living beings to fulfill their self-interest.

Sri Ramakrishna :

One of the  signs of the enlightened man is that he is enjoying boundless bliss within himself. The surface of the ocean seems boisterous ; but at the bottom it is all calmness. Even such is the state of affair of the Jnani.

                   BG -3 . 19

         तस्मादसक्त: सततं कार्यं कर्म समाचर |
         असक्तो ह्याचरन्कर्म परमाप्नोति पूरुष: || 19||

  BG 3.19: Therefore, giving up attachment, perform actions as a matter of duty because by working without being attached to the fruits, one attains the Supreme.

Sri Ramakrishna : 

How are we to reconcile the worldly entanglements  and engagements with spiritual detachment ? .   See  how the carpenter's housewife busies herself with all and sundry. With one hand she pushes the paddy to be pounded in the mortar; with the other  hand she embraces and suckles her baby. At the same time she bargains with a customer for the flattened rice .In the midst of all these activities her mind is on the hand pushing the paddy lest the pestle should hurt it Likewise do your  worldly  activities; but in the midst of them keep the mind fixed on the Lord. Deviate not on any account from Godly path.

                  BG 3- 21

                 यद्यदाचरति श्रेष्ठस्तत्तदेवेतरो जन: |

        स यत्प्रमाणं कुरुते लोकस्तदनुवर्तते || 21||

 

  BG -3 . 21   Whatever actions great persons perform, common people follow. Whatever standards they set, all the world pursues.

Sri Ramakrishna :

A person took his ailing son to a  physician for medical consultation. The man asked him  to bring again on this following day. After posing to examine the patient for a while the healer advised the father against giving sweets to the sickly boy. " This could have been mentioned at the very first visit instead of making me walk twice  carrying the boy ," complained the patient. The doctor explained, " But then, my man, there was kept here yesterday a plate of candy . My advise might have been mistaken by your son for selfishness." The responsibility of these who guide the society is very great.

                BG 3-30

         मयि सर्वाणि कर्माणि संन्यस्याध्यात्मचेतसा |
         निराशीर्निर्ममो भूत्वा युध्यस्व विगतज्वर: || 30||

BG 3.30: Performing all works as an offering unto Me, constantly meditate on Me as the Supreme. Become free from desire and selfishness, and with your mental grief departed, fight!

  

Sri Ramakrishna  :

Iswara , the Lord of the universe smiles on two derisory occasions. When the son is sinking on his death bed, the doctor assures the desponding mother, " Don't be afraid; I'm here to save your son. " This is the first occasion on which God is moved to smile. Two brothers survey and share a land saying, " That portion is yours and this mine."  This is the second occasion on which the Lord smiles.

                 BG 3-32

                ये त्वेतदभ्यसूयन्तो नानुतिष्ठन्ति मे मतम् |

        सर्वज्ञानविमूढांस्तान्विद्धि नष्टानचेतस: || 32||

BG 3.32: But those who find faults with My teachings, being bereft of knowledge and devoid of discrimination, they disregard these principles and bring about their own ruin.

Sri Ramakrishna :

Cat's claws and teeth  are benevolent to the kitten and malevolent to the rat. Similarly maya,  the power of the Lord , is beneficial to His devotees and harmful to the malefactors

                      BG 3-33

                    

                     सदृशं चेष्टते स्वस्या: प्रकृतेर्ज्ञानवानपि |

          प्रकृतिं यान्ति भूतानि निग्रह: किं करिष्यति || 33||      

BG 3.33: Even wise people act according to their natures, for all living beings are propelled by their natural tendencies. What will one gain by repression?

Sri Ramakrishna :

An individual complained to Sri Ramakrishna that he found it impossible to turn his mind Godward. It was asked of him as to what was the thing or being he loved most. The man pondered for a while and said that he was inordinately attached to a goat that he reared. A suggestion was then made to him  to think of that goat as imbued with divinity and meditate on it. The man did so and had his mind slowly turned Godward.

                    

                   BG 3-34

                 इन्द्रियस्येन्द्रियस्यार्थे रागद्वेषौ व्यवस्थितौ |

         तयोर्न वशमागच्छेत्तौ ह्यस्य परिपन्थिनौ || 34||

BG 3.34: The senses naturally experience attachment and aversion to the sense objects, but do not be controlled by them, for they are way-layers and foes.

                                                        

Sri Ramakrishna :

 When can desire and hatred, the enemies of man be destroyed ? These propensities of the mind prove themselves enemies when directed to worldly affairs. They become allies when directed Godward. Desires of worldly things must be converted into desire for God. Let man be annoyed with God and angry with Him for not revealing  Himself. Desire and Anger  cannot be totally destroyed, but they can be transmuted; then they become harmless .

                 BG 3.35

         श्रेयान्स्वधर्मो विगुण: परधर्मात्स्वनुष्ठितात् |
         स्वधर्मे निधनं श्रेय: परधर्मो भयावह: || 35||

BG 3.35: It is far better to perform one’s natural prescribed duty, though tinged with faults, than to perform another’s prescribed duty, though perfectly. In fact, it is preferable to die in the discharge of one’s duty, than to follow the path of another, which is fraught with danger.

Sri Ramakrishna :

A professional farmer does not lose courage and continues to cultivate even if there is a terrible drought for twelve long years. But a weaver who takes to tilling for a change of occupation gets disheartened if rain for one season. A true devotee does not deviate from the path of devotion for any reason whatsoever. In life and death he relies on the Lord .

                   BG -3 .36

                  श्रीभगवानुवाच |

          काम एष क्रोध एष रजोगुणसमुद्भव: ||
          महाशनो महापाप्मा विद्ध्येनमिह वैरिणम् || 37||

BG 3.37: The Supreme Lord said: It is lust alone, which is born of contact with the mode of passion, and later transformed into anger. Know this as the sinful, all-devouring enemy in the world.

Sri Ramakrishna :

Time  and again man gets humiliated because of his being victim to lust and greed. Still he is  unable to recoil from them and give thought to God.

                BG 3.38

        धूमेनाव्रियते वह्निर्यथादर्शो मलेन च |
        यथोल्बेनावृतो गर्भस्तथा तेनेदमावृतम् || 38||

BG 3.38: Just as a fire is covered by smoke, a mirror is masked by dust, and an embryo is concealed by the womb, similarly one’s knowledge gets shrouded by desire.

Sri  Ramakrishna :

As a patch of cloud hides the blazing sun, Maya in the form  of desire hides  Iswara.  When the cloud appears the sun becomes  visible. When desire disappears Iswara  reveals Himself.

         BG 3.39

         आवृतं ज्ञानमेतेन ज्ञानिनो नित्यवैरिणा |

         कामरूपेण कौन्तेय दुष्पूरेणानलेन च || 39||

BG 3.39: The knowledge of even the most discerning gets covered by this perpetual enemy in the form of insatiable desire, which is never satisfied and burns like fire, O son of Kunti.

Sri Ramakrishna :

The indicator in the balance moves away from the middle point when there is more weight on one side. The mind of man moves away from God  by weight of lust and  greed.

                   BG 3.40

        इन्द्रियाणि मनो बुद्धिरस्याधिष्ठानमुच्यते |
        एतैर्विमोहयत्येष ज्ञानमावृत्य देहिनम् || 40||

BG 3.40: The senses, mind, and intellect are said to be breeding grounds of desire. Through them, it clouds one’s knowledge and deludes the embodied soul.

Sri Ramakrishna :

The mind directed to sensuous things is like a holy man living in the midst of hooligans, or like a wealthy man living in a slum.