Sri Ramakrishna and Bhagavad Gita -5

 

                   

                                  Sri Ramakrishna  and Bhagavad Gita -5

                                              

                                                       

         

                                           

                                            Viswarupa  Darsana  Yoga 

                                 ( The Yoga of the vision of the Cosmic Form )

                                                       श्रीभगवानुवाच |

           BG 11-5    पश्य मे पार्थ रूपाणि शतशोऽथ सहस्रश: |
                        नानाविधानि दिव्यानि नानावर्णाकृतीनि च || 5||

BG 11.5: The Supreme Lord said: Behold, O Partha, My hundreds and thousands of wonderful forms of various shapes, sizes, and colors.

Sri Ramakrishna :

It is Narayana who has become it all. Man is  Narayana; all creatures are Narayana; the Rishi is Narayana, the wicked man is Narayana. Narayana sports in multi forms, displaying His glory in all these forms.

 

                            BG 11-8             न तु मां शक्यसे द्रष्टुमनेनैव स्वचक्षुषा |

                         दिव्यं ददामि ते चक्षु: पश्य मे योगमैश्वरम् || 8||

BG 11.8: But you cannot see My cosmic form with these physical eyes of yours. Therefore, I grant you divine vision. Behold My majestic opulence!

Sri Ramakrishna :

The great ones compare Bhakti with the magic collyrium applied to the eye. Sreemati Radha once told her companion maids that she saw Sri Krishna  only wherever she turned her eyes. ' You have anointed your eyes with the divine collyrium of Bhakti ; therefore you behold your darling Krishna in this way" , answered the companions.

                                BG 11-36                    अर्जुन उवाच |

                        स्थाने हृषीकेश तव प्रकीर्त्या
                        जगत्प्रहृष्यत्यनुरज्यते च |
                        रक्षांसि भीतानि दिशो द्रवन्ति
                        सर्वे नमस्यन्ति च सिद्धसङ्घा: || 36||

BG 11.36: Arjun said: O Master of the senses, it is but apt that the universe rejoices in giving You praise and is enamored by You. Demons flee fearfully from You in all directions and hosts of perfected saints bow to You.

Sri Ramakrishna :

People are all variously related to Ishwara. The Rishis are all His  kith and kin. The other spiritually advanced people are like His friends and companions. The commonality  is just His creation .

                                    BG 11-44        तस्मात्प्रणम्य प्रणिधाय कायं

                           प्रसादये त्वामहमीशमीड्यम् |
                           पितेव पुत्रस्य सखेव सख्यु:
                           प्रिय: प्रियायार्हसि देव सोढुम् || 44||

BG 11.44: Therefore, O adorable Lord, bowing deeply and prostrating before You, I implore You for Your grace. As a father tolerates his son, a friend forgives his friend, and a lover pardons the beloved, please forgive me for my offences.

Sri Ramakrishna : 

When man develops ecstatic love, he feels God as his own. It is like the Gopis  of Brindavan  identifying themselves with Sri Krishna. They always claimed Him  as Gopinatha and not as Jagannatha

                                       BG 11-45      अदृष्टपूर्वं हृषितोऽस्मि दृष्ट्वा

                            भयेन च प्रव्यथितं मनो मे |
                            तदेव मे दर्शय देवरूपं
                            प्रसीद देवेश जगन्निवास || 45||

 BG 11.45: Having seen Your universal form that I had never seen before, I feel great joy. And yet, my mind trembles with fear. Please have mercy on me and again show me Your pleasing form, O God of gods, O Abode of the universe.

Sri Ramakrishna : 

Brother Hari puts on the make up of a lion for the fun of it and teases his sister into fear But when he sees the jest too much for the timid girl, he throws away the mask and reveals himself in his true form In this wise Brahman covers Himself with maya and puts on a destructive and terrible form. When the veil of maya is removed He shines in His original calm and blissful  splendor.

                                         BG 11-48        न वेदयज्ञाध्ययनैर्न दानै-

                              र्न च क्रियाभिर्न तपोभिरुग्रै: |
                              एवंरूप: शक्य अहं नृलोके
                              द्रष्टुं त्वदन्येन कुरुप्रवीर || 48||

BG 11.48: Not by study of the Vedas, nor by the performance of sacrifice, rituals, or charity, nor even by practicing severe austerities, has any mortal ever seen what you have seen, O best of the Kuru warriors.

Sri Ramakrishna :

One man gets intoxicated with one peg of liquor while another needs an overdose of it before he becomes tipsy But when intoxicated both are in the same state In this way some gets into bliss with a ray of realization while the others do so after coming into blaze of the Divine  Presence . However, the effect is the same in both the cases.

                                   BG 11-54        भक्त्या त्वनन्यया शक्य अहमेवंविधोऽर्जुन |

                            ज्ञातुं द्रष्टुं च तत्त्वेन प्रवेष्टुं च परन्तप || 54||

BG 11.54: O Arjun, by unalloyed devotion alone can I be known as I am, standing before you. Thereby, on receiving My divine vision, O scorcher of foes, one can enter into union with Me.

Sri Ramakrishna :

Many have heard of milk. Those who have seen it are lesser in number. The partakers of milk are lesser still . Even  such is the contact of man with God.

A talk arose whether man can see God with his physical eyes . No, He cannot be perceived with fleshy eyes. When Bhakti is practised, the  sadhaka develops a superior

sense  organ, which has the power to see and hear  super mundane things. With tat spiritual eye, God is  beheld and the devotee is commingled with Him.

              BG 11-55 मत्कर्मकृन्मत्परमो मद्भक्त: सङ्गवर्जित: |
                       निर्वैर: सर्वभूतेषु य: स मामेति पाण्डव || 55||

BG 11.55: Those who perform all their duties for My sake, who depend upon Me and are devoted to Me, who are free from attachment, and are without malice toward all beings, such devotees certainly come to Me.

Sri Ramakrishna :

Do you know what kind of devotion we ought to have towards our Maker ? The love of a chaste wife to her husband, the attachment of a miser to his hoarded wealth, the craving of  world ling of sense pleasure-- all these rolled into one and directed towards the Lord make Bhakti. We shall verily gain Him in this way.

  

                                                    

                                         

                                 Bhakti Yoga  /  The yoga of Devotion

                                  श्रीभगवानुवाच |
              BG 12-2    मय्यावेश्य मनो ये मां नित्ययुक्ता उपासते |
                         श्रद्धया परयोपेतास्ते मे युक्ततमा मता: || 2||

BG 12.2: The Lord said: Those who fix their minds on Me and always engage in My devotion with steadfast faith, I consider them to be the best yogis.

Sri Ramakrishna :

It is quite alright to meditate on God viewing Him as formless. But do not entertain the thought that only your own conception pf God is correct and that the beliefs of the others are erroneous. To meditate on Him as with form is also a method. You persevere staunchly  in your path until you reach the realization  of God. After that, you will come to know that all paths lead to the same goal.

               BG 12-4    सन्नियम्येन्द्रियग्रामं सर्वत्र समबुद्धय: |
                           ते प्राप्नुवन्ति मामेव सर्वभूतहिते रता: || 4||

BG 12.4   Having restrained all the senses, even minded everywhere, engaged in the welfare of of all beings-- verily they also come to me.

Sri Ramakrishna : 

When a bell is rung, each stroke has a sound-form of its own. But the  formless sound is also heard for while after stopping the striking. Similarly  God is both with form and without form.

                                  BG 12-7       तेषामहं समुद्धर्ता मृत्युसंसारसागरात् |

                         भवामि नचिरात्पार्थ मय्यावेशितचेतसाम् || 7||

BG 12-7 O Partha, I swiftly deliver them from the ocean of birth and death, for their consciousness is united with Me.

Sri Ramakrishna :

There are harbingers of the attainment  of Godhood. He in whom Bhakti is surging with fervor has already come to the threshold of  Divinity. Know that for certain that he will very soon get into union with Ishwara.

                                     BG 12-9    अथ चित्तं समाधातुं न शक्नोषि मयि स्थिरम् |

                        अभ्यासयोगेन ततो मामिच्छाप्तुं धनञ्जय || 9||

BG 12.9: If you are unable to fix your mind steadily on Me, O Arjun, then practice remembering Me with devotion while constantly restraining the mind from worldly affairs.

Sri Ramakrishna :

A  man is rearing a pet dog allowing it undue indulgence. One day when he was conversing with a  learned visitor the dog, as it was its wont, jumped on to the lap of the its master and licked his face. " This is no good ," observed the new comer. The remark produced a salutary effect on the man who decided then and there  to train the dog properly. Thenceforth, he gave a knock every time the dog jumped up to lick his face. The sagacious animal was not slow to find out that the master did not approve of the act. It changed its habit accordingly. Similarly the unwanted desire is wretched dog that man has fondly reared. It dominates over him and depraves him woefully. Repeated blows in the form of counter thoughts and ideas are the only way to rectify it.

                      BG 12-10  अभ्यासेऽप्यसमर्थोऽसि मत्कर्मपरमो भव |

                    मदर्थमपि कर्माणि कुर्वन्सिद्धिमवाप्स्यसि || 10||

BG 12.10: If you cannot practice remembering Me with devotion, then just try to work for Me. Thus performing devotional service to Me, you shall achieve the stage of perfection.

Sri Ramakrishna:

 When a man changes his attitude he is freed from bondage. Whatever work takes place through man is  actually the work of the Lord, " Lord, You have Your work done by me. In ignorance I feel 'I am the doer.' May I be only an instrument ". Attitude of this kind emancipates the aspirant.

                                     

             BG12-11  अथैतदप्यशक्तोऽसि कर्तुं मद्योगमाश्रित: |
                     सर्वकर्मफलत्यागं तत: कुरु यतात्मवान् || 11||

BG 12.11: If you are unable to even work for Me in devotion, then try to renounce the fruits of your actions and be situated in the self.

Sri Ramakrishna :

You can not remain doing without work. Your inborn nature forces you to work. Therefore let your activities be carried on well. But if they are done without attachment, they take you Godward. Be not affected by the pleasure  and pain  ensuing from your activities. Associate them  all with Ishwara. Prepare yourself in this way  for union with Him .

           BG 12-12  श्रेयो हि ज्ञानमभ्यासाज्ज्ञानाद्ध्यानं विशिष्यते |
                    ध्यानात्कर्मफलत्यागस्त्यागाच्छान्तिरनन्तरम् || 12||

BG 12.12: Better than mechanical practice is knowledge; better than knowledge is meditation. Better than meditation is renunciation of the fruits of actions, for peace immediately follows such renunciation.

Sri Ramakrishna :

The kite snatched  a piece of meat from a butcher's shop and flew to a branch of a tree to feast on it. But immediately ensued a scramble when some other birds swooped to loot it. The kite flew from tree to tree, but there was no escape from the raiders. To avoid this botheration it let go the meat and perched quiet upon a bough. A sage who saw this scene learnt a lesson from the kite-- Tranquility is born of renunciation.

           BG 12.14  सन्तुष्ट: सततं योगी यतात्मा दृढनिश्चय: |
                    मय्यर्पितमनोबुद्धिर्यो मद्भक्त: स मे प्रिय: || 14||

BG 12-14.Ever content, steady in meditation, self- controlled and possessed pf firm conviction, with mind and intellect fixed on Me, my devotee is dear to me.

Sri Ramakrishna :

Does the Lord attach any value to wealth and property dedicated to Him? Nothing whatsoever. The Lord bestows His grace on that devotee only who has as an inordinate love and devotion for Him. The blessed Lord attaches all importance to devotion,  discrimination  and detachment from worldliness.

             BG 12-15  यस्मान्नोद्विजते लोको लोकान्नोद्विजते च य: |
                         हर्षामर्षभयोद्वेगैर्मुक्तो य: स च मे प्रिय: || 15||

BG 12.15: Those who are not a source of annoyance to anyone and who in turn are not agitated by anyone, who are equal in pleasure and pain, and free from fear and anxiety, such devotees of Mine are very dear to Me.

Sri Ramakrishna :

That wastes his own time and energy who always engages himself in recounting the worth of others. For, in doing so, he neither gains in building his own character nor in getting fixed in the glory of the Lord.

                          BG 12-16    अनपेक्ष: शुचिर्दक्ष उदासीनो गतव्यथ: |

      सर्वारम्भपरित्यागी यो मद्भक्त: स मे प्रिय: || 16||

BG 12.16: Those who are indifferent to worldly gains, externally and internally pure, skillful, without cares, untroubled, and free from selfishness in all undertakings, such devotees of Mine are very dear to Me.

Sri Ramakrishna :

He who is not deceived by his own mind-- a person such as he alone, gains access to the divine presence of God. The point comes this: an attitude free from guile and deceit and a devotion true to the core-- these are the means to take one Godward.

          BG 12-17  यो न हृष्यति न द्वेष्टि न शोचति न काङ् क्षति |
                     शुभाशुभपरित्यागी भक्तिमान्य: स मे प्रिय: || 17||

BG 12.17: Those who neither rejoice in mundane pleasures nor despair in worldly sorrows, who neither lament for any loss nor hanker for any gain, who renounce both good and evil deeds, such persons who are full of devotion are very dear to Me.

Sri Ramakrishna :

God's presence cannot be felt in that heart which is given to attachment , aversion and fear.

                          BG 12-20     ये तु धर्म्यामृतमिदं यथोक्तं पर्युपासते |

                      श्रद्दधाना मत्परमा भक्तास्तेऽतीव मे प्रिया || 20||

BG 12.20: Those who honor this nectar of wisdom declared here, have faith in Me, and are devoted and intent on Me as the supreme goal, they are exceedingly dear to Me.

Sri Ramakrishna :

Bhakti is of two kinds-- the Vaidika bhakti  and the  Prema bhakti . To conform to the injunctions in the scripture, to chant the name of the Lord as many times as prescribed,  to fast and pray, to go to pilgrimage, to perform ritualistic worship with the aid of enjoined materials ---all these belongs to the former kind. An earnest pursuance of these means leads to the devotee ultimately into the latter, the Prema bhakti, in which there is no place for any kind of earthly attachment. This whole- hearted  offering is graciously accepted by the Lord and devotee becomes His own.