Sri Ramakrishna and Bhagavad Gita-6

KSHETRA KSHETRAJNA VIBHAGA YOGA

                   THE YOGA ON DISTINDUISHING THE FIELD AND KNOWER OF THE FIELD

          

 अर्जुन उवाच |

 BG 13-1    प्रकृतिं पुरुषं चैव क्षेत्रं क्षेत्रज्ञमेव च |

                           एतद्वेदितुमिच्छामि ज्ञानं ज्ञेयं च केशव || 1||*

BG 13.1: Arjun said, “O Keshava, I wish to understand what are prakṛiti and puruṣha, and what are kṣhetra and kṣhetrajña? I also wish to know what is true knowledge, and what is the goal of this knowledge?

Sri Ramakrishna :
The human body may be compared to a pot. The mind, intellect and the senses are parallel to the water , rice and potato put into that pot placed on a hearth. Within a while the pot gets heated and water boils the rice and potato. The contents then become too hot to be handled. Thus heat, however, belongs to the fire and not to the pot its contents. Similarly it is Sakthi of Brahman that enlivens the body, mind intellect and the senses.

BG13-4       ऋषिभिर्बहुधा गीतं छन्दोभिर्विविधै: पृथक् |

             ब्रह्मसूत्रपदैश्चैव हेतुमद्भिर्विनिश्चितै: || 5 ||

BG 13.4: Great sages have sung the truth about the field and the knower of the field in manifold ways. It has been stated in various Vedic hymns, and especially revealed in the Brahma Sūtra, with sound logic and conclusive evidence.

Sri Ramakrishna:
Sage Narada was endowed with a penetrating intellect and an all absorbing divine love. Devotees ought to evolve after his pattern.

BG 13-6 महाभूतान्यङ्ककारो बुद्धिरव्यक्त मेव च |

इन्द्रियाणि दशैकं च पञ्च चेन्द्रियगोचरा: || 6||

BG 13.6: The field of activities is composed of the five great elements, the ego, the intellect, the unmanifest primordial matter, the eleven senses (five knowledge senses, five working senses, and mind), and the five objects of the senses.

Sri Ramakrishna:
Why do the devotees look after this body so carefully when it is actually a combination of things perishable ? Nobody pays heed to an empty package . But people preserve carefully a paper box containing precious gems and jewels. In that manner the devotees take care of the body due to its being the temple of the Lord. They cannot afford to neglect it. All human bodies are the treasure chests containing it.

BG 13-9 असक्तिरनभिष्वङ्ग: पुत्रदारगृहादिषु |

              नित्यं च समचित्तत्वमिष्टानिष्टोपपत्तिषु || 9 /

BG 13-9 : Unattachment, non-identification of self with son, wife, home, and the like, and constant equanimity in the  occurance of the desirable and undesirable.

Sri Ramakrishna :
A person found it very difficult to meditate on God because of his inordinate attachment to a relative. “ Be hold your favorite relative as God come in that form ,” was the advice given to him. On pursuing that attitude meditation on the Lord became easy to that person.

BG 13-10 मयि चानन्ययोगेन भक्तिरव्यभिचारिणी |

            विविक्तदेशसेवित्वमरतिर्जनसंसदि || 10||

BG 13-10: unswerving devotion to Me in yoga of non-separation, resort to sequestered places, distaste for the society of men.

Sri Ramakrishna :
The moth abandons darkness and rushes to the light of the lamp. The ant would rather give up its life than sever contact with juice. Even so the devotee is ever intent on the Lord and he has no other concern in life.

BG 13-15 सर्वेन्द्रियगुणाभासं सर्वेन्द्रियविवर्जितम् |

                     असक्तं सर्वभृच्चैव निर्गुणं गुणभोक्तृ च || 15||

BG 13.15: Though He perceives all sense-objects, yet He is devoid of the senses. He is unattached to everything, and yet He is the sustainer of all. Although He is without attributes, yet He is the enjoyer of the three modes of material nature.

Sri Ramakrishna :
Both the aspects, that with form and without form, belong to the same God. Faith in the one implies faith in the other. The fire and its heating property cannot be separated one from the other. The sun and sunbeams are inseparable. Milk and its whiteness are inseparable. Similarly Saguna Bhraman and Nirguna Brahman are one and the same. It is not possible to conceive of one to the exclusion of the other

                              BG 13-17  अविभक्तं च भूतेषु विभक्तमिव च स्थितम् |

                                                भूतभर्तृ च तज्ज्ञेयं ग्रसिष्णु प्रभविष्णु च || 17||

BG 13.17: He is indivisible, yet He appears to be divided amongst living beings. Know the Supreme Entity to be the Sustainer, Annihilator, and Creator of all beings.

Sri Ramakrishna :
A holy man once saw clouds appearing suddenly in the clear sky and disappearing again, blown by the wind. This sight threw him into raptures. He exclaimed : " Brahman is Countless Consciousness like the clear sky. As clouds appear in the latter the universe of beings appears in the former and then disappears too.! Brahman remains ever Itself ".

BG 13-18    ज्योतिषामपि तज्ज्योतिस्तमस: परमुच्यते |

                      ज्ञानं ज्ञेयं ज्ञानगम्यं हृदि सर्वस्य विष्ठितम् || 18||

BG 13.18: He is the source of light in all luminaries, and is entirely beyond the darkness of ignorance. He is knowledge, the object of knowledge, and the goal of knowledge. He dwells within the hearts of all living beings.

Sri Ramakrishna :
He who realizes Iswara in his heart is able to realizes Him too. He who has not known Him within himself cannot cognize Him elsewhere. Therefore, he who sees God in his heart see Him everywhere.

                              BG 13-20    प्रकृतिं पुरुषं चैव विद्ध्यनादी उभावपि |

                       विकारांश्च गुणांश्चैव विद्धि प्रकृतिसम्भवान् || 20||

BG 13.20: Know that prakṛiti (material nature) and puruṣh (the individual souls) are without beginning. Also know that all transformations of the body are born of Prakriti

Sri Ramakrishna :
As the ocean is sometimes calm and placid and at other times boisterous and furious, Brahman is both actionless and active. When free from action , He is termed Brahman and when active, Maya.

                               BG 13-24   य एवं वेत्ति पुरुषं प्रकृतिं च गुणै: सह |

                 सर्वथा वर्तमानोऽपि न स भूयोऽभिजायते || 24||

BG 13.24: Those who understand the truth about Supreme Soul, the individual soul, material nature, and the interaction of the three modes of nature will not take birth here again. They will be liberated regardless of their present condition.

Sri Ramakrishna:
When unburnt pots get damaged , the potter makes new ones out of them. But when a pot is burnt in a kiln breaks ,the broken pieces are rejected as useless. Similarly the man in ignorance is to be born and reborn. But that man whose karma is burnt out by the fire of knowledge is not reborn. He enters the Absolute.

BG 13-26 अन्ये त्वेवमजानन्त: श्रुत्वान्येभ्य उपासते | 

                    तेऽपि चातितरन्त्येव मृत्युं श्रुतिपरायणा: || 26||

BG 13.26: There are still others who are unaware of these spiritual paths, but they hear from others and begin worshipping the Supreme Lord. By such devotion to hearing from saints, they too can gradually cross over the ocean of birth and death

Sri Ramakrishna :
Devotion to the Lord may be compared to ferocious tiger. As the latter destroys the cattle, the former destroys lust , greed and such like enemies to man. If Bhakti comes up but once, there is no more fear of being disturbed by lust and anger which will all be exterminated from the mind. The Gopis of Brindavan were free from these taints because of their extraordinary love of the boy Krishna .

BG 13-27   यावत्सञ्जायते किञ्चित्सत्वं स्थावरजङ्गमम् |

                क्षेत्रक्षेत्रज्ञसंयोगात्तद्विद्धि भरतर्षभ || 27||

BG 13.27: O best of the Bharatas, whatever moving or unmoving being you see in existence, know it to be a combination of the field of activities and the knower of the field.


Sri Ramakrishna :
The stuff called milk gets itself divided into two stuffs called butter and butter-milk. Similar to this is Brahman the Reality in Its absolute and relative states. When you lose your individuality in S amadhi, you are one with the Nirguna Brahman, the Aboslute Reality. But when you assume your Jiva vyakti or egoistic individuality ,you cognize Iswara and His Prakriti with its twentyfour categories.

                             BG13-28  समं सर्वेषु भूतेषु तिष्ठन्तं परमेश्वरम् |

                    विनश्यत्स्वविनश्यन्तं य: पश्यति स पश्यति || 28||

BG 13.28: They alone truly see, who perceive the Paramātmā (Supreme Soul) accompanying the soul in all beings, and who understand both to be imperishable in this perishable body.

Sri Ramakrishna :
The sun is spreading his light equally everywhere and he is visible in all parts of extensive world. Still, a small patch of cloud hides him from our sight. Similarly , Maya hides the all pervading Brahman from our cognition. When the veil of Maya is removed the sat-chid-ananda Brahman is cognized every where and in all beings and things.

BG 13-33    यथा सर्वगतं सौक्ष्म्यादाकाशं नोपलिप्यते |

                  सर्वत्रावस्थितो देहे तथात्मा नोपलिप्यते || 33||

BG 13.33: Space holds everything within it, but being subtle, does not get contaminated by what it holds. Similarly, though its consciousness pervades the body, the soul is not affected by the attributes of the body.

Sri Ramakrishna :
Jnana and Ajnana, good and evil , dharma and adharma - dualities such as these do not gain access to Brahman who is beyond them and unaffected by them.

BG 13-34  यथा प्रकाशयत्येक: कृत्स्नं लोकमिमं रवि: | 

               क्षेत्रं क्षेत्री तथा कृत्स्नं प्रकाशयति भारत || 34||

BG 13.34: Just as one sun illumines the entire solar system, so does the individual soul illumine the entire body (with consciousness).

Sri Ramakrishna :
Brahman is like a luminous lamp. One may utilise the light of the lamp for reading holy books while another make use of it for preparing false documents, It is from Brahman that all get their power of understanding. The various uses to which the intellects of the beings are put do not affect Brahman .

                                                         

GUNA THRAYA VIBHAGA YOGA

THE YOGA OF THE DIVISION OF THE THREE GUNAS

                                                          श्रीभगवानुवाच |

                         BG 14-1    परं भूय: प्रवक्ष्यामि ज्ञानानां ज्ञानमुत्तमम् |

           यज्ज्ञात्वा मुनय: सर्वे परां सिद्धिमितो गता: || 1||

BG 14.1: The Divine Lord said: I shall once again explain to you the supreme wisdom, the best of all knowledge; by knowing which, all the great saints attained the highest perfection.

Sri Ramakrishna :
Knowledge pertaining to Iswara is the real knowledge .Branches of art and sciences, logic, grammar-- learning such as these usually confuse the understanding instead of clarifying it. Sacred books often function as shackles that prevent free thinking. All learning is good if it can ever guide man Godward.

                          BG 14-2     इदं ज्ञानमुपाश्रित्य मम साधर्म्यमागता: |

         सर्गेऽपि नोपजायन्ते प्रलये न व्यथन्ति च || 2||

BG 14.2: Those who take refuge in this wisdom will be united with Me. They will not be reborn at the time of creation nor destroyed at the time of dissolution.

Sri Ramakrishna :
Boiled paddy does not sprout when sowed in the field. But the unboiled grain keeps on propagating. The man bathed in the fire of Brahma Jnana is no more troubled with births and deaths. But the ignorant one can not escape from that ordeal

                        BG 14-19    नान्यं गुणेभ्य: कर्तारं यदा द्रष्टानुपश्यति |

            गुणेभ्यश्च परं वेत्ति मद्भावं सोऽधिगच्छति || 19||

BG 14.19: When wise persons see that in all work there is no agent of action other than the three guṇas, and they know Me to be transcendental to these guṇas, they attain My divine nature.
Sri Ramakrishna :
What are the indications of Iswara revealing Himself in the heart of the devotee? The dawn is the harbinger of of sunrise. Similarly , selflessness, absence of agency, purity and such like divine qualities precede the spiritual vision of Iswara.

                         BG 14-20    गुणानेतानतीत्य त्रीन्देही देहसमुद्भवान् |

        जन्ममृत्युजरादु:खैर्विमुक्तोऽमृतमश्रुते || 20||

BG 14.20: By transcending the three modes of material nature associated with the body, one becomes free from birth, death, old age, and misery, and attains immortality.


Sri Ramakrishna :
The body has its birth and death. But the Atman is free from these modifications. He is like the areca nut in its shell. When still tender, this nut and its shell hold fast to each other; but when ripe the nut separates itself from the shell. In Brahma jnana the body -consciousness drops away.

                         BG 14-26    मां च योऽव्यभिचारेण भक्तियोगेन सेवते |

      स गुणान्समतीत्यैतान्ब्रह्मभूयाय कल्पते || 26|

BG 14.26: Those who serve Me with unalloyed devotion rise above the three modes of material nature and come to the level of the Brahman.
Sri Ramakrishna :
The devotee sees Iswara in many forms. But when he gets into samadhi this very Iswara is realized by him as the formless Infinite Nirguna Brahman. It is in this realization that Bhakti and Jnana get harmonised.

                          BG 14-27   ब्रह्मणो हि प्रतिष्ठाहममृतस्याव्ययस्य च |

        शाश्वतस्य च धर्मस्य सुखस्यैकान्तिकस्य च ||27

BG 14.27: I am the basis of the formless Brahman, the immortal and imperishable, of eternal dharma, and of unending divine bliss.

Sri Ramakrishna :
This world is the forest. The three gunas are the three thieves. The jeevatman is the wayfarer. The divine qualities are his possessions. Of the three Gunas , Tamas tries to destroy him. Rajas binds him with lust, greed and anger . Sattva saves him from these fetters and shows him the way Godward. But Guna as it is, Sattva cannot have access to the proximity of Brahman.