Yogashastra

tasmad yogirbhavaarjunaa|

   Yoga is the contemplative state of mind. Manava jiva has evolved from the state of annam, prana and manas. Mind or manas rules the life of man. man is aproduct of mind and moods, prompted by desire. Thus, mind is full of desires, thoughts, ideas, dreams and gets excited. it is chanchala chitta and vikshipta manah that rule the daily life. life is full of anxiety, tension and often loses track, sense of judgment, discrimination and gets confused. So through Arjuna, the Blessed Lord advises us to take to yoga and teaches us simple means of attaining equanimity, sthitaprajnya state. 

   The Bhagavad-Gita as yogashastra aims at unifying ('yuj') the body, mind, and the soul.  yoga is defined as state of equilibrium, samatvam.  samatvam yogamuchyate |[2.48].  Yoga is also a satte of mind where there is discrimination. Mind set on the Self is yoga. Yoga arises from discrimination, right judgment about things to be followed (shastra sammata) and those to be avoided (nishiddha) arising out of right knowledge, samyak jnyan. This discrimination will not come easily unless there is a guide. There are simple methods of practicing yoga in Chapter 6. there are details about the nature of the Mind (manas) and methods of control of mind. It is explicitly stated here that it is very important to control the mind. The Mind is the storehouse of energy, power, and this power and force have to be channelized. a healthy mind only can keep the body healthy. Since mind and the body are intricately entwined it is essential to regulate the mind to regulate the health of the body. The health and smooth functioning of the body depends on smooth blood flow, proper blood pressure that are closely linked to smooth normal breathing! However, the tense mind, emotional and unstable mind creates clouded thinking, confusion leading to wrong decisions. Hence, Bhagavan advises to regulate the mind and get established in a state of equanimity.

    The state of equanimity attained through yoga will take the troubled jiva to the shore of samsara sagara like the boat caught in a whirl wind in a rough sea brought safely to shore! The relevant verses of yoga are many and scattered in the Gita and will take more space here. Hence the readers are advised to take to study of the Gita and get a deeper understanding with the help of an attained soul. However, it suffices to state here the need for yoga at a very early stage in life.

 One should make a determined effort to sit in a secluded place at least for 40 minutes twice a day regularly and observe breathing. One need not even bother to regulate it since the supreme Lord only breathes in us! Any effort to regulate the mind and breathing will not be successful in the beginning. The methods of asana (sitting postures) and pranayama (control of breathing) come only after a successful practice of the four preliminary exercises such as yama, niyama, pratyahara and Ishvara pranidana. One should not jump to the fifth without passing the test of the first four principles. Ultimately, one should reach the state of samadhi. Samadhi is sama dheeh meaning equanimity. This state is the ultimate in yoga. It is the state of a jnyani, a yogi, Therefore one must strive to become a yogi. 

Gita is Yogopanishat

The Gita is proclaimed by the Bhagavan as the secret knowledge of brahmn, the brahma vidya, and a means to attain to brahmn, the yoga shastra. This is the spiritual essence of the Gita. The source of this scripture is unknown and it is extremely difficult to understand the Verse 1 of Chapter IV where the Lord says that, “He imparted this Knowledge to Vivasvan, the Sun God (who is supposed to be 4.56 billion years old!)”. Further, it much intriguing to note that He proclaims that He is unborn and eternal!

  The spiritual essence of the Gita is god-visioning- vishvaroop darshan, visioning His virat svaroop and knowing His diverse manifest forms! It is a mysterious experience to the one who is attained siddhi purusha. There is no other way of experiencing this divine bliss than to take to spiritual practice as advised by the Lord here. Gita anushthana marga is the best way to realize the supreme! Even contemplation, meditation on one or two verses a day will ultimately lead the spiritual sadhaka to attainment! Hence, it is intended to give selected verses in the following with a brief explanation.The method of gita upasana is given by the Lord Himself as a yogacharya! There is nothing one can add, advise, or instruct besides what the Blessed Lord says (Bhagavan uvacha).

    The exact verses on yoga will be taken up after a brief note on the Yogacharya and the author of the spoken words of Bhagavan (unwritten scripture?). in fact, really speaking, yoga is all about meditation. Meditation on the spoken words of the Bhagavan is enough to experience supreme bliss. It is better to keep always a copy of the Gita in the pocket and read a verse or two and contemplate on it whenever one is free from the botheration of the worldly affairs. The effect of this spiritual practice is there to see within a year or even much earlier. In the last verse of the last chapter of the Gita, Sanjaya says, “Success is assured where the Bhagavan Himself leads the one who is daring and acts!”  

     The Gita is said to be an unheard divine song (anahata dhvani), rather, heard within as antardhvani and, as such, an unwritten scripture. It speaks of ‘Self-Realization’ (Atmabodha)asrevealed by Bhagavan Shree Krishna. It has come down to us from almost beginning of the Creation when Bhagavan revealed it to the Sun, Vivasvan, 4.56 billion years ago! Even the Planet Earth came into existence after a lapse of 0.3 million years from out of the condensation of the solar flares! Today we are living almost at the close of the seventh manvantara, called the Vaivasvata manvantara. Each manvantara has four yugas, viz kruta or satya, treta, dwapara and the kali with four quarters (charana) each, together lasting 4 320 000 years. Six manvantaras have already gone by and seven more are to come after the close of our kaliyuga running now! Hence, we are in the first charana of the Kali yuga, the last quarter of the vaivasvata manvantara, and, three yugas- krita, treta, and the dvapara have already gone! With the close of this Kaliyuga, the vaivasvata manvantara will come to an end and a new manvantara and its first yuga will start. At the end of each yuga will apear a divine person, mahapurusha, purushottama, an avatara purusha like Shree Hari Narayana, Sri Ram, Shree Krishna, the Buddha or a Kalki as stated in the Vishnu purana. There are already twenty-five avataras of Vishnu Bhagavan of which ten are very popular! Thus, the entire creation and dissolution will go on till the last, the fourteenth manvantara, after which there will be total dissolution of Creation and the Creator Brahma will go to sleep! (See Vishnu Purana). 

   The Gita begins with words, “Bhagavan Uvacha”,  meaning, “the Blessed Lord said”, and, as such, these are the words of the supreme Lord. Hence, there is no question of an author or a publisher to this  “Autobiography of Lord, Bhagavan Shree Krishna”. He, the Bhagavan is the script writer, director, producer of the Universe, and the ultimate destroyer!  In a sense it is as though the scripture does not exist at all! Who will write what even when the Sun is yet to be born and where is the earth or its creatures? These are only spoken words sung in a melodious tone, rather, a divine song, that’s all! The authorship of this divine song, ‘Bhagavad-Gita’ attributed to Bhagavan is quite intriguing! However, this portion of the scripture is believed to be taken out of the Shanti Parva of the famous epic Mahabharata by Sri Shankaracharya and placed before us as Srimad Bhagavad-Gita. As a part of the epic, supposed to be authored by Sage Vedavyasa, that too, with the help of a scribe believed to be none other than the Deity of Learning and the Lord of all Ganas, Lord Ganapti. Thus, Sage Veda Vyasa is dictating the text to a divine person Ganapati. ‘Veda Vyasa’ is in fact the pen name of Shree Krishna Dvaipayana for having classified the voluminous Veda of a lakh verses into four divsions! However, there are no such persons, either a Vedavyasa, or a Ganapti is the mystery!! The mystery deepens when Bhagavan Shree Krishna says in Chapter X vibhuti yoga that sage Veda Vyasa is none other than Himself! Shree Krishna Bhagavan, also known as unique, advitiyam, second to none, the dvaipayana, like an island!  Further, who is the scribe? Is there any person like Ganapti? It is well known from the epic Shiva Purana which describe Lord Ganapati as one who was made in clay, like a doll and life-force breathed unto Him by Parvati, the Mother Earth! Hence, there is no such person as Ganapati at all!. In that sense of the term, all living beings are made of clay like Ganapati ans sustained by the food obtained from soil! Even Lord Shiva, supposed to be the Father of Ganapati is also our Father, Pashupati natha. Neither there is a Veda Vyasa, nor a Ganapti, and whence and where comes a Mahabharata or the Bhagavad-Gita? It is all in the Mind! Utmost, it is the ingenuity of an intellectual to indulge in these metaphysical aspects and present these spiritual texts like these!   

 As the mythological account goes, the Bhagavad-Gita comes as an interjection in the Bhishma parva of the great epic Mahabharata due to the condition laid down by Lord Ganapati who was taking the dictation of the epic Mahabharata from Vyasa Deva. The condition was that Vyasa should go on dictating the text while Ganapati, the scribe, goes on writing. However, the omniscient Lord Ganapati was faster and Vyasa got stuck at some stage for want of suitable matter for dictation and thought about Arjuna’s reluctance to fight was surging! He had to speak something and he blurted out the Gita which he remembered, quickly without waste of time, lest the scribe should leave! So Vyasa, Sri Krishna Dvaipayana narrated the Gitopadesha that was first imparted to Vivasvan, Surya deva, at the beginning of creation!

On Yoga

   “May the sun, at the commencement of yoga, join our minds and other organs to the Supreme Self so that we may attain the Self (‘Knowledge of True Nature of Existential Reality’)? May He, also, support the body, the highest material entity, through the powers of the deities who control the senses. Having received the blessings of the divine Sun and with minds joined to the Supreme Self, we exert ourselves, to the best of our power, toward meditation, by which we shall attain Heaven (Brahman).” [Yajur Veda, Shvet. Upa, Part I, Chapter II, 1-2].

  “The wise man should hold his body steady, with the three upper parts erect, turn his senses, with the help of the mind, toward the heart and by means of the raft of Brahman cross the fearful torrents of the world. The yogi of well- regulated endeavors should control the pranas; when they are quieted he should breathe out through the nostrils. Then let him undistractedly restrain his mind, as a charioteer restrains his vicious horses. Let yoga be practiced within a cave protected from the high wind, or in a place which is level, pure and free from pebbles, gravel and fire, undisturbed by the noise of water or of market-booths and which is delightful to the mind and not offensive to the eye. When yoga is practiced, the forms which appear first and which gradually manifest Brahman are those or snow-flakes, smoke, sun, wind, fire, fire-flies, lightning, crystal and the moon.” [Yajur Veda, Shvet. Upa, Part I, Chapter II, 8-11].

  “And when the yogi beholds the real nature of Brahman, through the Knowledge of the Self, radiant as a lamp, then, having known the unborn and immutable Lord, who is untouched by ignorance and its effects, he is freed from all fetters. He indeed, the Lord, who pervades all regions, was the first to be born and it is He who dwells in the womb of the universe. It is He, again, who is born as a child and He will be born in the future, He stands behind all persons and His face is everywhere. The Self-luminous Lord, who is fire, who is in water, who has entered into the whole world, who is in plants, who is in trees-to that Lord let there be adoration! Yea, let there be adoration!” [Yajur Veda, Shvet. Upa., Part I, Chapter II, 15-17].

Some Vedic Verses

Vedic Prayer:

 Give us a share in the Sun by your wisdom and favor. Make us perfect. [Rk Veda IX, 4, 5].

Vedic Doctrines:

   “The Seer, our father, once offered all these worlds in oblation, assuming a priestly role, and sought to gain riches by the power of prayer; he himself entered later creations, while shrouding in mystery the first creative moment.

    What was the primal matter, what the substance? How could it be discerned, how was it made? From which the Designer of all things, beholding all, fashioned the Earth and shaped the glory of the Heavens?

   A myriad eyes are his, a myriad faces, a myriad arms and feet, turning each way! When he, sole God, creates the Earth and Heavens, he welds them together with whirring of arms and wings.

     What was the timber and what the tree from which the Heavens and also the Earth were chiseled forth? Ponder, O wise Men. Question in your hearts. On what did he rely when he formed these worlds? “The haunts where you dwell, O Designer ever true to your laws, on high, in the depths, and in every region between, disclose to your friends at the hour of oblation. Willingly offer your body in sacrifice, thus enhancing its vigour.” [Rk Veda X, 81, 1-5].

  “With all the pleasing skill we may; the birth of Gods we now proclaim in chanted hymns, that Men to come may know the truth of what befell. The Lord of the Holy Word, like a smith, blasted and smelted them together. In erstwhile ages of the Gods from nonexistence existence came.” [Rk Veda X, 72, 1-2].

 “The visible form of fire, while it lies latent in its source, the fire-wood, is not perceived; yet there is no destruction of its subtle form. That very fire can be brought out again by means of persistent rubbing of the wood, its source. In like manner, Atman, which exists in two states, like fire, can be grasped in this very body by means of ‘Om’. By making the body the lower piece of wood and Om the upper piece and through the practice of the friction of meditation, one perceives the luminous Self, hidden like the fire in the wood. As oil exists in sesame seeds, butter in milk, water in riverbeds and fire in wood, so the Self is realized as existing within the self, when a man looks for It by means of truthfulness and austerity-when he looks for the Self, which pervades all things as butter pervades milk and whose roots are Self-Knowledge and austerity. That is the Brahman taught by the Upanishad; yea, that is the Brahman taught by the Upanishads.” [Yajur Veda, Shvet. Upa., Part I, Chapter 1, 13-16]

'Unity'

    The ultimate goal here for jiva is to attain to the state of ‘oneness’, realize the ‘Truth’ that ‘I am not this body, Mind, intellect, or the ego’; but, it is not easy to drop the curtain of avidya and to realize the ‘truth’- that “I Am That”, the Unborn, Eternal, Immortal Self. One must ultimately realize the principle of So’ham asmi |

   The human brain is a wonder-machine that is closely associated with the Mind and has immense capacity to think, imagine, dream, create and destroy, discover and discern, dissect, disseminate, organize and reorganize, produce and reproduce, edit and re-edit what all that has been understood, assimilated, and then present that in a holistic synchronized picture! It all starts as a desire (ichha), thought-waves, imagination, and create images and, gradually work out for the attainment with resolve or sankalpa, dhriti (determination), consolidate, and finally create a world (by itself)! Different parts of the brain have trillions of cells, each cell performing almost sixty thousand jobs at a time, instantly, and many of them do specialized functions, too! Along with the ageing process of the jiva these cells develop their ability to perform more and more specialized functions and they too die out! In fact, the very ageing process is attributed to the cells. Cells constantly divide and multiply, retrieve the information stored in the DNA and RNA, transfer all memory intact to new cells before they burnout. In fact, it is so mysterious that we grow from childhood to ripe old age and perform specialized functions as per the genes and memories of the past lives. 

   The subtler aspects of the waves and vibrations that influence the brain cells, such as, the alpha,  beta, gamma, are very important and we do not know much about them!Different spheres of the brain work under different powerful waves!

Two Eyes are the Problem?

    The two eyes we possess poses the problem? Unless there is a focused attention and unity there shall not develop a clear idea of what we see. The objects that are  outside focus will be hazy! This is exactly the problem in life. We fail to get a clear idea  of what this world is and what this life is unless there is a focused attention, contemplation, meditation. The ultimate result is this 'unity' of the perceiver and the perceived. There is a third eye, the inner eye, the intuitional eye, that makes the world appear in its true form. This is the eye of contemplation, meditation, that brings the perceiver in contact with the perceived and unites them in yogic trance. in reality, what one perceives is something 'other' or 'an other' and what is perceived is the image impressed on the mind screen and finally becomes an impression or memory, at the most. ultimately these also tend to get erased and nothing remains!

   The fundamental principle enunciated in the ancient scriptures is thus very clear. It is “Unity Consciousness”- samyak-prajnya, where all aberrations, multiplicity, or even the dualities of the multifarious phenomenal objective world disappear! ‘Duality’ is the reality one experiences as an earthling bound to the gross material objective world where everything is inter-related. The Mind, the senses and the intellect are closely connected with the objective world and the senses act and interact as dictated by the mind and the intellect. Objects that we perceive disappear the moment the mind is disconnected from the objects! Even if the eyes are engaged and the mind is not interested the objects do not matter, however interesting they may be! The mind and moods thus dictate the interaction of the jiva with the world. No interest, no life?

   This duality of the jiva and world is the outward movement of the jiva to experience the quality of the diverse paraphernalia of the material objects. This is the product of ignorance. The moment the jiva realizes its true nature it discard the external world as one of no consequence. Then it turns inwards towards the Self. This is the function of Consciousness that operates either outward or inward! When consciousness is conscious of itself it becomes self-centered within itself and attains to Shiva. When it is working in an outward material world it is jiva. Shiva only becomes jiva and the jagat.

    In fact, “Everything has manifested from the ‘One’, single without any other as the second, unimaginable, unthinkable, unknowable, and the invisible most powerful all-knowing, self-effulgent, perfect ‘that’ (‘tyat’) for which there is no name (nama), form (roopa), or function (kriya). Everything manifests out of ‘that’ as the divine will”. All that we can ever imagine, think of, aspire, or dream about, exist in it and manifest as per the ‘desire’, the divine will! This entire universe is the gross product of the subtler-most ‘chit’ (consciousness), the divine will, desire that is ‘brahman’. Since the living beings are not in any way different or separate from this ‘chit’, Consciousness, it is possible for the jiva to realize the whole ’truth’ (‘sat’), the true nature of its existence. Only a keen sense of awareness of one’s self will reveal the true self. This search for the true nature of the self (Atma shodha) continues till the jiva realizes the pure state. This is pure consciousness (shuddha prajnya) unblemished or adulterated by desires, attachment, anger, selfishness, jealousy, greed, etc. It is also necessary that the out-going nature of the five senses and the vibrant mind, perverted intelligence and such other aspects that make the jiva indulge in the external phenomenal objective world are withdrawn. When one is busy with the affairs of the world, working outward without any idea of the true nature of the self, it is avidya. When the person becomes aware of the limitations, turns inward and looks for the self, avidya disappears! Consciousness becomes aware of its Self and reveals itself!

    . 

Names, Forms, and Functions

    The universe is a complex system of 'Energy' and 'Vibration'. This has been the center of the inquiry of the great sages and saints and they have placed before us (now written as the scriptures)  handed down to us by words of mouth rather than writings! Even today, the children are taught to learn these by loud chants. As per these, we have voluminous literature on the creation of the universe, the planets and life-forms. The first thing that strikes us here is that of the names, forms and functions. But, behind these names and forms are the whole lots of invisible forces that are to be explained. How to explain the invisible forces is the problem. Hence the learned sages have used similies, metaphors, signs and symbols, just as the mathematicians use the equations and formulae. Now, the problem before us that of decoding these!
   It is significant that these learned sages have warned us about the fallacy of the worldly appearances. The external world is the transient world of ever-changing, shifting, names forms and functions as in a movie! Nothing that we see, hear, taste, or feel are true! These are the attributes that are subject to conditions like time and space. These are transitional in nature. But, it is true that none can escape the magical powers of the objects that attract our senses. We are easily carried away by the sound, appearances or forms, fragrance and other ingredients of nature. There is no sense of discrimination in us and we go after everything! We do not know whether the problem lies with the objects or our indiscriminate indulgences? We are easily carried away by names of persons, places, objects, and we foolishly run after them.

   It is advocated in the Gita that one should develop sense of discrimination, withdraw from the worldly life since nothing is satisfying in the long run! The knowledgeable person should know all are transitional in this world governed by time, space and causality. One should desist from external world of objects (vastu), persons (vyakti), and subjects (vishaya). It is essential to know the reality and  futility of our worldly existence and to withdraw oneself from this deceitful, rather, the transient, world.
   "Whoever rests peacefully with himself is very dear to Me", says Bhagavan Shree Krishna. "sarvarambha parityagi, the one who has no desire, gives up fruits of action, does not hanker after worldly things, is dear to Me", says the Lord. Those who are really contented with oneself are happy forever!
   What is the use of all these worldly acquisitions, asks a jnyani. An unknown person exclaimed and remarked, "Lo, there goes the world-famous person whom even the small children know since they have seen the photo and read about the achievements! But, alas, that person does not know who himself or herself is!" This is the tragedy of mankind. Many of us revel in our achievements little knowing that "One day, all unto dust!" The most important thing is to drop all these prefixes and affixes, drop the name,form and function that somebody has thrust on us! Knowledge of the Self (Atmajnyan) is of utmost importance. A knowledgeable person gets rid of all these assumptions and presumptions, ID and Adhaar and PAN cards, and runs to a pot of fire called 'Guru', surrenders his ego, acquired knowledge, wealth, and all that he possesses and rest in peace, at the feet of his/her master!
   Alternately, a realized person knows that his Atman (Self) is his guru and rests in peace and with joy with himself with his/her Self !