Essentials of Hinduism - Bhagavad Gita

Essentials of Hinduism

Bhagavad Gita

Chapter 6 - Imperishable Brahman

When we know the Ocean, the waves, wavelets (waterways), the foam, and the lather are all known. Similarly, by knowing the Self, all actions, the instruments of action, and the World of Perceptions are all known. The aim of Vedanta is to carve out of ordinary individual such Blissful Men-of-Wisdom, who will know and understand the Self.

Stanza 3:

BRAHMAN is imperishable, the Supreme – the term Brahman indicates the one changeless and imperishable. It becomes the Self, the Conscious Principle which illumines the Body, Mind and the Intellect, during all (several birth and death processes) their pilgrimages from birth to death through the infinite varieties of their vicissitudes (residences). Its presence in each Individual Body is called ADHYATMA. The KARMA means something deeper, subtler, Diviner. The creative urge that is behind every active intellect, which ultimately fulfils itself in the creation of things and beings, that subtle Spiritual Strength is called KARMA.

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Stanza 5:

At the time of death, whosoever leaves the body remembering Me Alone, he attains My Being; there is no doubt about this. At the moment of divorce from a given Body it is logical to believe that its thoughts would be about the most predominant desire or aspiration – either gathered in its past embodiments, or acquired in its Present Life. This last powerful willing, determined by the last thought, decides its destinies in the future. Therefore, Krishna insists here that one who leaves the physical structure with his Mind completely turned towards the Self will naturally, reach the Eternal and the Immortal, ‘“THE SUPREME ABODE reaching which place there is no return.”

Stanza 8:

With the Mind not moving towards any other things, made steadfast by the method of habitual Meditation and constantly Meditating on the SUPREME PURUSHA, such an Individual goes to HIM. The term death does not only mean the physical death, but also “the death of the ego (the sinful Vasanas)”, which is to be brought about by the steady practice of Meditation. The individual who is training the Mind constantly to rest upon the Contemplation of the Self, becomes single-pointed in his Concentration. With integrated Mind, whatever the individual Meditates upon intensively, he must come to gain it soon enough. This Realization of the Self, can actually take place in this very same life, if with Prepared Mind and Intellect one can, with steadfastness, meditate upon Me, THE SUPREME PURUSHA.

Stanza 10:

Selfless love, when directed towards the Divine with firm Faith and an all-out-belief is called BHAKTI. The important suggestion in the context of this stanza is that the Meditator must come to live the Self, within himself, at the still moment of Inward Silence. The strength acquired by the Meditator, when he Meditates upon the Supreme regularly for a long period of time, is the strength – the power of YOGA. This is nothing other than the inward strength, the inward fire, that grows when the Mind is withdrawn from its endless agitations and the intellect is peacefully rested in its contemplation upon the SUPREME.

When an individual is engaged in such a Meditation, all his Pranas are concentrated at the frontal brain. Prana is the term in Vedanta to mean Life’s vitality – has five manifestations – Prana: the faculty of sense perception; Apana: the excretory system; Vyana: the digestive system; Samana: the circulatory system; and Udana: the capacity in us to see beyond our present World of Knowledge into a field of some greater concept. When an individual gets lost in the Silence within at the merger with the Self, all these faculties are temporarily arrested.

Stanza 11:

Meditation on the syllable OM? is frequently advised in almost all the Upanishads as as an assured complete success in Meditation. Renunciation, freedom from passionate attachments to the finite is emphasized here. It is advised that men of least desire have the maximum chance for the greatest success in the Path of Knowledge.

Stanza 12:

For maximum concentration there are three necessary conditions: controlling all the senses; confining the Mind in the Heart (in Vedanta, Heart does not refer to the Physical Heart, but, disturbances due to the previous impressions – past experiences); withdrawing all the Pranas.

Stanza 14:

I am easily attainable by that ever-steadfast YOGI who constantly remembers Me daily, not thinking of anything else. Here Krishna is very careful to insist, with all the strength and emphasis that He can command, that the Divine consciousness must be maintained by the seeker constantly and continuously “ALL THROUGH THE DAY, DAILY.”

Stanza 16:

He who reaches upto the World of Brahma are subject to re-birth, but he who reaches Me (Paramatma Vasudeva) has no Birth.

Stanza 21:

Just as sleep is not the end of Life, so too death is not an end, but often, only a restful pause in the unmanifested condition (this means, without a Body) that comes between two successive manifested existences in different embodiments. Complete satisfaction can be reached only when there is no re-birth – no return. The Highest Goal is to reach the State of Pure Consciousness, the Imperishable.

Stanza 24:

In this stanza, the Path of gradual Liberation (Kramamukthi) is explained. According to the Upanishadic Tradition, he who lived a Life of Rituals (Karmas) and Worship (Upasana), to enjoy the result so accrued, will walk the Path-of-the-Gods (Devayana) and entering through the Sun, will go beyond it to Brahmaloka. There he enjoys the Bliss till the end of the Cycle, when, along with the Creator, he gets total Liberation. Path of the Gods is indicated as fire, flame, day-time, bright fortnight, six months of the northern solstice of the Sun.

Stanza 25;

The Path of Return is called the Path of the Ancestor (Pitrayana) and is considered as presided over by the Moon. Those who leave the World after spending their Lifetime in doing good and performing Rituals (Karmas) unaccompanied by any Worship go to the Worlds of Pitrus. They get to enjoy Heavenly enjoyments for a period until they exhaust their merits. Path through the Moon (Pitrayana) is indicated as smoke, night- time, dark fortnight, six months of the southern solstice.

This is the end of YOGA OF IMPERISHABLE BRAHMAN.

This article is a snippet from the Book Essentials of Hinduism, Authored by G.S Nilakantan. Hinduism for All is available online at www.giri.in and across Giri Trading Agency Private Limited, A chain of Speciality Stores dealing in all kinds of products needed in Indian Culture and Tradition.