Essentials of Hinduism - Bhagavad Gita

Essentials of Hinduism

Bhagavad Gita

Chapter 9 - The Royal Secret

In this Chapter, the Lord will be giving, not only the theory of Self-Perfection, but also, the logic behind it all.

Stanza 2:

Krishna Glorifies it: THIS IS THE ROYAL SCIENCE, ROYAL MYSTERY, PURE AND HIGH.

The awareness, called the Science of the Self, is the Dharma of man. The gains acquired through a faithful pursuit of this Royal Science of self development and self mastery are “OF AN IMPERISHABLE NATURE.”

Stanza 9:

All ego-centric actions which are motivated by selfish Desires, Vasanas are created in the mind – to understand differently, for all our selfish actions there will be reactions that are the bad Vasanas created in the Mind; however, actions which are not ego-motivated leave no trail (Vasanas). Mind is a bundle of Vasanas – some good and some bad.

Stanza 13:

The MAHATMAS (great souls) are obsessed with My Divine Nature, desiring this Infinite and knowing Me as the Imperishable Source of all beings, Worship Me with a single pointed self application.

Stanza 17:

I am the Father of this World, the Mother, the supporter and the grandsire (grandparent); the (one) Thing to be known, the Purifier, the syllable OM, and also the Rig, Sama and Yajur Vedas also.

Stanza 22:

Those who with a single pointed Mind Meditate upon Him, the One and Only Reality behind the entire Universe, Krishna promises here that “TO THEM EVER SELF- CONTROLLED, I BRING THEM YOGA (more and more spiritual vigor) and KSHEMA (final experience of liberation resulting from the fulfilled Yoga).

Three main secret factors are revealed – consistency of willing and thinking; pouring out ourselves with a singleness of purpose; and, self-control.

It is promised here by the Lord that to the one who is capable of maintaining these three factors and pursuing them diligently, there need be NO ANXIETY TO GAIN, NOR WORRY TO GUARD, because these two responsibilities will be voluntarily undertaken by the Lord Himself.

Stanza 26:

Whoever offers Me with Devotion a leaf, a flower, a fruit, water, that I accept, offered by the Pure-Minded with Devotion. The material objects that one might offer are of no value to the Lord of the Universe, but it is the Devotion and Love that prompts the offering that matters the most. Note the two important conditions for an offering to the Lord: the offering should be done with Devotion; and, the offered person should be Pure-Minded.

Stanza 27:

Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer in Sacrifice, whatever you give, whatever you practice, do it as an offering to Me. This stanza provides us again a secret method by which the seekers are unconsciously made to remember the Supreme constantly.

Stanza 29:

The same am I to all the Beings; to Me there is none hateful nor dear; but those who Worship Me with Devotion, are in Me and I am also in them. The Nature of the reflecting surface will determine the clarity and the intensity of the sunlight reflected. Similarly, the Spiritual strength get reflected from the golden hearts of the rare few and much less from the iron hearts of the many. During Worship, the entire thought forces in the Worshipper are mobilized and turned towards the Lord. When this is done with total Devotion and Love, the Worshipper realizes his Total Oneness with the Lord.

Stanza 30:

Bhakti is selfless contemplation with a single pointed Mind upon the Brahman. When this Bhakti is practiced for a sufficiently long time, with the required intensity and sincerity, the evolution in the individual takes place gradually. HE SHOULD BE REGARDED AS GOOD: Even though he has been, till this day, lived a man of evil ways, wicked and cruel, living the life of the senses, uncontrolled and passionate, even then, from the moment he has taken to the path of contemplation upon the Supreme, with Devotion, he is considered, says Krishna, as SAINTLY AND GOOD.

Stanza 34:

Fix your Mind on Me; be Devoted to Me; Sacrifice to Me; Bow down to Me; having thus united your (Whole) Self with Me - Making Me as your Supreme Goal, you shall come to Me.

We are what we are because of our Thoughts. If theThoughts are Noble and Devine, we become Noble and Divine. This Chapter has been rightly entitled as the Royal Knowledge and Royal Secret. Pure Consciousness is the Knowledge – this Science dealing with the Absolute has been rightly called as the Royal Knowledge. Mundakopanishad declares this as Knowledge of all Knowledges, because, having known which (Supreme), there is nothing more to be Known.

This is the end of YOGA OF ROYAL KNOWLEDGE AND ROYAL SECRET.

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.