The Indian Dharma

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhagawan Krishna revealing the fact that the entire world functions under His divine will and wish. Bhagawan is revealing this as part of expressing His divine significance to Arjuna and to all of us through the Bhagawad Gita. We’ve commenced the seventh “Adhyaaya”, wherein Bhagawan is commencing a lengthy accord on the “Bhakti Yoga”, which is going to span across the next six “Adhyaayas” from here. But before we go into the “Bhakti Yoga” and how we should perform it, we should first know Bhagawan’s divine significance and who He is, isn’t it? This is why Bhagawan is starting to reveal certain important facts about Him and firstly, Bhagawan starts off by saying that there can be nothing / nobody in this world who can be as significant as, or more significant than Him ever! He compares this world to a garland made of beads and Bhagawan exists in this garland as a string that holds all the beads together! This means that Bhagawan is the ultimate controller of the entire world, isn’t it? 

Moving on further thus, Bhagawan explains, “Oh Arjuna! You won’t understand this fact until I explain the various different forms in which I exist!” Bhagawan says thus,

“Rasohamaptu kaunteya prabhaasmi sashi sooryayoh!

Pranavah sarva vedeshu shabdahkhe pourusham rushiu!!”

Bhagawan says thus, “Oh Arjuna! Let me tell you know – Within a male, I exist as a divine characteristic of a male! Within a female, I exist as the divine characteristic of a female! I exist as a “Shabdha” amidst the entire “Aakaasha” (Sky)! I exist as the “Omkaaram” amidst the Vedas! I exist as the divine light inside “Soorya Bhagawan” and “Chandra Bhagawan”. I exist as the sweet taste inside water! Oh Kaunteya (Arjuna)! It is not very easy in this world to realize this fact that I’m within everything! It will take enormous effort and spiritual realization to realize whatever I’m saying now. Now I will tell you who is a “Gnyaani” (Intellectual) in this world – Oh Arjuna! Many people come to me seeking many things in this world! Some might come to me seeking “Aishwaryam” (Wealth). Some might come to me seeking “Veeryam” (Power). Some might come to me seeking some individual-level prayers that they’ve to achieve something in their lives. But apart from all these categories of people, there is one category wherein a person comes to me seeking me! A person who comes to me with an unconditional prayer that he / she wants to be amidst my divine presence and nothing else in this world, is the greatest “Gnyaani” and such a person is very rare to find here! Everyone in this world comes to me with their selfish needs to be fulfilled. Of course I do not deny them their prayers. However, there are very few people who come to me seeking my divine lotus feet! A vast majority of people come to me seeking their own well-being, but a very few people come to me seeking my well-being! A vast majority of people in this world are more concerned about how their lives shape up and hence, come to me with several prayers,  but a very few people are genuinely concerned about my life and how they want to spend their lives with me! Thus, such people who are genuinely concerned towards me and who come to me with selfless prayers are the ones who are very close to my heart! Such people are termed as real “Gnyaanis” and are extremely divine in nature. The “Saathvika Guna” will dominate such people and it is primarily because of this, I’m so near and dear to them!” 

This is a very important message that Bhagawan Krishna is sending out here to all of us! We should understand from now as to what we’re praying to Bhagawan! Are we offering prayers to Him, seeking fulfilment of worldly pleasures, or are we doing so unconditionally, seeking His divine presence? Let us ponder over this point for today, and we shall wait till the next episode to continue this discussion further! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the conclusion of the sixth “Adhyaaya” which also concludes the discussion of Bhagawan Krishna on the “Karma Yoga” and the “Gnyaana Yoga”. Now, as we move into the seventh “Adhyaaya” and forward from here for the next six “Adhyaayas”, Bhagawan Krishna is going to talk about the all-important “Bhakti Yoga” in which, Bhagawan is going to describe His own significances to Arjuna and to all of us. We’ve commenced a prelude discussion on the “Bhakti Yoga” in the previous episode, and we shall continue with it today as we move on further. So, the essence of what Bhagawan is going to describe here is that, if we’ve to perform our “Karma Yoga” and “Gnyaana Yoga” properly, we need to exhibit complete surrender to Bhagawan. In other words, we should dedicate all our actions towards Bhagawan’s divine lotus feet, which includes our “Yogam” as well. So for this, we’ve also seen how to train our mind to focus on Bhagawan continuously for a longer period of time. Even though Bhagawan says that we’ve to try and focus on Bhagawan’s divine physical form, how will our mind get that attraction towards it? For this, we need to know something about Bhagawan so that our mind will get an opportunity to think about Him deeper, isn’t it? This is the reason why “Bhakti Yoga” gains a lot of prominence. 

Hence, commencing from the seventh “Adhyaaya” onwards, Bhagawan is going to explain His real form(s) and the meaning of the phrase “omni-presence” which is applicable only for Him. In other words, we’re going to witness a beautiful accord from Bhagawan Krishna as to how He’s really omni-presence and how ardent “Bhaktas” like us should feel His divine presence in whatever actions we perform. As we gear up for this important and interesting accord, Bhagawan Krishna lets out some important secrets about Himself thus, “Oh my dear Arjuna! You’ve to understand one thing clearly – If you want to feel my divine presence everywhere, you should first be able to wade through the blockade that is created by this “Prakriti” and for clearing off this blockade too, you require my “Anugraha”! You cannot clear this blockade all by yourself and see my real form and feel my divine presence. The “Prakriti” is created in such a way that it morphs my divinity completely, thereby creating a huge “Maya” (Illusion) around me! This prevents people from realizing my presence and my divine capabilities. A person who is immersed in “Bhakti” and constant devotion towards me will only be able to thwart this blockade created by this “Prakriti” and see through it!” 

Bhagawan Krishna continues further thus, “Oh Arjuna! Please understand – The entire world (“Prapancham”) is my divine physical form! You might have a question as to what my real physical form is, isn’t it? This is my answer to that question! Please remember – There’s nothing in this world which is neither equal nor more significant than me! Everything in this world is stitched together one after the other in a sequential system, just like how a garland is made by stitching beads together. For the garland to be stitched together with all the beads, you need a string, isn’t it? I’m like that string for a garland, wherein all the systems in the world are tied to!”

This is a very cryptic message from Bhagawan Krishna, which in other words means that, without His divine will and wish, nothing in this world can ever function! Since Bhagawan has the ultimate string in His hands and since He has the whip to control all the actions, this entire world is like a garland which can be stretched and contracted with a string called “Bhagawan”! Hence, Bhagawan Krishna is letting out a subtle message here that the entire world is under His control and nothing can ever function without His divine will. The entire nature is under His control. For instance, if it has to rain at a certain point of time and at a certain place, it will happen only if Bhagawan wishes so. Thus, all the five elements of this world (“Pancha-Bhootas”) are under Bhagawan’s command. 

Now this is a very important message first-up given by Bhagawan Krishna at the start of the seventh “Adhyaaya”, and Bhagawan Krishna tells this as part of the seventh shloka of the seventh “Adhyaaya”. So for today, let us understand the message behind the shloka, before going into the actual shloka in the next episode for witnessing further intricate details that it conveys! Stay tuned for an interesting accord! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhagawan Krishna detailing the last aspect of the “Karma Yoga” wherein He mentions that a person who is able to see the “Krishna Yoga” as we perform the “Karma Yoga” is someone who is very close to His heart. This sows the seed for a very important discussion on a new type of “Yogam” called “Bhakti Yoga”. Till now we’ve seen the “Karma Yoga” and the “Gnyaana Yoga” in detail and in turn, how to control our mind in due course. Having said this, as Arjuna was heaving a sigh of relief that the Bhagawad Gita has come to an end, Bhagawan has other plans! He starts off with a new accord by saying how a person can become close to Bhagawan’s heart, which is what we’re going to see from the seventh “Adhyaaya” onwards. Thus, with the previous narrative that we’ve seen, Bhagawan concludes the sixth “Adhyaaya”, which also marks the end of the discussion on the “Karma Yoga” and “Gnyaana Yoga”. 

Commencing the important “Bhakti Yoga” thus, Bhagawan talks about how to understand Him! Till now, He has been talking about the fundamentals as to how we rise to that level from where we can understand Bhagawan. For this, of course the “Karma Yoga” and “Gnyaana Yoga” is important. But there’s a catch here – Whenever Bhagawan was saying that when we perform our “Karma Yoga” we’ve to think about Him and surrender all our actions to Him, we should first know who Bhagawan really is, before we think of Him, shouldn’t we? This is where the “Bhakti Yoga” comes into focus. In other words, if we’re liking an object – When will we like it more? We will like it more only when we know more about it, won’t we? For instance, if we like a food item like pizza a lot – We will develop more liking towards it and will develop the craving to have it often only when we know more about different varieties of pizzas, different varieties of cheese that are employed in it, different kinds of toppings, etc. Similarly, if we’ve to develop that thought and liking of Bhagwan constantly in our minds, we should obviously know and understand who Bhagawan is! This is where, the Bhakti Yoga plays a lot of significance. 

Thus, as we’ve seen earlier, the first six “Adhyaayas” focused on the “Karma Yoga” and the “Gnyaana Yoga”, and the next six “Adhyaayas” from now until the 12’th “Adhyaaya is going to focus on the “Bhakti Yoga”. Here, Bhagawan Krishna is going to reveal certain important identities about Himself to Arjuna, which is for all of us to understand as well. So as we move on, Bhagawan is going to talk about how He exists, where He exists, what are the various forms in which He exists, etc. We might be aware that Bhagawan is omni-present and His presence can be felt everywhere in this universe. We might also know that Bhagawan is supreme consciousness. In this “Bhakti Yoga” discussion, Bhagawan Himself is going to attach a meaning to His omni-presence and why He is none other than the supreme consciousness. 

As Bhagawan is saying all this, He also mentions one important point here – “Oh Arjuna! Even though I might have all this significance in me at all times, even though I might be omni-present, the “Prakriti” (World) is in such a way that it would not reveal my significance and presence anywhere! Just like how your internal organs are shielded and covered by your physical body, my significance is shielded and covered by the “Prakriti”! Hence, if you really want to understand my significance and if you really want to feel my divine presence, you need to exhibit “Sharanagati” (Complete Surrender) towards me. With my divine “Anugraha”, the external shield and cover will be taken off, and you will be able to experience me!” This is a very important declaration and a message that Bhagawan is going to send to all of us through this “Bhakti Yoga” discussion, and for today, let us understand up to this point! We shall wait till the next episode to continue further! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhagawan Krishna highlighting two important points with regards to pursuing our “Yogam” non-stop. The context comes wherein Bhagawan Krishna answers Arjuna’s question on how do we bring our mind under control, so that we’re able to perform our “Yogam” uninterrupted. For this, Bhagawan Krishna replies that in order to control the mind, one needs “Abhyaasam” and “Vairaagyam”. Abhyaasam means repeated practice and Vairaagyam means will-power. Both are required in tandem so that our mind comes under control gradually. Often we face a situation wherein we become frustrated that our mind is not cooperating with us for performing our “Yogam”. We might begin this practice with a lot of fan-fare and as time goes by, it fizzles out because of this “non-cooperation movement” of our mind. But, there is a methodology to tame this non-cooperating mind as well, and this is through constant “Abhyaasam” and “Vairaagyam”. If we’re able to get up from every failed attempt with the “Vairaagyam” that someday we shall be able to achieve perfection, our “Abhyaasam” will also be with our 100% effort and dedication. With these two in place, our mind will gradually come under control. 

Moving on thus, as Bhagawan Krishna concludes this discussion by describing the “Karma Yoga” in detail and how to attain the “Atma-Saakshaakaaram” through the “Karma Yoga”, Arjuna for a moment thinks that the Bhagawad Gita has come to an end! He heaves a heavy sigh of relief! 🙂 We’ve come to the end of six “Adhyaayas” and Arjuna is “relieved” that he has had enough advice from Bhagawan! Hence, Arjuna thinks that it is time for him to make a move into the “Yogam” by escaping out of the battlefield! It is exactly at this time of concluding the discussion of all these “Yogams”, Bhagawan drops the next bombshell thus,

“Yoginaam api sarveshaam madhgate na antaraatmana!

Shraddhaavaan bhajate yomaam sa ve yuktatamo mataha!!”

Maybe Arjuna might have thought that the Bhagawad Gita was over, but Bhagawan Krishna doesn’t! He has other plans too! He still thinks that only 30% of the Gita is over and the rest of the 70% is still to be told! Through the above shloka, Bhagawan Krishna beautifully explains to Arjuna thus, “Oh Kaunteya! Of course all of us know that there are many Yogis who are on track to achieve the “Atma-Saakshaakaaram” through the way that I’ve prescribed. However, amongst all the Yogis in the world, there is one special Yogi whom I like the most!” Upon hearing this, Arjuna gets surprised! He thinks thus, “Oh wow! I thought that the Gita is over, and now I guess Bhagawan is going to commence yet another round of Gita!” 🙂 Thinking thus, Arjuna asks, “Oh Bhagawan! Who is that? Whom do you like the most, and why haven’t you spoken about him till now?” 

For this, Bhagawan explains thus, “Oh Arjuna! Till now I’ve only spoken about the “Karma Yoga” and people who have attained “Moksha” and “Atma-Saakshaakaram” through the “Karma Yoga”. But you’ve not yet understood that there’s something beyond the “Karma Yoga”, which is “Krishna Yoga”! A person who realizes me in everything that he does, is the person whom I like the most!” Now, this sows the seed for the commencement of the next Yoga which is called “Bhakti Yoga”. Now that we’ve completed the first six “Adhyaayas”, we’ve understood the “Karma Yoga” and the “Gnyaana Yoga” in detail and how do we execute the “Karma Yoga”. Now, from the seventh “Adhyaaya” onwards, all the way till the end of the ninth “Adhyaaya”, we’re going to witness Bhagawan’s beautiful and heart-moving explanation on the “Bhakti Yoga” and how is a “Bhakti Yogi” very close to Bhagawan’s heart! 

So for today, let us understand up to this point, and in the next episode, we shall commence the detailed discussion on the “Bhakti Yoga” as per Bhagawan Krishna! Stay tuned for an important accord! 🙂

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhagawan Krishna explaining an important point with regards to the “Yogam” that we perform every day – If we’ve to reach the highest level of our “Yogam”, we will be able to see Bhagawan in every living being, and also we will be able to see every living being in Bhagawan. This means that we’ve achieved the highest state of “Atma-Saakshaakaaram”, which is nothing but the realization of our “Atman”. This is what Bhagawan Krishna has been stressing upon right from the beginning of the “Karma Yoga” discussion wherein, the “Atman” is the same across all living beings in this world. If we’ve to reach higher levels of “Yogam”, we’ve to be able to see everyone equally without any differences. 

This is what our “Sanaatana Dharma” preaches all through. In this entire world, we should understand that if there’s one religion that sees everyone equally and accommodates everybody with equal love, affection and tolerance, it is “Sanaatana Dharma” and nothing else! On the other hand, almost all religions in this world except our “Sanaatana Dharma” were in fact formed based on separationist philosophies. This might not go well with a few people, but this is the hard-hitting truth and reality. Hence, as ardent followers of our “Sanaatana Dharma”, we should be proud to be part of a religion which embraces everyone equally! This is exactly what Bhagawan Krishna propagates in the Bhagawad Gita through the above-mentioned shloka. If we’re able to develop this spiritual state of seeing everyone equally, there will be no room for any kind of fighting or misunderstanding. We would be able to treat everyone with love and affection. 

Moving further from here, we’ve witnessed in the previous episode that Arjuna is asking a counter question to Bhagawan Krishna – How do we establish control over our mind? Is it easy or difficult? Why is our mind wavering like this constantly? Is there any solution to contain this wavering nature of our mind? For this, Bhagawan is now going to give an important answer and let us witness it now. Bhagawan says thus,

“Abhyaase na tu kaunteya vairagyena cha grihyate!”

Bhagawan Krishna says thus, “Oh Kaunteya (Arjuna, who is the son of Kunthi Devi)! Yes! You’re right – The mind is very difficult to control. However, there’s a solution to this. You’ve to repeatedly train your mind to focus on me!” Here, the phrase “Abhyasam” means “Repeated practice”. We need to keep training our mind slowly every passing day and should keep educating our mind that Bhagawan Krishna’s divine physical form is much more important for us than anything else in this world. Secondly, Bhagawan talks about “Vairagyam”, which means will-power. We should constantly train our mind in such a way that we should never give up our practice! Normally what happens is that we might start something with a lot of enthusiasm. However, if things do not go as per our wish, we would slowly start giving it up. This happens during our meditation practice quite often. If we’re unable to focus our mind properly as per our expectation, we might start feeling dejected and conclude that we are unfit to perform the “Yogam” at all! 

This is where Bhagawan Krishna is cautioning all of us – He says through the phrase of “Vairagyam” that we should develop the “never give up” attitude! Even if we fail a hundred times, so what? We should be able to have that “Vairagyam” to get up and try for the 101’th time. This is where our consistency and perseverance are under test. Of course, controlling the mind is one of the biggest things to achieve and not many people can do it. However, having said that, can we sit in a corner and keep quiet without doing any attempts towards performing our “Yogam”? This is a wrong approach and this is exactly where Arjuna was trying to go into! Through this shloka, Bhagawan is slowly instilling the faith and confidence in Arjuna and in all of us that performing the “Yogam” and reaching the highest level is very much possible for all of us, provided we put in the right effort, along with perseverance. Even if it is an internal battle that we’ve to fight with the mind, we should be prepared to take on the battle and win! Arjuna’s battle was on the battlefield and our battle is with our mind! Hence, Bhagawan Krishna’s words are extremely important in this context. 

So for today, let us realize this point and let us start introspecting ourselves here. It is always important that we read / listen to Bhagawan’s words and put them into practice isn’t it? Hence, let us start develop the two important qualities of “Abhyaasam” (Repeated practice) and “Vairaagyam” (Perseverance and repeated reassurance of our mind) in order to bring our mind under our control. Of course, it is not a single day job and let us accept the hard fact that this is going to be a long-drawn dogfight! We shall wait till the next episode to continue with Bhagawan Krishna’s further accords! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed a very important point pertaining to performing our “Yogam”, which Bhagawan Krishna emphasizes – The food that we consume and the amount of sleep that we give for our physical body determine the levels of “Sathva Gouna”, which is extremely important for the progress of our “Yogam”. This comes at a point when Arjuna asks Bhagawan Krishna whether he has to sacrifice his food and sleep if he has to perform his “Yogam”. Bhagawan Krishna replies in the negative and He explains in turn that the food that we consume should be minimal, just enough to nourish our physical body to chug along with our “Karma”. Our sleep should be in such a way that we do not oversleep. We should somehow find a balance between our food, sleep and “Yogam”. In today’s context, given the options of food that we have, we should ensure that we do not end up overeating anything. Even if we do so, we should perform physical exercises so that we maintain our body’s fitness level to the requisite requirement. 

Saying all this thus, Bhagawan explains – “Oh Arjuna! If you do whatever I’ve told you till now, your senses will automatically come under control and your mind will be able to focus on me!” 

“Yo maam pashyati sarvatra sarvam cha mayi pashyati! 

Tasyaaham na pranashyaami sa cha me nah pranashyati!!”

Here, Bhagawan Krishna highlights a very important point. He says thus, “Oh Arjuna! If a person learns this trick to perform his / her “Yogam” correctly, and if he / she is able to focus his / her senses upon me, this person will be able to see me in every living being that he / she sees! This is the highest state of spiritual realization. If you’re able to attain 100% focus of your mind upon my divine physical form, you will be able to see my omni presence!” In the first line of the above shloka, Bhagawan Krishna changes only the “Shabdha” between the two halves of it – “Yo maam pashyati sarvatra” means “Whoever is able to see me in every living being”. “Sarvam cha mayi pashyati” means, “Whoever is able to see every living being in me” There is a subtle difference between the two phrases, isn’t it? In the first phrase, we are seeing Bhagawan in every living being and in the second phrase, we’re trying to see every living being in Bhagawan – So, in both these cases, if we’re able to achieve this, Bhagawan is automatically going to get pleased upon us. With Bhagawan’s divine “Anugraha”, our “Yogam” is going to be fulfilled. 

Upon hearing this detailed answer from Bhagawan, Arjuna now shoots the next question immediately thus, “Oh Bhagawan! Whatever you’re saying is perfectly right. I agree with everything. You’re saying that our “Yogam” will get fulfilled ultimately if we’re getting our mind under control, aren’t you? My problem exactly lies here – I’m unable to control my mind at all! It’s running like a wild horse in every direction! I need some help from you with some methods as to how I should control my mind! Can you suggest some?” In fact, all of us also have this problem, don’t we? For instance, as we’ve discussed earlier as well, whenever we sit for meditating, our mind will be so unstable that it will keep jumping from one thought to the other. Even if our door bell or our mobile phone isn’t ringing for a while, we start becoming anxious as to why nobody is calling or coming to our home today! If our whatsapp messages aren’t being received on our mobile phone for a while, we start getting frustrated and our mind will push us to view our phone every now and then, isn’t it? This is where Arjuna’s question gains a lot of prominence. 

So for today, let us understand up to this point and in the next episode, we’re going to witness a landmark answer for this from Bhagawan Krishna, which is a very important point that all of us need to implement in our daily lives, both professionally and personally. Stay tuned for an important accord! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhagawan Krishna clearing out a very important misconception that Arjuna had with regards to performing our “Yogam”. This misconception is quite prevalent in today’s scenario as well. Arjuna asks Bhagawan Krishna whether we should sacrifice our food and sleep if we’ve to perform the “Yogam” meticulously and succeed in it. For this, Bhagawan clarifies that such a sacrifice is not required. Of course, “Yogam” requires concentration and perseverance as we’ve seen earlier, however, this should not come at the expense of food and sleep. These two parameters are basic necessities of life and Bhagawan explains that a sound physical body is required if we’ve to perform the “Yogam”. We should consume food that is necessary for our survival, but should not end up overeating. At the same time, we should ensure that we get sufficient rest by sleeping adequately, but should not end up oversleeping. Thus, in both these aspects, we should ensure a balance as we keep performing our “Yogam”. 

Now this is a very important point which needs more contemplation. Given today’s scenario, our exposure to various varieties and kinds of food has drastically increased with time. When it comes to consuming food, it also involves consuming and releasing certain types of energies as well. This is why, Bhagawan is explaining that for performing the “Yogam”, our food must be “Sathvik” in nature. This means, our food should contain a bare minimal amount of salt, sugar, carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, minerals and fats. Everything should be in a balance and one should not dominate the other. If for instance, carbohydrates and fats start to dominate in our food habits (Maybe consuming more rice varieties), the body will start getting into a “Tamasic” mode and we would start feeling sleepy. Hence, if we enter into the “Tamo Guna”, there is no question of performing the “Yogam” anymore, isn’t it? 🙂 This is where we’ve to be careful. Moreover, if we’ve to succeed in our “Yogam” and when we say that we’ve to maintain the “Sathvik” nature of our food, it is also imperative that we should avoid food that is non-vegetarian in nature. Of course, this might be something that may invoke some harsh feelings and reactions, but we’ve to remember one aspect very clearly – Consuming non-vegetarian food items increases our “Rajo Guna” and “Tamo Guna” drastically, because of certain negative vibrations associated with this variety of food. When we consume non-vegetarian food, we’re consuming the dead body of another living being, which was forcefully killed by someone else, isn’t it? When a living being is killed, aren’t we inflicting a lot of pain into it? This pain transforms into negative vibrations and these are very harmful for our spiritual progress. We may still say that by consuming these food varieties, we might get a lot of proteins and other nutrition, but when it comes to vibrations, it is something that hampers our “Yogam” big time! Hence, if we’ve to excel in our “Yogam” and “Dhyaanam” as per whatever Bhagawan says here, we’ve to slowly shun the habit of consuming non-vegetarian food. 

Now that we’ve spoken about non-vegetarian food, what about the vegetarian varieties of food? Of course, this is highly advisable, but just because of this, we might end up consuming more! If we seemingly consume more food than required, we should do adequate physical exercises, so as to keep our body fit. This is also essential. Consuming vegetarian food and of a higher quantity will again lead us to bad vibrations and our body will start containing excessive amounts of fats and carbohydrates deposited in it. Again, this would make our “Tamo Guna” dominate, and ultimately our focus on the “Yogam” and “Dhyaanam” is lost! 

Thus, the point is very clear here – The success / failure of our “Yogam” is directly related to the food that we consume. Hence, we should be very careful in the food that we eat every day. So for today, let us understand up to this point and in the next episode, we shall continue this discussion further! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed an important thought on how to make “Dhyaanam” a regular routine in our every day life. As we’ve mentioned earlier, “Dhyaanam” requires continuous and consistent effort and in order to achieve this, we should make it a routine as part of our daily chores. Initially it might be tough for us to accommodate and sit even for 10 minutes together by closing our eyes and thinking of Bhagawan. However, as time progresses, with our consistency, this will gradually become regularized and Bhagawan’s portrait image will slowly get impinged into our mind. Once this happens, sitting for a longer time in “Dhyaanam” becomes a cake-walk for us. By doing this practice continuously, we would be able to see Bhagawan’s portrait image, not only when we close our eyes and sit for meditation, but also during the times when our eyes are open and when we do other activities for the day. We might ask a question here – Oh! If such is the case, won’t this be disturbing us in our other jobs that we do? The answer is a big “No”! As we have Bhagawan in focus all the time, our mind will automatically become single-pointed, which is very important for performing any task. Thus, with this regular practice of “Dhyaanam”, our concentration levels will increase drastically, thereby, increasing our productivity in whatever we do! Moreover, as this practice continues further and further, we would also be able to see Bhagawan in all the people whom we meet! This is the highest state of achievement that we can go with continuous practice of this “Yogam”. Once we’re able to see Bhagawan in every living being, we would be obtaining that maturity to see the “Atman” in everyone, and this is the ultimate path that leads us to the “Atma-Saakshaakaaram”. 

Moving on further, Bhagawan Krishna explains thus, “Oh Arjuna! While you’re in this “Yogam” continuously for several days, months and years, you develop a strong positive “Aura” (Vibrations) around you. Once this “Aura” develops, you’ll automatically be surrounded by good people who perform good actions. Yogis are always protected from any evil or “Adharma” through this “Aura” that strongly builds around them. Hence, consistency and perseverance is very important while you perform your “Yogam”!” As Bhagawan says thus, Arjuna immediately has a doubt. He asks thus, “Oh Krishna! You’re saying a lot of things about “Yogam”. However, I’ve heard that if you’re in “Yogam” you should sacrifice your food and sleep completely! Is that true? How can one be devoid of these two things in his / her life? If that is the case, our “Deham” will be devoid of strength to continue our “Yogam” further, isn’t it?” 

For this, Bhagawan is giving a very important reply thus, “Oh Arjuna! Whatever you’re saying is wrong! It’s a misconception! When you’re performing your “Yogam”, I never said that you should be devoid of food and sleep. Both are essential for the body to maintain itself. A person who is trying to perform the “Yogam” sans food and sleep, will never succeed! However, on the other hand, a person who is eating and sleeping all the time will also never succeed in his “Yogam”. Hence, you need to balance your food and sleep in such a way that your physical body is intact to continue your “Yogam”!”  

Now, this is a very important point being highlighted by Bhagawan Krishna. Here, Bhagawan talks about balance in food and sleep. In today’s scenario if we’ve to apply this point, we should be even more careful in balancing these two, if we’ve to excel in our “Yogam”. Of course in those days where Arjuna and Bhagawan Krishna spoke about all this, we never had this many food varieties that we have today, and we never had this much luxury as we have today! 🙂 Now with the availability of several kinds of tempting food options and luxuries, we need to really focus on balancing both along with our “Yogam”. As Bhagawan says, of course, food is required for our basic survival, coupled with a sound sleep for around 6 hours at night. However, the problem comes when we make food and sleep our top priorities in our lives and when “Yogam” starts taking a backseat. Ideally, it should be the other way round, isn’t it? “Yogam” should be our top priority and food & sleep should be necessities. Now things are changing and hence, as per Bhagawan’s words, we should be very careful with the quantity of food that we consume and the amount of sleep that we’re giving to our body. 

So for today, let us understand up to this point, and in the next episode, we shall elaborate this further with what Bhagawan Krishna is going to say next! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhagawan Krishna continuing His important accord on how we perform our “Yogam” meticulously. When Bhagawan talks about bringing our mind under absolute control, this is where we have several schools of thoughts in the present day. We sometimes talk about having a thoughtless mind as we meditate, which might be next to impossible for many of us – The sole reason being that, our mind can never ever be devoid of thoughts even for a single moment. This is why, to bring our mind under focus, it is better to have Bhagawan’s divine physical form as a portrait in our mind and to try and focus on it for a longer time. Even then, chances are high that our mind will run away from this focus and enter into several other thoughts. One such technique to bring our mind back into the focus is to keep watching our thoughts at the grassroot level and over time, we can gradually understand from which point our mind gets distracted and thereby gradually trace the trail of thoughts that the mind is going through. If we’re able to get to the bottom of this trail of thoughts, this trail can be broken and thus, the mind will have no other option but to focus on Bhagawan while meditating. This is of course easier said than done, and this exercise would take a long time to perform. This is why it is important that we should not lose heart by failing once or twice in this pursuit. This is a long marathon and it is going to be a dogfight! We’ve to be prepared for it and should face the mind with perseverance and patience. 

Thus, meditation (“Dhyaanam” / “Yogam”) is best performed, keeping Bhagawan and His divine form in our mind as a portrait, upon which we focus our mind. In fact, this is exactly what Patanjali Bhagawan is also propagating in his famous work called “Yogasutra” as well. Many of us might know that Patanjali Bhagawan is also one of the many incarnations of Bhagawan Adisesha (Divine serpent upon whom Bhagawan Vishnu reclines). In fact, Bhagawad Ramanujachaarya is also considered to be a divine incarnation of the same Bhagawan Adisesha only, just like Lakshmana in the Ramayana. Thus, Lakshmana, Patanjali Bhagawan, Bhagawad Ramanujachaarya, etc. are divine incarnations of Bhagawan Adisesha in different time periods. So here, while talking about how to go about our “Dhyaanam”,  Patanjali Bhagawan says that we should be consistent in our practice. He talks extensively about consistency and perseverance, and this is very important. Normally, during our initial days of practice, our mind will never cooperate. It will keep wandering here and there. However, if we’re able to focus our mind for five minutes continuously during our initial days, this itself is a great achievement. Patanjali Bhagawan says that the more we focus on Bhagawan’s divine physical form, the more quickly our sins start getting washed away. For instance, if we’re able to focus on Bhagawan for 15 minutes continuously, all the sins that should be washed away during this time period will start getting washed off! 

Thus, this is where our perseverance is under test. While we start with a minimal time period for “Dhyaanam”, we should gradually start elongating it further. In other words, we should make that 5-minutes into 20 minutes and this 20 minutes into an hour and so on… The more we’re able to focus on Bhagawan’s divine physical form, the more it will be engraved into our mind for a longer time, and gradually, we would be able to control the wandering of our mind. However, this requires meticulous and consistent effort. Normally in psychology we have a norm that if we practise anything continuously for around three months, it becomes ingrained into us. Applying this psychology principle here, if we’re able to practise this “Dhyaanam” and focusing of our mind every day for around three months and if we make this as a routine, our mind and body will slowly get accustomed to it. As we do this, we can gradually increase the time span of our meditation session and over a period of time, it will become easier for us to meditate over a longer period of time. Moreover, as we keep on doing this, Bhagawan’s divine form will be imprinted into our mind permanently and moving forward, we need not waste time in imagining Bhagawan’s form from scratch every time we sit for meditation. However, if we shun the practice, we might have to start all over again! This is where we’ve to be very careful and this is where, a routine is required for the practice of “Dhyaanam”. 

So for today, let us understand this very important explanation given by Patanjali Bhagawan with regards to how we should go about our practice of meditation and let us try to implement it in our everyday life as well. We shall wait till the next episode to proceed further with this discussion. Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhagawan Krishna talking about various aspects of meditation (“Yogam”), and in due course, we’ve understood what are the prerequisites for the same. As we proceeded forward with this important discussion, we’ve also witnessed how difficult it is to focus our mind while meditating. It is very tough to meditate with a thoughtless mind because of the fact that our mind can keep hopping on and hopping off from one thought to the other “seamlessly” at all times! Hence, achieving a state wherein our mind will completely be devoid of any thoughts, is next to impossible for normal people like us. This is why, Bhagawan Krishna is explaining that while we meditate, the easiest way to bring our mind under control is to portray Him in our mind. This is relatively simple because all of us might be knowing and having Bhagawan’s divine physical form as a portrait captured in some corner of our mind. Hence, it is always better to have Bhagawan in our mind and start meditating. 

However, having said that, even if we try having Bhagawan in our mind, is it going to be easy for us to focus on Bhagawan’s portrait and continue meditating for a longer time? The answer is a big “NO” many times! Our mind is so notorious that it is going to slip from one thought to the other, as mentioned earlier, and hence, it is not going to stick with Bhagawan’s portrait image for a longer time. Our thoughts are going to take us around the world! 🙂 Now, the question comes as to how do we bring our mind under control. This is where we have a simple technique – We need to have a continuous watch on our thoughts and thought patterns. For instance, whenever we sit for our “Yogam”, initially we might start with imagining Bhagawan’s portrait. However, after a few minutes, our mind starts wavering somewhere else and the portrait of Bhagawan is gradually forgotten. At this point, we should develop that awareness of watching our thoughts drift. We should be able to understand within ourselves as to how our thoughts are shifting from one point to the other seamlessly. As we start watching ourselves every now and then, we would gradually be able to draw a pattern in which our mind is slipping away from Bhagawan’s thought. Once we draw the pattern, we have an opportunity to change this pattern and redirect our mind towards Bhagawan. 

This is of course a very slow and a gradual process and it would definitely take a lot of time. For some of us, we might be able to do it within 5 to 10 days, and for many of us it might even take months and years to achieve this level! However, the point here is that we should not lose our focus. We should not get demotivated along our path. As mentioned, the path is tough and is definitely going to take a lot of effort. Controlling the mind is not as easy as we think it might be. This is where, Bhagawan Krishna talks about perseverance and patience. Perseverance is nothing but how we’re able to perform our “Yogam” on a consistent basis without leaving the practice mid way and abandoning it. Patience is nothing but how we’re staying calm and composed even if we’re not able to achieve success in this pursuit for a long time. Thus, both these qualities are extremely important for a spiritual “Saadhak” according to Bhagawan Krishna! 

Thus, the point here is very simple – When it comes to performing our “Yogam”, of course, it is easier said than done. Performing our “Yogam” entails a lot of effort, commitment, perseverance and patience. Many of us might still know all these, but we might be reluctant to start doing it. We’ve to start somewhere, shouldn’t we? Hence, let us take this as an opportunity to start our “Yogam” practice from today, after reading through Bhagawan Krishna’s divine words of wisdom. Only when we start, we would get to know the actual difficulties on the ground and we would be able to strategize our way through. Without even starting and putting any sort of effort, all whatever we’re reading here is going to be a mere waste of time and energy! Hence, let us take this conscious effort starting from today and let us push ourselves to commence the practice of the “Yogam”, which is the essence of the sixth “Adhyaaya” of the Bhagawad Gita. We shall wait till the next episode to move on further with our discussion! Stay tuned! 🙂