Video 42

42. Bhagavad Gita I Chapter 3 Verse 43 - Ch3 Overview I Swami Sarvapriyananda

so we were at the end of the third chapter where i will just talk a little bit about that and then take a synoptic view of the third chapter and we'll throw it open for discussion so if you have questions comments you can keep writing it in the chat or raise your hands we'll have time for discussion today so in this at the end of the third chapter we see krishna is telling arjuna how to overcome the problem of karma desire because desire is the central problem in spiritual life arjuna had asked krishna why is it that people even when they want to be good when we want to be good we are made up of our minds but we still end up doing things which we regret later um unwillingly he says even though we are not willing people are not willing to or they do not want to do anything wrong they end up doing things which they which people regret regret why is that what what forces them to do this um so he answers that kama it is desire and anger karma growth desire and anger which is manifested as a ragadvisha raga means attraction or wanting this grasping at something i want this i want that's raga and duesha means repulsion i don't like this i want to avoid this i i detest this in my life one might ask what's wrong with that nothing specifically wrong but we think by pursuing that we will attain fulfillment we will not we have not been able to attain fulfillment in that way by pursuing our desires so krishna says this is the problem in life and especially in spiritual life whether we want to meditate and our minds are disturbed why because they are polluted by karma and growth desire and anger in the mild forms also just a sense of lack of fulfillment that's also desire basically lack of fulfillment uh a lack of annoying or a little bit of annoyance and irritation that's enough to throw you off your meditation so i'm unable to meditate um i want to love god but i don't feel that love why not what's wrong i want to be a bhakta i want to be a devotee i don't really genuinely feel any love for god the reason is that love that that power is flowing into the world into worldly relationships into desire for objects and attainments in the world raga it's flowing through that i want to do karma yoga i want to serve unselfishly i want to do good to humanity that would be great but selfishness creeps in into ev everything that we think and do why because of the same problem karma karma and krodha desire and anger so we see or in the path of knowledge i am convinced that i'm not the body and mind and i i am the witness consciousness and the atman but it's very difficult to see myself like that and it seems to be some kind of clever idea but not really real why not it's because we are tied to this body and the desires associated with this particular body mind karma and krodha so you see whether it is karma yoga raja yoga bhakti yoga or gyani yoga in each case it is this desire karma associated krodha which is the obstacle so and krishna as you saw he goes on to tell arjuna how to deal with karma krodha he does not deal with directly because we all saw that krotha anger is an evolute of karma it's when desire is frustrated it gets transmuted into anger or irritation so if you take care of desire if you solve that problem the problem of anger is also solved um you know it's one interesting thing that we noted early on in on in monastic life that many of the monks we saw were pretty angry people and uh which first of why is that so they should be more calm than other people but they seem to be more irritable or uh you know like angry or annoyed uh compared to most other people some and if you think about it it's natural when one enters into monastic life one is put under a rigid system of discipline so it's basically an idealistic life i want to be like that but i'm not there yet so when i want to be like that and i'm trying to transform myself and push myself you know push my the realities of my life up to the ideal i'm already denying many desires i'm putting a stop to that controlling it and in most cases at the beginning at least that frustrated desire immediately becomes anger so um in some ways you know it is almost natural that anybody who starts out on a sadhana path of sadhana if that he or she is not careful may turn out to be more angry than usual i'm not recommending it it's just sort of a kind of side effect which one should watch out for especially if one strains too much if you don't take it in baby steps if one wants to become a yogi in one big jump then you will find in day to day life that person is under strain is easily upset prone to outbursts it's because one is pushing harder than one should one it's going beyond one's limits i always used to tell the trainee monks that um try hard but don't push to the to the extent where your health physical and mental breaks down then there's nobody to help you you are here for sadhana you are here for the long run you are here for a marathon run so in marathon runners never never sprint they know that they have to preserve their energy and the stamina for the long run so spiritual life is you are here here for the long haul for the whole life so it will be decades and decades of consistent systematic effort not one intense burst of effort and you become enlightened or even that usually leads to disaster all right so what has he said in the he said in verse number 40 that the basis of karma where is desire to be found indriyani mano buddhisthanam in the sensory system karma that's the base of karma where karma operates in the mind and in the intellect mind is the faculty of the inner faculty which considers pros and cons sankalpa vikalpatmakam manaha this or that data is pulled in and the mind collates all the data desires bubble up likes and dislikes bubble up that state is called the mind then buddhi subtler than that inner to that is the buddhi the intellect which takes determination which takes a decision the faculty of of uh determination that determination here means um the deciding the power of deciding i want this this is good i will do this or i will not do this so this is buddhi and karma operates at every level so if you want to deal with karma with desire you will have to watch out at every level and then krishna says begin with the outermost in 41 verse number 41 start with the sensory system disciplined senses then he gives a model ah verse number 42. we have done this last time indriyani paranyahu the model is this the the sensory system the sense objects are of course the outermost then the sensory system then comes the mind then comes the intellect and then innermost is the self the atman this verse is based on a model taken from the qatar panishad in the qatar panishan so here krishna is almost verbatim quoting the controversial slightly modified version of the qatar panishad verses there um a wonderful model of the body mind human system body mind system is given it is compared to a chariot in the cartognation so the horses are the senses so the chariot has five horses the horses are the sense organs and they're running on what's the track they're running on that's the sense objects the eyes to see form ears to hear sound and nose for smell the tongue for taste and the skin for touch and what is what is the range by which the horses are controlled that's the mind so the mind is the instrument by which the horses are controlled who controls who is who is driving the chariot it's the uh buddhi the intellect the intellect has got the reins in his hand and he's guiding the sense organs in this journey of life and who is the passenger uh the passenger who's sitting unconcerned uh in the chariot is the self the atman so it's a journey from the self to the self the self is going to realize itself that's the whole journey it's not going from one place to another and then the upanishad goes on to say that spiritual discipline at each of the three levels sensory level horses the range the mental level and the the charioteer the buddhi the intellectual level so spirituality our discipline our sadhana will be at three levels at the level of the horses is the control of the senses what i shall see what i shall not see what i will hear what i will not hear also the karma indriya the organs of action what should i say what should i not say what control of speech so all of the sense organs five sense organs the five organs of action they have to be controlled that is the discipline shri krishna mentions indriyani aadhu in his commentary madhusudan saraswati says he is just taking the injury or sensory system as a marker as a marker to indicate not only the sensory system but also the mind and the intellect so all three levels are meant here so first the senses have to be bought under control then you go to the uh the inner instrument the mind so what is the spiritual discipline for the mind upanishad so these details are available in the qatar upanishad in the upanishad it is said samanaska samantha literally means um mindful nowadays literally the translation would be mindful with mind samanaska so nowadays it's a very very big thing in the united states mindfulness i think billion dollar industry or something like that so many places ah so mindfulness from schools to ah hospitals from the police and the prisoners and the corporate executives everywhere in the military everywhere mindfulness is being taught so some manaska mindfulness concentration focus that's at the level of the mind and then third is the level of the intellect at the level of the intellect to immerse the faculty of understanding in this quest of who am i what am i really to learn the truth to think about it carefully and get clarity about it and then stay with that clarity to learn it shravana to think about it and understand and get clarity mananam and then to stay with it needed asanam assimilate the truth so at the three levels the spiritual practices discipline of the senses the discipline and control of the senses attentiveness focus at the level of the mind and the vedantic the clarity about who am i the intellect should stay there with this the idea is to realize who am i and uh in the verse number 43 the last verse he says 43rd verse thus knowing that which is beyond the intellect what is beyond the intellect the atman the pure consciousness the self witness consciousness thus knowing that which is beyond the intellect controlling the mind by the intellect kill o mighty armed one the enemy in the form of desire which is difficult to conquer so realizing evan buddha param buddha that which is beyond the intellect so here is giving us the technique what is the technique this is the vedantic technique of realizing who am i see this chariot model in the upanishads is based on the the paradigm of the panchakosha the physical aspect that is the body and then the vital forces prana and then the men the mind the the manas then the buddhi intellect and then beyond that there is a causal body which is not mentioned the anandamaya kosha beyond that the witness of all of them is the atman witness consciousness now he says in the 42nd verse this gives us the technique what technique are we to apply the senses are superior to their objects objective senses you know eyes are the senses objects are forms ears of the senses objects are sound and so on the the senses that sensory system is superior to its objects superior to the sensory system is the mind superior to the mind is the intellect and superior to the intellect is the atman so this gives us a clue what does it mean superior it means um subtler inward and illuminar so subtler means sukshma inward means protect the inner and illuminated means the witness or the one which prakash aka so how does it work all the things that we are seeing and i'll give you the step by step the procedure of applying this all that we are seeing all the forms that you are seeing they are objects for what for your eyes eyes are the senses and all the forms are objects and these senses are superior to the objects how they are the same senses remaining unchanged so many objects come and go i see i see so many things throughout the day all those things and people i see they come and go but the same eyes are seeing them yeah and this is one second suppose i ask you which is which is inner inner know in what sense which is closer to yourself one way of understanding this is you see a flower and the eyes are seeing the flower where are you which do you identify with more do you identify with the flower which is being seen or with the eyes which are seeing the flower you will naturally if you see you will feel that yes i am here i am in with the eyes and i am seeing the flower through the eyes so we identify more with the senses than with the object of the senses so the senses are closer to us is this point clear how they are inner inner means closer to yourself prakash illumina which is aware of which what sees what does the flower see you or you see the flower you say i see the flower of course so the senses objectify their objects that's why they're called sense objects the senses are the seer or hearer or smeller or taster whatever it is so the senses are the ones which illumine their objects so sensor sensory system is superior to the objects means it is inner subtler than the objects it is closer to yourself that it that's what it means uh it is the it is also the uh one the same senses see all different kinds of changing objects the entire range of objects whether it is sight or sound or whatever and they illumine those objects they reveal those objects let's go deeper the mind is said to be superior to the senses now it is by the same mind one mind alone where all the senses collect the data and deposit it so eyes and ears and smell and taste and touch so one cup of coffee you see what when what you see the eyes are taking the information and giving it to the mind what you smell the nose is taking that information giving it to the mind what you taste and touch the warmth of the coffee and the flavor of the coffee all the sense organs are taking it and putting it in the mind the mind is superior to the sense organs and if you say if you ask with which will you identify which is closer to you if you if that question makes sense is it the mind or the eyes is it the mind or the nose we will see instinctively we feel i when i considered the nose or the eyes i used to see well now i need glasses i am identifying with the mind and considering the eyes not the other way around none of the sense objects none of the sense organs can ever objectify the mind but the mind objectifies the sense organs does this make sense all the time very clearly no sense organ is aware of the mind but the mind is aware of all sense organs so the mind is the illuminate of the sense organs sakshi the way they teach it in the himalayas the witness when you can see i am the witness of the eyes which see well and now one day i cannot see anymore maybe [Music] blind or something has happened and i'm still the witness witness is there eyes have stopped i'm the witness of that so in the same way now here the mind is the witness of the sense organs but the mind itself buddhi is superior to the mind intellect is superior to the mind how all the information that the mind has collected it is considered and a decision is taken by the buddhi by the intellect i like this i want that and so on and the buddhist inner the decision making capacity based on the options presented by the mind the data presented by the mind the desires and memories dug up by the mind the whole panorama is presented before the deciding factor the buddhi the intellect and the intellect decides intellect is superior to the mind intellect considers the options presented by the mind so intellect superior to the mind intellect is inner to the mind is a very fine distinction we are making right now if you think right now we we're trying to understand i'm trying to understand what the swami is saying this trying to understand is the intellect remember it's the same inner faculty it has two functions mind is one function intellect is another function but intellect is a higher and superior function the intellect and tries to understand what's happening in the mind so the intellect is inert to the mind intellect is the illumina of the mind we can say and when we identify mind or intellect if i give you a choice you will identify the intellect which is trying to when you say when you say i'm introspecting what is introspecting it's the intellect looking upon the mind considering what's going on in our minds so the intellect is superior to the mind but this is not the end of the process so i'm vivekananda says one more thing has to be there whatever is in the intellect is now has to be illumined by the self the atman so the decision of the intellect what comes nishta atmaka buddhi there is something inner to the intellect all the movements of the intellect i understand i do not understand both are revealed to you to whom the movements of the intellect understanding not understanding deciding i will i want that i do not want that i i get it i don't get it these are all movements of the intellect to whom or what illumines this what reveals the movements of the intellect that is consciousness so ultimately one more thing is necessary awareness or consciousness which is the self and that reveals the intellect reveals the mind it reveals the senses and through the intellect mind and senses reveals the entire world so that one that consciousness is atman anything beyond that he says nothing beyond that in the katopanishad the final ultimate reality is consciousness so why not i can think of something beyond consciousness which will be aware of consciousness if it is aware of consciousness then it must be conscious if it's aware of anything awareness and consciousness are synonymous so ultimately it has to be consciousness itself so there is nothing beyond consciousness which can illumine anything else so our real nature is that witness consciousness which is innermost to all uh which is the illumina of all all are changing and are being revealed by that one consciousness so that is the atman and that has to be realized realized as what this is sun stabbed here firmly realizing by the intellect establish the mind in in in your mind by the intellect establish in your mind this the the clarity what clarity ahamram has me ask me whatever you call it i am that witness consciousness or brahman having established yourself in that now it is very easy to deal the final blow to kaaba already remember sense organs are under some form of discipline at least mind is attentive intellect has got clarity now you are you are you've got the clarity ahamram oh great warrior defeat this enemy this is the greatest enemy kama kamarupam durasadam it's most difficult to comprehend the ways of desire you have to defeat this this enemy called desire so a two level approach first control at the level of senses by implication control of the level of the mind also attentive mind conciliant senses attentive mind clarity in buddhi intellect these three are required and um so in the language of the upanishad ashwa the horses had to have to be disciplined sadashiva these are the good well-trained ashwa the horses means the intel the senses are disciplined samanaska the mind is uh mindful that means concentrated or focused not flickering and it says the buddhi has got pragya has got wisdom vedantic wisdom so this is the preliminary work that we have to do and then with the self-inquiry suggested by the by sri krishna we realize aham brahmasmi from this perspective it is much easier to get rid of desire win over desire finally overcome desire from the perspective of the atman what desire do we have i am this infinite immortal being there is no death for me there is no limit to my existence what can i want where what raga for what dwesha what will i despise everything in this universe is in me they appear in me i am the witness of all i am the revealer of all and i am all actually because i am not only consciousness i am also existence so i am the existence of all things in that way raga and dwisha diminish and i have equanimous vision towards everything that i experience in this universe um then it is much easier to overcome desire desire will not disturb such a person so this is sri krishna's advice to arjuna let's deal with some questions then i will quickly take an overview of chapter three shashank yes and so here uh there is no reference to chitta and ankara and so what does the mind refer to here in this verse so yeah so mind here refers to the mind manas to manas so here in this verse the the division is sensory system indriyani then manas the mind this mind what is this mind this is that one in the manoa digital the four components of the antakarana mana means mind chitta means the memory ankara means ego and buddhi means intellect and each one has a definition mana is sankalpatikal pathmakambana that which considers the pros and cons all the data it collates but also the upanishad says it's the controlling faculty it's the one which is in charge of the sensory system um see this hear that stop this all that control is like the reins of a horse then we have chitta chitta is a storehouse of all impressions it's absolutely necessary for our daily functioning buddhism the determinative faculty this is this this clarity i get it or i don't get it that's the functioning of the buddhi and then um the ahamkara ego is the one which is in our landmark in english it would be that which appropriates the ego is that which appropriates to itself the functioning of all things the eyes are seeing but i i say i am seeing the one which says i memory is functioning but we say we don't say memory is remembering something i remember um intellect gets it i get it so these are the four functions of the anta karanakarana inner instrument um so here when it's in this verse and in the upanishad also they have taken only sensory system mind intellect and beyond that is uh atma that much only okay so they have not mentioned ego for example they have not mentioned the chitta the memory so the second question is that we have seen that the the self is is existence and everything else does not exist and so how can something which exists be compared to something which does not exist where it says the atman is superior to the mind intellect and everything yes how can a existing and non-existent quantity be be compared true but remember this is a technique given to us us means we are sadhakas we are in the practice we are trying to get realization to us it seems these things all exist body senses the table and the chair and the people outside they clearly seem to exist from the perspective of the atman from the perspective of of existence what happens they are all appearances in existence to put it in more concrete terms in given example you say how suppose there are waves in the ocean there are many waves and there is foam and there is surf now what you are asking is they don't exist apart from the water so how can you compare the water to a wave yes you can you have to realize the water is the reality of the wave the water is the reality of the foam but when you experience the ocean our immediate experience is waves and foam and surf right right so water is the inner reality of the ocean the actual reality in a reality is a way of saying it actually when you what you are seeing is water once you understand what water is you immediately see what you are seeing is water what you touch is water what makes you wet is not a wave or a surf it is water alone but it appears in all those names and forms so the atman is existence itself it appears in all these names and forms therefore the inner reality is superior to the outer manifestation even in so for example if i say a pot take a pot now the part is made of clay clay is the inner reality we can say craze the existence of the part in one way we can say without the clay part would not exist in that sense clay is superior how clay is superior to the part because it is inert to the pot here also you will see what is meant by inner inner does not mean inner to a part does not mean what has been kept inside the pot it is not the water which is kept inside the pot it is the inner reality of the pot that which makes the pot apart what is that clay but the superior to the clay is the earth element which has which from which clay is made so period to the earth element will be the inner reality which ultimately will go back to maya and then back to brahman itself so it is the inner reality which is superior to the outer manifestation okay i think it's in the in the sense of that the illumining which elements is it makes more sense disorder yes ilu means but also inner also the one which is the one in which all they actually have not used that word a pervasion what does it mean pervasion one eyes it in the because of that it pervades all forms which you see with the eyes that's one it's a peculiar way of speaking i used a simpler way with the same eyes you see everything with the same ears you hear all sounds so the senses pervade their objects but the mind pervades all the senses eyes do not pervade the ears ears do not pervade the nose but the same mind pervades all of them and this same intellect understands all of them pervades all of them but atman pervades all the intellect manas senses all of them are pervaded by the atman not only as consciousness all experience is pervaded by the atman as consciousness and all existence all things are pervaded by the atman as thank you very existence yes and the grand thing the glory of human nature great glory is that you are that consciousness existence you are the inner reality of this entire universe not as a cool claim as a as an absolutely it wants to understand it it's an undeniable reality right now it's amazing to contemplate yes yeah but we have not reached that state we have not identified the oneness with everybody yes and we are just sad and giving up desires and total detachment at now might lead to indifference also and like empathy yeah so two questions one question is will it lead to indifference and apathy at this point no it will not see all desires are now focused or channeled towards god so if you forcefully try to stop those desires then this may happen because the genuine desire for god or mukshithum for freedom has not yet arisen at the same time i put a stop to every worldly functioning then what will happen is i will not do that i am not allowed to but the intense desire which makes me rabbi cry for krishna or ramakrishna go mad for seeing mother kali that has not come to me yet so you what you are saying is sort of dullness kind of apathy will come in difference so you have to be careful there there the apathy is not spiritual it's more like sometimes you know people are depressed unhappy so when people are depressed or unhappy one sign of depression is not willing to do other things not willing to go out not willing to meet with people not even willing to see it sit down and see a tv program not interested in anything that's apathy and that's not a good condition and it's not a spiritual condition either um that's why swami vivekananda said al always preferred that an active life sri krishna we will see it here it tells arjuna also that uh be active do all work there is not even one moment you can stay without doing some work so better to near tam guru karma do all daily works or all all activities and duties you must perform them holy mother also said that she said my dear daughter kaj loki work is mother lakshmi your body mind all will be well if you work hard we are given certain work in our day-to-day life whatever is in front of us is our own kurukshetra we cannot deny there is something in front of us to do in the worst of cases also if there is nothing and nobody even my own body my japa my day to day routine that also has to be maintained so bill is here he's 96 years old but i think for decades and decades never missed the evening rt he will always come down and attend santiagoti so this kind of holding on to your the work before you what you have set for yourself that itself becomes karma yoga two things you brought up the sakshi and you say um sakshi in everybody one feels that ah you know when we go through this process the sense organs the mind the intellect and i am the witness of all of them then we look around oh all those people are there in zoom i'm seeing so many people so so many bodies so many sense organs so many minds so many intellects so many sakshi's also no are there thousands of sakshi's i can see 58 participants here so 58 participants actually they're all sakshi you are watching me i'm watching you so isn't it we are different sakshi's no ah according to vedanta there is only one sakshi in all bodies and minds in all bodies and minds one sakshi thirteenth chapter shri krishna says shaitra gyam jaap imam viddhi sarvaksheth in all body mind complexes o arjuna know me alone to be the one witness the difference seems to be because of body and mind one one light um appearing through many holes in a big pot seems to be many rays of light coming out but it's actually when you go inside you see there's only one light shankaracharya gives this example so there's one light consciousness which shines through many many bodybind complexes gita also krishna says undivided in all beings appearing to be divided it seems to be many sakshi's but actually it is one we are actually all one reality we are all united in god and krishna says i am that sakshi in all bodies and minds so that's the idea of god in vedanta the one consciousness shining through all bodies and minds the same consciousness when it's when we limit it when we think it is here shining through this body and mind then it becomes jiva one consciousness shining through all bodies and minds shiva or krishna or narayan or devi whatever you call saguna brahman one consciousness only nir guna brahman why would you say one consciousness only why not all body mind because all bodies and minds are appearances they are not ultimately real they are not nothing apart from that that one conscious so then only need guna brahman see one consciousness shining through body mind jiva how many g was here and say 59 now there are 59 g was in the zoom meeting how many brahmans are there saguna brahman ishwara one only one only in all bodies and minds the same consciousness and what's the ultimate reality neither jiva nor sagan abram the ultimate reality of both evan opera you are nirguna brahman pure consciousness pure being infinite existence infinite consciousness is brahman and that's you that is nirguna brahman okay and secondly swamiji i wanted to know what is the evolutionary function of desire like in the case of jiva the desire can be a motivating behavior as it can influence our thoughts like on a higher level it can lead us towards spirituality and maybe on a lower level just to satisfy our hunger true true that is a big question and a good question notice our fundamental desire first of all to exist to exist i i want to live to live nobody wants to die to live all living beings cling to life so this comes from our nature as sat pure being immortal being because we are immortal being we don't know it but from that in ignorance that manifests in our life as the clinging to life i want to exist and it's a wrong thing because this body will never exist forever we will again and again be frustrated how do you want to cling to exist do you want to live in icu um you know like unconscious what is it called ventilator like that you want to live no no no i want to be conscious not just live unconsciously in coma i want to be conscious so that awareness i want to exist in an aware way that is what the tremendous desire we have and that desire comes from chit consciousness because we are our nature is consciousness so you will be aware and you will exist and you will live in the hospital within great pain all right no no no i want to live and i want to be aware and i want to be happy fulfilled it should be a pleasant awareness existence awareness and nice then i will be then this is what i want that you know it comes from the ananda nature so our real nature is saccidananda and all under ignorance that manifests as these primary desires to live to know to enjoy um the in sanskrit it is the desire to live the desire to know jigyasa the desire to enjoy things in the world hunger so these things at first they propel us into action into the world we throw us into the world and then we must experience the world as you said some amount of experience is necessary otherwise that interest in god realization will not come what is this desire for god realization you know when all these desires which which come from our basic desire to live to know to enjoy and in a thousand fold ways if you look around it is you look around and now it's all closed in broadway what is there restaurants now they're all sitting on the streets outside because you're not allowed to go inside the restaurant so nicely you will see on the streets in new york there are tables and chairs and people sitting in in suits with forks and napkins and dining out in style but all on the streets outside now what is that i want to eat i want to enjoy look at the shops desire clothes fancy clothes the broadway theaters entertainment existence knowing and big libraries knowledge museums knowledge and enjoyment all of this is the you see manifested in our civilization and it has given rise to this civilization as you said desire is given by god so that we progress but is this the end but we notice after doing all of it to the to the hilt as much as you want there is no happiness there is no fulfillment then we go to the next level we are seeking fulfillment at the same thing we are seeking i want to live i want to know and i want to enjoy then comes spirituality vedanta comes and says yes it is possible you have tried it in the world outside and it's a failure failure in the sense of your own ah fulfillment not it has given rise to our civilization and all that was going on now good and bad it's all prompted by desire there vedanta and freud are the same they say that the root of all of this is desire karma is there at the root of all of this so even a biologist will take you if you take a look at your lawn outside all the flowers and the glory of nature good part of it is due to the reproductive desire in plants and animals you see all the beauty of nature it's basically nature propagating itself but it will not lead to fulfillment if you flow along the lines of prakriti prakriti will go on with its own work nature will go on with its own work but it will not lead to your fulfillment because it cannot only thing that can lead to fulfillment is infinite existence infinite knowledge and infinite consciousness infinite joy where is it to be found only in your own real nature you cannot achieve it it's already there only it has to be uncovered so that's where vedanta comes in now so the saudis put it so beautifully the three problems desire this hunger for living jiji visha hunger for knowledge particular knowledge in the world hunger for enjoyment these three hungers propel us into the world to reverse this and go god word towards enlightenment a new term is introduced mumuksa the yeah the desire for for freedom or in devotional language the desire for god bhakti the love of god this will cancel and overcome these three the first three the desire to live in this body in the worldly sense the desire to know things in the world only the desire to enjoy worldly things they are all overcome and that desire is turned towards god mumuksa and that takes you towards god when you realize god that i am saccidananda then that much also goes away at that time you can say like shankaracharya which will give you joy in this world and the next world and moksha is enlightenment freedom and once you attain that you say i don't want any any of them because i am jidan and rupa shivoham so from desire to spiritual quest to freedom from desire doesn't desire so what is what should we do with desire if you are a sadaqa now it's high time mature channelize it towards god if you are a kid who is not interested in spiritual life as yet you must encourage that in fact your question answer is given by krishna himself in this in this third chapter joshua sarva karmani with dwan yukta samacharan encourage everybody those who are not interested in spiritual life don't keep telling them come to virantakas come to gita class no no encourage them you want to do science math literature any higher pursuit no art you want to set up an industry and earn millions of dollars you want to get a nobel prize or something all worldly ambitions but good that leads to the development so give them an upward push joshua sarva karma you should say yes yes it's good must do it vidhwan yukta samacharan the vidhwan the enlightened the gyani being centered in brahmasmi consciousness also doing work oneself so this i will talk about it later krishna says even if you are a gyani you still must work others are working out of desire you are working as an example to them to help them it is if if i did not work krishna says then others would imitate me and then they would come to disaster because they would not attain spiritual realization they are not yet fit for that and in the world they would sink lower and from rajasthan they will become tamasik oh yeah so good who else is the question anybody else is there shashank namaste i have a question two-part question is there such thing as moderation when it comes to worldly desires and is there such thing as moderation with respect to you know your sadhana and if so what is moderation in today's day and age yes moderation is always good um but one must be careful we are sadakas you're a sadhaka or sadika and that means that's your goal in life and the rest have to be bought in line with this goal in life so my food my relaxation my entertainment my daily activities they are all which must be anukula which must be supportive of my sadhana not particular not against it so to that extent krishna is very very compassionate later in the gita he says to be a yogi you must have proper nutrition you must have proper rest you must have proper recreation yukta you must have proper rest sleep and waking not too much waking not too much sleep also so this balanced life is very good for yoga he says yoga bhavati overdoing sadhana there are those who who are like that we used to see in among the monks you know when we were in training there would be people so you're supposed to get up at 3 40 in the morning which is really early for most of us but there would be people some of our brothers of the other brahmacharis a few would get up at 2 30 in the morning so like more than one hour before all of us and by the time we are ready and going to the temple at 4 00 am they almost finished their meditation so uh that sometimes was difficult it had an effect on their health both physical and mental sometimes one has to be careful bhagavan buddha's famous middle path too much austerity and too much relaxation this is in between the middle part that is good for the bhikkhu that is he is talking about the monk of course bhagavan buddha's middle path if you look at the rules for buddhist monks that's a pretty austere path so that is one side the other side in the name of moderation not doing any sadhana at all you know it can lead to mental problems swamiji has said it can lead to physical problems so a little bit of meditation is good otherwise now it should be followed by nice partying and good uh you know like tv program no no that is escapism that will not work um so the all the yogas have their danger so that's why i'm not practicing any of the yogas no that will not work there was a funny story where we had one swami gunati maharaja the very great swami but he seemed to be crazy you know like one day um he had went for a walk outside bellowed but and he was hit by one of those autos he was not seriously injured when he was brought back into belurum people asked him swami what happened to you he said i was following the middle path buddha has said middle path on grand trunk road you should not follow because it will get run over by by otto anyway so moderation is is required moderation basically understand your own mind and body and remember it is a long lifelong process prayer meditation study karma yoga all of that devotion all of that had to be practiced throughout our lives so accordingly one should do thank you yes should i quickly summarize let me go to the oh time is almost up so let me go to the third chapter what did we see in the third chapter at the beginning of the third chapter arjuna expressed a question that he asked a question to krishna that um verse number one chapter three so if you think the way of knowledge yoga superior to karma yoga way of knowledge is superior to the way of action why are you asking me to fight this battle so remember the end of second chapter he has talked about stitha pragya the one who is enlightened who has realized me so arjuna thinks that that's the goal then good i'm all right with that so i should do that why are you asking me to fight this battle then krishna explains that he says that there are these two paths and these two paths are not options yoga and karma yoga are not optional that you i can either do this or that why are you telling me to do karma yoga when gyan yoga seems to be superior no jana yoga which takes you takes you to the realization that you are brahmana shravana mananananandhasana of upanishads gita and the other advaithic texts it will show you that your your real nature is brahman and that leads to freedom moksha but that requires preparation so remember i am talking in the paradigm of advaita vedanta here so that requires preparation and that preparation requires karma yoga not only karma yoga also upasana meditation karma bhakti upasana all are required in the advaithic path there are in advaithic pack but karma yoga is required bhakti yoga is required raja yoga is required all as preparation for for gyana yoga it is like suppose i want to fly to l.a to to hollywood suppose and then but i'm not going right now um so how do i go you'll say swami take a cab to laguardia and then take a flight to i said no no no tell me one cab or flight so how can how is that possible you must take both the cab will take you to the airport and the plane will take you to your destination which is lax similarly the cab of karma yoga will get get you ready and then you can board the flight of ghana yoga which will take you to moksha so these are stages i have talked about the the structure of sadhana earlier what is the structure of sadhana very briefly by gana yoga we realize that i am brahman just what krishna said he ended on the third chapter also he ended with ghana yoga basically that how you realize i am brahmana superior to the senses is the mind superior to the and you follow you have to follow yourself it's not just something for memorizing or understanding or drawing a diagram i've understood it no notice it in yourself here are the senses contemplate the senses then turn inwards here is the mind contemplate the mind stay there then turn inwards the one which is thinking all these things that is the buddhi then turn inwards if you can't do that then you'll be enlightened that i here is the consciousness not here i am that consciousness illumining all of this stay there that is indihasana you swam you are saying all this i have heard many many times so years and years i am hearing this i have got so many notebooks and recordings and all of this is there but still i have not realized anything what is the problem the mind is unable to grasp the mind is unable to absorb all the information and teachings are there mind is unable to absorb so the mind has to be concentrated a chagrata focus of the mind you see how it's connected to the reins of the being held by the charioteer through ekagar the focus of the mind focus of the mind is achieved by raja yoga concentration or in vedic terms upasana worship focus and we try to do that i have taken mantra diksha i'm repeating the mantra falling asleep our mind is getting scattered here and there focus is not there on the mantra why because there is impurity in the mind again back to what krishna said karma desire ragadveisha impurities conditionings are in their mind why krishna says prakriti from ancient times from life after lifetime we have conditioned the mind thrown so much garbage in the mind that prakriti is there the nature prachina karma samskara the samskaras the the conditionings from ancient karma ancient karma means multiple lifetimes that is what is generating this powerful rag advaisha likes and dislikes and then leading to calm or desire and that is frustrated leading to anger kama krodha that has to be overcome at that level karma yoga is very useful convert every activity sri krishna says 30th verse he gives the best summary of karma yoga verse number 30. sannyasa [Music] you have to have a spiritual consciousness spiritual awareness what is spiritual awareness god realization is my goal i am a spiritual practitioner sadhaka or sadiq i'm a spiritual seeker this must be this is the beginning of spiritual life make up your mind and so your identity even if you don't tell anybody who are you you can stay i'm a stock broker but in inside in your mind you must say i am a spiritual seeker externally in your heart of art you should not say i'm a stock broker that should not be your ultimate identity ultimate identity i am a spiritual seeker then what do you do my son yes convert or verse number 30 convert all your activities into worship of me surrender all your activities to me offer all your activities as worship to me then nirajir nirmamma bhuttwa without attachment without attachment without grasping that by these activities i will achieve worldly goals that part of your life is over worldly goals will be achieved no doubt whatever activity arjuna will fight the war he will win the war he will get the kingdom that's all there karma yogi has it nice both ways all the activities he will continue to do and your salary and your awards and your promotion all will keep coming but that's not your goal anymore nirmamo no more grasping i have done this this is mine no it is all the lords the secret i have sent very beautifully it has been taught secret of karma yoga we all understand puja and we understand prasad so convert all your activities into puja and the result of this activity is you take it as prasad let me repeat that our activity is all activity worldly activity now is converted into puja puja means worship of god just as we do puja in the temple or in your worship room now after doing the puja the food is offered then the food has to be taken as prasad when the food comes as prasad the sacred offered food there you don't have the worldly judgment that i like mangoes only mango i will take i don't like the pear so i will not no it is prasad whatever comes it always give me a little bit of prasad whatever comes you will not say oh this pear i don't want this give me that mango no prasada buddhi means my attitude towards what is coming is this it's the lord's it's been offered to the lord it's the lord's prasad so i take it in that sense similarly as i act in the world as puja karma yoga the results will keep coming you do any action result will come but now instead of saying instead of using my ragadvesa i wanted these things i did not want those things this ragadvisha instead of that all of what is coming is prasada the lord has given this to me i accept it good things happen very good because of the lord i have nothing to do with it bad things happen my old karma is coming in this form i have to bear with it fine that's no problem at all it is given by the lord i am happy with it this sets you free then the mind is purified with that mind when you do upasana mind will be concentrated and with that concentrated and purified mind when you come to gyana yoga it flashes aham brahmasmi this is the structure of sadhana this is what sri krishna has said and he also says that before this one interesting thing he says verse number 21 if you consider yourself to be a ghani also you know what the idea is that swami you said about the structure of sadhana this is for the beginner i have already understood vedanta so should i still do any work krishna is saying if you consider yourself to be a ghani even then you should do work because first of all for the sake of society whatever a superior person does everybody else imitates so great teaching for teachers for parents we are always worried about students or the children the best way of molding the children and inspiring the children is by our own behavior whomever you consider to be superior whatever that person does or says everybody else is eager to follow that naturally or automatically whom you consider to be a superior you will try to imitate that children especially so there is a saying in child psychology children do not listen they imitate so they automatically imitate so if you are immersed in a spiritual lifestyle your your life the books that you read you don't have to give long sermons to the children you don't have to tell them again and i can do this or do that it will be an inspiration let me just mention here i was reading an interview with the second generation indian american an american who is of indian heritage so this young man he is saying to you many of you are parents who are india from india but you're settled here your children are here and they're growing up here or have grown up so this young man is saying to you he says don't worry if the children are not interested in religious in religion or spirituality right now keep on he says don't undervalue the importance of the seeds which have been sown so keep on giving them those inputs even if they don't seem especially in teenage years they might not seem at all interested in these things doesn't matter that awareness is there that such things are there there is a thing called meditation that god exists that you know spiritual realization is possible that it's possible to convert my daily activities into worship of god into spirituality these things which they see in you and the books are lying around in the house so those are the seeds whatever the superior ones in society do others also follow that so you have to be careful even if you think you are a gyani and you don't need karma yoga bhakti yoga rajya yoga only vedanta class no all those other things also you must do i think we have covered the basic outline of the chapter these are the main things which have been talked about in the chapter that karma yoga is necessary as a foundation for spiritual progress gyana yoga gives enlightenment the gyani should also perform karma yoga why should also perform as an example to others lokan loka sangra he says that is the reason and um and the important section where arjuna asks why is it that we fail in spiritual life what what is the great obstacle and he says karma desire and then he says how to overcome karma the disciplines and he has borrowed from qatar panishad there and finally that path of enquiry self-inquiry which leads you to the realization of the atman yeah let me see the chat most of the chat is happy birthday or girish girish has a question hi um i had a basic question on the use of the term refers to the absolute consciousness it's a subject yes but in in in the yoga uh you know in chitta root for example refers to mind stuff and which which is a which is which is an object in this case uh also is flexibly applied to memory in some cases isn't it so that's also an object yes so it can be used both as a subject and an object why is that by missing something yes so there are two words here kit and chitta chit and chitta there is a takara an extra takara there in chitta so the word chitta has multiple meanings as you have noticed one meaning the cessation or the the association of the modifications of the mind stuff there it means all kinds of all the functions of the mind the manas the uh the buddhi the all of them are taken as chitta another specific meaning of chitta here is the memory itself when you say mano buddhi chittahankar and aaham shankaracharya sings their chitta means memory so it has these two meanings the whole mind itself is called chitta you know flying vivekananda says the lake of the mind to the cessation of the ripples on the surface of the lake that is meditation so the whole lake is called chitta then memory is called pure consciousness atman the witness consciousness is called chit but you have attended the manduka classes confusingly there while refuting the viganavada not confusing it is deliberately done while refuting the vigyanavada buddhist governopath uses chitta to mean consciousness and cognition both because the buddhists the viganawadi is actually confused both at least in from our perspective so chitta is pure consciousness the pure subject itself and chit is pure consciousness and chitta is an object having said that i will take the whole thing back the ultimate secret is this what is the relationship between this subject and object what are these two chitta and chit if you think about that it is this is the key to enlightenment there is a saying um know the chitta the mind to which it pure consciousness itself the extrata chitta let me write it here the extra is vishaya dhyasa the superimposition of the objective name and form superimposition nothing extra has been added the appearance of names and forms and pure consciousness gives it a semblance an appearance of an object what object a thought so all the thoughts that you have memory desires good thought bad thought all of that is nothing but the atman itself the pure consciousness itself that mischievous little scamp is now appearing to you as your mind how is it accomplishing this how is the pure subject accomplishing this magic trick it's a magic trick using the projections of name and form and those name and names and forms are nothing other than the atman also that's the beauty of maya using names and forms it it objectifies itself so let me write this chit plus the is equal to chitta everybody can see it now that chit is pure pure consciousness chitta is mind but what's the relation between them you just the imposition of names and forms visaya dhyasa literally it means superimposition of the object then it breaks out into cognitions then we experience the world itself it's a very very precise insight it it connects the objective world to the pure subject if you do this sankhya and yoga will disappear into advaita if you don't do that you'll have two things consciousness object that's sankhya that is yoga patanjali yoga aims at that separation of the consciousness from the object subject from object and that's it stop that itself is freedom and that does give you freedom of a kind but as the swami ah there he keeps saying it's an incomplete system because he is talking from an advaithic perspective it still remains in duality i mean good question thank you by the way the swami this morning used gave a nice triangle if you remember transcendence tranquility and transparency transcendence tranquility and transparency uh vertices of a triangle i was thinking this is the whole of the sadhana transcendence beyond body and mind i am the pure subject witness consciousness that is ghana knowledge gyani yoga tranquility peaceful serene calm mind that's the object of raja yoga upasana the second stage of sadhana and transparency here it means simplicity and you know sudama krishna says this that it's a sign of a pure mind simplicity child like nature that complete transparency it's it's the complex complexity is a sign of impurity actually so one thing i've seen in all sadhus is this transparent nature inside outside same thing there's nothing to hide it on that transparency is due to purity of mind karma yoga gives this tranquility is due to raja yoga concentration of mind and transcendence is due to ghana yoga it gives you this ability to transcend the objective nature yeah so i thought about that it is a very beautiful triangle all that we are talking about here is in that triangle yeah thank you good i should bring the class to an end ah a couple of questions in chat yes bill to everybody this is bill davis i think um you describe this process of control in terms of gyana can it also be described in terms of bhakti certainly it can be described in terms of bhakti i am giving as i said buyer beware i am giving this interpretation from the advaita perspective of the bhagavad-gita from the bhakti perspective also same thing can be given by deep devotion to god the problem of karma is brought under control in fact more directly than in ghana if you have a deep devotion to your beloved deity to your krishna to your ramakrishna to your divine mother durga whatever in whichever form devotion to ishwara to saguna brahman or an avatar of saguna brahman that automatically that automatically helps you to overcome karma why because bhakti is the same kaaba that which is scattered thousandfold in the world it is channelized and focused on god yes so by devotion one can ah then questions ah what text is a good question has these definitions of manas buddhi and ego sankalpa etc so there is a book with which is standard textbook for all students into vedanta it's called vedantasara different schools different books are used in some schools i think ourselves there they use i think and in our tradition we use vedanta sahara it's a book of definitions it's not as exciting as drink rishavivek or upper oksana bhutyana vedanta sara is a book of definitions i taught that a number of times i have to teach it to monastic novices in in our main monastery in belurumat i taught it in hollywood and here i taught it of course to a private group in the vivekananda vidya pete but it's really useful in the sense that every study after that you already have a solid basis you know what these terms refer to vedanta of sadhana yogendra the translation we used is a good one by swami nikhilananda it's also easily available vedanta sarah saddam and the yogindra rick is asking class is suspended gospel of sriram krishna class is suspended the gita class is suspended and the sunday talks also will be there is one more sunday talk this sunday after that will be suspended till fall so tuesday class will not be there and usually wednesday class is also not there but we will continue with the wednesday class i will those who are in the manduker group we will send you the email later by this weekend with new links so we will have intensive mandu kick like a manduka summer camp wednesdays thursdays fridays i know it might be too intense for many people you have jobs and other responsibilities but everything is recorded and put online so if you cannot attend that's also no problem we'll have three days a week until we finish it may take two or three weeks wednesdays thursdays and fridays about the fourth of july we are planning something a short program we will send you an email about it on zoom of course we can't go to ridgely manner this time so just a little program of sometime on the fourth of july we will send you the details praveer babu you have a question we'll end with prohibited question thank you all right bye this question has been bugging me since i've listened to your talk on freedom so experience has consciousness and object where does this object come from i argued that comes from my desire but then some objects do appear to me that i have not desired for example out the window and a car passes by now where does these objects come from yeah um so yes just now we i gave you that equation is equal to chitta chit is pure consciousness you are the chip now you are asking where does that come from uh yeah it's it's a super imposition the answer is it's an appearance it does not really come it's like asking waves and foam and surf where do they come from there is only water the answer is even when there are waves and foam and and surf there is only water water is only there so the desires okay so the objects are the same pure consciousness through the lens of maya they are appearing as objects but then you bring in one more factor why those particular objects are coming to me so those are due to my past karma some are because of my desires which i understand some i don't understand they have come through a long process it's not just my own thing it's a network of karma which is being actualized by ishwara um answer he'll give you is his answer will be they don't come you should not ask this question say why have those objects come why did that car come he will say they did not come anything that comes and goes is in causation and causation he'll ask you where did that car come from did it come from the car did it come from a not car did it come from a car not car did it come from an existing thing non-existing thing or mixture of existence and non-existence and in all those six possibilities there is no logical answer so it is irrational to say that car came but you say i see it what you are seeing is none other nothing other than yourself at no point has it been anything other than consciousness brahman this is the uncompromising answer of of uh mandukya of kodapath very good so let us stop here stay well everybody um summer we pray to the lord to protect all of us bless all of us it's a strange time but it's also a good time to practice vedanta to hold on to gyana and bhakti and our mantra and to wish everybody well om shanteshan namaste you