विवेचन सारांश
Śraddhā Important Determinant of Success in Material or Spiritual Endeavour
The 17 Chapter Śhraddhā Traya Vibhāg Yog: Yoga of the three important faith divisions
With sweet pious remembrance and worship of Śrī Krishna and Gurudev, the session took its course. When we close our eyes and meditate and ponder over the melodious praiseful hymns sung in glories of the great men, saints, Bhagavān and Guruji, the surroundings and atmosphere around us and within us begins to bloom like a flowering bud wrapped up in the fragrant scents of blessings and compassion imbibed within and it nurtures the auspicious element of Bhakti which is indispensable to comprehend and adopt these wonderful pearls showered upon us via these discourses on Bhagavadgītā. "Śrī Gurubhyo kamle namah"
This cascade of blessings outpouring from above is simply defined and explained by a return gift of our own good karmas or deeds in this birth or prior birth or some good intentions and deeds of our ascendants in our family. It might be some kind intentions and blessings of a true Saint that we all have been chosen to gather as a community of devotees to offer our regards and thanks in HIS feet wrapped in scintillating artwork of "Shraddha" and devotion. What else can we offer to HIM?
Our motto is not only to listen, but to adopt, practice and follow in our lives, to bloom where we are planted by HIM, to be nurtured with his preachings and grow and spread the HIS scent all around like a fragrant flower branching out from HIS tree!
It is not a matter of pride; this whole opportunity is offered by HIM to us, and our sole effort is that we have availed it and practicing it with full devotion and enjoying its sweet fruits. The wisdom of ours lies in treasuring this bliss and nurturing it regularly with devotion and practice.
17th Chapter is highly auspicious and unique in its own special way. Śrī Krishna defines and explains "Shraddha" in a beautifully elaborated manner to satisfy the quest of Arjuna Ji. It can be comprehended with a wonderful example of Colours. We all know that colour is an adjective and it is a property of something or some person i.e. noun. If we are asked to imagine "Red", it will not be possible for us to imagine it in the air, The colour "Red" should be superimposed on some thing or person to be shaped up and imagined, like in the air we imagine, red powder and not simply Red.
Similarly, "Shraddha" is also a kind of Adjective, it has no form or shape, to understand its meaning and essence, it needs to be superimposed on something or a person. then it can be defined, compared, etc. We can understand the "Shraddha" of a devotee like Mirabai, we can think and define the amount of Shraddha in Japa, Pooja, Yajna, Guruji, etc
The kind and level of affection, respect and interest defines the level of "Shraddha" of a person. This one adjective is highly glorified and accepted by Bhagvan ji that it could define the person wholesome:
"Shraddha mayo yam purusho, ye chhadrasya ye sya"
-Jiski jaisi Shraddha, weh waisa hi hain"
Single factor like Shraddha can define the altitude of a person in life- his personality, his life, his achievements. Likes and dislikes of a person depends on his Shraddha. A nice example is of the youth, some young people who talk about only video games, etc are quite kiddish in behaviour, some young people of similar age talk about earning money, career, etc, they are thought of as quite wise people, while other young people talk of great spirituality, they seem wiser than many older people.
A Saint has his Shraddha in Param Brahma, else he is just like other laymen, but his Shraddha makes him shine, unique amongst the normal people.
But the Golden or we can say Million-dollar question is- "How does Shraddha develop?"
Bhagavan ji has described 4 different concepts which indicate towards developing Shraddha. In last discourse, in Sloka 8,9 and 10, Bhagavan Ji talked about three different types of foods and their consequences- Sattvik, Rajas and Tamas. As is the Shraddha of the being, so is his food and so is his personality, thoughts, intentions and deeds.
As is well said Sloka 8 of Chapter 17th: about Sattvik food-
"āyuḥ-sattva-balārogya-sukha-prīti-vivardhanāḥ
rasyāḥ snigdhāḥ sthirā hṛidyā āhārāḥ sāttvika-priyāḥ
As is well said Sloka 9 of Chapter 17th: about Rajas food-
kaṭv-amla-lavaṇāty-uṣhṇa- tīkṣhṇa-rūkṣha-vidāhinaḥ
āhārā rājasasyeṣhṭā duḥkha-śhokāmaya-pradāḥ
As is well said Sloka 10 of Chapter 17th: about Tamas food-
yāta-yāmaṁ gata-rasaṁ pūti paryuṣhitaṁ cha yat
uchchhiṣhṭam api chāmedhyaṁ bhojanaṁ tāmasa-priyam
And when and if a person tries to change his food habits, so will the changes will occur in his habits, nature, etc, i.e. consequences of food will change and be evident.
Further, today we will learn many more new concepts and teachings based on Shraddha -
17.11
aphalākāṅkṣibhiryajño, vidhidṛṣṭo ya ijyate,
yaṣṭavyameveti manaḥ(s), samādhāya sa sāttvikaḥ. 17.11
"Faladrishti" matters a lot, it simply means the motive behind a deed, the expectation of the result after the deed, this difference in fact differentiates person of Sattva and Rajas Guna.
When the motive behind a good deed is fame, pomp and show, then the Karma is Rajas in nature, while one person performs a good deed owing to his behaviour and habit, not concerned about if anyone is watching him or not, then such Karma is Sattvik. Rajas is lower in quality as compared to Sattvik; it is not sin. While in Tamas Karma, which is of lowest quality, sometimes sin is involved. It happens when a good deed is done by someone, and some other person wants to bear the credit and fruit of the deed. That is a sin.
For example, one of the members in the family like younger daughter in law cooks very delicious food and say, elder daughter in law serves the food and when someone praises the tasty food, then in absence of devrani, jethani takes all the praise and does not tell anyone that food was not cooked by her, this is a sin.
Can you imagine what would be the height of Tams Guna in terms of deeds? Well, sometimes when a person knows that he will not gain anything from somebody else's good deed, he rather tries to spoil the deed.
All the duties and responsibilities are the Yajna and good deeds.When these are fulfilled and accomplished without any expaectation, then such become of the Sattvik Guna
abhisandhāya tu phalaṃ(n), dambhārthamapi caiva yat,
ijyate bharataśreṣṭha, taṃ(m) yajñaṃ(m) viddhi rājasam. 17.12
vidhihīnamasṛṣṭānnaṃ(m), mantrahīnamadakṣiṇam,
śraddhāvirahitaṃ(m) yajñaṃ(n), tāmasaṃ(m) paricakṣate. 17.13
Another example is of Ganesh pooja harbingered by Tilak ji in Maharashtra, nowadays it is quite a twisted version in form of many movie songs, no brahmin, no mantra recitation etc which in fact spoil the whole piousness and spiritual winds of the ceremony and such a yajna becomes Tamasic. Here the purpose behind the goos deed is not worship , rather pomp and show of the organiser.
One important concept to be comprehended here is that no deed or Yajna is absolute- Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. Everything is in proportion and as the quality of intention improves or becomes purer, so does the Guna of the deed or Yajna changes and improves from lowest i.e., Tamasic to lower i.e., Rajasic to highest i.e., sattvik.
Another day-to-day example is of Upvaas, when by mistake a person breaks his Upvaas, he takes full advantage of the opportunity to eat more food at the wrong time, this is Tamas Nature. The reason is that Upvaas was broken by mistake, while extra food was eaten by knowledge, i.e., the basic behaviour, habit and Shraddha was spoiled. This makes wrong intentions and thoughts to creep inside and hence this is sin and will be of Tamas nature.
devadvijaguruprājña, pūjanaṃ(m) śaucamārjavam,
brahmacaryamahiṃsā ca, śārīraṃ(n) tapa ucyate. 17.14
Nowadays, it is very common that when Guruji gets few disciples, he abandons the worship and regards of other Gurus of same cadre. This is not in coordination of HIS will. Bhagvan has said:
Dev, dwij, Guru, pragya should always be worshipped irrespective of any other belief. If one refuses to respect any other Brahmin or Guru, it is a simple foolish behaviour. Bhagvan says that any person who repeatedly obeys and respects all kinds of Devas, Gurus, Brahmins, and Saintly men without doing any mistake, then he is in constant tapa state of the body.
Jagadguru Adi Shankaracharya ji has given the theory of Panchdevpoojan- Vishnu ji, Shivji, Ganesh ji, Gauri mata ji and Surya upasna, this is ideal theory of doing Daily pooja for a grihastha person. Regularly one should obey and donate to the Brahmin and the Mahapurush, the wise and great Saints. A person should regularly worship his Guru and do Guru Sewa.
Such acts and behaviour cultivate purity of mind, soul and heart from within and increases his Sattva Guna.
And this is not a one-day routine or practice, it is a habit of a lifetime, and such Saṃskāra needs to be paid heed to and developed. Such acts of gratitude, regards and respect should be performed not only when feasible but also when a person is going through adversities in life or when a person is in odd situations or out of comfort zone, then also when such Sattvik qualities are exhibited, then person is in state of tapa of the body.
Then Bhagavān says, that person should be very simple in his behaviour, he should be transparent, not boast off and not present wrong and fake great things about himself.
When in Ramcharitmanas, Ramji gives Navadha Bhakti to Shabri, he says, all should without any extra cleverness:
Sab Chhalheena!
Means all those who live with pure simplicity and straightforwardness are most dear Bhaktas of mine. In Ashtavakra Gītā, "Arjawam" i.e. simplicity is the top most strategy and tool to attain Bhagavad Bhakti and stay closer to HIM!
A true devotee should not think of harms and losses while leading a simple, dedicated and devoted life. He should be totally engrossed in Meditative thoughts of Bhagavān. This is the means of staying state of constant tapa of body.
A person should not harm or hurt anyone with actions, deeds, speech and intentions, such non-violence of great authority when becomes a part of person's attitude and behaviour, he stays in state of constant tapa of body.
One such example of a great grihastha person is Śrī Satyanarayan Rathi ji from Bikaner. He takes care of the Murlimanohar Goshala. 33 years back, he used to sit as shopkeeper, and at 2:00 pm he used to have lunch. One day he was going to have lunch, then came back before leaving and st on the shop, he repeated this maneuver many times and ultimately came and sat down on the shop, without going to his home for the lunch. When someone asked him the reason for such a behaviour, he relied that a small puppy was sleeping under his vehicle, so he was initially waiting for hi to get up, now as the puppy is sleeping for long, he has come back and thinking of eating 2 kachoris from nearby shop for the lunch and not disturbing the puppy. That is the highest order and example of simplicity and kindness and non violence.
Another example is the home construction, one day the interpreter's father returned home and saw the worker working in profound sunlight, he was moved and came inside and scolded his son (interpreter) and asked him to take care of the workers. he went back and called the worker inside and gave him some indoor work and asked him to work outdoors later after 4:00 pm when there is no sun. this is empathy, kindness and nonviolence.
Like these great men, one any person constantly feels the pain of others and performs acts of kindness to relieve them from pain and bondage, then the person is said to be having an attitude and habit of nonviolence and this is state of constant tapa of body.
Hurting others for one's own comfort is not smartness as what modern men think, rather it is foolishness from Bhagvan's point of view. One should be sensitive towards others.
anudvegakaraṃ(m) vākyaṃ(m), satyaṃ(m) priyahitaṃ(ñ) ca yat,
svādhyāyābhyasanaṃ(ñ) caiva, vāṅmayaṃ(n) tapa ucyate. 17.15
Bhagvan has described 4 DO's and 4 DONT'S
1. Udveg- When anyone speaks disturbing words or sentences, that results in lot of annoyance, just like in a bucket when there is still water, and one disturbs it with hands, small waves and ripples are produced. Such is our Manah, when one speaks something bitter, waves of annoyance are produced in the Manah. When a person speaks such words that does not cause any annoyance or "udveg" to other person then it is the tapa of "Vaani" or Speech.
2. Apriya- When a person does not speak bitter words, to other person then it is the tapa of "Vaani" or Speech.
3. Asatya- When a person does not speak false words to other person then it is the tapa of "Vaani" or Speech.
4. Ahitkar- When a person does not speak words which harm or hurts others in any form-physical or mental, then it is the tapa of "Vaani" or Speech.
One wrong myth is to speak harsh truth, well, it is not right, because as per Śāstras:
"Satyam bruhyat, Priyam bruhyat, na bruhyat Satyam Apriyam"
When a person always takes care of the way, manner, mood and tone and consequences of his words and speech, in order not to hurt anyone, then he stays in state of constant tapa of speech or "Vaani".
Bhagavān has explained - how to do it:
One should always do "Svadhyaya," constant practice of improving one's speech. It is not right to sit idle, rather always do Japa, or Paath or Kirtan of any scripture like Ramayana or Gītā, etc. Then it is like doing tapa of "Vaani". One should do Japa all the time, eating, watching TV, lying down, sitting in the office.
This also explains the essence of learning the right pronunciation of the Gītā.
Shankaracharya Bhagavān has said- "Geyam Gītā Naam Sahastram"
A person should sing the Glories of the Gītā and the Sahastranaaam.
And when sung with right pronunciation, then one feels good and enjoys this reading of scriptures and imbibes it in daily routine and life. This is the "SVADHYAYA"
Kirtan is also a type of Svadhyaya.
"Vaani" or speech helps to judge a person very quickly.
It has been aptly said:
"Upar waale ko sakhti pasand nahi Jabaan mein, isiliye to haddi di nahi jabaan mein."
It is a funny story that once there occurred a fight in between teeth and tongue. The teeth warned the tongue and said it would crush the tongue, then tongue replied, "Even if you crush, it would be healed in a few days, if I say something wrong, you would be broken forever. :)))"
Another instance is of first meeting of Hanumanji and Vibhishan ji, then Vibhishan ji said:
"sunhu pawan sut, rehni hamari"
Jimi dassan mahhu, jeebh bichari"
"I stay among the Asuras in the same way as the tongue stays in between the teeth,"
Hanuman ji said, "Don't worry, all the teeth will be broken, and the tongue will be glorified."
Another example is of a famous Buddhist Lama Monk from China, he was of 100 years of age and was on death bed. His disciples surrounded Him and wanted to hear from him the last time. Lama opened his mouth and asked his disciples to see inside the mouth and tell what do they all see? The disciples tried their best but could not find anything inside the mouth. Then he asked them to observe if there were any teeth inside the mouth, but his disciples found no hard teeth, and there was only soft tongue. moral of the story is that whatever is hard and harsh, falls down soon while only soft remains forever.
Such should be the behaviour and speech of a person.
"Aisi Vaani Boliye, man ka aapa khoye, auran ko seetal kare, aphun seetal hoye"
Speak in words so sweet, that fill the heart with joy, like the cool breeze in summer, for others and self to enjoy.
Jagadguru Adi Shankaracharya ji and Mandan Mishra ji participated in a Śāstra debate in Varanasi when all the pandits could not reach any conclusion. It went on for months, finally Mandan Mishra ji suggested a decision maker, i.e., his wife, Bharati Ji. Then Bharati ji suggested that both Jagadguru Adi Shankaracharya ji and Mandan Mishra ji should wear a garland of flowers, then the one whose flowers fade away first and drop down, he will be the loser. Thus, began their debate and flowers of garland of Mandan Mishra ji fell down first.
Bharati ji declared Jagadguru Adi Shankarcharya ji as the winner. When asked, she explained that the one who has better confidence on his thoughts has a sweeter and gentle speech. The one who has gentler speech has lower body temperature and the flower of that person fades away first whose body temperature is high. this was the whole concept and theory of sweet and gentle speech.
"Tulsi meethe vachan se sukh upjat tab hoye,
vashikaran ka yeh mantra hain, taj de vachan kathor"
One can control everyone with simply sweet and lovely speech.
"Vachan sambhal ke boliye, vachan ke haath na paav.
Ek vachan aushadhi kare, doosra karega ghaav."
manaḥ(ph) prasādaḥ(s) saumyatvaṃ(m), maunamātmavinigrahaḥ,
bhāvasaṃśuddhirityetat, tapo mānasamucyate. 17.16
In this state, there is full control over desires like eating, buying, etc and the thoughts that emerge are pure and sacred, not full of greed, desires, falsehood, cruelty, etc.
one of the examples is of Pushpvatika in Ramcharitmanas when Ramji saw Janki ji.
"Mohi atisaya prateeti mana keri
Jehi sapnehu par naari banehi
Such a purity of thoughts is desired and wishful for the constant tapa of the Manah.
śraddhayā parayā taptaṃ(n), tapastattrividhaṃ(n) naraiḥ,
aphalākāṅkṣibhiryuktaiḥ(s), sāttvikaṃ(m) paricakṣate. 17.17
satkāramānapūjārthaṃ(n), tapo dambhena caiva yat,
kriyate tadiha proktaṃ(m), rājasaṃ(ñ) calamadhruvam. 17.18
mūḍhagrāheṇātmano yat, pīḍayā kriyate tapaḥ,
parasyotsādanārthaṃ(m) vā, tattāmasamudāhṛtam. 17.19
dātavyamiti yaddānaṃ(n), dīyate'nupakāriṇe,
deśe kāle ca pātre ca, taddānaṃ(m) sāttvikaṃ(m) smṛtam. 17.20
HE says that it is the moral duty of all to donate. It is not by choice. No one should feel overwhelmed or great by donating. Dana should be done,
"Deshe kaale cha patre cha"
Dana should be done while keeping right place or situation, right time and right receiver in mind.
At present, Shraddha paksh is going on, and the Dana to an apt Brahmin will be according to the Shraddha paksha.
So, such a Dana done without any expectation of returns, only with good intentions with complete dedication to Śrī Krishna, is called as Sattvik Dana.
In one day, we breathe 21600 times. Out of these, at least put 2160 breaths in bhajan.
Similarly, out of 24 hours, take out 2 hours 15 minutes for "Bhagavad" karya or work.
yattu pratyupakārārthaṃ(m), phalamuddiśya vā punaḥ,
dīyate ca parikliṣṭaṃ(n), taddānaṃ(m) rājasaṃ(m) smṛtam. 17.21
adeśakāle yaddānam, apātrebhyaśca dīyate,
asatkṛtamavajñātaṃ(n), tattāmasamudāhṛtam. 17.22
Such a Dana is given to the unsuitable person at wrong time and in wrong situation. Such a Dana should be avoided and as it hurts others feelings, it fetches no fruits, rather sometimes results in sin.
oṃ tatsaditi nirdeśo, brahmaṇastrividhaḥ(s) smṛtaḥ,
brāhmaṇāstena vedāśca, yajñāśca vihitāḥ(ph) purā. 17.23
Now let us understand the "OM" fully
Here is the table for reference:
Old testament of Bible states-" In the beginning of the world, there was only WORD. Then word converted into WORLD and Lord got hidden into it."
SKY is the closest to the non manifested Bhagvan nature or form as its everywhere, cannot be felt or touched. The Vedas and the Upanishads do not believe in the Big Bang theory.
Prabhav (to form)-------Pralaya(to be demolished)
This cycle goes on infinitely.
Synonyms of "OM" are- Pranav, Brahmā, Nirguna, Saguna, Sakaar, Nirakaar, Shabd, Ishwar and Maaya.
Only "OMKAAR" is different. Omkaar means Naad.
Just like the ringing of the temple bells echoes for long and heard by us as per our hearing ability of 20-80 decibels. While the elephant can hear for long time as it has ability to hear voices <20 decibels.
In music there are three types of Swaras.-- Manda, Taar and Teevra. The sound in between Aaroha and Avroha is called as Shabda.
The friction (aghaat) is responsible for origin of the Shabda. There occurs friction in our vocal cords and word is produced.
From Param Brahma Paramātmā, sky took its origin, from the sky, the word was originated and as the word grew ahead, the air (vaayu) came into being, the next element. Then with churning of the word with air and sky, fire (Agni) came into being.
OM-- When divided in Devanagri, there was aa, oo, mm and in English, there was A,U,M AND "Halanta" is too added in these three. These four together are responsible for the Prabhav and Pralaya cycle of the whole living system.
1. "Baikhari" is a term which stands for whatever can be heard and spoken, all include "Baikhari." it is spoken from the "kantha".
2. "Madhyama," it originates from the hridya. It does not involve spoken words. these can be easily and effectively felt and understood.All expressions like love, hatred, etc can be felt
3. "Pashyanti" originates from Nabhi, it occurs by "sankalp" i.e. determination
When Hanumanji went to see Vibhishan ji, then he stood out and Vibhishan ji sensed that someone had arrived for him.
"Mori hridaya preeti ati hori, ki tum haridasan meh hori"
Another example is Ramteerth ji, who thought he wants to drink lime water and his determination was so strong that Seth ji brought Shikanji for him in the jungles.
4. Halant - it is based on experience and is widespread. -- "anubhavgamya kahe jahe santa" It originates from Zero.
One of the instances is Sant Gyaaneshwarji making wall move when Chaand dev ji came on a Tiger.
OMKAR is the most unique and does not require any Aghaat.
OM-TAT-SAT--- is the part pf every ending including Pushpika in the Gītā. If there happens to be any mispronunciation of words in shlokas it gets erased by reciting the pushpika.
tasmādomityudāhṛtya, yajñadānatapaḥ(kh) kriyāḥ,
pravartante vidhānoktāḥ(s), satataṃ(m) brahmavādinām. 17.24
tadityanabhisandhāya, phalaṃ(m) yajñatapaḥ(kh) kriyāḥ,
dānakriyāśca vividhāḥ(kh), kriyante mokṣakāṅkṣibhiḥ. 17.25
"Karte ho tum kanhaiya, mera naam ho raha hain"
Mera aapki kripa se sab kaam ho raha hain
sadbhāve sādhubhāve ca, sadityetatprayujyate,
praśaste karmaṇi tathā, sacchabdaḥ(ph) pārtha yujyate. 17.26
yajñe tapasi dāne ca, sthitiḥ(s) saditi cocyate,
karma caiva tadarthīyaṃ(m), sadityevābhidhīyate. 17.27
aśraddhayā hutaṃ(n) dattaṃ(n), tapastaptaṃ(ṅ) kṛtaṃ(ñ) ca yat,
asadityucyate pārtha, na ca tatpretya no iha. 17.28
The session concluded with Sankeertana.
Question & Answer Session
Shweta Ji
Question: Why and Who should be made Guruji?
Answer: Guruji is essential to speed up our Bhakti activities and keep us guided and motivated like any schoolteacher.
There are 4 criterias to make guruji:
He should belong to a proper guru parampara, i.e., he should have a guruji also.
Then only he can give Guru Diksha
He should read and teach and know all Shastras and scriptures.
He should make you connected to Bhagavān , not himself.
All four combine to make “SADGURUJI”, you can find them many in Bharat, and try to become a good student. You have to put efforts to find guruji and then if you are the apt student, guruji will give you Diksha.
om tatsaditi śrīmadbhagavadgītāsu upaniṣatsu
brahmavidyāyāṃ(m) yogaśāstre śrīkṛṣṇārjunasaṃvāde
śraddhātrayavibhāgayogonāma saptadaśo'dhyāyaḥ.
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