विवेचन सारांश

Anger, greed and lust are the three gateways to hell and self-destruction. By abandoning the same, one evolves to attain the path of perfection

The seeker needs to understand here that the world is a mixture of both saintly natured and demoniac natured persons. Where there was Shri Ram, there was a Raavan as well ; where there was Shri Krishna, there emanated a Kamsa as well. Where there is a piece of jaggery, there would  eventually be an army of ants marching towards the same. In the same manner, when the flower blooms, it would attract a bee.

The point to be understood here is, one would oscillate between the saintly virtues or exhibit demoniac traits for every situation at hand. Even the most elevated seekers would have defects in their virtues and the most cruel natured person would exhibit saintly virtues at times. The goal is to enhance the saintly virtues and root out the demoniac traits to elevate in the path of spiritual journey. One should also remember that the three modes of nature also carve the basis of one's innate nature which inturn plays a role in embracing the saintly or demoniac traits.

Bhagavān now explains the traits of demoniac natured persons in the forthcoming shlokas.

In this shloka, Bhagavān continues to explain that the demoniac natured persons are confused about what is right and what is wrong. They neither maintain purity if external self or internal self. They are accustomed to unclean surroundings.

Bhagavān then states that such persons do not abide by the right conduct. They believe their thinking is perfect as they are gripped by delusion. Bhagavān also states that such persons are untruthful 

In this shloka, Bhagavān explains the traits of demoniac natured persons. HE says that such people are unable to differentiate between the right and the wrong. They are atheists and question the existence of the Supreme Divine and the laws governing the material realm.

They are of the opinion that life is lived only once and lack the progressive attitude towards life. They are in a constant pursuit of experiencing material happiness and sense gratification. They are inclined towards short-lived or interim happiness and are later caught up in a web of miseries in the long run.

Let's understand the difference between worldly happiness and eternal bliss. The worldly happiness is temporary and short lived (Say when a desire is fulfilled). One aspires for more and more and one eventually experiences misery if the desires are unfulfilled. On the other hand, one is on the path to attain eternal bliss (which is permanent) when one transcends the negative states of greed, anger, lust, fear, jealousy, hatred etc. Liberation from these negative states by rooting out the same from one's consciousness, the shift in one's consciousness to higher states makes one experience true bliss from within. The inner bliss is unaffected by the external situations and circumstances and this inner state is not transient or temporary. Hence, one experiences the state of bliss irrespective of time and situation. Say for example, the inner happiness experienced by reading the Gita is the same in current times as it was 5000 years ago.

Having understood the difference between the temporary and permanent happiness, one needs to understand that anything that is pleasant initially will culminate with miseries towards the end. Say for example, if one is satiated with an air conditioner, it brings temporary happiness. On the long run, the lack of exposure to sunlight leads to brittle bones and other health ailments as an outcome. If one engages in binge eating instead if mindful eating, it appears pleasurable initially but leads to a gateway of diseases in the long run. The vice versa is also true where anything that feels painful initially (say exercise) culminates into something that is pleasurable or beneficial.

The demoniac natured persons believe that their perspective is right all the times. With the perception that life is lived only once and to attain short term happiness, they end up with long term miseries. Say for example, if there was an one in a hundred example of person who engaged in intoxication and managed to live a long life (while 99 of them were gripped by illness), they would stubbornly or irrationally argue by citing the one-off corner case example and prefer to experience intoxication for short term pleasure.

The poem's meaning is that devotion (bhakti) is equally important as knowledge (jñāna). It encourages people to focus on the divine instead of worldly entanglements. The poem's basic refrain is to surrender to Govinda, the Divine, and not rely on worldly knowledge, as grammar rules will not be useful when death approaches.

A seeker needs to understand that both, happiness and sadness are the two sides of the same coin and both are temporary in this material realm. However, the demoniac natured persons have a narrow minded perception that stems from ignorance. As they say - "You cannot fly like an eagle with the wings of a wren."

Such persons engage in untruthful behaviour. They neither possess purity nor good conduct. They even engage in non-beneficial actions which cause degradation to others.

In this shloka, Bhagavān continues to explain that the demoniac natured persons engage in actions that are neither beneficial to them nor to others in society. In fact, they engage in actions that are hurtful or harmful to others. They function from a self-centered consciousness and cannot see anything else being their happiness. Such persons cannot withstand the success or progress of others and even engage in sabotaging the efforts of others. Let's understand the mindset of the demoniac natured persons with the below two examples.

The downfall of Hiranyakashipu

The story of Bhagavān Narasimha and Prahlad unfolds as the demon king Hiranyakashipu undergoes severe austerities to gain the boon of immortality. He puts forth his request to Brahma Dev that he should not be killed on sky or land, neither by astra or shashtra, neither by a man nor a beast, neither inside residence nor outside residence, neither during the day nor at nightfall and neither by any celestial devata created by Brahma Dev nor any asura. Brahma Dev bestowed this boon to Hiranyakashipu.

Upon receiving a powerful boon from Brahma Dev, Hiranyakashipu becomes convinced of his invincibility and orders that everyone worship him instead of Bhagavān Vishnu. He even goes overboard to the extent of executing those found worshipping Bhagavān Vishnu.

Hiranyakashipu's son, Prahlad, emerges as an ardent devotee of Bhagavān Vishnu. He refuses to obey his father's unjust orders, even in the face of death sentences. Despite numerous attempts by the associates of Hiranyakashipu to harm Prahlad, he miraculously remains unharmed by the grace of Bhagavān Vishnu.

Hiranyakashipu was enraged. He confronts his son and demands, "This Narayan whom you worship, where is he?" Prahlad replies with utmost devotion, "He is everywhere, all-parvading". Hiranyakashipu, consumed by rage and disbelief, then asks, "Is He in this pillar?" Without hesitation, Prahlad replies with unwavering faith, "Yes, Father, He is in this pillar as well."

Driven by his anger and arrogance, Hiranyakashipu raises his mighty mace and strikes the pillar with all his might. In a wondrous and awe-inspiring moment, out of the shattered remains of the pillar, emerges Lord Vishnu in His extraordinary form as Narasimha, the half-man and half-lion incarnation, ready to fulfil His divine purpose and protect His devotee's faith.

Bhagavān Narasimha (half man - half lion; i.e., neither man nor a beast; neither a celestial devata created by Brahma Dev nor by any asura) holds Hiranyakashipu on his lap at the doorway (neither inside the residence nor outside; neither in sky nor on land). It was evening time (neither day nor night). HE then rips apart Hiranyakashipu with his finger nails (neither astra nor shastra).

Hiranyakashipu had a diabolical mindset. The sole purpose or intent of his intense penance was to obtain a boon which made him immortal and invincible. He then misused his powers and wrecked havoc in the three worlds. His anger towards Bhagavān Vishnu and desire to become more powerful than Bhagavān Vishnu led to his downfall. Those with demoniac mindset engage in actions that are neither beneficial to them nor to others. They do not hesitate to hurt or inflict harm to others for their self-centered desires.

Jealousy and envy - The two vices

Once there was a lady who envied her neighbour. She then decided to engage in intense penance to please Bhagavān and obtain a boon that would put her on an elevated pedestal when compared to her neighbour. Bhagavān was well aware about the state of her consciousness. As a result if her intense penance, HE manifested and told her to ask for a boon. HE also set a condition that anything she that she asked, her neighbour would be blessed with two-fold of the same.

The lady wanted cattle to grace her field. However, she thought that if she asks for cattle, her neighbour would also be bestowed with the same in two-folds. Hence, she then asked that she should loose one eye of hers, so that the neighbour would loose both her eyes and go blind. The intent behind her penance was evil.

Jealousy is when you count someone else's blessings instead of your own. The demoniac natured persons do not strive to make a difference to others, instead they engage in actions that are harmful to others. They derieve pleasure by seeing others in misery and are gripped by sadness upon seeing others happy. They do not hesitate to pursue with their self-centered goals, even if it brings grief to others. Their actions cause destruction to themselves and others. Being happy upon seeing others happy is happiness multiplied, which is a saintly virtue.

In this shloka, Bhagavān continues to explain that the demoniac natured persons are gripped by pride, arrogance and ego. They exhibit false ideologies and believe that they are always right. They exhibit hipocracy and disregard the directives of the scriptures.

Say for example, if junk foods like Pani Puri is being sold in an extremely unhygenic environment, which could lead to health issues upon consuming the same, they exhibit hipocracy by falsely arguing that such unhygenic foods boost immunity. Thus, they are gripped by illusion and are attracted to their insatiable desires of sense gratification.

In this shloka, Bhagavān continues to explain that the demoniac natured persons are gripped by never-ending desires which lead to endless anxieties. Such persons believe that worldly pleasures are the highest experience of joy. Since their relentless pursuit towards experiencing worldly joy is never ending, the worries and miseries also compound and soar. They do not prefer the approach of "No pain no gain" and rely on modes that yield instant happiness, even if it is unhealthy or unethical.

In this shloka, Bhagavān continues to explain that the demoniac natured persons are of the opinion that happiness is driven by wealth alone. They are in an relentless pursuit to acquire more and more wealth. They are gripped by insatiable desires where one desires leads to another. Their desires are fuelled by greed. Hence, they resort to unjust, unlawful or unethical means to accumulate more wealth. However, they fail to understand that the real value of money lies in how honestly it was earned.

In such homes where dishonest wealth is accumulated, Devi Lakshmi descends down on an owl as her vehicle. This form of Lakshmi is chanchala and would not sustain. Whereas when Bhagavan Narayan is worshipped, Devi Lakshmi descends down with him on Garud Ji and it is a sign of prosperity. She graces only those where there is deceit. Dishonest wealth will dwindle. But what is earned through hard work will alone multiply.

In this shloka, Bhagavān continues to explain that the demoniac natured persons swell with pride and arrogance over their wealth and material assets. They believe they have the right to enjoy whatever they find as pleasurable, even if it is harmful or unethical.

Such persons are never contented with what they have and lament over what they lack as they are gripped by greed. Let's say they own a big car today, they would then want to own a bigger car tomorrow. They are unable to draw a line on "How much is too much?". They are inclined towards sense gratification alone and resort to any means to fulfil the same.

They are gripped with a sense of I or ME and function from a limited-self state of consciousness. Say for example, "This is mine", "Tomorrow I shall want more", "I am superior, I am Godlike, I am powerful", "I destroyed my enemy". They look down upon others and even do not hesitate to sabotage the efforts of others to keep themselves above all. They are filled with insecurities and hence spend their time by trying to tear others down. As they say - "By blowing off someone else's candle does not make yours shine any brighter". However, they are gripped by darkness and ignorance and refrain from failing towards light and wisdom.

In this shloka, Bhagavān continues to explain that the demoniac natured persons are engulfed with the state of ME ME ME or a sense of I. Hence, the quality of thoughts are also poor and self-centered. They are addicted to sense gratification and even engage in intoxication.

Their thoughts stem from pride and ego, hence their quality of thoughts obscure their own destiny. They tweak the meaning of scriptures as per their convenience. Say for example, consider the below shloka from Chapter 9

त्रैविद्या मां सोमपा: पूतपापा
यज्ञैरिष्ट्वा स्वर्गतिं प्रार्थयन्ते |
ते पुण्यमासाद्य सुरेन्द्रलोक
मश्नन्ति दिव्यान्दिवि देवभोगान् || 9.20

Those who are inclined to the fruitive activity described in the Vedas worship Me through ritualistic sacrifices. Being purified from sin by drinking the Soma juice, which is the remnant of the yajñas, they seek to go to heaven. By virtue of their pious deeds, they go to the abode of Devaraj Indra, the king of heaven, and enjoy the pleasures of the celestial devatas.

Here, they misinterpret Soma juice as alcohol or intoxication and wrongly believe that one attains celestial abodes by engaging in intoxication. They also believe that since they have procured wealth, they can engage a Brahmin to perform Yagnas on their behalf to negate their sinful actions. Ritualistic ceremonies are considered good deeds, but they are not counted as devotion. The performers of ritualistic ceremonies do not get released from the cycle of life and death. They might aid in elevating the soul to celestial abodes, but once the pious merits deplete, the soul is sent back to Earthly planes. It is essential to understand the shlokas in a holistiv approach instead of tweaking the meaning as per one's convenience. The consequences of attaining celestial abodes is also explained in the below shloka of Chapter 9

ते तं भुक्त्वा स्वर्गलोकं विशालं
क्षीणे पुण्ये मर्त्यलोकं विशन्ति |
एवं त्रयीधर्ममनुप्रपन्ना
गतागतं कामकामा लभन्ते || 9.21

When they have enjoyed the vast pleasures of heaven, the stock of their merits being exhausted, they return to the earthly plane. Thus, those who follow the Vedic rituals, desiring objects of enjoyment, repeatedly come and go in this world.

Attaining heavenly abodes is based on the pious karmic merits accumulated all life. One would be elevated to heavenly abodes if the merits are pious. However, the heavenly abodes are temporary and is followed by misery. It is similar to a credit card, once the balance depletes, one has to start afresh to build the balance and repay debts. In the same manner, once pious merits deplete, the soul is sent back to Earthly planes which is an ocean of miseries.

Coming back to this shloka, those who chase sense gratification and engage in intoxication with a wrong notion of attaining celestial abodes (merely by arranging for a Yagna to be performed on their behalf to negate their sinful actions) actually descend down to hellish abodes or nether regions. They pave the way for their own miseries due to the defective thoughts arising from pride and ego. Every karma or action has a consequence (positive or negative) and they have to bear the consequences of their own karmas.

In this shloka, Bhagavān continues to explain that the demoniac natured persons are self-centered, stubborn and swell with pride and arrogance over their wealth. They engage in the Vedic rituals for namesake and disregard the instructions of the scriptures.

Such persons seek appreciation and credit for others efforts. Such persons may be blessed with opulence by the virtue of pious karmic merits of a kinsman. Say for example, there might be a mentally challenged child who can contribute based on his/her capacity. However, by the virtue of the pious karmic merits of the child in past/present life, the family attracts opulence. However, such persons fail to see the virtue of others and see themselves as the reason for the good activities executed. 

Those who sincerely engage in Vedic rituals perform the same with an intent to purify the self (from a state of devotion). However, the demoniac natured persons engage in Vedic rituals with an impure intent to seek appreciation, to paint a pious image of themselves in the eyes of the society, for self-advertisement, so on and so forth. Such Vedic rituals are devoid of devotion and are hence incomplete. Such persons do not adhere to the injunctions of the scriptures, and instead perform sacrifices just to portray their piousness. An arrogant person considers himself as perfect. As they say - "Pride makes us artificial while humility makes us real".

In this shloka, Bhagavān continues to explain that the demoniac natured persons are blinded by their egotism, strength derived from wealth, arrogance, anger and are vile by nature. Such persons do not engage in any productive or progressive activities. Instead, they engage in fault finding and finger-pointing towards the other. A self absorbed person alone can see the faults of others, but they are often color blind to their own. They find faults just for the sake of finding faults.

Consequently, they disregard and disrespect the Supreme Divine who is seated within their own hearts and the hearts of others. By finding faults in other, by back biting and speaking ill about other, by disrespecting the other, one is actually disrespecting the Supreme Divine who is present within the other. Hence, being devoid of the quality of finding faults is a divine virtue.

In this shloka, Bhagavān explains that the demoniac natured persons who are cruel, vile and embrace diabolical mindset constantly hurl into the wombs of those with similar demoniac natures in the cycle of rebirth in the material realm.

The fate of the soul after death depends on the karmic deeds of present and past lives. The elevated souls either attain liberation or are reborn in the virtuous environments that aid them in the path of spiritual evolution. Since the percentage of such environments is low, the window period to attain the next birth also widens.

Those with material mindset (who are neutral on positive and negative karmic deeds) attain the birth in material realm as humans.

Whereas the vile and demoniac natured persons, in their next lives, they attain birth in families with similar mentalities, where they get a suitable demoniac environment to exhibit their degraded nature. Again, the window period to attain this birth also widens. Hence, it is said that pious souls aid their kinsman after they pass while the vile souls cause disruption in harmony.

In this shloka, Bhagavān continues to explain that demoniac persons take birth again and again in lower and degraded wombs. They fail to attain the Supreme Divine and even descend down to animal kingdom in the next lives.

In this shloka, Bhagavān explains that greed, anger and lust/desires are the three gateways to hell. Hence, HE advices that one should abandon these qualities.

Greed is a spiral or a whirlpool of desire to acquire more and more. There is no end to greed. The Earth has enough for every man's need but not for every man's greed. The quality of greed eventually leads to anger as greed is insatiable.

Anger leads to a chain of other emotions like agitation, frustration, rage etc. With lust, other vices take root. Hence, one needs to shun them to avoid the hell of self-destruction.

Usually, during someone's demise, the Garud Puran is narrated. It mentions that the sinful souls reach hell and the associates of Yamaraj torment the soul. It is commonly mentioned that the soul (present in a pseudo body) is immersed in a cauldron of burning oil as a result of negative karmic reactions.

The next world and the fate of the soul is unknown to us and hard to predict as it depends on karmic deeds. However, in current life, the quality of greed leads to anger, which can be compared to the cauldron of burning oil. When agitated by external situations, one burns from within which is a pathway to self-destruction. Prolonged state of anger also leads one to a gateway of diseases such as hypertension, stress, cardiac issues and other chronic diseases in a long run. Hence, those who desire to elevate to higher states of consciousness should dread these three qualities (anger, greed and lust) and carefully avoid their presence in their own personality.

In this shloka, Bhagavān explains that those who relinquish the qualities of anger, greed and lust rise above the limited-self perspective to the limitless-self perspective i.e., they are on the progressive front in the path of spiritual evolution to attain the ultimate goal.

In this shloka, Bhagavān explains that those who disregard the directives of the scriptures neither attain perfection, nor happiness nor the ultimate goal. The scriptures are like a roadmap and guide the seeker to strive towards perfection. They also give us instructions on what to do and what not to do. However, the demoniac natured persons disregard the injunctions of the scriptures and discharge their actions as per their free will. They engage in doing the DON'Ts and refrain from doing the DO's. Hence, they neither attain perfection, nor happiness, nor attain the path that leads to the ultimate goal of liberation.

In this shloka, Bhagavān concludes by declaring that the scriptures are the absolute authority in ascertaining the propriety of any activity, or lack of it. Hence, HE advices to abide by the injunctions of the scriptures.

The session ends with the prayer and Hanuman Chalisa.

Pradnyasa Ji
Question : How to improve focus and concentration during studies and overcome addiction towards smart phones?
Answer : One needs to follow certain rules - Yam and Niyam. One needs to make a firm resolve to use smart phones only for a specific duration during the day. One should then engage in pranayama regularly which aids in increasing the focus and concentration.

Arya Ji
Question : If one takes a dip in the holy Ganga water during Mahakumbh Mela, is one free of sins completely?
Answer : Taking a dip in the holy Ganga water during Mahakumbh cleanses one's sins. However, if one continues to commit sins after the dip, one attracts negative karmic reactions and accumulates sins. Hence, taking the dip in the holy Ganga water does not negate the sins committed after the dip. One needs to transform from within to refrain from sinful actions.

Himanshu Ji
Question: Is it fine to offer onions and garlic as Bhog to the Divine and also consume the same?
Answer : Ideally, seekers are recommended to refrain from consuming onions and garlic (if not medically recommended). Also, onion and garlic are classified as Tamasik diet and is hence not offered to the diety.

Pinky Ji
Question : If one is endowned with Saintly traits and the other members of the family are demoniac natured persons, then how does one overcome the demoniac natured persons influence?
Answer : If the resolve is firm, one will not be overpowered by demoniac natured persons perception or influence. Say for example, Prahlad was a staunch devotee of Bhagavān Narayana although the external situations did not favour his Bhakti.

Jyotsna Ji
Question: How to increase concentration during chanting?
Answer: One needs to follow the incremental approach. If one chants for 5 mins initially, one needs to increase the duration steadily which would eventually lead to a focused mind.