विवेचन सारांश
Understanding the King of knowledge and its secrets
The 9th Chapter of Śrīmad Bhagavadgītā is - Rājavidyā-Rājaguhya-Yoga - The Yoga of the Sovereign Science and the Sovereign Secret
Today’s discourse started with an opening prayer and the traditional lighting of the lamp and obeisance to Bhagavān Sri Krishna, the Gurus and Swami Govind dev Giri Maharaj ji.
गुरू ब्रह्मा गुरू विष्णु, गुरु देवो महेश्वरा गुरु साक्षात परब्रह्म, तस्मै श्री गुरुवे नमः
The Guru is Brahma (the creator), the Guru is Vishnu (the preserver), the Guru is Maheshvara (Shiva, the destroyer), and the Guru is the embodiment of the Supreme Brahman."
Ugram Viram Maha Vishnum Jvalantam Sarvato Mukham
Nrisimham Bhishanam Bhadram Mrutyur Mrutyum Namamy Aham
I bow down my head to Bhagavān Śrī Narasimha who is ferocious, and valorous great Maha Vishnu, He emits radiance with faces in all directions, frightens, and takes care of us. He is death of the death personified”
pārthāya pratibodhitāḿ bhagavatā nārāyaṇena svayaḿ
vyāsena grathitāḿ purāṇa-muninā madhye mahābhārate
advaitāmṛta-varṣiṇīḿ bhagavatīm aṣṭādaśādhyāyinīḿ
amba tvām anusandadhāmi bhagavad-gīte bhava-dveṣiṇīm
That which was taught to Arjuna by Bhagavān Narayana himself,
Which was written by the epic sage Vyasa in the middle of Mahabaratha,
Oh Mother goddess who showers the nectar of advaitha called the Bhagavad Gītā ,
Which has eighteen chapters , I meditate on you mother who removes all past karma
The day is an auspicious day on account of Narasimha Jayanthi celebrations. Bhagavān Narasimha was the 4th out of the ten incarnations of Bhagavān Vishnu with the purpose of killing the Demon king Hiranyakashipu.
He was the father of Bhakta Prahalada who was a great devotee of Bhagavan Vishnu. Hiranyakashipu had done a very difficult and persistent penance and got a boon from Brahma ji that he should not get killed by humans, animals, or weapons, during the day or during the night, neither inside nor outside a house, neither on earth nor in the sky. However, this invincibility gave him extreme powers which he started misusing to trouble others and considered himself as the supreme God.
Bhagavān Vishnu’s creations, once born, had to die and hence had to find a way to kill him. Hence HE created a situation where he will make a lot of mistakes. His son Prahalad was an ardent devotee of Sri Narayana who is Vishnu ji Himself. As guided by Maharshi Narada, Prahlada always worshipped Vishnu Bhagavān and chanted the name of Bhagavān Narayana.
This was not liked by his father Hiranyakashipu and took all measures to make Prahalada worship instead of Vishnu Bhagavān.
He even went to the extent of killing Prahalada by throwing him off a mountain cliff, by making an Elephant tread over him and by making a poisonous snake bite him. However Bhagavān Vishnu was always there to save his devotee Prahalada.
One day Hiranyakashipu was totally upset with his son and asked him to show where Bhagavān Narayana was present. Prahalada calmly replied that HE was everywhere. When asked whether HE was in the pillar too, Prahalada confidently confirms that HE is present in the pillar too.
Hiranyakashipu breaks the pillar with the intent that Bhagavān cannot be there and he can prove his son wrong.
However as soon as he breaks the pillar, Vishnu Bhagavān in the incarnation of Narasimha comes out of the pillar. Keeping in mind the boon given, HE kills Hiranyakashipu;
- HE was neither human nor an animal as HE was a combination of Nara and Simha
- He puts Hiranyakashipu on HIS lap to kill as it is neither on the earth nor in the sky
- HE sits on the door threshold which is neither inside nor outside
- HE comes in twilight when it is neither day nor is it night
Question: How many chapters are completed till now?
Answer: 12th, 15th,16th and 17th.
It is a good practice to read at least one chapter every day so that it can be easily memorised and also can be a step towards the means to keep thinking of Bhagavān in all we do.
Everyday we should read some or the other scripture like Mahabharat, Ramayana or stories of famous personalities. This can be apart from enjoying the holidays by giving time to watch you tube videos of swamiji’s discourses and amassing knowledge.
Question: What are the names of the chapters learnt till now ?
Heer ji answered:
- 12th Chapter- Bhakti yoga.
- 15th Chapter- Purushotham yoga
- 16th Chapter- Daivasura sampad vibhaga yoga
- 17th Chapter- Shraddhatraya vibhaga yoga
- 9th Chapter- Rajavidya Rajaguhya yoga
In the name of this chapter itself it says ‘Rajavidya’ meaning the most sacred knowledge. It is not NOT knowledge of Kings but it is KING of knowledge. ‘Rajaguhya’ means the top most secret knowledge.
Question: Gītā is told by whom and to whom and where?
Ram ji answered:
Bhagavān Sri Krishna to Arjuna in the battle field Kurukshetra where the war was fought between Pandavas and Kauravas.
Arjuna when he came to the battlefield saw all his own people on both sides and hence he became emotional and did not want to wage the war and kill. That is when Bhagavān advised Arjuna on why he should wage the war and imparted a lot of knowledge.
Because of Arjuna we all are also receiving the benefit of this from Arjuna and we must also try to read and understand every day at least little by little.
Here Bhagavān said that HE is sharing the secret knowledge. A secret is not told to everyone and only to those who deserve to get it.
The one who is interested will only get this knowledge. It is the same as those who come to vivechan sessions and show interest will only be able to gather this knowledge.
Arjuna was a favorite of Bhagavān and hence HE imparts all the knowledge in Gītā.
In 12th the question is asked by Arjuna and after that we got the answers to understand Bhakti Yoga:
arjuna uvācha
evaṁ satata-yuktā ye bhaktās tvāṁ paryupāsate
ye chāpy akṣharam avyaktaṁ teṣhāṁ ke yoga-vittamāḥ
Arjun asked: Between those who are steadfastly devoted to Your personal form and those who worship the formless Brahman, whom do You consider to be more perfect in Yoga?
When Bhagavān replied to Arjuna we also got to understand.
When children do make mistakes the parents correct them as they want the children to grow as good individuals and good citizens and hence advice sometimes with love and sometimes with chiding tone. Children should take it positively and understand why the parent is advising certain matters.
9.1
śrībhagavānuvāca
idaṃ(n) tu te guhyatamaṃ(m), pravakṣyāmyanasūyave,
jñānaṃ(v̐) vijñānasahitaṃ(y̐), yajjñātvā mokṣyase'śubhāt. 9.1
Bhagavān said that this is a secret knowledge and by learning which one can overcome the cycle of birth and death. HE calls Arjuna ‘Anasuya’ while addressing him.
Arjuna is considered as the one who will not pick faults in others and never gets angry and ignores others shortcomings. HE also said that HE will impart the knowledge with justification by giving the science behind it to support and which can be understood only by experience.
Some Rishi’s sat for a long number of years in penance and sometimes even creepers also would grow around them in their bid to learn this knowledge and reach paramatma in the liberated state to overcome the cycle of birth and death.
Eg: If someone has not eaten chikoo fruit and if the taste is described to that person it is not possible for the person to understand.
If all have tasted milk the taste can be understood as it is experienced.
rājavidyā rājaguhyaṃ(m), pavitramidamuttamam,
pratyakṣāvagamaṃ(n) dharmyaṃ(m), susukhaṃ(ṅ) kartumavyayam. 9.2
Question: How many chapters are there in Bhagavad Gita?
Answer: Saisha ji, Yashvi ji and many in chat replied correctly and answered 18 chapters.
Question: Which chapter is in the middle of Bhagavad Gita?
Answer: Sathyam ji replied as 9th chapter correctly.
Question: When one has to hide a valuable jewel, where would one keep it at home?
Answer: Everyone’s answer can be different but ideally in the home it is hidden between the clothes in a cupboard.
Likewise this chapter which contains secret knowledge and is very valuable is hidden in the middle of Gītā.
In Mahabharata also it comes in ‘Bhishma parva’ in the middle and again in this parva too it is placed in the 9th chapter.
The knowledge here is considered as very auspicious as also very important and superior. The fruits of following this knowledge also results in good outcomes as it teaches dharma which is not perishable and easy to follow.
Why everyone does not get this knowledge is explained next.
aśraddadhānāḥ(ph) puruṣā, dharmasyāsya parantapa,
aprāpya māṃ(n) nivartante, mṛtyusaṃsāravartmani 9.3
Arjuna is addressed as ‘parantapa’.
We saw in Chapter 17 about the types of faith followed by the three modes of nature, the Sativik, Rajasik and Tamasik persons. If someone does not have any faith, such a person will tread the path of life in a manner which will result in being born again and again. Such a person may not follow the path of learning this knowledge.
Eg: All will not join Gītā classes even though the opportunity is provided. It is difficult to get a life of being born as human. A human is fortunate to think and worship Bhagavān as we have the capability to speak, read, learn and understand with our intelligence. The other types of births do not have all these abilities.
This shloka is to be understood with utmost focus.
There is a story behind this. Mahabharata was narrated by Maharshi Vedvyasji and scripted by Śrī Ganeshji. Ganeshji had a condition that if Vedvyas ji stopped the narration in between, he would cease to write further.
There are one lakh shlokas in Mahabharata. How will it be possible to speak continuously? Vedvyasji also put forth a condition that Ganesh ji should only pen down the shlokas after thoroughly understanding each one of them.
When the teacher teaches us in school, we write the notes dictated by her in our notebook and bring them home. If we jot down the notes without understanding then we wont be able to make head or tail of it later on while reading them. Writing after having understood would help us in acquiring the correct context and enable us to gain correct knowledge
Everyone must read the notes given by their teacher at home. If they do not understand, they should ask their parents and teacher and get a clarity.
mayā tatamidaṃ(m) sarvaṃ(ñ), jagadavyaktamūrtinā,
matsthāni sarvabhūtāni, na cāhaṃ(n) teṣvavasthitaḥ 9.4
na ca matsthāni bhūtāni, paśya me yogamaiśvaram,
bhūtabhṛnna ca bhūtastho, mamātmā bhūtabhāvanaḥ. 9.5
Question: Who wrote Mahabharata?
Answer: It was narrated by Maharshi Ved Vyas ji and Sri Ganesh ji wrote it.
When Maharshi Ved vyas requested Ganesh ji to write, he replied that he will write only if Maharshi Ved Vyas will dictate without any pauses.
Maharshi Ved vyas ji agreed but also had a condition. He said that Ganesh ji should understand what he was narrating and only then he should write.
Eg: In school when the teacher dictates notes one just writes sometimes without understanding too. Later when the notes are seen to study the realisation comes that what is written is not understood. Hence the notes should be read after coming back from school so that it is understood and the doubts can be cleared to be thorough so that it remains in memory. This practice should be followed by the students.
Bhagavān said that the entire universe and everything in it is created by HIM. Brahma ji was directed by Bhagavān Sri Vishnu to create the universe.
In school the principal is the head and everything is discussed with the principal before making a decision.
Bhagavān is the supreme here who is the cause for the creation. Though its our parents who brought us into this world we are the part of Bhagavān and created by HIM.
However Bhagavān explains that HE is everywhere in the Universe. All HIS creations are in HIM, but HE is not in them. The creations and all the souls in it, are HIS energy and are within HIM. Bhagavān is infinite and hence Infinite cannot be in HIS creations as they are finite.
Bhagavān resides in our heart, but we do not believe it. Good deeds happen by believing that HE dwells within us. We need to find HIM within ourselves through Sādhanā, tapasya and puja.
Bhagavān is the cause of creation of all the nature around us and also sustaining it.
Eg: We are born to our parents and they take care of all our needs. Likewise Bhagavān created all creations and HE also takes care of all HIS creations. For availing the benefits of HIS blessing we must worship HIM and have faith in HIM.
yathākāśasthito nityaṃ(v̐), vāyuḥ(s) sarvatrago mahān,
tathā sarvāṇi bhūtāni, matsthānītyupadhāraya.9.6
Question: Where is the wind?
Answer: Wherever there is space the wind is present and keeps moving. One cannot bind it. Likewise HE is present in everyone. The wind is in the sky but the sky is not in the wind is an analogy that Bhagavān takes. Bhagavān advised to have faith.
sarvabhūtāni kaunteya, prakṛtiṃ(y̐) yānti māmikām,
kalpakṣaye punastāni, kalpādau visṛjāmyaham.9.7
Question: Bhagavān addresses Arjuna as Kaunteya. What is the meaning of kaunteya?
Answer: Nagpal ji answered correctly that it is because he was the son of Kunti.
Bhagavān said here that by the end of a kalpa all creations will become one with HIM during paralaya. When another kalpa starts again creation will happen.
- A Kalpa represents ONE cosmic day of Brahma and is made of 1000 yuga cycles, encompassing 4.32 billion years.
- It is divided into 14 Manvantaras, each lasting 306.72 million years
- Each Manvantara further contains 71 Yugas
- Each yuga comprises of four cyclical ages of the 4 yugas (Sat yuga, Treta yuga, Dwapara yuga, Kali yuga)
Question: Which is the yuga going on now ?
Answer: Ramachandra ji answered Kali yuga
Question:How many yugas are there and which are they?
Answer: Navya said Chaturyuga - The 4 Yugas
Question: Which are the 4 yugas , name them ?
Heer ji answered:
- 1. Sat yuga
- 2. Treta yuga
- 3. Dvapara Yuga
- 4. Kali yuga
At the end of each kalpa the ‘pralaya’ or dissolution will happen and after this every creation will be one with HIM.
prakṛtiṃ(m) svāmavaṣṭabhya, visṛjāmi punaḥ(ph) punaḥ,
bhūtagrāmamimaṃ(ṅ) kṛtsnam, avaśaṃ(m) prakṛtervaśāt. 9.8
na ca māṃ(n) tāni karmāṇi, nibadhnanti dhanañjaya,
udāsīnavadāsīnam, asaktaṃ(n) teṣu karmasu. 9.9
All the creation and dissolution is which Bhagavān keeps performing but HE is not attached to HIS actions.
Eg : When we do some work told to us we keep boasting that we did it and even ask for rewards. One may have favourite toys, clothes and things which if someone takes it it gives a bad feeling. This is because of attachment. One must avoid such feelings. When we do some good action we must offer it to Bhagavān and should not be attached to the fruits of action.
Bhagavān does not do this. HE is trying to advise by HIS actions that one should not get attached to our actions.
mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ(s), sūyate sacarācaram,
hetunānena kaunteya, jagadviparivartate. 9.10
Bhagavān said that the nature, the moving or unmoving, are all created by HIM.
He is the ‘srishti, stithi and the laya’.
HE is the ‘GOD’
- G - The Generator
- O - The Operator
- D - The Destroyer
Everything happens because of HIM and with HIS guidance only.
Sri Bhagavān had earlier also said that Prakṛti creates the universe under HIS supervision. Constant changes keep happening in the universe for creation and destruction.
Baal sadhaks should read these verses daily. The verses ahead are very interesting. Sri Bhagavān will tell us what we have to do. He will explain it in detail.
Question and answer:
Sparsh ji
Question:What is the meaning of ‘Bhagavān uvacha’?
Answer: Means the words spoken by Bhagavān. ‘Arjuna uvacha’ also is in Gītā where it could be a question too. Generally meaning who spoke.
Shiv shree ji
Question:In all chapters we say ‘Om sri Paramātmāne namaha’ . What is its importance?
Answer: It is called ‘avatarnika’ (Meaning - The introductory words).
As soon as we start a chapter we pray to Bhagavān, then we say ‘SrimadBhagavadgītā’ denoting that we are reading Bhagavad Gītā and then we say which chapter number.
It is an introduction before starting a chapter. Last comes the ‘pushpika’ (Meaning: Last words of the chapter) where we finally offer to Bhagavān.
Ramachandra ji
Question: Meaning of ‘Sri Krishnarpana masthu’?
Answer: When we do some action we have to offer everything to HIM. We should not take credit for what we do. When we prepare for exams we should put effort and then pray to Bhagavan, not just pray without effort when no prayer will be of use.
Yasvee ji
Question: Why Arjuna had to fight in the war?
Answer: As agreed by Kauravas, after completing 12 years of living in forest and one year of living incognito, when they came back to get their kingdom returned, Duryodhana refused and hence they had to wage war get back their kingdom which was rightfully theirs.
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