Spiritual Learnings - Shrimad Bhagavad Gita - 'श्रीमद भगवदगीता ' - हिंदी सत्संग पॉडकास्ट

The fifteenth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita is Purushottama Yoga. In Sanskrit, Purusha means the All-pervading God, and Purushottam means the timeless & transcendental aspect of God. Krishna reveals that the purpose of this Transcendental knowledge of God is to detach ourselves from the bondage of the material world and to understand Krishna as the Supreme Divine Personality, who is the eternal...

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(Verse 16) Shri Krishna says that there are two kinds of beings; the kṣhar (perishable) and the akṣhar (imperishable). All beings in the material realm are perishable, and those liberated are imperishable.  (Verse 17) Amongst all the living entities, both conditioned and liberated, there is one supreme living personality, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who maintains them and gives them a...

The Supreme Lord is situated as Paramatma in everyone's heart, and it is from Him that all activities are initiated.  We learned that ultimately, it is Ishvara that provides awareness, nourishment, food, and the power to absorb food as well as knowledge to all beings on this. Not only does He produce all of this, but He also consumes it as well. If we truly let this statement sink in, we will...

The topic of the Jeeva is concluded in this shloka. with the message that only those with a pure mind and systematic study will truly understand the nature of the Jeeva as the eternal essence as though limited by its upaadhis or conditionings.  Only those who are actually in the yoga system and have realized the self, the world, and the Supreme Lord, in other words, the bhakti-yogis, those en...

In this verse, Krishna describes the qualities of that object which is attained - namely the spiritual world.  As long as a living entity is in this dark material world, he is in conditional life, but as soon as he reaches the spiritual sky by cutting through the false, perverted tree of this material world, he becomes liberated. Then there is no chance of his coming back here. In his conditi...

In this shloka, the surrendering process is described very nicely. If one has to seek refuge in Ishvara, as per the previous shloka, what should be the qualifications of such a seeker? This complex and elaborate topic has been very nicely packed into one shloka by Shri Krishna.  After this stage, one has to develop spiritual knowledge. One has to cultivate knowledge of what is actually his ow...

Lord Krishna speaks of the path to realize the all-pervading Supreme Being - the Absolute Truth that is Him. The path of detachment from a worldly life is the path to this divine pursuit. The worldly or the material world is compared to an imperishable ashwattha tree or fig tree. Paradoxically, however, this tree has its roots above, and branches below. This symbolizes the world of matter with all...

Krishna instructs Arjuna about the ultimate knowledge yoga masters have achieved. He explains he is "the seed-giving father" and that nature is "the womb." All beings come forth from the combination of the two. The three gunas - sattva, rajas, and tamas are based upon a person's disposition. The gunas keep the eternal Self-bound to the physical body. Sattva binds by attachment to knowledge and joy...

(Verse 20) How one can stay in the transcendental position, even in this body, in full Krsna consciousness, is explained in this verse. Although one is within this material body, by his advancement in spiritual knowledge he can be free from the influence of the modes of nature. . He can enjoy the happiness of spiritual life even in this body.  (Verse 26) we detach ourselves from the gunas by...

(Verse 17) This shloka points out the self-reinforcing nature of actions and gunaas. If we consciously perform sattvic actions day after day, we will generate a greater proportion of sattva in our mind, which will further spur sattvic actions. This is the logic behind karma yoga. By urging us to perform selfless actions, Shri Krishna wants us to rise from our rajasic and tamasic existence to one o...

There is no physical entity without all these three dimensions – sattva, rajas, and tamas. Every person in this world is made up of three gunas - tamas, rajas, and sattva. Every person, irrespective of his level, has some tamas, some rajas, and some sattva. A person who has more Sattva is a spiritual person. The person who has more Rajas is a worldly person. In a tamas-dominated person, there are...

(Verse 10) Shri Krishna now explains how the same individual’s temperament oscillates amongst the three guṇas. These three guṇas are present in the material energy, and our mind is made from the same energy. Hence, all three guṇas are present in our minds as well. Although there are these three modes of material nature, if one is determined he can be blessed by the mode of goodness, and by transce...

(Verse 7) Shri Krishna now explains the working of rajo guṇa, and how it binds the soul to material existence. Shri Krishna describes its principal manifestation as attachment and desire.  The way to break out of this is to engage in karma yog, i.e. to begin offering the results of one’s activities to God. This creates detachment from the world and pacifies the effect of rajo guṇa.  (Ver...

The living entities conditioned by material nature are of various types. One is happy, another is very active, and another is helpless. All these types of psychological manifestations are causes of the entities' conditioned status in nature. How they are differently conditioned is explained in this section of Bhagavad-gita. The mode of goodness is first considered.  The mode of goodness is se...

The living entity, because he is transcendental, has nothing to do with this material nature. Still, because he has become conditioned by the material world, he is acting under the spell of the three modes of material nature. Because living entities have different kinds of bodies, in terms of the different aspects of nature, they are induced to act according to that nature. This is the cause of a...

Shri Krishna concludes the chapter with two illustrations highlighting the existence and awareness, the sat and chit aspects of the supreme self.  The key thing, however, is to orient or attach ourselves to the imperishable Ishvara, and to detach ourselves from identification with Prakriti, which is the storehouse of all action and diversity.  You are an amalgam of matter and Spirit. Bod...

(Verse 30) In material consciousness, the ego makes us identify with the body, and thus we attribute the actions of the body to the soul, and think, “I am doing this…I am doing that.” But the enlightened soul perceives that while eating, drinking, talking, walking, etc. it is only the body that acts. Yet, it cannot shrug the responsibility for the actions performed by the body. Just as the Preside...

The mind is pleasure-seeking by nature and If we follow the inclinations of our mind, we become degraded into deeper and deeper material consciousness. The way to prevent this downslide is to keep the mind in check with the help of the intellect. For this, the intellect needs to be empowered with true knowledge.  Those, who learn to see God as the Supreme Soul present in all beings, begin to...

(Verse 27) We now shift our attention from the nature of the “I” to the nature of the world. We may be able to experience our true nature as the saakshi, the witness, by true devotion or in deep meditation.  Shri Krishna begins this topic by asserting that every other being in the universe has come into existence just like we have. There should be no hint of any arrogance that causes us to tr...

Variety is the universal characteristic of God’s creation. No two leaves of a tree are alike; no two human beings have exactly the same fingerprints; no two human societies have the same features. Similarly, all souls are unique, and they have distinctive traits that have been acquired in their unique journey through the cycle of life and death. So in the realm of spiritual practice as well, not a...

Purusah, the Supreme Lord Krishna’s manifestation, is not limited to the body or the mind. He is Paramatma, the Supreme Soul, and he is upadrasta, the impartial witness, who by the will directs the operations of the physical body and approves the activities of all jivas, or embodied beings, that lead to both joy and sorrow in material existence. The Paramātmā is a friend of the jīvātmā, but He doe...

In verse (20) Now Shri Krishna describes how we fall into the trap of samsaara, the cycle of birth and death. In many respects, this topic is a continuation of the discussion of higher and lower Prakriti from the seventh chapter. Let us quickly recap …. We learned about two aspects of Ishvara, the lower and the higher. The lower nature comprises the five elements plus the mind, ego, and intellect....

Krishna the Supreme Person is present both in the spiritual and material world. Although He is far, far away, still He is near to us. We cannot see or understand Him with these material senses. But one who has purified his mind and senses by practicing Krsna consciousness in devotional service can see Him constantly. It is confirmed in Brahma-samhita that the devotee who has developed a love for t...

The thirteenth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita is about Nature, the Enjoyer & the consciousness. The word kshetra means the field, and the kshetrajna means the knower of the field. We can think of our material body as the field and our immortal soul as the knower of the field. In this chapter, Krishna discriminates between the physical body and the immortal soul. He explains that the physical bod...