#13 — Supreme state of mind

Chapter 4 — Janana Karma Sanyasa Yoga

Shloka 10 — वीतरागभयक्रोधा मन्मया मामुपाश्रिताः । बहवो ज्ञानतपसा पूता मद्भावमागताः ।।१०।।

Shloka 11 — ये यथा मां प्रपद्यन्ते तांस्तथैव भजाम्यहम् । मम वर्त्मानुवर्तन्ते मनुष्याः पार्थ सर्वशः ।।११।।

Shloka 10:

Sinha Ji Commentary —

God says that there have been many that have attained his supreme state of mind and have been able to free themselves from the worldly cravings. Essential reqisities for the realization of god are as follows:

1. Freedom from worldly cravings — no happiness derived from the worldly objects

2. Freedom from fear — Once become of free of fear as the very scope of apprehension is obviated

3. Freedom from anger — Chasing one’s desire causes anger. But when everything is accepted the way they are then you become free of anger

4. Absorption in his thoughts — Realizing that the life is provided by the lord

5. Dependence on the lord — total dependence means strong faith in him.

6. Purification by the fire of knowledge — become free of ill thoughts and thus gets purified by the fire of knowledge

My Question — 5. Dependence on the lord — total dependence means strong faith in him. “Why would he want this, would this not be a selfish act? Why shouldnt one be independent?”

Dada — Your question in shloka 10, about dependence on the Lord as being selfish seems to spring from your idea of treating the Lord as separate from your self, when in reality each one of us is an integral part of the Lord, of which we are not at all conscious. So, if you were to treat yourself as part of the Lord, then depending on him would tantamount to being independent of many unwanted pressures of our daily existence, which would enable us to function at our best.

Shloka 11 -to the extent that you depend on the Lord as your very own self or have faith in him as having faith in yourself, to that extent would the Lord’s blessings be upon you because you would always be close to him & always feel blessed & invulnerable, which would boost your self-confidence without any tinge of ego, unlike our Western friends who have to bolster their ego to feel confident.

Shloka 12 — काङ्क्षन्तः कर्मणां सिद्धिं यजन्त इह देवताः । क्षिप्रं हि मानुषे लोके सिद्धिर्भवति कर्मजा ।।१२।।

Shloka 13 — चातुर्वर्ण्यं मया सृष्टं गुणकर्मविभागशः । तस्य कर्तारमपि मां विद्ध्यकर्तारमव्ययम् ।।१३।।

You are getting the right sense of these two Gita shlokas. Shloka 13 is a very famous shloka of the Gita where Sri Krishna declares that the four Varnas are not by birth but by gunas — qualities & aptitudes. Apparently, over time these Varnas did get ossified into jatis — ‘जाति — communities’, (not castes which is a Portugese word) based on birth, vocation & location. Over time jatis, in turn got grouped into different Varnas according to the vocation they adopted. There are no superior/inferior jatis & each jati has it’s own special features just as their are no superior or inferior Varnas, each Varna being sovereign in its domain, but by British deviousness, they grouped castes into superior or inferior castes in the regular decennial censuses which they began in the year 1880 CE.

The word caste was first used by the British after the Portugese left & was used by them to create divisions in the Hindu society, to further their ‘divide & rule’ policy. We can discuss this issue whenever we meet in future, because an email cannot be an adequate vehicle for such a discussion on a complex issue.

Shloka 14 — न मां कर्माणि लिम्पन्ति न मे कर्मफले स्पृहा । इति मां योऽभिजानाति कर्मभिर्न स बध्यते ।।१४।।

Shloka 15 — एवं ज्ञात्वा कृतं कर्म पूर्वैरपि मुमुक्षुभिः । कुरु कर्मैव तस्मात्त्वं पूर्वैः पूर्वतरं कृतम् ।।१५।।

Shlokas 14 & 15 urge Arjuna to note how Sri Krishna works without attachment to the fruits of actions & how seekers of the past too acted in the same manner & that he, Arjuna too should do the same.