“When doubts haunt me, when disappointments stare me in the face, and I see not one ray of hope on the horizon, I turn to BHAGWAD GITA and find a verse to comfort me; and I begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming sorrow. Those who meditate on the Gita will derive fresh joy and new meanings from it every day.”
MAHATMA GANDHI(The Man of the Millennium)

From the hymn "A Cudgle For Delusion"

Boast not of your youth or friends or wealth;
Swifter than eyes can wink, by Time
Each one of these is stolen away.
Abjure the illusion of the world
And join yourself to timeless Truth.
Give up the curse of lust and wrath,
Give up delusion, Give up greed;
Remember who can really are
fools are they that are blind to self;
Cast into hell , they suffer there.

Quoted by Shankaracharya in' Self- Knowledge'

Thought for the week

*****

Satya Wah hai jo kisi se kate nahin.

Truth is that which can not be denied by anyone.

Bhakti Yoga

Chapter-18 Text-56

Sarvkarymanyapi sada kurvano madvyapasrayah.
madprasadadvapnoti shashvatam padamavyayam.
Translation: -
The pure devotee of mine who is my suppliant in spite of engaging himself in all kinds of activities attains the eternal and imperishable abode with my grace.
Purport: -
The verses 56 to 68 of chapter XVIII can be considered especially important as these are said by the Supreme Lord from his side and not in answer to any question of Arjuna.Telling His divine rule ,Lord Krishna says that the perfect devotee who depends entirely upon Me and not on any person, thing, event, situation etc. of this world, becomes my suppliant and it becomes My responsibility to look after his welfare and to ensure his salvation. I attend to his needs personally. ( Chapter IX verse 22 and chapter XII - verse 7).

Such a devotee of mine though he remains engaged in all worldly, social or physical activities, gets to the same abode which is attained by a Gyanyogi after contracting(limiting) all his activities. It become possible only with Gods grace.......... This shows the love and compassion of God for his devotees. This abode is attainable not by perseverance, attempts or any other means but by the divine grace of God. This abode of God is situated everywhere as the sweet. Lord is omnipresent . As the devotee surrenders himself in Gods protection, he gets rid of his ignorance and he is able to see the divine act (Leela) of the Supreme lord everywhere! But if the devotee has the feeling that the abode of God is somewhere else he gets to it after leaving his body.

Bhaktiyog (Devotional service) is considered to be superior to Gyan yog and karma yog because in this the devotee does not require to exercise excessive self control in order to succeed. It is enough if he surrenders himself to God and takes only His shelter and thus performing all the prescribed duties he attains the same goal. He has only to submit himself to His will like a kitten. Then the supreme Lord, who is the ocean of grace, grants him salvation without giving even a single thought to his disqualifications and weaknesses.

http://www.rudragiriji.net/ andhttp://rudrasandesh.blogspot.com/

Bhakti:worshipping Personal Brahman

Chapter-12 Text-2
Mayyaveshya mano ye mam nityayukta upasate.
Shraddhaya parayopetaste me yuktatama matah.
Translation: -
The Supreme Lord says: Those devotees who fix their minds on my personal form, and with great devotion engage in worshiping me are considered by Me to be most perfect yogis.
Purport: -
On being asked by Arjuna, the supreme Lord tells him that the devotees whose minds are engaged in His contemplations and who love only Him, should be considered true yogis.

Devotees sometimes try to devote their minds and thoughts to the Lord. But it is difficult to do so without devoting one’s self to Him. AS When a sculptor makes a sculpture, first he devotes himself to the task and his tools are in turn devoted to it, too. In the same way, when one devotes oneself to His service, one finds that his mind and thoughts are also focused towards Him as the thoughts of the objects of love come unbidden.

When one thinks that "he is God’s and God is his" he denies his relationship with material nature and thus he gets rid of his 'false ego'(that he is this body). And then his self-evident link with God becomes manifest and he remembers it continuously. And there is continuous awareness of his real self. This devotee becomes free of desires, collection of material possessions and all worldly attachments.
A perfect devotee is the one who lets not a single moment pass without devoting his activities to the Lord. The mind is involved in the object of love and thoughts go towards the object of devotion. The devotee with firm faith performs every action for the service of God. Such a devotee never loses his link with God. The meaning of yoga is to establish a continuous link with God. That is why Lord Krishna considers him the most perfect yogi. A yogi practising devotion or 'Bhakti' is superior to those practicing Karma yoga or Gyan yoga as he achieves the end of all yogas, Bhakti, since the very beginning. God has an appetite for love, not for knowledge. The end of transcendental (devine) knowledge is salvation (Nirvana) but the joy, which is generated from devotion gradually gets more and more profound . Therefore the ultimate element is love, not Mukti(salvation).

Contemplating on the Impersonal Brahman

Chapter-12 Text-3&4
Ye tvaksharamanirdeshyamavyaktam paryupasate
Sarvatragamachintyam cha kootasthamachalam dhruvam.
Sanniyamyendriyagramam sarvatra sambuddhayah
Te prapnuvanti mamev sarvabhoothite ratah.
Translation: -
Those who worship the unmanifested, the one who lies beyond the perception of the senses, the all pervading, inconceivable, unchanging, fixed and immovable ie the impersonal (without any from) conception of the absolute Truth-by controlling the various senses and who are equally disposed to everyone and are involved in the welfare of all, ultimately achieve Me.
Purport: -
In the previous text (taken in last issue) the supreme Lord Krishna said that the worshippers of His personal from are the most perfect yogis but in these texts he makes it clear that it is possible for the worshippers of unmanifest also to achieve God.
The aim of this kind of worship is given by using eight adjectives, which though sufficient are not complete in themselves because one of these adjectives 'Avyaktam' in itself says that he is beyond the perception of senses and hence can not be explained.
He tells Arjuna that the worshippers of absolute Truth in its impersonal from, are required to control their senses not only outwardly but also inwardly ie they should try that they are not attracted towards sense gratification...... Here one thing is worth mention that controlling senses is not considered a prerequisite for the worship of personal form of God. It is necessary for the worshipper of impersonal from and a Karmayogi.

He further describes the object of contemplation for the worshippers of impersonal from as the one who is not the subject of mind or thought as he is beyond this material world; who is all-pervading ie he is present everywhere, everytime, in all objects and forms; who can not be explained in any language or word; who is unchanging as trasience is the symptom of material world but the creator of it always remains the same; who remains fixed and immovable; who decan not be diminished or destroyed and who does not have any from or size. If a worshipper contemplates on such impersonal from of God he may achieve the knowledge of absolute Truth.

Such worshipper should also be involved in selfless service of all. For this he should be free of all desires, ego; attachments and possessiveness. He must considers that everything belongs to God and he, like a trustee, should utilize it in the welfare of all.
Using body to serve others kills his ego and using his material possessions in selflessly serving others kills his possessiveness. He detaches himself from his flase ego and not from the world. He thinks that his well being lies in the well being of all.
He remains equipoised in all circumstances and sees God in all. He might treat people and things in different ways in practical life according to their utility, from etc. but he does not fail to see the all pervading God in all.
If a worshipper fulfils the above mentioned conditions, he realizes the sameness of soul and the Supreme soul i.e. he knows that his real self is also described by same adjectives as supreme soul. He gets to self realization. ultimately he also achieves the same goal as the worshipper of personal from of God.

Krishna Says

Chapter-9 Text-30
api chetsuduracharo bhajate maamananyabhak
sadhurev sa mantavyah samyagvyasito hi sah.
Translation: -
If even the most immoral person pays devotional service to me single mindedly, he should be considered a sage because he is properly situated in his determination.
Purport :-
People commonly judge a person by his outward behavior, they neither have will nor capacity to see his inner feelings and intentions.
They easily pass aspersions without thinking on even a righteous person when they see him doing one wrong action but when they see a man who is considered immoral, involved in paying devotion to God, they would call him a pretender. The people with dirty conscience further litter it with such talks. But the Supreme Lord is the ocean of pity and compassion. He considers only our inner feelings. He sets. His eyes upon a person's feelings and intentions and not upon his outward behaviors.
He is all-seeing and when he sees one with firm determination in one's mind that 'God is mine and I am God's,' engaged single mindedly in paying devotions to Him, He embraces him. He says that such a person must be considered a saint even if his conduct is not pure. It is not only a matter of consideration but also becomes true if he whole heartedly submits to God and chants His holy name. He is then purified of all his weaknesses and material contaminations.
Even in the life of an immoral person there may be some turning points when he may make him come to God with submission. Like when he is face to face with a crisis or he comes under the influence of a saint or a sage or he sees some miracle and is effected by that. Sage Valmiki and Ajamil are its brilliant examples. In spite of being immoral, by the grace of some saints they turned to God and this made them turn a new leaf in life. They were called saints and attained salvation as they had made chanting God's holy name their only duty and to attain oneness with God was their single aim. To attain name or fame, wealth or material comforts was not their aim.
The Supreme Lord says that "Though even a person is not entirely free from immorality, though he sometimes, compelled by situation or due to force of habit, commits mistakes and does something which can be considered abominable, yet God says that he should be considered a saint. One's he becomes a suppliant of God and says to Him that it is beyond his power to get over the weaknesses of his character and that it is possible only by His grace, the Ocean of Compassion, the Supreme Lord, Who looks after his devotee in all ways, purifies his conduct by pulling him over his weaknesses and passions and he becomes a true saint.

For Hindi translation visithttp://www.rudrasandesh.blogspot.com/

Extract from Shrimad Bhagawat Gita

Chapter-2 Text-69
yo nisha sarvabhootanam tasyam jagarti sanyami
yasyam jagrati bhootani sa nisha pashyato muneh.
Translation: -
That which is night for all the (worldly) beings, a self controlled person remains awake in that and when all other beings are awake it is night for an introspective sage.
Purport:-
In the present shloka(Verse) Lord Krishna tells the difference between a worldly man and a self controlled person. Telling how a person engaged in worldliness is aversed to God he says that he is attached to the Maya (illusions) of the world, material possessions and persons that he remains asleep for the ultimate truth. His attention does not go towards spiritually important issues like true knowledge his deeds, their out come& his end etc. He remain unconsious towards such things as if he is asleep. Whereas a self-controlled person (Who has made himself introverted by controlling his senses and mind) remains fully aware of all these. A materialistic person is engaged in luxury, comfort and making a store of things. Inspite of being equipped with power of reason and logic, he spends his life like birds and beasts and his precious human life which was his means to liberate him from the cycle of life and death goes in vain. Such a person misuses his intelligence to enjoy luxuries and to amass things that even though a thing is not likely to be useful to him he would make a store of it preventing others from using it. Contrary to this, a self controlled person remains unattached to enjoyment and collection. His only aim is God. To know the Ultimate Truth is his being awake at night.
A materialestic person uses his power of intellect cautiously to earn wealth, praise and fame. He keeps an account of even a single penny, a square-inch peice of land; thinks only of what to do to earn fame, this is the consciousness of such a person while a sage a seer who knows the truth behind world and God considers all these transcient things as clay. All this is full of darkness (ignorance) of night and he remains asleep (aversed or indifferent to) such things. For a liberated, and learned devotee there is no world before he reaches Brahma Loka (the abode of God). He sees the reality of world by separating himself from it. As a person amassing wealth does not know what it means to renounce wealth but a person who has renounced it knows about both amassing and renouncing wealth. As a boy has seen only childhood but an old person knows about childhood as well as youth likewise detaching themselves from world and engaging in contemplations the sages realize that the world is transcient (nothing is stable or permanent) and so they become dispassionate and go ahead to reach their ultimate Goal.

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