Shri Krishna Speaks: Attaining Liberation

Shri Krishna Speaks: Attaining Liberation

*|| जय श्री कृष्ण ||*🌷🙏*

*॥ श्रीमद्‍भगवद्‍गीता ॥ 14.26॥*

_मां च योऽव्यभिचारेण भक्तियोगेन सेवते ।_

_स गुणान्समतीत्येतान्ब्रह्मभूयाय कल्पते॥_

*भावार्थ :* 

जो मनुष्य हर परिस्थिति में बिना विचलित हुए अनन्य-भाव से मेरी भक्ति में स्थिर रहता है, वह भक्त प्रकृति के तीनों गुणों को अति-शीघ्र पार करके ब्रह्म-पद पर स्थित हो जाता है। (२६)

*Meaning*:

And he who worships me with the unwavering yoga of devotion, having gone beyond these gunas, becomes fit for attaining brahman.

*Explanation*:

Since this chapter is coming to an end, let us do a quick recap. We learned that this entire universe, including our mind and body, is nothing but the play of the three gunas of Prakriti - sattva, rajas and tamas. Only when we learn to stand apart from the gunas, when we separate ourselves from the gunas, can we attain liberation from the endless cycle of sorrow known as samsaara. For most of us, such a high degree of discrimination is extremely difficult. Moreover, such discrimination needs to be combined with dispassion as well as total control of the mind and the sense organs.

 

Knowing the impediments of fulfilling all these requirements, Arjuna wanted to know whether there was a straightforward way of releasing oneself from the influence of the gunas. Shri Krishna says that yes, it is possible. The answer is the yoga of unwavering devotion, which was the topic of chapters seven to twelve. In a nutshell, we detach ourselves from the gunas by attaching ourselves to something higher, which is Ishvara. It is like the child who gives up his toys because he loves poetry now that he is a teenager.

 

This yoga of devotion is not completely without effort, however. Shri Krishna adds an adjective that we need to bear in mind - avyabhichaarena or unwavering. We cannot keep Ishvara as our goal from 7 am to 8 am and then start thinking about how to demolish our competitors from 8 am to 11 am. The one and only goal should be Ishvara. If all our goals are within the scope of our svadharma, our prescribed role in this world, they very naturally are part and parcel of our devotion towards Ishvara.

 

Having made Ishvara our only goal, and having maintained such an awareness throughout our life, we become fit to attain brahman. How does that happen? The next and last shloka of this chapter addresses this topic.

*Continuously Chant The mantra you have faith in ||*🌹

Krishna Speaks: #liberation #immortal

#krishna, #liberation, #immortal, #gita, #updesh

|| जय श्री कृष्ण ||🌷🙏

*॥ श्रीमद्‍भगवद्‍गीता ॥ 14.20॥*

_गुणानेतानतीत्य त्रीन्देही देहसमुद्भवान्‌ ।_

_जन्ममृत्युजरादुःखैर्विमुक्तोऽमृतमश्नुते॥_

*भावार्थ :* 

जब शरीरधारी जीव प्रकृति के इन तीनों गुणों को पार कर जाता है तब वह जन्म, मृत्यु, बुढापा तथा सभी प्रकार के कष्टों से मुक्त होकर इसी जीवन में परम-आनन्द स्वरूप अमृत का भोग करता है। (२०)

*Meaning*:

Having gone beyond these three gunaas, the creators of the body, the body dweller is freed from sorrow of birth, death and old age, and attains immortality.

*Explanation*:

Shri Krishna now conveys the gist of the fourteenth chapter in this shloka. He says that Prakriti, which is comprised of the three gunaas, creates this entire universe, including our body. As long as the individual soul, the jeeva, the body dweller identifies with this body and gives reality to it, he experiences sorrows throughout his life. Once the jeeva stops identifying with the body which is the product of the three gunaas, he attains liberation and becomes immortal.

 

This shloka also connects the main theme of the prior chapter to this chapter. In the thirteenth chapter, we learnt that ignorance of our true nature creates an entity called the Purusha, which in essence is nothing but a bundle of unfulfilled desires. Now here, we learn that these unfulfilled desires, also known as avidyaa, ignorance or maaya, attract a combination of sattva, rajas and tamas that becomes the physical body. Only when the Purusha severs his connection with this body by rising above the three gunaas, he realizes his true nature as the eternal essence.

 

Immortality in this context does not mean physical immortality. The body follows the laws of nature. Everything in nature has to perish, including our physical body. From the perspective of Prakriti, the body will die. But the dehi, the body dweller, having gone beyond the three gunas, having stopped identifying with the three gunas, knows that he is untouched and unaffected by the laws of Prakriti. For him, the modifications of the body such as old age and disease are as if they are happening to some third party. This ultimate freedom from the influence of the Prakriti is what makes him immortal.

*Continuously Chant The mantra you have faith in ||*🌹