Chapter 14

(Revision 01 Feb 07 09)
BHAGAVAD GITA



CHAPTER 14



Sri Bhagavan said:



14. 1 I shall discuss once more the supreme wisdom, the best of all wisdom, acquiring which all sages have attained highest perfection. being liberated from this mundane existence

14. 2 Those who by practising this wisdom, have entered into My being are not born again at the cosmic dawn nor feel disturbed even during the cosmic night.

PURPORT:

Wisdom Supreme is told from the point of view of Gunas of Prakriti.
Lord can be approached in seemingly different, yet non-conflicting, paths.
Just like Karma, Jnana,, Bhakti, Yoga have been told in detail, same wisdom is presented taking Gunas as the main theme.



14. 3 My primordial Nature, known as the great Brahma, is the womb of all creatures; In that womb I place the seed of all life. The creation of all beings follows from that union of Matter and Spirit.
14. 4 Of all embodied beings that appear in the species of various kinds, Prakriti or Nature is the conceiving Mother, while I am the seed-giving Father.

PURPORT:

Nature or Parkriti is called the womb. The Life Principle is the seed which the Lord places in Nature
Creation of beings is on account of this union.
(Naturally the soul permeating in Parkriti gets tied down as if mesmerised by Prakriti.)


14. 5 Satva, Rajas and Tamas-these three qualities born of Nature tie down the imperishable soul to the body.

14. 6 Of these Satva being immaculate, is illuminating and flawless, Arjuna; it binds through identification with joy and wisdom.
14. 7 Know the quality of Rajas, which is of the nature of passion, as born of cupidity and attachment. It binds the soul through attachment to actions and their fruit.
14. 8 And know Tamas, the deluder of all those who look upon the body as their own self, as born of ignorance. It binds the soul through error, sloth and sleep, Arjuna.

PURPORT:

Nature which ties down Soul to it, is of three kinds. Satva, Rajas and Tamas
Satva is clean, and flawless; It binds the soul, through identification with joy and wisdom.
Quality of Rajas is passion, born of desire and attachment. Ropes are attachment to action and fruit
Tamas deludes through ignorance. It binds with error, sloth and sleep




14. 9 Satva drives one to joy; Rajas to action; while Tamas, clouding wisdom, incites one to error as well as sleep and sloth.

14. 10 Overpowering Rajas and Tamas, Arjuna Satva prevails; overpowering Satva and Tamas, Rajas prevails; even so, overpowering Satva and Rajas, Tamas prevails
14. 11 When light and discernment dawn in this body, as well as in the mind and senses, then one should know that satva is predominant
14.12 With the preponderance of Rajas, greed, activity, undertaking of action with interested motive, restlessness and a thirst for enjoyment make their appearance
14. 13 With the growth of Tamas, Arjuna, obtuseness of the mind and senses, disinclination to perform one's obligatory duties, frivolity and stupor - all these appear

PURPORT:

Of the three Gunas, one which is predominant will overpower the other two.
When discrimination, balance, light, knowledge makes its appearance Satva is predominant
When action with selfishness, greed and activity itself,thirst for enjoyment come to the fore when Rajas is predominant.
When Tamas grows, a disinclination to do what you are supposed to do make its appearance. Non giving of 10% obligatory charity(as per Murari Bapu the Saint of Ramayana talks) to society's good and hoarding everything for oneself and family is tamasic



14. 14 When a man dies during the preponderance of the Satva, he obtains the stainless ethereal worlds(heaven, etc) attained by men of noble deeds
14. 15 Dying when Rajas predominates, he is born among those attached to action; even so the man who has expired during the preponderance of Tamas is reborn in the species of stupid creatures, such as insects and beasts etc.

PURPORT:

At death whatever Guna dominates the results are as given above.
If you are totally with Lord, and doing pranayama, chanting OM, you will be in Satva
If self interest, activity, or greed to preserve what you have dominates Rajas
If in attachment to family, stupor, carelessness sleepiness, Tamas is dominating
Next birth determined at the time of death depend on predominant Guna shown.



14. 16 The reward of righteous act, they say, is Satvika, i.e., faultless(in the shape of joy, wisdom, dispassion etc.); sorrow is declared to be the fruit of Rajasika act and ignorance, the fruit of Tamasika act.

PURPORT:
You recommended someone for a job, or helped someone in dire need. Surely there is satisfaction and happiness which you experience ; each of these Satvika acts bring in its wake a life full of wisdom to do right actions.
You wanted to show how rich you are and spent a huge amount of money on marriage which your relatives and friends consider it a waste. At the end of it, you find none had genuinely a good word about it. Your feeling is one of hurt, pain. Rajasic acts have to end in unhappiness
You were invited to see a horror movie which only made you laugh; you went to a ultra modern art exhibition, which had neither art, nor beauty to elevate, nor any education. Both the movie director or the artist of the art exhibition were blissfully unaware what the people felt about their film and artwork. Acts in Tamas. Neither we care for consequences, nor for wisdom of others. We become obstinate, reckless all in ignorance. Like the lady with no means, who already had 8 children goes and gets herself pregnant for another 10, without caring for consequences

14. 17 Wisdom follows the Satva, and greed, undoubtedly from Rajas; likewise obstinate error, stupor and also ignorance follow from Tamas.

PURPORT:
THE GREAT ADVANTAGE FOR YOU :

In our daily life either when we are prompted to act, watch for the guna at that moment. Once we recognise the Guna at the moment we shift from the lower Guna to higher one. We can do this for 21 days, convert our acts, moods, thoughts all into satvic Guna and thereafter a complete transformation takes place in our attitude, thoughts and life. suddenly, we find ourselves propelled by nobility and greatness.


14. 18 Those who abide in the quality of Satva wend their way upwards; while those Rajasika disposition stay in the middle. And those of a Tamasika temperament, enveloped as they are in the effects of Tamoguna, sink down.
14. 19 When the seer perceives no agent other than the three Gunas, and realizes ME, the supreme Spirit standing entirely beyond these three Gunas, he enters into MY Being
14. 20 Having transcended the aforesaid three Gunas, which have caused the body, and freed from birth, death, old age and all kinds of sorrow, this soul attains supreme bliss

PURPORT:

Knowing our Guna at this moment, as we saw helps us immensely. With zero outside help, we can simply shift our position to the best position and eventually make that as our real stature.
This is the quickest way to Greatness, and with least effort!
Thereafter, you, the seer observes every one's acts, behaviour and applying Gunas, you find the whole world is a play of these three gunas. You have solved all the problems of the world. Instant solution.
Now you realize that these gunas of Prakriti caused the body, and its disease, death; and sorrow on account of these and you, the Soul is really unaffected, and always in a state of bliss which is your nature.


Arjuna said:

14. 21 What are the marks of him who has risen above the three Gunas, and what is his conduct? And how, Lord, does he rise above the three Gunas.

Sri Bhagavan said:
14. 22 Arjuna, he who hates not light (which is born of satva) and activity (which is born of Rajas) and even stupor (which is born of Tamas), when prevalent, nor longs for them when they have ceased.
14. 23 He who is sitting like witness, is not disturbed by the Gunas, remains established in identity with God, and never falls off from that state

PURPOSE:

Who is a Gunatita? or risen above Gunas ? One who does not mind their presence or absence in anyone.
When you see the speaker is trying to get importance for himself, you recognize that his rajo Guna that is responsible. when someone procrastinates, delays action, you see not fault in him, it is TamoGuna in him makes him delay the action. When you see an old teacher of yours looking pleasant and happy and has good word for everyone, you realize it is his Satva Guna operating at that time.
Understanding thus, how can you dislike anyone or find fault with anyone? don't we say, it is his drinks that caused the problem, otherwise he is a good person.
You have now become a witness, and stop judging others. With this habit permanently ingrained, you will never fall from that noble pedestal


14. 24 He who is ever established in the Self, takes woe and joy alike, regards a clod of earth, a stone and piece of gold as equal in value, is possessed of wisdom, receives the pleasant as well as the unpleasant in the same spirit and views censure and praise alike
14. 25 Who is indifferent to honour and ignominy, is alike, to the cause of friend as well as that of an enemy, and has renounced the sense of doership in all undertakings, is said to have risen above the three Gunas.
14. 26 He too who constantly worships ME through the Yoga of exclusive devotion- transcending these three Gunas, he becomes eligible for attaining Brahma
14. 27 For, I am the ground of the imperishable Brahma, of immortality, of the eternal virtue and of unending(immutable) bliss.

PURPORT:
Shloka 24 says established in self, having risen above the gunas, he has attained to equanimity of mind.
He has renounced the sense of doer-ship and has become exactly like the yogi, para-bhakta or high order Jnani. All this means, there is no difference between a gunateeta and Jnani, para-bhkata, or yogi all are difference names for Realized Soul.
Naturally such a person will worship (mind for ever united with) the Lord. For he has no other work, duty or desire
He worships (meditates, reflects) ME who is the very basis of imperishable, immortal Brahman of eternal virtue and unending bliss.
The great advantage of the study and practice of of this chapter on Gunas, is the simple way it takes you to the sanctum sanctorum. Remember how some VIP devotees are straight away taken by side door instead of 3hr long queue.