Maximum Happiness to the Maximum Number of People for the Maximum Time

CHINMAYA MISSION BOSTON

The Holy Geeta – The Divine Song

Summary of Chapter 7

March, 2015

Bhagawad Geeta – Divine Song

Tat Tvam Asi – That Thou Art

Chapters 1-6

1. Arjuna Grief2. Yoga of Knowledge3. Karma Yoga4. Ending Action in Knowledge5. True Renunciation6. Meditation

Chapters 7-12

7. Knowledge & Wisdom8. Imperishable Brahman9. Royal Secret10.Divine Glories11.Cosmic Form12.Devotion

Tvam-Thou

Tat-That

Asi-Art

Chapters 13-18

13. Field and its Knower14.Gunas15.Supreme Spirit16.Devine and Devilish17.Three-fold Faith18.Liberation

Chapter 7 – The Yoga of Knowledge and Wisdom

• The Universe is made up of Lower Prakriti (Matter) and Higher Prakriti (Energy or Consciousness) [1-6]

• Lord is the 'essence' of everything - that which enlivens everything (e.g., brilliance in fire, fragrance in earth) - I am NOT in them, they are in ME [7-12]

• Four kinds of people worship me

Dissatisfied (arthi)

Seeker of systematized knowledge (jigyasu)

Seeker of wealth (artharthi)

Wise (Ghanaian) [16]

• Whatever form any devotee desires to worship with faith – that (same) faith of his I make (firm and) unflinching [21]

Lower Prakriti - Matter

+ Mind Intellect Ego+ +

Earth

Water

Fire

Air

Space

Higher Prakriti – Spirit or Consciousness

• Consciousness is the entity by whose contact the equipments function, and without which the equipments become insentient

Example: Electricity is the ‘spirit’ without which the electrical equipments will not function

‘Lower’ and ‘Higher’ Prakriti

4. Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intellect, egoism – these are my eightfold PRAKRITI

5. This is the ‘lower’ PRAKRITI; different from it, know thou, O mighty-armed, My ‘Higher’ PRAKRITI, the very Life-element, by which this world is upheld

6. Know that these (two PRAKRITIS), are the womb of all beings. So I am the source and dissolution of the whole Universe

What is the essence of these objects?

What is the essence of these objects?

What is the essence of Mankind?

Omnipresence of Self

8. I am the sapidity in water, O son of Kunti, I am the light in the moon and the sun; I am the syllable OM in all the VEDAS, sound in ether, and virility in men;

9. I am the sweet fragrance in earth and the brilliance in fire, the life in all beings, and I am austerity in the austere

10.Know Me, O Partha, as the eternal seed of all beings; I am the intelligence of the intelligent. The splendour of the splendid (things and beings) am I

Omnipresence of Self (Verses 11-12)

11.Of the strong, I am the strength – devoid of desire and attachment, and in (all) beings, I am the desire – unopposed to DHARMA, O best among the Bharatas

12.Whatever beings (and objects) that are pure, active and inert, know them to proceed from Me; yet, I am not in them, they are in ME.

I am not in them, they are in ME.

I am not in them, they are in ME

Are the waves in the Ocean or is the Ocean in the waves?

I am not in them, they are in ME - Story

I am not in them, they are in ME - Story

Am I the beggar dreaming to be the King? ORAm I the King Janaka dreaming to be the beggar?

Neither THIS nor THAT is Real!!

I am not in them, they are in ME - Story

• Was King Janaka in the beggar? Or Was the Beggar in King Janaka?

Four different kinds of people who worship me (Verse 16)

16.Four kinds of virtuous men worship Me, O Arjuna,

• the dissatisfied (arthi)

• the seeker of (systematized) knowledge (jigyasu)

• the seeker of wealth (artharthi)

• and the wise (ghanian)

Secularism in Gita (Verse 21)

21.Whatever form any devotee desires to worship with faith – that (same) faith of his I make (firm and) unflinching

Thoughts on Idol Worship (Verses 24-26)

24.The foolish think of Me, the Unmanifest, as having come to manifestation, not knowing My higher, immutable and peerless nature.

25.I am not manifest to all (in My Real Nature) veiled by Divine – Maya. The deluded world knows not Me, the Unborn, the Imperishable

26.I know, O Arjuna, the beings of the past, and present and the future, but no one knows Me.

Essence of Chapter - 7

Concept: The ‘essence’ or life force that enlivens all forms and beings is HIM

Practical Application: See beyond the ‘name’, ‘form’ and ‘function’