spअद्वेष्टा सर्वभूतानां मैत्रः करुण एव च ।
निर्ममो निरहंकारः समदुःखसुखः क्षमी ॥१२-१३॥
संतुष्टः सततं योगी यतात्मा दृढनिश्चयः ।
मय्यर्पितमनोबुद्धिर्यो मद्भक्तः स मे प्रियः ॥१२-१४॥
Transliteration:
Lord Krishna says: a human being free of enmity and hatred, one free of self-interest… a lover of humanity, compassionate… one free from emotional attachments of all kinds, one free of ego (Ahamkara in Hinduism)… one maintaining equipoise in enjoyments and sufferings, one who forgave all even when afflicted… was truly one dear to me… i.e. God Almighty.
Lord Krishna further says: a Yogi, traveler of spiritual path, seeker of God Almighty one who was composed in all stages of life… one who had succeeded in establishing control over five senses and mind, one who expressed feelings of extreme satisfaction… one having total faith in God Almighty, one who had surrendered self on altar of God… such a doer, seeker, traveler of path of jnana yoga (absolute wisdom)… was a true bhakti yogi comparable to none.
Such a seeker of God was a true Bhakta of God… dear to God Almighty himself!
The Explanation:
The use of I and me by Lord Krishna always was symbolic! If Krishna says, you are dear to me… it simply meant one was dear to God Almighty and not the bodily Lord Krishna. Lord Krishna was simply a manifestation, an avatar of his era (God manifest in human form)… a saviour, messiah of his times! Even Lord Krishna could never be compared to God Almighty. The domain of God Almighty simply could not be defined… it was inexpressible, much beyond catch of human senses! Everything relating to God Almighty was symbolic… it had to be understood through subtle means, through medium of inherent soul atman, the consciousness within!
We just could not compare God Almighty with form of human beings. God Almighty always was, is formless… Nirakaar in form (having no form)! In all shlokas verses contained in Bhagavad Gita… wherever reference of me and I comes, it was not Lord Krishna talking to us. It was God Almighty talking through the manifest Lord Krishna. God Almighty could never be personified… no matter what the means! The celestial power we called God Almighty was the sum total of all souls atmans existing in cosmos in their pure form. God Almighty always was a ball of primordial cosmic energy, size of half a thumb! God Almighty was that singularity at the time of big bang in beginning of cosmos that scientists’ world over often confused about.
In bhagavad gita chapter 12 verse 13 – 14 Lord Krishna enumerates various aspects of life following which human beings finally reached God Almighty. As per Lord Krishna… essence of life always laid in remaining free of all enmity… no matter what the provocation. Unless we were free of self vested interests… we could never nurture our love for mankind. To reach God… we had to become a true pupil of God Almighty. As all human beings, all living beings were children of God Almighty… in serving the entire humanity; we were only serving God Almighty!
Practicing humility at its best when human beings practiced compassion… they not only forgave one and all, but also became free of all attachments of ephemeral life forever. We just could not indulge in Moha (deep emotional attachments) that bonded us farther and farther. To reach God… we have to negate our karma to zero, never increase it! By indulging in trivialities of life, we only increased our ego (Ahamkar in Hinduism)… that took us farther away from God Almighty. We had to all the time maintain our equipoise… by exercising a delicate balance between enjoyments and sufferings.
Those who inflicted injury on us… we had to forgive one and all. It was not for us to choose the means. Our goal of life always was fixed… reaching God in present life! How could we fritter our time in trivialities of life that always diverted us from our true goal of life? Forgiveness was extremely difficult to practice… yet, as demanded by God Almighty we had no alternative or choice! No matter how much heartburning… we had to practice compassion and forgiveness in all stages of life! Only then we could truly experience inner happiness… inner bliss all the time! Our concentration of life should always be towards our ultimate goal of life… reaching God!
In practical life we often come across people who when inflicted with injury always wanted to reply back in equal measure! If we were normal human beings, not travelling spiritual path… we could indulge in anything earthly but for a spiritual seeker… there were norms from which we could never divert. It was in compassion and forgiveness laid seeds of humility practicing which one became a true disciple of God Almighty. A true disciple was not one who ceremoniously, ritually… almost daily went to temples, churches or mosques for prayers or worshipping God. If we truly wanted to reach God… we had to take care of all his children on mother earth.
Children of God do not mean human beings alone. Every single conscious living being was but a manifestation of God Almighty. Every single living being on mother earth including insects, plants and animals had God Almighty existing within them in miniscule form as our soul atman, the spirit within! As per Bhagavad Gita we were primarily a spiritual being, a consciousness that manifested human form to work out its karma… remove dross impurities within! In the circumstances… how could we neglect presence of lower forms of life that in spiritual sense… were only our younger brothers and sisters! Before manifesting human form… we as a soul atman, the spirit within had manifested all forms of insect, plant and animal life!
There was zero ambiguity in this statement. As per Lord Krishna… we as a soul atman underwent cycle of 8.4 million manifestations that included 7.3 million manifestations in insect, plant and animal life and in the remaining 1.1 million manifestations in human form… one was expected to reach stage of enlightenment (kaivalya jnana in Hinduism). Gaining enlightenment in present life means reaching God… realizing God! In Jainism… killing of insects was totally prohibited… prime reason why in ancient times most Jains had their food before sunset. In Jainism… killing of insects that were not visible to naked eye also was an unpardonable sin. We had to protect lower forms of life… whenever possible! We just could not indulge in a killing spree for sake of pleasure… even food!
As a human being, the highest manifest stage in cosmic life cycle… we had our limitations, set principles of life that needed to be followed at each and every stage of life! We had to use power of discrimination with caution. No matter what the affliction… we had to forgive one, practice compassion at its best! Mahavira (24th Tirthankara of Jainism… preceptor) did it and so did Gautama Buddha. Jesus Christ practiced it to the hilt and so did Prophet Mohammed! Unless one cared for entire humanity at large, one just could not become a man god… gain enlightenment in present life! Practicing compassion, practicing forgiveness were not words limited to dictionary… for a spiritual seeker they meant difference between success and failure!
Lord Krishna further says… a true Yogi was one who by practicing nishkama karma yoga felt inner calm all the time. One who desired fruits of karma performed… could never experience inner calm, equipoise at different stages in life! Bliss can only be experienced by one… who succeeded in establishing total control over five senses and mind. The body language of an enlightened one said it all. The equanimity experienced by an enlightened one could never be defined in words. Experiences of spiritual path were most of time beyond catch of words, the sensory powers! We truly had to transcend everything ephemeral to experience bliss all the time. Furthermore, absolute faith in God Almighty was necessitated to become a true seeker of God Almighty. In absence of total faith in God (shraddha in Hinduism)… one could never know true identity of God Almighty. God can only be realized, reached by having hundred percent faith in God Almighty. So says Lord Krishna in Bhagavad Gita, an avatar of his era… saviour, messiah!
As per Lord Krishna unless we surrendered self to God Almighty… we could never reach God! Complete surrender to God Almighty can only be realized by travelling path of nishkama karma yoga… offering fruits of karma performed to God Almighty all the time. This becomes possible when we realized that we were primarily a spirit, a consciousness manifesting human form. When our soul atman, the spirit within was the absolute master and controller of manifest life… fruits of karma performed by manifest form always belonged to the original owner… soul atman himself! We can say… we were puppets in hand of God Almighty. Do we have any other alternative? Can we do something to come out of this predicament? It was meaningless to think that we were a puppet in hands of God Almighty. As detailed in Bhagavad Gita by Lord Krishna… human form was the highest manifest stage in cosmic life cycle. It was only in human form… our soul atman, the consciousness within finally regained its lost original pure prime pristine primordial form when human beings reached stage of enlightenment in present life time.
To do bidding of our soul atman, the consciousness within was not acting like a slave! No soul atman, the consciousness within could purify self of its own. It needs a medium, a body to work out its karma… remove dross impurities within! Similar as one KG of pure gold sandwiched in hundred KG lump of gold ore could not extract self of its own and needs external mining machinery and processes… every single soul atman also requires undergoing a chain of 8.4 million manifestations to liberate self from cycle of birth and death forever, reach cosmic end of life… 8.4 millionth manifestation, last in cosmic life cycle! Lord Krishna states it was imperative on human beings to follow dictates of our soul atman to reach cosmic end of life. For doing so… our undertaking spiritual journey was mandated by God Almighty. We just could not neglect the workings of our soul atman, the consciousness within! As the journey of life belonged to our soul atman, the spirit within… we had to travel spiritual path at some stage of life. Most human beings world over left spiritual journey to next life… were we being intelligent or just lethargic!
To realize underlying meaning of spiritual words must become our forte. Only then we could travel spiritual journey seriously and sincerely. Intelligence in the field of spirituality relates to jnana (wisdom) that was different from bookish knowledge. In the field of pure spirituality… bookish knowledge carried no meaning! As per Lord Krishna… a spiritually intelligent person all the time indulged in contemplation on God Almighty by surrendering self, by surrendering our ego on alter of God Almighty! As long as single trace of ego (Aham in Hinduism) remained within… we just could not reach God, realize God! A true Bhakta… a true seeker of God Almighty was not one who feigned ignorance in matters spiritual… but took spiritual journey sincerely and seriously in present life to reach God. Total surrender to God Almighty was in no way simple… easy… prime reason why Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa and Maharishi Ramana finally switched to path of jnana yoga (absolute wisdom) to reach God in their lifetime.
Initially both Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa (spiritual master of famous saint Swami Vivekananda) and Maharishi Ramana started in search of God via path of bhakti yoga and nishkama karma yoga. But finding God Almighty could not be reached via path of karma yoga, bhakti yoga alone… both switched to path of jnana yoga. In the last about 150 years amongst 7 billion people existing world over… only Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa and Maharishi Ramana finally reached God in their lifetime! One can imagine how difficult it was to reach stage of enlightenment and finally God in their lifetime. Spiritual enlightenment as per Lord Krishna in Bhagavad Gita was not that easy to achieve… prime reason why he advocates practicing absence of ego, compassion, forgiveness to reach God in one’s lifetime. As per Lord Krishna a true spiritual seeker was one who lost his I in the journey of life. Such a seeker of spirituality was dear to God Almighty… very dear!
Commentary by: Vijay Kumar “Atma Jnani”… The Man who Realized God in 1993 – July 10, 2013
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