Bhagavad Gita Chapter 5 Verse 23


शक्नोतीहैव यः सोढुं प्राक्शरीरविमोक्षणात् ।
कामक्रोधोद्भवं वेगं स युक्तः स सुखी नरः ॥५-२३॥

 

Transliteration:

In Bhagavad Gita chapter 5 verse 23 Lord Krishna clearly emphasizes that God Almighty could only be reached in human form… never lower forms of life! The two entities of physical manifest world, obstacles on path of pure spirituality… Kama (inherent feelings of desire) and Krodha (feelings of excessive anger) must be nipped in the bud to reach God in present life!

 

To reach stage of desirelessness… establishing total control over feelings of Kama was an absolute must! Kama does not mean feelings of sensuality alone. Attractions towards material riches were part of Kama… desires inherent in every human being! To become spiritual, to reach our true inner self… our soul atman, the consciousness within we had to overpower Kama.

 

By establishing absolute control over five senses… we finally subdued Kama forever! The feelings of lust were very powerful indeed! It may be lust for eatables, clothes; pastime or any other activity related to senses… unless we subdued Kama forever, one could never reach stage of enlightenment (kaivalya jnana) in present life!

 

To practice physical aspect of celibacy (Brahmacharya Vrata in Hinduism)… our controlling immanent forces of Kama was something we could not do without! Without establishing total control over forces of Kama (senseless desiring)… full awakening of kundalini shakti was not possible (the coiled Serpentine energy lying dormant in base of spine)!

 

Other than overpowering Kama… total control over forces of anger (that includes fury, wrath or rage) was necessitated to reach God. A dillydallying attitude towards forces of Kama and Krodha was meaningless on path of pure spirituality. Most human beings continued indulgence hoping that in last stages of life… one could easily overpower them!

 

A true Yogi successfully overpowers forces of Kama and Krodha in the early years of life! Gaining absolute control over feelings of desire and anger results in experiencing bliss, ecstasy beyond capture of words! One travelling path of yoga to reach God could never undermine importance of keeping forces of Kama and Krodha under wraps all the time.

 

The Explanation:

Most human beings I have come across in life wanted to enjoy sensual pleasures most as long as their body permitted! They wanted to leave spiritual things to chance. They think that overpowering forces of Kama and Krodha could be done in the last stages of life. The ignorant human beings (travelers of path of religion, rituals) failed to realize that something we failed to achieve when young could never be achieved in later stages of life when our body grew frail from failure of senses… that slowly gave way one by one!

 

All spiritual masters, man gods like Mahavira, Gautama Buddha, Jesus Christ and Prophet Mohammed started their pursuit of God Almighty at an early age! Why delay and mar chances of reaching God in present life by delaying spiritual journey indefinitely. For overpowering forces of Kama and Krodha, the bulldog determination of Swami Vivekananda was necessitated! Human beings who could not become Swami Vivekananda in present life must forget about treading spiritual path to reach God in present life.

 

However, if we still wanted to travel spiritual path slowly and steadily with the hope that we might reach God in next manifestation… or few manifestations henceforth were a lucky few who truly realized merit of travelling spiritual path in present life. Spiritual journey must always be covered in stages… body after body, manifestation after manifestation! One having willpower demonstrated by Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa or Maharishi Ramana only was competent to travel spiritual path to reach God in present life. Both Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa and Maharishi Ramana who started in pursuit of God via path of bhakti yoga, switched to path of jnana yoga (absolute wisdom) to reach God in present life.

 

Every sincere seeker of spirituality recognized value of present life. If we could not do it in present life… what guarantee we could accomplish it in next manifestation! As our soul atman, the spirit within was all the time governing… we do not know what form our soul atman manifested in next life after death of present body! As long as vital systems of body were okay… we must indulge in pure spirituality to reach God in present life. One can witness thousands, many thousands assembled in so-called spiritual congregations to gain something in last stages of life. Can such human beings truly achieve something in last stages of life?

 

Spiritual journey requires human beings practicing highest level of patience, perfection and perseverance at every stage of life! Unless we start early in life… one could never complete spiritual journey in present manifestation! By leaving things to chance, under domination of a bloated ego… those ignorant on spiritual path truly never gained anything in life! To overcome powerful forces of senses… we had to establish absolute control over our ego (Aham in Hinduism)! It is our ego that always dissuades serious seekers of spirituality from following spiritual path sincerely and diligently. By remaining truthful in life… we can easily overpower our ego. By listening to the sweet small inner voice of our soul atman that seemed to come from within our heart, we can do everything in life prompted by our soul atman, the consciousness within! The voice of our soul atman always prompts us on the right path… no matter what!

 

A true Karma Yogi never underestimates power of senses and mind in present life. He starts practicing celibacy, physical aspect of celibacy (Brahmacharya Vrata) to establish control over power of Kama. A continuous practice of 12 years of Brahmacharya Vrata was necessitated for full awakening of kundalini energy in present life. The moment our kundalini awakening fully… Sahasra Pushpa (thousand petalled Lotus) existing in our brain behind forehead opened fully. One immediately reached stage of enlightenment (kaivalya jnana)… became an enlightened one, a bodhi… a Jina, a Mahavira forever! A true Yogi never indulged in ephemeral moments of life, all the time realizing that we had only one life to live… the present earthly sojourn!

 

Making the best of present earthly life… a serious seeker of spirituality finally succeeded in establishing absolute control over powers of senses that be! Control over mind power followed automatically. The moment karma negated to zero… our soul atman, the consciousness within immediately reached stage of absolute purity forever! This is the stage of experiencing bliss all the time. A true Yogi all the time yearns for having a communion with God Almighty on one-to-one basis and that too permanently. This becomes possible when after establishing absolute control over five senses and mind, one reached stage of Nirvikalpa Samadhi (absolute nothingness) forever.

 

Indulgence in sensuality resulted in loss of cosmic energy in the body… something a true Yogi could not do without! It was only by transmuting sexual energy, all seekers of spirituality finally realized their goal of life… reached God! In anger human beings lost their face, lowering their self esteem, dignity! Human beings, the highest manifest stage in cosmic life cycle must use their power of discrimination with caution. In present Kali Yuga, Dark Age… metal age human beings sometimes stooped so low that it becomes difficult to differentiate human beings from animals! Mounted with power of free will, power of discrimination any human being world over could easily realize god, realize self in present life. We really can do it, if we want to!

 

Commentary by: Vijay Kumar “Atma Jnani”… The Man who Realized God in 1993 – April 29, 2013

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