उद्धरेदात्मनात्मानं नात्मानमवसादयेत् ।
आत्मैव ह्यात्मनो बन्धुरात्मैव रिपुरात्मनः ॥६-५॥
Transliteration:
In Bhagavad Gita chapter 6 verse 5 Lord Krishna tells Arjuna that human beings must never degrade, degenerate themselves and must always try to lift self above affairs of mundane ephemeral life. Remaining engrossed in trivialities of life, the physical manifest world… one never truly gained anything in life! We had to reach our true inner self… our soul atman, the consciousness within by liberating self from cycle of birth and death forever.
Lord Krishna further says… we were the absolute masters and controllers of our life in totality! Those who think that God Almighty was the controller of our destiny were mistaken. Those who succeeded in establishing control over five senses and mind always treated their soul atman, the spirit within as their friend. Those prompted by a bloated ego always followed path of vice (destruction) that truly led nowhere!
Travelers of religious path always blamed God Almighty for their woes… never truly wanting to understand that human beings were absolute masters and controllers of their destiny. How? Indulging in vice… following path of materialism when human beings suffered in life, we all the time tended to blame God! When everything resulted from our karma performed… how could God Almighty be responsible for our sufferings?
The Explanation:
As per Lord Krishna, workings of manifest physical life were irrefutably controlled by doctrine of karma… as we sow so shall we reap, nothing less or more! At no stage of life human beings could blame God Almighty for its woes, sufferings in life. When everything results from karma performed in past or present life… we become absolute masters and controllers of our destiny! By indulging in good karma, positive karma… we not only improved our present but also future!
Life in cosmic system was never based on rhetoric. We had to follow path of absolute truthfulness to reach cosmic end of life. Merely on hearsay or preaching’s of religious teachers… one could never come to firm conclusions! Path of spirituality demands our indulging in contemplation on God Almighty based on our intellect (buddhi)! At no stage of life… we could ever leave things to chance or succumb to external pressures!
Lord Krishna advises human beings to indulge in welfare of self all the time. Welfare of self does not mean improving our physical manifest life alone! Indulging in adhyatma (study of inner self) one must try to negate karma to zero in totality! This became possible by travelling path of karma yoga, jnana yoga with utmost sincerity, diligence! As human form was the highest manifest stage in cosmic life cycle… it becomes our duty to travel spiritual path!
The present Samsara (worldly life) has been compared to an ocean (Sagar) where all rivers finally merged. As ordained in Bhagavad Gita… every soul atman, the spirit within was required to undertake a maximum journey of 8.4 million manifestations to reach cosmic end of life… the stage when our soul atman finally gained absolute purity forever. Liberation from cycle of birth and death was the ultimate goal of life of every human being on mother earth.
Gaining enlightenment in present life announced the cosmic journey of our soul atman, the spirit within finally coming to an end. By exerting our willpower at every stage of life… we can in stages step-by-step gain absolute control over five senses and mind. Unless we worked for the welfare of self… we could never help others. Mahavira, 24th Tirthankara of Jainism (preceptor) rightly said… become a Mahavira, a Jina… a bodhi before preaching anything to mankind!
Half baked theories preached by religious teachers of present times carried no meaning in spiritual world. The journey of spirituality is never conducted that way. The sermon of Lord Krishna in Bhagavad Gita clearly says that every single individual human being has to work out ones karma, reach stage of zero karma to gain enlightenment in present life! There never were shortcuts to reaching God in present life.
As per Lord Krishna… human beings who indulged in rituals only degraded, degenerated themselves by walking away from path of pure spirituality! Something that does not carry human beings towards God Almighty must always be refrained, frowned upon! Lord Krishna rightly says that human beings were the master and controller of their destiny at all times! By establishing absolute control over five senses and mind… we made peace with our soul atman, the spirit within! Ever since a soul atman started its cosmic journey… its goal of life always remained… liberation from cycle of birth and death at the earliest!
When human beings pursued God Almighty via path of pure spirituality… we were only following dictates of our soul atman, the consciousness within! And when our acts as a physical manifest being were in consonance with cosmic goal of our soul atman, the spirit within… we were truly happy from within! We were truly following path as dictated by God Almighty from within! As per Bhagavad Gita… our soul atman, the spirit within was God Almighty existing within us in miniscule form!
Dominated by a bloated ego when human beings pursued an adverse path that delayed cosmic journey of our soul atman, the spirit within… how could one be happy for times to come? When inconsistencies of following dictates of our ego (Aham in Hinduism) resulted in sufferings… we tended to blame God Almighty for our woes! Why pursue path dictated by our ego (Ahamkara in Hinduism) that results in delay of cosmic journey by our soul atman, the spirit within! Lord Krishna clearly says that to overpower ego (Aham) one had to establish absolute control over five senses and mind.
And establishing control over five senses and mind results from our travelling path of spirituality with a positive attitude! It has rightly been said, those with a godly attitude and positive thinking experienced happiness most of time. Commoners… masses who pursued God Almighty with a religious bent of mind never gained anything in life. We must always try to follow path of karma yoga, jnana yoga to reach God in present life.
Commentary by: Vijay Kumar “Atma Jnani”… The Man who Realized God in 1993 – April 26, 2013
Selected Books on Bhagavad Gita on Barnes & Nobles
Bhagavad Gita Study Circle: a meeting point for people from all walks of life interested in knowing anything relating to spirituality, Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads and on a broad platform… life!
Subscribe Weekly Newsletter “Spiritual Secrets Unveiled”
Whats more… it is free. You would love you did!