This triple designation.

 Every time a necessity arises for the indication of Brahman, these three words, OM TAT SAT are utilized either together or severally. Brahman projects himself as sound for the purpose of manifesting Himself as the phenomenal universe. The sum total of the sound of the cosmos is OM. It is otherwise called Nada Brahman. This sacred sound is interminable. Brahman is referred to by the utterance of OM. He is also indicated by the word TAT which means It. A respectable person is is not referred to by his name but with the simple word he. In such deference, Brahman is indicated with the word "It". Again SAT means the Reality, which remains unaffected by time, space and causation. Brahman is also referred to ad SAT. This triple designation therefore always indicates Brahman.

Though both butter and buttermilk come from the same substance, milk, we only say that butter comes from milk and make no mention of the other substance. Though all things and beings have come out from Brahman, the most prominent productions among them are the Brahmanas, the vedas and the yajnas. The most evolved and the most spiritually inclined ones among men are the Brahmanas. Among the branches of knowledge, the sublimest are contained in the Vedas. And among the activities  going on in the world, the most elevating and beneficial ones are the Yagnas. In the Nada Brahman these three occupy the foremost place

Chapter 17 verse 23.

JADS

 Jagadacharya

Towards the end of His instruction to Arjuna, Krishna explains the truth that each jivatma is bound by one’s own duty and swabhava or inherent nature, pointed out Asuri Sri Madhavachariar in a discourse. These overpower the individual will and this is the reason why beings act in their personal ways. But the individual is also deluded about many issues of right and wrong in the course of his lifetime. Moreover, each one is bound by Prakriti acquired by one’s previous karmas and acts accordingly. Here, Krishna explains this esoteric truth through an interesting analogy.

Each one of us is seated on the wheel of Prakriti, a wheel that keeps spinning round and round by the power of the Supreme Lord who is the antaryami in all beings without any restrictions and exceptions. This is in accordance to the scriptures which explain that He exists, enabling by His Maya power, all beings who are mounted as it were on the machine Prakriti in the form of body and senses created by Him to act in accordance with their gunas of satva, rajas and tamas. Krishna then explains the way to get rid of Maya. He asks Arjuna to take refuge in Him with total faith and with his entire being, meaning, senses, mind and intellect.

In the famous verse ' Man-mana bhava Mat-bhakto,' He reveals His Supremacy when He promises unconditional protection to the jivatma whose focus is the Lord and hence is devoted to Him by paying obeisance and worshipping Him at all times. What greater fortune for the struggling jivatma than to be thus blessed by the boundless grace of the Supreme Ruler of all? Not only is there a promise of relief from all restlessness and sorrow pertaining to this world for those who seek His feet with devotion, more exceptional is His concern for each prapanna who is granted the highest attainment, His eternal abode.

ahamkara,

Sastras explain the workings of the human mind in great detail. Known as ‘chitta;’ the mind in each one of us is a two-pronged instrument. While it enables us to deal with the external world through the karmendriyas and jnanendriyas, it also has the power to make us look inward and experience the atma or self within.

In the text Ashtavakra Gita, it is shown that chitta vritti and its attendant activities plunge one into samsara and hence this has to be avoided, pointed out Sri R. Rajagopala Sarma in a discourse. All the millions of thoughts that keep flowing in the ordinary man’s mind like a never ending chain are the cause of bondage. The realised yogi does not encourage chitta vritti. He understands the atma from the viewpoint of the sastras as the non-doer ‘akartha,’ as well as the non-enjoyer ‘abhoktha’. So, he believes that as an individual, he is neither the doer, kartha, nor the enjoyer, bhoktha. Doership and enjoyment are present only when the individual aligns himself with the body and not the atma.

The very perception behind our actions such as seeing, hearing etc makes us say ‘I see this.’ I hear the music,’ and so on. The ahamkara factor is first active. From ahamkara, the sense of ‘Mine’ automatically follows. When the mind gives rise to the sense of I and Mine it gets entangled in bondage. To avoid this and become totally free, one has to destroy ahamkara and mamakara. The realised yogi is known as a Dheera whose vision about the fleeting quality of worldly enjoyment is clear. He sees joy and sorrow with equanimity and accepts these while he remains distant as a mere witness. His mind is mature and he enjoys the freedom of peace of mind gained by the absence of chitta vritti. He is wary of the bondage caused by attachment.

dhyana for salvation.

The Upanishads exhort us to practise sravana, manana and nididhyasana as the methods by which one can gain knowledge of the atma. Nididhyasana is the practice of dhyana when the mind is steeped in single mindedness about the Lord. There are many sadhanas available to the spiritual aspirant such as puja, stotra, japa, dhyana and so on to help his mind become proficient in meditation, said Sri B. Sundarkumar in a discourse.

Adi Sankara in his Gita Bashya states that when the object with which the mind is in communion is the most auspicious Supreme Lord, one reaches a high level of consciousness. Dhyana or meditation on the Lord is the best sadhana. The analogy of a lamp that remains without flickering is often used as a lakshana for dhyana and yoga. But we are exposed to Vedic texts and many schools of thought and philosophies that tend to confuse our approach in this regard. The yoga of meditation taught by Krishna helps to go beyond all these intellectual exercises and the Nishkama karma that is explained helps us to do our duty without attachment for the results of our action. Equanimity is the basis of all states of yoga. To act with equanimity is more important than any action.

When one is in this yoga, he is unperturbed by likes or dislikes, success or failure, etc. The quest is turned inwards and atma vichara is the key sadhana. To see how the atma is imperishable though it is associated with the body that is born, grows and dies, is the first lesson that is taught in this text. If one is confused about the nature of one’s self, it shows a lack of viveka. But if each jiva aims to know oneself as this undying self when undertaking any spiritual sadhana, the confusions can be transcended. This viveka protects the sadhana and leads to bhakti and salvation.

What you can/ can't

 

Solution

 To feel nice always read one chapter every day. In rotation you would have read the full book 3 times in two months. 

To feel even better read each chapter three times in rotation. Then you would have read the book 9 times in the two months. 

why A

Why does the Lord teach the yoga sastra to Arjuna and not to Bheema, Yudhishtira or the other Pandava brothers? Why does He teach on the battlefield when both sides are ready for war? Interpreters put forth many interesting observations regarding the context, reasons for the choice of time, place, disciple, etc, with regard to Krishna’s instruction, pointed out Sri B. Sundarkumar in a discourse.

Yudhishtira is proficient in sastra knowledge and does not need to be taught. By nature, he has no enemies and so does not see Duryodhana as one, though the latter shows enmity to him. Left to himself he would not have fought the war. Bheema is waiting for the chance to avenge Draupadi’s humiliation. His pent up anger is his motivation. Arjuna alone feels confused about waging the war at the eleventh hour and surrenders himself to Krishna for guidance and solace. His dilemma is on the issue of fighting Bhishma, Drona and his own kinsmen.

It is not that Arjuna had not fought the same Bhishma, Drona and others earlier. In fact, when the Pandavas were spending the last year of exile in the kingdom of Virata in disguise, Arjuna did not need any motivation to fight against the same elders and kinsmen who were always venerable to him. He accompanied Uttara Kumara to retrieve the cows for the sake of the Virata kingdom. There was no personal stake then but now the gain from the war will be the kingdom and he is not for it. So Krishna imparts the knowledge of atma tatva which alone can dispel Arjuna’s ignorance and delusion regarding right and wrong. He should understand that this kind of self denial is misplaced at this point when his Kshatriya dharma should motivate him to fight against adharma. If he allows Duryodhana to take possession of the kingdom, he is complying with adharma. 

truth and honesty

 Thiruvalluvar stresses the value of honesty. He says that if a person is honest and does not utter lies, then it does not matter even if he does not perform other meritorious deeds. It is not enough to be pure in words and deeds. Tiruvalluvar goes one step further and says that we should have pure thoughts. We can have pure thoughts only if we avoid certain tendencies. Thirvalluvar lists these too. He explains through his verses that envy, anger, harsh words and greed are hindrances to our having pure thoughts.

Thiruvalluvar says that he who is envious of another’s success is one who is disinterested in dharmic actions and the punyas that come through them. He says that desires bring sorrow and so fearing desires is dharmic. Dharma awaits to enter the life of one who is well read, is free from anger and lives a life of self-control. If we speak sincere words that are of benefit to others and are also soothing, then dharma will reign supreme.

Tulasi

 

Every house should have a tulsi plant, said P.T. Seshadri in a discourse. All the celestials and the Sun reside in tulsi. Brahma resides in the tip of the tulsi leaf. In the middle of the leaf, Lord Narayana and His Consort reside. If a person lights a lamp before the tulsi plant every evening and circumambulates the plant, he will reach Vishnu loka. If a person protects a tulsi pant from being eaten by a goat, then the Lord will protect him. If we consume tulsi leaves that have been offered in worship to Lord Narayana, then we will be cured of diseases. If we wear tulsi bead garlands, then we will attain Brahma tejas. If water that has fallen on a tulsi plant were to fall on us, then we will earn the merit of having had a dip in the Ganges. When Goddess Mahalakshmi emerged from the milky ocean, tulsi also emerged from the ocean. When Sita was in Lanka, as a captive of Ravana, She prayed every day to tulsi.

The Paadma Purana records the glory of tulsi. Sage Narada told Satyabhama, Krishna’s Consort, that he who gives will get something. But he who gives nothing will get nothing. Satybahama wanted Krishna by her side always. So she at once gifted Krishna to Narada, thinking that her act would be rewarded with Krishna staying with her always. But the sage took Krishna with him. He told Satyabhama that if she wanted Krishna back, she would have to give Narada whatever Krishna was worth. Krishna was then weighed and Satyabhama put all her wealth on the other side of the balance. But the balance still remained tilted towards Krishna. Narada then suggested that she place a tulsi leaf on top of all the gold she had placed and when she did that, the scale tilted towards the side holding gold, proving the auspiciousness of tulsi. Just one leaf of tulsi had so much merit.