BHAGAVAD GITA: SHORT REFLECTIONS ON CHAPTER 6

The Bhagavad Gita (Sanskrit for Song of God) is a sacred Hindu scripture dating back to about 4000 BC. In this scripture, there is a conversation occurring between Krishna and Arjuna (Arjuna being the disciple, Krishna being the ultimate manifestation of the Lord God). Krishna is advising Arjuna on all of his pertinent questions regarding battle, discipline, self-control, and complete devotion to God. In this particular chapter, Krishna is discussing Self-Control with Arjuna. Some texts have entitled this chapter Self-Control. However, the general consensus agrees that this chapter is on The Practice of Mediation (Dhyana Yoga). According to Krishna, our measured daily intake in life is also a form meditation as a means to maintain balance in our life. Krishna states, “A yogi cannot eat too much or too little. He cannot sleep too much or too little. He must measure everything: eating, sleeping, working, and relaxing. Everything he does should be just right and even.” One would ask, why would Krishna advise Arjuna on balancing his daily life’s regimens. Krishna deems it important that a yogi (one devoted to uniting with God through the eight-limb system) must have a balanced life in every way possible in order to quiet the mind and free it from desires and attachments. If the mind is continually concerned with getting the right amount of sleep, food, or anything else, how can one be training the mind to unite with God? Yoga is only possible when the mind is trained upon God with complete and unadulterated devotion. If the devotion is on figuring out how to balance our life, we are not yet ready to unite with God. This is why throughout the chapter, Krishna insists on the yogi steadying his mind and fixing it on God alone. Krishna further states to Arjuna, “When the yogi, by practice of yoga, disciplines his mental activities and becomes situated in transcendence—devoid of all material desires—he is said to be well established in yoga.” Krishna is hoping for Arjuna to transcend all levels of desire. He especially wants him to not worry about causing imbalances in his own life; for these imbalances move him further away from the union with God (goal of Yoga).

It is important that we recognize the importance of situating our lives in alignment with the divine. Once we have found this alignment, it will be easier to practice yoga as a means to quiet mind for the practice of Dhyana. The ultimate reason why we practice yoga is to reach the final seat of meditation (asana) through self-control of the mind. The mind must be free of all binds and unfettered from the interfering qualms of life such as getting enough sleep. Once the life balance has been achieved, it is our job to maintain this balance. All aspects of life are balanced: sunrise, sunset, oxygen /carbon dioxide transmission to and from plants, birth, death, organization of the universe, love and hate, and the list goes on. We must root a similar balance into our lives with an even measurement. The sun will not rise a little bit later than usual because he wants to give more sun to India. It is apart of the universal order that he will rise and set around the same time everyday, everywhere in the world. Like the sun, self-control of our Self should be mandatory. As Krishna is devoted to guiding Arjuna, we should be devoted to guiding our true self; and to be established in self-control of the mind one can move towards achieving the goal of yoga—a united divinity with the Lord.

YOU ARE UNIQUE AND INFINITE: THE WORDS OF NITHYANANDA

Please enjoy the wonderful words of my Guru Paramahamsa Swamiji Nithyananda.