Soul is Eternal and Body Perishable
Never was there a time when I or you or others did not exist and never will there be a time when we will not exist (Verse 12)
The soul within us stays the same even though our body changes from childhood to adulthood to old age. At death, our soul moves into another body (Verse 13)
Soul is not born and it does not die with the body. It is unborn, everlasting, imperishable and timeless (Verse 20)
As we discard old clothes and put on new ones, the soul discards one body and wears a new one (Verse 22)
Weapons cannot pierce the soul, water cannot moist it, wind cannot parch it and fire cannot blaze it (Verse 23)
Everything that is born must die, and everything that dies is reborn (Verse 27)
Be Equanimous in the face of dualities for they are Temporary
Happiness and sadness are as temporary as winter and summer seasons. Be equanimous towards them (Verse 14)
Those who are equipoised in joy and grief, are on the path to immortality (Verse 15)
Be the same in pleasure and despair, gain and loss, triumph and defeat. Just focus on doing your duty (Verse 38)
Act unwaveringly without attachment. Be equanimous in both success and failure (Verse 48)
The wise attain equanimity of intellect by giving up results of their actions. Doing so they reach Moksha (Verse 51)
Moksha is liberation from the cycle of birth and death
Act Without Attachment To Its Results
Those who are attached to worldly pleasures, their mind is neither steady nor content (Verse 44)
You are entitled to your action, but not to results of that action. You should also not give up action (Verse 47)
Take shelter in the quest for enlightenment. Abandon reward seeking actions that only cause sorrow (Verse 49)
Those who perform their actions wisely without attachment, they can purge the good and bad results of their actions (Karma) in this life itself (Verse 50)
There is no loss or unfavorable effect by taking even small steps towards this dharma (righteousness or duty). Rather it frees you from fear (Verse 40)
Work towards Steadying Your Intellect
Those who discard all desires and find satisfaction in purifying their mind, they have achieved steadiness of intellect (Verse 55)
Those whose mind is calm during suffering, who do not yearn for happiness, who are free from passion, fear and anger, they have achieved steadiness of intellect (VERSE 56)
Those who are indifferent in all circumstances, not jubilant in good times nor hostile in bad, they have achieved steadiness of intellect (Verse 57)
Those who withdraw their senses from sense objects like a tortoise who withdraws its limbs within itself, they have achieved steadiness of intellect (Verse 58)
Those who are not steady in intellect, they are not able to meditate. Unable to meditate, they are not at peace. If there is no peace, how can there be happiness (Verse 66)
Restrain your Senses
Those who not only restrain their senses but also lose delight in sense objects, they have attained divine realization (Verse 59)
The force of senses is strong even on those who are disciplined and learned (VERSE 60)
Those who can control their senses and meditate on God, they are in the highest state of wisdom (Verse 61)
Attachment to Senses leads to Anger which in turn leads to Ruin
Thinking about sense objects, one gets attached to them. This attachment leads to desire which in turn gives birth to anger when desires are not fulfilled (Verse 62)
Anger clouds judgement, causing confusion and loss of memory. This results in destruction of intellect, in turn causing one’s destruction (Verse 63)
Those who, by controlling their mind are free from attachment and revulsion of the senses, even while engaging with the objects of sense-gratification, they are blessed by God (Verse 64)
Whichever senses the mind gets attached to, that sense leads the mind astray. It is similar to a wind carrying away a boat on the water (Verse 67)
Therefore, those who have completely restrained their senses, they have attained the highest wisdom (Verse 68)
Just as an ocean is undisturbed even when waters enter into it from all sides, those who are at peace are unmoved by incoming desires (Verse 70)
By Gods blessings, all sorrows are destroyed, peace is attained and intellect is established in God (Verse 65)
Those who are free from material desires, free from longing, false ego and a sense of proprietorship, they have achieved perfect peace (Verse 71)
Total Verses in this Chapter: 72
Words of Import:
I, me, Absolute Truth, Supreme Being, God, Universal Consciousness, Divine Realization, Divine Personality, Brahman, Divine, Shri Krishna – are all used interchangeably.
YOGA
The word “Yog” is derived from a Sanskrit word “Yuj” which means to join. In Hindu scriptures, yoga means joining or uniting the soul within the individual with that of the universal soul (God). The common usage of yoga as physical exercise is just a subset of the practice of Yoga, which includes disciplines of meditation and mode of conduct among others. It is believed that practice of all these disciplines make a person ready for unification with the Supreme Being.
YAGNA
has a symbolic as well as a literal meaning. Literally it means a ritual where offerings are made to fire, hymns are chanted and deities are invoked for fulfillment of personal or community desires; or to thank God or to seek God’s blessings. Symbolically, Yagna signifies that we have to do our part (offering/action) in other to obtain something (blessing or fulfillment), with the latter not being guaranteed.
DHARMA
refers to our duty as it does to the intent behind our actions. According to Hinduism, every living being has their own personal dharma which may or may not be the same as of others. This dharma is based on one’s situation or circumstance in life.
KARMA
is action as well as the result of the action. Its meaning depends on its context.
MOKSHA
is liberation from the cycle of birth and death.
ReferenceS:
“Bhagavad Gita As It Is” by Swami Prabhupada
A Mothers Chronicle 