Friday, January 04, 2008

Gītā Bhūṣaṇa (2)

13.22 Baladeva repeatedly says here that the karma and saṁskāras of the jīva are beginningless.
14.27 "I alone am the shelter of the six eternal (śaśvatasya) qualities called ṣaḍ-aiśvarya (dharmasya), I alone am the shelter of My extraordinary (ekantikasya) rasa (sukhasya) arising from variegated pastimes."
16.1-3 Baladeva divides the attributes through varṇāśrama - the sannyāsī is fearless about how he will survive without work. The next two attributes along belong to the sannyāsī. The next three attributes belong to the gṛhastha. svādhyāya, study, is the only attribute of the brahmacārī, and tapas the only attribute of the vanaprastha. Next is the 12 qualities of the brāhmin, who is honest (arjava. The Iskcon-translation of arjava, 'simplicity', is not so clear). apaiśuna means not speaking bad about others in their absence. hrī means feeling ashamed to do illegal activities. acapala means no useless actions. teja to dhṛti are the three qualities of the kṣatriya, śauca (no cheating) and adroha 2 vaiśya-qualities, and nātimānī (not too proud, knowing one's place) the sole quality of the śūdra.
16.4 The asura wants to be known as pious (reputation or dambha), is proud of his lineage or knowledge (darpa), thinks he should be respected), is angry and uses rough language in front of others (pāruśya) - boy, that's me!
17.21 That is what Advaitadas-II rejected when he gave me the medicine. See blog of Dec.10, 2007.
18.14 Last year we had a few blogs about the jīva's doership. Here's a rare clue: "But if the jīva's actions depend on the Lord, his action becomes mere engagement by the Lord, in fullfilment of His goal. The jīva would be simply like a piece of wood, and the rules and prohibitions of śāstra would be useless. It would not be possible to initiate action by one's own intelligence, since it is seen that the jīva is simply made to act by the Lord." "The jiva is the substratum of the body, senses and prāṇa supplied by the Lord, and which operate by the powers bestowed by Him. Being the possessor of these bestowed powers, the jiva rules over his body and senses by his desires alone, for accomplishing his actions. The Lord, situated within the jīvas, giving His permission for their action, sets their actions in motion. The jīva, by his intelligence, can choose to act or not to act, without being forced either way by the Lord."
"But then at least the liberated jīva should not be the agent, because he no longer has a body, senses or prāṇa."
"No, that is not so, because liberated souls have spiritual senses and body, by which they accomplish their spiritual desires."
18.41 svabhāva prabhavaiḥ means, according to Baladeva, impressions from previous lives (svabhāva prāktana saṁskāra). That covers the guṇa-karma vibhāgaśaḥ line in Gītā 4.13.
18.48 By removing the smoke,which is a portion of the fire, the portion containing heat is used to eliminate the cold. Thus, after removing the fault in one's duties by offering the actions to the Lord, one should utilize the remaining portion, which generates jñāna, to realize the ātmā." I'm not sure if I get this one.
18.65 " But my doubt is not destroyed because even when You made a vow to return to Vraja after leaving for Mathurā, you did not keep it." Kṛṣṇa: "Therefore I say this after making an admission: you are dear to Me. If the resident of Mathurā, having an affectionate mind, does not cheat the one he loves, what then to speak of one he loves most?"
This makes no sense, because the resident of Mathurā did cheat the ones he loves (Kṛṣṇa never returned to Vraja).
18.66 Of the 6 types of surrender, anukūlasya sankalpa means 'accepting scriptural rules' and pratikūlya vivarjayet 'giving up unscriptural behaviour'.
18.78 One should not worry that this scripture is favoring war. It is not so. The instructions are manmana bhava mad bhakta (Think of Me and be My devotee") and sarva dharmān parityajya (give up all dharma and surrender to Me.")

Again, I probably missed many interesting things, this was merely a casual study.

3 comments:

  1. This commentary on The Gita by Baladeva is very very nice.

    I am surprised I came across it so late since it is a must-read for everyone interested in The Gita.

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  2. Thanks for another interesting summary, Advaitaji. Just one comment: at least according to Rupa and Jiva Goswamis, Krishna did eventually return to Vrindavana, after killing Dantavakra.

    Bhrigu

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  3. Bhrigu - sorry it was not clear. Frankly, I found Jiva's presentation a bit far-sought when I read it in the Sandarbhas, but as it is also in Rupa Goswami's books I accept that version fully. That's what I meant to say.

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