telepathy

It would not surprise you if someone asks, "Is it possible to give such a lengthy preaching, upadesa, to Arjuna? That too in the veritable battlefield?".

Osho answers in affirmative, in his WAR and PEACE, the insights from Bhagavad Gita.  For a sincere disciple like Arjuna to learn and comprehend what the Master, Lord Krsna, has to teach, it's not necessary that it - the teaching - has to be by communication and conveyance of actual words.  All it just requires is that Arjuna tunes into Lord's benevolence.

What we talk today of namely telepathy, actually did happen at the Lord's days thousands of years ago. 

About a decade ago on a Saturday afternoon, I was alone in my office after other colleagues left for home.  When I also was about to leave, just then entered a vagabond astro-palmist into my office and offered to read my palm and give predictions.  I'm a guy just ready to accept what Almighty destines me to at any point of time in my life.  Not that I'm skeptic about astrological sciences.  Whenever such a crisis arises whether I need to look for astrololgical advice, I just recall the following slogan

na ca saknomy avasthatum
bhramativa ca me manah
nimittani ca pasyami
viparitani keshava

- Slogan 30, Adhyaya I ARJUNA VISHADA YOGA

The one dutiful, agile would go about doing one's duty for the sake of one's wont duty. That one has no time to seek guidance from omens. It is the weak and wavering who would dilly dally on the excuse of seeking guidance from omens.

I just didn't give in to the palmist's cajoling.  He was equally determined to clinch a professional deal with me and like an appetizer he asked me to think of a number.  I thought out number 7 and did not tell him what I thought.  He immediately said the number I thought was 7.  My God, I was speechless!    Then he fired his next salvo by asking me to think of a bird.  I'm a careful fish and would not bite the bait just easily.  I thought of the bird, peacock.   Vow.!  The fellow could easily read my mind and said exactly, peackok.

I'm still enquiring.  For certain questions, the Lord keeps the answers closer to His chest.  He just wants us, mortals, only to experience it and dare not fathom it.

Who is a yogi?

Myths shroud the notion that a yogi is one who has given up his bounden duty.  And we have been taught from our toddler's days that a yogi is one who lives away from his families; that he is not supposed to do any rites once he starts donning the 'sanyasin's robes.

Bhagavan Krsna, through verse 1 in Chapter 6, viz., 'Dhyana Yoga' explodes these myths.  He holds the one who does his bounden duty without seeking the fruit of his action as a sanyasin and a yogi and not the one who eschews the duty to do yagna and rites.

The transliteration reads as follows:

sri-bhagavan uvaca
anasritah karma-phalam
karyam karma karoti yah
sa sannyasi ca yogi ca
na niragnir na cakriyah.

I had trouble getting to my grey cells the last four words in the sloga.

Called up two of my friends who have a fair prior exposure to Gita.  They elucidated and the meaning passed on to my grey cells. 

When read carefully, one would not mistake that Bhagavan refrained from saying, 'sacrifice your fruit of action'.  He just says while doing your bounden duty, you would be a yogi if you do your bounden duty without seeking its fruit.  If the focus is only on fruit, there would not be any beauty in doing. 

A question arose in me.  Bhagavan went on to say who is not a yogi - in the sense that the one,who is not doing 'yagnas' and rites, isn't a yogi.

I was wondering whether Bhagavan meant saying sages and saints like, Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi, Gautam Buddha, Jesus Christ et al are not yogis.  A new dimension, 'ngana', wisdom just dawned on me. That Bhagavan in fact did not say so.  For, even these enlightened spiritual masters were doing their duty even after becoming 'sanyasins' - in the sense that they led and carried us from ignorance to enlightenment.

Well any knowledge would stagnate and it should be like a flowing river.  I called my young niece, Vaishali, who is into her fourth standard.  She loves to learn slogans.  Her eyes glowed and the face reflected the tejas to hear me recite the sloga.  I didn't explain the sloga word by word.  But conveyed the meaning by means of entering into a conversation as runs below:

Me  :   what are you?

Vaish : 'm a girl.

Me : 'm not asking about your gender, i.e., whether you are a boy or a girl?

Vaish  : Then.!?

Me : what do you do?

Vaish : playing ... (as she is enjoying her summer holidays)

Me : I didn't mean that.

Vaish : Then !?

Me : Forget your summer holidays. Once your school reopens what do you do?

Vaish : studying.

Me : Now tell me what you are.

Vaish : a student.

Me : good.  What do you do as a student?

Vaish : studying.

Me : why?

Vaish : to pass on to 5th std.  (remember now she is into class IV).

Me : what is your aim, i.e., fruit of action.

Vaish : to pass on to 5th std.

Me : so would you only keep thinking about your fruit of action, i.e., passing over to class V all the while you are in class IV.

Vaish : No.  I'd be studying. 

Me : well this is what Bhagavan Krsna says.  Keep doing your duty. and let your focus be on doing your bounden duty as a student without all the while thinking about passing over to class V when you are supposed to be doing your studies well.

And the little girl like camphor got it fast.

George Bernard Shah on Gita....

'We owe a lot to Indians who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made... When I read the Bhagavad-Gita and reflect about how God created this universe everything else seems so superfluous".

- George Bernard Shah

starting afresh....

Come Jan 1st, Holy day like today, Vijayadasami....

Many like me make a vow.

Like the law of diminishing returns, the initial euphoria withers down as one progresses.

Yes nothing great is achieved if one loses constancy of purpose as Benjamin Disroeli says,"The secret of success is constancy of purpose".

The quote spurs me and my 10 year old niece Sivakami this Vijayadasami day to carry on our study of Bhagavadgita.  Our vow is to read a minimum of 2 slogans a day and the goal is to complete all chapters by next Vijaydasami day.  She agreed that we can't complete the study all at one go.  We believe in what Vincent Van Gogh says, "Great things are done by a series of small things brought together".

Day 1....it's great success.

Sloga 1 : The blind King Dratharashtra asks his minister Sanjay to narrate what happens at the battlefield of Kurukshetra as his son and his nephews with their respective army together gathered to fight each other.

Sanjaya is blessed with the unique ability to visualize things happening elsewhere and narrate what happens exactly as it is. He was not biased.

Sloga 2 : Though Duryodana came determined to fight the battle, the sheer look at the opponent side with none other than Lord Krsna Himself riding the chariot for Arjuna gives jitters to Duryodana. In his shiver, he approaches his Acharya Drona to speak to..

Hope we would be able to sustain our grit till the finish.

Girivalam July, 2010

It's on July, 25, 2010

One’s End begins………….

pasyaitam pandu-putranamacarya mahatim camum
vyudham drupada-putrenatava sisyena dhimata

- Slogan 3, Chapter 1, Arjuna vishadayoga


When studying at college, we used to write one memorable quote a day on the black board with the idea of spreading noble thoughts. One such quote was,

“Conscience is a watchdog that barks at sin”.

Here the covetous Duryodana usurped the legitimate kingdom of Pandavas and refused to give back after the latter’s period of exile was over. His conscience started pricking him.

To the blurred eyes of Duryodana, even the well-knit but limited army of Pandavas seemed monstrous. There is a saying in Tamil,

“…Arandavan kannukku irundathellaam pey…”.


He scolds his preceptor Drona and says, “ have a look at the great army of the sons of Pandu marshaled by your talented disciple and son of Drupada”.

When not so strong in one’s conviction and one is not fair and honest to one’s own self, it is the beginning of one’s end.

Brahadaranyak Upanishad:

“You are what your deep driving desire is;
As is your desire, so is your will;
As is your Will, so is your deed;
As is your deed, so is your destiny”

OMEN - GOOD OR EVIL

IT was about early 80s that I had the fortune to have my first conscious glimpse, - yes, just glimpse and not yet the viswarupa darshn-on the stupendous volume of Srimad Bhagavad Gita, the commentary  par excellence by Swami Chidbhavananda. Thanks to my uncle, a senior Chartered Accountant at Tiruchirapalli. My memory fails to recap the occasion precisely over which my uncle felt it needy to introduce me to this great treatise.

Perhaps, it might have been over my ignorant debate over right time, good, bad, omen - good or evil - to start over any good trial on auspicious note.

Well, talking about omen - good or evil, come on let us hear Lord Hrishikesa Himself:

na ca saknomy avasthatum
bhramativa ca me manah
nimittani ca pasyami
viparitani keshava

- Slogan 30, Adhyaya I ARJUNA VISHADA YOGA

The one dutiful, agile would go about doing one's duty for the sake of one's wont duty. That one has no time to seek guidance from omens. It is the weak and wavering who would dilly dally on the excuse of seeking guidance from omens.