Ayurveda Initiative For Global Health

Karma Sanyasa Yoga Chapter 5, Verse 22   ye hi saṁsparśajā bhogā  duḥkha-yonaya eva te  ādy-antavantaḥ kaunteya  na teṣu ramate budhaḥ   Those pleasures that arise from contact with external factors are sources of suffering. They have a beginning and an end. O Arjuna, the wise do not rejoice in them.   “Those pleasures that arise from contact with external factors are sources of suffering.” Worldly-minded, materialistic people are the cause of their own suffering. The enjoyment of the senses has “…a beginning and an end.” As long as the enjoyment lasts, everybody is happy, happy. However, this happiness doesn’t last long; it has an end. When this happiness ends, people become more than sad, they become depressed and miserable. A person with a mind that dwells on the external reality, can only enjoy short-term happiness.   It is like a moth that sees a light in the window at night: the moth wants to come inside, doesn’t it? Moths try to fly ...

Karma Sanyasa Yoga Chapter 5, Verse 21   bāhya-sparśeṣv-asaktātmā  vindaty-ātmani yat sukham  sa brahma-yoga-yuktātmā  sukham akṣayam aśnute   When the soul is no longer attached to the touch of external things, then one finds the true happiness that exists in the Self. Such a person enjoys an imperishable happiness, because his Self is connected by yoga with Brahman.   “When the soul is no longer attached to the touch of external things…”when the mind remains unattached to the sense objects, “…then one finds the true happiness that exists in the Self.” Through meditation, one continuously enjoys the Divine in everything one does. This is meditation. Meditation is not just sitting down and closing the eyes. No. Meditation is to be in the state of Divine awareness every moment of the day.   “Such a person enjoys an imperishable happiness...” The word, ‘imperishable’, makes it clear that this happiness that the Lord is talking about is actua...

Karma Sanyasa Yoga Chapter 5, Verse 20   na prahṛṣyet priyaṁ prāpya  nodvijet prāpya cāpriyam  sthira-buddhir-asaṁmūḍho  brahma-vid brahmaṇi sthitaḥ   With intelligence stable, unbewildered, the knower of Brahman, living in the Brahman, neither rejoices on obtaining what is pleasant, nor sorrows on obtaining what is unpleasant.   Here again Krishna says that one who is absorbed in the Divine does not rejoice or get disturbed when he receives something pleasant, nor does he feel sorrow when he receives that which is unpleasant.   In the eyes of the sage, the yogi, the paṇḍitāḥ who has realised the Truth, nothing is real except the One Absolute, God, Narayana. The one who has full Realisation perceives Narayana everywhere and for such a realised soul, the pleasant and the unpleasant become equal. You see this in the lives of saints. People can give them either honour or dishonour. People can criticise them because of lack of understanding. Bu...

Karma Sanyasa Yoga Chapter 5, Verse 19   ihaiva tair-jitaḥ sargo  yeṣāṁ sāmye sthitaṁ manaḥ  nir-doṣaṁ hi samaṁ brahma  tasmād brahmaṇi te sthitāḥ   Those whose minds are established in equality have conquered birth and death even here on Earth. They dwell in Brahman. The equal Brahman is faultless.   Once one has gotten rid of all evils such as like and dislike, infatuation, sense of possession, egoism, greed and pride, then one gets established in unity; one perceives that everything is in accordance with the Will of God and everything is in perfect unity. Those whose minds rest in this unity are established in the Absolute, in Brahman. They may appear to be normal human beings, living and doing everything normal, like eating, drinking and going to the toilet, but they are not normal.   For the one “whose mind is established in” equanimity, “the equal Brahman is faultless”: one realises that there is no fault in the creation of God. But t...

Karma Sanyasa Yoga Chapter 5, Verse 18   vidyā vinaya saṁpanne  brāhmaṇe gavi hastini  śuni caiva śvapāke ca  paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ   Sages see with an equal eye the learned and cultured Brahmin, the cow, the elephant, the dog, the outcast.   Here Lord Krishna uses the words ‘sages’ and ‘Brahmin’. The word ‘paṇḍitāḥ’ means sages, high souls who have attained perfection; those who have attained the true Realisation, God-Realisation.   “Sages see with an equal eye…” When one has reached the state of perfection, all judgements disappear from the mind and one becomes a saint. As the Bible says, “Be holy as your Father in Heaven is holy!” As God sees equality in everything, the mind of the saint who has attained perfection, who has attained God-Realisation, doesn’t have any judgements. A saint sees the same way as God sees. In the eyes of a saint, nothing exists except God. Saints don’t see duality or limitation. They see only God Himself, the ...