Chapter 18 Shlokas 51, 52

बुद्धया विशुद्धया युक्तो धृत्यात्मानं नियम्य च।

शब्दादीन्विषयांस्त्यक्त्वा रागद्वेषौ व्युदस्य च।।५१।।

विविक्तसेवी लघ्वाशी यतवाक्कायमानसः।

ध्यानयोगपरो नित्यं वैराग्यं समुपाश्रितः।।५२।।

Equipped with a pure intellect, having controlled their inner self with firmness, having abandoned attachment to words and other such objects of sense perception, such people are uninfluenced by attachment and repulsion; living in solitude, eating little, having restrained their body, mind and speech, and ever absorbed in ceaseless meditation, they take shelter in dispassion – vairaagya.

Chapter 18 Shlokas 51, 52

बुद्धया विशुद्धया युक्तो धृत्यात्मानं नियम्य च।

शब्दादीन्विषयांस्त्यक्त्वा रागद्वेषौ व्युदस्य च।।५१।।

विविक्तसेवी लघ्वाशी यतवाक्कायमानसः।

ध्यानयोगपरो नित्यं वैराग्यं समुपाश्रितः।।५२।।

The Lord defines those who are worthy of the attainment of Brahm. What are the qualities of those who become akin to the Supreme Lord? The Lord now defines the method whereby such people live their lives.

Equipped with a pure intellect, having controlled their inner self with firmness, having abandoned attachment to words and other such objects of sense perception, such people are uninfluenced by attachment and repulsion; living in solitude, eating little, having restrained their body, mind and speech, and ever absorbed in ceaseless meditation, they take shelter in dispassion – vairaagya.

Look little one, the Lord is defining those signs which qualify a person to become akin to Brahm Himself.

A pure intellect

1. Such a one’s intellect is undefiled.

2. It is untouched.

3. It is unshrouded.

4. It is not given to agitation.

5. It is ever uninfluenced.

6. It is detached.

7. It is unaffected by fear and fearlessness.

8. It is not touched by the fear of defame or renown.

9. It is not affected by its own desires.

10. It is not influenced by its own attachments and aversions.

11. It is not affected by the idea of friend or foe.

The intellect of such a one is the intellect of a sthit pragya. It never relinquishes justice, even though it may suffer in consequence. It is such an intellect that takes one towards the Supreme. It is such a one who is worthy of becoming akin to the Supreme Lord.

One who dwells in solitude and in a pure environment

When the mind-stuff is purified:

a) One’s inner self is rendered undefiled.

b) One is silenced within.

c) One’s positive and negative thought processes are silenced.

d) One’s desires and other allied tendencies become quiescent.

e) The dualities of attachments and aversions cease.

f) The ceaseless cacophony of the ego is muffled.

g) The constant refrain of “I shall do this – I shall not do this” is quietened.

h) Hopes, expectations and greed cease their interminable demands.

i)  The groans of remorse, sorrow and pain are ended.

j)  The war cries of mental attacks upon one’s foes die out.

k) The hidden mesh of moha and ignorance is cut asunder.

Little one, then the internal being of such a one becomes a domain of purity and he abides therein in solitude. The silencing of the turmoil of internal tendencies turns him into a solitary recluse even whilst living in the world.

Those who eat little attain Brahm

Such a one partakes only of yagyashesh or the sanctified remnants of yagya. In fact, it could be said that he does not partake of anything because:

1. Even though his body partakes of food, he does not identify himself with the body.

2. Even though his attributes may be consuming other attributes, he does not claim any attributes to be his own.

3. If the enjoyer is present, there can be an object to be enjoyed – when there is no enjoyer, then who will enjoy?

4. The intellect does not require nourishment.

5. The mind has ceased to partake of anything because:

–  who will partake of the leftovers of what the sense faculties have already enjoyed?

–  the mind is now immersed in the intellect or let us say, the intellect has consumed the mind. It has absorbed the mind into itself.

Thus, when the body is no longer one’s own, when the mind no longer remains, when the intellect is absorbed in the Supreme, then who remains to partake of the food?

One who restrains his body, mind and speech

The body, mind and speech are automatically controlled when:

a) the body no longer remains one’s own;

b) the body idea is eliminated;

c) the mind that used to become agitated about body establishment, has realised that there is no longer any question of establishing this body.

–  The mind is never agitated on account of others.

–  The mind is never agonised because of others.

–  The mind does not get enraged on account of others.

The mind agitates due to its own attachment and moha. Once attachment with the body ceases, the mind is silenced. It could be said then that the mind of such a one has been brought under his control.

Now for restraint in speech.

1. One speaks wrongly due to body attachment.

2. One speaks erroneously to ensure the establishment of the body-self.

3. One who cannot forget his own selfish interests is bound to speak wrongly.

4. One who wishes to hold onto his esteem will inevitably speak wrongly.

5. The speech of one who is full of greed, desires and attachments is likely to be veiled or obscure.

One who is devoid of desires, who does not claim his body as his own, such a one’s speech, free of all superimpositions, is bound to be true. His spontaneous speech is bound to be at all times under his control.

All that the Lord says here applies to one whose deeds are selfless in character.

Vairaagya (वैराग्य) – Dispassion

He who is dispassionate can become akin to the Lord

1. The eradication of attachment is vairaagya.

2. The annihilation of affinity is vairaagya.

3. To be detached even from what one likes is vairaagya.

4. Impartiality and indifference towards one’s attachments and aversions is vairaagya.

5. Silence of the mind towards the likes of the mind is a sign of dispassion.

6. The mind’s love for the intellect is dispassion.

7. When the mind becomes attached to the Truth, vairaagya occurs.

8. When the mind is attached to justice, vairaagya occurs.

9. Vairaagya is an attribute of the mind.

a) The mind’s love for the Supreme is devotion; the mind’s attraction to sense objects is attachment.

b) The mind’s affinity with the Supreme is in fact dispassion whereas the mind’s affinity with sense objects is tantamount to attachment.

c) The mind’s attachment to the Supreme is Yoga or union with the Supreme and its attachment with the objects of sense is bhoga or worldly enjoyment.

d) The mind’s attachment with the Supreme is knowledge; the mind’s attachment with sense objects is ignorance.

e) If one progresses towards the Supreme, the gross is left far behind.

f) If one is truly attached to the Supreme the mind is absorbed in dispassion.

g) In fact, the vairaagi renounces nothing. He focuses his mind on the Supreme and he is forgetful of sense objects.

Little one,

1. Body forgetfulness is body renunciation.

2. Forgetfulness of the mind is mental renunciation.

3. Forgetfulness of the intellect that is subservient to the mind is sanyas.

Dhyan yoga yukt paro nityam (ध्यान योग युक्त परो नित्यम्)

1. The Lord refers here to those who are ever immersed in meditation.

2. He speaks of those who are imbued constantly in thoughts of the Supreme.

3. He speaks of the state where all the tendencies of the mind-stuff are affixed in the Supreme.

4. He describes the tendencies that are collectively absorbed in the Atma.

5. One who is thus absorbed in the Supreme becomes forgetful of himself.

6. He is unable to differentiate “Who is Ram and who am I?”

7. He engages in every task of the world, but has forgotten the one who performs those deeds.

Such a one is said to be established in eternal dhyan yoga.

Previously God was his witness. Now the Lord is hiding somewhere in his mind – neither does he remember his own name, nor the name of his Lord. He no longer remembers whether this is his body or the Lord’s. “If I call it mine, I am lying; if I say it is the Lord’s, even that does not sound true.” Thus lost in this confusion of name and form, the devotee is absorbed in utter self-forgetfulness.

Little one, such is the condition of one in nitya dhyan yoga sthiti. However, it is important to remember:

Meditation is not of effort born;
Meditation is a spontaneous flow;
Just as one does not make an effort to love;
Love effortlessly grows.

What use is it, if you must sit
On a special seat to meditate?
It will flee your mind when you arise;
In an instant your meditation will break.

Meditation is a constant state;
If your longing is sincere and true,
Then the Lord as your witness accompanies you;
If in life, Truth is dear to you.

That is true meditation,
Which in daily life unbroken does remain;
When in every natural, daily deed,
Your only guide is the Lord’s divine Name.

Verily shall you resemble the Lord;
If your constant witness is He;
Even your life will reflect His hues;
If you meditate on Him eternally.

Controlling one’s inner self with firmness

1. Little one, how can any other thought persist when the mind is already engaged in thoughts of the Supreme?

2. The Lord has Himself proclaimed that when the deeds of the mind, the praanas and the senses are established inyoga, without any other focus, they constitute sattvic dhriti – the steadfastness of a sattvic nature.

3. One who is immersed in dhyan yoga or constant meditation on the Supreme, gives his very life to the Lord.

4. One who is immersed in dhyan yoga or constant meditation on the Supreme, gives his living body to the Lord. Then no fixed norms or rules apply to such a one.

His life is moulded by the Lord’s presence as his constant witness. One who remains thus constantly in the Lord’s presence is in fact automatically bound by a specific code of behaviour, even though he may not appear to adhere to specific norms or rules of conduct.

All that is required is love,
All else will follow spontaneously;
Attachment to the Supreme is all you need,
His hues will colour your life naturally.

He will be your Eternal Witness,
Accompanying you constantly.
Consciousness of Yoga may not remain,
Yet, an eternal Yogi you shall be.

To speak the language of the Scriptures,
Abandon body consciousness herewith.
Brahm is the doer of all that is done,
Relinquish the ego forthwith!

’Tis qualities that interact with one another –
Renounce doership consciously!
You are the Atma, not this body –
Release yourself, from yourself be free.

Samadhi will inevitably occur,
You will be known as the Awakened One;
In the Lord you shall be immersed,
The world will receive a Perfect One.

The world’s servitor you appear to be,
Yet you are its Master in reality.
Are you the Master? Are you Ram?
You will forget all this instantly.

This is a state of selfless worship whereby the inner being of the individual is purified.

Renunciation of sound and affiliated sense objects

The Lord Himself has re-affirmed:

1. The renunciation of attachment is true renunciation.

2. The renunciation of the fruits of action is true renunciation.

3. To renounce something depending on whether it is auspicious or inauspicious is not true renunciation.

4. Relinquishment of attachment with engagement in action and abstinence from it, is true renunciation.

In this perspective, renouncing sound and affiliated sense objects takes on a completely different meaning.

The renunciation of sound and other sense objects means:

a) the renunciation of attachment to sense objects;

b) the renunciation of craving for the satiation of one’s likes;

c) the renunciation of the yearning for desire satiation.

The Lord is in fact speaking here of selfless knowledge.

Look Kamla, let me explain:

1. One gains knowledge of the world through one’s organs of perception.

2. The world is perceived as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ by these organs of perception.

3. Attachment to the world is also nurtured through these sense organs.

Thus it is clear that it is the organs of perception that are the root of all aberrations. Yet, one cannot survive without their aid.

It is then said that sense objects must be renounced because:

a) they breed greed;

b) they generate desire;

c) they augment sorrow;

d) they cause pain when one does not get the object of one’s desire etc.

Many people thus blame objects – yet one cannot do without them either!

1. Food is also a sense object.

2. This body is a sense object.

3. This mind is a sense object.

4. This intellect is a sense object.

All these are objects of some sense faculty or the other. So what should the individual renounce and what should he retain?

Raagdveshau vyudasya (राग द्वेष व्युदस्य)

1. Paying no heed to raag or attachment and dvesh or aversion.

2. Remaining uninfluenced by both.

3. Remaining indifferent to both.

4. Maintaining an attitude of detachment towards both.

5. Freeing oneself of both.

6. Discarding both.

This, in fact, must be the base of the renunciation of sense objects.

Now listen further. All objects are the creation of Brahm and they abide in the completeness of That Brahm.

1. It is the ego that instils poison into those sense objects.

2. It is attachment that permeates them with poison.

3. It is raag or a feeling of extreme attraction that vitiates the sense objects.

4. It is dvesh or a feeling of extreme aversion that vitiates the sense objects.

5. Moha, too, vitiates the objects of sense perception.

a) Thus it is not the relinquishment of objects that is required but the renunciation of attachment.

b) It is not sense objects that must be disregarded – these objects will automatically be shed when raag and dvesh are renounced.

­­–  When these objects are no longer remembered, it means one’s attachment has ceased.

­­–  When a sense object becomes meaningless, one’s attachment with it has obviously terminated.

c) When these sense objects influence one no longer, one can assume that one has transcended one’s attachment.

Now understand raag and dvesh once again.

The force that sets this entire cycle of creation in motion is raag and dvesh. It is also raag and dvesh that create the will in an individual to engage in action or abstain from it.

Raag – Attraction

Generally, wherever there is raag in a person’s life:

a) he is attracted to that object;

b) he is influenced by it;

c) he wishes to possess it;

d) he becomes its slave;

e) he desires proximity with it;

f) he is naturally drawn to it;

g) he becomes actively involved in efforts to possess it;

h) he sings its praises;

i)  he imprints its image in his innermost mind;

j)  he is pleased when he attains it;

k) he is deeply distressed at parting with it and bewildered by its loss;

l)  he goes through much travail to attain it;

m)   his interest lies in that object;

n) he does all he can to welcome the object of his raag.

Dvesh – Aversion

The attitude of dvesh is the very opposite of raag.

1. One feels aversion for what one dislikes.

2. There is a feeling of opposition towards the object one dislikes.

3. Hatred grows for what one does not like.

4. One seeks freedom from what one dislikes.

5. There is a feeling of enmity for the object of one’s dislike.

6. There is contempt and scorn for the object of one’s dislike.

7. Where there is dvesh one inevitably gets provoked into a rage.

8. Where there is dvesh one invariably procrastinates.

9. Where there is dvesh one invariably makes excuses to avoid the issue.

This attraction and aversion are the root cause of the different types of behaviour found in an individual.

1. One’s attraction is determined by one’s likes – that is also the focus of one’s raag.

2. Repulsion is dictated by what one dislikes and that is the focus of one’s dvesh.

3. Union and separation are the consequence ofraag anddvesh.

4. Desire and craving are caused by raag.

5. Jealousy and hatred are generated by dvesh.

6. Acquisition and renunciation are dependent on raag and dvesh.

In fact, raag and dvesh are the factors that set in motion the cycle of life and death. Raag and dvesh are in fact life and death.

If there is no attachment, raag and dvesh also have no meaning. The Lord therefore clarifies here, ‘Raagdveshau vyudasya’ i.e. “Care not for raag and dvesh. One who remains indifferent to both is worthy of the attainment of the Supreme.”

There is another point worth understanding here.

1. If there is no attachment, both raag and dvesh become meaningless.

2. If there is no attachment, raag and dvesh are both rendered lifeless.

3. Then, the man of wisdom, who is also equipped with selfless deeds and the merit of the Lord’s worship, does not bother about likes and dislikes.

One’s tongue does not relinquish its natural dharma; it differentiates between bitter, sweet, salty, sour etc. Some tastes are to one’s liking and some are not. However, one who is worthy of the attainment of Brahm does not dwell on these different sensations, nor is influenced by them. It is not necessary to partake of distasteful food, but the individual must not be influenced by his taste buds.

Bodily pain and discomfort will trouble one, bodily distress can never be pleasurable. However, the intellect of the man of wisdom is never influenced by physical pain.

The dehatma buddhi or the intellect that is subjugated to the body-self, connotes attachment with the body-self. Attachment leads to identification. Attachment leads to kinship.

1. When one becomes attached to the body-self, one identifies with the attributes of the body-self.

2. When one becomes attached to the body-self, one claims the actions of the body to be one’s own.

3. When one is attached to the body-self, one claims the deeds performed by the qualities.

Attachment leads man to consider himself to be identical with the object of his attachment and thus colours his entire life with the hues of his attachment.

Satsang – Attachment with the Truth

Thus it is enjoined, “Develop an attachment with the Truth. Become attached to the embodiment of that Truth. Become attached to the Supreme.”

1. If attachment with the Truth occurs, untruth will completely vanish from one’s life.

2. If one develops attachment for the Atma, the anatma will no longer be important.

3. Then there is no question of renouncing this or that object.

4. Then there is no question of refraining from this or that action.

Attachment to the body will activate both raag and dvesh. If there is no longer any attachment with the body-self, both raag and dvesh will become lifeless.

The difference between sang or attachment and asakti or passion

When one is attached to the body-self, one is passionately involved with raag and dvesh.

1. Attachment colours one in the hues of the object of one’s attachment. Asakti seeks to gain some profit from the other.

2. Attachment leads to identification. In asakti differentiation between oneself and the object remains.

3. Attachment ensures that one imbibes the qualities of one’s beloved, whether positive or negative. Asakti is with a sense object and one wishes to possess that object for oneself.

Little one:

1. Attachment generates identification.

2. Attachment produces unity.

3. Attachment ensures that one imbibes the qualities of the other.

4. Attachment connotes mergence or union.

5. Through attachment one goes towards unity.

6. Attachment causes one to become akin to another.

Asakti causes an individual:

a) to exploit other people for his selfish interests;

b) to use others to procure his own happiness;

c) to use others to establish his own reputation;

d) to seek love from others.

e) to use the other for his own satiation.

Thus one does not imbibe the qualities one appreciates; one does not become like the other.

1. Asakti is the result of infatuation.

2. Asakti also connotes being bewitched or fascinated.

3. Asakti is experienced for the object of one’s raag or dvesh.

4. Asakti is also in relationship to one’s enemy – this is why one finds it so difficult to forget one’s enemy.

Try to understand this. The Lord says, he who is worthy of becoming akin to the Supreme One:

a) will be indifferent to both raag and dvesh;

b) will be ever immersed in meditation on the Supreme due to his attachment with the Supreme;

c) due to his basic attachment with the Truth, will be ever immersed in yoga through meditation;

d) due to his intense attachment with the Truth, will have forgotten the false and will thus be eligible to attain the Supreme.