Chapter 13 Shloka 10

मयि चानन्ययोगेन भक्तिरव्यभिचारिणी।

विविक्तदेशसेवित्वमरतिर्जनसंसदि।।१०।।

The Lord continues to elucidate the qualities that are imperative for the spiritual aspirant to imbibe: Exclusive yoga with Me,

unalloyed devotion,

the practice of living in solitude,

and disenchantment in living

in the company of other mortals.

Chapter 13 Shloka 10

मयि चानन्ययोगेन भक्तिरव्यभिचारिणी।

विविक्तदेशसेवित्वमरतिर्जनसंसदि।।१०।।

The Lord continues to elucidate the qualities that are imperative for the spiritual aspirant to imbibe:

Exclusive yoga with Me, unalloyed devotion, the practice of living in solitude, and disenchantment in living in the company of other mortals.

Look Kamla! The Lord now speaks of unflinching yoga.

Yoga (योग)

1. Yoga connotes union.

2. Yoga is identification.

3. Yoga is a confluence.

4. Yoga is mergence.

5. Yoga is equanimity.

Yoga with the Lord

1. All the tendencies of the mind will become fixed on Brahm.

2. All the tendencies of the mind will become fixed on the One Truth.

3. All the tendencies of the mind will be concentrated on Lord Krishna.

The Lord is not to descend to our level. We must learn to ascend to His level.

a) The Lord constitutes all the forms of the Universe.

b) He is Compassion itself.

c) He is the Indivisible One.

The spiritual aspirant seeks to be one with the Lord. Do not endeavour to pull the Lord down to your level; make every effort to reach Him. Understand this concept once again.

Ascending to the Lord’s level in one’s personal life

1. Endeavour to imbibe those qualities in your practical life, by which the Lord Himself is recognised.

2. Do only that which the Lord would have done had He been in your place.

3. Do not seek protection from the Lord. Instead, protect the Lord’s qualities in your own life. In other words:

­­–  Do not give up your sincerity even if the whole world is insincere towards you.

­­–  Do not stop loving- even though the whole world may spurn you.

­­–  Forgive everyone even if the whole world persecutes you.

­­–  Do not renounce your attitude of service even if the whole world rejects you.

­­–  Do not relinquish your compassion even if the world is merciless and cruel towards you.

­­–  Give happiness to all even if the whole world heaps sorrow upon you.

4. Augment your love for those qualities by which the Lord is recognised. Make those divine qualities the essence of your life.

5. The spiritual aspirant’s goal is to become a member of the Lord’s family.

6. He protects divine qualities not only within himself, but also in others.

The Lord Himself takes birth for the protection of pious men of virtue. Such individuals do not seek physical protection for themselves, since they are endeavouring to relinquish the body idea. The Lord annihilates all those qualities which could oppose their spiritual endeavours, and protects and strengthens virtuous qualities.

Little one, it is the duty of every aspirant of spiritual living to protect virtue in a similar manner. If you truly aspire for knowledge, unswerving yoga with the Lord is essential.

1. If the Lord is your perpetual witness, such a yoga will become possible.

2. Faith in the divine qualities can nourish and sustain such qualities within you.

3. It is only love for the Lord that can engender unswerving faith in the Lord.

All this will be possible only if you truly long for the Lord.

1. If you truly believe the Lord to be the only One worthy of attainment;

2. If you truly believe the Lord’s qualities to be the highest and noblest;

3. If you truly believe the Lord’s qualities to be so excellent that you wish to imbibe them in your life;

4. If you truly wish to become an embodiment of the qualities which exemplified and revealed the Lord to you;

5. If you truly wish to serve the Lord’s qualities;

6. If you truly wish to forgive;

7. If you truly want to have compassion for the other;

8. If you truly wish to establish the other;

9. If you truly desire that the Lord abides in you;

10. If you truly wish that your all belongs to the Lord;

11. If you truly wish that your hands, your feet, your eyes, your ears, your tongue – all these belong to the Lord alone;

– then yoga is possible.

Where there is faith, devotion will necessarily follow. If you possess devotion, you will inevitably wish to give your all to the Lord.

Now understand what form worship and prayer will take in your life thereafter.

a) You are proceeding to give your body to the Lord.

b) You are proceeding to give your mind to the Lord.

c) You are endeavouring to give your intellect to the Lord.

Your intention is to give – not to take. You will therefore say to the Lord:

1. “This body is Yours; pray accept it. Let it perform only those deeds which You would perform.

2. These hands are Yours; pray accept them as such. Let them do only that which You would have done.

3. These eyes are Thine; accept them as Thine. Let only love flow from them henceforth.

4. Take this mind; let it remain ever filled with compassion and forgiveness.

5. Let this mind be silent even as You are ever silent. Let it ever abide in humility.

6. Let this mind endure all even as You tolerate all without saying aught.

7. Let it be impartial as Thou art impartial, and detached even as Thou art.

8. Let it be ever silent towards itself, yet love all just as You love all.”

As a result of the above attitude, the aspirant’s life will be replete with:

a) selfless deeds;

b) selfless prayer;

c) selfless knowledge.

Such an aspirant seeks to give, not take something. In fact he seeks to give his living body to the Lord.

In what terms can one eulogise such a Yogi embellished with devotion – one who wants to give to the Lord Himself? He silently seems to say, ‘This body which belonged to the ‘I’ is now Thine Lord! Pray accept it as Thine! I mistakenly claimed it as mine.” He constantly seeks forgiveness from the Lord for his ‘theft’. “This mind and intellect are Your creation; pray take them unto You and rule them, for they are Thine. I have reduced them to dust by mingling them with the ‘I’. I beseech You – accept and take back what is Yours anyway.”

Thus the ‘I’ seeks to lose itself – to revert back to its primal state devoid of ‘I’. Hence it wants to give itself away, not receive anything. Such an aspirant is not even desirous of protecting the mind.

True devotion is one-pointed. When a devotional heart is set on offering itself at the Lord’s feet, it seeks nothing at all for its body, mind and intellect unit. In the midst of all activities, the mind-stuff is exclusively focused on the Lord.

Vivikta desh sevitvam (विविक्तदेशसेवित्वम्) – Abiding in solitude

Such a Yogi abides in solitude, for one progresses towards the annihilation of the ‘I’ very much on one’s own. When the conglomeration of internal tendencies are concentrated in one direction, then only one remains. The abode of such a one is verily secluded. He seats himself in his inner being. He is continually immersed in the Name of the Supreme. Thus he lives in solitude, because only he is constantly established in a one-pointed thought.

His inner being is in seclusion. His solitude lies in the unity of all his tendencies into one, focused trend of thought. Thus one who has attained exclusive yoga and who is devoted unswervingly to the Lord, will necessarily be in solitude even if he resides in this world full of noise and movement.

Such a one is naturally asleep towards the throng of the world. Understand this carefully.

a) He is in fact deeply asleep towards his own self.

b) He is constantly chanting mantras for the cremation of the ‘I’.

c) He is burning logs of knowledge in order to cremate his ‘I’.

d) He is worshipping the Lord in preparation for the last rites of the ‘I’.

e) He wants to lull the ‘I’ to sleep, what can he ever want from the world?

When his ‘I’ falls into deep sleep, his body mingles with the world and the world welcomes another Messiah into its midst.

Kamla, how can one understand the state of such a one? He is, yet he is not.

Aaratih Jan Sansadi (अरति: जनसंसदि)

1. Such a one does not go to large congregations seeking self establishment.

2. He does not go to great gatherings to communicate his knowledge.

3. He does not attend large assemblies seeking recognition or fame.

He is completely satiated within his Self.

However, such a one considers all to be the Atma. Therefore, despite abiding amongst varied groups of people, he is in fact alone. Thus, even though he may be in the midst of an assembly of people, he regards it as a secluded spot! He considers only the turmoil within the mind to be the ‘crowd’ that he must escape. Being free of all mental turmoil, he enjoys complete solitude.