Lectures given by Anand S Rao at Chinmaya Mission Boston - Newton branch on Sunday's

1. Maximum Happiness to the Maximum Number of People for the
Maximum Time
CHINMAYAMISSIONBOSTON
The Holy Geeta – The Divine Song
Summary of Chapters 1-12
September 2015

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Chapter 1 – What is a Gita?
• Song of spiritual knowledge – a
dialogue between the Guru and
Sishya
• Bhagavad Gita – is a dialogue
between Shri Krishna and Arjuna
in Mahabarata;
• Gita appears almost at the center
of the 18 cantos of Mahabarata.
• Gita consists of 18 chapters and
700 verses – Chapters 25-42 of
the sixth canto
• Written by Veda Vyasa

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What is Gita?
• Bhagavad Gita is both Upansiad and Yoga-Sastra
Gita as Upanisad – Expounds knowledge about absolute
truth and our essential oneness with it - also called Brahma
Vidya
Gita as Yoga Sastra – Gives practical guidance on how to
attain the Truth and live fulfilled lives
 Sastra has two meanings
o A scripture that teaches us what is good for us
o A science that talks about a subject in its totality
 Yoga means to unite with the higher – Each chapter of
Gita is named a particular Yoga

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Bhagawad Geeta – Divine Song
Tat Tvam Asi – That Thou Art
Chapters 1-6
1. Arjuna Grief
2. Yoga of Knowledge
3. Karma Yoga
4. Ending Action in Knowledge
5. True Renunciation
6. Meditation
Chapters 7-12
7. Knowledge & Wisdom
8. Imperishable Brahman
9. Royal Secret
10.Divine Glories
11.Cosmic Form
12.Devotion
Tvam-Thou
Tat-That
Asi-Art
Chapters 13-18
13. Field and its Knower
14.Gunas
15.Supreme Spirit
16.Devine and Devilish
17.Three-fold Faith
18.Liberation

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Chapter 1: Yoga of Arjuna Grief

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Chapter 1: Yoga of Arjuna Grief
Arjuna is in a state of dejection, unable
and unwilling to fight. Key concepts:
• What are the causes of Arjuna's
state?
• What is dharma? what is your
dharma?
• What is ‘sin’?
• What is the caste system
• What is a righteous war?

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Discussion: What is significance of Gita in today’s world?
Pandavas
OUTER BATTLE
Kauravas
Battlefield
Krishna - Charioteer
Arjuna - Devotee
Chariot
Reins
Horses
Contrast the outer battle of Kurukshetra with
the inner battle of all of our lives.
Explain the symbolism of each item on the
left.

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Chapter 1 – Discussion: What is significance of Gita in today’s world?
Pandavas Forces of Righteousness
OUTER BATTLE INNER BATTLE
Kauravas Forces of Ignorance
Battlefield Everyday challenges
Krishna - Charioteer Wisdom of the Self
Arjuna - Devotee Ordinary man – the Ego
Chariot Human Body
Reins Intellect
Horses Senses

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Key Messages of Chapter 1
 Contrast between ‘external’ battle and ‘internal’ battle
 Physical & Mental reactions when you are under ‘stress’
 Look from multiple angles – context determines action
 Practical Tips:
 How to face a stressful or difficult situation
• Escape
• Suffer
• Change (yourself not your surroundings)
 Turning excuses into resolutions

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Chapter 2 - Yoga of Knowledge

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Chapter 2 - Yoga of Knowledge
• Existence of a Reality beyond life and death & theory of
reincarnation
– You have grieved for those that should not be grieved for; yet, you speak
words of wisdom. The wise grieve neither for the living nor for the dead [11]
– Just as in this body the embodied (soul) passes into childhood, youth and
old age, so also does he pass into another body; the firm man does not
grieve at it [13]
• Nature of Reality
– He is not born, nor does He ever die; after having been, He again ceases
not to be; Unborn, Eternal, Changeless and Ancient, He is not killed when
the body is killed [20]
– This Self cannot be cut, nor burnt, nor moistened, nor dried up. It is eternal,
all-pervading, stable, immovable and ancient [24]
• Synopsis of Geeta
– Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Jnana Yoga

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Chapter 2 – Yoga of Knowledge
• What is Real and what is Unreal?
o Real is NICE (No birth or death; Indesctructible and Imperishable;
Changeless and Eternal)
• Why Arjuna should not grieve?
o Knowledge, Dharma, Worldly, Material, Practical perspectives
• How to achieve efficiency in action?
o No regrets of the past, expectations of the future and anxieties in
the present
• How does a man of steady wisdom behave?
o No desires – satisfied in the ‘Self’ by the ‘Self’
• How does a man get entangled with this world?
o Ladder of fall – objects, attachment, desire, anger, delusion,
destruction of discrimination

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Chapter 3 - Karma Yoga
Desire
ThoughtAction
Vasanas

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Chapter 3 - Karma Yoga

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Chapter 3 – Karma Yoga – Path of Action
• Always DO the RIGHT ACTION with the RIGHT ATTITUDE
• RIGHT ACTION
 Refrain from ‘prohibited’ actions (niseda)
 Perform ‘obligatory’ duties (nitya) and ‘occasional’ duties (naimitikka)
 Reduce selfish actions (sakama) prompted by personal desires
 Action is superior to inaction
• RIGHT ATTITUDE
 Work Is Worship – Spirit of Sacrifice or ‘Yagna’
 Lead with PASSION – others will follow
 Give up the ‘Ego’ (e.g., child pushing the car, Namboodiri running in a
moving train)
 Strive for a ‘Higher Goal’
 Act without
o Regrets for the past
o Expectations of the future
o Excitement in the present
 Act without ‘likes’ and ‘dislikes’
 Act as per your ‘Dharma’ - better to do our own duty (dharma) imperfectly
than another’s perfectly

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Chapter 4 – Karma Jnana Sannyasa Yoga – Ending Action in Knowledge
• When and why does Bhagawan take an Avatar
 Whenever there is an increase in adharma
 To protect the righteous and destroy the wicked
• Four-fold Caste system
 Man kind is divided into four kinds people (Kshatriya, Brahmana, Vysya,
Shudra) based on their
o Temperament – Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas
o Attitude to work
 This was later mis-used to propagate division of classes by birth
• Realized one is one who sees
 Inaction in Action AND
 Action in Inaction
• Anyone can reach me by adopting the 12-fold ‘yagna’ or sacrifice spirit
 Daiva - puja
 Brahma – self-inquiry
 Indriya – sense control
 Mano – mind control
 Atma Samyama - Self restraint
 Dravya - Wealth
Tapo - austerity
Yoga - Ashtanga
Swadyaya – Daily study
Jnana - Knowledge
Pranayama – Five Pranas
Niyatahara - Diet

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• Arjuna asks (5.1) Which is better (a) Renunciation of action or (b)
Performance of action?
– Both lead to the highest bliss, but performance-of-action is better than renunciation-of-
action (5.2)
• Yukta - integrated mind and intellect - having abandoned the fruits of
action, attains eternal peace (5.12)
• Knowledge reveals supreme Brahman like the Sun (5.16)
• The one who has the following qualities reaches Brahman
has his senses under control (5.25) - shutting out all external contacts (5.27)
who sees no duality (5.25)
intent on the welfare of all beings (5.25)
free from desire, fear and anger (5.26, 5.28)
who has controlled his senses, mind and intellect (5.26, 5.28)
having liberation as his supreme goal(5.28)
Chapter 5 – Karma Sannyasa Yoga – Path of Renunciation of Action

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Chapter 6 - Yoga of Meditation
• When a man is not attached to sense-objects or to
actions, having renounced all thoughts, then he is
said to have attained YOGA [4]
• Let the YOGI try constantly to keep the mind steady,
remaining in solitude, alone, with the mind and body
controlled, free from hope and greed [10]
• "As a lamp placed in a windless place does not
flicker" --- is a simile used to describe the YOGI of
controlled-mind, practising YOGA of the Self (or
absorbed in the YOGA -of-the-Self) [19]
• The YOGI engaging the mind thus (in the practice of
YOGA ) , freed from sins, easily enjoys the Infinite
Bliss of ‘BRAHMAN –contact’ [28]

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Chapter 7 - Yoga of Knowledge & Wisdom
• What is Prakriti?
– Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intellect, egoism – these are my
eightfold PRAKRITI (4)
– This is the ‘lower’ PRAKRITI; different from it, know thou, O mighty-
armed, My ‘Higher’ PRAKRITI, the very Life-element, by which this
world is upheld (5)
– Know that these (two PRAKRITIS), are the womb of all beings. So I
am the source and dissolution of the whole Universe (6)
• What is Dharma and Adharma?
– I am the sapidity in water, O son of Kunti, I am the light in the moon
and the sun; I am the syllable OM in all the VEDAS, sound in ether,
and virility in men (8);
– I am the sweet fragrance in earth and the brilliance in fire, the life in all
beings, and I am austerity in the austere (9)
– All actions, thoughts and ideas entertained by an individual which are
not opposed to his essential Divine Nature constitute ‘dharma’ or
righteous action

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Chapter 8 – The Imperishable Brahman
• What is Brahman?
– Brahman is Imperishable, the Supreme; His essential nature is called
Self Knowledge, the creative force that causes beings to spring into
manifestation is called ‘work’ (3)
– Adhibhuta (or elements) constitutes My perishable nature, and the
Indweller (or the essence) is the adhidaivata; I alone am the adhiyajna
here, in this body, O best of the embodied (4)
• Who attains Brahman?
– Whosoever meditates upon the Omniscient, the Ancient, the Ruler (of
the whole world), Minuter than the atom, the Supporter of all, of Form
inconceivable, Effulgent like the Sun and Beyond the darkness (of
ignorance)…
– … at the time of death, with all unshaken mind full of devotion, by the
power of Yoga fixing the whole prana (breath) between the two eye-
brows, he (the seeker) reaches the supreme resplendent ‘Purusa’ (9,
10)

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Chapter 9 – The Royal Secret
1. They are in ME; I am not in them
2. Nor do beings exist (in reality) in ME
3. I am not tainted by the actions
4. To find our Self – we must lose our ‘self’ (Jnana Yagna or Knowledge
sacrifice)
5. No matter how evil or hurtful you are – fix your mind on Him; serve him
with devotion; and sacrifice all your actions unto him and He will take
care of you

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Chapter 10 – The Yoga of Divine Glories – Vibhuti Yoga
1. How can one perceive the infinite among the finite (17)
See the LORD in everything AND
See the LORD in everyone…
2. Whatever it is that is Glorious, Prosperous or Powerful in any being, know that
to be a manifestation of a part of My Splendor (41)
3. I am the Self, O Gudakesa, seated in the hearts of all beings; I am the
Beginning, The Middle and also the End of all beings (20)
Seeing the ‘One’ in the ‘Many’

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Chapter 11 – The Yoga of Cosmic Form – Visvarupa Darsana Yoga
1. Now behold, O Gudakesha, in this Body, that the whole universe centers in
One – including the moving and the unmoving – and whatever else you desire
to see (7)
Collapsing of space and time. Lord is the ‘TENTH DIMENSION’ from
which emerges all alternative universes across all time and space.
2. Who comes to me? (55)
• He who does actions for Me
• Who looks upon Me as the Supreme
• Who is devoted to Me
• Who is free from attachment
• Who bears enmity towards none
Seeing the ‘Many’ in the ‘One’

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Chapter 12 – Yoga of Devotion
Fix your mind on Me
Only, place your
intellect in Me; then,
(thereafter) you shall,
no doubt, live in Me
alone (Verse 8)
If you are unable to fix
your mind steadily
upon Me, then by the
‘Yoga-of-constant-
practice’, seek to
reach Me, O
Dhananjaya (Verse 9)
If you are unable to
practice Abhyasa
Yoga, be you intent
on performing
actions for My sake;
doing so, you shall
attain perfection
If you are unable to do
even this, then taking
refuge in Me, self-
controlled, renounce the
fruits-of-all-actions (Verse
11)

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KARMA YOGA – PRACTICAL TIPS
 Act without
 Regrets for the past
 Expectations of the future
 Excitement in the present
 Give up the ‘Doership’ – act without the ‘EGO’
 Give up the ‘Enjoyership’ – act without ‘likes’ and ‘dislikes’ to the
fruits of action
 Strive for a ‘Higher Goal’
 Lead with ‘passion’ – others will follow

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BHAKTI YOGA – PRACTICAL TIPS
 See the LORD in everything and everyone
 Treat everyone equally (Don’t pre-judge)
 Forget and forgive – hold no enmity towards anyone
 Practice AHIMSA towards things and beings
 Dedicate your actions to HIM
 Accept whatever fruits of actions as an offering from HIM
 (Eventually) Detach from everything and everyone and ATTACH
yourself to HIM