LEARN LIFE SCIENCES 

THROUGH VED IN BHAGVAD GITAA

On Prajapati Vishva Ashram web site Today's prayer is part of the continuing study of the life sciences contained in bhagvat gitaa. The learning achieved to date is compiled hereunder in one text in the same sequence as the learning has been given to us starting from November 5, 2001. This compilation is ultimately meant to form a text book of life sciences. In the interim it is a continual reference to those who wishes to refer to previous learning when studying Today's Prayer. In the interim it is also meant to be used for cross referencing different slok. 

Another version of bhagvad gitaa with numerical ordering corresponding to the original version is also posted on this web site under ved.   

Each slok hereunder is from bhagvad gitaa and is denoted by chapter number in bhagvad gitaa and the slok number in that chapter. English Equivalent of each sanskrit slok (hymn) from bhagvad gitaa is given following the transliteration of the sanskrit slok in the English. After each slok the meaning of the slok as life science is expounded from various ved sources.  This explanation is numbered as the slok number followed by an alphabet starting with the first alphabet. 

This vedik mode of learning of life science is intended for the same purpose with which we study any other sciences in schools and universities.  The knowledge of the life science will let us prosper in our lives as any science does. But in addition the knowledge of life science will get rid of pain in our lives which is the result of ignorance of life science and replace the pain with happiness.

sanskrit  words:    the notation  : after a sanskrit word should be pronounced as letter "h" as in the word "her". the notation | denotes an end to a expression in a slok; the notation || denotes an end to the entire slok.  sanskrit slok in sanskrit script will be available in the near future.

(The English equivalent of Sanskrit words which are in italics is given in the prayer and/or in the Sanskrit Glossary on this web site)

slok 3.10:    saha-yagnaa: prajaa: shrust-vaa puro-vaach prajaapati: |

                     anen prasa-vishya-dhva-mesh vo-sitva-shtakaa-madhuk ||

 slok 3.10:        At the beginning of time and creation prajaapati brahmaa-dev performed a yagna and with that yagna he created mankind. And then prajaapati brahmaa-dev said to the mankind the following:  "With this yagna you procreate, and let this yagna be the kaam-duk of your desires." 

    3.10.a:    prajaapati brahmaa-dev is the creator of the entire universe. He is the one of the three first created devo. The other two of the trinity are vishnu-dev and shiv-dev. brahmaa-dev's function is to create the universe and that is why he is called prajaapati -meaning the master of creations. brahmaa-dev performed a yagna to brhmah to create the mankind. yagna (ref glossary ) is the process and means to create anything in this universe by any dev, devi or any creatures including mankind. By doing yagna to brhmah he requested brhmah to perform the actual act of creation through brhmah's infinite shaktio (powers) which perfrom the act of creation. Once mankind was created, brahmaa-dev had to give the created mankind powers to perform the functions for which they were created. These functional powers were given to mankind by prajapati brahmaa-dev through a boon. brhmah has given all devo and devio to give boons to who ever they wish. It is also ordained by brhmah that a boon given by any dev or devi is always fruitful. With this power of boon giving brahmaa-dev empowered the mankind two ways:  1) the yagna will give power to mankind to multiply themselves through the power of procreation and 2) the yagna will also act like a kaam-duk which means kaam-dhenu. A kaam-dhenu is a celestial dev-like cow called milch cow which has powers to grant instantly any wishes for anything to anybody. Thus, at the time mankind was created, mankind was given a boon that whatever mankind desires will be given to the mankind. 

                    One can understand the first boon very easily. Mankind finds no trouble to create more mankind through the male-female procreation process. Mankind's bodies are also equipped to do the procreation. But how is the second boon of kaam-dhenu works? The answer is given in the next slok 3.11

 slok 3.11:    devaan bhaavyataa-nen te devaa bhaav-yantu ch:  |

                    paras-param bhav-yant: shrey: paramvaa-psyath ||

   slok 3.11:    You nourish devo with this yagna. The devo in turn will nourish you. Mutually nourishing each other, may you attain the highest shrey.

    3.11.a.   brahmaa-dev created 33 primary devo to provide protection and sustain the creations of brahmaa-dev. The 33 devo consists of 11 aditya-devo, 11 rudra-devo, 8 vasu-devo vasu-devo and 2 ashvini-devo. indra-dev is the king of all 33 devo. Out of these 33 primary devo were created 330 million devataao. Each devataa has been given some specific shakti to perform a specific function in operation and sustenance of all the entire universe created by brahmaa-dev. These devataa are the forces of nature as per our current scientific understanding. This slok states that the mankind should perform yagna to nourish these devo and in turn these devo will nourish the mankind. By this mutual nourishing, the devo and mankind will attain highest shrey. shrey is the same as the word shreyas which means many things pertaining to the prosperity and well-being of a creation. These are: attaining of better, preferable and superior things in life; attaining of best, most excellent and very desirables; to be more happy; to be more fortunate; to be more blessed; to be dearer; to be have dharma; to perform dharmik deeds; to obtain  punya (dharmik merit); to have aanand (bliss); to have good fortune; to have blessing; to have good welfare; to have good or auspicious result of any karma; to be part of or partake a good or auspicious occasion; to attain moksh.

                Thus, it is mandatory that mankind and devo nourish each other to attain highest shrey in life. In other words, if mankind and devo become selfish and do not nourish each other then each is bound to not attain the boon given by brahmaa-dev in slok 3.10. This means that mankind and devo each will start to suffer and ultimately perish.

                So now the question is what is this yagna we and devo have to do to nourish each other?  The answer is in the slok we will study next time......  

slok 3.9:    yagnaa-rtha-t-karamano-nyantra loko-ym karma-bandhan: |

                  tad-rtham karma kautanya mukta-sanga: samaachar ||

 slok 3.9:     This world is bound by karma other than those karma done for yagna;

                    O son of kunti, therefore perform karma as yagna and free from attachment.

 slok 3.9.a:     karma means all life activities performed by all creatures involuntarily, voluntarily and with desires. Life activities include everything from breathing to learning to working for wealth to procreation to acts of compassion, charity and service to perform any activity of thought, deed and action in interaction with the rest of the creation. 

                    Any karma results in some karma-phal (fruits or return of karma) for the performer. A karma-phal could be punya meaning resulting in enjoyment of  merits which brings happiness to the performer. Or a karma-phal could be paap which means non-merits or sins which would result in pain and sorrow for the performer.  

                    A karma can be performed in two ways. One way is to perform karma in a sa-kaami manner, that is with an expectation of karma-phal. The second way is to perform a karma in a nish-kaami manner that is without any expectation of a karma-phal. With sa-kaami attitude the performer must receive the karma-phal sometime someplace in this life journey or in life journeys to come. This binding to recieve karma-phal is called samsaraa which means the sa-kaami karma performer must keep on repeating the cycles of birth and deaths till the karma-phal is received. The nish-kaami karma performer is not bound by samsaraa  as in the first place the karma was performed not expecting any karma-phal from the karma. 

                    Any karma can also be called yagna. But yagna takes different forms and meaning depending on the intent of the yagna. An yagna is primarily offerings made to perform sevaa to brhmah as brhmah's nimmit to the rest of creation. Such offerings are of all possessions one has but does not need beyond one's sustenance . That is a true yagna. Other forms of yagna are:

                    a)    An yagna is preformed with one's possession and according to shastra to propitiate a dev for realization of a wish. 

                    b)    A yagna is also performed as an act of  worship to a dev with offerings of yagna material prescribed in shastra. 

                    c)    There are five yagna every gruhastha (householder) is required to perform daily as part of the gruhastha dharma. These five yagna are called panch-mahaa-yagna and are: 

                            .1    bhut-yagna which is offering made to gratify any living being;  

                            .2    manushya-yanga which is hospitality offered to known or unknown visitors to one's home;  

                            .3    pitru-yagna which is offerings of water and food as shraadh to one's pitruo (ancestors) and worship of them; 

                             .4    dev-yagna which is worship of a dev or devi;  and 

                            .5    brhmah-yagna which is worship of brhmah or guru or rushi or muni in the form of studying ved, teaching ved or performing samaadhi (meditation) on ved. 

                    The various other types of yagna will be learned in slok to be studies in days to come. 

Bhagvaan is saying perform all ones karma as yagna. Perform karma without any attachment to it meaning without any expectations of returns of any kind which is called nishkaami karma.   

The above may appear to be a pretty harsh asking from bhagvaan to mankind. Right away a question comes to any mind - if I perform karma without expectation of any return or fruits then how I am going to sustain myself and my family and all who are dependent on me?  We must reflect on this for ever.....Bhagvan has an answer to this question in the slok to be studied.......                  

slok 17.11:    a-fal-aakaaknshibir  yagno vidhi-drasto ya ijayate  |

                       yastavyan-eve-ti mana: samaadhaay sa saatvik ||

slok 17.12:    abhi-sandhaay tu falam dambha-r-tham-api chai-va yat  |

                       ijyte bharat-shresth tam yagna viddhi raajasm||

slok 17.13:    vidhi-hinm-shrustaannm mantra-hinam-dakshinam  |

                       shraddah-virhitam yagna taamasam parich-ks-te ||

 slok 17.11:     The yagna is saatvik if it is offered without desire of fal and is performed according to vidhi;  

                        and  ought to be offered only with the manas unshakably fixed with the thought that the yagna has to be offered.

slok 17.12:     The yagna which is even offered for seeking fal and  indeed for dambh;  

                        know that yagna to be rajasik, Oh best of bharat. rajasik, Oh best of bharat.

slok 17.13:     They declare that the yagna is taamasik if it is performed without vidhi, in which no food is offered, 

                        which is performed without mantra, in which dakshinaa is not given and which is not performed with shrddhaa.  

slok 17.11-12-13 a:           maayaa is what creates the entire universe. The three guno of maayaa are satva, rajas, and tamas. Thus, every creation in the universe possesses the three guno. The three guno always co-exists in unity and cannot exist separately by each self or if one of the three is absent. A creation also performs a activity because of the three guno. If the three guno are perfectly balanced with each other then a creation cannot perform any activity and is said to be in the state of pralay. Thus, for a creation to perfrom a karma the three guno has to be in unbalanced state and exist together in varying strengths. In any activity one of the gun predominates with the other two existing in varying strength. The varying strength could increase to a maximum tending to infinity or decrease to a minimum tending to zero. A creation or a karma is said to be existing in the mode of the predominant gun at any point in time and is thus classified as satvik if satva-gun is predominant, rajasik if rajas-gun is predominant and tamasik if tamas-gun is predominant.    

                                    Based on the above,  a yagna is classified into either satvik, rajasik or tamasik as per slok 17.11 or 11.12 or 17.13 respectively. The classification depends on the predominant gun of the intent of the performance of a yagna and karma and also on the type of yagna or karma with which it is performed as described below in the respective slok:

     slok 17.11. a:     A yagna is classified as satvik if it is performed as follows:

                                -    without the expectation of any fal from the yagna; 

                                -    in compliance with all the requirements of shastra prescribed for the yagna.

                                -    with a firm conviction that the yagna is required to be performed as a duty or as a free wish even though it is not required for the sake of the performer. This means one is performing a yagna for the sake of another who cannot perform the yagna.

       slok 17.12.a:    A yagna is classified as rajasik if it is performed as follows:

                                -    with an intent for attaining a fal of any kind for oneself or for any purpose;

                                -    for the sake of personal dambh which means to pretend to be a dharmik hypocrite or to show off arrogance or to show off pride or to draw others attention to oneself  or to draw admiration of others or to boast about oneself in a-dharmik manner, or to commit deceit, fraud or trickery or for the purposes of desiring to perform paapi (sinful) or wicked acts. 

       slok 17.13.a:    A yagna is classified as tamasik if it is performed as follows:

                                -    without vidhi (rites) prescribed in the shastra for the yagna;

                                -     without food being not prepared according to the shastra and or food not being offered as anna-daan to the people participating in the yagna or those who are invited to the yagna or food not offered as anna-daan to poor or hungry who may hope for food at yagna. 

                                -    without reciting the prescribed mantra for the yagna;

                                -    without offering dakshinaa at the end of the yagna to the presiding braahman as per shastra or without offering dakshinaa agreed to with the presiding priests. A dakshinaa is a fee or a present or gift or a donation or a remuneration offered to a braahman  for performing any vedik vidhi or rites or ceremony where the shastra requires the presence of a braahman or is ordained that the vidhi (rite) or ceremony must be performed by a braahman;

                                -    without shrddhaa which means performing yagna without unconditional trust, faith, belief, confidence and devotion in the intent of the yagna and also in the dev or devi or to any creation to whom the yagna is offered. Without shraddaa also means not having respect, reverence, sedateness and composure of mind and body. Absence of shraddaa is also interpreted as not having strong or vehement desire.

The various other types of yagna classified according to what is offered in yagna and the purpose of yagna will be learned in slok to be studied in days to come. 

slok 3.12:    ishtaan bhogaan hi vo devaa daasyante yagna-bhaavitaa: |

                    taiir-dattan-pradaayai-bhamyo yo bhunkte sten eva sa: ||

 slok 3.12:     devo nourished by yagna will give you the bhogaan you desire;

                      Verily, you are a thief if you enjoy what is given to you by devo without giving back to devo.

slok 3.12 a:    This slok is a continuation of the slok 3.11 which informed us that "  You nourish devo with this yagna. The devo in turn will nourish you. Mutually nourishing each other, may you attain the highest shrey."  Now in this slok 3.12 we are informed by bhagvaan that the devo, who have been nourished by the yagna of the mankind, will in turn grant us all the bhogaan we desire. bhogaan is composed of the base word bhog and aan means of the bhog. Therefore, bhogaan means the following: what is needed for eating, consuming; what is needed for enjoyment; what is needed for the fruition of our desires; what is utility for us; what is advantageous for us; what is required for us to rule, govern, and government; what is needed as use or application of what is given to us; what is needed to bear suffering, enduring, and experiencing in this life journey; what is needed to feel, perceive; what is needed to satisfying our carnal and sexual enjoyments or enjoyments and pleasure in general; what is a needed to have a repast, feast or banquet; what is needed as food; what is needed as food offering to devo; what is needed to have profit or gain; what is needed to have income or revenue for life activities; what is needed to have wealth.  

So when we nourish devo, they will in turn grant us everything that 

    -    we need for sustaining our life - food, shelter and safety on our life travel, governance in our life, society, country and the world; 

    -    we need to feel and perceive this universe and all our fellow creations, which means all our five gnanen-indriyo (senses of knowledge);

    -    for enjoyments in our life including carnal and sexual pleasures; 

    -    we need for all that we desire to celebrate occasions in life such as feasts, banquets, celebrations; 

    -    we need for all our earning and business activities; 

    -    we need for all our desires to accumulate wealth for whatever purposes; and 

    -     practically all that we desire in life and all we can do with our five karmen-indriyo (senses of action) ...... 

In addition to giving us all we need in life to have a life, devo will also give us all  it takes to empower us to bear us all our sufferings in life regardless the cause of the suffering whether be it from our a-dharmik life activities or the three types of natural sufferings for all creations from their sa-kaami mode of existence - aadhyaatmik (caused by aatmik (of the soul) disturbances), aadhi-bhautik (caused by the fellow creations) and aadhidaivik (caused by devo). We will learn details of this from another slok tomorrow.

But the most important giving by devo is that of what we are required or what we desire to offer to devo is also given by devo to us. Because of this altruism, benevolence and grace of devo if one does not offer to devo what one is given, then bhagvaan says that one is definitely regarded as a thief. A thief is one who steals what is not his and takes what is not his without asking permission from the owner. All that we have is given to us by devo and nothing is ours. Therefore it is only common sense that we give back to devo what is given to us. But as  per slok 3.11 devo will always provide you with complete nourishment which means give you more than you need. And hence giving them back even a portion is not all too hard even if we are of selfish nature. This giving back to devo is called arpan. Arpan is a key  attitude to have if one wishes to be in nish-kaami mode and not be bound by the karma-fal which is expectation of return, reward or income for any karma we perform. Partaking or enjoying the karma-fal means one has to go through a cycle of pleasure and pain.  Whereas, in nish-kaami mode in which one does not expect or desire karma-fal, one attains aanand (bliss)  of brhmah which is only pleasure and no pain.     

slok 3.13:    yagna-shistaashin: santo muchyante sarva-kil-bishai: |

                    bhunjate te tv-agham paapaa ye panchatya-atma-kaaranaat  ||

 slok 3.13:     santo who eat the remains of a yagna are freed from all kil-bishai;

                      but indeed those who eat after cooking for their own aatama-kaaran incur the paap of agham.  

  slok 3.132 a:     A sant is a person who has knowledge who is wise and enlightened to perceive and recognize the truth about this srushti or universe. A sant also is buddha which means a person who has obtained brhmah-gnan and thus is nirlipta which means not attached to the three gun of this universe made of prakruti. Everything for a sant is the same, that is a lump of gold is the same as lump of clay. A sant treats every body in the same as he would respect and worship brhmah. To a sant there is no joy and pain in any karma. A sant performs all karma in life in nish-kaami mode, that is expecting any return or reward or income for the karma.  A sant also performs all the karma as sevaa to brhmah. 

            kil-bish is composed of two words: kil and bish. kil means hope, expectations, dis-satisfaction, dislike, contempt, trifling, a feigned karma. bish means to incite, to drive , to urge, to instigate. Thus, kil-bish means drive or urge or instigation of all sa-kaami karma which have hope and expectation of a reward, return or income, and/or create the emotions of dislike, dis-satisfaction of the result of a karma and/or cause a feeling of contempt or sense of trifling and or is a karma with a real purpose hidden. 

            aatmaa-kaaran means for the sake of aatmaa. But as applicable to most of mankind it would mean for the sake of oneself. This is because maayaa eludes most of the mankind into thinking that one's body is the real "I". But the real "I" is one's aatmaa. bhagavaan says in bhagvad gitaa that aatmaa does not need anything, can not be hurt, cannot be cut, cannot be dried, cannot be burned. aatmaa is imperishable and eternal. The mortal body which aatmaa creates by himself for each life journey is only a tool for aatmaa to use the entire prakruti for whatever the purpose of the life journey is. aatmaa creates a different body to suit each life journey. A mortal body is made of prakruti. prakruti of a mortal body is made alive by its association with aatamaa.      

            paap means evil, sinful, wicked, vicious; mischievous, destructive , accursed;  of lowly attitudes;  vile; abandoned; inauspicious, malignant, foreboding evil. 

            agham means bad, sinful, wicked; sin; misdeed; fault, crime; sins and grief thereof; an evil; mishap; misfortune; accident; injury; harm; impurity; pain, suffering, grief and distress; passion.    

            This slok is a continuation of slok 3.10 to 3.12 whereby we were informed that we mankind were created by yagna. And the mankind with a yagna of their own must nourish devo who in turn will nourish the mankind. From the above meanings of the sanskrit words, bhagvaan informs mankind through the first part of this slok that one must have knowledge through study of ved to know that one must offer devo through yagna what was given to oneself by devo in the first place. Then after this offering is made, one should eat what is left. If one does this then one does not suffer kil-bish, that is, all the prompting of doing sa-kaami karma and thus does not have to bear the results of the karma-fal of sa-kaami karma. Instead, one is guided to perform nish-kaami karma and thus does not suffer the cycles of joy and pain but attains aanand (bliss) which does not have pain. 

            In the second part of the slok, bhagvaan informs mankind that if you cook only for your self-serving desires and do not offer what you cook as yagna to devo then this karma results in paap of agham. This means that one suffers from results which will cause one physical, mental, emotional and spiritual pain and suffering.  

      Now we know why we have to say praathnaa or grace before we eat.  Just saying the grace or praathnaa in our mind only is performing the yagna of offering the food we are going to eat to devo. Another way is to just perform yagna during one's prayers and puujaa first thing in the morning before one has breakfast. In this morning prayer and puujaa one can perform the yagna of offering all the food one will take during the entire day. This is better than not performing the anna-yagna at all during any day. However it is better to remember the devo at every meal during the day.......

slok 3.14:    annaad-bhavanti bhutaani parjanyaad-annasambhav: |

                    yagnad-bhavati parjanyo yagna: karma-samud-bhava:  ||

 slok 3.14:     Living beings are born of food; food is produced from rain; 

                      rain is produced from yagna; yagna is born of karma.

  slok 3.14 a:    This is a very simple slok and means what it says. This slok also introduces the concept of yagna being born of karma. shree shankaraa-chaarya has the following commentary on this slok which will help to further the understanding of the power of yagna. 

                            "    Living beings are born from the blood and semen which is made in a body from the food that is consumed by the creature. Food is produced by rain which in turn is produced from yagna as explained in manu-smruti 3.76. In a yagna by living beings the oblation properly placed in the fire of the homa goes to the sun. Rain is due to sun and rain produces food. Living beings are born of this food. yagna means the  apuurva is created by the karma of the braahman performing the yagna and by the yajmaan who is the person on whose behalf the yagna is being performed. This yagna is the karma from which apuurva  is born."        

            The word apuurva has the following meanings: unrelated consequence of an act such as attaining svarga (heaven) as a result of dharmik karma; paapi and punya karma which results in future happiness or suffering; something which has not existed before;  new the likes of which has not existed before; singular, un-exampled, unprecedented; unknown, un acquainted, stranger;  strange, extraordinary, wonderful.

            apuurva-karma is the vedik or dharmik rites which are karma whose power on the future result is not seen or forecast prior to performing the karma.  

bhagvaan is informing us through this slok that yagna is the karma which creates all living beings and the systems to sustain the living beings. However, yagna is required  in a cyclic form to produce living beings and their sustenance systems. This is "egg and chicken" situation - which comes first, the yagna to create living being or the yagna to create the sustenance system for the living beings. The answer is in slok 3.10 and 3.11.  Through slok 3.10 bhagvaan has informed us that prajaapati brahmaa performed the first yagna to create living beings. prajaapati brahmaa did this first yagna with his tapas and bhakti of brhmah. Then with that yagna prajaapati brahmaa gave the mankind a boon with which mankind can procreate and fulfill all desires. And in slok 3.12 bhagvaan tells us that mankind is to perfrom yagna to devo and offer all it has to devo to nourish devo. In turn the devo will nourish the mankind. And in a cyclic manner both the mankind and devo will attain shreyas. 

bhagvaan also tells us through this slok that yagna is born of karma which is a new concept which we will be taught more about in the slok we will be studying...... 

But from the line of thinking that prajaapati brahmaa had to tapas and bhakti for the first yagna, would the same apply to mankind...the answer is YES as we will learn when we start learning about bhakti from bhagvad gitaa.....but in the meanwhile we all do the bhakti the way we know from our elders and guruji and the way the concept of bhakti has been passed down from father to son.....one way to do bhakti is to study bhagvad gitaa every day, every time out we get from this sansaar.......

slok 3.15:    karma brhmaho-badhavam viddhi brhamaah-kshar samud-bhavam |

                    tasmaa-t-svara-gatam brhmah nityam yagne prati-shti-tam ||

 slok 3.15:     karma is born from brhmah, and brhmah has been born of the akshar;

                       therefore, brhmah who is sarva-gatam is eternally present in all yagna.              

  slok 3.15 a:    The word brhmah is fully explained in sanskrit glossary on this web site.     

                    The word akshar means:  imperishable, indestructible, undecaying, un-attached and thus is used in ved to describe brhmah as parmaatmaa and also aatmaa. akshar is also used as a synonym for brhmah, parmaatmaa and aatmaa. The compound word brhmah-akshar is used to describe brhmah as fixed, firm and un-alterable. brhmah-akshar is also used to describe shiv-dev and vishnu-dev and also as synonym for them. brhmah-akshar is used as a synonym for sword.  brhmah-akshar is also used to describe shabda (sound or words) or vaak (speech). shabda is the first of the five tanmaatra. shabda also originates from om. akshar is also used to describe the following: tapas, vrat, yagna, water, aakaash (space), moksa, anything permanent, dharma, a measure of time equivalent to one-fifth of a  kaashathaa.

                        The word sarva means all, every; whole, entire, complete; sarvam is also a synonym of shiv-dev and vishnu-dev.              

                        The word gatam or gat means the following: motion; gait, existing everywhere; being in, situated in, seated in, resting on, contained in; referring or related to, concerning, connected to; frequented or resorted to; known, understood; celebrated;  gone to, arrive at, reaching to,  gone, departed, gone forever; passed away, departed; dead, deceased, departed to the next world. 

                        Therefore from the above meanings, the compound word sarva-gatam applied to brhmah means brhmah exists in and occupies every inch of the His creation and all  lok (domains) and give all creation and activities of the creation motion or power to perform whatever is dedicated as nimmit of the creation. 

                       Thus, once the meanings of akshar, brhmah (refer glossary), sarva-gatam and yagna is understood, then this slok becomes very clear whereby shree krishna-bhagvaan informs us that he is brhmah and is presented in all the creations and activities of the creations including yagna. The new concept introduced here is that karma is born of brhmah....now we must reflect on this when we think and say it loudly " I did this and that"............

...prior to today's' new knowledge prior to today's' new knowledge bhagvaan informed us through slok 3.14 that yagna is born of karma...... 

But from the line of thinking that prajaapati brahmaa had to tapas and bhakti for the first yagna and to perform his first karma of creating this entire universe....should we mankind also reflect on the fact that we really are not creating anything...so then what are we doing everyday rushing here and there, saying to everybody "I do not have time" ....when all our daily karma are created by brhmah......the answer is in bhagvad gitaa.....and to understand that answer we must all do the bhakti the way we know from our elders and guruji and the way the concept of bhakti has been passed down from father to son.....one way to do bhakti is to study bhagvad gitaa every day, every time out we get from this sansaar.......

slok 3.16:    evam pra-var-titam chakra naanu-varta-yatih ya: |

                    aghaa-yuri-indriyaa-raamo mogham paarth sa jivit ||

 slok 3.16:     Thus is set the chakra revolving, and one who does not follow this chakra;

                       one who lives rejoicing in his indriyo lives in aghaayu and lives in vain;  partha.              

  slok 3.16 a:   shree shankaraa-charya had the following commentary on the above slok: bhagvaan says to Arjun:" All the functions in the universe are cyclic and have been set in motion by ishvar with ved and yagna preceding the cycle of cosmic functions. In this lok, one who is competent to perform karma but fails to perform the karma in conformance with the universal cycle of functions leads a life of a paapi. One who obtains his joys through the contact of indriyo (senses) with the material objects lives in vain."    

We will continue to study this slok in the following days as this slok takes us into understanding the functioning of the universe to another level based on the slok 3.10 to 3.15....... 

The reflection on the following understanding from slok 3.14 will help us in the following days:

                        The compound word sarva-gatam applied to brhmah means brhmah exists in and occupies every inch of the His creation and all  lok (domains) and give all creation and activities of the creation motion or power to perform whatever is dedicated as nimmit of the creation. 

                       Thus, once the meanings of akshar, brhmah (refer glossary), sarva-gatam and yagna is understood, then slok 3.15 becomes very clear whereby shree krishna-bhagvaan informs us that he is brhmah and is presented in all the creations and activities of the creations including yagna. The new concept introduced here is that karma is born of brhmah....now we must reflect on this when we think and say it loudly " I did this and that"............

...prior to today's' new knowledge prior to today's' new knowledge bhagvaan informed us through slok 3.14 that yagna is born of karma...... 

But from the line of thinking that prajaapati brahmaa had to tapas and bhakti for the first yagna and to perform his first karma of creating this entire universe....should we mankind also reflect on the fact that we really are not creating anything...so then what are we doing everyday rushing here and there, saying to everybody "I do not have time" ....when all our daily karma are created by brhmah......the answer is in bhagvad gitaa.....and to understand that answer we must all do the bhakti the way we know from our elders and guruji and the way the concept of bhakti has been passed down from father to son.....one way to do bhakti is to study bhagvad gitaa every day, every time out we get from this sansaar.......

slok 3.4:    na karmanam-naarm-bhaan-naiskarmyam purusho-shnute  |

                    na ch sannyas-naade-va siddhim samadhi-gacchati  ||

 slok 3.4:     man cannot have freedom from karma by not performing karma;

                    and nobody attains siddhi only from taking sanyaas.              

  slok 3.4 a:   karma was defined in slok 3.9 as follows:   

        karma means all life activities performed by all creatures involuntarily, voluntarily and with desires. Life activities include everything from breathing to learning to working for wealth to procreation to acts of compassion, charity and service to perform any activity of thought, deed and action in interaction with the rest of the creation. 

        Any karma results in some karma-phal (fruits or return of karma) for the performer. A karma-phal could be punya meaning resulting in enjoyment of  merits which brings happiness to the performer. Or a karma-phal could be paap which means non-merits or sins which would result in pain and sorrow for the performer.  

        A karma can be performed in two ways. One way is to perform karma in a sa-kaami manner, that is with an expectation of karma-phal, that is expecting fruits, rewards, income, wishes, desires from karma. The second way is to perform a karma in a nish-kaami manner that is without any expectation of a karma-phal. With sa-kaami attitude the performer must receive the karma-phal sometime someplace in this life journey or in life journeys to come. This law of karma stipulates that one must receive and partake karma-phal. This compulsory receiving and partaking of karma-phal is called the cycle of sansaar. sansaar is what enables each one of the aatmaa, that is each one of the living beings, take repeated births in various forms of living beings. Once a living being is born it must die. Thus, sansaar is also called the cycle of birth and death. The law of karma stipulates that the sa-kaami karma performer must stay in sansaar and keep on repeating the cycles of birth and deaths till the karma-phal of all one's karma has been received and partaken. The nish-kaami karma performer is not bound by sansaar  as in the first place the karma was performed not expecting any karma-phal from the karma. This also means a person in nish-kaami life mode will not have to take the births and suffer death of a person in sa-kaami life mode. 

        karma-phal of any karma is received by the living being who performs that karma in three modes: a) aagaami mode or  b) sanchit mode or c) praa-rabdha mode. It also says in ved that most of the karma-phal we recieve in this life are from previous lives. So one should not gloat over the achievements of this life saying "I did this." The three modes of karma-phal are described briefly below. 

                a)    In aagaami mode the karma-phal is received during the present life commensurate as per ritt (laws of nature and society) which makes life functional. Under this mode can be your normal incomes for your employment, immediate enjoyments from daily karma or bartering of rewards of various karma with other living beings in normal life functions. In receiving aagaami karma-phal one can exercise one's free will in what to do with it or can manipulate it in its use as one wishes.

                b)    The karma-phal under sanchit mode takes a longer time to receive as the karma-phal is banked for future release. sanchit karma-phal is released and received in future life times. When one receives some life rewards without least expectation or without understanding what one could have done in this life to deserve such a reward, this could be one's release of sanchit karma-phal. When one is receives sanchit karma-phal one can exercise one's free will in deciding what to do with it. One has a free will even not to partake the karma-phal and can give it away to some body. One can also manipulate the karma-phal as one wishes as one manipulates any karma. One can exercise control over the use of the sanchit karma-phal.

                c)    The praa-rabdha karma-phal is also from karma of previous lives. But when praa-rabdha karma-phal fructifies and is received one losses the free-will part of what to do with it. When a praa-rabdha karma-phal is received one has to partake even if one does not want to. In receiving praa-rabdha karma-phal sometimes one also becomes totally "immobilized or frozen" to influence the karma-phal in any way. The examples are when one faces a situation in life which one cannot explain why it had to happen to one and also one is absolutely unable to do anything about the situation even if one tries. Getting broadsided on green traffic signal for yourself and getting seriously hurt or suffer fatality is one's praa-rabdha fructifying. Overnight melt-down of your super stock or investment from $250 to  0 cent is another praa-rabdha.  In praa-rabdha mode one is just a puppet being manipulated and we often write such situations as fate's doing. praa-rabdha karma-phal are also big ticket items such as winning a big lottery and then wasting it away or getting involved in big time troubles when everybody seems to be against you - even the most dear ones and no matter what you do it just gets worst. 

        karma-shastra also stipulates that one will recieve the results of a karma in the same mode that exists when the results of the karma came about. The karma and its results includes what one does to others in thought, word and deed. When one hurts someone with a karma in thought, words or deeds then one will have also to face the same result sometime in future in the same mode. That is one of the reasons why narak (hell) exists. narak is a place where one has to be to experience the hurt one inflicted on others in thought, words and deeds. But the purpose of narak is also the hope that if one experiences what one had dished out then one would not dish it out the next time around if the dishing out results in pain or hurt or destruction.      

        We will learn more about karma theory, laws and karma-phal as we study more ved. But one must rest assured that whatever one is the result of one's karma one will have to receive the result of that karma as karma-phal in sanchit and praa-rabdha mode in future life.   

         Siddhi means:     accomplishment, fulfillment, completion of a sa-kaami or nish-kaami karma; performing any type of karma to perfection; complete attainment of the objectives of any type of karma that is attainment of all intents, desires and wishes as a karma-phal or as a sevaa as nimitt in nish-kaami mode;  success of a karma; prosperity, welfare or well-being attained through a karma; payment or liquidation of debt of a karma; creating a solution of a problem in a karma or of a karma; providing complete sanctity and purity to a karma.

         Siddhi also means:     eight fundamental shaktio of a dev or devi.  These eight fundamental siddhio or shaktio of a dev or devi are:

        .1     animaa is the shakti or power to grow small and penetrate anything;      

        .2    laghimaa is the shakti or power to become light and ability to rise against gravity;    

        .3    garimaa is the shakti or power  to become extremely heavy;

        .4    mahimaa is the shakti or power  to have extensive size;

        .5   praaptih is the shakti or power  to have extensive reach;

        .6    praakaamyam is the shakti or power  capacity to obtain all that is desired;      

        .7    vashitvam is the shakti or power  to conquer all living beings;

        .8    yatra-kaamaa-vasaayitvam is the shakti or power  to be infallible in any purpose.   

                          There are additional supplementary shaktio a dev or devi are:    

                            .1    anurmima-tvam is the shakti to hear sound from distances beyond the normal mortal's hearing range;      

                            .2     apratihata-aadesh is the shakti to do any kriyaa, kaarya or karma (involuntary, voluntary and of one's own free will) activities;

                            .3     bhuchari-siddhi is the shakti to fly over earth;    

                            .4    dardur-siddhi is the shakti to fly;       

                            .5    dev-krinda-darshan is the shakti to be able to see krinda (sports and pleasure giving) activities of devo and devio;    

                            .6    duura-sharvan is the shakti to see beyond a mortal's normal range of seeing;           

                            .7    iccha-mrutyu is the shakti to enable one to die at one's desire or will;     

                            .8    kaam-ruup is the shakti to take any form one wishes;     

                            .9    kaaya-siddhi is the shakti to enter another body;     

                            .10    khechaari is the shakti to fly in space;    

                            .11    mano-jav is the shakti to move one's body at the speed of one's mind;     

                            .12    mrutyun-jaya-siddhi is the shakti to conquer death;      

                            .13    paatal-siddhi is the shakti to acquire hidden treasures;     

                            .14    para-kaaya-pravesh is the shakti to enter into another creation's body;    

                            .15    sankalpa-padaarth-praapti is the shakti to obtain things as desired and when desired;     

                            .16    sva-chhand-mrutyu is the shakti to die when one wishes;    

                            .18    trikaal-gnan is the shakti to have knowledge of the past, present and future.       

        A person who may not be dev or devi may possess any of these siddhio. These siddhio are attainable as boons from performing tapas and bhakti to a dev, devi or brhmah or anybody who is capable of a boon-giving. A persons possessing any of these siddhio or shaktio is called  a siddha.

        sanyaas means literally to completely throw away everything. In vedik lifestyle sanyaas means to renounce attachment to this creation in forms created by the shakti of maayaa. Examples of such attachments through the shakti of maayaa are inability to share anything with others; tendency to feel exclusivity to anything or everything; thoughts and deeds thereof that one cannot live without another fellow creations; thoughts and deeds thereof that one is superior to others and even superior to bhagvaan; thoughts and deeds thereof that nobody should have more than what one possesses; all karma that one performs in sa-kaami mode; all karma that does not include bhakti, tapasya and following dharma.... To be in sanyaas mode is to give up all the attachment to prakruti which is basically all creations from prajaapati brahmaa to the single atom. In sanyaas mode one understands that the entire creation is for one's use to perform sevaa (service) to one's creators, to the ultimate creator brhmah and to the rest of the creation working for brhmah as brhmah's nimitt.  There are various modes and degree of sanyaas as giving up attachment to this creation is extremely difficult. One who is in sanyaas mode is called a sanyaasi. The last ashram of life is called sanyaas ashram.  In sanyaas mode, renouncing of the attachments has to be in thought, words and deeds.    

We should study and understand the above very carefully as the above knowledge is of very fundamental nature on which our future knowledge will be built upon.

With the above knowledge of  karma, the meanings of akshar, brhmah (refer glossary), sarva-gatam and yagna is understood, then we start understanding slok 3.15  whereby shree krishna-bhagvaan informs us that he is brhmah and is presented in all the creations and activities of the creations including yagna. In slok 3.15 we were introduced to the concept that karma is born of brhmah....now we must reflect on this with the knowledge of what karma is when we think and say it loudly " I did this and that"............

...previously bhagvaan informed us through slok 3.14 that yagna is born of karma...... 

But from the line of thinking that prajaapati brahmaa had to tapas and bhakti for the first yagna and to perform his first karma of creating this entire universe....should we mankind also reflect on the fact that we really are not creating anything...so then what are we doing everyday rushing here and there, saying to everybody "I do not have time" ....when all our daily karma are created by brhmah......the answer is in bhagvad gitaa.....and to understand that answer we must all do the bhakti the way we know from our elders and guruji and the way the concept of bhakti has been passed down from father to son.....one way to do bhakti is to study bhagvad gitaa every day, every time out we get from this sansaar.......