Wednesday, July 29, 2015

1 Gita Sloka Every Day - Chapter 17 - Shraddhatraya Vibhaga Yoga - Sloka 27

The entire content of this mail is from Shri V N Gopala Desikan's  Srimad Bhagavad Gita, published by Vishishtadvaita Research Centre, Chennai and The Bhagavad Gita by Swami Chidbhavananda published by Ramakrishna Mission

Demerits Turned into Merits 23-28
1 Gita Sloka  Every Day - Chapter 17 - Shraddhatraya Vibhaga Yoga - Sloka 27


Yagye tapasi daane cha sthithih sat iti cha uchyate I
Karma cha eva tadarthiyam sad iti eva abhidhiyate II  sloka 27
यज्ञे तपसि दाने च स्थितिः सत् इति च उच्यते I 
कर्म च एव तदर्थीयं सत् इति एव अभिधीयते II श्लोक 27 

Steadfastness in sacrifice, austerity and gift is also called  "sat" and action for the sake of the Lord is also called "sat"


In stanza 25 the performance of yagna dana and tapas was dominated by "Tat". Hence the performance of the same three sacred acts is dominated by the thought of "Sat". And there is a slight difference between these two doings. The former is actuated by the urge for moksha or liberation. The intensity of feeling is at a high pitch in it. The means and the end therefore get merged into one. The Brahmavastha is in evidence at the very beginning of the sadhana. Whereas in the latter which is "sat" bhava the progress is slow but steady.

When yagna dana and tapas are performed properly they naturally come under the category of :sat" in which the means and the end are not the same, although the means requires to be given the same  importance as attached to the end. This maybe clarified through an example - scaffolding are necessary for constructing high buildings. The former is temporary and the latter is permanent. The former is the means and  the latter the end. Attention is to be given to the means as to the end. The attitude of :sat" is bestowed to the means and the end alik. Yagna, dana and tapas are the means and god  is the end. The ardent sadhaka is all attention and steadfastness in the discharge of these holy acts. He does not mind being very remote. His attitude towards the means - sacrifice, austerity abd gift - is "sat".

Adoption of a wrong method because of ignorance to the right end is also "sat" for the simple reason that the end is great. God is the goal to the sadhaka; he follows a wrong path to begin with; even that wrong path is "sat" because it is bound to get rectified. An example - A pilgrim to a northern sacred place chooses to walk southward not knowing the right path. In this situation somebody comes in to put him on the right path. Because of the good intention of the pilgrim, even the wrong road he has chosen is "sat". Whatever action one takes for the sake of the Lord is "sat". Good karma done for selfish ends is "asat". Even bad karma done for the glory of the Lord is "sat".

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