In our previous post we saw Krishna describe the rare yogi to Arjuna – that yogi who is able to continue in the spiritual path to liberation even from a very young age. In today’s post we see this spiritual quest described in detail..
tatra taM buddhisa.nyogaM labhate paurvadehikam.h .
yatate cha tato bhuuyaH sa.nsiddhau kurunandana .. 6.43..
tatra – there, in that birth : taM – that : paurvadehikam.h – acquired in his previous birth : buddhi saMyogam.h - spiritual insight : labhate - he regains : cha – and : kurunandana – Arjuna – the darling of the Kurus : tataH - through that : bhuuyaH – again (with renewed vigor): saMsiddhau – for perfection (in the form of God realization) : yatate – strives.
Arjuna, he automatically regains in that birth, the spiritual insight of his previous birth and through that he strives, harder than ever for perfection in the form of God realization.
Some of us cannot do some things however hard we try. If I have to find the route to anybody’s house, I travel all over Bahrain before I reach. Thankfully, Bahrain is a small place and so I can afford to do that. On the other hand, some people would remember a route to a house that they visited five years back, in the dark and in the middle of pouring rain.
Once An elderly husband and wife noticed that they were beginning to forget many little things around the house. They were afraid that this could be dangerous, as one of them may accidently forget to turn off the stove and thus cause a fire. So, they went to their doctor who told them that they can write small “post it” notes as reminders for themselves. When they got home, the husband asked his wife, “Can you please make me puri and sabji because I am very hungry. And why don’t you write that down so you won’t forget?”"Nonsense,” said the wife, “I can remember puri and sabji!”After 20 minutes the wife came back and gave her husband a plate of Idlis with Sambar. The husband took it and glared at her. “I told you to write everything down. See you forgot to bring me the coconut chutney that I asked for”.
We see many people around us who have the capacity to remember names
and faces very easily. A friend of ours has a six year old boy who already knows the entire thirukkural. We see so many children in our Satsangh who sing bhajans so fluently or even sit and listen to discourses when all their friend are playing with Barbie dolls or watching WWF wrestling or playing video games.
When we hear U Srinivas could play the mandolin when he had hardly learnt the alphabets or the singer Sowmya could identify all ragas when she was two years old – an age when other children have just learnt to speak – we think that they are wonders of nature. According to this verse, it is not a random accident of nature, but a well designed sequence of creation!
Just as in the material world, when a yogi is reborn into a newer surrounding, all his weaknesses have already been removed, but his knowledge is left intact. Naturally, he is able to adapt to his spiritual needs with the same enthusiasm and he tries even harder than before. He automatically rises higher in a shorter time. This is the reason we see that one person is able to move faster in the spiritual path than another, even though they may study under the same spiritual teacher.
The message of this verse is that a hard working aspirant should therefore never feel bad or dejected. All efforts will eventually be justly rewarded. Some people may progress faster than others, but if each person tries hard enough, one can definitely succeed.
In short, the efforts that are put forth in either the material or the spiritual path are never wasted and a sincere yogi, who only does good actions can never have an evil fate. Even though his success may not be immediate or obvious, its effects are subtle but permanent and sure to follow. There is absolutely no chance that they will have the fate of a “broken cloud” with neither earthly or heavenly enjoyments nor will they lose the chance of God realization and hence Arjuna’s fears were unfounded.
Interesting…am loving your Gita discourses
Thanks Vinita. Do keep coming back for more;)
u have a very nice blog