Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 17 verse 18

 Chapter 17 verse 18 

“Austerity that is performed with ostentation for the sake of gaining honor, respect, and adoration is in the mode of passion. Its benefits are unstable and transitory.” 

Intent of mind, speech and body for any action or even austerities is important and will determine the result and benefits. Bhagwan says that if austerities are undertaken for the sake of gaining material benefits, fame, power and adulation, then the actions are performed from the mode of passion and the benefits would be unstable and momentary and not long lasting.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 17 verse 17

 Chapter 17 verse 17 

“When devout persons with ardent faith practice these three-fold austerities without yearning for material rewards, they are designated as austerities in the mode of goodness.” 

When the austerity of body, speech and mind are done with no expectation of material rewards, the austerities are said to be performed in sattvic mode or mode of goodness. For that to happen, the person has to have immense faith in the divine and striving always to purify their existence.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 17 verse 16

 Chapter 17 verse 16 

“Serenity of thought, gentleness, silence, self-control, and purity of purpose—all these are declared as the austerity of the mind.” 

Austerity of mind is even more supreme than austerity of body and speech and that much more difficult. However those who control their mind, controls their destiny. Journey is to replace bad thoughts with good more every moment and eventually get to the state of thoughtlessness. This is the sure shot way of stress less living. Mind control requires lots of self-control and ability to bring a lot of discipline to one’s life overall. What we think, we act and what we act becomes our character and hence charts our destiny. Hence it is important to think right.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 17 verse 15

 Chapter 17 verse 15 

“Words that do not cause distress, are truthful, inoffensive, and beneficial, as well as the regular recitation of the Vedic scriptures—these are declared as the austerity of speech.” 

We looked at the austerity of the body in the earlier verse. What is the austerity of speech? Speaking the truth, that also doesn’t hurt the other person while beneficial to them and all others in the world is considered austere. Of course recitation of divine scriptures such as the Vedas is considered austere for tongue.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 17 verse 14

Chapter 17 verse 14

 “Worship of the Supreme Lord, the Brahmins, the spiritual master, the wise, and the elders—when this is done with the observance of cleanliness, simplicity, celibacy, and non-violence—is declared as the austerity of the body.”

Who is austere through their body? Bhagwan answers thus-those who worship the Divine, Guru, elders who are following the path of sattva and persons who are followers of all aspects of Vedas (brahmanas not by birth but by action) and those who are pure, simple, celibate (except for procreation only) and non-violent in their actions. “Tapaha” is the word used for austerity. This word means burning deep meditation or just burning. Bhagwan points out that our actions should be able to burn down all impurities within and without us and let us to the path of the Divine.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 17 verse 13

 Chapter 17 verse 13 

“Sacrifice devoid of faith and contrary to the injunctions of the scriptures, in which no food is offered, no mantras chanted, and no donation made, is to be considered in the mode of ignorance.” 

Vedic fire sacrifices not performed according to scriptural injunctions where no food is offered, mantras chanted or donations made to the learned and worthy is conducted in vain and sheer ignorance. Likewise action or inaction inappropriate for the particular situation is performed in ignorance. Mindful action is the call made by Bhagwan in this verse.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 17 verse 12

 Chapter 17 verse 12 

“O best of the Bharatas, know that sacrifice, which is performed for material benefit, or with hypocritical aim, to be in the mode of passion.” 

As in yagna of the fire sacrifice kind and any other action performed by men for pure material benefit or in the mode of passion, the result will not benefit the eternal nature of the soul and will leave a psychic imprint on the soul which would need immense work to erase. Hence all actions need to be done with an attitude of surrender to the divine.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 17 verse 11

 Chapter 17 verse 11 

“Sacrifice that is performed according to the scriptural injunctions without expectation of rewards, with the firm conviction of the mind that it is a matter of duty is of the nature of goodness.” 

Even though this verse is focused on how a person with pure intent, body, mind, intellect and ego would perform Vedic yagna or sacrifice, this concept applies to all action done by men. Sattvic yagna as prescribed by Bhagwan is done with firm resolve focused on Divine without expectation of rewards and unflinching focus on the task with dedication. Is this the recipe for success for any action? 100% energy focused on doing the action without the expectation of any particular reward?

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 17 verse 10

 Chapter 17 verse 10 

“Foods that are overcooked, stale, putrid, polluted, and impure are dear to persons in the mode of ignorance.” 

Yaam is a time duration of 3 hours and this verse says that unrefrigerated food consumed 3 hours of cooking is spoilt food. This is a very high bar for our daily western style and now very often Indian style living. The food we eat today all over the world is not fit for human consumption-meat (which we are not designed as human beings to eat and digest!), overcooked, and polluted/impure food. Bhagwan declares that eating such food just enhances our ignorance and/or we eat this food due to our ignorance of how this food intake changes our body, mind, intellect and ego instruments. In earlier days in India, people didn’t consume food beyond a certain time, kept some foods apart from others in order not to pollute them and were generally aware of what kind of food was suitable for which region, weather or person. There is extensive documentation of this practice in Ayurveda-Veda for health and longevity. We will do well to peruse and adhere to this advice.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 17 verse 9

 Chapter 17 verse 9 

“Food that is too bitter, sour, salty, hot, pungent, dry, and full of chilies is dear to persons in the mode of passion. Such food produces pain, grief, and disease.” 

Adi Shankara in his sadhana panchakam recommends treating hunger as a disease and treating it with just enough food to treat that disease. Everything in moderation is recommended so overly bitter, sour, hot, salty, pungent or dry food is not recommended and if consumed regularly enhances the passion sense of rajas in our psyche. Bhagwan says that this kind of food is not ideal and causes physical and mental pain, disease and suffering eventually. I will also add oily food or anything which stokes desire for either the food or other desires in our system. It is a great wakeup call in this verse for us.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 17 verse 8

 Chapter 17 verse 8 

“Persons in the mode of goodness prefer foods that promote the life span, and increase virtue, strength, health, happiness, and satisfaction. Such foods are juicy, succulent, nourishing, and naturally tasteful.” 

“What you eat so you become” is reality of nature. Food gets assimilated into our bodies and becomes our personality. Hence it is very important to watch what we eat. Bhagwan points to foods which are sattvic in nature-juicy, succulent, naturally occurring food which doesn’t harm any being such as grains, pulses, fruits, vegetables, milk etc. These in moderate measure would enhance the life span of a human being and keep their body, mind, intellect and ego in pure space.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 17 verse 7

 Chapter 17 verse 7 

“The food persons prefer is according to their dispositions. The same is true for the sacrifice, austerity, and charity they incline toward. Now hear of the distinctions from me.” 

Observation in nature according to sanatana dharma leads to understanding that several characteristics in nature are three fold. Sattvic, Rajasic and Tamasic are the three fold dispositions. We just learnt about the three varieties of faith in beings. The foods we consume also affects our body, mind, intellect and ego instruments and are three fold as well. So is all so called religious actions such as sacrifice, austerity and charity. Bhagwan is  about to enumerate these 3 fold traits.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 17 verse 5-6

 Chapter 17 verse 5-6 

“Some people perform stern austerities that are not enjoined by the scriptures, but rather motivated by hypocrisy and egotism. Impelled by desire and attachment, they torment not only the elements of their body, but also I who dwell within them as the Supreme Soul. Know these senseless people to be of demonic resolves.” 

Excessive fasting, standing on pins and needles, extremely heat and cold yoga exercises and any other such extreme beliefs are not prescribed by the Vedas or any other scriptures. I have not read the Quran or Bible but they probably don’t advocate forceful conversion of people into “Christianity or Islam”. Such acts can never be prescribed by the all loving Supreme Being which is the same for every human being. Such misinterpretations of scriptures around the world are driven by false sense of passion, aggression and attachment to one’s belief and faith albeit misplaced. Bhagwan also states that such beings disrespect the presence of the divine in themselves and are not going to earn any merit doing such actions.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 17 verse 4

 Chapter 17 verse 4 

“Those in the mode of goodness worship the celestial gods; those in the mode of passion worship the yakṣhas and rākṣhasas; those in the mode of ignorance worship ghosts and spirits.” 

Bhagwan Sri Krishna has declared earlier in Bhagavat Gita that all prayers directed at different beings all go to him eventually. Why not pray to the Supreme Being directly? However we tend to pray to different entities expecting and hoping for material and immediate benefits. The pious among us pray to the devas with a pure mind but might still be expecting something to happen in return. The passionate among us pray for material wealth and well being and thus behave like yakṣhas and rākṣhasas in our faith and finally the most blatant transactional relationship of faith which can be interpreted as plain trade or barter is done by the tamasic among us. These are not 3 distinct people but all these traits reside in each of us and is brought forth at different times. The spiritual journey is about managing these instincts, getting beyond them and focuses on the good.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 17 verse 3

 Chapter 17 verse 3 

“The faith of all humans conforms to the nature of their mind. All people possess faith, and whatever the nature of their faith, that is verily what they are.” 

This verse reminds me of Descartes, famous French philosopher of the 17^th century who famously said “I think therefore I am” associating the mind with the body and stating that the existence of mind and body were distinct but closely connected. The recognition of the distinction of the body, mind, intellect, ego different from the soul has been known in ancient sanatana dharma literature for thousands of years before that. Bhagwan in this verse calls out each person’s faith and beliefs are governed by nature of their mind which is partly governed by the inherent psychic imprints they have carried into this life as well as their innate tendencies both developed in this life and carried over from previous lives. Bhagwan will go on to provide varieties of the mind in subsequent verses.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 17 verse 2

 Chapter 17 verse 2 

“The Supreme Divine Personality said: Every human being is born with innate faith, which can be of three kinds—sāttvic, rājasic, or tāmasic. Now hear about this from me.” 

Arjuna enquired about people who have faith even if they don’t follow the sanatana dharma scriptures. Bhagwan replies that every being has faith in someone or something. Even if someone doesn’t believe in God since they cannot see Him/Her, then their belief is in what their eyes are able to see. Religion is a combination of belief, faith and opinion. All religious sayings need not be truth. Absolute truth is beyond religion, faith, opinion and belief. It is the same for everyone and everybody irrespective of background, race, religion or any other social/material construct. Bhagwan says that everyone’s faith is filtered or clouded by their innate vasanas or tendencies. Their tendencies could be sāttvic, rājasic, or tāmasic and accordingly their faith and nature of faith would vary.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 17 verse 1

 Chapter 17 verse 1 

“Arjuna said: O Krishna, where do they stand who disregard the injunctions of the scriptures, but still worship with faith? Is their faith in the mode of goodness, passion, or ignorance?” 

In the last chapter, Bhagwan finished by saying it is important to follow the scriptural guidelines in life. Arjuna now asks a natural question about people who worship a higher authority with faith or dedication but don’t follow the scriptural guidelines. Arjuna wonders how their faith and dedication is considered. This is a pertinent question since several of us haven’t even read the scriptures and don’t follow them in any case. We do try and live a life with some amount of faith towards the divine. How is such a life viewed by Supreme Being or nature?

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 16 verse 24

 Chapter 16 verse 24 

“Therefore, let the scriptures be your authority in determining what should be done and what should not be done. Understand the scriptural injunctions and teachings, and then perform your actions in this world accordingly.” 

In this chapter, Bhagwan differentiated between pure traits and demonic traits and illustrated what eventually leads to enlightenment of the soul. The question might arise as to what or who is the authority of determining what is right and wrong action? The answer is provided by Bhagwan Himself. All action based on scriptural authority and dictum- in this case the Vedas are daivic in nature and everything else in demonic natured. The greatest of sanatana dharma Gurus have never strayed away from scriptural teachings. Let us take inspiration from our ancient sages and elders and tread the path of righteous.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 16 verse 23

 Chapter 16 verse 23 

“Those who act under the impulse of desire, discarding the injunctions of the scriptures, attain neither perfection, nor happiness, nor the supreme goal in life.” 

What do the sanatana dharma scriptures advise? All beings have jivatma ingrained in them and are supreme consciousness in its purest form veiled by attachments to material realm through countless lives. Getting rid of these afflictions would reveal that supreme consciousness in each of our souls. Desire, lust and anger prevent us from this path of perfection which also is the sure shot path to everlasting happiness. This pursuit of everlasting happiness is the supreme goal in life.

 

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 16 verse 22

 Chapter 16 verse 22 

“Those who are freed from the three gates to darkness endeavor for the welfare of their soul, and thereby attain the supreme goal.” 

Who is the devil or what is the devil? Is it a different being than human? Each of us has the devil or demon in us. Recognizing the demon in us and diminishing those tendencies and over time eliminating them completely is Bhagwan’s prescription for enlightening and enlivening our souls. Lust, Anger and Greed are to be conquered and let us take the first step right now at this moment.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 16 verse 21

 Chapter 16 verse 21 

“There are three gates leading to the hell of self-destruction for the soul—lust, anger, and greed. Therefore, all should abandon these three.” 

What is hell for the soul, body, mind, intellect and ego? It is taking innumerous births in material realm. What prompts the multiple births? It is the lasting impressions on the individual soul of past karmas, behaviors and response to situations. Non dharmic thoughts and actions necessitate the soul to undergo difficult experience to exhaust those psychic imprints (vasana) to emerge out of it. Three major negative emotions are lust, anger and greed. Expectation of a particular result of action and attachment to a happy interaction with material things lead to all 3 emotions-lust, anger and greed. Hell is right here on earth with these behaviors.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 16 verse 19-20

 Chapter 16 verse 19-20 

“These cruel and hateful persons, the vile and vicious of humankind, I constantly hurl into the wombs of those with similar demonic natures in the cycle of rebirth in the material world. These ignorant souls take birth again and again in demonic wombs. Failing to reach me, O Arjuna, they gradually sink to the most abominable type of existence.” 

In sanatana dharma scriptures, there are 14 lokas-7 upper lokas or realms and 7 lower realms. These present a spectrum of 14 possibilities to traverse individual soul’s journey. There is a good mix of free will of each of the individual soul-jivatma within the construct of laws of karma, universe and God’s grace. There is always a consequence of all of our actions but instead of condemning us to eternal hell, God in his infinite grace can lift us out of despair when we surrender to His ways. The only permanence in this cycle of life and death with some interludes of body less soul state is enlightenment. “What we sow, so we reap”. It is possible to have lower births in non human souls with no option to gather merit and only to exhaust our demonic tendencies for multiple lifetimes. Part of this statement is designed to wake both Arjuna and reader/listener out of deep slumber and rut. Bhagwan definitely have got our attention here !

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 16 verse 18

 Chapter 16 verse 18 

“Blinded by egotism, strength, arrogance, desire, and anger, the demonic abuse my presence within their own body and in the bodies of others.” 

Bhagwan further points out the delusion several of us have about our achievements and persona. Have we forgotten the divine entity residing in all of us which is the cause for all actions? Why are we blinded by ego, false sense of strength, achievement, fame, name, fortune etc? Why do we get deluded by anger, desire and arrogance? Demonic behavior is resident in all of us. Demons are not a separate class of people but demonic tendencies reside in different shades, shapes and forms in all of us. Let us kill the demon in each of us. Surrender to the divine in ourselves and bow to the divine in others..Namaha the! Namaste!

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 16 verse 17

 Chapter 16 verse 17 

“Such self-conceited and stubborn people, full of pride and arrogant in their wealth, perform ostentatious sacrifices in name only, with no regard to the rules of the scriptures.” 

Divine and demonic qualities exist in each of us. Every day we need to fight the battle for the good to win over evil within us. Bhagwan means scriptural injunction of way to perform Vedic sacrifices with devotion towards Divine and bereft of ego of the actions. I would humbly submit to extend that construct of vedic sacrifices in the current context to everyday action to be done as an offering to the Lord Almighty without any ego or conceit. The mind moves very fast like the wind and could trip up the best of us. The only way to conquer the self is through the Self says Bhagwan earlier. Great advise as always!

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 16 verse 16

 Chapter 16 verse 16

“Possessed and led astray by such imaginings, enveloped in a mesh of delusion, and addicted to the gratification of sensuous pleasures, they descend to the murkiest hell.”

Where is hell and heaven? It is suffered or enjoyed in this material world through the body, mind, intellect and ego instruments. I cannot imagine a different realm for hell or heaven. Mind is a very powerful instrument which can destroy a person’s outlook through delusion, addiction to material gratification or clinging. A sense of higher purpose will be missing in these beings due to strong association to material wants and desires. It can happen to any of us. God’s grace and rightful thoughts and actions at every moment in our lives is the key to escape this slippery slope.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 16 verse 13-15

 Chapter 16 verse 13-15 

“The demonic person thinks, “I have gained so much wealth today, and I shall now fulfill this desire of mine. This is mine, and tomorrow I shall have even more. That enemy has been destroyed by me, and I shall destroy the others too! I am like God himself, I am the enjoyer, I am powerful, and I am happy. I am wealthy and I have highly placed relatives. Who else is equal to me? I shall perform sacrifices (to the celestial gods); I shall give alms; I shall rejoice.” In this way, they are deluded by ignorance.” 

The ego in beings can destroy us. We forget that there are several things which are outside our control for a particular event or action to happen. Blinded by ego, the demonic person thinks they have achieved everything they got through their own effort and the desire flow seems endless. They associate their material success and acquisition falsely as achieved by themselves without Divine help and hence even proclaim that they don’t need God or any Divine help. All their actions are self serving including fire sacrifices and donations meant to just please their ego. Even outwardly good actions done with egoistic desires are not recommended and falls into the demonic realm.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 16 verse 12

 Chapter 16 verse 12 

“Held in bondage by hundreds of desires, and driven by lust and anger, they strive to accumulate wealth by unjust means, all for the gratification of their senses.” 

In kali yuga, Bhagwan’s descriptions of demonic behaviors seem to fit several of our actions. It is depressing to read this chapter so far but it is also good therapy and wake=up call to learn all the ills residing in me. Desire and anger drive us to focus on gratification of the sense objects and accumulation of wealth. To what end? I used to wonder if there is a famous person in this life such as a politician, film star or sportsperson, are they able to learn of their praise after their life? The answer in my opinion is a big NO. What comes with their soul to their future journey is the good deeds they have done and vasanas they continue to possess. Hence one’s life needs to be measured by what vasanas one was able to exhaust in this lifetime and how we didn’t pick up additional vasanas but acting in an egoless fashion.

 

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 16 verse 11

 Chapter 16 verse 11 

“They are obsessed with endless anxieties that end only with death. Still, they maintain with complete assurance that gratification of desires and accumulation of wealth is the highest purpose of life.” 

When we will all realize that the entire world is a stage where a play or drama has been setup for us to act out? As I say, we are all actors on this material stage of the world. “rang manch ke kat putli-puppets in a puppet stage play”. I have seen close relatives who were anxious about family, great grand children et al which shows the love and affection they have for family but at some point, we need to detach ourselves from the material world without being disengaged. Recently, a hedge fund firm in wallstreet went belly up due to gross over leverage of derivative calls. Gordon Gekko in the movie “wallstreet” said “Greed is good”. It is not. “God is good and greed is demonic”.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 16 verse 10

 Chapter 16 verse 10 

“Harboring insatiable lust, hypocrisy, pride and arrogance, the demonic beings cling to their false tenets. Thus clouded, they are attracted to the impermanent and work with impure resolve.” 

Daily sandhya vandanam has the sloka which prays to the Supreme to help control desires, lust and anger. Each of us has the asuric tendencies somewhere in us just in equal measure to the possibility of divinity.

Reflecting on this chapter reminds me a lot of my demonic tendencies and it is a wake-up call for me to subdue it with the weapon of God’s grace. Where there is impurity in the heart, God cannot reside there. The impure mind, body, intellect and ego gets attached to the material impermanence of world and gets mired in pride, jealously, hypocrisy, arrogance and lust. Anyone can slip into this quagmire. The only way out is to appeal to the Divine in us and stay on the sattvic path as much as possible.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 16 verse 9

 Chapter 16 verse 9 

“Holding fast to such views, these misdirected souls, with small intellect and cruel actions, arise as enemies of the world threatening its destruction.” 

When I was reflecting on the demonic nature of beings, I was thinking of the charvaka philosophy in sanatana dharma which rejects any form of knowledge which is inferred.  That philosophy rejects the law of karma, reincarnation and God or creator and propagates material pleasures as the only truth and death as the end of it all. In sanatana dharma history, such beliefs have existed from time to time and continue to be exhibited in society. However what has intrigued me is how Supreme does not interfere in one’s free will until it affects His broader laws of nature and then He resets world order in his own way through the multitude of avataras. These demonic beings due to their narrow materialistic views of the world order undertake cruel and adharmic actions and threaten world order and possible self destruction. Bhagwan refers them to “Nashta Atma or misdirected souls”. Nashta also means loss. It is indeed their loss but nothing is lost beyond redemption for any soul in sanatana dharma. They will get back on track in future lives which they don’t believe in themselves in this life!