अहम् ब्रह्मास्मि - "I'm divine" - "I'm part of the God" - "I'm not just this body"
Such a small sentence in Sanskrit but with a deep meaning. I understood the real meaning of it as I progressed reading Bhagvad Gita and Srimad Bhagavatam.
This term is known to many people recently because of Netflix series Sacred Games. Although, there wasn't anything sacred about the series. Anyway !
I'm not sure how this article is going to take its shape because like I mentioned earlier in one of my blog posts ( My Writings ), these are my scribbled thoughts ! This post is collection of thoughts I had crowded my mind over a long period of time.
Karma
Shree Krishna says in Bhagvad Gita , Chapter 2, Verse 47 -
कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन।
मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि ॥४७॥
karmaṇy evādhikāras te
mā phaleṣu kadācana
mā karma-phala-hetur bhūr
mā te saṅgo ’stv akarmaṇi
Translation :
You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty.
One of the most important thing Bhagvad Gita revolves around is - Karma. It was Karma of each of and every person on the Kurukshetra which decided if they were going to stand with Pandavas and Shree Krishna or against them with Kauravas. Presence of Shree Krishna is so divine that not just the warriors from Pandava's side were liberated to the divine light (ब्रम्हज्योति) but everyone else who stood against them as well. If we call Shri Krishna as fire then we are like those sparks around the fire. Sparks are generated from fire. Similarly we are souls (आत्मा) who are created from divine soul (परमात्मा) of Shri Krishna.
Often we are puzzled due of lack of knowledge about many things which are associated with spirituality, material world and a link between them. I tried to find these answers as I read Bhagvad Gita and Srimad Bhagavatam. My further scribbled thoughts are an attempt to shed some light on some of them from my perspective.
So how our individual's Karma's are affected ?
There are Good Karmas and bad Karmas and that's no brainer. I'll try to explain it with a bit modern example.
So what is happening when you are experiencing happiness, joy - those are the times when you are redeeming the points you gained because of your good Karmas. Fruits of your good Karma. Similarly, when you are going through pain and sorrows you are redeeming points of your bad Karmas.
The cycle of joy and sorrows keep repeating because we are stuck inside the game of Karma. After certain number of points gained and redeemed, we either go to next level of the game or we have to keep repeating the same level or sometimes we have to go few levels down or start from scratch from level 1.
Now, let me correlate it with what Shri Krishna says in Bhagvad Gita and Srimad Bhagwatam.
If you are reading this that means most probably you are living a human life. The results of your good Karmas will help you to get a better human life in your next life or you may even be fortunate to get a life of one of the Gods. The most supreme post or life you may get is similar to Lord Brahma or position of Pole Star. On other side, as a result of your bad karmas you go through lot of pain and sorrows within this life or next life. One may downgraded to the level of a pig. Pig enjoys mud and eats a crap without even realising that it's a nasty business.
When someone realises vicious cycle of Karma that's when they understand they are not this body. They are a soul, who just keeps changing the body and stuck in vicious cycle of Karma. This realisation itself takes time.
We often look at Bramha, Vishnu and Mahesh as supreme Gods. "In The Beginning", Lord Bramha was given a charge of Raj Guna, Tam Guna to Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu became in charge of Satva Guna.
What are these Gunas and what they have to with one's karma or nature as Good or bad ?
Raj Guna is seen in the people who are greedy for money and wealth and the one who wants to experience and enjoy the luxurious life. They might be health conscious but they love their physical body so much that they are ready to spend lot of their wealth on maintaining their physical appearance
Tam Guna is seen in the people who are living their life under influence of narcotics, drugs, liquor, sex. They need some sort of intoxicants in their life to get going and most of the time they want to sleep.
That means most of the today's population is under the influence of Raj and Tam Guna.
Satva Guna is mostly found within people who are intelligent as well as well mannered and have already realised vicious cycle of Karma. E.g. Yogis.
These people are not much interested in earning wealth more than their necessity. They don't spend it on luxurious things for their personal benefits. They don't waste their time in sleeping, mating, on drugs, narcotics, etc,.
However, in modern world there are extremely rare people who are the influence of only Satva Guna. Even they have most of the qualities of as described above, Satva Guna is mostly polluted with Raj and Tam Guna.
One of the characteristics of people who are under influence of Raj and Tam Gunas is to eat non-vegetarians food. I have tried put my thoughts separately on quitting non-vegetarian food in this post - जीवो जीवस्य जीवनम् (jīvo jīvasya jīvanam). In short, desire of fulfilling taste of tongue drives human to kill an animal and thus it indicates influence of Tam Guna.
That's why it is not advisable to offer non-vegetarian food to the Gods. Type of food offered to Gods is often called as Satvik Bhojan for the same reason. Satva - in Satvik indicates the food should be so simple that it should cause no harm to animals in the process neither it should make someone drowsy after eating it.
Love, Depression & Devotion
Indian Film Industry tried to present some of these popular movies where they tried impressing people in the beginning with a script full of drama, love, pain, depression and how God himself helped an atheist win the case against so called preachers of Dharma. Other movie tried to portray neutral nature of the God when an alien lost in this world tried to find Him. Although movies tried to impress people to a good extent, in the end they misguide people.
One of the questions raised by atheists through these movies or otherwise, why do people going to pilgrimage met with an accident or most of the people have idol of God on the dashboard and yet many of they have died in an accident ?
This is how cycle of birth and death bonded by Karma is. Nobody can escape from their Karma. People end up holding responsible to God for all the pain and suffering they are going through but they are all fruits of their own Karma.
When I see people worshipping God, I wonder how many of them just worship out of pure love and devotion for the God ! Most of them are worshipping because they want something in return or they fear and expecting to be discounted from their karma rather bad karmas. For them it's just another trade in a barter system. There is a saying in Marathi on this - मनी नाही भाव म्हणे देवा मला पाव ( May God bless me even though I don't devote myself to Him ). But the merciful God is only hungry for pure love and devotion in the heart of his devotees. ( देव भावाचा भुकेला ). Some people may say it's peace that we seek and nothing else when we are praying or we are on pilgrimage. Seeking or wishing peace is nothing but asking for a favor from the God. What one fails to understand is, all you have to have is faith and surrender yourself to Him and you will get more than what you are seeking for. Shri Krishna has all the powers to alter the fruits of Karma when we decide to surrender ourselves to him fully without any expectations in return.
Shri Krishna says in Bhagvad Gita, Chapter 18, Verse 66
सर्वधर्मान्परित्यज्य मामेकं शरणं व्रज ।
अहं त्वां सर्वपापेभ्यो मोक्षयिष्यामि मा शुच: ॥ ६६ ॥
sarva-dharmān parityajya
mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja
ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo
mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ
Translation :
Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear.
What Is Love ?
Many of us often claim that they love someone and it's quite natural for them to ask their loved ones that "Why are they in love?", "What is attracting them to fall in love ? "
The question itself is self explanatory that at some point of time when that attraction will get over or the reason for attraction will be in a reach, easy to access or experience it then so called love would fade away.
If one has to understand what pure love, then the same question should be asked to the parents or specially to the mother who loved you unconditionally since the time you were not even born. The answer one may get upon asking same question to a mother would be -"because you are my child" and that's it ! There need not be any reason to love a child for mother.
But unfortunately, even when it comes to parents, often this love is not pure. People who have more than one child, often have their favourite one. Not that they don't love their other children but the one who is fulfilling expectations more than the other one becomes a favourite child.
In case of Shri Krishna it's not the same case. Although, he has his inclination towards his devotees and he discounts his devotees from Karma when their love is pure. Otherwise everyone else is like his children and he wants all of them to be liberated and come back to home in spiritual world - Vaikuntha or Krishnaloka. He has same love for his all children and they would get sweet / bitter fruits based on their Karma. Unfortunately people often gets stuck in karma. When a thief is punished by the law for his bad deeds and not his parents, similarly no human should curse God but his past karmas when they find themselves or others suffering.
Why people get depressed ? What is depression ?
It's a state of feeling pain because of disappointment. This disappointment could be from the people you loved or job or because failure of expectations. That's when one has to realise अहम् ब्रह्मास्मि. I'm not this material body. The root of disappointment is expectations from the material world. The principal of material world is that everything that has been created or born will eventually be destroyed or die. The love that has been found, would fade away eventually, job that has given you excitement in the beginning would disappoint you at some point of time and same goes any other happiness. The enjoyment of vacation would go away if one is on vacation through out the year. Humans keep looking for more and more even they have everything they need to get "Soul Satisfaction".
On the other side people who make their mind to take extreme steps in depression also need to understand that ending this life would just end the body and not your karmas. So face your karmas and redeem your points !
So, then am I suggesting that everyone should stop believing in love or pack the bags and move to Himalayas ?
Shri Krishna says in Bhagvad Gita Chapter 18, Verse 45 ,46
स्वे स्वे कर्मण्यभिरत: संसिद्धिं लभते नर
स्वकर्मनिरत: सिद्धिं यथा विन्दति तच्छृणु ॥ ४५ ॥
यत: प्रवृत्तिर्भूतानां येन सर्वमिदं ततम् ।
स्वकर्मणा तमभ्यर्च्य सिद्धिं विन्दति मानव: ॥ ४६ ॥
sve sve karmaṇy abhirataḥ
saṁsiddhiṁ labhate naraḥ
sva-karma-nirataḥ siddhiṁ
yathā vindati tac chṛṇu
yataḥ pravṛttir bhūtānāṁ
yena sarvam idaṁ tatam
sva-karmaṇā tam abhyarcya
siddhiṁ vindati mānavaḥ
Translation :
By following his qualities of work, every man can become perfect. Now please hear from Me how this can be done.
It is better to engage in one’s own occupation, even though one may perform it imperfectly, than to accept another’s occupation and perform it perfectly. Duties prescribed according to one’s nature are never affected by sinful reactions.
No, that's not what I meant. If the love and expectations for someone or something that's bound to be destroyed is a root cause of the disappointment or temporary happiness then one must think about loving and devoting themselves to someone or something that's not meant to be destroyed. The devotion and love for Shri Krishna or in his any other forms leads to that experience of Soul Satisfaction. Once it's decided to surrender to him, he might test you to see how firm you are on your stand but when you prove yourself, he would never disappoint you. One must understand that the key to happiness is to believe and love someone that's more worth than something that's bound to disappoint you. That's how Shri Krishna explains "Bhakti Yoga" in Bhagvad Gita.
Arjuna couldn't have sustained in the greatest war of Mahabharata if he would have been soft hearted with the love and respect for the people standing against him in the war. Only after Bhagvad Gita was told by Shri Krishna, he realised that he has to fight not for himself but to destroy bad (विनाशाय च दुष्कृताम्।) from this world because that's what Vaasudev Shri Krishna wanted. He fought to fulfil wishes of Shri Krishna and when war was over the pain and depression because of death of his family, friends and teachers couldn't penetrate his heart.
At the same time Karna was one of the greatest warriors in Mahabharata. Yet he had to face death. It was also result of his own karma. He felt that "fate" has not done enough justice with him but instead of surrendering himself to Shri Krishna, he took a path of iniquity, immorality.
Question is from where can one suddenly begin to devote himself to Shri Krishna ?
Athāto brahma jijñāsā ( अथातो ब्रह्मजिज्ञासा )
Means, that in order to get out of the bodily conception, one has to increase attachment to or inquiry about Brahman.
For me it started with reading Bhagvad Gita and Srimad Bhagwatam. I have tried to pen down my experience of devoting myself to Shri Krishna in Reading Bhagvad Gita & Srimad Bhagwatam and Tattoo
My sole purpose of putting down these Scribbled Thoughts is only to inspire at least few people in my this lifetime to read Bhagvad Gita and try to understand Shri Krishna beyond just Hindu God but the supreme spiritual master !
Shri Krishna says in Bhagvad Gita Chapter 7, Verse 14
दैवी ह्येषा गुणमयी मम माया दुरत्यया ।
मामेव ये प्रपद्यन्ते मायामेतां तरन्ति ते ॥ १४ ॥
daivī hy eṣā guṇa-mayī
mama māyā duratyayā
mām eva ye prapadyante
māyām etāṁ taranti te
Translation :
This divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature (Satva , Raj and Tam Gunas), is difficult to overcome. But those who have surrendered unto Me can easily cross beyond it.
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