Today, Swami discussed more of the 12th chapter, Bhakti Yoga. Here is a well-known shloka;’

Adveshta sarvabhutanam maitra karuna eva ca,
Nirmamo nirahankarah samaduhkhasukhah kshami. 12.13

The Lord describes the characteristics of a devotee from this shloka till the end of the chapter. He says, ‘Free from anger to all beings, friendly and compassionate, free from the feelings of ‘I’ and ‘mine,’ he is equal in pain and pleasure, and patient.’

This verse contains a lot of instruction for a sadhak. First it says ‘adveshta,’ to not have anger. Here, Shankara says in particular, ‘even when cursed, or hit, he is free from anger.’ Swami said that in ashrams, the inmates have to face such situations; we often complained ‘he hit me,’ ‘he yelled at me,’ etc. Because Shankara was a Swami, he was familiar with this, so he says this. In such situations, we shouldn’t blindly react. We should consider whatever comes to us as the fruit of our own actions. Then someone may think, ‘so he hit me. Why can’t I give him the fruit of his action, and hit him back?’ That kind of thought isn’t possible for a sadhak. A sadhak wants to end this cycle of karma, not continue it. Therefore, he shouldn’t react when others abuse him. That is ‘adveshta.’ That is a characteristic of a bhakta.

Swami also related ‘karuna’ and ‘maitri’ to ashram life. Usually, if someone is in pain, they try to make others around them experience pain, so they can get some consolation. In that situation, have compassion, pity for the person. Then we can avoid reacting. And ‘maitri’ means friendliness. This means to adjust to situations and people. This is also needed. Then it says ‘even in pleasure and pain.’ This is important, because it shows that we cannot avoid these two. We normally come to spirituality because of the promise of ‘ananda,’ supreme bliss. We think that we can eliminate suffering. Actually, that’s not what the Gita says. As long as one is in the body, you can’t avoid dukham, suffering. Instead, the Gita teaches that when pleasure or suffering comes, be ‘sama,’ be even-minded. That is ‘shanti,’ peace, not the elimination of suffering, because that’s not possible in a body.

Then some may ask, ‘what about nirvikalpa samadhi?’ Yes, in nirvikalpa samadhi, there is no body, so that isn’t a question there. But even if someone is in that state, they have to come back out. Therefore, it isn’t possible to avoid dukham while in the body. What the Gita teaches is to have an even-mind in both of these experiences, sukham and dukham.

Piyush,July 9, 2007