Class Summary for Feb 25, 2025 - Chapter-5 - Slokas 7-12

Bhagavad Gita chapter 5 Study group - 02/25/2025 - Summarized by Anuradha Bhaskar

Recap:-

Arjuna’s confusion on whether it is karma yoga and karma sannyasa yoga.

Bhagwan recommends Karma yoga. Doing the duties with the right attitude is more important. The grihastha is

allocated many duties and is expected to perform the Karma yoga- no attachment to results.

Gyana yoga- no attachments to doer ship.

For both the underlying thing is Bhakti.

Pratima ji’s explanation:- chapter 1:- Arjuna is lamenting and he is worried that hinting of knowledge of sankhya.

With the Evenness of mind two important things emerges is knowledge and wisdom.

How does a wise man behave and what are the characteristics.

With the controlled mind and controlling the senses- when man attains wisdom he has control of senses.

Action-wisdom- controlling the mind – controlling the senses (with the support of knowledge)

In chapter 3 -We have action and knowledge. Knowledge beyond

In chapter 4:- action is source for Gyana and types of yagnas. Karma yoga how it culminates into knowledge.

Sacrificing the ignorance into yagna helps us to get Gyana.

Chapter 5:- Arjuna is back to his question and wonders what the best path to choose karma yoga or sannyasa yoga.

We continued with our class chapter 5 verse 4:-

When we consistently pursue karma yoga we will reach sannyasa. The juice of the karma is squeezed out all the

karma then we can go for Sannyasa yoga like squeezing the juice out of Sannyasa.

It is a sequence... 1st karma yoga only once completed and left the desire of outcomes of the actions can be followed

into Karma Sannyasa Yoga.

    

Karma Yoga
    

Karma Sannyasa yoga

Adhikari
    

Grihastha
    

Sanyasi

Example
    

Train
    

Airplane

Why?
    

Vasanas are there to experience the world
    

Less Vasanas are there to experience the world.

Desire
    

Still desires are strong
    

Not interested in name, form and function

Focus
    

Family Society and spiritual life
    

Spiritual Life

Do not jump to karma sannyasa right away because it’s hard to attain without karma yoga! It will just be very

sorrowful! But the one who is ready, attains Brahman quickly.

We chanted shlokas 7, 8, 9,10,11,12 and went thru the translatory.

We are witness of ourselves and we need to be in witness mode.

True freedom = when you are not the doer/experiencer in every action /activity free from attachments of the

action/activity and its result.

Being in that meditative state or union with Brahman and also performing the actions

Like a lotus leaf how it is not affected with water or the surroundings in the same way we need to be.

Doing introspection will help everyone to understand how the actions were performed.

Real me should stay back and be the witness of the situations or while performing actions.

Give up the result of the action before giving up on the action. Just like a squeezing the sugar cane.

Controlling the horses on where to go in the same way control the senses and the mind.

Internally practice being a non-doer while externally we need to be engaged in doing things like inaction in action.

Internally when we have lost the doer ship has to be given away to the Brahman.

Two beautiful stories were explained which goes as below.

Sage Sukha is asked to go to Janaka maharaja and learn things by Veda Vyasa.

While he is going he hears all the commotion in the market. When he reaches the palace king janaka greets him

and asks Sukha how he came and when he mentions that he came via the market. The market place was as

always very chaotic and noisy. King Janaka asks how his travel was and how he was feeling while walking thru

the market Sage Sukha says that it was nice pleasant one. King Janaka says that Sage Sukha you have learnt

everything and you can go back to your father Veda Vyasa and tell that you have learnt what is all required.

Sugriva asks Lord Rama why you are building the army since you are only one person who is sufficient to kill and

defeat Ravana. Lord Rama explains and tells that he is making sure others i.e. the vanaras get to do their karmas and

he was leading by example by performing his karmas.

We will continue watching Gurudev’s 3 videos in our next class.

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