Chapter 27, Leela 3: Geeta Rahasya

Leela:

Baba always loved those who studied Brahma Vidya (knowledge of Brahman, the Ultimate Reality) and encouraged them. We will look at one example.

 

Once, Bapusaheb Jog received a package in the mail. It contained a copy of Geeta Rahasya, a commentary on the Bhagavad Gita by Lokamanya Tilak. When he came to the Masjid with the package under his arm and prostrated himself before Baba, the parcel fell at Baba's Feet.

 

Baba asked, “What Bapusaheb! What is this?”. Bapusaheb immediately placed the package in Baba's hands.

 

After flipping through the pages of the book for a moment, Baba took out a rupee from His pocket, placed it on the book with affection, and handing it to Jog, said, "Read this book from beginning to end. It will be beneficial to you”.

 

Based on Shri Sai Satcharita, The wonderful life and teachings of Shri Sai Baba, Translated by Nagesh Vasudev Gunaji (Mumbai: Shri Sai Baba Sansthan, Shirdi, 20^th Edition 2002), p143

Based on Shri Sai Satcharita, The Life and Teachings of Shirdi Sai Baba, G. R. Dhalbokar, Translated by Indira Kher (Slovenia: Bird Publisher, 2009), p229

 

Teachings from Leela:

 

1.    Baba tailors His advice for each of His devotees, sometimes requiring them to read certain spiritual books or follow certain practices, to obtain the specific knowledge that they need for their Spiritual progress

To understand this leela, let us first take a brief look into the life of Bapusaheb Jog, who receives advice from Baba in this leela. After his retirement, Bapusaheb and his wife moved to Shirdi, and spent all their time serving and worshipping Baba. After Megha passed away in 1912, Bapusaheb performed the daily arati ceremony in the Masjid and the Chavadi till Baba’s Mahasamadhi in 1918. Baba also called upon Bapusaheb to give discourses on two spiritual works, the Jnaneshwari, by Sant Janeshwar, and the Eknathi Bhagawat, by Sant Eknath.

Sant Jnaneshwar’s Jnaneshwari is a commentary on the Bhagavad Gita. He wrote that true knowledge consists in knowing God in the non-dual form and that devotion will culminate into Advaita Bhakti. He advised that each of us should perform our duties as a yajna (sacrifice) and offer our actions as flowers at the feet of God.

 

Sant Eknath’s Eknathi Bhagwat is an explanation of the eleventh Adhyaya (section) of the Bhagawat Puran, a very important ancient text on Bhakti, with an emphasis on achieving moksha through cultivating a personal relationship with Lord Krishna.  

 

The eleventh adhyaya is a dialog between Lord Krishna and Uddhava.  This dialog discusses how bhakti ultimately leads to freedom from the bondage of this world. To know more about the Eknathi Bhagawat, see my previous blog Chapter 27, Leela 1: Granting Consecrated Book.

 

As we can see, Baba entrusted Bapusaheb with giving discourses on two very important scriptures, which shows His confidence in Bapusaheb’s knowledge about them.

Why did Baba ask him to read Tilak’s Geeta Rahasya, a yet another commentary on the Bhagavad Gita?

 

The main themes of both books Bapusaheb knew well centered around Bhakti. To provide Bapusaheb the knowledge he needed for his spiritual progress, Baba asked him to read this additional commentary, as it had a fresh, new perspective on the Gita.

 

A little about Bal Gangadhar Tilak

 

Bal Gangadhar Tilak (1856-1920) was an independence activist, philosopher and freedom fighter. He was conferred upon the honorary title of Lokmanya, which literally means accepted by the people as their leader. Tilak was one of the first and strongest advocates of swaraj (self-rule) and a strong radical in Indian consciousness. His famous quote, "Swaraj is my birthright, and I shall have it!" is well-remembered in India even today.

 

Tilak believed that independence from British rule was the foremost necessity for the well-being of his nation. Tilak spent six years of rigorous imprisonment (1908-1914) in Mandalay Jail, Burma. He was incarcerated based on what he protested as false allegations about his support to the Indian revolutionaries, who had killed some British people. He wrote the Gita Rahasya while in prison.

 

Gita Rahasya

 

Tilak’s Gita Rahasya (Gita’s secret) is a commentary on Bhagavad Gita. In this book, Tilak differs from almost all other commentators when he says, Karma Yoga is greater than both Jnana Yoga and Bhakti Yoga.

 

As described in the foreword, Tilak concludes that the Bhagavad Gita’s main message is about the importance of Karma Yoga, and the need for adding this practice to whichever spiritual path you’re on:

 

Jnana Yoga there is, yes. Bhakti Yoga there is, yes. Who says not? But they are both subservient to the Karma Yoga preached in the Gita. If the Gita was preached to desponding Arjuna to make him ready for the fight — for the Action— how can it be said that the ultimate lesson of the great book is Bhakti or Jnana alone? In fact, there is a blending of all these Yogas in the Gita; and as the air is not Oxygen or Hydrogen, or any other gas alone, but a composition of all these in a certain proportion, so in the Gita all these Yogas are blended into one.

 

 

Difference between Karma and Karma Yoga

 

Before we proceed to understand Lokmanya Tilak’s commentary, let us review the subtle difference between Karma and Karma Yoga (from this commentary):

 

Karma is both action and the result of action. What we experience today is the result of our karma—both good and bad—created by our previous actions. This chain of cause and effect that we ourselves have created can be snapped by karma yoga: fighting fire with fire, we use the sword of karma yoga to stop the chain reaction of cause and effect. By disengaging the ego from the work process, by offering the results up to a higher power—whether a personal God or to the Self within—we stop the whole snowballing process.

 

Karma yoga is the yoga of action or work; specifically, karma yoga is the path of dedicated work: renouncing the results of our actions as a spiritual offering rather than hoarding the results for ourselves.

 

Why did Baba ask Jog to read this book from start to finish?

 

Baba recommended different books and practices to different devotees based on what He thought would be most beneficial to their spiritual progress. Via this leela, Baba wanted Bapusaheb to realise that, along with Bhakti Yoga, he needed to practice Karma Yoga as well, to make progress in his spiritual journey. Baba provided Bapusaheb the spiritual instruction He felt was missing, to advance Jog’s spiritual knowledge. Baba guided him to read the required material completely, to extract all the learnings from it and to gain spiritual progress. 

 

 

Putting into Practice

 

Here are some suggestions on how we could use this leela in our daily lives.

 

1.    Baba tailors His advice for each of His devotees, sometimes requiring them to read certain spiritual books or follow certain practices, to obtain the specific knowledge that they need for their Spiritual progress

 

In this leela, Baba conveys the importance of Karma Yoga in our lives. Let us see how to apply this in our lives.

 

The performing of karma (actions) is under your control, but you must teach yourself to renounce the results of your actions. Renouncing the results does not mean you must work for free for others always; you need to survive and pay your bills. What it means is that you must not be attached to the outcome of your actions. Learn to accept all that comes to you in your life, pleasant as well as unpleasant.

 

In devotional practice, the offering you make to God is called naivedya, which once offered, transforms to prasad. By offering naivedya to God, you are metaphorically offering your ignorance, while the receiving of prasad is metaphoric transformation of your ignorance into knowledge. You can offer anything to God as naivedya, and receive the result, whatever it is, with thanks. 

 

In this way, you will develop the attitude of prasād buddhi. This awareness must be maintained constantly in your day to day life so that it becomes a permanent part of your attitude.

 

How does Karma yoga complement your Bhakti practice?

 

As we have seen above, Karma Yoga is the renouncing of the results of our actions as a spiritual offering to the divine. As also noted above, the practice of offering naivedya is essentially from the Bhakti tradition.

 

The broad expansion of this practice, from the traditional offering of food, to the offering of all your toil and labour, is a beautiful enhancement to your Bhakti practice, and is sure to advance you in your spiritual journey and bring you closer to God. By including God in your life, not just during prayers, but also while you are performing other labours, your Bhakti will grow.

 

 

The following nine forms of Bhakti are in order of progression where each form of bhakti is more subtle and advanced than the previous one. When you dedicate all your work to God, then you play the role of servant to God, and reach the seventh form of bhakti below, Dasya.

 

·         Sravana (hearing of God's Lilas and stories),

·         Kirtana (singing of His glories),

·         Smarana (remembrance of His Name and presence),

·         Padasevana (service of His feet),

·         Archana (worship of God),

·         Vandana (prostration to the Lord),

·         Dasya (cultivating the Bhava of a servant with God),

·         Sakhya (cultivation of the friend-Bhava) and

·         Atmanivedana (complete surrender of the self).

 

How does Karma yoga complement your Jnana (knowledge) practice?

 

Brahma Vidya (Knowledge of Brahman), found in the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Shastras and the Puranas, is the highest knowledge. It is the knowledge of our own divine nature, which leads to enlightenment.

 

Once we know our own divine nature, we come to realize the illusory nature of this world. We free ourselves from the bondage of “I” and “mine,” as we notice that oneness of pure consciousness in ourselves, everywhere and in everything. In this state, there is no “I” or “You”—basically there is no judgement, because there is no multiplicity or duality. There is only oneness and this oneness is our own true self. Thus, there is no need to look outside of ourselves for divinity; we ourselves are already divine. This realization of unity and oneness as pure consciousness is the core belief system of Jnana Yoga. 

 

For the seekers on the Jnana path, the addition of Karma Yoga to their practice offers them multiple opportunities every day to interact with the world selflessly, without thought of gain or reward and with complete disregard for its results to the individual self. By detaching yourself from the fruits of your actions, you learn to eradicate your ego and experience the oneness as pure consciousness. With each such experience, the seekers internalize more of their spiritual knowledge, which is otherwise known only intellectually.

 

 

 

The path of spirituality is a long one.  It is said that it might take countless lifetimes to reach the end. Everyone must tread this path at some point in their development. If you lack any spiritual practice or knowledge in this long journey, your Sadguru will guide you. If you are fortunate to have Baba, another saint as your Sadguru, you are truly blessed, as they will take you through this difficult journey to the very end.

 

Mantra:

Om, Sarve bhavantu sukhinaḥ
Sarve santu nirāmayāḥ
Sarve bhadrāṇi paśyantu
Mā kashchit duḥkha bhāgbhavet
Oṁ Shāntiḥ, Shāntiḥ, Shāntiḥ

Meaning:

May all be prosperous and happy
May all be free from illness
May all see what is spiritually uplifting
May no one suffer
Om peace, peace, peace

 

This above mantra is from the Brihadaaranyaka Upanishad

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/seekingshanti/2015/09/hinduprayerforeveryone_globalgoals/

I would encourage all of you to please share your interpretations, learnings and experiences on how you have put this leela into practice.

 

 

Om Sai Ram.