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Bhagavad
Gita - November 30, 2007
Chapter
2, Verses: 14-16
Swami
Yogatmananda
Vedanta
Society of Providence
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II.14-16:
"The contacts of the organs with the objects are the producers
of cold and heat, happiness and sorrow. They have a beginning and an
end, and are transient. Bear them, O descendant of Bharata. O foremost
among men (Arjuna), the wise person whom these do not torment and to
whom sorrow and happiness are the same - he/she is fit for Immortality.
Of the unreal, there is no being; the real has no non-existence. The
nature of both these, indeed has been realized by seers of Truth."
The
above image is from Gita Darshan by courtesy of Sri
Ramakrishna Math, Hyderabad.
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Summary
of this lecture:
To look upon pleasure and pain as transitory and unavoidable in any
case, one must learn to forbear. This is an important spiritual virtue
that is very important on practical level. In Vivekachudamani, Sankaracharya
describes forbearance as patiently bearing with all the sufferings without
a murmur or blaming someone for that. With this quality one can understand
the separation between the body and the soul and thus attains to immortality.
One who does not waver from his path, no matter whether pleasure come
or pain, alone can reach the goal.
The discussion now is focused on what is real and what is not. The criterion
given by Vedanta is - whatever changes is unreal, whatever remains unchanged
is real. On the face of it, this criterion does raise eyebrows - why
something that changes be called unreal? Why 'transitory' is synonymous
of unreal? These questions will be taken up in more details in the next
class.
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