Part 7: Essence of Bhagavad Gita Decoded
guṇānetānatītya trīn dehī dehasamudbhavān I janma-mṛtyu-jarā-duḥkhair vimukto'mṛtamaśnute II 14.20
14.20 When the embodied being is able to transcend these three modes, he can become free from birth, death, old age and their distresses and can enjoy nectar even in this life.
arjuna uvāca kair liṅgais trīnguṇān etān atīto bhavati prabho I kim ācāraḥ kathaṁ caitāṁs trīnguṇānativartate II 14.21
14.21 Arjuna inquires: O my Lord, by what symptoms is one known who is transcendental to those modes? What is his behavior? And how does he transcend the modes of nature?
śrībhagavānuvāca prakāśaṁ ca pravṛttiṁ ca mohameva ca pāṇḍava I na dveṣṭi saṁpravṛttāni na nivṛttāni kāṅkṣati II 14.22
udāsīnavadāsīno guṇairyo na vicālyate I guṇā vartanta ityeva yo'vatiṣṭhati neṅgate II 14.23
sama-duḥkha-sukhaḥ svasthaḥ sama-loṣṭāśma-kāñcanaḥ I tulya-priyāpriyo dhīras tulya-nindātma-saṁstutiḥ II 14.24
mānāpamānyos tulyastulyo mitrāri-pakṣayoḥ I sarvārambha-parityāgī guṇātitaḥ sa ucyate II 14.25
14.22,23,24,25 Śrī Bhagavān says: He who does not hate illumination, attachment and delusion when they are present, nor longs for them when they disappear; who is seated like one unconcerned, being situated beyond these material reactions of the modes of nature, who remains firm, knowing that the modes alone are active; He who regards alike pleasure and pain, and looks on a lump of earth, a stone and a piece of gold with an equal eye; who is wise and holds praise and blame to be the same; who is unchanged in honor and dishonor, who treats friend and foe alike, who has abandoned all result based undertakings—such a man is said to have transcended the modes of nature.
maṁ ca yo'vyabhicāreṇa bhaktiyogena sevate I sa guṇān-samatītyaitān brahmabhūyāya kalpate II 14.26
14.26 One who engages in full devotional service, who does not fall down in any circumstance, at once transcends the modes of material nature and thus comes to the level of Brahman.
brahmaṇo hi pratiṣṭhāham amṛtasyāvyayasya ca I śāśvatasya ca dharmasya sukhasyaikāntikasya ca II 14.27
14.27 And I am the basis of Brahman, which is the rightful state of ultimate happiness, and which is immortal, imperishable and eternal.
iti śrīmad bhagavadgītāsūpaniṣatsu brahmavidyāyām yogaśāstre śrīkṛṣṇārjuna saṁvāde Guṇatraya-vibhāgayogo nāma caturdaśo'dhyāyaḥ II
In the Upaniṣad of Śrimad Bhagavad Gītā, the scripture of yoga dealing with Brahmavidyā Yogaśāstra, the science of Brahman, in the form of Śrī Kṛṣṇārjuna saṁvād, dialogue between Śrī Kṛṣṇa-Arjuna, this is fourteenth chapter named,
Guṇatraya Vibhāga Yogaḥ, 'The Yoga of the Division of the three Guṇas.'
Everything in Existence has a root. The way you behave, the way you think, the way you react, the way you respond, the way you cognize, everything has a root thought pattern!
Whether you feel unhealthy or helpless, or emotionally weak, tired, bored, lazy, agitated, all these put together is what I classify as powerlessness. The good news is that you can live without any of these patterns. Our past experiences are stored in our unconscious as root thought patterns. They mislead you to a space of powerlessness, incompletion. In Saṃskṛit, the right technical word for these root thought patterns is mūla vāsanā or mūla vichāra dhārā.
We make incomplete decisions through root thought patterns or mūla vāsanā. We should find the root of our incompletions and complete with it, else it leads to more powerlessness and suffering.
Let me define 'root thought pattern'.
The first strong cognition you receive in your life, which influences you to continue to function based on the same cognition, is a root thought pattern! When the first attack of any strong emotion happens in you and imbalances your whole cognition of life, giving birth to your mind, the pattern you develop from that moment is the 'root thought pattern'.
It is a pattern you develop when powerlessness takes you over for the first time in your life. A simple example:
In the young age, your mother teaches you, 'Don't go in the rain. You will catch cold'. But even after you are twenty-five, you don't go in the rain, just by seeing the rain, you start sneezing. What you you cognized in the very young age, which has imbalanced your nature, is root pattern. Get out of your root thought pattern and complete with it. It may be anything as simple as your mother not giving you the cake and giving it to your brother. It can be even that small!
Please listen! The moment a root pattern enters your system, only the pattern lives through you. You don't live. The first thing any human
Guṇatraya Vibhāga Yogaḥ Find Your Root Pattern And Complete
should do is—learn this science of discovering the root pattern. This chapter called Guṇatraya Vibhāga Yogaḥ, is about the science of completion, discovering your root thought pattern, your guṇas (root attributes) and completing with them to experience the space of completion, pūrṇatva.
Please listen! Completion means consciously reliving the same experience and relieving the powerful impact of the past, which makes you powerless in the present.
The powerful impact of the past, which makes you powerless in the present, should be relieved from your system. What we term 'perception' is not the experience we perceive through our senses; perception is how we respond emotionally to the experience. This response is an incomplete, inadequate response based on our root thought patterns.
You don't see what IS. You only see what you want. You create what you want. What is your reality? It is just your perception–your perception about what you feel as you–your mamakāra, what you project to others as you–your ahaṁkāra, and what others expect about you–anyakāra.
Look in. Find out the root of your happening. When you find your root pattern and complete with it, you will understand your prārabdha, the purpose of your happening. Kṛṣṇa explains the root of our happening by explaining the three different guṇas (attributes) to Arjuna. How we act—actually I can't say we 'act', I should say how we 'react' to every situation—is based on these three guṇas, the root patterns and how to complete with them.