Words of Gita — Chapter 3
How about learning Sanskrit from Gita and for Gita. Etymology and Chapter 3 language patterns and Metadata to break the complexity barrier— Dimensionality Reduction with Karma Yoga.
Ocean of Sanskrit
Sanskrit has 8 Noun contexts, 3 gender contexts, 3 pluralities, multiple verbs tenses and complex word formation rules. In order to get there to appreciate Gita, it would take a long time. After all, most of us are busy in our Karma Bhumis chasing our daily chores and not experts in Sanskrit and Shastras.
However, Gita is not a just a generic document that we need to master these rules. Some of the verses are already ringing in our ears. There is a spark of curiosity and a drop of devotion to help the ascent.
There is a set context. Amidst conflict and distress, It is a dialog between Arjuna and Krishna weaved by the brilliance of Vyasa. The conversations ranged from questions to illustrations to the intricate working of the elements.
Grammatically this translates to a reduced set of vocabulary and fewer language aspects of voice, gender, plurality and verb contexts. This premise should get us started exploring the fabric of Gita. Hopefully after getting a feel of the popular constructs and connection to the verses, one could start appreciating other chapters of Gita with assistance and if interested one could further pursue formal study of Sanskrit and expand their horizons.
I am not an expert in Sanskrit, but a laidback explorer in linguistics and patterns. I always believe that teaching can get to its creative pinnacle through innovation and illustrations. Putting these patterns together has helped me discover the closer meaning and the joy of appreciating the brilliance of the divine poetry. The intent is to give a rough outline. If there are any glaring mistakes, Kshmyataam! My apologies !!
Chapter 3 — Exquisite treatise on Karma Yoga
In our neighboring park, I started attending recently a weekly Gita meetup. The teacher very vividly explains the connection between the lines. Hence I decided ‘Why not Chapter 3 ?’. It would help other students as well.
Krishna cleverly and very intricately builds his case for Karma Yoga. In the later chapters, he addresses subsequent questions and other elements that are involved in the trajectory of liberation. Chapter 3 comprises of 43 verses. So it is simple to comprehend and relate to the patterns. This structure should also help in other chapters of Gita. With this, let us get started. If it gets overwhelming, read it in parts or only read the phrases that catch your attention..And iterate over it after every chanting class.. till you get a happy hang of it.
Topics Covered
1.Methodology
2.High Frequency Words
3.The Frequent Connector words
4.The frequent Pronoun Words
5.Intuition into Root words, Prefixes and Vocabulary
6.Sense of Verb contexts
7.Sense of Noun contexts
8.Peek into Chapter 3 Dictionary9.Chapter 3 Verses
10.Simple Translation in English
11.Summary of Gita
1. Methodology
In my case, I have piloted teaching these verses with phrase wise break of meaning and verse wise breakup. After around 20 verses when the chants, dialogs and language vaguely sinks in, I started introducing the sandhi, root words and other tables progressively. In this manner, the student can associate the tables to the learnt verses and apply for future verses.
2. High Frequency words
A look into the repeating key words in chapter 3. This should give a sense of the sentiment in chapter 3.
3. The Frequent Connector Words
Connector words have been used very poetically through out the length of Gita. Sometimes they even run into clusters of 3. It gives a sense of dialog, affirmations, negations, illustrations and cause effect scenarios. These words are typically short, abundant and do not change their forms according to the context of noun or verb. Hence they are also called as ‘avyaya’, non mutable.
`na hi kaśhchit kṣhaṇam api jātu' - not even some moment ever passes'śharīra yātra api cha' - and even journey of body'tad-arthaṁ karma kaunteya' - for that sake ...'tasmāt sarva-gataṁ brahma nityaṁ yajñe pratiṣhṭhitam' - therefore eternally the lord is present in all work'atha kena prayukto' - then why?'yatha ulbenāvṛito garbhas tathā' - Just Like embryo covered by womb ..
In some cases, the connector words also act like adverbs like nityam, parasparam, satatam, mogham.
4. The Pronoun Words
Most of them revolve around ‘I’, ‘you’, ‘it’, ‘this/that’ and its various forms. Many times they are also used in pairs providing connection. A few illustrations.
'māṁ niyojayasi' - engaging me'aham āpnuyām' - I may attain'loke asmin' in this world'ya āste manasā smaran..indriyārthān vimūḍhātmā mithyāchāraḥ sa uchyathe' - he who dwells in thoughts of.. he is'yat yat ācharati śhreṣhṭhas tat tat eva itaro janaḥ - that that standard of great people that only other people 'sa yat pramāṇaṁ kurute lokas tat anuvartate' - that which he sets world follows that
5. Intuition into Root words, Prefixes and Vocabulary Building
Let’s look into the anatomy of any sanskrit word. It is made up of 3 parts.. Root words give the core meaning. Prefixes give a sense of highlight and the suffixes add the verb and noun contexts.
The Gita vocabulary may seem exhaustive at first. Totally there are about 600 words in chapter 3. Instead of viewing the words in isolation, let us check out a few important root words. Interestingly, the root words in this chapter spin around the topic ‘karma’ and if we connect it to familiar Hindi vocabulary, we already have them in our sleeves.
In the long run of Gita appreciation or any other work of Sanskrit or even finding connections in international languages, root word appreciation plays a long way.
Lets get started with ‘Karma’ itself. Words related to Action and Gunas
Words related to Attachment, Freedom, Union & Liberation
Of Fixation, Motion & Trajectory
Of Confusion, Mind, Knowledge & Creation
Prefixes and Word Sense
The prefixes add a sense of direction and command to the words thereby highlighting, negating, reciprocating or bringing a sense of Reinforcement. Truly this makes each word an episode by itself. In chapter 3, only a handful of the prefixes have been used though..again to bring the meaning of presence, absence, following, stand apart and things like that.
6. Sense of Verb contexts
Let us start with the simple one-on-one conversations between Krishna and Arjuna. Observe the suffixes as the contexts change. Hopefully these conversations will help in registering the patterns.
The ‘You’ context
vada tell tad ekaṁ vada niścitya
kuru do niyatam kuru karma tvam
samācara perform mukta-saṅgaḥ samācara
mohayasi you bewilder vyāmiśreṇa vākyena buddhim mohayasi
niyojayasi you engage tat kiṁ karmaṇi ghore māṁ niyojayasi keśava
arhasi you deserve sampaśyan kartum arhasi
yudhyasva you should fight yudhyasva vigata jvaraḥLet us see reference to third person in singular and plural in present tense.
jīvati he lives pacanti they cook
ācarati he performs bhavanti they are
carati he lives/moves kurvanti they doaghāyuḥ indriya ārāmaḥ mogham pārtha saḥ jīvati
ye pacanti ātma kāraṇātārabhate he begins dāsyante they give
viśiṣyate he specialises mucyante they are liberated bhuñjate he enjoys anuvartante they followasaktaḥ saḥ viśiṣyate
dāsyante yajña-bhāvitāḥ
A few illustrations of Future Tense
kuryam I would do
syam I would
upahanyām I would harmutsīdeyuḥ ime lokāḥ na kuryām karma cet aham saṅkarasya ca kartā syām upahanyām imāḥ prajāḥ
kariṣyati it will do nigrahaḥ kim kariṣyati
anuvartayati will follow cakram na anuvartayati
prasidhyet it will succeed śarīra-yātrāpi ca te na prasidhyet
joṣayet he should excite them karma-saṅginām joṣayetsyaat would be yaḥ tu ātma ratiḥ eva syāt
viddhi you must know karma brahmodbhavaṁ viddhi
Gerunds are like accompanying verbs.. “while writing, I am talking”, “Having told, I want to leave”
bhūtvā having been sṛṣṭvā having created nirāśīḥ nirmamaḥ bhūtvā yudhyasva vigata jvaraḥ
saha yajñāḥ prajāḥ sṛṣṭvā purā uvāca prajā patiḥācaran while performing sampaśyan while consideringasaktaḥ hi ācaran karma param āpnoti pūruṣaḥ
sampaśyan kartum arhasi
The following table addresses many of the verbs from chapter 3. In your mind, try to place them with the verse and context.
7. Sense of Noun context
Unlike English and other languages, there are no prepositions to define the noun contexts. The suffix at the end is an indicator of the context for Nouns and Pronouns and Adjectives. Let us look into a few simple examples.
1. The ‘Doer’ of the sentence ‘Kartha’
The actor of the sentence could be an object, person or an emotion. It could be in singular or plural.
saḥ he puruṣaḥ man kāmaḥ desire indriyāṇi sense organs
aham me lokaḥ world krodhaḥ anger karmāṇi activities naiṣkarmyam puruṣaḥ aśnute - man enjoys naiṣkarmyam
aham āpnuyām - I can obtain
arjunaḥ uvāca - Arjuna toldjñāna-yogena sāṅkhyānāṁ karma-yogena yoginām - The Sankhyas.. The Y
ogisiṣhṭān bhogān hi vo devā dāsyante yajña-bhāvitāḥ - The pleased Gods will give luxuries
2. The Object of the Sentence ‘Karma’
buddhiṁ mohayasīva me - you are confusing my mind
naiṣkarmyam puruṣaḥ aśnute - man enjoys naiṣkarmyamiṣhṭān bhogān hi vo devā dāsyante yajña-bhāvitāḥ - The pleased Gods will give luxuries
3. The instrument ‘Karana’(ena)
vyāmiśhreṇa vākyena with mixed up sentencesjñāna-yogena sāṅkhyānāṁ karma-yogena yoginām - With gyana yoga ..with Karma yogadhūmenā avriyate vahnir yathādarśho malena cha
yatha albenā avṛito garbhas tathā tena idam āvṛitam - with dust, with smoke, with womb, with that ...
5. From (ad/at)
annād bhavanti bhūtāni parjanyād anna-sambhavaḥ..yajñād bhavati parjanyo - From food..from rain..from Yagnaevam buddhe param buddhva Compared to buddhi, it is greater
6. Relation (of-asya)
saṅkarasya kartha syaam - doer of social disorder na buddhi-bhedaṁ janayed ajñānāṁ karma-saṅginām - (Among) Of the ordinary people and those attached to the results of karma, no not create conflict.
7.Location (e/su)
Singular
loke asmin dvi vidhā niṣṭhā - In this worldPlural
triṣu lokeṣu kiñcana - In the three worlds
8.Calling by Name
janārdhana
keshava
anagha
arjuna
pārtha
bhārata
mahābāho
kaunteya
bharatarṣabhaA feel of dual nouns
So far we have seen singular and few plural noun. This verse has the dual element embedded through out in a very poetic manner. The word Indriya has been used twice to indicate plurality of sense organs. Again ‘rāga dveṣau’ is a pair word and hence the dual rule applies here. The remaining pronouns and nouns ‘vyavasthitau’, ‘paripanthinau’ meaning ‘in their trap’, ‘2 obstacles’ also follow the dual syntax.
indriyasya indriyasya arthe rāga dveṣau vyavasthitau tayoḥ na vaśam āgacchet tau hi asya paripanthinau
8. Peek into the Chapter 3 Dictionary
The list is arranged according to the Sanskrit alphabet series and frequency of occurrences in each letter. The below graph gives an idea about the distribution of words around the alphabets.
9. Chapter 3 Verses
10. Simple Translation in English
Different people can interpret the inner meaning in different ways.. A philosopher like Shankaracharya and Karma Yogis like Vivekananda each could interpret differently as we all have different perceptions. I was startled to see Newton’s laws helping me in understanding the later verses. It dawned a sense of appreciation on why Teslas and Einstens of the world were so amazed by this Masterpiece.
Nevertheless, I have tried to put the meaning without an added interpretation. Sometimes it becomes difficult like my teacher says, “Without knowing Physics, you want to understand Einstein’s theory of relativity in 2 hours”. Likewise the context from Upanishads and Shastras helps in the understanding of the Gita. She also tells “Is Gita for all? It is for people like Arjuna who have a conflict and an enquiry in their mind. It is not for people who have not felt the dilemma in the crossroads of their life”
“Hey Janardhana, You just advocated that Knowledge is greater than Action. Then why are you engaging me in this horrific act? Your sentences seems all mixed up. Tell me clearly which path is better for me? ”
“Like I have told you before, there are only two paths of faith. The path of Gyana for the Sankhya Philosophers and the path of Karma Yoga. By mere avoidance of work, one cannot reach the ultimate state of Naishkarmyam that a Karma Yogi desires. Nor by mere renunciation can one get liberated as a Sankhya Yogi. [You need to work towards it, it does not come by itself]”
“The foolish keep a restrain on their sense organs, but their mind still lingering on the desire object. Indeed he is special he who controls his mind and uses his sense organs and is free from attachments.
“Due to our material nature, not a moment can pass by without any action. This journey of life itself calls for action. Action is always better than inaction.”
“However, this very action causes bondage and attachment. But when an act is performed like a bountiful service and yagna, one is freed easily from the anxiety and attachment.”
[Illustrating the macrocycle of reciprocity in the universe] “Brahma created offspring by means of Yagna and granted prosperity and wishes. People served the Gods and the Gods becoming pleased gifted them the pleasures. But He who enjoys the pleasures without acknowledging the cycle is like a thief.”
“Food sustains Life and Rain produces Food. The great Yagna produces Rains and it is Action that begets Yagna. The creator Brahma chalked out various actions [think Rainfall, internal activities in the body] and he was created from the imperishable absolute. Hence when action is performed like Yagna, the divine himself is established in work.
“He who conducts his work like a bountiful Yagna and eats the remains is freed from his sins. But he who does not acknowledge this wheel and indulges in sensory pleasures is wasting his life in vain. Yet he who is fully contented in himself has no dependency in this world. There is no big or small task that seems like work for him. [The state of Naishkarmyam]”
“Janaka and others achieved liberation with Karma Yoga. The leaders are Role models for the ordinary people [People do not go by books for Dharma but follow the leaders]. Even I have nothing to achieve or not to achieve in all the 3 worlds. But if I were not to be careful, I would be the cause of decline and disorder [think of disorder in galaxy if synchronization was lost]. So I choose to be careful and act. Just like how the ordinary are attached to the results, the wise should be unattached. However, do not cause confusion and conflict in the minds of the ordinary if they are attached to the results. Let the exemplary actions of wise men enthuse the ordinary towards right action. ”
“It is only the Gunas of Nature that performs the action. Clouded by ego, the foolish thinks that ‘I am the doer’. Those who are clouded by the Gunas are bound to be attached with Karma. He who has the knowledge of the elements are able to see the confluence of Gunas in action and differentiate what is guna and what is karma. However, do not confuse the ordinary and the fools with this knowledge.”[Think guna as inherent attribute; cloud having ability to hold water hence it rains. Rajas guna is about expansion and passion. Tamas guna is being inert. Sattva guna has the right mix of action and inaction]
[If the knowledge of Yagya, Macro Cycle, Guna division is overwhelming , then below is the simple path of devotion and opening up of the heart] “Having renounced all your work onto me with your mind absorbed in the supreme, having freed yourself from desire and ‘my’ element, having freed from passion and fever, get ready to fight ! They who abide by my teaching with utmost shraddha and not being spiteful, they too shall be liberated from bondage of work[Shraddha — the seed of faith sprouts within the heart, not a blind belief]. But those foolish people who are spiteful of my view and bewildered in their mighty knowledge, you should know that those mindless fools are lost indeed.
“One follows his Nature and so does the wise men. So do creatures follow their Nature. What does restraint accomplish? [Following one’s nature has the least inertia to do the work, one should not suppress it.] The duality of raaga & dwesha towards sense objects are deeply rooted in the sense organs. These are the obstacles in liberation [impeding forces]. It is better to follow one’s true dharma[nature] than follow other’s dharma even if it means to die [or face delays or obstacles]. For one is fearless and nirbhay conducting in accordance to one’s own nature.”[Everyone has a unique nature and swabhava that they are comfortable in.. An artist might fail as a businessman and feel fearful every time.]
Arjuna asks, “Krishna, If everyone follows his nature, Why does it seem there is a compelling force making us do sinful acts against our own will?”
“O Bharata, It is lust and anger which are born out of the Rajo guna [the guna responsible for action]. Know it to be your enemy. It has a fire like voracious unending appetite. As brilliance of fire is covered by smoke, As a mirror covered by layer of dust, As embryo deeply shielded in the uterus, the knowledge in you is covered by the desire. The stubborn desire is sitting in the very doors of our sense organs, mind and intellect and clouds our knowledge and prevents self realisation. The sense organs are special compared to the gross body. The mind, intellect and the soul in that order are even superior. ”
“Control the senses and dissolve the layers of ignorance shielding the illuminous calm self. Knowing that the eternal self is beyond the discerning mind, reestablish yourself by the self and cut apart this enemy of desire.”
11. Summary of Gita
Chapter 3 provides seeds of Karma Yoga and guidance through plurality of ways to attain liberation right amidst the circumstances we are surrounded by. Gita enlightens us through concept of conducting work like Yagna and being part of the bigger cycle. By viewing the gunas in action, one can be free from ego and attachment. By mere submission of fear, ego, passion and ego, one can be free and liberated to perform their duties. Gita also highlights that we all conduct according to our nature and it is always better to be this way as it is the path of fearless. However the obstacles are Anger and Desire. They are deep rooted in our senses and mind, intellect and cover the underlying knowledge. Realising that the underlying soul is greater than the hierarchy of intellect, mind, senses and body.. one should reestablish himself with self and fight the enemy of desire.
Hopefully the detailed understanding of Chapter 3 and the grammar patterns make the navigation of other chapters easier. As human beings we have the possibility to change our impressions and experiences. In the rest of Gita, there is a journey into land of Gyana where guidance, self enquiry and purification through Knowledge is explored. In the path of Dhyana, one has the possibility of overcoming the mind through pranayama and meditation. In the path of Vibhuthi, it takes us through the landscapes of mountains, rivers, plants, animals and sounds.. Divinity can be experienced just seeing the creation around us. In the chapters on Tattvas, Gita goes into the knowledge of division of the matter and energy, the elements that make up the action and the divine and non divine qualities.
Finally, we have a plurality of options in our hand. Depending on our make, we could mix and match the guidances and experience the divine in the day to day living.
References
https://medium.com/@sujatha.ratnala/data-science-with-bhagawatgita-6dfe194ceec5CHANTING
http://mychinmaya.org/bhagavad-gita-all-chapters-audio/http://www.geetachanting.net/bvg03v01-10/GRAMMAR
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0emIewicwl0&t=234shttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanskrit_grammarhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanskrit_pronouns_and_determinershttps://sanskritstudio.wordpress.com/2012/11/21/sanskrit-participles-overview/http://www.learnsanskrit.org/references/lists/prefixesDetailed meaning & Sanskrit Grammar Reference
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1g7d1LmlsIQc7lbnnR7x53-6IUQS3MWGN/view?usp=drivesdkBOOKMARKShttps://study1geetaa2sanskrit.wordpress.com/
https://www.academia.edu/32437656/The_Bhagavad_G%C4%ABt%C4%81_Chapter_3https://www.chinfo.org/images/userupload/Reflections/19_Isavasya_Upanishad.pdf
