“The Gunas Satva Rajas and Tamas belong to the intellect and not to the self. Through Satva guna one should subdue Rajas and Tamas. And then subdue the Satva guna by Satva itself”.

Uddhava Gita

Chapter 8:

Krishna Says:

“The Gunas Satva Rajas and Tamas belong to the intellect and not to the self. Through Satva guna one should subdue Rajas and Tamas. And then subdue the Satva guna by Satva itself”.

Through the development of Satvika guna, a man attains that form of spirituality which consists of devotion to the Lord. Satva guna is developed through the use of Satvika things. This in turn leads to spirituality.

The superior form of spirituality which is brought on by an increase of Satva guna helps in destroying Rajas and Tamas. And when both these are destroyed then irreligion which is because of Rajas and Tamas also gets destroyed.

Krishna says;

“The scriptures, water, people, place, time, work, birth, meditation, mantra and purification these are the ten causes of Gunas. Each of these has parts conducive to Satvika giving rise to bliss, Rajas giving rise to temporary pleasure and Tamas giving rise to increased bondage”.

“Among these , those alone are Satvika which are praised by Sages. Tamas are what the sages condemn and Rajas is that about which the sages are indifferent”.

For increasing Satvika bhava one should concern himself with Satvika things alone. From that comes spirituality. From that again comes Knowledge.

The fire from the friction of bamboos burns the forest and is itself quenched. Likewise the body which is intermixture of Gunas is destroyed in the manner of the forest fire if one uses his mind and cultivates knowledge.

Then Uddhava asks Krishna:

“O Lord People know that sense objects as the source of danger. Still why do they run after them like animals?”

Krishna tells Uddhava:

“Uddhava in the heart of the man who cannot discriminatethe wrong idea naturally arises. Then the Rajas takes over the mind which is generally Satvik'.

A mind under the influence of Rajas cherishes all kinds of desires. Dwelling on the finer desires , the foolish man gets involved in inordinate hankering. Under the influence of the hankering generated by Rajas a man without of self control willfully commits deeds which cause more misery.

But a man of discrimination conscious of consequent evils does not get attached to them, though prompted by Rajas and Tamas.

By being alert and diligent one should at the right time control ones posture and breathe resigning his mind unto the Lord and slowly practice concentration.

Lord krishna says:

" The above process of Yoga has been taught by My disciples Sanaka and the rest in order that - Mind being withdrawn from everything may be truly absorbed in Me ! “ .

Then Uddhava asks Krishna:

“O Lord I wish to know the time when you taught this Yoga to Sanaka and others and the form in which you did that “.

Bhagavan tells Uddhava:

"Uddhava Sanaka and others, namely the spiritual sons of Brahma, asked their father, the Brahma himself, the subtle and ultimate goal of Yoga. And I will relate the discussion ".

'Sanaka and others asked Brahma: “O Lord the mind is attached to the sense objects. The sense objects are attached to the mind. So for the man who seeks liberation and wants to go beyond them, how do they seek to act and react upon each other”?

“Being thus asked the Lord Brahma thought over it, but could not get to the root of the question because he was ever busy with creation. The God with a view to answering this question effectively meditated upon me. Then I went to him in the form of a Swan “.

“Seeing me they came forward touched my feet and asked me, “Who are you ””

“Being thus asked by the sages who are eager to know the truth I answered them. O Uddhava learns from what I told them at that time!”

“O Sages! If your question refers to the Atman then the Atman being one and undivided such a question (who are you) is inadmissible. Because it is the same Atman in you and me.

“O Sages on the other hand if it is addressed to the physical body, then we know that the bodies are composed of five elements and since they are the same in all. Again your question “who are you” is a mere effort of speech and is altogether meaningless “.

“Understand this correctly. By mind, speech, sight and other organs the one perceived is me alone.

“Dear Children the mind is ever attached to the sense objects and the sense objects influence the mind. Thus sense objects and the mind form the body of the Jiva which is ever attached to me. Being identified with me one should give up both the sense objects and the mind attached to them.”

“The states of wakefulness, dream and deep sleep are attributes of the intellect. The self being aware of these states being a witness to these states, the Self is different from them”.

“Being in constant engagement with illusory powers, the self is trapped in bondage. But I am in the fourth stage of consciousness beyond the wakeful, dreaming and deep sleep states. Being situated in me the self should give up bondage. At that time the living entity will automatically renounce the material sense objects”.

Knowing bondage to be the source of all troubles for Jiva, one should be averse to bondage. He should remain situated in the Lord who is beyond all material consciousness.

One should fix his mind in Lord alone. If however the man retains the notion of many values he is as good as asleep even if he is wide awake like one who fancies himself to be awake in a dream.

As objects other than Atman are unreal, the diversity caused by them also is unreal like the false dream of one who sees the dream.

He who in his waking state enjoys the sense objects, who in his dream state has similar experiences, who in the deep sleep withdraws them is the same Atman who is witness to these three states.

Thus reflecting that there states of mind are due to maya, and having ascertained the truth of soul one should use the sword of Knowledge to completely cut off the false ego which is the main breeding ground for all doubts.

One should look upon the universe as a hallucination which being an illusion of the mind is seen now and extinguished next moment like a dream. It is only one consciousness appearing in many forms. The three fold existence of wakefulness, dreaming and deep sleep is unreal and they only exist like a dream

Bhagavan continuing his discourse on Yoga says:

“Withdrawing the organs from the universe one should be immersed in one's own bliss. One should give up desires, be silent and be free from action. If ever universe is experienced, it will linger in memory like a dream having been discarded as unreal”.

“The perfect man does not treat as real, the body sitting or standing or by chance removed or restored by chance. He does not care since he has realized his true nature, much like a drunk man who does not care for what he is wearing”.

“The body is under the sway of destiny and must remain together with Prana so long as the work that originated it has spent itself. The man who has attained Samadhi in Yoga and realized the Truth no more attaches himself to the body and its sense objects which are like dream”.

“O sages I have told you the secret of Sankhya and Yoga. Know me to be Vishnu who came here to enlighten you on religion'.

“O sages I am the Supreme Goal of Sankhya and Yoga, of truth in practice and theory, of valor and opulence, of glory and self control.

“All the eternal virtues namely sameness of vision and non attachment wait on me, who is beyond attributes”.

“Having their doubts removed by me the sages Sanaka and others worshipped me with great devotion and sang my praises. Being duly worshiped and praised I returned to my abode “

Thus ends chapter 8

Of Uddhava Gita

Having their doubts removed by me the sages Sanaka and others worshipped me with great devotion and sang my praises. Being duly worshiped and praised I returned to my abode!!