To Correctly Interpret Bhagawat Gita (Chapter 9. Verse 32)

The Bhagawat Gita has occupied a central role in Sanatan Dharam for ages. The verses of this Holy book are flawless in terms of language and grammar. Bhagawat Gita is not only meant for reading, but to be carefully interpreted in the correct context in order to deduce a coherent and valid explanation of the philosophy. Consequently, one can interpret a single verse of Bhagawat Gita in several ways based on his/her capability to comprehend the context which the specific verse deals with. 

And there indeed have been few wrong interpretations. The most popular of those being “Verse 32, Chapter 9”, and even Prabhupada has made a wrong interpretation of the same in his work “Bhagawat Gita As It Is”. This is one of the most read explanations of Gita by people across the globe and his explanation is all around the internet. It’s being quoted by many to prove that Shri Krishna considered women to be of low birth in Gita.

Here’s the Verse, (Chapter 9, Verse 32):

मां हि पार्थ व्यपाश्रित्य येऽपि स्यु: पापयोनय: |

स्त्रियो वैश्यास्तथा शूद्रास्तेऽपि यान्ति परां गतिम् || 32||

māṁ hi pārtha vyapāśhritya ye ’pi syuḥ pāpa-yonayaḥ

striyo vaiśhyās tathā śhūdrās te ’pi yānti parāṁ gatim

Let me now post Prabhupada’s explanation word to word: [LINK HERE]

SYNONYMS

mām — of Me; hi — certainly; pārtha — O son of Pṛthā; vyapāśritya — particularly taking shelter; ye — those who; api — also; syuḥ — are; pāpa-yonayaḥ — born of a lower family; striyaḥ — women; vaiśyāḥ — mercantile people; tathā — also; śūdrāḥ — lower-class men; te api — even they; yānti — go; parām — to the supreme; gatim — destination.

TRANSLATION

O son of Pṛthā, those who take shelter in Me, though they be of lower birth — women, vaiśyas [merchants] and śūdras [workers] — can attain the supreme destination.

Notice the word papa-yonayah (पापयोनय: ) - meaning - Born of a lower family. Now in the translation Prabhupada combines this word with the next three and says; people of lower birth are - women, vaishya and sudrah. Here’s another site following the similar line of thinking as Prabhupada. [LINK HERE]. Here the translator combines papa-yonayah with next word striyo to again get the wrong explanation and makes it “born of lower woman”.

If Krishna were to speak of women, he would have said, "papa yonayah, stribhi..". It was wrong to combine papa-yonayah with other 3 words by Prabhupada, or with just stribho by the other site. This is the main reason for confusion. 

This verse tells: O Son of Pritha, anyone who takes shelter in me, sinners, women, traders, workers, can approach the supreme destination.

In other words, word to word translation of Sanskrit to English not only dilutes the meaning, but it also distorts.

Jai Shri Krishna!

Lord Krishna & His Bamboo Flute!

There is a beautiful story about the flute of Krishna. You know Krishna always holds a flute in his hand, but there is a great story behind it. Everyday Krishna would go in the garden and say to all the plants, "I love you". The plants were very happy and responded back and said "Krishna, we love You, too".

One day Krishna rushed quickly into the garden very alarmed. He went to the bamboo plant and the bamboo plant asked, "Krishna, what's wrong with you?" Krishna said "I have something to ask you, but it is very difficult". The bamboo said "Tell me: if I can, I will give it to you". So Krishna said "I need your life. I need to cut you". The bamboo thought for a while and then said "You don't have any other choice. You don't have any other way?" Krishna said, "No, no other way". And it said "OK, I surrender to you".

So Krishna cut the bamboo, made holes in it, and each time, while he was doing that, the bamboo was crying with pain, because he was paining the bamboo so much. Krishna made a beautiful flute out of it. And this flute was with Krishna all the time. 24 hours a day, it was with Krishna. Even the Gopis were jealous of the flute. They said, "Look, Krishna is our Lord, but yet we get to spend only some time with him. He wakes up with you, He sleeps with you, all the time you are with him".

So one day they asked the bamboo, "Tell us the secret of it. What secret do you have, that the Lord treasures you so much?" And the bamboo said "The secret is that I'm empty inside. And the Lord does whatever he wants with me, whenever he wants with me and however he wants with me". So this is complete surrender: where God can do whatever He wants with you, whenever He wants, as He wants. And for that you don't need to be scared, you know, you have just to give yourself. And who is yourself in reality? It's just Him!

Who is a Sad Guru

"Guru Brahma Guru Vishnu Guru Devo Maheshwara

Guru Sakshath Parambrahma Tasmai Shri Gurave Namaha"

The true meaning of Guru is "one who dispels darkness of ignorance". Guru resembles the trinity Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. Brahma is a creator. Guru creates or inculcates knowledge in the minds of the students. Guru is Vishnu. Lord Vishnu maintains the creation. Similarly Guru helps in keeping up the knowledge. Guru is also Shiva. Shiva is the destroyer. Guru destroys or gets rid of the ignorance from the students' minds.

The Lord in the Gita says:

“Uddharedaatmanaatmaanam Naatmaanamavasaadayet
Aatmaiva Hyaatmano Bandhuraatmaiva Ripuraatmanah”

One should uplift one’s lower self- the mind, by his higher self – the soul. One should never downgrade one’s self, for the self verily is both the friend and the foe of the self. As we see in this verse, a pilgrim’s journey to the Lotus Feet begins with developing the Atma Kripa. Once efforts to elevate the mind with the help of the Atma are undertaken and Atma Kripa is attained; we become ready to receive the next kripa which is the Guru Kripa. The Guru appears to guide us in our spiritual journey. Guru kripa qualifies us to the next stage of Shaastra Kripa. We learn to study contemplate on and practice the eternal teachings with the help of the Guru and thus engage ourselves in Shravana, Manana and Nidhi Dhyaasana. All these take us to the final stage of Eshwara Kripa when we become eligible to receive the grace of the Almighty.

In the word GURU, Gu stands for Gunaatheetha [The one who is beyond the attributes] and Ru, for Rupa Varjitha [The Formless one]. Hence, the true Guru is the Lord Himself. By putting into practice His teachings in our day to day life, we can easily spiritually understand every mundane mechanical activity of ours and qualify to earn the Eshwara Kripa – His Divine Grace. 


It is important to value the Master. But it is far more important to master His Values so that our life becomes His message. 

To the one who holds my hand, as i trod on the path laid by HIM,
To the one who gives me the faith to believe in HIS uncertainty ,
All that I can say is :

Anyatha sharanam nasti Twameva sharanam mama!


May Guru's grace be upon us all always!

Ishtadevta Concept in Hinduism

In Hindu way of life one may choose the deity that satisfies one's spiritual longing and make that the object of one's adoration, love and worship. Since each name and form of God constitute a pointer to something that is beyond and since each is at the same time a representative of some aspect or manifestation of the Supreme Reality, it is the entire array of all names and forms of God that will perhaps point to the fullness that is God. But it is advisable for each individual to concentrate on and have a special place for one particular manifestation or form of God and this would be his Ishtadevta. Even a person, who has realised the Brahman as the Ultimate Reality, does not reject image worship. For him all deities are alike. He is not averse to worshipping or meditating on any particular form of the Absolute. This is the reason why we see our Adwaita Acharyas give as much importance to idol worship and temple offerings as the non Adwaita Acharyas.

Hindu tradition has mainly six types of Ishtadevta worship. These can be listed as:

1.       Aditya, the Sun-God;

2.       Ambika, the Mother-Goddess, in her three forms of Durga, Lakshmi or Saraswati;

3.       Vishnu, belonging to the classic Trinity;

4.       Ganesa, the elephant-faced God, considered as the primal God of all worship;

5.       Mahesvara or Shiva, the third God of the Trinity, mostly in the form of the un-anthropomorphic linga;

6.       Subrahmanya, the six-faced God known also as Kumaran or Murugan in Tamil.

These six are the original subtle manifestations of the Absolute Transcendental Reality. The Avatars (Divine Descents) of Vishnu, like Rama and Krishna are more concrete manifestations of the same Absolute Reality. So they are identified with Vishnu in the above list. Every variation of the Ishtadevta worship may be considered as belonging to one or a combination of these six traditions. In addition, the choice of the Ishtadevta, instead of being an academic exercise, could also be a choice of one among the thousands of temples all over the country and the deity chosen may very well be the particular deity enshrined in that particular temple. It can have a specific name and form, though belonging to one of the six streams of divinities listed above. Thus arose the tradition of each family having a kula-devata (family deity). It is this variety that gives richness to Hinduism and it is this possibility of 'to each according to his need and capacity' that brings together under the one banner of Hinduism people with varying practices, attitudes and states of evolution. The religious life of India has thus been nourished through the ages on a visual panorama, unmatched, perhaps, in the history of any civilisation.

Gems from Kena Upanishad

The student inquires:

"Who makes my mind think?

Who fills my body with vitality?

Who causes my tongue to speak? 

Who is that Invisible one who sees through my eyes

And hears through my ears?"

The Guru replies:

"The Self is the ear of the ear,

The eye of the eye, the mind of the mind,

The word of words, and the life of life.

Rising above the senses and the mind

And renouncing separate existence,

The wise realise the deathless Self.

That which is not uttered by speech, that by which the word is expressed, know That alone to be Brahman, and not this (non-Brahman) which is being worshipped.

That which one does not think with the mind, that by which, they say, the mind is thought, know That alone to be Brahman, and not this (non-Brahman) which is being worshipped.

That which man does not see with the eye, that by which man sees the activities of the eye, know That alone to be Brahman, and not this (non-Brahman) which is being worshipped.

That which man does not hear with the ear, that by which man hears the ear’s hearing, know That alone to be Brahman, and not this (non-Brahman) which is being worshipped.

That which man does not smell with the organ of smell, that by which the organ of smell is attracted towards its objects, know That alone to be Brahman, and not this (non-Brahman) which is being worshipped.