Vedanta Talks

Swami Sarvapriyananda teaches Verse 7 from the Thirteenth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita. This series of talks unfolds the highest truths of Vedanta through the study of "The Song of God".

🔆 Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 13 Verse 7:

अमानित्वमदम्भित्वमहिंसा क्षान्तिरार्जवम् |

आचार्योपासनं शौचं स्थैर्यमात्मविनिग्रह: || 7||

amānitvam adambhitvam ahinsā kṣhāntir ārjavam

āchāryopāsanaṁ śhauchaṁ sthairyam ātma-vinigrahaḥ || 7||

🔴 Freedom from self-importance, unpretentiousness, non-violence, patience, straight-forwardness, service of the teacher, cleanliness, steadfastness, and self-control;

Swami Sarvapriyananda teaches Kena Upanishad in this series.

The Kena Upanishad (Sanskrit: केनोपनिषद्) (also alternatively known as Talavakara Upanishad) is a Vedic Sanskrit text classified as one of the primary or Mukhya Upanishads that is embedded inside the last section of the Talavakara Brahmana of the Samaveda. It is listed as number 2 in the Muktikā, the canon of the 108 Upanishads of Hinduism.

Kena Upanishad has three parts: 13 verses in the first part, 15 paragraphs in the second part, and 6 paragraphs in the epilogue. These are distributed in four khaṇḍas (खण्ड, sections or volumes). The first Khanda has 8 verses, the second has 5 verses. The third Khanda has 12 paragraphs, while the fourth khanda has the remaining 9 (3 paragraphs of main text and 6 paragraphs of the epilogue).

Q&A session led by Swami Sarvapriyananda at the Vedanta Society of New York on Oct 20th, 2024. List of questions with timestamps:

00:00 - Intro

02:15 - What is the importance of earnestness and renunciation to progress in spiritual life.

13:37 - Do we need a Guru, and what is the relationship betwen the Gurua dn teh Advaitic Self?

19:31 - Is consciousness the controller of actions or is it just a witness?

31:09 - How do we go from reflected consciousness to ‘I am Brahman’?

41:17 - How can I cultivate a desire to meditate and to form a genuine enjoyment of the practice?

01:04:21 - How can I overcome doubts in spiritual life?

01:09:45 - How can dream state be considered equivalent to the waking state?

🔆 Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 13 Verse 7:

अमानित्वमदम्भित्वमहिंसा क्षान्तिरार्जवम् |

आचार्योपासनं शौचं स्थैर्यमात्मविनिग्रह: || 7||

amānitvam adambhitvam ahinsā kṣhāntir ārjavam

āchāryopāsanaṁ śhauchaṁ sthairyam ātma-vinigrahaḥ || 7||

🔴 Freedom from self-importance, unpretentiousness, non-violence, patience, straight-forwardness, service of the teacher, cleanliness, steadfastness, and self-control;

Swami Sarvapriyananda teaches Verses 3-6 from the Thirteenth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita. This series of talks unfolds the highest truths of Vedanta through the study of "The Song of God".

🔆 Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 13 Verse 3:

तत्क्षेत्रं यच्च यादृक्च यद्विकारि यतश्च यत् |

स च यो यत्प्रभावश्च तत्समासेन मे शृणु || 3I|

tat kṣhetraṁ yach cha yādṛik cha yad-vikāri yataśh cha yat

sa cha yo yat-prabhāvaśh cha tat samāsena me śhṛiṇu || 3I|

🔴 Hear from Me in brief what the Ksetra is, of what nature it is, what its modifications are, and from what causes what effects have sprung. Also know who the Ksetrajna is and what his powers consist in.

🔆 Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 13 Verse 4:

ऋषिभिर्बहुधा गीतं छन्दोभिर्विविधै: पृथक् |

ब्रह्मसूत्रपदैश्चैव हेतुमद्भिर्विनिश्चितै: || 4 ||

ṛiṣhibhir bahudhā gītaṁ chhandobhir vividhaiḥ pṛithak

brahma-sūtra-padaiśh chaiva hetumadbhir viniśhchitaiḥ || 4 ||

🔴 In many and different ways have the Rishis sung about this subject in metres of varying description. The well-reasoned and definitive aphorisms of the Brahma-sutras too have discussed it.

🔆 Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 13 Verses 5 -6:

महाभूतान्यङ्ककारो बुद्धिरव्यक्त मेव च |

इन्द्रियाणि दशैकं च पञ्च चेन्द्रियगोचरा: || 5||

इच्छा द्वेष: सुखं दु:खं सङ्घातश्चेतना धृति: |

एतत्क्षेत्रं समासेन सविकारमुदाहृतम् || 6||

mahā-bhūtāny ahankāro buddhir avyaktam eva cha

indriyāṇi daśhaikaṁ cha pañcha chendriya-gocharāḥ || 5||

ichchhā dveṣhaḥ sukhaṁ duḥkhaṁ saṅghātaśh chetanā dhṛitiḥ

etat kṣhetraṁ samāsena sa-vikāram udāhṛitam || 6||

🔴 The five great elements, the I-sense, the intellect, and the Unmanifested (Root Matter); the ten organs along with the mind as the eleventh, and the five objects of the senses; desire, hatred, pleasure and pain; the body, consciousness, and will -such is a brief description of the Ksetra with all its modifications.

Swami Sarvapriyananda teaches Verse 2 (Cont'd) from the Thirteenth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita. This series of talks unfolds the highest truths of Vedanta through the study of "The Song of God".

🔆 Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 13 Verse 2:

क्षेत्रज्ञं चापि मां विद्धि सर्वक्षेत्रेषु भारत |

क्षेत्रक्षेत्रज्ञयोर्ज्ञानं यत्तज्ज्ञानं मतं मम ||2||

kṣhetra-jñaṁ chāpi māṁ viddhi sarva-kṣhetreṣhu bhārata

kṣhetra-kṣhetrajñayor jñānaṁ yat taj jñānaṁ mataṁ mama ||2||

🔴 Know Me, O scion of the Bharata race, to be the Ksetrajna (the Spirit) in all Ksetras (bodies). The knowledge of the distinction between Ksetra and Ksetrajna alone is real knowledge according to Me.

Q&A session led by Swami Sarvapriyananda at the Vedanta Society of New York on Sep 29th, 2024. List of questions with timestamps:

00:00 - Intro

02:04 - Can atheists achieve enlightenment?

09:17 - If the body is inert (jada), how is it able to generate thoughts?

19:03 - If our real nature is prakash (light) does prakash need to be self-aware?

33:57 - Does removal of ignorance require free will?

46:36 - If Brahman is fulfilled, why does it need to appear as Jiva, Jagat, Isvara?

58:19 - What proof is there of awareness in deep sleep?  If deep sleep is the awareness of absence, what is death?

01:10:50 - What should I do if the power of discernment in Vedantic practice is diminished?

01:14:00 - Is breathing Atman?  Can the soul depart if it is Brahman?

01:19:41 - My heart is troubled by the suffering around me.  How can I hold on to Advaita?

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This lecture from Sarvapriyananda explores various paths to attaining inner peace. It discusses the yogic approach of stilling the mind through meditation, the devotional path of surrendering to God's will, and the philosophical approach of Vedanta that recognizes one's true nature as unattached awareness. He emphasizes that true peace comes from understanding one's essential nature as pure consciousness, unaffected by the changing circumstances of life. He explains several philosophical reasons why our true self is inherently unattached (asanga) to worldly experiences, drawing on concepts from Advaita Vedanta. The overall message is that recognizing our innate, unchanging nature as awareness leads to lasting peace.

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This is Part 6 of a series of lectures given by Swami Sarvapriyananda on the text, Vakya Vritti. Vakya Vritti is a text of fifty-two Sanskrit slokas attributed to Adi Shankara and is in the form of a dialogue between an eager student and an enlightened teacher. The text concerns itself with the detailed and elaborate explanation of two Mahāvākyas – aham brahmāsmi and tat tvam asi which are intended to give a direct perception of Brahman. ► To support the Vedanta Society of New York: http://www.vedantany.org/donate