Gita meaning

 नमस्ते। 

मम नाम शिवः। अहं राधाकृष्णमहोदयस्य L1 वर्गे पठामि। अधुना अहं गीतातः श्लोकत्रयं तस्य अर्थं च वदामि।

श्रीभगवानुवाच |
लोकेऽस्मिन्द्विविधा निष्ठा पुरा प्रोक्ता मयानघ |
ज्ञानयोगेन साङ्ख्यानां कर्मयोगेन योगिनाम् || 3.03||

Lord is answering arjuna's confusion about lord's advice about both knowledge as well as practice karma yoga. So he asks the one way to achieve supreme goodness.

The lord says: Oh faultless one, in this world of mine, a two fold 'ways of life' have been defined by me , right from the begnning 

These are 

a. jnanayoga (the way of life purely dedicated to knowledge in the form of physical sanyasa) for the sanyasis 

b. karmayoga (the way of life for those who are householders)

योगस्थ: कुरु कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा धनञ्जय |
सिद्ध्यसिद्ध्यो: समो भूत्वा समत्वं योग उच्यते || 2.48||

48. Oh Arjuna! Abiding in Yōga, giving up attachment and remaining the same in success and failure, perform actions. Equanimity is called Yōga. 

lord advises Arjuna act to in the world, by having proper-attitude towards material gain by making it subservient to inner growth so that material gain and material loss will not create a big turmoil in the mind.

This mental balance because of the appropriate focus on inner growth is called Samatvam. 

Therefore, Kṛṣṇa says, samatvam yōgaḥ ucyatē. The one who values the inner-growth more than external-accomplishment and therefore the consequent mental balance. 

There is no question of riskless life and therefore you have to take risk but at the same time have the mental balance. So yōgasthaḥ karmāṇi kuru.

How? saṅgaṃ-tyaktvā, shifting the attachment from material-growth to spiritual- and inner-growth. Saṅga means attachment; here attachment is attachment to the material gain. 

And what about attachment to spiritual-growth? 

siddhyasiddhyōḥ samō bhūtvā. Be equanimous both in success and failure by enjoying the appropriate attitude towards them. So siddhi means success; asiddhi means failure; towards both maintain equanimity. Because first definition of karma-yōga is samatvam yōgaḥ ucyatē. It is not any particular action, but it is particular state of mind that is called karma-yōga. Therefore Arjuna you be a karma-yōgi. 

बुद्धियुक्तो जहातीह उभे सुकृतदुष्कृते |
तस्माद्योगाय युज्यस्व योग: कर्मसु कौशलम् || 2.50||

buddhiyuktaḥ, means a karma-yōgi, who has got a proper buddhi; means proper attitude as we saw in the last sloka.

sukṛta-duṣkṛtē jahāti : lord says because Every karma-yōgi will come to jñāna-yōga one day or the other; and once he comes to jñāna-yōga and discovers his true nature, then he transcends all the karma-phalās; 

, tasmādyōgāya yujyasva. But to come to that jñānam, now you have to do action. You cannot say that I will leave everything now itself for sanyasa.

yōgaḥ karmasu kauśalam. skill in action; is karma-yōga

Here by the word skill, Kṛṣṇa does not mean expertise in the performance-of-action; anybody can be a skillful-expert if only he repeats the action again and again; like making coffeee

Śankarācārya gives a beautiful definition; NOT by changing-the-action, but by changing-the-attitude.

Therefore, skill is conversion of binding-actions into liberating-actions, by a change of attitude.

To summarize  karma yoga is 

yogah karmasu koushalam: performing dharmic actions (such as natural duties) as a form of dedication to lord

samatvam yogah uchyate: accepting results as a prasada from lord who alone controls the results for action

satyam jnanam anantam brahma

 I am anantam satyam, given I am the timeless sakshi that is the truth of the jagat.

I am anantam jnanam, given I am the timeless sakshi that is the reality of the jagat.

I am anantam satyam jnanam, given I am the timeless sakshi and the jagat is not other than me, though I am independent of the jagat, which in turn has no independent existence of its own.

Jagat being dependent on me, and having its reality in me, resolves in me.

The resolution is not an experiential resolution, rather is like deep sleep where it resolves unto me and arises from me.

That is because it has its being in me. 

That which has its being in me, is not a second entity. Rather is a mithya entity. 

I feel that mithya entity cannot be accepted as advaitam, as there are 2 , but are pot and clay two entities?

Is there a pot and a clay that is separate?

Jagat is non separate from atma the sakshi chaitanyam. That is the upanishadic pramana.

There is both atma anatma viveka, as well as atma anatama understanding of anatma being non separate from atma, anatma being mithya. Hence there is no anatma, atma itself is mithya anatma, wherein atma is the satyam, jnanam , anantam brahma.

Para Brahma

Maya has played its trick on me. I tried to imagine the maya prapancha resolving itself in brahman. Maya is situated in brahman from its own standpoint and its own reality is in brahman. This is known via shastra. It need not manifest as ones experience. Given experience is itself mithya. When we try to explain experience we use mithya vada. When we accept the mithyatvam of experience, given brahman or self alone is satyam, and from brahmans standpoint there is no explanation etc. there is nothing else in the first place. From mithya standpoint only we are talking about brahman and moksha and all that, all the time from the mithya standpoint while being satyam all the time.

So I am satyam, me saying this is mithya, me explaining it is mithya, me seeing the self as satyam is mithya, me explaining the world as mithya is mithya. By explaining the world as mithya, my smallness is mithya, I am the all pervading satyam. Ishvaras maya is mithya, ishvara is me the same all pervading satyam. That is the oneness of me and ishvara, we only differ in name and form and not in reality. Our reality is one and the same, non dual.

Jnana, Karma and Bhakti

 There are 3 types of bhakti

1. Upasana bhakti

2. Karma bhakti

3. Jnana bhakti

Upasana bhakti, is when we bring the lord in a particular form and show our love, devotion and dedication for the lord. Within upasana there are various types of expressing bhakti

1. Mantra Japa dhyana

2. Nama japa

3. Parayana

4. Emotional Sankeerthana

Karma bhakti , is when karma involves ishvara arpana and ishvara prasadatva.

1. Ishvara arpana involves understanding what to give the lord. The lord can only be given sattvic actions, done to achieve dharmic desires, or for the sake of fulfilling ones own dharma. So basically offering dharmic karma

2. Ishvara prasadatvam means while performing actions, understanding that the action will lead to a ishvara prasditva result, which means for the action , ishvara will give a prasada as he sees fit, which you can receive and enjoy 

Jnana bhakti

Jnana bhakti is when one engages in sravana , manana, nidhidhyasanam, and that leads to the removal of ajnana, and understanding that atma is the same as this ishvara, in the paramarthika sense.

In the vyavaharika plane, one continues karma and upasana bhakti, as it saguna.

In paramarthika understanding I keep the understanding that I am nirguna chaitanya wherein, me and my lord are one and the same.

Atma is brahman

 Atma the self is brahman

Brahman means the light of all lights

The light of consciousness

Consciousness that is not limited by anything else other than itself

I am the light of all lights

I alone am the reality 

I 

You and I are mere words

This and that are mere words

Word and meanings are not real

They are mithya , or appear to be real

They appear to exist

But they have no independent existence

I am the existence , the only existence

So when we say , this exists, that exists,

The exists is myself the light of consciousness

and the 'this' and 'that' are the words and their meanings

Vacharambanam vikaro namadheyam, mrtka eva satyam

I alone illumine these names and forms

And the names and forms appear to exist , with borrowed existence

and this existence is I alone

Ishvara or god, is the source of this universe, and I am that source

Ishvara with maya shakti is the lord of this universe, and this maya shakti is mithya

I am the existence that enlivens and sustains this maya shakti

In me maya shakti is, and with this maya shakti I appear as bhagavan, the benevolent one

I manifest this universe with my maya shakti, and rule it and resolve it back

I have total control over my maya shakti and this universe and its beings, I run this leela

This is the truth that is known from the upanishads 

With the grace of the guru and the lord

With a guru any jiva can know this truth and be liberated forever from this confusion that leads to samsara

One attains ones own real nature , which is truth, beauty and self shining and whole and spotless or faultless.

Sarvam brahma mayam

 All that is here is brahman

In the beginning there was only brahman

He became many as though, into space, earth, fire, water and air

All these elements and elementals combined to give rise to life forms

He reflected in these life forms and began experiencing the world he has manifest out of himself as though

His reality is pure consciousness. He has not become this jagat, he is only available as though as jagat, but in reality has never become this jagat or undergone any change.

He is none other than I. 

In the begining I alone was,

I became many as though, into space, fire, air , water and earth

All these elements and elementals combined into give rise to life forms

I refelect on these life forms making them appear to be endowed with consciousness, and undertake various activities

As the controller of these elements, elementals and the life forms, I manage this manifestation, as its ruler, controller, and the giver of results of actions, I myself undertake under the influence of ignorance.

I myself am the doer, the receiver and the giver of fruits of action. From the standpoint of the individual, I am ishvara the protector, and form the standpoint of me as ishvara, I am the compassionate ruler and mother and father of all beings, directing them towards self realization.

I am none other than this pure consciousness who appears as all of the above, without having ever become any of the above. Hence I am non dual, I am changeless, I am birthless, formless, limitless, and whole, without any parts thereof.

I am non dual, as there is no other besides me.

Who is there to be other than me, as I alone am all that is here.

I as an individual am grateful to myself as the guru and myself as ishvara, and myself as the knowledge, for having freed myself from my own ignorance, and as though freed me, myself who was is and never will be bound ever, as there is nothing besides me to bind my anyway.

Harih om.

Maya and Atma

 With self ignorance, maya has the self under her spell.

With self knowledge, self ignorance is destroyed, and the self is free from maya. In fact maya depends on the self for its existent.

This same self appears to be a hapless jiva under the spell of maya, whereas, this self is the atma upon which maya depends for its existence.

Atma is neither ignorant, nor knowledgeable, atma just IS or AM.  

This atma keeping maya under his control, is ishvara. This same atma is sakshi chaitanyam. With ignorance, the jiva considers this atma or himself to be a separate jiva, when in fact he is the atma alone.

So this ignorance is attributed to the jiva, but is an upadhi , and the atma is not tainted by this ignorance, though is the ashraya for this ignorance as well. With ishvaras maya shakti, he gives self knowledge , which removes this ignorance, and the jiva discovers his oneness with ishvara. So through the maha vakya, ishvara advertises his oneness with the jiva to the jiva. Ishvara tells jiva, that you are Myself in fact. My self is you indeed. And due to ignorance you are considering yourself to be a separate individual. Thus ishvara becomes the cause for liberation via guru and shastra.