This Shloka From Bhagavad Geeta Can Help Students Perform Better!

The basic requirement of being good at anything we do is having our mind 100% engrossed in it. And that is possible only when thoughts of some other person\object\event\situation are not troubling us. The major issue which every student faces is that the moment they sit for studying\any other intended productive activity, their minds are flooded with - how many likes they have on Facebook, how many friends have pinged them on Whatsapp, whether their GF-in-waiting have left them any message or not, or whether Siddharth Malhotra has posted a new selfie on Instagram. Isn’t like our kids are not intelligent\smart enough - we have the brightest of the brightest beings on this planet. But is our budding human resource - the Kalams and Modis and Sachins of tomorrow - being equipped with the basic knowledge of how their own mind plays with them? Not really.

This simple Shloka from the Bhagavad Geeta coupled with an illustration can easily convey the above. (Read them row by row. Move to next row only after reading the entire three columns)

Shloka (2.62, 2.63)	Meaning	Example
ध्यायतो विषयान्पुंसः	Thinking about the sense objects (विषया)	He\she was looking so attractive today. He\she didn’t even look at me.
सङ्गस्ते षूपजायते ।	A person develops attachment (सङ्ग) for them.	Something happens inside. A little naughty tickling :P
सङ्गात्संजायते कामः	From attachment develops Desire(कामः)	This little sweet feeling manifests as “I so badly wish we could spend some time together”
कामात्क्रोधो ऽभिजायते	Unfulfilled Desires lead to Frustration and Anger (त्क्रोधो)	Repeated “I want him\her” + “He\She doesn’t give me Bhav” = Frustration + Anger
क्रोधाद्भवति संमोहः	Anger leaders to Delusion (संमोहः)	In the frustrated state, Mind is unable to think about anything else. Maths book in front is as good as the desired boy\girl’s picture. As good as blindness.
संमोहात्स्मृति विभ्रमः	Delusion leads to Erosion of Memory(त्स्मृति विभ्रमः) (Past learning of what is right and wrong)	Mom Dad and teachers had told “In chakkaro mein nai padna varna padai mein dhyan nai lagega”. But the teenager can’t remember this anymore! He is as good as someone who is never taught this.
स्मृतिभ्रंशाद्बुद्धि नाशो	Erosion of Memory leads to Destruction of Thinking Power\Logic\Reason\ Intellect (बुद्धि नाशो)	Teenager’s own evolved brain won’t function since brain relies on past experiences of right and wrong to take a decision, the data which is inaccessible right now.
बुद्धि नाशात्प्रणश्यति	Destruction of Reasoning Ability leads to Failure of Man (त्प्रणश्यति) as it will lead to Wrong Actions	The teenager remains obsessed, loses focus, performs badly in examinations and subsequently faces peer competition\parent pressure and is drowned in guilt being unable to help himself.

I never realized before reading this Shloka that so much happens in the little mind of ours from the point the thought of my crush enters my mind till the time I see a bad Mark sheet! Did you?

No one ever told us the Circus happening in our mind every moment. Krishna told long back though.

So to reverse the above table – solution is clear enough. The moment an undesirable thought enters me – I just have to be aware, and stop thinking\ replace it with an alternate thought. Awareness right at the first level is necessary because dealing with a simple thought is much easier than dealing with desire/ anger/ consequence of a wrong action.

Also a well-established fact is the power and the vibration of the Shloka itself. Chanting the Shloka reminds us of this whole Drama that can take place if we don’t manage the thought straightaway! The moment your EX is about to enter your mind, just say to yourself... (“ध्यायतो विषयान्पुंसः ...) and your mind will immediately recall the entire flowchart above which ends in “failure”... the thought will stop right there.  Knowledge of the phenomenon itself that can happen inside our mind can take us out of the cobwebs.

Try out for yourself ;)