Summary:

Chapter 12, Verse 9: Emotional and intellectual development is a lifelong practice (abhyāsa) requiring constant vigilance against arrogance and dismissiveness. Practice works by training the prefrontal cortex to intercept impulsive emotional responses from the amygdala, creating new neural pathways. Bhakti means repeatedly bringing the mind back to Ishvara‘s order when it goes off track. Verse essence: If unable to maintain steady absorption in the Divine, pursue continuous practice (abhyāsa) to reach that goal.

Chapter 12, Verse 10: Actions dedicated to Ishvara require understanding one's svadharma (duties/responsibilities) and samanya-dharma (universal values). Every role (parent, spouse, employee) comes with specific duties that must be performed with vigilance, setting appropriate boundaries while considering both self and others' wellbeing. Success comes from transforming from a mere recipient to an active participant in Ishvara‘s interconnected order. Verse essence: When practice is difficult, perform all actions with attitude that it's a service to the Divine.

VERSE 9: ^{(V8-9 are together)}
Repeatedly bringing mind to Ishvara's order is bhakti.

अथ चित्तम् समाधातुम् न शक्नोषि मयि स्थिरम् ।
अभ्यास-योगेन ततः माम् इच्छ आप्तुम् धनञ्जय ॥ १२-९॥
atha cittam samādhātum na śaknoṣi mayi sthiram ।
abhyāsa-yogena tataḥ mām iccha āptum dhanañjaya ॥ 12-9॥

If you are not able to absorb your mind steadily in Me, Dhanañjaya (Arjuna)! then through the practice of yoga may you seek to reach Me.

How long does Emotional/Intellectual life coming in order take to develop? Indefinitely. Thus it’s abhyāsa (repetition, lifelong process).

Moment you decide you’ve practiced enough or seen it all before, is beginning of superiority (arrogance) / dismissiveness / intolerance.

How and why practice (abhyāsa) works:

Order: Stimuli > Amygdala (Instinctive) > produces emotion.

If prefrontal cortex (reasoning) doesn’t intercept, one remains impulsive/primitive > unpleasant consequence.

Thus abhyasa targets newer prefrontal cortex by deliberately thinking differently > which undo's old neuro-pathways. 

Meaning when mind goes off track (starts cursing, opinionizing) — deliberately and repeatedly bring it back, seeing the situation through Bhagavan's order. This is bhakti. Moment you complain, you lose touch with Bhagavan's order.

Conclusion: It’s not about motivational talk, “Just persist”. But recognizing you have no choice because it’s God's order. You're a guest in Ishvara's 5-star hotel.

Through practice of yoga:

What does “yoga” refer to? Anything you do to free your mind from afflictions and distortions denying full integration of the knowledge.

EG: 3 vessels and sun. The water in the vessel is interfering from sun being fully recognized.

NEXT VERSE: If unable to bring mind back through practice, and carried away by stories — then commit yourself to life of activity, performing your duties within the society. And take that very society (family, friends, colleagues) as form of Ishvara…

VERSE 10:
Ishvara-arpana-buddhi through svadharma and dharma

अभ्यासे अपि असमर्थः असि मत्-कर्म-परमः भव ।
मत्-अर्थम् अपि कर्माणि कुर्वन् सिद्धिम् अवाप्स्यसि ॥ १२-१०॥
abhyāse api asamarthaḥ asi mat-karma-paramaḥ bhava ।
mat-artham api karmāṇi kurvan siddhim avāpsyasi ॥ 12-10॥

If you do not have the capacity for the practice (of this yoga) either, may you become one for whom action dedicated to Me ^{[as dharma]} is paramount. Even doing actions for my sake you will gain success.

May you be one for whom actions are dedicated to Me:

Ishvara is intelligence that pervades universe and connects everything.

For example:

• • What your grandfather/father choose to do, is affecting you now.
  • Katha Upanishads story: A father was giving away old, useless cows in charity. Naciketa, his 11-year-old son, said, “You can’t give away worthless things. Charity should have value.” He added, “To whom will you give me? I’m more useful than these cows.” After asking repeatedly, the father got angry and said, “I give you to Yama (Lord of Death)!” Regretting his words, the father said, “I didn’t mean it, I was frustrated.” But Naciketa replied, “In our family, we speak with integrity. If we don’t mean what we say, our words lose value, and over time, so will our values.” He went to Yama to honor his father’s words, showing how one’s actions and words shape future generations.

This means, every action performed, you keep in mind it’s never outside Ishvara’s infallible laws. Meaning you need to perform your duties/responsibilities with vigilance and alertness, guiding them through 2 principles…

Svadharma:

1. 1. Definition: Duties and responsibilities.
   2. Changes per situation/life stage: Based on each stage of life, duties/responsibilities change. Examples of different roles you play and your duty/responsibility in them…
      1. Duty as Family member towards each other member.
      2. Duty as Spouse: Primary/foundation is friendship. The passive person needs to find courage to speak up when under pressure. The active person needs to understand, can’t use force to shut other person down. Other roles are secondary.
      3. Duty in Relationships: Serves as platform for things to come out. EG: When fall in love, normal defenses fall away. Hidden things surface, such as feeling lack of love, I’m not good enough, inability to trust, fearful they’ll leave. In this situation — use as opportunity to refine.
      4. Duty raising Children: If overprotective, parent denies them building their resilience. Parent has duty to not make it so easy for children to get what they’re asking.
      5. Duty as Employer: Some only hire perfectionists (who’ll work hard). But it suppresses non-perfectionist employees, demotivating them. So employer has duty to hire a balanced team.
      6. Duty as Employee: duty towards community, family, self.
      7. Duty towards nation: Most project anger on nation’s leader or government. Correction: What little can I do for my country, rather than complaining? EG: Pay taxes.
      8. World (responsibilities towards humanity): Uplift someone. Throw light on disinformation. Slowly your sphere of influence increases.
   3. What is a healthy Svadharma?
      • Consider your/other’s wellbeing. It is not only thinking of self and/or family. Cost isolating svadharma to only self gain (“my work, my success, my enlightenment), is it reinforces individuality.
   4. Every Svadharma comes with challenges:
      • Even if do your roles right, they have challenges. No role brings 100% satisfaction.
      • How to cope with unpleasant duties/responsibilities?
        • Way to cope with unpleasant roles or duty (case of Arjuna) is recognizing your placement in the world is within Ishvara’s order. Ishvara has placed you in all these “challenging roles”. Simply do the best you can in the position you're in. Make it fun for yourself.
        • Recognizing this, you’re no longer a parent, but parent-bhakta, or employee-bhakta, boss-bhakta, teacher-bhakta.
        • This attitude brings alertness of duties, and removes unhealthy likes/dislikes, and complaining. Increases resilience/strength in unpleasant duties and you enter problem-solving mode.

Samanya-dharma:

Bhakta also understands in doing their roles, “I know what others want form me, and I know what I want from others”. Thus in roleplay we need to draw boundaries…

For example:

• • 1. Setting boundaries:
       1. You’re good to someone in your role, and they’re abusing you. If you don’t speak up to set boundaries for yourself and protect your dignity/honor, you’re going against Ishvara’s order. You’re not being nice by not saying anything. If boss/family member is “abusing” you by taking out their anger on you (due to their personal issues), or not giving you personal space, you can speak up.  Not speaking up, usually gives them permission to continue.
       2. What if they don’t comply to your boundaries?
          • You at least have done your part. And they’ll think about it much later.
          • Influence through a Question: Can influence them by asking questions “Why are you doing it like this?”. Then ask “Why not like this?”. Innocently guiding them to think from different perspective.
          • Avoid extremes: Either we tell people off (makes an unpleasant person people pick up on), or bottle everything up (guided by fear/insecurity).
    2. Not setting boundaries:
       1. Turns into discontent, resentment.
       2. Gives others permission to continue. Mahabharata Example: Pandavas wanted to be nice guys. The wax-house burnt, they let go. Shakuni cheated, they let go. Even after 13 years of giving Duryodhana exactly what he wanted, it didn’t reform him. 

Doing actions for my sake leads to success:

Means Ishvara has manifested an interconnected world, whom you’re not outside of. Converting from being just a recipient (drawing from universe) to a participant (giving back) – leads to “success”.

NEXT VERSE: If (V9) deliberately bringing your mind back to Ishvara is challenging, and (V10) remembering that all your actions are going to the alter of Ishvara (all is within God's order), then (V11) Karma-phala-tyaga (whatever life throws at you, understand there are infallible laws behind it). NOTE: Verse 10 + 11 = Karma-Yoga of CH3.

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Recorded 12 Jan, 2025