Gita: Chapter 7:Knowledge and Wisdom

Knowledge and Wisdom

The previous chapter not only gave us the technique of Self-realisation through the methods of concentration and meditation, but also concluded with Krishna's own personal opinion upon who exactly was the noblest among the different seekers pursuing the different "path." According to the Lord of Vrindavana, a meditator who tries to concentrate his mind upon the Self is superior to those who strive to deny all sense enjoyment to this body (Tapaswins), or to those who make deep and learned investigations into the scriptural literature (Jnanis), or to those who have dedicated themselves to selfless service of the society (Karmis). The Flute-bearer has again tried to express his opinion as to who, among the meditators, is the most noble. It was declared in the concluding stanza of the previous chapter that of all the meditators, the one who has successfully merged his mind in the nature of the Pure Consciousness, through the path of single-pointed meditation, is the highest seeker, and the dearest to the Lord.


Naturally, there would be a possible doubt, in the mind of Arjuna, as to how a limited and mortal mind-and-intellect of a finite creature could ever embrace and comprehend the entire limitless Infinite. In order to remove this doubt, Krishna opens this particular chapter, with a promise that he would explain to Arjuna the entire science, both in its theoretical and speculative aspects, and clear all his possible doubts on the subject. Indeed, for exhaustiveness in treatment and thoroughness in exposition there is, perhaps, no other religious textbook that can stand a favourable comparison with the Geeta. In this sense of the term, we should appreciate the Geeta, not only as a textbook of our philosophy, but also as a literary masterpiece of beauty and erudition in the world's literature.
Here is the translation of the slokas of the 7th Chapter of Gita:

The Blessed Lord said: 1. With the mind intent on Me, Partha, practising YOGA and taking refuge in Me, how thou shalt, without doubt, know Me fully, that do thou hear.
2. I shall declare to thee in full this knowledge combined with realisation, which being known, nothing more here remains to be known.

3. Among thousands of men, one perchance strives, for perfection; even among those successful strivers, only one perchance knows Me in essence.

4. Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intellect, egoism --- these are My eight-fold PRAKRITI.

5. This is the "lower" PRAKRITI; different from it, know thou, O mighty-armed, My "Higher' ' PRAKRITI , the very Life-element, by which this world is upheld.

6. Know that these (two PRAKRITIS ) , are the womb of all beings. So I am the source and dissolution of the whole universe.

7. There is nothing whatsoever higher than Me, O Dhananjaya. All this is strung in Me, as clusters of gems on a string.

8. I am the sapidity in water, O son of Kunti, I am the light in the moon and the sun; I am the syllable OM in all the VEDAS, sound in ether, and virility in men;

9. I am the sweet fragrance in earth and the brilliance in fire, the life in all beings, and I am austerity in the austere.

10. Know Me, O Partha, as the eternal seed of all beings; I am the intelligence of the intelligent. The splendour of the splendid (things and beings) , am I.

11. Of the strong, I am the strength --- devoid of desire and attachment, and in (all) beings, I am the desire --- unopposed to DHARMA, O best among the Bharatas.

12. Whatever beings (and objects) that are pure, active and inert, know them to proceed from Me; yet, I am not in them, they are in Me.

13. Deluded by these natures (states or things) composed of the three GUNAS (of PRAKRITI ) all the world knows Me not as Immutable and distinct from them.

14. Verily, this divine illusion of Mine, made up of GUNAS (caused by the qualities) is difficult to cross over; those who take refuge in Me, they alone cross over this illusion.

15 The evil-doers, the deluded, the lowest of men, do not seek Me; they, whose discrimination has been destroyed by their own delusions, follow the ways of the demons.

16. Four kinds of virtuous men worship Me, O Arjuna, the dissatisfied, the seeker of (systematised) knowledge, the seeker of wealth, and the wise, O best among the Bharatas.

17. Of them the wise, ever steadfast and devoted to the One, excels; for, I am exceedingly dear to the wise, and he is dear to Me.

18. Noble indeed are all these, but the wise man, I deem, as My very Self; for, steadfast in mind he is established in Me alone as the Supreme Goal.

19. At the end of many births the wise man comes to Me, realising that all this is Vasudeva (the innermost Self) ; such a great soul (MAHATMA) is very hard to find.

20. Those whose wisdom has been looted away by this or that desire, go to other gods, following this or that rite, led by their own nature.

21. Whatsoever form any devotee desires to worship with faith --- that (same) faith of his I make (firm and) unflinching.

22. Endued with that faith, he engages in the worship of that 'DEVATA' and from it he obtains his desire-fulfilments; all these being ordained, indeed, by Me (alone) .

23. Verily the "fruit" that accrues to those men of little-intelligence is finite. The worshippers of the DEVAS go to the DEVAS but My devotees come to Me.

24. The foolish think of Me, the Unmanifest, as having come to manifestation, not knowing My higher, immutable and peerless nature.

25. I am not manifest to all (in My Real Nature) veiled by Divine- 'MAYA. ' This deluded world knows not Me, the Unborn, the Imperishable.

26. I know, O Arjuna, the beings of the past, and present and the future, but no one knows Me.

27. By the delusion of the pairs-of-opposites arising from desire and aversion, O Bharata, all beings are subject to delusion at birth, O Parantapa (scorcher of foes) .

28. But those men of virtuous deeds whose sins have come to an end, who are freed from the delusion of the pairs-of-opposites and steadfast in vows, worship Me.

29. Those who strive for liberation from old age and death, taking refuge in Me --- They realise in full that BRAHMAN, the whole knowledge of the Self and all action.

30. Those who know Me with the ADHIBHUTA (pertaining to elements; the world-of-objects) , ADHIDAIVA (pertaining to the gods; the sense-organs) and the ADHIYAJNA (pertaining to the sacrifice; all perceptions) , even at the time of death, steadfast in mind, know Me.

Gita: Chapter 6- Meditation

Meditation

With this chapter we are coming to the close of a definite section in the scheme of thought in the Gita. This is the opinion of some of the well-known critics and students of the Lord's Song. According to them, the eighteen chapters of the Gita fall into three definite sections, each of six chapters, and they group themselves to expound the implications and significances of the sacred Vedic mantra "Tat Twam Asi" --- THAT THOU ART. The first six chapters together constitute an explanation of the philosophical significance indicated by the word "Thou" (Twam). In the general scheme of thought developed in that section, the contents of the sixth chapter constitute a fitting conclusion.


In Chapter II, in a language almost foreign to Arjuna, in quick strokes, Lord Krishna painted the philosophical perfection which is the theme of all the Upanishads. He concluded that chapter with a vivid and expressive picture of a Saint of perfection and mental equipoise. Naturally, the interest of a seeker is excited and he seeks to find means and methods by which he too can grow within himself and reach those diviner heights of self-control and equipoise.

The Gita is personally and specifically addressed to Arjuna, a confused average man, at a moment when he felt completely confounded by the problem that was facing him. Naturally, the highest methods of subtle meditation, the mental drill by which one can renounce all one's preoccupations, etc., are not easy methods that can be practised with confidence. At the same time, it will not be true to say that Vedantic methods are meant only for a few; if they are immediately useful only to a few, there must be, in Vedanta, preliminary techniques by which everyone can steadily grow to become fit to enter the Hall of Perfection.

That there are graded lessons for one's spiritual unfoldment is not really understood by the modern lip-Vedantins. It is this general ignorance that has brought about the misconception in Hinduism that the study of the Vedas is the guarded preserve of some rare ones. But, Vedanta would have been an incomplete science if it did not contain Upasana methods for purifying the students' inner equipments.

Krishna, as a true teacher, understood Arjuna's mental debilities and intellectual incompetency at that particular moment to start right away upon the arduous lines of pure meditation and clear detached thinking. In order to bring him to the level of perfection, various lower methods of self-integration had to be prescribed. Thus in Chapter III we found an exhaustively scientific treatment of the "Karma Yoga" --- the Path of Action.

Activities in the outer world, however noble they may be in their motive, cannot but leave deep ulcerations and painful restlessness in the bosom of the worker. To mitigate the "reactions" of action (Karma-Phala) and as a balm to soothe the bleeding mental wounds, new methods of maintaining the mind in quietude and ease have been expounded in Chapter IV under the title "RENUNCIATION OF ACTION IN KNOWLEDGE." It is the theory of Krishna that, constantly maintaining in the mind the awareness of the Greater Principle that presides over all human endeavours, the worker can, even in the thick of activities, maintain a healthy and well-ventilated inner life.

Naturally, the limited intellect of Arjuna got extremely confused, since the teacher argued in the beginning for "action," and in the conclusion, for "the renunciation of action." In Chapter V, therefore, the "Way of Renunciation" is explained and the technique of guaranteeing to our mind immunity from reactions, even while it is engaged in activity, is explained. The "Yajna spirit" --- the spirit of dedicated activity for the benefit of the larger majority and not for any self-arrogating profit --- is the antiseptic that Krishna prescribes for a mind and intellect that are to work in the world. In Chapter IV is prescribed an unavoidable treatment for curing the mind of its own pox of painful "impressions of the past" (vasanas).

In Chapter V, the "WAY OF RENUNCIATION" is explained under two different categories, which show the two methods of achieving the same goal: renunciation of (a) our sense of agency in activities; and (b) our unintelligent anxieties arising out of our thoughtless preoccupations with the fruits-of-our-action. The chapter exhausts these two techniques and explains how, by the renunciation of agency or by the renunciation of our attachment to the fruits-of-actions, we can come to gain a release from the vasana bondages which generally shackle our personality during our activities.

One who could faithfully follow the technique so far unravelled by the Lord, should have thereby come to a condition wherein the insentient and inert mind has been stirred into a field of intense activity. A mind developed through this training, is taught to come under the intelligent will of its determined trainer, the seeker himself. The mind thus gathered and trained, is certainly a better-equipped instrument for the higher purposes of Self-contemplation and Self-unfoldment.

How this is done through the famous technique of meditation is, in a nutshell, the theme of the sixth chapter. During our discussions, we shall not stand in sheer surprise and wonderment and swallow down the ideas in the verses without dissecting, discovering, analysing and understanding every facet of each of those ideas. This chapter promises to give us all the means by which we can give up our known weaknesses and grow positively into a healthier and more potent life of virtue and strength. This technique is called meditation, which in one form or another, is the common method advocated and advised in all religions, by all prophets, at all times, in the history of man.

Here is the meaning of the shlokas of Chapter 6
The Blessed Lord said: 1. He who performs his bounden duty without depending on the fruits-of-actions --- he is a SAMNYASIN and a YOGIN ; not he who (has renounced) is without fire and without action.

2. O Pandava, please know YOGA to be that which they call renunciation; no one verily becomes a YOGI who has not renounced thoughts.

3. For a MUNI or sage who "wishes to attain to YOGA, " action is said to be the means; for the same sage who has "attained to YOGA, " inaction (quiescence) is said to be the means.

4. When a man is not attached to sense-objects or to actions, having renounced all thoughts, then he is said to have attained to YOGA.

5. Let a man lift himself by his own Self alone, and let him not lower himself; for, this Self alone is the friend of oneself, and this Self is the enemy of oneself.

6. The Self is the friend of the self for him who has conquered himself by the Self, but to the unconquered self, the Self stands in the position of an enemy like the (external) foe.

7. The Supreme Self of him who is self-controlled and peaceful, is balanced in cold and heat, pleasure and pain, as also in honour and dishonour.

8. The YOGI who is satisfied with knowledge and wisdom, who remains unshaken, who has conquered the senses, to whom a lump of earth, a stone and gold are the same, is said to be harmonised (i. e. , is said to have attained NIRVIKALPA SAMADHI) .

9. He who is of the same mind to the good-hearted, friends, enemies, the indifferent, the neutral, the hateful, relatives, the righteous and the unrighteous, he excels.

10. Let the YOGI try constantly to keep the mind steady, remaining in solitude, alone, with the mind and body controlled, free from hope and greed.

11. Having, in a clean spot, established a firm seat of his own, neither too high nor too low, made of a cloth, a skin and KUSHA -grass, one over the other, . . .

12. There, having made the mind one-pointed, with the actions of the mind and the senses controlled, let him, seated on the seat, practise YOGA, for the purification of the self.

13. Let him firmly hold his body, head and neck erect and still, gazing at the tip of his nose, without looking around.

14. Serene-minded, fearless, firm in the vow of BRAHMACHARYA, having controlled the mind, thinking on Me and balanced, let him sit, having Me as the Supreme Goal.

15. Thus, always keeping the mind balanced, the YOGI, with his mind controlled, attains to the Peace abiding in Me, which culminates in total liberation (NIRVANA or MOKSHA) .

16. Verily, YOGA is not possible for him who eats too much, nor for him who does not eat at all; nor for him who sleeps too much, nor for him who is (always) awake, O Arjuna.

17. YOGA becomes the destroyer of pain for him who is moderate in eating and recreation, who is moderate in his exertion during his actions, who is moderate in sleep and wakefulness.

18. When the perfectly controlled mind rests in the Self only, free from longing for all (objects of) desire, then it is said: "he is united" (YUKTAH) .

19. " As a lamp placed in a windless place does not flicker" --- is a simile used to describe the YOGI of controlled-mind, practising YOGA of the Self (or absorbed in th e YOGA -of-the-Self) .

20. When the mind, restrained by the practice of YOGA, attains quietude and when seeing the Self by the self, he is satisfied in his own Self;

21. When he (the YOGI ) feels that Infinite bliss --- which can be grasped by the (pure) intellect and which transcends the senses --- wherein established he never moves from the Reality;

22. Which, having obtained, he thinks there is no other gain superior to it; wherein established, he is not moved even by heavy sorrow.

23. Let it be known: the severance from the union-with-pain is YOGA. This YOGA should be practised with determination and with a mind steady and undespairing.

24. Abandoning without reserve all desires born of SANKALPA, and completely restraining the whole group of senses by the mind from all sides.

25. Little by little, let him attain quietude by his intellect, held firm; having made the mind established in the Self, let him not think of anything.

26. From whatever cause the restless and the unsteady mind wanders away, from that let him restrain it, and bring it back under the control of the Self alone.

27. Supreme Bliss verily comes to this YOGI, whose mind is quite peaceful, whose passion is quietened, who is free from sin, and who has become BRAHMAN.

28. The YOGI engaging the mind thus (in the practice of YOGA ) , freed from sins, easily enjoys the Infinite Bliss of 'BRAHMAN -contact. '

29. With the mind harmonised by YOGA he sees the Self abiding in all beings, and all beings in the Self; he sees the same everywhere.

30. He who sees Me everywhere, and sees everything in Me, he never gets separated from Me, nor do I get separated from him.

31. He who, being established in unity, worships Me, dwelling in all beings, that YOGI abides in Me, whatever be his mode of living.

32. He who, through the likeness (sameness) of the Self, O Arjuna, sees equality everywhere, be it pleasure or pain, he is regarded as the highest YOGI.

Arjuna said: 33. This YOGA of Equanimity, taught by Thee, O slayer of Madhu, I see not its enduring continuity, because of the restlessness (of the mind) .

34. The mind verily is, O Krishna, restless, turbulent, strong and unyielding; I deem it quite as difficult to control as the wind.

The Blessed Lord said: 35. Undoubtedly, O mighty-armed one, the mind is difficult to control and is restless; but, by practice, O Son of Kunti, and by dispassion, it is restrained.

36 . YOGA, I think is hard to be attained by one of uncontrolled self; but the self-controlled, striving, can obtain it by (proper) means.

Arjuna said: 37. He who, though possessed of faith, is unable to control himself, whose mind wanders away from YOGA, to what end does he, having failed to attain perfection in YOGA go, O Krishna?

38. Fallen from both, does he not, O mighty-armed, perish like a rent cloud, supportless and deluded in the path of BRAHMAN?

39. This doubt of mine, O Krishna, please dispel completely; because it is not possible for any one but You to dispel this doubt.

The Blessed Lord said: 40. O Partha, neither in this world, nor in the next world is there destruction for him; none, verily, who strives to be good, O My son, ever comes to grief.

41 Having attained to the worlds of the righteous, and having dwelt there for everlasting (long) years, he who had fallen from YOGA is born again in the house of the pure and the wealthy.

42. Or, he is even born in the family of the wise YOGIS; verily, a birth like this is very difficult to obtain in this world.

43. There he comes to be united with the knowledge acquired in his former body and strives more than before for Perfection, O son of the Kurus.

44. By that very former practice he is borne on inspite of himself. Even he who merely wishes to know YOGA goes beyond the SHABDA BRAHMAN.

45. But the YOGI, who strives with assiduity, purified from sins and perfected (gradually) through many births, then attains the highest Goal.

46. The YOGI is thought to be superior to the ascetics, and even superior to men-of-knowledge (mere scholars) ; he is also superior to men-of-action; therefore (you strive to) be a YOGI, O Arjuna.

47. And among all YOGIS, he who, full of faith, with his inner-self merged in Me, worships Me, is, according to Me, the most devout.

Gita : Chapter 5- Renunciation of Actions

This chapter opens with a doubt raised by Arjuna. It is almost similar to, but not the same as, the one he raised in the beginning of the third chapter. At the end of Krishna's discourses in Chapter II, the disturbed mind of Arjuna could not definitely come to a decision whether action had any place at all in the life of Spiritual-seeking. Here, in this chapter, the Pandava Prince only asks which of the two --- renunciation-of-action or participation-in action --- is the nobler and the greater. The very construction of the question indicates how far Arjuna has been persuaded rightly by Krishna's advocacy of "right-action and conscious resistance to all positive evil." The great Acharya had, to a large extent, hauled Arjuna out of his inward psychological disaster. He had regained a certain amount of equilibrium and had understood and accepted that action, intelligently pursued, was the right way for progress and self-development.


To Arjuna, Karma meant Vedic ritualism such as Yajnas, Yagas and Homas, etc., and Samnyasa meant renunciation of everything and total retirement to a quiet Himalayan jungle, living there in constant inactivity, a strange life of self-denial and, perhaps, conscious self-persecution. When this was the type of misunderstanding in the mind of an educated, intelligent member of royalty of those times, we can easily imagine how much more pathetic must have been the general condition of desperate ignorance into which the Hindus of that age had sunk!

Krishna's attempt is to re-vitalise these dead terms in our scriptural tradition and bring about a rehabilitation in the understanding of the Hindus (II-61). We have already found, in the previous chapter, how the elaborate ritualisms called Yajnas, have been brought out from their glass-houses of secrecy and cellars of artificial sanctity to the broad daylight of everyday activity. The secret wealth of the Vedas, which was enjoyed by only a choice few, was "nationalised" to become a free heritage to be enjoyed by all seekers among mankind. With this subtle missionary work, Krishna brought Hinduism and its scientific methods within the life of every man living in the world.

After thus describing Karma Yoga (Chapters III and IV), Krishna had to describe how one should intelligently renounce Karma and enter a nobler spiritual technique for completing the pilgrimage to Perfection. To whip man out of his sleepy inertia, vigorous activity is advised here as the first step. Activities are, at this stage, necessarily motivated by the individual's ego-centric desires. Inertia (Tamas) is thus invigorated into the "agitations of dynamic activity" (Rajas). This state is again to be transcended through the process of "non-ego-centric Divine activities undertaken in a spirit of good-will and love for all," especially termed in the Gita as Yajna. Thus sublimated, the individual reaches a certain amount of tranquillity and peace, purity and joy (Sattwa). In this mental composure alone, can one meditate properly to reach the frontiers of the finite and experience the State of the Infinite.

This theory of self-development in three definite stages, of desire-prompted activities, of desireless activities, and finally, of pure meditation, is not an original contribution of the philosopher-poet Vyasa, the author of the Mahabharata and the Gita. Even here, we find that it is only an intelligent re-interpretation of the technique already indicated in the Vedas. In Vedic literature too, we find a systematic development of the technique of Self-Perfection. If the "Mantra" portion of the Vedas expresses an all-absorbing sense of wonderment of the deluded at the sight of Nature's vastness in strength and beauty, the "Brahmana" portion prescribes ways and means by which ritualistic activities can be undertaken for the satisfaction of one's material desires. After the "Brahmana" portion, there is, in all the text-books of Vedas, a clear section called the "Aranyakas," which prescribes varieties of worship-methods called the Upasanas, which are to be undertaken by pure minds uncontaminated by any desire. These desireless activities (Yajnas) make fine adjustments in the mind-and-intellect-equipments of the seekers and provide them with a pair of wings with which they can fly across the finite straight into the realms of the Infinite.

This same technique is confirmed by the Gita, with slight adjustments, here and there, in the word-meaning. In fact, the technique remaining the same, only the garb of language has been re-modelled to appeal to the available fashions of thought at the time of the Mahabharata. This change has often been characterised by enthusiastic critics as a total revolution, which has mischievous suggestions. Revolution is a term that is generally used when the old scheme of things is totally destroyed and is replaced by an entirely new set-up. For example, the Industrial Revolution completely replaced the patriarchal scheme of social living that the West had before their wind-mills started revolving. No such destructive revolution has taken place with the introduction of the Gita by Vyasa, or by the acceptance of it as a Scriptural text-book by the AcharyAs.

And yet, the Gita represents a revolution. When a flower matures into a fruit, certainly it is a destruction of the flower as such, but in the fruit, the essence of the flower, namely, its fertilised ovary, has found fulfilment. Those who do not know the science of plant life may mourn the destruction of the flower when they see the fruit standing where the flower stood before. But a botanist clearly understands that only the unnecessary aspects in the flower have withered away and that the essential in the flower has grown to its fulfilment in the fruit.

Similarly, the elaborate ritualism, its show and mystery, its detailed preparations and arrangements, which constitute the bulk of Vedic books, have all withered away, but the essential technique, which lies almost imperceptibly in the Vedic volumes, has found a perfect fulfilment, inasmuch as it has been brought out as a complete and self-evident science in the Gita.

Lord Krishna, after indicating the Supreme Goal of Perfection, exhausts himself in the following two chapters enunciating the methods of true activity. Activity in life, intelligently undertaken, is a means to reach the highest spiritual consummation. Primary education is as unavoidable as higher secondary education for a student to fulfil his ambition to become a doctor or an advocate, an engineer or an economist. Just as a student, after his primary lessons, must enter the higher secondary classes, and after the fulfilment of which, he must again strive hard to pass the early college lessons before he can hope to enter any of the specialised branches of education, so too, from desireless activities undertaken with a Yajna Spirit, a seeker must change over to the Path of Meditation.

Chapters III and IV have described the 'Yajna' and Chapter VI will explain the Path of Meditation. Therefore, this chapter has been rightly named "the Yoga of Renunciation of Action." What is the spirit of renunciation, how the "Yoga of Renunciation of Action" can be practised, what would be the result of practising this way of activity in this special mental attitude, and how far that could contribute to the inward development and growth of the human personality --- all these are discussed in this chapter. In fact, Chapter V stands as a bridge between Karma Yoga and Pure Meditation. In the Vedas this subtle point in the chain of discussions is almost missing. Chapter V of the Gita rediscovers for us this 'missing link' in the Vedic thought. I have said 'rediscovers,' and not 'deliberately created' or 'originally supplied.'

As Shankara puts it, in many places the Lord has spoken of the renunciation of all actions and at the close of the chapter, Krishna has advised Arjuna to engage in Yoga in the "performance of actions." When thus viewed, there is, in the last chapter, a perceptible inconsistency according to Arjuna. Hence the doubt with which he opens his discussion with Lord Krishna in this chapter.

Gita- Chapter 4: Ending Action in Knowledge

For the Aryan mind, novelty in the spiritual kingdom has no charm. Any new idea, however logical and intellectual it might be, is not readily accepted by the children of the Aryan-culture as a part of their Brahma-Vidya, unless the interpreter of the new idea can show that his technique has already been envisaged in the existing scriptures of this culture. In this way we can say that we are Veda-bound as a cultural unit.

In the last chapter, Krishna propounded a revolutionary idea in the form of Karma Yoga which sounded as though it was a novel intellectual theory cooked in Krishna's own brain. Arjuna, as a true student of the Hindu culture, would not willingly accept it unless his teacher gave an endorsement that, what he had lectured upon was nothing other than an intelligent reinterpretation of the ancient sacred Vedic Science. In this chapter an all-out effort is made by Krishna to bring home to Arjuna that the Lord Himself, the author of the Vedas, had been asserting the same old Truth and nothing new.



Again, whenever a teacher, in his inspiration, emphasises a particular stage of self-development, chances are that the dull-witted seekers may misunderstand the import of the words and conclude that the partial-path explained is the entire-route to the Infinite. In order to remove this mis-understanding, the fourth chapter indicates the greater path of Jnana Yoga, the "Path-of-Knowledge," which is the only main arch-way through which all pilgrims must pass in order to reach the Temple of the Self. Upto this arch-way, seekers living in different psychological and intellectual domains may walk their own "paths," but the main gate is Jnana Yoga through which all must pass to have Darshana at the glorious altar. According to Shankara, this Yoga alone forms the subject of the Lord's teachings throughout the Geeta.

A secular science can be successfully taught and ingrained on the grey-matter of the student by any teacher, and it is not at all necessary that the student must have any love for, or faith in, or reverence towards, the teacher who, in such a case, is nothing more than an "instrument of instruction." Thus, today a professor in a modern college is only a "talking instrument," with as much importance as the blackboard, or the desk, or the platform! But, on the other hand, if a cultural flavour, a moral dignity, and an ethical glow are to be imparted to the personality of the student, it is essential that the student must approach his teacher in a spirit of reverence and love, devotion and friendliness. These are the emotional requirements which alone can bring about the necessary conditions in us, so that, when the teacher drops his divine apparel, it may fall upon our shoulders.



To Arjuna, Lord Krishna was only a friend, the cowherd boy of Vrindavana. Familiarity, if it does not breed contempt, is at least sure to pull down the familiar in our estimation of its importance and sanctity. This chapter is also intended to invoke in Arjuna's mind the necessary amount of reverence and respect towards his Charioteer. In short, Krishna is here divesting himself of his work-a-day clothes and is putting on, for the first time, his full Divine apparel of Omnipotence and Omniscience, and the Aura of God, descended upon the earth.



Through an earlier training in Karma Yoga, when an individual has integrated his mind and intellect, he becomes fit for the absorption and assimilation of the greater Truth, through the process of contemplation and meditation. Therefore, there is a strong recommendation of the "Path-of-Knowledge" in this chapter.

Gita-Chapter 3: Karma Yoga

So far Shri Krishna vehemently argued against Arjuna's decision not to fight but to renounce the glory of success and retire to the quietude of the jungle to live there the life of a monk seeking the Divine. In his arguments, at one moment, the Lord advised that Arjuna's duty was to work without getting himself preoccupied with its result. Krishna had also warned him, 'LET NOT THY ATTACHMENT BE TOWARD INACTION." Later on, the chapter concluded (II-55 to 72) with the inspired advocacy of the Path of Knowledge. Naturally, like any sincere student, Arjuna felt confused as to which of the paths he was to follow for his self-development.



The Vedantic philosophy of India is taught to the student during an intimate and free discussion between the teacher and the taught. In no other religion in the world do we find so much freedom allowed to the disciple --- to ask freely and openly, to contradict and to argue with his teachers.

Vedanta being a complete and exhaustive Science of Religion, the great Rishis never by-passed the intellect of their disciples by appealing to their blind faith or insisting upon their abject devotion. The Masters of Old encouraged doubts and invited discussions. It is during these discussions that the student wrestled with the teacher in the arena of the intellect, and in this exercise he became spiritually stronger and perfectly agile in all the other layers of his personality. This Upanishadic style has been beautifully preserved and artistically employed by the great poet-Philosopher Vyasa, in his Gita.

Any student, sincerely following up the second chapter with an irresistible appetite to live and enjoy the perfections pointed out, must necessarily entertain such a doubt as Arjuna expresses at the opening of this chapter. In fact, the arguments raised by Krishna in his discourse create in us a grave doubt as to what exactly is that path which will take a seeker easily to the realisation of the Absolute in Him. Is it: (a) Knowledge, or (b) Action, or (c) both together practised in a synthesis, or lastly, (d) is it through a total renunciation of both? Such a doubt can come, as I have already said, only to a seeker who has the enthusiasm to live the life indicated earlier. According to Shankara, action and renunciation are advised in the Vedas, for a seeker to pursue SERIALLY. Ordinarily, no doubt, no living creature endowed with a mind and intellect can remain, even for a moment of his wakeful conscious existence, without doing some work or the other. Cessation of all activities is the signature of death upon insentient matter. Therefore, act we must, from birth to death.



Instinctively, in our inborn ignorance, we act, motivated by our ego and ego-centric desires. An uncultivated man acts, thoughtlessly, propelled by his own wrong tendencies, ordering for himself ever a new lease of sorrowful existence. Entertaining these sensuous desires, he acts in the world seeking joy and earning for himself fleeting happiness, endless sorrows and inexhaustible mental impressions (vasanas). These vasanas invite new fields for exhaustion through their free expressions in action.

Naturally, the way out from this non-stop vicious circle of ego-motivated action which creates vasanas (and they demand more fields to exhaust themselves, wherein the individual again fattens his ego and comes to entertain fresh sets of desires) is the Path of Right Action. God-dedicated selfless actions performed in a spirit of devotion and self-surrender exhaust the existing vasanas and do not create, of their own accord, any more fresh tragic impressions, which in their turn would order fresh fields of activities.

In the limited concept of life in the Vedic period, work (Karma) meant only the ritualistic sacrifices. These activities, pursued for a sufficiently long period of time, purified the heart; meaning, integrated the personality and brought about a single-pointedness of mind in the individual. It is obvious that such a conditioned and steadied mind alone could successfully apply itself on the Path of Self-enquiry, and come to rediscover the Self, the Divine Soul.

The Gita was written as an answer to an urgent demand in the time of Vyasa. The old traditional thoughts became stereotyped and lifeless. Dead phrases and cliches cannot nourish a culture. Thus, through the Gita, Krishna is made to give out a reinterpretation of the Vedic Truths in the context of His time, and in the language of the world in which He Himself happened to live. Arjuna, a warrior in the battlefield, is facing an army which is championing a cause, at once immoral and foul. At this moment, for his spiritual evolution --- which no doubt has been fully accepted as the goal of existence --- it is not possible for him to indulge in ritualism, unless he deserts his post of duty.

If ritualism alone was the Path, all people, at all times, would never be able to employ themselves for the Highest Goal of life. In the Gita, therefore, we have an expansion of the idea indicated in the Vedas. Krishna, in His Divine declaration, gives the sanction that ANY ACTION can be a glorious "sacrifice," if only it is undertaken with the required purity of motive, with a spirit of surrender, and with the deep emotion of love.

Apart from the glory of the Gita, as a book of original contribution inaugurating a development upon the Vedic technique, this chapter, with its opening query from Arjuna, vividly pictures his psychological confusion. We have noticed the psychosis into which Arjuna had sunk. Defining a patient of psychosis, modern psychology says: "The psychotic person loses his contact with reality. He may live in a dream-world, perhaps unaware of his identity or surroundings, or he may be unable to control his behaviour. He may have fantastic ideas (delusions); he may misinterpret what he sees or hears (illusions); he may see, hear, feel, taste or smell things that are not there (hallucinations)."

Even though the patient, Arjuna, a victim of his own delusions, illusions and hallucinations, had completely surrendered to the Divine Wisdom of his friend, Lord Krishna, the words of his Charioteer were not fully appreciated by him, all at once. His mind was so much overwhelmed by sorrow that he could not decide upon the right line of action. He had, at first, resolved not to fight the mean fratricidal war and had vigorously marshalled a set of seemingly impressive arguments in support of his decision. Therefore, Arjuna is still, and naturally too, partial to his own decision. All through the second chapter, Arjuna's intellect was trying to follow closely, the arguments of Krishna, mainly to find fault with them, if he could, or at least to seek in them some support for his own decisions.

Krishna's arguments seemed, to the pre-occupied intellect of his friend, equivocal and vague. To Arjuna, in his consummate prejudice against everything that came as a challenge to his own decisions, Krishna's discourse was not clear. At one place the Lord indicated that Karma was inferior to Buddhi; but in the same discourse in its conclusion there was a vehement support of the Path of Renunciation!

Arjuna was all the time seeking a confirmation that his cowardice was a noble emotion to be applauded and appreciated, commended and supported, by his friend and philosopher, Krishna. But unfortunately, he could not discover in the Lord's words any direct declaration supporting his own viewpoint. But, there was, however, some indirect circumstantial evidence indicating that Arjuna's decision to desert his post of duty was noble and glorious! Did not the Lord elaborate upon the glory of the Man-of-Steady-Wisdom? Arjuna means to say, "This is exactly what I wanted." But at the same time, in the same discourse, Arjuna had been pushed to the front, commissioning him to face the enemies, to take up arms and fight the bloody war. Under these circumstances, it is but natural that Arjuna should confront his Charioteer with this direct question as to why He confuses him with self-contradictory advice.

Gita- Chapter 2: Yoga of Knowledge

 

In this Chapter, entitled "Sankhya Yoga," we get an exhaustive summary, as it were, of the whole philosophical content of the Geeta. Roughly, we may say that the first ten stanzas explain the circumstances under which Arjuna totally surrenders to the "Krishna-influence."

Gita- Chapter 1

Chapter 1 of Gita begins with the blind old king Drithrashta, asking his assistant Sanjaya, to tell him about the latest happenings in the battlefield of Krukshetra. Sanjaya, had been blessed by the sage Vyasa, with divine vision. With this divine vision he could know the latest happenings of the battle of Kurukshetra, while sitting in the comfort of the palace.Since the king Drithrashtra was blind, he was assigned the duty of narrating the latest events to the king.

Gita- An Introduction

 The Bhagavad Gita (meaning "Song of God") is a Sanskrit text from the Bhishma Parva of the Mahabharata epic. Krishna, as the speaker of the Bhagavad Gita, is referred to within as Bhagavan (the divine one), and the verses themselves, using the range and style of Sanskrit meter (chandas) with similes and metaphors, are written in a poetic form that is traditionally chanted; hence the title, which translates to "the Song of the Divine One". The Bhagavad Gita is revered as sacred by the majority of Hindu traditions, and especially so by followers of Krishna. It is commonly referred to as The Gita.