AtmaJyothi

Jnanenathu tath ajnanam yeshaam naashitam atmanah |

Teshaam aadithyavath jnanam prakaashayathi tatparam || 5.16 ||

"But to those whose ignorance is destroyed by the Knowledge of the Self, like the sun, to them Knowledge reveals the Supreme (BRAHMAN) ."

My meaning:

For whose ignorance is destroyed in the presence of Knowledge, his knowledge of the self, shines the Bhrahan, like in the presence of sun, darkness disappears automatically and brightens the world. If there is no disturbance in that person (Jnani), no darkness, then automatically what gives raise to is Paramatman/Supreme, that is light(Atma-Jyothi).

Commentary by Chinmayananda Swami:

In the case of finite mortals, sighing and sobbing in ignorance, the Self is screened off from them by lifeless walls of nescience (Avidya). The man of realisation is one in whom Knowledge has lifted this veil of ignorance. Darkness is removed by Light not by degrees but instantaneously --- however old the darkness may be and however thick its density. Similarly, in one who has Knowledge (Jnana) of the Self, the beginningless ignorance is lifted and within a lightning flash, his ignorance ends. Ignorance creates the ego-centric concept and the ego thrives in the body, mind and intellect. With the end of ignorance, the ego too ends.

At this stage of Vedantic discussion, the dualists (Dwaitins) generally feel like collapsing in sheer despair. they fail to understand how the Self can be experienced when the experiencer, the ego and the instruments of experiencing, which are familiar to them in perception, feeling and thinking, have all ended. Any intelligent student must surely entertain this doubt. Foreseeing this possibility, Krishna is here trying to explain how, when the ego has ended, Knowledge becomes self-evident.

This explanation cannot be brought so easily within the comprehension of a thinking intellect but by the example, which the Lord gives in the second line: "LIKE THE SUN." It is the experience of all of us that, during the monsoon, we do not see the sun for days together, and we, in our hasty conclusions, cry out "the sun has been covered by clouds."

When we reconsider this statement, it is not very difficult for us to understand that the sun cannot be covered by a tiny bit of a cloud. Also, the region of the cloud is far removed from the centre of the Universe where the sun, in its infinite glory, revels as the one-without-a-second. The minute humans observing from the surface of the globe with their tiny eyes, experience that the glorious orb of the sun is being veiled because of a wisp of cloud. Even a mighty mountain can be veiled from our vision if we put our tiny little finger very near our eyes!

Similarly, the ego (Jiva) looking up to the Atman finds that ignorance is enveloping the Infinite. This ignorance is not in Truth, just as the clouds are never in the sun. The finite ignorance is certainly a limited factor compared with the infinitude of Reality. And yet, the mist of Self-forgetfulness that hangs in the chambers of the heart gives the ego the false notion that the Spiritual Reality is enveloped by ignorance. When this ignorance is removed, the Self becomes manifest, just as when the cloud has moved away, the sun becomes manifest.

To see the sun, we need no other light; to experience the Self we need no other experience. The Self IS Awareness. It is Consciousness. To become conscious of Consciousness, we need no separate consciousness; to know knowledge we need no knowledge other than Knowledge; Knowledge is the very faculty of knowing. Similarly, when the ego rediscovers the Self, it becomes the Self.

When a dreamer has ended his dream-career along with his dream, he rediscovers himself to be the waker. The waker is never known or understood or recognised as an object by the dreamer. The dreamer himself transcends the dream-world and enters the realm of waking, wherein he knows himself to be the waker. In the same fashion, the deluded ego, when it walks out of ignorance and enters the realm of pure consciousness, it BECOMES the Consciousness which is the Atman. This relationship between the ego and the Atman, and the technique of rediscovery of the Atman by the ego, are beautifully described by this metaphor which is full of deep significance --- for those who know how to chew upon it in independent thinking. THE SAGE, WHOSE INTELLECT IS ABSORBED IN TRUTH, WILL HAVE NO MORE BIRTHS.

Knowledge and Ignorance

Naadatte kasyachit paapam nachaiva sukrutam vibhuh |

Ajnaanena aavrutam jnanam tenamuhyanthi jantavah || 5.15 ||

Meaning:

"The Lord takes neither the demerit not even the merit of any; knowledge is enveloped by ignorance, thereby beings are deluded."

My understanding:

God will not take result of good actions or bad actions, merits or demerits of anybody. God is pure. We are only responsible for our actions and non-actions, and only we have to experience whatever it gives as result of actions. After getting the knowledge, these merits and demerits also will not affect to Yogi. One he have found the taste of knowledge, he does not want to come back to taste the ignorance. But in this world, ignorance is covered the knowledge, like dust covered the surface of pure water pool. Thats why, all living beings get attached to 'Maya' and believed that this is only the Truth. Once this ignorance is removed, knowledge can be found automatically. There is only one truth. That is Atman/Self. This is the eternal and permanent truth.

Comentary by Chinmayananda Swami:

The Supreme, who is All-pervading (Vibhuh), contrary to all our Pauranic concepts of stock-taking gods and deities, is declared here as not taking any note of the merit or the demerit of the living creatures. It is such passages that shock the story-reading devotee-class, and therefore, they generally ignore the Geeta and read instead the glories of Krishna. The concept that God sits just over the clouds, peeping down and observing every sin and merit of all the people all over the world, and that He keeps a perfect account of all these so that on the Day of Judgement each one will approach the Father who will pass the judgement --- is a concept which can appeal only to simple folk in whom the intellect is the least developed faculty!

The Eternal-Principle underlying life's activities cannot be conceived of as taking any active note or interest in the created or in the finite. From the Infinite standpoint, the finite exists not. It is only when the Supreme functions through Self-forgetfulness that It comes to see Itself split up into the concepts of agent, action, fruit, etc. Sunlight passing through a plane glass, in spite of the medium through which it has passed, emerges in its pure nature, if the glass be clean, flawless and colourless. If, on the other hand, a pencil of light were to pass through a glass prism, we all know that it would emerge in its seven component colours, constituting the spectrum. Similarly, the Self passing through Knowledge (Jnana) emerges as Self, which is the One-without-a-second, All-pervading, All-perfect. But the same Self, when It passes through ignorance --- meaning, the body, mind and intellect --- It splits up into the endless world of plurality.

The relationship between Knowledge and Ignorance is very beautifully explained here. Ignorance cannot be Knowledge, nor can Knowledge be a part of Ignorance. Where Ignorance is, there Knowledge cannot be. Where Knowledge has come, Ignorance must depart. But here, we are told "KNOWLEDGE IS ENVELOPED BY IGNORANCE," just as a solitary light in a dark jungle, seen from a distance can be described as a light encaged in darkness.

Diffrence between a Karma-Yogi and Others

Yuktah karmaphalam tyaktwa shanthim aapnothi naishtikim |

Ayuktah kaamakarena phalesaktho nibadhyate || 5.12 ||

Meaning:

"The united one (the well-poised or the harmonised) , having abandoned the fruit of action, attains Eternal Peace; the non-united (the unsteady or the unbalanced) , impelled by desire and attached to the fruit, is bound."

My understanding:

For one who is Karma-Yogin, bondage of karmas will not be there because of his awareness and knowledge of Karmayoga. He gets full of peace even though he is acting in the world, because he has no attachments. But for others, who are non-Yogins this Karma/action will be a bondage, because they have expectations and attachments with the fruit of their actions.

Commentary by Chinmayananda Swami:

Through right actions, undertaken without any self-dissipating anxiety for the fruits of those actions, a Karma-Yogin can reach an indescribable peace, arising out of the sense of steadfastness within him. Peace is not a product manufactured by any economic condition or cooked up by any political set-up. It cannot be ordered by constitution-making bodies or international assemblies. It is the mental condition in the bosom of the individual when his inner world is not agitated by any mad storms of disturbing thoughts. Peace is an unbroken sense of joy and it is the fragrance of an integrated personality. That, this can be brought about through selfless actions undertaken in a spirit of Yajna, is the revolutionising theory given here. When the worker is "ESTABLISHED IN HIS RENUNCIATION OF THE EGOISTIC SENSE OF AGENCY" and when he has "RENOUNCED HIS EGO-CENTRIC DESIRES FOR THE FRUITS OF HIS ACTIONS," he soon becomes integrated and comes to experience the peace of steadfastness.

Not satisfied by this positive assertion, the Lord is re-emphasising this very same philosophical truth in the language of negation. He says that when one is not ESTABLISHED (Ayuktah) in the renunciation of "agency," and because of his desires, gets himself tied down to some expected results of his actions, he gets bound and persecuted by the reactions of his own actions. Some medicines, which, in small doses can give a complete cure, can also spell death in larger doses --- for example, the sleeping tablets. An instrument by which we can defend ourselves can itself be the instrument for our own suicide.

In the same way, when we work in the outer field unintelligently, instead of gaining a greater glow of satisfaction and joy within, we will get ourselves more and more bound, and hurled down into bottomless darkness. The cause for this has been beautifully explained by Sri Krishna. Due to desires for specific fruits, we are mentally attached to those wished-for patterns to be fulfilled in future. This is compelling life to patternise itself to our will at a future moment; if a frog were to imitate a bull and grow to the bull's size, it would end in a tragedy; a mortal finite mind ordering a pattern for a future period of time, is in no way better equipped than the frog that tries to expand to the size of a bull.

Why does Yogi perform actions?

Kayena manasa budhya kevalaih indriye api |

Yoginaha karma kurvanthi sangam thyaktwa atmashuddgaye || 5.11 ||

Meaning:

"YOGIS, having abandoned attachment, perform actions merely by the body, mind, intellect and senses, for the purification of the self (ego) ."

My understanding:

One who is practicing Karma-Yoga, does actions only for purification of self/ego. Even though he is performing action, his attachments with the actions, world, body, intellect and mind are complitely vanished, by having full awareness that is Sakshi. But still he might having ego of knowing everything. Thus he is doing actions, to come out of this ego also.

Commentary by Chinmayananda Swami:

A Karma-YogiN's attempt is to keep himself within himself --- as a detached but interested observer of all that is happening around and within himself. When he thus observes himself, from within himself, as a worker in any given field, it becomes easy for him to see that all actions belong to the above-mentioned instruments-of-action and not to the detached OBSERVER in him. Here, however, he must realise that the OBSERVER in himself is not the Truth, but this OBSERVER is "Truth standing on the open balcony of the intellect." Even while thus observing ourselves in action, we are ever conscious of the very OBSERVER in ourselves. "The Consciousness that illumines the very OBSERVER, is the Spiritual-centre, the Self," is the declaration of all Upanishads.

If thus, the Spiritual-centre itself is something beyond the "observer," why should a Karma-Yogin practise this technique of self-observation called in our Shastras the "witness-attitude" (Sakshibhava)? This is answered at the end of the verse when Bhagavan says, "for the purification of the ego." By such a practice, the seeker will be entering into the field of activity and pursuing the work without the self-arrogating ego, thereby rendering himself available for an easy and effective purgation of the existing vasana-impurities. To the degree these are removed, to that degree the inner equipments become clearer and steadier, rendering the reflection of the Divine-Consciousness in them more and more vivid.

The state of inward revolution - Bhagavadgita

Yogayuktho vishuddatma vijitatma jitendriyah |

Sarvabhootatma bhootatmou kurvan api na lipyathe || 5.7||

He who is devoted to the Path-of-action, whose mind is quite pure, who has conquered the self, who has subdued his senses, who realises his Self as the Self in all beings, though acting, is not tainted.

Naivakinchith karotim ithi yukthomanaithi tattvavith |

Pashyan shrunvan sprushan jighran ashnan gachchan swapnan shwasan ||5.8||

"I do nothing at all, " thus would the harmonised knower of Truth think seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, going, sleeping, breathing,

My understanding:

For him, who is self-realized his Self as the universal Self, whose mind and intellect are pure, who has control of his sense organs,who has peace within him, who has control on his desires, there will be no bondage of Karma even though he is involved. Who has control over inner world, he could not bound by his actions. While doing all his day today activities like sleeping, dreaming, talking, walking, eating, drinking.. etc he will be aware of his own Self. Every action of his will be divine. He thinks that he is not doing anything, while doing all his activities. He sees God in everything. He is divine being.

Commentary by Chinmayananda Swami:

In the previous verse, it was said in a sweeping generalisation, that he who pursues Karma Yoga along with meditation, will ere-long reach the State of Perfection in his own personal experience. Here, in this verse, Krishna is trying to give us the logic of the state of inward revolution that will take place when we make the pilgrimage to the Infinite in us, from our own present state of finitude and bondage.

With scientific thoroughness and logical precision, all the different stages of development and change that take place in an individual through Karma Yoga are enumerated here. He who is well-established in Karma Yoga, accomplishes purification of his intellect. Any purification in the subtle body, means a better state of quietude within. The lesser the agitations caused in us by our desires or emotions, the purer are we considered by Vedanta. Through action, when it is selfless and without anxiety for the fruits, the practitioner exhausts his existing vasanas. When the inner equipment is swept clean of its desire-waves, it must, necessarily, become more and more quiet and peaceful. When once the intellect is purified, meaning, rendered immune to desire-disturbances, the mind, which reflects the condition of the intellect, cannot have any disturbances. The sentimental and emotional life of one who has controlled the flood-gates of desires, automatically becomes tame and equanimous.

When, through Karma Yoga, a man has gained inward peace, both at his mental and at his intellectual levels, it becomes child's play for him to deny and to restrain, to control and to guide his sense organs and their never ending appetites. A seeker (Yogi), who has thus controlled his body, mind and intellect, is best fitted for the highest meditation. In fact, all obstacles in meditation are nothing other than the mile-stones of sensuous appetites, emotional agitations and desire-problems. Once these chains are snapped, he comes to the natural condition of deep meditation, wherein the re-discovery of the Self must be instantaneous and complete.

This realisation of the Self cannot be partial; it is not realisation, if the meditator understands only himself to be Divine. To the realised, Divinity or the Self is Infinite and All-pervading. From the innermost sanctum of the Spirit when he looks out, he realises nothing but Divinity-everywhere, in everyone, at all times. Therefore, the Lord says, such a person "realises his own Self as the Self in all beings."

When a wave has realised its true nature to be the ocean, in its true ocean-vision, there cannot ever be any other wave which is other than the ocean-essence.

When an individual, who has thus, through a total inner revolution, come to realise his essential Infinite Divinity, acts thereafter in his Atmic-consciousness, his actions cannot leave any reactions upon him. Reactions of actions can be claimed and arrogated only by the ego, and since, after God-realisation there is no sense of ego left in the God-man's bosom, his actions can thereafter leave no impression upon him. Like a signature upon running waters, nothing can ever stay in him to leave behind a vasana.

On the whole, the theory of Karma Yoga propounded by Krishna has been consistently kept up by the Lord in all his declarations; but often it is conceived beautifully in the suggestive fragrance of his words. In the stanza under discussion also, it has been amply brought out that ego-centric activities, motivated by desires, alone can create vasana-granulations upon the intellect, and consequently dim its discriminative awareness to know, to feel and to experience the Eternal Divinity, which is the essential nature of man as a spiritual being.

IN THIS CONSCIOUSNESS OF UNIVERSALITY AND SUPREME SENSE OF DIVINITY, WHEN A SAGE ACTS, WHAT EXACTLY WILL BE HIS ATTITUDE IN LIFE?

"I do nothing at all, " thus would the harmonized knower of Truth think seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, going, sleeping, breathing.

Renounciation is hard to attain - Bhagavadgita

Sanyasasthu Mahabaho dukham aaptumayogataha |

Yogayukto munih brahma nachirena adhigachchati || 5.6||

Meaning:

" But renunciation, O mighty-armed, is hard to attain without YOGA; the YOGA -harmonised man of (steady) contemplation quickly goes to BRAHMAN."

My understanding:

Renounciation of mental action is not possible with renounciation of action itself. By sitting idle, not doing anything, having metal chatterings, noises and all, one cannot get peace and happiness, and so cannot get Jnana. Without performing any action, renounciation of action(mental) is not possible. Before renouncing something we should have it first.

Gaining Jnana is not so easy as we all of think. We have to undergo all sufferings, pains, joys, sorrows and all. It is like a Gold. Before making any ornaments, it should be burned in fire, beaten by Goldsmith, and then it gets purified. Only by doing Karmas consciously, we get purified and get Jnana. Thus With Yoga of action, one can achieve Brahman very easily.

Commentary by Chinmayananda Swami:

The Lord, with all the emphasis at his command, is declaring, once and for all, the final conclusions that were arrived at by the Immortal Sages of yore regarding the place of right-action in Self re-discovery. Without performance of action, the renunciation of action is impossible; without having a thing we cannot renounce it; to renounce life and the world, because one has sadly been thwarted in one's hopes and ambitions, is not renunciation.

In this sense, the polishing of the mind is a process very similar to that by which we clean metal-ware by using metal-polish. The item that is darkened by time is purified by applying some polishing chemical on its surface. The polish is the solvent of the oxide that is covering the brilliance of the vessel. After a time, when we remove the coating of the "polish," we find that not only is the chemical-polish removed but the black oxide also is removed, threreby leaving the vessel bright and attractive.

Similarly, the mind can be purified only by the process of treating it with right action. When thus treated, the mind gets purified from its vasana-blemishes and with such a purified mind alone can we, during the deeper meditation hours, come to renounce all activities. Before this preparation, if we try to renounce activities, we may remain physically inactive, but mentally very active. Extrovertedness of the mind is not conducive to the inner polishing. In fact, extrovertedness is the very mud that sullies the Godly-beauty and strength of the mind. This is the greatest discovery that Hindu Masters made in the ancient days, in the technique of Self-development and Self-growth.

While mental purity and meditative power cannot be gained without performance of right action with the right mental attitude, Sri Krishna gives a positive assurance here that such a conducive mental quality can be created by right actions undertaken by the seekers.

Yoga Yuktah --- One who is well established in the path of selfless and unattached activities, soon develops the qualities of poise and single-pointedness of mind. Karma fulfils itself in making the Yogin fit for continuous and fruitful meditation, and when such an individual who has practised the Path of Karma diligently --- either through the renunciation of his sense of agency or through detachment from all his over-anxious preoccupations with the fruits of his actions --- such a meditator (Muni) soon attains the Supreme experience of theSelf in himself.

No definite time-limit can be fixed for declaring when exactly the Supreme experience will come to a meditator. The indecision regarding the time-element in this promise of certainty is very well brought out by the term used, 'Na-chirena' --- not long afterwards, meaning 'ere-long.'

With this knowledge in mind, when we read the stanza, it becomes very clear why earlier (V-2) the Lord, in his opening verse in this discourse, insisted that for Arjuna 'performance-of-action' is superior to the 'renunciation-of-action.'

Who is Sanyasi? - Bhagavadgita - Ch 5 : Karma Sanyasa Yoga

Jneyassanitya sanyasiyo madweshti nakankshati |

Nirdwandwohi Mahabaho sukhaam bandhath pramuchyate || 5.3 ||

He should be known as a perpetual SAMNYASI who neither hates nor desires; for, free from the pairs-of-opposites, O Mighty-armed, he is easily set free from bondage.

Commentary by Chinmayananda Swami:

Why "participation-in-work" is said to be easier for a beginner than "renunciation-of-action" is explained here. While defining a samnyasi, Krishna's revolutionary statement cleanses the idea of renunciation from all its external embellishments. He gives more importance to the internal mental condition than to the external uniform. According to the Lord, he is a samnyasi who "neither likes nor dislikes."

Likes and dislikes, success and failure, joy and sorrow and such other pairs-of-opposites are the wheels on which the mind rolls forward earning the experiences of life. Our intellect can register a situation or a condition only with reference to the comparative estimate of its opposite. Thus, I can understand light only with reference to my knowledge of darkness. Comparison is the only way of understanding given to man. If there is no contrast for a thing, we cannot gain knowledge of that thing.

If comparison and contrast are the methods 'of knowing' for the mind-and-intellect instrument, then, to renounce them is to renounce the vehicle. A car is a vehicle that moves on the earth. It cannot be used in water. Thus, if I am sailing on the ocean, I am certainly not moving in the car, but I am using a boat which floats on water. In the field of plurality where comparison and contrast are possible, I can use the vehicle of the intellect-and-mind. The stanza here states that he is a true samnyasi, who has gone beyond the perception of contrast, which necessarily means that he is one who has transcended the inner instrument of mind-and-intellect.

This is no easy task; to free oneself from the pairs of opposites is to be free from all the limitations of mortal existence among finite objects. By thus defining a samnyasi, Krishna is not trying to paint a dreary picture of hopelessness for the seekers. He has in mind the growth and development of Arjuna. The Pandava Prince was then having, in his intellect, thick vasana-coatings of heroic instincts and kingly impulses for action. This stanza is given in order to persuade him to keep away from a hasty dash into samnyasa.

Significance of Karmayoga - Bhagavadgita

Yogasannyasta karmaanam jnanasanchinna samshayam |

Aatmavantam na karmaani nibadhnathi Dhananjaya || 4.41 ||

"He who has renounced actions by YOGA, whose doubts are rent asunder by 'Knowledge, ' who is self-possessed, actions do not bind him, O Dhananjaya. "

Tasmath ajnanasambhootam hruthsattham jnanaasin atmanah |

Chitvainam samshayam yogam aathishta utthishta Bhaarata || 4.42 ||

"Therefore with the sword-of-Knowledge, cut asunder the doubt-of-the-Self, born of 'ignorance, ' residing in your heart, and take refuge in "YOGA. " Arise, O Bharata."

My understanding:

By undergoing Karma-Yoga, that is working with detachment, without expecting fruits-of-action, with perfect knowledge one will not be binded by his actions. With full awareness one can achieve this. With perfect Knowledge, one can remove the doubt of the Self, by his own experiences of the Self in him. This can be achieved through only Yagnas.

Commentary by Chinmayananda Swami:

4.41. This being the penultimate verse in the chapter, it is a beautiful summary of all the main secrets-of-life explained at length in it. When, through the practice of Karma Yoga, we have learnt to renounce our attachments to the fruits-of-action, and yet to work on in perfect detachment --- when every doubt in us regarding the Goal-of-life has been completely removed in our own inner experiences of the nobler and the diviner in us --- as a result of the above two, the ego comes to rediscover itself to be nothing other than the Atman. Then the individual ego comes to live "POISED IN THE SELF AS THE SELF." When such an individual works, his actions can never bind him.

It is only egoistic activities motivated by our ego-centric desires that leave gross impressions on our inner personality, and thus painfully bind us to reap their reactions. With a sense of detachment and in right-knowledge, as indicated in the above scheme, when an individual has completely destroyed his ego-sense, his actions cannot bind him at all. As a dreamer, I might commit a murder in my dream, of my dream-wife, but when I awake from my dream, I shall not be punished for the crime that I seem to have committed in my dream. For, the dreamer has also ended along with the dream. The dreamer committed the murder and deserves punishment; but in the waker, the dreamer is absent. Similarly, the ego-centric actions can bind and throttle only the ego, but when the ego has become Atmavantah, meaning "POISED IN THE SELF" --- just like the dreamer when he gets poised in the waker --- the activities of the ego can no more bind the Self. The ego "POISED IN THE SELF," is the experience of the Real Self; the dreamer poised in the waker, is the waker.

THIS BEING THE WONDROUS RESULT AND THE SUPREME PROFIT THAT 'TRUE-KNOWLEDGE' CAN GIVE TO THE DELUDED, KRISHNA ADVISES ARJUNA:

4.42. In this concluding stanza the Lord's advice is precise and it is given with a loving insistence. The stanza rings with a spirit of paternal urgency felt by the Lord towards the Pandava Prince. In the language of war, Krishna advises his warrior-friend on the battle-field, how best to live the life of dedication and perfection as advised by the Hindu Rishis from the quiet and peaceful Himalayan valleys. With the "SWORD-OF-KNOWLEDGE," Arjuna is encouraged to cut off the bonds of ignorance and 'CLEAVE ASUNDER THIS DOUBT-OF-THE-SELF LYING IN THE HEART."

The spiritual doubt is explained here as working from the heart. This may read rather strange to a modern man: doubt must come from the intellect; it cannot come from the heart. It is the traditional belief in Vedanta that "the intellect is seated in the heart," wherein the term HEART does not mean the fleshy pumping-instrument in the human bosom. The term HEART is used here not in its physiological meaning but in its literacy usage, where HEART means "the source of all love and sympathy --- of all noble human emotions." An intellect functioning from and through an atmosphere of sympathetic love, kindly charity and such other noble qualities alone can be considered in the science of philosophy as the human reason. Therefore, when the Upanishads talk of the doubts lying crystallised in the heart, the Rishis mean the intellectual perversions in some of the seekers that make them incompetent to feel and appreciate the Vision-of-the-Soul.

These doubts can be completely annihilated only when the individual gains an intimate, subjective experience of the Self in him.

This can be achieved only by Yoga --- NOT a strange mystical process, secretly advised to a few, by mysteriously rare groups of Gurus, to be practised in the unknown dark caves of the Himalayas, living altogether a frightful life of unnatural privations. In the Geeta, the word Yoga has been forever tamed and domesticated to be with all of us, serving us faithfully at all times in our life. By the term Yoga, in this last stanza, Krishna means the "twelve techniques" which he has explained as the subjective-Yajnas.

The chapter concludes with a spirited call to Arjuna: "ARISE, O BHARATA." In the context of the Geeta, though the word may be rightly said to mean only a call to Arjuna, it is a call to every seeker --- especially to this country as a whole --- to get up and act well in the spirit of Yajna, and thereby to gain more and more inner purity, so that through true meditation everyone of us can come to experience and gain the Supreme Peace which is the final fulfilment of evolution.

Life of an ignorant - Bhagavadgita

Ajnashchcha ashraddhadhaanashchcha samshayaatmaa vinasyathi | Naayam
lokosti naparo nasukham samshayatmanah || 4.40 ||

Translation

The ignorant, the faithless, the doubting-self goes to destruction; there is
neither this world, nor the other, nor happiness for the doubter.
*
*
My understanding:
He who is ignorant and trapped in his own beliefs, can not understand what
really scripture tells, what really Spiritual Masters advices. He goes in
destruction without knowing to himself. No faith on anything or anybody. His
ego itself comes in his way as a block. For him, there will not be any world
other than his own world (Samsara). With this he cannot be liberated, thus
no happiness for the doubter. Until and unless he is free from his ego, he
cannot attain Mukti/Happiness.
*

Commentary by Chinmayananda Swami:

In the previous verse it was said that those who had faith and knowledge
would soon reach the Supreme Peace. In order to hammer this very same Truth
in, Krishna is here emphasising through a negative declaration that they,
who have NOT these qualities cultivated, gained and developed in them, will
get themselves ultimately destroyed and completely ruined. He who has
neither the "Knowledge-of-the-Self" --- if not a spiritual realisation, at
least a clear intellectual understanding --- nor "the intellectual readiness
to grapple with and fully understand the true import of the scriptural
declarations and the words of the Masters" (Shraddha), Krishna asserts, will
certainly get ruined, if he be also a 'doubting Thomas' (Samshaya-atma).

In the next line, Krishna, with all emphasis, condemns such men of endless
doubts, and points out their tragedy in life. The Lord says that such men
who "DOUBT THE SELF" will not find any joy or happiness ANYWHERE --- "
NEITHER HERE NOR IN THE HEREAFTER." In explaining thus, the Geeta seems to
express that there may be a small chance perhaps, for one who is devoid of
knowledge and faith to discover some kind of a happiness in this world, here
and now, but that those who are constant doubters can enjoy neither here nor
there. Such men are psychologically incapable of enjoying any situation,
because the doubting tendency in them will poison all their experiences. He
whose teeth have become septic must constantly poison the food that he is
taking; so too, those who have this tendency of doubting everything, will
never be able to accommodate themselves to any situation, however perfect
and just it might be. The line contains a spot of satire, almost vitriolic
in its pungency, when it is directed against the intelligent sceptic.

Qualities that are necassary to obtain Knowledge - Bhagavadgita

Shraddhavan labhate jnanam matparassamyat indriyaha |Jnanam labdwa param
shanthim achirena adhigachchathi || 4.39 ||

Translation:

"The man who is full of faith, who is devoted to It, and who has subdued the
senses, obtains (this) 'Knowledge' ; and having obtained 'Knowledge, ' ere
long he goes to the Supreme Peace."
*
*
Comments of Swami Chinmayanda:
*

The qualities that are necessary for an individual to be assured of the
Knowledge-Divine are being enumerated here as vividly as from the leaf of a
Science text-book. Three great qualities have been indicated and to
understand them is to understand why the so-called seekers, in spite of
their claims to sincere self-application, do not actually reach anywhere
near the ladder of development. Faith, devotion, and self-control are the
three imperative necessities to be acquired ere we can hope to evolve to the
diviner stature from our present mortal encumbrances. But these three words
are more often misunderstood than rightly evaluated.

FAITH (Shraddha) --- Exploiters of religions have been making capital out of
repeating this word as their safest excuse for all problems spiritual, to
clear which devotees may approach these men who pose themselves as guides in
religion. Invariably, we find that the ordinary devotees are completely
rendered, sometimes fanatical and often poorer, in their intellectual and
mental growth, because of the unintelligent insistence of Shraddha translated
as "blind faith and unquestioned acceptance of any declaration said to be
divine."

Shankara tolls the death-knell of this misunderstanding when he explains
Shraddha as "that by which an individual readily understands the exact
import of the scriptural text as well as the pregnant words of advice of the
preceptor."

DEVOTED TO IT (Tatparah) --- Whatever be the 'path' of divine
self-development that he may be following, it is an unavoidable necessity
that the seeker must give his undivided attention to it, and must, on all
occasions, maintain in his mind a continuous consciousness of the Divine. A
mere intellectual study of the scriptures will not help us in purifying and
shaping our "within' to the glorious Beauty of the Divine. It is necessary
that we must pour out our mind and intellect into the scheme of living that
the Upanishads advise.

WHO HAS SUBDUED THE SENSES --- The Shraddha and Jnana explained above will
not sustain themselves, and no seeker can consistently hope to entertain
them unless he is constantly striving his best to live in a spirit of
self-control. It is the sense-organs that seduce us away into the life of
excessive sensuousness, and when one has entered into the troubled waters of
a sensuous life, one has no chances of maintaining oneself quietly in the
higher values of life. To walk the Path-Divine is to get out of the
gutters-of-sensuousness. Excessive sense-life and Absolute God-life are
antitheses to each other; where the one is, the other cannot be. Where the
light of inward serenity and deeper peace have come, the darkness created by
sense passions and animal appetites must depart. It is imperative,
therefore, that a seeker should learn to live in steady and constant
sense-control.

Why should we live renouncing sense enjoyments, and employing our mind in
remembering constantly the Divine goal of life, with faith both in ourselves
and in the science of religion? Ordinarily, an intellect can enquire only as
to the cause-and-effect of things. The ego is ever employed in its own
motive-hunting. A seeker in the initial stages of his self-development
remains constantly in his intellect. Naturally, he will enquire what the
result of such a conspicuous sacrifice would be. To convince him, the second
line is given.

That a seeker who lives the above-mentioned triple-programme of Divine life,
reaches the State-of-'Knowledge' is the promise and guarantee of the Rishis,
who are the authors of the immortal scriptures. A doubt again arises as to
why we should, after all, acquire the 'Knowledge-Divine.' Krishna explains
here that, having gained the right-knowledge, the individual "SOON REACHES
THE SUPREME PEACE." The promise of reaching the great Goal-of-life is not
guaranteed to take effect in a definite period of time. Just as, in the
previous stanza, it was said, "In good time" (Kalena), so too, here it is
said, "Ere long" (Achirena). In short, after gaining this 'Knowledge,' one
would "soon" reach the Goal-of-life.

SUPREME PEACE (Param Shantim) --- The Goal-of-life is labelled here as the
"Great Peace" that knows no diminution. In these days of peace-mongers
getting ready for war in the name of peace, one is apt to become honestly
sceptical about the goal indicated in this stanza. The term 'peace' here is
not that undefined vague concept, that is often repeated in politics,
whenever it is convenient for a set of politicians to do so, but the term
Shanti has a wealth of psychological suggestiveness.

It is very well-known that every living creature is, at all moments, trying
to gain a better happiness, through all its activities in life. From
breathing and eating, to the organised endeavour in capturing the
world-market through war and destruction, all activities are attempts by the
frail individuals to discover a greater and a better joy or happiness. This
is true not only in man but in the animal kingdom, and even in the vegetable
world. In short, no action is possible unless the actor is motivated by an
inner urge in him to seek a greater sense of fulfilment or joy unto himself.

If thus, the whole world is striving to win the highest joy that it possibly
can, and having gained it, to invest all energy and intelligence to retain
the same, then the goal of life should be ABSOLUTE-HAPPINESS, where all
strife ends, all desires are fulfilled, all thoughts and agitations are
finally exhausted. Desires for joy give rise to thought disturbances, which,
trying to fulfil themselves in the outer world, become the visible actions
in everyday life. The restlessness of the mind and the weary fatigue of the
body shall both end, when Absolute Joy is attained. Therefore, Absolute Joy
is Absolute Peace.

Purifier in the world is Wisdom - Bhagavadgita

Nahi Jnanena sadrusham pavitram iha vidyate | Tat swayam yoga samsiddhaha
kalen atmani vindathi || 4.38 ||

Meaning:

*"Certainly, there is no purifier in this world like 'Knowledge. ' He who is
himself perfected in YOGA finds it in the Self in time."*

My understanding:

Through wisdom (Jnana) only one can get purified, from his Karmas and no
other way is found in the world other than this. By practicing some
meditation practices, by cleaning chakras, by daily dedicated work towards
improving ourselves, we can attain Jnana( self-realization) on one or the
other day. There is no time limit, if we are really ready to get it.

Comments of Swami Chinmayananda:
*

So glorious is the result of Self-realisation that Lord Krishna explodes in
enthusiasm and cries: "VERILY THERE EXISTS NOTHING IN THIS WORLD MORE NOBLE
AND SACRED THAN SELF-KNOWLEDGE." Just as to a drowning man there is nothing
more precious than a life-belt, so too, to the deluded ego there cannot be a
greater possession and a nobler endeavour than the acquisition of
'Knowledge' of its own Real Nature.

The Knowledge of the Self can be attained in one's own bosom when one has
gained in oneself a full "MASTERY IN Yoga" --- when one has sincerely and
diligently practised the above-mentioned twelve Yajnas and gained a complete
self-mastery through them. This mastery of the Self over the flesh is not
given by any teacher. The traditional story of a teacher spiritualising a
student by his touch is a myth; it is impossible. Had it been so, in the
presence of such a perfect Prophet like Krishna, Arjuna could have attained
--- especially when the Lord felt such a great friendliness and love towards
him --- in a wink, all the spirituality needed to become a God-man.

Many devotees have, from time to time, wasted their chances and brought
dishonour to their noble teachers, because they expected their Gurus to
impart their acquired Wisdom to them, their Chelas (disciples), for the
physical services rendered or the intellectual support given. Many of the
existing seekers are, today, thoughtlessly squandering away their noble
opportunities by vainly waiting for this cheap and ready method of
purchasing God-hood! Let them be warned that, in spite of such
glorifications of some Gurus available in the market and sold at some
Ashramas in this country, it has no scriptural support. Here, Krishna, in
all love, plainly tells the truth to Arjuna that he has to purify himself (
Swayam) and then he himself will realise the Truth "in good time" (Kalena).

No definite time schedule is promised for Perfection to manifest. It is only
said that he who is practising sincerely and devotedly, all the twelve
different subjective-Yajnas that are described earlier, will attain the
necessary growth within, and will "IN GOOD TIME" come to experience
the Self, the Beatitude-of-Perfection, the State of God-hood. IN GOOD TIME (
Kalena) --- This does not mean either immediately, nor does it promise us
the Supreme only after trillions of impossible years.
*

Gaining Jnana - Giving up Attachments -Bhagavadgita

Yadh Jnatwa Na Punarmoham Eva Yasyasi Pandava | Yena Bhootaanyasheshena
Drakshyasyath Aatma Anyatho Mayi || 4.35 ||

Meaning:
"Knowing that, you shall not, O Pandava, again get deluded like this; and by
that, you shall see all beings in your Self, and also in Me. "

My understanding:
After gaining Jnana, we will not be attached to outer world. By this Jnana,
we will come to know that every creature/living beings in the world, are
manifestation of God, we are just part of it. Attachment with what?
If everything is divine and which is not manifestation of ours?

Guruji Comments:

Savita,
Your understanding is correct. In addition there is one more implication
here. Once someone gets Jnana, there is no way of falling back into material
world.
Prabhu

12 Types of Yagna mentioned in the Bhagavadgita

Commentary by Swami Chinmayananda:

Devamevapare yagnam yoginah paryupasate|

Brahmaagnavapare yagnam yagnenaiva upajuvhati || 4. 25||

" Some YOGIS perform sacrifice to DEVAS alone (DEVA-YAJNA) ; while others offer "sacrifice" as sacrifice by the Self, in the Fire of BRAHMAN (BRAHMA-YAJNA) ."

Shotradeen indriayanyanye samyamaagnishu juvhathi |

Shabdadeen vishayaananya indriyagnishu juvhathi || 4. 26 ||

" Some again offer hearing and other senses as sacrifice in the fires-of-restraint; others offer sound and other objects of sense as sacrifice in the fires-of-the-senses."

Sarvendriya karmaani pranikarmani chapare|

Atma samyamayogagnou juvhathi jnana deepite || 4. 27 ||

" Others again sacrifice all the functions of the senses and the functions of the breath (vital energy) in the fire of the YOGA of self-restraint, kindled by knowledge. "

Dravya yagnaah tapoyagna yogayagnah tathaapare |

Swadhyaya jnanayagnaashcha yatamyasyamsita vrathaah || 4. 28 ||

"Others again offer wealth, austerity and YOGA as sacrifice, while the ascetics of self-restraint and rigid vows offer study of scriptures and knowledge as sacrifice. "

Apaane javhati pranam pranepanam tathaapare |

Pranapaana gathiruddhwa pranayama parayanaah || 4. 29 ||

" Others offer as sacrifice the out-going breath in the in-coming, and the in-coming in the out-going, restraining the courses of the out-going and in-coming breaths, solely absorbed in the restraint of breath. "

Apare niyata aaharah pranam praneshu juvhati |

Sarvepyate yagnavidho yagnakshapita kalmashah || 4. 30 ||

" Others, with well-regulated diet, offer vital-airs in the Vital-Air. All these are knowers of sacrifice, whose sins are destroyed by sacrifice. "

In the above stanzas, Lord Krishna is explaining the mental attitude of a Saint-at-Work. In all these Yajnas described, the metaphor is taken from the most familiar ritualism known at the time to Arjuna. Oblations were offered, in Vedic ritualism, into the sacred-fire in order to invoke the blessings of the deity. In these examples, we are shown how when some materials are offered into a sacred-fire, not only the oblations get burnt up and consumed by the fire, but also, as a result, a great blessing accrues.

1. Deva Yagna:

The word "Deva" comes from a root, meaning 'illumination.' Subjectively viewed, the greatest "Devas" are the five sense organs: eyes illumining forms and colours, ears illumining sounds, the nose illumining smells, and the tongue and the skin illumining tastes and touches. Seekers, and Perfected-Masters (Yogis) too, when they move in the world, no doubt perceive sense-objects through sense stimuli. But in their understanding and experience, perception is but "a world of sense-objects continuously offering themselves into the fires of his perception in order to invoke the Devas (Sense-perceptions)." Such seekers and masters walk out into life, and when they come across the sense world, they only recognise and experience that the world-of-objects is paying a devoted tribute to the powers of sense-perceptions! When this mental attitude is entertained constantly by a seeker he comes to feel completely detached from the sense experiences and, irrespective of the quality of experience, he is able to maintain a constant sense of inward equanimity.

2. Brahma Yagna:

As contrasted with previous method (Deva-Yajna) there are others who perform Brahma-Yajna, says Krishna, wherein they come to "OFFER THE SELF AS A SACRIFICE BY THE SELF IN THE FIRE OF THE SELF." This statement becomes perfectly clear when subjectively analysed and understood. As long as we exist in the body manifestation, we have to come across the world of sense-objects. The Perfect Masters understand that the sense-organs are only INSTRUMENTS-of-perception and that they can work only when in contact with the Supreme, the Atman. In this true understanding all Masters live, allowing the sense-organs to sacrifice themselves in the Knowledge-of-Brahman.

3. Indriya Yagna:

SOME OTHER GREAT MASTERS OFFER HEARING AND OTHER SENSES IN THE FIRES-OF-RESTRAINT --- Here, it is said that some Masters live on in life constantly offering their senses into the fire-of-self-control, so that the senses, of their own accord get burnt up, contributing a greater freedom and joy in the inner life of the man. It is also a fact, very well experienced by all of us, that the more we try to satisfy the sense-organs the more riotous they become and loot away our inner joy. By self-control alone can the sense-organs be fully controlled and mastered. This is yet another method shown to the seekers by which they can come to experience and live a more intense life of deeper meditation. In this method the "Path-of-Sense-control" is indicated.

4. Mano Yagna:

In this method the "Path-of-Mind-control" is suggested. The mind is sustained and fed by the stimuli that reach it from the outer world. The sense-objects perceived by the organs create and maintain the mind. The mind can never function in a field, which cannot be interpreted in terms of the five types of sense-objects. Therefore, to make the mind non-receptive to the perceptions of the Indriyas is a method by which one can gain a better poise in life for purposes of meditation. Such an individual who has controlled the mind completely and withdrawn it totally from the sense-centres is indicated here when the Lord says: "OTHERS OFFER SOUND AND OTHER OBJECTS IN THE FIRES OF THE SENSES."

If the third yagna is a technique of controlling the stimuli at the very gateway of the senses, this fourth yagna is a different technique of controlling the same from the inner, and therefore more subtle, level of perception, called the mind.

5. Atma-Samyama Yagna:

ALL THE ACTIVITIES OF THE SENSE-ORGANS (JNANA-INDRIYAS), AND THE ORGANS OF ACTION (KARMA-INDIRYAS) ARE OFFERED INTO THE KNOWLEDGE KINDLED-FIRE OF RIGHT UNDERSTANDING --- Control of the ego by the better understanding of the Divine Reality is called here as the "Yoga-of-Self-restraint' (ATMA-SAMYAMA-YOGA). The "Path-of-Discrimination" (Vichara) lies through a constant attempt at distinguishing between the limited lot of the ego and the divine destinies of the Spirit. Having discriminated thus, to live more and more as the Self, and not as the ego, is to "RESTRAIN THE SELF BY THE SELF (Atma-Samyama)." By this process, it is evident how the mad ramblings of the organs of perceptions and actions can be completely restrained and entirely conquered.

6. Dravya Yagna :

OFFERING OF WEALTH (Dravya-Yajna) --- Sacrifice of wealth is to be understood in its largest connotation. Charity and distribution of honestly acquired wealth, in a sincere spirit of devotion to and in the service of the community, or of the individual who is the recipient of the benevolence, is called Dravya-Yajna. This includes more than a mere offering of money or food. The term Dravya includes everything that we possess, not only in the world outside but also in our worlds of emotions and ideas. To pursue thus a life of charity, serving the world as best as we can, with all that we possess physically, mentally and intellectually is the noble sacrifice called "Wealth sacrifice."

7. Tapo Yajna :

Some live, offering unto their Lord, a life of austerity. There is no religion in the world which does not prescribe, by some method or the other, periods of austere living. These austerities (Vratas) are invariably undertaken in the name of the Lord. It is very well-known that the Lord of Compassion, who feeds and sustains even the lowliest of the low, can gain no special joy because of a devotee's self-denial. But it is generally done in a spirit of dedication, so that the seeker might achieve some self-control. This activity, in some extreme cases very painful indeed, is undertaken in order that the devotee may learn to control himself in his sense-life.

8. Yoga Yajna :

An earnest attempt of the lesser in us to grow into a better standard of diviner living, is called Yoga. In this attempt, devoted worship of the Lord-of-the-heart, called Upasana, is a primary method. This worship and love, offered to the Lord-of-the-heart, when performed without any desire or motive, is also called Yoga, since it directly hastens the seeker's self-development.

9. Swadhyaya Yajna :

The daily deep study of the scriptures is called Swadhyaya. Without a complete study of the scriptures we will not be in a position to know the logic of what we are doing in the name of spiritual practice, and without this knowledge our practices cannot gain the edge and the depth that are essential for sure progress. Thus, in all religions, the daily study of the scriptures is insisted upon, as an essential training during the seeker's early days. Even after Self-realisation, we find that the Sages spend all their spare-time reading and contemplating upon the inexhaustible wealth of details and suggestions in the scriptures. In its subjective implications, Swadhyaya means "self-study including the art of introspection pursued for understanding our own inner weaknesses." If, in the case of a seeker, it is a technique of estimating his own spiritual progress, in the case of a Seer, it will be for revelling in his own Self.

10. Jnana Yajna :

The "Sacrifice-of-Knowledge" is the term given to that activity in man by which he renounces all his ignorance into the fire-of-knowledge kindled BY him, IN him. This is constituted of two aspects; negation of the false, and assertion of the Real Nature of the Self. These two activities are effectively undertaken during the seeker's meditation.

11. Prana Yagna :

As a sacrifice some offer "THE OUT-GOING BREATH INTO THE IN-COMING BREATH AND OTHERS OFFER THE IN-COMING INTO THE OUT-GOING." The latter is, in the technique of Pranayama, called the Puraka, meaning the 'process of filing in'; while, the former is the 'process of blowing out,' technically called the Rechaka. These two processes are alternated with an interval, wherein the 'breath is held for sometime,' within and without, which is called the Kumbhaka. This process of Puraka-Kumbhaka-Rechaka-Kumbhaka, when practised in a prescribed ratio, becomes the technique of breath-control (Pranayama). This technique is again explained here as a Yajna by which the practitioner, in the long run, learns to offer all the subsidiary Pranas into the main Prana.

Prana is not the breath; this is a general misunderstanding. Through breath-control we come to gain a perfect mastery over the activities of the Pranas in us. When very closely observed, we find that the term Prana used in the Hindu Scriptures indicates the various "manifested activities of life in a living body." They generally enumerate five different kinds of Pranas, which, when understood correctly, are found to be nothing but the five different physiological-functions in every living body. They are: (1) the function of perception, (2) the function of excretion, (3) the function of digestion and assimilation, (4) the circulatory system, which distributes the food to all parts of the body, and lastly (5) the capacity in a living-creature to improve himself in his mental outlook and intellectual life. These activities of life within, about which an ordinary man is quite unconscious, are brought under the perfect control of the individual through the process of Pranayama, so that a seeker can, by this path, come to gain a complete capacity to withdraw all his perceptions. This is indeed a great help to a meditator.

12. Deha Yagna:

There are some who, through systematic regulation of their diet, come to gain a complete mastery over themselves and their appetites and passions. Dieting is not at all a new technique in India. The ancient Rishis not only knew the vitamin-contents and the caloric-values of the various food materials, but also prescribed very scientific combinations of the available vegetables and cereals to suit the temperament, function, and duties of persons belonging to different levels of society. Not only this; they so well perfected their knowledge that they even showed how, through regulated dieting, a man's character and behaviour, and ultimately his very cultural quality, can be purified and raised.

We often find sincere seekers getting so extremely attached to their own "path" of practice that they constantly argue about it among themselves. Therefore, Arjuna has been instructed here that all "paths," however noble and great they may be, are all but means, and not an end in themselves. All these methods of Self-development --- " sacrifice-of-wealth," "austerity," "Yoga," "study" and "knowledge" etc--- can be practised with profit only by those who are men of "rigid determination" and who can find in themselves an inexhaustible enthusiasm to apply themselves consistently to reach this great goal. It is not sufficient that we know these paths, or that we decide to gain these developments. Progress in spirituality can come only to one who is "sincere and consistent in his practices". All these "KNOWERS OF Yajna," meaning all those who know "the art of living these techniques," when they practice them in a spirit of self-dedication and selfless enthusiasm, can fully come to profit by them. The above-mentioned practices not only wipe clean the existing wrong-vasanas but cut out in their place new-channels-of-thoughts, more constructive and evolutionary in their very nature.