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."
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Comments of Swami Chinmayanda:
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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.