Gita essays – 8
In Chapter 4, Lord Krishna glorified Jnanam, as a great purifier that washes off all sins, past and
present, and praised Jnana karma sanyasi
as
actionless in action and not bound. But in the concluding verse of this chapter
Lord told Arjuna “Get up and take to karma
yoga.” So Arjuna was confused and
wants know for certain which is superior; karma
sanyasa or karma yoga. These two represent two life-styles, one is pravritti marga where you engage in
action as a householder, renouncing attachment to action, while other is nivritti marga, where you renounce
action itself as a sanyasi. Arjuna is
confused as to whether sanyasa asrama
is compulsory for gaining Jnanam to
achieve liberation and if so why should he not straightaway renounce action
itself and take to sanyasa. Lord Krishna clarifies that what is important
for liberation is only Jnanam which
can be attained in both ways of life and one who tries to differentiate between
them is only ignorant in verse 5-4.
सांख्ययोगौ पृथग्बालाः प्रवदन्ति न पण्डिताः। (Saankhyayogau
prithagbaalaah pravadanti na panditaah)
एकमप्यास्थितः सम्यगुभयोर्विन्दते फलम्।। (Ekam apyaasthitah samyag ubhayor vindate phalam)
एकमप्यास्थितः सम्यगुभयोर्विन्दते फलम्।। (Ekam apyaasthitah samyag ubhayor vindate phalam)
Ignorant (people) assert
that sanyasa and karmayoga are different, not the wise. By resorting to any one of
them properly, one attains the results of both.
Physical renunciation of
objects is no renunciation at all. What is wanted is the renunciation of egoism
and desires. So one does not become a sanyasi
by merely giving up actions due to laziness or some other personal or family
problem, One is a true sanyasi who is free from raga, dwesha and other pairs of
opposites. Asram is no bar to obtain Jnanam but it is difficult for one to
become a true sanyasi with a pure
mind free from attachments, without going through a life of karma yoga. So a life of karma yoga is preferable for an ordinary
person, advises Lord Krishna. Then Lord goes on to describe karma-yoga as a sadhana for Jnanam
ultimately.
A
Karma Yogi lives in the world without
bondage like a lotus leaf on water. With
selfless action and without anxiety for the fruits, he has inward peace at
mental and intellectual levels. He finds divinity everywhere at all times. As
he sees the divinity of the Self as all pervading, Lord remarks “he realizes his
own Self as the Self in all beings”.
Even in the common, natural and unavoidable activities of the world like
eating, sleeping, breathing, speaking, closing and opening of eyes etc., a man
of wisdom will not have any sense of doership or egoism. As he identifies himself with the Self always
he remains only a witness of the activities of the senses. As he has no attachment, whatever actions he
performs at the level of body, mind, intellect and senses, they are only for
the purification of the self and not for selfish benefits. Dedicating all
actions to the Lord and abandoning attachment, he totally surrenders to the
Divine will. Thus united to Lord he
attains eternal peace and is not born again.
On the other hand the one who is motivated by desire and attachment to
the fruits of actions and who is full of egoism and sense of doership can be
considered as unharmonised with the Divine will, and is bound by his actions
and continues in the cycle of birth and death. Attaining Athma
Jnanam, karma yogi lives happily as a Jnana
yogi, established in Self-knowledge, mentally renouncing all actions and
not identifying himself with the body which is called a city of nine
gates. He is totally free from the
consciousness of “I”, “me” or “mine” and also from the idea of acting or
causing action and he lives only for exhausting the prarabhdha karma, which caused his present body. He attains videha mukthi when the prarabdha karma is exhausted.
Then Lord goes on to
explain the nature of Athma and about
Jnana yogi who has successfully gone
through all the four stages listed below and is firmly established in Jiva-Brahma-Ikya Jananam.
1) Discovery
of the value for the knowledge of one’s higher Self, Athma Jnanam
2)
Discovery
of the higher Self, Athma, as his
Real Self
3)
Gradual identification of oneself with Athma,
the higher Self, while simultaneously disidentifying oneself from ahamkara, the lower self
4)
Effortless, constant mental Identification
with Athma, one’s higer Self
Athma,
one’s
higher Self, is akartha and aboktha and it is only under the
influence of maya /prakrithi, one’s ego-self, ahamkara,
acts and enjoys the fruits of action. So
Athma has no hand in one’s papams and
punyams. Maya’s avarana sakthi,
veiling power, covers one’s Jnanam
and as a result one mistakes in ignorance his ego-self as the Real Self and
imagines in his ignorance that his Real Self, Athma, is the doer and enjoyer and papams and punyams result
from the actions of Athma. When this ignorance is destroyed by Self-knowledge,
the reign of ego ends and Athma that
is Brahman becomes revealed as Self just
as the objects of the universe are revealed when the dark clouds covering the
sun are dispelled and move away.
Identifying his Real Self with Brahman, he continues to live as Jivan muktha and attains videha mukthi at death gaining freedom
from the cycle of birth and death. He is a Brahma
nishta, ever established in Brahman mentally. He is no more a samsari but a samadarsi,
seeing divinity everywhere and in all forms of life, human or otherwise. He
does not depend on his senses for his pleasure and satisfaction, with the
knowledge that they are generators of pain and suffering in the long run. Facing
the pleasant he is not elated, and facing the unpleasant he is not depressed
and he accepts with equanimity the play of opposites in life, keeping his
desires under his firm control. Before
concluding Lord Krishna declares that for success in spiritual sadhanas to
become Jnana yogi one should restrain the impulse of kama and krodha and
should not indulge in sense pleasures, understanding their impermanence besides
acquiring doubt-free knowledge of Athma
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