Karma Yogi and Jnana Yogi

 

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)

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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