Karmic Account

 

(Inspired by an article of Sri Om Swami)

Our scriptures state that there is a Karmic account for each one of us as individuals.  The account earns a demerit or debit entry for each of our bad karma, and a merit or a credit entry for our good karma. But unlike in double entry bookkeeping the debits are not offset by the credits and whatever debits are accumulated by a person, that all the person has to pay back.  If A causes B grief, in return for the grief B has given to him, both remain accountable and both earn debit entries and both have to pay for the grief they have caused to each other and nothing gets cancelled out.  All the accumulated debits one alone has to pay back and all the credits rightfully earned cannot also be taken away from one. The unseen Karmic account is immaculately maintained, only its operation is a mystery as Lord Krishna points out in Bhagavad Gita (4-17); “Gahana karmano gathih (Mysterious are the ways of Karma)”.

Karma is of three types, physical, verbal and mental and all of them leave their psychic imprint on one’s mind which accumulated over many lives, conditions one’s mind in the present birth.  Every action leaves behind an imprint.  Physical actions may produce a tangible residue, whereas mental and verbal Karma creates psychic imprints.  The trail of a Karma may wane but does not get destroyed completely.  One’s memory is an accumulation, a storage tank, of one’s psychic imprints from the Karmic trail. 

Good Karma rewards one with peace and contentment though it may or may not give material success or riches.  In fact, one can only do good Karma when one has peace within.  If one is happy inside one will not hurt anyone with his words and gestures; rather he will melt their hearts doing even more good deeds.  It will be the reverse when one is bitter or angry inside.  He may cause more grief to the other person resulting in greater anguish for himself.  Happiness and good Karma complement and fuel each other.

So if peace is important to one, one should know that peace is funded by one’s good Karmic account.  The greater the credit balance in one’s Karmic account, greater the peace one enjoys.  It is in a state of peace alone that one experiences and enjoys any type of joy.  After all, Happiness is the goal of all in all of their actions. The state of peace can be attained, if one sheds some of one’s expectations and desires, if one is a little more forgiving and a bit more honest with oneself and others.  With peace and contentment and acting mindfully one can boost one’s credit entries in the Karmic account with good Karma.  Similarly, one can avoid debit entries by keeping in mind the words of Swami Sivananda - “Every wrong action brings its own punishment in accordance with the law of retribution.  If you rob another, you rob yourself first.  If you hurt another, you hurt yourself first. – you have to pay the price someday.”

But whatever be the entries, debit or credit, the account remains in operation and also the cycle of birth and death continues. If one takes to Karma Yoga way of life, performing all one’s actions without the sense of doership and with Iswararpana Buddhi i.e. dedicating all the actions to Iswara, and accepting the results, good or otherwise, with Prasada Buddhi, i.e. as gift of Iswara, then one can ensure that one’s Karmic account is static, unaffected by one’s actions.  As one steps up one’s spiritual pursuit to Jnana Yoga and attains Self-knowledge, the Karmic account gets liquidated at death, liberating that person totally from the cycle of birth and death. 

---------------------

Sadhanas in Bhagavad Gita

 

(Based on Swami Paramarthananda’s talks)

The teaching in Bhagavad Gita, which we shall refer to hereafter as Gita, is generally considered as an explanation of the Mahavakhya ‘Tat Tvam asi (Thou are That)” with the first six chapters of Gita dealing with Tat pada vichara (the nature of Brahman), the second six chapters dealing with Tvam pada vichara (the nature of Jiva) and the last six chapters dealing with asi pada vichara (the identity between Brahman and Jiva).  In this blog let us take a look at Gita teaching from another perspective.

The teaching in Gita runs from verse (2-11) to verse (18-66).  The first chapter and the first ten verses of second chapter set out the context of the teaching, while the last twelve verses of the last chapter speak of the glory of teaching and the qualifications needed for a student of Gita.  On a careful study of Gita one will notice that five topics find repeated mention and all of them are important for a spiritual seeker to free oneself from samsara and to gain Moksha. They are:

1)    Karma yoga

2)    Upasana yoga

3)    Jnana yoga

4)    Bhakthi yoga

5)    Sat gunas

Karma yoga

This involves the performance of Karmas as laid down in the scriptures, maintaining the Iswara arpana bhavana, attitude of dedication to Bhagavan, in performance of all Karmas and prasada bhavana, attitude of receving Iswara prasada, towards the results. This means performing action without ego and selfish motives and accepting the results of actions, whether favourable or otherwise, without raga and dwesha for the fruits of action.  This is a lifestyle conducive to pursuit of Moksha.  Swami Sivananda defines Karma Yoga as “performance of actions dwelling in union with the Divine, removing attachment and remaining balanced ever in success and failure.” This theme finds a place in almost all chapters of Gita.

Upasana yoga

Upasana yoga is the second topic that occurs repeatedly in Gita.  It is the practice of meditation conducive for disciplining the mind and achieving chitta ekagratha (single-pointedness of mind) which is essential in all spiritual pursuits.  Further it helps integration of one’s personality at physical, mental, and intellectual levels so that there is perfect harmony in all layers of one’s personality.  As Kanchi Periyaval had observed of Bhakthi, the main aim of Upasana is to quell all desires and get attracted to that Infinite source of Bliss, Iswara.  

Jnana yoga

Jnana yoga, that is the pursuit of Self-knowledge through sravanam, mananam and nitidyasanam is the third and most important topic figuring in Gita.  Sravanam is the consistent and committed study of scriptures for a length of time under the guidance of a competent Guru. The scriptural teaching by a competent Guru helps as a verbal mirror to discover one’s true Self removing Self-ignorance as self-study and meditation alone cannot achieve this.  Mananam is the process by which all doubts, logical or interpretational, are resolved through one’s own reflection and/or with the guidance of Guru.  Nitidyasanam is the Vedantic meditation that helps internalisation or assimilation of the doubt-free knowledge, deconditioning all the negative emotions developed in the dark room of ignorant mind. This is done by constantly meditating on the teachings which are free from all doubts.  While Mananam is for removal of intellectual obstacles, Nitidyasanam is for removal of mental and emotional obstacles like worry, guilt, anger, fear, hurt etc.  The meditation discussed in ch.6 of Gita is Vedantic meditation, Nitidyasanam, only.

Bhakthi yoga

Bhakthi yoga is the practice of selfless devotion in all stages of spiritual progress and recognition of the sacred or divine in everything.  All the other three yogas mentioned above need to be practiced in the spirit of Bhakthi yoga.  In Gita, Lord Krishna talks about Bhakthi and Bhaktha in various places and also there is a chapter, chapter 12, titled Bhakthi yoga.  In verse (7-18), Lord Krishna also declares: “jnani twatmaiva me matam;( In my opinion Jnani Bhaktha is my very Self)”.

Sat gunas

Lord Krishna gives considerable importance for cultivating and developing values and chapters 13 and 16 provide a list of important values. For pursuit of spiritual goals, sound values is important. They also give one Chitta suddhi (purity of mind) that facilitates the easy absorption of the subtle teaching of Self-knowledge.

The central teaching of Gita is Jnana yoga which equips one with Self-knowledge that leads to Liberation.  Gita declares that Jnana is Moksha sadhanam (tool of Liberation) as the problem of bondage has been caused by Self-ignorance and Self-ignorance can be removed by Self-knowledge only.  Samsara and problems related to it have their origin in Self-ignorance and the consequent misconception “I am a mortal human being”.  The scriptures clearly declare that one’s Self is the immortal Athma that is Brahman.  Being ignorant of this fact, one identifies one’s Self with the mortal body-mind-complex which is only a costume temporarily worn for the sake of transacting with the external world.  This false identification known as Ahamkara leads one to the notion of mamakara and the consequent raga/ dwesha.   While raga/dwesha can be diluted by Karma yoga, Upasana yoga and Bhakthi yoga, the ignorance of Self and the consequent problems of samsara with its notions of ahamkara and mamakara can be removed only by Self-knowledge. That is why Lord Krishna begins the teaching with Jnana yoga, starting with a significant declaration that wise people do not grieve for the living or dead:

“asochyan anvasochastwam prajnavaadamscha bhashase

gatasoon agataasoomshcha naanusochanti panditah // 2.11 //

You grieve for those who are not to be grieved for; and yet you speak words of wisdom! The learned do not grieve for the departed and those who have not departed.

The cause for Arjuna’s suffering and distress is because he, motivated by Ahamkara suffers from a sense of mamakara.  Ahamkara and mamakara are the products of Self-ignorance which can be eschewed through Self-knowledge only. So the Gita teaching which starts with the above declaration can be summed up as “Self-ignorance keeps one in sorrow and samsara while Self-knowledge leads to bliss and peace liberating one from samsara”.

(Adapted from Sri R.B. Athreya’s article on Swamiji’s talks)

---------------------

Saint & Starter

Bhaja Govindham 7

Verse 18

sura mandira taru mula nivasah sayya bhutalam ajinam vasah |

sarva parigraha bhoga tyagah kasya sukham na karoti viragah || 18 ||

He lives under a tree at the temple premises; his bed is the bare ground and dress is deerskin; he has given up all desires for worldly possessions and enjoyment of earthly pleasures; who won’t be happy, living with this kind of renunciation?

This verse is composed by Sri Nithyananda.  In this verse we have a picture of a true sanyasi, a man of dispassion who has given up all possessions. He lives at the root of a tree outside a temple; his bed is the lap of Mother Earth herself. His dress is only a simple deer skin.  He has renounced all pleasures both physically and mentally.  The life of utter simplicity described here, is not extremism or moderation. This is how great saints like Swami Tapovan Maharaj and Swami Sivananda lived after willingly renouncing their lucrative careers and choosing voluntarily to live the type of a simple life described here, accepting cheerfully all the hardships involved.  After describing the life of a true Vairagi, Acharya wonders why such a person should not be happy, for he has freed himself from the four things that causes mental preoccupation and worry.  They are possessions, obligations, relationships and transactions, which Swami Paramarthananda describes in his lectures as PORT.  His mind is unattached to the objects of the world.   He doesn’t crave for pleasures, and is free from fondness and fear; virtue and vice, attraction and aversion.  He is devoid of longing as he is freed from all desires.  As he has abandoned all the desires of the heart he is free from the delusion created by them.  He is not carried away with happiness or lost in worries.  He behaves with equanimity in happiness or sorrow, gain or loss, victory or defeat.  It is of such a person that Gita describes in 2-55 as one “satisfied in the Self by the Self” (atmanyeva atmana thushtaha).

Verse 19

yogarato va bhogarato va sangarato va sangavihinaḥ |

yasya brahmani ramate cittam nandati nandati nandatyeva ||

One may be immersed in Yoga or indulged in worldly pleasures; at times he may be in the company of others and at other times he may be alone.  But he alone whose mind delights in Brahman experiences bliss.

This verse is composed by Sri Aananda Giri.  He continues with the experience of the Yogi described in the previous verse. This Yogi has realized Brahman as his Real Self.  As Brahman is permanent pure Bliss, he is experiencing pure Bliss all the time as his mind is always absorbed in Brahman.  Whether such a yogi pursues Nivritti Marga (Yogarathaha) or Pravritti Marga(bhogarathaha), it does not matter. Whether he is in Grihastha asrama (sangarathaha) or Sanyasa asrama (sangavihinaha), it does not matter.  What matters is his mind is fixed in Brahman all the time.  Happiness is a state of mind and this permanent happiness cannot come from any external object, individually or collectively, as they themselves are not permanent.  So the happiness of mind in experiencing them has limited life and it binds one also in karma.  But the enjoyment of bliss in the realization of Brahman is permanent and free of karmic baggage.  Transcending the three gunas (Sattva, Rajas and Tamas), his mind is firmly established in a state of equilibrium.  The feeling of “I” and “mine” also disappears.  So with the mind focused on Brahman only, he is free of anguish and agitations and enjoys peace and tranquillity internally all the time.

Verse 20

bhagavad gita kincidadhita ganga jalalava kaṇikapita |

sakṛdapi yena murari samarca kriyate tasya yamena na carca || 

One who has understood at least a little of the Bhagavad Gita, or drank a drop of water from the holy Ganga, or at least once in his life worshipped the Lord Krishna, has no quarrel with Yama at the time of death.

In this verse three sadhanas are mentioned engaging in which with faith and sincerity, one can make a good start in the path of spiritual salvation. Significantly each of these sadhanas stand for a different path of Yoga, as given below:. 

1)    Study of Bhagavad Gita, that stands for study of spiritual literature – Jnana Yoga

2)    Drinking water from river Ganga, that stands for pilgrimage and bath in holy rivers – Karma Yoga

3)    Worship of Lord Krishna, that stands for regular puja and worship - Bhakthi Yoga

It is significant that Lord Krishna is spoken of as Murari; slayer of demon, Mura, who symbolises egoism. Egoism is a big obstacle for spiritual progress and subduing egoism is an important requirement for progress in the path of Self-realisation. “He has no quarrel with Yama” indicates that this sadhaka has no fear of death.

Acharya lovingly suggests in this verse to the spiritual aspirant who is looking for guidance on what spiritual sadhana to start and how to pursue the sadhana for his spiritual salvation, to start from doing  ‘something small’ and has shown areas from each yoga for his choice.  He is aware that once a person makes a start and begins to derive some benefit, he will be enthused to continue in the path with vigour and keenness.  After all it is from small beginnings that big things are developed.  So these steps singly or collectively, when pursued with a vision of the final goal of Liberation, can lead one to that goal. 

---------------

Viswarupam(2) – Lord’s consolation

Gita essays 19 

Seeing various warriors rushing into the blazing mouth of the Cosmic form to be bitten, chewed and swallowed, with the Cosmic form seemingly enjoying the act, Arjuna is gripped with fear and pleads with the Cosmic form, to have mercy and disclose its true identity and function.   Then Lord reveals to Arjuna that what he is witnessing, is the Lord’s manifestation of the laya aspect of His role as Kala thathvam, time principle.  In this role He will be annihilating the warriors in both the the armies.  This will happen with or without Arjuna’s participation. Arjuna is acting only as an instrument of the Lord in this game of destruction and so he need not feel sorry that he is responsible for all their deaths.  Therefore Lord advises Arjuna to get up and fight and get the name and fame for victory and assures the kingdom will be theirs for Pandavas to rule and enjoy.  After talking in generalities, Lord now talks in specifics in verse 34.

Drona, Bhishma, Jayadratha, Karna and other brave warriors have already been slain by Me (as their time in earth is coming to an end).  Do not be upset with concern (for them); fight and you shall conquer enemies (eventually) in the battle (11-34)

Even after hearing Lord’s reassuring words Arjuna was not out of fear witnessing the annihilating aspect of kala thathvam.  Arjuna still has not got the mental equanimity to look at pralaya as the other side of creation.  So Arjuna saluting the Lord and bowing before the Lord prays to Him tremblingly in a choking voice with an overwhelming feeling of surrender unto the Lord.  He says that he is seeing the people on the right side of Dharma bowing to Him in prayer and people on the wrong side of Dharma trying to avoid Him in fear.  He finds the world rejoicing in His praise with delight and properly so, for He is the Imperishable Brahman; He is the greatest of the greatest being the progenitor of Brahmaji himself; and, He is the Sat and the Asat and the one beyond Sat and Asat.  Then Arjuna breaks into a praise of the Lord addressing the Lord severally as Primal God; the Ancient Purusha;, the Knower and  the Knowable; and the Supreme goal, who pervades the universe with His boundless infinite forms.  He offers thousands of salutations again and again;  in the front , in the back and on all sides, worshipping the Lord as Vayu, Yama, Agni, the Moon, Varuna, the great-grandfather of all and also as the All-in-one, pervading all with infinite power and prowess.

After prayer and praise, Arjuna changes track to contrition seeking forgiveness for having treated Him lightly earlier during the intimate moments of friendship and camaraderie.  Then he has even called Him by His caste name as ‘Hey, Yadhava’.  A sample of Arjuna’s earlier intimacy with Lord Krishna is given in an incident that happened before Lord Krishna went as Pandava’s ambassador to Duryodhana’s court.  King Dhritharashtra sent Sanjaya to Pandava’s camp to get a report on the conditions there.  When Sanjaya visited the camp he was surprised to see Arjuna talking to Lord Krishna lying down with his legs lazily placed in Lord’s lap. When Sanjaya returned, he reported to king Dhritharashtra that Arjuna being so intimate with the all-powerful Lord, kauravas have no chance of winning the war.  After recounting how he had behaved with the Lord disrespectfully while at play or at rest or at meals or while chatting, treating Him as a friend, Arjuna seeks Lord’s forgiveness with these words in verse 43 & 44. 
You are the father of this world, moving and unmoving. You are the adorable one and the greatest guru. How can there be another superior to you when there is no one even equal to you in the three worlds, Oh Lord of unequalled power? (11-43) 
Therefore, bowing down and prostrating my body, I propitiate you, the adorable Lord.  Oh Lord! You should forgive my offences just as a father forgives those of the son, just as a friend forgives those of his (dear) friend, and just as a lover forgives those of his beloved. (11-44)

After praising the Lord and pleading for forgiveness, Arjuna tells the Lord that though he is overjoyed at seeing the Viswarupam of the Lord, he cannot get rid of the feeling of fear in Its presence.  So he prays to Lord to revert to the old form so that he can talk to the Lord without the feeling of fear, regaining his peace of mind.  Lord then informs that this Cosmic form he witnessed is being shown to Arjuna as a special case for no one without His Grace can have the vision of this form just by the study of the Vedas or performance of sacrifices or by observance of severe austerities or by engaging in other rituals or charities. Now that Arjuna does not feel comfortable in Its presence, It will be withdrawn and he can witness the previous form without fear and with a peaceful mind.  So saying Lord takes away the Divine eye, that He had given, from Arjuna.  Arjuna not seeing the Cosmic form and seeing only the old familiar form, feels greatly relieved and thanks the Lord, in a transport of joy, with these words. 
Now seeing this Thy gentle human form, O Krishna, I am composed and restored to my own nature! (11-51)

Apparently Arjuna is more at home with Eka rupa bhakthi  and is not comfortable with Viswarupa bhakthi.  Sensing this Lord again reminds him of the glory of Viswarupa Bhakthi.  He tells Arjuna that the Cosmic form he had seen now, is not within easy reach of even Devas and Gods and they are always longing to have a vision of the Cosmic form.  So what to say about human efforts?   Not all the scholarship in Vedas, or the rigorous penances or the sacrificial rites or charitable gifts by themselves or in combination will enable humans to see Him as Arjuna had seen.  It is possible only through Ananya bhakthi to gain this vision.  Lord also gives the recipe for Ananya bhakthi for his benefit, and through him for our benefit, in the concluding verse of this chapter, verse 55, which Swami Sivananda calls as the one  containing “the essence of the whole teaching of the Gita” ; 
He who does all actions for Me, who looks upon Me as the Supreme goal, who is devoted to Me, who is free from attachment and who bears no enmity towards any creature, he attains Me, O Arjuna! (11-55)

Swami Paramarthananda calls this “a seed verse” as this contains the seed for the teaching in the next chapter. Here the Lord prescribes the following four criterions for a devotee to qualify as an Ananya bhaktha and become eligible for the vision of the Cosmic form and to attain Him; 

1)      his work is all for the Lord (in any form)
2)      Lord is the Supreme goal for him
3)      he is free from all worldly associations  &
4)      he has no sense of enmity towards any living being. 

With the vision of the Divine Cosmic form, egoism and the notion of duality will be erased from the mind of ananya bhaktha totally and the devotee comes to understand without any trace of doubt, the basic identity of the universe including his own self with supreme Brahman, which is termed as attaining the Lord.  Through Cosmic form Lord has demonstrated to Arjuna that He is none other than the Supreme Brahman, the substratum sustaining the universe and all movements therein are according to His Divine Law only. 

--------------------- 

                                                      

 

Bhagavad Gita

Prasthana Thraya – 3

 

One of the Dhyana slokas for Bhagavad Gita written by Madhusudhana Saraswathi praises Bhagavad Gita thus:

sarvopaniṣado gavo dogdha gopala-nandanaḥ|

partho vatsaḥ sudhirbhokta dugdhaṃ gitamṛtaṃ mahatII

All the Upaniṣhads are the cows. Krishna is the milker. Arjuna is the calf. The pure-minded are the enjoyers (of the milk).  The supreme nectar of Gita is the milk.

Bhagavad Gita which is thus praised as containing the essence of Upanishads constitutes one of the trio of Prasthana Thraya along with Upanishads and Brahma Sutras. Consisting of 700 slokas spread over 18 chapters, Gita ,as we shall refer to it hereafter, comes in Bhisma Parva of Mahabharatha and is set in the framework of a dialogue between, Arjuna, the armed warrior and disciple, and Sri Krishna, his unarmed charioteer and Guru, in the battle field of Kurukshetra.  Arjuna who arrogantly asked Sri Krishna to take the chariot to the front, turned sad and depressed seeing his Guru, elders and relatives assembled on the other side and surrendered to Sri Krishna seeking his advice and guidance on his eleventh hour dilemma “fight or pullback.”  Sri Krishna’s elaborate advice encompassing all the four yogas of Karma, Bhakthi, Raja and Jnana that dissolves Arjuna’s delusion and drives him to action is the subject matter of Gita. So Gita presents a synthesis of the four paths of Karma Yoga, Bhakthi Yoga, Raja Yoga, and Jnana yoga. 

Each chapter in Gita is titled one Yoga or the other.  Yoga means a topic and also as  that which unites the seeker with the destination. As per Swami Paramartananda the destination here is “Security, Peace and Happiness” and seekers are ourselves. We seek these outside ourselves from external objects and relations, not knowing that we ourselves are the source for our ‘Peace, Security and Happiness’; as our minds are  covered with Malam(impurities); Vikshepa(extrovertedness) and Ajjanam(ignorance).  Malam is the six fold impurities; the six fold obstacles to discover our inner joy.  And those impurities are kamaḥ, (desire), krodhaḥ, (anger); lobhaḥ (greed); mohaḥ (delusion); madaḥ (arrogance or vanity); matsaryaḥ (jealousy or competitiveness).  Vikṣēpaḥ, mental extrovertedness, is the mental restlessness and wandering. Ajjanam is ignorance of the fact that I am the one and only source for the “Happiness, Peace and Security” that I am seeking from external objects and relations. Karma Yoga rids the mind of impurities and makes it pure, giving Chitta Suddhi.  Bhakthi and Raja Yogas discipline the wandering mind making it focussed and one-pointed, giving one Chitta Ekagratha.  Jnana Yoga imparts to such a pure focussed mind the true knowledge of the Self as Brahman of total peace and happiness and security.  Swami Sivananda considers the eighteen chapters of Gita as having a progressive order, by which Krishna leads "Arjuna up the ladder of Yoga from one rung to another".  It is not only Arjuna but all of us as well through Arjuna.

Swami Vivekananda remarks “This Kurukshetra War is only an allegory. When we sum up its esoteric significance, it means the war which is constantly going on within man between the tendencies of good and evil.”  Man can overcome the tendency for evil only through the disciplines of Karma Yoga and Bhakthi/Upasana Yoga. As Gita speaks of them equally as Jnana Yoga, Swami Chinmayananda writes, “Here in the Bhagavad Gita, we find a practical handbook of instruction on how best we can re-organise our inner ways of thinking, feeling, and acting in our everyday life and draw from ourselves a larger gush of productivity to enrich the life around us, and to emblazon the subjective life within us”.  He viewed the Gita as a universal scripture to turn a person from a state of agitation and confusion to a state of complete vision, inner contentment, and dynamic action. Mahatma Gandhi also emphasises Gita being a practical guide with his own example with these words “When disappointment stares me in the face and all alone I see not one ray of light, I go back to the Bhagavadgītā. I find a verse here and a verse there and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming tragedies – and my life has been full of external tragedies – and if they have left no visible, no indelible scar on me, I owe it all to the teaching of Bhagavadgita”.  Not only Mahathma Gandhi but other leaders of freedom struggle like Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Vinobha Bhave etc., have found Gita a source of inspiration in their personal and public lives. 

Let us see one instance of the all-embracing practical approach i.e. in the case of obtaining Mukthi, given to us all through Arjuna.  In ch. 7 Sri Krishna classifies bhakthas in four groups Artha, Artharthi, Jijnasu and Jnani through verse 16, and we will be mostly falling in one or the other of the first three groups:

chaturvidha bhajante maṃ janaḥ sukṛtinorjuna

artho jijnasurartharthi jnani ca bharatarṣabha

Four kinds of virtuous men worship Me, O Arjuna! They are the Artha (distressed), Artharthi (the seeker of security and pleasure), Jijnasu ( the seeker of knowledge of Me), and the Jnani (one who knows Me) 

Artha bhaktha thinks of the Lord only periodically; as and when he is faced with a crisis or a problem and then he prays to Him with all fervour but slowly forgets Him after the crisis fades or blows over under the pretext he does not want to disturb Him.  He is a sakama bhaktha as his sporadic devotion is for selfish needs and desires.  For such a sakama bhaktha also Sri Krishna offers a way for Mukthi in the closing verses of the last chapter ie. Ch 18 in verse no. 56:

Sarvakarmaanyapi sadaa kurvaano madvyapaashrayah;

Matprasaadaadavaapnoti shaashwatam padamavyayam.

Doing all actions, always taking refuge in Me, by My Grace he obtains the eternal, indestructible state or abode.

The prescription is to do all nitya, naimithika karmas as well along with other laukika karmas but without forgetting the Lord all the time and also His words that fruits of all actions, good, bad or mixed, come through His Grace only. In short perform all your actions, material and spiritual, karma yoga way completely surrendering to Lord and He will guide you to Mukthi

Artharthi bhaktha remembers Him always no doubt but he has also one material demand or other always. He is also a sakama bhaktha but unlike Artha bhaktha he regularly thinks of the Lord. To him Sri Krishna offers a way for Mukthi in verse no. 65 of ch.18:

Manmanaa bhava madbhakto madyaajee maam namaskuru;

Maamevaishyasi satyam te pratijaane priyo’si me.

Fix your mind on Me, be devoted to Me, sacrifice to Me, bow down to Me. You will come to Me; truly do I promise unto you, (for) you are dear to Me.

The prescription here is to surrender to one’s Ishta Devata, Bhakthi Yoga way totally, converting his sakama bhakthi into nishkama bhakthi. ‘Me’ stands for Ishta Devatha only and not for Vasudeva putra.Krishna.  

A Jijnasu bhaktha is a nishkama bhaktha. His devotion is not out of material desires or wants but out of deep thirst for knowing Him. So his devotion to Lord is for Lord’s sake. Only he also has not got the Jnanam and  to Him Sri Krishna’s advice is contained in sloka 66. This is also called Charama sloka as this is the last sloka of Upadesa.

Sarvadharmaan parityajya maamekam sharanam vraja;

Aham twaa sarvapaapebhyo mokshayishyaami maa shuchah.

Giving up all dharmas (dharmas and adharmas ie. all actions), take refuge in Me alone; I will liberate you from all sins; grieve not.

Giving up actions implies not giving up actions as such but giving up the Kartrutva buddhi ie, doership and also Bhokthrutva buddhi ie. enjoyership. With Karthruthva bukthi and Bhokthrutva buddhi goes Ahamkaram, Mamakaram i,e. ‘me, my’ thought and with that Dehabhimana also. So shedding ego and Dehabhimana, surrender to the Ishta Devata meditating on It and being always aware of It as the One without a second is the prescription.  ‘Mamekam’ stands for looking upon Ishta Devata as the one Saguna Brahman whose manifestations only are all other Devatas.  As there is no sense of doership, no fruits of action will attach to him. Though he may not be equipped with Nirguna Brahma Jnanam he surrenders the Jnana Yoga way to his Ishta Devata for Mukthi.

For the Jnani Bhaktha Sri Krishna does not offer any advice as with attainment of Jnanam, he has already attained Jivanmukthi and for all purposes he is one with Him though he may continue in the body to exhaust Prarabhdha karma.  This Sri Krishna  has hinted earlier in ch, 7 sloka 18:

Udaaraah sarva evaite jnani twaatmaiva me matam;

Aasthitah sa hi yuktaatmaa maamevaanuttamaam gatim.

Noble indeed are all these (all the bhakthas); but I consider Jnani bhaktha as My very Self; for, steadfast in mind, he is established in Me alone as the supreme goal.

It is no wonder that with its practical approach, Gita has been highly praised not only by eminent Indians like Mahathma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan, Abdul Kalam, etc. but also by eminent foreigners like Aldous Huxley, Henry David Thoreau, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Carl Jung, and Herman Hesse.

-------------------