Commentary on the Bhagavadgita - 11-4. Swami Krishnananda
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Chinmaya Mission :
Gita Jnana Yajnas are an integral part of Chinmaya mission that inspire the masses for Vedantic scriptural studies and contemplation. Here is a throwback to Gita Jnana Yajna conducted by Pujya Swami Brahmananda in Kannada from 2nd to 11th November, 2019 at Sri Kailas Ashram, Rajarajeshwarinagar on Bhagavad Gita
Chapter 6.
The Yajna was inaugurated and graced by Parama Pujya Acharya Mahamandaleshwara Jagadguru Sri Jayendra Puri Swamiji of Sri Kailas Ashram, with over 1000 sadhaks attending every day.
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8.19.2021.
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Thursday, August 19, 2021. 7:01. PM.
Discourse 11: The Fifth Chapter Begins – Knowledge and Action are One - 4.
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1. Gita - ch-5, slo-5. :
"Yat sankhyaih prapyate sthanam tad yogair api gamyate
ekam sankhyam cha yogam cha yah pashyati sa pashyati." (5.5).
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Translation :
yat—what;
sankhyaih—by means of karm sanyas;
prapyate—is attained;
sthānam—place;
tat—that;
yogaiḥ—by working in devotion;
api—also;
gamyate—is attained;
ekam—one;
sānkhyam—renunciation of actions;
cha—and;
yogam—karm yog;
cha—and;
yah—who;
paśhyati—sees;
sah—that person;
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Tatvam of the Slokam :
Gita : 5.5: The supreme state that is attained by means of karm sanyās is also attained by working in devotion. Hence, those who see karm sanyās and karm yog to be identical, truly see things as they are.
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Commentary :
In spiritual practice, the intention of the mind is what matters, not the external activities. One may be living in the holy land of Vrindaban, but if the mind contemplates on eating rasgullās in Kolkata, one will be deemed to be living in Kolkata. Conversely, if a person lives amidst the hubbub of Kolkata and keeps the mind absorbed in the Divine Lord of Vrindaban, he will get the benefit of residing there. All the Vedic scriptures state that our level of consciousness is determined by the state of our mind:
mana eva manuṣhyāṇāṁ kāraṇaṁ bandha mokṣhayoḥ (Pañchadaśhī)
“The mind is the cause of bondage, and the mind is the cause of liberation.” Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj states the same principle:
bandhan aur mokṣha kā, kāraṇ manahi bakhān
yāte kauniu bhakti karu, karu mana te haridhyān (Bhakti Śhatak verse 19)
“Bondage and liberation depend upon the state of the mind. Whatever form of devotion you choose to do, keep the mind engaged in meditation upon God.”
Those who do not possess this spiritual vision see the external distinction between a karm sanyāsī and a karm yogi, and declare the karm sanyāsī to be superior because of the external renunciation. But those who are learned see that both the karm sanyāsī and the karm yogi have absorbed their minds in God, and so they are both identical in their internal consciousness.
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Whatever one attains through knowledge in the manner knowledge has been described in the Gita, that very thing is attained by those who are engaged in action in the manner action is described in the Gita. One who knows in identity the goal reached by sankhya and yoga, or knowledge and action, in the end, such a person really sees the truth of things. Others only look at things but do not actually see the truth of things.
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2. Gita- ch-5, slo-6. :
"Sannyasas tu maha-baho duhkham aptum ayogatah
yoga-yukto munir brahma na chirenadhigachchhati" (5.6).
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Translation :
sanyāsaḥ—renunciation;
tu—but;
mahā-bāho—mighty-armed one;
duḥkham—distress;
āptum—attains;
ayogataḥ—without karm-yog;
yoga-yuktaḥ—one who is adept in karm-yog;
muniḥ—a sage;
brahma—Brahman;
na chireṇa—quickly;
adhigachchhati—goes
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Tatvam of the Slokam :
Gita - 5.6: Perfect renunciation (karm sanyās) is difficult to attain without performing work in devotion (karm yog), O mighty-armed Arjun, but the sage who is adept in karm yog quickly attains the Supreme.
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Commentary :
Living in a cave in the Himalayas, a yogi may feel that he has renounced, but the test of that renunciation comes when he returns to the city. For instance, one sadhu practiced austerities for twelve years in the mountains of Garhwal. He came down to Haridwar to participate in the holy fair called Kumbh Melā. In the hustle and bustle of the fair, someone accidentally placed his shoe on the sadhu’s bare foot. The sadhu was infuriated, and screamed, “Are you blind? Can you not see where you are going?” Later he repented for permitting anger to overcome him, and lamented, “Twelve years of austerities in the mountains got washed away by living one day in the city!” The world is the arena where our renunciation gets tested.
In this verse, Shree Krishna says that while performing one’s duties in the world, a person should slowly learn to rise above anger, greed, and desire. Instead, if one first gives up duties, it is very difficult to purify the mind; and without a pure mind, true detachment remains a distant dream.
We are all propelled to work by our nature. Arjun was a warrior, and if he had artificially renounced his duty, to retire to the forest, his nature would make him work there as well. He would probably gather a few tribesmen and declare himself their king. Instead, it would be more fruitful to use his natural inclinations and talents in the service of God. So the Lord instructs him, “Continue to fight, but make one change. At first, you came to this battleground on the presumption of saving a kingdom. Now, instead, simply dedicate your service unselfishly to God. In this way, you will naturally purify the mind and achieve true renunciation from within.”
A tender and unripe fruit clings fast to the tree that bears and nourishes it. But the same fruit, when fully ripe, severs its connection from its sustainer. Similarly from the material existence, the karm yogi gets the experience that matures into wisdom. Just as sound sleep is only possible for those who have worked hard, deep meditation comes to those who have purified their minds through karm-yog.
The word ‘sannyasa’ is used here, implying the characteristics of sankhya, or jnana, while ordinarily sannyasa means renunciation. The highest knowledge calls for the highest renunciation. Now Sri Krishna mentions here that without yoga we cannot have sannyasa. We cannot have renunciation without the practice of this yoga that I have described to you up to this time.
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The renunciation of the world implies a mastery over the world. A mastery over the world implies total desirelessness for anything in the world. Can we imagine what renunciation, sannyasa means? He has not abandoned anything that is real. The sannyasin has abandoned only the wrong notion that he had earlier entertained in respect of the world outside. Nobody can renounce the world unless he has renounced himself first, because we are inseparably connected with the structure of the world. We are a part of the structure of the universe. Hence, a person who tries to renounce the world as a whole cannot but renounce himself also. But by wrongly construing the meaning of sannyasa, one may erroneously imagine that renunciation is the abandoning of the physical relationship with the objects of the world while keeping one’s own physical individuality intact. That is not possible. A sannyasi is not physically intact while he has renounced the world. The intactness goes together with the renunciation of the world. When he has renounced the world, he has renounced himself also. When he does not want anything from the world, he also does not want anything from his body. Therefore, it is difficult to practise renunciation, or sannyasa, without a kind of yoga that has to be there together with it—namely, union of ourselves with the Ultimate Reality in some form—either through sankhya, or through pure activity, as described.
sannyasas tu maha-baho duhkham aptum ayogatah :
"Sannyasas tu maha-baho duhkham aptum ayogatah, yoga-yukto munir brahma na chirenadhigachchhati" :
If we are established in this kind of yoga where jnana is identical with action—sannyasa, or renunciation, is the same as activity—to be in the world is the same as being in God Himself, and we see no distinction between God and His creation. We see the world as God Himself would see the universe. How does God see the world? At that time, in this state of knowledge that is described here, in this great sankhya and great yoga, we will visualise the universe as the Creator Himself visualises it. Therefore, we have attained Brahman. In an instant, as it were, we have attained the Absolute with this practice.
End.
Next : Discourse-12.The Fifth Chapter Continues: The Characteristics of a Perfected Person
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