Commentary on the Bhagavadgita : 10.2 - Swami Krishnananda
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Friday, July 23, 2021. 10:26. AM.
Discourse-10. The Fifth Chapter Begins: Knowledge and Action are One -2.
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"Srotradinindriyaṇyanye samyamagnisu juvhati
sabdadin visayan anya indriyagniṣu juvhati."( BG-4-26.)
God comes to us as an emperor, and He comes every day by way of invocation. After some time, we bid Him farewell; and so the next day, we have to invite him again. After bidding a guest farewell, the person leaves. Every day this gorgeous reception is given to the honoured guest who is God; and finally, we offer ourselves: I am Thine.
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2.
"Daivam evapare yajnam yoginah paryupasate
brahmagnavapare yajnam yajnenaivopajuhvati." (BG-4.25.)
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Translation :
BG 4.25: Some yogis worship the celestial gods with material offerings unto them. Others worship perfectly who offer the self as sacrifice in the fire of the Supreme Truth.
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Commentary :
Others with deeper understanding of the meaning of yajña offer their own selves as sacrifice to the Supreme. This is called ātma samarpaṇ, or ātmāhutī, or offering one’s soul to God. Yogi Shri Krishna Prem explained this very well: “In this world of dust and din, whenever one makes ātmāhutī in the flame of divine love, there is an explosion, which is grace, for no true ātmāhutī can ever go in vain.” But what is the process of offering one’s own self as sacrifice? This is performed by surrendering oneself completely to God. Such surrender has six aspects to it, which have been explained in verse 18.66. Here, Shree Krishna continues to explain the different kinds of sacrifice that people perform.
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3.
Some of the spiritual seekers or yogis worship gods in a ritualistic manner by chants, by performances of ritual, or even by actual contemplation. Brahm?gn?vapare yajña? yajñenaivopajuvhati: Or we contemplate the Supreme Absolute in our own personality. We surrender ourselves to that ocean of the Absolute so that we melt into that Supreme Being itself. The greatest worship we can think of is where we offer ourselves instead of offering delicious dishes, clothes, gold and jewels, etc. They are secondary in comparison with what we ourselves are. We offer ourselves in the great brahmayajna that we practise—the contemplation of the Supreme Absolute. .
.Srotradinindriyaṇyanye samyamagnisu juvhati :
Some yogis offer the very powers of the sense organs into the fire of self-control. Self-control is visualised as a kind of kunda, a yajnasala—a special pit in which the holy fire is lit. Our performance, or act of self-control, is itself a holy fire that we have lit in ourselves, into which we offer the sense organs themselves, which we pour as an offering of ghee into this holy fire. The perception, and all the perceived objects of perception, are offered into this fire of complete withdrawal. All the five senses—the eyes, the ears, and the other perceptive sense organs—in their capacity as powers of perception and cognition, are abstracted from their involvement in the objects, brought back and offered, as ghee is offered, into the fire. The sense organs are offered into the fire of total withdrawal—pratyahara, we may say. Here, pratyahara is described as the offering of the powers of the sense organs into the fire of self-restraint.
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4.
.Sabdadin visayan anya indriyagniṣu juvhati :
There is a reverse action to what has been mentioned, which is also regarded as a kind of sacrifice. What we mentioned first is that the sense organs, which are involved in the objects, are withdrawn, and poured into the fire of self-restraint. Here, in this second half of the verse, it is said that all the objects of sense are offered into the fire of the sense organs through the media of the perceptive organs. The objects of perception are offered into the mind, and from the mind they are offered into the intellect. This is the reverse process of self-control. We may either withdraw our connection to the sense objects and then offer the powers of the senses into the fire of our self-control; or we may melt the very form of the objects themselves, as is done in samadhi, samapatti, etc., according to Patanjali’s Yoga Shastra.
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5.
.It is also mentioned in the penultimate verse of the Second Chapter of the Bhagavadgita that all the desires and the desired objects come and pour themselves into the ocean of the seer :
BG.
"Apuryamanam achala-pratishtham samudram apah pravishanti yadvat
tadvat kama yam pravishanti sarve sa shantim apnoti na kama-kami." (2.70).
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Translation :
BG 2.70: Just as the ocean remains undisturbed by the incessant flow of waters from rivers merging into it, likewise the sage who is unmoved despite the flow of desirable objects all around him attains peace, and not the person who strives to satisfy desires.
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Commentary :
The ocean is unique in its ability to maintain its undisturbed state, despite being inundated by the incessant flow of rivers into it. All the rivers of the world constantly empty themselves into the oceans, which neither overflow nor get depleted. Shree Krishna uses the word āpūryamāṇaṁ (filled from all sides) to describe that even the rivers pouring all their water during the rainy season into the ocean cannot make it flow over. Similarly, the realized sage remains quiescent and unmoved in both conditions—while utilizing sense objects for bodily necessities, or being bereft of them. Only such a sage can attain śhānti, or true peace.
To be continued ....
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