BHAGAVAD GEETA: 61 - Swami Advayananda.

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BHAGAVAD GEETA 

Chapter - 2

Discourse – 2 (72 Slogas)

“Yoga of the SUPREME SELF”

Sri Veda Vyasaji

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Saturday 09, Mar 2024 07:00.

2.8   THE SCIENCE OF KARMA YOGA 

(Slogas  39-41,   3 No.) 

Post - 61.

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2.8   THE SCIENCE OF KARMA YOGA 

(Slogas  39-41,   3 No.) 

BEFORE PRESENTING Sri Krishna’s masterpiece on the Science of Karma Yoga, there 

are a few introductory facts and terms we need to learn that will help us to grasp it. 

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INTRODUCTORY TECHNICAL NOTES:

 1. Saankhye Buddhih Yoge: In verse 39 we find these words. The centre word 

‘Buddhi’ meaning “wisdom” is an example of Deheli Deepa Vat, which means it applies to 

the word before and after it. Both these words are in the 7th Case, in the usage meaning 

“concerning”. Thus, we have ‘wisdom concerning Saankhya’ + ‘wisdom concerning Yoga’. 

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2. The Terms Sankhyaa and Saankhya: The root khya means “to tell”. The Upasarga 

(prefix) sam added to it makes it “to tell well”. That which tells well about something is 

called ‘Sankhyaa’ (note the ‘a’ and ‘aa’ syllables). In the context of the Geeta, this means the 

Upanishads. 

Thus, 

“ SANKHYAA”     =    UPANISHADS,  

the Pramana or Means to the goal.  

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That which is told about by Sankhyaa is called ‘Saankhya’ (note the reversal in the ‘a’ 

and ‘aa’ syllables). What do the Upanishads tell well? They tell about the Atman. Thus, 

“SAANKHYA”   =    ATMAN,  

the Prameya  or Goal  itself. 

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3. Saankhya Yogam: What has been said of the Atman from verse 11 to 30 represents 

Saankhya Yoga as it is all about the Atman. This is not the Saankhya Yoga that Rishi Kapila 

founded, which is one of the six philosophical systems of India based on the Vedas. Kapila 

called his system by the same name because he thought he was explaining the Atman, but 

he was not. To him the Atman was the Mind only, not the Supreme Self as in the 

Upanishads. As students we have to note this difference carefully. 

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4. Karma Yogam: From point 1 above, the words ‘wisdom concerning Yoga’ have 

started the use of the term Yoga of Wisdom or Buddhi Yoga in the Geeta. This Buddhi Yoga 

is none other than the Karma Yoga spoken of elsewhere in the Upanishads. Thus,  

“BUDDHI YOGA”    =    The Yoga of Wisdom   =   KARMA YOGA  in the Geeta. 

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5. Main Subject of the Geeta: In the Geeta, Saankhya Yoga, the Yoga dealing with 

the science of the Self or Atman, is the main Yoga taught by Sri Krishna. All the other Yogas 

mentioned in the Geeta, starting with Karma Yoga, are in the context of serving Saankhya 

Yoga. They are all subsidiary to and sub-sets of Saankhya Yoga, which is the Yoga they are all 

leading one to. 

When this fact is forgotten, much confusion arises about what the main teaching of 

the Geeta is. For instance, Sri Lokamanya Tilak’s Geeta Rahasya, written in Marathi in prison 

when he was a political prisoner during the freedom struggle, lays great stress on the Karma 

Yoga aspect, and Tilak considers Karma Yoga to be the main purpose of the Geeta. Similarly, 

there are others who read Bhakti Yoga as the main purpose of the Geeta. And still others 

consider that Jnana Yoga is the main purpose in the Geeta! 

This is why Sri Shankaracharya in his Bhashya continually refers everything said in 

the Geeta back to the fundamental science of the SELF, namely Saankhya Yoga. He never 

loses sight of the fact that the Geeta is teaching us the knowledge by which we can attain 

liberation from Samsara. The subject is not Samsara, but the transcending

 of Samsara. 

Although it may appear that numerically more verses are devoted to ‘other’ Yogas in 

the Geeta, we should keep in mind that the whole Geeta

 is about Saankhya Yoga. 

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Next

Slogam - 39:

 The Yoga of Wisdom (Karma Yoga) Begins 

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