CHAPTER IV Ending Action in Knowledge

CHAPTER IV Introduction
Ending Action in Knowledge

For the Aryan mind, novelty in the spiritual kingdom has no charm. Any new idea, however logical and intellectual it might be, is not readily accepted by the children of the Aryan-culture as a part of their Brahma-Vidya, unless the interpreter of the new idea can show that his technique has already been envisaged in the existing scriptures of this culture. In this way we can say that we are Veda-bound as a cultural unit.
In the last chapter, Krishna propounded a revolutionary idea in the form of Karma Yoga which sounded as though it was a novel intellectual theory cooked in Krishna's own brain. Arjuna, as a true student of the Hindu culture, would not willingly accept it unless his teacher gave an endorsement that, what he had lectured upon was nothing other than an intelligent reinterpretation of the ancient sacred Vedic Science. In this chapter an all-out effort is made by Krishna to bring home to Arjuna that the Lord Himself, the author of the Vedas, had been asserting the same old Truth and nothing new.

Again, whenever a teacher, in his inspiration, emphasises a particular stage of self-development, chances are that the dull-witted seekers may misunderstand the import of the words and conclude that the partial-path explained is the entire-route to the Infinite. In order to remove this mis-understanding, the fourth chapter indicates the greater path of Jnana Yoga, the "Path-of-Knowledge," which is the only main arch-way through which all pilgrims must pass in order to reach the Temple of the Self. Upto this arch-way, seekers living in different psychological and intellectual domains may walk their own "paths," but the main gate is Jnana Yoga through which all must pass to have Darshana at the glorious altar. According to Shankara, this Yoga alone forms the subject of the Lord's teachings throughout the Geeta.


Bg 4.1

śrī-bhagavān uvāca 
imaṁ vivasvate yogaṁ proktavān aham avyayam
vivasvān manave prāha manur ikṣvākave ’bravīt

Bg 4.2

evaṁ paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ
sa kāleneha mahatā yogo naṣṭaḥ paran-tapa


Translation:

The Blessed Lord said:
1. I taught this Imperishable YOGA to Vivasvan; Vivasvan taught it to Manu; Manu taught it to Ikshvaku.

2. This knowledge, handed down thus in regular succession, the royal sages knew. This YOGA, by long lapse of time, has been lost here, O Parantapa (burner of the foes).


Commentary Excerpts:

The Lord is making an open statement, that what He had been saying so far was nothing other than an intelligent reiteration of what is the content of the immortal Vedas. Inspired by a Divine remembrance, the Lord declares that He Himself, at the very beginning of creation, imparted the Knowledge of the Vedas to the Sun, and later on, the Sun-god conveyed it to his son, Manu, the ancient law-giver of India. Manu, in his turn, declared it to Ikshvaku, the ancestor of the Solar-dynasty that ruled over Ayodhya for a long period of time.

The word "Veda" is derived from the root Vid, "to know"; Veda, therefore, means 'Knowledge.' The 'Knowledge' of divinity lurking in man and the technique by which it can be brought out to full manifestation are the theme of the Veda text-books, and the Truth of this theme is eternal.

Just as we can say that electricity is eternal, as there was electricity even before the first scientist discovered it, and electrical energy will not be exhausted because of our forgetfulness of its existence, so too the divine nature of man will never be destroyed because of our non-assertion of it. The knowledge of the divine content and its possibilities in man are indeed eternal.

The creation of the universe, it is accepted even by modern science, must have started with the Sun. As the source of all energy, the Sun was the first of the created objects, and with its very creation, this Great Knowledge of the Self was given out to the world.

The theme of Vedic literature being the subjective divinity, language fails to express it completely. No deep experience can be exhaustively expressed in words. Therefore a study of the scriptures by one's own self is apt to create misunderstandings in the mind of the student, rather than a right appreciation of it. Thus it is a time-honoured tradition in India that spiritual lessons are directly heard from a true Master, who has vivid inner experiences in the realm of the Spirit. It has been handed down from Master to disciple and we have been given here the identity of the earliest students of Brahma-Vidya.

This Yoga, the Yoga in which the Vedic teachings regarding activity (Pravritti) and retirement (Nivritti) are comprehended, thus handed down in regular succession among the "Royal sages," has its own destinies. At certain periods of history, this Knowledge seems to be readily available for the service of mankind, but at certain other periods of history it falls into disuse and becomes, as it were defunct. The golden era of spirituality dies down to inaugurate the dark ages of undivine life. At such periods of monstrous materialism, the generation is not left in neglect to suffer and groan under its own negative values. For, at that time, some great master appears on the horizon to inspire, to encourage and to lead the generation away from the ruts of sorrow onto the highroads of cultural revival.

Krishna rightly evaluates the period of the Mahabharata and declares: "THIS YOGA, BY LONG LAPSE OF TIME, HAS BEEN LOST HERE."

Sources: Vedabase.com; The Holy Geeta

Chapter 3 final shlokas: February 10, 2016

Bg 3.42

indriyāṇi parāṇy āhur indriyebhyaḥ paraṁ manaḥ
manasas tu parā buddhir yo buddheḥ paratas tu saḥ

Bg 3.43

evaṁ buddheḥ paraṁ buddhvā saṁstabhyātmānam ātmanā
jahi śatruṁ mahā-bāho kāma-rūpaṁ durāsadam

Om tat sat iti śrīmadbhagavadgītāsu upaniśadsu brahmavidyāyām yogaśāstre śrīkṛṣṇārjunasamvāde karmayogo nāma tṛtīyodhyāyaha


Translation:

42. They say that the senses are superior (to the body) ; superior to the senses is the mind; superior to the mind is the intellect; one who is even superior to the intellect is He, (the Atman ) .

43. Thus knowing Him, who is superior to intellect, and restraining the self by the Self, slay you, O mighty-armed, the enemy in the form of 'desire, ' no doubt hard indeed to conquer.

Commentary Excerpts:

This and the following stanza with which Vyasa concludes the third chapter of his incomparable Geeta, give every seeker a perfect technique by which he can bring about a successful hunting and capture of his inner enemy, "desire."

Although we cannot expect in the Bhagawad Geeta --- especially in one of the very opening chapters --- an exhaustive treatment of the technique of meditation, yet we find that, in these stanzas, the Lord has etched out a complete outline of the "Scheme-for-Self-discovery."

Compared with the objects of the world, we can easily understand that the sense-organs are more sacred and divine. Of the instruments that constitute our physical structure, certainly the sense-organs are subtler than the organs-of-action. Everyone of us can easily experience that our mind controls and orders our sense-organs, and, therefore, we know that the mind is subtler than the Indriyas.

No doubt, the mind has a vast kingdom to roam about in, but, even so, it has its own limitations and fixed frontiers. From knowledge to knowledge we extend the frontiers of our mind and all along this aggressive march of new conquests it is the intellect that first crosses the existing frontiers of the mind, and wins for it the neighbouring kingdoms of "fresh knowledge." In this sense, the intellect has a greater pervasiveness than the mind, and, therefore, it is conceived of as being subtler than the mind. That which lies beyond the intellect is called the Supreme, the Atman.

The Consciousness in man which lights up the very intellectual ideas in him must necessarily be subtler than the intellect itself. In the Upanishads it has been finally declared that there is nothing subtler than the Self, the Atman. The technique of meditation lies in the conscious withdrawal of all our identifications with our body, mind and intellect. All efforts end when we have thus gathered our entire awareness from its delusory pre-occupations and made it live in Itself as Itself --- as Objectless Awareness.

With the final stanza, not only does the chapter conclude, but, the special advice demanded by Arjuna has also been finally given. Through 'knowledge' alone is 'ignorance'ended; through a lived experience of the Self alone can we end our 'ignorance-of-the-Self.' This spiritual 'ignorance,' we have already found, creates 'desires.' The Lord has indicated earlier that 'desire' functions and thrives in the fields of the sense-organs, the mind, and the intellect. Through the processes of meditation, when we withdraw from our false identifications with the objects, the body and the mind, the 'desire'-faculty, that was till now roaming about and functioning in the outer fields, is gathered and established in the intellect.

As long as we maintain in ourselves the limiting adjuncts of the matter-envelopments, so long we cannot realise our divine potentialities, but instead, in our delusion, we will understand ourselves to be nothing more than the little ego --- limited, bound, finite and ever-sobbing. After the re-discovery of our own diviner existence we will be able to live "restraining the self by the Self." In a perfect Buddha's life, his ego functions completely under the control of the diviner in him. No more then can the 'desire'-impulses, if at all they arise in the mind, play their mischiefs and bring about any devastations in his inner life.

It is very interesting to note that the philosophy of the Geeta preaches a constructive re-organisation of life and not the destruction or rejection of life's possibilities. "Desire," being a painful leprous oozing wound, we are lovingly advised about the balm to cure the malady, and to live thereafter, in all efficiency, as a Master of circumstances and a Lord of our own emotions. A seeker who has accomplished this in himself is called a God-man, a Sage, a Prophet!

Thus in the UPANISHADS of the glorious Bhagawad Geeta, in the Science of the Eternal, in the Scripture of YOGA , in the dialogue between Sri Krishna and Arjuna, the third discourse ends entitled:
THE KARMA YOGA
This chapter is called Karma Yoga. The term Yoga means the act of connecting the lower with the higher, through a technique consisting of one's own self-evolution. Any method by which the lower in us is educated and trained to live a Higher way-of-life --- wherein we gain a more effective control upon both our life without and life within --- is called Yoga.

Here is a method of self-development pointed out to the Arjuna-type of men, who, fully armed and standing on the battle-field of life, facing an array of opposing forces, more powerful, better organised, and well-supplied with equipments, are ready to fight and destroy them. In fact every honest man in life is to a large extent --- be he a fool, be he a saint --- an Arjuna facing his problems with hesitations... wanting to run away, and yet, not daring to do so! The training of Karma Yoga prepares us for the greater fights on life's battle-fields.

Om Om Om Om Om

Sources: vedabase.com;  The Holy Geeta