Bg 18.70
adhyeṣyate ca ya imaṁ dharmyaṁ saṁvādam āvayoḥ
jñāna-yajñena tenāham iṣṭaḥ syām iti me matiḥ
Bg 18.71
śraddhāvān anasūyaś ca śṛṇuyād api yo naraḥ
so ’pi muktaḥ śubhāḻ lokān prāpnuyāt puṇya-karmaṇām
Translation
70. And he who will study this sacred dialogue of ours, by him I shall have been worshipped by the "sacrifice-of-wisdom," such is My conviction.
71. That man also, who hears this, full of faith and free from malice, he too, liberated, shall attain to the happy worlds of those righteous deeds.
Commentary
Having thus glorified all teachers of the Geeta who carry the "Wisdom-of-the-sacred-discourse" to the masses, the Geeta, here, is glorifying even the students who are studying this Sacred text of the Lord's Song. The great philosophy of life given out here as a conversation between Krishna --- the Infinite, and Arjuna --- the finite, has such a compelling charm about it, that even those who read it superficially will also be slowly dragged into the very sanctifying depths of it. Such an individual is, even unconsciously, egged on to make a pilgrimage to the greater possibilities within himself, and naturally, he comes to evolve through what Krishna terms here as "Jnaana Yajna."
In a Yajna, Lord Fire is invoked in the sacrificial trough and into it are offered oblations by the devotees. From this analogy, the term Jnaana Yajna has been originally coined and used in the Geeta. Study of the Scriptures and regular contemplation upon their deep significances kindle the "Fire-of-Knowledge" in us and into this the intelligent seeker offers, as his oblation, his own false values and negative tendencies. This is the significance of the metaphorical phrase Jnaana Yajna. Therefore, here the Lord admits but a truth in the Spiritual science when He declares that those who study the Geeta --- contemplate upon its meaning, understand it thoroughly --- and those who can, at the altars of their well-kindled understanding, sacrifice their own ego-centric misconceptions about themselves, and about the world around them, are certainly the greatest devotees of the Infinite.
When a rusted key is heated in fire, the rust falls off and the key regains its original brightness. So too, our personality, when reacted with the knowledge of the Geeta, is chastened, since our wrong tendencies, unhealthy vasanas and false sense-of-ego which have risen from false-knowledge (Ajnaana), all get burnt up in Right-Knowledge (Jnaana).
AFTER THUS EXPLAINING THE GLORY OF THE TEACHER AND THE BENEFITS OF THE STUDY SO FAR, KRISHNA INDICATES IN THE FOLLOWING STANZA, THAT EVEN "LISTENING" TO THE GEETA DISCOURSES IS BENEFICIAL:
A student of the Geeta cannot stand apart from his text book, and merely learn to appreciate the theme of the Lord's Song. An all-out, ardent wooing of the Geeta by the student at all levels is necessary, if the study of the Geeta is really to fulfil the student's spiritual unfoldment. Consequently, Krishna indicates here two conditions, fulfilling which alone can one profitably listen to the Geeta discourses and hope to gather a large dividend of joy and perfection.
ONE OF FAITH (Shraddhaavaan) --- The term Shraddhaa in Sanskrit, though usually translated as "faith," actually means much more than what it indicates in the English language and in the Western tradition. Shraddha has been defined as "that faculty in the human intellect which gives it the capacity to dive deep into and discover the subtler meaning of the scriptural declarations, and thus helps the individual to absorb that understanding into the warp and the woof of his own intellect."
Therefore, that faculty in the intellect, (1) to understand the subtle import of the sacred words, (2) to absorb the same, (3) to assimilate, and (4) to make the student live up to those very same ideals, is Shraddhaa. Naturally, listening to the Lord's discourses can be fruitful only to those who have developed this essential faculty in themselves.
FREE FROM MALICE (Anasooyah) --- They alone who are free from malice against the teachings of the Geeta can undertake, with a healthy attitude of mind, a deeper and detailed study of it. No doubt, Hinduism never asks any student to read and study a philosophy with an implicit and ready faith. But the human mind, as it is, will grow dull and unresponsive when it has idle prejudices against the very theme of its study.
The intellect can receive the ideals preached in the Geeta only through the sense-organs, and these ideas must reach the intellect, filtered through the mind. If the mind contains any malice towards the very philosophy or the philosopher, the arguments and the goal indicated therein can never appeal to the student's intellect. No doubt, the student should bring in his own constructive criticism of an independent judgement upon what he studies, but he must be reasonably available to listen patiently to what the scripture has to say. In short, a student of religion must learn to keep an open mind and not condemn the philosophy before understanding what it has to say.
Such an individual who has attentively listened to the Geeta, who has intellectually absorbed, and assimilated the knowledge, "he too," says the Lord, "gets liberated" from the present state of confusions and sorrows, entanglements and bondages in his personality, and reaches a state of inner tranquillity and happiness.
JOY IS AN INSIDE JOB --- The kingdom of joy lies within all of us. Heaven is not somewhere yonder; it is HERE AND NOW. Happiness and sorrow are both within us. To the extent we learn and live the principles of right living, as enunciated in the Geeta, to that extent, we shall come to gain a cultural eminence within ourselves and live an ampler life of greater achievements.
It is the duty of a teacher to see that the student understands the great Goal and the 'path' completely. If the 'path' advised is found to be inadequate to bless the student, it is the duty of the teacher to find out ways and means of making the student discover his own balance.
Sources: vedabase.com; The Holy Geeta
adhyeṣyate ca ya imaṁ dharmyaṁ saṁvādam āvayoḥ
jñāna-yajñena tenāham iṣṭaḥ syām iti me matiḥ
Bg 18.71
śraddhāvān anasūyaś ca śṛṇuyād api yo naraḥ
so ’pi muktaḥ śubhāḻ lokān prāpnuyāt puṇya-karmaṇām
Translation
70. And he who will study this sacred dialogue of ours, by him I shall have been worshipped by the "sacrifice-of-wisdom," such is My conviction.
71. That man also, who hears this, full of faith and free from malice, he too, liberated, shall attain to the happy worlds of those righteous deeds.
Commentary
Having thus glorified all teachers of the Geeta who carry the "Wisdom-of-the-sacred-discourse" to the masses, the Geeta, here, is glorifying even the students who are studying this Sacred text of the Lord's Song. The great philosophy of life given out here as a conversation between Krishna --- the Infinite, and Arjuna --- the finite, has such a compelling charm about it, that even those who read it superficially will also be slowly dragged into the very sanctifying depths of it. Such an individual is, even unconsciously, egged on to make a pilgrimage to the greater possibilities within himself, and naturally, he comes to evolve through what Krishna terms here as "Jnaana Yajna."
In a Yajna, Lord Fire is invoked in the sacrificial trough and into it are offered oblations by the devotees. From this analogy, the term Jnaana Yajna has been originally coined and used in the Geeta. Study of the Scriptures and regular contemplation upon their deep significances kindle the "Fire-of-Knowledge" in us and into this the intelligent seeker offers, as his oblation, his own false values and negative tendencies. This is the significance of the metaphorical phrase Jnaana Yajna. Therefore, here the Lord admits but a truth in the Spiritual science when He declares that those who study the Geeta --- contemplate upon its meaning, understand it thoroughly --- and those who can, at the altars of their well-kindled understanding, sacrifice their own ego-centric misconceptions about themselves, and about the world around them, are certainly the greatest devotees of the Infinite.
When a rusted key is heated in fire, the rust falls off and the key regains its original brightness. So too, our personality, when reacted with the knowledge of the Geeta, is chastened, since our wrong tendencies, unhealthy vasanas and false sense-of-ego which have risen from false-knowledge (Ajnaana), all get burnt up in Right-Knowledge (Jnaana).
AFTER THUS EXPLAINING THE GLORY OF THE TEACHER AND THE BENEFITS OF THE STUDY SO FAR, KRISHNA INDICATES IN THE FOLLOWING STANZA, THAT EVEN "LISTENING" TO THE GEETA DISCOURSES IS BENEFICIAL:
A student of the Geeta cannot stand apart from his text book, and merely learn to appreciate the theme of the Lord's Song. An all-out, ardent wooing of the Geeta by the student at all levels is necessary, if the study of the Geeta is really to fulfil the student's spiritual unfoldment. Consequently, Krishna indicates here two conditions, fulfilling which alone can one profitably listen to the Geeta discourses and hope to gather a large dividend of joy and perfection.
ONE OF FAITH (Shraddhaavaan) --- The term Shraddhaa in Sanskrit, though usually translated as "faith," actually means much more than what it indicates in the English language and in the Western tradition. Shraddha has been defined as "that faculty in the human intellect which gives it the capacity to dive deep into and discover the subtler meaning of the scriptural declarations, and thus helps the individual to absorb that understanding into the warp and the woof of his own intellect."
Therefore, that faculty in the intellect, (1) to understand the subtle import of the sacred words, (2) to absorb the same, (3) to assimilate, and (4) to make the student live up to those very same ideals, is Shraddhaa. Naturally, listening to the Lord's discourses can be fruitful only to those who have developed this essential faculty in themselves.
FREE FROM MALICE (Anasooyah) --- They alone who are free from malice against the teachings of the Geeta can undertake, with a healthy attitude of mind, a deeper and detailed study of it. No doubt, Hinduism never asks any student to read and study a philosophy with an implicit and ready faith. But the human mind, as it is, will grow dull and unresponsive when it has idle prejudices against the very theme of its study.
The intellect can receive the ideals preached in the Geeta only through the sense-organs, and these ideas must reach the intellect, filtered through the mind. If the mind contains any malice towards the very philosophy or the philosopher, the arguments and the goal indicated therein can never appeal to the student's intellect. No doubt, the student should bring in his own constructive criticism of an independent judgement upon what he studies, but he must be reasonably available to listen patiently to what the scripture has to say. In short, a student of religion must learn to keep an open mind and not condemn the philosophy before understanding what it has to say.
Such an individual who has attentively listened to the Geeta, who has intellectually absorbed, and assimilated the knowledge, "he too," says the Lord, "gets liberated" from the present state of confusions and sorrows, entanglements and bondages in his personality, and reaches a state of inner tranquillity and happiness.
JOY IS AN INSIDE JOB --- The kingdom of joy lies within all of us. Heaven is not somewhere yonder; it is HERE AND NOW. Happiness and sorrow are both within us. To the extent we learn and live the principles of right living, as enunciated in the Geeta, to that extent, we shall come to gain a cultural eminence within ourselves and live an ampler life of greater achievements.
It is the duty of a teacher to see that the student understands the great Goal and the 'path' completely. If the 'path' advised is found to be inadequate to bless the student, it is the duty of the teacher to find out ways and means of making the student discover his own balance.
Sources: vedabase.com; The Holy Geeta
