THE YOGA OF THE KINGLY
SCIENCE & THE KINGLY SECRET
Summary of Ninth Discourse
The Ninth Chapter is something like the Seventh
Chapter. Practically, the Ninth Chapter is a continuation of the very same
theme that we had in the Seventh Chapter, with the Eighth Chapter in between
with its message of it being necessary for us to know what will happen to us
after death even if we are highly religious people. The Ninth Chapter is a
highly religious scripture by itself.
Observing
that Arjuna was a qualified aspirant and endowed with faith, Krishna declares
to him the sovereign knowledge and sovereign secret that is to be known by
direct experience. He adds that without faith in this knowledge man fails to
reach God and is reborn to suffer.
Now
the Lord proceeds to describe His nature as the eternal, all-comprehensive
Truth. He is everything that is invisible and visible. He pervades everything
that exists. He creates everything, sustains everything, and when final
dissolution takes place, absorbs everything into Himself. He manifests them
again when the next creation begins.
All
beings who are ignorant of this knowledge are caught helplessly in the cycle of
birth and death. In the midst of this creation, preservation and dissolution of
the universe, the Lord stands as a silent witness, unaffected and unattached.
He is the sole director, sustainer and supervisor of His Cosmic Prakriti.
Ignorant
beings are not able to recognize the Lord in one who has realized Him. Although
these cruel beings assume a human form, their nature is that of demons. The
God-realized Mahatma, on the other hand, is a man of knowledge, and perceives
Him indwelling all beings and creatures. He beholds the underlying unity of
existence in all names and forms.
The
Lord’s divine protection is assured to all those who take refuge in Him.
Whatever path a devotee follows, he ultimately reaches Him. He is the goal of
the various methods of spiritual practice. Devotion, Sri Krishna emphasizes, is
the essence of all spiritual discipline. If this supreme element is present,
then the devotee is freed from bondage.
The
Lord observes the motive and degree of devotion. Even the most sinful and
diabolical man, if he takes a radical turn towards the path of righteousness
and truth, reaches the Lord. Whatever vocation one follows, one can attain the
Lord if one seeks earnestly and with loving devotion. The essential thing is to
fix the mind on the Lord and dedicate everything unto Him—one’s body, mind,
actions, emotion and will.
Love.
