Sri Yukteswar Giri

“The undeveloped man must undergo countless earthly and astral and causal incarnations in order to emerge from his three bodies. A master who achieves this final freedom may elect to return to earth as a prophet to bring other human beings back to God, or like myself he may choose to reside in the astral cosmos. There a savior assumes some of the burden of the inhabitants’ karma and thus helps them to terminate their cycle of reincarnation in the astral cosmos and go on permanently to the causal spheres. Or a freed soul may enter the causal world to aid its beings to shorten their span in the causal body and thus attain the Absolute Freedom.”

- Sri Yukteswar Giri

Bhagwad Gita - Post 47

CHAPTER 4

THE YOGA OF WISDOM

Lord Krishna declares that He is born from age to age, in order to raise man and take him to the Supreme. Whenever there is a prevalence of unrighteousness and the world is ruled by the forces of darkness, the Lord manifests Himself to destroy these adverse forces and to establish peace, order and harmony. Hence, we see the appearance of the great saviors of the world. 

What is the secret of Yogic action? This the Lord proceeds to explain to Arjuna. 

Even though one is not engaged in action, but if the mind is active with the idea of doer-ship and egoism, then it is action in inaction. 

On the other hand, though engaged physically in intense action, if the idea of agency is absent, if one feels that Prakriti does everything, it is inaction in action. 

The liberated man is free from attachment and is always calm and serene though engaged in ceaseless action. He is unaffected by the pairs of opposites like joy and grief, success and failure. 

One who has true union with the Lord is not subject to rebirth. He attains immortality. Such a union can only be achieved when one is free from attachment, fear and anger, being thoroughly purified by right knowledge. 

The Lord accepts the devotion of all, whatever path they may use to approach Him. Various kinds of sacrifices are performed by those engaged in the path to God. Through the practice of these sacrifices the mind is purified and led Godward. 

Here also there must be the spirit of non-attachment to the fruits of actions. Divine wisdom, according to Sri Krishna, should be sought at the feet of a liberated Guru, one who has realized the Truth. The aspirant should approach such a sage in a spirit of humility and devotion. 

God Himself manifests in the heart of the Guru and instructs the disciple. Having understood the Truth from the Guru by direct intuitive experience the aspirant is no longer deluded by ignorance. 

The liberated aspirant directly beholds the Self in all beings and all beings in the Self. He cognizes through internal experience or intuition that all beings, from the Creator down to a blade of grass, exist in his own Self and also in God.

Arjuna is given the most heartening assurance that divine wisdom liberates even the most sinful. When knowledge of the Self dawns, all actions with their results are burnt by the fire of that knowledge, just as fuel is burnt by fire. When there is no idea of egoism, when there is no desire for the fruits of one’s actions, actions are no actions. They lose their potency.

In order to attain divine wisdom, one must have supreme faith and devotion. Faith is therefore the most important qualification for a spiritual aspirant. The doubting mind is always led astray from the right path. Faith ultimately confers divine knowledge, which removes ignorance once and for all. 

Mere intellectual knowledge does not lead to liberation. It cannot grant one supreme peace and freedom. When one has achieved complete self-mastery and self-control, when one has intense faith and devotion, then true knowledge dawns within and one attains liberation and freedom from all weaknesses and sins.

The Lord concludes by emphasizing that the soul that doubts goes to destruction. Without faith in oneself, in the scriptures and in the words of the preceptor, one cannot make any headway on the spiritual path. It is doubt that prevents one from engaging in spiritual Sadhana and realizing the highest knowledge and bliss. By following the instructions of the Guru and through sincere service, one’s doubts are rent asunder

Love.

Bhagwad Gita - Post 46

Verse 30

Mayi sarvaani karmaani

Sannyasyaadhyaatma chetasaa;

Niraasheer nirmamo bhootwaa

Yudhyaswa vigatajwarah.

Renouncing all actions in Me, with the mind centered on the Self, free from hope and egoism (ownership), free from (mental) fever, (you) do fight!

After many verses, the commentary for this verse is taken largely from Chinmaya’s commentary, as it is unique.

RENOUNCE ALL ACTIONS IN ME --- We have already noticed that by the first-person pronoun, Lord Krishna means the Supreme Self, the Divine, the Eternal. 

Renouncing all activities unto Him, with a mind soaked with devoted remembrances of the Self, the Lord advises Arjuna to act on. 

Renunciation of action does not mean an insipid life of inactivity. Actions performed through attachment and desires are renounced the moment we take away from action the ego-centric and the selfish stink.

A serpent is dangerous only as long as its fangs are not removed. The moment these are taken out, even the most poisonous reptile becomes a tame creature incapable of harming anyone. 

Similarly, action gives rise to bondage only when it is performed with a heart laden with selfish desires. Actions performed without desires are not actions at all, in as much as they are incapable of producing any painful reactions. Here, the renunciation of action only means the giving up of the wrong motives behind the actions.

Not only is it sufficient that we renounce thus all wrong actions, but we have also to make a few adjustments in our inner instruments in order to bring out an unobstructed flow of the Creator's Will through us. These are indicated here by the two terms "without hope" and "without ego."

WITHOUT HOPE --- Hope is "the expectation of a happening that is yet to manifest and mature in a FUTURE PERIOD OF TIME." Whatever be the hope, it belongs not to the present; it refers to a period of time not yet born.

Hope is an appointment, a desire filled expectation. Only when there is appointment, there can be a possibility of disappointment, when the results for which we hope are not achieved. 

(After the post on Pujari-prasad and subsequent talk on the same shared with few, we should commit to Swami that henceforth, our prayers would be only our expression of Love towards Him and we shall not seek anything in particular in return. No more prayers for fulfillment of any Hopes / any desires / any results, please. He is there to bestow on us whatever we require. We need not push Lord for the same.)

WITHOUT EGO --- Our ego-centric concept of ourselves is nothing but "a bundle of happenings and achievements of ours which took place, or were gained, in the past moments." 

Ego is therefore "the shadow of the past," and it has an existent reality only with reference to THE DEAD MOMENTS OF THE PAST.

CALL TO FIGHT ---- The term "fight" is to be understood here "as our individual fight with circumstances, in the silent battle of life." Thus, the advice is not for Arjuna alone, but to all men who would like to live life fully and intelligently! 

What are the salient aspects of the instruction imparted thus far to Arjuna?

Lord Krishna wants Arjuna to act and sensibly at that, so he, Arjuna, has to be made to appreciate what actions is all about and why it is needed.

That is why after a few cursory remarks on the Atma, Lord Krishna switches to the topic of action (Karma Yoga) and lays it on thick. 

Of course, action cannot be done in a spiritual vacuum and it ultimately has to be linked to Atma, life’s ultimate goal etc. In other words, all actions must be spiritualized. How is this to be done? Krishna gives two guidelines

1)      Do your duty without bothering about the consequences.

2)    Dedicate all actions to me.

When these instructions are followed, all actions automatically become sacrifice or Yagna, in the larger sense!!!

Love.

PS - With this, we come to the end of third chapter.