THE HOLY GITA
CHAPTER FOUR
JNANA KARMA SANYASA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF RENUNCIATION OF ACTION IN KNOWLEDGE OR THE WAY OF KNOWLEDGE:
VERSE NUMBER 01
Text in Transliteration:
sri bhagavaan uvaacha
imam vivasvate yogam proktavaan aham avyayam
vivasvaan manave praha manur ikshvaakave ‘ braveet
Text in English:
The Blessed Lord said:
This imperishable yoga, I declared to Vivasvat; Vivasvat taught it to Manu, Manu told it to Ikshvaku.
COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:
Moksha or the spiritual emancipation being imperishable, yoga or the means to it is also designated as imperishable. Man’s endeavours for emancipation are everlasting. Vivasvat is the name of Surya, the sun god. Manu is the ruler immortalized by his smiriti—the code of conduct. Ikshvaku is the first among the kings of solar dynasty. When the rulers of kingdoms come to know of this supreme wisdom they tackle the worldly problems more diligently.
COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIVANANDA:
Vivasvan means the sun. Ikshvaku was the son of Manu. Ikshvaku was reputed ancestor of the solar dynasty of Kshatriyas.
This yoga is said to be imperishable because the result or fruit, i.e., Moksha, that can be attained through it is imperishable.
If the rulers of dominions possess a knowledge of the yoga taught by Me in the preceding two discourses, they can protect the Brahmanas and rule their kingdom with justice. So I taught this Yoga to the Sun-god in the beginning of evolution.
Comments of the blogger:
This sloka or stanza deals with the Lord’s teaching this immortal Yoga first to the sun-god, who in turn taught it to Manu the Ruler and known for his Act or Smriti. Manu, in turn, passed it down to Ikshvaku, the Ruler of the Solar dynasty.
Should we believe this?
How could the sun, which is just one of the planets, gaseous albeit, of the Universe, be taught?
The Vedic Saints and Seers worshiped the Natural forces. They understood there was a close relationship between the Heavenly Bodies and Man. They were the first among the mankind, irrespective of the glorious Nature Worshipers in Egypt and elsewhere, to have found out this abiding interrelationship between the various planets and the Five elements and Man.
It is said in the Prachna Upanishad that in the beginning God, wanting to create beings, went into meditation and created the Sky and the Prana or Shakti or Power or energy. It is further said that God thought that these two, the Sky and Energy will create for Him the world. And it is further said that the sun is the external form of Prana or Energy or Power. Thus it is clear that all the living beings of our world derive their energy only from the sun. Since the sun is the externalized form of the kinetic energy the sun was properly marveled at and worshiped by the Rig-Vedic Saints. The Upanishadic Seers only continued the tradition. This energy is not only power but also wisdom and Knowledge which is indicated in the form of Yoga.
The sun has shakti or kinetic energy and also the Agni or Fire. In this regard it would be useful to think back on my series of Articles on Agni:
The sun light is the Agni. Agni was worshiped by Vedopanishad Saints and Seers as a God. The great contribution to the knowledge of the world is born of the Arians’ discovery of the properties of the Agni or Fire. Everything moves because of the sky and the sun. And there is a close relationship between Agni or fire and the sky and the planets in it. The Vedic Saints found out the fact that Agni or Fire holds knowledge of all other beings and non-beings and acts as the Messenger at the time of Yagya and take the things like melted butter and other things poured in to the fire of oblation to the other intended gods of Nature. Thus no sacrifice was possible without Agni or Fire.
Then in the Upanishadic period when the external sacrifice was internalized, Agni’s knowledge and its character and role as a messenger got to be recognized. In the Upanishadic parlance this earth is a karma boomy or where individuals’ karmas are worked out and the individual’s life is nothing but a sacrifice. The oblations are desires of various worldly nature. The Atman or the Soul is full of light, one of the properties of Agni or Fire. When our whole life is seen as a sacrifice the Agni within us is the understanding and as we become more and more bereft of various desires, the power of Agni is thoroughly sensed and felt. And at the time of death, when the Agni leaves our body, it becomes cold. And it is Agni who conducts our Astral body (every thing as senses, mind, intellect and Atman) to the loka or the world or the plane of consciousness our worldly life and sacrifices deserve. It is Agni which makes us enjoy joy and sorrow in the nether world. And it is the Agni which helps our Atman to take a new body. The balance sheet of our acts and the good and bad are monitored by the Agni with the help of the samskaras or the basic and infinitesimal unit of measurement of the good and bad of our acts and thoughts and even imaginations.
Thus Agni is knowledge and wisdom of God and it works along with the Sky.
Since our worldly life has been rightly found out by the Upanishadic Saints, Agni is the source of all sharpness and knowledge. This knowledge of Agni is called by the Lord as the imperishable Yoga. Thus it stands to reason that the Lord first taught this imperishable Yoga to the Sun which is the source of externalized knowledge in the form of Fire or Agni.
What is the wonder? These properties were discovered by the Rig-Vedic Saints and Seers some four thousand years ago, as per the scholars’ calculation.
Manu was an author of the Act which stands in his own name. Besides he was a ruler. And it is very important that the Rulers must be full of Yogic knowledge so that they can rule the country well with the help of the interpreters of the Sastras, the learned Brahmins. The knowledge was taught to every one by Agni. Here the Lord mentions Manu as the Archy type. Every human being gets his knowledge of Yoga which means the right action by the sun or Agni. So there is no wonder in Manu having passed down this imperishable Yoga to Ikshvaku, the founder of the solar dynasty and a great King.
No comments:
Post a Comment