THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER 4, JNANA KARMA SANYASA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF RENUNCIATION OF ACTION IN KNOWLEDGE OR THE WAY OF KNOWLEDGE, VERSE NUMBER 02

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER 4

JNANA KARMA SANYASA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF RENUNCIATION OF ACTION IN KNOWLEDGE OR THE WAY OF KNOWLEDGE:

VERSE NUMBER 02

Text in Transliteration:

evam paramparaa praaptam imam raja rrsayo viduh

sa kaatene ‘ha mahataa yogo nashtah paramtapa

Text in English:

Thus transmitted in regular succession the royal-sages knew it. This yoga, by long efflux of time decayed in this world, O scorcher of foes.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:

When the right type of men become scarce, the right system also dwindles away. As the shadow follows the substance, a good system comes in again with the advent of proper people.

COMMENTARY BY DR.S. RADHAKRISHNAN:

raajarshayah: royal sages. Rama, Krishna and Buddha were all princes who taught the highest wisdom.

Kaalena mahataa: by the great efflux of time. This teaching has become obscured y the lapse of ages. To renovate the faith for the welfare of humanity, great teachers arise. Krishna now gives it to his pupil to reawaken faith in him and illumine his ignorance.

A tradition is authentic when it evokes an adequate response to the reality represented by it. It is valid, when our minds thrill and vibrate to it. When it fails to achieve this end, new teachers arise to rekindle it.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIVANANDA:

The royal sages: Men who were kings and at the same time sages also, learnt this Yoga.

Arjuna could burn or harass his foes, like the sun, by the heat of  his valour and power. Hence the name Parantapa.

Comments by the blogger:

This yoga was transmitted in regular succession. This was how Royal sages, that is, Kings who were sages also, knew it. But the Lord says that this yoga, by long efflux of time decayed in this world.

The question arises how could a system of Yoga, which was taught in the beginning by the Lord Himself by teaching Vivasvat who taught the same to Manu and who in turn told it to ikshvaku decay if it is imperishable yoga?

Because in the previous sloka or stanza the Lord claims the Yoga as imperishable! Then how could it perish?

The reason is not far to seek. Having created the Universe the Lord never interferes with its working until it is absolutely called for. What does it mean, absolutely called for? When the preponderating number of people become evil, then the Lords’ interference is called for. Till then he does not interfere with the working of the Universe.

It is easy to say and difficult to prove? No, nothing like that! It is easy of proof.

Like I have been writing regularly, God is the Greatest Creative Writer. He sets the universe into play and watches it work. The reason for this has been said by saints and sages as the sport of Eshwara.

But our intention is not to dwell on that aspect, namely, the reason for the creation which is a transcendent one.

But our question relates squarely to the fact how God’s so-called imperishable yoga becomes lost to the world due to the efflux of time.

God being a Great Creator, He gives choice of action to us. This is where the seeds of His sporting nature are to be found.

A normal creative writer is inspired by a theme and he thinks about it even as he writes. Characters form sketchily at first and then become more and more defined. The story itself changes as draft after draft is taken. At last when the final manuscript is wrought out, what the writer, in most of the cases, thought to write has little or less with what has been hammered out at the final analysis. This is so with so many creative writers. They give their characters and the plot a fair amount of flexibility.

But God is the most creative among the creative writers. He gives FULL CHOICE to his characters, US!

We are God’s creative characters and how we go about our life is fully in our hands.

We can either choose wisely or callously or even schizophrenically.

When Nirbhaya was being raped God was not busy reading the day’s newspapers.

When in china, the policy of the early communists failed, and a mother of several children fed her children with the corpse of one of them who died of starvation! What do you think God was doing?

God rarely if ever interferes.

We have to work out individually our karmic effects, while at the same time we acquire new funds of karma and incur more rebirths.

God reacts only rarely. He watches His characters play out their individual karmic effects.

But when prayed, the Lord shows His mercy, and that too is mostly helpful in bravely bearing our lots.

But the answer to all the conundrum and riddles lies in the fact that this worldly life is like a dream or even of lesser and more nebulous substance. If we take the worldly life for absolutely real then we find ourselves in a trap. On the other hand, we can’t say we can do anything and enjoy wildly as everything is passing and the world is a chimera. We have to do our allotted duty very seriously and enjoy the joy and happiness born out of our self-ordained duty is carried out with least inconvenience to others. Then helping others do their karmic duty. This is how we can enjoy our life on this plane.

But most of the people are not as scrupulous as they are directed by their acquired karma. They are wild. They lead their life in a wild manner. So much so, God’s universal machine has derailed. And His advent becomes necessary. So God’s advent happens.

So many Kalki Yuga have happened. But this time it should come when each individual must be married to a gadget and machine win the race like and man’s undoing would be electrical and electronic.

At such time there would be less and least people to practise Yoga.

That would the calling bell for the Lord’s advent.

He would come down to take the derailed coaches and put them on the rail and give it a universal push!