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 03

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 03

Text in Transliteration:

sa evaa ‘yam mayaa te ‘dya yogah proktah puraatanah

bhakto ‘si me sadhaa ce ‘ti rahasyam hy etad uttamam

Text in English:

The same ancient yoga has been today told you by Me, for you are My devotee and friend; and this secret is supreme indeed.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:

Secrecy is maintained in regard to many things worldly, because of selfishness or because of their being harmful if abused. The science of yoga remains a secret not for these reasons, but because of the incompetency of man to pursue it properly. It becomes obscure when the right sort of people become rare in society. Now Arjuna, a worthy recipient has appeared and therefore a new revelation of yoga also ensues. What a man has made himself worthy of, that comes to him spontaneously. This fulfillment is called the law by some and the grace by others.

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:

yogah puraatanah: ancient yoga. The teacher declares that he is not stating any new doctrine but is only restoring the old tradition, the eternal verity, handed down from master to pupil. The teaching is a renewal, a rediscovery, a restoration of knowledge long forgotten. All great teachers like Gaudama the Buddha and Mahavira, Shankarar and Ramanujar are content to affirm that they are only restating the teachings of their former masters. Milindpanha explains that it is an ancient way that had been lost that the Buddha opens up again. when the Buddha returns to his father’s capital in an ascetic’s garb with a begging bowl in hand, his father asks him: “Why is this?” and the answer comes: “My father, it is the custom of my race.” The king in surprise asks: “What race?” and the Buddha answers:

“The Buddhas who have been and who shall be;

Of these am I and what the did, I do,

And this, which now befalls, so fell before

That at his gate a king in warrior mail

Should meet his son, a prince in hermit weeds.”

The great teachers do not lay claim to originality but affirm that they are expounding the ancient truth which is the final religions and philosophies, the philosophia perennis, the sanaatana dharma, what Augustine calles the wisdom that was not made, but is at this present, as it hath ever been and so shall ever be.”

bhaktosi me sakhaa cheti: Thou art My devotee and My friend. Revelation is never closed. So long as the human heart has qualities of devotion and friendship, God will disclose His secrets to them. Divine self-communication is possible wherever we have sincerity and a sense of need. Religious revelation is not a past event; it is that which continues to be. It is possible for all beings and not the privilege of a few. “Everyone that is of the Truth heareth my voice,” said Jesus to Pilate.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIVANANDA:

This Yoga contains profound and subtle teachings. Hence it is the supreme secret which is revealed by the Lord.  

Commentary by the blogger:

The Yoga taught previously by the Lord to the sun-god who taught it to Vivasvat who in turn taught it to Manu and ikshvaku was taught by Manu is now told by the Lord to Arjuna. Because, as the Lord says you are My devotee and friend: and this secret is supreme indeed.

And this secret is supreme indeed. What secret, the Yoga and teachings about the Atman and the ways to attain self-realisation is a secret. Why should it remain a secret? Because not everyone could be taught this yoga. Who may be taught? Only the Lords devotees and friends. For the Lord Himself claims Arjuna as his devotee and friend. Why not teach it to all? For it would loose its efficacy? No nothing like that. But those unfaithful persons to the Lord would simply deride the Lord. They could not understand the Lord’s teaching. There must be a purchasing spiritual power in order to tap into the Lord’s teachings. An Upanishadic lore says, when a student asked about THAT , the master asked the student to come near him and whispered into his ear about THAT. But this secret is a supreme one. For it leads to Moksha or Liberation. Whoever attained that level would not come back to the Earth.

This Yoga, the Lord has taught Arjuna was not a new one. It was the ancient Yoga He first taught to the Sun-god. It is ancient and sanatana. The Yoga was simply given by the Lord to all. But we are unable to tap into it.

It does not mean that the Lord told this Yoga to a select few. The sun-up and sun-down are not exclusively for a select few. It is there and shall be there for all. But how many of us care about the same. The beauty of the sun-up and sun-down is wasted on the majority of us.

Like that the Lord’s Yoga was discovered by the Rig-Vedic sages thousands of years ago. The Upanishadic Sages magnified the same besides intensifying the idea and power of sacrifice. When the sacrifice got internalized, it was not a new one. It was also ancient and in existence before the Rig-Vedic Sages’ time. They only discovered the Sanatana Dharma or the ancient Law of Action, like Newton discovered the pulling power existed between planets. This power of earth pre-existed Newton. But he only discovered it. Like that, no one, including the Rig-Vedic Sages invented the Sanatana Dharma or the everlasting law of action. Thus the Lord has taught us all this Yoga. Only we don’t have the power of discernment. Some of us deride the Lord’s words.

The Yoga is told and taught by the Lord. The Upanishadic Sages discovered, sitting on the shoulders of the Rig-Vedic Sages, the life itself is a sacrifice. That the human life must be lead as a sacrifice, because it is so. When they said it, they were only discovering it.

But the Lord is very explicit: only His devotee and friend like Arjuna can tap into this ancient Yoga.

The sacrifice started with the Big Bang. For, before that, everything was one whole immense Mass. Even the Big Bang is a sacrifice and sacrifice pre-existed the same. Without sacrifice, nothing is possible here. This is the secret of the human life here on earth, and this secret is a supreme one. For no other fact and philosophical proclamation can overtake this.