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 28

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 28

Text in Transliteration:

dravyayajnaas tapoyajnaa yogayajnaas tathaa ‘pare

 svaadhyaaya jnaanayajnaas cha yatayah samsita vrataah

Text in English:

Yet others offer wealth, austerity and yoga as sacrifice, while still others, of self-denial and extreme vows, offer sacred study and knowledge as sacrifice.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:

There are other forms of Yajna suited to the sadhaka’s (practitioner’s) disposition and desert. Acquiring wealth by honest means and utilizing for the public weal is a form of Yajna (sacrifice). The scrap iron is melted and recast anew. Similarly man reforms himself through austerity or self-purgation. This is another form of Yajna. Constant practice of Rajayoga or Ashtanga yoga constitutes the Yajna of yet others. Sacred study is superior to secular study. It requires a good deal of self-preparation. Being established in wholesome habits is the result of extreme vows. Through devoted study and reverent exposition, the divine knowledge in one increases. This is done as an act of Yajna by some. That thing which a man devotedly contributes for the welfare of others multiplies in him. This is the law governing Yajna.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIVANANDA:

Some do sacrifice (yajna) by distributing their wealth to the deserving as charity; some offer their Tapas (austerities) as sacrifice; some practise the eight limbs of Raja Yoga, viz., Yama (the five great vows), Niyama (the canons of conduct), Asana (posture), Pranayama (restraint of breath), Pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses), Dharana (concentration), Dhyana (meditation) and Samadhi (super-conscious state), and offer this Yoga as a sacrifice; some study the scriptures and offer it as sacrifice.

Comments by the blogger:

Some people offer wealth, austerity and yoga as sacrifice or yajna. Still others offer sacred study and knowledge as sacrifice; such people indulge in self-denial and perform extreme vows.

We can easily understand one kind of sacrifice even without the help of the above learned and great commentators; they offer their wealth to the needy and deserved people as sacrifice. This kind of sacrifice we can easily understand. But even here there is a rider that the said wealth offered as sacrifice must have been got by honest means! In India there are some temples like the Lord Venkateshwara on the Thirupati Hills in Andrapradesh State where some times lacks of rupees or several kilograms of gold. At least some of these booty must have been got by illegal means, as per the rumors. Such sacrifices of wealth will not count. For the sacrifice of wealth one should have got the same through honest means.

Some offer austerities or Tapas as sacrifice. But they would do it in secret known only to themselves and the Lord.

Performance of Yoga is a spiritual thing, but it becomes sacrifice only when it is practised without much fanfare and in private, so that no form of ahankara or ego will get attached to it to sully the offer. Rajayoga or Astanga yoga consists of Yama, Niyama and other disciplines and does and don’ts as described by Swami Sivananda for this sloka or stanza.

Sacred study is superior to the secular study, according to Swami Sidbhavananda. Sacred study must be for salvation and be done in private without much fanfare. If someone studies Sastras for the sake of trumpeting to others about their sacredness, this kind of blowing one’s own trumpet sullies their offer of sacrifice and this puts a hurdle in their path for salvation. You may ask why I am writing about the Gita even though I am not a great Yogi. Yes, I am not even an ordinary yogi. But some eighteen years or twenty years ago I was being hauled over the hell’s coal. I was not just going through a bad patch but I was seriously thinking of committing suicide. At that time, one day I took up the commentary of Gita by Swami Sivananda. That had opened a new vista and I stumbled into the spiritual world. Even though I could not understand the logic of several stanzas I had shreda or deep and profound faith in the Lord’s words and continued with the regular study of Gita. Within a week’s time I had shed all thoughts about putting an end to my life in this miserable world. then I became a sort of fanatic where it concerned with the study of Gita. And then I came by a Commentary by Dr.S.Radhakrishnan. His viewpoints helped to solve some doubts. By this time, I started to buy commentaries on Gita and collect Gita books for self interest. I wanted to have as many commentaries as I could get my hands on. Then it happened that one day in a bookstore in Trichy city I came by the commentary by Swami Sidbhavananda in Tamil. As usual I went through the preface and the Gita proper like a fanatic. And soon I became a slave to Swami Sidbhavananda. All my doubts about Gita slokas were solved when I completed that book. And then I came to know that an English translation of Swami Sidbhavananda was also available at the same store. I bought that book also without hesitation. And I went through both the versions several times. All my doubts were cleared up. And some twenty years had passed by, by then! Today I am a proud owner of some ten commentaries on Gita by various Commentators.

Thus, when there was a question of life and death, I stumbled on a commentary by Swami Sivananda. After that I never looked back. Through a long and faithful perusal of the Gita my life became not only tolerable but was hugely enriched. And I was inspired by some intuitive knowledge with regard to several sloka. I started to blog and it was purely an accident. I am an M.A., B.L., with a masters in English Literature. But I had never known I could write my viewpoints on Gita some day. Even now I would say and advise the readers of this site that they should take for granted whatever is written by the three learned commentators and take my viewpoints with an informed pinch of salt! Because they have written their commentaries after leading their lives according to Gita’s teaching. Whereas I am a puny little person! I might tend to go overboard in my over enthusiasm. What I wanted to say was that I did not peruse the Holy Bhagavat Gita so I can talk and write about the same and thus proclaim such of the little knowledge I have come to gathered over the years.

Some people, the Lord says extreme vows. But this is not freely advisable unless you have what it takes. Extreme austerities and vows are not encouraged even in Gita. Here there is a mention of them. Because God can be attained through extreme vows too.

Mahatma Gandhi’s mother used to take extreme austerities. She frequently fasted. And on each day of fasting,she would not give up fasting and take a morsel of food unless she sighted the sun with her own eyes! When the Mahatma was a little boy, he and his brothers would be on constant watch as to the sighting of the sun. On the days of the sun being glossed over by dark clouds the children including Mahatma Gandhi would be standing out in the open and looking for the streaks of sunlight to come through the clouds. And when it happened they would run into the house to call the attention of their dear mother. And by the time when their mother came out of the house to look up at the sky the clouds would have, once again, glossed over the sun so the sun god could not be seen. This would plunge the children into a tearful mood, but their mother would laugh happily and declare if it was the pleasure of the Lord that she should not eat that day it was welcome to her! She had no quarrel with the Creator. Some would not eat until they see the garuda or falcon at flight. Mahatma Gandhi himself promised his mother when he went to England to study for the Bar that he would not touch any woman with lust in mind and he would not eat non-vegetarian food and dishes. And his portrayal of the intolerable troubles he was put to in England as a young man is portrayed in the simplest possible language in his autobiography, namely, My Experiments with Truth!

As a matter of fact extreme vows should be shunned. Even the Lord of Gita mentions about such extremities elsewhere in the Gita and asks us why do you go through such painful methods and trouble me also who am inside of you!

Jesus Christ admonishes those Jews who proclaim their fasting to others and those who make a great show of their piety in the House of the Lord.