THE HOLY YOGA, CHAPTER 4, JNANA KARMA SANYASA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF RENUNCIATION OF ACTION IN KNOWLEDGE OR THE WAY OF KNOWLEDGE, VERSE NUMBER 38

THE HOLY YOGA

CHAPTER 4

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

VERSE NUMBER 38

Text in Transliteration:

na hi jnaanena sadrrsham pavitram iha vidyate

tat svayam yogasamsiddhah kaalenaa ‘ tmani vindati

Text in English:

Verily there is no purifier in this world like knowledge. He that is perfected in yoga realizes it in his own heart in due time.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:

A man dreams that he is being tortured to death. All remedial measures adopted in that dream are of no avail to the victim. The dream requires to be snapped and the man brought to wakefulness. This done he clarifies to himself that nobody subjected him to torture and that his agony was his own creation. Wakeful state here is the purifier of the self-imposed ignorance in dream. Likewise, Self-knowledge cleanses man of the delusion of birth and death. It reinstates him in his original blessedness. Knowledge is, therefore, the best among the purifiers of man. The proper practice of karma yoga transforms the life of the yogi into jnana-yajna. His mind thereby gets purified and he becomes competent in course of time for Self-knowledge.

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:

Self-control discovers it to man at last.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIVANANDA:

There exists no purifier equal to knowledge of the Self. He who has attained perfection by the constant practice of karma yoga and Dhyana (the Yoga of meditation) will after a time find the knowledge of the Self in himself.

Comments by the blogger:

Knowledge of the self purifies. How? In the ocean of Samsara or worldly life, there are illusion or ignorance which leads to kama or desire and that in turn leads straight away to karma or action. Man becomes bound only because of the illusion. When the self-knowledge is revealed the illusion goes away and that causes absence of kama and karma. Because self knowledge gives unbearable joy and this drives away all other lower types of joys. Knowledge is like fire and when one does not feed the fire with action because of the lack of desire, it purifies one and there exists atmabodham or direct cognition of joy born of Self-knowledge.

Every being, not excluding the animals, only moves in this direction. Small joys lead to more actions and greater joy is arrived at and when that is not enough greater action is the result. When man knows how to make use of the karma or action which binds him by indulging in yoga that selflessness fetches knowledge. Karma yoga and bakti yoga go hand in hand. Even when one dies in the middle of such austerities there is no loss. He comes back here to continue the karma yoga or yoga of action and bakti yoga or yoga of devotion. At some point of time the full knowledge is got at and then there won’t be any more desire to indulge in selfish actions.

Till then one should do one’s self-ordained duty studiously. In this there is no loss, as Lord Krishna says and even a little effort gives great courage.

So we should be ever mindful of our duty. We should love all. We should make a daily study of our Scriptures. For the Hindu’s, Bhagavat Gita is enough. The Lord will lead us properly.