HOLY GITA
CHAPTER TWO
SAMKHYA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF KNOWLEDGE
VERSE NUMBER 10:
Text in Transliteration:
tam uvaacha hrrsheekesah prahasann iva bhaarata
senayor ubhayor madhye visheedantam idam vachah
Text in English:
O Bharata, then smiling, as it were, Hrishikesa spoke these
words to the desponding one placed between the two armies.
COMMENTARY BY SHANKARA:
From chapter one verse number 2 to chapter two verse number
9, the lines have establish the basics of despondency and unwarranted thoughts.
These are the thoughts that have become
responsible for the lives of human beings in the world to take endless births
and deaths. Arjuna, who has seen the teachers, friends and relatives in front
of him, thought that because of this war the love and affection he had for them
would be lost for ever. Those love and affection are born of the false thoughts
like I belong to them and they belong to me. It is true that Arjuna wanted to
give battle to them according as his dharmic duty as a kshatriya or warrior.
But these despondencies and the illusory love prevented him from engage them in
battle. So he forgot his duty as a kshatria or warrior.
This is how all human beings take up to wrong the paths,
having given up their self ordained duties, because of these despondencies and
wrong thoughts that involve looking into the illusory things the real. Even
when the human beings indulge in the carrying out of their ordained duties,
their thoughts and speech are fixated on the fruits that will accrue out of
those duties’ fulfilment. Because of this sins and good are harvested. They are
accumulated. The result is the recurring births and deaths. Thus, the reasons
for births and deaths are this kind of illusory despondencies and thoughts.
This kind of things will cease only when there dawns knowledge and wisdom about
the Atman or Soul and the absence of desire in the fruits of actions before
that. That was why, Lord Krishna, started to teach through Arjuna that one
should not grieve for those who do not need it.
Here some people may argue otherwise, and we shall see the
answer to that also.
THE ARGUMENT:
It is not possible to say that “kaivalyam” (or moksha or
heaven or salvation) can be attained either through self-knowledge or carrying
out the ordained duties without expectation of the fruits thereof. Kaivalyam or
salvation or heaven has been said to have been attainable through the carrying
out of the rites of FIRE or Sacrifice by Fire, “agnihotra” as adumbrated in the
Vedas. This can be best understood through the lines of the Bhagavat Gita. They
point out the following three phrases used by Sri Krishna in chapter two and
verses 33 and 47 and chapter four, verse number 15; in these verses the Lord
said, “If you don’t indulge in this war of dharma or righteous war...” “You
only have the right to do your duties or karma” and “So may you carry out the
actions or karma that have been observed from the time immemorial.
Apart from this, some would say some actions mentioned in
the Vedas might create sorrow for some. This is also is an unwarranted
argument. Why? For example, in a war the aged, brothers and sons might be
killed. Even so the war cannot be described as unrighteous. Because, engaging
in war is the ordained duty only to a kshatria or warrior. But in chapter 2,
Verse 33 Sri Krishna says if Arjuna does not engage in the war he would lose
his duty as well as fame and sin also would accrue. Through these verses, Sri
Krishna says carrying out of one’s self-ordained duty, and the duties ordained
in the Vedas even though it should killing of the cow, will not result in sin.
THE ANSWER:
The above said arguments are all wrong. Trying to obtain
gnana or wisdom or self-knowledge and carrying out the ordained duties are two
different things; they are not one and the same. These two are the results of
differing and different decisions as per the individual’s discrimination. Sri
Krishna’s words from chapter 2—11 to 2—31 comprise verses called SAMKHYAM.
In these verses Sri Krishna speaks about the Truth about
Atman or Soul. In this part, He says the Atman or the Sould does not suffer the
six-fold modifications, and the Soul does not indulge in any action.
The six modifications are creation, sustenance, growing,
differing and destruction. This truth is understood through the verses of the
Gita. Those who understand this Truth are the Samkhyas. The knowledge that
preceds this knowledge or gnana or wisdom is called the “yoga”. In this state
the ways to attain “kaivalya” or heaven, the search as to what is good and what
is bad, and the Atman or Soul is different from the body all happen. This
knowledge is called “yogam” and the practitioners are called the yogis or the
practitioners of yoga. Thus, here, Sri
Krishna speaks about two different things, one is knowledge or samkhyam and the
other is yoga. Why should He make a difference between samkhyam or knowledge
and yoga? Because he knew they both cannot inhere at the same time in a person.
There is no chance for that. How to justify this? Samkhyam or gnana is a state
of experiencing that the Atman or Soul does not indulge in any action. The attainment
of “yoga” is a state where the fact the Atman or Soul does indulge in action is
experienced. How could both these thoughts exist at the same time in a person?
That is why Sri
Krishna segregated the two states. Why should not a person experience both
these states together? Gnanam or wisdom happens from the understanding that
this Atman or Soul does not indulge in any action or karma and accumulate the
results thereof. But the karma bound person feels the atman or soul indulge in
action. While the former discerns the unity, the latter sees variety.
“sadha badh brhammanam” also speaks about the difference
between karmam or action and gnanam or knowledge. In this brahmmanam, it is
said the Brahmins meditate and become wandering monks. The state after renouncing
all actions is described in Brhat Upanishad described in these words, “Since we
have attained the Atman or Soul, what is there left in this world?” In the same
Upanishad, karma or action is only for the illusory, and those who are filled
with desire. A person is in his natural state till he marries, (in this state
he does not understand the Truth) then( after he has learnt in his bachelorhood
Vedas etc.,) he desires to attain the three lokas or worlds (sons, wealth and
vidhyai or meditation). In this, when he desires for the sons then he attains
the world of Devas. From this it is clear, that all the actions or karma
enjoined in the Vedas are only for those who have attained gnana or knowledge
and those who have not been able to give up desires. Thus, here, if the Lord
tried to connect self-knowledge with the Vedic karmas or the action enjoined in
the Vedas, that might have given rise to a contradiction.( that is not the
intent of the Lord).
Moreover (if the Lord had spoken as mentioned in the above
paragraph) in the verse 3—1 Arjunas question, “if you think gnana is superior
to karma...” would have become inapplicable. Sri Krishna must have told Arjuna
that it was not possible for a person to indulge in action and at the same time
try to attain self-knowledge. Otherwise, how could Arjuna have raised this kind
of a question. Moreover, if he hadn’t got the teaching that gnana was better
than karma, how could he have raised this question? Thus Arjunan must have got
these two things (that it is not possible for a person to obtain gnana and
indulge in action at the same time) to inhere in a person is not possible from
the Lord.
Moreover if it has been taught that karma or action and
gnana or knowledge are to be considered as one and the same thing that would
apply to Arjuna too. So, if he had been taught that two things must be followed
simultaneously, why should he have raised the question about the one alone. In
5—1 he asks of these two (indulging in action or karma and obtaining gnana)
which will give me the needful and raise me to the proper state of attainment.
Suppose a patient suffering from bile seeks the help of the doctor, and he
gives him a potion that is sweet in taste which he knows will cure the bile,
could the patient have asked the doctor, of these two, the potion and its
sweetness, which one will cure my bile? Suppose Arjuna does not understand of
both these things, then to his question ought to have replied haven’t I told
you that gnana or knowledge and karma or action is one and the same thing? Why
couldn’t you have understood the same, he must have asked, mustn’t he? But Sri
Krishna said to Arjuna’s question, both kind of illustrations have been given
by me –was the answer as per 3—3. Hasn’t Sri Krishna given Arjuna the right
answer to his question?
Moreover, if it were correct to understand as one the karma
or action and gnana or knowledge as given in “smritis”—why should the two have
been dealt with individually by the lord. Wouldn’t they become meaningless? If
it were so, Arjuna must have understood from the “smritis” that it is the
dharma of a kshatria or warrior to indulge in war. But he asks in 3—1 why do
you compel me to indulge in this kind of cruel acts, and it is not consistent
with his question.
Thus, self-knowledge and the karma or action adumbrated in
the smiritis and strutis has never been connected together in the Srimat
Bhagavat Gita. No one can deny this.
Some times, for a person his mind might get cleared because
of his karmic effect or actions and their effects in the past incarnations as
its working out now, despite his lack of knowledge. This might have been due to
some good things he has done in the past incarnation. When his mind gets
cleared thus, he gets atma gnana or self-knowledge. At this juncture, he
understands that this whole world is nothing but the Brahmam or God and and the
universe is not bound by actions (or there is no action in the universe). Then
he need not indulge in any more action. Anyhow he indulges in action so as to
be an example to ordinary people. Here, he does not indulge in any action. So
it cannot be said that he is the person who indulges both in karma or action
and in gnana or attained knowledge. The very fact that a Sri Krishna stands in
the Kurutchetra in the garb of a kshatriya or warrior. He did not do this to
unite knowledge or gnana and action or karma to attain moksha or kaivalya or
the heaven. Those with self-knowledge indulge in action like Sri Krishna did at
the time of war at Kurukchetra. It was done without any expectation of the fruit
of His action.
This kind of man, when indulges in action, he does so
without the ego sense and expectation of the fruit thereof. This is like a
person doing an agnihotram or rite of fire as adumbrated in the Vedas in
expectation of the fruits thereof, but in the middle of the rite he become
cleansed with the desire in the fruit, anyhow goes through the rite for its own
sake, could he be said to have performed that rite in expectation of the fruits
thereof? Sri Krishna describes this at many places.
5—7) even though he indulges in karma or actions he does not
identify with that.
13—31) I don’t do anything and do not identify with
anything.
But we must understand the following words of Sri Krishna in
a different manner.
4-15) thou shalt do the actions as performed by the
forefathers.
3-20)people like Janakar attained knowledge through actions
done without any expectations.
These lines must be understood as, “people like Janakar
indulged in this kind of actions despite their self-knowledge, so as to show
the way to the ordinary people of the world. They knew that nature or guna acts
through nature or guna. Though they had the qualification to renounce all
actions they did not do so.
Some might say, they did not left off actions or karma
because their attainment of self-knowledge was not full and complete. To answer
such people, it must be said, they indulged in actions leaving the fruits
thereof to Krishna. That was how they attained purity and self-knowledge. In
5-11 Sri Krishna says they did these things to keep their mind pure. Apart from
this, in the verse 18--46 says that Man attains self-knowledge by indulging in
the self-ordained duties with their fruit laid at the feet of Krishna. In verse
18—50 He says a man who has indulged in action without any expectation attains
sefl-knowledge and such a person understands the Brahman.
So it must be held that the Bhagavat Gita lays down that
kaivalyam or heaven (those who attains kaivalya moksha do not return to the
earth) is possible only to those with profound self-knowledge, and not by its
joining with the indulgence in karma or action. We shall deal with this and
prove this at many places. Arjuna’s mind is confused as to what exactly is his
dharma or duty. He is steeped in ignorance. He is in the depths of the ocean of
despondency. Sri Krishna understood to save him He has to give him the
“atmagnana” or self-knowledge. He started to teach the same to Arjuna.
COMMENTARY BY RAMANUJAR:
Krishna looked at Arjuna who was sitting confused because of
his absence of knowledge between the Atman or the Soul and the body. At the
same time, Sri Krishna though about Arjuna’s words to the effect that the Atman
or the Soul was different from the body. He threw at him his sarcastic smile
for having talked in a self contradictory manner and then sitting without doing
anything. What is indicated here is that he spoke from verse number from 2-12
to 18-66 without any anger, but spoke all the time smiling. Through these
verses, He described how an atman or a soul can attain God through karma or
action, bhakti or devotion and gnana or knowledge.
COMMENTARY BY MADHVA:
Sri Krishna spoke as follows to Arjunan who was confused by
things like depression and compassion.
According to Dr.S. Radhakrishnan, it that moment of
depression, the sinking heart of Arjuna heard the Divine voice of Krishna. The
smile indicates that he saw through Arjuna’s attempt at rationalization or what
is now known as wishful thinking. The attitude of the saviour God who knows all
the sins and sorrows of suffering humanity is one of tender pity and wistful
understanding.
According to Swamy Chidbhavananda of Thiruparaithurai, the
smile is very significant. As the dawn is the harbinger of daybreak, the lord’s
smile forecasts the yoga and the spiritual enlightenment that are to come on Arnjua.
SAMSARA is an ocean comprised of maya or illusion, kama or
desire and karma or action. Man was part of God before being tossed into this
samsaara. The maya or illusion make us ordinary people to take this world for
the real, and father and mother sons and daughters brothers and sisters and
friends as real. We seek wealth and friendship and enjoyment endlessly owing to
the pulling power of maya or illusion. Because kama or desire is there to
induce us to go for enjoyable things. And the karma is the result. We are, most
of all of us, are bound by karma or action. We cannot escape action even for a
minute particle of a second. If we sit still, our mind revolves in endless
action. It has a greater alacrity than a monkey’s and it tosses us constantly
in action. So, the karmic-bound beings have no respite from action. Till the
last breath we have to act. And the next life or incarnation is just one more
innings. Some people like the beastly rapists of Nirbhaya give themselves a
follow on and they have to return back to the days of beasts and plants. It is
very rare indeed to have been born a human being, and once born we should have
the basic strength to have some modicum of faith in God. There ensues devotion.
This is for sentimental people. And for people like Gandhiji both devotion and
karma yoga came like the art of swimming for the a hatch of fish.
But sometimes some action or duty stares us in the face and
we flinch. There is a shrinking of the nerves if it involves the loss of
someone dear. We can face life only if we know and can understand that the
universe is both a thought and matter. For people like Janaka it was a thought
and for Arjuna in this state of mind, the universe is very much real. And the
Lord can have no excuse to become derisive against a shrinking of the nerves on
our part. We pour out our heart’s grief at his feet inside the pooja room and
elsewhere, and the Lord’s fundamental nature is compassion and understanding
and love in plenty.
Here when Arjuna says I will not fight and falls silent, the
Lord smiles at him, who is full of understanding and love.
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