THE HOLY YOGA
CHAPTER THREE
KARMA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF ACTION OR THE METHOD OF WORK:
VERSE NUMBER 36
Text in Transliteration:
Arjuna uvacha
Atha kena prayukto ‘yam paapam carati purushah
Anichann api vaarsneya balaad iva niyojitah
Text in English:
Arjuna said:
But dragged on by what does a man commit sin, unwillingly though, O Varshneya, constrained as it were by force?
COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:
Sri Krishna is here addressed as Varshneya because of his coming of the Vrishni race.
COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:
Anicchannapi; even against his will. This is what Arjuna feels, that a man is forced to do things even against his will. But it is not really so. Man tacitly gives his consent as the use of the word kaama or craving by the teacher in the next verse indicates. Shankara says; what we speak of as the prakrti or the Nature of a person draws him to its course only through attachment and aversion.
COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIVANANDA:
“Varshneya” is one born in the family of the Vrishnis, a name of Krishna.
Comments by the blogger:
Is there a force which constrains a person to indulge in sin? Yes! There is a force in the Prakrity or Nature which bewitches and beguiles man to indulge in sin. Man has to make his own choice. A person comes across a number of things in life. Any number of things and incidents occur to him in his day to day life. A person goes to the temple to worship the Lord and he chances upon a bundle of rupees or a gold necklace. It is up to him to what to do. The choice is that of his. He can strive to find for signs as to the ownership of the same and take the trouble to restore the money or the ornament. Of he can simply hand the thing over to the police. Or he could take the same and make a private use of the money or ornament. These are the choices available to him. of all the choices, the last one is made by the Prakriti or Nature as being more useful and attractive than the others. This is because of the Kama or Desire involved in the human life in the Prakrity.
We have already seen that life in the prakriti is known as Samsara which involves Kama too. Kama or desire is one of the vital motivating force which makes human life on earth possible. It is just a matter of choice, someone says. Not to make use of this choice is not easy. The very fact Man has been given five senses and Prakriti or Nature has got in abundance sense objects, with a rider that one should rise above the pulls of sense objects and to make a yogic plan for emancipation or self-realization.
In the Upanishadic parlance, there is a lore: there are two birds on the branch of a tree; one bird eats the fruits of the tree. And the fruits are sweet and sour. And the other bird, without any incline as to take part in the repast, just sits there on the branch and WATCHES the eating bird. The non-eating bird is our inner soul. Our soul does not partake of the life of eating, drinking, and other sensual enjoyments of the ordinary sense-object objectified life.
God gives us fruits and the capacity and tremendous inclination to enjoy them. At the same time, He has given the power to ignore them in favour of His society. He expects tremendous will power and a way of life of giving and ignoring from us so as to clothe us with the wherewithal to pine for His society. But Nature puts too many hurdles and beguiles with charms the practitioner of yoga in the beginning. At this stage, Nature acts as a courtesan. She bewitches the God-bound man. But Man should not cower and fall a prey to the charms of Nature. This initial charms of the Nature is called and dubbed as Satun by the Christians and the Muslims. But this tendency of the Nature is onely one part as per the scheme of the Creative Master. Another part is to facilitate the diehard practitioner who stands in the path of seeking Godhood without swerving and giving in for the sensual pleasures. Then Nature shows a different face, her real face; she is an ecstatic mother in feeding from her breasts of jnana or the quintessence of wisdom that makes the practitioner to take the world rightly as a chimera and the only real is the ultimate Brahman.
So, Arjuna puts the right question only. We are beguiled by Nature in our samsara or worldly life to indulge in the passing show which is the general appearance to the seer, but for others sensual and ultimate.
Witness the number of numberless persons among the Hindus who queue up to pay up a hefty amount of money to various temple authorities conducting Latcharchana or invoking the Lords Graces by singing his names for one lake times. This is nothing if not for an enjoyable stint in the Heavenly life after the individuals’ death. So, the sensual desires and pulls are not exhaustive for them. They do not want to seek as per the yogic sastras or Books on Yoga for permanent emancipation but pour gee in the oblational ability to fetch more and greater sensual enjoyment in the heavens! Such is man’s desire. Such is man’s compulsion like a moth which seeks its own emancipation at the flame of the lighted lamp.
Arjuna puta a very pertinent question on his and our behalf and we should thank him for that!
No comments:
Post a Comment