THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER 5, SANYASA YOGA OR THE RENUNCIATION, VERSE NUMBER 18

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER 5

SANYAS YOGA OR THE RENUNCIATION:

VERSE NUMBER18    

Text in Transliteration:

vidyaavinayasampanne braahmane gavi hastini

suni chai ‘va svapaake cha panditaah samadarsinah

Text in English:

Men of Self-knowledge are same-sighted on a Brahmana imbued with learning and humility, a cow, an elephant, a dog and an outcaste.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:

Sunlight falls equally on all things. It makes no difference between the sacred Ganga and sewage water. The knower of Brahman cognizes Brahman only everywhere. The distinction whih the worldly make among beings, is born of ignorance. To them an ideal Brahmana is one who is to be shunned. Among men the former is topmost in rank and the latter the last. Similarly, among animals the cow is to be revered, the elephant admired and the cur kept aloof. Bt the man of Self-knowledge does not see into the assumed differences in men, animals, birds and other creatures. He cognizes the same Omniscience present in all these forms which are unreal. The Jnani sees truly while the worldly see erroneously.

SRI RAMAKRISHNA AS QUOTED BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:

Nescience creates plurality and difference among beings. Omniscience reveals unity behind the seeming multiplicity.

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:

vidyavinayasampane; great learning brings great humility. As our knowledge increases we become increasingly aware of the encircling darkness. It is when we light the candle that we see how dark it is. What we know is practically nothing compared to what we do not know. A little knowledge leads to dogmatism, a little more to questioning and a little more takes us to prayer. Besides, humility come from the knowledge that we are sustained in existence by the love of God. The greatest thinkers of all ages were deeply religious men.

vinaya; humility or rather modesty which is the result of cultivation or discipline. The first division of the Buddhist Tipitaka is called vinaya or discipline, vinaya is the opposite of the pride or insolence. The recognition of dependence on non-human factors produces cosmic piety. The truly learned are humble.

samadarsinah; see with an equal eye. The Eternal is the same in all, in animals, as in men, in learned Brahmins as in despised outcasts. The light of Brahman dwells in all bodies and is not affected. By the differences in the bodies it illumines.

The characteristics of the Supreme, being, consciousness and bliss, are present in all existences and the differences relate to their names and forms, that is, their embodiments. When we look at things from the standpoint of the Ultimate Reality present in all, we “see with an equal eye.” The fundamental dualism is that of spirit and nature and not of soul and body. It is the distinction between the subject and the object. Nature is the world of objectivization,  of alienation, of determinability. There we have, the distinction of minerals, plants and animals and men, but they all have an inner non-objective existence. The subject, Reality, dwells in all of them. This affirmation of basic identity is not inconsistent with the empirical variety. Even Shankara admits that the one eternal reality is revealing itself in higher and higher forms through successive stages of manifestation. The empirical variety should not hide from us the metaphysical reality our fellow beings with kindliness and compassion. The wise see the one God in all beings and develop the quality of equalmindedness which is characteristic of the Divine.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIVANANDA:

The liberated sage or Jivanmukta or a Brahmana has equal vision as he beholds the Self only everywhere. This magnificent vision of a Jnani is beyond description. Atma or Brahman is not at all affected by the Upadhis or limiting adjuncts as He is extremely subtle, pure, formless and attributeless. The sun’s reflection falls on the river Ganga, on the ocean or on a dirty stream. The sun is not at all affected in any way. This makes no difference to the sun. So is the case with the Supreme Self. The Upadhis (limited adjuncts) cannot affect Him. Just as the ether is not affected by the limiting adjkuncts, viz., a pot, the walls of a room, cloud, etc., so also the Self is not affected by the Upadhis.

The Brahmana is Sattvic. The cow is Rajasic. The elephant, the dog and the outcaste are Tamasic. The sage sees in all of them the one homogeneous immortal Self Who is not affected by the three Gunas and their tendencies. (Cf. VI.8, 32; XIV.24)

Comments by the blogger:

Self-knowledge makes one attuned to God. He realises he is one with God. Then it is only natural that one of God’s attributes should shine in him. For him there is hardly any difference between a learned Brahmana imbued with humility, a cow, an elephant, a dog and an outcaste.

In the course of time and civilization of even three or four centuries like that of England the people are divided according to their occupation. In European countries there were Class troubles till the first world war and it took the second world war to annihilate it. An outcast was treated to be like an animal. In the older civilizations like Egypt there were slaves. The people were enslaved and traded like any chattel or commodity. This always happens in a society. But in India it should not have happened where the Vedopanishadic Sages and Saints walked the earth as colossus. But even in India it happened. Simply because the Lord says and lists out the outcast we should not take that he considers the outcast as lesser than a cur. If you see the main theme of the stanza, that the one with Self-knowledge will have the same-sightedness and will not treat differently a learned Brahmana, a cow, an elephant, a dog and an outcaste treat them as his equals, then the difficulty in understanding the Lords list and wordings will go, leaving place for light and understanding.

For the Lord all are equal. The whole universe is his body only. And he does not even take into account the good and bad conducts of people, according to another stanza in this chapter. He mentions the word outcaste because there were people in Lord Krishna’s avatara who were considered to be outcastes and the Lord is not afraid of mentioning them. He is not going to stand in any elections for the Parliament to choose carefully his words, irrespective of the ground position. He is no politician to play with words. And outcastes and curs are as full of the Lord as the man imbued with Self-knowledge. It is only a question of time before the cur takes human birth and the outcaste to caste away his body and come back here as a Vaisiya, or a Shatria or even as a Bramana according to his Prarabhda.       

THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER 5, SANYASA YOGA OR THE RENUNCIATION, VERSE NUMBER 17

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER 5

SANYASA YOGA OR THE RENUNCIATION:

VERSE NUMBER 17

Text in Transliteration:

tadbuddhayas tadaatmaanas tannishthaas tatparaayanaah

gacchanty apunaraavrttim jnaananirdhootakalmashah 

Text in English:

Those who think on That, merge in That, get fixed i n That, have That as the goal, they attain to non-return, their taints being dispelled by knowledge.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:

The sun can never see darkness wherever it may go. It is ever in brilliance. The knower of Brahman has nothing but Brahman to cognize. Distinctions such as inside and outside do not exist for him. one undivided, interminable consciousness is for him. The man of this experience does not take birth again; he attains mukti.

SRI RAMAKRISHNA AS QUOTED BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:

 Brahman is experienced vaguely through discrimination, somewhat vividly through meditation and in Its Original Splendour in Samadhi.

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:

The false ego determined by works disappears and the jeeva realizes its identity with the Supreme Self and works from that centre.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIVANANDA:

They fix their intellects on Brahman or the Supreme Self. They feel and realise that Brahman is their self. By constant and protracted meditation, they get established in BrahmanThe whole world of names and forms vanishes for them. They live in Brahman alone. They have Brahman alone as their supreme goal or sole refuge. They have Brahman alone as their supreme goal or sole refuge. They rejoice in the Self alone. They are satisfied in the self alone. They are contented in the Self alone. Such men never come back to this Samsara, as their sins are dispelled by knowledge (Brahma-Jnana). (Cf. IX.34)

Comments of the blogger:

Here there is much for Sri Shankara’s Adhvaidham. The beings, after getting the knowledge of Brahman become Brahman. But we should not think that this is the religion of the Holy Gita. There is much for others belonging to Dhvaidham of Sri Ramanucharya and Vishistadhvaidham of Sri Madhva. Bhagavat Gita is a holistic book. The Lord openly says and claims that people belonging to various faiths and rituals come to Him only. And, what’s more, He declares that people from all sides come to Him. The only deviation from this cosmopolitan view and attitude is when the Lord claims that those who worship their Pitrus (the deceased forefathers) go to the Pitru Loka or consciousness and those who worship Him come to Him. And at yet another context the Lord of Gita proclaims that even those who offer worship to various Devas and Devdas come to Him only, as their worship is born of ignorance!

When knowledge is attained about Brahman (the Upanishadic God) all the effect of the past karma becomes extinct. But that portion of the Prarabdha would linger without effect. And it will affect only the bodies of the Knowledgeable and never their inner person. This was how Sri Ramakrishna and Sri Ramanamagarishi had cancerous warts on their hands before throwing off their mortal bodies.  

   

THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER 5, SANYASA YOGA OR THE RENUNCIATION,VERSE NUMBER 16

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER 5

SANYASA YOGA OR THE RENUNCIATION:

VERSE NUMBER 16

Text in Transliteration:

Jnaanena tu tad ajnanam yesaam naasitam aatmanah

Teshaam aadityavaj jnaanam prakaasayati tat param

Text in English:

Shining like the sun, knowledge reveals the supreme in them, in whom ignorance is destroyed by self-knowledge.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:

Darkness vanishes when the sun rises; ignorance ceases to be with the dawn of knowledge. As the sunlight reveals things in their true perspective, Self-knowledge or Brahma-jnanam posits the Reality of Brahman and the evanescence of Prakriti. The knower of Brahman knows he is Brahman and none else.

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:

tatparam; paramaartha tatvam; ultimate reality. Shankara

The Self above the ego is not touched by sin or merit, by joy or sorrow. It is the witness of all.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIVANANDA:

When ignorance, the root-cause of human sufferings, is annihilated by the knowledge of the Self, this knowledge illuminates the Supreme Brahman or that highest immortal Being, just as the sun illumines all the objects of this gross, physical universe.

Comments of the blogger:

The Supreme is in them, that is, beings. Tatvamasi or Thou art that, when it is realised the Self-Knowledge shines like the sun. For that ignorance shading Knowledge has to be got over by annihilation thereof. The reason for the Lord’s love for the sinners and others, for the way He clubs them both together in the stanza last, is ignorance. This ignorance is not the making of Man to start with. Man is tossed into the samsara sagaram or the ocean of worldly life, and this presupposes illusion that gives rise to desire and desire ends up in actions non-stop. So, at least, to start with Man or individual soul is not responsible for the ignorance. It is rather instilled by the Greater Self or the Omnipotent to conduct its sport divine on the individual souls. That is why we should not take anything in the worldly life including a death in the family so very seriously. We are not responsible for the initial ignorance. One Self gets crystallized into a teaming number of individual souls. The only difference between the two is while the individual souls must play the swadharmic karma or self-ordained duty in a way that would shrink and reduce the number of births, the Omnipotent remains supremely free of any action. Once the self-ordained duty is being continually carried out by the individual souls, then devotion comes in and we must pray to our Lord Master for deliverance along with a list of worldly things. The objective should be to reduce the number of rebirths. When we exert ourselves in this way, Nature will help us by withdrawing her pull on us and we would become that much more relevant in shedding ignorance and head toward the attainment of self-knowledge. Nature is a benign Mother. She never pulls back her punch for those who are after the worldly lures. Such people can’t even have time for a decent ten minutes’ prayer to the Lord. But if we persevere, Nature starts to tilt in our way and puts accidental and coincidental things in our way that all help in shedding the ignorance. 

Even a continuous chanting of the Lord’s name will deliver us!

THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER 5, SANYASA YOGA OR THE RENUCIATION, VERSE NUMBER 15

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER 5

SANYASA YOGA OR THE RENUNCIATION:

VERSE NUMBER 15

Text in Transliteration:

naa ‘datte kasyacit paapam na  chai ‘va sukrrtam vibhuh

ajnaanenaa ‘vrtam jnaanam tena muhyanti jantavah

Text in English:

The omnipresent does not take note of the merit or demerit of any. Knowledge is veiled by ignorance

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:

Prakriti or Nature is constituted of five elements—akaasa, vaayu, agni, aapah and prithivi (ether, air, fire, water and earth.) Akasa which is equated with space, is the substratum on which the other four elements play their parts. Good and evil emanate from them in the course of their interaction; but Akasa remains unaffected by these modifications. In the same way Iswara remains unaffected by the merits and demerits in beings. A crystal glass seems to take the hue of the flower brought to its proximity; but actually the crystal remains ever itself. Similarly, Atma seems to take the characteristics of Prakriti, while actually It does not. People who are in ignorance impose the traits of Prakriti on Atman and get deluded.

The relationship between Purusha and Prakriti is very well explained in these two verses. Iswara is Bliss and Perfect Poise. Karma has no place in His Blessedness. Prakriti gets itself vitalized in the proximity of Purusha. Jivatman gets bound when he identifies himself with Prakriti; he gets emancipated when he detaches himself from Prakriti . and this is the essence of Vedanta.

SRI RAMAKRISHNA AS QUOTED BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:

The burning lamp gives light to one and all, all round it. Some use that light for cooking their food, others for reading scared books and yet others for forging false documents. The merits and demerits in these several acts do not in any way affect the light coming from the lamp. In this wise the consciousness equally present in all beings makes all sorts of activities deeds, however, of beings do not go to the Pure Consciousness, which is Iswara.

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:

vibhuh; all pervading. Each soul is not a separate monad, eternal and changeless. Vibhuh refers either to the Self of the jnanin or the Supreme Self, which are identical in Advaita Vedanta.

Ajnanena; by ignorance. It is the ignorance which makes us believe in the ultimateness of the multiplicity. Jnanam; wisdom. It is the wisdom which is the one basis of all distinctions.

Knowledge is enveloped by ignorance. Consequently man is deluded. He thinks, “I act. I enjoy. I have done such and such a meritorious act. I will get such and such a fruit. I will enjoy in heaven. I will get a birth in a rich family.”

Of anyone; even of His devotees.

Man is bound when he identifies himself with Nature and its effects—body, mind, Prana or the life-force, and senses. He attains freedom or Moksha when he identifies himself with the immortal, ‘actionless’ Self that dwells within his heart. When “I” does not act how can God accept good or evil deeds? (Cf. V.29)

Comments of the blogger:

One of the attributes of the Lord is his presence everywhere. He is omnipresent. It is very important to note this point. God does not take the merit or demerit of the individuals. Why? The answer has been given in the previous verse, when the Lord says that the Lord does not create agency or actions for the world; He does not create union with the fruits of action. Nature does all this.

Thus both the sections must be read jointly. How can God take into account the merit or demerit of the individuals while he openly declares that he does not create agency or actions for the world? How can He take the good and bad actions of the individuals when He does not create, on his own words, union with the fruits of action? He has simply left these things to Nature.

But there is significance in the statement that He does not take note of the merit or demerit of any, inasmuch as that even the rapists of Nirbhaya can worship Him and ask for forgiveness if the same is sincere and not ritual. But Nature would take care of them and give them beastly births in the next incarnations. But the sincere asking for forgiveness would make the tortured individuals to go through life with that much of fortitude as will not be available otherwise.

Actions themselves do not taint. It is the manner in which it is carried out that count.

But when the actions are done by individuals with the ego of “I do this and that” then it will bind and taint the individuals. Then whether it is good action or bad will not count as the doer must come back here to enjoy the fruits of the good or bad action. Good and noble actions carried out with ego do taint the individuals as much as the bad acts.

God remains supremely unconcerned by both types of actions.

When the utterance in the stanza number 14 is taken into account in interpreting the present one then the confusion for the Sanskrit word vibhuh (all pervading) will not arise. It certainly refers to the Omnipresence of the Lord and not the liberated individual Self. Of course, what happens to the Liberated Souls is open to arguments: while the Vedantins argue that the liberated soul mingles with the Lord and become Him seamlessly, those who put forward the theory that the liberated souls individually exist in bliss like that of God’s. Here no room for any doubt about the word Omnipresent can be attributed while taking the words of the Lord in stanza number 14 of this chapter.   

THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER 5, SANYASA YOGA OR THE RENUNCIATION, VERSE NUMBER 14

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER 5

SANYASA YOGA OR THE RENUNCIATION:

VERSE NUMBER 14

Text in Transliteration:

na kartrrtvam na karmaani lokasya srjati prabhuh

na karmaphala samyogam svabhaavas tu pravartate

Text in English:

The Lord does not create agency or actions for the world; He does not create union with the fruits of action. Nature does all this.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:

Due to ignorance the individual self identifies himself with Nature or Prakriti and assumes ownership over karma and its consequences. Actually, all work belongs to Nature and not to Atman.

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:

Prabhuh is the Sovereign Self of the knower, the Real Self which is one with all that is.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIVANANDA:

 The Lord does not create agency or doership. He does not press anyone to do action. He never tells anyone, “Do this or do that”. He does not bring about the union with the fruit of actions. It is Prakriti or Nature that does everything. (Cf. III.33)

Comments by the blogger:

In the Bible, the Christ says that He is the Good Hope and, “Go and spread my words to all in the world.” Jesus Christ and Bible explicitly lay down the does and don’ts. You can indulge in these things and should not indulge in these things. According to the Bible, (The Old Testament) the Lord took six days to create this world and on the seventh day he took rest and that is Sunday. The whole weekend culture of the Europeans and Americans have justification on these words. God is omnipotent and why should it take six days to create the world is the first question and the next is the logical corollary: can anything, any action, tire the omnipotent Lord? This brings into question that the Holy spirit, according to the Holy Bible, too is subject to that to which Man is. Man also is capable of action and he tires too and needs rest! Then it is the next step to assume that the Holy Spirit does need to eat, drink, sleep and empty like Man! If you accept one thing the legion of the resultant possibilities are only natural and legitimately logical corollary!

The Mohammedanism also speaks of the things human beings can do and those that should not do. That some acts are haram and others are acceptable. The rigidity of the Holy Quran leaves no room for interpretation according to the changing conditions of the ages. Marrying four wives were acceptable in those days of the Prophet Mohammed Sal, as there was gross inequality in the rate of population of women to men. Men also died in the Holy wars necessitating their widows to be remarried. So, in the initial days of the Holy Quran marrying four wives were perfectly acceptable. Even the Mahatma Gandhi asked young men to marry the women raped by the white men for their rebellion. They were all female soldiers in the cause of the nation obtaining independence. But in these days there is no justification for any Muslim man to marry four wives. The great soldier, the so-called sword of the Allah the Great Bin Laden had four wives! This is exacerbated when the triple talaq is put into operation. Thankfully the Allahabad High Court’s judgment in this regard has been upheld by the Supreme Court.

But that is beside the point.

Now the topic of argument is whether God had a direct hand in creating agency or actions for the world.

The ancient Hindu Seers were able to understand the Scheme of the Universe some nine thousand years ago from now, according to the calculation by Swami Vivekananda.

God can never create agency or actions for the world. For then He would be held directly responsible to the actions indulged in by the Men and Women of this world. He would be as much responsible for the Vedopanishadic Seers and Sages’ actions as the raping of Nirbhaya! Can anyone tell with a clear conscience that it was God who was responsible for the looting, raping and murders inside the Somnath Temple in the North India? Actions also include the thinking and imaginations. Can anyone claim that God is responsible for all the imaginations and thinking that go around in even a good and honest man?  A man is not a good man for not entertaining any bad thoughts and imaginations. Man’s mind is often likened to a monkey. It is totally impossible to hold the mind as pure and as holy as a Temple. All sorts of good and bad things enter the imagination and thinking faculty. Man is a hero if he is able to war with the Hyde inside of him and come up with the Jekyle and lead a good life. So how can God be held responsible for all the tumultuous and sinful things that go through a man’s mind?

And the Lord of Gita also proclaims that He does not create union with the fruits of action. And that Nature does all this.

Nature does not see whether a man is a theist or atheist. It does create union with the fruits of action. Otherwise the atheists cannot have a happy-go-lucky way and call themselves rationalists. Nature is a mother, school and hospital. It looks out for our internal evolution, our external evolution having come to an end, so we can be properly schooled in umpteen number of births and deaths and births again, and acts also as a hospital for the grossly worldly men and women and cure them in gradation of their worldliness and increases their Godliness through many births and deaths. This is the strength of the Hinduism that accepts reincarnation. God, having created the world leaves it alone and does not interfere in its day-to-day’s function. There is a large significance in this assertion of God. And it goes to the Vedopanishadic Sages to have understood the scheme of the Universe in the proper way. That is how the Hindu way of life endures over the millennial march of the world while all other civilizations have died away. There is much scope for interpretation of even Swadharma according to the changing times of the Ages. This resilience is possible because the Hinduism is not dependent upon the life history of one person howsoever superior He might be.   

   

THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER 5, SANYASA YOGA OR THE RENUNCIATION, VERSE NUMBER 13

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER 5

SANYASA YOGA OR THE RENUNCIATION

VERSE NUMBER 13

Text in Transliteration:

sarvakarmaanee manasaa samnyasyaa ‘ste sukham vase

navadvaare pure dehee nai ‘va kurvan na kaarayan

Text in English:

Having mentally renounced all actions, the self-disciplined indweller rests happily in the city of nine gates, neither acting nor causing to act.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:

Karma varies in pattern according to the temperamental difference. There are also forms of karma distinct in themselves. The indispensable one among them is the obligatory work, ‘nitya karma’, such as eating, sleeping, bathing and praying. By doing these acts no new merit is acquired but by falling in them there is a sure set back. Naimitya karma are special activities that are performed on occasions such as Sivaraatri, Ekadasi and eclipse. ‘Kamya karma’ or desire-impelled activities are those  performed for certain earthly ends. Again, there are the ‘nishiddha karma’, the prohibited acts that run counter to ethics. While the obligatory works alone go on automatically by sheer force of habit, the yogi does not engage himself in any of the other forms of karma. This is possible because he is completely rid of egoism and agency.

The body with its openings is aptly compared to a city of nine gates. Like a monarch, Atman stays enthroned in this citadel the administration of which is carried on by the ministry of egoism, min, intellect, life-energy and the senses. The reign over the region of the body lasts until the momentum of the ‘praarabdha karma’ gets exhausted. Even while residing in the body, the consciousness of it and domination over its activities is entirely absent in the yogi. Self revelling in Its own glory is the gain that the yogis has.

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:

Cp. Katha Upanishad., V.I

The nine gates are the two eyes, the two ears, the two nostrils, and the mouth and the two organce of excretion and generation.

See Svetaasvatara Upanishad., III. 18

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIVANANDA:

All actions:--

1)        Nitya Karmas: There are obligatory duties. Their performance does not produce any merit; but their non-performance produces demerit. Sandhyavandana, etc., belong to this category.

2)      Naimittika karmas: These Karmas are performed on the occurrence of some special events such as the birth of a son, eclipse, etc.

3)      Kamya karmas: These are optional. They are intended for the attainment of some special ends (for getting rain, son, etc.)

4)      Nishiddha Karmas: These are forbidden actions such as theft, drinking liquor, etc.

5)      Prayaschitta Karmas; Actions performed to neutralise the effects of evil actions or sins.

The man who has controlled the senses renounces all actions by discrimination, by seeing inaction in action and rests happily in this body of nine openings (the nine-gated city), because he is free from cares, worries, anxieties and fear and his mind is quite calm and he enjoys the supreme peace of the Eternal. In this nine-gated city the Self is the king. The senses, the mind, the subconscious mind andthe intellect are inhabitants or subjects.

The ignorant worldly man says, “I am resting in the easy-chair”. The man of wisdom who has realised that the Self is distinct from the body which is a product of the five elements, says, “I am resting in this body”. Cf. XVIII. 17, 50)

Comments of the blogger:

The nine gates have already been enumerated by Dr. S. Radhakrishnan. He has referred to Katha Upanishad. The Tamil poet Manikkavasagar in his monumental work, Thiruvasasagam refers to the body as a house with nine gates through which dirt is expelled always!

Whether we like it or condemn it, it is a healthy way to see this body as dirt producing mechanism.  Because senses enslaves us to the bodies of the opposite sex! It would do a wealth of good to see our body in its true light. Then only we can see the bodies of the opposite sex in the same light. It would help us to stick to our wife or husband. But for the senses our discrimination is enough to throw us, toss our own bodies off a mountain top or cliff. The healthy association with filth and acknowledgment that we stink if we do not take very great care of our body by daily bathing and other methods of ablutions. The pores of our skin expel sweat. The process starts the moment the bathing is over!

But for the presence of our Atman, which is pure and holy as the first rays of the sun we are nothing. It is the presence of the Atman that makes us holy. Tatvamasi is one of the maha vakyas or great sentences. That means thou art that. Thou art the Lord!

The Atman is not in the habit of consuming anything. It rests in the body in its own glory.

Apart from that, we should not forget that Man alone has Atman. The Lord of the Gita wants us to see Him alone in everyone and everything, sentient and insentient. The whole Universe is scintillating with the Universal Soul.    

THE HOLY YOGA, CHAPTER 5, SANYASA YOGA OR THE RENUNCIATION, VERSE NUMBER 12

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER 5

SANYASA YOGA OR THE RENUNCIATION:

VERSE NUMBER 12

Text in Transliteration:

yuktah karmaphalam tyaktvaa saantim aapnoti naishthikeem

ayuktah kaamakaarena phale sakto nirbdhyate

Text in English:

Abandoning the fruit of action, the yogi attains peace born of steadfastness; impelled by desire, the non-yogi is bound, attached to fruit.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:

Performance of karma is common to both, the yogi and the non-yogi. But the difference between the two is in the disposition. The feeling of agency to action is no more in the former. Whatever takes place through his instrumentality is the Lord’s work. His steadfastness consists of his mind being released from work and of its being immersed in the Lord. In this state of the mind there is no anxiety; there is calmness instead; the mind gets itself steadily purified. It becomes fit for enlightenment. On the other side, the non-yogi gets entangled in work; anxiety is on the increase in him.

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHKRISHNAN:

Cp. Emerson:

               “Teach me your mood, O patient stars;

                 Who climb each night the ancient sky

                 Leaving on space no shade, no scars,

                 No trace of age, no fear to die.”

yuktah. Or disciplined in action:

santim. When the peace of God descends on us, Divine knowledge floods our being with a light which illumines and transforms, making clear all that was before dark and obscure.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIVANANDA:

Santim naisthikim is interpreted as ‘peace born of devotion or steadfastness’. The harmonious man who does actions for the sake of the Lord without expectation of the fruit and who says, “I do actions for my Lord only, not for my personal gain or profit,” attains to the peace born of devotion, through the following four stages, viz., purity of mind, the attainment of knowledge, renunciation of actions, and steadiness in wisdom. But the unbalanced or the unharmonised man who is led by desire and who is attached to the fruits of the actions and who says, “I have done such and such an action; I will get such and such a fruit,” is firmly bound.    

Comments by the blogger:

The Lord rephrases already said and explained. And since the Lord’s words were like nectar in his tortuous mind, Arjuna cannot have enough of it. This how the various stanzas re-posited in this chapter or discourse must be taken. And there is virtue in repetition which is the key. When we get to hear repeatedly we think constantly about it and when we think constantly about something we become it. That is why the divine Tamil poet, Tiruvalluar said some two thousand years back that whatever we think let it be of high meritorious things. Man is man because he thinks and he becomes what he constantly thinks.

Performance of actions is common to both the yogi and the non-yogi. For no one, even for a moment live without action unless he has practised the consciousness-less state which is called “Sooniya”. If one is able to practise Sooniya or void state in thought and imagination, where not even a stray thought or imagination takes place, no one who has come to the earth’s plane can remain action-less or without entertaining any action either external or internal. Even for the practitioner of Sooniya where no external or internal action takes place, the practitioner has to breathe and his digestion process would be going and blood would be coursing through his veins and and the parts and organs like kidneys would continue to work. Food assimilation itself is a work. Thus no one can escape action.

But the yogi has the art and knack of discrimination and non-attachment everywhere that he goes through his self-ordained duties as the actions of Eshwar and without any stake in the fruits of his actions and thus turns binding actions into a yoga and fetches self-realisation whereas the non-yogi, with his heart full of desire to the fruits of his actions, becomes attached to them and thus become bound. He repeatedly comes to earth’s plane of consciousness.

Then, most of us being non-yogis, what is the hope for us? Here the Hinduism scores over other religions. It believes strongly in rebirths. And the two principal religions, the Christianity and Mohammedanism loses out by not going through the Scheme of the Universe. It fails to understand that for the right kind of people the Universe is just a beautiful thought by the Great Lord. And for non-yogis, it is very much real and material. The above-said two religions do not speak about refined and free yogis. They call the illusion as Satan. It is Satan who constantly works against God and the Satan takes revenge upon the Lord by besmirching His created beings by taking them toward the worldly paths and gross worldly enjoyments. Christianity considers all the human beings as sinners. Because of the Doctrine of the Original Sin! The Mohammedanism accepts the Old Testament. Thus they treat all human beings as sinners. And wants to beg God through prayers for deliverance by indulging in actions acknowledged by their Scriptures alone. They don’t believe in rebirths and thus make the Lord as a heartless being. Which is very very deplorable. God gives all human beings umpteen number of opportunities through rebirths to refine constantly oneself.   

THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER 5, SANYASA YOGA OR THE RENUNCIATION, VERSE NUMBER 11

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER 5

SANYASA YOGA OR THE RENUNCIATION:

VERSE NUMBER 11

Text in Transliteration:

kaayena manasaa buddhyaa

    kevalair indriyair api

yoginah karma kurvanti

    sangam yuaktvaa ‘tmasuddhaye

Text in English:

The yogi, abandoning attachment, performs work with the body, the mind, the intellect and the senses only, for self-purification.

 COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:

The motive-power of desire creates the evil of attachment and propels the mind and the senses on baneful missions. When the evil is eliminated the instruments become available for the service of the divine. When evil is eliminated the instruments become available for the service of the divine. The more they are engaged on holy purposes the better they get sanctified. The more they are engaged on holy purposes the better they get sanctified. Self-purification is effected this way. Karma is verily the means to this great end.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIVANANDA:

Yogis here means ‘Karma Yogis’ who are devoted to the path of action, who are free from egoism and selfishness, who work for the purification of their hearts without the least attachment to the fruits or results of their actions, and who dedicate all actions to the Lord as their offerings.

‘Kevalam’: ‘only by’ (free from egoism and selfishness) applies to the body, mind, intellect and the senses.

Comments by the blogger:

Once again Karma Yoga or the yoga of action is described. Repetition is one of the key instruments in teaching. The Lord makes the point stick firmly in the mind of His student. Repetition is a psychological weapon. By repeating what is taught by the teacher and learnt by the students, more and more brain cells are used to store more and more material and lines. This is what recalled at the time of examination and speaking and writing. The more brain cells are used to store knowledge the greater is the power of the student.

As in actual fact, we use not more than a miniscule part or portion of brain tissues. Howsoever a man is learned, if one tenth of his brain cells are used and filled with information it is a wonder. If that is the case of the much learned men, we can assume an illiterate’s position!

Each man’s brain is a storehouse. It is for the receiving of the ultimate knowledge. Gene genius is all about the number of brain cells used to store information with regard to any particular discipline of knowledge. The ultimate aim is for man to gain complete salvation. And only when a man obtains self-knowledge all his brain cells are used up and he becomes coeval with God, his Maker.

THE HOLY GITA , CHAPTER 5, SANYASA YOGA OR THE RENUNCIATION, VERSE NUMBER 10

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER 5

SANYASA YOGA OR THE RENUNCIATION:

VERSE NUMBER 10

Text in Transliteration:

brahmany aadhaaya karmaani sangam tyak tvaa karoti yah

lipyate na sa paapena padma patram ivaa ‘mbhasaa

Text in English:

He who act, abandoning attachment, dedicationg his deeds to Brahman, is untainted by sin as a lotus leaf by water.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:

The life, growth and sustenance of the lotus are all dependent on water. It dries away when severed from it. While constantly in touch with it, the lotus leaf does not permit being wetted with water. Man is born with karma and sustained by it. While fully availing himself of it, the yogi does not get affected by it.

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:

The Gita requires us, not to renounce works but to do them offering them to the Supreme in which alone is immortality. When we renounce our attachment to the finite ego and its likes and dislikes and place our actions in the Eternal, we acquire the true renunciation which is consistent with free activity in the world. Such a renouncer acts not for his fleeting finite self but for the Self which is in us all.

Brahmany aadhaaya karmaani. Ramanuja makes Brahman equivalent to prakrity.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIVANANDA:

Chapter IV verses 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 37,41; chapter V verses 10, 11 and 12 all convey the one idea the the yogi who does actions without egoism and attachment to results or fuits of the actions, which he regards as offerings unto the Lord, is not tainted by the actions (karma). He has no attachment for Moksha. He sees inaction in action. All his actions are burnt in the fire of wiseom; he escapes from the wheel of Samsara; he is freed form the round of births and deaths. He gets purity of heart and through purity of heart attains to the knowledge of the Self he is liberated. This is the gist of above ten verses. (Cf. III.30)

Comments of the blogger:

Here sin is referred to both good and bad acts. For, whatever the nature of the acts, if the fruits thereof are expected by the actor then it becomes a sin. In this wise, the word sin gets a limited interpretation. Anything is a sin that postpones for ever the individual souls’ chance of mingling with God. If we give lots and lots of amounts of money like Bill Gates for charities and desire the fruits thereof in heaven and the fame in this world, then Bill Gates has committed a sin. But I know he is humility personified and faithful in the real sense of the term. I have no doubts whatever in this regard. I saw a photograph in the English Newspapers a few months ago; it had been taken when the great man had paid his latest visit to India. And he appeared on the stage along with one of the Khans of Indian (Hindi) cinema world. And on the stage only the two persons were seated. Bill Gates was humility personified and Mr. Khan was seen seated with his legs jauntily crossed. In front of Mr. Gates Mr. Khan is an average nobody. He is famous because of the way we treat the cine artists as next only to God. And I also happened to see the footage on NDTV24 and when Mr. Gate’s name was announced he took it without even batting his eyelids. But when Mr. Khan’s name was announced he pulled a smiling face as though in self-deprecation. There were two persons on the stage, one was a humane being and another was a humbug. There was a psychological point of view too. When one behaved naturally simply the other was curiously suffering from a serious sense of inferiority complex in the presence of the great man on stage. He could have hoodwinked his countless fanes but not discerning persons. Who indeed is he in front of Mr. Gates?

Thus Mr. Gates’ contribution to the world’s impoverished people does not inflate his ego for the simple reason he has none. Could a Mother Teresa or a Mahatma Gandhi felt good and inflated when they were acclaimed for their selfless service to the humanity? In this league Mr. Cho Ramasamy should be added. He was the founder-editor of a very popular Tamil Weekly, namely, TUKLAK. Through out his life he exhibited no ego despite his huge achievements in the field of impartial and patriotic journalism. He was a lawyer, Dramatist and actor with more than 3000 stage appearance. In the field of religion also he rendered a great service. He was known for his wit and repartee and incisive articles and editorials. He was a cause behind the periodical changes in the State of Tamil Nadu’s administration. But he was, till his death recently, known for his effervescent politeness. He conducted a purely political journal. But he gave room for religious matters. He himself wrote scintillating interpretations for the twin epics of India, Ramayana and Mahabharata which will live till the last Tamil breathes on the plane of the earth! But the man would not take credit for his numerous achievements in varied fields. He would just say, “I have been able to do these because I was lucky!” He was a Karma yogi like Kamarajar, one of the former CMs of Tamil Nadu.

So it is not only raping Nirbhaya which is a sin, clamouring for the fruits of ones actions too is sin because we would have to come to this plane of consciousness time and time again. Anything that prevents salvation or self-realisation is a sin in Gita parlance. Actions themselves are not sinful or good. The way we treat them and the spirit in which we take them make them sin or liberation-giving ones.         

THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER 5, SANYASA YOGA OR THE RENUNCIATION, VERSE NUMBERS 8 AND 9

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER 5

SANYASA YOGA OR THE RENUNCIATION

VERSE NUMBERS 8 and 9

Text in Transliteration:

nai ‘va kimchit karomee ‘ti yukto manyeta tattvavit

pasyan srrnvan sprrsan jighrannasnan gacchan svapan svasan

pralapan visrrjan grrhnann unmisan nimishann api

indriyaanee ‘ndriyaartheshu vartanta iti dhaarayan

Text in English:

(stanzas 8 and 9 jointly)

The sage centred in the Self should think, “I do nothing at all”—though seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, going, sleeping, breathing, speaking, emptying, holding, opening and closing the eyes—firm in the thought that the senses move among sense-objects.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:

All activities pertaining to bodily existence take place in the non-Self. The Self is actionless. The knower of the Self is therefore free from agency. The person seated in an automobile does not himself move. He identifies himself with the moving vehicle and says, “I am going.” The person who blurts in sleep is not in reality the agent of that act. A man absorbed in some deep thought is not aware of the taste of the dish he partakes. In all these cases the activities are not actually of the persons concerned. Similar to these, the Jnani established in Atman is not the doer of the activities going on in the body, the senses, mind, intellect and the life-energy called praana.

SRI RAMAKRISHNA:

He who comes to know that he is only an instrument in the hands of the Lord, has no egoistic feeling. He is aware that he is only a tool with which God has His work done. Such a man causes harm to nobody. The poison of egoism is no more in him. a steel knife becomes a gold knife with the touch of the philosopher’s stone. Through the form of the knife is there, it is not useful any more for cutting. Similarly the Jnani retains a seeming individuality, but no ignorance-born activity occurs in and through him.

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:

We are called upon to realize the self in us which is pure and free and distinct from the factors of prakrti or objective universe. The constituents of the ego are impermanent, a flux which changes from moment to moment. There is no changeless centre or immortal nucleus in these pretenders to selfhood.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIVANANDA:

The liberated sage or jnani always remains as a witness of the activities of the senses as he identifies himself with the Self or Brahman. He thinks and says, “I do not see; the eyes perceive. I do not hear; the ears hear. I do not smell, the nose smells, etc.” He beholds inaction in action as he has burnt his actions in the fire of wisdom. (Cf. Xiv.19-23)

  

Comments by the blogger:

The ego sense of “I do this and that” entwines the embodied to the earth’s plane and there is no limit to the number of times he takes rebirths and comes back to the earth. But the perfected sage thinks himself to be the object in the hands of Eshwara and he has no ego sense of, “I eat, drink, empty, etc., etc.

Then is there no freedom of action for us?

It is there indeed. Nirbhaya was repeatedly raped by a handful of beasts and the beasts had the freedom action. They could have, instead of raping her, taken her and her boyfriend to the place they wanted to when they boarded the bus. They could have exercised the freedom in a way most of the bus drivers and conductors do. Instead of that they had to indulge in the horrendous acts of raping and almost killing with intent to kill. So it was a grossly wrong exercise of the freedom of choice God Has given the human beings. There could be no freedom to rape and kill. The freedom could have been, and should always be, used in a great way of helping out the fellow human beings. And the spiritually informed people feel the freedom is non-existent in this illusory world. They eat and drink and empty with a full understanding and acknowledgement of the fact that they are not eating, drinking and emptying. It is just the acts of the senses among the sense-objects!

Here is where the said informed souls take the world for a colossal illusion. Every object here can be looked upon both as an illusion and a great thought of the Lord. The whole world is taken for such a beautiful thought by the Lord. Everything here has no substance. Everything taking place here is an illusory thing. And the Lord is the Master of illusion. The whole Universe is taken for a thought. Then there is no question of slackening one’s hunger or thirst by giving one’s self up completely to the act. To escape from the consequences of acts, good or bad, is to treat them as that belonging to the Ishwar or the Lord of the Universe. The cosmic master has artfully hidden himself in everything and every act here. But if you take this Universe for the real then there is a baggage of having to indulge in Karma Yoga or the Yoga of Action. Even then there is scope for liberation.

So in the Lord’s world, there is scope for liberation for both who take this world as a real one and indulge in karma yoga or as a beautiful thought and lose one’s sense of self and ego here and think that it is the senses moving among the sense-objects.

This is also is an unique contribution of the Upanishadic Sages who understood the scheme of this cosmos by perching on the shoulders, as though, of the Vedic Sages. Both the Mohammedanism and Christianity take the world for the real one. And hence, for them, the actions on the earth’s plane become much too real. How could God be so hard on you? They say they do not acknowledge the Hindu belief in rebirths. Could an ordinary human mother give her son only one chance to learn to walk and become a toddler? Will she say, “Dear son, you must stand up and walk at one go. There should not be any falling down or lurching forward!” But the Lord of the Bible and the Lord of the Quran do just that. They give only one choice, one chance, only one birth on this earthly plane in which to prove their mettle. Those who prove their spiritual mettle, the miniscule minority indeed, could go to Heaven and enjoy all the pleasures for always. And the majority of the people, who could not prove their spiritual mettle would be tossed into Hell’s fire and have to stay fallen that way for ever! Is God that much harsh? And take the distinctions and differences in their God’s creation. One child is angelic in looks while another is ugly. One has all the limbs of its in perfectly working order, while another child has impairment of the body and or the mind! What wrong did those physically challenged children do even before their birth? And in the Muslim religion the faithful Muslims would go to heaven and enjoy everything including several wives, while others who could not come up to the strict par would have the liquid coming out of the festering wounds! And the women stay that way, women in Heaven too! One of the wives of a good man!

In Hinduism, there is no room for any carnal or gross pleasures after the soul’s complete emancipation. The emancipated soul mingle in God and become one and the same. God does not eat, drink and empty!    

   

THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER 5, SANYASA YOGA OR THE RENUNCIATION, VERSE NUMBER 7

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER 5

SANYASA YOGA OR THE RENUNCIATION:

VERSE NUMBER 7

Text in Transliteration:

yogayukto visuddhaatmaa vijitaatmaa jitendriyah

sarvabhootaatma bhootaa kurvann api na lipyate

Text in English:

With the mind purified by karma yoga, and the self disciplined, and the senses subdued, one who realizes one’s self as the Self in all beings, though acting, is not affected.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:                                          

There is a contrast between the earth-bound man engaging himself in action and the soul-liberating karma yogi doing so. Bondage increases in the former and diminishes in the latter. The action of the yogi not being motivated by any desire, his understanding gets progressively clarified. As his desires in all forms get liquidated his self-control tends to perfection. The desirelessness in him gets transformed into clarity of understanding. This clarity itself ultimately becomes the intuition which cognizes the one Cosmic Consciousness apparently appearing as the multitudinous forms of consciousness. Karma yoga itself is karma sanyasa because it brings in these successive stages of spiritual enlightenment.

SRI RAMAKRISHNA AS QUOTED BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:

An individual has the delusion, “I am the doer” as long as the philosopher’s stone has not converted the base metal his mind into the noble one of the divine eye. When he is in ignorance he entertains the feelings of agency such as “I am the doer this virtual act,” and “I am the doer of this vicious act.” This attitude is the continuation of the wheel of birth and death. But when one realizes God, one is freed from the feelings of agency and bondage. One remains convinced in the truth that God is the real doer of everything.

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:

He renounces all actions inwardly, not outwardly. Even Shankara admits that such action is quite consistent with the knowledge of Self. Even if he acts for the sake of world-solidarity, he is not bound by actions.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIVANANDA:

He who is harmonised by Yoga, i.e., he who has purified his mind by devotion to the performance of action, who has conquered the body and who has subjugated the senses, whose Self is the Self of all beings, he will not be bound by actions although he performs actions for the well-being or protection of the masses in order to set an example to them.  (Cf.XVIII.17)

Comments by the blogger:

The mind should be purified by karma yoga. George Junior Bush and John Mayer decided to invade Iraq. The plausible reason was to find out the poisonous bombs! Well the bombs were not found but Saddam Husain was found out from his underground hiding place after much bloodshed. They promptly hanged him till death. Such of the judicial enquiry and trial and judgment would not stand when the invasion itself was against all the tenets of the International Law. This exacerbated the Muslim community the world over. And this gave an impetus to Muslim fundamentalism and terrorism. As a result, the twin towers in America were razed to the ground. This made the American government shout hoarse for ‘justice’. When Osama-bin-Laden was killed, the cause of justice was sumptuously served. In the meanwhile, the international terrorism became necessary for the Muslim fundamentalists. So Syria happened. Such actions cannot purify the Man. They can only make His life a veritable hell on earth. This is Kali Yuga where justice, private, national and international, is at a premium. But the Lord of Gita wants our minds to be purified by karma yoga or the yoga of action and its renunciation in knowledge. When the international leaders behave in a rotten way, the individuals rot. Rama Rajyam is not a distinct possibility. But it should be a distinct goal. The leaders of the countries should be above blame. Then only there would be peace in the world. but the Bible Culture and the Culture of Quran being what they are, even violent methods of propagation could be justified, and have been justified on the basis of the individual claim, I HAVE FOUND WISDOM AND TRUTH AND MINE ALONE IS WISDOM AND TRUTH, AND THUS IT SHOULD BE MY WAY OR THE HIGH WAY, then even meaningful and peaceful life on earth is rendered impossible.

This is where the Hindu way of life assumes great importance. There is no compulsion thrust on a Hindu to PROPEGATE  his religion. For the Hindu Religion is not dependent on any one single person’s life. It got started by the way of life the Vedic Seers and Sages stipulated a particular way of life. The much talked about Rig-Veda was not a product of one man or woman. It was the product of more than a thousand sages over a long period of time. At the end, the slokas or stanzas were compiled by one great man, namely Viyasar. That was how the Hindu religion started as a way of life. The Vedas and the Upanishads and the Brahma Sutra form the backbone of the Hinduism. The Bhagavat Gita is one of the Upanishads! Today the world needs very much the Hindu way of life. The other two major religions should own up their limitations and should desist from the idea of propagation. All should come forward to follow the Hindu way of life. It is not a religion. It is a way of life. The Yoga Asanas or the yogic postures are practiced by people owing allegiance to all religions. That is only to prepare the body and mind to receive the knowledge and wisdom. But the asanas or the postures are adopted as a life-sustaining remedy for all ills by people the world over! It amounts to missing the wood for the trees. No one individual started Hinduism. The name, Hinduism or the word Hindu was not found out or created by any Hindu master. It was a general nomenclature given by the European Scholars in those days as the main Vedic Civilization started on the banks of the river Sindu!

Our mind should be purified by the yoga of action. The yoga of action is indulging in action non-stop as per one’s swadharma or self-ordained duty without any expectation of the fruits thereof. This is one part of the Hindu way of life. The persons indulging in it are called the Karma Yogis or the Yogis of right action. Self-discipline is part of the spiritual culture of the Hindu India.

There is a universal soul which imparts and crystallizes in each individual being. So seeing one’s self in all beings is the marga or the Hindu Way of life. (For the Christians and the Muslims there are as many souls as there are individuals and other beings like plants and beasts have no soul) One’s work and action must not harm anyone. That is not enough. One should always work for the good of the whole beings of the world which are individual expressions of Brahman or the Ultimate Almighty. Such actions will lose all the binding force and thus such persons will not have to come back to the earth’s plane. This is part of the scheme of the Universe. The Hindu philosophers alone understood Nature for what it is while others got busy in describing how their Gods created this world and the Man. That was why when one man, namely, Charles Darwin, came up with his theory of evolution the Christians started to question the Roman Church. There is much violence inbuilt in the pages of the Holy Quran. It is my way or the High Way for them. Only Hinduism and the Hindu way of life can cure all the ills of the world society and save our planet for the succeeding generations.

     

  

   

THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER 5, SANYASA YOGA OR THE RENUNCIATION , VERSE NUMBER 6

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER 5

SANYASA YOGA OR THE RENUNCIATION:

VERSE NUMBER 6

Text in Transliteration:

samnyaasas tu mahaabaaho duhkham aaptum ayogatah

yogayukto munir brahma nacirenaa ‘dhigacchati

Text in English:

Sanyasa, O mighty-armed, is hard to attain to without karma yoga: the man of meditation, purified by karma yoga quickly goes to Brahman.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:

A tender and unripe fruit clings fast to the tree that bears and nourishes it; but when fully ripe it severs connection from its sustainer. Similarly, the karma yogi gets from Prakriti the experience that matures into wisdom. He is a philosopher who translates principle into practice. Theorization and make-believe have no place in his spiritual career. By experiment he knows that life in the supersenses is superior to that in the senses. The mind of the unselfish man is more magnanimous than that of selfish one. Life blossoms better in him who lives for others than in him who lives exclusively for himself. Just as sound sleep is possible only for him who works hard, deep meditation comes to him who has negated his individuality in the service of others. It is self-denial that brings in purification of the heart. The one pure in mind becomes one with Brahman who is all purity. Here karma yoga fruitions in Karma Sanyasa.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIVANANDA:

‘Muni’ is one who does Manana (meditation or reflexion). Yoga is performance of action without selfish motive as an offering unto the Lord.

Brahman here signifies renunciation or Sanyasa because renunciation consists in the knowledge of the Self. A Muni, the sage of meditation, the yoga-harmonised, i.e., purified by the performance of action, quickly attains Brahman, the true renunciation which is devotion to the knowledge of the Self. Therefore Karma Yoga is better. It is easy for a beginner. It prepares him for the higher yoga by purifying his mind.

Comments by the blogger:

Among four yogas, Bakti Yoga  or Yoga of Devotion comes naturally for those people who are sentimental. But there have always been pure men of action. Unless they are taken care of, there would be chaos in the world.

Now the problem in Syria could have been averted and the Muslim fundamentalism could have been averted if there were a way out for the Rajasic Muslims inside the four corner of the Holy Quran. Pakistan would not have become almost a Rogue State which is said to be a Military having a nation if Karma Yoga had been crafted into the Holy Quran. In the early ages of the Roman Christendom many a staunch faith the world over would not have been obliterated through unashamed violence and ruthlessness if Karma Yoga had been crafted into the Holy Bible. Those two religions failed utterly to take into account the three division of the gunas  or tendencies in the mindset of the people of the world irrespective of the religion. When the Hindus were violently taken into Mohammedanism, the erstwhile sentimental people came up with Sufism. That is not acceptable to the present fundamentalists among the Muslim terrorists. So they had to be put to the sword.

All the ills of the Muslim Fundamentalism is a lack of space in the Holy Quran for the tremendous men of continuous action. Like devotion for the sentimental people, non-stop mighty action through Karma Yoga or the Yoga of Action is necessary. Both the above said religions lack the space for great men of action. This was exacerbated by the Word of Jesus and the Word of Allah the Great to go and propagate their respective religion and religious message. And the essentially spiritual word in the Holy Quran, Jihad got an intolerably violent interpretation that has taken the whole world and the multi-culture and the modern civilizations literally by the throat.

In Hinduism, as it interpreted the scheme of the cosmos and the relationship between the Man and Nature on one hand and the Man and God on the other, the three gunas of the Universe and the Man have been taken into account by the Vedic Seers some four thousand years ago according to the scholars belonging to other cultures and religions, and some nine thousand years ago, according to the words of Swami Vivekananda. And suitable arrangements in the Scriptures have been engrafted for all sorts of people for their salvation.

Like the yoga of devotion, the yoga of action also comes naturally to the Man. So Karma Yoga or the Yoga of action is better to start with and when all actions are geared toward the Lord with no selfish stake for the fruits of actions then it would be time for the Sanyasa yoga or the yoga of renunciation!

  

   

THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER 5, SANYASA YOGA OR THE RENUNCIATION, VERSE NUMBER 5

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER 5

SANYASA YOGA OR THE RENUNCIATION:

VERSE NUMBER 5

Text in Transliteration:

yat saamkhyaih praapyate sthaanam

       tad yogair api gamyate

ekam saamkhyam cha yogam cha

      yah pasyati sa pasyati

Text in English:

The state reached by the Jnanis is also reached by the karma yogis. He sees who sees jnana and karma as one.

 COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:

Knowledge and action are the obverse and reverse of the same spiritually evolving entity. The one is not to the exclusion of the other. He who knows truly acts rightly. He who does things perfectly knows them in their true perspective. Know and do, or do and know, are interchangeable. The contact with the one side of a coin necessarily leads to the contact with the other side. Jnana and Karma are in this wise two reading of the spiritual attainment of the sadhaka (practitioner). The knower of Brahman becomes Brahman. The knowing aspect here is samkhya and the becoming aspect, yoga.

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:

5b appears elsewhere in the M.B., Shantiparva, 305,  19; 316, 4. The true renouncer is not he who remains completely inactive but he whose work is done in a spirit of detachment. Renunciation is a mental attitude, the casting—off of desire in work; true work is work wit all desire renounced. There is not any opposition between the two. Cp. “When actions are performed by the wise man or the fool, the body (that is the external act) is the same but the inward understanding is different. M.B. says that the Bhagvata religion is equal in merit to the Samkhya religion.”

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIVANANDA:

Those who have renounced the world and are treading the path of Jnana Yoga or Vedanta are the Sankhyas. Through Sravana (hearing of the Srutis or Vedantic texts), Manana (reflection on what is heard), Nididhyasana (constant and profound meditation) they attain to Moksha or kaivalya directly.Karma Yogis who do selfless service, who perform their duties without expectation of the fruits and who dedicate their actions as offerings unto the fruits and who dedicate their actions as offerings unto the Lord also reach the same state as is attained by Sankhyas indirectly through the purification of their heart and renunciation and the consequent dawn of the knowledge of the Self. That man who sees that Sankhya and Yoga are one, as leading to the same result, sees rightly. (Cf. XIII. 24, 25; V.2)     

Comments by the blogger:

Sankhya Yoga, Karma Yoga, Bhakthi Yoga and Raja Yoga lead to the same result. According to this people like Mahatma Gandhi, Rajagopalachari, Kamarajar and scores of such Karma Yogis and Bhakti Yogis are on the same footing with  Jnanis like Sri Ramakrishna, Vivekananda and to cite a recent example, Sri Chandhrasekarendira Sarasvati Mahaswamigal.

How is it made possible? This tatva or Philosophy is unique to Hinduism.

Other major religions lose out to Hinduism in this score. Hinduism speaks to the individuals whereas most of the other religions speak to the whole people as a group. Both the Bible and Quran are not exception to this. That doesn’t mean they are not good religions. They are. But when they speak to the whole of the humanity, they fail to take into account the varied gunas or tendencies of the individual people. They put all the people in one great group and appeal to their devotion. They fail to understand the scheme of Nature. That Nature has three tendencies like sattvic, rajasic and tamasic. They fail to understand that the Man and Nature are constituted of five elements.

Hinduism speaks to the individuals. It probes deeply into the individual’s relationship with the world on one hand and his relationship with God on the other. Nature is a mother and a school. You can, as per your individual tendency, have belief in God and worship him always, or, with a belief that there is an omnipotent Power, you may indulge in Karma Yoga or the Yoga of action in an unselfish way without expectation of the fruits thereof. Or you may renounce this world and desist from all actions and gain wisdom or Jnana. This is not possible in the two above said religions.

Only a Bhagavat Gita can declare that the state or status reached by the Jnanis or people who have obtained wisdom is also reached by the Karma Yogis or the yogis on the activated mode. Only he sees correctly who sees Jnana (wisdom) and karma yoga (action) as one!   

THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER 5, SANYASA YOGA OR THE RENUNCIATION, VERSE NUMBER 4

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER 5

SANYASA YOGA OR THE RENUNCIATION:

VERSE NUMBER 4

Text in Transliteration:

Saamkhyayogau prthag baalaah pravadanti na panditaah

Ekam apy aasthitah samyag ubhayor vindate phalam

Text in English:

Children, not the wise, speak of knowledge and performance of action as differen; he who is truly established in one obtains the fruit of both.

COMMENTARY OF SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:

‘karma sanyasa’ which culminates in ‘jnana’ is described here as ‘samkhya’. Those who do not understand the purport of the Scripture are designated as children. Theory and practice are interrelated and interdependent. Right understanding leads to right doing; right doing brings in right knowing.

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:

In this chapter, yoga means the karma yoga and saamkhya means the intellectual way with renunciation of work.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIVANANDA:

‘children:’ the ignorant people who have no knowledge of the Self, and who have only a theoretical knowledge of the scriptures.

Children or ignorant people only say that knowledge and the performance of action are different and produce distinct and opposite results. But the wise who have the knowledge of the Self say that they produce the same result only, viz., Moksha or liberation. He who is duly established in one, he who truly lives in one sankhya or yoga, obtains the fruits of both. Therefore there is no diversity in the result or the fruit. This is the gist of this verse. (Cj. VI.2)

Comments by the blogger:

Both the practitioners of Saamkhya Yoga and Karma Yoga attain Salvation. That is, both the roads lead to Rome. Indeed, all roads lead to Rome!

How?

Saamkhya Yoga is the Yoga of knowledge. Karma Yoga is the Yoga of indulging in non-stop and selfless actions. Both result in Self-Realization or Salvation.

How could all roads lead to Rome? The above two are explicitly designated as the two paths with similar result of Moksha or Salvation.

Yes, very much so; but the Lord of Gita knows only too well that the majority of his creations among the Homo Sapiens would not come under either of the above two categories. That kind of people form the miniscule minority. If India has more than a billion people, it is difficult to see more than a million Yogis of the above kinds. The rest of us are watered down karma yogis and saamkhya yogis.

What is the watered down version. Such people have knowledge about the knowledge of yoga and they defenitly indulge in non-stop action, of course, preponderatingly or predominantly for selfish reason. But limited selfishness or refined selfishness is the basis or the mighty rock on which has been raised any Democratic State not excluding that of India.

The Lord knows this. But He can’t be expected to take lessons for inferior students alone. He, while taking care of the watered down yogis of the world, undertakes the mighty task of defining the state of the real and great Yogis of both kind.

Anyhow, as we have already seen that every atom of the cosmos forms the holistic whole of this fluxing Universe, the watered down yogis are not to be counted out of the reckoning. For, as we have seen elsewhere, today’s watered down yogi is tomorrow’s great Samkhya Yogi or Karma Yogi. We have to attain Salvation by gradation through millennial age of the universe.

Where is time for such Salvation for all the people of the world?

Time is not the essence of the Universal Contract.

There age of this Universe is unthinkable.

For instance, we shall see the Chapter Number VIII, and Verse Number 17. Sri Krishna says in this stanza: “Those people who know the day of Brahma which is of a duration of a thousand Yugas (ages) and the night which is also of a thousand Yugas’ duration, the know day and night.”   

In his commentary, Swami Sivananda says, “The Suryasiddhanta speaks of the same division of time. According to it:                                                                                                               Years

Kaliyuga (with its Sandhya and                                               

Sandhyamsa) consists of                                                                                             432,000

Dvaparayuga        (do)                                                                                                   864,000

Tretayuga              (do)                                                                                                1,296,000

Kritayuga               (do)                                                                                                1,728,000

Thus the Mahayuga consisting of these four Yugas comprises                          4,320,000

71 such Mahayugas with an additional Sandhyam at the close

Of 1,728,000 years make one Manvantara of                                                     308,448,000

14 such Manvantaras with another Sandhya, at the close of

1,728,000 yearst constinute one Kalpa of                                                          4,320,000,000

Two Kalpas make a day and night of Brahma of                                                8,640,000,000

360 such days and nights make one year of Brahma consisting of          3,110,400,000,000

100 such years constitute His lifetime of                                                  311,040,000,000,000”

Gosh, what a way to calculate, you may exclaim. Our scientists have calculated the rest of the life of our Sun, after which there will be no sun and everything here would be engulfed by darkness. That is

roughly to be stated as Brahma’s night’s commencement. The universe came into existence much before the Big Bang. For that also they give a period of time. They give the exact number of years that have passed since the Big Bang. (could the Big Bang itself be the first nuclear fission God had caused rise to!?) For there calculations they apply various method. For example, to calculate the Sun’s age they calculate the years since the first nuclear fission or the Big Bang. And they apply another method for the rest of the age of the Sun during which it will continue to shine. For this they calculate, going by the size of the Sun, the gas-mass the Sun now has in possession of. They know how much of the hot gas is used up for the Sun to shine in 24 hours. By dividing, I suppose, the number of gas-mass or the cubic metres of the Gas of the present Sun they arrive at the figure of time or years till which the Sun will shine.

And, Jaggy Vasudevji of Velliyangiri Hills who is the proponent of the Esha Yoga pertinently says that once the Sun loses its mass of gas, the Moon will cease to shine in the night. And as a result women’s menstrual cycle would stop and they will stop to produce children or procreate. Then it would be the question of when the last of the Homo Sapeans will die. And with him the Pralaya would have ended and Brahma’s night would have started!

So there is ample time for the majority of us all in the world to attain Salvation in a Brahma’s day. Here Brahma should be distinguished from Brahman of the Vedas or the Ultimate reality which has no namaroopam or name or physic. Whereas Brahma is a human being who would attain his salvation at the end of his life cycle.

Here one more thing should be looked into.

Even at the commencement of the another Brahma’s another day, there would be souls who had not attained salvation. And they would be yet again beamed onto the world’s platform to start their efforts at salvation!

Are these all to be believed?

Why, the Modern Science has proved that the so called infinite Sky has a definite shape and is finite  indeed. And the earth is round and it revolves around the Sun while rounding on it’s Southern Most Point. Can we see all these or feel and form an intellectual understanding thereof? Still we believe the scientists, don’t we?

Believe, the Ultimate Truth cannot be understood by human mind. But among us a miniscule minority indeed become realized souls and can understand all these.

Life is a great mystery and God is the greatest mystery novel writer!

THE HOLY GITA, SANYASA YOGA OR THE RENUNCIATION, CHAPTER 5, VERSE NUMBER 3

THE HOLY GITA

SANYASA YOGA OR THE RENUNCIATION:

CHAPTER 5

VERSE NUMBER 3

Text in Transliteration:

njeyah sa nityasamnyaasi yon a dvesti na kaariksati

nirdvandvo hi mahabaaho sukham bandhaat pramucyate

Text in English:

He should be known a constant Sanyasin, who neither hates nor desires; free from the pair of opposites, O mighty-armed, he is easily set from bondage.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:

It is not ‘sanyasa’ if a man renounces duty due to dislike; neither is it ‘sanyasa’ if he delights in escaping from duty. Selfishness masquerades here as self-denial! Then there is the man who mistakes the inertia in himself for equilibrium. His delight in slothfulness is interpreted as delight in the Self. It is not action but attitude that binds or liberates man. The emptiness of the posed tranquillity gets itself exposed in tribulation. But the karma yogi is proof against imaginary quietude. In the midst of intense activities he is free from likes and dislikes. True tranquillity is therefore tangible in him. While acting he is not the agent; while being in the world, he is not of the world. therefore the karma yogi alone is the true ‘karma sanyasi’

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:

nityasamnyaasi; one who has ever the spirit of renunciation. The true worker (karmayogin) is also the true renouncer (nityasanyasin), for he does his work in a detached spirit.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIVANANDA:

 A man does not become a ‘Sannyasi’ by merely giving up actions because of laziness or ignorance or some family quarrel or calamity or unemployment. A true ‘Sannyasi’ is not a hypocritical coward.

The Karma Yogi who neither hates pain and the objects which give him pain, nor desires pleasure and the objects that give him pleasure, who has neither attachment nor aversion to any sense-objects and who has risen above the pairs of heat and cold, joy and sorrow, success and failure, victory and defeat, gain and loss, praise and censure, honour and dishonour, should be known as a perpetual ‘Sannyasi’ though he is ever engaged in action.

One need not have taken ‘Sannnyasa’ formally but if he has the above mental attitude, he is a perpetual Sannyasi. Mere ochre-coloured robe cannot make one a ‘Sannyasi’. What is wanted is a pure heart with true renunciation of egoism and desires. Physical renunciation of objects is no renunciation at all. (Cf. VI. 1)

Comments by the blogger:

Here Arjuna is called ‘mahaabaaho’ or O mighty-armed, which denotes actions. Actions carried out with no stake in the result is true sanyasa or renouncement. Tranquillity is an inner matter and can hardly ever be faked. And a perpetual sanyasi or a man given to perpetual renouncement is free from the pairs of opposites.

For us how difficult it is to be free of pair of opposites! The good tide makes us hit the roof and anything bad hits us hard where it matters.

Once, Sri Ramakrishna went to attend a family function of a devotee. Though he was there for less than half an hour he could not bear the worldly men’s conversation with regard to worldly things. And he would never touch money. Once, when he was asleep, someone touched his body with a coin and it gave him such pain that he woke up in pain!

Inner Tranquillity also cannot be faked. Either it is there or not there. Once, the English Writer of fame, Somerset Maugham came to see the South Indian Saint of his time, namely, Ramana Maharishi. Maugham had many a question to ask of a real man of renouncement; but when he arrived at the Temple abode of the great Saint in Tiruvennamalai in Tamil Nadu, he came to understand the saint rarely, if ever, spoke. And his language was absolute silence. The great writer was sort of disappointed. But once he entered the big hall where the great saint was seated and sat there along with hundreds of others, within half an hour he felt deep inside him that all the questions he had come to ask had been sufficiently answered!

The Lord of Gita suggest the student with great arms to indulge in non-stop actions without entangling himself in to the pair of opposites. That would be true renouncement. It is not for Arjuna to go into the forest and eat beggar’s bread. He is a mighty man of mighty action. He should find his salvation through unselfish and selfless actions only.

 We should try to always not to become prey to honour and dishonour and pain and joy. It is an attempt and every attempt counts. Subramniy Barati, the twentieth century trend-setting poet in Tamil writes, “O, good heart, please bless your enemy!” By blessing our enemy we come to get great spiritual power. Every evil thought even against our worst enemy return back to roost. And with the result, we suffer. There is yet another and more arduous method of blessing our enemy: when we worship the Lord, we should pray for our enemies. And this we should never reveal to anyone. Then our inner spiritual strength would grow multi-fold.    

THE HOLY YOGA, CHAPTER 5, SANYASA YOGA OR THE RENUNCIATION, VERSE NUMBER 2

THE HOLY YOGA

CHAPTER 5

SANYASA YOGA OR THE RENUNCIATION:

VERSE NUMBER 2

Text in Transliteration:

                              sri bhagavaan uvaacha

samnyaasah karmayogas cha nihsreyasakaraav ubhau

tayos tu karmasamnyaasaat karmayogo visishyate

                                The Blessed Lord said:

Renunciation and performance of action both lead to freedom; of the two, performance of action is superior to the renunciation of action.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:

‘Mukti’ or the emancipation of the soul is contained in ‘Sreyas’, and it is the acme of the human life. It can be gained either by the renunciation of action or by its performance. The sacred Badrikashrama in the interior of the Himalayas may be reached either by a plane or on foot. Of the two, the latter means i s preferable because of the wide experience and the fruitful contact with the people that it brings. Karma yoga is akin to walking to Badrikashrama, while karma sanyasa is like reaching that place by plane. Through the karma yoga method wide experience is gained, the divine possibilities in the human is being processed to perfection and benign communion with the Lord’s creation is established. These great purposes of life are denied to karma sanyasa.

SRI RAMAKRISHNA AS QUOTED BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:

The inexperienced player at a game of dice wants somehow to score a victory and he is intent on it. But an adept in it takes to the display of his talents first and attends to the gain next. ‘sadhakas’ (practitioners) who want to escape from the turmoils of the world are second to those who serve the world but are not bound by it.

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:

The Saankhya method involves the renunciation of works and the Yoga insists on their performance in the right spirit. They are at bottom the same but yoga way comes more naturally to us. The two ways are not inconsistent. In saankya, jnaana ior insight is emphasized. In yoga, volitional effort is stressed. In one, we know the Self by thinking away the alien elements; in the other, we will them away.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIVANANDA:

Sannyasa (renunciation of action) and karma yoga (performance of action) both lead to Moksha or liberation or the highest bliss. Though both lead to Moksha, yet of the two means of attaining the Moksha, Karma Yoga is better than mere karma sannyasa(renunciation of action)without the knowledge of the Self.

But renunciation of actions with the knowledge of the Self is decidedly superior to Karma yoga.

Moreover, Karm Yoga is easy and is therefore suitable to all. (Cf. III.3; V.5, VL 46)

Comments of the blogger:

Both karma Yogis and Sankya yogis are tossed into the Samsara or the ocean of the worldly life. For men of contemplation Sankya is good. But for men of action, Karma yoga is not only ideal but it is the only marga or path. Moreover, all men of action cannot attain Moksha at one go. The dvandvas or duality is a strong enemy. The ‘I’ ness is an almost insurmountable hurdle even for the perfected karma yogis. And all men cannot take to even Karma Yoga. They, the majority of men just come, act for selfishness and go when the time is over only to come here later to pick up the thread. The Lord does not speak about the majority of the people! He only speaks about Karma yogis like Mahatma Gandhi. This is why the Lord states very pertinently in a stanza that of a thousand people who seek him only one or two make intensive effort at attaining Him, and of such a thousand people only one or to really succeed in their Yoga and of such thousand yogis only one or two attain Him!

Thus the majority of us are not even Karmayogis!

Here the Lord wants Arnjuna to be a Karma Yogi by indulging in war. He also asks us to indulge in the war of day-to-day life which is nothing but short of war between senses and sense objects. In this wise the Lord of Gita is more pertinent than the time He spoke to Arjuna. In this age of desk tops, lap tops, tablets and smartest of phones, the war between the senses and sense objects are at their height. We all should indulge in the war and pray also to God for Karma Yoga also includes Bakti Yoga or the Yoga of Devotion. We should try our level best to not be entwined by the dualities like pain and joy, success and defeat, shadow and light. And as and when we are defeated and find ourselves on the ground with our face to the ground, we should pray to God. The emancipation by gradation over a number of rebirths is the marga or way for us. Because we are overly worldly! But better than being one of the rapists of Nirbhaya, no?