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 Srimad Bhagavad Gita
ELIXIR OF ETERNAL WISDOM

~ Vyāsaushadham ~
The Divine Herb revealed by Bhagavan VedaVyasa
A Commentary by
Ramanacharanatirtha Sri Nochur Venkataraman

SRI RAMANA MAHARSHI BRAHMAVIDYASRAMA

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SRIMAD BHAGAVAD GITA (KINDLE)
ELIXIR OF ETERNAL WISDOM
Volume 1 of 3 (Chapters 1–5)

Commentary by
Ramanacharanatirtha Sri Nochur Venkataraman

gita.voiceofrishis.org

© 2023 Nochur Venkataraman

Kindle First edition: April 2023

Also available in Hardback and Paperback

Published by
Sri Ramana Maharshi Brahmavidyasrama Trust
4/8, Lady Desika Road, Chennai – 600 004
Phone (Bangalore): +91 98451 79294, +91 98860 76229
Phone (Chennai): +91 44 48566333
Email: [email protected]
(Those who wish to contribute towards this divine publication may contact the publishers at the
above email.)

Illustrations
Title Page – Bhagavan VedaVyasa
Foreword – Sri KVS (Dev Gogoi)
Chapter 1 – Arjuna and Sri Krishna at Kurukshetra (Manikandan)
Chapter 2 – Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi
Chapter 3 – Swami Vivekananda
Chapter 4 – Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi
Chapter 5 – Swami Tapovan Maharaj
Sri Nochur Acharya at Sri Ramana Maharshi Brahmavidyasrama

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 ॐ
नारायणं नमस्कृ त्य नरं चैव नरोत्तमम्।
देवीं सरस्वतीं व्यासं ततो जयमुदीरयेत्॥ SB 1.2.4
Let us begin this Holy scripture of supreme victory,
Jayam, after paying our obeisance to Lord
Narayana; and the best among men, the seeker of
Truth, Arjuna; to the Devi of knowledge, Saraswati;
and to Sage VedaVyasa, the Supreme Enlightened
Master.
Devotion to the Lord, the teacher, and the teaching
(the śāstras) makes life complete. By devotion to
Narayana and Guru, a noble seeker attains Jñāna
(Saraswati). Self-knowledge is the real victory.
*
Bhagavan Vedavyasa is considered the supreme
teacher and authority of Hinduism by Dvaita,
Visishtadvaita, Advaita and all other schools of
Hinduism. The Bhagavad Gita is indeed the greatest
life saving medicine bestowed by this holy sage. After
Vyasa comes Bhagavan Sankaracharya—the supreme
commentator of the Upanishads, the Gita and the
Brahmasutras. In that same stream of advaita arose
the splendorous sun—Bhagavan Sri Ramana
Maharshi. This commentary has emerged in that
sacred lineage.
*
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SANSKRIT PRONUNCIATION GUIDE

अ a hut
आ ā father
इ i sing
ई ī feel
उ u put
ऊ ū cool
ऋ ṛ wring, bridge
ळ ḷ girl
ए e medal
ओ o hotel
औ au now
अं ṃ champ
अः ḥ ha
ऽ ' (avagraha)
क k kid
ख kh dark-horse
ग g garden
घ gh dog-house
ङ ṅ ‘ng’ as in sing
च c chain
छ ch beach-holiday
ज j jug
झ jh sledge-hammer
ञ ñ new or as in señora
ट ṭ teach
ठ ṭh mutt
ड ḍ disc
ढ ḍh childhood
ण ṇ pond
त t wealth
थ th thunder
द d the
ध dh breathe
न n not
प p paper
फ ph uphill
ब b balloon
भ bh abhor
 म m main
ह h happy
य y young
र r run
व v vast
ल l lamp
श ś chandelier / shiva
ष ṣ should
स s sit

Exceptions:
Although the IAST scheme has been used for transliterating ślokas, certain
exceptions have been made while representing Sanskrit words within the
commentary to ensure ease of readability of commonly used words. For
example, chit is used instead of cit, acharya instead of ācārya, sushupti
instead of suṣupti, śishya instead of śiṣya, and so on.

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 CONTENTS

PROLOGUE
FOREWORD by Sri. KVS
INTRODUCTION
Gītā-dhyāna-ślokas
CHAPTER 1 Arjuna-vishāda-yoga
1.1; 1.2; 1.3; 1.4–6; 1.7; 1.8–10; 1.11–13; 1.14; 1.15; 1.16–19; 1.20–
23; 1.24–25; 1.26; 1.27–30; 1.31; 1.32–33; 1.34–39; 1.40–44; 1.45–
46; 1.47.

CHAPTER 2 Sāṅkhya-yoga
2.1; 2.2; 2.3; 2.4; 2.5–6; 2.7; 2.8; 2.9; 2.10; 2.11; 2.12; 2.13; 2.14;
2.15; 2.16; 2.17; 2.18; 2.19; 2.20; 2.21; 2.22; 2.23; 2.24; 2.25; 2.26;
2.27; 2.28; 2.29; 2.30; 2.31; 2.32; 2.33; 2.34; 2.35–36; 2.37; 2.38;
2.39; 2.40; 2.41; 2.42–44; 2.45; 2.46; 2.47; 2.48; 2.49; 2.50; 2.51;
2.52; 2.53; 2.54; 2.55; 2.56; 2.57; 2.58; 2.59; 2.60; 2.61; 2.62–63;
2.64; 2.65; 2.66; 2.67; 2.68; 2.69; 2.70; 2.71; 2.72.

CHAPTER 3 Karma-yoga
3.1; 3.2; 3.3; 3.4; 3.5; 3.6; 3.7; 3.8; 3.9; 3.10; 3.11–12; 3.13; 3.14–15;
3.16; 3.17; 3.18; 3.19; 3.20; 3.21; 3.22; 3.23–24; 3.25; 3.26; 3.27;
3.28; 3.29; 3.30; 3.31; 3.32; 3.33; 3.34; 3.35; 3.36; 3.37; 3.38; 3.39;
3.40; 3.41; 3.42; 3.43.

CHAPTER 4 Jñāna-karma-sannyāsa-yoga
4.1; 4.2; 4.3; 4.4; 4.5; 4.6; 4.7; 4.8; 4.9; 4.10; 4.11; 4.12; 4.13; 4.14–
15; 4.16; 4.17; 4.18; 4.19; 4.20; 4.21; 4.22; 4.23; 4.24; 4.25; 4.26;
 4.27; 4.28; 4.29; 4.30; 4.31; 4.32; 4.33; 4.34; 4.35; 4.36; 4.37; 4.38;
4.39; 4.40; 4.41; 4.42.

CHAPTER 5 Sannyāsa-yoga
5.1; 5.2; 5.3; 5.4–5; 5.6; 5.7; 5.8–9; 5.10; 5.11; 5.12; 5.13; 5.14; 5.15;
5.16; 5.17; 5.18; 5.19; 5.20; 5.21; 5.22; 5.23; 5.24; 5.25; 5.26; 5.27–
28; 5.29.

APPENDICES
Selected excerpts for contemplation
List of inspiring anecdotes
Reference Sources
Other books by Sri Nochur Acharya
***
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 PROLOGUE

S
rimad Bhagavad Gita has been widely interpreted being the sacred-most
text of Sanātana dharma. Revered by soldier and monk alike, it is
recognised for its over-arching spiritual teachings that deal effectively and
authoritatively with the quintessential questions facing mankind. Masters of
yesteryears have left behind valuable commentaries on it; and till today
newer ones continue to throw further light upon its fund of wisdom. What is
the specialty of this particular one, we might ask. Here we address this
question in a brief manner.
Magnificently enunciated and extensive in its scope and content, this
commentary shines as an all-round impeccable spiritual guide, arising as it
does from the Heart of a living legend, an Advaita Vedanta Master of our
times. This work is the latest jewel among Sri Nochur Acharya’s rich
compendium of classic Vedantic texts that have been penned by him over
the last two decades or so.
Belonging to the sampradāya of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi, the
Acharya holds a unique position and authority for clearly and
unambiguously conveying the non-dual Truth as revealed by the great sage
of Arunachala. The path of direct Self-Enquiry (Ātma-Vichāra) is central to
his teaching.
The Acharya’s scholarship in Vedantic scripture is no dry, analytical one.
For all who have listened to his spellbinding satsaṅgs over the last 30 years
or so, the power of his words and the amazing spontaneity and beauty of his
delivery are well known. This work too echoes that dynamic approach.
Anecdotes, stories and incidents from the lives of our greatest saints and
sages adorn the pages; examples help to drive home the meaning of the
verses in a beautiful way.
As with all his works and satsaṅgs, this consummate commentary too is
backed by relevant references from the Śruti (the Upanishads), Bhāshyakāra
Sankaracharya’s commentary, Srimad Bhagavata, and so on—which form
its bedrock; is based on yukti (clear reason); and is rooted in Anubhava
(direct experiential Truth).
Written in simple, lucid, accessible language, the text delves deep into
interpreting Bhagavan Krishna’s holy words. Each verse is dealt with
carefully, systematically and beautifully. From Acharya’s deep
contemplations arise passages of revelatory significance and exquisite
insights.
The scripture describes step by step the internal journey of Arjuna from a
state of utter despondency and breakdown, to that of balance and
equanimity, to peace and wisdom. Arjuna’s questions and confusions mimic
our own—what is life all about? Why the pain, the suffering? What is right
action? How do I find a way out of this mess, this constant struggle to stay
aloft amidst the chaos of life?
Just as does Krishna’s mellifluous flute, Acharya’s cadenced and meticulous
instructions flow directly and splendidly to reach the heart of every sincere,
yearning spiritual aspirant. Infused as they are with the divine compassion
of the Master, the words serve again and again to settle the mind in repose,
quietude.
Regular deep manana or even devoted reading of this text is sure to lead to
the highest fulfilment, bring ever-lasting solace, and settle us in absolute
rest, peace and equanimity. Bhagavan Krishna again and again promises
those on the spiritual path that success is assured, for if we attempt to put
these teachings into practice, the way somehow magically opens up, and we
are led by an unseen hand, the hand of the Lord Himself, who holds us
close to His bosom and breathes into us the highest Truth. Such is the
amazing impact of this extraordinary scripture.

***
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 FOREWORD

T
he Bhagavad Gita has had such an overwhelming appeal to all kinds of
people at all times. Cutting across all divisions, it is timelessly relevant.
Lord Krishna has indeed given a complete message. Hence anyone in any
station of life and in any circumstance can find answers to his questions
here. One can say it is a message of Brahman to jīva.
Krishna urged Arjuna to engage in war against adharma and do his
kshatriya’s duty. Gandhiji saw it as giving the message of Ahimsa as the
Supreme Dharma.
Nisargadatta Maharaja said one could be a night watchman and be happy.
Bhagavan Ramana made weaver Mastan and a mason jñānis in the same
way he made poets, army officers and cooks, jñānis. Cowherds and their
wives in Brindavan constantly dwelt in Krishna.
I have seen a tea-seller in the Himalayas effortlessly abide in the steady
state of Awareness. I have also seen men of moderate means married with
several children seamlessly stay in that state. I have seen people without a
rudimentary knowledge of Sanskrit and scriptures dwell in that state. Of
course, I have seen sannyasis with years of scriptural study glowing with
the knowledge of the Self. I know a young lady paralysed from neck to
foot, with a constantly happy face.
When I was in Uttarkashi in Uttarakhand, Himalayas, from 1996 to 2005, I
took bhikshas from Annakshetras, the food centres which supplied food to
sadhus. One day at an Annakshetra, I saw a sannyasi in ochre robes asking
a man in white clothes not to join the queue for bhiksha as he was not a
sannyasi. I told him, “Swamiji, He may not be a sannyasi, but He is
Brahman because the śāstras say, ‘sarvam khalvidam brahma’. The Swami
realised his error. Gita teaches us equal vision, for the Lord is in ALL.

समं सर्वेषु भूतेषु तिष्ठन्तं परमेश्वरम्। BG13.27

As Bhagavan Ramana said, Happiness is our own nature, and it does not
come steadily from any external thing.
Lord Krishna, in his Gita, has given mankind the muktividyā, which takes
one from fear to fearlessness, from tamas to Jyoti, from asat to Sat, from
mṛtyu to Amṛta.
German scholar Wilhelm von Humboldt wrote: “The Bhagavad Gita is the
most beautiful, perhaps the only true philosophical song existing in any
known tongue, perhaps the deepest and loftiest thing the world has to
show.” He added that he would not place any other book, however great,
beside it.
Mahatma Gandhi, who lived by every word of the Gita, said that the Gita
was dear to him even more than the Sermon on the Mount.
Gandhiji was a great learner; he was ready to learn from a child or even a
parrot—bālādapi śukādapi. He was influenced by the Sermon on the
Mount, the writings of Tolstoy, Ruskin, Thoreau, Ramcharit Manas, and the
Upanishads—especially Isavasyam—but it was the Bhagavad Gita which
had the most dominant and lasting influence on him. Gandhiji’s equal
vision came from his intense and constant reading of the Gita, for as
Vinobaji said, he and Bapu milked Advaita from Gita. Gandhiji advised
people to learn Sanskrit if only to read the Gita in the original. When asked
by a devotee if the Bhagavad Gita should be read, Bhagavan Ramana said,
every day.
I met an American woman in an Ashram in New Delhi in the 1970s who
said she had read more than one hundred commentaries on the Gita. I have
not read as many, but quite a few, and I would say without any hesitation
that Nochur Venkataraman’s present book is the most complete, lucid and
delightful exposition of the Gita. I had the good fortune of proofreading
several chapters of this book, and each word of it gave me no end of joy.
This book is written in a simple, unpretentious and almost conversational
style and is the fruit of three decades of study and exposition in discourses
in Tamil and Malayalam, which have been attended by large audiences in
Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Start reading it, and you will find to your surprise
and joy, how at once unputdownable and uplifting a spiritual book can be.
 KVS
Sri Ramanasramam

Sri K V Subrahmonyan (90), known lovingly as KVS, is a well-known and

beloved resident of Sri Ramanasramam. He has been in a few ashrams from
1970 and finally found his Sat-guru in Bhagavan Ramana in 1988. He lived the
austere life of a wandering sādhu in Hardwar and Uttarkashi for fifteen years and
returned in 2005 to Sri Ramanasramam. He has been guiding spiritual seekers
with his profound knowledge and insights.

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 INTRODUCTION

प्रकाशात्मिकया शक्त्या प्रकाशानां प्रभाकरः।

प्रकाशयति यो विश्वं प्रकाशोऽयं प्रकाशताम्॥ Manasollasa 10.24

Let the effulgence that illumines this universe and all visible lights with
its power of luminosity, shine forth in our hearts.

“Why not abide in peace? What great attainment awaits you that you again
need to move out of your inherent peace to activity or thinking?”—this is a
remark of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi to a person who was unaware of
the great treasure waiting within him. Bhagavan Krishna asked the same
question thousands of years ago in the Gita. “aśāntasya kutaḥ sukham—
without peace, whatever you may achieve, where is happiness? Where is
real fulfilment?” The Kathopanishad says, “We are faced with two choices
in life—one is preyas, and the other is śreyas.” Preyas is the road of power,
and śreyas is the path of peace. Worldly people are attracted naturally to the
way of power, as power is a highly addictive drug. Only wise,
discriminative and intelligent seekers choose the path of peace, śreyas. In
the very beginning of the Gita, Arjuna tells Krishna, “Show me the path of
śreyas.” This is the beginning of the spiritual quest. The quest about That,
or the inquisitiveness about the Transcendental, which can give us absolute
peace and fulfilment, which can end suffering in life, is like the celestial
dawn that appears on the eastern horizon before the splendorous sunrise.
The Upanishad says, “śāntoyam ātmā—the very nature of the Atman is
peace.” Seekers often ask, ‘What is this Atman—is it light? Is it something
splendorous like the Sun?’ It is not something you can envision; it is the
experience in your deepest being. It is śānti, peace, profound peace. Peace
is the nature of the Self. When the mind becomes still in meditation, śānti is
revealed. When the mind becomes distracted, the peace of the inner Self is
not felt clearly. When something helps the mind to touch the cool pool of
peace within, we mistake that ‘something’ to be the cause of peace. But the
truth is that peace does not arise from any external cause. Peace is the
Atman Himself; it is His very nature. The Self is of the nature of pure
Consciousness. The peace of the Self can never be taken away from us.
In our day-to-day life, peace is experienced occasionally in between two
disturbances. Although the very nature of the Self is peace, awareness and
eternity (Jñāna-Chit-Anantatā), we are not aware of it because it is covered
by the veil of ignorance—“ajñānena āvṛtam jñānam,” says the Gita. This is
the cause for our whole delusion— “tena muhyanti jantavaḥ.” This
delusion is the sole cause for all our suffering, vishāda, with which the Gita
begins—the vishāda that the great hero Arjuna encountered in his life,
which shook him to his deepest core and made him cry out for divine help.
Vishāda is another name for the veil that covers the Self. An entire life
without the knowledge of the Self is a long duration of vishāda. As
Bhagavan Himself says, “duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam; this world is made of
sorrow; it is a temple where only sorrow is worshipped.” Whatever we may
attain in this world is all evanescent. Health, beauty, wealth, knowledge—
they all come and go. The Truth, the Divine, is alone eternal; it never
changes. Hence it is called satyam—Truth. The definition of Truth is that
which never undergoes any change. Everything else undergoes change, but
satyam—which in the language of the Gita is Sat, Existence—never
changes. na abhāvo vidyate sataḥ—the Truth has no change, no
disappearance. It is ever available. Hence, when the Truth is discovered,
one has found that which is eternally stable. The Gita is not about some
spiritual experience that lasts an hour or so. The road of the Gita is the quest
of that spiritual experience, which, when it dawns once, remains steady—
sthitaprajñā.
The steadiness of that inner happiness is called sama—equanimity. But that
is often invaded by thoughts—forces of destiny. As clouds cover the sky,
such experiences overcast the inner peace. Attachment and aversion often
spoil this great treasure within. When we get involved in the world, we
come face to face with the insurmountable problem of dealing with
attachments and aversions. We find it impossible to live without likes and
dislikes, without doer-ship and enjoyer-ship. Worldly activities cannot be
undertaken without these four. By ‘world’, what is implied is rāga-dvesha,
kartṛtva-bhoktṛtva—likes and dislikes, doership and enjoyership. To deal
with another, I must have either a like or a dislike, and in order to act in the
world, I must possess doership and enjoyership. When the mind is
projected, it comes forth with these four aspects. All these make the road to
vishāda, suffering. When the mind subsides, it subsides along with all these
four, and the inherent contentment of our real nature—svarūpa-sukha—
shines forth. The peace of the Self reveals itself. The subsidence of the
mind can happen only through jñāna. jñānam labdhvā parām śāntim
acireṇādhigacchati—one who has this Knowledge, very soon attains
Supreme Peace.
Another path that Bhagavan has revealed in the Gita is surrender. When you
surrender, you touch the same Source.

तमेव शरणं गच्छ सर्वभावेन भारत।

तत्प्रसादात्परां शान्तिं स्थानं प्राप्स्यसि शाश्वतम्॥ BG 18.62

In this verse, Bhagavan indicates that by total surrender, you attain peace
and also locate a stable anchorage within. Once the inner current of
cognition is anchored in that unchanging, firm state of Peace, it is a sure
sign that the mind has found that illumining principle. Sankaracharya
beautifully describes such ones—tūṣnīm śilāvat sthitāḥ. They attain that
great silence; in them, we can see the spiritual experience unshakeable like
a rock. This is indeed the goal of the Gita—to somehow take the mind
inward. When the mind goes out through the five gates of the senses to grab
worldly things, it brings in heaps of dirt and lots of disturbing viruses of
ignorance. To take the mind inward, firstly, the path of spiritual practice,
sādhanā, must be chosen. In the language of the Gita, it is adhyātma-
nityatvam (steadiness in spiritual practice) and āchāryopāsanam (staying
with a great Master who can guide us in our inner spiritual journey).
It is indeed a great fortune to have an Illumined Master who gives us this
pure, crystal-clear teaching of the Upanishads, who constantly reminds us,
‘The treasure we seek is not outside; go within and ask, “WHO AM I?” Find
out your real nature.’ Whenever the mind slips back to its old roads of
disturbance, suffering and sensory pleasures, remind yourself that sorrow is
waiting; death is waiting to grab you. “All objects of the world hide sorrow
and suffering in their womb—duḥkha-yonayaḥ,” says the Gita. If we do
not feel the blow of suffering at the first touch, it is only a question of time.
Soon they will pour forth the torturous potion of suffering into the mind.
“There is no object outside which will not give us suffering,” say the
Upanishads. Everything other than the Self is bound to make us suffer. The
true purpose of even noble ideals like Guru, God and scriptures is to push
the extroverted mind inward and to cajole it to stay in the Heart. Whenever
the fickle and unsteady mind goes outward, withdraw the mind repeatedly
from that object, from that event, from that involvement, and make it stay in
the Self.

यतो यतो निश्चरति मनश्चञ्चलमस्थिरम्।

ततस्ततो नियम्यैतदात्मन्येव वशं नयेत्॥ BG 6.26

Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi has said again and again that the powerful
path of Self-Enquiry is the only way to withdraw the mind. We must
convince the mind that everything encountered in the world will ultimately
deliver suffering. Thus, the mind should fear getting attached to the objects
of the senses. Whenever the mind goes outwards, whenever thoughts or
passion arise in the mind, enquire, ‘To whom do they happen?’ When the
mind is invaded by passion, it is a sure sign that the house is on fire and will
burn down soon. As Bhagavan says in the Gita, these three—kāmaḥ
krodhastathā lobhaḥ, desire (passion), anger and greed—are sure roads to
hell. And the source of all three is indeed ignorance about one’s real nature.
Unsteady Self-experience is a sign of ignorance.
When the mind becomes obstinately attached to something, remind yourself
that tragedy is waiting. Enquire, ‘To whom is this passion? Who is the
experiencer behind this? Within this body, there is someone who is
experiencing every sensory experience, every thought, every emotion—who
is this?’ When you deeply enquire and observe within, the only answer that
your Heart can provide is ‘me’, ‘me’, ‘I’, ‘I’. Hold on to that ‘me’. It is not
a thought. You can clearly feel a throb within, a pulsation in your Heart.
Something arises from within like a wave, and when you touch that wave
with the inner observing power of awareness, you will know that it is the
centre where you live. Thus holding on to that feeling of ‘I’, when you
touch that ‘I’, when your attention sinks in that ‘I’, you find the ‘I’ itself is
the road which takes the attention to the Heart where the Lord hides—
hṛddeśe arjuna tiṣṭhati. Bhagavan says, “O Arjuna, I am hiding in the
Heart. That is my empire. From there, I rule.” When you follow the mind to
its source, you will reach the Heart, where you will find the Lord. That
finding is the finding of freedom. Train the mind to stay in that Home.
You will see that though the mind has touched the centre and has tasted the
sacred peace in the Heart, it will yet wander out as it is addicted to the
world. Like a fool addicted to drugs, it comes out again and again to taste
the poisonous worldly matters, which will disturb it again. Hence, train the
mind to stay in the Heart, to abide in that samādhi which the Gita calls
brāhmī-sthiti. It will gradually become steady, and when it becomes
changeless, you will find that the mind is no more deluded. “nainām
prāpya vimuhyati,” says Bhagavan, “A person who finds stability in that
samādhi-state, no more gets deluded by the world.” All great sages stayed
away from the world until they found this steady wisdom within. That is
why they resorted to the solitude of caves and mountains. We see in
Buddha’s life that after seeking out many teachers, he finally withdrew to
the forest of Uruvela, where he struggled much to attain that Enlightenment,
Nirvāṇa, which they call bodhi in Pali. That is the treasure sought by every
seeker.
Many are the sādhakas who have got a glimpse of this treasure. But worldly
allurement is so powerful that it does not easily allow us to stay undisturbed
in that sacred land of peace. In the Gita (18.51–53), Bhagavan says, “With a
pure intellect, controlling the body and the senses, moving away from all
entertainment, free of attachment and aversion, staying in solitude, with
wholesome and minimum food to sustain the body, remain immersed in
meditation, fortressed by vairāgya, dispassion. Such a mind soon attains the
state of brahmabhāva—brahmabhūyāya kalpate.” Meditate thus, giving up
all outer supports. If you hold on to any external support, the mind will go
out again and try to depend on it. Hence Bhagavan says, “sarvadharmān
parityajya—give up all outer supports, and māmekam śaraṇam vraja—
offer your mind only to Me, who is in your heart.” Then you will be totally
free of all suffering—sarvapāpebhyaḥ mokṣayiṣyāmi. You will be free, a
jīvanmukta. Grieve not—mā śucaḥ.”
The Gita begins with ‘The Yoga of Grief’ (Vishāda Yoga) and ends with the
greatest declaration of the Lord—‘Grieve not. Do not be miserable in this
world.’ Such a mind attains great placidity and tranquillity; grief disturbs
you no more; desire and expectation no longer disturb your inner
tranquillity—prasannātmā. Even when you wake up from your meditation
and involve in the world, you will not be affected by all the relationships
and activities of the world. You find your inner peace remaining
undiminished despite your involvement in the world. Only in such a state is
one free of danger. It is by abiding in such a state that the Illumined Sage
comes to serve the world.
Sri Ramakrishna used to say that a vessel made of brass must be cleaned
daily, or else it gets tarnished. But if you have a vessel of gold, this will not
happen. A sage in the state of jīvanmukti is like a golden vessel. No more
does involvement in the world tarnish him. This is the supreme goal, the
acme, of the Gita. Such great sages have walked this blessed land of India
many, many times. Every yuga, every century, has seen such sages. One of
the greatest such phenomena is Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi. This is not
mere hearsay; the author has lived with direct disciples of the Sage, and he
himself has experienced the fragrance of the Sage within him. And they
have all contributed to this elaborate commentary on the Bhagavad Gita,
which is indeed a contemplation on the Self.
The purpose of this commentary is to constantly remind the seeker that
what he seeks is within him—the pure jñāna-mārga as revealed by the
Upanishads and great sages like Sri Sankaracharya and Bhagavan Ramana
Maharshi. Some commentators have opined that the Gita speaks about
karma, and some others have said that it talks about yoga, but the
Gitacharya Himself says, “iti te jñānam ākhyātam—here I have expounded
jñānam.” In the Bhagavata too, Vyasa says, “That which was given by
Bhagavan in the war-field is pure jñāna.”* Of course, karma-yoga is given
much importance by the Gita. Without that, it is not possible to attain
sufficient purity to intuit our real nature. That aspect is also given
importance in the commentary. The chief intention behind every exposition
in this commentary is to turn the mind inward and to make one recognise
the most incredible treasure within. Once it is recognised, everything else
will happen harmoniously in such a life. This is the greatest spiritual truth.
Now, as we enter this commentary of the Gita, it is like a great pilgrimage,
a sacred journey, a tīrtha-yātra. Tīrtha means that which purifies. The more
you travel to holy places, the more purified you are. Spiritual purification is
not as easy as taking a ritual bath to purify the body. We do not know what
impurity hides within. Every step in this worldly life brings up something
from within, and they can be cleansed only by this sacred water of the
spirit. Thus the cleansing goes on, and this is the holy tīrtha-yātra.
In a pilgrimage, the devotee takes a dip in many sacred rivers and worships
in many temples. Similarly, in this tīrtha-yātra of life, one must worship in
many temples of events, individuals, pleasures and pains. The Divine
appears before you in various forms, and you must learn to worship Him in
all these temples. So too, you must take a dip in the many, many sacred
waters of insights which will guide you at every step. Thus, cleansing
yourself and worshipping the Divine, your whole life filled with
experiences, you reach the supreme sacred spot of surrender, the real
Vaikuntha. Here, you surrender entirely, give up your ego and become one
with the Divine. When you reach that spot, you are no more asked to do this
or that; you give up everything spontaneously; renounce, and surrender. It is
just like a river merging with the ocean. When the river approaches the
ocean, the ocean comes forward to welcome the river; it comes and mixes
with the river. In the same way, when the jīva starts to turn within, the Lord
comes forward and hugs the jīva. We cannot determine whether such a one
is a limited individual or the Supreme Infinite One. There is so much of the
impersonal in the Illumined Sage that we can neither say that he is a person
nor that he is not a person. All the characteristics of a person, such as the
body and mind, are seen in him, but when we interact with him closely,
when we have a feel of his Being, we find that he is not a person. He is
infinite, like space. Some blueness of the Infinity is found in him; that is
Krishna; that is the taste of the Divine. Only when you come in contact with
such a mighty being will you find the key to open the treasure-house of the
Vedas and the Upanishads. Then, you will find every step, every breath of
your life, meaningful. Then you discover that land of no name or form, only
Effulgence, Effulgence, Effulgence!

***
* गीतं भगवता ज्ञानं यत् तत् सङ्ग्राममूर्धनि। SB 1.15.30

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 ॥गीता-ध्यानम्॥
Gītā-dhyāna-ślokas
ॐ
पार्थाय प्रतिबोधितां भगवता नारायणेन स्वयं
व्यासेन ग्रथितां पुराणमुनिना मध्ये महाभारतम्।
अद्वैतामृतवर्षिणीं भगवतीम्अष्टादशाध्यायिनीम्
अम्ब त्वामनुसन्दधामि भगवद्गीते भवद्वेषिणीम्॥ 1

Om! O Divine Mother Bhagavad Gita—with which Partha (Arjuna) was

enlightened by the Lord Narayana Himself; which was incorporated in the
Mahabharata by the ancient muni Vyasa; the destroyer of rebirth; the one
who showers the nectar of Advaita and consists of eighteen chapters—upon
Thee, O affectionate Mother, I meditate.

नमोऽस्तु ते व्यास विशालबुद्धे फु ल्लारविन्दायतपत्रनेत्र।

येन त्वया भारततैलपूर्णः प्रज्वालितो ज्ञानमयः प्रदीपः॥ 2

Salutations to Thee, O Vyasa, of profound intellect, with eyes like the petals
of a full-bloomed lotus, by whom the lamp of knowledge filled with the oil
of the Mahabharata, has been lit.

प्रपन्नपारिजाताय तोत्रवेत्रैकपाणये।
ज्ञानमुद्राय कृ ष्णाय गीतामृतदुहे नमः॥ 3
Salutations to Sri Krishna, the celestial wish-fulfilling tree to those who
take refuge in Him, the holder of the whip in one hand and the Jñāna-
mudrā (the symbol of knowledge) on the other, and the milker of the nectar
of the Gita.

सर्वोपनिषदो गावो दोग्धा गोपालनन्दनः।

पार्थो वत्सः सुधीर्भोक्ता दुग्धं गीतामृतं महत्॥ 4

The Upanishads are the cows, and the one who milks them is Sri Krishna—
the delight of cowherds. Partha is the calf that makes the milk flow. People
of purified intellect drink the milk, the supreme nectar of the Gita.

वसुदेवसुतं देवं कं सचाणूरमर्दनम्।

देवकीपरमानन्दं कृ ष्णं वन्दे जगद्गुरुम्॥ 5

O son of Vasudeva! The destroyer of Kamsa and Chanura! The supreme

bliss of Devaki! That Lord Krishna, the Guru of the world, I salute.

भीष्मद्रोणतटा जयद्रथजला गान्धारनीलोत्पला

शल्यग्राहवती कृ पेण वहनी कर्णेन वेलाकु ला।
अश्वत्थामविकर्णघोरमकरा दुर्योधनावर्तिनी
सोत्तीर्णा खलु पाण्डवै रणनदी कैवर्तकः के शवः॥ 6

The battle-river with Bhishma and Drona as its two banks, Jayadratha as the
water, Shakuni (the king of Gandhara) as the blue waterlily, Salya as the
crocodile, Kripa as the current, Karna as the mighty wave, Aswatthama and
Vikarna as the menacing alligators, and Duryodhana as the whirlpool in it—
even such a fierce river was crossed by the Pandavas, with Kesava as their
helmsman.

पाराशर्यवचः सरोजममलं गीतार्थगन्धोत्कटं

नानाख्यानकके सरं हरिकथासम्बोधनाबोधितम्।
 लोके सज्जनषट्पदैरहरहः पेपीयमानं मुदा
भूयाद्भारतपङ्कजं कलिमलप्रध्वंसि नः श्रेयसे॥ 7

May this spotless lotus of the Mahabharata, born in the lake of the words of
Vyasa (the son of Parasara), with the intense sweet fragrance of the essence
of the Gita, with many stories as its stamens, fully opened by the discourses
on Hari, and drunk joyously day by day by the bees of good people of the
world, become the bestower of good to us, O destroyer of the sins of Kali
(the age of imperfection)!

मूकं करोति वाचालं पङ्गुं लङ्घयते गिरिम्।

यत्कृ पा तमहं वन्दे परमानन्दमाधवम्॥ 8

I salute that Madhava, the source of Supreme Bliss, whose grace makes the
dumb eloquent and the cripple cross mountains.

यं ब्रह्मा वरुणेन्द्ररुद्रमरुतः स्तुन्वन्ति दिव्यैः स्तवैः

वेदैः साङ्गपदक्रमोपनिषदैर्गायन्ति यं सामगाः।
ध्यानावस्थिततद्गतेन मनसा पश्यन्ति यं योगिनो
यस्यान्तं न विदुः सुरासुरगणा देवाय तस्मै नमः॥ 9

He whom Brahma, Varuna, Indra, Rudra, and the Maruts worship with
divine hymns; He to whom the Sama-Veda chanters sing from the Vedas
and the Upanishads methodically; He whom the yogis see with their minds
absorbed in Him through meditation; He whose end is not known even to
the devas and the asuras; to that Supreme Being I offer my salutations.

***
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OceanofPDF.com
 eace is the fruit of spiritual knowledge. That divine elixir can be tasted
P within only when the mind becomes quiet. Only through right living,
right action, right attitude, right goal, right knowledge and right meditation
does the mind settle in the Heart perfectly, and peace dawns.

The sole cause for all suffering, vishāda, is moha, delusion. When one
knows the Self, the Atman, where is delusion anymore—tatra ko mohaḥ?
The antidote is the knowledge of the Self. Instead of seeking causes for our
problems in the world, we must turn our vision inward. All problems have
the same seed—the ego—the feeling of ‘I’. When the attention is turned
inward by the enquiry ‘WHO AM I?’ one realises that the ‘I’ is neither the
body nor the mind but is the eternal, pure, immortal Brahman. When the
mind is emblazoned with the splendour of Self-knowledge, delusion is no
longer possible. Śānti, peace, alone abounds in such a heart.
The work of the Guru and the scriptures is in making us look at our real
nature; that is, to know that we are the Atman and not this perishable body.
We are Existence-Awareness-Bliss—Sat-chit-ānanda. This reality never
undergoes any change. Whatever agony we seem to undergo is unreal—
mithyā. All phenomena are only an appearance in the Self. If we know the
Self, all suffering will be recognised as a mere mirage.

YOGA
Finding fulfilment within is Yoga. That, indeed, is Brahma-nirvāṇa.
Extinguishing one’s ego-identity is Nirvāṇa, and re-discovering one’s
infinite nature is Jñāna. Here, one is permanently free of sorrow.
Thus, the goal is indeed freedom from
sorrow. The Gita begins with ‘The Yoga
THE GIVING UP OF ALL
of Grief’ (Vishāda Yoga) and ends with
ASSUMED IDENTITIES IS ‘mā śucaḥ—do not grieve.’ Yes, this is
YOGA. the message. If one finds peace within, in
the heart, then one has found it
everywhere. ‘parām śāntim śāśvatam—
you have peace eternal here.’ Peace is the Self, Brahman. It is the peace that
emanates from a Realised Soul that makes us recognise him. Śānti—Peace
—is also the Gita’s last word, and that is the fruit of Yoga. Buddha often
declares in his discourses in the Pali language, ‘This knowledge alone is the
eternal dharma.’* And the Lord—the śāśvata-dharma-goptā—is the
protector of it. To bestow that knowledge alone does He come to this world.
‘Yoga’ is the heart of the Gita. It is the goal of the Gita; no matter what the
topic is—if it is karma, it is karma-yoga; if bhakti, it is bhakti-yoga; and if
jñāna, it is jñāna-yoga.

WHAT IS YOGA ACCORDING TO THE GITA?

‘duḥkha-saṃyoga-viyogam—dissociation from assumed affinity to
suffering.’ This is the perfect definition of yoga. According to the
Yogaśāstra, vṛtti-sārūpyam—identification with the thoughts—is kḷeśa,
suffering. A desireless mind abides in the Self without much resistance
when, through the right method, it is withdrawn from its restless rush
towards sensory objects. The giving up of all assumed identities is Yoga.
Turning the mind from the seen to the seer—from the dṛśya to the dṛk—and
thus abiding in the Seer is Yoga. The ‘I’ must get swallowed into the
Supreme Source from which it has emerged. Then the seer abides in
himself. ‘svarūpe avasthānam—he abides in his real nature.’ This is Yoga.
Every chapter in the Gita has only one aim—to put one back into the state
of Yoga. Hence the Gita is also called Yoga-Śāstra. In the Gita, even sorrow
—vishāda—is used as a springboard to push one back to the source of one’s
existence, and thus, that too becomes Yoga. ‘tasmāt yogī bhava—hence, be
a Yogi’ is the message.
The first chapter is named Arjuna-Vishāda-Yoga. Vishāda means sorrow,
agony, or anguish. How can anguish become yoga? In some fortunate ones,
due to severe anguish, the mind gains immense velocity to go beyond the
sensory pulls. Vairāgya becomes intense. When such a dispassionate one
comes in contact with an Illumined Master, his vairāgya finds fulfilment in
Realisation.
When connected with the Lord, even vishāda or sorrow becomes Yoga. But
even the practice of yoga, if not associated with the Divine, turns out to be a
bhoga—mere physical exercise. In Arjuna’s case, his vishāda became yoga
due to his association with Krishna. Arjuna’s choice of Krishna as his sole
guide led his soul to light at the right moment, when it could have otherwise
succumbed to the forces of darkness. The most sacred moment in Arjuna’s
life was when instead of Krishna’s colossal army—the Nārāyaṇī-senā—he
chose Krishna. Instead of all the warriors and weapons, he chose the
peaceful, blissful, non-fighting Lord as his charioteer. At that moment, the
Pandavas had already won the war. Similarly, when a person chooses the
simple Truth, the Divine, instead of all the glories and powers the world
offers, he has won in life; his life will be crowned with the highest
experience of Supreme Peace.
Vishāda means one has lost the inner balance; one has slipped from
equipoise (samasthiti) and is in vishama-sthiti. A state where ‘sama’ is gone
is ‘vi-sama’ (not balanced). Vishāda is a tāmasik mental state. It destroys all
that is noble in the emotional plane. Valmiki says in the Ramayana:

शोको नाशयते धैर्यं शोको नाशयते श्रुतम्।

शोको नाशयते सर्वं नास्ति शोकसमो रिपुः॥ Va.Ra. 2.62.15

Sorrow leads to trauma which destroys one’s vitality. It makes one forget all
the noble ideals assimilated by listening to the scriptures. It almost puts
human sensitivity to sleep. Nothing is more detrimental to a sādhaka than
the cloud-gathering of the mind.
The sole purpose of penance is to transmute this crude mental metal into the
pure gold of Ātmānubhūti (Self-experience). This alchemy needs the touch
of a philosopher’s stone—chintāmaṇi—the diamond that the seeker chisels
within himself through intense contemplation. The meditator must convert
vishāda into yoga by the touch of the magic stone of contemplation—
manana. It also needs a celestial potion—the Grace of the Master bestows
that divine energy, the divine liquid of uninterrupted abidance within,
nididhyāsana. By entering that stream, transformation takes place.
“It is the Lord’s concern that a devotee should not slip from the spiritual
path and succumb to despondency,” says the Bhagavata.* Here, the Lord’s
redeeming power becomes active and makes possible, contact with a Guru,
through whom the knowledge of the Self dawns.

भवापवर्गो भ्रमतो यदा भवेज्जनस्य तर्ह्यच्युत सत्समागमः।

सत्सङ्गमो यर्हि तदैव सद्गतौ परावरेशे त्वयि जायते मतिः॥ SB 10.51.54

When Bhagavan wants to bless a devotee, His method is to give him divine
company. Through such contact, Ātma-jñāna is possible. Such a one will
contemplate and realise the Self and thus attain the highest freedom.
This is the method that leads one from vishama back to sama—from the
turbulence of anguish to the stillness of mind and from there to the
recognition of the eternally free state of jīvanmukti.
The tremendous act of transforming vishāda or suffering into spiritual
experience is a remarkable phenomenon in spiritual life. When it is
transformed as bhakti or spiritual experience, the person is significantly
benefited.

विपदः सन्तु नः शश्वत्तत्र तत्र जगद्गुरो।

भवतो दर्शनं यत्स्यादपुनर्भवदर्शनम्॥ SB 1.8.25

In the Bhagavata, Kunti says, “O Krishna, bless me with suffering so that I

shall remember to call you. Let every step of my life be beset with
suffering, and that shall make me call out to you deeply from the heart; and
You shall give me Your vision, Your experience. Thus, I shall be released
from this saṃsāra. The blessing that suffering brings can never be had
from pleasure. What we call suffering is not suffering, and what we call
pleasure is not pleasure. Real suffering is forgetting You, and the greatest
prosperity, treasure, is remembering You.”

A LOVE-LETTER FROM THE DIVINE

Swami Ramatirtha says, “Each suffering, if we observe it closely when it
comes, we will see something written on it. We will see that each suffering
is a love letter from the Divine Beloved. The Lord wants us to come to Him
and not waste our time in this world, and the quickest way to make us reach
Him is to make us suffer. Hence, utilise suffering.” The Lord Himself says
this in many places in the Bhagavata, “Whomsoever I love, whomsoever I
want to bless, I will make him suffer so that he renounces the world.”

DISEASES ARE MY REAL FRIENDS

Often wealth corrupts us; health too can spoil us by making us proud about
it. Whatever takes one away from God, from spiritual life, is detrimental.
Sometimes, to bless the devotee, the Lord gives him poverty or some
illness. A great devotee, Narayana Bhattatiri, says that only when afflicted
with the disease did he start worshipping the Lord of Guruvayoor. He says
in one of his ślokas, “he rogāh nanu yūyameva suhṛdaḥ—O diseases, you
are my real friends. Without you, I would never have called out to the
Lord.”
Another saint from Tamil Nadu, Manikyavachakar, says, “I was wandering
around in sheer ignorance, perpetrating numerous falsehoods. Bitten by the
snake of ignorance, the poison spread all over, and the pain of ‘I’ and
‘mine’ was about to overtake me fully. Then, that Mighty Being whom even
the Vedas seek came and stood right in front of me, preventing me from
hurtling headlong into abysmal depths. Then, through suffering, He gave
me the sweet experience of the Divine.”
All these anecdotes are given here in order to reveal the redeeming nature
of suffering when associated with a spiritual touch.

WHY ARJUNA?
Now, another question—‘Why was Arjuna, and not Yudhishthira, chosen to
receive this knowledge?’ The simple answer is that Arjuna alone deserved it
and hence owned it. This is a spiritual law. A person’s spiritual merits are
not to be gauged by what the onlookers see in him. His recognition of a
Jñāni is an indication of his spiritual merit. The power which makes us
recognise a sage, that power alone redeems us. Even if a person is the worst
of sinners, if he is able to recognise an Illumined Soul and surrender to him,
the Gita(9.31) says, he will surpass all noble people and become a Mahatma
—an Illumined Soul—very quickly (kṣipram bhavati dharmātmā…). The
recognition of an Illumined Soul is indeed the seed of surrender. Surrender
cannot be ‘done’ as an act. When the spiritual seed within a seeker comes in
contact with an Enlightened Master, it implodes as surrender. Thus,
Arjuna’s greatness is that he could recognise Krishna as his greatest
treasure. Against all the wealth and power of Nārāyaṇī-senā, he chose
Narayana. That very recognition is, in fact, the seed of Realisation.
It is the Realisation hidden within that makes one recognise the Realisation
in a Sage. This recognition made Arjuna follow Krishna like a shadow.
Krishna too, beautifully, and naturally, responded to Arjuna’s love. A Jñāni
and Bhagavan are like mirrors. Whatever your bhāva, accordingly they
respond.* Hence Arjuna became the dearest of Krishna. On one occasion,
Krishna says to Yudhishthira in the Mahabharata, “There is nothing in me
that I would not give to Arjuna. I would even cut my flesh and give it to
him.” Such was the relationship between them, which on the right occasion,
became a livewire to transmit the highest spiritual knowledge.
We have much reason to be immensely grateful to the Pandava family.
Grandfather Arjuna’s vishāda gave us the Bhagavad Gita, and grandson
Parikshit’s vishāda gave us Srimad Bhagavata.
There are three listeners for the Gita. The first, of course, is Arjuna—the
mukhya-śrotā, the most important listener; the second is Dhritarashtra, and
the third is Hanuman, seated in the flag. Hanuman is a perfect listener.
Since he already knows the teaching, he just listens and enjoys the Lord’s
song celestial. He is the very embodiment of the Gita. Dhritarashtra, on the
other hand, is a tāmasik listener. His listening is corrupted by the smoke of
doubt, anxiety, selfishness and desires; hence it is akin to rain falling on an
inverted vessel—nothing goes in. Arjuna is an intelligent disciple with
immense faith in the Lord, the teacher and the śāstras. For him is the Gita.
“He is neither a downright fool nor an enlightened one. He is a surrendered
devotee ready to imbibe the teaching.”* Unto him, that divine black cloud
rained the waters of Spirit.

***

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 धृतराष्ट्र उवाच।
1.1 धर्मक्षेत्रे कु रुक्षेत्रे समवेता युयुत्सवः।
मामकाः पाण्डवाश्चैव किमकु र्वत सञ्जय॥
Dhritarashtra asked: O Sanjaya, in Kurukshetra, which is also a field of
dharma, gathered with a desire to fight, what did my people and the
Pandavas do?

dharmakṣetre kurukṣetre. The Gita begins with the auspicious word

‘dharma’. The word dharma comes from the root ‘dhṛ’, which means ‘to
hold’. ‘The world has its foundation in dharma alone,’ say the Vedas.*
Dharma is the rhythm behind life.
The word dharma is also one of the names of the Lord. The Vishnu-
Sahasranama says, “dharmo dharmaviduttamaḥ—He is dharma and also
the supreme knower of dharma.” Dharma means the Lord Himself, and the
Gita starts with one of the most powerful names of the Lord—dharma.
Dharma is also a lesser-known name for the Mahabharata.
Dhritarashtra asks, “What happened at Kurukshetra, which is also a
dharmakshetra?” Kurukshetra by itself is a tīrtha-bhūmi. The devas have
performed many yāgas there. King Kuru, the predecessor of Kuru-vamśa,
had performed immense austerity in this place. This specific spot was
selected for the war in the belief that whoever dies there will either take a
higher birth or go to heaven.
Kshetra means field. Our life itself is a field—a field where we mindlessly
sow the seeds of ignorance and allow those weeds of suffering to grow
wildly. If these weeds are removed, and the field is kept fertile with the
manure of satsaṅga, the joy of God-experience will flourish there. It is up
to each of us to decide whether we want to allow the weeds of suffering or
the fragrant flowers of Ātmānubhūti to flourish within us—the choice is
ours.
māmakāḥ pāṇḍavāḥ. Dhritarashtra, the blind king blabbers here
“māmakāḥ—mine, mine!” māmakāḥ means ‘my people.’ Dhritarashtra
tells Sanjaya, “Please tell me what my people and the sons of Pandu did.”
Throughout the Mahabharata, we hear Dhritarashtra saying repeatedly that
the Pandavas are like his own sons, and that the Kauravas and the Pandavas
are alike for him. Now, during distress, genuine emotion slips out, and he
blurts out the words ‘my people and Pandu’s sons’. This unchecked
partiality of his towards his own sons leads a petty family dispute to a war
and ultimately ends up destroying the whole clan—such is the destructive
power of attachment of a blind mind wedded to a blinded intellect.
The wife is the better half of man. Dhritarashtra’s wife, Gandhari, blinded
herself deliberately. When a person is blinded due to ignorance, and his
contact is also with the blind, the result is innumerable desires—the
Kauravas! They are referred to here as ‘māmakāḥ’—my people. This is the
seed of all the conflicts, wars and calamities. ‘All these are mine; all those
are others’—from this separation arises all the problems.

अयं निजः परो वेति गणना लघुचेतसाम्।

उदारचरितानां तु वसुधैव कु टुम्बकम्॥ Hitopadesa

‘This is mine’, ‘He belongs to my sect, caste, religion’, and so on is the

attitude of laghu-cetāḥ—the petty-minded. To the large-hearted ones, the
world is their family.
Lack of spiritual knowledge is blindness. Dhritarashtra’s problem is
viparīta-jñāna—wrong understanding. dhṛtaṃ rāṣṭraṃ yena saḥ—
Dhritarashtra is a man who holds on to an empire which is not his. The one
who holds on to the world that is not his is sure to suffer. “If you try to
throw dust in the eyes of God—the inner conscience—dear, you yourself
will be blinded,” says Swami Ramatirtha.
The chief cause for vishāda is this ‘my-ness’. Contact with a sage
transmutes it as Yoga. Dhritarashtra is one of the fortunate ones who was
blessed with innumerable satsaṅgs. Many sages had visited him and
instructed him on dharma and jñāna. Yet, he twisted all he had heard to suit
his ego. When one is blind to the inner light, it results in a fixation upon ‘I’
and ‘mine’. One’s world becomes limited to ‘my body’, ‘my family’, ‘my
house’, and so on. ‘I’ and ‘mine’ arise due to spiritual blindness.
Anything we hold on to as ‘mine’ is saṃsāra; it will bind us. Gross
possessions such as house, wealth, family, and subtle possessions such as
name and fame are the chains we bind ourselves with. A person reads about
the death of many in the obituary column of the newspaper yet remains
unaffected. The same person is deeply affected when something befalls his
near and dear ones. Thus, our pain is not objective; it is subjective. Only
when it is related to us in some way, it becomes a problem. Mamatā is the
seed of sorrow. The deeper the ‘my-ness’, the greater the vishāda.

THE CAUSE OF ALL CONFLICTS

Once there were two monks—a Guru and a śishya—who lived in seclusion
in a forest. One day, the disciple visited a nearby village and came back and
reported that he saw the villagers fight among themselves. As he was not
used to the ways of the world, he was perplexed as to why they were
fighting. On hearing this, the master snatched the śishya’s kamaṇḍalu and
said, “This is mine.” The śishya replied happily, “Yes, Guruji, please take it.
It is yours.” The Guru smiled at the innocence of the disciple and said,
“Dear child, if you do not have a possessive attitude (my-ness), it is
impossible to explain to you the cause of conflict. There is no way you will
even understand why fighting happens in the world. This ‘my-ness’ is the
cause of all sorrows and conflicts.”
samavetāḥ—those who have come together here. We are all together, and
for what? yuyutsavaḥ—to fight our way to victory.
The Kuru dynasty is well known. It is in this lineage that the Pandavas and
the Kauravas were born. Kurukshetra is the battlefield where the war
described in the Mahabharata took place.
The word ‘kurukṣetra’ denotes this world, this life. ‘Kuru’ means ‘to do.’
This world is full of doing—karma. Karma means the ignorance of ego–
desire–action, avidyā–kāma–karma. Patanjali says,* “Ignorance, ego,
attachment, aversion and the terrible clinging to life—all these make up the
prison-house of bondage.” This field of karma is called ‘kshetra’. A detailed
description of ‘kshetra’ is given in the thirteenth chapter of the Gita.
In this karma-kshetra, all are fighting for their survival. This very trishṇā—
craving for life—is a form of death. This is visible starkly in the animal
kingdom. The thirst for life in the tiger is death for the rabbit or deer. In
humans too, we can see death roaming around busily. ‘mṛtyur-dhāvati,’
says the Upanishad. When death is prowling around, how can anyone rest in
peace?
This is the battlefield of Kurukshetra. We have no time to rest. The battle
begins right from the womb when the person is only a foetus, a small
worm-like creature, and it continues until the last breath. His war is with
hereditary habits, his own vāsanās, biological troubles, climatic and social
conditions and many such other problems.
The arrows of death may finish off our life at any time. A person’s life is
like that of a fly in a lizard’s mouth or a frog in a serpent’s mouth, which
may end at any moment. This is the battlefield. Hence Vyasa gives us the
picture of the great teacher Krishna, bestowing the highest knowledge in
this most uncongenial and worst situation of a war field. If you can have it
here, you can have it anywhere in life.
Every moment, you are at the bayonet’s end. Be aware of this fact and
know the Truth. Knowledge of the Self alone can bestow fearlessness,
freedom and peace. Identify with the body, and you are back on this
battlefield. Know the Reality. Know your real nature. Then, even amidst the
din and roar of the terrible butchering, you are in the cool ocean of Peace,
Bliss, Eternity. Know the real nature of your ‘I’. Nothing can kill you. You
will never cease to exist. You are Existence. You are Boundless. You are
Peace. This field of action is the field of dharma—dharmakṣetra.
“In sheer desperation, I scream from the heights of Realisation that dharma
can bestow wealth, prosperity and well-being. Alas! None is there who
listens to me.”* Thus is the wailing in wilderness of the mighty sage Vyasa.
Here Dhritarashtra asks, “All these people, after coming to the world where
they can perform dharma, kim akurvata sañjaya—what did they do, O
Sanjaya?” This is a question we must ask ourselves too—‘What are we
doing here?’ Career, ambition, this rat race for the will-o’-the-wisp is
simply madness. “ko dharmaḥ sarva-dharmāṇām bhavataḥ paramo
mataḥ—which according to you is that highest form of dharma?” asks
Yudhishthira after the war. He asks this question to Bhishma-pitāmaha.
That grandsire, lying on a couch of arrows, with immense peace radiating
from him, replies, “O Dharmaputra, the only dharma is to worship the
Lord, to know Him, to realise Him and to find the unending, eternal peace
within yourself. It is to do bhakti, worship. Know the Truth. Karma can
never give you peace. Know the Self and be free.” This is the message with
which the Gita begins.
When your attention cursor is moved inward to the focal point of the Self,
you see the orbit becoming harmonious. And around you will be the
circumambulation of dharma. Hence, the only way to identify dharma is to
recognise the fulcrum—the Atman within. Then and only then, life around
will be lit with the light of dharma.
When the power of will gets anchored to the realisation of the Self, the
whole inner energy gets tuned to divine harmony. This harmony that
descends into one’s system is dharma. Once the will is yoked to the sacred
goal, the Lord Himself will certainly come to drive your chariot to victory.
Then failure is impossible. “yasya goptā jagadgoptā—his protector is the
protector of the world,” says VedaVyasa.

SPECIAL POINT
This world is a dharmakṣetra. All of us have assembled here to do dharma,
to know what dharma is, because dharma alone can protect. dharmo
rakṣati rakṣitaḥ—one who upholds dharma, him dharma protects. No one
can avoid action here in this kurukṣetra. Our individual-self is like a
balloon filled with the air of vāsanās and ready to burst out as activities.
Hence this is a Kurukshetra, a field where we are placed, ready for battle.
There are two forces. One is māmakāḥ—our inner vāsanās, desires,
ambitions and cherished goals. The second is the external forces—the
pāṇḍavāḥ. What will happen on this battlefield? This is the question that
the jīva asks. Here it is Dhritarashtra—the blind person who represents the
ignorant man—asking Sanjaya, the one who is disciplined and has won
over himself. The question is, “What happens in this worldly life? How do I
transform this Kurukshetra, where I am destined to fight, into a
Dharmakshetra, where I will find and uphold dharma?”
 सञ्जय उवाच।
1.2 दृष्ट्वा तु पाण्डवानीकं व्यूढं दुर्योधनस्तदा।
आचार्यमुपसङ्गम्य राजा वचनमब्रवीत्॥
Sanjaya spoke: Having seen the Pandava army in the battle array, King
Duryodhana approached his teacher (Dronacharya) and spoke thus.

Sanjaya uses the word ‘tu’ to emphasise the words ‘your sons’ as a fitting
response to Dhritarashtra’s distinction in the previous verse between his
sons and Pandu’s sons. Sanjaya continues in a sarcastic tone, “Your son,
Duryodhana, went to Dronacharya and spoke to him as a king would speak
to a mere warrior in his army.” This is an oft-repeated scene in the
battlefield—very often, with anxiety, the petty fellow Duryodhana runs to
Bhishma, Drona or Karna and bemoans his fate.
This śloka begins with the word dṛṣṭvā—‘having seen.’ Though we face
many problems in life, rarely do we have the right vision of their full
magnitude. Here, we can see that although facing the same situation,
Arjuna’s and Duryodhana’s visions are vastly different. Arjuna had
immense compassion, whereas Duryodhana felt anxiety and depression
upon seeing the army. The army assembled by the Kauravas was much
larger than that of the Pandavas. Even so, after seeing the army of the
Pandavas, Duryodhana feels unsettled and goes to his teacher to vent his
woes. He had not thought that the Pandavas could mobilise such a vast
army. Besides, the one Principle on the side of the Pandavas, though
actionless, made it look pūrṇa. The black cloud with a dress of the colour
of lightning and a crown of peacock feather sent shivers down his spine.
The war was about to begin. On the other side, that act of great glory
happened. Dharmaputra, the son of Dharmaraja, the one who was the very
embodiment of dharma, removed his armour, put aside his weapons and
stepped down from his chariot. Everyone watched on curiously as he
walked barefoot, majestically and peacefully, towards the Kaurava army.
None had any clue about the intention of the king. Indeed, the majestic
Yudhishthira approached the great Bhishma, Drona and Kripa to seek their
blessings. He prostrated to all three of them. This is in stark contrast to
Duryodhana, who walked to his teacher in all arrogance and spoke hurtful
words. Yudhishthira, the mahatma, extracted the blessing for victory right
from the chieftains of the enemy army and returned after prostrating to
them. It is not the mere act of namaskāra but the heart behind it that
mattered; it opened the road to victory. This act of Dharmaputra immensely
pleased those sagely warriors. They blessed him to be victorious. Drona
said, “My dear child, I am pleased you came.” Gratitude, when expressed
by the disciple, kindles a joy, a divine heart, within the Guru. Bhishma said,
“I will tell you the secret; do not try to confront me. You have Shikhandi,
who, for me, is the Lord in the form of death. Put him in front, and I will
not fight.”
Herein lies the greatest secret of adhyātma-sādhanā—to defeat a force, we
need its permission and blessings. All the negativities and evils that a
sādhaka must encounter in his sādhanā are but various manifestations of
the One Principle; in a way, they are all various devatās. If we offer them
the appropriate worship, they themselves will intimate to us the ways and
means to transcend them. This is the way to get released from their grip.
Thus, Bhishma and Drona themselves revealed the way to win over them.
Kripa and Ashwatthama cannot be killed. Hence, they were left as they
were. So too, certain elements will continue to remain in the prakṛti of a
Jñāni. They will not obstruct his inner balance. But certainly, they will take
their toll and create trouble. That is what we call ‘prārabdha’.
Thus, even before the war had started, Yudhishthira exemplified the greatest
lesson of worship. A sādhaka must learn the lesson of respecting even the
hurdles. He should always be mindful of the basic principle that everything
is divine. “Karma carries in its womb the seed of its own destruction,” says
Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi. The sādhaka should master the art of keeping
quiet and waiting with immense patience. All success will come to the one
who knows this secret that everything is divine.
On the contrary, see Duryodhana’s behaviour. At the very beginning of the
Gita, we find this approach of an arrogant student to his Master—ācāryam
upasaṅgamya. Though here is a student approaching his teacher, no magic
of knowledge happens. This is because of the wrong attitude of the disciple.
Duryodhana speaks to Drona as a king to a subordinate and thus insults his
teacher. We may approach even the greatest of mahatmas, but our lack of
humility will shut all doors of insights. Duryodhana had numerous chances
to wake up and find real fulfilment in life. He failed miserably due to his
preoccupation with himself and his wickedness.
In this context, yet another incident in the Mahabharata is also noteworthy.
After finishing their studies, when the Kaurava and Pandava princes were
displaying their art of weaponry in the presence of Drona and Bhishma,
Karna entered uninvited to demonstrate his skills. He first did a namaskāra
to Kripacharya and Dronacharya; but Vyasa says, “praṇāmam
droṇakṛpayoḥ nātyādṛtamivākarot.” There was no reverence in his
namaskāra. It is the very first bhāva that continues throughout. The touch
of arrogance that was there at the beginning of his studies continued to
poison his actions throughout his life. Guru-bhakti—the devotional bhāva
towards one’s teacher—must be there throughout one’s life.

1.3 पश्यैतां पाण्डुपुत्राणामाचार्य महतीं चमूम्।

व्यूढां द्रुपदपुत्रेण तव शिष्येण धीमता॥
Behold the mighty army of the Pandavas, O Acharya, expertly arrayed for
battle by your talented disciple, the son of Drupada (Dhrishtadyumna).

The saṅkalpa that arises in our heart before the action is deemed to affect
the entire course of action. Here, instead of prostrating to his Guru and
seeking his blessings, Duryodhana uses harsh words with the intention to
incite and humiliate him. He addresses Drona as ‘Acharya’ to remind him
that he was a teacher to both the Kauravas and the Pandavas and that he
should not show any partiality during the battle.
paśyaitāṃ pāṇḍuputrāṇāmācārya mahatīṃ camūm—behold the mighty
army of the Pandavas, O teacher. When you have respect, you will first
address your teacher before speaking. Hence, the word ‘acharya’ should
have come before the word ‘paśya’—see. But here we can see the
arrogance—paśya comes first, and acharya comes after that. When Krishna
addresses Arjuna (1.25), the first word is ‘Pārtha’ and then comes ‘paśya’—
pārtha paśyaitān.
Duryodhana’s stupidity is writ large here as he describes to Drona
something quite evident—the formation of the army of the Pandavas. He
describes it as a grand army with reference to the shortcomings he perceives
in his own side.
tava śiṣyeṇa dhīmatā drupada-putreṇa vyūḍhām—expertly arrayed for
battle by your own gifted disciple, the son of Drupada. Duryodhana points
out angrily, “See, your own disciple has come to fight you.” Although many
others on the Pandavas’ side were also Drona’s pupils, Duryodhana
especially points out Dhrishtadyumna to deliberately belittle Drona. He is
enraged that Drona had accepted Dhrishtadyumna as his disciple, knowing
very well that the sole purpose of his birth was to kill Drona. Duryodhana
also refers to Dhrishtadyumna as Drupada’s son to remind Drona about the
dark history between Drona and Drupada. Through all these references,
Duryodhana implies that Drona had done a great disservice to the Kaurava
army with these seemingly unwise actions.
Drona remained silent as he listened to these barbed words from
Duryodhana. Here we can see in Drona all the signs of a Knower of Truth.
Drona had accepted Dhrishtadyumna as his disciple, very well knowing that
the sole purpose of Dhrishtadyumna’s birth was to kill him as vowed by
Drupada. He imparted all his knowledge sincerely to Dhrishtadyumna as to
his other pupils. Drona was humbly resigned to his destiny; he was aware
that he was to die one day, and it did not matter to him whether it happened
at Dhrishtadyumna’s hands or in any other way. He did not try to change his
destiny even though death came to him in the form of his disciple. This is
the outlook of a Knower of Truth. Hence when Drona died at the hands of
Dhrishtadyumna, the devas said, “eṣa brahmavidām varaḥ.”
We can see the majesty of a Knower of Truth in his total acceptance of
destiny. His heart is always cool like the full moon of autumn. Sage
Vasishtha says,* “Ever on guard by vichāra, he is profound like the ocean
and unshakeable like the Mount Meru.”

BHAGAVAN RAMANA’S FIRST TEACHING TO

HIS MOTHER
True freedom is not in changing something as it pleases us; it is in accepting
the truth that we do not have any freedom to change our destiny. This was
the crux of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi’s first upadeśa to his mother as
she pleaded with him fervently to return home. This is the teaching
Maharshi gave her: “The Ordainer controls the fate of souls in accordance
with their past deeds. Whatever is destined not to happen will not happen,
try how hard you may. Whatever is destined to happen will happen, do what
you may to stop it. This is certain. The best course, therefore, is to remain
silent.”

अत्र शूरा महेष्वासा भीमार्जुनसमा युधि।

1.4–6 युयुधानो विराटश्च द्रुपदश्च महारथः॥
धृष्टके तुश्चेकितानः काशिराजश्च वीर्यवान्।
पुरुजित्कु न्तिभोजश्च शैब्यश्च नरपुङ्गवः॥
युधामन्युश्च विक्रान्त उत्तमौजाश्च वीर्यवान्।
सौभद्रो द्रौपदेयाश्च सर्व एव महारथाः॥
Here are mighty archer-warriors such as Yuyudhāna and Virāṭa, who are
equivalent to Bhima and Arjuna in warfare, and here, Drupada the
Mahāratha. Dhrishṭaketu, Chekitāna, and the valiant king of Kashi, Purujit,
Kuntibhoja and Śaibya, the best of men. The heroic Yudhāmanyu and the
brave Uttamauja, the son of Subhadra, and those of Draupadi, all of them
divisional commanders and also great chariot warriors.

In these three verses, Duryodhana lists the names of the various mighty
warriors in the Pandava army. He points out to Dronacharya, the various
Maharathas (divisional heads who are in command of 11,000 archers) and
the Maheshwasas (highly skilled archers). He compares them to Arjuna and
Bhima to imply that each of these warriors is as mighty as the highly skilled
Pandavas. The unvoiced emotion here is that of despair as Duryodhana
begins to sense that something is lacking on his side, even though the
Pandava army is much smaller than his. He gives vent to this inner turmoil
by describing to Drona, who himself is a mighty warrior, the greatness of
the various warriors in the Pandava army.

1.7 अस्माकं तु विशिष्टा ये तान्निबोध द्विजोत्तम।

नायका मम सैन्यस्य संज्ञार्थं तान्ब्रवीमि ते॥
O best among the brāhmaṇas! Know also the names of those who are the
most distinguished amongst ourselves, the leaders of my army; these I name
for your information.

Duryodhana approaches Drona with the expectation that he will hear some
much-needed words of encouragement from his great teacher about the
strength of their army. Since Dronacharya chooses to remain silent despite
the repeated taunts from Duryodhana, Duryodhana now makes a feeble
attempt to assure himself of the greatness of his own army by listing the
valiant warriors arrayed on his side.
mama sainyasya. Here Duryodhana chooses to use the words ‘my army’
instead of the more appropriate phrase ‘our army.’ This is a deliberate
attempt from Duryodhana to convey to Dronacharya the message that
although he may be one of the chief commanders of the army, Duryodhana
was the King and the army belonged to him alone.
Drona is addressed here as ‘dvijottama—the best among twice-born’, which
is another name for a brāhmaṇa. Duryodhana belittles Dronacharya here,
referring to him as a brāhmaṇa amidst all the other kshatriyas at the
battlefield.

भवान्भीष्मश्च कर्णश्च कृ पश्च समितिञ्जयः।

अश्वत्थामा विकर्णश्च सौमदत्तिस्तथैव च॥*
1.8–10
अन्ये च बहवः शूरा मदर्थे त्यक्तजीविताः।
नानाशस्त्रप्रहरणाः सर्वे युद्धविशारदाः॥
अपर्याप्तं तदस्माकं बलं भीष्माभिरक्षितम्।
पर्याप्तं त्विदमेतेषां बलं भीमाभिरक्षितम्॥
Yourself, Bhishma, Karna, and the ever-victorious Kripa; Aswatthāma,
Vikarna, and the son of Somadatta (Saumadatti), and many other highly-
skilled heroes, equipped with the best weaponry, have staked their lives for
my sake. This army of ours marshalled by Bhishma (though it looks
limitless) is insufficient, whereas that army of theirs marshalled by Bhima
(though it appears limited) is sufficient.
Duryodhana goes on to enumerate the various mighty warriors in his own
army. He seems quite pleased that so many warriors have arrayed
themselves, ready to give up their lives for his sake. However, his joy is
short-lived as he realises that even with the infallible Bhishma protecting it,
his large army felt incomplete compared to the smaller Pandava army
protected by Bhima.
Duryodhana clearly airs his inner anguish as he complains to Drona that
their army feels incomplete. Kauravas have a larger army compared to the
army of the Pandavas; their army is eleven akshauhiṇi† strong and includes
Krishna’s mighty Nārāyaṇī-senā, whereas the Pandavas have only seven
akshauhiṇis. Duryodhana remarks that even though their army is protected
by none other than the mighty Bhishma, whose very name invokes terror in
the hearts of all, the Pandava army, protected by Bhima—who, according to
Duryodhana, is a mere glutton in comparison to the valiant Bhishma—feels
perfect and complete.
Even with such a vast army, Duryodhana feels that his army is meagre and
limited; he deems it to be insufficient—aparyāptam. The word aparyāptam
also means limitless (both meanings can be taken). When he looks at the
army of the Pandavas, he feels it to be limitless, powerful, compact and
complete.
There are two reasons for this ironic statement by Duryodhana. Not so long
ago, Duryodhana had witnessed the heroic feat of Arjuna single-handedly
fighting and conquering all these mighty warriors in a combat that ensued
in the land of Virata. This took place while the Pandavas were in hiding
after their exile. At that time, Arjuna was disguised as a woman named
Brhannala. Duryodhana is reminded of the shame of that day as his troops
had to make a hasty retreat, having been beaten by a woman.
There is another valid reason too—Duryodhana’s eyes were directed at
Arjuna’s chariot. The simple beautiful form that sat like a blue flower in the
chariot of white horses—His face, as if indifferent—was too much for
Duryodhana. It sat unarmed in Arjuna’s chariot. By His mere presence, this
Perfect Being, the Lord himself, the complete One, made it appear pūrṇa.
That Divine Figure that was seated as the charioteer looked limitless. There
was no boundary to the power of that Being who sat silently, actionless.
As the Śruti says, Arjuna had ‘vijñāna’ as his sārathi. The
Kathopanishad(1.3.9) says, “vijñāna-sārathiryastu—pure intelligence is his
charioteer.” Vijñāna means pure Consciousness, Bhagavan, Brahman. The
solidified form of vijñāna* was seated there as the charioteer. One look at
Him, and Duryodhana trembled. Here begins the greatest revelation.
Whatever may be the strength of the evil, it trembles before the gentle,
actionless, Divine Principle. Duryodhana feels aparyāptam—‘we are no
way near them. Even if we have all the armies, we are like mere flies
entering fire.’
The words of Bhishma ring in his ears now:

को हि शक्तो रणे जेतुं पाण्डवं रभसं तदा।

यस्य गोप्ता जगद्गोप्ता शङ्खचक्रगदाधरः॥ Mbha.

Who can win over the Pandavas and their anger, when they are protected by
the Protector of the world!
By His mere presence, the Pandava army, even though less in number,
appeared limitless and complete. It is at this moment that Duryodhana
realised his biggest folly—when given a choice, he had preferred the
powerful Nārāyaṇī-senā over Krishna, whereas Arjuna was content with
Krishna alone. Now perhaps unconsciously or vaguely, he feels that he had
blundered in choosing the Nārāyaṇī-senā instead of Narayana. Duryodhana
chose aiśvarya (wealth), whereas Arjuna had the inner intelligence and
maturity to choose Īśvara. The one who chose and received abundant
wealth (the massive Nārāyaṇī-army) was left incomplete compared to the
one who chose the Lord himself.
We can see this irony reflected in our lives as well. Whatever wealth and
fame one may attain, there is always an insatiable thirst to attain even more.
Even amid all luxuries, one still feels incomplete; there always remains a
void that worldly achievements cannot fill. Wealth, name, fame, power,
mansions and other luxuries, marriage, children—none of these come close
to bridging that inner gap. The secret to plugging that hole is to remain
connected with that Sacred Being within, the great non-doer. The nature of
the Truth, the Self, the Atman, is stillness, whereas the nature of the ego is
action. Even when the ego is fully immersed in various activities, the
Atman, the great non-doer, the non-enjoyer, is the ever-present witness. If
we choose to accept this silent principle within us, our life will be pūrṇa,
complete.
Devoid of spiritual goal, this war of life we all have to fight is a
meaningless disaster, a futile toil. Duryodhana is the best example for this.
He destroyed himself and annihilated almost the entire kshatriya race of
Bhārata-varsha due to his mad greed for power and envy towards his
cousins. And what did he achieve? Nothing.
Power and peace present themselves before all. Only the discerning,
discriminative and intelligent one chooses peace, which is eternal. Power is
called ‘preyas’ by the Upanishads, and peace is ‘śreyas’. The former leads
to darkness, whereas the other to eternal bliss and contentment. To achieve
power, we need to take great strides, but finally, only to reach a vast chasm,
an abysmal pit of meaningless depression. For peace, we need not move
even an inch. How much is the distance from you to your Self—your
Heart? “The Lord is in your heart; He is the all-knowing One who makes
you think, feel, work and reap the fruits of action. He is the cause, the
instrument (body), the doer, the right action, the wrong action—all of it! Do
not judge Him. He is the inscrutable One. Surrender to Him,” says Bhishma
in his parting words to Yudhishthira. ‘By such surrender, you shall attain
peace’ is also the final message of the Gita—‘paraṃ śāntim’. Then and
only then will you gain the empire which can never be lost—‘sthānam
prāpsyasi śāśvatam.’ Fight with the inner enemies—lust, greed, and so on.
Be free of them. Know the Inner Being. You have that sovereign Lordship
residing within you.

MANKI LEARNS A LESSON

In the Moksha-parva of the Mahabharata, Bhishma narrates an insightful
story of a person called Manki. Manki was a merchant whose only wealth
was a bullock cart and two bullocks. Once, while travelling to the market
with his cart heavily laden with grains, Manki started daydreaming. He
dreamt that he had become very wealthy with all the profit from selling the
grains. Then he dreamt that he had become a village chieftain; then he
dreamt of owning an army; then of becoming a vassal, and so on. Thus his
imagination ran riot. Ultimately, his dream took him up to emperorship
even though his possessions were only the bullock cart and the two bulls.
Preoccupied with his fantastic dream, Manki failed to notice a huge camel
lying in the middle of the road. When the cart hit the camel, the camel stood
up. Lifting upon its hump, both the cart and the two bulls, the camel started
running in panic. The bulls were strangled to death, the cart was damaged,
and the grains got scattered all over. Manki fell off the cart and got injured.
Thus, in a matter of a few moments, Manki, the emperor in the dream, now
lay badly wounded and a pauper, having lost everything. Contemplating on
this, Manki sings about destiny and declares that all worldly effort leads to
nought.
Narrating this story to Yudhishthira, Bhishma says, “This is life, O
Dharmaputra. This bullock cart is our body, and the bulls, our self-effort or
free will. Engrossed in the pursuit of pleasure, men fail to notice the camel
—destiny. The camel may stand up at any moment and block our way, and
that will be the end of our free will. This is life. It is always obstructed by
destiny.” Bhishma continued, “I took an oath to protect this Kuruvamśa, but
see what has happened. It has ended up in this terrific catastrophe, and here
I am, lying on this bed of arrows. This is the power of destiny. Our worldly
life, ambitious goals and achievements, tremendous will and doer-ship, and
all this toil are for nothing! Know that the only purpose of life is to realise
God, to know the Self. Self-Realisation alone is the goal. That alone is the
purpose.”
Clueless about this goal, an ordinary mortal is like Duryodhana. The
Bhagavata calls Duryodhana ‘kuru-kula-āmaya’—the incurable disease that
has invaded the race of Kurus. He was so involved in his dream world of
egoistic desires that even divine beings like Krishna and Vyasa were
helpless to redeem him. Unless you are ready, all the gods cannot save you.
If you are awake, your own Inner One is the greatest god; He will
constantly whisper to you—‘TATTVAMASI!’

अयनेषु च सर्वेषु यथाभागमवस्थिताः।

1.11–13 भीष्ममेवाभिरक्षन्तु भवन्तः सर्व एव हि॥
तस्य सञ्जनयन्हर्षं कु रुवृद्धः पितामहः।
 सिंहनादं विनद्योच्चैः शङ्खं दध्मौ प्रतापवान्॥
ततः शङ्खाश्च भेर्यश्च पणवानकगोमुखाः।
सहसैवाभ्यहन्यन्त स शब्दस्तुमुलोऽभवत्॥
“Now, all of you, take up your respective positions and guard Bhishma in
particular from all sides.” In order to motivate and encourage Duryodhana,
their glorious grandsire and the oldest of the Kauravas (Bhishma) roared
like a lion and blew his conch. Then, conches, kettledrums, tabors, drums
and cow-horns blared forth quite suddenly, and tremendous was the din.

Bhishma was the first to blow the conch on the side of the Kauravas. That
lion’s roar of Bhishma thrilled Duryodhana no end. Indeed, Bhishma is the
greatest warrior on the side of the Kauravas. Nay, he is the greatest of all
warriors. The roar of his conch was like the roar of victory to the Kauravas.
He is the marshal of the Kaurava army. On hearing Bhishma’s call for
battle, everyone in the Kaurava army also started blowing their various
instruments eagerly, creating a tumultuous sound.
We too do the same in this world—we blow our conches. The racket made
by each warrior represents how each individual comes to this world and
tries to show off his skills. ‘My achievement’, ‘My position’, ‘I am so and
so’, ‘I am a scientist’, ‘I am learned in scriptures’, ‘I am a master at
computers’, ‘I am an engineer’, ‘I am a doctor’, ‘I am a musician’—thus we
blow our trumpets. All these are only until the conch of death is heard. War
reveals the flimsiness of life. Many recognised the meaninglessness and
triviality of life during the first and the second world wars. The calamity
that raged in the world revealed the fact that death runs amok—mṛtyuḥ
dhāvati. Either as war or as an epidemic, it is death that roams about.

1.14 ततः श्वेतैर्हयैर्युक्ते महति स्यन्दने स्थितौ।

माधवः पाण्डवश्चैव दिव्यौ शङ्खौ प्रदध्मतुः॥
Then, seated in their glorious chariot drawn by white horses, Sri Krishna
and Arjuna, blew their divine conches.

As the Kaurava warriors blew their conches, a beautiful image unfolded on

the other side. Seated in an exquisite silver chariot yoked with four
magnificent white horses, Arjuna and Krishna arrived there. In response to
the war cry from the Kauravas, they too blew their conches. “mādhavaḥ
pāṇḍavaḥ,” says Sanjaya. Madhava is the name with which Arjuna
addresses Krishna often. The name Madhava is used here to portray that
even amid the battlefield, Krishna looked as sweet as honey (madhu). ‘Mā’
means divine power—Lakshmi. One who is always endowed with that
power is Madhava. Failure is impossible for him. Pandava is Pandu’s son. It
also means ‘the pure white one’—one who is pure enough to receive the
Brahmavidyā.
This was the most beautiful sight in the warfield! From wherever one
looked, one could behold and marvel at that sight. That silver chariot with
four white steeds and a flag portraying the roaring Hanuman dancing in the
sky; Arjuna, with his splendorous crown and the Gāṇḍīva bow; and lo! on
the charioteer’s seat, Krishna, like the blue sky, in a robe of lightning hue!
Bhishma himself could not take his eyes off that sight; so enraptured was
he!

BHISHMA’S VISION OF KRISHNA

This scene is portrayed wonderfully in Srimad Bhagavata (1.9.39)—‘vijaya-
ratha-kuṭumba ātta-totre…’ As he lay on a bed of arrows, Bhishma speaks
thus to Krishna, “Lord, do you know the picture that is etched in this heart?
When the mighty warriors came to the battlefield on that fateful day, this
grandchild of mine—whom I had cuddled and cared for as a baby, the one
who always mispronounced my name and called me father—entered the
battlefield.
All of us great warriors had ordinary charioteers, but this child—what tapas
he must have done—had You, the Lord Himself, as his charioteer! As You
pulled deftly on the reins of the horses, bringing them to a sudden halt, huge
clouds of dust rose from the ground and adorned Your sacred form all over.
Lord, You were sweating from the heat, Your hair was dishevelled, dirt was
lodged on Your body and clothes—but all these only enhanced Your
indescribable, sweet elegance. There, You stopped the chariot, stood with
Your hands on the hips in Panduranga pose, and devoured the Kaurava
army through those eyes. When I saw You gazing at us that way, I knew that
You had already slain us through Your dṛshṭi—the war was over even
before it had begun! You had given us liberation through Your nayana-
dīksha at that very moment.”
This image of Arjuna and Krishna seated in a beautiful chariot yoked with
four white horses is the quintessential image associated with the Bhagavad
Gita. Here Arjuna represents the jīva that travels in the chariot, which is its
body, guided by the Lord, which is the subtle intelligence of the heart. The
horses represent the senses, and the paths traversed by these horses
represent the various sense pleasures. The rope that binds the horses
represents the mind.
When the senses are not under control, they behave like unruly horses and
travel recklessly through various paths; the eye wants to see what it likes,
the ear wants to hear what gives it pleasure, the tongue wants to taste what
it likes, and so on. Such an uncontrolled chariot will never be able to reach
its destination; a highly skilled charioteer is required to control these horses
and to lead them in the right direction. The white colour of the horses
denotes the purity of the senses. When the senses are pure and are
controlled by a refined intellect, they begin to move in an orderly fashion
through the path of dharma. This analogy is described by the
Kathopanishad thus.

आत्मानं रथिनं विद्धि शरीरं रथमेव तु।

बुद्धिं तु सारथिं विद्धि मनः प्रग्रहमेव च॥ Ka.Up. 1.3.3

The chariot is the body, horses are the senses, the charioteer is the inner
guide, and the reins are the mind.
If the driver is good, the vehicle will reach the destination smoothly. But if
the driver is inadequate and gives nothing but trouble, the traveller is led
astray. Here, Arjuna had full faith in his sārathi, who was also a highly
skilled charioteer; whenever Arjuna was about to make a mistake, Krishna
counselled and steered him in the right direction. This was the secret of
Arjuna’s success.
If the sārathi is inept, the chariot will lead one to doom, as it happened with
Karna. Though Karna was equal to Arjuna in valour and skill, he failed. The
chief cause of his death was his charioteer, Śalya, who is a fitting example
of an incompetent and troublesome sārathi. Śalya means a prickly thorn,
something that gives constant trouble. An intellect that is impure gives
constant trouble. It drains out one’s energy by pouring cold water on the fire
of one’s self-confidence. Śalya’s incessant chatter undermining Karna’s
proficiency as an archer and his constant taunts about Karna’s inglorious
lineage served to puncture Karna’s confidence even before the war had
begun. Karna was greatly confident, but Śalya constantly derided him and
pulled him down. This is what an impure intellect does to a person.
Though Arjuna’s confidence was low-key, Krishna fanned it ablaze. When
Arjuna sat down in despair and declared, ‘I will not fight’, it was Krishna
who inspired him through his resounding words, ‘uttishṭha bhārata,’ and
instilled him with confidence. On the other side, Śalya’s words were
anything but inspiring. “Here comes the greatest archer, Arjuna. You can do
nothing to him; You may raise your bow towards him, but it will be of no
use. You, son of a sūta, have no right to even stand in front of him”—each
of these words was a mighty blow to Karna’s morale. When Arjuna was
faced with the fatal nāgāstra, Krishna pressed down his feet, causing the
chariot to sink and the horses to bend their knees; as a result, the arrow hit
Arjuna’s crown instead of his head, thereby saving him from grave danger.
On the other side, Karna’s charioteer, Śalya, deserted him at his most
critical moment. When the wheel of their chariot sunk in the mud, Śalya
refused to help and told Karna, “I am a king, and it is not proper for me to
get down into the mud. You are a sūta-putra—a charioteer’s son—you are
the one fit to do this task.” If the intelligence (sattva-buddhi) is clear, even
the greatest danger will disappear without harming us. On the contrary, if
the intelligence is at odds with our purpose, even if we have the most
powerful tools at our disposal, it will all prove inadequate in the end.
Śalya also represents the troublesome ignorance within us. Even when a
person is fortunate to receive the highest wisdom from the greatest teacher,
the knowledge fails to bestow fulfilment in him due to the obstacles within.
The chief impediment to śravaṇa is commonly called karṇa-śalya. Karṇa-
śalya means the person (or ignorance) who confuses or creates doubt in the
listener by saying, ‘It is impossible for you’, ‘What is the use of this in our
daily life’, and so on. Then you forget the teaching and fall back to
ignorance. The obstacle could also be our own doubts or thoughts that
corrupt our śravaṇa. This negative element we may call as karṇa-śalya,
which simply means ‘obstacle to listening.’ Even if we have confidence, an
intellect that is corrupted by ignorance will see to it that our confidence is
deflated. This is karṇa-śalya.
The Bhagavata says, “We all have an imperceptible companion—an
avijñāta-sakha*—who is with us always, but we see Him only at the right
moment.” Whoever befriends this avijñāta-sakha, victory is his. Krishna
was always with Arjuna. But Arjuna could behold Krishna as the Lord, as
the Sat-guru, only at the right moment. When the abject necessity arose,
Krishna initiated Arjuna into the science of Brahmavidyā and Yogaśāstra.
Although everyone is endowed with this subtle intelligence within our
failure lies in the fact that we do not know how to listen to it. This
intelligence is not the one that is usually associated with being smart and
ambitious in the world; instead, it is the intuitive inner voice which is all-
knowing. The Vishnu-Sahasranama says, “bhūta-bhavya-bhavatprabhuḥ—
it knows your past and your future, and it can handle the present very well
too.” Hence, surrendering to that power is intelligence. If we learn to listen
to this intuitive intelligence within, our chariot is sure to move smoothly
along the right path.
In order to progress in spiritual life, a seeker needs abundant prāṇa-śakti;
here, that prāṇa-śakti—Vāyuputra Hanuman—was seated in Arjuna’s flag.
As the golden hue that unfolds in the eastern horizon at dawn gives an
intimation about the forthcoming splendour of the divine orb, so too certain
divine signs shine forth in a seeker when he is ready to receive the greatest
knowledge.
All these signs were evident in Arjuna here—clear intelligence, senses
under control, immense prāṇa-śakti. Even when a person has, in
abundance, all these requisite qualifications for success, sometimes his own
mind ends up being his biggest enemy. Here, all other factors have favoured
Arjuna, but the devatā that is his mind was about to collapse. However, due
to the choice Arjuna had made long before the war, the divine anchorage
was here to protect him. Similarly, if we choose the Lord, He takes up the
reins of the chariot of our life. And when necessary, He says the right words
to wake us up.
1.15 पाञ्चजन्यं हृषीके शो देवदत्तं धनञ्जयः।
पौण्ड्रं दध्मौ महाशङ्खं भीमकर्मा वृकोदरः॥
Hrishikesa (Sri Krishna) blew his conch Panchajanya; Dhananjaya
(Arjuna), his conch Devadatta; and Vṛkodara (Bhima), the doer of mighty
deeds, blew his great conch, Paundra.

The word hṛṣīkeśaḥ has two meanings. Hriṣīkāni means indriyāṇi—the

senses. The Lord who attracts all the sensory inflows into Himself, who is
ablaze with Jñāna, is Hrishikesa. The holy place Hrishikesh (Rishikesh),
where reside innumerable monks, got the name as it is a tapobhūmi meant
for controlling the senses (saṃyama).
Another meaning for hṛṣīkeśaḥ is ‘harṣeṇa utpulakitāni romāṇi yasya’—
one whose hairs stand on end with inner joy. See the picturisation of
Krishna. He is seated amidst the din and roar of the battle. The tumult and
thunder of warfare are all around. Murderous figures are standing around.
There, this Yogi sits, driving and caring for the horses. Yet is he in any way
perturbed? No. His eyes are vast, like the ocean. In them are waves of bliss.
Hairs stand erect all over the body, indicating his inner joy—this is
hṛṣīkeśaḥ. This epithet is the most excellent tablet commentary of the Gita.
pāñcajanyam hṛṣīkeśaḥ. Hrishikesa—the master of senses, Sri Krishna—
blew His divine conch Panchajanya. Legend has it that, after Sri Krishna
vanquished the asura Panchajana who lived inside a conch, he kept this
conch Panchajanya for himself. As long as the asura is alive inside it, the
conch cannot produce any sound; similarly, as long as the ego is present
within the body, like a thorn stuck in the throat, no dhvani (sound) can
emanate from within. When the ego is subjugated, the divine praṇava-
dhvani—omkāra—will be heard within. dhanañjayaḥ is another name of
Arjuna; it means one who has amassed much wealth. When Dhananjaya,
the one with the inner wealth of divine qualities, comes together with
Hrishikesa, the one who is a master of the senses, it is a perfect and
complete match—pūrṇa.
After Bhishma, the marshal of the Kaurava army, blew his conch, next was
the turn of Dhrishtadyumna, the marshal of the Pandava army. Or at least it
ought to be Yudhishthira, who is the king. Or, perhaps Arjuna—the only
warrior on the Pandavas’ side who was equal to Bhishma—should have
blown the conch. But it is the Panchajanyadhvani of Hrishikesa that issues
forth from the side of the Pandavas.
As per war etiquette, a charioteer is not allowed to blow his conch; that
privilege is reserved only for warriors. Also, Krishna had vowed not to use
any weapons during this war. Why then did the Lord break these rules so
eagerly? Krishna blew his conch first, signifying that He alone is the fighter
on the side of the Pandavas; everyone else only appears to be fighting. In
reality, the Lord alone is the fighter within all the warriors.
On the eighth day of the war, Duryodhana came to Bhishma and bewailed
as usual, “Pitamaha, I cannot believe that the Pandavas are stronger than
you! Dear grandfather, you are deliberately compassionate to them. Why
don’t you kill Arjuna?” Thus he went on and on to the point of insulting that
mighty sage among the kshatriyas. Bhishma laughed at the desperate
Duryodhana and said, “My foolish child, how many times have I told you
that they are invincible. You know the secret. It is not the Pandavas who are
fighting; it is Kesava, Krishna. Though he appears to be doing nothing, he is
the one fighting. That is his secret. In his immense non-action, an enormous
amount of work is being churned out. No one can defeat him. Know that he
is the Lord.” These words are verily the commentary for pāñcajanyam
hṛṣīkeśaḥ. Krishna himself proclaimed this truth loud and clear through his
Panchajanya-dhvani, even before the war started. Referring to the non-
conventional way of fighting through ahimsā, Mahatma Gandhi said,
“Krishna gave me the clue that one can fight without fighting (with
weapons).”
Following Krishna’s Panchajanya-dhvani, Arjuna blew his divine conch
Devadatta, and Bhima blew his mighty conch Paundra.

अनन्तविजयं राजा कु न्तीपुत्रो युधिष्ठिरः।

1.16–19 नकु लः सहदेवश्च सुघोषमणिपुष्पकौ॥
काश्यश्च परमेष्वासः शिखण्डी च महारथः।
धृष्टद्युम्नो विराटश्च सात्यकिश्चापराजितः॥
द्रुपदो द्रौपदेयाश्च सर्वशः पृथिवीपते।
 द्रु
सौभद्रश्च महाबाहुः शङ्खान्दध्मुः पृथक्पृथक्॥
स घोषो धार्तराष्ट्राणां हृदयानि व्यदारयत्।
नभश्च पृथिवीं चैव तुमुलो व्यनुनादयन्॥
King Yudhishthira, son of Kunti, blew his conch Anantavijaya; Nakula and
Sahadeva blew the Sughosha and the Manipushpaka, respectively. The king
of Kashi, an excellent archer; Shikhandi, the mighty warrior;
Dhrishtadyumna and Virāṭa, and the invincible Sātyaki; Drupada and the
sons of Draupadi; the mighty-armed Abhimanyu, the son of Subhadra, blew
their respective conches, O Ruler of the earth. The tumultuous uproar,
resounding through heaven and earth, rent the hearts of Dhritarashtra’s
sons.

Following Krishna, Arjuna and Bhima, the remaining Pandavas—

Yudhishthira, Nakula and Sahadeva—blew their conches Anantavijaya,
Sughosha and Manipushpaka, respectively. Sanjaya goes on to enumerate
the other mighty warriors on the Pandavas’ side who joined in with their
conches as well. This included Shikhandi, Dhrishtadyumna, Virata, Satyaki,
Drupada, the five sons of Draupadi, and Subhadra’s son, Abhimanyu. The
uproar created by their conches was so fierce and powerful that it
reverberated through heaven and earth. Since Sanjaya was bestowed with a
unique ability to read the minds of the warriors on the battlefield, he
informs Dhritarashtra that this thunderous war cry from the Pandavas
terrified the hearts of the Kauravas and sent shivers through their bodies.
Through his choice of words, Sanjaya alludes that the Kurukshetra war is
really being fought between Krishna, the Lord, and Dhritarashtra, the blind
one enslaved to his desires. The non-fighting Lord blew the conch of bliss,
indicating the underlying secret that the real fight is between the horrifying
and the peaceful; or rather, a battle between the one blinded by darkness
and the one who is Light—Dhritarashtra on that side and Krishna on this
side. The truth is it is Krishna who is fighting from the side of the Pandavas.
This reply of blowing the conch by Vāsudeva was the most unexpected.
Hence Vyasa says that upon hearing it, the hearts of the Dhārtarāshtras
broke. Here, Vyasa chooses to refer to the Kauravas as sons of Dhritarashtra
to indicate that the blow of the Lord’s conch is against Dhritarashtra.
As stated in the previous verse, spurred on by the insults of Duryodhana,
Bhishma fought a terrifying war on the ninth day and blazed through the
Pandava army. He was just dancing with his bow and arrows. In
comparison to it, Arjuna’s fighting was gentle. Whenever he saw his
grandfather, he felt an upsurge of love in his heart. Though Krishna tried
several ways to kindle in him the fire of valour, nothing worked. At last, the
Lord Himself jumped out of the chariot armed with only the whip in his
hand. Seeing this image—Bhishma the terrible, with bow and arrow; and
this gentle figure, with only a whip, rushing towards Bhishma—all cried
aloud. What did they scream? Those who had witnessed the mighty valour
of Bhishma saw Krishna jumping towards him with no weapon, and yet
they cried out, “hato bhīshmaḥ hato bhīshmaḥ—now Bhishma is dead,
Bhishma is dead.”
When the Lord decides, He needs no weapon to kill even the mightiest. He
is death; He is immortality. Arjuna beseeched Krishna to withdraw. Then,
after throwing a cold look at Bhishma, which sent out a far-reaching
message to that grandsire on the Kauravas’ side, Krishna returned to his
chariot. But Bhishma said:

स्वनिगममपहाय मत्प्रतिज्ञामृतमधिकर्तुमवप्लुतो रथस्थः।

धृतरथचरणोऽभ्ययाच्चलद्गुः हरिरिव हन्तुमिभं गतोत्तरीयः॥ SB 1.9.37

In the field of battle, in order to make true my words (that I would make
Thee take up arms and thus break Thy pledged word not to touch any
weapon), Thou did actually abandon Thy promise (in the guise of protecting
Arjuna in imminent danger), and holding in hand a chariot-wheel, rushed
at me like a lion against an elephant, causing tremors of the earth by Thy
strides, forgetting even Thy falling upper garment in the course of Thy
charge.*
Bhishma was ready to die at the hands of the Lord. This scene is indeed a
glorious revelation of the real fighter of this war.

अथ व्यवस्थितान्दृष्ट्वा धार्तराष्ट्रान्कपिध्वजः।
1.20–23 प्रवृत्ते शस्त्रसंपाते धनुरुद्यम्य पाण्डवः॥
 वृ नु
हृषीके शं तदा वाक्यमिदमाह महीपते।
अर्जुन उवाच।
सेनयोरुभयोर्मध्ये रथं स्थापय मेऽच्युत॥
यावदेतान्निरीक्षेऽहं योद्धुकामानवस्थितान्।
कैर्मया सह योद्धव्यमस्मिन्रणसमुद्यमे॥
योत्स्यमानानवेक्षेऽहं य एतेऽत्र समागताः।
धार्तराष्ट्रस्य दुर्बुद्धेर्युद्धे प्रियचिकीर्षवः॥
Seeing the large army of the Kauravas arrayed in front of him, ready to
charge, Arjuna, whose banner bears the Hanuman, lifts his bow, and tells
Krishna with great confidence, “Achyuta, place my chariot in between the
two armies so that I can clearly see with whom I have to fight. I want to
observe those who have sided with the wicked son of Dhritarashtra and
have come here to fight in order to please him.”

Arjuna says to Krishna, “senayorubhayormadhye rathaṃ sthāpaya

me'cyuta—place my chariot between the two armies.” This does not sound
like a request made by someone to his friend; it is a king’s command to his
charioteer. This starkly contrasts with the laudable humility and modesty
Arjuna had hitherto displayed. Now suddenly, Arjuna is the master and
Krishna, the driver; Arjuna, the rathi, and Krishna, the sārathi. This is what
happens when one sits in a position of power.
Krishna does not say anything in reply to Arjuna. In fact, Krishna does not
reply to any of Arjuna’s laments in the whole of the first chapter. This
chapter of the Gita represents our worldly life; it is the stage for sorrow and
suffering. In such a world, God does not speak. He remains mute like the
temple gods and does not answer any of our questions. God remains silent
when the mind is active.
Here, Arjuna’s attitude is similar to our attitude to God. God is like an
obedient driver; He behaves as we choose to see Him. If we consider Him
our driver, He obeys silently—here Krishna is behaving like a dutiful
driver. Most of us see God only as a means to attain something in this
world. Here Arjuna is yet to see Krishna as the Lord. Arjuna is greatly
confident about himself and his abilities—he has the powerful Gāṇḍīva, his
impressive chariot given by Varuna at the request of Agni-deva, his flag
bears the great being Hanuman, and he has been victorious in all his battles.
Achyuta means the one who never falls, the one who never makes a
mistake, the one who never swerves from His eternal divine nature—an
infallible guide.

सञ्जय उवाच।
1.24–25 एवमुक्तो हृषीके शो गुडाके शेन भारत।
सेनयोरुभयोर्मध्ये स्थापयित्वा रथोत्तमम्॥
भीष्मद्रोणप्रमुखतः सर्वेषां च महीक्षिताम्।
उवाच पार्थ पश्यैतान्समवेतान्कु रूनिति॥
Sanjaya said: O Bhārata! Thus addressed by Gudakesa (Arjuna), Hrishikesa
(Krishna) placed the magnificent chariot between the two armies, facing
Bhishma, Drona and all the kings, and said, “O Partha! Behold all these
Kurus assembled here!”

As he heard Arjuna’s instruction, Krishna looked askance at him, as the

person who spoke now was vastly different from the person who had sat at
his feet some days ago, requesting his presence alone. Without uttering a
word, Krishna navigated the chariot and placed it in the middle in such a
way that Bhishma was stationed on one side and Drona on the other,
directly in front of them. This simple action of Krishna speaks volumes. He
chose to place the chariot in such a way that Arjuna’s greatest weaknesses
were right in front of him—Bhishma-pitāmaha and his esteemed teacher
Dronacharya whom he revered as God Himself.
As if this was not enough mischief, to inflame Arjuna further, Krishna
breaks his silence and says, “Here, look at all these Kurus that you have to
fight with.” (These are the only words directly spoken by Krishna in the
first chapter of the Gita.) The moment this was pointed out to him, Arjuna
looked at them with his whole heart behind his eyes, and the gallant and
heroic warrior broke down.

uvāca pārtha paśyaitān samavetān kurūn iti

‘O Partha, look…’ These words of Krishna were a mantra that transfigured
Arjuna from within. Someone else peeped through his eyes; it was not the
usual Arjuna. Something which was not his personality looked through his
eyeballs. It was an entirely different look which made him see all the
attachments, passions, the consequences of the war, and the calamity that
would inevitably follow. All this was not achieved by Arjuna’s own vision;
it was Krishna who made him see them.
Here Arjuna is referred to as guḍākeśa—the one who has conquered sleep.
Arjuna had done much tapas in the past and had won over sleep. He could
decide when and where to sleep. If he got tired during a battle, he could, at
his own will, snatch a few winks of sleep even while standing and become
rejuvenated instantly. Thus, sleep was fully under his control, whereas in
our case, we are in the clutches of sleep. He who has won control over sleep
has jāgrata; in such a person, Self-knowledge will shine forth easily. This is
another favourable quality that we can see in Arjuna. A sādhaka too must
learn this art of giving rest to the system by stealing a few moments of sleep
at will.
Krishna is again referred to here as hṛṣīkeśaḥ, meaning the one who has
complete mastery over the five senses. The five senses are the five kendras
(centres) through which the Chit-śakti projects itself from the heart. The
wise one who establishes these five senses back in the heart is hṛṣīkeśaḥ.
This process of withdrawing the senses from their objects and offering them
step by step, as an oblation to the Inner Fire, is called nyāsa.
Duryodhana’s scene starts with ‘dṛshṭvā’—‘having seen’. He saw of his
own. Our vision of the world, interpreted by our egoistic desires, can only
lead to a perverted understanding. Hence, what follows is an outburst of
arrogance in Duryodhana. In Arjuna’s case, he was ‘made to see’ by
Krishna. The Lord said, ‘Partha, look!’ That made an oceanic difference.
One touch from Krishna made the valorous hard-baked warrior melt as
molten gold to fall into the divine mould. Anguish—vishāda—is the
inevitable middle stage.

BUDDHA AND HIS CHARIOTEER CHAANNA

To recognise the world as full of suffering and to attain vairāgya, we need
the touch of a Master, as it happened in Buddha’s life. For Buddha, it was
his charioteer—Chaanna—who became his Guru by pointing out to him the
various sufferings in the world. Buddha’s biography says this was the work
of a siddha, who entered the charioteer’s body to initiate the prince into
monkhood. Prince Siddhartha was taken through the city and villages by the
blessed charioteer Chaanna. The youthful prince was bubbling with joy and
was full of optimism about life. But on the way, the first sight was that of a
crippled person. Next was a dead body, and then an old man tottering with
his stick.
“Disease, old age and death… O dear Chaanna, what are these!”
“That is the life of the world, O Lord.”
“Will everyone face these?”
“Certainly, my Lord.”
The prince looked at the charioteer with great sadness.
“Is there any way to be free?”
“Dear prince, behold there, under the tree lies the solution…”
The prince looked and saw an enlightened sage sitting in deep samādhi.
“He has found nirvāṇa, Lord!” said Chaanna
“Yes, his serene face tells more,” whispered the prince, “There is sorrow
and certainly a way to be free of it.”
This was the blessed moment of vairāgya in Siddhartha’s life.

यदि जन्मजरामरणं न भवेत्यदि चेष्टवियोगभयं न भवेत्।

यदि सर्वमनित्यमिदं न भवेत्इह जन्मानि कस्य रतिर्न भवेत्॥

If there were no birth, no old age, no death, and further, if there were no
fear of being separated from one’s loved ones, if all that is here was not
impermanent, then who would not have a passion for this life?
This is a famous statement of Buddha.
Mere suffering devoid of the opportunity to hear the teaching from an
Enlightened Master will only lead one to the threshold of depression. On
the other hand, when suffering is accompanied by association with a
Master, it can lead one to the highest glory. Here, by Krishna’s grace,
Arjuna had both. The intimation about the blessed state of Nirvāṇa, where
one can be absolutely free of suffering, is indeed divine grace.

तत्रापश्यत्स्थितान्पार्थः पितॄनथ पितामहान्।

1.26 आचार्यान्मातुलान्भ्रातॄन्पुत्रान्पौत्रान्सखींस्तथा॥
श्वशुरान्सुहृदश्चैव सेनयोरुभयोरपि।
Standing there, Partha saw in both the armies, fathers, grandfathers,
teachers, uncles, brothers, cousins, sons, grandsons, friends, fathers-in-law
and well-wishers.

Revealed by Krishna, Arjuna saw the unbearable and horrible outcome of

the war. Although it is the earth that owns us, deluded men think that they
can own the earth, and for that, they fight and kill even their own near and
dear ones. What a sad spectacle it is! Arjuna saw his kith and kin lined up
on both sides, ready to kill and be killed. What he saw was not just Bhishma
and Drona, but a father standing on one side and his son standing on the
other; a grandfather standing there and his grandson standing here; teacher
there, student here; brothers—eldest there, younger one here; close friends
—one there and the other here; father-in-law there and son-in-law here.
Arjuna stood there, taking in the solemn gravity of the situation. Here, he
did not see the world as it is; instead, he saw it through his relationships and
attachments. Instead of seeing the warriors on the other side as adversaries
to be vanquished, he chose to see them through the eyes of a loving
grandson, a devoted student, a doting brother, a respectful son-in-law, an
affectionate father, a loyal friend, and so on.
On the other side, Duryodhana too beheld the same scene; he too saw his
near and dear ones arrayed on both sides. But the difference lay in their
worldviews—one possessed āsurī-vāsanā, and the other daivī-vāsanā.
Duryodhana harboured a selfish desire for the throne and the fear of losing
it. This fear, driven by his avarice, made him walk up to Dronacharya and
spew those spiteful and uncaring words. On the other side, Arjuna has
boundless confidence that he will win, yet has a different attitude.
 तान्समीक्ष्य स कौन्तेयः सर्वान्बन्धूनवस्थितान्॥
1.27–30 कृ पया परयाविष्टो विषीदन्निदमब्रवीत्।
अर्जुन उवाच।
दृष्ट्वेमं स्वजनं कृ ष्ण युयुत्सुं समुपस्थितम्॥
सीदन्ति मम गात्राणि मुखं च परिशुष्यति।
वेपथुश्च शरीरे मे रोमहर्षश्च जायते॥
गाण्डीवं स्रंसते हस्तात्त्वक्चै व परिदह्यते।
न च शक्नोम्यवस्थातुं भ्रमतीव च मे मनः॥
When Arjuna, son of Kunti, saw all these kinsmen standing thus arrayed, he
spoke sorrowfully, filled with great compassion. Arjuna said: O Krishna,
seeing these kinsfolk of mine drawn up for battle, my limbs fail, my mouth
is parched, my body trembles, and my hairs stand on end; the bow Gāṇḍīva
slips from my hand, and my skin is burning. I am also unable to stand, and
my mind is reeling.

Before initiating Arjuna into Brahmavidyā and Yogaśāstra, Krishna instilled

in him kṛpā-śakti. It is with this collyrium that Arjuna beheld, when the
Lord said, “Behold Partha… pārtha paśyaitān samavetān kurūniti” (BG
1.25). This made his mind withdraw from the world. The meaningless nature
of worldly pursuits dawned on him suddenly. The first sign of this was a
total nervous breakdown.
As Arjuna saw his near and dear ones on both sides, armed and ready to
fight against each other, he was filled with great compassion and immense
sadness. We see Arjuna describing his condition to Krishna in these three
verses. He says, “As I see my kith and kin standing ready to fight, my limbs
give way, my mouth is parched, my body shivers, and my hair stands on
end. My once steady hand is no longer so, and the bow is slipping from it;
my skin burns, and my head is spinning.” Arjuna was utterly shattered.
Though Arjuna’s despondency looks like faintheartedness, it is undoubtedly
the effect of Krishna’s Presence. Arjuna had fought many wars before but
never had he broken down like this. But here, Krishna has intentionally
instilled in him this state so that his mind dissociates itself from the world
and becomes ready to receive the knowledge of the Self. This state could
not have happened in Arjuna unless bestowed by Krishna.
If we conclude that Arjuna’s state is mere faintheartedness or weakness,
certainly there are others who are more eligible for it than Arjuna on that
count. The Gita could have been given to them. But no! Just as a field is
tilled in preparation before sowing the seeds, Bhagavan created such a state
in Arjuna so that he could receive the Gita. The touch of grace first gave
him dispassion, then the desire for freedom—śreyas—and then surrender to
the teacher, which alone invoked the great Master to speak.

1.31 निमित्तानि च पश्यामि विपरीतानि के शव।

न च श्रेयोऽनुपश्यामि हत्वा स्वजनमाहवे॥
O Kesava! I see ominous signs. I do not see any glory in killing my own
relatives in battle.

When the mind is shaky and uncertain, it will frantically start looking for
logic to confirm its own doubts, fears and petty feelings; it starts seeing
omens and ominous signs everywhere. This is a sign of a weak mind. Here
Arjuna’s agitated mind begins to read into the inauspicious signs he sees
around him.
Astrology, reading omens, and so on are done by sages too. The difference
is that they utilise them to strengthen their will to perform dharma. People
become fainthearted and afraid when the astrologer predicts that it is the
time of Saturn (śani-daśa). Such predictions make them fear everything.
Even a wind or the fall of a leaf makes them tremble. We see this often in
the world.
Various omens—colourful rains, wells disappearing, elephants behaving
unnaturally, strange things falling from the sky—all these have already been
described by Sage Vyasa as symptoms that foretell the onset of a war or a
great catastrophe. Though these signs appeared many days before the war,
Arjuna failed to notice them then. Now, when his mind is weak, Arjuna
notices them and speaks about them.
Such fears are due to the weakness of the mind. We get scared of everything
—astral beings, planets and their influence on us. At times, we are even
scared of God. A clear intellect has no cobwebs in it. What are these
cobwebs? They are the beliefs, fears and faith in various things. Such
beliefs that pull us down are like cobwebs in the brain; they are like smoke
that covers the intelligence. Swami Vivekananda says that reading omens,
astrology and all that ilk are signs of a weak mind. When we start believing
in something, it gradually gains power and starts manifesting in our lives.
Referring to such weaknesses in us, Sri Sankaracharya says, “andha-
parampareyam saṃsāra-saraṇiḥ—this world is a procession of the blind.”
As our inner consciousness is Truth, wherever its light of faith falls, that
becomes real.
It is better not to allow the mind to cross the fence of the ‘now’ either to the
past or future. The memories of the past cloud the present and create
hideous dreamy creatures of the future to frighten us. To repose the mind in
the NOW is yoga.
Arjuna continues, “I do not see anything good in this battle.” Yes, he speaks
the truth, but it is too late. War is imminent and unavoidable; everyone is
waiting, ready to fight. Arjuna continues, “I do not see any glory in killing
my own people.” He knows about the paths of śreyas and preyas—this is
another divine quality of Arjuna. He questions how the sinful act of killing
all his people could lead him to śreyas (Self-Realisation).
This reveals the rigamarole that karma is. We have no choice whether to act
or withdraw. Our choice is only in knowing we are not the doer and being
an instrument of the Divine. This alone is the message of the Gita.
Duryodhana’s attitude is at the other
extreme, however—‘I must win even if it
WE HAVE NO CHOICE
means that everyone else dies in getting
WHETHER TO ACT OR me that victory!’ This āsurī-attitude
WITHDRAW. OUR continued until the last minute of his life.
Even while lying on his deathbed, he
CHOICE IS ONLY IN incites Aswatthama, “Go and finish off
KNOWING WE ARE NOT the Pandavas if you can.”

THE DOER AND BEING AN

INSTRUMENT OF THE In stark contrast to this, despite facing
endless tortures and immense humiliation
DIVINE. inflicted by the Kauravas, Arjuna says in
the next verse, “I do not want the pleasure
begotten by killing my dear ones. After
this war, I may be able to live with all the luxuries of a monarch, but I will
always have their blood on my hands. I will neither have any fulfilment nor
any peace.”

न काङ्क्षे विजयं कृ ष्ण न च राज्यं सुखानि च।

1.32–33 किं नो राज्येन गोविन्द किं भोगैर्जीवितेन वा॥
येषामर्थे काङ्क्षितं नो राज्यं भोगाः सुखानि च।
त इमेऽवस्थिता युद्धे प्राणांस्त्यक्त्वा धनानि च॥
O Krishna, I desire neither victory nor kingdom nor pleasures. Of what use
is the kingdom to us, O Govinda? Of what use are pleasures or even life
itself? Those for whose sake we desire kingdom, enjoyments and pleasures,
stand here in battle, having renounced their life and wealth.

Arjuna opens his box of logic and continues to speak, “O Krishna, I do not
want this victory or any of the gains that come with it. Even if I fight and
win this war, what is the use of getting this kingdom? Everything will
appear insipid and meaningless as I would have lost all my loved ones by
then. What use is victory if my loved ones are not with me to share that
happiness? What is the use of such a life even? Because of all this, I have
decided I want none of these.”
To put things in perspective, we must remember here Duryodhana’s
wickedness and brazenness when he declared that he would not give even
an inch of land to the Pandavas. Duryodhana was overly ambitious and
greedy and wanted the whole kingdom for himself.
Arjuna was ambitious too, but now he stood ready to give up everything,
including his ambition, for a higher cause. When he said, ‘I do not want
kingdom, I do not want pleasures,’ those words came straight from his
heart. This attitude of sacrifice signifies Arjuna’s maturity.
All the things we may achieve—bhogāḥ sukhāni ca—are sure to leave us
at some point in time. ‘anityam asukham lokam’—this is what Krishna will
soon reveal to Arjuna. This world that is seen is impermanent; it cannot give
us constant pleasure. It will ultimately grant us pain. True happiness,
fulfilment, can be had only in our heart—the Self. Find it, and here and
now, you are at peace.

आचार्याः पितरः पुत्रास्तथैव च पितामहाः।

1.34–39 मातुलाः श्वशुराः पौत्राः श्यालाः सम्बन्धिनस्तथा॥
एतान्न हन्तुमिच्छामि घ्नतोऽपि मधुसूदन।
अपि त्रैलोक्यराज्यस्य हेतोः किं नु महीकृ ते॥
निहत्य धार्तराष्ट्रान्नः का प्रीतिः स्याज्जनार्दन।
पापमेवाश्रयेदस्मान्हत्वैतानाततायिनः॥
तस्मान्नार्हा वयं हन्तुं धार्तराष्ट्रान्स्वबान्धवान्।
स्वजनं हि कथं हत्वा सुखिनः स्याम माधव॥
यद्यप्येते न पश्यन्ति लोभोपहतचेतसः।
कु लक्षयकृ तं दोषं मित्रद्रोहे च पातकम्॥
कथं न ज्ञेयमस्माभिः पापादस्मान्निवर्तितुम्।
कु लक्षयकृ तं दोषं प्रपश्यद्भिर्जनार्दन॥
Teachers, fathers, sons and grandfathers, maternal uncles, fathers-in-law,
grandsons, brothers-in-law and other relatives—O Madhusudana, them I do
not wish to kill, though they may kill me. I will not bring them any harm
even if I were to become the Lord of all the three worlds, then why would I
think of killing them for a mere piece of land? Killing these sons of
Dhritarashtra, what pleasure can be ours, O Janardana? Sin alone will be
our gain by slaying these felons. O Madhava, therefore, we should not kill
the sons of Dhritarashtra, our kinsfolk. Indeed, how can we be happy if we
kill our own people? Though these, with their intelligence clouded by
greed, see no evil in the destruction of the family and no sin in their enmity
to friends, why should we, who clearly see the evil in the destruction of the
family, not have the wisdom to turn away from this sin, O Janardana?

Arjuna once again lists all his relatives that he sees on both sides of the
battlefield and reasserts that he does not wish to kill them. He even goes on
to say, “Even if they try to kill me, I will happily allow it, but I do not wish
to kill them. I will not bring them any harm even if I were to become the
Lord of all the three worlds, then why would I think of killing them for a
mere piece of land?”
Here we see that Arjuna is repeating what he had said earlier. Krishna’s
deafening silence must have been unbearable to him; there was no
encouragement, no words of solace forthcoming from his closest friend at
this time of distress. As Krishna continues to maintain his silence, Arjuna
brings forth yet another reason to justify his decision. He says that he does
not wish to kill these felons. “They are behaving like savages as their
intelligence is blinded; shouldn’t we be the better ones here and let sanity
prevail by walking away from this bloodshed? The ones who do not know
dharma (Duryodhana) have come to fight, but we should not behave like
them. We know dharma, and hence we should not fight. Even after knowing
this, if I fight and kill them, surely, great sin will accrue to me, dear
Janardana.”
This is an extremely crucial stage in a person’s inner life; here, Arjuna is
ready to give up everything, including his own life. A sense of
unconditional sacrifice has sprouted in him. Only on such a pure ground of
renunciation can Realisation blossom.
Krishna continues to remain silent all this while. When someone is blurting
out increasingly convoluted and complicated reasoning to justify his
impulsive decision, it is better to keep quiet and allow him to speak
uninterrupted. After a while, he is bound to exhaust all his reasonings, and
his mind will become empty. It is only when we become empty that we
become fit to receive. Hence Krishna continues to wait in silence while
Arjuna continues his prattle.
 कु लक्षये प्रणश्यन्ति कु लधर्माः सनातनाः।
1.40–44 धर्मे नष्टे कु लं कृ त्स्नमधर्मोऽभिभवत्युत॥
अधर्माभिभवात्कृ ष्ण प्रदुष्यन्ति कु लस्त्रियः।
स्त्रीषु दुष्टासु वार्ष्णेय जायते वर्णसङ्करः॥
सङ्करो नरकायैव कु लघ्नानां कु लस्य च।
पतन्ति पितरो ह्येषां लुप्तपिण्डोदकक्रियाः॥
दोषैरेतैः कु लघ्नानां वर्णसङ्करकारकैः।
उत्साद्यन्ते जातिधर्माः कु लधर्माश्च शाश्वताः॥
उत्सन्नकु लधर्माणां मनुष्याणां जनार्दन।
नरके ऽनियतं वासो भवतीत्यनुशुश्रुम॥
When the family is destroyed, its time-honoured traditions will perish. With
that, adharma overpowers the entire clan. When adharma prevails,
immorality will raise its ugly head, and the women of the family become
unscrupulous. O Vārshneya! When this happens, the intermingling of castes
results. With the intermingling of castes, both the family and the slayer of
the lineage will go to hell. Traditional rites, such as the offering of piṇḍa
and water to forefathers, will also come to an end, leading to the downfall
of the forefathers as well. Thus these evil deeds of the destroyers of the
family lead to the intermingling of castes, and the age-long caste traditions
and family customs are destroyed. We have heard it said, O Janardana, that
families that have abandoned the dharmic traditions have no recourse but to
make their abode in hell forever.

From this śloka onwards, we hear Arjuna giving an elaborate lecture on

dharma to Krishna. Not even a word comes from Krishna, so Arjuna
presses on with more and more dramatic statements to drive home his point.
He piles on more and more arguments as to why they should not fight. And
the more he talks, the more far-fetched his justifications become!
Arjuna repeats his earlier justification of not wanting to cause injury to his
own near and dear ones. He talks from the high pedestal of large-
heartedness when he says—even if Duryodhana and his troops choose to
behave ingloriously owing to their minds being cloaked with avarice, we
should stick to the path of dharma and graciously step away from this war.
There are two aspects to this statement from Arjuna—on the one hand, there
is genuine compassion (kāruṇya), and on the other hand, there is a ‘my-
ness’ (mamatā) when he repeatedly asserts ‘they are my relatives.’
Arjuna is undisputedly the best archer of his time and has fearlessly faced
innumerable battles prior to this one; this same Arjuna has vanquished
many opponents on various battlefields. Then one may wonder, why this
sudden outburst of compassion and willingness to sacrifice oneself for
others? Arjuna’s thoughts and reasoning are very much in the personal
plane alone. His discretion about his sense of duty takes a hit as he gets
deluded by his affection towards his people; his affection has led to his
affliction. The fact is that Arjuna does not have the authority to decide
whether they should fight or not. And instead of looking at the country’s
greater good, his view revolves only around the welfare of himself and his
family. Here we can see how both the good and the bad (Arjuna and
Duryodhana) can get caught in the web of their own narrow views.
As he continues to speak, all the dire consequences of war come to Arjuna’s
mind—“If the menfolk are killed in battle, family culture and traditions will
perish, and with that degeneration, immorality will raise its ugly head, and
it will corrupt the women, leading to the intermingling of castes. If there is
an admixture of castes within the society, that will lead to the further
downfall of the family, and both the family and the slayer of the lineage will
go to hell. Traditional rites, such as the offering of piṇḍa and water to
forefathers, will also come to an end, leading to the downfall of the
forefathers as well. Families that have abandoned the dharmic traditions
have no recourse but to make their abode in hell forever.”
We have seen the highly intricate discourse by Arjuna on his understanding
of dharma in these verses. Whatever plane the mind is in, it sees the truth
from that plane alone. The moon, when seen from the earth, appears as a
silvery disc; this is the truth as seen from this worldly plane. But if we were
to go to the moon, we would see its surface full of rocks and craters.
Similarly, even if the highest upadeśa is given to a person, he can accept
only what is permissible by the mental plane he dwells in. Buddhi, the
power of cognition (pramā-śakti), is present in various degrees in each
individual; the higher it is, the quicker the intellect will unravel the
mysteries of the subtle truths. Here, Arjuna is operating from a lower level
of pramā-śakti, and hence he goes through myriad far-fetched reasons to
justify why he should shirk his duty and not fight against the evil forces.

*
The sombre situations predicted by Arjuna can be seen in our society these
days. Most of the families are deteriorating. Family culture is on the
decline. The intermingling of castes has become quite common. Only very
few perform rites such as the pitṛ-karma with sincerity. Seeing the decline
of these precious traditions that have been preserved carefully over
millennia, compassionate acharyas feel great sorrow and pain. But the
consolation is that the śāśvata-dharma—the Eternal dharma—will never
perish. (Bhagavan is called the śāśvata-dharma-goptā. BG11.18) In the tenth
chapter, Bhagavan says that dharma is in the human mind. (adveṣṭā sarva-
bhūtānām… BG12.13.) There He reveals dharma as pure love, as ego-
lessness, as Truth. These qualities of dharma are ever-present in the human
heart; they can never be rooted out and are the real foundation for spiritual
life.
It is a fact that the traditional values spoken of by Arjuna, which are also
prescribed by the smṛtis and were once deep-rooted in the culture of
Bhārata-varsha, have undergone many changes. We must certainly accept
that these changes must also be due to Divine Will alone. The question is,
why did they have to change at all? It is because they have lost their inner
fragrance, their real dharma-value, and only a hollow outward appearance
remains. Hence the Creator Himself is demolishing them to reinstate them
in their real form. This we may not see in our lifetime; but over several
centuries, it will surely take shape as intended by the Lord. As this
transformation unfolds, the inner dharma will blossom with more power.
Truth, tapas, love, lack of mamatā (mine-ness)—which is verily
renunciation—would certainly be nourished by the Higher Power. And
whatever is necessary for the protection of the śāśvata-dharma will appear
in society as various outer forms. The forms may be different, but the
essence must remain, and it will remain.
 अहो बत महत्पापं कर्तुं व्यवसिता वयम्।
1.45–46 यद्राज्यसुखलोभेन हन्तुं स्वजनमुद्यताः॥
यदि मामप्रतीकारमशस्त्रं शस्त्रपाणयः।
धार्तराष्ट्रा रणे हन्युस्तन्मे क्षेमतरं भवेत्॥
Alas, what a great sin we are prepared to commit by striving to kill our own
kith and kin for the trivial material pleasures of the kingdom! It would
indeed be better for me if the well-armed sons of Dhritarashtra killed me in
battle while I remained unarmed and offered no resistance.

Arjuna concludes his long and meandering monologue by restating that it is

a great sin to kill one’s near and dear ones for trivial material pleasures such
as the kingdom; hence, he would not fight. The once fearless and gallant
kshatriya now stands disheartened as he says, “Let them kill me if they
wish to; I shall just stand here unarmed and allow it to happen; I’d rather be
a martyr than have the blood of my people on my hands.”
What we see here in Arjuna is an internal state where the ego is losing its
resistance. When faced with a challenging situation, someone with a strong
ego will be prepared to do whatever it takes to get his way. Here, Arjuna
insists that killing one’s family for the mere pleasures of the world is gross
adharma; he would rather die than incur the sin of adharma. This shows
that Arjuna is ready to sacrifice himself for the sake of dharma.

सञ्जय उवाच।
1.47 एवमुक्त्वार्जुनः सङ्ख्ये रथोपस्थ उपाविशत्।
विसृज्य सशरं चापं शोकसंविग्नमानसः॥
Sanjaya said: Having spoken thus amid the battlefield and casting away his
bow and arrow, Arjuna sank down on the chariot seat, overwhelmed with
grief.

Putting down his bow and arrows, Arjuna slumped down exhausted, deep
sorrow and anguish hanging heavy in his heart. “I shall not fight,” he tells
Krishna and sits down dispirited. There are two aspects to this situation: one
is a mature person standing up for compassion, ready to sacrifice himself
for the sake of others; but the other is a warrior—whose prime duty it is to
protect dharma—blinded by attachment, refusing to fight the adharmic
forces that have infested the country.
The Kurukshetra war should have woken up Arjuna’s mighty powers, but
instead, he collapsed. His disease is so severe that he chooses to evade his
duty and thereby escape this problematic situation. By doing so, he ignores
his dharma. He believes that he is doing a good deed by not fighting. But in
doing so, he forsakes the ultimate good. Arjuna withdraws from his
dharma, citing that carrying it out would be adharmic! Arjuna’s spiel about
dharma is from hearsay alone.
Dharma, as learnt from books or hearsay, is not proper; it must come from
the heart. Dharma is that which will lead us to complete fulfilment and
peace (Ātmānubhava); anything that would take us away from our duty
cannot be dharma. Here Arjuna’s deluded mind is unable to decide what his
real dharma is. Only when the mind is clear can we make the right
decisions; a disturbed mind will only shy away from the right decisions.
This is the vishāda of Arjuna. There are various meanings for vishāda; here,
it means despondency, depression, sorrow.

वृत्तयः पञ्चतय्यः क्लिष्टा अक्लिष्टाः।

प्रमाणविपर्ययविकल्पनिद्रास्मृतयः। Yo.Su. 1.5,6

Patanjali says, “The mind has five modes (angas). They are pramāṇa (right
understanding), viparyaya (wrong knowledge), vikalpa (imagination), nidrā
(sleep), and smṛti (memory).”
We can see that these five are not within our control; in fact, we are under
their influence and control every single moment, and through them, our
mind has been ruling over us, creating pain, suffering and ignorance. The
one who transcends these is a Yogi. His pramāṇa, the centre of knowledge,
is the real Self—the most authentic source.
Here, Arjuna falls prey to his mind and speaks about dharma as he chooses
to see it; he does not even consider consulting his friend, the Lord Himself,
who is standing before him. He relies on his mind alone to make this
decision, and deluded by the demanding situation that confronts him, he
finds himself dejected and grief-stricken.
There is a subtle intelligence in us that is different from our worldly
intelligence. If we surrender to that Inner Monitor and choose to operate
from that centre, it can become our infallible guide. Then, all our decisions
will be right, and life will become complete, pūrṇa. The very first step in
awakening this inner intelligence within is to stop listening to the mind. The
mind will tell us many fantastic things, but know for a fact that almost all of
what it prattles is a lie.
How can we recognise this subtle
WHEN A SEEKER HAS AN intelligence within? This intelligence
shines forth only when a person
INTENSE THIRST FOR surrenders unconditionally (śaraṇāgati)
KNOWLEDGE, THE to the Lord. We will see in the coming
verses that only when Arjuna completely
LORD WILL MANIFEST surrenders does Krishna offer his
FAVOURABLE infallible guidance to him. True surrender
is a dynamic process. It is often
SITUATIONS THAT MAKE misunderstood as a sign of weakness. On
HIM CAPABLE OF the contrary, true and complete surrender
requires immense inner strength and
SURRENDERING TO THE purity. The perfect example of śaraṇāgati
HIGHER POWER. is Hanuman. We can see this power of
surrender manifested in him in every step
of the Ramayana. When a seeker has an
intense thirst for knowledge, the Lord will manifest favourable situations
that make him capable of surrendering to the Higher Power. This is what is
unfolding here for Arjuna.
All emotions, be it anger, sorrow, depression, boredom, bhakti, excitement
or sleep, are various manifestations of energy. The mind has only two
modes of operation—it will either think, or it will sleep. All emotions are
just thoughts, and with the right understanding, any emotion can be
transformed into yoga. But it is impossible for a seeker to cross this ocean
of darkness by his effort alone. If he has some puṇya, or has done some
sādhanā previously, then when sorrow befalls, even if he is heedless, the
Lord will bless him with satsaṅga.
We must understand the significance of suffering in spiritual life; it is only
when we go through immense suffering that we start to seek the source of
suffering, the purpose of life, and so on, and make a beginning in our
journey towards God. Here, for Arjuna, the suffering has come in this form.
And by the grace of Krishna, Arjuna’s vishāda transformed as yoga.
“śūnyamāpūrṇatāmeti,” says Yoga Vasishtha. When one comes in contact
with an Enlightened Master, śūnya becomes pūrṇa; depression becomes
fulfilment. Since Arjuna’s vishāda took place in the presence of the Sat-
guru, his vishāda itself paved the way for his yoga; otherwise, it would
have remained as his roga (disease)! When faced with suffering, rather than
lamenting about it to others, if we submit to the Lord, even suffering can
lead towards our upliftment.
The simplest way to transform sorrow into spiritual energy is to have
contact with the Lord. When we turn towards God, all our problems become
a path towards bhakti. If we are happy and satisfied in life, we may go to
the temple and pray to the Lord and make a show of our bhakti, but it may
not have come from the heart. Śruti-mātā consoles us by saying that
suffering never comes for the sake of suffering alone—as each dark cloud
brings comforting rain, and as each dark night is followed by lustrous light,
so too after each sorrow, the cool spring of bliss is sure to follow. Here,
Arjuna’s grief became a great blessing for him and the whole world, as it
gave us the treasure that is the Gita.
Another example of this in the same illustrious family is Parikshit. When he
got cursed that he would die on the seventh day, bitten by the serpent
Takshaka, he renounced his kingdom and went to the banks of the Ganga.
There, he had contact with the great sage Sukacharya. Through that blessed
contact, he listened to the Bhagavata for seven days and became
enlightened on the seventh day. Sitting in unshakeable samādhi, he left his
body and attained Brahma-nirvāṇa.
When we speak, and God listens, it is prayer; when God speaks, and we
listen, it is meditation. But as long as we continue to speak, God will not
open his mouth. Only when we stop our chatter and surrender to Him
completely will He start to speak. That is why in the first chapter, we hardly
hear anything from Krishna; it is full of Arjuna’s whining and lamentation.
Whereas in the second chapter, when Arjuna remains silent and surrenders
to Krishna in deep earnest, the Lord pours forth His upadeśa. Our entire
sādhanā, spiritual practice, is to make the Silent One speak. When the Lord
speaks and we listen, that is the Gita.

***

ॐ तत्सत्
इति श्रीमद्भगवद्गीतासु उपनिषत्सु ब्रह्मविद्यायां योगशास्त्रे
श्रीकृ ष्णार्जुनसंवादे अर्जुनविषादयोगो नाम प्रथमोऽध्यायः॥
Om Tat Sat!
In this treatise, known as Srimad Bhagavad Gita, which contains the
essence of the Upanishads, which expounds the knowledge of Brahman and
the science of Yoga in the form of a dialogue between Sri Krishna and
Arjuna, thus ends the first chapter titled ‘The Grief that Led to
Illumination’.

* एस धंमो सनातनो।

* ब्रह्मण्यो भगवद्भक्तो नावसादितुमर्हति। SB 6.15.19

* ये यथा मां प्रपद्यन्ते तांस्तथैव भजाम्यहम्। BG 4.11

* नात्यन्तमज्ञो नोत ज्ञः सोऽस्मिञ्छास्त्रेऽधिकारवान्। Yo.Va. 1.2.2

* धर्मो विश्वस्य जगतः प्रतिष्ठा। Mna.Up. 79.7

* अविद्यास्मितारागद्वेषाभिनिवेशाः क्लेशाः। Yo.Su. 2.3

* ऊर्ध्वबाहुर्विरौम्येष न च कश्चिच्छृणोति मे। Mbha.

* समुद्रस्यैव गाम्भीर्यं स्थैर्यं मेरोरिव स्थितिः। Yo.Va.

* ‘सौमदत्तिर्जयद्रथः’ is an alternate reading for ‘सौमदत्तिस्तथैव च’ in verse 1.8.

† An akshauhiṇi consists of 2,18,700 warriors (not including the charioteers who do not fight.) The
ratio is 1 chariot : 1 elephant : 3 cavalries : 5 infantry soldiers.
* विज्ञानरूपो भगवान् यतोऽसौ अशेषमूर्तिः। Vi.Pu.
* The Gita 5.29 too says, ‘suhṛdam sarva-bhūtānām.’

* This quote is from the Bhagavata. There, this incident unfolds on the third day of the war, and
Krishna comes armed with a chariot wheel. In the Mahabharata, this happens on the ninth day of the
war, and Krishna has only a whip in his hand.
Each chapter in the Gita ends with the words ‘brahma-vidyāyām yogaśāstre.’ This tradition has been
adopted from the Kathopanishad. The very idea that Brahmavidyā and Yogaśāstra go together comes
from the Kathopanishad. विद्यामेतां योगविधिं च कृत्स्नम्। (Ka.Up. 2.3.18) In fact, the Gita follows the
Kathopanishad very closely.

OceanofPDF.com
OceanofPDF.com
 he second chapter of the Gita is Sāṅkhya Yoga. Sāṅkhya is the name of
T one of the oldest of the six Vedic darśanas. The word sāṅkhyam means
perfect knowledge. Its essential teaching is to separate the seer—the
Purusha—from the seen—Prakṛti. The fruit is Yoga, that is, abidance in the
Self—one’s real nature. By sāṅkhya, one leads the mind towards the Self.

In the previous chapter, we saw the grief—vishāda—of Arjuna. In this

chapter, we shall see how this despondency is transformed into dispassion,
vairāgya, and how it paves the way for his surrender to the Master.
Here we see the unveiling of the magnificent divine drama—the greatest
teacher, Narayana, revealing the Supreme Knowledge to his dearest disciple
Arjuna in a friendly manner.*

सञ्जय उवाच।
2.1 तं तथा कृ पयाविष्टमश्रुपूर्णाकु लेक्षणम्।
विषीदन्तमिदं वाक्यमुवाच मधुसूदनः॥
Sanjaya said: To Arjuna, who was drowned in distress, with eyes brimming
with tears of despondency and who stood there possessed by kṛpā (the
Divine Power of Grace that will soon make Krishna transmit the teaching),
Madhusudana began to speak thus.

The grand dialogue between the wonderful Teacher and his beloved disciple
begins in this chapter. The disciple is drowned in sorrow. At the right
needed hour of life, the healing hand of the divine companion is extended.
Nothing but the Knowledge of the Self—Ātma-jñāna—can root out the
misery caused by ignorance. Here the Master is ‘Madhusudana’. Madhu
means honey or a heady drug. It represents ignorance, delusion, moha.
Madhusudana is the one who knows how to cure the delusion caused due to
ignorance. The transmission of spiritual knowledge is always preceded by
the manifestation of Divine Grace—kṛpā. ‘Only when the Atman chooses
does the Atman reveal Himself,’ is an Upanishadic declaration. A deep
longing from within for Realisation and contact with a Jñāni outside to
guide are the signs of a chosen one. Such a sacred moment is unfolding now
between Arjuna and Krishna. Here Arjuna is possessed by Divine Grace—
kṛpayāviṣṭam.
The general interpretation for kṛpayāviṣṭam is that Arjuna was overcome
with pity and sympathy; compassion towards all arose in him. However, if
we closely observe the situation and the word used by VedaVyasa, we will
not fail to note that there is a deep spiritual connotation in the usage of the
word kṛpā here. It provides ample room for interpretation as the power of
Grace. Here, the immensity of Krishna’s Grace has descended on Arjuna—
kṛpayā āviṣṭam.* The power of the Lord—kṛpā—has possessed him. Thus
he is made ready to receive the downpour of the celestial waters from that
cloud filled with the bliss of Non-dual Experience. “Krishna is the blue
cloud that has arisen out of the waters of bliss from the nectarine ocean of
Brahman,” says Sankaracharya.†
Amongst all the Upanishads, it is the Kathopanishad that the Bhagavad Gita
closely follows. There too, the word ‘āveśa’ appears. “śraddhā āviveśa—
Nachiketa was possessed by śraddhā.” Śraddhā entered his being at the
opportune moment. An immense mass of faith arose in him to know the
Supreme. This thirst to receive the knowledge of Brahman is śraddhā; that
itself is kṛpā.
First, kṛpā is awakened in the heart of the disciple; then and only then will
he be able to surrender his ego to the Master. The Master’s grace possesses
the disciple and prepares the field; hence it is called ‘āveśa’. This makes the
disciple surrender and then happens the transmission of the knowledge of
the Self.
Though Arjuna seemed despondent, the Lord saw through him. For, behind
his sadness and breakdown was hidden the mighty force of jijñāsā—a deep
yearning to know the Truth, to absorb the true spiritual experience. A little
bit of chiding was all that was necessary to stoke the fire and make it blaze
forth.
Arjuna’s eyes were full of tears. He was indeed blabbering in confusion
about dharma—dharma-saṅkaṭa. He was in self-pity. Sympathy for his
dear ones was eating away at his conscience. Most commentators have said
that his compassion towards his relatives was certainly coloured by his
mamatā—my-ness. If we carefully reconsider Arjuna’s words in the
previous chapter, it will become clear that he knows that the effect of the
war will be irredeemably devastating. Whatever he predicts as the
consequences of the war are factually undeniable.
Therefore, we cannot simply brush aside Arjuna’s kṛpā as a mere
attachment to his dear ones. He is indeed none other than an extension of
Krishna. See what Aswatthama says after the fourteenth day of the war
when he tried his very best to kill Arjuna. When he could not do so, he
became despondent and withdrew from the warfield temporarily. While
retreating, he declared,* “Arjuna and Krishna only seem to be two, but they
are, in fact, one.” Krishna too has said the same. When Sanjaya visited the
Pandavas bearing Dhritarashtra’s message, Krishna himself told Sanjaya,
“Go and tell your king, Krishna is the Self of Partha, and Dhananjaya is the
Self of Krishna. We are one.” † In another instance, Krishna tells Arjuna, ‡
“Arjuna, the one who hates you, hates Me, and the one who follows you,
follows Me.” This is a great declaration. If we harbour hate towards a
devotee, we are, in fact, hating the Lord Himself. If we follow a devotee of
the Lord, we are indeed following the Lord. The Veda too uses the words
‘Krishna and Arjuna’: “The dark night is Krishna; the bright day is
Arjuna.Ӥ These two are not two; they are one whole.
What is seen in Arjuna now is a semblance of the compassion with which
Krishna went to Hastinapura to stop the war. But Arjuna’s compassion is of
no avail at this point. Not only can he not stop the war, he cannot desist
from fighting either. If he renounces now, all those noble ones lined up on
his side to protect dharma will die at the hands of the evil Duryodhana. The
dharma that we follow today is perhaps a part of the legacy left for us by
the epoch-making fight of Arjuna thousands of years ago. Otherwise, who
knows, Duryodhana’s rule might have eroded and erased the vaidika-
dharma from this Bhārata-varsha. He might have done away with all that is
noble in India. The very purpose of the Krishna-avatāra was for dharma-
sthāpana alone.
After hearing Arjuna speak, the Lord transfigured. The Being with the
cloud-coloured body and lightning-coloured attire suddenly became
boundless and spoke these words to Arjuna.

श्रीभगवानुवाच।
2.2 कु तस्त्वा कश्मलमिदं विषमे समुपस्थितम्।
अनार्यजुष्टमस्वर्ग्यमकीर्तिकरमर्जुन॥
Sri Bhagavan said: O Arjuna! From where did this inadvertence and lack of
intelligence come upon you? At the right juncture where you must act, you
stand shattered. This does not suit a noble one—an Arya. This would
certainly bar your entry to divine worlds and also affect your glory here.

This śloka is an introduction to the Gita. The word viṣama has already been
commented upon in the previous chapter. The entire teaching of the Gita is
to lead us from vishama to sama. Saṃsāra is vishama; yoga is sama. The
state where one is not centred in the Self is vishama; to be in the Self is
sama. Saṃsāra is like a river that could sweep us off our feet at any
moment. Be on guard. Never lose your alertness. “jāgrata!” warns the
Śruti.
In Sanskrit, kaśmalam means ‘something very petty’; it denotes feebleness.
Here, we have taken the liberty to translate kaśmalam as pramāda—
inattention. “Pramāda is another name for death,” says Sanatsujatiya.
Buddha too says, “Pramāda is death.” Here, Bhagavan uses the word
kaśmalam at the very beginning. There is great significance for this.
Alertness is the most essential quality for a warrior. One slip from alertness,
and his head is gone. In life too, losing alertness means losing life; it is one
form of death. In spiritual life as well, when a person on the path of Ātma-
vichāra forgets his goal and becomes inattentive, he returns to identifying
with the body. And body, of course, is another name for death. Thus, losing
one’s alertness and succumbing to dullness is being pitied as kaśmalam—
pettiness; it is a negative quality.
The sole aim of a mumukshu is to awaken the fire of vichāra and to be ever
aware of his real nature—the Self. Such a one is a sthitaprajña; we shall
discuss this term later in this chapter. Anything that makes us forget our
identity, our deathless nature, and makes us identify with the body is
kaśmalam.
 अनात्मचिन्तनं त्यक्त्वा कश्मलं दुःखकारणम्।
चिन्तयात्मानमानन्दरूपं यन्मुक्तिकारणम्॥ Vi.Cu. 380

Thinking about the non-Self is kaśmalam. It is pramāda, pettiness, and it

leads to duḥkha—suffering. To be free of suffering, meditate on the Atman;
contemplate on the Self—your real nature. It will lead you to bliss, your
very nature.
While discarding the old yajñopavīta—the sacred thread—and putting on a
new one, one of the mantras chanted by the Brahmins is ‘jīrṇam kaśmala-
dūṣitam visṛjāmi—this old thread which has become worn out and impure
through kaśmala, I give up.’ The thread has become unfit due to two
reasons. The first is due to jīrṇam—it has become old and withered. The
second is kaśmala—just by being associated with the body and soiled by its
sweat and dirt, the thread has become impure. Similarly, due to its assumed
identification with the body, the inner thread ‘I’ becomes impure.
The next noteworthy word in this verse is ‘ārya’. It is one of the most
misunderstood words of our time. It is generally understood as the name of
a race. The word ‘ārya’ occurs thirty-six times in the Rigveda, and in none
of these instances has it been used as a racial name. Buddha has used the
word ārya to denote a noble one. The etymology of ārya is ‘araṇam yasya
śraddhā—one who is fortressed with śraddhā’. An ārya is he who has
fortressed his spiritual life with absolute alertness.
Sankaracharya says,

अतीव सूक्ष्मं परमात्मतत्त्वं न स्थूलदृष्ट्या प्रतिपत्तुमर्हति।

समाधिनात्यन्तसुसूक्ष्मवृत्त्या ज्ञातव्यमार्यैरतिशुद्धबुद्धिभिः॥ Vi.Cu. 361

This Brahma-tattva, which is extremely subtle, is not available for the

gross-minded. Only an ārya—a yogi with a perfectly pure mind and a
highly subtle intelligence—is able to receive it.*
The word ārya really means the one who is qualified for Ātma-jñāna. He
has seen the certainty of death and wants to be free of it by transcending it.
Hence he seeks the nivṛtti-mārga of Vedanta. The other path is that of
kāmya-karma—the path of attaining svarga. Here, Bhagavan warns Arjuna
that if he wallows in this current state, he will neither attain nirvāṇa nor
svarga—asvargyam. If so, will he at least get a good name in this world?
Bhagavan declares that he will lose that too—akīrtikaram arjuna. “One
should never forsake this noble path; one should never forsake his alertness,
whatever the reason. Arjuna! Wake up!”
The word samupasthitam is also significant. The words samupasthitam
and upanishad have similar meanings. The prefix ‘sam’ means ‘very well’;
‘upa’ means ‘something that is near, intimate’; and ‘nishīda’ and ‘sthitam’
both mean ‘to stay’ or ‘to abide’. Thus samupasthitam implies that we must
be established firmly in our real nature and not in vishama.
“Instead of being established in the Self,
ASSOCIATION WITH THE O Arjuna, you are now being swept away
by your mind. Come out of this mind-
MIND IS KAŚMALAM, plane. To be a slave of mental moods is
AND DISSOCIATION WITH
kaśmalam. Shake off this inner sleep.” To
be identified with the mind is sleep;
THE MIND IS YOGA. whether you sleep or think, it amounts to
nothing but sleep because the mind is just
another name for sleep. A person is truly
awake only when he is free of the mind.
A devotee asked Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi how he was always
unperturbed. Maharshi replied, “I never use my mind. I am never associated
with the mind.” This is the secret of the jīvanmukta. This is a clue for us.
Association with the mind is kaśmalam, and dissociation or moving away
from the mind is yoga. The moment the mind is given up, establishment in
the Self happens. Mind is merely a shadow, and when we identify with it,
we are certainly asking for sorrow and suffering. Dissociate from it; give it
up! Renounce the mind! Mind is a mala, impurity. Here Bhagavan says that
it is not merely mala; it is kaś-mala—an impurity putrefied by the ego.
The mind is constantly on the job of hypnotising us by reminding us about
various illusory limitations. It says, ‘You will die’, or ‘You will be ill’, or
‘You will lose this,’ and so on. Hence, give it up, and meditate on the
Atman, the Self—which is of the nature of peace, bliss, strength, courage,
freedom, deathlessness. This is the way to be free, here and now!

2.3 क्लै ब्यं मा स्म गमः पार्थ नैतत्त्वय्युपपद्यते।

क्षुद्रं हृदयदौर्बल्यं त्यक्त्वोत्तिष्ठ परन्तप॥
O Partha! Yield not to the wretched state of feebleness; it is unworthy of
you. Cast away this faintheartedness born out of attachment to petty things
of the world. Wake up, O Parantapa (one of immense tapas)!

Free will, when emblazoned by Divine Grace, becomes a mighty force to

free us from ‘will’, and thus releases us from all bondage. ‘Employ the
might of free will, and thus, free of all attachments, attain happiness’* is the
message of Vedanta. An indomitable will that is free of all cobwebs of
faintheartedness, is being referred to here as true manliness. It is with this
power that we must direct our attention towards the Source, and enquire
‘Who am I?’ ‘What is my real nature?’ Meditate thus. Know that you are the
eternally free Self. Be free, here, now. Yield not to the namby-pamby ideas
of various limiting beliefs. You do not need any belief to be free. You are
the Existence in which both beliefs and non-beliefs pass by like mere
waves. Go directly to the Source; be established in Sat-Chit-Ānanda. This is
the direct path of vichāra. This is real manliness, the free expression of
Divine Will—paurusha.
If this is not possible, take to the path of surrender. Seek out an Illumined
Sage and offer yourself to him. One who can serve and love in surrender is
freed of the individual-sense and becomes one with the Master. This is like
a sacred marriage. The Bhagavata says, † “As chaste women win over their
husbands by their love, true devotees win over and keep the Lord in their
being.” Hence, the path of surrender is also known as the feminine path.
Vichāra or bhakti—both lead to the highest experience. The ego must be
either explored or surrendered. On the other hand, if one follows neither of
these paths, and becomes indolent and inadvertent, the river of destiny will
flood over him with all its might and sweep him away. The person has no
other recourse.
YIELD NOT TO WEAKNESS
Here the Lord terms such a state as kḷaibyam—neither feminine nor
masculine. This is a pitiable state as neither are you capable of putting in
effort to enquire nor are you able to surrender. “This does not suit you,
Arjuna,” says Bhagavan. There is a reason Bhagavan has used this specific
word. It is well-known that even while disguised as a kḷība, Arjuna had
single-handedly fought a fierce battle in Virata. During the final year of
their exile, the Pandavas were in hiding in the Virata-deśa. Duryodhana
somehow smelt out their whereabouts and led the army of Kurus consisting
of Bhishma, Drona and Karna to invade that country. Then, Arjuna, as the
handmaid Brihannala, fought the Kurus single-handedly and defeated them.
And who was his charioteer at that time? It was Uttarakumara, a faint-
hearted prince. Now and then, during the battle, Uttarakumara would jump
out of the chariot and run away in fear of the Kaurava army. Each time,
Arjuna had to cajole him and bring him back. Even in such an unfavourable
situation, Arjuna had fought fiercely and came out victorious.
Thus, even as a kḷība, Arjuna could fight and conquer a whole army on his
own. He had displayed no faint-heartedness—kḷaibya; he was Arjuna, the
valorous one. He was least perturbed at that time. But see the stark contrast
now! Here, even with the Supreme One as his charioteer, why does he
tremble and collapse? The only explanation is that this is indeed the Lord’s
doing. It is the Lord Himself who has breathed into Arjuna this sudden
apparent feebleness; and it was done for the divine purpose of bestowing
the Gita. Thus Arjuna became an instrument for bringing the celestial
waters of the Gita—the Vaikuntha-ganga—to earth. Hence, as we bow
down to Lord Narayana, we also bow down to Arjuna, the narottama.
Unless this dullness is renounced, failure is certain. Many renounce the
world and join an ashram or a spiritual institution in great earnest. For the
first few months or years, they strive hard with great enthusiasm and
energy. But gradually, they succumb to the dullness of complacency. Their
initial enthusiasm to persist in spiritual practices ebbs away. They become
feebleminded and lose all hope of Realisation in this life. This state of being
neither here nor there is insensitivity or kḷaibyam.
The sole purpose of the entire Vedānta-śāstra is to remove the hṛdaya-
daurbalyam. What is meant by hṛdaya-daurbalyam? Here, hṛdaya
represents the whole being; it includes the mind, senses, the intellect—all of
these together. The bala that one needs is the strength of the Knowledge of
the Self. From Ātma-jñāna comes enormous strength, vīryam. Lack of that
strength is daurbalyam. The Upanishad says,* “Through Ātmavidyā, one
knows ‘I am deathless. My real nature is immortality’. From this knowledge
arises infinite strength, valour; that is vīryam.”
Here, the Lord gives a clarion call to Arjuna. Quoting from the
Kathopanishad—uttiṣṭhata jāgrata, Krishna says, “kṣudraṃ hṛdaya-
daurbalyaṃ tyaktvā uttiṣṭha!” Using these words as a whip, Krishna
seems to be saying, “Give up the attachment to petty things of the world.
They hold you back from entering the portal of Nirvāṇa. Know for certain,
you must save yourself; you are your own saviour. Wake up! O parantapa
—param tapaḥ! You have done a great amount of tapas in the past. Now
too, it calls for tremendous tapas to refine yourself, to pull yourself up from
this quagmire of fear, despondency, depression, confusion, clouded thinking
and so on. Knowing your Self is the greatest tapas. The bow of vichāra is
the Gāṇḍīva that you must use here. And with one-pointedness as the
arrow, shoot, O Partha! Thus root out the ignorance—the ego-‘I’—and be
free here and now. You are Guḍākeśa—the sleepless one; succumb not to
the sleep of ignorance. Wake up!”
One who knows the omnipotent nature of the Self no more gets
overpowered by the senses. His senses and mind are easily subdued by the
awakening of the power of the Self. That is vīryam. Here, Krishna urges
Arjuna to behold that power in him. The unruffled, ever-peaceful Krishna
says, “O Partha, yield not to weakness. You are a great tapasvin. Invoke the
power of the Self. The greatest tapas is to awaken the energy of the
Transcendental and to hold it in one’s awareness. Holding in awareness, the
energy, which is devoid of the ego, is tapas. ” Through such a body, the
power of the Lord flows.

अर्जुन उवाच।
2.4 कथं भीष्ममहं सङ्ख्ये द्रोणं च मधुसूदन।
इषुभिः प्रतियोत्स्यामि पूजार्हावरिसूदन॥
Arjuna said: O Madhusudana (destroyer of the asura Madhu)! How can I
fight with arrows, Bhishma and Drona, who are worthy of worship (with
flowers), O Arisudana (destroyer of enemies)?

Here, Arjuna addresses Krishna as Arisudana and Madhusudana. “You, O

Lord, are a vanquisher of enemies such as the asura Madhu. But those who
are arrayed before me now are not my enemies. They are my grandfather
Bhishma and my teacher Drona. They are to be worshipped with flowers,
not arrows.”

गुरूनहत्वा हि महानुभावान्
2.5–6 श्रेयो भोक्तुं भैक्ष्यमपीह लोके ।
हत्वार्थकामांस्तु गुरूनिहैव
भुञ्जीय भोगान्रुधिरप्रदिग्धान्॥
न चैतद्विद्मः कतरन्नो गरीयो
यद्वा जयेम यदि वा नो जयेयुः।
यानेव हत्वा न जिजीविषाम-
स्तेऽवस्थिताः प्रमुखे धार्तराष्ट्राः॥
Certainly, it is far better to take to the path of alms than to kill these noble
masters. If I kill them, every pleasure I experience would be tainted with
blood. I do not even know which would be better—we conquering them or
they conquering us. Before us stand these sons of Dhritarashtra, after
slaying whom we should not care to live.

“Please, please allow me to follow the path of bhikshā, O Krishna. To beg

and live as a monk is better for me now. It is far, far better than killing great
souls like Drona, my Guru, whom I should be worshipping with my
devotion.” This is Arjuna’s standpoint.
Giving up kāmya-karma—desire-oriented action—and taking up bhikshā is
certainly spoken about by the Śruti as the ideal state to receive
Brahmavidyā.* Thus, Arjuna’s words are not without scriptural authority.
But there is a class of sādhakas who are ripe enough to receive wisdom but
are not yet ready to renounce externally. In fact, such are the majority.
Arjuna represents them. Such sādhakas must practise karma-sannyāsa as
not the mere giving up of outer actions but the subtler giving up of
doership; this means, they must renounce the inner form of karma. The
ground for receiving this teaching is being prepared here in Arjuna.

RAMA, THE SAGE

A spiritual soul is always a hidden monk, wherever he lives. Even if they
are kings, such beings are called Rajarishis—royal sages. Left to
themselves, they are always for the peaceful life of a yogi. This attitude we
can see in Rama too. Given a choice between kingdom and forest, Rama
preferred the peaceful forest-life.* He declares to his step-mother Kaikeyi,
“Know me to be a Knower of the Truth, one among the Sages.”

नाहमर्थपरो देवि लोकमावस्तुमुत्सहे।

विद्धिमामृषिभिस्तुल्यं विमलं धर्ममास्थितम्॥ Va.Ra. 2.19.20

Dear mother, I am never after wealth. I do not want to live in this world and
indulge in these royal pleasures. Know me to be equal to a rishi. Yes, I am
established in that immaculate dharma of sannyāsa.
This fragrance of renunciation was behind all of Rama’s exploits; it was his
dharma.
Here we see that, left to himself, Arjuna too would run away to the forest
and be a monk, rather than participate in this slaughter. This is not just a
hollow declaration by Arjuna, as he had previously lived a life of
renunciation in the forest. And on his own also he had undertaken bhikshā,
tapas, and so on. Only such a person, who is devoid of selfishness, can
receive the higher wisdom and also do good for society. This is why Arjuna
was compelled by the Lord not to turn away from this important mission of
stopping the erosion of dharma.
‘After winning the war, what pleasure am I going to get? All that remains
would certainly be stained with the blood of these Mahatmas.’ This
argument cannot be denied. Yet Arjuna has no other way. He is not fighting
this war for his own benefit. This havoc has been brought about by the
greed of the evil-minded. They have plagued this sacred land for too long.
Political power tends to corrupt people. Generation after generation, history
has proved that rulership and royal pleasures are like morphine which puts
to sleep all noble sentiments. Hence, Parasurama waged war twenty-one
times to cleanse the earth of evil politicians. He felt relieved when he saw
Rama. Handing over the mission to him, Parasurama withdrew to the
mountain and merged in tapas. He never felt tortured by doership. The
Upanishad says that a Knower is not tormented by the feeling, ‘I have done
a sinful act.’ † Sin and virtue are harboured only by a man of desires. To a
yogi, there is neither sin nor virtue. The Upanishad says,‡ “Renouncing both
puṇya and pāpa.” He is just an instrument.
So too, Arjuna has no other option. According to Krishna, the bloodstained
pleasure that Arjuna wants to avoid, is a prasāda—a sacred puroḍāśa that
is given as prasāda after a yajña. And he must consume it. Indeed, at the
very place—Samanta-panchaka—where Arjuna stood, Parasurama had
performed the worship-ritual of offering the blood of the evil men he had
slain. Bhagavan says, “Arjuna, you are not aware that destiny has brought
you to the exact same spot to accomplish the same mission.” This is the
message.
It is plain immaturity of Arjuna to prattle on: “I am not sure which would be
better—we conquering them or they conquering us.” If he were to actually
surrender to the evil ones, he would be doing a great disservice to dharma,
to the society that had reposed faith in him for its protection. All those who
have assembled in the war-field are kshatriyas. Their very nature is to fight
and protect. There is a large mass of innocent ordinary people—farmers,
scholars, monks, carpenters, masons, women, children; all those who go
about engaging in their harmless vocations in this world—who need
protection from the evil ones. Protecting them is Arjuna’s dharma. If the
group led by the vile Duryodhana is allowed to win, all these innocent
people would suffer. Hence, Arjuna’s argument here that renunciation is
better than fighting is due to his ignorance alone.

कार्पण्यदोषोपहतस्वभावः
2.7 पृच्छामि त्वां धर्मसम्मूढचेताः।
 यच्छ्रेयः स्यान्निश्चितं ब्रूहि तन्मे
शिष्यस्तेऽहं शाधि मां त्वां प्रपन्नम्॥
My nature is weighed down with the taint of feeblemindedness; my
understanding is confused regarding duty. I implore you, say definitely
what is good for me. I am your disciple. Do instruct me who has taken
refuge in you.

The usage kārpaṇya comes from the word kṛpaṇa. ‘kṛpaṇasya bhāvaḥ
kārpaṇyam.’ The word ‘kṛpaṇa’ means a petty, miserly one. The
Upanishad gives a specific definition for the word. Sage Yajnavalkya tells
Gargi that the one who leaves this world without knowing the Imperishable
is a kṛpaṇa. Such a person’s life is a misery.*
There are two aspects to our nature. One is svarūpa, which never undergoes
any change, and the other is svabhāva. Each person’s svabhāva or dharma
is unique. Their karma also differs as per their dharma. The meaning of the
word svabhāva is indicated in the Gita in various instances.†
There are certain mental states in which a person gets into a malady of
thoughts and forgets his normal self. Flooded by the inflow of this mass of
tāmasik energy, many lose their mental balance. Fortunate is the person
who peeps between the mood-clouds, gets a glimpse of his real nature, and
pleads to the healer, the Master, ‘Redeem me.’ Here, we see Arjuna doing
this.
After talking so much, for a moment, Arjuna looks at himself and vaguely
remembers the hero that he is. He remembers the work for which he is here
and recognises that some unknown force is impacting his mental balance
now. Hence the attitude of surrender dawns in him, and he says, “O
Krishna, I am a fool—kṛpaṇa. My understanding of dharma is clouded by
the smoke of confusion—dharma-sammūḍha-cetāḥ. Show me what is
śreyas, O Madhava! Show me the path to Eternal Freedom. If I run away
now from this battlefield, I know I will escape only temporarily. But later
on, all the inglorious events will annihilate me. My mind will be in
turbulence. Who knows, perhaps, I may again come back to fight! After all,
that is my nature.
I can run away only from the situation, but not from myself. Again, what is
the way to run away from my own inner nature? How is one to be free of
one’s prakṛti or svabhāva? One’s prakṛti is formidable. O Lord! Unless one
acts according to it, life will be hellish. Driven by the kshātra-dharma (the
character of a warrior), if one moves like all these warriors, terrible sin
alone is waiting for me, I fear. O Govinda, this karma-vyūha, this terrible
orbit of karma which whirls around me, is like the padma-vyūha (a lotus-
shaped impenetrable army formation). You have taught me how to enter it.
But once one is inside it without you as the charioteer, it is impossible to
come out. Please reveal to me the way of release. I am Your disciple. Here,
with my whole being, I surrender to You unconditionally—prapannam. Do
instruct me!”
The words kṛpaṇa, prapanna and anuśāsana appear in the śāstras too.
Kṛpaṇa means a petty one, prapanna means a surrendered devotee, and to
him, the Guru gives instruction; this is anuśāsana. A kṛpaṇa is unaware
that there is a way to be free of this saṃsāra. He suffers endlessly and dies.
With worldly achievement as his only goal, he toils and perishes as a puny
creature. What a nonsensical life! He never wakes up to the harsh facts.
Even though he beholds birth, death, disease, and so on, never does he
bother to reflect upon them. We see this phenomenon all around us. Even
brilliant doctors, who encounter these conditions on a daily basis, fail to
ponder over them. Why does their discrimination not wake up? Because
kṛpayāviṣṭam has not happened. The power of Grace has not possessed
them.
Lack of satsaṅga is the only cause for all problems. The remedy that the
śāstras prescribe is the company of sages. That alone can wake up a person.
Such influence gradually seeps within and awakens the power of the Soul.
In the Bhagavata, Bhagavan says in his teaching to Uddhava, “Uddhava,
without a real inner relationship with an Illumined Master, the power of the
Self will not wake up.”* This is the secret. Crossing this ocean of saṃsāra
with mere mental power, however great it may be, is impossible.
In Arjuna’s case, his love for and companionship with Krishna for such long
years has fructified only now, here in this terrible war-field. It is only here
that he says, “I am Thy disciple—śiṣyaste'ham.” Interestingly, he had
never said this to Krishna while in much more peaceful circumstances such
as in the Khandava forest where they had spent many a happy day. There, it
was not the Gita, but a war that had happened, and Arjuna had to fight with
Indra. Fighting is Arjuna’s svabhāva. Wherever he goes, it follows him. For
all of us too, wherever we go, our prārabdha follows us and we cannot give
it up.
This śloka is momentous and sacred. “śādhi mām—instruct me!
anuśāsanam kuru! I surrender unconditionally, with my whole being.”
From this point onwards, Arjuna did whatever Krishna instructed him to do,
even if it looked morally unpalatable. He, as an individual, was just not
there anymore. He became a perfect instrument. In fact, he was no longer
the Gāṇḍīva-dhāri Arjuna, he was like the flute of Krishna through which
the divine melody flowed out. This is prapatti.
Here, Arjuna indicates the higher goal and says, “Show me the path to
śreyas.” This word is repeated for the second time here in this chapter.
Arjuna means, “I neither seek sovereignty nor the luxury that follows
victory. It is real Liberation, Nirvāṇa, that I seek, O Lord.”
Arjuna invokes the Lord to speak by saying, “niścitam brūhi. Speak
decisively, O Silent One, and remove my kṛpaṇa-bhāva. Reveal to me, O
Lord; unlock the inner stream of my dharma.” Unless one falls back into
the stream of one’s dharma, the energy stream will be polluted. Jñāna and
dharma—both must be there. This is the message. The Lord—the avijñāta-
sakhā (the imperceptible friend)—is always with us, and He is ever
concerned about our well-being. He is the Protector. From our side, let us
surrender to Him and be filled with peace.

SPECIAL POINT
Finding no other way to escape, here, Arjuna, the Narottama, falls flat at the
feet of his eternal friend Narayana, thus revealing to all of us, the way to
seek knowledge. Whether it be in an āśrama or in a warfield, it does not
matter; the process is the same. The attitude is the same.

THE HIGHEST TEACHING AT THE ASHRAM

KITCHEN
 In Sri Ramanasramam, several women
THERE IS NO SPOT devotees, mostly widows, worked in the
ashram kitchen. They too yearned for the
WHERE ONE CANNOT Sage’s presence. But as they were fully
MEDITATE AND HAVE
occupied in the kitchen, they could not
present themselves in the hall where
SPIRITUAL COMMUNION. everyone sat in perfect inner peace in the
effulgent presence of the Sage. Hence,
Maharshi himself used to visit the kitchen
often under the pretext of helping them with the cooking. There, he gave
them the highest teaching. Amidst the boiling sambaar and rice, they sat in
samādhi around him. Around them would be the smoke of burning
firewood, but they had the cool peace of nirvikalpa-samādhi within them.
They had the intuitive insight of the Atman amidst the burning kitchen fires.
So too here, amidst the tumultuous sounds of kettle-drums and trumpets, the
greatest satsaṅga is about to happen. The scene is well set. This reveals one
more point. There is no spot where one cannot meditate and have spiritual
communion. The necessity of a congenial spot is a myth. The most
‘congenial spot’ is the place where you really meet your Master or any
saint. In that intimacy, satsaṅga takes place; surrender happens.
Surrender—śaraṇāgati, prapatti—cannot be brought about. When a wick
comes in contact with fire, it gets aflame. This is the process. Here, the Śruti
says, it is indeed a wonder—‘āścaryam’. The Master is a wonder, and the
disciple is also a wonder.* The Master’s speech is a wonder, and the
disciple’s surrender is a greater wonder. How deftly he hands himself over
to the power of Grace! Indeed, he is a skilful one—kuśala.

ARJUNA, THE AMBIDEXTROUS

Arjuna is said to be ambidextrous—savyasāchi. His skill was not limited to
the use of both hands while fighting his enemies; he could fight with the
world and also with his own inner forces. In the Zen arts, they have
chiselled such an ambidextrous warrior. One side of his face is that of a
brave warrior like Arjuna, and the other is like a radiant and serene Buddha.
A person who can fight only with the outer world is merely a violent
person. Unless both outer and inner integration happens, turmoil will
prevail.
Arjuna acting as Brihannala cannot be dismissed as a mere story. He is the
greatest complete man—narottama. And as Brihannala he was the noblest
of women too. (bṛhat means full, whole). He was also very artistic and
taught the arts to the women in the harem of Virata. When both sides are
perfectly integrated, surrender to the Master happens, and the buddhi
becomes infinitely powerful—vaiśāradī; then listening once is enough to
transcend saṃsāra; not much toil or austerity is needed to complete the
process.

न हि प्रपश्यामि ममापनुद्याद्-
2.8 यच्छोकमुच्छोषणमिन्द्रियाणाम्।
अवाप्य भूमावसपत्नमृद्धं
राज्यं सुराणामपि चाधिपत्यम्॥
Even if I were to obtain an unchallenged sovereign emperorship of the
whole earth or even lordship over the devas, I do not see it wiping away the
grief that parches my senses.

“If the war is waged, everyone will be affected; both the living and the
departed will suffer its consequences.” A war destroys even future
generations. Here, Arjuna is disillusioned about the fruit of victory. Śoka
will be the only result. Thus bewailing, he unburdens his heart and cries out,
“Oh! Who will wipe away my sorrow?” Envisioning the catastrophe that
would surely follow, he laments, “Who will wipe away my sorrow? I do not
see anyone who could do that. It thoroughly drains all my senses. Before I
fall exhausted, protect me, O Lord Govinda! You are the energiser of all the
senses.”*
“Even if I were to acquire the unchallenged sovereign emperorship of the
entire planet without any foe to challenge my lordship, it would not give me
peace of mind. Even if I secure the lordship of the devas after departure
from here, this agony, this same ignorance will persist there. After all, most
of these petty fellows I kill may be waiting around in heaven to receive me.
What is the use of gaining that abode where you again meet the same
persons whom you thought you had got rid of? I may also carry the same
mind there. Unless you cure me now, the effect will be the same whether
tomorrow or the next life.”
This indeed is vairāgya. Sankaracharya defines vairāgya as ‘dispassion
towards pleasures that one could get here or hereafter.’ † It is only in such a
soil that the seed of Ātmajñāna can sprout.
It is due to their desire for pleasures that even old kings have travelled all
the way from down south to fight so that they can get killed in the war and
reach svarga. Otherwise, even though uninvited, why have so many come
along with their armies only to die? Their faith is in svarga. They believe
that death is only temporary and look forward to the joys of the hereafter
(svarga). Arjuna is disillusioned by this kind of thinking.
We must wake up now. Unless we know now, eternity is wasted. NOW is not
made of time. Past is time. Future is time. Past is a memory—of all the
former births. Future is a dream—of all future births. NOW is eternity. Past
and future are pairs of death. NOW is deathlessness. Past and future are
mind. The entry to Eternity is here. It is NOW. NOW is the Atman, the Self.
Time, mind, thought, action—all are synonyms for death. In the Self, time,
mind and actions are all transcended. Thoughts subside completely when
one touches the centre. The intellect becomes cool like the full moon.
‘himakara-śītaḷa’, says Yoga Vasishtha.
Here, Arjuna’s prayer is, “Lord! Make my mind quiet. Impart to me the
antidote to the poison by bestowing the poise of peace.” This is the highest
Yoga.* Only when the mind becomes subdued and still will one really attain
peace. Arjuna has discovered this now. Although he is not voicing it, he
knows it. What he wants now is an antidote for śoka;
yacchokamucchoṣaṇamindriyāṇām—that grief which drains out all the
senses must be removed.

सञ्जय उवाच।
2.9 एवमुक्त्वा हृषीके शं गुडाके शः परन्तपः।
न योत्स्य इति गोविन्दमुक्त्वा तूष्णीं बभूव ह॥
Sanjaya said: Having spoken thus to Hrishikesa, Gudakesa said, “O
Govinda, I shall not fight,” and remained silent.

Arjuna declared, “No more fighting; no more of such absurd desire-oriented

actions; no more ambition; no more toiling day and night to achieve
ephemeral positions and powers which foolish worldly people consider
great.” Thus declaring, Arjuna became quiet, tūṣṇīṃ babhūva. He turned
away from everything and sat down in the chariot declaring, ‘I shall not
fight.’ This is surely a great achievement for a valorous warrior like Arjuna.
Arjuna is referred to as Gudakesa because
THE MOVEMENTS OF he had formerly controlled sleep through
Yoga. He knows that sleep is only a
‘I’, ‘YOU’ AND ‘HE’ IS temporary escape from problems. It can
WAR. THE STATE WHERE neither remove sorrow nor offer a
permanent solution to problems. That
THERE IS NO MOVEMENT great Gudakesa speaks to Govinda (one
OF ‘I’, ‘YOU’ AND ‘HE’ with the highest Jñāna), who is also
Hrishikesa (one who has controlled his
IS SAMĀDHI. senses). The highest Jñāna is ‘go’—
mahāvākyajñāna—and the one who is
attained by that knowledge (go) is
Govinda. To him, Arjuna says, “Until you take me beyond this darkness, I
shall not fight.”
This is the submission that a disciple must make. No more strife, warfare.
The movements of ‘I’, ‘you’ and ‘he’ is war. The state where there is no
movement of ‘I’, ‘you’ and ‘he’ is samādhi. When that state is attained
consciously in the waking state—when one’s pristine awareness is
unaffected either by thought or by the drug of sleep—then one has really
woken up. All action—all that is attained or achieved through action, all
other-worldly pleasures and the various temporary yoga-states that are
attained by putting the mind to sleep will ultimately end in disillusionment
alone. Realising the futility of it all, Gudakesa Arjuna said, “O Govinda!
Give me that message! Take me beyond this limitation and put me in that
state where sorrow will no longer affect me. Here I lie at Thy feet. No work.
Nothing to achieve. Nothing to attain. No goal. Nowhere to go. Nothing to
earn. No duty. Thine am I.”
2.10 तमुवाच हृषीके शः प्रहसन्निव भारत।
सेनयोरुभयोर्मध्ये विषीदन्तमिदं वचः॥
(Sanjaya continues:) O Bhārata (Dhritarashtra)! Positioned between the two
armies, Hrishikesa, as if smiling, spoke to the despondent Arjuna thus.

The word prahasan means ‘laughing.’ The laughter of the Lord speaks
volumes. When Krishna smiles, it is like laughter. In Ramayana, when
Rama smiles, it is the smile of the eyes and the cheeks; mandahāsam—a
hint of a smile. “īṣat utsmayamānaḥ,” says Valmiki.
Krishna’s laughter is the laughter of the Lord of Time—Kālapurusha. ‘I am
the cause for this fight. I am the cause for this despondency of yours. I am
also the solution for this sorrow.’ This is the essence of that laughter.
prahasanniva—‘iva’ means ‘as if’. ‘prahasanniva’ means ‘as if making
fun of him’ or ‘as if laughing.’ In the Kaurava assembly, when that fool of a
prince Duryodhana decided to imprison the peace messenger Krishna, all
heard this laughter… peals of laughter. The mere sound of it terrified them
all.
His resounding laughter is the inundating power of māyā* that evokes
various reactions in different people. It makes them either deluded, mad or
ecstatic! At times it awakens a deluded person from the spell of māyā. As
the laughter of death, it terrifies the wicked. Here in Arjuna’s case, it is
abhayam, fearlessness.
Arjuna is in a pitiable state, weeping timidly, in the middle of two oceans of
warriors. And there you find the Master, ‘Bhagavan’, sporting the great
hāsa—prahāsa. That itself transmitted a strange bliss, ānanda, into the
heart of Arjuna and terror into the foes. This laughter was the explosion of
the primordial stuff of Bliss. It prepared Arjuna’s mind to receive the
forthcoming teaching—the Yogaśāstra.
This aspect of preparing a seeker to receive the teaching was often seen in
the presence of Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi. Whenever an earnest seeker
asked him a question, before answering it, the Sage would sit for some time
in profound silence—mauna, through which the seeker is prepared to
receive the teaching. Those who fail to receive the emanation of silence will
generally fail to receive the teaching as well. A real Master first transmits
the experience through his ‘ātma-śakti’, and then makes the disciple
understand and absorb it. ‘In the spiritual tree, the fruit comes first and then
the flowers,’ says Sri Ramakrishna.
hṛṣīkeśaḥ taṃ viṣīdantam idam vacaḥ uvāca—the Supreme Teacher
Hrishikesa, the one who has subdued all the senses into the Heart, spoke
these words to the suffering Arjuna. Vāk is the Sarasvati who is worshipped
in the very beginning. † The vāk—the Word of the Sage—is the moon of
peace that arises from the milky ocean of Ātmānubhūti.

श्रीभगवानुवाच।
2.11 शअशोच्यानन्वशोचस्त्वं प्रज्ञावादांश्च भाषसे।
गतासूनगतासूंश्च नानुशोचन्ति पण्डिताः॥
Sri Bhagavan said: Although you speak like a wise person, it is mere
intellectual prattle. You grieve for those who should not be grieved for; the
wise grieve neither for the living, nor for the dead.

Here begins the divine discourse of Krishna. The very first word of
Krishna’s teaching is ‘aśocyān’. ‘na śocyāḥ’—those about whom we
should not grieve. Śoka is the result of ignorance. There is no reason to
grieve over others and give up one’s peace. The only cause for such grief is
attachment born of delusion, infatuation and ignorance. The whole purpose
of the Gita-śāstra or any other spiritual science is to root out suffering.
When the Truth—the Inner Self—is known, ‘one is completely purified,
freed of the dirt of the ego; sorrow is removed, and the knowledge of
immortality is revealed.’* It is with these words that the Bhagavata ends.
Here also, the entire Gita is nothing but Ātmavidyā—Self-knowledge.
Those who know It cross over sorrow. † Bhishma, Drona and Kripa are
sages who know the Truth. They are not to be grieved for. In the Ramayana,
there is a touching scene when Bharata goes to the forest in search of Rama
and meets him at Panchavaṭi. With intense sorrow, when Bharata beseeches
Rama to return, Rama tells him, ‡ “Why are you grieving for me? If you
must lament, lament for yourself—ātmānam anuśoca. Why do you bother
about me or others? I have known the Truth, and here I am free. Your
empire and all its powers are flimsy like a castle made of cotton. One wind
of destiny can blow them away, but my empire, I know, is unshakeable by
any storm. I know I am deathless.”
It is this knowledge that keeps Bhishma and others unperturbed. Bhishma
was a knower of Truth. Hence, after the Mahabharata war, Dharmaputra
could be at peace only after listening to Bhishma’s wise words.§ Here,
Krishna says, “Why do you worry for such a Knower, a Brahmavit? Śoka is
a symptom of ignorance. And yet you speak like a paṇḍita!” ‘Paṇḍita’ is
one of those words that have become insipid due to constant use. The word
‘paṇḍita’ actually means ‘a Realised Soul.’ ‘Paṇḍa’ means Ātma-jñāna,
and one who has it is paṇḍita.**
There is a beautiful verse in the Mahabharata,

शोकस्थानसहस्राणि भयस्थानशतानि च।
दिवसे दिवसे मूढम्आविशन्ति न पण्डितम्॥

For the fool, every day there are thousands of reasons for sorrow and
hundreds of reasons for fear. But a paṇḍita never grieves nor fears.
A paṇḍita never grieves either for the living or for the dead. na anuśocanti
are the words. The Bhagavata says, †† “A paṇḍita is he who clearly knows
what is bondage and what is freedom.” Elsewhere in the Bhagavata, Narada
tells Yudhishthira,* “Do not grieve about anyone in the world because all
are in the hands of the Lord… Sorrow for beings arises from attachment,
which is caused by ignorance about the real nature of the Self.”
Sorrow is our spontaneous reaction to unpleasant incidents. If it cannot be
avoided, at least, do not carry forward the sorrow for a long time. Carrying
sorrow in the mind is anuśoka. A Knower never does this. Krishna uses the
word prajñāvāda, which means ‘mere intellectual blabbering’, to taunt
Arjuna. “Arjuna, he who ‘knows’ is a prajñāvān. Such stalwarts are made
of different stuff. They can be recognised by their calmness. They never
swerve from the Atman, never submit to sorrow. Associate with the
Knowers of Truth, and you too, know the Truth and be free of sorrow.”
Through śravaṇa, manana and nididhyāsana, a seeker absorbs the
knowledge of the Self from the Guru. The fruit of knowledge is crystal-
clear awareness of the Self. Real pāṇḍityaṃ helps to remove all frailties.
The Upanishad says,† “The Knower becomes pure like a child—‘bālyena’.”
Here, bālyam implies the strength of Jñāna—jñāna-balam. This helps a
yogi to surmount all frailties. Hence the Lord says, a paṇḍita never again
suffers or grieves.

THE POWER OF Ātmajñāna

When Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi was
SORROW IN ANY FORM in his last days, many saw this power of
pāṇḍityaṃ—Ātma-jñāna—in him. The
IS AN INDICATION OF terrible disease was swiftly consuming
IGNORANCE. his body; it was undeniable that there was
utmost pain. And yet, the jīvanmukta
remained unruffled, poised in the Self.
His face was clear like the cloudless sky. Tremendous peace wafted around
him. In his awareness, there was no body. Total freedom from sorrow was
revealed even in that dire situation. Seeing the Master’s dying body, a
scholarly devotee rolled on the ground in grief and agony. The Master
simply remarked, “You know, you grieve because you see me as this body.
You see me as this body because you are yet to give up your identification
with your body.” These words from the Master were like an explosion, and
at that very moment the disciple had a perfect intuition of the body-less
state. He was established in the Self.
An Illumined Soul knows that no one dies and that in the real nature, all are
body-less. Dehavatva, embodiment, is only an illusion; there is no real
authority, pramāṇa, for it. When a Jñāni looks at anyone, he sees not the
individual vital force, asu (prāṇa), that comes and goes—gatāsu or
agatāsu; he sees the Atman the ever-present Existence—Sat.
An ignorant one grieves over the living and the dead, whereas a knower
grieves neither about the living nor the dead. Sorrow in any form is an
indication of ignorance. In reality, there is nobody here, or rather, no ‘body’
here. What is is only one non-dual Consciousness.
2.12 न त्वेवाहं जातु नासं न त्वं नेमे जनाधिपाः।
न चैव न भविष्यामः सर्वे वयमतः परम्॥
There has never been a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor any of these
kings gathered here; nor will there ever be a time when we shall cease to
exist.

From here begins the incredible science of turning our attention towards our
eternal nature. ‘Existence’ itself is the subject. jātu means never. Never
were we non-existent, nor will we cease to exist. Existence is always NOW.
There is never a ‘was’ or ‘will be’ in Existence. It is always NOW. Here,
Now, Consciousness—pratibodham.
“O Arjuna, no one will ever cease to exist.”
These are the three words found in this verse: ‘aham’—I, ‘tvam’—you,
‘ime’—these; the first person, the second person and the third person. But,
in our experience, only the ‘I AM’—‘aham’—exists. We say ‘you’ and ‘he’
to refer to ‘others’; they are only sensory facts—mere bodies. Here and
now, you can experience the ‘I AM’. ‘You’ and ‘he’ are seen only at some
place at some particular time and not at another place, at another time. The
‘I AM’ is self-effulgent Awareness; it can never be seen through the senses.
It is also the only ‘thing’ that can always be experienced immediately and
directly. It is the ever-existent Truth in all. In that non-dual awareness, even
the individual-‘I’ does not exist. The ‘I’, ‘you’ and ‘he’ are mere
superimpositions, whereas the awareness ‘I AM’ is eternity, time-lessness,
space-lessness. It is Brahman. That is the real me, and that is the real you.
Ignore the illusory names and forms; only the Atman exists.
The words ‘āsam’ and ‘bhaviṣyāmaḥ’ are to be noted here. “There was no
time when we were not, when I was not. There will not be any time in the
future either when I shall cease to exist.” This is the pure, pristine, undiluted
experience of a Realised Soul. The words ‘was’ and ‘will be’ are
meaningless. Always, only ‘is’ remains; only ‘now’. When the ‘I’ is
removed from the ‘I AM’, it is mere simple ‘AM-ness’ or ‘IS-ness’ as in
deep sleep.
Existence is always ‘NOW’. It is timeless. It is beyond time. The mind
weaves the curtain of time from the wool of thoughts and veils the Self.
 Quieten the thoughts, and you transcend
creation here and now. It is thoughts that
QUIETEN THE
bring in the past and future in the form of
THOUGHTS, AND YOU memory and imagination. The present too
TRANSCEND CREATION
as experienced through the senses, is
transitory. In the Self, neither ‘I’ exists,
HERE AND NOW. nor ‘you’, nor ‘they’; neither past, nor
present, nor future; only the ever-existent
Sat-Chit-Ānanda.
The movements of the ‘I’, ‘you’, and ‘he’ in the real Self is the mind. Their
cessation is samādhi. This is what Bhagavan is leading Arjuna to. ‘I’, ‘you’
and ‘he’ are mere individual sense perceptions. They arise and disappear. In
sleep, they are not. If that be the case, how is Bhagavan declaring that they
are all permanent—nitya? It should be understood as ‘paramārtha-
svarūpeṇa nityāḥ.’ All are timeless in the real Self, and He will soon reveal
the Truth, ‘na abhāvo vidyate sataḥ—Existence never ceases to exist.’

2.13 देहिनोऽस्मिन्यथा देहे कौमारं यौवनं जरा।

तथा देहान्तरप्राप्तिर्धीरस्तत्र न मुह्यति॥
Just as the embodied one passes through various stages in the body, such as
childhood, youth and old age, so too does it pass into another body after
death. One whose intellect blazes with the light of discrimination is not
deluded by these changes.

Now let us speak about death. Death is the only event in life we can be
perfectly certain about.
“O Arjuna, you are a dhīra—a brave one.” A dhīra is he whose intellect
blazes with the light of viveka—discrimination. ‘Dhī’ means intellect, and
‘ra’ means discrimination. One who uses the dhī in the right manner attains
fearlessness; indomitable will shines forth in him. On the contrary, moha—
delusion due to wrong knowledge—makes the will feeble. It throws cold
water into the fire of one’s confidence, one’s will. And the greatest fear is
the fear of death. “O Arjuna, it is delusion that makes you afraid.”
“Do you remember being born? Could you remember emerging from your
mother’s womb? It is simply impossible for anyone. Similarly, it is
impossible to remember your embryo-hood in the womb or your babyhood
or infancy. Those elders who cuddled you as a child may remember some
events from your childhood. This Bhishma, whenever he looks at you, is
reminded of that little boy who sat on his lap speaking in adorable baby
talk. But O Partha! Do you ever remember that yourself? Your birth and
infancy are perceptible only to others. And they are all gone now, O Partha.
They happened to ‘this’ body of yours, and it is not known to you now; they
are not pratyaksha for you. Your babyhood and boyhood have all gone.
Your youth and its charm are also gradually diminishing, and old age will
set in soon. All these are mere happenings in this phenomenal world, O
Partha.
Know that all these are only for the body. O dear friend, all these changes in
the body are merely like the mirage in a desert; they are only appearances in
the Atman. So too is death, O Arjuna. It is just a phenomenon. For
everyone, even an unenlightened one, death is not an incident that happens
in his Self. The Self is Existence itself. Then, what is death? The jīva
traverses from one body to another, that is all. It just continues its travel;
whether it be astral or earthly, it does not matter. It is not at all an end.
Nothing is going to end, O Arjuna. Know that you are the ever-existent Self.
Know this changeless principle behind all the changes, and your delusion
will disappear along with all your sorrows.” Somehow or the other, we must
erase the śoka. This is what Bhagavan says here.
A Knower, a Realised person, is known by his absolute lack of fear.
Fearlessness—abhayam—is a sign of Ātma-jñāna. Fearlessness, sorrow-
lessness, clear wisdom, peace, vigilance and the smokeless flame of will of
an enlightened person are all highly infectious. Here Arjuna must have felt
this power in the presence of the mighty Lord of Yoga, Yogeśvara Sri
Krishna. Once moha is gone, you behold the speck that is the individual,
transfiguring as the boundless Being. Such a one moves about as a storm of
peace.

DISSOLVING SORROW
A person was affected terribly by the sorrow of his wife’s untimely demise.
Do whatever, he could not come out of it. A compassionate friend took him
to the Sage of Arunachala, Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi. He stayed there for
a while, and his mind gradually absorbed the healing atmosphere of peace
emanating from that Brahmavit. Though the silent Presence of the Master
gave him some solace, he was in need of some definite teaching (upadeśa)
and illumining words to remove his inner darkness. At an appropriate time,
he opened the topic to the Sage. Seeing his grieving mind, Maharshi looked
at him with compassion and said, “It is said that one’s wife is half of one’s
body. It is indeed difficult to endure the sorrow. But think, who is sad here?
You. If you die, will you cry?”
“No, Bhagavan.”
“That is it,” said Maharshi with a smile, “Enquire, ‘WHO AM I?’ Then the ‘I’
will vanish, leaving only the ‘whole’ there. Peace alone will remain. The
dead never grieve. Only the living are affected by the sorrow due to their
thoughts. The way to freedom from sorrow lies in removing the ‘I’—the
individual-sense. Explore what is ‘death’. It is the thoughts about your
association with her that are tormenting you. Suppose she was in the next
room or has gone away far off; will you cry? What is the difference now?
Only the thought that she is no more. That is not right. The Self can never
cease to exist. The body you are grieving about is only a symptom of
ignorance. Know your Self, and you come to know the immortal nature of
all.”

2.14 मात्रास्पर्शास्तु कौन्तेय शीतोष्णसुखदुःखदाः।

आगमापायिनोऽनित्यास्तांस्तितिक्षस्व भारत॥
When the senses come into contact with their objects, O Kaunteya (son of
Kunti), we experience cold or heat, pleasure or pain, which come and go
and hence are impermanent. Them, you endure.

The word ‘mātrā’ comes from the word mīyante, which means ‘to
measure’. Sankaracharya says,* “The senses are all simply measuring
instruments. Through the eyes, form is measured; through the ears, sound is
measured; through the nose, smell is measured, and so on.” Bhagavan
declares that the sense perceptions are not real; anityāḥ—they are
impermanent. They come and go; they constantly change; they are in flux.
They are just born of contact—sparśa-vedinaḥ. When we try to measure
Existence by using these five senses, we superimpose limitations on the
Infinite.
“O Son of Kunti, the senses are mere doors through which the mind goes
out.” The thrills or the pains the senses bring in are flimsy stimulations and
are short-lived. They come and go. Heat and cold are present in the world.
What can we do about them? We must endure them. Just as we protect
ourselves from them to a certain extent, the same can be done about pain
and pleasure as well. Beyond that, there is only one power that nature has
given to humankind, and that is titikshā—endurance.
The senses like to jump to their respective objects. Their innate upsurge
should be endured. Such endurance generates heat in the body, and that is
tapas. Tapas means heat. Titikshā is one of the essential prerequisites for an
aspirant to do śravaṇa—listening to Vedantic teachings.

सहनं सर्वदुःखानामप्रतीकारपूर्वकम्।
चिन्ताविलापरहितं सा तितिक्षा निगद्यते॥ Vi.Cu. 25

To endure all pains without seeking any remedy for them and also not
allowing thoughts to cause havoc in the brain or not bewailing about them
is titikshā.
The quality of endurance, when developed, becomes a great fortress that
aids jñānavichāra. It remains like an ornament on a Jñāni even in the state
of perfection—siddhāvasthā. All mahāpurushas had this quality.

ENDURANCE, ENDURANCE, MORE

ENDURANCE
It is well-known that in Bhagavan Ramana’s life, when the fatal disease
sarcoma was on a rampage in his body, and when he had to undergo
surgery, his face still remained unruffled, peaceful. Many stories—
exaggerated versions—are in vogue that the sage felt no pain at all. That is
not true. There was intense pain, but he endured it. He said, “It is like the
stinging of a thousand scorpions.” That power of endurance was there in his
physical body like an adornment. For the Sage, the pain too was an
experience of the Self. Knowledge, feelings, thoughts, objects, events—all
happen in the Awareness. They are like ornaments, whereas the ‘Sat’, the
Atman, is the gold. Only the Self exists at all times. Pain, pleasure, heat,
cold—all of these experiences are nothing but Brahman.
A devotee asked Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi what we must do when faced
with suffering or pain. Maharshi said, “Endurance, endurance, more
endurance.” We see this endurance depicted in Uttara-rama-charitam as
well. When much suffering came into his life, Rama says, “ramosmi
sarvam sahe—Alas! I am born as Rama. I will endure everything.” Thus,
endurance is a great quality we must cultivate.
Pleasure and pain, both occur. When painful experiences come—āgama—
we cannot do anything other than endure them. And when pleasurable
experiences go away—apāyi—then also we must endure. They are not
nitya; they are anityāḥ. Even yogic experiences are said to be
prabhavāpyayau—they arrive and depart. Hence, even such spiritual
experiences cannot be called nitya. Until we find that which never comes
and goes, the inner mood swings are inevitable. As for all other things, the
only recourse is to just endure them.
The grand teaching begins here with the phrase ‘titikṣasva bhārata.’ The
name Bhārata means one who delights in the light of knowledge. In the
story of Bharata in the Bhagavata, we can see that the great sage endured
everything. When faced with difficulties, he kept quiet. Here, when Arjuna
is bewailing his lot with so much agony, the direct solution that Bhagavan
gives is ‘Endure’. The easiest way or the only available power in us to meet
any problem is to endure it. Do not seek any upāya—method or means—to
handle it. Just endure. Endurance is an immense power. When we visit
places of high altitude, though the cold is unbearable in the beginning, we
get acclimatised to it in a few days. Similarly, when we endure suffering,
we acclimatise to it soon. Hence, the first upadeśa is ‘titikṣasva’. When we
are endowed with this power of endurance, why not make use of it instead
of fantasising about an antidote? When we endure, here and now, we
assimilate that into our system, and the whole thing vanishes within us. We
must digest it and transmute it as a spiritual experience.
2.15 यं हि न व्यथयन्त्येते पुरुषं पुरुषर्षभ।
समदुःखसुखं धीरं सोऽमृतत्वाय कल्पते॥
O Purusha-rishabha (best of men)! The person who is not tormented by
these, and to whom pleasure and pain are the same, that wise one alone is
worthy of immortality.

amṛtatvāya kalpate is the key phrase in this verse. Kalpana means

brooding, the power of contemplation. A contemplation about the deathless
nature of one’s own inner Self dawns in the heart of a mature yogi. Perhaps
the greatest wonder in spiritual knowledge is that it is possible for the
human mind to conceive deathlessness. This seed of immortality bursts
open in a mature disciple when the rays of Grace touch his heart. When this
seed bursts within, it germinates as spiritual longing. The sādhaka begins to
brood over that state where there is no death, where there is bliss, where
there is absolute freedom and fearlessness.
Only an intellect uncorrupted by thoughts can grasp the eternal nature of the
Self. Only an intellect that has become quiet—simple, lucid, and ready to
penetrate beyond—can have the bhāvanā of the unthinkable; amṛtatva-
kalpanā is possible. It is as if it sniffs out the Unknowable, the
Imperishable. The Bhagavata says, ‘ātmānam anujighrati.’ Just like a
flower is traced by its fragrance, the Atman is traced by such an intellect;
‘amṛtatvāya kalpate’ is possible. The great insight must arise in the
sādhaka that pleasure will not give ultimate fulfilment; it will not touch the
‘heart-centre.’ Peace alone can bestow eternal fulfilment. This insight is
amṛtatva-kalpanā.
Here Bhagavan addresses Arjuna as puruṣa-ṛṣabha—the bull among men!
Like a bull that stands tall amidst a herd of cows, Arjuna stands way above
others. Did you notice the change in Krishna’s words? Now that Arjuna’s
will has woken up, he is no longer a kḷība but an embodiment of manliness.
He whom the storms of life do not shake, and he who does not lose his
inner peace—samādhi—due to pleasure or pain, such a one is a dhīra—a
brave one. amṛtatvāya kalpate—such a one is eligible for immortality; he
deserves Self-Realisation. His mind has begun to brood over the deathless
state. Now his kalpanā-śakti—inner resolve—is focused on gaining
amṛtatva—immortality. He is ready to be anchored to the other shore.
yaṃ hi na vyathayantyete—that man
ALL PHENOMENA HAVE whom they (pleasure and pain) do not
torment. The word ‘ete’ refers to all
ONLY ONE EFFECT— vicissitudes of life—our prārabdha. The
THEY COMPEL THE outer world flows into us as streams of
pleasure and pain; they are the forces that
BRAIN TO PRODUCE whirl around in the outer orbits. One slip
THOUGHTS. from the centre and any orbit can sweep
you off and take you for a ride. They
create vyathā—turbulence—in the
nervous system and the mind. Hence, Yogaśāstra says that both pain and
pleasure are kḷeśāḥ—suffering. A dhīra is not affected by these forces of
nature because he has mastered the art of endurance; he is very careful in
remaining centred in the Heart. Otherwise, the entire life would be spent
searching for ways and means to erase the pain and attain pleasure.
As a warrior, Arjuna is not new to the dangers of war—he knows that
arrows would fly at him from all sides. And fight he must, despite this. He
cannot afford to attend to his wounds in the middle of battle; he just ignores
them. Similarly, in spiritual life, a seeker must learn to focus on his sādhanā
and ignore everything else.
samaduḥkhasukhaṃ dhīram—he whose intellect is balanced in both
pleasure and pain is a courageous one. “himaśītalayā dhiyā—the intellect is
still, quiet, cool like the Himalayan snow,” says Yoga Vasishtha. Such a one
is a dhīra. Usually, dhīra means a brave one. But here, it means a wise one
who has the inner courage to give up association with all disturbing
elements. Neither pleasure nor pain disturbs his intellect. ‘No inner
disturbance due to outer forces’ is the sign of a true sannyāsi.
All phenomena have only one effect—they compel the brain to produce
thoughts; innumerable thought-currents are generated in the brain. The
brain of a saṃsārī is swarming with ever-fresh channels of thought that
carry emotions. Such a disturbed state is vishama, imbalance. On the
contrary, a Yogi is extremely alert in keeping his buddhi ablaze with the
flame of samādhi. His intellect is in mauna, sacred silence, or rather, it is
yoked to the inner centre—the Silent One who is beyond the intellect.
There, only the nectar of mauna oozes out.
The malady of thinking is vyathā. A worldly man weeps and agonises—
vyathayanti—over problems that come his way. As long as there is inner
disturbance in the form of vyathā, it shows that he is a saṃsāri, and that the
words ‘the world is mithyā, and Brahman alone is true’ is only a philosophy
for him; it has not become his truth as he still deems life outside to be real.
The one, for whom the world has as if disappeared and the Self alone is, is a
Yogi; ‘brahma-satyam jagan-mithyā’ is his living reality. For him, the
experience of the Inner Reality alone is true, and the world around,
including his own body and mind, is recognised as unreal.

*
The following verse is the heart-verse of Srimad Bhagavad Gita. This is
indeed the seed-verse from which the beautiful tree of Gita has sprung. This
verse is the secret of Tattva-darśana as well as the secret of a Tattvadarśī—
a Realised Person. Knowing this, one becomes a seer of Tattva and abides
in Brahman—in one’s own Being.

2.16 नासतो विद्यते भावो नाभावो विद्यते सतः।

उभयोरपि दृष्टोऽन्तस्त्वनयोस्तत्त्वदर्शिभिः॥
That which is unreal has no existence. And the real never has non-existence.
The truth of both these declarations has been perceived by the seers of
Truth.
(The asat—non-existent—has no being-ness, and the sat—that which is—
never ceases to be. The essence of both these are beheld by the tattvadarśis
—the Realised Ones.)

The whole purpose of the spiritual quest is to end sorrow. Sorrow and
suffering are always associated with the body, mind and the world, which
the Gita terms prakṛti. Māyā is another name for them. To be free of
suffering, one should be free of the grip of prakṛti. To be free of the body
and the world may seem impossible, but the scriptures assure us that such
freedom exists, and our own intuition too whispers it to be true. The answer
or solution lies in this precious verse. ‘Know what is Real and what is
unreal. By that knowledge ensues complete freedom from the unreal. The
Self, the Atman, alone exists. Everything else, though it appears real, has no
substantial existence.’ This is the implied essence of this verse.

THE REAL AND THE UNREAL

Sat or Reality is that which always exists but does not appear like form,
sound, and so on. asat or the unreal is that which appears to the senses and
the mind but has no real existence. This is a simple yet profound fact. For
me, ‘I exist’ is a direct experience, whereas another’s existence is only an
appearance. I can only see or touch or hear you through the senses. On the
contrary, my own existence, which is experienced as ‘I’, is immediate; it is
here and now. This ‘IS-ness’ is Sat—astitvam. All else is unreal—mithyā.
Mithyā means it can be felt with the mind and the senses but cannot be
experienced as Existence, Consciousness, ‘I’.
asataḥ bhāvaḥ na vidyate—the unreal has no Existence. Anything that
exists in one state and disappears in another state has no real existence even
now while it appears to exist. This is the conclusion of sages.
Gaudapadacharya says,* “That which was not in the beginning and will not
exist in the end, even though it appears now, has no real existence.”
For better understanding, let us segregate
‘I AM’ IS PURE experience as physical, mental and
existential. The world is experienced as
EXPERIENCE. IT IS NOT physical, sensory—indriya-pratyaksha.
Heaven and other planes are imagined;
A CONDITIONED
hence they are mental—mānasa-
EXPERIENCE OF THE pratyaksha. All emotions too are mental.
SENSES; IT IS But the ‘I AM’—one’s existence—is
neither physical nor mental. It is not made
UNCONDITIONED NON- of thoughts. It is aparoksha—direct
DUAL CONSCIOUSNESS. experience—says the Upanishad. † It is
experienced by all, at all times—
sarvānubhūḥ. Physical experiences are
only in the waking state. Mental experiences are only in the waking and
dream states. Existence alone is in all states. Experiencing mere Existence-
Consciousness is possible only in the ‘I AM’ and never in the body or mind.
It is felt by all, everywhere, always. This is the import of na abhāvo vidyate
sataḥ—the real never ceases to exist. Hence it is Satyam—Truth. All others
are unreal. This knowledge is very important.
Body, thoughts and sleep are all of the nature of coming and going. Hence,
they have no bhāva—real existence. They all appear in the Sat—the ‘I
AM’—which alone is, always. The mind appears only in the waking and
dream states. In between two thoughts, there is a space where the mind is
not. The mind is actually asat; it too has no real existence. It is only like a
mirage. This very knowledge gives the conviction of the state of no-mind.
This insight bestows peace. Even the body was not and will not be. Hence it
too does not really exist.
The inquirer must stay with the one principle within—the experience of ‘I
AM.’ ‘I AM’ is pure experience. It is not a conditioned experience of the
senses; it is unconditioned non-dual Consciousness. Ever experienced by
all, it alone is the unchanging experience of all in every state. Whether
waking, dreaming or in deep sleep, experience remains as mere ‘IS-ness’,
‘Being-ness’. The body undergoes various changes right from the womb.
Infancy, childhood, youth, old age… all these changes happen in the body
one after the other. In fact, the body that was an infant has completely
changed in youth; every cell is new. But the one changeless principle is the
‘I’-consciousness. The changing body is asat, and the ‘I’ behind it is the
Sat.

tattva-darśanam — VISION OF REALITY

Sit in a dark room where you cannot see anything, including your own
body. There too, your own existence as ‘I AM’ needs no other light to
illuminate it. It is a light unto itself. Hence Sankaracharya says in the
introduction to Brahmasutra Bhāshya, “aham—the ‘I AM’—is light, and
tvam—‘you’—is darkness.” ‘I AM’ is self-effulgence. Everything else
comes under the category of ‘you’. To be recognised, they need the senses
or the mind, which carry the light of the ‘I’. Thus, light means ‘I’.
Now, what is this ‘I?’ Is it the body or the mind? In the waking state, the ‘I’
is associated with the body and the mind. In waking, the body exists, the
mind exists, and I AM. In dreams, the mind alone operates; there also, I AM.
In deep sleep, neither the body nor the mind functions, but there too I AM.
The ‘I AM’ is the tattva. Holding it in awareness is tattva-darśanam. To
hold only the unconditioned awareness within is Brāhmī-sthiti.
Devoid of the body and mind, in deep
sleep, Existence experiences Existence by
THE SPARK OF REALITY its own existence. Deep sleep is indeed
HIDDEN BEHIND THE the perfect daily demonstration of ‘pure
naked-existence’. There, Brahman
HAZY SMOKE OF
remains non-dual, advaita—no body, no
THOUGHTS IS TO BE mind, no senses, and no world. And the
WORSHIPPED. THAT greatest revelation is that there is no
sorrow whatsoever in deep sleep. This is
ALONE IS THE TRUTH. the clue for Nirvāṇa. Nirvāṇa means ‘all
FAN THAT SPARK WITH blown out.’ It means ‘pure existence.’
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad clearly
THE WIND OF declares the deep-sleep state to be
ATTENTION, AND IT absorption in the Infinite—Brahma-
sampatti. But the problem is that the
BLAZES FORTH AS deep-sleep state is never now; it is always
REALISATION. the past. To find freedom, we must touch
the same centre as in deep sleep, here,
now.
Existence—Sat—is felt by which organ? Is it experienced by the mind? Sat
experiences its existence by its own being, by its own existence. This Sat-
anubhava never ceases to exist and never ceases to be experienced. The
body disappears from awareness in dream, deep sleep, samādhi and death.
Mind too ceases in deep sleep and samādhi. Being-ness always is. It is here
and now. ‘Just be’ is the highest upadeśa. Steadfast abidance in one’s AM-
ness leads to Realisation. The spark of Reality hidden behind the hazy
smoke of thoughts is to be worshipped. Indeed, that alone is the Truth. Fan
that spark with the wind of attention, and It blazes forth as Realisation.
Look attentively at that centre, and you clearly know—never is there non-
existence.
The ‘I’-thought is only a cloud that gathers in the space of Existence. Blow
it with the power of attention and it just evaporates in the clear sky of
Existence; the ‘I’ ceases to operate, and only that which IS remains. Then,
one comes to know the ‘Sat’. That indeed is Atman, Brahman, God. That
principle is Tattva.
To know the Real, all the unreal must be removed from one’s attention.
Inquiry shovels out all that is non-existent, and finally, the inquiry too
merges in simple existence—Sat-vastu. This process of removing the unreal
and abiding in the Real is nididhyāsana. Perfect abidance in the Real or the
Self is samādhi. The perfect recognition of the changeless nature of the Self
is itself samādhi. This is tattva-darśanam.
na asataḥ vidyate bhāvaḥ—the unreal has no real existence. This has great
significance in spiritual practice. All human weaknesses pertain to the asat
—the unreal—the body and the mind. Hence, they do not really have
bhāvaḥ—existence. When mental modifications like anger, lust or
depression set in, a sādhaka must remind himself: ‘They were not before;
they will not be after some time. Hence, they do not have reality now either.
They only seem to appear.’
The unreal that is the world-body-mind has no power to overpower the
Reality, the Self. They only seem to threaten. It is due to delusion that māyā
seems to be more powerful than the Self. ‘The Real alone wins; never the
unreal—satyameva jayate nānṛtam’ is the Upanishadic declaration
(Mu.Up.3.1.6). Perfect conviction born of samādhi makes one wake up from
this dream of prakṛti. “Māyā is powerless to create any inauspicious effects
in a perfect one who abides in his real glory,” says Bhagavan Kapila, the
divine teacher of Sāṅkhya, in the Bhagavata.*
When there are no thoughts, the mind is absolutely quiet and alert, then one
recognises that existence is pūrṇa—Whole. This must be grasped with pure
intellect. Once this truth dawns, one is established in the Self. After the
dawn of perfect knowledge, even if the mind operates and thoughts crowd
in, it does not matter anymore. You know ‘na asato vidyate bhāvaḥ—the
mind and the body have no real existence, and the Self has no absence.’
This is the vision of Reality—tattva-darśanam. A tattvadarśī is one whose
nature is to see this tattva—‘tattvam draṣṭum śīlam.’ He is ever aware of
the nature of the Real and the unreal.
THE CULMINATION OF KNOWLEDGE
ubhayorapi dṛṣṭo'ntastvanayostattvadarśibhiḥ
anta means culmination, perfection. Veda-anta (Vedānta) means perfection
in knowledge, fulfilment of knowledge, zenith of all knowledge and
culmination of all knowing. Tattvadarśīs have seen the ‘anta’. Knowledge
culminates in finding the Self. There the ubhayoḥ—the two—disappear,
and Self-Realisation happens. As long as there are two, vichāra must
continue. When anta happens, knowledge ends in the knower. “How to
know the Knower?”* The moment the seer is recognised, all that is seen
ends. The moment the knower is recognised, all knowledge ends. One
becomes a tattvadarśī, a Self-realised Soul. ‘Existence’, ‘Experience’, ‘I’—
all these are the same for a tattvadarśī.
Existence-Awareness-Bliss is the very nature of the Self—the real essence
of our ‘I’, the Atman. That alone was. That alone will be. Now also, that
alone is; that is God, Brahman. This is the seed of the Bhagavata.

अहमेवासमेवाग्रे नान्यद्यत्सदसत्परम्।
पश्चादहं यदेतच्च योऽवशिष्येत सोऽस्म्यहम्॥
ऋतेऽर्थं यत्प्रतीयेत न प्रतीयेत चात्मनि।
तद्विद्यादात्मनो मायां यथाभासो यथा तमः॥ SB 2.9.33–34

“I alone was here in the beginning; neither the manifest nor the unmanifest
existed. After manifestation too, ‘I’ alone exist. After dissolution, what
remains is Me. Whatever is seen or felt is without any essence; they are
unreal. They have no existence in the Atman. Know them to be an illusion
projected by the Atman, just as sunlight creates the illusion of water in a
mirage or darkness creates the illusory appearance of a snake on a rope.”
This knowledge is Realisation. This conviction sanctifies our entire life
with the sacred waters of Advaita. No special samādhi is needed for such a
one. For him, always, at all places, God-experience alone is; the world,
body and the mind, though they appear, have no actuality.
We are seeking that ground—sthānam—which is permanent. “sthānaṃ
prāpsyasi śāśvatam,” (BG18.62) says Bhagavan. Unless the mind and
attention are anchored in the Eternal, there is no rest. This Eternal is also
called hṛdayam. It is one’s experience of Existence. It is EXISTENCE—simple
IS-ness. In It, feelings appear, stay for a while, and disappear. There is no
moment, no place, where It ceases. Hence, to be lodged in It is eternity. To
know It is timelessness. To know It as one’s real nature is to stay there.
Jñāna is Its very nature. In fact, everything else is known only by Its light.
We know our own existence only by Its light. But we confuse ourselves
with the brain and the mind.
Only Existence, ‘I’, Consciousness, Chit—is real. Unless we know it, the
amṛtatva that is spoken of in the previous verse is not possible. All other
planes of existence are in the grip of time. Chit alone is beyond time. To go
beyond time is immortality. Chit alone is ānanda, or rather, nirvṛti—
release. There, one is relieved of all troubles of time, causation,
reincarnation, ignorance, desire, action, fruit, doership, and so on. There,
one finds śānti and viśrānti—real peace and repose. Until then, one must
continue to do inquiry, says Yoga Vasishtha.* Incessant awareness of the
Eternal is sahaja-samādhi.

A SPONTANEOUS CHILDHOOD INTUITION

When I was around eight or nine, there were three consecutive deaths in our
family, including my father’s. Naturally, there was a curious brooding
within me about death—as to what it meant. And of course, for us children,
the simple answer the elders supplied was that after death, the dead would
go to the ancestral world—pitṛloka—where they would meet all their
elderly relatives who had passed away before. This was a consoling answer
for a child because it gives the comfort that death is not an end; it is just the
continuation of a journey.
One day, the funeral rites and rituals associated with one of the deaths were
taking place in our home. While the rituals were going on, I happened to
overhear a conversation between two older women in our family. The
younger one was curious about the after-death state, and her question was,
‘What really happens to the dead?’ The other woman replied casually,
“What will happen? They just cease to exist. That is all.” This was her
cryptic logical answer. All this while, I was nearby, playing with something.
This answer fell upon my ears like a bomb; it felt like a disturbing psychic
missile had struck me. Suddenly, the state of non-existence or void was like
a dark cloud that was trying to enshroud and swallow me. It was like a
suffocation. Unconsciously, this triggered a deep contemplation of the state
of non-existence. The inner one was trying to comprehend the
incomprehensible śūnya, unmanifest, where one ceases to exist.
There was a crystal-clear light within, which declared: ‘Cessation is
impossible. That which is, can never cease to exist. Existence is Truth,
satyam.’ That conviction from within pushed out the idea of void; it was not
allowed to enter the heart. There was a clear light within which asserted, ‘I
AM; this existence is absolute, certain. It cannot be shaken by anything in
the world.’ This was not an intellectual understanding; the mind had not yet
absorbed it rationally. It was a very clear intuition from the heart; as if
someone had declared this from within.
Later, when I happened to read this verse, ‘nāsato vidyate bhāvaḥ—the
unreal has no existence, nābhāvo vidyate sataḥ—the existent, that which is,
can never cease to exist,’ it was really like a gushing forth of the spring of
peace from within. It was a great joy to read this verse as it confirmed the
inner intuition that had happened many years earlier. It was like an
affirmation from Bhagavan, “Dear child, you are right.” This is the divine
darśan of the Lord in the temple of the Gita.

2.17 अविनाशि तु तद्विद्धि येन सर्वमिदं ततम्।

विनाशमव्ययस्यास्य न कश्चित्कर्तुमर्हति॥
Know that to be imperishable, by which the entire existence is pervaded.
None can cause the destruction of the Indestructible.

Our concerns about protecting the earth, the space, and the species are
based on ignorance of the Supreme Intelligence, which is the seed for
everything and pervades the world-show—the entire world-tree.*
The word idam means ‘this’ or ‘that which is seen’. It represents all beings,
places, events and thoughts. ‘This’ is indeed pervaded by the immensity of
the Seer—the Illumining principle. That Substratum pervades all
superimposed names, forms, emotions and thoughts. As thread pervades
cloth, the entire manifestation—the world—is pervaded by Brahman, says
the Upanishad.
This idam—the universe—is nothing but God, Īśvara. The Upanishad
says, † “What is seen as ‘this’ is nothing but the Atman.” In the Vishnu-
Sahasranama, the very first name is ‘viśvam’. This viśvam or universe is
Vishnu. If we can look at the idam as Vishnu, our sādhanā is fulfilled.
Arjuna was given this vision by Bhagavan later on. (This is dealt with in the
eleventh chapter.)
The world, the people, their loves and
THE SOURCE CAN hates, their knowledge and ignorance,
their desires, wars and peace all happen
NEVER BE FOUND like a movie on the screen of avināśi—
OUTSIDE. HE IS WITHIN
the indestructible. He is avyaya—the
inexhaustible, the changeless. This is to
US. ALTHOUGH HE be noted. Many are concerned about the
PERVADES THE ENTIRE depletion of the ozone layer, scarcity of
fresh water, extinction of species, and so
CREATION, TO FIND on. Such concerns, though well-
HIM, WE MUST GO intentioned, are based on ignorance of the
Supreme Intelligence. All are created,
WITHIN, AND SEEK HIM sustained and subsumed by that avyaya—
IN THE INNER Vishnu. He is the Supreme Intelligence.
In one moment, He can conjure up any
LUMINOSITY OF number of scientists and supply them
AWARENESS. with either creative or destructive
knowledge. The amazing scientific
advancements of man in today’s world,
along with their constructive or destructive aspects, are also His Will. But
no weapon can destroy the imperishable—na kaścit kartum arhati.
Remember this. No nuclear power can destroy the avyaya. Destruction,
death, is only an appearance, as also creation. The basic stuff, the Reality,
remains changeless.
The creation, which is referred to here as idam, is pervaded in every cell,
every atom by the avyaya—the Creator. The Bhagavata says, “The universe
is the body of the creator—idaṃ hi viśvaṃ bhagavān,” (SB1.5.20) and “This
is the body of Hari—hareḥ śarīram” (SB11.2.41). Once we know this, our
mind turns inward and our vision changes. Creation, sustenance and
destruction then appear like ripples and waves in the infinite ocean of
Existence. Ananta is one of the names of the Lord. The creator, the created
and the creation; the sustainer, the sustained and sustenance; the destroyer,
the destroyed and the destruction—are all He, is all He.
Existence can be classified as two principles. One is ‘aham’—the ‘I’ and
the other is idam—‘this’. ‘I’ is svayamprakāśa, self-luminous. The ‘idam’ is
seen only by the light of the ‘aham’. Hence the entire field is pervaded by
the presence, the effulgence of the ‘aham’—pure Consciousness.
That which is the source of creation, sustenance and destruction, and that
which is the causeless principle beyond all cause and effect—that is He, the
Lord. He is within you. He is within everyone as the essence of the ‘I’—the
Consciousness—which is the witness to the waking, dream and deep-sleep
states. The body is enlivened by the presence of the Experiencer behind all
these states. The senses, the mind and the vital energy operate because of
His presence in the body.
The perfect Being, the pūrṇa, the seed of creation, is available to us. The
Source can never be found outside. He is within us. Although He pervades
the entire creation, to find Him, we must go within, and seek Him in the
inner luminosity of awareness.

2.18 अन्तवन्त इमे देहा नित्यस्योक्ताः शरीरिणः।

अनाशिनोऽप्रमेयस्य तस्माद्युध्यस्व भारत॥
The Indweller is eternal, indestructible and immeasurable. However, the
bodies in which He dwells are said to have an end. Therefore, do your duty
and fight, O Bhārata!

antavanta ime dehāḥ—these bodies are certainly destined to end. No one

can keep the body without change; it changes each moment.

“HAS NONE EVER DIED IN THOSE PLACES?”

When the great Vedantin, Swami Tapovan Maharaj of Uttarkashi, who was
known as the Himavat Vibhuti (Glory of the Himalayas), was terribly ill
and almost nearing his end, many of his disciples including Swami
Chinmayananda beseeched him to allow them to take him to a good
hospital in Delhi or even abroad to get the best possible medical care.
Swamiji’s reply to their requests was this, “Why, has none ever died in
those places? Don’t doctors, kings and queens die? We have heard
‘antavanta ime dehāḥ’ in the Gita innumerable times. Have you forgotten
that? Is it possible to keep the body alive eternally? I know I am anāśi—the
deathless one, nitya—eternal and aprameya—immeasurable. I have lived in
the Himalayas, peacefully, in the supernal heights of the knowledge of
Brahman, each moment in the thrill of the inner samādhi. Let the god of
Death take away His property when He desires. He has been waiting for
this for long. If the pot breaks, what is there to lose for the inner space?
When the pot breaks, the space within the pot remains free as before.*
Space remains unaffected, whether the pot exists or breaks. I am that
indestructible Chidākāśa.” This is the majestic affirmation of the Knower.
The Self is anāśi—indestructible. It is aprameya—immeasurable. Prameya
means that which can be known through name, form, thought or emotion.
Such knowing is a limitation. The senses and the mind are in a constant
flurry of measuring and presenting a ludicrous caricature of the inner
Awareness. The Immeasurable is of the nature of uninterrupted, boundless
Awareness—akhanḍa-bodha. The inner Awareness is nitya—eternal; it is
indestructible and immeasurable.
In this śloka, the Lord has used the singular noun to refer to the Self and the
plural form to refer to the bodies; many pots, but one infinite space. The
significance of this is to be noted.
yudhyasva bhārata—know this truth and
do your duty. ‘O Bhārata! The illumined
PHENOMENA ARE NOT
one! Be awakened and be natural’ is the
IN OUR HANDS, BUT message. What will a Knower do after
Realisation? How will he perform
INNER POISE CERTAINLY
actions? Will he become an Acharya? Not
IS. necessarily. Even Krishna became an
Acharya and imparted the teaching only
when the need arose. Otherwise, he was just doing his kshatriya-dharma.
The moment a person becomes realised, he is free of the ego. The ego will
no longer corrupt his body-mind; such a body-mind is like a hollow rod
through which the power of the Inner Being is unleashed into the field of
svadharma. The body will perform what it is destined to do, without any
doership. Of course, even while these actions get performed, the Inner
Awareness remains unaffected.

***
The act of killing is one of the most terrible sights to witness in the world.
Such a vision will deeply affect a sensitive person, and he is sure to lose his
peace of mind. He feels for the killed and detests the killer; both unsettle his
mind. Here, we are not discussing the right or wrong of the act of killing,
whether the killer is a sinner, whether the State should punish the killer, and
such. These are worldly matters to be dealt with according to the law of the
time. Our only motive here is to establish the sādhaka in the spiritual state
of Yoga; a state of peace where such phenomena no longer disturb him.
Phenomena are not in our hands, but inner poise certainly is. That is what
Krishna is speaking about here. He says, “Arjuna, even with your terrible
fate of having to kill your dear ones, find ways to be established in non-
doership. And for that, you must know the Truth.”

2.19 य एनं वेत्ति हन्तारं यश्चैनं मन्यते हतम्।

उभौ तौ न विजानीतो नायं हन्ति न हन्यते॥
He who holds It as the slayer, and he who considers It as the slain, both are
ignorant. It slays not, nor is It slain.

There is a Kathopanishad mantra that matches the second line of this verse
word for word.

हन्ता चेन्मन्यते हन्तुं हतश्चेन्मन्यते हतम्।

उभौ तौ न विजानीतो नायं हन्ति न हन्यते॥ Ka.Up. 1.2.19
If the slayer thinks that he slays, if the slain thinks that he is slain, both of
them have not the knowledge. It slays not, neither is It slain.
In this verse, Bhagavan is quoting the Śruti-vākya from the Kathopanishad,
with minor changes in the words. Though he is the Lord Himself, he too
depends on the pramāṇa of the Śruti. Our tradition has always given the
supreme authority only to the Śruti—this is a lesson that contemporary
commentators should not overlook.
‘The Self is neither the doer nor the enjoyer’—this is the essence of this
verse. Those who lament, ‘Ho! So many are being killed’ do not know the
truth. When a tsunami kills many, it is not considered murder. When a
soldier kills the enemy soldiers in a war, neither does his conscience prick
him nor do others consider him a sinner. In fact, the more enemies a soldier
kills, the more he is lauded. He is regarded a great patriot who has done
yeoman service to the nation. He is given the Vir-chakra, the greatest award.
The warrior too feels proud of his work. Here we can see the power of
prāmāṇya in action. When we genuinely believe ‘I have not done anything
wrong’, when our conscience does not torment us, we do not suffer. Thus,
here we get a glimpse of the anomaly of the complex network of karma.
A person who eats non-vegetarian food has the blood of countless creatures
on his hands. He makes others kill for his food. As he does not consider the
life of a goat or a cow important, he does not consider killing them wrong.
Vegetarians kill plants for the sake of their food. Thus we can see that
killing takes place everywhere. Motive alone is the reason for either
punishment or award, brickbats or bouquets. In truth, there is no reality to
killing as the Inner Being never ceases to exist.
The Bhagavata says,

अहस्तानि सहस्तानामपदानि चतुष्पदाम्।

फल्गूनि तत्र महतां जीवो जीवस्य जीवनम्॥ SB 1.13.46

The order in nature is such that one living being is food for another. The
weak are the subsistence of the strong. This is the law.
When we hear about the gory details of the Mahabharata war or the mass
murder perpetrated in the world wars, we are aghast. Who can we say is
responsible for this colossal destruction? It is the destructive power of
Īśvara. The truth is, as the Śruti says, “Nothing happens. No one dies.” One
who knows this, remains unperturbed.
Yudhishthira tried his best to prevent the war. He even ventured to flee to
the forest to evade participating in the destruction. He wanted to escape the
war but could not. Fate made him the centre of this violent war drama,
leaving him totally broken. One day, when he was weeping inconsolably,
Krishna took him to Bhishma who imparted to him the truth, the Vedānta-
rahasya—‘No one is a doer. The killer is only an instrument. The killed will
not taste death. Death is seen only by the onlooker. Those who consider
death as real and worry over phenomena like wars will not have peace.’
This was his medicine.

EQUIPOISE OF THE SAGE

During the Second World War, when each moment brought some disturbing
news about the war, devotees beheld the profoundly peaceful and unruffled
nature of the Sage of Arunachala. One devotee asked, “Bhagavan! How is it
possible to be peaceful like this when such colossal destruction is taking
place?” Maharshi said, “What else to do? No one dies; no one kills. Who
sees the world? The Seer alone is the truth. Know the Self, then you will not
see any body or world in it.” This indeed is the uncompromising Truth. One
who knows this will never swerve from samādhi. “Ever established in
samādhi, Siva dances the dance of destruction,” says Sankaracharya in
Śivānandalahari. Krishna and Rama too have fought many wars, but no one
considers them murderers.

निमेषार्धं न तिष्ठन्ति वृत्तिं ब्रह्ममयीं विना।

यथा तिष्ठन्ति ब्रह्माद्याः सनकाद्याः शुकादयः॥ Ap.An. 134

Not even for a split second do gods like Brahma, Vishnu and Siva, and
sages like Sanaka and Suka, or the knowers of Truth like Janaka, slip from
the experiential plane of Brahman. This is their secret. Whatever may be
their prārabdha, they refuse to forget the Truth.
Here, the terrible karma of fighting a war is taken as an example. This
shows that even if one’s destiny is to be a warrior, the knowledge of the Self
can keep him unaffected. Another example in the Mahabharata is the story
of Dharmavyadha, the butcher who was also a Jñāni. One of the worst
prārabdhas is to have killing as one’s profession. But even in such a
pitiable life, one can be free by knowing the Self. On the other hand,
without Self-knowledge, even if we do worship, we will end up suffering
due to doership and enjoyership. Mere action is inert. No action can give
fulfilment. Fulfilment is already there in you. Know your real nature, and
here and now you are free, whatever may be your fate. This indeed is the
message for us.

OceanofPDF.com
 Let us not think even for a moment that
KNOW YOUR REAL the Gita is sanctioning killing. In fact, the
first two qualities prescribed as
NATURE, AND HERE AND prerequisites for a yogi are ahimsā and
advesha—non-violence and non-hatred.
NOW YOU ARE FREE,
Then comes karuṇa, compassion.
WHATEVER YOUR FATE. ‘Firstly, desist from killing. Do not hurt
anyone in any way. Then, purify yourself
WHAT IS, IS ETERNAL and find the pure spring of compassion in
‘IS-NESS’—SAT-CHIT- your heart’ is the message to a sādhaka.
However, the above teaching implies
ĀNANDA. free-will of the individual. The teaching is
given with the implication that the person
is free to either do or not do. But here, Arjuna is not free to give up this
fight. In such cases, there is only one way—to remain free of doership.
Though free-will is an indisputable fact within the realm of natural forces,
here, Bhagavan is transcending that plane and speaking from the plane of
the Ultimate Truth where doership has no existence. You are free neither to
do nor not to do. But here and now, you are free to know—to know the
nature of the doer and realise that you are the ever-free Self, the Atman.

न जायते म्रियते वा कदाचि-

2.20 न्नायं भूत्वा भविता वा न भूयः।
अजो नित्यः शाश्वतोऽयं पुराणो
न हन्यते हन्यमाने शरीरे॥
Never ever does He take birth or die. He is not given to appearing,
disappearing and reappearing. Unborn, eternal, constant, ever-new and
ancient, He perishes not when the body is destroyed.

This śloka is remarkably similar to the following Kathopanishad mantra.

न जायते म्रियते वा विपश्चिन्नायं कु तश्चिन्न बभूव कश्चित्।

अजो नित्यः शाश्वतोऽयं पुराणो न हन्यते हन्यमाने शरीरे॥ Ka.Up. 1.2.18
That Wise One is not born, neither does he die; he came not from anywhere;
neither is he anyone; he is unborn; he is everlasting; he is ancient and
eternal; he is not slain with the slaying of the body.
Before elucidating the secret of rebirth, the Lord declares the real nature of
the Self. Never ever does the Self take birth or die—na jāyate mriyate vā
kadācit. Birth and death are merely words without any meaning, says the
Śruti.* No one has ever experienced birth or death. Birth or even the
formation of the foetus is only for the onlookers. No happening is ever
possible in Consciousness. It is Chit—pure Awareness. Eternal Existence is
its nature.
We have already come across ‘na abhāvo vidyate sataḥ—non-existence is
impossible in Existence.’ Existence, Awareness, Consciousness, and ‘I’ are
all synonyms. Any kind of a re-happening is possible only if there is non-
existence. What is, is eternal ‘IS-ness’—Sat-Chit-Ānanda.

BHAGAVAN RAMANA’S EXPERIENCE WITH

‘DEATH’
When he was only seventeen years of age, Sri Ramana had an intense
feeling that he was going to die. This fear of death drove his mind deep
inward. He enquired, “Who is dying? The body dies. It will, of course, be
burnt. With that, will I die? No. The ‘I’ is felt clearly distinct from the body.
It is within as the pure conscious principle. This ‘I-I’ is the deathless
Atman.” This momentous insight established him in Brahman
instantaneously and firmly. You see, he tried to taste death but could not see
anything as death. He could only taste the ever-existing eternal being-ness.
That is our real nature.
kadācit—never ever; it means it is not possible at any time to non-exist or
happen anew. Always, in all places, the experience of the Self is available to
all.* ‘na jāyate mriyate’ means that new happenings or non-existence are
not possible. Neither creation nor dissolution exists. Time, as past, is
necessary to accept birth. Time, as future, is necessary to expect death.
Time as past is mind, mere memory. Time as future is also thought-made,
mere imagination. The ‘I AM’ is ever now. It is the eternal now. Hence the
Śruti says, † “By being aware of awareness every moment, one wakes up to
the immortal existence.” From that Self-Experience comes unshakeable
fearlessness, courage, strength—vīryam. The moment the mind is allowed
to crop up, it brings birth. If birth is accepted, childhood, youth, old age and
death follow naturally.
Birth is indeed the first form of death. From there begins the idea of death.
Taking a body is association with death. The final death is only a
conclusion. Birth, youth, old age, death—all these are changes happening in
the mind. Behind them is the changeless principle—‘I-I’—the constant
Chit, which is birthless and deathless and illuminates all phenomena. These
two—birth and death—are not really two. The limitation of the ego-‘I’ is
birth. In deep sleep, our individual-sense disappears. When we wake up, the
‘I’ emerges. This indeed is a birth. If we explore the ‘I’ to its source, the
deathless Self shines forth. It is birthless, unborn—ajaḥ. When we know It,
we know It to be beyond time, constant—nityaḥ. Ever, always, it is
experienced. It is uninterrupted in waking, dream and deep sleep. Hence it
is nityaḥ. No future time can erase it; hence it is eternal—śāśvataḥ. It is the
most ancient and also the ever-new being—purāṇaḥ.

nāyaṃ bhūtvā bhavitā vā na bhūyaḥ

Appearance (coming into being),
GO DEEP WITHIN, AND disappearance (non-being) and re-
appearance are not of the Self. Any kind
IN THE PROFOUND STATE of bhavanam—happening, manifestation
OF MEDITATION, PUSH —is not possible in the Real Being. It is
pure Being-ness in which there is no
THE MIND BACK INTO happening or becoming. This is a
ITS WOMB. EXTINGUISH significant statement. To root out doubt at
the very beginning itself, Lord Krishna is
THE ‘I’ AND TASTE declaring here the birthless nature of the
DEATH DIRECTLY. Real Self before talking about the
temporary, relative principle of re-birth. If
we know the Real Self, birth, death, or
rebirth are all inadmissible. If we accept the body, then birth too must be
accepted. If we accept the inner jīva (the liṅga-śarīra), re-birth is
inevitable. This is the point to remember.
na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre—perishes not when the body is killed. Thus,
the mantra reveals the eternal nature of the Self. Even when the body is
killed, the inner Divine Principle is not hurt. This knowledge removes fear
from the mind. We can take this as a deep spiritual process. The seeker must
somehow do away with the body! Does this mean that we should commit
suicide? No, far from it. It means that, while alive, we must explore what
death means, just as Bhagavan Ramana did. The Upanishad declares,
“Transcend death by ‘un-knowing the non-Self,’ and attain immortality by
‘knowing the Self.”*
Go deep within, and in the profound state of meditation, push the mind back
into its womb. Extinguish the ‘I’ and taste death directly. Even while alive,
set fire to the body with the pyre-stick of ‘WHO AM I?’ Thus cremate the
body in the fire of jñāna and see whether the Inner One ceases to exist.
Thus, in the state of samādhi, with full awareness, you will see that the
body is absolutely absent and the Inner Being is fully present. It is eternal—
purāṇa. It is unborn, birthless—ajaḥ. It is experienced every moment—
nityaḥ. And no time in the future can ever touch it—it is śāśvata. Waking
up to this is Realisation.

2.21 वेदाविनाशिनं नित्यं य एनमजमव्ययम्।

कथं स पुरुषः पार्थ कं घातयति हन्ति कम्॥
Knowing Him to be indestructible, eternal, unborn and changeless, how can
one kill, O Partha, or cause another to kill?

One who knows the Atman to be deathless and indestructible is the real
knower. Recognising the Self as unborn and changeless is Realisation. As
we said earlier, when one does Ātma-vichāra, the first step is to dissolve the
body through negation. The body is the field—kshetra. It belongs to
prakṛti. It has nothing to do with the Inner Being. Death is an incessant
flowing stream in nature. The body is simply a form of nature.
“I am not the body, the mind, or the ego. Actions of the body, thoughts of
the mind, sleep—all these appear in the Self like a serpent misapprehended
on a rope in dim light.” One who looks at them through vichāra clearly sees
only the Self.
Doership and enjoyership are also mere appearances. The Self is ever-pure
—nityaśuddha, ever-illumined—nityabuddha, ever-free—nityamukta. It is
birthless—ajaḥ. Never does a Knower feel ‘I am born.’ Never does anyone
miss his own existence as ‘I AM.’ Hence it is said to be ever available—
nityopalabdha. Once we know the real nature of our ‘I’, we find it as of
infinite energy—avyaya.
Vyaya means depletion. There is no depletion at all in the Self. It is the pure
and perennial spring of energy. This divine nature of the Self puts the
Enlightened Being at once in absolute actionless state—naishkarmya-sthiti.
He recognises it as the very nature of the Self—sahaja. How can such a one
kill?
“Arjuna, you are not a killer. Even Duryodhana is not the cause for others to
carry out this violent act of killing. He is not making others kill—na hanti
na ghātayati. No one is doing any action. Actions happen. Deeds are done.
There is no doer thereof. This is the truth.”
This śloka starts with the word ‘veda’, which means ‘knows’. It also
indicates that this knowledge is indeed the essence of the Vedas. The
knowledge of one’s deathless nature is Realisation. This is indeed Veda.
“That knowledge, by which one realises the Atman, is Veda.”* The Knower
is free of doership. He neither bewails ‘I did this’ or ‘I did that’ nor does he
superimpose doership on others by saying, ‘Duryodhana did this’ or ‘Karna
did that.’
“Be a Knower, Arjuna, and be free of attachment and aversion. Do not act
out of desire or vengeance. Be a channel like the flute in my hand, and let
creation, sustenance and destruction flow like music. Do not be concerned
about them.”

वासांसि जीर्णानि यथा विहाय

2.22 नवानि गृह्णाति नरोऽपराणि।
तथा शरीराणि विहाय जीर्णा-
न्यन्यानि संयाति नवानि देही॥
As a person casts away his worn-out clothes and puts on new ones, the
embodied sheds the worn-out bodies and enters into others that are new.

“What happens to the jīva after death? Some say, ‘he exists’; some say, ‘he
does not’. I want to be initiated by You in this science,” prays Nachiketa to
the god of death, Yama, in the Kathopanishad. Transmigration or travel of
the life-principle—the jīva—is mentioned only in the Vedic scriptures. In
verse 13, Bhagavan spoke about this topic of reincarnation briefly. Death is
only a matter of leaving one house and going to another. There Bhagavan
said that a wise man never gets deluded by that process. Here, Bhagavan is
giving the illustration of a man who casts away his worn-out clothes and
wears new ones. Similarly, the embodied one—dehī—gives up the withered
body and enters a new body ‘according to their actions and the knowledge
they had imbibed,’ says the Śruti.*
Whenever clothes become old and worn out, we discard them—jīrṇāni
yathā vihāya, and wear fresh ones—navāni gṛhṇāti naro'parāṇi. This is
what we usually do with our clothing. tathā śarīrāṇi vihāya jīrṇāni—
similarly, when the body has become worn out and unfit for life’s purposes,
the embodied person quietly sheds the body and takes on a new body to
work out his destiny—anyāni saṃyāti navāni dehī. That is, he enters
another body. Death is not the end of life. It is only one of the episodes of
life.

SWAMI VIVEKANANDA — “I HAVE SPAT OUT

MY BODY”
When Swami Vivekananda passed away on July 4, 1902, at Belur Mutt near
Kolkata, a little after 9 pm, Swami Ramakrishnananda (known as Sasi and
one of Swamiji’s brother disciples), who was in Chennai at that time, had a
dream that very night. In that dream, he heard Swamiji telling him, “Sasi,
Sasi, I have spat out my body.” The very next day, he received a telegram
announcing Swamiji’s passing away.
In India, even a commoner says, “He gave up the body.” Those who belong
to Semitic religions, due to their idea that the body is everything, say, “He
gave up his soul” or “He lost his soul.” That is why they try to preserve the
body and sometimes place many valuables along with it. But in India, the
Hindus just burn off the body—the sooner, the better! ‘Ashes are the
culmination of the body,’ as the sage says in the Upanishad.*
vāsāṃsi are clothes, and śarīrāṇi,
NEITHER THE BODY NOR bodies. The plural forms have been used
to indicate the innumerable bodies
THE ATMAN HAVE through which the jīvātmā travels. As
REBIRTH. IT IS THE long as Realisation has not happened, the
individual-sense—the jīvātmā—travels
MIND—THE JĪVA— from one body to another. The illustration
THAT IDENTIFIES WITH of ‘worn-out clothes’ must be understood
clearly. What is meant is that when those
THE BODY AND TAKES particular karma-vāsanās are exhausted,
BIRTH UNTIL THE the body is indeed worn-out. As we see
even small children or young men die, the
CLOTHES OF VĀSANĀS question may arise, ‘Are those bodies
REMAIN. worn out? They are not old!’ jīrṇāni does
not simply mean frail or old. It means that
that particular lifespan has reached its
end; this means, whatever was to be experienced in that life has been
exhausted.
Even before this body is given up, the inner force places a psychic anchor in
another body. That is referred to here as saṃyāti—enters. “As a snake
develops a new skin from within before it casts off the slough, † the
individual self, with its power of imagination, assumes a new body before
dissociating from the old one. Another example is that of the grass-leech
that holds on to another blade of grass before leaving the one it is on.
“yathā tṛṇajalūkaivam” (SB10.1.40).
According to its vāsanās—innate conditionings and latent tendencies, its
karma—actions, and its avidyā—ignorance, the jīva goes from one body to
another. As long as the being is associated with the ego-mind-body
complex, it is called a dehī—the embodied. ‡ Neither the body nor the
Atman has rebirth. It is the mind—the jīva—that identifies with the body
and takes birth until the clothes of vāsanās remain.
 देहो न जानाति सतो न जन्म देहप्रमाणोऽन्य उदेति मध्ये।
अहङ्कृ तिग्रन्थिविबन्धसूक्ष्मशरीरचेतोभवजीवनामा॥ Sat-darsana 26

The body that is born is not conscious; the Atman, Consciousness, has no
birth. Between these two, there arises another entity which depends on or is
associated with the body. It is called by different names such as the ego, the
knot (of the heart), bondage, the subtle body, the antaḥkaraṇa, the
saṃsāra, the jīva, and so on.
This astral travel from the old body to other worlds or to other bodies is an
extraordinarily complex and inscrutable phenomenon. This has been
discussed elaborately in the Brahmasutras.* The Sankara-Vijaya is a work
that depicts the life of Adi Sankaracharya. It describes the incident in which
Vyasa appeared before Sankaracharya when Acharya was in the Himalayas.
This topic is explored extensively in the dialogue between the two.
The purpose of speaking about reincarnation is to reveal the complex nature
of saṃsāra and the continuance of suffering even after death. Often, we
meet some ‘clever’ elderly people who remark, ‘After all, we have lived
without any Vedanta till now. It is only a question of a few more years till
death. Why bother about it now?’ To them is this answer: ‘Death is not an
end. You have lived here unconscious. You will die unconscious. And you
will navigate to a womb, unconscious. Until you know the birthless,
deathless, eternal Atman, the ego is alive within you. The liṅga-śarīra—the
ego—will not die along with the death of the body.’
The words ‘na hanyate…’ also suit the dehī—the embodied soul. It
continues its journey to another realm, where, like a spider, it weaves its
body out of the karma-vāsanās acquired here. Jñāna alone can dissolve this
impregnable cobweb of karma. “Unless one knows it here, one is forced to
take a body in some plane of existence.Ӡ
Time cannot solve the suffering; action will not give release. Only Self-
Realisation—knowing the Atman—can release us from misery. Along with
new bodies—navāni—come new and unknown seeds of suffering. This
process will thus continue. Hence, before this body falls, know your body-
less nature. Know that you are not a limited embodied being. Unless you
come to know the ‘I AM’, free of the dross of the body, you will continue to
be a dehī—an embodied being.
“The ‘I’ in you is not you, it is Me!” This is the declaration of Krishna
—‘ahamātmā guḍākeśa,’ ‘kṣetrajñaṃ cāpi mām viddhi,’ and so on. This
knowledge will dissolve the dream-stuff of the jīva in the blaze of
enlightenment. Then, here and now, you are devoid of vāsāmsi—the clothes
of vāsanās. You are naked in your real glory. The five kośas or sheaths—the
vestures made of the body, prāṇa, mind, intellect, and finally, even the
vesture which gives limited bliss—are all transcended. Devoid of these, the
‘I’ shines as Brahman. Henceforth there is no more rebirth. That is Nirvāṇa.

2.23 नैनं छिन्दन्ति शस्त्राणि नैनं दहति पावकः।

न चैनं क्ले दयन्त्यापो न शोषयति मारुतः॥
Weapons cannot cleave the Atman, nor can fire burn It; water cannot
dampen It, nor can the wind dry It.

When the Self is realised, our true nature as totally free of the five elements
(pañchabhūtas) is known. This body is made of the five elements through
the process of pañchīkaraṇa. The mind too is made of the five elements in
their subtle form, apañchīkṛtam—disorganised pañchabhūtas. As long as
the ‘I’ is associated with the body-mind, the impact of the five elements will
be present. The delusions due to the vastness of space, the dryness of wind,
the wetness of water, the heat of fire and the gravitational pull of the earth
will remain.
Today, for the sake of entertainment,
there are virtual reality exhibitions which
DISSOLVE ALL
take us through visual magic. We are
ELEMENTS IN THAT made to feel as if we are walking on an
ocean, wandering alone in the mountain
WHICH EXISTS—
terrains, engulfed by leaping flames of
BRAHMAN. EXTINGUISH fire, or amidst the terrible battle and
THE ENTIRE SEEN IN THE murder of the Second World War. By
turns, we feel thrilled, excited, terrified.
SEER. The chemical reactions in our body are
aroused just as if we were really undergoing those calamities and
experiences. But the truth is that we are the Seer alone, who has nothing to
do with the seen.
This is precisely the message of Vedanta. However much the vision may
flood into us, there is still a clear distinctive border that it can never break
through. The Seer never gets affected by the seen. You may say, ‘I am
affected’. Your body, mind, intellect, and ego indeed get affected—they all
belong to the realm of visual magic alone. If you are in the middle of a
dream and see yourself drowning in an ocean, how can you escape? In the
dream world, ‘you’ and ‘the ocean’ are one and the same—mere mental
creations. When you wake up from the dream, both disappear instantly.
Swimming across the dream-ocean will not bring you out of the dream. The
only way out is to disappear along with the dream-ocean in the light of
Awakening.
Hence the Master can only roar, “Wake Up—uttiṣṭhata! Do not ever dream
again. Be watchful—jāgrata!” (Ka.Up.1.3.14). You can never come out of the
trap of the five elements because the trap is you yourself. How can the trap
jump out of the trap? How can the body that is made of the earth, water,
fire, air and space be free of them? When one becomes free, the body ceases
to exist. Yes, that is the goal the Śruti is driving us towards. Dissolve all
elements in that which exists—Brahman. The Gita calls this Brahma-
nirvāṇa, which means extinguishing the entire seen in the Seer. Hence, our
only antidote to the illusion of bondage is to enquire, ‘Who am I?’, ‘Who is
the Seer?’, ‘Who is experiencing all of it?’, and thus turn the attention
towards the Seer, who is ever free, in whom there is no seen at all. At that
very moment, the ego disappears along with all the experiences. And in
their place shines forth That which is beyond all. In that blazing fire of
Brahman, the world, the body and the mind get burnt away, leaving behind
only the pure white sacred bhasma of Śivānubhava—Pure Awareness.
‘nainaṃ chindanti śastrāṇi.’ The body will certainly get wounded by
weapons, scalded by fire, dried by air, and drenched by water. But the
Atman cannot be touched. That is what is indicated here.

ALEXANDER AND THE SAGE

A notable incident happened during the Greek king Alexander’s invasion of
Bharat. In the 4th century BC, there lived an enlightened sage in the forests
of Takshasila. Alexander got to learn about the resplendent sage and desired
to meet him. To his astonishment, though, the sage politely refused his
invitation. Alexander then sent one of his helmsmen with lots of gold and
other expensive gifts to lure the sage to come and see him. When the sage
refused to accept the gifts as well, the king was infuriated and also
confused. This was the first time anyone had dared to disobey his
command. Then, instead of the sage coming to see him, Alexander decided
to go himself to punish the sage.
Arriving at the abode of the sage along with his army, he saw the blissful
sage sitting meditatively. Alexander got furious and asked him, “Why did
you refuse my invitation and gifts?” To this, the sage calmly replied, “I
refuse your hospitality as you acquire your wealth through unrighteous
means, and it is smeared with the blood of innocents.” This truthful and
point-blank response shook Alexander. He shouted in a fit of anger, “Do
you know who I am?” The sage retorted, “Do you know who you are?” The
subtle import of that question was lost on Alexander.
This was too much for Alexander, so he pulled his sword out and threatened
the sage, “Are you not scared that I could kill you this very moment?”
Hearing this, the grand old sage laughed at Alexander’s ignorance, then
chanted this śloka from the Gita—nainaṃ chindanti śastrāṇi—and
continued, “I am that Atman which no weapon can touch, no fire can burn,
no water can wet. Nothing can happen to me. There is no place where I do
not exist. I am all-pervading; your country, this country, the entire space is
just a picture on me. And yet, I see nothing in me. I am Brahman. I am
established in that state of Nirvāṇa, where there is neither creation nor
sustenance nor dissolution.” Saying this, the sage became silent. The foolish
conqueror stood there dumbfounded.

2.24 अच्छेद्योऽयमदाह्योऽयमक्ले द्योऽशोष्य एव च।

नित्यः सर्वगतः स्थाणुरचलोऽयं सनातनः॥
He can neither be cut nor be burnt. He can neither be wetted nor be dried.
He is eternal, all-pervading, stable, constant and everlasting.
acchedyo'yam—the Self cannot be cut into parts. Parts are called ‘kalas’,
whereas the Self is ‘nishkala’—devoid of parts. Anything with parts can be
cut and thus, is not whole. The body has hands, legs, trunk, senses, and so
on. The Self is one—Whole. It is pure Consciousness. We can see that when
a hand or leg is amputated from the body, the experience of ‘I’ does not
diminish; it is as whole as ever. Similarly, even the complete removal of the
body does not in any way affect the Self, as we experience it in deep sleep.
There, the body, the mind and the ego are all erased, and yet, the Being—
Existence—remains undiminished as immaculate and whole.

CONVICTION OF THE TRUTH

A demonstration of this was expressly seen in the life of Bhagavan Sri
Ramana Maharshi. When Maharshi’s arm was afflicted with sarcoma,
several types of treatments were administered to try to cure it. Some village
healers even employed leeches to suck the bad blood from the affected area.
Surgery was performed several times on the cancer-affected arm. In
Sanskrit, surgery is called śastrakriya; (nainam chindanti ‘śastrāṇi’).
Devotees who witnessed these torments wept and beseeched the Sage to
cure himself by his own will. Ramana Bhagavan replied, “Why are you
weeping? They are doing pūja to Swami in their own way. Am I this body?
To cure myself, I should consider that I have a body and that there is a
disease. To think, I need a mind. But the reality is that I do not have a body;
I do not have a mind; I am the Self. That is your state too.” This is what a
jīvanmukta is.
Just as the cutting of it—cchedana—reveals its unaffectedness,
acchedyatva, so too will cremation—dahana—reveal the adāhyatva. When
the body is burnt, am ‘I’ burnt? Do ‘I’ cease to exist? No! The ‘I’ remains as
it is, ever as pure Awareness.
akledyaḥ—water cannot affect or harm the Self in any way. See how so
many creatures live joyfully in the ocean. They are also the same
Consciousness. Consciousness has no limitation; it is not affected by
anything. Water can affect only the upādhi. The human upādhi is not
designed to survive inside water, but creatures with other upādhis are able
to live there. In fact, there may be creatures that live inside fire too. The
śāstras say there are beings who have fire as their body; there are beings
who have as their body water, wind, and so on. This shows that the
indomitable power of the Self can keep Itself unaffected under any
circumstance if It so wills.
aśoṣyaḥ means that which cannot be made dry or weakened.
The above characteristics illustrate that external factors can affect only the
upādhi. Now follow some characteristics of the Self that distinguish it from
the changeable upādhi.
nityaḥ—The Self is eternal. It is ever revealed as the ‘I-I’ underlying all
changes. It is beyond time. The word nityaḥ has been used to reveal
timelessness. It is ever the same in waking, dream and deep-sleep states.
sarvagataḥ—there is no place where It is not. This word is used to reveal
that It is beyond space—space-lessness. A person who is established in the
Self experiences It in all space, at all times. sarvatra sarvadā—everywhere,
always.
sthāṇuḥ—stable. This is also one of the names of Lord Śiva. This body is
known as śava, which means corpse. Within this śava is Śiva. He alone
remains unmoving behind all movements.
acalaḥ—immovable. This has almost the same meaning as sthāṇuḥ. The
mind is in constant flux. Behind the explosion of thoughts is that oasis of
calm, still, Being-ness.
sanātanaḥ—He is the ancient-most one. He is the timeless one. Once you
know this, all delusions of day, night, week, month, year, aeon, and yuga
are all gone; even creation is done away with! Ever, at all times, in all
space, that Sat-Chit-Ānanda—Existence-Awareness-Bliss—alone is; no
world; no body.

SPECIAL POINT — LIMITATIONS ARE NOT

FOR THE ATMAN
Along with the body-idea come all the five elements. In deep sleep,
everything, starting from space, disappears. When we wake up from sleep,
the ‘I’ arises, the mind blooms, the body appears, space and time appear as
well. Space is the first limitation. It deludes us by making us seek perfection
by moving from one place to another. Time deludes by making us seek
perfection in the future or by finding a cause for our suffering in the past.
All these are mere appearances on the Self.
The Śruti declares emphatically,* “The Atman is ever unattached.” This is
the Vedānta-vākya we must reflect upon. Detachment is not accrued over a
period of time. Recognise it, and you are free here and now.

2.25 अव्यक्तोऽयमचिन्त्योऽयमविकार्योऽयमुच्यते।
तस्मादेवं विदित्वैनं नानुशोचितुमर्हसि॥
He (the Atman) is unmanifest, beyond thought and modification. Therefore,
knowing Him as such, you should not grieve.

nānuśocitumarhasi—you have no right to mourn like this. This is the

essence of this verse.
Each word in this verse is a signpost to deep meditation. They point out the
Self to the enquirer, and his job is to turn towards what is pointed to. Here,
the Self is pointed out through the prathama-purusha†—‘ayam’.
The Self is avyakta—unmanifest. It cannot be grasped by the senses, which
are turned outward and project the world. The Self, the Atman, is not of the
sensory realm.
acintyaḥ—the Atman is not an object that can be thought about. Thoughts
cannot reach It; they can only spill out from the Centre. Thoughts are inert
forces that have an affinity towards matter—jaḍa-śakti. When they
converge to the Centre, they cease to be thoughts and become the vibrant
current of Chit-śakti. The Atman cannot be caught with a piece of thought.
It cannot be conceptualised. Everything in the world is caught through two
means—one is thought, and the other is speech. Once we enclose
‘something’ in either thought or speech, we say that we understand that
thing. We can do this with everything in the world. But with regard to the
Self—the Atman—speech and thought recoil, unable to touch It. That is
why it is said to be unthinkable—acintya. Hence Bhagavan Ramana
Maharshi’s famous words, ‘To think is not your real nature.’
 The Atman is not a thing. It is the Eternal
Consciousness behind all things. This is
‘TO THINK IS NOT YOUR being stressed repeatedly through the
REAL NATURE.’ words avyakto'yamacintyo'yam.
avikāryaḥ—the Self is not changeful.
The body changes constantly from one form to another. Embryo-hood,
infanthood, childhood, youth, old age and death are all vikāras. The mind
too is a constant vikāri; ever changeful. Behind all these vikāras the ‘I AM’
remains changeless—avikāri. This is the experience of all. Change is death.
Changelessness is immortality. Turn inward and roost in the centre. Always
grasp the spark of Consciousness that glimmers behind all thoughts and
emotions as ‘I-I’. Hold on to that centre. Be awakened to that centre. Then,
you are free of sorrow. Be lodged in the centre where peace reigns supreme
—‘śāntoyamātmā’.

tasmāt enaṃ evaṃ viditvā (tvam) anuśocituṃ na arhasi

‘tasmāt’ means hence. This usage is of great significance here. It implies
that all the sufferings of the world have already been revealed to you. They
cannot be undone; their nature cannot be changed. Hence there is no use in
weeping over them. Here Krishna uses the strong words: ‘Hence you have
no right to cry. Be established in the unmoving centre that is in your Heart.
Be illumined from within.’

2.26 अथ चैनं नित्यजातं नित्यं वा मन्यसे मृतम्।

तथापि त्वं महाबाहो नैवं शोचितुमर्हसि॥
Or, if you conceive of Him as given to constant births and deaths, even
then, O mighty-armed, you should not grieve.

naivaṃ śocitumarhasi is the import of this verse. We must somehow find a

way to be free of sorrow. Sorrow is nothing but unwanted thoughts. Be free
of thoughts, and this very instant, you are free of sorrow. Hence, the most
cryptic definition of yoga is ‘Cessation of thought.’* It is the conscious
stilling of the mind. If it happens unconsciously, it is only temporary, like
sleep. We must be free of thoughts out of our own free will.
‘Each day, many die, and many are born’ is the normal understanding of
what happens in the world. Some people become egoless and quiet even
with a simple insight such as ‘I am a nobody. After all, I am only one
among many. What does any of it matter? Why make a fuss? I am born like
any other creature, and I too will die like everyone else.’ This insight makes
them light, thoughtless and sorrowless. Here too, the Kathopanishad is
relevant.

अनुपश्य यथा पूर्वे प्रतिपश्य तथापरे।

सस्यमिव मर्त्यः पच्यते सस्यमिवाजायते पुनः॥ Ka.Up. 1.1.6

Look back to those who lived before and look to those who live now; mortal
man withers like the crop of the field, and like the crop of the field, he is
born again.
Pondering over what happened to all our predecessors and to all those who
came after them, one thing becomes clear—there is no difference between
humans and any other creature or even the plant kingdom. Human life is
just like that of a vegetable that is grown, harvested, cooked and eaten, and
is grown again; it comes and goes.
The message being conveyed here is that life in the universe is essentially
one, though it manifests in various forms like grass, shrubs and corn that
flourish, die, and flourish again. Generally, it is impossible to be peaceful
with such simple thinking. But here, Bhagavan says, “Even with that, be
free of thoughts, be free of sorrow. Find some logic or reason to quieten the
restless mind.” All philosophies, religions, and even atheism or agnosticism
are resorted to by the human mind in the quest to be free of sorrow.
Atheism is a state of mind in which the inner force burns away all beliefs.
In a peculiar state of human evolution, the Inner Being resorts to that fire—
the fire of atheism—to burn all that are mere wools of beliefs to reveal the
real Source, the real spring of Realisation. But no soul can be peaceful by
being stranded in the desert of atheism. This complete negation of all
beliefs is only a hunger of the soul for genuine spiritual experience. Soon,
even an atheist will find the cloud of faith raining from the heavens; the
cooling, fulfilling waters of peace.
nityajātam—births are happening constantly; so many are being born.
nityaṃ vā manyase mṛtam—deaths too take place every moment. Yet, very
few pause to reflect on it. Here Bhagavan uses ‘vā manyase’—even if you
think so. tathāpi tvaṃ mahābāho naivaṃ śocitumarhasi—even then, O
mighty-armed, you should not grieve.
In reality, births and deaths are mere delusions. Nothing ever happens in the
ocean of Consciousness. Birth and death are mere waves in the infinite
ocean of Brahman. When Janaka realised the Self, he proclaimed his
experience thus to Ashtavakra.

मय्यनन्तमहाम्भोधौ जगद्वीचिः स्वभावतः।

उदेतु वास्तमायातु न मे वृद्धिर्न च क्षतिः॥ Ash.Gi. 7.2

In me, the infinite ocean of joy and bliss, innumerable universes arise and
subside like waves. There is no increase or decrease in my existence. I am
ever the Whole.
Once the ‘inner current of contemplation’ travels within and touches the
deepest core—the Being-ness—instantaneously, one recognises the
birthless, deathless nature of the Self. Like a dream that vanishes in
wakefulness, sorrow dissolves in the bliss of Selfhood.

2.27 जातस्य हि ध्रुवो मृत्युर्ध्रुवं जन्म मृतस्य च।

तस्मादपरिहार्येऽर्थे न त्वं शोचितुमर्हसि॥
Death is inevitable for he who is born, and rebirth is assured for him who is
dead. You should not, therefore, grieve over the inevitable.

Do not grieve over a problem which has no solution. When the karma that
must be experienced through one’s body is exhausted, the body
disintegrates, and we call that death. After birth, death is the only event that
can be predicted with certainty. This life is only one chapter in a long series
of lives. As long as ignorance persists, the soul takes another body after
death and becomes embodied again; that is also certain. This process of
rebirth is so complex that it cannot be unravelled by a gross mind. It is
known to sages who have a penetrating vision; for others, it must be
accepted by the authority of the scriptures.
The purpose of this verse too is to remove sorrow. Here Bhagavan says,
“jātasya hi dhruvo mṛtyurdhruvaṃ janma mṛtasya ca—birth, death and
rebirth are inevitable. tasmādaparihārye'rthe na tvaṃ śocitumarhasi—
hence, O Arjuna, do not lament over a problem which cannot be solved.”
When faced with a problem that we cannot solve, the best recourse is to
dissolve it. How do we dissolve a problem? Bhishma reveals this secret to
Yudhishthira in the Mokshaparva. “yat eteṣām na anucintanam. O King!
The simple solution to be free of an unresolvable problem is not to cogitate
and lament. When there is a problem to solve, involve yourself, put your
whole attention on it and try to solve it. If you cannot, just let it go; forget it
clean. Cease thinking.”
Some problems are unsolvable by their very nature. Birth and death belong
to that category. Do not be affected by them. The only way out is to
withdraw the mind from the events of the world. Our life from birth to
death consists of all the nonsense of this world—its tragedies, comedies,
pleasure, pain, and so on. And from death to the next birth comes the
nonsense of the other worlds—astral or celestial. At least our life in this
world and its ways are familiar. Bewildering are the laws of the beyond.

THE INSCRUTABLE NATURE OF LIFE BEYOND

When the question ‘Will a person be reborn within two years after his
demise?’ was put to Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi, the sage replied, “Quite
possible. He may have taken birth somewhere, and he may also be seventy-
five years or older.” This answer of the Sage is quite baffling, is it not? It
reveals the inscrutable nature of the life beyond. Many are the
incomprehensible stories of this kind in Yoga Vasishtha. Life, as we know it
here, is only a speck; the remaining part is ocean-like. Do not try to dip
your brain into the unfathomable. Quieten your intellect. Still your
thoughts. Mourning over the passing phenomena is sheer folly. The
intelligent man will seek the Truth within and find joy here and now. That is
the only worthy purpose.
KRISHNA’S POWER TO LAUGH AWAY
DESTINY
parihāra means remedy. “When you do not have a remedy, O Arjuna, just
laugh it away.” We can see this power demonstrated in the life of Krishna
many a time. Never did he grieve over anything in his life. Out of her
unbearable sorrow over her children’s death, Gandhari cursed Krishna thus,
“Thirty-six years hence your Yadava race will fight amongst themselves and
perish. O Vāsudeva, You too will die, shot by an arrow!” The whole world
shuddered at the horror of the curse. Vāsudeva, the Lord, being cursed! But
how did Krishna take it? He just laughed—a laughter of the Omniscient.
His voice soft like the notes from his flute, eyes moist with compassion, he
gazed at the grief-struck Gandhari and said, “Mother! Are you content now?
Is your mind at peace now? Your curse is just a prediction of what is to
happen. You have given voice to destiny, that is all.” This was Krishna’s
answer. What he lived and knew, He taught Arjuna. No trace of sorrow was
present in him; only compassion for the suffering soul.

2.28 अव्यक्तादीनि भूतानि व्यक्तमध्यानि भारत।

अव्यक्तनिधनान्येव तत्र का परिदेवना॥
O Bhārata! All beings in this universe are unmanifested in their beginning,
manifested in the middle and unmanifested again in their end. Then, why
lament?

This verse is an intimation of the Supreme Truth.

Beings arise from the unseen, appear as the seen for a while, and then return
to the unseen. What is there to be worried about? All beings are avyakta—
unmanifest—in the beginning, vyakta—manifest—in the middle, and
avyakta again in the end. There is a beautiful śloka in the Mahabharata,
“We have come from the unseen, and we go back to the unseen.”* This is a
simple fact.
The entire cosmos is nothing but names and forms. This manifestation has
been a baffling mystery to thinkers of all times. The Sun, the Moon, the
stars, and the entire solar system are manifest and return to the Unmanifest.
What is the nature of that Unmanifest? What is its origin? What is left when
all names and forms merge back into it?
We do not know the beginning nor what will be there after death. What is
beheld in-between alone is being given much importance. This manana
must be employed with every name and form. ‘I do not know what was
present before the birth of the other person, whether he be a friend or a foe.
Likewise, I will not know what will be there after his death. All my love or
anger towards them happens only now when I see the form. All attributes
are also associated with the form. Well, forget about others, even my own
story begins for me only after my well-developed memory. My parents have
known me much before that—from my birth. The doctor might have seen me
as a foetus even before that. However, this body is not familiar to me even
now. I have not even seen my own back! Not to speak of the liver, kidney, or
heart. This body-mind duo that commands all my attention during waking
and dream, disappears without a trace every night when I sleep. What
happens to them in the deep-sleep state?’
avyakta is what we call the inscrutable—māyā, the power of the Lord.† This
power arises in the Lord and displays all the names and forms without
touching the Substratum in any way. The purpose of our enquiry is not to
understand this strange power of māyā but to reveal Brahman, Bhagavan. In
the Bhagavata, the Lord gives this teaching to Brahma, “In the beginning, I
alone was. Neither manifest nor unmanifest was present. Later too, I alone
will exist. Now, even though the world is seen, I alone exist. And after the
dissolution of the world, I alone will remain.” This is the supreme teaching
towards which the śāstra is driving.
Both avyakta and vyakta appear and disappear in Brahman. When gold is
made into various ornaments, several names and forms appear, but the gold
remains the same. So too, when various creatures are seen, only their names
and forms are known. Behind them all, He alone exists. Krishna says,
“Arjuna! I alone exist at all times. You do not exist. You, Arjuna, this
Krishna, and all these warriors are all mere names and forms in Me—the
pure non-dual essence, Sat-Chit-Ānanda.”

HOW TO REMOVE THE ‘OTHER’

In Tiruvannamalai, there lived a mahātma—Yogi Ramsuratkumar. He
wandered as a beggar for almost fifty years, all the while chanting the
Rāma-nāma. Yogi used to address the Lord as ‘My Father.’ ‘My Father
alone exists. Nothing else, no one else’—this was the mantra he used to
administer for all problems. He would repeat this again and again until the
delusion of ‘the other’—person or thing—is removed from the mind of the
lamenting devotee, at least temporarily.
One day, he asked a very pertinent question to a sādhaka. “If you want only
God, why do you accept the existence of anything else?” When you accept
the fact that One alone exists, God alone exists, then the unmanifest and
manifest are mere names, meaningless words. Only He exists. In our own
experience, deep sleep is the avyakta. Every manifestation in our life arises
from there and merges back there. That which exists even in deep sleep is
the very same One that exists in dream and waking as well. Dream and
waking are mere appearances in that Tattva.
Once you know this, why lament anymore? tatra kā paridevanā—is the
question. Some do not know the Source. Some know that nothing is
happening to the Source. Either way, there is no need to lament.

LESSON FROM A WISE VILLAGER

There was a peaceful gentleman in our village. He exuded a rare peace and
was always settled in himself. One day, a friend asked him, “Why are you
not interested in meeting people when you travel somewhere?” He replied,
“Oh! What would be the use of that? I do not know them.” This was his
simple reply. The friend remarked, “I have noticed that you do not show
interest in others in your own village.” Then he laughed and said, “Why
bother! I already know them.”
Whether you know or not, keep quiet. This is the message. Do not lose your
balance whether you know anything about the manifestation or not. Behind
both is the same Truth, the one Whole, Supreme Brahman. And that is your
own Self, your own Existence.
A thing which has no existence in the beginning or in the end, even though
it appears to exist in-between, is actually unreal.* This is the truth which we
have already seen.
Both knowledge and ignorance are figments that appear and disappear in
the Self. The Self, the pure Awareness, is the screen on which various
manifestations arise and merge back. If we hold on uninterruptedly to the
awareness of the Self, these sensory perceptions and disappearances will no
longer shake us. Be constantly established in that Substratum which is ever
effulgent with Peace.

आश्चर्यवत्पश्यति कश्चिदेन-
2.29 माश्चर्यवद्वदति तथैव चान्यः।
आश्चर्यवच्चैनमन्यः शृणोति
श्रुत्वाऽप्येनं वेद न चैव कश्चित्॥
Rare indeed is the person who sees Him. Wonderful is the one who speaks
out his Realisation. With awe, another listens to it. Yet another, though he
too hears about it, knows Him not.

This śloka is an echo of the Śruti-vākya from the Kathopanishad. We must

reflect on these three words—‘āścarya’, which means wonder, mystery,
‘kaścit’, which means someone special, and ‘paśyati’, which means sees or
perceives.
Let us first take the word paśyati. The Atman, the Self, cannot be seen as an
object. “It is not within the purview of the senses,” says the Upanishad.* To
know our existence as the ‘I AM’, we need no senses or mind. The Self is
intuited by Its own effulgence. To see the Self—the ‘I’—by its own
Existence, Experience and Awareness is Ātma-darśana. When the mind
becomes quiet in samādhi, when no superimpositions—thoughts, emotions
or sleep—cloud the pure Consciousness ‘I’, when the ‘I AM’ is held by its
own awareness, then is It revealed.
The Self is ever available as our own nature. Yet we fail to experience it
only because of the extroverted nature of the senses. The Upanishad says:

पराञ्चि खानि व्यतृणत्स्वयम्भूस्तस्मात्पराङ्पश्यति नान्तरात्मन्।

कश्चिद्धीरः प्रत्यगात्मानमैक्षदावृत्तचक्षुरमृतत्वमिच्छन्॥ Ka.Up. 2.1.1
The self-existent Lord created the senses with outgoing tendencies;
therefore, man beholds the external universe and not the Atman within. But
some wise man, desirous of immortality, with eyes in-turned from sensory
objects, sees the Atman within.

TURN WITHIN
The Śruti has used the words ‘kaścit dhīraḥ’—some brave man, someone
highly intelligent. Here, Bhagavan has taken the word kaścit from this
Śruti-vākya. The brave one, the pure one, turns within, makes the intellect
enter the Heart and probes into the real nature of the ‘I’. Then, the ‘I’-sense
merges in the Heart, revealing the boundless bliss of the Self. This process
becomes active only by the grace of a Master who is a jīvanmukta. Only in
the presence of an Enlightened Soul does the mind absorb the power to
withdraw. Then alone does the power of distraction—vikshepa-śakti—get
subsumed by the Heart. Sankaracharya says:

विक्षेपशक्तिविजयो विषमो विधातुं निःशेषमावरणशक्तिनिवृत्त्यभावे।

दृग्दृश्ययोः स्फु टपयोजलवद्विभागे नश्येत्तदावरणमात्मनि च स्वभावात्।
निःसंशयेन भवति प्रतिबन्धशून्यो विक्षेपणं न हि तदा यदि चेन्मृषार्थे॥ Vi.Cu.
345

Unless the ‘veiling power’ is perfectly rooted out, it is extremely difficult to

conquer the ‘projecting power’. And that covering over the Atman vanishes
naturally when the Subject is perfectly distinguished from the objects, like
milk from water. But the victory is undoubtedly complete, and it becomes
free from all obstacles when there is no oscillation of the mind due to the
unreal sense-objects.
In the presence of a Realised Saint, the Sat-guru, the teaching enters the
seeker and reveals the Inner Being. Once the mind turns inward and pays
attention to the inner centre of the Heart, that ‘inward look’ itself makes it
come within the current of the saṅkarshaṇa-śakti—the pull of the Inner
Being. Once the in-turned mind is caught in the orbit of the inner force, it
gets sucked into the Centre. There, the Divine Being, the Supreme
Brahman, shines as the Whole. This process is indeed very rare. Hence
Bhagavan says, āścaryam. When one breaks the veil of ignorance and sinks
within, Realisation dawns. One realises the infinite nature of one’s
existence. This is nirvikalpa-samādhi.
Here, we have not used the word nirvikalpa-samādhi to mean any kind of
yogic trance. It only means pure Knowledge, uncorrupted by the distinction
of the knower, known, and knowing. Vikalpa is ignorance, and nir-vikalpa
is ignorance-less. It is like a smokeless flame—no covering or adhyāsa. It is
pure illumination. It is the experience of Chit uncoloured by anything else.
Samādhi is Jñāna. Perfect Jñāna is nirvikalpa-samādhi. In a yogi, this
experience gradually stabilises and becomes natural—sahaja. But the very
first leap from the body-mind to the timeless realm is itself a wonder! That
indeed is the perfect fruition of spiritual practice.

SRI RAMAKRISHNA AND TOTAPURI BABA

When the great sage Totapuri taught Sri Ramakrishna, it was a wonder. The
mind of the childlike saint was refusing to abide in the Self. The captivating
form of the Divine Mother was refusing to leave his inner awareness.
Totapuri took a piece of broken glass and thrust it between Sri
Ramakrishna’s eyebrows, who screamed in pain. For one moment, his
attention was withdrawn from the form of Kali. Totapuri handled the
situation very deftly and, at that very instant, shot the arrow of mahāvākya
at him, “Look! Look! Look beyond… hold onto the Seer… stay… stay. Om
Om Om.”
Yes, the inner bee of the mind, thirsting to drink the honey, fell into the
Infinite and became one with it. Sri Ramakrishna merged in samādhi and
sat still like a log while inwardly lit by the Divine. Thus he sat for many
days. This indeed is ‘seeing’—paśyati. He became a Seer, paśyakaḥ—one
who sees, one who has seen. The teacher who was established in that state
was awestruck to see this swan break loose from the shackles of all names
and forms and take off to the Chidākāśa with such ease. He looked on with
great wonder—āścaryavat paśyati.
The disciple’s Realisation is an āścarya. The Master beholds him with
wonder and thrill. Then, all those destined to get Realisation from him also
look at him with awe. This awe with which the seekers approach a Realised
Saint is the seed of Realisation in them. This wonder is the seed which
sprouts as bhakti and then blooms as Ātmānubhūti. This āścarya of the
seeker indicates his immediate connection to the Master. Yes! He is yoked
to the Master for eternity. The Guru tells him, “You are me; I am you—
ahaṃ bhavān na cānyaḥ tvam.”
This method of transmission of the Brahmavidyā is itself a mystery to
ordinary minds. Sometimes, the entire experience gets transmitted without
uttering even a single word—through mauna or simply by a sign, mudrā.
So simple, so easy! Yet the most hardworking and greatly austere often miss
it. And they call it ‘very difficult.’ Hence this vidyā is said to be an āścarya.
āścaryavat vadati. To realise and then to speak it—to voice the
immeasurable in spoken words, to convey the unknowable—is a greater
wonder! After the Mahabharata war, in Anu Gita, Arjuna requests Krishna
to repeat what he had spoken in Kurukshetra. Bhagavan himself says that it
is impossible for him to recollect what he spoke then! Speaking about It is a
great wonder even for the Master. It is like the Ākaśa-gaṅgā descending on
earth.

PRITHU MAHARAJA’S PRAYER

Listening to this Brahmavidyā is also a wonder. In the Bhagavata, when the
Lord appears before Prithu Maharaja, the king seeks this boon, “Lord!
Bestow millions of ears on me. Let every cell in my body be an ear so I can
hear a Brahmavit speak what he experiences at the bottom of his heart.”
Hence Bhagavan says here, āścaryavat cainam anyaḥ śṛṇoti—with awe,
another listens to him. But an uninitiated one, whose Heart-centre is not yet
opened by the power of Grace, will find it difficult to assimilate it, even
though he may hear it a hundred times—śrutvā'pyenaṃ veda na caiva
kaścit. The best example of this is Dhritarashtra.
The word ‘anya’ has been used in āścaryavadvadati tathaiva ca ‘anyaḥ’
and āścaryavaccainam ‘anyaḥ’ śṛṇoti. The Śruti says that knowledge
reaches the right centre only when imparted by an Acharya who has become
ananya—one with the Self—and thus does not find any difference between
himself and the disciple.* Here, if we take the word ‘anya’ as ‘other’, then
āścaryavadvadati tathaiva cānyaḥ can be taken as a person who has not
realised the Self and speaks about it as a wonder because it is not intimate
or natural to him. So too, a person does not get awakened if he stands apart
from the Self, apart from the Acharya, when he hears the teaching. His
mind simply wonders at that knowledge—āścaryavaccainamanyaḥ śṛṇoti.
The mind just gets baffled by what is heard, that is all. Such a person just
wonders and goes away; śrutvā'pyenaṃ veda na caiva kaścit—he does not
get it; he does not realise it. This interpretation is also possible here.
Here, we have taken the word ‘anya’ to mean a great teacher. Someone who
does not belong to this realm is an anya. He is the Transcendental Being.
āścaryavadvadati tathaiva cānyaḥ. He is not like us; he is anya. He is the
wondrous Seer—āścaryavat paśyati. Hence when the disciple meets him,
there is wonder and awe, and he listens with that awe—
āścaryavaccainamanyaḥ śṛṇoti. And how does the teacher speak? He
speaks about Brahman from the deepest core of his experience, says the
Veda.†

“HE IS THE MAHARSHI!”

To speak about that experience is a great wonder. When the Brahmin boy,
who was called simply as the Brahmana Swami of Arunachala, gave the
teaching about the secret of tapas to the great tapasvi Kavyakantha
Ganapati Muni, he exclaimed in awe, “He is the Maharshi!” This is the
wonder. Although the Truth is experienced in the Heart, the power to put it
in crystal-clear language and to impart it to the disciple’s heart is rishi-tva
—sagehood.
The very knowing of the Self must happen by the Self. Consciousness is
known by Consciousness. Hence Bhagavan says,‡ “The Atman is known by
the Atman, and the delight happens in the Atman.” There is no interference
of the brain or the mind here. Such an experience is uncommon in the
world. Hence it is said to be a wonder.
Later on in the Gita, Bhagavan says,* “Even amongst those who strive for
it, very few experience Me, realise Me.” It is in the same vein as this verse.

IS GOD A MR., MRS. OR MS.?

The keyword in this verse is āścarya. The Bhagavata says the Lord is an
all-dimensional wonder—‘sarvāścaryamaya.’ Someone once asked Swami
Ramatirtha, “Swami! Is your God a Mister or a Miss or a Mrs?” He laughed
and replied, “He is a mystery!”

2.30 देही नित्यमवध्योऽयं देहे सर्वस्य भारत।

तस्मात्सर्वाणि भूतानि न त्वं शोचितुमर्हसि॥
O Bhārata! the Indweller in the bodies of all beings is ever indestructible.
Hence, you should not grieve for any being.

The Self that is in the body of all creatures is beyond death; It cannot be
killed. Hence do not grieve! na tvaṃ śocitumarhasi. Again and again, the
message is—‘Do not grieve’.
Death is the same whether it is of one
ONCE A SOUL LISTENS person or innumerable ones in a war. Do
not lament. There is no death—know this
WITH ITS WHOLE BEING for certain. When you know this fact for
TO THIS MESSAGE—
yourself, you will be free of grief. You
will attain absolute freedom. In Arjuna’s
THAT HE IS NOT THE case, it is a rare and catastrophic event
BODY—THE MIND where he comes face to face with such
colossal destruction. In a family, at a
CONCEIVES THE time, we come across only isolated
INFINITUDE, AND THE incidents that bring anguish, but a war
results in mass destruction. In both cases,
INNER FORCE STARTS however, sorrow is experienced only due
SOARING HIGH TILL IT to attachment to those who have passed
away. Hence the real cause of sorrow is
REACHES THE ZENITH. attachment and not death. The remedy is
to be free of attachment. And for that,
Bhagavan has given us this medicine—
the knowledge that the body and the Self are different.
From verses 11–13, Bhagavan has given us the method of discrimination—
deha-dehīvibhāga—the distinction between the body and the Self. This is
the foundation of all spiritual practices and also the fundamental tenet of all
religions. No Vedic religion can survive without this basis.
Dvaita, Viśishṭādvaita and Advaita—all these sects are based on this
primary discrimination. All philosophies and siddhānta come only later.
The very first breakthrough in spiritual sādhanā is the insight ‘I am not the
body.’ It is to spread this message that saints travel and speak. Once a soul
listens with its whole being to this message—that he is not the body—the
mind conceives the infinitude, and the inner force starts soaring high till it
reaches the zenith.
To consider the body as oneself is the fundamental flaw. If this flaw is
present, whatever one may do—any number of dharmic acts, all sorts of
yoga and spiritual practices, sitting in samādhi-like trance states for hours
together—one will still not find the Highest Truth. Since all knowledge and
all experiences are built upon the false premise of the ‘I am the body’-idea,
unless that is removed, whatever heights he may reach, he will have to
return to the same prison-house. Hence the first upadeśa is to do away with
this false notion.
dehī means one who lives in the deha, body. None can destroy the dehī at
any time. That is the nature of this Infinite Truth. Hence there is no need to
grieve for any entity, any being in this world. That real dimension, the Self,
can never be touched. The stronger the person, the more the capacity to
express this truth in life and action. The greater the courage, the greater his
endurance.

यदि देहं पृथक् कृ त्य चिति विश्राम्य तिष्ठसि।

अधुनैव सुखी शान्तो बन्धमुक्तो भविष्यसि॥ Ash.Gi. 1.4

If you can detach yourself from the body, and rest in the Chit—in Pure
Awareness—here and now, you will attain happiness, peace and be free of
all bondage.

THE REMARKABLE STORY OF VIKTOR

FRANKL
Swami Ranganathananda mentions this incident in his commentary on the
Gita:
 The Jewish scientists in Hitler’s Nazi prison were subjected to
tremendous pressure—all sorts of persecution, torture, and suffering.
Many died in that kind of treatment. Among the very few who
survived was Victor Frankl. He has authored a beautiful book about
his life in the concentration camp. He says that he survived it by
adopting the attitude of a witness, by constantly affirming to himself
that he is not the body. Otherwise, he would have broken down, but he
somehow detached himself from the body. He began to think of
himself as a witness to what was going on as the Self. He adopted the
attitude of moving away from the world, and that gave him the power
to endure. Thus he could stand all the torture inflicted on him, and his
mind remained undisturbed, and he survived.

SOCRATES — “CATCH ME, THE REAL ME”

In the dialogues of Plato is described the incident of Socrates facing death.
He faced it with absolute courage and peace. He had a calm, peaceful and
fearless mind because of his deep knowledge that he was not the body but
the Immortal Self.
Plato describes this event in detail. Socrates was about to drink the poison,
and all his young disciples were sitting around him, emotionally upset. The
only calm person there was Socrates himself, who chided them, “I asked the
women to go away as they were crying a lot, and it was not giving me the
peace I needed at the time of death. But you young men also are crying!”
Then, an aged person named Crito (an old friend of Socrates) turned to him
and asked, “Socrates! How shall we bury you?”
The man was not dead yet! He was going to take the poison in a few
minutes. His death was going to happen only after that. But here, this
disciple asks Socrates, ‘How shall we bury you!’
The Master greeted this question with a gentle smile and said, “Crito!
Before asking this question, you must first catch me—the real me.”
See the language? It is pure Vedanta; every word of it. “You must first catch
me—the real me. “Be of good cheer, Crito. You refer to this body? As to the
body, do with it what you do with other people.” This was Socrates’ answer.
The Atman cannot be destroyed, burnt, moistened, dried, or buried.
Here, it is evident that this particular knowledge of the immortality of the
Self, the Atman, gives absolute peace of mind, composure and courage. It
infuses immense peace to the people around them as well. This is not mere
theory; it is experience.

2.31 स्वधर्ममपि चावेक्ष्य न विकम्पितुमर्हसि।

धर्म्याद्धि युद्धाच्छ्रेयोऽन्यत्क्षत्रियस्य न विद्यते॥
There is nothing more honourable for a Kshatriya than to fight for
righteousness. Hence, considering your own duty, you should not waver.

Dharma is a compelling concept discussed under various dimensions in the

Mahabharata. Jñāna reveals the svarūpa—the Self. Dharma deals with the
svabhāva—the emotion–action–fruit plane. The complex nature of karma is
seen here. Even Bhagavan says, “gahanā karmaṇo gatiḥ (BG4.17)—the
nature of karma is very complex and deep.” The svadharma of the
Brāhmaṇa, Kshatriya, Vaiśya and Śūdra are discussed elaborately in the
Dharmaśāstras. Bhagavan has revealed them in later chapters of the Gita.
Protecting the values in society is the duty of a Kshatriya. His fight to
protect the eternal values in a changing society is dharmayuddha. That will
certainly purify the Kshatriya’s heart and lead him to higher realms. Each of
our actions is an expression of our urges, emotions, and ideals. When the
ego is effaced from the person, his action gets empowered by the Ātmaśakti
and becomes a tapas. It leads to śreyas, spiritual well-being. There is a
similar usage in the Kathopanishad as well.
One should not give way to vikampa—shirk from doing one’s dharma.
Anukampa—compassion—must be present behind our actions. Vikampa is a
slip from dharma due to inadvertence. We must be careful never to slip
from our dharma.
Though a sādhaka may understand the Vedānta-śāstra and perform
sādhanā, he will feel stifled and restless until the channel is opened through
which his inner resources express themselves. When his svadharma finds
expression, like a powerful river cascading from the Himalayas, his energy
will dance its way to joy.
Every person is unique. Hence it is not possible to allot duty according to
our choice. It is not possible to imitate another. Among the Kshatriyas too,
Arjuna is different from Bhima; and both are completely different from
Yudhishthira. From these differences come their unique positions in the
field of action. Know the Truth. Then, do your dharma. In these two
statements are fulfilled the entire Vedas.

FREEDOM MOVEMENT — A SPIRITUAL

PRACTICE
Gandhiji was one of the greatest proponents of non-violence. But the
mystery is that he was certainly a great warrior too; he fought the war of
independence in a unique way. It was indeed his way to spiritual freedom. It
is true that he did Rāma-nāma japa, undertook frequent fasting, followed
strict disciplines in food intake, kept vows of silence and resorted to many
other spiritual practices, but these were all only preparatory sādhanās. The
real sādhanā was the freedom movement that he unleashed. About this,
Gandhiji himself has revealed that he found himself swept off by the river
of destiny.
He did not run away to the forest to find Self-Realisation. He has said,
“This entire freedom movement is only meant as a spiritual practice for me
to gain Realisation. I am not concerned whether we would attain
independence or not.” Many mistook these words out of context and called
him selfish. On the contrary, he was striving to be extremely selfless. Here
we are not discussing whether all his actions were right or wrong. The fact
remains that his life is a testimony to the unique method of successfully
converting the worst situation into a spiritual practice. ‘If you cannot escape
from a desert, find a way to live there’ is the message.

2.32 यदृच्छया चोपपन्नं स्वर्गद्वारमपावृतम्।

सुखिनः क्षत्रियाः पार्थ लभन्ते युद्धमीदृशम॥
O Partha! Fortunate are the Kshatriyas to whom such warfare comes
unsought. Such an opportunity is indeed a gateway to heaven.
The word yadṛcchā has been used in the Gita to denote the Divine Will. In
the Ramayana, the story takes a momentous twist wherever this word is
used. An example is that of Manthara, the old maid, of whom it is said,
‘āruroha yadṛcchayā—she climbed the stairs of the tower unexpectedly.’
From here, the story takes an unimaginable turn. Another example is that of
Surpanakha, ‘ājagāma yadṛcchayā—the demoness by chance trespassed
into the forest area where Rama lived.’ That too changed the course of the
story. In the Matsyavatara Stuti in the Bhagavata (8.24.46), the meeting of the
disciple with the Master is adorned with this word—‘yadṛcchayehopasṛtā’.
The disciple meets the Master unexpectedly, as if by coincidence. And that
meeting bestows on him supreme freedom! The Bhagavata says about the
great Sage Suka that his body moved from place to place according to the
Divine Will—yadṛcchā.
Here, Bhagavan uses the word yadṛcchā with a special power of destiny
infused into it. Very rarely does a freedom movement like this happen.
Whoever enters such a movement with all their heart is sure to be liberated.
Bhagavan tells Arjuna, “Divine Will has arranged this war for you. You are
the chosen one. The door of heaven is open to you. Blessed are those
warriors who get a chance to wage such a war.” No doubt, the war Arjuna
has to wage is a freedom struggle for the cause of dharma.
We may wonder why so many Kshatriyas participated in the Kurukshetra
war. Many kings, even from down south, travelled uninvited all the way up
to take part in the war! It was the invitation of the Divine that pulled them.
A mysterious universal destiny was underway. An energy passed through
the very veins of society like a massive gushing flood.

BHAGAVAN SRI RAMANA ON GANDHIJI’S

WORK
During the Indian freedom movement, a tremendous energy-current ran
through society. Once, a few freedom fighters visited Bhagavan Ramana
Maharshi and posed these questions, “Will India get liberated? Will
Gandhi’s movement be successful?” Maharshi replied, “Gandhi himself has
not thought about it. He has surrendered to the Higher Power. So too, if you
surrender to the Higher Power, you will not be concerned about the result.”
This is the clue. The choice is ours. When a divine mission opens up in
front of us, let us throw away our inhibitions and carry our piece of rock or
pebble to build the mighty bridge of salvation for many now and future
generations.

DIE IN THE CAUSE OF OTHERS

We know of many who participated in India’s freedom movement and were
also drawn to spiritual life. Many became selfless in that effort. Swami
Vivekananda once said, “Let the best of the society renounce their lives for
the good of many—bahujana-hitāya bahujanasukhāya ca. All of you come.
Let us build a bridge through which many will cross this ocean of sorrow.
Yes, this is setu-bandhana. This is the Divine Mother’s work. Rarely comes
the opportunity to participate in such a colossal mission. Whoever
participates gets liberated by Divine Will…” The following statement of
Swamiji will sweep anyone off their feet! “I love you all so much; my love
for you is so deep that I would like to see you die in the cause of others.”
Yes, effacing the ego is sādhanā. Even a squirrel got liberated by
participating in the mission of constructing the grand bridge for Lord Rama.
This is the secret.
“The setu, the bridge, is not a mere bridge from Rameswaram to Lanka. It is
the bridge to Liberation”—so says a beautiful verse about the glory of the
Rama-setu.*
The bridge made holy by the sacred dust of Rama’s feet
The bridge that was causal to erase the ten-headed evil of desire
The bridge that made the lotus of well-being bloom in Divine Mother
Sita’s heart
The bridge that paved the way for many mighty beings to cross the ocean
of saṃsāra
To that sacred pathway, we bow

It is the bridge built by great sages, which takes many across the ocean of
saṃsāra. Brahmavidyā is this bridge. All paths of upāsanā are its rocks.
Nishkāma-karma—selfless service—is the pillar. The saints and sages are
like the vānaras who built the bridge. We may be small squirrels, but when
we submit ourselves to divine work, we too get blessed by the touch of the
Divine. Like the Indian squirrel, we shall also have the three marks of
blessing on our backs made by His fingers, the three marks being bhakti,
jñāna and vairāgya.
Just yoke yourselves to this grand divine mission and naturally assimilate
all divine qualities. This is not just about the war but the great mission that
the Lord arranges for each one of us—our own svadharma. It is to know
this alone that the entire Gita must be absorbed.

2.33 अथ चेत्त्वमिमं धर्म्यं सङ्ग्रामं न करिष्यसि।

ततः स्वधर्मं कीर्तिं च हित्वा पापमवाप्स्यसि॥
But if you will not wage this righteous warfare, then forfeiting your duty
and honour, you will incur sin.

saṅgrāmam is the word Bhagavan uses here. It means war. It also means a
collective effort for a great cause—dharma-saṅgrāmam. “If you fail to
undertake this, you will incur sin.” Sin means a significant obstacle in one’s
path of Liberation. “If you do not carry out this dharma, dishonour will be
the result.”
‘Omission of doing the right thing is a more potent evil than the
commission of the bad thing’ is a beautiful statement made by Swami
Chidbhavananda in his commentary. Non-performance of one’s dharma is a
sin.

A DRIVING FORCE TO DO DHARMA

Once, M G Ramachandran, the then chief minister of Tamil Nadu, went to
meet the Sage of Kanchi. He went into the wilderness within the village,
and that too in the dead of night, to avoid crowds. He was so famous that
despite this, the news leaked out, and the crowd swelled by thousands eager
to catch a glimpse of their hero. When he finally arrived with much
difficulty, the sage, seated serenely inside a hut, said to him, “See! Just look
at all these simple people and their faith in you. They have come here not to
see me but for a glimpse of you. Let this be your driving force to do
dharma. They are your gods. Never shirk from your duty. Whatever you do,
remember them. Never, in any way, upset their belief in you.” This upadeśa
held such a blessing that he continues to inspire many even after many
decades of his demise.

2.34 अकीर्तिं चापि भूतानि कथयिष्यन्ति तेऽव्ययाम्।

सम्भावितस्य चाकीर्तिर्मरणादतिरिच्यते॥
People will forever dishonour you by recounting your infamy. For a man of
honour like you, dishonour is surely worse than death.

“People are sure to speak mockingly about your defeat.” Arjuna and honour
always went together. He is the only warrior in the Mahabharata who
remained undefeated his whole life. For such an honourable and brave
kshatriya, infamy is worse than death. Kīrti, glory, is something which a
warrior must preserve. “All the fame you have earned will evaporate if you
do not fight now,” warns Krishna.
This upadeśa has a practical side to it. A person who belongs to a great
tradition should be extremely wary. In every society, there are people
eagerly waiting for fodder for gossip. We must not feed them through our
misplaced actions. They will blow a spark into a wildfire in no time. For a
brave warrior, clinging to life after losing his honour is indeed worse than
death.

भयाद्रणादुपरतं मंस्यन्ते त्वां महारथाः।

2.35–36 येषां च त्वं बहुमतो भूत्वा यास्यसि लाघवम्॥
अवाच्यवादांश्च बहून्वदिष्यन्ति तवाहिताः।
निन्दन्तस्तव सामर्थ्यं ततो दुःखतरं नु किम्॥
Great chariot-warriors will view you as one who fled from the war out of
fear; you, highly esteemed by them, will be lightly held. Your enemies will
also slander your strength and speak many unseemly words. What could be
more painful than that?

“Arjuna, no doubt you are respected even by your sworn enemies. Karna,
who boasts at every chance that he is superior to you in every way, has fled
from the field, defeated by you more than once. Duryodhana admires your
valour grudgingly with concealed envy. All of them are waiting for one
slight slip to speak ill of you. Arjuna, you have fought with the great god
Mahadeva and received the Pāśupata weapon. If you give up fighting
now… just think… what might they not resort to saying! Every puny
soldier will brag, ‘You know, I stood before him like a mountain. He
shivered and ran away.’ Such declarations will come from even an ordinary
soldier of the cavalry. Do you want this to happen? Respectability is thy
name, O Partha. But if you abandon your duty now, you will be covered
with garlands of ridicule by one and all. We will not get another chance to
wipe out this infamy. If you retreat, the whole war will be over by this
evening. Either they will finish us off or, breaking my oath, I shall pick up
my Sudarsana and finish them off.”
A single person of ill repute is enough to tarnish the image of a grand
lineage of rulers and saints. Though name and fame are not important for a
saint, it is certainly a significant factor for a noble person and the lofty
tradition he hails from.
That grand silver chariot with the four white steeds, the Lord Himself
holding the reins, and the mighty Anjaneya roaring from the flag—all these
together have dampened the zeal of the Kaurava army. Now, if Arjuna
retreats, it will be an ignominious end.

2.37 हतो वा प्राप्स्यसि स्वर्गं जित्वा वा भोक्ष्यसे महीम्।

तस्मादुत्तिष्ठ कौन्तेय युद्धाय कृ तनिश्चयः॥
Slain, you will gain heaven; victorious, you will enjoy earth. Therefore,
rise, O son of Kunti, resolved to fight.

When a great mission is in front of us, when dharma is to be protected, we

must not worry too much about success or failure. Even if we fail, the very
attempt will bring satisfaction. In the Bhagavata, Vritra declares, “One
should either leave one’s body in yoga-samādhi or be slain in a battle.”
Such is the glory that awaits a warrior.
“Certainly, you will go to higher realms, Arjuna,” says Krishna. “If you die
in a righteous war, you will go to heaven. If you win the war, you will enjoy
here. If you retreat, you will have neither, and your life will be an abysmal
failure.”
There are some seekers who have renounced everything for spiritual life but
become despondent over their lack of progress. Some become depressed
along the way. ‘Though I’ve left home, I have yet to reach the temple’—
they lament. It does not matter. “Why be concerned about even spiritual
fruit? Be happy that you have chanted His name at least once,” says Sri
Ramakrishna.

2.38 सुखदुःखे समे कृ त्वा लाभालाभौ जयाजयौ।

ततो युद्धाय युज्यस्व नैवं पापमवाप्स्यसि॥
Considering alike, pain and pleasure, gain and loss, victory and defeat,
engage yourself in the battle. Thus you will incur no sin.

Starting with this verse, Bhagavan instructs on Yoga.

‘naivaṃ pāpamavāpsyasi—thus you will incur no sin’ is the essence of this
verse. pāpa is generally translated as sin. But pāpa means that fruit of
action which becomes, as it were, a cloud of ignorance and gives inner pain.
It lays obstacles in one’s spiritual sādhanā. ‘When one’s pāpa-karma
gradually dissolves, Jñāna shines forth more and more,’* is an oft-quoted
verse.
Doership is pāpa. Whatever the action, whether noble or not, it is the
doership behind it that tortures. ‘I am the doer. I am the enjoyer’—this
belief is a manifestation of ignorance, and it disturbs our inner peace.
Therefore, it is considered a pāpa. “The solar burning heat of doership,”
says Sage Ashtavakra. To one tormented by the fire of doership, what is the
divine herb that will heal and quieten his mind? † The quest ‘WHO AM I?’ is
the nectar that can heal the wound of ‘I am the doer’. Enquiry into the real
nature of the ‘I’ is the method.
When deeply probed into, ‘I’ will be found to be a mere illusion. When the
‘I’ ceases to be real, what reveals itself from the deeps is the real Being, the
Divine. Then, doership too is recognised to be an illusion. Thus, the
knowledge ‘I am not the doer’ is the antidote flowing like milk that will
instantaneously quieten the ‘I’ and still the mind. He who is free of the ‘I
am the doer’-idea will not be affected by any action.
tato yuddhāya yujyasva—be then ready
fight. This usage of ‘tataḥ’ here is
ALL DUALITIES ARE to significant. When a person is perfectly at
HUNG ON THE EGO-PEG. home within and abides in his peaceful
ONCE THAT PEG IS nature, no event, news or action can
invoke a train of thoughts in his mind. In
REMOVED, ALL such a state, he is free to move about and
DUALITIES VANISH; WE pick up the wheel of dharma—dharma-
chakra. Then, any action or involvement
ARE NOT AFFECTED BY in the world will not put him off his
THEM ANYMORE. balance. Bhagavan calls this state
‘kauśalam’—great dexterity. That is
Yoga. In that state, inner peace remains
undisturbed despite the inrush of outer events. He may have profit or loss in
his field of action—lābha or alābha—still, he remains in inner joy. He may
win or lose—jaya or ajaya—in either case, he does not lose his equipoise.
Pleasure and pain, grief and happiness, auspiciousness and
inauspiciousness, profit and loss, victory and defeat are all yadṛcchā; they
all come under a law of nature, which is niyati, destiny. They are not under
the influence of the human mind. When beset by these storms, remaining
unaffected by their force is equanimity—sama. Hence, Bhagavan says same
kṛtvā. Whatever may happen in his life, the yogi remains calm, ever in the
Self.

WHO IS THE GITA FOR?

Someone asked Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi whether the teaching in the
Gita was intended for Arjuna, for Dhritarashtra or for Hanuman in the flag?
Pat came the reply, “It is for you!” Yes, that is it. All teaching is only for the
seeker. Our brain must learn that wonderful method of remaining calm and
unruffled even in war. As Yoga Vasishtha says,

तुषारकरबिम्बाच्छं मनो यस्य निराकु लम्।

 मरणोत्सवयुद्धेषु स शान्त इति कथ्यते ॥

He indeed is spoken of as really peaceful, whose mind is never agitated and

is ever serene like the silvery full moon, even amidst the terror of a war
field, or the grief of death or amid celebration.

REMOVE THE PEG OF THE EGO

The very nature of the ego is to welcome pleasure and resist pain. When
one enquires into the nature of the ego and realises it is not real, a profound
sense of relief ensues. All dualities are hung on the ego-peg. Once that peg
is removed, all dualities vanish; sukha duḥkha—pleasure and pain, lābha
alābha—profit and loss, jaya ajaya—victory and defeat, none of these
affect us anymore. One becomes a perfect instrument in the hands of the
Divine. Whatever is destined to happen through the individual will flow
into the world. Nothing will touch him in any way. When one knows the
nature of the Self, he goes beyond all disturbances.
The Śruti says,* “The Self is indeed ever detached.” Detachment is not
something that needs to be attained. It is the very nature of the Self. As the
thrills, horrors, rain, fire, and so on that happen in a movie do not in any
way touch the screen, so too the actions of the body, thoughts of the mind or
even sleep, samādhi, and so on, do not in any way make any mark on the
Substratum. The Self is not affected. You are that Self that is ever free of the
body, mind and world. Remain there and allow the actions to happen
through you.
yujyasva is the upadeśa. Do not obstruct His music. Vacate the channel
through which His melody is flowing out. Let the flute be free of the thorn
inside. Our ego is the block. Once it is gone, yoga becomes natural. When
such a person works, it is God who is working. If he must kill, it is nothing
but Rudra’s saṃhāra, not homicide. Thanks to this realisation, Arjuna
could behold Rudra doing the work of saṃhāra through him, who is only a
nimitta, an instrument. He was perfectly convinced that he was a nobody.
There is no pāpa or puṇya for one who is ever in Yoga.
2.39 एषा तेऽभिहिता साङ्ख्ये बुद्धिर्योगे त्विमां शृणु।
बुद्ध्या युक्तो यया पार्थ कर्मबन्धं प्रहास्यसि॥
Thus far, I have described this knowledge of Sāṅkhya-yoga to you. Now,
listen as I explain from the point of view of Karma-yoga (the discipline of
selfless action). O Partha! Equipped with this knowledge, you will be able
to shake off completely the shackles of karma.

sāṅkhya-buddhi and yoga-buddhi are the two terms that are used from here
onwards by the Lord. sāṅkhya is usually associated with the ancient-most
darśana propounded by Kapila Maharshi. The Yogasutra of Patanjali also
has the foundation of sāṅkhya.
Sāṅkhya means jñāna. By his tattva-darśana—the knowledge of the Truth
—a Knower removes all the names and forms that are superimposed on the
Reality. This idea is elaborated in the following Bhagavata verse.

यस्मिन्नसङ्ख्येयविशेषनामरूपाकृ तौ कविभिः कल्पितेयम्।

सङ्ख्या यया तत्त्वदृशापनीयते तस्मै नमः साङ्ख्यनिदर्शनाय ते इति॥ SB 5.18.33

Through Sāṅkhya, one should realise the real form of the Lord. Saṅkhya
means numbers; it symbolises all the names and forms. Sāṅkhya philosophy
speaks about twenty-four principles. They are all negated or erased by the
knowledge of the Self. That is the purpose of Sāṅkhya-darśana.
sāṅkhya really means purusha-khyātiḥ—the awareness of Purusha, the
Atman, comes to the forefront. Now, in our lives, it is as if Prakṛti has
swallowed the Purusha; Purusha is Prakṛti-sthaḥ—He is established in
Prakṛti. But, through sāṅkhya-vichāra, when one experiences the Purusha
that is the Self, the ever-existing experience gains prominence. All our
planes of experience are only of Prakṛti. By dissociating from Prakṛti,
Prakṛti becomes hataujasa—its powers get depleted—and the Purusha
abides in His real nature. Separating Consciousness from its seemingly
complex admixture with Prakṛti is like separating milk from a mixture of
milk and water. This is the dexterity of the hamsa bird. Hence the sages
who are adept at this are also called Paramahamsas.
To the unprepared, on the other hand, the buddhi will not be available to
find the extremely subtle space separating the Self from matter. That space
too is only an appearance; it is illusory. That power is indeed there in the
buddhi, but it is wasted away by our involvement in desire-driven action—
karma. Hence the Lord says karma-bandham. To do away with those
shackles, the first step is to stop worshipping the fruit of action.
yoga-buddhi is the secret of remaining in
OBSERVE AND PROBE yoga while performing action. Here, the
buddhi is endowed with the resolve not to
INTO THE NATURE OF seek the fruit of action. Buddhi, when
THE ‘DOER’ RATHER directly yoked to the Self, is sāṅkhya-
buddhi. If the buddhi holds Yoga as a
THAN THE ‘DOING’ OR state—even while working in the world—
ITS FRUIT. that is yoga-buddhi. Giving up all states,
if the buddhi gives prominence to
discrimination and accepts the Self—
which is ever uninvolved—and holds the awareness of It naturally, that is
sāṅkhya-buddhi. For sāṅkhya-buddhi to flower, yoga-buddhi is a
necessary preparation. Observe and probe into the nature of the ‘doer’
rather than the ‘doing’ or its fruit. Then the yoga-buddhi gradually navigates
towards sāṅkhyabuddhi. Bhagavan’s concern here is not with sāṅkhya or
yoga or karma; His attention is on the buddhi.
Some commentators have spoken of sāṅkhya-buddhi and yoga-buddhi as
two methods. But Sankaracharya has clearly stated that karma-yoga is only
a preparatory step to Jñāna. In the Bhagavata too, Vyasa says,* “The entire
field of action has only one purpose, and that is to take the jīva, the person,
towards enquiry or inquisitiveness about the Self.” It takes you to the door
of the Ātma-jñāni—the Sat-guru. No other purpose exists for any karma.

WIPE OUT THE DELUSION

buddhyā yukto yayā pārtha karmabandhaṃ prahāsyasi—equipped with
this state of mind, one will be able to completely shake off the shackles of
karma. The inner power to hold on to a thought, emotion, or state is buddhi.
Waking, dream and sleep are all held by the buddhi. The Bhagavata says, †
“Waking, dream and deep sleep are mere movements in the buddhi.” Here,
what is meant by buddhi is not cerebral matter; it is the Ātmaśakti.
“hṛdayeṣu buddhiḥ—buddhi is in the heart,” says the śāstra. “When the
buddhi, which has the power to move inward and touch the infinitude of the
Self—the Bhūma—awakes, it just wipes out the delusion born of the three
guṇas,” says the Bhagavata. ‡ After this, the buddhi too subsides like the
samit-firesticks used to keep the sacred fire burning. They perish in the fire,
and once everything is fully burnt away, the fire too subsides.
karmabandhaṃ prahāsyasi—the knots of karma are cut asunder only by
the knowledge of the Self. Only when the knowledge is yoked to the Self,
and it erases the ego does release from karma-bandha happen.

भिद्यते हृदयग्रन्थिश्छिद्यन्ते सर्वसंशयाः।

क्षीयन्ते चास्य कर्माणि तस्मिन्दृष्टे परावरे॥ Mu.Up. 2.2.9

When He who is the Self within is recognised as the supreme Brahman, the
knot of the heart is cut asunder, all doubts are erased, and all his karma is
extinguished.
Here the word ‘tu’ has been used to commence the teaching of karma-yoga
—the secret of doing action in such a way that it becomes a spiritual
practice. The feminine word ‘eṣā’ has been used to point out the buddhi.
The buddhi (Jñāna) is feminine by nature. The term Vedaḥ generally
denotes the karma-kāṇḍa portion of the Vedas. Since it deals with action
and doership, it is considered masculine. But the word Upanishad is
feminine. A little bit of harshness—a hint of the ego—and it flees from the
vision. The term ‘imām’ has been used to denote how this same buddhi
works in the field of action (karma-yoga). Once we are in contact with that
buddhi, it cuts asunder our assumed affinity and connection with action and
doership.

SPECIAL POINT — SELF-ENQUIRY IS

SĀṄKHYA
To seek the nature of our ‘I’ is vichāra. The ‘I’ holds all actions, all doubts,
and all problems of life. When the real nature of the ‘I’ is explored, the ego
disappears along with all its limitations, and one abides in Kham, which
means the infinite space or the source of all happiness. “khaṃ brahma,”
says the Śruti. The buddhi makes a significant turn away from thought and
towards the thinker. The thinker and the thought disappear, revealing the
sacred Infinite Being behind. This process of Self-enquiry is sāṅkhya.* It
makes the enquirer abide in the Infinitude.

2.40 नेहाभिक्रमनाशोऽस्ति प्रत्यवायो न विद्यते।

स्वल्पमप्यस्य धर्मस्य त्रायते महतो भयात्॥
In this endeavour, there is neither wasted effort nor any adverse effect. Even
a little effort to practise this dharma protects one from great fear.

The word svalpam in this śloka is indeed a capsule of compassion.

“svalpamapyasya dharmasya trāyate mahato bhayāt—even a little bit of
this dharma will rescue you from great fear.” The moment we hear this
promise of the Lord, a great relief descends and washes over us. It sounds
as if He is saying, “Come on, dear child. Just make a move. I shall take care
of the rest. You take one step, and I will take the remaining ninety-nine
steps. You do just a little bit of karmaphala-tyāga… I just want that space
in your ego. Yes, that is enough for Me to enter your heart and redeem you.”
It is as if the Lord is waiting eagerly to pour His grace on us, release us and
give us abhayam. But that first step must be taken by us. One must never
worry about the distance that has to be covered to reach the spiritual goal.
There is a beautiful saying by a great philosopher, “The longest journey is
but one step.” Keep taking that step—do not stop or look behind. This much
is enough to reach the goal.
abhikrama-nāśa and pratyavāya are the two common defects in any field
of action. abhikrama means some work that has already been started. Here
it means spiritual evolution. As Sankaracharya puts it, there is no regression
or devolution in spiritual life. There is no abhikrama-nāśa or loss of effort.
The example given by Sankaracharya for abhikrama-nāśa is that of
farming. In farming, if we do only half the work and leave the crop
unattended, it will get destroyed. Vedic yajñas too, if not performed as per
the detailed injunctions, must be started all over again, and thus there is loss
of effort.
However, in spiritual life, there is no such loss of effort. Whatever spiritual
practice you have done, whatever you have spiritually gained, will not be
lost. At death, that gain will accompany you to your next birth and create a
favourable situation for evolving further. (This topic is dealt with in detail
in the sixth chapter.) pratyavāya means adverse side effects. The example
cited for pratyavāya is chikitsā—therapy. Here, ingesting the wrong
medicine will lead to adverse effects. These two problems are not at all a
consideration in spiritual life, because you are held by the higher power, the
Divine.

nehābhikramanāśo'sti pratyavāyo na vidyate

This statement is also a great solace for a sādhaka. Here Krishna says,
“Whatever sādhanā you have done, it stays. You never lose it. You can
never slide back down the spiritual ladder, nor can there be any fall in
spiritual life.” Anything that appears like a regression is only due to the
limited vision of the onlooker. Since the entire spiritual life runs on Grace,
there is no question of slipping back.
The beginning of spiritual life happens through Grace. It is Grace that
bestows spiritual inclination. It is Grace that invokes the power to do
spiritual sādhanā. It is Grace that makes contact with the Guru possible. It
is Grace that supplies the spiritual power to recognise a Master. It is Grace
that gives you spiritual books to read. The whole spiritual life, right from
the beginning to the end, is guided by a higher power. Hence, there is no
question of loss of whatever is achieved nor of any adverse side effects.

A GLIMPSE OF THE INFINITE

OceanofPDF.com
 Desiring has limitations, whereas
desirelessness has no limitations. Desire
DESIRING HAS
for the fruit of action is limited. When the
LIMITATIONS, WHEREAS desire for the fruit of action is removed,
and doership too is removed, the actor
DESIRELESSNESS HAS
becomes infinite; the action and the fruit
NO LIMITATIONS. become Infinite. There is limitation in
getting imbalanced, depressed, or excited,
but there is no such limitation in
remaining peaceful, equanimous and unaffected. It is infinite. Remaining in
peace, even for a moment, has a significant impact A glimpse of the Infinite
is Infinite itself. If Self-Realisation happens even for a split-second, it is
Infinite. It is not a mental state. It is the real nature of the Self. In putting
the mind in one’s real Self, there is no pratyavāya. This cannot be compared
to performing a good or bad action. Even a good action, if left incomplete,
will incur abhikrama-nāśa. A bad action will have its own side effects—
pratyavāya. But Ātma-vichāra has neither of these faults.
svalpamapyasya dharmasya trāyate mahato bhayāt
Here, dharma is eulogised. Fearlessness is the fruit of dharma. In the
Bhagavata, Vyasa says, “viśvato bhayāt—fear from everywhere.” Here, he
has used the phrase, “mahato bhayāt—the great fear.” Fear is the most
potent expression of the ego. It is indeed a symptom of ignorance. When
one surrenders to the Divine, along with fear and sorrow, the ego too
disappears. When Janaka surrendered to Yajnavalkya, the Sage said,* “You
have attained fearlessness.” In Arjuna’s case, Bhagavan says, “You are free
of sorrow—mā śucaḥ.” Sorrow and fear are like the two sides of the same
coin. Every sādhaka seeks that fearlessness. One who practises this
dharma, even if only a little bit, becomes free of great fear. If the mind is
guided inward and made to abide in the Self, even for a second, it frees one
from the great fear of death—trāyate mahato bhayāt. Even a little of this
dharma is Infinite. This is what Bhagavan says here.

OFFERING ONESELF IN BHAKTI

This is a beautiful story narrated by a saint of Tiruvannamalai. A villager
went to a Krishna temple where a Vaishnava sādhu was speaking on bhakti.
After listening to the stories with tears in his eyes, he approached the
Swami and requested, “Please give me upadeśa. I am not a learned person,
but whatever you say, I will take it as upadeśa.” He surrendered to the
Master with abject humility. The saint replied, “You need to do only one
thing.
Every day, spend some time inside this
temple making garlands for Krishna. This
WHATEVER YOUR
is the only upadeśa for you.” For the rest
GURU TELLS YOU IS THE of his life, he would collect flowers daily,
make garlands, and offer them to Krishna.
LEARNING; THAT IS
This flower-offering was his heart-
YOUR SĀDHANĀ. THIS offering; it was his life-offering. He did
IS THE LAW IN SPIRITUAL this without fail for several decades. And
his life bloomed as a fragrant flower of
LIFE. the highest bhakti.
This story reveals what svalpam can do.
You need not do much; you need not learn much. Whatever your Guru tells
you is the learning; that is your sādhanā. This is the law in spiritual life.
This is not academics; it is pure devotional mysticism. No teacher of
academics will tell you that you only need to learn a little to get the first
rank. But here, Krishna says, “A little bit is enough, and you will be free.
Your intention to offer yourself is enough. The Lord will take you into
Himself.”
Now the question is, what is this dharma? It is the Bhāgavata-dharma. It is
also the dharma that Bhagavan speaks of in the Gita. Bhāgavata-dharma
includes all that is in the Gita, like sāṅkhya-yoga, dhyāna-yoga, karma-
yoga… all of these. It handholds a suffering soul, leading him up to the
paradise of peace.

ये वै भगवता प्रोक्ता उपाया ह्यात्मलब्धये।

अञ्जः पुंसामविदुषां विद्धि भागवतान्हि तान्॥
यानास्थाय नरो राजन्न प्रमाद्येत कर्हिचित्।
धावन्निमील्य वा नेत्रे न स्खलेन्न पतेदिह॥ SB 11.2.34,35
For the easy attainment of Self-Realisation, even for persons who are not
learned in the scriptures, the Lord Himself has directly revealed simple
paths. Know them to be the Bhāgavata-dharma. O King! No obstacles can
stand in the way of the one adopting this dharma. He will not slip or fall
while running on the highways of saṃsāra, even if he is blindfolded.

SURRENDER, AND BE HELD BY THE LORD

One who practises this dharma will not have any more pramāda. We have
already defined the word pramāda; it denotes a spiritual fall. When a father
takes his child to a crowded marketplace, the concerned father will hold the
child’s hand. If the child holds the father’s hand, there is every chance he
may let go of it and run after something, and thus get lost in the crowd. But
if the father holds the child, there is no way the child would get lost. Bhakti
is like this. If God holds you, you are protected and can be free like a child.
Know that He is holding you. Surrender. “As you surrender, you will more
clearly feel Him holding you,” says Sri Ramakrishna. This is the simple
path.
The secret of dharma is to surrender and to keep oneself firmly in the
current of a spiritual tradition. Dharma means ‘a tradition.’ It is a current
which helps in our evolution, despite us. We just have to allow it. There are
several benefits for a person who follows a tradition. The tradition has its
own current. It is like a well-flowing river. When we step into it, we will be
carried in its flow.
One who flows in the current of tradition
THE WILL TO DO —though he may not have attained the
highest—will feel settled within. Some of
DHARMA IS THE WIND OF Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi’s devotees,
GRACE BLOWING with whom we had the opportunity to be
closely associated, exuded deep, ineffable
AROUND US. peace. Many were not even educated in
the modern sense and were not versed in
the scriptures either. They could not even
explain Maharshi’s teaching. What the mystics call the ‘Contentment of the
Beyond’—often not seen even in great scholars—was certainly there in
them. Their only qualification was that they had seen the Sage, and that had
planted the precious seeds of trust, love, śraddhā and bhakti in the deepest
soil of their heart. It would need only a little more time to get the highest
experience. Hence Bhagavan uses the word ‘svalpam’.
We need not struggle like the sages of the puranas. “Even if we have a
mountain of sins, a single spark of bhakti can destroy it all in a trice, like
heaps of cotton by fire. Even if there has been darkness inside a cave for
thousands of years, the moment light is brought in, all darkness disappears
instantaneously,” says Sri Ramakrishna.

THE WICK AND THE FLAME

dharma as tradition does not lie just in our will or self-effort. It is there in
our genes and manifests as our personal will. The will to do dharma is the
wind of Grace blowing around us. It wafts around us as the tradition. It is
the current that has been started by a great many sages, much before our
time. That current continues; we are born within it, and it takes us to a great
distance. Even if we are not prepared, it helps; it gives by the bountiful.

मन्दमध्यमरूपापि वैराग्येण शमादिना।

प्रसादेन गुरोस्सेयं प्रवृद्धा सूयते फलम्॥ Vi.Cu. 29

“Even a mediocre or a sluggish person, even if he is not a striving person, if

he comes in contact with a mighty Saint, he will get redeemed by the
prasāda or Grace of the Guru,” says Sankaracharya. First comes the Grace
of the Guru, and then comes the Grace from within. Once the Grace of the
Atman starts to operate, Self-Realisation is imminent.
Even though the contact with a mighty
sage might be only for a split second—
THE PATH OF
su-alpam, very little—even that has
SURRENDER IS ALWAYS tremendous power. He may have just
EFFECTIVE. THIS IS
glanced at you, but it works wonders.

SPIRITUALITY. ONE The wick only has to just touch the fire,
and it will be aflame. It need not hug the
LEAP, AND YOU MERGE fire. Only a little contact—svalpam—and
it will be aflame with Divine Effulgence.
The immediate fruit of connection with a
IN THE INFINITE; AND IT sage or the Divine is the healing of our
mind of the dross of fear. Fear can cause a
IS ALL OVER. lot of inner disorders. They are removed
by such contacts. Why is Bhagavan
saying this now? He is happy that Arjuna
has finally recognised the Infinite Being, his friend, and having realised the
value of surrender, has surrendered. We can say that the entire Gita is a song
by Vyasa in praise of Arjuna’s surrender to Krishna. The path of surrender is
always effective. This is spirituality. One leap and you merge in the Infinite,
and it is all over.

2.41 व्यवसायात्मिका बुद्धिरेके ह कु रुनन्दन।

बहुशाखा ह्यनन्ताश्च बुद्धयोऽव्यवसायिनाम्॥
O Joy of the Kurus! In this blessed path of freedom, the resolve is only one,
and one-pointed is the intellect, whereas the intellect of those who have not
found this one Truth is scattered in innumerable branches and is endlessly
diverse.

The very first intimation of divinity is that sacred moment when the news
falls on the ears that there IS something beyond this world, and a silent
voice whispers from the heart—‘Yes, it is possible for you too to attain it…’
The voice that whispers this divine possibility, the heart that accepts it
silently, and the resolve that happens at that very moment—this is the initial
golden hue of the forthcoming celestial splendour, and this empowers the
whole of spiritual life.
From that point onwards, the mind starts gathering all its energies, the entire
vitality, to do sādhanā. Then it is as if the entire energy, all the powers and
thought-currents that run through the nerves, gather themselves to go back
to the Source, the Heart-centre. The whole power arises from that initial
determination. The awakening of this strong will is vyavasāya.
In fact, this is not the jīva’s will. When the ego or the jīva-bhāva subsides a
little, creating a little bit of vacancy, the intellect peeps beyond the brook of
the puny mind and gets a glimpse of the torrential mass of Divine Will—
ichchā-śakti. That one glimpse of the Beyond tugs at and almost lovingly
tethers it to that Power as if engaged to It. As Sankaracharya puts it in his
beautiful hymn Śivānandalahari, the buddhi-kanyā—the maiden intellect—
chooses Śiva as her bridegroom, as her beloved. Once this ‘engagement’
happens, the resolve becomes unshakable, like a mountain. Yes, such an
intellect is indeed born out of a mountain-like resolve. Hence She is called
Parvati, born of parvata—mountain. And Śiva is the Atman, the Self, the
Truth. That one decision puts the mind into a state of great relief and rest.
This is vyavasāyātmikā buddhi.

THE SUPREMELY CONVINCED INTELLECT

In the previous verses, Bhagavan eulogised the state of samatva. The word
buddhi was used there too.* “Equipped with this state of mind, you will be
able to shake off the shackles of karma completely.” What is the nature of
the buddhi referred to in that verse? That is being clarified here. Here it is
called vyavasāyātmikā buddhi. Acharya defines it as ‘the supremely
convinced intellect—niścayātmikā buddhi.’
Arjuna had asked with deep longing, † “I am your disciple, O Lord. Please
give me that determination, that conviction, by which I will attain śreyas,
peace.” Here, Bhagavan is revealing that niśchaya—resolve or conviction.
This principle is the most potent guiding element that navigates the life of a
devotee, a Yogi, or a Jñāni. Hence this verse is one of the most important
ones for a sādhaka. This is the switch that turns on the current of higher
contemplation. vyavasāyātmikā buddhi is the determination that happens
once and for all in the intellect. It happens as a resolve to be free. Once this
determination sets in, the mind becomes remarkably simple. This does not
mean merely adopting a superficial simplicity. This simplicity comes from a
deeper plane.
When the resolve is for God, we have only one road in front and only one
goal to move towards. But when the resolve is for the world, innumerable
are the roads. In fact, an irresolute intellect swells with countless thoughts
every moment. It is similar to the cacophony of present-day city roads,
bustling with all kinds of vehicles and their honking. Once this
vyavasāyātmikā buddhi awakens, the mind settles down in the Source.
Gradually, the streams of thoughts evaporate. It is as if all the nerve currents
carry only this resolve in them. “Once you have that resolve, very soon,
your intellect gains that rarefied state of samādhānam; buddhi becomes
contemplative and peaceful.”* It enters the samādhi-state and becomes still
like a crystal-clear pool without a ripple.
The right determination born of authentic knowledge is crucial. Even if the
mind refuses to follow the resolve, it does not matter; in time, it will come
around and surrender to this determination. This determination is the power
of Grace. If you have resolved to attain God or realise the Self, even if your
mind wanders, you will reach there. Because, henceforth, the resolve takes
charge. Whatever your mind may do, the resolve has the power to keep
pulling you towards the goal. This power will gently seep into every nerve
current, every emotion, and every thought and will start monitoring them.
Once you have taken the decision to visit a temple several kilometres away
from your home, you start walking. After resolving to visit the temple, you
do not think about it anymore. You may think of many other things while
your body walks towards the temple. This is the secret of sādhanā.
In the Bhagavata, Parikshit took this resolve—in one moment, he took a
divine resolve to renounce.† The king resolved to find the Truth in this very
life. He was determined to transcend death, and the Lord’s Grace came to
him as vyavasāya. What is the nature of this vyavasāya? It is the
combination of vairāgya, viveka and all other qualities that a sādhaka
needs. This power invites the Divine. With this power, Parikshit renounced
the kingdom and went and sat on the banks of the Ganga. He did not seek a
Guru. But his resolve to find freedom or God had such power that it invited
a great congregation of sages around him. Not only that, his Master, Sri
Sukacharya, came in search of him and instructed him. All this happened
because of his vyavasāya. It happens exactly like this; you need not even
control the mind; just resolve to find the Truth—‘Let my mind have that
auspicious resolve.’ ‡ If you chant the name of God with true longing, it
does not matter whether you have concentration or not; the longing yokes
you to Him. Soon, His power will absorb your mind.
Until this noble resolve awakens, the intellect has innumerable desires. And
each desire makes its own nerve-current in the body through which it runs
as sensations. ‘bahuśākhā hyanantāśca buddhayo'vyavasāyinām.’
bahuśākhā means vastly ramified.
THE EGO IS LIKE A HORNET’S NEST
Who are the unresolved—avyavasāyinaḥ? Sankaracharya says they are
those who do not have the right knowledge born from an authentic source,
those who have not got a Master who is a knower of Brahman.* There is no
authenticity in their intellect. It is mere wool-gathering, an imagination of
many things. It runs in pursuit of various things. Such an intellect will have
no rest, no quietude, no peace. This is a tragic state.
Sankaracharya says, “The mind grows and spreads through innumerable
branches, and thus saṃsāra becomes endless. It becomes shoreless and
almost impossible to cross over.” † It never subsides. Without a let-up,
suffering and bondage swell and expand through various routes. It is fiction;
it is built upon wrong understanding and wrong knowledge. That is what we
see all around us. Until you have a real spiritual ground, the whole of life is
a waste. Until then, the intellect, the mind, and the senses, all run helter-
skelter—a picture of total chaos and disorder!
Such a person knows only one way—that of ignorance–desire–action–fruit.
We very well know what this is. Innumerable thoughts haunt such a person.
Such a mind is like a swarm of bees. The ego is like a hornet’s nest. Touch
it with your attention, and whoosh! You will see a swarm inside you in the
form of desires, ideas, fantasies, plans… The primary ignorance is the
thought ‘I exist as a jīva, as a separate individual’. From that ignorance
ensues everything else. From that one thought arises another thought, and
yet another… ‘I must rush to this place, to that place, here, there…’ and so
on. Thoughts such as ‘I must go’, ‘I must find’, ‘I have to attain’, ‘I have to
achieve’, ‘I have to escape’, and so on mushroom in the mind. They give
rise to manifold actions. There is no rest at all in the brain. No quietude, not
an iota of peace. This is the horror of saṃsāra. sam sarate iti saṃsāra—it
keeps flowing towards nowhere.
The mind has two states. One is the scattered state, and the other is the
gathered state. To the spiritually unresolved, there is no viśrānti, no rest. All
our worldly life, progress, modern civilisation, and complexity of life are
the results of the unresolved state, the scattered state. This is because we do
not know the secret of making life simple. We do not know how to make
the mind rest in the Eternal in one shot. Hence Sankaracharya says,
“saṃsāraḥ nityapratataḥ—suffering swells and expands day after day.”
On the other hand, the resolve to find peace is so simple that we do not need
anything for it—we need not embark on any journey; we need not do any
exploration or research; we need not find anything new in the world. We do
not need science and technology to be peaceful. Peace is ever-present, right
from the beginning. We can say that the Truth was already revealed even
before creation. We can be restful, just like a bird which goes out in search
of its food every day, and once it has found it, it just sits on the branch of a
tree, under the cool shade and sings in joy. This ought to be life. In contrast,
human beings lead such wretched lives and also make this planet
unliveable; this is the result of their avyavasāyātmikā buddhi. A sage rests
eternally in brahma-viśrānti, brahma-nirvāṇa. This is real simplicity.

SETTLING IN THE CENTRE

The gathered state of mind happens when vyavasāyātmikā buddhi dawns.
Once one has resolved and is yoked to the Infinite, to the Truth, the mind
naturally rests in the Yoga-state. In the absence of vyavasāyātmikā buddhi,
the goal is not divine—it is not God, it is not Realisation—and one practises
yoga just as an exercise as people do nowadays. There is no gathered state
in such a mind. While physically one may perform much acrobatics,
inwardly, the mind spreads out in various branches, and desires swell
infinitely—bahuśākhā hyanantāśca—there is no rest, no settled state. The
mind that has no anchorage in the true Centre, wanders about.
As Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi says, the mind wanders to see beautiful
things. It will wander, and one cannot control or curb it until it beholds the
transcendental beauty of the Self. Then and only then will it settle in the
Centre. When the Inner Self uncovers Its ethereal beauty, the mind-bee will
no longer wander; it naturally turns within, perches on the Heart-flower,
starts drinking the nectar of Peace, and dissolves in it.
Until you listen to an authentic Guru who is a śrotriya brahmanishṭha and
gain that conviction of the Truth, all misapprehensions—itara-viparīta-
buddhi—will be active. But once you listen to the Master, the knowledge
will take deep root in you and remove all misapprehensions like light
dispelling darkness. The innumerable differences—bheda-buddhis—end in
the light of right knowledge. The moment it does, the whole thing is over,
like the ending of a long dream when you wake up.
Only one Truth exists, Brahman alone is real, ekameva advitīyam—one
without a second, neha nānāsti kiñcana—there is no plurality here. When
you realise the Self and find that the Self alone is real, all separation ends;
then saṃsāra melts away.* Saṃsāra is based on duality; it needs the other.
To the Realised, there is only the Self; there is no saṃsāra. “jñāte tattve
kaḥ saṃsāraḥ—once the Truth is known, where is saṃsāra?” asks
Sankaracharya in Bhaja Govindam.
Once you know the Truth, all that you had previously considered as real is
erased. Just as a mirage, when examined, is found to have no water in it,
here too, once you know the Truth, no more are you deluded by
appearances. When a post is seen in darkness in the middle of a paddy field,
our imaginary conclusions are many—‘it is a ghost; a thief; a god standing
to bless me; no, my beloved waiting for me…’ and so on. But the right
knowledge is only one—‘it is simply a wooden post’. Once you see it in
light, a thousand books and theses written on it by those who had
misapprehended it are just ignored. All other ideas or illusions you had
entertained earlier are wiped out in just one moment.* The moment light
comes, all darkness vanishes.
This same vyavasāyātmikā buddhi is
IF WE WANT ONLY THE referred to as vaiśāradī dhīḥ in the
Bhagavata. “The pure fire of spiritual
INNER SAMATVA, WE illumination burns away all the bondages
NEED NOT TOIL TO caused by the guṇas of prakṛti, as well as
the guṇas themselves, before it subsides
SOLVE THE PROBLEM; like the element fire that has exhausted
SIMPLY DISSOLVE IT BY the fuel.Ӡ
MAKING THE MIND When we want a remedy for problems in
life, the intellect becomes diverse, and the
QUIET.
mind branches out in various directions
and gets scattered. That is what we see in
the world. All techniques, methods, and all branches of science, in fact, all
branches of knowledge, are the result of this search for an external solution
to problems. That is the outer way. But the problems that destiny brings are
irresolvable. In such instances, we need to protect our inner peace. If we
want only the inner samatva, we need not toil to solve the problem; just
dissolve it by keeping the mind quiet.
This world is only apparent and not real. The inner Truth, God, Self, alone
is real. Once this simple resolve is accepted within, this very moment, here
and now, it is over. The outer search for a solution needs time, other people,
instruments, and knowledge; the intellect and the senses must be employed.
But the inner approach needs none of these; it only requires that the senses
are subdued, the mind is withdrawn, and the intellect is absolutely quiet.
Then the inner flame alone is.

THE MAHĀ-YOGA OF BHAGAVAN SRI

RAMANA
The intellect turned outside towards the objects has innumerable
possibilities to scatter. The intellect that is inward-looking and asks, ‘WHO
AM I?’ has only one movement. The doubt is about the doubter. The
investigation is about the investigator. The moment we accept the primal
ignorance ‘I’, then, ‘you’, ‘he’, and all other thoughts follow—bahu-śākhā.
Right at the beginning, if we ask, ‘Who is this thinker, this ‘me’?’ no further
thought will arise. Only ‘That’ will remain. Bhagavan Ramana called this
supreme yoga ‘Mahā-Yoga’.
The mind gathers all its thought-energy and withdraws into the Seer. The
entirety of the seen is rolled back into the Seer. When the seeker is the
sought, there ends all seeking. This is the fruit of vyavasāyātmikā buddhi.
Vyavasāya here means perfect inward movement and resting in the Source
—vyavasīyate upasaṃharate. Only when the power of the Atman pulls
from within, does the intellect gain this power to withdraw into the Heart.
The intellect, the mind, and the senses dissolve in the newly surfaced centre
within. That centre is what is called hṛdayam by the Upanishads.
This is quite simple. It is NOW—it needs no time. It needs no space. We
need not go anywhere. We need not employ any instrument, whether outer
or inner. Just leave everything aside and become quiet, still. And there, God
is. There, Truth is. This is samādhi, the Self.

*
The karma-kāṇḍa portion of the Vedas, when practised as an offering to the
Lord, devoid of desire for the fruit of those actions, leads one to purity of
mind. In such a pure mind, the divine resolve—vyavasāyātmikā buddhi—
dawns. Then the seeker chooses only the path that leads to one-pointedness.
He chooses Ātma-jñāna revealed by the Upanishads—Vedānta. The
unresolved ones, on the other hand, get deluded by the Vedic portions that
deal with karma. As their mind is already filled with desires, they find
several ways and means in the karma-kāṇḍa portion of the Vedas to fulfil
them. They become increasingly restless by involving themselves in those
desire-driven sacrifices. Bhagavan speaks about such people in the
following verses.

यामिमां पुष्पितां वाचं प्रवदन्त्यविपश्चितः।

2.42–44 वेदवादरताः पार्थ नान्यदस्तीति वादिनः॥
कामात्मानः स्वर्गपरा जन्मकर्मफलप्रदाम्।
क्रियाविशेषबहुलां भोगैश्वर्यगतिं प्रति॥
भोगैश्वर्यप्रसक्तानां तयापहृतचेतसाम्।
व्यवसायात्मिका बुद्धिः समाधौ न विधीयते॥
They are the unwise who utter these flowery speeches. O Arjuna! They
delight in the hyperbolic statements of the ritualistic portions of the Vedas
and argue that there is nothing else. Full of desires, they consider heaven as
the highest, and their actions lead to rebirth. Those who have given
themselves to pleasures and power and whose minds have been enslaved by
them are incapable of developing the one-pointed determination which
leads to samādhi.

If the mind roams in the field of senses, constantly recollecting sensory

engagements, this will gradually erode the power of meditation.
vyavasāyātmikā buddhi is real meditation; it is meditativeness. That comes
from the divinely gathered state of mind. When the mind gets anchored in a
divine mood, ready to abide in the Self, that kind of meditativeness is
vyavasāyātmikā buddhi. Through extrovertedness and gathering of worldly
dirt, the intelligence that can take off to ethereal heights gets smothered—
praṇaśyati. Any inspiration gained by association with saints gets polluted
by our desires, doubts in divine life and insensitivity to the subtle. Like a
drunken monkey possessed by the ghost of desires and bitten by the snake
of ignorance, the mind jumps here and there hysterically—interminably in
chaos!
In these verses, Bhagavan is speaking about those who consider only the
Karma-kāṇḍa portion of the Vedas as the authority and spend their lives in
desire-oriented rites. Due to their scattered minds, they run after all sorts of
pleasures—earthly and heavenly—and enter into complex rites and
ceremonies based upon the karma portion of the Vedas. Such people can
never develop the vyavasāyātmikā buddhi. Deluded by the rituals and their
promised results, they speak flowery words about them—puṣpitāṃ vācam.
Those who are proudly addicted to the Karma-kāṇḍa portion of the Vedas
are usually averse to Jñāna. No doubt, the Vedas are our Source. They are
the voice of Īśvara. But the Karma-kāṇḍa is meant mainly for the welfare
of the worldly. If the sacrifices prescribed in them are performed in all
humility as an offering to God, the mind certainly acquires purity, cleansed
of all the dross of desires. Most often, though, they are performed to gain
this-worldly or other-worldly benefits.
Many are carried away by phalaśrutis, such as ‘svargakāmoyajeta—if you
do this yajña, you will attain heaven.’ Deluded by the triguṇas, they
declare, “Nothing else exists—nānyadasti.” They fanatically declare that
the Vedas are only for karma and that the words that proclaim Jñāna are
meaningless.* They are avipaścitaḥ—fools, kāmātmānaḥ—their very self
is made of desires. Their goal is heaven. They take birth repeatedly and toil
—janmakarmaphalapradām. Their goal is only bhoga (indulgence) and
aiśvarya (opulence). To attain these, they involve themselves in complex
sacrifices that demand their entire attention (so as to perform them without
leaving out even the minutest detail).
The following verse from the Bhagavata is almost like Vyasa’s own
commentary for this Gita verse.

शाब्दस्य हि ब्रह्मण एष पन्था यन्नामभिर्ध्यायति धीरपार्थैः।

 परिभ्रमंस्तत्र न विन्दतेऽर्थान्मायामये वासनया शयानः॥ SB 2.2.2

The intention of the Vedic language is to somehow lead even the ignorant to
the state of well-being. Enticing statements such as ‘you will attain heaven
as the result of performing a yajña’ are made for this reason alone. But of
course, for a mumukshu—a seeker of freedom—these make absolutely no
sense. If we choose to take these seriously and get deluded, Reality will
continue to elude us. The outer world is māyā-mayam, and the mind is
driven by vāsanās. Vāsanās can only involve us in māyā and not in the
Truth—the Self.
If we get lost in the mazy Karma-kāṇḍa portions of the Vedas, we will only
get increasingly ensnared in māyā. Like a giant wheel, it will roll on but not
take us anywhere. We will go up, see heaven, come down, and see the earth.
This is the way of karma—the field of action. Without Jñāna, even sādhanā
is futile. We go up and come down. In the end, the only outcome is disgust
and despair.
Notice that scientific research and its application in technology have similar
implications. The learning seems endless, starting with the alphabet and
going up to PhD, from the atom to galaxies, from fixing minor problems to
that of ozone layer holes. An intelligent man will ask, ‘Of what use is all
this!’ “mariṣyamāṇasya,” as Parikshit says, “I shall die in seven days;
what is the use of all this for me?” In the Kathopanishad, Nachiketas also
asks the same question. An intelligent person will feel, ‘This is all sheer
waste! I want love, peace.’
Which science will give us love? Which technology will give us peace?
All this struggle is because our lives are based on a wrong premise, an
illusory foundation. We have no idea that life is for peace. Its source is
Peace. The goal is Peace. We think we must toil; we must do something or
the other. This is the working of avyavasāyātmikā buddhi that we spoke
about. It is the erroneous centre of cognition. When we are in that plane, we
cherish all that is not good for us. Like a fool, we put a cigarette in our
mouth and blow out harmful smoke through those sacred nostrils through
which Bhagavan prāṇa enters, bringing along the offering of pure energy to
worship the antaryāmi. Hence, here, the Lord abuses such people by calling
them avipaścitaḥ—fools.
All the sciences, including the Karma-kāṇḍa have only one purpose. As the
Bhagavata (1.2.10) says, ‘jīveta yāvatā’—they help you to live your present
life here and purify you for the next. For those who get deluded by these
materialistic pursuits and forget the Higher Life, alas, life is a tragedy!
Never, never will such a mind quieten. Unless the divine resolve happens,
samādhi will not bloom—samādhau na vidhīyate. The mind will not abide
in stillness and roost in the centre.
This is the power of Sanātana Dharma, which proclaims, ‘Go beyond the
Vedas.’ Indeed, the Vedas are the greatest scriptures. After guiding the
seeker to the state of inner purity through the path of action, they say, “Go
even beyond us. Go beyond all actions, beyond all seeking outside. The
Truth is within you. Find it and abide there.”
These Gita verses are a strong criticism of the enormously complex Karma
portion of the Vedas. In the Upanishads too we come across such criticism
as ‘Frail are these ships in the form of sacrifice.’* These are constructive
criticisms. This does not mean that the Karma-kāṇḍa is to be rejected by
us. The instruction is to use them as a jumping board and then discard them.
Karmas are prescribed by the Vedas to help us transcend our desire-oriented
nature—our compulsion to perform desire-based action. The Vedas have
bestowed the Karma-kāṇḍa to rescue us from karma † and not to make us
perform more and more karma and get entangled in it. Even phalaśrutis—
fruits promised for doing the rites—are stated only to wean our mind away
from the world gradually.
Once the Truth is realised, the Vedas are transcended—“vedāḥ avedāḥ
bhavanti,” as the Upanishads say. No more is there any need for any
guidance from outside. You are a light unto yourself—Ātmadīpa.

2.45 त्रैगुण्यविषया वेदा निस्त्रैगुण्यो भवार्जुन।

निर्द्वन्द्वो नित्यसत्त्वस्थो निर्योगक्षेम आत्मवान्॥
The Vedas deal with the three guṇas. Transcend, O Arjuna, the triad of the
guṇas. Freeing yourself from all dualities, fixed in Truth, without any
concern to acquire or preserve anything, be established in the Self.

traiguṇya-viṣayāḥ vedāḥ—the Vedas deal with sattva, rajas and tamas.

For those with sāttvik tendencies, the Vedas prescribe sāttvik upāsanās. For
those of rājasik or tāmasik bent, upāsanās suited to their states are
prescribed. Acharya says, in uncompromising terms,* “The subject of the
Karma-kāṇḍa portion of the Vedas is saṃsāra and not Brahman.”
Here, Bhagavan says, “Go beyond them, Arjuna. When you want
Realisation, nistraiguṇyo bhava—be free from the triad of the guṇas.”
Sankaracharya says in his bhāshya, “niṣkāmo bhava—become desireless,
go beyond desires.” nirdvandvaḥ—beyond all dualities. Dvandva means
two—‘the other’ or ‘another person.’ When the mind moves away from the
centre, we see another. There are no two in the Self, in the experience of our
‘I’. That is always singular. Consciousness is always singular. When there
are two, know that the mind is at work. “Arjuna, go beyond them. Do not
seek anything outside. Become nirdvandva. There is no need for the other.”
nitya-sattvasthaḥ—established ever in
CONSCIOUSNESS IS
one’s own nature, in Existence. Nitya
means incessant, sat-tva implies the state
ALWAYS SINGULAR. of mere IS-ness—Existence, and sthaḥ
WHEN THERE ARE TWO, means established. Thus, put together,
nitya-sattvasthaḥ means established
KNOW THAT THE MIND IS forever in pure sattva. Pure sattva is our
AT WORK. real nature, Truth.
niryogakṣema—without caring about
one’s yoga or kshema, profit and preservation. That is, there are no desires;
one is established in That. He who is surrendered to God no longer cares
even about yoga, spiritual development. That is also left as His
responsibility. He cares no more about his worldly life either, as Bhagavan
will look after it. ‘yogakṣemam vahāmyaham’—this is His promise!
Then, what should we do? ātmavān—be established. He who is
nityasattvasthaḥ is ātmavān. He is ever established in the Atman. This is
the greatest achievement. There, he is in perfect repose—svastha. Until
then, he is prakṛti-stha—in the grip of nature; he has affinity with desires,
self-will, ego, and effort. But once they are transcended, and there is
abidance in simple existence, in being, in our real nature, in the ‘I AM,’ he
becomes svastha. That is what we had earlier described as sattva-stha.
There is nothing to do; no doership, no enjoyership.
Do not hang on to the books, the scriptures, all the time. A time comes
when one must go beyond them. When inquisitiveness for the Truth arises,
one has already gone beyond the Vedas, beyond the purview of the sacred
books. All karmas become fructified when the inquisitiveness for the Truth
arises. That inquisitiveness is vyavasāyātmikā buddhi —the resolve to find
only that One within, to be established in the Heart, in the Self. There, all
movement ends. Chikīrshā—the desire to do, and jijñāsā—the
inquisitiveness to know are all over. There is no more becoming, no more
attainment, no more achievement, no more seeking. One becomes
desireless, established.
The Vedas deal with the entire existence. What we are is what the Vedas
are. Our mind grazes in the meadows of the three guṇas in the waking and
dream and merges and stays in the Self during deep sleep. Similarly, the
Karma-kāṇḍa portion of the Vedas deal with fulfilling desires here and
accruing well-being in the other worlds—these two relate to the waking and
dream; and the Vedanta portion of the Vedas deals with the nature of the
Self devoid of the body-mind as in deep sleep. Here Bhagavan points to the
state free of the guṇas—nistraiguṇyaḥ, where duality ceases to operate—
nirdvandva. It is the simple existence—nitya-sattva. Thus abiding in the
Self, be free of all worldly concerns. The Bhagavata says,* “I prostrate to
that Self-effulgence by the act of renouncing all worldly and Vedic actions
along with the Vedas themselves.”
When one knows the inner life principle as God, as the Eternal Reality,
from then on, that is the fire in which he offers all his oblations. Hence,
exploring the Inner Being, he has renounced all wanderings in the maze of
Karma-kāṇḍa, and offers everything—including his own ego—into the
inner flame. Such a one is ekāgnihotri—one who performs agnihotra of a
single fire—and that fire is his own Inner Self.

2.46 यावानर्थ उदपाने सर्वतः सम्प्लुतोदके ।

तावान्सर्वेषु वेदेषु ब्राह्मणस्य विजानतः॥
As much use is there of a pool when there is a flood everywhere, so are all
the Vedas to an enlightened Brāhmaṇa.
(From the vast ocean of the Vedas, a seeker should take only as much
knowledge as needed for the highest well-being, Liberation.)

Books and teachers are all there in millions. But for whom are all these?
They are for us to find happiness here and to ultimately find the inner
spiritual fulfilment that is peace. This is the goal of the Vedas. Once a
person has attained the knowledge of the Self, all such external aids become
redundant. This is the essence of this verse.
‘anantā vai vedāḥ—Infinite are the Vedas.’ Thus goes the saying. As the
Vedas contain teachings for all, a seeker of Liberation should be careful to
take from it only as much as is needed for him; otherwise, great confusion
will be the result. He must take only the knowledge related to the highest
well-being—Ātma-jñāna—from the vast mass of the Vedas.
There is a verse in the Bhagavata which is like a perfect commentary for
this Gita verse by Vyasa himself.

अतः कविर्नामसु यावदर्थः स्यादप्रमत्तो व्यवसायबुद्धिः।

सिद्धेऽन्यथार्थे न यतेत तत्र परिश्रमं तत्र समीक्षमाणः॥ SB 2.2.3

Hence, the intelligent one, the discriminative one, takes only as much as is
necessary from the Vedas; that is, he is involved only as much as is needed.
By his vyavasāyā-buddhi, he must remain one-pointed and be extremely
careful not to get entangled in desire-oriented activities that may obstruct
his path to Liberation. With this firm resolve, he must seek in the Vedas the
Ātmatattva—Self-knowledge—alone, like a pearl diver seeking a pearl in
the ocean. And once he has it, he should no more toil to acquire other
things, even though the Vedas themselves have spoken about them. He
should not pay any heed to them as they are not for him anymore. Yajñas
and yāgas are only for those with worldly desires. These are unnecessary
toil for a seeker of Liberation. Realising thus, he should know the Self and
repose in the Self.
The above Bhagavata śloka is like a mirror of these Gita ślokas. Here the
phrasing is ‘yāvānartha’, whereas the Bhagavata expresses the same idea as
‘yāvadarthaḥ—only as much as is necessary.’ This word gives an important
hint on how to live. For a seeker of Truth, any pursuit other than that of
Self-knowledge is a waste of time and energy. Only that much engagement
in the world, which is absolutely needed to survive, is acceptable. For a
seeker of liberation, getting into the trap of involvement in the world or
even the Karma-kāṇḍa portion of the Vedas is a spiritual fall, pramāda.
Hence the Bhagavata says, “syādapramattaḥ—let him not take a wrong
turn in his spiritual life. Remain one-pointed—vyavasāya-buddhiḥ.”
Compassionately it is instructed, “anyathārthe na yateta—do not
endeavour for anything else.” We are warned that ‘such efforts are mere
pointless toil—pariśramaṃ tatra samīkṣamāṇaḥ.’ This is what was
defined as ‘kriyāviśeṣabahulām—complex activities’ in the Gita verse 2.43.

SANKARACHARYA’S INTERPRETATION
The Vedic Karma-kāṇḍa portions prescribe rites through which desires are
fulfilled. They are here equated to small ponds and pools. When there is a
flood of pure water everywhere, who will seek a water tap or a well? So
too, when a person realises the Self, he comes to know that he needs
nothing other than the Self. “sarvamasti citaḥkośe—whatever he wants is
to be found in the treasure house of Chit, the Atman, the boundless source,”
says Yoga Vasishtha.
The Vedas are like medicine. Once we are cured of the disease, why should
we continue to take medication? A person who has desires should fulfil
them through the prescribed ways. That is dharma. For a virakta
(dispassionate one) and the Brahmavit (Realised Being), the Vedas become
no Vedas. “atra vedā avedāḥ (bhavanti),” says the Brihadaranyaka
Upanishad (4.3.22).

JADABHARATA — A REALISED BEING

The story of Jadabharata in the Bhagavata is relevant here. Due to some
past karmaphala, he had to take birth again in the great lineage of Angirasa-
gotra to complete his yoga-sādhanā. Yet, when the Vedas were taught to
him, he behaved like a dunce. His father tried to teach him for six months—
not the whole Vedas, but just the Gayatrimantra—but he mispronounced
even that. Finally, concluding that the boy was incompetent, the father
advised his other sons to take care of their brother. They too considered him
dull-witted. In reality, he was a Knower of Brahman. He was firmly
established in the Self. He did not care what others spoke about him or how
they looked at him because he was not looking at the world. Though his
eyes were open, he did not look at the world. His vision was focused on
something else—within.
He remained established in Brahman, unknown to anyone else, until the
blessed king, Rahugana, met him and happened to recognise the hidden
yogi. The king asked him, “Bhagavan! kastvaṃ nigūḍhaścarasi? (SB5.10.16)
—who are you, masquerading, hiding, like this?” Then Jadabharata said,
“Yes! I am hiding. avivṛtaḥ (SB5.12.15)—I remain here veiled. I do not want
people to recognise me. Otherwise, they will disturb me. I remain here
absolutely free. I even refused to study the Vedas, the Karma-kāṇḍa
portion. In Veda-vādas—hyperbolic statements of the Vedas—this
tattvavāda, this knowledge of the Self, has not been revealed clearly. Hence
the intelligent ones just walk away.”* Revealing his inner glory thus to the
king, the yogi Jadabharata walked away.
In another place, the Bhagavata says,* “When Bhagavan’s grace descends,
he (the devotee) gives up both worldly life and Vedic karmas.” Narada-
bhakti-sutra says, † “When bhakti blooms and the devotee surrenders and
takes refuge in Him, he gives up both worldly and Vedic transactions and
remains unconcerned about this life or the next.”
Here Bhagavan says, “If you want peace, freedom, Realisation, go beyond
the Karma-kāṇḍa, and listen to the Jñāna portion from a Knower. Meditate
and be established in your real Self. Surrender to the Lord and be free of all
worldly concerns—nir-yogakshema. Concerns about either this world or
other worlds will only disturb you. They will put the mind in a scattered
state. For the knowledge of the Self to be steady, one should throw
overboard all thoughts about one’s personal life and be ātmavān—ever in
the awareness of the Self.”
*
In the preceding verses, we have seen Bhagavan criticise the Karma-kāṇḍa
portion of the Vedas in uncompromising terms. A doubt might naturally
come up: Is it right to criticise the divinely revealed Vedas? This is indeed a
valid question.
STORY OF ABDUL
There was a boy called Abdul in our school. Every day, the teacher used to
put questions to Abdul, criticise and scold him severely until he sat
depressed. One day, a daring student intervened, “Sir, why do you scold
only him? Many of us too make the same mistakes.” The teacher replied,
“Boy, do you know that Abdul is older than me? This is his seventh year in
this class!” Yes, many are like this Abdul.
The Karma-kāṇḍa portions and the prescribed rites in it are all right for
purifying the mind as a bhakti-sādhanā. But, if one gets obsessed with it,
fails to make any progress, and never reaches the state of jijñāsā—
inquisitiveness about the Self—it is similar to sitting in the same class again
and again. Such a one dies only to come back again to this world, which
proves that the medicine is not working. The spiritual treasure, peace, has
not been attained. Hence Bhagavan says, “Go forward and learn the method
of converting it as Yoga.”
We must know the essence behind what the Vedas have prescribed and how
to unlock their true import. The key to unlock it can be had only from a real
Vedavit. The Bhagavata says, ‡ “Veda is the heart of Īśvara. It is the
language of God. An intellect that is not ready to receive it will naturally get
deluded by it.” Unable to decipher the secret of karma-yoga, many become
addicts to karma. For them, karma becomes a roga—disease—and not
yoga. It breeds bondage and suffering. The only way out is to find the cause
of the disease and treat it. “cikitseta nidānavit,” say the knowers of
Ayurveda, “The healer must diagnose correctly before treating the disease.”
If action is converted as a spiritual discipline, the seeds of action—vāsanās
—disappear, and the mind rests peacefully in the Self. Generally, action
tends to poke our doership within—‘I am doing this.’ The desire for the
fruit of action leaps up from within like a flame hungry to swallow the ghee
—this is enjoyership. These two problems naturally arise, being the two
branches of the ego. Any motive-driven action is bound to generate these
problems in the actor.
If the mind is lost in the forest of pleasure and power—bhoga and aiśvarya
—as we have said earlier, it is indeed a symptom of the disease, the ego.
samādhau na vidhīyate—such a mind will not be in repose in the Divine; no
brahma-viśrānti is possible.
As we have seen, the Vedas prescribe many karmas for fulfilling desires. As
human beings are many and their desires are also many, Vedic Karma-
kāṇḍa portions serve the purpose of guiding human life. Thus, those who
desire the results promised, gravitate towards the karmas prescribed for
attaining them. But a mumukshu should learn the art of dealing with those
karmas without hurting his spiritual life. This topic of karma-yoga is being
revealed by Bhagavan from the next verse onwards.

2.47 कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन।

मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि॥
You have the right only to work; never be impelled by the fruits of your
work. Let your action be not for the sake of rewards, nor should you get
addicted to non-doing (not performing your duty).

Rest is only in the Eternal, the Infinite, where there is no actor, no action, no
fruit, nothing to achieve, nothing to attain—only a supreme relaxation. A
Knower rests ‘there’, and it is from there that he performs action in
inaction. Action must be effortlessly performed out of that inner fullness
and not out of desire. How is this possible? Bhagavan reveals,
“karmaṇyevādhikāraste—your right is only to act.”
In the Gita, the term ‘yoga’ has varying meanings. When it is used without
any qualifying adjective, such as jñāna or bhakti, it denotes karma-yoga.
Karma does not denote just the action alone. It is the fibre with which our
body is made. Just as we cannot jump out of our body, we cannot do away
with our actions either. Arjuna cannot give up archery and take up tapas and
bhikshā. As Bhagavan Ramana says, “You are not free to choose.” How
wonderful to stay choiceless! If we are not destined to do a particular
action, even if we hunt for it all our life, we will not get it. So too, we
cannot give up what our body is destined to do. Here adhikāra means
nature. Gaudapadacharya says,* “No one can undo or change one’s nature.”
It is possible to change our āgantuka nature—it is possible to mould and
change incidental actions. But our basic and essential nature cannot be
changed. Trying to change our nature is sheer misdirected effort. That is not
the way.
Since we consider certain types of action superior and others inferior, we
would rather undertake the glorious one and avoid a low-profile one. This is
ignorance. Karma is never great or small. “It is jaḍa—inert,” says
Bhagavan Ramana. They are just waves that undulate in the Substratum,
Brahman. The actions cease to bind when we know the truth of the actor.
We can rest in the Substratum, unaffected by these rising and falling waves.
Let actions happen; there is no need to touch their movement.
mā phaleṣu kadācana—never is the fruit
in your hold. The mind runs faster than
ANY ACTION
the body, with the desire to collect wages.
PERFORMED WITH A Fruit of action is the wine that deludes the
DESIRE FOR ITS RESULTS doer. But this is not in our hands. Many
forces are at play which decide what the
—EVEN OUR SĀDHANĀ nature of the fruit shall be. What is
—AMOUNTS TO happening in us, through our body, is
action. Just be ecstatic about it and allow
NOTHING BUT MERE it to flow. Let the sheer dynamism of the
BUSINESS. SELFLESS Inner Spirit manifest in you as worship or
as war. Do not analyse. At times, creation
ACTION IS LOVE, —Brahma manifests in you, at times
WHEREAS EXPECTING A sustenance—Vishnu, and at other times
destruction—Rudra. The body is a
RESULT FROM IT IS cosmos. Let sṛshṭi, sthiti or saṃhāra
INDULGENCE. happen. Why bother! Be the witness. Our
joy is dampened by the mind, which
craves the fruit of action. By this, we lose
the joy of performance and our sensitivity and compassion.
‘kadācana—never’ is the word that Bhagavan uses here. Never is the fruit
in our hold. It is in the hands of Īśvara. Hence, learn to offer all actions to
Him and convert them as a pūja—worship. Otherwise, we will sink into the
ocean of saṃsāra.
mā karmaphalaheturbhūḥ—never ever perform the action for the sake of
the fruit. Any action performed with a desire for its results—even our
sādhanā—amounts to nothing but mere business. Selfless action is love,
whereas expecting a result from it is indulgence. True sādhanā is love.
Perform actions as worship, as an expression of devotion. If our action is
for the fruit, we place our joy in the future, bound by time and space.
mā te saṅgo'stvakarmaṇi—do not get addicted to non-doing. It is the fruit
of the action that motivates a person to work. When advised to give up the
desire for the fruit, he would give up the action itself. Fruit is bondage,
whereas action is worship. If we know this, we will never desist from
performing action. True akarma or non-action is not a bodily state of
inactivity. It is the nature of the Self. If we try to make the body non-active,
it indicates the same old disease—body-identity! Hence Bhagavan says,
“Do not be attached to non-action and shirk from your rightful actions.”
Here Bhagavan warns that we must not get attached to non-action. This is
because, instead of leading us to Jñāna, non-action is most likely to lead to
sleep, sluggishness, and inadvertence—nidrā, ālasya and pramāda. It will
lead to tamas. Our sensitivity will gradually be lost too. The one who gives
up action to avoid problems is being foolish. It is spiritual death—pramāda.
Convert actions as samādhi; be free here and now. Be dynamically still.
‘Brahma-karma-samādhi’ is the word that Bhagavan uses. This is possible
only if you know how to stay ‘home’. Do not stay in the cloud of fruits,
which may shower either pleasure or pain. You are the space where the
cloud gathers and vanishes. You are ever in Yoga—yogasthaḥ. (We will see
this aspect in the next verse.)
Walk your way to stillness divine
Work incessantly to find true repose
Fight your battle to find peace
One who rests indeed rusts
In dynamism, do you find true silence hidden
In work, churn the rod of the body
The sandal fragrance of love emanates
Sparks of divine insights splash
The fire that burns all dross arises in splendour

Each phrase of this śloka is important. Even when taken separately, each of
these is like a sūtra and gives an upadeśa.
karmaṇyevādhikāraste—you are free only to act. Let your bliss be in the
action.
mā phaleṣu kadācana—let your bliss swing not due to the uncertainty of
the fruits.
mā karmaphalaheturbhūḥ—let your action be not for the fruit. Let the
action be an expression of love and not desire.
mā te saṅgo'stvakarmaṇi—be not attached to non-action.

SOME SPECIAL POINTS

YOGA
When connected to God, everything becomes Yoga. Action performed
without a worshipful attitude—though it may be motiveless—will be like
the working of a machine. A machine, for instance, does not hanker after
fruits; but that is not karma-yoga. For action to transform as karma-yoga,
either the goal must be divine, or one must be established in the Divine. In
both cases, the action gets transformed. When the goal is divine, actions
naturally become worship. On the other hand, a siddha who is established
in the Divine is ever in naishkarmya-sthiti. His action is no more mere
action; it is divine dynamism. It is Īśvara who works through him.
These ideas will be discussed in detail in the verses that follow.

KARMA AND BHAKTI

Karma can be converted as worship only by someone in whom viveka—
spiritual intelligence—is active. Contact with a Sage—satsaṅga—is
necessary. That alone can give the magic touch by which everything gets
converted as divine. Only then will the seva-bhāva flower. We come to
know that we are only serving the Lord through all our actions. Or we may
simply obey our Guru. We carry out his instructions out of our love for him;
naturally, the action becomes divine, and we start enjoying it. We do not
seek any other benefit from it.

SANT EKNATH GETS A DIVINE VISION

It is said that Eknath Maharaj served his Guru, Janardana Swami, for twelve
years. Seeing the disciple serving him so selflessly without seeking any
benefits, the Guru felt indebted to the disciple and felt he should give him
something in return. He prayed to his ishṭa-devatā, Dattatreya. Very soon,
when Eknath was taking his bath in the Godavari river one day, the
renowned divine sage Dattatreya bestowed his vision on him. The Guru too
got an intimation about Eknath’s divine vision. He waited eagerly to see the
disciple’s joy and ecstasy from this divine vision.
Eknath returned to the ashram as usual, carrying the water pitcher, and
began his daily chores. Baffled by his ordinary behaviour, the Master asked
him, “What are you doing?”
“My usual tasks…” replied Eknath.
“You seem to be behaving very normally?”
“Why? Why should I not be normal?”
“Did you not have a divine vision at Godavari today?”
“Yes. I had a vision of Dattatreya today.”
“arey, my boy! You speak as if you had casually seen someone in the street!
You got the vision of the Lord Himself! Why did you not tell me about it?
Why is there no dance of ecstasy over it?”
“My dear Gurudeva, have I ever asked you for any vision or spiritual
experience? If I did aspire for a vision of a divine form, do I not behold
your divine form every day? I do not seek anything. I am perfectly happy
and content with the service I perform for you. This is my divine
experience. This is my ecstasy.”
This is the secret of karma and bhakti.
Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi too has spoken about karma-yoga as bhakti-
yoga.

ईश्वरार्पितं नेच्छया कृ तम्। चित्तशोधकं मुक्तिसाधकम्॥

कायवाङ्मनः कार्यमुत्तमम्। पूजनं जपश्चिन्तनं क्रमात्॥ Upa.Sa. 3,4
Actions offered to God and not performed with desire purify the mind and
liberate. One must offer the karma to Īśvara. Such actions, done without
personal motives, purify the mind and lead to Self-knowledge. When Divine
Love blooms in the heart, naturally, all physical actions become a pūja,
whatever is spoken becomes japa, and every thought and emotion become
dhyāna.

SPIRITUAL SĀDHANĀ WITHOUT

EXPECTATION OF FRUIT
This śloka can be applied in our spiritual practice as well. Suppose a seeker
is doing some upāsanā—perhaps japa or some such spiritual practice as
initiated by his Master—and he aims for some spiritual benefit. One day,
say, during japa or meditation, he experiences a deep peace within. He
expects this to happen every day, but if it is not forthcoming, he might give
up the practice itself. Naturally, he forfeits the spiritual benefit too.
If the Master has instructed us to do japa, we must continue to do it whether
the mind co-operates or not, whether the mind sits quiet or not, whether
there is any spiritual experience or not; we must not be bothered about
these. We must keep our spiritual practice even if we do not get any vision.
Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi used to say, “Steadiness in the spiritual
practice itself is the result.” To gain this steadiness in one’s system, spiritual
practice must be performed without any desire for a spiritual benefit. “na
mokshasya ākāṅkshā.”
As a devotee says, “I do not hanker for even Liberation. I just chant Your
name. I am not a trader. I am not asking for anything in return. I chant Your
name because I cannot give it up.” Or he may say, “As my Master has told
me to, I am chanting.” This must be our attitude. Then, the sādhanā will
‘sit’ in our system, and our system will assimilate it perfectly. Hence, this
teaching is enormously powerful.
When we get a direct spiritual benefit
from japa or meditation or when we
THE EGO-SENSE LIVES
enjoy it, it is like getting the result
ON THE FOOD OF straightaway—instant gratification. It is
PLEASURE OR like a small pond or a well that gets filled
very soon but could equally dry up as
RECOGNITION. WHEN quickly. However, if the action is
performed without hankering even for
PUT ON A FAST, THE EGO spiritual gratification, the ego-sense gets
EVAPORATES erased gradually.

GRADUALLY, AND WE The ego-sense lives on the food of

pleasure or recognition. When it is put on
BEGIN TO PERFORM a fast, gradually, the ego evaporates, and
ACTIONS FOR THE SHEER we begin to perform actions for the sheer
ecstasy of it. We become spiritually
ECSTASY OF IT. dynamic, and there is no saturation point
for this dynamism; it becomes our very
nature. Desire-lessness takes us there. Then, the benefit that ensues is not
limited. That joy is felt always, everywhere—sarvadā sarvatra. Such a one
no longer seeks stagnant water. The waters are spread out every moment,
everywhere. He has touched the pure Divine Spring and discovered the
limpid waters of the Spirit.

VYAVASĀYĀTMIKĀ-BUDDHI AND KARMA-

YOGA
Once you have the hold of that Infinite in you, then you have
vyavasāyātmikā buddhi—one-pointed intelligence. When Truth, moksha,
Freedom alone is kept as the goal, then offering actions at the altar of the
Divine happens naturally. Thus vyavasāyātmikā buddhi naturally leads to
karma-yoga. Once one has Yoga within, there is no need for any outer fruit
for one’s fulfilment. The buddhi is vyavasāyātmikā. The buddhi that is
turned outward rushes to grab the fruit even before the actions are done;
such buddhi is avyavasāyātmikā—unsteady, restless intellect. Such buddhi
can never rest, as the fruit runs faster than the buddhi; thus, the buddhi
keeps running without stopping, wishing to drink water from the mirage.
This śloka gives us the method to be restful, to own vyavasāyātmikā
buddhi. Both are complementary—when we have vyavasāyātmikā buddhi,
our action is karma-yoga, and when we perform karma-yoga, the mind
abides in yoga.
2.48 योगस्थः कु रु कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा धनञ्जय।
सिद्ध्यसिद्ध्योः समो भूत्वा समत्वं योग उच्यते॥
Perform action, O Dhananjaya, being fixed in Yoga, renouncing
attachments, and even-minded in success and failure; thus indeed is
declared ‘Equanimity is Yoga’.

There is a centre within, wherefrom the mind sprouts and unfolds all
visions, and wherein the senses and the mind merge in samādhi. This centre
is spiritually termed as the ‘Hṛdayam—Heart-centre.’ That is our true
Home. Our mind roosts there every day in deep sleep. But, due to the lack
of Self-knowledge, it wakes up as ignorant as before.
A sādhaka must distil his thoughts, hold on to the thread of the ‘I’, and sink
into the Heart with crystal-clear awareness while awake. In the still hours of
meditation, he must dive deep within and touch that centre in the core. By
such repeated meditative diving into the sacred waters of the Spirit, the
sādhaka learns the art of carrying that profound current even while working
in the world. Whatever he may do outwardly, his inner illumined state never
dims. Such is the state in which all the sages lived and had their being while
they carried out their mission. Sankaracharya, Sri Ramakrishna, Sri
Ramana, Swami Vivekananda… all carried this state in their Heart. It was
that which touched the seekers and stirred them to their very roots.
That state spoke much more intensely than their words. As Paul Brunton
says about Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi, “It is not that the Sage never
spoke. He also spoke, but his silence was indeed more eloquent than his
speech.” Here the writer identified the Yoga-state of the Sage as ‘Silence’. It
was not mere wordlessness. It was the immensity of the samādhi-state that
touched and quietened the nearby minds. It is while remaining in that state,
Yogeswara Krishna is teaching the Gita, while driving the chariot. And his
instruction to Arjuna is to remain in that state and perform action,
whatsoever it might be—yogasthaḥ kuru karmāṇi.
According to Patanjali,* “Yoga is restraining the mind-stuff (chitta) from
taking various forms (vṛtti).” But this too is only a practice—sādhanā. Its
fruit is described in the next sūtra as † “The seer abides in his svarūpa, real
nature.” This is the real state of Yoga. Yoga, as a spiritual practice, is to
hold on to a spiritual mood or state by which all other thoughts and
emotions are checked. Yoga as one’s real nature is equanimity—samatva.
Here, Bhagavan proclaims the nature of Yoga—samatvaṃ yoga ucyate.
Withdrawing the mind from the objects and making it abide in the heart is
sādhanā, about which also Bhagavan describes later. ‡ When, out of such
practice, the abidance in the Self becomes a natural habit—sahaja—then it
is samatva. “A mind that abides in equanimity incessantly has indeed
crossed the saṃsāra.”§
saṅgaṃ tyaktvā dhanañjaya—
THE BRAVE UNCONCERN renouncing your attachment to the fruit of
action, remain in yoga. Attachments
ABOUT WHAT COMES disturb us; they do not allow us to be
FROM OUTSIDE IS centred. There is a reason Bhagavan
addresses Arjuna as Dhananjaya here.
INDEED THE GREATEST Dhananjaya is another name for fire.
HELP FOR INNER REST. Krishna says, “O Fire! Be aflame within.
Burn away all your other interests. Be
unconcerned about siddhi and asiddhi—
success and failure.” This brave unconcern about what comes from outside
is indeed the greatest help for inner rest. This is freedom from the ‘other’.
Indeed, that characteristic itself is Yoga.
If we do not develop this inner milieu, every wave will put us off balance;
no amount of meditation will make us rest in the Heart. Hence we must
develop this inner state. A little bit of holistic indifference will help protect
this sacred state. Hence Bhagavan says saṅgaṃ tyaktvā. One who never
loses his balance in life is a perfect yogi. As long as a person takes life to be
real and takes it seriously, he cannot be steadily blissful; sorrow is
inevitable.

“GANDHIJI IS DOING HIS DHARMA”

Here, an incident comes to mind. Many years ago, a scholarly Brahmin
lived in a village near ours. He was always very peaceful and remained
absolutely unruffled in all situations. He was a man of few words. Every
day, he would go about performing his prescribed disciplines. In addition to
this, he would also teach the śāstras to his students. Thus he would go
about his day, carrying out his duties perfectly. Everyone used to wonder at
his perfectly balanced state.
One day, Mahatma Gandhi happened to visit a nearby town. At that time,
the whole country was gripped with the fervour of the freedom struggle,
and a huge crowd thronged to hear Gandhiji speak. Everyone from the
village, including the Brahmin’s son, attended the talk. The only one who
did not participate in this event was this Brahmin. He continued with his
day as usual—chanting the Vedas and his daily meditations. His young-
blooded and modern-educated son was furious. He questioned his father,
“Father, what are you doing! Are you not concerned about the freedom of
our country? Mahatma Gandhi himself has come here, and here you are,
doing your petty rituals! I do not understand you. You are selfish.”
Hearing this, the sagely person smiled and said: “Dear son! What will I do
by coming there? Gandhiji is doing his dharma, and I am doing mine.”
“But don’t you want freedom?”
“Yes.”
“Then, don’t you want to fight for it?”
“Yes, that is what I am doing. Peace cannot be had by becoming agitated.
Peace can be had only by abiding in it. Would it have helped in any way if I
had gone there? In doing so, I would have given up my dharma. And I
would also be just one among the mob that had gathered there. This outer
freedom that you are talking about—driving out one set of people and
bringing another set to rule—will it solve all your problems? Let the
politicians take care of it. But, even if we attain political freedom, until we
become peaceful within, where is freedom for us?”
The son, who greatly respected his father’s intelligence, listened to these
powerful words quietly. Soon, the words started working on him. He too
was intelligent and understood the import of those words. The impact was
so deep that later, he renounced, undertook Vedānta-śravaṇa from a great
Swami and was himself established in that state.
samatva, indeed, is bliss. Bliss is not a mental mode; it is our real nature.
Once we are anchored in that real state, we are always blissful. However, if
we feel that we have something to achieve, to do, and to change, it is
impossible to rest in svarūpa. Life outside is a force; it is a storm around us.
Our drives of vāsanās are sure to push us away from the centre and pull us
into the whirling forces around. Many are the orbits, forces, and circuits of
karma around us. We enter one orbit and go for one or innumerable rounds,
and we may return to the centre only after thousands of years. For a
jīvanmukta, all this is not real. He sees it as ‘a sport of the non-dual Spirit.’*
This is what we see in Krishna. Hence he is ever blissful.
There is a beautiful verse which describes this perfected state of a Jñāni.

पुङ्खानुपुङ्खविषयेक्षणतत्परोऽपि ब्रह्मावलोकधिषणां न जहाति योगी।

सङ्गीतताळलयनृत्तवशङ्गतापि मौलिस्थकु म्भपरिरक्षणधीर्नटीव॥ Va.Up. 2.82

As a dancer, though dancing in harmony to cymbals and other musical

instruments, has her mind intent upon the pot on her head, similarly, the
yogi, though intent for the time being upon the hosts of objects, never leaves
off the mind contemplating on Brahman.

DO NOT FORGET YOUR REAL NATURE

When Annamalai Swami, a devotee of Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi,
resolved to stay alone in a nearby jungle to do tapas, he asked his Master to
give him upadeśa. Maharshi said, “Whatever you may do, do not forget
your real nature.” This is yogasthaḥ kuru karmāṇi.
One more point as regards yogasthaḥ kuru karmāṇi is this.
In his commentary, Sankaracharya has interpreted this verse as a sādhanā
or Īśvaraārādhanā. † “A karma-yogi performs actions for the sake of the
Lord.” Hence he is completely free. “Devoid of the trishṇā (craving) for the
fruit, when the action is carried out as worship, the sattva-guṇa—which is
actually the heart—becomes pure. And when the heart is pure enough,
jijñāsā or spiritual inquisitiveness arises, and he attains Jñāna.” ‡ Here
Sankaracharya says that the sādhaka is not even concerned about whether
he has attained jñāna or whether he is sufficiently purified to attain jñāna.
Thus, unconcerned even about his own spiritual benefit, he does whatever is
given to him by his destiny, Guru, or varṇāśrama. Such is the level of
freedom he acquires.
In the Bhagavata, Kapila Bhagavan describes a karma-yogi as the greatest
devotee. It is said that such a person has crossed all borders of the mind.
Such devotees are said to be complete by mere service—‘sevayā pūrṇāḥ.’
They do not even seek any inner spiritual experience.
siddhyasiddhyoḥ samo bhūtvā—let failure and success be the same to you.
Let not your action disturb your yoga of Self-abidance. Act without
doership. Act without attachment to the fruit of action—this is a great
strength. A person attached to success in everything that he does will
collapse when faced with failure. The power to digest both success and
failure with no ripples in the mind is samatva. That is Yoga.

CHANAKYA ON SUCCESS
Chanakya, the powerful Brahmin who was the kingmaker behind the
Maurya dynasty, once revealed a master plan to his disciples—King
Chandragupta and a few others—on how to unleash a most unexpected
form of attack on an enemy. This most unique plan, never heard of before,
caught the youngsters’ imagination, and they rushed to execute it. But their
plan fell through, and they had to flee to escape from the clutches of the
enemy. They came rushing back to their Master and complained, “Master,
we failed miserably. Why?” Chanakya seemed delighted and exclaimed,
“Ho! Wonderful! Exactly as I had expected! Victory didn’t figure anywhere
in my plan. I just wanted to make you see your faces in the mirror of this
situation. Now that it is over, come on, let us execute the second plan.”
With renewed hope, Chandragupta asked, “Will it be successful, O
Master?”
“Who wants success!” laughed Chanakya.
This is the way of great men.

2.49 दूरेण ह्यवरं कर्म बुद्धियोगाद्धनञ्जय।

बुद्धौ शरणमन्विच्छ कृ पणाः फलहेतवः॥
Actions performed with an attachment to the results are far inferior to those
done with equanimity of mind. Therefore, O Dhananjaya, seek refuge in
wisdom. Petty are those who are motivated by the fruits of action.
buddhi is the central word in this verse. We have already spoken about
vyavasāyātmikā buddhi. That stabilised wisdom puts a person in Yoga. Only
by holding onto that buddhi does a yogi become totally free of desires. That
is what we are driving at—the state of sthitaprajñā. It is the state where a
person is free of all desires. The state of yoga that comes from quietening
the mind or any other method is impermanent. Here, by unconditionally
accepting the truth ‘I do not want anything. I am not the mind. I am the
Self,’ the yogi moves away from all mental cravings. He becomes a witness
to the desires and ignores them. Thus he becomes a buddhi-yogi. Such a
one indeed is a Buddha. It is to yoke himself to this buddhi that Siddhartha
performed various superhuman austerities. Until that was attained, there
was no steadiness in his inner peace; hence, he was not satisfied.
Now, our topic here is karma. avaraṃ karma—says Bhagavan. avaraṃ
means inferior. Any action which is not performed as karma-yoga and with
vyavasāyātmikā buddhi backing it is inferior. If your buddhi is not in yoga,
where will it stay? Naturally, it will wander in the pastures of the fruit of
action. Bhagavan calls such a one kṛpaṇa—a wretched person, a petty one.
He is always after petty gains. Performing action with desire is the highway
to suffering, death and rebirth. Such actions and fruits are limited. They
come and go. But the inner peace that we hold within is permanent. In fact,
that alone is our treasure.
‘While rich food—sweet pāyasam—waits
at home, this fool begs on the streets for
PERFORMING ACTION
stale food,’ thus goes a saying.* An
WITH DESIRE IS THE intelligent one knows that he need not
HIGHWAY TO wait for joy till the fruit of action arrives.
Joy is not in the action or its fruit. It is in
SUFFERING, DEATH AND our Self. The Self itself is ānanda. Why
REBIRTH. seek it outside?
Seeking is bondage. A true devotee has no
self-image about himself. He churns out immense activity in sheer joy or
love and disappears in the infinite sky of peace within. He does not ask for
anything, even from God. In fact, God, out of sheer love for such a
desireless devotee, seeks him out and follows him everywhere. As Kabir
sings, “Hari follows me constantly, calling out loudly, Kabir, Kabir!”
 कबीरा मन निर्मल भया, जैसे गंगा नीर।
पाछे लागा हरी फिरे, कहत “कबीर, कबीर”॥

Kabir has made his mind pure like the holy Ganges water
Now God Hari is running after him, calling ‘Kabir, Kabir!’

buddhau śaraṇaṃ anviccha

To be still is the simplest thing to do.
WE NEED NOTHING
However, for an intellect that is abuzz
with innumerable faculties awakened in
FROM OUTSIDE TO BE it, being still is the most difficult. From
PŪRṆA. childhood, we do only one thing—train
ourselves to think, think, and think some
more. Thus we develop innumerable
thought-channels in the mind. Each of these channels is powerful enough to
suck us in if we just glance at it and pay attention to it. Meditation is the
technique for closing off these thought-sewers in the mind. How can we do
it? By not paying attention to the thoughts and by constantly turning our
attention to the nest in the Centre. Until the habit of staying at home
becomes natural, it must be practised consciously and constantly. Patanjali
says,* “That state becomes firmly grounded in us by long duration of
practice, by constancy, and by practising it with reverence.”
Gradually, the mind complies with the constant compulsion of the will to
turn within and begins to remain in the state of yoga for longer and longer
spells. Once the intellect recognises this state as our real nature, it gets
anchored there. This is what the Lord refers to as ‘buddhi-grāhyam-
atīndriyam’ (BG6.21)—this state is beyond the reach of the senses, but a pure
buddhi can hold on to it. Once one is established there, he will no longer
swerve from Truth. “na sthitaścalati tattvataḥ,” (BG6.21) says Bhagavan.
“tattvād-apracyuti,” says Gaudapadacharya. To that buddhi, which is thus
in touch with the Heart-centre, let us surrender—buddhau śaraṇam
anviccha. When the ego surrenders to that state, yoga remains constant—
nitya-yogasthaḥ. The body may fight, farm, worship, or wander, but he
remains blissfully in the inner centre. Hence the upadeśa is, ‘Take refuge in
buddhi.’
Acharya has interpreted anviccha as ‘prārthayasva’—‘to pray’. śaraṇam is
āśrayam or abhaya-prāpti-kāraṇam—that which will lead one to
fearlessness. Hence, the bhāshyakāra says, take refuge in that Supreme
Knowledge. That alone can give you fearlessness.†
Take hold of right knowledge—pramāṇa-janita-viveka. It will affirm that
we need nothing from outside to be pūrṇa. All petty clouds of desires will
be swept away by the storm of Knowledge. Such a blissful desireless man,
working day and night for the welfare of all without the least sense of doer-
ship, is a Brāhmaṇa. And the opposite is a kṛpaṇa.
Arjuna has already confessed, “O Lord! I am a kṛpaṇa—
kārpaṇyadoṣopahata-svabhāvaḥ (BG2.7). My real nature is clouded by
kṛpaṇa-bhāva. Reveal to me that dharma—brāhmaṇyam—so that I will be
a knower of Brahman.” Sankaracharya says in the introduction, ‡ “In the
protection of brahminical quality lies the security of Vedic dharma.” Here,
protecting brāhmaṇatva does not mean protecting a caste, as many
misunderstand. A desireless person who is peaceful in himself is the ideal;
he is said to be a Brāhmaṇa. That is not a caste. That is our real nature.

SAKTHAN THAMPURAN & THE SOMAYAJI

It is desires that make one run about like a mad hobgoblin. See this
anecdote from the erstwhile years of Kerala that illustrates this.
One day, when Sakthan Thampuran, the mighty ruler of the Kingdom of
Kochi, was travelling on his boat from Thrissur to Ernakulam, he heard the
screams of someone calling out to him desperately. He saw a Brahmin
waving wildly from another boat and shouting, “Please stop for a minute.
Please help me.” The Brahmin was a respectable Somayaji—one who had
performed somayāga. (According to the tradition prevalent then, if an
heirless Somayaji passed away, all his wealth could be claimed by the first
Somayaji who delivered the news of the demise to the King of
Thiruvananthapuram.) Eager to acquire some easy wealth, this Brahmin
was in a hurry to travel to Thiruvananthapuram, quite a distance away, and
he requested Thampuran to help him. King Thampuran ordered his soldiers
to escort the Brahmin to his destination in the royal boat. Strict orders were
given to take the fastest route and not to stop along the way for any reason
whatsoever. The king returned to his palace by the Brahmin’s boat.
The Brahmin, who was mighty pleased with all this, thanked the king and
continued his journey with the royal attendants. After some time, he
requested the soldiers to stop the boat at the nearest ghat so that he could
attend to the call of nature. They refused, citing the strict royal orders. Even
though the Brahmin pleaded with them several times, the soldiers were
adamant. By the time they moored the boat somewhere near
Thiruvananthapuram several hours later, the Brahmin was about to burst,
desperate to relieve himself. But, as soon as they alighted from the boat, the
soldiers lifted him on their shoulders and were on their heels to king
Kulasekhara Perumal’s palace. Thus the Brahmin’s agony continued.
Soon, the Brahmin had his audience with the king. He made his request to
the king, and his work was done. King Kulasekhara enquired about the
Brahmin’s journey. The Brahmin recounted the terrible suffering he had as
he was not allowed any comfort breaks. The king offered his sympathies
and requested the Brahmin to stay as his guest for a few days so he could
recover.
After some days, as promised, the king sent him off in the royal boat along
with his soldiers and remarked, “O Chomathiri!* I shall ensure that you do
not suffer as on your onward journey.” Unknown to the Brahmin, the king
had secretly instructed his soldiers to stop the boat at every single ghat
along the way and to ensure that the Brahmin relieved himself at each stop.
Even though this was a bizarre instruction, it being a royal one, the soldiers
did not dare disobey it. They stopped the boat at every single ghat—and oh,
there were scores of ghats along the way—and at every single ghat, the
soldiers made the Brahmin alight from the boat and forced him to relieve
himself. Even when he did not want to, he was forced to! After a few stops
like this, the Brahmin was in tears. How could he relieve himself every few
minutes! But as per the royal orders, the soldiers would not allow him back
on the boat until he did so. Thus, after such a tortuous journey, the Brahmin
was dropped back at his hometown.
When he reported back at Sakthan Tampuran’s palace, seeing the teary-eyed
and miserable Brahmin, the king enquired, “What happened? Was your
journey not comfortable?”
“Comfortable? Your Highness! What can I say of the royal compassion
from your highness and Kulasekhara Perumal! When you sent me to
Thiruvananthapuram, your soldiers did not allow me to relieve myself even
after so many requests. And on the way back, I had to endure the torture of
having to forcefully pass at least a few drops in every ghat along the way,
whether I wanted to or not! Thanks to both of you, I have understood my
folly. It is my desire for wealth that has brought this suffering upon me. I do
not desire anything anymore. Here and now, I give up my desire for
wealth.” Thus saying, he walked out dispassionately.
As long as one has desires, one is a kṛpaṇa—a petty person—and will be
tossed about like a football. In his desire to acquire wealth, this Somayaji
brāhmaṇa was reduced to being a mere kṛpaṇa. Later, through his viveka,
he realised that it was because of his kṛpaṇa-bhāva that he had suffered
those two terrible journeys. Thus, he became dispassionate, and then, once
again, he was a brāhmaṇa.

2.50 बुद्धियुक्तो जहातीह उभे सुकृ तदुष्कृ ते।

तस्माद्योगाय युज्यस्व योगः कर्मसु कौशलम्॥
The one endowed with yoga-buddhi renounces the very idea of good and
bad regarding deeds. Hence fix your mind in yoga. Remaining in the
unruffled state of yoga while engaged in action is indeed great mastery of
the mind.

The topic here concerns the yogi who is well-anchored in the buddhi of
oneness—buddhi-yuktaḥ. His inner attention is steadfast on the Self, which
is beyond all dualities such as pleasure and pain, virtue, and sin. Once
lodged there, he renounces the seen; the enjoyer and the objects are both
ignored. He sits above them all—above the body, the senses, the mind, and
the intellect too. He has found a resting place in the deepest core of his
personality—pratyagātmā. Pratyak is the word which indicates this inward-
facing movement, whereas the word parāk indicates outward movement.
He is no more concerned about the result of sukṛta (virtue) and duṣkṛta
(sin). Past sukṛta and past duṣkṛta appear as incidents in our current life.
But the yogi is not concerned about them. As the Upanishad says,

यदा पश्यः पश्यते रुक्मवर्णं कर्तारमीशं पुरुषं ब्रह्मयोनिम्।

 तदा विद्वान्पुण्यपापे विधूय निरञ्जनः परमं साम्यमुपैति॥ Mu.Up. 3.1.3

The Seer blows out both virtue and sin. He becomes sparklingly pure—
nirañjanaḥ. paramaṃ sāmyamupaiti—he is in the state of supreme
equipoise. Even while performing action, such a one is in the yoga-state.
That involves great dexterity—kauśalam. We can see it in Krishna. While
fighting or sporting or even in the supreme spree of rāsakrīḍa, he remained
a Yogeśvara untouched by anything. Such a one is ever in bliss, says
Sankara in Bhaja Govindam.

योगरतो वा भोगरतो वा सङ्गरतो वा सङ्गविहीनः।

यस्य ब्रह्मणि रमते चित्तं नन्दति नन्दति नन्दत्येव॥ Bha.Go. 19

This is a rather intriguing verse to have come from Sankaracharya. Acharya

says, “Let the Knower appear as constantly practising yoga. Or let him
appear as living a comfortable and prosperous life of pleasure. Let him be
amid many. Let him be a householder. He may appear deeply attached to his
relatives or as a monk who has renounced all attachments. But these are all
merely outward. If his mind revels in Brahman, whatever the appearance,
he rejoices, he rejoices, he verily rejoices!”
In this verse, the sign of a Knower is clearly stated. His mind is ever in
contact with the Self, Brahman. He has really touched that centre which
unlocks the nectar of pure joy—brahmaṇi ramate. That alone matters. We
can see such Realised Saints in all strata of society. Ironically, if we go to
monasteries hoping to find Realised Masters, there is a good chance we
might return disillusioned. If we look closely, it is possible to chance upon
some supremely peaceful beings there too. One glimpse, and we will know
with certainty that they have deftly crossed the border of suffering.
The word kauśalam comes from
kuśalatā. kuśān lāti—a person who
STAYING IN YOGA
plucks the kuśa grass is a kuśala. In Veda
WHILE PERFORMING Paṭhaśalas, once a year,* the students
ACTION IS DEXTERITY. collect the kuśa grass needed for that
whole year. Kuśa grass is such that, if
plucked carelessly, it will cut the fingers. The grass must be uprooted
carefully, without getting hurt in the process. This is the skilful way of
doing it.

yogaḥ karmasu kauśalam

Bhagavan says, “Remain untouched by the actions of the body and their
results in the mind.” As long as we have to work, we must work—there is
no escaping it. karmasu means in all actions. Even while performing
action, we must be in our svarūpa. Upon Realisation, one comes to know
that the Self is not at all touched by any phenomena. “This Being is ever
unattached.”*
In one of the verses (2.38) discussed above, we saw that Krishna says,
‘tatoyuddhāya yujyasva,’ and here it is said, ‘tasmāt yogāya yujyasva—let
your fight be yoga.’
The topic of the two preceding verses is Yoga, not dexterity. This verse too,
is continuing the teaching on Yoga; it is not about the dexterity of action.
This is certain. Many commentators have translated the phrase ‘yogaḥ
karmasu kauśalam’ as ‘Yoga is dexterity in action.’ Sankaracharya says,
“Not losing the state of yoga while performing action is dexterity.” There is
indeed a world of difference between these two interpretations. The former
is ‘Yoga is dexterity in action,’ and the other is ‘Staying in yoga while
performing action is dexterity.’
The former definition means that ‘performing action perfectly is yoga’, and
thus, all who perform action perfectly must be certified as Yogis. Say a
terrorist carries out a perfect attack with great dexterity; then, according to
this definition, he would be a yogi. We have several examples of those who
performed their atrocities perfectly—Hiranyaksha, Hiranyakasipu, Ravana,
and so on. There was no Yoga there. They had no peace of mind; they were
agitated human beings with no higher purpose.
In our modern times, there are robots that are programmed to perform tasks.
They would conduct the work with pinpoint perfection. But there is no yoga
there. Hence ‘dexterity in action is yoga’ is not an appropriate interpretation
for ‘yogaḥ karmasu kauśalam.’ Sankaracharya says, “That indeed is
dexterity or kauśalam by which, through equanimity, one transforms actions
that by their very nature bind, give up their nature.Ӡ
Action is not in our hands. It is the characteristic of prakṛti. We can neither
choose it nor give it up. We can see this being expressed in Arjuna’s
situation. Knowing this, let us allow the actions to happen through us.
Arjuna needs no practice to fight in the war perfectly; that is his nature. He
could not be otherwise. Here, Bhagavan is not prodding him to fight
perfectly. No! Bhagavan says, “Arjuna, you cannot avoid fighting as that is
your prakṛti and your dharma. Just be established in the state of Yoga so
that whatever may happen through your prakṛti does not disturb your inner
state.”

SPIRITUALITY LIES IN YOGA

Whatever action we may do, there is no importance or glory for it from the
spiritual standpoint. An action may be like a tiny ripple or a gigantic
tsunami; this difference exists only from the perspective of the world. If the
action has an impact on us—if it pulls us out from our inner quietude or
makes us enmeshed—then such karma is saṃsāra. Karma is something
which we cannot avoid. Our spirituality lies in Yoga—remaining in the
inner state that is not affected by any actions performed. Remain like a
padmapatra—a lotus leaf untouched by water drops.
One attains Liberation through Yoga—the samatva buddhi—and not by
dexterity in action. This samatva-rūpa-yoga is indeed Brahman. The path
and the goal are the same. “nirdoṣam hi samam brahma” (BG5.19). It is only
this samatva—Brahman—that is free of defects. It is whole. It has no
beginning and no end.
Hence, be established in that samatva-state of yoga. In fact, our very nature
is samatva, which nothing can disturb. We are always in that state. It is
because of the oscillations of the mind, born from attachments and
aversions, we remain ignorant and unaware of that state.

REMAIN IN YOGA
All karmas have a beginning and an end. If our joy is in karma, the joy that
it brings will end when the karma ends. Actions and their results come and
go. How can we be eternally peaceful by holding on to something which
begins and ends? A person who depends for his fulfilment, either on the
action or the fruit, can never be happy. But Yoga is eternal—nitya-yogastha,
as Bhagavan says. A person who is in yoga is ever in peace.
Desire-driven action implies doership, and its fruit implies enjoyership.
Both are in the realm of the mind, the ego. Remain in yoga; freedom lies
there. Our śāstras have clearly stated,* “Creatures get bound by action.” If
what we do is perfect karma, we will get bound perfectly! “That which does
not bind is real action.”* But there is no action which does not bind. It is the
inner dexterity of kauśala—detachment, asaṅgata—that can release one
from the binding effect of action.

2.51 कर्मजं बुद्धियुक्ता हि फलं त्यक्त्वा मनीषिणः।

जन्मबन्धविनिर्मुक्ताः पदं गच्छन्त्यनामयम्॥
The wise, imbued with evenness of mind, renouncing the fruits of their
actions, freed from the fetters of birth, verily go to the state of Wholeness.

The new word here is manīṣiṇaḥ. Who is a manīṣī? ‘One who has manīṣā
is a manīṣī.’† The word manīṣā is found in the Vedas. “hṛdā manīṣā” says
the Upanishad (Ka.Up.2.3.9). When the extroverted mind turns towards the
Heart, it is manīṣā. A mind refined by karma-yoga becomes pure enough to
sink into the Heart-centre while fully awake. Such a mind is manīṣā. And
the one with such a mind is a manīṣī, a jñāni.
Sankaracharya has written five verses called Manisha Panchakam, which
reveal the nature of Jñāna and an Ātma-jñāni, who is a Guru. In that,
Acharya says, “A person who knows the Self, whether he is a Brāhmaṇa or
a Chaṇḍāla, is to be honoured as the Guru.” This is the real understanding
of manīṣiṇaḥ.
Formerly, Bhagavan used the word paṇḍita to convey the same meaning.
He is a buddhiyuktaḥ. His buddhi is steady. It is ever focused on Reality.
Hence it renounces the fruit of actions easily—karmajaṃ phalaṃ tyaktvā.
This means there is no hankering for the fruit of action. janma-bandha-
vinirmuktāḥ—they are free of the bondage that comes with birth. “In fact,
birth itself is bondage,” says the bhāshyakāra. The ignorance ‘I am born,
and I will die’ is a great bondage. ‘Are you born now?’ is an oft-asked
question by Maharshi Ramana.
Who is born? Is the body’s birth a happening of you? What is the nature of
the ‘I’ that claims ‘I am born’? If you enquire thus into the nature of the ‘I’,
the ego-‘I’ will sink into the heart, revealing the real birthless, deathless ‘I-
I’, which is Brahman, the Absolute, the Infinite, the Whole. Once that is
revealed, you are free of the disease of becoming—bhava-roga.

padaṃ gacchantyanāmayam
āmayam means disease. anāmayam means beyond disease, perfection. Dis-
ease is due to the ego, which constantly hypnotises us by saying, ‘you are
limited,’ ‘you are the body,’ ‘you will die,’ and so on. When the ego
disappears, Infinite is the Self. It is perfectly at ‘ease’. Bhagavan uses the
word padam, which means state. anāmayam padam is the state where there
is total ‘ease’. Or, we can say it is ‘ease’. This is more appropriate. In the
IS-ness, Existence, there is perfect ease, whereas, in ‘becoming’, there is no
ease. Simple Be-ing-ness is ever at ease, whereas ‘becoming’ is dis-ease—
āmaya.
By renouncing the fruit of action, not
IN IS-NESS, being concerned about what we will get
from the action, and perfectly acting out
EXISTENCE, THERE IS of our fullness, we become peaceful. The
PERFECT EASE, peace remains; Yoga—the samatva-sthiti
—remains unruffled, undisturbed. Such is
WHEREAS ‘BECOMING’ the state of a yogi. Then the truth is
IS DIS-EASE. known that we are beyond birth and death
—janma-bandha-vinirmuktāḥ.

BODY, A DISEASE
In the Avadhuta Gita, Dattatreya repeatedly sings, “nirāmayoham,
nirāmayoham—I am free of all illness. I am free of all disease.”
Someone once told Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi that some yoga teachers
claim that Self-Realisation can happen only in one whose body is made
perfect and free of all diseases by the practice of yoga. Bhagavan smiled
and remarked, “Oh! Do you think Self-Realisation happens in the body?
The moment the Self is realised, you know there is no body for you. The
body itself is a disease. If a disease comes to the body, we should say that
disease has affected disease!” ‘Body-lessness is a foregone conclusion’ is
yet another emphatic declaration of Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi.
To feel ‘I am the body’ itself is a disease—āmaya. To be limited by the
body is a disturbance in awareness. To know the Self means to feel one’s
body-less nature. That is, of course, not to be acquired anew. It is indeed
sahaja. Sankaracharya says in one of his bhāshyas that when one knows
oneself, body-lessness is natural.* This body-less existence is revealed
every night in deep sleep. When this is realised, all bondage, including the
body, disappears, and the perfect natural state of the Self is revealed in all
clarity.
Āmayam also means impermanence. anāmayam means eternal, permanent.
There is no question of any coming and going. Something that is āmayam
comes and goes, whereas anāmayam is our real nature.
Sankaracharya has translated āmaya as upadrava, which means trouble.
“anāmaya is the state where there is no more trouble.”* The Bhagavata
says, “tāpatraya unmūlanam (SB1.1.2)—troubles from any outside force
(bhautika), from destiny (daivika) or any inner mental forces (ātmika) are
rooted out.” These three kinds of obstacles are transcended in one stroke.
Hence it is said padaṃ gacchanti anāmayam.

2.52 यदा ते मोहकलिलं बुद्धिर्व्यतितरिष्यति।

तदा गन्तासि निर्वेदं श्रोतव्यस्य श्रुतस्य च॥
When your understanding transcends the ego born out of delusion, then
shall you gain indifference to things heard and those yet to be heard.

kalilam is the catchword in this verse. It means taint. moha-kalilam is the

misapprehension which deludes us that the ego-‘I’ is me. When we take the
imaginary snake that appears in the rope to be real, all actions that follow
are built upon that misapprehension. ‘What kind of a snake is it? Is it a
viper or a cobra? Should I kill it or not?’ These sorts of questions crop up.
Will the person who knows the truth bother to answer these questions? He
will just turn on the light and make us behold that there was never a snake;
it is only a rope.
So too, when we ask, ‘What should I do?’ ‘Where should I go?’ Where
should I reach?’ ‘How will I become happy?’ the Guru retorts, “Who is this
‘I’ who wants to be happy, who wants to achieve, who wants to do?” The
ego-‘I’ is moha, mere delusion. Catch hold of it. Then, you have identified
the root cause. Enquire, ‘WHO AM I?’ Find out the real nature of this ‘I’-
thought. The feeling of ‘I’ as a separate person is a mere delusion. It is
vikalpa. To be free of it is nir-vikalpa. The state where the ‘I’-thought does
not operate, where you are the Whole, is the state free of all troubles. Pūrṇa
is in the very source; you need not make a single move to reach It.
kalilam has been translated as kālushyam by the bhāshyakāra. Kālushyam
means impurity, an agitated state, vishama-sthiti; it makes the mind impure
and creates confusion about the Self and the non-Self.†
The first delusion is the avidyā—ignorance—that the non-self, the body-
mind, are you. From that asmitā—the ego—is born. Then the mind is full of
attachment and seeks to grab, or of aversion and seeks to avoid. This
delusion is the seed that has caused the trunk of this body. Every cell of the
body contains this deluding wine of ignorance—māyā-madirā. In such a
deluded state, there is no equanimity or peace in the mind, as the mind is
constantly thinking—thinking about family, wife, son, wealth, career,
future, disease, and so on.
Only when you consider the body as ‘me’ do all these troubles affect you.
This is the seed of inner delusion. From there, you think, ‘these people are
mine,’ ‘wealth is mine,’ ‘this action is mine,’ and so on. This is the form of
delusion—moha. This moha is dirt. It is like a wound which causes
constant pain. It will not allow you to give respect to the guidance of the
śāstras or the Guru. Whatever they may say, you remain in your self-
created cocoon. Such a one remains under the spell of his mind-cloud. Even
the greatest teacher cannot help in such a state. Moha closes all doors of
perception from within with iron-bolts. Sage Ashtavakra says, even if
Vishnu or Siva give upadeśa to such a person, he will not heed it.

हरो यद्युपदेष्टा ते हरिः कमलजोऽपि वा।

 तथापि न तव स्वास्थ्यं सर्वविस्मरणादृते॥ Ash.Gi. 16.11

If you do not totally forget your self-created delusions, even if Siva or

Vishnu or lotus-born Brahma gives you upadeśa, you will not be free, and
you will not attain peace.
This defect is called anyābhiniveśa—involvement with something else, the
other. Until one crosses this black sea of delusion, he will not touch the pure
waters of inspiration.
buddhiḥ vyatitariṣyati—the intellect transcends. This is particularly
important. Buddhi is a peculiar principle. On the one hand, it is one of the
faculties, and on the other hand, it is a power that has arisen from the
Infinite. It can choose either to move out through the doors of the senses or
to return to the Source. When it surrenders to the belief in ‘many’ and
accepts the existence of the basic error that the ego-‘I’ is me, all problems
begin. This is the first sprout of the endless troubles of saṃsāra. Then, that
buddhi becomes moha-kalilam.
When the same buddhi becomes pure, it
THE SELF IS NEITHER begins to give importance to the śāstras
and Acharya. Then by the grace of the
THE KNOWN NOR THE scriptures and Guru—śāstrācārya-
UNKNOWN; IT IS THE
prasādena—it gets the intensity to look
behind its own existence; the Self, which
VERY KNOWER. is beyond the limitation of buddhi.* It
determines ‘I am not the buddhi, I am
bodhaḥ—pure Awareness. I am not this
intellect. I am the Infinite. I do not need this limiting instrument to know.’
Thus, the buddhi subsides in pure Being-ness, and the Supreme state is
revealed. “When the buddhi stops all its mischief and oscillations, that is
the Supreme state.”* From that moment, eternity is uncovered.
nirvedaṃ śrotavyasya śrutasya ca—then, all that you have heard and are
yet to hear become redundant. You are free of all thought-created problems.
śrutam is memory, and śrotavyam is imagination or expectation. Both are
forms of desire. One is the past, and the other is the future. Memory and
imagination belong to the non-Self—the other. Anything that you have
known or heard is viditam, and all that is not known or not heard is
aviditam. The Self is neither the known nor the unknown; it is the very
Knower. The known is always in the past, and the unknown is always in the
future, whereas the Truth is every moment. † It is the very Awareness, every
moment.
śrotavya and śruta are both of the mental plane, whereas the Self is
Consciousness—it is now. It is here, neither past nor future. What you have
learnt (the known) and what you do not know (the unknown)—both put you
in the thinking plane, the plane of the ego. They provide a peg for the noose
of death to catch you. Remove that peg by turning the attention towards the
Timeless, and you are free. The purpose of satsaṅga or Vedānta-śravaṇa is
to remove this moha and to make you free.
tadā gantāsi—then you have arrived. And where is it that you have arrived?
What have you attained? nirvedam, which means vairāgya. Here it means
supreme dispassion—para-vairāgya—which is synonymous with jñāna.
The Upanishad says, “nirvedamāyāt” (Mu.Up.1.2.12). Beginning from the
verse yāvānartha udapāne… (BG2.46) the topic is about transcending the
Karma-kāṇḍa portion of the Vedas. Hence, nirvedam can also be
interpreted as ‘the state of no Vedas.’ tadā gantāsi nirvedam means you
have crossed the border of the Vedas. You no longer carry the delusion that
the ‘pūrṇa’ can be attained by ‘doing’. The insight has dawned that the
uncreated—akṛta—can never be touched by doing—kṛtena—whether they
be worldly actions or even sādhanā.
In this insight, the buddhi reposes in the Self. Here, you no more need
external sources of knowledge, nor anything to be heard from the world or
the śāstras. śrotavyam nāsti śrutam api nāsti. All that you have heard and
learnt from the Karma-kāṇḍa portion, which prescribes various rites,
becomes obsolete. There remains nothing to learn anew, either. You have
touched the Source. You have arrived at the state beyond knowledge and
ignorance. All the devas will shower flowers on you.
This is the terminus where you have crossed the border of moha, and there
is no more śoka for you. You are beyond the triad of the knower, the known
and knowing. You are pure Awareness. This is the topic that follows—
sthitaprajña, the Enlightened Being established in the unshakeable
luminosity of the Self.
2.53 श्रुतिविप्रतिपन्ना ते यदा स्थास्यति निश्चला।
समाधावचला बुद्धिस्तदा योगमवाप्स्यसि॥
When your intellect, tossed about by the conflict of opinions created by the
ritualistic portions of the Vedas and the world, stays steadily in samādhi,
you shall get into Yoga.

The intellect becomes fed up with all the misapprehensions and confusions
created by what is heard from the world and the ritualistic portions of the
Vedas. In such a state of dispassion, it listens to the Ātmatattva from an
Acharya and experiences the state of samādhi in which it stands still and
steady in the Self. This is the state of yoga.
When a mind that is fully aware refuses to harbour thoughts and, like the
birds that enter their nest during twilight hours, enters the Heart-cave and
remains still, there is perfect peace. That is yoga. The outgoing mind is
scattered in various directions. It has so many goals to achieve and so much
work to do! We can see this gravity on the faces of people who rush to work
in the morning and return exhausted in the evening. A dispassionate one
becomes indifferent to all such pursuits and toil. He also becomes deaf to all
the mutually contradictory opinions of the worldly and the doctrines of the
scriptures. In such a blessed state, his intellect becomes absolutely still,
niścalā. There it enters yoga.
Here, śruti means the Karma-kāṇḍa portion of the Vedas. Sankaracharya
says that the śruti speaks about various goals and the methods to attain
those goals.* The Vedas deal with everything in the world, right from
conception to death. A Vedic life runs on the prescribed rails of Karma-
kāṇḍa.
Man is basically a creature of desire.
IF WE FAIL TO
Unless his desires are curbed, there is no
hope of his Liberation. Certain desires
RECOGNISE THE SINGLE which are not opposed to dharma are to
CENTRE OF be satisfied. For those, the Vedas alone
are considered the authority. Many yajñas
AWARENESS, WE MOVE are prescribed in the Vedas for the
fulfilment of desires. But one should be
IN ORBITS OF careful not to get lost in its maze of
words. So long as we are not aware of the
IGNORANCE. purpose of life, we grope in uncertainty.
Devoid of the noble determination—
vyavasāyātmikā-buddhi—the intellect becomes like a constantly buzzing
hornet’s nest. vipratipatti means confusion, a distracted state of mind due to
non-understanding. Acharya says that the mind is distracted by
multiplicity.* Vikshipta means distracted, and nānāpratipannā means many
ideas, concepts; many things to be achieved, many goals; seeing the one as
many. If we fail to recognise the One—the single centre—we move in the
orbits of ignorance. The centre is Awareness—Jñāna—whereas the rest are
all circuits of ignorance.

BHAGAVAN SRI RAMANA’S CENTRAL

TEACHING
Someone once asked Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi, “What is your central
teaching?” The Sage said, “Centre itself is my central teaching.” As we
have already said, delusion, thoughts, toil, pleasure, pain, and suffering—
these are the forces that mill around. The centre is harmony, whereas the
circumference is turbulence.
Now the question is, how are we to become centred? For that, the first step
is to be aware of the unrest in life outside.

परीक्ष्य लोकान्कर्मचितान्ब्राह्मणो निर्वेदमायान्नास्त्यकृ तः कृ तेन।

तद्विज्ञानार्थं स गुरुमेवाभिगच्छेत्समित्पाणिः श्रोत्रियं ब्रह्मनिष्ठम्॥ Mu.Up.

1.2.12

All that a person can achieve—whether through Vedic rites or worldly toil
—has been explored in this birth or former births. Thus, one gains the state
of dispassion—nirveda, of which we have already spoken. Upon
recognising the limitation of doing—kṛtam—the great insight dawns that
the Infinite, the Whole, Brahman, cannot be had by any amount of doing.
Neither worldly actions nor Vedic sacrifices can lead to that fulfilment of
life.
When a person whose buddhi is anchored in Truth listens to all those
confusing words of attaining this world or that world, of doing this yajña or
that yajña, and is bombarded with the seemingly mutually contradictory
instructions, he attains perfect dispassion and reposes in the Self. Such an
intellect becomes still. Then yoga is achieved.
The catchword of this śloka is niścalā. When the buddhi becomes niścalā,
still, and is no more tossed between action and its fruit. It has found real
rest. There, yoga is born. Such a one is a jīvanmukta. The Gita calls him
sthitaprajña.

THE SAGE’S SECRET

A person used to trouble Ramana Maharshi constantly. But the sage
remained unruffled. Seeing this, a devotee asked, “Bhagavan, what is the
secret of your unrippled state?” The Sage replied, “I never use my mind.”
This is the secret of sthita-dhīḥ, which we shall be exploring further.
Sankaracharya has said, “niścalatattve jīvanmuktiḥ (Bha.Go.9)—when one
attains the still-principle, one becomes a jīvanmukta.” And that niścala-
tattva is the fruit of Vedānta-śravaṇa.
yadā sthāsyati niścalā. When will the buddhi attain that steadiness? When
one becomes indifferent to unending arguments, opinions, doubts and
doctrines, the mind attains peace. If we pay heed to this world of
information, misinformation, and disinformation, lost we shall be. When a
meditator involves with worldly people, he will quickly become affected by
the chaos and energy-sucking effect of their presence. Too much talking,
discussions, and opinions about everything will drain him. Worldly folks
often say things they do not mean and do not express what they think. This
dichotomy creates verbal delusion—śruti-vipratipatti. Pained by such
conflicts, a meditator will thirst for the sweet silence of mind and quietude
of solitude. Hence Sankaracharya says,

शब्दजालं महारण्यं चित्तभ्रमणकारणम्।

अतः प्रयत्नाज्ज्ञातव्यं तत्त्वज्ञात्तत्त्वमात्मनः॥ Vi.Cu. 62
The hallucination created by the webs of words is like a big forest. The mind
which enters there roams about in confusion. Hence, with great alertness,
an intelligent person should approach a Realised Sage and receive the
Ātmatattva—the knowledge of the Self.
śrutivipratipannā does not refer to the Vedic Karma-kāṇḍa part alone.
When we study a great many books—even if they are spiritual—and the
mind is filled with many things that appear mutually contradictory,
confusion will be the result.
Both śrotavyam and śrutam—the unknown and the known—can create
vipratipatti. Such a mind is under the illusion that something is waiting
outside. Hence it runs out through the senses. When it is no more under the
illusion and knows that nothing exists other than the Self, it reposes in the
Self. There is no more pain of knowing; this state of dispassion is
nirvedam.
Some fortunate ones become
dispassionate in that state. They come to
BRAHMAVIDYĀ MUST
recognise the limitation of intellectual
ASSERT ITSELF knowledge. They realise the limitation of
COMPLETELY. ONLY the mind too. Mentations—the various
moods that arise in the mind—are also
THEN WILL IT impermanent. When we do sādhanā, the
OVERPOWER THE mind creates a state of peace or a blissful
experience. When the practice is stopped,
IGNORANCE AND MAKE then that mood disappears. Thus, the
THE MIND SUBSIDE. discriminative ones realise all these to be
impermanent.
Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi says, in
Tamil, “pokku-varavu” (AMM74). Pokku means going, and varavu means
coming. The Sage sings to Arunachala, “Enough, enough! Enough of this
going and coming. Make me established in that Infinite Space by your
Grace. Your Grace must fight with and conquer my ignorance.” Knowledge
must conquer ignorance. Brahmavidyā must assert itself completely. Only
then will that knowledge have the power to overpower ignorance and make
the mind subside.
Some Acharyas have interpreted śrutivipratipatti as ‘śrutyartha-viśeṣa-
pratipatti’—understanding of the implied meaning of the mahāvākyas. This
is a different and wonderful meaning. It means that when the real import of
the śrutyartha—the Vedavākya—is absorbed, the intellect becomes still.
When the mahāvākyārtha that our real nature is the Self—body-less, mind-
less—is known, we attain peace and abide in the Self—samādhi.
vipratipatti has been interpreted as viśeṣa-pratipatti. Here, the seeker does
not struggle with sādhanā to quieten the mind. By knowing the Self through
the mahāvākya, he just transcends the mind in one stroke. The mind ceases
to be the mind. ‘I am Brahman. The mind, body, world—all are Brahman.
SARVAM KHALVIDAM BRAHMA.’ This is his experience. Then what remains to be
achieved?
The state where the ego-self does not operate and where the awareness is
crystal-clear—that is prajñā. One whose prajñā is steady is a sthitaprajña.
The forthcoming question of Arjuna is about this state. This indeed is one of
the most adorable portions of the Gita.

अर्जुन उवाच।
2.54 स्थितप्रज्ञस्य का भाषा समाधिस्थस्य के शव।
स्थितधीः किं प्रभाषेत किमासीत व्रजेत किम्॥
Arjuna asked: O Kesava, what is the mark of a sthitaprajña—a person
whose Realisation is steady, unshakeable—and who is ever in samādhi?
Such a Realised Soul, whose intellect is ever yoked to the Self and never
swerves from it, how does he talk? How does he sit? How does he walk?

sthitaprajñasya kā bhāṣā samādhisthasya keśava

Here Arjuna addresses the Lord with the sweet name Kesava! ‘Who is a
sthitaprajña?’—this is the question of Arjuna. And Arjuna himself gives
the answer—‘He is samādhisthaḥ.’ He is ever in the illumined state. He is
a man of light. What is samādhi? “Samādhi is the Self,” says
Sankaracharya. “asmin samādhīyate iti samādhiḥ—that in which the sage
gets established, that is samādhi, the Atman.” Bhagavan Sri Ramana
Maharshi has said, “Samādhi is your real nature.” All these are highly
significant words. When It is recognised, we are eternally in It. It is not a
state, but the Self. In that, there is no clouding of awareness; the Self is
experienced without any veil of ignorance. Hence, Patanjali says,* “The veil
that covers the effulgence of the Self is removed.”
Generally, when a sādhaka does intense Ātma-vichāra and contemplates on
the Self, in a blessed moment, he gets a glimpse of Self-experience. A
sacred intuition happens where he recognises the egoless state—nirvikalpa-
sthiti. But it comes and goes away. Of course, that glimpse itself is a great
blessing. If the mind of the sādhaka has entered that Nirvikalpa-state even
once, it will be evident on his face; there will be a look of the Transcendent
in him. However, such a fleeting flash of enlightenment is not enough to
make the person cross the border of limitation forever.
Here, Arjuna is asking about he who is ever established, one whose
awareness of the Self is constant. There is a popular view of the mystics
that a person who is merged in samādhi will leave the body in that state.
Hence Arjuna asks, “kimāsīta vrajeta kim—will he continue to remain in
the body after gaining Self-knowledge, or will he just give up the body?”
If he does continue to be in the visible form, what are his marks? “Lord,
please tell me the bhāṣā, the marks, of a sthitaprajña.” Bhāshā generally
means language. But here, it means ‘the mark by which one can recognise
an Illumined Soul.’ Arjuna already has this recognition in him. It is with this
intuition that he chose Krishna and surrendered to him.
A devotee once asked Kanakammal, one of the direct disciples of Bhagavan
Ramana Maharshi, how she recognised her Guru in the sage. She replied,
“It is not that I recognised him; that state of Bhagavan conveyed its fullness
to me by its own power. It was his abundant Grace.” This is the secret.
A common misconception is that a Jñāni
WHAT IS NATURAL FOR will remain in a cave, seated in
padmāsana, always in meditation, not
A SIDDHA IS SĀDHANĀ moving. Here, Arjuna sees Krishna
FOR A SEEKER. involved in manifold activities—he is
even working as a charioteer. He is a
great warrior. He is the greatest of all
musicians, of all dancers. He is a mahāgṛhastha, a householder with a large
family. Seeing all this, Arjuna asks, “How is it that I do not see this
equipoise in others? Your ‘state’ is undeniable, but your body is ever active!
And you are expecting this from me too. On the one hand, you are asking
me to be a yogi, and on the other hand, you are asking me to fight. Yes, you,
O Madhava, do everything. Seeing you, I am fascinated. Krishna, tell me,
how is it possible? You yourself are the greatest riddle—sarvāścaryamayo
hariḥ. Please tell me your secret so that I too will be established in that
state and become one with You.”
Sankaracharya says in the bhāshya,* “The very attributes that the scriptures
reveal as the marks of a fulfilled person are sādhanās for a seeker. A seeker
must achieve them through effort. What is natural for a siddha is sādhanā
for a seeker.”
kiṃ prabhāṣeta kimāsīta vrajeta kim. If we take the meaning of these
words to be ‘Will he talk?’ ‘Will he sit?’ ‘Will he walk?’—it looks
ridiculous. But that is how it is. Only when we behold a real Sage will we
know what this means. Everything about him has a charm, a spiritual
flavour—the way he sits, walks, speaks, and does everything has a touch of
the Divine in it.
Although outwardly, the body of the sage does only what any ordinary
person would do, it is his inner state, his establishment in the changeless
Truth, that makes his actions appear extraordinary and sacred. There is a
fragrance of the Timeless in the movement of that finite body. In the
limited, somehow, the Limitless is fathomed. Kabir says, “It is like seeing
the Infinite inside a dust particle, like seeing the ocean inside a bubble.”

OceanofPDF.com
 श्रीभगवानुवाच।
2.55 प्रजहाति यदा कामान्सर्वान्पार्थ मनोगतान्।
आत्मन्येवात्मना तुष्टः स्थितप्रज्ञस्तदोच्यते॥
Sri Bhagavan said: O Partha! He who has renounced all desires of the mind
and is ever content only in the Self by the Self is said to be a sthitaprajña—
a sage of steady Realisation.

Bhagavan now commences his description of a Realised Soul—

sthitaprajña—one who has solved all problems in life, one who is ever in
samādhi. The very description of such a holy one is auspicious—
maṅgaḷam.

यस्य स्थिता भवेत्प्रज्ञा यस्यानन्दो निरन्तरः।

प्रपञ्चो विस्मृतप्रायः स जीवन्मुक्त इष्यते॥ Vi.Cu. 429

He whose Realisation is steady, and whose bliss is constant, and is as if he

has forgotten the existence of the world, is a jīvanmukta.
He is always aware of his real nature. He is ever in samādhi. His ‘dhī’
(intellect) is ever lodged in ‘sama’—the Self, the Atman. Such a one is a
samādhi-stha.
This inner state is extremely powerful. The body in which this state has
blossomed is a temple of the Sacred. This state just emanates from the
centre and spreads Its fragrance around like a celestial flower. This sacred
emanation cleanses the psychic atmosphere of his place of stay. The very
dust that touches his feet will register his peace and silence. Thus are the
holy places made holy. “Wherever they go, these saints transform those
places into tīrthas, by the presence of the Lord in their hearts.”*

prajahāti yadā kāmānsarvānpārtha manogatān

prajahāti—casts off. the word ‘jahāti’ occurs in the Upanishad. † “A
Knower, who has formerly travelled through innumerable sufferings due to
his association with the mind, gains enough dispassion and wisdom to give
up his association with it.” In fact, the mind is not me. It is not mine. I must
just give up the assumption that the mind is me or that it is mine. That is all.
“If we seek what the mind is, we will find that there is indeed no mind,”
says Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi. ‡ The mind has no separate existence
from the Self. It is ignorance that keeps it alive. All desires are of the mind
and not of the Self. In the deep-sleep state, where the mind merges in the
Self, there are no desires, no dreams.§
As desires have no real existence, they
THE MIND HAS NO can neither be ended by satisfying them
nor be fully rooted out. They simply do
SEPARATE EXISTENCE not belong to the Self. We must
FROM THE SELF. IT IS understand this. “If you know the Self,
there is no mind for you to control,” says
IGNORANCE THAT KEEPS Bhagavan Ramana. This is the direct
IT ALIVE. ALL DESIRES teaching. Desires are nothing but
thoughts. Thoughts alone are the threads
ARE OF THE MIND AND with which the mind is made. When the
NOT OF THE SELF. ego—the primal ‘I’-thought—is no more,
the Knower loses his association with the
mind—prajahāti. Then onwards, he has
nothing to do with the mind. This giving up of the mind, the ego, is what we
described earlier as ‘transcending moha-kalilam.’ This is the turning point.
When the deluding ‘I’ is not, the mind and its desires are also not. Then
what remains? Only happiness, supreme contentment.

यदा सर्वे प्रमुच्यन्ते कामा येऽस्य हृदि श्रिताः।

अथ मर्त्योऽमृतो भवत्यत्र ब्रह्म समश्नुते॥ Ka.Up. 2.3.14

When all the desires lodged in the heart are given up, the mortal becomes
the immortal—amṛta. Here, he attains Brahman.
This is the Śruti-vākya which is the pramāṇa for sthitaprajña-lakshaṇa. All
desires are given up because he no more harbours the delusion that there is
something outside the Self. It is moha which deludes a person into the false
belief that pleasure lies in objects. This makes the mind go hunting outside.
When moha is no more and we come to know that happiness is in the Self
alone, the mind learns to sit, and the intellect becomes still—sthitam.
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad uses these three words—āptakāma, ātmakāma
and akāma. Āptakāma means the one for whom all desires are fulfilled; they
have become fully satisfied. How? By realising the Self, which is the source
of supreme happiness. Such a one is an ātmakāma—the one who has found
his beloved in his own Self. When the Atman is realised, all delight is in the
Atman alone. Then the desireless state of akāma arises.
If a person is desireless—akāma—without being an ātmakāma, that is
merely a psychological problem. There is nothing spiritual about it.
“Pushing away all desires of the mind—prajahāti yadā kāmān—alone
cannot make one a sthitaprajña,” says Sankaracharya. There are many in
mental hospitals who do not want anything. They sit in a corner with
depressed faces. A sthitaprajña is not simply a desireless person, he is
ātmanyevātmanā tuṣṭaḥ—his desire-lessness is accompanied by his
unceasing delight in the Atman.
prajñā—the word prajñā is used to denote intelligence. Prājñā is the name
given to the Self in the deep-sleep state. Here Bhagavan is using the word
prajñā to mean the Realisation of a jīvanmukta; it is nirvikalpa-jñāna.
Body is the waking state. ‘I’, the ego, is the dream. ‘I am not aware’ is
sleep. In the dream state, the body goes away, and the ego runs the show by
itself and is unaware of the being-ness. When the ego too disappears, it is
sleep. In the waking state, when the unawareness is removed, the Self alone
is.
Awareness devoid of the ego shines forth as Brahman, the Infinite. That is
prajñā. When that stays unshakable, such a one is a sthitaprajña, a
jīvanmukta.

ब्रह्मात्मनोः शोधितयोरेकभावावगाहिनी।
निर्विकल्पा च चिन्मात्रा वृत्तिः प्रज्ञेति कथ्यते।
सुस्थितासौ भवेद्यस्य स्थितप्रज्ञः स उच्यते॥ Vi.Cu. 428
In the above verse, Sankaracharya gives a crystal-clear definition of the
word prajñā. What is prajñā? It is that influx of intuition, which is also of
the form of a vṛtti—thought. But it is not like an ordinary mental mode. It is
Nirvikalpa and Chinmātra. Nirvikalpa means there are no images in it. Then
what is the form of such a thought? It is of the nature of pure Consciousness
—Chinmātra. What does that intuition reveal? It reveals the nature of ‘I’ as
the infinite Brahman. This function of the mind is referred to as prajñā. In a
blessed person, this prajñā flashes forth like lightning, and he becomes
established in Awareness once and for all. Such a one is called a
sthitaprajña. Generally, constant contemplation and meditation are needed
to become firmly rooted.
‘There is no Jñāni; only Jñāna is’ is a declaration of Bhagavan Ramana
Maharshi. That Jñāna is prajñā. It is Consciousness purged of all vāsanās.
There, awareness is free of the ego. It is the Infinite, the deathless. It is of
the nature of Peace. The one for whom this is always, everywhere—that
sage is a sthitaprajña.
A sthitaprajña is always joyful. Joy comes from the Infinite Divine nature.
He finds bliss in himself by the Self. The Self is happiness. We experience
this every day in deep sleep. There, the senses, the mind and the intellect
are not; even the enjoyer himself was not. This state tells us that happiness
is our name. Contentment is in being the Self. Fullness is in renouncing
everything, including the body, the mind, the intellect, and the ego. You are
—that is all; just IS-ness, Being-ness, alone is. That mere existence is the
Atman. A Realised Soul remains as the Self, even while awake. ‘Be as you
are’ is the greatest upadeśa. Here, the Sage revels in the Self, by the Self—
ātmanyevātmanā tuṣṭaḥ. This is a point to be carefully noted.
As a demonstration of this state, Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi lived each
day—all twenty-four hours—in public view. Whoever beheld the Sage saw
a sthitaprajña. “A Brahmavit is Brahman,” says the Upanishad. He is a
walking God. Nothing is more auspicious than the darśan of such a one. As
the Bhagavata says,* “Supreme fulfilment for those who have eyes.” Even
hearing about him is a great blessing for us. It is verily hearing about God.
Birds, animals, tribals, the educated, the uneducated… all drank the nectar
that flowed from the great Sage Ramana. Innumerable are the sādhakas
who got initiated into Jñāna-vichāra by just a glance of that mighty being.
He was not a person. One devotee, a fine poet, hailed him as ‘The mighty
impersonality!’ Yes indeed! A sthitaprajña is a person to its fullness, yet
when you contact him, ‘he is boundless like the infinite space—ākāśa-
śarīram brahma.’ As Gaudapadacharya says,

ज्ञानेनाकाशकल्पेन धर्मान्यो गगनोपमान्।

ज्ञेयाभिन्नेन सम्बुद्धस्तं वन्दे द्विपदां वरम्॥ Ma.Ka. 4.1

His Jñāna is infinite like the ākāśa. Whatever objects he meets are also
Infinite to him. He is not a knower of anything; he is one with everything.
He is the mighty one, the supreme among those who walk on two legs.
Such a one’s being, body, is ākāśa. Once the individual-sense is lost, the
seen, the seer and the seeing all fuse into the experience of Infinity. That
jīvanmukta is worshipped without giving any name.

SPECIAL POINT
To be free of materialism in all forms is
AS LONG AS THE real freedom. The body, the mind, the
senses, the ego, the world—these are all
THINKING PROCESS IS included in the word materialism. We
must find the virus of materialism hiding
ACTIVE AND THE
within us in its subtlest form; it is nothing
INTELLECT IS ABUZZ but thought. Thought is the subtlest form
WITH THOUGHTS, of matter. As long as the thinking process
is active and the intellect is abuzz with
WHATEVER MAY BE THE thoughts, whatever may be the field of
FIELD OF ACTIVITY OF A activity of a person, he is materialistic.
Directly encountering thinking and
PERSON, HE IS making it stop through a technique will
MATERIALISTIC. only give temporary results. The mind
will go to stillness as in sleep and get
rejuvenated. As long as ignorance
remains, the mind springs back into more powerful activity. To be free of
the invasion of thoughts, we must find the root of thoughts, which is the
ignorance that the world is real, that something exists outside, that this ‘I’ is
real, and it must become something or someone. All these make for
saṃsāra, materialism.
When this ignorance is rooted out without a trace, when the deepest
conviction arises that the Consciousness that shines forth within as the ‘I
AM’ alone is real, then the mind has come out of its spell of māyā. There is
nothing left for such a mind to think, and it subsides on its own. Inner
stillness is the fruit of right knowledge. Sankaracharya calls it samyak-
darśana. For a Jñāni, there is nothing worth thinking about. By his
discrimination between the Real and the unreal, he becomes free of
thinking. Describing the state of such a one, Sadasiva Brahmendra sings,
“cintā nāsti kila teṣām cintā nāsti kila.” Such a person is a sthitaprajña.
His awareness of the Self is steady.

2.56 दुःखेष्वनुद्विग्नमनाः सुखेषु विगतस्पृहः।

वीतरागभयक्रोधः स्थितधीर्मुनिरुच्यते॥
One whose mind is not agitated by sorrow, who does not yearn for pleasure,
and who is free from attachment, fear and anger is called a sage of steady
wisdom.

One whose Self-Awareness is steady is a sage—sthitadhīr-munirucyate.

This is the pivotal point of this verse. Here Bhagavan defines a muni who is
a sthitaprajña. ‘mananāt muniḥ—one whose mind is ever in contemplation
is a sage;’ one who remains in mauna, silence, is also called a muni. Mauna
is the true mark of a Realised Sage. Such a one does not get agitated,
whatever may happen around him. No event affects his inner state.
duḥkheṣu anudvignamanāḥ sukheṣu vigataspṛhaḥ—a person who has
found peace, neither gets perturbed by sorrow nor is attached to pleasure.
Pleasure and pain—both put the mind in a state of agitation, either in the
form of exhilaration or in the form of depression. udvega is the word that
Bhagavan has used here. ‘Ut’ means arising, and ‘vega’ means moods or
forceful emotions. anudvignamanāḥ means the one in whose mind there is
no udvega. His mind never gets agitated when sorrow visits him. He is ever
detached. Whatever he may see or hear, he is not deluded. When the guṇas
—the moods of sattva, rajas and tamas—manifest, he knows them as
unreal. For such a Sage, anything other than his own Self, has no reality
—“avastu-dṛk,” says the Bhagavata.* He has regained an unswerving state
of peace.

EQUANIMITY OF SUDAMA
The story of Sudama from the Bhagavata is a perfect example of
anudvigna-manāḥ. Sudama lived a life of such utter poverty that often
there was no food, even for a single meal. He was peaceful even under such
miserable conditions. “He was a praśāntātmā,” says the Bhagavata. He was
so because he was a “brahma-vittamaḥ”—Supreme Knower of Brahman.
We know that later when he met his friend Krishna, the gracious Lord made
him very prosperous. The Bhagavata says that in a trice, his life was
transformed miraculously from one of utter penury to that of great
abundance. But, then too, Sudama remained perfectly poised and
indifferent, ever established in Brahman. Thus, we can see that the Lord’s
māyā failed to win over him in both these situations. “Faced with the
equanimity of this desireless Brāhmaṇa,” says the Bhagavata, “the
unconquerable Lord had to accept defeat—ajitaṃ parājitam!” The Lord’s
compassion appeared rather insignificant in comparison to the stability of
this Brāhmaṇa.
vīta-rāga-bhaya-krodhaḥ
Rāga—attachment, bhaya—fear, and krodha—anger, are not separate
emotions. Attachment is naturally accompanied by fear as well. There is a
constant fear about the well-being of those we are attached to. This fear is
quite familiar to most people. Thus, rāga is always followed by bhaya. And
if we lose something we are attached to, the resulting reaction is anger—
krodha. It is from a single source that these three arise. Attachment—rāga
—is the root of all mental problems, and the cause of rāga is avidyā—
ignorance of our real nature. When the Self is known, all attachments fall
off. If all are the Self, to whom can we get attached?
Lack of fear is a mark of a knower of Brahman. “As long as there is duality,
fear is inevitable.”* Once duality is erased, there is no cause for fear, and
fear is removed forever. There is no other—anya—for him anymore as he
has become ananya. In that state, there is perfect abhayam—fearlessness.
Thus, a muni is one who is never disturbed by attachment, fear, or anger.
The sacred peace in his inner temple is ever unruffled.

THE SAGE AND THE ANGRY MOB

When Gandhiji was assassinated, riots broke out all over India. Rumours
spread like wildfire, igniting hatred. One such rumour was that it was a
Muslim who had shot Gandhiji. This resulted in communal riots in the
Hindu-Muslim communities. Riots broke out in Tiruvannamalai also, and
the situation was very tense. At that time, in Sri Ramanasramam, Bhagavan
Ramana was reclining on a couch outside the hall, facing Arunachala, the
Sacred Hill, and reading a book or a letter. Many devotees were seated
around him.
Suddenly, the angry cries of a mob were
THE SAGE KNOWS THAT heard. Soon, about a hundred people
chasing another hundred, armed with
HE IS NOT THE MIND. HE knives, sticks and stones, rushed into the
EVER ABIDES IN THE ashram through the back gate, close to
where the Maharshi and the devotees
SELF AND NOT IN THE were seated. Seeing this, most of the
MIND. devotees assembled there ran helter-
skelter in fear. Amid all this commotion,
the Sage sat motionless like a painted
picture. He did not even lift his head to see what the fuss was. He just sat
most naturally as if nothing was happening, even when the raging mob
rushed past on either side, screaming and shouting. There was not even a
blink in his eyes; there was no recognition of anything happening. This is
abhayam—fearlessness.
When the Self is recognised, and the truth that nothing exists other than the
Self is known, there remains nothing to be attached to, nothing to fear, and
no one to be angry with. For us to become angry, there must be another.
When we see others as our own Self, the Atman, how can we be mad at
them? When we know everyone is the Self, whom will we be angry with?
No krodha is possible. Anger is erased when the same Self is beheld
everywhere. Sankaracharya says,* “In you, in me, and in all—in everyone,
everywhere—there is only one Vishnu. You are getting angry
unnecessarily.” Emotions such as anger arise only when an ‘other’ is seen.
When everyone is known to be the Self, there is no room for rāga, bhaya
and krodha.
The only solution for all miseries is to know the one truth that the Atman
alone exists. Whether it is pleasure or pain, there is no rising of any forceful
emotions in the Sage. It is not that the mind of a Sage is like a stone. It too
thinks and conducts all practical things as necessary. Many noble feelings
might arise in him. But the difference is that the Sage knows that he is not
the mind. He knows that he is the sākshi, the witness-principle. Hence, he
ever abides in the Self and not in the mind. Thus there is no longer any
sorrow. When the delusion of the other is gone, there is no room for any
misery. † Steady abidance in one’s real nature is indicated by the word
sthitadhīḥ.
Here, Bhagavan defines muni as the one whose intellect is free of all
oscillations and holds the current of samādhi in its womb. Chit-garbham is
the word used by the Sages. No smoke of thoughts clouds the inner flame of
Awareness. He is ever aware of his divine nature. This is the real mauna.
Mauna is generally mistranslated as outer silence since those who are
naturally introverted and of a contemplative nature are seen to speak very
little. But that is not the real import of mauna.
Śiva, as Dakshinamurti, is said to have expounded Brahman through
mauna. How can mere silence make one know Brahman? How can verbal
silence make one recognise the Atman as Brahman? Mauna, therefore, is
not mere verbal silence. Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi says, “It is the most
eloquent language.” It is perfect eloquence. Mauna is the nirvikalpa-jñāna
of the Sage, which powerfully conveys the essence of the mahāvākyas. It
immediately transmits Self-Realisation to the deserving ones. We have
already defined this as prajñā.
We are introducing yet another novel word here to be clarified—nirvikalpa-
jñāna. Jñāna, Awareness, is the nature of the Self. The very existence that
we feel as ‘I AM’ is Jñāna. Even when in a dark room, we know that we
exist. This needs no help from the senses or the mind—that is Jñāna. Its
very nature is nirvikalpa. Our inner plane is crowded with ideas, doership,
enjoyership, self-images, objects… all these arise in that centre and colour
the Awareness. This we call the mind. When all this dross is cleared away,
and pure Awareness shines forth, it is nirvikalpa. When the ‘I’ is devoid of
the body, mind, and intellect, yet is completely aware, it is nirvikalpa.

निर्विकल्पं परं ब्रह्म निर्धूताखिलकल्पनम्।

धूल्यन्धकारधूमाभ्रनिर्मुक्तगगनोपमम्॥ Ma.So. 4.31–32

Like the clear space free from dust, darkness, smoke and clouds, Awareness
purged of all images, doubts, and ignorance shines forth non-dual. Such is
the nature of Nirvikalpa.
Such a state of pure Awareness is mauna, and that is the inner state of a
muni. “muneḥ bhāvaḥ maunam.”

2.57 यः सर्वत्रानभिस्नेहस्तत्तत्प्राप्य शुभाशुभम्।

नाभिनन्दति न द्वेष्टि तस्य प्रज्ञा प्रतिष्ठिता॥
One who is not attached anywhere and is neither overjoyed by the
auspicious nor dejected by the inauspicious is poised in wisdom.

sneha is the catchword in this verse. It means oil or oily—that which sticks
to you. It also means attachment. “This saṃsāra is nonsensical; it is of the
form of suffering. It deludes a person through attachment. Is the son really
yours? Is the wealth yours? Alas, sheer attachment burns the person day and
night.”* All this heartburn happens due to sneha, attachment—this is the
upadeśa.
sneha is another name for rāga. Ayurveda points out this as the first seed—
the chief cause—of even bodily diseases.

रागादिरोगान्सततानुषक्तानशेषकायप्रसृतानशेषान्।
औत्सुक्यमोहारतिदाञ्जघान यो अपूर्ववैद्याय नमोस्तु तस्मै॥ Ash.Hr. 1.1

Salutations to the wondrously unique and rare physician, who has

destroyed, without any residue, all diseases like attachment—rāga (lust,
anger, greed, arrogance, jealousy, selfishness, ego)—which are constantly
associated with the body and are spread all over the body, giving rise to
disease, delusion, and restlessness.
The above verse calls the Guru ‘apūrva-vaidya’—the wondrous primordial
physician. He removes the root cause of the disease—rāga or sneha. Viveka
reveals to a person that his attachment is the sole cause for all heartburn,
stress, and depression. And clear discrimination leads to vairāgya.
yaḥ sarvatra anabhisnehaḥ—he who is unattached everywhere. This is
because the right knowledge has arisen, and his ego is gone. Our attachment
is mostly towards our family, wealth, and so on. A yogi gives up attachment
not only to these but also to his own body, mind and senses. He renounces
his attachment to life itself. As the bhāshyakāra says, “Be attached neither
to life nor to death.” † At the same time, the yogi performs all his duties.
Like a fish in slime, he stays spotlessly clean despite his association with
all. Actions of the body and thoughts of the mind do not touch him. He is
not attached to spiritual experiences or moksha even.
śubhāśubham—in life, pleasant and unpleasant circumstances will come up
one after the other. No one can avoid them. Even Rama and Krishna had
favourable and unfavourable experiences. But a yogi neither appreciates nor
takes delight in the good, nor does he despise the inauspicious. The thing is,
no wave from outside can shake his equipoise. “His resolve is unshakeable
like the Mount Meru, and his heart is cool like the autumn moon,” declares
the Yoga Vasishtha.‡ This is the secret of a brave one—dhīra.
Running away to a Himalayan cave out of fear of facing life will not solve
the problems. Before you reach the cave, your destiny would have camped
there to receive you. Soon, you will recognise that the Himalayan cave is
also within the purview of māyā. The best course is to remain wherever
God has placed you and to perform your duties as His worship. Do not try
to run away. To expect śubham (pleasure) and to abhor aśubham (pain) is
the very fibre with which the ego is made.
na abhinandati na dveṣṭi—he neither delights when good things happen
nor runs away when pain visits. He is ever ready to receive both. Such a one
is ever peaceful.

अहम्ममाभिमानोत्थैः कामलोभादिभिर्मलैः।
 वीतं यदा मनः शुद्धमदुःखमसुखं समम्॥ SB 3.25.16

When one is thoroughly cleansed of the impurities of lust and greed

produced from the false identification of the body as ‘I’ and bodily
possessions as ‘mine,’ the mind becomes purified. In that pure state, he
transcends the stage of so-called material happiness and distress.
tasya prajñā pratiṣṭhitā—such a one is integrated. Only in such a person
the experience of the Self—Ātmānubhūti—stays undisturbed. The
pratiṣṭhā of prajñā happens when the intellect merges in the Self. Every
day in deep sleep, though unconsciously, the intellect merges in the Self. In
meditation too, the intellect must achieve this confluence through
determination, resolve—vyavasāya. Events in life, the pull of the senses,
and the waves in the mind, all call forth the intellect for immediate action.
They cause a constant supply of disturbances and do not allow the intellect
to repose. Hence the yogi must somehow shut out the world from entering
within. Attachment is the door through which the world enters. If this is
closed, one’s inner samādhi remains perfect. In the Bhagavata, Bhagavan
tells Uddhava,* “To be steady in inner peace, one must go beyond the good
and the bad. Seeing something as good or bad is a blemish. The greatest
blessing is to transcend both.” Such an intellect easily gains abidance in the
Heart—tasya prajñā pratiṣṭhitā.

2.58 यदा संहरते चायं कू र्मोऽङ्गानीव सर्वशः।

इन्द्रियाणीन्द्रियार्थेभ्यस्तस्य प्रज्ञा प्रतिष्ठिता॥
When, like the tortoise which withdraws its limbs from all sides, he
withdraws his senses from the sense-objects, then his awareness of the Self
is steady.

Here, Bhagavan is expounding the path of Yoga. Pratyāhāra is a word used

in the path of Yoga. ‘Prati’ means towards, and ‘āhāra’ means swallowing.
Pratyāhāra means re-swallowing that which was formerly projected. The
Inner Being projects the entire universe out of Himself and then withdraws
it into Himself in sleep. When the mind arises, the senses, the body and the
world arise out of oneself. This we see every day when we wake up from
sleep. When the mind withdraws into itself in dream, all the senses are
withdrawn from their gross form to subtle form, and they play in the mind
and create dreams. When the same mind is absorbed into the Heart, deep-
sleep happens, and everything disappears, including the ‘I’-sense.
Blooming of the mind is creation and merging of the mind back into the
Heart is destruction. When the mind is in half bloom, it is the world of
dreams. When fully bloomed, it is the solid waking state. The very first
peep of the mind through the aperture of the Heart is the ‘I’. Then unfolds
the entire vision of the world, including the body. Subsequently, in sleep,
everything withdraws in the reverse sequence into the Heart. This process is
indicative of what happens at death. It also reveals the spiritual process by
which a yogi withdraws the senses and the mind into the Heart.
This process is stated elaborately in the Chandogya Upanishad.
Sankaracharya describes the sequence in which a yogi withdraws into
himself.* By practice, ayam—this yogi—learns to withdraw the five senses
into the mind and the mind into the Heart-cave—saṃharate. This he does
like a tortoise. kūrmaḥ aṅgāni iva—just as the tortoise withdraws its four
legs, the head and the tail, to protect itself from danger, the yogi too
withdraws the mind and the five senses—“manaḥṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi”
(BG15.7). He withdraws into the samādhi state to protect himself from all
distractions from outside. This is also known as Kūrma-Yoga.

सर्वानर्थसंयोगवियोगलक्षणा हीयमवस्था योगिनः। एतस्यां ह्यवस्थायाम्

अविद्याध्यारोपणवर्जितस्वरूपप्रतिष्ठ आत्मा। Ka.Up.Bha. 2.3.11

Sankaracharya describes this state of withdrawal in his bhāshya—“In this

withdrawn state, the yogi releases himself, and there is the cessation of
contact with all that leads to suffering. In this state, the yogi is established
in his own real nature, completely free of all superimpositions caused by
ignorance.” While a yogi is able to abide in this state naturally, a sādhaka
must practise and perfect it.

यच्छेद्वाङ्मनसी प्राज्ञस्तद्यच्छेज्ज्ञान आत्मनि।

ज्ञानमात्मनि महति नियच्छेत्तद्यच्छेच्छान्त आत्मनि॥ Ka.Up. 1.3.13
All the senses are withdrawn into the mind, and the mind is held back
steadily by the intellect. The intellect is withdrawn into the primordial
vibration of ‘I AM’—pure Consciousness, the mahat. Finally, that too is
absorbed into the absolute peace of Self-experience.
The senses are naturally attracted to their objects. The first step in this
process is to hold back the senses from running to their objects. This makes
them burn. This is the first form of tapas. The senses that are thus
controlled and folded back into the mind play inside the mind as dreams.
The next step is to employ the sharp intellect and to trace the mind back to
its Source. The ‘I’-thought is the root of the mind. When the ‘I’ is traced
back to its source, the mind sinks into the Heart in utter silence. A great
peace arises from there, revealing the Divine. This is what was referred to
earlier as Kūrma-Yoga.
Here, the prajñā—the awareness of the Immeasurable—reveals Itself in all
splendour. If the senses are not swallowed back, the inner quietude will not
be tasted by a sādhaka in its immaculate form. Hence this withdrawal is
absolutely essential in the beginning. Once the mind is habituated to staying
naturally in samādhi, this conscious withdrawal is not required.
The moment the mind jumps into the sensory pastures, death is prowling to
devour it. Death is nothing but forgetting our imperishable nature. When a
sādhaka becomes aware of this, he learns to keep his mind in the Self
always. This is the topic of the next verse.

2.59 विषया विनिवर्तन्ते निराहारस्य देहिनः।

रसवर्जं रसोऽप्यस्य परं दृष्ट्वा निवर्तते॥
Sense objects drop out for the abstinent man, though not the longing for
them. Such longing too ceases when he beholds the Supreme.

nirāhārasya is a beautiful word. āhāra means food; nirāhāra means no

food is consumed. Sankaracharya says in the Chandogya Upanishad
bhāshya that āhāra is not just what is taken in through the mouth; all
sensory input consumed through the senses—forms through the eyes,
sounds through the ears, and so on—is also food. They enter within and
create vikalpa, disturbance, in awareness, and there is constant vṛtti-
sārūpyam—false identification of the Consciousness—with the ego within
and as objects outside.
Here Bhagavan says that if āhāra is not consumed, the mind is not
disturbed. This is a practical way to be free of the invasion of sensory
disturbances. The simple way to be free is to not think about the sense
objects. The moment one starts brooding over them, they invade the inner
chamber and disturb the peace. Hence the first step is to not think.
As long as we carry the ignorance ‘I am the body’, the senses and the
objects are deeply allied. Hence Bhagavan says dehinaḥ—to the embodied
soul. Such a sādhaka must be extremely careful. Bhagavan Himself has
instructed, ‘tayor-na vaśam āgacchet (BG3.34)—one must not get within the
influencing distance of the objects.’ If we get intimate with them, they will
sweep us off our feet. ‘Be at a safe distance’ is the advice. For a sādhaka
who practises meditation, the first step is to withdraw the senses from their
objects, like a tortoise withdraws its limbs into its shell. This will prove
impossible if he stays near the objects. In the Bhagavata, Bhagavan
instructs Uddhava:

स्त्रीणां स्त्रीसङ्गिनां सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा दूरत आत्मवान्।

क्षेमे विविक्त आसीनश्चिन्तयेन्मामतन्द्रितः॥ SB 11.14.29

Being conscious of the Eternal Self, give up association with women and
those intimately associated with women, and keep a safe distance from
them. Sitting comfortably with ease, in a solitary place, one should meditate
on Me, foregoing laziness.
Here, the term ‘women’ represents all sensory objects. Bhagavan has used
the word ‘women’ as this instruction is for Uddhava. If it is being read by a
woman, the word ‘women’ must be understood as ‘men’. The import is that
we must stay away from sensory objects.
Abstinence alone is not enough. Mere keeping away from sense objects will
only result in fear of the objects and a kind of abnormal mania, a mental
habit. If abstinence is not accompanied by meditation on the elevating
divine form of the Lord or the Atman, the relish for sensory objects will
continue to live within as memory. They will arise in the mind and disturb
the sādhaka even if he hides under water. In the Bhagavata, there is a story
of the yogi Saubhari who hides under water to meditate undisturbed. But
there too, the relish for sensory objects arises in him, and he comes out of
the water and gets into a big saṃsāra. This shows that rasa will not go
away easily.
‘rasa’ is the seed word in this verse. It is a powerful word. It is the sole
force that drives life from birth to death. In fact, it is the throb of life. rasa
means delight or joy. Deep within everyone is a search for the delight that
never dims. We seek it through the senses in the world of objects. We try to
feed the eyes with various kinds of beautiful forms. But the hunger of the
eyes will never get appeased by this. This holds good for the other senses as
well.
The Upanishad pictures the senses as altars—yajña-vedi—that carry fire,
and the objects as oblations of ghee. The more the oblation is poured into it,
the more the fire blazes. Thus, the body of an uncontrolled man is like a
lamp-post with many flames—burning day and night, ever fed by the oil
from the world outside. A yogi feels this as great suffering. As the first step,
he curbs the senses. The power that floods into the mind through the five is
checked by the dam of dama—indriya-nigraha.
But that does not solve the problem. When the senses are forcefully
controlled, the delight of the objects lingers, and it starts dancing in the
mind. Like the firefly, the mind hankers to rush out and fall into the fire of
the objects. This thirst for the objects is what is referred to here as rasa. As
long as this rasa or taste is retained, the mind will be in a distracted state—
vikshipta. This rasa is truly nothing but an intimation of transcendental joy.
The Master reveals to the sādhaka that rasa is in the Atman alone. The very
nature of the Self is rasa. This insight becomes a great force that makes him
take a quantum leap to the Infinite.
In deep sleep, where all the senses and the mind are not, and the ego also is
not, this rasa alone is. Hence everyone cherishes going there. That state
proves that the Self is Joy. With this knowledge, when the mind sinks into
the Self and loses the ego, that rasa is revealed. When in the samādhi state,
the mind becomes one with Bliss, and all longing for objects disappears—
raso'pyasya paraṃ dṛṣṭvā nivartate.
 वासनानुदयो भोग्ये वैराग्यस्य तदावधिः।
अहम्भावोदयाभावो बोधस्य परमावधिः।
लीनवृत्तेरनुत्पत्तिर्मर्यादोपरतेस्तु सा॥ Vi.Cu. 424

The state in which the vāsanās arise no more is the zenith of vairāgya. That
is, no longer does the yogi recollect his past enjoyments and yearn for them.
The absence of the emergence of the ego is the supreme pinnacle of Jñāna,
Awareness. The ultimate peak of uparati or withdrawal is when the thoughts
that have been subsumed do not sprout again.
The culmination of these three is paraṃ dṛṣṭvā nivartate. To abide as the
Self is darśana. Vāsanās, ahaṅkāra and thoughts—whether they be sensory
thoughts or knowledge-related thoughts—do not rise again and cause
trouble. The one in whom supreme vairāgya, bodha and uparati have
reached their perfection is a jīvanmukta.
rasa is another name for the Atman. “raso vai saḥ—rasa is verily He”
(Tai.Up.). “harim ekarasam—Hari, the Lord alone, is the one and only rasa,”
sings Jayadeva about the Lord as rasa-svarūpa. Once you get Him, there
arises no desire for rasa from the objects.
The Upanishad calls the Atman sarva-rasa. “It is but mere drops of this
Ātmānanda that others live on,” says the Upanishad.* Until this
transcendental rasa is tasted, it is impossible to give up the other—the
sensory pleasures. Once the samādhi-rasa blooms, the longing for all other
rasas drops away. “Will an elephant that has tasted sweet sugarcane juice
hanker anymore for bitter neem sprouts?Ӡ
Let us contemplate the words of the bhāshyakāra for ‘paraṃ dṛṣṭvā
nivartate.’ “By realising That—the Supreme Brahman—all objective
knowledge disappears without leaving any seed in awareness. The subtle
relish which makes the objects attractive retreats from the Realised Sage,
once he realises the supreme Reality as ‘I am verily That.’ This is the secret
of erasing the last vestige of desire. When one knows the object of relish,
the taste, and the enjoyer as the Atman, in that One-ness, all desire is
erased. Such a mind, even when it goes to the objects, has no vāsanās in it.
As long as that realisation, clear perception, is not there, this rasa or relish
cannot be rooted out. Hence, one should make steady one’s crystal-clear
awareness of the Self.”*

आत्मसंस्थितिः स्वात्मदर्शनम्।
आत्मनिर्द्वयादात्मनिष्ठता॥ Upa.Sa. 26

To know the Self is but to be the Self, for it is non-dual. In such knowledge,
one abides as That.
For this, the first step is to put the senses in order. If they are disorderly,
there is great chaos. This is dealt with in the next verse.

2.60 यततो ह्यपि कौन्तेय पुरुषस्य विपश्चितः।

इन्द्रियाणि प्रमाथीनि हरन्ति प्रसभं मनः॥
The excited senses, O son of Kunti, impetuously carry away the mind of
even a wise man who strives diligently for perfection.

Here, the most significant word is vipaścitaḥ. It is a word that the

Upanishads use. Though vipaścit generally means a Realised Soul—a
Jñāni, here it means a wise man, a person who knows the scriptures, an
evolved seeker. It refers to those seekers who have already had a glimpse of
the Divine.
yatataḥ—he exercises immense effort in keeping the senses and the mind in
order and holding on to the inner Awareness, prajñā. He has undergone
śravaṇa, manana and nididhyāsana for long durations and has had a
glimpse of that pure Inner Awareness. Now, he is trying to hold on to that
samādhi-experience with effort. He is trying to steady himself in that inner
experience by withdrawing the senses like a tortoise withdraws its limbs.
‘hi api’ means ‘even for.’ The mind of even such a striver is violently
shaken by the unruly senses when bombarded by sense objects from
outside. Madhusudana Saraswati Swami says, “The word ‘hi’ expresses a
well-known fact. It is indeed well-known in the world that, just as powerful
robbers who violently overpower a rich man and his guard and steal away
his wealth before his very eyes, similarly, the organs too carry away the
mind when in the proximity of sense objects.” There is a famous śloka
about this:

कामः क्रोधश्च लोभश्च देहे तिष्ठन्ति तस्कराः।

ज्ञानरत्नापहाराय तस्माज्जाग्रत जाग्रत॥ Vai.Din.

Here, lo! Be on your guard. Be watchful. Three robbers hide in the body,
intent on looting the diamond of Self-knowledge. They are lust, anger and
greed.
puruṣasya—of a man with immense willpower. Paurusham means
tremendous free will. And he is not just an ordinary purusha; he is a
vipaścit—he knows the śāstras; he is highly intelligent. Bhagavan says that
even such a person’s mind could be forcefully swept away by the senses—
prasabhaṃ manaḥ. prasabham means violently, by force. The senses pull
back even such seekers to the turbulent surface and put them on the
grinding wheel of suffering. Even though by śravaṇa, one has heard the
Ātmatattva, and by manana, one is able to hold on to that experience for
longer intervals, the senses that bring in storms of passion, disturb that state.
This is a stage that a sādhaka must cross over before he is established in the
state of a sthitaprajña.
Here, Bhagavan addresses Arjuna as kaunteya since his mother Kunti had
witnessed how Pandu (Arjuna’s father) had become infatuated with his
other wife Madri, which proved fatal for him. This was despite the fact that
he had performed immense tapas in the Himalayas; also, he was well aware
of the curse that forewarned his death if he succumbed to the pull of the
senses.
indriyāṇi pramāthīni
pramāthīni means pramathana-śīlāni. It means those that churn. Mathana
means churning. The senses are pramāthīni as they create churning within
us. When a powerful stimulus appears outside, the storm of passion that
arises within churns the whole body. It is as if the entire nervous system
goes through an attrition. It affects the vitality in every cell. Hence
Ayurveda says, ‘sarva-śarīragata-oja’. The energy in the whole body—not
just from one part—is squeezed out by the senses. Such sensory storms just
sweep the person off his feet even if he is an intelligent one—a vipaścit, a
knower of the Upanishads and the Yogaśāstra. The senses will not change
their nature even in such a one. Hence Bhagavan says, “Be alert—jāgrata.”
This is being said not to frighten the
THE POWER THAT RUNS sādhaka but to warn him to be careful.
Here, the Divine Mother Gita, who is
OUR SĀDHANĀ much more compassionate than a
biological mother, is safeguarding the
SMOOTHLY IS NOT THE
devotee. Upon reading this verse, a
POWER OF THE EGO, IT sādhaka may become apprehensive of an
IS THE POWER OF impending fall at every step. However, a
true sādhaka is one who has faith in the
GRACE. power of Divine Grace. Such a one will
never fall. Bhagavan says in the
Bhagavata, “A real devotee will not fall.
That is My responsibility.” Later in the Gita, the Lord declares, “My
devotee shall never fall.”* Fall occurs only when we are overconfident. The
power that runs our sādhanā smoothly is not the power of the ego; it is the
power of Grace.
Thus, in this verse, we have seen that the peace of meditation can be
polluted by a sudden tsunami of passion which could shock even a well-
disciplined sādhaka. What is the way out then? This is revealed in the next
verse.

2.61 तानि सर्वाणि संयम्य युक्त आसीत मत्परः।

वशे हि यस्येन्द्रियाणि तस्य प्रज्ञा प्रतिष्ठिता॥
Restraining and withdrawing all the senses, let the yogi remain absorbed,
intent on Me. Such a one alone, for whom all the senses are under control,
has the steadiness of Realisation.

The word yukta is the heart of this verse. We will see this term repeated
many times in the following chapters. The state in which the mind abides in
the Self unswervingly without any desire is yukta. This is defined clearly in
verse 6.18, “yadā viniyataṃ cittam… When the disciplined mind rests in
the Self alone, without any desire, then is one said to be a yuktaḥ—
established in yoga.”
We have already seen how the turbulent senses abduct the mind—
prasabhaṃ manaḥ. With extreme vigilance, a sādhaka must collect his
mind from all the objects into which it has scattered. First, the mind should
be convinced about the suicidal madness with which it runs towards the
objects. The unethical and immoral drives must be restrained fully to give a
turn towards the Divine within.
Only when the mind gets an intimation about the beauty and joy of
Ātmānubhava will it trust the intellect and withdraw into the Heart-centre.
Here comes the need for mystical experiences. Unless the mind is weaned
from sensory objects by the intimation of a higher bliss of samādhi, it will
not easily renounce its obsession with the world. The Bhagavata says that
when the attachment to the Divine becomes intense, worldly attachment
drops off naturally—“itara-rāga-vismāraṇam.” Sage Narada says,* “By
knowing which he becomes ecstatic with bliss, becomes as if frozen with
love, and revels in the Self.” If a sādhaka gets even a taste of that inner
bliss, he will no longer get infatuated by the sensory objects.
Withdrawing the senses when one is young, and the senses are powerful,
requires tremendous courage. What is the force which will help with this?
The immense thirst for experiencing the Infinite. Driven by such an intense
longing for the Divine, one gives up all sensory pursuits and incessantly
meditates on It.
For a sādhaka, all this might appear like an insurmountable Himalayan
peak. But this is only until his head touches the feet of an Enlightened
Master. Once the seeker gets the association of a Realised Being, the
journey inward becomes one of sheer joy. See what the profound Sruti Gita
of the Bhagavata says,

विजितहृषीकवायुभिरदान्तमनस्तुरगं
य इह यतन्ति यन्तुमतिलोलमुपायखिदः।
व्यसनशतान्विताः समवहाय गुरोश्चरणं
 वणिज इवाज सन्त्यकृ तकर्णधरा जलधौ॥ SB 10.87.33

The mind is like an unruly horse running helter-skelter. Even mighty yogis
who have regulated their senses and breath fail in harnessing this horse.
Those who try to control the mind by themselves without surrendering at the
feet of the Illumined Master encounter hundreds of obstacles in the spiritual
path. They jump from one spiritual practice to another, but alas, each time,
it only results in the agony of failure. O Birthless One, such seekers are like
seafarers who are directionless in the ocean, without a good helmsman to
guide them.
Under the guidance of an authentic Spiritual Master, the senses are like
Arjuna’s horses—which are an absolute marvel in the warfield—in the
hands of that divine charioteer. Again and again, the sādhaka must fold the
senses inward, collect the energy that is scattered through them and remain
absorbed in the Inner Being. Until the outer doors of perception are well-
sealed, this imperceptible mystical worship will be constantly disturbed by
the roaring flow of the five rivers of passion. Only to the yogi who has put
his senses in order will the flame of inner illumination remain flicker-less.
If we do not deal with the senses, there is every chance of our falling further
and further down and becoming completely lost. It happens gradually—step
by step. Unconsciously, we slide down. The following few verses portray
this pitiful state of a sādhaka.

ध्यायतो विषयान्पुंसः सङ्गस्तेषूपजायते।

2.62–63 सङ्गात्सञ्जायते कामः कामात्क्रोधोऽभिजायते॥
क्रोधाद्भवति सम्मोहः सम्मोहात्स्मृतिविभ्रमः।
स्मृतिभ्रंशाद्बुद्धिनाशो बुद्धिनाशात्प्रणश्यति॥
Brooding on the objects of senses, man develops attachment to them; from
attachment comes desire; from desire sprouts forth anger. From anger
proceeds delusion; from delusion, confused memory (forgetfulness of
spiritual knowledge); from confused memory, the ruin of reason
(discrimination); due to the ruin of reason, he perishes.
Inner steadiness is what we are seeking. The last word of upadeśa of
Krishna in the Gita is sthānaṃ prāpsyasi śāśvatam—you will get stabilised
in a steady plane of spiritual experience. If observed carefully, we will find
that neither the body nor the mind can give us such steadiness. Though we
think we are living in the physical body, eighty percent of our life resides in
the subtle body, which includes the senses, the mind, the intellect and the
ego. Unlike the physical body, the mental body is spread out infinitely into
the past and the future. Only when we note this will we wake up to the
seriousness of the problem. Suffering does not end with death. The whole
round of pain and pleasure is to be undergone again and again if one fails to
get out of this wheel of saṃsāra. “Hence, great effort must be employed in
cleansing the mind.”*
A seeker of freedom should, with earnest effort, purify his mind. “Quietude
of mind is the supreme yoga,” says the Bhagavata. † Unless one achieves
this, any amount of clarity in the intellect will not give peace. Mere
intellectualisation will burn the very fibre of the intellect. Many are the
intellectual giants who became cerebral zeroes in the final days of their
lives. Hence, to elevate the mind, it is important that the understanding of
the scriptures is accompanied by spiritual practices.
In these five verses starting with this one, such powerful guidance is given
by Bhagavan that one would feel that nothing more remains to be said
regarding the mind. The sequence in which a sādhaka might fall from his
meditative state is described clearly. We have personally seen many
sādhakas who had performed tremendous austerities but ultimately
succumbed to some sensory pleasures and fell from those celestial heights.
Such cases are not few, and in all of them, the cause of fall is this addiction
to the mental drug of brooding over sensory objects. Mind itself is a drug.

मनो नाम महाव्याघ्रो विषयारण्यभूमिषु।

चरत्यत्र न गच्छन्तु साधवो ये मुमुक्षवः॥ Vi.Cu. 178

In the forest tract of sense-pleasures, there prowls a giant tiger called the
mind. Let good people who have a longing for Liberation never go there.
dhyāyato viṣayān puṃsaḥ saṅgasteṣūpajāyate
The very nature of the mind is to think. In fact, the mind is nothing but
thoughts. Constant thought-ing is mind. Do you ever think of the horn of a
hare? No, because you know it does not exist. How often do you think
about the welfare of a distant acquaintance who lives far away? Not often,
because you have no strong connection to him. Herein lies the secret—
when we have the conviction that something is not real or we have no
particular attachment to something, then the mind will not think about it.
For a Jñāni, the world and its objects are like the illusory waters seen in a
mirage. He knows them to be unreal and hence does not think about them.
Bhagavan says in this verse that the reverse is also true—if we constantly
pour the oil of recollection into the fire of thought, the mind will blaze forth
as attachment. They are mutually regenerating. Attachment makes us think,
and thinking makes us get attached deeper. By themselves, thoughts are not
dangerous. But repeated thoughts about the same thing or person means ‘a
fall is lurking’ around the corner! When the mind starts relishing this game
of thought-ing, when you find yourself repeatedly thinking about something
or someone, catch hold of it in the root form and destroy that thinking at
once. Otherwise, such brooding will soon weave a large web of attachment.

विषयेष्वाविशच्चेतः सङ्कल्पयति तद्गुणान्।

सम्यक्सङ्कल्पनात्कामः कामात्पुंसः प्रवर्तनम्॥
ततः स्वरूपविभ्रंशो विभ्रष्टस्तु पतत्यधः।
पतितस्य विना नाशं पुनर्नारोह ईक्ष्यते।
सङ्कल्पं वर्जयेत्तस्मात्सर्वानर्थस्य कारणम्॥ Vi.Cu. 326–328

The mind that is attached to the sense objects reflects on their qualities;
from such constant brooding arises desire, and after desiring, a man sets
about possessing that thing. Through inadvertence, a man deviates from his
real nature, and the man who has thus deviated, falls. The fallen man comes
to ruin and is scarcely seen to rise again. Therefore, one should give up
brooding over the sense objects, which is the root of all mischief.
Mostly we are attached to thinking itself. Many ask, ‘How to be without
thoughts?’ They are terrified when told to give up thoughts. Bhagavan
Ramana declares, “To think is not your real nature.” We do not need
thoughts to be alive. In deep sleep, we were pure bliss, devoid of any
thoughts. That indeed is an intimation from the Divine, given to us every
day. Rigorous refusal to harbour thoughts is a powerful spiritual practice for
an advanced seeker.

saṅgāt sañjāyate kāmaḥ

From attachment comes desire, lust, and hunger to possess the object of
attachment. A longing arises to meet, to be with, and to own—thus goes the
fastest road to destruction. If our desire is obstructed by someone or by
destiny, it gives rise to sheer desperation, frustration and anger—kāmāt
krodho'bhijāyate. When the desire is obstructed, it transforms into krodha,
anger. Ayurveda says, “tridosha-kopa—the three elements kapha, vāta and
pitta are disturbed.” Eventually, the anger leads to complete delusion in
understanding—krodhād-bhavati sammohaḥ. Once anger erodes the inner
peace, the intellect becomes insensitive, and the smoke of delusion covers
the vision. There is no mindfulness anymore.
The next step is pathetic—sammohāt smṛti-vibhramaḥ. All the scriptural
knowledge that one has gained, all the great souls who have helped the
sādhaka in understanding dharma and Jñāna, are all forgotten here—smṛti-
vibhramaḥ. The purpose of memory is to learn from the past experiences of
ourselves and of others. If that is lost, then that essential guide is gone.
Then the vyavasāyātmikā buddhi—spiritual resolve—is annihilated—smṛti-
bhramśāt buddhi-nāśaḥ. The spiritual goal is forgotten, and compromise
sets in.
buddhi-nāśāt praṇaśyati—the
RIGOROUS REFUSAL TO annihilation of spiritual enthusiasm is
indeed the greatest tragedy that could
HARBOUR THOUGHTS IS happen. buddhi-nāśa indeed is the
A POWERFUL SPIRITUAL complete ruin of a person. Buddhi means
right reasoning, which, once employed,
PRACTICE. anon curbs the senses and the mind. Lack
of right reasoning destroys śraddhā,
which leads to loss of bhakti, which in
turn destroys dhyāna. Devout faith, devotion and the power to meditate are
declared by the śāstras as the means to Liberation.* Once these are
destroyed, it leads to utter ruin.
In this verse, the crucial point is sammoha which means complete delusion.
Delusion is the real fall. It happens due to the constant evil contact,
dussaṅga, which leads to contemplation on the sensory objects. It veils our
understanding of the scriptures—viveka-śakti—and makes us perform
wrong actions. When a deluded person becomes angry, he will utter harsh
words even to his Guru or elderly people. Hanuman says,

क्रुद्धः पापं न कु र्यात्कः क्रुद्धो हन्याद्गुरूनपि।

क्रुद्धः परुषया वाचा नरस्साधूनधिक्षिपेत्॥ Va.Ra. 5.55.4

Which sinful act will an angry man not commit? He will even kill his
respectable elders or insult sages with his harsh tongue.
Hence Vivekachudamani says, “moha eva mahāmṛtyuḥ—infatuation is
verily the great death.”
Brooding over the objects of senses
Attachment to them arises in huge tides
This drinking of the harmful dreamy wine
Leads one to the hunger to indulge
Unfulfilment unleashes wildfire of anger
Sheer madness perturbs the equanimity of mind!
Delusion overrides one’s intelligence
Recollection of the Master fades
His teaching recedes into oblivion
Alas, the chariot runs headlong
Into the abysmal pit of annihilation!

Now let us interpret these two ślokas from a unique perspective. The
Bhagavata says when the same power that contemplates on the vishayas is
turned towards the Lord, it will lead to Liberation.

विषयान्ध्यायतश्चित्तं विषयेषु विषज्जते।

 मामनुस्मरतश्चित्तं मय्येव प्रविलीयते॥ SB 11.14.27

The mind that meditates on sense objects will get attached to them, and the
mind that constantly meditates on Me, merges in Me.
In this verse, the Lord says that a worldly mind ‘meditates’ on sensory
objects. In contrast, a discriminative sādhaka, instead of dwelling on
worldly matters, seeks out the company of wise ones and meditates on the
divine qualities of the Lord—dhyāyato viṣayān puṃsaḥ. This is a sure
sign of spiritual blossoming.

सङ्गो यः संसृतेर्हेतुरसत्सु विहितोऽधिया।

स एव साधुषु कृ तो निःसङ्गत्वाय कल्पते॥ SB 3.23.55

If one remains in the company of worldly people (the ignorant), one gets
mired more and more in saṃsāra. However, keeping the company of sages
and saints, leads to non-attachment to the material world.
After tasting satsaṅga, gradually, the sādhaka’s mind develops an affinity
for them—saṅgasteṣūpajāyate. Soon, his life is filled with all things divine
—the company of sādhus, devout study of scriptures, various uplifting
sādhanās, meditating on God, living in solitude, pilgrimages, and so on.
saṅgāt sañjāyate kāmaḥ—when sāttvik qualities bloom within, a longing
arises to dive deeper and deeper into all that is spiritual; a strong passion—
kāmaḥ—develops towards God. The mind dwells deeply on the Lord and
remembers Him constantly. This is bhakti. Soon, he gets detached from all
worldly and materialistic pursuits, and an aversion develops towards them
—kāmāt krodho'bhijāyate. Dispassion—vairāgya—arises in him. (Here,
we are interpreting kāma as bhakti and krodha as vairāgya.)
He contemplates deeply on the words of the Realised Ones, and through the
strength of that manana, he recognises the illusory nature of the pleasure-
giving objects of the world. Delusion is no more; nirmohatva takes the
place of sammohaḥ.

सत्सङ्गत्वे निस्सङ्गत्वं निस्सङ्गत्वे निर्मोहत्वम्।

 निर्मोहत्वे निश्चलतत्त्वं निश्चलतत्त्वे जीवन्मुक्तिः॥ Bha.Go. 9

Sankaracharya says that satsaṅga leads to non-attachment, and non-

attachment leads to the state free of delusion, which leads one to the abode
of Absolute Stillness. When delusion is removed, the mind no longer runs
towards the objects. Hence there is no oscillation of the mind. Thus it
naturally becomes still and reposes in the Self. This is niścala-tattva. A
person whose mind reposes in the Self uninterruptedly is a jīvanmukta.
“The intellect becomes still as the Atman,” says Sankaracharya in the
commentary.* This still intellect is buddhi—intelligence.
When the mind contemplates on sensory topics, there is smṛti-vibhramaḥ
—forgetfulness of our divine nature. When it contemplates on the Divine,
Ātma-smṛti—remembrance of the Atman—is awakened. Arjuna says,
“Delusion has been lost and remembrance of the Atman gained.”* “By the
recollection of one’s real nature, one becomes free from all bondage and
becomes liberated.” † “From morning to night, spend your time in
contemplation of Vedānta.”‡ This is the instruction.
From the moment we wake up in the morning until we sleep next, we
should not give space to anything else. Along with each thought comes the
ego, and along with the ego, there will be the remembrance of sense
objects. It is in order to avoid this, we are advised thus:

निद्राया लोकवार्तायाः शब्दादेरपि विस्मृतेः।

क्वचिन्नावसरं दत्त्वा चिन्तयात्मानमात्मनि॥ Vi.Cu. 287

Without giving the slightest chance to oblivion on account of sleep, concern

in secular matters, or the sense objects, reflect on the Self by the Self.
One is likely to slip away from meditation on the Self due to insensitivity,
over-involvement in worldly matters, gossiping about worldly matters, or
too much entertainment. We should be careful not to give even a little bit of
power to any of these, and thus stay fixed in meditation on the Self. From
morning to night, from birth to death, we have only one currency— ‘time’.
Time is very precious; time is life. When rightly employed, time is God.
When wrongly employed, time is saṃsāra. It leads to suffering.
The Bhagavata says that it is the same principle that takes the three forms of
kāla, svabhāva and karma—time, one’s character, and action. It is in time
that activity and thinking happen. It is within time (kāla) that according to
our nature (svabhāva or vāsanās), we get involved in action (karma) and
get bound by it. Hence, we must remember that time is divine—Bhagavat-
svarūpa—and spend all our time in meditation on the Lord. When there is
gain of divine remembrance, hṛdaya-granthi breaks asunder, and the mind
and the ego are annihilated—praṇaśyati. Thus there is great gain. He attains
moksha and becomes free.

2.64 रागद्वेषवियुक्तै स्तु विषयानिन्द्रियैश्चरन्।

आत्मवश्यैर्विधेयात्मा प्रसादमधिगच्छति॥
But, the disciplined yogi, moving among the objects with senses under
control, and free from attraction and aversion, gains tranquillity.

We have already discussed the method of withdrawing the senses from the
objects and keeping the full attention on the Self. This yoga needs
tremendous vigilance and energy. To shut out the outside world and to
silently ‘Be the Self’ is samādhi. However, as long as prārabdha is not
over, the ego and the mind will emerge powerfully, pushing the yogi’s
senses to the surface. A person who has bathed in the sacred light of the
Inner Being will never again get involved with the objects of the world. On
the one side, he beholds his real nature, and on the other, he is active in his
svadharma. “It is like a person seated on the threshold of a house,” says Sri
Ramakrishna, “He can see both the inside and the outside.” Ramakrishna
calls this bhāva-mukha. This indeed is the state of a sthitaprajña.
Many illumined souls worked in the world perfectly in such a state.
Sankaracharya achieved immense work in that state and yet was ever
claiming that he did ‘no action!’ Swami Vivekananda, who brought about a
spiritual revolution, moved about with all kinds of people, yet remained
untarnished, ever the sannyāsi that he was. More than that, the more he
turned out the work given by His Master, the more absorbed in meditation
his mind became. This is a perfect example of this śloka in action. Only in
such a state will the world not touch you.
Swami Vivekananda wrote to one of his disciples, “Sister, I have drunk
from that divine potion which makes the world a zero, and man, God.” Yes,
that is the secret. We know the story of Janaka, who lived as a king and yet
was a jīvanmukta, a videha—body-less. In the Ashtavakra Gita, he has
declared his inner state of freedom from all contacts—asparśa-yoga. Of
course, these examples are of perfect beings. But therein lies the clue for a
seeker of freedom to escape. He cannot learn this kauśalam—the art of not
getting hurt by the senses or the objects—from a worldly person. He must
absorb this state from a true yogi.

tu vidheyātmā
The word ‘tu’ is used to differentiate between the person described in the
previous verse and this one. There, we saw how a person falls by getting
caught in the maze of objects. Here, since the person is prepared inwardly,
we see how his mind can remain calm, even amidst sense objects. Such a
perfectly controlled person—vidheyātmā—accepts the pleasure and pain
from sensory objects with equanimity—sama-buddhi. ‘sukha-duḥkha-
sama’ as we have already discussed.
ātma-vaśyaiḥ—this happens by deep innering in the Atman. ātma-vaśa
means under the sway of the Self. It is as if one has been possessed by the
Self, and hence is secure in the hands of the higher power. Such a person’s
senses are also tamed by intelligence. They are perfectly under control, like
the horses reined in by Krishna.
rāgadveṣaviyuktaiḥ indriyaiḥ—with senses free from attraction and
repulsion. This is the mantra that can put a spell on the serpents of objects.
A perfectly controlled person has insulated himself from the spell of
sensory objects. If we harbour attachments, the objects will enter us. And if
we hold aversion, they will enter us more powerfully. A yogi has neither
attachment nor aversion to the sense objects as he knows they do not really
exist. They are as unreal as the water seen in a mirage. Knowing this truth,
he moves about with complete control over the senses, without attachment
and aversion.
In unambiguous language, Bhagavan says, viṣayān caran—such a person
can move amidst the sense objects. Sankaracharya says, “It is not that he
runs after the objects to fall headlong into them. He makes use only of such
objects as are unavoidable and are not prohibited by the śāstras—
avarjanīyān. He does not gain gratification from them but puts such objects
to their proper use.” Note that this is what makes the difference. The
sādhaka does not use this śloka as a licence to do as he pleases. On the
contrary, he avoids engaging in sensory pursuits as much as possible,
entering into only such interactions as he deems absolutely necessary. “He
interacts as required for either family or bodily needs alone,” says the
Bhagavata.*
When a sādhaka moves about in the sensory arena with such a trained
mind, his mind becomes placid—prasādam adhigacchati. Sankaracharya
has translated this beautifully as ‘svāsthyam’, which generally means
healthy, wholesome. It also means our real nature—abiding as we are. Such
a person abides in svam—in his own Self—where he becomes perfectly
restful, svastha. That is prasāda.
To hold to that state of prasannatā while living in the world is the greatest
austerity. Bhagavan describes this later as ‘manaḥ prasādaḥ,’
‘saumyatvam,’ and so on (BG17.16).

2.65 प्रसादे सर्वदुःखानां हानिरस्योपजायते।

प्रसन्नचेतसो ह्याशु बुद्धिः पर्यवतिष्ठते॥
In tranquillity, all his sorrows are annihilated. When the mind becomes
tranquil, his intellect soon abides in the Self.

sarvaduḥkhānāṃ hāniḥ—dissolution of all sorrows. This is the greatest

declaration. When the mind becomes placid, all sorrows are annihilated.
This is the supreme sacred goal for which all sādhakas, nay, every creature,
strives consciously or unconsciously.
To be utterly free of sorrow and suffering is the goal of all śāstras. The
body is a duḥkha. The mind is a duḥkha. The ego is a duḥkha. As long as
we are associated with these upādhis, duḥkha is certain. When there is
absolutely no association with the upādhis, prasāda happens—one becomes
tranquil. This is freedom from contact with suffering—duḥkhasaṃyoga-
viyogam. In reality, the Self has no association with suffering. Duḥkha-
saṃyoga—association with those that cause suffering—is only assumed.
Thus, when the right understanding dawns, viyoga or separation is natural.
The Self has no connection with the body, the mind, or the ego. Once this is
realised, buddhiḥ paryavatiṣṭhate—buddhi abides in the Self. The buddhi
recognises that it is no more the buddhi; it is the Atman, the Self. Then
peace dawns.
All duḥkhas are eradicated when the
THE ONE IN WHICH mind becomes prasanna—tranquil. When
all duḥkhas are rooted out, the pleasant
BOTH THESE—THE state that follows is prasāda. It is
RECOGNITION OF THE certainly the state of the highest yoga—
Ātmasthiti. It is Jñāna. Hence Bhagavan
SELF AND THE says, prasannacetaso hyāśu buddhiḥ
PLACIDITY OF THE MIND paryavatiṣṭhate. When the mind is
tranquil, the buddhi gets established in
—ARE PRESENT the Supreme, the Self, Brahman. Thus the
SIMULTANEOUSLY IS A buddhi is established in the Self, and the
mind is poised. This is the ideal state of a
JĪVANMUKTA. yogi. It is perfection. This is not knowing
about the Self merely intellectually while
allowing the mind to run amok, nor is it simply quietening the mind through
some technique without the right awareness of the Self—these will not give
the fulfilment of jñāna. The one in which both these—the recognition of the
Self and the placidity of the mind—are present simultaneously is a
jīvanmukta.
prasanna-cetasaḥ—tranquil-minded. This is the goal of a sādhaka. The
mind must somehow become peaceful. Peace is the very nature of the Self.
It is the mind that clouds over that peace. When the mind becomes quiet,
peace is uncovered. A mind free of sensory cravings is pleasant and glides
easily into the beyond. It quickly—āśu—reposes in the Self. To attain this
Supreme Realisation, we need not run away from the sensory objects. What
needs to be done is to train ourselves to live our life without attachments or
aversion. We should habituate the mind to remain in yoga, even while
working in the world. yogasthaḥ kuru—we have already seen this phrase.
This is the way. “Such a one will have kṛta-kṛtyatā,” says Sankaracharya.
He will have the feeling of fulfilment, blessedness, and the feeling that
whatever had to be done is done.
pari avatiṣṭhate—it abides in the
WHEN THE MIND IS
Beyond, in the Self. In the beautiful
words of Acharya,* “Like the infinite
FILLED WITH space, that mind abides as the Self. It
THOUGHTS, WE FAIL TO becomes still as the Self—niścalī-
bhavati.” When this powerful meditative
RECOGNISE THE simile is read, at that very moment, the
SUBSTRATUM. WHEN mind peeps into the Infinite. ‘The very
nature of the Self is boundless like
THE MIND BECOMES space’ † is a phrase used by
PEACEFUL, THE ‘I’ IS Sankaracharya. The Bhagavata uses the
same simile—‘yathā kham.’ Kham means
NO MORE LOCALISED; IT
ether, space. The Upanishad too says,
IS NO MORE THE “ākāśa-śarīram”. It means that the
infinite space is his body. What is being
LIMITED EGO. IT conveyed through such expressions is that
REVEALS ITSELF AS THE when the seeker recognises his Self, he
comes to know that he is body-less, mind-
SUPREME—ĪŚVARA. less, ego-less; he is the Immeasurable.
Only when the limitations are gone,
suffering ends. “bhūmaiva sukham,” says the Upanishad. Fulfilment is
possible only in the Infinite. “When you do not see the other, that is Bhūma
—the Infinite. When you see the other, it is finite, pettiness, death,” says the
Śruti. When the mind is filled with thoughts, we fail to recognise the
Substratum. When the mind becomes peaceful, the ‘I’ is no more localised;
it is no more the limited ego. It reveals itself as the Supreme—Īśvara. That
is supreme Abidance—paryavatiṣṭhate.
Until one attains the state of complete cessation of sorrow and feels the
blessed state of peace, the spiritual journey has not reached its conclusion.
As long as even a trace of the ego remains, spiritual practices are necessary.
When the ego is extinguished completely, the sādhaka disappears, and that
is Nirvāṇa. That is the supreme state of abidance of the Self. The following
śloka from Vivekachudamani is like a commentary for these two verses.

बाह्ये निरुद्धे मनसः प्रसन्नता मनःप्रसादे परमात्मदर्शनम्।

तस्मिन्सुदृष्टे भवबन्धनाशो बहिर्निरोधः पदवी विमुक्तेः॥ Vi.Cu. 337

When the external world is shut out, the mind becomes pleasant, and the
placidity of the mind brings on the vision of the Supreme Self—Paramātmā.
When It is perfectly realised, the chain of birth and death is broken. Hence,
shutting out of the external world is the stepping-stone to Liberation.

2.66 नास्ति बुद्धिरयुक्तस्य न चायुक्तस्य भावना।

न चाभावयतः शान्तिरशान्तस्य कु तः सुखम्॥
There is no one-pointed attention in the unsteady. For such a distracted
person, bhāvanā (a meditative state of mind) is also not possible. For the
unmeditative, there is no peace. And how can the peaceless enjoy
happiness?

Abidance in the Self—Ātmanishṭhā—is the last word of the śāstras. One

word from the Master can make the disciple abide in the Atman. It is that
simple. On the other hand, even if we toil our whole life, that might not
happen. Hence it seems as if nothing is more difficult.
Though this looks like a contradiction, in reality, there is no contradiction at
all. Indeed, Self-Realisation is simple, provided the person is a devotee.
When devotion blooms within, the highest attainment is so simple! Without
devotion, even if we put in herculean effort—‘yatataḥ api’ as we have seen
—it will be only to knock at the wall of destiny and fall. This is the message
of this verse.
In this verse, Bhagavan uses the word yukta once again. One whose mind
swerves not from the Self is a yukta. As we saw in the previous verse,
Sankaracharya, the omniscient commentator, said, ‘ātmasvarūpeṇa niścalī
bhavati’, which means the mind abides as the Self; it becomes still as the
Self. When the mind becomes still, it is the Atman, the Self. And when there
is any movement in the Self, there the mind is born. The mind does not
exist as a separate entity. It is simply a power that mysteriously manifests in
the Self and again disappears in the Self through right understanding.
When the Self reveals Itself from within,
all sufferings come to an end. The Grace
IT IS ONLY WHEN THE
of the Atman gives a push to the mind
POWER OF THE SELF from without in the form of the Guru and
pulls the mind from within towards the
OPERATES THAT THE
Centre through contemplation. It is only
MIND MOVES TOWARDS when the power of the Self operates that
THE CENTRE AND the mind moves towards the Centre and
abides there in stillness. Without this
ABIDES THERE IN inner peace, the buddhi will not be
STILLNESS. steady; it will not be clear in its hold of
the knowledge.
The bhāshyakāra says, “ayuktasya means
one whose mind is not samāhita—tranquil, meditative.”*
na ca ayuktasya bhāvanā—to the one who is not tuned to the Self, the
strange fascination for the Transcendental will not arise. † bhāvanā is
bhakti.
Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi says,

भावशून्यसद्भावसुस्थितिः।
भावनाबलाद्भक्तिरुत्तमा॥ Upa.Sa. 9

Firm abidance in simple existence by the power of bhāvanā—meditation—

is supreme devotion.
In this verse, the Sage uses the word bhāvanā-balam—the strength of
bhāvanā. bhāvanā is the first intimation of spiritual blooming. It is an
indication that one has been chosen by the Self. It is the flowering of
meditation. In this state, initiated by the power of the Atman, meditation
happens naturally from within. Much before Realisation, the sādhaka gets
the intimation of something which is supremely sacred, incorruptible,
immeasurable, and beyond the ken of the limited intellect. Very quickly, this
power of brooding meditation pulls the mind out of the slush of worldliness.
Then the mind settles gently in the simple Existence, experienced as the ‘I
AM’. The meditation—‘I am the all-pervading Eternal, Pure Self’—
naturally happens in the seeker, even in the first stage of listening to the
Upanishads from an Illumined Master. Through such constant
contemplation, the mind sinks into the Self. The mind ceases to be mind.
Pure bliss is revealed. There, all bhāvas—contemplations—are absorbed
into the Inner Being as they have fulfilled their purpose. This, the Maharshi
says, is supreme devotion—parā-bhakti.
For a seeker who is starting out on the spiritual path, bhāvanā-bala is
sādhanā-bhakti—devotion at an emotional level, without Self-knowledge.
In the beginning stage, a bhakta’s concept of God is only in his emotional
plane. He may not have a clear hold on the Awareness. He may not know
the truth that what he is attracted to is his own Self. Yet, the pull of the Self
is immense. This is bhāvanā. Soon Bhagavan, who is within him as his
own Atman, will bestow the highest knowledge.
na ca abhāvayataḥ śāntiḥ—without bhakti, surrender will not happen. It is
only when there is surrender that peace reveals itself. Without peace, where
is happiness—aśāntasya kutaḥ sukham? Here happiness, sukham, means
Ātmānubhūti, Self-Realisation.
This one sentence, ‘aśāntasya kutaḥ sukham’, is perhaps Krishna’s
question to all of us. If we lose peace, all our outer success, whatever it may
be, will only result in inner failure. Śānti is the final word in spiritual life. It
is indeed the final upadeśa of the Gita too. In the eighteenth chapter,
Bhagavan concludes the teaching with ‘tat prasādāt parām śāntim—by His
grace, you shall attain supreme peace.’
In this verse, Bhagavan has said that someone who is not a yukta has
neither buddhi nor bhāvanā. And without bhāvanā, there is no peace. That
is the order found in this verse. But what we experience in life may be like
the following. First comes bhāvanā—an intimation of the Divine; a
transcendental joy blooms within. Soon it solidifies as buddhi, as niśchaya,
conviction of the Self. Then it leads to śānti, samādhi. And finally, there
comes absolute fulfilment, where there is no anya-bhāva, no other-ness, and
no suffering, and that is sukham—happiness.
SOME SPECIAL POINTS
YUKTA
Yukta can be interpreted as ‘karma-yoga-yukta’—one who is yoked to
karma-yoga. If yukta is taken as a person who worships the Lord through
action—a karma-yogi—then karma-yoga-yukta means the one whose mind
has become pure by offering the fruits of his action to the Lord. When the
mind is sufficiently purified, vyavasāyātmikā buddhi arises within, and the
Inner Being leads him to higher knowledge. His intellect is now anchored in
the unchanging, eternal Self. In such a one, bhāvanā dawns. The power of
the Atman starts playing in his mind, and the mind starts embracing the Self
naturally. The seeker enters states of samādhi often. This is the dawn of
parābhakti. His mind abides still in the Atman. In the beginning, this is not
steady; there are only spasmodic experiences. Through constant practice,
the mind gets habituated to staying in the higher plane. Again and again, it
takes a dip in the sacred waters of meditation, and soon, like ice melting
into the ocean, it loses itself in Supreme Peace—śānti. Here, the ego is no
more. He expands infinitely to the timeless, spaceless realm. Absolute
fulfilment happens. ‘sukham’ is the word used here to denote this.
yukta, buddhi, bhāvanā, śānti and sukham are the words used in this verse.
They indicate karma-yoga, vyavasāyātmikā buddhi, bhakti, samādhi and
advaitātma-bhāva, respectively.

*
The word yukta has another meaning given by Bhagavan Himself. In the
verse, ‘yuktāhara vihārasya’ (6.17), Bhagavan has used this word to mean
moderation. If we take that meaning here, this verse reveals another aspect
of sādhanā. One who is not moderate and disciplined in his food, sleep,
recreation, and other physical and mental habits will not have an intellect
which is pure and sharp enough to pursue Self-inquiry. For such a person,
bhāvanā, meditation, is impossible. Without a clear vision of the Truth and
the right kind of meditation, one’s inner quest will not touch the experience
of samādhi or śānti. Without peace, where is happiness?

IMPORTANCE OF SENSE-CONTROL
The most important is the control of the senses. Unless the senses are
controlled, the inner experience will not become steady. Control does not
mean that the senses are to be curtailed forcefully; it means that they are
used only as needed and not more. They are not entertained or stimulated
unnecessarily. If the senses are disciplined in this manner, they no longer
disturb the mind, and the mind attains peace. On the other hand, if we over-
indulge in the senses, these five doors of perception will constantly create
chaos within. They will not allow the Self-knowledge that we have received
from the Guru or the scriptures to become our own experience. Peace will
not happen. The śānti which we have discussed in this verse is samādhi.
Unless the senses are controlled, one’s understanding remains unclear; it
does not become steady. Unless the understanding is steady, the bhāvanā—
meditation—will not be effective. Unless meditation is effective, real śānti,
samādhi, is impossible. And if śānti is not there, however mighty a scholar
one might be, what use is it?
Hence, the first step is to put the senses in order. Otherwise, one becomes
like a multifaced goblin, being pulled in various directions by the five
senses and the mind. There is no peace. One is not able to hold on to the
sthānam—the stable ground of peace within. Without inner steadiness, there
is no śānti. In the concluding chapter, Bhagavan says, “śāntim sthānam
prāpsyasi śāśvatam” (BG18.62). Therefore, śānti is sthānam, and sthānam is
śānti. We shall look at this verse in detail later.
The first centre is the sensory plane, the second is the mind, the third is the
buddhi, and the fourth is the experience of the Self. yukta means one who
has controlled the senses and made the mind tranquil; then the buddhi
becomes steady, then the heart opens, then comes Self-knowledge—the
experience of samādhi, śānti, that arises then, is sukham. ‘Infinitude alone
is happiness—bhūmaiva sukham.’ Here, sukham should be understood as
advaita-jñāna. The jīvabhāva, the individual-sense, disappears forever.

BHĀVANĀ
Some more points are unearthed when we explore the word bhāvanā. The
word bhāvanā means the plane of imagination where the mind expresses
itself freely. It is the plane of bhāva or moods. A seeker’s moods reveal the
plane in which he is operating. A devotee should protect his bhāvanā-
maṇḍala like a mother protects her child. The purpose of all our puranas,
various texts on devotion and different paths of upāsanā is to nurture this
plane of purity. It is the bhāvanā-maṇḍala of a devotee that influences
others. This bhāvanā-maṇḍala is present in a yogi and a jñāni as well. But
it is more predominant in a devotee because, for him, his whole heart lies
therein.
It is the plane of bhāvanā which fulfils the life of a devotee. The very
identification ‘I am a devotee’ happens in the bhāva-maṇḍala. This is not
egoistic identification. When a person considers himself a brāhmaṇa and
performs his dharma, that is happening in the bhāva-maṇḍala. But if he
becomes proud of his brahmin-hood, then it is mere ego.
Bhāvanā is heart. It is very tender in a sādhaka. Hence he must nurture and
protect it from getting hurt. Especially at the beginning, the plane of
bhāvanā should be nurtured and taken care of as a mother would with her
tender baby. Later on, the bhāvanā gathers power. And with that power, it
makes one transcend bhāvanā and abide in the Self. This is quite significant
in bhakti-sādhanā.
What can hurt the bhāvanā-maṇḍala? Worldly gossip, mindless
entertainment, reading disturbing material—all these can hurt our bhāvanā.
Hence the śāstras say that we should not lend our ears to anyone who
speaks ill about our Guru or saints or śāstras or our ishṭa-devatā. Bhakti
towards śāstras, towards Guru—all happen in the bhāvanā-maṇḍala. If a
seeker’s bhāvanā-maṇḍala is corrupted, it is equivalent to the death of his
spiritual life. This is why devotees are extremely careful about it. They
protect it with their whole being.

2.67 इन्द्रियाणां हि चरतां यन्मनोऽनुविधीयते।

तदस्य हरति प्रज्ञां वायुर्नावमिवाम्भसि॥
Just as the gale in the sea causes a boat to drift away, the mind that yields to
the temptation of the wandering senses carries away his discrimination.

In the previous śloka, we saw various meanings for the word yukta. But in
this śloka, we come to know that a yukta is a person who has controlled his
senses, who uses the senses without any attachment or aversion, who has
 put his senses in order—a truly integrated
soul. What will happen to someone who
WHENEVER WE
is not a yukta? This is revealed in this
INDULGE IN SENSORY verse.
PLEASURES THAT ARE harati and prajñām are the keywords
BODY-BASED, WE ARE here. Prajñā, we saw, is steady
intelligence. The Knowledge ‘I am the
AFFIRMING TO Self’ is prajñā. “prajñānam is Brahman,”
*
OURSELVES, ‘I AM THE says the Upanishad. Pure Awareness,
which is the import of the ‘I’, is prajñā.
BODY’. In the process of Self-inquiry, the ‘I’ is
segregated from the body, senses, prāṇa,
mind and intellect and is experienced as pure Awareness. This is prajñā.
Whenever we indulge in body-based sensory pleasures, we affirm to
ourselves, ‘I am the body’. How is it possible for the body-less Awareness
to stay in this prison house of contradictory knowledge? When the mind
follows the senses and starts collecting sensory rubbish through them, it
loses its prāṇa-śakti—vitality—to meditate and becomes dull. Very soon, it
abducts the awareness of the Self accrued through meditation. Here, the
prajñā has not become steady.
A jīvanmukta will never run after the objects of senses. Will an intelligent
person run to take water from a mirage? If he does so, he is deluded. Steady
prajñā happens by long duration of contemplation on the inherent Self-
experience. It becomes secure only when the obstacles created by vāsanās
are rooted out. If desires are present, his state is like that of a seafarer who
goes into the turbulent ocean in a small boat without an expert helmsman to
guide him. A storm of destiny can overturn the boat of life into the endless
bottom of the ocean of suffering. Bhagavan Ramana has used this same
analogy in his celebrated hymn Aksharamanamalai. “Guard me lest I
flounder storm-tossed like a small boat without a helmsman, O
Arunachala!Ӡ
The Bhagavata gives a conclusion to this idea thus.

नृदेहमाद्यं सुलभं सुदुर्लभं प्लवं सुकल्पं गुरुकर्णधारम्।

 मयानुकू लेन नभस्वतेरितं पुमान्भवाब्धिं न तरेत्स आत्महा॥ SB 11.20.17

Though very rare to get, this ship of a human body, very well-built, has now
become available due to his good fortune; it is captained by a competent
Guru and favoured by the wind of Lord’s Grace. If even with all these
favourable conditions, a man fails to unfurl the sails of faith and devotion—
śraddhā and bhakti—and cross the ocean of saṃsāra, he is indeed a killer
of his own spiritual self.
These verses also reveal that the safest way for a sādhaka is to take
guidance from an Enlightened Master or to hold the Lord’s feet directly.
Life is full of unpredictable storms of destiny. An unexpected terrible
sorrow or a sudden upsurge of prosperity can loot our inner peace. Hence,
to safeguard the treasure of our inner peace, we should, with all vigilance,
put the senses in order.
The safest road for this is to follow what the śāstras have prescribed.
Enjoyment should be kept within the railings defined by the śāstras. That
too must be without attachment and aversion. Along with this, we must
practise constant recollection of the Lord. All these sādhanās must be
performed with the backing of complete surrender. At every step, we must
hold on to the feet of the Lord or an Enlightened Guru. Guru is a solid
anchor to hold in this turbulent world. Each and every movement of the
sādhaka should be with the consent of a Master. Then there is no fear of
falling.
There is a point to be noted here. When the mind follows the senses, it
affects the intellect. Here the senses are not said to be the cause of the fall
of the intellect; but the mind is. This is because it is the mind that acts
through the senses, and it is subtler than the senses. Although the mind is
inferior to the intellect, the blemishes of the mind will certainly influence
the intellect. The intellect too follows the mind, falls to the plane of the
senses, and gets scattered in the objects. This is how the fall occurs—the
senses affect the mind, and the mind affects the intellect. Thus, if the
intellect fails to steer the mind as a good helmsman would, the mind will
get tossed about in all the tidal waves that arise in the ocean of life. Such a
mind will create havoc in the sensory plane.
2.68 तस्माद्यस्य महाबाहो निगृहीतानि सर्वशः।
इन्द्रियाणीन्द्रियार्थेभ्यस्तस्य प्रज्ञा प्रतिष्ठिता॥
Therefore, O mighty-armed, his cognition is well-poised, whose senses are
completely restrained from their objects.

Here Bhagavan concludes the topic of sense control by beginning this verse
with ‘tasmāt’, which means ‘hence’. Bhagavan addresses Arjuna as the
mighty-armed one—mahābāhuḥ. This is the indication that he must apply
all his powers to restrain his senses. bāhuḥ means arms. The Vedas say,*
“This hand of mine is God. In fact, it is more than God.” Here, ‘arms’
indicates rightly employed free will. When one’s willpower is guided by the
śāstras, Guru and saints, it becomes powerful enough to win over the
senses and the mind. Whether in worldly life or spiritual practice, simple
common sense will ultimately teach the lesson that an orderly sensory life is
an absolute necessity to safeguard inner peace.
tasmāt—therefore. This word is heavily loaded with a great deal of
previous findings. ‘Therefore’ implies that the seeker has already explored
life in all its aspects and has concluded what the right thing to do is. He is
no longer deluded by the hedonistic philosophy of maximum indulgence,
which ends up as the key to opening the gates of hell. The life of one who
does not restrain his senses is a tragedy. “He is like a man married to five
restless women and lives with all of them in the same room,” says Prahlada
in the Bhagavata.
Restraining the senses does not mean destroying them. The senses are
allowed to enjoy the objects within the railings of śāstras and dharma. Even
this should be without attachment and aversion. In the previous verses, we
saw that tranquillity is the fruit that Bhagavan has promised for such
conduct. Such moderate and disciplined restraint is yukta. As Buddha has
said, ‘It is the middle path.’ The Bhagavata says, “yāvadartham—that much
as is needed; that much as is not harmful.” This is the law of the wise ones.
Hence—tasmāt—with your whole energy, withdraw the senses—
nigṛhītāni. ‘Gṛha’ means to grasp. ‘Nigṛha’ means to withdraw. Withdraw
from what? sarvaśaḥ—from all sense objects. The sense objects are filtered
before being registered inside. Or they are made harmless by the power of
Jñāna.
We quote below two verses from Arunachala Aksharamanamalai of
Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi. Taking the position of a devotee or sādhaka,
the sage sings to Arunachala with his whole heart: “O Arunachala! When
the five senses, the thieves, enter my heart, are Thee not in my heart?”*
In this song, the Sage pleads to Arunachala with a powerful prayer. When
the senses are out of control, there is only one power left with the devotee—
the power of tears. ‘The sensory objects are like robbers trying to steal my
inner peace, O Arunachala.’
What is the antidote for this problem? When the objects are flowing in
through the senses, and the mind is disturbed by various images, the
sādhaka finds himself helpless, finding no way to control them. Then, what
is the way? In the next song, the devotee wakes up to the power of jñāna.
“O Arunachala! Deceiving Thee, who are One (without a second), who can
come in? This, indeed, is Thy trick!Ӡ
‘O Lord, you alone exist. It is deception, māyā, sheer ignorance to think or
conceive of anything else existing other than Thee. Neither the senses exist
nor the sense objects. All is you.’ With this advaitic vision, the senses are
controlled, or rather, made to disappear, deified. The Upanishads declare,
“One alone is, there is no second.”* “Here exists not any plurality.” † When
this powerful Jñāna becomes alive within, the senses grasp only the Atman.
That, indeed, is the ultimate restraint indicated through the word sarvaśaḥ.
For such a person, whatever he sees, hears, tastes, touches, smells and feels
are nothing but the Atman. ‡ By such a powerful vision, the Sage is ever
established in samādhi—tasya prajñā pratiṣṭhitā. That too, with absolute
ease—sahaja. Such a one is a sthitaprajña.

2.69 या निशा सर्वभूतानां तस्यां जागर्ति संयमी।

यस्यां जाग्रति भूतानि सा निशा पश्यतो मुनेः॥
That which is night to all beings, in that the Illumined One is awake, and
that in which all beings are awake, is night to the Seer (the Sage who
perceives).

At the beginning of the discourse on sthitaprajña, Arjuna asked about the

marks of a Self-Realised person. Certainly, every seeker carries this
inquisitiveness inside him. When he meets an Illumined Saint, he gazes at
him with awe. Something is different! Outwardly he seems to be the same
as any ordinary person. Perhaps he may even look simpler or illiterate too.
But there is something in him which differentiates him from the ordinary. It
may be just that a noble onlooker intuits the infinite depth of the Knower’s
inner life. This intuition makes the simple devotees flock to the presence of
a saint.
In this verse, Bhagavan says that the Realised and the ignorant live in
entirely different planes. They are like people living on two separate
planets. Here two words are used—niśā, which means night, and jāgrat,
which means daytime. It means the difference between the Realised and the
ignorant is like day and night; light and darkness. The sheer mystical poetic
beauty of this verse is beyond description. The illumined one is awake
when it is night to all beings—yā niśā sarvabhūtānām. Night is when we
sleep, where nothing is of interest to us, and nothing is grasped.
Sankaracharya says the demons—naktañcaras—keep awake at night while
others sleep. So too, the ignorant people are awake to the darkness of
ignorance and asleep to the light of their divine nature. They are unaware of
the Self, whereas the Jñāni is ever awake to the divine nature. The ignorant
can never conceive of that effulgence. They do not see it; it is like night for
them. To them, the body alone is real. For a Realised one, there is no reality
for the body in his real nature.
saṃyamī is a beautiful word. It means the restrained one. saṃyama means
absorption. The saṃyamī is one with God. He is ever in samādhi. For him,
the inner Light, the Atman, is the only reality. He is ever aware of that self-
effulgent Reality. This is not at all comprehensible to the worldly. Even
though they too see the world with the light of the Atman, they ignore the
Atman. Hence the Upanishads call them ‘ātmahanaḥ’—those who commit
spiritual suicide. “Even though seeing, they do not see the ‘all-perceiver’,
Paramesvara, the Lord,” says the Bhagavata.*
 “The Knower says, ‘It is here, here!’ The
WHATEVER EXISTS IS ignorant asks, ‘Where, where?’ The
Knower says, ‘It is so simple’, while the
THE SELF. WHETHER ignorant says, ‘Impossible’!” remarks
THE IGNORANT ONE
Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi. They are in
two separate worlds. Hence the prayer,
SEES IT OR NOT, IT ‘Lead me from darkness to light.’ †
NEVER CEASES TO Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi uses a
similar metaphor in a different manner.
EXIST. “Neither in the darkness of night, nor in
the oppressing light of day, but in that
free space of Divine Experience, come on, let us delight.”‡
In the commentary for the Mandukya Upanishad, Acharya Sankara says,§
“To grasp is daytime, and not to grasp through the senses and the mind is
night or sleep.” To think is like daytime, and not to think (sleep) is like
night. The awakened one neither sleeps nor thinks. He is the pure
Awareness, luminosity. Once the inner dawn breaks, effulgence is forever.**
His experience of the Atman erases his vision of the world just like the
perception of the rope in bright light erases the imagined snake seen in dim
light. For those who see the snake in dim light, no rope exists; they see only
a poisonous hooded cobra. But even at the time of ignorance, what really
exists is only the rope. So too, whatever exists is the Self. Whether the
ignorant one sees it or not, It never ceases to exist.
What we see as the world is only an appearance in the Atman. paśyato
muneḥ—the Jñāni is ever aware of the Substratum, whereas the ignorant
beholds only the apparent appearance. The muni is also called paśyakaḥ—
the seer. He alone sees who is aware of the Seer. One who is lost in the seen
is a blind person. To the Seer, the ‘I’ is light, and the entire seen is darkness.
For the Realised, the ‘I’ is God; for the ignorant, it is the ego. “The
difference between them is like that between the firefly and the splendorous
Sun,” says Sankaracharya.*

लीनधीरपि जागर्ति जाग्रद्धर्मविवर्जितः।

बोधो निर्वासनो यस्य स जीवन्मुक्त इष्यते॥ Vi.Cu. 429
Although his buddhi has merged with the Self, he is fully awake; but the
characteristics of a wakeful person—the activities of the mind, the vāsanās
—are not there in him. His awareness is free of all vāsanās. Such a one is a
jīvanmukta.
yasyāṃ jāgrati bhūtāni—that which is daytime for the creatures. The
things worshipped by the worldly are meaningless for a Realised Sage.
Wealth, fame, pleasure, property, politics, and so on are meaningless for
him. On the contrary, for an ignorant one, these alone matter; the world
alone is real. Even God is only an agent to supply him pleasure in this
world. He has not even conceived of experiencing a state where he can
experience God. “Even the news that one can realise the Divine has not
reached his ears,” says the Kathopanishad. † Such pathetic souls live in the
sensory plane alone. Thus they are creatures of darkness.
Sankaracharya says, ‡ “For those fools who are devoid of Self-knowledge,
hell is hidden within, and there they get cooked in various hell-fires.” Such
a person’s God is his own ego and his possessions. He is the lover of his
own desires. Hence Bhagavan calls him ‘kāmakāmī’. Such a one cannot
even conceive of the inner world of a Sage. The Sage, on the other hand, is
blind to this world of ignorance. For him, God alone is real. ‘brahma-
satyam jagan-mithyā.’ Thus, both live in two different planes.
Saṃyamī, the absorbed one, is awake to the effulgence of
the ethereal
Awake in the luminous inner chamber of the Heart
Abiding in Existence-Awareness-Bliss
Absorbed in the Eternal, slumberous to the evanescent
His is night to the worldly who are awake to the sensorial

आपूर्यमाणमचलप्रतिष्ठं
2.70 समुद्रमापः प्रविशन्ति यद्वत्।
तद्वत्कामा यं प्रविशन्ति सर्वे
स शान्तिमाप्नोति न कामकामी॥
The rivers flow into the ocean from all sides yet cannot make the ocean
overflow. So too, the desire-prompting streams of the sense-world flow into
the heart of a sage only to merge there. He remains unmoved. Such a one
abides in peace, not the worldly—the desirer of desires.

sa śāntimāpnoti—he attains peace. This one sentence brings great relief to

the seeker. One who is established in the Self—acalapratiṣṭham—
unmoving, like a mountain, he alone attains peace. acala is also a synonym
for the mountain. The great sage Ramana sang to his beloved Master
Arunachala Siva, “Without uttering a single word, You remained unmoving
as this sacred hill. Ho! What perfect eloquence! Unmistakable is the
transmission. ‘Be Still’ is Thy teaching.” A perfect Master has only one
simple and perfect instruction for a mature disciple: ‘Be Still.’
Cala means movement, and a-cala means absolutely unmoving. A sage is
called ‘calācala-niketaḥ’—his body is ever moving, dynamic, but
internally, he is established in the still-abode. No scripture, Guru, or even
God can guarantee a life free of problems. Krishna himself declares,
“anityam asukhaṃ lokam—this worldly life is transient and full of sorrow”
(BG9.33). Right from the womb to the cremation ground, we are sure to be
assailed with problems one after the other. Only a fool could believe, ‘Ha!
If only I could solve this one problem, I shall have peace till the very end.’
By the time we get rid of one problem and turn around, we are bound to see
a new hideous face smiling at us from the same seat!
This life is a playground of destiny. The body is destiny, the mind is free-
will, and both are, in fact, two dimensions of suffering. Free will becomes
destiny, and destiny is the ground on which free will sprouts. Both imply
limitation. A seeker should ask only one question—‘How to be established
in permanent peace?’ Only the tīrtha of inner peace can quench one’s thirst.
In the commentary for this śloka, Acharya has translated śānti as moksha.
Peace is freedom. It is Self-knowledge. It is the Atman.

samudramāpaḥ praviśanti yadvat

The waters of various rivers flow into the ocean continuously. āpaḥ here
means prāṇa—vital energy. ‘prāṇā vā āpaḥ,’ says the Veda. Prāṇa
constantly enters and leaves the body in the form of the air that we breathe
in and out. In several places, the Upanishads use the word prāṇa for
sensory objects. Various sensory streams constantly enter us through the
five sense organs. As form seen by the eyes, as sound through the ears, as
taste through the tongue, and as sensations of touch through the skin, it is
prāṇa that is constantly entering and leaving the body. The Śruti says, “The
Atman, infinite like an ocean, absorbs within itself all sensory perceptions
that flow into it, as waters through the rivers of sense organs.”* Even when
the prāṇa enters through these various channels, a yogi remains steady like
the ocean—samudram.
The word samudram indicates God. It is another name for Narayana. The
Yajur Veda ends by saying that the ocean is His abode; the ocean is His
constant companion—bandhu. † ‘sa-mudra’ means ‘the one with a mudra
(sign).’ What is the sign of an ocean? Its waves. We see waves from a
distance and come to know the presence of an ocean there. samudram is
also a name for the Atman.‡ The ‘I-I’ that constantly rises as waves within is
the mudra of the Atman hidden inside.
samudram also means a Jñāni. Jñāna is the mudra—sign—of a Tattva-
jñāni. Even when various impressions flow in constantly—āpūryamāṇam§
—a Jñāni remains firmly established in his Svarūpa, the steady substratum
within—acalapratiṣṭham.

यत्र प्रविष्टा विषयाः परेरिता नदीप्रवाहा इव वारिराशौ।

लिनन्ति सन्मात्रतया न विक्रियां उत्पादयन्त्येष यतिर्विमुक्तः॥ Vi.Cu. 441

The sannyāsin in whom the sense-objects channelled by others are received

like flowing rivers into the ocean—which produce no change because of his
absorption in Existence Absolute—is truly liberated. His inner experience is
simple existence alone.
The constant influx of sensory perceptions is inevitable in this world. Even
if there were no distractions from outside, the mind generates various
movements within. Prārabdha cannot be given up, whoever we are; this is
true even for a Jñāni. However, the Jñāni remains firmly established within,
even when all these rush in as rivers into an ocean—āpaḥ samudram
praviśanti yadvat tadvat. The world floods into our mind through the five
senses. This body is the land of five rivers—pañcāb. The one who absorbs
all the five waters into Himself is Pañcāpa-keśa—Lord Śiva.

यथा नद्यः स्यन्दमानाः समुद्रेऽस्तं गच्छन्ति नामरूपे विहाय।

तथा विद्वान्नामरूपाद्विमुक्तः परात्परं पुरुषमुपैति दिव्यम्॥ Mu.Up. 3.2.8

As all the rivers flow into and set in the ocean, thus losing their names and
forms, similarly, in a Jñāni, all thoughts, and all the information from the
world enter through the senses and lose their separate identities in the inner
ocean of Jñāna. They lose their distinctiveness and become one with that
Ātmavastu—the Purusha.
Through the eyes, the sensory inputs enter as forms but are experienced as
Consciousness. Through the ears, they enter as sounds but are experienced
as Brahman. Through the nose, they enter as smell but are experienced only
as God. Through the tongue, they enter as taste, and through the skin, touch,
but are experienced as the Atman alone. All plurality enters the Realised
One, but the experience is only that Oneness, the advaita-ekarasa. In the
heart of the Realised Soul is only that Paramapurusha, God; that
parātparam who is beyond everything, that Supreme Being. He ever abides
there. This is what the Upanishad says. This is the essence of this Gita śloka
too.

sarve kāmāḥ yaṃ praviśanti

kāmāḥ means desires. “All desires enter into him.” But within him, there is
no turbulence. Who is this ‘he’ here? He is a sthitaprajña. While everyone
else follows the dictates of their desires, all desires merge and disappear in
the ocean of Jñāna within the sage. His passion is only in the Lord, the
Atman. He is an Ātma-kāmaḥ. His power of realisation absorbs everything
into the heart.

sa śāntimāpnoti na kāmakāmī
The one who knows the truth that it is futile to run behind fickle desires,
such a person alone attains peace.* When one goes deep into himself and
discovers the great treasure of peace in the Heart, he becomes fulfilled—
pūrṇa. Now āpūraṇa—filling—has no more impact. Nothing can be added
to or subtracted from his fullness. This śānti or Peace is the essence of this
śloka.
kāmakāmī is a powerful word that Bhagavan uses here. A worldly person is
a kāmakāmī; that is, he is a desirer of desires. Such a one is not a devotee
of the Lord; he is a devotee of desires. Until one chooses spiritual life, one
will not even know the harmfulness of unchecked desires. Unwittingly, we
nourish and nurture them. All our education, fantasies, technology—
everything serves to cultivate more and more desires. Generally, a worldly
person is only a kāmakāmī. The first step that a spiritual seeker takes is the
insight that desire is harmful. A river starts as a small stream from its
source, gathers much water as stream after stream joins it and soon turns
into a thunderous roaring river. Similarly, desire, when entertained and
nurtured, becomes enormously powerful. We have seen the dire
consequences of this in verse 2.62—dhyāyato viṣayānpuṃsaḥ. Such a
person annihilates himself spiritually.
The root cause for all desires, especially body-based desires, is the
misapprehension ‘I am the body.’ Then follows the idea that ‘another person
exists.’ From this separation comes desire. When we know that we are
Pūrṇa and that everyone is the Self, all moha, delusion, ends. Only then
will we be free of the grip of desires. Until then, there is movement within.
Whatever spiritual heights we may reach, as long as the bheda-buddhi—
delusion of separation—operates, there is every chance for kāma. “That
kāma goes away for good, only when the Oneness of all is realised.”* “Even
the separation of prakṛti and purusha is no more,” says the Bhagavata.† The
Upanishad says,

त्वं स्त्री त्वं पुमानसि त्वं कु मार उत वा कु मारी।

त्वं जीर्णो दण्डेन वञ्चसि त्वं जातो भवसि विश्वतोमुखः॥ Sve.Up. 4.3

Thou art the man; Thou art the woman; Thou art the young man walking in
the pride of youth; Thou art the old man tottering in his step. Thy face is
beheld everywhere in the universe.
When the Upanishad rishi says so, that is the finality. That is real rasa—
absolute delight. Then the taste for enjoyment in division disappears for
good. That is the state where one becomes established in śānti.
“O Arunachala, bestow upon me that divine delight in which all this
separation of ‘you’ and ‘I’ is erased, and I am one with you, tightly
embraced; where the body, mind, are all extinguished in that Awareness—
the flame of Oneness,” sings Sri Ramana Maharshi.‡

2.71 विहाय कामान्यः सर्वान्पुमांश्चरति निःस्पृहः।

निर्ममो निरहङ्कारः स शान्तिमधिगच्छति॥
That being who moves about freely, devoid of all longing, free of all desires
and without the sense of ‘I’ and ‘mine’, attains Supreme peace.

ARE SAGES LAZY?

Here is an anecdote highlighting this exalted state of a mystic. Swami
Ramatirtha was lying by the banks of a river, immersed in bliss. A modern
upstart went to him and said, “Swami, why are you lying like this, doing
nothing? You are propagating laziness.”
Swami replied, “What else do you expect me to do?”
“Why don’t you do some good?”
“Dear, dear, isn’t that business already overcrowded? Going on doing good
later becomes more of ‘going on’ than ‘doing good.’ Your time is spent. One
more life wasted. Why not know the inner Divinity and be delightful like
Rama? All work is only God’s. Rama has no mission. If the so-called
prophets were right, they should have created so many saints and prophets
by this time. But that will not happen. Only a mumukshu—a seeker—will
get it. The rest will have some drill-time religion. No work. No work. Work
and mission are all delusions. Why not leave poor Rama alone with his
Inner Beloved?”
One who becomes totally desireless, unattached, and free of the sense of ‘I’
and ‘mine’ attains supreme peace. He has nothing to do or achieve in this
world. He takes delight in his real nature, the Atman.
saḥ śāntim adhigacchati—he attains Supreme Peace. What is the nature of
that peace? The bhāshyakāra says* that the cessation of all characteristics
of saṃsāra, suffering or ignorance and its effects, is Nirvāṇa—the
enlightenment which extinguishes every movement of the mind. The root
cause of all sorrow is removed.
Here, the reader will not fail to observe
THE IMMENSE
how in the previous few verses Bhagavan
has been using the most soothing word
WILLPOWER THAT HAS ‘śānti’ instead of ‘prajñā’. Unless the
WOKEN UP TO DO determination—niścaya, vyavasāyātmikā
buddhi—ripens as profound peace, we
SPIRITUAL PRACTICE, TO will not feel content inwardly. That
EXPLORE THE BEYOND, spiritual stream must be merged in the
ocean of Peace. The immense willpower
MUST SUBSIDE IN THE that has woken up to do spiritual practice,
OCEAN OF PEACE. to explore the Beyond, must subside in
the ocean of Peace. When the experience
of the Self becomes more and more
evident, profound peace emanates from that Illumined One, and even astral
beings crowd around him to partake of that ambrosia.
The first thing to do is to control the senses and to withdraw the mind with
full awareness of the Self. Once the knowledge becomes potent, deep
contemplation sets in, and the Atman shines forth as profound Peace—
samādhi. But all this can unfold only in a free soul—one who has given up
all desires, vāsanās—vihāya kāmānyaḥ sarvān. Giving up all desires is the
royal road. Perhaps, without desires, we cannot achieve anything in the
world. But, with desire, peace or Self-Realisation is impossible. Buddha
found this secret after toiling for twelve years and declared, “āśā hi
paramaṃ duḥkham—desire is the greatest suffering.”
Here, the Lord pictures a jīvanmukta who moves about desireless, ever
delighting in the bliss of his own Self—niḥspṛhaḥ. Kāma is desire. Spṛhā
is necessity. He is not bothered about even the most basic necessities. He is
an asparśa-yogi. Nothing affects him. He never stores anything for the
morrow. He is attached neither to life nor to death. He is a yogi who is
aware of his Self, which is untainted by delusion. He is ever aware—‘I am
Brahman.’ He is free of action, thoughts and even sleep. Such a one is
niḥspṛhaḥ. He does not depend on anything for his peace. You may take
away anything from him, but you cannot separate him from that profound
śānti.
nirmamaḥ. He does not consider anything his own—the body, the senses,
the mind. He knows that all these belong to prakṛti, and hence considering
them as ‘mine’ is a mark of ignorance. Wife, children, property, and such
are the obsessions of an ordinary householder. He considers them as his
own and suffers agony from them. But, through right understanding, when
this ‘mine-ness’ is gone, all these attachments drop off and peace dawns.
When we suffer from attachment, if we enquire, we will not fail to find the
virus of ‘mine-ness’ as its cause. It must be healed with the medicine of
Jñāna. The greatest anti-bio-tic is Jñāna. Bio means body. Jñāna tells you
that the body is not you; the body is not yours. There is no body in your real
Self. The right knowledge erases ignorance completely. Hence Jñāna is the
perfect anti-bio.
nirahaṅkāraḥ—without the ‘I’-sense or the ego. The enquiry ‘WHO AM I?’
is the way to remove the ‘I’-feeling. When we seek within, the ‘I’ will
vanish, leaving aside only peace in the heart. Thus the Jñāni blots out the
ego-sense and its effects. We can recognise a person of Realisation by this
lack of ego-sense. “He becomes childlike—yathā arbhakaḥ,” says the
Bhagavata. Innocence takes the place of ignorance. Such a one is peaceful
and unruffled, even in the most trying situations.
Here wanders on the banks of the holy Ganga
A rare mystic who revels in the Self,
Free of all hooks of desires, light like a gentle breeze
Now absorbed in Nirvikalpa-Samādhi in the caves of
Arunachala
Ever in Stillness of the Inner Being, the Mighty
Paramahamsa moves.
Alike in the streets of Kasi or in jungles by the banks of
Narmada
In the palaces of kings or in the homes of family men
Wherever the sage lives, his mind lives in Brahman.
The ground his feet touches is purified
 The earth shivers in ecstasy, and the heavens shower bliss.
He is Siva. He is Vishnu. He is the Heart of All

Arjuna had asked about the marks of a sthitaprajña, and Bhagavan

concludes his answer in the next śloka by saying ‘eṣā brāhmī sthitiḥ—this
is the state of Supreme Beatitude.’ What is the nature of brāhmī sthitiḥ?

2.72 एषा ब्राह्मी स्थितिः पार्थ नैनां प्राप्य विमुह्यति।

स्थित्वास्यामन्तकालेऽपि ब्रह्मनिर्वाणमृच्छति॥
This, O Partha, is the Brahman-state. Attaining this, he is deluded no more.
Being established in it even at the death hour, a man gets into oneness with
Brahman.

Continuing from the previous śloka, Bhagavan says eṣā—this. “eṣā

brāhmī sthitiḥ pārtha—O Partha, this is Brahma-sthiti, the state of
Supreme Beatitude.” In the previous śloka, Bhagavan said—vihāya
kāmānyaḥ sarvān—having given up all desires and with no concern even
about his basic necessities, the yogi, ever established within, moves about
like a child. That egoless state devoid of the sense of ‘I’ and ‘mine’—
nirmamo nirahaṅkāraḥ—is this Supreme State. Peace alone remains. That
śānti is samādhi. That is brāhmī-sthiti, Nirvāṇa. Nirvāṇa means ‘blown
out’. What gets blown out? The jīvabhāva or the ego is extinguished. Just as
the camphor flame disappears along with the last dust of camphor, so too
the ‘I’-sense comes to an end along with the last vestige of ignorance.
“The state where the ego-‘I’ does not arise is the state where we are ‘That’,”
says Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi in Ulladu Narpadu. In that state, all
sorrows come to an end. To recognise and abide in the ineffable peace of
that egoless state is brāhmī-sthiti. Attaining this peaceful state of no
vāsanās is the zenith of spiritual attainment. It is referred to as nirvāsanā-
mauna. In reality, it is not a state but the real nature of the Substratum, the
Atman. All efforts die here, and this state subsumes everything into Itself.
Perhaps that is why this poetic feminine usage of ‘eṣā’.
This brāhmī-sthiti is the fruit of immense jñāna-tapas. It blooms in a soul
as the fruit of incessant Self-abidance—Ātma-nishṭhā. It is the source that
erases all dualistic perceptions and the culmination of one’s nididhyāsana.
It is the effortless state—sahaja-nirvikalpa. The current of Self-Awareness,
which is called sahaja-samādhi, is the state in which the Jñāni moves about
in the world, ever aware of his real nature. His inner experience remains
uninterrupted, yet it does not impede the normal perceptions and activities
of outer life. It is rare indeed to attain this culmination of spiritual
experience.

SRI RAMANA MAHARSHI — DEATH

EXPERIENCE
Sage Ramana was an embodiment of that state. At the age of seventeen, he
dealt a death-blow to death. That momentous day, he broke into the portal
of death only to discover its absence. Though outwardly, there was not
much quest or striving or any conscious preparation, the whole practice and
inquiry unfolded in him unconsciously.
That sacred event happened when he was studying at the American Mission
School in Madurai. One day, he was sitting alone in a room on the first floor
of his uncle’s house. He was a healthy boy. Suddenly, a violent fear of death
overpowered him. There was nothing in his state of health to account for it.
He just had a strong feeling, ‘I am going to die.’ It was as if death had
possessed him. Though outwardly, there was no cause for it, a few months
before, he had heard the name ‘Arunachala’ from someone. And, like a key,
that name had unlocked an ethereal realm in him, and some process was
activated within. The conclusion of that process unfolded as this mystic
vision of death.
He felt that he had to solve the problem of death then and there. He lay
himself down. His mind became completely introverted, and he enquired
within, ‘What is death?’ ‘What is happening to me?’ ‘Who is dying?’ His
body became stiff, and he had a vision of his body being taken to the
cremation ground and being burnt. His breath stopped. No sound escaped
his mouth. Even the mind stopped, and the ‘I’-‘I’, which is the force of
personality, expressed itself in his heart as Pure Consciousness. He sought
the ‘I’ as the ego, and the ego disappeared, and what remained was the
dance of Pure Awareness as ‘I-I’. Tattva-niścaya happened in him—‘I am
the Atman. I am the Spirit. I am not this body.’ His intellect was established
there. The intellect, mind, everything melted into that experience, and there
remained only pure unalloyed bliss.

हृदयकु हरमध्ये के वलं ब्रह्ममात्रं

ह्यहमहमिति साक्षादात्मरूपेण भाति।

In the Heart-cave, Brahman alone shines forth as ‘I-I’, as the Self.

That was his experience which he revealed later. All this took place in half
an hour. Just imagine the simplicity of it for the prepared. The person comes
with preparation from his past births, and it just explodes in a moment. In a
matter of half an hour, he was established in that brāhmī sthitiḥ. It so
happened that there was no one else at home when this sacred experience
unfolded. When the relatives had left the house, there was only
Venkataraman, the boy, but when they came back, there was a Sage, an
Illumined Being, who did not belong to this earth. It was as if they saw the
infinite sky, the infinite blueness of the space, through that body. There was
something inexpressible, immeasurable in that boy.
This is brahma-nirvāṇa. The ego was completely annihilated. He was
established in Brahman. Even his mauna, silence, was eloquent. It
emanated the highest teaching. From that blessed day up to his last day,
every day, every moment, he remained in the Brāhmī state. Never ever did
he swerve from ‘That’.
naināṃ prāpya vimuhyati—attaining this, he is deluded no more. Moha
means delusion. We have seen that it is the cause of all sorrow. When one
considers oneself as the ego, that is moha. Jīvabhāva itself is a moha. The
moment we wake up from a dream, the dream and the dream-ego vanish. So
too, when we seek, there is no ‘I’ to be found; there is only the infinite
Reality, Brahman. Then, when you look at the world, there is no longer a
world outside—it is also Brahman.
Whether you behold the world or not, it does not matter. The world has
ceased to exist as the world; for you, it is no more the world. It is Brahman.
It is the Atman. It is Īśvara. And within you too, there is no ‘you’—it is
Īśvara. It is the Atman. That perception itself is a wonder as there is no
duality there. There is no separation between the perceiver and the
perceived. That oneness—ekatva—is the Supreme. This is the supreme
state of brāhmī sthiti.
The moment one beholds anything else, that is moha, and that habit of
seeing the other is vāsanā. Vāsanās are mere wool-gatherings of the mind
due to ignorance. Wrong understanding about any object is the cause for all
imaginations about it. The usual example of this is that of a rope mistaken
to be a snake. When the rope is not seen clearly, it is misapprehended as a
snake, and this imaginary snake creates fear. But if the rope is mistaken to
be a gold chain, greed or fascination is the result. Both are born from wrong
vision. Similarly, all desires, fear, grief and the like have ignorance as their
very foundation.
sthitvāsyām antakāle'pi—‘at least at the final moment, if you remember
God, you will attain Him’ is the common translation for this phrase. “ante
nārāyaṇa smṛtiḥ,” says the Bhagavata. In the Bhagavata, Parikshit got It
from Śukabrahma Maharshi on his very last day. On the seventh day of the
narration of the Bhagavata, Sukacharya initiated him thus, “Give up the
ignorance that you will die. You are not born. This body is not you. You
have no body-hood at all. Know that ‘I am Brahman. Brahman alone am I.’*
Thus knowing, abide in the Self as the Self and attain supreme fearlessness.
Nothing will happen to you.” Thus, Parikshit attained It in his last moment,
just before death took his body away.
The final moment is extremely crucial. There are many sādhakas who were
intense in their meditation practice throughout their lives, and yet, in their
last days, due to destiny, they succumbed to some petty attachment and
slipped from that state. The Bhagavata story of King Bharata is well
known.† Hence Bhagavan says here sthitvāsyām antakāle'pi.
Also, we can see that the body and mind are no longer in our control during
old age and give a lot of suffering. Thus, even before the onset of all this,
we must transcend the delusion of body and mind, so that during the final
moments, we can remain steady within.
Bhagavan Ramana sings, “If You leave me at the final moment, great
trouble indeed awaits me, O Arunachala. Pour Thy Grace. Let me leave my
body without leaving Your awareness.” ‡ Bhishma too prayed thus while
lying on a bed of arrows:§ “O Lord, kindly wait until I give up this body.
Please enter my meditation and shine forth there.” A sādhaka must always
have this prayer in his heart.
antakāle'pi. What is this antakāla? Every moment is the last moment, an
antakāla. Every moment, kāla is doing its job of ending. “niśvāse na hi
viśvāsaḥ.” We cannot trust even the breath that goes out. Who knows
whether it will come back or not! Hence, antakāle api means we must
remain established in Awareness every single moment—even during those
times of distress when disease and old age visit us. It must become an
incessant experience. This is the true significance of the word ‘api’ here.
Only if we recollect the Lord always, every moment, then, naturally, we
shall be able to remember Him during the final moment as well. The Lord
says,* “To that yogi who is ever connected to me, I am very easily
available.” Thus, remembering God at the final moment is the celebration
of an entire life’s austerities or bhakti.
Hence Bhagavan says here sthitvāsyāmantakāle'pi, which means right from
the very beginning of our spiritual life and up to the last breath, we must
hold on to the egoless state of Nirvāṇa, Brahman-hood. It should not be a
state that comes and goes. It should become our very nature, which can
never be taken away from us. It should be the reality in us.
brahmanirvāṇam ṛcchati—he attains brahma-nirvāṇa. Buddha uses the
word nirvāṇa, but Vedanta uses brahma-nirvāṇa. When everything is
erased, Brahman alone remains. That is brahma-nirvāṇa—brāhmī sthitiḥ.
The awareness of Brahman should remain unbroken. This nirvikalpa-
samādhi must become natural—sahaja. Then it becomes brāhmī-sthitiḥ.
Absolutely free is the sage who has secured this state of timeless abidance.
He is a Brahma-jñāni.

***
ॐ तत्सत्
इति श्रीमद्भगवद्गीतासु उपनिषत्सु ब्रह्मविद्यायां योगशास्त्रे
श्रीकृ ष्णार्जुनसंवादे साङ्ख्ययोगो नाम द्वितीयोऽध्यायः॥
 Om Tat Sat!
In this treatise, known as Srimad Bhagavad Gita, which contains the
essence of the Upanishads, which expounds the knowledge of Brahman and
the science of Yoga in the form of a dialogue between Sri Krishna and
Arjuna, thus ends the second chapter titled ‘The Yoga of Perfect
Knowledge’.

* सखा सखायम् अब्रवीत्। Veda

* The words ‘कृपया परयाविष्टः’ occur in 1.27 as well.

† नित्यानन्दसुधानिधेरधिगतः सन्नीलमेघः। Pra.Su. 247

* सत्त्वमेकं द्विधा स्थितम्। Mbha.

† आत्मा हि कृष्णः पार्थस्य कृष्णस्यात्मा धनञ्जयः। Mbha.

‡ यस्त्वां द्वेष्टि स मां द्वेष्टि यस्त्वामनु स मामनु। Mbha.

§ अहश्च कृष्णम् अहरर्जुनम् च। Rigveda 6.9.1

* In the bhāshya of Vivekachudamani, Sankaracharya has defined the word ‘ārya’ as one with a pure
and flawless mind—nirmala-antaḥkaraṇa.
* परं पौरुषमाश्रित्य मुक्तसङ्गः सुखी भव।

† वशीकुर्वन्ति ते भक्त्या सत्स्त्रियः सत्पतिं यथा। SB 9.4.66

* आत्मना विन्दते वीर्यं विद्यया विन्दतेऽमृतम्‌। Ke.Up. 2.4

* ‘भिक्षाचर्यं चरन्ति’ and ‘प्रव्रजन्ति’ are the words of the Śruti.

* राज्यं वा वनवासो वा वनवासो महोदयः। Va.Ra. 2.22.29

† किमहं पापमकरवम्। Tai.Up. 2.9.1

‡ पुण्यपापे विधूय। Mu.Up. 3.1.3

* यो वा एतदक्षरं गार्ग्यविदित्वास्माल्लोकात्प्रैति स कृपणः। Br.Up. 3.8.10

† स्वभावनियतं कर्म। BG 18.47; स्वभावजेन कौन्तेय निबद्धः स्वेन कर्मणा। BG 18.60

* सत्सङ्गेन विनोद्धव नोपायो विद्यते। SB 11.11.48

* आश्चर्यो वक्ता कुशलोऽस्य लब्धा। Ka.Up. 1.2.7

* In Sanskrit, the word ‘go’ also means ‘senses’.

† इह-अमुत्रार्थ-फलभोगविरागः। Tattvabodha
* परो हि योगो मनसः समाधिः। SB 11.23.45

* हासो जनोन्मादकरी च माया। SB 2.1.31

† दैवीं वाचमजनयन्त देवाः। Rigveda 8.100.11

* शुद्धं विमलं विशोकम् अमृतम्। SB 12.13.19

† तरति शोकमात्मवित्। Ch.Up. 7.1.3

‡ आत्मानमनुशोच त्वं किमन्यमनुशोचसि। Va.Ra. 2.105.21

§ That substantial portion of teaching to Dharmaputra occurs in the Moksha-parva.

** Hindi words such as ‘paṇḍa’ for priests and Tamil words such as ‘paṇḍāram’ for the servitors in
temples have their origin in the Sanskrit word ‘paṇḍita’.
†† पण्डितो बन्धमोक्षवित्। SB 11.19.41

* मा कञ्चन शुचो राजन्यदीश्वरवशं जगत् … सर्वथा न हि शोच्यास्ते स्‍नेहादन्यत्र मोहजात्। SB 1.13.40, 43

† पाण्डित्यं निर्विद्य बाल्येन तिष्ठासेत्। Br.Up. 3.5.1

* मात्राः आभिः मीयन्ते शब्दादय इति श्रोत्रादीनि इन्द्रियाणि। BG.Bha.

* आदावन्ते च यन्नास्ति वर्तमानेऽपि तत्तथा। Ma.Ka. 4.31

† यत्साक्षादपरोक्षाद्ब्रह्म। Br.Up. 3.4.1

* न ईश्वरस्य अशुभं धत्ते स्वे महिम्नि स्थितस्य च। SB 3.27.24

* विज्ञातारमरे केन विजानीयात्। Br.Up. 4.5.15

* ब्रह्मविश्रान्तिपर्यन्तः विचारोस्तु। Yo.Va.

* ब्रह्मैवेदं विश्वमिदं वरिष्ठम्। Mu.Up. 2.2.12

† इदं सर्वं यदयमात्मा। Br.Up. 2.4.6

* घटे भिन्ने घटाकाश आकाशः स्याद्यथा पुरा। SB 12.5.5

* वाचारम्भणम्। Ch. Up. 6.4.1

* यत् स्यात् सर्वत्र सर्वदा। SB 2.9.35

† प्रतिबोधविदितं मतममृतत्वं हि विन्दते। Ke.Up. 2.4

* अविद्यया मृत्युं तीर्त्वा विद्ययाऽमृतमश्नुते। Isa.Up. 20

* परात्मा वेद्यते येन स वेदो वेद उच्यते।

* यथा कर्म यथा श्रुतम्। Ka.Up. 2.2.7

* भस्मान्तं शरीरम्। Isa.Up. 17

† तद्यथाऽहिनिर्ल्वयनी। Br.Up. 4.4.7

‡ देहः अस्य अस्ति इति देही।

* तदन्तरप्रतिपत्तौ रंहति संपरिष्वक्तः प्रश्ननिरूपणाभ्याम्। Br.Su. 3.1.1

† ततः सर्गेषु लोकेषु शरीरत्वाय कल्पते। Ka.Up 2.3.4

* असङ्गो ह्ययं पुरुषः। Br.Up. 4.3.15

† Third person in English.

* योगश्चित्तवृत्तिनिरोधः। Yo.Su. 1.2

* अदर्शनात् आपतितः पुनश्च अदर्शनम् गतः। Mbha. (Sanatsujatiya)

† अव्यक्तनाम्नी परमेशशक्तिः। Vi.Cu. 110

* आदावन्ते च यन्नास्ति वर्तमानेऽपि तत्तथा। Ma.Ka. 4.31

* न चक्षुषा पश्यति कश्चनैनम्। Ka.Up. 2.3.9

* अनन्यप्रोक्ते गतिरत्र नास्ति अणीयान्ह्यतर्क्यमणुप्रमाणात्। Ka.Up. 1.2.8

† बृहद्वदेम विदथे सुवीराः।

‡ आत्मनात्मानं पश्यन्नात्मनि तुष्यति। BG 6.20

* यततामपि सिद्धानां कश्चिन्मां वेत्ति तत्त्वतः। BG 7.3

* सेतवे रामचन्द्रस्य मोक्षमार्गैक हेतवे।

* ज्ञानमुत्पद्यते पुंसां क्षयात्पापस्य कर्मणः। Mbha. 204.8

† कर्तव्यदुःखमार्तण्डज्वाला … प्रशमपीयूषधारा। Ash.Gi. 18.3

* असङ्गो ह्ययं पुरुषः। Br.Up. 4.3.15

* जीवस्य तत्त्वजिज्ञासा नार्थो यश्चेह कर्मभिः। SB 1.2.10

† बुद्धेर्जागरणं स्वप्नः सुषुप्तिरिति वृत्तयः। SB 7.7.25

‡ वैशारदी सातिविशुद्धबुद्धिर्धुनोति मायां गुणसम्प्रसूताम्। SB 11.10.13

* A note on Sāṅkhyam: Sāṅkhyam means samyak khyānam; perfect knowledge; samyak khe
avasthitiḥ—to perfectly abide in Kham, the Inner Space of the Self, in one’s natural state as the
Infinite. saṅkhyāyate anayā iti sānkhyam. In the Amarakosa, the word saṅkhyā has been defined as
samyak vicāraḥ. saṅkhyā vicāraṇā—saṅkhyā means clear enquiry. saṅkhyāvān paṇḍitaḥ kaviḥ—
one who has saṅkhyā, real knowledge, is a real poet, a sage.
* अभयं वै जनक प्राप्तोऽसि। Br.Up. 4.2.4

* सुखदुःखे समे कृत्वा। BG 2.38 बुद्ध्या युक्तो यया पार्थ कर्मबन्धं प्रहास्यसि। BG 2.39

† यच्छ्रेयः स्यान्निश्चितं ब्रूहि तन्मे शिष्यस्तेऽहं शाधि मां त्वां प्रपन्नम्। BG 2.7

* एवं व्यवसितो बुद्ध्या समाधाय मनो हृदि। SB 8.3.1

† इति स्म राजाध्यवसाययुक्तः। SB 1.19.17

‡ तन्मे मनः शिवसङ्कल्पमस्तु।

* प्रमाण-जनित-विवेकबुद्धि-रहिताः। BG.Bha.

† यासांशाखाभेदप्रचारवशात् अनन्तः अपारः अनुपरतः संसारो नित्यप्रततो विस्तीर्णो भवति।

* प्रमाणजनित-विवेकबुद्धि-निमित्तवशाच्च उपरतास्वनन्त-भेदबुद्धिषु संसारोऽप्युपरमते। BG.Bha.

* इतर-विपरीत-बुद्धिशाखाभेदस्य बाधिका। BG.Bha.

† वैशारदी सातिविशुद्धबुद्धिर्धुनोति मायां गुणसम्प्रसूताम्। SB 11.10.13

* आम्नायस्य क्रियार्थत्वात् आनर्थक्यम् अतदर्थानाम्। Jai.Su. 1.2.1

* प्लवा ह्येते अदृढा यज्ञरूपा। Mu.Up. 1.2.7

† कर्ममोक्षाय कर्माणि विधत्ते। SB 11.3.44

* त्रैगुण्यं संसारो विषयः। BG.Bha.

* नैष्कर्म्यभावेन विवर्जितागम-स्वयंप्रकाशाय नमस्करोमि। SB 8.3.16

* न वेदवादेषु हि तत्त्ववादः प्रायेण शुद्धो नु चकास्ति साधुः। SB 5.11.2

(We saw the word ‘vedavādaratāḥ’ in an earlier śloka (BG 2.42), and here too, a similar theme
appears.)
* स जहाति मतिं लोके वेदे च परिनिष्ठिताम्। SB 4.29.46

† निरोधस्तु लोकवेदव्यापारन्यासः। NBS 1.08

‡ वेदस्य चेश्वरात्मत्वात्तत्र मुह्यन्ति सूरयः। SB 11.3.43

* प्रकृतेरन्यथाभावो न कथञ्चिद्भविष्यति। Ma.Ka. 4.29

* योगश्चित्तवृत्तिनिरोधः। Yo.Su 1.2

† तदा द्रष्टुः स्वरूपेऽवस्थानम्। Yo.Su 1.3

‡ आत्मसंस्थं मनः कृत्वा न किञ्चिदपि चिन्तयेत्। BG 6.25

§ इहैव तैर्जितः सर्गो येषां साम्ये स्थितं मनः। BG 5.19

* लोकवत्तु लीलाकैवल्यम्। Br.Su. 2.1.33

† समत्वबुद्धियुक्तमीश्वराराधनार्थं कर्म।

‡ फलतृष्णाशून्येन क्रियमाणे कर्मणि सत्त्वशुद्धिजा ज्ञानप्राप्तिलक्षणा सिद्धिः।

* स्वगृहे पायसं त्यक्त्वा भिक्षामटति दुर्मतिः।

* स तु दीर्घकालनैरन्तर्यसत्कारासेवितो दृढभूमिः। Yo.Su. 14

† बुद्धौ तत्परिपाकजायां वा साङ्ख्यबुद्धौ शरणम् आश्रयमभयप्राप्तिकारणम् अन्विच्छ प्रार्थयस्व परमार्थज्ञानशरणो
भवेत्यर्थः।
‡ ब्राह्मणत्वस्य हि रक्षणे रक्षितः स्याद्वैदिको धर्मः। BG.Bha. Introduction

* A Brahmin of high rank.

* On the day of kuśotpāṭinī amāvāsya (bhādrapada-śukḷa-amāvāsya).

* असङ्गो ह्ययं पुरुषः। Br.Up. 4.3.15

† सिद्ध्यसिद्ध्योः समत्वबुद्धिः ईश्वरार्पितचेतस्तया तत् कौशलं कुशलभावः। तद्धि कौशलं यत् बन्धनस्वभावान्यपि कर्माणि
समत्वबुद्ध्या स्वभावात् निवर्तन्ते। BG.Bha.
* कर्मणा बध्यते जन्तुः। Mbha. 12.241.7

* तत्कर्म यन्न बन्धाय। Vi.Pu. 1.19.41

† मनीषा अस्य अस्तीति मनीषी।

* अशरीरता हि आत्मनः स्वरूपम्। Ch.Up.Bha. 8.3.4

* अनामयं सर्वोपद्रवरहितम्। BG.Bha.

† आत्मानात्मविवेकबोधं कलुषीकृत्य विषयं प्रत्यन्तःकरणं प्रवर्तते। BG.Bha.

* यो बुद्धेः परतस्तु सः। BG 3.42

* बुद्धिश्च न विचेष्टते तामाहुः परमां गतिम्। Ka.Up. 2.3.10

† प्रतिबोधविदितम्। Ke.Up. 2.4

* अनेकसाध्यसाधनसम्बन्धप्रकाशनश्रुतिभिः। BG.Bha.

* नानाप्रतिपन्ना विक्षिप्ता।

* प्रकाशावरणक्षयः। Yo.Su. 3.43

* सर्वत्रैव हि अध्यात्मशास्त्रे कृतार्थलक्षणानि यानि तान्येव साधनानि उपदिश्यन्ते यत्नसाध्यत्वात्। यानि

यत्नसाध्यानि साधनानि लक्षणानि च भवन्ति तानि। BG.Bha.
* तीर्थीकुर्वन्ति तीर्थानि स्वान्तःस्थेन गदाभृता। SB 1.13.10

† जहात्येनां भुक्तभोगामजोऽन्यः। Sve.Up. 4.5

‡ मानसं तु किं मार्गणे कृते, नैव मानसं मार्ग आर्जवात्। Upa.Sa. 17

§ न कञ्चन कामं कामयते न कञ्चन स्वप्नं पश्यति तत् सुषुप्तम्‌। Ma.Up. 1.1.5

* दृशिमतामखिलार्थलाभम्। SB 10.52.37

* नोद्विग्नचित्तो व्यसनेषु निःस्पृहः श्रुतेषु दृष्टेषु गुणेष्ववस्तुदृक्। SB 7.4.33

* द्वितीयाद्वै भयं भवति। Br.Up. 1.4.2

* त्वयि मयि सर्वत्रैको विष्णुः व्यर्थं कुप्यसि मय्यसहिष्णुः। Bha.Go. 24

† को मोहः कः शोकः। Isa.Up. 7

* सुतः कस्य धनं कस्य स्नेहवान् ज्वलतेऽनिशम्। SB Mahatmya 4.74

† न जीविते मरणे वा गृधिं कुर्वीत। Isa.Up.Bha. 2

‡ अन्तःशीतलता चेन्दोः स्थैर्यं मेरोरिव स्थितम्। Yo.Va.

* गुणदोषदृशिर्दोषो गुणस्तूभयवर्जितः। SB 11.19.45

* विदुषोऽपि सत्सम्पत्तिक्रमः। Ch.Up.Bha.6.15.2

* एतस्यैवानन्दस्यान्यानि भूतानि मात्रामुपजीवन्ति। Br.Up. 4.3.32

† सल्लकीपल्लवप्रीतमिवेभं निम्बपल्लवाः। Ash.Gi. 17.3

* अस्य यतेः परं परमार्थतत्त्वं ब्रह्म दृष्ट्वा उपलभ्य ‘अहमेव तत्’ इति वर्तमानस्य निवर्तते निर्बीजं विषयविज्ञानं
सम्पद्यते इत्यर्थः। न असति सम्यग्दर्शने रसस्य उच्छेदः। तस्मात् सम्यग्दर्शनात्मिकायाः प्रज्ञायाः स्थैर्यं
कर्तव्यमित्यभिप्रायः॥
* न मे भक्तः प्रणश्यति। BG 9.31

* यज्ज्ञात्वा मत्तो भवति स्तब्धो भवति आत्मारामो भवति। NBS 6

* तन्मनश्शोधनं कार्यं प्रयत्नेन मुमुक्षुणा। Vi.Cu. 183

† परो हि योगो मनसः समाधिः। SB 11.23.46

* श्रद्धाभक्तिध्यानयोगान्। Vi.Cu. 48

* स्वात्मरूपेण निश्चली भवति। BG.Bha.

* नष्टो मोहः स्मृतिर्लब्धा। BG 18.73

† स्मृतिलम्भे सर्वग्रन्थीनां विप्रमोक्षः। Ch.Up. 7.26.2

‡ आसुप्तेरामृतेः कालं नयेद्वेदान्तचिन्तया।

* यावदर्थमुपासीनो देहे गेहे च पण्डितः। SB 7.14.5

* आकाशमिव अवतिष्ठते आत्मस्वरूपेणैव निश्चलीभवति। BG.Bha.

† स्वेन रूपेण आकाशकल्प आत्मा। Ka.Up.Bha. 1.2.22

* असमाहितान्तःकरणस्य। BG.Bha.

† आत्मज्ञानाभिनिवेशः is the word the commentator has used to denote this.

* प्रज्ञानं ब्रह्म।

† mīhāman-illāmal mākāṭr-alaikalam āhāmal kāttaruḷ aruṇācalā. AMM 79

*अयं मे हस्तो भगवान्…। Veda

* aimpulakkaḷvar ahattinir-pugumbod-ahattinī yilaiyō aruṇācalā AMM 12

.
† oruvanām unnai yoḷittevar varuvār unśūde-yidu aruṇācalā. AMM 13

* एकमेव अद्वितीयम्। Ch.Up. 6.2.1

† नेह नानाऽस्ति किञ्चन। Ka.Up. 2.1.11

‡ इदं सर्वं यदयमात्मा। Br.Up. 2.4.6

* पश्यन्तोऽपि न पश्यन्ति पश्यन्तं परमेश्वरम्। SB 4.29.44

† तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय। Br.Up. 1.3.28

‡ rāppahal-illā veṛu-veḷi-vīṭṭil ramittiḍuvōm vā aruṇācalā. AMM 91

§ ग्रहणाग्रहणे हि रात्र्यहनी। Ma.Up.Bha. 3.36

** सकृद्विभातोयम् ब्रह्मलोकः। Veda

* खद्योतभान्वोरिव। Vi.Cu. 244

† श्रवणायापि बहुभिर्यो न लभ्यः। Ka.Up. 1.2.7

‡ आत्मज्ञानविहीना मूढास्ते पच्यन्ते नरकनिगूढाः। Bha.Go. 26

* कामं समुद्रमाविश। Tai.Ara. 3.10.2

† समुद्रो बन्धुः।

‡ समुद्र एवेति परमात्मा। Br.Up.Bha. 1.1.2

§ pūraṇam means to fill

* परां शान्तिं स्थानं प्राप्स्यसि शाश्वतम्। BG 18.62

* रसोऽप्यस्य परं दृष्ट्वा निवर्तते। BG 2.59

† विश्वमेकात्मकं पश्यन् प्रकृत्या पुरुषेण च। SB 11.28.1

‡ nīnānaṛa-ppuli nidaṃ kaḷimayamāy ninḍriḍuṃ nilai aruḷ aruṇācalā. AMM 56

* सर्वसंसारदुःखोपरमलक्षणां निर्वाणाख्याम्। BG.Bha.

* अहं ब्रह्म परं धाम ब्रह्माहं परमं पदम्। SB 12.5.11

† For those not familiar with the story of King Bharata, a summary of it is given in the commentary
of 8.6.
‡ viṭṭiḍir kaṭṭamām viṭṭiḍa tunai uyir, viṭṭiḍa aruḷ puri, aruṇācalā. AMM 96
§ स देवदेवो भगवान् प्रतीक्षतां कलेवरं यावदिदंहिनोम्यहम्। SB 1.9.24

* तस्याहं सुलभः पार्थ नित्य-युक्तस्य योगिनः। BG 8.14

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 अर्जुन उवाच।
3.1 ज्यायसी चेत्कर्मणस्ते मता बुद्धिर्जनार्दन।
तत्किं कर्मणि घोरे मां नियोजयसि के शव॥
Arjuna said: O Janardana! If You consider jñāna—the knowledge of the
Self—to be superior to action, why then are You making me engage in this
dreadful deed, O Kesava?”

Hearing these words from Arjuna, a mischievous smile mixed with sadness
and compassion would have appeared on Krishna’s face. “O Arjuna, did I
ever tell you to fight? Why are you unnecessarily ascribing this fight to Me?
Why do you superimpose any action, opinion, choice, partiality, or
compulsion on Me? O Partha, in Me, there is no movement. I am the action-
less Spirit. Yes, this war is certainly terrible—ghora. But who is behind
this? Duryodhana’s greed and your excellence are both causal factors for
this war.
Arjuna, it is My conclusion that brāhmī sthiti born of Jñāna is certainly
superior to any kind of action. This dreadful war is an extreme example of
inauspicious prārabdha. Even in the case of such an unpleasant destiny, it is
possible to remain blemishless by the power of buddhi-yoga.”
The law ‘All action hurts’ is a sagely secret. The solution lies not in the
renunciation of action but in the renunciation of doership. If you enquire
—‘WHO AM I?’—and sink the ego in its source, you can surely touch the
pure spring of peace even amidst war. On the other hand, if you fail to
enquire, even if you visit temples or holy places such as Haridwar or Kasi,
you will not find peace.
When a person’s prārabdha compels him
to be in the field of terrible action such as
FREEDOM IS YOURS
war, he might feel helpless. But such
WHEN YOU ERASE THE horrifying cases are rare. Since we are not
EGO WHICH CLAIMS warriors like Arjuna, we need not worry
about having to fight. Yet, even if we are
DOERSHIP. destined for it, there is a perfect way to
remain unsullied. The butcher Dharmavyadha’s story in the Mahabharata is
a clear demonstration of this possibility. On the face of it, his was a terrible
karma. Yet, by the power of Jñāna, he remained pure.
Jñāna is so powerful that it can make you pure here and now by revealing
the eternally pure Self in you. You are not the body. You are the Atman.
Know this and be free now. We cannot become free by renouncing one
action and taking up another. Freedom is yours when you erase the ego
which claims doership. Then, even the most horrendous karma cannot taint
you.
But why must one perform such terrible karma at all? No doubt, this is a
valid question. “But, O dear, do you think you are free to choose? Then try.
Your very body is made of subtle molecules of action with the forces of
sattva-rajas-tamas-particles whirling in various orbits. Your freedom lies in
giving up all association with them. Be free of them. You have neither
action nor doership. You are Chidānanda-rūpa—Śivam.”

3.2 व्यामिश्रेणेव वाक्येन बुद्धिं मोहयसीव मे।

तदेकं वद निश्चित्य येन श्रेयोऽहमाप्नुयाम्॥
You are confusing my mind with speech that appears to be contradictory.
Please tell me with certainty the one path, by pursuing which, I may attain
supreme well-being.

In this verse, Arjuna seems to be pleading thus: “O Krishna, please do not

confuse me so.”

CONFUSION IS GOOD
A person is said to have confronted Buddha soon after he had finished a talk
—“O Sramana Gautama, why don’t you teach a simple way of living? Why
are you confusing me?” Buddha said, “Are you confused? Then I am
successful. Confusion is pain. When pained by confusion, you will seek
relief, leading you to the quest and gradually to the Truth.”
Similarly, Arjuna says that he is confused by Krishna’s words. The Lord has
now assumed the most responsible position of a Guru. Guru means ‘clarity.’
Guru means light. Guru means Truth. His work is to bring the disciple out
of all delusions. The Supreme Master is now trying to de-illusion the
dearmost disciple and remove his delusion. But alas, Arjuna says, “Your
words seem to delude my intellect—buddhiṃ mohayasi iva.”

THE POWER OF A JÑĀNI’S WORDS

During one of Swami Vivekananda’s talks in America, an equally striking
incident occurred. Swamiji’s talks on Jñāna-yoga were compelling. ‘You
are Brahman. You are the immaculate Atman. Sinless, birthless, deathless
you are’—such words used to fall on the ears of the audience like
bombshells, resulting in explosions of profound peace and heightened
consciousness. The listeners were often left entranced and absorbed in
meditation.
During one such talk, a girl stood up unexpectedly and asked, “Sir, are you
hypnotising us?”
The Swami smiled and said, “My dear child, you think that I need to
hypnotise you? You are already in the hypnosis of Māyā, dreaming up all
sorts of petty limitations. My job is to wake you up, to break the
beginningless spell of hypnosis. Come on, wake up! My words are Truth.
Truth is like a corrosive substance. Wherever it falls, it burns its way
through; in soft substances at once, hard granite slowly, but win, it will
surely. Even if you resist, Truth will enter you forcefully and burn away
your ignorance.”
Here, Arjuna urges Krishna, “Tell me that simple path by which I can attain
the highest well-being.” Doesn’t this sound familiar? Yes, the fact is,
worldly people always find the Truth to be complex and their own
complicated and petty network of saṃsāra simple.
Many seekers often come to us with this same request, ‘Give me a simple
path through which I can walk my way to the Truth.’ Though this sounds
like earnestness, behind it lies sheer confusion and intellectual dullness.
Since the mind is complex, it pictures the Truth also as being complex and
challenging.
Here, Arjuna is asking for śreyas—yena śreyo'hamāpnuyām. The word
‘śreyas’ here reveals that Arjuna is already familiar with the Upanishadic
language. This word is found in the Kathopanishad, which the Gita follows
closely. Arjuna asks, “Show me the path to Enlightenment—the highest
well-being, and not preyas—worldly power.” Such a question could arise
only in the heart of a mature seeker.

श्रीभगवानुवाच।
3.3 लोके ऽस्मिन्द्विविधा निष्ठा पुरा प्रोक्ता मयानघ।
ज्ञानयोगेन साङ्ख्यानां कर्मयोगेन योगिनाम्॥
Sri Bhagavan said: In this world, twofold are the spiritual paths revealed by
Me in the beginning, O Anagha (sinless one)! To the mature ones
(Sāṅkhyas), it is abidance in the Self, i.e., jñāna-yoga, whereas to the ones
who are naturally inclined to action, performing karma as yoga has been
prescribed.

niṣṭhā—this word is ensouled with profound deep spiritual implications. It

means assiduity, integrity, fixity, inner establishment and much more. The
state where one has absorbed some discipline, characteristics, or even
knowledge is niṣṭhā. When one gains dexterity in anything, it is niṣṭhā.
For example, when one’s meditation practice becomes regular and natural,
one has gained niṣṭhā in meditation. That which stays with us is niṣṭhā.
When we adopt an ideal out of fascination, it mostly does not stay with us.
The nature that the Lord has given, that alone stays with us.
Gaudapadacharya says,* “One cannot change one’s nature.” Certain people,
by their nature, have niṣṭhā in action. Even though they may sit quietly in
meditation for some time, their fundamental niṣṭhā or abiding nature is in
action. Hence, they should walk the path of karma to freedom. To them is
the teaching of karma-yoga.
Here Bhagavan speaks about two classes of people—the Sāṅkhyas and the
Yogis. Both have come in the Vedic tradition. The Sāṅkhyas are renunciates
whose whole energy is devoted to abiding in one’s Self. The other group are
the Yogis who know the art of transforming their action as Yoga by offering
the fruit of action to the Lord. Gradually, they attain inner purity, leading to
Self-Realisation.
Here the Lord speaks as the Supreme Purushottama when He says, “I have
taught these two paths from the very beginning.” This is what the
bhāshyakāra has spoken about in the introduction.* Both the Karma-kāṇḍa
and the Jñāna-kāṇḍa portions of the Vedas are revealed by the Lord
Himself. The Upanishads (the Jñāna-kāṇḍa) reveal the Atman. The Karma-
kāṇḍa releases one from the urge to act for pleasure. “karma-mokshāya,”
says the Bhagavata. It is the medicine prescribed to cure the disease of
saṃsāra.

3.4 न कर्मणामनारम्भान्नैष्कर्म्यं पुरुषोऽश्नुते।

न च सन्न्यसनादेव सिद्धिं समधिगच्छति॥
No one reaches the highest state of Jñāna by merely abstaining from work,
and no one ever rises to perfection by mere outer sannyāsa.

Naishkarmya-siddhi is the goal of spiritual knowledge. The state free of the

final vestige of ignorance and its result—the ego—is the sublime state of
spiritual action-lessness. It does not dawn simply by shirking action and
remaining idle in a jungle. It is to be discovered in one’s own deeps by the
spiritual quest—‘WHO AM I?’ When the real nature of the ‘I’ is sought, it
reveals itself as the actionless state—the ‘Spiritual Heart’ which is ever
insulated from the slightest movement of volition. Once this is realised,
even though one may perform various actions, there will be a deep feeling
of being perfectly at rest. It is by abiding in such a state that the Enlightened
Beings work in the world.
Naishkarmya-sthiti is indeed freedom while in the body—jīvanmukti. The
terminus of spiritual life is the state of a Sage whose inner flame of
Ātmānubhūti shines forth unclouded by the smoke of ignorance. The urge to
do, the urge to know, the urge to attain, the urge to give up, the urge to
enjoy, the urge to become—all these arise out of some lacuna. When one
feels an inner emptiness, one’s inner energy shoots out to fill that vacuum in
some form or the other. This movement of inner force towards the world is
karma. This upsurge comes to a stop only when one recognises the
profound fullness of the Source. Only then one becomes a contented one—
santushṭa.
Such a state of fullness does not happen just by giving up the outer
expressions of the inner urge. If the inner desire to act is powerful, but one
gives up outer actions, it will only lead to chaos both inside and outside. It
is better to let karma happen, whether it be cooking in the kitchen or
fighting in the warfield. One does not attain spiritual fulfilment through
outer renunciation alone.
It is out of ignorance of one’s real nature that the primal error arises as the
‘I’-thought. The ‘I’-thought identifies with the body and limits itself to it.
Based on this, seeds of desire arise to experience other bodies, objects,
wealth, enjoyment, and so on. Desirous of acquiring these, one acts. This is
the cycle of avidyā–kāma–karma. To break this sequence, we must know
the real essence of the ‘I’. When we probe into the ‘I’-thought, it disappears
like the snake in the rope and the boundless pure Being shines forth. No
desires arise after this; and no actions remain for the desireless one. Even
his seeming dynamism touches not the inner stillness.
The word ārambha is also significant. It means beginning. All beginnings
need a saṅkalpa—a resolution to grab something. It is the fuel that stokes
the fire of desire—‘saṅkalpa-prabhavān kāmān’ (BG6.24). When all
saṅkalpas are renounced, desire flames get extinguished. Such a one who is
devoid of saṅkalpa has ascended to the state of Yoga. He is a yogārūḍha.
In the Gita, sannyāsa means renunciation of saṅkalpa—saṅkalpa-
sannyāsa. One who has renounced all saṅkalpas through vyavasāyātmikā
buddhi—the divine resolution—is the real renunciate. That divine
resolution is Śiva-saṅkalpa. One blow of that divine determination will
bring down the castle of Māyā. Only to such a one, anārambha is possible.
Action-lessness is natural to him. The occurrence of thoughts is rare for
him. He is the free one here and now—the jīvanmukta.
The birth of a person is an ārambha. In the Vedic way of life, the nisheka or
garbhādāna is ārambha. When a man sows the seed into the woman’s
womb, the beginning of karma—ārambha—happens.
Even the idea of the state of Nirvāṇa, where one is entirely free of karma,
will elude us until we arrive at vyavasāyātmikā-buddhi. We cannot even
conceive a state free of the body and its limitations. Innumerable are the
streams of desires and actions we have opened up in our being and
surroundings. After countless years of living in ignorance, how can we undo
all that in one day by a mere decision to refrain from acting? The field of
action we find ourselves in did not start today or yesterday; the current
continues from our uncountable former lives.
Hence the Lord declares that mere non-initiation of new karma will not lead
to siddhi. Siddhi here means the highest state—Brāhmī-sthiti—where all
seeds of desires are burnt. Mere outer signs of sannyāsa are not enough.
The knowledge of the Atman alone can undo all bondage.
The state of action-lessness or naishkarmya-sthiti is the nature of the Self.
One who knows this is absolutely still even when he appears to work non-
stop. Action-lessness is his natural state; it is his very being.

3.5 न हि कश्चित्क्षणमपि जातु तिष्ठत्यकर्मकृ त्।

कार्यते ह्यवशः कर्म सर्वः प्रकृ तिजैर्गुणैः॥
None can ever remain actionless even for a moment, for everyone is
helplessly driven to action by the guṇas born of Prakṛti.

The keyword here is avaśaḥ. It means we are not free to renounce or act
according to our whims and fancies. We are in the hand of that ‘Power’
called Prakṛti—nature. That power has three elemental forces: sattva, rajas
and tamas—peace, activity and inertia. Sattva is the quality which is very
close to one’s real nature, the Sat. Sat-tva means existential; it is the
existential mode. Rajaḥ means that which colours, that which makes us
identify with the body-mind and makes us dance according to the waves of
emotions within—ranjanāt.
Tamas means darkness—where there is no light of knowledge or
enthusiasm. These three forces are constantly pushing and prodding from
within. It is driven by them that everyone acts. Therefore, in nature, not
even for a split second is there freedom from karma. Inertia too is a karma.
The person who sleeps is also doing karma. Therefore, that too cannot be
considered freedom from activity. In fact, in most creatures, tamas is more
predominant. Mountains are in the incessant activity of not moving. Tamas
also means density. It means that the object or person is resisting movement
immensely. In fact, this is the most binding form of activity.
The ego perpetually sits within this three-wheeled vehicle of guṇas.
Akarma, actionlessness, is another name of the Self. It is a synonym for
Brahman. That awareness instantly makes us discover that our real Being is
totally free of action. That state of knowing is Samādhi. Sama-dhi—the
‘dhī’ or intellect recognises the ‘Sama’-principle.
In that stillness, the ego-mind-senses-
body-world arises, stays, and subsides.
BE STILL, BE QUIET, BE
That stillness is eternally free of action.
SILENT ALWAYS. There, no activity is possible in the past,
present or future. There alone is akarma.
That state cannot be had in any of the modes of Prakṛti. When the Lord
says, ‘Go beyond the guṇas,’ He is goading Arjuna to locate this ‘sama’
principle. It is not the senses, the mind, or the ego. It is the Heart-centre—
the hṛdaya.
When the ego merges there during the quest—Ātma-vichāra—one
consciously discovers that spot. Driven by its past momentum, the ego rises
again forcefully and associates with the body to work out its prārabdha.
But, even amid all the dynamism of nature, the Knower is ever aware of the
still substratum beneath. The more a sādhaka meditates, the more he
becomes familiar with that Substratum deep, deep within and abides there.
This is the essence of the teaching. Be still, be quiet, be silent always—
niścalo bhava, niścalo bhava, niścalo bhava sarvadā.

3.6 कर्मेन्द्रियाणि संयम्य य आस्ते मनसा स्मरन्।

इन्द्रियार्थान्विमूढात्मा मिथ्याचारः स उच्यते॥
One who restrains his organs of action but constantly broods over the
sensory objects in his mind is deluding himself and is called a hypocrite.

karmendriyas are the organs of action. They are vāk, pāṇi, pāda, pāyu and
upastha—the organs of speech, hands, legs, the organ of evacuation and the
organ of reproduction, respectively.
Controlling these organs alone will not help to attain inner peace. It is akin
to keeping the dam closed during heavy rain. The dam would become full,
and this would eventually result in a catastrophe. Such a one who controls
the organs only outwardly is a mithyācāraḥ. Mithyā means mere
appearance—one whose control and peace are mere appearances. He is only
deluding the onlooker. Some appear controlled and peaceful, yet closer
interaction reveals sharks of turbulent emotions hiding in the depths of their
seemingly waveless ocean of peace.
Controlling the outer senses is indeed the first step towards meditation. It is
then that the seeker comes face to face with the real form of the senses; he
recognises their powerful subtle forms in the prāṇic body. He comes to
know that the senses are not in the gross body but are in the subtle body—
liṅga-śarīra. Only a deep meditator will be able to recognise this. The
senses are the warp and woof of the chitta—the mind-stuff. The senses are
filled with the liquid of the mind, and the mind is filled with the salt of the
senses. Hence, a beginner must start his journey from the first step of
abstinence. It is exceedingly rare to find a blessed one who strikes the
highest note in meditation in the beginning itself. Even for a swan that flies
high, coming down to earth is inevitable. Hence putting the senses of action
in order is indeed the foundation of the spiritual edifice.
A point to note is that once the doors of the vast subtle body are opened, the
real battle begins. Compared to the alluring power of the inner organs, the
outer senses look pristine, like saints! As the subtle organs are made of vital
energy, they do not wither or weaken with age. Hence even in old age, one
may encounter the effect of powerful senses in the inner chambers of
meditation. The only way is to absorb all these sense channels through the
power of Jñāna. Until one has a powerful hold on Jñāna, the rasa or
sensory taste will linger on. Only in the blaze of seeing the various inner
formations of the chitta as moods of the one non-dual awareness, will they
lose their enticing power. With such power of the Self, one can work and go
through one’s prārabdha unscathed. Without this, mere outer control devoid
of any real inner transformation will only end up in creating a split
personality within. Such a split in personality will reduce all of one’s
spiritual practices to mere lifeless rituals—mithyā-ācāras.
Some great Masters were very active. The Gitāchārya Krishna fought for
dharma and even sported with the Gopikas of Vrindavana. But all these
could not in any way shake his mind or disturb his senses. Such a one is a
sthitaprajña.
ācāras are the visible disciplines of spiritual life. They are often referred to
as religiosity or orthodoxy. Bathing thrice a day, not touching another,
eating pure food, sitting for meditation at the prescribed times… all these
are ācāras. In fact, they are outward signs of a disciplined mind. However,
if an aspirant performs these practices, while the mind is allowed to wander
on worldly matters, such ācāras are nothing but mere appearances. There
will be inner conflict in such people. Though they try to do these outwardly,
harmony is lacking within. This is mithyācāra.
This verse is to be understood in the proper manner. For a seeker, it is
indeed good to purify the mind through the right method—by controlling
the outer senses and gradually turning inward. The control of the outer
karmendriyas is not being objected to in this verse. But stopping merely at
that will not do. This is the message.

3.7 यस्त्विन्द्रियाणि मनसा नियम्यारभतेऽर्जुन।

कर्मेन्द्रियैः कर्मयोगमसक्तः स विशिष्यते॥
O Arjuna! He who controls the senses by the mind and directs the organs of
actions on the path of karma-yoga without any attachment excels.

In the previous verse, we spoke about the hypocrite—the mithyācāraḥ.

Mere outward renunciation with a desire to get adulation from others is
cheap hypocrisy. He who curbs his senses outwardly but allows them a free
play in the mental theatre is self-deluded. His life is a sheer lie. Constant
brooding over the sensory objects will soon catch him off guard and sweep
him off his feet. It is only a question of time before he succumbs to
temptation. If the inner fascination mounts up like a flood, how can the
flimsy embankment of ‘egoistic will’ keep it under control?

yastvindriyāṇi manasā niyamya

The word ‘tu’ has been used here to show the distinctive nature of the
Karma-yogi and to distinguish him from the hypocrites spoken about in the
earlier verse. The mind is subtler than the senses. Senses are only the
projecting centres of the mind. If a sādhaka controls his senses of action
and relents not, even if his mind roams in the fields of senses, he cannot be
called a hypocrite. He is a beginner in yoga as his resolve is to control the
mind gradually. Hence this is an auspicious beginning.
Here manasā means the whole antaḥkaraṇa—the mind, the intellect, chitta
(the unconscious mind-stuff) and the ego. niyamya is used to indicate that
one must bring one’s life within the order prescribed by the śāstras.
karmendriyaiḥ—though the word karmendriya means organs of action, in
this context, they also include the jñānendriyas—the organs of knowledge,
as without them, the karmendriyas cannot function.
In this verse, Bhagavan speaks about the sthitaprajña who has disciplined
himself like the tortoise by withdrawing all his senses. He is a brave one—
dhīra. He has perfect control—niyama. He is a detached one—asakta. He is
perfectly desireless and seeks no benefit for himself. Though such a one
performs various actions with the senses, all his actions are verily karma-
yoga.
If he is desireless, what makes him perform action? It is Divine Will that
motivates him. Not only does he continue with old karmas, but he appears
to initiate new currents of activity—ārabhate. We see this happening with
many saints. They embark on various service activities that benefit many.
So why does the Gita say sarvārambha-parityāgi (BG12.16)—one must give
up all new undertakings?
We must understand that this instruction is for a sādhaka. This is not meant
for a yogi who works only out of compassion or as per the instructions of
the śāstras, Guru or God. Such a one is a free soul and is unique—viśiṣṭa.
He excels—viśiṣyate. There is no personal motive behind any of his
actions. But niyamyārabhate—all his undertakings are done with perfect
niyama, control. His ego is perfectly withdrawn into the Heart. Hence, he
has no desires whatsoever, and whatever he does becomes a yajña. Such a
performance of karma is certainly a great tapas. He is a mighty storm of
dharma. Through him, dharma flourishes. The Bhagavata speaks about
such a one as the greatest devotee—nirguṇa-bhakta.
3.8 नियतं कु रु कर्म त्वं कर्म ज्यायो ह्यकर्मणः।
शरीरयात्रापि च ते न प्रसिद्ध्येदकर्मणः॥
Perform your prescribed duties, as action is superior to inaction. Even the
basic maintenance of the body would be impossible through inaction.

Until the sādhaka gets insight into spiritual perfection and Self-Realisation,
he performs actions driven by the fuel of desires. But once he hears of the
divine goal and gets an intimation about his immortal nature—his real home
—his whole attention undergoes a paradigm shift. He no more wants to
corrupt his heart-space with the dust and smoke of desires. In such a state,
the sādhaka prefers meditation over activity. He even dreams of the day
when he will sit in samādhi all day.
When Swami Vivekananda expressed to his Master, Sri Ramakrishna, his
desire to remain in constant samādhi, the Master chided him as petty-
minded and said, “You should be like a large banyan tree which gives shade
to many.” In the early years of his inner awakening, a genuine sādhaka
would desperately strive for such a goal of remaining in constant samādhi.
Of course, in the initial years of inner awakening, it is the power of Grace
that pulls his mind inwards. In great awe of the new force that has entered
the body, the mind stays still in reverence. Such spells of meditative states
may give way to old distractions, and added to it is the despair of not
attaining the spiritual goal of which he is absolutely certain.
Bhagavan’s instruction for such a seeker is this: “Do not run away to
seclusion, do not be in haste for attaining the highest state of action-
lessness. Be where you are, and learn to convert every stone that obstructs
your way into a divine idol of worship.”
Every step in spiritual life is pūrṇa; it is whole and divine. Be in ecstasy,
whether you sleep, work, or meditate. Do not shirk your prescribed duties.
niyataṃ kuru karma tvam—this is beautiful and simple advice by Krishna.
Whatever duty has come your way, whatever work you must perform,
whatever cannot be avoided, do it as spiritual sādhanā. It is better to work
than to be idle—karma jyāyo hi akarmaṇaḥ.
No spiritual blossoming is possible in the state of inertia. Even to maintain
the body, one has to work. This is simple common sense. Idleness drains all
vitality. niyataṃ karma—convert your nature-born actions as spiritual
experiences, spiritual dynamism. When in the ecstasy of ethereal heights,
the sādhaka might forget the simple fact that he must come down to earth,
the body, and has to live his life here until death. To set right such flaws,
one needs a real Master.

SANT TUKARAM — WORK AND

SPIRITUALITY
Saints like Tukaram, Namadev and Kabir were householders. They worked
until their end and performed their duties beautifully. They never begged for
their livelihood. “If you beg for your livelihood, you will be forsaken by
Narayana,” sings Tukaram. This was their attitude.
Tukaram was a grocery merchant. The pure saint that he was, he lacked the
clever knack needed to succeed in business. He would give away his
grocery items free of cost to the poor and thus incur great losses. Once a
rich man, he soon became penniless and faced many difficulties. His wife
became quite annoyed with his ways and would scold him often, although
she loved him very much. Even with all these problems, Tukaram refrained
from outward renunciation. ‘I am a vaiśya, and I must do my duty’ was his
attitude. Even in utter poverty, he remained bubbling with ecstasy, chanting
the nāma of Lord Vittala. Often, he went into the seclusion of Brahmagiri
Hill, read the Bhagavata and the Gita, and meditated. Thus he charged
himself with spiritual power to resist the mental storms and despondencies
that destiny brought in. “Let the lips continue to chant the nāma
‘Ramakrishna Hari’ while the body works in the world. Then, moksha is
assured like a gooseberry in your palm,” sang the saint.* Tukaram lived a
simple life as a householder and worked as a grocery merchant, but his
body got transformed, and each cell was charged with divinity. It is said that
every fibre of his body chanted the nāma—the name of the Lord.
Spirituality needs no outer uniform.
Wherever God has placed you is the
ONLY WHEN ONE
perfect place for your inner flowering. He
DISCOVERS THE never makes a mistake. Whatever work
ACTIONLESS NATURE OF He has given you, let it happen through
you without doership. Even while
THE SELF DOES ACTION working, be inwardly connected to Him
BECOME YOGA. by chanting His nāma, recollecting and
meditating on Him. Then, you will be free
in this life itself. Do not try to run after
some utopian idea of idle spirituality. Many have burned their boats and
retired to the Himalayas only to scorch themselves in the fire of desires. It is
better to work for the sake of your śarīra-yātra—livelihood. The body has
to be maintained. Do not live on donations. Work and earn.

यल्लभसे निजकर्मोपात्तं।
वित्तं तेन विनोदय चित्तम्॥ Bha.Go. 2

Whatever wealth you get through your svadharma, live joyfully with that.
One of the biggest defects in present-day ashrams is their subsistence on
impure funds. People who earn money through improper means also donate
to the ashrams, and those who eat the food got from such tainted funds will
soon find their sādhanā getting affected. On the other hand, if it is obtained
through self-earned wealth, any food can be digested. This is the secret.
Hence it is better to work for your livelihood. Even if you live in an ashram,
it is better to do some work there and then take food. Bhagavan Ramana
Maharshi encouraged his direct disciples to either work in the ashram and
take the ashram food or to live as sādhus begging for their food outside.
Most of them lived in seclusion, not depending on the ashram for food.
Do your part and take only whatever is needed for your simple subsistence.
Remember the Lord and work. Chant His nāma, and you shall be free.

3.9 यज्ञार्थात्कर्मणोऽन्यत्र लोकोऽयं कर्मबन्धनः।

तदर्थं कर्म कौन्तेय मुक्तसङ्गः समाचर॥
Mankind is bound by actions other than those done for the sake of sacrifice.
Therefore, O Arjuna (son of Kunti), perform action for that (yajña’s) sake
and without attachment.
This verse should not only be known and absorbed but also be expressed as
absolute spiritual dynamism. In the previous chapter, Bhagavan delved deep
into the nature of the Self. Unless one knows the real nature of the Self,
declaring that one performs action as yoga amounts to blasphemy. Only
when one discovers the actionless nature of the Self does action become
yoga. Such action naturally becomes a yajña.
The activities of a perfectly egoless person are like an immense downpour
of benediction on all. Such activities are the waves of bliss that arise in the
Infinite. They are called yajña. Yajña is generally translated as ‘sacrifice’.
But the Vedas say that yajña means God.* Yajña is Brahman. yajñārthaṃ
karma means action performed as an offering to the Lord who has appeared
before us as viśvam—this universe. The very first name in the Vishnu-
Sahasranama is viśvam, which means the universe. It is indeed the
pratyaksha rūpa—the visible form—of the Lord. The root of the word
viśvam is ‘viś’, which means ‘to enter.’ He Himself has assumed all the
names and forms and entered them. He is the Indweller of all. The
scriptures say, † “When a beggar comes over begging for food, Vishnu, the
Lord Himself, has come to your door as a guest.” When this is known, all
actions of the Knower become a worship of the Lord. Such actions spring
forth from pure love and do not bind.
The attitude ‘I make this sacrifice for someone’s sake’ is not exactly an
ennobling one. The word ‘renounce’ or ‘sacrifice’ typically brings forth a
rather solemn face. True renunciation has more of the yajña-spirit than any
amount of doing When one gives up, what remains is nectar—amṛta. Once
you know that all your actions are for the Beloved, where is the question of
this sacrificing attitude? You are not giving to ‘another’. Love is the giver.
Love is the receiver, and what remains is Love. There is pure ecstasy in
such action. In such a sacrifice, what is given up is only the ignorance that
the ego is real.
anyatra loko'yaṃ karmabandhanaḥ—if one acts with the ego-feeling ‘I
am doing something for another or the world or even God,’ he is a petty
person—a kṛpaṇa. His action is a bondage. Action can release if performed
with the knowledge that the actor is Vishnu, the action is Vishnu, and the
fruit too is Vishnu. The very existence is Vishnu.
tadarthaṃ karma kaunteya muktasaṅgaḥ samācara
Hence, O son of the great devotee Kunti! Know this, and act without any
attachment—muktasaṅgaḥ. Perform your action not as a beggar of results
but as a jīvanmukta. In this way, you have nothing to gain or lose. Such an
act becomes pure Bhakti-yoga. Even if your work is to fight in a war, it
becomes worship. “tat karma yanna bandhāya (Vi.Pu.1.19.41)—the action that
does not bind is real action.”
Through Self-knowledge, every act becomes a yajña. Renunciation
becomes natural in a Jñāni. We cannot run away from our real nature or add
anything to the inner Wholeness. Once it is known that the action too is a
manifestation of the inner perfection, then such a state is jñāna-yajña.

3.10 सहयज्ञाः प्रजाः सृष्ट्वा पुरोवाच प्रजापतिः।

अनेन प्रसविष्यध्वमेष वोऽस्त्विष्टकामधुक्॥
In the beginning, the Lord (Prajapati), having created humankind with the
yajña-spirit ingrained in them, said, “Through sacrifice, you will flourish.
Let this sacrifice be Kamadhenu, the wish-fulfilling cow for all your noble
wants.”

sahayajñāḥ prajāḥ sṛṣṭvā purovāca prajāpatiḥ

prajāpati means Brahma, the creator. Here Bhagavan says, in the beginning
of creation, yajña was created. The word kāmadhuk implies Kamadhenu—
the divine cow. Sage Vasishtha owned this divine cow, and many others too
acquired her through their tapas. Each of us can also own this magnificent
cow through our sacrifice and devotion. yajña, sacrifice, is Kamadhenu.
In former days, giving a cow along with a bull—go-mithuna—was
considered one of the noblest gifts. Prajāpati, at the time of creation, gave
this gift—the cow of yajña along with the bull of dharma, and said: “Let
there be prosperity. Whatever desires are to be fulfilled, let them be fulfilled
through yajña and dharma. This Kamadhenu will bless you all with
whatever is needed for life,” the Lord declared. When you live a life of
yajña devoid of desires, whatever is necessary for you and those with you,
shall be provided. It is the concern of the Lord.
The entire cosmos is one whole. No one can be selfish and get along
peacefully. Every bit of dust is connected to every planet. Nothing is
unrelated. A blade of grass cannot be uprooted without sending a pinching
pain to the stars. Such unity, oneness, is there. A bird flies from one place to
another, and unknown to it are the seeds of some precious herb stuck to its
feet. As a carrier of seeds, the bird unknowingly becomes a channel for the
Divine Power to do Its work. Thus, each moment a cosmic yajña gets
performed unconsciously. If you destroy a small earthworm, you are doing
great harm to the earth. It does immense yajña in giving fertility to the
earth. Every creature is a part of the Cosmic Being Vishnu—Yajña. He is
hidden within all, right from an amoeba to Brahma. The more alert you are,
the more you will behold the yajñapati—the Great Being—who makes the
perpetual yajña happen.
Life itself is a yajña. Through yajña (sacrifice), you worship that yajña
(Vishnu). “yajñena yajñam,” says the Purusha-suktam. Know this mystical
worship and be awakened. Worship in such a way that you are aware of the
Divine while working. Work in such a way that you will be filled with the
energy of gratitude while worshipping or meditating. Active dynamic
worship is dharma. It is through yajña that dharma is born. Dharma is not
something perceptible. It is the fragrance of the yajña-smoke. It flourishes
in the human heart whenever a sacrifice is performed and nourishes all
human life with the nectar of Peace.
A beautiful picture is being unravelled in this metaphor of the divine cow as
yajña. A yajña, divine sacrifice, is like the cow that gives milk for the
benefit of all. It is dharma the bull, which sows the seed in the cow. What a
concept this is! The four legs of the dharma-bull are satyam, dānam, dayā,
śaucam—truth, charity, compassion and purity—dharmo me
caturaṅghrikaḥ (Si.La.39). The yajñavedi or the field of yajña is our field of
work, svadharma. The fire lit in the altar of yajña, sacrifice, is Jñāna—the
fire of inner contemplation which burns away all desires. Unless that fire is
lit, karma becomes karma-bandhana. And the fruit of such a yajña is
freedom from all bondage. The power of this yajña reaches all the divine
elements, devas, in the cosmos. We shall explore this in the next verse.
When a yajña is performed, even the cow and its excretions—cow dung and
urine (go-mūtra)—are sacred and have great healing power. Similarly, in
our yajña of unselfish devotional action, whatever is the by-product,
whatever comes out as waste—that too does great good for many. We can
see the demonstration of this phenomenon in the life of an Enlightened
Being. The most significant aspect in his life is the teaching given by him.
His disciples, who receive the teaching and become enlightened, are like the
ghee, the final product of a cow’s gift. The devotees who devoutly follow
the Mahatma get the milk of love, and their hearts melt in pure emotion.
Then there are some who are not completely involved but inspired by the
presence of the Sage, they serve the society. This is how the by-product
goes to all.

देवान्भावयतानेन ते देवा भावयन्तु वः।

3.11–12 परस्परं भावयन्तः श्रेयः परमवाप्स्यथ॥
इष्टान्भोगान्हि वो देवा दास्यन्ते यज्ञभाविताः।
तैर्दत्तानप्रदायैभ्यो यो भुङ्क्ते स्तेन एव सः॥
Express gratitude to the devas with this (yajña), and let the devas be pleased
with you. Thus cherishing one another, may you attain supreme well-being.
Pleased by your yajña, the devas will bestow all the noble enjoyments you
need. But the one who enjoys whatever is bestowed upon him by the devas,
without offering anything in return, is verily a thief.

These two verses continue the idea from the previous verse and extend to
the next verse as well. We have already spoken about yajña. Yajñas are of
several types—deva-yajña, pitṛ-yajña, bhūta-yajña, manushya-yajña and
brahma-yajña. In this verse, though Bhagavan is speaking about deva-
yajña, it includes all other kinds of yajñas too. The basic principle behind
this is to offer gratitude to all those who extend their help to us. Gratitude is
one form of bhakti. Bhagavan says that we attain supreme well-being by
showing gratitude to the devas—śreyaḥ paramavāpsyatha. Supreme good
can happen by the benediction of the devas, the divine beings.

DO DEVAS AND THEIR WORLDS EXIST?

When asked by a devotee whether the devas and their worlds exist,
Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi replied that they do exist just as this earth and
this world exist; they are as real as you are in the body. Maharshi added that
this world that we see is relative; it is only a superimposition on the Self. So
too, all the worlds and everything that is seen is only a superimposition on
the seer; they exist in you, the seer. All the great sages have accepted the
relative existence of the higher and lower beings apart from the human
world.
Half-baked scientific knowledge has done great harm by draining our
reverence towards these higher aspects. Modern society has become dry and
unpoetic. It worships dead matter, molecules, atoms, hormones, chemicals
—nothing living, let alone the Divine. Factual thinking and demystifying
have sucked away the poetic beauty of life.
Ancient sages were not mere thinkers; they were poets—kavis. They were
mystics. They perceived the devas through their yogic vision. Each limb of
our body is governed by a deva. Each and every force in nature is a deva. In
fact, what we call ‘nature’ is a congregation of devas—divine beings. Of
course, the cosmic intelligence has purposely withheld from the gross-
minded the power to behold these subtle astral beings.
The entire Vedic literature is replete with many hymns that propitiate devas.
Without knowing this śāstra, it is impossible to make any sense of the
Karma-kāṇḍa portion of the Vedas. There are many yajñas described there,
which are accompanied by meticulous rites and profound meditations on
those deities. Through such yajñas, the rishis became attuned to these
effulgent astral beings who appear as natural forces. By communicating
with these divine beings, the sages sought whatever was beneficial for
human society, such as rain, prosperity and good health.
These devas are the driving forces behind the wondrous order in the
universe. Even illiterate tribals of ancient times were deeply worshipful of
these forces. The remnants of this shattered faith can be seen in many
remote villages. Even now, there are several tribes that perform certain rites
that express their gratitude to the natural forces. They instinctively
recognise their debt to the higher beings and pay them back through coins
of gratitude.
On the other extreme, our modern godless society is on the verge of
destroying the very earth with its cynical attitude. Trying to preserve the
earth by ‘nature worship’ is not at all proving successful. The word ‘nature’
is common in daily parlance, but if the underlying truth is forgotten, it
becomes a mere word without any meaning. When you and I are
individuals, what do we mean by ‘nature’? It is a conglomeration of
innumerable beings—some visible, some not. Self-proclaimed rationalists
are unwilling to accept anything which is not visible to them.
The mystics—the ancient seers—have warned us: ‘Be alert. Where you put
your feet, the dust is alive, holy.’ Man must learn the sacred art of living
with reverence to nature. We are inveterately curious about the seen—the
so-called ‘material’ phenomena. We explore all things, starting from the
tiniest atoms or subatomic particles. We explore each subtle operation of the
human body too. And we expand our exploration to include the earth, the
planets, and the vastly distant stars and galaxies. The ancient sages, on the
other hand, have revealed that the entire universe consists of divine friends
who are ever ready to shower boons on us. Why not seek their company?
Develop sattva-guṇa to invite them. If you develop rajo-guṇa and tamo-
guṇa, the corresponding lower forces will crowd around you. Performing a
deva-yajña is a way to invite the divine beings. They are generally
performed through Vedic methods. Through such yajñas, the devas accept
our reverential offerings, and in return, they bless us with well-being.
‘Be happy with this mutual gratitude’ is the message of this verse. We must
learn to live serving each other. In these modern times, many express their
concerns about preserving their nearby environment or even the earth itself.
But the Vedas speak about the whole cosmos.

tairdattānapradāyaibhyo yo bhuṅkte stena eva saḥ

“Those who partake of all the benefits such as the rain showered by the
devas, without paying back the debt we owe them, are thieves,” says
Bhagavan. When we avail all that the devas—in the form of the elements of
nature or other higher evolved human beings—or the ancestors, or the sages
who lived before us have given us, we are indebted to give back to them.
Whatever we do must be more beneficial to others than to ourselves. This is
the secret of yajña.
He is indeed a noble man who gives more than he receives. The man who
uses more than he gives is indebted. He who takes everything and provides
nothing is a thief. See the definition that the Bhagavata gives for a thief.
 यावद्भ्रियेत जठरं तावत्स्वत्वं हि देहिनाम्।
अधिकं योऽभिमन्येत स स्तेनो दण्डमर्हति॥ SB 7.14.8

The amount of wealth required to satisfy one’s hunger (basic needs) may
alone be considered as one’s own. A person who amasses more and gloats
over it is a thief fit for punishment.
In this Gita verse, bhāvanā is the catch-word. In all these—bhāvayatānena,
parasparaṃ bhāvayantaḥ, yajñabhāvitāḥ—there is the word ‘bhāvanā’
about which we have already spoken in the previous chapter. The power
with which we can converse with the devas is bhāvanā—the mystical plane.
The higher beings are receptive to our inner vibrations. If we send out noble
emotions, we can converse with the devas. When the virus of a disease
enters our body, naturally, we get afflicted with that disease. This is the law.
In the same way, if we harbour destructive emotions, lower forces crowd
around us. So too, if the mind is pure and we nurture divine emotions, we
invite all these divine beings through this pure vibration—parasparaṃ
bhāvayantaḥ śreyaḥ paramavāpsyatha. Naturally, we will be nourished
spiritually.
Of course, it makes good sense to be alert to the higher presences rather
than to invite the lower presences. Then there is always satsaṅga, a divine
contact happening in the astral plane also. Just as we say that in spiritual
life, one must contact the saints and have good company in the outer plane,
similarly, in the astral plane too we should be cautious and surround
ourselves with good company. Although we are not aware of the astral
plane, we should pay heed to the seers who are knowledgeable about it. Just
as we heed a doctor’s advice about not exposing ourselves to physically
infectious people, we must similarly heed the words of the sages when they
warn us not to go to psychically infectious places where lower forces may
affect us. This is the principle.
Our ancient ancestors were highly alert
about avoiding adverse influences. When
THERE IS NO QUESTION
selecting the site for building a home,
OF A SEPARATE ashram or temple, they would take keen
note of the vibrations there. Every day,
EXISTENCE. IT IS ALL from morning to night, we breathe in the
devas. And the air we breathe out, which
ONE WHOLE. carries all our vibrations, should be
offered to them as flowers of worship.
There is no question of a separate
existence. It is all one whole.

SPECIAL POINT
Taittiriya Aranyaka (2.10) enumerates the five mahayajñas.

पञ्च वा एते महायज्ञास्सतति प्रतायन्ते सतति सन्तिष्ठन्ते देवयज्ञः पितृयज्ञो भूतयज्ञो मनुष्ययज्ञो
ब्रह्मयज्ञ इति।
The five yajñas spoken about in the Vedas are deva-yajña, pitṛ-yajña,
bhūta-yajña, manushya-yajña and brahma-yajña.

यदग्नौ जुहोत्यपि समिधन्तद्देवयज्ञस्सन्तिष्ठते।

That which is offered in the sacred sacrificial fire is deva-yajña.

यत्पितृभ्यस्स्वधा करोत्यप्यपस्तत्पितृयज्ञस्सन्तिष्ठते।
Offering of water or food to the pitṛs, (ancestors), considering them divine,
is pitṛ-yajña.

यद्भूतेभ्यो बलिं हरति तद्भूतयज्ञस्सन्तिष्ठते।

Offering food to the creatures found around is bhūta-yajña.

यद्ब्राह्मणेभ्योऽन्नन्ददाति तन्मनुष्ययज्ञस्सन्तिष्ठते।
Offering food to saintly people, the brāhmaṇas, is manushya-yajña.

यथ्स्वाद्ध्यायमधीयीतैकामप्यृचँय्यजुस्साम वा तद्ब्रह्मयज्ञस्सन्तिष्ठते।
Daily study or chanting of the Vedas, at least one mantra of ṛk, yajus or
sāma, is brahma-yajña.
3.13 यज्ञशिष्टाशिनः सन्तो मुच्यन्ते सर्वकिल्बिषैः।
भुञ्जते ते त्वघं पापा ये पचन्त्यात्मकारणात्॥
The noble ones who partake of the sacred remnants of yajña are released
from all sins, whereas the sinful ones who cook only for themselves verily
eat sin.

The remnant articles of a yajña are pure like nectar, amṛta—

yajñaśiṣṭāmṛtam. When such prasāda is consumed, it elevates us and frees
us of all our sins—mucyante sarvakilbiṣaiḥ.

NĀBHĀGA GETS Ātma-jñāna

There is a hidden story in the Bhagavata at the beginning portion of the
Ambarisha-charitra. The great devotee Ambarisha was the son of Nābhāga,
a Vedic scholar and a seer of mantras. Once, he participated in a yajña
uninvited and did great service for the brahmins. He taught them sacred
hymns that propitiated the devas. After the yajña, the yajñaśiṣṭa—whatever
remained after the yajña—was offered to him. Just as he was about to
receive it, a divine being appeared and told him, “All these belong to me.”
Nābhāga, though extremely poor and having little else to feed his family,
prostrated to that being and started to leave. Pleased with him, the divine
being revealed himself as Siva and bestowed on him not only prosperity but
also Ātma-jñāna. Thus purified by yajña, he attained Self-knowledge
directly from Lord Siva. This knowledge of immortality is yajñaśiṣṭa-
amṛta. In that blessed lineage was born the devotee Ambarisha.
Behind the advent of mighty spiritual
souls lies the sacrifice of their ancestors.
PROCESS THE ORE OF
“Such sacrifice purifies not only the
ATTACHMENT IN THE person but also the entire lineage for
FIRE OF JÑĀNA AND
twenty-one generations,” says Lord
Narasimha to Prahlada.
MAKE IT INTO THE GOLD
“bhuñjate te tvaghaṃ pāpā ye
OF PURE LOVE. pacantyātmakāraṇāt—those who cook
only for themselves consume only sins,”
says the Lord. In the previous verse, such people were said to be thieves.
But here, a more powerful word is used—sin. They eat sin. The Veda says,*
“He who eats alone is sinful, and he himself becomes sin.” The same idea is
expressed in Manusmṛti: † “He who cooks for himself eats only sin.” Ego-
centredness is not good. Food becomes a prasāda when you partake of it
after offering it to the hungry. The same teaching is given in the Upanishad,
“Enjoy life after purifying it through renunciation.”‡
The whole of life must be purified by renunciation. Nothing else purifies
like renunciation. There is a misconception that we can help another only if
there is an attachment to them. This is not at all correct. In fact, attachment
disturbs our inner milieu and pollutes the very thing or person we are
attached to. When we renounce our attachment, those we were attached to
will suddenly feel like birds on wings; a great peace will descend on them.
Attachment is like an ore; it is energy in its unrefined form. It must be
processed in the fire of Jñāna to make it into the gold of pure love or
dharma. This is, in fact, the best help we can render to them. This is real
love. When there is such renunciation, whatever nature presents us to enjoy
is indeed amṛta—pure nectar.

NARMADA-PARIKRAMA
About one hundred and fifty years ago, there were no lodges or hotels in
India. One could sleep peacefully on the verandah of any home without
being mistaken for a thief. Not just that, people would kindly offer food and
refuse to accept any money for it. In those days, food was not sold; selling
food was considered a pāpa. Food was given heartfully to any needy
person. This practice continues even today in some places. Those who do
Narmada Parikrama experience this heartful hospitality and devotion from
the poor villagers who provide them with food and stay.
Describing his experience of Narmada Parikrama, a sādhu once told me,
“For me, the entire parikrama was an unbelievable contact with hearts. All
of them were poor and simple villagers, but what large-heartedness! One
night, I reached a small hut which had only one room. They had very little
to eat—only boiled potatoes—which they gave me. Even though I refused
to take it, they said, ‘A sādhu must not go from here without eating.’ And
they made me sleep inside the hut while they all slept outside. Though I told
them, ‘I am a sannyāsi. I can sleep anywhere,’ they said, ‘No, Maharaj!
Leopards may come at night. We are used to it and know how to handle it.
But nothing untoward should happen to you.’ This was their attitude. Ha!
The power of dharma I found there is to be seen to be believed.”
Many such heart-warming stories are heard from the monks who wander in
the Himalayan villages too. Those who cook only for the sake of taste and
waste food are terrible sinners. This we will know only when we see the
poor and experience their large-heartedness.
When action is done as yajña, the action and whatever comes out of the
action become purified. The performer himself is purified, and as a result,
the door to spiritual life opens wide.

अन्नाद्भवन्ति भूतानि पर्जन्यादन्नसम्भवः।

3.14–15 यज्ञाद्भवति पर्जन्यो यज्ञः कर्मसमुद्भवः॥
कर्म ब्रह्मोद्भवं विद्धि ब्रह्माक्षरसमुद्भवम्।
तस्मात्सर्वगतं ब्रह्म नित्यं यज्ञे प्रतिष्ठितम्॥
Rain fosters the cultivation of food, and from food, creatures come into
being. Yajña gives rise to rain, and yajña is born of karma (prescribed
duties). Know karma to have risen from the Vedas, and the Vedas from the
Imperishable Brahman. The all-pervasive Supreme is, therefore, present in
every act of sacrifice.

Here, the discussion is about the divine

THE MIND, WHICH IS yajña. Let us see these two verses in
reverse order. The beauty is in the
ONLY AN ILLUSION, conclusion, ‘sarvagataṃ brahma nityaṃ
PUTS US UNDER A SPELL yajñe pratiṣṭhitam—the all-pervading
Brahman is ever-abiding in the power of
BY IMPERSONATING AS sacrifice.’ The very nature of Brahman is
THE SOURCE. sacrifice. Renunciation of everything is
Brahman. That is yajña. This is the
highest interpretation. Although Brahman
is all-pervading, it can be experienced only by the yajña of renouncing the
ego. Our life ought to be lived in yajña-spirit. The Upanishad says, “You
are given the freedom to enjoy, but only through yajña or tyāga.”
When the root of all problems—the ego—is renounced, a grand yajña
happens within. Then, disturbing emotions such as greed, arrogance, desires
and anger are all burnt in the yajña-fire of Jñāna. Then and only then will
the all-pervading Brahman be experienced within. Thus here, Bhagavan
says Brahman Itself inhabits the yajña, and it is only in the yajñavedi—the
altar of sacrifice—that Brahman is experienced.

karma brahmodbhavaṃ viddhi brahmākṣara-samudbhavam

Karma arises from avidyā—ignorance. Such karma does not lead to
freedom but creates more and more bondage and suffering. When action
arises from the ego, it is bhoga—pleasure or enjoyment. It is a droha—
torture—for others and a roga—an incurable disease—for oneself. But the
karma that arises from Jñāna is yoga, and such karma gets transmuted as
yajña. Here, it is said that such karma arises from Brahma—karma
brahmodbhavam. Brahma means the Vedas. An integrated person acts from
an authentic centre; the divine Vedas are the authority.
The all-pervading Brahman is within you as the imperishable Reality—
brahmākṣara-samudbhavam. Akshara means the antaryāmi—the Inner
Being—who is ever experienced in the centre. It is the real nature of the ‘I’
as Pure Consciousness. From there arises action. All manifestations happen
from the Atman alone. But the mind creates the illusion that all
manifestations happen from the mind. The mind, which is only an illusion,
puts us under a spell by impersonating as the Source. Hence Bhagavan
instructs us to remove that avidyā and know that karma arises from the Self.
There is no ego, and there is no doer thereof; it is the Lord alone who
performs all actions. Such egoless motiveless karma is yajña itself.

YAJÑA IN THE UNIVERSE

We can see the constant operation of such yajña in the entire universe. It is
the yajña of Bhagavan. The ocean, sun, clouds and wind perform a grand
yajña to shower rain. The treasure of Varuna—the waters of the sea—are
absorbed by the Sun (Surya Bhagavan) and transformed as clouds—
parjanya. This is the department of Indra, the god of rain. Then, the wind
(Vayu Bhagavan) distributes the clouds perfectly to the proper places as
needed. This cycle of divine yajña is completed when the clouds shower
forth as rain. Thus the yajña that constantly happens in nature produces rain
—yajñāt bhavati parjanyaḥ, and from parjanya or rain, food is created—
parjanyāt annasaṃbhavaḥ. Water, with life in it, falls from the heavens,
and from that is created food such as rice, wheat and millets. And we are all
born from food—annāt bhavanti bhūtāni.
Even the associated phenomena that appear as disruptions—for example,
the depressions that form over the oceans that bring in rain—are also part of
the cosmic order. Some places get rain only because of such depressions.
There is perfect intelligence behind it all.
Modern thinkers may laugh at or even object to the interpretation of rain as
an outcome of yajñas and yāgas (in which offerings of ghee are poured into
the fire by Brahmins to propitiate the devas to shower rains). But the fact
remains that our rishis have demonstrated this many times. During times of
drought, the sages performed Parjanya-yāga, which brought forth rain. It is
undeniable that the Vedic mantras have divine powers in them and that the
sages utilised them as required for the well-being of all. These were special
situations.
There is an other-worldly dimension to this too. The Upanishad speaks
about Pañchāgni vidyā. A jīva that is destined to take birth in the world,
after completing its life in some higher realms, enters the parjanya—the
clouds—and falls with the rains and thus enters the grains. Through food, it
enters the male body and from there to the female body and finally takes
birth. This astral travel is discussed in the Chandogya Upanishad.
Thus, every grain contains a jīva, though we may not be aware of it. It may
not result in the birth of a human child, but there is some jīva hiding in it,
which will lead to a birth somewhere. Something is sure to manifest from
the food.
Even in food that decays, if observed through a microscope, we can see
countless living organisms being born and thriving. So anna—food—is full
of life. That life comes from water and water from clouds. Clouds are
formed by the mystical love between the sun and the sea. The sun-god hugs
the sea with his light-body, and their mystical union gives birth to clouds.
Water showers from the clouds, life enters the food, and through the food, it
enters the bodies of various creatures. Thus, a grand wheel—a magnificent
dharma-chakra or yajña—constantly unfolds in nature.
Thus, wherever we look, we can see a yajña happening. Nothing is possible
in this world without these yajñas. All creatures in the world, whether they
know it or not, are participating in these yajñas. Only the human being,
with his ego, disrupts this yajña at times. That ego has been given to him so
that he may understand and perform the yajña consciously. The human
being alone has the power to understand this yajña and be free of bondage.
All other creatures of lower realms perform their yajña unconsciously. This
grand yajña-spirit must be understood.
There are two principles of importance here. One is ‘food’, and the other is
‘the experience of Brahman.’

BUDDHA — MILK OFFERED BY SUJATA

Buddha’s life story says that the day before his enlightenment, he fell down
utterly famished as he had not eaten for many days. A shepherd girl named
Sujata saw him and gave him a cup of goat’s milk. He drank it, regained
energy, sat in deep meditation and attained Nirvāṇa. This girl is worshipped
in the Buddhist tradition because the milk she gave worked as the fuel for
the ultimate enlightenment of Buddha. Similarly, the food we offer to
someone may propel him to reach the Infinite. Hence the Upanishad says, if
you offer food to someone, who knows, that might help him reach the
zenith of spiritual experience.

याभिरादित्यस्तपति रश्मिभिस्ताभिः पर्जन्यो वर्षति पर्जन्येनौषधिवनस्पतयः प्रजायन्त

ओषधिवनस्पतिभिरन्नं भवत्यन्नेन प्राणाः प्राणैर्बलं बलेन तपस्तपसा श्रद्धा श्रद्धया मेधा मेधया
मनीषा मनीषया मनो मनसा शान्तिः शान्त्या चित्तं चित्तेन स्मृतिः स्मृत्या स्मारं स्मारेण विज्ञानं
विज्ञानेनात्मानं वेदयति। Mna.Up. 79.15

When the sun shines forth, rain falls, and from the rain are born all the
herbs and plants. From them comes food, and when the food is consumed,
from that comes prāṇa—energy, vitality, and from that, physical strength.
With that strength, one performs tapas—spiritual practice. Through this
churning, all that is within is refined, a deep aesthetic sense is awakened,
and the spiritual goal is set. It then solidifies as subtle intelligence and
contemplation sets in, followed by spells of deep peace. Then that peace
abides and settles firmly within. The recollection of the Divine—the Self—
is awakened, the profound at-oneness with the Self happens, and the
knowledge of the Self, Realisation of the Atman, dawns. Thus the bestower
of food also bestows the energy for Realisation.
Thus, this grand yajña culminates and reaches its perfection when a human
being realises the Self and becomes a Brahma-jñāni—a Knower of
Brahman. There the yajña is fulfilled. It is to give birth to a single Jñāni
that the entire universe is performing such a grand yajña. Once you find the
Truth, every particle of dust in the Universe becomes happy because the
yajña it has performed has found its ultimate fulfilment.

3.16 एवं प्रवर्तितं चक्रं नानुवर्तयतीह यः।

अघायुरिन्द्रियारामो मोघं पार्थ स जीवति॥
O Partha! One who does not follow this cycle of sacrifice, thus set in
motion, lives a sinful life, delighting only in the senses; he lives in vain.

cakram means a wheel. Here, dharma is compared to a wheel which is

connected to every cell in the Universe. This eternal wheel of
interconnectedness is present from the very beginning. This wheel is
nothing but Sanātana Dharma. In this verse, Bhagavan emphatically says
that we are all bound to follow this wheel of dharma. When consciously
performed, the yajña of life becomes dharma.
evaṃ pravartitaṃ cakraṃ nānuvartayatīha yaḥ. One who neglects this
wheel of dharma breaks it and makes his life selfish and ego-centred; he
leads a life of sin—aghāyuḥ. Āyuḥ means life, and agha means sin. Why is
he so? Because he is indriyārāmaḥ—he is inordinately attached to sensory
pleasures; he takes delight only there. He does not care to give back what is
received.
This is what is happening today—the destruction of rainforests, extinction
of rare species of birds and animals, and even whole mountains are being
erased! Although the law prohibits these activities, they are still being
carried out indiscriminately. Why is this so? It is with the single aim of
making money in order to live luxuriously. Attachment to sensory pleasures
is why human beings interfere with the cycle of orderliness in nature. Such
a person is called a sensuous sinner—aghāyuḥ indriyārāmaḥ.
The mind has lost its power to discriminate; it has become a devout servant
to the ego and the senses and is constantly running behind pursuits to satisfy
its sensory cravings. Bhagavan says moghaṃ pārtha sa jīvati—such a life
becomes meaningless, vain, empty, useless. We are all searching for
meaning and fulfilment in life. Here Bhagavan says that if we break this
cycle, life becomes meaningless. It is sheer selfishness born of ignorance to
think one can lead an independent life. No one can do that. The entire
cosmos is interlinked. Everyone must do their part of service; we must do
whatever dharma is given to us. Our body itself is made for this dharma.
When it takes part in this dharma, the entire system becomes harmonious.
Every cell vibrates in harmony, so much so that a divine orchestra plays in
our system.
This is what Buddha says,* “This indeed
EACH MOVEMENT OF is eternal dharma.” Many a mystic has
said, ‘The one who lives for himself dies,
THE EGO IS LIKE A whereas when one lives for others, life
JARRING WRONG NOTE enters eternity.’

IN A BEAUTIFUL MUSIC Manifesting deeper meditation while

engaged in our field of work transforms
CONCERT. the work as a yajña. This means keeping
the ego fully restrained while working. It
requires tremendous austerity to curb it from playing freely in the mind and
the senses. When a person works from such a state, there is no ego-
intrusion. Then, it is verily Īśvara who works through him. Such work
pours forth tremendous healing vibrations all around. Those vibrations are
the soma-rasa of the yajña and are consumed by the devas. Divine beings
crowd around such a person’s psychic body.
Each movement of the ego is like a jarring wrong note in a beautiful music
concert. Just imagine the cacophony of a concert full of wrong notes! Such
a life is what Bhagavan calls mogham—a waste.
 *
In the previous verse, Bhagavan spoke about those lives that are wasted—
mogham. Then what is amogham—meaningful, fruitful life? In the
following verse, Bhagavan expounds on the ecstasy of a Knower.

3.17 यस्त्वात्मरतिरेव स्यादात्मतृप्तश्च मानवः।

आत्मन्येव च सन्तुष्टस्तस्य कार्यं न विद्यते॥
However, one who delights in the Self alone, has found completeness in the
Self and is ever content in the simple existence of one’s being—such a one
has no duty to perform.

In this verse, Bhagavan describes an Illumined Sage in the Upanishadic

language. The joy of a Jñāni is in his own Atman.
The mighty saint Sadasiva Brahmendra sings about an Enlightened Sage in
his work Atmavidyavilasa thus:
Deeply in the embrace of profound peace
Unaffected by all outer stimulations
Beyond attractions and repulsions
He roams about alone on the riverbanks
The ascetic of unfathomable greatness!

Having rooted out the miserable shrubs and roots of karma

The inimitable one, immersed in the bliss of the Atman
Sporting the nectar of inner joy, roams about as if deaf and
dumb
In the enriching solitude of deep forests and hills!

Free from all contracts with the scriptures or gods

Beyond all the charismatic or psychic sway of others
Attention irrevocably anchored in the Atman
Here reposes the magnificent Yogi in the couch of bliss
supreme!

The protruding sense of neither ‘I’ nor ‘you’

 Not judging whether good or bad, orthodox or not
Just blissfully indifferent to all the activities of others
In the delight of the Atman, the ‘Seer’ wanders in the streets
Like a child, immersed in the immaculate ocean of bliss!

PINGALA’S DECLARATION
yastu ātmaratireva syāt. In the Bhagavata, we find an insightful episode of
the courtesan, Pingala. The unchaste one was constantly waiting to get
delight from others. At last, one day, by Divine Grace, she became
dispassionate to all that comes from outside and found the all-delightful
Lord within her own heart. Thus she sang in great delight.

सन्तं समीपे रमणं रतिप्रदं वित्तप्रदं नित्यमिमं विहाय।

अकामदं दुःखभयाधिशोकमोहप्रदं तुच्छमहं भजेऽज्ञा॥ SB 11.8.31
Ha! The delightful One—Ramana
Is all the while very intimate to me
He gives all the joys that I want

He is the greatest wealth

He alone is ever, everywhere
Leaving Him, fool indeed was I
Who ran after the petty deceptive objects
Which deliver sorrow, fear, agony and delusion at every step

‘The Lord within the heart will not come and go like the outer objects,
persons, and situations. He is ever with me.’ Once one has such a delightful
beloved within, his bliss, ‘rati’ is incessant, inexhaustible, ever the same,
non-dual—ekarasa. That is why Jayadeva sang “harim ekarasam—Hari
alone is ekarasa.” The Lord alone is ever the non-dual blissful One.
ātma-tṛptaśca—a Yogi has found completeness in the Self. With an outer
beloved, neither the passion stays nor the indulgence. It only leads to more
and more despair, listlessness and unfulfilment, as Pingala says. It leads to
sorrow. It creates shadows of various fears and then anguish. Thus it
deludes. Altogether, one who indulges in an external person, thing or faith
is a petty person—kṛpaṇa. His hold is flimsy—tuccha. All this is
ignorance.
The Bhagavata concludes this episode by saying, “sukhaṃ suṣvāpa
piṅgalā—Pingala slept happily.” Even to sleep well and roam about freely,
one needs to rest in one’s Self. The mind that is a beggar at the doors of
another cannot be calm. The mind, which has not found the Truth, is full of
desires, craving, despondency, fear, confusion and doubt. The mind which
has found the Truth settles down in the Heart.
Pingala is nothing but the unchaste mind—always courting something
outside for its protection and bliss. When it finds anchorage in the Self, the
Eternal Truth, it comes to perfect repose. When one finds the Infinite
within, great contentment happens. ‘tṛpti’ is the word. In Panchadasi,
Vidyaranya Swami has translated samādhi as tṛpti. Yes, a person whose
mind is in samādhi is easily recognised by the contentment that blossoms
on his face. Deep contentment is a sign of Jñāna. Generally, this ‘settled
look’ is visible on the face of a jīvanmukta. No strain is visible on his face.
His eyes are ever in serene repose. There are no wrinkles of effort on his
face.
Such was the picture Bhagavan Ramana presented to the world. He was so
natural and relaxed. His contentment was the secret. He was never in
competition with anyone. He was not here for achievement or attainment;
he never claimed any either. He was not even in any haste to give his
experience to others as he saw all as his own Self. This knowledge was the
secret behind his absolute peace. Such a leisurely state, utter relaxation,
happens only with the repose in the Self—ātma-viśrānti.
It is while abiding in this perfectly restful state that Krishna displayed the
other extreme of intense activity. Sankaracharya too, though he spoke much
about naishkarmya sthiti—the actionless state—worked like a storm. Yet,
he was ever in deep contentment. Yes, that is indeed the secret, which
brought an element of eternity to whatever he did. When we read his works
even today, they are like nectar—ever new.
ātma-tṛpti is becoming full in oneself. The knowledge of the Self gives
supreme well-beingness. Santuṣṭi is the perfect happiness born of
nirvikalpa-samādhi. Such happiness is the result of total freedom from
vāsanās. The mind of the Knower here enters the Heart-centre. The touch of
that centre is marked by supreme peace.
Bhagavan Ramana says, “When dosha is completely removed, santosha
dawns. When the mind fully embraces the inner Self, then that is the
ultimate fulfilment.” See this beautiful verse from the Bhagavata, which
conveys the same idea.

सन्तुष्टस्य निरीहस्य स्वात्मारामस्य यत्सुखम्।

कु तस्तत्कामलोभेन धावतोऽर्थेहया दिशः॥ SB 7.15.16

How can the joy experienced by one who is deeply content, desireless and
ever delighting in the Atman be found in people who run helter-skelter due
to desire and greed?
This is the inner secret of a jīvanmukta. Such a one has nothing to achieve.
Hence he has nothing to do—kāryam na vidyate. Kāryam also means
effect, and kāraṇam is cause. The cause for saṃsāra is ignorance. As that
is no more, the kāryam (the saṃsāra) and its suffering are also no more for
him. None of his actions leaves any mark on him. He remains spotlessly
pure like a crystal-clear mirror. He has no body, no prāṇa, no mind.* He is
pure effulgence, he is Brahman.

SAMĀDHI MAY BLOOM IN ANYONE

The description in this verse of the state of a Jñāni is so powerful, we must
say the very state is present in this verse. There is an incident from several
years ago which stays unerased in memory. This occurred during a talk on
the Bhagavad Gita in a small Krishna temple in Palakkad. I was in my early
twenties at that time. Many devotees were seated in a manḍapa in front,
and around me were seated many little children. The organisers of the talk
were concerned that the children might create disturbance, but I said, “Let
them be with me. I will feel more at home with them. Let them chatter or
make any noise. Let them do whatever they want.” Thus the talk was going
on. A dark-complexioned boy of around seven or eight years was seated in
front of me, listening with rapt attention. I was describing this verse
‘yastvātmaratireva syāt’ and was going on and on, quoting the mantra from
the Upanishad that for a Jñāni, everything is the Atman, his delight is in the
Atman, and so on.
अथात आत्मादेश एवात्मैवाधस्तादात्मोपरिष्टादात्मा पश्चादात्मा पुरस्तादात्मा दक्षिणत
आत्मोत्तरत आत्मैवेदं सर्वमिति स वा एष एवं पश्यन्नेवं मन्वान एवं विजानन्नात्मरतिरात्मक्रीड
आत्ममिथुन आत्मानन्दः स स्वराड्भवति तस्य सर्वेषु लोके षु कामचारो भवति अथ येऽन्यथातो
विदुरन्यराजानस्ते क्षय्यलोका भवन्ति तेषां सर्वेषु लोके ष्वकामचारो भवति॥ Cha.Up. 7.25.2

“Now the intimation of the Self—The Self is below; the Self is above; the
Self is behind; the Self is in front; the Self is to the right; the Self is to the
left. The Self is all this. He who sees in this way, thinks in this way, and
knows in this way, delights in the Self, sports with the Self, rejoices in the
Self, and revels in the Self. He is the supreme being and can go about as he
likes in all the worlds. But those who think otherwise are under the control
of others. They have no freedom in any of the worlds.”
As I chanted this mantra that describes the state of a Jñāni, this child seated
in front of me entered a state of deep trance. It was not that he had simply
closed his eyes and was sitting still. Tears of bliss were flowing from his
eyes. He was unmistakably in a state of pure spiritual bliss. We stopped the
talk for some time. There was absolute stillness all around. That vision is
fresh in my mind even today.

SPECIAL POINT
Three terms are used in this verse—rati, tṛpta and santuṣṭa. Rati is the
delight that arises from physical union with one’s beloved. The yogis
declare emphatically that the bliss of the Atman is far superior to any bodily
pleasures. Even so, the word ‘rati’ has been used here. This has been done
to give an intimation of that inexplicable inner joy. During the initial
samādhi-experience, the joy feels like an invasion of bliss into one’s being.
Many have compared it to the thrilling touch of one’s beloved. In another
place, the Gita too has used the phrase ‘brahma-samsparśam atyantam
sukham’. As the seeker becomes increasingly established within, this
inundating experience of ecstasy seeps in and merges into his system. Then,
he no longer seeks anything from outside, whether it be knowledge or
experience. This is the state of ‘contentment’—tṛpti. Then follows deep
fulfilment—santoṣa. Here his mind is fully dissolved in the Atman, and he
naturally abides in the Real nature—svarūpa.
3.18 नैव तस्य कृ तेनार्थो नाकृ तेनेह कश्चन।
न चास्य सर्वभूतेषु कश्चिदर्थव्यपाश्रयः॥
(His fulfilment is eternally in his Self.) For such a Jñāni, there is nothing to
gain by action. Nor can anything be taken away from him by non-
performance of action. He has nothing to gain from interacting with anyone
ever in this world or the other.

The state of a Jñāni, about which we spoke in the previous verse, described
as ātmaratireva syāt and so on, is a complete state. The ego does not
operate in him; there is no trace of duality; there is absolute fullness in his
heart; all desires are extinguished. A jīvanmukta is ever in the bliss of Self-
Realisation. He was referred to as samādhistha in the verses describing
sthitaprajña lakshaṇa. Manifold activities may take place through the
Jñāni, but he never gets affected by them. That is what is described in this
verse.
The catchword in this verse is artha. artha means purushārtha—that which
is achieved by one’s self-effort. artha generally implies wealth, but here it is
‘arthyate anena’—that which one longs to attain. Typically, all our actions
and movements have a goal behind them; there is an intention. Any
motivated action demands doership, enjoyership, attachment and aversion.
When one realises the Self, the ego vanishes along with all movements of
the mind. Such a one is fulfilled. His bliss is not in his emotions or objects;
it is ever in his Self. Such a one, the Jñāni, whose delight is ever in the Self,
is absolutely free of karma. tasya kāryam na vidyate—he has nothing to
achieve through action; he has no duty. He is an impersonal person. He is
no more a doer, only a pure channel. naiva tasya kṛtenārthaḥ—he has
nothing to achieve by doing either worldly activities or even sādhanā. His
spiritual practices have found fulfilment in his very Self.
A sādhaka is a striver, whereas a Jñāni is beyond all efforts. He ever rests in
absolute effortlessness—sahaja. He has nothing to achieve by doing any
Vedic yajña or worldly action. na akṛteneha kaścana—he has nothing to
lose by not performing action. Nor does he gain any heightened awareness
through any meditation practice. He is whole in him-Self. Action in no way
nourishes him or depletes him. This mantra reveals this state of a Jñāni.*
SRI RAMAKRISHNA AND JAPA
The childlike saint, Sri Ramakrishna, born in a Brāhmaṇa family, was
accustomed to rituals performed as part of a traditional life. But, after his
God-realisation, Sri Ramakrishna could not perform any rituals or even the
śrāddha-ceremony. Due to his deep-rooted traditional saṃskāras, he tried
to offer water to his forefathers, but he could not hold the water in his
palms. All karmas had dropped off for him. Nor could he do any more
sādhanā as all sādhanās were over for him. He was ever immersed in bliss.
One of his relatives, Pratap Chandra Hasra, who got attached to him just to
earn some money and stayed with him in Dakshineswar, used to trouble
him sometimes. Once, he said, “O Ramakrishna, you are not doing any japa
or practices, but you are advising them to others. Why don’t you try to do at
least mantra japa with a mālā?” Hearing this, the childlike saint felt
pricked. He tried holding a mālā to do japa, but the mālā fell from his
fingers. His lips refused to do japa. His mind was dancing in bliss and
refused to repeat the mantra mechanically. He heard the inner voice of the
Divine Mother whispering from his heart, ‘You are beyond all this. Do not
try to go back to any sādhanā. It is impossible for you.’
na cāsya sarvabhūteṣu
FEELING A SENSE OF kaścidarthavyapāśraya ḥ—he is not
indebted to any creature. The śāstras say
LACUNA WHEN NOT that a man is born with debts to devas,
INVOLVED IN ACTION IS humans, other creatures, rishis and pitṛs.
These debts are not visible outside for
A SYMPTOM OF THE ordinary human beings but are felt as
DISEASE OF DOERSHIP. psychic hurdles. They obstruct the free
inner flow of the spiritual current. But in
the case of a Jñāni, who is free of all ṛṇas
—debts—all those channels through which the spiritual power flows are
clear and free. The moment one is free of the ‘I’, one is free of all worldly
urges and Vedic injunctions. Such a one has nothing to give, hold, or
depend upon in the world. His āśraya is only the Self.
Āśraya means refuge or resting place. “āśrayaṃ brahma-nirbhayam.”
Āśraya itself means Brahman, the state of absolute fearlessness. In the
devotional path, āśraya means Īśvara, God. Once one has āśraya, once one
surrenders to the Lord, there no longer remains any worldly bondage, no
more duty-conscience. One is totally free.
Feeling a sense of lacuna when not involved in action is a symptom of the
disease of doership. Any feeling of unfulfilment in action is due to the sense
of enjoyership. Only when one knows one’s very nature as joy is the ego
rooted out, and both doership and enjoyership are erased. Feeling indebted
to others is also due to the ego. When that is gone, one finds oneself as all—
sarvātmabhāva. ‘Whom will I help or serve? I have done whatever has to
be done by my realisation that I am all.’
It is in this inner state of absolute freedom that many great souls have
worked untiringly in the world. The sages of yore have given us much
without seeking anything in return! Out of their fullness, they gave their
wealth of wisdom to all. Krishna himself worked incessantly—we call his
work a līla; it was a sport because he had nothing to do with it. Similarly,
we must also attain that inner freedom to be free of the ill effects of karma.
This verse has revealed the state of a jīvanmukta—how he turns out mighty
tasks without the least perturbance.

*
One who has not attained Jñāna should perform his duties with detachment.
This is the message of the next verse.

3.19 तस्मादसक्तः सततं कार्यं कर्म समाचर।

असक्तो ह्याचरन्कर्म परमाप्नोति पूरुषः॥
Therefore, perform your obligatory duty without attachment; for, by doing
duty without attachment, man verily attains the Supreme.

tasmāt—‘hence’ or ‘therefore’. This word implies that what is said in this

verse is a conclusion to all the formerly expounded teachings. In the
previous verse, we spoke about the state of a Jñāni. Here Bhagavan says,
“A Jñāni is the ideal, as he represents your real nature; you too be like
him.” asaktaḥ—be unattached. How to be so? By knowing the real nature
of the Self. The Self is ever detached from everything. By its very nature, it
is free of all attachments.* When we know that as our real nature, our
detachment will be spontaneous and natural. Remaining there, let actions
happen constantly—satatam. Do not seek actions. Perform whatever falls to
your lot. This is the spiritual secret revealed in this verse.
kāryaṃ karma—bounden duty can be avoided by none. One must learn to
perform it without the gum of attachment which pastes one firmly to
suffering.
asakto hyācarankarma paramāpnoti pūruṣaḥ—as we perform our duties
without attachment, the inner psychic channels get purified, and the heart
unlocks the current of pure energy which flows through these channels.
Thus the inner power to receive the knowledge of the Self gets awakened.
Along with this, all forces congenial for Realisation are also awakened.
Thus the fruition happens—one attains Self-Realisation.

3.20 कर्मणैव हि संसिद्धिमास्थिता जनकादयः।

लोकसङ्ग्रहमेवापि सम्पश्यन्कर्तुमर्हसि॥
Janaka and others indeed achieved perfection by action; you too should
perform action for the sake of the well-being of the world.

OceanofPDF.com
JANAKA — THE JĪVANMUKTA KING
Janaka, as we know, was a virtuous king and a Jñāni. References to him
appear in various places in our scriptures. In the Ramayana, we see him as
the father of Sita Devi. Whenever Sita expressed deep spiritual insights
during her conversations with Rama, Rama would address her with all love
as ‘Janakātmaja’—one born from the Self-knowledge of Janaka. In the
Mahabharata, Janaka appears as the Guru for the great sage Śuka, son of
Sage Vyasa. Vyasa sends Śuka to Janaka for confirmation of Śuka’s
Realisation. Śuka needed an authentic confirmation from a Brahmanishṭha.
When Janaka confirmed this to Śuka, he got firmly established in the Self
without a trace of doubt. This story is found in the Yoga Vasishtha and the
Devi Bhagavata.
In the Ashtavakra Samhita, we see a magnificent dialogue between Janaka
and the sage Ashtavakra. The most well-known scene of Janaka is in the
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, where a grand exchange takes place between
the sage Yajnavalkya and others in Janaka’s royal assembly on the topic of
Brahmavidyā. All these reveal Janaka as an Illumined Sage. Even though an
emperor, he was called Videha—the one who is body-less, that is, a
jīvanmukta. We must remember that he was not a monk but a busy ruler and
a family man too. Such a one ever remained as Brahman. This reveals that
the secret of a jīvanmukta is beyond the ken of sensory perceptions. “ Who
can infer his inner state?” asks Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi.*

karmaṇaiva hi saṃsiddhimāsthitā janakādayaḥ

Lord Krishna says that Janaka and many others like him attained this state
by karma alone. That means, by performing actions as yoga, they gained
purity of mind and thus attained Realisation. Karma cannot take us directly
to Realisation, but performing karma as yoga purifies the mind, releases us
from the bondage of karma and thus leads us step by step to the state of
Realisation. The illumined ones renounce action and mostly remain in quiet
solitude—this is the common concept of many a seeker. Hence here,
Bhagavan has given the contrasting example of Janaka. Even though they
attained Jñāna, kings like Janaka, Ambarisha and Rishabha Deva did not
renounce their outer prārabdha of kingship. They were all mighty rulers
and also knowers of Brahman. They were given the title ‘Rajarishis.’ They
did their royal duties as worship or service to the cosmic form of the Lord.
Here, the word used for that is loka-saṅgraha.

lokasaṅgrahamevāpi sampaśyankartumarhasi
Bhagavan says, “Arjuna, you too should follow their steps. Even if you do
not attain Realisation, by protecting the innocent from the violent, you will
at least attain puṇya and spiritual evolution thereby. This service you must
do. You must hold high the dharma of a Kshatriya.”

A CONVERSATION BETWEEN RAMA AND

SITA
In the Valmiki Ramayana, when Rama entered the forest of Dandaka, the
rishis who lived there implored him to protect them from the flesh-eating
demons, who were a constant source of trouble for them. Rama said to
them, “Yes, I have come here only to do that. My dharma is to protect the
sages, and I shall do that.” Hearing this, Sita asked Rama, “Why should you
interfere in the life of other people? Why don’t you give up all these
weapons, follow the dharma of Sages and Brahmins, and be peaceful, ever
immersed in meditation like them in this forest?”
These words of Sita were like melodious music to Rama’s ears. He
appreciated her wisdom and replied, “By speaking thus, you reveal that you
are indeed the daughter of Janaka. But, O Janaki, I cannot give up my
dharma. I am born as a Kshatriya; I am a ruler. That is my dharma.
Protecting the sages is indeed a highly noble deed. It must be done. I will
never give that up.” This conversation happens in the Valmiki Ramayana,
which reveals that Rama, although a Knower of Brahman—a jīvanmukta—
still performed his dharma as a warrior.
During their stay in the forest, many a time, Rama taught the knowledge of
the Self to Sita and Lakshmana. In the Valmiki Ramayana, he tells
Kaikeyi,* “O Mother, know me to be equal to a rishi. I am established in the
dharma of the sages, the Upanishad dharma.” That is Rama!
This is what is revealed here as janakādayaḥ—Janaka and the others. Here,
‘others’ means many other active people established in the Self. Not only
kings like Janaka but even saints like Sankaracharya travelled the entire
length and breadth of the land, teaching Brahmavidyā. By the age of thirty-
two, that mighty teacher had completed all his work. After doing all that
work without rest, his words were, “I did nothing. There is no action in the
Self.” That is the secret of a jīvanmukta.

3.21 यद्यदाचरति श्रेष्ठस्तत्तदेवेतरो जनः।

स यत्प्रमाणं कु रुते लोकस्तदनुवर्तते॥
What a great man does is followed by others; people follow the example he
sets.

In this verse, Bhagavan speaks about pramāṇam. pramāṇa means

authority. Traditionally, the Vedas are pramāṇa-śāstrāṇi—authentic
scriptures. But ordinary people may not be able to interpret them correctly
because of their cryptic language. Hence they observe the ways of
Enlightened Beings and conclude what is right or wrong. Śruti Herself says,
“Observe them and know what to do and what not to do.”

अथ यदि ते कर्मविचिकित्सा वा वृत्तविचिकित्सा वा स्यात्। ये तत्र ब्राह्मणाः संमर्शिनः। युक्ता

आयुक्ताः। अलूक्षा धर्मकामाः स्युः। यथा ते तत्र वर्तेरन्। तथा तत्र वर्तेथाः॥ Tai.Up. 1.11
If ever a doubt should arise as to the rightness of a particular deed or
course of conduct, then you must act as those Brahmins do who are clear in
thought, adept in duty, devout, lovers of virtue, and not hard at heart.
“Study of the scriptures alone cannot give firm conviction. Unless we see
someone living by the scriptures, confusion will be the result. Mere logic is
a marshy land with deceptive pits. The safest and surest path is to follow the
sages—that is the WAY.” This is the declaration of VedaVyasa in the
Mahabharata.* Such sages are called āptas—authentic ones who have
‘attained’. As their words perfectly reflect the Upanishads, they are
authentic like the Śruti. Śruti Herself declares the Knowers of Brahman as
authentic ones.†
Dharma is visible in the conduct of the sages. The source of their āchāra is
their realisation of the Atman, God. ‡ Hence Krishna says, “yadyadācarati
śreṣṭhaḥ.” Here, śreṣṭhaḥ means the one who knows what śreyas is. He
knows what brings about hitam—the highest well-being. He is the perfect
one. itaraḥ means the followers who have bhakti towards him. A leader
must be an Illumined One—a sthitaprajña. Otherwise, all his flaws will be
reflected in his followers as well. He must be a Seer, otherwise, it will be
the case of the blind leading the blind; both will suffer.

yat yat śreṣṭhaḥ ācarati tat tat lokaḥ anuvartate

Devotees view a jīvanmukta with eyes full of wonder, awe and devotion.
They even imbibe his mannerisms unconsciously. We have seen many
devotees of Ramana Maharshi walking like him, speaking like him, and
sitting still like him. These characteristics came to them unconsciously.
They absorbed many of his traits simply by their love towards him, their
Master. This is the easiest way of spiritual transmission and transformation.

3.22 न मे पार्थास्ति कर्तव्यं त्रिषु लोके षु किञ्चन।

नानवाप्तमवाप्तव्यं वर्त एव च कर्मणि॥
O Partha! There is no duty to be performed by Me in the three worlds.
There is nothing unattained for me to attain. Yet, I am engaged in action.

The belief ‘I am the doer’ or ‘I have a duty’ is like a blazing fire of

suffering. It is the source of all miseries. A Jñāni is ever free of this
oppressive feeling. He just executes his mission like a gentle breeze, and
immense work gets done. His karma is only an appearance like the blueness
of the sky; it does not exist in his awareness. It is only the onlookers who
see him as being active.
The state of a Jñāni is beyond the ken of
THE BELIEF ‘I AM THE
ignorant ones. Here, Krishna speaks as a
jīvanmukta. He also defines the
DOER’ OR ‘I HAVE A characteristics of a perfect human being
DUTY’ IS LIKE A depicted in the previous verse as
‘śreṣṭha’. The vantage ground from
BLAZING FIRE OF where such a one looks at life is entirely
SUFFERING. IT IS THE different from that of an ordinary person.
A jīvanmukta does not look at life from
the stuffy cell of personality. He looks at
the world from Infinity—Bhūmā. In fact,
SOURCE OF ALL his eye is Infinity itself.* That Infinite
Space is his body. “ākāśa-śarīram,” says
MISERIES. the Upanishad. His ‘I AM’ is not a
localised feeling of ‘I’—it is God, the
division-less Awareness. There is no want in him, no desire, no unfulfilled
state whatsoever. He is pūrṇa. He does not hunt for any petty pleasures
outside himself for fulfilment. Nothing remains for him to achieve. Hence
Bhagavan says, “nānavāptamavāptavyam—nothing exists for Me that I am
yet to attain or which I deserve to attain.” Delusions about attainment,
achievement and becoming are not in him.
An ambitious, proud person of the world would think thus, ‘I will become
happy by becoming famous, powerful, respected by all, someone important
in the world.’ This desire is like a powerful drug that deludes. The desire to
achieve—avāpti, and the desire to become—bhava, are behind all the
destruction, chaos and suffering in this world. This Mahabharata war is also
the result of Duryodhana’s avarice to own the entire land.
As long as we think we have to achieve something outside ourselves, as
long as we believe we have to go somewhere else to attain Liberation, we
have accepted that we are bound and limited. Our acceptance of such
limitations is the cause of our suffering. Such a person is a petty one—a
kṛpaṇa. “You are Pūrṇa—full. You have nothing to achieve. You are the
Atman. Be the Self. Nothing is lacking in you. Why run around to seek
something when your very ‘I’ is Brahman?” This is the nectar of Vedanta.
Here, Krishna declares, “O Partha, Behold Me! What more teaching is
necessary for you? Is it that just seeing me is not enough for you? See how
calm and resourceful I am. See My bliss, My boundless nature. Do you
want to know the secret of my Peace? Here I expose myself, dear. I know
all the secrets of karma. Do you want to know the secret of karma?”
“Yes, Lord,” said Arjuna.
Krishna laughed such a sweet laughter that it was like the bloom of a
thousand-petalled lotus of peace. “Hear, hear, O Partha. Don’t you reveal
this to the ignorant. Let them have their petty illusions. Why disturb them
unnecessarily? Here I tell you Partha, ‘no karma’ is the secret of karma.
How can anything happen in the Infinite? In the Infinite Me—the ‘I AM’—
nothing is born, nothing lives, nothing dies, no movement happens. The one
who thinks ‘I have a duty’ is deluded. How can the Infinite have any duty? I
have no doership. I am free of the disease of doership, which infects all
worldly ones. Day and night, they get roasted by this ignorance.
Here is the nectarine teaching, O Partha. You too do not have any doership.
Do not unnecessarily bear the heavy weight of the ‘I’—the illusory ego. Be
free of the ‘I’. Then, free you are of the weight of all duties. It is this ‘I’ that
deludes you with a goal. You are the goal! What higher goal than the Atman
can there possibly be? You are Brahman. You are Moksha, Nirvāṇa! Know
this and play the game of life as I do. To me, this war and the dance of rāsa
with the Gopikas are the same. Nothing exists in the three worlds for me to
attain. You too Arjuna, be free in all three states—waking, dream and deep
sleep. None of these states can give freedom. Ātma-jñāna alone can give
freedom. Know your Self, and you will be free, fulfilled. Fulfilment is your
name. You are Realisation.
It cannot be had by any actions of the waking state, the sweet dreams in the
dream state, or the subsidence and rest of the deep-sleep state. All states
come and go. The Self—the ‘I AM’—is ever the same. Know that to be
Pūrṇa, know that to be Bliss, and play your part. See me. I have nothing to
achieve or attain. I am like the infinite ocean to which nothing can be added
or removed. Remaining in that state, I do my duty—varta eva ca karmaṇi.
It is just a play, O Partha. Be whole and peaceful, my friend, and fight or
dance or cook or do any other duty given to you. Nothing will affect you.”

BEFORE AND AFTER ENLIGHTENMENT

A novice monk asked an Enlightened Master, “What were you doing before
Enlightenment?” He replied, “Cooking and gardening.”
The young monk asked again, “And after Enlightenment?”
“Cooking and gardening.”
Yes, that summarises the whole teaching.

यदि ह्यहं न वर्तेयं जातु कर्मण्यतन्द्रितः।

3.23–24 मम वर्त्मानुवर्तन्ते मनुष्याः पार्थ सर्वशः॥
 उत्सीदेयुरिमे लोका न कु र्यां कर्म चेदहम्।
सङ्करस्य च कर्ता स्यामुपहन्यामिमाः प्रजाः॥
Indeed, O Partha! If I do not engage Myself in action relentlessly, people
will follow My footsteps in every respect. These worlds would perish, and I
would be the cause of confusion and destruction of these beings.

These verses can be seen from two standpoints. The first is Krishna as an
Acharya—the great leader—who, out of compassion, descended and
worked for the well-being of all. And the second is Krishna as Īśvara. As an
ideal Being, Krishna started his work right from day one—the day he was
born. As per divine instruction, his father carried him out of the prison
where he was born and took him to Gokul while heavy rain was pouring
down. That day onwards and to his last day at Prabhasa, he had no rest.
tandra means lethargy. That was indeed unknown to Krishna as he was
involved day and night in the mission for which he had taken birth. Yet he
never got tired.
The greatest lesson we must learn from Krishna is to work relentlessly in
complete restfulness, absolute dynamism in perfect calmness, and infallible
valour with childlike joy and simple innocence. Krishna exhibited the most
incredible statesmanship while also being the foremost of the artists. The
Bhagavata says, “akhila-kalādi-gurur-nanarta (SB10.16.26)—the foremost of
all the artists danced.” He performed the matchless dance with the damsels
of Vrindavan and right on the hoods of the menacing snake Kaliya.
Yes! His joy, his bliss, remained unclouded, fadeless, whether the situation
was pleasant or otherwise. Life is often like the dreadful Kaliya—when one
hood is suppressed, another rises. As you solve one problem, another rises.
With the power of knowledge, one should be able to dance on the hoods of
situations. Krishna was the obedient son, the matchless husband, the most
charming lover, the bravest of warriors—what was he not! Yet he was
Yogeśvara, the greatest Jñāni and the greatest bhakta too. Once, Arjuna
happened to see Krishna performing Śiva-pūja, and thus he learned to do
Śiva-pūja with utmost devotion. It is by seeing Krishna that great men of
the time learned the secrets of dharma. Bhishma, renowned as one of the
greatest knowers of dharma, suggested Krishna’s name be worshipped first
during the Rājasūya-yajña performed by Yudhishthira. All of them
considered him as the eternal protector of dharma—śāśvata-dharma-goptā.
As Īśvara, of course, all actions happen by Him alone. Creation,
sustenance, destruction—all happen by Īśvara. Yet, no sin attaches to Him
due to destruction, and no puṇya, due to creation and sustenance. He
remains ever untouched by action. If He were to stop, the very creation
would be nought. If actions can bind a person, Īśvara or God would be the
greatest saṃsāri. On the contrary, He remains utterly unaffected by the
world-phenomena. So too, one can remain unruffled as the Self, ever-free
and untouched by duality. By the simple knowledge of one’s real nature,
one can remain free of all bondage.
Krishna says here, “If I do not do this, I will be destroying my own
creation.” utsīdeyuḥ means to get annihilated. ime lokāḥ imāḥ prajāḥ—
these worlds and these beings. The world will get destroyed if Īśvara does
not function. It is not that there is any possibility of God not doing His
work; this is just an example stated to inspire us to do our duty. As God
Himself works, so too must we perform our actions. As is God, you too be
God. What does it mean ‘to be God’? To be free of the individual-sense and
in oneness with the Whole, is to be God. Then, actions will happen of their
own accord, and nothing will affect you.
Many Enlightened Beings choose to work and serve society. If they desist
from doing this and retire to caves, there is no loss for them; the loss is for
the world. Without their satsaṅga and guidance, people would get confused
about dharma. Tamo-guṇa would set in, and they may get confused
between adharma and dharma. “veda-praṇihito dharmaḥ (SB6.1.40)—what
is prescribed by the Vedas is dharma.” Corrupted intellects will criticise the
Vedic teaching, which will, in due course, create total chaos—saṅkara.
Śraddhā will be lost, and all kinds of admixture will happen. Pure springs
of spiritual wisdom will get clogged due to desires. “Thus, I myself would
be killing the people.” upahanyām means ‘I will almost destroy them.’ That
is, refined emotions such as those that keep up the faith in God, saints,
scriptures, spiritual practices, temples and tīrthas will all be gone. Hence
the need for great Masters to grace the world often and replenish all that is
sacred in society.
Bhagavan says, “O Arjuna! Here I am working in perfect fullness. There is
nothing for me to gain, yet I work.”

SRI NARAYANA GURU’S COMPASSION

Kerala underwent a massive cultural and spiritual revolution in the previous
century due to the great seer, Sri Narayana Guru. Very few people know
him as an awakened Being. He is widely known as a social reformer, but he
was also a Knower of Brahman, a jīvanmukta. In one of his hymns about
his ishṭa-devatā Subramanya, he declares thus:
Ha! The sun of Knowledge has arisen
The darkness of ignorance is gone forever
Well! I can choose to withdraw the scattered thoughts
And remain absorbed in samādhi
The bliss is indeed inviting
Let that wait for some more time
Alas! Pitiable is the state of people around
Diseases are rampant
Drunk with the wine of ignorance
They lie here, insensitive.
Let me go down and sing
The primordial Upanishadic awakening song
Of ‘uttishṭhata’ to them a little
Yes! Let me take a plunge
Into the rushing river
Of the divine mission of compassion

This compassion was the force that pulled the Sage to move about like a
gentle breeze of peace to many. A Knower of Brahman loses nothing by
working in the world and gains nothing by meditating. Nothing can be
added to his experience, nor can anything be subtracted from him. He is the
ever-awakened One.

3.25 सक्ताः कर्मण्यविद्वांसो यथा कु र्वन्ति भारत।

कु र्याद्विद्वांस्तथासक्तश्चिकीर्षुर्लोकसङ्ग्रहम्॥
O Bhārata (the one who takes delight in the light of knowledge)! As those
who are ignorant about the spiritual goal act in the world with attachments
to their actions, so too should the awakened one act, but totally detached,
for the well-being of the world.

loka-saṅgraham is an important word to note in this verse. It means the

well-being of the world. What leads to the well-being of the world? To
reveal the moksha-dharma—the path to freedom. Knowledge of the Self,
Ātma-jñāna, alone can confer that freedom. The moment that message falls
on the ears of the deserving ones, they will wake up. Hence, for their sake,
let the vidvān—the Knower—work as an ideal. As an ignorant ambitious
man works in the world, let the vidvān too work, but in perfect detachment.
Is this a vidhi—an injunction?
If this is so, the vidvān or the Realised One would also come under the dos
and don’ts of the vidhi-śāstras. But this is not an injunction or an order to a
Jñāni; it is just the way a compassionate one acts. It is from the onlooker’s
point of view that a Realised One is pictured here. What does this mean? It
means the Jñāni has nothing to lose or gain. Let him work—kuryāt; but
remaining detached—asaktaḥ. An ordinary person has goals; there is a
drive to work. His desires, the goal to achieve—that force certainly operates
in him. On the other hand, a vidvān has no goal of his own, no desire, and
nothing to achieve. He is full.
Then how does a vidvān work? He has a seemingly real goal. It is loka-
saṅgraham—for the well-being of the world. We see this in great men like
Buddha, Sankaracharya and Swami Vivekananda who worked tirelessly.

SWAMI VIVEKANANDA — INCESSANT WORK

In Swami Vivekananda’s life, we can see that he literally drained out all his
energy in his work. In his later days, Swamiji himself says, “The power
which Ramakrishna calls Kali possessed me and made me do all this. I
could not rest.” It was Divine Will which made him work. Deep
compassion arose in him. He often used to say, “My heart is bleeding for
the world.” And then of course, in his last days, he also said, “All that work
was nonsense. There is nothing to achieve, nothing to attain. I have drunk
that potion which makes the world a zero, and man, God.”
loka-saṅgraham is a God-given goal; it is not a goal of the individual. As a
person, the Knower stands to gain nothing from such a goal. He simply
sacrifices his life for that goal. His divine vision of the Self in all is the
power that drives him to work. loka-saṅgraham is not like the enjoyment
of a worldly person. A Realised Being just works and works and works for
the well-being of all. There are many saints who lived like that. Even today,
there are such saints amidst us.

शान्ता महान्तो निवसन्ति सन्तः वसन्तवल्लोकहितं चरन्तः।

तीर्णास्स्वयं भीमभवार्णवं जनानहेतुनान्यानपि तारयन्तः॥ Vi.Cu. 39

Full of peace, the noble ones move about like the spring season for the well-
being of the world. They have indeed crossed the terrible ocean of
becoming, yet, out of their compassion, they help others to cross the ocean
of sorrow.
There is another point we must look at. Even if a Realised Soul retreats to
solitude, radiating peace, that too is a mighty work. That too is a
tremendous rejuvenating power for society. When mature seekers get the
vision of an ideal Being, a jīvanmukta who is established in that state, that
very moment they get transformed, awakened.
So far, we have discussed this śloka from
BE FULLY BUSY AT ALL the point of view of a Realised One. Now,
let us see this from a devotee’s
LEVELS—PHYSICAL, standpoint. After knowing the truth, let
the devotee work in the world without
MENTAL AND SPIRITUAL
getting attached for the sake of the world.
—KNOWING THAT THE Since the body, the mind and the ego
INNER BEING IS EVER belong to the world, he offers them back
to the world. And the world is no more
STILL. mere world for him. For him, the world is
God. His offering to the world is his
offering to God. Otherwise, such work
would be like social service, where the ego is retained. His offering to the
world means it is to the Viśvātmā—to that Vishnu who appears in the form
of the Universe. To that One, he offers his actions and works unattached.
Swami Vivekananda used to say that the mission is Divine Mother’s work.
Time is a factor which can either liberate or create bondage. No vacuum is
allowed in nature; something will rush in there. Better fill it with the
Divine. Be fully busy at each of these levels—physical, mental and spiritual
—knowing that the Inner Being is ever still.

3.26 न बुद्धिभेदं जनयेदज्ञानां कर्मसङ्गिनाम्।

जोषयेत्सर्वकर्माणि विद्वान्युक्तः समाचरन्॥
Let the wise man not unsettle the mind of the ignorant who are attached to
karma. Instead, he should inspire them by performing his actions,
unattached, desireless and poised in the Self.

KANCHI MAHASWAMI — A DIVINE VISION

OF JAPA
The legend, the Peeṭhādhipati, Kanchi Mahaswami, is a well-known figure.
Many were inspired by his strict adherence to tapas, such as mauna, fasting,
japa. We just have to see the great Sage sitting with the wooden water bowl,
his hands hidden inside the upper cloth (angavastra) and rolling the japa-
mālā, eyes half-closed, and eyelids still, which reveals the mind brooding
on the mantra within. That very vision inspires us to adopt the tapas in our
life. He was an ideal for the pontiffs too. He gave up all the rich
paraphernalia, wore simple khaddar, and moved about barefoot, travelling
through villages, and mingling with all strata of people, while strictly
upholding the orthodoxy of the tradition. He was a powerhouse to whom
even great men like Gandhiji went, seeking advice, but he also influenced
ordinary householders and villagers. The Dalai Lama once remarked about
him, “Ha! What renunciation! When there is someone like him, people call
me also a monk?”
Swami never tried to reform anything in the tradition or society. Hence, he
was known as an upholder of orthodoxy. He used to give value to even the
village stories about gods and ghosts. He would respond to the villagers at
their own level and thus help them. Seeing him worship the village deity,
the villagers too got inspired to do the same. All that is refined in human
nature was nurtured thus by such practices of the Sages. And at the
opportune moment, the highest teaching was transmitted.
ajñānāṃ na buddhibhedaṃ janayet—do not shock the ignorant ones by
ridiculing their juvenile practices. This idea is perhaps one of the most
practical teachings for those who want to spread spiritual ideas. Never
destroy what people already have. Never try to change them all of a sudden.
Wherever they happen to be, take them upward from there. This is the law.
All the great Sages and Acharyas have followed this method of not saying,
‘You are wrong,’ but saying, ‘Go forward, go forward. Wherever you are, it
is fine, but keep moving forward.’
When we accept a person’s belief, he becomes readily receptive; his inner
ear opens up. But the moment we tell him that he is wrong, the whole
energy resists further listening. Therefore, encourage them from wherever
they are. na buddhibhedaṃ janayet—even the ajñāni should not be
pointed out as ignorant, and his rudimentary practices should not be
undermined. Then what should the vidvān do? joṣayet sarvakarmāṇi—all
actions that an ordinary man ought to undertake are performed by the
vidvān too, as we said in the previous verse. joṣayet means to give a glow, a
glory, a touch, of the higher.
yuktaḥ samācaran. The difference is that the same actions are performed
by the vidvān as yukta, in full moderation, in full control, absolutely
desireless, and as an offering to God. He knows the secret of becoming a
channel. He is established in the luminous witness, deep within. He is
simply a witness to the thoughts, actions and the world outside. This is the
state of a yukta. When this knowledge reaches ordinary people, their
attitude will get transformed, and then gradually, such an attitude will be
reflected in their actions as well.
And what is said here is sarva-karmāṇi—all actions. Whatever action an
ordinary man performs, those same actions are also done by the Knower,
the jīvanmukta, the Realised One. What is the manner in which he does
them? asaktaḥ satatam—he remains detached always. The yogi performs
the same actions to teach others how to perform actions, established in the
state of yoga. That is joṣayet, which means giving a divine touch to the
work, a sacred feeling that it is a worship. His actions have that rare
fragrance of peace and harmony in them. We can see this beauty when we
behold an Enlightened Being performing ordinary everyday actions.
Unperturbed, he acts. At the same time, he never slips from the natural
state. That is yuktaḥ. These are the two crucial points here.
By observing Krishna, we can see how he remained unperturbed even in a
warfield. In the course of his life, Krishna performed the duties of a son,
that of a cowherd and a husband too. He was a marvellous musician,
statesman and servant as well. He served one and all during the Rājasūya-
yajña. Thus, in every act of his, we can see this quality. sarva-karmāṇi—all
actions. Inherently, no action is either superior or inferior. Krishna was
ready to do anything and everything. But He performed them in a way that
God alone can do. He was in absolute poise even amidst the din and roar of
the fierce war. Hence, he has all the authority to advise us—‘Be poised
while in the kitchen, the farm, the office or the warfield.’
He fought with the mighty Kuvalayapeeda, the elephant Kamsa had
unleashed towards the young boy Krishna. His fight was like the play of a
boy. He merely sported with the elephant, brought it down and uprooted its
tusks. Rare pearls fell out from the broken tusks and scattered on the
ground. No signs of sweating were visible on Krishna’s body even after this
fight. He calmly sat down, collected the pearls one by one and heaped them
in his palms. Handing them over to one of his friends who had accompanied
him from Vrindavan to Mathura, Krishna said, “rādhikāyai diśeti—make a
garland out of these and give it to Radha.” Such was the composure he
maintained all his life; immensely active while immensely calm.
This is what is meant by yuktaḥ samācaran. Caran means performing,
samācaran means performing with perfection, and yuktaḥ samācaran
means performing action while being established in the state of yoga. The
world can know what this means only when they see a true yogi in action.
Hence Bhagavan says a yogi will demonstrate this through his very being.

3.27 प्रकृ तेः क्रियमाणानि गुणैः कर्माणि सर्वशः।

अहङ्कारविमूढात्मा कर्ताहमिति मन्यते॥
All actions are performed by the guṇas of Prakṛti. (However), deluded by
the ego-‘I’, man thinks ‘I am the doer.’

The word prakṛti is the centre-point in this verse. Whatever we feel or think
is nothing but prakṛti. Prakṛti is usually translated as nature. When we
casually use the word ‘nature’, we have no idea about the illusion or the
verbal delusion created by the word. Nature is not just trees, plants,
mountains, oceans, and such. It is the power of God—the power to create,
the power to sustain, the power to destroy. It is what the scriptures call
Māyā. “Māyā is nature, and the power behind it is Maheśvara, the Lord.”*
Whatever is happening around us, in our own body and mind, is nature. It is
prakṛti. Our very ‘I’ belongs to prakṛti.
The unmanifest state, the ego, the intellect, the mind, the senses, the body
and the world—constitute prakṛti. Where, then, does one find any other
element? What more is still left in our experience? The simple experience
of Existence, Consciousness, AM-ness—that alone remains incorruptible
and untouched by nature. But even that experience, when viewed from the
plane of prakṛti, is deludedly taken to be a jīva. Hence, later on, Bhagavan
gives it the name parā-prakṛti—the transcendental nature. When the spark
of AM-ness is denuded of prakṛti, it is Brahman, Nirvāṇa, God.
Whatever happens in prakṛti cannot be
THE FOREMOST OF ALL changed. If we observe, we will find that
each individual is unique. The stuff with
MISAPPREHENSIONS IS which they are made cannot be changed.
THE MISAPPREHENSION “Nature can never be made otherwise,†
never changed,” says Gaudapadacharya.
OF OURSELVES AS THE Nowadays, much is spoken about
EGO. winning over or conquering nature. This
is indeed absurd. Who is the ‘I’ who
wants to win nature? The ‘I’ itself belongs
to nature. Then, where is freedom? The three guṇas—sattva, rajas and
tamas—are the bricks with which prakṛti is made. They just dance their
way to their expression.
The usage ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā is quite striking, as the primal error lies
in considering the ahaṅkāra or the jīva-bhāva as real. The foremost
 misapprehension is the misapprehension
*
MIND IS A DELUSION. of ourselves as the ego. The ego is
merely a thought. It is the fundamental
THINKING IS A seed of all problems. Hence, ahaṅkāra-
DELUSION. ‘I’ IS A vimūḍhatā is the sole flaw. When we
search for the ahaṅkāra, we will discover
DELUSION. BE STILL. that there is no reality to it. It vanishes
REPOSE IN THE SELF. naturally in deep sleep. When we
consciously do vichāra too, it disappears.
But, until the prārabdha is over, it
resurfaces as a forceful limb of nature. The only recourse is to simply be
free of the hallucination that ‘it is me’—that is all. Then all doership and
enjoyership too will disappear along with it.
vimūḍhātmā—the deluded one. The one who is insensitive to the presence
of the Divine, the Atman, identifies with the limited ego. The result of this
misapprehension is the chaos of becoming. Such a person tries to be this or
that constantly, tries hard to change nature, and tries to do or not do
something. In this delusional process, he sleepwalks to the den of death.
The only flaw is the notion of ‘I-am-the-doer’ which extends to the ‘I-am-
the-enjoyer’ state.
The entire effort of the meditator is to be watchful so as not to fall into the
sucking force of the current of destiny. The moment we fail to collect
ourselves as the witness, we fall into the force of suffering. “The itching of
the mind must be overcome through endurance,” says the Bhagavata. If we
fail to remain detached as the witness, we will soon end up scratching the
mind with thinking, and the ego-wound—‘kartā aham. I-am-the-doer’—
will start to act up again. Just be quiet. Do not react to thoughts. Do not get
associated with either doership or enjoyership. Be collected. Be still. All
actions and all thoughts are prakṛti—sarvaśaḥ.
From this verse onwards, Bhagavan reveals the highest secret that can free
us in one stroke by removing the delusion. Mind is a delusion. Thinking is a
delusion. ‘I’ is a delusion. The three guṇas are all delusions. Be still.
Repose in the Self. Here and now, you are free.
3.28 तत्त्ववित्तु महाबाहो गुणकर्मविभागयोः।
गुणा गुणेषु वर्तन्त इति मत्वा न सज्जते॥
O Mighty-armed one! The one who has the intuitive knowledge of the
relation between the guṇas (modes of nature) and karma (actions that
happen due to them), knows that they are nothing but the guṇas playing
with and merging in the guṇas and hence, never gets entangled.

In the previous verse, we saw how all movements happen in prakṛti alone.
Here, Bhagavan reveals the inner state of a Knower of Truth—tattvavit. A
realised person is a free person. But what is the secret of his freedom?

guṇā guṇeṣu vartanta iti matvā na sajjate

Guṇas have association with guṇas. Guṇas here means the attributes of
nature. They resonate with the corresponding external attributes of nature.
Such resonance cannot be avoided. Is it possible for a Jñāni, to be free of
this natural resonance of guṇas with guṇas? No one can be free of this
resonance at the body-mind level because this resonance is nature. A tattva-
jñāni has perfect knowledge of this phenomenon. He understands, ‘guṇā
guṇeṣu vartante—it is guṇas that are acting with guṇas. I have nothing to
do with it.’ Thus knowing well, he keeps away and does not get attached—
matvā na sajjate. He does not superimpose them on his real nature; hence
they do not bind him. Only thus can a tattva-jñāni be free of the guṇas.
Guṇas are nature itself, as they are the very constituents of nature. Only by
the knowledge of the Self is it possible to be free of the bondage of nature.
The Self is ever free of nature. When perfect knowledge—‘I am That’—
arises, the Jñāni’s ego becomes one with the Infinite. When the infinite
nature of the ‘I’ is associated with the limitations of guṇas—body, mind,
senses—it becomes the limited ego. When the ego is turned towards
Infinity, it becomes the Self.
All thoughts, emotions and actions happen in the realm of mind, senses and
the objects of senses. They are like a flood seen in a movie. However big
and furious the flood is, it cannot make the screen wet. A blazing fire in the
movie cannot burn the screen. If we go near and touch them, we touch only
the screen and not these events. The Self is the screen on which all actions,
actors and the results—kriyā–kāraka–phala—play out. All that is perceived
is made of dream-stuff. They are like mere mirages in a desert. If we go
closer to the mirage to drink the water, we will find only sand and no water.
Similarly, if we seek the source of all our experiences in this world, we will
find that underlying them is pure non-dual Awareness. Brahman alone is.
Delight and depression, placidity and fury, order and chaos—such constant
variations found in nature slide past as mere essence-less episodes
happening in the Sat-Chit-Ānanda. One who knows this is a tattvavit.
Karma happens according to the guṇas. In a sāttvik mood, the mind
remains quiet and wants to meditate and perform spiritual practices. That is
also a guṇa-karma. In a rājasik mood, the mind dances to express itself
through the senses. It runs, nay, floods through all the gates of the senses to
act. This is rajoguṇa-karma. Then the mode of sleep, dullness, and lethargy
sets in. That is tamas. Which of these is it possible to change?
In sattva-guṇa, the senses seek sāttvik articles. In rajas, they seek rājasik
objects. In tamas, they simply seek a bed to curl up on. The guṇas affect all
the realms of our personality as our personality is made of the same stuff.
The sense objects are also made of these guṇas. This is why the inner
guṇas run to hug their outer partners with great intimacy. This is the play of
nature. This duality is nature. The mind and the senses become the vehicles
for the ego to ride on to hunt for objects. This is saṃsāra.
How is one to be free of this totality of bondage? Again, who becomes free?
This is the mystery. To ask this question is itself the door to freedom. Ask
yourself, ‘Who is bound?’ When this quest blazes through the warfield of
nature and plunges into the Centre, the Truth reveals itself—‘There is no
one bound. Only He exists.’
All these objects, emotions, thoughts, actions, and actors are all mere names
and forms. Brahman is the stuff with which everything is made. This is
Realisation. After knowing this, the tattvavit just plays his part in this
world. His mind registers the objects, and his senses come in contact with
their objects. His personality too seemingly gets affected by the raging fires
of suffering or the blissful waves of joy. But, in a corner of his heart is the
flame of an insight. Sākshātkāra has happened in him as a vibhūti, a divine
glory, a divine phenomenon. He just watches everything detachedly. The
flame of witness, Pure Awareness, remains untarnished, deep deep behind
all movements of nature.
guṇāḥ guṇeṣu vartante—the senses and the objects are both made of the
guṇas. There is a beautiful anecdote in the Bhagavata, in which Kumaras,
who are the sons of Brahma and also great yogis, go to Brahma, the creator,
and ask a profound question, “The mind goes out through the senses and
gathers impressions of the objects. How can one give up this mutual
association?”* Then the Lord Himself appears as a swan—hamsa—and
gives this reply. “Neither the objects exist nor the senses nor the mind.
There is no duality at all. Only one Whole exists. That is Me. The objects,
the senses, the mind, the enjoyer, the experience—all, all are Me. I, the Self,
the Atman, has become everything. Nothing else exists other than Me. You
know this; be convinced about this with utter ease.”*
There is a significant word here—añjasā—which means simply, with ease,
without strain. Know the entire phenomenon as one whole Brahman. Let
this knowledge lie upon you softly. Let there be no heaviness of knowing.
Just like you know any other fact, know that the Atman alone is—
ātmaivedaṃ sarvam. Keep this knowledge aflame in a corner of your inner
chamber. And you will see the entire world full of the effulgence of Peace
and the light of Wholeness; no more conflict, doership and guilt.
How does one not get attached? It is by the knowledge that there is no
duality. That is freedom. Such a Knower rejoices in both pain and pleasure.
His bliss is not in his thoughts or feelings. His bliss is in Consciousness. His
fullness is in the Self. “With this knowledge, his body is offered to the force
of prārabdha karma,” says Sankaracharya. † Whatever fate brings into his
life, the jīvanmukta goes through them unperturbed. He no more identifies
with the body-mind. “He is like the infinite space—yathā kham,” says the
Bhagavata.

3.29 प्रकृ तेर्गुणसम्मूढाः सज्जन्ते गुणकर्मसु।

तानकृ त्स्नविदो मन्दान्कृ त्स्नविन्न विचालयेत्॥
Those deluded by the guṇas of Prakṛti get attached to the functions of the
guṇas. The man of perfect knowledge should not unsettle the immature
whose knowledge is imperfect.

The word prakṛti could be translated as life. Prakṛti or Māyā is all-

encompassing. The three modes—sattva, rajas and tamas—permeate the
entire known, right from the ego to the body. This is prakṛteḥ guṇāḥ. Until
the Atman reveals Himself, all are under the hypnosis of these three modes
—guṇa-sammūḍhāḥ. And their actions are prompted by the inner push of
these three guṇas—sajjante guṇa-karmasu. The delusion of prakṛti is
insurmountable as long as one is under the hypnosis of that power because
the illusory current flows both outside and inside. Outside, it appears as
events, individuals and actions; and inside as ideas, desires, will and
knowledge. Both of these act and interact and create a great uproar of
delusion.
The moment one is involved with something in the world, one gets deluded
and becomes a manda—an insensitive one. He is like a child that finds
himself inside a multi-dimensional virtual show. This delusion is so
powerful that even a mighty scholar becomes a mūḍha for the time being.
At that time, no amount of advice from a free soul will have any effect.
Knowledge becomes powerless; the will becomes deadened; all pure
emotions are made insensitive. Such is the power of the guṇas. We can see
this in many who have lived life long enough; ultimately, they become like
a deflated balloon with their energy fully dissipated. Such deluded ones are
akṛtsnavidaḥ.
A Jñāni is a kṛtsnavit—a perfect Knower. Kṛtsna means whole, full. The
knowledge of the Self is whole, perfect, whereas knowledge of life in all its
aspects will always be imperfect. In the realm of prakṛti, knowledge too is
only a sign of ignorance. Until the awareness of the Self wakes up within,
the ignorant one superimposes the actions of the mind, body and senses on
the Self and gets deluded by thinking ‘I am undergoing this.’ The truth that
whatever is seen—the dṛśya—is unreal, like a mirage, is revealed only
when one is centred in one’s real nature. Until then, all are within the field
of delusion.
The noble actions of Yudhishthira are dhārmic, whereas the evil actions of
Duryodhana are adharmic. But both are within the realm of prakṛti. Both of
them underwent great suffering. After the war, Yudhishthira lamented, “I am
the cause of all this catastrophe.” The Bhagavata says that he was, as if, in a
state where he had offered himself to melancholy and trauma. To heal him
of the dirt of this prick of conscience, Krishna took him to Bhishma for
upadeśa. This shows that even noble ones may be imperfect knowers. But
their dharma will one day lead them to a Knower. Hence Bhagavan says
that an ignorant person must not be shaken out of his dream prematurely.
The noble but ignorant person must not be subject to a sudden shock by
giving him the advice to go beyond dharma and realise the Self. A time will
come when he is ready to accept the teaching. He might take a long time to
get there. Until then, the Guru, who is a perfect Knower, must wait
patiently.
Yudhishthira could well have realised the Truth earlier. But it is only after
the entire dance of destruction had taken place that this noble man felt like
healing himself. Until then, he was comfortably hiding under the cosy
blanket of dharma. Without Jñāna, dharma too is avidyā. It is akṛtsnam—
imperfect. Sage Narada says to Bhagavan Vyasa in the Bhagavata, “Too
much elaboration on dharma also might lead one to sorrow.”* This is
because people are inseparably attached to their character and their own
ways of doing things since it is their nature—svabhāva-rakta. They cannot
readily transcend it.
Those who follow all the dhārmic injunctions without understanding the
higher purpose are also not benefited. Their intellect will become lethargic
—manda. They will not take the leap to ask, ‘Who is this doer?’ ‘Who is
the enjoyer?’ They fail to penetrate beyond the veil of ignorance. The
intellect sleeps, thinking all is done as it has performed its dharma. But the
terrible wheel of time rolls on mercilessly. When the imperfection of
relative knowledge is revealed, and sorrow erodes one’s awareness, even
with all the performance of dharma, then it is that one asks—‘What is
wrong with me?’ That is the sacred moment to give the teaching.
The kṛtsnavit must wait for the manda—the slow one—to catch up. All ill
effects come to a person due to the slowness of the intellect in knowing the
Truth. The knowledge of the Self must be like the hood of a cobra. Just a
light touch, and the cobra raises its hood with a hiss. Similarly, when the
knowledge becomes ripe and alert, it responds instantaneously, even to a
slight touch of sorrow. It just wriggles out of any grip of māyā with
tremendous speed. The power of conviction uncoils with a hiss! Such
knowledge is kṛtsnam—whole, perfect. Know this, and do not be too
concerned about others. They too will eventually catch up with you. Your
concern for others is a sign of your lingering ignorance. The thought of the
‘other’ is avidyā. Only the Self exists. Be in Brāhmī-sthiti; then there is no
delusion.
To be the Self, you do not need the mind or thinking. The ‘I AM’ alone
shines forth free of thoughts. The moment the ‘other’ comes, thinking is
inevitable. Thinking is the tag with which māyā detects the ego to punish it.
When thoughts are quelled, māyā detects not the ego, and one just glides
beyond. Hence, be Still.

3.30 मयि सर्वाणि कर्माणि सन्न्यस्याध्यात्मचेतसा।

निराशीर्निर्ममो भूत्वा युध्यस्व विगतज्वरः॥
Surrendering all actions to Me, with your mind resting in the Self, freed
from desire and selfishness, and cured of this mental fever, engage in battle.

yudhyasva vigata-jvaraḥ
Whatever actions we are destined to perform will be extracted from us
compulsorily by nature. ‘I am this body,’ ‘I am the doer,’ ‘I am the
enjoyer’—these feelings are like a disease, jvaraḥ. Give up this disease, be
at ease, and allow the śakti to express itself through your body. Be totally
desireless—nirāśīḥ. The body, the mind and the intellect are not our
property. They belong to prakṛti. She is ‘Śakti’. Offer them to Her and be
free of this feeling of ‘I am the doer.’ This alone we can do. We cannot
change the body. We cannot give up the body because it does not belong to
us. In us, the Atman, there is neither the body nor the mind. “aśarīram—
body-less, amanāḥ—mind-less,” says the Śruti. Why associate with them?
This body is not us. This body is not ours. This body is not for our purpose
either. Some higher power is utilising it. Surrender to it and be free of this
body-identification.
The Upanishad exclaims thus,

आत्मानं चेद्विजानीयादयमस्मीति पूरुषः।

 किमिच्छन्कस्य कामाय शरीरमनुसञ्ज्वरेत्॥ Br.Up. 4.4.12

If one realises the Atman as ‘I am That,’ for what more desire or for whom
will he again identify with the body and continue with this fatal disease?
This Śruti-vākya is indicated by the word jvaraḥ in this verse. Be free of
the disease of doership. Enquire who is the ‘I’ that bemoans. The ‘I’ will
then vanish, revealing the power behind it. The ‘I’ will fall like a bubble
into the stream of that strange power that works through us. That alone you
should do. That is adhyātma-cetasā—‘offering all actions to the right
owner, the Divinity within, through Jñāna.’
Be free of desires—nirāśīḥ. He who does not even seek release from the
current of karma, but abides in himself in peace, here and now, is a perfect
sage. His Jñāna depends not on time. We cannot be free after finishing all
our actions because the river of action is also eternal. On one side, it will
flow on and on. If we choose to move away and abide in the Self, we are
free, here and now. If, on the other hand, we take the stream to be real and
enter it, we will find it to be never-ending! There is an infinite ocean of
psychic energy and action around us. The moment we link ourselves to it, it
is not only our own actions, but the actions and the psyche of others too will
flow into us. The current of psychic stuff generated by another soul may
make our will feeble or find expression through our will. This dualistic
chaos will confuse even a clear mind. Hence, abide in the Self, here and
now.
“Know that Prakṛti and Purusha are both without beginning,” says
Bhagavan.* Given this, there is no question at all of removing action from
nature. Purusha and Prakṛti are both timeless and eternal. If we accept
prakṛti, it will always remain. If we dissociate from it, it will disappear
instantaneously. This is the secret. This is why we cannot aim to become
free after finishing all our actions. Freedom is Now! When you know your
Self, you will be free right now. This is because the Self is ever free,
whereas prakṛti is ever dynamic. Know the silent centre and offer the body
and mind to the dynamic power. Let the body fight, cook, dance, or sleep;
let your mind remain in the Atman—adhyātma-cetaḥ. Let the mind be in a
state of gaze on the innermost being, the Witness.
This offering of the body and its actions to the inner power is sannyāsa.
Saṃyak-nyāsa means well-offered. “The forms are offered to the eyes, the
eyes to the mind, the mind to the heart, and the heart to the immortal Self.”
Thus goes the nyāsa-mantra in the Vedas. Not considering anything as mine
is sannyāsa. To view the body-mind as one’s own and this life as mine
amounts to thievery. “Do not covet others’ property,” says the Upanishad in
its own mystical language.

ईशा वास्यमिदं सर्वं यत्किञ्च जगत्यां जगत्।

तेन त्यक्ते न भुञ्जीथा मा गृधः कस्य स्विद्धनम्॥ Isa.Up. 1

All is God. All is divine. No ‘I’, no mind, no intellect, no senses, no body—

only the Atman exists. All forms are painted on It by the power of Māyā.
But all are merely names and forms; the essence in all is the Atman alone.
All actions are only expressions of the divine power. This knowledge is the
antidote for the jvaraḥ—the poison of ignorance, doership and enjoyership.
Be free of this jvara. Declaring ‘I’ and ‘me’ and allowing the foam of ego to
froth up is a crime in the divine order. Hence, ‘Be Still’.

3.31 ये मे मतमिदं नित्यमनुतिष्ठन्ति मानवाः।

श्रद्धावन्तोऽनसूयन्तो मुच्यन्ते तेऽपि कर्मभिः॥
Those who are full of śraddhā and free from prejudice and ever abide in
this teaching of Mine, are also released from karma.

O Arjuna! What I have revealed to you is the perfect knowledge. This,

indeed, is the ‘law’ behind this world. There is no substitute for this
Knowledge. If a man takes to this knowledge, he will be free. Whether he is
orthodox or heterodox, this knowledge will make him free. matam is the
word. Yes! This alone is my religion, my teaching. People expect to be
sorrow-less by being religious. Pointing to a devout person, they ask, “Why
does even such a religious person suffer?”
Arjuna! A religious person will never suffer. This knowledge, indeed, is my
religion. One who takes to this knowledge is a real Vaishṇava. A real
Vaishṇava will never be deluded by body-identification. The actions of the
body; hunger, thirst, and so on of prāṇa; desire, anger, and so on of the
mind; knowledge, remembrance, forgetfulness, and so on of the intellect—
all belong to prakṛti. The Ātmānubhava of a real sage remains flickerless
even while these phenomena play out on the surface.
They, who, with śraddhā—immense faith and devotion to Me—listen and
contemplate on this secret; whoever they may be, shall be free of the root of
all problems—the ego. The ego-sense is indeed the root of the saṃsāra-
tree. Whoever roots it out will be free. Even the most religious person, the
most ritualistic person, if heedless to this knowledge, lost is he. One should
be free of asūya. Asūya generally means jealousy. But here, it means
prejudice. We shall elaborate on this in the next verse.

3.32 ये त्वेतदभ्यसूयन्तो नानुतिष्ठन्ति मे मतम्।

सर्वज्ञानविमूढांस्तान्विद्धि नष्टानचेतसः॥
But those who are prejudiced and do not practise this teaching of Mine—
know that they are deluded of all knowledge. Devoid of discrimination,
they are ruined.

O Partha! People lose this great treasure due to prejudice. There are many
who appear highly religious, observing all the prescribed rules. But when
the knowledge of the Self is revealed, they are heedless. They are closed in
their listening due to prejudice. They appear to be humble and say, ‘Ho! We
are not qualified enough to receive this highest knowledge. We are not
worthy of it.’ Arjuna! Know them to be the most arrogant fools. This,
indeed, is the flaw—asūya—which imprisons one inside the jail of
ignorance.
They are sarvajñāna-vimūḍhāḥ. They are befooling themselves by turning
against all the blessings that knowledge can confer. sarvajñāna means the
jñāna which confers the knowledge of the Whole, sarvam. Somehow,
fascinated by extrovertedness, even noble worldly people consider Vedanta
dry. This feeling of dryness is actually a sin which retards their inner lives.
Know them to be lost—acetasaḥ viddhi naṣṭān—they are indeed doomed.
asūya to the Lord means not following His instructions. Worshipping Him
by offering praise, flowers, water, and so on, but not being ready to receive
this knowledge bestowed by Him is indeed the height of ego. If you have
bhakti, the door to Jñāna will open spontaneously. A real devotee will read
the Gita and understand the teaching of the Lord far better than any
intellectual giant. In fact, Bhagavan says only through bhakti is the dross of
the mind removed. When sufficiently cleansed through bhakti, the mind
naturally takes to Ātma-vichāra and beholds the Inner Self. “upalabhyata
ātmatattvam,” says the Bhagavata (11.3.40). It directly beholds the Self as
clear eyes behold the splendorous golden orb in the eastern horizon. A pure
mind will behold the Self with that much ease!
Hence, one should take to this ‘matam’ of the Lord. The general meaning
of matam is religion. Here it refers to Knowledge of the Self. It matters not
what religion one belongs to; one must know oneself. There is no
alternative to the knowledge of the Self. Outward displays of religion while
inwardly harbouring deafness to Brahmavidyā and total inner blindness to
knowledge of the Self are the most commonly encountered diseases.
Bhagavan calls this a great loss.
The Śruti too says,* “If you know It here, while in the body, you are saved;
the Truth is for you, with all its blessings. If you fail to know It here—that
is, you have an opportunity to know It, yet if you ignore It due to
irreverence—great is the loss.”
acetasaḥ—is the strong word the Lord uses to show his displeasure for
such people. It means ‘mental wrecks.’ “When given nectar, they run away
from it, but with great toil, they purchase poison and drink it!Ӡ

3.33 सदृशं चेष्टते स्वस्याः प्रकृ तेर्ज्ञानवानपि।

प्रकृ तिं यान्ति भूतानि निग्रहः किं करिष्यति॥
Even a wise person acts per his nature. All beings follow only their own
nature. What shall forceful restraint accomplish?

This is a thought-provoking verse. ‘Even a knowledgeable person behaves

in accordance with his nature’—what an insightful statement this is!
Knowledge is like light; it only reveals; it does not change anything.
‘Nature’ refers to the body-senses-mind-intellect-ego, unique to each
person. Each person expresses his own prakṛti. What is expressed even by
the wise is their prakṛti. One man seems to have a noble prakṛti, the other a
lowly one—these are indeed relative. Generally, all of us have a mixture of
both. It is according to their prakṛti that Brahma creates, Vishnu sustains,
and Rudra destroys. All are as they should be.
The force of prakṛti is undeniable. Prakṛti, made of the three guṇas, makes
actions happen through the mind and the senses. All actions and reactions
belong to this realm. Each person moves about, prompted by his nature, as
he has been programmed. When under this power, one is in moha or
delusion. Is it possible to control the mind and the senses and be free of the
shackles of nature? Even if they are somehow curbed for a while, it will not
be long-lasting. Actions and results are not within the power of the person.
This is not generally understood. Those driven by the ego are not ready to
receive this truth. It is when clarity dawns that this secret gets revealed
within.
In this sloka, if we interpret jñānavān api as a person of mere theoretical
knowledge, the meaning is thus—even great scholars who have learned all
the scriptures are made to dance to the tune of māyā.

ज्ञानिनामपि चेतांसि देवी भगवती हि सा।

बलादाकृ ष्य मोहाय महामाया प्रयच्छति॥ Dur.Sa. 1.55, 56

The Power of māyā pulls the minds of even great intellectuals and puts
them in the grinding wheel of moha or delusion.
She does this, of course, only to erase their doership. The earlier they accept
their non-doership, the better it is for them.
If the words jñānavān api are translated as ‘even as a Jñāni,’ it leads to a
different interpretation. All the actions of a Jñāni do not affect his
Realisation in any way. His actions appear real only for the onlookers and
not for him. When Sita was kidnapped by Ravana, Rama wept aloud in the
pain of separation. Rama’s sorrow is depicted in all its intensity in the
Ramayana. He even cries out,* “O Lakshmana, there is no worse sinner
than me. See, one after the other, sorrows visit me. My heart and mind are
all broken.” Reading these words, how can we call Rama a jīvanmukta!
“The mystery of a Jñāni is such that even if he seems to slip into ignorance,
he is always pure like the space,” says Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi. The
body-mind of a Jñāni is like a piece of cotton that flies in the wind. There is
no doer there. He is like the infinite space.
The results of past-birth actions are sañchita, and the propensities that may
fructify in the future are āgāmi. The fruit of karma that has already
manifested as the body is prārabdha. Realisation destroys the sañchita and
āgāmi karmas. But the force of prārabdha continues to be active. jñānavān
api—a Jñāni too must undergo his remaining prārabdha; only thus can it
be exhausted. The vāsanās seen in a Jñāni are bhoga-hetu; they are a cause
for the enjoyment of pain or pleasure; they are not bandha-hetu—a cause
for bondage. The more they are undergone and exhausted, the more his
Jñāna shines forth like the sun coming out of the clouds. His mind will
merge in the Self more and more.
This topic of this verse has been dealt with in detail in the Panchadasi by
Swami Vidyaranya. In it, a Jñāni is categorised as either a tattvavit or a
jīvanmukta. A tattvavit is one who has had a glimpse of the Truth; he clearly
knows the Truth, yet his nature forcefully pulls him back to the field of
enjoyment. He must undergo the pains and pleasures of that plane.
According to this view, a semblance of moha is possible in a tattvavit. On
the other hand, a jīvanmukta is one who is completely free of the spell of
prakṛti, as his prārabdha is mild.
The Jñāni knows that it is of no avail to prescribe dos and don’ts to ignorant
beings as they can act only as prompted by their prakṛti. sadṛśam means
‘similar to’, ‘in accordance with’, and ceṣṭate means ‘acts’. Uncontrolled
folly or blunderous actions are usually called ceṣṭas. Even those happen
according to the power of nature alone.
Once a seeker has entered the spiritual path, generally, his prakṛti becomes
harmless; it will fall in line with dharma. Hence, it will continue to do so
even after he gains Jñāna; his prakṛti will hardly have any abnormal ceṣṭā
—movements. Exceptions do exist, of course. Krishna himself was an
exception to this rule. Though he appeared to be a great bhogi outwardly, he
was always the Supreme Yogi.
Jñānis are not alike; they appear and behave differently. These differences
are only in their prakṛti. Some are avadhūtas who wander about freely in
the joy of Realisation, often naked or wearing only a loincloth; some are
maṭhādhipatis—the heads of large spiritual institutions; some lead a
ritualistic life; some are great teachers; some live as simple householders;
some are businessmen, kings or servants; some even appear mad, dull-
witted, and so on. All these outward appearances are in their prakṛti alone;
inwardly, they are all established in the same Knowledge.
The second half of this verse is noteworthy. It says that everyone is under
the sway of Prakṛti. A question may arise here—‘What then is the use of
deliberate control?’ In fact, icchā-śakti, the will, is an element of prakṛti.
Jñāna-śakti (the power of knowing) and kriyā-śakti (the power of action)
are also in the realm of prakṛti. Actions happen only when She decides, and
control or nigraha too manifests when She decides. ‘She is the doer. I am
not.’ This is the truth. We must learn to behold Her as the divine power of
Īśvara, fall at Her feet, and say, “I am not the doer. O Divine Mother! You
are the doer. I am a nobody.” This mantra alone can release us from the
clutches of prakṛti.
We have clearly shown that prakṛti is immensely powerful and that it
cannot be changed by anyone. Prakṛti, as it is, cannot be changed. Fighting
is in Arjuna’s prakṛti. Just declaring, ‘I will not fight’ will not do.
“prakṛtistvāṃ niyokṣyati (BG18.59)—Prakṛti will drive you to act,” says
Krishna.
We come across a compelling verse in the Bhagavata. In fact, it is a verse in
which Sage Narada chides Vyasa. In the Mahabharata written by Vyasa,
much is discussed about dharma. Narada tells Vyasa,* “It is too bad that
you spoke so much about dos and don’ts, dharma and adharma, in the
Mahabharata. Human beings are inseparably attached to their nature; they
are svabhāva-rakta. When they are told, ‘do this’ or ‘do not do that’, it is a
vyatikrama; it creates conflict in their nature. Nothing can be done to
change their nature.”
In the Gita itself, we see Arjuna questioning thus, “Propelled by what does
one sin, even though one does not intend to do so?” This is the case with all
of us too. The nature of prakṛti is unalterable. The only way to escape is by
the knowledge of the Self. That will remove our identification with prakṛti.
When it is known that the ego is not real, it will take one to the Witness, the
Consciousness. Only this right knowledge can rescue us, not any other
knowledge based on the wrong notion that man can be free within nature.
No one is free within nature. Nature is free, and you, as the Self, are also
free. Let nature be; you be free in your own real nature. Be free from
prakṛti. In fact, your real nature is free of all the dreamy network of prakṛti.

A POINT TO NOTE
There are two egos. One is the assumed ego, which is the self-image in the
mind. The other is the natural ego, which is just a limb of nature, like the
mind and the intellect. All creatures other than man act from this natural
ego—prākṛta-ahaṅkāra. The cause for bondage is due to the assumed ‘I’—
the chidābhāsa. This is the root of moha, delusion. The actions of a
Realised Soul happen with the natural ego. The assumed ego does not
operate in him. Hence, actions are powerless to bind him.
The way to freedom lies in knowing one’s prakṛti and offering it to the
Inner Lord, very well knowing that He will handle it. To accept, ‘I am not
the doer’, is the secret. To be free of the ego is the way.
In the next verse, Bhagavan reveals this more clearly. No one can escape
from the powerful clutches of prakṛti. The only way to be free is to not get
involved in prakṛti, but to know one’s real nature and abide in it—svarūpe
avasthānam.

3.34 इन्द्रियस्येन्द्रियस्यार्थे रागद्वेषौ व्यवस्थितौ।

तयोर्न वशमागच्छेत्तौ ह्यस्य परिपन्थिनौ॥
Attachment and aversion of the senses to their respective objects are
natural. One should not come under their sway, as they are verily one’s
enemies.

This verse reveals an unalterable law of nature. The senses and their objects
are inextricably related. They are made of the same stuff. As heat burns and
ice chills the skin, sensory objects affect the senses. “You may live amidst
sense-objects, but live detached”—this upadeśa is not applicable for all. If
you are not attached, yes, you can live so. But if one of the senses shows
intimacy to its object, the sādhaka must somehow withdraw like the
tortoise. The moment he detects their whispering, he must move away.
Constant vigilance is the power that he has to hold on to.
No amount of knowledge can help him to change either the nature of the
senses or the objects. If they start their mutual affair, ruined will be his life.
Hence Bhagavan calls them robbers in the path of Spirit—paripanthinau.
They loot away the wealth of peace of a sādhaka.

कामः क्रोधश्च लोभश्च देहे तिष्ठन्ति तस्कराः।

ज्ञानरत्नापहाराय तस्माज्जाग्रत जाग्रत॥ Vai.Din.

Lust, anger and greed are the three robbers hiding inside the body. They
constantly rob the diamond of Jñāna—Self-experience. Be vigilant, be
awake—jāgrata jāgrata!
Earlier, Bhagavan spoke about the illumined man. Such a one can move
amidst the sensory objects devoid of attachment and aversion—rāga-
dvesha. As his senses and mind are under the sway of the Atman, his
Ātmānubhava has flooded through the senses and pervaded his vision. For
him, the objects, the senses and the experiencer are all nothing but Brahman
—SARVAM KHALVIDAM BRAHMA (Ch.Up.3.14.1). This is his experience. Thus, no
objects have the power to create turbulent thoughts, emotions or dreams in
him. His mind never leaves the yoga-sthiti. Like the sea that absorbs the
rivers that flow into it, all impressions of the objects that flow in are
absorbed into the Self by the power of Jñāna. His mind itself has become
an immense powerhouse of Self-knowledge, which can absorb and
assimilate any poison into the system.
“When absorbed and assimilated into the system, even poison becomes
nourishing nectar. However, even nectar turns into a fatal poison if not
properly digested,” says Ayurveda. So too, with sensory impressions. To the
maximum extent, a seeker must keep away from tempting objects. This is
the safest practice. Do not be overconfident with objects. Krishna says to
Uddhava in the Bhagavata, “Dear! If you want to meditate on Me without
disturbance, live in solitude far far away from immoral women. That alone
will confer well-being—kshema” (SB11.14.29). Only such a spot is solitude.
The attraction between man and woman is not imaginary. It is like ghee and
fire. Narada says to Yudhishthira,* “Woman is like fire, and man is like the
ghee-pot.” “Uddhava! This is nature. No one can undo it or change the
basic elements.” These are Krishna’s words. Hence, tayorna vaśaṃ
āgacchet—do not come under their sway. If we allow the senses and
objects to make contact, we will be bound. “Hence, keep away,” is the
advice. The senses are allowed to move within one’s dharma. But there too,
the seeker must practise Ātmabhāva. The seer and the objects are all the
Atman alone. One should not allow the mind to wander in the pastures of
imagination.
The earlier verse, rāga-dveṣa-viyuktaiḥ (BG2.64), is like a forerunner to this
verse. The present verse is a perfect warning for a sādhaka, whereas the
former verse describes a siddha and shows us how one can live amidst
sensory objects. Between these two verses, however, come all the spiritual
practices.
If we now look at the phrase, tau hyasya paripanthinau—the ‘tau’ or the
two was formerly interpreted as the senses and the objects. Let us interpret
them as likes and dislikes—rāga-dvesha. Rāga and dvesha are the robbers
that loot the inner peace. If they are absent, as we saw in the former verse,
the mind remains pleasant. indriyasyendriyasyārthe rāgadveṣau
vyavasthitau—attachment and aversion are seated in the senses and their
corresponding objects. If we remove the rāga and dvesha, this trouble will
leave forever. Then the senses would no longer get attached to the objects.
For that to happen, the knowledge of Oneness—ekatattva-dhyāna—must be
instilled deeply. Only when the ignorance of duality is wholly gone can the
mind be free of attachment and aversion and remain ever established in the
Self, the Atman. If we experience our prārabdha with the meditation that
all are Brahman, soon the inner sky will be free of all clouds of sensory
images and will become cool, calm and pleasant—prasādam adhigacchati.
All objects, persons, events, emotions
Are made of that primordial stuff, God
The seer is God, the seen is God
Memory, imagination and knowledge arise like foam in the
waters of Spirit
 Pure molten gold of God-experience has solidified as the
world!

3.35 श्रेयान्स्वधर्मो विगुणः परधर्मात्स्वनुष्ठितात्।

स्वधर्मे निधनं श्रेयः परधर्मो भयावहः॥
One’s own dharma, though imperfect, is better than another’s dharma, even
if performed flawlessly. Better is death in the performance of one’s own
dharma; the dharma of another is to be feared.

This verse deals with the subtle nature of dharma. To perform one’s dharma
is itself a tapas—“tapaḥ svadharma-vartitvam,” says Yaksha-prasna in the
Mahabharata. As far as Arjuna is concerned, to govern, protect, and fight if
needed is his svadharma. As a born warrior, his nature finds full expression
on the battlefield. His whole energy blossoms when he lifts his bow and
arrow. Sannyāsa is paradharma for him. svadharma means one’s own field
of action, and paradharma refers to another’s field of action.
We have already seen the purpose of karma-yoga-sādhanā as the means to
remove attachment and aversion—rāga-dvesha. One must remain in one’s
field of action and gradually remove all attachments and aversions from
within. Only after purifying one’s mind of all such dross is one qualified for
sannyāsa. If the kshatriya prince Arjuna expresses his dedication to archery,
no one would find fault with him. In fact, from the worldly point of view,
such action will only enhance his personality as a warrior. But if he takes to
sannyāsa and then expresses his fondness for fighting, that would be a
terrible situation—bhayāvahaḥ. Even though war is not a pleasant field of
svadharma, if destiny has put a person amidst it, he has no choice but to
fight his way to freedom. This is Arjuna’s destiny.
That is why here it is said, ‘Even if you were to die while performing your
duty, it is still better than entering another person’s field of action—
paradharma—by imitating another person.’ Imitation causes a person to
become completely stunted. You might conduct paradharma perfectly—su
anuṣṭhitāt—but your Inner One would not be that impressed. You will find
little joy in it since you will be under constant conflict and disharmony
within. On the other hand, though you may not perform perfectly in your
destined field of action, still, a free flow of inner energy will be set up in
you. Without any conflict in the personality, you remain one integrated
whole.
Some are destined to do work that is considered inferior; even such actions
cannot hurt one, provided the action is according to the person’s nature—
svabhāva-niyatam karma kurvannāpnoti kilbiṣam (BG18.47). The most
famous example of this is Dharmavyadha, the butcher, in the Mahabharata.
The Mahabharata celebrates him as a Jñāni. He did the work of butchery
right from childhood as taught by his father. Despite being in such a ghastly
occupation, awakening came to him. Even though one’s dharma is viguṇaḥ
—highly ignominious—if one is detached and is ready to give up doership,
one can find inner integrity.
kurvannāpnoti kilbiṣam (BG18.47). One will not accrue impurity or sin by
performing actions that are enjoined by the scriptures, according to one’s
nature or svabhāva. As the poison of the snake does not harm the snake, so
too, anything in our nature will not harm us. This is the secret of
svadharma. ‘sva’ means one’s own, and ‘dharma’ means nature. It must be
expressed as worship—sva-dharma. Offer it to Īśvara—the Divine Inner
Monitor—and worship Him in the cosmic form through your expression of
action. Knowing the viśvam—the universe—as Vishnu, one must worship
Him with one’s nature. “svakarmaṇā tamabhyarcya siddhiṃ vindati
mānavaḥ (BG18.46)—by worshipping Him with one’s own action, one attains
to perfection.”
Worship is the most intimate expression of one’s love for God. One’s whole
being must manifest as love. This can happen only when one expresses
one’s nature. A singer can fully expose himself only when he sings. If he is
forced to do some other craft, a large portion of his personality goes to
sleep. He is not fully available; he is not fully visible. God can touch us
fully only when we expose ourselves fully. This can happen only when one
is oneself. This can be seen in Arjuna’s life.

ARJUNA’S COMBAT WITH LORD SIVA

Once, Arjuna performed various austerities to please Lord Siva. Arjuna was
not present there as Arjuna, the mighty warrior, but as an anchorite. Lord
Siva was quite eager to give him darśan. But even God is helpless when
one is not fully present. The Lord then cleverly appeared before Arjuna as a
hunter and challenged his archery skills. Lord Siva provoked Arjuna,
saying, “You are a novice in archery. I will teach you a few lessons. Fight
with me if you dare.” This was enough to awaken the real Arjuna. The
meditative Arjuna, who stood on one leg, doing tapas, vanished, and in his
place arose a fierce warrior, livid with anger! Now that Arjuna was in his
svadharma, his ‘I’ was fully available. Only then could the Lord reach him
and bestow His grace fully.
The more anger rose in Arjuna, the more pleased Siva was. Arjuna was fully
exposed, expressing his whole being and thus getting connected with the
Lord. He could enter every cell of Arjuna now. When Arjuna was in
meditation, the Lord found him closed; even the Lord could not unlock that
door when Arjuna was not himself. But now, every fibre of his being was
out there, open. On one side, Siva was dancing in bliss in the guise of a
fighting hunter, while on the other, the furious Arjuna was attacking his
beloved Lord. A great divine romance was enacted there. In that, Siva filled
Arjuna with His very being—Pāśupata.
In the Bhagavata, the dreadful serpent Kaliya tells Krishna, “svabhāvo
dustyajo nātha (SB10.16.56)—O Lord, I cannot deny my nature. I can only
offer You what I have. Yes, I have this vicious poison. Here I am offering
You that.” This is, in a way, natural bhakti. A snake trying to behave like a
cow would be ridiculous. No imitation will work. Everyone is unique. One
must understand one’s nature clearly and allow it to be expressed as divine
dynamism—sādhanā. Then will one find real peace.
Once we get a glimpse of our real nature, once perfect understanding
dawns, we will know the magnitude of limitation that the upādhi—the
body-mind—is putting on us. Then, an intelligent sādhaka will invoke the
power of the inner Self—Grace—to show him the path. In that state, the
Inner Being guides him through his svadharma. Whatever actions are to
take place through his body-mind, all of that will manifest—not guided by
the ego, but by the Higher Power. In that state, the entire action becomes a
manifestation of Śakti—the Power of the Self, the Power of God. This
power can be seen expressed in the life of saints. In the sādhanā period too,
suddenly, the manifestation of this power is visible.
People hold peculiar ideas about spiritual life. Even the association with the
ideal of sannyāsa can become a hurdle for the sādhaka. In fact, sannyāsa is
not a path; it is the goal; it is the ultimate fruit of Jñāna. It cannot be
attained artificially. The state where all karma-vāsanās are exhausted,
where the mind is naturally quiet, is sannyāsa. That is called nirvāsanā-
mauna—the silence where no vāsanās remain. That, indeed, is the state of a
Brahmanishṭha. It blossoms in one as a result of complete freedom from
the mind. The mind itself is not present in such a one.
In the Mahabharata war, we see how Bhishma stuck to his dharma and
chose to die. As a knower of the scriptures, a perfect celibate and a yogi,
Bhishma could have very well taken to sannyāsa. But he understood that
his nature was that of a warrior, and hence he had no choice but to fight. He
had to fight against his own dear ones on the Pandavas’ side. Not only that,
he had to fight even against Krishna. And thus, he chose nidhanam—death
—over paradharma.
Worship of the Lord must be done with one’s whole personality. The ego
lies entirely in one’s field of action. This is the essence of this verse.

SOME INSIGHTFUL POINTS TO PONDER

Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi has said that svadharma means the dharma
that helps you realise the Self. Paradharma means all the characteristics of
the non-Self. Svadharma means knowing that you are the Eternal, Pure,
Immaculate, Ever-free Consciousness. Paradharma means superimposing
the body on the Self and thinking, ‘I am born,’ ‘I will die,’ ‘I did this,’ ‘I did
that,’ ‘I did not do this,’ ‘I did not do that,’ and so on.
Even though dharma is noble, it also superimposes the body and doership
on the Self. It is only by superimposing the body and doership on us that the
Dharmaśāstras instruct us about what we should or should not do.
Therefore, all these are defined as saṃsāra-dharma by the Bhagavata.
Various actions of the body; thoughts of the mind; hunger and thirst of
prāṇa; ignorance, memory, forgetfulness, and so on of the intellect; and
sleep, unconsciousness, and so on of the causal body or kāraṇa-śarīra—all
these come under saṃsāra-dharma. They are the deluding powers of
avidyā.
 संसारधर्मैरविमुह्यमानः स्मृत्या हरेर्भागवतप्रधानः। SB 11.2.49

The Bhagavata says that an illumined person never gets deluded by these
saṃsāra-dharmas. And how does he keep himself immaculate? “smṛtyā
hareḥ”—by constant recollection, awareness of Hari, God, the Self within.
Such a one is a bhāgavata-pradhāna—the greatest devotee or saint.
By this definition, to have association with prakṛti is paradharma, and not
to have any association with prakṛti is svadharma. Superimposing actions,
thoughts, and ignorance on the Self is paradharma. When we superimpose
paradharma on the Self, it certainly stifles the Inner Being. And when
paradharma is given up, and one takes hold of one’s svadharma, one
claims one’s real nature and experiences freedom. From this, it is evident
that svadharma gives śreya, and paradharma gives bhaya or fear. In fact,
for the verse ‘sarvadharmān parityajya…’ (BG18.66), Sankaracharya too has
given this very same explanation in his bhāshya.

अर्जुन उवाच।
3.36 अथ के न प्रयुक्तोऽयं पापं चरति पूरुषः।
अनिच्छन्नपि वार्ष्णेय बलादिव नियोजितः॥
Arjuna asked: But, compelled by what does a man commit sin, as if by
force, O Varshṇeya, even against his own will?

In this verse, Arjuna voices the doubt that is carved in the minds of many a
noble man. Here a word has been used—pāpam. It is generally translated as
sin. According to Vedic religion, sin is that action which creates a problem
for oneself and others; it is that action which leads one to more and more
darkness; that action which becomes a thick cloud of ignorance and
completely enshrouds one’s Self-knowledge; that action which makes one
languish in doership and enjoyership.
The intellect knows very well what is noble and what is sinful. Yet, in weak
moments, we are driven to perpetrate acts that we know are certainly wrong
and sinful. We ourselves may have criticised others for such actions.
Despite that, when our own willpower fails, and we ourselves fall ignobly,
then, in total frustration, we lament, “Alas, this is the power of fate!” Even
Duryodhana says,* “I know what is dharma, but I cannot do it. I know what
adharma is, but I cannot desist from doing it.”
This is the state of many a seeker. In such moments of despair, he questions,
“Alas! What is the power that has betrayed me? I am a good person. Yet,
why did I do such a thing? Before committing the sin, I know, I am very
clear what I am, and after the act, here I am weeping over it! This act is not
mine. Some other force has driven me into this abysmal pit of sin.
anicchannapi—even without wishing to do it, I have been forced—
balādiva niyojitaḥ. Some tremendous force has pushed me into it.” This is
the lamentation of many.
Only when such drives lose their sway on us will Jñāna shine forth in all its
splendour. “Jñāna dawns fully when the power of sinful acts diminishes,
and one is free of the grip of lower tendencies.Ӡ
Vidyaranya Swami has discussed this śloka elaborately in Panchadasi.
There, in the case of a Knower, he has concluded this to be the power of
prārabdha. This will be dealt with in detail in the next śloka.

श्रीभगवानुवाच।
3.37 काम एष क्रोध एष रजोगुणसमुद्भवः।
महाशनो महापाप्मा विद्ध्येनमिह वैरिणम्॥
Sri Bhagavan said: It is desire, and it is anger born of the mode of passion
(rajas), most greedy and most sinful. Know this to be the enemy concerned.

The word ‘eṣa’ denotes something very near. “This, this,” points out
Krishna. “O Arjuna, this desire, this lust is the first enemy, followed by
anger and wrath.” These are the causes. In the subtle form, they are rāga
and dvesha—attachment and aversion. In the grossest form, rāga
transforms into lust and hunger to own the desired object, person, place,
position, or wealth. “Because of which, all troubles arise in life,” says
Sankaracharya.* When destiny places hurdles before us and something does
not transpire as desired, our frustration turns into fury. See the case of
Duryodhana. His anger destroyed the entire earth. These two forces of
desire and anger make a person heedless. Despite repeated listening to the
noble teachings of the sages, these desires turn into cravings and clog the
centre of listening and understanding. It refuses to absorb the teaching even
from the greatest of teachers. This is pramāda—spiritual death.
Although both kāma and krodha are mentioned here, Bhagavan speaks only
of kāma in the last verse of this chapter. Desire, indeed, is the seed of all
sins and spiritual falls. This is why the singular form ‘eṣa’ has been used in
this verse. Desire and anger are both filled with the fuel of rajo-guṇa, as
they are made of that. Hence, it is tough for the intellect to hold them back.
This kāma is a mahāśana—a great eater. Like fire, it consumes everything.
Alexander, Genghis Khan, Mohammed Ghori, Ghazni—they conquered so
much of the earth, yet were not satisfied. Hiranyakasipu and Hiranyaksha
usurped heaven and tried to conquer even Vaikuntha!
Desire has no end. It cannot be ended by trying to satiate it. We may ask,
‘Will it never end?’ Why not? It will also end like anything else. It is also
time-bound. But by the time it ends, it would have made one into an
incorrigible sinner—mahāpāpmā. Know this to be the vairī—enemy. To
that mighty asura Hiranyakasipu, his calm and peaceful child Prahlada said,
“Father, without winning over your inner foe of desire, you boast that you
are a great victor by stamping on others. Purify your mind and realise the
Atman; then you will see the whole world as the Self. That is real victory.”
This is the crux of all teachings.
Unless the mind is cleansed of the foe rāga-dvesha, wherever we may go,
we will not have peace. There are sāttvik desires—mild desires—which,
when fulfilled with a meditative mind, disappear, and the mind attains
quietude and pleasantness. But the rājasik drives are like fire. They must be
removed by tapas, satsaṅga, deep reflection on the consequences of
pursuing them, and above all, beseeching for the Grace of the Lord.
Somehow, a seeker should take refuge in dharma. As the Buddhists say,
“dharmam śaraṇam gacchāmi, buddham śaraṇam gacchāmi.” This means,
“I take refuge in the path taught by the Lord in the Gita or by the sages in
their teachings.” ‘buddham śaraṇam gacchāmi’ means ‘I take refuge in
Him, the Guru, who will safely take me by the hand and make me cross the
turbulent waters of suffering.’ We too refer to ‘śāstrācārya-vacaḥ—the
words of the scriptures and the teacher.’
There are many stories in the puranas about how even great sages like
Vishwamitra fell from their tapas due to kāma and krodha. How is it
possible for such great ones to fall? This is the topic which Vidyaranya
Swami has discussed in the Panchadasi. In a way, kāma and krodha are also
divine forces. In the Lalita-Sahasranama, there are two names of the Divine
Mother that are made of compound phrases—‘rāga-svarūpa-pāśāḍhyā’ and
‘krodhākārāṅkuśojjvalā’ (La.Sa.8,9). The Divine Mother uses the noose of
rāga to entrap an immature person. And She hooks him with the goad of
krodha. In a way, these are also the powers of the Divine Mother Māyā to
purify a person.
Whatever we may determine by our intellect, our subtle body is a store of
innumerable memories and vāsanās of past pleasurable and painful
experiences. These past desires will not allow the mind to settle in samādhi.
The Māyā-śakti again pushes the person into the grinding stone of
experiences. For a devotee, these are only manifestations of Her Grace in
order to make him go through the planes he is adamantly refusing to pass
through by his holding on to dharma. For a Jñāni, they are simply to be
exhausted through his body-mind, and his anubhūti will shine forth more
splendorous.
Ordinary folks cherish desire and anger. This is their normal way of life.
They are not concerned about transcending them. Then, for whom is this
advice? It is meant for the sādhaka. To ensure he does not lose his foothold
on the divine ground, he must hold firmly to the Lord, having faith in His
Grace. In this way, when he holds on to the Lord with all intensity, like a
baby monkey to its mother, the Lord will rescue him from all sins. His
body-mind will eventually become pure, and pleasantness will settle in his
system.
There is a mantra in the Vedas, which is chanted during the daily sandhyā-
vandana: “Whatever is done out of passion is done by the force of desire
only. I am not the doer. Desire is the doer. Desire drives one to act. I am not
the cause of any action. Here I offer all my actions performed due to desire
as oblation in the fire of Self-knowledge.”* The love for the Self is behind
all desires. The mantra goes on to describe anger in the same vein—‘I am
not the doer; desire and anger are the doers, and all these actions are done
by them alone.’ Contemplation on this mantra helps to erase doership
completely.
The primary ignorance that something other than the Self exists is the cause
for desire and anger. Duality always leads to fear. Desire, anger, envy,
delusion, greed—are all various forms of fear. In deep sleep, everyone finds
fulfilment in one’s own Self. This merging of the mind in the joy of the Self
is the only way to erase desire and anger. When one realises one’s nature as
pure Consciousness, to such a one, everything appears divine. Then where
is the question of ‘want’ or ‘fear’?
We should be free of doership and these
forces of nature. We should not assume
THE PRIMARY
their ownership. When desire and passion
IGNORANCE THAT rage, we fall into the pits of doership and
SOMETHING OTHER
enjoyership and forget Jñāna; this is the
problem. Hence, when Arjuna asks,
THAN THE SELF EXISTS ‘What is the force that makes us do these
IS THE CAUSE FOR actions?’ Bhagavan replies that they are
kāma and krodha. How do they make us
DESIRE AND ANGER. fall?
In the next śloka, Bhagavan gives the
cause—it is emotions of the mind that veil the Jñāna within and compel the
person to misapprehend the Reality as the body, the mind and the ego. That
is the problem with them.

3.38 धूमेनाव्रियते वह्निर्यथादर्शो मलेन च।

यथोल्बेनावृतो गर्भस्तथा तेनेदमावृतम्॥
As fire is enveloped by smoke, as a mirror by dust, as an embryo by the
womb, so is this (one’s proper understanding) covered by that (craving).

In the previous verse, we saw that the word kāma—desire—is used as a

synonym for ignorance. The Self is ever shining in all. There is none who is
not aware of the Self. All are aware of their ‘AM-ness’. That, indeed, is the
spark of Enlightenment. The experience of ‘I AM’ is clouded by ignorance.
‘āvṛtam’ is the word used here. A veil, āvaraṇa, covers the Reality. What is
that veil made of? Desire. Each and every fibre of that covering-screen is
made of attachment and desire.
Desire is the sure symptom of lingering ignorance. One feels unfulfilled.
One feels, ‘I will be happy only by owning some other person, thing or
feeling’ and rushes to possess them. This dynamic force of rajo-guṇa leads
to more and more problems.
Three similes are used here by Bhagavan—as the smoke that covers the
fire, as the dust that covers the mirror, and as the placenta that covers the
foetus. These three are given to point out the centres where desires hide.
Pure Consciousness alone is the Atman. That alone is experienced through
the intellect, the mind, and the senses as the world. The senses and the mind
make a caricature of Brahman and present a distorted view. In all these
centres, ignorance of the Self invades as desire—kāma. In the intellect,
which is the subtle-most manifestation, desires hide in the form of
ignorance. It veils the Self like the smoke around fire—dhūmenāvriyate
vahniḥ. Even while smoke is present, the fire is also vaguely visible. And if
we fan the fire, the smoke will soon vanish. Similarly, the ‘I AM’—the pure
Consciousness—is hidden as a flame in the smoke of ignorance. “Their
intellect is clouded by the fog of ignorance,” says the Veda.*
There is no one who is not aware of their existence as ‘I’. All are aware of
the ‘I AM,’ but do not recognise it as Brahman. This non-recognition is the
smoky veil. The very existence of ‘AM-ness’ itself is Reality—Brahman.
Simply to be, is Realisation. This is the truth which can solve, nay dissolve,
all riddles behind life. But such stark simplicity of knowledge gets hidden
by the smoke of not knowing, misapprehension and doubt—ajñāna,
viparīta-jñāna and samśaya. These are the three causes that make even
those of sharp intellect ignore the presence of this spark of Reality with cold
indifference. Many intellectuals ignore this saving truth and fail to
recognise it. This is due to the dust of ignorance in the intellect. Buddha has
used the words ‘those with little dust’, implying that those with mild
ignorance wake up easily when they hear the truth.
The vapour-like ignorance gets solidified as the vāsanās, desires. This layer
of dust of vāsanās covers the clear mirror of the mind, which is unable to
reflect the Atman as it is—yathādarśo malena ca. The Self gets reflected in
the mind in a distorted way as the ego—pratibimba. This reflection as the
ego is often misapprehended as the Self. As a mirror covered with dust
cannot reflect the face, so too, a mind ridden with desires cannot reflect the
Self. Such a mind is full of image-making. A lot of dirt—mala, movements
of egoistic emotional desires—cloud the mind. Only by constant and one-
pointed meditation is the mind cleansed of this dross and dust of desires.
Such a mind reflects Brahman perfectly. It easily uncovers the fragrance of
the Self in the quietude of meditation.
yatholbenāvṛto garbhaḥ. The ulba is the membrane that protects the baby
in the womb. So too, the senses cover the Self completely. This is their
nature. Under the spell of desires, they pull the mind outwards and drag in
all kinds of dirt from outside into the mind. When the intellect is ablaze
with the knowledge of the Atman, the mind is in quietude, and there is
perfect awareness of the Self—only then will the senses comply and
withdraw within. Until then, the seeker must wait.
An Enlightened Master, who teaches the way to Liberation, comes across
three types of sādhakas. The first group who come to him are very ripe and
are called prajñānakala-jīvas. Their Realisation is imminent. The fragrance
of their forthcoming Realisation wafts around them. Their ignorance is like
the smoke that covers the fire. Only a thin layer of the smoke of ignorance
is present in them. The feeling ‘I am not the Self,’ ‘I have to attain it,’ alone
covers the truth. They are just waiting to hear the Truth from the Guru. The
moment they hear from the Guru, ‘You are Brahman, You are the Self, here
and now—TATTVAMASI!’ their mind settles down, the ego disappears, and
they realise the Self. One word is all it takes; the smoke disappears, and lo!
they are the fire. Their ignorance is only in the intellect. Listening to the
Master is enough to clear it off. Sometimes, even the silence of an
Enlightened Master will work on them. They need only that much.

THINNAI SWAMI
A devout householder once visited Sri Ramana Maharshi. The presence of
the Sage led to a deep spiritual blossoming in him, and he became
immensely dispassionate. His family wrote to him many times, requesting
he return home. Seeking guidance from his Satguru, he asked, “Bhagavan!
What should I do?” The sage replied in Tamil, “iru!” It means to ‘just be’.
That man instantaneously abided in his real nature and became enlightened.
Then onwards, he stayed in various places in Tiruvannamalai, immersed in
deep samādhi. I have met this sage (Thinnai Swami) in his later years. He
used to stay in the outer verandah of a house, ever in very deep poise.
The second group of seekers are manodosha-jīvas called vijñānakalas. The
majority of spiritual seekers belong to this category. They are like a dusty
mirror. They have to put in a little effort—sādhanā—to cleanse the dust in
the mind. The Upanishad also declares that it must be sharpened by
meditation.* As Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi says, † “Such people cannot
realise the Self without upāsanā. Various upāsanās and meditation are all
prescribed for this group. When some effort is put in to cleanse the mirror,
the reflection is gradually visible. Similarly, as they perform sādhanā, the
mind becomes pure, and they realise the Self.
The third group of seekers must wait. They cannot be helped beyond a
certain limit. Their obstacles cannot be removed with haste. They are
kāladosha-yukta-jīvas called sakalas. They are like the foetus in a womb.
The membrane should not be broken prematurely. They must wait patiently
until the gestation period is over. Just as the inner prāṇa pushes the child
out of the womb at the right time, similarly, for this group, life has to mould
them, and at the right time, they too will be prodded towards the Truth.
Until then, they must wait. The charcoal buried under the earth must wait
patiently until it becomes a diamond. A time will come when it transforms
into a diamond. The people in the third group are like this. They have so
many karma-vāsanās and their armour of ignorance is so strong that it is
not possible to break it easily. Such souls must wait until their karma-
vāsanās are exhausted.

3.39 आवृतं ज्ञानमेतेन ज्ञानिनो नित्यवैरिणा।

कामरूपेण कौन्तेय दुष्पूरेणानलेन च॥
Knowledge is covered, O son of Kunti, by this insatiable fire of desire, the
constant foe of the wise.

At first, the veiling power of ignorance makes us feel we are not whole. It
takes the form of desire, a distraction. It becomes a drive to seek fulfilment
from the world outside. ‘Seek a way out of this lack!’ is the cry of this
drive. Hence, through all his senses, man seeks objects to fill this vacuum
within. Avidyā, ignorance of the Self, is the source of kāma. And from that,
manifest actions. Action-actor-fruit—kriyā–kāraka–phalam—this is the
cobweb of the mind that suffocates the soul.
Desire is like fire—anala. ‘It cannot be appeased by satiation’ is the
discovery of the sages. Fire is called anala as it never says enough—alam.
If we go on offering ghee, then the fire too will go on blazing forth. The
advice of some modern therapists who recommend that we indulge in desire
is not acceptable to Bhagavan Krishna. Experiences unknown are non-
existent. This is the law. Those raised in a vegetarian family generally do
not have a desire for non-vegetarian food. If one is craving an experience
hitherto unknown, it is a clue that it is a drive of some past impression. That
itself proves how the unconscious lingering taste of earlier experiences
becomes the cause of future suffering. Hence Bhagavan calls this a constant
foe. We cannot escape from it even by death. He is not a foe whom we can
easily ignore as insignificant. He is a constant terroriser.
Sankaracharya says in the bhāshya, “Desire is a constant enemy only to the
jñāni and not to the ajñāni. This is because an ajñāni welcomes it with his
whole being and accepts it, whereas a jñāni always feels it as a disturbance
and wants to be free of it. For a jñāni, it is a vikalpa, an obstacle, and he
tries to shake it off. Hence it is said, jñānino nityavairiṇā—a constant
enemy for the wise ones.”
As long as one is seething with desires,
THE RELEASE FROM ALL he cannot have the peace of meditation. If
one takes to satisfying each desire, he will
SUFFERING THAT IS certainly fall from his natural state to the
EXPERIENCED IN DEEP darkness of gloom. How can one be free
of this? Remove the āvaraṇa—veil—that
SLEEP, IS ALSO hides the Self. Enquire ‘WHO AM I?’ ‘Who
AVAILABLE HERE, NOW. wants to fulfil desires?’ Explore within.
The ego which consumes the objects is
not real. Once you know the fact that the
consumer, the food and the senses that consume are all mere dream-stuff,
you are free of the dream-created illusion. Every day, the dream state
reveals the secret of the illusory nature of our worldly life.
The Inner Being is a perpetual teacher. Through deep sleep, He reveals the
Atman. Deep sleep reveals the anubhava—the experience of the Self. It is
the state where everyone feels body-lessness, mind-lessness, ego-lessness,
world-lessness and also fullness. That is Ātmopadeśa. That is the essence of
all mahāvākyas. The same deep-sleep state is present in the waking state too
as the essence of one’s AM-ness. In that AM-ness, there is no world, no
body, no mind. The release from all suffering that is experienced in deep
sleep, is also available here, now.
The moment one pays attention to the fact that one’s existence is ever free
of saṃsāra, one is free. The dream state, on the other hand, is an answer to
all doubts regarding creation. ‘How has this body, the mind and the world
manifested?’ ‘What is the explanation for this saṃsāra?’ The answer to
these questions is that it is causeless, purposeless nonsense, just like a
dream. As the dream manifests, so too this manifests. “It appears without
any explainable cause,” says the Bhagavata.*
Māyā means that which is seen. The fact
THE MOMENT YOU ARE that an object is seen implies that †it is
māyā. Māyā cannot be explained. If
FREE OF THE BONDAGE explainable, it is not māyā. Māyā is
OF DESIRE, YOU ARE inscrutable, unfathomable, and irrational.
Trace it back to its origin, and it will
QUALIFIED TO REALISE disappear. “It is not seen in the Atman.” ‡
BRAHMAN. This statement must be reflected upon
deeply. In deep sleep, only the Atman
exists; nothing else. There, no one has felt
the body, mind or world. There is no sorrow there; no ego there; no
‘I’-‘You’ interaction; only utterly simple naked existence. This is the
experiential Ātmopadeśa bestowed on us every day by the Ātma-deva—the
Lord who is the Inner Being.
We may respond by asking—“OK, what about my life, all the
contradictions, all the pleasures, pains, dharma, adharma, love, hate… all
of these! How can one explain them?”
Take the example of a dream. Can we give any reason for dreams? They
just happen, that is all. So too, know all this as a mere dream. The ‘I’—the
self-image—is mere dream-stuff which lends life to all. Know this truth.
Train yourself to remain in the stillness of the Self for some time every day.
Then, reflect on that experience. Convince yourself that the state devoid of
duality alone is the Truth. When the ego-cloud comes forth from nowhere,
ignore it. Tell yourself, ‘This is not me.’ Remain in the peace and stillness
of the no-‘I’ state. Have no compulsion to satisfy desires.

BE WARY OF DESIRES
The ego strengthens itself by drinking the drug of desires. The ego is the
āvaraṇa that covers the real nature of the Self. The ego—jīva-bhāva—is
made of kāma. It is anala—fire. Pour the cool sacred water of surrender on
it; that alone can cool it. Remind yourself, “O Lord! I am not the doer. You
alone are. I don’t exist.” This is the antidote for this poison. Once a person
is free of desires, he is a jīvanmukta—the ever-free one. This is the one-shot
route to freedom. Drop all desires, and here and now, you are free.
Here Bhagavan has said that desire is the enemy. This also reveals a great
secret that all Enlightened Beings have found out; it is to renounce desires.
If a person dares to renounce every desire—even the desire for
Enlightenment—and becomes happy and blissful, here and now, he is an
Enlightened Being. This is the greatest secret.

ERASE THE SĀDHAKA

A disciple asked his Master: “Master, I have renounced everything and have
done so much sādhanā. Why am I not Realised yet?” The Master replied,
“Now you renounce the desire for Realisation too. Erase the sādhaka.”
There is a śloka in the Mahabharata,

कामबन्धनमेवैकं नान्यदस्तीह बन्धनम्।

कामबन्धनमुक्तो हि ब्रह्मभूयाय कल्पते॥ Mbha.

There is only one bondage, and that is desire. No other bondage exists. The
moment you are free of the bondage of desire, you are qualified to realise
Brahman.
This is a subtle point and must be understood carefully. Here, the
instruction of renouncing the sādhaka implies the renouncing of doership. ‘I
am doing,’ ‘I want to enjoy’—this prompting is the block. All such feelings
are made of one fibre, and that is desire. Bhagavan calls desire the virus of
the saṃsāra disease. Give up kāma, and you are free. Kāma is broadly
interpreted as lust. But kāma is not merely the physical desire; it means the
innumerable desires that a man is afflicted with. Compared to these, the
physical or biological urge is relatively harmless.
Desire is another name for bondage. All bondages, all limitations are
nothing but desires. Desire puts limitations on one’s Inner Being.

3.40 इन्द्रियाणि मनो बुद्धिरस्याधिष्ठानमुच्यते।

एतैर्विमोहयत्येष ज्ञानमावृत्य देहिनम्॥
The senses, the mind and the intellect, are said to be its seat; by these, it
deludes man by veiling his wisdom.

This foe hides in various spots. The senses, the mind and the intellect are its
chief hiding spots. At first, the senses grasp the pleasurable objects; then the
mind wanders through the sensory pastures with its imagination—
saṅkalpa. Soon the intellect decides, “Yes, to possess these and to enjoy is
the purpose of life.” When a large amount of one’s personality is thus
permeated by desires, the longing for the Divine is lost like a dust of gold
beneath a large mass of dung.
The raging fire of desires in all the three altars of the body deludes the
person—vimohayati. The source is the intellect, the mind is its playing
ground, and the senses are the entry gates. Only through constant satsaṅga
and spiritual practice can one unlock the inner light to flood into all the
planes of one’s being.
Knowing the Truth through the intellect alone is not enough. The mind must
become pure and quiet. It must experience the state of samādhi. That too is
not enough. If the senses are unruly, certainly, mental quietude will be
corrupted by unwholesome thoughts. The light of Realisation in the heart
must flood through the senses and spread out and expand in the world. The
yogi must reach the state where he beholds only the Divine everywhere.
Then there is no danger from any name and form. Here the person has
protected himself with the armour of Jñāna. Yoga Vasishtha calls this
‘Brahma-kavacham’.
First, one must decide about one’s goal of God-Realisation or Self-
Realisation. This determination—vyavasāyātmikā buddhi—is the first step.
This resolve is the chief monitoring power which awakens the yearning for
Realisation. Then the inner one thirsts for the peaceful state of meditation.
To be successful in attaining that supernal state of peace, one finds the need
to put the senses in perfect order. One starts to observe how the five
windows bring in floods of sensory streams that constantly disturb the inner
calm. Here comes the need to start from the circumference.
The senses are the outermost realm. Beyond them are the various circuits of
psychic forces that constantly allure the senses and send sheaths of
emotional flashes in the mind, which completely uproots the power of
confidence of the intellect. These are the distractions—vikshepa. Unless one
quietens these distractions, the peace of meditation is not for him. Thus, the
three centres—the senses, the mind and the intellect—delude the person,
vimohayati. They completely cover the jñāna and make the person body-
minded—jñānamāvṛtya dehinam. It makes him feel that the body alone is
him.
The self-image in the heart carries all the senses, the mind, and the ego; it is
a body in itself. Unless he feels his real nature as Brahman in that plane,
and that realisation makes him behold the same Self everywhere,
Enlightenment is not complete.

3.41 तस्मात्त्वमिन्द्रियाण्यादौ नियम्य भरतर्षभ।

पाप्मानं प्रजहि ह्येनं ज्ञानविज्ञाननाशनम्॥
O eminent of the Bharatas! Therefore, mastering first the senses, slay this
sinful destroyer of Knowledge and Realisation.

“Kill this foe, who is a great sinner,” urges the Lord. Arjuna, the great
warrior, has successfully encountered many opponents. But in this case, the
enemy is not outside. He is within, often becoming invisible like a demon
with occult powers. He becomes one with the fighter. How does one
encounter such a foe? One moment you see him, but the next, he is not to
be seen. Where is he? He is in the fighter’s own personality. That is the
problem. Anyway, we must subdue the senses first. ādau—in the beginning,
one must make all efforts to curb the senses.

JADABHARATA’S SENSE-CONTROL
Here, Krishna calls Arjuna ‘Bharata-rishabha’. By the name Bharata,
Bhagavan is not referring to Bharata, the son of Dushyanta. Here, Bhagavan
wants to remind Arjuna about the Bharata, the son of the great Rishabha
Deva. Perhaps that is why the Lord has added the suffix Rishabha while
addressing Arjuna. ṛṣena bhāti iti ṛṣabhaḥ—the one who shines with the
light of illumination is rishabha. King Bharata, the Yogi, had great sense-
control, yet, due to his attachment to a deer, fell from his yoga-state. But in
his rebirth as a Brahmana known as Jadabharata, he was a rishabha, a great
Jñāni, and what perfect sense-control he had! This story of Jadabharata is
detailed in the Bhagavata. The purpose of describing this avadhūta sage is
to purify our minds. Here Krishna is saying, “Arjuna, meditate on that
Jadabharata. You too be a Rishabha!”
If one fails to root out kāma, it can prove quite dangerous. Due to his kāma,
even a dhārmic person may be tempted to undertake heinous acts. Hence
Bhagavan calls it pāpmā. Even though he does not wish it, it drives him to
do shameful acts. Bhagavan urges, prajahi—kill it! With all your power,
shoot your arrow of jñāna at this foe. Otherwise, it will destroy your
spiritual experience—vijñāna. No more will you be able to meditate. The
mind will constantly reflect on sensory episodes. Slides after slides of
memories and mental habits will disturb the inner tranquillity. Not only that,
but it will also gradually destroy the pure sattva element that makes one
recollect what one has listened from the Master. The mind will burn with
rajo-guṇa and tamo-guṇa. Jñāna too will get obscured. Hence, even
śāstra-jñāna will lose its power over such a person. This is a grave
condition that a sādhaka may enter into.
Of course, the Lord will not allow a real devotee to stoop to this state. He
will always protect the devotee who has taken refuge in Him. In the
Bhagavata, He says,* “I shall protect you from all sides, from all kinds of
inner and outer foes.” The only thing that a devotee must do is to take
refuge at the feet of Bhagavan.
3.42 इन्द्रियाणि पराण्याहुरिन्द्रियेभ्यः परं मनः।
मनसस्तु परा बुद्धिर्यो बुद्धेः परतस्तु सः॥
The senses* are said to be superior to the body (as they are subtler than the
body); the mind is superior to the senses; the intellect is superior to the
mind, and what is superior to the intellect is the Atman.

How and when does desire end completely? Will it end when the senses are
curbed? No, it will not. If the senses are curbed, one will surely be
protected, but the taste for sense objects will certainly linger in the mind.
They may play even more powerfully in the mind. The mind is a mysterious
power. It swarms as thoughts and manifests as the senses, objects and the
world. It takes the form of the enjoyer and the enjoyed. We have already
seen Bhagavan saying, ‘paraṃ dṛṣṭvā nivartate’—only by the Realisation
of the Supreme, the Paramātmā, the desires or the vāsanās vanish entirely.
How is one to find that Supreme Being, the Source?
Here, in this verse, we see the route to the Source. First, the senses are to be
held back from rushing into the field of objects; they must be folded back
into the mind. The mind is then stabilised and traced back into the vijñāna
—the buddhi or the Heart. Intellect or buddhi is not the brain. It is the
power of the Heart, the power of the Self, which traces the mind back to its
source. When all thoughts are hushed to silence, when there is no more
movement of ‘I’-‘I’, when the mind itself is not, the intellect or buddhi also
shies away into oblivion. What then remains is ‘He’—‘saḥ’, says the Gita.
Bhagavan simply points out, ‘saḥ’—that Supreme Person.
This verse is a variation of the following Upanishad mantra.

इन्द्रियेभ्यः परा ह्यर्था अर्थेभ्यश्च परं मनः।

मनसस्तु परा बुद्धिर्बुद्धेरात्मा महान्परः॥ Ka.Up. 1.3.10

The real senses are not the outer eyes or the ears; they are of a subtler and
more powerful realm. The inner senses—arthāḥ—are subtler than the outer
sense organs. The visible organs are gross, and through them, the subtle
senses float as sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell. Only when one shuts
the sensory gates and sits for meditation does one encounter the real senses
in the subtle body, in the mind. In fact, the senses are lodged in the realm of
the mind. They just express themselves through the outer gates of the
organs.
The mind is subtler than the senses as it contains all the senses. The intellect
is subtler than the mind as it withdraws itself into the Heart. That which is
the witness to the intellect in the waking state is the Self. That power
witnesses the absence of the intellect in deep sleep as well. Of course,
nothing else exists in that state for that pure Being-ness to witness; the pure
essence of non-duality alone is present there. That is the Atman, Brahman.
That is you—TATTVAMASI!

3.43 एवं बुद्धेः परं बुद्ध्वा संस्तभ्यात्मानमात्मना।

जहि शत्रुं महाबाहो कामरूपं दुरासदम्॥
Thus knowing Him as superior to the intellect, restraining the self by the
Self, slay, O mighty-armed, the enemy in the form of desire, difficult to
overcome.

Desire and ignorance are synonymous. In fact, desire is a form of hunger or

thirst to make oneself whole by consuming this and that—the objects of the
world. Finally, it is only by consuming the entire world, the body and the
ego in samādhi, that one finds fullness in being the Self. One might wonder
whether it is possible to consume the whole of existence with the senses.
This is done by the Self every night in deep sleep. The Self swallows the
entire existence and remains as Existence. ātmānamātmanā—by the Self,
the Self consumes everything and remains as the Self. This happens in the
state of samādhi as well.
In this verse, Bhagavan concludes the most profound discussion on inner
therapy—curing oneself of the disease of kāma. Here kāma means not only
desire but any kind of disturbance to peace. Anger, greed, pride, envy, fear
—are all born of desire and cause disturbance to peace. We cannot fight
with desire so easily and hope to win; in fact, it is impossible. Hence it is
called durāsada—invincible. The only way is to trace the desire back to its
source. Look at it, explore it, and find out what it is made of. See the
Beloved, the Atman, hiding behind every hunger, and know that it is He.
Take Him and leave aside the dross. Love towards objects always causes
pain. But when one takes delight in the Self, when one is an ātmakāma (a
devotee of the Divine Self, or, one’s Divine Self becomes one’s beloved), it
soon makes one free from all other bondages. This is the sagely way.
When hunger arises, enquire, ‘To whom is the hunger? What am I hungry
after? What do I desire?’ Thus if you explore and go within, you will know
that behind every hunger is mumukshutva—a longing for liberation. It is
devotion of the highest type, appearing in a distorted form. It is the thirst or
restlessness of the soul, to find the Soul. But, instead of knowing that our
thirst is for the Self, we go after this and that, and get enmeshed. This is a
sorrowful state.

SRI RAMAKRISHNA AND SOME DRUNKEN

MEN
Sri Ramakrishna was passing through the
streets of Calcutta with some devotees of
COLLECT THE
his inner circle, including Master
SCATTERED SPARKS OF Mahashay, the author of the Gospel. On
the way, the devotee saw several drunken
ATTENTION AND JUST BE
men dancing in the street, with wine
IN THE BEATITUDE OF bottles in hand. That devotee felt it wrong
BEING-NESS. to take the carriage through that street.
Before a decision was taken, Sri
Ramakrishna alighted from the carriage,
went near, and started dancing among the drunks in divine delight. After a
few minutes of this, the saint told them with love, “It is good that you are
all happy. But do not linger here; go further and further—caraiveti caraiveti
—until you find the true bliss which never wanes.”
Desire is visible in its gross form in the sensory perches. From there, one
enters within the innumerable layers of the mind, and on going further
within, one finds the seed—the intellect which sanctions these enjoyments
due to its ignorance, the dvaita-buddhi, i.e. duality. “bahuśākhā
hyanantāśca buddhayo'vyavasāyinām” (BG2.41), as was pointed out earlier.
When one’s intellect is not at rest under the resolve of non-duality,
innumerable desires, names and forms spring up within.
Hence, Bhagavan goads, “One more leap dear… move…. move, yes, evaṃ
buddheḥ paraṃ buddhvā—just transcend the intellect.” Go beyond the
intellect. The intellect means the segregating power. Segregation needs
duality. When duality is accepted, the intellect manifests from nowhere in
the Chidākāśa. When duality ceases, the intellect evaporates in the
Chidākāśa, and only the Chidākāśa remains. The Awareness, which is the
Seer behind the intellect, collects all the scattered sparks of one’s thoughts
and emotions and makes them sink in the Chidākāśa, in the Self. Thus
know and abide in the ‘I AM’ as ‘I AM’—ātmānamātmanā. No more mind
or intellect, only the Self, the Atman. The Self shines as the Self. One
abides in the ‘I AM’ as the ‘I AM.’ Here one finds absolute fulfilment. One
finds oneself whole. Thus and only thus, can we erase this so-called foe of
desire.
An intellect that is accompanied by the humility of devotion will have great
clarity. The intellect too, must merge, leaving no trace. Then only the
‘buddheḥ param’ will be revealed. Buddhi is the final vestige of the
individual-sense. When that is also transcended, there is no more oscillation
in Realisation. Until then, the intellect retains the ‘I’, and like a thin but
impregnable film of ignorance, veils the Atman.
Collect the scattered sparks of attention and just be in the beatitude of
Being-ness. ‘evam’ means thus. After knowing the Self to be beyond this
itching of knowing, be quiet. Accept the Truth and be quiet. Know that the
Atman alone exists and be still. Initiate not any channel of thinking. One
quiver of the intellect and innumerable channels get unleashed. So just be.
“jahi—erase”, says Bhagavan. How are we to erase kāma? Here the answer
is—by going beyond the dualistic plane of the intellect. The very nature of
the Self is freedom from the other. The ‘I AM’ is non-dual. To abide in the
‘I AM’ means to be free of all contamination. If one roosts in the simple
AM-ness, one will recognise that it is ever asaṅga—untouched. The
detachment or purity of the Self is sahaja—natural. In that centre, there is
no hunger, no thirst, no desire, no greed or any kind of want. There, one is
ever full. Being the Self, one beholds the absence of everything else. “When
all are the Self, where is delusion?” asks the Upanishad.* ‘jahi’ also means
uncovering. You have uncovered every object, every person, and every
event and known them as nothing but the Atman.
When desires invade the mind, what should one do? The answer Bhagavan
gives is saṃstabhyātmānamātmanā—make the Self abide in the Self. This
is found in the Gita itself, ‘ātma-samstham manaḥ krtvā, na kincidapi
cintayet (BG6.25)—make the mind abide in the Self, and do not initiate any
thought.’ The moment you rub the mind with the mind, it generates
thoughts. And thoughts power up the ego. The ego itself is the root of
thoughts. When the ego is woken up, the intellect gets eroded, through
which the mind and the senses become active, and spread out as desires.
Thus, ‘Do not think’ is the secret. Abide as the Self. That alone is the way
to cross the border of desire and to be beyond the reach of desire.

***

ॐ तत्सत्
इति श्रीमद्भगवद्गीतासु उपनिषत्सु ब्रह्मविद्यायां योगशास्त्रे
श्रीकृ ष्णार्जुनसंवादे कर्मयोगो नाम तृतीयोऽध्यायः॥
Om Tat Sat!
In this treatise, known as Srimad Bhagavad Gita, which contains the
essence of the Upanishads, which expounds the knowledge of Brahman and
the science of Yoga in the form of a dialogue between Sri Krishna and
Arjuna, thus ends the third chapter titled ‘The Yoga of Action’.

* प्रकृतेरन्यथाभावो न कथञ्चिद्भविष्यति। Ma.Ka. 3.21

* द्विविधो हि वेदोक्तो धर्मः। BG.Bha.

* मुखी नाम हाती मोक्ष।

* यज्ञो वै विष्णुः।

† अभ्यागतः स्वयं विष्णुः।

* केवलाघो भवति केवलादि। Rigveda 10.117.6

† अघं स केवलं भुङ्क्ते यः पचत्यात्मकारणात्। Manusmrti 3.118

‡ तेन त्यक्तेन भुञ्जीथाः। Isa.Up. 1

* एस धंमो सनातनो।

* अप्राणो ह्यमनाः शुभ्रः। Mu.Up. 2.1.2

* न वर्धते कर्मणा नो कनीयान्। Br.Up. 4.4.23

* असङ्गो ह्ययं पुरुषः। Br.Up. 4.3.15,16

* तस्य स्थितिं भावयितुं क्षमः कः। Sat-darsana 33

* विद्धि मामृषिभिस्तुल्यं विमलं धर्ममास्थितम्। Va.Ra. 2.19.20

* महाजनो येन गतः स पन्थाः।

† ब्रह्मवादिनो वदन्ति। Sve.Up. 1.1

‡ आचार प्रभवो धर्मः धर्मस्य प्रभुरच्युतः। Mbha.

* सा दृष्टिरेकानवधिर्हि पूर्णा। Sat-darsana 6

* मायां तु प्रकृतिं विद्यात् मायिनं तु महेश्वरम्। Sve.Up. 4.10

† प्रकृतेरन्यथाभावो न कथञ्चिद्भविष्यति। Ma.Ka. 3.21

* जीवं कल्पयते पूर्वं ततो भावान्पृथग्विधान्। Ma.Ka. 2.16

* कथमन्योन्यसन्त्यागः। SB 11.13.17

* अहमेव न मत्तोऽन्यदिति बुध्यध्वमञ्जसा। SB 11.13.24

† प्रारब्धाय समर्पितं स्ववपुः। Ma.Pa. 3

* जुगुप्सितं धर्मकृतेऽनुशासतः। SB 1.5.15

* प्रकृतिं पुरुषं चैव विद्ध्यनादी उभावपि। BG 13.19

* इह चेदवेदीत् अथ सत्यमस्ति न चेदिहावेदीत् महती विनष्टिः। Ke.Up. 2.5

† अमृतं परित्यज्य विषं पिबन्ति।

* न मत् विधो दुष्कृत-कर्मकारी। Va.Ra. 3.63.3

* जुगुप्सितं धर्मकृतेऽनुशासतः स्वभावरक्तस्य महान्व्यतिक्रमः। SB 1.5.15

* नन्वग्निः प्रमदा नाम घृतकुम्भसमः पुमान्। SB 7.12.9

* जानामि धर्मं न च मे प्रवृत्तिर्जानाम्यधर्मं न च मे निवृत्तिः। Mbha.

† ज्ञानमुत्पद्यते पुंसां क्षयात् पापस्य कर्मणः। Mbha.

* यन्निमित्ता सर्वानर्थप्राप्तिः। BG.Bha.

* कामोऽकार्षीत्कामः करोति नाहं करोमि कामः कर्ता नाहं कर्ता कामः कारयिता नाहं कारयिता एष ते काम कामाय स्वाहा।
मन्युरकार्षीन्मन्युः करोति… Mna.Up. 51.1–2
* नीहारेण प्रावृताः। Rigveda 10.82.7

* उपासानिशितम्। Mu.Up.2.2.3

† उपासनं विना सिद्धिर्नैव स्यादिति निर्णयः। Ra.Gi. 12

* ऋतेऽर्थं यत्प्रतीयेत। SB 2.9.33

† युक्तिशून्यवस्तुप्रकाशस्य संज्ञा माया।

‡ न प्रतीयेत चात्मनि। SB 2.9.33

* रक्षिष्ये सर्वतोऽहं त्वाम्। SB 8.22.35

* The senses are not merely those visible in the body.

* तत्र को मोहः। Isa.Up. 7

OceanofPDF.com
OceanofPDF.com
 e are now entering chapter four of the Bhagavad Gita. The first two
W verses of this chapter look very much like they belong to the third
chapter as they resemble the concluding verses of that chapter. We do not
know whether there was a concept of chapters when Sage Vyasa wrote the
Gita. Nevertheless, these two verses flow as the natural conclusion of what
has been said in the former chapters.

श्रीभगवानुवाच।
4.1 इमं विवस्वते योगं प्रोक्तवानहमव्ययम्।
विवस्वान्मनवे प्राह मनुरिक्ष्वाकवेऽब्रवीत्॥
Sri Bhagavan said: This imperishable yoga, I declared to Vivasvān;
Vivasvān taught it to Manu, who in turn proclaimed it to Ikshvaku.

In the very beginning, the Bhagavata says, “The knowledge of Brahman

was transmitted directly from heart to heart—tene brahma hṛdā.” This is
how Bhagavan breathed this knowledge into the radiant Vivasvān, the Sun.
When the knowledge goes directly from the Being of the Master to the
Being of the disciple, that is Śruti. It happens in the splendorous Self—
Vivasvān. Here, in the simple Silent presence of the Guru, the illumination
gets transmitted to the disciple, and he just abides in his self-effulgence.
Hence the name Vivasvān—the shining one. Sometimes just one look or a
word makes this happen. This is solar knowledge, the knowledge by which
one gets established in the Self instantaneously. Here the Truth is absolutely
pathless. One gets established instantaneously in the spaceless, timeless
Consciousness.
The second grade is Manu, who represents an intelligent man. The greatest
book of law—Manusmṛti—came from Manu. Smṛti is mental, memory-
based knowledge. This is the plane where one must listen, study,
contemplate, and then strive through various methods to attain that state. In
this mental plane, one goes through a well-laid path.
The next, Ikshvaku, represents the sagely kings—rajarishis. On coming
down to the weaker sections of men, the knowledge loses its power. The
theory might survive for two or three generations. Soon, the experience, the
sweetness and the fragrance of the teaching vanish due to the weaker
intelligence and desire-ridden minds of men.
Here Bhagavan says, “I have given you this precious knowledge—Sāṅkhya
and Yoga. I had taught this to Vivasvān—the Sun. And from him, this
knowledge was passed on to many great kings and householders. Thus the
paramparā of sages who lived as householders was brought about. But
now, that sagely family lineage has been forsaken due to a lack of
intelligence. Hence here I am giving you the same knowledge.” This is
Krishna’s message in the first two verses of this chapter.
Bhagavan says that this Knowledge of the Self is avyaya—that which is
inexhaustible, incorruptible. vyaya means perishable or, more aptly,
exhaustible. Money, when used, gets exhausted. But this power of the Self,
when unlocked, is inexhaustible. This knowledge is not something that can
be lost. Once you attain it, it is with you, whether you are the creator
Brahma, the sustainer Vishnu, or the destroyer Rudra. This knowledge will
never leave you, and it continues to bless you whether you lead a life of
meditation or activity. It is not something that can be lost by working in the
world. There is a common fear among sādhakas that, if they work in the
world, this Jñāna could be lost. If it is lost like that, it is not Jñāna. There is
a saying in Malayalam, “When you sneeze, if your nose falls from your
face, what kind of a nose is that!”
The secret of karma-yoga is this—‘Wherever you are placed, whatever the
situation may be, let the action happen through you; never lose the inner
poise.’ We have seen royal sages living with this knowledge and performing
their duties. In fact, Krishna himself is a royal family man—a mahā-
gṛhastha. Who could be a greater Jñāni than him! And here, he says, “Don’t
try to run away and take to monkhood—bhikshu-vṛtti. Know your real
immortal nature with a calm mind, and be active.” When a person knows
this Truth, his ego is no more. An extraordinary power manifests in him.
The moment the individual-sense disappears in a person, the might of
Īśvara manifests through that body; excellence ensues, and magnificent
work is turned out through such people. They become one with the Lord’s
power, and through them, great benediction happens for the world.
Here Bhagavan reveals the secret as to why the Sun is worshipped. The Sun
is not merely a star or a celestial object. Just as man is taken to be mere
flesh and bones, people misapprehend the Sun to be merely a blazing orb.
But behind the outer splendour, there is a great Being—Narayana. The Sun
is one of the greatest Gurus as He is the first receiver of this knowledge
from Narayana. Many who did not have outer Gurus meditated and
worshipped the Lord in the Sun and received this knowledge directly from
him. The śāstras say that it is Jñāna that radiates through the Sun. With this
understanding, whenever we see the Sun-god—the splendorous orb—it
should be remembered that it is the Inner Being’s radiance that is seen.
Devotees begin their day by worshipping or at least doing a namaskāra to
the Sun. Sage Yajnavalkya received the Śukḷa-yajur-veda directly from
Surya-Bhagavan. Hanuman too received Knowledge from the Sun-god.
Brahmins chant the Gayatri-mantra to receive this Knowledge from Him.
The first man, Manu, received this Knowledge from the Sun. (The terms
‘man’ and ‘manushya’ have their origin in the name ‘Manu’). Ikshvaku, the
ancestor of Sri Rama, received it from Manu. Many great beings appeared
in that lineage, including Rama, who received the same knowledge from
Sage Vasishtha.
The Lord is the source of this inexhaustible divine knowledge. The purpose
of this verse is to proclaim that this Knowledge has a divine source, that it
has come directly from the Lord. All the great beings who received this
before us are divine beings. Hearing about the divine lineage of this
knowledge will indeed invoke an attitude of devotion within, which will
certainly help a sādhaka to hold on to the spiritual path.
In the Vedic tradition, in some form or the other, every branch of knowledge
is traced back to God. In our villages, even today, it is not uncommon to
hear the simple folk proudly proclaiming their divine lineage.

BOATMAN AT KASHI
During our first visit to Kashi, we were travelling by a boat in the Ganga,
and to my wonder, the boatman was speaking about the puranas and even
Vedanta! When asked how he knew all this, to our astonishment, he replied,
“Swamiji, what do you think about us! We belong to the lineage of Guha
who had the great fortune of the vision of Lord Rama.” Hearing this, we
were filled with wonder. What a bhāva!

4.2 एवं परम्पराप्राप्तमिमं राजर्षयो विदुः।

स कालेनेह महता योगो नष्टः परन्तप॥
Thus, O Parantapa, the royal sages received this knowledge handed down to
them through paramparā (guru-disciple lineage). But, over time, that
knowledge has been lost here.

evaṃ paramparāprāptam. Paramparā is a beautiful word. param–

aparam–param–aparam… it flows in this manner from one person to
another, from the predecessor to the successor through generations. Many
sages received this knowledge through either the father-son or the guru-
disciple lineage. Most of our ancient sages were family-men. Thus the
knowledge was handed down through family tradition. Traditionally, in
India, Brahmavidyā or the Vedas were handed down in this manner. Thus
the father becomes the Guru.
Here, Bhagavan has quoted only kings, but many Realised Beings also
belonged to other strata of society. With this knowledge, they lived a
perfectly balanced life, never complaining about the forces of destiny. In the
recent past too, there have been many householders who lived with that
beatitude within but were also active in the world.
The mystical tradition has been brought down from the sages to us in this
manner. To remember the greatness and the glory of paramparā, every
Vedic student recites his gotra, and in that gotra, he recites the names of the
mighty sages in his lineage. Every time he utters the name of his gotra, he
remembers that he has descended from those great sages. Even now, the
tradition continues that a child born in the Vedic lineage washes his father’s
feet respectfully and receives the initiation of Gayatri-mantra from him.
Even if a person happens to forsake his paramparā, it is seen that sooner or
later, he returns to it because of the deep hold of the paramparā. Hence the
Upanishad says that it is impossible for a person without that power to be
born in that lineage.* A Brahmavit’s family gene will always carry the
potential for this knowledge. This is why, in erstwhile India, Brahmins were
never executed. Even if they did something unpardonable, the rulers were
afraid to give them the death sentence as it would be regarded as Brahma-
hatya—the slaying of a Knower of Brahman. It was said, “A Brahmin, if he
commits a crime, may be banished from the country or given some other
punishment, but must not be sentenced to death. This is because, even
though he may be an ordinary person outwardly, since he is born in the
paramparā of a Brahmavit, the seed of Knowledge might be hidden inside
him. The gene can never be lost.” That was the faith of the tradition.
We can see the power of paramparā even now. Though for the last few
centuries, there were violent invasions here by Muslim invaders at first, and
then later by the Portuguese, French and British, again and again, sages
have continued to take birth, and the tradition has thrived. Many are the
mighty sages who have appeared during the periods of invasion.
This knowledge has descended to our times through the channel of
paramparā—evaṃ paramparāprāptam. Paramparā is like a river, and
whenever a stream becomes corrupted or drained out, Bhagavan takes a
form as if generating a new river; a new fountainhead of knowledge opens
up in virgin land. Through that, a new paramparā arises. In this way, there
have come about innumerable spiritual paramparās.

sa kālena iha mahatā yogaḥ naṣṭaḥ parantapa

Kāla or time can never make us free as
IN KARMA-YOGA,
time is one of the forces of māyā. Hence
Bhagavan says, “With time, this yoga is
‘KARMA’ IS BONDAGE, lost.” We can see this phenomenon in all
AND ‘YOGA’ IS spiritual paramparās—an Enlightened
Master appears, and his disciples receive
FREEDOM. THOSE WHO the knowledge directly from him. The
KNOW THIS SECRET, next to follow are the devotees who adore
him and who also carry a mild light of the
BECOME FREE. Master; then his followers who are proud
of their Guru, who construct massive
temples, publish books on their Guru’s
glory and so on. Next come fanatics and office-bearers who are far away
from the source of knowledge. Thus there is a gradual degradation.
Sankaracharya says that the desires of the weak and the sensuous will
ultimately lead to the deterioration of even a noble system.* Thus, through
time, the knowledge is lost. When the river of time starts flowing as past
and future, the knowledge gradually becomes weaker and gets clouded.
Then again a new spring of Knowledge has to begin from the Lord.
There is a verse in the Bhagavata which describes how yoga gets lost
through generations and how the Lord again takes a body to bring forth a
fresh stream of spiritual flow.

एष आत्मपथोऽव्यक्तो नष्टः कालेन भूयसा।

तं प्रवर्तयितुं देहमिमं विद्धि मया भृतम्॥ SB 3.24.37

This path of Self-Realisation, which is beyond the grasp of sensory

knowledge, has been lost over time. Know that I have now assumed this
body of Kapila to introduce this Knowledge to the world.

THE SECRET OF KARMA-YOGA

There is no freedom in the stream of karma. It is a constant flow of
bondage, a continuous flow of birth and death. No one can give it up. All
are born in that stream. The body and the mind are the waters of that
stream. Hence none can be free in the river of karma. As Bhagavan Ramana
Maharshi says, “You have neither freedom to choose nor to give up. Your
only freedom is to renounce doership, to just be the witness of all that
happens.” The moment you give up doership, you are free. That is karma-
yoga. In karma-yoga, ‘karma’ is bondage, and ‘yoga’ is freedom. Those
who know this secret, become free.

4.3 स एवायं मया तेऽद्य योगः प्रोक्तः पुरातनः।

भक्तोऽसि मे सखा चेति रहस्यं ह्येतदुत्तमम्॥
The secret of this ancient yoga, which is supreme, is being taught by Me to
you today, as you are My devotee and friend.
purātanam means purāṇam adhunāpi navam—that which is the ancient-
most and is ever fresh. From time to time, the Lord has taken many forms to
give this primordial teaching to many. There cannot be any new spiritual
teaching. If you hear someone say, ‘I have found a new Truth,’ do not
believe him. The knowledge of the one non-dual Awareness that Bhagavan
carries in His Heart was transmitted to Brahma. This same teaching is
available to all human beings today as well. The only qualification that
makes one deserving of this highest knowledge is bhakti. Hence Bhagavan
says, “bhakto'si”.
The qualification to receive this yoga
from the Guru is also bhakti. The same
BHAKTI IS THE ONLY
primordial teaching revealed to the
PREREQUISITE FOR THIS ancient divine beings will be revealed
KNOWLEDGE; BHAKTI
with the same immensity, provided there
is bhakti in us. It is bhakti alone that
ALONE CAN REVEAL THE makes the disciple contact the teacher’s
SIMPLICITY OF THIS heart. When the seeker becomes a true
bhakta, the centre where the treasure is
KNOWLEDGE. hidden becomes unlocked.
sakhā ca asi—you are also my friend.
Sakhā-bhāva means natural friendship; there is no heaviness of ego in such
a relationship. “You are my friend,” says Krishna. “A friend spoke to a
friend,” says the Veda.* These two—devotion and friendship—are the secret
paths through which this sacred knowledge streams into the disciple. In the
Bhagavata, Bhagavan tells Uddhava, “You are my devotee, my friend, my
constant companion; hence I will reveal even the supreme-most secret.Ӡ
Spiritual science is closely knit with the bond of mystic relationship with
the Master. Theoretical teaching of Vedanta is available in books in great
detail. But for the ‘Experience’ to get transmitted, a deep intimate bond is
needed. Devotion, friendship… when they happen with the Master, an
imperceptible live-wire is born between the mystical pair. This makes the
experiential seeding possible.
rahasyaṃ hyetaduttamam
What is so secretive about this knowledge of God? The secret is that this
knowledge of the Atman is the easiest and simplest one can attain! This
statement itself might be shocking. But yes, this is the truth. It is the mind
which tells us that it is difficult and we need to put in tremendous effort.
This is the hindrance. Bhakti is the only prerequisite for this knowledge;
bhakti alone can reveal the simplicity of this knowledge.
Bhagavan says that this knowledge is rahasyam. This knowledge cannot be
attained with any kind of egoistic movement or willpower; hence it is said
to be a secret. rahasyam means rahasi sthitam. Rahaḥ means hidden in the
darkness of the Heart. To attain anything in this world, whether money,
pleasure, or power, we are used to toiling for it; this is the method that is
familiar to us. Hence, we tend to apply the same logic in spiritual life as
well. We believe that we must put in tremendous effort and perform great
austerities to realise God—such misconceptions are so deeply ingrained in
us that we are not ready to believe that the process of Ātma-jñāna is
different.
As the Self is ever-attained, it cannot be attained like an object. It is our
very nature, our very being. It is the very essence of our ‘I’. How can we
newly attain something that is already ours! We are never away from it. We
are never separated from it; hence we can never ‘attain’ it. Know that if we
attain something, it becomes a saṃsāra, as anything that is attained is
bound to be lost as well.
This knowledge of the Self tells us, “You were the Self, you are the Self,
and you will be the Self.” You can never be away from the Truth. Nirvāṇa
is not something that is to be attained or achieved. You are verily That! This
must simply be recognised; that is all. This knowledge is the greatest
revelation that a human being can get. This recognition dawns in the heart
by listening to a great Master, an Enlightened Being. One moment of
listening, and the next moment, you are That!

अर्जुन उवाच।
4.4 अपरं भवतो जन्म परं जन्म विवस्वतः।
कथमेतद्विजानीयां त्वमादौ प्रोक्तवानिति॥
Arjuna said: Later was your birth, earlier was the birth of Vivasvān; how
then am I to understand that You taught it in the beginning?
In this verse, Arjuna is asking Bhagavan a question. Krishna spoke to
Arjuna not as Krishna, the son of Vasudeva and Devaki, or as Krishna the
great hero, but as the Cosmic Being, Īśvara. When the need arose to
transmit the Brahmavidyā to Arjuna, the Cosmic Teacher suddenly revealed
Himself, giving up the outer robes of Krishna the relative, and Krishna the
kshatriya. Seeing this sudden transformation, perhaps Arjuna was
ecstatically stupefied. The statement of Krishna that he had taught this
knowledge to Vivasvān shook Arjuna out of his slumber. He became alert
and asked, “How is it possible! You are my relative, my cousin, and just a
few months older than me. How is it possible that you taught this to
Vivasvān? That too at the beginning of creation!” This is the question which
Bhagavan answers in the next verse.
In reality, there is only one teacher—the
Primordial Teacher. He alone manifests
UNLESS THE TEACHING
through all teachers in the lineage. This is
IS RECOGNISED TO BE the basic tenet of all spiritual traditions.
SACRED AND ETERNAL, As Patanjali says in the Yogasutra,* “He
is the teacher of all the predecessors, and
THE CENTRE WITHIN— He is our teacher. He is the Eternal Truth.
WHICH CAN RECEIVE IT He is not bound by time.”
WITH IMMENSE It is the body-mind complex that creates
an illusory prison of time. The first eye-
DEVOTION—WILL NOT opener is this—that the teacher declares
OPEN. the teaching to be timeless.
It is the same principle that flows through
the bodies of all teachers. Until the disciple recognises this, the teaching
will not have the sacred touch, and he will receive it merely with the brain.
Unless the teaching is recognised to be sacred and eternal, the centre within
—which can receive it with immense devotion—will not open. The Divine
Being alone manifests outside as the Guru and gives a call to the Inner One
to wake up. Thus the one who calls from outside is not a human being—
only when this revelation dawns in the disciple does his Heart open. And
the moment the Heart-centre opens, the quality of listening will be different.
It will be the Divine within listening to the Divine without. At that very
moment of listening, duality ceases to operate, and the Truth flashes forth.
Hence the teacher must reveal his sacred tradition to the disciple. A teacher
who pretends humility and says, ‘I am, after all, a human being, and my
teaching will have flaws,’ cannot be of much help. The teaching is then
given as mere words, and the disciple too receives it with dull intelligence
—the whole being does not wake up.
Here Krishna reveals himself as Īśvara, Yogeśvara, and says, “I am the
Supreme Teacher, the Eternal Teacher, the Primordial Teacher who taught
even the splendorous being within the Sun, O Arjuna. I am behind the entire
existence. I transmitted this teaching to all those who came before you, and
the same Being is teaching you now. Receive it with that feeling of
sacredness. Arjuna! Now wake up! The earth under thy feet is sacred!”

THE COSMIC BEING

We have heard of a remarkable incident when Kavyakantha Ganapati Muni
was following Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi on his walk on the slopes of
Arunachala. Maharshi suddenly stopped walking, looked back at
Kavyakantha, and said, “Look, the entire cosmos, all the planets are going
around my hip. I am the Cosmic Being.” The muni beheld the Primordial
Teacher there. Such revelations happen with mighty Divine Masters.

श्रीभगवानुवाच।
4.5 बहूनि मे व्यतीतानि जन्मानि तव चार्जुन।
तान्यहं वेद सर्वाणि न त्वं वेत्थ परन्तप॥
Sri Bhagavan said: Many are the births taken by Me and you, O Arjuna. I
know them all, whereas you know not, O Parantapa (scorcher of foes).

This verse is an answer to the question in the previous verse. Bhagavan

says, “You have taken innumerable births, Arjuna, and so have I. And in all
your births, you were forgetful of your real nature. But, how ever many
forms I may take, I never forget who I am. I know all those births, and in all
those births, I have been ever conscious of my divine nature.”
If you are really conscious, then, here and now, there is neither birth nor
death for you. But if you are not aware, then every bit of thought, every
flight of dream, is a birth, and every ending of a thought is death. The very
carrying of the body means old age, disease, suffering, death—saṃsāra. If
you wake up now and become conscious, you are free for eternity.
Timelessly, you are free. You may take any number of births. Sage Vyasa
indicates in the Brahmasutra, and Sankaracharya says in his bhāshya that
yogis can take innumerable forms. Even while they are here, they can take
another form elsewhere.
Then the question arises, ‘Wouldn’t this make them great saṃsāris? Even
with one form, we suffer so much, and if one were to take so many forms,
won’t the suffering be more?’ No, that is not the case! The person who is
awake and is ever conscious of his real nature is ever free. Names and
forms do not touch him at all. Thus taking up innumerable forms makes no
difference to his state. For a person who has not realised the Self, however,
even if he were to give up the body, he continues to suffer with the subtle
body—liṅga-śarīra or sūkshma-śarīra.
The cause of suffering is not the body, but ignorance. Once ignorance is
gone, you are a Buddha; you are awake, and you never suffer. Thus
Bhagavan says, “bahūni me vyatītāni janmāni tava cārjuna—O Arjuna! I
have taken innumerable manifestations, and so have you. tānyahaṃ veda
sarvāṇi—I was always awake in every birth, O Arjuna. I know how many
births I have taken, and I was My Omniscient Self in all those births. na
tvaṃ vettha—however, you neither know your previous births nor were
you awake during those births. That is the only difference between you and
Me. parantapa—dear one! Set fire to the other. The ‘other’ means the non-
Self. Burn all that limits you, and be free. You are not this body. You are the
luminosity which lights up all the bodies.”
Become awake now! “uttiṣṭhata! jāgrata!” (Ka.Up.1.3.14)

4.6 अजोऽपि सन्नव्ययात्मा भूतानामीश्वरोऽपि सन्।

प्रकृ तिं स्वामधिष्ठाय सम्भवाम्यात्ममायया॥
Though I am the unborn, imperishable Self and the Lord of all beings, yet,
by resorting to My own prakṛti (nature), I manifest through My own power
of māyā (illusory power).
This verse is like a preface to the next, which reveals the secret of an
avatāra.
How does the Lord manifest in this world? What is the nature of the Lord?
The simple answer to this is ‘He is the Atman within all,’ as the Bhagavata
says.* Here, Krishna says, “He is birthless. He is the Infinite. He is the
inexhaustible. He is the Atman—ajaḥ, avyaya and ātmā.” Birth and death
are not there for Him. “Though birthless, the Supreme took on birth by the
mysterious divine power of Māyā,” says Sankaracharya.†
How does He incarnate and take on a body? In reality, there is no
incarnation for the Lord—bhūtānāmīśvaraḥ. It is just like this. Suppose
you are sleeping next to me and see something horrific in a dream. You
dream that you are in a boat in the middle of the sea, and the boat suddenly
capsizes. You scream for help. Hearing this, I, who am awake and lying
next to you, can very well wake you up from the dream. Then, you will
instantly recognise that you are free of the horror. Neither the sea exists, nor
the boat, nor the accident. Only the happy ‘Me’ exists. This is the simple
solution for dissolving the problem. This is what a Guru does.
Suppose I am a yogi with special powers, and I enter your dream and come
in another boat and thus rescue you from drowning in the sea. And the
dream-‘you’ fall at my feet and say, ‘O Lord, you have rescued me!’ That is
the nature of avatāra. The dream is not at all disturbed. In the dream world,
He assumes a dream body and rescues you, as He wills to continue the
dream for some more time. In this analogy, I do not vanish from the waking
world. Yet, all the while, I remain in your dream. If I do it consciously, it is
my power. Or if it just happens, your own Atman manifests within you in
my form. Both are possible. An avatāra is just like this. He is there in His
dhāma, Vaikuntha. He is Īśvara. And without losing that stature, “He
appears embodied. He appears to do good in the world,” says
Sankaracharya.* sambhavāmyātmamāyayā—He appears to manifest. This
is ātma-māyā—the illusory and inscrutable power of the Atman.
A jīvanmukta is also more or less like this. The moment he realises the Self,
the embodiment is mere superstition for him. ‘There is neither body nor
mind for me’—this is his realisation. He knows, as clear as daylight, that
there is nothing but the Infinite Being, Brahman. But we see him with a
mesmerising body and a marvellous mind. He appears to be carrying a
beautiful garden full of fragrant flowers of blessings for the devotees. And
yet, in his experience, there is only pure Awareness—Sat-Chit-Ānanda.
Neither the body nor the mind has any reality for him.

SWAMI RAMDAS — “WHAT IS THE WORLD?”

Someone asked Swami Ramdas during his world tour, “Swami, what is the
world?” Swami replied, “World is God.” The devotee asked again, “Then,
what is your body made of?” For this, Swami Ramdas gave a sparkling
reply. He said, “This body is a mysterious manifestation of the Atman. It is
made of the dream-stuff of the Atman.” Such words come out of pure
illumination.

BHAGAVAN RAMANA — “WHAT IS YOUR

BODY?”
Someone put the same question to Sri Ramana Maharshi, “What is your
body?” Maharshi asked him back, “Who sees the body?” The devotee
replied, “Me”. For that, the Maharshi said, “Then you must answer, not
me!”

4.7 यदा यदा हि धर्मस्य ग्लानिर्भवति भारत।

अभ्युत्थानमधर्मस्य तदात्मानं सृजाम्यहम्॥
O Bhārata! Whenever there is a decline in dharma (righteousness) and a
rise in adharma (unrighteousness), then I manifest Myself.

This is a well-known verse, perhaps, the most well-known verse in the

Bhagavad Gita. It says that God incarnates—He manifests as an avatāra—
to redeem the devotees, to rescue them from the clutches of adharma. This
is a great declaration of the Lord revealing his concern for human life.
Dharma is the central theme of the Mahabharata. Dharma is the essence of
life. In fact, dharma itself means essence. All that is noble in a human being
is collectively referred to as dharma. Dharma is hidden in the human heart
—“dharmasya tattvaṃ nihitaṃ guhāyām” (Mbha.). Dharma reveals itself in
the society as the well-being of the noble. Dharma is that power which
holds life on the planet. Never can it perish. It may become somewhat dim
due to the overcasting of adharma, but never can it be overpowered by
adharma. In fact, it is dharma which is largely found in society; even the
remaining small percentage of adharma is too much for us to handle. For
example, it is not often that we come across terrible forces in society. Take
the example of terrorists; just one in several million is enough to create fear.
In our daily life, we can go out, do our work, and return home safely. How
are we able to do this? Because there is trust in dharma, in the goodness of
people, that nothing untoward will happen.
When negative men increase in power and number, their stamp will be
visible in every field—knowledge, action and ideals will become corrupted
by the dirt of evil. That is what Bhagavan refers to here as dharma-gḷāni.
During such trying times, adharma seems to emerge powerfully. In such
situations, noble ideals are ridiculed, saints are tortured, and places of
worship are destroyed. Such atrocities are happening in the present times
too. See what took place in Tibet and many communist countries. To protect
their dharma, the Lamas of Tibet had to flee to India. There is no religious
freedom in such places; people are not allowed to worship as they please.
This is what happens when adharma gains momentum. It is not that there is
just the propagation of adharmic ideals; adharma is instilled into the very
veins of society in an organised way, and soon it overpowers all else. Then,
man’s will becomes powerless. Saints can only weep or flee from such a
place. They can only invoke the power of the Lord to provide protection.
We can see this happening in the Ramayana and the Bhagavata too.
Such was the state of affairs during Kamsa’s reign. Srimad Bhagavata says
that he just unleashed adharma. He ridiculed the Vedas and ordered his men
to kill the Brahmins and cows. Soon, all the noble people, brahmins and
saints left the country in disguise. This can be seen played out in our
modern education system as well. Politicians and segregating forces target
the Brahmins, the Vedas, and the noble way of life propagated by the sages.
Cows are slaughtered. The Brahmins who have to endure this eventually
give up their dharma and abandon Vedic studies. Distorted knowledge,
which leads to evil thoughts and actions, is the root of all this.
Collectively, the evil forces become powerful and invade all spheres of life
—the educational system, media, business and entertainment. Thus,
gradually, adharma takes on an imperceptible form. Yet, dharma still has
the upper hand. Even a tiny increase in adharma cannot be tolerated by us.
Even with all the thunder and roar that adharma brings in its vein, the truth
is that it cannot really cross the boundary and invade the human soul.
Dharma, which comprises the noble values of truth, non-violence, sense-
control, love, peace, and so on, is eternal. Dharma is founded on the
oneness of the Self, and adharma is based on the body-idea.
At times, adharma appears to rise high—abhyutthānam—and threatens to
overtake society like a tsunami; then the Lord manifests. He says, “I will
project myself—ātmānaṃ sṛjāmyaham.” This is just a sport for Him—
līlāgṛhīta-vapuḥ. He is hidden in the hearts of all. He can appear anywhere,
whenever he wants. An avatāra is not limited to great incarnations like
Lord Rama or Lord Krishna. An avatāra may manifest even in the life of an
ordinary human being. When his will becomes powerless, and he calls
sincerely for help from the Divine, the Divine appears before him in some
form and redeems him. This is also an avatāra.
Patanjali says,* when a human being suffers due to karma—the result of his
past actions—and is tossed about by the troubled waters of suffering, all his
efforts to escape are foiled; then, when he calls from his heart, the Lord
appears to him wherever he is and whatever situation he is in, while He
Himself remains untouched by the storm of karma. Thus He reveals to the
devotee the secret way to come out of the situation. He leads him by the
hand and slowly makes him come out of that slush. This is purusha-
viśeshaḥ; though He looks like an ordinary human being, He is a viśishṭa-
purusha—a special person. Though He appears as if amid suffering, He
remains untouched. This can happen anywhere.
We see how Arjuna sees Krishna here. Krishna is unaffected amidst the
turbulence; He does not run away from the situation. Similarly, in an
ordinary human’s life too, the Lord may appear in a special form, as a
spiritual vision, or as an ordinary human. When He comes and redeems
you, then you know it is an avatāra, as it was humanly impossible to have
escaped on your own. You know for certain that the Divine had interfered,
that divine intervention had rescued you from that problem, from that
adharma.
The word gḷāni here means a kind of cloud, a covering. It makes you
insensitive. Your will becomes powerless. You may know all the Śāstras,
but you are not able to act in accordance with them. That is gḷāni. This
weakness is removed only by God’s grace.
When adharma becomes powerful, our senses, mind, will, individual-sense
—all come under its sway; then, what can we do? We can just pray from the
heart, and the Lord will appear in one form or the other to rescue us. We can
never predict how He might appear. But when He does appear, we
recognise Him by what is gained when we are released from that current of
adharma.
The primary purpose of an avatāra is to unlock the current of will—the
paurusha. If the paurusha, the will of a human being, is set free from the
bonds of sensory prison-houses, then one will seek the path of Liberation by
one’s own intelligence. When the Lord appears as an avatāra, on the one
hand, He clears the outer road, while inwardly, He unlocks the will.
Outwardly, a sense of harmony arises in the society as well as in the
personal lives of individuals. A deep impact is visible in the human mind.
Dharma, the eternal order behind living, is revered. Disorder, wrong notes
in human ideals, are all set right. And above all, a current of will to live a
noble life is ignited in human beings in general.

4.8 परित्राणाय साधूनां विनाशाय च दुष्कृ ताम्।

धर्मसंस्थापनार्थाय सम्भवामि युगे युगे॥
For the protection of the noble, for the destruction of the wicked and for the
establishment of dharma, I manifest Myself age after age.

The whole universe is full of divine forces that are ever ready to assist us in
our struggle for spiritual perfection. They are ever protective of a sādhu, a
noble person striving to enter the higher realms of consciousness. The
highest possibility of help comes from the Supreme Intelligence which
permeates all the fourteen planes of consciousness (lokas). Whenever there
is a disharmony in the world, or rather the worlds, the power of God
manifests as an avatāra to restore the balance. Srimad Bhagavata speaks
about many avatāras of the Lord, like Matsya, Kūrma, Varāha, Vāmana,
Narasimha and so on. Trāṇa means protection, and paritrāṇa means
complete protection.
Where is complete protection? It is found only in spiritual knowledge, in
the knowing that one is not the body but the Atman. Only when the secret
of the Atman is known is one rescued from fear. Remember the verse in the
second chapter, which says that the greatest fear vanishes on hearing about
the deathless nature of the Self.* Even a little bit of listening will do—
svalpam. But only sādhus—the noble ones who have viveka, discrimination
—will listen. They are ready to receive the samyak-jñāna—right
understanding. Hence Bhagavan reveals the Bhagavad Gita to them.
Once a person knows the wisdom revealed by the Lord in the Gita, he is
protected completely. In the Bhagavata, Vyasa says,

ये वै भगवता प्रोक्ता उपाया ह्यात्मलब्धये।

अञ्जः पुंसामविदुषां विद्धि भागवतान्हि तान्॥ SB 11.2.34

“Those methods elucidated by Bhagavan (in the Gita) to attain the knowledge
of the Self are bhāgavata dharma. They are simple, and even an avidvān—
the immature and the uneducated—gets redeemed by gaining this
knowledge.” Be free. This knowledge is a sure antidote for the poison of
saṃsāra. It rescues one from universal fear, fear from all quarters—viśvato
bhayāt says the Bhagavata (11.2.9). To reveal this knowledge is the greatest
purpose of Krishna-avatāra.

नृणां निःश्रेयसार्थाय व्यक्तिर्भगवतो नृप।

अव्ययस्याप्रमेयस्य निर्गुणस्य गुणात्मनः॥ SB 10.29.14

Bhagavan, who is immeasurable, changeless, and who is beyond all guṇas,

manifests as a person with guṇas to bestow Self-knowledge on the
deserving.
By listening to the stories and līlas of the avatāra, a devotee attains bhakti.
Through listening—śravaṇa, and recollection—smaraṇa, the mind
becomes pure and qualified to listen to the higher teaching of the Gita. Thus
the avatāra transmits the transcendental state to the devotees. This is
paritrāṇa.
Another statement of the Lord—vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām—sounds a bit
sharp. But it is a fact that the sinful ones are destroying themselves by
choosing to ignore the teaching of the Lord. The force which makes one
heedless even when the Greatest Teacher is giving the instruction is indeed
sin. The Lord was compassionate to even Duryodhana; He even revealed
His divine form to him in the royal assembly. But that fool of a prince
ridiculed that as well. Hence Bhagavan said, “avajānanti māṃ mūḍhāḥ”
(BG9.11)—they simply insult Me; they ignore Me, as an ordinary human
being. Thus by their very nature, the foolish, immature men invite
destruction upon themselves and those around them. This is duṣkṛtāḥ.
Their annihilation is brought about by their own karma. An avatāra just
becomes an instrument for it.

dharma-saṃsthāpanārthāya sambhavāmi yuge yuge

It is dharma which protects, and adharma which destroys. dharmo rakṣati
rakṣitaḥ—the one who practises dharma, him dharma protects. And
adharma naturally destroys. The main purpose of an avatāra is dharma-
saṃsthāpanārthāya—to establish dharma, for samyak-sthāpanā. An
avatāra is mostly not recognised during the time of its manifestation. An
avatāra is known only after many generations; His glory and His power
keep expanding, century after century after century. Time is the factor
which confirms to us that an avatāra was here. Ordinary greatness, or the
greatness achieved through human effort, will not stand the test of time.
When the Lord incarnates, a mighty current of new energy appears in the
world. It is almost like a world-moving force, as Swami Vivekananda puts
it. Tremendous energy flows out of an avatāra. A world-transforming,
epoch-making power comes out of Him. When we see such energy in any
person, we can recognise that the Divine has manifested there.
Today we can see how propagation easily persuades millions of people to
follow and listen to anyone. Can we call someone an avatāra just because
he is able to influence so many people? Such mass movements come and go
like waves. In time, we will come to know whether a real power has
manifested, as time will surely tell. An avatāra defeats the flow of time
itself. Even after the disappearance of an avatāra, each and every particle of
sand and dust will glow with the presence of that Being.
In Sri Ramanasramam, more than half a century has gone by since the Sage
left his body. Here, even now, each particle of dust, every tree, and
everything around speaks about the mighty presence of the Sage, Bhagavan
Sri Ramana Maharshi. Even after many decades, there is no disappearance.
Spiritual power is something which goes on increasing over time.
dharmasaṃsthāpanārthāya means it is for the firm establishment of
dharma that the Lord appears. The path of noble actions taught by the
Vedas, and the Vedic rituals and their real meaning—all of these get
strengthened; the knowledge of the Self revealed by the Upanishads also
gets freshly uncovered and becomes available. A new stream of will is
unlocked in society, and anyone who comes in contact with that stream gets
initiated. This is the sign of an avatāra.
sambhavāmi yuge yuge—the Lord manifests in each yuga. Yuga means the
fourfold cycle of time known as krita yuga, tretā yuga, dvāpara yuga and
kali yuga. Yuga also means a junction, a crisis, a state where there is a
conflict between the forces of virtue and evil. Whenever there is a need for
the Lord to manifest, that point of time is yuga. As He is Yogeśvara, His
very arrival is Yoga—a sacred experience. There are not just the mighty
incarnations such as the Krishnāvatāra or the Ramāvatāra. Whenever the
Lord is needed in one’s life, when the heart longs for Him, He manifests as
needed. “Innumerable are the manifestations,” says the Bhagavata.*

4.9 जन्म कर्म च मे दिव्यमेवं यो वेत्ति तत्त्वतः।

त्यक्त्वा देहं पुनर्जन्म नैति मामेति सोऽर्जुन॥
He who thus knows the truth about My divine birth and action, is not reborn
upon leaving the body, but comes to Me, O Arjuna.

Opportunity to be with an avatāra happens only as a result of great tapas

done in past lives. In the concluding chapter, Bhagavan calls this the
greatest of all secrets—guhyatamam. The highest point of spiritual
mysticism is seeing the Divine in flesh and blood—the avatīrṇa-Bhagavān.
Still, even after seeing Krishna, many failed to recognise him as an avatāra.
In the Mahabharata, we see that Duryodhana did not recognise Krishna’s
divine glory even after witnessing the viśvarūpa. The real tattva—the secret
of avatāra—is known by His Grace alone.
The Bhagavata says that often, Sage Narada had an intense longing to see
Krishna—kṛṣṇa-darśana-lālasaḥ. Hence, the great sage was often seen
with Krishna in Dwaraka. The Gopikas, though passionately attached to
Krishna, were also aware of His tattva. They sing in the Gopika Gita,* “You
are not merely the son of the gopika, Yashoda. You are the Inner Witness,
the Inner Being, who hides within all embodied creatures.” Even the cows
and birds of Vrindavana recognised Krishna’s divinity. And the poisonous
serpent Kaliya too woke up to his glory!
In the eleventh skandha, Krishna confides with Uddhava, “Uddhava, this is
a great secret. Numerous are those who got attached to me and realised the
Truth without much effort. They were not very austere people—avratāḥ
ataptatapasaḥ. Then how did they attain Me? matsangān-māmupāgatāḥ—
they simply attained Me through heartful contact, satsaṅga. This list is very
long.

सत्सङ्गेन हि दैतेया यातुधाना मृगाः खगाः।

गन्धर्वाप्सरसो नागाः सिद्धाश्चारणगुह्यकाः॥
विद्याधरा मनुष्येषु वैश्याः शूद्राः स्त्रियोऽन्त्यजाः।
रजस्तमःप्रकृ तयस्तस्मिंस्तस्मिन्युगे युगे॥
बहवो मत्पदं प्राप्तास्त्वाष्ट्रकायाधवादयः।
वृषपर्वा बलिर्बाणो मयश्चाथ विभीषणः॥
सुग्रीवो हनुमानृक्षो गजो गृध्रो वणिक्पथः।
व्याधः कु ब्जा व्रजे गोप्यो यज्ञपत्न्यस्तथापरे॥
ते नाधीतश्रुतिगणा नोपासितमहत्तमाः।
अव्रतातप्ततपसः सत्सङ्गान्मामुपागताः॥
के वलेन हि भावेन गोप्यो गावो नगा मृगाः।
 येऽन्ये मूढधियो नागाः सिद्धा मामीयुरञ्जसा॥ SB 11.12.3–8

In different ages, many beings with rajas and tamas predominating in them
—asuras, rākshasas, beasts, birds, gandharvas, apsaras, serpents, siddhas,
chāraṇas, guhyakas, vidyādharas, and among human beings, women,
vaiśyas, śūdras and outcastes—all have attained to My being by the power
of holy association alone. Examples are Vritrasura, Prahlada, Vrishaparva,
Mahabali, Banasura, Maya, Vibhishana, Sugriva, Jambavan, Gajendra,
Jatayu, Dharmavyadha, Kubja, the gopikas and the wives of the brahmin-
ritualists. None of them had studied the Vedas nor served Vedic teachers as
students under them. They had not observed any spiritual discipline or
austerity. By the power of holy association alone, they attained to Me. By
devotion alone, generated through holy contact, many an ignorant being—
the Gopis, cows, trees, animals, serpents and the like attained Me with ease.
To see His life and actions as divine—divyaṃ janma karma—is a greatly
purifying spiritual practice. The Bhagavata says that one of the main
purposes of an avatāra is to sport in such a way that the devotees become
ecstatic by meditating on His life and actions. Śravaṇa-smaraṇa of an
avatāra is absorbingly ecstatic. Even thousands of years after the
disappearance of Rama and Krishna, devotees still become ecstatic listening
to the Ramayana and the Bhagavata. Great saints like Meerabai, Chaitanya,
Tulsidas and Tyagaraja were all born thousands of years after the avatāras
they adored and worshipped. The very names ‘Rama’ and ‘Krishna’ bestow
God-realisation. By constant meditation on the name, form and deeds of an
avatāra, the mind becomes easily purified and attains the supreme
knowledge—tattva-jñāna.
Taking this into account, we can say that the texts like the Ramayana and
the Bhagavata, which speak about the janma karma of the Lord as divyam
and also reveal the tattva are greater avatāras than the avatāras they
describe. The Ramayana and the Bhagavata both declare that they are not
merely books; they are a solid form of divinity—vāṅmayī mūrtiḥ. The
Valmiki Ramayana says, “When the Parama Purusha, who is to be known
through the Vedas, appeared in the world as Rama, the Vedas too appeared
in the form of the Ramayana.” The Bhagavata Purana explicitly declares
that when Bhagavan Krishna left his mortal form, he entered in spirit-form
into the Bhagavata text. Hence, those who live meditating on these divine
works attain God, jñānam. When they drop their body, they do not take a
body again—tyaktvā dehaṃ punarjanma naiti māmeti. This seems to be
the implied meaning of this verse. Giving up the body means attaining
Jñāna. Only by Jñāna does one know that the Self is eternally free of the
body.
Apart from this, in the Vaishnava tradition, the idols worshipped in many
tīrtha-kshetras are considered avatāras. These are not called idols but
archāvatāra-mūrti—the avatāra which stays with devotees in a solid form,
bestowing on them the boon of worship. By serving that form and
meditating on it, one attains the highest devotion.
The same benefit happens by association with a jīvanmukta too. To see the
Enlightened Being as the supreme divinity is much spoken about. But its
implication is known only when one really encounters such a one. To see
him and all he does as divine is possible only by pure Grace. Such
association and intimacy with the birthless and deathless awakens the
intuition of one’s own birthlessness and immortality. Due to such
association with an avatāra or a jīvanmukta, spiritual power is awakened in
the devotee. Just as, due to the grace of the Lord, they behold the effulgence
in Him, so too do they start beholding it in all creatures, yat sarvatra tad-
īkṣaṇam (SB7.7.55).
There is neither janma nor karma for the Lord. The Bhagavata says,* “To
Thee, the birthless One, this way of taking a form and sporting with
devotees is just a game.” When the devotee realises this, by the power of
this Realisation, his inner effulgence is uncovered. He realises, ‘I am also
birthless. I have no more karma.’ This realisation expands as feeling the one
Self in all—sarvātmabhāva. Then, when he looks at every creature, he
beholds the tattva. Bhagavan says,† through bhakti, one attains tattva-jñāna.
Tattva-jñāna means even though the body is seen, the Spirit—body-less,
mind-less, ego-less, birth-less, death-less, action-less Being—is beheld
behind the body. The Spirit is beheld in every body.

SPECIAL POINT
We have already spoken about the nature of an avatāra. The entire world is
an avatāra of the Lord, and only a Jñāni knows it in tattva. The Bhagavata
(2.6.41)says, “ādyo'vatāraḥ—this world is the first avatāra of Bhagavan.”
This is what the Lord reveals to Arjuna through viśvarūpa-darśana.
When a devotee realises the entire world as a manifested form of the Lord,
he becomes a jīvanmukta, a free soul. The first book of Swami Ramdas, the
saint from Kerala, is ‘In Quest of God’. The second book is ‘At the feet of
God’, the third one ‘In the vision of God’, and the last book is ‘The World
is God’. These names effectively reveal the gradual evolution of a devotee
to the highest Realisation.

4.10 वीतरागभयक्रोधा मन्मया मामुपाश्रिताः।

बहवो ज्ञानतपसा पूता मद्भावमागताः॥
Freed from attachment, fear and anger, absorbed in Me, taking refuge in
Me, and purified by penance in the fire of Knowledge, many have entered
into My Being.

Here Bhagavan introduces a lovely word—jñāna-tapas. The austerity of

Self-enquiry is jñāna-tapas. “jñāna-tapas is exclusive Self-enquiry in
which no other sādhanā is included,” says Sankaracharya.* All other
penances are done by retaining the ‘I’—the ego. Jñāna-tapas alone goes to
the Source. The inquiry ‘WHO AM I?’ blazes through the entire jungle of
ignorance within and ultimately burns the very seed of the problem—the
ego. When the ego is blown out, the only light is the svayamprakāśa—the
self-effulgence of the Atman. Thus Ātma-vichāra purifies the person of the
dirt of personality completely.
Bhagavan says, † “Nothing equals Jñāna in purification.” The āṇava-mala
—the individual-sense—which is the seed of all impurities, is completely
rooted out by Jñāna. When the ego-sense is gone, one beholds all as God.
Everywhere, one beholds only the Atman. Thus one becomes free from
attachment (rāga), fear (bhaya), and anger (krodha). The entire being is
pervaded by the divine—manmayāḥ. Awareness purged of all the dirt of
personality shines forth as Brahman. Not even a speck of personality
remains in the Awareness. This blessed beatitude is reserved not only for a
few well-known mighty souls; many have attained this state of God-hood.
“madbhāva”, says Krishna. In the Bhagavata verse quoted previously, we
saw Bhagavan declaring to Uddhava, ‡ “Many have attained Me, My state;
even those like Vritra and Prahlada who were born in the asura lineage.”
Here the topic is avatāra. For a spiritual aspirant, his Guru is the jñānakala-
avatāra. Sitting at his feet, listening, meditating and serving—this is his
jñāna-tapas. Tapa also means heat. This jñāna-tapas is felt in the presence
of a Jñāni. Many are purified through such contact. The Jñāna of the Guru
is like fire, and “purified by its radiance—tapasā pūtāḥ—many have
attained My state.”
By association with a jīvanmukta, one gets the Knowledge as it is. One
knows that the Self is birthless, actionless. Birth, death, action and bodily
changes are only appearances in the Atman, like water in a mirage. All these
hallucinations of the body-mind are purged clean by the light of Jñāna.
Thus purified, the disciples or the devotees resemble the Master they
follow. madbhāvamāgatāḥ—they look non-different from the Master. It is
as if the Master’s divine image plays upon their being.
This magic is seen repeated generation
after generation in the noble mystic
ALL ATTACHMENTS,
traditions. Bhagavan says in the
FEAR AND ANGER ARISE Bhagavata, “Many have attained Me
DUE TO THE WRONG
through the simple method of contact
with saints and incarnations.” Hearing
APPREHENSION THAT this gives tremendous confidence to a
SOMETHING OTHER seeker. One just needs to be in the
presence of an avatāra, Guru or saints—
THAN THE ATMAN satsaṅga, constant humble devotional
EXISTS. contact with no movement of the ego.
Just floating in the divine presence will
do. It will purify. All attachments, fear
and anger—rāga, bhaya and krodha—arise due to the wrong apprehension
that something other than the Atman exists, that something other than God
exists.
When, with the eye of one-ness, one sees only God in oneself and others,
where is the question of such flaws? The knower, the known and the
knowing—become one effulgence. Such a one no more depends on another
for any help. The Lord, whom he beholds everywhere, will take care of his
bodily needs as well. A total abandonment to the Divine Will is the essence
of māmupāśritāḥ. This is not only about knowing the Truth but also
abandoning the body and mind and leaving them under the care of the Lord
—this is āśraya. This is the greatest secret in spiritual life. Only when a
person takes total refuge in the Lord, unconcerned about his bodily life,
does he become totally free. Otherwise, the practical difficulties of worldly
living will constantly create stress in him. This āśraya is sannyāsa.
manmayāḥ indicates the state of
WHEN ONE GIVES UP Realisation, God-Experience, and āśraya
means the surrender of the body and all of
THE COMFORTABLE physical life to divine destiny. To seek not
HOLD ON OBJECTS, any other refuge, but *
only God, is āśraya.
Sage Narada says, “Giving up all other
PERSONALITY AND refuges, not even depending upon one’s
KNOWLEDGE, AND EVEN own self-effort, is ananyatā.” This is
ananya-bhakti. Nothing exists other than
THE PRINCIPLES OF God. Some people say, ‘Have faith in
DHARMA, AND God, but you should also be practical in
life.’ That is partial devotion. When total
SURRENDERS devotion happens, there is absolute
COMPLETELY—THAT IS abandonment. Āśraya on the world
enslaves one completely. One looks
ABSOLUTE FREEDOM. intelligent and clever but is concerned
more about his body and mind and in
maintaining them. His devotional and spiritual practices continue as just
another aspect of his life. This by itself cannot be considered complete.
Totally giving up the dependency on the world amounts to taking āśraya in
the Supreme. That is ananyatā. When one gives up the comfortable hold on
objects, personality and knowledge, and even the principles of dharma, and
surrenders completely—that is absolute freedom. There, one becomes
absolutely pure—pūtāh.
This giving up of one’s entire personality is achieved through jñāna-tapas.
Jñāna tells us—‘God alone is; you do not exist.’ The ego of a mature one
vanishes then and there; only the Infinite Truth shines forth in him.
4.11 ये यथा मां प्रपद्यन्ते तांस्तथैव भजाम्यहम्।
मम वर्त्मानुवर्तन्ते मनुष्याः पार्थ सर्वशः॥
In whatever way men identify themselves with Me, in the same way do I
carry out their desires; men pursue My path, O Partha, in all ways.

In the previous verse, Bhagavan said,* “Many have attained Me—the divine
nature—by purifying themselves through Jñāna, through Ātma-vichāra.”
That is the path to attain Realisation. In this śloka, Bhagavan explains why
everyone does not take to Jñāna-vichāra and get enlightened. Bhagavan
says, “All are following their own prakṛti, but ultimately, all of them are
being pulled by Me. They are only following My path; they are following
only Me.”
There is something profound hidden in this verse. It is like a spiritual tablet
—ye yathā māṃ prapadyante tāṃstathaiva bhajāmyaham. The
catchphrase here is ‘mama vartmā—My path.’ Bhagavan says, “Everyone
is following My path in all ways—sarvaśaḥ. Though outwardly, they seem
to be moving according to their whims and fancies, ultimately, they are
being pulled by Me. The reins always remain with Me. They too are
following My path alone.” This is Bhagavan’s declaration. Though all are
running according to their vāsanā-created delusions, the Lord is the
propeller behind this. This secret is revealed in the final few verses of the
Gita.
Another law which Bhagavan speaks of—which is elaborately discussed in
the Upanishads also—is this: ‘Everyone gets the fruit according to their
saṅkalpa.’ ye yathā māṃ prapadyante—with whatever saṅkalpa, with
whatever bhāva, with whatever desire, they surrender to Me, tāṃstathaiva
bhajāmyaham—I too appear to them as the fruit of their desire, as the fruit
of their saṅkalpa. Whatever they wish for, they get. If they ask for bhoga,
they get bhoga, enjoyment. If they ask for yoga, yoga will ultimately come
to them. Whatever is their saṅkalpa, that they attain, says the Upanishad.*
“Whoever, in whatever path, surrenders to Me, I also worship them.” This
is what Bhagavan says, “bhajāmyaham—I worship them with the same
love, bestow on them whatever they ask for.” Bhagavan is called bhakta-
bhaktimān—He is the devotee of a devotee. Every inner desire is a stream
which arises from the Source. Therefore, the first knower of the saṅkalpa is
the Inner Being. Before we come to know of our own saṅkalpa, the
antaryāmi knows it. He is, therefore, the first recorder of our desires,
wishes, and will. He appears before us as the fruit.
All our unconscious longings and desires fructify in this life or some other
life. If you wish to fly, it is not possible in this life. Yes, you could take an
aeroplane. But, if you want to fly like a bird, it is not possible. The
omnipotent Inner Being will give you wings in your next birth. You take
birth as a bird, and your desire to fly gets fulfilled. And if you desire to go
under water, you will become a fish. I read this beautiful quote somewhere,
“You walk because you do not know that you can run. You run because you
do not know that you can fly. You fly because you do not know that you are
the space.”
When you know that you are everything, your saṅkalpa is completely
fulfilled. Through jñāna-tapas, all desires are fulfilled for the simple reason
that you are already full. You need not attain or achieve anything to be full.
This is so because fullness is your very nature. You need not fulfil any
desires to become full. Until you attain this state of jñāna-tapas, whatever
desires arise in you will catch hold of the train of time so as to fructify in
the future.
This same verse can be commented upon as a verse on upāsanā because,
from the following verse onwards, Bhagavan describes various upāsanās.
Then, ye yathā māṃ prapadyante means, ‘In whatever form of ishṭa-
devatā you worship Me, I shall appear to you in that very form.’ In their
initial days of sādhanā, most seekers take to worshipping a form of the
Lord. In fact, during their formative period, all Jñānis worshipped the Lord
in some form or the other; they were all upāsakas, pure devotees. Hence,
for them, the Lord appears in form. For some, who need only a mantra, He
appears in mantra-rūpa. For some, He appears as the pure Self,
Consciousness. As they are mature enough to receive it, that Realisation is
bestowed on them. Thus Bhagavan says, “In whatever form you surrender
to Me, I appear in that form.”
Prapatti is the word; it means surrender. Most seekers need some form
outside to surrender unto. They need a centre of powerful spiritual presence.
Some people can submit only to a saguṇa mūrti—a divine form. Some
need the physical form of a Guru to surrender to, and the Lord appears to
them in the form of their Guru. tāṃstathaiva bhajāmyaham—if you
worship Me as Guru, I shall appear to you as Guru. mama
vartmānuvartante—if they are really sincere, they are indeed following My
path. Do not, therefore, be critical of any of them, whatever their religion or
tradition, as all religions ultimately take one to the Lord.
Even a nāstika, an agnostic, unknowingly seeks the Truth alone through his
negation. After traversing through the desert of agnosticism or atheism,
ultimately, he too will find the pure sacred water of faith in his heart. Until
then, he must go through the path of negation, burning everything through
atheism or agnosticism. The Lord says, “To an agnostic or an atheist too, I
appear as his own faith of non-believing. I supply enough and more logic
and reason to confirm his conviction in atheism. But ultimately, I shall
destabilise him from that belief and lead him to the right knowledge.”

4.12 काङ्क्षन्तः कर्मणां सिद्धिं यजन्त इह देवताः।

क्षिप्रं हि मानुषे लोके सिद्धिर्भवति कर्मजा॥
Those who desire success in their activities here, worship the devas. In this
human world, success is instantly attained through such ritualistic acts.

Man is generally a creature of desire. He thinks his happiness lies in

fulfilling his wishes and getting the fruits of his action as quickly as
possible. Bhagavan says, “Hence, in order to achieve this, people worship
devatās.”
yajanta iha devatāḥ. Many devatās are propitiated through yajñas by men
desirous of reaping the fruit of action very quickly—kṣipram. These yajñas
give fruit in the human plane of existence. They cannot be performed in the
devaloka; they must be performed only in the manushyaloka. This is why it
is said here mānuṣe loke siddhirbhavati karmajā—the fruit of action is
easily attained in this plane of existence.
In reality, all fruits come from Īśvara,
who is one’s own Self, as the entire world
DO NOT EXPECT
has its source in the Inner Self. For this
ABSOLUTE FULFILMENT reason, for all yajñas, the yajñapati is
FROM WORLDLY LIFE. IT always the Atman—“yajño yajñapatir
yajvā,” as Vishnu-Sahasranama (104) says.
HAPPENS ONLY BY But, without knowing the secret that his
JÑĀNA, BY ABIDING IN own Inner Being is the greatest treasure-
house, man seeks to attain something
ONE’S OWN BEING. from outside. And for that purpose, he
invokes a devatā. The devatā too catches
hold of him because ‘he is like a milch
cow for the deva,’ says the Upanishad.* This leads to a kind of enslavement.
We are, in a way, enslaved to any person we depend upon. Hence, in an
earlier śloka (4.10), Bhagavan said, “mām upaśritāḥ”—My devotees do not
depend on anything else. They have only the Inner Being, the Atman, as
their āśraya; thus, they are ever free. In them, the bhāva, the divine mood,
has bloomed to the full—“madbhāvamāgatāḥ”.
Here Bhagavan says, “Why do men enslave themselves to another? It is due
to desires. kāṅkṣantaḥ karmaṇāṃ siddhim—they want to enjoy pleasure
easily and quickly.” Whoever or whatever gives them the desired pleasure,
they get attached to that person or thing. They employ the required method
to extract pleasure. Thus seeking karmaṇāṃ siddhim, one travels through
various lives, starting from the body of the lowest creature to that of the
highest devatā. But pleasures are evanescent. In fact, as long as this
pleasure-hunting vāsanā or saṃskāra remains, it is a pratibandha, an
obstacle for Jñāna. Pleasures, however refined, make one think. As
memory, knowledge and emotion, thoughts swarm the inner world
constantly. The poise or the peace of the Self is absent in such a mind.
Devatā-jñāna is an entirely different subject on its own. It involves doing
various upāsanās to gain special siddhis. Here, a sādhaka employs some
method to tamper with the natural forces to get the desired result. But this
will not lead him to the highest peace. Though these methods may lead to
certain siddhis, they will not take one to jñāna or śānti.
Wherever you may be, do not try to change your situation or your dharma.
No circumstance is better than another. Whatever may be your dharma,
stick to it. Do not expect absolute fulfilment from worldly life. Fulfilment
happens only by Jñāna, by abiding in one’s own Being. Whatever position
the Lord has placed you in, accept it and do not desire any quick result or
any special siddhi. To be full, you do not need any fruit or pleasure from
outside. You are already full. Know this! Know that there are only two;
your inner Self and everything else—prakṛti. Know the truth of your Self
and be a witness to the dance of nature.
As a continuation, in the next verse, Bhagavan speaks about the social order
prescribed by the śāstras.

4.13 चातुर्वर्ण्यं मया सृष्टं गुणकर्मविभागशः।

तस्य कर्तारमपि मां विद्ध्यकर्तारमव्ययम्॥
The four varṇas (social classes) were created by Me according to the
varying differences in guṇas (qualities) and karma (deeds). Know Me to be
their creator, while being the unchanging one, devoid of action.

“I alone was in the beginning; I alone am in the middle—now—and I alone

will be in the future.” Bhagavan has revealed His supreme teaching thus to
Brahma in the Bhagavata. This ONE alone is true. All are striving to regain
that Supreme knowledge-born equipoise of Oneness. But worldly
interaction is no doubt based on plurality and separation. Separation breeds
all kinds of complexes and miseries. To see the One Self in all, we must
offer all plurality in the fire of knowledge. Accepting the surface-plurality
too as Divine Will, we must dive deep to see the One behind many. ‘Many’
is the world and is of course misery. The ‘One’ is God or Brahman, the
solution.
Now in this verse, the topic is the seeming multiplicity of this world. The
four varṇas have been clearly defined by the śāstras as Brāhmaṇa,
Kshatriya, Vaiśya and Śūdra. Varṇa means the class to which a man
belongs according to the Vedic standard of life and the occupation through
which he should worship the Cosmic Being. “svakarmaṇā tamabhyarcya,”
says the Gita (18.46). “svadharmam-ārādhanam-acyutasya,” says the
Bhagavata (5.10.23). That is, one’s dharma or duty is the means through
which one should worship the Lord.
Here the Lord says, “mayā sṛṣṭam—I have created them.” This means that
the varṇas are God-created, divine, and present in nature itself. If this is so,
they must be present worldwide and not just in India. But cāturvarṇya, as
we understand it, is seen only in Bhārata-varsha, India.* They were
practised as a culture, as a saṃskāra, in Bhārata-varsha, but the essence of
the four varṇas are found in every country. This categorisation remains in
an undifferentiated, unrecognisable state in human nature everywhere.
Hence Bhagavan says guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ.
In India, it was practised as a dharma for thousands of years. This
classification, though criticised much in modern times, was a unique way of
life to practise dharma; its purpose was not for making any special claims.
The Brahmin was expected to study the Vedas and live a life according to
the Vedic injunctions. This he had to do without any expectation.
“niṣkāraṇena,” say the śāstras. He was supposed to lead a life of extreme
renunciation and penance.
So too, the Kshatriya was expected to rule and protect others as a divine
duty. The businessman or Vaiśya was expected to interact with the
customers as worship. He was in charge of agriculture and cattle rearing as
well. The serving class or the Śūdra must do his duty of service as God-
given. These were considered methods for the purification of the mind,
leading to spiritual progress. These duties are present in all cultures and are
based on human needs. They need no Gita to prescribe them.
What the Gita has done is to reveal their divine source, to show that all
these occupations are divine. The Purusha-sūkta hymn in the Veda says that
all the four have come from the various limbs of the Supreme Lord. mayā
sṛṣṭam is the magic phrase in this verse. When we recognise the divine
principle behind our activities, and our very birth, the selfish element is
purged. Through this verse, Bhagavan reveals that there is a celestial touch
in the raw material with which everyone is made. It is according to the three
guṇas—sattva, rajas and tamas—that creation has happened.
Sattva means order, discipline, nobility, intelligence. Rajas means energy,
dynamism, power; and tamas means inertia, sleep, dullness, diffidence,
heedlessness. It is from these three guṇas that everything has been created
in the universe. And it is from these three guṇas that various actions
happen. These guṇas and karma make the personality of a man, which is
called svabhāva or inherent nature. Later, Bhagavan reveals in the
eighteenth chapter, “By doing karma that resonates well with our svabhāva,
we will not accrue flaws.” And it is due to the diversity in the svabhāva, we
have the broadly-classified four varṇas.
The play of sattva-rajas-tamas in each person makes him a unique
individual. The guṇa that is dominant in a person sets him apart from the
rest. Someone is intelligent and knowledgeable, another is valorous, and yet
another is business-minded. The fourth is neither an intellectual nor
valorous nor is he of the business-type, but he is endowed with a strong
physique and is ready to work and serve. These are the four varṇas—
Brāhmaṇa, Kshatriya, Vaiśya and Śūdra. guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ is the
word which Bhagavan uses to describe this. The admixture of the three
guṇas manifests as karma, and from his natural inclination of actions, we
can recognise the person as falling under any of these varṇas. This
classification of varṇas is more clearly and elaborately explained in the
eighteenth chapter.
Even insentient things are said to have the three guṇas in them. Lakshaṇa-
śāstra (Vedic phonetics) classifies even sounds as either brāhmaṇa, kshātra,
vaiśya or śūdra based on their characteristics.
Now let us look at how the varṇas flow from generation to generation. We
can see that certain qualities get passed down genetically. This is a rule that
we observe in nature. It is according to this law that the varṇas were
genetically set in the families. Thus, for generations, it was accepted that
Brahmins are born as Brahmins, Kshatriyas are born as Kshatriyas, Vaiśyas
are born as Vaiśyas, and Śūdras are born as Śūdras. There is also another
reason for this classification of man according to his birth and parentage.
This is so that he could receive an appropriate education at an early age.
Guṇas cannot be easily identified. By the time we are able to discern a
person’s guṇas, he would have crossed his middle age. Karma is something
gross and palpable. Vedic injunctions prescribe karma and not guṇas. If we
cannot figure out the varṇa of the child till his guṇas are known, it
becomes difficult to give him the appropriate education.
By seven, a brahmin child should be initiated into Vedic studies. So too
with the kshatriya and vaiśya, who have highly responsible duties. Śūdra is
the most nature-oriented man. In fact, according to Gandhiji, he is the most
natural divine man. He has a nose that can smell out every intention of
nature. He lives all his life amidst nature—with water, sun, trees, cattle and
farmlands. His child too is born with these qualities. He has to train the
child right from the age of nine or ten. Sages have found that it is not easy
to set the biological rhythm in a single lifetime. Hence, they tried to set it
over several generations. When practised, it is karma. When it becomes
your inherent nature, it is dharma. This dharma is power. Unless a family
foundation is given to varṇa, it is difficult for society to continue any
tradition. What is wrong is not the naturally prevalent varṇa-vyavasthā, but
the feeling ‘I am superior, and you are inferior.’ This superior-inferior
feeling has its root in the ego and is the cause of all problems.
There are many instances where the natural temperament or the influence of
the guṇas prevails over the varṇa accrued by birth. For example, if a
person born in a brahmin family is of vaiśya-vāsanā, despite his family
background and education, he will enter into business. We can see in the
Mahabharata that Drona, though born as a brāhmaṇa, took to the dharma
of a kshatriya. He cannot be called a kshatriya; he is called a
brahmabandhu, an inferior brahmin.* Similarly, Vidura was a śūdra but had
all the qualities of a brahmin. He was considered the highest authority on
ethics, nīti. No brahmin or kshatriya questioned his right in this regard.
Above all, Lord Krishna, ignoring the invitation of all brahmins and
kshatriyas, preferred Vidura’s house for his stay when he went to
Hastinapura as a messenger. The Lord looked at the inner man and not the
varṇa. Again, Viswamitra, who was born a kshatriya, attained the highest
Brahminhood (Brahmarshitva) through superhuman austerity. Similarly,
there have been many who were born as brahmins but took to vaiśya-vṛtti.
Gandhiji was a vaiśya but was inclined towards tapas and also politics,
neither of which is vaiśya-vṛtti.
These examples show that saṅkramaṇa—going from one caste to another
based on natural inclinations—is inevitable among the four varṇas, and
they were accepted in society. This cannot be objectified or classified. It just
happens naturally, and when it happens, the guṇa-varṇa of the person is
quite evident. This subject of cāturvarṇya has been discussed in great detail
in all its aspects in the Mahabharata.
The Gita is not a book that prescribes laws for society. Here the only
purpose is to attain the highest inner fulfilment. The purpose of the Gita is
not to speak well or ill of any system in the world; instead, Her concern is
in transforming any system or action into pure spiritual harmony. Krishna
has demonstrated through his life that one can divinise even war; then why
not take to study or rule a nation or do business or physical labour. ‘Bring
the Divine into every nook and corner of life’ is Krishna’s message here.

SRI RAMANA MAHARSHI AND THE SOCIAL

REFORMERS
Some social reformers once asked Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi, “Is not
this caste system the cause of all the problems in India?” Maharshi replied
with a question, “Are there no problems in other countries where there is no
chāturvarṇya-vyavasthā?” There are differences based on race and class in
every country. Terrible practices such as slavery and even genocide were
prevalent in many places, that too based on the colour of the skin. These are
not due to chāturvarṇya-vyavasthā but the ignorance and negativity in the
human psyche.
In ancient India, people of all four varṇas
were proud of their divine origin. There is
GO BEYOND THE PLANE no trace in the puranas of exploitation or
OF BECOMING AND fighting between the varṇas. It was a
REALISE THE STATE mutually cooperative Vedic life. During
British rule, many unprecedented changes
WHERE YOU ARE EVER were brought into society, which
PURE, EVER THE SAME. gradually seeped into our culture. All the
four varṇas abandoned their dharma.
GO TO THE STATE OF Giving up their traditional Vedic studies
BEING-NESS. that had been passed on for thousands of
generations, brahmins took to modern
education and started working for money.
As the brahmins lost the Vedas and their tapas, along with this, all the other
three varṇas also lost the hold on their dharma, and soon the intended
purpose of the varṇāśrama dharma fell apart. What remained was a group
of disgruntled people who had forgotten their roots and started criticising
each other and also the system.
This kind of fall happens often. Hence Sankaracharya says,* “Only by
protecting the brahminical qualities can the Vedic way of life be protected.”
The other three, if they see a man of sacrifice as their guide, will naturally
abide in their dharma. “Renunciation alone wins,” says the Upanishad. †
Even today, renunciation alone wins. The British empire was shaken to the
foundation by the power of sacrifice, austerity. This is brāhmaṇatva. It
means spiritual power, and not mere caste.
After declaring cāturvarṇyaṃ mayā sṛṣṭam, Bhagavan says, “According
to their guṇa and karma, they fall under any of these varṇas. Although I
have created these varṇas, Arjuna, know Me to be untouched by any of
these qualities. I am the non-doer—viddhyakartāramavyayam.” ‘akarta’
also means the un-doer. “Yes, I am the doer and also the undoer.” The Lord
creates; He Himself changes or withdraws it as well. Today the system is
fading. That too is His Will.
The most important point to remember is that the purpose of Bhagavan
speaking about these four varṇas here is not to reinforce them but to slowly
guide us to the highest truth that we are not the body. This is the purpose of
the Gita. “Sages behold the Truth by negation,” says the Bhagavata.‡ Nature
keeps affirming ‘You are the body,’ but a sādhaka must negate this and find
the truth. For spiritual realisation, one must go beyond all classifications.
Body is nature. When we are in the physical plane, as a rule of nature, we
do belong to one class or the other. Hence, do not waste time in trying to
change from one identification to another. These are all mere fascinations.
Go beyond the plane of becoming and realise the state where you are ever
pure, ever the same. Go to the state of Being-ness. Thus give up the body-
identity and be the Atman. Look at all as the Atman. This is the message of
this verse.
In whatever varṇa one is born, one can attain Self-Realisation. There are
saints from all varṇas and professions. Stations of life, varṇa or creed were
not, in any way, a hindrance to their Realisation. One need not change one’s
job or family tradition to attain Jñāna. What one must do is renounce the
body-identity. Tukaram, the Marathi saint, sings, “Lord Vittala, I thank Thee
that I was not born as a Brahmin, for I am free to chant Thy name and attain
Thee without the hindrance of too many rituals.”
The declaration of Hastamalaka is the ideal state where one is not only free
of caste but free from all classifications based on body.

नाहं मनुष्यो न च देव-यक्षौ न ब्राह्मण-क्षत्रिय-वैश्य-शूद्राः।

न ब्रह्मचारी न गृही वनस्थो भिक्षुर्न चाहं निजबोधरूपः॥ Hasta. 2
I am not a man, a deva or a yaksha
I am not a brāhmaṇa-kshatriya-vaiśya or śūdra
I am not a brahmachāri, a householder, a vānaprastha or a
monk
I am the Self which is pure Awareness

Sankaracharya himself declares,* “When you know the Self, there is neither
varṇa nor āśrama nor rituals based on such distinctions.” All body-related
classifications fall away for a Jñāni. He is Sat-Chit-Ānanda. Pure
Consciousness is his real nature. Hence he is beyond all varṇāśrama-
dharmas. This is the fact that Bhagavan declares as akartāramavyayam—“I
am also the un-doer; the eraser of what is superimposed.” When you have
vāsanās and when you identify with the body, you will fall into one of these
classes. The moment you dissociate from the body, the moment you know
that you are not the body, you are akarta, you are abhokta—neither doer nor
enjoyer; you are not a brahmin; you are not a kshatriya; you are not a
vaiśya; you are not a śūdra. You are Brahman. You are the Atman. You are
the pure Self. You are the pure space untouched by anything appearing,
existing and disappearing in it. You are the Chidākāśa.

न मां कर्माणि लिम्पन्ति न मे कर्मफले स्पृहा।

4.14–15 इति मां योऽभिजानाति कर्मभिर्न स बध्यते॥
एवं ज्ञात्वा कृ तं कर्म पूर्वैरपि मुमुक्षुभिः।
कु रु कर्मैव तस्मात्त्वं पूर्वैः पूर्वतरं कृ तम्॥
Neither do actions taint Me nor is the fruit of action desired by Me. He who
thus knows Me is not bound by actions. Having known thus, even the
ancient seekers of Liberation performed action. Hence, you too ought to
perform action as did the ancients in the olden times.

In the previous verse, we spoke much about the four classes—the varṇas—
of society. They are made of guṇas and karmas. In this verse, Bhagavan
reveals the way to transcend the bondage of karma based on varṇa and
āśrama.
“After giving up the identification with caste, creed and all other
classifications based on the body, give up all motivated actions,” says
Sankaracharya.*
Identification with the body is a flaw. When one identifies with the body-
mind-ego, one is sure to be bound by caste, creed and actions. Whatever
one may try, body-based classification, in one form or the other, is
inevitable in the world. These days, the ID card which defines you as a body
is required everywhere. This limitation comes in various forms. Go beyond
it by knowing the Self. This is the message.
All of worldly life is based on action and its fruit—karma and phala. One
who does karma is bound. Karma is based on the body-identity—the ego.
The moment one accepts the ego as ‘me’, one is bound by the fruit of
actions. Some action is bound to happen as long as one breathes. What is
the way out? This is what Bhagavan reveals in this verse.
Here, the Lord says, “karmāṇi māṃ na limpanti—no actions bind or taint
Me, karma-phale me spṛhā na—I do not seek the fruit of action either.”
With such conviction do true seekers of freedom work in the world. “evaṃ
jñātvā pūrvaiḥ mumukṣubhiḥ api karma kṛtam—knowing this, even the
seekers of yore who pursued Liberation performed action.” There is a
beautiful śloka,

विवेकी सर्वदा मुक्तः कु र्वतो नास्ति कर्तृता।

अलेपवादमाश्रित्य श्रीकृ ष्णजनकौ यथा॥

A person of discrimination, a person who knows the Truth, is always free.

His mind is ever-free. Though he performs actions, he does not feel himself
as an agent of action. By accepting the truth that the Self is ever detached
and nothing can touch the Self, he is free. Lepa means ‘to stick’ or ‘to
adhere’, and alepa means ‘not sticking’. Thus, knowing the truth of non-
attachment, he is ever free. The two examples given here are that of Sri
Krishna and King Janaka. Both were tremendous workers and fully
immersed in their respective fields of action, but nothing touched them. Be
free of the ‘I am the doer’-idea, and you will be a jīvanmukta.
Actions do not bind. It is doership that
binds. It is enjoyership that binds. The
KNOWING THE
ancient sages knew this secret. Hence,
ACTIONLESS NATURE OF they did not shun action or run away from
THE SELF, ONE IS FREED it. Instead, they renounced doership,
which is based on ignorance.
OF ALL EFFECTS BORN
“So too you, O Arjuna, do not try to
OF ACTION. either seek action or to avoid it. Know the
underlying principle. Know the real
nature of the Self, which is free of
doership and enjoyership, and let actions happen through your body and
mind.”
“The Atman is ever detached.”* This is a mahāvākya. Nothing can taint the
Atman. One who knows the Atman will know that it is ever detached. Just
accept this truth, trust this, and be free. Nothing will touch you. “iti yaḥ
māṃ abhijānāti—he who knows Me thus, saḥ karmabhiḥ na badhyate—
he will not get bound by action.”
kuru karmaiva tasmāttvam. This is a conclusive upadeśa. Bhagavan says,
“It is better to work as long as you have doership.” By living with this
knowledge, we will uncover a spiritual insight that ‘At times, non-doing
binds, and at times doing releases. That which binds is not spiritual and that
which makes us free is spiritual.’ As long as the mind is active, it is better to
act in the right way. For the one who asks ‘whether to act or not act’, three
possibilities are there—the first is to be idle and not act, the second is to act
with desire, and the third and the supreme-most of the three is spiritual
actionlessness. Spiritual actionlessness does not imply mere non-doing.
Mere non-action only leads to lethargy and sensory wilderness. Hence the
Masters advise their disciples to be active and carry out noble actions. In
that process, they may end up getting caught in the terrible maze of action,
due to ignorance.

BE FREE OF Vāsanās
Someone asked Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi, “Bhagavan, what is the way
to be free of vāsanās? As non-action is supreme, should I keep quiet and
stay unmoving like a rock?” Maharshi replied, “The wish to stay still like a
rock is a vāsanā.” This pithy teaching is a profound summation of all the
verses in the Gita.
Actionlessness is the nature of the Self. It should not be superimposed on
the body. Knowing the actionless nature of the Self, one is freed of all
effects born of action.

4.16 किं कर्म किमकर्मेति कवयोऽप्यत्र मोहिताः।

तत्ते कर्म प्रवक्ष्यामि यज्ज्ञात्वा मोक्ष्यसेऽशुभात्॥
‘What is action, and what is inaction?’ This question has confused even the
wise. Therefore, I shall impart to you the path of action, knowing which you
shall be liberated from suffering.

The word ‘karma’ is usually translated as action. But karma is not action
alone. In fact, action is only the grossest manifestation of karma; it is like
the tip of an iceberg, as the remaining ninety percent lies within. It is
extraordinarily complex to understand. Karma is that which binds. Karma
is saṃsāra, suffering. It is death. All these names have been given to karma
by the śāstras. To act, one needs ignorance—avidyā; from that arises the
feeling of ‘I am the doer’—kartṛtva. Then comes the drive or passion to act.
The fuel for this is the desire for the result. All these are compressed within
the word ‘karma’.
Sankaracharya says,* “Do not be hasty in
KNOW YOUR SELF, concluding that action simply means the
movement of the body, mind and the
AND AT THAT INSTANT, senses, and that inaction means keeping
YOU ARE PERFECT. them still. This is what the whole world
thinks.” The forces in nature such as the
PERFECTION IS YOUR Sun, the Moon, the wind, rivers and
oceans perform action without end.
REAL NATURE. Though we may call them natural forces,
PERFECTION IS YOUR the śāstras identify them as devas. They
are more perfect beings than us. For
SELF. them, there is no saṃsāra even though
they are constantly creating, healing,
harming and destroying. Their actions do not bind them. Why? How does
an action or ‘doing’ become a non-action or ‘non-doing’—akarma? This is
a riddle even to the deeply pondering mystics—kavayaḥ. “Even they are
deluded—mohitāḥ,” says Bhagavan. In other words, we can say that even
the mystics marvel at the subtle nature of something that appears so simple.
“Arjuna, here I reveal to you the secret of karma,” says Krishna, “By
knowing this, you will be free of aśubha.” This is the promise. aśubha
means suffering, inauspiciousness. What is auspicious, and what is
inauspicious? To suffer is inauspicious. Suffering is saṃsāra, and it is due
to ignorance of the Self. Know your Self, and at that instant, you are
perfect. You need no action plan to be free of imperfection. Perfection is
your real nature. Perfection is your Self.
All imperfections, problems, pain and suffering are superimposed on you
due to your identification with the body, the ego. By superimposing the ego
on you, all aśubha—inauspicious things—appear on you. Know your Self,
and at that very moment, you know that action, actor and result are all
unreal, like the water seen in a mirage.
‘I am the substratum on which this mind-stuff creates a dream. I am
untouched. I do not act or enjoy. I do not desire the fruit either. Free I am,
here and now’—knowing thus, the Seer abides in his real nature, ever free.
Actions and their results are of nature; they are not of the Self. Mixing them
up together is due to the chit-jaḍa-granthi—the knot of ignorance. Through
Self-enquiry, by meditating on the Self, one must free oneself from this
psychological knot of ignorance and abide as the Self.
4.17 कर्मणो ह्यपि बोद्धव्यं बोद्धव्यं च विकर्मणः।
अकर्मणश्च बोद्धव्यं गहना कर्मणो गतिः॥
One must understand what action is, what wrong action is and what
actionlessness is; inscrutable is the way of karma.

karma—action—means doership, enjoyership, ambition, resolve, and the

fruit; all these have ignorance as their source. It certainly leads to new
bondage. Yet no one can give up the essential actions. Our very living
demands action. None can maintain their physical existence without doing
some work in the world. Such actions are mostly called kāmya karma. Then
there are vihita-karma—prescribed actions. For example, actions prescribed
by the Vedas. They are almost like sādhanā. You do them obeying the
injunctions of the Vedas. Kāmya-karma and vihita-karma both come under
the category of karma.
vikarma are actions that are not noble and
could harm the soul. It is also called
ACTIONLESSNESS DOES
nishiddha-karma. Any negative action
NOT BELONG TO THE certainly harms the doer first, and only
PLANE OF ACTION. after that, it harms others. Often, we learn
the harmful power of evil actions only
ACTIONLESSNESS IS THE after performing them. Hence Bhagavan
NATURE OF THE SELF. says, “boddhavyaṃ ca vikarmaṇaḥ—
one must learn from blunders as well.”
‘Learn from them and go beyond them’ is
the message.
Next comes akarma—actionlessness. Actionlessness does not belong to the
plane of action. Actionlessness is the nature of the Self. To know akarma
means to be established in the Substratum, the Self, which is Pure
Consciousness, which is untouched by any movement of the ego, untouched
by doership, enjoyership, fruit, and desire. Once a person awakens to the
plane of actionlessness, action—whether noble or ignoble—no more has
any impact on him. They pass by just like a movie appearing on the screen
of actionlessness, akarma. The crux of this verse is the knowledge of
actionlessness or the Self, the substratum in which every movement
happens.
Bhagavan Himself remarks here, “gahanā karmaṇo gatiḥ—inscrutable is
the way of karma.” It is indeed mysterious. Yes, unless we unlock the
mystery chest in which action is locked, we cannot be free. Karma is
another name for the body. Hence no one can decide not to act. But free,
one must become. The question is, how? To be free of action means to be
free of the body itself. This is not simple for the body-minded. At the
beginning of their spiritual quest, seekers—especially those who have a
fascination for meditation—dream such sweet dreams, “Ha! I will be a
monk. I will have only one meal a day. And I will meditate, meditate and
meditate. I shall have none of the nonsense of work in this world.”

SRI RAMAKRISHNA’S PROPHECY ABOUT

VIVEKANANDA
This was also the concept of spiritual life of the young Narendra, later
Swami Vivekananda.
When Sri Ramakrishna heard this, he told him, “Naren, how petty you are!
You are destined to teach the whole world. You will be like a huge banyan
tree that gives shade to innumerable wayfarers.”
Naren said, “I cannot teach, Master, I cannot teach.”
Ramakrishna: “arey! Each and every cell in you will do it!”
Yes, the future proved that prophecy to be true.
The simple translation for gahanā is bottomless, inscrutable. In Vishnu-
Sahasranama, this is, indeed, one of the thousand names of the Lord—
gahanaḥ. Another name is mahāgartaḥ, which means a deep bottomless
pit. Karma is like that; it is an abysmal pit. Once we fall into it, it is tough
to come out. But, even in the pit of suffering and chaos, even when you are
amid saṃsāra, if you know the truth, there is no saṃsāra for you— “jñāte
tattve kaḥ saṃsāraḥ” (Bha.Go.10). Once you put on the collyrium of Jñāna,
you will not fail to behold the Lord there as well.

THE POWER OF ASSOCIATION WITH A SAGE

The divine sage Narada was joyfully moving about in the world, illumining
many with his songs, teachings and love. A person came to the sage, bowed
to him and said, “Lord, I am a terrible sinner.”
Narada asked, “Why do you say so? Every jīva is indeed a spark of
Divinity.”
He replied, “Lord, please rescue me. Recently, I met a great sage who told
me that I am destined to stay in hell for a thousand years.”
Hearing this, Narada said, “Is it so! Then, it must be true. But why bother
about it? Come on, chant the name of Hari. Be mad with the nāma ‘Hari!
Hari!’”
This person chanted the nāma, along with the delightful sage. Soon, in the
joy of Harināma, he danced and danced and moved about in divine ecstasy.
Both moved about like this in this rapturous mood.
On the way, pointing to a forest, Narada
asked him, “What do you see?”
THE EXPERIENCER IS
THE ATMAN. THE He said, “Ha, Lord Hari is standing in the
form of trees, animals, rivers, and
EXPERIENCE TOO IS THE mountains!”
ATMAN. THE ATMAN After many such exalted revelations, they
ALONE EXISTS. returned to where they had started from.
Soon, this person came down to the
ordinary plane.
Narada asked him, “Do you know where you were?”
“No, Lord.”
“Only now you are back on earth. You had been to hell where each tree and
leaf were like swords that could have cut you to pieces—asipatra. But you
were in samādhi. Hence you saw only the Lord. Your narakavāsa—
thousand years of stay in hell—is over.”
This is the power of devotion or Jñāna born of association with saints.
None can avoid prārabdha. The fruit of action comes as prārabdha—
destiny. Know that everything—including prārabdha—is the Atman. The
experiencer is the Atman. The experience too is the Atman. The Atman
alone exists. When a person knows the truth that the Atman alone exists,
action in all its forms appears as mere waves in the ocean of Consciousness.
As long as one carries the body-mind idea and doership, as long as duality
remains, this actor–action–result will remain, and the suffering too will
remain. When duality is removed, there is only the Self.

4.18 कर्मण्यकर्म यः पश्येदकर्मणि च कर्म यः।

स बुद्धिमान्मनुष्येषु स युक्तः कृ त्स्नकर्मकृ त्॥
He who sees inaction in action, and action in inaction, is wise among men;
he is a yogi and a perfect doer of action.

This is a profound verse. Karma itself means body. The body itself is
karma; hence, as long as the identity with the body remains, one is a karmi;
akarma is not possible for such a one. When there is no identification with
the body, even if the body is immensely active, one does not really do
anything. This is the mystery behind action.
Here Bhagavan says that the wise one is ever conscious of the ‘actionless’
in every action—karmaṇi akarma yaḥ paśyet. This indeed is the state of
Realisation. All acts of a person who knows this Truth are whole, perfect.
Every act of his vanishes the very instant he performs it. They do not linger
in him as saṃskāra as there is no doership in him. He who knows the entire
field of action—ignorance, doership, the body, the mind, activity and also
the Substratum, which is totally free of all action—is a complete knower.
He is the kṛtsna-karmakṛt. Every action of his becomes complete—
kṛtsnakarma. saḥ yuktaḥ—he is in perfect order, harmony, and is ever
aware of the Atman. saḥ buddhimān—he is the really wise one among all
human beings.
See Krishna, who, even during the colossal war, remained absolutely
untouched by anything! For him, all his worldly life was like mere water
drops on a lotus leaf. Nothing could taint him. This reveals the power of
Jñāna. This picture of the Lord is indeed the perfect commentary for this
verse.

REALISATION AND WORK

Someone asked Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi, “We see enlightened beings
working in the world. How is this possible?” Maharshi asked, “Who told
you that an Enlightened One, a Jñāni, must not work in the world? If you
believe in the philosophy that only ajñānis work in the world, then all great
Acharyas who worked in the world would fall under the category of the
unenlightened. And the greatest ajñāni would be Īśvara—God—who is
perpetually active! Creation, sustenance, destruction—everything happens
because of Him, and He would then be the greatest ajñāni.”
The secret of action is known only to the Enlightened. Mere body-mind
actions cannot be termed as activity.
akarmaṇi ca yaḥ karma—a Knower sees
action even in physical inaction.
EVEN MEDITATION
Movement of ego is action; awareness of
BECOMES A KARMA AS the Self is the only real inaction. Even
LONG AS DOERSHIP IS meditation becomes a karma as long as
doership is retained and is not erased by
RETAINED AND IS NOT Jñāna. One must seek the meditator—the
ERASED BY JÑĀNA. ‘I’—and abide in the wholeness of Being-
ness, the state where there is no ‘I’. One
of Sri Ramana Maharshi’s disciples,
Annamalai Swami, once requested the sage, “I want to go and sit in
meditation in a cave in Arunachala. I will take some food with me and
meditate the entire day. Please give me permission.” Maharshi said,
“Remain as the Self here and now. Be incessantly in meditation. Do not
hold onto ideas such as you must go to some place and meditate. If you die
now, you will have to take another birth to fulfil that desire. Do not have
any desire. Here and now, be the Self, always.” This really is the saving
knowledge. How profound it is!
Those who know the secret of action in this manner do not need a holiday
from work because their head is always cool and calm, as if they were on a
vacation. For them, work is holy, and every day is a holy day. They just
love and enjoy the work because it is divine, and there is no question of
going away from it to hunt for joy. Nowadays, during weekends and
holidays, we see people thronging every seashore, every park or place of
entertainment, in their quest for joy. And from Monday onwards, they again
get into a disgruntled frenzy of activity; many days of toil followed by a
day of entertainment, which too is exhausting. This is the way of the
unawakened.
The well-known teacher of the Gita, Swami Chinmayananda, said, “If I rest,
I rust.” Awareness of the Self is the real eternal rest. That is what is being
revealed here by Krishna. And this is what we can see in his life too. From
the moment of his birth until his last day, the body of Krishna was ever
active and delightfully dynamic. Ever joy, joy, joy—that is Krishna.
“ānanda-rūpa-bhagavan—He is bliss incarnate,” says Narayana Bhattatiri.
karmaṇi akarma yaḥ paśyet—a jñāni, though externally tremendously
active, is ever in akarmātma-sthiti—the state of actionlessness.
Sankaracharya says that a jñāni is an akarmātma-darśī—one who is ever
aware that no action happens in the Self. He does not work with the fuel of
desire. His action is based on compassion, activated by the Divine
Principle. Even if he stays in solitude in a cave, ever meditating, it is not
that he does not work. Even in that samādhi-sthiti—akarmaṇi ca karma
yaḥ—tremendous work is being turned out. The whole world is blessed by
his presence. That mauna—Silence—itself is great work. It is more
eloquent than any speech. In a way, the silence of the sage—akarma—itself
is a profound karma. It is the greatest work that can be done.
Those who know the essence of this verse alone know the secret of karma.
akarma means the state of nirvikalpa, the Self. It is the plane untouched by
any action, any emotion, anything at all. There is no creation in that plane.
Nothing ever happens there. It is ever perfect, ever pure, ever whole. That is
the plane of Enlightenment—kaivalya. After realising it, the Enlightened
One appears to be full of action in the other dimension. Thus, one plane is
pure Enlightenment, and the other plane is incessant activity. It is what the
Śruti says, “That moves; That moves not.” Both are true. In one plane, there
is non-stop movement and dynamism, and in the other plane, there is
perfect stillness. All movements are like the appearance of water in a
mirage.
If you turn towards the current of activity, there will be no end to it. The
body, the mind and the world are all waves and eddies in the stream of
karma. If you take notice of that plane, you will fall into the current of
activity. On the other hand, if you withdraw into the plane of Chidākāśa—
where no action is possible, nothing can touch it, and no movement is
possible—there, you are absolutely free. Thus, knowing both, a Jñāni
becomes integrated—kṛtsna-karmakṛt. He is Whole, pūrṇa. He is
buddhimān—truly wise. He is also a yuktaḥ—ever established in the yoga-
state. Never does he swerve from his samādhi state.
Sankaracharya has spoken much about inaction, but perhaps no one else
was as active as him. He was incessantly active, travelling the entire length
and breadth of the nation, yet he says, ‘I am ever inactive and ever in
action.’ This may sound like an anomaly to the unenlightened. But the one
who knows the secret of karma sees inaction in action and action in
inaction. Even while active in the body-mind, the knower of the Self
recognises no problem, no saṃsāra. As the ego is not active in him, he has
no association with the body-mind, and thus there is no doership in him. His
karma is God’s karma.
Some profound portions from Acharya’s bhāshya are given below, which
reveals the inner state of that Divine Teacher.
आत्मनि कर्माभावे अकर्मणि कर्मविपरीतदर्शनम् अत्यन्तनिरूढम् ; यतः, ‘किं कर्म किमकर्मेति
कवयोऽप्यत्र मोहिताः।’ (भ.गी.४।१६) देहाद्याश्रयं कर्म आत्मन्यध्यारोप्य ‘अहं कर्ता, मम एतत्
कर्म, मया अस्य कर्मणः फलं भोक्तव्यम्’ इति च, तथा ‘अहं तूष्णीं भवामि, येन अहं निरायासः
अकर्मा सुखी स्याम्’ इति कार्यकरणाश्रयं व्यापारोपरमं तत्कृ तं च सुखित्वम्आत्मनि अध्यारोप्य
‘न करोमि किञ्चित्, तूष्णीं सुखमासे’ इति अभिमन्यते लोकः।

“The Self is completely free of actions. For a person who thinks of the Self
as the doer, ignorance is deep-rooted. When the body is active,
superimposing the bodily actions on the Self, he thinks, ‘I am the doer,’ ‘I
am the enjoyer,’ ‘I should experience the fruit of this action,’ and so on.”
This kind of ignorance is the cause of bondage. The meditator who thinks ‘I
am meditating’ also harbours the same ignorance. “I will remain alone in
silence so that I can be free of all toils and problems of action.” Here too,
the non-action of the body is being superimposed on the Self. This is mere
wishful thinking. When you try it out, you will soon find that your staying
alone and silence themselves become problems!
Beautiful bhāshya here! Sankaracharya says, “The body is the instrument of
action. When you curtail bodily activities and give rest to the body, you
superimpose on the Self the joy or happiness that arises from the rest and
think, ‘I do not do anything now. I was in blissful silence, not doing
anything’.” This too is ignorance. Because here too you have completely
misidentified yourself as the body.
For a jñāni, action is never carried forward. It never fructifies as bondage.
As and when it unfolds, then and there, it is being burnt in the blazing fire
of Jñāna. He is not a deva; he is an ordinary human being—manuṣya. And
you see man becoming God here. Swami Vivekananda once said, “I have
drunk that potion which makes man, God.” That is it.

4.19 यस्य सर्वे समारम्भाः कामसङ्कल्पवर्जिताः।

ज्ञानाग्निदग्धकर्माणं तमाहुः पण्डितं बुधाः॥
One whose actions are devoid of desire and motivations and whose karma
is all burnt by the fire of knowledge, him, the sages call wise.

“The desireless Illumined Soul is called a paṇḍita by the sages,” says

Bhagavan here. Nowadays, a scholar is called a paṇḍita. But according to
the Gita, a paṇḍita is the person who knows the Truth.
“nānuśocanti paṇḍitāḥ (BG2.11)—paṇḍitās never grieve.” This is
Bhagavan’s first statement in the Gita about paṇḍita. The sign of Self-
knowledge is the transcendence of suffering. “The knower of the Self goes
beyond grief,” says the Upanishad.* Such a one is a paṇḍita. His vāsanās,
which could lead to binding actions, are all burnt in the fire of Jñāna—
jñānāgni-dagdha-karmāṇam. As there is no ignorance in him, and the
Atman is revealed in all its grandeur, his undertakings are all free of
ambition. His awareness is like a clear sky devoid of the clouds of self-
image, desire and imaginations—saṅkalpa. saṅkalpa is a cloud that is
impregnated with kāma—desires. Devoid of such clouds, his Heart-space
remains pleasant and free of any dust of ignorance. Whatever work he may
do, is out of pure joy or love. Such work is holy, and so too the worker.
Mother Earth feels a divine thrill at the touch of such a Seer’s feet.
Generally, a dispassionate seeker is an anārambhavādi—one who will not
enter into any new undertakings. He will carry out the actions that have
fallen to his lot as worship, that is all. But here, it is said that the
Enlightened Being starts new projects—samārambhāḥ. His undertakings
are all well-aimed; they are undertaken with great compassion—loka-
saṅgraha. He has nothing to achieve, yet colossal missions are activated by
such mighty beings.
They are perfectly desireless—kāma-saṅkalpa-varjitāḥ. Unless compelled
by desire, action is not possible for ordinary people. But such mighty souls
work without rest, devoid of desires. Their actions are God’s actions.
Krishna tells Arjuna, “Be an instrument of mine.” That is the secret. The
great sages are just channels for the divine power to flow into the world
with all its sacred healing waters.

4.20 यस्य सर्वे समारम्भाः कामसङ्कल्पवर्जिताः।

ज्ञानाग्निदग्धकर्माणं तमाहुः पण्डितं बुधाः॥
Having abandoned attachment to the fruits of action, ever content,
depending on nothing, verily he does nothing, though fully engaged in
karma.

A knower of the Self, a Realised Being, is ever content. His pleasure is not
in attaining something. His happiness is in himself. When the mind rests in
the Atman, one becomes nityatṛptaḥ—ever content. Vidyaranya Swami
says, “Tṛpti is a sign of a Realised Being.” When we see absolute
contentment in a person, we can infer that his mind has glided into the
timeless realm of actionlessness. He is mind-less. He has perfectly
renounced all desires. To remain ever content, one should give up one’s
hold on all objects, persons and even knowledge.
Those who depend on money for survival are taking refuge in money.
Those who rely on health for happiness are not free, as health too is not in
our hands. Hence it is said, “āśrayaṃ brahma-nirbhayam—Brahman alone
is the sole refuge that can free us of all fears.” One who realises this is not
the least perturbed as he is not dependent on any other for his happiness.
This is nirāśrayatā—complete freedom, independence. Such a one remains
ever restful. Ego never arises in him. He can be ever dynamic, but his mind
will remain peaceful and calm.
āśraya means refuge. “anyāśrayāṇāṃ tyāgaḥ,” says Sage Narada in the
Bhakti-sutra (10). When one gives up all hold on the ‘other’ for happiness or
security, one becomes free of the ‘other’ and becomes ananya. This is a
profound point that a seeker must realise. When one gives up all other
āśrayas—all seeking, all dependence on the other—that which is the
Reality, the Substratum, shines forth.
tyaktvā karma-phalāsaṅgam. He has erased from his mind every speck of
attachment to action and its fruit. Hence there are no disturbing factors in
him. He no longer carries doership—the feeling of ‘I am the doer.’ He has
enquired deep into his heart to find the real nature of the ‘I’ and found that
the ‘I’-thought, the claim that arises from within as ‘I’ is only due to
misapprehension of one’s real nature. He has recognised that his real Self is
ever free, eternally free. The triad of action-actor-fruit is a mere appearance
in the substratum of pure Consciousness. Such a one, though involved in
activities, is perfectly established in the actionless Self. He is a sage—a
paṇḍita. He has completely renounced the desire for the fruit of action.
Hence his mind is ever content. Within his dynamism, is profound
relaxation.
Here in the commentary, Sankaracharya says,* “As the Knower of the Self
is well established in the awareness of the actionless Atman, any action
performed by him is indeed non-action.” This is a famous bhāshya-
statement.

4.21 निराशीर्यतचित्तात्मा त्यक्तसर्वपरिग्रहः।

शारीरं के वलं कर्म कु र्वन्नाप्नोति किल्बिषम्॥
Having no desires, with his mind and self controlled, and having abandoned
all possessions, performing only bodily actions, he incurs no sin.

Here also, the conclusion is, ‘even while acting, he acquires not any taint.’
A Jñāni may act incessantly with his body—śārīraṃ karma—but his
bodily actions take place like a movie playing on the screen. Nothing, not
even a speck, sticks to the screen. The word kevalam, which is used here,
means merely, singularly. His body is acting, but he has no involvement
with it. He is simply not there in that body. This is the state of a jīvanmukta,
where the ego is completely gone. His body and mind have practised so
much austerity, sādhanā, that they are completely purified and are in
saṃyama. The ego never surfaces in the intellect, mind, senses or body of
such a perfectly controlled sage—yatacittātmā. When the ego is no more,
the entire nervous system and each and every cell become fragrant with that
state.
He is the desireless one—nirāśīḥ. He has renounced all desire. The body of
a Realised Soul is only a channel for the higher power to flow through. No
sin or dirt accrues for the Brahmavit. He performs action not to gain
anything, as he has already renounced all possessions—tyakta-sarva-
parigrahaḥ. With this renunciation, he is totally free.
śārīraṃ kevalaṃ karma—actions needed for the sustenance of the body.*
This is the meaning given by Acharya. Even such actions do not stick to
him because he performs them without ego. Thus no sin accrues to him—
nāpnoti kilbiṣam. Anything that pollutes, corrupts, is kilbiṣam. Any
disturbance in awareness is kilbiṣam. Even though he has to undertake both
ishṭam and anishṭam, perform dharma and adharma, he is not attached.
Nothing binds him. Acharya has made a remarkable statement here, “Even
dharma binds.” We can see this in our own experiences in life. Those who
are attached to dharma get deeply bound by it. “For a person who seeks
only Liberation, even good, noble and virtuous acts are sin as they bring in
bondage.Ӡ They bind him by doership, pride, guilt and so on.

SAGE DATTATREYA AND THE EAGLE

We come across a beautiful anecdote about this in the Bhagavata. Once, the
avadhūta Dattatreya was blissfully walking in the forest, immersed in his
Self. Suddenly, he heard a raucous noise up in the sky. When he looked up,
he saw an eagle being followed by a large number of crows. The crows
were chasing the eagle wherever it went. It sat on a banyan tree, but the
crows followed it there. It flew and sat on a neem tree, but the crows
followed it again. It tried to escape by flying high in the sky. But the crows
encircled the eagle and prevented it from doing so. Suddenly, the eagle
dropped something on the ground, and immediately, all the crows swooped
down to pick it up. It was a piece of meat. Then the eagle flew away
joyfully! Seeing this, the avadhūta had a satori-like insight. He stood there
overwhelmed and sang in joy,

परिग्रहो हि दुःखाय यद्यत्प्रियतमं नृणाम्।

अनन्तं सुखमाप्नोति तद्विद्वान्यस्त्वकिञ्चनः॥ SB 11.9.1

This is certain! Possessions always bring sorrow. If you hold on to

possessions, all sorts of sufferings and miseries will chase and attack you
wherever you go. Give up the possessions; then, free you are, like a child.

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 Just like the eagle, we too are holding on
to the flesh, the body. This is our first and
THE PRIMAL
foremost possession. Give up the body-
POSSESSION THAT BINDS identity to be free of this shackle.
Emotional possessions too haunt us
US TO ALL OTHER
wherever we go. Giving up the mine-ness
POSSESSIONS IS THE is the way to get rid of them. The primal
EGO-IDENTITY THE possession that binds us to all other
possessions such as the body and the
—‘I’-‘I’. ONCE THERE emotions is the ego-identity the—‘I’-‘I’.
IS FREEDOM FROM THAT Once there is freedom from that
possession, you are free, totally free.
POSSESSION, YOU ARE There is no border for your existence.
FREE, TOTALLY FREE. Such beings are perfectly free of the ego-
sense. They do not consider even their
body as their own. The crux is that there is no doership in the sage, and
hence, no sin sticks to him. Otherwise, kilbiṣam would turn into a ‘kill-
visham’—a poison that could kill. Ignorance is the poison that could kill our
inner peace, our inner wholeness, by giving life to the ego.

4.22 यदृच्छालाभसन्तुष्टो द्वन्द्वातीतो विमत्सरः।

समः सिद्धावसिद्धौ च कृ त्वापि न निबध्यते॥
He who is content with whatever life may bring, is free from the pairs of
opposites, is without envy, and is equanimous in success and failure—such
a one is not bound even while performing actions.

yadṛcchā is the catch-word in this verse. It means ‘unexpected’, ‘by

chance’ or ‘destiny’. Life is uncertain and unpredictable. What the next
moment may unload is not known. All our life, we strive to fill this vacuum
of uncertainty with many things—financial security, medical security and
so on. Yet we know that none of these is foolproof.
We have already discussed (in 2.22) about the apt usage of the word yadṛcchā
in two significant places in the Valmiki Ramayana. At these junctures, the
smooth flow of life takes a most unexpected twist, and Valmiki uses the
term ‘yadṛcchayā’ while describing those instances.
In the Bhagavata, the word yadṛcchā has been used in the context of the
meeting of a seeker with his Guru—the sacred moment when life becomes
blessed. yadṛcchā actually means the intelligence behind life, behind living,
behind the universe. It is something which is never revealed to the gross
mind. Hence we call it the unknowable—yadṛcchā. It is known only when
it happens. Hence we say it is by chance. We can stay relaxed by offering
ourselves in the hands of that power and letting it mould our life. Life is
God. Life is indeed His hand. There is a touch of Him in every moment, in
every event, in every pleasure and every pain.
In the Bhagavata, when the great sage Sukacharya arrives, it is stated that
he did not come by the invitation of anyone but by the power of yadṛcchā.
There just appeared the great jīvanmukta, the son of Vyasa, who was
moving about in the world by the law of divine dispensation.* That power
of the unknown brought him to the presence of the yearning devotee,
Parikshit. Here yadṛcchā refers both to the will of God as well as to the
ripeness of the devotee. That is the law by which a jīvanmukta moves about
in this world. The Jñāni has neither expectation nor desire nor will in him.
He moves about by the power of yadṛcchā. Elsewhere the Bhagavata says
that attaining God happens by yadṛcchā. † Thus, we can conclude that
yadṛcchā means the power of Grace. In the spiritual context, we can simply
translate the word yadṛcchā as a phenomenon that happens beyond the
mind. The mind is clueless about it. The divine works without giving any
pre-intimation. That is yadṛcchā.
yadṛcchā-lābha is what life may bring in. A sannyāsi accepts whatever
chance may bring; he never seeks anything, not even food. Such sannyāsa
is called ajagara-vṛtti—like a python which stays in one place and waits for
its food. The python does not hunt for its food; if any creature happens to
fall into its mouth, it eats it. Similarly, the avadhūta is not concerned even
about food. He is ever immersed in the Atman, taking delight and
contentment in the Atman. ‡ This is what is meant by yadṛcchā-lābha-
santuṣṭaḥ.
The crux of the teaching is santuṣṭi—contentment. “santuṣṭaḥ satataṃ
yogī,” says Bhagavan later (BG12.14). A yogi is ever happy, always content.
This is the mark of a Jñāni. The word santuṣṭi actually means samādhi—
the state of perfect abidance in the Self. He is ever calm, tranquil, roosting
in the Self. He is completely relaxed and content; this is santuṣṭi. He is a
santuṣṭa, whatever yadṛcchā or destiny may bring in. It is impossible to
remain happy and satisfied amid so much uncertainty. Then what exactly is
the lābha or gain that a Jñāni is content about? It cannot be mere yadṛcchā-
lābha but refers to Ātmalābha—the gain of his own Self. “He becomes full
by the Realisation of the Atman,” says the Bhagavata.§ Thus, his santuṣṭi is
not in yadṛcchā; it is the result of his Ātmalābha. Perfect contentment
happens by the gain of one’s own real Self, the gain of Self-knowledge—
nijalābha-tuṣṭaḥ (SB1.19.25). Thus, when we take the word yadṛcchā as a
sacred word, potent with deep spiritual implications—as the power of the
Lord which brings the Guru into one’s life—it is the power which connects
a suffering soul with an Enlightened Master. Therefore, yadṛcchā-lābha
indicates the greatest treasure of guru-lābha or Jñāna-lābha. We have
already said that santoṣa means the feeling of complete fulfilment,
contentment. This joy does not depend upon anything happening around
him, in his body or mind. He ever abides in the Self. With this
understanding, the phrase yadṛcchā-lābha-santuṣṭaḥ stands perfectly
decoded.
A Jñāni is a dvandvātītaḥ. Whether cold
YOU ARE THE SELF. or heat, pain or pleasure, praise or insult,
he is not affected because all these belong
YOU ARE WHOLE, HERE, to destiny. Whatever destiny may bring,
NOW, IN YOUR REAL he remains unaffected by it. ‘I want this,’
‘I do not want this’—this movement of
SELF. PEACE LIES IN attraction and aversion is dvandva. Be
RESTING IN THE SELF. santuṣṭa—content with what the now
brings in. Be unconcerned about the
IT IS EVER WITH YOU. future. Do not ruminate over the past.
Live in the now. The now may bring in
celestial waters of blessings or the
wildfire of pain; endure both; worship both with a calm and trustful mind.
Whatever the now reveals, do not refuse to accept it; do not crave anything
else. The past is fate; the future is uncertain—yadṛcchā, while the now is
santuṣṭi—happiness.
vimatsaraḥ means vigata-matsaraḥ—the one for whom all competition has
ceased. He competes with no one. There is no envy in him towards anyone.
According to the Bhagavata, this is the single qualification required to
attain God. The purana begins with this qualification, “nirmatsarāṇāṃ
satāṃ vedyam—only the noble souls who are devoid of matsara can realise
the Lord.” Let others have their feast; your simple rice is enough for you.
Let there be success or failure; be unperturbed. It is the idea of success that
makes you disturbed. siddhi is success, and asiddhi is failure. Your success
lies not in what destiny might bring. You are not a football for destiny and
free-will to kick around and play with. You are the Self. You are whole,
here, now, in your real Self. Peace lies in resting in the Self. It is ever with
you.
Whatever may happen outside, whether good or bad, the yogi is ever
poised, equanimous—sama. Sama means abiding in the Self, and vi-shama
means associated with the mind. Samasthiti comes only when one is
dissociated from the mind.
kṛtvāpi na nibadhyate—such a person, even though he is active in the
world, never gets bound. He is a jīvanmukta. In this context, the bhāshya
gives some good insights. In the case of a jīvanmukta, his experience is that
he is a non-doer, totally actionless.* But he is seen to be active by the
onlooker; that is only the superimposition of others on him. † Such a one
does not get bound by performing actions.

4.23 गतसङ्गस्य मुक्तस्य ज्ञानावस्थितचेतसः।

यज्ञायाचरतः कर्म समग्रं प्रविलीयते॥
A liberated one from whom all attachment is gone, whose mind is
established in the Self, and who performs work as yajña—for such a one,
all of his work gets entirely dissolved (in Brahman).

‘samagraṃ pravilīyate—his entire karma is absorbed forever’ is a

remarkable expression in this verse. All actions will have some result in the
outside world. But the main impact of the action happens within the doer—
the person who performs it. The implication of an ego-driven act, the desire
behind it, the ignorance due to which doership has come about and from
which the desire proceeds, and the experience of pleasure or pain associated
with the fruit of the action—all these get imprinted on the chittam, the
subconscious layers of the personality. This entire plane of actor–action–
result and the ignorance that is the source for the action—all of these are
meant by the term karma. Generally, the action merges in the actor. The
outer result does not count for much, but the inner merging in the psyche is
the cause of sufferings in the present birth and of future births.
jñānāvasthita-cetasaḥ—the mind is
THE ACTION OF AN
firmly established in one’s real nature—
this is the key phrase here. There is no
ORDINARY PERSON ignorance or doership in an Enlightened
ARISES FROM Being. Hence, he has no attachment to the
world or his own personality—
IGNORANCE. gatasaṅga. He is a free soul—mukta.
IGNORANCE IS Such a one, at times, is seen to work hard
in the world. The question may arise as to
SYNONYMOUS WITH THE why such a free soul with no desires
MIND. ON THE OTHER would care to work at all. What is the
power that pushes him to act? The word
HAND, THE ACTION OF used here is yajña. We can translate yajña
AN ENLIGHTENED as sacrifice or as the nature of the Lord.
Yajña means the all-pervading one,
BEING ARISES FROM Vishnu. ‡ If we take the meaning of yajña
THE HEART. as Vishnu, as the Lord Himself, it means
pure compassion.
The source of action of a Realised Being is not from the centre that says
‘mine’; it is not the ego but purely divine. The action of an ordinary person
arises from ignorance. Ignorance is synonymous with the mind. On the
other hand, the action for an Enlightened Being arises from the Heart. It
arises from yajña, the very movement of his action is yajña, and it merges
in yajña.
Here Bhagavan says, ‘samagraṃ pravilīyate’. Samagram is another name
for Vishnu; it means the totality, the macrocosm, the Whole, the Infinite,
Brahman, and that is Vishnu. The result of the action of the jīvanmukta
merges in the totality. It is sheer compassion from where it arises; it has its
dynamics in compassion, and the fruit of the action merges in the Infinity. It
remains there, regenerating dharma in the world. Such action merges in
yajña—the Lord, the all-pervading Being. This is the way we can offer our
actions to the Lord. This is real bhakti.
Vishnu-Sahasranama speaks about the profundity of yajña thus:

यज्ञो यज्ञपतिर्यज्वा यज्ञाङ्गो यज्ञवाहनः।

यज्ञभृत्-यज्ञकृ त्-यज्ञी यज्ञभुक्-यज्ञसाधनः।
यज्ञान्तकृ त्-यज्ञगुह्यमन्नमन्नाद एव च। Vi.Sa. 104–105

He is the yajña, the presiding one, the offerer, the articles used
The carrier of the offerings, the one who is the soul-support
The doer of yajña, the performer, the fire that consumes the
offerings
The ultimate goal of that sacrifice; He is the one who ends the yajña
The mystic holiness of yajña is He; He indeed is the food and the
eater too

4.24 ब्रह्मार्पणं ब्रह्म हविर्ब्रह्माग्नौ ब्रह्मणा हुतम्।

ब्रह्मैव तेन गन्तव्यं ब्रह्मकर्मसमाधिना॥
(The action performed by a free soul is a yajña.) Whatever is offered in that
yajña is Brahman. The sacred oblation offered with love is Brahman. In the
fire of Brahman is it offered. Offering indeed is done by Brahman. Hence, it
merges in Brahman. His action indeed is a movement in the Divine; it is
samādhi.

An Enlightened Master carries a sacrificial fire in the altar of his Heart; the
fire blazes as the non-dual consciousness of ‘I AM.’ In that fire, he offers
the forms through the eyes, sounds through the ears, smells through the
nose, tastes through the tongue and touch through the skin. A Jñāni’s very
intake of breath is a havana—an offering. His body is the most sacred
yajñaśāla. The Mahanarayana Upanishad pictures the very existence of a
jñāni as a yajña. Hence he is called the all-purifying tīrtha. His dropping of
the body is said to be the most auspicious culmination of a yajña—
avabhṛta.
In the previous verses, we have discussed that the action performed by a
Jñāni is a yajña. In this verse, one of the most well-known verses in the
Gita, Bhagavan pictures the action of a Jñāni through the analogy of yajña
or Vedic sacrifice. In a yajña, sacrificial offerings are made in the fire. For a
Jñāni, whatever he does is an offering in Brahman—brahmārpaṇam. In a
yajña, usually, ghee is offered to the fire. For a Jñāni, his senses are the
altars, and in them are all objects offered. For him, all that is offered in the
inner fire is also nothing but Brahman—brahmahaviḥ. They are all offered
in the fire of inner illumination—brahmāgnau. His experience is Brahman
alone. And who is the one offering? The one who offers is also Brahman—
brahmaṇā hutam. And where does this offering go? Into which devatā
does it merge? brahmaiva tena gantavyam—it goes and merges in the
Absolute Brahman. Brahman is the goal. What does one achieve as a result
of this sacrifice? One attains Brahman; brahmaiva—only Brahman. What is
this yajña called? It is brahma-karma-samādhi.
Karma or action is usually followed by
THE MOMENT ONE vikshepa—distractions in the mind—and
never by samādhi. A person engaged in
REALISES BRAHMAN, action is compelled to think a lot. Desire,
attachment, aversion, doership,
ONE IS NO MORE THE
enjoyership—these make up the fuel that
BODY. blazes forth as the fire of saṃsāra, and
action is mostly accompanied by these.
These are opposed to the tranquil state of
mind—the state in which the mind reposes in Brahman.
Here, Bhagavan is picturing the samādhi state of a sage. He is ever active
and dynamic, yet incessantly in samādhi—the actionless state. Even while
active in the world, he is ever aware of Brahman. His action is called
brahmakarma. His very action is Brahman. This means that his action is
recognised as Brahman.
How is it possible that something that appears dynamic is recognised as
that which is ‘still’—the actionless principle? Even when waves, eddies,
bubbles and icebergs are seen in the ocean, if one recognises the water
alone, then the outer names and forms are irrelevant. Whether it is the
rolling waves, flood, or rain, whatever happens, it is nothing but water in
various forms.* That recognition of oneness—which wipes out all
hallucinations, illusions and delusions due to duality—is samādhi. That is
brahma-karma-samādhi.
This is not a utopian idea but the inner
BRAHMAN IS THE state of a jīvanmukta. The moment one
realises Brahman, one is no more the
NATURE OF THE SELF, body. Such a one is ever identified with
THE IMPORT OF ‘I AM.’
the substratum in which all actions arise,
remain and subside. That substratum is
NO AMOUNT OF Brahman. In fact, samādhi is another
IMAGINATION OR name for that substratum, the Self.
Samādhi is not a mental state. The yogic-
IDENTIFICATION CAN samādhi is of course a mental state, and it
CHANGE THAT IS-NESS. is certainly opposed to karma. No action
is possible in that state. But the
knowledge of the Self includes
everything; it is not opposed to action. Vidyaranya Swami says,* “It is
possible to even rule a kingdom without losing the awareness of the Self.”
A man who acts in a drama dressed as a woman appears to the audience as a
beautiful lady. Enamoured by his appearance, everyone takes him to be a
woman. But never even for a second will the actor himself forget that he is
a man. In fact, it is impossible for him to do so. And once the drama is over,
he need not recollect or regain his manhood by removing the costume. Even
during the drama, while he is strongly identified with the woman character,
his manhood remains as it is. Such a state is called vastu-tantra. That is, it is
not based on will, desire, imagination or identity—these are all mere mental
modes—but it is based on the nature of the thing. Brahman is the nature of
the Self, the import of ‘I AM.’ No amount of imagination or identification
can change that IS-ness. The AM-ness is Brahman. It is the ‘I’ that makes it
appear as if associated with the body and mind.
The Jñāni, once awake to the sense of his AM-ness, becomes totally free.
Once, at least once, if one has had a glimpse of this state, one has looked
deep and straight at the centre, the ‘I AM’—free and liberated is he. He
knows, ‘Yes! I am Brahman. I am free of all these illusions of nature, the
body, the mind, the ego, and so on.’ That awareness of the essence of simple
existence is samādhi. That is ‘avikampa-yoga—the unshakeable yoga’, as
Bhagavan puts it in the tenth chapter. It is based on the very nature of the
Self. Hence it is also called sahaja-nirvikalpa.
Nirvikalpa means free of all dualities. Doubts, emotions, images, doership,
and enjoyership are all vikalpas. When not veiled by these clouds of the
mind, the ‘I’ within shines forth as Pure Consciousness. This is nirvikalpa.
When thoughts are made to subside through effort, and the ‘I’ is held in the
ambit of vision, that is nirvikalpa through effort. Once Jñāna dawns within,
the Jñāni needs no such mental stoppage to be aware of his real nature. This
is natural nirvikalpa or sahaja-nirvikalpa—easy holding on to one’s natural
self-awareness. There, even though the mind and the body are active, the ‘I’
of the Jñāni is not at all covered. He is always aware that the ‘I’ in him is
the Supreme, ever-free, blissful God. This is brāhmī-sthiti. All actions of
the intellect, the mind and the body happen around this, and they offer
themselves to the inner fire—the fire of Self-awareness, the fire of the
natural state—like the yajña-offerings of ghee into the fire.
When he sits still in samādhi, his samādhi is brahma-yoga-samādhi. When
he performs actions and yet does not lose the inner samādhi state, that is
brahma-karma-samādhi. Though karma is performed, the awareness of the
Self remains undisturbed. Such a samādhi state can be seen in Krishna,
Janaka and Ambarisha. Sama means equilibrium, equal, same. Dhīḥ means
intellect. The state where the dhīḥ, the intellect, remains always
unperturbed, calm, aware of the Oneness, is samā-dhi. “Self-knowledge
alone is samādhi.”* That is what is meant here. The state where the tripuṭi
is not is brahma-karma-samādhi. The actor, the action and the fruit of
action—all become one whole, pūrṇa.
This śloka is usually chanted before mealtimes at ashrams. This is done to
affirm that whatever we experience, whatever we see, everything is the One
alone. The one who eats, the food eaten, and the process of eating are all
Divine. The digestive juices inside our stomach and the intestines are also
forms of the Divine. The Lord says (15.14), “I exist in the stomach of all
beings as the fire of digestion—jāṭharāgni. I digest all food that is put into
the digestive system.” Thus, the food we take and the digestive energy in
the stomach are made of the same substance. If we go to the root, we will
see that they have all come from the same source. The same genetic
material that has become the hard bone structure has also become the
beautiful visibility through the eye. Some are hard, like the bone and nail,
some are soft, like the skin and hair, and some are fluid, like blood, but the
essential stuff is the same. If we go even deeper to the source, we will find
that they are all Pure Consciousness alone—Divine Stuff. The whole
universe is an expression of that One, non-dual Brahman.
This verse is also chanted during śrāddha-karma. The purpose of this is to
make us aware that the action becomes kṛtsna-karma—whole. When one
knows this truth, there can be no more misery—saṃsāra. The Bhagavata
says, † “Even if the action is not well performed or is partially performed,
the action becomes complete, if followed by the vision of the One Whole,
Brahman.”
When a performer performs the action as
brahma-karma-samādhi, the action
WHEN THE THOUGHT ‘I becomes perfect every moment. For it to
AM THE DOER’ DOES be complete, there is no need for the fruit
to appear. The performer is ever aware
NOT ARISE, AND WHEN
that he is Brahman, his action is
EVERY ACTION IS Brahman, and the result is also Brahman.
PERFORMED WITHOUT Always, every moment, it is full,
complete, pūrṇa.
ANY MOTIVATION, THE
All actions are associated with flaws. But
RESULT WILL NOT no flaw will affect the actor if he is
AFFECT THE always aware of Brahman. The actor,
action and the fruit are all Divine. This is
INDIVIDUAL. what is affirmed again and again. This
knowledge alone will lead to the highest
conflict-less spiritual experience.
4.25 दैवमेवापरे यज्ञं योगिनः पर्युपासते।
ब्रह्माग्नावपरे यज्ञं यज्ञेनैवोपजुह्वति॥
Some yogis perform sacrifices only to devas, whereas others offer their own
self-identity in the fire of Brahman.

In the previous verse, we looked at the perfect meaning of yajña. In this

verse, yajña is being prescribed as a sādhanā.
As long as one retains the individuality, duality remains; ‘I’ and God are
considered separate. This is the bhāva of upāsaka-yogis or sādhakas. The
yajña-spirit can enter the mind of the upāsanā-yogi too. Hence Bhagavan
says here, daivamevāpare yajñaṃ yoginaḥ paryupāsate—whatever they
do is a love-offering at the feet of their beloved deity. Of course, the duality
‘I am the worshipper, and he is my ishṭa-devatā is retained in this state.
Hence this is not the state of Jñāna. But certainly, there is a kind of higher
love happening there. Thus they make their entire life a sacrifice—yajña.
brahmāgnāvapare yajñaṃ yajñenaivopajuhvati is a profound statement.
Here, Bhagavan speaks about the second group of yogis. By the grace of the
Lord, they transform and deify the actions themselves as yajña, and they
offer that yajña to yajña itself. These yogis offer their yajña in the fire of
Brahman—brahmāgnau. And where is that fire of Brahman situated? It is
in the heart of every being. The Śruti says,* “As the gentle fire, the
Brahman is ever shining forth; it is ever effulgent in the Heart as the ‘I
AM’.” This is the pramāṇa-vākya. It is unto that fire, all the fruits of karma
are offered. How is such an offering made? When the doership—the ego—
is removed, when the thought ‘I am the doer’ does not arise, and when
every action is performed without any motivation, naturally, the result will
not affect the individual. Whatever he does merges into the deepest realm of
his personality, in fact, into the impersonal, the Self, Brahman.
daiva-yajña is the worship of God in some form or some bhāva outside.
This is seen in all religions. There are many devatās mentioned in the Vedas
—Indra, Varuna, Yama, Agni, Vishnu, Rudra; they are all named after their
nature. The yajñas that invoke these devatās are called daiva-yajñas. Later,
these yajñas took the form of daiva-pūja. The deities that were worshipped
during the Vedic times changed forms to become the deities Siva, Vishnu
and Devi that are worshipped by the majority during our times. These are
all daivas. The one who worships these daivas is a dualist because he
thinks, ‘The body is there, I am there, and there is a God, and I am offering
to Him.’ This kind of yajña is commonly seen in the world. Here, the
completion has not occurred, but it has certainly glided into a spiritual
dimension.
In the second category, Bhagavan said, yajñaṃ yajñenaivopajuhvati—
yajña is being invoked by the grace of yajña. Such a yajña itself becomes
Vishnu. The doer, the doing, the act, the fruit—all are being influenced by
the grace of the Lord. A sādhaka will come to know this truth at some point
in his life. Sankaracharya says,* “The sādhaka offers his ego-identity in the
fire of pure Consciousness, which is devoid of any limitation. Those who
are steadfast in the awareness that their Self is one with the Infinite
Brahman are the real sannyāsis.”

4.26 श्रोत्रादीनीन्द्रियाण्यन्ये संयमाग्निषु जुह्वति।

शब्दादीन्विषयानन्य इन्द्रियाग्निषु जुह्वति॥
Some yogis offer the senses—hearing and the like—into the fire of self-
control, whereas others offer the sense objects—sound and the like—into
the fire of the senses.

In śloka 3.9, we looked elaborately at

what yajña is, and later, we discussed
TRUE MEDITATION
various kinds of yajñas. Such yajñas are
HAPPENS WHEN A REAL possible only when a seeker comes to
SACRIFICE IS MADE; know the real yajñapati—the Lord of the
yajña. The Inner Being is the yajña-agni
THEN, SOMETHING DEEP —the sacrificial fire. The Self is verily
BLOSSOMS WITHIN. the Lord yajña Himself. When a yajña is
performed flawlessly, He blazes forth
inwardly. Yes, that indeed is the
indication of success in a yajña. True meditation happens when a real
sacrifice is made; then, something deep blossoms within. When the seeker
is ready to sacrifice his animal instincts—the ego—the Lord silently walks
into the yajñaśāla to receive the offering, just like He—as Vamana—visited
Mahabali. This means the experience of the Lord happens in the Heart. He
need not come from anywhere outside as He is ever within as the flame of
Consciousness. When He blazes forth thus, meditation is revealed within.
Such a yajña is the highest form of spiritual experience.

śrotrādīnīndriyāṇyanye saṃyamāgniṣu juhvati

One way of experiencing Him is by subduing the senses. Or we may say
that a sādhaka must initially rein in the senses with his will. Whenever the
senses rise with force, he must keep them in check by reminding himself of
his higher purpose in life and the detrimental nature of the sense objects.
Thus, a subtle yajña unfolds within. This is saṃyama yajña—yajña of self-
control. When the senses are held back thus, they burn. The fire of tapas—
ātma-saṃyama-yogāgni, the fire of self-control—gets lit within. And into
this fire, all the senses are offered as oblation. This is nyāsa, and the one
who perfectly knows this method is a samyak nyāsi—sannyāsi. He is a real
monk. A sādhaka must practise this basic sādhanā. Instead of running after
the sense objects like a street dog that follows a food vendor for food
scraps, he must learn to offer his senses in the fire of control. Gradually, the
energy and vitality that is unlocked in this manner must be channelled to the
higher process of meditation. That is the next step. But the essential thing is
that the senses are controlled, put in order, and made to walk the road of
dharma.

śabdādīnviṣayānanya indriyāgniṣu juhvati

The next is a higher type of yajña. An ārūḍha-yogi—one who has already
risen to the plane of inner illumination—alone can do that yoga. What does
he do? Even after much control, the senses will gravitate naturally towards
the objects. As long as duality is there, as long as one thinks one has a body,
and the senses and the world seem to be there, this natural process will
continue. Though the dharmic movements of the senses might not cause
any pain to the sādhaka, they will still deplete his prāṇa; his inner well-
being will certainly be affected.
At this stage, a yogi finds inner absorption by employing a mystical feat—
he allows the objects to fall into the altar of the senses. He receives all
sensory objects like sound, taste and so on through the senses. But a secret
yoga is practised here; a sacred fire-offering unfolds within him. The
knowledge that is in him subsumes all sense objects, like the sea that
swallows the rivers. We have already spoken about this under the verse
āpūryamāṇam… (BG2.70). Even though the senses may bring in an immense
volume of sensations, his inner space remains achala—quiet, still,
unaffected. How does this happen? It is by the power of the knowledge that
ONLY ONE TRUTH EXISTS. This is the infallible brahmāstra of a Jñāni. All the
objects, the senses and their various feelings, the pleasures, and the pain
they bring—all, all are nothing but the Atman, the pure Consciousness. The
Upanishad says,* “All these are nothing but God.” Nothing else exists.
Seeing, tasting, hearing, touching, smelling, feeling pleasure or pain, the
ego rising and subsiding, sleeping, meditation or samādhi—all are made of
one pure non-dual Consciousness. EKAMEVA ADVITĪYAM. This advaita-jñāna
detoxifies the system. Duality is the toxin which constantly creates conflict
within. All duality ceases by the perfect application of this knowledge.
Advaita-jñāna just swallows the entire poison in one stroke. The result is,
the prārabdha-bhoga does not shake the experience of inner peace. It just
merges in the inner peace as rivers do in the ocean. This is indriyāgniṣu
juhvati—the objects are offered at the altar of the indriyas.
All the sensory movements and interactions of such a knower of Truth are a
yajña. This is the secret that Bhagavan reveals to Uddhava in the ekādaśa
skandha of the Bhagavata,

मनसा वचसा दृष्ट्या गृह्यतेऽन्यैरपीन्द्रियैः।

अहमेव न मत्तोऽन्यदिति बुध्यध्वमञ्जसा॥ SB 11.13.24

Whatever is grasped by the mind, words, eyes and other sense organs are
nothing but Me. Accept with simple trust that I alone exist.
Nothing else exists. This is the secret, the highest form of meditation.

4.27 सर्वाणीन्द्रियकर्माणि प्राणकर्माणि चापरे।

आत्मसंयमयोगाग्नौ जुह्वति ज्ञानदीपिते॥
Some others, ablaze with Self-knowledge, offer all actions of the senses and
the functions of life-energy (prāṇa) into the fire of ātmasaṃyama-yoga—
the yoga of perfect self-restraint.

There is a perfect process of withdrawal—pratyāhāra—whereby form is

offered to the eye, the eye is offered to the mind, the mind to the heart and
the heart to the Immortal Self—Brahman. This is called nyāsa.* This is
ātmasaṃyama-yoga, which is the most important yajña. All other yajñas
must lead one to this. When all sensory activities are held back at the
energy level, and the mind is completely withdrawn into the Heart-centre
and offered in the fire of meditation—in the flame of the pure Awareness ‘I
AM’—that is the inner homa. saṃyama means withdrawal, curbing,
control. It also means the state of samādhi. When the mind is held back
perfectly in the Heart, the state of saṃyama is complete. There the
experience of samādhi dawns, and the Atman shines forth. Such is the
saṃyama spoken of here.
Ears, eyes, nose, tongue and skin are the jñānendriyas—the organs of
perception. The mouth, hands, legs, and organs of excretion and
reproduction are karmendriyas—the organs of action. Hunger, thirst and so
on are prāṇa-karmas. All these are subdued not by the ego but by the
power of the Self—the Atman. This happens by the grace of God. By
repeated chanting of the Lord’s name, the senses and prāṇa become pure.
Once purified, they are easily subdued through surrender. All are offered to
God—the inner Self. His power is invoked by chanting His name or
surrendering to Him. Then, Self-awareness is awakened within. Only by the
awakening of the higher power can these lower activities be held well under
control. When the recollection of the Atman is perfect, one remains
unaffected by the activities of the senses and the prāṇas, because, in reality,
there are no senses or prāṇas; all are nothing but the Atman. It is only due
to delusion that the Atman is seen as the body, senses, mind, and so on. As
the great devotee, Prahlada, sings in delight,† “Prāṇa, senses, the heart, the
speck of consciousness within, all, all are You, O Lord!”
If one tries to control the senses, prāṇa and the mind directly, there is every
chance of a spiritual fall. Initially, the higher power must be awakened
through meditation. This is what is meant here by jñāna-dīpa—lighting the
lamp of Jñāna. We must meditate and awaken that awareness. Whenever
one is not inwardly aflame with that awareness, one must do śravaṇa,
manana and nididhyāsana—listen, recollect, contemplate and meditate—
and thus awaken it again. Then it becomes ablaze—jñāna-dīpita. One must
become absolutely alert every moment. As Buddha said, “ātmadīpo bhava
—be a lamp unto yourself.” Thus when the light of awareness is lit within
oneself each and every moment, the inner world is not in darkness anymore;
every movement is in light, perfect. One is no longer dependent on the
power of the ego but is ever in the current of Grace.

4.28 द्रव्ययज्ञास्तपोयज्ञा योगयज्ञास्तथापरे।

स्वाध्यायज्ञानयज्ञाश्च यतयः संशितव्रताः॥
Some make material offerings, others offer penance, and yet others offer
yoga. Other ascetics, adhering to their vows, make offerings through self-
study and contemplation of the scriptures.

In this verse, Bhagavan lists the various yajñas or spiritual practices of the
austere ones—yatayaḥ. Any activity can become a yajña when it is
performed without any motivation, ego and desire for the fruit. When an act
is performed as worship, as an offering to the Lord, it becomes a yajña.
The word used here is yatayaḥ. It means those who are austere, those who
know how to sacrifice the ego, those who are inwardly awake. They are
saṃśitavratāḥ—they sharpen their meditation and austerities through
constant diligent practice and become purified. Their vrata or vow is so
resolute that it is never broken. An unwavering habit forms in their system.
Many others too take similar vows but give them up at the first sign of a
hurdle. For them, giving up of the vow becomes a habit, and soon this
creates a permanent character damage in their mind. Such people cannot
hold onto anything.
When dravya—material things—are sacrificed, it is dravya-yajña. The
offering of ghee and other oblations in the sacrificial fire, doing pūja in the
temple, offering flowers and fruits to the Lord with a sacrificial attitude are
examples of dravya-yajña. The śāstras say we must not go empty-handed
when approaching our Guru, God or any reverential being.* Some fruit or
money or some other material must be offered. We must cultivate the habit
of giving, sacrificing. If our mind is not habituated to giving, then we
should, with willpower, convince the mind that ‘nothing belongs to me.’
Thus convincing the reluctant mind, one must train it to develop this habit.
A saint once said, “You must give, give and give till there is a pinch in your
heart; only then have you given sufficiently.” Hoard nothing. Expand your
heart. Be free and light. At least whatever things you have in surplus, give it
to the needy. This is dravya-yajña. Offering some material help to others,
without the ego, and considering that God is residing in them is a perfect
dravya-yajña. When an offering is made with bhakti without expecting
anything in return, when it is practised as a tapas, as a spiritual practice,
then it becomes dravya-yajña.
tapo-yajña is performing a spiritual practice for a protracted period and
offering it to the Lord. This yajña can be done every day. Chant the name of
the Lord for two-three hours every day and submit it to the Lord—this is a
perfect offering. Fasting on ekādaśi days and constantly recollecting the
Lord is also a tapo-yajña. Not allowing the ego to rise is a tapo-yajña.
Meditating on the Atman is a jñāna-tapo-yajña.
Next is yoga-yajña. Practising yoga—whether it be Haṭha-yoga or Rāja-
yoga—as an offering to the Lord, only for attaining bhakti, spiritual
evolution, is yoga-yajña. A person practising meditation daily, alone in a
corner of his house, is also doing a yajña. His meditation emanates silence
and healing vibrations all around. And if he does it as an offering to the
Lord, his meditation itself becomes a yoga-yajña. It can also be karma-
yoga.
Studying scriptures such as the Bhagavad Gita or the Bhagavata every day
is an excellent spiritual practice. This is svādhyāya-yajña. The Upanishad
deems it one of the greatest austerities, as it makes one constantly recollect
and contemplate the higher truth. Devotional reading of the Bhagavata for
five or six hours a day for seven days—a saptāha —along with controlled
food and sleep, is a mighty tapas. Such a svādhyāya-yajña becomes a
svādhyāya-jñāna-yajña when, along with the reading, one understands and
contemplates the meaning as well. Or one may approach a spiritual Master
and learn the scriptures such as the Upanishads or the Bhagavad Gita from
him, not for fame or the pride of learning, but for the realisation of God.
When one serves the Master and learns with such pure bhakti, that is a
jñāna-yajña.
As the bhāshyakāra has done, we can take svādhyāya and jñāna as separate
too. svādhyāya—the study of the scriptures—is performed as a yajña.
Devoting one’s childhood to studying the Vedas is a remarkable tapas. For
ten or more years, the child stays with the Guru and studies the Vedas. Later
on, when, through contemplation and meditation, he absorbs the teaching in
himself, it becomes a fruitful jñāna-yajña.
There are some beautiful statements in the Yajur Veda about svādhyāya.*
“Svādhyāya purifies and makes one divine. This discipline of svādhyāya is
a great austerity. Svādhyāya is indeed tapas.” Svādhyāya and pravachana
go together in the śāstras. Hence svādhyāya also means pravachana—
teaching others, transmitting the knowledge to the deserving ones. This is
done by all sages. These two make up complete tapas. The puranas say that
even mighty sages like Valmiki and Vyasa lived with svādhyāya and
pravachana. In the beginning of the Ramayana, it is said that the sages
Valmiki and Narada were established in the discipline of tapas and
svādhyāya. † That is, their own meditations and their study of the scriptures
both go together.
The Bhagavata speaks about three locations where the delusion of ‘I’ and
‘mine’ hide; these are objects, knowledge and action—dravya-jñāna-kriyā-
bhramaḥ. Through the yajñas of offering these to the Divine, the three
illusions get erased—trīn svapnān dhunute. With all these yajñas, one’s
spiritual practice becomes increasingly absorbed in the system. The mind
becomes attuned to meditation, and such a person will always be in a
meditative mood. That is the state of saṃśitavratāḥ—those who have
sharpened their vow, their practice, to such a state that they are ever tuned
to God.

4.29 अपाने जुह्वति प्राणं प्राणेऽपानं तथापरे।

प्राणापानगती रुद्ध्वा प्राणायामपरायणाः॥
Yet others offer as sacrifice the outgoing breath in the incoming, and the
incoming in the outgoing, restraining the flow of the outgoing and incoming
breaths, solely absorbed in the regulation of the life energy.

The subject dealt with in this verse is prāṇa.

prāṇa is the gross form of the mind, and the mind is the subtle form of
prāṇa. Roughly translated, prāṇa means vital energy. The outgoing breath
is apāna, and the incoming breath is prāṇa. Offering the outgoing breath to
the incoming breath is called rechaka-prāṇāyāma. Infilling the body with
the incoming prāṇa is pūraka and holding it inside is kumbhaka. These
prāṇāyāma techniques must be initiated by a Master who is a yogi; only
then will they be effective; only then will prāṇāyāma bloom within as
yoga.
Prāṇa is the realm of thirst, hunger, pleasure, pain and many other
functions—various aspects of the physical, psychic and intellectual sheaths.
The senses are made of prāṇa. The functions of perception, digestion,
assimilation, blood circulation, elimination and excretion are all done by
prāṇa. Prāṇa is vitality; it is energy. All that we call sensations happen in
the sheath of prāṇa. In general terms, disciplining the breath is called
prāṇāyāma. But if we know the prāṇa deeply, the whole process takes on a
different level. To find true well-being physically and mentally, one must
consolidate, harness and conserve prāṇa. Abundance of prāṇa is true
wealth.
Prāṇa-vidyā must be fulfilled before taking to Brahmavidyā. During the
upanayana ceremony, the father, who is also the Guru of the child (his son),
asks the child, “kasya brahmachārī asi—whose student are you?” The boy
replies, “prāṇasya brahmachārī asmi—I am the disciple of prāṇa.” This is
a profound reminder. What it means is that the prāṇa-upāsana and
developing familiarity with the prāṇic body is a prerequisite for
Brahmavidyā. One must inhabit the banks of prāṇa, talk to prāṇa and
meditate on prāṇa. One must learn the language of prāṇa devatā. Years of
intelligent observation of the vital body is necessary before one learns to
communicate with prāṇa.
Breath is only a tiny part of prāṇa. Of course, that is the gross language
with which prāṇa communicates. Prāṇa must be worshipped all through
one’s life. Any egoistic movement in the inner channels of energy corrupts,
corrodes and manipulates the energy flow, resulting in physical and psychic
disturbances. Bhautika (physical), daivika (mental and sensory), and
adhyātmika (spiritual) disruptions are all contained in the realm of prāṇa.
They are all caused by prāṇa alone. “Whatever is seen here is only āpaḥ,”
says the Vedas.* Here, āpaḥ means prāṇa. “āpyante ābhiḥ—it leads us to a
higher life—spiritual life.”
Removing the ego purifies the energy-
ANY EGOISTIC
current that goes within. Thus, when it is
cleansed of the dross of the ego, the
MOVEMENT IN THE prāṇa, the vital energy, becomes an
INNER CHANNELS OF oblation in apāna, the outgoing force.
Thus it gets transformed into pure
ENERGY CORRUPTS, spiritual energy. The word juhvati
CORRODES AND signifies absorption. At times, the process
of inhalation or ingestion leads to
MANIPULATES THE absorption in the Heart, and at times the
ENERGY FLOW, process of exhalation or elimination leads
to absorption in the Heart. When there is
RESULTING IN PHYSICAL any inner disturbance, by offering the
AND PSYCHIC inner energy to an outer spiritual centre—
to our Guru or to a devatā in a temple or
DISTURBANCES. to a higher presence—we purify it. This is
the offering of prāṇa in apāna. The
outward movement of the mind to hold an energy-centre is apāna. It
purifies the prāṇa. The purified prāṇa, when in touch with the inner centre
—the Self—comes out as throbbing divine energy. Thus a higher outer
presence purifies the inner.
Once the inner pot that is the heart (kumbha) is filled with pure vitality
(kumbhaka), the pure inner energy emanates from within to purify the outer
surroundings. Thus disciplining the free flow of prāṇa, certain yogis
transform it as a great yajña—a profound spiritual process. By the alchemy
of advaita jñāna, their biological and psychical energy dance is transformed
into spiritual energy. Thus and only thus does a sādhaka transcend the
body-mind. Hence this is also called prāṇa-yajña.
Pure śraddhā has entered my infilling breath…. Om
prāṇāya svāha!
Here I fill my heart with the oblation of nectar
Let the vital energy be absorbed in the source auspiciously
 Let it not hurt me in any way… let all that goes within,
nourish
Let my self merge in Brahman and be illumined as the
Immortal
A free rendering of the Prāṇāgnihotra Mantra from the Mna.Up.

4.30 अपरे नियताहाराः प्राणान्प्राणेषु जुह्वति।

सर्वेऽप्येते यज्ञविदो यज्ञक्षपितकल्मषाः॥
Still others, who regulate their diet, offer prāṇa to prāṇa. All these are
knowers of yajña, and their blemishes are destroyed by the practice of
yajña.

Here, apare implies some other sādhakas. In spiritual life, āhāra or food is
a deep subject to be dealt with. The discipline of diet is the first step in all
sādhanās. When a person fasts on ekādaśi, his prāṇa will wait for food at
the regular time, and if it is not forthcoming, prāṇa will offer itself in the
fire of hunger. This is prāṇānprāṇeṣu juhvati—offering of prāṇa in
prāṇa.
niyatāhārāḥ—systematic regulation of food. This is an essential spiritual
practice. Chāndrāyaṇa vrata is one such practice in which the food intake
is systematically reduced starting from the full moon day to the new moon
day (pūrṇima to amāvāsya). Then it is gradually increased each day until it
reaches back to the regular intake on the full moon day. This is indeed a
difficult vrata. Many such yajñas are prescribed in the Vedas. People think
that the ceremonial Vedic portion is only desire-oriented. This is not so.
Those who really know the Vedas know that the karma-kāṇḍa is a great
repository of tapas.
Every yajña in the Vedic karma-kāṇḍa portion is a scientific process for
putting prāṇa in order. It is prāṇāyāma in its all-comprehensive
dimensions. The very fire that is worshipped by the Vedas is prāṇa.
Mantras are also made of prāṇic energy. Through such profound significant
acts, highly refined psychosomatic systems—bodies—are made. Through
such mighty yajñas, the Brahminical body is purified and becomes a fit
receptacle for higher spiritual vibrations.
The alchemy of converting food into medicine and fuel for spiritual
experience is dealt with in the Upanishads. “sarvauṣadham-ucyate—food
is universal medicine,” says the Upanishad. If one is not vigilant, the food
will consume the consumer. “It gets consumed, and it consumes.”*
Rishis have explored this subject deeply and concluded that spiritual
practices cannot be fruitful without diet regulation. Each sādhaka must find
the food that is suitable for him. He must also deify it by offering it to the
Lord. The Bhagavata says, † “If not made sacred by offering it to God, do
not use it.” Through such regulated dieting done as a spiritual practice,
sattva-guṇa blooms in one’s mind. And through sattva-guṇa one develops
the power to hold to spiritual moods for protracted periods.
There is one more point to be considered in the topic of niyatāhārāḥ.
Sankaracharya says, āhāra is not just the food that is taken through the
mouth; it also includes those that are taken in through the eyes, the ears, the
nose and the skin. ‡ Whatever is consumed through the senses is āhāra.
Hence, niyatāhārāḥ means the disciplining of all of these. They must be
put in order. Then, the prāṇa, which wants to eat from the world, consumes
itself. The energy that would have dissipated thus turns inward and merges
in the Source. This is prāṇān-prāṇeṣu juhvati. This offering of prāṇa into
the fire of prāṇa is the real mystical rite performed by a mature yogi. In a
jīvanmukta, this yajña takes place incessantly because he knows
‘everything is me.’ Whatever he takes in, whatever happens in him, is an
offering of prāṇa into prāṇa.
As a conclusion, Bhagavan declares that all these noble ones we spoke
about are knowers of yajña. A great many methods of converting action into
a spiritual practice have been declared. When an action is done without the
ego and as an offering to the Lord, then yajña, the Lord, becomes pleased.
Yajña means Vishnu. The Inner Being affirms from within—‘Yes! Well
done!’ A pat comes from the Heart. Then you know that the offering is
received by Him. There will be a great settling inside. Profound peace
blooms within.
4.31 यज्ञशिष्टामृतभुजो यान्ति ब्रह्म सनातनम्।
नायं लोकोऽस्त्ययज्ञस्य कु तोऽन्यः कु रुसत्तम॥
Those who partake of the nectarine remnants of yajña attain the Eternal
Brahman. For the one who does not perform sacrifice (yajña), even this
world is not; how then the other, O best of the Kurus?

In any yajña, the śiṣṭa or the remains, called puroḍāśa, is considered equal
to amṛta—nectar. amṛta means the nectar that devas consume. It also
means immortality. It purifies the mind. The food received after the offering
to the Lord in the temple is highly potent. Such food becomes deified; it
becomes completely purified. The prāṇa-content in it is very high. Here,
Bhagavan carries the same principle to the entire field of action. Whatever
you do, do it as a pūja—a service to the Lord. And what you get as the
remains is highly potent spiritually. “Do your karma as a yajña; live
happily, joyfully, on whatever is earned as the result of your action”—this is
the simple message by Sankaracharya in Bhaja Govindam.*

THE SAGE OF KANCHI — sahasra-bhojanam

Any simple act can be transformed into yajña. It need not be anything big
or elaborate. Even a small action can become a yajña provided one has
created that spirit in oneself. Action is only an outward indication, whereas
this mystical yajña happens in the Heart. Thus any act can be transformed
as a powerful spiritual experience. A rich man visited the Sage of Kanchi,
Chandrasekharendra Saraswati Swami and asked him, “Mahaswami! I have
come from a distant place. I want to perform a special yajña of offering
food to a thousand people.” Acharya was happy to hear this and gave him
blessings for the yajña. A poor old lady standing nearby listened to this and
expressed to the Sage, “O Periyava—great one! I too have been dreaming
of performing such an offering, but not to this level. I am not able to feed
even eleven people. I am too poor. What can I do!”
The Swami said, “Why, you can feed millions! I will tell you a way. Take a
sack full of rice and wander about in every nook and corner of the villages.
Wherever you find an anthill or a line of ants, offer some rice to them. And
while making this offering, remember that it is not just the ants that are
eating, it is the Vaiśvānara, the Yajña-Vishnu, who is within the ants who is
receiving the rice. Keep in your mind that you are feeding the Lord in those
ant-bodies and thus offer the rice. That is a wonderful yajña.” With great
devotion, the lady did as advised and returned after some days to meet the
Swami. Then the Swami said, “You will attain Vishnu-loka because you
have fed Yajña-vishnu in so many forms.” She was delighted to hear this.
Thus, a great yajña was performed in such a simple way. It did not require a
lot of wealth or any elaborate rituals. Those who perform such yajña will
attain Vishnu-loka. This means they will attain the eternal Brahman. A mind
that is cleansed and purified by yajña easily merges in samādhi. This is
yānti brahma sanātanam.
A person who does not help or serve others in this world will be ignored or
even hated by all. nāyaṃ loko'styayajñasya kuto'nyaḥ kurusattama.
Without mutual service, we cannot survive in this plane of existence. Then
what to speak of the ‘other’? kuto'nyaḥ? In the Bhagavata, Lord Kapila
says, “If you are not compassionate to fellow creatures, and you perform
elaborate pūja with expensive articles, you are not worshipping Me; you are
only insulting Me.”
Here amṛtabhujaḥ means those who enjoy immortality. When the mind is
cleansed by the yajña, the Substratum shines forth. That is the Self, the
Atman. The mind merges instantaneously in that, the Eternal Reality—
sanātanam.

4.32 एवं बहुविधा यज्ञा वितता ब्रह्मणो मुखे।

कर्मजान्विद्धि तान्सर्वानेवं ज्ञात्वा विमोक्ष्यसे॥
Various yajñas such as these are spread out in the storehouse of the Vedas,
which is the face of Brahman. Know them all to be born of karma, and thus
knowing you shall be free.

Here, Bhagavan begins with the word ‘evam’, which means ‘thus’. This
means that the yajñas have already been enumerated. They are bahuvidhāḥ
—of various kinds, and they are spread out, strewn—vitatāḥ—in the
karma-kāṇda portion of the Vedas.
The Vedas are the face of Brahman—brahmaṇaḥ mukhe. This is a
mystical expression. It means the source where one comes face to face with
Brahman, the Absolute Truth. That is the mystical Heart-centre in us. There
lies all knowledge, all methods to liberation, in their seed form. The secret
of yajña too lies there. As we have already discussed, a real yajña makes
one experience God. karmajān viddhi tān sarvān—all yajñas are born out
of karma or action, and the action is to be converted as yajña. Action is
natural, and this yajña-spirit comes from knowing the spiritual truth.
Many yajñas are found in the Vedas. In fact, the smṛti says,* “The body of a
Brahmin, the austere one, or the body of the Vedas, is made of various kinds
of yajñas and mahā-yajñas. Through these yajñas, a spiritual human being
is developed gradually. Hence it is said that a brāhmaṇa is born from the
face of Purusha. It is impossible to bring perfection in the body-mind within
one lifespan; therefore, the wise solution was to evolve this process over
several generations through a carefully prescribed life. The yajñas in the
Vedas are profound mystical rites to purify ourselves. These yajñas are
conducted for a certain duration—five, six, eleven, or twenty-four days, or a
month, or even a year (samvatsara-yajña). Some even go on for thousands
of years, generation after generation.* It is like building a grand bridge
through which many souls ascend to the celestial realm, generation after
generation. This is the great secret of sacrifice—yajña.
Many of these yajñas are ingrained in the everyday practices of those born
in the Vedic tradition. The tradition, with all its scriptures, āśramas and
varṇas, make up the body of yajña-purusha. Life itself constitutes a long
yajña. A traditional lifestyle runs from dawn to night within the rails of
Vedic prescription. The Vedas have set for us a genetic clock that can be
evolved and handed over easily and effortlessly through generations.
A great many services and worships take place unconsciously. These
karmas are to be converted as yajñas. When done unconsciously, we do not
get the spiritual fruit. Only when we perform them knowingly do we reap
their spiritual fruit. It is a common tradition to feed crows, squirrels, cows
and dogs as a part of our daily worship. Guests who come unannounced,
brahmins and sannyāsins, are also welcomed and offered food. These are all
mostly done as part of traditional life while simultaneously seeking some
worldly benefit. But when these actions are done by beholding God in
them, one is set free—evaṃ jñātvā vimokṣyase. This entire teaching is to
make us know that everyone is Brahman; everywhere there is Brahman
alone. Actions too arise from the Source, Brahman—brahma-mukha. Thus
all yajñas emanate from that same Divine Source. Hence any action can
take us back to that Divine Source—the hṛdayam. Every finite action arises
from the Infinite. And if we hold on to it and go back to the Source, we will
reach the Infinite.
There is a sūtra which says that Brahman is the source for all śāstras. †
Where is Brahman experienced? Indeed it is experienced in one’s Heart.
One’s real Self is the mukha, the face, the source of Brahman. All śāstras,
all knowledge is hidden in the Heart. We must know how to unlock that
treasure house.

4.33 श्रेयान्द्रव्यमयाद्यज्ञाज्ज्ञानयज्ञः परन्तप।

सर्वं कर्माखिलं पार्थ ज्ञाने परिसमाप्यते॥
O Parantapa (one of immense austerity)! Superior to any dravya-yajña
(sacrifice of material substances) is jñāna-yajña. O Partha! All actions, in
their entirety, culminate in the Knowledge of the Self.

Jñāna—Knowledge of the Self—is the

COLLECTING ALL THE zenith of attainment. When rightly
performed, all actions lead one there.
THOUGHTS FROM THE “That is karma, which does not bind you;
CIRCUMFERENCE AND and that *
is knowledge, which releases
you.” The words sarvaṃ karmākhilaṃ
OFFERING THEM IN THE pārtha jñāne parisamāpyate are very
CENTRE—IN THE FIRE auspicious. The second half of the verse
is jñāna-praśaṃsā—a revelation of the
OF ‘I AM’—IS JÑĀNA- glory of Jñāna. Bhagavan Ramana
YAJÑA. Maharshi says, “Action carries in its
womb the seed of its own destruction.”
Very pithy, sagely words! Action, when
performed in the right way, without any motive, gradually leads to Jñāna.
In this verse, Bhagavan is speaking of jñāna-yajña. In Vedic sacrifices,
various materials are sacrificed, but in jñāna-yajña, it is ignorance that is
burnt in the fire of knowledge. Here Bhagavan addresses Arjuna as the
scorcher of the ‘other’—parantapaḥ. What a name! Yes, Jñāna does the
same—it erases the other from the system. The other is the root of all
problems. Every conflict—vikalpa—comes from the other.† When the other
is not, in the non-dual state, it is nirvikalpa—all conflicts come to an end;
anya-darśana is removed. Such a one is called dūrībhūta-anyadarśanaḥ—a
person who is far removed from seeing the other, says the Bhagavata
(3.27.10). Parantapa also means the one of immense tapas, austerity. Jñāna is
the highest form of tapas.
The ‘other’ demands activity of the mind. Thoughts are needed to deal with
the ‘other’. But to deal with yourself, you do not need thoughts, only
spontaneity, because you are Existence; you are Experience; you are
Consciousness. Your existence is the mere ‘I AM.’ ‘I’ is the Atman,
Brahman. It is ever self-effulgent—svayamprakāśa. It makes itself felt by
its own effulgence.
The moment the mind goes out from the centre to hold something outside,
you are on a flight of thoughts, and peace is lost. But when the mind stays
in the centre—in the simple awareness ‘I AM’—peace reigns. Collecting all
the thoughts from the circumference and offering them in the centre—in the
fire of ‘I AM’—is jñāna-yajña. This mystical rite happens secretly in the
sacred centre of the Jñāni’s heart. Once this happens, doership and
enjoyership get burnt and digested by the Inner Being. Without leaving a
trace, all actions find fulfilment in Self-Realisation—sarvaṃ karma jñāne
parisamāpyate. Parisamāpti means fulfilment, dissolution, complete
cessation.
Action in any form is a disturbance in Consciousness. It is a scattered state.
It is moving away from the centre. Yajña brings the mind back to the centre
and dissolves it in the Source. The culmination of jñāna-yajña is perfect
poise—brāhmī-sthiti—where the state of samādhi is revealed;
Ātmānubhava alone remains. dravya-yajña gets transformed by knowledge.
Giving food to the needy is a noble act. The hungry one’s relief gives you
noble joy. This is ordinary noble joy. But when the same action is
performed as an offering to the Lord, without seeking any benefit in return,
it becomes karma-yoga. Then, the mind becomes purified and eligible for
Jñāna. The giving turns into a profound spiritual experience. A person who
looks at every being as the Lord, as the Atman, and never feels that he is
doing anything, is in incessant jñāna-yajña. He is ever beholding that
yajña-purusha everywhere. This is the supreme jñāna-yajña.
The existence of such a Realised Soul is a great yajña. From that centre
emanates vitalising and healing energy. His very presence is like a healing
balm to suffering souls.

*
Upanishad is upadeśa, and upadeśa is Upanishad. It makes us recognise our
very existence as divine. ‘You are the Infinite. You are not this body or the
mind or the ego. You are the Atman. You are ever free’—this knowledge de-
hypnotises and wakes us up from the hypnosis of māyā. A worldly life
devoid of Self-knowledge is precarious, like walking on a razor’s edge.
Know the Truth and be free. Once you know the Truth, even if you run
blindfolded, you will not fall. Hence, the Śruti says,* “Arise! Awake! Seek
the mighty, adorable Masters and realise!” This Kathopanishad mantra is
the authority—pramāṇaśruti-vākya—for the next Gita śloka.

4.34 तद्विद्धि प्रणिपातेन परिप्रश्नेन सेवया।

उपदेक्ष्यन्ति ते ज्ञानं ज्ञानिनस्तत्त्वदर्शिनः॥
Know that by your obeisance, questioning reverentially, and by your
service, the wise who have realised the Truth will instruct you in that
Knowledge.

In the previous verse, we have already seen how a yajña done with Self-
knowledge is superior to all other yajñas. This has also been ascertained by
sages of all times. Someone once asked Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi,
“What is the greatest help I can render to the world?” Maharshi said, “To
know your Self.” Yes indeed! The biggest disturbance to the ‘Whole’ is to
think we are separate from the whole. To know that we are one with the
whole is the greatest service. Only then does one cease to disturb the whole
with the individuality.
tadviddhi praṇipātena paripraśnena sevayā
This is the age-old tradition of spiritual transmission. The adorable method
of seeking knowledge from a Guru is pictured in this verse. The śishya
approaches the Guru with pure devotion and gets this knowledge.
Generally, the sampradāya is that a mumukshu—a yearning seeker—finds
an Enlightened Master, stays with him and gets trained in meditation
(upāsanā) and also the Upanishadic Truth. To fortify this sampradāya, even
great Acharyas such as Sankaracharya went to a Master. The eight-year-old
Sankara walked thousands of miles from Kerala to Madhya Pradesh to meet
the Enlightened Master Govinda Bhagavatpada, who lived on the banks of
the Narmada. He stayed with the Master for two years, followed his
instructions, went to Kashi, and from there, started his sacred journeys—
digvijaya. Divine incarnations, such as Krishna and Rama too, approached a
sage and learnt this in the prescribed manner. In the Bhagavata, Krishna
remarks to his brother-disciple Sudama that it is the sheer grace of the Guru
that has given him peace.*
In this verse, the terms ‘praṇipāta’, ‘paripraśna’ and ‘sevā’ reveal the
guru-bhakti. When a person reaches a state where he recognises that the
Infinite cannot be attained by action or thought—which are by themselves
limited—he ripens so as to invoke and receive the Infinite in himself. Then,
mysteriously, contact with the Master happens. At this sacred moment, the
disciple bows at the feet of the Master and surrenders his ego. This is
praṇipāta. Finding a centre where one can easily do namaskāra is a great
spiritual fortune. This is not merely physical exercise. The whole body falls
flat with immense devotion. It is by the natural subsidence of the ego-sense
in that mighty presence that one identifies the Master.
Then ensues the dialogue with the Master.
THE EGO IS NOT SIMPLY paripraśna means questioning with deep
reverence, faith and devotion. The
THE ‘I’-THOUGHT. THE disciple waits for the right moment to
approach the Guru and ask his questions.
ENTIRE BODY IS THE
Such repeated discussions make him get
EGO. connected to the Master and contact the
heart of the Master. paripraśna is a
mystical rite. In the Bhagavata, this is
compared to the Vedic rite, where the sacred fire is ignited by churning the
araṇi stick using a wooden block as the base. Here the disciple is said to be
the araṇi stick and the Guru, the wooden block where the churning
happens. Knowledge is the fire that is thus generated. This is the yajña of
Knowledge transmission. If the disciple is ripe enough, this magic can
unfold even in a single session.
sevayā—by serving the Master with absolute devotion. In the spiritual
tradition, often, the disciple lives with the Master and serves him for a long
duration or even his entire life. A mature disciple serves the Guru
unconditionally; he does not expect or desire anything in return, not even
Realisation. Any form of desire can obstruct the flow of Grace. Hence sevā
is being advocated by Bhagavan. Such devotees are full and content by their
sevā—sevayā pūrṇāḥ. They feel fulfilled by mere service; much love for
the Master has arisen in their heart.
The ego is not simply the ‘I’-thought. The entire body is the ego. Each and
every cell carries the ego-sense. One way to cleanse them is by seeing the
Lord in the Guru and serving him with devotion. The Bhagavata says,*
“Serve the Master without māyā, without any inhibition, deception or
hypocrisy, and follow his teaching. By this, Hari, the Lord who is in your
heart as well as the Master’s heart, will be pleased.” This is the spiritual
fruition. “gurudevatātmā” says the Bhagavata. It means Guru, God, and
one’s Self are one. When the disciple serves the Guru, he is, in fact, serving
the Atman. “ācāryaṃ māṃ vijānīyāt (SB11.17.27)—know the Master to be
Me,” says Krishna.
To such a disciple, the Master transmits Brahman—upadekṣyanti. He
reveals the Truth in the most intimate way. Hence the prefix ‘upa’ is used
here. ‘diśa’ means to indicate. As the reality is one’s own Self, it cannot be
attained anew; it only needs to be pointed out. Hence the Guru is the deśika
—the one who points out. Often a mudrā—a sign, a simple hint—is
sufficient for a ripe disciple to realise the Truth. Lord Dakshinamurti
revealed the Infinite to the sages through Chinmudrā, a mystical sign by
which the real nature of the ‘I’ is made to be experienced.

विद्राविताशेषतमोगणेन मुद्राविशेषेण मुहुर्मुनीनाम्।

निरस्य मायां दयया विधत्ते देवो महांस्तत्त्वमसीति बोधम्॥ DS 3
The entire darkness of the sages was erased by the mere mystical sign of
Chinmudrā. With great compassion, the Lord removed their māyā and
transmitted the awareness of ‘That Thou Art— TATTVAMASI’ to them.
jñāninaḥ tattvadarśinaḥ—the enlightened men see the tattva, the Atman,
in everyone. Here, tattva does not mean mere philosophy; it is the state of
the Absolute—the Boundless Being. Tat-tvam means ‘That is you.’ This is a
mahāvākya. The very look of a Jñāni is an initiation into the mahāvākya
TATTVAMASI. Many have experienced this in the presence of Bhagavan
Ramana Maharshi. His very look made them feel that they are Brahman.
Such a vision is tattva-darśanam. Maharshi says,* “To see in others, only
the Chit, the Awareness; to feel in everyone only the boundless Being, is
tattva-darśanam.”

GURU’S GRACE
A spiritual seeker put this question to Muruganar, a saintly disciple of Sri
Ramana Maharshi—‘Swami, what sādhanā did you do to realise the Self?’
The saint retorted with tears, “My Master did not give me time even to
close my eyes.” His love for Ramana Bhagavan was such that he absorbed
the state of his Master in the very first visit.
By his mere glance,
He made me abide
In the state of
Deathless Being-ness

Thus sings Muruganar about the glory of Bhagavan Ramana.

When we look at others, we see the body, whereas a Jñāni sees only the
Atman. This is tattva-darśana. When the Master looks at the surrendered
disciple, his vision is ‘I am you’. This samādhi-yoga happens in the Jñāni,
invoked by the devotion of the disciple. The Truth just shoots from the heart
of the Master to the heart of the disciple, and the disciple recognises that he
is already free. † The Master tells him, ‘you are liberated,’ and he discovers
his ever-liberated state. Thus and only thus can fulfilment happen.
The perfect teacher is in a non-dual state. He has become one with all. All
‘otherness’ has vanished for him. He looks at the disciple not as ‘another’.
This is ananya-bhāva. The Kathopanishad says, ‡ “The teacher must be
ananya, established in the no-other state.” The Upanishad then goes on to
say something which appears to be contradictory.§ “This cannot be attained
by employing our egoistic mind. It must be taught by another.” In this
contradiction lies the beauty of spiritual life. A person who has gone beyond
the sense of other-ness is needed to tell you ‘there is no other’. Manifesting
as the Guru outside, the Inner Being transmits the teaching to the disciple.
The Master says, ‘Dear, you and I are one.’ What sheer mystical
transcendence!

SPECIAL POINT
Narmada parikrama is an age-old tradition in which the devotees
reverentially circumambulate the sacred river. It may take a year or two or
even more to complete. The parikrama is a form of worship of the river,
and its purpose is to develop an intimacy with the river and to absorb its
sacred vibrations. Such a mystical communion with the river will be
spiritually beneficial for the seeker. A disciple’s relationship with the Master
should be like this. Only when an inner connection is established between
the disciple and the Master will the teaching come alive in the disciple. The
sole purpose of a disciple’s service is to create this inner intimacy with the
Master. The relationship between the Master and the disciple is sheer divine
romance. The disciple almost becomes a limb of the Master’s body. He
recognises even the slightest hint from the Master. It is the deepest
relationship possible at the human level. It transcends all human boundaries
and fuses with the Divine.
The Master, who is a Jñāni, is not a person. He is a presence, a profound
presence. The disciple too is not a person; he is a being with an immense
inner longing to attain the Truth. The disciple’s love and unconditional
service done for the Master invokes the power of Grace within the Master.
It establishes a subtle bond between the two. Serving the Master gives an
opportunity for the disciple to bask in the presence of the Master and
gradually soak it into his very being. Outwardly, the disciple may appear to
be carrying out only mundane activities, but inwardly, an extraordinary
transformation is unfolding in him. His inner being gradually absorbs the
Chit-śakti of the Master and is prepared to receive the teaching.
 This mystical transformation cannot
THE MASTER, WHO IS A unfold Master.
without a deep connection with the
Without this, whatever
JÑĀNI, IS NOT A communication the disciple may have
PERSON. HE IS A with the Master—phone calls, letters, or
even lengthy discussions—will not help
PRESENCE, A PROFOUND him much spiritually; of course, they may
PRESENCE. THE be beneficial at the surface level and
inspire him to continue on the path. But
DISCIPLE TOO IS NOT A when it comes to true spiritual
PERSON; HE IS A BEING transmission, mere words are powerless.
The most potent help comes from the
WITH AN IMMENSE Master’s being-ness. The power that the
INNER LONGING TO Master has employed to abide in the Self
will initiate the disciple as well. A
ATTAIN THE TRUTH. deserving disciple will naturally attract a
powerful being destined to be his Master.
This indeed is the most sacred
relationship that is possible in the world.
If it were possible for the teaching to come alive in a seeker without the
presence of an Enlightened Being, that would have resulted in a great
spiritual revolution by now. We live in a time when it is extremely easy to
access and read spiritual literature. Many spiritual books, including the
Vedas, the Upanishads, the Gita and the translations and commentaries
written by great sages, are available freely on the internet these days. Each
day, numerous spiritual messages and videos are being circulated on
messaging applications. Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi’s teachings, including
the sacred process of Self-enquiry—‘WHO AM I?’—is being circulated
among one and all. If knowing the teaching were enough, surely, all would
have become enlightened by now. Merely understanding the teaching using
the intellect is not enough; in fact, such people (who think that is sufficient)
tend to declare Vedanta ‘dry’ and ‘a mere philosophy’. Without the
initiation of an Enlightened Master, even the highest teaching is inert; it
cannot elevate the seeker spiritually. The real transformation happens only
when the Master breathes into the disciple his own Being-ness.
 The Master had a deep dip in the celestial ocean of pure
Awareness
And came out divinely translucent
His gaze, like the moonlight, fell on his beloved disciple
The disciple saw in that gaze the water of spirit in form
It was the manifested ocean of absolute peace!
The Master too saw not a devotee, a person
It was a river in spate, a river in hunger to merge in the
ocean
An intense hug, a deep embrace of water and water!
The vast mass of water danced heavily its way into the ocean
of bliss Swallowed was the river
And lo… the heavens poured forth pure water of sky…
Tears of bliss! Peace… non-dual… fulfilment

4.35 यज्ज्ञात्वा न पुनर्मोहमेवं यास्यसि पाण्डव।

येन भूतान्यशेषेण द्रक्ष्यस्यात्मन्यथो मयि॥
Knowing this, O Pandava, you will never again be deluded; by this you will
see all beings in yourself and in Me.

In dim light, one misapprehends a rope for a snake and screams in terror.
This misapprehension is neither due to the snake nor the rope. It is simply
due to a delusion in the intellect. All Vedantic texts have used this analogy
to clarify this point. Buddha too has referred to this analogy. All suffering
has only one cause, and that is the mind which says that something else
exists other than the Reality, the Self.
Mind means ignorance; mind means postulating or accepting anything other
than the Atman. From that comes desire, which grows like wildfire into lust,
anger, hatred, and so on. If nothing exists other than the Self, whom can you
hate, and to whom can you get attached!
yena bhūtāni aśeṣeṇa drakṣyasi ātmani
—by that knowledge, you behold the
ALL SUFFERING HAS
entire world and all creatures as Self, in
ONLY ONE CAUSE, AND your Self. yat jñātvā na punarmoham
THAT IS THE MIND evaṃ yāsyasi pāṇḍava—O Pandava,
after knowing this, no more can anything
WHICH SAYS THAT delude you. You are beyond all delusion.
SOMETHING ELSE EXISTS When light comes, darkness vanishes.
Similarly, the moment you know the Self,
OTHER THAN THE you are free of delusion.
REALITY, THE SELF. All the great ones had only one goal—the
removal of sorrow. They found that the
cause for sorrow lies in oneself. If it were in others, if it were outside the
self, it would not be possible to remove it. The cause for sorrow is nothing
but delusion born of ignorance. And from that ensues all suffering. When I
think of another person as the cause of my sorrow, moha is born. Nothing
exists other than the Self—this is the conclusion of the Upanishads.

यस्मिन्सर्वाणि भूतानि आत्मैवाभूद्विजानतः।

तत्र को मोहः कः शोकः एकत्वमनुपश्यतः॥ Isa.Up. 7

What more delusion, what more grief, can there be for the Knower who has
the uninterrupted awareness of the Oneness and to whom all have become
the Self!
This is the secret. This Gita śloka is a verse-rendering of the above
Upanishadic mantra. When you know that wherever you go, you meet only
your Beloved—your own Self—you are always free. It is the mind which
creates duality. It makes you see ‘I’, ‘you’, ‘he’ and all such differences.
The same mind must be washed clean with the pure knowledge of advaita.
The Upanishad says,

मनसैवेदमाप्तव्यं नेह नानास्ति किञ्चन।

मृत्योः स मृत्युं गच्छति य इह नानेव पश्यति॥ Ka.Up. 2.1.11

The mind must be trained to hold on to this state of knowledge. It must

absorb the Truth and learn to see the Oneness everywhere. There is no
plurality anywhere—neha nānāsti kiñcana. There is no separateness
anywhere. One who sees duality will fall deep into death.
The one who sees separateness and lives according to that understanding
will go from death to death. Ignorance of one’s real nature and
identification with the ego is death. Hence Bhagavan says, “Arjuna! Know
this Truth, and let your mind be a power of Self-knowledge, beholding
everywhere the same Atman.”

4.36 अपि चेदसि पापेभ्यः सर्वेभ्यः पापकृ त्तमः।

सर्वं ज्ञानप्लवेनैव वृजिनं सन्तरिष्यसि॥
Even if you are the most sinful of all sinners, you shall certainly cross all
sins by the raft of Self-knowledge alone.

vṛjinam means sin. The guilt caused by doing unethical and immoral acts is
sin. We read in devotional literature about great saints narrating the list of
sins they have committed and beseeching the Lord for redemption. Some
saints superimpose such sins on themselves and weep to the Lord so that
someone who may have gone through such experiences finds it redemptive.
They do this out of their compassionate heart.
Whatever may be the sin, Jñāna will cleanse all. Once, a person came to
Bhagavan Ramana and confessed that he had committed some grievous sin.
With great sorrow, he asked, “Will there be any redemption for me?”
Bhagavan heard him out calmly and told him, “Yes! There is redemption
provided you give up the doership—‘I have done this’.” The Enlightened
Master’s words had a profound effect on the man. He became quiet and
calm. After some years, he was found as a great saint in Uttarkashi. He
recounted with tears, “That one word from Bhagavan removed my ego. I
was established in the Self.”
“Why have I left undone the good, and why have I done that which is
evil?”* Such thoughts will not torment a knower of the Truth, says the
Upanishad.
api cet—even if you happen to be the
worst sinner, all sins are washed clean by
IN THE EYES OF JÑĀNA, the waters of Jñāna. All sins, including
THE ONLY SIN IS the doership of sin, are all mere dream-
stuff. Waking and dream are
DOERSHIP. IT IS superimposed on the Self along with the
ego. Only the substratum, the Atman, Sat-
DOERSHIP THAT Chit-Ānanda, is real. Though the sins
TORMENTS THE SOUL. may appear to be enormous like an ocean,
the small raft of Jñāna—jñāna-pḷava—
can take you across in a trice. Pḷava also
means one leap. Pḷavana means to jump. Thus, jñānapḷavena santariṣyasi
means in one leap, you can be established in the Atman.
In the eyes of Jñāna, the only sin is doership. It is doership that torments
the soul. The Ashtavakra Gita says,* “Doership is like the burning midday
sun.” The guilt associated with having done wrong creates a great deal of
suffering in the soul. The antidote for this problem is to enquire—‘Who is
the doer?’ ‘Who says I have done this?’ ‘Who is this “I”?’ When the prick is
felt within, it is the right moment to enquire. When the ‘I’-thought throbs
within, that is the right time to dive within and seek the source of the ‘I’-
thought. Then, that which says, ‘I’ goes back to the Source and reveals that
pure non-dual, incorruptible Substratum—the Self. Thus, whenever
doership arises, enquire, ‘Who is the doer?’ ‘Who is this I?’ This is the
medicine. And in one leap from the seen to the Seer, be established in the
Seer, the Infinite Self.

4.37 यथैधांसि समिद्धोऽग्निर्भस्मसात्कु रुतेऽर्जुन।

ज्ञानाग्निः सर्वकर्माणि भस्मसात्कु रुते तथा॥
As the blazing fire reduces wood to ashes, O Arjuna, so does the fire of
Knowledge reduce all karma to ashes.

This verse is a continuation of the previous verse. Whatever may be the

action, it is not the action but the doership that binds. As the fire burns dry
grass or dry wood, Jñāna burns away the doership. Actions are
superimposed on the Self only due to identification with that body and
mind. Actionlessness is the nature of the Self. In this way, the jñānāgni
burns away all actions.
sarva-karmāṇi means sañchita, prārabdha and āgāmi; Sañchita karma are
the actions of the past that are yet to bear fruit. Sañchita means collected.
These are hidden in the subtle body and might germinate at any time.
Prārabdha karma are the actions of the past that have started to fructify in
the present life. Prārabdha means ‘that which has become active with
force.’ The body is prārabdha. Āgāmi means ‘that which will come.’ The
actions we perform in this life due to our will, desires and drives are āgāmi.
Āgāmi karma are actions of the present that are yet to bear fruit in the future
by the law of cause and effect. In reality, there is only one kind of karma;
the root of karma is ignorance; from ignorance arises desire; from desire,
action, and from action, the fruit. Karma is segregated as three based on its
varied characteristics. Perfect segregation of karma, however, is not
possible.
It is the general theory that after Realisation, only āgāmi and sañchita are
dissolved, whereas the prārabdha-karma—that which has already started
fruition—must be undergone. But the purest stance of Vedanta is that when
doership is gone, all karmas get dissolved. Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi has
declared this in Sat-darśana.

करोमि कर्मेति नरो विजानन्

बाध्यो भवेत्कर्मफलं च भोक्तु म्।
विचारधूता हृदि कर्तृता चेत्
कर्मत्रयं नश्यति सैव मुक्तिः॥ Sat-darsana 38

When a person thinks ‘I am doing,’ he is bound to experience the karma-

phala—the fruit of action. Through the enquiry ‘Who is the doer’, when a
person dissolves the doership and finds that there is no doer within—he
recognises that the ego-‘I’ is not real—then, all the three karmas are
destroyed. That is mukti—Liberation.
samiddhaḥ agniḥ means a well-lit fire. bhasmasāt kurute—the pure white
bhasma is the final residue after everything is burnt. Hence, in Vedic
tradition, bhasma is worn on the forehead to indicate that everything must
be burned off in the fire of Jñāna.
There is no sin that Jñāna cannot burn. Everything is cleansed because the
Self is ever pure. Nothing can corrupt it.
4.38 न हि ज्ञानेन सदृशं पवित्रमिह विद्यते।
तत्स्वयं योगसंसिद्धः कालेनात्मनि विन्दति॥
Indeed, there is no purifier in this world, like Self-knowledge. He who is
perfected in yoga realises it in his own heart in due time.

Jñāna is the mightiest purifier. All impurities are lodged in the ‘I’. When we
enquire into the nature of the ‘I’, the ‘I’ is found to be not real, and
instantly, the immaculate Self is realised. This is how jñāna purifies. For
this, one must first listen from an Enlightened Master, the auspicious
teaching of Vedanta that reveals the nature of the Self. Then, in solitude,
one must go deep within and contemplate, enquire, do manana and
nididhyāsana, and thus realise the Self. The moment the Self is realised, it
is known that there never was and never can be a body or doership. And in
the present now too, ‘I am the pure Self,’ ‘I am Brahman,’ ‘I am immaculate
like space.’ The avadhūta sings in delight,* “I am the nectar of jñāna,
always of the same nature; I am like the infinite space.”
Too much worship of conscience can be
JÑĀNA FLASHES FORTH harmful. Conscience is necessary in the
ordinary relative plane so as not to
INSTANTANEOUSLY, commit acts that may harm others. But
when taken into the spiritual plane, it
WHEREAS YOGA TAKES
hurts the soul. Too much harping on one’s
TIME TO RIPEN. ‘I’, ‘I’, ‘I’ is not good. This is based on
ignorance. One must build one’s life on
Truth. Ideals, ethics, morality, and dos
and don’ts are necessary only in the world. When you have light, why
should you grope in darkness? Only a person who does not have light, who
does not have eyes to see, needs someone to guide him. When you have
eyes to see, you are a light unto yourself. The truth is that you are the Self, I
am the Self, and all are the Self. There is no sin. If this is known, no one
will, by any means, commit any sin. All past dirt will also be washed clean.
How can one attain this jñāna? Does this jñāna come instantaneously or
over a period? Here, Bhagavan says, “kālenātmani vindati—through time,
one finds It in oneself.” But this statement seems contradictory to the
scriptures, which say, ‘Jñāna comes like lightning; it is instantaneous; it is
sadyojāta because it is your very nature.’ How can we reconcile these two
points of view?
Jñāna happens instantaneously. The moment light dawns, darkness
vanishes. Similarly, the moment one realises the Self, one will be free of
birth, death and all associated ignorance. But the body-mind-personality
system is habituated to many things, such as physical and mental habits and
memories. They stand in the way. The jñāna must ripen by being absorbed,
contemplated upon and thus assimilated into the system. This is yoga. One
must adjust one’s life to the dignity of that state. That happens through kāla
—time. Jñāna flashes forth instantaneously, whereas yoga takes time to
ripen.
This kāla is created by karma. The Bhagavata says that although Arjuna got
this knowledge from Krishna, it took time for the jñāna to fructify because
the darkness caused by karma created a duration, a span of time.* He
attained Jñāna only after Krishna disappeared from the world. Until then,
he held on to the physical form of Krishna. When Krishna’s physical form
disappeared, he found that Jñāna is Krishna; then, he was compelled to
hold on to it because he had nothing else. Kāla proved that Truth is kālātīta
—beyond time. All else will be taken away by time.

A LIVING MASTER
Someone told Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi, “I want Self-Realisation, and
for that, I want a living Master.”
M: Where did you get the message that you have to get Realisation?
D: The Bhagavad Gita.
M: Then why don’t you hold on to Krishna?
D: Krishna is no more.
M: Oh, is that what you understood from the Gita? A living Master will also
have the same fate. He too will disappear. The Master is your own Self.
When jñāna becomes firm, you recognise that you are always with the
Master; you are never separated from the Master. It becomes a saving
knowledge. It is like the charcoal which lies deep underground and slowly,
 with time, transforms into a diamond. So
too, with the jñāna received from the
THE SELF IS NOT
Guru. Gradually, through time, It ripens
ATTAINED BY THE MIND, as the diamond of pure experience. Hold
NOT BY THE BODY, AND
on to it, absorb it, reflect, contemplate
and meditate on it; ultimately, the
NOT BY A PERSON. IT IS diamond will shine forth in you. You will
NOT SOMETHING YOU find that this is the greatest treasure that
you have got. As Bhagavan Ramana
GET FROM THE OUTSIDE. Maharshi says, ‘tiru-aruḷ-nidhi—the
THE SELF IS ATTAINED sacred treasure of Grace.’

BY THE SELF. That waiting and contemplation is yoga.

The perfection of yoga is yoga-
saṃsiddhi. When yoga ripens fully and
blossoms within, then jñāna is yours. yoga-saṃsiddhi also means you
become sufficiently pure through karma-yoga. Seeking something in the
world has lost its significance for you. Jñāna will bless only a person who
is not desire-oriented, who knows how to sit within, that the greatest
treasure is within. He knows how to wait and keep quiet. He is a yoga-
saṃsiddhaḥ.
svayaṃ vindati—one will attain by one’s own Self. Svayam means ‘by the
Self.’ The Self is attained not by the mind, not by the body, and not by a
person. It is not something you get from the outside. The Self is attained by
the Self.
A sādhaka tries to purify himself through various practices; he tries to
remove the impurities in his body and mind. But until he removes the whole
limitation, absolute purity is not for him. In fact, there is no question of
removing the limitation either, as there exists no limitation in the Self.
Every night, in deep sleep, the Self reveals that the body, mind and ego are
not in him. To know the Self is purity. This is the definition of Vedanta. The
moment you know that you are the Atman, purity is axiomatic; it is natural
—sahaja. When such purity comes, the sādhaka becomes completely free.
The physical body can never be made pure. However much you may try to
make it pure, it will soon become impure again. The same is the case with
the mind too. It will run after the objects according to the situation. But the
Self is immaculate, ever pure. “śuddho’si buddho’si nirañjano'si—you are
pure, you are ever awakened, all-knowing, and you are immaculate,” sings
the Enlightened One (Madalasa Upadesa).
Give up all thoughts. Do not try to reach out to the Truth through thoughts.
If you try to reach out to the Truth, you will not reach it, as you are trying to
reach something other than yourself. Be the Self and remain thoughtless.
You need not even recollect the Truth. To be recollected, it must be
something other than you. Be the Self. Do not initiate any thought. You are
the Atman here and now. Know this, then forget the entire process of
seeking and be still.

4.39 श्रद्धावाँल्लभते ज्ञानं तत्परः संयतेन्द्रियः।

ज्ञानं लब्ध्वा परां शान्तिमचिरेणाधिगच्छति॥
He who has śraddhā, attains Jñāna. And having attained this Knowledge of
the Self, he who is absorbed in it and has all the senses withdrawn, here and
now, enters Supreme Peace.

śraddhāvān labhate jñānam—he who has śraddhā, attains jñāna. And

what is śraddhā? It is a beautiful Vedic word which cannot be translated
easily. The word śraddhā is born out of tapas. In the deepest moments of
their meditation, sages have discovered this word and the profound idea it
represents. Deep down, in every human mind, there is śraddhā. In the
spiritual sense, śraddhā means wholeheartedness, faith. Faith is not simply
belief. It means, somehow, intuitively, you know that the ‘Sacred’ exists. It
is called āstikya-buddhi. The intellect is convinced of the Divine Existence.
You know that values such as truth, non-violence and love are meaningful
in life. You have implicit faith in the śāstras. This is śraddhā.

शास्त्रस्य गुरुवाक्यस्य सत्यबुद्ध्यावधारणा।

सा श्रद्धा कथिता सद्भिर्यया वस्तूपलभ्यते॥ Vi.Cu. 26

Sankaracharya says the moment you read or hear the words of the śāstras or
the words of a Realised Master, instantaneously, with a sudden influx of
intuition, you trust them. And they become your own experience. That
power is śraddhā. By that quality, one attains spiritual Realisation.
In a person who has śraddhā, Realisation explodes the moment he hears the
mahāvākya from a Master. Thus the main cause for Realisation is śraddhā.
Hence, here Krishna says, śraddhāvān labhate jñānam.
Śraddhā is not mere attention, but we can
YOUR ATTENTION MUST also call it attention or one-pointedness. It
calls forth your whole personality. Your
TURN TOWARDS YOUR whole being becomes one light of faith.
OWN EXISTENCE—THE
And with that, when you meet a
jīvanmukta, that very moment, the entire
‘I AM.’ process is over. Therefore it is not said
‘sādhanāvān labhate jñānam’. Sādhanā
means putting forth effort. To attain
jñāna, śraddhā is more important than sādhanā. Sādhanā is needed when
we want to attain something new or wish to move from one place to
another. But here, the Self is already got; it is ever attained—nitya-siddha.
To regain it, to rediscover it, what is needed is nothing but śraddhā. Your
attention must turn towards your own existence—the ‘I AM.’ This happens
when the Master instructs, ‘Look at yourself,’ and you look at your Self—
that is all. Many are the examples in which the disciple walks to the
presence of the Master, the Master tells him, ‘You are Brahman’, and the
disciple comes out with his whole being lit with the light of Brahman.
This amazing transformative process is found in the Bhagavata as well.
Parikshit listened to Sukacharya for seven days, and on the seventh day, he
said,* “I am blessed, I have attained… I have entered the state of Brahma
Nirvāṇa. All fear is gone from me.” Parikshit says this with so much
confidence! How did this magic happen? Since the king knew he would die
on the seventh day, that fear awakened intense śraddhā for guruvākya. The
Guru was also a wonder. He said, “Do not fear, O king. You do not need
these seven days to realise. You need only a moment—a muhūrta. The
greatest śreyas, the summum bonum of life, can happen in a trice.”* Truth is
that simple. This is the power of śraddhā.
The opposite of śraddhā is cynicism—having no faith in anything sacred.
Śraddhā is the mass of the mystic realm. It is an immense cloud of divine
dreams that could shower waters of deep meditative experience, samādhi-
states. It is indeed the essence of innocence in the heart. Such a state
happens due to much past austerity. “tapasā śraddhā,” says the
Mahanarayana Upanishad. It is a great virtue. Too much intellectualisation
ends up corrupting this highly refined sensitivity of the human soul.

SATYAKAMA AND THE THOUSAND COWS

In the Chandogya Upanishad, when the young boy Satyakama approached
the Master, the Master found the boy aflame with immense śraddhā. To
protect Satyakama from being influenced adversely by the other students,
the Guru sent him away to the forest with some cows and instructed him,
“Live there till the cows breed and become a thousand. Only then should
you return.” The boy went to the forest and stayed there with the cows, with
his mind constantly brooding on the Truth, because śraddhā was already
awakened in him. He had seen the Master and obeyed him without
questioning his words. He lived in the forest for several years in the
company of the cows, the bulls and other creatures, the trees, the brook, the
sky, the earth, the wind, the fire and the water-birds. All of them taught him
the truth about Brahman. One day, the cows themselves spoke to him and
said, “Satyakama! We have already become a thousand in number.”
How did the cows speak to him? Because he had become the Universal Self.
He had become one with all. Thus he could understand the cows, and the
cows could understand him. Established in that oneness, Satyakama
returned to the pāṭhaśāla—the home of his Master. Seeing the radiant boy,
the teacher asked, “O boy! Who initiated you into the knowledge of
Brahman? You shine forth like a Brahmanishṭha.” “Master, no man taught
me. The Divine spoke through the trees, animals and birds in the forest.”
This is mysticism in its purest form. This is the power of śraddhā.
When śraddhā is present, Realisation happens with so much simplicity. For
this purpose alone, it is said that the disciple must live in the gurukula with
the Master—as we do not know when śraddhā will wake up. The moment
śraddhā wakes up in the disciple, and if the Master is also in the right
mood, the whole thing is over.

ANANDAGIRI TO TOTAKACHARYA
In Sankaracharya’s life, we have the example of Anandagiri, an illiterate
boy. All he did was serve the Master. He had immense śraddhā and
gurubhakti and listened to the Master’s teachings with great devotion every
day though he did not understand a single word of it. But ultimately, one
day, the sacred moment happened; the Master’s grace found its way into the
heart of the disciple. At that time, he was also ready—aflame with śraddhā
—and the Truth just walked into him. He woke up and proclaimed in great
delight, “O Master! You are the ocean of compassion—karuṇā-
varuṇālaya! By your Grace, I have attained Realisation” (To.Ash.2). Not only
the knowledge of the Self, but all the śāstras too walked into him. And that
illiterate boy was named Totakacharya—the great teacher who sang a song
in the toṭaka metre. This is the power of śraddhā.
When śraddhā dawns, one becomes tatparaḥ—wholly absorbed in the
Reality and saṃyatendriyaḥ—all his senses naturally become withdrawn
and inward-looking. No disturbance is possible in a person in whom the fire
of śraddhā blazes forth. jñānaṃ labdhvā parāṃ śāntim acireṇa
adhigacchati—when Jñāna is gained, one soon attains Supreme Peace. It is
not achieved through a prolonged process; not after a long duration of
sādhanā. acireṇa means in a brief time; ciram means a long time, and
aciram means ‘not a long span of time’. Yoga Vasishtha says,* “If you have
the right teacher, if you come across the right scripture, and you live in
contemplation of the Truth as instructed by a Jñāni, you will attain this
Supreme Intelligence within a few days; not even a month is needed.”
Jñāna happens instantaneously—acireṇa. Here and now, he attains. This is
the power of śraddhā.

KING JANAKA, SAGE ASHTAVAKRA AND THE

HORSE
King Janaka approached the sage Ashtavakra, in a highly ripe state of mind.
While Janaka was about to alight from the horse, Ashtavakra asked, “Can
you surrender and come down?” The king said, “Master, I have surrendered
to you.” And he could not even alight from the horse. With one leg on the
stirrup and the other lifted up suspended in mid-air, he stood transfixed in
samādhi, with his whole attention on the Self. He stood thus because,
acireṇa—the moment the śraddhā is awakened—the moment the teaching
goes into you, that very instant you look at the Self by the Self, and you are
the Self—brahma nirvāṇa is yours; śānti is yours. “śāntiṃ nirvāṇa-
paramām,” says the Gita (6.15). Śānti means nirvāṇa and nirvāṇa means
śānti—that peace which is possible only through Realisation of the Self.
Later (18.62) too, Bhagavan says that śānti is the result of surrender. There,
śānti and sthānam have been spoken about. “You will attain peace, and you
will be established.” There, Bhagavan says, when you surrender, peace is
yours. And here, it is said, when you attain jñāna, you will have peace,
because jñāna tells you that you need not go anywhere for peace; you are
Peace, the Self. Śānti is your very nature. The Atman is peace.*
In this verse, we see two words—tatparaḥ and saṃyatendriyaḥ. tatparaḥ
means one who is absorbed in that. Yet if one knows the teaching but
continues to be involved in the world, that sort of unstable jñāna will not
bestow peace—śānti. Some sādhakas have clear insights about the Self.
They have also had glimpses of It but are not established in It. Due to the
force of karma, they come back to the body-mind level. The absorption is
not there in them, and the senses too are not controlled. Only when the
senses are all withdrawn and put to perfect order is there complete
absorption in the Self. Then, peace dawns. When the mind is no more
pulled outward by the senses and is goaded into the deepest core of our
being by the Teacher’s presence and our own contemplation and meditation,
it gradually merges in the Heart-centre. Then, one bathes one’s being with
the waters of Spirit. Profound peace is experienced by such a one.
parāṃ śāntim—this repeatedly comes in the Gita. It means Supreme Peace
—that Peace which surpasses all worldly standards. It is not the momentary
peace that is experienced between two sufferings. It is the deep, profound
peace of the Self. It is Samādhi. It is nirvikalpa-anubhava. It is brahma-
nirvāṇa. Entering that state, one feels completely blessed.

4.40 अज्ञश्चाश्रद्दधानश्च संशयात्मा विनश्यति।

नायं लोकोऽस्ति न परो न सुखं संशयात्मनः॥
The ignorant one, who has no śraddhā and has a doubting nature, perishes.
The person who doubts has neither this world nor the next nor happiness.
Three obstacles are explained in this verse. One is ajñānam—ignorance, the
second is aśraddhā—inattention, lack of faith-born attention to the
teachings of the Śruti and the Guru, and the third is saṃśaya—doubt.
Vedanta speaks of three obstacles—ajñāna, viparīta-jñāna and saṃśaya.
The cause for viparīta jñāna is aśraddhā. You do not see the rope, and you
imagine it as a snake—this is viparīta jñāna. Here, in uncompromising
terms, Bhagavan says he who doubts the Truth has happiness neither in this
world nor the next. nāyaṃ loko'sti—this world is not for him. na paraḥ—
nor the other world, na sukham—not even normal happiness.
First, one should learn to have faith in oneself, the śāstras and the Guru.
This is a great blessing. It is a result of Grace. If this faith is lost, the person
could be said to be almost dead spiritually.
Bhagavan says that the one who is ignorant about the real nature of the Self;
the one who fails to listen even when he gets a chance to hear; and when he
gets the Truth, he doubts it—such a person is lost. Even if he has the
greatest Master to guide him, he will be lost. We can see examples of this in
the lives of many seekers who failed to redeem themselves despite living
with great sages. Their ignorance was not removed, they remained without
śraddhā, and doubt invaded their minds constantly.
The first step is to remove ajñāna. ajñāna consists of not knowing one’s
own real nature, not knowing that the greatest treasure is within you. It is
your own Self. It is the ‘I AM’. And once you listen to a Master and know
that you are not the body, you are the Atman, ignorance is erased. Then
śraddhā must turn towards That. Even though you have had a glimpse of
the Self, it is not enough. Unless you worship It with your attention, bliss
will elude you.

श्रद्धानदी-विमलचित्त-जलाभिषेकैः।
नित्यं समाधिकु सुमैः अपुनर्भवाय॥ Nir.Ma. 1

With a pure mind, worship Lord Siva who resides within. Perform
abhisheka with the waters of the sacred river of śraddhā and offer flowers
of samādhi at His feet. Then Jñāna becomes complete. Then what was said
in the previous śloka, parāṃ śāntim—that Supreme Peace—will flower
within you. You must focus the śraddhā there and remove all doubts.
‘Something exists apart from the Self’—this thought is doubt. Even when
the Teacher tells you, ‘You are the Self’, the mind murmurs, ‘The world and
the body are also present.’ Because of these distractions, the mind fails to
get absorbed in the simple principle of ‘I AM.’
Moving out from the centre to the orbit is dangerous for a sādhaka. The
circumference is death, whereas the centre is immortality. The moment the
mind moves away from the centre to the rim, it is trapped in the orbits of
death, destruction and suffering. Hence Bhagavan says saṃśayātmā
vinaśyati.
nāyaṃ loko'sti na paraḥ na sukhaṃ saṃśayātmanaḥ—one who doubts
the highest teaching and harps upon his own petty self, to him this world, as
well as the other world, is lost. And the happiness of the Self—Ātma-
sukham—too is not for him. Hence one must put in effort to remove the
ignorance through constant listening, contemplation and meditation. Thus,
turning the mind towards the centre—the Self—one must abide there in the
state of total nirvikalpa.
Nirvikalpa means the state of unconditional freedom. Doubt is a vikalpa.
Ignorance is vikalpa. Misapprehension is vikalpa. All these vikalpas are
gone when one is ever in nirvikalpa-jñāna. Only then does fulfilment
happen. Then the fruition of the seed of śraddhā comes to life as parāṃ
śāntim.

*
In the previous two verses, we saw the importance of śraddhā. It is the only
power that we have. “Wherever our śraddhā is, there lies our personality,
our energy.”* The śraddhā too varies according to one’s vāsanās. If there is
a deep yearning for Liberation, true śraddhā happens. Then, faith towards
the śāstras, the Guru, and everything else required for one’s upliftment
blossoms from within, and the attention is riveted on the Self.

4.41 योगसन्न्यस्तकर्माणं ज्ञानसञ्छिन्नसंशयम्।

आत्मवन्तं न कर्माणि निबध्नन्ति धनञ्जय॥
O Dhananjaya (the one with all the wealth required for spiritual life)! One
who has renounced action through yoga, whose doubts have been rent
asunder through knowledge of the Self, and who is rooted in the Self—such
a one is not bound by action.

This is a continuation of the previous few verses. A Realised Soul is called

ātmavān. His meditation has found fulfilment in making him abide in his
real nature. Karma (action) or samśaya (doubts) disturb him no more; they
no longer pull his mind out. He has purged his drives through karma-yoga.
Such a one is a sannyāsi. He has renounced action through the Supreme
Knowledge—yoga-sannyasta-karmāṇam.
Karma can be renounced only by the knowledge of one’s real nature. With
the right knowledge, the body works without desiring the fruit of actions.
Then the action becomes karma-yoga. This purifies the body, and the
vāsanās are exhausted. The vāsanās to do something, earn the fruits, and
enjoy in the world can be wiped out only through karma-yoga, by serving
the Lord through one’s svadharma. The first hurdle for this is the physical
body. The body is another name for karma, and karma is another name for
death. The first form of death is the physical body. Through karma-yoga,
the yogi renounces action. This is yoga-sannyasta-karmāṇam.
Sankaracharya says,* “By the perfect knowledge of the absolute Truth.”
In the previous verse—saṃśayātmā vinaśyati—we saw how to dissolve the
doubts through Ātma-jñāna. “Doubt the doubter” is a powerful rejoinder
Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi gives to the questioner. If we try to remove
doubts through logic and explanations, they will only swell up more.
Doubts are like flourishing hair; when cut, it grows abundantly again.
Similarly, when one doubt is resolved, innumerable new doubts arise. This
is why trying to remove one thought through another is not the correct way.
Remove the doubter by enquiring, ‘Who is the doubter?’ All doubts are
based on the doubter—the jīva-bhāva. This doubting-ego itself is the
problem. It is the seed of all suffering. When enquired, ‘Who is the
doubter?’ the ‘I’ goes back to the Source, and the self—jīva-bhāva—is
removed. This is jñāna-sañchinna-saṃśayam. sañchinna means fully
rooted out. Sankaracharya says, † “His doubts have been fully dispelled by
jñāna, the recognition that the very nature of the Self is one with Īśvara.”
When the first hurdle of karma is removed and the doubting-ego, the
jīvabhāva, is also removed, what remains as the substratum is the Self, the
Atman—ātmavantam. When the Guru points out to the disciple, “You are
that Self. Hold on to it,” he becomes ātmavān. The knowledge ‘I am the
Self’ becomes aflame in him. His mind remains rooted in samādhi.
na karmāṇi nibadhnanti dhanañjaya—“O Arjuna! Such a one will never
get bound by karma.” No karma can bind him. Karma can bind only as
long as the ego is there. When the ego is gone, whom will they bind? No
ego remains to enjoy the karma-phala. A Jñāni who knows the real nature
of the Self goes beyond both dharma and adharma and gets established in
his real nature.

4.42 तस्मादज्ञानसम्भूतं हृत्स्थं ज्ञानासिनात्मनः।

छित्त्वैनं संशयं योगमातिष्ठोत्तिष्ठ भारत॥
Therefore, sever with the sword of knowledge, this doubt of yours born
from ignorance and lodged in your heart. Be established in yoga, and wake
up, O Bhārata.

In this concluding verse, Bhagavan says, “tasmāt bhārata—therefore, O

Bhārata! uttiṣṭha—wake up!” What does ‘wake up’ mean? It means to
come to your real glory, your real nature. Do not suffer like this in the
darkness of ignorance. chittvainaṃ saṃśayam—remove this doubt. This
means removing the doubting-ego. If you seek where the ego arises and
inhabits, you will find that it inhabits the Heart-centre. hṛt-stham—it is
lodged in the Heart. Cut out that ego by the sword of jñāna—jñānāsinā.
What is the cause of this ego? It is mere ignorance—ajñāna-sambhūtam.
Patanjali’s Yogasutra says avidyā-asmitā-rāga-dveṣa-abhiniveśāḥ kleśāḥ.*
The sequence of suffering is this—the first is ignorance; from that is born
the ego, and from there come attachment and aversion. These lead one to
misery. It is ignorance that says, ‘You are the ego’; ‘You are this
personality’; ‘You are this individual-sense’. When the real nature of the ‘I’
is enquired into, then the ‘I’ disappears, and only the Atman remains. You
become an ātmavān. Therefore, remove that doubting personality. Remove
that centre which creates a disturbance in you in the form of doubt.
yogamātiṣṭhottiṣṭha bhārata—“O Arjuna! Regain your yoga-state. Be
established in yoga. Know that you are the Self, and let that knowledge be
your real nature. Be seated firmly in that. It is not mere thought. You are the
Self in the waking, dream and deep-sleep states. Always, you are the Self.
This knowledge is yogam. After knowing this, whatever you may do
according to your prārabdha—whether you fight or worship or sing or
dance—you never forget that you are the Self; you remain in that yoga.
uttiṣṭha bhārata! Wake up! Whatever is to be done, let it happen through
your body-mind while you remain unsullied in your glory.”

***

ॐ तत्सत्
इति श्रीमद्भगवद्गीतासु उपनिषत्सु ब्रह्मविद्यायां योगशास्त्रे
श्रीकृ ष्णार्जुनसंवादे ज्ञानकर्मसन्न्यासयोगो नाम चतुर्थोऽध्यायः॥
Om Tat Sat!
In this treatise, known as Srimad Bhagavad Gita, which contains the
essence of the Upanishads, which expounds the knowledge of Brahman and
the science of Yoga in the form of a dialogue between Sri Krishna and
Arjuna, thus ends the fourth chapter titled ‘Renunciation of Action through
Knowledge’.

* नास्याब्रह्मवित्कुले भवति। Mu.Up. 3.2.9

* दुर्बलानजितेन्द्रियान् प्राप्य। BG.Bha.

* सखा सखायमब्रवीत्। Rigveda 8.45.37

† सुगोप्यमपि वक्ष्यामि त्वं मे भृत्यः सुहृत्सखा। SB11.11.49

* पूर्वेषामपि गुरुः कालेनानवच्छेदात्। Yo.Su. 1.26

* कृष्णमेनमवेहि त्वमात्मानमखिलात्मनाम्। SB 10.14.55

† अजमपि जनियोगं प्रापदैश्वर्ययोगात्। Ma.Up.Bha. Dhyānaśloka

* देहवानिव जात इव च लोकानुग्रहं कुर्वन् लक्ष्यते। BG.Bha.Intro.

* क्लेशकर्मविपाकाशयैरपरामृष्टः पुरुषविशेष ईश्वरः। Yo.Su. 1.24

* स्वल्पमप्यस्य धर्मस्य त्रायते महतो भयात्। BG 2.40

* अवतारा ह्यसङ्ख्येया। SB 1.3.26

* न खलु गोपिकानन्दनो भवानखिलदेहिनामन्तरात्मदृक्। SB10.31.4

* न तेऽभवस्येश भवस्य कारणं विना विनोदं बत तर्कयामहे। SB 10.2.39

† भक्त्या मामभिजानाति यावान्यश्चास्मि तत्त्वतः। BG 18.55

* इतर-तपो-निरपेक्ष-ज्ञाननिष्ठा। BG.Bha.

† न हि ज्ञानेन सदृशं पवित्रमिह विद्यते। BG 4.38

‡ बहवो मत्पदं प्राप्तास्त्वाष्ट्रकायाधवादयः। SB 11.12.5

* अन्याश्रयाणां त्यागः। NBS 10

* बहवो ज्ञानतपसा पूता मद्भावमागताः। BG 4.10

* तदभिसम्पद्यते। Br.Up. 4.4.5

* यथा पशुरेवं स देवानाम्। Br.Up. 1.4.10

* वर्णाश्रमवतीभिर्भारतीभिः। SB 5.19.10

* ब्राह्मणान् बन्धून् व्यपदिशति न स्वयं ब्राह्मणवृत्तः। Ch.Up.Bha.

* ब्राह्मणत्वस्य हि रक्षणे रक्षितः स्याद्वैदिको धर्मः। BG.Bha. Intro

† न्यास एवात्यरेचयत्। Mna.Up. 21.2

‡ नेत्थम्भावेन हि परं द्रष्टुमर्हन्ति सूरयः। SB 2.10.44

* न वर्णा न वर्णाश्रमाचारधर्माः। Dasa-sloki 2

* त्यक्त्वा जातिकुलाश्रमेष्वभिमतिं मुञ्चातिदूरात्क्रियाः। Vi.Cu. 378

* असङ्गो ह्ययं पुरुषः। Br.Up. 4.3.15

* न चैतत्त्वया मन्तव्यं कर्म नाम देहादिचेष्टा लोकप्रसिद्धम् अकर्म नाम तदक्रिया तूष्णीमासनम्। BG.Bha.

* तरति शोकमात्मवित्। Ch.Up. 7.1.3

* विदुषा क्रियमाणं कर्म परमार्थतोऽकर्मैव तस्य निष्क्रियात्मदर्शनसम्पन्नत्वात्। BG.Bha.

* शरीरस्थितिमात्रप्रयोजनम्। BG.Bha.

† धर्मोऽपि मुमुक्षोः किल्बिषमेव बन्धापादकत्वात्। BG.Bha.

* तत्राभवद्भगवान्व्यासपुत्रो यदृच्छया गामटमानोऽनपेक्षः। SB 1.19.25

† त्वत्पादाब्जं प्राप्य यदृच्छया। SB 10.3.27

‡ आत्मरतिरात्मक्रीड आत्ममिथुन आत्मानन्दः। Ch.Up. 7.25.2

§ आत्मलाभेन पूर्णार्थः। SB 8.1.15

* स्वानुभवेन तु शास्त्रप्रमाणादिजनितेन अकर्तैव।

† पराध्यारोपितकर्तृत्वः।

‡ यज्ञो वै विष्णुः। Veda

* सलिल एको द्रष्टाद्वैतो भवति। Br.Up. 4.3.32

* कर्तुं शक्यं राज्यानुशासनम्। Panchadasi

* तत्त्वात्मबोध एवैक समाधिरिति कथ्यते। La.Yo.Va.Sa.

† यत्तत्कर्मसु वैषम्यं ब्रह्मदृष्टं समं भवेत्। SB 8.23.14

* आर्द्रं ज्वलति ज्योतिरहमस्मि। ज्योतिर्ज्वलति ब्रह्माहमस्मि। Mna.Up.

* सोपाधिकस्य आत्मनः निरुपाधिकेन परब्रह्मस्वरूपेणैव यद्दर्शनं स तस्मिन् होमः तं कुर्वन्ति

ब्रह्मात्मैकत्वदर्शननिष्ठाः सन्न्यासिनः इत्यर्थः। BG.Bha.
* ईशावास्यमिदं सर्वम्। Isa.Up. 1

* सूर्यो मे चक्षुषि श्रितः। चक्षुर्हृदये। हृदयं मयि। अहममृते। अमृतं ब्रह्मणि। Laghu-nyāsa

† प्राणेन्द्रियाणि हृदयं चिदनुग्रहश्च। सर्वं त्वमेव… SB 7.9.48

* रिक्तहस्तेन नोपेयात् राजानं दैवतं गुरुम्।

* स्वाध्यायो देवपवित्रम्। स्वाध्यायमधीते तप एव तत्तप्यते तपो हि स्वाध्यायः।

† तपस्स्वाध्यायनिरतम्। Va.Ra. 1.1.1

* आपो वा इदं सर्वम्। Mna.Up. 29.1

* अद्यतेऽत्ति च भूतानि। Tai. Up. 2.2.1

† नोपयुञ्ज्यान्निवेदितम्। SB 11.11.40

‡ आह्रियत इत्याहारः शब्दादिविषयविज्ञानम्। Ch.Up.Bha.7.26.2

* यल्लभसे निजकर्मोपात्तं वित्तं तेन विनोदय चित्तम्। Bha.Go. 2

* महायज्ञैश्च यज्ञैश्च ब्राह्मीयं क्रियते तनुः। Manusmriti 2.28

* सत्रं स्वर्गाय लोकाय सहस्रसममासत। SB 1.1.4

†शास्त्रयोनित्वात्। Br.Su. 1.1.3

* तत्कर्म यन्न बन्धाय सा विद्या या विमुक्तये। Vi.Pu. 1.19.41

† द्वितीयाद्वै भयं भवति। Br.Up. 1.4.2

* उत्तिष्ठत! जाग्रत! प्राप्य वरान्निबोधत। Ka.Up. 1.3.14

* गुरोरनुग्रहेणैव पुमान्पूर्णः प्रशान्तये। SB 10.80.43

* अमाययानुवृत्त्या यैस्तुष्येदात्मात्मदो हरिः। SB 11.3.22

* चित्त्वदर्शनं तत्त्वदर्शनम्। Upa.Sa. 16

† विमुक्तश्च विमुच्यते। Ka.Up. 2.2.1

‡ अनन्यप्रोक्ते गतिरत्र नास्ति। Ka.Up. 1.2.8

§ प्रोक्तान्येनैव सुज्ञानाय प्रेष्ठ। Ka.Up. 1.2.9

* किमहं साधु नाकरवम्। किमहं पापमकरवम्। Tai.Up.2.9.1

* कर्तव्यदुःखमार्तण्डज्वाला। Ash.Gi. 18.3

* ज्ञानामृतं समरसं गगनोपमोऽहम्। Av.Gi. 3.3

* कालकर्मतमोरुद्धं पुनरध्यगमत्प्रभुः। SB 1.15.30

* सिद्धोऽस्मि अनुगृहीतोऽस्मि… प्रविष्टो ब्रह्म निर्वाणमभयं दर्शितं त्वया। SB 12.6.2,5

* वरं मुहूर्तं विदितं घटेत श्रेयसे यतः। SB 2.1.12

* तद्दिनैरेव नो मासैः प्राप्नोषीमां परां धियम्। Yo.Va.Sa. 5.8

* शान्तोऽयमात्मा। Br.Su.Bha. 3.2.17

*यादृशी यादृशी श्रद्धा सिद्धिर्भवति तादृशी। Br.Sam. 5.61

* परमार्थदर्शनलक्षणेन योगेन। BG.Bha.

† ज्ञानेन आत्मेश्वरैकत्वदर्शनलक्षणेन सञ्छिन्नः संशयः। BG.Bha.

* अविद्यास्मितारागद्वेषाभिनिवेशाः क्लेशाः। Yo.Su. 2.3

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 his chapter is named Sannyāsa Yoga—the Yoga of Renunciation. Perfect
T renunciation is a sign of Enlightenment. Such renunciation is possible
only when the knowledge that the Self alone is real becomes supremely
potent. To attain that knowledge of the Self, one must renounce the desire
for the fruit of actions, karmaphala-tyāga. By renouncing those that bind
one to the world, one must wake up from the spell of outer objects. By such
renunciation, the mind gradually gains purity. The Veda says,* “Through
sannyāsa-yoga, the disciplined ones attain purity of mind. When the mind is
sufficiently purified, the knowledge of the Self becomes fruitful.” For such
a one, the very world becomes Brahman, brahmaloka. The moment he
listens to the mahāvākya from the Guru, he becomes established in the Self
—brahmavit brahmaṇi sthitah.

अर्जुनः उवाच।
5.1 सन्न्यासं कर्मणां कृ ष्ण पुनर्योगं च शंससि।
यच्छ्रेय एतयोरेकं तन्मे ब्रूहि सुनिश्चितम्॥
Arjuna said: O Krishna, You have commended both—sannyāsa-yoga (yoga
of renunciation) and karma-yoga (yoga of action). Of the two, which is the
better one? Tell me conclusively.

DO WE NEED TO RENOUNCE FAMILY?”

Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi’s presence had the power to induce the state of
dispassion in many. A householder-devotee is said to have complained to
the Sage, “Bhagavan! I find family life quite unconducive for pursuing
spiritual practice. It is challenging to do Self-enquiry while working in the
world. Shall I renounce the field of action and take to sannyāsa?” The Sage
smiled compassionately and replied, “What has the world or family done to
you that you want to renounce them? They are all in your mind. Now you
think yourself to be a householder; if you were to renounce and don ochre
robes, you would think yourself to be a renunciate. In both cases, ignorance
remains unaffected. Whether a family man or a sannyāsi, you identify with
the body. Instead, if you enquire ‘WHO AM I’, know that you are not the
body and realise the real nature of the ‘I’, the Self within, then, whether you
work in the world or not, you are a sannyāsi.” This was the beautiful
answer of the Sage.
Krishna has already spoken beautifully and precisely about the state of a
sthitaprajña. The Enlightened Sage lives in the world working like any
ordinary person, yet actions, persons, or events do not make any impression
on his mind. His is the state of liberation amidst all the limitations of the
body, mind and world. This is the most fascinating state for a seeker of
Liberation. From this arises Arjuna’s question.
Broadly, there are two paths in the Vedic way—the first is the path of action
(pravṛtti mārga), and the other is the path of renunciation (sannyāsa
mārga). In the previous chapter, Bhagavan described the state where one is
incessantly active while in the yoga-state. Confused by this, Arjuna asks
this question, “O Krishna! O Madhava! Why are you trying to confuse me?
You say, ‘renounce the action,’ and then you say, ‘perform the action as
karma-yoga.’ Please tell me which is the better of these two.” Sannyāsa, as
popularly understood, means the renunciation of all action. On the other
hand, to perform karma-yoga, one must act and offer the doership and the
fruit of action to the Lord. Which of these two is better? This is Arjuna’s
dilemma.
This question posits the teaching—‘Yoga is sannyāsa.’ Bhagavan speaks of
this later. It is only through renunciation that one finds the sweetness of life.
Enjoy through renunciation. The Upanishad says,* “Real renunciation is the
real enjoyment.” The one who has completely renounced enjoys fully. This
is the secret of life which we must learn from the Enlightened Beings. They
alone know this secret. Renounce all desires, and renounce the desirer too.
This is the highest renunciation. The moment we renounce the ego, our very
existence becomes spiritually dynamic. This evokes a strange power that
can heal all. Thus, renunciation is the highest accomplishment. Then, one
becomes a mighty force in the hand of Īśvara. A holy power enters him and
works through him. That is Yoga.
 श्रीभगवानुवाच।
5.2 सन्न्यासः कर्मयोगश्च निःश्रेयसकरावुभौ।
तयोस्तु कर्मसन्न्यासात्कर्मयोगो विशिष्यते॥
Sri Bhagavan said: Sannyāsa-yoga and karma-yoga—both lead to the
highest good, Liberation; of the two, karma-yoga (renouncing doership) is
superior to outer renunciation of action.

This picture is vivid in mind! It is found in the last episode of

Krishnavatara. Krishna is getting ready to leave the earth. Then there comes
before him, Uddhava, his companion and one of his greatest devotees and
servitors. Uddhava approaches Krishna with tears, thinking about the
forthcoming separation from the Lord. He pleads, “Lord! You are the
immeasurable One, the God of gods, the goal of all spiritual practices.
Please do not leave me. Take me also with you wherever You are going. I
know only one thing, and that is to serve You. I do not know any other
spiritual practice.”
Seeing Uddhava thus, the Lord gazed at him with all His compassion.
“Dear Uddhava, you are dearer to me than all the gods, dearer to me than
my consort, and even dearer than myself because you are a devotee who
knows how to serve with love. I am indebted to you, dear one. Here I confer
on you the greatest blessing—the highest that the Divine Grace can bestow.
Do you know what that is? It is renunciation! Give up all relations; give up
all worldly actions and Vedic rituals. No more should you stay in society.
Go far, far away; travel up north until you reach My ashram—
Narayanāshrama in Badrinath. From the supernal heights of the snowclad
mountains cascade the blue waters of the Alakananda. Meditate on her
banks until you become one with Me.” This was the instruction given to
Uddhava by this same teacher. Arjuna was yearning to run away to the
Himalayas, but the Lord said, “Stay, hold on. Fight your way to reach the
state of beatitude.”
A mind that has become sufficiently pure by selfless action reflects the
inner perfection of the Self perfectly. Only in such a state does it become
still and attain naishkarmya-siddhi—the state of selfless inaction. Thus,
karma-yoga leads one to the state of sannyāsa.
Here, Bhagavan speaks about niḥśreyasa. The question Arjuna asked was
yacchreya etayorekam—which of these will lead to śreyas, mukti,
Liberation? Bhagavan’s answer is niḥśreyasakarāvubhau—indeed, both
will lead to blessedness.
Both renunciation and performance of action as yoga lead to Realisation.
Outer sannyāsa is undoubtedly helpful. However, without becoming free
inwardly, mere outward renunciation of actions constitutes a spiritual risk.
Doing so might result in forfeiting one’s inner peace. Rather than such a
premature renunciation of action, one must know the Truth and renounce
inwardly through the power born of Jñāna. Then, while the action continues
outwardly, the actor is no more, and the desires are no more; it is
transformed into divine action. Hence Bhagavan says here that compared to
mere outer renunciation, karma-yoga excels.
Traditionally, sannyāsa is taken up after one has lived a full life. One
renounces everything, stays in solitude, and remains absorbed in meditation
for the rest of one’s life. This is the sannyāsa about which Arjuna is asking
here. After completing brahmacharyāśrama, one becomes a gṛhastha, a
householder. After fulfilling those duties, he retires to the forest to do
spiritual practices; he is a vānaprastha. And finally, all his purifying
spiritual practices find fruition in Self-knowledge, Enlightenment. Now he
moves about, absolutely free; he is a sannyāsi, a parivrājaka.* This is the
gradual evolution in the noble spiritual order.
What is usually seen in the world is that when one lives as a householder,
he is usually completely involved in the world and acts with desire and
ambition—this is the natural tendency. Here Bhagavan asks, “Why not
know the essence of true renunciation, sannyāsa, and attain it even while
you are a householder? Even when you live outwardly as a brahmachāri or
a gṛhastha, why not be a sannyāsi inwardly by renouncing doership, by
knowing that you are not the actor, by offering the actions to the Lord?”
Then, sannyāsa flowers even when one is amid karma. This is karma-yoga.
Therefore, for attaining niḥśreyasa—spiritual well-being or Realisation—
one need not wait till he goes beyond vānaprastha and takes to outer
sannyāsa. Why not renounce even while amid worldly life? In fact,
niḥśreyasa and sannyāsa are one and the same. Renunciation is mukti;
renunciation bestows Realisation. It is only after renunciation that real
enjoyment is possible. This is the secret of a truly illumined life.
The ultimate state of actionlessness is called naishkarmya-sthiti. It is the
highest attainment possible for a person. It is the zenith of Enlightenment,
where all the seeds of desires that lead to action and bondage are burnt off
for good. Though elsewhere in the Gita, Bhagavan has spoken about
absolute renunciation—sannyāsa-yoga—as the highest ideal, here, he is
placing before the sādhaka, the path of intense, desireless and unmotivated
action as a great ideal. The former is Sāṅkhya or sannyāsa-yoga, and the
latter is karma-yoga. For a person who is involved in karma and is not yet
ready for absolute renunciation, a Guru should recommend the yoga of
karma. Hence it is said here, tayostu karma-sannyāsāt karmayogo
viśiṣyate—between the two, karma-yoga excels. This is Bhagavan’s
teaching to Arjuna.
To a person like Arjuna, who stands in the warfield, the teacher cannot
instruct, ‘Give this up and take to sannyāsa.’ But to Uddhava, who had
already renounced action and was melting in bhakti, Krishna says in the
Bhagavata, “Even if you feel like working, do not work. Renounce
everything. Go to the banks of Alakananda in the Himalayas and meditate
upon the teaching of the Atman I have given you.” Thus, the teaching given
is dependent on the recipient. The answer given here by Bhagavan is to the
questioner and not to the question.

5.3 ज्ञेयः स नित्यसन्न्यासी यो न द्वेष्टि न काङ्क्षति।

निर्द्वन्द्वो हि महाबाहो सुखं बन्धात्प्रमुच्यते॥
He who neither hates nor desires is an eternal sannyāsī; free from the pair
of opposites, O mighty-armed, he is easily set free from bondage.

RENUNCIATION — THE FRAGRANCE OF

REALISATION
‘Renunciation’ is the fragrance of Realisation. For finding true peace,
whether one takes up outer renunciation or not, inner renunciation is a must.
Such inner renunciation can happen only by Jñāna. When someone asked
Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi, “Should I not renounce everything?”
Maharshi said, “The Self has already renounced everything.” This answer is
so sagely and profound that we must meditate deeply on it for it to come
alive within us. When one knows the real nature of the Self, the intuition
flashes forth that the Self is ever detached. The Self is not attached to
anything.* Nothing can corrupt one’s real Self. It is incorruptible, ever pure.
This awareness of the Self puts one beyond all touch with prakṛti.
The very nature of the Self is absolute freedom. Nothing sticks to it.
Nothing can corrupt it. It is ever free of everything else. It is ever non-dual.
There is no action, actor or fruit of action in the Self. It is ever Itself—pure
Sat-Chit-Ānanda. Knowing the Self is sannyāsa. Knowing the Self is Yoga.
Knowing the Self is ekānta-vāsa—living in solitude. Self knowledge is the
pinnacle of spiritual life.
The contract of the Knower is not with
KNOWING THE SELF IS the future, nor does he dwell on the past.
He is not bothered about what happens in
SANNYĀSA. KNOWING the present either. Such a one is ever
THE SELF IS YOGA.
established in the Self. In such a state,
even while working in the world, the yogi
KNOWING THE SELF IS is not attached to anything. Such a being
LIVING IN SOLITUDE. lives in the world like a mudfish. The
mudfish remains clean and shiny, even
though it lives in muddy water. So too, by
the awareness of the Self, the Knower remains perfectly pure and detached,
though he lives amidst saṃsāra and is fully involved in action. Such a one
is here referred to as nitya-sannyāsī. His sannyāsa is nitya, eternal. He has
renounced action in its seed form. Although incessantly active, he is a
karma-sannyāsi. All great beings have performed their actions in this
manner. Even gods like Brahma, Vishnu and Siva carry out their work
empowered by this knowledge.
na dveṣṭi na kāṅkṣati—the knower of the Self is beyond attachment and
aversion. He neither hates any individual, emotion or event nor craves
pleasant contacts, pleasant emotions, or pleasant events in life. He is ever
established in the non-dual Beingness. He is nirdvandva—there is no
conflict in him. When one knows that all is Īśvara,* dvandva is gone. There
are no more ‘two’ in him. This, that, and all are the one Truth alone.
Nothing can bind him anymore because he has realised that everything is
the Self. Such a one gets released from the bondage of the ego easily—
sukhaṃ bandhātpramucyate.
A real karma-yogi is a sannyāsī. He is beyond likes and dislikes, as there is
no duality in his awareness. He is not like a worldly person who chooses
pleasure over pain or gain over loss. A true yogi welcomes all that comes
his way. Therefore, tangibly, we can see true tranquillity in him. Such a
person is complete, integrated and whole.
‘He who neither hates nor desires anything—know him to be a true
sannyāsi. He is always a sannyāsi.’ These statements by Bhagavan are a
guiding light for our life. In the previous verse, we said that one could be a
sannyāsi even while living as a gṛhastha—a householder who works in the
world. Here Bhagavan gives the guidance, ‘Neither hate anything nor want
anything.’ Life will bring in both pleasant and painful experiences. When
something enjoyable comes along, do not get attached to it; and when
something sad happens, do not be anxious that it should pass away soon.
Welcome everything and stay absolutely unaffected. This art of remaining
unaffected by all events in life is yoga. Absorbing all and remaining steady
in one’s pure Awareness is real sannyāsa.
‘Blissfully, he gets released from all bondage—sukham bandhāt
pramucyate.’ This statement itself is blissful to hear; it is a delightful dream
of all spiritual aspirants. The Tryambaka mantra says, † “Like the cucumber
(the urvāruka-fruit), release me from the bondage of death.” This profound
Upanishad mantra gives the example of a cucumber to indicate the state of
a jīvanmukta. Unlike other fruits that naturally detach and fall off the vine,
the cucumber fruit remains connected to the vine even after it becomes ripe.
The vine too has the strength to support even a large cucumber. Similarly, a
Jñāni’s prārabdha has the power to hold on to his body and make him live
in the world; this becomes a blessing for all. Just as the cucumber remains
in the plant and, when the time is ripe, explodes and scatters its seeds out,
the Jñāni remains in the body, works in the world, and bursts out all his
puṇya-karmas; thus, the whole world gets blessed by his presence. By
chanting this mantra, a devotee prays for such a state.
 साङ्ख्ययोगौ पृथग्बालाः प्रवदन्ति न पण्डिताः।
5.4–5 एकमप्यास्थितः सम्यगुभयोर्विन्दते फलम्॥
यत्साङ्ख्यैः प्राप्यते स्थानं तद्योगैरपि गम्यते।
एकं साङ्ख्यं च योगं च यः पश्यति स पश्यति॥
It is only the spiritually childish ones, and not the wise, who speak of
sāṅkhya (path of Knowledge) as distinct from karma-yoga (path of action);
he who is truly established in one obtains the fruit of both. The supreme
state attained by the sāṅkhya-yogi, is also reached by the karma-yogi. He
who sees the same essence in both paths is the true seer of Reality.

sāṅkhya-yogau pṛthak (iti) bālāḥ pravadanti na paṇḍitāḥ—only the

spiritually childish ones speak of sāṅkhya as distinct from karma-yoga.
This unbridgeable attitude between life and God is indeed a cause for
suffering. Those who think in this manner are the immature ones—bālāḥ.
When one takes to the path of sāṅkhya—the path of jñāna—he will come
to know that karma is inevitable. The body and the mind must exhaust their
course of action—the purpose for which they have come to this world.
Allowing them to act in the world, the wise one remains detached,
completely free in his own real nature.
The one who takes to the path of karma as yoga and offers all actions to the
Lord will also find that the Self is unattached, free of action, actor and fruit.
This knowledge of the Self will put him in the state of equilibrium and
tranquillity. This is the same as sāṅkhya. The state attained by a Jñāni who
knows the Self as separate from the body, who realises the Self as the
Infinite Reality—that same state is attained by a karma-yogi, a person who
acts in the world as worship. The inner centre is the same for both; the one
who perceives this essence alone is the true seer of Reality—ekaṃ
sāṅkhyaṃ ca yogaṃ ca yaḥ paśyati sa paśyati. Hence, whether we go
through the gates of karma-yoga or Jñāna, the centre is one and the same.
You are the Centre—TATTVAMASI. ubhayorvindate phalam—the fruit of both
is peace, equilibrium.
The perfect, wise person is called a paṇḍita. He has paṇḍā, which means
that his intuitive power is perfect. About such a person, Bhagavan has
 already said, na anuśocanti paṇḍitāḥ
(BG2.11)—they never come to grief. To the
ALLOWING THE BODY-
Knower, life itself is God; living is
MIND TO ACT IN THE divine. To live, one must work. To realise
WORLD, THE WISE ONE God, one must worship. For a Knower,
work is indeed a grand worship. When
REMAINS DETACHED, such a one engages in work, everything in
FREE IN HIS OWN REAL him—right from the deepest core of his
personality up to the gross physical body
NATURE. —expresses Godliness. This, indeed, is
sāṅkhya expressed as yoga.

INNER STATE ALONE MATTERS

We can see this demonstrated in the lives of sages. Many illumined sages
lived undisturbed in their Self. Great sages like Sukacharya moved about
freely as avadhūtas. Sages such as Dattatreya, Sadasiva Brahmendra and
Sri Ramana Maharshi too belong to this category. Such illustrious ones
were not at all involved in the world and remained ever-immersed in their
inner bliss. Their lives were very simple, and their existence was a blessing
to the whole world. Such sages are here referred to as the sāṅkhyas.
On the other hand, many illumined beings were perpetually active in the
world and performed various kinds of work. Some were kings like Janaka,
some were active socially, and some others worked in establishing the
ritualistic portion of the Vedas. Some, such as Sage Vasishtha, were royal
gurus. Krishna himself was a king-maker, a politician, a kshatriya, a
prosperous person, fun-loving, art-loving and what have you! But amidst all
this, he was ever calm, peaceful and unattached. Although, outwardly, their
lives were filled with various kinds of work and activities in the world,
inwardly, they were ever rooted in the Self. Such mahatmas are referred to
here as yogis.
In recent times, we had Kanchi Swami, Chandrasekharendra Saraswati,
who was an advocate of everything orthodox in Hinduism. He lived during
the same period as Sri Ramana Maharshi. We have heard some of
Maharshi’s disciples remark that they could not find any difference between
the presence of Maharshi and that of Mahaswami. These words expressed
by one of Bhagavan’s direct devotees were astounding, as Bhagavan
Ramana and Mahaswami were very different in their ways. One was in
absolute abidance as the mighty hill of silence and Self-knowledge, whereas
the other was fully involved in activities and rituals. The revered lady who
told me this was herself a person of high spiritual attainment. A sage can be
like the Kanchi Swami, Bhagavan Sri Ramana, Sri Ramakrishna, Janaka, or
even Sri Krishna. This is the mystery behind the state of a jīvanmukta.
Nisargadatta Maharaj was a Jñāni who
THE SECRET OF THE lived in Mumbai. He was a local beedi-
maker who lived a simple householder’s
KNOWER IS NOT life with all kinds of family ties. He did
not live in a beautiful ashram or the
MEDITATION, NOT
Himalayas but in a slum area. His
OUTER RENUNCIATION profession was also not a noble one. Yet,
AND NOT HIS OUTWARD people sought him out. Such was the
power of his Jñāna! In that slum, they
APPEARANCE. IT IS THE found this Jñāni expounding the crystal-
INNER RECOGNITION OF clear teaching in Marathi. His words had
to be translated into English, yet many
THE SELF. Western seekers rushed to him to get this
clarity of teaching from someone who
had experienced the Truth. On the one
hand, we have Ramana Maharshi, who was easily recognisable as a Jñāni.
On the other hand, we have Nisargadatta Maharaj, a family man completely
bound outwardly, who lived with his children and grandchildren. But the
Jñāna—the clarity of inner wisdom—remained the same in both.
Adi Sankaracharya had completed an extraordinary amount of work by the
age of thirty-two! By the age of thirty-nine, Swami Vivekananda had burnt
his body through tremendous work. Amidst such work, Swamiji says,
“Even in America, in the lap of luxury, cool peace was cascading over my
head like gangā-pravāha.” These words give us an intimation about the
inner state of a liberated soul. Many of Vivekananda’s disciples, like Sister
Christine, have written, ‘The more he worked, the more he glowed with
tapas.’
The outer upādhi differences do not matter; the inner state alone matters.
All such differences between these sages are merely in their outward
appearances and circumstances, but their Realisation is the same; their inner
recognition of the Self is the same. He who knows the inner state alone
knows the Truth—saḥ paśyati. Many wonder, ‘What is the secret of a
Knower?’ The secret of the Knower is not meditation, not outer
renunciation and not his outward appearance. It is the inner recognition of
the Self. This alone is the power of the Jñāni.
Bhagavan says, “Those who know the Inner alone as true, they alone
know.” Those who conclude based on the appearance of a Mahatma that
‘This Mahatma who lives without any action is superior compared to
another who is involved in worldly ties’ are misguided. In the initial stages
of spiritual life, such delusions are common. The seeker’s attention might
be distracted by the outer form and actions of the Guru. Both imitation and
comparison are commonplace, but as time passes and they move more and
more inward, they gain more clarity and insight. Soon, they find that the
outer does not matter at all; it is the inner experience alone that is important.
Sankaracharya says,

योगरतो वा भोगरतो वा सङ्गरतो वा सङ्गविहीनः।

यस्य ब्रह्मणि रमते चित्तं नन्दति नन्दति नन्दत्येव॥ Bha.Go. 19
Whether delighting in yoga or indulging in pleasures,
Whether appearing joyfully attached or ever aloof and
detached
One whose mind takes delight in Brahman,
He alone rejoices, rejoices, rejoices!

Those without much insight might opine

that a Mahatma must behave in a certain
REALISATION IS NOT
way, such as remaining withdrawn from
JUST AN OUTWARD public life. Those who have moved with
STATE, BUT IT IS IN great saints know that Mahatmas can be
found in caves as well as in palaces, in
COMING IN CONTACT the market as well as in the jungle.
WITH THAT PRINCIPLE Retiring to a cave alone does not make a
person a saint. Saint Meerabai has sung,
WHICH IS BEYOND TIME “If living inside a cave can give me Hari,
I will worship foxes and tigers. If living
AND SPACE; WHICH IS under water will give me Hari, I will
worship the fish. If by eating only fruits
BEYOND ACTION AND one can attain Hari, monkeys are the
THOUGHT. greatest saints.” Saints have said all this
because they have found that Realisation
is not just an outward state, but it is in
coming in contact with that principle which is beyond time and space;
which is beyond action and thought; that pure Self, pure Consciousness, the
divine element in the Heart. Once you touch it, whether you are a sāṅkhya-
yogi or a karma-yogi, it is all the same.

5.6 सन्न्यासस्तु महाबाहो दुःखमाप्तुमयोगतः।

योगयुक्तो मुनिर्ब्रह्म नचिरेणाधिगच्छति॥
O mighty-armed! Sannyāsa is hard to attain without karma-yoga; the sage
who is purified by karma-yoga attains Brahman without delay.

yogayuktaḥ is the keyword in this verse. According to Patanjali, yoga is the

cessation of thoughts, quietude of the mind. Thoughts are an indication of
ignorance. Every thought is a form of identification—identification with
some emotion, some image, some personality. This is saṃsāra. This is
adhyāsa—superimposition, as Vedanta calls it. When ignorance is
completely gone, the mind naturally settles in the Self. A sage whose mind
has settled in the Self quietly, undisturbed by desires, is anchored in Yoga—
yogayuktaḥ. When the mind becomes habituated to deep meditation, it
learns to gently alight in the experience of ‘I AM.’ The mind absorbs the
silence of the Inner Being more and more and soon wakes up to the fact that
this very silence is the state of Brahman—na cireṇa brahma adhigacchati.
In the sacred moments of samādhi, the meditator recognises his ‘I’ as the
Infinite. This state is sannyāsa.
The mind cannot gain such subtlety
without sufficient purity. Such purity
WE HAVE WOUND
happens through karma-yoga. Hence, in
OURSELVES UP WITH THE this verse, yogayuktaḥ is generally
CHAINS OF KARMA. translated as karma-yoga-yuktaḥ—one
who is deeply involved in the discipline
NOW, WE MUST of karma-yoga—doing karma as a
worship and offering all fruit of action to
UNWIND THEM. the Lord, considering oneself as only an
instrument in His hands. Thus, karma-
yoga, in its essence, is nothing but bhakti-
yoga, because karma cannot be transformed into yoga without offering the
fruit of action to a Divine Centre. It is a pure expression of Divine Love.
Without this, purity of mind is not possible. Hence Bhagavan says that
without karma-yoga, sannyāsa is difficult to attain. “When you are in the
world and have duties to perform, hold on to God with one hand and work
with the other. This is karma-yoga. When you are free from duties, hold on
to God with both hands. This is sāṅkhya-yoga.” These are the simple words
of Sri Ramakrishna.
Sannyāsa is another name for the Atman, Self. Sannyāsa means awareness
of the Self. Desires, self-will, and egoistic movements obstruct this
awareness. The ego-movements and the layers of desires within us will not
get cleansed without a long span of a selfless life of action—ayogataḥ.
Unless the inner layers are purified, mere outer renunciation, monkhood,
will only lead to an inwardly miserable life. Hence Bhagavan says,
duḥkham. We have wound ourselves up with the chains of karma. Now, we
must unwind them. Unless we do so, that which ought to be natural will
seem to be a difficult achievement. A person who does not run away from
his karma but learns the method of transforming karma as yoga soon attains
the state of sannyāsa.
Quoting from the Mahabharata, Sankaracharya says,* “Renunciation is the
sign of Realisation.” Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi says, † “Awareness of the
Self—Jñānam—is the sign of sannyāsa.” A true renunciate is one who has
the awareness of the Self. When we behold a real tyāgi—a complete
renunciate—we can intuit that he has attained Jñāna. A person who has
renounced everything with his whole being, who no longer has any wants or
desires, nor has any will in him, is one with God. Such sannyāsa happens
when a person exhausts his karma-vāsanās by offering all his actions to the
Lord. Thus all his karma comes to an end, and this gives him complete
release.
NATURAL SANNYĀSA
Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi used to say that all creatures apart from man
are natural sannyāsis. Observe them. They do not store for the morrow.
They live wherever nature keeps them, and once their young ones grow up,
they detach from them naturally. Due to their powerful ego, human beings
get strongly attached. People think that gṛhasthāśrama is natural. If we
observe carefully, we will arrive at the startling revelation that detachment
and renunciation are common in nature. Detachment is natural; sannyāsa is
natural. Regaining one’s lost sense of freedom is the rediscovery of one’s
real nature. This is sannyāsa.

5.7 योगयुक्तो विशुद्धात्मा विजितात्मा जितेन्द्रियः।

सर्वभूतात्मभूतात्मा कु र्वन्नपि न लिप्यते॥
The karma-yogi, whose mind is purified, ego is subdued, and the senses are
conquered, who realises one’s Self as the Self of all beings, is not tainted by
actions even though he acts.

viśuddhātmā—this is the keyword in this verse. It means the one with a

pure mind. Purifying the actions of the dross of desires is the only way to
purify the mind. Actions cannot be renounced. What must be renounced is
the desire for the fruit. The mind always longs for the fruit of action. A
selfish mind is more attached to the result than to the action. Such a mind
gets purified by offering all actions to the Lord. In the bhāshya of the
previous verse, Sankaracharya said,* “Actions must be performed as an
offering to the Lord, without desiring its fruit.” In fact, such karma-yoga is
true bhakti. When there is true bhakti, the mind becomes pure. When such a
one hears from the Guru about the real nature of the Self, he will be able to
hold on to the inner experience due to his pure mind.
Although the experience of the Self is present in all as their very ‘I’, it is not
known to them that it is the Eternal, Pure Sat-chit-ānanda. The more one
listens to the vedānta-vākyas—Ātmavidyā, the more the mind probes into
the ‘I’-Consciousness, and one’s sense of ‘I’ becomes more and more freed
from the limitations of the body, mind and senses. There comes a time when
the experience of the Self becomes crystal clear to him. Then he is a
vijitātmā—one who has won over the ego-self.
The five senses are gateways for the sensory streams of the world to flow
in. Unless the senses are put in order, though clear knowledge is gained by
listening, contemplation and meditation, one will not get the experience of
samādhi. Hence, he should also be a jitendriyaḥ—one who has won over
the senses.
When all these three are perfect—when the mind is made sufficiently pure
through karma-yoga, when the knowledge received from the Master
becomes one’s own experience, and when all the senses are controlled—the
experience of the Atman becomes perfect. Such a knower is a jīvanmukta.
He is no more confined in the body. His own experience of the Self is ‘I am
the Self of all.’ Bhagavan refers to such a one as sarvabhūtātma-bhūtātmā.
In such a state, there is no ego, no doership. Even if he works in the world,
he does not get tainted by the work—kurvannapi na lipyate. The
Upanishad declares,* “Such a person neither gains anything by action nor
loses anything by non-action.” He is ever the same—the ever-pure, eternal
Atman.
One who is yoked to yoga is yogayuktaḥ. The word yogayuktaḥ appears
many times in the Gita. Bhagavan says (8.27), “sarveṣu kāleṣu yogayukto
bhavārjuna—be established in yoga always.” Krishna was ever in that state.
Even while driving the chariot in the warfield, he remained absolutely
peaceful. This is the state of a yogayuktaḥ. Unless it is revealed to us by an
Enlightened Master, unless we behold a jīvanmukta in that state, it is
difficult to even fathom that such a state exists. The moment one beholds a
jīvanmukta and the moment his figure comes to mind, the seed is sown, and
it is certain that the devotee too will soon attain that state. When one
receives that seed within the womb of śraddhā, it is certain that it will soon
blossom as the fullest tree of Enlightenment.

नैव किञ्चित्करोमीति युक्तो मन्येत तत्त्ववित्।

5.8–9 पश्यञ्श्रृण्वन्स्पृशञ्जिघ्रन्नश्नन्गच्छन्स्वपञ्श्वसन्॥
 प्रलपन्विसृजन्गृह्णन्नुन्मिषन्निमिषन्नपि।
इन्द्रियाणीन्द्रियार्थेषु वर्तन्त इति धारयन्॥
The knower of Truth, even while seeing, hearing, touching, smelling,
eating, walking, sleeping, breathing, speaking, evacuating, grasping, and
opening or closing the eyes, knows that he does not do anything at all, but it
is the senses that are acting in relation to the sense objects.

In this śloka, the signs of a free soul are indicated. He is a tattvavit, a

knower of Truth—tattva. This means he is not merely in some sort of
torpor-like meditation but is ever aware of his real Self—body-less, mind-
less, death-less. He knows that he is Brahman. He is not one who knows the
tattva only intellectually, he is also lodged in it. Hence he is a yukta. When
such a one moves about in the world, what is his state? naiva kiñcit-karomi
—‘I do not do anything, I am not active in the least’—this is his experience.
To the onlooker, he appears to be seeing—paśyan, listening—śṛṇvan,
touching—spṛśan, smelling—jighran, eating food—aśnan, coming and
going—gacchan, sleeping—svapan, breathing—śvasan, speaking—
pralapan, evacuating—visṛjan; taking in and holding things—gṛhṇan, and
opening and closing the eyes—unmiṣan nimiṣan api. All the normal body
functions are naturally there in a Realised Soul too.
The Bhagavata depicts the glorious devotee Prahlada thus:

आसीनः पर्यटन्नश्नन्शयानः प्रपिबन्ब्रुवन्।

नानुसन्धत्त एतानि गोविन्दपरिरम्भितः॥ SB 7.4.38

Prahlada was very natural. Like anyone else, he could be seen sitting,
standing, moving about and lying down to sleep. He would eat and drink
like everyone, but his awareness never ever got corrupted by any of these
activities of the body. His mind was ever in a state of ecstatic embrace with
Govinda. All the spiritual moods manifested naturally in him, like sparks
arising from fire. Yet he was ever in the profound peace of the Atman. This
is the most beautiful portrayal of a jīvanmukta given by Sage Vyasa himself
in the Bhagavata.
There is no condition that a jīvanmukta must be a monk outwardly. But yes,
his very knowledge is the essence of sannyāsa—he is ever free. A
jīvanmukta cannot be placed within a predefined frame. We may find him in
a spiritually uncongenial field of action. Take the example of Krishna, the
perfect jīvanmukta. He is seen in the battlefield; he is seen dancing with the
gopikas; he plays the flute; he is compassionate as well as terrible at times.
He is like a mirror, reflecting whatever comes before him.
In spiritual literature, we find many enlightened saints with varying
characteristics. Sankaracharya moved about across the length and breadth
of the country, teaching everyone and debating with scholars in order to
establish the real knowledge of the Vedas. He was also a spiritual poet par
excellence, a great devotee, and a profound yogi—all in one.
Then there was the saint of
Dakshineswar, Sri Ramakrishna, who was
THE MOMENT ONE IS
like a child in his behaviour. In him can
AWAKENED TO THE be seen manifested, all the moods that the
SPIRITUAL PURPOSE OF
science of Spirituality has elaborated. His
life is a revelation of all that is possible in
LIFE, THE MOMENT ONE the field of spiritual practice. We might
IS INITIATED BY THE also come across a free soul leading an
ordinary family life. There were many
DIVINE, THE BODY saints in Maharashtra who continued with
DOES ITS SVADHARMA their traditional occupations, whatever it
was. One was a tailor, another a grocer,
WITH ABSOLUTE EASE, another a goldsmith, another a ritualistic
FREE OF THE Brahmin, and so on. In fact, there is a
spiritual secret to be understood here—the
INTERFERENCE OF THE moment one is awakened to the spiritual
EGO. purpose of life, the moment one is
initiated by the Divine, the body does its
svadharma with absolute ease, free of the
interference of the ego. It is only by Grace that we can get the intuitive
wisdom to recognise a Realised Soul.
A realised person remains as he has always been. To change the physical
appearance and characteristics without any outer cause, volition is needed,
and that volition is born of ignorance. A realised person moves about in the
world, and whatever must happen through his body, will happen. His body
also behaves like the body of anyone else. It will continue to exhibit all the
natural emotions and sensations. In fact, a realised person’s body is even
more natural, more released and more free, as there is no curbing of the ego
in it. The intellect becomes brilliant, and the mind, highly energetic and
sensitive. His heart has no border. His senses are fresh with the power of the
Self behind them. In that state, even though he is active in the world, he
knows that only one exists, and that is the Self. The Upanishad says,*
“Whatever is beheld as the world is nothing but Brahman.” This knowledge
deifies his entire experience. Such a one is a tattvavit. His tattva-jñāna is
his samādhi. And as he never moves out of that state, he is a sthitaprajña.

5.10 ब्रह्मण्याधाय कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा करोति यः।

लिप्यते न स पापेन पद्मपत्रमिवाम्भसा॥
He who performs actions without any attachment, by offering them to
Brahman, is untainted by sin, as a lotus leaf by water.

An Enlightened Being performs actions—karmāṇi karoti. How does he

act? saṅgam tyaktvā—by giving up all attachments. He has no attachment
to the fruit of action; he has no attachment to anyone. He is not even
attached to his own self-image, his own ego-sense. He knows that the ‘I’-
thought is the primal illusion. Hence, he is not attached to his ‘I’. In fact, he
is not; only Brahman is. He is established in Brahman and knows that no
action is possible in that Substratum. His actions are all offered to Brahman.
brahmaṇi ādhāya means giving to Brahman, offering to Brahman. This
means that he works while knowing the truth that there is no action in the
Substratum.
A person misapprehends a snake in a rope; then, when he looks closely
under the light of a lamp, he realises that there is only a rope and no snake
at all. After this, he can never again misapprehend that rope for a snake. He
knows there was never a snake in the rope; even when the illusion was seen,
the rope alone was real.
As long as one misapprehends the jīva to be real, all the saṃsāra
associated with it also appears real. When one enquires, ‘WHO AM I?’ he
comes to know there is no ‘I’ in him. The ‘I’, which was felt due to
delusion, vanishes. The real nature of the ‘I’ is Brahman, and this
knowledge is the offering of oneself to Brahman—brahmaṇi ādhānam. In
this true knowledge, doership is erased, and along with it, all sufferings.
What then could be the effects of past
actions which had been undertaken with a
JUST AS THE
sense of doership? This is akin to how the
UNDERLYING SPACE IS previous night’s dream events retain no
significance or relevance now. In the
NOT AFFECTED BY ANY
same way, past actions, past dreams, and
OF THE NATURAL past ego-movements become unreal for
FORCES, THE INNER him. With the fire of Knowledge, all the
past, all the future and all the present
STATE OF A REALISED actions are burnt away. This is the real
BEING IS UNAFFECTED import of brahmaṇyādhāya karmāṇi.

BY THE ACTIONS THAT saṅgaṃ tyaktvā karoti yaḥ—he who

works without attachment. His body is
HAPPEN THROUGH HIM. tirelessly active. It is active like any other
natural force. Just like a furious storm,
the gentle breeze, the blazing sun or the soothing moon are forces of God, a
Realised Being too is a force of God. Just as the underlying space is not
affected by the movement of the natural forces, the inner state of a Realised
Being is unaffected by the actions that happen through him.
Whatever he may do, he does not get tainted by sin—lipyate na sa pāpena.
He is like a lotus-leaf untainted by water—padmapatramivāmbhasā. Just
as the dew drops on a lotus leaf do not make it wet, in the same manner,
karma does not affect him. This is a very well-known analogy. Buddha has
used this metaphor to indicate the state of nirvāṇa. The Upanishadic
mantra,* ‘As water does not cling to the lotus leaf, so too no evil clings to
the one who knows this,’ is the pramāṇa for this śloka.
The lotus is the most adored flower in Hinduism and Buddhism. As it grows
in the slushy mud-waters, it is called paṅkaja—the mud-born. There is a
usage in Malayalam to describe a Mahatma born in an uncultured family,
‘chēttil pūtha chentāmara—the red lotus that has bloomed in the slush.’
This is a perfect way to describe a Realised Soul. He might live amidst the
dirt and pollution of corruption and selfishness in the world, yet he remains
untouched. Nothing can corrupt him as he has offered his mind to the
incorruptible principle within. That is what is described here as brahmaṇi
ādhāya.
Just as we offer a flower to the Lord, the yogi has offered his mind to the
Lord. He no more carries a mind that can get impure or polluted. His mind
is absorbed in Brahman. Wherever he is, his mind remains in full spiritual
bloom. The purity of the Jñāni is not a practised purity. He has located the
Centre, where no impurity can enter. He has identified himself with the
Self, and so, even when the body-mind functions in the world, in his Inner
Being, in his Existence, in his Consciousness, there is no body-mind.
Hence, no impurity is possible; nothing can touch him; he is like the lotus
leaf.
This state is what Buddha strived hard to reach through various meditations.
But he found those meditations getting impacted by the storms of sensory
agitations, which he named mārā. Mārā is not just desire; it is māyā. As
long as the outside world can affect one’s spiritual experience, it means that
it is not yet stabilised; he has not become a yogayukta. When one is
completely stabilised in the Self and has become a yogayukta, nothing—
whether it be the body’s actions, or the mind’s thoughts—nothing at all—
will affect him.

5.11 कायेन मनसा बुद्ध्या के वलैरिन्द्रियैरपि।

योगिनः कर्म कु र्वन्ति सङ्गं त्यक्त्वात्मशुद्धये॥
The yogins, abandoning attachment, perform work with the body, the mind,
the intellect and the senses, only for self-purification.

This is in continuation of all the previous verses. Actions are possible with
the body, with the mind, with the intellect and with the senses. The devotees
who perform action as worship to the Lord are the real karma-yogis. They
are here referred to as yoginaḥ. They perform actions—karma kurvanti;
they do not run away from action. The karma-yogis hold no attachment
towards these actions—saṅgaṃ tyaktvā. They are attached neither to the
action nor to the fruit of action; the actor himself is not real to them.
The more active they are, the more they evince ātma-śuddhi. ātma-śuddhi
does not mean that the Atman becomes pure. It means that the mind
becomes pure, and their experience of the Atman becomes clearer, more
palpable and hurdle-less. They become more and more free. In the case of
an ordinary person, the more he works in the world, the more bound he
becomes. In the case of a devotee, the more he works, the purer he becomes
and the more abundant is his love for the Lord. This is because every action
of his is an offering of worship. Gradually, his sattva-element becomes
distilled and pure, and knowledge of the Self dawns.
There is a famous śloka in the Bhagavata:

कायेन वाचा मनसेन्द्रियैर्वा बुद्ध्यात्मना वानुसृतस्वभावात्।

करोति यद्यत्सकलं परस्मै नारायणायेति समर्पयेत्तत्॥* SB 11.2.36

This śloka has its source in this Bhagavad Gita śloka. Whatever is
performed with the body, the mind and the senses are all offered to Lord
Narayana. The Gita (5.10) says, “brahmaṇyādhāya—offering to Brahman.”
Narayana is Brahman. When all actions are thus offered to the Lord, one
becomes free of the results of actions. The actor (doership) also comes to an
end, and the Lord takes hold of that body, mind and ego. When the Divine
takes hold of the body-mind, both become extremely pure.

5.12 युक्तः कर्मफलं त्यक्त्वा शान्तिमाप्नोति नैष्ठिकीम्।

अयुक्तः कामकारेण फले सक्तो निबध्यते॥
The established one, the karma-yogi, having renounced the fruit of action,
attains absolute establishment in peace; whereas he who is not established
and is attached to the fruit of action gets entangled due to his desires.

‘The desireless one attains peace; the one who is distracted by desires gets
bound’ —this is the message of this verse. The word here is yuktaḥ. It
means the one who is not distracted; one who is in perfect order; very well
placed. Where is such a one placed? He is placed, established, in his own
Self; such establishment is called niṣṭhā, and the fruit of such niṣṭhā is
śānti—śāntimāpnoti naiṣṭhikīm. On the other hand, the mind of one who
is not centred is always scattered, distracted. The cause of such distractions
is obviously desires, which are also the cause of suffering, bondage—
kāmakāreṇa nibadhyate. The one who does not care about attaining
anything, the one who knows that whatever he wants is within himself as
his own real Self, the one who knows that the Lord Himself is in his own
heart, stays home. Such a one is called a yuktaḥ. He has taken the right
resolve; he has attained the right knowledge; he has found the right place to
stay. We have already seen that the buddhi of such a person—
vyavasāyātmikā buddhi—is established in One, the Centre.
On the other hand, the mind of an ayuktaḥ is distracted through countless
channels because his goal remains the fruit of action. He believes that his
fulfilment lies in attaining something, becoming something. In this process
of extroversion, he loses hold of the centre, his own beingness. Such a one,
an ayuktaḥ, is greatly attached to the fruit of actions—phale saktaḥ.
Actions happen within. The seed of action
is in the mind. Every desire is a seed
EVERY DESIRE IS A SEED which can sprout forth outside as action,
WHICH CAN SPROUT as objects, as events, as individuals. It is
FORTH OUTSIDE AS
left to us to transform the action into
either yoga or bondage. The more a
ACTION, AS OBJECTS, karma-yogi works, the more peace he will
AS EVENTS, AS have in himself because he is not worried
about the fruit of action. When someone
INDIVIDUALS. IT IS LEFT asked Mahatma Gandhi whether India
TO US TO TRANSFORM would attain freedom in his lifetime,
Gandhiji said, “I am not concerned about
THE ACTION INTO it. My destiny has placed me in this field
EITHER YOGA OR of action; hence I am doing this. This
entire freedom movement is only a
BONDAGE. sādhanā for me to realise the Self.” This
was his reply. This is the secret behind the
unperturbed state of a yogi!
Such a yogi, having renounced the fruit of action—karma-phalaṃ tyaktvā
—attains boundless peace—naiṣṭhikīm śāntim. He is an Ātmanishṭha. He
is in perfect niṣṭhā—establishment. His peace is not something that comes
and goes. It is not that he is peaceful only after the action is complete. He is
established in peace unceasingly. In the case of desire-driven actions,
typically, the person is agitated about the result. When the expected result
occurs, he becomes peaceful for a short while. But agitation again takes
over as regards the next activity. This cycle repeats endlessly. A yogi never
gets trapped in such turmoil. Swami Vivekananda, who worked hard all his
life, proclaimed during his last days, “So much of tapas has come over me.”
Tapas here means profound peace and spiritual energy. This is the secret.
Karma-yoga itself is a tapas. The more active one becomes, the more the
tapas increases.

5.13 सर्वकर्माणि मनसा सन्न्यस्यास्ते सुखं वशी।

नवद्वारे पुरे देही नैव कु र्वन्न कारयन्॥
Having mentally renounced all actions, the self-disciplined indweller rests
happily in the city of nine gates, neither acting nor causing an action to be
performed.

This is a beautiful verse. The state of samādhi in which the yogi abides is
being elucidated here. sarvakarmāṇi manasā sannyasya—having mentally
renounced all actions. Mentally renouncing means his mind has become a
spiritual energy flow. He knows that nothing exists other than the Self. The
Śruti says,* “One has to attain this state of sannyāsa only with the mind.”
The mind which has been refined through listening, reflection and
meditation becomes a vibrant force of renunciation. The natural tendency of
an ignorant mind is to grab, grasp and absorb from the world through all the
senses. It is a constant devourer; but the mind of an awakened one—if at all
we can call it a mind—is a force which incessantly renounces, constantly
giving up. This is avadhūnanam. The word avadhūta comes from this.
Avadhūta means one who refuses to get bound; one who is constantly
renouncing, shaking off, cleansing. His inner force, ‘the will’, renounces all
hold on doership. And a meditation-current of the no-‘I’ state remains as a
constant force that flaps its wings to shake off all the dust of desires. Such a
force of disowning is sannyāsa.
When the mind absorbs sannyāsa, the person becomes a true sannyāsi.
Then he becomes vaśī, controlled; one who has reached the zenith of self-
control. He attains sukham. His mind has absorbed the non-dual
knowledge; therefore, all his actions are like waves in the ocean of
Consciousness. With this knowledge and in such a state of lightness, the
mind returns to the Source and rests happily in the Heart—sukham āste.
‘Kham’ means the infinite space, and the prefix ‘su’ implies that which
gives deep profound fulfilment, peace, and joy. Sukham means to
experience the infinite space, which is of the nature of Bliss. āste means
rests, reposes.
vaśī means the one whose senses are controlled and withdrawn. This is a
noteworthy word. Usually, vaśa means ‘in the sway of’. Generally, we are
under the sway of the mind and the senses, but a devotee is under the sway
of God, the inner Self. The power of the Self is active within him. Thus, his
mind and the senses are withdrawn into the Self by the power of the Self,
and he rests there happily. He knows how to withdraw his senses within,
just as a tortoise withdraws its limbs. In the Kathopanishad, there is a
mantra which refers to the Atman, the Inner Self, as vaśī—“The non-dual
Being, the Self within all, is vaśī.” † He keeps everything under control, in
His order.
The mind is a power which constantly hypnotises and puts us under the
spell of illusion. With repeated practice of withdrawal from the objects and
constant introversion, it gradually gains the state of antarmukha. The
current of such a mind flows unceasingly towards the inner light. In such a
state, the power of the Self begins to play on that mind, and the mind comes
under its sway. This state is vaśī.
This śloka indicates how a yogi
withdraws from the world and is
AN AWAKENED MIND
completely at rest. The ego involutes into
NEVER BOTHERS ITSELF the great womb—the Heart—and there is
WITH THE CHANGING
that most comfortable couch of the fourth
state—the turīya. Sankaracharya says,*
STATES; IT IS EVER “The yogi rests on the couch of the fourth
IDENTIFIED WITH THE state, turīya.” The waking, dream and
deep-sleep states are the forces of the
SUBSTRATUM. mind which come one after another like
episodes and hypnotise us. An awakened
mind never bothers itself with these three;
it is ever identified with the Substratum. That is the sthānam, the Heart-
centre. It is neither the waking nor the dream nor the deep-sleep state; it is
the turīya, the Substratum on which all the states appear to arise and
subside. In that state, a yogi rests.
No action can touch that state, no emotion can affect that state; no thought
can enter that state. In that state, āste sukham vaśī—fully under the sway of
the Inner One, he remains in absolute repose. It is a great relief to be there
—release from all bondage; release from death; release from birth; release
from disease; release from all kinds of suffering.
The Bhagavata says that the one who is not attached to the three guṇas is a
vaśī. † The three guṇas—sattva, rajas and tamas—are energies that can
sweep away a person. When we are in the presence of a sāttvik person, the
power of his sattva will naturally influence us. Similarly with rājasik and
tāmasik people. When we are in the energy field of another person, it is
difficult not to be affected by it. The power to keep oneself free of such
unwanted influences due to another’s energy field is vaśitā. This power is
generated by austerity. A person who is not yukta is not a vaśī. The
definition for yukta is given in the Gita śloka 6.18, yadā viniyataṃ cittam—
when the withdrawn mind abides in the Self, undistracted by thoughts, then
it is called yukta. It is in perfect order; it is in its place.
When the mind moves towards the Self, it is sama. When that force gets
extroverted and the mind moves towards names and forms, it is vishama.
Such a mind breeds attachment and aversion. This state of the mind is
called delusion, bhrama. A person who is not established in the Self is not
integrated.‡ The mind gets distracted and is scattered away from the Centre.
It breeds thoughts, beholds plurality, and gives reality to the names and
forms. This state is one of delusion. A mind which is not established in the
Self continuously breeds delusion. On the other hand, the yogi is yoked to
the Self. He is a vaśī, the greatest saṃyami—the absorbed one.
‘navadvāra pura—a city of nine gates’ is a well-known spiritual metaphor
for the body. In the Bhagavata, there is an allegorical story called
Puranjana-upākhyāna, about this. The body with its nine apertures—the two
eyes, the two ears, the two nostrils and the mouth, along with the
reproductive and excretory organs—is compared to a city with nine gates.
Just as a king rules from within his fortress, the inner jīva rules this city. By
his presence, constant activity goes on in the body—rivers and rivers of
blood course through various channels; millions and trillions of creatures
inhabit as bacteria, viruses and so on; the heart pumps, the respiratory
system works, the digestive system is busy; something works well,
something does not work well; the body is young, or the body is old, or the
body is withering!
In such a chaotic atmosphere of the nine-gated city, the meditative mind of
the mystic, the vaśī, enters the secret harem of perfect peace—śānti—where
there is no disturbance. There, it reigns as the Supreme One. That divine
spot is the Heart, hṛdayam. What does he do there? He neither acts nor
causes to act—naiva kurvanna kārayan. No action is possible in the Self.
He is in Nirvikalpa-Jñāna. He is happily established there —sukham āste.

SPECIAL POINT
The Bhagavata says,* “Every being is a wooden doll in the hands of Īśvara.
All are under His sway.” It is due to ignorance we think we have self-will.
When ignorance is gone, one understands that one is under the vaśa of
Īśvara. This knowledge that the Lord is the doer is sarvakarma-sannyāsa.
This is also the auspicious finale of the Gita (18.61–62). This total
renunciation of karma is sukham, the state of absolute relaxation.

5.14 न कर्तृत्वं न कर्माणि लोकस्य सृजति प्रभुः।

न कर्मफलसंयोगं स्वभावस्तु प्रवर्तते॥
The Lord neither creates the sense of doership nor the actions for the world;
nor the action-fruit connection for those actions. Instead, it is the individual
nature alone that accomplishes all this.
This verse deals with a key point. One aspect is Brahman—Pure
Consciousness, and the other is karma—which is nothing but māyā. In the
waking state, we give much importance to actions. If these same actions
had happened in a dream, would we give any importance to them after
waking up? If one had dreamt of fighting in a battle and killing his enemies;
on waking up, would he wail that he had committed wrongful acts in the
dream? Certainly not. This is because both the dream and the dreamer are
gone the moment one wakes up. So too, the moment we wake up to
Realisation, we know that the personality which had supposedly existed all
these days is only dream stuff and all the actions performed by that
personality are nothing but a dream. Once we know this, we are free.
It is from this standpoint that Bhagavan says neither doership nor action has
been created by the Lord for this world. na karmaphalasaṃyogam—there
is no real connection between an action and its result. This assumed
connection between the action and its result is mere delusion. Then what is
happening here? Why are we all restless to attain or achieve something or
the other? It is due to svabhāva. svabhāva means character, nature, prakṛti,
Māyā. It is referred to as prakṛti in the individual and Māyā in the world
outside. The manifestation of svabhāva in the individual is due to nothing
but ajñāna, ignorance, delusion. The character, the habits, and the memories
that we have are all nothing but the result of ignorance. It is driven by that
ignorance that we all work towards achieving something. All this mad rush
is nothing but an illusion. It is a mere dream. Wake up from this dream!
This is the clarion call of the Upanishads—uttishṭhata! jāgrata!
Gaudapadacharya says,

अनादिमायया सुप्तो यदा जीवः प्रबुध्यते।

अजमनिद्रमस्वप्नमद्वैतं बुध्यते तदा॥ Ma.Ka. 1.16
The soul, asleep due to the power of the beginningless Māyā
Wakes up to its true nature awakened by Knowledge
Beholds the birthless, devoid of the veil of sleep
Ever aware, beyond any dream or brooding
Non-dual Beingness alone shines forth
This gives a clear picture of the state of a jīvanmukta. It appears as if he is
in the world, saṃsāra. But his life is only a līlā, a sport, because he has
attained kaivalyam, the state of non-duality. For him, the Atman alone is
real. Sage Vyasa says,* “What appears as this world with all its good and
bad, the celebrations, wars and epidemics… they are all nothing but a sport
of that Divine Being whose very nature is freedom.” This is the Truth.
When one wakes up, one knows that the entirety of ‘action–actor–fruit’ is a
mere illusion. Everything is like a movie being played on a screen. If we go
and touch the pictures, we feel only the screen. There is no movie there—no
actor, no tragedy or comedy; no event is happening there; the screen alone
is. Similarly, there is only the pure substratum—the Self; Nirvāṇa alone is.
Here Bhagavan says, svabhāvastu pravartate. Each being has a svabhāva,
from which he cannot escape. This is stated in the concluding chapter as
well.* “You cannot jump out of your character, O Arjuna. You will be driven
to fight because that is your nature—svabhāva.” Svabhāva is nothing but
ignorance, ajñāna, unawareness of the real Self.
Svabhāva is Māyā. Actions are also Māyā. Hence the Bhagavata gives the
beautiful instruction that a person of knowledge should look at neither the
svabhāva (character) nor the karma (actions) of another person.

परस्वभावकर्माणि न प्रशंसेन्न गर्हयेत्।

विश्वमेकात्मकं पश्यन्प्रकृ त्या पुरुषेण च॥ SB 11.28.1

If we have the habit of observing the character or actions of another, it is

impossible to see the Divine in him. Only when we ignore the character and
actions of others, we can, by the authority of the Śruti or the words of the
Master, tell ourselves that he or she is the Atman alone. For such a one, the
Purusha, Atman, alone is real, and prakṛti is just an appearance in it. The
entire spiritual life becomes successful when one beholds the Divine
everywhere—yatsarvatra tadīkṣaṇam (SB7.7.55). This is kaivalya. Then the
loka, the world, disappears.
5.15 नादत्ते कस्यचित्पापं न चैव सुकृ तं विभुः।
अज्ञानेनावृतं ज्ञानं तेन मुह्यन्ति जन्तवः॥
The Profound Being within takes on Himself neither the good deeds nor the
evil deeds of any. The real nature of the Self is veiled by ignorance; hence
all creatures are deluded.

This is an important verse, the pivot of Vedanta. Here Bhagavan says that
neither sin nor virtue can make a mark on the real Being, the Self. nādatte
kasyacitpāpaṃ na caiva sukṛtaṃ vibhuḥ—the all-pervading Īśvara is not
like a Supreme Court judge, passing judgement that ‘this is pāpa’ and ‘that
is puṇya’. The Omniscient Being is beyond the tarnishing of the merit and
the demerit of the character or actions. He is never tainted by the actions of
the body or the character of the mind. The war and violence, and also the
love, charity and devotion seen in the movie—all these do not make a mark
on the screen. They are just appearances on the screen. Even while they
play out on the screen, they cannot taint the screen. So too is pure
Consciousness, the Self, untouched by all the waves that arise in the mind
or the body.
Why then do we suffer? ajñāna is the only cause. Taking the ego-‘I’ and its
actions as real and allowing the ego-‘I’ to push the body to activity—all
these take place due to ajñāna. The sequence of this unconscious process is
avidyā–kāma–karma. First comes avidyā—ignorance, which results in the
ego; from that arises kāma—desire; finally, this leads to karma—desire-
driven activity. This sequence has been called svabhāva in the previous
verse.
ajñānenāvṛtaṃ jñānam—the pure Awareness, Jñāna, is veiled by
ignorance. The jīvabhāva—‘I am this individual self,’ ‘I am the ego’—is
the veil that covers the Self. Jñāna is ever there. Jñāna is the very nature of
the Self. satyam jñānam anantam is the nature of the Self, says the
Upanishad. One might ask why then is it not known? The reason is
ignorance, which is like a cloud covering the Sun. In fact, the cloud is far
too flimsy to cover the Sun!

घनच्छन्नदृष्टिर्घनच्छन्नमर्कं यथा निष्प्रभं मन्यते चातिमूढः।

 तथा बद्धवद्भाति यो मूढदृष्टेः स नित्योपलब्धिस्वरूपोऽहमात्मा॥ Hasta. 12
Vision veiled by clouds, fool thinks the splendorous Sun, dim
So too to the ignorant, the Self appears veiled by the body-
mind
Ever experienced as one’s Beingness
Never veiled, ever luminous
That Atman I AM

People incorrectly say that the cloud covers the Sun, whereas the cloud
actually covers their sight and not the Sun. So too, when it is in fact
ignorance that covers the intellect, they believe that ignorance has covered
the Self. Just as sunlight is needed even to see the cloud, the awareness of
the Self is necessary even to say, ‘I am ignorant’. It is by means of the
effulgence of the Self alone that we say we are ignorant. The very
effulgence of the Self is divine. Neither sin nor virtue affects the Self. This
being the case, who is the one who experiences the results of sin and virtue?
They are experienced by the jīva, the ego. As mentioned right at the start,
the cause for this jīvabhāva is ajñāna! Not knowing one’s real nature, one
considers oneself as merely this or that.
Here Bhagavan calls such deluded human beings mere creatures—
jantavaḥ. Jantu means that which is born—jāyate iti jantuḥ. What is the
cause of the delusion? It is because their jñāna is covered by ajñāna. The
inner awareness is clouded by ignorance. tena muhyanti—from that comes
the delusion—moha—and they suffer.
Moha is nothing but the misapprehension
TRACE THE EGO TO ITS of the Self as the jīva, and thinking ‘I am
born’, ‘I am growing’, ‘I will grow old’,
SOURCE AND YOU WILL ‘I have disease’, ‘I will die’, ‘My beloved
DISCOVER THAT THE is suffering’, ‘I am suffering’, ‘I have lost
my relative, my friend’—these are all
EGO IS NOT REAL. founded on this ‘I’, which is unreal, mere
imagined stuff. It is like an imagined
appearance in space. This ajñāna is due
to the ego, the ‘I’. That alone makes the mind. That alone makes the
āvaraṇa. Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi would constantly remind those who
went to him bemoaning about their problems and sufferings to find out
‘Who is this “I” who is suffering.’ Fortunate souls took the clue given by
the Master; they sought the ‘I’ and found it unreal like the blueness of the
sky or the mirage in a desert. With that, their suffering also vanished. Many
souls went to the Sage with immense suffering and, in a trice, became
enlightened by this process of ‘WHO AM I?’
Non-recognition of the Substratum makes the appearance of jīva, the ego,
possible. Trace the ego to its source and you will discover that the ego is not
real, and ajñāna is gone. Then, what happens? Only Jñāna, the Self, exists.
You are one with the Truth. You are Brahman. You are the all-pervading
Reality. That alone is the Truth. Then, moha is gone.
In the next verse, Bhagavan says jñānena tu—by Knowledge, ignorance is
destroyed. Here, jñāna means vichāra-jñāna—the knowledge to enquire
within. When you go deep within enquiring into the real nature of the ‘I’,
then the misapprehension of the individual-‘I’ disappears, and the ‘I’ that is
the Truth shines forth splendorous, like seeing an object in broad daylight.

5.16 ज्ञानेन तु तदज्ञानं येषां नाशितमात्मनः।

तेषामादित्यवज्ज्ञानं प्रकाशयति तत्परम्॥
But, for those whose ignorance is destroyed by the knowledge of the Self,
their knowledge illumines the Supreme, like the shining sun.

In the previous verse, we spoke about ajñānenāvṛtaṃ jñānam—how the

veil of ignorance covers the knowledge of the Self. In this verse, Bhagavan
explains how to remove that veil. The antidote that can cure this disease is
Jñāna alone. According to Ayurveda, there are three causes of disease—
kapha, vāta and pitta. As per Vedanta, there is only one disease and one
antidote for it. The disease is ignorance, and the antidote is the knowledge
of the Self. We think we are the body, the mind, and the petty ego. On
exploring within, one comes to know, ‘I am not the ego. I am the Self,
Brahman.’
ādityavajjñānaṃ prakāśayati—like the splendorous Sun that illumines
everything in the world, Jñāna illumines the inner Self. Ātma-vichāra or
Self-enquiry is the only way to realise the Self. By the light of enquiry, one
recognises the timeless, spaceless and causeless Being deep within.
Through Jñāna, ajñāna is removed. Self-Realisation brings in its own
conviction. When the Sun is shining, we need no other light to see it. In the
same way, when one has realised the Self, then by its own power, one
knows that it has been found.
To attain Jñāna, the knowledge of the
BY THE POWER OF Self, one must approach a Master who
has got true Experience and Knowledge.
CONTACT WITH A JÑĀNI, Such a one is called śrotriya
WHICH COMES DUE TO brahmanishṭha. Śrotriya means one who
has absolute clarity about what the
THE GRACE OF THE Upanishad, Śruti, says. Brahmanishṭha
INNER BEING, THE means he is established in Brahman; he is
ever experiencing it. The Upanishad
MIND TURNS INWARDS. declares,* “Only when the knowledge is
given by such an Acharya, it becomes
fruitful in a mature disciple.” Only when voiced by an Enlightened Master,
does the teaching make the mind turn inward and flow towards the centre.
The nature of Jñāna-vichāra or Self-enquiry is the inward flow of the mind
towards the Self. This is referred to as pratyak-pravāha by Sankaracharya.
The mind is habituated to running out through the senses. By the power of
contact with a Jñāni, which comes due to the grace of the Inner Being, the
mind turns inwards. This is what Sankaracharya refers to in the bhāshya as
‘guru-ātma-prasāda’. When the mind turns inward by the power of Grace
and upadeśa, the current of meditative contemplation begins. The mind
learns to look at its own inner throb, the inner Self—the ‘I’—the nature of
which it has not questioned for innumerable births. Now, for the first time,
it looks with focussed attention at the Source—the ‘I’, the mere existence as
the ‘I AM.’ This enquiry reveals that the ‘I’ is not the body, the mind, or the
ego. It is pure non-dual Awareness; it is Brahman. In this way, through
constant enquiry, the mind subsides into the Heart-centre, and the Self is
revealed. The veil of ignorance that had covered the Self just drops off. The
real Self reveals itself in all splendour like the Sun—ādityavat.
Here Bhagavan uses the word tatparam—that which is beyond. Tat means
the Absolute, the Truth, Brahman. Param means beyond. tatparam can also
 be translated as tat-padam, the implied
meaning of TATTVAMASI—you are That.
UNTIL THE ‘I’ WITHIN
One comes to know that the very
SHINES FORTH AS THE experience of ‘I’ is Brahman. It is
limitless. That Awareness is devoid of the
BOUNDLESS REALITY, limitations of the body, mind, or the ego.
ONE MUST KEEP THE This conviction is born out of deep
INTELLECT, THE MIND, spiritual experience, samādhi.

AND ALL ONE’S FOCUS, Unawareness of one’s real nature is

ignorance. Sankaracharya says,* “Non-
ATTENTION, ON IT. revelation of one’s real Self is ignorance.”
To recollect it, one must turn the attention
to one’s own sense of ‘I’, and again and again hold it in one’s awareness.
Then, it gradually reveals itself—that it is not this limited jīva. Until the ‘I’
within shines forth as the Boundless Reality, one must keep the intellect, the
mind, and all one’s focus, attention, on it. This is nididhyāsana.
This is the essence of the next verse.

5.17 तद्बुद्धयस्तदात्मानस्तन्निष्ठास्तत्परायणाः।
गच्छन्त्यपुनरावृत्तिं ज्ञाननिर्धूतकल्मषाः॥
Those whose intellect is wholly absorbed in That, who remain identified
with That, who are established in That, who have That as the goal, and
whose vices are purified by Knowledge, attain the state of no return.

āvṛtti is the keyword in this verse. āvṛtti means going round and round in
the wheel of suffering. It also means coming back. Every thought and every
action that we shoot out is like a boomerang. It makes a circle and comes
back to us. If we do not know how to handle it, it can hit back terribly. All
the miseries in life are brought about by such hitting back of actions.
Actions are solidified thoughts. Thoughts are nothing but a sign of
unawareness of the real nature of the Self. The mind is another name for
āvṛtti. Body, senses, actions, events—are all projected by the mind.
A devotee once asked Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi, “How can I control the
mind?” The Sage said, “If you know the Self, there will be no mind for you
 to control.” This is the direct and perfect
IF THERE IS NO MIND, answer. The only solution, the ultimate
solution, for the problem is to know ‘WHO
THERE IS NO WORLD, NO I AM’. When one knows the real nature of
MISERY; WHAT REMAINS
the ‘I’, the Self within, when one knows
that it is Pure Consciousness, the mind
IS ONLY PURE disappears like a mirage. Mind is a
EXISTENCE- symptom of ignorance. To retain the mind
is to continue in the wheel of misery.
CONSCIOUSNESS-BLISS. Repeatedly coming back to this misery is
punarāvṛtti. Just pondering over this
whole misery—of having to go round and
round in the wheel of birth and death, the struggles associated with youth,
the pulls of attachment and aversion, the sufferings brought by disease, old
age and separation—can bring about desperation and even despondency.
We must find a solution for this. Once a person wakes up to the acute
misery of the pandemic let loose by the mind, he will long for the state of
no-mind. The state of no-mind is Enlightenment. If there is no mind, then
there is no world, no misery; what remains is only Pure Existence-
Consciousness-Bliss.
To attain that state, one must listen to the teaching—the real nature of the
Self—from a Jñāni. Then the buddhi absorbs and recognises the fact that
what it is searching for is its own real nature, the Self. This is
tadbuddhayaḥ. Then the enquiry begins, ‘WHO AM I?’, ‘What is my real
nature?’ The mind turns towards the Self. It learns to abide in the Self. It no
more identifies with the ego or the senses or the body. It recognises, ‘I am
not the body, I am not the mind, I am not the intellect, I am the Pure
Awareness.’ It gradually experiences a profound peace within and
increasingly stays in that state—tadātmānaḥ. Occasionally, the mind
becomes absorbed for hours together in samādhi, and whenever it comes
out of that state, it suffers miserably. The more it tastes the profound peace
of Ātmānubhūti, the more miserable it becomes when it comes out and
meets the world of ignorance. It longs to get firmly established in the
peaceful substratum and strives more and more to abide there. In this stage,
the yogi gets absorbed in nididhyāsana—tanniṣṭhāḥ.
How can a householder spend all his time in nididhyāsana—in Self-
contemplation, Self-enquiry, and meditation? He has duties such as looking
after his family. If there is this goal of survival in the world, a little bit of
the mind must be retained. Hence, the mind swings between the practical
world and the Eternal Truth. If the yogi is a mature seeker, he chooses only
God, the Eternal Truth. He is ready to forgo the practical world. Of course,
such renunciation is exceedingly rare. Such a person attains the state of
tatparāyaṇāḥ. For him, that alone is his life-breath. Such a one is a
sannyāsi. He is not even bothered about his survival. For such a completely
surrendered devotee, even the last vestige of the ego is burnt in the fire of
Self-knowledge.
As long as one has a goal, the ego will thrive. To remove the ego, root and
branch, the goal should also be removed. You yourself are the goal, here
and now. You are the goal; you are the means; you are the teaching; you are
the teacher; you are the taught; you are the experiencer; you are the
experience—you are all of it. There is no going, coming, attaining, or
achieving. Be That now, here, and that is an eternal experience.
Here, all these qualifications—tadbuddhayaḥ tadātmānaḥ tanniṣṭhāḥ
tatparāyaṇāḥ—become fruitful, and such a one becomes a jīvanmukta.
Then there is no more coming back for him; he no more owns a mind—that
is gacchanti apunarāvṛttim. punarāvṛtti means coming back to this world,
taking another birth. This means again getting clothed with the mind. The
completely surrendered devotee no more covers himself with the mind and
body—that is apunarāvṛtti.
kalmaṣa is ignorance. The ego, which is the collective bag of the seeds of
ignorance, is burnt in the fire of Knowledge—jñāna-nirdhūta-kalmaṣāḥ.
With the fire of Jñāna, his kalmasha is removed. As a result, there is no
‘person’ remaining to come back, lead an ignorant life, grow, get connected
with people, get separated from people, identify with the body, or die and
take another birth. There is no ‘I’ in him; only the Supreme Being is. Such a
one has attained Brahma-nirvāṇa.
These three verses (5.15–17) are very important. Even if a seeker knows only
these three verses, it is quite sufficient to realise the Self. The cause for all
suffering is ignorance, ajñāna. The result of ignorance is ego, and the
antidote for this is to surrender to a Master who knows the Truth and listen
to his words about the real nature of the Self. The first breakthrough
happens when one hears, “You are not the body, mind, or ego. You are the
Self. You are the Atman.” Then one enquires and meditates deeply. The
inquiry is about the real nature of one’s own feeling of ‘I’, and the ‘I’
reveals itself not as the individual but as Brahman. Then supreme peace
descends. One attains complete quietude and stillness. This is the Blessed
Way. jñānena tu means by the power of jñāna, which the Upanishads
reveal. By that jñāna, ignorance is gone. On attaining Self-Realisation, one
finds the completion of one’s spiritual pilgrimage. This is the zenith of
experience.

5.18 विद्याविनयसम्पन्ने ब्राह्मणे गवि हस्तिनि।

शुनि चैव श्वपाके च पण्डिताः समदर्शिनः॥
Whether it be a brāhmaṇa endowed with learning and humility, or a cow, or
an elephant, or a dog, or even if it be an outcaste who eats dog-meat—the
wise behold the same Self in all.

SANT NAMADEVA AND THE DOG

This is an incident from the life of the great devotee Namadeva. Namadeva
spent many days immersed in meditation in a forest. Whenever he woke up
from meditation, he would sing song after song of love and ecstasy on his
beloved Lord Vittala. Two days passed in this way. On the third day, his
wife, searching for him everywhere, finally found him in the jungle. She
beseeched him to eat the roti and dal she had brought as he had not eaten
anything for two days. He said, “Dear, put it down. My Vittala is dancing in
my Heart. When I open my eyes, the trees are all His forms, the green
leaves are nothing but His hair, the sky is He, the earth is He, you are He,
and the roti also appears as Him. How can I eat now? The eater, the food,
and the eating are all Vittala. Keep it down and go.” Accustomed to her
husband’s ways, she did so and left.
After some time, a dog came by. Namadeva was in deep meditation. The
dog took the roti, which was kept nearby and ran away with it. When
Namadeva opened his eyes and saw this, he ran behind the dog. He went
near the dog, cajoled it, did a namaskāra to it and said, “O Vittala, you are
eating the dry roti without ghee? Come, let me put some ghee on it.” Saying
this, he smeared ghee on all the rotis and offered them along with the dal.
He had the full vision of the divinity hidden in the dog. He did not see the
dog; he saw only his beloved Vittala. When the devotee sees God, there is
no dog; the dog is gone.
Those who have paṇḍā—the knowledge of the Self—are paṇḍitāḥ. Such
ones are inwardly illumined. Theirs is a divine vision through which they
behold the Self in everyone’s heart. When a Jñāni looks at the world, he
beholds the same Self everywhere. Only when you know the Self in
yourself will you be able to behold it everywhere. The same Light is seen
shining all around by the Illumined Sage. In that state, he beholds everyone
and everything as the Self. Such a one is a samadarśī.
Waves, eddies, bubbles and icebergs are seen in the ocean, but they are all
made of water. When we see them as water, we only see the advaita—the
non-dual Truth.* A gold bangle, a gold bracelet, and a gold ring are of
different names and shapes, but when we behold only the gold in them, we
see the oneness or sameness of gold in them. Similarly, when the Self is
known, the sage beholds That behind all the names and forms. He does not
fail to behold the divine element in all.
Whatever and whoever is seen—whether it be a Brahmin, a cow, an
elephant, a dog, or an uncultured person—if they are all seen as the same, as
the Self, then the vision is perfect. We may ask—how is this possible? One
is a highly refined and cultured person; the other is not. One is a calm and
peaceful animal (cow), whereas the other is a natural scavenger (dog). How
can a learned Brahmin, a cow and a lowly person all be equal? Seen
through the lens of society, it is impossible. But, here, our topic is the vision
of a jñāni, a sthitaprajña, a jīvanmukta.

THE SAGE’S SAME-SIGHTEDNESS

Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi was the perfect embodiment of the same-
sightedness eulogised in this verse. Whatever or whoever came to him, he
saw only the Self in them. Brahmins, outcastes, aristocrats, simple villagers,
animals, birds, and trees… all, all were the same for him because he saw
only the Self in them and not the body or the mind. They too behaved freely
with him.
With the same dignity of a human being, the cow Lakshmi would move
amidst the crowd, go to the Sage, and with great love, put her face on his
tummy. He would say, “She has put on the attire of a cow; you have put on
the attire of a human being, that is all.” It is well known among Maharshi’s
devotees that the cow Lakshmi was proclaimed as an Enlightened Being by
the Sage, and the samādhi of the cow is maintained and worshipped in the
ashram to this day.
There was a dog in the ashram which used to sit in the hall of Maharshi like
a monk, with closed eyes. The dog always sat only on an ochre robe. He
would eat only after the Sage tasted the food. Maharshi used to consider the
dog as a monk, a saint. There were also birds—peacocks, crows, and many
other creatures, even squirrels. With all of them, the Sage behaved as if they
were human beings.
In those days, people would not freely mix with the outcastes, who used to
cut wood in the hills. They would frequently come to Skandashram, the
hermitage on the hill, where Maharshi was living with some disciples.
Maharshi would give them water and sometimes gruel. One day, they came
there saying that they were hungry. At that time, Mother Alagammal, who
had renounced the world, was also residing there. She was very orthodox
and would cook her own food with utmost cleanliness, untouched by others.
Using this opportunity to free her of her orthodox ways, Maharshi asked her
to give food to these ‘untouchables’.
He said, “See, they are all very hungry. Bring the food you have cooked for
yourself and distribute it among them.”
Mother hesitated and said, “If I give them food before I eat, I will have to
take a bath and cook again.”
Maharshi reproached her, “Do you think they are all unclean and
untouchable? Come and look at them. They are all Arunachala-svarūpa. Do
not see them as their body; see them as the Self.”
These powerful words worked like magic, and Mother Alagammal had the
vision of the Divine in all the bodies. Her orthodoxy vanished at that very
moment. She was established in Ātmabhāva. Without any hesitation, she
distributed the food among them.
samadarśana is the fruit of Ātmajñāna. Vishama-darśana is the opposite of
samadarśana. To see the same Self in all is sama; to be deluded by the
names and forms and breed innumerable thoughts of attachment and
aversion is vishama. The world is full of conflicting ideas, individuals and
events. If we get involved in the world, we are bound to lose our
equilibrium. It is not possible to change the world either. Then how are we
to gain poise?
When we interact with people, we meet some who are very gentle, highly
cultured and noble. An example of such people is given here as vidyā-
vinaya-sampanne brāhmaṇe—a learned and humble brahmin. When we
meet such a person, the mind absorbs his presence, and we feel good. When
we meet someone with unsavoury habits such as eating dog-meat, referred
to here as śvapāka, an unpleasant feeling may arise in the mind. These
feelings are the result of seeing the name and form. On the other hand, the
Knower is able to pierce through the forms and see the Self alone, ignoring
the body and mind. Other examples of cow, elephant and dog are also given
to drive home the fact that the Jñāni is undisturbed under all circumstances,
whomever he comes across.
Samadarśitva does not mean interacting with everyone in the same way. It
only means that the outer differences, whatever they may be, do not disturb
one’s inner awareness. Certainly, there are visible differences in this world.
But, whomever the Jñāni sees, he is certain that nothing exists other than
the Self. Such an experience or vision cannot be expressed in words. Only
when a person has gone deep in his meditation will he recognise that the
outer eye is not the organ with which one beholds another. The real eye is
not an organ. The very Self is the eye. Awareness is the eye. It is the essence
of the ‘I’. This is the real eye.
The Jñāni has the spiritual vision to see another as the Self. This vision of
the mystic cannot be taught by him to another but can only be absorbed by
the disciple through intimacy with the jīvanmukta.
There is a Bhagavata verse which expresses the same idea.

ब्राह्मणे पुल्कसे स्तेने ब्रह्मण्येऽर्के स्फु लिङ्गके ।

अक्रू रे क्रू रके चैव समदृक्पण्डितो मतः॥ SB 11.29.14
Whether it be a Brahmin, an outcaste, a thief, even a great devotee or a
jñāni (brahmaṇye), the Sun, the stars, a compassionate person, or a cruel
person—the one who beholds them all with same-sightedness is a paṇḍita.
Here, a profound idea is being revealed by Krishna to Uddhava. He says
that a jñāni looks at a compassionate person and a cruel person with the
same vision. This is, of course, not practical in worldly interactions. The
goal of a yogi is not to perfect his interactions with the world but to
maintain his inner poise. If we get distracted by the pleasantness of the
noble or the cruelty of the wicked, we stand to forfeit our mental peace. We
may sit in meditation for hours together, but when we come out and see or
hear about a compassionate person, the mind gets a pleasant feeling; when
we hear about a cruel person, the mind becomes disturbed by an unpleasant
feeling. Indeed, both are disturbances for a yogi because they pull the mind
outward. It receives the illusory information that someone is there outside,
separate from the Self. A thought is formed, an emotion is created, and a
wave starts waving within.
To remain unperturbed in samādhi, the mind should not scatter out even a
bit. Not even a speck, not even a drop, should spill out. Only then will
samādhi ripen. Only then will absolute Self-abidance fructify. Hence the
Vedantins use the medicine of ‘jagan-mithyā’—a constant reminder that
anything other than the Self is only an illusory appearance; they are unreal.
This is one way of putting the mind back to equipoise—sama. The fruit of
samadarśitva is poise of mind. This indeed is the essence of spiritual life.
The Bhagavata says,* “That indeed is the supreme yoga which confers a
peaceful state of mind.”
samadarśinaḥ means being ever aware of
THE GOAL OF A YOGI IS the Self. The very name of the Self is
samaḥ because it is always the same; it
NOT TO PERFECT HIS never undergoes any change. Everything
INTERACTIONS WITH other than the Self is ‘vi-sama’—conflict.
As Bhagavan has said, “vishame
THE WORLD BUT TO samupasthitam—Arjuna, you are in a
MAINTAIN HIS INNER vishamasthiti. Now, come back to sama-
sthiti and be established there.” This is
POISE. Krishna’s teaching.
The first chapter in the Gita is Vishāda-Yoga. All of worldly life is a
vishāda-yoga. As long as one is affected by the world, as long as the centre
where one rests ever unperturbed is not found, one is in disorder—vishama.
Even if we climb to the Everest of spiritual experience, the valley is waiting
—we may slip down any moment. To avoid this mood swing, we must find
this spiritual-calm, sama-sthiti, by establishing the mind in the Self. This is
done by seeing everything as the same. Outwardly, a yogi looks at all as the
same, and inwardly, he is ever abiding in his real nature—‘samadṛk svadṛk’
(SB3.24.44). The word samatva means outwardly, it is same-sightedness
everywhere, and inwardly, it is abidance in the Self. ‘svadṛk’ is a beautiful,
spiritually powerful usage in the Bhagavata.

SANT JNANESWARA AND THE BUFFALO

Here is a beautiful anecdote about saint Jnaneswar that reveals this vision of
the Self in every creature. It is said that Jnaneswara and his brothers were
once seated amongst the learned Brahmins of Paithan. Intending to deride
Jnaneswara, the leader of the assembly said, “What kind of a jñāni are you?
What is the jñāna that you speak about?” Jnaneswara, quoting this Gita
verse, replied, “Looking at everything, everyone as the same Self, is
Jñāna.” Hearing this, the scholars laughed. Pointing to a buffalo, the leader
challenged Jnaneswara, “You say that a Brahmin and a buffalo are the
same. Will this buffalo chant the Vedas?” Jnaneswara said, “Of course not,
as it is not the nature of a buffalo to chant the Vedas. A buffalo is a buffalo,
and a Brahmin’s body is a Brahmin’s body. But the same Self resides in
both. Anything is possible for the omnipotent One within.”
To reveal this to them, Jnaneswara performed a miracle there. He touched
the buffalo and said, “O Vittala, chant the Veda.” Soon the buffalo started
chanting the Veda in its deep buffalo voice! Seeing this spectacle, all were
awestruck. They fell flat at Jnaneswara’s feet and said, “O Lord, you are not
an ordinary person. You could make even the buffalo chant the Vedas!”
Jnaneswara said, “This is just a feat performed to reveal to you that the
same Self inhabits all forms.”

5.19 इहैव तैर्जितः सर्गो येषां साम्ये स्थितं मनः।

निर्दोषं हि समं ब्रह्म तस्माद्ब्रह्मणि ते स्थिताः॥
Creation (rebirth) is conquered even here by those whose mind rests in
equanimity. Brahman is flawless and the same in all. Therefore, they remain
ever established in Brahman.

The Sage who has attained quietude of

mind has indeed transcended the suffering
EVERY THOUGHT,
of embodiment. This is the message of
EVERY EMOTION, this verse. Moksha, Liberation, is the
EVERY ATTACHMENT, IS complete transcendence of creation—
sarga. In fact, sarga is another name for
A BIRTH. AND THEIR saṃsāra. Every moment, the mind is
VANISHING OR ERASING involved in sarga. Manifestations of
various images in the mind are sarga, and
IS A DEATH. their merging back is praḷaya. This inner
sarga and praḷaya constitute the real field
of suffering. The outer is only an extension of the inner. If we observe
closely, we will not fail to understand that every thought, every emotion, is
a birth. Every attachment is a birth. And their vanishing or erasing is a
death. As long as this sarga is unconquered, rebirth and death are also
unconquered.

BHAGAVAN RAMANA ON REBIRTH

When someone asked Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi, ‘Will there be rebirth?’
Maharshi asked back, “Are you born now?”
The devotee said, “Yes”.
“Who is born now?”
“I”.
“Find out the ‘I’. Find the meaning of the ‘I’. Explore it and tell me what it
is. You will find that there is no ‘I’ there. There is no becoming, only being.
The same Existence is there always.”
Narrowing down every question to the ‘I’ and then tracing the ‘I’ to its
source is the way back home. This is, in fact, Vedanta. ‘Veda’ means
knowing, and ‘anta’ means ending the knowing. Knowing itself is a vedana
—suffering. Vedana in Sanskrit has both meanings—to know and to suffer.
Not knowing also belongs to the realm of suffering alone. Knowing uses the
mind; it breeds thoughts. Ignorance, or not knowing, is also potential
thinking. Hence it too belongs to the realm of thinking. Sankaracharya says
that ‘thinking’ is like day and ‘not thinking’ is like night.* One is the waking
state, and the other is sleep; both do not transcend the realm of suffering.
Vedanta means going beyond all forms of knowing and not knowing. You
are neither ‘knowing’ nor ‘unknowing’; you are neither in the waking state
nor in the sleep state; you are neither day nor night. You are the Sun. You
are pure Awareness—Chit—which illuminates both. This awareness is the
transcendence of sarga—jitaḥ sargaḥ.
To go beyond creation, sarga, means to be without the other. The ‘other’ is
creation, saṃsāra, suffering. To be conscious of the other is always a form
of potential suffering. To be aware of one’s Self is to just BE—free of
thoughts, free of thinking. Being, Pure Awareness, is pure transcendence; it
is transcending the other.
To be without the world, to be without the
THIS WORLD IS ONLY body-mind, is yoga. It is absolute
freedom. It happens in samādhi and also
MIND-STUFF. THE ‘I in the deep-sleep state. Both these states
AM’ IS NEITHER MIND reveal that, in reality, there is no world in
the Self. The world arises only when the
NOR MATTER. IT IS mind arises. In deep sleep, the Self is
TIMELESS, SPACE-LESS, devoid of everything else. Even now,
there is no world in the ‘I AM’, one’s
PURE AWARENESS. existence. This world is only sensory-
stuff. The astral world, all other worlds,
past and future, are all mind-stuff. The ‘I
AM’ is neither mind nor matter. It is timeless, space-less, pure Awareness.
To be in it is to be free of creation. It is nisarga —sheer spontaneity. Here
and now, every moment is samādhi. sarga, creation, is vikalpa—a
disturbance in Awareness. To be free of it is nisarga. To feel the oppression
of the world, body and mind is sarga. To feel the other is a sign of disorder.
When the mind is not centred, the other is felt poignantly.

THE ADVAITIC SAGE’S VIEW ON EVOLUTION

A devotee asked Bhagavan Ramana, “Do you accept Darwin’s Theory of
Evolution?” Maharshi replied, “We do not accept even creation, why should
we discuss evolution?”

न निरोधो न चोत्पत्तिर्न बद्धो न च साधकः।

न मुमुक्षुर्न वै मुक्त इत्येषा परमार्थता॥ Ma.Ka. 2.32

Neither cessation of creation nor creation; neither the bound nor the one
striving for Realisation; neither the one striving for Liberation nor the
liberated—none of these exist. This is the supreme truth.
Always, at all times, only the ever-free Self exists. This is the truth. To
know this is to never move out of equilibrium—always to be the same; that
is sama. It is the ever-effulgent Chit—Awareness. It is here and now. Hence
Bhagavan says, ‘Here itself—ihaiva’. Not after death. ihaiva also means
here, in this world, in this very birth. This verse has an Upanishad mantra
as the pramāṇa*—“If one comes to know and realise the Self in this very
birth, he has got it; it is Truth to him; it is real to him. If not, if one is unable
to realise it here, it is a great loss.”
When a disciple goes to an Acharya, at the right moment of sattva-guṇa,
the deśika points out to the disciple that the treasure he seeks is he himself;
his very existence as ‘I AM’ is that treasure. “Unsought, already gained, is
the ever-available divine treasure,” sings Sri Ramana Maharshi in his song
on Arunachala. Be still, and own it here and now—ihaiva. Just be that; no
quest, no becoming.
nirdoṣaṃ hi samaṃ brahma. Here Bhagavan defines Brahman as that
which is unaffected by flaws such as birth, death, disease, and so on, of the
body, as well as right knowledge, wrong knowledge, ignorance, memory,
fantasy, sleep, and so on of the mind. It is ever the same even amid all
flaws; the Experiencer is ever the same. It is the very effulgence of ‘I AM.’
That ‘aham’ is always of the same nature. It is pure Consciousness. One
must probe within and realise this sama principle. Sama means the same,
equal. The opposite of sama is vishama; it means disturbance. The Atman is
sama, and everything else is vishama. The sama which is free of all flaws is
Brahman—nirdoṣaṃ hi samaṃ brahma.
doṣam means vāsanās, and samam is samādhi, pure Consciousness. The
Awareness that is free of all vāsanās is Brahman. “nirvāsanā-maunam—
maunam that is not clouded by vāsanās is samādhi,” says Sankaracharya in
Vivekachudamani.
The mind itself is vishama; it is another name for duality. The feeling of ‘I’
is always non-dual. No one feels themselves to be ‘two’ in their awareness,
although the thoughts are always many. The mind implies plurality, whereas
the awareness as ‘I’ is always non-dual—advaita. When this knowledge
spreads out in the mind like threads in a cloth, the mind absorbs the non-
dual truth. It withdraws from the sensory pastures and retires into the
temple of peace within. Such a mind ceases to be a mind. This is
samasthiti. sāmye sthitaṃ manaḥ. Thus when the mind stays in mere
Existence, sama—chidrūpa sthiti—one goes beyond all becoming.
There is no ‘becoming’ or cessation in Existence. That which becomes and
ceases is not real; it is unreal. We have already explored this concept deeply.
We must know this truth, that is all. In such a state, the mind is no more.
Such beings are transcendental beings. They have crossed the border of
becoming.
In that centre alone, you become free of all flaws—nirdoṣam. It is
impossible to be free of defects in the body-mind plane. Recognition of this
fact itself is pure Grace. That is the end of all meaningless toil. One can try
to keep the body and mind clean, but they will become impure again. The
true cleansing of the body and mind is the renunciation of the body and
mind by non-identification with them. Just let them be. They do not belong
to you. They are nature’s products. You rest in yourself. There is no feeling
of ‘I’ in the body. The hands, legs, liver, or kidney do not say ‘I’. The sense
of ‘I’ arises from some other centre. We need not separate the ‘I’ from the
body. It is ever separated. This knowledge is sama. To think you are
associated with the body is the flaw—doṣa. When you rest in your Self,
that is nirdoṣam.
Every day, in deep sleep, everyone rests in sama. No defects of dvaita are
present there. ‘I’, ‘you’, and ‘he’ are not found there. But the dosha has not
been removed. We, therefore, fall back to ignorance. Every day, the Inner
Being invites us to that state and takes us there. We have no power to resist
that state. It draws us there and gives us a dip in it, but soon enough we are
back to the nonsense world of ego. Every day, the Inner Being kindly gives
us the road map, yet we fail to recognise it. Hence the Upanishad says,*
“The Knower of Truth thus reaches the divine world day after day.”
Despite such repeated demonstrations of that state, our failure to recognise
it is indeed a great dosha. Ignorance is the flaw. Ignoring what is obvious is
the flaw. When that is removed, one finds fulfilment. Dosha † also means
darkness. Nirdosha means there is no more darkness, no more ignorance.
“When dosha goes, santosha comes,” says Sri Ramana Maharshi. Santosha
means happiness. Sama is santosha. Vishama or duality or disturbance is
suffering. “guṇadoṣadṛśirdoṣaḥ (SB11.19.45)—to see something as good or
bad is a flaw.” To see not two, but to see all as the one Atman is the way.
nirdoṣam is to be free of all dualistic movements of the mind. Only by
seeing all as the Atman, will the mind remain in peace. This is the state
devoid of all doshas.

FLAWLESS IS THE ATMAN

samam is the equanimity of mind—the mind is not in its usual mode of
reacting to senses. If such peace and quietude are dependent on something,
it is a flaw, dosha. If the mind is peaceful at a tīrtha-kshetra, but if the
peace goes away when one is away from the tīrtha, this is a flaw. Similarly,
if the peace of mind is brought on by some practice such as japa or
meditation or the presence of a Mahatma, and the peace vanishes when the
cause is removed, that is also a flaw. nirdoṣam, flawless, means the peace
which is not bound by time, space or causation. Such peace is possible only
when one knows that one’s beingness alone is true. One is no more attached
to the transitory peace of the mind. If the joys of the worldly realm are
considered to be physical well-being, then mental well-being is heaven. But
the real spiritual well-being, peace, is the abidance in the Self, which never
comes and goes. Here, one is not tempted either by the physical or by the
mental. It lies in the recognition of the flawless Beingness. Flawlessness is
the very nature of Beingness. Everything other than the Self is accompanied
by flaws.
When the mind knows this non-dual truth, it returns to the nest in the Heart
and roosts there in absolute peace. Where is one to go? All are nothing but
the same, the same Self. Dattatreya sings,* “Why do you weep, my dear
lady-mind? Here, ever, is the state of Liberation. Here, all are the same—
the same blissful sama, the Atman.”
“If you see plurality, death waits to grab you,” says the Upanishad.

मनसैवेदमाप्तव्यं नेह नानास्ति किञ्चन।

मृत्योः स मृत्युं गच्छति य इह नानेव पश्यति॥ Ka. Up. 2.1.11

This must be known with the mind. Not even a little bit of plurality exists
here. He who beholds nānā—many—goes from one form of death to
another.
Here, death means suffering. That is the result of ignorance. The very
perception of duality is death. No differences exist here. No separateness
exists in any form whatsoever. All our usual reasoning, however, argues on
the side of differences. We must ask our heart whether we want separation
or oneness. The heart will tell the truth; it will choose peace. If we want
peace, we must accept the truth—EKAMEVA ADVITĪYAM. Only one Self exists;
nothing else. This is vyavasāya-buddhi. We may have a million reasons to
accept plurality; the intellect will also constantly supply brilliant logic for
this. But there is one good reason for accepting oneness, and that is for the
sake of peace.
If the mind reaches sama-sthiti, one
YOU ARE THE ENTRY. abides in Brahman. In such a state, King
Parikshit exclaimed in delight, “Yes, I
YOU YOURSELF ARE THE have entered Brahma-nirvāṇa—praviṣṭo
DOOR. YOU ARE THE brahma nirvāṇam” (SB12.6.5). The point is
that anyone can enter Brahma-nirvāṇa
PERSON WHO ENTERS. because it is here and now. It is in
yourself. You need not enter anywhere
else, but you only have to enter your Self.
How can you enter your own ‘I’? You have to just know it, that is all. There
is no space there to enter and no one to enter. You are the entry. You
yourself are the door. You are the person who enters. Everything is the same
principle.
FEEDING SUGAR-CANDY TO RAMA
One day, the saint of Kanhangad, Swami Ramdas, said to his devotees,
“You know, this morning Rama came to Ramdas, and Ramdas fed Him
sugar candy.” The devotees, who heard it with awe, asked, “How did you
feed Rama?” Ramdas said, “There, Ramdas has a secret. Do you want to
know? He put the sugar candy in his own mouth.” Saying this, the saint
laughed.
That’s all there is to it! Bring the mind back home and swallow it, and here
and now, creation ends.
‘There is no other; what exists is the Atman alone’—conviction of this truth
is the root of this tree of Realisation. A firm conviction about the illusory
nature of this world forms the trunk of this tree. Each moment of abidance
makes for the myriad leaves of the tree. The flowers of profound insights
that bloom from time to time is tattva-jñāna. Supreme Peace is the fruit of
this sacred tree.

SPECIAL POINT
Sarga means creation, conflict, suffering. When there are two, there is
creation. All flaws are because of the illusory belief of ‘two’. When it is
realised that there is nothing other than the Self, the mind becomes quiet, all
conflicts come to an end, and one is established in freedom—brahmaṇi
sthitaḥ.
We strive all our life to reform ourselves, to end all conflicting chapters and
to begin a new chapter in life where one is free and peaceful. This is the
dream of all—‘When will that day come when my life is free of problems
and my struggles are all over?’ We expect this to happen at some point in
the future, but it must happen now, here, iha. The Upanishad urges us, “If
you know it here, you have won over life. If you fail to recognise it now,
eternity will be lost.” Thus, here and now are highly potent words.
End creation, end all movements, end all involvements, end the movement
of the ‘I’ within—here, you find peace. Let the mind become quiet here. Let
the activities go on outside while you abide in the state of no-action—
naishkarmya sthiti. The actions are not yours. They too are a force of nature
like the wind or the sunlight. Let them go on, but do not get caught up with
them. The moment you are involved in them, the mind peeps out, and the
power of māyā—adhyāsa, superimposition—is activated. The shadow will
fall on you. The moment you come under the shadow of that power, you
start feeling ‘I am the doer’ and ‘I am the enjoyer’. You start believing that
you are the one doing the actions and that things are happening to you.
Nothing is happening to you. They are all part of nature. What is seen as the
world and the actions are nothing but an illusory form of the Divine.
Withdraw yourself and abide in the Self. Here end all conflicts. Here and
now, you are free.

5.20 न प्रहृष्येत्प्रियं प्राप्य नोद्विजेत्प्राप्य चाप्रियम्।

स्थिरबुद्धिरसम्मूढो ब्रह्मविद्ब्रह्मणि स्थितः॥
Established in Brahman, with firm understanding, and with no delusion, the
knower of Brahman neither rejoices upon receiving something pleasant nor
grieves upon receiving something unpleasant.

Brahman means bliss, absolute fulfilment. To recognise one’s inner Self as

Brahman is beatitude. In the previous verse, we looked at the phrase
‘tasmāt brahmaṇi te sthitāḥ.’ In this verse, the key phrase is brahmavit
brahmaṇi sthitaḥ—he who knows Brahman is established in Brahman.
Knowing Brahman is absolute identity with Brahman. It is not that one has
theoretical knowledge first, and practical application of it follows later. The
very knowing is practice, Reality, Experience because the very nature of
experience is Brahman. The moment we discover the necklace (that we
thought was lost) right there around our neck, we instantly realise it was
never lost at all. In the same way, Brahman is our own Self, our own Inner
Being. The moment we recognise it, the experience is ours.
Life means a constant inflow of pleasant and unpleasant streams of events.
Such events stir the psyche, creating pleasure or pain. To find a locus where
the mind can stay unaffected is the goal of a meditator. Such a locus,
sthānam, is within us. It is our own Beingness, Existence, which expresses
itself as the ‘I’. When the mind goes seeking the ‘I’ who is affected by
pleasant or unpleasant emotions, the ‘I’ traces its way back to the Heart.
There, one finds rest in one’s real nature. Until one finds this centre, the
buddhi does not become steady, sthira. Until one de-hypnotises oneself
from the spell of destiny, self-will, and the outer world, which is full of
events, emotions and individuals, it is impossible to be established in the
Self.
Sensory information, mental moods and intellectual knowing come and go,
but Experience remains ever as ‘I AM’. Experience is the Experiencer. The
very nature of the experiencer is Experience. That does not come and go.
The intellect must abide in that which never comes and goes—that is sthira.
Such an intellect is sthira-buddhi. Such a buddhi is absolutely quiet; it does
not oscillate. Bhagavatpada says,* “He has the steady, undoubted conviction
that the One blemishless Atman is there in everyone. By seeing that Self,
the buddhi becomes steady. Such a one is established, sthira.” Only when
one gets established in that incorruptible centre does one become
completely free of excitement and depression.
One who has woken up from the spell of Māyā, the power that deludes, is
asammūḍhaḥ. Such a person is de-hypnotised. He has come out of the
delusion of jīvabhāva. He has come out of the misapprehension of the
individual-sense. He is a brahmavit since he knows his ‘I’ as Brahman. He
is brahmaṇi sthitaḥ. That is, he is established in Brahman. His sthāna,
locus, is Brahman. ‘sthānam prāpsyasi śāśvatam’ is the final declaration of
the Gita. He gains that eternal sthāna. When he is established in It, he has
gone beyond sarga, saṃsāra, as we said in the previous verse.

na prahṛṣyetpriyaṃ prāpya nodvijetprāpya cāpriyam

Such a person does not get affected by anything in the world. If something
pleasant happens, he is not overjoyed by it. There is not any prahṛsha—too
much excitement—in him. nodvijetprāpya cāpriyam. Something unpleasant
will always occur in the world, but he is not affected or agonised by it.
Thus, he is ever in poise. He knows that the Self alone is real, not the seen
world. Hence he is not affected by that which is seen. No more can
phenomena entice him to get involved.
Sankaracharya says,* “Those who consider their body as their Self are those
who get affected by both priya and apriya—the pleasant and the unpleasant
—and get excited or depressed by them, but this is not so with the one who
knows that he is the Atman.” The Upanishad says, † “The moment one
recognises the Self as body-less, one is free of priya and apriya, the
pleasant and the unpleasant, excitement and depression.” Such a one is
established in peace.

5.21 बाह्यस्पर्शेष्वसक्तात्मा विन्दत्यात्मनि यत्सुखम्।

स ब्रह्मयोगयुक्तात्मा सुखमक्षयमश्नुते॥
One whose mind is unattached to the external touches (of sensorial
experiences) finds joy in the Self. Ever established in the meditation of
Brahman, he enjoys inexhaustible bliss. Withdrawing the mind from outer
contacts is the sacred step to enter the holy inner land. In this verse,
Bhagavan gives us a pointer to it.

bāhyasparśeṣvasaktātmā
A knower of Brahman is called asparśa-yogi. Sparśa means touch, contact.
The senses and objects have contact. The mind and the world are in contact.
The ego-‘I’ is in constant contact with other egos such as ‘you’ and ‘he’.
When Realisation happens, one somehow glides beyond the grasp of this
sparśa dosha—pollution born of touch—into the divine realm of
‘untouchability’.

THE PROFOUND UNTOUCHABILITY

When someone asked Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi, ‘What do you say
about untouchability that prevails in society?’ Maharshi said,
“Untouchability is good. You should not touch your own body, your own
mind, your own ego. That is real untouchability. That is purity.” This is a
beautiful answer. This is what Bhagavan says here, bāhyasparśeṣu
asaktātmā—the mind and the senses may encounter the objects, but the
yogi is free from identification with them. This is untouchability. His
knowledge of the Self pervades his mind and the senses, and there is a
subtle fragrance of the awareness that the Self is incorruptible.
vindati ātmani yat sukham—the happiness, bliss, experienced by him is in
his very Self! His happiness, which is full and complete, is in the Atman. It
is Brahmasukham. Such a one is a brahma-yoga-yuktātmā. His yoga is not
brought about just by cessation of thoughts, citta-vṛtti-nirodha (Yo.Su.1.2) but
is brahmayoga—yoked with Brahman here and now. Such a one is a
yuktātmā. He is an integrated person, a real yogi. When we behold such a
Brahmavit, we know for certain, ‘here is a man who looks like a human
being but is not a human being; he is something beyond; Divine.’ sukham
akṣayam aśnute—such a one experiences imperishable joy. Steadiness,
peace, bliss is his very nature.
We cannot part the senses from their objects. They are all made of the same
stuff, and their mutual resonance is a natural phenomenon. Then how can
we be free of this contact? Simply withdrawing the senses or the mind from
the objects is not a complete solution. Nor can it be a permanent solution.
As long as we live, we have to use the senses and the objects. The real
solution is the knowledge that one’s very nature is Brahman. That
knowledge makes us wake up to the awareness that the Self is ever free,
untouched by the mind, the senses, and the objects outside. This knowledge
gradually ripens as pure unending joy—akṣaya-sukham.
‘Let the thoughts remain in the mind, let the senses go to their objects, but
you are not the senses, you are not the mind. Your ‘I’ is Brahman. It is
boundless. It is not made of body-material or mind-material. It is pure
divine Consciousness. Recognise it. Stay there.’ If one listens to these
words of the Master with the whole heart, that very moment, he will be
established in brahma-yoga. Such a one will experience bliss imperishable.

5.22 ये हि संस्पर्शजा भोगा दुःखयोनय एव ते।

आद्यन्तवन्तः कौन्तेय न तेषु रमते बुधः॥
The delights that are contact-born are verily the wombs of pain; they have,
O son of Kunti, a beginning and an end; no wise man rejoices in them.

Contact with others is bound to be beset with problems. Pleasure and pain
—both come and go. When pleasure arrives, it is welcomed, whereas when
it leaves, it feels painful. And vice versa for pain. This dualistic ding-dong
movement goes on throughout life. The impact of ‘others on me’ and ‘me
on others’ is mere imagination of the mind. It is no different from the
dreams in which we see ourselves and others. The truth is that the Self
alone exists; nothing else exists.
Because of the lack of this recognition, the mind spreads out through the
senses or imagination. This creates joy and sorrow. At the physical level, it
is felt as cold and heat, pleasure and pain; but they are transient. Both create
the burning of misery within. Pleasure and pain, both are fire.
‘One contacting the other’ is merely on the mental plane. In reality,
Existence has no two; It is nirdvandva. Where there is only one, no kind of
contact is possible, and hence no pleasure-pain see-saw is possible. Where
there is the duality of a relationship, whether it is between husband and wife
or parents and children or even a Guru and śishya, it will one day lead to
pain; this is so even with an external God and devotee. Unless all is known
as the Self, unless there is the perfect establishment in the Self, unless one
recognises God in one’s own Self, the pain will not subside.
Our longing for intimacy with another is indeed the womb of pain—
duḥkha-yoni. All contact only results in aggravating the misery. It is like
scratching an open wound. It is not easy to be free of contacts in this world.
The power of Māyā is such that destiny will bring in various contacts,
whether we like it or not. As long as we are in the world, the body-mind
will be in constant contact with something or the other. But none of these
stays; they have a beginning and an end—ādyantavantaḥ. They must be
endured with the light of Self-knowledge—the knowledge that nothing
exists other than the Self.
The definition of Truth is that it has neither a beginning nor an end. It
always IS. But the pleasures and happiness born out of outer contact have a
beginning and an end—ādi and anta. Knowing their transient nature, the
Knower is not interested in taking delight in them—na teṣu ramate
budhaḥ.
budhaḥ means buddha—a wise one, an adorable one, a noble one who is
an Enlightened Being. ramate means take delight. A buddha always takes
delight in his own inner Truth, in Nirvāṇa, in his own Self. He does not
take delight in contact-born pleasures that come and go—saṃsparśajā
bhogāḥ.
When the senses contact their respective objects, there is certainly pleasure.
And when that pleasure is lost, there is pain. The senses and their sensory
contact with objects are pregnant with suffering and will deliver pain at any
time. The more pleasure they give, the more suffering they will give later.
Beware of this. When there is immense pleasure, we must remind ourselves
that a day will come when this too will go. And when it goes, immense
suffering awaits us.
The bhāshyakāra says, “Realising that there is not the least trace of
happiness in the world, one should withdraw the organs from the objects
which are comparable to a mirage.”* Let us not run behind pleasures and
waste our life, like a stag which runs after the water in a mirage. Such
pleasure-seeking leads only to exhaustion and death. Knowing this, one
must gradually withdraw the senses from their objects. They are
duḥkhayonayaḥ—they hide sorrow in them. They may explode any time.
Intelligent persons must heed the words of the Guru and the śāstras.
Kāma—the fascination and desire for sensory objects is a difficult hurdle
for many a seeker. Sankaracharya says,† “We must put in immense effort to
transcend that flaw because it is opposed to one’s spiritual well-being,
Liberation. It is a flaw that can lead to acute suffering. It is the cause of all
anartha—disasters, hellish experiences. It can destroy one completely.”
Durnivāra—desire is the most challenging flaw to transcend. Hence, sincere
effort must be put in to go beyond desire. This is the introduction that
Bhagavan Bhāshyakāra compassionately gives for the next verse.

5.23 शक्नोतीहैव यः सोढुं प्राक्शरीरविमोक्षणात्।

कामक्रोधोद्भवं वेगं स युक्तः स सुखी नरः॥
One who is able to resist the powerful impulses of desire and anger before
they express themselves through the body—he is a yogi; he is a happy man.

CONQUERING DESIRE
There is a story that Swami Sivananda has narrated. A young sādhaka had
visited a well-known sādhu of Rishikesh and asked him, “Swamiji, have
you conquered desire?” The Swami replied, “I cannot tell you now.” The
sādhaka was shocked to hear this response from this revered elderly sādhu.
He thought, ‘The sādhu is already eighty years old, and even then, he says
that he is not sure!’ The sādhu went on to live well beyond ninety years. On
his last day, a few hours before dying, he called this young brahmachari
and said, “My dear boy! I can now tell you that by the Grace of the Lord, I
have conquered desire.”
The bhāshyakāra says,* “Since the impulse of desire and anger is certainly
inevitable for a living person, death is said to be the border for such
emotions. As there are innumerable causes that can awaken these impulses,
we must not relax control over them until death.”
prāk-śarīra-vimokṣaṇāt. This has two meanings. The first is ‘before the
fall of the body,’ and the second is ‘before the desires express themselves
through the body.’ In the first one, it simply means that we must strive to
attain this state at least before the fall of the body. † The death of the
physical body cannot free us because the real body is the subtle, astral body
—the mind where all the desires are lodged—which continues after death as
well. The subtle body can express itself without the gross body. Hence, here
śarīra-vimokṣa—leaving the body—implies pure Jñāna. Only by perfect
knowledge of the Self—the knowledge that the Self is free of all limitations
of the body and mind—can one become free of desires. The Self is free of
the body, free of the energy-plane, free of the mind, and free of the senses.‡
It is eternally free. When this knowledge arises in the heart, one is free of
the pulls from all these. Until this perfect realisation dawns, the sādhaka
must do the tapas of sahana—endurance; not succumbing to the pull of the
senses and the mind.
The second interpretation of prāk-śarīra-vimokṣaṇāt is a more effective
one for a sādhaka. śarīra-vimokṣa should be understood as śarīradvārā
vimokṣaḥ—before the desires explode through the body and are executed
through the body, they must be withheld. soḍhum śaknoti means one is
able to endure the drives. Just as one endures heat, cold, and other
discomforts, these drives too must be endured. If we can successfully resist
the desires, we have the reins in our hands. This is somewhat like the
charioteer who knows how to pull the reins in proper time to make the
horse stop. It is like knowing when and how to apply the brakes while
driving a car.
kāmakrodhodbhavaṃ vegam—kāma and krodha mean rāga and dvesha—
attachment and aversion. These two forces can easily rattle the palace of
peace within us. Sankaracharya defines kāma as the tṛṣṇā—desire, lust,
greed—for sensory experiences. These arise in the mind like a fire, either
when the sense objects are seen by the eyes or heard about or when a past
experience is recollected.* Krodha, we know, is anger or hatred. When a
desire is not fulfilled, frustration arises, and it expresses as anger.†
Like the colossal waves of a tsunami, kāma and krodha can sweep a person
off his feet. They cannot be easily controlled. Bhagavan refers to them as
vegam, which means force or power. The Bhagavata says, ‡ “A dhīra, a
brave and wise person, must endure this force just as he endures a bodily
itch.” When these forces are active, we must stay resolute. Only then can
they be transcended. This is the advice of the wise who have walked the
path before us.
In the Sundara-kāṇḍa of the Ramayana, after setting fire to the entire city
of Lanka, Hanuman repents that he had acted hastily without ensuring the
safety of Sita. He says,

यस्समुत्पतितं क्रोधं क्षमयैव निरस्यति।

यथोरगस्त्वचं जीर्णां स वै पुरुष उच्यते॥ Va.Ra. 5.55.6

By the power of his endurance, whoever casts aside the intense anger that
has suddenly sprung up in him, as a serpent casts off its slough, is verily a
noble person.
A spiritual aspirant must live his life in such a way that he is fully exposed
to the effulgence of Divine Grace so that it can transform every bit of his
body, mind and senses. Spiritual life becomes smooth sailing when one has
gone beyond the invasions of lust and anger—kāma and krodha. He who
can withhold them and is not under their sway is a yuktaḥ. Only the one
who can go beyond them while living has found the music of life. He has
found sukham—real happiness. True sukham is not the fleeting and
destructive delight of a firefly that has seen the fire and danced its way to
destruction.* An aspirant is said to be balanced—yuktaḥ—only when the
senses are put in order, the mind is calm, and the intellect is steady. Such a
one has found sukham.
Pure form of vital energy—sattva-prāṇa—is the only true wealth.
Abundance of such pure prāṇa makes a person spiritually rich. This vital
energy, which is purified by spiritual practices and stored within a yogi,
expresses in him as aesthetic joy and bhāva-bhakti. It is this prāṇa that gets
wasted through sensual indulgences and conflicts. Conserving this energy
through brahmacharya is a highly mindful process. It needs devotion, true
knowledge, obedience to the Guru and above all, the power to withhold all
sensory longing. In fact, by the word krodha what is meant here is not the
emotion of anger as we know it. It is kshobha—the inner fire that gets
generated in the body-mind either due to over-indulgence or forceful
suppression of the drives (kāma).
The art of dealing with kāma-krodha is ingrained in traditional life. For an
ordinary, noble person, simple obedience to traditional injunctions is
enough to navigate to the other shore. Bhagavan has described this earlier
as the noble way of satisfying the desires—dharma-aviruddha-kāma. For a
serious meditator, however, even ‘moderate’ indulgences may create inner
conflicts. He needs abundant prāṇa-wealth to find bliss in meditation.
Hence as the first step, Bhagavan said in the second chapter, “Endure all the
natural forces, O Arjuna—titikṣasva bhārata.” The next step is to withdraw
and conserve the entire energy within one’s heart. That is uparati. Instead of
expressing the drives through the body, if they can be endured within and
sublimated by meditation, then that immense energy will subside in the
Source, where it expresses itself as bliss—sukham. This is the work of
meditation.
Transforming every emotion that seeks to express itself outwardly into
pure, refined spiritual ecstasy is like transforming lead into gold. This
spiritual alchemy takes place either by the power of Jñāna or by Divine
Grace.

5.24 योऽन्तःसुखोऽन्तरारामस्तथान्तर्ज्योतिरेव यः।

स योगी ब्रह्मनिर्वाणं ब्रह्मभूतोऽधिगच्छति॥
He whose happiness is within, whose delight is within, whose illumination
is only within, is a true yogi. Having become one with the Supreme
(Brahman), he attains the beatitude of Brahman.
This is a beautiful verse. The word antaḥ, which means ‘within’, appears
throughout the verse. The whole spiritual experience must happen within
the heart. When the mind is free of the scorpionic grip of the sensory and
astral worlds, it enters the Heart-space. There it finds true well-beingness. A
mantra in the Taittiriya Samhita says,* “Go to the inner space.”
The implied meaning of the word antaḥ is the Self. If we take this meaning,
Vedanta refers to the knowledge of the Self. The yogi does not seek
happiness through the five begging bowls of the senses. His happiness is in
the Self—antaḥ-sukhaḥ—in the throne of the Heart; he sits there like an
emperor, svarāṭ. The Upanishad declares, † “The one who sees everything
as the Atman is free like an emperor.” antarārāmah—his delight is in the
Self. The very existence is happiness.
tathā antarjyotiḥ eva yaḥ. Here, jyoti means knowledge. There is a mantra
in the Kauthumīya branch of the Samaveda which says, “Go to the inner
heaven, the inner luminous light.” ‡ The yogi who goes within finds the
inner light; his own Self is the leading light. All effulgence is from the inner
Self; he needs no outer light. He is the moving light; wherever he moves,
there is no darkness.

BUDDHA’S FINAL TEACHING

When Buddha was about to leave his body, his disciple Ananda was
woebegone and cried out, “Oh, I have not attained enlightenment.” Buddha
said, “Ananda, I cannot lead you to it. I have sought it, put all my sincere
effort into it and then found that it is within me. In the same way, you must
also put in the effort and attain it in your own heart. Be a light unto yourself
—ātmadīpo bhava.” This was Buddha’s final teaching.
saḥ yogī brahma-nirvāṇaṃ adhigacchati—such a yogi attains brahma-
nirvāṇa. Nirvāṇa means moksha, Liberation. Like a candle that is blown
out, his ego is extinguished; his mind ceases to exist. No more is there any
veil that covers the Self. Nirāvaraṇa is nirvāṇa—no covering of the truth.
Inside, outside, everywhere, he beholds only the Atman. This is brahma-
nirvāṇa.
How does he attain that state? Is it possible that a salt doll takes a dip in the
Ganga and comes out without getting dissolved to declare ‘I am purified’?
Similarly, is it possible for the individual self, the ego, to survive after
Brahma-nirvāṇa to declare that he has attained? No, it is not.
Sankaracharya says,* “He becomes Brahman and thus attains Brahman.”
The Upanishad declares, † “He is already liberated, and he attains liberation
by recognising it.” That is the mystery of it. It seems like a paradox, but it is
not. It is the spiritual secret—one becomes Brahman and then attains
Brahman. In fact, ‘becoming’ Brahman is a misnomer because we are
already Brahman. The very knowing makes one established in Brahman.
“brahmavit brahmaṇi sthitaḥ” (BG5.20). When we know, we know that we
are nothing other than Brahman. The ignorance that we are something else
—the body, mind or ego—is given up. Then, the seeker becomes one with
the Infinite. This is brahmabhūtaḥ. Our bhavanam, our existence, our very
nature is Brahman. We are not made of flesh or thoughts. We are made of
divine stuff, pure Consciousness. When one recognises the ‘I’ as Brahman,
that very moment he attains Brahma-nirvāṇa. Nirvāṇa is not something
which we have to seek and find. Our very existence is Nirvāṇa. In it, there
is nothing else; there is no ego, there is no world, and there is no bondage.
That recognition itself is Nirvāṇa.
Sankaracharya says, ‡ “He attains this supreme state here while living in the
body itself.” That is jīvanmukti. There are blessed beings who reach this
state. Even while embodied, they come to know with absolute certainty that
they are free of the body, mind and ego. They are free from the prison-
house of suffering. Just try to conceive that benediction, that blessed state!
Blessed are those who, by just listening to the teaching, by just getting a
clue from the Master about the Divine Self, realise it here and now and
become absolutely free; free of all bondage of ignorance. Just like birds
soaring freely in the sky, they move about as jīvanmuktas.

THE BLISS WITHIN

In the temple of nine gates, all doors are closed
Lo! The sacred inner altar is lit with the gentle light of peace
The Yogi stays within, gaze ‘infolded’
The mind ‘Aware’ of the luminous flame
The heart rejoicing in the inner bliss
A thick cloud in the inner space showers and vanishes
The cloud is the ‘me’, the waters its world
 Now all over, clear blueness of the inner sky—Brahma-
nirvāṇa! Om!

5.25 लभन्ते ब्रह्मनिर्वाणमृषयः क्षीणकल्मषाः।

छिन्नद्वैधा यतात्मानः सर्वभूतहिते रताः॥
Those sages, whose notions of duality are all annihilated, whose sins are
destroyed, who are self-controlled, and who rejoice in the welfare of all
beings, attain the beatitude of Brahman.

ṛṣayaḥ—the sages—attain brahma-nirvāṇam. In this verse alone,

Bhagavan uses the word rishi as a synonym for Jñāni or yogi. A rishi is one
who is able to see; he is a seer. What does he see? He sees that which is not
perceivable to ordinary eyes. Ordinary eyes behold the various forms,
whereas the sage beholds the perceiver within. Sages are pure channels for
the divine light of Grace to descend. That indeed is rishitva—sagehood—
says the Veda.* Withdrawing the energy that spills out through the eyes, the
sage holds it within and makes it see its own existence and source. Such a
penetrating inner vision into one’s own womb is rishitva. They are samyak
darśinaḥ—those who have crystal clear vision. All their sins are gone—
kṣīṇa-kalmaṣāḥ.
kalmaṣa means sin. The wool-gatherings of the mind—doubts, fascinations,
imaginations, desires for pleasure—distract us, taking away our attention,
not allowing us to be quiet, not allowing us to be still in the Self. Such inner
smoke of ignorance is kalmaṣa—sin. Sages are kṣīṇa-kalmaṣāḥ—free of
all such sins.
chinna-dvaidhāḥ—duality is no more for
WE ARE NOT MADE OF
them. Sankaracharya says all their doubts
have come to an end. † Doubts depend on
FLESH OR THOUGHTS. the doubter—the ego. When the ego is no
WE ARE MADE OF more, all doubts end. Bhagavan Ramana
Maharshi used to say, “Find out the
DIVINE STUFF, PURE doubter; erase the doubter.” When the
CONSCIOUSNESS. doubter is erased, all doubts naturally
come to an end. Until then, even if one
clarifies one doubt, another will take its place. If the new doubt is removed,
another will arise, and so on. Thus there is no end to doubts—saṃśayāḥ.
Hence the only solution is to remove the samśayātmā—the person who has
the doubt. When the doubter is removed, chinna-dvaidhāḥ—duality comes
to an auspicious end.
yatātmānaḥ means samyatendriyaḥ—Those for whom the senses are
completely withdrawn. When the dualistic process is active in the heart, all
the energy spills out through the five senses. But when the heart is full of
light, only light comes out through the senses; the senses themselves lose
their power to bind; they become effulgent. Such a person is a yatātmā.
When the knowledge ‘The Self in me is the Self in all—sarvātma-bhāva’
arises, the very breath of such a person is for the well-being of all. His very
existence, his very living, is a blessing to the world. Hence, such rishis are
said to be sarva-bhūta-hite ratāḥ.

BHAGAVAN SRI RAMANA — THE GREATEST

SERVICE
This brahma-nirvāṇa attained by the sages is the greatest blessing for the
world. Someone asked Sri Ramana Maharshi, “What is the greatest service
I can do for the world?” The Sage replied, “To realise your Self is the
greatest service.” Yes, to be spiritual is the greatest service. Any ignoble
emotions that we harbour within us, whether consciously or unconsciously,
are enough to invite negative forces around us. By fostering such
destructive emotions, we harm others and ourselves as well. When the inner
world becomes pure, when there is the fragrance of nirvāṇa in one’s heart,
then the whole world is blessed; the very existence of such a one is a boon
to the world. Hence Bhagavan says sarva-bhūta-hite ratāḥ—they delight in
blessing the world, their very existence is a blessing to the world, and their
actions are all pure Grace.

5.26 कामक्रोधवियुक्तानां यतीनां यतचेतसाम्।

अभितो ब्रह्मनिर्वाणं वर्तते विदितात्मनाम्॥
For the sages, who are free from craving and anger, who have mastered
their minds, and who have realised the Self, the beatitude of Brahman
pervades everywhere.

abhito brahma-nirvāṇam is the key usage in this verse. What a grand

statement! Right now, here, is brahma-nirvāṇa. The peace of Brahman
pervades all around a Sage, the Knower of the Self. Paul Brunton writes
about the presence of Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi, “The Sage, although he
spoke, his silence was more eloquent than his speech.” The experience of
the Sage spoke without any words. It was as if a river of healing presence
was around him. Such mauna is brahma-nirvāṇa. A mature soul
instantaneously feels the profound peace of the ‘sacred’—which is not of
this world—in the presence of a jīvanmukta. One can feel that nirvāṇa-
sukha—it is as if one can touch it in the presence of a Jñāni. It is such a
dense spiritual experience that when we approach such a Sage, ‘It is as if
you can cut that strong presence with a knife’—this is the language many
mystics have used.
We need not learn meditation from the Sage. It is enough that we sit in his
fragrant atmosphere of nirvāṇa, and the mind will dive deep into the state
of meditation effortlessly. abhito vartate—in their very presence, there is
brahma-nirvāṇa. As soon as we enter an air-conditioned room, we feel the
marked difference between the terrible heat outside and the pleasant
coolness inside. There is no need to enter the air-conditioner to feel this
coolness, as the entire room is made cool by the machine. Similarly, in this
burning heat of saṃsāra, where we are tormented by so much desire,
anger, envy, self-will, and arrogance, when we find a sage who has attained
brahma-nirvāṇa, we feel the profound peace of Brahman in that presence.
The mind settles down in the heart. There is so much coolness, the whole
system is watered with the Spirit. We feel deep contentment and fullness in
the heart. That is abhito brahma-nirvāṇam. When we meet a Knower, by
the very power of the presence, we will know without a doubt that he has
found It. Such an intuition awakens in the disciple. This intuition is also due
to the power of the Illumined Being.
The seers who have attained the blessed state free of lust, anger, hatred,
attachment and aversion are called yatis; they are the real sannyāsis.
Sannyāsa is not something which can be given or taken. Real sannyāsa
means freedom from desire, anger, attachment and aversion. The mind of
such a sannyāsi is completely purified of the dross of desire and aversion.
The ultimate purification happens when the mind merges in the Self. There
is no duality there; hence it is absolutely pure.
kāma, desire, happens because of the ignorance that happiness can be found
in the other—by pursuing, possessing or enjoying the other, something
which is away from oneself. This seeking for happiness outside is kāma.
When the same kāma subsides and turns towards the Self, it becomes
bhakti; it becomes ātma-kāma. Only thus will desire subside. The cause for
such subsidence is the knowledge that all joy, all happiness is in the Atman,
the Self.
krodha, anger, happens due to the ignorance that the other is the cause for
one’s unhappiness. All unhappiness happens due to our own ignorance, but
the ignorant ones superimpose the cause on another, and from that, the
problem arises. All sorrow happens due to the mind, which is a symptom of
ignorance. The moment ignorance is removed, the mind disappears. Only
the Self exists; neither the mind nor the body exists for the knower of the
Self. In that state alone, will one be absolutely free of kāma and krodha.
Such saints are in brahma-nirvāṇa even while alive—jīvatām—says
Sankaracharya. Such beings are called jīvanmuktas. Brahma-nirvāṇa is not
an after-death experience for them. Hence Bhagavan says, viditātmanām—
for those who have known the Self. They have come to know that the very
nature of the Atman, their own Self, is brahma-nirvāṇa. A Jñāni is called
nirvāṇātmā; his very existence is nirvāṇa; his Self is nirvāṇa. The ego of a
Knower of the Self, who is in sahaja-nirvikalpa-samādhi, is totally
extinguished. He is pure Awareness; he is Brahman. abhito brahma-
nirvāṇaṃ vartate—the absolute experience of brahma-nirvāṇa is carried
by such a one, here and now, even while in the body.
In Buddhist scriptures, nirvāṇa means void, śūnya, non-existence. It is
abhāva. For a knower of the Self, his body, his mind, his ego, his world—all
these phenomena have disappeared because, by his Jñāna, he has known
the atyanta-abhāva—absolute non-existence—of anything other than the
Self.
Others see the Jñāni as having a body, mind and ego. He is seen to be doing
all kinds of activities in the world. He too has physical problems such as
pleasure and pain. All this is from the onlooker’s view, but the experience
of a Realised Being, according to the authority of the scriptures, is that he is
free of the limitations of the body and mind. He has the perfect knowledge
that he is the Atman, the Self, and his very Self is one with the Infinite
Brahman. In that experience, he is absolutely convinced about his body-
less, mindless, egoless nature. For him, there are no senses; there is no
world; only the Atman exists—such Ātmānubhūti is Nirvāṇa.
Such a state of jīvanmukti, Liberation, can be intuited only by a pure
devotee and accepted only by the authority of the scriptures. Once It is
touched, one is free of birth and death. Suffering is no more for him. A
person who attains such a state while alive, that is, one who knows that he
is beyond birth and death even while others see him as embodied, is very
rare, and such a jīvanmukta is Brahman itself.

BRAHMA-NIRVĀṆA
The holy austere one, cleansed of every taint of lust and
anger
Enters the inner current of ‘will’ seeking the source of ‘I’
In the primordial waters of Light, the dewdrop of ‘I’ merges
The knower of the Self experiences ‘Brahma-nirvāṇa’ here
and now

स्पर्शान्कृ त्वा बहिर्बाह्यांश्चक्षुश्चैवान्तरे भ्रुवोः।

5.27–28 प्राणापानौ समौ कृ त्वा नासाभ्यन्तरचारिणौ॥
यतेन्द्रियमनोबुद्धिर्मुनिर्मोक्षपरायणः।
विगतेच्छाभयक्रोधो यः सदा मुक्त एव सः॥
Shutting out external objects, fixing the gaze between the eyebrows,
equalising the outward and inward breaths that flow through the nostrils,
the sage who has controlled the senses, the mind and the intellect, who is
solely pursuing Liberation, who has cast away desire, fear and anger, is ever
liberated.
When the mind learns to meditate, it becomes quiet and peaceful. Only such
a mind is ready to receive the highest wisdom when imparted by the
teacher. A mind which is ever in meditation is absolutely free. Such a free
mind is the field where one experiences Brahman. sadā mukta eva saḥ—
such a one is eternally liberated. What a grand statement! The Knower of
the Self is ever free, a jīvanmukta.
Sankaracharya says that these two verses are sūtrasthānīya-ślokas—
aphorisms in which each word can be developed into a detailed
commentary on meditation. It is based on the ideas propounded in these two
verses that Bhagavan expounds on meditation in the sixth chapter.
Meditation is an auxiliary inner sādhanā for jñāna-yoga. Wonderful is a
mind that meditates.
sparśān bāhyān bahiḥ kṛtvā—the one who does not allow the external
world to enter his senses and mind is a jīvanmukta. Whatever is outside
remains outside; they have no entry inside him. How so? “By not thinking
about them—acintayataḥ,” says the bhāshyakāra. By not thinking,
recollecting, and contemplating on them, he puts the shutter on the senses,
thus not allowing the outer world to enter inside. This is possible only when
one is convinced that the world is not real. All sensory information is
illusory. The Bhagavata says,

यदिदं मनसा वाचा चक्षुर्भ्यां श्रवणादिभिः।

नश्वरं गृह्यमाणं च विद्धि मायामनोमयम्॥ SB 11.7.7

Whatsoever you receive with the mind, words, eyes, ears, and so on are
transient. They are mere illusory mental stuff.
cakṣuścaivāntare bhruvoḥ—the eyes are withdrawn inside. The energy
that spills out through the eyes is concentrated on the bhrūmadhya—the
area between the eyebrows. In Yogaśāstra, this bindu or centre is the seat of
the Ājñā-chakra, where the yogi comes in contact with the will of the Lord
and becomes intuitive. There remains no more self-will for him. In reality, it
has nothing to do with the eyebrows, as this centre is in another plane; all
the chakras are in a different plane. Since it appears as if the eyes are
locked there, the usual expression is ‘between the eyebrows.’ The energy is
made to stay in the spot between the eyebrows. What does he do after this?
prāṇāpānau samau kṛtvā nāsābhyantaracāriṇau. The breath that is
inhaled—prāṇa—and the breath that is exhaled—apāna—become sama;
they are in harmony. When the mind is peaceful, naturally, the breath
becomes rhythmic like a perfectly tuned veeṇa played to a perfect rhythm.
The mind that goes out through the senses is apāna. The sensory
information that comes in from the world and enters the mind is prāṇa.
When the knowledge of the Self pervades one’s sensory and mental planes,
no information from outside disturbs the inner peace. No amount of
involvement in the world stirs the mind. This is the state of sama.
Ignorance makes one identify with the body. Body means senses, mind and
intellect—indriya-manobuddhiḥ. First, the ignorance germinates in the
intellect as ‘I’. This is the primal error. It then spreads out as the mind and
the senses and solidifies as the body. This is the formation of ignorance.
Here Bhagavan says yatendriya-manobuddhiḥ—the yogi remains with his
senses, mind and intellect in perfect order, control. The basis for orderliness
in the mind, senses and body must happen in the intellect. It can happen
only when the fundamental ignorance is dissolved, or at least there is a firm
conviction that all these are unreal.
“mananāt muniḥ,” says Sankaracharya. muni means the meditator. He has
given up everything and is always meditating and recollecting the Lord
inwardly. muniḥ mokṣa-parāyaṇaḥ—he has no work in the world. He
does not wander the streets of desires of the world. His pathway is moksha,
Liberation. This is very important—choosing Liberation, choosing
complete freedom. This is mokṣa-parāyaṇaḥ.
vigatecchābhayakrodhaḥ—desire, fear and anger no longer exist in him.
This is because he is not here to fight or compete with anyone. He is
striving only for Liberation, and hence there is no desire, anger or fear. If
you accept that there is something other than the Self, there is cause for
fear. He who knows that there is nothing other than the Self is verily
liberated—mukta eva saḥ. Sankaracharya says,* “Such a person need not
do anything to attain Liberation.” This is because his very Self is
Liberation; his very existence is mukti—muktiḥ ātmaiva.
He who has all these prerequisites needs no other spiritual practices to
attain Liberation. All sādhanās come to an end when the mind abides in the
Self. That is meditation; that is samādhi; that is Jñāna. Everything is
finished here.

5.29 भोक्तारं यज्ञतपसां सर्वलोकमहेश्वरम्।

सुहृदं सर्वभूतानां ज्ञात्वा मां शान्तिमृच्छति
He who knows Me as the enjoyer of all yajñas and austerities, the Supreme
Lord of all the worlds, and the friend of all beings attains eternal peace.

“Knowing Me as the dearest companion, one attains Peace—jñātvā mām

śāntimṛcchati.” What a heart-warming statement this is from the Overlord
of all creatures—sarva-loka-maheśvara. The word ‘śānti’ appears
repeatedly throughout the Gita. This is the message of the Gita. It is not to
fight or to gain an outer kingdom. śānti—peace—is the kingdom to be
attained. The heart should be filled with peace, and that peace is love. If one
has śānti within, his very existence is a blessing to others. Hence Bhagavan
says, “He attains supreme peace.” These words themselves make one feel
peace. Profound peace bespeaks Realisation. Who is this ‘Me’? In the tenth
chapter, Krishna says, “I am the Self in all.” That is His identity. Know the
Self in you, and you know the Self in all. This bestows peace.
suhṛdaṃ sarvabhūtānām—the greatest friend of all. The greatest well-
being happens by coming in touch with the Lord, who is always with us as
the avijñāta-sakhā—the imperceptible friend. He is the mother, the father,
the brother, the wife, the husband; He is our beloved. He is love personified.
The greatest delight comes from Him. The moment a person comes in
contact with the Lord, he gets transformed into a divine child playing with
the eternal divine friend. See the delight in children when they meet their
friends! Thus when we come in contact with this divine inner companion,
our worldly life becomes an unending game.*
Kaivalya—no-otherness—is the very nature of one’s own inner Self, which
is ever-attained. When you know the Self and recognise that you are the
Self, you have kaivalya—Oneness. Wherever you go, whatever you see, you
behold only the Self. That is kaivalya. Then, you are in eternal solitude.
And once you have found this oneness, all else is līlā—mere sport.
Krishna’s dance with the Gopis is a commentary on this Brahmasūtra.
In this context, the Bhagavata says, † “As a child plays with his own
reflections seen in various mirrors.” A child joyfully touches the different
forms seen in the mirror, knowing very well that they are all he himself.
Similarly, a Jñāni looks at all the names and forms in the world as his own
reflections. It may appear as if he looks at one with affection, another with
attachment, one with anger, and another as a friend—but he knows, ‘it is all
me, it is all me, it is all me!’ He can no longer contact another person. This
kind of divine solitude is kaivalya, and such a one is a kevala—the eternally
alone one. His very existence is that oneness—kaivalya—and in that
kaivalyam, worldly life is a mere sport. Here, Bhagavan says—this is
possible when you come in contact with Me who is in your own heart—
suhṛdam.
suhṛdaṃ sarvabhūtānām. Sankaracharya says,* “He is the greatest
upakāri—all help comes from Him, the greatest well-being comes from
Him.” You need no help from the outside world. Wherever you are, help
will come from Him alone.

MUKKUNDUR SWAMI AND THE HUNGRY

DEVOTEE
There lived a simple saint in Karnataka a few decades back. He was not
well known, but those who knew him considered him a jīvanmukta. His
name was Mukkundur Swami. Once, this Swami was roaming about
through the forest with one of his devotees. After walking for long, the
devotee was famished, and at one point, he could not take a single step
forward. He said to the Swami, “Master, I am starving, and there is nothing
available here to eat. Please help me.” The delightful saint said, “You are
hungry? Why don’t you ask the tree, the earth, or the bird flying in the sky?
He, our ‘Mother–Father–Friend’, is hiding in all the forms. They are all He,
the Lord! You can get help from anywhere.”
The devotee pleaded, “O Master, how do I ask the tree, the earth, or the
sky? I do not know that they are God, but you know it, so please ask them
for my sake.” The saint laughed and, looking at the eagle flying in the sky,
said, “O Lord, this boy is hungry, give him something.” At that very instant,
to the astonishment of the disciple, the bird dropped two big bananas! He
ate the fruit, and his hunger was gone. Thus, he found a demonstration that
the entire universe is Īśvara. If we have faith, He will appear anywhere.
Everywhere, He is there to help us.

CHATTAMBI SWAMIGAL AND THE DOGS

We have seen that the Lord is the greatest friend—suhṛdam sarvabhutānām.
When we have companionship with Him, we shall find a friend wherever
we go. Saints find friends wherever they go—even in a forest. Chattambi
Swamigal was a saint of Kerala. One day, a wealthy zamindar invited the
Swami for dinner. Swami said, “I will come with my friends.” The proud
zamindar, wanting to show off his wealth, said, “Yes, Swami, please come
with your friends.” On the way, Swami invited all the dogs in the street, and
about fifty dogs followed the Swami to the Zamindar’s house for the meal!
Seeing this, everyone present there was astounded. To their amazement, the
dogs followed the yogi’s instructions, sat down in their appointed places,
ate their meals quietly in a disciplined manner and then left. This is the
magic of communing with the Inner Being. This is the universal language
of a jīvanmukta.
bhoktāraṃ yajñatapasām—the Lord is the enjoyer of the fruit of yajña and
the experiencer of our deep meditations, tapas. He is sarvaloka-
maheśvaram—the Lord of the entire world, the Supreme Lord, and He is
the suhṛt—friend. When we eat or drink, He is the enjoyer, bhoktā.
The Lord is the yajñapati—the power in charge of all sacrifices. By His
grace alone, an action is transformed into a sacrifice. In fact, our very life is
a yajña conducted by Him. When one knows this, even our suffering in life
becomes a tapas. We will see that He is the one who experiences the
suffering too. The power of renunciation happens by the grace of the Inner
Being. Whatever yajña we may do, if we think that we are doing it and that
we are the enjoyer, then that will become another saṃsāra for us. Even
while doing spiritual sādhanā, tapas, we should be aware that it is the Lord
who is making us do the meditation or japa. The fruit of our spiritual
practice too should be offered to Him, or else this may turn into another ego
trip.
The Lord is in our heart. The secret of invoking Him must happen in the
heart. He is the witness to every thought and action.* He is Narayana.
Knowing him, one attains supreme peace—śāntim-ṛcchati. Sankaracharya
gives the meaning for śānti as sarva-saṃsāroparati—the complete
subsidence of the root cause for all suffering, which is the removal of
ignorance. When ignorance is removed, the root cause of suffering comes to
an end. Then the mind also becomes peaceful and quiet, and all vāsanās and
desires cease; this is śānti. This is complete restfulness. This is Nirvāṇa.

***
ॐ तत्सत्
इति श्रीमद्भगवद्गीतासु उपनिषत्सु ब्रह्मविद्यायां योगशास्त्रे
श्रीकृ ष्णार्जुनसंवादे सन्न्यासयोगो नाम पञ्चमोऽध्यायः॥
Om Tat Sat!
In this treatise, known as Srimad Bhagavad Gita, which contains the
essence of the Upanishads, which expounds the knowledge of Brahman and
the science of Yoga in the form of a dialogue between Sri Krishna and
Arjuna, thus ends the fifth chapter titled ‘The Yoga of True Renunciation’.

* वेदान्तविज्ञानसुनिश्चितार्थाः सन्न्यासयोगाद्यतयः शुद्धसत्त्वाः। Mu.Up. 3.2.6

* त्यक्तेन भुञ्जीथाः। Isa.Up. 1

* ब्रह्मचर्यं समाप्य गृही भवेत्। गृही भूत्वा वनी भवेत्। वनी भूत्वा प्रव्रजेत्। Ja.Up. 4.1

* असङ्गो ह्ययं पुरुषः। Br.Up. 4.3.15

* ईशावास्यमिदं सर्वम्। Isa.Up. 1

† उर्वारुकमिव बन्धनान्मृत्योर्मुक्षीय मामृतात्। Rigveda 7.59.12

* ज्ञानं सन्न्यासलक्षणम्। Mbha.

† सन्न्यासो निर्मलं ज्ञानम्। Ra.Gi. 8.5

* ईश्वरसमर्पितरूपेण फलनिरपेक्षेण। BG.Bha.

* न वर्धते कर्मणा नो कनीयान्। Br.Up. 4.4.23

* सर्वं खल्विदं ब्रह्म। Ch.Up. 3.14.1

* यथा पुष्करपलाश आपो न श्लिष्यन्त एवमेवंविदि पापं कर्म न श्लिष्यते। Ch.Up. 4.14.3

* A modified version of this verse is chanted after every holy act.

* मनसैवेदमाप्तव्यम्। Ka.Up. 2.1.11

† एको वशी सर्वभूतान्तरात्मा। Ka.Up. 2.2.12

* विश्रान्तिमासाद्य तुरीयतल्पे। Yo.Ta. 26

† गुणेष्वसङ्गो वशिता। SB 11.15.5

‡ पुंसोऽयुक्तस्य नानार्थो भ्रमः। SB 11.7.8

* ईशस्य हि वशे लोको योषा दारुमयी यथा। SB 1.6.7

* लोकवत्तु लीलाकैवल्यम्। Br.Su. 2.1.33

* स्वभावजेन कौन्तेय निबद्धः स्वेन कर्मणा। BG 18.60

* आचार्याद्धैव विद्या विदिता साधिष्ठं प्रापति। Ch.Up. 4.9.3

* आत्मनः अस्फूर्तिः अविद्या। Pras.Ra. 56

* सलिल एको द्रष्टाद्वैतो भवति। Br.Up. 4.3.32

* परो हि योगो मनसः समाधिः। SB 11.23.46

* ग्रहणाग्रहणे हि रात्र्यहनी। Ma.Up.Bha. 3.36

* इह चेदवेदीदथ सत्यमस्ति न चेदिहावेदीन्महती विनष्टिः। Ke.Up. 2.5

* अहरहर्वा एवंवित्स्वर्गं लोकमेति। Ch.Up. 8.3.3

† Night is also called dosha; hence, twilight time is called pra-dosha, the time before night.

* इह सर्वनिरन्तरमोक्षपदं किमु रोदिषि मानसि सर्वसमम्। Av.Gi. 10

* सर्वभूतेषु एकः समः निर्दोषः आत्मा इति स्थिरा निर्विचिकित्सा बुद्धिः यस्य सः। BG.Bha.

* देहमात्रात्मदर्शिनां हि प्रियाप्रियप्राप्ती हर्षविषादौ कुर्वाते न केवलात्मदर्शिनः तस्य

प्रियाप्रियप्राप्त्यसंभवात्। BG.Bha.
† अशरीरं वाव सन्तं न प्रियाप्रिये स्पृशतः। Ch. Up. 8.12.1

* न संसारे सुखस्य गन्धमात्रमपि अस्ति इति बुद्ध्वा विषयमृगतृष्णिकायाः इन्द्रियाणि निवर्तयेत्। BG.Bha.

† श्रेयोमार्गप्रतिपक्षी कष्टतमो दोषः सर्वानर्थप्राप्तिहेतुः दुर्निवारश्च इति तत्परिहारे यत्नाधिक्यं कर्तव्यम्।

BG.Bha.
* मरणसीमाकरणं जीवतोऽवश्यम्भावि हि कामक्रोधोद्भवो वेगः, अनन्तनिमित्तवान् हि स इति यावत् मरणं तावत् न विस्रम्भणीय
इत्यर्थः। BG.Bha.
† आमरणात् इत्यर्थः। BG.Bha.
‡ अप्राणो ह्यमनाः शुभ्रः। Mu.Up. 2.1.2

* कामः इन्द्रियगोचरप्राप्ते इष्टे विषये श्रूयमाणे स्मर्यमाणे वा अनुभूते सुखहेतौ या गर्धिः तृष्णा। BG.Bha.

† क्रोधश्च आत्मनः प्रतिकूलेषु। BG.Bha.

‡ कण्डूतिवन्मनसिजं विषहेत धीरः। SB 7.9.45

* यथा प्रदीप्तं ज्वलनं पतङ्गा विशन्ति नाशाय समृद्धवेगाः। BG 11.29

* अन्तरिक्षं गच्छ। Tai.Ar. 4.8

† स स्वराड्भवति। Ch.Up. 7.25.2

‡ स्वर्गच्छ। ज्योतिर्गच्छ।

* ब्रह्मैव सन्ब्रह्माप्येति। Br.Up.Bha. 4.4.6

† विमुक्तश्च विमुच्यते। Ka.Up. 2.2.1

‡ जीवन्नेव ब्रह्मभूतः सन् अधिगच्छति। BG.Bha.

* तद् ऋषीणाम् ऋषित्वम्। Tai.Ar. 2.9

† छिन्नसंशयाः। BG.Bha.

* न तस्य मोक्षायान्यः कर्तव्योऽस्ति। BG.Bha.

* लोकवत्तु लीलाकैवल्यम्। Br.Su. 2.1.33

† यथार्भकः स्वप्रतिबिम्बविभ्रमः। SB 10.33.17

* सर्वप्राणिनां प्रत्युपकारनिरपेक्षतया उपकारिणं सर्वभूतानां हृदयेशयम्। BG.Bha.

* सर्वप्रत्ययसाक्षिणम्। BG.Bha.

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 APPENDICES
Selected excerpts for contemplation
List of inspiring anecdotes
Reference Sources
Other books by Acharya
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 SELECTED EXCERPTS FOR
CONTEMPLATION

We have no choice whether to act or withdraw. Our choice is only in

knowing that we are not the doer and being an instrument of the Divine.

*
When a seeker has an intense thirst for knowledge, the Lord will ensure that
favourable situations that will make him capable of surrendering to the
Higher Power manifest.

*
Association with the mind is kaśmalam (impurity), and dissociation or
moving away from the mind is yoga.

*
Free will, when emblazoned by Divine Grace, becomes a mighty force to
free us from ‘will’, and thus releases us from all bondage.

*
The mind weaves the curtain of time from the wool of thoughts and veils
the Self. Quieten the thoughts, and you transcend creation here and now.

*
‘I AM’ is pure experience. It is not a conditioned experience of the senses; it
is unconditioned non-dual Consciousness.

*
The Source can never be found outside. He is within us. Although He
pervades the entire creation, to find Him, we must go within, and seek Him
in the inner luminosity of awareness.
 *
Neither the body nor the Atman have rebirth. It is the mind—the jīva—that
identifies with the body and takes birth until the clothes of vāsanās remain.

*
Dissolve all elements in that which exists—Brahman. The Gita calls this
Brahma-nirvāṇa, which means extinguishing the entire seen in the Seer.

*
Observe and probe into the nature of the ‘doer’ rather than the ‘doing’ or its
fruit.

*
Desiring has limitations, whereas desirelessness has no limitations.
The will to do dharma is the wind of Grace blowing around us.

*
Consciousness is always singular. When there are two, know that the mind
is at work.

*
Any action performed with a desire for its results—even our sādhanā—
amounts to nothing but mere business. Selfless action is love, whereas,
expecting a result from it is indulgence. True sādhanā is love. Perform
actions as worship, as an expression of devotion.

*
The ego-sense lives on the food of pleasure or recognition. When it is put
on a fast, gradually, the ego evaporates, and we begin to perform actions for
the sheer ecstasy of it.

*
Performing action with desire is the highway to suffering, death and rebirth.
 *
What is natural for a siddha is sādhanā for a seeker.

*
The mind has no separate existence from the Self. It is ignorance that keeps
it alive. All desires are of the mind and not of the Self.

*
As long as the thinking process is active and the intellect is abuzz with
thoughts, whatever may be the field of activity of a person, he is
materialistic.

*
The Sage knows that he is not the mind. He knows that he is the sākshi, the
witness-principle. Hence, he ever abides in the Self and not in the mind.

*
The power that runs our sādhanā smoothly is not the power of the ego, it is
the power of Grace.

*
Rigorous refusal to harbour thoughts is a powerful spiritual practice for an
advanced seeker.

*
Whatever exists is the Self. Whether the ignorant one sees it or not, It never
ceases to exist.
You are not the body. You are the Atman. Know this and be free now. You
cannot become free by renouncing one action and taking up another.
Freedom is yours when you erase the ego which claims doership. Then,
even the most horrendous karma cannot taint you.

*
Attachment is like an ore; it is energy in its unrefined form. It must be
processed in the fire of Jñāna to make it into the gold of pure love or
dharma.

*
As long as we think we have to achieve something outside ourselves, as
long as we believe we have to go somewhere else to attain Liberation, we
have accepted that we are bound and limited. Our acceptance of such
limitations is the cause of our suffering. Such a person is a petty one.

*
Here is the nectarine teaching, O Partha. You too do not have any doership.
Do not unnecessarily bear the heavy weight of the ‘I’—the illusory ego. Be
free of the ‘I’. Then, free you are of the weight of all duties. It is this ‘I’ that
deludes you with a goal. You are the goal! What higher goal than the Atman
can there possibly be? You are Brahman. You are Moksha, Nirvāṇa! Know
this and play the game of your life as I do.

*
Mind is a delusion. Thinking is a delusion. ‘I’ is a delusion. The three
guṇas are all delusions. Be still. Repose in the Self. Here and now, you are
free.

*
The foremost misapprehension is the misapprehension of ourselves as the
ego.

*
All that is perceived is made of dream-stuff.

*
Collect the scattered sparks of attention and just be in the beatitude of
Being-ness.

*
In karma-yoga, ‘karma’ is bondage, and ‘yoga’ is freedom. Those who
know this secret, become free.

*
Bhakti is the only prerequisite for this knowledge; bhakti alone can reveal
the simplicity of this knowledge.

*
Do not expect absolute fulfilment from worldly life. Fulfilment happens
only by Jñāna, by abiding in one’s own Being.

*
Even meditation becomes a karma as long as doership is retained and is not
erased by Jñāna.

*
The primal possession that binds us to all other possessions such as the
body and the emotions is the ego-identity the—‘I’-‘I’. Once there is
freedom from that possession, you are free, totally free. There is no border
for your existence.

*
Your success lies not in what destiny might bring. You are not a football for
destiny and free-will to kick around and play with. You are the Self. You are
whole, here, now, in your real Self. Peace lies in resting in the Self. It is
ever with you.

*
The Master, who is a Jñāni, is not a person. He is a presence, a profound
presence. The disciple too is not a person; he is a being with an immense
inner longing to attain the Truth. The disciple’s love and unconditional
service done for the Master invokes the power of Grace within the Master.
It establishes a subtle bond between the two. Serving the Master gives an
opportunity for the disciple to bask in the presence of the Master and
gradually soak it into his very being. Outwardly, the disciple may appear to
be carrying out only mundane activities, but inwardly, an extraordinary
transformation is unfolding in him. His inner being gradually absorbs the
Chit-śakti of the Master and is prepared to receive the teaching.

*
Jñāna flashes forth instantaneously, whereas yoga takes time to ripen.

*
Give up all thoughts. Do not try to reach out to the Truth through thoughts.
If you try to reach out to the Truth, you will not reach it, as you are trying to
reach something other than yourself. Be the Self and remain thoughtless.
You need not even recollect the Truth. To be recollected, it must be
something other than you. Be the Self. Do not initiate any thought. You are
the Atman here and now. Know this, then forget the entire process of
seeking and be still.

*
The Self is attained not by the mind, not by the body, and not by a person. It
is not something you get from the outside. The Self is attained by the Self.

*
If we observe closely, we will not fail to understand that every thought,
every emotion, is a birth. Every attachment is a birth. And their vanishing or
erasing is a death. As long as this sarga is unconquered, rebirth and death
are also unconquered.

*
Knowing the Self is sannyāsa. Knowing the Self is Yoga. Knowing the Self
is ekānta-vāsa—living in solitude. Self knowledge is the pinnacle of
spiritual life.

*
The body and the mind must exhaust their course of action—the purpose
for which they have come to this world. Allowing them to act in the world,
the wise one remains detached, completely free in his own real nature.
 *
The secret of the Knower is not meditation, not outer renunciation and not
his outward appearance. It is the inner recognition of the Self. This alone is
the power of the Jñāni.

*
The Jñāni has the spiritual vision to see another as the Self. This vision of
the mystic cannot be taught by him to another but can only be absorbed by
the disciple through intimacy with the jīvanmukta.

*
It is impossible to be free of defects in the body-mind plane. Recognition of
this fact itself is pure Grace. That is the end of all meaningless toil. One can
try to keep the body and mind clean, but they will become impure again.
The true cleansing of the body and mind is the renunciation of the body and
mind by non-identification with them. Just let them be. They do not belong
to you. They are nature’s products. You rest in yourself. There is no feeling
of ‘I’ in the body. The hands, legs, liver, or kidney do not say ‘I’. The sense
of ‘I’ arises from some other centre. We need not separate the ‘I’ from the
body. It is ever separated. This knowledge is sama—equanimity. To think
you are associated with the body is the flaw—doṣa. When you rest in your
Self, that is nirdoṣam—perfect, flawless being-ness.

*
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 THE BLISS WITHIN
In the temple of nine gates, all doors are closed
Lo! The sacred inner altar is lit with the gentle light of peace
The Yogi stays within, gaze ‘infolded’
The mind ‘Aware’ of the luminous flame
The heart rejoicing in the inner bliss
A thick cloud in the inner space showers and vanishes
The cloud is the ‘me’, the waters its world
Now all over, clear blueness of the inner sky—Brahma-nirvāṇa!
Om!

***
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 LIST OF INSPIRING ANECDOTES

BHAGAVAN SRI RAMANA MAHARSHI

1. First Teaching to his Mother (1.3)
2. The Highest Teaching at the Ashram Kitchen (2.7)
3. The Power of Ātmajñāna (2.11)
4. Dissolving Sorrow (2.13)
5. Endurance, Endurance, More Endurance (2.14)
6. Equipoise of the Sage (2.19)
7. Experience with ‘Death’ (2.19)
8. Conviction of the Truth (2.24)
9. The Inscrutable Nature of Life Beyond (2.27)
10. “He is the Maharshi!” (2.29)
11. On Gandhiji’s Work (2.32)
12. Who is the Gita for? (2.38)
13. Do Not Forget Your Real Nature (2.48)
14. Body, A Disease (2.51)
15. Bhagavan Sri Ramana’s Central Teaching (2.53)
16. The Sage’s Secret (2.53)
17. The Sage and the Angry Mob (2.56)
18. Death Experience (2.72)
19. Do Devas and Their Worlds Exist? (3.11-12)
20. Thinnai Swami (3.38)
21. The Secret of karma-yoga (4.2)
22. “What is your body?” (4.6)
23. Social Reformers (4.13)
24. Be Free of Vāsanās (4.14-15)
25. Realisation and Work (4.18)
26. Guru’s Grace (4.34)
27. A Living Master (4.38)
28. Do We Need to Renounce Family? (5.1)
29. Renunciation — The Fragrance of Realisation (5.3)
30. Natural Sannyāsa (5.6)
31. The Sage’s Same-sightedness (5.18)
 32. On Rebirth (5.19)
33. On Evolution (5.19)
34. The Profound Untouchability (5.21)
35. The Greatest Service (5.25)

OTHER SAGES AND SAINTS

36. Swami Ramatirtha — A Love-Letter from the Divine (1.intro)
37. Narayana Bhattatiri — Diseases are My Real Friends (1.intro)
38. Buddha and his Charioteer Chaanna (1.24-25)
39. Swami Tapovanam — “Has None Ever Died in Those Places?”
(2.18)
40. Swami Vivekananda — “I have spat out my body” (2.22)
41. Yogi Ramsuratkumar — How to Remove the ‘Other’ (2.28)
42. Sri Ramakrishna and Totapuri Baba (2.29)
43. Swami Ramatirtha — Is God a Mr., Mrs. or Ms.? (2.29)
44. Swami Vivekananda — Die in the Cause of Others (2.32)
45. Kanchi Mahaswami — A Driving Force to do Dharma (2.33)
46. Sant Eknath Gets a Divine Vision (2.47)
47. Swami Ramatirtha — Are Sages Lazy? (2.71)
48. Sant Tukaram — Work and Spirituality (3.8)
49. Buddha — Milk Offered by Sujata (3.14-15)
50. Sri Ramakrishna and Japa (3.18)
51. Sri Narayana Guru’s Compassion (3.23-24)
52. Swami Vivekananda — Incessant Work (3.25)
53. Kanchi Mahaswami — A Divine Vision of Japa (3.26)
54. Sri Ramakrishna and Some Drunken Men (3.43)
55. Swami Ramdas — “What is the World?” (4.6)
56. Sri Ramakrishna’s Prophecy about Vivekananda (4.17)
57. Kanchi Mahaswami — sahasra-bhojanam (4.31)
58. Anandagiri to Totakacharya (4.39)
59. Sant Namadeva and the Dog (5.18)
60. Sant Jnaneswara and the Buffalo (5.18)
61. Swami Ramdas — Feeding Sugar-candy to Rama (5.19)
62. Swami Sivananda on Conquering Desire (5.23)
63. Buddha’s Final Teaching (5.24)
64. Mukkundur Swami and the Hungry Devotee (5.29)
65. Chattambi Swamigal and the Dogs (5.29)
ITIHĀSAS AND PURĀṆAS
66. Manki Learns a Lesson (1.8-10)
67. Bhishma’s Vision of Krishna (1.14)
68. Rama, the Sage (2.5-6)
69. Arjuna, the Ambidextrous (2.7)
70. Krishna’s Power to Laugh Away Destiny (2.27)
71. Prithu Maharaja’s Prayer (2.29)
72. Jadabharata — A Realised Being (2.46)
73. Equanimity of Sudama (2.56)
74. Nābhāga gets Ātma-jñāna (3.13)
75. Pingala’s Declaration (3.17)
76. Janaka — the jīvanmukta king (3.20)
77. A Conversation between Rama and Sita (3.20)
78. Arjuna’s Combat with Lord Siva (3.35)
79. Jadabharata’s Sense-Control (3.41)
80. The Power of Association with a Sage (4.17)
81. Sage Dattatreya and the Eagle (4.21)
82. Satyakama and the Thousand Cows (4.39)
83. King Janaka, Sage Ashtavakra and the Horse (4.39)

NOCHUR ACHARYA
84. A Spontaneous Childhood Intuition (2.16)
85. Lesson from a Wise Villager (2.28)
86. Story of Abdul (2.46)
87. “Gandhiji is doing his Dharma” (2.48)
88. Samādhi May Bloom in Anyone (3.17)
89. Boatman at Kashi (4.1)

AND SOME MORE

90. The Cause of all Conflicts (1.1)
91. Alexander and the Sage (2.23)
92. Socrates — “Catch me, the real me” (2.30)
93. The Remarkable Story of Viktor Frankl (2.30)
94. Gandhiji — Freedom Movement, A Spiritual Practice (2.31)
95. Offering oneself in Bhakti (2.40)
96. Chanakya on Success (2.48)
97. Sakthan Thampuran & the Somayaji (2.49)
98. Narmada-Parikrama (3.13)
99. Before and After Enlightenment (3.22)
100. Erase the sādhaka (3.39)

***
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To.Ash. Toṭakāshṭakam
Upa.Sa. Upadeśa-Sāra
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Vi.Cu. Vivekachūḍāmaṇi
Vi.Pu. Vishṇu-Purāṇa
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Yo.Ta. Yogatārāvali
Yo.Va. Yoga-Vāsishṭha
Yo.Va.Sa. Yoga-Vāsishṭha-Sāra

***
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 OTHER BOOKS BY SRI NOCHUR ACHARYA
ĀTMATĪRTHAM — LIFE AND TEACHINGS OF SRI SANKARACHARYA
(English, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, Oriya, French, Swedish)
An independent epic that pays homage to Bhagavan Adi Sankaracharya through a picturesque
narration of Acharya’s eventful sacred life and interspersed with the sage’s teachings and divine kṛtis.

आत्मानुभूति-रसायनम्|् ĀTMĀNUBHŪTIRASĀYANAM
॥श्री रमणमहर्षेः वचनामृतानुसन्धानम्॥
An independent translation to Sanskrit of selected portions from Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi

SWĀTMASUKHI — BLISS OF THE SELF

(English, Malayalam, Tamil, Russian)
A detailed commentary including step-by-step guidance for seekers on Sri Ramana Maharshi’s
advaitic masterpiece ‘Ulladu Nārpadu — Reality in Forty Verses’

TALKS ON DAKSHINĀMŪRTI STAVA

(English)
An elaborate contemplation on the highest advaitic teaching contained in Sankaracharya’s well-
known stava

ŚRUTI GITA — A HYMN OF THE VEDAS

(English)
An in-depth commentary that demystifies the indecipherable Śruti Gita, which is the 87th Chapter in
the 10th Canto of Srimad Bhagavata

ആത്മസാക്ഷാത്കാരം | ĀTMASĀKSHĀTKĀRAM
(Malayalam)
A devotional narration of the life of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi

ഹസ്താമലക-ഗീതം| THE SONG OF SILENCE

(Malayalam & English)
The story of the mysterious boy Hastāmalaka, along with a contemplative commentary on the
advaitic hymn ‘Hastāmalaka-geetam’

THE SECRET STREAM OF THE SACRED

(English)
A short yet potent and poetic work that describes the divine power of Grace (Acharya describes this
as ‘An Autobiography of Grace’.)

ON THE WINGS OF ECSTASY

 (English)
An eclectic collection of meditative poems that express bhāvas ranging from divine longing to love
for the divine beloved to the highest spiritual ecstasy

THE REFLECTIONS IN THE STILL LAKE OF CONTEMPLATION

(English)
Two books of curated collection of the author’s scribblings from his earliest diaries, which are
powerful nuggets for contemplation

आनन्दमकरन्दम्|् ĀNANDA-MAKARANDAM
(Sanskrit, Malayalam)
A collection of over sixty soulful hymns in Sanskrit expressing bhakti, viraha and jñāna-bhavas,
penned by Acharya at various times

शिवभक्ति-मन्दाकिनी | ŚIVABHAKTI-MANDĀKINI
(Sanskrit stotras with English translation)
A compendium of Śiva-stotras culled from Ānanda-makarandam and a few additional hymns on
Chindambara Nataraja

विचारमाला अथवा आनन्दानुभवप्रकाशः

VICHĀRAMĀLĀ OR ĀNANDĀNUBHAVA-PRAKĀŚAḤ
100+ verses in Sanskrit that contain the essence of Vedanta, with English translation. This work is a
profoundly precise guide for Jñāna-vichāra (Self-Enquiry)

गुरुभक्ति-तरङ्गिणी | GURUBHAKTI-TARAÑGIṆĪ
Sanskrit slokas with English translation and an article on ‘Guru-Tattva’

जपयोगसुधानिधिः | JAPAYOGASUDHĀNIDHIḤ
(Sanskrit slokas with English Translation)
An experiential work on japa as a sādhanā for Self-Realisation

പ്രത്യഭിജ്ഞാദീപം| PRATYABHIJÑĀ-DĪPAM
(Malayalam)
A mystical hymn in Sanskrit that exudes the highest wisdom of Advaita in each of its lines, along
with a detailed commentary in Malayalam

ஆனந்த-மாலை| ĀNANDAMĀLAI
(Tamil)
A collection of ten spontaneous, unique hymns in Tamil
Acharya’s books and satsaṅg media are published by Sri Ramana Maharshi
Brahmavidyasarama Trust.
For free download of satsaṅg recordings, e-books or to purchase any of the
above books, visit

WWW.VOICEOFRISHIS.ORG
[email protected]

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Sri Ramanacharanatirtha Nochur Venkatarman is a renowned Acharya of
Advaita Vedanta. He was drawn to spiritual life at a very young age and had
the divine grace of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi. After several years in
deep contemplation on the Gita and the Upanishads, along with spiritual
practices as guided by the Inner Being, spiritual fulfilment arose in the
heart.

Since then (from the age of eighteen) this sagely teacher has been
expounding on the age-old Vedic wisdom of the Upanishads, Gita,
Bhagavata and other texts on Vedanta. Acharya’s talks and writings on Sri
Ramana Maharshi’s teachings are a powerful guiding force for Self-enquiry.

Acharya’s inimitable satsaṅgs in Malayalam, Tamil, English, and

occasionally also in Sanskrit, brim with a natural eloquence and erudition.
Aflame with the power of Ātmajñāna and the fragrance of bhakti, they offer
a glimpse into the Supreme Bliss of the Self for those who are ready to
receive it, be it an ardent seeker, a renunciate, or even children.

Countless seekers have found fulfilment in life through his gracious

guidance. Through his satsaṅgs, books and personal guidance, Acharya
continues to keep alive our age-old Vedic wisdom.

www.VoiceofRishis.org
YouTube VoiceofRishis

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