“Renunciation” is, as we have seen,
complete self-abnegation.
It is the condition in which the seeker abandons whatever he has
and
only then does he reach the point when no further action is needed.

Lord Krishn sings:

“He whose intellect is aloof all round,
who is without desire, and who has conquered his mind,
attains to the ultimate state that transcends
all action through renunciation.”

“Renunciation” and “attainment of the supreme state of actionlessness”
are
synonymous here.
The yogi who has reached the state of actionlessness
attains
to
the Supreme Being.

“Learn in brief from me, O son of Kunti,
of how one who is immaculate achieves
realization of the Supreme Being,
which
represents the culmination of knowledge.”

“Blessed with a pure intellect, firmly in command of the Self,
with objects of sensual gratification like sound forsaken,
with both fondness and revulsion destroyed,-“

“Dwelling in seclusion, eating frugally,
subdued in mind, speech and body,
incessantly given to the yog of meditation, firmly resigned,-’’

“Giving up conceit, arrogance of power,
yearning, ill humour, and acquisitiveness, devoid of attachment,
and
in possession of a mind at repose,
a man is worthy
of
becoming one with God.”

Lord Krishn adds:

“In this serene-tempered man,
who views all beings equally,
who abides intently in the Supreme Being,
neither grieving over nor hankering after anything,
there is fostered a faith in me that transcends all else.”

Now faith is at the stage where an outcome can ensue from it,
namely,
in the form of God-realization.

“Through his transcendental faith he knows my essence well,
what my reach is, and having thus known my essence
he is at once united with me.”

The Supreme Being is perceived at the moment of attainment and,
no sooner has this perception come about than
the worshiper finds his own Soul blessed with the attributes of God himself: that his soul is-like God-indestructible,
immortal, eternal, ineffable, and universal.

Lord Krishn said in Chapter 2
that
the Self is real, eternal, permanent, ineffable, and
of
the stuff of immortality.
But only seers have apprehended him endowed with these qualities.

So naturally the question arises as to what is meant
by
perception of the essence?

There are many who set out to make rational tabulations
of
five or twenty-five principles.
But Lord Krishn’s verdict on the problem is quite clear,
that God is the one supreme essence.
And one who knows him is the seer.
If you desire to know the truth and crave for the essence of God,
contemplation and worship are an inescapable necessity.

Here, Yogeshwar Krishn has laid down explicitly
that
one has to act in the way of renunciation, too.
As promised by him, he will expound in brief
how through constant
exercise of renunciation-through the Way of Knowledge-the worshiper who is free from desire and attachment,
and
who has an upright mind,
attains to the supreme state of actionlessness.

When the maladies of vanity, brute power, lust, wrath, arrogance,
and
infatuation-that force one down
into the ravines of nature-are rendered feeble,
and
virtues such as discernment, non-attachment,
self-restraint, firmness of will,
abiding in solitude, and meditation-that lead one to God-are fully developed and
active,
the seeker is equipped to be united with the Supreme Being.

It is this ability that is called transcendental faith
and
it is by this that the worshiper comes to apprehend the ultimate reality.
He then knows what God is and, knowing his divine glories,
he is at once merged with him.
Putting it differently, Brahm, reality, God, the Supreme Spirit,
and
Self are all substitutes for each other.
Knowing any one of them, we come to know them all.
This is the final accomplishment,
the final liberation, the final goal.

So the Bhagavad Gita is unambiguous in its view
that
in
both the Way of Knowledge or Discernment (or the Way of Renunciation)
and
the Way of Selfless Action,
the ordained deed-meditation-has to be entered upon
and
accomplished for the attainment of the supreme state of actionlessness.

~Revered Gurudev Swami Adgadanand Jee Paramhans~
©

_/l\_
Humble Wishes.
~mrityunjayanand~