Geeta Dhara – Gurukul

Knowledge and action and the doer have been graded into three kinds each,
in the
Sankhya philosophy of properties (gun).

Lord Krishn sings:

“Know that knowledge as immaculate (sattwik)
by which one perceives the reality of the indestructible God
as an undivided entity in all divided beings.”

Such knowledge is direct perception,
with which the properties of nature come to an end.
It marks the culmination of awareness.

Let us now see knowledge of the second (rajas) kind.

“Know that knowledge as tainted by passion
by
which one perceives divided entities in all separate beings.”

“And know that knowledge as besmirched by ignorance (tamas)
which adheres to the body alone as if it were the whole truth,
and
which is irrational, unfounded on truth, and petty.”

Devoid of wisdom and the required discipline to buttress it,
this kind of knowledge is worthless as it takes one away
from awareness of God who is the one and only reality.

The following verses then recount the three kinds of action.

“That action is said to be immaculate
which is ordained and embarked on with detachment,
by
one who is free from infatuation as well as loathing,
and
who does not aspire to any reward.”

The ordained action is none other than worship and meditation
that
lead the Soul to God.

“And that action is said to be of the nature of passion
which is strenuous and entered upon by one
who
covets rewards and is egotistic.”

This seeker also performs the ordained action,
but what a great difference is made by the fact
that
he is desirous of rewards and possessed of vanity?

So the action undertaken by him bears
the character of moral blindness.

“That action is said to be unenlightened
which is taken up out of sheer ignorance
and
with disregard for outcome, loss to oneself,
and
injury to others,
as well as for one’s own competence.”

Such action is bound to be reduced to nothingness at last
and
it is unquestionably not approved by scripture.
Rather than action it is mere delusion.

Let us now see the attributes of the doer.

“That doer is said to be of immaculate nature
who is free from attachment,
who does not indulge in arrogant speech,
and
who is endowed with patience and vigour
as well as
unswayed by success and failure.”

These are the attributes of the righteous doer
and
the action he undertakes is, of course, the same ordained action.

“That doer is said to be of the attribute of passion
who is impulsive, covetous of the fruits of action, acquisitive,
pernicious, vitiated,
and
subject to joy and sorrow.”

“That doer is said to be of the attribute of ignorance
who is fickle, uncouth, vain, devious, spiteful,
dispirited, lazy, and procrastinating.”

These are the attributes of the ignorant doer.
The scrutiny of the qualities of doers is concluded at this point.

~Revered Gurudev Swami Adgadanand Jee Paramhans~
©

_/l\_
Humble Wishes.
~mrityunjayanand~

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In order to understand transparently about what are the causes that effect righteous and unrighteous actions, we must learn about the five principles that Sankhya acknowledges as accomplishers of all action as per teachings of Bhagavad Gita.

Lord Krishn sings:

“Learn well from me, O the mighty-armed,
the five principles that Sankhya acknowledges
as accomplishers of all action.”

“In respect of this, there are the prime mover,
the several agents, the varied endeavours,
the sustaining power, and likewise the fifth means that is providence.”

The mind is the doer. Virtuous and evil inclinations are the agents. Performance of righteous action demands a predisposition to discernment, non-attachment, tranquility, self-restraint, sacrifice, and constant meditation. But lust, anger, infatuation, aversion, and avarice are the agents that effect unrighteous deeds. There are then the manifold efforts-the endless desires-and the means. That aspiration begins to be fulfilled which is supported by means. And last of all there is the fifth principle, providence or sanskar-the outcome of all that has happened to the Soul in the past. This is borne out by Lord Krishn.

He adds:

“These are the five causes of whatever action
a man accomplishes with his mind, speech, and body,
either in accordance with or even in contravention of scripture.”

“Despite this, however he
who-out of his immature judgement-views the consummate,
detached Self as the doer is dull-minded and he sees not.”

As the Soul is identical with God, the pronouncement also implies that God does not act. Yogeshwar Krishn has stressed the point again and again. He said that God neither acts himself nor impels others to act, nor does he bring about even the association of actions. Then why do we say that everything is done by God?

It is only because our minds are clouded by delusion. We just say whatever comes to our mind. However, as Lord Krishn has affirmed, there are five causes of action. Yet the ignorant man, incapable of perceiving the reality, views the lone, Godlike Soul as the doer. He fails to realize that God does not perform any deed. Paradoxically, however, while saying all this, Lord Krishn also girds up his loins for Arjun and assures him that he has just to play the part of an instrument, for he (Krishn) is the real doer-arbiter.

What after all is the sage’s import?

In truth, there is a line of gravity that separates God from nature. So long as the seeker is within the boundaries of nature, of the three properties, God does not act. While abiding close by the worshiper, he is yet only an onlooker. But when the seeker gets hold of the cherished goal with firm intentness, God begins to regulate his inner life. The seeker then breaks free from the gravity of nature and enters the realm of God. God ever stands by such a seeker. But he acts only for a worshiper such as this. So let us always meditate on him.

Lord Krishn sings

“Though he may slay,
the man who is liberated from conceit
and whose mind is unsullied is neither a killer
nor bound by his action.”

Rather than granting licence to kill without any fear, the verse signifies that the truly liberated person acts as a mere instrument of the Supreme Spirit. A liberated person slays from the worldly point of view it’s evil traditions. In truth, however, one who dwells in constant awareness of God is of necessity disinclined to anything that is evil. Such a person is simply not tempted to destroy, for the world which tempts people to destroy no longer exists for him because of his total renunciation of the aggregate of all his deeds.

“Whereas the way of securing knowledge,
the worthwhile knowledge,
and the knower constitute the threefold inspiration to action,
the doer, the agents, and the action itself are the threefold
constituents of action.”

Arjun is told that the impetus to action is derived from all-knowing seers, the mode of acquiring knowledge, and the object that is worthy of being acquired. Lord Krishn has said earlier that he is the object worth knowing. The stimulus to action is derived only when there is a realized sage with perfect knowledge who can initiate the seeker into the way by which the desired knowledge can be obtained, and when the seeker’s eyes are fixed on his goal.

Similarly, the store of action begins to grow by the coming together of the doer-dedication of mind, agents such as wisdom, disinterest in the material world, repose, and self-restraint by which the action is accomplished, and awareness of the action.

~Revered Gurudev Swami Adgadanand Jee Paramhans~
©

_/l\_
Humble Wishes.
~mrityunjayanand~

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Total abandonment is renunciation,
a state in which even will and merits of action cease to be,
and prior to which there is only endless giving up of attachment
for fulfillment of the spiritual quest.

There are two questions here:
Arjun wants to know the essence of renunciation
as well as
the essence of relinquishment.

He desires to be enlightened on the different forms of
renunciation (sanyas)
and
relinquishment (tyag).

Yogeshwar Krishn sings:

“Whereas numerous scholars use renunciation
for the giving up of covered deeds,
many others of mature judgement use relinquishment
to name the abnegation of the fruits of all action.”

“While many erudite men insist that
since all actions are vile they ought to be forsaken,
other scholars proclaim that deeds such as yagya, charity, and penance
ought not to be forsaken.”

After thus submitting varied opinions on the problem,
the Yogeshwar advances his own definitive view.

“Listen, O the best of Bharat,
to my notion of renunciation and of how, O the unmatched among men,
this renunciation is said to be of three kinds.”

Lord Krishn adds:

“Rather than forsaking them,
deeds such as yagya, charity, and penance ought certainly
to be undertaken as a duty,
for yagya, charity, and penance are deeds
that redeem men of wisdom.”

Lord Krishn has thus submitted four prevalent thoughts.
First, that coveted deeds should be forsworn.
Second, that the fruits of all action should be given up.
Third, that all actions should be relinquished, for they are all blemished.
And fourth, that it is wrong to forego yagya, charity, and penance.

Expressing his accord with one of these thoughts,
Lord Krishn says that it is also his conclusive view
that
yagya, charity and penance are not to be forsaken.
This illustrates how divergent views on the question were current
at
Lord Krishn’s time, too, out of which, one was true.

Even today there are many views.
When a sage makes his advent in the world
he isolates and puts forward that which is the most salutary
among the many varying doctrines.
All great Souls have done this and Lord Krishn has done the same.
Instead of advocating a new way he only supports and expounds
that
which is true among many accepted views.

He sings further:

“It is my considered belief, O Parth,
that these deeds as also all others ought certainly to be accomplished
after forsaking attachment and desire for the fruits of labour.”

“And, since the requisite action ought not to be abandoned,
forsaking it out of some misconception is deemed
as renunciation of the nature of ignorance (tamas).”

According to Lord Krishn the ordained,
essential action is only one-the performance of yagya.
The Yogeshwar has reverted to and stressed the ordained mode time
and
again, lest the seeker should deviate from the right path.
And now he declares that it is improper to abandon this ordained action.

Forsaking it out of some delusion is thus said
to be
relinquishment of the diabolical kind (that is, of the nature of tamas).
The deed that ought to be done and the ordained action are the same,
and
giving it up out of involvement
in objects of sensual pleasure is morally, improper.
The man who abandons such action is doomed to rebirth in low forms,
for he has suppressed the impulse for divine adoration.

Lord Krishn next speaks about relinquishment
that is tainted by passion
and
moral blindness (rajas).

“He who rashly foregoes action under the assumption
that all of it is grievous, or out of fear of physical suffering,
is deprived of the merits of his relinquishment.”

One who is incapable of worship
and
who casts off action
because of his apprehension of physical pain
is
reckless and morally in error,
and
his relinquishment-of the nature of passion (rajas)-fails to bring him
the ultimate repose of mind
that
should be the end of relinquishment.

“Only that relinquishment is esteemed righteous,
O Arjun, which is ordained and practiced with the conviction
that
doing it after having forsaken attachment
and
fruits of labour is a moral commitment.”

So only the ordained deed is to be done and all else has to be discarded.

However, shall we go on doing it endlessly
or
will there be a point when it too is given up?

Speaking of this,
Lord Krishn now points out the way of relinquishment
that is good and worthwhile.

“Gifted with flawless moral excellence and freedom from doubt,
one who neither abhors deeds that are unpropitious
nor is enamoured of those that are propitious
is
wise and self-denying.”

Only the action prescribed by scripture is auspicious
and
all that is opposed to it is mere bondage of this mortal world
and
therefore inauspicious.

The person of equanimity,
who
neither loathes what is inauspicious
nor is attached to that which is auspicious,
because for such a person
even that which had to be done has at last come
to an end, is imbued with righteousness,
emancipated from doubt, and discerning.
So such a person is enabled to disown all.
This total relinquishment,
coming along with accomplishment,
is
renunciation.

Is there, we might be tempted to ask, any easier way?
Lord Krishn categorically denies the possibility.

“Since the abandonment of all action
by an embodied being is impossible,
the one who has given up the fruits of action is credited
with having practiced relinquishment.”

“Embodied beings” does not imply only gross, visible bodies.
According to Lord Krishn the three properties
of
virtue (sattwa), passion (rajas), and ignorance (tamas),
born out of nature, imprison the Soul within the body.
The Soul is embodied only as long as these properties remain.
So long he will have to pass from one body to another,
for the properties that beget the body are still in existence.

Since an embodied Soul cannot eschew all action,
it is said that one who has given up
the fruits of action has mastered renunciation.
Hence it is that it is imperative to do the prescribed deed
and
renounce its fruits so long as the properties that make the body remain.

If, on the other hand, actions are undertaken
with some desire or the other,
they do bear fruits.

“Whereas the triple returns-good, bad, and mixed
-of covetous people’s actions, issue forth even after death,
the actions of people who have renounced all,
do not ever bear any fruits.”

The deeds of avaricious men produce consequences
that arise even after death.
These consequences indeed persist through endless births.
But the actions of those who have relinquished all-of true sanyasi
(so called because they have given up all their possessions)-do not bear fruits at any time.

This is complete renunciation the highest stage of spiritual seeking.

The examination of the outcome of good and bad deeds,
and of their ceasing at the point where all desire is annihilated,
is
thus concluded.

~Revered Gurudev Swami Adgadanand Jee Paramhans~
©

_/l\_
Humble Wishes.
~mrityunjayanand~

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Lord Krishn tells Arjun on how the three names
Om, Tat, and Sat,
symbolizing God,
direct us to the Supreme Being
and
call him to mind.

Lord Krishn sings:

“Om, Tat , and Sat are three epithets
used for the Supreme Being
from whom at the outset
there came forth the
Brahmin, Ved, and yagya.”

It is he who, at the beginning, created the Brahmin, the Ved, and yagya.
That is to say that Brahmin, the Ved, and yagya are all born from OM,
the symbol of Brahm.

Thus it could also be said that they have all ensued from yog.
They are generated only by ceaseless contemplation of OM,
and
other than this there is no way.

“It is hence that the deeds of yagya,
charity, and penance,
as ordained by scripture, are always initiated
by
the devotees of Ved
with a resonant utterance of the syllable OM.”

It is owing to this that performance of the ordained worship,
benevolence and penance by persons
who concern themselves with God ever commences with an articulation
of
the sacred OM,
for this utterance reminds one of that Supreme Being.

Lord Krishn then elaborates the meaning and use of Tat.

“Stripped of desire for any reward
and
holding
that God is all pervading,
persons who aspire to the ultimate bliss
embark on the tasks of yagya, penance, and charity
as
ordained by scripture.”

Tat denotes surrender to God.
Stated differently, one has to recite OM
and
take up the accomplishment of yagya, alms-giving, and penance
with absolute trust in Tat, i.e., that God.

Lord Krishn next elucidates the meaning and use of Sat.

“Sat is employed to express the ideas
of
truth and excellence,
and,
O Parth,
the word is also used to denote a propitious act.”

At the beginning of the Bhagavad Gita,
Arjun held forth that family traditions alone were permanent and real.
That provoked Lord Krishn to ask him how he had become a victim
of
such a deluded notion.

That which is real is never absent at any time
and
it cannot be annihilated,
whereas that which is unreal has no existence at any time,
and
it cannot be otherwise.

Now what is that which never has a being?

Lord Krishn affirmed while resolving these questions
that
the Self alone is real
and also
that the bodies of all living beings are perishable.
The Self is eternal, imperceptible, permanent, and immortal.
This is the paramount truth.
Lord Krishn remarks that this epithet of the Supreme Being,
viz, Sat,
refers to truth
and
thus to the sense of perfection.

Arjun is further told that the expression Sat is employed
when the commencement of the undertaken task is complete
in every respect
and
well under way.

Sat by no means implies that all these objects are ours.

How can things our physical bodies make use of belong to us
when we are not masters of even our own persons?

The application of Sat is ever aimed in the same direction-of faith
in the verity that the Self is the most sublime reality.
The word Sat is used when there is firm belief in this truth,
when there is a hankering after perfection to realize this truth,
and
when the action that effects this realization begins to get along well.

On the same subject of reality the Yogeshwar speaks again.

“And it is said that the condition inherent
in
yagya, penance, and charity,
as well as the endeavour to attain to God,
is
also real.”

Only action that is entered upon for the attainment of God is real;
and
yagya, alms-giving,
and
atonement are but complements to this undertaking.

Finally, Lord Krishn affirms decisively that faith is an essential requisite
of
all these undertakings.

“Therefore, O Parth, is it said that, devoid of faith,
the oblation and alms that are offered
and
the penance that is suffered,
as well as all other similar ventures,
are
all false,
for
they can do us good
neither
in this world
nor
in the next.”

All that is done
without
genuine trust and reverence-whether sacrifice or charity or self-mortification
by
way of contrition-is unreal.

This is said, for such deeds are beneficial
neither
in this life
nor
after death.

Faith combined with self-surrender
is,
therefore, a crucial necessity.

~Revered Gurudev Swami Adgadanand Jee Paramhans~
©

_/l\_
Humble Wishes.
~mrityunjayanand~

People love three kinds of food according to their respective taste just as there are three kinds of faith; and there are likewise three kinds of yagya, penance, and charity.

Lord Krishn sings:

“Listen to me, the distinction between the three kinds of yagya,
penance, and alms, that are like the three kinds of food
relished according to individual taste.”

The first to be categorized is food.

He adds:

“Food that is naturally pleasing and conducive to life,
intellect, strength, sound health, happiness, and satisfaction
besides being savoury, tender, and durable is loved by the virtuous.”

Apparently, according to Lord Krishn, food that is naturally agreeable and good for strength, sound health, and intellect, and thus for longevity, is good. And such food is dear to the righteous.

It is thus clear that no food as such has the property of ennobling or of stimulating, or of depressing. So neither is milk perfect nor onions inflaming, nor garlic a generator of baser instincts.

As for food that is conducive to good physique, healthy mind, and sound health, the choice of people all over the world varies widely according to environment and geographical condition and, of course, according to individual taste. Whereas rice is staple food of some, others in other regions prefer bread made from wheat-flour.

According to the Bhagavad Gita, food that is tasteful, tender, and nutritious is sattwik. That food is good which is congenial and favourable to long life, strengthening of both body and mind, and to sound health. But it is also laid down that food that is naturally relished is good. So there is no use saying that this food is pious while that is impious. The only tenable view is that, that food is good which is in keeping with the local situation, surroundings, place, and time, and which provides the required nourishment.

The use of an object, rather than the object itself, is what makes it good, morally objectionable, or evil. So it is that food and drinks such as meat and alcoholic beverages are uncongenial to a person who has renounced the home and family, and taken up the life of a sanyasi renunciate engaged in meditation upon God.

Experience demonstrates that such victuals result in a state of mind that is inimical to spiritual discipline. There is always a possibility that such food and drinks will lead the seeker astray from the way of attainment. So they who have chosen a life of seclusion because of their disenchantment with worldly passions had better keep in mind the advice about food that Lord Krishn has offered. The proper thing to do is to eat and drink only that which is favourable to worship and adoration of God.

“Bitter, sour, salty, too hot, pungent, rough,
and acidic food that gives rise to sorrow, worries, and illness,
is preferred by the passionate.”

“Food that is half-cooked, unsavoury, odorous,
stale, leftover, and defiled is liked by men with a dull sensibility.’’

The discussion of food is now closed and that of the next subject, namely, yagya, taken up.

Lord Krishn sings:

“Yagya that has scriptural sanction
and the performance of which is an obligation, is fitting
and auspicious when it is practiced by persons with intent minds
who aspire to no reward.”

The Bhagavad Gita approves of such yagya. Lord Krishn named yagya and said:

“Since the conduct of yagya is the only action, and all other business in which people are engaged are only forms of worldly bondage, O son of Kunti, be unattached and do your duty to the Supreme Spirit well.”

Then, he went on to explain the character of the unique action called yagya: that it is an act of sacrifice in which the practicer of yog offers the incoming and outgoing breath (pran and apan) to each other and in which the two vital winds are regulated by offering them as oblation to the fire of self-restraint to achieve serenity of breath.

There were thus enumerated fourteen steps of yagya, which are all but varying stages of the same action that bridges the gulf between individual Soul and the Supreme Spirit.

In brief, yagya has been imaged as that unique process of contemplation which leads the worshiper to the eternal, immutable God and ultimately effects his dissolution in that Supreme Being.

“And, O the unequalled among Bharat,
be it known to you that the yagya which is embarked upon
for mere ostentation, or even with a view to some reward,
is contaminated by passion and moral blindness.”

The one who sets about thus is versed in the precept of yagya, but he is, in fact, unrighteous and obsessed because he performs yagya either to flaunt his virtue and win admiration, or with the design of securing some profit.

Lord Krishn then points out the features of the most inferior kind of yagya.

“Devoid of scriptural sanction and powerless
to invoke the Supreme Spirit as well as to restrain the mind,
the yagya that is engaged in without a sense of total sacrifice
and faith is said to be demoniacal.”

Unsupported by scriptural authority and incapable of generating even food-the lowest form in which God is manifested-and of restraining the mind to the Self, and possessed of neither the urge to make sacred offerings-the will for total self-surrender-nor true devotion, this form of yagya is rightly said to be of the most inferior kind.

Therefore, the person who undertakes it does not have even the faintest glimmering of true yagya.

Lord Krishn next remarks upon the question of penance.

“Adoration of God, the twice-born, the teacher-preceptor,
and of the learned, along with having the qualities of innocence,
uprightness, chastity, and disinclination to violence-are said
to be penance of the body.”

The body ever strays towards its desires. So chastening it to make it abide by the predisposition of the Soul is physical penance.

“And utterance that does not agitate but is soothing,
propitious, and truthful, and which is but an exercise
in the study of Ved, in remembrance of the Supreme Being,
and in Self-contemplation, is said to be the penance of speech.”

Articulation is also resorted to in order to give expression to thoughts that have a leaning towards objects of sensual gratification. Restraining it from this and steering it deliberately in the direction of God is the penance of speech.

The last form we are apprised of is penance of the mind.

“Affable temperament, tranquility, silent meditation,
self-possession, inner purity, and the like are said
to be penance of the mind.”

Simultaneous practice of the three kinds of penance – of body, speech and mind-is the truly worthwhile penance.

“The threefold types of penance undergone
with utmost faith by selfless persons who do not desire
any fruit thereof is said to be truly righteous.”

The other kind of self-mortification is that which is indulged in by persons whose temperament is that of rajas, or passion.

“And if undergone with the purpose of gaining homage,
honour, and adoration, or for mere display,
penance is unsteady and ephemeral,
and is said to have the property of rajas.”

And so we now come to the penance of the most depraved kind-the one which is deemed evil, which is of the nature, or property, of tamas.

” The penance that is undertaken out of mere
stupid stubbornness or to hurt others is said to be diabolical.’’

Thus, as we have seen, the purpose of penance that is good and virtuous is to mould the body, mind, and speech in harmony with the cherished end. The mode of impulsive penance is similar, but it is taken up with the vainglorious desire for worldly honour.

Sometimes even exceptional souls who have renounced the world fall prey to this infirmity. The third kind of penance, that which is called demoniacal, is not only done wrongfully but also with the malicious intention of causing harm to others.

Lord Krishn next takes up the question of alms.

“And the alms that are given to the right person
at the right place and time,
and in the spirit that charity is a bounden duty done
without any expectation, are said to be good.”

However, charity that is grievous because it is done under coercion, or with expectation of some favour or reward, is of the impassioned kind.

“And alms which are offered grudgingly
and for a good turn in exchange,
or with some recompense in view, is said to be
impulsive and morally improper.”

The basest kind of gifts are, however, those that are offered with disrespect and scorn to the undeserving at an inopportune place and time.

“And the alms which are dispensed without deference
or contemptuously to unworthy recipients
at an inappropriate place and time are said to be diabolical.”

The revered Gurudev would always tell us, “Bear it in mind that the donor is wrecked if he gives alms to the undeserving.” Similar to this is Lord Krishn’s observation that charity is worthwhile only if it is directed, at a suitable place and time, at the meritorious with true generosity and without any desire for a reciprocal favour.

Gifts that are offered reluctantly and with an eye on some profit in return are morally flawed, while alms that are given irreverently and with scorn to the undeserving are positively evil.

Though generically they are all gifts, alms-giving by persons who renounce their desires, home, and all, and place their trust in God alone, is of a higher order, for charity of this kind implies a total surrender by a mind that has been purged of all cravings.

Lord Krishn approves of this form of charity as an indispensable necessity.

~Revered Gurudev Swami Adgadanand Jee Paramhans~
©

_/l\_
Humble Wishes.
~mrityunjayanand~

 

Yogeshwar Krishn explicitly said  that the action which he has repeatedly spoken of commences only after the renunciation of desire, anger, and greed. It is the action without accomplishing which there is neither happiness nor perfection, nor the final beatitude.

Scripture is, therefore, the authority to fall back upon whenever we are faced by the dilemma of that which is worthy of being done and that which is unworthy-of that which we should do and that which we should not.

And that scripture is the Bhagavad Gita, the epitome of the most esoteric knowledge. There are other scriptures, too, but it is of the utmost importance that we always keep our eyes fixed on the Bhagavad Gita.

If we seek elsewhere we may stray, for the systematic, straight approach of the Bhagavad Gita is not to be found anywhere else.

Thereafter Arjun asks the Lord to enlighten him on the state of persons who worship in contravention of the scriptural ordinance although with staunch faith.

Are they sattwiki, rajasi or tamasi? Are they righteous, impassioned, or diabolical?

Arjun wishes to be enlightened on this because he has learnt earlier that whatever be the property, sattwa, rajas or tamas, it is determined by the nature of one’s birth.

Arjun asks:

“What, O Krishn, is the property-sattwa, rajas, or tamas of persons
who albeit worship with faith but in disregard of the scriptural ordinance ?”

To resolve Arjun’s doubt Lord Krishn then classifies faith too as being of three kinds.

He adds:

“Listen to me on how the faith
arising from people’s innate nature, too, is of three kinds,
virtuous, impassioned, and blind.”

Yogeshwar told Arjun that the prescribed action in yog, in both the Way of Selfless Action and the Way of Discrimination, is the same. The mind which is earnestly and firmly given to selfless action is aimed in a single direction.

The minds of ignorant persons are, on the contrary, endlessly divided, because of which they invent countless different ways. Their minds are riddled with innumerable dissensions and they not only devise various rites and ceremonies, but also flaunt them in flowery and alluring words.

Unfortunately they who pay heed to these alluring words are also deluded, as a result of which they fail to do that which is worthwhile and just. The same is reiterated here in a different way when Lord Krishn points out that the faith of persons who worship in transgression of the scriptural injunction is of three kinds. The current of Faith flowing in the human heart, is either good or fervent or insensible.

“Since the faith of all people,
O Bharat, is according to their inherent propensity
and man is reverent, he is what his faith is.”

The faith of all persons is according to their natural inclination. Man is by nature a creature of faith. It is thus that a person’s character bears a close resemblance to the character of their faith. We are often asked who we are? Some of us say that we are Soul. But Yogeshwar Krishn contradicts this: like the nature of their inherent disposition is their faith, and so thus is the person.

The Bhagavad Gita provides an insight into what true yog is. Maharshi Patanjali was also a yogi and we have his yog system of philosophy. According to him yog is perfect restraint of the mind. And the use of this arduous discipline is that in this state the onlooker, the individual Soul enshrined in the human body, comes to rest firmly in his own eternal, true counterpart.

Is he tainted before this union?

In Patanjali’s view the Soul is earlier the same as the predilection of the man who embodies it. And Lord Krishn now affirms that man is naturally endowed with the quality of faith, indeed totally immersed in it. There is some dedication in him and he is moulded by the character of his faith. A man is what his natural inclination is. At this point, Lord Krishn proceeds to catalogue the three kinds of faith.

Lord Krishn adds:

“While the virtuous worship gods
and the impassioned and morally blind worship yaksh and demons,
they who are blinded by ignorance worship ghosts and nature-spirits.”

We all labour tirelessly to worship what our hearts are inclined to and what we revere.

“Mark you that they who undergo terrible self-mortification
without scriptural sanction and are afflicted
with hypocrisy and arrogance besides lust, attachment,
and vanity of power, and who wear out not only the elements that form
their bodies but also me who dwells in their Souls,
are ignorant men with evil disposition.”

The Soul is rendered feeble by maladies when it slips into the fissures of nature, whereas yagya provides him strength. Thus is resolved the issue raised by Arjun.

Righteous persons who have forsaken the way shown by scripture worship gods; they who are driven by passions worship yaksh and demons; and the ignorant pray and bow to ghosts and spirits. They not only worship, but indulge in the most agonizing exercises of penance.

According to Lord Krishn, however, these acts of self-mortification only sap the elements that make up their bodies and the God within their Soul.

~Revered Gurudev Swami Adgadanand Jee Paramhans~
©

_/l\_
Humble Wishes.
~mrityunjayanand~