Geeta Dhara – Gurukul

Lord Krishn has taught Arjun that his cosmic form which he had manifested to him had never been seen by anyone before and would not be seen by anyone in the future. Rather than being known by penance or yagya or charity he can be easily known and approached-as Arjun has seen him-by unwavering devotion and contemplation which is constant and uninterrupted like a stream of oil.

So Arjun was exhorted to dedicate himself to Lord Krishn and remember him; he should perform the ordained deed and better still by surrendering himself to him. Firm and single-minded devotion is the means for achievement of the supreme goal. This naturally whets Arjun’s curiosity to know which one of the two kinds of devotees, they who worship the manifest God like Lord Krishn and they who contemplate the unmanifest Spirit, are superior?

In fact, Arjun has raised this question for the third time here. He had asked Lord Krishn in Chapter 3 why he was urging him to undertake a dreadful task if he thought the Way of Knowledge superior to the Way of Selfless Action. According to Lord Krishn in both ways action is a necessity.

Despite this, however, if a man restrains his senses with unnatural violence and is yet unable to forget their objects, he is an arrogant impostor rather than a man of knowledge. So Arjun was counselled to do the ordained task, the deed of yagya. The mode of yagya, which is a special form of worship and which provides access to the supreme goal, was then elucidated. What difference is there then between the Way of Knowledge and the Way of Selfless Action if the same action-the deed of yagya-has to be embarked on for both? Whereas an affectionate devotee engages in the deed of yagya after having surrendered himself and his action to the desired God, the yogi of knowledge undertakes the same action with a due understanding of his own strength and reliance upon it.

Arjun very humbly asks:

“Which of the two kinds of steadfast devotees,
they who always worship you in your embodied form
and the others who meditate upon your imperishable,
unmanifest Spirit, are superior in their mastery of yog?”

Whether they worship Lord Krishn with self-surrender, a sense of identity with him, and with firm concentration, or they worship the unmanifest and imperishable God in whom he dwells with self-reliance rather than self-surrender, they both follow the way ordained by him. Which of the two, however, are superior?

Lord Krishn sings:

“I believe them to be the most superior of all yogi
who always meditate upon me with concentration
and worship me (the embodied, manifest God) with true faith.”

“And they who restrain all their senses well,
always adore the Supreme Spirit who is beyond thought,
all-pervading, indefinable, filled with equanimity,
immutable and immovable, and formless and indestructible ,
with total concentration, and who serve all beings
viewing them with an equal eye, attain to me.”

These attributes of God are not different from those of Lord Krishn.

“Achievement of perfection by men
who are devoted to the formless God is more arduous,
because they who feel conceited because of their physical bodies
find it more difficult to realize the unmanifest.”

Accomplishment is harder for worshipers who are devoted to the God who is devoid of all qualities because of their attachment to their physical existence. Attainment of the unmanifest, formless God is most difficult as long as a worshiper takes pride in his birth and prowess.

Yogeshwar Krishn was a Godlike accomplished teacher and the unmanifest God was manifested in him. According to him the seeker who, instead of seeking shelter under a sage, goes ahead with trust in his own strength, knowing his present situation and what it will be in the time to come, and with the awareness that he will ultimately realize his own unmanifest, identical Self, begins to think that the Supreme Spirit is no different from him and that he is “him”. Entertaining such thoughts and without waiting for fulfillment he begins to feel that his body itself is the real “he”. So he wanders about in the mortal world, the abode of sorrows, and at last comes to a dead end. But this is not so with the worshiper who goes ahead under Lord Krishn’s gracious shelter.

“And, O Parth, I soon deliver my affectionate devotees
who have set their mind on me and who,
coming under my shelter and dedicating all their action to me,
ever contemplate and worship me-the manifest God-with unshaken intentness, from the abyss of the mortal world.”

Lord Krishn then prompts Arjun to such devotion and throws light upon the way by which it may be accomplished.

Lord Krishn adds:

“There is no doubt whatsoever that you will dwell in me
if you devote and apply your mind and intellect to me.”

Lord Krishn is conscious of his disciple’s weakness, for Arjun has confessed earlier that he considers restraining the mind as difficult as restraining the wind.

“If you cannot firmly set your mind on me; O Dhananjay,
seek me by the yog of incessant practice (abhyas-yog).”

“Practice” here means repeated drawing back of mind from where-ever it roams and fixing it upon the desired goal. But if Arjun is incapable even of this, he should just long for Lord Krishn-only devote himself to his worship, If all his thoughts and actions are only for Lord Krishn, he will have the fulfillment of realizing him.

“In case you are incapable of even following the way of practice,
you may yet secure fulfillment by the performance of actions
which are meant only for me.”

“In case you fail to accomplish even this,
abandon all the fruits of action and rake refuge in my yog
with a thoroughly subdued mind.”

If Arjun cannot even do this, he should give up all desire of the rewards of action as well as considerations of profit and loss, and with a sense of self-surrender find shelter under some sage with an accomplished Soul. The ordained action will then commence spontaneously under the prompting of this accomplished teacher.

Lord Krishn sings:

“Since knowledge is superior to practice,
meditation better than knowledge,
and abandonment of the fruits of action higher than meditation,
renunciation is soon rewarded with peace.”

To engage in action by the Way of Knowledge is better than just the exercise of restraining the mind. Meditation is better than the accomplishment of action through knowledge, because the desired goal is always present in contemplation. Even better than contemplation, however, is the abandonment of the fruits of action, for when Arjun has given up the fruits of action and surrendered himself to the desired goal with the purpose of realizing it, the burden of his exercise of yog is borne by the adored God. So this kind of renunciation is soon followed by the achievement of absolute peace.

Lord Krishn has so far said that the yogi who performs selfless action with a sense of self-surrender has an advantage over the follower of the Way of Knowledge who worships the unmanifest. Both of them accomplish the same action, but there are more hurdles in the way of the latter. He bears the responsibility for his profits and losses himself, whereas the burden of the dedicated worshiper is borne by God. So he soon achieves peace as an outcome of his renunciation of the fruits of action.

~Revered Gurudev Swami Adgadanand Jee Paramhans~
©

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Humble Wishes.
~mrityunjayanand~

The one way to attain to Supreme Spirit is perfect intentness, the state in which a worshiper remembers nothing besides the adored goal.

Lord Krishn sings:

“O Arjun, a man of great penance,
a worshiper can know this form of mine directly,
acquire its essence, and even become one with it
by a total and unswerving dedication.”

Even knowledge is finally transformed into total devotion. Lord Krishn has said in Bhagavad Gita that no one besides Arjun had seen him before and no one would ever see him in the future. But he now reveals that by such single minded devotion worshipers can not only see him, but also realize him directly and become one with him. So Arjun is the name of such a wholly dedicated worshiper: the name of a state of mind and heart rather than of a person. All-absorbing love itself is Arjun.

Lord Krishn adds:

“This man, O Arjun, who acts only for my sake (matkarmah),
rests on and is dedicated to me alone (matparmah),
in complete detachment (sangvarjitah) and freedom from malice
towards all beings (nirvairah sarvbhooteshu),
knows and attains to me.”

The four essential requirements of the evolutionary discipline by which a man can achieve spiritual perfection or transcendence (of which human life is the means) are indicated by the terms: “matkarmah,” “matparmah,” “sangvarjitah,” and “nirvairah sarvbhooteshu.” “Matkarmah” means performance of the ordained act-the act of yagya. “Marparmah” is the necessity of the worshiper’s taking refuge in Lord Krishn and of complete devotion to him. The required action is impossible to accomplish without total disinterestedness in worldly objects and the fruits of action (sangvarjitah).

The last but not the least requirement is “nirvrairah sarvbhooteshu”: absence of malice or ill-will towards all beings. Only a worshiper fulfilling these four conditions can attain to Lord Krishn. It hardly needs saying that if the four ways urged are observed, the resulting state is one in which external war and physical bloodshed are simply out of the question. That is one more instance that the Bhagavad Gita is not about external fighting.

There is not one verse in the poem that supports the idea of physical violence or killing. When we have sacrificed ourselves through yagya, remember only God and no one else, are completely detached from both nature and the rewards of our action, and when there is no malignity in us towards any being, with whom and for what shall we fight? The four observances lead a worshiper to the stage at which he stands entirely alone.

If there is no one with him, who shall he fight?

According to Lord Krishn, Arjun has known him. This would not be possible if there were even the slightest touch of malice about him. So it is evident that the war waged by Arjun in the Bhagavad Gita is against fearful enemies such as attachment and repulsion, infatuation and malice, and desire and anger, that rise up in the way of the worshiper when he engages in the task of single-minded contemplation after having achieved an attitude of detachment to worldly objects as well as rewards.

Lord Krishn has pointed out the fourfold way, comprising observance of yagya-the ordained action, total dependence upon and devotion to him, detachment form worldly objects and rewards, and, lastly, absence of malevolence towards all. So it is obvious that there can be no physical war or bloodshed in the state of mind arrived at by following this fourfold way.

When a worshiper has dedicated all he has to God, remembers only him and no one else, is so firmly in control of his mind and senses that nature and its objects cease to exist for him, and when he is freed from all malignant feelings, the idea of his fighting an external war is simply impossible. To achieve the supreme goal by cutting down the dreadful enemy that the world is with the sword of perfect renunciation is the only true victory after which there is no prospect of any defeat.

~Revered Gurudev Swami Adgadanand Jee Paramhans~
©

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Humble Wishes.
~mrityunjayanand~

 

“Radiant Being” and “birthless” are synonyms for God and the final state of perfect bliss.

Arjun submits in lotus feet of Lord Krishn:

“It has been so said by even divine sages such as Narad,
Asit, the sage Deval, and the great saint Vyas – that
you are the radiant Being, supreme goal, and absolutely unblemished,
because all of them believe you to be the Supreme Spirit
who is the primeval, birthless, and all-pervasive God of all gods;
and now you tell me the same.”

Arjun first refers to sages of the past who said the same. And now even divine sages like Narad, Asit, Deval, Vyas, and Sri Krishn himself say it. The latter are all contemporaries of Arjun and he has the advantage of associating with these sages. And they all as well as Sri Krishn affirm what was declared by the sages of yore?

Arjun adds:

“I believe, O Keshav, all that you have told me and which,
O Lord, is known to neither demons nor gods, to be true.”

“Which, O Supreme Lord, O Creator and God of all beings,
O God of gods and master of the world, is known to you alone.”

This truth which is known to Lord Krishn, the creator of all beings and their God, is also made known to those Souls who are awakened and lit up by their consciousness of him. So the knowledge of worshipers is really his knowledge.

“So you alone are capable of enlightening me well
on your glories by which you pervade and dwell in all the worlds.”

“How should I, O Yogeshwar, know you by incessant contemplation
and in what forms, O Lord, should I worship you?”

These questions are agitating Arjun’s mind. How should he know Lord Krishn-a yogi, how should he meditate on him, and how should he remember him?

“And, O Janardan, tell me again the power of your yog
and your exalted magnificence, for I am not yet sated
by the honey of your utterances.”

Lord Krishn has already stated briefly what Arjun wants to know again. Arjun begs him to elaborate the same again at greater length because his curiosity is not yet fully satisfied. Moreover, he also wishes to hear Lord Krishn’s words just for the sake of listening to them. Such is the sweet charm of the speech of God and of sages.

No wonder according to Goswami Tulsidas, one who is satiated with listening to the chronicle of Ram is bereft of sentiment. Until the worshiper has access to the desired God, his thirst for the substance of immortality remains. If someone sits down on the way before the point of attainment with the feeling that he knows all, he has in fact known nothing. It is evident then that his progress is about to be obstructed. So it is the seeker’s duty that he holds on to directions from the adored God and turns them into practice.

The Lord then said:

“I shall now tell you of the power of my glories,
for there is no end to my diverse manifestations.”

“I am, O Gudakesh, the Self that dwells within all beings,
as also their primeval beginning, middle, and end.”

“I am Vishnu among the twelve sons of Aditi,
the sun among lights, the god Mareechi among winds,
and the sovereign moon among planets.”

Aditya and the other celestial beings referred to in the verse were taken as symbols of certain inner attitudes in the time of Lord Krishn; they are all dwellers in the sphere of the heart.

Lord Krishn sings:

“I am also the Sam among the Ved,
Indr among gods, the mind among senses,
and the consciousness in beings.”

Among the Ved, Lord Krishn is the Sam Ved, for it is he whose song begets the state of equanimity. He is the Lord Indr among gods, and the mind among senses for he is known only through restraint of the mind. He is also the power that gives beings their sense of awareness.

“I am Shankar among Rudr,
Kuber among demons and yaksh, fire among Vasu,
and the Sumeru among lofty mountains.”

Lord Krishn is Shankar among Rudr. Shankar-“shanka-ar”-may be understood as the condition in which there are no doubts and irresolutions. In fact, “Kuber,” “fire,” and “Sumeru” are all metaphors for the discipline of yog; they are all yogic terms.

“Be it known to you, Parth,
that I am among priests the Chief Priest Brihaspati,
Skand among martial chiefs, and the ocean among seas.”

Among priests, who keep watch over the intellect that is like a gateway to the human body, Lord Krishn is Brihaspati, the divine teacher of gods themselves, and so it is he who generates the treasure of divinity. Among martial commanders he is Kartikeya, renunciation of action by which the destruction of animate and inanimate worlds, total dissolution, and the final attainment of God are effected.

“I am Bhrigu among the great saints (maharshi),
OM among words, the yagya of intoned prayers (jap-yagya) among yagya,
and the Himalaya among stationary objects.”

Lord Krishn is Bhrigu among great sages. He is also OM, symbol of the Supreme Spirit, among words. He is the jap-yagya among yagya. Yagya is the Image of that special form of worship that enables a worshiper to be united with God. In summary, therefore, it is remembrance of the Supreme Spirit and recitation of his name.

When after having crossed the stages of two kinds of speech, the audible and the muttered, the name reaches the stage of yagya, it is then recited by neither articulated speech nor from the throat; nor even in thought; it then infuses every breath. There is then only a surging ahead unceasingly with the vision of mind in God engraved on every breath. The rise and fall, ascent and descent, of yagya, and its different stages depend upon breath. It is something dynamic-a -matter of action.

Among stationary objects, Lord Krishn is the Himalaya, cool, even, and immovable like the one God himself. At the time of doom, it is said, Manu was joined with a peak of that mountain. The immutable, even, and tranquil God is never destroyed.

“I am Ashwath (the Peepal) among trees,
Narad among divine sages,
Chitrarath among Gandharv,
and the sage Kapil among men of attainment.”

Lord Krishn is Ashwath, the holy peepal among trees. The world, which is not even sure of living until the symbolic tomorrow, is described as an inverted Peepal tree (fig tree) whose root-God-is above and whose boughs- nature-are spread below. This is not the ordinary Peepal tree that is commonly worshiped. And it is in this sense that Lord Krishn calls himself Peepal among trees.

Narad (nade randhrah is Narad) has, on the other hand, such a sharp awareness that he can steadily hold on to the divine rhythm arising from breath. Among Gandharv Lord Krishn is Chitrarath, or that unique state in which the object of contemplation begins to be directly perceptible to the worshiper. Kapil is bodily manifestation. Lord Krishn is that form as well as both the state as well as the immersion in that form, and also the divine message that is received from it.

“Know (also) that I am the nectar-born Uchchaishrav among horses,
Airawat among pachyderms, and king among men.”

Every object in the world is perishable and the Self alone is indestructible. It is thus that Lord Krishn is Uchchaishrav, Indr’s horse that is said to have been churned out of the nectar that came from the ocean. A horse is a symbol of regulated motion. Lord Krishn is the motion of the mind in its quest for the reality of the Self. He is also king among men. A great soul is in fact a king, because he wants for nothing.

“I am Vajr among weapons, Kamdhenu among cows,
Kamdev for procreation, and Vasuki, the king of snakes.”

Lord Krishn is the most formidable among weapons. Among cows he is Kamdhenu. Kamdhenu is not a cow which serves appetizing delicacies in place of milk. Among sages it was Vashisth who had Kamdhenu. Symbolically, the word “cow” stands for the senses.

Restraint of the senses is an attribute of the seeker who has learnt to grasp the object of his worship. When he succeeds in moulding his senses in tune with God, his senses themselves become a “Kamdhenu” for him. With this he attains to the stage when the attainment of God is by, no means beyond reach.

A seeker at this level finds nothing beyond his grasp. Lord Krishn is also Kamdev for reproduction. However, the birth he effects is not the physical birth of a male or female child. Such procreation, by both animate and inanimate beings, goes on day and night. Even rats and ants reproduce themselves. But the generation of new life by Lord Krishn is the generation of new situations-change from one circumstance to another-by which the inner propensities themselves are changed. Among snakes, Lord Krishn is Vasuki, the celebrated king of snakes who is said to be a son of Kashyap.

“I am Sheshnag among the nag (snakes),
the god Varun among beings of water, Aryama among ancestors,
and Yamraj among rulers.”

Lord Krishn is the infinite or “Shesh nag.” Sheshnag is in fact no snake. There is a description of its form in the composition called Shreemad Bhagwat which is contemporaneous with the Bhagavad Gita. According to it, Sheshnag is an embodiment of God’s vaishnavi (Vishnu) power which is stationed at a distance of thirty thousand yojan from the earth and on whose head the earth rests lightly like a grain of mustard. This is, in truth, a picture of the force of gravity between objects which keeps the stars and planets in their respective orbits. This force winds itself around all of them and holds them like a snake. This is the infinite that holds the earth, too.

Lord Krishn says that he is that divine principle. He is also Varun, the king of amphibious beings, and Aryama among ancestors. Non-violence, truth, detachment, continence, and freedom from doubt are the five yam, moral restraints and observances. “Arah” represents the cutting off of the aberrations that appear in the way of their practice. Elimination of these evils brings to fulfillment the merits of action done is a previous life, which then provides liberation from worldly bondage. Among rulers Lord Krishn is Yamraj, guardian of the restraints called yam.

“I am Prahlad among daitya (demons), unit of time for reckoners,
the lion (mrigendr) among beasts, and Garud among birds.”

Sri Krishn is Prahlad among demons. Prahlad (par + ahlad) is joy for others. Love itself is Prahlad. Attraction to God and the impatience to be one with him while one is yet dwelling with demoniacal instincts is a process that ultimately leads to perception. Lord Krishn is the joyous love of this union. He is also time among those who are given to counting its units. This reckoning is really not of numbers and of divisions of time. Lord Krishn is rather the progressive lengthening of time that is devoted to the contemplation of God. He is the time of incessant remembrance of God not only in the hours of wakefulness but also in sleep. Among beasts he is mrigendra, the lion or king of beasts, a symbol of the yogi who also roams about and rules in the forest of yog.

Lord Krishn is also Garud among feathered creatures. Garud is knowledge. When the awareness of God begins to grow, the worshiper’s mind itself turns into a vehicle of the adored God. On the other hand, the same mind is like a “serpent” (sarp: an epithet of Garud) when it is infested with worldly desires, stinging and hurling Souls into the inferno of mortal births. Garud is Vishnu’s vehicle. When it is blessed with knowledge, the mind also turns into a vehicle on which is borne the unmanifest Spirit that permeates every atom of the universe. So Lord Krishn is the mind that holds and carries the worshiped God within itself.

“I am the wind among powers that refine, Ram among armed warriors,
the crocodile among fishes, and the sacred Bhagirathi Ganga among rivers.”

Sri Krishn is the invincible Ram among wielders of weapons. Ram denotes one who rejoices. Yogi rejoice in knowledge. The signals received from the God they worship are their sole pleasure. Ram symbolizes that direct perception and Lord Krishn is that awareness. He is also the mighty crocodile among amphibian beings and the most sacred Ganga among rivers.

“I am, O Arjun , the beginning and end and also the middle of created beings, the mystic knowledge of Self among sciences,
and the final arbiter among disputants.’’

Among branches of learning Lord Krishn is knowledge of the Supreme Spirit (as well as of the relation between the Supreme and the individual Soul). He is the knowledge that leads to the sovereignty of the Self. Dominated by maya, the vast majority are driven by passion, malice, time, action, disposition, and the three properties of nature.

Lord Krishn is the knowledge that takes one from this slavery of the material world into the state in which the Self is in supreme command. This is the knowledge that is called adhyatm. He is also the final verdict that resolves all disputes on the Supreme Spirit. What comes beyond this is, it is needless to say, beyond arbitration.

“I am the vowel akar among the letters of the alphabet,
dwandwa among compounds, theeternal Mahakal amidst mutable time,
and also the God who holds and sustains all.”

Besides being the first sound of the sacred OM, Lord Krishn is also the imperishable, immutable time. Time is always changing, but he is that state-that time-which takes one to the eternal God. He is also the Omnipresent Spirit (Virat Swarup) who pervades and sustains all.

“I am the death that annihilates all, the root of the creations to be,
and Keerti among women-the embodiment of the feminine qualities
of accomplishing action (keerti) vitality, speech, memory,
awareness (medha), patience and forgiveness.”

As per Yogeshwar Krishn, all beings (Purush) are of only two kinds, the perishable and the imperishable. All these bodies which generate other beings and die are mortal. Whether male or female, they are all Purush according to Lord Krishn. The other Purush is the imperishable Cosmic Spirit who is perceived in the state when the mind has ceased to be. This is the reason why men and women equally can attain the supreme goal. The qualities of vitality, memory, awareness, and so on pointed out are all feminine in principle. Does it mean that men have no need of these qualities? In truth, the animating principle of the heart’s sphere is a feminine principle. The qualities enumerated in the verse need to be inculcated in all hearts, of men as much as of women.

“And I am the Sam Ved among scriptural hymn,
the Gayatri among metrical compositions,
the ascendant Agrahayan among months, and the spring among seasons.”

Among the sacred Vedic texts (Shruti) that are fit to be sung, Lord Krishn is the Sam Ved (Vrihatsam), the song that produces evenness of mind. He is the spiritual awakening in these hymns. He, too, is Gayatri among verses.

The Gayatri, it is important to realize, is a metrical composition of self-denying prayer rather than a spell or charm, the recitation of which brings automatic salvation. After straying thrice, throwing himself at the mercy of the desired God, the sage Vishwamitr addressed him as the essence that permeates the earth, all the worlds, and the Self, and entreated him to confer wisdom on him and to inspire him so that he could know his reality. So, as it may be seen, Gayatri is a prayer. The worshiper is not able to resolve his doubts by his own intelligence; he does not know when he is right or in error. So Lord Krishn is the Gayatri by which the hapless worshiper surrenders himself to God. This prayer is doubtlessly propitious, for by this the devotee seeks refuge in Lord Krishn. Lord Krishn is also the ascendant season of joy. He is the state of felicity.

Lord Krishn sings:

“I am the deceit of cheating gamblers, the glory of renowned men,
the victory of conquerors, the determination of the resolved,
and the virtue of the pious.”

The idea of gambling in the verse refers to the fundamental character of nature. Nature itself is a gambler and cheat. To forsake outward show and engage in the way of private adoration to escape from the contradictions of nature is an act of “deception.” But to call it “deception” is hardly appropriate, for such secretiveness is essential to the worshiper’s security. It is required that the worshiper, although in possession of a heart that is lit up with knowledge, appear outwardly ignorant like a benumbed Bharat-like one who is insane, blind, deaf and dumb. Although he sees, he should show as if he knows nothing; although he hears, it should appear that he has heard nothing. The canon of worship is that it should be private and secret. Only then can he win in the gamble of nature. Lord Krishn is the victory of winners and the resolution of men of enterprise. The determination required for yog, its wisdom, and direction are all one and the same. Lord Krishn is the dynamic mind, and also the magnificence and enlightenment of virtuous men.

“I am Vasudev among the descendants of Vrishni,
Dhananjay among the Pandav, Vedvyas among sages,
and Shukracharya among poets.”

Lord Krishn is Vasudev, or the one who is everywhere, among the Vrishni race. He is Dhananjay among the Pandav. Pandu (father of the Pandav) is a symbol of piety; he is the one in whom virtue is awakened. Realization of the Self is the only real and lasting wealth. Lord Krishn is Dhananjay-the one who earns and stores the treasure of Self-knowledge. He is Vyas among sages. He is the sage who has the ability to express the idea of perfection. Among poets he is Ushn (Shukr) who has in the Ved the epithet kavya attributed to him, and who also has the wisdom to lead the Soul to God.

“And I am the oppression of tyrants,
the wise conduct of those who aspire to succeed,
silence among secrets, and also the knowledge of enlightened men.”

“And, O Arjun, I am also the seed from which all beings have sprung up,
because there is nothing animate or inanimate which is without my maya.”

There is nothing, no being, in the whole world who is devoid of Lord Krishn because he pervades all. All beings resemble him and are close to him.

“What I have told you, O Parantap, is only
a brief abstract of my countless glories.”

“Know that whatever is possessed of glory, beauty,
and strength has arisen from my own splendour.’’

“Or, instead of knowing anything more, O Arjun,
just remember that I am here and I bear the whole world
with just a fraction of my power.”

Lord Krishn’s enumeration of his manifold glories by analogy does not imply that either Arjun or anyone of us should begin to adore the beings and objects he has cited for illustration. The exercise is rather aimed at enlightening men who are inclined to the worship of other gods and goddesses as well as of objects and creatures such as trees, rivers, planets, and serpents, that they have acquitted themselves well of their duties to all these divinities, objects, and beings by just adoring Lord Krishn alone.

~Revered Gurudev Swami Adgadanand Jee Paramhans~
©

_/l\_
Humble Wishes.
~mrityunjayanand~

Men who devote their minds to Lord Krishn alone without thinking of anything other than him and who dedicate themselves to him, heart and soul, are always conscious of his ways.

Lord Krishn sings:

“They who anchor their minds on me,
sacrifice their breath to me,
and are contented with speaking only of my greatness
among themselves, always dwell in me.”

They are happy singing hymns of praise of his glories and always abide in him.

“I bestow upon the devotees,
who always remember me and adore me with love,
that discipline of yog by learning which they attain to none but me.”

So the awakening of yog in worshipers is also a gift from God; it depends upon his assuming the role of a charioteer. The next verse points to the way by which a sage and noble teacher like Lord Krishn blesses his devotee with the knowledge that initiates him into yog.

“To extend my grace to them,
I dwell in their innermost being
and dispel the gloom of ignorance
by the radiance of knowledge.”

Lord Krishn stands inseparably by the worshiper’s Self as a charioteer to destroy spiritual ignorance. Worship does not really commence until, through a sage who has known God, the Supreme Spirit himself has not come awake in the worshiper’s Soul and taken upon himself the task of guidance from one instant to another as also of restraining and disciplining him, and escorting him safely across the incongruities of nature. At this stage God begins to command from all sides. But at the beginning, it is through an accomplished sage that he speaks. If a seeker is not fortunate enough to have such a sage as a teacher, God’s voice is only faintly audible to him.

The charioteer, whether he is the worshiped deity or a teacher- preceptor, or God himself, is the same. When the charioteer has awakened in the worshiper’s Self, his dictates are received in four ways.

At first there is the experience that is related to gross breath: of the infusion into it of a thought that was earlier not in it. When a worshiper sits in meditation, he is confronted with a number of questions. When is his mind going to be truly absorbed? To what extent is it already absorbed? When does his mind desire to escape from nature and when has it strayed from the path? The answers to these questions are signaled every moment by the adored God through physical reflexes. Twitching of limbs is an experience related to gross breath and it appears simultaneously at more than one point even within a moment. If the mind has deviated, these signals are transmitted minute after minute.

But these signals are received only if the devotee holds on to the form of the worshiped Godlike teacher with undeviating firmness. Reflex actions such as twitching of limbs are a much too frequent experience of ordinary beings because of the clash between their contradictory impulses, but these have nothing to do whatsoever with the signs that are transmitted to worshipers who are wholly dedicated to the sublime object of their worship.

The other experience is connected with the awakening of breath in dreams. Ordinary men dream according to their desires, but when a worshiper cleaves to God even dreams are transformed into divine instructions.

Rather than dreaming, yogi perceive the act of becoming.

These two experiences are both preliminary. Association with a sage who has known reality, having faith in him, and rendering him even a token service suffice to bring about these experiences. But the two subsequent experiences of a worshiper are more subtle and dynamic, and they can be had only through active practice-only by really walking along the path.

The third experience is that of awakening into profound sleep. All of us in the world after all, as it were, lie immersed in slumber. We are but lying in a state of insensibility in the dark night of ignorance. And whatever we do, day and night, is but a dream. Profound sleep here refers to the condition that follows after the stage when the memory of God flows through the worshiper so very like a perennial stream that his vision of God is permanently fixed in the mind. This is that serene and blessed mood in which the worshiper is led gently on by his affections, and in which, while the physical breath is suspended and he is laid asleep in body, he becomes “a Living Soul.” This is the state of harmony and of deep joy in which the worshiper is blessed with an insight into the very life of things.

In such a condition the worshiped God transmits yet another signal, which manifests itself in the form of an image that is in consonance with the yogi’s prevailing mood and provides the correct direction, thus acquainting him with the past and the present. My revered teacher would quite often tell us that even like the Surgeon who first renders a patient unconscious and then cures him by the application of a suitable remedy, God-when the flame of worship is strong and steady-imbues the devotee with awareness of the state of his faith and worship to cure his spiritual sickness.

The fourth and final experience is of the spiritual awakening that leads to evenness of breath. This is the state in which the worshiper is on par with that God whose thought he has fixed his mind on as on a tangible object. This realization arises from within the Self and once this awakening has taken place, at every moment while sitting idly or up and active, the worshiper pre-visions occurrences that shall be and thus gains omniscience.

This is the state, too, in which there arises a sense of oneness with the embodied Self. This final experience is generated when the darkness of ignorance is dissipated by the light of knowledge through the agency of a timeless and unmanifest sage who has awakened in his Soul.

~Revered Gurudev Swami Adgadanad Jee Paramhans~
©

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Humble Wishes.
~mrityunjayanand~

 

The seeker is in fact Imperfect right till the moment of attainment. The fabric of nature wears thinner as he is more and moire absorbed in his contemplation of God, and fresh visions appear before him one after the other. This is made possible through a sage’s-an accomplished teacher’s guidance. He does not and cannot know them by himself.

In the absence of such a direction the worshiper will be deprived of the attainment of God. So long as he is even slightly removed from his ultimate goal, it is evident that a crust of nature still endures and there is an apprehension of his slipping and stumbling.

Arjun is a disciple who has come under Lord Krishn’s shelter. He has begged the Yogeshwar to support him as he is his pupil who depends on him. So, for the sake of this earnest and submissive disciple, Lord Krishn speaks again.

Lord Krishn sings:

“Neither gods nor great sages know my origin,
for I am the primal Source from which all of them have arisen.”

Lord Krishn also declared earlier that since his origin and action are both celestial, they cannot be seen by physical eyes. So his manifestation goes unnoticed even by men who have reached the spiritual level of gods and sages.

“The wise man among mortals,
who knows my reality as the birthless, eternal,
and supreme God of the entire world, is freed from all sins.”

The man who knows this is a man of true wisdom. In other words, a clear awareness of the omnipresent, eternal God is the knowledge that liberates one from sin and rebirth. This achievement too is a gift from Lord Krishn.

HE adds:

“All the manifold qualities with which beings are endowed:
will, knowledge, freedom from delusion, forgiveness,
truth, restraint of Senses and mind, happiness and unhappiness,
creation and destruction, fear and fearlessness,
as well as abstinence from the desire to harm, equanimity of mind, contentment, penance, charity, fame,
and ignominy-are provided by none but me.”

Firmness of purpose, knowledge, dedication to the goal, suppression of the mind and senses, inner happiness, the pains of the spiritual way, awakening of God within the Self, total dissolution at the moment of realization, fear of the disciplining power of God, fearlessness of nature, conduct that does not degrade, equanimity in which there are no conflicts, contentment, penance in keeping with the needs of the goal, self-abnegation, and putting up equally with both honour and humiliation on God’s way-all these propensities are-of Lord Krishn’s making. These are the qualities that characterize the way of divine contemplation. In their absence there remains only the ill-gotten hoard of devilish instincts.

Lord Krishn sings:

“The seven great sages , the four who had been earlier than them,
as well as Manu and others from whom all mankind has sprung,
have all been shaped by the operation of my will.”

The seven great sages or rather the seven successive stages of yog-virtuous aspiration, discrimination, refinement of spirit, inclination to truth, disinterestedness, advancement on the spiritual path towards union with God and along with them the moulding of the four faculties of mind, intellect, thought and ego in accordance with the demands of yog, are all creations of Lord Krishn’s will.

That is to say that they all arise from the determination to realize him. Each of them complements the other. All these components of the treasure of divinity are Lord Krishn’s works. This treasure is dependent on the evolution of the seven steps of yog and without them it cannot be.

“The one who knows the reality of my exalted magnificence
and the might of my yog doubtless partakes of my nature
by becoming one with me through meditation.”

The man who learns of the excellence of yog and the glories of Lord Krishn by direct perception is united with him and abides in him. There is not even the least doubt about this. The steady, untrembling flame of a lamp where there is no wind is an apt illustration of the subdued mind of a yogi.

Lord Krishn further sings:

“Aware of the reality that I am the source of all creation
as also the motive that stirs it to effort,
and possessed of faith and devotion,
wise men remember and worship only me.”

It is at Lord Krishn’s behest that the entire world is spurred to action. This implies that he is also the doer of whatever yogi do in keeping with his nature. All the yogi’s endeavours are thus only blessings from him.

~Revered Gurudev Swami Adgadanand Jee Paramhans~
©

_/l\_
Humble Wishes.
~mrityunjayanand~

Lord Krishn pervades all beings in an equal way, but he has a special relationship with his wholly dedicated worshipers, for they live in him and he in them.

Lord Krishn sings:

“Although l abide evenly in all beings and there is no one
who is either dear or hateful to me,
worshipers who contemplate me with loving devotion
abide in me and I in them.”

This is the only kinship he knows. The worshiper’s mind and heart overflow with Lord Krishn’s presence and there is then no difference between the one and the other.

Does it mean, however, that only the most fortunate are privileged to undertake this act of divine adoration?

Lord Krishn adds:

“Even if a man of the most depraved conduct
worships me incessantly, he is worthy of being regarded
as a saint because he is a man of true resolve.”

If even a man of evil deeds remembers and adores Lord Krishn with a single-minded devotion, believing that no object or god besides Lord Krishn is worthy of worship, he is fit to be thought of as a sage. He is not yet a saint, but there is at the same time not even the least doubt of his becoming one, for he has devoted himself to the task with real determination. So everyone, you and I all, whatever be the circumstance of our birth, are entitled to the act of worship. The only condition is that the worshiper is a human, because person alone is capable of true resolve. Bhagavad Gita is meant for the upliftment of sinners.

“Thus he shortly grows pious and achieves eternal peace,
and so, O son of Kunti, you should know beyond any doubt
that my worshiper is never destroyed.”

If engaged in devotional contemplation, even a wicked man soon grows righteous, becomes one with the almighty God, and realizes the ultimate, imperishable repose. Arjun is told to keep it in mind that Lord Krishn’s earnest devotee is never destroyed. Even if the effort somehow grows feeble, in the next life it is resumed from the very point at which it was discontinued earlier and, beginning with what was done before, the worshiper presently attains to the most sublime peace. Therefore, all men of virtuous as well as of unrighteous conduct and all others have the right to contemplate and adore.

Lord Krishn sings:

“Since women, Vaishy and Shudr,
and even those whose births are regarded as inferior ,
attain, O Parth, to the supreme goal by taking refuge in me…”

Throwing light upon demoniacal nature, Lord Krishn points that they who give up sacred precepts and only pray for namesake out of conceit are the most despicable among men. They who make vain prayers which are but only nominally yagya are cruel and sinful. “Vaishy” and “Shudr” stand for, as we have seen, only different stages of the path that leads to God. Women have been sometimes honoured and sometimes denigrated, but they as well as Vaishy and Shudr have an equal right to the performance of yog. So the teaching of Bhagavad Gita is for entire mankind, for all men, irrespective of their conduct and circumstance of birth.

It instructs all of us without any discrimination in what is propitious. The Bhagavad Gita thus embodies a universal message.

Lord Krishn adds:

“It hardly needs saying that since pious Brahmin
and royal sages (rajarshi) attain to salvation,
you should always engage in my worship
after getting the rare human body
which is naturally afflicted with pain and suffering
and is ephemeral too.”

Let alone those men and women in the Brahmin and Kshatriya rajarshi stages, ultimate absolution is within the reach of devotees in the stage of Vaishy, and Shudr as well.

Brahmin is but a particular stage of spiritual growth which is blessed with all the virtues that lead the individual Soul to the Supreme Spirit. That which incorporates the merits of peace, humble beseeching, perception, contemplation, and readiness to follow the signs from the worshiped God is the state of Brahmin.

A Kshatriya who has been elevated to a sage by his pious life and austere devotion is endowed with the spirit of accomplishment, prowess, sense of authority, and a natural reluctance to withdraw from the undertaken enterprise. The yogi who have arrived at this stage of yog, it is needless to say, surely succeed in completing their journey.

So Arjun, too, should engage this joyless and transient human body to devote himself to Lord Krishn’s worship.

Lord Krishn has spoken of the four varn-Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishy, and Shudr. There is no more profitable way than war for a Kshatriya; and subsequently that even dying for one’s inherent dharm is more desirable. He has said that he is the creator of the four varn. It is meant by this, as it has been repeatedly stressed, that he has divided action into four phases on the basis of their innate properties.

Performance of yagya is the one appointed task and they who do it belong to four categories. At the point at which a worshiper is initiated into the way, he is a Shudr because of his inadequate knowledge. When he has developed a partial capacity for accomplishment and accumulated some spiritual wealth, the same worshiper turns into a Vaishy. Ascending yet higher and acquiring the strength to carve his way through the three properties of nature, he becomes a worshiper of the Kshatriya class. And the same worshiper is elevated to the rank of a Brahmin when he is infused with the qualities that unite the Soul with God. Kshatriya and Brahmin worshipers are nearer to attainment than the Vaishy and Shudr. Since even the latter are assured of the final bliss, there is hardly any need to speak anything of the lot of worshipers who have achieved a higher status.

Also, the Upanishad, of which the Bhagavad Gita is an abstract, abound in allusions to women who were endowed with the sublime knowledge of God. Even all the strenuous but futile attempts to codify the rights and prohibitions derived from the spiritually timid and conventional study of the part of Ved known as the Work cannot make us ignore the unambiguous, assertion by Lord Krishn that women as well as men can also participate in the ordained action of performing the worship that is named yagya. So it is but proper that his last words to Arjun here are words of encouragement for carrying out the deed of worship with firm devotion.

Lord Krishn concludes:

“If, taking refuge in and with a total devotion of the Self to me,
you contemplate, remember with humble reverence,
and worship only me, you will attain to me.”

Remembering none except Lord Krishn and restraining the mind from having any thought that is not of him, firm devotion, incessant meditation and recital with humble reverence, and a total absorption of the Soul in him, are the prerequisite for Arjun as well as any other worshiper’s realizing the immutable, eternal Supreme Spirit within him.

~Revered Gurudev Swami Adgadanand Jee Paramhans~
©

_/l\_
Humble Wishes.
~mrityunjayanand~