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09/28/2003
Ramana Maharishi (1879-1950)
BG Chapter 4
The Yoga of Knowledge
4.1: Sri Bhagavan said:
I taught this imperishable yoga to Vivasvat; Vivasvat passed on this to Manu; Manu taught Iksvāku.
This yoga of knowledge passed from the sun god to Manu, from Manu to Iksvāku, father and son lineage. Vivasvān or Vivasvat, the son of Aditi, is the sun god and means “the Brilliant One.” Manu Vaivasvata is Vivasvat's son. Lord Vishnu who came in the form of a fish saved Vivasvata from the Deluge, which is the basis of Vishnu's Matsya Avatāra and Mastya purāna. Does it not remind you of the Deluge and the rescue of Noah, his family, and the animals by God? The words, Manu, the man (the author of the Laws of Manu); and manas, the mind trace their root in the Sanskrit word “man” meaning “to think.”
Iksvāku, the ruler of Ayodhya, was the founder of the solar dynasty and the cultivator of sugarcane “IKSU.” I understand that Iksvāku was responsible for improving the sugarcane into a sweet strain by experimentation and was obviously an expert on plant breeding and genetics. Avatar: incarnation.
4.2: Thus the knowledge, in a succession, came down to the royal sages who knew it and in the great passage of time, this knowledge was lost, O Parantapa (the oppressor of enemies).
Over ages, Avatārs, sages and teachers descend on this earth to rescue and lift humanity from the fallen conditions. In the lineage of sages are Buddha, Ramanujacharya, Sankaracharya, Madhawacharya, and Chaitnya Mahaprabhu.
Lalita Vistara says that when Buddha was in samadhi,
a ring ornament of light of knowledge circled above his head.
4.3: I declared that same ancient yoga of knowledge to you, for you are my devotee and friend. This is the supreme secret.
Lord Krishna, the Supreme Yogi Himself, passes the ancient truths and secrets to his devotee, friend, and relative, Arjuna. Yogis get their revelation by practicing yoga and becoming one with Brahman. Bhakti section in the Supplement explores the nature of relationship between man and God, of man to God, and of God to man.
The one relationship, that is a fast track to God, is Bhakti. Certain truths, timeless, immemorial, divine, and immutable passed down from teacher or guru to pupil and so on. Buddha, Ramanujacharya, Sankaracharya, Madhawacharya, and Chaitnya Mahaprabhu were restating the old truths with some variations and interpretations. The gurus do not claim any originality, while declaring the doctrine. Ramanujacharya received a mantra from his guru with a warning not to divulge it to anybody except the worthy ones. Compassionate Ramanujacharya, revealed it to all the assembled people irrespective of their caste or creed, the first chance he had. His guru forgave him eventually for the obvious indiscretion. That mantra is "Om Namo Narāyanaya.” Ramanujacharya said that he would risk going to hell by revealing the mantra against the wishes of his guru, and help millions of people receive salvation by hearing the Mantra directly from him.
4.4: Arjuna said:
Your birth was later and Vivasvat's birth was earlier. Then how am I to know that you declared this to him in the beginning?
4.5: Sri Bhagavan said:
You and I had many births before this birth, O Parantapa, and you do not remember them, while I do remember them all.
4.6: Though I am unborn, imperishable and the Lord of beings Isvarah, and am steady in my own nature, I myself come into being by My own māyā power.
Ātma-māyāyā: Māyā power.
When Krishna descends, he descends on His own free will; He incarnates with no dilution of his efficacy, without the stain of karma, and with kalyanagunas--auspicious qualities. Advaitins regard incarnation as a divine phenomenon. To Ramanujah, Krishna Avatar was real. When we say that God descended (incarnation) to this earth, it is God's mysterious yoga-māyā power.
Nobody questions the reason he made his avatār possible. His power is absolute, and incomprehensible to us human beings. Taking a human body for God from His pristine and perfect state is an imperfection and a steep descent. However, is it an imperfection or a steep descent? How could He diminish Himself? A descent is a transfer of amsa (fragment) of supernatural Himself, without any diluting effect. That amsa, that particle, is only one-millionth part of Him according the Puranas. Such is His greatness: He did not diminish himself and there is no descent; It is a play activity; it is māyā. He becomes transitory by the power of his own prakrti in this world of impermanence through his divine power of illusive transformation in the spirit of childlike play activity. All this is mysterious Divine yoga-māyā power. Krishna says the gunas came out of Prakrti. He is not in the gunas (Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas), but they are in Him. If He is not in the gunas, there is no way that we could know Him by the power of those gunas, which we received from prakrti (matter). Man has to go beyond and transcend the gunas to know and become one with Him. There is a higher intuitive non-dialectical intellect and these gunas are an obstacle or an impediment to realization, for their utility is only for an ordinary mundane existence or life. He is the creator of gunas, a limiting factor, and a hurdle for a yogi: That is māyā, which is illusion. According to Jayakhya Samhita, Narāyana, the Supreme God comes down to earth in the form of a human being out of compassion, uplifts humanity from ignorance, and offers help in the form of sacred texts. Lord Vishnu picks a select group of human beings and breathes into them special powers so they can fulfill their role as saints, sages, and gurus, in spreading spiritual knowledge and give words of wisdom to all of us. God owns that special mystic power in its full spectrum and glory; He reveals a little of that mystic power to people like Einstein and Gandhi.
Isvarah: According to Visistadvaida, there is Isvara and prakara, the latter consisting of Chit and Achit. Prakara is Isvara’s manifestation of Himself in the visible universe: Chit is sentient consisting of all living units (including plants), both conscious and self-conscious; Achit is matter. Isvarah or Narāyana (Vishnu) created four-faced Brahma who created Samkara. Now we have the Hindu holy trinity: Vishnu, Brahma, and Samkara. Narāyana has not only created God Brahma, but also all the other gods and deities.
Now coming down to earth plane, Swami Vivekananda said: Krishna is the most rounded man I know of, wonderfully developed equally in brain, and heart, and hand. He is a gentleman, a warrior, a minister, a scholar, and a poet with exquisite language. His perfect sanity... No cobwebs in his brain, no superstition... He knows the use of everything; He had the greatest calmness and peace amid intense activity. With the missiles flying all around him, he goes on discussing the problem of life and death in a calm and sedate manner. Vivekananda makes you believe that Krishna is human: That is māyā or illusion.
4.7: Whenever and wherever there is decline of dharma (righteousness), and a rise of adharma (unrighteousness), then I send forth myself.
Dharma is not just righteousness; dharma is to dhri, meaning to sustain or preserve; therefore, dharma is sustainer of this universe. The Lord is the Supreme Sustainer of the universe; therefore, he descends when there is a descent in dharma. Dharma is the law for the evolution of the universe; this is pravrtti, continuation, motion or forward movement; this is unfolding of tattvas and a centrifugal movement away from the Great Soul. By observing dharma, evolutionary unfolding is reversed by involution by which the individual soul finds its way back to Godhood. This is Nivrtti, cessation of forward movement, retrograde or centripetal movement of Jiva towards the source, the Great Soul. Practicing dharma is to sync with the laws of universe.
There is historical proof that an Avatār, a Saint, a Guru, or a teacher appears in this world, whenever there is adharma in this world. When the balance between good and evil or righteousness and unrighteousness weighs heavily towards evil, disruptive, and ungodly side, the Lord becomes an Avatar: Lord Krishna descends into the world as an Avatār to correct the unrighteousness, and save the human race.
Let us take the latest incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Before Buddha appeared in the world as an avatar of Vishnu, materialism was rampant in India, which, in those days, was that of an unrestrained enjoyment of senses, widespread public drunkenness, and bubbling godless Epicureanism. They had no use for God, soul, heaven, or hell. They laughed at and ridiculed the priests, and there existed an alarming decline in the spiritual life of people, which consisted of "Eat-drink-and-be-happy." There was a widespread abrogation of social contracts and evil in the land. Then came Buddha; he did not teach any God to anybody, but he brought the Vedanta to the people's attention. That brought about a rapid conversion of Indian masses to Buddhism; and as a reaction to Buddhism, the Gods and Goddesses enjoyed a new life in man's consciousness and Sanātana dharma came back to life. Sanātana dharma means “Eternal established order” according to Sanskrit dictionary and is the proper name for Hinduism. Buddhism did not take hold in India because it had no roots in Upanishads. Then Hinduism’s revival came and Buddhism almost died in India, but other countries embraced it.
Saiva View of evil: the real-life story of Appar
When Buddhism and Jainism were on the ascent, it is said, that the Saiva Siddhantists worried about false doctrines and alien religions; a son of God was born in the name of Thirugnana Sambandar in Tamil Nadu to rid the country of Jainism and reintroduce Saivism, Vedism and Tamil culture. Buddhists and Jains actively converted the masses and spoke ill of Savism. This recurring theme occurs in the songs of Nayanars. Appar, originally a Hindu, became a Jain monk. He suffered abdominal pain and begged for Siva's help in alleviating the pain, which ceased. Immediately under the cover of darkness he left the Jain monastery to take refuge at the feet of Siva. The Saiva (formerly Jain Monk) saint was brought before the king upon the complaint of Jain monks for changing his faith from Jainism to Savism. Jain King Mahendra Varman of Kanchi tortured him, but Appar was not affected, because of his faith in Siva and Mantra, Namasivaya. The king of Paandinaadu was a converted Jain and his citizens converted to Jainism, except the queen and the chief minister. (The Pallavas were Jains and ruled kanchipuram and pataliputram.) After seeing the survival of Appar at his hands, he became a devotee of Siva, destroyed the Jain Monastery and built a Siva Temple at Virattanam. (Appar [ca 590-671], born in a farmer family in South Arcot , Tamil Nadu, is one of the Saiva saint-poets. He travels the length and breadth of India singing the glories of Siva. He receives vision of Siva and Sakti in Kailas. He is a humble devotee of Siva cleaning temples he visits. He, many years his senior, is called Appar (father) by his contemporary child-poet, Sambandar.
Princely Vardhamana rejuvenated Jainism concept; the name Mahavira came about following enlightenment in 600 B.C. It was a protest movement against animal sacrifice: Ahimsa (noninjury) is the central tenet of Jainism. (Puranas did not recommend animal sacrifices; instead, seeds older than three years, not capable of sprouting, were recommended for sacrificial use.) He opposed yajna and jnāna margas, and he believed in karma and samsāra. Karma is a sticky stuff, as Vāsanā (perfume) that clings to the jiva, weighs it down, and prevents it from moving up to isatprāgbhara, which means “slightly tilted” dome or sphere. That is the supreme destination for the liberated jivas. These jivas (individual souls) stay down at various levels of existence ranging from matter, to plant, to ameba, to animal, to man according to the weight of karma of the individual entity. As the karmic load lightens, the bubble, the individual soul, rises from the lowest possible regions through intermediate zones to Isatprāgbhara, where supreme and splendid isolation (kaivalya) is the norm. How is it possible that all these jivas or monads gather on the crowded undersurface of this tilted dome or the cranial bone (its other name), which is whiter than milk, shinier than the most lustrous gold, and more translucent than a crystal, to enjoy a splendid isolation? It is not isolation in the ordinary sense. As the jiva rises higher and higher from the lowest to the highest, it sheds the dissolved impurities (karma); when it reaches the undersurface of the tilted dome, it is clear, translucent, and pure. The many-times-distilled and rising bubble undergoes isolation from all impurities: That is isolation from all dualities and impurities of the world such as pleasure and pain; love and hate; vagaries of life; the sights, sounds, and smells; and the limits of being matter, plant, animal and human. The conditioned, limited, and deficient knowledge of the human being stays behind and the jiva in splendid isolation (from the impurities) is all awareness, all knowledge, all Truth, and all omniscience.
Mahavira had an interesting birth. Indra, a god common to Hindus, Buddhists, and Jains sent his minion and messenger Harinaigamesha (who doubles [triples] as a transplant surgeon) to transfer embryo from the womb of a Brahmana lady to that of a Warrior caste (Ksatriya) woman, who eventually gave birth to Mahavira. Harinaigamesha had a deer (or goat) head and a body of a human. Mahavira showed concern to animals and opposed animal sacrifice; he believed that all jivas are living and therefore killing perpetuates incarnations or rebirths by build-up of karma. Karma marga (karma or action path) is the mainstay of his philosophy. Mahavira brought Lord Krishna’s doctrine of ahimsa (noninjury) to the forefront: Noninjury in thought, word, and deed is the mainstay of Jainism. Jainism rejected the caste system and superiority of one caste or race over another: Again, it is one of the teachings of Lord Krishna. Jains worship Ambika, Balarama, Chakreshvari, Krishna and Lakshmi.
Gandhi teaching Ahimsa
4.8: For protecting the good and the virtuous, for destructing the evildoers or the facinorous and for establishing righteousness (dharma), I am born from age to age.
When the facinorous wights in the world create disequilibrium, spiritualism declines, which has a multiplier effect on the world from a communal to a national to a global scale. Bhagavan can easily push some buttons and fix these differences, which is not the way Bhagavan manages his work. He wants to descend on this earth and show us the higher path, by living the life on earth himself: Man lives by example of a realized soul; and Bhagavan is the Greatest Soul. Living among us and going through life's difficulties, and trials and tribulations, He never strays from the righteous path. He suspends his divine abilities and qualities and lives like a human being suffering for humanity and setting examples: That is a true descent for the ascent of man. He is Bliss Himself. Why is this descent necessary? Only by not setting himself above and apart from us, He makes us feel that He is one among us, instills faith in us, and makes us follow his ways.
(Facinorous = extremely wicked, wight = any living being. simply evildoers or wicked people)
In the wild, elephants follow a senior elephant in search of a water hole in a dry season and walk hundreds of miles for the water hole. The senior elephant knows from previous dry seasons, what the younger ones do not know or never experienced.
When Krishna descends, it is as if harmful forces, chaos, and degradation of the spirit trigger an alarm for an automatic descent: It is like the fire alarm, which turns the sprinkler on automatically when the sensors detect fire. It is in the same manner that Krishna descends and assumes a human form to free us from evil and adharma and lead us to goodness, dharma, and bliss. He lives out a life of self-sacrifice for humanity. You could see that in the life, times and practice of Ramanamaha Rishi who brings us a little closer to God. We might have to go through several lifetimes to attain oneness with Brahman, but he makes it a little easier to achieve and happen sooner. He can only guide but the real work is on us. Do you not see a manifestation of His goodness in Gandhi and Mother Theresa, those two good souls? Gandhi and mother Teresa are not descents or avatārs but God endowed them each with a special quality to uplift humanity: They have a little amsa (particle) of God in them.
4.9: He, who knows my birth and work as divine in their true nature and accepts them as the Truth, will not be born again on leaving his body and comes to me O Arjuna.
Karma does not condition Krishna’s birth.
The scriptures say that a dying person’s wish comes to fruition. If he thinks of ancestors, he goes to the world of ancestors or pitrs; if he thinks of gods, he goes to the world of gods; if a devotee thinks of Lord Krishna, he goes to Him, the highest of all abodes for the freed soul. What a man thinks at the moment of death are thoughts that were close to his heart all his life and he would not change them at the dying moment.
The enlightened embodied soul covered by the kosas or sheaths and burdened by karma is eager to go home to its original bliss. The kosas fall; the karmic inflows into the subtle body stop; the null karma reaches the final phase, and becomes a zero-sum entity; and the self is ready to go home to its original state, that is SatChitAnanda (Being, Consciousness and Bliss). The cycle of birth and rebirth breaks down at the moksa’s doorstep. Tantra sastras say that Karmic sheath separates man from Mother Goddess; once the karma is removed, man is similar to Mother Goddess.
Ramanujacharya recommends Prapatti and Saranagatti as means to gain the Grace of God. A Yogi arrives at bliss by performing Kundalini yoga, which is a difficult task even for a highly trained disciplined mind, and many yogis, pundits, gurus, teachers, sages, saints, and poets attest to the truth of that fact. What happens to the souls of the teeming masses, who too need and deserve moksa but lack discipline? This is where Prapatti (Pious Resignation) and Saranagati (total Loving Surrender) come. By this two-part prescription, which is good for all, the devotee accepts he is at the mercy and control of the almighty compassionate Isvara or Vishnu or Krishna; thus, moksha is within the grasp of every human being, irrespective of the educational, spiritual, or yogic levels of accomplishment. A sinner and a sage are equal in the eyes of Lord. Krishna says in BG, C18V66: "Abandon all duties. Take refuge in Me. I will erase all sins. No more grieving." "Abandoning duties" means performing duties without attachment or desire for rewards or fruits and dedicating them to the Lord. karma comes from action that seeks rewards. Sins accrue from bad actions, resulting in bad karma, which brings undesirable consequences.
4.10: Freed from desire, fear, and anger, absorbed in, and regarding Me as their sole refuge, and purified by jnāna (wisdom) and meditation, many people attained to My nature.
Scriptures say that man is his thought, vac (speech), mind, deed, body, and prāna (life force). Sin and virtue apply at these levels, and karma is the result. Man’s realization of his Self is purifying. Karma guarantees samsāra. Elimination of the fetters of samsāra is the aim of life. The purifiers are ablutions, meditation and Jnāna (wisdom); jnāni, steady in wisdom and meditation, becomes the knower of the Self or Brahman; and thus, he burns karma and gains moksa or liberation.
Freedom from desire, Vairagya, has four phases: mental effort, physical isolation, mental isolation, and extinction of desire (Yatamana Samjana, Vyatireka Samjana, Ekendriya Samjana, and Vasikara Samjana.) Yatamana = effort. Vyatireka = avoidance. Ekendriya = one sense. Vasikara = subjugation or subduing (of desire.) In Ekendriya the senses are stilled but the mind is not. The mind still juggles with love and hate, pleasure and pain; mind is still attached to opposites. Uparati is the final stage, when the senses, though fully aware, do not register any voltaic current on the individual upon presentation of sense objects. What it means in one aspect is that a Vairagin can move in the midst of a galaxy of earthly or heavenly beauties and does not register any amplitudes in his meter. He can move in the world of intriguing passions and inviting objects and yet shows stillness of mind and senses.
Jijinaasaa: Desire of knowing; investigation. Jihaasaa: desire of giving up. Vairagya is a balance between desire for knowledge and desire of giving up. Certain knowledge, such as knowledge of Brahman, is desirable and certain habits of the flesh are worth giving up in the interest of yogic perfection.
Vairagya is of two kinds: This is applicable to Yogis only: Para Vairagya and Apara Vairagya. The former is superior and latter (lower) shows shades of desire. Apara Vairagya shows traces of qualities (Sattva, Rajas and Tamas) and applies to yogis who still cling to eight siddhis (powers); that is not Vairagya, but is actually desires couched in special powers, anima, mahima, videha. Para Vairagin sheds the special siddhis, annihilates all desires, and receives vision of Brahman.
We are all Vairagins (they, who gave up desire and attachment to objects and beings) during deep sleep. That is the mental state of the Yogi, though he is awake; there is no ego play; desires and dualities do not enlist his attention.
Our life is a painting on the canvas of consciousness and intellect (buddhi) which trickled down to us from Pure Consciousness and Mahat; that is our substratum; anything that augments and highlights the background is liberating. If there are too many strokes and too many colors depicting pain and pleasure, love and hate, like and dislike, objects and beings and other dualities, the painted picture is too crowded for any meaningful journey from Samsara to liberation. This busy painting depicts passion, motion, and darkness which only accumulate karma for the individual soul. Autumn colors mean fall; monochromatic color of sprigs means spring; fall and spring are death and rebirth--that is Samsara, an endless cycle on the tree of life. (The words and analogy are mine but the concept is from Panchadasi.)
4.11: O Partha, whoever takes whatever path to reach me, I reciprocate in the like manner. Men follow all kinds of paths leading to me.
4.12: In this world of men, those who desire the fruits of their work worship many gods, because the benefits from fruition of work come quickly.
There are two kinds of devotees: Sakaama and Nishkaama or Akaama devotees or bhaktas. Sakama devotees seek fruits for their actions, while Akama devotees do not seek any fruits for their actions. Those who engage is Sakama karma (Fruitive activities) attain heaven but return to earth again and again (Samsara or rebirth), while Akama karma followed by Brahma Vidya (Knowledge of Brahman) guarantees liberation or moksa.
Nammalvar asks this question: If Narāyana is the Supreme God, why do people offer sacrifices and worship to the lesser gods? The reason, he gave is there are many gods listed in Rg-Veda and that these gods offer health, wealth, happiness and bliss to their devotees. Narāyana in the form of Brahma gave life to the gods and deities. The Lord, by the Supreme power vested in Him as their inner Soul or antarātma, gives them power to grant boons to their devotees. The problem is the gods have to check with Him first, before they give the boons to the devotees. The lesser gods do not have the authority to confer the ultimate boon: moksa or liberation from cycle of births and rebirths. Narāyana also has the grace to erase all sins in one sweep, which other gods cannot do; and the Lord takes you lovingly into his exclusive abode, Vaikuntha. Nammalvar goes on to say the devotees should seek refuge in and surrender themselves to Narāyana for getting moksa, because he is the only One who could confer that moksa.
4.13: I founded (created) the fourfold order of Varna according to guna and karma (fundamental quality and work). Though I am the founder, know me thou as unable to act or change.
The fourfold order or division of a society according to Varnasrama dharma consists of Brahmanas, Ksatriyas, Vaisyas, and Sudras. The intent of this division is to assign work according to one’s aptitude. The emphasis was on guna and karma; belonging to a particular Varna or caste is independent of birth or parentage, which is not one's choosing, and unchangeable. Guna (mode) and work are subject to change according to one's proclivity and karma. Varna connotes an external veil or screen; it is about the intrinsic worth of a person; and color is one of the irrelevant but intrusive aspects in this fourfold division, though the original intent was independent of claim by color and birth in a caste. Lord Krishna, the originator of the division, was Himself a product of mixed parentage, while his parents languished in a prison cell. He was dark-blue in color.
Brahmana, Ksatriya, Vaisya, and Sudra are the priest, the king, the trader, and the worker respectively.
4.14: These works never bind me, for I have no desire for their fruits. He, who knows me as Truth, is never bound by actions. (Actions do not bind the one who knows the Lord as Truth)
4.15: Knowing thus, the ancestors or the ancients, seeking liberation performed actions; you also perform the age-old customary work done by the ancients.
According to Varnāsrama dharma, Arjuna is a Ksatriya and therefore the Lord urges him to do what the ancient kings did: the dharma (duty) of a warrior. According to Dharma Sūtra, Ksatriya makes a living by protecting his subjects with weapons. According to Varnāsrama dharma, Ksatriya should excel in the art of war. He should be knowledgeable in sacred laws and religion; he should make sacrifices and make gifts. He dispenses justice and protects the weak and the vulnerable sections of his kingdom so the strong would not fry the weak like fish on spit. He must be a just inflictor or dispenser of punishment, considering the truth and exercising wisdom. He is the protector of varnāsrama dharma, so the society functions as one unit in a fourfold division of labor. He should fight his wars, face his enemies, protect the people, and honor the Brahmanas (the repository of Vedic wisdom). The sacred texts say that it is better that a king dies in the battle and goes to heaven, instead of turning his back to the enemies. He should amass, preserve, and spread wealth on worthy men. He can conquer his enemies by conciliation, by gifts, by marriage, by spreading dissension among enemy kings, and by offering peace; and if possible, he should avoid war. If the king wins the war, he has the right to bring home a Ksatriya, a Vaisya or even a Sudra bride, if he chooses to do so. Since the outcome of war is uncertain, the Laws of Manu recommends conciliation as the first step.
4.16: What is action? What is inaction? Thus, even the wise are confused in this matter. I will expound to you that by knowing which you will be free from sin.
That: that karma, the truth about karma
Asubha: misfortune, harm, mischief, sin, evil
4.17: One has to know or understand what action is, what wrong action is, and what inaction is. It is hard to understand karma’s course or path.
Karma: action
Gahana: deep, dense, thick, hard to understand.
The course or path of action (impenetrable or dense or inaccessible, Gahanā) defies understanding.
4.18: He, who sees inaction in action, and action in inaction, is wise among men. He is a yogi (wholesome performer), accomplished in actions.
Ramana Maharishi throws light on this issue: A person is not a performer (doer of any act), whether he acts or not, when his delusional ego (the I-ness) dies and disappears. Action is not necessarily a motor activity. A thought is an activity of the mind; if that thought is laden with ego, attachment, expectation of a reward, and emotional upheaval, that thought is action in a seeming inactivity. Inaction in action is the total cessation of activity of the individual self and its surrender to the ever active, but seemingly inactive, Self or Paramatma or Isvara or Brahman: Dedication of your selfless (no motive or expectation of reward) action to the Lord is inactivity in action. If the action is without attachment, inflow into subtle body carries less karmic load. A null karma or karma with a zero sum or balance is the ideal karma. One should keep the light in the spiritual heart alight to dispel the darkness. Yogi’s actions are karma-free. They are "abstention, observance, postures, breath-control, withdrawal of senses, fixed attention or concentration, contemplation or meditation, and superconsciousness or samādhi.” A yogi is like a lamp with a flickerless flame in a stormy night, when his subdued thoughts and self seek to merge with Self. Inaction in action in a yogi means the thoughts and the self are at rest; the action in inaction in a yogi means self and the thoughts (are absorbed) merge into the Self. Coming back to inactivity, a humor gives an insight into activity and inactivity: If inactivity in a yogi were no activity then walls and trees would be great sages and yogis. Activity is the recommended goal of Vedanta; provided the mind is calm, there is no greater good than work; and less is the passion, better is the work. Passion dissipates the quality of work; and calm during the storm gives a form to the work, and gets the work done. It may be difficult to give up passion, selfishness, and desire. How one reconciles them with the Vedantic ideal and his achievement matters. Once this reconciliation takes place, the positive qualities grow as the negative ones drop off. Then his achievement is closer to the Vedantic ideal, mentioned by Lord Krishna.
For the yogi, sattvic (virtuous) action comes from his inner being without any effort and is SELF-directed, the "SELF" being the inner divine Being. He (yogi) is neither the actor nor the agent of an action, but a mere instrument of the divine Being. When the yogi of such an accomplishment is performing his actions, he is responsible neither for his actions, nor for the karmic inflows into the subtle body, and is not subject to karmic laws. Since the actions come under the aegis of divine guidance and driving force, the yogi's actions are inactions: the import is they are not subject to karma.
4.19: He, who abandons the will of desire in his undertaking and whose karma comes to destruction in the fire of perfect knowledge or wisdom, is called panditah by the wise.
He, who abandons the will of desire in his undertaking and destroys karma with the fire of perfect knowledge, is a panditah according to the wise.
The wise call him a panditah, when he abandons the will of desire in his undertaking and when the fire of perfect knowledge destroys his karma.
Samārambha: undertaking, enterprise. Samkalpa: will, mental resolve. Varjita: abandon, avoid, exclude. Punditah: learned man, sage (pundit)
Kāma-Samkalpa-varjita: Desire-will-abandon, abandon the will of desire.
As Vivekananda, Ramana Maharishi and Ramakrishna Paramahamsa said, knowing that you are the self and not the body is Jnāna. Progressively all dualities disappear, Sattva and dharma prevail, and the yogi transcends all modes and becomes one with One: He arrives at Vijnāna. A jnāna yogi says that one should give up this world, but not abandon it. A jnāna yogi has his body, mind, senses, and wants under perfect control and knows that behind him, there is only one Real. He gave up all desires and his goal is freedom. For him, there is only Atman from which he gets knowledge and enlightenment; he strives for light, vision, and Bliss of the Self. The more purified he becomes, the more flashes of light he sees in his soul. Upanishads say it succinctly: "That" which exists is "One" and the sages call "It" by many names. The yogi surrenders the apparent man in him for the sake of the Real. He knows that Atman is the supreme knowledge, the witness, and the knower; in this universe, there is nothing new to Atman in the present or in the future. He is the superconscious being in tune with Atman, which he sees in man, animals, sinners, and sages, all of whom he regards equally. Body is only a way station for the Atman and he knows that his last station is Brahman; you are what you think and meditating on Brahman facilitates absorption into Brahman. Thou art That. Yogi sees and goes beyond the limits of reason and senses and arrives at Bliss.
Knowledge is of two kinds: Para Vidya and Apara Vidya. Knowledge of the Absolute that brings about immediate liberation or moksa is Para Vidya. Apara Vidya consists of four Vedas and their six Angas, which do not elaborate on the nature of Atman. Apara Vidya is also known as intellectual (material) knowledge as opposed to spiritual knowledge, and therefore belongs to a lower category of knowledge. All worldly knowledge in the realms of arts and sciences belong to this category. If one possesses Para Vidya, he has Vijnana and has direct knowledge of Brahman. It is the same as Para Brahman. Vedas and Upanishads belong to the category of Saguna Brahman, Sound Brahman (Sabda Brahman), and Apara Vidya (inferior knowledge as opposed to supreme knowledge of direct experience of Brahman).
The opposite of Vidya is Avidya, ignorance or nescience. Avidya is not intellectual but spiritual ignorance. All knowledge we gain from the senses is non-knowledge and avidya.
Vid = knowledge of truth. The words ‘Wit and Wisdom’ are derived from Vid. The term Veda is also derived from Vid.
4.20: Having given up desire and attachment to fruit of action, always contented, and not dependent, and though engaged in action, he does nothing ever at all.
The all-consuming desire of a man without contentment grows like a creeper. The man of desire goes from one life to another, as a bird jumps from one tree to another in search of fruits. The attachment to the fruit should drop off like water from the lotus leaf floating in the water. Such a man engaged in action does no action at all, which means the work and the consequent karma do not stick to him and thus help attainment of liberation.
4.21: With no desire, and controlled body, mind and senses, giving up sense of ownership and allowing only bodily functions, he does not incur any guilt or sin.
A person, who says that this belongs to him and that belongs to him, does not belong to himself: He lost his own ownership, because the objects he desires own him. If he loses himself or his own ownership, how could it be possible that he owns something else? A man, who thinks he is a fool but knows this, is wise and a man who thinks he is wise but does not know this is a fool indeed. For a man who does his dharma, allowing only the bodily functions, there is no bondage and therefore no sin.
4.22: Satisfied and happy with gains that come on their own accord without any desire for them, transcending (rising above) duality (pleasure and pain), free from envy, and balanced in success and failure, he is not bound even when he acts.
4.23: For the one whose attachments are torn asunder, who is liberated and remains steady in wisdom, and whose work is a sacrifice, his works or actions are dissolved.
"The intellectual apprehension of eternal things belongs to wisdom", said St. Augustine, fifth century A.D. It appears that St. Augustine peaked into the minds of yogis.
4.24: The act of offering is Brahma; the oblation is Brahma; and the fire, in which butter (havih) is poured, is Brahma. The yogi, absorbed in Brahma karma, has Brahma as the object of attainment.
Havih: Butter, grain, milk, soma offered as an oblation with fire or burned offering
4.25: Some yogis offer sacrifices in the form of worship to the demigods, while others offer sacrifice by performing sacrifice in the fire that is Brahma Himself.
4.26: While others offer their hearing and senses to the fires of restraint or self-control, some others offer sound and other objects of senses to the fires of the senses.
Offering hearing and senses to the fires of restraint means the organs of senses do not come into contact with the objects of senses (sound, vision, touch, taste, and hearing). If a chance encounter happens, there is no attachment or aversion and he is the same.
4.27: Others offer the functions of their senses and the breath (prāna) into the fire of yoga of self-restraint, illuminated by wisdom.
Ātma samyama yoga: Yoga of self-restraint. Jnānadīpite: illuminated by wisdom.
Mahat and buddhi are the cosmic and individual aspects of intellect. Buddhi is the central processing unit for ahankāra and all the sixteen entities. Five karmendriyas (motor organs), manas (mind), five janāndriyas (sensory organs), and five tanmatras (sound, touch, color, flavor, smell) take their origin from the ego under the modulating influence of buddhi. When the functions of these senses and the vital breath serve as sacrifice into the fire of yoga of self-restraint under the influence of wisdom, these energies sublimate or transform into a state, in which Atman and buddhi are in unison. Buddhi is not only a modulator, but also a filter for the gunas: It tries to filter out the Rajas and Tamas gunas and projects the sattvic quality in a sattvic person; in a Rajasic or Tamasic person, the buddhi is unable to filter out gunas and they respectively display Rajasic and Tamasic qualities.
4.28: Some offer sacrifices in the form of material possessions, austerities, and (eightfold) yogic practices; others offer Vedic studies as sacrifice; and the ascetics offer the knowledge of the self as sacrifice
Dravya-yajnah: sacrifice-- material, charity.
Tapo-yajnāh: sacrifice-- austerity, tolerance of severe difficulty.
Yoga-yajnāh: Sacrifice-- yoga, yoga means equanimity under all conditions.
Svādhyāya: Sacrifice-- Vedic learning, study of scriptures.
Jnāna-yajnah: Sacrifice--knowledge, knowledge of the self.
4.29-30: Others offer apāne (incoming air) into Prāna (outgoing air) and prāna into apāne. Still others, having breath control (Prānāyāma) and restricting food intake, pour prāna into prāna itself as a sacrifice. These, knowing the (value or truth of) sacrifices, have their sins destroyed by such sacrifices.
Prana is life and life is breath. Prana is a gift of Atma to the physical body. The Saiva Siddhantists consider Prana as Sakti of Atma. Prana is subtle in its transcendent state, becomes immanent and manifest in an individual, and finds expression according to its target organ. It is like electricity which finds expression as movement in a fan, light in a florescent lamp, or heat in an electric stove. Prana is movement of air in the lungs, fire of digestion in the stomach and intestines, rhythmic contraction and relaxation in the heart, electrical impulses and thought in the brain and much more. Prana is Rta, the Cosmic law on a grand scale.
Prāna is not mere breath; it is more. First, we should not consider prāna only as physiological respiration, exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the lungs. It is life, it is movement, it is being, it is nourishing, it is the primal force, and it is energy. Prāna energizes transformation of Ākāsa from an element to a substance in this world of evolution. Prāna encompasses all energies discovered and yet undiscovered: it is thought, it is motion, it is gravity, it is lightning, it is energy in the atom, it is the motion in the atoms, and it is the essence in everything. Any discovered or undiscovered energy in our body or universe is prāna; call it by any name―respiration, nerve conduction, thought, gravity, magnetism. This prāna energy is as primal as Tapas, OM, light and water, which were present at creation or projection of Prakriti. Akāsa is the primal stem substance and Prāna is the primal stem force. All forces originate from prāna and all forces subside in prāna.
Prāna has fivefold actions:
(1) The commonly known prāna is
the air moving through the mouth and the nostrils into and out of the lungs
(exchange of gases). The heart is headquarters for Prana
(2) Samāna Prāna: Equalizing
breath. The energy resides in the digestive system, the heart, and the
circulatory system, the umbilicus and the joints. Here prana is digestive
function of the stomach and intestines, rhythmic contraction and relaxation of
the heart muscle, the flow of blood through circulatory system and the movements
of the joints. Its headquarters is the Navel. Remember
Manipura Chakra's headquarters is in the
umbilicus.
(3)
Apāna Prāna: Downward
breathing. It resides in the throat, the back of the thoracic cage, intestinal
canal, generative organs, and the legs. This prāna remains in the excretory and
generative organs. Apana's headquarters is anus --Muladhara
Chakra of Kundalini.
(5) Vyāna Prāna: Pervading breath or diffused breath. This energy is resident everywhere, but concentrated in the circulatory system and sweat glands (sweating), and plays a role in the redistribution of biological fluids in the body. Vyana's headquarters is the whole body.
You may notice a correlation here between the centers or Chakras of Kundalini and the Pranas. Apana, Samana, Udana, Prana, and Vyana represent body consciousness and not the Higher Consciousness present in Sahasrara Chakra. Above the Higher Consciousness is Pure Consciousness. The ascending breath residing at Visuddha chakra stops short of Ajna Chakra, the transitional zone between body consciousness and Higher Consciousness, which is a dilute version of Pure Consciousness.
Purusa is the command and control center for all these energies. Many of these
functions and energies appear autonomous and some are under voluntary control.
There are five more Vayus or pranas of minor importance: Naga, Kurma, Krkara, Devadatta and Dhananjaya for hiccup, blinking of the eyes, appetite, yawning, and the prana of the dead. The last one implies that there is a resident prana even in a dead body.
These Pranas are physiological events such as Appropriation and Utilization (Prana), Excretion (Apana), Assimilation (Samana), Distribution and Sustenance (Vyana), and Utterance and death (Udana) -- modified from Woodroffe.
Chāndogya Upanishad Chapter 3 Section 13
Breath means energy flow in this instance: Control of the senses and the energy
flow are the message here. In the following description of the heart, it is not
the anatomical heart with gates, but the spiritual heart. Brahman is One, but
manifests as five Brahman-persons, the doorkeepers of the fives gates of heaven
in this instance, and resides in the heart with five openings or gates:
1. The eastern gate in the heart is Prāna the
up breath, and the eye is the doorkeeper with
the presiding deity, the sun.
2. The southern gate is Vyāna, the
diffuse breath (diffused throughout the body),
and the doorkeeper is the ear with the presiding deity, the moon.
3. The western gate is Apāna, the
down breath (Ventris Crepitus), and the
doorkeeper is the speech with the presiding deity, Agni (fire).
4. The northern gate is Samāna,
equalized breath, and the doorkeeper is the mind
with the presiding deity rain.
5. The upper gate is Udāna, the
out breath and doorkeeper is air with the
presiding deity ether.
If one controls the doorkeepers namely the eye, the ear, the speech, the mind,
and the breath by meditation, access to Brahman in the spiritual heart is easy.
According to Sankara, Brahman residing in the heart is a mediator in meditation,
as image of the deity in the temple is a mediator. This is how idolatry gained
acceptance in Hindu religion.
Prana, that dwells in the heart (Anahata Chakra) draws Apana dwelling in Muladhara Chakra: the up breath pulling the down breath, both being anchored to the body. When the breaths are in unison and ascend Susumna Nadi to Sahasrara perfection in Pranayama is the result.
Pranayama: Mular makes the following statements on pranayama.
Prana is compared
to a steed which would carry a master and throws down a novice. The
destination is Samadhi; for that to happen the mind has to have control over
the senses. It is important to gain control of two steeds, which are the Ida
and Pingala breaths of the left and right nostrils. They can be mastered with
the grace of the Gurus. The steeds of
Prana move faster than a bird. If Pranayama is mastered, the exhilaration is
greater than that from imbibing toddy.
It gives jauntiness to gait and whips laziness. Once Pranayama becomes the second nature of
the mind, both become tranquil and there is no more birth and death. Master the
technique of controlling the flow of left and right breaths and the nectar of
life is yours.
Pranayama consists
of three parts: Pūrakam, Kumpakam, and (I) Resakam: Inhalation, retention,
and exhalation. These are timed units. Inhalation lasts for 16 mātras (6.4
seconds), retention for
64 mātras (25.6S), and exhalation for 32 mātras (12.8S). Mātra = mā (to measure) + tra = feminine unit of
measurement. If you think mother and mātr sound similar, you are right and they
mean the most precious person in your life.
Matra: unit of
time: Māt-tirai (Mātra): measure of
time = 2/5th of a second = the time it takes to snap one’s fingers,
wink one’s eyes, or say OM. Easy way of remembering these time measurements is
to say mentally ‘one in one thousand,’ which equals to one
second. Expiration is twice longer than inspiration
and retention is four times longer. Inspiration-retention-expiration Ratio: .
If you master
Pranayama, the ripe old body will become young and hardy; with the grace of
Guru, you will become lighter than air.
You can practice Pranayama anywhere any place and your body will not
perish and you can defy Death. In Pūrvakam, inhale breath which pervades
up and down and in the middle; in Kumpakam retain the breath around your navel;
in Resakam the breath is absorbed (as you let out the expired air). The
practitioners realize Siva himself. Inhale by left nostril, retain it in the pit
of the navel, exhale it by right nostril and you have seen the Truth. As you
breathe in deep and steady, the prana suffuses ten Nadis; retain the breath and
follow it up with slow exhalation. Sit
straight and win over Death. Pranayama purifies the body, turns the limbs
ruddy, and hair dark; God never wants to leave your body. Practice
Pranayama with 12 mātras of inhalation, four mātras of retention and
eight mātras of exhalation. It will get you close to Siva. Learn to control your ego and the jiva will
never know night or day (will attain eternity). This advice is couched in an
allegory. The elephant (ego) with 12 mantra breaths is awake night and day (Samsara);
when the mahout (Jiva) controls the elephant (ego), the Jiva knows no
night or day (will gain mukti or liberation). There is also a story behind the
elephant and Siva. Siva was in
meditation; mimamasa Rishis and students wanted to destroy Siva. They sent a
tiger, which he skinned with the nail of his little finger; later they sent an
elephant which he skinned; then they sent a dwarf by name Apasmara Purusa known
for forgetfulness, whom Siva subdues with his foot. That is the famous stance of Lord Nataraja
with his left foot standing on the demon. (
4.31: As a benefit of such sacrifice, they enjoy the remnants of the nectar of the sacrifice and attain to the Supreme Brahman. This world is not for the one, who does not perform any sacrifice. How is it possible that he could even think of the other world (heaven), O Kurusuttama, the best of the Kurus?
Chāndogya Upanishad Chapter four and five: Performers of sacrifice group according to the received benefits of the sacrifices. There are three paths: pitr-yāna (father's path), deva-yana (god's path), and yama-loka (the world of god of death).
Pitr-yāna. Those who followed the prescribed sacrificial rites come back to earth. The virtuous returns as a Brahmana, a Ksatriya, or a Vaisya according to his karmic merit; the evil one returns as a dog, a hog, or a chandāla (mixed-caste). The lowest and the ignorant (Tamasic people) are born as rice, barley, herbs, plants, and trees. The release from the plant category is according to who sows the seeds and who eats them.
Deva-yāna: These enlightened souls take the path of gods and go to the God and never return or reborn. They enjoy eternal bliss.
Yama-loka: The evil ones go straight to hell and languish there. In all these sacrifices, fire (Agni) acts as mediator between men and gods. According to Vedas, Agni’s many tongues (of fire) belong to the gods and consume the food offered in sacrifices.
4.32: Thus, many forms of sacrifices show (are spread out) on the face of Brahma (Brahmanah mukhe). You should know that all these are born of work and knowing thus, you will be liberated or attain to moksa.
"Spread out on the face of Brahma:" It is like saying, "It is written all over His face." The words come out of Brahma’s mouth and appear in the Vedas. It means that all sacrifices using the body, mind, knowledge, intelligence or any other faculty would lead one to moksa or liberation. The actions and paths to liberation are many and depend on the tendencies of the sacrificer. Making known his eight-point formula to anyone with a receptive mind is supreme sacrifice by a Yogi; giving away his wealth to the needy is a form of sacrifice by a rich man. There may be a qualitative difference as said in the next verse. A man of knowledge giving his knowledge without expectation of a reward is a form of sacrifice. If one is willing to do sacrifice, there is a sacrifice to fit his station in life. According to Gandhi, no work done in the spirit of sacrifice is below human dignity, not even cleaning the toilet. Because of her work for the destitute, the least, the last and the loneliest in Calcutta and all over the world, Mother Theresa qualifies herself as a sacrificer. Her life and work are the readings of the Vedas, written on the face of the Lord. She may not be a Hindu, but she read the needs and the Vedas written on the faces of the needy.
4.33: Greater than the material sacrifice is the sacrifice of knowledge, O Parantapa. All works (karmakhilam) O Partha, find fulfillment in wisdom.
Karmakhilam : karma+akhilam = work+whole (without gap, completely)
Parismāpyate: attain or arrive at completion, find fulfillment
4.34: Learn this knowledge by prostrating at the feet of the men of wisdom, by inquiring, and by performing service to them. The self-realized seers of Truth or revealed knowledge will reveal that knowledge to you.
Pranipathēna: prostrate at the feet in submission. Pariprasnena: to inquire about.
A story from Khāndayoga Upanishad, fourth Khanda is in order here: Once upon a time, there was a boy, by name Satyakāma, interested in the study of Vedas. Those days an aspiring student had to know his lineage before a guru accepted him for studies. His mother Gabālā said that she was not sure about his lineage, since she was pregnant with him, while she was waiting on the guests in her father's house. The boy went to a Guru by name Gautama Hāridrumata and gave him the details of his birth history. The Guru, impressed by his honesty, accepted him as a student saying that only a Brahmana boy would speak such truth. He initiated him with offerings in a fire ceremony and sent him out to tend four hundred lean emaciated and weak cows. The boy said to himself that he would return to the Guru with one thousand cows. (Note humility and reverence in accepting such a menial task. What is the connection between tending cows and learning about Brahman?) When the herd became one thousand, a bull alerted him and over a few days during the fire ceremony in the evenings, the bull, and the fire, the hamsa (swan or flamingo), and the diver bird taught him all about Brahman: "You should meditate on the four feet of the Brahman." The bull said, "Brahman is found wherever you see." As he worshipped fire, a voice came over from the fire and said, "Brahman is the earth, the ocean, the sky, and the heavens." Hamsa bird flying by, the next evening said, "The fire you worship is Brahman; the sun, the moon and the lightning are Brahman." Next evening the diver-bird said, "The breath, the eye, the ear, and the mind are Brahman." When the Satyakāma reached the teacher, the teacher noticed a glow on his face and inquired who his teacher was. He replied that he learned from nature and animals and that he would like to take lessons from an Acharya to know the Real Goodness (the Supreme). The Acharya or Guru imparted him the same knowledge. The student met all the qualifications to become a fit student; he sought wise man; he was humble, reverent, and inquiring; he was of service to his Guru. The glow on his face and the light in his eyes are external signs of inner glow of the Soul in his heart. The voices he heard were his own and he gained jnāna and Vijnāna (knowledge and wisdom) while thinking, and tending cows.
Brahma Upanishad says that Brahman shines in four quarters: navel, (Nabhi), heart (Hrdya), throat (Kantha), and head (Murdha). These centers correspond to the (four) lotuses (Kundalini Yoga) at Manipura (navel), Anahata (heart), Visuddhi (throat), Sahasrara (head).
Taittiriya Upanishad (3.1.1) records a conversation
between Varuna and his son Bhrgu Muni. Varuna,
upon questioning from Bhrgu Muni who Brahman is, answers that Brahman is annam
(food), pranam (life-breath), caksus (observation), srotram, (sense perception),
mano (mind), and vacam (speech). Annam
is matter, observation is sight, and srotram is hearing. That, from which these
come, by which they live, into which they enter upon death, and which you want
to know, is Brahman.
4.35: Knowing this, you will never again become subject to delusion like this, O Pandava. By this, you will see all living beings in the self and then in Me.
You heard about telling "the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God." The court-truth is close but not close enough. Vedantic Truth knows that this world is a superimposition on the Absolute, which is Brahman. Everything came from Brahman and everything dissolves in Brahman; Brahman is you who are sentient; Brahman is also the insentient chair (an object). When we say God, we mean the Atman residing in the temple of your body. Every time you recognize there is an Atman or God in the person you are facing, the bondage breaks, freedom rings, and realization sets in: the God in heaven is no more of a God than the Atman in you. The worship in the temple, the mosque, or the church is not any better than worshipping God or Atman or Brahman in you in the privacy of your house or anywhere at anytime. We are transient superimposition on the Absolute; time, space, and causation are responsible for our transience. "Neti, Neti," meaning "Not This, Not This," tells us that we have to deny this universe and believe in Atman. Neti, Neti points out nonduality and Oneness of Brahman, which is not an object available for elucidation. It is the inner Self, and the gods (god is superior to men, but not equal to God or Brahman) get their glory by getting a little of Its Efficacy or Inner Glow. Ramanuja said that Brahman, Vishnu, or Narāyana is Sarvesvara, the Lord of all gods.
Our birth and rebirth are conditional on karma and when the karmic inflows stop and a zero-sum endpoint is within reach with regard to karma, realization sets in and we merge with Brahman. A loaded karma like a loaded pistol is trouble. No one should let the unsettling karmic inflows burden his subtle body, for they lay the groundwork for rebirth. For the person with no karmic load, there is neither heaven nor hell, which is immaterial, because he is one with One, that is Brahman or Bliss. What is better for an individual soul, heaven, or Bliss? Bliss wins. God living in heaven, going to heaven or hell, and belief in one God and not in another are all partial truths. We are infinite, because Atman is infinite. Karma gives that finite existence in a body to the infinite soul. You heard the expression "You have a friend in PA," and now you have a friend in your Atman. Go no further. He is inside you and He is the light. Man created God in his own image and not the other way round. God is Consciousness. If man created God in his own image, it is certain that all other beings, if capable, would create God in their own images. So we have one God and as many images as beings. If the insentient have sentience, they would also imagine god in their own image. This goes to tell that God is One but has many manifestations. Why should God have a human form? Putting a human face on God is putting a limit on His personality and manifestations. Why cannot He look like a cow? If you ask a cow who her God looks like, the obvious answer is God looks like a cow. We have been looking for God all over, never realizing that He is deep within you. It is the Atman in you, It is the light in you, and It is the voice in you. As Jesus Christ said" honor thy father and mother, and, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" -Mt. 19:19). Jesus said that because He knew that thy neighbor has the same Atman that you have. If you cannot see God in thy neighbor or parents, how is it possible that you can see God in the sky or the clouds? The father, the mother and the neighbor are reflections of the Atman in you and if you do not love them, you do not love yourself. Joseph Campbell relates a story, which typifies this metaphysical unity. A man was getting ready to jump off a cliff by two police officers in the patrol car. The police officer on the passenger side rushed out and caught the victim in the act and he found himself hanging precariously off the cliff. The second police officer rushed and rescued both of them. The first police officer, on questioning why he risked his life for the victim, he replied that he would not have been able to live with himself, had he not done that. The police officer was saving himself by saving the victim. Schopenhauer says the crisis represents the emergence of metaphysical realization that you and the other are the same separated by time and space.
Truth has many sides, many depths, and many views, and is neither all right nor all wrong. It is a journey from one truth to another truth and is from a lower to higher truth. The proof of the highest Truth is absorption into the Absolute or Brahman. The Truth is the hub and the spokes of the wheel are the paths leading to the Truth. How far away you are from the hub tells you how far away you are from the Truth.
4.36: Even if you are the greatest or the worst sinner of all sinners, you will certainly cross over sins or wickedness by the boat of knowledge or wisdom.
Karma and Samsāra are twins. Samsāra means “passing through, wandering” and by extension, “transmigration of the soul or metempsychosis.” Samsāra is bondage of the soul on this earth because of birth and rebirth. “As a man sows, so shall he continue to reap.” See Chapter Two Verse 42-43 Commentary on Karma. This karmic load lightens with sattvic acts, which do not upload or send injurious inflows into the subtle body. So crossing the ocean of Samsāra with a heavy load of karma is a hazard. Some see rigidity in this principle of reward and punishment according to one's karmic load. The recommended yogas are Kundalini yoga, Karma yoga, Raja yoga, Jnāna yoga, or Bakhti yoga. Attainment of true knowledge releases man from karmic consequences. These tasks of resolution of karma are painful for an ordinary person. What can an average person do? The sages, gurus and Acharyas came up with several prescriptive solutions: Alvars and Ramanuja recommended Prapatti and Bhakti yoga of which Prapatti is total surrender to God as the only refuge and Bhakti is complete unswerving devotion to God. The primary cause of moksa is God's grace and the secondary cause is devotee's sādhana: effort by the devotee to gain moksa or liberation. God, according to this, is the means and the goal. Only Brahmanas, Ksatriyas, and Vaisyas can perform Jnāna yoga, Karma yoga, and Bhakti yoga. Sudras were left to their own devices.
Let me give you the history of development of PRAPATTI, to show how a Sudra saint overcame the obstacles. The most famous Sudra Saint Nammalvar devised, practiced, propounded and taught Prapatti which is total self-surrender to God with six conditions for its fulfillment:
God-pleasing acts
Avoidance of God-displeasing acts
Humility, helplessness, vulnerability because of proven ineligibility to practice yogas
Absolute and irreconcilable faith in God
Supplication to God for protection
Prayerful pleading with God to safe-keep one's self
The sixth is the centerpiece. Here is the Greatest Soul who did not fight the system, but studied the system inside out and devised ways to overcome the obstacles. If you take evolution, you will see that an organism changes its own devices to thrive in an adverse environment. The organism brought about an internal change to live in an adverse environment rather than change its milieu. It was Sri Ramanuja himself, the propounder of Visistadvaita, who adopted Prapatti. To practice Prapatti and Saranāgatti, that are available to all, is to seek equal access to God; and one does not have to be a Brahmana, a Ksatrriya or a Vaishya to practice it, as it is the case in Jnana, Raja and Bhakti Yoga.
In Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism), sins are of three types: Ati-Pātakas, extreme sins; Mahāpātakas, major sins; and Upapātakas, minor sins. Extreme sins include coital liaison with one’s birth mother, daughter or daughter-in-law. There is no known expiation or redemption for this type of sin. Major sins include killing of Brahmanas (priests), drinking alcoholic beverages, thieving, coital contact with preceptor’s spouse, and association with the perpetrators of above acts (Laws of Manu11.55). Minor sins include stealing metals, grains, and cattle; engaging in coitus with a drinking woman; and killing a woman, a servant, Sudras, Vaisyas, and Ksatriyas. Punishments vary according to the intrinsic worth of the victim and are very numerous. It ranges from flagellation, penance, self-humiliation by walking with animals and inhaling the dust, self-immolation, self-mutilation and death. Killing of an owl or a crow draws punishment reserved for killing a Sudra. The Laws of Manu describes crime and punishment in the eleventh chapter.
All crimes carry a karmic load and the perpetrator suffers for his crimes in his next life. A man with a bad skin disease could have violated his guru’s wife in the past life. A snitch is born with halitosis. A reviler is born with a bad case of sinusitis (bad smell coming from the nose). A man who stole gold from a Brahmana suffers from bad nails. A murderer of a Brahmana suffers from consumption or tuberculosis. Cutting a green tree for firewood and killing an owl are listed as crimes. Manu must have had precognition.
4.37: As the blazing fire renders the fuel into ashes, O Arjuna, even so the fire of knowledge turns all actions to ashes.
We know knowledge is power. Knowledge is also fire that reduces all sins to ash, removing karma. Actions create karma; and once karma is out, Bliss is in. What is that fire of knowledge? Brahman is the only One and He is Bliss: that is knowledge. The self is in the Self, which is imperishable and lives in all beings. Knowing is there is ONE BEING (that is HIM) in all beings.
4.38: Nothing exists in this world for comparison, when it comes to knowledge as the purifier. He, who has been perfect in yoga of knowledge for a long time, finds it in his own self in due course of time.
According to Yoga Sutras, there are personality types, fit for yoga. You heard about personality types like type A and type B. Yogis studied the minds of people and divided them into five kinds:
Kshipta Chitta: This mind is subject to distraction or absent. Rajasic personality is the underlying characteristic meaning there is motion and passion. If you know what a motor-mouth is, this qualifies as a motor-mind: There is no focus; it is not an ideal mind for yoga. Kshipta = scattered, distracted. Kshipta Chitta = Addlehead, Scatterbrain
Mudha Chitta: This is a dull and forgetful mind dominated by Tamasic personality, meaning darkness, sluggishness, and general malaise. Mûdha = stupid, dull. Mudha chitta = muddlehead.
Vikshipta Chitta: This is a distraught and agitated mind with periods of calmness and Sattva. Vikshipta = bewildered, agitated. Vikshipta Chitta = Rattlehead.
Ekagra Chitta: This is a one-pointed and trainable mind, which can practice yoga. Ekagra = one-pointed, having one point. Ekagra Chitta = laser head.
Niruddha Chitta: This is a restrained mind, most suitable for yoga practice. Niruddha = restrained. Niruddha Chitta = good head.
(Epithets are for entertainment only and no insult is intended.)
However, there are Klesas (affliction) or obstacles like avidya (ignorance), asmi-ta (egotism), rāga (desire), dvesha (aversion), and abhinivesa (tenacity to mundane existence or attachment to life). The sacred texts say there is nothing wrong in having these qualities of ignorance and ego, desire, aversion, and attachment to life. What is in error is the identification with the objects of these klesas. Let me elaborate further on these points. Ego: If one's ego succumbs to purusa (spirit), it is a good ego. Desire: if you desire for the knowledge of the self, it is a good desire. Aversion: If you have an aversion to greed, it is a good aversion. Tenacity to life: If the yogi likes life to ascend the eight angas (steps) to gain kaivalya or samādhi, it is a good life. It is the attitude and the objects of these qualities that matter. These klesas are instruments and how the yogi or a person uses them is what matters.
Buddhists have a longer list of klesas, ten of them: murder, theft, adultery, lying, slander, abuse, useless conversation, covetousness, malice, and skepticism.
4.39: With control of the senses, single-minded devotion, and faith, he gains wisdom. Having achieved that, he gains supreme peace soon.
Read commentary on Verse 36. Controlling the senses, having constant faith in the ever-maturing knowledge, and having his mind focused on it, will help an individual gain peace. Slowly he draws closer and closer to Brahman as he distances himself further and further from sense indulgence, ignorance and weak faith. Eventually he is ready for realization.
4.40: A know-nothing fool with no faith and many doubts is lost. For such a doubting soul, neither in this world nor in the world beyond, there is happiness.
Ignorance, lack of faith and many doubts are the three evils that prevent man from knowing the real nature of the self. With these handicaps, such people will enjoy neither the material world nor the next world. It is in his destiny that he will go through the cycle of births and rebirths and will be lost in the ocean of samsāra buffeted by waves of misery, with no rudder or guidance. Where is the hope that such a person will achieve peace, liberation, or moksa? Understanding Brahman is possible only by those who have the faith that "He is." "He is" means that he is the Subject and never an object, the Reality and Existence, the repository of all blessed qualities, and can be understood NOT by ordinary means or intelligence, BUT by faith, yoga and intuition. Yoga is unity of concentration and purpose to find and attain to Brahman. When a person abandons the path of desires, the path of Brahman opens.
4.41: Actions do not bind him, who has renounced his work by yoga, removed his doubts by wisdom, and owns his soul, O Dhanajaya.
4.42: Therefore, cutting apart this doubt in your heart born of ignorance with the sword of wisdom, establish yourself in yoga and stand up, O Bharata.
End of fourth chapter: The Yoga of Divine knowledge