Bhagawad Gita Ch.4 Ver.1-7 [Swamy Chinmayananda]

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atha chaturtho.adhyaayaH. (GYaanakarmasa.nnyaasayogaH)

 

Now the Fourth chapter, called "gyAnakarma sanyAsayOga"

 

shriibhagavaanuvaacha .

 

imaM vivasvate yogaM prok{}tavaanahamavyayam.h .

vivasvaanmanave praaha manurikshvaakave.abraviit.h .. 4\.1..

 

The Blessed Lord said: 1. I taught this Imperishable YOGA to Vivasvan;

Vivasvan taught it to Manu; Manu taught it to Ikshvaku.

 

As we said in our introduction to this chapter, the Lord is making an open

statement, that what He had been saying so far was nothing other than an

intelligent reiteration of what is the content of the immortal Vedas.

Inspired by a Divine remembrance, the Lord declares that He Himself, at the

very beginning of creation, imparted the Knowledge of the Vedas to the Sun,

and later on, the Sun-god conveyed it to his son, Manu, the ancient

law-giver of India. Manu, in his turn, declared it to Ikshvaku, the ancestor

of the Solar-dynasty that ruled over Ayodhya for a long period of time.

 

The word "Veda" is derived from the root Vid, "to know"; Veda, therefore,

means 'Knowledge.' The 'Knowledge' of divinity lurking in man and the

technique by which it can be brought out to full manifestation are the theme

of the Veda text-books, and the Truth of this theme is eternal.

 

Just as we can say that electricity is eternal, as there was electricity

even before the first scientist discovered it, and electrical energy will

not be exhausted because of our forgetfulness of its existence, so too the

divine nature of man will never be destroyed because of our non-assertion of

it. The knowledge of the divine content and its possibilities in man are

indeed eternal.

 

The creation of the universe, it is accepted even by modern science, must

have started with the Sun. As the source of all energy, the Sun was the

first of the created objects, and with its very creation, this Great

Knowledge of the Self was given out to the world.

 

The theme of Vedic literature being the subjective divinity, language fails

to express it completely. No deep experience can be exhaustively expressed

in words. Therefore a study of the scriptures by one's own self is apt to

create misunderstandings in the mind of the student, rather than a right

appreciation of it. Thus it is a time-honoured tradition in India that

spiritual lessons are directly heard from a true Master, who has vivid inner

experiences in the realm of the Spirit. It has been handed down from Master

to disciple and we have been given here the identity of the earliest

students of Brahma-Vidya.

 

 

evaM paramparaapraap{}tamimaM raajarshhayo viduH .

sa kaaleneha mahataa yogo nashhTaH para.ntapa .. 4\.2..

 

2. This knowledge, handed down thus in regular succession, the royal sages

knew. This YOGA, by long lapse of time, has been lost here, O Parantapa

(burner of the foes) .

 

This Yoga, the Yoga in which the Vedic teachings regarding activity

(Pravritti) and retirement (Nivritti) are comprehended, thus handed down in

regular succession among the "Royal sages," has its own destinies. At

certain periods of history, this Knowledge seems to be readily available for

the service of mankind, but at certain other periods of history it falls

into disuse and becomes, as it were defunct. The golden era of spirituality

dies down to inaugurate the dark ages of undivine life. At such periods of

monstrous materialism, the generation is not left in neglect to suffer and

groan under its own negative values. For, at that time, some great master

appears on the horizon to inspire, to encourage and to lead the generation

away from the ruts of sorrow onto the highroads of cultural revival.

Krishna rightly evaluates the period of the Mahabharata and declares: "THIS

YOGA, BY LONG LAPSE OF TIME, HAS BEEN LOST HERE."

 

SEEING THAT THE "YOGA" HAD BEEN LOST BY FALLING INTO THE HANDS OF THE WEAK,

WHO COULD NOT CONTROL THEIR SENSES, AND SEEING THAT THE GENERATION HAD NOT

BEEN ABLE TO ATTAIN THE OBJECT OF LIFE, THE LORD ADDS THE FOLLOWING:

 

sa evaayaM mayaa te.adya yogaH prok{}taH puraatanaH .

bhak{}to.asi me sakhaa cheti rahasyaM hyetaduttamam.h .. 4\.3..

 

 

3. That same ancient "YOGA" has been to-day taught to you by Me, for you are

My devotee and My friend. This is a Supreme secret.

With a direct statement in the style of an open confession, Krishna is here

removing all possible misgivings of the orthodox, by insisting that the

Truth he has declared in the last chapter... Karma Yoga... is nothing other

than the same ancient Yoga.

 

A Master can feel really inspired and instruct efficiently, only when he

establishes a certain type of affectionate rapport with the students.

Krishna finds that his friend Arjuna is fully devoted to Him, and that he

will certainly follow the "Path" indicated by Him. The relationship between

teacher and taught should not be a mere commercial arrangement of

"you-pay-and-I-teach." Mind and intellect blossom forth only in a warmer

climate of love and freedom, friendship and mutual understanding. These

qualities required for a healthy transference of the subjective knowledge

were found in full measure in Arjuna and therefore, Krishna says 'I taught

you' this Yoga in the earlier chapter.

 

The secrecy mentioned here only indicates that a man, however wise he might

be, may not come to suspect the existence of the Atman in himself without

being so advised by a man of Experience. The Self being that which is beyond

the intellect, (III-41) the reasoning capacity in a man cannot come to

suspect the existence of an Eternal, Changeless, Conscious Principle,

subtler than the intellect, ever illumining the thoughts rising in the very

intellect. Hence, this Science of Truth is called here as the Supreme

secret."

 

IN ORDER NOT TO LEAVE IN ANYBODY'S MIND AN IMPRESSION THAT ANY INCONSISTENT

STATEMENT HAS BEEN MADE BY THE LORD, ARJUNA ASKS, AS THOUGH RAISING AN

OBJECTION:

 

arjuna uvaacha .

 

aparaM bhavato janma para.n janma vivasvataH .

kathametadvijaaniiyaa.n tvamaadau prok{}tavaaniti .. 4\.4..

 

 

Arjuna said: 4. Later was Your birth, and prior was the birth of Vivaswan

(Sun) ; how am I to understand that You taught this YOGA in the beginning?

 

There is a palpable anachronism in the opening stanza of this chapter.

Krishna says that he taught this Eternal Truth to Lord Sun in the beginning

of creation. It was quite natural for Arjuna to think of Krishna as the son

of Devaki, the Flute-bearer of Gokula. To Arjuna, his charioteer Krishna had

a definite date of birth, and was only his own contemporary. Therefore,

Krishna Himself could not have advised the Sun, who, by all calculations, is

the one who manifested in nature much earlier than all the planetary worlds.

 

 

TO REMOVE FROM THE MINDS OF THE HASTY READERS THE POSSIBLE MISUNDERSTANDING

THAT KRISHNA, THE SON OF DEVAKI, IS THE SPEAKER OF THE GEETA, VYASA MAKES

THE BLESSED LORD DECLARE THE FOLLOWING:

 

shriibhagavaanuvaacha .

 

bahuuni me vyatiitaani janmaani tava chaarjuna .

taanyahaM veda sarvaaNi na tvaM vettha para.ntapa .. 4\.5..

 

 

The Blessed Lord said: 5. Many births of Mine have passed as well as yours,

O Arjuna; I know them all but you know them not, O Parantapa (scorcher of

foes) .

 

The scriptural masters of the Hindus exhibit an infinite amount of patience

and understanding, which almost amounts to an intellectual daring, and they

readily come out to satisfy all possible doubts of all the students. Here we

find Krishna trying to explain how He was the very Infinite in His Real

Nature and that He had Himself, in the very beginning of creation, given out

Brahma-Vidya to Lord Sun.

 

In this section we find an exhaustive discussion of the "theory of

incarnation" (Avatara), as propounded in the Pauranic literature. To many

foreigners, this portion of the Hindu philosophy and belief has been very

confusing, and many of them have expressed such opinions about it; and,

perhaps, none has put it so vehemently as Max Mueller.

 

But, when we try to understand it with a sufficient background of the

Vedantic concept of creation, it is not very difficult for us to follow the

idea. We have elsewhere explained in the "Fall of Man" how, when the

Infinite Reality functions through 'unactivity' (Sattwa), we have the

concept of the God-Principle. Later on in this section, Krishna Himself

explains how He, in all freedom, takes upon Himself the matter-envelopments

and plays the game of the Immortal among the mortals --- but all the time

Himself being ever conscious of His own complete Divine Nature.

 

Not a single mortal embodiment can be the result of sheer accident. Every

man comes to the field of the world only as a result of his evolutionary

progress, even according to the Darwinian theory. Each embodied life

indicates a long autobiography of that ego, and it is only after a long

chain of existence in different forms that it has at last reached its

present destination. In each life, as soon as the ego expresses itself in

its given field of activity, it, fortunately, forgets the entire past, and

carries with it only a distinct flavour (vasana) thereof. But a Master-mind

like Lord Krishna, in His Divine Omniscience, understands that both He and

Arjuna had been through many vicissitudes of existence, and that "I KNOW

THEM ALL WHILE YOU KNOW THEM NOT."

 

"HOW THEN CAN YOU, THE ETERNAL LORD, HAVE A BIRTH IN THE ABSENCE OF DHARMA

AND ADHARMA?" LISTEN:

 

ajo.api sannavyayaatmaa bhuutaanaamiishvaro.api san.h .

prakR^iti.n svaamadhishhThaaya saMbhavaamyaatmamaayayaa .. 4\.6..

 

6. Though I am unborn and am of imperishable nature, and though I am the

Lord of all beings, yet, ruling over My own Nature, I take birth by My own

MAYA.

 

Here is the most daring and original thought of Vyasa, we may say,

throughout the entire Geeta. The Supreme, on account of His unquestioned

freedom, by His own perfectly free will, takes upon Himself the conditioning

of matter, and manifests Himself in a particular embodiment in the world,

for serving the deluded generation of that time. To the Lord, His

'ignorance'is but a pose assumed, not a fact lived. A mortal becomes

victimised by his Avidya, while the Lord is Master of His Maya. A driver is

bound by his duty to the vehicle, while the owner of the vehicle is Lord of

it. He uses the vehicle for his purposes, and whenever he reaches his

immediate destination, he leaves the vehicle with all freedom, and enjoys

his own independent activities. But, the poor driver, bound to the vehicle,

will have to guard it against intruders and serve the vehicle as its

servant. The Lord uses the matter-envelopments and their limitations as a

convenience and as a set of necessary tools in His game of protecting the

creation.

 

Thus, though the Lord is Unborn and Changeless in His Nature, and ever a

Lord of matter, yet, keeping His Maya perfectly under His own control, He

comes into the world, through His own free will. All the time He is fully

conscious of His own Divine status and unchallenged prerogative. He does not

come into being as others do, compelled by His past Karma, to live here in

the world under the thraldom of Nature. He is not bound by His mental

temperaments but He is ever free from the mischiefs of His own Maya.

 

You ask your servant to take your heavy motor-cycle to the nearby garage for

refilling it. If you watch him doing it you will have some idea of what the

Lord is trying to express here. To that poor man, the unwieldy machine is a

calamity, a suffering. To push it across the road is a risky adventure for

him, because the machine, by its own weight, guides him, he being powerless

to assert his mastery over it. On the other hand, if you yourself were to

ride, or push, the motor-cycle, you can joyously, and easily, do so. The

vehicle remaining the same, in your hands it becomes a slave to carry you,

while the poor servant was being dragged by the clumsy weight of the heavy

machine!

 

To an ordinary man who is ignorant of the working of his vehicle, it becomes

a painful agony and a difficult responsibility to make use of these

instruments. To the Lord, the world is no problem, and His personal

equipments and their appetites are always perfectly under His own control.

He comes to lord over every situation.

 

This perfect freedom of a God-man could not have been more beautifully

brought out in so few words as in these incomparable lines.

 

"WHEN AND FOR WHAT PURPOSE IS THE INFINITE SO BOUND?".. THE ANSWER FOLLOWS:

 

yadaa yadaa hi dharmasya glaanirbhavati bhaarata .

abhyutthaanamadharmasya tadaatmaanaM sR^ijaamyaham.h .. 4\.7..

 

7. Whenever there is a decay of righteousness, O Bharata, and a rise of

unrighteousness, then I manifest Myself.

 

"Whenever there is a decline of Dharma, I create for Myself a body." The

term Dharma has already been exhaustively explained. Dharma, "The Law of

Being" is a sacred truth, and when the majority of the members of a

community do not obey this great Truth, there is a conquest of the world by

a herd of biped-animals, and not a co-operative happily-living family of

men, pursuing life in their full dignity as intelligent social beings. In

all such dark periods of history, some great Master comes to present himself

as the leader of men to revive 'the-standard-of-life' and its moral values.

This is generally done, not only by giving a fillip to the existing nobler

values, but also by a corresponding policy of total elimination of the

wicked.

 

It is for this purpose that the Infinite, from time to time, wears the

"matter-apparel" and appears on the scene of activity, like the owner of an

estate, who now and then puts on his gumboots to inspect and reorganise his

estate. Even while he is on the work-spot, in the burning sun, among his

workers, he is conscious of his lordship over, and ownership of, the entire

estate. Similarly, the Supreme, which is the substratum for the pluralistic

world, puts on the body-gown and, as it were, walks into the dusky

atmosphere of the immoral life of mankind, for the purpose of re-organising

and conducting a thorough spring-cleaning of the bosom of man.

 

In the descent of God explained here, it is very clearly said that the Lord

takes upon Himself, a body, projected for the purpose by Himself, and that

He reserves for Himself the Divine freedom to be

IN it, and yet not OF it: "THEN I BODY MYSELF FORTH."

FOR WHAT PURPOSE ?