Bhagawad Gita Ch.4 Ver. 23-29 [Swamy Chinmayananda]

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TO EXPLAIN THE DIVINE MOTIVE AND ATTITUDE WITH WHICH

MEN-OF-PERFECTION ACT IN THE WORLD, THE FOLLOWING NINE

STANZAS ARE DECLARED BY THE LORD:

 

gatasaN^gasya muk{}tasya GYaanaavasthitachetasaH .

yaGYaayaacharataH karma samagraM praviliiyate ..

4\.23..

 

23. Of one who is devoid of attachment, who is

liberated, whose mind is established in knowledge, who

acts for the sake of sacrifice, all his actions are

dissolved.

 

A Man-of-Wisdom has been fully comprehended in the

first line of this stanza. The qualifications are

beautifully enumerated serially and they themselves

explain the "Path-to-Perfection." Economy of words is

the very essence of the style in all Scriptural books.

Even so, they are particularly careful to use the most

suggestive terms for their purpose and take an

artistic joy in ordering the very sequence of the

words used; here is a brilliant example of it.

 

DEVOID OF ATTACHMENT (Gatasangah) --- The divinity

attained by the Rishis is not a new status strangely

acquired by them from some unknown and secret

quarters. It is only a rediscovery of the Perfection

that is already in each one. We are self-exiled from

ourselves due to our attachments with the finite

world-of-objects. Thus a "wise" man is he, from whom

all his attachments with the finite things of the

world have dropped away.

 

LIBERATED (Muktah) --- The majority of seekers have

only a vague idea of what this "liberation" means. The

bondages are created upon our personality and life by

none other than ourselves. These bondages, infinite in

their number, are produced by the subtle chords of our

own attachments with things. The deluded ego feels

fulfilled only through the world-of-objects. Thus, as

a body, it gets attached to the world of its

sense-objects; as a mind it lives enslaved to the

world of emotions; and as an intellect, it gets bound

with its own ideas.

 

WITH MIND CENTRED IN KNOWLEDGE

(Jnana-avasthita-chetasah) --- The above phenomenon of

perfect detachment, which produces a sense of complete

liberation, can be accomplished only when the mind of

the seeker gets centred in right discriminative

knowledge and develops for itself a capacity to

distinguish between the permanent and the impermanent,

the fleeting and the lasting.

 

A Perfect Sage, who has thus cut himself free from all

attachments, with his mind well-balanced under the

light of his own "Wisdom," becomes completely

liberated from the chains of all moral debilities,

ethical imperfections, and sensuous appetites. Such a

Sage too performs work for the rest of his life in his

perfected manifestations. Krishna says that all such

activities undertaken and performed by him are ever

done in a spirit of 'dedicated activity' (Yajna). When

a Sage thus functions in a spirit of Yajna, that

action itself does not and cannot produce any

reaction, or forging of thicker bondages with

newly-formed vasanas.

 

The term 'Yajna,' borrowed from our scriptures, is

employed here by Krishna to yield a more elaborate

sense implying a wider and a more universal

application. In the Geeta, the Vedic Yajna has become

"a self-dedicated activity performed in a spirit of

service to the many." All actions, performed without

ego, and not motivated by one's ego-centric desires,

fall under the category of Yajna.

 

All through the NEXT SIX STANZAS we get an enumeration

of something like twelve different Yajnas which can be

practised by everybody, on all occasions, in every

field, under all conditions.

When a sage of the description given in the stanza,

performs actions in a spirit of Yajna, they dissolve

away without leaving any impression upon his mind,

just as the rainbow that disappears when the thin

shower falling against the sunlight ends.

 

IF THIS BE SO, THE QUESTION ARISES --- " FOR WHAT

REASON THEN DO ALL ACTIONS WHICH HE PERFORMS ENTIRELY

DISSOLVE, WITHOUT PRODUCING THEIR NATURAL RESULTS?"

LISTEN WHY IT IS SO:

 

brahmaarpaNaM brahma haviH brahmaagnau brahmaNaa

hutam.h .

brahmaiva tena gantavyaM brahma karma samaadhinaa ..

4\.24..

 

 

24. BRAHMAN is the oblation; BRAHMAN is the clarified

butter, etc. , constituting the offerings; by BRAHMAN

is the oblation poured into the fire of BRAHMAN;

BRAHMAN verily shall be reached by him who always sees

BRAHMAN in all actions.

 

This is a famous stanza which is chanted throughout

India as a prayer at the table before the Hindus eat

their meals, although, today, ninety per cent of those

who chant this stanza before their meals do not

understand or care to follow its meaning. All the same

it contains infinite suggestions and almost summarises

the entire philosophic content of Vedanta.

 

The Infinite Reality, which is the changeless

substratum behind and beneath the changing panorama of

the world, is indicated by the Vedic term Brahman, and

this is contrasted with that aspect of Truth which

functions in and through the body as the Atman. But

though the Eternal Truth has been thus indicated by

two different terms, Vedanta roars that "The Atman is

Brahman."

 

The metaphor is borrowed from the very well-known

divine ritualism of the Vedas, the Yajnas. In every

Yajna there are four essential factors --- (1) the

deity invoked to whom the oblations are offered, (2)

the fire in which the offerings are poured, (3) the

material things that constitute the offerings and (4)

the individual who is performing the Yajna.

 

Here the stanza explains the mental attitude and the

experience of the Perfect-Sage when he performs the

Yajna. To him Truth alone exists and not the delusory

plurality which his erstwhile ignorance had conjured

up for him in his mind. Therefore, to him, all Yajnas

arise from Brahman; (III-14, 15) in which Brahman, the

Truth, is the performer; offering Brahman, the

material; to the sacred fire, which is also nothing

other than Brahman; invoking but Brahman. When one

wave jumps over another and breaks itself upto embrace

and become one with its comrade, we, who know that

"all waves are nothing but the ocean," can certainly

understand that in this act of union between two waves

nothing has happened except that the ocean rising over

the ocean, broke itself to become one with the ocean!!

 

 

If an individual can thus see the substratum, or the

essential nature, in and through, all names and forms,

actions and behaviours, to him, irrespective of all

conditions and circumstances, all beings and things

are but a remembrance of the Infinite Blissful Truth.

If actions are performed by a Saint, invoking no deity

other than Brahman, "ALL HIS ACTIONS DISSOLVE AWAY"

because he is invoking but the One Truth through all

his actions.

 

The significance of the stanza as "a prayer to be said

before food" is amply self-evident. To live we must

eat. Food is necessary for existence. Whatever be the

type of food, when one is hungry one will enjoy one's

meals. The suggestion is that even at this moment of

natural enjoyment, we are not to forget the great

Truth that it is Brahman eating Brahman, and that

during our meals we are offering to Brahman, the food

that is Brahman, invoking nothing but the grace of

Brahman. To keep this idea constantly in the mind is

to get perfectly detached from the enjoyment and raise

ourselves to a greater and endless beatitude which is

the reward of Super-manhood.

 

AFTER REPRESENTING THE VERY SPIRIT IN ALL "YAJNAS,"

THE LORD IS TRYING TO SHOW ARJUNA HOW ALL THROUGH

LIFE, ALL OUR ACTIONS CAN BE CONVERTED TO BECOME A

"YAJNA." RIGHT KNOWLEDGE ("BHAVANA") MAKES EVERY ACT A

"YAJNA." LISTEN:

 

daivamevaapare yaGYa.n yoginaH paryupaasate .

brahmaagnaavapare yaGYaM yaGYenaivopajuhvati ..

4\.25..

 

25. Some YOGIS perform sacrifice to DEVAS alone

(DEVA-YAJNA) ; while others offer "sacrifice" as

sacrifice by the Self, in the Fire of BRAHMAN

(BRAHMA-YAJNA) .

 

In the following few stanzas, Lord Krishna is

explaining the mental attitude of a Saint-at-Work. One

doubt is generally raised by every intelligent student

at all times. The spiritual experience, no doubt, can

be had when the seeker in meditation transcends even

his intellect. But then, this transcendental

experience is bound to remain only for a limited time.

The "Realised-Saint" is found working in the world,

sometimes, in an elaborate fashion, like a Buddha or a

Christ; in some cases he works in a limited fashion,

like a Ramana Maharshi, and at certain moments he may

not undertake any activity at all, but merely continue

living among the world-of-objects. Now the doubt is:

"what would be the mental attitude of such a

Perfect-Master when he comes in contact with the world

and functions in it?"

A Yogi is one who is always trying, through all the

means that are in him, to raise himself from his state

of physical, mental and intellectual imperfections to

a more perfect state of existence. In this sense of

the term it would be unjust to read into the stanza

merely the obvious meaning.

 

The word "Deva" comes from a root, meaning

'illumination.' Subjectively viewed, the greatest

"Devas" are the five sense organs: eyes illumining

forms and colours, ears illumining sounds, the nose

illumining smells, and the tongue and the skin

illumining tastes and touches. Seekers, and

Perfected-Masters (Yogis) too, when they move in the

world, no doubt perceive sense-objects through sense

stimuli. But in their understanding and experience,

perception is but "a world of sense-objects

continuously offering themselves into the fires of his

perception in order to invoke the Devas

(Sense-perceptions)." Such seekers and masters walk

out into life, and when they come across the sense

world, they only recognise and experience that the

world-of-objects is paying a devoted tribute to the

powers of sense-perceptions!

 

When this mental attitude is entertained constantly by

a seeker he comes to feel completely detached from the

sense experiences and, irrespective of the quality of

experience, he is able to maintain a constant sense of

inward equanimity.

 

As contrasted with this method (Deva-Yajna) there are

others who perform Brahma-Yajna, says Krishna, wherein

they come to "OFFER THE SELF AS A SACRIFICE BY THE

SELF IN THE FIRE OF THE SELF." This statement becomes

perfectly clear when subjectively analysed and

understood. As long as we exist in the body

manifestation, we have to come across the world of

sense-objects. The outer-world can yield to us its joy

or sorrow not by itself but only as a result of our

healthy or unhealthy attitude towards it. The objects

in themselves are impotent to give us either joy or

sorrow.

 

The Perfect Masters understand that the sense-organs

are only INSTRUMENTS-of-perception and that they can

work only when in contact with the Supreme, the Atman.

In this true understanding all Masters live, allowing

the sense-organs to sacrifice themselves in the

Knowledge-of-Brahman. Seekers also are, by this

statement, advised as to how they too can gain a

certain amount of freedom from their senses by

dedicating their sense-life in the service of the

world. When an individual's sense-organs of perception

and action are to function and act --- not for his own

ego-centric, selfish satisfactions but for the sake of

serving the society or the world --- then, even if

such an individual lives in the world-of-objects he

will not be enslaved by his attachments to his

possessions.

 

AFTER THUS ENUMERATING THE "DEVA-YAJNA" AND THE

"BRAHMA-YAJNA," LORD KRISHNA EXPOUNDS TWO MORE METHODS

IN THE FOLLOWING:

 

shrotraadiiniindriyaaNyanye sa.nyamaagnishhu juhvati .

shabdaadiinvishhayaananya indriyaagnishhu juhvati ..

4\.26..

 

 

26. Some again offer hearing and other senses as

sacrifice in the fires-of-restraint; others offer

sound and other objects of sense as sacrifice in the

fires-of-the-senses.

 

SOME OTHER GREAT MASTERS OFFER HEARING AND OTHER

SENSES IN THE FIRES-OF-RESTRAINT all these

Yajnas described, the metaphor is taken from the most

familiar ritualism known at the time to Arjuna.

Oblations were offered, in Vedic ritualism, into the

sacred-fire in order to invoke the blessings of the

deity. In these examples, we are shown how when some

materials are offered into a sacred-fire, not only the

oblations get burnt up and consumed by the fire, but

also, as a result, a great blessing accrues. Here, it

is said that some Masters live on in life constantly

offering their senses into the fire-of-self-control,

so that the senses, of their own accord get burnt up,

contributing a greater freedom and joy in the inner

life of the man. It is also a fact, very well

experienced by all of us, that the more we try to

satisfy the sense-organs the more riotous they become

and loot away our inner joy. By self-control alone can

the sense-organs be fully controlled and mastered.

This is yet another method shown to the seekers by

which they can come to experience and live a more

intense life of deeper meditation.

 

If in this method the "Path-of-Sense-control" is

indicated, in the second line the

"Path-of-Mind-control" is suggested. The mind is

sustained and fed by the stimuli that reach it from

the outer world. The sense-objects perceived by the

organs create and maintain the mind. The mind can

never function in a field which cannot be interpreted

in terms of the five types of sense-objects.

Therefore, to make the mind non-receptive to the

perceptions of the Indriyas is a method by which one

can gain a better poise in life for purposes of

meditation. Such an individual who has controlled the

mind completely and withdrawn it totally from the

sense-centres is indicated here when the Lord says:

"OTHERS OFFER SOUND AND OTHER OBJECTS IN THE FIRES OF

THE SENSES."

 

If the former method is a technique of controlling the

stimuli at the very gateway of the senses, the latter

is a different technique of controlling the same from

the inner, and therefore more subtle, level of

perception, called the mind.

 

AFTER THUS EXPLAINING THESE FOUR METHODS, YET ANOTHER

TECHNIQUE HAS BEEN PROPOUNDED BY THE LORD IN THE

FOLLOWING STANZA:

 

sarvaaNiindriyakarmaaNi praaNakarmaaNi chaapare .

aatmasa.nyamayogaagnau juhvati GYaanadiipite ..

4\.27..

 

27. Others again sacrifice all the functions of the

senses and the functions of the breath (vital energy)

in the fire of the YOGA of self-restraint, kindled by

knowledge.

 

ALL THE ACTIVITIES OF THE SENSE-ORGANS

(JNANA-INDRIYAS), AND THE ORGANS OF ACTION

(PRANA-INDIRYAS) ARE OFFERED INTO THE KNOWLEDGE

KINDLED-FIRE OF RIGHT UNDERSTANDING --- Control of the

ego by the better understanding of the Divine Reality

is called here as the "Yoga-of-Self-restraint'

(ATMA-SAMYAMA-YOGA).

 

The "Path-of-Discrimination" (Vichara) lies through a

constant attempt at distinguishing between the limited

lot of the ego and the divine destinies of the Spirit.

Having discriminated thus, to live more and more as

the Self, and not as the ego, is to "RESTRAIN THE SELF

BY THE SELF (Atma-Samyama)." By this process, it is

evident how the mad ramblings of the organs of

perceptions and actions can be completely restrained

and entirely conquered.

 

EXHAUSTING THE ABOVE-MENTIONED FIVE DIFFERENT

TECHNIQUES, AS THOUGH TO BRING TO THE UNDERSTANDING OF

ARJUNA, THAT A HUNDRED OTHER METHODS CAN BE INDICATED,

KRISHNA ENUMERATES IN HASTE FIVE MORE DIFFERENT

METHODS IN THE FOLLOWING STANZA:

 

dravyayaGYaastapoyaGYaa yogayaGYaastathaapare .

svaadhyaayaGYaanayaGYaashcha yatayaH sa.nshitavrataaH

... 4\.28..

 

28. Others again offer wealth, austerity and YOGA as

sacrifice, while the ascetics of self-restraint and

rigid vows offer study of scriptures and knowledge as

sacrifice.

 

OFFERING OF WEALTH (Dravya-Yajna) --- Sacrifice of

wealth is to be understood in its largest connotation.

Charity and distribution of honestly acquired wealth,

in a sincere spirit of devotion to and in the service

of the community, or of the individual who is the

recipient of the benevolence, is called Dravya-Yajna.

This includes more than a mere offering of money or

food.

 

The term Dravya includes everything that we possess,

not only in the world outside but also in our worlds

of emotions and ideas. To pursue thus a life of

charity, serving the world as best as we can, with all

that we possess physically, mentally and

intellectually is the noble sacrifice called "Wealth

sacrifice."

In order to perform this it is not at all necessary

that the devotee should be materially rich. Even if we

are poor and physically DEBILITATED, from our bed of

pain and penury, we can still be charitable, because

our inner treasurers of love, kindness, sympathy and

affection, do not at all depend either upon our

material circumstances nor on our physical condition.

Sometimes, a word of sincere sympathy, a look of love,

a smile of true affection, or a word registering true

friendship, can give to the receiver more than a

heartless cheque, even if it be for a very fat sum.

 

Tapo-yajna --- Some live, offering unto their Lord, a

life of austerity. There is no religion in the world

which does not prescribe, by some method or the other,

periods of austere living. These austerities (Vratas)

are invariably undertaken in the name of the Lord. It

is very well-known that the Lord of Compassion, who

feeds and sustains even the lowliest of the low, can

gain no special joy because of a devotee's

self-denial. But it is generally done in a spirit of

dedication, so that the seeker might achieve some

self-control. This activity, in some extreme cases

very painful indeed, is undertaken in order that the

devotee may learn to control himself in his

sense-life.

 

Yoga-yajna --- An earnest attempt of the lesser in us

to grow into a better standard of diviner living, is

called Yoga. In this attempt, devoted worship of the

Lord-of-the-heart, called Upasana, is a primary

method. This worship and love, offered to the

Lord-of-the-heart, when performed without any desire

or motive, is also called Yoga, since it directly

hastens the seeker's self-development.

 

Swadhyaya-yajna --- The daily deep study of the

scriptures is called Swadhyaya. Without a complete

study of the scriptures we will not be in a position

to know the logic of what we are doing in the name of

spiritual practice, and without this knowledge our

practices cannot gain the edge and the depth that are

essential for sure progress. Thus, in all religions,

the daily study of the scriptures is insisted upon, as

an essential training during the seeker's early days.

Even after Self-realisation, we find that the Sages

spend all their spare-time reading and contemplating

upon the inexhaustible wealth of details and

suggestions in the scriptures.

 

In its subjective implications, Swadhyaya means

"self-study including the art of introspection pursued

for understanding our own inner weaknesses." If, in

the case of a seeker, it is a technique of estimating

his own spiritual progress, in the case of a Seer, it

will be for revelling in his own Self.

 

Jnana-yajna --- The Sacrifice-of-Knowledge: this word

has very often been used in the Geeta and it

constitutes one of the many original terms coined out

by Vyasa to beautify the Lord's declarations. The

"Sacrifice-of-Knowledge" is the term given to that

activity in man by which he renounces all his

ignorance into the fire-of-knowledge kindled BY him,

IN him. This is constituted of two aspects; negation

of the false, and assertion of the Real Nature of the

Self. These two activities are effectively undertaken

during the seeker's meditation.

 

All these five methods of Self-development --- "

sacrifice-of-wealth,austerity,Yoga,study" and

"knowledge" --- can be practised with profit only by

those who are men of "rigid determination" and who can

find in themselves an inexhaustible enthusiasm to

apply themselves consistently to reach this great

goal. It is not sufficient that we know these paths,

or that we decide to gain these developments. Progress

in spirituality can come only to one who is "sincere

and consistent in his practices" (Yatayah).

 

IN THE FOLLOWING VERSE KRISHNA EXPLAINS PRANAYAMA AS

YET ANOTHER METHOD, THE ELEVENTH IN THE SERIES:

 

 

 

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