A Mystical Interpretation of the Bhagavad Gita ( Jnanesvara)

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A Mystical Interpretation of the Bhagavad Gita (Jnanesvara)

 

This entire discussion is compiled from Bhagavdgita - Multimedia CD

(permission is obtained from the publisher for Satsang. It shouldn't be copies

or reproduced for other purposes)

 

After a review of the doctrines of the great Vedantic interpreters about the

Bhagavadgita, let us now pass on to the mystical interpretation of Jnanesvara.

Jnanesvara is not far removed even time from the " last of the Romans ", the

great Veda ntic commentators, and his interpretation is absolutely mystical

and in a way super-Vedantic. Jnanesvara was not nearly one of the greatest

saints of Maharastra, but also certainly one of the greatest interpreters of

the Bhagavadgita that have ever lived. The most distinguishing feature of his

interpretative of the Bhagavadgita is his unique combination of philosophy,

poetry and mysticism. Its philosophy is of a high order no doubt, but its

poetry is of a still higher order. And when mysticism is combined with

philosophical insight and poetical imagination, one can easily see how

Jnanesvara's interpretation of the Bhagavadgita stands supreme.

 

The eight original points of interpretation which we have selected from

Jnanesvara are these : In the first place, we shall speak of what he terms the

Sun of Absolute Reality, or a very sustained metaphor in poetico-mystical

terminology. We shall then go to the cosmological argument which has been

advanced by Jnanesvara for the existence of God. This occupies a peculiar

position in Indian philosophy, because other philosophers have not touched

this aspect of the question. In fact, it can very well be compared with the

cosmological argument as is advanced by the Western philosophers. Thirdly, we

shall see how he takes up the scheme of illusion from interpreters like

Samkaracarya, and speaks of the Flood of illusion or Mayanadi, which he

desires an a very beautiful manner in a sustained metaphor. We shall next see

how Jnanesvara tells us the way of search for God through miseries. It is

probably miseries ;themselves which take us towards God. This will be

followed by our account his excellent psychological analysis' of the eight

mystical emoú tions which a mystic experiences in his onward journey on

this Pintual path. This compares well with the description mystical emotions

in classical Sanskrit Rhetoric as well with that given by a powerful Marathi

poetsaint belonging to the line of Jnanesvara, namely Ekanatha. We shall

thereafter proceed to a very important point in Jnanesvara, namely, the

doctrine of unison which he unfolds at great length and iIl powerful terms. In

fact, this might be regarded as one of his chief contributions to the

interpretation of the Bhagavadgita, and even more than this is his original

doctrine of asymptotism, for which it would be difficult to find a parallel.

No other Indian philosopher has thought of positing such a doctrine of

asymptotism, and it is this doctrine which crowns Jnanesvara's mystical

interpretation of the Bhagavadgita. Finally, we come to a very graphic

poetical description of spiritual victory, which is obtained by a mystic

towards the end of his spiritual career.

 

The Sun of Absolute Reality

Let us begin with the sublime description of the Sun of Absolute Reality given

by Jnanesvara. We are reminded of a simile description, though not in such

poetical and owerful terms, by Plato in his Republic, when he s ask his

highest Idea, the Idea of the Good, as the Sun of the world of Ideas.

Jnanesvara has developed his conception of the Sun of Absolute Reality in

mystical terms in his Jnanesvari. There is difference between the a neat

spiritual sun and the physical sun, he says. While the physical sun makes the

phenomenal world rise into view, the spiritual sun makes it disappear

altogether. As the physical Sun eats up the celestial stars when he rises

above the horizon, the spiritual sun eats up the stars both of knowledge and

of ignorance. Janesvara proceeds to point out further resemblances as well as

differences in the working of the spiritual sun. and the physical sun. When

the spiritual sun dawns, the individual souls leave their nests, like birds,

at dawn of day and go on their spiritual pilgrimage. Varying the metaphor,

Jnanesvara tells us that the souls are like bees, which have been hitherto

pent up inside the flowers of the subtle bodies, but as soon as the day dawns

they rush out of the petale and fly into the open air, Further; intellect and

illumination have been compared by Jnanesvara to a pair of Cakravaka birds who

love each other but who are divided at night by the river of difference, They

are crying out for each other but they cannot meet. It is only when the day

dawns that they come together and there is great rejoicing. This is as much as

to say that when mystical raalisation arias, intellect and illurination meet,

The intellectual faculty and the mystical faculty, which had hitherto been

separated, now meet and there is great consonance between them. Jnanesvara

further goes on to tell us that as the spiritual sun comes above the horizon,

and as he gathers light and power and throws his rays upon the double convex

lens of our consciousness, the rays meet in a focus which burns the forests of

worldly life. Also taking another physical metaphor, Jnanesvara tells us that

as the rays of the spiritual sun pass obliquely through various strata to the

surface of the each, a mirage of occult power is produced on account of the

refraction of the rays. Let us not be tempted by these occult powers, says

Janesvara, in the course of our spiritual illumination. He gives us a further

happy metaphor when he tells us that when the spiritual sun reach the zenith,

the shadow of the bodyhides itself altogether beneath one's feat and. one

feels one's identity with the spiritual sun. Finally, Janesvara asks us " Who

is there, let me know, who has visualized this spiritual sun ? " The spiritual

sun shines so miraculously that he alone is the ultimate Reality and there is

nothing left for him to illuminate. The subject-object relation comes to an

end, he alone remains, the unity of the subject and object, the Absolute, the

 

Sun of Spiritual Reality.

Apart from the philosophical and mystical import of this passage, we have to

notice what great powers Jnanesvara had in the observation of nature. The

disappearance of the stars when the sun rises, the birds flying out of their

nests at dawn of day, the bees rushing hastily out of the blown up flowers,

the meeting of the pair of Cakravaka birds at daylight, and the disappearance

of the shadow of the body beneath the feet when .the sun exotic to the

zenith are observations elevar enough. But the two observations of nature

which Jhanesvara makes say be regarded as of extraordinary value, considering

the times in which he lived, namely, the rays of light palog .through a

double'convex lens producing a flame of fire and the rafraction of the sun's

rays through different strata producing a mirage, observations which do not

make mysticism irteompatible with scientific insight.

 

The Cosmological Argument for the Existence of God

Let us now proceed to the cosmological argument for the :existence of God,

which has bean very well developed by Janesvara. As we have said, this

argument has hardly been used by other Indian philosophers, and we must

compliment Janesvara upon having advanced this argument for the existance of

God. In fact, the cosmological argument has had a great history, as students

of philosophy know. The so-called arguments for the existence of God, the

ontological, the cosmological and the physico-theological, have all been

criticised by Kant, and he comes to the conclusion that these do not prove God

; but that God can be proved only by the moral argument which he advances in

the Critique of Practical Reason, or by the teleological argument which he

advances in the Critique of Judgment. The ontological argument has had an

excellent exponent in Descartes, which Kant mentions with respect ; but there

was no necessity for him to make a disjunction between the cosmological

argument and the physico-theological argument. The two really are connected

and not merely this, but the teleological argument about which Kant speaks in

his last critique, is also connected with both. So, on the whole, the

cosmological argument is a very important one in trying to. prove the

existence of God from the order in nature. It i.e. exactly this order in

nature which Jnanesvara stresses here. In the first place, he tells us that

God is the mover of the world. The forces of nature are merely his bond

servants. We are reminded of Aristotle's dictum that God is the unmoved mover

of the whole universe. We are also put in mind of the famous passage in the

Upanisad at " I am the mover of the tree " and so on. And the tree goes on

in its individual and universal aspects to be regulated by the mover of the

body and the mover of the world who are ultimately one. Janesvara also gives

us some illustrations in which God's cosmologicaI power is exhibited. It is

God who commands the sun to follow a particular order every day during all

months and seasons. Canute, the great king, rebuked his flattering courtiers

by pointing out to them that the order of God in nature was superior to his

own. God orders the wind to move ceaseiessly on ; He orders the earth to bear

the burden of all the creatures upon her surface. Unfortunately, sometimes

there are earthquake also, but even they are due to the Will of God. He orders

the mountains not to move from their places, and he tells the ocean not to

overstep its boundaries. So God's power pervades alI these natural forces.

Also we will not be far wrong if we say that god is the sum-total of all the

forces of nature. When we look at nature, we see that the Order which governs

it is nothing else except the Will of God. Also if we look at the matter even

physiologically, we see that our exhalations and inhala- tions are themselves

due to the Order of God, and when God desires that we should have final

exhalation, we do finally exhale and there is no further inhalation. Death is

thus itself due to the Will and Order of God. All these things show that God's

omnipotence is everyrwhere and this omnipotence is, according to Jnanesvara,

one supreme cosmological argument. for the existence of God.

 

The Flood of Illusion ( Mayanadi

Jnanesvara's description of the flood of illusion is a very wonderful one. The

concept of Maya, which Samkara had inaugurated, finds its best poetic

expression in Jnanesvara. He speaks of the course of Mayanadi which starts

from the precipice of Brahman, which he calls Brahmacala or Brahmagiri. Who

will not be reminded of the Brahmagiri mountain at Tryaubakesvara around which

Jnanegvara's father with his four children used to make peregrinations ? The

reference to the Brahmagiri seems to 15e a definite personal one. Issuing from

the precipice of Brahman, therefore, Jnanesvara tells us, as: the river moves

on, it produces bubbles in the shape of the elements which appear on its

surface. It is further augmented by the rain of the qualities. The qualities

send showers of rain into the flood and increase its flow. In this flood, as.

it moves on, there are whirlpools of hatred and windings of jealousy, and huge

fishes in the shape of moral aberrations ( Pramadas swim inside the flood.

The flood in its motion carries off the small hamlets of restraint and

self-control which are situated on its two banks; it breaks its waters upon

the island of sexual enjoyment which is a resort of a number of creatures, so

that all these creatures ultimately are destined to be drowned in that great

flood. Janesvara very intelli- gently refers to the different kinds of

Pramanas. One does not know how far he had studied Nyaya philosophy, but

certainly here he makes mention of two important Pramanas namely, reason and

scriptures and Of those who are dependent upon their reason trying to swim

across the river, no trace is left in the course of their swimming, and they

sink in the abyss of self-conceit. The sacred scriptures are merely huge

pieces of stone which a man fastens to his chest and thus being heavily laden,

he falls into the mouth of the whale of arrogance. and having been thus

disposed of, Jnanesvara tells us in a general way that other means of swimming

across the river, that is, other criteria or Pramanas are only sure ways of

destruction. Ultimately no intellectual criterion enables us to escape the

Mayanadi. Finally, if we want to cross such a terrific stream we must have a

steersman in the shape of a spiritual teacher. We must have a rudder in the

shape of devotion, which conception we take the liberty of introducing in the

description. We must travel on the sure raft of mystical experience. It is

only when these three things meet, namely, the spiritual teacher, devotion and

mystical experience, that we have the possibility of crossing that great flood

of illusion. But one very extraordinary phenomenon takes place in the course

of this flood. It disappears as soon as we begin to cross it. As we have

noticed before that when the Sun of Absolute Reality rises, there is nothing

left for him to illuminate: similarly here, in the case of the flood of

illusion, it so happens that as soon as we have begun to cross it, no water

remains to cross.

 

The Scratch of God through Miscriee

Jnanesvara's description of the search of God through miseries can hardly be

paralleled by similar descriptions, remin. ding us as it does, at two

different places of certain Hindi songs, especially the poems of Kabira, the

parallelism of which we have discussed elsewhere. Jnanesvara tells us that our

life might be regarded as a boat with a hundred holes. Kabira had spoken of

which we have discussed elsewhere in our explanation of the song Who can keep

his body bare, asks Jnanesvara, , when missiles are being hurled at him every

rnoment ? When a conflagration is raging all round, as happened once in the

Khandava-vana, who can hope to remain enclosed inside it ? ' - best endeavour

should be to get ourselves out of that conflagration as early as possible.

Then Jnanesvara tells us that life indeed might be regarded as a fair. Here

again we are reminded of another line of Kabira's song In this fair what we'

see is that wares of miseries are being spread out by the sellers, and beath,

who is one of the principal sellers, is measuring the years and the destiny of

men ; he is rationing life's years to people. Making an appeal to the heavens,

Janesvara asks " Is not the moon proverbially consumptive ? Do not the stars

rise only in order to set ? " If this happens to the heavens, why should this

not happen to men upon the earth ? In a very important discussion upon the

nature of death, Jnanesvara further tells us that at the very beginning, death

is encircling the foetus in the mother's womb. Perhaps, when a child is born

the parents hoist auspicious flags. But m the midst of happiness comes misery,

The child is really approaching death every day as it grows, and yet people

rejoice and hoist flags. People., cannot afford even to hear the word `

death'. As Spinoza has said, in the course of the life-history of man, when:

he begins to watch the track of those that have gone by, he seas no returning

footprints. All steps point towards the den of death and none returns.

Histories and mythologies consequently, says jnanesvara, are merely coll.-

tions of death-stories. Who will not be reminded of taking ourselves away from

the purview of death when all these things are taking place round about us ?

Finally, taking a beautiful metaphor from animal life, jnanesvara tells us

that a frog, which is attempting to catch at flies, is itself at the same time

being swallowed by a big boa. We in this mortal world try to aspire after many

objects, unmindful of the fact that we ourselves are at the same time being

devoured by death. The present writer had an opportunity of witnessing ( under

a microscope an analogous phenomenon in the region of the microbes, when he

saw one medium-sized microbe catching hold' of another, while at the same time

it was itself being caught up inside the circle set up by the tentacles of a

rotifera. Such is the life of creatures from protozoa upwards to the life of

the highest creatures. Wherever we look, death is encircling us and it behoves

all of' us, therefore, to return to God and to think about Him unmind- ful of

the power of death. On a contemplation of the various kinds of miseries

enumerated above, we shall see that there is no way of escape from them except

by devotion to God. Jnanesvara asks :

 

" Upon what power do these people count, that they do not try to worship Me

?.. Who has ever heard a tale of happiness in this world of mortals ? Can one

sleep with comfort on a bed of scorpions or of burning coals ?.. . . Alas,

born in this mortal world, that Arjuna, get thyself away from it ;go by the

path of Bhakti, so that thou mayest reach My immaculate home."

 

The Eight Mystical Emotions

As a man advances in his mystical experience he exhibits. various kinds of

physiological, physio-psychological reactions, which have been classified by

writers on Alankara Sastra as well as on mysticism into a number of prominent

emotional features. They are generally regarded to be eight Sattvika Bhavas;

but it is not necessary that there should be only eight, There might be many

more ; and even in regard to the eight there is no consensus of opinion among

the various writers on the science of emotions. On the whole, therefore, we

may say that the following are the chief mystical emotions that a man exhibits

in his spiritual development. Physiologically, we might say, the symptoms

which a mystic develops are horripilation, perspiration and lachrymation, this

last being particularly due to feelings inside the mind. Then there are

physio-psychological reactions such as tremor and paresis. These two are

opposed to each other and yet the mystic develops them both and exhi- bits

them at different times. As regards the psychological reactions, we have

epoch, peace and joy. Paresis physiologi- cally produces epoche

psychologically. Consequently, epoche is equivalent and conducive to peace,

while opposed to peace is joy, and the great beauty of psychological reaction

to mystical experience is that antithetical qualities become mingled together.

On the whole, therefore, the eight different mystical emotions which a man

enjoys on his spiritual march are horripilation; perspiration, lachrymation,

tremor, paresis, epoch, peace and joy. jnanesvara has given a graphic

description of these emotions in a classical passage which we quote below

 

"The duality that so long existed between the self and the world, now ceased

to exist. The mind became immediately composed. Internally there was a feeling

of joy. Externally there was a fading of the power of the limbs. From top to

toe, the aspirant became full of horripilation, as at the beginning of the:

rainy season the body of a mountain becomes overspread with grass. Drops of

sweat crept over his body, as drops of water creep on the rnoonstone, when it

is touched by the rays of the moon. As an unblown lotus swings to and fro on

the surface of the water on account of the bee which is pent up inside its

petals, similarly the body of the devotee began to shake on account of. the

feelings of internal bliss. As drops of camphor fall down when the core of the

camphor plant opens out, similarly tears of joy trickled down from his eyes.

As the sea experiences tide after tide when the moon arises, similarly his

mind experienced surge after surge of emotions. Thus all the eight Sattvika

emotions began to compete in the mind of the mystic, and he sat on the Throne

of Beatific Joy. "

 

Unison

jnanesvara has given an excellent account of the unison of a devotee with God.

He gives a good philosophical inter- pretation of it which shows what great

powers of reasoning he had. In the first place, he tells us that the chief

condition of unison is surrender. Surrender philosophically interpreted means

identification. "Be submissive unto Me ", says the Lord, " so that thou mayest

become united with Me." Unless, therefore, we surrender to God, no unison can

ultimately take place. Secondly, we have to see how Janesvara discusses the

complete annihilation of individuality which leads to a mystical unison. He

gives various illustrations to express what he means. These illustrations

might be classified as scientific, material, psychological and moral. The

mystic becomes identified with God, as space inside a pitcher becomes

identified with the space outside when the pitcher breaks. When iron and fuel,

which are material objects, come in contact with the touchstone and the fire

respectively, they are transformed into gold and conflagration. Dreams pass

into wakefulness act lose their individuality. Sin and merit likewise, which

are moral conceptions, says jnanesvara, are ultimately transfor- med into

God's Being, so that from all these points of view there is annihilation of

individuality and unison with God.

 

"To say that, when God is seen, the separate individuality of a person

remains, is this not a piece of foolish gibbering ?... Iron in its ironness

may rust, but when it has become gold by contact with the philosopher's

stone, no impurities can continue to spoil it. When fire is churned out of

sticks, the sticks will no longer remain as sticks. When the Sun has arisen,

shaIl darkness reappear? Or when wakefulness comes, shall the illusion of a

dream continue to give trouble ? Take no thought, therefore, Oh Arjuna, for

thy sin and merit shall both be transformed into My Being... From this time

onwards thou hast become free. Entertain no anxiety, therefore, and resign

thyself to Me in being united with Me.-Jna. XVIII. 1398-1416.

 

After having discussed the philosophical conception of unison, jnanesvara next

proceeds to a further one, namely, theú annihilation of difference. Is there

any difference between Eastern and Western waters, he asks. The Eastern sea

and the Western sea are only different in name. The ocean and the river cease

to be separate when the river flows into the ocean. If a piece of salt, says

Jhanesvara, tries to separate two different kinds of water, it becomes mingled

with both. Jnane- Svara gives an excellent illustration referring to Sanjaya,

who says that when he was hearing the sublime mystical conversation between

Arjuna and Krsna, he was so enraptured that he became mingled with both. In

this way, in a state of unison all. difference is annihilated. Further,

Jnanesvara tells us that in such a state, the self and God may be related to

each other as quality and substance. Ramanuja has already said so. Jnanesvara

points out that as camphor and its fragrance are not different, or a jewel and

its lustre are not different, so there is no difference left between the

individual soul and God in such a state. One becomes the quality of the other,

which is the substance, causa sui, that which exists in itself and for itself.

Janesvara goes on to his favourite metaphor of the mirror and tells us that in

the case either of single reflection or of infinite reflection, the difference

between the devotee and God vanishes. Taking the case of single reflection in

a mirror, the original and the image lose their difference. Patanjali has

spoken of The Gita speaks: of

 

In any case, the devotee sees God in his own image. The Bible says that God

created man in His image, and we may say man is paying back the debt by

creating God in his. Further, there is that sublime conception of infinite

reflection which Jnanesvara now puts forth. When two mirrors are placed, one

in front of the other, which, shall we say, reflects which ? There are

infinite reflections between the two. As a student of physics the year 1904

at the Deccan College, I used to perform this experience at in our room. Two

mirrors with two, differently colored borders, when placed against each other,

show themselves in alternately coloured infinite reflections, one into the

other. Similarly Janesvara tells us that there is no limit to the number of

reflections that take place between the devotee and God. Arjuna, tells us,

saw himself along with God in God, and God saw himself along with Arjuna in

Arjuna. This is a state of infinite reflection to which the devotee is . to

go on to two final points under this head of unison: ''First, devotional

unison and then mystical) unison. Under devotional unison, we have two

extracts from Jnanesvara, which tell us that God says whatever his devotee

utters is His praise, whatever he sees is His vision, whatever he touches is

his wor- ship, whatever he contemplates is, the chanting of His prayer, while

his sleep constitues ecstasy. Then again, being pleased with : the great

devotion of the aspirant, God says ultimately " I am he ". We are accustomed

to hear in Vedanta of the expression ` I am he ' as uttered by the realiser

; or is that expression. In the present case, however, it is God who says

: ` I am he ', that He is the devotee. The tables are turned. Whether I am He

or He is I, it does not matter. It only means there is absolute devotional

unison between the devotee and God. Finally, we find one very significant

remark in the Jnanesvari, where Janesvara speaks of the identification of the

aspiring mystic with the object of his vision :

 

Now, it has been the usual teaching of the great mystics that the forms which

they see in mystical experience are ultimately identical with themselves, and

a man has to sit in judgment upon the quality of his own mind and his own

experience by taking into account the different forms of mystical realisation

which he experiences. There is also a graded development in these forms. The

mystics teach also that such a rising dev otee must ultimately feel his

identity with his own Self. It is only then that there is perfect unison ; but

the point is that whatever a devotee mystically experiences is always an index

of his own spiritual achievement.

 

Aeymptotic Realisation

jnanesvara next makes a very original contribution to the philosophy of

mysticism. This is what might be called his doctrine of asymptotism. Under

this we shall discuss two points : (1) asymptotic realisation, and (2) the

doctrine that perfection can be attained only gradually. We are familiar with

the word ` asymptote' in mathematics. A curve and an die approaching each

other infinitely and meeting at infinity is the essence of asymptotic

approximation. What we find in the case of an aspiring mystic is that he goes

on asymptotically approaching God. That is jnanesvara's doctrine. Instead of

there being a final and perfect identity between the mystic and God, the

mystic moves towards God and so we may say that he meets God at infinity.

There is just a little difference between them. Just as there is difference

between the moon of the fourteenth day and the fullmoon of the fifteenth day,

or just as god of fifteen carats just falls short of gold of sixteen carats,

to that extent only does the devotee fall short of full divine attainment. As

one can distinguish between the sea and the river by the stillness and the

motion of the waters, similarly in the case of God and devotee also we can

make a slight distinction. " The devotee attains to the Godhead, ,falling just

short of His entire Being " ( Jna. XVIII. 108 i-90 ). The reason ,for this

approximation or asymptotic realisation is the physical, the mental and other

limitations of the mystic. So long as he has a body and a mind and has to live

in the world; to that extent and till that time he must fall short of complete

divine attainment. Even though the devotee may reach unison with God, yet he

remains a devotee. The saint remains a said so long as he has to discharge

his bodily functions. " -Jna. VII. 114,117.

 

janesvara further proceeds to talk of the gradual and graduated perfection in

the mystic. It is the time factor that counts. A man who starts on his journey

must not expect to reach the end at once. There is bound to be a time interval

between initiation and realisation. A Sadhaka who gets himself initiated by a

teacher must work and wait for attaining realisation and therefore liberation.

It will require a good deal of time before he conquers his mind and intellect,

devotes him- self entirely to God, makes possible some definite attainment in

that line and ultimately achieves divine realisation. So, initia- tion and

realisation should not be spoken of in the same breath. Perfection is only

gradual. says Mirabai. A gardener might sprinkle water upon the trees and the

plants, but it is only after the spring sets in that the trees and plants bear

fruit. Also Janesvara here makes a fine remark that the great God Samkara

Himself is only a pilgrim journeying on the spiritual path, He has just made

an approximation to the infinitude of God; and if this happens in the case of

God Samkara, far more must it happen in the case of us small mortals. .

Granted that all the preparation is made for the realisation of God, that one

meets the Guru, that the Guru imparts to him the knowledge of the true path ;

granted that the seed that is sown is the best of its kind, yet it is only in

course of time that a rich harvest can be reaped." -Jna. XVIII. 996-1008.

 

The Spiritual Victory

Janesvara closes his account of the message of the Gita in a passage which it

would be hard to surpass. In that passage he summarises the whole mystical

teaching of the Bhagavadgita ; and as this would be a fitting sequel not

merely to our discussion of the mystical philosophy of Janesvara but also to

our present part of the work, we shall end it by an account of janesvara"s

powerful mystical description of the ultimate victory of a spiritual warrior.

This victory could be looked at in four stages of development. First, the

accoutrements of the warrior ; second, the battlefield of life ; third, the

imperial procession after conquest and the last, the coronation of the mystic

on the Throne of Unitive Life. regards the accoutrements, Janesvara tells us

that such - a developing mystic mounts the steed of Rajayoga, puts on the

armour of dispassion and holds the sword of concentration in his hand.

Epuipped with these accoutrements, he proceeds to the battlefield of life.

Into the battlefield itself he moves like the Sun into darkness, and cuts to

pieces all the different enemies, such as at and which jnanesvara mentions

by name. All this is dune ultimately for the sake of winning the bride of

liberation;

 

Similarly a great Kannada poet-saint has spoken of the mystic as marrying the

Maid of Liberation, . So when the battle is won, liberation is attained. Then

we go on to see how Jnanesvara describes the mystic's procession on the

imperial road. Virtues such as and the rest, which have been enumerated in

the Bhagavadgita, all now act as vassals and move along with the victorious

warrior as his retinue. The so-called Yoga-Bhumikgs, the different stages of

Yogic development and all the powers and prosperities, , assemble in thousands

in order to see the spectacle and shower flowers on the mystic who is now soon

to be crowned king, Ultimately, the coronation takes place, the drum of

victory is beaten, attainment of Swarajya, which word has been specially

mentioned by Jnanesvara, proclaimed. All the three worlds become filled with

joy. such a state of beatification, the banner of self-identity is unfurled,

as is seen in the case of all victorious achievements. In the present case, it

must be remembered, the banner is of self-identity, identity of self with God.

And finally, when all this has been accomplished by the mystic, he is crowned

king on the Throne of Spiritual Experience. parallels in the mystical

literature's of India, and elsewhere.

[Guest guest]

Namaste,

 

Just wanted to add that this is a chapter from the book by

Gurudev Ranade, The BhagavadGita as A Philosophy of Self-Realisation.

 

Regards,

 

s.

 

 

advaitin , Ram Chandran <rchandran@c...> wrote:

> Hari Om:

>

> It seems that so many are interested in Jnanaesvara's Mystical

Interpretation

> of the Bhagavad Gita and here is a nice compilation. Enjoy!

>

> regards,

>

> Ram Chandran

>

>

> =============================================

> A Mystical Interpretation of the Bhagavad Gita (Jnanesvara)

>

> This entire discussion is compiled from Bhagavdgita - Multimedia CD

> (permission is obtained from the publisher for Satsang. It

shouldn't be copies

> or reproduced for other purposes)

>