GitaSatsang Chapter 6 : Swami Dayananda Saraswati's Commentary

[Guest guest]

Namaste:

 

This electronic version of the commentary was provided for the Advaitin List

by Pujya Swami Dayananda Saraswati through Swamini Brahmapriyanandaji. On

behalf of all of you Sri Sunderji and I want to express our thanks to Arsha

Vidyakurukulam for their assistance. These notes were prepared by Swamiji for

the Bhagavad Gita Homestudy Course and they are available for sale at the

Arshavidya Gurukulam. Those who want to study Gita within the framework of

Advaita Philosophy will find these notes quite valuable.(Website Address:

http://www.arshavidya.org/ )

 

Three Hindu Scriptures Upanishads, Brahmansuutras and Gita are often quoted

for understanding Advaita Philosophy. These Scriptures describe mostly the

philosophical aspects of Hinduism. This may explain why the list focuses on

Brahmasuutras (coordinated by Sadanandaji ably assisted by Sunderji and

Dennisji) and BhagavadGita (coordinated by Sri Sunder and Sri Madhava). This

focus is necessary so that we have both direction and guidance for spiritual

progress.

 

regards,

 

Ram Chandran

 

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Swamiji Dayananda Saraswati's Commentary of Gita, Chapter 6: MEDITATION

 

sribhagavanuvaca

anasritah karmaphalam karyam karma karoti yah

sa sannyasi ca yogi ca na niragnirna cakriyah Verse 1

 

sribhagavan— Lord Krsna; uvaca — said;

Yah — the one who; karma-phalam — result of action; anasritah — without

depending on; karyam — (that is) to be done; karma — action; karoti —

performs; sah — he (or she); sannyasi — renunciate; ca — and also; yogi — yogi

(the one who has a contemplative mind); ca — and; na — is not; niragnih — the

one who does not perform fire rituals; na — not; ca — and; akriyah — one who

does not perform (other) actions

 

Sri Bhagavan said:

The one who performs action that is to be done without depending on the result

of action, he is also a sannyasi and a yogi, and not just the sannyasi who has

renounced all fire rituals and who does not perform any other action.

 

A means, sadhana, to an end, sadhya, can be with reference to anything. There

are even means for gaining imprisonment, such as breaking the law. However,

when what is to be accomplished is freedom from bondage, freedom from samsara,

the sadhana is two-fold, external and internal, as we have seen. Performing

karma as a yoga, called karma-yoga, is the external means, bahiranga-sadhana.

Both the internal and external means are meant to prepare the mind,

antah-karana, for knowledge, moksa.

Generally speaking, one can say that meditation gives you steadiness of mind,

citta-naiscalya. The mind is always in a state of flux, cala; that which is

free from this calatva, the state of being in a flux, is called niscala.

Steadiness of mind, also referred to as composure, is therefore, called

naiscalya, the nature of being niscala, which is the result of the

antaranga-sadhana, called dhyana, meditation.

Meditation, is for antah-karana-naiscalya, steadiness of the mind, and

karma-yoga is for antah-karana-suddhi, purification of the mind, by freeing

oneself from one's raga-dvesas. Both these sadhanas are for moksa.

Leading up to the topic of dhyana, which Krsna introduced in the last three

verses of the previous chapter, he again talks about karma-yoga in the first

two verses of this chapter. Karma-yoga was also discussed in the second,

third, fourth and fifth chapters and is mentioned throughout the Gita as a

means for gaining moksa. Here, Krsna uses the external means, karma-yoga, to

introduce the internal means — dhyana, meditation.

 

KARMA TO BE DONE

In this verse, karma refers to any type of action that is to be done. How does

the person under discussion perform this action? Without depending on the

result or various ends of the action, the person does what is to be done. For

this person, karma-phala alone is not the principal criterion for performing

action.

Whereas, for a karmi, the personal likes and dislikes are the only factors

that determine what he has to do. No other criterion is taken into account by

the person because he has raga-dvesas that must be fulfilled. The person is a

go-getter, always busy trying to accomplish or acquire this or that. And, in

the process of fulfilling the raga-dvesas, the person does not care about

dharma and adharma, right and wrong, since these are not the governing

factors.

Raga-dvesas being the only criterion for performing action, the karmi is one

who is completely dependent on the result of action, karma-phala-asritah. And

these are the very tendencies that the karma-yogi has to give up; otherwise,

he is still a karmi.

 

A KARMA-YOGI ALSO HAS RAGA-DVEâAS

A karma-yogi is not a person who has no raga-dvesas. He is someone who has

raga-dvesas but gives them up, meaning that he does not go by them. Instead of

going by ‘I must get this' and ‘I must not get that,' the karma-yogi goes by

what is to be done. In other words, he gives up the desires for this and that

and performs whatever action that is to be done according to dharma and

adharma, not going by his or her own raga-dvesas. In this way, one's

raga-dvesas are given up to a certain extent and those that remain are pursued

and fulfilled according to dharma.

 

CONFORMITY TO DHARMA

In fulfilling any desire, there is choice involved in both the means and the

ends. The choices themselves are determined by one's raga-dvesas, which need

not necessarily conform to right and wrong. Sometimes one's raga-dvesas will

conform to right and wrong, but more often they may not. What, then, is a

person to do? This will depend on whether or not he is a karma-yogi. If the

person is not a karma-yogi, he will not care about the means and ends but will

simply say, ‘I want this; therefore, I will get it!' Such a person is a karmi,

one who follows whatever means that are necessary to accomplish his or her

chosen end.

The approach of a karma-yogi is different, often implying some renunciation on

his or her part, the main criterion being conformity with dharma and adharma.

The karma-yogi renounces his or her raga-dvesas and does whatever is to be

done without being guided by likes and dislikes. When a person says, ‘This is

to be done; therefore, I do it whether I like it or not,' means that the

person is renouncing certain raga-dvesas, the results of actions, and

therefore, is a kind of sannyasi. This is why Krsna says here that such a

person, meaning a karma-yogi is both a sannyasi and a karma-yogi. The

karma-yogi is not a complete sannyasi, but has the quality of a sannyasi in

terms of his or her renunciation of raga-dvesas.

THE VALUE OF VALUES

Anything that anyone wants is very important to that person. Someone may say,

‘I am unhappy,' and go after certain pleasures. Here, again, the value of

these pleasures is not adequately understood. Their limitations are not known

and, therefore, they are over-valued. At the same time, the universal values,

also not being fully understood by the person, are under-valued; they are

de-valued. This means that, while we have knowledge of values, we have no

education with reference to them. The value of the values not being known, we

do not have adequate knowledge of the values and this situation creates

conflict.

Upon analysis of the value structure, we see that if the value of all the

values is not known, the universal values naturally remain under-valued and

the things which people have a value for, like money and power, have an

exaggerated value. However, when such ‘values' are clearly understood, they no

longer have full value for you. Until then, they rule; power rules, money

rules, name and fame rule, influence rules. They rule the roost, the roost of

your heart!

 

VALUES REQUIRE ALERTNESS

To understand the value structure well and to see the limitations of what you

value, you have to live an alert life, a life of karma-yoga. Because the

raga-dvesas are still alive in the karma-yogi, what he values will have a hold

over the person. Thus, the karma-yogi has to sacrifice his or her raga-dvesas.

He may not be able to use the most convenient means available anymore, because

his or her commitment now is to a life of karma-yoga for the sake of moksa.

The karma-yogi has a desire for knowledge, which implies purification of the

mind, antah-karana-suddhi. If nothing else, he wants to be a mature person

and, to accomplish that, the person will definitely have to sacrifice

something. The cause of conflict, viksepa-hetu, is what has to be sacrificed

here. The person gives up the cause for conflict, meaning that he gives up

doing wrong actions, the seeds of conflict.

Conflict begins even before doing a wrong action — ‘Should I do it or should I

not?' In fact, there is always conflict — before doing, while doing, and after

doing! Before doing, there is the conflict of whether to do it or not. While

doing, you have to look to both sides, especially if you are stealing

something. And after doing, there is also conflict — when the police come

looking for you!

If, however, you perform action in accordance with dharma, you sacrifice your

raga-dvesas. Then what happens? Before doing, there may be conflict because

you have to make a choice in order to avoid doing wrong. Doing the right thing

is not always spontaneous; if there is a choice to be made on your part, there

is conflict. However, once you have done the right thing, there is no

conflict. Thus, the karma-yogi may start with a conflict but does not end with

conflict.

In this way, both the sannyasi and the karma-yogi are free from the spell of

raga-dvesas. Therefore, Krsna tells Arjuna that, by doing what is to be done

without depending on one's likes and dislikes, a person is both a sannyasi and

a yogi.

 

RENUNCIATION OF THE TWO-FOLD ACTIVITIES

Krsna then goes on to describe what this person is not — na niragnih na ca

akriyah. These two expressions refer to the two-fold activities given up by

the person who takes to a life of sannyasa — vaidika-karma, scripturally

enjoined activities; and laukika-karma, all other activities. Before becoming

a sannyasi, the person performed certain daily and occasional Vedic rituals,

nitya-naimittika-karmas. All Vedic rituals imply fire, agni, and, because a

sannyasi no longer performs fire rituals, the person is referred to in this

verse as niragni. The sannyasi gives up all other activities also — all forms

of worship, familial duties, and business. In other words, he has no more

roles to play — as son or daughter, as a parent, as a friend, as a citizen.

Thus, the person is also referred to here as akriya, one who has given up all

activities.

When, a person has given up all scripturally enjoined and worldly activities

as part of the ritual of sannyasa, he is called a sannyasi.

‘Why did you become a sannyasi?' is a very interesting question that people

often ask a Swami. Each Swami has his or her own story, of course and, if the

story is not a very pleasant one, the Swami is not likely to answer the

question. Nevertheless, there is always a reason. The person may have lost his

business and had nowhere to go. A person can even become a sannyasi by mail

these days, I'm told! The point here is that if a person takes to a life of

sannyasa by choice, it does not mean that his or her raga-dvesas are gone. If

nothing else, the person may have the desire to save people by teaching them

without really knowing what it is all about! Often, such people will say, ‘I

have a burning desire to save the people, to serve the people.' The question

must therefore, be asked, is this really a desire to save people or to save

oneself? Surely, to save the people one should first save oneself! What

service can you give when you yourself require all the services! Some people

are so full of raga-dvesas that they are unable to understand even this simple

fact. Therefore, taking sannyasa doesn't mean that a person becomes a

sannyasi in the true sense of the word.