Gita Satsang - Chapter 6 : verses 46 & 47: Swami Dayananda's Commentary

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Namaste,

 

On behalf of all of you I sincerely express my appreciation to

Pujyaswami Dayanandasaraswati for providing his commentary to the

benefit of the advaitin list members.

 

regards,

 

Ram Chandran

 

Part IV : Verses 46 & 47

 

AN END THAT NEVER ENDS

Knowledge being moksa, the person is also said to have gained the most

exalted end — para gati. Every end comes to an end, but moksa is an

end that does not come to an end. It is the one end from which one

does not return. After all, any end that comes to an end is not really

an end; it is only a lap, a circular lap. You keep moving around in

the circle of samsara, not getting out. All that happens is that you

keep coming back to the same point. To distinguish moksa as an end

from which, there is no coming back, the word `end,' gati, has an

adjective here — para, the most exalted end. Moksa is the end that is

gained by one who pursues self-knowledge and it is an end from which

there is no return.

Therefore, Krsna tells Arjuna to be a yogi in the next verse.

tapasvibhyo'dhiko yogi jnanibhyo'pi mato'dhikah

karmibhyascadhiko yogi tasmadyogi bhavarjuna Verse 46

yogi— a yogi; tapasvibhyah — to those who live a life of meditation;

adhikah —superior; jnanibhyah — to the scholars; api — even; adhikah —

superior; yogi — a yogi; karmibhyah ca — and to those who perform

action; adhikah — superior; matah — is considered; tasmat —

therefore,; arjuna — O Arjuna!; yogi bhava — be a yogi

A yogi is considered superior to those who live a life of meditation,

superior even to the scholars, and superior to those who perform

action. Therefore, O Arjuna, be a yogi!

Here, adhika means utkrs¶a, the best, the most exalted, in terms of

what a person has to be. Krsna has already defined the most exalted

person as a yogi, a definition that he repeats in the next verse, as

we shall see. In the present verse, this yogi is described as one who

is superior to all the tapasvis, those who perform various kinds of

meditation, and to all the karmis, meaning those who perform the

enjoined vaidika rituals.

Both types of people, tapasvis and karmis, are mumuksus and are in no

way being condemned here. In fact, they are people who engage in their

respective activities for the sole purpose of becoming the yogi who is

the most exalted of them all, the one who either pursues dhyana-yoga,

contemplation on atma as Brahman, or who has already accomplished it,

having gained this knowledge. Such a yogi is definitely superior to

these two types of people, said here.

SCHOLARSHIP ALONE DOES NOT GIVE ONE THE VISION

The tapasvi is not one who has to find a particular end; rather, the

very tapas has to resolve into this yogi alone. Thus, it can be said

that the yogi is superior to the tapasvi — tapasvibhyah adhikah yogi.

In the same way, the yogi is superior to the scholars — jnanibhyah

adhikah yogi. Here the word jnani refers to the one who knows the

Veda. They can recite it and they may even know the meaning of the

words. However, one does not gain the knowledge, the vision of the

Veda, by mere scholarship alone. There has to be a commitment to this

knowledge and its pursuit for there to be any possibility of gaining

the vision of sameness in all beings.

Since this verse is about a yogi who already has the knowledge,

scholarship that is talked about here must necessarily exclude

Vedanta. Therefore, jnani has to be taken as someone other than the

yogi under discussion. Sankara clarifies this point in his commentary

to this verse by referring to jnanis as those who have scholarship,

panditya, with reference to the meaning of the Veda, sastrartha,

specifically the first portion of the Veda — the purva-mimamsa-sastra.

We can also include the vedanta-sastra here since scholars can know

the meaning of the words without understanding that it is the meaning

of themselves. However, vedanta-sastra would usually not be included

here because the verse itself is vedanta-sastra. These scholars, then,

are those who have scholarship in all the other sastra but the

vedanta-sastra, and their scholarship has to pay off in the form of

this yoga, a yoga characterised by clear vision of the vastu, the

truth of everything. Already having this vision, the yogi is said to

be superior to the scholars — jnanibhyah adhikah yogi.

THEREFORE, BE A YOGI

The yogi who is understood to be superior to the scholars and to the

tapasvis is also thought to be superior to those who perform rituals,

the karmis — karmibhyah ca adhikah yogi. Therefore, what does Krsna

tell Arjuna to become? `Be a yogi, Arjuna —tasmat yogi bhava arjuna!'

Krsna says here. Having been given this advice, what was Arjuna to do?

Based on everything Krsna has just said, this yogi is a sannyasi, one

who gives up everything and sits in meditation. Does this not mean

that Arjuna has to do the same?

Originally, Krsna had asked Arjuna to get up and fight, explaining

that karma was better for him than sannyasi. Whereas, now, Krsna is

telling him to become a yogi, a sannyasi. What does Krsna mean by all

of this? Again, then, Arjuna was confused.

FIRST A KARMA-YOGI, THEN A YOGI

The point Krsna is making here is that first one lives a life of

karma-yoga in order to gain a mind that is prepared for the knowledge.

Then one becomes a yogi, a sannyasi. In other words, you have to

become a yogi after being a karma-yogi. This is what Krsna means when

he says, `Be a yogi, Arjuna! — yogi bhava arjuna.'

`Yogi' here means one who is firmly established in the clear vision

samyag-darsana-nis¶ha, which means a sannyasi. `Become that sannyasi,

Arjuna,' Krsna is saying. `You need not give up your karma or

anything. Running away is not going to help you in anyway. You must

work towards becoming that yogi who has the clear vision. Therefore,

become that yogi!'

Why does Krsna compare this yogi to other yogis here? Once the word

yogi is mentioned, all kinds of ideas come to mind. Therefore, which

yogi should I become, becomes the question. Because everyone wants to

become the best person, the most exalted person, sres¶a-purusa, Krsna

compares the yogi with the tapasvis, the panditas, and the karmis.

Having said that the yogi is superior to all of them, he urged Arjuna

to become that most exalted yogi.

Krsna defines yoga here in the sixth chapter of the Gita as

duhkha-samyoga-viyoga, dissociation from association with sorrow. The

verse presently under study has to be understood in the context of

this definition and in terms of everything Krsna has said previously.

The sameness of vision, seeing oneself in all beings and all beings in

oneself, is all part of what he has said.

That the yogi discussed here is one who has this vision is made very

clear in the next verse.

yoginamapi sarvesam madgatenantaratmana

sraddhavan bhajate yo mam sa me yuktatamo matah Verse 47

yah — the one who; sraddhavan — has sraddha; madgatena antaratmana —

with a mind (antaratma), absorbed in Me; mam bhajate — contemplates

upon Me; sah — he; sarvesam yoginam — among all the yogis; api — even;

yuktatamah — the most exalted; me matah — (this is) my vision

The one who has sraddha, who with a mind absorbed in Me, contemplates

upon Me, he is the most exalted among all yogis. (This is) My vision.

Krsna knows that there were many kinds of yogis, but he is not talking

about any of them here. For yogis who meditate on various deities,

there is a certain duality in that they take themselves to be

different from that upon which they are meditating. Therefore, they

retain their sense of karta, doership, and, as doers, they do various

types of yoga. Although these meditators are all laudable, they are

not the yogi. Krsna is pointing out here the most exalted among yogis

— yoginam api sarvesam yuktatamah.

The yogi being discussed is the one who contemplates upon Krsna as the

Isvara — yah mam bhajate — not on a particular deity. Such a person

meditates on the one who is everything, the one who is the cause of

the world, jagat-karana and who is not separate from the jiva-atma.

The mind of this yogi is totally absorbed in this Paramesvara.

Therefore, Krsna says, `madgatena antaratmana mam bhajate.' In effect

he was saying `I am he; he is I.' It means that, for this person,

there is no separation between himself and Isvara. For this reason,

then, the person is considered to be the most exalted among yogis.

THERE ARE NOT TWO YOGIS HERE

Here Krsna is not comparing the yogi with the yogi in the previous

verse; he is simply describing that same yogi further. If this point

is missed, as it sometimes is, certain problems in understanding can

arise. The yogi under discussion is the one who was said to be

superior to those who meditate, superior to the scholars who know the

Veda, and superior also to those who perform rituals. And why is this

yogi superior? Because, contemplating on the Paramesvara, the

para-atma, alone the mind of the person is completely resolved. Having

gained this identity, the person is said to be accomplished in yoga.

The previous verse actually completed this chapter on meditation, but

Krsna wants to briefly restate exactly what yoga is. The identity

between Paramesvara and the jiva is yoga. And who gains this yoga? The

one who has sraddha, sraddhavan, gains this yoga. Sraddha is the

attitude born out of the appreciation that the sastra is the means for

gaining the knowledge that is moksa. Such a person gains the knowledge

by meditating on Paramesvara until the identity between the jiva and

Paramesvara, as revealed by the sastra, is clear. Having gained this

knowledge, the person is a yogi, the most exalted of human beings,

there being no one superior to this yogi.

With this verse, then, the sixth chapter comes to an end.

 

om tatsat. iti srimadbhagavadgitasu upanisatsu brahmavidyayam

yogasastre srikrsnarjunasamvade dhyanayogo nama sas¶ho'dhyayah

 

In the Bhagavadgita, which has the status of Upanisad, having the

knowledge of brahman and karma-yoga as its subject matter, in the

dialogue that took place between Lord Krsna and Arjuna, this is the

sixth chapter, entitled `The Topic of Contemplation.'

ababababab