Gita Satsang - Part C of the Summary by Swami Dayananda's Commentary

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Namaste,

 

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regards,

 

Ram Chandran

 

Part V-C : A Summary of the First Six Chapters

KARMA-YOGA AND THEN SANNYASA IS THE ORDER

Krsna was not saying there is no sannyasa. He was saying there is

sannyasa, which is what Arjuna found so confusing. But Krsna was not

confusing Arjuna; he was educating him. He wanted Arjuna to see the

difference between karma-sannyasa and jnana-karma-sannyasa, because

his question arose from confusion. He looked at karma-yoga and

sannyasa as black and white. In fact, there is no black and white

here; nor is there any grey. Both karma-yoga and sannyasa are equally

efficacious, the only difference being that you have to be ready for a

life of sannyasa. This preparation is possible by living a life of

karma-yoga before becoming a sannyasi.

If you take to sannyasa before you are ready, then, as a sannyasi, you

will still have to make yourself ready. This is a very difficult thing

to do — a little like becoming a professor and then becoming qualified

in your subject matter. This is not an easy situation — especially for

your students! Similarly, if you take to sannyasa before you are

ready, you are a sannyasi in name only. To become a sannyasi in the

true sense of the word in such a situation is not impossible, but it

is certainly very difficult.

Therefore, Krsna wanted Arjuna to understand that the real meaning of

sannyasa is giving up action in terms of knowledge alone. There is no

literal giving up here. By knowing you are not a doer, you give up

doership, and then you are free. In the meantime, Krsna said, just do

what is to be done, without being excited or restless about what you

are doing or not doing, and in time, this knowledge, this sannyasa,

will be gained. And whom is the sannyasa for? Is it for Isvara or for

the jiva? Again, it is for the jiva alone.

MEDITATION

At the end of the fifth chapter, Krsna introduced the topic of

meditation, the predominant subject matter of the sixth chapter. The

meditation discussed here can be taken as that which invokes the grace

of the Isvara, saguna-brahma, or contemplation on atma that is

Brahman, nirguna-brahma. Both interpretations are possible because

both are meant for jnana.

Meditating on Isvara is meant for grace and that grace is also

necessary for jnana. With that grace, one gains a teacher and thereby

the knowledge that is moksa. And if you have already done that, if you

have a teacher and have done sravana and manana, then you can live a

life of contemplation, meditation — nididhyasana. How one sits in

meditation was also pointed out in this chapter. Again, we see that

all this — the meditation and what precedes it — is for the jiva

alone.

Thus, the first six chapters are about the jiva, the meaning of the

word `you,' the tvam-pada-artha, and everything that concerns this

`you.' What the individual has to do as a karma-yogi, that karma-yoga

is a way for this person to prepare the mind for gaining the

knowledge, that there is knowledge to be gained, that there is

sannyasa also — all this are relevant to the tvam-pada-artha alone.

The nature of this tvam, atma, was revealed as being free from being

either a subject, karta, or an object, karma, and was equated to

Isvara, tat-pada-artha.

Because tvam and tat were equated in the analysis of the meaning of

the word tvam, Isvara, tat, has to be also analysed. Who is this

Isvara? How can I be Isvara? Because there is this doubt about the

validity of the equation, Isvara is analysed in the next six chapters.

Even though every chapter talks about the equation, the predominant

topic of these next six chapters is Isvara, the Lord.

THE BASIS OF ARJUNA'S FEAR

For example, in the eleventh chapter, Arjuna gained a cosmic vision of

the Lord with the grace of Krsna. But, although Arjuna gained this

vision, it was not total because he did not include himself in it.

And, because he makes this distinction between himself and the whole,

there is fear.

Arjuna's fear was so great when faced with the cosmic vision of Isvara

that he begged Krsna to revert to his human form. He found the old

form, the one with the whip in hand, much easier and more pleasant to

deal with, where as in the cosmic form, the whole world was being

devoured by Krsna. All the beings that one could possibly imagine were

between the molars of this Isvara. Hanging there, in the jaws of

Isvara, in the jaws of time, all the jivas were being ground to

powder, as it were. Arjuna saw all of this. Naturally, then, he was

very frightened. Why? Because he excluded himself from the cosmic

vision, meaning that he excluded himself from the whole! And because

of that he was overwhelmed by that whole.

Concluding the second sa¶ka, called Isvara-sa¶ka, Krsna talked about

devotion to Isvara, isvara-bhakti, the topic of the twelfth chapter.

The third sa¶ka, the remaining six chapters of the Gita, begins with

Krsna telling Arjuna that between him, Arjuna and Isvara there is an

identity. This identity is represented in the mahavakya, `tat tvam

asi,' by the word asi, and is analysed in the last six chapters — what

is this identity, what brings it about, etc., are analysed. Again,

Krsna went into the means for this knowledge, the values, and a

variety of other topics. This is because, although the identity

between the jiva and Isvara exists, it is not recognised. Therefore,

the means that are to be used to bring this identity about, in terms

of knowledge, is discussed from the thirteenth chapter onwards.

In this way, then, the three words, tat, tvam, and asi, are each

analysed in the three sa¶kas. We have already seen the first six

chapters, dealing with the tvam-pada. Now, from the first verse of the

seventh chapter onwards, we will see the second group of six chapters,

the topic of which is tat, Isvara.