Gita Satsangh; Chapter 9 Verses 1 to 3-Jnaneshvara's Commentary

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Namaste,

 

 

http://www.bvbpune.org/chap09.html

 

 

Kindly pay attention to me; then you will become deserving of great

bliss. I promise this, please give heed. I do not speak this out of

pride, but I am entreating you out of affection in this audience of

all-knowing persons to listen to me. Since I have rich parents like

you, I am assured of the fulfillment of all my fond wishes and

desires. The arbors of bliss are blooming through the coolness shed

by your glances and tired that I am, I am resting under full-grown

cool shade of your grace. O saints, you are a pool of nectar-like

happiness, from which we receive moisture of your grace, as we

desire. If I feel shy of entreating you, how shall I get peace of

mind (1-5)? When the child begins to lisp or walk with a limping

gate, the mother admires it and become delighted. I am soliciting

your favor with great ardor, so that I can receive the affection of

holy men like you. Compared to my ability to speak, listeners are

all - knowing. It is like teaching a child of the Goddess of learning

to write on a slate. How can the glow-worm, however big, show itself

off before the sun? What dishes can you serve along with nectar? Who

will fan the moon to keep her cool or sing before the unmanifested

sound or adorn the ornaments (6-10)? What should the fragrance smell,

where should the sea bathe, and where can the akasha find shelter

with its big expanse? Who has got the eloquence, which will arrest

your attention, and make you say with joy 'What a fine discourse! But

can one not wave the wick light before the sun, which illumines the

world, or offer a handful of water as an oblation to the sea? O

saints! poor that I am, I offer my homage of words to you, who are

images of Lord Shankara and request you to accept them as nirgudi

leaves. When the child picks up food from its father's dish to feed

him, the father willingly moves his mouth forward to have it from its

hand (11-15). If I, therefore, take a little liberty with you out of

childlike innocence, I hope you will bear it willingly out of

affection. Since you bear me great affection and have accepted me as

one of you, you will not feel the burden of my intimacy. When the

calf pulls at the udder of its mother, the cow releases more milk,

just so love gets and impetus from the anger of a beloved person.

 

 

Since I know that I have awakened your dormant grace by my childish

prattle, I am emboldened to explain the Gita to you. Else has anyone

been able to ripen moonlight under pressure, to give speed to the

wind, or to cover up the sky (16-20)? As water cannot be diluted or

butter churned, so my discourse feels shy of interpreting the Gita

and turns back. What ability have I to explain in the local language

the meaning of the Gita, which has eluded the words and baffled the

Vedas? But I have made bold to do this in the hope that I shall

endear myself to you by this courageous act. Now fulfil my desire by

giving your attention, which cools like the moonlight and enlivens

one like nectar. If your glance showers its grace upon me, then my

intellect will reap an abundant harvest of the meaning of the Gita.

But if you are indifferent, it will wither away the sprout of my

knowledge (21-25). Please bear in mind that if you feed my eloquence

with your attention, then my words will be able to bear the burden of

explaining the doctrines of the Gita. Meaning will wait for the words

to come out to leave its impress and intellect will flower into

meaningful interpretation of the Gita. If there is perfect accord

between the speaker and the audience, the mind becomes overfull with

sentiments, and if the listeners do not pay attention, the sentiments

get dried up. The moonstone oozes only with its contact with the

moonlight; so the speaker cannot prove his worth without an audience.

Does the cooked rice need to entreat the eater to relish it or must

the puppets implore the thread-puller to make them dance (26-30)? The

puppeteer makes them dance not for their sake, but to show his skill.

But why should I bother about this? Then the Guru said, "Why do you

say all this? We can read your thoughts. Now continue the story".

Then Jnanadeva, the disciple of Nivritti, said with pleasure. And

enthusiasm, "As you wish, My Master; I shall tell you what Lord

Krishna said, please listen.

 

The blessed Lord said:

 

To you unavailing, I shall declare this most profound wisdom,

together with knowledge, knowing which you shall be freed from evil.

O Arjuna, I am going to tell you now the seed of wisdom, which is the

innermost secret of my heart. You wonder why I should open my heart

before you and tell you all this (31-35), then listen, O wise one,

you are the very image of faith, and will not disregard what I have

to tell you. Therefore, I do not mind revealing to you the secret and

saying what I ought not to say; but I feel that I should convey to

your mind what is in my heart. O Partha the teat does not taste the

milk which is concealed in it; it only satisfied the calf which wants

to drink it with a single-minded love. If the seed is sown in a

properly ploughed land, can you say that it is completely lost? So

one should freely tell one's secret to a person who has a pure mind

and refined intellect, who does not cavil at others and is solely

devoted to me (36-40). There is not one else, who possesses these

virtues so well as yourself; and, therefore, I feel that I should not

withhold this secret from you. Now you must be fed up with this

constant talk of secret; so I shall disclose to you this wisdom along

with empirical knowledge. If genuine and counterfeit coins are mixed

together, they can be determined by the application of appropriate

tests. Just as a swan can separate the milk and water with its beak,

so I shall distinguish between self-knowledge and phenomenal

knowledge. Even as the husk is separated by a strong wind, piling a

heap of grain on the ground (41-45), so this wisdom, equating mortal

life with the world of name and form leads the spiritual aspirant to

the state of liberation.

 

 

This is the royal wisdom, the royal mystery, the best and most

purifying, capable of direct perception, conforming to duty, very

easy to practice and undecaying.

This wisdom has achieved the highest status among knowledge, and is

the sovereign among all secrets, the purest of all pure things. It is

the basis of righteousness; the best among the best and it leaves no

scope for further rebirth. It is ever present in the heart of every

one and comes to him easily as soon as he hears it from the mouth of

the spiritual teacher. One can attain this wisdom by easy steps, and

when it is attained, all experience comes to an end (46-50). Its

realization, which is easy to achieve even on this shore of life,

fills the heart with great happiness. Another characteristic of this

wisdom is that once it is attained, it is not lost, and even if one

experiences it, it does not diminish or wilt. If you reason it out

and raising a doubt ask, "how has such an entity been ignored by the

people? How is it that those who do not hesitate to jump into fire to

earn interest at one percent per menses on their investment, have

been negligent, easily attainable and is in accord with one's duty

and conducive to liberation (51-55). If this is so full of bliss, how

is it that people have overlooked it?" If such a doubt enters your

mind, do not entertain it.

 

 

Men lacking in faith in this way of knowledge, O scorcher of foes,

return to the path of the mortal world without attaining to me.

O Arjuna, the udder of the cow contains milk, pure and tasty; but

don't the ticks ignore it and drink pure blood? The lotus-root and

the frog live at the same place, but the bee enjoys its pollen, while

the frog is left with mud. An unlucky person may have is his mouse

chests full of good coins unknown to him, but he lives a life of

penury. Likewise, though I, the fountain of bliss, abide in him, a

person deluded by the sense-object hankers after them (56-60). This

is like running after a mirage after spitting out nectar, or like

throwing away the philosopher's stone after finding a shell. Thus in

the hurry and scurry of egoistic activity, these wretches do not

reach me and roll in pain on the banks of birth and death. If you ask

me that I am, I am like the sun always facing you, but I do not share

his deficiency of being visible and invisible at times.

 

 

 

Regards,

 

Sunder