Gita In Daily Life - The Teaching of Bhagavad Gita by swami Dayananda-ji

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The Teaching of Bhagavad Gita (Ten essential verses) by Swami

Dayananda, published by Sri Gangadhareswar Trust, Purani Jhadi,

Rishikesh, India, 249201.

 

 

Introduction (continued) [segment 5 of 5]

 

Grieve not:

 

In conclusion, the Lord says: sarvadharmAn parityajya mAmekam

sharaNam vraja ... (BG18.66), giving up all actions, surrender

to Me alone. I will liberate you from all sins (bondage). Do not

grieve. dharma stands for puNya or the desirable effects of

various karma and so giving up dharma means giving up all the

karma or actions. Since it is not possible to literally give up

all the actions as long as the body is, renunciation means the

knowledge or the discovery of the Self that is akartA or actionless.

The nature of the knowledge itself is pointed out in the second

quarter,"surrender to Me alone." Surrender means the knowledge

of oneness with the Lord; 'I am the Lord.' The real surrender

is that of the sense of individuality by the knowledge that I am

indeed the Lord. There is no way of giving up the actions as long

as the individual, the doer is retained. And the sense of doership

can be given up only by the knowledge, 'I am That.'

 

Since an ignorant man always has some end in view, the Lord states

the result of the knowledge, "I will release you from all the sins.

Do not grieve." Sin refers to anything undesirable and bondage is

the most undesirable. Since puNya and pApa both keep one in bondage,

both of them are implied by the word pApa. Except for knowledge,

there is no way to exhaust both puNya and pApa. The Lord says,

"I will do this. And I need not do anything. My grace does it.

The grace is the potential and it is there for you to tap. I am

available for asking, available for owning; you need not do

anything to gain Me. The darkness of ignorance is removed by Me

effortlessly by the lamp of knowledge and therefore do not grieve.

Please do not grieve as to how you will cross this ocean of

limitation. By the boat of knowledge you will cross the ocean

of sin or bondage."

 

The introduction was, "You are grieving for what should not be

grieved for", because arjuna was suffering from grief. He

surrendered at the feet of the Lordasking for the release from

the sorrow. The conclusion of the shAstra or the scripture is

the elimination of all forms of sorrow - sorrow born of

limitations. The whole shAstra negates from me what I am not

and reveals what I am. It is nivr^itti shAstra or teaching of

disengagement because happiness is only inb giving up. In

pravr^itti or engagement, there is a search which denies Ananda

or fullness that I am. The Ananda is lost in the clutter of

activity but what is really sought even in activity is the

disengagement from what one does not want. And the nivr^itti

is not so much the giving up of the action but giving up of the

sense of doership by knowledge of the Self. The one who has

liberated oneself from the sense of inadequacy alone is in a

position of doing something worthwhile. That is why tyAga or

renunciation is presented as the theme of this concluding

verse and that is the theme of the teaching of bhagavad gItA.

 

 

(concluded)

 

 

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