Gita : Why secret science ?

[Guest guest]

Namaste, Why does the Gita Acharya call it secret science/knowledge ? I don't

know if secret is an accurate translation for GuHitaYam or GohitaYam. When I

looked at Webster, one of the meanings of secret caught my attention :

 

revealed only to the initiated : esoteric

 

Is he referring to the prerequisites of receiving Jnana ?

 

thanks and regards,

Shailendra

 

 

 

 

!

 

 

[Guest guest]

Namaste Sri Shailendra:

 

I believe that your question is with reference to the very first

verse of chapter 9 of Gita (the title of this chapter is also known

as Royal Secret). You have raised a valid question and it does

require further clarification and explanation. One possibility is to

substitute the word, "secret" by "mystery." But the word "Royal

Secret" does convey the importance of this knowledge. In the USA

example, a message of top most importance is also called "top secret"

and such messages are only handled by highly qualified and reliable

officials of the Government. The qualifications and other credentials

of the person is completely investigated before that person gets the

certification. Even when the president is briefed by the

Intelligence, he needs the assistance of experts for decoding the

message. Now in the present case, Lord Krishna

explains "Brahmavidhya" to Arjuna who was declared by Him to be well

qualified. Only those with shraddha (strong conviction and great

discipline), vairaghya (determination and detachment) and viveka

(discriminating intellect) can understand and follow through by

practicing (sadhana). This may explain why it should be called the

Royal Secret.

 

Warmest regards,

Ram Chandran

 

Note: Swami Dayananda Saraswati of Arsha Vidya Gurukulam provides the

following profound explanation to your question in Gita Home-study

Notes:

=======================================

The Secret Nature Of This Knowledge

About the knowledge Bhagavan says further, guhyatamam. Guhya means

secret and tama makes it a superlative - the greatest secret. Why it

is the greatest secret? There are various reasons.

 

Even though taught, it is not understood:

The main one is that no matter how many times you may tell it, rarely

does anyone understand. It remains a secret in spite of being

revealed. Even if it is understood, there are certain things that

inhibit the assimilation of the knowledge. Therefore, it is the

greatest secret, guhyatamam. The preparedness for it is the greatest

thing you can accomplish in life. You require maturity which does not

come by itself; you have to work on it. That is why it has been said

that you need not protect Vedanta. It guards itself like the formula

E « mc2. You can write it 100 times and nobody will understand. One

has to reach a point from where he can understand and that requires a

lot of preparation. So this knowledge is guhyatamam.

 

Outside of our known means of knowledge:

Another reason it is the most secret, guhyatamam, is that it is not

something that can be gained by our known means of knowledge like

perception or inference, or by our experience. There are two types of

perception, perception by the sense organs, indriya-pratyaksa and

witness perception, saksi-pratyaksa. Seeing the printed word on the

page is perception through a sense organ, indriya-pratyaksa. The

conditions of your mind like sitkham. duhkham are known by you as a

witness, the saksi. That the witness is Brahman is not a perception,

pratyakSa. Nor is it going to be an experience, much less a

perception through a sense organ or a matter for inference. Therefore

there is no way of knowing 'I am Brahman.', unless you have another

pramanam. Because it is not available for any known pramana, it is

guhyatamam. It is the most secret because it is only by teaching that

you can gain this. There is no other way.

 

Most valuable:

Another thing that makes it the greatest of secrets is its worth.

What is sacred or precious is "always secret. You cannot keep a large

emerald as a table weight. It will disappear in no time. Anything

that is precious or rare, is kept secret. So saying it is the most

secret is saying that it is the most precious. jnanam vijnana-

sahitam. "This knowledge I am going to give you which is the

knowledge of Brahman as yourself, is also vijnana-sahitam. I am not

simply going to state that there is Brahman. I am going to prove that

you are Brahman. That is vijnana-sahitam. I will bring to you an

immediate appreciation of this knowledge as yourself."

What will I gain from it? Suppose I tell you a secret like the crows

have no teeth. What do you get out of it? When I say you are Brahman,

you can say, "If I am Brahaman, let it be so. What difference does it

make to me?" yad jnatva moksyase anubhat Being Brahman means, you are

everything, knowing which, yad jnatva, you will be free, moksyase,

from what is not auspicious, not desirable, anubhat. You will be

released from sorrow, from the inadequacy, the smallness, the bondage

of the self. Subham means something that is ultimately good. It is

often written at the end of a letter or book to indicate an

auspicious conclusion. ASubham means it is not an auspicious end.

When a person dies and is released from the body, although the end

takes place, it is not auspicious because it begins again. That is

samsara and from that you will be liberated, moksyase. ASubha can

also mean doubt. Then the meaning of these words will be, "You will

be released from doubt."

=========================

 

advaitin, Shailendra Bhatnagar

<bhatnagar_shailendra> wrote:

> Namaste, Why does the Gita Acharya call it secret

science/knowledge ? I don't know if secret is an accurate translation

for GuHitaYam or GohitaYam. When I looked at Webster, one of the

meanings of secret caught my attention :

[Guest guest]

Namaste Ram Chandran-ji, Thank you so much for responding to my question. The

answer satisfies me.

 

 

 

kind regards,

 

Shailendra

 

 

 

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