CH 3, Verses 2 & 3

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Chapter 3

Verse 2

 

VyaamishreNeva vaakyena buddhiM mohayaseeva me /

tad ekaM vada nishchitya yena shreyo'ham aapnuyaam //

 

With these seemingly confusing words, You are, as it

were, bewildering my understanding. Tell me that one

sure course by which I may attain the highest/

 

Verse 3

 

Shree Bhagavaan uvaacha .

 

Loke'smin dvividhaa nishhThaa puraa proktaa

mayaa'nagha /

jnaana yogena saaNkhyaanaa.n karma yogena yoginaam //

 

O Sinless One, two paths of discipline have been

declared by Me in this world in times of yore – the

Jnana Yoga for the followers of the path of knowledge

and the Karma Yoga for the followers of the path of

action.

 

LESSONS FROM BHAGAVAD GITA – 15

As taught by Parama Pujya Sri Swamiji

 

To clear this doubt (Arjuna is once again wondering

why he shouldn't follow the path of knowledge, rather

than the path of action which will lead to his killing

friends and relatives), the Lord Said, “O Sinless One,

two paths of discipline have been declared by Me in

this world in times of yore – the Jnana Yoga for the

followers of the path of knowledge and the Karma Yoga

for the followers of the path of action” (Chapter 3,

Verse 3).

 

Everyone has his own temperaments and tendencies.

Each individual is different from the other in these

respects. Therefore, prescribing the same course of

discipline to everyone is not at all desirable.

Hence, the Lord divided mankind into two

categories—one who are fit for Jnana Yoga and the

second for Karma Yoga.

 

Some are born with a keen and sharp intellect. They

are rational in their outlook. They have the power to

think deeply and discriminate between real and the

unreal. By intellectual inquiries, they come to know

that man in reality is the Self and not the body. The

body is subject to decay and death, but the Self is

eternal. As such, they hold on to the Self and reject

the non-Self and thus they reach the peak of

spirituality.

 

But most of the people do not have the necessary will

power to hold on to such an intellectual inquiry into

the nature of the Self. Their mind is untrained and

unprepared for it. Such people, by nature, are

inclined to action. To them, the lord points out

another path, that is, Karma Yoga. The Lord wants

them to seek their delight in selfless service of the

society, which is service to God. They have to

dedicate all their actions to God and perform them for

the welfare of humanity. As a man does his duty as a

dedication to God, his mind will gather strength. It

will become steady and pure. In such a mind,

knowledge of the self dawns.

 

 

You might have heard about the parable of the burning

house. It is about a father who was living with his

nine or ten children in the same house. The children

were all pretty young. One day, the house caught

fire. The father, realizing the danger, rushed out of

the house, and asked his children to escape with him.

But the children could not realize the danger that

might come to them if they stayed at home. As such,

they did not obey the instructions of their father and

stayed at home.

 

Now the father thought of a plan to bring the children

out of the house. He knew each child intimately. He

knew that one chilled liked one particular toy and

another child liked another toy. With this intimate

knowledge of his children and their favorite toys, the

father devised a skillful means of saving their lives.

From outside the house, the father called the

children one by one by name and said, “you know, you

like such and such toy. I have taken it outside. If

you want to play with it, come out soon.” Hearing

these words, the children came out of the house and

rushed to their father to have their particular toy.

Thus the father saved the lives of his children.

 

The story is symbolic. The burning house is this

world, in which everyone who lives gets innumerable

burning problems till he gets totally burnt.

 

The father in this parable, had intimate knowledge of

each child, its temperament, and disposition. By

making use of this knowledge, he saved his children

because he loved them. Similarly, the Divine Father

is very much concerned about the welfare and

liberation of all of us, because we are His children

and He loves us. So taking into consideration the

different tendencies of different individuals, He has

given us different paths to follow like Bhakti Yoga,

Jnana Yoga, Karma Yoga, Raja Yoga, Dhyana Yoga, etc.

All these paths come under the two main distinct

courses called Jnana Yoga and Karma Yoga.

 

You may choose the path that is suited to your nature.

There is no compulsion to follow this path or that

path. Many routes may be there to climb up a peak.

But all the routes will lead you to the top of the

mountain. In the same way, you may choose any path

that is agreeable to your nature and disposition and

reach the goal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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