Hindu Article-Jnana that liberates

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Jnana that liberates

 

 

 

CHENNAI: While imparting the fundamental knowledge epitomising the

distinction between "soul" and "body", Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad

Gita states that He is expounding the truths already contained in the

Vedas, the Upanishads and the Brahmasutras, etc. Scriptural teaching

focuses on the proper perception of the soul body relationship, the

understanding of which is crucial for spiritual progress. Great seers

have intuitively felt and expressed this truth in manifold ways, the

learned and the scholarly have debated on it extensively and

religious preceptors have logically analysed and established its

validity. In addition, the soundness of this truth is convincingly

illustrated and reinforced in the Puranas and the Itihasas.

 

In a lecture, Swamini Satyavratananda pointed out that the term

Ksetra (Field) denotes both the body at the micro level and the

universe at the macro level while Ksetrajna (Knower) denotes the

Supreme Being who exists as the inner consciousness in all objects of

creation. The body and the universe become the field where

interaction happens constantly. The body by itself is insentient, and

it is the soul that animates the sense organs, intellect and other

faculties, while remaining a mute spectator.

 

It is in this universe that man sows the seeds of action and reaps

the fruits thereof, where joy and sorrow are the consequences of the

good and bad deeds of each person. Discrimination is the knowledge

that helps the individual see the distinctness of the body and the

indwelling consciousness, with the realisation that the body is

impermanent and susceptible to decay from the time it is born though

the soul within is immortal. The body acquired by the Jivatma in each

birth is the result of past deeds, and human birth is an invaluable

opportunity to attain all the Purusharthas including liberation.

 

The Jivatma who has not gained the knowledge that discriminates

between the body and the soul dwells in ignorance and fails to find

the means and the path leading to liberation. This knowledge of the

highest kind is capable of clearing the bewilderment of mankind when

one learns to look at things as derived from the one transcendent

Reality and avoid the pitfalls of illusion that makes one think that

things exist on their own and maintain themselves.

 

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