Panchajanyam hrishikesah-chapter7-adhyaya5

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Arjuna now wants to know which of the two disciplines, sannyasa , renunciation or karmayoga, performance of work without attachment is more beneficial for him. Here Krishna, the supreme physician stars prescribing the medicine suited to the patient and says that though both sannyasa and karma yoga are equally effective Karmayoga is to be preferred, implying that in his case Arjuna needs only karmayoga.

A karmayogi who works without attachments has neither desire nor aversion. So he is to be considered as nityasannyasi., a perpetual renouncer, ‘jneyassa nityasannyaasi yo na dveshti na kaankshathi.’ Thus doing everything with detachment he does not get bound by his works, sukham bandhaath pramuchyathe, his release from bondage is effortless.

 

But saankhya and yoga which here denote, jnana yoga and Karmayoga, are not mutually exclusive and it is thought so only by the ignorant. The wise know that they are not different but both produce the same result ,’ekamapyaasthithassamyag ubhayorvindhathe phalam.’ A karma yogi acts with detachment acquired with the knowledge that everything is transitory and in the process gains wisdom. The karma yoga is termed as yoga because it leads to real yoga, the union with the Reality. So figuratively it is also renunciation. One who renounces the result of karma gradually reaches a stage when he will renounce the karma also.

 

Krishna here explains why he extolled Karmayoga as being the better of the two, ’Sannyaasasthu mahaabahoduhkam aapthum ayogathah,’ renunciation is very difficult to win without Karmayoga, which consists in dedicating the works to God without craving for the result. This in turn brings detachment. The natural doubt that may arise is that we see some who renounce the world relinquishing all their karma like Ramakrishna or Ramana and they become realized masters without pursuing karmamarga. But we see only their present embodiment which is but a continuation of several lives, this being the last. This point is elucidated by Krishna Himself in the next chapter of the Gita.

 

How does the Karmayoga becomes the means of attaining self knowledge? Krishna answers this in the next sloka. ‘ Yogayuktho visudhdhaathmaa vijithaathmaa jithendhriyah sarvabhoothaathmaboothaathmaa kurvannapi na lipyathe.’ Established in yoga, his mind purified and self controlled he sees himself in all beings and therefore he is not tainted by his work. That is, he is not doing anything for his benefit alone but works for the welfare of all, which attitude has been described in the previous chapter as acting in the spirit of yajna. The knower of Truth who sees only non-work in all work is alone fit to renounce the world. He knows that it is only his senses which operate in whatever he does ‘ indhriyaaneendhriyaartheshu varthantha ithi dhaarayan,’ and Krishna lists the common activities he engages in through his senses as ‘pasyansrnvan sprsan jighran,’ seeing, hearing touching smelling and so on.

 

Even a non-knower of truth, that is, brahmajnana, if he acts with an attitude of surrender, without attachment, ‘ brahmanyaadhaaya karmaani sangam thyamkkthvaa karothi yaha,’ is not stained by karma like a lotus leaf by water because such yogis, with detachment, work for self purification, ‘yoginah karma kurvanthi sangam thyakthvaathmasudhdhay,’ and attain liberation whereas the others who are attached to the results of action get bound by them, ayukthah kaamakaarena phalesakthah nibhadhyathe.

 

But the man of wisdom , having renounced all actions by discriminative intelligence, perceiving action as inaction sits in the body as a monarch inside a citadel with nine gates, the nine openings of the body through which all experience is gained. The self is the Lord of the castle with which the sage identifies himself and hence he does no work nor he causes any work to be done, ‘navadhvaare pure dhehii naiva kurvannakaarayan.’ Meaning there is no direct nor causative agency as the Self is immutable.

 

The possible doubt that if the embodied self does nothing or causes nothing to be done, who then operates both as a direct and causative agent is answered that ‘na karmaphalsamyogam svabhaavasthu pravarthath..’ It is the prakrthi constituted of the three gunas which operates as mentioned earlier ‘guna guneshu varthantha.’ Neither the merit nor the sin accrues to the Atman, the Self and the notion of working or enjoying or causing other to do so is due to ajnana, ignorance, ‘ajnaanenaavrtham jnaanam thena muhyanthi janthavah.’ When the ignorance is destroyed by jnana the same jnana illumines the Reality which shines of its own accord like the Sun, theshaam aadhithyavath jnanam prakaasayathi thathparam.’ When the Sun rises the darkness ceases to exist. Similarly on the rise of jnana the ignorance cannot remain.

 

‘Thadbhudhdhayasthadhaathmaanah thannishtaasthath parayanaah gachchanthyapunaraavrththim jnaana nirdhoothakalmashaah.’ With the intellect established in Brahman, identifying the Self with Brahman, surrendering all actions to Brahman and with the sole aim to realize their true Self as Brahman they do not enter into embodiment again.

 

What would be the perception of the sage who has realized the Self? What has been described in the next few slokas is reminiscent of what has been said in the second chapter about Sthithaprajna. ‘Vidhyaavinayasampanne braahmane gavi hasthini suni chaiva svapaakecha pandithaah samadharsinah.’ The sages perceive the same Reality in

a brahmin, learned but modest, in a cow and in an elephant and also in a dog and the one who eats dog’s flesh. The listing here of the highest form of intellect to the lowest is to show that the sage has the same love towards all creatures and should not be taken literally as grading the creation in anyway.

 

Krishna says that the birth has been vanquished even here in this life by those who have acquired Samathva or even mindedness, ‘ihaiva thairjithassargah yeshaam saamye sthitham manah.’ There is no plurality in Brahman as it is one only without a second, ‘ekameva adhvitheeyam.’ The sage resides in Brahman alone and therefore he sees no plurality but but Brahman everywhere. ‘ Sarvam khalu idham brahma.’ A brahmavid, knower of Brahman abides in Brahman, brahmani sthithah and hence they neither feel elated on getting something pleasant nor feel depressed on meeting with the unpleasant. He is termed as sthirabudhdhih, one whose intellect is steady in other words, sthithaprajnah, who is described in the second chapter of the Gita as ‘dhuhkheshvanudhvignamanaah sukheshu vigathasprhah.’ Such a man of wisdom abides in Self and for him there is no work to be done anymore. As Krishna declared in the third chapter of the Gita he has nothing to gain from action or non-action, ‘Naiva thasya krthaarththena naakrtheneha kaschana.’

 

The sage whose inner equipment, anthahkarana , is unattached to the external objects is united with Brahman and enjoys inexhaustible bliss, ‘sa brahmayogayukthaathma sukham akshayamasnuthe.’ The man of discrimination having known the supreme Reality does not delight in objective enjoyment. The enjoyment born of sense contact is short lived and brings sorrow in its wake, ‘ ye hi samsparsajaa bhogaah duhkhayonaya eva the aadhyanthavanthah kountheya na theshu ramthe budhah.’ Sankara says in Bajagovindam ‘viddhi vyaadhyabhimaanagrastham lokam soka hatham cha samastham, Life is extremely fickle and short but even the short duration is not peaceful but wrought with disease and other afflictions due to ego-centric desires. A yogi who abides in Brahman experiences the peace of Brahman while living in this world, experiences the infinite joy within himself, revelling in himself illuminated by the inner light. ‘Yo antharsukho antharaaraamah thathaa antharjyothireva yah sa yogi brahmanivaanam brahmabhootho adhi gachchathi.. Such yogis with their sins washed off ,kheenakalmashaah, their doubts cut through, chchinna dvaidhaah and self controlled, yathaathmanah, are intent on promoting the welfare of all beings.

 

While stressing the need for practising Karmayoga with total mental dedication to the Lord, Krishna goes on to elucidate the yoga of meditation, the direct means of right perception which he explains fully in the next chapter of the Gita. Keeping out the external contacts, fixing the eyes between the eyebrows and equalizing the inhalation and exhalation, controlling the senses, mind and intellect, free from desire, fear and anger, the yogi is eternally liberated. He attains peace knowing the Lord the indweller of all beings, the supervisor of the fruits of all actions, Himself remaining the silent witness.