Bhagavat Gita a detailed study-chapter4The truth about action

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41. yogasannyasthakarmaaNam jnaanasamChinnasamsayam

 

aathmavantham na karmaaNi nibaDhnanthi dhananjaya

 

Oh Dhanajaya, actions do not bind him who is of firm wisdom, who has renounced them through karmayoga and whose doubts are removed by jnana.

 

 

42.thasmaath ajnaanasambhoothamhrdhsTham jnaanaasinaa

aathmanaH

 

CHithvaa enam samSayam yogam aathiTha utthishTha

Bharatha

 

Therefore Arjuna, by cutting off the doubt aroused through ignorance by the sword of self- knowledge, rise up and practice this karmayoga.

 

True knowledge, jnana cuts away all the knots of the heart created by ignorance and uncertainty and the results of his karma do not bind him who has burnt them away in the fire of knowledge through the practice of Karmayoga,. The Upanishad declares bhidhyanthe hrdhayagranthih cchidhyanthe sarvasamsayaah kheeyanthe chaasya karmaani thasmindhrshte paravare. The knots of the heart hrdhayagranthi are the misconceptions due to non-perception which are cut asunder, all doubts vanish and all karma is destroyed for the one who experiences the Brahmasaakshaathkaara.

 

Therefore, , says Krishna, `slaying the doubt in your heart born out of ignorance with the sword of jnana, stand up to do your duty,' The lack of discrimination regarding what is right and what is wrong creates a doubt in the mind and one cannot decide whether or not to perform an action. This is due to the ignorance of what is real and what is not, which is the cause for the accumulation of karma. As a result of this one goes through the cycle of birth and death, suffering the ills of samsara as a consequence. This lack of discrimination is represented by the doubt in the heart, which jnana alone can destroy. This jnana can be acquired only through Karmayoga and dhyanayoga., performing one's duties without attachment in the spirit of Yajna and at the same time contemplating on the Lord, the Supreme Self.

 

The two disciplines enunciated so far, namely, Karmayoga and dhyanayoga or acquiring jnana through contemplation are not mutually exclusive but they appear to be so to Arjuna because he is not able to understand them properly. This necessitates the fifth chapter of the Gita where Krishna points out that the two are not mutually contradicting but only indicate two different stages..