Gita Satsangh Chapter 14 Verses 1 & 2

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Dandavat pranams to all!

 

Gita Satsangh Chapter 14 Verses 1 & 2

 

To listen to Swami Brahmanananda of the Chinmaya Mission

chanting this Chapter...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn3Hro5Ib4U & feature=channel_page

 

To listen to Meena Mahadevan of KailashMusic

chanting this Chapter...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9FyEwbZAOs

 

 

Sri Bhagavaan Uvaacha:

Param bhooyah pravakshyaami jnaanaanaam jnaanamuttamam;

Yajjnaatwaa munayah sarve paraam siddhimito gataah.

 

The Blessed Lord said:

1. I will again declare (to thee) that supreme knowledge, the best of all

knowledge, having known which all the sages have gone to the supreme perfection

after this life.

 

Sankara Bhashya

(Swami Gambiranda's Translation and Commentary)

 

THE CLASSIFICATION

OF THE THREE GUNAS

 

It has been said that whatever comes into being does so through the association

between the field and the Knower of the field. This Chapter commencing with 'I

shall speak again of the supreme...,' etc. is begun to show how that happens, or

to show that the field and the knower of the field become the cause of the world

while remaining subservient to God, but not independently as is held by the

Sankhya school.

 

It has been stated that 'being seated in Nature' and the association with the

qualities are the causes of mundane existence. (This Chapter is begun) also to

show with which quality and how the association occurs, and which are the

qualities and how they bind; and also because it has to be stated how freedom

from the qualities comes about, and what the characteristics of a liberated

person are.

 

The Blessed Lord said:

 

1. I shall speak again of the supreme Knowledge, the best of all knowledges, by

realizing which all the contemplatives reached the highest Perfection from here.

 

The word param should be connected with the remote word jnanam.

 

Pravaksyami, I shall speak; bhuyah, again-even though spoken of more than once

in all the preceding chapters; of the param, supreme-it is supreme because it is

concerned with the supreme Reality;-which is that?-jnanam, Knowledge; uttamam,

the best-since it has the best result; jnananam, of all knowledges-. 'Of all

knowledges' does not mean 'of humility' etc. (13.7-11). What then? It means

'among knowledges of all knowable things like sacrifice etc.' They do not lead

to Liberation, but this (Knowledge) leads to Liberation. Hence the Lord praises

it with the words 'supreme' and 'best', so as to arouse interest in the

intellect of the listener.

 

Yat jnatva, by realizing which, by attaining which Knowledge; sarve, all;

munayah, the contemplatives, the monks [but not those who espoused monasticsim

as a formality in in the fourth stage of life.] gatah, reached, attained; itah,

from here-when this bondage of the body had ceased; param, the highest; siddhim,

Perfection, called Liberation.

 

Swami Chinmayananda's Translation and Commentary

 

The Blessed Lord said: 1. I will again declare (to you) that Supreme Knowledge,

the best of all knowledges, having known which, all the sages have attained

Supreme Perfection after this life.

 

Even a very intelligent man will need repeated consolation when he is extremely

agitated by any dire emotion. He who identifies himself with his outward

personality and behaves as a finite mortal, cannot, in his life of agitations

and sorrows, easily comprehend and appreciate that in his essential nature, he

is the Infinite, the Divine. Spiritual truths are to be constantly repeated,

again and again, by the teacher, until the student's rebellious intellect

apprehends them sufficiently. A mother feeding a little baby in an Indian home

is a typical example; the mother will have to coax the child repeatedly until

sufficient food goes into its stomach. Similarly, spiritual ideas will have to

be repeated many times by the teachers until they develop into strong inward

personal convictions in the student.

 

Therefore, the chapter opens with a declaration by the Lord, " AGAIN WILL I TELL

THEE. " Not that the Supreme theme has not yet been declared, but, for the

purposes of elucidation and correct appreciation, repetition is unavoidable.

 

The theme of this chapter declared here is, " THAT SUPREME KNOWLEDGE WHICH IS

BETTER THAN ALL OTHER KNOWLEDGES. " This should not be taken too literally. The

subject-matter of the chapter deals with the behaviour of man and the different

influences that play on his subtle body in life. This cannot be the Supreme

theme in philosophy. But it is declared here as the " highest Knowledge, "

inasmuch as, without a correct understanding of this theme, and without

self-detection and timely self-correction of the mental mechanism, it will be

impossible for a seeker to walk safely the path divine.

 

HAVING KNOWN WHICH, ALL THE MUNIS HAVE ATTAINED TO THE HIGHEST PERFECTION --- A

precise knowledge of the gunas, it is claimed here, will make the pilgrimage

easier for all seekers. A true and exhaustive knowledge of the 'path,' the

possible dangers en-route, the difficulties that might arise --- these should

pre-warn a pilgrim and he can undertake his journey well equipped to meet all

these possible dangers. An understanding of the possible mischiefs of the mind

is a healthy warning to a diligent student of spirituality, so that he can

easily avoid the usual dangers, and meet his subjective problems efficiently

whenever they arise in him.

 

Muni does not mean an old man with a beard, living in a jungle, eating roots and

berries, but it means, " A man of reflection and contemplation " (Manana

Sheelavan). Thus, an understanding of the gunas, their nature and their tyranny,

when and how they rise up in revolt against our peaceful progress, are all

preliminary information useful for all Men-of-Reflection, who constantly digest

and assimilate their experiences in life and thereby gain " wisdom. "

 

AFTER THIS LIFE --- The attainment of Perfection is promised here, as in many

Upanishads, " AFTER THIS LIFE. " Some thinkers take this declaration too literally

and say that Perfection cannot be gained in this life while living here. Very

efficiently and logically, Shri Shankaracharya and others break up this argument

and assert, again and again, that Perfection can be gained, here and now, by any

diligent seeker. According to these Acharyas " AFTER THIS LIFE " means " at the end

of our ego-centric misconceptions of life. "

 

Even in our life, we find that the bachelor must die to become the married man;

the virgin must die before she becomes a mother. In the above cases, the person

is not dead but bachelor-hood and virginity have ended, so that they may acquire

husband-hood and mother-hood. Thus, the individuals remaining the same, their

status changes. Through right reflection and true understanding, our false

values-of-life can end, and in the newly found " wisdom, " a life of better

illumination and greater equanimity can be lived. This hatching of the

'perfect,' out of its shell-like imperfections around, is achieved in the inward

warmth of constant contemplation. The mind of an individual who lives diligently

with intellectual dynamism, may come under the destructive influences of any of

these gunas, and thereby lose its serene equilibrium in contemplation. Avoid it

and cent-percent success is assured. Thus a knowledge of the three gunas and

their behaviour helps indirectly every enthusiastic seeker.

 

THE LORD NOW PROCEEDS TO DECLARE THAT THIS " KNOWLEDGE " DEFINITELY LEADS TO

SUPREME PERFECTION:

 

Idam jnaanam upaashritya mama saadharmyam aagataah;

Sarge'pi nopajaayante pralaye na vyathanti cha.

 

2. They who, having taken refuge in this knowledge, attain to unity with Me, are

neither born at the time of creation nor are they disturbed at the time of

dissolution.

 

 

Sankara Bhashya

(Swami Gambiranda's Translation and Commentary)

 

And the Lord shows the infallibility of this Perfection:

 

2. Those who attain identity with Me by resorting of this Knowledge are not born

even during creation, nor do they suffer pain during dissolution.

 

Agatah, those who attain; mama sadharmyam, identity with Me the supreme God,

unity with My real nature-sadharmyam, however, does not mean similarity of

attributes, for, in the scripture Gita, distinction between the Knower of the

field and God is not admitted; and this statement of the result is by way of

eulogy-; upasritya, by resorting to i.e. by following; idam, this; jnanam,

Knowledge as described, i.e., by following the means to Knowledge; na, are not;

upajayante, born, produced; api, even; sarge, during creation; nor do they

vyathanti, suffer pain, i.e. they do not perish; pralaye, during dissolution,

when even Brahma perishes.

 

Swami Chinmayananda's Translation and Commentary

 

2. They who, having refuge in this " Knowledge, " have attained to My Being, are

neither born at the time of Creation, nor are they disturbed at the time of

dissolution.

 

The greatness of the " knowledge " contained in the chapter is not so much in its

philosophical implications as in the benefit which is available to a seeker who

diligently makes use of it. He who has realised correctly the deep significances

in this chapter, can reach the State-of-Perfection; he shall " ATTAIN TO MY

BEING " says the Lord.

 

Whenever Krishna uses the first person singular 'I' in the Geeta he indicated

the State of Spiritual Perfection. The theme of the chapter, as we have already

indicated, is a thorough study of the play of the gunas that bind us down to the

lower plane of matter identifications, and therefore, to the ego-sense. When

once we get away from the gunas and totally stop their play in our mental life,

we get redeemed from our limited sense of individuality, and instantaneously, we

shall experience our Absolute Universal Nature.

 

The sorrows of the dream --- though very true to the dreamer while he dreams ---

cannot affect him the moment he wakes up. The joys and sorrows belonging to one

plane-of-Consciousness cannot stretch their arms to throttle us in another

plane-of-Consciousness. A seeker who has, through meditation, mastered his mind

and has transcended it, and therefore, has reached beyond the ordinary realms of

Consciousness, cannot thereafter have any sense of finitude and the consequent

material sorrows, as in his earlier days of Matter identifications. He

rediscovers himself to be the Omnipresent Reality, which knows neither Creation

nor dissolution, in Its Absolute State.

 

This is indicated here: NEITHER ARE THEY BORN AT THE TIME OF CREATION ---

Creation is a trick of the mind and when we are no more expressing through the

mind, and therefore, no longer conditioned by it, we cannot have the experience

of any " Creation. " When anger conquers my mind, I experience and behave as an

angry man; but when anger has receded and my mind is calmed, I can no longer

continue to behave as a bad-tempered man. The tricks of the mind consist in

projecting a world-of-Creation, thought by thought, and in feeling oneself

irredeemably conditioned by one's own imaginations. As long as one is drowned in

the mind, the storms of the bosom must necessarily toss one about. On

transcending the mind, we realise the Self and its Infinite Nature, and

therefore, there is no Creation; nor shall we feel ourselves as having been

born.

 

NOR ARE THEY DISTURBED AT THE TIME OF DISSOLUTION --- The sorrows of destruction

are the pangs of death. While dreaming one can go through the sorrows of a

dream-death, and yet, if at that time one wakes up, one will at that very

moment, laugh at one's sorrows at the delusory death-pangs suffered in the

dream. Having realised the Absolute Nature, thereafter in that State of Infinite

Existence, one can no longer experience either the sorrows of death or the

troubles of finitude.

 

But in order to conquer the mind, a seeker must know very clearly the tricks by

which the mind generally hoodwinks him. A knowledge of the strategy of our

enemies is an essential prerequisite to plan out our attacks successfully.

 

The stanza is, therefore, right when it declares that a thorough knowledge of

the gunas will be helpful to everyone trying to master his own mind and reach

the freedom from all its moral agitations and ethical imperfections.

 

THE FOLLOWING TWO STANZAS EXPLAIN HOW THE UNIVERSE IS EVOLVED BY THE UNION

BETWEEN SPIRIT AND MATTER --- Spirit enveloped in Matter is the pluralistic

expression of Existence in the world. From the inert stone to the greatest

Prophet-of-Wisdom, every existence is but the Spirit expressing through

Matter-vestures. In an earlier chapter, we have already seen very clearly how

the " Knower-of-the-Field " working in the " Field " and identifying himself with

it, becomes the individualised " Ego, " extremely sensitive to the sorrows and

tragedies, joys, and successes of its environments.

 

THE LORD NOW PROCEEDS TO EXPLAIN, IN WHAT WAY THE MARRIAGE BETWEEN THE

" KNOWER-OF-THE-FIELD " AND THE " FIELD " TAKES PLACE, AND HOW THE UNION COMES TO

BREED OUR ENDLESS SORROWS: (3)

 

to be continued...

 

 

 

Hare Krishna!!!