Panchajanyam Hrishikesah-The fire of knowledge

[Guest guest]

The knowledge of what is action and what is inaction resulting in

the perception of action in inaction and vice versa, is like a

fire. He, whose actions are devoid of desire, offers all his

actions in this fire. Such a man alone can be called a panditha, a

man of discrimination. He is never an agent of action, kartha,

because he has renounced the desire for the fruits of his actions .

He is ever content, being dependent on nothing for his happiness and

even though he may seem to work like others he is actually inactive,

because of his total detachment.

 

He who is free from all expectations reaps no merit,

punya, even from good actions nor sin as all his actions are pure. A

mere act does not produce punya or papa but only the motive behind

the act makes it sinful or otherwise. Even killing need not be a sin

if it is to protect others from getting killed. At the same time even

a virtue like speaking the truth may result in sin if by telling the

truth someone will come to harm. Arjuna was urged to fight and it

was an act of dharma. Seetha did not tell the truth about Hanuman in

order to protect him and it was no sin. On the other hand we have a

story of a hermit who went to hell because he told the truth.

He was sitting in his asram when a cow fled past him to

escape from its pursuers and when they asked him he pointed out the

direction the cow has taken as he had vowed to speak the truth. Thus

he incurred the sin of killing a cow. Krishna says,

niraaseeryathachiththaathma thyaktha sarvaprigrahah, free from

expectations, controlling himself mentally and physically, renouncing

all possessions, incurs no sin or acquires no merit, for all his

actions are consumed in the fire of knowledge. This means that his

actions do not result in bondage because he is

yadrchchaalaabhasamthushtah, content with his lot, dvndvaatheethah,

beyond dualities like sukha and duhkha, gain and loss and likes and

dislikes. And he is vimathsara, without envy, in short he is

equanimous, samah siddhaavasiddhou.

 

An ascetic who is samah is devoid of elation and

depression and takes what comes with out being affected by it. He is

always convince. that he is not the doer but it is his gunas which

are interacting with those outside. Only other people ascribe agency

to him. Thus in spite of continuing his regular activities to

maintain his body and soul together he does nothing at all. All his

actions get dissolved and do not produce any result that affects him.

The reason for this is given by Krishna as gathasangasya mukthasya

jnanaavasthithahethasah yajnaayaacharathah karma samagram

pavileeyathe, he is gathasanghah, one whose attachments have

vanished, mukthah, liberated and jnanaavasthitha chethaah one whose

mind is established in knowledge. His action itself is a yajna.

 

In the third chapter of the Gita it was said that all

actions except those done with the spirit of yajna produce bondage.

Here Krishna elaborates on the different kinds of yajna to explain

the meaning of yajna. All the actions done in accordance with

varnasramadharma without selfish interest are yajnas. Different types

of yogis follow different means of attaining salvation which are

described here as yajnas

 

Why does the action fails to produce result that affects

the doer but gets dissolved? The reason is given in the verse

brahmaarpanam brahmahavih brahmmaagnou brahmanaa hutham brahmaiva

thena ganthavyam brahmakarmasamaadhinaa. To the enlightened who have

acquired the perception that sarvam khalu idham brahma, all this is

brahman, all their activities are done with a spirit of yajna .The

means of a yajna like the ladle with which the offering is put in the

fire, brahmaarpanam, the thing that is offered, havih, the fire

itself,agnih, the one who does the yajna and the yajna itself,

everything is Brahman. The word brahmaarpanam is used not as a

compound but as arpanam brahma, the means of yajna is Brahman. This

sacrificer who concentrates on the act that is Brahman reaches

Brahman alone, brahmaiva thena ganthavyam brahmakarmasamaadhinaa. One

whose intellect is established in Brahman is one having

brahmakarmasamaadhi and the goal to reach for him is Brahman. All his

actions lead him to Brahman-realisation. This verse implies that the

right perception of Brahman everywhere in everything is the means of

emancipation. Such jnana itself becomes the fire that consumes all

the karma of the doer so that he experiences no more samsara as a

result of his karma.

 

In the foregoing verse the jnani who acts with

brahmabhaavana, seeing Brahman in everything was described. This

denotes the enlightened soul who is niraseer

yathachitthaatmathyakthasarvaparigrahah who is doing only saareeram

kevalam karma.. He is desireless, has renounced all possessions and

is self-controlled and his actions are only to keep the body and soul

together till the time comes to shed his mortal coil when, he attains

salvation. What would be the lot of one following the rituals of

varnasramadharma but with detachment and without desire?

 

Daivamevaapare yajnam yoginah paryupaasathe, some yogis

do the karmanushtaana like worship of the Lord in any form and other

activities as laid out in the Vedas according to varna and asrama as

yajna. Here the word yogi refers to the one who does all these

activities with detachment and without desire, shedding the thought

of ‘I’ and ‘Mine.’ The yajna here is deva yajna which includes

yaga, ,japa and worship to deities as prescribed in the Vedas..

 

There are five kinds of yajnas to be performed by a

grhastha, man of the world. They are brahmayajna, the study of Vedas

and acquiring the knowledge of Brahman, devayajna, the performance of

worship like japa, homa and the other activities done to propitiate

the divine, pitryajna like sraaddha and others done towards the

pitrs, manes, manushya yajna which are services of charity,

hospitality and welfare of mankind and bhootha yajna, kindness and

service to living beings other than humans. Deva yajna has been

mentioned above and brahma yajna is denoted by brahmmaagnou apare

yajnam yajnenaiva upajuhvathi, others offer their selves in the fire

of brahman being endowed with the awareness of their identity with

Brahman.

 

The knowledge of their real self being nothing but

Brahman as the advaita contends, or that their real Self is the Lord

of whom everything including their individual self is the body or

part of Him, as professed by visishtadvaita, gives the perception

that the world is not as it appears to be but only Brahman in

reality. The purpose of mentioning this kind of yogis as distinct

from those described at the outset by the verse ‘brahmaarpanam

brahmahavih----- ‘ is to show that while the former is an enlightened

soul the latter refers to the state prior to enlightenment as the

knowledge that the world is not as it appears to be leads to the

awareness of Brahman everywhere.

 

Next Krishna elaborates yet another kind of discipline ,

namely, self control, indriya nigraha. which when done as a yajna

leads one to samaadhi. When mind is integrated in Brahman it is

samaadhi. For that to happen the mind must turn away from the sense

experience. This control of the mind from running after sense objects

is described as a yajna of which three stages are required.

 

Srothraaneendhriyaanyaadhaou samyamaagnishu juhvathi,

sacrifice the ear and other senses in the fire of restraint.

Restraining the senses is described as offering them in the fire of

restraint. Once the senses are restrained when they contact the sense

objects it is like sacrificing the sense objects like sound, in the

fire of senses, sabdhaadheen indhriyaanyanyeindhriyaagnishu juhvathi.

The sense objects do not create any reaction as the senses are

restrained already. The next stage is when all the activities of the

senses sarvaaneendhriya karmaani and of the vital breaths

praanakarmaani are sacrificed in the fire of aathmasamyama, self

restraint, kindled by knowledge. Jnanadheepithe.

 

Aathmasamyama is the state of samaadhi when there is no

activity of the senses or vital breath because the mind is integrated

in Brahman consciousness. It is akin to the deep sleep state where

body, mind and intellect do not exist and hence no activity can be

ascribed to them, yet it is different, since it is not under the

influence of ignorance as in deep sleep but it is full of awareness

born out of jnana. This is what is implied by the word

jnanadheepithe., illumined by jnana.

 

There is yet another discipline which is commonly

understood by the term yoga and that is now described as yogayajna.

It is known as ashtaangayoga elaborated by Pathanjali in Yogasuthra.

It is so called because of its eight angas , limbs. They are, Yama,

Niyama, Aasana, Praanaayasma, Prathyaahaara, Dhaarana, Dhyaana and

Samaadhi.

 

1. Yama - Ahimsaastheyabrahmacharyaaprigrahaa yamaah †" This consists

of ahimsa, nonviolence mental and physical, sathyam, truthfulness in

thought, word and deed, astheya, not appropriating something that

belongs to others, brahmacharya, celibacy, aparigraha, non-

possession.

 

2. Niyama †" souchasanthoshathapasvaadhyaayesvarapranidhaanaani

niyamaah - Soucha, purity of body and mind, santhosha,

contentment and joy, thapas, spiritual disciplines like upavasa and

vratha, svaadhyaaya, learning the scriptures conducive to salvation,

isvarapranidhaana, worship of the Lord.

3. Aasana - Sthirasukhamaasanam †" A comfortable posture , but not

too comfortable to induce sleep! The yoga discipline prescribes the

kind of posture in which the head, neck and spine are in a straight

line and the eyes looking towards the nose, neither open nor closed.

 

4.Praanaayama †" Svaasaprchvaasayorgathivichchedhah †" Breath-control

exercises.

 

5.Prathyaahaara - Indhriyaanaam prathyaahaarah - Withdrawing the

senses from the sense objects and merge them in the consciousness

of the Self.

 

6. Dhaarana - Desabandhah chitthasya dhaaranaa.- concentrating on

a particular object for a long time is dhaaranaa. In this context it

means concentrating on Brahman.

 

7. Dhyaanam - Thathra prathyayaikathaanatha dhyaanam †"

Dhaaranaa continued for long duration of time with continuous

meditation like the trickling of oil, thaoladhaaraavat, is dhyaana.

 

8. Samaadhi - When the object of meditation, the act of meditation

and the meditator, all the three merge into one it is called

Samaadhi. Here the consciousness that I am meditating is absent and

there is only the presence of the object of meditation and nothing

else.

 

Finally Praanaayaama itself is given the status of yajna,

specifying the methods of breath control and Krishna concludes the

enumeration of the different kinds of yajna by saying that all the

kinds of yajna specified so far are effective in destroying the sins

of the doer. Unless all the actions are performed with the spirit of

yajna and the result of actions are accepted as the prasadha or grace

of the Lord and shared equally there is no way to get released from

the bondage. Yajnasishtaamrthabhujah yaanthi brahma sanaathanam On

the other hand those who follow this discipline outlined above attain

salvation.

 

Krishna winds up the explanation about various kinds of

yajna by claiming that jnanayajna is superior to dravya yajna, that

done by offering material things, which implies the yajnas prescribed

in the Vedas in the karmakanda. The reason for this is given by

Krishna as sarvam karmaakhilampartha jnane parisamaapyathe. All the

vedic karmas though they produce good results are nevertheless

binding and cause rebirth. Only when the same karma is done without

attachment and ego, shedding the thought of ‘I’ and ‘Mine’ becomes

the means of self realization, the ultimate goal of life. This is

implied by the statement ‘ all actions without exception ,sarvakarma

akhilam, culminate in knowledge., jnane parisamaapyathe.’

 

What does Krishna means by the terms jnanayajna and

jnana? The real knowledge or rather awareness of Brahman, the

Absolute Reality, is termed as jnana, .yatjnaathvaa na punarmoham

evam yaasyasi pandava, by knowing which one does not revert back into

delusion such as the one Arjuna was experiencing because that gives

the insight to perceive all beings in oneself as well as in Brahman.

This is the awareness that everything is in God and God is in

everything. Jnanayajna denotes the way to acquire this jnana and

consists of the yogic disciplines like learning the scriptures,

practising the self control and cultivating viveka, discrimination

and vairagya, detachment.

 

To get this knowledge Krishna directs Arjuna to approach

a guru with full faith and humility and ask him with genuine

interest, tadviddhi pranipaathena pariprasnena sevayaa. Two questions

may arise with respect to this advice of Krishna to Arjuna.

1. Was that a proper time and place to ask Arjuna to approach a guru

in order to acquire wisdom because the intention of Krishna in giving

out the Gita was to make Arjuna fight the ensuing battle?

2. What was the utility of the eighteen chapters of Gita if even

after hearing it Arjuna still needed a guru to acquire jnana?

 

Krishna , like a surgeon performing an emergency

operation to remove a bullet, preached Gita in order to remove the

delusion in the mind of Arjuna and gave him a glimpse of the

highest knowledge which made Arjuna to rise up to the occasion and

fight As the surgeon relinquishes the post operative treatment to the

physician, Krishna advises Arjuna to approach guru to continue his

learning if he so wishes.

 

.The Gita was forgotten by Arjuna as soon as he started

fighting when his natural propensity surfaced and he became a

kshathriya and nothing else Arjuna asked Krishna after the war to

tell him the Gita again but Krishna replied that He Himself had

forgotten what He said because Arjuna was not ready for jnanayoga and

what was given to him at the outset of the war was only an emergency

treatment

Krishna did not want to impart the jnana Himself because

the spiritual instruction should be given in a proper manner in order

to culminate in self-realisation The disciple has to approach the

guru in obeisance, pranipaatha, and with humility and obedience,

seva and learn through exhaustive questioning, pariprasna. Then the

guru who is a jnani and tathvadarsi, a realized master, will impart

the knowledge of Brahman. What is implied here is that unless the

student has humility, faith and healthy enquiring mind he cannot

acquire spiritual knowledge.

 

Then Krishna completes the discourse on jnana by

extolling the glory of it. The perception of all beings right from

the creator to a blade of grass as nothing but Brahman becomes the

raft that takes one beyond all sins. Even a worst the sinner will

cross over the sea of sins, says Krishna, if he acquires jnana, api

chedhasi paapebhyah sarvwebhyah paapakrththamah sarvam jnanaplvenaiva

vrjinam santharishyathi, which means that the sinner would not

acquire jnana unless he .becomes pure due to some merit acquired in

his previous life like Valmiki. He may be punished for his misdeeds

in this life but. Will attain release from his karma after he sheds

his mortal coil.

 

How does jnana destroy sin ? the answer is proffered

with an example. Yathaidhaamsi samiddho agnih bhasmasaath kuruthe

Arjuna, jnaanaagnih sarvakarmaani Bhasmasaath kuruthe thathaa, as a

kindled fire reduces all fuel to ashes the fire of knowledge reduces

all work to ashes.. The idea is that the knowledge which gives right

perception robs all karma of the power to produce result. Here ‘ all

karma’ means the karma accumulated in the past lives which has

not yet started to produce result and that which is done after the

dawn of knowledge, sanchitha and aagaami karma. The karma which has

caused the present birth praarabdha, has to be exhausted.

 

There is no greater purifier than jnana, which like fire

burns all impurities due to karma. All the other purifying agents,

internal like yama, dama, dhyana, japa and the rest and external like

visiting temples, religious austerities, bathing in the holy rivers

and so on are only the means of acquiring jnana. ‘Pavithraanaam

pavithram yo mangalaanaam cha mangalam, ‘says Bhishma in his

discourse on Vishnusahasranama. The Lord is purity in the pure and

auspiciousness in the auspicious .So the knowledge of the Lord who is

the Supreme Self is the purifier of all .One who practices Karmayoga

and dhyanayoga, yoga of action and yoga of meditation acquires this

knowledge in course of time, thath svayam yoga samsiddhah

kalenaathmani vindhathi, through sraddha, absolute faith,. provided

he is intent on it, thathparah and through self control,

samyathendhriyah, when he attains the supreme peace instantaneously.

 

The secret of success even in the worldly pursuits comes

only to him who is sraddhaavan, thathparah and samyathendhriyah. When

for instance a man aims to become a great business magnate, he

requires these three qualifications. He must have faith in his

endeavour as otherwise half hearted effort will not fetch the

desired result, he must be intent on his pursuit and he must have

absolute control over himself and be ready to sacrifice all his other

pleasures for the sake of his success in business. As mentioned in an

earlier chapter, all the principles taught to the management

trainees in modern days are found in Bhagavatgita.

 

That liberation follows from the right perception is the

unshakable doctrine established in all the sasthras. There can be

no doubt regarding this and the one who doubts this and has no faith

can never hope to attain happiness either in this life or the next,

asraddhadhaanascha samsayaathma vinasyathi, naayam lokoasthi na paro

na sukham samsayaathmanah Without faith nothing can be achieved as

for instance when you ask for directions to a place you have to have

faith in the one who directs you. Similarly one who has no faith in

scriptures or in the word of the saints will not acquire wisdom. A

man who digs for water will get it only if he digs deep enough in one

place and not if he tries in different places giving up each one

after a little effort .

 

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, yoga sannyastha

karmaanam jnanasamchinna samsayayam aathmavantham na karmaani

nibhadhnanthi. 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.

 

Thasmaath ajnaanasambhootham hrtstham jnanaasinaathmanah,

cchithvainamsamsayam yogamaathishta utthishta bhaaratha, 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..