BHAGAVATGEETA FOR BUSY PEOPLE - COURTESY : THE DIVINE LIFE SOCIETY

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Priya Bhagavat Banduvullara,

 

BHAGAVAD GITA FOR BUSY PEOPLE-BY SWAMI SIVANANDA

 

C H A P T E R - TWO

 

SANKHYA YOGA

 

This is Jnana Yoga or Vedanta bespeaks of the immortality of the

Soul. Lord Krishna said to Arjuna: " Wake up from the slumber of

ignorance. This body and the world are indwelt by the Imperishable

Atman, Brahman or the Soul. None can cause the destruction of That--

the Imperishable. This Atman is not born nor does it ever die. It

is unborn, eternal, changeless, ancient and inexhaustible. It is not

killed when the body is killed (20). It slays not, nor is it slain.

Just as a man casts off worn out clothes and puts on new ones, so

also the embodied Self casts off worn out bodies and enters others

which are new (22) Weapons cut it not, fire burns it not, water wets

it not, wind dries it not (23) This self unmanifested, unthinkable

and unchangeable (24).

 

" O Arjuna! do your duty. It is the duty of a Kshatriya to

fight. There is nothing higher for a kshatriya than a righteous war

(31). Develop a balanced mind. Having made pleasure and pain, gain

and loss, victory adn defeat the same, engage thou in battle, thus

thou shalt not incur sin; thou shalt cast off the bonds of action

(38).

 

" Thy right is to work only but never with its fruits. Let not

fruit of action be thy motive, nor let they attachment be for

inaction (47). Perform action, being steadfast in Yoga abandoning

attachment and balanced in success and failure. Evenness of mind is

Yoga " (48) Arjuna says, " O Lord Krishna! What is the state of

Sthithaprajna? How does he speak? How does he sit, how does he

walk? " (54) Lord Krishna replies, " A Jivanmukta is free from

desires, longings mine-ness, I-ness, attachment and fear. He is

satisfied in his own Self. He is indifferent amidst sensual

pleasures. He is not elated by getting desirable objects. He has a

poised mind at all times and under all conditions. He has perfect

control over his mind and senses. He lives in Brahman. He is

centred in his own Self. He is dead to the sensual world: (55 to 57).