Bhagavad gita according to gandhi chapter 7

THE BHAGAVD GITAACCORDING TO

GANDHI

T K G NAMBOODHIRITHIRUVALLA, KERALA

Presentation adapted fromThe Bhagavad Gita According to Gandhi, Orient

Paperbacks,2011

T K G Namboodhiri


GANDHI

T K G Namboodhiri

CHAPTER 7

JNANA- VIJNANA YOGA


GANDHIINTRODUCTION

Chapter 7, begins the second section of 6 chapters of Gita describing the “That” in the Mahavakya TAT TVAM ASI ( THAT THOU ART), This section thus discusses Brahman, the goal of the spiritual journey. Here, in Chapter 7,Lord Krishna opens his discourse with a promise that He would explain the entire science, theoretical, & practical aspects of Knowledge &Wisdom, & how one can acquire them through yoga & single-pointed devotion to Lord.

T K G Namboodhiri


GANDHIVerses 7.1 to 7.3

Hear, O Partha, how, with thy mind riveted on Me, by practicing yoga & making Me the sole refuge, thou shalt, without doubt, know Me fully.I will deliver to thee, in its entirety, this knowledge, combined with discriminative knowledge which when thou hast known there remains here nothing more to be known.Among thousands of men hardly one strives after perfection; among those who strive hardly one knows Me in truthThis knowledge is of supreme worth, & not everyone can acquire it.

T K G Namboodhiri


GANDHIVerses 7.4 & 7.5

Earth, Water, Fire, Air, Ether, Mind, Reason & Ego– These eightfold is My prakriti.This is My lower aspect; but know thou My other aspect—the higher--- which is Jiva (the Vital Essence) by which, O Mahabahu, this world is sustained.Sri Krishna explains that the primeval substratum of material nature is the basis for the infinite phenomena of all creation. Prakriti has a dual nature with higher & lower properties. The lower properties are Earth, water, fire, air, space, mind, reason & false ego.There is also a higher prakriti of Mine– para prakriti– It exists in living creatures, & is superior to the lower prakriti- apara prakriti- in inert matters. It is the life force of all living beings. Through it the entire universe exists.

T K G Namboodhiri



Know that these two compose the source from which all beings spring; I am the origin & end of the entire universe.There is nothing higher than I, O Dhananjaya; all this is strung on Me as a row of gems upon a thread.Sri Krishna says: ‘The apara prakriti, the soul that lives in the visible world, & the para prakriti, the invisible world, are the cause of all creatures that live. I am the source of the whole universe, & am that in which it subsides. I am the cause of creation & destruction.There is nothing superior to Me, everything that exists is connected to Me as the beads are held together by the string; so this universe is held by Me.

T K G Namboodhiri



In water I am savour, O Kaunteya, in the sun & the moon I am the light; the syllable AUM in all the Vedas, the sound in ether, & manliness in men.I am the sweet fragrance in earth; the brilliance in fire; the life in all beings; & the austerity in ascetics.Know Me, O Partha, to be the primeval seed of all beings; I am the reason (intelligence) of rational beings & the splendour of the splendid.Of the strong, I am the strength, divorced from lust & passion; in beings I am desire undivorced from righteousness.I am the strength of the strong, but that strength which is used without selfish motives or attachment. I am the desire (kama) in creatures which is not contrary to dharma-- the desire for moksha, or that to end the sufferings of creatures.

T K G Namboodhiri



Know that all the manifestations of the three gunas, sattva, rajas & tamas, proceed from none but Me; yet I am not in them; they are in Me.Befogged by these manifestations of the three gunas, the entire world fails to recognize Me, the Imperishable, as transcending them.All states of being the gunas– be they sattva (goodness), rajas (passion) or tamas (ignorance)– all arise from prakriti which manifests from Sri Krishna. He is in one sense, everything, but He is independent. He is not under the modes of material nature, on the contrary, they are within Him.People are not able to recognize that the Supreme Lord is transcendental to, & unaffected by, the three gunas being their source & therefore is Immutable & Immaculate.

T K G Namboodhiri



For this My divine delusive mystery made up of the three gunas is hard to pierce; but those who make Me their sole refuge pierce the veil.The deluded evil-doers, lowest of men, do not seek refuge in Me; for, by reason of this delusive mystery, they are bereft of knowledge & given to devilish ways.Those who are wise surrender to Him, but those who only think themselves to be wise do not. The depraved, the foolish & the lowest among the mankind; deprived of discrimination their intelligence becomes polluted & they assume demonic mentalities.

T K G Namboodhiri



Four types of well-doers are devoted to Me, O Arjuna; they are, O Bharatarshabha, the afflicted, the spiritual seeker, the material seeker, & the enlightened.Of these the enlightened, ever attached to Me in single minded devotion, is the best; for to the enlightened I am exceedingly dear & he is dear to Me.Four types of worthy people worship Me, says Sri Krishna. They are: those in distress; those who yearn for jnana or seek moksha; those seeking worldly benefits, & the jnanis, the men of wisdom, who worship God as His servants, & seek nothing from Him. Among them all, the jnani, who always lives in union with Him, yoked with Him, calls upon Him Thou, Thou & lives repeating His name, is the best. I am very dear to such jnanis & they to Me.

T K G Namboodhiri



All these are estimable indeed, but the enlightened I hold to be My very self; for he, the true yogi, is stayed on Me alone, the supreme goal.At the end of many births the enlightened man finds refuge in Me; rare indeed is this great soul to whom ‘Vasudeva is all’.Sree Krishna continues: All four kinds of devotees are noble people, certainly worthy men. But of them all, the jnani is My very soul, Myself as it were. He who has yoked himself to Me has risen to the highest state.After many lives, after a long & hard struggle, the jnani finds refuge in Me. Such a person is always saying, not merely with his tongue, but with his very heart, that this whole universe is a manifestation of Vasudeva. A mahatma of such greatness is very rare.

T K G Namboodhiri



Men, bereft of knowledge by reason of various longings, seek refuge in other gods, pinning their faith on diverse rites, guided by their own nature.Whatever form one desires to worship in faith & devotion, in that very form I make that faith of his secure.Selfish persons, deprived of discrimination, whose intelligence has been distorted or clouded by worldly desires, choose a path away from the Supreme, & worship demigods for fulfilment of their desires by following their rules & rituals. They obey their nature & worship accordingly.Whatever demigods such people want to worship, the Lord ensures that they have unwavering faith. Indirectly, all worship Him only, as these demigods are all part of His universal form.

T K G Namboodhiri



Possessed of that faith he seeks to propitiate that one, & obtains his desires there, dispensed in truth by none but Me.But limited is the fruit that falls to those short-sighted ones; those who worship the gods go to the gods, those who worship Me come unto Me.Short- sighted worshippers of gods reap temporary & perishable fruits, provided by the Supreme One. Those who worship the lower gods rise only so far as the world of those gods; but those who worship the supreme Self go direct to the Self.

T K G Namboodhiri



Not knowing My transcendent, imperishable, supreme character, the undiscerning think Me who am unmanifest to have become manifest.Veiled by the delusive mystery created by My unique power, I am not manifest to all; this bewildered world does not recognize Me, birthless & changeless.“Persons of little intelligence do not know My unmanifest state”-says Lord Krishna. They mistake the manifest universe for the invisible reality behind. They do not know the Supreme as the unmanifest, changeless Purushothama.The unthinking man, enveloped in Maya, does not know the Lord, the Unborn & the Immutable. Everyone cannot see Him, for He is veiled by the Maya. Our intellect has not the power to tear up the veil covering the Atman.

T K G Namboodhiri



I know, O Arjuna all creatures past, present & to be; but no one knows Me.All creatures in this universe are bewildered, O Parantapa, by virtue of the delusion of the pairs of opposites sprung from likes & dislikes, O Bharata.But those virtuous men whose sin has come to an end, freed from the delusion of the pairs of opposites, worship Me in steadfast faith.External perceptions of happiness & misery, success & failure, arising out of what is pleasing & that which is displeasing, begin to influence us as soon as we are born. We begin to identify with the physical body, & get occupied with worldly pursuits of happiness. Spending no time to acquire knowledge about the Self, we remain deluded. But persons who have acted piously, & whose sins have been eradicated, being free from the dualities of delusion, engage themselves in God’s service with determination.T K G Namboodhiri



Those who endeavour for freedom from age & death by taking refuge in Me, know in full that Brahman, Adhyatma & all karma.Those who know Me, including adhi-bhuta, adhi-daiva, adhi-yajna, possessed of even-mindedness, they know Me even at the time of passing away.Those who think of Me, even at the moment of death, as adhi-bhuta (the ultimate personality governing existence), adhi-daiva (underlying basis of all demi-gods), & adhi-yajna (Creator & Preserver of the whole universe), are men who have become steady. They know Me as the Lord of all creatures, of gods, & as the Creator & Preserver of the whole universe, & know that this world of flux has no effect on Me whatsoever, are men united with Me in yoga.

End of Chapter 7.

T K G Namboodhiri

Spiritual

Bhagavad gita according to gandhi chapter 7