THE HOLY GEETACOMMENTARY by

swami Chinmayananda

T K G NAMBOODHIRITHIRUVALLA, KERALA, INDIA

Presentation adapted from

THE HOLY GEETA, Central Chinmaya Mission Trust, July 2013

Mumbai

THE Holy GEETA

T K G Namboodhiri

CHAPTER 9

RAJAVIDYA RAJAGUHYA YOGA

THE ROYAL SECRET

THE HOLY GEETA

T K G Namboodhiri

INTRODUCTION- Chapter 9 – THE ROYAL SECRETBhagavad Geeta has been one of the most powerful rejuvenation treatments of the immortal Sanatana Dharma in recent times. In this chapter, Sri Krishna promises that He will be giving not only the theory of self-perfection but also the logic behind it all. Vedantic ideas have been simplified here, so that they can be easily grasped by the ordinary educated men of His time. Lord Krishna discusses Pure Consciousness, in whose light all conditioned-knowledge are made possible. This science, dealing with the Absolute, has been rightly called as the Royal-Knowledge. Krishna Himself calls it “ the most secret (profound) science”.

THE HOLY GEETA

T K G Namboodhiri

THE GREATEST SECRET & PRFOUND KNOWLEDGEThe Blessed Lord said:9.1 To you who do not cavil, I shall now declare this, the greatest secret, the most profoundknowledge combined with experience (or realisation); which having known, you shall befree from the sorrows of life.The Lord says that He will declare the philosophy to Arjuna, ‘Who does not carp or cavil’ & the benefit of thisknowledge & its practical application has also been indicated as: “Having known which, You shall be freefrom all limitations of finite existence”.To understand ourselves & the world outside is to know the secret of keeping a healthy & happy relationshipwith the world outside. One who is tuning himself up thus with the whole, is sure to succeed & gaincomplete victory in life. Arjuna, because of his internal maladjustments, develops a shattered personality.Split in himself, he comes to feel the problems of life too heavy, the duties of life too irksome, & life itself toomuch to bear. Such people are called Samsarins. The men-of-Realisation, the Saints & Sages, on the otherhand, know to steer the engine of existence safely around every impediment. This status is the heritage ofman, who has the enthusiasm & the courage to master life & live like a God upon earth ruling over thecircumstances, & smiling at the adversities.

THE HOLY GEETA

T K G Namboodhiri

ROYAL SCIENCE, ROYAL SECRET, SUPREME PURIFIER9.2 Royal Science, Royal Secret, the Supreme Purifier is this, realisable by direct intuitiveknowledge, according to the Dharma, very easy to perform, imperishable.Vedanta is the noblest of religions, because it provides a scientific explanation for theentire way of right living. Krishna here glorifies it: “This is the Royal Science, the RoyalMystery, Pure & very High”. He promises that it is “Clearly Comprehensible”, since it can beapprehended directly by an immediate experience of the Self. It is a science pertaining toDharma. The Consciousness, the Awareness, called the Self is the Dharma of man, thePrinciple-of-Life in him. The Spiritual Science, that Lord Krishna promises to enunciate inthis chapter is the Science of the Self, the deepest essence in each individual. "Very easy toperform”: Religion is a subjective technique to be pursued by each in himself. The Lordconfirms here that the technique of self-integration & the ultimate gaining of completemastery over oneself is easy to master for the sincere & the diligent. It is endorsed herethat the gains acquired through a faithful pursuit of this Royal Science of self-development& self-mastery are of “An Imperishable Nature”. To realise the Self is to become the Self,the Eternal & the Infinite Reality behind the phenomenal world of appearances.

THE HOLY GEETA

T K G Namboodhiri

REBIRTH FOR THOSE FAITHLESS IN DHARMA9.3 Persons without faith in this Dharma (the Divine Self), O Paranthapa, without attainingMe, return to the path of birth, fraught with death.Those who live in complete disregard of the Self, necessarily “Return without attaining Me”. Men ofextroversion, who spend their life in seeking, acquiring & possessing objects of sensual pleasures, mustnecessarily return to “The path of rebirth, fraught with death”. The world of names & forms is finite & ever-changing. At every moment, every object is living through a process of change, & each change is death to theprevious state. So ‘death’, here, should be taken in this liberal meaning. Courtiers of the finite reach the tragicrealms of constant death.Shraddha, in Vedanta, is the moulding of the life & living, on the basis of right intellectual comprehension ofthe scriptures & advice of Teachers. It is the enduring faith that lifts us to realms beyond the reach of themind & intellect, to the Infinite & Immortal. Those who have no faith in the Divine Essence, which is the Selfin them, slip into devolution & come to live as biped animals.By contrasting the path-of-Knowledge with the path-of-Ignorance in the most vivid terms, Krishna advisesArjuna to take the blessed path of Higher seeking, the realisation of the Imperishable.

THE HOLY GEETA

T K G Namboodhiri

BRAHMAN PERVADES THE WHOLE COSMOS9.4 All this world is pervaded by Me in My Unmanifest form (aspect); all beings exist in Me,but I do not dwell in them.Now the Lord starts to reveal the Royal Knowledge: “All this World is pervaded by Me in MyUnmanifested Form”. The subtlety of a thing is directly proportional to it pervasiveness; hence theSelf, the subtlest entity must necessarily be the All-pervasive. As all limited things have forms, theAll-pervasive alone can be Eternal & Infinite. Thus the Self, in its essential Unmanifest nature mustbe pervading everything. If the Infinite pervades the finite, how are they related? For the AdvaiticVedantists, the Eternal Self alone is the ONE & the ONLY REALITY. So there is a ‘relationless-relationship’ between the Infinite & the finite. The second line of the verse says that, “All beingsexist in Me, but I do not dwell in them”. The Lord explains, “In my Unmanifest nature, I am thesubstratum for all the manifested” names & forms, but “I am not sharing their destinies, because Ido not dwell in them”. The Self, identified with the matter-envelopments, comes to “Dwell in them”as the pain-ridden mortal, while the same Self, cleared of all its ignorance, has come to realise that“I do not dwell in them”, is the Self, Immortal & Unmanifest.

THE HOLY GEETA

T K G Namboodhiri

BRAHMAN SUPPORTS ALL BEINGS9.5 Nor do beings exist (in reality) in Me—behold My Divine Yoga supporting all beings, butnot dwelling in them, I am My Self, the ‘efficient cause’ of all beings.The Lord says: “Nor do things exist in Me” although “I dwell not in them”. In the Infinite, never hasthe finite risen! In Pure Awareness, in Its Infinite Nature of sheer Knowledge, there never was,never is & can never be any world of pluralistic embodiment, just as for the waker, the pleasures ofthe dream world ‘are never available’. At the time of the direct subjective experience of the Selfthere is no cognition of the pluralistic world, which is born out of the forgetfulness of the Infinite.The Self brings forth & supports all beings just as the ocean gives birth to, supports & nourishes allthe waves in it. But the ocean itself never dwells in the waves. Pure Consciousness, Divine &Eternal, is the substratum that sustains & illumines the entire panorama of the ever-changingplurality. Just as the cotton is in the cloth, or the gold in all ornaments, so too, the Imperishable isin the perishable. The dreamer can function only in the waker, the waker pervades the dream-experiences, & at the same time, the waker is not in the dream, nor, when awakened fully, doesthe dream ever exists in the waker.

THE HOLY GEETA

T K G Namboodhiri

LIKE AIR IN SPACE BEINGS EXIST IN BRAHMAN9.6 As the mighty wind, moving everywhere, rests always in space (theAKASH), even so, know you, all beings rest in Me.The gross can never condition the subtle. Even though we may imprison the body of acriminal, his thoughts are ever free. If this is understood, then we can understand what theLord said in the last verse.Know you Arjuna, that the winds whirl around everywhere in space, the space supportsthem everywhere, & yet, they do not ever limit the space. This example beautifully definethe right relationship between the Self & the non-Self. The Real supports the unreal, whichlives in It, & yet, the unreal can never condition the Real. In the Infinite vastness of theReal, the arena of disturbances caused by Its flirtations with Its own assumed self-ignorance is only a negligible area, & even there, the relationship between the false & theReal is the relationship between the fickle breeze & the Infinite space.

THE HOLY GEETA

T K G Namboodhiri

CREATION & DISSOLUTION OF THE UNIVERSE9.7 All beings, O Kaunteya, go into My Prakriti (Nature) at the end of a KALPA; I send themforth again at the beginning of (the next) KALPA.9.8 Animating My Prakriti, I, again & again send forth all this multitude of beings, by theforce of Nature.The Sun gets reflected in the clear still waters of a lake and the muddy pools of water on the roadside. The difference inthe quality of the various reflections depends upon the state of the reflectors. Just as the Sun is the cause of allreflections, the God-Principle, is the creator of all individual egos. Krishna, as the Self, declares: “I am the animatingReality behind the Creator, as well as the created. The Adjunct of the God-Principle, the total body-mind-intellectequipment, is the lower Nature (Prakriti) of the Self. At the beginning of a cycle (Kalpa) the existing Vasanas in the lowernature get projected & at the end of the Kalpa all beings return to My Prakriti. The act of invigorating or fertilising thePrakriti to grow up again into the tree-of-Samsara, is an act of grace from the Brahman. The entire multitude of Vasanas, “I project again & again” & “ They are helpless under the sway of Prakriti”.The greatest scoundrel & the noblest Saint are both the same when neither of them is identifying with his mind &intellect, in deep sleep. On waking up, the scoundrel-mind projects a scoundrel, & the saintly-mind projects the Saint. Thevitality behind both is the same spark-of-Life, Absolute Consciousness. The scoundrel is as helpless as the saint, bothbeing “Helplessly under the sway of Prakriti” in each. The entire drama of the projection & dissolution, of the entirecosmos, is performed upon the Changeless Imperishable Eternal platform of the Self.

THE HOLY GEETA

T K G Namboodhiri

INDIFFERENT & UNATTACHED BRAHMAN9.9 Sitting like one indifferent, & unattached to these acts, Dhananjaya, these acts do notbind Me.The egocentric actions of the Jiva leave their impressions behind, which will have reactions in thefuture. Actions which are not ego-motivated leave no trail behind.In the case of Eternal animating Its Prakriti & projecting out “ Again & again the multitude ofbeings”, there is neither any attachment or any aversion, & therefore, these actions do not affectthe Eternal: “These acts do not bind Me”. It is neither egocentric nor desire-motivated. The ever-pure Infinite, as the Self, becomes the enduring platform for all the activities of the cosmos, justlike the screen in a movie-theatre on which all the movies are projected.The Self is the source of all dynamism, like the steam in a steam-engine. It dynamises the mindwhich is a bundle of good & bad Vasanas. The Self is Eternal & unmindful of what type of world isprojected forth. As Pure Consciousness, It illumines the Vasanas that lends them the capacity toproject out, be it for the damnation of themselves or for their glorification. “Sitting like oneindifferent & unattached to these acts” the Self revels in the realm of Its lower nature (Prakriti).

THE HOLY GEETA

T K G Namboodhiri

BRAHMAN AS THE SUPERVISOR TO PRAKRITI9.10 Under Me as her Supervisor, Prakriti (nature) produces the moving & the unmoving;because of this, O Kaunteya, the world revolves.In Vedanta, the ‘relationless-relationship’ between the actionless Self & the active non-Self, has beenexplained through many analogies. The Sun warms up objects upon which they fall, without warming theintervening medium. Similarly, the Self remains in Its Infinite Glory, & the non-Self gets dynamised to act, asPrakriti, in the mere ‘presence’ of the Self. All the officers of a king who work for him, get their authority towork from the king, who actually does not do those work. Similarly, in the mere presence of the Self, Prakritiborrows her sanctions to plan & to execute, to act & to achieve.Subjectively, the Atman, merely by Its ‘presence’ illumines the mind & intellect, & creates the world ofobjects & the instruments of experience & action. “Nature, while I preside, gives birth to the world of things& beings”. The continued existence of the world of plurality is ensured by the ‘presence’ of the Self; “theworld whirls round & round because of this”. In the final analysis, the Self does nothing. It is the Prakriti thatprojects & executes; it being animated in the proximity of the Self. It is the Light of the Self that vitalises thePrakriti & makes her exist & act.

THE HOLY GEETA

T K G Namboodhiri

FOOLS DO NOT RECOGNISE THE SUPREME SELF 9.11 Fools disregard Me when I dwell in human form; they know not My Higher being asthe Great Lord of all beings.Krishna uses the strong word ‘fools’ to condemn those who cling to the form & lose theessence, the Higher Self. ‘ Unaware of My Higher Nature, fools regard Me’ as dwelling in aparticular form only!To mistake the idol for God is to make the container the contents. The idol is only a symbolfor an imperceptible & subtle Truth. To mistake the idol to be itself the goal is to mistakethe means for the end. Such misunderstanding alone breeds fanatics, who sow seeds ofrivalry & jealousy, to reap, in time, a harvest of death & disaster, all in the name of theirstone-idol or picture-God!!The Lord says: “ ordinary devotees are unaware of My real status As the Great Lord of allbeings” & these deluded “fools scorn Me when I dwell in human form”, when theyconsider Him the Self, as merely a human form, which He may take for Himself, to bless aparticular generation.

THE HOLY GEETA

T K G Namboodhiri

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE FOOLS &THE MAHATMAS9.12 Of vain hopes, of vain actions, of vain knowledge, & senseless, they verily arepossessed of the delusive nature of RAKSHASAS & ASURAS.9.13 But the MAHATMAS (great-souls) O Partha, partaking of My divine nature, worshipMe with a single mind, knowing Me as the Imperishable Source of all beings.Here, in these two verses Krishna contrasts the natures of low men deluded to pursue their basernature & of the great souls possessed of all the divine qualities. Deluded by false desires & weariedwith false activities to fulfil those wrong desires, some become confused in intellect & totallyconfounded in their reasoning. Such people lose all divine perspective & become monstrous intheir activities. These are the Rakshasas & Asuras, like Ravana. Out of their vane actions onlynegative Vasanas can be left behind, which keep them in their Asuric state birth after birth.“The Great Souls possessed of the divine nature” of the Self, & desiring this Infinite, seek theImmortal by realising the Self, THROUGH SINGLE POINTED SELF-APPLICATION. They know Me to bethe origin of all beings, & cannot but respect every other member of the society as they wouldrespect themselves.

THE HOLY GEETA

T K G Namboodhiri

THE GREAT SOULS (MAHATMAS)9.14 Always glorifying Me, striving, firm in vows, prostrating before Me, & alwayssteadfast, they worship Me with devotion.While describing the Great Souls in the last verse, the path-of-Knowledge was mentioned. Here, the other two main pathsof self-integration & self-development are hinted, as,1) single-pointed devotion, & 2) selfless activity undertaken in thetrue Yajna-spirit.“Glorifying Me always”. – the grossest type of glorification is noisy singing along with noisy instruments. But Keertana ismuch more subtle & sacred. To adore an ideal with reverence & devotion, & to sing His glories at all times, continuously,is the silent act of a mind fully opened up its ideal. The steady flow of love that beams out from a man-of-Knowledge,constitute a greater & more potent type of Keertana.“Striving with firm resolve”.- Constant & conscious effort is unavoidable to uplift oneself. One’s instruments of experienceneed to be readjusted by continuous vigilance, non-stop self-application, & sincere pursuit. He must resolve firmly toreject the false & to walk steadily in the path-of-the-Real.“Devotion to Me, the Origin of beings & the Immutable”.- True devotion is unalloyed love. Love is measured in terms ofthe lover’s identification with the beloved. This is brought about only by the process of detaching himself from his non-Self conditionings. This negative self-withdrawal is indicated by “Bowing down to Me”. The positive aspect is indicated bythe phrase ‘In Devotion’. The withdrawal of ourselves from the non-Self & the final rediscovery of our Infinite Nature, canbe achieved only by being ‘Steadfast in worshipping Me’.

THE HOLY GEETA

T K G Namboodhiri

JNANA-YAJNA (WISDOM-SACRIFICE)9.15 Others also, offering the ‘Wisdom-sacrifice’ worship Me, regarding Me as One, asdistinct, as manifold-Me, who in all forms, faces everywhere.Jnana-Yajna is a constant attempt on the part of the performer to see, in & through the experienced names & forms, theexpression & vitality of the One Conscious Principle, the Self. The seeker knows that the Immutable Self pervades all,penetrating everything, & in Its homogeneous web of existence, It holds together the phenomenal multiplicity. Theseeker-of-the-Self watches for, observes & detects the expression of the Self in all forms & names. A man-of-Realisationmoves about the world, seeing his own Self, expressed through every movement & action, word & thought. The onecentered in the Self sees everywhere his own Self. He successfully gains the auspicious vision of the Supreme, either asExistence Pure or as Knowledge Absolute, or as Bliss Infinite.To adore Him in all visions, to recognise Him in all situations, to feel Him with each thought, is to live in a constantremembrance of the Self. Such people worship the Self through the Wisdom-Sacrifice. As the seeker develops in his ownspiritual cognition of the Self, it becomes easy for him to recognise the One Self splashing Itself upon the myriad forms:‘Me, who in all forms faces everywhere”. The man-of-Realisation understands that at all times, his own Self permeatesthe entire universe, in His Infinite domain—”As One, As Distinct, As Manifold”. The Knower-of-the-Self becomes the Self.This Vedantic truth is asserted when Krishna says: “Me, the All-Formed, they worship, As One, As Distinct & As FacingEverywhere, in each Form”. Not only does the Seer recognise the Self in each individual separately, but also ‘in each form,as facing everywhere”. The Self exists in all parts of everything.

THE HOLY GEETA

T K G Namboodhiri

THE SELF EXISTS EVERYWHERE9.16 I am the KRATU; I am the sacrifice; I am the offering(food) to PITRIS(ancestors); I am the medicinal herb, & all plants; I am the MANTRA, I am alsothe clarified butter; I am the fire; I am the oblation.This verse expresses how the Self is the existence everywhere, in all actions & factorsconstituting actions. Ritualistic actions constitute worship. Divine worship was alwaysundertaken in Vedic ritualism(Kratu), by ritualistic adoration of the deity (Yajna), or byfood offerings to the ancestors (Swadha). Krishna says that all these methods ofworship are, in a sense, nothing but the worship of the Self. Also, the medicinal herbs(Oushadha) used in the sacrifice, the ghee (Ajya-clarified butter) poured into the altar-of-fire, the oblations (Hutam) offered, the fire (Agni) that is invoked, the mantraschanted- all of them are nothing but the Self alone. In short, the Self is the essence ofall happenings & circumstances in which the devotee adores the Eternal.

THE HOLY GEETA

T K G Namboodhiri

THE SELF IS THE FATHER, MOTHER & SUPPORTER9.17 I am the Father of this world, the Mother, the supporter & the grandsire; the (one)Thing to be known, the Purifier, (the syllable) OM, & also the RIK, the SAMA & the YAJUHalso.The Self is not a vague imperceptible Spirit of Existence in all fields of divine activities, but a fountain of lovethat permeates all the finite relationships of the world. The Lord says: “ I am the Father, the Mother, theSustainer, the Grandsire, the Purifier of the worlds”.“I am the ONE thing to be known”- which is repeatedly asserted by all scriptures. The Self is “ That, havingknown which, everything else becomes known”. To know the Self is to destroy the consciousness ofimperfection, & the existence of the finite. To rediscover this Infinite Beatitude is the only satisfying end &goal of life.The Self, the substratum of the entire universe, is symbolised by the monosyllable OM. Life is a flow ‘duringour waking, dreaming & sleeping’ states. The Self is the substratum of all these three states. The substratumis different from the superimposition upon it. This fourth state is called Turiya in Upanishads, which supportsall the other three states. Om represents all these four states of existence, which indicates the Self, conceivedhere as Krishna. The Self is the essence indicated by OM, which is the One theme discussed by the Vedas. SoKrishna says: “I am also the RIK, SAMA & YAJUH”.

THE HOLY GEETA

T K G Namboodhiri

THE SELF IS THE SEED IMPERISHABLE9.18 I am the Goal, the Supporter, the Lord, the Witness, the Abode, the Shelter, the Friend, the Origin, theDissolution, the Foundation, the Treasure-house & the Seed Imperishable.The Lord describes Himself with a host of suggestive words strung together to form this exquisite verse, indicating that the Self is the very essence behindthe plurality of this world.

I am the Goal: All our seeking ends when all our imperfections vanish in the total experience of the Perfect. The Knowledge-Absolute by gaining which allbecomes known is shown here as the Self. I am the Supporter: The Self is the supporter of everything, Real or delusory.

I am the Lord: The Self lends Its grace to the realm of imperfections, as Pure Awareness, It is beyond the sorrows & joys of the apparent universe. In all thispanorama of expressions, the Self, though lending existence to all, Itself remains as a mere Witness, “I am the Witness”. The Infinite is a witness of the finiteinasmuch as the Self is an uninterested illuminator of what is happening. I am the Abode: Truth is the House of all, of every being & thing. For all thepluralistic phenomena, the Self is the Abode, the place of existence & security.

I am the Refuge: Delusion breeds sorrows, knowledge produces joy. The Self is the harbour of tranquillity where the frail boat of the ego, threatened from allsides, in the sea of Samsara, finds refuge. I am the Friend: The Infinite is a friend of the finite, whose only anxiety is for the security & the well-being of thebefriended. I am the Origin & Dissolution, the Substratum, the Store-house: As gold in all ornaments, the Self is in the whole universe & so, all things cancome to manifest from & dissolve into the unmanifest, the Substratum, which can hence be considered as the storehouse of all names, forms & qualitiesthat constitute the world.

I am the Immutable Seed: Ordinarily seeds perish when they germinate & produce plants. The Self is the origin of the tree-of-Samsara, but in the productionof this tree, the Self is not transformed, It being ever Immutable.

Each of these attributes is an avenue for the meditator to reflect upon, on his journey to the gateway of Truth.

THE HOLY GEETA

T K G Namboodhiri

THE SELF IS IMMORTALITY & DEATH9.19 (As Sun) I give heat; I send forth & withhold rain; I am Immortality & also death, bothExistence & Non-existence, O Arjuna.I give heat: The Self, the One Existence, identifying with the Sun, becomes the source of all heat forthe world.I send forth & withhold rain: Rishis of India understood that the position, condition & nature of theSun determines the climate that comes to bless, or curse, the world. The Sun controls the fields ofexperience of every living creature on the globe.I am Immortality & also death: To realise the Self as the Immutable & the Eternal, is to reach thestate of Immortality. The Self, being the Spark-of-life, gives a realistic experience of existence to thevery phenomenon of death. Death is change. So the Self is the illuminator of change, Itself ever theChangeless.I am Existence & Non-Existence: Self as the illuminating Consciousness, illumines both Sat & Asat,Existence & Non-Existence. We experience Non-existence as an existence only. Sat & Asat areinterpreted also as the Manifest & the Unmanifest, & the Self is the Illuminator or essence, of both.

THE HOLY GEETA

T K G Namboodhiri

DEVOTEES WITH DESIRE9.20 The knowers of the three Vedas, the drinkers of the Soma, purified from sin,worshipping Me by sacrifices, pray for the way to heaven; they reach the holy world of theLord-of-the-gods & enjoy in heaven the Divine pleasures of the gods.9.21 They, having enjoyed the vast heaven- world, when their merits are exhausted, enterthe world-of-the-mortals; thus abiding by the injunctions of the three Vedas, desiring(objects of) desires, they attain to the state of ‘going-and-returning’ (Samsara).When those well-versed in the Vedas, perform the rituals of devotion & sacrifice with a desire toenjoy the celestial bliss, “They come to enjoy, in Heaven, the Divine pleasures of the Devas”. At theconclusion of the rituals, they drink, Soma, the milky juice of a creeper-plant. These desire-prompted ritualism yields finite results, which, the ego-centered ritualists enjoy in the Heaven.After their finite merits are exhausted, they are forced to return to “the mortal world”. The Lorddisdainfully states that these egoistic followers of the Vedas, “ desiring their desires, repeatedlycome & go”.

THE HOLY GEETA

T K G Namboodhiri

THE SELF TAKES CARE OF SINCERE DEVOTEES9.22 To those men who worship Me alone, thinking of no other, to those ever self-controlled, I secure for them that which is not already possessed (YOGA) by them, &preserve for them what they already possess(KSHEMA).This verse is almost in the centre of Geeta & deals with the spiritual as well as the secular well-being of devotees.

Those who, with a single-pointed mind, meditate upon Him as the One & only Reality, Krishna promises here that “To them ever self-controlled, I bring Yoga & Kshema”, meaning more spiritual vigour(Yoga) & the final experience of Beatitude (Kshema). To the worldly man toiling in the world, the same verse yields a code of secret instructions by which they can assure themselves a complete success in life. In any undertaking, if one pours out his self-willed thought (Sankalpa) constantly & with a singleness of purpose, he is sure to succeed. But the ordinary man is incapable of keeping his thoughts steady. So his goal seems to be unattainable. Thoughts alone create. Thoughts , from a single-pointed mind must flow steadily towards the determined goal to achieve success. Actions must accompany the thoughts. Thus the two main secret factors for success are: 1) Consistency of willing & thinking, & 2) pouring out ourselves with a singleness of purpose. The third essential factor is, 3) Self-control. To keep oneself self-controlled, so that one may not get derailed as one shoots forward to success.

Yoga & Kshema have been defined as the power to gain & the power to guard, respectively. All man’s struggles in the world come under these two categories. These two tensions affects his joy & tranquillity of life. When these two worries are eliminated, man awakens to the world of joy imperishable. It is promised here by the Lord that to the one who is capable of maintaining the three factors mentioned above, & pursuing them diligently, there need be “no anxiety to gain, nor worry to guard”, because these two responsibilities will be voluntarily undertaken by the Lord Himself. Lord here means the Laws-of-Nature.

THE HOLY GEETA

T K G Namboodhiri

WORSHIP OF ALL GODS LEADS TO THE SELF9.23 Even those devotees, who, endowed with faith worship other gods, worship Me alone,O son of Kunti, but by the wrong method.Different people worship different gods, depending upon their nature & taste. But they all adore the sameVitality that is the substratum for the created world of change. If their devotion is sufficiently reinforced withfaith, they are invoking nothing but the One Eternal Truth expressed through the form of their adoration. TheSelf, as Consciousness, expresses through the equipment of all Saints & Sages, Prophets & Incarnations of thepast.Advaita, the non-dualistic philosophy of the Hindus, accepts the Absolute as Infinite, & makes them tolerantof all others.Here, Krishna large-heartedly declares; “They too, worship Me alone, even though by wrong methods”.Instead seeking the Infinite profit of the Bliss of Self-hood, those who invoke other limited gains in differentfields of human activity, are also invoking the Grace of the Self- only “By the Wrong Method”. Without theSelf none will be able to act either positively or negatively. In theft, murder & war man is invoking the Graceof the Self for their success. By the term “Wrong Method” here the Lord indicates that such negativeactivities will lead to the darkness of the not-Self, instead of leading to the Bliss-of-Perfection, which is thenature of Self.

THE HOLY GEETA

T K G Namboodhiri

THE WRONG METHOD OF WORSHIP9.24 (For) I alone am the enjoyer in & the Lord of all sacrifices; but they do not know Me inEssence, & hence they fall (return to this mortal world).In all ritualistic sacrifices, the Self alone is the Enjoyer & the Lord. The Lord says: “I am theImmutable Reality that is behind all the deities that are invoked during every sacrifice”. Butbecause they invoke ‘limited potentials in Me’ (Devatas), they do not come to realise ‘My InfiniteGlory revelling as their Self’. Therefore, jumping from one worship to another, they slip down to fallinto delusory confusions & endless entanglements.In all the fields of activity wherein men strive(Yajna), they are invoking some finite profit or theother (deity), & do not strive to improve spiritually so as to come to rediscover the Self as theirown essential nature. Immersed in sensuality they fall to levels of animals or lower.Complete happiness & satisfaction, perfect contentment & peace, lie only in the attainment of theSelf, & not in the extrovert fields of profit & success. Unmindful of this enduring profit that lieswithin themselves, men bitten by thousands of desires, run amuck, bringing about chaos & sorrowsto all. Life after life, such people remain entangled in this world-of-sorrows.

THE HOLY GEETA

T K G Namboodhiri

EACH WORSHPPER GOES TO HIS OBJECT OF WORSHIP9.25 The worshippers of the DEVAS or gods go to the Devas; ancestor-worshippers go to thePitris (ancestors); to the BHUTAS or the elements go worshippers of Bhutas; but Myworshippers come unto Me.As you think so you become. The thoughts entertained at a given moment get crystallised to form a blueprintfor the person’s character formation in the future. Using this natural law of Psychology, Lord Krishna says“Votaries of the Devas go to the Devas” etc.Devas represent the various sense-organs through which we experience the world. Hence Devas may betaken to mean the entire field of all physical experiences. Those who court the external world of joys &successes, come to gain them. Votaries of ancestors would mean ‘persons alive to the cultural purity &tradition of their ancients, & striving to live up to those ideals’. Serious devotees of this field will come to gainthe beauty of the exquisite life of purity & perfection. The active quest in the field of objective-sciences is apart of man’s hunt for knowledge. So the worshippers of BHUTAS are the secular scientists who observe,codify & systemise the observed knowledge of the physical world. Those who pursue diligently, even in thesecular fields, success would be assured in direct proportion to the amount of self-application put forth.According to the same principle, we are assured that “My votaries come unto Me”. By constant meditation,with a single-pointed mind, upon the nature of the Self, the meditator can, in the long run, discover his totalidentity with the Self, Eternal & Immutable. Sages have compared this enlightenment to the transformationof a worm into a wasp.

THE HOLY GEETA

T K G Namboodhiri

OFFER ANYTHING TO GOD WITH DEVOTION9.26 Whoever offers Me with devotion a leaf, a flower, a fruit, water, that I accept, offeredby the pure-minded with devotion.All religions of the world recognise & encourage offerings by the devotees. The modern educated man issurprised as to why the Infinite Lord need insignificant things offered to Him. This verse indicates that thematerial objects that one might offer , are of no value to the Lord of the Universe, but it is the devotion &love that prompt the offerings that are accepted by the Deity. Be it a leaf, a flower, a fruit, or water, be it agolden temple, or be it a dry leaf, “ Whosoever offers with devotion”, whatever be the offering, the Lordassures “That I accept”. When lovingly given, it becomes a Devout Gift & when it is offered by a sincere Pure-Minded devotee, the Lord has to accept it.All what we offer, have been misappropriated from the Lord’s own garden, the world. Thus these offeringshave no intrinsic value to the Lord. Yet, this is insisted upon as an important ritual in all forms of worship. Theflowers or fruits in the garden or in the temple remain the same, but when the devotee gathers & carriesthem to the altar & offers them, they become the conveyors of his love & dedication unto the Lord. Anoffering can be efficient, only when it is accompanied by devotion by a pure-minded person. Thus offered,the gifts serve as a good vehicle to tread the spiritual path of self-development.

THE HOLY GEETA

T K G Namboodhiri

WHATEVER YOU DO, DO IT AS AN OFFERING TO GOD9.27 Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer in sacrifice, whatever yougive in charity, whatever you practise in austerity, O Kaunteya, do it as an offering to Me.Through all activities of life one can constantly live in the spirit of ‘devout offering’ unto theSupreme. It is the mental attitude & not the physical act that is of supreme importance. All acts ofperception & our reactions to the perceived, be they physical, mental or intellectual, make them alla ‘Devout offering unto Him’. In all our transactions, we behave, act & deal with other names &forms, & all of them require the Existence of the Self to uphold them. Just as cotton is in all cloth,gold in all ornaments, the Self is the Essential-stuff in all names & forms. Approach life with duereverence & respect, born out of the cognition of the Divine essence in it, & life shall respect &revere you. When all activities are performed in the spirit-of-offering, not only our love for theSupreme increases but also our entire life becomes sanctified with a noble purpose & a divine aim.This verse provides us an efficient & secret method by which the seekers are unconsciously madeto remember the Supreme constantly, right in the field of life’s contentions.

THE HOLY GEETA

T K G Namboodhiri

LIBERATION FOR THE STEADFAST YOGI9.28 Thus shall you be freed from the bonds-of-actions yielding good & evil ‘fruits’; with themind steadfast in the Yoga of renunciation, & liberated, you shall come unto Me.Bhagavan says, “You shall be free from the bondages of actions, good or evil”. Since the reactions(Vasanas) arising from fresh actions do not add their impressions on to the mind, & existingimpressions get wiped out during the activities outside, slowly & steadily, the mind gets almosttotally wiped out of existing Vasanas. Thus the mind gets more & more purified.In the next stage of evolution, the purified mind, with better discrimination, learns to live a life ofSannyasa & Yoga. Renouncing all egocentric activities & cravings for the fruits-of-actions, hededicates all his actions & results unto the Lord, as his simple ‘offering’. Such a person becomesnaturally a Yogi, constantly remembering the Self Infinite throughout his daily activities.He finally discovers for himself his Divine Nature: “By practice & renunciation you shall find release& come to Me”.

THE HOLY GEETA

T K G Namboodhiri

NATURE OF THE SELF9.29 The same am I to all beings, to Me there is none hateful nor dear; but those whoworship Me with devotion, are in Me & I am also in them.“I am in all beings”: The Self is ONE in all beings; the same Conscious Principle illumines the emotions & thoughts in allliving creatures.“To Me there is none hateful or dear”: Krishna declares here that the Self is the same everywhere, always, & that to theSelf there is no distinction between the good & the bad; the Self entertains neither a particular love nor any specialhatred for any of the living beings. Just like the Sun falling on everything equally, gets reflected clearly from a smoothmirror, but in a dull fashion from a rough rock, so also the same Self illumining all equally, only the golden-hearts of a rarefew reflects high spiritual strength & beauty.“But those who worship Me with devotion are in Me & I too am in them”: Even though the Self has neither any favour for,nor any prejudice against the not-Self, to the extent the non-Self “Worship Me with devotion” they are “In Me & I too amin them”. Those who worship the Self with devotion come to discover that the worshippers themselves are none otherthan the Self that is worshipped.Worship is a technique by which the entire ‘thought-forces’ in the worshipper are mobilised & turned to flow towards hisworshipped entity. When this is done with devotion or love, the worshipper comes to realise his total oneness with hisobjet-of-worship.Even though Truth has neither a preference for, nor a prejudice against anyone, some noble souls come to experience, &then exhibit in themselves the effulgence of Divinity, through their devoted worship.

THE HOLY GEETA

T K G Namboodhiri

EVEN THE MOST SINFUL CAN CHANGE FOR THE GOOD9.30 Even if the most sinful worships Me, with devotion to none else (with single-pointedness), he too should indeed be regarded as ‘righteous’ for he has rightly resolved.The Geeta way of devotion is glorified here. Even the most sinful person can be redeemed if he startsworshipping the Self with devotion. Hindu Vedas condemn the sin, not the sinner. The evil thoughts in aperson makes him an evil ‘sinner’, & so by changing the thoughts he could become a righteous man.Even if a wicked person worships Me: Even those who are given to evil ways are not debarred from becomingspiritual because of their evil actions. The only condition for redemption is that worship of the Self must beperformed with undivided devotion. Devotion can pay its dividend only when the devotee, with a single-pointed mind, contemplates upon a goal that is non-dual & permanent.He should be regarded as good: From the moment he has taken to the path of contemplation upon theSupreme, with devotion, he is to be considered Saintly & Good.For, “He has rightly resolved”. Right resolution is more important than mere routine acts. He who steadilywalks the Divine path with an iron-heart of resolution, enthusiastic, cheerful & heroic, alone can succeed.Hence, Krishna says here that the rightly resolved man of evil ways is to be considered, from the moment ofhis noble decision, as one especially marked out to be soon a successful man-of-Perfection.

THE HOLY GEETA

T K G Namboodhiri

MY DEVOTEE IS NEVER DESTROYED9.31 Soon he becomes righteous & attains Eternal Peace, O Kaunteya. Know for certain thatMy devotee is never destroyed.When a man of evil ways takes to a life of single-pointed devotion propelled by his ardent resolve, that man“Soon becomes Righteous”. The Dharma of man is the Divine Atman in his heart, without which layers of hispersonality can ever come to express themselves. Krishna calls such a resolved person a ‘Dharmatma’. Single-pointed devotion & self-application develop concentration & enhance the subtlety of his mind. In good timehe gains glimpses of the Infinite experience. A still mind is an open window through which man peeps out tosee himself reflected in the mirror of Truth. A true devotee soon reaches the Supreme Peace, meaning, “herediscovers in himself his own Real Nature”. This perfection lies only as far away from us as our waking stateis from our dream.After declaring the truth that even a man of dire evil ways can start his pilgrimage on the same day as heresolved himself to change, Krishna enthusiastically says, “My devotee is never destroyed”. The seeker of thenobler values shall know no failure if his resolve is firm & if he be sincere in his self-application. ConstantSmarana of the Divine Nature of the Self protects the human personality from destructive negativeness.

THE HOLY GEETA

T K G Namboodhiri

PEOPLE OF SINFUL BIRTH ALSO ATTAIN THE SELF9.32 For, taking refuge in Me, O Partha, even people of a ‘sinful birth’- women, Vaishyas &Shudras- attain the Supreme Goal.Not only sinners-people under wrong influences, but also those who are victims of congenital maladjustments, can gettheir equipment readjusted & tuned up properly by the process of constant remembrance of the Truth Eternal. Thiscontroversial verse seems to suggest that women, traders (Vaishyas) & workers (Shudras) are of inferior birth, & normallynot eligible for religious practices & liberation. This prejudicial statement is against Krishna’s philosophy of universalbrotherhood, & so should be carefully analysed to understand the true implications of these words.The condition & status of the physical body have nothing to do with the evolutionary progress which religions aimthrough their preaching. Hence, the terms used in this verse are to be understood as indicating some special qualities ofthe human mind& intellect, manifested in various degrees in different individuals.“Feminine-minds”- Deep affection & blinding attachments. “Vaishyas” represent a commercial attitude in all theirthoughts & actions, ever calculating the profits of their actions. The “Shudra- mind” represents slumber & slothfulness. Sothe real meaning of this verse may be that persons with blind attachments, always calculating the fruits-of-actions, & of afully lethargic, tamasic nature, can all be redeemed by their constant, single-pointed devotion to the Lord. When oncethese negative qualities of mind have been removed, they gain powers of concentration, single-pointedness &equanimity, & finally “Even they attain the Supreme Goal”.

THE HOLY GEETA

T K G Namboodhiri

WORSHIP ME DEVOUTLY9.33 How much more (easily) then the holy Brahmins, & devoted Royal Saints (attain thegoal). Having reached (attained) this impermanent & joyless world, do worship Medevoutly.Krishna here emphatically points out, how easy & almost natural Self-realisation & godly life mustbe to those who have the mental purity of a Brahmin, or the large heart & clear head of a Rajarshi.A benevolent king, through discrimination, coming to experience the inward peace of truecontemplation upon the Self, is called a Rajarshi.In conclusion of this section, the Lord says: “ Having attained this transient & joyless world, worshipMe devoutly”. The flickering joys that come to us in life are transient. The intervals between twoexperiences of joy are only full of pain. Here Krishna declares the world to be a mere pit ofsorrows, a ditch of despair, or a field of joylessness. So having reached this world, impermanent &joyless, we are advised, to immerse ourselves in the worship of the Self. People with a wealth ofpoise & understanding, which are the hall-marks of higher evolutes (Brahmins & Rajarshis), caneasily attain success. So “Worship Me devoutly”.

THE HOLY GEETA

T K G Namboodhiri

UNITE YOUR WHOLE SELF WITH THE PARAMATMAN9.34 Fix your mind on Me, be devoted to Me, sacrifice to Me, bow down to Me; having thus united your (whole) Self with Me, taking Me as the Supreme Goal, you shall come to Me.This last verse is a summary of the entire chapter. Vedanta describes the technique of self-perfection &self-development through the paths of right Knowledge & Meditation, to live ever mentally drowned inthe Bliss-concept of the spiritual Reality. This is the pursuit of Brahman. Here the path-of-Devotion isdelineated by Sage Vyasa.With “The Mind ever filled with Me, My devotee makes all sacrifices, all salutations to Me”, at all times,whatever be the type of work that engages him. The evolution of the mind is the very essence of allspiritual reformation in life. Our environment, habits, ways of life, our past, none of these is a bar forevolving spiritually. Constant awareness, maintained diligently, is the secret of success.When “You take Me as the Supreme Goal”, Krishna promises Arjuna, “You shall come to Me”. We arewhat we are because of our thoughts. If the thoughts are noble and divine, we become noble & divine.

END OF CHAPTER 9-RAJAVIDYA RAJAGUHYA YOGA