Chapter XVIII (Verses 68, 70)
Moksha Sanyasa Yoga – The Yoga of Liberation Through Renunciation
Chapter XVIII
(Verses 68)
य इदं परमं गुह्यं मद्भक्तेष्वभिधास्यति ।
भक्तिं मयि परां कृत्वा मामेवैष्यत्यसंशयः ॥ १८-६८॥
He who, with supreme devotion to Me, will teach this supreme secret to My devotees, shall doubtless come to Me.
The stanza under review and the following one are both glorifications of a teacher who can give the correct interpretation of the Geeta and make the listener follow the Krishna way-of-life. “Fight the evil down, whether it be within or without” is the cardinal principle that Krishna advocates to Prince Arjuna. In order to impart such a culture, it is not enough that the teacher be a mere scholar, but he must have the Krishna-ability. Hence the glorification. The Lord’s Song has a special appeal to those who have the mysterious spiritual thirst to live a fuller and more dynamic life. Hence it is said: “This deeply profound philosophy” (Paramam Guhyam) must be imparted to “My devotees” (Mad-bhakteshu). Devotion to the Lord (Bhakti) means the capacity to identify with the ideal, and therefore, the philosophy of the ideal way-of life can profitably be imparted only to those persons who have a capacity to identify themselves with the ideal and thereafter live up to it.
It is not sufficient that the student alone has this capacity to identify himself with the higher ideal, but the teacher also must have (Bhakti) “perfect attunement” with the Supreme Krishna-Reality. Such an individual, who is himself rooted in his attunement, and who tries to impart this knowledge to others and thereby constantly occupies himself in reflections upon the philosophical ideals of the Geeta — “shall certainly (Asamshayah) come to Me alone.”
An educated man should, in his gratitude, feel much indebted to the Muse-of-Wisdom. In fact, this indebtedness is actually called, in our tradition, Rishi indebtedness (Rishi-Rinam), to absolve ourselves from which, we are asked to study their works and preach their ideas everyday.
Philosophy is the basis of every culture. The Hindu culture can revive and assert its glory only when it is nurtured and nourished by the philosophy of India which is contained in the Upanishads. The fathers of our culture, the great Rishis, knowing this secret, urged the students of the Scriptures not to keep this knowledge to themselves, but to impart it freely to others. In this way alone the culture can be successfully brought into the dim-lit chambers of people’s lives.
If a student, who has understood even a wee bit of our cultural tradition, does not convey it to others, it means that there is no mobility of intelligence or fluidity of inspiration in him. He who is thus capable of conveying the truths of the Geeta to others is complimented here with the promise of the highest reward: “HE SHALL DOUBTLESS COME TO ME.”
Verse 70
अध्येष्यते च य इमं धर्म्यं संवादमावयोः ।
ज्ञानयज्ञेन तेनाहमिष्टः स्यामिति मे मतिः ॥ १८-७०॥
And he who will study this sacred dialogue of ours, by him I shall have been worshipped by the “sacrifice-of-wisdom,” such is My conviction.
Having thus glorified all teachers of the Geeta who carry the “Wisdom-of-the-sacred-discourse” to the masses, the Geeta, here, is glorifying even the students who are studying this Sacred text of the Lord’s Song. The great philosophy of life given out here as a conversation between Krishna — the Infinite, and Arjuna — the finite, has such a compelling charm about it, that even those who read it superficially will also be slowly dragged into the very sanctifying depths of it. Such an individual is, even unconsciously, egged on to make a pilgrimage to the greater possibilities within himself, and naturally, he comes to evolve through what Krishna terms here as “Jnaana Yajna.”
In a Yajna, Lord Fire is invoked in the sacrificial trough and into it are offered oblations by the devotees. From this analogy, the term Jnaana Yajna has been originally coined and used in the Geeta. Study of the Scriptures and regular contemplation upon their deep significances kindle the “Fire-of-Knowledge” in us and into this the intelligent seeker offers, as his oblation, his own false values and negative tendencies. This is the significance of the metaphorical phrase Jnaana Yajna. Therefore, here the Lord admits but a truth in the Spiritual science when He declares that those who study the Geeta — contemplate upon its meaning, understand it thoroughly — and those who can, at the altars of their well-kindled understanding, sacrifice their own ego-centric misconceptions about themselves, and about the world around them, are certainly the greatest devotees of the Infinite.
When a rusted key is heated in fire, the rust falls off and the key regains its original brightness. So too, our personality, when reacted with the knowledge of the Geeta, is chastened, since our wrong tendencies, unhealthy vasanas and false sense-of-ego which have risen from false-knowledge (Ajnaana), all get burnt up in Right- Knowledge (Jnaana).