Chapter IX (Verse 34) & Chapter XVIII (Verse 66)
Raja Vidya Raja Guhya Yoga – The Yoga of Royal Knowledge and Royal Secret
Chapter IX
(Verse 34)
मन्मना भव मद्भक्तो मद्याजी मां नमस्कुरु ।
मामेवैष्यसि युक्त्वैवमात्मानं मत्परायणः ॥ ९-३४॥
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 stanza is a beautiful summary of the entire chapter for it throws a flood of light upon many of the other stanzas. We may say that this stanza especially serves as a commentary to more than one verse in the chapter (Verses 14 and 27).
In all text-books of Vedanta (Brahma-Vidya), the technique of self-development and self-perfection through the “Paths of right-Knowledge and Meditation,” has been defined as, “Contemplation on That, talks on That, mutual discussion on That — and thus, to live ever mentally drowned in the Bliss-concept of the spiritual Reality, is called by the knowers of It, as the pursuit of Brahman.” Keeping this classical definition in mind, Vyasa steadily delineates his aesthetic “Path of Devotion” in this stanza. The same idea has already been brought out earlier in the chapter on more than one occasion.
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. In brief, the evolution of the mind is the very essence of all spiritual reformation in life. Neither the conditions in which we are, our circumstances and habits, nor the available ways of life, nor our past, nor our present — none of these is a bar for evolving spiritually.Constant awareness, maintained diligently, is the secret of success.
When thus “YOU TAKE ME AS THE SUPREME GOAL” Krishna promises Arjuna, “YOU SHALL COME TO ME.” We are what we are because of our thoughts. If the thoughts are noble and divine, we become noble and divine.
Moksha Sanyasa Yoga – The Yoga of Liberation Through Renunciation
Chapter XVIII
Verse 66
सर्वधर्मान्परित्यज्य मामेकं शरणं व्रज ।
अहं त्वा सर्वपापेभ्यो मोक्ष्ययिष्यामि मा शुचः ॥ १८-६६॥
Abandoning all DHARMAS, (of the body, mind, and intellect) , take refuge in Me alone; I will liberate thee from all sins; grieve not.
This is the noblest of all the stanzas in the Divine Song and this is yet the most controversial. Translators, reviewers, critics and commentators have invested all their originality in commenting upon this stanza, and various philosophers, each maintaining his own point of view, has ploughed the words to plant his ideas into the ample bosom of this great verse of brilliant import. To Sri Ramanuja, this is the final verse (Charama-Shloka) of the whole Geeta.
Most often used, and yet in no two places having the same shade of suggestion, the term, ‘Dharma’ has become the very heart of the Hindu culture. This explains why the religion of India was called by the people who lived in the land and enjoyed its spiritual wealth as the ‘Sanatana Dharma.’
Dharma, as used in our scriptures is, to put it directly and precisely, “THE LAW OF BEING.” That because of which a THING continues to be the THING itself, without which the THING cannot continue to be that THING, is the Dharma of the THING. Heat, because of which fire maintains itself as fire, without which fire can no more be fire, is the Dharma of fire. Heat is the Dharma of fire; cold fire we have yet to come across! Sweetness is the Dharma of sugar; sour sugar is a myth!
Every object in the world has two types of properties: (a) the essential, and (b) the non-essential. A substance can remain itself, intact, when its “non-essential” qualities are absent, but it cannot remain ever for a split moment without its “essential” property. The colour of the flame, the length and width of the tongues of flame, are all the “non-essential” properties of fire, but the essential property of it is heat. This essential property of a substance is called its Dharma.
Then what exactly is the Dharma of man? The colour of the skin, the innumerable endless varieties of emotions and thoughts — the nature, the conditions and the capacities of the body, mind and intellect — are the “non-essential” factors in the human personality, as against the Touch of Life, the Divine Consciousness, expressed through them all. Without the Atman man cannot exist; it is TRUTH which is the basis of existence. Therefore, the “essential Dharma” of man is the Divine Spark of Existence, the Infinite Lord.
With this understanding of the term Dharma, we shall appreciate its difference from mere ethical and moral rules of conduct, all duties in life, all duties towards relations, friends, community, nation and the world, all our obligations to our environment, all our affections, reverence, charity, and sense of goodwill — all that have been considered as our Dharma in our books. In and through such actions, physical, mental and intellectual, a man will bring forth the expression of his true Dharma — his Divine Status as the All-pervading Self. To live truly as the Atman, and to express Its Infinite Perfection through all our actions and in all our contacts with the outer world is to rediscover our Dharma.
There are, no doubt, a few other stanzas in the Geeta wherein the Lord has almost directly commanded us to live a certain way-of-life, and has promised that if we obey His instructions, He will directly take the responsibility of guiding us towards HIS OWN BEING. But nowhere has the Lord so directly and openly expressed His divine willingness to undertake the service of His devotee as in this stanza.
He wants the meditator to accomplish three distinct adjustments in his inner personality. They are: (1) Renounce all Dharmas through meditation; (2) surrender to My refuge alone; and while in the state of meditation, (3) stop all worries. And as a reward Lord Krishna promises: “I SHALL RELEASE YOU FROM ALL SINS.” This is a promise given to all mankind. The Geeta is a universal scripture; it is the Bible of Man, the Koran of Humanity, the dynamic scripture of the Hindus.
ABANDONING ALL DHARMA (Sarva-Dharman Parityajya) — As we have said above, Dharma is “the law of being,” and we have already noted that nothing can continue its existence when once it is divorced from its Dharma. And yet, Krishna says, “COME TO MY REFUGE,AFTER RENOUNCING ALL DHARMAS.” Does it then mean that our definition of Dharma is wrong? Or is there a contradiction in this stanza? Let us see.
As a mortal, finite ego, the seeker is living, due to his identification with them, the Dharmas of his body, mind and intellect, and exists in life as a mere perceiver, feeler, and thinker. The perceiver-feeler-thinker personality in us is the “individuality” which expresses itself as the “ego.” These are not our ‘essential’ Dharmas. And since these are the ‘non-essentials,’ “RENOUNCING ALL DHARMAS” means “ENDING THE EGO.”
“To renounce” therefore means “not to allow ourselves to fall again and again into this state of identification with the outer envelopments of matter around us.” Extrovert tendencies of the mind are to be renounced. “Develop introspection diligently” is the deep suggestion in the phrase “RENOUNCING ALL DHARMAS.”
COME TO ME ALONE FOR SHELTER (Mam-ekam Sharanam Vraja) — Self-withdrawal from our extrovert nature will be impossible unless the mind is given a positive method of developing its introvert attention. By single-pointed, steady contemplation upon Me, the Self,which is the One-without-a-second, we can successfully accomplish our total withdrawal from the misinterpreting equipments of the body, mind and intellect.
Philosophers in India were never satisfied with a negative approach in their instructions; there are more DO’s than DONT’S with them. This practical nature of our philosophy, which is native to our traditions, is amply illustrated in this stanza when Lord Krishna commands His devotees to come to His shelter whereby they can accomplish the renunciation of all their false identifications.
BE NOT GRIEVED (Maa shuchah) — When both the above conditions are accomplished, the seeker reaches a state of growing tranquility in meditation. But it will all be a waste if this subjective peace, created after so much labour, were not to form a steady and firm platform for his personality to spring forth from, into the realms of the Divine Consciousness. The spring-board must stay under our feet, supply the required propulsion for our inward dive. But unfortunately, the very anxiety to reach the Infinite weakens the platform. Like a dream-bridge, it disappears at the withering touch of the anxieties in the meditator. During meditation, when the mind has been persuaded away from all its restless preoccupations with the outer vehicles, and brought, again and again, to contemplate upon the Self, the Infinite, Lord Krishna wants the seeker to renounce all his “ANXIETIES TO REALISE.” Even a desire to realise is a disturbing thought that can obstruct the final achievement.
I SHALL RELEASE YOU FROM ALL SINS — That which brings about agitations in the bosom and thereby causes dissipation of the energies is called “sin.” The actions themselves can cause subtle exhaustions of the human power, as no action can be undertaken without bringing our mind and intellect into it. In short, the mind and intellect will always have to come and control every action. Actions thus leave their “foot prints,” as it were, upon the mental stuff, and these marks which channelize the thought-flow and shape the psychological personality, when our mind has gone through its experiences, are called vasanas.
Good vasanas bring forth a steady stream of good thoughts as efficiently as bad vasanas erupt bad thoughts. As long as thoughts are flowing, the mind survives — whether good or bad. To erase all vasanas completely is to stop all thoughts i. e. the total cessation of thought-flow viz. “mind.” Transcending the mind-intellect-equipment is to reach the plane of Pure Consciousness, the Krishna- Reality.
As a seeker renounces more and more of his identifications with his outer envelopments through a process of steady contemplation and meditation upon the Lord of his heart, he grows in his vision. In the newly awakened sensitive consciousness, he becomes more and more poignantly aware of the number of vasanas he has to exhaust. “BE NOT GRIEVED,” assures the Lord, for, “I SHALL RELEASE YOU FROM ALL SINS” — the disturbing, thought-gurgling, action-prompting, desire breeding, agitation-brewing vasanas, the “sins.”
The stanza is important inasmuch as it is one of the most powerfully worded verses in the Geeta wherein the Lord, the Infinite, personally undertakes to do something helpful for the seeker in case the spiritual hero in him is ready to offer his ardent co-operation and put forth his best efforts. All through the days of seeking, a Saadhaka can assure himself steady progress in spirituality only when he is able to keep within himself a salubrious mental climate of warm optimism. To despair and to weep, to feel dejected and disappointed, is to invite restlessness of the mind, and naturally, therefore, spiritual unfoldment is never in the offing. The stanza, in its deep imports and wafting suggestions, is indeed a peroration in itself of the entire philosophical poem.