इमं विवस्वते योगं प्रोक्तवानहमव्ययम्
विवस्वान् मनवे प्राह मनुरिक्ष्वाकवेऽब्रवीत्॥
एवं परम्पराप्राप्तमिमं राजर्षयो विदुः
स कालेनेह महता योगो नष्टः परंतप ॥
स एवायं मया तेऽद्य योगः प्रोक्तः पुरातनः
भक्तोऽसि मे सखा चेति रहस्यं ह्येतदुत्तमम्॥
I gave this imperishable Yoga to Vivasvaan (Sun).
Vivasvaan gave it to Manu. Manu instructed it to Ikshvaaku.
Thus it was transferred from heir to heir and the royal sages knew it.
O Scorcher of enemies!
In course of the long span of time, this Yoga got lost.
That ancient Knowledge alone was revealed to you today;
because you are my adorer and also a friend.
This is an excellent Knowledge and is hidden from one and all.
He started in a jovial manner, with a cheerful smile.
“Arjuna, have I told
you about my disciples? Believe it or not; I taught this in the beginning to
Vivasvaan, the ‘Sun’! Passing from one to the other this wisdom got lost in
this world; but finding you equal to such great divinities, I am today again
discoursing on the same topic!”
अपरं भवतो जन्म परं जन्म विवस्वतः
कथमेतद्विजानीयां त्वमादौ प्रोक्तवानिति ॥
Your birth is recent. Vivasvaan was born long before.
How can I believe that you told this to him in the beginning?
Both the friends were slowly treading the sandy path with
their arms entwining each other, in a tight embrace. Arjuna stopped abruptly
with a shock. He disentangled his muscular arms from his friend’s grip.
He stared unbelievingly at Krishna ’s
face which seemed to revel in dropping bombshells on him at the most unexpected
moments. He almost shouted-“Krishna do not
play your jokes on me! You were born recently in the ‘Yaadava clan’ and you are
proclaiming unabashedly that Vivasvaan is your first disciple! Do you think
that this is a time for your silly jokes?”
Arjuna moved a few steps away as if annoyed at his friend’s
audacity. “A philosopher you are, I agree! But a God…?” He kicked hard at a
pebble stuck to his foot, as if to drive away his frustration!
बहूनि मे जन्म व्यतीतानि जन्मानि तव चार्जुन
तान्यहं वेद सर्वणि न त्वं वेत्थ परन्तप ॥
अजोऽपि सन्नव्ययात्मा भूतानामीश्वरोऽपि सन्
प्रकृतिं स्वामधिष्टाय सम्भवाम्यात्ममायया ॥
यदा यदा हि धर्मस्य ग्लानिर्भवति भारत
अभ्युत्थानमधर्मस्य तदात्मानं सृजाम्यहम् ॥
परित्राणाय साधूनां विनाशाय च दुष्कृताम्
धर्मसम्स्थापनार्थाय सम्भवामि युगे युगे ॥
Many births I have passed through; you too
Arjuna!
I know; but you do not O Parantapa.
Though I am unborn, though I am changeless,
though I am the Lord of all,
I
manifest by my own power of delusion in my original transcendental form.
Hey Bharata!
Whenever righteousness is on the decline,
and unrighteousness is on the rise,
I project myself as a human.
I appear with a form in and every Yuga
to
save the good people, destroy the wicked and establish righteousness.
“Arjuna! Today I am going to disclose the greatest secret of
my life. It is true that I am the
chieftain of the ‘Yaadava clan’ now; but the purpose and the goal of my life is
entirely different from that of anybody born here!
My friend, I am not bound by any ‘Karma’ or ‘Vaasanaa’!
‘I’- the ‘Supreme Unfluctuating Principle of Divinity’!
‘I’ who am propitiated in the Vedas, descend down to the
level of an ordinary human being; bind
myself in the shackles of delusion; experience the same sufferings as other
individuals in an unaffected state; set right the course of Dharma; destroy the
wicked; and guide the miserable souls
towards the final beatitude.
Nobody till now has been told the secret of my birth! Maybe the Venerable Bheeshma, thee
Great Sage Vyaasa, and Bala brother know about it!
Yes friend, I am ‘that God’ who has come down to save my
children!”
किं कर्म किमकर्मेति कवयोऽप्यत्र मोहिताः
तत्ते कर्म प्रवक्ष्यामि यज्ज्ञ्नात्वा मोक्ष्यसेऽशुभात् ॥
Even the wise are
confused about
what is action and what
is non-action.
Therefore I will explain
to you about ‘Action’
by the understanding of
which you will be freed of
the inauspiciousness
(body).
Arjuna’s face was pale.
His eyes stared blankly at his friend. He sat down heavily
on the sandy ground as if unable to bear this heavy burden of truth. Tears
flowed incessantly wetting his upper garment. He just couldn’t believe it; but
had to! Krishna sat next to him and continued his
speech non-chalantly. “And Arjuna, I need to explain the ‘philosophy of action’
in detail.”
He seemed to ignore the blank stare of his stunned friend.
“What is ‘action’, what is ‘non-action’? Let me define them
properly for you; even great Sages are confused about this. ‘Karma Yoga’ means
‘to work and yet not to work’; and ‘not to work while doing work’!”
He paused in his discourse to see whether this confusing
philosophy had any effect on his friend. No; Arjuna was not in a mood for such
a riddle-ridden philosophy.
ब्रह्मार्पणं ब्रह्म हविर्ब्रह्माग्नौ ब्रह्मणा हुतम्
ब्रह्मैव तेन गन्तव्यं ब्रह्मकर्मसमाधिना
॥
Everything is offered to Brahman.
Brahman is the oblation.
Brahman is the fire.
Brahman alone offers the oblation.
Brahman is the result achieved
through he action of contemplation of Brahman.
Our psychiatrist tried another diversion.
“Arjuna, do you know what the Upanishads teach? Do you know
their essence? The entire, universe of names and forms, is nothing but ‘that
Supremacy’- denoted by the name of ‘Brahman’ – expressing in these multifarious
ways. The aspirant is also a form of ‘That’ alone. His ‘method of practice’
also is ‘THAT’; and he offers the very ‘vibrations of he mind’ known as ‘thoughts’ which are nothing but ‘That
Brahman’ into the ‘realization of That
Brahman as his ‘Self’; through the ‘Process of Sacrifice’ which is
also Brahman.”
Arjuna did not comprehend a word of this profound statement.
But his curiosity was kindled. His eyes got back their liveliness. He said,
“Wait my dear friend; not so fast; take pity on your mortal companion; go
slow.”
“Arjuna! Many are the spiritual practices prescribed by many
a teacher to reach that one goal; the ‘union of the individual soul’ with the
‘Supreme Soul’! And any effort of self-control in any spiritual path can be
termed as a ‘Sacrifice’ offered to the ‘Supreme being’ by whatever name ‘That
Supremacy’ is denoted by.
All such actions performed
for the sake of attaining liberation purify the person’s mind and make
him fit for receiving the ‘Supreme Knowledge of Brahman’; for,‘ Knowledge’ alone
can free one from ignorance; and ‘action performed without attachment’ leads
one towards the ‘Path of Knowledge’. It does not matter to which cult you
belong, to which religion you belong, which ‘Teacher’ you adore, which
philosophy appeals to you; just stop not till the goal is reached, till you
know the ‘Supreme Truth’!”
सन्न्यासं कर्मणां कृष्ण पुनर्योगं च शम्ससि
यच्छ्रेय एतयोरेकम् तन्मे ब्रूहि सुनिश्चितम्
॥
You are
commending on the one side the renunciation of all actions and
also on
the other side praising the method of
Action.
Tell me
for sure which one is better between the two.
Arjuna was not satisfied with this vague philosophy.
He questioned, “Krishna !
Again and again you are beating around the same bush! Which is better –
‘renunciation of actions’ or ‘performance of actions’? Give a definite answer!”
सन्न्यासः कर्मयोगश्च निःश्रेयस्करावुभौ
तयोस्तु कर्मसन्न्यासात्कर्मयोगो विशिष्यते
॥
Renunciation
and Karma-Yoga,
both indeed lead towards the final beatitude.
Of the
two, action and renunciation, Karma Yoga excels.
यत्साङ्ख्यैः प्राप्यते स्थानं तद्योगैरपि
गम्यते
एकं साङ्ख्यं च योगं च यः पश्यति स पश्यति
॥
That
which is attained by the Saamkhya adherents (Analytical thinkers)
is
attained by the Yoga followers also.
He alone
,
who sees
the analytical method and Yoga method as equal,
has true
understanding.
Arjuna was not in a condition to return to the battlefield.
He had not yet recovered from the shock of ‘God’ standing before him as an
‘ordinary man’! So he repeated his question once more; well knowing that it
would engage Krishna in a long discourse for a
while. He will gain some time to stabilize his mind then. Krishna
understood very well what Arjuna’s intentions were. He felt trapped. But
anything to satisfy a forlorn friend; so he began:
“My friend! This may be the umpteenth time I am repeating
the same answer! Anyhow I will repeat it the umpteenth and one time, once more!
Actually ‘renunciation of action’ and the ‘performance of
selfless action’, both lead to the same result; but according to me, the latter
precedes the former and proves a necessary step in freeing oneself from the
bonds of pleasure and pain. The two paths are not different; but are the two
states in the spiritual path.”
Arjuna himself was getting bored of the repeated statements.
He stopped Krishna before another hour of
boredom could drown him. “Yes my friend! I understand now. Now teach me the
‘method of enquiry’ suited for the sincere aspirant who has purified himself
with ‘selfless actions’.”
Here was a chance to show his warrior friend a glimpse into
the Secret world of the Upanishads. He began his talk enthusiastically.
“My friend! The first
enquiry in the ‘Path of Knowledge’ is to find ‘That Principle’, by which one
hears, by which one sees, by which one touches, smells, eats, walks etc.
What is the ‘ear of the ear’; ‘eye of the eye’; ‘mind of the
mind’; ‘Praana of the Praana’?
What is ‘that power’ on which stands the ‘entire creation of
names and forms’?
As one enquires in this manner in the silent contemplative
sanctorum of his mind, the seeker finds the ‘Truth’ which holds everything
together.
Once ‘that Knowledge’ is gained, he is freed from all the
duties, all the ‘action-bound results’ and all limitations that bind him to the
body and the mind and intellect.
Having lost the ‘differentiating idea of duality’; seeing
‘his own Self expressing as the manifold universe’; this ‘Knower’ merges into
the ‘Supreme Consciousness’ after the fall of the body……”
***
He gave an exhaustive lecture on the greatness of
‘selfless action’ and the ‘resulting knowledge’ and at last sat down on a
nearby rock exhausted…! His eyes closed as if in sleep. Arjuna did not dare
disturb his friend.
Was he resting in the ordinary sense or had he merged
himself in ‘his own Self’, the ‘Supreme Brahman’? The blissful vibrations
rising from the lustrous face of his friend made the ‘Great Paandava’ a little
envious.
‘If he can do it, why shouldn’t I?’ he thought!
He also sat on a hard rock in the rigid ‘lotus posture’ and
tried the wonderful method of contemplation on the Self! He chose one of the
‘Upanishadic mantras’ and started chanting it mentally, and tried to identify
himself with ‘THAT PARABRAHMAN’!
Minutes rolled by. The mind struggled hard to get out of
this silly business. All the unwanted trash-like thoughts suddenly bombarded
poor Arjuna, within a few minutes.
Where was Arjuna? Where was the Self? Where was the
blissful state of ‘Samadhi’?
Only agitation and frustration filled his mind
completely. He tried again and again to catch ‘That Self’! No use! His mind
just would not stay still even for a fraction of a second. His muscles
tightened. His struggle poured out as sweat drops all over his body.
Arjuna got up with a start! The realization dawned on him
that he was an absolute failure in this pretentious contemplation. He had a
practical demonstration as it were as to why ‘selfless action’ was absolutely
necessary before starting on the ‘meditative path’. Embarrassed by his own
stupidity he stammered some unintelligible sounds.
Was it the jingling bells of an anklet…; or, was it a
flute note…?
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