श्रेयो हि ज्ञानमभ्यासाज्ज्ञानाद्ध्यानं विशिष्यते ।
ध्यानात्कर्मफलत्यागस्त्यागाच्छान्तिरनन्तरम् ॥१२-१२॥
Transliteration:
Lord Krishna says: literal reading of scriptural texts carried no meaning! Going to temples and praying to God carried meaning only when we understood the meaning of prayers. Most human beings world over indulged in prayers and worship of God without ever realizing that unless we contemplated on religious texts… we never reached anywhere! Any form of yoga indulged without contemplation carried no meaning. Such forms of yoga as per Lord Krishna were inferior to path of jnana that involved reading spiritual texts and contemplating on them.
Most human beings who indulged in reading spiritual texts read it literally! Such literal reading bore no fruit. Bookish reading carried no value in spiritual world. The gist of scriptural texts can only be understood by reading in between the lines. It is only through path of contemplation… human beings finally realized subtle truths of life contained in sacred scriptures of different religions of world. As per Lord Krishna… literal indulgence of human beings in scriptural texts was inferior to contemplation on God Almighty.
Lord Krishna says: contemplating on God Almighty with an unattached attitude was superior to indulgence in rituals and literal reading! It was only through path of absolute truthfulness… human beings finally succeeded in contemplating on God Almighty. Contemplating on Nirakaar form of God (having no form) was a sure shot method of reaching God in present life. Lucky are those who succeed in contemplating on God Almighty via path of yoga. Normal human beings contemplating on God Almighty in Nirakaar form (having no form) found it very difficult.
Lord Krishna says indulgence in nishkama karma yoga was even superior to contemplating on God Almighty via Nirakaar form of God (having no form). Why? It was for the simple reason that nishkama karma yoga can only be practiced by one who had completely submitted self to God Almighty. Absolute submission to God Almighty was not that easy as it seemed… prime reason why in present times people failed to reach God via path of bhakti yoga alone. Absolute submission to God demands annihilating our ego (Aham in Hinduism) forever. Devoid of ego (Aham) within… our soul atman, the spirit within finally reached logical end of life, stage of Nirvikalpa Samadhi (absolute nothingness). Zero ego stage can only be reached by establishing absolute control over five senses and mind.
It is through path of nishkama karma yoga human beings finally reached stage of absolute bliss. Nishkama karma yoga stands for offering fruits of karma performed to God Almighty all the time. Easier said than done… practice of nishkama karma yoga demands highest level of patience, persistence and perseverance that could ever be practiced by human beings!
The Explanation:
In Bhagavad Gita chapter 12 verse 12 Lord Krishna enumerates logical results of various forms of indulgences relating to God Almighty. Some prayed to God, worshipped God merely as a ritual… never ever realizing the meaning of words they thought or spoke. Mere indulgence in religious rituals carried no meaning in spiritual world. None could ever reach God via path of religion (path of rituals). As per Lord Krishna all such exercises went futile.
From my personal experience I can say… I have met people in life that ritually went to temples to say their prayers for as long as 15 years. Only to say in the end… they gained nothing out of it! Why pray to God or worship God if the results of our karma were nil. Every single sacred scripture admonishes human beings who indulged in prayers or worship of God without actually contemplating on scriptural texts.
People primarily wanted a shortcut method to reach God. Finding path of spirituality quite difficult most preferred travelling path of religion (path of rituals) that led nowhere. Lord Krishna says… this path of yoga was inferior to path of jnana (wisdom). And what is path of jnana (wisdom) as detailed in various sacred scriptures of different religions of world? Path of jnana yoga demands our reading scriptural texts not literally but understanding the underlying meaning! Mere knowledge of scriptural texts carried no meaning in spiritual world.
Understanding the hidden meanings behind spiritual terminology was essence of life. This became possible when we indulged in scriptural texts sincerely and diligently with the willpower exhibited by Swami Vivekananda. If we had a fixed goal in life like Swami Vivekananda, and if we wanted to achieve the same goal in present life… then our efforts would not only double, rather we would work by putting all our heart into it day and night. Merely desiring or wishing for something carried no meaning in spiritual world.
Ritual recitation of scriptural texts also carried no meaning in spiritual world. Most students of various religious colleges all over world merely indulged in recitation of scriptural texts that did not enhance the spiritual journey of incumbent. To realize the hidden inner meaning… our contemplation on the scriptural text was necessitated! All over world we can see people indulging in recitation of scriptural texts without ever realizing the true hidden inner meaning. Why indulge in bookish knowledge that led nowhere. Lord Krishna says, contemplation on God Almighty was far better than merely indulgence in lip-reading… bookish recitation.
The path of contemplation on God Almighty involves treading path of self enquiry (path of Neti… not this, not this) as preached and advocated by Maharishi Ramana… one who reached God in his lifetime! Contemplation is best exercised in Nirakaar form of God (having no form). When everything in cosmos was gaseous formation, to reach God in present life we had to reach our true inner self… our soul atman, the spirit within! For reaching our soul atman, the spirit within one had to travel path of absolute truthfulness… always and ever! Remaining truthful all the time was that important ingredient of spiritual path which most seekers world over never truly realized.
Unless we were hundred percent truthful in life… we could never tread path of spirituality as detailed in Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism. Path of contemplation… path of self enquiry can only be indulged by remaining truthful to God Almighty all the time. Here one thing is very pertinent to understand. The glow on faces of most Americans and Europeans said its story. Most people in West were truthful all the time. Even though most did not know what Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism was all about… but inherently most all the time travelled path of spirituality as detailed in Bhagavad Gita!
Comparatively most Indians ate, drank and lived Bhagavad Gita all their life but because of inherent untruthfulness practiced by most… all were far from true spirituality detailed in Bhagavad Gita! In all matters spiritual… our soul atman, the spirit within was controller of all things cosmic! If we are to reach our soul atman… we have to remain truthful all throughout! Finally Lord Krishna summarizes that path of nishkama karma yoga was more superior to path of contemplation (path of dhyana). In a nutshell… learning essence of Bhagavad Gita, essence of spiritual texts alone does not carry human beings towards God Almighty.
As per Lord Krishna… travelling path of nishkama karma yoga was ultimate on path of pure spirituality. Path of nishkama karma yoga involves our offering fruits of karma performed to God Almighty all the time. When God Almighty was doer of all things cosmic… how could human beings become owner of anything? Unless we obliterated traces of all karma forever… we could never reach stage of absolute purity as demanded in Bhagavad Gita. Negation of karma demands abolishing our ego (Aham in Hinduism), annihilating our ego in totality forever! No sooner our ego vanished forever… our submission to God Almighty became complete!
As a truthful, pure human being we finally reached stage of Nirvikalpa Samadhi (stage of absolute nothingness) when one could have a dialogue with God Almighty on one-to-one basis and that too permanently. In bhagavad gita chapter 12 verse 12 Lord Krishna emphasizes that we must always remain a trustee of God Almighty. We truly never owned anything in this world. Acting as a trustee of God… we could always offer fruits of karma performed to God Almighty all the time. Most human beings world over clung to material riches as if all shall be carried to next life, next manifestation…. after death of present body!
We fail to remember that it was only residual balance of karma of present life, which gets transferred to next life, next manifestation when the present mortal frame dies! Nothing physical or materialistic ever gets carried to next life… no matter what! By indulgence in good karma, positive karma all the time in present life we not only ensure a better future ahead… but also a higher manifestation in next life. The moment human beings reached karmic scale of 99… One became a living God like Mahavira, Gautama Buddha, Jesus Christ or Prophet Mohammed! At number 100, an enlightened one finally attained salvation moksha, moment one left mortal frame! The liberated soul atman thus entered abode of God (kingdom of God)… termed Vaikuntha in Hinduism!
Lord Krishna also says that reaching stage of Nirvikalpa Samadhi is like experiencing tranquility… stage of absolute bliss! It is absence of ego that results in experiencing bliss all the time. If we merely follow what Lord Krishna had to say in Bhagavad Gita… our life would not only become meaningful but also worthy. At no stage of life we must ever forget that human form is the highest manifest stage in cosmic life cycle. It is only in human form… our soul atman, the spirit within finally reached cosmic end of life when human beings gained enlightenment (kaivalya jnana) and finally salvation moksha in 8.4 millionth manifestation.
Commentary by: Vijay Kumar “Atma Jnani”… The Man who Realized God in 1993 – April 19, 2013
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