लोकेऽस्मिन्द्विविधा निष्ठा पुरा प्रोक्ता मयानघ ।
ज्ञानयोगेन सांख्यानां कर्मयोगेन योगिनाम् ॥३-३॥
Transliteration:
When Arjuna insists Lord Krishna to define what was right him, path of jnana yoga or nishkama karma yoga… Lord Krishna enumerates merits of the two. Lord Krishna addresses Arjuna as Nishpap (one who does not attract sin while indulging in karma). Lord Krishna knew well that no matter what… Arjuna could never indulge in negative karma that attracts sin. This also indicates Arjuna gaining almost absolute purity of soul atman, the consciousness within!
As per Lord Krishna there were two paths to reach God in present life. One was path of Sankhya Yoga that necessitates human beings indulging in path of jnana yoga (absolute wisdom). On path of jnana yoga (absolute wisdom) one needs negating ego (Aham in Hinduism) forever. When the feeling of I negates forever; one lives in god consciousness all the time. Such a human being never gets affected by karma performed.
To one who finally succeeds in establishing absolute control over ego (Aham in Hinduism)… workings of karma never bind one! One finally becomes totally free of all bondages of karma. Human beings on mother earth pursued materialistic goals of life prompted by a bloated ego. In absence of ego, I within… one lives like a true sanyasi (mendicant of the highest order). Freeing self from clutches of karma is reaching God in present life.
Travelling path of jnana yoga necessitates practicing absolute celibacy (Brahmacharya Vrata) for a minimum period of 12 years in continuation. Such a practitioner of absolute celibacy finally succeeds in full awakening of Kundalini Shakti (the coiled Serpentine energy lying dormant in base of spine). Full awakening of kundalini energy announces opening of Sahasra Pushpa (thousand petalled Lotus) existing in our brain behind forehead.
Opening of Sahasra Pushpa announces one reaching stage of enlightenment at the end of the spiritual journey. For a Sankhya Yogi… indulging in sacred scriptures was a routine! Jnana wisdom contained in sacred scriptures helped one remove dross impurities within our soul atman, the spirit within! It is only through path of self enquiry (Neti… not this, not this) human beings finally reached God. Total control over five senses and mind can only be established by removing traces of ego (Aham) within our manifest physical self!
A Sankhya Yogi knows that God could never be reached via path of karma yoga or bhakti yoga alone. Travelling path of jnana yoga is walking razor’s edge… prime reason why people hesitate in travelling path of absolute wisdom to reach God. Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa and Maharishi Ramana, the two spiritual stalwarts who reached God in their lifetime initially started in search of God via path of bhakti yoga. Realizing that God could never be reached via path of bhakti yoga alone, both finally switched to path of jnana yoga (absolute wisdom) to reach God in their lifetime. Why not duplicate path of spirituality, path of jnana yoga (absolute wisdom) undertaken by Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa or Maharishi Ramana?
The Explanation:
As per Lord Krishna to reach God via path of karma yoga alone was not possible. Unless one indulged in self enquiry (path of Neti… not this, not this) cutting across shackles of dross impurities within a soul atman, the spirit within was not possible. The darkness within can be dispelled only by light of teachings contained in sacred scriptures of different religions of world. The teachings of sacred scriptures only were a medium for human beings to indulge in self enquiry, Neti… path of contemplation! In absence of teachings contained in sacred scriptures, how could human beings indulge in contemplation?
Those indulging in path of jnana yoga could not abstain from indulging in karma yoga. We had to indulge in karma yoga to establish absolute control over five senses and mind. Unless absolute control over five senses and mind was established… one could never succeed in full awakening of Kundalini Shakti! Practice of absolute celibacy also was a very important ingredient of spiritual path. In absence of practice of absolute celibacy, stopping flow of negative thoughts to our brain in totality would never become a possibility! To reach stage of Nirvikalpa Samadhi (stage of absolute nothingness), practice of both absolute celibacy and contemplation was necessitated.
As per Lord Krishna that path of karma yoga which is termed nishkama karma yoga was necessitated to reach God. Only one who could act as a true trustee of God Almighty can successfully indulge in nishkama karma yoga. Offering fruits of karma performed to God Almighty all the time was what nishkama karma all about. Behind precepts of nishkama karma yoga lay doctrine of reincarnation, rebirth! Unless we believed, we were primarily a soul atman, the spirit within on its cosmic life cycle of 8.4 million manifestations that entailed an earthly sojourn of 96.4 million years… we could never understand precepts of spirituality, nishkama karma yoga! The human form was but a means to an end.
No soul atman could purify self of its own. As one KG of pure gold sandwiched in 100 KG lump of gold ore could not extract self of its own and requires requisite mining machinery and processes, a soul atman also requires undergoing a chain of 8.4 million manifestations before it regained its lost original pure prime pristine primordial form forever. Human beings gaining enlightenment announced a soul atman reaching 8.4 millionth manifestation, last in cosmic life cycle! Body after body, manifestation after manifestation the journey of a soul atman continued uninterrupted, unbroken! After passing through 7.3 million manifestations in insect, plant and animal life… a soul atman finally manifests human form for the first time!
In human form alone we have 1.1 million manifestations on the whole! Does it mean human beings have a total of 1.1 million manifestations to reach stage of enlightenment (kaivalya jnana)? Yes, the cosmic truths say-so! The journey of enlightenment is definitely a long cycle of life that a soul atman, the spirit within undergoes! Based on doctrine of karma… every soul atman, the spirit within manifested a new human form until human beings reached stage of enlightenment in their lifetime. The purified soul atman thus liberates self from cycle of birth and death forever. Reincarnation, rebirth was part of cosmic life. The inscrutable laws of karma play a dominant role in souls’ atmans manifesting various life forms!
As per laws of karma… at the time of death of body, the closing balance of life becomes opening balance for next manifestation! In absence of laws of karma the whole cosmic system simply could not subsist. However doctrine of nishkama karma yoga was different from karma. Only a Yogi, traveler of spiritual path could act as a true trustee of God Almighty. Ordinary mortals could never indulge in karma… nishkama karma way! In the present materialistic world, none wants to offer fruits of karma performed to God Almighty! In the circumstances, how could people travel spiritual path that directly led to God Almighty?
JRD Tata, scion of Tata Empire was a true missionary par excellence! All his life JRD Tata lived like a true trustee of God Almighty. Not for a second in his lifetime did JRD Tata consider entire Tata Empire as his own. JRD Tata was a true karma Yogi par excellence. He always considered God Almighty as the owner of everything worldly. Acting as a true trustee of God all the time… JRD Tata made sure that his efforts were directed towards welfare of entire mankind at large. In serving mankind, JRD Tata truly served God Almighty all the time. People like JRD Tata are rarely seen in society. Even Ratan Tata could not act as a true trustee of God all the time.
Offering fruits of karma performed to God Almighty all the time was not a simple task. It requires annihilating our ego (Aham in Hinduism) in totality. Those with a bloated ego could never act as a true trustee of God Almighty. Such human beings are totally unfit for travelling spiritual path. Path of nishkama karma yoga can only be followed by a true Yogi as detailed by Lord Krishna. One not attached to fruits of karma performed is a true seeker of spirituality indeed. For a true Yogi… both path of nishkama karma yoga and jnana yoga (absolute wisdom) were necessitated to reach God. A true seeker of God could never distinguish between path of jnana yoga and nishkama karma yoga.
We could never interpret words of Lord Krishna literally. However Lord Krishna makes it explicitly clear that one can reach God via path of jnana yoga but not via path of nishkama karma yoga alone. Truthfully both nishkama karma yoga and jnana yoga were necessitated to reach God in our lifetime. After a certain point in the life of a true Yogi, path of nishkama karma yoga merged into path of jnana yoga (absolute wisdom). Only then human beings truly succeeded in reaching stage of enlightenment (kaivalya jnana) forever. The moment an enlightened one left mortal frame… one gained salvation moksha forever!
Commentary by: Vijay Kumar “Atma Jnani”… The Man who Realized God in 1993 – May 18, 2013
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