वीतराग भयक्रोधा मन्मया मामुपाश्रिताः ।
बहवो ज्ञानतपसा पूता मद्भावमागताः ॥४-१०॥
Transliteration:
In Bhagavad Gita chapter 4 verse 10 Lord Krishna tells Arjuna… those who succeeded in establishing absolute control over raag (attachments, passions), fear and anger; one dwelling in God Almighty all the time by practicing nishkama karma yoga… travelers of spiritual path who followed path of jnana yoga (absolute wisdom) finally reached god in their lifetime.
Lord Krishna advises Arjuna that Arjuna was not alone in travelling spiritual path and reaching God! Many before him had already reached God via following path of spirituality as detailed in Bhagavad Gita. Any human being world over can reach God by negating karma to zero in entirety. Karma can be reduced to zero only by establishing absolute control over five senses and mind. Furthermore practice of absolute celibacy was also necessitated on spiritual path.
Unless a soul atman, the consciousness within gained absolute purity… one could never reach God! God Almighty was not the form of human beings. God Almighty existed within all living beings in miniscule form as our soul atman, the spirit within that resided in our heart! When our goal of life firmed up; no matter what, in this very life I shall see and meet God then nothing in world could sway one from reaching God in present life!
All achievements of spiritual path were primarily dependent on our ultimate goal of life! Most human beings world over delayed their spiritual journey on one pretext or another. Most kept postponing spiritual journey until end of life. It can be seen from history that human beings who reached God in their life started their pursuit of God early in life. We just could not delay our spiritual journey… no matter what the cause!
Practicing extreme austerities, indulging in severe penances was routine on path of pure spirituality… prime reason why most human beings on mother earth did not want to travel spiritual path. Mesmerized by glare of worldly riches… most wanted to travel religious path (path of rituals) that never led anywhere! If path of austerities, deep penances was the only way out to reach god… then why fear the same? The end result of spiritual life… remaining in communion with God Almighty all the time was something that could never be expressed in words!
The Explanation:
Lord Krishna explains to Arjuna various aspects of spiritual life including immortality! As per Lord Krishna… every soul atman, the spirit within practically was immortal… eternal! It exists from times immemorial. As human form was manifested by a soul atman, the consciousness within… we were primarily eternal beings on a cosmic journey that entailed a maximum of 1.1 million manifestations in human form! By undertaking spiritual journey, by travelling path of unknown human beings finally reached God Almighty in their lifetime!
Austerities, penances helped human beings burn dross impurities within a soul atman, the spirit within! In absence of practice of austerity, penance nothing much could be gained on spiritual path. To gain something… one always had to lose something. By losing avarice towards earthly bondages, by reducing negative balance of karma human beings step-by-step slowly gained Punya karma that finally led to God Almighty. When nothing except balance of Punya karma transfers to next manifestation, why indulge in negative karma and mar present and future!
Lord Krishna tells Arjuna in explicit terms that path undertaken by Arjuna though unique in all respects was travelled by many in past. Many spiritual travelers in past after crossing infirmities of present worldly life finally succeeded in reaching cosmic end of life… stage of god realization, self realization… also termed enlightenment! Path of spirituality as per Lord Krishna can be travelled by any human being… no matter what our religion, faith, belief or caste! As human form was highest manifest stage in cosmic life cycle, it was birthright of every human being to reach God in present life!
As per Lord Krishna, stage of Tattva jnana was reached by spiritual seekers in past by annihilating Raag (attachments), fear and Krodha (anger). Raag (feelings of attachment, passion) were quite difficult to cut across in mortal world! The bondages of Raag were so strong that normal human beings found it totally impossible to detach self from emotions, attachments of various kinds! Control over all types of emotions, attachments (Raag) only became possible when human beings succeeded in establishing absolute control over five senses and mind.
Those inclined towards material values could never succeed in establishing control over feelings of Raag (attachments). Establishing control over Krodha (anger) was even more difficult. When someone hurt us… we developed repulsion, aversion towards that act. The final result… we ended hating the person who hurt us! This results in a chain reaction of karma, of deliberately hurting and hating each other. To get out of this rut of karma was difficult even for an ardent seeker of spirituality. A practitioner of Krodha (anger) never reached God.
Sage Vishwamitra was an accomplished Sage of his era! But his anger was not in control. On account of his anger, Sage Vishwamitra badly suffered in life! There are various accounts of Sage Vishwamitra exercising his anger only to repent in end. If even an accomplished Sage like Vishwamitra could not control his anger, for a layman… commoner, one from masses… establishing absolute control over Krodha (anger) was even more difficult neigh impossible! One thing was certain, to see and meet God in this very life, one had to establish absolute control over Krodha (anger)… we practically had no other alternative!
Fear was ingrained into our system! We feared many things in life including God Almighty. To overcome fear one had to travel path of pure spirituality! Overcoming fear of death was necessitated to reach God. Fear of death is overcome by one who becomes immortal… gains omniscience in present life, becomes knower of all forever! One who becomes a Tattva jnani never feared death at any stage of life. For a traveler of spiritual path, fear always was temporal related to manifest physical body! Once human beings crossed over ocean of Samsara (worldly life)… became a pure soul atman, the spirit within… there was nothing to be feared in this life!
All types of fear emanate from losing something. Those clinging to material possessions always developed a feeling of fear of losing all at the end of journey. Those travelling spiritual path, having emancipated from cycle of birth and death forever had nothing to fear in life! For such knower of all, essence of life always laid in earning Punya karma that gets transferred to next life! By travelling spiritual path we finally realized that present physical manifest world was temporal. When everything belonged to God Almighty… how could a human being lose anything ever? Our fears were totally unfounded. We had nothing to fear in life. All was temporal.
We must overcome fear at the earliest by travelling path of good karma, positive karma all the time! Thinking good of all, all the time… one can finally overcome fear of all forever. Lord Krishna advises Arjuna that overcoming Raag (attachments, passions), fear and Krodha (anger) were absolutely necessary to reach him… to reach God! Spiritual seekers had done it in past… and so were required of Arjuna! One who finally overcomes Raag, fear and Krodha (anger) remains in thoughts of God Almighty all the time. That was how we became a true soldier of God… a true trustee who indulged in nishkama karma way of life all throughout!
Lord Krishna tells Arjuna that unless one had unbridled passion in life to reach God… one could never make it in present life! By following path of self enquiry, Neti (not this, not this) when spiritual seekers world over negated everything, what remained was God Almighty in all its glory! The path of bhakti yoga involved total submission to God Almighty! Total submission is a stage when following path of nishkama karma yoga human beings realized that nothing other than God existed in entire cosmos. Such a stage of bhakti yoga is difficult to achieve in present times, prime reason why Lord Krishna advocates travelling path of jnana yoga (path of absolute wisdom) to reach God in present life!
Path of jnana yoga (absolute wisdom) entails assimilating pearls of wisdom contained in various sacred scriptures of different religions world over. It is only through path of jnana yoga human beings finally succeeded in negating karma to zero. For a soul atman to gain absolute purity… negation of karma to zero was an absolute must! In absence of dross impurities within, the need for a soul atman to manifest another body ceases to exist. One finally gains omniscience for all practical purposes, becomes knower of all… a Brahma jnani, a bodhi… a Jina, a Mahavira forever! Austerities and penances were an important ingredient on path of pure spirituality, in absence of which one could never indulge in true tapasya.
Tapasya in Hinduism stands for gaining inner purity by discarding all that was gross! It is through serious tapasya human beings slowly step-by-step negated karma to zero! Control over five senses and mind can only be exercised by indulging in tapasya of the highest order. We have to burn dross impurities within to reach God; we practically have no other alternative! By assimilating pearls of wisdom contained in sacred scriptures of different religions of world… we never gained anything! Rather all jnana wisdom helped one in shedding dross impurities within. By indulgence in sacred scriptures, human beings come to know subtle realities of life and various mantras following which one finally succeeded in reducing dross impurities within!
Dross impurities within were not perceptible by limited power of senses and mind! We had to indulge in sacred scriptures to realize higher realms of spirituality. As we scaled higher brackets of spiritual life, physical pursuits of life carried lesser meaning. Came a stage when everything physical lost its shine. Our Moha (feelings of deep emotional attachments) finally unshackled self. Free from attachments of manifest physical world, a serious seeker of spirituality slowly inches towards higher levels of the spirituality. Comes a day when people we called our own got farther and farther away. Finally whole world including nears and dears became one large family. We become a true sanyasi (renunciate) even while living in family.
For a true sanyasi (renunciate), essence of life always laid in pursuing higher goals of life than worldly pleasures. Higher goals of life mean assimilating teachings contained in sacred scriptures. It was only through path of scriptures (path of jnana yoga) human beings finally distinguished between ephemeral and spiritual values of life! Religious goals had nothing permanent in them. Path of religion was not meant for seekers wanting to reach God in their lifetime. Teachings of Lord Krishna are directed towards human beings travelling path of pure spirituality as detailed in Bhagavad Gita. With passage of time, teachings contained in Bhagavad Gita never dilute! Teachings of Bhagavad Gita were practically beyond catch of time.
Through Bhagavad Gita chapter 4 verse 10 Lord Krishna emphasizes on Arjuna to travel spiritual path as already done by many seekers in past. As per Lord Krishna, the present cycle of life was incessant, unbroken… uninterrupted! We as a soul atman, the consciousness within had to keep trying until last trace of dross impurities within negated forever. The moment dross impurities within a soul atman removed forever… one reached stage of absolute purity! After regaining its lost original pure prime pristine primordial form forever, the liberated soul atman entered abode of God (kingdom of God)… Vaikuntha in Hinduism, moment human beings gained salvation moksha! An enlightened one gained salvation moksha, moment one left mortal frame forever!
Commentary by: Vijay Kumar “Atma Jnani”… The Man who Realized God in 1993 – May 17, 2013
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