संन्यासस्तु महाबाहो दुःखमाप्तुमयोगतः ।
योगयुक्तो मुनिर्ब्रह्म नचिरेणाधिगच्छति ॥५-६॥
Transliteration:
In Bhagavad Gita chapter 5 verse 6 Lord Krishna again emphasizes to Arjuna that stage of sanyasa was difficult to reach unless we practiced karma yoga! In a nutshell, in layman terms… Lord Krishna makes it absolutely clear to Arjuna that indulgence in karma by all living beings including human beings was an absolute must. Non-indulgence in karma does not mean negation of karma. As per Lord Krishna negation of karma can only be exercised by indulgence in karma… never otherwise!
For a serious seeker of spirituality desirous of reaching God in present life… total negation of karma was an absolute must! However, to practice absence of doership while indulgence in karma was extremely difficult yet, not impossible! Even arch spiritual stalwarts Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa and Maharishi Ramana who initially started in search of God by refraining from doership in karma… finally succumbed to path of karma yoga, which directly led to God Almighty! At a certain stage in life… both finally switched to path of jnana yoga (path of absolute wisdom).
To cut across feeling of I, ego (Aham in Hinduism) was a difficult task. Even the best spiritual seekers found it difficult to indulge in karma without feeling of doership. But for a karma Yogi indulging in contemplation on God Almighty, reaching God via path of self enquiry (Neti… not this, not this) was not difficult. Remaining truthful all throughout… every serious seeker of spirituality by following path of nishkama karma yoga could easily reach God. Indulgence in karma with an unattached attitude was not that difficult… nor was offering fruits of karma performed to God Almighty all the time! By maintaining equanimity at every stage of life one can cross all hurdles of spiritual path to reach God in one’s lifetime!
The Explanation:
Emphasizing importance of karma yoga, Lord Krishna says to Arjuna… practicing karma sanyasa was impractical and almost unachievable! The act of absence of doership while indulging in karma was extremely difficult to practice, even by an accomplished seeker of spirituality! To live life… one had to indulge in karma, primarily nishkama karma yoga… the path that directly led human beings to God Almighty! To establish control over five senses and mind… path of karma sanyasa was very difficult to practice as it demands total submission to God Almighty in all respects! In absence of doership of karma one becomes dependent on others.
On path of pure spirituality, Lord Krishna abhors human beings, seekers of spirituality depending on others for the sake of their living! One could become a recluse… but never a Bhikshuk dependent on society for its living. So was prohibited in Hinduism. Lord Krishna advises Arjuna to follow path of karma yoga which was much easier to travel than path of karma sanyasa. On path of karma yoga one had to work with an unattached attitude… offering fruits of karma performed to God Almighty all the time! As detailed in various scriptures of Hinduism… our soul atman, the spirit within was the absolute master and controller of human body!
From that logic… the owner of all karma performed by human beings also was our soul atman, the consciousness within! Whatever karma was indulged by human beings… the fruits of same all the time belonged to our soul atman, the spirit within! For a serious seeker of spirituality… this analogy was easy to understand but for a commoner, one from the masses… offering fruits of karma performed to God Almighty seemed out of question! Mounted with a bloated ego… most human beings on mother earth ran after ephemeral riches of life. How could they let go fruits of karma performed? It is for this reason most human beings on mother earth preferred travelling path of religion (path of rituals)… compared to path of spirituality!
Path of religion (rituals) never led human beings to God Almighty. If we seek God in present life… we have to undertake spiritual journey and indulge in nishkama karma yoga. That is how Lord Krishna advises Arjuna in bhagavad gita chapter 5 verse 6. Arjuna, a seeker of spirituality of the highest order… could disseminate the inherent teachings contained in sayings of Lord Krishna. Human beings on mother earth desiring reaching God in present life… must follow dictates of Lord Krishna in Bhagavad Gita! The sayings of Lord Krishna contained truth but only truth. It is through path of contemplation… self enquiry (Neti) human beings slowly realized the inner meanings of teachings of Lord Krishna!
Travelling path of spirituality is walking razors edge. Religious people need not travel path of karma yoga! God Almighty can only be realized by one who had the capability to assimilate teachings contained in various sacred scriptures of different religions of world. This becomes possible when we let go our ego forever. No sooner we surrendered our ego to God Almighty… one could hear the sweet small inner voice of our soul atman that seemed to come from within our heart. Prompted by the voice of our soul atman… human beings can easily reach the absolute source of life, our soul atman itself! We must never forget… to dissolve our ego forever path of karma yoga was an absolute must!
In Hinduism… entering sanyasa is normally mistaken with leaving family life for ever. Lord Krishna says… sanyasa can be practiced by any human being even while living in family life. As per Lord Krishna, one can indulge in karma… path of karma yoga even while living in family! One need not become a recluse and go to deep dense jungles (forests) to meditate on God Almighty. Nishkama karma yoga though difficult to practice in family life, was not impossible! If Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa can do it… so could others! Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa used to say, why attach self to bondages of manifest earthly life. In a limited lifespan of 70 to 80 years of earthly life… where was the time to indulge in earthly relationships that carried no meaning in spiritual world!
Commentary by: Vijay Kumar “Atma Jnani”… The Man who Realized God in 1993 – April 22, 2013
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