The Science of Religion for Mankind - Shreemad Bhagwad Geeta: Yatharth Geeta

CHAPTER 8: YOG WITH THE IMPERISHABLE GOD

CHAPTER 8: YOG WITH THE IMPERISHABLE GOD

At the end of Chapter 7, Krishn said that yogi who do pious deeds are released from all sin and know the all-pervading God. So action is something that brings knowledge of the Supreme Spirit. They who do it know him (Krishn) along with the omnipresent God-the adhidaiv, adhibhoot, adhiyagya, perfect action and Adhyatma (See verses 29-30 and their exposition in Chapter 7.) So action is that which apprises us of them. Men who know them are aware, at the end, of Krishn alone, and this knowledge is never blotted out.

Repeating Krishn’s own words Arjun raises a question :

1. “Arjun said, Enlighten me, O Supreme Being, on the nature of Brahm, adhyatm, action, adhibhoot and adhidaiv.’’

The words adhyatm, action, adhibhoot and adhidaiv are all mysteries to Arjun and he wishes to be enlightened on them.

2. “Who is adhiyagya, O Madhusudan, and how is he enshrined in the body : and how does the man with a restrained mind know you at the end?’’

Who is a adhiyagya and how is he within the body? It is evident that the doer of yagya is some Soul who is based in a human body.

And, at last, how does a man with a fully controlled mind know Krishn at the end? So there are seven questions in all and Krishn proceeds to answer them in that order.

3. “The Lord said, ‘The one who is imperishable is the Supreme Spirit (Brahm); abiding in a body he is adhyatm; and the cessation of properties in beings which produce something or the other is action.’’

The one who is indestructible, who never dies, is the Supreme Spirit. Steady devotion to the Self-dominance of the Soul-is adhyatm. Before this stage everyone is ruled by maya, but when a man dwells firmly in God and so in his own Self, he is infused with the sense of supremacy of his Self. This is the culmination of adhyatm. The ceasing-the discontinuance-of the will of beings which results in the creation of both good and evil is, on the other hand, the crowning point of action. This is the perfect action which Krishn had spoken of earlier as known to yogi. Action is now complete and henceforth there is no further need of it. Action is perfected when the desires of beings which create sanskar that are propitious as well as unpropitious are stilled. Beyond this there is not further need of action. So true action is that which brings an end to desires. Such action, therefore, means worship and contemplation that are inherent in yagya.

3. “Adhibhoot is all that is subject to birth and death; the Supreme Spirit is adhidaiv, and O the unparalleled among men (Arjun), I (Vasudev) am the adhiyagya in the body.’’

Until the state of immortality is achieved, all the transient destructible desires are adhibhoot or in other words spheres of beings. They are the source of the origin of beings. And the Supreme Spirit who is beyond nature is adhidaiv, the creator of all gods, that is righteous impulses- the divine treasure that is finally dissolved in him. Vasudev-Krishn-is adhiyagya in the human body, the performer of all yagya. Thus God himself, dwelling as the unmanifest Soul in the body, is adhiyagya. Krishn was a yogi, the enjoyer of all oblations. And all yagya are at last absorbed in him. That is the moment of realization of the Supreme Soul. Six of Arjun’s questions have now been answered. At last, Krishn takes up the question of how he is known at the end and never forgotten thereafter.

5. “The man who departs from the body remembering me doubtlessly attains to me.’’

That accounts for Krishn’s assertion that the man who finally, that is when he has perfect control over his mind and when even this mind is dissolved, severs his relationship with the body and departs from it with remembrance of him, surely achieves total oneness with him.