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

CHAPTER 10: AN ACCOUNT OF GOD'S GLORY

CHAPTER 10: AN ACCOUNT OF GOD’S GLORY

In the last chapter Krishn revealed the mysterious and definitely propitious knowledge that is the monarch of all knowledge. In Chapter 10, he again takes up the subject and asks Arjun to listen to him carefully. But what is the need of repeating something that has already been elucidated? The seeker is in fact imperfect right till the moment of attainment. The fabric of nature wears thinner as he is more and moire absorbed in his contemplation of God, and fresh visions appear before him one after the other. This is made possible through a sage’s -an accomplished teacher’s guidance. He does not and cannot know them by himself. In the absence of such a direction the worshipper will be deprived of the attainment of God. So long as he is even slightly removed from his ultimate goal, it is evident that a crust of nature still endures and there is an apprehension of his slipping and stumbling. Arjun is a disciple who has come under Krishn’s shelter. He has begged the Yogeshwar to support him as he is his pupil who depends on him. So, for the sake of this earnest and submissive disciple Krishn speaks again on what he has already discoursed on in Chapter 9.

1. ‘The Lord said, ‘Listen again, O the mighty-armed, to the mystic and compelling words I am about to speak because of my concern for the good of a beloved pupil.’’’

2. “Neither gods nor great sages know my origin, for I am the primal Source from which all of them have arisen.”

Krishn also declared earlier that since his origin and action are both celestial, they cannot be seen by physical eyes. So his manifestation goes unnoticed even by men who have reached the spiritual level of gods and sages. On the other hand, however,-

3. “The wise man among mortals, who knows my reality as the birthless, eternal, and supreme God of the entire world, is freed from all sins.’’

The man who knows this is a man of true wisdom. In other words, a clear awareness of the omnipresent, eternal God is the knowledge that liberates one from sin and rebirth. This achievement too is a gift from Krishn:

4-5. “All the manifold qualities with which beings are endowed: will, knowledge, freedom from delusion, forgiveness, truth, restraint of Senses and mind, happiness and unhappiness, creation and destruction, fear and fearlessness, as well as abstinence from the desire to harm, equanimity of mind, contentment, penance, charity, fame, and ignominy-are provided by none but me.’’

Firmness of purpose, knowledge, dedication to the goal, suppression of the mind and senses, inner happiness, the pains of the spiritual way, awakening of God within the Self, total dissolution at the moment of realization, fear of the disciplining power of God, fearlessness of nature, conduct that does not degrade, equanimity in which there are no conflicts, contentment, penance in keeping with the needs of the goal, self-abnegation, and putting up equally with both honour and humiliation on God’s way-all these propensities are-of Krishn’s making. These are the qualities that characterize the way of divine contemplation. In their absence there remains only the ill-gotten hoard of devilish instincts.

“The seven great sages[66], the four who had been earlier than them, as well as Manu and others from whom all mankind has sprung, have all been shaped by the operation of my will.’’

[66]The saints who are believed to be the seven stars of the constellation named Ursa Major denote the seven steps of yog.

The seven great sages or rather the seven successive stages of yog-virtuous aspiration, discrimination, refinement of spirit, inclination to truth, disinterestedness, advancement on the spiritual path towards union with God and along with them the moulding of the four faculties of mind, intellect, thought and ego in accordance with the demands of yog, are all creations of Krishn’s will. That is to say that they all arise from the determination to realize him. Each of them complements the other. All these components of the treasure of divinity are Krishn’s works. This treasure is dependent on the evolution of the seven steps of yog and without them it cannot be.