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

CHAPTER 12: THE YOG OF DEVOTION

CHAPTER 12: THE YOG OF DEVOTION

Krishn repeatedly told Arjun at the end of Chapter 11 that his cosmic form which he had manifested to him had never been seen by anyone before and would not be seen by anyone in the future. Rather than being known by penance or yagya or charity he can be easily known and approached-as Arjun has seen him-by unwavering devotion and contemplation which is constant and uninterrupted like a stream of oil. So Arjun was exhorted to dedicate himself to Krishn and remember him; he should perform the ordained deed and better still by surrendering himself to him. Firm and single-minded devotion is the means for achievement of the supreme goal. This naturally whets Arjun’s curiosity to know which one of the two kinds of devotees, they who worship the manifest God like Krishn and they who contemplate the unmanifest Spirit, are superior.

In fact, Arjun has raised this question for the third time here. He had asked Krishn in Chapter 3 why he was urging him to undertake a dreadful task if he thought the Way of Knowledge superior to the Way of Selfless Action. According to Krishn in both ways action is a necessity.

Despite this, however, if a man restrains his senses with unnatural violence and is yet unable to forget their objects, he is an arrogant impostor rather than a man of knowledge. So Arjun was counselled to do the ordained task, the deed of yagya. The mode of yagya, which is a special form of worship and which provides access to the supreme goal, was then elucidated. What difference is there then between the Way of Knowledge and the Way of Selfless Action if the same action-the deed of yagya-has to be embarked on for both. Whereas an affectionate devotee engages in the deed of yagya after having surrendered himself and his action to the desired God, the yogi of knowledge undertakes the same action with a due understanding of his own strength and reliance upon it.

Arjun further wished to know from Krishn in Chapter 5 why he sometimes commended action done by the Way of Knowledge and at other times that done by the Way of Selfless Action in a spirit of self-surrender. He wanted to be told which of the two was better. He knew by that time that action was a common factor in both the ways. And yet he put the question to Krishn because he was faced with the problem of choosing the superior way. He was told that although seekers attain to the desired goal by going along either of the ways, the Way of Selfless Action is better than the Way of Knowledge. Without doing selfless action, a man can be neither a yogi nor truly enlightened. The Way of Knowledge is also impossible to traverse without action and it is beset with more obstacles.

Now, for the third time, Arjun asks the Lord which of the two kinds of devotees, they who are devoted to him with perfect concentration and they who go along the Way of Knowledge contemplating the unmanifest, imperishable principle, are superior.

1.  “Arjun said, ‘Which of the two kinds of steadfast devotees, they who always worship you in your embodied form and the others who meditate upon your imperishable, unmanifest Spirit, are superior in their mastery of yog?’ ’’

Whether they worship Krishn with self-surrender, a sense of identity with him, and with firm concentration, or they worship the unmanifest and imperishable God in whom he dwells with self- reliance rather than self-surrender, they both follow the way ordained by him. Which of the two, however, are superior? Krishn answers the question thus.

2.  “The Lord said, ‘I believe them to be the most superior of all yogi who always meditate upon me with concentration and worship me (the embodied, manifest God) with true faith.’’

3-4. ‘‘And they who restrain all their senses well, always adore the Supreme Spirit who is beyond thought, all-pervading, indefinable, filled with equanimity, immutable and immovable, and formless and indestructible , with total concentration, and who serve all beings viewing them with an equal eye, attain to me.’’