 Bhagavad Gita Commentary–Thirty-two–by Swami Nirmalananda Giri
 “Devotee and Friend”
The “genealogy” of yoga
After outlining the basic way of yoga, Krishna then tells Arjuna: “Foe-consumer, now I have shown you yoga that leads to the truth undying. I taught this yoga first to Vivaswat, Vivaswat taught it in turn to Manu, next Ikshvaku learnt it from Manu, and so the sages in royal succession carried it onward from teacher to teacher, till at length it was lost, throughout ages forgotten.” Vivaswat, Manu, and Ikshvaku were ancient sages–primeval sages, actually, at the beginning of the human race. God Himself directly taught yoga to those sages. That is why Patanjali says in the Yoga Sutras: “He is Guru even of the Ancients.”
Just how the yoga was forgotten (the word nashtah literally means “lost”) is not told to us, but it is important that we realize this world, whose nature is bondage, is not a friendly environment for that which liberates. Whether the yoga was lost by carelessness or defects or omissions in teaching, or whether a time came when no one was even interested, the result was the same. The same is true of our private world. The mind is extremely gifted in forgetting or distorting the correct practice of yoga. Therefore we should be very vigilant and make sure that our practice is exactly correct, with not a single detail being neglected or left out. There are several contemporary spiritual organizations that over the course of years have so altered the yoga methods they teach that they have been rendered ineffectual–and in some cases, detrimental. How do we protect ourself from this spiritual erosion? Study the Gita. It is all there. If we read the Gita, the eleven authentic upanishads, and the Yoga Darshan of Patanjali without prejudice or preconception we will find they are unanimous in their teaching on meditation. It is only when they are “interpreted” by teachers claiming to have a secret or unique knowledge that the troubles begin. We must ignore them and look to the source. The yoga of the Bhagavad Gita
The yoga found in the Bhagavad Gita is very simple.
First the yogi sits in an upright posture. “Let him firmly hold his body, head and neck erect and perfectly still.”
His eyes should be turned upward without strain, “shutting out (all) external contacts and fixing the gaze between the eyebrows.” Not that the yogi makes himself cross-eyed! This is not actual concentration on the point between the eyebrows, which would cause strain and tension, but a relaxed looking upward as though looking through the point between the eyebrows–the “third eye”–at a point far distant.
Next, he breathes through his nose–not his mouth–in a completely natural and spontaneous manner, in this way “equalizing the outgoing and incoming breaths moving within the nostrils,” easily calming and refining the breath, “absorbed in the movement of the breath.” This, according to Krishna, is the sacrifice known as pranayama.
“Engaged in the practice of concentration, uttering the monosyllable Om—the Brahman—remembering Me always,” the yogi meditates upon the Supreme. For Krishna, the embodiment of that Supreme, tells us: “I am the syllable Om.” “I am the Sacred Monosyllable [Om].” And: “Among words I am the monosyllable Om.” Further, in this last verse he continues: “Among sacrifices I am the sacrifice of japa,” indicating how Om is to be employed by the yogi.
And the ultimate result he also tells. “Thus, always keeping the mind balanced, the Yogi, with the mind controlled, attains to the peace abiding in Me, which culminates in liberation.” “At the time of death, with unshaken mind, endowed with devotion and by the power of Yoga,…he reaches that resplendent Supreme Person.…Uttering the monosyllable Om—the Brahman—remembering Me always, he who departs thus, leaving the body, attains to the supreme goal. Who is Krishna in the Gita?
We have already finished three chapters of the Gita, and it is time for us to understand who the figure of Krishna really is–and what the Gita really is, as well.
First we must understand the context of the Gita. The Gita is seven hundred verses within an epic poem known as The Mahabharata, that chronicles the Mahabharata (Great Indian) War that took place about three thousand years ago. The original poem was written by the great sage Vyasa, perhaps the single most important figure in Indian spiritual history. The Bhagavad Gita is the supreme scripture of India, for it is the essence of all the basic texts that came before it. Further, it supplies a psychological side to spiritual practice that can be found in no other authoritative text. If someone desires, he can confine his study to the Gita alone and yet know everything that is in those texts. Although it contains some references to elements distinctly Indian, it is the only universal scripture, its teachings being relevant to the entire human race.
Having said that, we must realize that although the Gita takes the form of a conversation between Krishna and Arjuna on the eve of the Great Indian War, it is not a historical document in the literal sense. Rather, Vyasa chose this critical juncture in Indian history as the setting for a complete exposition of spiritual life–itself a battle of sorts. It cannot reasonably be thought that Krishna and Arjuna sat in a chariot in the midst of a battlefield discussing all the topics presented in the Gita–and in metrical stanzas of four lines containing eight syllables each (sometimes eleven syllables when Vyasa needed the extra length to get in all his ideas). Rather, the Gita is Vyasa’s presentation of the Eternal Dharma, though there is no reason to doubt that the wisdom of Krishna is embodied in it.
One of India’s greatest yogis in the twentieth century was Paramhansa Nityananda of Ganeshpuri. One day someone cited a portion of the Gita, prefacing it with the statement: “Krishna said in the Gita….” Immediately Nityananda said: “No. Vyasa said Krishna said….” This is the correct perspective on the entire Gita. What we are reading is the enlightened understanding of Vyasa, who in the Gita is presenting us with a digest of the yoga philosophy of the upanishads combined with both yoga psychology and instruction in yoga meditation. It is not amiss to say that Vyasa is the most important figure in Sanatana Dharma. If all other scriptures and commentaries disappeared and only the Gita remained, the Dharma would still be intact and suffer no loss whatsoever.
In general, then, Krishna is the voice of Vyasa, but within the Gita he is at times the voice of both the atman and the Paramatman. So when we ponder the meaning of his words we should consider how they might be understood in this dual manner. For example, when Krishna tells us to fix our minds on him and worship him single-heartedly and steadfastly, he is not telling us to worship a God that is outside, but That Which is the inmost dweller of the heart. He also means that the focus of our attention must be on our individual being as well as on the Infinite. For they are one in essence. The qualified student
During my first trip to India I met two Australians who told me they had come to India to seek out a “qualified guru.” I laughed and with my usual lack of tact asked: “Are you qualified disciples? Do you think a qualified guru would accept you?” They looked very “taken aback” and then admitted that it was not likely. But when I met them some months later they told me they had gotten initiation from every guru they met. “Just to make sure,” was their explanation. They had not gotten the idea.
But who is a qualified disciple? Krishna tells Arjuna: “That same ancient Yoga has been today taught to you by Me, for you are My devotee and friend; it is the supreme secret.”
Devotee and friend. Here we have the marvelous seeming-contradiction that is the jewel of Eastern religion (including Eastern Christianity): the ability to be simultaneously absolutely reverent toward and yet absolutely familiar with and “at home” with God. The awe, fear, and trepidation, so beloved to Western religion, past and present, simply do not come into it. Why? Because the “orientals” intuit their unity with God, while the “occidentals” feel utterly separated and alien from God. Consequently Western religion demands reconciliation and placation while Eastern religion simply calls us to unity, a unity that is essential and eternal. Westerners doubt their salvation, but Easterners know it is unnecessary. They may have forgotten their unity with the Divine, but they have never lost it. They do not find salvation, they recover it. The infinity of God and their finitude does not daunt them in the least. They rejoice in both as devotees and friends of God.
Read the Bhagavad Gita online: The English text of the Gita posted on this Web Site is arranged according to the meter of the original Sanskrit text so it can be sung–as it is done every morning in our ashram and in most of the ashrams of India.
1) Bhagavad Gita 4:1, 2 [Go back]
2) Yoga Sutras 1:26 [Go back]
3) Bhagavad Gita 6:13 [Go back]
4) Bhagavad Gita 5:27 [Go back]
5) Bhagavad Gita 5:27 [Go back]
6) Bhagavad Gita 8:12-13 [Go back]
7) Bhagavad Gita 7:8 [Go back]
8) Bhagavad Gita 9:17 [Go back]
9) Bhagavad Gita 10:25 [Go back]
10) Bhagavad Gita 6:15 [Go back]
11) This is the translation of Swami Sivananda. For some reason he did not translate this verse. [Go back] |
