 Bhagavad Gita Commentary–Fifty–by Swami Nirmalananda Giri
 The Yogi’s Future
The dilemma
Krishna has told Arjuna of the disciplines necessary for the yogi and has told him of the exalted states which he can attain. To all this Arjuna puts the following question-statement:
“Krishna, you describe this yoga as a life of union with Brahman. But I do not see how this can be permanent. The mind is so very restless. Restless man’s mind is, so strongly shaken in the grip of the senses: gross and grown hard with stubborn desire for what is worldly. How shall he tame it? Truly, I think the wind is no wilder.”
A common simile of the mind used in India is that of a kite which can fly very high into the sky, so high it can barely be seen, yet a tug on the line and down it falls to earth! Sri Ramakrishna was very fond of two songs on this theme:
In the market place of the world, O Mother, you are flying kites.
They fly high lifted by the wind of hope and held fast by the string of maya.…
The kite of my mind was flying in the sky of the Mother’s feet.
Jolted by the evil wind of sin it turned over and fell down.
It became heavy and tilted on one side by maya.
I cannot raise it up again.…
Its crest of knowledge has been torn.
It falls down no sooner I lift it up.…
It was tied to the string of devotion,
But it became confused as it got into play.…
Sri Ramakrishna often compared the unpurified mind to a vulture that flies so high it is hardly even a dot in the sky, yet its entire attention is centered on the earth below, looking for dead bodies to eat. The idea of both similes is that the mind is capable of rising very high, but yet it is tightly bound to earth and will after a while descend. Anyone who seeks higher awareness knows this to be all too true. What can be done
There is hope, nevertheless, for Krishna replies: “Yes, Arjuna, the mind is restless, no doubt, and hard to subdue. But it can be brought under control by constant practice [abhyasa], and by the exercise of dispassion [vairagya].”
Abhyasa and vairagya will tame the wandering mind. Abhyasa is not just spiritual practice, but sustained spiritual practice–perseverance. Although spiritual practice is a fundamental need for the yogi, it must be done with a proper attitude toward that which agitates the mind and sends it sinking toward the very things the yogi wishes to escape. Therefore vairagya is also necessary. Vairagya is non-attachment or indifference to those disturbing elements–even a distaste for them. This is not an easy outlook to gain, but steadiness in the practice of meditation will make it possible. For Krishna continues: “Certainly, if a man has no control over his ego, he will find this yoga difficult to master. But a self-controlled man can master it, if he struggles hard, and uses the right means.” It is a fact: yoga is not for the weak or the lazy. Fear–or hope?
Arjuna has already protested that he thinks it is impossible to control the mind. Such an attitude springs from inner negativity and troubles many yogis, especially in the beginning. Now another face of the ego emerges: pessimism. For Arjuna says:
“Suppose a man has faith, but does not struggle hard enough? His mind wanders away from the practice of yoga and he fails to reach perfection. What will become of him then? When a man goes astray from the path to Brahman, he has missed both lives, the worldly and the spiritual. He has no support anywhere. Is he not lost, as a broken cloud is lost in the sky? This is the doubt that troubles me, Krishna; and only you can altogether remove it from my mind. Let me hear your answer.”
If I had the proverbial nickel for every time some spiritual loafer asked me if there are not people who just are not ready for yoga, and would it not be better to not try than to try and fail, I would not have the proverbial fortune, but I would have a hefty sack to carry around. Arjuna is following the same line, which I expect was old and tired even then, thousands of years ago.
Krishna, worthy teacher, now tells Arjuna–and us–the real facts of the matter. The yogi’s future
“No, my son. That man is not lost, either in this world or the next. No one who seeks Brahman ever comes to an evil end.”
We must fix this truth firmly in our minds. First, in relation to ourselves: we must be assured that seeking Brahman assures us of a good end–especially if we persevere. Second, in relation to others: even if they turn away from the search for God, the force of the spiritual karma created by their spiritual searching at least for a while will guarantee a positive future for them, even if only in the next life.
There is a technical term in Sanskrit for one who has fallen away from the practice of Yoga: yogabhrashta. Krishna now discusses the good fate of the yogabhrashta:
“Even if a man falls away from the practice of yoga, he will still win the heaven of the doers of good deeds, and dwell there many long years. After that, he will be reborn into the home of pure and prosperous parents.”
After death the former yogi will go into the higher astral regions, impelled by the tremendously positive karma that is always produced by yoga practice. In those realms of great peace, happiness, and clarity of mind he will remain for a long time, continuing to refine his understanding and preparing for a spiritually fortunate rebirth. After that, he will be reborn in the family of pure and prosperous parents. We naturally expect that he will have virtuous parents, but they will be prosperous also, so he will have no anxieties about material or financial matters lest his anxieties should awaken or produce in him a detrimental attachment to or a desire for money or comforts. The words shuchinam shrimatam, usually translated “pure and prosperous” can be equally correctly translated “radiant and illustrious”–even “happy and illustrious.” For the yogi’s parents will be of admirable character and recognized for it by those around them. This is why in India it is assumed that a saint will have been born of spiritually illustrious parents, perhaps even having saints in their ancestry.
“He may even be born into a family of illumined yogis. But such a birth in this world is more difficult to obtain.” It is difficult because there are so few families of accomplished yogis, and because such persons, habitually observing brahmacharya, will have very few–if any–children.
“He will then regain that spiritual discernment which he acquired in his former body, and so will strive harder than ever for perfection. Because of his practices in the previous life, he will be driven on toward union with Brahman, even in spite of himself. For the man who has once asked the way to Brahman goes further than any mere fulfiller of the Vedic rituals.”
How wondrous is yoga. Although it is sad to see someone fall away from the yoga life, the spiritual force generated will manifest in the next birth. We can be totally optimistic about anyone who takes up yoga, for those who just want to know about yoga enter into a stream of life that will carry them onward and upward. I know this is true because I met a yogi in India who told me that he remembered his previous life as a Franciscan monk in Italy. He had heard that in India there were people called “yogis” who knew the way to God. From that moment he yearned to go to India to meet those who could tell him how to find and know God. He even tried to find some way to get to India. He died with this unfulfilled desire and in his next life was born in India and became a yogi. Interestingly, after becoming an accomplished yogi he left India and went to live in Assisi near the shrine of Saint Francis. Another man I met in India was a European who had entered a Roman Catholic seminary with the specific purpose of becoming a missionary to India. “After few years,” he told me, “I realized that I did not want to be a missionary at all–I just wanted to go to India!” So he left the seminary and went to India where I met him in the ashram of the great Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh.
“By struggling hard, and cleansing himself of all impurities, that yogi will move gradually toward perfection through many births, and reach the highest goal at last.” Success is assured–in contrast to every other earthly endeavor. The wise do not delay, but become yogis and persevere. Great is that yogi!
The concluding words of this sixth chapter of the Gita are intended to inspire us to seek out and follow the path of yoga. For as Shankara observed at the beginning of his commentary on the Yoga Sutras, if the prospective yogi has no idea of the value of yoga practice he cannot be expected to persevere. So Krishna says: “Great is that yogi who seeks to be with Brahman, greater than those who mortify the body, greater than the learned, greater than the doers of good works: therefore, Arjuna, become a yogi.”
Being immersed in body-identification, people are very impressed with anything physical. Asceticism and unusual physical control are prized even by those who claim to identify with the spirit instead of the body. Those with a bit more evolution to their credit are more impressed with intellectual attainments, especially with the ability to write or speak in an arresting or inspirational manner. The majority, however, are mostly impressed by good deeds of many kinds: philanthropy, heroism, great success, and power. But Krishna tells us that those who seek union with Brahman are far greater and any of these.
Then he gives the traits of a real yogi destined to attain Brahman: “He gives me all his heart, he worships me in faith and love: that yogi, above every other, I call my very own.” Total dedication to God and living the whole life as an offering to God–and all based on faith and love–is the character of a genuine yogi. All that exists belongs to God, yet: “That yogi, above every other, I call my very own.”
So if we wish to be truly great men and women, all we need do is seek God! For those who find God find everything to an infinite degree.
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 6:33, 34 [Go back]
2) Bhagavad Gita 6:35 [Go back]
3) Bhagavad Gita 6:36 [Go back]
4) Bhagavad Gita 6:37-39 [Go back]
5) Bhagavad Gita 6:40 [Go back]
6) Bhagavad Gita 6:41 [Go back]
7) Bhagavad Gita 6:42 [Go back]
8) Bhagavad Gita 6:43, 44 [Go back]
9) Bhagavad Gita 6:45 [Go back]
10) Bhagavad Gita 6:46 [Go back]
11) Bhagavad Gita 6:47 [Go back]
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