In the previous episode, we had witnessed how one cannot bypass the “Karma Yoga” to enter into the “Gnyaana Yoga”, even though the latter might sound to be quite simple and tempting. This is primarily because we do not have complete control over our senses and our mind. By performing our actions (“Karma”) selflessly without expecting the result and by dedicating them to Bhagawan, we shall slowly attain control over the mind, which in turn will stop running behind the worldly pleasures that our senses would want to experience. This is exactly what Bhagawan Krishna is cautioning Arjuna. We’ve witnessed how Arjuna smartly asked Bhagawan Krishna whether he can still find a way to escape from the battlefield and go to the forest to do deep penance like several other sages. However, Bhagawan Krishna promptly strikes him down by saying that he wouldn’t be able to do penance at all, and “Gnyaana Yoga” isn’t the right path for him. This is primarily because, Arjuna, being a “Kshatrya” will easily get tempted if Duryodhana and Karna provoke him and make fun of him for being a coward! In that stage, Arjuna’s ego would definitely flare up and he would once again want to come to the battlefield to fight them down! Hence, Bhagawan is of the opinion that it is better for Arjuna to perform his “Karma Yoga” (Fighting the war), rather than escaping from his duty!
Now, as Arjuna is asking such smart questions, Bhagawan Krishna slightly tinkers with the stepwise progression that He was talking about till now. Until this moment, Bhagawan was talking about the sequence as follows:
“Karma Yoga” -> Control of our senses -> Clarity of mind & mind control -> “Atma-Gnyaanam” -> “Gnyaana Yogam” -> “Atma-Saakshaakaaram”
Now the progression undergoes a slight modification here. Bhagawan Krishna says thus, “Oh Arjuna! You’re getting confused, aren’t you? Now let me simplify the progression for you a little bit! Oh Arjuna! Let me tell you now – If you keep performing your duty (“Karma Yoga”) properly with full dedication and surrender to me, you would automatically go to the level of “Amta-Saakshaakaaram”! Keeping the “Gnyaana Yoga” in the middle is confusing you a lot and you’re trying to deviate from the sequence, aren’t you? Now take it from me – Do your “Karma Yoga” properly. All the other aspects in the sequence will automatically be taken care of!” With Bhagawan Krishna’s words, now we can see that the sequence undergoes a major modification – The “Gnyaana Yoga” component is now completely taken off! The revised sequence is as follows:
“Karma Yoga” -> Control of our senses -> Clarity of mind & mind control -> “Atma-Gnyaanam” -> “Atma-Saakshaakaaram”
Now we can see that the “Gnyaana Yoga” component is taken off from the sequence! This is because Arjuna has discovered the short-cut to attain Bhagawan, isn’t it? He’s smartly asking whether he can completely leave behind the “Karma Yoga”, catch the “Gnyaana Yoga” and attain “Moksha”. This is not going to be possible at all for normal people like Arjuna and all of us as well. I’m sure we would also be having this same short-cut in our mind, so that we can escape from performing our duties! For all of us, Bhagawan Krishna smartly revises the sequence wherein the “Gnyaana Yoga” component is completely removed off from it! This implies that people like us who have our “Rajo Guna” and “Tamo Guna” dominating most of the time, have to pass through the “Karma Yoga” without fail! There is virtually no way out! Hence, the point here is very simple – If we’re destined with our duties, we’ve to perform them meticulously and through that, we would be able to attain “Atma-Saakshaakaaram”, rather than escaping from our duties and sitting to meditate on Bhagawan.
This is a very important point that Bhagawan is stressing here, and for today, let us understand it very clearly. For instance, if we have our duties like “Sandhyavandanam”, “Chanting our regular prayers”, performing our “Shraadha Karma”, etc. for being born in this world, we’ve to meticulously perform all these actions without escaping from them. We shall have an important discussion on this particular point in the next episode before moving on further with what Bhagawan Krishna has to say! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 