Perennial Psychology of the Bhagavad Gita by Swami Rama

Author:Swami Rama
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Publisher: Himalayan Institute Press
Published: 2009-09-17T04:00:00+00:00

Here ends the fifth chapter, in which Sri Krishna leads Arjuna on the path of action, which leads one to develop perfect control over his mind and to abandon all desires and anger, thus attaining liberation.

Chapter Six

The Path of Meditation

The Blessed Lord said

1. Without resorting to the fruit of action, he who performs the action that needs to be done, he is a renunciate and a yogi, and not one who has renounced ritual fires nor one who is actionless.

2. That which is called renunciation you should know that to be yoga, O Pandava. No one who has not renounced desires can become a yogi.

The previous chapter teaches that renouncing desire for worldly pleasure and gain helps one to attain control over the mind. By giving up desires and gaining control over the mind, one can attain liberation. The highest liberation is attained only with Self-realization. In the first and second verses of this chapter, Sri Krishna says that sannyasa (renunciation) and karma yoga (the path of action) share certain requisites: performing one’s own duty without any desire for the fruits, controlling the senses and the mind, and attaining a state of tranquility.

Now let us describe these two paths without considering one to be superior and one inferior and find out how they are distinct. In the path of renunciation, renouncing the fruits of actions comes later. First comes tyaga, literally abandoning all of one’s personal possessions. Three main desires called three eshanas are renounced: the desire for a spouse and children, for wealth, and for name and fame. Along with this the practice of non-attachment (vairagya) is also strengthened, without which renunciation cannot be accomplished. It is said that a bird having two wings, tyaga and vairagya, is able to soar from this shore of life to the shore of eternity. The renunciate who is firmly established in the art of non-attachment and who has nothing of his own is a true renunciate. Such a renunciate is rare and is always revered because it is not easy to renounce the world of mine and thine. This path is for the fortunate few and not for the ordinary masses. It is called sannyasa yoga or jnana yoga.

The other path is the path of action. In that path one can have a wife, children, a home, and other means for living in the world, but non-attachment is strictly followed. In the path of action there is an important question to be considered: is it possible for the yogis who follow the path of action to perform actions in such a way that they do not create barriers and obstacles; can action become the means of liberation and lead one to Self-realization, the goal of human life? There are two main responses. First, good actions performed selflessly and with the fruits given as offerings to the Lord who is in everyone have no binding power. Selfless service is important. Second, good actions also bring good fruits, and those fruits can be utilized merely to enable one to live in the world so that he can discharge his duties effectively.

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