GTIOPADESHA

Gitopadesha is narrated here in the following eighteen chapters that depict the different paths to salvation: karma, sankhya, bhakti, jnyana, dhyana, and finally, sharanagatim- total surrender to Lord, i.e., Ishvara pranidana. As a prelude to this upadesham in the Battlefield, it is stated that the  wise Minister Sanjaya is asked by the blind king Dhrutarashtra as to what is happening in the Battlefield where his sons have arrived to fight. 
   In fact, the Lord offers to give sight, divine chakshus, to the blind King so that he can see for himself; but, the King, having known the behaviour of his children, refuses to see (the reality). Moreover, he knew very well the consequences of this war, as also, afraid that all his sons would be killed (evil destroyed) at the end! However, Sanjaya is given the divine insight antardrushti (divya chakhus) so that he can see not only the happenings, but even the plans, designs, and thoughts going on in the minds of the warriors!
   The readers are advised here to note the symbolism and the inner meaning of the words and keep in mind the spiritual aspect of the Gita as the yogopanishat and brahmajnyan till the end.

1.    ARJUNA VISHADA YOGA

[ARJUNA FEELS SAD AND RELUCTANT TO FIGHT]

   The narration of the Great War of Righteousness, dharma yuddha starts as a running commentary with the Blind King asking his Minister Sanjaya to tell him what is going on on the Battlefield. Sanjay tells everything about the armies and the experts in warfare, the prominent personalities, and the call for the fight with the sounding of Bugles.  But, surprisingly, nothing of the subsequent war, but the turmoil in Arjuna’s mind is depicted later as Vishadayoga here.

    The prelude to the Great War is well known. The Kouravas refuse to part with let alone five villages, not even the space of a tip of the pin! Finally, it was decided to fight out and resolve the conflict arising out of the reluctance of Kauravas to part with the Pandava’s legitimate share of the Kingdom. The Pandavas selected Krishna on their side while the Kauravas got Krishna’s army. The two armies consisting 400 000 men on foot, elephants, horses, and the like gathered in the open field of Kurukshetra outside Hastinapura (present Delhi). The war drums and bugles sounded the declaration of the war. It was earlier decided to fight only between sunrise and sunset; all war activities stopped at the sunset as soon as the last bugle sounded declaring the close of fight for the day. The wounded and the dead are shifted out. Medical aid was given to wounded soldiers. Next day’s strategy was worked out during the night, and soldiers slept in the tents specially erected for them while the animals were given fodder and water. All these are important details that go to show the moral, ethical and orderly functioning. There were no civilian bombings! It is astonishing that the war went on for Eighteen days and the Bhagavad-Gita was concluded on the Eighteenth day.

     Sanjaya goes on describing the events of the day along with the sayings of Krishna to Arjuna and this is what is revealed by Suka Muni son of Vedavyasa to King Parikshit who expressed doubts about the wisdom of the sages and their sayings as well as the ways of thinking and the wrong deeds of kings and commons. Arjuna wanted to have a look at the armies on either side and requested his Charioteer Krishna to take him to the middle of the battle field. When, the chariot came to the open space and stopped between the two sides, Arjuna looked at the Kaurava army that consist of Bheeshmacharya, his Grandfather as the Commander-in Chief, and his revered teacher Guru Dronacharya leading the Kauravas. A thought occurred in his mind that, ‘all these people would be killed in this war and he would be instrumental to this evil deed’. He thought, “It would be a great sin if he kills the Kauravas, his cousins with whom he lived, studied, and has grown up in the Palace, dined and played together. Now, he has to fight them and there will be blood-shed of innocent men on both sides.” Suddenly, he thought of the futility of all this foolish war that leads to destruction and loss of life. He became philosophical. He had seen what life is in the forests during exile. He thought, after all, what is it he is going to gain from all this? What man needs is a some food, cloth and shelter and it is not a great thing; of what use is this grand palace and life of luxury when it costs life of innocent soldiers that make their family ruined, their children become orphans, and their womenfolk become destitute and take to immoral ways to survive. All these things could be prevented from withdrawing the armies. Moreover, I will be the cause of this and it is a great sin. So, Arjuna decided to quit. He told Krishna, “Let us stop this war. It is of no use to fight, kill and win the war to enjoy the fruits of sin.”  He altogether forgot that, the battle had already been declared started with the conches and bugles sounded and drums were making loud sound along with the war cries of the soldiers. Thus, the dialogue starts, as reported by the Commentator Sanjay to Blind King Dhrutarashtra, father of the Kauravas, who wanted to know what is going on in the Battlefield.

         But, it should be remembered that this war of Mahabharata is only an excuse; it is a sort of plot to come to the climax of the drama of life, drama of existence, the whole drama enacted by the dolls tied with strings; it is ‘kathputhli’ in the hands of the Lord. This episode in Mahabharata is just the real material world, a world of objects of desire, insatiable and thus, frustrating. Whoever runs after this illusory world will be deluded. It is certain that nothing can be gained in this mad, mad rush towards acquisition of name, fame, wealth, etc and soon all these will come to naught when death stares at the face and asks, “What is it you are doing here?”

     So Arjuna was indeed, right. But here is Krishna who reminds him of his duties. One cannot run away from the battlefield, Kurukshetra, before the assigned work is accomplished in full. It will be unwise to take to Sanyas in the middle of life, when time is not ripe yet. There is an orderly way of reaching to the goal. In the beginning of life, it is Karma and all the accrued fruits of past actions (‘prarabdha’) should be spent and, then no new fruits of action should be allowed to accrue (sanchita) again and become a prarabdha. There is this tendency of the seeds to sprout and grow into huge trees that again produce innumerable fruits and seeds in turn.

   Further, the desire of all sorts, including that of God-Realization, Self-Realization, ‘Fulfillment’, Jnyan, etc. should be dropped. One should reach the state of contentment (trupti) and disinterestedness (‘nirliptata’), and may be, even a sort of aversion to objective world (pratyahara). Existing on ‘Self’, happy and contented, with an awareness of what he/she is, is the wisdom of sages. One should not ever think of anything but God and rejoice in His ‘sankeertana’, dhyan, and silence; he/she should fill the mind-space with his memory. Then everything becomes very clear.  The principle is here that “one is either here engaged in the mundane, or there in the paramarthic.’; we are here because we are not there.

  So, Krishna says:

  “Always think of Me and do your duty, leave the rest to Me.” “Be a brave soldier, a dheera, and face life as it comes. Do not run away from the Battlefield, Kuru Kshetra- your responsibilities.”

    The main Text of Bhagavad-Gita (adapted from the commentary on the Bhagavad-Gita by Revered Swamy Shivananda of Hrishikesh) starts thus:

 Dhritarashtra asked Sanjaya, “What is going on in the Battlefield of Kurukshetra, O Sanjaya? What are the sons of Pandu, as also, my children doing in the holy Battlefield Dharma Kshetra of Kurukshetra? [1]

   Sanjaya replied, O Dhritarashtra, I am seeing that:

   “King Duryodhana, having seen the army of the Pandavas drawn up in battlefield, approached his teacher Dronacharya and said:

   “O Revered Teacher, I am looking at this mighty army of the sons of Pandu with your beloved wise disciple and the brave son of Drupada leading the army consisting of the heroes, mighty archers. They are all accomplished soldiers of great archery; equal in battle to Bheema and Arjuna, Yuyudhana, Virata and Drupada, of the great chariot mighty warriors, “Drushtaketu, Chekitana and the valiant king of Kasi, Purujit, and Kuntibhoja and Saibya, the best of men, “The strong Yudhamanyu and the brave Uttamaujas, the son of Subhadra (Abhimanyu, the son of Arjuna), and the sons of Draupadi, all of great chariots (great heroes). [2-6]

   “Know also, O Revered –most amongst the Brahmana, the names of those who are the most distinguished amongst our Kurus, the leaders of my army! These I name to thee for thy information-

     “Thyself and Bheeshma, and Karna and Kripa, the victorious in war; Asvatthama, Vikarna, and Jayadratha, the son of Somadatta” and also many other heroes who have given up their lives for my sake, armed with various weapons and missiles, all well skilled in battle.

   “This army of ours marshaled by Grand Sire Bhishmacharya is insufficient, whereas their army, marshaled by Bheema, is sufficient. “Therefore, all of you be, stationed in your respective positions in the several divisions of the army and protect Bhishmacharya first. ” His glorious grandsire, Commander-in -Chief, in order to cheer Duryodhana, the eldest of the Kauravas, now roared like a lion and blew his conch. Then (following Bheeshma), conches and kettle-drums, tabors, drums and cow-horns blared forth quite suddenly (from the side of the Kauravas); and the sound was tremendous. Then also, Madhava (Krishna), and the son of Pandu (Arjuna), seated in their magnificent chariot yoked with white horses, blew their divine conches. Hrishikesa blew the “Panchajanya” and Arjuna blew the “Devadatta”, and Bheema, the doer of terrible deeds, blew the great conch, “Paundra”. Yudhisthira, the son of Kunti, blew the “Anantavijaya”; and Sahadeva and Nakula blew the “Manipushpaka” and “Sughosha” conches. The king of Kashi, an excellent archer, Shikhandi, the mighty car-warrior, Dhrustadyumna and Virata and Satyaki, the unconquered, Drupada and the sons of Draupadi, O Lord of the Earth, and the son of Subhadra, the mighty-armed, all blew their respective bugles and conches! These are all symbolic of qualities of the people.. The tumultuous sound rent the hearts of Dhritarashtra party, making both heaven and earth resound. [12 -19]

    Incidentally, these characters are introduced here in order to explain the nature of this world of names and forms and functions. These are representative characters that stand for special skills acquired by virtue of sanskar, impressions, education and training in worldly life devoid of spiritual awakening. Each one is exhibiting his prowess in front of Krishna!

  The war is only an excuse. It helps us to remind ourselves of the delusion.

Sanjaya continues:

   “Then, seeing all these soldiers of Dhritarashtra army standing arrayed and the discharge of weapons about to begin, Arjuna, the Pandava in his Chariot with the flag  ensigned with Hanuman, took up his bow and said to Krishna,

   O Achyuta, the Lord of the Earth! [20] “Place my chariot in the middle of the two armies so that I may see who all are here, and know with whom I must fight in this battle. I want to see all those who are assembled here to fight, wishing to please in battle Duryodhana, the evil-minded in front of Bheeshma and Drona. [21-25].

    Hrishikesha i.e., Lord Krishna, led the best of the chariots, with Himself at the seat of the ‘Sarathi’ (driver’s seat), to the centre of the Battlefield as per Arjuna’s request.

      This is indicative of a person’s situation in life that prompts him/her to take a look at the state of affairs by self-introspection, contemplation, and try to get control of the situation when things seem to go beyond his understanding and control. A person gets into problems because of lack of clarity, due to ignorance, or lack of knowledge of ‘reality of the situation’. It is a dilemma- “to be, or not to be”, like that of Hamlet in Shakespeare’s drama, ’Hamlet’.

   The Lord said:

   “O Arjuna, behold now all these Kurus gathered together!” Then Arjuna beheld there stationed, grandfathers and fathers, teachers, maternal uncles, brothers, sons, grandsons and friends, too. He saw fathers-in-law and friends also in both armies. The son of Kunti—Arjuna—seeing all these kinsmen standing arrayed, spoke thus sorrowfully, filled with deep pity. [26-27]

Arjuna said:

      O Krishna, seeing these (people) standing in line, my kinsmen eager to fight, my limbs fail and my mouth is parched up, my body quivers and my hairs stand on end!  The (bow) “Gandiva” slips from my hand and my skin burns all over; I am unable even to stand, my mind is reeling, as it were. And, I see adverse omens, O Kesava! I do not see any good in killing my kinsmen in battle. For, I desire neither victory, nor pleasures nor kingdoms! Of what avail is a dominion to us, O Krishna, or pleasures or even life? Those for whose sake we desire kingdoms, enjoyments and pleasures, stand here in battle, having renounced life and wealth. Teachers, fathers, sons and also grandfathers, grandsons, fathers-in-law, maternal uncles, brothers-in-law and relatives-  these I do not wish to kill, though they kill me, O Krishna, even for the sake of dominion over the three worlds, leave alone killing them for the sake of the Kingdom!. By killing these sons of Dhritarashtra, what pleasure can be ours, O Janardhana? Only sin will accrue by killing these felons. Therefore, we should not kill the sons of Dhritarashtra, our relatives; for, how can we be happy by killing our own people, O Madhava (Krishna)?

  Though they, with intelligence overpowered by greed, see no evil in the destruction of families, and no sin in hostility to friends, why should not we, who clearly see evil in the destruction of a family, learn to turn away from this sin, O Janardhana? Ignorance of the law is no excuse and wanton sinful conduct is a crime unworthy of knowledgeable people. In the destruction of a family, the immemorial religious rites of that family perish; on the destruction of spirituality, impiety overcomes the whole family. [28-40]

   It is interesting to note here, that the warrior class (or the ruling clan) called the Kshatriya is similar to Brahmins in respect of performance of certain daily rituals. They perform ‘trikaala sandhya’ and worship Sun-god. During their exile, the Pandavas had lot of time to take to spiritual exercise like Dhyan / Meditation and contemplation on their duties, etc. Thus they are well-versed in certain yogic practices. They do know the significance of Yoga Sutra and follow them. Hence, whatever Krishna tells Arjuna is short and simple (as if by way of reminding him). Dharma, in a sense, pertains to the Vedic rituals and routine prescribed duties and ceremonies practiced by the family (in accordance with scriptural injunctions).

Arjuna continues-

     O Varshneya Son of Vruhney (belonging to Vrushney dynasty), Krishna, with the death of the father, husband, or son in this warfare, by prevalence of impiety, the women of the family become destitute, corrupt and lose their virtue; they becoming corrupted, there arises varna sankara, and purity (of race) is lost (intermingling of castes and conflicting cultural traditions and faiths). Confusion and dereliction of ordained duties and dharma of prescribed castes leads one to hell. Neglect of duties and performance of rituals will lead to downfall; the souls of departed elders and forefathers fall from heavens, and suffer due to deprivations (the offerings of rice-ball and water in the annual ritual of death ceremony). By the neglect of duty and evil deeds like the war which destroys the family cause confusion among people of different castes and the neglect of eternal religious rites. [41-43].

     O Janardana, I have heard that, those men, in whose families the religious practices have been destroyed, inevitably have to dwell in hell for an unknown period! Alas! We are involved in a great sin in that we are prepared to kill our kinsmen through greed for the pleasures of a kingdom. Instead, it would be better for me if the armed sons of Dhritarashtra kill me in this battle, unresisting and unarmed [44-47].

      At best what one gets after the conquest is the ‘Preyas’ which gives a momentary happiness or a temporary relief from problems and that is not a permanent solution to problems of life. What one needs is ‘Shreyas’ or eternal happiness, Mukti, Salvation, and immortality. This cannot be obtained from war.

     Having thus spoken in the midst of the battlefield, Arjuna, put down his bow and arrow, sat down on the seat of the chariot with his mind overwhelmed with sorrow.

   Now, before we conclude this First Chapter in which Arjuna expresses his sadness at the prospect of the war, it is very important to note two things: one is the fulfillment of duty that brings ‘shreyas’ and the other the ugly fall out of the war. First one is very important. It brings happiness, contentment of fulfilling one’s duty irrespective of the consequence, fruits of action. The second one is equally important, in the sense that, the class consciousness and the ordained duty go together. It is not different class, caste groups or persons of different avocations that we mean by castes in India. It is the nature of man, the temperament, attitude, desire and the function one chooses to fulfill his desire. The same person may be a Brahmin in the morning, performing his daily Vedic rituals, and go to his business to earn his lively-hood, money in business as a Vysya or to the fields to grow food as a Shudra; the former uses his skills in transaction of money and the latter in using his muscle power. Everybody becomes a Kshatriya when it comes to fight to protect himself in self-preservation, or protect others when in dire threat to life and property. Thus, no separate class conflicts are involved in this. In one single family, there may be several children performing business, administration of law and order, teaching or cultivation of ancestral agricultural lands. But, over time, this specialization of functions and segregation by function led to serious class distinction and now, politicians are using this as an instrument to get popularity and votes in the name of equity and justice, socialism, and all sorts of political gimmicks.

    Krishna makes one point very clear that, “He alone exists and none else; He is the Best as well as, what is called the worst in all- among the various class and castes.”  There is nothing good or bad and everything exists in the Mind of man. He says, “Arjuna, you need not very about all these mixing of races, purity, and Vedic rituals to promote the departed souls to heavens, etc.” He assures that He will take care of everything of those who trust Him and look to Him for guidance. What more is needed?  

    Thus, in the Upanishads of the glorious Bhagavad Gita, the science of the Eternal, the scripture of Yoga, the dialogue between Sri Krishna and Arjuna, ends the first discourse entitled: “Arjuna vishadayoga-“The Yoga of Reluctance to Fight and Despondency of Arjuna”.

       Thus, Krishna goes on speaking about the secrets of evolution, the truth about the Soul, and the nature of existence and all relationships, and the same are elaborately dealt with in the later yoga chapters independently.

      Now, as to time and space, it is very interesting to note that the Lord says that, “He is beyond these constraints’; He is free.” What the science tells us is also the same dimensions and perspectives. The dimensions of time and space merge in Mind and the Mind merges in Consciousness; this Consciousness merges in the Soul which, finally merges in the supreme Soul. For that matter, when the individual soul merges in the supreme Soul or the jeevatma merges in Paramatma, the ‘Unity Consciousness’ is attained and nothing exists but the supreme Consciousness. This is what Krishna means, when He says that, “I only exist; and nothing exists beside Me.”  Krishna, the Absolute Abstract at the one extreme side of the expanding universe is thus, connected to the relative concrete Arjuna, here. Thus, the Absolute Abstract Parabrahman and the Relative concrete are one; “Atma eva brahman”. Arjuna (Nara) and Krishna (Narayana) are the same; and only Krishna knows who He is and Arjuna does not who he is, and tells him so*.

    When it comes to Mahabharata War, ordinarily, the very concept of fighting the evil and restoring righteousness is open to question. We have seen the Second World War 1939-44) and heard about the First World War (1918-23) and many others in the past. Whatever the reason, including restoring Dharma, or for the cause of one’s religious ‘faith’, fighting a war is ruled out by any sensible humanitarian society. The war in Iraq at present, and the wars that the US fought in Viet Nam, Korea, Afghanistan, the Indo-China or the ones like the Sino-Indian and the Indo-Pakistan wars and the routine border skirmishes threatening an imminent war, are all open to review. Any war in the near future would be global conflagration ending in nuclear disaster. Such a day is not far off unless sanity is restored in the minds of war-mongering rulers. Normally people do not war and do not fight wars; it is the governments and politics that engage in wars putting people’s lives to risk.

     In Bhagavad-Gita, war seen is an inevitable evil. Krishna says, Arjuna, you wanted the war and have come to the Battlefield. I am only the Charioteer. As you know I tried my best to pursue the Kauravas, but failed. Once you have entered the Battlefield, do not run away from your responsibility. The cost of omission will be higher than the cost of commission. Dereliction of duty will have worst consequences than that of performing the action. ‘A stitch in time saves nine’. This is an eye opener to our present day rulers. Right action at the right time is ‘Ritam’ and it goes with Dharma and Satyam, the Truth. Perform your duty and leave the rest to God. This will solve many unforeseen problems. Fight a war, only if it is inevitable.

       In another sense, war is a conflict that arises between two persons or two parties when there is no proper understanding and co-operation. It is due to lack of knowledge. The enemy is not the other person. It is the inner self; conquer your inner enemy; the ‘avidya’, moudhya or ignorance. The mind is responsible for it is not using its skill /koushala in action. It is not using its discretion and discrimination skills. It is clouded by moha/attachment, raga /attraction and dvesha, krodha, greed and avarice and such other qualities. ”Transcend these Gunas, Arjuna”, says Krishna. “tasmadyogi bhavaarjunaa”; and further, he says,” yoginaam bhrahmaabhavati saarathi”, meaning, “For the self-controlled, the Lord guides as a charioteer’. ‘Kill the Mind or control it.’ The entire Karmayoga Rahasya teaches only one principle:

    “Do your duty with intelligence and tact / koushala in such a way that it will release you from bondage, discharge from your obligations and set you free.” When all actions- past and present, are bound to bring more fruits of action- prarabdha karma phala and the sanchita karma phala, that bind us to this mrutyu lok,’/ the Earth, how to perform action without accruing its recurring ‘germ cells’? The secret of ‘performing action without inviting its fruits’ is further explained in the technique of Karma koushala, the ‘nishkama karma’/ ‘Self-less Service’ i.e., the Karmayoga as defined by Krishna. “Karmasu yoga koushalah”is the definition of ‘Yoga’, given by Lord Shree Krishna.  Here, Karma Yoga makes it very clear that there is no bondage / karma bandhana for a yogin since he has already crossed the threshold and transcends the grip of the gunas / qualities, and he is a sthitaprajnya. Then, Arjuna asks him the meaning and definition of a Yogi

  SthitaprajnyasyakAbhasha samAdhistasya KEshava .. . .

  sthithadheerkimaduchyate? |

         A yogi is one who has developed the sense of equanimity by the skillful use of discretion, discrimination and wisdom. He has crossed the state of duality and has attained ‘unity’ state of Consciousness. In a sense, he has attained the state of ‘Unity Consciousness’ / ‘Samyuktaprajnya’. He alone exists and, nothing else exists for him. He does not run after the world since he knows that the world is an extension of his Self; the world exists within his Self. For him, there is no concept of good or evil. He does not see anything wrong in this world. He sees things as they are and there is no problem what so ever! He knows that all the elements that go to make the compounds and the objects of perception are by themselves subtle and subject to change. He knows the Reality of Existence. He is one with the Lord, and says ‘I am That’ / “So Ham”. He is free He is like Hamsa, a Parama Hamsa. He is free and he does not depend on anything external for his existence; he is pure, as pure as purity is. He has crossed the ocean of dualities of the objective world, the ‘Sansar’; he is the ‘Sthitaprajnya’. He has no qualms about the dualities of worldly existence since he has attained to ‘Ekatvam”. He only exists and nothing else! He has realized the principle of “Tat tvam asi” and says, “I am Bhrahm’; and there is nothing wrong in that! It is the Atman declaring to itself as “Brahman” not the individual Jiva that is saying aham brahmasmi here.

    When a person attains to purity of that highest order, he gets a clear picture of this transitory, ever changing, world of names, forms and functions. He sees the entire objective world as a cosmic drama. He attaches no value to the things, events of this illusory world and he rests peacefully with his eternal Self. He is the ‘jeevan mukta’; and he becomes a ‘videha mukta’ at the appropriate time. He is immortal. This state of supreme Bliss can be experienced by anybody, anytime! The Bhagavad-Gita shows the way. It is ‘Yoga darshan’,’ Pathway to God’.

    In the opening remarks of Krishna, He speaks of Immortality of the Soul and teaches Karma yoga. It is oriented to action /Karma and renunciation of fruits of action as Nirasakti yoga. Here, the action or Karma refers to the Vedic rituals that were prevalent during the Vedic Period of Dvapara Yuga. Generally, the Vedic rituals include Yajnya, yaaga, homa havna etc to propitiate the Gods. It is with Sankalp or desire that the devotees perform these actions. So, Krishna says, any action karma done with desire /sankalp carries with it the fruits of action. So the desire is t the root of the tree of fruits of action that allows the tree grows; the more the fertile ground of desire, more the gregarious growth and plenty are the fruits bitter and sweet. The tree, its growth bearing fruits and the multitude of seeds and further sprouts and growth go on incessantly and life becomes an eternal bondage. This profuse growth is due to the ignorance, avidya. It leads to bondage. It is the desire that is the cause. This desire is due to lack of knowledge of the self.  Hence, it is necessary to cut this tree of ignorance and prevent further spread of its seeds from fruits of action. In order to cut this tree knowledge as a sharp axe becomes necessary. This knowledge is a secret called Brahm Vidya. Krishna reveals this secret to us through Arjuna. It brings out the immortality of the Soul that can be attained by renunciation of fruits of action. In fact, Krishna asks Arjuna to become a yogi. He says, “Tasmad yogirbhava Arjuna”; “Therefore, Practice ‘Dharana’/ contemplation and Dhyana. Contemplate on Me and ‘Me alone’; focus all your attention on Me”; chant my name day and night 24/7 all the year round. I will redeem you from all this ignorance, avidya, dualities, repeated births and bondage”, says Krishna. Meditation is the key to emancipation.

      Thus, the secret of becoming a jnyani, Yogi, the enlightened one is the central theme of the Bhagavad-Gita. Be compassionate, control your senses- withdraw them from their outward going tendency and turn them within, to focus on the Self. a brief description of this yogabhyasa is given in the  [For this yoga anushthana one has to adopt the Shandilya Yoga Sutra or the Patanjali yoga sutra].

    There are divergent views on this issue of ‘Renunciation’. The Vedic concept of renunciation is different. There are well-laid paths to redemption or salvation for both the house-holders and the ascetics. Sanyasa Marga or the Path of Renunciation is a very rigid secluded way of life and its rues and regulations are laid down in the Aranyakas of the Upanishads. The Brahmanakas are prescribed for the householders and the Aranyakas are for the monks and nuns, those who opt for more rigid practices of dhyan and tapas. One cannot sit in Samadhi state of transcendental meditation in a householder’s position since it involves responsibilities- family and social. Moreover, it is not advisable to take to Sanyas /Renunciation at an early stage in life. The first verse of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra clearly states that one should take to Yoga only after fulfilling all family and social responsibilities.

   Therefore, the assumption that anybody can take to the path of renunciation is wrong. Either you can be here or there at any time. It is true that one cannot be in family way of life and perform the Vedic rituals for emancipation with steadfastness and citta ekaagrta. One has to undergo rigorous spiritual practices for thousands of years! It is only after a long spiritual practice that Mind comes under the control and one becomes a yogi. This tantalizing objective world of fantasy is sensate, highly corruptive, and captivating and it is not possible for ordinary people to get rid of the magnetic clutch of the worldly enjoyments- involving sight, smell, taste, talks and sounds, as well as the pleasure of the flesh and touch. Man seeks pleasure and profit everywhere. It is difficult to wean him away from the world of desire and action.

  The Bhagavad-Gita is very clear about the purpose of Yoga. Yoga, here, is for emancipation, Mukti. It is not for better enjoyment of health and wealth, as it is practised today. There is no harm in practising yoga for health and peace and prosperity since it is also one of the aims of Yoga. But, those who want to get released from the shackles or bondage of sansar, or those who want to cross the ocean of misery of sansar, have to go to the extreme path of Renunciation, Sanyas. No body asks any body to run away from a home of comfort, hearth and pleasure, and security to an unknown realm of Renunciation where not even this emancipation is assured. It is at the sweet will and pleasure of the person that this path of emancipation is undertaken and the path is full of boulders and thorns and there is no sense of direction here. There is no alternative but to take to this route if one wants Salvation. Krishna advocates this path to Arjuna and teaches him the 'sanyasayogavidya’. I am indebted to Swami Shivananda and Paramahansa Yogananda for the rendering of the Texts and commentaries given here.