The Gita (cotd,)

The Bhagavad-Gita is a beautiful poem that can be put to melodious tune and hear the supreme Lord speak about Himself as to ‘Who He Is’, as also, ‘What this Creation Is’, ‘Who these living beings (jiva rashi) are’, and having come a long way from Him ‘How to Reunite with Him’. There is also a ‘Secret of all secrets’ (guhyatama guhyam) here as ‘the Lord Himself says’! He reveals brahma-vidya and yoga shastra to us all through Arjuna (a deluded Mind!).The supreme Lord imparts this ‘Adhyatma vidya’, Atmajnyan, so that the earthlings as jiva-rashi find solace in distress and revert back to their pure and pristine state, a state of ‘oneness’ with the Lord. This is what this Gita is all about!

   The supreme Lord, takes by His hand all His earnest devotees and leads them Step by step to ‘kaivalya’. He reveals ‘how to get reunited with Him’ through ‘karmasanyasayoga’, bhaktiyoga, jnyanayoga, dhyanayoga, and nirasaktiyoga and total surrender (prapatti)! In fact, He, the Lord, Bhagavan Shree Krishna, makes us realize ‘who we the hapless jivas are’ in the first six chapters of the Gita through imparting ‘atma-jnyan’ and ‘brahma-vidya’. And then, He describes ‘His true nature of formless, attribute-less and eteranl, immortal and immutable state’, as also, ‘the diverse manifest forms’(Bhagavad-svarupa) in the next six chapters. Then, He explains ‘how to reunited with Him with the help  of yoga’. It comes thus as a yogashastra in the last six chapters. This is also a treatise on the principle of tattvamasi !

   The beauty of this divine song is that Bhagavan Shree Krishna is narrating ‘Who He Is’! Hence, this may well be treated as An Autobiography of God. This is a unique unwritten scripture handed down to us, albeit, many authors have twisted and narrated the story according to their own understandings. The printed copies are full of alterations and insertions than what Bhagavan said initially! Many authors have used this scripture to promote their own interest as missionaries laying stress on any one of the concepts such as karmayoga, bhaktiyoga, jnyanayoga or dhyanayoga and have established their own schools! It is strange that none of these schools of thought has ever attempted the last secret of muktiyoga for fear of losing their clients! In fact, the importance of the Gita lies in this last Chapter where the supreme Lord insists that “One who is interested in liberation, emancipation, mukti should give up all worldly pursuits, develop vairagya, and return to isolated places for penance or deep meditation, contemplation on brahmn”. There is no salvation for an embedded jiva from metempsychosis, cycle of births and deaths! Once born here in this death knell (mrutyu lok) all jiva are bound to suffer old age, sickness and death. All are afflicted souls. The cause of suffering is ‘desire’ due to ‘avidya’ and the eternal bondage ensues as a result of the actions and reactions and their consequences. The solution lies in the ‘Realization’ of the true nature of the ‘Self’. Bhagavan Shree Krishna stands here as Yogacharya and teaches step by step how to practice yoga, asana, pranayama and attain to ‘samadhi’.

    Ultimately, ‘Realization of the Self’ (Atma-sakshatkara) in the transcendental meditative mode (samadhi) is extremely important! However, there is a word of caution here. The Bhagavad-Gita is like a mirror. One sees his own face as an index of his mind! When a school boy or girl who sings Chapter 10 or 11 of the Gita during Gita abhiyan week gets applause is so innocent as to know the meaning and import of what is sung by him/her on the stage! An adult who is in a dilemma as to the right situation may take recourse to Gita and may find a solution to the problem. Not all are interested in nirasakti yoga, or sanyas. Life is to enjoy and there is no problem in enjoyment. However, the problem is one of disillusionment, misery, unhappiness, and disappointments even after attainment of the desired objects! Every jiva is born in ignorance (avidya), lives in ignorance (avidya), and dies in ignorance! This ignorance or avidya i.e. knowledge covered by desire, attachment, ego, anger, etc (ari-shadvarga) is the problem. This ignorance cannot be removed unless the jiva takes recourse to Shree Krishna’s teachings. Whether one has lived a successful life or suffered and seeks redemption, the Gita is the only answer if one seeks emancipation, mukti from repeated births and deaths. The Gita starts with the revelations of secrets of creation and ends with dissolution. The relevant verses are given in the text.

   There are several intriguing questions about the scripture presented to us, its author, subject matter, meaning and purport of what the Bhagavan said, etc. All these are all taken up for an in-depth analysis as a spiritual inquiry (nidhidhyasana) here. It is indeed a meditation on God, ‘Gitopasana’. The credit of retrieving these God’s own words as an invaluable guide to mankind from the Shanti Parva of the great epic Mahabharata goes to the credit of Sri Shankaracharya. However, the very authorship of the epic is open to question? These words spoken by the Supreme Lord, Bhagavan Shree Krishna, is definitely not of any ordinary person, but of a mahapurusha, an avatara of Mahavishnu. In fact, the Lord is addressed by several names in the Gita as Govinda, Madhusudhana, Janardana, Achyuta, Ananta, Purshottama, Devesha, etc. In fact, there is a whole lot of a thousand names in the ‘Vishnu sahasranama’ as an adjacent scripture retrieved along with the Bhagavad-Gita! These two scriptures are, indeed, redeeming the jiva from its state of transient existence! The entire scripture is of mythological nature attributed to Sage Veda Vyasa whose very name is an intriguing matter! The relevant verses are quoted here for reference to prove the points. These are matters of esoteric nature and require practice of yoga to understand. The authorship attributed to Sage Vedavyasa is taken up first and the following picture gives us an idea.

   The picture shows Sage Veda Vyasa (whose real name is Shree Krishna Dvaipayana, the Omniscient Shree Hari Narayana, or Badarayana) and Lord Ganapati (with an elephant head symbolic of keen eyes and sharp ears representing complete awareness, pure Consciousness) along with some disciples having a discourse. The Bhagavad-Gita is actually a sort of a monologue, loud thinking of the Learned Sage. It appears as if a dialogue between Bhagavan Shree Krishna as ritambhara-prajnya (pure Consciousness) and Arjuna as manovikalpa (the blemished Mind- full of ego, desire, attachment, anger, and jealousy). But, when we go through the text of the Gita we find that Lord Shree Krishna is imparting his disciple Arjuna about the true nature of the jiva and the transient nature of the world. The Gitopadesha is set to melodious tune making it a ‘divine song’! (Shree Vidyabhushana Teertha has given a musical rendering of this Gita).

   As regards the scripture that has come down to us since the beginning of creation, as a dictation given by Lord Himself, Shree Krishna Dvaipayana, taken down by the scribe, none other than the Deity of the Elements (gana), Lord Ganapati, is an intriguing one! First, it is difficult for us to understand how the supreme Lord Shree Krishna, an avatara of Mahavishnu of Vishnu purana speaks and, second, how a Deity mad of clay and life-force infused into it by the mythological character Devi Parvati of Shiva Purana as Ganapati, writes it! Further, if at all He the Lord Ganapati pulls out his tooth (danta) and uses it as his pen. It is open to question ‘where and what did he inscribe! There is no question about the existence of this spiritual text, but where is its original script? These questions- that of Vyasa and Ganapati, the Mahabharata and the Gita, the characters that are mentioned here, etc. raise a number of doubts! We are not sure as to the very origin of the divine song! Whether the Gitopadesha was imparted in the Kuru-kshetra battlefield for eighteen days, or only eighteen verses are imparted to Arjuna in a whisper in order to encourage him to fight, or whether it is intended to us the fools in search of eternal happiness and bliss living in a transient world governed by limitations of time, space, and causality? That way, the very author Revered Omniscient Sage Veda Vyasa, the renowned author of the Brahmasutras and the Eighteen Epics (Puranas), is also a myth besides his scribe an elephant-headed Ganapati! But, then what is the truth? When t here exists neither a Veda Vyasa a person to dictate, nor a Ganapati to take the dictation who is writing what? It is important to note that the terms 'veda' and 'vyasa' mean, the radius and Circumference in a circle, i.e. the center connected to periphery symbolically representing the ‘totality’ of ‘Knowledge’. The writer is the Deity of the basal plexus, the very support of all that exists as muladhara prajnya. Al the living beings, the jivas exist because of this power (mula adhara Shakti)! The living beings are supported by this power! As a deity of basal plexus (muladhara prajnya) He, Lord Ganapati, is seated at the base of everything that exists. He has written these words of the Lord, Gita as a ‘divine song’, on the Tablet of the Heart of the very jiva that seeks divine guidance/   

   Now, the question arises as to who the author Lord Shree Krishna Dvaipayana is, and what is conveyed by him. 'Dvaipayana' means the island surrounded by two (dvai-) streams (payana), symbolically representing 'One' and 'no other' (Ekam adviteeyam). The Gita covers all aspects of creation (Srushti), sustenance (Sthiti), development (vruddhi) and dissolution (laya) and finally, merger (vilaya). This totality of knowledge is possible only to Bhagavan.

    All the characters that appear in the epics, may it be, Mahabharata, Ramayana, or the Srimad Bhagavata, are totally unconvincing to a discerning mind and intriguing to common man since they are not born as humans! Neither the Fatherless Pandava, nor the Blind King's sons, a hundred Kourava are ever born or die, as the Lord Himself proclaims! Bhagavan Shree Krishna is narrating all about “Who He Is” and “What He has created” in this ‘Divine Song’, the Gita! In fact, He, the Lord, explains in great detail the nature of this world, the magical way He has created it, and what all we think and believe as this phenomenal objective world (jagat). He proclaims that, “He is the Great Lord (Maha Purusha) responsible it!” He even goes to the extent of saying that “He puts the seed of creation and enters His creation, and exists at the core of the substance as the ‘Self’! tat srushtvaa tat evaanupravishat |

  

The Salient Features of the Bhagavad-Gita

The Salient features

1.  The Bhagavad-Gita reveals the utmost secret of Brahma vidya and yogashastra for redemption of the embodied soul.

2.  The Source of the Bhagavad-Gita- Unknown! In the words of Bhagavan, “It was first imparted to Vivasvan, the Sun (4.56 billion years ago!)”. (See Ch. IV. Verse 1). It is the spoken words of the Lord as stated in the Gita (Bhagavan uvacha). Since He, the Lord, is the self of all, seated within us all, anybody can hear His voice if intently looks within in a transcendental state of mind (samadhi yoga) as desired and there is no doubt in this!

3.  Who is the author of the ‘Divine Song’ the Gita?

It is none other than the supreme Lord, parabrahman, Shree Krishna Dvaipayana who later came to be known as Veda vyasa since he classified the voluminous (over a lakh verses) Veda. (See Ch. X) These are His own pronouncements regarding this.

4.  Who gave this instruction (upadesha) to whom and when?

Bhagavan Shree Krishna, as pure Consciousness, imparted this secret knowledge of ‘brahmavidya’ and ‘yogashastra’ to the confused Mind (Arjuna) as repeatedly stated at the end of each of the eighteen chapters of the Gita..

5.  Who is Bhagavan Shree Krishna?

At the outset, Bhagavan is ‘Param-Atman’, pure consciousness (purnam-prajnyam). He, the Lord is divine non-dual; however, may enter anywhere, pervade (pravishat) as in divi dual consciousness, manas (Mind) as Arjuna!

     There are several sources cited in this regard viz, the Srimat Bhagavata purana, the Mahabharata, and the Gita itself (Ch. X) where the answers to this question is available. According the epic, Krishna is born in Mathura to the parents- vasudeva and devaki, kept in jail by the wicked King Kamsa. Devaki is the sister of Devaki and Kamsa is thus the maternal uncle of Krishna. Both Vasudeva and Devaki were kept in the prison for the fear of by King Kamsa for the fear of being killed (as told by akashavani and warned) by the eighth child born to Vasudeva-Devaki.. He was rejoicing after his sister’s marriage and this warning came to him and he was about to kill her and vasudeva. But, he was counselled that he need not kill her and it is the child that would kill him! So he decided to kill all the children born to her and kept the couple in the prison. Krishna was born in the prison at Mathura. So the eighth child was shifted to Gokula of the King Nanda and Yashodha sister of Vasudeva. However, Bhagavan Shree Krishna says, That He is never born nor does He die. He says, “He always exists as parabrahman without any attributes (nirakara). Thus, Bhagavan Shree Krishna is the birthless, deathless, attributeless, and formless (guna-ateeta and nirakara) ‘parabrahman’. He, the Lord, further says, “Neither the learned sages, nor the Gods and Goddesses, will ever know Him. He cannot be known by the study of scriptures or by any other means!” This is because, “He only exists and nothing else exists besides Him!” Further, He asserts that, “He, the Lord Paramatman, exists in all as the Self (Atma) of all” If He only exists and nothing else besides Him, it is for us to see Him within us, and realize, experience, visualize, and become one ‘merged in Him’- discarding all that we have acquired as body, senses, mind, intellect, ego and all the qualities associated with Prakruti (Nature). This is the essence of the Gitopadesha. Krishna means that which has no limit of time that will not diminish with time (‘Krish-na’).

6.  Who is Arjuna?

 Arjuna is the individualized consciousness, albeit ‘divine’, a blemished mind (polluted by desire, ego, and other qualities) the blessed child ‘mantrasya-putrah’ of blessed by Indra, the ‘God of all Gods’ (devaadideva). In fact, all the Pandava are born by the ‘Grace of Gods’, the boon (in the form of mantra) given to Kunti, and not born as children from King Pandu like ordinary mortals!

7.  What is the main theme of the Gita?

  As ‘brahmavidya’ and a ‘yogopanishat’ the theme of Bhagavad-Gita is ‘liberation of the embodied soul’. The basic concept is that the “the jiva existed in the beginning in its pure state as an ‘energy particle’- chaitanya (prana), chit (prajnya), and vital-airs. It got enmeshed as a jiva on the earth!! The pure energy particle, chaitanya, ‘prana’, has now become a ‘prani’ (living being) embodied in an earthen shell (sharira). This prani, jiva, looks out for liberation, release from its earthly existence! The jiva is locked in a chain, condemned to a repeatedly embodied state in one form or the other. Once, the jiva realizes its predicament it (as confused mind) looks for guidance to a higher power (pure consciousness). Here comes the Gita as “Words of Bhagavan” that helps the jiva to revert to its pure state! The supreme Lord only comes here to teach ‘yoga’ and ‘Atmajnyan’ and ‘brahmavidya’ and thereby, helps the troubled souls to revert to their pure state. With the help of the Gita, the jiva can get cleansed of all its karmaklesha and merge in Bhagavan. Here, yoga, meaning, ‘yuj’, is taught so as to ‘get united’, ‘merge’, with the Lord. It does not matter whether one accepts or not this fundamental principle! The Lord knows this and says, “Let them perish if they do not believe in My words”! The exact way of creation of life-forms, as well as, their release from cycle of rebirths, bondage, is described here. Hence, the purpose of this entire unwritten scripture, spoken words of Bhagavan Shree Krishna, is to enlighten the ignorant jivas and liberate them from suffering; it comes as a guide, a handbook, for all humanity to live a fruitful life, seek solace in times of distress and revert back to the pure pristine formless state!

8.  What is ‘Brahmavidya’?

‘Brahmavidya’ is the highest knowledge, ‘para-vidya’. It is the ‘Knowledge supreme’ (vedanta)! It is the Knowledge of the Self, Atmajnyan, brahmavidya.

9.  What is ‘yoga Shastra’?

Yoga is the means of attaining to ‘unity-consciousness’, ‘oneness (‘yuj’) with brahmn’. Having arrived on this Earth (mrutyu lok) where all that is born has to die, death is certain, besides ill-health, sickness, and old age, the suffering jivas look forward for some divine help and appeals to God! The Gitopadesha comes as a divine help, the means of emancipation, liberation, getting back or reverting to pure state, of Consciousness, ‘chit’ , gains knowledge of the Self, Atmajnyan, and ‘enlightenment’’.

10.    Mukti and moksha as revealed in the last Chapter of the Gita is a very important indtruction imparted by the Lord. It is the ‘Realization of the Self’ or ‘Atmajnyan’ that brings about liberation.

Conclusion 

Bhagavan Shree Krishna comes here as friend, philosopher, and guide not only to Arjuna, but to all of us. As a friend, He says “I am always with you. I shall take care of you.”. As a philosopher, He advises us not to worry, whatever happens, happens. It is beyond your limits!” And, as a Guide, Bhagavan gives several options and allows you liberty to pick and choose whatever means that suits you. Finally, He, the Benevolent Lord, assures that “Ultimately all will reach Him!”

11.    What is taught by the Lord here and what is the methodology”

The Bhagavad-Gita deals with emancipation step by step. It starts with the troubled mind and ends with enlightenment. The supreme Lord, Bhagavan Shree Krishna goes on advising we the mortals through ‘Arjuna’ how to attain to ‘Self’. First, He, the Lord, advises us (through Arjuna) to perform our ordained duties without any expectations (‘nishkama karma’) and then goes on to explain how bhakti, jnyan, dhyana, and samadhi  as regular practice, ‘abhyasa yoga’ and ‘nirasakti yoga’ will help the troubled souls, confused minds, seeking solace to realize its true nature, and thereby, get released from bondage.

    Since the Lord Himself is seated as ‘antaryamin’, the very consciousness of the jivas, the spoken words of the Lord is not very difficult to understand by any ordinary person. Here Bhagavan Shree Krishna speaks in very clear terms. He, the Lord, says, “The jiva can obtain knowledge and wisdom and thereby gets discretionary power (viveka) to know ‘what to do’ and ‘what not to do’. Then, the jiva takes to sacrificial rituals, yajnya, daana, and finally, sanyasa (renunciation). Thus, the jiva is redeemed from its bondage, released from the shackles of kaala, niyati and other limitations (‘maya’).

Once the jiva is enlightened as to its true nature- sat chit, and ananda, the shackles of karma are broken and the consequent rebirths (punarjanma) in different forms and the associated sufferings end.

"I Am The Great God"

  Bhagavan Shri Krishna proclaims "I am the 'Great God' of the world, the Transcendental One. I am the source of the Gods and the great sages- Bhrugu, Mareechi, Atri, Pulastya, Kratu, and Vshishtha. I am birthless, beginningless. I am the efficient and the material cause of everything"

   There is no end to what the Supreme Lord says regarding "Who He Is" In a sense what all we see, hear about, touch, taste and experience are the manifest forms of the Lord only. There is only One, supreme and no other besides 'That'. He finally exclaims "Om tat sat iti". The it may be asked who are we, the mortals? Why do we not know Him? The answer is very simple- " we are not either interested in Him or want to know or see Him. The moment we ardently desire to know, see or hear Him, Lo, He is there!  Great sages like Tilak (in Mandalay jail while he was writing his Gita Rahasys) and Sri Aurobindo (while in Alipore jail) have seen Him. What is needed is an in intent and eager pursuit of the sadhaka. In fact,Bhagavan Shri Krishna goes on explaining how to reach Him. We are so much involved in worldly pursuits that we do not ever bother about His words. He has not left anything unsaid here in the Gita. He only says, "Nobody is interested in Me".  There are a number of passages that give us a warning 'not to reveal anything about Him to those who are not interested in Him'. It is our experience that people are more interested in worldly affairs than 'knowing Him' and very rarely one shows interest to 'attain to Him'. There are many verses which explain the easiest way to reach Him. It is better to take a copy of the Gita and study carefully the spoken words of the Lord and experience the joy! It is tempting to repeat these verses, but the space in the blog site does not permit it. We shall highlight some of these important statements one by one in the next few blogs.

Thus Bhagavan Shree Krishna speaks,

  Bhooya yEva mahaabaahO ShRuNu mE paramam vachaH |
 Bhagavan Shri Krishna says,
  "O Arjuna, the mighty warrior, listen to Me, hear carefully my highly sacred words"

   Sometimes it appears that the Gita is some sort of supreme knowledge (sum and substance of all that is jnyan (Knowledge), the Veda, the 'vid' (Vedanta) that can never be understood by us, mortals! It  is open to question whether we really understand what is it the Lord is revealing as a secret knowledge, the sacred words as in the eighteen chapters of the Gita that starts with "Shri Bhagavan uvacha"! Do we ever understand the 'Lord's own spoken words' At least, can we hear that?

Who is Bhagvan Shri Krishna?

   One need not ask this question since the answer lies within these words- 'Bhagvan' and "Shree Krishna". Bhagavan is one who resides within. Thus, Bhagavan is one who resides 'within' as the 'Self', 'Atman', the core of the substance. Etymologically, the term 'Shri Krishna', is formed of the syllables that inhere powerful creative forces (shakti). Every alphabet (akshara) of the Samskruta as 'deva-bhasha' is pregnant with meaning and the word (pada) created by these syllables possess appropriate meaning (artha) that can produce the world of objects (padartha)! Here, the syllable 'S' stands for the creative Energy (asin in-breath), 'h' for power of dissolution (as in out-breath), 'r' for the 'life force' (prana) and 'i' for action (creativity). Further, the term 'Krishna', the one who is manifest form of the supreme creative force! 'The syllable 'K' stands for the Space that holds all objects (the Universe) and 'Na' is living being (the jiva). Thus, Krishna as 'chit' shakti envelopes the entire universe and pervades all that exists! Another simpler version of 'Shri Krishna' is also there. Here, 'Shri' stands for eternal, resourceful, blissful and auspicious. 'Krish' and 'na' stand for that which never decreases, degenerates, or that which is never destroyed! 

   The beauty of the Gita is that Bhagavan Shri Krishna speaks about everything that is- Shiva, Jiva and the jagat? Chapter X- 'Vibhuti yoga' makes these points explicitly clear. Most of the Commentators forget these spoken words of Bhagavan when they write Commentaries on other Chapters. Those who clearly understand this Chapter will never venture to write anything at all! What is there to write when the Lord Himself has made explicitly clear about everything! It is all sheer ignorance that we exhibit when we try to interpret the Lord's spoken words- Shri Bhagavan Uvacha |
   na mE viduH suragaNAH prabhavam na maharShayaH 
   ahamaadihiM dEvaanaaM maharShiNAM cha sarvashaH || [Gita  X. 2]
   None, whether the learned Sages or the Gods ever know Me and My powers, glory and majesty! I am the source, the seed, the root cause and effect of all that exists! Further, it may be added from what He says through out the Gita, "I only exists and nothing exists besides Me." The Rk Veda asserts this point very explicitly in- EkO;ham bahusyam | One supreme 'Un-manifest' only manifests in all varied diverse forms. Fools will never know or understand this power of Me!
   (to be contd.)

The Bhagavad-Gita- Spoken Words of Bhagavan

  To date, there are almost 200 000 Commentaries on the Gita. These are presented by eminent scholars all over the Lord since the first print was available to them. However, what is surprising is that the focus of every Commentary is on one aspect or the other like sankhya, karma, jnyan, bhakti, dhyan, yoga or prapatti or total surrender. None has ever come closer to the last Chapter where liberation, mulkti or mokshagati is exemplified and the path to liberation is explained by the Lord. Eminent scholars like Arnold, Gandhi, Tilak, Swami Shivananda, Sri Krishnananda, Sri Aurobindo, Sai Baba, Sri Ramakrishna, La Prabhu Pada, or the famous Russian Commentator focus attention on selected aspects of the Gita and some of them come closer to the original version. The Gita is actually sum and substance of the Veda where it is explicitly stated that everything is 'Atman' (the Self) and Atman, the Self, is no different from paramatman, the Supreme Self! ayam Atmaa brahm | says the Veda. Veda that is 'vid' (jnyan) is the only entity that exists and all others are its manifest forms.It is brahmn. The core of the substance is the 'sat' from which manifests 'chit' (consciousness) that manifests as 'vid'. All that exists is nothing but manifest forms of 'vid'. There is nothing outside the chit, consciousness. This is what Bhagavan, who resides in the Lotus Heart (hrit-kamala) of the Jivatman means when He says that "nothing exists besides Me". Shree Krishna is the chit-shakti, prajnya, (Consciousnes) of all that exists! prajnyanan brahmaa |
    In the strict sense of the term, the words of Bhagavan Shree Krishna are  the 'unspoken words' that can be heard within one's Self.. When we talk of the Gita, definitely we do not know either Bhagavan or His spoken words. This is evident from the Commentaries of great scholars that are available all over the world in many languages.The very fact that they change the Title of the Chapters for fear of Copy Right infringement shows this. How can anybody change the words of Bhagavan? The most crucial part of this argument is whether we can understand what the supreme lord says: "Look Arjuna, I shall reveal you the most secret of the secrets" - SruNOmi arjunaa, guhyatama guhyamam pravashyami | If what the Lord reveals is a secret (to Lord Shree Krishna Himself), how can ordinary mortals understand it? After all, what is that secret? Is it a anymore a secret once it is revealed? Every chapter ends with these secret words and nobody has noticed it? Further, nobody can ever understand this secret since it is an eternal secret! The secret is very simple. It is brahmaviya yogashastra. Nobody knows this brahmavidya or yogashastra, since it is simple not possible to know this!If anything is 'other than the Self' it is possible to know, understand. But is is the Self by itself! How can the one know oneself, one;s Self that is one and one only, nothing besides it? This is the utmost secret ever uttered by the Lord. The Supreme Lord says, "Arjuna, you and I are one, and  in fact, neither you nor I exist. What all exists is the maya, the magical forms that manifest from Me. I only exist and nothing exists besides Me. Ekam adviteeyam | The most intriguing part of this is found in the statement: "nothing exists besides Me". Then what is it we all see, hear, touch, feel, taste and smell? These are illusory in the sense 'that which is transient, ever-changing, that is not true!" Whatever that did not exist earlier and would exist later is not true! Then what all we call the phenomenal objective world is a transient one that is not true. In a sense, that which comes within the grip of time, space, and causality is not true since neither time nor space is real and how can that which is found in unreal time and space be ever real? Thus, the Gita removes our ignorance and presents the reality of our transient existence in time and space. This enlightenment brings in eternal bliss to the suffering jivas!   

(to be contd.)

Finally, the Sum and Substance of Ashtavakra Samhita

    In conclusion as regards the Ashtavakra Samhita, it may fairly be said that the jiva should realize its true nature and be liberated. There is absolutely nothing that binds the jiva in this mortal world where every thing comes with in the grip of maya, niyati, limitations of time, space and causality. The concept of maya is to be well understood. It defines the true nature of the universe. What the jiva will not understand easily is its own true nature. Once it knows that it will be instantly released from all bondage (that is merely an assumption or presumption). Sage Ashtavakra clearly states that "whoever thinks that he /she is in bondage is in bondage. It is all in the feeling (bhavana). If one feels he/she is in no bondage whatsoever, where is bondage? So think you are free and be happy." He further reiterates that, "Whatever yo see, hear, taste, touch or touch is not that and you are above all these perishable transient thinhgs. So be happy!"

     These sayings are no different from what Bhagavan Shree Krishna says in the Gita. Here, the supreme Lord, asserts that "He only manifest as all that we see! There is nothing besides Him." Hence, we do not even exist, where is the question of bondage or liberation? Our existence is a myth? It is He who is seated in our Lotus Heart (hritkamala) and it is He who breathes in us! Thus let us know the 'Reality of Existence' and be happy.    

Ashtavakra continues..

Ashtavakra answers to questions raised by King Janaka regarding bondage (bandhana), liberation (mukti), and attainment (moksha).

tadaa bandhO yadaa chittam kinchidvaanchati shOchati | 

kinchinmuchyanti gRuhaNaati kinchidrushyati kupyati ||

  Meaning, the fickle mind, chitta (manas or manovutti) that desires anything, feels pain or suffering loss, or rejects, or even enjoys thinks happy or gets angry, that is bondage.  If it is not interested or involved in any of these that is liberation. Showing interest in anything with desirous or of possession is bondage and freedom is disinterestedness! This is anasakti yoga.

   These words of Learned Sage Ashtavakra are very important. They show how we entangled in worldly affairs, get interested in worldly objects and fall prey to our mental afflictions driving our senses to search for joy, happiness in outer world. Nothing that comes from outside will ever satisfy us because they are all bound by limitations of time and space. We too change our interests according to our state of mind and moods. It is these limitations that make us unhappy even if we get what we desire. This there is no happiness in this world. It is this maya, limitations, that make us disappointed in life. Any possession such as family, children, wealth, power and possession will not make us happy. It is only disinterestedness in worldly objects that can liberate us.
Further, it is said,
dvaitamoolamahO duhkham naanyastatrasyaasti BhEshajam |
drushyamEtanRuShaa sarvam EkO'haM chidrasO'malah || (A-G 2.16)
  Meaning, 'dualism' is the root of suffering.What all seen is an illusion. i only am the chidrasa and amala is the only solace for suffering.
   This stanza is of utmost importance. The learned sages have declared that "those who discriminate, divide, treat others as different will perish". There is 'only one' and 'no other'. The Gita also exemplifies this principle.One should not differentiate. Although all that we see look different, they are the same in principle. A coconut tree and a fig tree may look different but both are plants rooted in soil. In this sense all animals are same! The Gita reiterates that only one Mahapurusha Bhagavan Shree Krishna is the Father and all others are His own creation. He is the seed. One only becomes many. EkO'ham bahusyam | (Rk Veda).
  Ashtavakra says, what we call I, the aham, is the principle ahamta, the essence of consciousness, light, knowledge. It is blemishless, and this knowledge of the Self is the elixir of suffering.