Self-Knowledge and Enlightenment

The Blessed Lord said, "O Arjuna, hear how you shall, without doubt, know Me fully, with your mind intent on Me, practicing Yoga and taking refuge in Me."

He who wishes to attain some result or reward performs the ritual known as Agnihotra or does charity, sinks wells, builds hospitals, resting places, etc., with Sakama Bhavana (with an inner profit motive) and attains them. But the Yogi on the contrary practises Yoga with a steadfast mind and takes refuge in the Lord alone, with the mind wholly fixed on Him, on His lofty attributes such as omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, infinite love, beauty, grace, strength, mercy, inexhaustible wealth, ineffable splendour, pristine glory and purity.The servant of a king, though he constantly serves the king, has not got his mind fixed on him. The mind is ever fixed on his wife and children. Unlike the servant, fix your mind on Me, (the allpervading One), and take refuge in Me alone. Practise control of the mind in accordance with the instructions given in chapter VI. Then you will know Me and My infinite attributes in full.If you sing the glory and the attributes of the Lord, you will develop love for Him and then your mind will be fixed on Him. Intense love for the Lord is real devotion. You must get full knowledge of the Self without any doubt.He who has taken refuge in the Lord, and he who is trying to fix or has fixed his mind on the Lord cannot bear the separation from the Lord even for a second.

I will declare to you in full this knowledge combined with realization, after knowing which nothing else remains to be known here.

Jnanam is Paroksha Jnanam or indirect knowledge of Brahman obtained through the study of the Upanishads. Vijnanam is Visesha Jnanam, i.e., Aparoksha Jnanam obtained through direct Selfrealisation (intuitional wisdom).In this verse the Lord praises knowledge in order to make Arjuna follow His instruction closely with rapt attention, faith and interest. The Lord says I shall teach thee in full. You will attain to omniscience or perfect knowledge of the Self, after knowing which nothing more remains to be known here. If anyone attains the knowledge of the Self, he will know everything. That is the reason why Saunaka, the great householder, approacehd Angirasa respectfully and asked What is that, O Lord, which being known all this becomes known (Cf.XIII.11)

Among thousands of men, one may perchance strive for perfection; even among those successful strivers, only one may perchance know Me in essence.

Mark how difficult it is to attain to the knowledge of the Self or to how Brahman in essence. Siddhanam literally means those who have attained to perfection (the perfected ones) but here it means only those who strive to attain perfection.Those who purchase diamonds, rubies or pearls are few. Those who study the postgraduate course are few. Even so those who attempt for Selfrealisation and who actually know the Truth in essence are few only. The liberated ones (Jivanmuktas) are rare. Real Sadhakas are also rare. The,knowledge of the Self bestows incalculable fruits on man, viz., immortality, eternal bliss, perennial joy and everlasting peace. It is very difficult to attain to this knowledge of the Self. But a good and earnest spiritual aspirant (Sadhaka) who is endowed with a strong determination and iron resolve, and who is eipped with the four means to salvation can easily obtain the knowledge of the Self.

Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intellect, and egoism—thus is My Nature divided eightfold.

This eightfold Nature constitutes the inferior Nature or Apara Prakriti. The five gross elements are formed out of the Tanmatras or rootelements through the process of Pancikarana or fivefold mixing. Tanmatras are the subtle rootelements. In this verse, earth, water, etc., represent the subtle or rudimentary elements out of which the five gross elements are formed.Mind stands here for its cause Ahamkara intellect for its cause the Mahat Ahamkara for the Avyaktam or the unmanifested (MulaPrakriti) united with Avidya which is conjoined with all kinds of Vasanas or latent tendencies. As Ahamkara (Iness) is the cause for all the actions of every individual and as Ahamkara is the most vital principle in man on which all the other Tattvas or principles depend, the Avyaktam combined with the Ahamkara is itself called here Ahamkara, just as food which is mixed with poison is itself called poison.

O mighty-armed Arjuna, this is the inferior Prakriti; know it as distinct from My higher Prakriti, the very life-element, by which this world is upheld.

The eightfold Nature described in the previous verse is the inferior Nature. It constitutes the Kshetra or the field or matter. It is impure. It generates evil and causes bondage. But the superior Nature is pure. It is My very Self, Kshetrajna (knower of the field or Spirit) by which life is sustained, and that which enters within the whole world and upholds it. It is the very lifeelement or the principle of Selfconsciousness, by which this universe is sustained.

Know that these two are the womb of all beings; thus, I am the source and dissolution of the whole universe.

These two Natures, the inferior and the superior, are the womb of all beings. As I am the source of these two Prakritis or Natures also, I am the cause of this universe. The whole universe originates from Me and dissolves in Me.In the Brahma Sutras (chapter 1, section 1, aphorism 2) it is said, Janmadyasya yatah meaning that Brahman is that omniscient and omnipotent cause from which proceed the origin, subsistence and dissolution of this world.Just as the mind is the material cause and also the seer (Drashta) for the objects seen in a dream, so also Isvara is the material cause of this world (UpadanaKarana) and also the seer (Drashta). He is also the efficient or the instrumental cause (NimittaKarana). (Cf.XIV.3)

There is nothing higher than Me, O Arjuna. All this is strung on Me, like clusters of gems on a string.

There is no other cause of the universe but Me. I alone am the the cause of the universe. This illustration of gems and thread illustrates only the idea that all beings and the whole world are threaded on the Lord. The thread is not the cause of the gems. As Brahman is all in all there is nothing whatever higher than It.

I am the flavor in water, O Arjuna; I am the light in the moon and the sun; I am the syllable Om in all the Vedas, sound in the ether and virility in men.

In Me all beings and the whole world are woven as a cloth in the warp. In Me as sapidity the water is woven in Me as light, the sun and the moon are woven in Me as the sacred syllable Om all the Vedas are woven in Me as virility all men are woven.The manifestations of the Lord are described in the verses 8, 9, 10 and 11. (Cf.XV.12)

I am the sweet fragrance in the earth and the brilliance in the fire, the life in all beings, and I am the austerity of ascetics.

In Me as odour in the earth woven in Me as brilliance is the fire woven in Me as life all beings are woven in Me as austerity all ascetics are woven. I am the support (Adhishthanam or Asraya) for everything.I am the power or Sakti which helps the ascetics to control the mind and the senses.Krishna says, I am the agreeable odour. If Arjuna had asked Him, Then who is the disagreeable odour, He would have replied, It is also I.

Know Me, O Arjuna, as the eternal seed of all beings; I am the intelligence of the intelligent, and the splendour of the splendid objects.

Seed means cause.Tejas also means heroism or bravery.Had Arjuna asked, Who is the seed for Thee, the Lord would have replied, There is no seed for Me. There is no cause for Me. I am the source of everything. I am the causeless Cause. I am the primeval Being.

Of the strong, I am the strength devoid of desire and attachment, and in all beings, I am the desire in accordance with Dharma, O Arjuna.

Kama Desire for those objects that come in contact with the senses.Raga attachment for those objects that come in contact with the senses.I am that strength which is necessary for the bare sustenance of the body. I am not the strength which generates desire and attachment for sensual objects as in the case of worldlyminded persons. I am the desire which is in accordance with the teachings of the scriptures or the code prescribing the duties of life. I am the desire for moderate eating and drinking, etc., which are,necessary for the sustenance of the body and which help one in the practice of Yoga.

Whatever beings (and objects) that are pure, active, and inert, know that they proceed from Me. They are in Me, yet I am not in them.

This is a world of the three Gunas, viz., Sattva (purity), Rajas (passion) and Tamas (inertia). All sentient and insentient objects are the aggregate of these three alities of Nature. One quality predominates in them and the predominant quality imparts to the object its distinctive character or definite properties.In the gods, sages milk and green gram, Sattva is predominant. In Gandharvas (a class of celestials), kings, warriors and chillies, Rajas is predominant. In demons, Sudras, garlic, onion and meat, Tamas is predominant.Though these beings and objects proceed from Me, I am not in them they are in Me. I am independent. I am the support for them they depend on Me just as the superimposed snake depends on the rope. The snake is in the rope, but the rope is never in the snake. The waves belong to the ocean but the ocean does not belong to the waves. (Cf.IX.4and6)

Deluded by these Natures, composed of the three qualities of Nature, all this world does not know Me as distinct from them and immutable.

Persons of this world are deluded by the three alities of Nature or Maya. Affection, attachment and infatuated love are all modifications of these alities. On account of delusion created by these three alities they are not able to break the worldly ties and to turn the mind towards the Supreme Soul, the Lord of the three alities.Avyayam Immutable or unchangeable or inexhaustible or imperishable. The Self is of one homogeneous essence. It has not got the six changes or modifications (Shad Bhava Vikaras) which the body has, viz., existence, birth, growth, modification, decay and death. (Cf.VII.25)

Verily, this divine illusion of Mine, composed of the three qualities, is difficult to cross over; those who take refuge in Me alone, can cross over this illusion.

Maya is the Upadhi or the causal body (Karana Sarira) of Isvara. It is the material cause of this universe. It is inherent in the Lord. It is constituted of the three alities, viz., Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. Those who completely devote themselves to the Lord alone after renouncing all formal religion (Dharma) cross over this illusion which deludes all beings. They attain liberation or Moksha.Isvara is the Lord of Maya (illusion). He has perfect control over it. Avidya is the Upadhi (limiting adjunct) of the Jiva (individual soul). The Jiva is a slave of this ignorance. Ignorance is the veil that has screened the Jiva from Satchidananda Brahman or the ExistenceKnowledgeBliss Absolute. When the veil is removed by the dawn of knowledge of the Self the Jiva loses his characteras a Jiva or an individual soul and becomes identical with Brahman. (Cf.XV.3and4)

The evil-doers and the deluded, who are the lowest of men, do not seek Me; those whose knowledge is destroyed by illusion follow the ways of demons.

These three kinds of people have no discrimination between right and wrong, the Real and the unreal. They commit murder, robbery, theft and other kinds of atrocious actions. They speak untruth and injure others in a variety of ways. Those who follow the ways of the demons take the body as the Self like Vivochana and worship it with flowers, scents, unguents, nice clothes and palatable foods of various sorts. They are deluded souls. They try to nourish their body and do various sorts of evil actions to attain this end. Therefore they do not worship Me. Ignorance is the root cause of all these evils. (Cf.XVI.16and20)

Four kinds of virtuous men worship Me, O Arjuna, and they are the distressed, the seekers of knowledge, the seekers of wealth, and the wise, O Lord of the Bharatas.

The distressed is he who is suffering from a chronic and incurable disease, he whose life is in jeopardy on account of earthake, volcanic eruption, thunder, attack by a dacoit or enemy or tiger, etc. When Draupadi and Gajendra were in great distress they worshipped the Lord. These are the instances of Aarta Bhakti.Jijnasu is the enquirer. He is dissatisfied with this world. There is a void in his life. He always feels that sensual pleasure is not the highest form of happiness and there is yet pure eternal bliss unmixed with grief and pain, which is to be found within. Janaka and Uddhava were devotees of this type.Seeker of wealth is he who craves for money, wife, children, position, name and fame. Sugriva, Vibhishana, Upamanyu and Dhruva were all devotees of this type.The wise are the men of knowledge who have attained to Selfillumination. Sukadeva was a JnaniBhakta.Kamsa, Sishupala and Ravana thought of the Lord constantly on account of fear and hatred (VairaBhakti). Hence they are also regarded as devotees.Be devoted to God, whatever be your motive. Devotion will purify the motive in due course.

Of them, the wise who are ever steadfast and devoted to the One, excel; for I am exceedingly dear to the wise, and they are dear to Me.

Ekabhaktih means unswerving, singleminded devotion to the Supreme Being.The JnaniBhakta is beyond all cults or creeds or formal religion or rules of society. As the wise man is constantly harmonised and as he is devoted to the One, he is regarded as superior to all the other devotees. As I am his very Self or Antaratma, I am extremely dear to him. Everybody loves his own Self most. The Self is very dear to everybody. The wise man is My very Self and he is ear to Me also. (Cf.II.49IX.29XII.14,17and19)

Indeed, all these are noble; however, I consider the wise man as My very Self; for, he is steadfast in mind and established in Me alone as the supreme goal.

Are not the other three kinds of devotees dear to the Lord They are. They are all noble souls. But the wise man is exceedingly dear because he has a steady mind he has fixed his mind on Brahman. He does not want any worldly object, but only the Supreme Being. He seeks Brahman alone as the supreme goal. He practises Ahamgraha Upasana (meditation on the Self as the all). He tries to realise that he is identical with the Supreme Self. Therefore I regard a wise man as My very Self. (Cf.II.49)

At the end of many births, the wise man comes to Me, realizing that all this is Vaasudeva (the innermost Self); such a great soul (Mahatma) is very hard to find.

Vaasudeva is a name of Lord Krishna as He is the son of Vasudeva. He is the allpervading Brahman.The aspirant gradually evolves through Yogic practices, selfless service, devotion and constant meditation in many births and ultimately attains the inner Self. He realises that all is Vaasudeva. It is very difficult to find such a great soul, who has attained to perfection. No one is eal to him. That is the reason why the Lord has said, One in a thousand perchance strives for perfection even among those successful strivers, only one perchance knows Me in essence. (Cf.VII.3.)

Those whose wisdom has been taken away by this or that desire, go to other gods, following this or that rite, led by their own nature.

Those who desire wealth, children, the (small) Siddhis, etc., are deprived of discrimination. They devote themselves to other minor gods such as Indra, Mitra, Varuna, etc., impelled or driven by their own nature or Samskaras acired in their previous births. They perform some kinds of rites to propitiate these lower deities. (Cf.IX.23)

Whatever form any devotee desires to worship with faith, I make that same faith of his firm and unflinching.

Tanu or body is used here in the sense of a Devata (god).The Lord, the indweller of all beings, makes the faith of that devotee who worships the lesser divinities, which is born of the Samskaras of his previous birth, steady and unswerving. (Cf.IV.11IX.22and23)

Endowed with that faith, he engages in the worship of that form and obtains his desired outcome, which is ordained by Me alone.

The last two words Hi and Tan are taken as one word, Hitan meaning benefits. This is another interpretation. The devotee who worships the lesser gods attains the objects of his desire (minor psychic powers, etc.). Those objects are ordained by the Lord only as He alone knows exactly the relation between the actions and their results or rewards and as He is the Inner Ruler of all beings. Unwise or undiscriminating people only take recourse to the means of getting these finite rewards which can hardly give entire satisfaction. Pitiable indeed is their lot They have,no power of enquiry (VicharaSakti) or right understanding. They get hold of pieces of glass instead of attaining the jewel of the Self, of incalculabe value.

Verily, the reward (fruit) that accrues to those men of small intelligence is finite. The worshippers of the gods go to them, whereas My devotees come to Me.

The exertion in the two kinds is the same and yet people do not attempt to worship the Supreme Being in order to attain the maximum benefits or the infinite reward (liberation or Moksha). The reward obtained by men of small understandng and petty intellect who worship the minor deities is small, perishable and temporary.Yajnas (Vedic rituals), Homas (rituals in which oblations are offered into the sacred fire) and Tapas (penance) of various sorts can bestow only temporary rewards on the performer. Liberation from the wheel of transmigration alone will give everlasting bliss and eternal peace.Those who worship Indra and others are Sattvic devotees those who worship Yakshas and Rakshasas (demoniacal beings) are Rajasic devotees and those who worship the Bhutas and Pretas (discarnate spirits) are Tamasic devotees.The knowledge of those who worship the small deities is partial and incomplete. It cannot lead to liberation. (Cf.IX.25)

The foolish think of Me, the Unmanifest, as having manifestation, not knowing My higher, immutable, and most excellent nature.

The ignorant take Lord Krishna as a common mortal. They think that He has taken a body like ordinary human beings from the unmanifested state on account of the force of Karma of the previous birth. They have no knowledge of His higher, imperishable and selfluminous nature as the Highest Self. They think that He has just now come into manifestation, though He is selfexistent, eternal, beginningless, endless, birthless, deathless, changeless, infinite and unmanifest.

I am not manifest to all, veiled as I am by the Yoga-Maya. This deluded world does not know Me, who am unborn and imperishable.

I am not manifest to all the people, but I am certainly manifest to the chosen few who are My devotees, who have taken sole refuge in Me alone. I am not visible to those who are deluded by the three Gunas and the pairs of opposites, and who are screened off by this universe which is a manifestation of the alities of Nature, My YogaMaya or My creative illusion. This veils the understanding of the worldlyminded people. So they are not able to behold the Lord Who keeps Maya under His perfect control.YogaMaya is the union of the three alities of Nature. The illusion or veil spread thery is called YogaMaya. The worldly people are deluded by the illusion born of the union of the three alities. Therefore, they are not able to know the Lord Who is unborn and immutable.This YogaMaya is under the perfect control of the Lord. Isvara is the wielder of Maya. Therefore it cannot obscure His own knowledge, just as the illusion created by the juggler cannot obstruct his,own knowledge or deceive him. The illusion which binds the worldly people cannot in the least affect the Lord Who has kep Maya under his perfect subjugation. (Cf.VII.13IX.5X.7XI.8)

I know, O Arjuna, the beings of the past, the present, and the future; however, no one knows Me.

Persons who are deluded by the three alities of Nature do not know the Lord. As they lack in the knowledge of His real nature, they do not adore Hi. But the Lord knows through His omniscience the beings of the past, the present and the future. He who worships the Lord with singleminded devotion knows Him in essence. He has knowledge of His real nature.

O Bharata, all beings are subject to delusion at birth due to the delusion of the pairs of opposites arising from desire and aversion, O Parantapa.

Where there is pleasure there is Raga or attachment where there is pain there is Dvesha or aversion. There is the instinct in man to preserve his body. Man wishes to attain those objects which help the preservation of the body. He wishes to get rid of those objects which give pain to the body and the mind. On account of delusion caused by the pairs of opposites, desire and aversion spring up and man cannot get the knowledge of the things as they are, even of this external universe of senseexperience and it needs no saying that in a man whose intellect is overwhelmed by desire and aversion there cannot arise the transcendental knowledge of the innermost Self.Raga (attraction) and Dvesha (repulsion), pleasure and pain, heat and cold, happiness and misery, joy and sorrow, success and failure, censure and priase, honour and dishonour are the Dvandvas or the pairs of opposites. Desire and aversion (or attraction and repulsion) induce delusion in all beings and serve as obstacles to the dawn of the knowledge of the Self.He whose intellect is obscured by the delusion caused by the pairs of opposites is not able to realise I am the Self. Therefore he does not adore Me as the Self.He who is a victim of RagaDvesha loses the power of discrimination. He wishes that pleasant objects should last for ever and that disagreeable or unpleasant objects should disappear immediately

But those men of virtuous deeds, whose sins have come to an end and who are freed from the delusion of the pairs of opposites, worship Me steadfastly, with their vows.

By the performance of good deeds the heart is slowly purified Sattva increases Rajas and Tamas are gradually thinned out. The mind becomes serene and calm. The little selfarrogating personality slowly dies. You grow in spirituality. The divine flame becomes brighter and brighter. You become impersonal.Sin To forget ones identity with the Supreme Soul is the greatest sin. To see difference is sin. To take the body as the Self, to believe that this world is real is sin. Selfishness is sin. Egoism is sin. Ignorance is sin.Steadfast in vows The man steadfast in vows entertains a firm resolve I must realise the Self now I will not budge an inch from my seat till I attain Selfrealisation. He has the firm conviction that Brahman is the only Reality. This world is unreal. It is like a mirage. I can attain immortality and eternal bliss if I realise the Self only. There is not an iota of happiness in the sensual objects. Therefore the Lord says, Those persons of pure deeds worship Me steadfast in vows.

Those who strive for liberation from old age and death, taking refuge in Me, realize in full that Brahman, the whole knowledge of the Self, and all action.

They attain to the full knowledge of the Self or perfect knowledge of Brahman. They attain to the Bhuma or the Highest or the Unconditioned. All their doubts are totally destroyed. They fully realise now, All is Vaasudeva. All indeed is Brahman. There is no such thing as diversity.They are not rorn here and have thus conered old age and death. They are liberated here and now.

Those who know Me with the Adhibhuta (pertaining to the elements), Adhidaiva (pertaining to the gods), and the Adhiyajna (pertaining to the sacrifice) know Me even at the time of death, remaining steadfast in mind.

They who are steadfast in mind, who have taken refuge in Me, who know Me as the knowledge of elements in the physical plane, as the knowledge of the gods in the celestial or mental plane, as the knowledge of the sacrifice in the realm of sacrifice, are not affected by death. They do not lose their memory. They continue to keep up the consciousness of Me even at the time of their departure from this world. Those who worship Me along with these three know Me even at the time of death. (Cf.VIII.25)(This chapter is known by the names Vijnana Yoga and Jnana Yoga also.)