Tag: Yoga and Meditation

Chapter 6, Verse 18

yadā viniyataṁ cittam

ātmany-evāvatiṣṭhate

niḥspṛhaḥ sarva-kāmebhyo

yukta ity-ucyate sadā

When all the mental consciousness is perfectly controlled and liberated from desire and remains still in the Self, then it is said, “He is verily in yoga.”

“When all the mental consciousness is perfectly controlled…” Then the mind is focused on the Divine and one is free. The mind is not jumping left and right, thinking about what one has to eat; or one is falling down asleep, and so on. The mind is not

running to the outside reality.

When one is “…liberated from desire and remains still in the Self, then it is said, ‘He is verily in Yoga.’” When one is absorbed within one Self, within the Divine Consciousness, one’s vibration is changed and one gets exclusively established in Narayana, who is the supreme peace, supreme bliss. In such a state, one overcomes all outer attractions. One is detached from everything which is perishable and from the worldly enjoyment. Therefore, one is free and longs for only one thing: God. One perceives the unity beyond diversity; in all the worldly diversity, one perceives only the Divine, the Love of God. This is truly yoga. If people have not perceived the Divine within the core of themselves and don’t emanate the divine qualities, they are still on the way towards perfection, towards unification with the Divine. They are not yet established in yoga, they are just practising. But the ones who are always fully absorbed in serving, fully absorbed in the Love of God, automatically start to reflect the divine qualities through them. Verily, this is yoga.

Bhagavad Gita 

Chapter 6, Verse 17

yuktāhāra vihārasya

yukta ceṣṭasya karmasu

yukta svapnāvabodhasya

yogo bhavati duḥkha-hā

Yoga becomes the destroyer of sorrow for one who is moderate in food and recreation, who is temperate in actions, who is moderate in sleep and wakefulness.

“Yoga becomes the destroyer of sorrow for one who is moderate in food and recreation.” When people have control over their diet and their leisure time, this shows that they have control over the senses, the body, and the mind, and so they enter the Samadhi state in meditation. They show their purity, their clarity, their faculty of concentration, their willingness, liveliness, their willingness, excitement, and enthusiasm for doing their sadhana.

“…temperate in actions…” Controlling the food and the sleep affect what you reflect externally. If people have no control over food, they overeat and get heavy; then they can’t even do any asana postures.

“…who is moderate in sleep and wakefulness.” Here Lord Krishna emphasises that it is not about stopping sleeping and then afterwards looking like a zombie. He says that there is a time to sleep, a time to rest. There is time to be awake and a time to eat. The whole day is divided into four parts: twenty-four hours divided by four means that there are six hours for each part of the day. Now, you are already wondering, “How will I sit and meditate for six hours?” No. I am sure that you are actually thinking, “How can I eat for six hours?” Some people are probably wondering, “Why is Swamiji telling me to sleep for only six hours? This is terrible! How can I do that?” No, no! You have to sleep according to what your body needs. If you need eight hours, then sleep eight hours. If you need four hours, then sleep four hours. If you need three hours, then sleep three hours. It doesn’t matter. You have to respect what your body needs, so that you don’t ruin yourself and your dhyaan can be done properly. What is the use of not sleeping and then when you sit for meditation, you are falling left and right? It’s useless, isn’t it? What is the use of not eating and then when you sit for meditation, you see a plate of food in front of you? Or when you have eaten too much, you can’t even sit for meditation? If you have slept too much or if you have not slept at all, it doesn’t help, you know? Excesses don’t help one’s meditation. Even if the shastras say that it is good to sleep less and stay awake, one has to observe oneself and see what one really needs.

“Yoga becomes the destroyer of sorrow…” Success in Dhyaana Yoga elevates one to God-Realisation, and one attains the supreme peace. In that state, one is fully absorbed in the ocean of bliss.

Bhagavad Gita 

Chapter 6, Verse 16

nāty-aśnatas-tu yogo’sti

na caikāntam-anaśnataḥ

na cāti svapnaśīlasya

jāgrato naiva cārjuna

Verily this yoga is not for him who eats too much or sleeps too much; neither is it for him who gives up sleep and food, O Arjuna.

Eating too much food induces sleep and laziness and creates various disorders in the body, due to the accumulation of undigested matter. The body only needs a moderate amount of food. When you eat too much, not all of it gets digested and the excess stays in the body and creates imbalance. Then you can’t concentrate while doing meditation. That’s why some people need a siesta after eating. Abstaining from food also acts on the mind, the senses and the vital organs. When the sadhaks, the devotees sit for sadhana, their mind is focusing on food. If you say, “Today I will not eat!” That day the food will look much more appealing than usual, the smell will be stronger than usual, and your stomach will start growling. This will disturb the mind and when the mind gets disturbed, it can’t concentrate, and so this interferes with the practise of meditation. Bhagavan says that when you sit for meditation, your mind should be fixed on God and not on food or on a siesta.

Lord Krishna also says that one shouldn’t sleep too much. A reasonable amount of sleep helps to rest, refresh and strengthen the body. But as I said before, sleeping too much makes one feel drowsy, lazy, and not well, and due to that, one can’t concentrate in meditation. Then it becomes serious! You lose control, or you go into depression, or you start looking like a vampire with red eyes. Here Bhagavan also says that to abstain from sleep doesn’t contribute to a successful meditation. If you don’t sleep, your body will get exhausted. You will not be refreshed and then there will be complete disorder inside you. So a little bit of sleep is very important so that the body can refresh itself in the divine energy. During sleep, you completely lose your ego identity, and by losing the ego identity, you are fully absorbed into the Divine. Then the Divine energises every cell and every vital organ in the body, so that when you wake up, you feel fresh, you are full of energy, you are ready for another day.

Bhagavad Gita 

Meditation Yoga

Chapter 6, Verse 15

yuñjann-evaṁ sadā’tmānaṁ

yogī niyata-mānasaḥ

śāntiṁ nirvāṇa paramāṁ

mat-saṁsthām adhigacchati

Always putting himself in yoga by controlling his mind, the yogi attains to the supreme peace of Nirvana which has its foundation in Me.

“Always putting himself in yoga by controlling his mind.” The one who controls his diet, who controls what he puts into his body, who controls his mind, such a yogi “attains to the supreme peace of Nirvana which has its foundation in Me.”

Here Bhagavan says that the foundation of Nirvana is in Him, but it is not Him! Nirvana is just one state of Realisation. Many people say that the state of Nirvana is the ultimate state, but actually the ultimate state of Realisation, the supreme state, is beyond Nirvana. Nevertheless, Lord Krishna says here that when one has reached a certain purity, by controlling the mind, the diet, the body and the senses, then through meditation one enters into the state of Nirvana. Controlling what you eat, what kind of diet you have, is very important, because it has an effect on your meditation. Plants have a calm, peaceful nature, they are shanti. When you eat vegetarian food, automatically you also become shanti. On the other hand, meat contains the emotion of aggression in it from the animal! If you eat meat, you can’t sit and meditate because this quality will also awaken inside you. That’s why what you eat is very important!

It is also very important to control your sleep and your wakefulness. How long are you sleeping? Too little is not good! Too much is not good! For a yogi, six hours of sleep is enough. I think that science also says this, no? If people are not doing yoga, they need eight hours of sleep. Yogis need less. If you sleep less, it helps your concentration. Of course, you have to respect your own nature. Imagine that people

say, “I went to listen to this Swamiji and he said to sleep six hours a night.” Then you try it and wake up in the morning like a zombie. You don’t know what you are doing and nothing works. The scriptures say that you have to control your sleep, but if your body needs seven or eight hours, then sleep seven or eight hours. It’s best to respect your body’s needs: otherwise later, when you sit for meditation, you may fall asleep and be snoring, because you are not fully in control. So, six hours is enough, seven, or eight hours is okay, but much more than that is not good! You will see that when you sleep longer, eleven or twelve hours, afterwards you don’t feel good, your body is drained of energy, you have a headache, you feel lazy, drowsy, and zombified. And when you look in the mirror, you don’t even recognise yourself. You are shocked. You get depressed just by looking at yourself. Then you can’t meditate! And what about God- Realisation? It’s far away! You have to sleep only enough to be able to concentrate and continue your spiritual advancement. But don’t sleep during the day! That’s not good.

If you have control over your diet and your sleep, your meditation will be successful and will lead you to God-Realisation. It will lead you to supreme bliss, to supreme peace. Having reached a state like this, where one is fully surrendered to the Divine, there is never again suffering or sorrow. Once one has reached this state of Nirvana, there is no way that one will go backwards. When one attains this state of Nirvana, one breaks out of the cycle of birth and death. One doesn’t fall victim to grief, fear, or anxiety; one is always fully merged into this divine, blissful state, which has its foundation in Krishna Himself. In the state of Nirvana, one perceives the Supreme Lord in His glory, within one’s own Self: one also perceives Him in His sagun and nirgun aspects, which are respectively, the Lord with form and without form.

In the previous verse, Lord Krishna gives instructions about the seat that one should use to perfect one’s meditation. I would like to clarify that the asana Lord Krishna is talking about is your personal asana in your room, in your house or in your private areas. In a temple, you don’t have a specific place just for you. So don’t think that if you used to sit in one place and then somebody else sits there that you should

go and attack the person saying, “That’s my place! You have invaded my space!” No! In temples, like the Shree Peetha Nilaya Temple, there are no private places. Well, I have one. But apart from my seat and the deities’ seats, no one else has a private place. In the temples or public places, the seats are for everybody. However, when you do your dhyaan, you should be alone. It is better to meditate alone! Because the moment there is somebody else, your mind will be focused on that person.

Bhagavad Gita 

Meditation Yoga

Chapter 6, Verses 13-14

samaṁ kāya-śiro-grīvaṁ

dhārayann-acalaṁ sthiraḥ

saṁprekṣya nāsikāgraṁ svaṁ

diśaś-cānavalokayan

praśāntātmā vigata-bhīḥ

brahmacāri vrate sthitaḥ

manaḥ saṁyamya mac-citto

yukta āsīta mat-paraḥ

Holding the body, head and neck erect, motionless; the vision drawn in and fixed between the eyebrows; not regarding the regions; the mind kept calm and free from fear; the vow of Brahmacharya observed; the whole controlled mentality turned to Me, one must sit firm in yoga, wholly surrendered to Me.

Here Bhagavan Krishna says that during meditation, one must keep the spine straight, with the neck and the head, all in one line. One has to be “motionless, the vision drawn in and fixed between the eyebrows.” This means that with deep concentration, without following any outward impulse or distraction, one has to focus: the gaze must be “fixed between the eyebrows.” Lord Krishna says that the eyes should not be fully open or closed but semi-closed (like Lord Shiva’s eyes) and focusing on the tip of the nose.

The purpose of fixing the gaze on the tip of the nose is to avoid outer distractions and avoid falling asleep. Because if you keep the eyes fully open you may suddenly get distracted: “Oh, a fly…”. On the other hand, if the eyes are fully closed, you may fall asleep while meditating. Whereas when you have the eyes semi-closed, you stay focused! You will not fall asleep and you will not get distracted. Nevertheless, the mind should be fixed on God. The eyes are focusing on the tip of the nose, but the mind should not be focused on the nose… okay? Don’t get these two things mixed up. I am telling you to sit in meditation with semi-closed eyes focusing on the tip of the nose. Here I am not telling you to look at your nose, I said for you to fix the gaze on the tip of the nose, but the mind must be focused on God, on Paramatman, Parabrahma.

If you practise meditation as described in this verse, if the mind is focused, you will have control over it and you will not have a sleep attack, which afterwards you will call ‘meditation’. Fixing the gaze at the tip of the nose also helps to develop firmness within. It helps to overcome the fear of the opposites, the fear of duality, the fear of not doing things properly. By sitting for meditation in a state of fear, you are not free. But if you focus on God within yourself, if you let the mind dwell on the Divine, when you sit for meditation, you will perfect yourself.

Observing “Brahmacharya” means that for one to fully focus in meditation, one should control and avoid the flow of energy downwards. One should avoid being in a relationship and use this energy for their own spiritual growth. Imagine how much energy there is in it. With this energy one can create another body. The fusion between the sperm and the ovule is like an ‘atomic bomb’. A new body can be created from these two energies. You have this power, but someone who is really longing for God- Realisation will not use this power, this energy, in an outward action. In this verse, Lord Krishna emphasises the importance of observing “the vow of Brahmacharya” during meditation, because if you have not yet developed self-control, you will be controlled by self-enjoyment or lust. However, with self-control a yogi is free. That’s why Krishna is training Arjuna to observe the vow of Brahmacharya. He says, “I am not telling you to fully stop this energy, but during the time of your sadhana, it is very important to keep yourself pure and to restrain yourself, to keep this energy and use it for advancing yourself spiritually.” This will also help the mind to not drown itself in the tendencies of the lower region, but to focus on the higher goal, on the Divine, to make you strong spiritually.

“The whole controlled mentality turned to Me.” God is present everywhere. If the yogi practising meditation wants to see God, “he must sit firm in yoga.” One should sit fearlessly in meditation, not thinking that one is doing something wrong or right. One should not be looking at the watch asking, “When are these fifteen minutes, which Swamiji told me to do, going to end?” Or set the alarm and then when the fifteen minutes have passed, say, “Ah, finished! I have done it!” On the contrary, when people do their meditation or their Atma Kriya Yoga practice, they should be fully absorbed in it and should love doing it.

If during meditation one entertains the smallest fear in the mind, one will naturally feel distracted and lonely. When one sits for meditation, one should hold firm and fully trust in God, be “wholly surrendered to Me.” One should not think about one’s limitations, but should fully surrender to the Divine with faith and love. If the mind is disturbed during this time, one should remind oneself that God is there, that in that moment of meditation you are in His presence. That’s why I said that setting a time is very important: it’s like you sent Him an invitation to come and He is present there! You are not alone, you are in His presence! So, there can be no fear at all.

When yogis sit for meditation and the time for them to leave this plane arrives, they automatically advance to a higher plane. If they are meditating, and then due to samskaras they die, this brings them to their highest good. It can happen and has happened many times: the Atma leaves to the spiritual plane. The ones who have taken the path of meditation on the Absolute Reality, God, will never come back to this same reality, but they will always incarnate to advance spiritually. They will find their way, their spiritual path, and they won’t go backwards. There is a continuation. For example, you are all sitting here because you have done something ‘good’ in your last life. You have some good karma, otherwise you would not be here. In this life, you have received the great punya to be on the spiritual path, to receive Atma Kriya Yoga, and through that, God has manifested Himself in His omnipresence inside each one of you. He is guiding you on your spiritual path, in His nirgun form and in His sagun form. He has a multitude of forms and aspects, like Shiva, Vishnu, Devi, Jesus, and many others.

Bhagavad Gita 

Meditation Yoga

Chapter 6, Verses 11-12

śucau deśe pratiṣṭhāpya

sthitam-āsanam ātmanaḥ

nāty-ucchritaṁ nāti-nīcaṁ

cailājina kuśottaram

tatraikāgraṁ manaḥ kṛtvā

yata-cittendriya kriyaḥ

upaviśyāsane yuñjyād

yogam-ātma viśuddhaye

He should set his firm seat in a pure spot, neither too high, nor too low, covered with a cloth, a deer skin, and sacred grass; seated there with a concentrated mind, and with the workings of the mental consciousness and

the senses under control, he should practise yoga for self-purification.

In these verses, Bhagavan Krishna explains that it’s important to have a fixed place to meditate and a proper seat, or asana, to sit on.

“He should set his firm seat in a pure spot.” Even though you should be comfortable, the seat should not be too soft: it has to be firm. In ancient times, yogis used a wooden seat or a stone slate as a base for their asana.

“… neither too high, nor too low.” The seat should not be too high, because if you are sitting too high and you go into deep meditation or deep sleep, you might fall down! Your meditation will be disturbed or you may fall and get hurt. If you are sitting near the floor or directly on the floor, there will always be an exchange of energy: the heat, or the cold, will have an effect on your body. Furthermore, if there is a small animal crawling around, it will crawl on you! Imagine that you are sitting for meditation, and you have not yet perfected it, you are not yet completely absorbed into the higher Self where you are not aware of the body consciousness. And then

small flies are flying all around you, or ants are crawling on you! In India, probably even snakes would be crawling on you. All this will disturb you and interfere with your

meditation.

“… covered with a cloth.” The purpose of a cloth is to make you feel more comfortable when you are in meditation. Then you won’t end up feeling pains in your legs and say, “I am sitting too long on this hard wood. It’s terrible!” So Krishna says that you can make the seat a little bit softer by putting a piece of cloth over it.

“…with a deer skin, with sacred grass.” In ancient times, the yogis used to meditate seated on a deer skin. They would not go around killing deer to get the skin, but they would use the skin from an animal which had died naturally. Do you know why they used deer skin? Because it is said that deer skin acts like an insulation which protects the energy that flows through your body when you are absorbed in the Divine rhythm during meditation. During meditation the energy flows through all the chakras, from the base up to the head, and you become like a pillar of energy. You have to utilise this energy for your spiritual growth. You have to sustain this energy inside you and not let it slip away. That’s why Lord Krishna says to place a deer skin on the seat. 

However, put Kush grass under the deer skin. Kush grass, which we use in prayers, is considered to be the hair of Narayana, so it’s very holy. Then put a piece of cloth over the deer skin, because the deer skin is not that comfy to sit on: it pricks you. The hairs on the deer skin seem smooth when they are all laying in the same direction, but if you move just a little bit, they will prick your behind, which will be very uncomfortable, and then you’ll start scratching and moving even more. So, the cloth over the deer skin will protect you. It will keep the hairs laying in one direction, otherwise they will prick you, then you’ll move, and move and you’ll not be able to concentrate. Furthermore, placing the Kush grass under the deer skin, will protect the deer skin, and prevent its decay.

Therefore, Lord Krishna advises putting these three layers on the seat: Kush grass, a deerskin, and a cloth. This kind of asana will help the bhakta, the sadhak, to concentrate during meditation.

But please note very well that the deer skin which the yogis used was from an animal which died naturally. So for the sake of your meditation, don’t buy a skin from an animal that was killed. When somebody kills an animal, he kills it for his own personal pleasure or gain. By buying the skin of that killed animal, you are participating in its killing and taking upon yourself that karma. What good would this bring you? It would not bring you any good. It would be better to have a proper seat made only of Kush grass. Kush grass is very good for meditation!

Āsanam ātmanaḥ means, “The seat belongs to oneself.” One should not sit on somebody else’s seat when one meditates. Because when you sit on your own asana, there is a certain energy which is emanating from it and this energy is important for your spiritual growth. Your asana becomes a place of concentration of energy. And if you use somebody else’s asana, you don’t know which level of energy or which level of concentration they put in it. By utilising the asana of a person who has a low frequency of energy, you get in contact with that energy and automatically your whole attitude changes. This is why, in these verses, Bhagavan Krishna explains how important it is to keep one’s own asana. 

When the bhakta has his own asana, his own place, the right timing, and the “workings of the mental consciousness and the senses under control, he should practise yoga for self-purification,” cittendriya kriyaḥ. Here Krishna says that the mind and the intellect have to be under control. You have to concentrate yourself to the point where there is a complete suspension of all activities. In that state, the mind doesn’t run towards the outside world; the mind is stable. So focus the mind on the object of meditation. What is the object of meditation? God. By concentrating the mind on God, by fixing the mind on the Divine, the senses are automatically under control.

“… he should practise yoga for self-purification.” Here Lord Krishna emphasises that when one practises meditation, it is to purify oneself, so one can reach the state where one is fully immersed in the Love of God within. One should not meditate to attain any worldly glory or worldly object. So you shouldn’t say, “I am meditating. O God, I want something!”

Bhagavad Gita 

Chapter 6, Verse 10

yogī yuñjīta satatam

ātma‌naṁ rahasi sthitaḥ

ekākī yatacittātmā

nirāśīr aparigrahaḥ

Let the yogi continually practise union with the Self, sitting apart and alone, with all desire and idea of possession banished from his mind, self- controlled in his whole being and consciousness.

“Let the yogi continually practise union with the Self.” Here the term ‘yogi’ refers to the bhakta, the spiritual practitioner who is doing yoga, the one who is longing for God. The yogi, who has reached perfection through yoga is seated in the Self focusing on God Himself alone. “Sitting apart and alone, with all desire and idea of possession banished from his mind:” When one has a controlled mind and doesn’t have any sense of possession or any attachment to any kind of desire, then, one is eligible to sit in meditation.

Here Krishna was talking to people who are on the spiritual path, who are longing for God. He says, “Find a suitable place to practise meditation.” He advised one to withdraw oneself from the world. Those who are on the spiritual path, have to withdraw into themselves from time to time: they have to go within themselves. The spiritual sadhaks who are busy in the world wherever they are, whatever they are doing, should find time, from time to time, to sit down for meditation, dhyaan, to withdraw from the outside world and enter into the inner quietness within the Self. It’s like recharging the batteries! As long as the mind runs towards the outside reality, the battery is discharging. However, it is difficult to sit down for meditation when there are people around, especially if you are just freshly starting on the spiritual path. Once you have mastered meditation, that’s not a problem. But when you have not yet mastered meditation, it’s important to find your own place.

There are certain rules saying that you should have a fixed place for meditation and a proper asana or seat. In the next verse, Krishna will tell us about the importance of the seat and how important it is to always meditate in the same place.

“… self-controlled in his whole being and consciousness.” One is self-controlled in the mind, one is self-controlled in the body, one is self-controlled in the breath, through pranayama, the breathing exercises. Practise meditation! Let the mind and the intellect be absorbed in the thought of God! That’s the meditation one should practise and this practise should be unbroken! One must discipline oneself and not find excuses for not doing one’s spiritual practice. You shouldn’t say, “Today there is a nice movie. I am going to watch it at nine o’clock. I should sit down for meditation, but there is this movie, so I will watch it and then afterwards I will sit for meditation.”

The time and the place of meditation are very important, because when you set a certain time to meditate, you are inviting God to be there with you. It’s like if you invite

a friend to come to your place and then you are not there to welcome your friend. How would it be? Or you are invited somewhere, you are ringing the bell and you see all the lights off. Then someone turns the light on and you see the person in pyjamas saying, “Ai! I thought it was tomorrow!” How would it be? You would be shocked, no? So, here it is the same thing. When you set a certain time to sit for meditation, you arei nviting God to manifest Himself at that moment. And you can have this expectation that, as you sent the invitation, God will come and be eagerly waiting for you inside yourself at that time. Let’s say you plan to meditate at nine o’clock. In your mind, you have already created this appointment with God, so the Divine will manifest Himself at this appointed time within you. He will be waiting for you, for your consciousness, for your Atma to be completely focused on the meditation. That’s why the time of meditation is also very important.

Bhagavad Gita 

Chapter 6, Verse 9

suhṛn mitrāry-udāsīna

madhyastha dveṣya bandhuṣu

sādhuṣv-api ca pāpeṣu

sama-buddhir viśiṣyate

He who is equal and impartial in action to a friend, an enemy and to a neutral person, also to a sinner and a saint, he excels.

A self-controlled person who is centred in God finds no difference anywhere. Once one has perceived the Divine within one’s own Self, one doesn’t judge anyone, since one is fully absorbed in the service of God, and finding Him everywhere.

Someone who truly loves, doesn’t see any differences. This happens to people in daily life. When you are freshly in love with someone, even if it is the worst person in the world, everything is perfect! All is good! You are in seventh heaven – I would not say in the seventh heaven, but on the seventh cloud – and there you are so intoxicated with this love, that you don’t see any of the differences between you, so you don’t have any judgements. But when you fall out in love, when you fall down from the seventh cloud, then you see everything completely differently. Then the worldly diversity starts to reveal itself, you become aware of the outer reality and then you suffer. However, it is important to note that it was you who put yourself in such a state, because you let yourself fall into that love. Your suffering is not due to the other person. You didn’t know what was inside the other person, even if the person had said, “I love you!” You didn’t know whether the person truly loved you or not. Words, words! So you can’t just accuse the other person and say, “You are the cause of my misery.” If you looked within, your soul would tell you, “How stupid is this mind! It was listening to mere words and disregarding what the person was doing. How blind!”

Lord Krishna says that for a true yogi, it doesn’t matter. True yogis are here on Earth to love: they always stay in that loving state and in that loving state, there is no judgement. It’s not like human love, where you put someone high up on a pedestal, and then the moment you hear or see something that you don’t like about the person you think you love, then you become aggressive, and depressive – you become all the ‘sives’ – expansive, expressive, oppressive, and possessive. All kinds of ‘sives’ start ‘to sive’ you. Whereas the ones who excel are above all this, as they look at everything equally and rejoice in God Consciousness. They see that it is God who is doing this multitude of activities through His creation. It is God who has manifested Himself and is enjoying Himself while He is doing everything. Here Bhagavan Krishna says of the one who was in God Consciousness, “He is not a saint! He is not a yogi! He is greater than that! He excels!” These ones perceive the Divine within their own Self. They don’t only perceive the Divine when they are sitting and praying. No! At all times, wherever they go, whoever they meet, they see only God. Whatever they do, it’s only to serve Him. So there is not a moment when the mind is far away from Him.

Bhagavad Gita 

Chapter 6, Verse 8

jñāna vijñāna tṛptātmā

kūt‌astho jitendriyaḥ

yukta ity-ucyate yogī

sama-loṣṭāśma kāñcanaḥ

The yogi, who is established in the knowledge of the Self, tranquil and self-poised, master of his senses, regarding alike earth, stone and gold, is said to be firmly in yoga.

For the one who has self-control, who sees the oneness everywhere and perceives the Divine equally, there is no difference between “earth, stone and gold”, because the source of everything is God Himself. One who has conquered oneself is above the duality, heat and cold, honour and dishonour. In such a state of oneness with the Divine, these people live in the world. They see the worldly objects, they experience everything which is connected to the body, the mind and the senses, they experience everything which is coming and going in life, yet they are not touched by anything. Even though they are living amidst the duality and the diversity of the outside world, there are no unhealthy reactions happening in their minds like fear, desire, jealousy, or anger. These people who have a self-controlled mind are always tranquil: they are above all the modifications of the mind, at all times, and in all circumstances. They are realised.

In this state of oneness, one doesn’t have any attachment to anything, one doesn’t find happiness in worldly objects. The senses don’t run towards the outside reality, but are fully under control. These people regard alike earth and gold, which symbolise attachment and greed. In this verse Lord Krishna says, “For a bhakta, it doesn’t matter! Even if a bhakta earns a whole palace made of gold, it doesn’t mean anything to him.”

Lahiri Mahasaya had the desire from a previous life to see a golden palace. Just to fulfil and finish that desire, Mahavatar Babaji materialised a golden palace for him. But Lahiri Mahasaya knew that this palace would not make him happy, so he stayed out of it. He didn’t start dancing, saying, “Yippee! Yippee! Now I have a palace”, like Ravana did.

Demon Ravana was so proud of his golden city that Hanuman burned down to nothing. Hanuman is not attached to anything but Rama. Imagine Hanumanji getting attached to the gold in this city and starting to think, “Why should I burn all this gold? I will take it home! I will make good use of it.” Here Lord Krishna said that a true yogi, a saint, is not fooled by the outer reality or bound by what he has or doesn’t have. It’s equal! The mind of a true yogi is not attached to anything, so he happily lets go of everything but God.

Bhagavad Gita 

Chapter 6, Verse 7

jitātmanaḥ praśāntasya

paramātmā samāhitaḥ

śītoṣṇa sukha-duḥkheṣu

tathā mānāpamānayoḥ

When one has conquered the mind and attained the calm of perfect self-mastery; when one has transcended the dualities of cold and heat, pleasure and pain, as well as honour and dishonour; then one is firmly established in the Supreme Self.

Here Lord Krishna explains that when one has realised that all sense objects of this world are an illusion, one runs away from such attachment, finding no happiness in it; in this way one controls the senses. When the mind and the senses are controlled, they don’t run after the sense objects, so one can direct the senses to where one wants; this is ʻself-masteryʼ. If the mind and senses are under control, they can be focused on God, on the image of the Divine, which will lead one towards God-Realisation.

The ones who are completely surrendered to God, the ones who are fully absorbed into Brahman, through the control of the mind, don’t get disturbed by anything. They are not touched by pleasure or pain, honour and dishonour, or anything. These opposites don’t affect them at all, because they see the Divine in everything. This is the quality of someone who has merged into his own Self. He reflects calmness, peace, tranquillity and joy. These qualities emanate from the ones who are not agitated by anything; they are free.

Bhagavad Gita 

Chapter 6, Verse 6

ndhur-ātmā’tmanas tasya

yenātmaivātmanā jitaḥ

anātmanastu śatrutve

vartetātmaiva śatruvat

The mind is the friend of one who has conquered the mind. But for one whose mind is uncontrolled, the mind remains hostile, like an adversary.

So again, Lord Krishna keeps repeating in different ways that one who has conquered the body, and the senses, whose mind is always focused and fully under control, easily redeems himself from worldly existence and attains God-Realisation. Whereas the “…one whose mind is uncontrolled, the mind, remains hostile, like an adversary.” In this state, one is a slave to the mind, the senses and the body. It’s like a person who is sick, because he has lots of poison inside him. These people do everything to oppose their own spiritual growth, because of egoism, sense of possession, attraction and repulsion, lust, anger, and greed: they fall victim to these sinful acts due to the mind. They become their own adversary.

Nobody can make you unhappy, but yourself. The cause of your happiness doesn’t lie in somebody else, but in you! If you want to be happy, you are happy. And if you want to be sad, you are sad. Very often people say, “I feel very sad, because you have not given me attention.” This is an example of an uncontrolled mind and stupidity. One should face the truth, which is, “I feel sad, but I don’t want to change anything! I am just enjoying feeling sad, because this person has not looked at me and doesn’t pay any attention to me.” You see this happen in daily life, don’t you? Due to this, people become the source of their own misery. Whereas when one doesn’t expect anything, one is free and develops true happiness.

If you change the mind, if you train the mind to see in a different way, in a positive way, then you will be happy. You will not be miserable. You will not be attached. That’s why the song says, Jiv Jago, Jiv Jago Gorachandra Bole: “Awake, human, awake!”

Bhagavad Gita 

Meditation Yoga 

Chapter 6, Verse 5

uddhared-ātman-ātmānaṁ

nātmānam avasādayet

ātmaiva hy-ātmano bandhuḥ

ātmaiva ripur-ātmanaḥ

One should raise oneself by one’s own mind and not allow oneself to fall; the mind alone is the friend of the conditioned soul, and also its enemy.

“One should raise oneself by one’s own mind and not allow oneself to fall…”The control of the mind is very important! Because of the mind, people experience limitation in everything and limit their own existence. Here Bhagavan says, “Control the mind, raise the mind! Let the mind be transformed from a lower state into a higher state of consciousness.”

“… the mind alone is the friend of the conditioned soul, and also its enemy.” Here Krishna reminds Arjuna that a controlled mind is one’s friend, but an uncontrolled mind is one’s enemy. Your happiness or sadness doesn’t depend on anyone else. Don’t think that anyone makes you happy or makes you sad. No one! When the mind is deluded by attachments, wants and desires, one sees imperfections and becomes sad. But through discipline, through Bhakti Yoga, by controlling the mind through Karma Sannyasa Yoga, where one renounces everything in the mind itself, one does everything with an attitude of surrender. In this way, one is lifted, one lifts oneself from the normal mundane reality and attains God-Realisation. On the contrary, the one who is engaged in sinful deeds under the impulse of evils like attraction, repulsion, lust, anger, greed, and infatuation, is deprived of the supreme fruit of human existence, Grace. One doesn’t realise why one has incarnated. So, when the Atma is leaving the body, the Atma realises this and looks back at its life saying, “Oops, I did it again! I have to come back.” At that moment, due to karma, not only the mind, but also the Atma itself goes into a state of depression and confusion. It’s like there is a whirlpool turning around the Atma. The Atma is saying, “Oh my goodness, what have I done? Ay, yi, yi!”

Krishna says, “A controlled mind will raise itself towards God Consciousness, but it is the opposite for someone who dwells on lust, anger, and greed.” These souls have to sometimes incarnate in a lower species as animals, as swine, goats, and dogs. That’s why sometimes people will meet a dog and feel, “This was my dear friend, my companion!” Why do you think that people feel like this? They meet each other because there is a connection between them. That’s why they resemble each other! If there was no connection, how would they resemble each other? One is a dog and the other one is a human being, but the human starts to drag himself so much down into the ‘dog state’, that he starts to resemble a dog! Whereas, if he could incarnate in a higher state, he would resemble the Divine and express the divine qualities! Imagine what is going on in the dog! The dog is looking at the human, saying, “You fool! In my last life I was also a human. We were close friends. And seeing how well you are treating me now, I am very happy, wag, wag, wag. I will serve you. I will show you that I am faithful, because I want to reach the high state of surrender. But you are a fool. You are always happily looking down at me, not realising that you are dragging yourself down, that you are creating an attachment which will doom you!”

There is a story I like to tell: One morning, a successful businessman was walking to his shop and on the way he met a saint. As soon as the saint saw him, the saint started laughing crazily. The businessman looked at the saint, but as his mind was so much focused on his business and on how he could get more money, he didn’t think too much about it. He opened his shop and later on, while he was working, a goat ran into the shop and tried to hide itself behind the desk. The owner of the goat arrived and asked him, “Where is my goat? Please give me my goat!” The shop owner said, “Your goat is here, but it doesn’t want to leave.” Then he thought, ‘Well, maybe, this is a sign. Let me try to save this goat and buy it from its owner.’ He asked him, “For how much would you sell this goat?” The goat’s owner said, “I can sell it to you for 500 rupees.” The businessman protested saying, “That’s too much! I will give you only 100 rupees.” The goat’s owner replied, “Are you a fool? I asked you for 500 rupees and you want to give me only 100 rupees? No way, forget about it!” The businessman said, “Okay, I will give you 250 rupees, but no more than that!” The goat’s owner didn’t accept the offer and took the goat to be slaughtered. At that moment, the saint came and again laughed crazily at the businessman. The businessman started getting worried and asked himself, ‘Why is this crazy yogi laughing at me like this?’

In the evening he was very happy to be back home. There, his wife welcomed him nicely saying, “Hello my dear! Oh, darling, how are you today?” He said, “You know, there was this weird yogi who was always laughing at me. I first saw him while I was on my way to the shop; I saw him again when a man brought a goat to the shop. Again the saint was there laughing crazily at me. I wonder why he was laughing at me like that.” Then the businessman asked, “Where is our baby? Bring the baby!” As he was holding the baby and playing with him, “Ahralarala…”, the baby peed on him. The yogi was outside, looking at this scene, and he started laughing crazily again. The businessman noticed that the yogi was outside laughing like this and he wanted to know why. This was the third time that day that the yogi was laughing at him! He went quickly outside and said, “Please, tell me why you are laughing at me like that? I saw you for the first time when I was walking to my shop. You burst out laughing as soon as you saw me! I saw you a second time during the day; you were laughing at me when a man brought a goat to the shop. And now you are laughing at me again! Please tell me, why? I want to understand. Every time you laugh, it scares me.”

The yogi said, “You fool! Why was I laughing at you? I was looking at how you are functioning in life, without knowing that you will soon die. As you said, I saw you when you were on the way to open your shop, but your mind was so focused on how much money you will make with the big project that you have in mind, and you don’t even realise that tomorrow is your last day. You are going to die tomorrow. That’s why I was laughing. This is the end! You are making big plans, yet today is your last day on Earth and you don’t realise it. I laughed at you the second time, because that goat, was your deceased father who, due to his sins, degraded himself to the animal level and was born in the form of this goat. This business that you are running was from your father. However, when your father came to you for protection so that he would not be killed by the butcher, you could not even pay 500 rupees to save his life! That’s why I was laughing at you. How unwise you are! I am laughing at you the third time, because this little baby that you are holding in your arms and playing with, used to be your worst enemy and he knows that you will die soon. He is thinking, “Look, I got your wife and I will have her for my whole life. That’s why I peed on you.”

Such is the state of people who make friends due to attachment and worldly ambitions. These are not real friends. Companions, who we associate with, is very important. Is it a high association or a low association? The saints, the holy men, the bhaktas, the friends of God, the ones who are on the spiritual path, who share the same aim of surrendering to the Lord always associate themselves with people who have the same attitude. They are true friends, they help each other and always work for freedom. They are always aware of God in everything they do, wherever they go. 

The ones who like to smoke and drink? With whom do they associate? Only with people who smoke and drink, isn’t it true?They don’t make friends with people who don’t smoke and drink. People who have a certain tendency will always be with people who have the same tendency and, in this way, they create more and more bondages and attachments. Whereas true friends help each other to realise God. Within their hearts, they develop true reverence and love for all, and help each other with a genuine heart, not because of any expectations and not because they are pretending.

Therefore, the surroundings are very important. Friends who sincerely care for your advancement will not do anything to hurt you. Whereas your enemies will do the opposite. They will always say, “O come here! We are doing this or that for your own good.” But, in reality, they are so unscrupulous that they will do everything for their own benefit, and they will not hesitate to put you down. Such is the state of a mind which is not surrendered. And in that state, the mind becomes crazy, and depressed; one feels that, “Oh, I am not loved.” People should try to associate themselves with a sadhu Satsang, with true friends who elevate them.

Here Lord Krishna says, “The mind itself can be the cause of your salvation. If you train your mind to be your best friend, and your mind dwells on the Divine, it will lead you to freedom. On the contrary, if the mind is full of negativity, it will be the cause of your doom.” One’s mind will be one’s own friend or one’s own enemy, depending on what object the mind dwells.

Bhagavad Gita 

Chapter 6, Verse 2

 

yaṁ saṁnyāsam-iti prāhuḥ 

yogaṁ taṁ viddhi pāṇḍava 

na hy-asaṁnyasta saṅkalpo 

yogī bhavati kaścana

 

What they have called renunciation (Sannyas), know it to be in truth, yoga, O Pandava, for no one becomes a yogi who has not renounced desire in the mind.

 Here Lord Krishna reminds Arjuna that, “One must know that, in reality, Sannyas, is not different from yoga, it is yoga itself.” The term ‘yoga’ here means the state of inaction, which is the highest form of Karma Yoga: one is doing all action, yet the action is not producing any karma. Lord Krishna says that in such a state, one is a true sannyasin: when one has renounced the sense of possession, attachments and desires, one always dwells in the awareness of the supreme reality of God. That’s true renunciation.

 

“… for none becomes a yogi who has not renounced desire in the mind.” Here Lord Krishna again reminds Arjuna that, “No one can be a true yogi while having many desires.” When one renounces the thoughts of the world, changing the mind’s focus from the outer reality to the inner reality, focusing it on God within the Self, then one becomes a yogi. Whereas the ones who focus on the outward reality, even if they appear to have renounced, even if they appear to have let go, inwardly in their minds, they have not let go. And if the mind has not let go, they have not let go of anything. On the other hand, if the mind has completely let go, then they are true yogis. Here Krishna says that the true yogis are the ones who have renounced desire from the mind itself and their minds are dwelling completely in the Divine.  

Some devotees force themselves to run away to a cave, or they say, “Let me go live in the ashram, because everybody is going to live in the ashram.” They make it a trend. They say, “Ah, life will be good there!” However, when they are living in the ashram, their mind is still in the outside world and they think, “Oh my goodness! How is my mother? How is my father? How is my brother? How is my sister? What will I do?” When they first come to the ashram they are very excited, but later if the mind is still running to the outside world, the desires awaken and they start to feel miserable. When you ‘cross the gate’, you have to let go of the outside world. When you take the vow of Brahmacharya, if you have not, from your mind itself, renounced the outside world, it’s very difficult! Then you are not a true sannyasin. You have not renounced the world. You’re still carrying it inside you. This was what happened in the story of the two monks. (Ch. 5, v. 5) Then it’s very difficult, because when you sit down for your meditation or sadhana, the mind is always running towards what is happening outside or to what one needs. Then one becomes a slave to the mind. And when one becomes a slave to the mind, one becomes a slave to the senses. And when one becomes a slave to the senses, one is finished! So it is better if someone is a sannyasin living in the world, doing one’s sadhana with an attitude of surrendering and serving the Lord, than running away from the world.  

Here Krishna says, “None of those can be called true yogis, because they are not truthful with themselves. They bring the outside world into this path, so they have not renounced anything. But the ones who have truly renounced all thoughts of the outside world and perfected themselves in their sadhana, the ones whose minds are free, can do whatever they want, they are free. God becomes the most important thing in their lives, it doesn’t matter where they are.” That’s why I said that true yogis can sit and meditate in the middle of New York. They don’t need to be in a cave in the Himalayas or the Swiss Alps.

Bhagavad Gita 

Chapter 6, Verse 4

 

yadā hi nendriyārtheṣu 

na karmasv-anuṣajjate 

sarva saṅkalpa saṁnyāsī 

yogārūḍhas-tad-ocyate

 

When one does not get attached to the objects of the senses or to the fruits of actions and has renounced all desire in the mind, he is said to have ascended to the top of yoga.

 

“One does not get attached to the objects of the senses or to the fruits of actions and has renounced all desire in the mind…” The mind is not focused on, “If I do this, what will I get out of it?” There is not an expectation. You are not doing business with the Divine. You are not making a deal with God saying, “Oh, I am doing my meditation so I will get this” or “I am doing my japa because Swami said I have to do japa.” You do your japa because through japa you feel the Love of God, you feel that He is with you. You are chanting His Name and you crave for Him! You’re longing for Him! And when you do your seva, when you’re working, you don’t say, “Ah, because this Swamiji has told me to do it, I have to do it quick, quick, quick. It’s a terrible thing!” No! Inside you, there is this joy of doing it, even if no one asks you to do it. Such devotees ascend to the top of yoga; they perfect themselves and achieve the perfection of yoga.

  

Here Lord Krishna says that if one has this eagerness to surrender, without a sense of possession, attachment or aversion, then one will not feel pressure or pain inside oneself to do something; one will have the joy of doing it. If one renounces the very thoughts of possession, attachment and aversion, one will not perform any action in a pressured way, but in complete bliss. One will not think, “Now I have to do this, then I have to do that.” Those whose minds are continuously focusing on God, for whom there is nothing but God, gain the fruits of yoga. Through the Grace that they receive, they become illumined; they start to reflect the Love that they have inside of them. That’s true yoga! When there is this joy of serving, without putting oneself first, when there is no attachment to anything but God, then one ascends to the summit of yoga. Krishna says, “The true bhaktas, who are completely surrendered and don’t think of themselves, ascend ‘to the top of yoga.’” They don’t need to do much, but Grace, Kripa, carries them, because Grace is everything, Kripa is everything. And through Grace, people who are in a lower rhythm can be placed in a higher rhythm – I would say even in the highest rhythm! Grace can take them from mere human consciousness fully into Divine Consciousness, through just a touch! But to be able to receive this Kripa, people have to perfect themselves and show that they are worthy. That’s why here Lord Krishna says, “Enter the state of perfection in yoga, yogārūḍhas. Let the mind dwell on the Lord at all times.”

Bhagavad Gita 

Chapter 6, Verse 3

 

ārurukṣor-muner-yogaṁ 

karma kāraṇam ucyate 

yogārūḍhasya tasyaiva 

śamaḥ kāraṇam ucyate

 

For a sage who is ascending the hill of yoga, action is the means: for the same sage, when he has attained the summit of yoga, self-mastery is the means.

 

“For a sage who is ascending the hill of yoga, action is the means…” For a sage who is renouncing all actions, practising meditation, “…when he has attained the summit of yoga, self-mastery is the means.” When the yogi sits in a cave in deep meditation, letting go of the outside world, and focuses through dhyaan on the Divine within, this is called ‘self-mastery’.

 

In this verse, Krishna is also referring to the one who does his action in the outside world, with an attitude of complete surrender, serving the Lord. A bhakta’s mind is always focused on the Lotus Feet of the Lord. Whatever a bhakta does, be it eating, drinking, dancing, or partying, he does it in a state of surrender. One is not attached to the fruits of one’s action. One is stepping over the stone of perfection and attains the same perfection in yoga as the yogi who is seated in a cave. Here one sees the world itself as a big cave; wherever one sits one finds the same perfection, one finds God everywhere. The mind is not deluded. One attains tranquillity through the control of the mind. The mind is tranquil, which means it becomes free of thoughts. One is calm. Whatever action one does in such a state, one is always in deep union with one’s higher Self, vibrating the Love of God. One vibrates the qualities of the Divine through one’s actions, but one is free from everything. No karma is created. For such a person, the cave and the world appear the same. One rises as the yogi rises, ascending “the hill of yoga”. By having the mind focused on the Lord, a bhakta attains perfection through His Grace. Lord Krishna says, “How easy it is for a bhakti yogi who is truly surrendered!”

Bhagavad Gita 

Chapter 3, Verse 37

 

śrī bhagavān uvāca 

kāma eṣa krodha eṣa 

rajoguṇa samudbhavaḥ 

mahāśano mahā-pāpmā 

viddhyenam-iha vairiṇam

 

The Lord says: It is desire, it is anger, born of the guna of rajas, all devouring, and impeller to sin. Know this to be the foe here.

The attraction and repulsion to objects of senses are the two thieves which constantly rob man of his spiritual wealth. The force which is behind this is an automatic reaction of the mind. When the mind is not in accordance with the Divine Will, it automatically becomes a rebel. It starts to rebel against the force of Nature itself. When you have a certain desire which is not fulfilled, you get angry, no? Where does this desire come from? It doesn’t come from the Atma, it comes from the mind.  

The mind is responsible for such a state! 

Bhagavan Krishna says, “If the desire is removed at the beginning itself, it will not give way to anger. But if the desire is starting to speak loudly, then one becomes one’s own enemy.” If one is not strongly enough into practicing his sadhana, one has not this inner spiritual power. If one doesn’t have the knowledge of the Self, if one doesn’t put God first, then one will always be drawn to these qualities. 

In the previous verse Arjuna asks, “What is the enemy of man?” And here Krishna answers, “This desire.” But to overcome desire, Krishna says, “You must have knowledge! Without knowledge, this desire will not be controlled. Without knowledge, this desire will make you always sinful. But with the knowledge of the Self, you’ll learn to control desire.”

Bhagavad Gita 

Chapter 6, Verse 1

 

śrī bhagavān uvāca 

anāśritaḥ karma-phalaṁ 

kāryaṁ karma karoti yaḥ 

sa saṁnyāsī ca yogī ca 

na nir-agnir-na cākriyaḥ

 

The Lord says: Whoever does the work to be done without attachment to its fruits, he is a sannyasin and a yogi, not the man who doesn’t light the sacrificial fire and doesn’t do works.

 

Here Lord Krishna says that a Karma Yogi who performs every sacrifice, with an attitude of surrender, keeping the mind, the body, and the soul focused on God, serving society, doing seva, and following what He teaches is a true yogi. He says that someone who practises Karma Yoga, who is working with the mind attached to the Lord, having renounced all the thoughts of the world, attains true knowledge of the Self and is regarded as a renunciate and as a yogi. 

 

Then the Lord continues, saying, “…not the man who doesn’t light the sacrificial fire.” It is important to note that traditionally when a sannyasin truly renounces the world, and enters the order of Sannyas, he should not even light a fire for his own benefit, whether it be a fire for a yagna ceremony or any other kind of fire! If he lights a fire, he will start to think about heat, food, and so on. Very often you see people who call themselves renunciates, who pretend to have let go of everything, saying, “We don’t need anything. Everything is just an illusion.” Yet their minds are fully attached to the fruits of their actions and they always want, want, want. They are always focusing more on the outside world than on the inner Self. They are always identifying with the body and the mind! Even if they appear to be externally renounced, they are not. Here Lord Krishna says that such people are not true sannyasins. On the other hand, there are many people who live in the outside world, but they are not attached to it and they are doing their seva there. A bhakta is not doing anything for his own benefit!

 

The ones who have truly renounced the mind’s egoism, desires, attachments and serve the Lord with an attitude of surrender, seeing the Lord everywhere, are the true yogis. Bhagavan Krishna says to Arjuna, “Don’t think that you are doing your duty by just saying, ‘I am renouncing, I am letting go’, or ‘I will let go of this war and run away for their sake, so they will be saved.’” He says, “No! Do your duty with an attitude of surrender! Be detached in whatever you do! When you have this Jyaana, when you have this knowledge, you become a true yogi, a true renunciate, even if you are living in the outside world.” Be like a bhakta to whom God always comes first. Whatever bhaktas do, even in their daily life, the image of the Lord is never far away, it is always in their minds. That was what Lord Krishna emphasised in this verse: one can be fully engaged in action and immersed in meditation. The mind is free, undisturbed by likes and dislikes or by ʻWhat am I getting?ʼ, ʻWhat am I not getting?ʼ One just enjoys what God is giving and knows deeply that everything comes from Him.

Bhagavad Gita 

Chapter 5, Verse 29 

bhoktāraṁ yajña tapasāṁ 

sarva loka maheśvaram 

suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ 

jñātvā māṁ śāntim-ṛcchati

 

Knowing Me as the enjoyer of all sacrifices and austerities, as the Supreme Lord of all the worlds, as the Friend of every being, one attains peace. 

God is the Soul of all beings. Therefore, God Himself is present in the forms of the gods, the brahmins, the saints and the sages. The same God is present in the afflicted and the distressed. And it is He who receives the sacrifices, the service, and the worship of all. 

Here the Lord refers to Himself as “the Friend of every being.” He is the ‘Dear One’ of the one who sees God within his own Self, the one who is conscious of the Divine presence everywhere, in everything that one does; who helps the afflicted, who does charity, who releases the suffering of others. He says, “Know that these ones are serving Me, the all-pervading.” 

Jesus Christ identified Himself with the supreme reality of God and could say, “My Father and I are one”; “Whatever you do for the least of my brothers, you do it for Me.” The Truth, the eternal reality, the supreme reality which is in the form of Jesus, is also in all our brothers and sisters. It is in everyone. When serving and loving others, you are serving and loving the all-merciful and Supreme God. This is the highest form of worship and love. Through serving and loving, you will attain supreme peace; you won’t feel tiredness; you will cherish every moment of this Love in your heart, in whatever you do, wherever you are. The ones who do everything in an attitude of surrender, will be ever peaceful and will have more power to serve! They will have the greatest humility; true humility will manifest through them! They will be modest; they will have the highest form of modesty within them! And they will not feel any obligation to do anything. They’ll enjoy every moment serving as a privileged moment. 

When one has this attitude of serving the Lord, one will have deep veneration for all. When Krishna says to Arjuna, “You are dear to Me, you are My friend”, He was referring to everybody as, “My dear one, My friend. You are a devotee and you are also My dear friend. I care for you”. In this caring, there was no selfish motive. Whereas for the eldest brother of the Kauravas, Duryodhana – his friendship was based only on his own personal gain. Here Krishna says, “Listen, a true friend will give even his life for the sake of a friend.” The Bible says that a true friend is one who can give up his life for a friend. That’s a true friend! This was why the Lord calls Arjuna His friend: “Oh my dear friend! I am here for you, for your salvation! I am giving you the Dhyaana Yoga, showing you how to concentrate, how to focus, how to do your Kriya. I can tell you every day, ‘Do your Kriya! Do your Kriya! Do your Kriya!’ But I can’t do it for you. You have to make the first effort, yourself. Arjuna, do your Kriya! Like that, you’ll perceive Me as the Lord within the core of your Self. You’ll see no difference between you and Me and you’ll attain supreme bliss. And once you attain this supreme bliss, nothing can touch you! Nothing of the outside reality can shake you.” 

Here ends the fifth chapter of the Shreemad Bhagavad Gita, where the Lord has talked to Arjuna about sacrifice and surrender, about renouncing the outer world, but still doing one’s duty with an attitude of complete surrender to the Divine.

Bhagavad Gita 

Karma Sanyasa Yoga 

Chapter 5, Verses 27-28

 

sparśān kṛtvā bahir-bāhyān 

cakṣuś-caivāntare bhruvoḥ 

prāṇāpānau samau kṛtvā 

nāsābhyantara cāriṇau

 

yatendriya mano-buddhih 

munir mokṣa parāyaṇaḥ 

vigat-ecchābhaya krodho 

yaḥ sadā mukta eva saḥ

 

Shutting out all external sense objects and concentrating the vision between the eyebrows, making the prana and the apana move equally within the nostrils, controlling the senses, the mind and the intellect, the sage devoted to liberation, who has discarded fear, desire, and anger, is ever free.

The one whose mind is only concentrated on the external reality, dwelling on the sense objects and being charmed and delighted by them, stores those external experiences in his mind. And due to these images which constantly revolve in the mind, one after the other, attachments and desires become more and more intense. Then the mind is never free and depression arises. Memories of the past keep stalking the mind, even when one is sitting and meditating on God; even when one is in a secluded corner at home, or in the most quiet place in the Swiss mountains. 

 

Krishna says that you should let go of the outside reality and focus “…the vision between the eyebrows, making the prana and the apana move equally within the nostrils, controlling the senses, the mind and the intellect.” Meditating in this manner, “…the sage devoted to liberation, who has discarded fear, desire, and anger, is ever free.” Here Krishna uses the word munir referring to the yoga practitioner. When you do your sadhana, you should let the outside reality stay outside. When you divert your attention inside, you dive within yourself. You can’t say, “I am going to meditate”, and then when you sit for meditation your eyes keep running left, right, left, right, or you keep looking at your watch to check when the meditation will be finished. Krishna says, “Your mind should be focused and not running towards the outer reality. Let the outside reality stay outside!” When you are sitting for meditation, nothing should disturb you. When you do your daily puja, when you are serving the Lord, you need to concentrate! You need to focus! If you are focused and concentrated, then your mind is not flying from left to right and you are not a prey to distraction.

 

Here Lord Krishna emphasises that one should “…concentrate the vision between the eyebrows.” You all know very well that this point is the Ajna chakra, the third eye. It is here. Lord Krishna says, “Focus in this point where the Ajna chakra is located!” Of all the seven chakras, this chakra is one of the most important. Atma Kriya Yoga teachers explain it this way:

 

The Ajna chakra is the sixth chakra and is situated in the head; it is a special chakra which has two poles, a negative and a positive pole. The negative pole is in the medulla oblongata at the back of the skull and the positive pole is between the eyebrows.

 

This chakra is actually the seat of the soul. When it’s time for the soul to leave the body, it leaves through this chakra. If you were pious and righteous in this life, if you were practising your Atma Kriya Yoga properly, practicing level one twice a day, and if you have also received the second level of Atma Kriya Yoga, then at the moment of death, your soul will be able to leave the body through the positive pole of this chakra, which is between the eyebrows. The good news is that if you correctly practise Atma Kriya Yoga at the moment of death, then you’ll receive Realisation. But for worldly people, at the moment of death, the soul leaves the body in pain, during sleep, or according to their karma, through the negative pole of the chakra. The sad news is that they will have to come back again to this cycle of birth and death.

 

If you practise your Atma Kriya Yoga correctly and your mind is still, and you focus your attention at the point between the eyebrows, the scriptures say that you will see light in this point between the eyebrows.

In this state, the unsteadiness and restlessness of the mind automatically disappear and this enables one to fully and easily concentrate on God in the meditation. When you learn to do Japa Kriya, you learn to chant the mantra with the breathing. The  

mental repetition of God’s Name continues along with the breathing. 

 

When we practise the pranayamas in Atma Kriya Yoga, we do it using the mantra OM. This helps a sadhak to be constantly aware of Brahman, while breathing. Where is the mind when you are breathing in OM? Your mind is focused on OM. So you are focusing your mind on the Absolute while doing your pranayama. If you practise pranayama regularly and gently, this also helps the mind become calm, and one becomes free! 

 

Therefore, practise your Atma Kriya Yoga every day! This will help you to attain Him. That’s why Mahavatar Babaji said, “I am giving you Atma Kriya Yoga, which is infused with Bhakti.” He didn’t advise to do the practice just mechanically! To do yoga and pranayamas mechanically, won’t give the full benefits! Whereas if you do your Atma Kriya Yoga with an attitude of surrendering to God, putting God first, you will be free. Otherwise you will only attain a low state of evolution and then you’ll take birth again. Lord Krishna emphasises that you can liberate yourself in this lifetime itself. That’s why He gave Atma Kriya Yoga to humanity. Therefore, dedicate yourself!

Bhagavad Gita 

Chapter 5, Verse 26

 

kāma krodha viyuktānāṁ 

yatīnāṁ yata-cetasām 

abhito brahma-nirvāṇaṁ 

vartate viditātmanām

 

To those who are free from desire and anger, whose minds are controlled, who have attained self-mastery, who aspire for Realisation – the great Nirvana is close at hand.

 

The wise ones are completely “…free from desire and anger”. They have a perfectly controlled mind, which is focused on God. They have “…attained self-mastery” through meditation and yoga and are absorbed in the Self. In the eyes of the God-realised souls, there is only God who is the supreme reality.

 

“…the great Nirvana is close at hand.” They are in the state of supreme bliss. They perceive Brahman everywhere: here, there, in all directions, up, down, left, right, outside, inside. There is no place where Brahman doesn’t exist. They dive into the ocean of Brahman. They dive into the ocean of Narayana. For them, everywhere is just Narayana, and they sing, “Narayana, Narayana, Narayana, Narayana.” Even while here in the body, they enjoy the supreme state of bliss, Satchitananda. There’s not a single moment when their mind is diverted from the Divine form; there’s not a single moment when they are not chanting the praises of Narayana; for them there is no time or place where Narayana is not. There is no other reality, only the Narayana Krishna Reality, without any limitations.

Bhagavad Gita 

Chapter 5, Verse 25

 

labhante brahma-nirvāṇam 

ṛṣayaḥ kṣīṇa kalmaṣāḥ 

chinna-dvaidhā yatātmanaḥ 

sarva bhūta hite ratāḥ

 

The sages whose minds are well directed within, who are free from the pairs of opposites, become cleansed of all impurities and attain the bliss of the Brahman; they are devoted to the welfare of all beings.

 

“The sages who are free from the pairs of opposites…” The sages are free from opposites ‘good’ and ‘bad’, pleasure and pain, free from ignorance, and “…are devoted to the welfare of all beings.” Here again, Lord Krishna reminds Arjuna that when the sages attain Realisation, when they perceive the inner Light of Brahman within their Self, they realise that Brahman is the only reality and become devoted to “the welfare of all beings”. They become a lantern which guides others out of this ocean of misery.

 

Having perceived the Light of Brahman within, you are “cleansed of all impurities”. You become like a lantern, who can save others, who can cleanse the impurities in others. You don’t only care about yourself, but you radiate this Light to show the way to people who are blinded by ignorance.

 

The God-realised souls, whose minds are steady, who are absolutely free from evil, are fully merged in God Consciousness, where all the distinctions of ‘mine’ and ‘thine’ disappear. They see all beings in their own Self. That’s why the Guru tells the disciple, “As I find you inside my heart, you should also find me inside your heart. There is no distinction between you and me.” King Ambarisha was a great devotee of the Lord. Once sage Durvasa came to Maha Vishnu saying, “Please save me, Lord!” The Lord said, “No, I can’t save you. Go to King Ambarisha. Only he can save you.” Sage Durvasa said, “Why? You are the Lord of the universe!” Then the Lord explained, “Well, My heart is not with Me, it is with my devotees!”

 

An ignorant person, who doesn’t have the knowledge of the Self, identifies himself with the body and engages in external activities, seeking external pleasures. The true yogis identify themselves with Brahman and keep themselves naturally engaged in the service of all beings. Even if they are living in the outside world, it doesn’t matter. They can even be in the middle of New York, but this won’t disturb them. They can be in New York and be centred in their Self, in complete equanimity. It’s the same to them if they are meditating in a quiet cave in the Himalayas or if they are on a busy street in New York or Calcutta. Since they are true yogis, they are free!

Bhagavad Gita 

Chapter 5, Verse 24

 

yo’ntaḥ sukho’ntarā rāmah 

tathāntar jyotir-eva yaḥ 

sa yogī brahma-nirvāṇaṁ 

brahma-bhūto’dhigacchati

 

He who has inner happiness, inner ease and repose, and inner Light, that yogi becomes Brahman: he reaches liberation in Brahman, Brahmanirvanam.

 

‘Brahmanirvanam’ here denotes God Himself, the embodiment of Satchitananda, peace; the attributeless, formless Absolute. The one who attains Brahmanirvanam directly perceives one’s identity with God. This is the aim of a yogi, to attain the Absolute, to become one with the Absolute. In this state of God-Realisation, one attains eternal peace, eternal bliss; one attains the supreme goal of life.

 

God is the Supreme Light of all lights. The whole universe is illumined by His effulgence. He is the Supreme Soul in all beings. A true yogi is ever conscious of such a God. He sees the Ultimate as His own Self. He remains constantly absorbed in His Love, His Peace and His Light. Even though the world appears real, the true yogi sees beyond the external reality. He sees beyond what normal people see. He sees the source. He sees within his own Self the Supreme Light, the Light of God, ‘Antaratma Antar jyoti’. ‘Antar jyoti’ is the inner Light; ‘Antaratma’ is the Supreme Light within the core of his soul itself. Then, one starts to emanate the inner Light and becomes a source of salvation, not only for oneself, but for others. The ego self has been completely removed. In the Brahmanirvanam state, only God dwells, the Absolute: the One with form and without form, who is ever-peaceful and ever-blissful.

Bhagavad Gita 

Karma Sanyasa Yoga

Chapter 5, Verse 22

 

ye hi saṁsparśajā bhogā 

duḥkha-yonaya eva te 

ādy-antavantaḥ kaunteya 

na teṣu ramate budhaḥ

 

Those pleasures that arise from contact with external factors are sources of suffering. They have a beginning and an end. O Arjuna, the wise do not rejoice in them.

 

“Those pleasures that arise from contact with external factors are sources of suffering.” Worldly-minded, materialistic people are the cause of their own suffering. The enjoyment of the senses has “…a beginning and an end.” As long as the enjoyment lasts, everybody is happy, happy. However, this happiness doesn’t last long; it has an end. When this happiness ends, people become more than sad, they become depressed and miserable. A person with a mind that dwells on the external reality, can only enjoy short-term happiness.

 

It is like a moth that sees a light in the window at night: the moth wants to come inside, doesn’t it? Moths try to fly inside and bang themselves on the window to come towards the light. They become bewildered and continue to fly towards this light, not knowing that this light could be a flame that will roast them and be their end. But they continue to fly towards that flame. Such is the state of the mind that runs towards the external and forgets the eternal. When the mind is turned outwardly, this becomes the source of suffering, because one becomes a slave to the senses and develops greed and pride and other negative qualities. Like the moth, one ends up roasted: one brings death upon oneself. That’s why the Lord says to Arjuna, “Be wise and do not rejoice in the outside glory. Rejoice in Brahman.” Rejoice in Narayana. Rejoice in Krishna. Rejoice in God.

When the Guru tells you, “Do this sadhana and free yourself!”, you should accept his advice happily and wholeheartedly. When you do this with an open heart, you will reap the fruit of your practice. You will be freed from a very limited reality. But when you do this proudly thinking, “Ah, I am best! That’s why Guruji has given this sadhana to me. I am best, that’s why I am always invited to sit at Guruji’s table.” This is ignorance. In such ignorance, you will be like the moth, who doesn’t know that the Guru is like a huge flame that consumes everything. This huge spiritual flame of the Guru is even more dangerous than any little material flame. Therefore, don’t entertain these kinds of egoistic thoughts inside of you. Be humble and don’t let pride arise inside of you, because you’ll bring about your own downfall. 

 

Here Lord Krishna is also reminding Arjuna that no one is responsible for your happiness or your unhappiness except yourself. You are the cause of your own happiness. When you are surrendered wholeheartedly to God, when your mind, body and spirit are fully in accordance with the Will of God, serving God, meditating on Him, this becomes the source of your true happiness and bliss! But when the mind runs towards the external reality thinking, “Yes, this is it!”, when one is finding great joy in the outside world, this will bring deep sorrow to oneself. The one who enjoys the sense objects, automatically becomes evil-minded, greedy, lustful and angry. One will have to go through enormous suffering in this life and even later on, in future lifetimes. And then one will ask, “What have I done to God to suffer so much? Why me, and not my neighbour?” 

 

“O Arjuna, the wise do not rejoice in them.” Here Krishna says that the wise ones are above these pleasures. They see all these external pleasures, but they don’t get involved in them. They don’t rejoice in them. The wise ones also don’t participate in the downfall of others. The unwise ones will put their own ‘spice into the soup’. When there is gossip, the moment someone starts talking badly about somebody else, everybody sits up and becomes alert.

Their ears go up and they ask, “Oh, what is he saying?” Then after listening to the gossip, people will dig out whatever from wherever and add more ‘spice’ into it saying, “Ah, yes! Yes!” And others will also put their spice into it and say, “By the way, you can add this also!” Then they make it even worse! By participating in such things, you are bringing about your own downfall, because you become responsible for the suffering of others. If you don’t help others to advance, this will bring you down. But if you can enlighten someone and bring someone to God Consciousness, to realise God, to receive the Grace of God, you will rejoice in the supreme bliss.

Bhagavad Gita 

Chapter 5, Verse 21

 

bāhya-sparśeṣv-asaktātmā 

vindaty-ātmani yat sukham 

sa brahma-yoga-yuktātmā 

sukham akṣayam aśnute

 

When the soul is no longer attached to the touch of external things, then one finds the true happiness that exists in the Self. Such a person enjoys an imperishable happiness, because his Self is connected by yoga with Brahman.

 

“When the soul is no longer attached to the touch of external things…”when the mind remains unattached to the sense objects, “…then one finds the true happiness that exists in the Self.” Through meditation, one continuously enjoys the Divine in everything one does. This is meditation. Meditation is not just sitting down and closing the eyes. No. Meditation is to be in the state of Divine awareness every moment of the day.

 

“Such a person enjoys an imperishable happiness…” The word, ‘imperishable’, makes it clear that this happiness that the Lord is talking about is actually bliss, ananda. One is in the state of Satchitananda. “…because his Self is connected by yoga with Brahman.” As one is in constant meditation on the Lord, one perceives the eternal Brahman everywhere, at every moment, even with one’s eyes closed. One perceives that the same Lord on whom one is meditating, is present in all His creation – in all the plants, the animals and the people, so there is no judgement of anybody or anything. 

 

One who takes delight in the sense enjoyment of the outside world, whose mind is always running towards judgement and criticising everything, will never experience this supreme, blissful state. The joy born of dispassion, the bliss which the realised soul attains, is far greater than any so-called joy and happiness of the outside reality. People’s happiness level always varies, doesn’t it? Today they ‘wake up with the right foot’, and they are happy; tomorrow they ‘wake up with the left foot’ and they are not happy. The ones who are constantly awake in the Divine Self, who are constantly in the blissful state, always ‘awake with the right foot’, even if the left foot touches the ground first. They are constantly meditating on God, so they perceive only this One Reality, Narayana. They eat – Narayana. They sleep – Narayana. They talk – Narayana. They dance – Narayana. They laugh – Narayana. There is not a single moment when Narayana is not present, for each breath is Narayana.

  

Here Krishna tells Arjuna to reach that state where you perceive only Narayana, the Absolute, everywhere. If your reach that state, you will see that all inside of you, in front of you, and around you is just Him; is only this Reality. Such is the state of a realised soul: Narayana, Narayana, nothing else. Narada Muni is constantly singing the glory of Lord Narayana. He doesn’t know anything else. Wherever he goes, he only chants the Name of Narayana. Wherever he looks he sees only Narayana. Such is the state of a realised soul who is not attached to anything, only to the Divine. 

 

The Lord says, “Arise! Don’t be a fool! Awake and see that the Reality that you see around you is Narayana, God, nothing else. All the differences that you see are due to the ignorance of the mind. But when the ignorance is removed through understanding what I am teaching you here, you will see only One Reality, the Absolute Reality.” There is nothing but God. All is only Him, His Tattva. When one is blinded by Maya, by ignorance, one doesn’t see this Reality; but the saints see only one truth – Narayana.

Bhagavad Gita 

Chapter 5, Verse 20

 

na prahṛṣyet priyaṁ prāpya 

nodvijet prāpya cāpriyam 

sthira-buddhir-asaṁmūḍho 

brahma-vid brahmaṇi sthitaḥ

 

With intelligence stable, unbewildered, the knower of Brahman, living in the Brahman, neither rejoices on obtaining what is pleasant, nor sorrows on obtaining what is unpleasant.

 

Here again Krishna says that one who is absorbed in the Divine does not rejoice or get disturbed when he receives something pleasant, nor does he feel sorrow when he receives that which is unpleasant.

 

In the eyes of the sage, the yogi, the paṇḍitāḥ who has realised the Truth, nothing is real except the One Absolute, God, Narayana. The one who has full Realisation perceives Narayana everywhere and for such a realised soul, the pleasant and the unpleasant become equal. You see this in the lives of saints. People can give them either honour or dishonour. People can criticise them because of lack of understanding. But to the saint, it doesn’t make any difference. For the one who is seated in God Consciousness, it doesn’t matter if life brings joy or sorrow. His faith is never shaken! Like Christ says in the Bible, “Build thy faith on a rock” so that nothing can shake it. This is the state of a saint or a realised soul. In all circumstances, his awareness remains fixed in the Absolute.

Bhagavad Gita 

Karma Sanyasa Yoga

Chapter 5, Verse 19

 

ihaiva tair-jitaḥ sargo 

yeṣāṁ sāmye sthitaṁ manaḥ 

nir-doṣaṁ hi samaṁ brahma 

tasmād brahmaṇi te sthitāḥ

 

Those whose minds are established in equality have conquered birth and death even here on Earth. They dwell in Brahman. The equal Brahman is faultless.

 

Once one has gotten rid of all evils such as like and dislike, infatuation, sense of possession, egoism, greed and pride, then one gets established in unity; one perceives that everything is in accordance with the Will of God and everything is in perfect unity. Those whose minds rest in this unity are established in the Absolute, in Brahman. They may appear to be normal human beings, living and doing everything normal, like eating, drinking and going to the toilet, but they are not normal.

 

For the one “whose mind is established in” equanimity, “the equal Brahman is faultless”: one realises that there is no fault in the creation of God. But the one who is ignorant, finds fault everywhere and proclaims, “I am better than you. What I believe is best! My God is better than your God. Why do you have so many gods?” Then due to ignorance people fight over all these things. But the truly wise ones who have realised themselves, whose knowledge is not based on mere study of scriptures or on books, who have perceived the truth within themselves, who have perceived the Divine, God within their true Self, don’t find fault anywhere.

 

People may come to you and say, “You should change, your religion is bad! What you believe is completely wrong! You should not believe in that. What you are doing is very sinful. How can you do that? This is against our religion!” What they are really saying is, “Our religion is better than yours.” But these people don’t realise that they are saying that God has made a mistake as to where He has placed each person. They don’t have the knowledge that everything is perfect and they live in constant criticism and judgement of others. This kind of criticism and judgement always ends up in fights and war and people start to kill each other. Then there is no peace. 

However, the one who perceives and lives in the Absolute knows that all is a perfect unity in diversity. They are constantly immersed in the Absolute, even while living here on Earth. They don’t need to die to receive their spiritual bodies in order to go to Heaven, to enjoy the Love of God there, to enjoy the service of God there. No. This can happen here, while they are incarnated on Earth! Due to perceiving God’s omnipresence, firstly within themselves, then in others, and then in every place, they will perceive only that Reality everywhere. They become Jivan Muktas, who are ever-free! Some of these saints have attained their spiritual bodies while living here on Earth and their physical bodies started to shine with Divine Light.  

Ramalinga Swamigal used to completely cover his body because the Divine Light was shining out of him so intensely. Father Fanous of Egypt appeared outwardly crazy. I remember when we met him, he was acting like he was mad, but nobody could see what he was hiding inside himself. Some saints appear crazy on the outside, but inside they have a divine connection with God. God is working through them, so that even their physical body transforms into light. It’s funny! Father Fanous was talking crazily, making fun of everyone, telling people, “Give me this! Do that!” and so on. Then he removed the socks from his hands and you could see rays of Light coming  

out of his hands.

 

The story of Ramalinga Swamigal is also very interesting. He was illiterate and people used to make fun of him. He was from a low caste family, so the brahmins were treating him badly and ridiculing him. Once they offended him so much that he wanted to commit suicide. He went to a secluded place and said, “Lord, I will kill myself here.” At that moment, he had a vision of Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva blessed him saying, “From now on, the praises of the Lord will pour forth from your mouth.”

This story is similar to the story of Narsinh Mehta, the author of the bhajan that we sang earlier, entitled Vaishnava jana to. Narsinh Mehta was a great Vaishnava saint of the 15th century. During his life, he wrote 22,000 songs praising Radha and Krishna. He was from a poor Brahmin family and as a child he was very naughty. When he was just five years old, both of his parents died, so he was raised by his brother and sister-in-law. When he was eight, one day he went to school and bullied everybody. The schoolmaster went to his home to complain to his sister-in-law. She became very angry with the little boy and said, “You should have died. We regret that we took you into our care. You are useless.” Feeling very hurt by this, he left home when he was eight and went into the nearby forest with the intention to kill himself. 

In the forest, he noticed that there was a small Shiva temple and inside the temple he found a Shiva lingam. He started praying to Lord Shiva saying, “Listen, I’m here and I want to kill myself. I will finish myself at your Feet.” Day and night he kept praying. Lord Shiva was very pleased with his prayers and seven days later, He appeared to him saying, “Tell me, what do you want?” He asked the Lord for only one thing, “I would love to see the Maha Raas dance of Radha and Lord Krishna.”

This request put Shiva in a big dilemma. He thought, “How can I possibly take him there?” But the devotion of Narsinh Mehta was so great that Shiva couldn’t say ‘no’ and finally He said, “Okay, it will be fine.” Shiva gave him a burning torch and said, “Come, let’s go!” Shiva lifted Narsinh Mehta from where he was standing, and all of a sudden they appeared in Vrindavan! When Narsinh Mehta arrived there, it was a moonlit night and Radha and Krishna and all the gopis were dancing the Maha Raas. He watched the Maha Raas and was in deep bliss, deep ecstasy. Meanwhile, Shiva disappeared, thinking, “I’ll let him deal with Krishna.”

 

At one point in the dance, Radha noticed Narsinh Mehta watching them and said to Krishna, “How is this possible? There’s a human being standing here and watching us! It’s not possible!” (Here it is important to note that the Maha Raas, even if it happened five thousand years ago, is still happening every day.) Krishna looked at Radha and said, “Don’t worry, Radha. Everything is fine. Just trust me.”

 

Later on, Radha and Krishna came to Narsinh Mehta and asked him, “What are you doing here?” At that moment, the torch that Shiva had given to Narsinh Mehta was overflowing and burning his hand. However, due to his state of ecstasy, due to the love that he had for Radha and Krishna, he didn’t feel anything. Radha and Krishna were so pleased with the devotion of Narsinh Mehta that Krishna blessed him saying, “I want you to sing My glory! Wherever you go, just sing My glory!” Narsinh Mehta said, “But, I don’t know how to sing!” Krishna took one Tulsi leaf from the Vaijayanti mala He was wearing and put it on the tongue of Narsinh Mehta. From that moment on, he could always sing beautiful praises to Lord Krishna.  

By his complete surrender to Lord Shiva in the form of a Shiva lingam, he had received the Darshan of Lord Shiva, and afterwards Lord Krishna Himself had blessed him with Bhakti to sing His praises.

 

This blessed state is similar to the state Ramalinga Swamigal attained through the Grace of Lord Shiva: whenever Ramalinga Swamigal opened his mouth, praises to Shiva spontaneously flowed from his lips. He was always absorbed in the Divine Self, constantly perceiving God’s Light within. He identified himself so much with this inner Divine Light, that his body started to transform into Light. But he didn’t want people to see or know about it. So what did he do? He completely wrapped his body  

in cotton cloth.

One day, many years later, Ramalinga Swamigal went into a small room and said to his disciples, “I am going to stay in this room. Lock the door from the outside. Don’t open the door until I give you a sign. When I give you a sign to open the door, then you can come in.” All the devotees, thousands of people, were sitting outside the little room, waiting for Ramalinga Swamigal to come out.

India was governed at that time by the British and the governor of the area was very aggressive and nosy. He was afraid that these people were planning something terrible, possibly a rebellion. He went there with his soldiers and started pushing people around and shouting, “This is ridiculous! This is stupid!” Then he broke through the crowd, not respecting the disciple who was trying to stop him saying, “Do not enter! Our Master has commanded us to not enter this room!” The governor pushed open the door, went inside and there was nobody in the room! But on the table was a note written in English that said, “I ordered that no one should enter this room! But you have entered. Because of that, I will not remanifest myself. I will remain always in my ‘Light body’.” This paper is still there today. This is how saints identify themselves with the Divine, when they are completely surrendered.

Bhagavad Gita 

Chapter 5, Verse 18

 

vidyā vinaya saṁpanne 

brāhmaṇe gavi hastini 

śuni caiva śvapāke ca 

paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ

 

Sages see with an equal eye the learned and cultured Brahmin, the cow, the elephant, the dog, the outcast.

 

Here Lord Krishna uses the words ‘sages’ and ‘Brahmin’. The word ‘paṇḍitāḥ’ means sages, high souls who have attained perfection; those who have attained the true Realisation, God-Realisation.

 

“Sages see with an equal eye…” When one has reached the state of perfection, all judgements disappear from the mind and one becomes a saint. As the Bible says, “Be holy as your Father in Heaven is holy!” As God sees equality in everything, the mind of the saint who has attained perfection, who has attained God-Realisation, doesn’t have any judgements. A saint sees the same way as God sees. In the eyes of a saint, nothing exists except God. Saints don’t see duality or limitation. They see only God Himself, the supreme reality, which is above Maya Prakriti; they see that everything is a manifestation of this Truth. They see one uniform existence everywhere. 

“The learned and cultured Brahmin, the cow, the elephant, the dog, the outcast.” Here Krishna is referring to the diversity in the outside world, where each one is performing his duties. But the sages, the sadhus, the saints perceive only the oneness: they see God equally in each person. They see beyond outward appearances and respect each person’s role as being in accordance with the Will of God. They have this deep knowledge which allows them to see that there is perfection everywhere! There is nothing which is imperfect! Imperfection is due to the ignorance in the minds of men. But if one has transcended one’s human nature and realised the Divine Self, and the divine qualities manifest through one, then one sees that the whole creation which has come out of Him is a projection of His own Will. Here Lord Krishna says to Arjuna, “Rise like the saints and sages and see the Reality; see that it is only Me everywhere. And I am not touched by anything, because this is all My Prakriti Tattva. This is only the manifestation of My Will.”

Bhagavad Gita 

Chapter 5, Verse 17

 

tad-buddhayas tad-ātmānah 

tan-niṣṭhās tat-parāyaṇāḥ 

gacchanty-apunarāvṛttiṁ 

jñāna nirdhūta kalmaṣāḥ

 

Turning their discerning mind to That, directing their whole conscious being to That, making That their whole aim, the sole object of their devotion, their sins are washed by the waters of knowledge and they go to where there is no return.

 

Krishna says, “Turning their discerning mind to That…” What is ‘That’? Here the first ‘That’ denotes the Atma, the Divine Self. “Directing their whole conscious being to That.” In this context, the second ‘That’ means Tat, Param, the Supreme God: “Making That their whole aim and the sole object of their devotion, they go where there is no return.” They attain full perfection, they attain their spiritual bodies, the light bodies, and when they attain the spiritual bodies there is no return: it’s a one-way ticket! When one attains the supreme stage of God-Realisation, there is no way one will go backwards.

 

“Their sins are washed by the waters of knowledge.” In the life of Christ, you clearly see how one transcends the outside reality. When one hangs onto the outside reality due to ignorance, one limits oneself. But when one is enlightened by the wisdom of the true knowledge of God, the mind merges into God. Then the truth about God is brought into the intellect and through the intellect, one perceives the true aspect of the Self. “Directing their whole conscious being to That”, through meditation, one makes the intellect lose its identity in the divine state; one loses oneself in the Light of God and becomes one with God.

 

Through devotion, through service, through meditation, one’s mind is controlled. When the mind is controlled, God reveals the true identity of the soul to the intellect and to the heart. Then one becomes Satchitananda. One attains one’s spiritual body, the ‘Light body’ “where there is no return,” no going back. Such a Realisation, when one attains God Consciousness, makes one identify oneself with God. In such a state there is no oneself, there is only Him! There is not this ‘I’, there is not this difference this separation between you and God.

There is only this full Realisation, there is only One reality, God Consciousness. 

 

“Their sins are washed by the waters of knowledge…” Here again Krishna emphasises that once one attains this state of Realisation, there is no creation of karma. “There is no return,” because one has attained the highest stage of God-Realisation – Tat, Param, the Supreme.

Bhagavad Gita 

Chapter 5, Verse 16

 

jñānena tu tad-jñānaṁ 

yeṣāṁ nāśitam ātmanaḥ 

teṣām ādityavad-jñānaṁ 

prakāśayati tat param

 

Those in whom ignorance is destroyed by Self-Realisation, the Supreme Self glows like the Sun.

 

When people are in darkness, they don’t see the true reality; they are blind. When you enter a cave which is completely dark, you don’t see anything! Nothing! Even a stone which is next to you, you don’t see it. Even if you try to look at it, you can’t see it. Such is the state when you are in ignorance. You don’t perceive that the One who is inside of you is the Lord Himself, God Himself. 

 

However, as the sun dispels the darkness and reveals the true nature of all objects, the Light of the knowledge of the Self, Brahma Jyaan, received under the supervision of a Master, dispels this ignorance and reveals the true nature of God within oneself. Christ says in the Bible that when you have a light, you don’t hide it under a bushel basket. You let it shine. This Light is inside of you! You have this Light. Don’t stay in darkness! Don’t stay in ignorance! Awake! Open your eyes, see this Light. And when this Divine Light is brightening, let this Light, which you carry inside of you, shine through you! Let this Divine Self awaken inside of you! Don’t fall back into delusion, because the one who has true knowledge of the Self knows that worldly circumstances may make one fall victim to delusion.

The Sun is ever-shining: it will never blacken itself. Isn’t it true? It is constantly giving light! Even if we say, “Ah, the Sun has set,” the Sun never sets, never sleeps, never darkens itself. It is the Earth that turns. So, be like the Sun, always shining forth Divine Light.

Bhagavad Gita 

Karma Sanyasa Yoga

Chapter 5, Verse 15

 

nādatte kasyacit-pāpaṁ 

na caiva sukṛtaṁ vibhuḥ 

ajñānenāvṛtaṁ jñānaṁ 

tena muhyanti jantavaḥ

 

The omnipresent God Almighty receives neither the sin nor the virtue of any. Knowledge is enveloped in ignorance; thereby creatures are bewildered.

Here, the word ‘vibhuḥ’ stands for God Almighty with attributes, but devoid of form, omnipresent in His creation.

 

Krishna says that God doesn’t receive the virtue or the sin of anyone. He is above the duality. Even though all actions performed by man happen through His energy, it is only His energy, it is not fully Him. Everything happens through His Shakti, His Will. Through His Will, He gives man the knowledge and the energy to act, and He places each one where they have to be, due to their past karmas. Yet He is completely free from this. Even if He is doing all this through His energy, at the same time He is completely separate from it. He is not bound by the laws of karma, nothing can affect Him, nothing can touch Him. Here Krishna was reminding Arjuna that when one rises to that state, when one reaches this perfection of God-Realisation, one is also above the ‘good’ and the ‘bad’.

 

God doesn’t receive anything, the ‘good’ or the ‘bad’, because He is above the ‘good’ and the ‘bad’. If someone is above something, this means that what is below him doesn’t affect him, no? Like that, all the ‘good’ that one is doing, all the ‘bad’ that one is doing, is happening only in this worldly reality, on the ground floor. But when one rises in spirituality and attains Realisation, one looks at everything from the perspective of the Divine Reality, from above, without being affected by it. Even though everything is created by His own Reality, His own energy, His own Prakriti Shakti, He as the Divine, He as God is above His creation. He is not touched by the law of karma; nothing affects Him, neither the ‘good’ nor the ‘bad’. That’s why He is God. 

 

Very often people think that God is only ‘good’ and doesn’t have any imperfections inside of Him. But how can He be God, if He doesn’t have any imperfections? He is the source of everything! He has all the ‘good’ inside Him and He has all the imperfections inside Him. And He is also above all these qualities! That’s what makes Him God, because He is beyond this duality, beyond His own Will; beyond His own creation. In the Lord’s prayer we say, “Lead us not into temptation.” Here God is acting as the One who creates temptation, meaning that He is also above it. So we pray to Him, “Lead us out of temptation.” Lead us out of ignorance! When one perceives that the true nature of everything is part of the Divine and that God is the only reality, one is not bound by anything. One becomes like Him.  

When knowledge of the Self arises, then ignorance is removed. But if one jumps into ignorance and lets oneself be overruled or deluded by the outside reality, one falls prey to ignorance. Then one is blind, one falls and creates karma. What makes the karma manifest? What makes one always stay in the cycle of birth and death is this ignorance of the Self, because one doesn’t surrender to God. One claims that one is doing everything. Then arrogance and pride take over and one becomes blind.

Here Bhagavan Krishna says, “Even in all My actions, in whatever I do, I am always separate from it. It doesn’t affect Me! The law of Nature doesn’t affect Me! Even if I have created Nature the way it is, I can bend it and change it at My Will.” In the previous chapter Krishna says to Arjuna, “I am not bound by any scriptures! I am not bound by any writings which declare where or how I will incarnate.” Yadā yadā hi dharmasya – “Whenever there is a decline in dharma I will come, I will manifest Myself. It is not prescribed that I will incarnate at such and such a time. It was never written that I will

come and manifest Myself in this body or in that body, in this country or in that country. I am not bound by any of these limitations. Human beings, the unwise, are bound by these limitations, whereas the ones who are completely centred in the Divine are free. As I am above everything, I am not touched by virtue or by sin. Likewise, the ones who are completely surrendered to Me and have attained God-Realisation are also above Nature and are not touched by anything, they are ever free.”

Bhagavad Gita 

Karma Sanyasa Yoga

Chapter 5, Verse 14

 

na kartṛtvaṁ na karmāṇi 

lokasya sṛjati prabhuḥ 

na karma phala saṁyogaṁ 

svabhāvastu pravartate

 

The Lord neither creates the works of the world, nor the state of the doer, nor the joining of the works to the fruit: Nature does this.

 

Lord Krishna previously says, “I stand on My own Nature!” God is not bound by His creation. He is ever-free. When you are observing from within, in deep meditation, the soul sees that the Doer, the Creator, the Supreme Lord, Narayana Himself, is not bound by anything. He Himself doesn’t even create. He has placed Brahma in charge of creation. Brahma is doing His duty! He has placed Vishnu in charge of preservation. Vishnu is doing His duty! And He has placed Shiva in charge of destruction. Shiva is doing His duty! Therefore, the Lord Himself is above the process of creation, preservation and destruction. He observes the whole creation, but He doesn’t take part in it. He is like a big boss! He observes, He has the full control, but He doesn’t go and do it Himself. He has created the manager, the director for that purpose. So they are doing their job. So, He is ever free! He doesn’t claim the doership. He doesn’t have any pride inside of Him. He doesn’t have any arrogance inside of Him. It’s the mind, the ego and the pride that says, “I am doing this” or “I am doing that”. 

 

On the contrary, those who are under the control of the indriyas, the sense organs, and the sense enjoyment claim doership. They are not aware of the Divine Self within themselves due to this ignorance. Here the Lord says, “I am beyond this.” All this game of the outside reality is done by Prakriti. Everything which is manifested, which is tangible, is Prakriti. But this doesn’t affect Him or touch Him. He is the Great Observer. He is the Soul of souls who is not touched by anything. We can say that the soul is the director. The Great Boss is God. The heart is the manager and the senses, the indriyas, are the labourers. In this way, the Great Boss is not touched by anything and doesn’t claim anything.

 

When during sadhana, during Atma Kriya Yoga, you are sitting and observing within and reach the state of merging or attaining this communion with the ‘Boss’, you perceive that the Lord is never affected by any of this drama, because all this drama is under the law of Prakriti only. Furthermore, Lord Krishna emphasises that as you are the Atma, you also are out of this game: you are not the doer. It is just the human mind that gives you the limited perception that you are the doer.

 

Here Lord Krishna says that whatever one does as action is not done by God, but it is done by the natural law of Prakriti. The natural function of the heart is to beat and to pump the blood throughout the body. The natural function of the eyes is to see. The natural role of fire is to burn. The natural role of water is to wet. All these have been created through Prakriti, only through His Will! So Nature carries on Her own work. But when one gets realised, one rises above Nature. However, if the Jiva has not risen above Nature, if one doesn’t realise that one is hanging onto the gunas, how can one be free? If people don’t realise their true essence as being part of the Supreme, if they don’t see the divinity within themselves, if they get stuck in the duality of like and dislike, good and evil, then they unite themselves with Nature and limit themselves to only that outward reality. That’s why their arrogance awakens and then they claim that they are doing this and they are doing that. Whereas the bhakta is completely different. The bhakta is aware that the Lord is doing everything through him. At the beginning, the bhaktas can only have this perception due to the love that they have for God. But later on, when they have attained full Realisation, when they are fully immersed in Him they realise, “Actually, all this is done by Nature!” But a bhakta is always above Nature. Even if they take life after life, moving from one body to another, this is the drama of the outside reality.

But a God-realised soul perceives only the oneness of God in everything.

Bhagavad Gita 

Chapter 5, Verse 13

 

sarva karmāṇi manasā 

sannyasyāste sukhaṁ vaśī 

nava-dvāre pure dehī 

naiva kurvan-na kārayan

 

The embodied soul, perfectly controlling its nature, having renounced all its actions by the mind, sits serenely in its nine-gated city, neither doing nor causing to be done.

 

When the mind is fully controlled, not attached to the outside reality, but attached to the Divine; constantly focused on God through meditation; fully absorbed in the Divine Consciousness; in the service of God; then the Great Observer reveals Itself.

 

“… sits serenely in its nine-gated city…” The nine gates represent the nine openings of the body: the two eyes, the two nostrils, the mouth, the two ears, anus and urethra. When one realises that one is not the body, one becomes the Greater Observer inwardly free from the outside reality.

 

“… neither doing nor causing to be done.” Since one is fully absorbed in the Divine Self, one has renounced all the activity of the mind through discrimination and reasoning. One doesn’t claim to be the doer. One attains complete control of the mind and the senses. One is absorbed and established in true happiness, in Satchitananda, the state of bliss.

 

The state of perfection is not to just sit in the Self or to be aware of the Self. No. It is to become blissful! And this bliss, this Satchitananda Swarupa, is the Lord Himself, the Soul of souls, the Supersoul. When one abides in the Supersoul, one attains God-Realisation. In this state, when you do your sadhana, when you do your Atma Kriya Yoga, when you do your meditation, you will not be aware of the outside reality. You will lose yourself in the Divine. Even the Observer will lose Itself in the Divine, because everything rests upon the Divine alone. Through Him alone, there is true Existence.

 

Krishna says, “By mere renunciation of the mind, one gets attached to the ‘nine-gated city’, the body.” But when the mind is fully absorbed in the Divine through service, when the mind is tamed and controlled through discrimination and reasoning, it turns automatically within. Then, when the mind turns within, the intellect awakens and through this intellect, through this wisdom, the heart opens up to Love. And through that Love one is fully absorbed in the Supersoul, in the God Consciousness within one’s soul. In this state, it is the soul itself that is perceiving: at first the mind was looking at the soul, and now the soul is looking at the Supersoul.

Usually the human mind hangs very much onto the outside reality, but when the mind is tamed, it starts to look within. Then, the focus of the mind is towards the true knowledge of the soul. When you sit in meditation, the mind starts to perceive everything in a different way; the mind looks up to the soul, to the Great Observer. And when the soul is turned into itself, it rests in the greater Supersoul, who is Narayana. When the soul rests in the Supersoul, it still continues its activities in the world, but it is the Supersoul who is doing this activity. At this point, one is fully absorbed into the Supersoul. One is fully absorbed into this awareness, that God alone is the Reality, nothing else.

Bhagavad Gita 

Chapter 5, Verse 12

 

yuktaḥ karma phalaṁ tyaktvā 

śāntim-āpnoti naiṣṭhikīm 

ayuktaḥ kāma-kāreṇa 

phale sakto nibadhyate

 

By abandoning attachment to the fruits of action, the soul in union with Brahman attains peace in Brahman. But the soul which is not in union with Brahman is bound by desire and is attached to the fruits.

 

“By abandoning attachment to the fruits of action, the soul in union with Brahman attains peace in Brahman.” The soul in union with Brahman, the soul which is in constant awareness of God Consciousness, “attains peace in Brahman.” One is aware that the Supersoul, Brahman, who is Narayana, is ever-present. 

“But the soul which is not in union with Brahman is bound by desire and is attached to the fruits.” The ones who work selfishly to please themselves, aiming only for self-gratification and self-glory, are completely attached to the fruits of their actions; they are doomed to come back again for many more lifetimes! They will incarnate many, many, many, many more times to attain God Consciousness. They will be born in a lower state of consciousness, due to the bondage that they have created.

 

The enlightened souls, the Jivan Muktas, are continuously aware of God Consciousness. They dwell in God and God dwells in them at all times. No matter where they are, whatever they do, they are ever free! Like Narada Muni, they are constantly praising the Lord, serving Him and finding Him in all beings. They never come back again to this reality. If they do reincarnate, it is for the higher purpose of helping humanity.

 

The people whose minds dwell on the outside reality, the people who like to eat meat, will reincarnate in the same state as those poor animals. People who like to gamble and enjoy life outwardly in a very egoistic way, will take birth accordingly. Whereas those who focus on serving God, use everything that has been given to them as a gift to attain God! One in such a state will attain God-Realisation. So learn to serve God! Learn to surrender to Him! Surrender to the Master! Follow the advice of the Master! That’s the best way.

Bhagavad Gita 

Chapter 5, Verse 11

 

kāyena manasā buddhyā 

kevalair-indriyair-api 

yoginaḥ karma kurvanti 

saṅgaṁ tyaktvā’tma śuddhaye

 

Abandoning attachment, the yogis do works with the body, mind, intellect and even the senses for self-purification.

 

A true karma yogi considers everything as coming from God, belonging to God and only for God’s service. Everything: the body, the senses, the mind and the intellect belong to God. So the karma yogi performs all his duties absolutely unselfishly, with a disinterested spirit. In this way, one is completely purified. In such a state, the Divine takes full control of oneself and one is totally under the inspiration and guidance of God, living and working as His instrument. Even the small ‘I’ which is aware of God, is only Him.

Bhagavad Gita 

Chapter 5, Verse 10

 

brahmaṇyādāya karmāṇi 

saṅgaṁ tyaktvā karoti yaḥ 

lipyate na sa pa‌pena 

padma-patram ivāmbhasā

 

Just as water does not cling to the lotus leaf, he who abandons attachment and dedicates all his activities to Brahman, the ultimate Truth, is not stained by sin.

 

When one is surrendered to the Divine, to Brahman, whatever one does – like devotional service to God, offering worship to the deities, rendering service to humanity, practising charity, doing one’s duty, controlling what one is eating and drinking – is done for the sake of pleasing God. One is not attached to anything worldly, because one is constantly remembering Him. One does everything realising that it is God Himself who is doing it through one. One is being truly guided. In such a state, one belongs completely to God. Therefore, one is not stained by sin. This means that one doesn’t create any karma; one is not bound by any karma, whether it is past, present or future karma.

  

Here Lord Krishna uses the example of the lotus leaf. The lotus is born from muddy water, which is very dirty, but when it rises to the surface of the water, the water doesn’t touch it. Have you ever seen lotus leaves? Even if you put water on them, it quickly falls off. He meant here that you have to be like the lotus leaf, so that nothing can cling to you. When you do your sadhana, only God should be there. If God is your aim, if God becomes everything for you, no negativity will be able to cling to you. Like water can’t stay on a lotus leaf and runs off it, if one is completely surrendered to the Divine, all the negative qualities, all the kinds of attachments which one has in this world, will disappear. Even the attachment to gaining Heaven will disappear.

 

Krishna is reminding Arjuna that a true karma yogi does every action in a state of surrender, without fear of being contaminated by sin, because he knows that it is God, who is doing all actions through him; so he is free. On the other hand, every action which is done with expectation, with the aim of self-gratification or with ego, will bring pain to oneself. And due to the karma created from this one binds oneself to the cycle of birth and death and this will destroy life itself. And the more one is attached to this karma, the more difficult it is to remove it. It’s like creating and building up layers of karma. In the previous chapter you’ve heard the story of the demon Sahasrakavacha. He had one thousand layers of armour around him. It would take one thousand years of fighting him and another thousand years of penance to remove just one layer of armour, one kavacha. That’s why in that incarnation, Narayana didn’t manifest Himself alone. He came in two aspects – Nara and Narayana. While one of them was fighting against the demon for one thousand years, the other one was meditating. Then they would alternate. In this way, after many thousands of years, the layers of armour around the demon were destroyed and he was killed. Those who are free don’t have all these layers of karma with which they have covered themselves through many lives. Through the attitude of surrendering all to the Divine, they don’t create any more layers of karma and all the layers of past karma are removed. As water doesn’t cling to a lotus leaf. If one is surrendered to God, karma runs away from that person.

Bhagavad Gita 

Chapter 5, Verses 8-9

 

naiva kiñcit karomīti 

yukto manyeta tattva-vit 

paśyaṅ-śṛṇvan spṛśañ jighrann 

aśnan gacchan svapaṅ-śvasan

 

pralapan visṛjan gṛhṇan 

unimiṣan nimiṣann-api 

indriyāṇīndriyārtheṣu 

vartanta iti dhārayan

 

 “I do nothing at all.” This is the attitude of a focused knower of the Truth. Even while seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, moving, sleeping, breathing, speaking, releasing, grasping, opening and closing the eyes, he is always aware that he does nothing at all. He knows that the senses operate among sense objects and that he is separate from them.

 

“’I do nothing at all.’ This is the attitude of a focused knower of the Truth.” He knows that God is doing everything through him, “…even while seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, moving, sleeping, breathing, speaking, releasing, grasping, opening and closing the eyes…” In every action that one does, it is God who is doing it through the person.

 

“… he is always aware… that the senses operate among sense objects…” One becomes always aware. It’s like when you awake from a dream and you perceive that all that happened was just a dream. In that dream state everything seemed real, didn’t it? You were running, you could even feel people killing you, but then when you awoke, you said, “Ahh, it was just a dream!” No matter how real your dream seemed, when you awoke, you felt released, saying, “Phew! That was just a dream; it was not real.” Whatever the mind is thinking, whatever is being perceived through the senses, everything, in reality, is just like in a dream. 

 

Whereas those who are always aware of the ultimate reality remain constantly absorbed in the true Identity of God. As their minds are always focused on the Divine, they are not attached to pride and say, “I am doing this,” or “I am doing that.” No! They are always aware that it is the Divine who is doing everything through them. And if one is fully focused on the Self, focused on God and serving Him, there will be no duality. When duality disappears from the mind, there will be no trace of evil qualities like lust, greed, anger, infatuation or egoism. All these negative qualities, these ‘one hundred Kauravas’, will be killed, will disappear and vanish! The heart will be purified and the mind will be constantly under control. Even when they walk in the outside world, whatever they do doesn’t touch them at all. There is no anger in their hearts and no judgement in their minds. They are free! That’s a true yogi! That’s a true devotee of the Lord.

Bhagavad Gita 

Karma Sannyasa Yoga

Chapter 5, Verse 7

 

yoga-yukto viśuddhātmā 

vijitātmā jitendriyaḥ 

sarva-bhūtātmā bhūtātmā 

kurvann-api na lipyate

 

He who follows the yoga of action, who has conquered the senses, the pure soul, the master of his Self, whose Self becomes the Self of all existences, even though he does works, he is not involved in them.

 

Again and again, Krishna is reminding Arjuna that a true renunciate is one who has conquered the senses, the mind and especially the speech. It is said that we can control wherever there are bones, but the tongue has no bones, so it is difficult to control, isn’t it? As long as the mind and the senses are not controlled, they naturally run after the senses‘ enjoyment. As long as there is the duality of like and dislike, of failure and success in the mind, and if one has not learned to control and purify the mind and the senses through Atma Kriya Yoga, then it becomes difficult to remain at peace and to surrender to the Divine. If one has not placed God first in one’s life, one still dwells in the outside reality. Whereas when one’s mind and heart are purified, one realises the Divine. Place God first! Place the mind on God’s Reality. Like that, it will become easy to attain Him. 

 

“…the pure soul, the master of his Self…” Here the Lord is referring to the one who has mastered the senses, the mind and the intellect. “…whose Self becomes the Self of all existences…” This means that one perceives the oneness in all: first one perceives the Divine within one own Self, and then one sees the Divine everywhere. One becomes free from the bondage of karma. Even if one is doing any kind of work in the outside world, God will reveal Himself in one’s real Self. One will see the Creator, Narayana in one’s own Self. Then, in everything that one does, one will start to reflect the divine qualities; one will not be controlled by the lower qualities. One will not be proud saying, “I am doing this”, “I am doing that”, “I am beautiful”, “I am everything!” One will rise above the body, the mind and the intellect and only focus on the Divine. 

 

As Krishna explains earlier (in Chapter 3), in Sankhya Yoga one doesn’t consider oneself to be the doer of any actions. So one is not associated with any activities. One feels that he is free from Maya, from Prakriti and is aware that everything is in accordance with the Divine’s Will. Therefore, whatever one does, one is completely free. On the other hand, the karma yogi regards himself as a doer of action, but he is not bound by the action. He does everything only for the sake of serving God. The sankhya yogi, renunciate, is always focused on God and says, “No, I am not doing anything, it is God who is doing it.” Whereas the karma yogi does his duty for the sake of serving God, for the sake of loving Him. Take the example of the gopis: they were true yogis because they could find Krishna in everything, in whatever they were doing. They were doing everything with an attitude of serving Him; they were not attached to anything but Him. In that state of devotion, pride will never arise. Whereas in the state of renunciation, pride can arise and if pride arises, one will lose everything!This is why one has to be very careful. And this was what Krishna is saying, “Do your action! Karma Yoga is an easier way to attain the Divine.” When you have mastered, step by step, the ability to see God in everything, then everything is easy. However, if a renunciate, even for a small moment, considers himself as the doer, he has lost everything!

 

A true renunciate is fully absorbed in the Divine. That’s why Krishna says that it’s very difficult to reach that state! But if you go step by step through Karma Yoga, it is much easier, it is much nicer and secure! Because you are loving God and serving Him. Then, through the practice of a sadhana like Atma Kriya Yoga you purify yourself, you start to master the mind and the intellect. Then, when the mind is fully focused on OM, focused on the Divine, you have conquered the senses.

At the beginning of your spiritual path, you have many wants, many desires. But as you go deeper and deeper into it, automatically, the wants and desires start to diminish because your mind stops dwelling in the outside world and you start dwelling in the inner reality. So whatever actions you do, bear only good punya. At the same time, Karma Yoga helps you to be free, because you always place God first, at every moment. Even if you perceive a certain negativity inside of you, you don’t hang onto it, because your focus is not on that, it is on the Divine inside of you.

Bhagavad Gita 

Chapter 5, Verse 6 

saṁnyāsas-tu mahābāho 

duḥkham-āptum-ayogataḥ 

yoga-yukto munir brahma 

na cireṇādhigacchati

 

But renunciation, O mighty-armed, is difficult to attain without the yoga of action; the sage who follows the yoga of action soon attains Brahman. 

Krishna says, “The path of renunciation is very difficult if you have not mastered Karma Yoga.” Here the Lord addresses Arjuna as ‘mighty-armed’, mahābāho, trying to encourage him. He reminded him that he had a brother, Yudhishtir, who was pious and completely surrendered to the deities, to God, and so he should not worry about anything, because Yudhishtir was there with him. Krishna says, “Because he is completely surrendered to the Divine, don’t fear anything! Do your duty! By doing your duty, you’ll be able to cleanse and purify your heart. You’ll not be able to renounce just because I am telling you to renounce; there would be no truth in it. The path of renunciation is very difficult if you have not mastered Karma Yoga.” 

Some renunciates perceive the world as being a dream, not real. They think that everything is just an emptiness; there is no goal to achieve. Here Krishna says that the people who meditate on this reality attain Brahma. They go to the world of Brahma. But due to limiting the Divine or imposing restrictions on the Divine, their hearts are not pure. Deep inside them, there is still attraction and repulsion, anger and lust. 

If people have not purified the heart but straight away take the path of renunciation saying, “Today I will go and renounce everything. I will go, sit on the mountain and meditate,” they are running away from their dharma due to an intellectual belief. They have read a book and think that they have already mastered renunciation. Many people read one book, and think that they are already enlightened! Isn’t it true? This will not lead them anywhere! True renunciates perfect themselves through Karma Yoga and then they are free. They don’t identify themselves with the body and are not attached to enjoyment of the senses. If one thinks that by reading a book one can easily take the path of renunciation, know that it is very difficult! First learn to surrender to the Feet of the Master! First learn to humble yourself! Learn to accept your duty and do it with a constant focus on the Divine. Like that, you will become free of all the past samskaras which you have cultivated. You will realise the Absolute and, through faith in God, you will attain the vision of the Lord. 

Yoga-yukto munir brahma: when one is not attached to any reward, then one becomes a yogi. One is not even attached to attaining Heaven or liberation! Like a Muni who considers everything as belonging to God, one doesn’t lose one’s balance of mind in success or in failure. By renouncing the attachment to the fruits of the action one is performing, one is not even attached to gaining good punya. You don’t do something to get good punya or to receive a ‘thank you’. These things don’t matter, you are free! When you have faith and devotion, when with every breath you focus only on His Divine Names, on His glory, on His Leela, then God becomes real. This is the Reality.

Bhagavad Gita 

Chapter 5, Verse 5

 

yat-sāṅkhyaiḥ prāpyate sthānaṁ 

tad-yogair-api gamyate 

ekaṁ sāṅkhyaṁ ca yogaṁ ca 

yaḥ paśyati sa paśyati

 

The status which is attained by Sankhya Yoga, the men of the yoga of action also achieve: he who sees Sankhya Yoga and yoga of action as one, truly sees.

 

Without Karma Yoga, one will never be able to truly renounce the mind, the senses and the body. Without Karma Yoga one will never become a sankhya yogi. Whereas when one performs whatever duty God has given, keeping the mind fixed on God, one reaches Him and truly sees Him.

 

If one is a renunciate, but has not fully let go of the outside world and completely surrendered to the spiritual path, if the world is still very present in the mind, then one is not free. It is like the story of the two monks.

  

The story is told:

 

Two monks were returning to their ashram and on the way they came to a river. Next to the river there was a beautiful young woman. One of the monks took the woman and carried her across the river, so that she wouldn’t get wet. After crossing the river, he put her down and said, “Goodbye!” When they arrived at the ashram, the other monk angrily asked him, “How could you carry this woman? You are a monk! You should not touch a woman, especially a young and beautiful woman.” The monk who had carried the woman replied, “I simply took her and carried her across the river, but you have carried her all the way back to the ashram and you are still carrying her!”

 

You see how the mind functions, and where the mind was focused? The true renunciate had let go of it. He was not hanging onto it. Whereas the other one was still hanging onto it, the incident was still playing in his mind.

 

The goal is very important! If the goal is God, it doesn’t matter what path you take, you’ll reach Him! If you live in India and want to go to New York, you can take any route to reach there. Whether you go through Europe or through China and Japan, doesn’t matter; both routes will lead you to the same place, because your destination is clear! Your goal is clear! And when your goal is clear it doesn’t matter if you go to the left or to the right. However, practising Karma Yoga is the easiest spiritual path to follow, due to the way the mind functions, and due to how a human being is made, acts and works.

Bhagavad Gita 

Chapter 5, Verse 4

 

sāṅkhya-yogau pṛthag-bālāḥ 

pravadanti na paṇḍitāḥ 

ekam-apy-āsthitaḥ samyak 

ubhayor-vindate phalam

 

Children speak of Sankhya Yoga and yoga of action as being different from each other, but not the wise; if a man fully applies himself to one of them, he gets the fruit of both.

 

“Children speak of Sankhya Yoga and yoga of action as being different from each other…” Here, Krishna says that people who dwell in worldly illusion and pride, see only difference. People who dwell on a low frequency perceive only limitation. But the wise one doesn’t see such difference, because both paths lead to the same Realisation, God-Realisation and that’s true knowledge.

 

“If a man fully applies himself to one of them, he gets the fruit of both.” Here  

Lord Krishna says, “Don’t go in two boats, but take one boat and you’ll reach your destination! And if you take one boat, give yourself fully to the voyage in that boat.” If you are doing your sadhana, do it with love. If you are working, whatever you do, do it with love. Through either path, God will reveal Himself to you.

 

Lord Krishna says that the people who try to separate these two paths are like children in kindergarten: they make lots of noise saying, “This is better!” “That is better!” This is unwise. There are numerous people of great eloquence who talk, talk, talk talk, talk. They can give big speeches, but these speeches don’t have any value, because they themselves have not experienced what they are talking about. Whereas if one has true experience, even if one speaks little about it, people will understand. 

Those who are centred in the Self can do anything; they’re free. In whatever they do, there is no creation of karma, because it is the Lord who is manifesting Himself and acting through them. If they’re still bound by their past samskaras, if they’re still bound by their minds, they should divert their minds towards the Divine form, towards God. And this will be the cause of their liberation.

Bhagavad Gita 

Karma Sanyasa Yoga

Chapter 5, Verse 2

 

śrī bhagavān uvāca 

saṁnyāsaḥ karma yogaśca 

niḥśreyasakarāv-ubhau 

tayos-tu karma saṁnyāsāt 

karma-yogo viśiṣyate

 

The Lord says: Renunciation and Karma Yoga both bring about the soul’s salvation: but of these two paths, Karma Yoga is held to be above the renunciation of works.

 

Bhagavan Krishna says, “Renunciation and Karma Yoga both bring about the soul’s salvation.” Here again, you see that one’s attitude is very important. It’s also very interesting to note that both paths will bring one to salvation if one truly renounces! 

“But of these two paths, Karma Yoga is held to be above the renunciation of works.” Here Krishna tells Arjuna, “The yoga of knowledge and the yoga of action will both lead you to supreme bliss. However, it is easier for you to accept to do your action, your dharma. This yoga, of accepting to do your action, your dharma, will be your salvation.” 

There may have been times in your life when some of you, like Arjuna, had this same doubt playing in your mind and you asked yourself, “What should I do? Should I be in the world or could I run to the Shree Peetha Nilaya ashram and stay there?” For a true renunciate, it doesn’t matter where one is. One will perceive the Lord equally, whether one is in the Centre or in the outside world. One will serve Him wherever one is, in whatever one does. 

Here the Lord says that both yogas will bring you to supreme bliss. When you are disciplined in your sadhana and doing it for the sake of attaining God, you will attain salvation. But Krishna gives priority to Karma Yoga saying to Arjuna, “You are a karma yogi, you are married, you have a family, you have children, you are a warrior! It’s not meant for you to go sit and meditate in a cave.” It is interesting to note here that Krishna is talking to everybody in this world saying, “Find Me in whatever you do! I am in your house! The moment you sit to do your sadhana, I am there. I am also in the work that you are doing.” 

In general, people who do Karma Yoga believe in the fruits of their actions. Most people usually work in order to get something, so there is always an expectation. But when work is only done to serve God, to please Him, one beholds the Absolute Lord in whatever one does. Then there is a mixture of both yogas, Karma Yoga and Jyaana Yoga, because the karma yogi is acting as a true renunciate. On the other hand, there are many people who pretend to renounce, who appear to renounce, yet they haven’t renounced anything. The renunciation that Lord Krishna is referring to is not a superficial renunciation. It means to renounce very deeply and sincerely. It’s of no use to say, “I have renounced everything! I have renounced the outside world,” and then sit there and think, “Oh, I wish I had this” or “I wish I had that”. When you renounce something, you have to let go of it in the mind itself. 

There are many people who are still living in the world outside, yet they are true renunciates; they are free! They are not attached to the fruits of their actions. Krishna says, “That’s the best path!” It’s not because one wears a robe that one becomes a renunciate. One becomes a renunciate when one renounces the expectations, this aggressiveness of the mind; when one has control over the senses; when one perceives that the aim of life is only to serve God in everything. This is true renunciation! The true renunciate can be a karma yogi, someone who is doing his duty in the outside world, yet who is completely surrendered to the Divine. Not all people who have entered monasteries or ashrams are really renunciates. No! They are not. If one has truly renounced, one is free, living only to serve the Lord, nothing else. Some people say, “We love you, Swamiji! We have done all this for you.” But, actually it is all about themselves. You can see this kind of attitude in people. I see it here. Some people appear to have let go of the world outside, yet you see how they do their service. It is motivated by personal interest.

And when their personal expectations are not met, they suffer. If people are truly surrendered, they don’t get tired, they don’t get worried, they have only one aim: to be with the Master and to serve Him full-heartedly. They forget about their own personal interests. When people do their Karma Yoga in a state of complete renunciation of the fruits of action, they are free! 

Therefore – do your Karma Yoga! But it is very important how you are doing your action and with what aim. Karma Yoga keeps you busy! It keeps you healthy and fit! Otherwise you become lazy and do not accomplish anything! When you see the yogis sitting in deep meditation, don’t think that they are not doing their work! Energetically, through the vibrations that they are emanating, they help other people; through their sadhana they are helping other people, not themselves. That’s what being a true yogi is about, because there is no personal gain in it! They are not crying during their sadhana saying, “When will I reach Enlightenment? Why am I not seeing that spiritual experience happening in me!” And this and that. You have a whole list of complaints. No, your sadhana has to be done from the heart. When there is no personal interest in what you are doing, when the only deep interest is Him, you will attain Him. If one is a great yogi, one will not have expectations. One will know that everything happens in divine timing. That’s why Krishna says that Karma Yoga is easier! Because the mind can be easily controlled when you are active. The mind always runs towards the outside anyway, doesn’t it? But if you use the mind to attain God, if you let the mind dwell on God Consciousness while you are doing your duty, it’s better than just sitting for meditation and falling asleep.

Do your duty! When you are working, you don’t allow the mind to drag you into illusion. When you place God first in your actions, wherever you are, wherever He has put you, you’ll find Him. Then everything will become easy. However, if you have not trained your mind to calm itself through sadhana, through japa, through reciting the Divine Names and thinking of God, even work will not lead you anywhere. Once you have managed to calm your mind, then everything becomes easy. Then, everything becomes yoga. Whatever you do, wherever you are, is only Him. That’s why it is very important to accept whatever God has given you as your duty in life and surrender it to the Lotus Feet of the Lord. Then you will see that He will reveal Himself to you like He did to Dukhi Krishna. He was given the duty to sweep the road in Vrindavan and he didn’t even question why his Guru had given him that duty. He was just happily doing his duty, and while he was doing his duty, he had the Lotus Feet of the Guru in his mind. He didn’t just sit around and think about the Guru. As he was doing his duty, he was joyfully chanting the Name of the Guru and praising him. His dhyaan, his meditation, was also on the Guru. That’s the dharma. That’s how he got the blessing of Srimati Radharani. Like that, God will also manifest Himself in whatever you are doing. He will give you full protection and will deliver you from the cycle of birth and death.

Bhagavad Gita 

Yog of Knowledge and Action 

Chapter 4, Verse 42

 

tasmād-ajñāna saṁbhūtaṁ 

hṛtsthaṁ jñānāsinātmanaḥ 

cchittvainaṁ saṁśayaṁ yogam 

ātiṣṭhottiṣṭha bhārata

 

Therefore, arise, O Bharata, and resort constantly to yoga, having cut away with the sword of knowledge this perplexity born of ignorance.

Here Krishna again addresses Arjuna as Bharata. He reminds him that he was a descendant of the great sage Bharata, a man of action, who did his duty as a king, but who was extremely devoted to his spiritual practice. He says to Arjuna, “O Bharata, remind yourself of your great ancestor, king Bharata. He was not like you right now, sitting and crying in a pitiable and miserable state! He was wise! He had faith! He was extremely devoted to his spiritual practice, yet he was also doing his duty as a king. So, O Bharata, arise! ‘Resort constantly to yoga’, resort constantly to thinking of God, chanting His Name, meditating on Him. Have this knowledge and let all this ignorance be removed! Let all these doubts be removed! Before you had doubts! That’s why you were sitting and crying! Now these doubts are removed. So open your eyes! Hear properly what I am saying and let it have an effect on you. O Arjuna, this is your duty, this is your dharma. Arise! Take up your arms and fight! Don’t be faint-hearted; be centred in your Self. Stop asking the question, ‘How could I fight Bhishma or Drona?’ Be calm.”

 

Krishna is pushing Arjuna. He says, “O Bharata! You are my friend! You are very dear to Me. You are My devotee. Don’t let doubt finish you off. Don’t be like all the other people who doubt. People who doubt lose their peace of mind, and so they lose everything. They are far away from attaining this world, and they are far away from attaining the other world. They are constantly in the wheel of karma, constantly creating karma. They are never free. Due to that, they remain in complete ignorance. O Arjuna, have faith!”

 

For doubts to be removed, faith is very important: faith in yourself, faith in the God inside of you, faith in your spiritual practice, faith in your path, faith in the Guru, faith in the sages and saints, faith in the scriptures, faith in the Ultimate. Faith is a step towards the knowledge of the Self. Without faith, it is impossible to attain this supreme knowledge.

 

Here ends the fourth chapter of the Shreemad Bhagavad Gita on knowledge, action, and renunciation.

Bhagavad Gita 

Yog of Knowledge and Action 

Chapter 4, Verse 41

 

yoga-saṁnyasta karmāṇaṁ 

jñāna saṁcchinna saṁśayam 

ātmavantaṁ na karmāṇi 

nibadhnanti dhanañjaya

 

He who has destroyed all doubt by knowledge and has by yoga given up all works and is in possession of the Self, is not bound by his karma, O Dhananjaya.

 

“He who has destroyed all doubt by knowledge.” Lord Krishna says, “Remove all doubts! Surrender to the Feet of the Master! Do your sadhana, do your Atma Kriya Yoga! Go to prayers in the morning, and in the evening. Don’t be ignorant!”

 

“He who has destroyed all doubt by knowledge and by yoga.” Here ‘yoga’ means doing the sadhana, doing the spiritual practices, following the advice of the Master.

 

“… given up all works and is in possession of the Self, is not bound by his karma.” The ones who serve the Master, who do their spiritual practices with an attitude of surrender, aiming to attain the Divine; who do everything thinking of God, chanting His Name all the time, constantly bearing Krishna in their minds, they will be free from karma. They will be free from attachments and desires and will not bind themselves to this world.

 

When one is surrendered, and one does all one’s work surrendering it to the Divine, to the Master; when God is always in one’s mind, karma doesn’t have any effect. Karma is finished! One becomes wise! One becomes a light in the darkness, a light helping others go out of the darkness. One shines. Jesus says in the Bible that if you have a light, you don’t hide it under a bushel basket, you let it shine. The one who has the knowledge of the Self, shines: they become a lighthouse for others, to bring them on the spiritual path. In that way, all karma is burned. You don’t only burn your own karma, you also burn others’ karma.

Bhagavad Gita 

Yog of Knowledge and Action 

Chapter 4, Verse 40

 

ajñāś-cāśraddhānaśca 

saṁśayātmā vinaśyati 

nāyaṁ loko’sti na paro 

na sukhaṁ saṁśayātmanaḥ

 

The ignorant who has not faith and is full of doubt goes to perdition; neither this world, nor the supreme world nor any happiness, is for the soul full of doubts.

 

Here Lord Krishna says to Arjuna that faith is of utmost importance. Those who don’t have faith, who lack the capacity to differentiate between truth and untruth, who are ignorant, are “full of doubts” and go to perdition.

 

This word ‘perdition’ means that you are completely damned. There’s no hope for you. If you have doubts, if you have no faith, if you lack discrimination, “neither this world, nor the supreme world, nor any happiness is for the soul full of doubts”. There is no happiness anywhere. Without faith, one will never have the knowledge of the Self, or the knowledge that God is the doer of everything. And this will be one’s downfall! 

 

Krishna says that a spiritual fall is not the only loss that people will suffer. When people have doubts and can’t remove them, they can’t even prosper in this world: they can’t even obtain wealth, glory, or fame. Nothing. To obtain things in this world, you also need faith. If you want to do your duty, your work in this world, you must have faith in what you are doing.

If you want to attain the Grace of God, you must have faith. Through this faith everything becomes easy; with doubt, everything becomes difficult. One will never enjoy this world, because greed will be present. One will always want more and more and more and more. How can one be free? One will never have peace of mind. One will never enjoy the blessing of Heaven. One will go to other spheres to spend some time in misery, and then one will come back here, to do more miserable things.

 

Krishna says to Arjuna, “Remove all the doubts! Have faith. Have faith in Me. I am guiding you, I am telling you Arjuna, fight! This is your dharma, your duty. Remove all this faint-heartedness. With doubt in the mind, there is no success. It is the end of human existence. You will not be happy here. You will not be happy in the next world after leaving this world. Surrender!”

 

If people have doubts in their mind, but they have faith in the Master and surrender to the Master’s Feet, through the Grace of the Master, if they practice their sadhana (even if they don’t fully believe in the sadhana, but they have faith in the Master), the Grace will flow to them from the Master. Through that Grace, they will gain discrimination, be cleansed from doubt and the Grace of the Master will free them. Faith is surely of utmost importance. Through faith, everything is possible, even what seems impossible to the doubting mind.

 

If the Master tells the disciples to do something and they have faith in the Master, they will do it, without questioning. Through that faith, the Grace which flows into the Master will flow from the Master to the disciples and they will be free. Here Krishna is offering this blessing of the Master to Arjuna. He is telling Arjuna, “Have faith in Me! Even if you have doubts that it will be adharmic to fight this war, trust in Me. Open up, Arjuna. If you open up now, you will see that everything will flow. You will attain everything. The blessing of Heaven will be with you. This true knowledge, the Brahma Jyaan, the knowledge of the Self will awaken inside of you. You will see the glory of God everywhere. Open your eyes. Have a little faith. Let the doubts be removed from your mind!”

 

In this verse, the Lord says that there will be no happiness for people who have doubts. And that’s true! One who has doubts is never free, and one who has faith is fully free!

Bhagavad Gita 

Yog of Knowledge and Action 

Chapter 4, Verse 39

 

śraddhāvāṁ llabhate jñānaṁ 

tatparaḥ saṁyatendriyaḥ 

jñānaṁ labdhvā parāṁ śāntim 

acireṇādhigacchati

 

He who has faith, who has conquered and controlled the mind and senses, who has fixed his whole conscious being on the supreme reality, he attains knowledge; and having attained knowledge, he goes swiftly to the supreme peace.

 

Whoever approaches the Guru gains Enlightenment. Here Krishna says that faith is very important. Without faith or humility, you will not approach the Guru. But with faith and humility you will approach the Guru, you will take the instruction, you will serve, you will question, you will show an interest in freeing yourself. In such a state, you will attain the Light of Truth.

 

“… he attains knowledge; and having attained knowledge, he goes swiftly to the supreme peace.” To attain this knowledge of the Self, it’s important to have faith, shraddha, because if you don’t have faith, everything is of no use. One can’t approach a wise Guru without faith. People can bow to him, serve him and ask him questions, with the aim of proudly showing their knowledge. However, without showing their faith, they will not attain the supreme knowledge. People can be hypocritical and pretend to serve the Master. They can pretend to love the Master, they can pretend everything, but they will not receive true knowledge. If one is not doing everything with full faith, it will be fruitless. Faith is a principal factor which contributes to attaining divine knowledge.

Bhagavad Gita 

Yog of Knowledge and Action 

Chapter 4, Verse 38

 

na hi jñānena sadṛśaṁ 

pavitram iha vidyate 

tat-svayaṁ yoga saṁsiddhiḥ 

kālenātmani vindati

 

There is nothing in the world equal in purity to knowledge; the man who is perfected by yoga, finds it of himself in the Self in the course of time.

 

Here Krishna says that the knowledge of the Self is a greater purifier than the practice of charity, sacrifices, fasting, penance, pranayama, japa, meditation, and taking a dip in the holy rivers. If people just do all these things mechanically, without knowing the deeper meaning of what they are doing, they don’t profit from them. Someone doing japa mechanically will think, “Swamiji said to chant 16 malas every day. I am forcing myself to chant, but I don’t want to do it.” If one is hypocritical towards oneself, one doesn’t attain that supreme knowledge, but if one does a practice wholeheartedly, the practice becomes like the Ganga and Yamuna: it purifies one. 

By complete surrender, one gains the knowledge and realises the Truth. Once one attains the Truth of God, one’s sins are removed, one is cleansed of all negative qualities, and one becomes absolutely pure. The mind, the senses and the body, become exceptionally pure, reflecting the Light of God, and one become a shelter for others. But first, one sees the Divine within oneself. And through that knowledge, one becomes a purifier for the society, for the good of mankind

Bhagavad Gita