विवेचन सारांश

Paramātmā permeates the entire Universe, but is not affected by anything

'Idam' refers to 'this' (knowledge). Śrī Bhagavān has started imparting this knowledge to Arjuna in Chapter 7. In the final verse of the chapter 7,

Arjuna comes across some difficult words like adhibhūta (field of matter) and the adhidaiva (the celestial gods), and as adhiyajña (the Lord of all sacrificial performances), and hence is unable to grasp the full meaning of what the Supreme is trying to tell him.

Thus Chapter 8 begins with a series of 8 questions wherein Arjuna asks for the meaning of these words. The Supreme in all HIS mercy, explains these words in chapter 8. After Arjuna is satisfied The Supreme once again resumes HIS discourse of 'guhyatamaṃ' (the most secret) knowledge.

‘Asuya’ in Sanskrit language means jealousy / fault finding. Sri Bhagavān has used the adjective, 'Anasuya' for Arjuna, which means one who is not jealous / does not find faults, in others. Several examples of finding faults in others can be cited. A child may be good at studies, but people may say that the child does not respect her elders. A lady may wear a black sari and face criticism for wearing the black color in the summer season. If she wears it in winter, people may say she is not wearing vibrant colors. People comment about others hair, dressing sense, talking style due to negativity in themselves. They superimpose negative traits in others and are unable to see others' positive points. But Arjuna would not do that. Following is an example to illustrate Arjun's positive attitude:

The Kauravas had poisoned Arjuna's brother, Bhima, and tried to drown him. They tried to disrobe his wife Draupadi, in the royal court. But despite this Arjuna says in the first chapter:

Even though they may be aggressors, sin will certainly come upon us if we slay them. Hence, it does not behoove us to kill our own cousins, the sons of Dhritarashtra, and friends. O Madhav (Krishna), how can we hope to be happy by killing our own kinsmen?

This is the greatness of Arjuna who still considered his cousins as his 'own' people, and therefore Śrī Bhagavān has rightly called him 'Anasuya'.

Why does Bhagavān share this most secret knowledge with Arjuna? This is because HE knows that people with good virtues will spread the knowledge gained from HIM and others would benefit with this knowledge. We are again encouraged to learn the Gītā and share this knowledge by becoming a Sevi through the various Sevas available in Geeta Santha, such as a trainer, a tech-help, or a Pracharak. The more capable we are of spreading the knowledge, the more the knowledge is shared with us. In these 700 verses, Sri Bhagavān has tried to give us both, knowledge about HIM and how we can attain him.

The 7th chapter of the Bhagavadgītā is called Jñāna-Vijñāna-Yoga - The Yoga of Jñāna (Knowledge of Nirguna Brahma) and Vijñāna (Knowledge of Manifest Divinity). The difference between Jñāna and Vijñāna should be understood. Jñāna is technical knowledge and Vijñāna is experiential knowledge. A few examples to drive in the concept of Jñāna and Vijñāna:

• A person is introduced to a new dessert. Lots of explanation about the dessert are given to him. But only when he practically eats it, he can fully understand the taste of the dessert. No amount of explanation can give him as much understanding as is given by the taste of one bite of the dish.
• Women are not satisfied with window shopping, and want to purchase the dress of their choice. They would like to go out wearing the new dress rather than just admire it on the display in a store.
• A child would not be satisfied by seeing pictures or seeing other children enjoying in a water park. He would like to enjoy the rides himself.

Through these examples, we realize that technical and theoretical knowledge is not enough. One needs the experiential part of knowledge to completely understand any concept. 

Why is being free from worldly existence considered good?
Most of us think that life in this world is happy, with loving family, parties, social media, and also our Learn Geeta Program. Why do we need freedom from all these good things? At such times we should realise that life is not always good. It is a mixture of good and bad; in fact it can be compared to a boat which has a hole and is floating in the river. It can sink at any time. We cannot escape from the pain and misery of this worldly life and hence wise men seek a way out of this cycle of happiness and unhappiness, the birth and death cycle.

“Elevate yourself through the power of your mind, and not degrade yourself, for the mind can be the friend and as well the enemy of the self.”

Knowledge of this Yoga will destroy all these enemies of the seeker. After knowing this nothing remains to be known.

The knowledge of this Yoga is also a secret. The seekers' position regarding this knowledge can be described in the same way as mentioned in verse 29 of the 2nd chapter of Bhagavadgītā.

"Some see it as amazing, some describe it as amazing, and some hear of it as amazing, while others, even on hearing, cannot understand it at all".

That is why this knowledge is called secret knowledge. Knowledge of Rāja Vidyā Rāja Guhya Yoga is the highest purifier of the mind as it can destroy all the vikaras that make people waste their energy on mundane activities or engage in activities that cause harm to oneself or the other. As per the scriptures, the purifiers are Vaayu (air), Jala (water) and Agni (fire). However, the divine knowledge is the ultimate purifier. This knowledge is the purest of all as it has the ability to destroy all the vikaras.

Consider the example of a person who harbored desires all his life. He goes on to accumulate wealth without spending the same. Even towards his old age, although the wealth is accumulated, it is not being spent. There is no end to this desire of accumulating wealth and being stingy. Some persons even resort to unethical means to accumulate wealth from a state of greed. A hunter functioning from a state of anger just goes on firing at birds and is unable to channelize the energy for a positive outcome. The desire is like a forest fire which keeps expanding. Even after acquiring wealth, one desires for more and more. Hence, this divine knowledge has the power to purify one and all and decimate the embedded vikaras from the consciousness.

Knowledge of Rāja Vidyā Rāja Guhya Yoga is the supreme knowledge that is directly realisable, easy to practice, and everlasting. This knowledge cannot be gained merely by reading the scriptures or listening to it from a learned scholar. The only way to get this knowledge is to practice (Sādhanā). One needs to engage in regular practice without any selfish motives. By reading scriptures one can be knowledgeable by head (intellect). It is Sādhanā alone that can help one get the knowledge by heart (mind) as well. The Sādhanā should not be focused merely on external rituals. The focus of Sādhanā should be to overcome the vikaras and make changes in our minds. The knowledge will dwell upon automatically when the Sādhanā is performed without any selfish motives. The saints of India such as Mirabai, Kabir Das, and many others did not attend any school/gurukul. Even then, their poetry is full of principles of Vedanta. How do they know without even being conventional literate? How is the knowledge of Bhagavadgītā reflected in their poetry? They had this knowledge by direct perception and realization through the Sādhanā. It is important for one to understand that Sādhanā is not an external state where one engages in applying a thilak, wearing a spiritual attire or ringing bells. It is an internal state which is achieved by regular and devoted practice.

Another condition to receive this secret knowledge is to follow dharma (one's duty). How to follow Dharma while performing the Sādhanā is explained in the below shloka:  

"Every moment, whatever I do with my senses, I do it only to please you. I act only for you".

This approach helps when one is unclear on the definition and difference between Dharma and Adharma. The actions performed by oneself should not hurt the other and should please Bhagavān and in turn please the self. Adhering to the above conditions, the knowledge dwells upon easily. The attitude of service to Sri Bhagavān is more important than performing any severe austerity which usually includes physical hardships.

Once, there was a person who wanted to visit the market by riding his scooter. However, he finds a puppy that was asleep on his scooter. He realizes that if he rides his scooter, it would disturb the puppy from its sleep and hence refrains from riding his scooter. This is just a small example of practicing compassion towards all living beings.  The real Sādhanā includes care for all living creatures not just for self and the other. This careful behavior is considered as austerity. All the actions taken every moment if they are done carefully to please Sri Bhagavān, form the austerity. Attaining the knowledge of Rāja Vidyā becomes easy after such practice.  

Once attained, knowledge of this Yoga remains with the seeker forever. It is everlasting. It doesn't vanish like other knowledge which is temporary. Someone who has learned Hindi typing but has not practiced it for a long time tends to forget it.  The knowledge of Rāja Vidyā Rāja Guhya Yog once attained does not vanish. Even after the death of the person, the knowledge is retained as it is carried by the soul. In verse 8 of the 15th chapter of Bhagavadgītā, Sri Bhagavān says:

"As the air carries fragrance from place to place, so does the embodied soul carry the mind and senses with it, when it leaves an old body and enters a new one".

The spiritual knowledge alone is carried forward by the soul to the new body and not other knowledge such as mathematics or science. The knowledge one has attained through the Learn Geeta program will go with the person in the next birth as it forms spiritual knowledge. Examples of small children who can't read Bhagavadgītā and yet can recite it are common. They must have gained the knowledge in the previous birth which is carried forward in this birth. That is why this knowledge is called 'avyayam' (eternal).

There is one more condition that needs to be fulfilled to gain this knowledge which is having faith (Shraddha). Sri Bhagavān explains the fate of those seekers who lack the attribute of faith in the next shloka.

"This instruction should never be explained to those who are not austere or to those who are not devoted. It should also not be spoken to those who are averse to listening (to spiritual topics), and especially not to those who are envious of Me."

One needs to have faith in Bhagavadgītā even when sometimes he is unable to understand it. Consider the below example of a mother to understand the quality of faith. A mother was constantly troubled by her child who was asking where is the Divine? She was wondering how to show him the Divine. The child was naughty. He would tell her mother that he would not go to the temple or read Bhagavadgītā if the Divine was not shown to him. The mother slapped the boy repeatedly while he was saying it was paining. She then asked him to show me where is it paining. And then made him realize that everything cannot be shown. Some things can only be realized. We cannot see Sri Bhagavān by our eyes. Sri Bhagavān gave Divine vision to Arjuna to enable him to see HIS universal form.

"Birth again, death again, again resting in the mother’s womb! It is indeed hard to cross this boundless ocean of saṁsāra (cycle of repeated birth and death). O Murāri! by your causeless mercy please protect me (from this transmigratory process)."

As mentioned earlier, life is full of dualities (say happiness and sorrow; pain and pleasure; etc.,). Pain and pleasures are the two sides of the same coin and it is certain that one will have to face the nodes of pain and pleasures. Bhagavān mentions that those who choose not to have faith in the spiritual path remain devoid of divine wisdom, continue to remain stuck in the cycle of life and death.

Sri Bhagavān starts describing the knowledge from the next verse.

Sri Bhagavān says that even though all the living beings dwell in HIM, HE is not influenced by them or by material nature.

Let's understand this with an example. One night, a person misunderstood a pillar as a ghost. When the light falls on the pillar, he realizes that it is not a ghost but a pillar. The pillar in this anecdote is Paramātmā. The person represents us who have the illusion. Due to the illusion, the person sees the pillar as a ghost and gets afraid. Similarly, the saṁsāra is also like a ghost. Just as the ghost appeared to be in the pillar, the saṁsāra appears to be in the Paramātmā.

However, neither the saṁsāra is in HIM nor does HE dwell in it just as neither the ghost is in the pillar, nor the pillar is in the ghost. When the light falls on the pillar, the person realizes that it is not a ghost but a pillar. Similarly, when a person gains knowledge from a Guru which is equivalent to the light, the saṁsāra (ghost) disappears, and the real nature of Paramātmā becomes evident. Sri Bhagavān says that HE does not dwell in the living beings, the Souls exist within the personality of the almighty, yet HE is beyond all.

The session concluded with Hari Sharanam Sankirtan.