Bhagavatgita a detailed study chapter 18-Liberation through renunciation

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67. idham the na athapaskaaya na abhakthaaya kadhaachana

 

Na cha aSuSrooshave

vaachyam na cha maam

Abhyasooyathi

 

This (discourse) should never be told to

one who lacks self control, has no devotion, and not interested to hear and

also to one who cavils at Me .

 

Krishna ends up

saying that this discourse which contains most secret doctrine, should not be

disclosed to anyone lacking austerity or devotion or is indifferent or one who

slanders the Lord because it will be a waste of time and effort. Moreover even

if one listens to it if he has not or could not give up his attachment it will

only confuse him as mentioned in the sloka 29 of chapter3, where the knower of

truth is cautioned against trying to change the mind of one who is under the

influence of gunas before he is ready for detachment.

 

68.ya imam paramam guhyam madhbhaktheshu

abhiDhaasyathi

 

Bhakthim mayi paraam

krthvaa maam eva eshyathi

asamSayaH

 

One who tells this discourse which is

most secret to My devotees with great devotion he attains Me undoubtedly.

 

69. na cha thasmaath manushyeshu kaSchith me

priyakrtthamaH

 

bhavithaa na cha ethasmaath

anyaH priyatharo bhuvi

 

There is no one among men who is dearer

to Me than such a person and he is

dearest to Me.

 

70.aDhyeshyathe cha vaa imam Dharmyam samvaadham

aavayoH

 

Jnaanyajnena thena

ahamishtaH syaam ithi me mathiH

 

One who learns this conversation between

us full of dharma, I am worshipped by him through jnanayajna.

 

71.SradDhaavaan anasooyaScha SrNuyaadhapi yo naraH

So api mukthaH Subhaan

lokaan praapnuyaath

 

One who hears this with faith and

without cavil he also attains mukthi and reaches auspicious worlds.

And one who expounds this to other

devotees of the Lord will attain Him and he is the dearest

to the Lord. The study of this discourse is tantamount to the worship of

the Lord through jnanayoga and one who listens to it with faith and without

cavil shall also be released from bondage.

 

Any work should have four requisites, anubandhachathushtayam,

namely, the grantha, work , vishaya, subject matter, adhikari,

one qualified to study it and prayojana, utility or the fruit. Even

though Bhagavatgita is not a separate work but a part of the epic Mahabharatha,

it has come to be treated as an independent work, granTha, by itself and

hence we could say that the first two have been set out in the beginning by

Sanjaya that it is a discourse of Krishna to Arjuna, that is the granTha,

and by the words of Arjuna himself `yacchreyassyAth nischitham broohi

thanme,' that it is Sreyas, about what is good for him, that

is, the vishaya. Now the other

two, namely, the adhikari and prayojana are specified.

 

The adhikari is the one

possessing devotion, austerity, wish to

serve the Lord etc. and the prayojana, or the fruit is set out as

attaining the supreme by listening, studying and expounding the discourse.

 

The particular prayojana, that of

extricating Arjuna from the delusion is also specified by the question Krishna puts to him next.

 

Krishna says,

72. kaSchith ethath Srutham paarTha thvayaa ekaagreNa

Chethasaa

 

kaSchith

ajaanasammohaH pranashtaH the Dhananjaya

 

 

"Have you heard attentively all that was

told and has your delusion caused by ignorance vanished?"

 

This is the question we should ask

ourselves after the study of the Gita and should be able to answer as Arjuna

did as,

 

 

Arjuna uvaacha

 

73. nashto mohaH smrthirlabDhaa thvath prasaadhaath mayaa

Achyutha

 

sThitho asmi

gathasandhehaH karishye vachanam thava

 

Arjuna

said,

" Destroyed is the illusion and I have

gained knowledge by Thy grace. Freed from doubts I am steadfast and will do Thy

command."

Arjuna said in the beginning that he was

dharmasammooDachathaaH, confused about dharma and adharma and asked Krishna to advise him which is good for him. He said that

he was Sishya and prapanna. Krishna as the

jagatguru and the saraNya, started the discourse on the Gita the sole purpose

was to remove the delusion and doubt of Arjuna regarding his duty. Now the mission is accomplished and Arjuna

says that he was free from delusion and doubt. This can be achieved only

through the grace of the Lord and Arjuna says that it was the prasaadha of Krishna thvath prasaadhath. Now Arjuna is ready to do the bidding of Krishna because his doubts and delusion have vanished. As

Upanishad says,

bhidhyathe hrdhayagranThiH Chidhyanthe sarva samSayaaH this could be achieved only through the supreme knowledge which the

Lord was imparting to Arjuna.

 

Vyasa has chosen the name Achyutha by

which Arjuna calls Krishna because the word

means the one who never swerves from His state. Here the Lord is the SaraNya ,

the refuge of the devotees who never forsakes them.

 

But this is not the knowledge of self

realization because Arjuna

had not yet become a sThithaprajna. This was the knowledge sufficient to make him

do his duty without compunction as Krishna

said earlier that his nature will take

over until he exhausted his karma influenced by his gunas. The maya of

the Lord prevailed upon him once he started doing his duty which proved the

words of the Lord, prakrthiH thvaam niyokshyathi in sloka 59.

 

 

Likewise

we can also expect only to become karmayogins through the learning of

the Gita , which, coupled with devotion will lead us towards the attainment of

the Lord. When that will happen depends on the density of our karma and the

intensity of our resolve., above all the grace of the Lord. But one should

remember the words of the Lord na hi kalyanakrth kaSchith dhurgathim thaatha

gacCathi(Ch.6sloka40) and kountheya

prathijaaneehi na me bhakthaH praNaSyathi (Ch.9.31) by which the Lord gives

assurance that his devotees will never come to harm.