http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2009/05/yogi-geeta/
http://www.hinduyuva.org/tattva-blog/2009/04/yog-geetha/
Real concept of “Yogi” as preached in the Geeta
Bhagwad Geeta is “Yog Shastra”.Sri Krishn has preached in length about all the possible metaphysical terms which are necessities of a seeker to know about while traversing on path of real spiritualism. He has very clearly defined the terms “Yog” and “Yogi” as well in details. He has preached Arjun in verse forty six of Chapter six:
tapasvibhyo ‘dhiko yogi
jnanibhyo ‘pi mato ‘dhikah
karmibhyas cadhiko yogi
tasmad yogi bhavarjuna
“Since yogi is superior to men, who do penance, or men who follow the path of discrimination, or men who desire the fruits of action, O Kurunandan, you should be a doer of selfless action.”
A yogi, doer of selfless action, surpasses all ascetics, men of knowledge as well as those of action. So Krishn’s final counsel to Arjun is that he should be a yogi. This necessitates an appraisal of what all these types are. The ASCETIC is one who practices severe austerities and mortification of the body, mind, and senses to shape the yog which has not yet started flowing through him like an unimpeded current. The DOER is one who is engaged in the ordained task after knowing it, but who applies himself to it without either making an appraisal of his own strength or a sense of dedication. He is just engaged in the carrying out of an enterprise. The MAN OF KNOWLEDGE, follower of the Way of Knowledge, is engaged in the performance of the deed of yagya only after gaining a full understanding of the process from a noble mentor, an accomplished teacher, as well as with a clear appraisal and judgment of his own strength; he holds himself responsible for both profit and loss in the undertaking. The YOGI, doer of selfless action, performs the same prescribed task of meditation with a sense of total surrender to the adored one; the responsibility for the success of his yog is borne by God and the Yogeshwar. Even when there are prospects of failure he has no fear, because the God, whom he craves for, has taken upon himself the task of supporting and upholding him. All the four types of action are noble as such. But the ascetic, the man of penance, is still engaged in equipping himself for yog. The doer, the man of action, engages in action just because he knows that it has to be undertaken. These two may fail, because they have neither a sense of dedication nor a proper discernment of their assets and liabilities. But the follower of the Way of Knowledge is aware of the means of yog and also of his own strength. He holds himself responsible for whatever he does. And the yogi, the doer of selfless action, has cast himself at the mercy of his adored God, and it is God who will protect and help him. Both of these tread well on the path of spiritual salvation. But the way on which the safety of the worshipper is looked after by God is the superior of the two. It is acknowledged by Krishn. So the yogi is the most superior of men and Arjun ought to be a yogi. He should engage in the task of performing yog with a sense of complete resignation. The yogi is superior, but even better is that yogi who dwells in God through his Self. Now let us discuss here about the definition and some characteristics of “Yogi” as preached by Sri Krishn in Bhagwad Geeta.
Sri Krishn preaches in first verse of Chapter six:
anasritah karma-phalam
karyam karma karoti yah
sa sannyasi ca yogi ca
na niragnir na cakriyah
“The man, who performs the ordained task without desiring its fruits, rather than the one who just gives up (lighting) the sacred fire or action, is a sanyasi and a yogi.”
Sri Krishn insists that only that man who has made true renunciation or achieved yog who engages in the one action that is worthy of doing with absolutely no desire for any rewards. No one becomes a sanyasi or a yogi by just desisting from the ordained action. There are many kinds of work, but out of them the action which is fit to be undertaken and which is ordained is only one. And this one action is yagya which means “worship,” the one means for the attainment of God. The practice of it is action; and the man who does it is a sanyasi and a yogi. If a man has just stopped lighting fire or tells himself complacently that he has no use for action because he possesses Self-knowledge, he is neither a sanyasi nor a doer of selfless action.Sri Krishn further speaks about this:
“Remember, O Arjun, that yog (selfless action) is the same as renunciation (knowledge), for no man can be a yogi without a total rejection of desire.”
What we know as renunciation is also yog, for no man can be a yogi without giving up all his desires. In other words, sacrifice of desire is essential for men who have chosen either of the ways. Superficially it appears so easy, for all that we need to do in order to become a yogi- sanyasi is to claim that we are free from desire. But according to Sri Krishn it is by no means so. He adds:
“Whereas selfless action is the means for the contemplative man who wishes to achieve yog, a total absence of will is the means for one who has attained to it.”
Performance of action to achieve yog is the way for the reflective man who aspires to selfless action. But when repeated practice of the deed gradually brings one to the stage at which the final outcome of selfless action emerges, absence of all desire is the means. One is not rid of desire before this stage; and further he says:
yada hi nendriyarthesu
na karmasv anusajjate
sarva-sankalpa-sannyasi
yogarudhas tadocyate
“A man is said to have achieved yog when he is unattached to both sensual pleasure and action.”
This is the stage when a man is not given to sensual pleasure, nor to action. When the culmination of yog is once reached, who is there beyond to strive and look for? So there is no longer any need of even the prescribed task of worship and, therefore, of attachment to action. This is the point when attachments are completely broken. This is renunciation-(sanyas); and this is also achievement of yog. While a worshipper is still on his way and has not yet arrived at this point, there is nothing like renunciation.
In chapter six, Sri Krishn preaches that God dwells inextricably in the heart of the man who rests in his own Self and reacts evenly to the dualities of nature such as heat and cold, pain and pleasure, and honour and humiliation. Perfect repose flows through one who has conquered the mind along with the senses. This is the stage when the Soul is liberated.He preaches in verse eight and nine of Chapter six:
jnana-vijnana-trptatma
kuta-stho vijitendriyah
yukta ity ucyate yogi
sama-lostrasma-kancanah
“The yogi, whose mind is quenched with knowledge-both divine and intuitive, whose devotion is steady and constant, who has conquered his senses well, and who makes no distinction between objects ostensibly as different as earth, rock, and gold, is said to have realized God.’’
The yogi who has achieved this state is said to be endowed with yog. He has reached the crowning point of yog which Yogeshwar Krishn has portrayed in Chapter 5. Perception of God and the consequent enlightenment are knowledge. The worshipper is but grovelling in the mire of ignorance if there is even the slightest distance between him and the adored God and the desire to know him remains unfulfilled. What is called “intuitive” knowledge (vigyan) here is knowledge of God’s functioning through things, acts, and relations (the manifest universe) which reveal how he is all-pervading, how he prompts, how he guides innumerable Souls simultaneously, and how he is knower of all times-past, present, and future. He begins to guide from the very moment when he makes his advent in a heart as the revered one, but the worshipper is unable to know this at the initial stage. It is only when he has reached the culmination of his contemplative exercise that he gains full awareness of God’s ways. This is vigyan. The heart of the man who is accomplished in yog is satiated with this achievement combined with his knowledge of God and accurate insight. Continuing with his account of this adept in yog, Sri Krishn adds in verse nine:
“That man is indeed superior who view all with an equal mind: friends and foes, the antagonistic, indifferent, neutral or jealous, kinsmen, and the righteous as well as sinners.’’
After perception of god, a sage is both equal and even-minded. A man is said to be endowed with yog when, restrained by the practice of selfless action and contented with Self, his mind is freed from all desires.
Thus, when disciplined by the practice of selfless action, the mind of a man is firmly centered on God and is indeed dissolved in him, and when there remains no desire, the worshipper is said to have attained to yog. In the state in which even the yog-restrained mind is dissolved by a direct perception of God, he (the worshipper) rests contented in his Self.
This state is achieved only by a constant and long practice of yog. In the absence of such exercise, there can be no restraint of the mind. So when the intellect, the refined mind that has been curbed by yog, also ceases to be because it is absorbed in God, the worshipper perceives him through his Self and abides with contented happiness in his own Self. He apprehends God, but he dwells contented in his Soul. In the moment of attainment he sees God, face to face as it were, but the very next moment he finds his own Self overflowing with the eternal glories of that God. God is immortal, constant, unmanifest, and vital; and now the worshipper’s soul too is imbued with these divine attributes. True, but now it is also beyond thought. So long as desire and its urges exist, we cannot possess the Self. But when the mind is restrained and then dissolved by direct perception, the very next moment after the visionary experience the embodied Soul is endowed with all the transcendental qualities of God. And it is for this reason that the worshipper now lives happily and contented in his own Self. This Self is what he really is. This is the point of crowning glory for him.
After knowing God, he (the yogi ) dwells for ever and unwavering in the state in which he is blessed with the eternal, sense-transcending joy that can be felt only by a refined and subtle intellect.Such is the state after attainment in which the worshipper lives for ever and from which he never strays. Moreover in this state, in which he believes that there can be no greater good than the ultimate peace he has found in God, he is unshaken by even the direst of all griefs.After he is once blessed with God’s transcendental peace, settled firmly in the state of his realization, the yogi is freed from all grief, and now even the most painful sorrow cannot affect him. It is so because the mind, that feels, is now itself dissolved. The most sublime happiness is the lot of the yogi whose mind is at peace, who is free from evil, whose passion and moral blindness have been dispelled, and who has become one with God. Nothing is superior to the happiness that comes to this yogi, for this is the happiness that results from identity with God; and this ultimate bliss comes only to that man who is perfectly at peace in his heart and mind, free from sin, and whose property of passion and moral blindness has been subdued. Thus constantly dedicating his Self to God, the immaculate yogi experiences the eternal bliss of realization. The emphasis here is on sinlessness and continuous devotion. The yogi needs to possess these qualities before he can experience the blessedness of touching God and merging into him. So worship is a necessity. The worshipper, whose Self has achieved the state of yog and who sees all with an equal eye, beholds his own Self in all beings and all beings in his Self.Yog brings about the state in which the even-minded worshipper sees the extension of his Soul in all beings and the existence of all beings in his own Soul. Sri Krishn adds further:
atmaupamyena sarvatra
samam pasyati yo ‘rjuna
sukham va yadi va duhkham
sa yogi paramo matah
“The worshipper, O Arjun, who perceives all things as identical and regards happiness and sorrow as identical, is thought to be the most accomplished yogi.”
The man who realizes that this Self is also the Self of all other creatures, who makes no difference between himself and others, and for whom joy and grief are the same, is the one for whom there are no longer any distinctions nor discriminations. So, he is rightly regarded as a yogi who has attained to the highest excellence in his discipline. In verse forty seven of chapter six, Sri Krishn says
yoginam api sarvesam
mad-gatenantar-atmana
sraddhavan bhajate yo mam
sa me yuktatamo matah
“Among all yogi I think that one the best who is dedicated to me and who, abiding in the Self, always adores me.’’
Sri Krishn regards, among all yogi-doers of selfless action, that one as the best who, immersed in his feeling of devotion, always adores him. Worship is not a matter of display or exhibition. Society may approve of such display, but god is offended. Worship is a secret, private activity, and it is undertaken within the heart. The ascent and descent of worship are events that belong to the Innermost seats of thought and feeling.
In chapter five, Sri Krishn preaches:
“The doer, who is in perfect control of his body through a conquest of his senses, pure at heart and single mindedly devoted to the God of all beings, is untainted by action even though he is engaged in it.’’
That man is possessed of yog, of selfless action, who has conquered the body, whose senses are subdued, whose thoughts and feelings are spotlessly clean, and who has realized his identity with God, the Spirit of all beings. He remains unblemished even though he is involved in action, because his deeds are aimed at garnering seeds of the highest good for those who lag behind. He is untainted because he dwells in the essence that is God, the fountain head of the vitality of all beings. There is nothing for him hereafter for which he should quest. At the same time, there can be no attachment to what he has left behind, because they have all paled into insignificance. So he is not engulfed by his deeds. Thus we have here a picture of the ultimate stage of the worshipper who has achieved selfless action. Sri Krishn explains again why this man, blessed with yog, remains unattached to action? In verse eight and nine of chapter five, he says:
naiva kincit karomiti
yukto manyeta tattva-vit
pasyan srnvan sprsan jighrann
asnan gacchan svapan svasan
pralapan visrjan grhnann
unmisan nimisann api
indriyanindriyarthesu
vartanta iti dharayan
‘‘The man who perceives, in whatever he is doing, whether hearing, touching smelling, eating, walking, sleeping, breathing, giving up or seizing, and opening or closing his eyes, that only his senses are acting according to their properties and that he himself is a non-doer, is indeed the one with true knowledge.’’
It is a belief, or rather experience, of the man to whom God is visibly present that he does absolutely nothing. Rather than being a mere fancy, it is a firm conviction he has arrived at through the performance of action. After having known this he cannot but believe that whatever he appears to be doing is really the operation of his senses according to their natural properties. And, when there is nothing higher than God whom he has apprehended, what greater joy can he aspire to have by touching any other object or being? Had there been something better beyond, there must have been attachment. But after the attainment of God there is no further goal to strive for. And neither is there anything left behind for him to renounce. So the man endowed with attainment is unimmersed in action. This thought is now illustrated by an example. The lotus grows in mud, but its leaf floats above the water. Ripples pass over it night and day, but if you look at the leaf it is always dry. Not a drop of water clings to it. So the lotus growing in mud and water is yet unsullied by them. Just so, the man, all of whose actions are merged into God (this dissolution occurs only with perception, not before), and who acts with total detachment because there is nothing beyond to be desired, is unaffected by action. Yet he is busy with the performance of action for the guidance and good of the ones who are behind him.
Sages give up the attachment of their senses, mind, intellect and body, and act for inner purification.A sage abandons all desires of his senses, mind, intellect, and body, and practices selfless action for inner sanctity. Does that mean that the Self is tainted with impurities even after he has merged into God? It cannot be so because after this dissolution the Self becomes one with all beings; he sees his own extension in all beings. So he acts, not for himself, but for the purification and guidance of other beings. He acts with his mind, intellect and physical organs, but his Self is in a state of actionlessness and constant peace. He appears to be active outwardly, but inside him there is only endless tranquility. The rope cannot bind any longer because it is burnt out and what remains is only the impression of its twists.Sri Krishn says:
yuktah karma-phalam tyaktva
santim apnoti naisthikim
ayuktah kama-karena
phale sakto nibadhyate
“The sage who sacrifices the fruits of his action to God attains to his state of sublime repose, but the man who desires rewards of action is chained by desire.’’
The man who is blessed with the final outcome of selfless action and who dwells in God-the root of all beings, and who has forsaken desire for the fruits of action because the God who was the goal of his action is no longer distant from him, achieves the state of sublime peace beyond which there is no greater peace and beyond which he will never again know restlessness. But the wayfarer, who is still on his way and attached (he has to be attached because the “fruit” of his action, God, is still unattained) to the consequence of his action, is fettered by it. So desires continue to arise until the moment of attainment, and the worshipper has to be on his guard right till that point. Even if the attainment is to be tomorrow, today the worshipper is at best only an ignorant man. So the questing worshipper ought not to be careless.
Shri Mrityunjayanand is a disciple of most revered Swami Adgadanand ji and is fully committed to the universal promotion of the message of Bhagwad-Geeta. You can contact him at mrityunjayanand@hotmail.com.
HARiOMSAiRAMKRiSHNA
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