Transcendental Knowledge

In the fourth chapter, the Lord speaks about the reasons for His appearance, the eternal nature of His appearance and activities, and also speaks of the excellence of jñāna in such things as the brahma-yajña.

In this verse, the Lord praises jñāna-yoga (imaṁ yogam), the goal of niṣkāma-karma, which He had already mentioned in the two previous chapters.

In this verse, the Lord gives the reason for speaking this yoga to Arjuna. You are My devotee and My friend. Apart from these two reasons, He gives another reason for not speaking this to inferior persons: it is most secret.

In this verse, Arjuna asks about the impossibility of what Kṛṣṇa has just spoken. “Your birth is recent (aparam) and Vivasvān’s birth is ancient (param). How can I understand that You spoke it to him?”

In this verse, the Lord explains that He instructs through the agency of His avatāras.

I appear as various avatāras, and you also appear as My companion at that time. I know, since I am omniscient, being the Supreme lord. You do not know, since I cover your knowledge for fulfilling the purpose of My pastimes. With knowledge covered, O afflicter of the enemy, you afflict (tapa) the enemies (param) by thinking of yourself as the son of Kuntī, a kṣatriya, during in this life.

In this verse, He describes the manner of His appearance.

“Though I am without birth, I appear. I descend in the forms of devas, humans and crawling animals and other forms.”

“But what is remarkable about that? The jīva is also actually without birth, and is born again after the destruction of the gross body.”

The Lord answers: “I have an indestructible body (avyaya ātmā). The jīva is without birth in the sense that he is a soul apart from his body. He takes birth just because of his relationship with the body which produces ignorance. But My being without birth and My taking birth are not separate from My body, since I am the Lord. Both My birth and My not being born are integral to My svarūpa. As such a condition is difficult to occur, it is certainly astounding and inconceivable. And there is no worry that I will take birth in all sorts of wombs like the jīva who is under the influence of pāpa and puṇya, for I am the lord of all the living entities (bhūtānām īśvaraḥ), not under the control of karma.”

“But the jīva receives bodies of deva, human and animal according to karma by his subtle body which causes his bondage. You, the Supreme Lord, are without a subtle body, and you are all pervading and control karma, time and all other elements. The śruti says bahu syām: may I become many. (Chāndogya Upaniṣad 6.2.3) From that, it is understood that you are the form of the whole universe. When you say ‘I appear in this particular way,’ I think that must mean that Your birth means simply that You are revealing to people the multitude of bodily forms throughout the universe, which are also eternal as types.”

“But how can that be? I make My appearance, situated in My own form (prakṛtiṁ svām adhiṣṭhāya).”

If the word prakṛti meant the external material energy, then its controller, the Supreme Lord, becomes, by inference, a material form, not a special object of realization. Therefore, in conformity to the Amara Kośa dictionary meaning (saṁsiddhi-prakṛtī tv ime svarūpaṁ ca svabhāvaś ca), the word prakṛti means svarūpa in this verse. It does not refer to the material energy which arises from His svarūpa. The Lord’s svarūpa is sac-cid-ānanda, full of eternal spiritual knowledge and bliss.

Concerning the word prakṛti, Srīdhara Svāmī says, “Accepting a form (prakṛti) which is composed of śuddha-sattva (svām).” Rāmānujācārya says, “Prakṛti means ones own nature (svabhāva). Thus the phrase means ‘Being situated in My nature, I appear with My svarūpa (svam) by My own will.’” In this case, prakṛti means the Lord’s nature, which is condensed sac-cid-ānanda-rasa, which is distinct from material energy. The word svam along with prakṛti thus indicates “My own svarūpa, My true form.”

For the śruti says:

sa bhagavaḥ kasmin pratiṣṭhitaḥ sva mahimni

Dear sir, in what is the supreme situated? It is situated in its own glory. Chāndogya Upaniṣad 7.24.1

Madhusūdana Sarasvatī gives the following meaning. “I appear, situated in My svarūpa. Being situated spiritually, I act without duality of soul and body.”

“But if You have indestructible bodies such as Matsya or Kūrma, then why do Your present form and the previous forms not appear all at once?

“I appear through My māyā coming from My self (ātmā means self, thus ātma-māyā means My own māyā), through My yoga-māyā, the function of the cit-śakti, which both covers and reveals My svarūpas. I appear revealing My present form, having covered the previous forms.”

Śrīdhara Svāmī says sambhāvami ātma-māyayā means, “I appear by My energy of jñāna, bala and vīrya which strongly manifest.”

According to Rāmānuja, ātma-māyayā can also mean “By My own knowledge,” since māya can mean knowledge in this context: māyā vayunam jñānam. The usage is stated: “He continually knows the sin and piety of all entities by knowledge (māyayā).” Madhusūdana Sarasvatī says: “Māyā means the awareness through that body (ātmā) that I am the Lord, Vāsudeva, devoid of difference between body and soul.”

“When do I appear?” This verse answers.

I appear when I cannot tolerate both the destruction (glāni) of dharma and the increase (abhyutthānam) of adharma, in order to reverse the situation. I manifest My body (ātmānam). Madhusūdana Sarasvatī says, “I show that body which exists eternally, as if it were created by My energy.”

“But Your devotees, the rājarṣis and brahmarṣis can rectify the destruction of dharma and the increase of adharma. Then why is it necessary that You make an appearance?”

“That is true. But I come and perform feats which are very difficult for others to do.” That is expressed in this verse.

I appear for delivering (trāṇāya) My dedicated devotees (sādhūnām) whose hearts are bursting with longing for Me, who are suffering due to their devotion; for destroying the evil-minded persons like Rāvaṇa, Kaṁsa and Keśī, who give suffering to My devotees, and who cannot be killed by anyone except Me; and for establishing in a firm way, the supreme dharma of meditating on Me, worshipping, serving Me and singing about Me, which cannot be instituted by anyone but Me (saṁsthāpanārthāya).

I do this in every yuga in the day of Brahmā, or in every kalpa (day of Brahmā). In this act, one should not worry that the Lord is being prejudiced in punishing the evil-minded. By killing them, the Lord delivers even those most sinful asuras from samsāra and from receiving hellish punishment due to their various sinful actions. The Lord’s punishment in the form of killing should thus be seen as His mercy.

You will be successful just by knowing in truth about My birth which was previously described, and after My birth, My activities. That is expressed in this verse.

Rāmānujācārya and Madhusūdana Sarasvatī say that divya means “non material, spiritual.” Śrīdhara Svāmī says divya means “uncommon.” As this means that it is not related to this material world, it also means “spiritual.” Being spiritual, beyond the guṇas, means that the Lord’s birth and activities are eternal. Jīva Gosvāmī also explains, quoting from Bhāgavatam in the Bhagavat Sandarbha that the Lord has no material birth or activities:

na vidyate yasya ca janma karma vā

na nāma-rūpe guṇa-doṣa eva vā

tathāpi lokāpyaya-sambhavāya yaḥ

sva-māyayā tāny anukālam ṛcchati

The Supreme Personality of Godhead has no material birth, activities, name, form, qualities or faults. To fulfill the purpose for which this material world is created and destroyed, He comes in the form of a human being like Lord Rāma or Lord Kṛṣṇa by His original internal potency. He has immense potency, and in various forms, all free from material contamination, He acts wonderfully. He is therefore the Supreme Brahman. I offer my respects to Him. SB 8.3.8

Or the word divya can mean “not approachable by logic,” or “inconceivable,” on the strength of the words of śruti and smṛti. The Puruṣa Bodhinī Śruti (4.3) of the Pippalādi branch of the Vedas says:

eko devo nitya-līlānurakto bhakta-vyāpī bhakta-hṛdayāntarātmā

The one Lord, who is inconceivable (deva), engaged in eternal pastimes, is spread in the devotees and resides in the devotee’s heart.

The eternal nature of the Lord’s birth and activities is mentioned frequently in the Bhāgavatam as well.

Yo vetti tattvataḥ means “he who knows that My birth and activities are truly eternal,” based on My statements that I am unborn and with indestructible body (ajo ’pi san avyayātmā) and that My birth and activities are non material (janma karma ca me divyam), and not just an appearance of being eternal, dependent on some sort of trick.

Yo vetti tattvataḥ can also mean “one who knows Me as the very form of Brahman.” This is because later Kṛṣṇa will say oṁ tat sad iti nirdeśo brahmaṇas trividhaḥ smṛtaḥ: the three words om tat sat all indicate Brahman. (BG 17.18) Therefore tattva means the state of being Brahman (tat). Yo vetti tattvataḥ means “one who know Me as the form of Brahman.”

That person does not take birth again, but rather, attains Me. The words tyaktvā deham only indicate the last condition of life, for, not only on giving up the body one does not take birth again, but even while not giving up the body, before that, one attains Me.

Rāmānujācārya says, “Destroying all sins which are unfavorable for surrender to Me by true knowledge of My spiritual birth and activities, taking shelter of Me in this life in the prescribed way, that person who holds Me alone as dear, constantly thinking of Me, attains Me.”

Not only at the present time can one attain Me just by knowing about the nature of My present birth and activities, but in ancient times also, in previous kalpas when I appeared, people attained Me by knowing the nature of My birth and activities. That is the purport of this verse.

Regarding the meaning of jñāna-tapasā, Rāmānujācārya says, “They became purified by the austerity of realization about the nature of My birth and activities as previously stated.”

Or the meaning can be: “They, having attained realization of the eternal nature of My birth and activities, became purified by austerity in the form of tolerating the burning poison of wrong ideas, wrong logic and wrong arguments.”

Rāmānujācārya quotes the following śruti in this regard.

tasya dhīrāḥ parijānanti yoniṁ

The wise men know about the Lord’s method of birth. Taittirīya Āraṇyaka 3.13.1

Such wise persons have given up attachment to or affection for persons who speak nonsense ideas (vīta-rāgaḥ). My devotees have no fear of them, nor anger towards them. Why? Because they are preoccupied with meditating on, thinking of, hearing and singing about My birth and activities (man-mayā). They attained prema for Me (mad-bhāvam).

”Your dedicated devotees consider Your birth and activities to be eternal, but others such as jñānīs, surrendering to You for the purpose of perfecting jñāna or other goals, do not consider Your birth and activities to be eternal.”

“In whatever way they worship Me (prapadyante), I also give them the fruits of their worship (bhajāmi) in an appropriate manner.”

The meaning is this. Those who think that My birth and activities are eternal and, having a particular desire for those pastimes, worship and please Me. And I, because I am the Lord, can respond, or not respond, or respond in a different way than they expect. But, making them My associates, I appear and disappear with them in this world at the appropriate time, in order to give My birth and pastimes their eternal nature. Favoring them at every moment, I bestow upon them the fruit of their worship.

The jñānīs and others who surrender unto Me while thinking of My birth and activities as temporary, and thinking of My deity forms as material--I throw those jñānīs again and again into the noose of māyā with its temporary births and action, and bestow upon them the sorrows of birth and death. This is the appropriate fruit of their worship (They receive temporary bodies because they think My body is temporary.)

But those jñānīs who accept the eternal nature of My birth and activities, consider My deity form to be sac-cid-ānanda, and surrender to Me for perfection of their jñāna-- I liberate those jñānīs, since they desire the destruction of their gross and subtle bodies, and I give them the bliss of Brahman. I bestow upon them the desired result of their worship: the destruction of birth and death born from ignorance.

Therefore, not only devotees surrender to Me, but rather everyone (sarvaśaḥ), all men, jñānīs, karmīs, yogīs, and worshippers of the devatās, follow My path (they surrender either directly or indirectly). Jñāna, karma and other processes are all My path, since I am the essence of all those paths.

However, among men, those who are full of desire give up the path of bhakti even though it is coming directly from Me, and follow the path of karma which gives quick results. That is explained in this verse. The results of their actions (karma-jā siddhiḥ) such as going to Svarga, come quickly.

“Indeed, the paths of bhakti and jñāna give liberation, but the path of karma leads to bondage. Therefore, there is some inequality in You, the creator of all paths, the Supreme Lord.”

“That is not so at all. I have created the four varṇas for people who want their own enjoyment.” The suffix ya in the word cātur-varṇya indicates self-interest in the four orders.

The brāhmaṇas, predominated by sattva, perform activities such as controlling the senses and mind. The kṣatriyas, who are predominated by rajas and sattva, perform actions such as warfare and acts of heroism. The vaiyśas, predominately tamas and rajas, do farming and raise cows. The śūdras, predominated by tamas, serve others. I have created this system of four varṇas divided according to guṇa and activity, taking shelter of the path of dharma. Know Me as the creator (kārtāram) of the system, since it is created from the guṇas of prakṛti which is My energy. In that way I am the creator, but actually I am not the creator, since My svarūpa is beyond the guṇas and prakṛti. Therefore, I am said to be indestructible (avyayam). I am not at all similar to the varṇas or matter, though I have created them.

“Let all that be, but now You have appeared in a kṣatriya family, and daily perform activities obligatory to the kṣatriya. It seems You are subsisting as a kṣatriya.”

“But these activities do not contaminate Me as they contaminate the jīva. Nor do I have desire for results of those actions, such as desire for Svarga. Being full of My own bliss because I am the Supreme Lord, the only reason for My doing these actions is to encourage mankind. He who knows this is not bound, but he who does not know it is bound by karma.”

Understanding how I have acted without being bound, previously person like Janaka performed karma in order to promote it with the people.

Moreover, action is not to be performed by the intelligent person just in an imitative way. It should be performed after having understood its varieties. First, the difficulty in understanding karma is described.

One should understand the truth about vikarma--that performance of forbidden actions leads to misery. As for the truth about akarma--avoidance of action by the sannyāsī--how can that lead to auspiciousness? How will one obtain the highest goal without knowing the truth about these? The real truth (gati) about karma, akarma and vikarma is hard to understand. In the last line the word karma is used to represent all three types.

This verse gives an understanding of the truth of action and non-action. He is intelligent who sees that persons of pure heart fixed in knowledge like Janaka who do not renounce activity, but rather engage in action, in niṣkāma-karma-yoga, do not accrue karma (akarma); and who sees that one who does not perform actions, renouncing actions as a sannyāsī, being of impure heart without knowledge, though talking profusely of knowledge because of knowledge of scriptures, actually obtains bondage of karma leading to misery. He engages in all activities; he does not renounce action even through instructions or association of those who think themselves knowledgeable, talking a lot about jñāna.

The Bhāgavatam says:

yas tv asaṁyata-ṣaò-vargaḥ pracaṇòendriya-sārathiḥ

jñāna-vairāgya-rahitas tri-daṇòam upajīvati

surān ātmānam ātma-sthaṁ nihnute māṁ ca dharma-hā

avipakva-kaṣāyo 'smād amuṣmāc ca vihīyate

One who has not controlled the six forms of illusion--lust, anger, greed, excitement, false pride and intoxication--whose intelligence, the leader of the senses, is extremely attached to material things, who is bereft of knowledge and detachment, who adopts the sannyāsa order of life to make a living, who denies the worshipable demigods, his own self and the Supreme Lord within himself, thus ruining all religious principles, and who is still infected by material contamination, is deviated and lost both in this life and the next. SB 11.18.40-41

This concept is further explained in five verses. One who completely engages in activity (samārambhāḥ) devoid of desires to attain objects of enjoyment performs actions consumed by the fire of knowledge, whether the actions are prescribed (karma) or forbidden (vikarma). In this way the nature of vikarma should be understood. Just as the qualified person sees that karma does not lead to bondage, he also sees that vikarma or forbidden action do not accrue bondage. This verse is in agreement with the previous verse (seeing inaction in action). Later it will be said:

api ced asi pāpebhyaḥ sarvebhyaḥ pāpa-kṛt-tamaḥ

sarvaṁ jñāna-plavenaiva vṛjinaṁ santariṣyasi

yathaidhāṁsi samiddho ’gnir bhasma-sāt kurute ’rjuna

jñānāgniḥ sarva-karmāṇi bhasma-sāt kurute tathā

Even if you are considered to be the most sinful of all sinners, when you are situated in the boat of transcendental knowledge you will be able to cross over the ocean of miseries. As a blazing fire turns firewood to ashes, O Arjuna, so does the fire of knowledge burn to ashes all reactions to material activities. BG 4.36-37

This person is always satisfied by his own bliss (nitya-tṛptaḥ). He does not take shelter at all of anything for his livelihood (nirāśrayaḥ).

He is controlled in mind (cit) and gross body (ātmā). For the purpose of maintaining his body he may accept things even from sinful persons, but does not incur sin. This is an extended explanation of the statement “one must understand the truth concerning vikarma.”

For one who performs actions for the purpose of yajña, which will now be described, karma dissolves. The state of non-action or no reactions to work is attained by this.

It has been stated in the previous verse that one should perform actions for the purpose of yajña. What type of yajña is this? This verse explains.

Arpaṇam refers to the instruments such as the wooden spoon used to offer the ghee into the fire. This is Brahman. The substance used as oblation is Brahman. The fire in which the oblation is placed is Brahman. The performer of the yajña is Brahman. The person who sees things in this way attains Brahman alone, not any other result. Why? It is because he has concentrated his attention on the action which is composed only of Brahman (brahma-karma-samādhinā).

Hear about many other types of yajñas. The Lord explains this in eight verses. Daivam refers to that in which devatās like Indra and Varuṇa are worshipped. Thus the phrase daivam yajñam means worship having Indra and other devatās as subject. This is derived from the rule sāsya devatā (Aṣṭādhyāyī, Pāṇini 4.2.24). In this worship, it is indicated that there is lack of consciousness of Brahman. The karma-yogīs (yoginaḥ) worship the devatās.

Others, the jñāna-yogīs, offer the jīva (yajñam) (what is called tvam: you) as the oblation into the fire of Brahman or Paramātmā (what is called tat: that), using the mantra praṇava as the instrument (yajñena). This jñāna-yoga will be praised later (verse 33). The words yajña and yajñena used as object and instrument refer to the pure jīva and praṇava through the use of metaphor called prathama atiśayokti.

Others, naiṣṭḥikī brahmacārīs, offer the senses such as ear into the fire of the controlled mind. This means that the senses completely disappear in the pure mind. Others, less controlled brahmacārīs, offer the sense objects such as sound into fires of the senses. The sense objects disappear in the senses.

Others, knowledgeable of tvam, the pure soul, offer the activities of all the senses, such as hearing and seeing as well as the activities of the ten prāṇas into the fire of purity (saṁyama) of the jīva (tvam). These yogīs make the mind, intelligence, senses and ten prāṇas disappear. They think that only the soul perceiving inwards (pratyag-atmā) exists, not anything else such as the mind or other things.

The actions of the ten prāṇas are as follows. The prāṇa goes outward (exhaling), the apāna goes downwards (expelling). The samāna assimilates food and drink. The udāna leads upwards and the vyāna is pervading, regulating the other prāṇas.

udgāre nāga ākhyātaḥ kūrmas tūnmīlane smṛtaḥ

kṛkaraḥ kṣut-karo jñeyo devadatto vijṛmbhaṇe

na jahāti mṛte kvāpi sarvavyāpī dhanañjayaḥ

Nāga governs belching, kūrma causes opening of the eyes, kṛkara causes sneezing and hunger, and devadatta causes yawning and sleep. Dhanañjaya, pervading the whole body, lingers after death, causing decomposition. Gheraṇòa-saṁhitā 5.64

Those who offer goods in charity (dravya-yajña), those who perform austerities like cāndrāyaṇa-vrata (tapo-yajña), those who engage in aṣṭāḍga-yoga (yoga-yajña), those who put effort into engaging in knowledge by studying the Vedas—all these engage in very severe vrata.

Others who are expert in prāṇāyama offer the upward prāṇa into the downward apāna. At the time of fully inhaling, they merge the prāna with the apāna. At the time of fully exhaling (recaka) they offer the apāna into the prāṇa. At the time of kumbhaka, they stop the movement of both prāṇa and apāna, and become completely absorbed in the practice of prāṇāyāma.

Others, desiring to conquer the senses, control the eating process; that is, they eat little. They offer the senses (prāṇān) into the prāṇas which are subsisting on restricted eating. When the prāṇas become weak, the senses, being dependent on the prāṇas, become incapable of grasping the sense objects, and become merged in the prāṇas.

All of those who know the characteristics of yajña as described previously (yajña-vidaḥ) attain Brahman by jñāna. The secondary, unsought fruits are here described. They enjoy the sweet remnants of the yajña such as sense enjoyment and power (bhoga-aiśvarya). The sought result is then described: they attain Brahman.

The results of not acting in this way are described in this verse. One who does not perform yajña does not attain the little happiness available on this planet, what to speak of attaining the planet of the devatās.

Brahmaṇaḥ means the Vedas. The phrase vitatā brahmaṇo mukhe whose literal meaning is “spread in the mouth of the Vedas” actually means “clearly spoken of by the Vedas themselves.” Karma-jān means based on the actions of the body, mind and words.

Among these sacrifices, the jñāna-yajña described in verse 25 with the words brahmāgnāv apare yajñaṁ yajñenaivopajuhvati is superior to the sacrifice of material objects such as oblations of ghee described in verse 24. Why? With the attainment of knowledge, all actions which bear fruit (akhilam) are finished. After attaining knowledge, reactions to work no longer remain.

This verse speaks of the method for attaining that knowledge. It is attained by offering respects, bowing down to the guru, the instructor; and by asking questions, such as “O master, why am I in this world of misery? How can this world of birth and death be stopped?” And it is attained by service to the guru. This is illustrated in the śruti:

tad vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet samit-pāṇiḥ śrotriyaṁ brahma-niṣṭham

With fuel wood in his hand, the student should approach the guru, knowledgeable of the Vedas and fixed in Brahman, in order to attain knowledge of Brahman. Muṇòaka Upaniṣad 1.2.12

The result of knowledge is described in three and a half verses. Understanding that you are not the body but the soul, you will not have bewilderment, which is the quality of the mind. By destroying bewilderment through the attainment of the natural knowledge of the eternally perfect soul, you will see all living entities, such as men and beasts, as jīvātmā (ātmani), but situated as separate creatures by material identification, and you will also see them situated in Me (mayi), the supreme cause, since they are My products.

This verse is a glorification of knowledge.

The verse states “If you are more sinful than all sinners...” But how could a person who is sinful be pure hearted, and without purity of heart, how could he attain realization of knowledge? Actually, it is not possible for one who has attained knowledge to commit sinful acts. Madhusūdana Sarasvatī explains: the words api and cet are used to show the assumption of the impossible; though the commission of sin would be impossible, the assumption is made to show the results of attaining knowledge.

Knowledge arising from purity of heart destroys all karmas except the prārabdha-karmas. This verse illustrates with an example. Samiddhaḥ means “blazing.”

In this world, among those who engage in austerities, yoga and other processes, there is nothing to compare to knowledge. That knowledge is not easily attained by everyone, but is fully attained (sam siddhaḥ) by practicing niṣkāma-karma-yoga. It is not unobtainable, but is attained in time, not immediately. That knowledge is attained spontaneously within the self (ātmāni), not by accepting external sannyāsa.

How and when does this happen? Having faith in the meaning of the scriptures that knowledge will arise by purity of heart through practice of niṣkāma-karma (śraddhavān), being fixed in execution of that niṣkāma-karma-yoga (tat-paraḥ), and finally attaining controlled senses, a person will attain knowledge (of ātmā). Then he will attain destruction of saṁsāra (pārām śāntim).

Having spoken of the person who was qualified with knowledge, in this verse Kṛṣṇa speaks of the person without qualification for knowledge. That person perishes who is ignorant like an animal, or who, though knowing the scriptures, does not believe in anything, because of seeing the arguments between various factions (aśraddhadānaḥ), or who though even having faith, is afflicted with doubt whether he can attain the goal. Among these persons (ignorant, faithless, and doubting), the doubting one is especially criticized in the last line.

In such a state, a person will reach a state of no karma (naiṣkarmyam). Having renounced all actions by sannyāsa, after performance of niṣkāma-karma-yoga, and having eradicated all doubts through practice of jñāna, actions do not bind that person, who has attained realization of the soul.

This verse concludes the topic. Cutting the doubts situated in the heart, taking shelter of niṣkāma-karma-yoga, rise up in order to fight the battle.

Having spoken of the various means of liberation, jñāna is praised in this chapter. But the means to jñāna is karma. That has been pointed out in this chapter.

Thus, the commentaries on the fourth chapter of the Gītā for the pleasure of the devotees’ minds have been completed following after the ācāryas.