bhagavad gita according to gandhi chapter 5

THE BHAGAVD GITAACCORDING TO

GANDHI

T K G NAMBOODHIRITHIRUVALLA, KERALA

Presentation adapted fromThe Bhagavad Gita According to Gandhi, Orient

Paperbacks,2011

T K G Namboodhiri


GANDHI

T K G Namboodhiri

CHAPTER 5

KARMA-SANNYASA YOGA


GANDHI

Verse 5.1Arjuna asks the Lord: Thou laudest renunciation of actions, O Krishna, whilst at the same time thou laudest performance of action; tell me for a certainty which is the better?A person may be eating, yet we may say that he is not eating. Of whom can we say this? One who eats as though he is performing a Yajna, who offers up his action of eating to the Lord, who feels that it is not he, but his body that is eating, he will then eat to serve others. That person’s karma of eating will in truth be akarma, and will not bind him. If we aspire to be good, we must ceaselessly work to serve others, serve them in a perfectly disinterested spirit. We may serve a person not expecting anything in return, but because the Lord dwells in him. After doing what is needed, we should feel that it was all a dream.

T K G Namboodhiri


GANDHI

Verse 5.2The Lord Said: Renunciation & performance of action both lead to salvation; but of the two, karma yoga (performance) is better than Sannyasa (renunciation).Man cannot completely refrain from karma, & therefore, it is easy for everyone to follow karma yoga. Renunciation of karma is a difficult matter, for it requires knowledge, whereas karma yoga can be followed even by an ordinary man. The Lord therefore tells us that karma yoga is a better path, since the other one is beset with obstacles & is likely to encourage hypocrisy.

T K G Namboodhiri


GANDHIVerses 5.3 & 5.4

Him one should know as ever renouncing who has no dislikes & likes; for he who is free from the pairs of opposites is easily released from bondage.It is the ignorant who speak of Sankhya & yoga as different, not so those who have knowledge. He who is rightly established even in one wins the fruits of both.A karmayogi is necessarily a sannyasi. One who has no ill will, who desires nothing & is ever devoted to his duty, who is not affected by dualities like happiness & sorrow, easily becomes free from the binding effects of karma.Men of little understanding think Sankhya (Sannyasa) to be different from Karmayoga, but not so the wise. In truth, they are two sides of the same coin. Anyone who becomes established in either reaps the fruit of success in the other too. A thing at rest & another in intense motion seem alike, like the earth. Rest & motion are a pair of opposites. He who remains unaffected by such opposites reaps the fruit of both.

T K G Namboodhiri


GANDHI

Verse 5.5The goal that the Sankhyas attain is also reached by the Yogis. He sees truly, who sees both Sankhya & Yoga as one.The state which is attained through Sankhya (renunciation of karma), is attained by the Karmayogi too. He alone who understands that Sankhya & Karmayoga are the same thing has true knowledge. There is no difference between the essence of the two. Work done in the spirit of Yajna, done without egotism for our higher good & for the service of others, has a place in both.Karma means work which circumstances make it necessary for us to do, not that which we do of our own choice. When the ‘I’ in a person has vanished, he will do only such work that comes to him, & he will do it with the feeling that Narayana does everything. We should do any work which comes to us & leave the burden of such work to God.

T K G Namboodhiri


GANDHI

Verses 5.6 & 5.7But renunciation, O Mahabahu, is hard to attain except by Yoga. The ascetic equipped with Yoga attains Brahman ere long.The Yogi who has cleansed himself, has gained mastery over his mind & all his senses, who has become one with the Atman in all creations, although he acts, he remains unaffected.Sannyasa is impossible to practice except through Karmayoga. He who has become free from attachments & aversions, who has shed the ‘I’ in him, has become a true sannyasi. He who is established in Yoga soon attains the Brahman. He who has become pure, whose evil impulses have been all burnt away, will act without any egoistic feeling that he himself is doing anything. The man who lives in the Atman, who has subdued the demons in him & mastered the senses; who sees himself in all creatures & all creatures in himself, will make no distinction between relations & others. He will forever live as a servant of all & will partake only of what remains after others have had their share. He works, but is not bound by the effects of karma.

T K G Namboodhiri



The Yogi who has seen the Truth knows that it is not he that acts whilst seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, walking, sleeping or breathing.Talking, letting go, holding fast, opening or closing the eyes– in the conviction that it is the senses that are moving in their respective spheres.The man who knows the Truth acts as if he himself did nothing. Whether seeing or hearing, smelling, eating, walking, breathing speaking, etc.---in all these he will feel that it is his senses which are functioning according to their nature. Such a person acts but does not do anything. He who has consecrated his heart to the Lord will feel no desire to do anything for himself.Only that person can apply these verses to himself who is always completely absorbed in the task on hand, whose every action is dedicated to Sri Krishna & who seeks no benefit for himself from anything he does. He has completely overcome the feeling of ‘I’.

T K G Namboodhiri



He who dedicates his actions to Brahman & performs them without attachment is not smeared by sin, as the lotus leaf by water.Only with the body, senses, mind & intellect do the Yogis perform action without attachment for the sake of self-purification.The person described in the past two verses remains untouched by sin, as the lotus leaf remains untouched by water. Here sin includes both sin & virtue. He does not have to suffer the consequences of either sinful or virtuous action. He goes on working, but remains unaffected by work.The Yogis work with their bodies, minds, intellect, & senses, --- but do not feel that they themselves are working since they work without attachment, devoid of cravings for any rewards, & with the aim of self-purification. All their work is dedicated to Brahman.

T K G Namboodhiri


GANDHI

Verse 5.12A man of yoga obtains everlasting peace by abandoning the fruit of action; the man ignorant of yoga, selfishly attached to fruits, remains bound.Renouncing the fruits of karma, the yogi wins the peace which is the reward of faith & devotion, the peace which brings moksha- the peace enjoyed by a man established in Brahman, the bliss which belongs to the Atman.The man who is not established in yoga stays in the grip of desire. He is a man attached, one who is bound through attachment to fruits of work with the snake-like coil of expectation & sense-cravings.

T K G Namboodhiri


GANDHIVerse 5.13

Renouncing with the mind all actions, the dweller in the body who is master of himself, rests happily in his city of nine gates, neither doing nor getting anything done.The Atman dwells, ever at rest, in the body with 9 doors (2 ears, 2 eyes, 2 nostrils, mouth, & the organs of generation &excretion), doing nothing & causing nothing to be done. The self-controlled man, established in the Atman, mentally renounces all actions & live in peace. To renounce mentally means to make the mind indifferent to them, to withdraw it into an attitude of detachment towards work, & feel that we are not doing what we are engaged in, that it is God who impels us to do it. We do not feel, as we breathe, that we are breathing. We have mentally renounced that karma. The life is a play proceeding before us. Devote ourselves to our work without taking interest in the play or letting our mind be distracted by it. Then we would have renounced action.

T K G Namboodhiri


GANDHI

Verses 5.14 & 5.15The Lord creates neither agency nor action for the world, neither does He connect action with its fruit. It is nature that is at work.The Lord does not take upon Himself anyone’s vice or virtue; it is ignorance that veils knowledge & deludes all creatures.The Lord says: Ultimately I am the Creator of all beings, when you see, I see, when you do not see, I too, do not see. That is His nature. From another point of view, God is the Doer, & also that He is not. The Atman does nothing, nor does it cause anything to be done. Man’s real nature is to serve others & to work for self-purification, & so we should not cherish the ‘I’ in us. Hence, God does not take upon Himself anyone’s sin.

T K G Namboodhiri



But to them whose ignorance is destroyed by the knowledge of Atman, this their knowledge, like the sun, reveals the Supreme.Those whose intellect is suffused with That, whose self has become one with That, who abides in That, & whose end & aim is That, wipe out their sins with knowledge, & go whence there is no return.When a man’s ignorance has been destroyed by knowledge, the light of God is revealed to him. God is the witness of all that occurs. The awareness that we should live our lives by obeying Him & act only as prompted by Him- that is knowledge. We can experience this truth directly only when our mind is filled with Atman.He whose intellect has become fixed on the Lord, who has merged in Him, who is exclusively devoted to Him, & who lives absorbed in Him, who has dedicated his all to the Lord & trusts in Him alone, such a person attains deliverance. The sins of such a person are washed away by knowledge.

T K G Namboodhiri



The men of Self-realization look with an equal eye on a Brahmin possessed of learning & humility, a cow, an elephant, a dog & even a dog-eater.In this very body they have conquered the round of birth & death, whose mind is anchored in sameness; for perfect Brahman is same to all, therefore in Brahman they rest.Men of knowledge see all things with an equal eye. They have the same regard for a Brahmin rich in learning & gentleness, for a cow, an elephant, a dog or one who eats dogs. The Atman in each is identical & same as that in themselves. Only difference is the sheathing of the Atman.Those who are equal in mind to all beings & have regard for all, who have no taint of impurity in them, who abide in God & live devoted to Him, have, in this very life, conquered the cycle of birth & death.A man of equal-vision (Sama darsi) is one who gives to each according to his or her need. He doesn’t feed the same amount of food to an ant & an elephant. None can be like God- absolutely free from impurity & equal towards all. One can, therefore become Sama darsi only by losing oneself in Brahman. Those who follow this rule in their conduct have won the battle of this life. They hold enemy & friend in equal regard.

T K G Namboodhiri


GANDHI

Verses 5.20 & 5.21He whose understanding is secure, who is undeluded, who knows Brahman & who rests in Brahman, will neither be glad to get what is pleasant, nor sad to get what is unpleasant.He who has detached himself from contacts outside finds bliss in Atman; having achieved union with Brahman, he enjoys eternal bliss.The person who has become liberated into unity with Brahman, & who is not attached to the objects of his outgoing senses, experience true happiness in his Atman. One can have peace only by remaining unattached. The impact of sense impressions is hard to prevent, hence the need to become unattached. If we constantly meditate on God, the external objects will have no effect on us. The Atman united in yoga with Brahman, (in Samadhi) abides in it forever, & the yogi enjoys eternal Bliss.

T K G Namboodhiri


GANDHI

Verses 5.22 to 5.24For, the joys derived from sense-contacts are nothing but mines of misery; they have beginning & end, O Kaunteya; the wise man does not revel therein.The man who is able even here on earth, ere he is released from the body, to hold out against the floodtide of lust & wrath ----- he is a yogi, he is happy.He who finds happiness only within, rest only within, light only within --- that yogi, having become one with Brahman, enjoys Eternal Bliss.

Verses 22 & 23 already explained in Chapter 2 before.That yogi who finds happiness & peace within him, who does not need external objects to make him happy, who is ever Self-absorbed & is inspired by the light which shines within him, such a yogi has merged into Brahman, and attains Brahma-nirvana --- A state of void filled within with Bliss of illumination.

T K G Namboodhiri


GANDHI

Verses 5.25 & 5.26They win oneness with Brahman ---- the seers whose sins are wiped out, whose doubts are resolved, who have mastered themselves, & who are engrossed in the welfare of all beings.Rid of lust & wrath, masters of themselves, the ascetics who have realized Atman, find oneness with Brahman everywhere around them.Rishis who are sinless & pure attain Brahma-Nirvana. These are persons whose doubts have vanished, who hold their body, mind & intellect in control, & who rejoice in the good of all creatures. They bear ill will to none & are ready to serve the whole world.Those yogis who are free from desire & anger, whose minds have become steady & who have realized the Self, & are ever absorbed in their Self, are always, & in all circumstances, in a state of Brahma-Nirvana.

T K G Namboodhiri


GANDHI

Verses 5.27 to 5.29That ascetic is ever free --- who, having shut out the outward sense contacts, sits with his gaze fixed between the brows, outward & inward breathing in the nostrils made equal; his senses, mind, & intellect held in check; rid of longing, fear & wrath; and intent on Freedom.Knowing Me as the Acceptor of sacrifice & austerity, the great Lord of all the worlds, the Friend of all creation, the yogi attains peace.The yogi shuts out all external contacts & sits in meditation on the Brahman. Knowing Brahman to be the Acceptor of all sacrifices, the Friend of all creatures, & the Lord of the universe, the yogi attains Peace Absolute. T K G Namboodhiri

bhagavad gita according to gandhi chapter 5

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