YOGA OF SPIRITUAL WISDOM IN ACTION – KARMA-SAMNYASA YOGA

By

Dr. R. J. Kalpana Ph.D

Visvaayudha February 2025

vasudevasutaḿ devaḿ kaḿsa-cāṇūra-mardanam

devakī-paramānandaḿ kṛṣṇaḿ vande jagadgurum

I bow down to Sri Krishna, who is the Master of the Universe, beloved son of Vasudeva, who vanquished Kamsa and Chanura, who brings immense joy to his mother, Devaki.

Pranams from Dr. R J Kalpana, Welcome to the study of The Bhagavad Gita.

In the previous chapter 4, we learnt the importance of the spiritual wisdom of knowledge that underlies our actions and how it can change our samskaras and invests our karmas or our actions with purity.

This chapter 5, the spiritual wisdom of action, Arjuna seeks which is superior – knowledge or action?

Shri Krishna replies to this by saying that both are superior and leading to that Supreme Bliss called Ananda. But Yoga of action is superior to Yoga of knowledge merely because its easier to practice.

There are four paths that Shri Krishna expounds – jnana yoga or the path of knowledge, bhakti yoga or the path of devotion, karma yoga or the path of action and raja yoga – the king of yogas.

Now, to walk on the path of jnana yoga or the path of knowledge one requires tremendous intellectual capacity of the caliber of Adi Shankaracharya, Ramanujacharya, Madhvacharya, founders of schools of philosophy.

To walk on the path of bhakti yoga or the path of devotion, one requires tremendous amount of love and faith and devotion, the likes of Andal, Meerabai, Alvars; who through their sheer love for the Divine established a spiritual connection that catapulted them into the celestial realms.

To walk on the path of raja yoga, the king of yogas, one must require a guru of caliber who can carry the student to the doors of the Divine. Like Shri Adi Shankaracharya once said, first you need to be born

Now, for those who neither have that level of intellectual capacity nor the depth of love and devotion, simple, ordinary folks, out of the infinite compassion, Bhagavan Shri Krishna details the path of action.

Free yourself from the opposites of pain and pleasure and remain steadfast in renouncing all joys and sorrows, treating both alike; then freedom from bondage and liberation is easily achieved.

Sankhyayoga or the path of knowledge is difficult to achieve since it requires the doer to renounce all activities of the body, mind and senses. Whereas the karmayogi ever in constant remembrance of the Divine reaches the state of Brahma easily.

The requirement for a karmayogi is to conquer the mind and master the senses, keep the heart pure and remain identified with the Divine in all things and maintaining this condition of purity will not amass samskaras although he lives in this world and performs his duties.

The sankhyayogi has to believe that although he performs actions, it is but the senses performing and not he himself.

Basically, Shri Krishna is saying here that how in a dream we might move and talk etc and yet, we know that its only a dream and not reality. Likewise, the sankhyayogi knows the reality of things and remains constantly established in the identity of the Absolute Brahma even while performing his routine activities.

Having thus far given the differences between the two paths, Shri Krishna now further divulges the secret of actionless action – the true sattvaguna.

Offer all your actions to the Divine remaining detached like the lotus leaf in water. Perform your actions but leave off the feeling of ‘I, me, mine’ and that is the first step in the process of self-purification.

Offer the results of the actions to the Divine remembering that our right is to work only and not to the results and then we can attain peace; whereas if we work with selfish motives and bound to desires, then we get tied down to our samskaras and further are we from liberation.

On the other hand, the sankhyayogi has to demonstrate extraordinary self-control and is focused on sat chit ananda Truth, Knowledge and Bliss mentally relegates all actions to the house of the nine gates; meaning the body with its nine openings.

Here, Bhagvan Shri Krishna reveals another secret that it is not God that sits in judgement on the doings of men but Nature or Prakriti alone that functions. By this Shri Krishna reveals that virtue and vice is human creation that is bound to Nature because the rules of opposites are prevalent here.

If we keep our mind and intellect firmly established on the Divine, wholly merged and wisdom has wiped out our samskaras then we can reach the state from which there is no return. For this spiritual state is the rare condition where we look at the Divine in everything and in everyone.

Even while having a physical body this rare spiritual condition is achievable. So keep the mind free from doubt, firmly established in faith and devotion and remain unperturbed in the face of both pleasure and pain and then the knower of Brahma can live eternally in identity with Brahma.

To attain this sacred state of being, Shri Krishna states that keep the mind unattached to senses and meditate for it is only through meditation that we can achieve identicality with Brahma and enjoy eternal Bliss.

The pleasures and pains are born out of the senses and they come and go; therefore, the wise do not indulge in them. Cast off lust and anger and achieve a balanced equanimity of the mind.

Be self-contained, illumined by the inner Divine Light identified with Brahma and achieve everlasting peace. For such people, peace is all around. One need not go searching for peace. For their disciplined mind is firmly established in Divine and who are actively engaged in service of all beings.

For the first time in the Bhagavad Gita, Shri Krishna explains the science of meditation. In sloka 27, 28, Shri Krishna suggests to close the senses and bring one’s attention to the space between the eyebrows and regulate your breathing; both the prana and apana vayu – the outgoing and incoming breath and keep the mind, senses and intellect under control, such a contemplative soul who is free from desires, fears, and anger is liberated.

Now, a note for those who are in the habit of meditation: Different schools of yoga recommend different types of meditation. The above meditation practice was prescribed by Shri Krishna specifically to Arjuna because of Arjuna’s confused state of mind. It is not to be followed indiscriminately. This method is not a blanket technique applicable for everybody. It has often been misused and has rather disastrous consequences. There are other gentler and far more effective ways of meditation.

For those interested in the science of meditation, please reach out to me for free classes.

yogeśaṁ(m) saccidānandaṁ(v̐), vāsudevaṁ(v̐) vrajapriyam,

dharmasaṁsthāpakaṁ(v̐) vīraṁ(ṅ), kṛṣṇaṁ(v̐) vande jagadgurum

I bow to the Master of Yoga, who is the beloved son of Vasudeva, the brave warrior who established Dharma, the spiritual guru of the world.

OM ŚRĪKṚṢṆĀRPAṆAMASTU Note: The talks can be accessed on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/@kalpanarj3101