Sunday, March 19, 2006

Gita: Bhakti Yoga - Verse 12

Hari Aum

Prostrations to my Guru and Prostrations to all


Word Meaning:
Sreyaha: better
Hi: indeed
Jnaanam: knowledge
aBhyaasaath: than practice
jnaanaat: than knowledge
dhyaanam: meditation
vishishyate: is better
dhyaanaath: than meditation
karma phala tyaagaha: the renunciation of the fruits of action
tyaagaath: from renunciation
shaanthihi: peace
anantharam: immediately

“Knowledge is indeed better than practice, meditation is better than knowledge, renunciation of the fruits of actions is better than meditation, peace immediately follows renunciation”


In this sloka Krishna gives a sequence of ideas to help the student to comprehend the philosophical truth properly.

Knowledge is indeed better than practice:
The practice that is mentioned here is the Sadhana. The Sadhana are very helpful for the seeker only when knows what he is doing and how it will help him out. Any amount of Sadhana will not help one until he know what he is doing. Without knowing the significance of the action the Sadhana doesn’t have any value. Therefore the knowledge about the Sadhana is very important and hence it is greater than the Sadhana.

Meditation is better than knowledge:
More important than the knowledge one should meditate upon the knowledge he has got. One can learn various things and get knowledge about them, but until he assimilates them and clearly understands the real significance of the knowledge, the knowledge will be of no use. To assimilate the learning, one has to constantly ponder on the learning continuously till he gets clear with the learning. When the learning is made straight it stays as the understanding on the learning. When there is understanding of the learning, only the then the learning will have any value.

Renunciation of the fruits of actions is better than meditation:
By renouncing the fruits of actions the ego level of one goes down. Renunciation of the fruits can happen when there is control of the mind. When an action is done, its results are due to come in the near future. When the mind ponders on the result of the action and dreams about the future, that mind cannot meditate on the knowledge that is acquired. Therefore one has to renounce the results of the action and the renunciation of the fruits of action is possible only when there is control of the mind. Thus Krishna gives greater place of importance for the renunciation of the fruits.

Peace immediately follows renunciation:
When one has renounced the fruits of action then peace immediately follows. The renunciation of the fruits of action is possible by constant thought of the lord all the time. Thus for those who has the constant thought of the lord, everything becomes only the Lord, and hence gets devoid of the identification with the actions. When one gets devoid of identification with the action then the results are also renounced. Since he has the thought of the god alone all the time, there will be nothing that will agitate him or disturb him. Such people can easily contemplate on the Lord.

Hari Aum

Thanks,
Rajesh

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