April 24 – Bhagavadgita Chapter 5; Verses 5.16-5.17 (Day 115) Karma Yoga

 April 24 – Day 115

Verse 5.16-5.17

ज्ञानेन तु तदज्ञानं येषां नाशितमात्मनः ।

तेषामादित्यवज्ज्ञानं प्रकाशयति तत्परम् ॥ ५-१६॥ 

jñānena tu tad ajñānaṁ yeṣhāṁ nāśhitam ātmanaḥ
teṣhām āditya-vaj jñānaṁ prakāśhayati tat param (16) 

ஞானேன து¹ த¹த³ஞ்ஞானம் யேஷாம் நாஶித¹மாத்¹மன: |
தே¹ஷாமாதி¹த்¹யவஜ்ஞானம் ப்¹ரகா¹ஶயதி¹ த¹த்¹ப¹ரம் ||16|| 

16. But, to those whose ignorance is destroyed by knowledge of the Self, like the sun, knowledge reveals the Supreme (Brahman). 

Commentary: When ignorance, the root cause of human sufferings, is annihilated by the knowledge of the Self, this knowledge illuminates the Supreme Brahman or that highest immortal Being, just as the sun illumines all the objects of this gross, physical universe. 

तद्बुद्धयस्तदात्मानस्तन्निष्ठास्तत्परायणाः ।

गच्छन्त्यपुनरावृत्तिं ज्ञाननिर्धूतकल्मषाः ॥ ५-१७॥ 

tad-buddhayas tad-ātmānas tan-niṣhṭhās tat-parāyaṇāḥ
gachchhantyapunar-āvṛittiṁ jñāna-nirdhūta-kalmaṣhāḥ (17) 

த¹த்³பு³த்³த்⁴யஸ்த¹தா³த்¹மானஸ்த¹ன்னிஷ்டா²ஸ்த¹த்¹ப¹ராயணா: |
க³ச்¹ச²ன்த்¹யபு¹னராவ்ருத்¹தி¹ம் ஞானனிர்தூ⁴த¹க¹ல்மஷா: ||17 || 

17. Their intellect absorbed in That, their self being That; established in That, with That as their supreme goal, they go whence there is no return, their sins dispelled by knowledge. 

Commentary: They fix their intellects on Brahman or the Supreme Self.  They feel and realise that Brahman is their self.  By constant and protracted meditation, they get established in Brahman.  The whole world of names and forms vanishes for them.  They live in Brahman alone.  They have Brahman alone as their supreme goal or sole refuge.  They rejoice in the Self alone.  They are satisfied in the Self alone.  They are contented in the Self alone.  Such men never come back to this Samsara, as their sins are dispelled by knowledge (Brahma-Jnana). (Cf. IX. 34) 

Commentary by Swami Venkatesananda: 

When one wakes up, his dream with all the dream-objects (pleasant and unpleasant), dream-experiences (happiness and misery), dream-actions (good and bad), dream-creations (heaven and hell) and the dream-personality (bound to a delusion) vanish. Man immediately realises that he is a cell in the body of God, that his self is the self of all, that by virtue of his oneness with the all, he is the all! Not the deluded and ignorant ‘I’, but God’s nature prevails here, and functions in him, as it functions in the entire universe. This, however, is not mental activity, nor intellectual assent, nor a pious belief. It is realisation; one who has it need not intellectualise it or verbalise it.

The yogi who has this knowledge enters the state of sleepless sleep. In sleep, too, our entire physical organism functions, in obedience to God’s nature. We are at peace and we commit no sin. The man who lets God’s nature or will prevail even during the waking hours is at peace and commits no sin. He lives in the constant awareness that Brahman alone is true, the ‘world’ as such is false perception, and the individual soul is, in essence, one with Brahman. His self realises its identity with the supreme self. It is not a question of faith or belief, but firm conviction, an unshakable one like the conviction ‘I am a human being’, needing no proof. This conviction, permeating every thought, word and deed, itself is his goal. With ignorance, egoism and self-limitation gone, he is not subjected to limitation (birth) any more! 

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