Passage 5

¹Just as clothing covers the delicate form of the body from sight, Ahaṅkāra covers the pure Brahmatva within jīvatva. Ahaṅkāra is the root of many defects and Kāma is its birthplace. Where craving has truly ended, Ahaṅkāra cannot maintain itself. This freedom from craving is Nirahaṅkāra, and Nirahaṅkāra is itself the doorway to Mokṣa. One released from the noose of tṛṣṇā becomes fit for liberation. ²Human beings ordinarily act according to expected fruit and abandon actions when no fruit is foreseen. The Gītā challenges both tendencies. Whether fruit is visible or not, action cannot simply be escaped; instead it teaches Karma-phala-tyāga so that the defects of action do not cling to the doer. Whether desired or undesired, Karma eventually bears fruit. Offer that fruit—pleasant or painful—to Bhagavān, and the act takes on a divine character; perform it in Ahaṅkāra and it becomes burdened with defect. One who truly seeks Parameśvara must become free of craving and mamakāra. That state, beyond sukha and duḥkha, is the goal of life. Kṛṣṇa laboured in many ways to bring His friend and devotee Arjuna to it, and through Arjuna offered this sacred teaching to the world. ³Before closing His holy teaching, Kṛṣṇa said: “Arjuna, abandon all dharmas and take refuge in Me alone; I shall free you from all pāpa.” To take refuge means to relinquish mamakāra and abhimāna, dissolve the Ahaṅkāra that says ‘I am this body’, stand firm in the knowledge that all is Paramātma, and dedicate oneself wholly to Him. In such a state one no longer lives from endless private saṅkalpa and vikalpa; one does as Bhagavān directs, rests where He places one, and moves as He moves one. Action is performed without fruit-expectation and without egoic self-judgement as an independent lord of Dharma and Adharma. ⁴Some dry Vedāntins and lazy devotees seize upon this teaching as an excuse for inertia. They stretch out their legs, close their eyes, live on roots and tubers, neglect the sat-karmas that ought to be done, and spend their time eating, sleeping and wandering without asking what is right and what is wrong. If an elder in the house or an experienced great soul asks, “My child, why do you behave like this without practising your Dharma?” they answer grandly, as though carrying Paramātma’s command upon their heads: “Why are you worried? Do you not know what Paramātma says in the Gītā—‘sarva-dharmān parityajya’? I stand on Bhagavān’s word; I have no need of anyone else’s advice.” Such people clutch only the words useful to them. Are the words before and after them not also spoken by Paramātma? Why are those not accepted and practised? And has the person who says he has abandoned all dharmas actually taken refuge in Paramātma? No. He has abandoned duties, but he has not abandoned the demands of food and sleep. Such people are great in words, ostentatious in play, but not even an atom of spiritual tendency is visible in Ācaraṇa. ⁵True devotees should therefore reflect carefully on the sacred words themselves: ⁶Śloka: ‘sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja; ahaṁ tvā sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ.’ ⁷Paramātma says ‘sarva-dharmān parityajya’; He does not say ‘sarva-karmān parityajya’. The meaning is not abandonment of all action, but surrender of egoic calculation and the performance of Bhagavān-ordained Karma in the spirit of His command. With no other refuge, place the entire burden upon Paramātma and, like Janaka and the great ones, continue loka-saṅgraha even when nothing remains personally to be gained. Sarva-bhūtāntarātma is not other than one’s own Ātma; therefore actions undertaken for the welfare of all beings, with Niṣkāma-buddhi and according to one’s rightful duty, are Niṣkāma-karma. Understand the Gītā in this way: perform Svadharma well, regard all as Hari-prasāda, live sāttvically without craving for fruit, and become fit for Hari’s Kṛpā-kaṭākṣa. ⁸Those who stand by Dharma may face severe hardship in the immediate world, yet final victory belongs to Dharma. Those who stand in Adharma may temporarily glitter with wealth and power, yet destruction follows when Anugraha-bala is absent. The Pāṇḍavas and Kauravas are presented as the visible example: the Kauravas could torment the dharmic Pāṇḍavas for a time, but victory finally belonged to Dharma. The Mahābhārata thus teaches that all other strength is futile without the strength of grace. The house of the Gītā within the Mahābhārata stands upon the foundation of Satya and Dharma. Read this sacred Gītā with Bhakti and Śraddhā and practise its disciplines in Anuṣṭhāna; then Ātmārāma is as near as the palm of the hand and His compassion can be known in a moment. If one seeks Paramātma, who holds the whole Brahmāṇḍa within Himself, one may receive the Aṣṭa-aiśvaryas needed for worldly life and, beyond them, Satya-jñāna and Kaivalya, the abode of true Ānanda. Once butter has been churned, need one separately worry about obtaining ghee? In the same way, one who takes refuge in Paramātma and follows the Karma of His command need not even cling to a separate expectation of Mokṣa. Bhagavān Himself gives what is needed and what is fitting. Long for Him—not for Mokṣa as a separate possession. Paramātma gave Arjuna His firm word that one who takes refuge in Him and even relinquishes the demand for liberation will have all pāpa destroyed and will be freed from compulsory rebirth. Therefore those who seek freedom from birth should hold fast to this firm law, take refuge in Paramātma, and thereby attain all that is to be attained. ⁹…Complete…