CHAPTER 2: Sāṅkhya Yogaḥ🔗

MAKE NO MISTAKE, YOU ARE DIVINE!

WHATEVER STATE YOU ARE IN NOW, YOU ARE

STILL DIVINE WITHIN! LET KṚṢṆA TELL YOU

HOW TO LIVE AND RADIATE YOUR DIVINE

POTENTIAL.

2.1 Sañjaya said: As Arjuna’s eyes overflowed with tears of pity and despair, Madhusūdana (Kṛṣṇa) spoke to him thus.

2.2 Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa says: Where from has this impurity, dejection descended on you at this critical time, Arjuna! You behave unlike a noble man and this will keep you away from realization.

2.3 Do not yield to fear, Pārtha! It does not befit you. Drop this powerlessness of the heart and stand up, O Parantapa, destroyer of enemies!

अर्जुन उवाच

2.4 Arjuna said: O Madhusūdana (killer of Madhu), how can I oppose, in battle, Bhīṣma and Droṇa who are worthy of my worship?

2.5 I would rather beg for my food in this world than kill the most noble of teachers. If I kill them, all my enjoyment of wealth and desires will be stained with blood.

2.6 I cannot say which is better; their defeating us or us de-feating them. We do not wish to live after slaying the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra who stand before us.

kārpaṇya-doṣopahata-svabhāvaḥ

2.7 My heart is overwhelmed with pity and my mind is con-fused about what my duty is. I beg of you, please tell me what is best for me. I am your disciple. Instruct me as I seek refuge in you.

2.8 Even if I were to attain unrivalled dominion and prosperity on earth or even lordship over the Gods, how would that remove this sorrow that burns my senses?

सञ्जय उवाच

2.9 Sañjaya said: Guḍākeśa (Arjuna) then said to Hṛṣīkeśa (Kṛṣṇa), 'Govinda, I shall not fight,' and fell silent.

2.10 Kṛṣṇa, Hṛṣīkeśa, smilingly spoke the following words to the grief-stricken Arjuna, as they were placed in the middle of both armies.

श्री भगवानुवाच ।

śrībhagavānuvāca aśocyān anvaśocas tvaṁ prajñāvādāṁś ca bhāṣase । gatāsūn agatāsūṁś ca nānuśocanti paṇḍitāḥ ॥ 2.11

2.11 Bhagavān says: You grieve for those that should not be grieved for and yet, you speak words of wisdom. The wise grieve neither for the living nor for the dead.

na tvevāhaṁ jātu nāsaṁ na tvaṁ neme janādhipāḥ । na caiva na bhaviṣyāmaḥ sarve vayam ataḥ param ॥ 2.12

2.12 It is not that at anytime in the past I did not exist. So did you and these rulers exist, and we shall not ever cease to be hereafter.

dehino'sminyathā dehe kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā । tathā dehāntara prāptir dhīras tatra na muhyati ॥ 2.13

2.13 Just as the spirit in this body passes through childhood, youth and old age, so does it pass into another body; the man centered in himself does not fear this.

mātrā-sparśāstu kaunteya śītoṣṇa-sukha-duḥka-dāḥ । āgamāpāyino'nityās tāṁs titikṣasva bhārata ॥ 2.14

2.14 O Kaunteya (son of Kuntī), contact with sense objects causes heat and cold, pleasure and pain, and these have a beginning and an end. O Bhārata, these are not permanent; endure them bravely.

2.15 O Puruṣarṣabha, chief among men, the brave person to whom all these are not distressing, for whom sorrow and hap-piness are equal, is fit for liberation.

2.16 The nonexistent has no being; that which exists never ceases to exist. This truth about both is perceived by those who know the Truth.

2.17 Know It to be indestructible by which all this body is pervaded. Nothing can destroy It, the Imperishable.

2.18 These bodies of the material energy are perishable. The energy itself is eternal, incomprehensible and indestructible. Therefore, fight, O Bhārata.

2.19 Neither understands; he who takes the Self to be the slayer nor he who thinks he is slain. He who knows the truth understands that the Self does not slay, nor is It slain.

2.20 The Self is neither born nor does It ever die. After having been, It never ceases not to be. It is unborn, eternal, changeless and ancient. It is not killed when the body is killed.

2.21 O Pārtha, how can man slay or cause others to be slain, when he knows It to be indestructible, eternal, unborn, and unchangeable?

2.22 Just as man casts off his worn out clothes and puts on new ones, the Self casts off worn out bodies and enters newer ones.

2.23 Weapons do not cleave the Self, fire does not burn It, water does not moisten It and wind does not dry It.

acchedyo’yamadāhyo’yam akledyo’śoṣya eva ca । nityaḥ sarvagataḥ sthāṇur acalo’yaṁ sanātanaḥ ॥ 2.24

2.24 The Self cannot ken nor burnt nor dissolved nor dried up. It is eternal, all-pervading, stable, immovable and ancient.

avyakto’yamacintyo’y amavikāryo’yamucyate । tasmādevaṁ viditvainaṁ nānuśocitumarhasi ॥ 2.25

2.5 The Self is said to be unmanifest, unthinkable and unchange-able and able. Knowing this to be such, you should not grieve.

atha cainaṁ nityajātaṁ nityaṁ vā manyase mṛtam । tathāpi tvaṁ mahābāho naivaṁ śocitum arhasi ॥ 2.26

2.26 O mighty-armed, even if you should think of the soul as being constantly born and constantly dying, even then, you should not lament.

jātasya hi dhruvo mṛtyur dhruvaṁ janma mṛtasya ca । tasmādaparihārye’rthe na tvaṁ śocitumarhasi ॥ 2.27

2.27 Indeed, death is certain for the born and birth is certain for the dead. Therefore, you should not grieve over the inevitable.

2.28 O Bhārata, being intangible in the beginning, being intangible again in their end, seemingly tangible in the middle, what are we grieving about?

2.29 One sees It as a wonder, another speaks of It as a wonder, another hears of It as a wonder. Yet, having heard, none understands It at all.

2.30 O Bhārata, this that dwells in the body of everyone can never be destroyed; do not grieve for any creature.

2.31 You should look at your own responsibility [svadharma] as a kṣatriya. There is nothing higher for a kṣatriya than a righteous war. You ought not to hesitate.

2.32 O Pārtha, happy indeed are the kṣatriyas who are called to fight in such a battle without seeking. This opens for them the door to heaven.

atha cettvamimaṁ dharmyaṁ saṅgrāmaṁ na kariṣyasi | tataḥ svadharmaṁ kīrtiṁ ca hitvā pāpamavāpsyasi || 2.33

2.33 If you will not fight this righteous war, then you will incur sin having abandoned your own responsibility [svadharma], and you will lose your reputation.

akīrtiṁ cāpi bhūtāni kathayiṣyanti te’vyayām | saṁbhāvitasya cākīrtir maraṇādatiricyate || 2.34

2.34 People too will remember your everlasting dishonor and to one who has been honored, dishonor is worse than death.

bhayādraṇāduparataṁ maṁsyante tvāṁ mahārathāḥ | yeṣāṁ ca tvaṁ bahumato bhūtvā yāsyasi lāghavam || 2.35

2.35 The great generals will think that you have withdrawn from the battle because you are a coward. You will be looked down upon by those who had thought much of you and your heroism in the past.

avācyavādāṁśca bahūn vadiṣyanti tavāhitāḥ | nindantastava sāmarthyaṁ tato duḥkhataraṁ nu kim || 2.36

2.36 Many unspeakable words would be spoken by your enemies reviling your power. Can there be anything more painful than this?

2.37 Slain, you will achieve heaven; victorious, you will enjoy the earth. O Kaunteya (son of Kuntī), stand up determined to fight.

2.38 Pleasure and pain, gain and loss, victory and defeat—treat them all the same. Do battle for the sake of battle and you shall incur no sin.

2.39 Thus far, what has been taught to you concerns the wisdom of Sāṅkhya. Now, listen to the wisdom of yoga [buddhiyoga]. Hav-ing known this, O Pārtha, you shall cast off the bonds of action.

2.40 There is no wasted effort or dangerous effect in this path of yoga. Even a little knowledge of this, even a little practice of this dharma, protects and releases one from very great fear.

2.41 Joy of the Kurus, on this path (of yoga), the intelligence is resolute with a single-pointed determination. Thoughts of the irresolute are many, branched and endlsess.

2.43 Men of little knowledge, who are very much attached toeulogizing the flowery words of the Vedas, O Pārtha, argue that, 'there is nothing else'; these advocates of Vedas (vādīna) look upon and recommend various fruitful actions for elevation to heavenly planets, resulting in high birth, power, and so forth. Thus being desirous of sense gratification and opulent life, they say that there is nothing more than this to living.

2.44 Those whose minds are attached to sense pleasures and lordship, who are diverted by such teachings, for them, the determination for steady meditation and samādhi, fixed intelligence does not happen.

traiguṇyaviṣayā vedā nistraiguṇyo bhavārjuna / nirdvandvo nityas-attva-stho niryogakṣema ātmavān // 2.45

2.45 O Arjuna! Be you above the three guṇas (attributes) that the Vedas deal in: free yourself from the pairs-of-opposites and be always in satva (goodness), free from all thoughts of acquisition (yoga) or preservation (kṣema), and be established in the Self.

yāvānartha udapāne sarvataḥ samplutodake / tāvānsarveṣu vedeṣu brāhmaṇasya vijānataḥ // 2.46

2.46 The Brāhmaṇa (sage), who has known the Self, has little use for the vedic scriptures, as these are like a pool of water in a place that is already in flood, overflowing with a great water reservoir.

karmaṇyevādhikāraste mā phaleṣu kadācana / mā karmaphalaheturbhūr mā te saṅgo ’stvakarmaṇi // 2.47

2.47 You have a right only to work, but never to the fruits (outcome) of action. Never let the fruit of action be your motive; and never let your attachment be to inaction.

yogasthaḥ kuru karmāṇi saṅgaṁ tyaktvā dhanañjaya / siddhyasiddhyoḥ samo bhūtvā samatvaṁ yoga ucyate // 2.48

2.48 O Dhanañjaya! Do your actions dropping all attachment to the outcome, being centered and complete in Yoga. Be balanced in success and failure. Such evenness of mind is Yoga.

2.49 O Dhanañjaya, beyond the action with selfish motive is Yoga (of action) in wisdom [buddhiyoga]. Wretched are those whose motive is the fruit (outcome); Surrender yourself fully to the wisdom of completion.

2.50 Endowed with the wisdom of evenness of mind, move away from both good and evil deeds in this life. Devote yourself to yoga. Authenticity in action is yoga.

2.51 The wise, having abandoned the outcome of their actions and possessed of knowledge of completion, are freed from the cycle of birth and death. They go to the state that is beyond all sorrow.

2.52 When your wisdom takes you beyond delusion, you shall be indifferent to what has been heard and what is yet to be heard.

2.53 When you are not confused by what you have heard and your wisdom stands steady and unmoving in the Self, you shall attain Self-realization.

अर्जुन उवाच

2.54 O Keśava! What is the description of one who stays in the space of completion in present moment and is merged in the restful awareness of truth and wisdom? How does one of steady wisdom speak, how does he sit, how does he walk?

2.55 Śrī Bhagavān says: O Pārtha, a man who casts off completely all the desires of the mind and is satisfied in the Self by the Self, He is said to be Sthitaprajña, one of steady wisdom in completion.

2.56 He whose mind is not disturbed by adversity and who, in prosperity, does not go after other pleasures, he who is free from attachment, fear or anger is called a sage of steady wisdom.

2.57 His wisdom is fixed who is everywhere without attach-ment, meeting with anything good or bad and who neither rejoices nor hates.

2.58 As the tortoise withdraws its limbs from all sides, when a person withdraws his senses from the sense-objects, his wisdom becomes steady in completion.

2.59 From the body, the sense objects turn away, but the de-sires remain; his desires also leave him on seeing the Supreme.

2.60 O Kaunteya (son of Kuntī), the turbulent senses carry away the mind of a wise man, though he is striving to be in control.

2.61 Having restrained them all, he should sit steadfast, intent on Me. His mind is steady in the present whose senses are under control.

2.62 When a man thinks of objects, it gives rise to attachment for them. From attachment, desire arises; from desire, anger is born.

2.63 From anger arises delusion, from delusion, loss of memory, from loss of memory, the destruction of discrimination, from destruction of discrimination, he perishes.

2.64 The self-controlled man, moving among objects with his senses under control, free from both attraction and repulsion, attains peace.

2.65 All pains are destroyed in that peace, for the intellect of the tranquil-minded soon becomes steady.

2.66 A person not in self awareness cannot be wise or happy or peaceful. How can there be happiness to one without peace?

2.67 He loses his awareness of the present moment when his mind follows the wandering senses, just as the wind carries away a boat on the waters.

2.68 O Mahābāho (mighty-armed one), his knowledge is therefore steady whose senses are completely detached from sense objects.

2.69 The self–controlled man lies awake in that which is night to all beings. That in which all beings are awake is the night for the sage who sees.

2.70 Just as all waters enter the ocean, he attains peace into whom all desires enter, which when filled from all sides, re-mains unmoved; not the desirer of desires.

2.71 The man who moves about abandoning all desires, without longing, without the sense of I and mine, attains peace.

2.72 O Pārtha, this is the state of Brahman, Brāhmī-sthiti; none is deluded after attaining this. Even at the end of life, one attains Brahmanirvāṇa, oneness with Brahman when established in this state.

In the Upaniṣad of Śrīmad Bhagavad Gītā, the scripture of yoga dealing with Brahmavidyā Yogaśāstra, the science of Brahman, the Supreme Absolute, in the form of Śrī Kṛṣṇārjuna saṁvād, dialogue between Śrī Kṛṣṇa-Arjuna, this is the second chapter named, Sāṅkhya Yogaḥ, ‘The Yoga of Knowledge of Completion.’

It is here that we enter into the real Gītā. It is from here that Bhagavān or God, Nārāyaṇa starts speaking Gītopaniṣad into the listening of Nara Arjuna, and through Arjuna into the listening of the whole of humanity. Until now Kṛṣṇa was speaking as Vāsudeva Kṛṣṇa, but it is only from here that Kṛṣṇa sings as Parabrahma Kṛṣṇa, in His divine state as Bhagavān, the universal Kṛṣṇa.

Listen! Integrity, the power of words starts and continues with listening. We miss life when we miss listening. In Vedānta, the first principle is Śravaṇa—Integrated Listening; the second principle is Manana— Intranalyzing, meaning analyzing the truth for the sake of internalizing it, not for rejecting it; and the third principle is Nididhyāsana—Living and radiating the truth!

Any transmission of energy or experience happens between a Master and disciple only when the disciple gives his or her listening! Here, Kṛṣṇa is giving His integrated listening to Arjuna! He is interested in the real problem and not in expressing what He knows.

Let me define what Right Listening is, Śravaṇa.

Right listening means allowing the words to enter your inner space automatically; letting them cognize, without you constantly interfering with your incompletions, is Listening. When you listen, you understand, you become God. Listening makes you God! Only God can make you God.

Understand, sitting in completion with listening is Upaniṣad. This is the subtlest, most powerful of all communications. The essence of all the Vedic scriptures is called Upaniṣad or ‘just sitting.’ When you sit with the Master, the Upaniṣad, ‘the sitting’ happens.

Here Kṛṣṇa allows Arjuna to verbalize, He allows him to speak into His pure listening, so that Arjuna himself gives integrated listening to himself and understands his problem. Once Arjuna cognizes and expresses his confusion, he can relapse into silence and commune with the Master of completion, in the space of Upaniṣad.

Arjuna had collapsed in his chariot. Kṛṣṇa allowed Arjuna to exhaust himself, physically, emotionally and spiritually. He listened to Arjuna completely giving him time to open his being to Him, so that His answers would penetrate Arjuna's very being.

Then He spoke for the first time, as if opening His being directly. Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa says, 'My dear Arjuna, how have you acquired these impurities? They do not at all befit a man who knows the value of life. They lead not to higher planes but to infamy, akīrti karam arjuna (2.1).'

This verse is connected to the next one. 'O Pārtha! Do not yield to this degrading impotence. Give up such petty powerlessness of heart and arise, O Parantapa, destroyer of enemy.'

Kṛṣṇa gives direction to the whole Gītā with this one Truth to awaken Arjuna from his delusory incompletions. Kṛṣṇa is the true Master. He addresses the dilemma of Arjuna straightaway.

Kṛṣṇa knows Arjuna's root thought pattern. Arjuna is not depressed because of a spiritual search. He does not want a solution; he wants only support. Kṛṣṇa addresses Arjuna's deep fear, powerlessness straightaway, and asks him to give up his foolish weakness, and get up and fight— tyaktvottiṣṭha parantapa (2.2). He offer no consolation, just a straightforward scolding, a slap to awaken him!

All our depression, worry patterns are nothing but root pattern of a deep fear of life, a deep self-doubt, fear of expansion and fear of losing something. You need to stand up and complete with your root thought patterns to be rid of them. Understand, all your fears are directed only in one line—fear of your possibilities! Your bigness frightens you. If you are told that you are Divine, you are powerful, complete, your whole identity starts trembling with fear! Arjuna trembles and collapses, fearing his bigness.

Kṛṣṇa straightaway addresses the root pattern where Arjuna is stuck, that is his need for name and fame or rajas. Here, Kṛṣṇa tries the first method of sudden enlightenment, the immediate liberation, but Arjuna is not mature enough to receive it. So Kṛṣṇa now starts the process of explaining step- by-step.

Arjuna is now pleading Kṛṣṇa, ‘Oh Lord, leave me! I will beg and eat becoming a Sannyāsi. I am confused as to which would be better, for them to slay me or for me to slay them, yadvā jayema yadivā no jayeyuḥ (2.6). How can we live after slaying our kinsmen and elders?, yān eva hatvā na jijīviṣāmas.’

Listen. Bhagavān is not against Arjuna’s Sannyāsa. He does not want Arjuna to take Sannyāsa out of powerlessness. To become a Sannyāsi, Śrī Kṛṣṇa says, ‘Go to Sannyāsa out of completion. Out of completion, take any decision!’ He accepts Arjuna’s decision to fight, because he took the decision out of powerfulness, completion!

Here begins the śāstras. Kṛṣṇa, fully aware of Arjuna’s dilemma, moves forward in his mission to destroy Arjuna’s identity, the root pattern. The Guru, Master is a surgeon who removes the cancer of ego, the root thought pattern. To give Arjuna credit, he stays through this surgery. Many weaker men would have run away from the operation theatre, this battlefield, with no desire to let go of their identities. Arjuna’s greatness lies in his integrity, his decision to listen to his Master and be guided by Him.

Having lamented, Arjuna sits down saying, ‘Govinda, I am not going to fight, na yotsya iti govindam (2.9).’ Kṛṣṇa says to him gently and smilingly, ‘While speaking learned words, you are mourning for what is not worthy of grief. Those who are wise lament neither for the living nor for the dead—gatāsūn agatāsūṁś ca nānuśocanti paṇḍitāḥ (2.11).’

A truly enlightened person will never worry for the living or the dead.’ If you worry for somebody living or dead, you cannot be an intelligent person. What is death and life after all? There are thousands, rather millions, who have lived and gone.

Śrī Kṛṣṇa is soaked in the space of completion. The first truth that comes out from Him is Sāṅkhya Yogaḥ. Kṛṣṇa is the greatest follower of Sāṅkhya Yogaḥ.

The first idea with which Kṛṣṇa is sorting out Arjuna's problem is Sāṅkhya Yoga. This means Kṛṣṇa Himself was practicing Sāṅkhya Yoga. He is established in the knowledge of Completion!

Kṛṣṇa continues: 'Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you and all these kings, and never in the future shall any of us cease to be (2.12).' With this verse begins the essence of Gītā. This is ātmajñāna, Self-Realization, the knowledge of completion. We were there before our birth and will remain after death. It is not true that any of us will not be in the future.

Listen. You existed in the past, exist in the present and will exist in the future. Your body may change but you continue to exist. Then why do we think we will die and why do we fear death?

The past, present and future, all the three put together are eternal, Nitya or Ātman. Only when you come to the present moment do you experience Ātman, your true Self, but as of now you are constantly moving between the past and future. Kṛṣṇa says beautifully, 'Whatever dies, can never live. Whatever lives can never die.' When Kṛṣṇa says, 'You are the eternal soul,' He means that as a being, you are beyond time.

Here, your deep consciousness says that something is living in you. This quality you wrongly attribute to your body and mind. The moment you come to the present moment, you are in the eternal space of completion.

So, the first thing you need to do in life is bring completion. Kṛṣṇa does not mean that we existed in this form now, or that He was present always as Kṛṣṇa in the form with a flute and a peacock feather. He means that our spirits, which are eternal, always existed and will always exist. In our spiritual state, we are one with the universal energy, Brahman.

The essence of the second chapter, Sāṅkhya Yogaḥ is that you are the Soul, that you are Complete, that you are Divine, God. In Sāṅkhya, Completion itself is given the place of God. Completion is God!

Completion is the only methodology where you can complete with your past and future incompletions. When you do completion now, don't think that only your future will be in completion and complete. No! Even your past gets altered and complete! The moment you create the space of completion, what Kṛṣṇa declares, 'you are the eternal soul, beyond your body and mind,' becomes reality in your life.

Kṛṣṇa says here that the sensory experiences are all temporary. Feelings of hot and cold, śītoṣṇa, sweet and sour, wet and dry, experiences of pain and pleasure, sukha-duḥkha are all temporary, anityāḥ. These experiences do not affect the centered person who is qualified to be enlightened, so amṛtatvāya kalpate (2.15). Such a person is qualified and ready for Enlightenment.

Kṛṣṇa says first that the spirit pervades the body—avināśi tu tad viddhi yena sarvam idaṁ tatam. His definition of body is the body-mind system. Second, the body and mind are destroyed at death—antavanta ime dehā nityasyoktāḥ śarīriṇaḥ (2.18). Third, the spirit does not die at death—vināśaṁ avyayasyāsya na kascit kartum arhati. Fourth, He explains that the spirit is beyond our mental comprehension—anāśino 'prameyasya (2.18).

Kṛṣṇa urges Arjuna to fight, to open his eyes and see with pure patternless perception; that what he is about to do will only destroy that, which is going to perish anyway. There is no such thing as death, nābhāvo vidyate sataḥ. What dies or seems to perish is unreal, nāsato vidyate bhāvo (2.16); it had no permanent existence. What does have existence, what is truly Real, exists now, has always existed and will exist forever!

Look in! When you drill with integrity and authenticity, normal perception itself is nothing but perception of God! Because any perception will directly lead you to the space of the root of all actions, including perception! You will see that the ultimate perception, what Kṛṣṇa declares as your true nature of eternal existence and indestructible energy, becomes your reality!

Sāṅkhya is reality. What exists as Reality is perceived by you without the interference, perversions created by your powerless patterns. Sāṅkhya is the philosophy of reality, ultimate existentialism. Completion will lead you to experience that Sāṅkhya, the reality, existential reality—Tattva Satya, Satya Tattva!

The first thing that comes from Kṛṣṇa is Sāṅkhya Yogaḥ. The moment Bhagavān is opening His mouth, you are given an amazing introduction about you! In Sāṅkhya, you are recognized as a Soul. Kṛṣṇa is one of the greatest followers of Kapila, the celebrated Incarnation of Mahādeva and Viṣṇu. Kapila is the first thinking man on the planet who experienced completion.

Kṛṣṇa explains to Arjuna that there is no death in reality. What is seen as death is the destruction of the impermanent body. No one therefore can kill or be killed by the another. Kṛṣṇa denies the concept of death. He is not saying: be good, and you will be taken care of when you die and if you are bad, you will suffer. He says there is no death, that's all.

Kṛṣṇa continues with Sāṅkhya, the knowledge of completion:

Just as man casts off his worn-out clothes and puts on new ones, the Self casts off worn-out bodies and enters newer ones, anyāni saṁyāti navāni dehī (2.22). Weapons do not cleave the Self, fire does not burn It, water does not moisten It, and wind does not dry It. The Self can neither be broken, nor burnt, nor dissolved, nor dried up. It is eternal, all pervading, stable, immovable and ancient.

Here, in very few words, Kṛṣṇa expounds upon the entire truth of life and death. He clarifies why we should accept death gladly, instead of grieving over it.

An understanding of the truth that Kṛṣṇa unveils here is the key to immortality. It is the key to liberation from the bondage of life and death.

‘Do not fear death, nānuśocitum arhasi (2.25).’ Kṛṣṇa says, ‘neither yours nor that of others. It is the disappearance of this material body. Even if the body perishes, you live on, so you do not have to worry or fear.’

What survives death is the sacred spirit in you that can never be destroyed. It is unchanging, eternal and all pervading. ‘When you are that spirit, that energy,’ asks Kṛṣṇa, ‘what is there to grieve about? When you are the Divine yourself, what can you fear? What more can you ask for?’

Once you understand what Kṛṣṇa says, that death is like changing a worn-out garment, your fears will disappear. In fact you will celebrate death.

It is not death that frightens us. It is leaving our incomplete desires and unlived life that frightens us. The hangover of that past incomplete desire continues to chase us as a pattern in the present. We do not know how to be complete, joyful.

Listen. Completion means feeling empowered, feeling powerful, without any hangover, without feeling powerless, during and after every situation in your life! If you are powerful, you won’t be violent. You will not be in guilt, fear or carry incomplete desires.

Kṛṣṇa reveals that to be truly complete, joyful, is to cognize the truth that you are indestructible, and that life and death are but a mere passage. When you cognize this truth and start living it with integrity and authenticity, you will be living death. If not, you will be dead living.

Kṛṣṇa works on Arjuna at two levels. At one level He talks to Arjuna at the Super-conscious plane about the ultimate Truth. He talks about how the undying and indestructible spirit lives on. Here, Kṛṣṇa addresses Arjuna's fears about killing his svajanam, his kinsmen; what he considers as the end of life for these people is just one step in their journey.

Kṛṣṇa then descends to the practical level at which Arjuna exists and begins addressing his svadharma, Arjuna's own dharma, the natural path of his responsibility. Kṛṣṇa says, 'Fight! You are a kṣatriya. By fighting as your own responsibility demands, svadharmam api cāvekṣya (2.31), you earn merits and go to heaven. If you run away from this war, you commit a sin of being out-of-integrity with your responsibility, hitvā pāpam avāpsyasi (2.33). You will also be termed a coward, and for a kṣatriya, dishonor is far worse than death, sambhāvitasya cākīrtir maraṇād atiricyate (2.34).

'Do not worry about victory or defeat. Defeated, slain you will ascend to heaven. Victorious, you will enjoy material benefits in this world itself. Therefore, O Kaunteya, fight as it is your responsibility—yuddhāya kṛta- niścayaḥ (2.37).' Kṛṣṇa says to treat pain and pleasure, gain and loss, victory and defeat all the same. He says to fight without worrying about the outcome. You shall incur no sin.

When the Paramātma, Supreme Soul says this, it means that Arjuna does not have to worry about right and wrong, sin or merit. Kṛṣṇa's exhortation is beyond human rationale. It is not what you do that matters; it is who you are being that matters. It is your space of completion that matters.

Kṛṣṇa begins His teachings of Karma Yoga to Arjuna now. He says here, 'Forget the Vedas. Do not quote to Me what the scriptures say.' He says, 'All the knowledge contained in the Vedas is of as much use as water in a flood to one who has realized himself.' The Vedas are limiting. 'Move beyond them to the single-pointed determination of yoga that I shall teach you,' Kṛṣṇa says, 'and be established in a state where you are no longer concerned about creation, preservation and destruction. You will be beyond these and reach the state of Parabrahman.'

Only the Master of the Universe can speak with such authority. Kṛṣṇa is casting away the divinely transmitted scriptures, the Vedas, to instill the Truth in the inner space of Arjuna. Kṛṣṇa shows Arjuna how meaningless his borrowed intellectual knowledge is. He now leads him into experiential knowledge.

The entire essence of Bhagavad Gītā can be summarized in these two verses. The sheer brilliance of the Universal Master! He says, 'You have the right and responsibility to work. You have no right to the results of that work. Do not focus on the result and make it either a pattern of greed to chase or fear to stay away from. Do what you have to do with a centered mind, a complete inner space without worrying about whether you will succeed or fail.'

What beautiful wisdom! Nothing more can be said or ever needs to be said about why and how one should perform.

Kṛṣṇa says, ‘Stop! Who do you think you are? You are here to do My work. You have no right to take the results that are Mine.’ Do what you have to do as your responsibility, without worrying about the results. Do not act with hopes of a certain reward. Do not stop doing what you need to do because you are afraid of what may lie ahead.

Constantly bring integrity to your thinking, authenticity to your feeling, responsibility to your actions, enriching to your lifestyle! You will see, you will realize an extraordinary space in your life, what Kṛṣṇa calls as being balanced in success and failure and being complete in yoga, 2siddhy-asiddhyoḥ samo bhūtvā samatvaṁ yoga ucyate (2.48).

Kṛṣṇa again emphasizes, ‘Act without attachment. Center yourself in wisdom of completion that takes you beyond action and the desire for fruits of action. Kṛṣṇa now begins initiating Arjuna into Yoga with the second tattva of authenticity or śraddha. Kṛṣṇa is the greatest strategist of life. Here, He begins revealing authenticity, the strategy of life, the strategy that will make Arjuna succeed and expand!

Kṛṣṇa declares, ‘yogaḥ karmasu kauśalam (2.50), Yoga is Authenticity in action.’ Kṛṣṇa gives the ultimate winning strategy of Life to Arjuna— to stand up with the courage of authenticity in all his actions, yogaḥ karmasu kauśalam. He urges Arjuna to devote himself to yoga, to bring authenticity in his action. Arjuna can complete his root pattern of fear, only when he raises and expands himself fighting as a kṣatriya warrior. Only then Arjuna will be authentic.

Listen. With integrity you experience the space of positivity. With authenticity you experience the space of possibility. Only a man who lives authenticity is a liberated one, a Yogi, the one devoted to authenticity in action. Only when you surrender yourself to practice integrity in thinking and authenticity in action–yogaḥ karmasu kauśalam, you will realize that you are responsible for success and failure, for everything you experience. You drop your attachments and fear patterns, and experience self-realization–tadā yogam avāpsyasi (2.53).

Kṛṣṇa continues to explain how difficult it is to control the turbulent senses. The only way is to integrate and fix one’s mind on Him. The mind, thoughts cannot be stopped as long as the body exists. You can bring integrity to your thinking completing with your root patterns. Once the mind discovers the bliss of this completion, it will never want to stray again.

Kṛṣṇa says that from attachment springs desire, from desire arises anger, delusion; from delusion comes loss of memory, discrimination, which then leads to one’s destruction. The only way to stop this, the Lord says, is to control one’s senses, complete with oneself and surrender to Him, the Universal energy, and achieve everlasting peace.

Kṛṣṇa reveals two very important truths in the last two verses. One, you can never be peaceful unless you are complete. The other, you cannot be complete if you are led by your senses. Therefore, as long as your senses lead you into what you think is a pleasurable journey; you cannot really be happy or peaceful. Kṛṣṇa says, ‘Get away from your senses; ground yourself in the completion. How can there be happiness for one without peace, aśāntasya kutaḥ sukham? (2.66).’

Kṛṣṇa clarifies how to reach liberation, oneness with Brahman, one’s true and natural awakened state. We are truly awake, when we are in the space of completion. A person in such a space of completion is whom Kṛṣṇa calls a ‘Muni’, a realized being living in the present. Such a person is always awake when other’s are asleep and is in sleep when others are awake. For such a Muni, Advaita, the space of oneness with Brahman, becomes a living reality.

Listen! Completion can make you experience Advaita (non-duality), the ultimate space of Consciousness, immediately. Then, true surrender to the Universe and identification with one’s true nature happens. You then become God!

Kṛṣṇa concludes by saying that a person steeped in yoga is complete in reality and is in oneness with Brahman, eṣā brāhmī sthitiḥ pārtha. This person is liberated even if he were to reach that state at the end of his life, brahma-nirvāṇaṁ ṛcchati (2.72).

Listen to the Truth. The science of completion is the essence of Sāṅkhya Yoga. Completion makes you experience the Sāṅkhya of life. In this second chapter of Gītā on Sāṅkhya Yogaḥ or Transcendental Knowledge of Completion, Śrī Kṛṣṇa who is the space of completion Himself, sets Arjuna on the path of completion. May all of you travel that path too!

Let us pray to the ultimate Existence, Parabrahma Kṛṣṇa, to give us all the experience of eternal bliss, Nityānanda. Thank you!

CHAPTER

Karma Yogaḥ

LIFE IS TO ENJOY LIVING IN

COMPLETION AND ACTING WITH

AUTHENTICITY IN ACTION; NOT TO CHASE

GOALS. THERE IS NO REAL PURPOSE TO LIFE;

LIFE IN FACT IS PURPOSELESS. ONCE WE

CREATE GOALS TO REACH, WE CREATE

SORROW TO FOLLOW. COMING TO TERMS

WITH THE REALITY OF LIFE IS COMPLETION.