Bg 5.5
yat sāṅkhyaiḥ prāpyate sthānaṁ tad yogair api gamyate
ekaṁ sāṅkhyaṁ ca yogaṁ ca yaḥ paśyati sa paśyati
Bg 5.6
sannyāsas tu mahā-bāho duḥkham āptum ayogataḥ
yoga-yukto munir brahma na cireṇādhigacchati
Translation:
5. That place which is reached by the SANKHYAS (JNANIS) is also reached by the YOGINS (KARMA-YOGINS) . He "sees, " who "sees " SANKHYA and YOGA as one.
6. But renunciation, O mighty-armed, is hard to attain without YOGA; the YOGA -harmonised man of (steady) contemplation quickly goes to BRAHMAN.
Commentary Excerpts:
Categorically, Lord Krishna insists herein that the goal reached by the Sankhya-method is also readily reached by the Karma-technique. He, who experiences this common Goal of both paths, is the one who really understands the Truth of the Vedas.
Here the word "seeing" (pashyati) is used in the scriptural meaning of the term, and so does not indicate a mere physical act of perception. In the Advaita philosophy, Atman is not seen as anything other than the seer, but it is the experience of the Seer himself BY the Seer himself. The term "seeing" is used here only to confirm that the experience of Reality could be as intimate and beyond all doubts, as it would be, when we see any object with our own eyes from very near.
In thus synthesising both Sankhya and Karma, it is not meant that they together form an alloy; they both must be practised serially. We can consider them as one and the same inasmuch as Karma Yoga purifies the Intellect and gives a greater poise for meditation (Sankhya) through which alone is the final experience achieved. Thus a combination of these two is possible serially and not simultaneously. This is to be very carefully noted by all sincere students.
HOW IS IT THAT THE AIM OF KARMA YOGA IS SAMNYASA? --- LISTEN:
The Lord, with all the emphasis at his command, is declaring, once and for all, the final conclusions that were arrived at by the Immortal Sages of yore regarding the place of right-action in Self re-discovery. Without performance of action, the renunciation of action is impossible; without having a thing we cannot renounce it; to renounce life and the world, because one has sadly been thwarted in one's hopes and ambitions, is not renunciation.
In this sense, the polishing of the mind is a process very similar to that by which we clean metal-ware by using metal-polish. The item that is darkened by time is purified by applying some polishing chemical on its surface. The polish is the solvent of the oxide that is covering the brilliance of the vessel. After a time, when we remove the coating of the "polish," we find that not only is the chemical-polish removed but the black oxide also is removed, threreby leaving the vessel bright and attractive.
Similarly, the mind can be purified only by the process of treating it with right action. When thus treated, the mind gets purified from its vasana-blemishes and with such a purified mind alone can we, during the deeper meditation hours, come to renounce all activities. Before this preparation, if we try to renounce activities, we may remain physically inactive, but mentally very active. Extrovertedness of the mind is not conducive to the inner polishing. In fact, extrovertedness is the very mud that sullies the Godly-beauty and strength of the mind.
This is the greatest discovery that Hindu Masters made in the ancient days, in the technique of Self-development and Self-growth.
While mental purity and meditative power cannot be gained without performance of right action with the right mental attitude, Sri Krishna gives a positive assurance here that such a conducive mental quality can be created by right actions undertaken by the seekers.
Yoga Yuktah --- One who is well established in the path of selfless and unattached activities, soon develops the qualities of poise and single-pointedness of mind. Karma fulfils itself in making the Yogin fit for continuous and fruitful meditation, and when such an individual who has practised the Path of Karma diligently --- either through the renunciation of his sense of agency or through detachment from all his over-anxious preoccupations with the fruits of his actions --- such a meditator (Muni) soon attains the Supreme experience of the Self in himself.
No definite time-limit can be fixed for declaring when exactly the Supreme experience will come to a meditator. The indecision regarding the time-element in this promise of certainty is very well brought out by the term used, 'Na-chirena' --- not long afterwards, meaning 'ere-long.'
With this knowledge in mind, when we read the stanza, it becomes very clear why earlier (V-2) the Lord, in his opening verse in this discourse, insisted that for Arjuna 'performance-of-action' is superior to the 'renunciation-of-action.'
Sources: Vedabase.com; The Holy Geeta
yat sāṅkhyaiḥ prāpyate sthānaṁ tad yogair api gamyate
ekaṁ sāṅkhyaṁ ca yogaṁ ca yaḥ paśyati sa paśyati
Bg 5.6
sannyāsas tu mahā-bāho duḥkham āptum ayogataḥ
yoga-yukto munir brahma na cireṇādhigacchati
Translation:
5. That place which is reached by the SANKHYAS (JNANIS) is also reached by the YOGINS (KARMA-YOGINS) . He "sees, " who "sees " SANKHYA and YOGA as one.
6. But renunciation, O mighty-armed, is hard to attain without YOGA; the YOGA -harmonised man of (steady) contemplation quickly goes to BRAHMAN.
Commentary Excerpts:
Categorically, Lord Krishna insists herein that the goal reached by the Sankhya-method is also readily reached by the Karma-technique. He, who experiences this common Goal of both paths, is the one who really understands the Truth of the Vedas.
Here the word "seeing" (pashyati) is used in the scriptural meaning of the term, and so does not indicate a mere physical act of perception. In the Advaita philosophy, Atman is not seen as anything other than the seer, but it is the experience of the Seer himself BY the Seer himself. The term "seeing" is used here only to confirm that the experience of Reality could be as intimate and beyond all doubts, as it would be, when we see any object with our own eyes from very near.
In thus synthesising both Sankhya and Karma, it is not meant that they together form an alloy; they both must be practised serially. We can consider them as one and the same inasmuch as Karma Yoga purifies the Intellect and gives a greater poise for meditation (Sankhya) through which alone is the final experience achieved. Thus a combination of these two is possible serially and not simultaneously. This is to be very carefully noted by all sincere students.
HOW IS IT THAT THE AIM OF KARMA YOGA IS SAMNYASA? --- LISTEN:
The Lord, with all the emphasis at his command, is declaring, once and for all, the final conclusions that were arrived at by the Immortal Sages of yore regarding the place of right-action in Self re-discovery. Without performance of action, the renunciation of action is impossible; without having a thing we cannot renounce it; to renounce life and the world, because one has sadly been thwarted in one's hopes and ambitions, is not renunciation.
In this sense, the polishing of the mind is a process very similar to that by which we clean metal-ware by using metal-polish. The item that is darkened by time is purified by applying some polishing chemical on its surface. The polish is the solvent of the oxide that is covering the brilliance of the vessel. After a time, when we remove the coating of the "polish," we find that not only is the chemical-polish removed but the black oxide also is removed, threreby leaving the vessel bright and attractive.
Similarly, the mind can be purified only by the process of treating it with right action. When thus treated, the mind gets purified from its vasana-blemishes and with such a purified mind alone can we, during the deeper meditation hours, come to renounce all activities. Before this preparation, if we try to renounce activities, we may remain physically inactive, but mentally very active. Extrovertedness of the mind is not conducive to the inner polishing. In fact, extrovertedness is the very mud that sullies the Godly-beauty and strength of the mind.
This is the greatest discovery that Hindu Masters made in the ancient days, in the technique of Self-development and Self-growth.
While mental purity and meditative power cannot be gained without performance of right action with the right mental attitude, Sri Krishna gives a positive assurance here that such a conducive mental quality can be created by right actions undertaken by the seekers.
Yoga Yuktah --- One who is well established in the path of selfless and unattached activities, soon develops the qualities of poise and single-pointedness of mind. Karma fulfils itself in making the Yogin fit for continuous and fruitful meditation, and when such an individual who has practised the Path of Karma diligently --- either through the renunciation of his sense of agency or through detachment from all his over-anxious preoccupations with the fruits of his actions --- such a meditator (Muni) soon attains the Supreme experience of the Self in himself.
No definite time-limit can be fixed for declaring when exactly the Supreme experience will come to a meditator. The indecision regarding the time-element in this promise of certainty is very well brought out by the term used, 'Na-chirena' --- not long afterwards, meaning 'ere-long.'
With this knowledge in mind, when we read the stanza, it becomes very clear why earlier (V-2) the Lord, in his opening verse in this discourse, insisted that for Arjuna 'performance-of-action' is superior to the 'renunciation-of-action.'
Sources: Vedabase.com; The Holy Geeta
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