| Verse
1: "He who works not for an earthly reward, but does the work to
be done, he is a Sanyasi,
he is a Yogi: not he who lights not the sacred fire or offers not the
holy sacrifice." Wow, a lot of "not"s in this one. It's quite clear that a Sanyasi is a revered figure. Verse 2: "Because the Sanyasi of renunciation is also the Yogi of holy work; and no man can be a Yogi who surrenders not his earthly will." Both renunciation and holy work were discussed in Chapter 5, and Krishna definitively chose holy work to be the more important of the two. He also claimed the "holy work" to be the work of the Yogi. But in this verse, we see that renunciation and holy work go hand in hand, to the point where one can't begin to do holy work before a full renunciation is made. The Yogi is the Sanyasi. And a Yogi must not have earthly desires. Verse 3: "When the sage climbs the heights of Yoga, he follows the path of work; but when he reaches the heights of Yoga, he is in the land of peace." OK another journey/destination allusion. The major difference is that Yoga is truly hard work, requiring great dedication and diligence. And when someone masters Yoga, s(he) achieves a state of heightened existence. Thus, it's no mere metaphor. Verse 4: "And he reaches the heights of Yoga when he surrenders his earthly will: when he is not bound by the work of his senses, and he is not bound by his earthly works." OK, so this contradicts what I said in Verse 3. Here, we see that the Yogi reaches the heights of Yoga by surrendering, not after working diligently. Perhaps all the hard work leads to a "weakened" mental state where it's much easier to succumb (e.g. surrender). But rather than succumb to one's passions, one surrenders all of them. Paradoxically, that would take some work to achieve. Verse 5: "Arise therefore! And with the help of thy Spirit lift up thy soul: allow not thy soul to fall. For thy soul can be thy friend, and thy soul can be thine enemy." Very soulful! One has the power to life up one's soul, though you will need the help of the Spirit. I like the allusion to the soul being a friend or enemy. In the same vein, it can be a guide or detractor, a teacher or deceiver, a catalyst or inhibitor, a motivator or terminator. Verse 6: "The soul of man is his friend when by the Spirit he has conquered his soul; but when a man is not lord of his soul then this becomes his own enemy." Well, this goes against the grain of my Verse 5 comments. Here, it's a good attribute to be a conquerer of the soul. By the compare and contrast approach I was taking above, it would be a bad attribute to be a liberator. Freeing one's soul is not a benevolent act in this context. One must be one's one God, according to Krishna. That seems to be counterintuitive in many respects. Verse 7: "When his soul is in peace he is in peace, and then his soul is in God. In cold or in heat, in pleasure or pain, in glory or disgrace, he is ever in Him." His soul in peace = he is in peace = his soul in God. The syllogism is complete with the recognition that peace = God. So let those war mongers know, loud and clear, that war is anti-God. War is atheism, according to Krishna ... The latter part of the aphorism is more of the compare and contrast technique I used above. Verse 8: "When, happy with vision and wisdom, he is master of his own inner life, his soul sublime set on high, then he is called a Yogi in harmony. To him gold or stones or earth are one." Vision and wisdom create some good states. Sublime - there it is! All the world is in harmony with him. All is united, all is one. What more is there to say?! Verse 9: "He has risen on the heights of his soul. And in peace he beholds relatives, companions and friends, those impartial or indifferent or who hate him: he sees them all with the same inner peace." "He" is pretty high up (on the astral airplane?!). In such a high state, he loves everyone, even his enemies. He sees them all with the same inner peace - a most profound interpretation of the manifested symmetry of perceptions. Verse 10: "Day after day, let the Yogi practise the harmony of soul: in a secret place, in deep solitude, master of his mind, hoping for nothing, desiring nothing." Will only the hermit achieve a soulful harmony? Can't the urban dweller find it as well? It's a nice image: solitude, quietude, controlling one's thoughts, refraining from hopes and desires. But is this the only way to achieve a nice state of harmony? I doubt it. Verse 11: "Let him find a place that is pure and a seat that is restful, neither too high nor too low, with sacred grass and a skin and a cloth thereon." So even though he has risen to great heights, he will settle down in a medium place. It will be a sacred place (why, because God made the grass?!). The image of "grass, skin and cloth" is a bit incongruous, but nevertheless pleasing even with the reference made to "skin" (assuming it's the skin of an animal). Verse 12: "On that seat let him rest and practice Yoga for the purification of the soul: with the life of his body and mind in peace; his soul in silence before the One." This is where the Yogi practices Yoga. The juxtaposition of a purified soul, a mind and body in peace, and a silent soul before the Supreme Being, is a beautiful image. It's a very powerful spiritual state. Verses 13-14: "With upright body, head, and neck, which rest still and move not; with inner gaze which is not restless, but rests still between the eyebrows; With soul in peace, and all fear gone, and strong in the vow of holiness, let him rest with mind in harmony, his soul on me, his God supreme." A restful posture of the body, keen contemplation with the Third Eye, a peaceful soul, fearless, bathing in holiness: this is the person that is in harmony and one with God. Yoga is not merely a regimen of physical exercises, although it entails that, but a spiritual journey culminating in a rapturous experience with God. Verse 15: "The Yogi who, lord of his mind, ever prays in this harmony of soul, attains the peace of Nirvana, the peace supreme that is in me." Krishna let's us know that he is swimming in the waters of Nirvana. The Yogi, hence, must strive to obtain what is known as Krishna consciousness ... I've notice a few references to "prayer" in past verses, but it never points out what one is praying for (though it mentions the medium of "harmony of soul"), and never reveals fragments of any prayer. It's usually a general reference to praying. Verse 16: "Yoga is a harmony. Not for him who eats too much, or for him who eats too little; not for him who sleeps too little, or for him who sleeps too much." Verse 17: "A harmony in eating and resting, in sleeping and keeping awake: a perfection in whatever one does. This is the Yoga that gives peace from all pain." In these last two verses, we become aware of the intricate relationship between harmony and balance. There must be balance in our eating and sleeping patterns. We must strive for perfection in all our endeavors (Krishna clearly believes this can be achieved). Equally important, Yoga leads people away from pain. Verse 18: "When the mind of the Yogi is in harmony and finds rest in the Spirit within, all restless desires gone, then he is a Yukta, one in God." In Sanskrit, Yukta means joined. In the context above, a Yukta is joined together with God in a state of peace. Verse 19: "Then his soul is a lamp whose light is steady, for it burns in a shelter where no winds come." This is a striking, beautiful metaphor. Once harmony and balance are achieved, once a state of God-peace has been reached, then the soul radiates like a lamp, a beacon to all the ships that pass quietly in the night. And the light radiates steadily, protecting all embraced souls from the turbulent winds. Verses 20-21: "When the mind is resting in the stillness of the prayer of Yoga, and by the grace of the Spirit sees the Spirit and therein finds fulfilment; Then the seeker knows the joy of Eternity: a vision seen by reason far beyond what senses can see. He abides therein and moves not from Truth." The stillness of the mind is complemented by the grace of the Spirit. We find this concept of "the grace of the Spirit" in other religions like Christianity. In Catholic theology, for example, the Holy Spirit touches the lives of the faithful, and through sacraments (i.e. Baptism) and the grace of the Holy Spirit communicates with them. In Christianity, the faithful are often refered to as "believers". Krishna refers to "the seeker" which is a similar idea. This seeker discovers the "joy of Eternity", which may or may not be eternity itself, but at the very least are reverberations of eternity. One question that is fair game to ask is can the non-seeker achieve a state of harmony and directly experience this joy of Eternity. The non-seeker could merely trigger an inward contemplative gaze, not aiming for anything specifically, looking for nothing in particular to achieve. Yet through his own diligence, respect, care, and vision, he could achieve the same joyous state as the seeker. The "vision seen by reason" that Krishna refers to is particularly interesting because reason usually refers to problem solving, utilizing logic, and rationality. While Krishna does not preclude these attributes of reason for helping people live their lives, here it explicity refers to a non-sensory vision to experience the joys of Eternity. Hence, reason includes the focusing of such vision, like a surgeon using a laser beam, to bring forth the joys of this Eternity. Verse 22: "He has found joy and Truth, a vision for him supreme. He is therein steady: the greatest pain moves him not." We've essentially covered all of these topics above. The last part regarding pain not moving him is another way of saying that he is not disturbed by pain, that he can live with him. Joy and Truth overwhelm him. Verse 23: "In this union of Yoga there is liberty: a deliverance from the oppression of pain. This Yoga must be followed with faith, with a strong and courage heart." Now here we see that through Yoga, true liberty is a liberation from pain. Notice this is not an embrace of pain's opposite: pleasure. In fact, pleasure is renounced through abstinence of desire. |