(From the discourses of Pujya Sri Swamiji)

Compiled by Swami Datta Pada Renu

“I am the source of all things. From Me all things proceed. Thus thinking, the wise adore Me with all their heart.” (8-X).
The Lord is the source of the whole Universe and the multitude of beings in it. He is in everything. He creates everything, He sustains and He destroys. The Lord is in full control of all actions taking place in the universe as all those actions are impelled by Him alone. He who knows this truth is a wise man. He worships the Lord with all his heart to attain Him.

“With their minds fixed on Me, with their life absorbed in Me, enlightening one another and ever speaking of Me, they are contented and delighted.” (9-X).

The wise ones adore the Lord with utmost devotion and sincerity. For them, the Lord is the life of their life and the soul of their souls. They know that the Lord is the source of their intelligence and the source of their being and the abode of their peace and bliss. In the ecstasy of their joy of knowing the Lord, they speak of the Lord as omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent. Thus they enlighten each other and lead a happy life.

“To those ever devout, worshipping Me with love, I give that devotion of knowledge (discrimination) by which they come to Me.” (10-X).

The Lord declares in this verse that to those who are devoted to Him and worship Him with love, He gives the knowledge of discrimination (Buddhi Yoga) by which they attain the highest knowledge of the Supreme Godhead.
Pure love (Bhakti) leads to knowledge (Jnana). And when Bhakti and Jnana get united, they become one and the same. When the Lord sees a pure blend of Bhakti and Jnana in a devotee’s heart, He bestows on him the Buddhi Yoga or the discriminative knowledge that directly leads him to God realization.

Buddhi Yoga is the path of discrimination between real and unreal, between the self and the non-self. By analytical reasoning the seeker comes to know that he is the Self and not the body. He realizes that the body is subject to decay and death but he (the self) is deathless and eternal. As he progresses in his Sadhana his individual self merges in the supreme self and becomes one with it just as a river joins the ocean and becomes one with it. Thus Buddhi Yoga leads one to the realization of Brahman.

“Out of pure compassion for them, I abiding in the self, destroy the darkness born of ignorance, by the luminous lamp of wisdom.” (11-X).

The Lord as the self is abiding in the heart of everyone. He is seated in everyone’s heart and as such man’s real nature is divine. But, due to ignorance man identifies himself with his body, mind and intellect. He forgets his divine nature that is the self, and gets attached to worldly pleasures. As a result he becomes selfish and sinful. This is all due to the ignorance of his real nature.

This ignorance is destroyed by the lamp of wisdom derived through ‘Buddhi Yoga’. This lamp of wisdom is ‘Jnana Dip’. It is luminous (basmati). The moment it is kindled within one’s heart he is freed from the shackles of Samsara or earthly life. Thereafter, he never identifies himself with his body. He realizes that he is the diving self. He is liberated. He becomes a ‘Mukta’.

Sri Sankara, in his commentary says that the lamp of wisdom or the lamp of discriminatory knowledge is fed by the oil of pure devotion. The wisdom is compared to a lamp in which the oil of pure devotion is poured. Therefore pure devotion is only the way to attain Brahma Jnana. As such to attain the Lord, one must possess intense love for the Lord.
Arjuna said : “you are the Supreme Brahman, the Supreme Abode, the Supreme Purifier, the everlasting Divine spirit, the Primordial God, unborn and omnipresent.” (12-X).

“All the seers who have thus hailed you as the heavenly seer Narada, Asita , Devala and Vyasa; and now you yourself declare it to me.” (13-X0

When Arjuna heard that the Lord residing in the devotees' heart as their innermost self destroys their ignorance by His brilliant lamp of wisdom, he is so excited with a rare joy that he starts extolling the Lord in the following words.
The Lord is the Supreme Brahman, the highest, all-pervading and all-powerful God Principle. He is the Supreme Abode (Param Dhama) and the Supreme Purifier (Paramam Pavitram), because He is free from contact with anything external to His nature. He is eternal (Shashvata) and He is divine spirit (Divya Purusha). He is Primordial God or First God (Adi Deva) and unborn (Aja) but self-existent. He is also all-pervading and all-powerful (Vibhu).
Arjuna recalls to his mind, the statements given by the sages like Narada, Asita, Devala, Vyasa and others, who described the Lord in the aforesaid manner. And now the Lord Himself is describing His glories in the same way as given by the sages.

“O Kesava, all this that you tell me, I believe as true. Neither the Gods nor the demons know verily your manifestation.” (14-X)

“Indeed you alone know yourself by yourself, O Purushottama, O source of beings, O Lord of beings, O God of Gods, O Ruler of the world.” (15-X)

The description of the Lord given by the sages is only true. But none but eh Lord Himself can know His real from and not others. He Himself knows Himself by Himself. For others, he remains mysterious and inscrutable.