(From the discourses of Pujya Sri Swamiji)

Compiled by Swami Datta Pada Renu

"Knowing these paths, O Partha, no yogi is deluded. Therefore, O Arjuna, at all times be steadfast in Yoga". (27-VIII)

The yogi who has known these two paths, the bright and the dark, is not deluded. He knows and is fully convinced that the dark path leads to Samsara or worldly bondage and the bright path to liberation. So he rejects the dark path and takes up the bright one which will lead him to immortality.

He who goes along with the bright path has to take to the practice of yoga seriously. This path consists of penance, self-control, knowledge, celibacy, meditation etc. The practice of these disciplines will help him in gaining perfect control over his mind. Therefore the Lord advises Arjuna to be a yogi and absorb himself in God-consciousness.

"Having known this, the Yogi transcends all merits accruing from the study of the Vedas, sacrifices, austerities and gifts, and reaches the Primordial Supreme State." (28-VIII)
The scriptures declare that a man who performs sacrifices (Yajnas), austerities, study of the Vedas, giving away charities to the needy etc., earns lot of merit (Punya). But if he performs those actions with the selfish idea of enjoying the results, he may go to heavenly worlds and enjoy the fruits of his actions. but as soon as the merits are exhausted he will have to take birth again into this world of bondage and miseries.

The yogi is fully aware of the fact that desire-motivated actions, however noble, cannot give him Mukti (liberation) as they will only keep him in the path which will bring him back to this worldly existence. Therefore by renouncing the fruit he performs all his actions as a dedication to God. As such he attains to the Primordial Abode of the Supreme Godhead.
Therefore whatever a man does must be in strict consonance with the path of Yoga. Yoga means freedom from attachment to enjoyment and equanimity with regard to happiness and misery. Anyone can become a yogi by proper discipline to the mind and performing the right kind of action.

Thus ends the eighth chapter entitled ‘Akshara Brahma Yoga’.

Now begins the ninth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita. The title of this chapter is ‘Raja Vidya Rajaguhya Yoga’, the Yoga of Sovereign Science and Sovereign Secret. ‘Raja Vidya’ means sovereign science and ‘Raja Guhya’ means sovereign secret. In short it means supreme knowledge and supreme secret.

In the eighth chapter in verses 8 and 9, the Lord spoke about the system of Yoga in which the Yogi has to control the senses and confine the mind in the heart. Then he has to fix his life-breath in the head by making it pass through the middle chord – Sushumna. Holding it there steadily and uttering the monosyllabic ‘Aum’, the Yogi leaves the body. Such a Yogi reaches the Supreme Brahman in due course of time by successively reaching the realms of deities of fire, light etc. This attainment of liberation by stages is called Krama Mukti (gradual liberation).

In this connection, some people may think that the attainment of Brahman is possible only through the aforesaid process and not through any other. In order to obviate such an apprehension the Lord said as follows:

"Now I shall reveal to you, who do not cavil, this profoundest secret combined with realization, by knowing which you shall be freed from all evil." (1-IX)
Brahma Jnana, the knowledge of the Supreme Being, is the profoundest secret (guhyatamam). This knowledge combined with its direct experience brings liberation from all evils.

Theoretical knowledge obtained from the study of scriptures is referred to as Jnana. This knowledge is indirect. Vijnana is the direct experience of the truth enshrined in the scriptures through intuition. This direct experience is ‘Aparoksha’. When one learns from others that sugar is sweet his knowledge is indirect. But when he tastes the sugar and finds out by himself that it is sweet his knowledge is ‘Aparoksha’ (direct experience).
Brahma Jnana can not be grasped by those who are not pure at heart. To them who are selfish and full of jealousy this knowledge is the supreme secret. It is beyond their understanding. One may possess lot of intelligence and other qualifications, but unless one is free from envy (Asuya) one can not realize the truth. Of all the bad qualities envy is the worst as it is the source of all evils.

People generally take delight in finding fault with others. They see evil even in good things. Arjuna did not have this quality and so he was entitled to receive this secret knowledge from the Lord. And the Lord is going to reveal that to him.

"This (the knowledge of Brahman) is the sovereign science, the sovereign secret, the supreme purifier, immediately comprehensible, unopposed to Dharma, imperishable and very easy to perform." (2-IX).

The knowledge of Brahman is the sovereign science or the king among all sciences (Raja Vidya) as it is the highest knowledge and is full of radiance.