Gita 06.03 – Different levels require different methods for progress

Bhavita 4.3 arurukshor muner yogam karmakaranam uchyate yogaarurasya siva shamakaranam uchyate arurukshor muner yogam aruruksh means one who is desiring to climb one who is at the bottom steps if you consider a ladder or anything which requires ascending so one who is at the bottom arurukshor muner yogam so karmakaranam uchyate for one who is at the preliminary stages at the bottom stages in the path of yoga karmakaranam uchyate karma is the karana now in many vernacular languages in the Marathi and other languages karana means because because of this he did this but karana in Sanskrit refers to that which is the cause that which brings about motion that which comes brings about activation so karmakaranam uchyate means karma is the means by which progress happens so Krishna is saying that in the aruruksha stage karma is the means of progress and yoga rudhasya tasyayiva at the yoga arudha stage karmakaranam uchyate shamaha is inaction shamaha is the word of open is used to refer to mean mental tranquility so in complete mental tranquility which is also accompanied as we look at the inner path and the path of yoga with complete with inner with out renunciation also but in the complete inner tranquility there is there is spiritual realization so now here Krishna is saying that at different levels there are different paths so often the Gita's teaching is is stated as if it is all path lead to the same goal and Krishna does talk about the unification unifying purpose of different paths at some places like Krishna said in the previous was that sannyas and yoga are essentially the same thing that's what he said in 6.1 and 2 and similarly in 5.4 and 5 he has said that Sankhya Yoga Upar Thakbala in which Ilish people consider Sankhya and Yoga to be different so Krishna also gives some credence to the idea that different paths lead to the same goal but here Krishna is clearly speaking something which challenges such simplistic phrasing of complex concepts so all paths lead to the same goal is not exactly wrong it is in a it can be in a qualified sense said to be true that Karma Yoga, Gyan Yoga, Ashtanga Yoga, Bhakti Yoga they are all ultimately intended to take the person towards the spiritual towards spiritual perfection towards liberation from material existence but how they do it is different in different cases and without understanding that one can get trapped in material existence so here not just trapped in material existence especially trapped in intellectual confusion material existence thinking that simplistically creating all paths so here Krishna is speaking on a different note he says that on a different note means it's not it doesn't gel with the simplistic sounding all paths lead to the same goal Krishna says at different levels there are different paths in the initial string is Karma is the means and Yoga Arudha means one who is situated properly on top like Lord Narayana sometimes said it's Garuda Arudha so he is seated comfortably on top of Garuda so like that one who is situated on the top of the yoga ladder that means the person has advanced substantially and attained the upper levels in the yoga ladder so that person it is said yoga arudhasya tasyaiva for such a person shamaha karana uchyate shamaha giving up action and directing the quest for realization inwards that is karana that is the means of progress so what does this mean in terms of our understanding when is action the means and when is contemplation the means so it's like in the initial series when a person is practicing karma yoga at that time that person the seeker needs to act because we are not at a level where we can live without activity we are not at a level where we can live if we try to live without activity the passion which is there within us will eventually make us active and that passion will drive us here there and everywhere in contrast the on the path of yoga as one advances for example yogi attains in the path of yoga there are eight stages there is yam yam asan pranayam yam yasam asan pranayam then it goes on further dhyaan dhyaan samadhi like that now in this sequence as one moves towards the meditative stages dhyaan dhyaan samadhi these stages at that time the focus is inward where one catches a glimpse of Vishnu or the indwelling divinity one may not know that it is the indwelling divinity that Vishnu I'm looking for but one gets a glimpse of inner realization and then one may lose the glimpse also but then again the glimpse comes and one and yogi focuses more and more inwards in order to get clearer and clearer glimpses so that is the essence of yoga practice at the advanced levels where the focus is all on inner contemplation which becomes more and more concentrated becomes more and more intense it becomes more and more deliberate and focused on the inner reality so at that level the progress happens through inner purification the progress happens through inner contemplation purification has been happening throughout but there the progress is primarily inwards and the focus is inwards the progress is inwards and the destination is inwards Krishna has talked about this earlier also in the 5th chapter so in 5.24 he talked about this so there also he has earlier talked about how from action one can move inwards towards contemplation so Krishna is telling Arjuna may get a concern Krishna after hearing the previous verse Krishna if you are saying yoga and sannyas are the same thing then is it that one should one never needs to take sannyas at all one never needs to give up action Krishna is saying no action can also be given up but at a particular stage when one is at a Aarudh stage of yoga then one can give up action when one is at a Aarudh stage one needs to work and through that work one will progress now a temptation on the spiritual path is to pretend to be at a higher level than what one is at somebody might think that I am at the Aarudh stage and not at the Aarudh stage I am at the Aarudh stage and therefore shamaha is the means of progress for me so to address that question whether Krishna will talk in the next verses about when can one understand that one is at the shamaha stage and in that connection he will talk about giving up desires and controlling the mind that we will discuss in our future talks here essentially Krishna says yes there is a time to renounce at one particular time renunciation is the means of progress and another time action is the means of progress and Krishna has told for Arjuna that for you.