Gita 13.12 Knowledge means to what is the most important to know

Transcript

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Bhagavad Gita 13.12 अध्यात्मज्ञानित्यत्तुम् तत्वज्ञानार्थदर्शनम् एतज्ञानमितिप्रोक्तम् अज्ञानम् यदतो अन्यथा। Krishna speaking, he states here that अध्यात्मज्ञानित्यत्तुम् There is spiritual knowledge which is eternal. अध्यात्मज्ञानित्यत्तुम् तत्वज्ञानार्थदर्शनम् दर्शन, philosophy, is to be analysed to understand the true तत्वज्ञानार्थम् Knowledge of reality is what is to be sought through philosophy. एतज्ञानमितिप्रोक्तम् This is knowledge.
अज्ञानम् यदतो अन्यथा। Apart from this, whatever there may be, that is ignorance. Krishna is here speaking about the qualities that comprise knowledge. And therein he states that the items of knowledge that are talked about over here 20 items out of which last two are stated here अध्यात्मज्ञानित्यत्तुम् There is much knowledge that can be had in this world.
But much of that knowledge is temporary. It is spiritual knowledge that is eternal. Because it deals with the eternal subject.
Its effects, its fruit will benefit us eternally. So the subject itself is, subject about which we are studying, that itself is eternal. Its result will benefit us eternally.
And because by understanding spiritual knowledge, we will attain liberation. And this is the knowledge that is most important for us. So one element of knowledge is to understand what is the most important knowledge.
Because again, there is so much to know. And knowledge means to know what is most important to know. Krishna has pointed to the importance of spiritual knowledge earlier also in the 10th chapter in Vibhuti Yoga.
When he talks about अध्यात्मज्ञानित्यत्तुम् There are many different kinds of विद्या, but अध्यात्मज्ञानित्यत्तुम् is the most important विद्याणा. Krishna says, I am the अध्यात्मज्ञानित्यत्तुम् among the विद्या’s. Then he says further that, तत्वज्ञानार्थदर्शिनम् So, philosophy is an important branch of knowledge, of study, which enables us to understand the nature of reality, which explores fundamental questions about life and living, about the meaning and purpose of existence, about our identity and our destiny.
Philosophy can get caught in intricacies. For example, in today’s world, much philosophy is largely about semantics, what words are, what words actually mean. All that is fine to some extent, but ultimately it doesn’t serve any purpose because if language is ultimately a vehicle for thought, and if you just get caught in language and don’t go towards the ultimate subject, then that’s not of much use.
So, you can philosophize about anything. Somebody can, say, make philosophy of football, philosophy of cricket. It’s not that there cannot be a philosophical approach to these things.
The point is that philosophy has a purpose, and that purpose is to understand ultimate reality. And it’s that purpose that should be kept in mind. Otherwise, in the name of philosophy, one can get caught in endless exploration of things which are not very important or not even much important.
So, darshana, philosophical study, is to be done for tattva jnana. That is the artha, that is the purpose for which it should be done, for understanding the nature of reality when we study philosophy. Then we move onwards steadily in our own lives towards the absolute truth.
Adhyatma vidya vidyana. So, that was what Krishna says here. Tattva jnana artha darshan.
So, it’s interesting that both of them are brought together. Understand that we should study philosophy to understand ultimate reality. And we should understand that knowledge of ultimate reality, knowledge of spiritual reality is what is the most important among various branches of knowledge.
And etaj jnanam iti proktam. This actually is the ultimate knowledge. And apart from that, whatever knowledge might be there, is actually temporary, it is ephemeral.
It is not the most important knowledge. It is not the primary knowledge that we should be seeking in our lives. And ajnanam itato anyatha, whatever else is there is ignorance.
So, this is a very strong and categorical statement. What does it mean? The Bhagavad Gita is offering knowledge not for informational purposes but for transformational purposes. Its purpose is to transform, transform Arjuna, redirecting his consciousness from temporary to eternal.
And in this context, knowledge about dharma, puchchaamitvam dharma samodh chetah, what is the right course of action that I should follow? That was the question that Arjuna had asked Krishna. And from the point of view of assimilating knowledge that brings about transformation in our lives, from that perspective, which knowledge is the most important? It is the knowledge that enables us to perceive that we are at our core spiritual. And being spiritual, we are meant to develop those qualities by which we can realize our spiritual identity and relish eternal happiness that is meant for us at life’s spiritual level.
And therefore, from that perspective of life’s most important priority, ajnanam itato anyatha, whatever else one may achieve, it is ajnanam. It is not of much consequential importance. If a person is riding off a cliff and is in a car that is about to fall off a cliff and person notes the say the taxonomy of taxonomical study of the flowers that are there on the two sides of the road or tries to write a comment about, exhaustive research about the feasibility of the road that is there, which is leading to the cliff.
These can be useful branches of study, but if a person is trying to, is about to be pulled off, about to fall off a cliff and die, then the most important knowledge is how to apply the brake and swerve clear of the edge so that one doesn’t fall off. That is what is primarily talked about here. In that sense, that actually from the perspective that everything else is temporary, that it is spiritual knowledge alone that is eternal.
It is that we are meant to, we should philosophize to understand the nature of reality from that perspective of transcending our mortality through spiritual realization. Any information, which even if it may be operationally useful, is ultimately pointless if it does not lead to the elevation of consciousness that will raise us above our bodily mortality. So just mere information in the Gita’s context, in this language, in this section is not of much value.
It is when the knowledge that knowledge brings about transformation, then it becomes a special value. This is Jnanam. And to the extent we live in the light of Jnan, to that extent we will be protected.
And we all can strive to get this Jnan by internalizing the practices of Bhakti.