Gita 13.19 Subtle spiritual truths are comprehended through devotion, not intellection

Transcript

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thank you Bhagavad Gita 13.19 itikshetram tatha gyanam yeyam choktam samasataham mad-bhakti tad viknyaya mad-bhavayop apadhyate here Krishna continues to speak he says this is like a summarization verse which helps us ease our comprehension of things itikshetram itikshetram Krishna is saying in this way I talked about kshetra tatha gyanam I talked about gyanam yeyam choktam samasataham and I have talked about gyan also samasataham in summary mad-bhakti tad viknyaya that my devotee can know all this mad-bhavayop apadhyate and can attain my nature mad-bhava so itikshetram tatha gyanam what this verse refers to is that now Krishna is talking about kshetra gyan also but in some ways that is implicit over here Krishna doesn’t mention it. Krishna is talking about kshetra and kshetra gyan from 13.2 to 7 reference to kshetra gyan is actually far less it is just one verse two verses where actually it is the second half of the first verse and the first half of the second verse second half of the second verse 13.2 and first half of the third verse that talks about kshetra gyan in that sense it is succinct, very succinct and so much more time has been devoted to kshetra gyan, sorry to kshetra so it talks about it from 4 to 7 and of course there is a talk about it in 2 also when gyan was talked about from 8 to 12 and then now gyan is talked about from has been talked about from 13 to 18 and now so in this way I have spoken all these things to you who can know all this? it is my devotee who can know all this and vijnaya one can understand this gyan is know vijnaya is to know know with internalization know with realization know with know internally know in a special way actually and by this knowing what will happen one will attain my nature so what is going on in life now especially when some complex subjects are being discussed first of all we all have finite intellectual powers so if we are focusing on studying or internalizing one thing we cannot think about other things we cannot appreciate other things at that time so in order to be able to appreciate other things we need to some extent at least the capacity to take things in their stride the capacity to move closer to Krishna through prayerful purposeful devotion so higher spiritual truths are not known through intellectual conquest rather they are known through the conquest not by the intelligence but the conquest of the intelligence by the higher absolute truth so the absolute truth is not meant to be conquered with our intelligence the absolute truth is meant to conquer our intelligence and that conquest of our intelligence by the absolute truth and indeed the conquest of our whole being by the absolute truth that is talked about here where it is stated that that absolute truth is to be known by bhakti known by devotion that it is through devotion that I can be known those who know me like this will attain my nature this attainment of my nature can work out both ways there are kevala bhaktas there are devotees who are focused on the path of devotion and they strive to attain the absolute truth through prayerful, purposeful diligent enactment of the rituals of devotion and by that they move closer to Krishna and they attain Krishna and while doing so they conceive the absolute truth as personal throughout and thus they are united in love with that personal absolute truth now there can also be other conceptions of bhakti wherein one is conceiving the absolute truth in impersonal terms and one sees bhakti as a means to attain that absolute truth in the impersonal manifestation Krishna has talked about this in the previous chapter in 12.3 and 4 that they to attain me they to attain me so the Acharyas there explain that they attain Krishna in the impersonal manifestation so of course the stress of the Gita is on the process of personal devotion for gaining personal realization of the absolute truth that means that we focus on the absolute truth eminently personalist way for moving towards perpetual perfection through devotion Krishna has actually talked about devotion as the means of knowing before and he talked about it after this verse also towards the conclusion of the Bhagavad Gita in 18.54 54-55 specifically he says that it is through bhakti that he can be known and prior to this also he has stated that 18.53-54 not only state that it is by bhakti that the absolute truth can be known but they also state that actually the absolute truth cannot be known by any other means Purusha has chapter also had a verse supreme absolute truth can be known primarily through devotion not by any other means so through it all the stress of Krishna in the Gita is on enabling us to move closer to him and he encourages us to practice the path of devotion as the most expeditious way to attain and even in this chapter which is going into a lot of analysis Upanishadic mode of analysis even here also the stress is on devotion in a very significant way that all this intricate analysis is given and we may think that oh one needs a lot of intellectual capacity to understand all this but rather than stressing the intellectual capacity Krishna states that actually it is devotion that grants comprehension and thus Krishna underscores the primacy of devotion that spiritual truths or philosophical truths connected to the spiritual reality are to be comprehended are comprehended not through intellection through a lot of intellectual analysis but through devotion