Gita 15.20 Using the knowledge and devotion we presently have propels us symbiotically towards life’s perfection

Transcript

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I’ll discuss that in Bhagavad Gita 15.20. इतिकुह्यतमंशास्त्रम् इदमुक्तम्मयानगः एतद्भुद्धाऽबुद्धिमान्स्या कुठकुत्यस्चभारताम् इतिकुह्यतमंशास्त्रम् Krishna is concluding this 15th chapter narration by stating that in this way, इतिकुह्यतमंशास्त्रम् the most confidential knowledge of Shastra, इदमुक्तम्मयानगः, Arjuna, who is an illest one, has spoken this to you. इतद्भुद्धाऽबुद्धिमान्स्या कुठकुत्यस्चभारताम् Having knowing this, one becomes बुद्धिमान् One becomes filled with knowledge.
Krishna has earlier used the word घ्यानवान to refer to those who understand his supreme position. बहुनाम् जन्मणामन्ते घ्यानवान्मा प्रपद्धिते वासुदेवा सर्वमिति समहत्मा सिद्धु इल्लभाः So घ्यानवान is one who is filled with knowledge. And how does one become filled with knowledge? Enriched with knowledge? That can be through contemplation, realization, purification, revelation, all combined together.
And it may take बहुनाम् जन्मणामन्ते, it may take a spiritual evolution for many lifetimes to come to that level. But importantly, in relationship with Krishna, just as the word घ्यानवान has been used earlier in the Bhagavad Gita, now the word बुद्धिमान is used. घ्याण refers to more knowledge in terms of how we take in the world.
बुद्धि refers to how we act in the world. How we process the information that comes in from the world is what Krishna refers to as घ्याण. As we can see from 18.20 to 22 when he talks about घ्याण in the three modes.
And with what consciousness, with what considerations, what conceptions we act in the world, that Krishna talks about as being determined by the mode of, that is actually a function of the intelligence. So Krishna speaks here and states that actually when we become purified of our misconceptions, then he is giving us the knowledge to become purified of misconceptions. And thereby we understand that this is भोहियत्रमान्शास्त्रम्.
So that connotation of intelligence as being connected with action is seen even in this verse, where Krishna says that कृतकृतिश्चभार्थ, that when we act thus with knowledge, the result will be that our endeavours will know perfection. That we will get purified, elevated and ultimately liberated. So we all need to have actionable knowledge.
The Bhagavad Gita is actionable knowledge that helps us to raise our consciousness upwards towards highest spiritual reality, that is Krishna. So कृतकृतिश्चभार्थ is the most confidential knowledge. So Krishna will talk about this word later also, when he will say in 18.65, सर्वगुहियत्मम्भूयः शुनुमेपरमंबचः इश्टोसिमेद्रवितिततोऽवक्षामितेहि तम्भूयः He says, सर्वगुहियत्मम्भूयः, I will speak to you, the most confidential knowledge.
So भूयः, I want to speak it again, because he has spoken it earlier. And throughout we see that Krishna whenever he uses the word गुहियत्मं ज्यावनं, he always uses it in the context of devotion. Here also, that understanding Krishna to be the ultimate साध्या and भक्ति to be the ultimate साधन, that is central to our spiritual growth, that is central to the understanding that will enable us to grow spiritually.
And in the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna provides us this knowledge, this understanding, and thereby he helps all of us to grow towards enlightenment. In the previous verse, this point that Krishna is भगवान, he is the परम्, that he is the highest truth, योमामेवासंभूणो जानाति पुरुषोत्तमं, that was stressed, and the way to approach Bhagavan through bhakti was also stressed. So सर्वगुहियत्मम्भूयः, they worship me, they devote themselves to me, इतमुक्तम्मयानघा, so this most confidential knowledge, Krishna says, सर्वगुहियत्मम्, that’s interesting, Krishna also uses specifically the word शास्त्र over here, so in the previous verse he says सर्वबेद, and he says गुहियत्मम्शास्त्रम्, so शास्त्र has many levels of knowledge, and शास्त्रिक नोलज is often state-specific, that means, depending on the state of our consciousness, certain sections of scripture will stand out to us, certain sections of scripture will resonate with us, and others will not.
So we need to move steadily towards Krishna by purifying ourselves and by elevating our consciousness. Now does it mean that those people who are sinful, they can’t practice bhakti or they can’t understand Krishna? No, we all can understand Krishna enough so that we can start serving Him, and with the knowledge that we have, we serve Him, and as we keep serving Him, our knowledge deepens, and our convictions strengthen. So we need this progressive approach in our spiritual life, rather than an approach where in one go we expect to do everything, the progressive approach means that rather than expecting full understanding and then having full redirection of the heart, we have a step-by-step understanding which leads to a step-by-step redirection of the heart.
So the more we approach ourselves with the sincere devotion that comes with the understanding that we have, which we often get through the association of devotees, and we direct our heart based on that devotion, using our existing understanding, then our understanding increases whereby our devotion also increases. Krishna says in 10.10 that एशांस्तितानांभजितांप्रेतिपोर्वकं अधामिवुद्धेवुकंतं एनमामुपयांतिते that those souls will attain Me, who devote themselves to Me, and they will get the knowledge by which to make the decisions by which they can come to Me. So here, Krishna talks about knowledge and devotion as symbiotic starting from wherever we are right now.
That means, whatever knowledge I have, I devote myself to that extent. Whatever devotion I have, I offer that to Krishna, knowledge will come by that. And with that knowledge, the devotion will be more inspired as we understand Krishna’s attractiveness.
And as we connect with Krishna’s omniscience, our knowledge will also increase. And thus, the path of bhakti will take us towards life’s ultimate perfection through the symbiotic, harmonious application of devotion and knowledge starting from wherever we are right now.