Bhagavatam-daily 267 – 11.12.24 – Both Gitas teach using and transcending jnana

Thank you this is the concluding verse of the 11th chapter of the 12th chapter of the 11th canto and krishna is krishna is telling arjuna now to go beyond knowledge to total devotion the shepherd has taught that is beyond knowledge and enunciation and that theme is conveyed in this verse thus by doing upasana of guru with devotion with the axe of knowledge which is sharp the sober person can cut off the entanglement in material existence now the metaphor of tree is used over here a tree the weapon is mentioned as a tree because previously the weapon is mentioned as an axe because previously material existence was compared to a tree so with the tree one can cut off with the axe one can cut off this tree just as one with the axe of detachment of knowledge with the axe of knowledge one can cut off the tree of material existence and by thus cutting off the tree one can then by being intoxicated being un-intoxicated being uninfatuated being sober krishna is emphasizing that twice dhira and apramattha and by thus being sober and using knowledge to cut off the tree of material existence then tajavastra astra here refers to the axe of knowledge that is to be given up so this verse talks about a very important theme about how the process of analytical knowledge is to be used and transcended utilized and transcended in the process of bhakti Vishwanath Chakravarti Thakur in his commentary mentions that krishna is sitting arjuna in this way i have instructed you in krishna is sitting uddhava i have instructed you in the same message that i gave to arjuna earlier now the exact point of the tajastra of renouncing of going beyond knowledge is not the word tajastra exact is not i’m not mentioning the bhagwan but the theme of the culmination of knowledge and devotion is mentioned in the gita in the gita in 4.42 the last verse of the 14th chapter knowledge is compared to a weapon then of course it’s compared to a sword foreign with the sword of knowledge cut off whatever is in in the whatever ignorance patience is there in the heart you can cut it off with this sword of knowledge so in the specific context of arjuna for him the way to act in knowledge was to fight for arjun for uddhava the way to act in knowledge was to renounce everything and devote himself utterly to the lord but the point is knowledge as a tool for cutting off ignorance is mentioned in both bhagwan gita and uddhava gita and the process of jnana krishna talks about it in especially 13th chapter from verses 49 onwards and 49 to 54 he talks about jnana which one renounces the world and pacifies the mind and there he described the culmination of jnana yoga is that so when one attains the perfection of jnana being situated in brahman platform brahmaputra and being equal towards all people of all things samasarveshu bhuteshu so equal towards all things and samasarveshu bhuteshu is equal towards all living beings so after this which is clearly the very exalted stage of brahman realization after that krishna says At that time one will attain my transcendental devotion so although the specific words are not used in the bhagavad-gita, but the theme is The same that We go beyond knowledge at the culmination of knowledge we attain devotion And now when krishna is saying Give up knowledge now, does that mean that devotees become ignorant? no the theme of giving up knowledge here when krishna uses the word knowledge it refers primarily to the analytical knowledge of What is matter? What is spirit? And that knowledge is used by the Devotees by the seekers they may be devotees or they may be jnanis They may be impersonalists then yogis, whatever Whichever path they are following whichever conception of the absolute truth.
They’re pursuing the process of discrimination of jnana is used To distinguish between matter and spirit And the realization of spirit oneself as spirit That is considered to be the highest realization on in non-demotional paths And it is said that by jnana that can be arranged and impersonals often say that bhakti is a tool to Mukti once one gets jnana that The atma and brahma is the same Then one can give up bhakti because one doesn’t have to there is no no worshipable object So such impersonalists call themselves as Transtheistic So they they are theistic in the sense that they accept god and worship god Till the time they say that we can go beyond god because we realize that we are the atma is one with brahma Now the the In radical contrast, so krishna is telling the exact opposite rather than Trans Transcending bhakti when one acquires jnana Radha krishna has written over here that when one when one’s jnana culminates at that uh, when one when one becomes enlightened when one has Come to the summit of realizing one’s spiritual identity at that time one gives up jnana So the knowledge that is used as a weapon for cutting off Ignorance that that now process of discrimination That is transcended because one is no longer attracted to the material So at one level At the level which krishna is talking about in the uddhava gita here krishna is talking about renouncing jnana to attain uh to embrace bhakti fully and to devote oneself to the To the to the personal conception of the absolute truth In the gaudiya vaishnava tradition this Giving up of jnana has a deeper input Where the vrajavasis especially the gopis Of vrindavan, they give up the aishwarya jnana of krishna So that they can love him in madhurya there also there is the There is a transcending of knowledge and it is not as a transcending of Knowledge of philosophical discrimination, but there is transcending even of the knowledge of Of krishna’s transcendental position as a supreme person so that By transcending such knowledge the gopis at the background of their consciousness. They are aware that krishna is supreme As is revealed in the gopi gita But that knowledge is only in the background the foreground is krishna is our love krishna is our lover And it is that That knowledge Or it is that relationship with krishna as a lover and not the knowledge of god that defines and animates The relationship and it is that disposition where the gopis focus on Love for krishna as their lover and not as god. That is what is extremely pleasing to Krishna So here the theme of transcending knowledge means that when one is situated in one is situated in spiritual realization and one has come to the level of Uncontaminated devotion then A devotee does not need the process of philosophical discrimination because the heart is spontaneously attracted to krishna And thus the devotee gives up the sword of knowledge for Embracing the lovers with the lord and absorbing oneself in spontaneous devotion.
Thank you