Gita 04.39 – Faith is the pre-condition for knowledge

Thank you this is Bhagavad Gita 4.39 शद्धावाल the person who has शद्धा लभते क्यानम so normally possessor of शद्धा is called शद्धावान but because the word sound ल is coming immediately after लभते so this also becomes modified to ल शद्धावाल लभते the one who has faith ज्ञानम that person acquires knowledge तक्परह संयते इंद्रिह not only should the person have शद्धा person should also तक्परह should be devoted to that ultimate reality devoted to the pursuit of that knowledge and the reality that is revealed through that knowledge संयते इंद्रिह person has the senses under control ज्ञानम लभध्व once you have acquired the knowledge then पराम शान्तिम the supreme peace अजिरेन अधिगच्छति अजिरेन अधिगच्छति अजिरेन means without much without long term without too much time अजिरेन अधिगच्छति it will soon happen अजिरेन so now here the point is Krishna has now talked about earlier talked about the glories of the transcendental knowledge now he talks about how that knowledge can be acquired so he states shraddhava labhate, by shraddha one can acquire this knowledge, labhate, so Krishna has earlier talked about shraddha and ashraddha in contrast in terms in 3.31 and 4.32, now he is talking about something similar in here in 4.39 and 4.40, so let us compare these two verses by their content as well as by their context, in theme both are talking about shraddha, so 3.31 was ye me matamidam nityam anutishthanti maanavah, shraddhavanto anasuyanto mucchantetepikarmabhi, ye me matamidam nityam, the instructions that I have given you, anutishthanti maanavah, one who lives, the person who lives according to that, shraddhavanto anasuyanto, that person who has shraddha and who does not have envy, mucchantetepikarmabhi, that person becomes free from the bonds of karma, this verse comes immediately after the previous verse which was the verse of how, 3.30 was how we should offer all our work to Krishna, mayi sarvani karmani sanyasya, adhyatmachet saha, mirasyur nirbhamo bhutva, yudhyasvabhigatajvaraha, so without laziness, without possessiveness, offer the fruits of your work to me in spiritual consciousness, so many conditions Krishna gives over there, now there if we see the first contrast is between 3.31 and 4.39 is that in 3.31 the maam or me is very common, very prominent, my instructions, ye me matamidam nityam, so one who has faith in my instruction that person will become free from the bondage of karma, whereas here what is Krishna telling that if one has faith then one will acquire this knowledge and by this knowledge what will happen, one will attain supreme peace and one will attain it soon, achirena adhigacchati, now of course the supreme peace does not refer to a peace on the battlefield because that is or that the peace that comes from a ceasefire or an armistice during a war because that peace is fragile, volatile, this peace is paramshanti, it is a supreme peace that comes by transcending the sources of agitation that are there in this world, to the extent we are able to transcend the source of agitation by our by the purification of our heart to that extent we will be able to rise upwards in our spiritual life, so here Krishna is essentially talking about that higher purification, that higher edification, now that is one difference, now of course paramshanti, so in that sense the result is same, paramshanti means liberation and muchchante tipi karma is also liberation, now another point is what is the content, what is it that we should have faith in, in 3.31 it was said have faith in me, my instructions, that instruction you should follow karma yoga, by karma yoga you will gain liberation, now here also Krishna is saying shraddhaval labhate jnanam, Krishna is talking about how the knowledge is so glorious that knowledge will purify, knowledge will take beyond illusion, knowledge will grant inner relish, now Krishna is telling that to acquire this knowledge one needs faith, and what is that knowledge, that is the knowledge by which, drakshasya atmanyathomayi, you see all living beings as in me and mine, so again this is the knowledge of bhakti actually, the knowledge by which one sees everything in relationship with Krishna, not that one says mayi, Krishna is not saying everyone as me, he is saying everyone as mine, so it's clearly personal knowledge that has been talked about, now so there the shraddha was in following Krishna's instructions, here the shraddha is for acquiring knowledge, but what does one have shraddha in, shraddha again in Krishna's instructions that by the practice of yoga, karma yoga or bhakti yoga, one will acquire knowledge and that knowledge will ultimately liberate, now let's look at what all Krishna says will required for acquiring knowledge, he says first of all normally people think that knowledge and faith are, atheists especially or skeptics think that knowledge and faith are opposite, that if you want to true, if the more knowledge advances the more faith decreases, but actually as far as faith in the existence of God is concerned, Pascal said that a little bit of science takes a person away from God, but immersion in science brings the person back to God, Kelvin said that if you think deeply enough you'll be forced by science to believe in God, and actually as knowledge increases, faith increases, that is one the relationship which is substantiated by this course, but more importantly for any kind of knowledge some preliminary faith is required first, even atheists they have a faith that there is no God and then they operate and then they try to find out some correlations, some observations, some inferences which substantiate their position, so knowledge doesn't begin with a blank slate, knowledge begins with a certain set of assumptions and those set of assumptions comprise our faith, in this case, so we don't have a matter of whether to choose faith or not, we can only choose the nature of our faith, what will I have faith in, so faith is not a matter of choice, only the content of faith is the matter of choice, the object of faith is the matter of choice we could say, whom am I going to have faith in, in this case Krishna is saying that if you have faith in the process that it will lead to knowledge, and you practice the process then, शद्धावाल्लभतेविज्ञानम् and for the Shaddha to lead to Gyan and our faith, as in the Bible it is said faith without works is useless, so it's not just we simply have faith in the mind, but it has to be shown in our actions, so Krishna is talking about that in the next line in 39B, so he says, तत्परह, one should become devoted to that absolute truth, one should pursue that absolute truth diligently, संयतेंद्रियह, संयतेंद्रियह is control of senses, so the whole principle in practicing yoga is to be detached, detached from the fruits of work, and if the senses are not controlled then the senses will always be craving for the fruits of work, for the sense objects, ultimately most people do work so that they can get some sense objects to enjoy, so तत्परह संयतेंद्रियह, so that faith has to be translated in action, and action is that there is pursuit of spirit and there is distancing from matter, तत्परह, one becomes devoted to that, the pursuit of transcendental knowledge, one regulates the senses by which one is not constantly chasing after sense gratification, this is the, these are three criteria Krishna is saying, faith, devotion and regulation, or faith, dedication and regulation, faith that there is, that this process will lead me to higher knowledge, then there is dedication, that means one follows the process determinately, and then there is regulation, just like when we go to a doctor, we need to have faith in the doctor, but along with the faith, that faith has to be expressed through तत्परह, commitment to following the instructions of the doctor, take this medicine, take this medicine, take this injection, do this surgery, whatever, तत्परह संयतेंद्रियह, and the doctor gives a prescription, don't eat this food, don't do this, don't do that, and also one has to follow, so essentially Krishna is giving a similar analysis over here, and ज्ञानम् लद्धः पराम्, शान्तें, so in this way, by faith, by detachment from matter, by regulation from matter, and by commitment to spirit, what will happen? One will acquire knowledge, and then by that knowledge, one will get supreme peace, because the person will go beyond the agitation which comes in the mind, because the sense objects, because the mind has become purified now, and then ज्ञानम् लद्धः पराम्, शान्तें, अचिरेन अधिगच्छति, अचिरेन, quickly, one will attain the supreme peace. Now, we see in 38th verse, Krishna said, कालेनात्मनिविन्दति, and now in 39th verse, he is saying अचिरेन, so कालेन means gradually, and अचिरेन is quickly, so what does it mean? It can have multiple meanings, one level is that, it's relative, you know, if we are very impatient and think that, okay, today I start practicing and tomorrow I will become purified completely, that is an unrealistic expectation, so in that sense, कालेन, it will take time, it may take years, it may take your lifetime, or it may take many lifetimes also, कालेन, but another point of view is, that if you look at it from the point of view of eternity of the soul, and from the near eternity for which we have been in material existence, then अचिरेन, it is not a very long time, it is, relatively speaking, a small time, so depending on the perspective, it can seem a very long time, or it can be understood to be a relatively short time, when people value something, suppose a person values, oh, if I just become a doctor, then I can, I'll have such prestige, such position, such wealth, so then if one has accepted that as one's life's goal, then even 10-15 years of study doesn't seem too much, because that person feels, yes, I'm going to achieve something wonderful, it's worth it, so like that one should feel, now another perspective to understand it is, that Krishna, another way of looking at this is, that कालेन is that, for the practice of yoga, to lead to knowledge, to inner illumination will take time, so we keep practicing karma yoga, practicing bhakti yoga, and gradually there is a purification that is happening, and there is inner illumination that is happening by that, but this is gradual, कालेन, but then Krishna is saying that once the knowledge is acquired, or the knowledge is there in the heart, then the peace will come immediately, so the कालेन and the अचिरेन can be either said from two different perspectives, from the perspective of immediate results and the perspective of eternity, or it can be said to refer to two distinct stages in the process, so one stage is gradual, by the practice of karma, by the practice of karma yoga, to come to the level of knowledge is gradual, but once one has come to the level of knowledge, to get परामशान्तिम is quick, so either way Krishna is continuing the glorification of the knowledge by saying that if we have शद्ध, then you will attain परामशान्तिम, you will attain not the volatile peace that is there in this war field, but you will attain the supreme peace.