Gita 09.02 – Knowledge that gives the greatest power is the greatest knowledge
They evam parampara praptam imam raja rishayo viduhu in 4.3 he says that in this way the knowledge was received by the raja rishis another way of understanding it is that those who have this vidya become rajas the vidya that makes people into rajas, of course this doesn't literally mean that we will become kings of tracts of land but rather we will become kings of our own senses and mind the title Maharaj is used both for kings and for renunciates and the kings have conquered the outer territory the renunciates have conquered the inner territory raja vidya why is it the king of knowledge because it enables us to connect with Krishna it enables us to connect with the one who is the top most reality knowledge, Francis Bacon said is power so the position of knowledge will depend on what kind of power it can give us access to we have knowledge of electrical engineering or which gives us access to electricity that is powerful knowledge so science has enabled us to tap much of the power in nature through technology while there are many different mechanisms in nature God is the lord of nature as Krishna will say later in this chapter 9.10 and he is the he is omnipotent so the knowledge that gives us access to him, that connects us with him grants us the top most power raj vidya such knowledge is raj guhyam just as nuclear power is extremely powerful and extremely dangerous because it can be so devastatingly destructive so there are means for regulating nuclear there are treaties and protocols for regulating who all can have nuclear power raj guhyam similarly this knowledge of how to connect with Krishna because it gives us access to Krishna because actually when Krishna becomes controlled by bhakti that knowledge is guhyam it is secret not because Krishna doesn't want to share it with us but because Krishna wants us to be responsible and use it properly so this guhyam is a theme which will come repeatedly in the bhagavad gita just like a father may keep some very precious jewels hidden from even his children not because he doesn't want their children to have that treasure but because he wants them to grow up so that they will realize its value and use it carefully not just handle it carelessly and forget it and lose it raj guhyam it is not just guhyam it is raj guhyam it is most confidential because it connects us with because it is of the deepest truths knowledge about the soul is confidential knowledge about how the soul can become liberated through material existence through the various processes of yoga is more confidential but knowledge about Krishna the topmost reality is the most confidential raj vidya raj guhyam pavitram idam uttamam pavitram purity is something which we all associate with different things and for example being in a bathed being bathed is considered to be pure if we are going to enter an airport then there is screening at the entry of the airport security clearance as we say but that is also what in one sense it is checking for purity the word purity may not be exactly applicable here but the principle is similar that would not have any dangerous substances so now purity is the state and purification is the process to get to that state purification is brought about by that which is pure suppose somebody wants to remove salt from suppose there is some dirt suppose a child is played in the dirt and there is some dirt on the face of the child and the mother has also been gardening nearby in the dirt and when the mother touches the child that will not remove the dirt from the child so one who has to remove dirt has to be oneself be free from dirt and this knowledge that way is pure and it is purifying the more we study this knowledge the more we understand it the more we become purified by especially when we study and understanding transform into living living according to this knowledge Krishna has talked about this earlier 4.38 also nothing as pure as transcendental knowledge that transcendental knowledge culminates in the highest transcendental reality Krishna and that knowledge is pavitram uttama uttama is darkness uttama is that which is beyond darkness so uttama is that which is beyond the darkness of the three modes Krishna has told in 2.45 he stated that we should go beyond the three modes and here he has also stated that actually in 7.12 and 13 that actually that he has stated that he is above the three modes he is uttama and the knowledge about his glory is he is also uttama it is knowledge about dharma it is knowledge about the deepest truths of life and although the word dharma essentially refers to the universal principles of living it doesn't refer to certain dogmas that certain people might believe in which are handed down but rather these are principles of living that can be experienced ourselves by practice so Krishna doesn't impose dogma, he offers an invitation for verification for realization as we become purified we will also be able to see higher spiritual realities such as the soul and ultimately Krishna it is joyful bhakti may initially seem like a struggle but as we become purified of the influence of the lower modes passion and ignorance and as we become situated in goodness we will start seeing that actually the prospectus of bhakti is our natural state and as we move more and more towards transcendence we will see that this is this enables us to link with our natural joyfulness as soul as parts of Krishna as Satchitananda beings so what is said here is susukham, we are all looking for happiness and this is the process that grants us happiness not just in the culmination but also in the practice avyayam avyayam means that it is imperishable, it is indestructible, it is not that we practice bhakti till a particular point and then we stop practicing it bhakti is meant to be practiced lifelong not just lifelong, for all of eternity bhakti doesn't culminate in mukti, rather bhakti is the culmination of mukti it is not that we use bhakti as a tool for mukti that once we become liberated we understand that I and my worshipful deity are one, so there is no need to be liberated by bhakti, rather by the practice of bhakti we understand that bhakti is the culmination summit of mukti Krishna says that brahmabhoota prasannatma nashocchati nakamchati samasarveshu bhuteshu madbhaktim labhate param he says that brahmabhoota prasannatma that one who is situated in brahmabhoota, basically in first three lines he describes the characteristics of one who is liberated and then he says nashocchati nakamchati samasarveshu bhuteshu which person is freed from material hankerings and material differentiating attitude and then he, that person they, what happens to that person, madbhaktim labhate param, that person attains my bhakti, in this way bhakti is the is imperishable being the eternal nature of the soul and it is eternally performed.