Gita 13.25 The many ways to see within are meant to show the same truth within

Transcript

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Gita 13.25 yahanena atmanipashyanti kechidatmanam atmana annesankhena yogena karmayogena chaapare here Krishna is giving various processes by which one can become liberated from material existence in the previous verse he said that by understanding the knowledge of purusha and prakritim sorry of yeah by understanding this knowledge one can gain liberation from material existence, that’s what Krishna has stated, now how does that understanding transform into liberation there are processes for that in 25th and 26th verses Krishna will talk about those processes so here he states that yahanena atmanipashyanti kechidatmanam atmana yahanena that one is by the process of dhyan pashyanti, atmanipashyanti one sees the inner reality, atma can refer to the soul, atma can also refer to the supreme being, so one sees the inner world, the inner reality through dhyana kechidatmanam atmana that some people atmanam atmana they see the inner reality the atma, the parmatma within themselves through the mind so here there are three atmas and one atma refers to the inner reality the first atman yahanena atmanipashyanti they turn their eyes inwards and they perceive inwards yahanena atmanipashyanti kechidatmanam and when they turn inwards, how do they see the atma and how do they see the atmani with the mind the mind is the channel through which our consciousness is directed so when the mind is turned inwards then we see the inner reality so there are three atmas and the three atmas can refer to three different things and this inner perception of inner reality happens through the process of dhyana yoga the sixth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita is called dhyana yoga and there in the Gita’s thrust has been on highlighting the nature of spiritual reality its thrust has been on going through meditation towards understanding spiritual reality and that process Krishna is referring to over here, that is one way to perceive the inner reality anye sankhena yogena karma yogena cha pare so kechid refers to some people, anye refers to other people anye sankhena yogena so others through the process of sankhya, analysis through metaphysical analysis of the so this kind of dhyana by which one perceives the inner reality some people perceive through sankhya yogena, some people practice the process of yoga so one way to understand it is that dhyanena, sankhena yogena, this can refer to distinct processes or yoga and dhyana can refer to the same process its address through different names meditation, there are many ways to do meditation dhyana yoga is a particular way of yoga through which meditation can be done so either way, through meditation, through analysis of matter and spirit, through yoga yogena karma yogena cha pare and others do it through karma yoga so in this way, the process is being followed, in this way the knowledge is being realized then one will gain liberation, so its interesting that Krishna is putting sankhya here as one of the processes that means that he is talking in terms of general principles over here, overarching principles although purusha and prakriti their analysis is largely a part of sankhya and Krishna has just talked about purusha and prakriti and he has said that by understanding purusha and prakriti we can attain liberation he said in 13.24 now his focus is that there are different ways in which one can attain liberation and he talks about these different ways over here so sankhya is also one way by which one can attain liberation and Krishna has also talked about karma yoga and how by diligently practicing karma yoga especially in the first half of the one third of the gita the first six chapters Krishna has talked about how karma yoga can also lead to liberation so the bhagavad gita in a sense is inclusive it is not exclusive it does talk about bhakti it recommends the process of bhakti but within its world view it acknowledges the validity and even the potency of other processes and by such acknowledgement of the validity and potency of other processes it enables us to recognize the reality that we are all meant to move towards transcendence at our place from our place that means that wherever we are the broad vedic body of knowledge offers us a process by which we can elevate ourselves from that level to one step higher to move upwards in our journey towards Krishna there are some who practice Sankhya Yoga others practice Karma Yoga so liberation is the perception of higher reality the realization of what it is that lies at the core of our being the realization, the perception of that which comes by the activation of our spiritual faculty just like when a person is blind they cannot see but somehow some curative surgery is done by which their vision is restored then they can see so or say if the person has the capacity to see but blindfolds have been put on their eyes then they can’t see once the blindfolds are removed then they will be able to see so like that we could say that both these examples that one is talking in terms of a curative surgery means there is some sort of inner transformation that has to be done there is something wrong inside the eyes may be in the optic nerve or the eye cavity or the eye itself or wherever because of which one is not able to see and one by doing that inner transformation one learns to see.
The other is that there is some external covering which is preventing one from seeing and remove the external covering and then one will be able to see now both these can be applied in the case of us souls actually at one level we can say that there are there is something wrong inside us our own desires are misdirected and because of the misdirection of our desires our consciousness is also misdirected and that’s why we are not able to perceive spiritual reality just like if a person is very addicted to alcohol when they enter into a room where they are hoping to get alcohol their eyes go in search only of alcohol and they don’t see anything else in their eyes and that sort of blinding because of infatuation can become much more multiplied when the infatuation is of an addictive nature and that’s what happens over here so at one level we need inner transformation, we need purification of our mind so that the misdirecting desires are cleansed away from it and then our vision will focus on spiritual reality and we will be able to see so this is like the inner healing, the curative surgery which brings about a change inside us another way of looking at it is that from the soul’s perspective the mind is also external to the soul and thus the blinding to spiritual reality that is happening to the soul can be compared to something which is happening because of blindfolds on the soul so the mind and the conditionings of the mind act as a blindfold and as we become purified the conditionings get removed so it’s like removing the blindfold and then we are able to see so the process of spiritual growth and the progress towards liberation center on on removing the blinders that prevent the soul’s vision and Krishna says that there are different processes by which this can be done and he’ll mention one more process in the next verse which we’ll discuss in our next talk. Thank you