When the Gita talks about karma, jnana and bhakti equally, why emphasize bhakti unduly?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

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It is almost very difficult to talk about bhakti. Why can Indians say so? So, when the Bhagavad Gita talks about jnana, karma and bhakti equally, why is bhakti emphasized more? Actually, the Bhagavad Gita does definitely talk about jnana, karma and bhakti.
But it does not talk about them equally. There is a clear development of thought in the Bhagavad Gita. And yes, we can say that different people can interpret the Bhagavad Gita in different ways and for us to decide what is the right interpretation will be very difficult.
That is true. At the same time, we can have some objective markers. Say, what could be the objective markers? Say, for example, just now I gave a class.
Now different people may like different points from the class. Some people may not like any points. Whatever it is.
But the thing is, if at the end of a class I give a conclusion, then that conclusion is like a summary. Whatever points I wanted to convey as important, they come in the conclusion. Isn’t it? So, if somebody says, no, no, this class, I give this conclusion, but the actual conclusion was something else.
Well, then that is your own class. That is not my class. Isn’t it? So, similarly, if we look at the Bhagavad Gita, there is a lot that is taught in the Bhagavad Gita, no doubt.
But there is a conclusion to the Gita. And what is that conclusion? That is, sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam sarvam vraja aam tvam sarva-papaevam moksheshya mam vraja Now, it is very categorical. sarva-dharman parityajya Give up everything else.
And Krishna is not just saying, sarva-papa parityajya. He says, sarva-dharman parityajya. That means, He is not just saying, give up all bad things.
He is saying, give up also all good things or things which you consider to be good. And what you should do? mam ekam sarvam vraja Surrender unto me. So, that means, if you look at the chronological flow of the Gita over there, what Krishna has told is, I have given you many levels of instructions, but put aside everything else.
And if you look at the flow over there, in 18.63, Krishna says, Arjuna, you deliberate now and decide what you want to do. vimrishyeta tasye shena yathe chisi tadha kuru Deliberate and decide. But at that time, Arjuna becomes lost in thought.
Krishna, you have taught so many things, what should I be doing? And when Krishna sees Arjuna lost in thought, at that time, Krishna tells, I will tell you very clearly now. sarva-guhyatamam bhuyah shrume paramam macha ishto sine dudhanti tato vaksham te tam Now, I will give you the most confidential knowledge. Krishna uses actually so many intensifiers in this verse.
sarva-guhyatamam Most confidential knowledge. bhuyah, okay. He has given it earlier.
shrume paramam macha Supreme words. So, second intensifier. ishto sine dudhanti You are very dearly loved by me.
Very strongly loved by me. dudh-ishto We have a very intense affectionate bond. So, I am not just doing some, like a salesman selling a product.
I really have your good in mind. ishto sine dudhanti tato vaksham te tam For your benefit, I am speaking. So, from the context, Krishna is clearly saying, this is my highest message.
And then further also, in the message also it says, sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam sharanam vraja So, in any spiritual path, there are, or any spiritual book, there are two main messages. There is the sadhna, and there is the sadhana. Sadhana is the means, and sadhya is the goal.
That’s like if I want to go to a journey, I will decide where do I want to go. I want to go to Calcutta, I want to go to Melbourne, I want to go to New York. Where do I want to go? And second is, how am I going to get there? So, sadhya and sadhana, the goal and the means.
So, the sadhana, Krishna makes it very clear, it is bhakti. Give up everything else, just mam ekam sharanam. Sharana is bhakti.
And, what is the sadhya? What is the goal that is taught in the Bhagavad Gita? Now, to understand this, we can look at the first person destiny. That means, the original student of the Bhagavad Gita is Arjuna. And, suppose say, we go and get some class from some spiritual teacher.
And then at the end of that, somebody else goes and says, after the class, some person who is attending this goes and says, you know, you spoke this, I like this, you spoke this. And then, if they say yes, they don’t contradict it, they accept it. So, what happens is, Arjuna, at the 10.8 to 10.11 in the Bhagavad Gita, that is called the chatushloki Bhagavad Gita.
It is like the four words, the essence of the Gita. And, after that, Arjuna gives his understanding of Krishna’s message. He says, param brahma param dhama pavitram paramambhavan purusham shashvatam divyam bhagidevya majam vimham ahus tvam prachaya sarve deva rishi naradas tatha pasito devala obhyasa svayam chaiva brahmasmi me He says, you are the absolute truth, you are the supreme person, you are the original God, you are the highest absolute truth.
And it is not just I saying it, the great sages have also said the same thing. And then, after that, from that point onwards, Arjuna asks Krishna, okay, please tell me more about your glories. Please help me to understand you better.
So, when Krishna, when Arjuna gives this conclusion, Krishna does not contradict it. So, the point is, that from the Bhagavad Gita’s own narrative, the sadhana is bhakti and the sadhya is Krishna. Now, those who want to follow other paths, they can also find support for those paths in the Bhagavad Gita, no doubt.
The Bhagavad Gita does not condemn the path of jnana, it does not condemn the path of karma, it does not, but it puts them in a hierarchy. bahunam janmanam ante jnanavan mam prapadyate The people who are on the path of jnana, after many lifetimes, they will come and practice, they will come and surrender to me. mayi sarvani karmaani sannyasya adhyatma chetasah nirashile mama bhutva idhyasurga kajvara He says, those who practice the path of karma, ultimately, what do they have to do? They have to offer their karma to me and become my devotees.
So, the Bhagavad Gita is a book which has its own thought flow. And if we take certain sections out of that thought flow, then we can say the Bhagavad Gita talks about karma also, path of karma also, the Bhagavad Gita talks about the path of jnana also. Yes, it does definitely talk about it.
Because these are valid and valuable paths for spiritual growth within the broad Vedic tradition. And the Bhagavad Gita acknowledges that. But at the same time, the Bhagavad Gita does not have a have a all-paths-are-right attitude.
Now, once one person asked Prabhupada, in America, Prabhupada was giving a lecture, he said, Swamiji, I don’t know the words in the Gita, but I have heard the Gita says that whatever you do, Krishna says, you will come to me. So, when Prabhupada asked, if that is the case, then why does Krishna have to speak the Gita? If whatever you do, you are going to come to him, then Krishna doesn’t have to speak the Gita only. So, the Gita doesn’t teach this.
So, it is not a, the Gita is not licensing a spiritual license pairing. Now, whatever you do, it’s right. It does say that, okay, the path of karma is good, the path of Jnana is also good.
Sanyasa karma yogasya, Nishreyasa karavo bhota. Yostu karma sanyasa, karma yoga nishreyasa. Both are good because both lead to spiritual growth.
But Krishna gives a hierarchy. So, the Bhagavad, it is not that certain bhakti teachers alone stress the bhakti in the Gita. If we look at the Bhagavad Gita’s own flow, we will clearly see that it emphasizes bhakti.
It is not that it rejects other paths, but it harmonizes the various paths in a hierarchy that culminates in love. And love is our deepest longing. So, those spiritual teachers who use the Bhagavad Gita to teach other paths, they are taking sections of the Gita and they are basing their interpretations on sections of the Gita.
But they are not taking the Gita in its wholeness and they are not letting the Gita speak its own conclusion. So, we don’t want to hear, there are many respected spiritual teachers who have taught different paths and as far as their spiritual advancement is concerned, we respect their spiritual exaltedness. But at the same time, it is not that taking a section of the Gita and making that as the most important part reflects the Gita in itself.
We have to look at the Gita’s own flow and then we have to see the conclusion. And the Gita’s conclusion is that bhakti to Krishna is the path of supreme auspiciousness.