Rohan Gupta - Chapter 5 SummaryAnika Arora & Divya Arora - BhajanPraket Ehimay - ShlokaArush Khanna - StoryArushi Singhal - PoemNehal Singhal - PoemIdhika Turya – Story
Prisha Khanna – Shloka
Anika Gupta – Shloka
Chapter 5 Discussion
Ramkishan Uncle’s Discourse :
In Chapter 5 Arjun is asking Lord Krishna to tell him clearly as to which path is better, the one of action or the one of Sankya. Lord Krishna says that both are really the same. They both take you to the same ultimate destination. To be able to practice Sankhya one has to be able to see God in everyone and that’s the ultimate reality. If we can’t then we’re better of performing our duties.
The important thing is to be able to meditate. But it is prescribed that one has to completely purify himself/herself in thought and action before he/she can meditate. One has to rid onself of all the worldly desires.
Example: One swami used to just always be meditating so someone said, get up and see the world and he responded saying “Where is the world”. He had completely identified himself with reality.
Moti Aunty’s Pravachan :
Arjun asks Sri Krishna, “ Sometimes you say that Karma Yoga or the path of action is the preferable and the most important. The other times, you say that, Gyana yoga or the path of knowledge is preferable. This is confusing me. Can you please tell me which is the better path of these two and which one should I be following?”
Sri Krishna says, “The path of Gyan yoga and Karma yoga, both are excellent. One has to see which is the relevant path for himself or herself. For you, you are a Kshatriya (prince and warrior class) ; therefore; fighting and going to war is your duty. Especially when you are on the side of dharma, it is your duty to protect the dharma even if it calls for a war. Karma yoga and Gyan yoga both will take you to the same destination, but you will excel in only the path which is meant for you.
Some people assume that Sanyas (or the renunciation of the world) is what one should do, but that is not right. Sanyas means giving up actions. This is useless unless the sanyasi is completely free from all desires. The sanyasi should be not having raag-dvesh. Raag is the attachment to people and things. Dvesh is the feeling of animosity . Unless a sanyasi is free from animosity, attachments and desires, the sanyas is useless. Since overcoming desires, attachments and animosity is so difficult, therefore; the path of action is certainly easier to follow.
Speaking about the path of actions, just, because a certain path is ideal for one person, does not automatically make it ideal for another person as well. Every human being has their own dharma and the karma done to follow the dharma is what one must strive to excel at.
When you perform your karma, you should be detached from the fruits of all those actions. Human beings perform their actions by using their 5 gyanendriyas (cognitive expressions such as smelling, touching, hearing, tasting and seeing) and 5 karmendriyas (active expressions such as eliminating, reproducing, moving, grasping, speaking). These actions are automated and one does not actively engage in them. When you perform actions, then you have to take care that you do not get attached to the actions itself or the fruits of it. Just like dew drops fall off from leaves, one’s engagement with the actions should be similar in the sense that attachment to the actions falls off from one’s conscience.”
Arjun further inquired on the concept that one should try to see all living entities in the same way. Sri Krishna said, though one must be kind to all souls and see them as the same regardless of their caste, status, body form etc., but then each entity demands a different behavior towards oneself based on their body form. For example, though we should be kind to an elephant or a dog or a brahman and treat them in the same way, but we cannot treat a brahman like a dog, or an elephant like a brahman. This ability to differentiate will come only from true knowledge (gyan). Being a gyani (learned person) is excellent and should be the goal of everyone, but gyan without being accompanied by humility causes pride and ego. On the other hand, humility without knowledge is not very useful either. A humble person who has no knowledge is considered to be a fool in this world.
