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International Journal of and Allied Sciences (ISSN: 2278 – 5159) Volume: 2, Issue: 1

Principles and Applications of Gyan Yoga in context of Bhagavad-Gita Prof. Ganesh Shankar Giri* *Professor and Head, Dept. of Yoga Dr Harisingh Gaur Central University, Sagar (MP) Email: [email protected]

Abstract The word h h h h h h h Yoga. This path of Yoga deals directly with the highest of all human desires – the desire to know the Truth – and it gives an explanation of what Truth means and shows the practical way of realizing it. Truth is not the subject to change, death, decay and destruction. It never changes at any time; it was never born, and will never die. It is self-existent and does not depend on anything. Gyana Yoga is the science that provides a systematized and organized method of study in order to fulfill this desire to know the Truth.

Key Words: Jiva, and Mokśa.

Introduction: a aja Bu uk H P ala T ak w Ma īś a / The truth or is only Atman the Janmabandhavini uk Pa a of self, which is ultimate. To a a a a a // know that and to know the importance of h that Atman h knowing the ultimate truth possessed of a a M a a a this evenness of mind and abandoning B ū w B av a B ū a / the fruits of their actions, freed for ever Ajo a Ś śwa oa a Pu o a from the fetters of birth and go to that state which is beyond all evil that is Ha a Ha a Śa ī // 2 Meaning: This is never born, nor does it Mokśa. die. This is unborn, eternal, changeless, h h h h ever-Itself. It is not killed when the body 1 dies. h When the aspirant becomes aware of this h h h ultimate tru h h h h h h h the knowledge is the main path h of Yoga; through which the aspirant h becomes one with .

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International Journal of Yoga and Allied Sciences (ISSN: 2278 – 5159) Volume: 2, Issue: 1

h influenced by the three gunas (the basic the Atman is A a a śwa ūpa (as qualities or constituents of prakrti or blissful) śwa ūpa (knowledge nature). In tamasa- the form), Sat (truth), Nitya (forever), understanding is of the nature of dullness Suddha (pure) and Buddha (intellect). In and indifference and clings to a single the real sense the Atman is Brahma it aspect of the phenomenal world as if it self. Only Brahman is the reality, there is were the whole of reality. In rajasa-jnana no existence except it. the understanding is moved by passion and activity in perceiving a world of Brahman is self-focused, endless, multiplicity without a sense of an uninterrupted, unborn, conscious and underlying unity. Finally in sattvik-jnana blissful. As the fire is one and reflects in the understanding is illumined by the different form in several places, the same knowledge that there is but one is the case with Brahman, it is one but immutable Reality. When the appears in the form of of every understanding or intelligence (buddhi) creatures and it is beyond all of them. remains stable in sattvik-jnana, yoga is According h attained. of unity of Jiva (the individual being) Śrutivipratipann te yad sth syati and Brahman (the Supreme Being), niścal | h h sam dh v acal buddhis tad yogam the liberation. In other words the av psyasi || knowledge of Brahman and liberation Meaning: When your intelligence stands h unshaken and stable in spirit , According to this tradition it is possible then will you attain insight yoga.4 only when the oneness of Jiva and Brahman has been proved. It has been prajah ti yad k m n sarv n p rtha said that the aspirant of higher level manogat n | becomes able to know that reality only tmany ev tman tuś ah sthitapragyas through listening the Srutivakya (the tadocyate || sayings of Brahman). He becomes able Meaning: When a man puts away all the to remove the difference between Jiva desire h O’ , and when and Brahman. According to Vedanta this his spirit is content in itself, then is he reality is possible only through called stable in intelligence.5 Knowledge.3 duhkheśv anudvignaman śukheśu The compound jnana-yoga first appears vigatasp hah | in the Bhagavad-Gita, where along with v tar gabhayakrodhah sthitadh r - and -yoga, it forms part of munir ucyate || a comprehensive threefold spiritual Meaning: He whose mind is untroubled discipline. in the midst of sorrows and is free from The Gita praises jnana or wisdom for eager desire amid pleasures, he from being the great purifier which helps us to whom passion, fear, and rage have passed away, he is called a of cross the sea of ignorance that keeps us 6 in bondage (see verses IV. 35-38). This settled intelligence. purification takes the form of an yah sarvatr nabhisnehas tat tat pr pya evolution of the understanding or śubh śubham | intelligence which is variously

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International Journal of Yoga and Allied Sciences (ISSN: 2278 – 5159) Volume: 2, Issue: 1 n bhinandati na dveśti tasya pragy though jnana-yoga is generally held to be pratiś hit || an important aid to liberation, theistic Meaning: He who is without affection on developments in some schools of any side, who does not rejoice or loathe Vedanta regard bhakti or devotion to the as he obtains good or evil, his Lord as the most effective means. intelligence is firmly set in wisdom.7 However in , which became the dominant philosophical yad saśharate c yaś k rmo 'Çg n va position with the decline of in sarvaśah | India towards the end of the first indriy nindriy rthebhyas tasya pragy millennium CE, jnana-yoga is considered pratiś hit || to be sole means to moksa.9 Meaning: He who draws away the senses from the objects of sense on every side h as a tortoise draws in his limbs [into the two paths: Antaranga practice and shell], his intelligence is firmly set in Bahairanga practice. Bahiranga wisdom.8 (external) practice includes , a ag a Śa śa pa and Mu ukśu va; As a spiritual discipline, jnana is also whereas the Antaranga (internal) central to the philosophical traditions of practice includes Sravana, and and Vedanta. Samkhya Nidhidhyasana. doctrines can be found in the Bhagavad- Gita, and form the basis of the Viveka (Discrimination): The h P ’ -. practitioner has to develop and cultivate In both the Samkhya and Yoga darsanas, the ability to recognize what is discrimination between the products of impermanent, temporary and fleeting in prakrti (nature) and purusa (pure life as the Sadhaka experiences the fact - consciousness) leads to liberation what is of everlasting value and pointing (kaivalya). to the eternal. The practitioner becomes able to discriminate the superficial and However where recommends the essential; as well as the illusory practices that advance from dharana reality on the surface and the absolute (concentration) though dhyana reality in the inner, deep dimension of (meditation) to samadhi in order to aid existence. In this way the person tries to the development of this discrimination, scrutinize, analyze and evaluate Samkhya relies on the refinement of constantly the experiences, inclinations, jnana alone. decisions and actions.

Both Sankya and Vedanta argue that (dispassion): In the practice of what binds us to the cycle of birth, death Vairagya the practitioner has to guard his and is avidya (ignorance), and mind against becoming possessed, they look to knowledge to dispel it. In infatuated and even slightly disturbed by the Samkhya tradition this is sought passions springing from the sensual through reason because the desires. Later on he has to stop all the discriminative intellect (buddhi) is taken disturbances like attachment to things to be the first evolute of prakrti, and so it that bring sensual satisfaction. The has precedence over all the other opposite of Vairagya is Raga (passion) elements of nature. In Vedanta the which means originally coloring, which situation is not so straightforward. Even indicates that passions are, in fact

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International Journal of Yoga and Allied Sciences (ISSN: 2278 – 5159) Volume: 2, Issue: 1 obstructions of the mind which do not to the mind of the aspirant the right allow clear vision. To achieve the clarity direction and outlook and material for of mind (which is essential for final the second stages which is Manana. knowledge and wisdom) attachments and passions must be avoided and abolished. Manana starts with intellectual analysis of the material gained by studying the Satsampati (Six - attainments): This texts. The analysis of the material gained discipline includes a six fold instruction by knowledge of the world of sensual of self - education for success on the path and emotional experience and on the of Yoga which are: level of speculative thinking, final knowledge cannot be found. Absolute  Sama: The cultivation of truth can lie only beyond them. When the tranquility of the mind. practitioner firmly arrives at this  Dama: Self control in action conclusion, he is able to enter the path of  : Means eradicating the meditation which brings him to the eagerness to possess. following and final stage of training  Titikśa: To have patience which is Nidhisyasana.  Sraddha: Confidence (in the meaning of faith). This expression can be translated as  Samadhana: Intentness of the constant meditation. This stage of mind. training makes it clear to the Sadhaka that the process of opening a new Mumuksutva (longing for liberation): channel to reality over and above the This fourth of Vedanta is very senses and the intellect is not a matter of important. It should be understood as the mental exercises during meditational intense desire to get the higher level of session only, but that it is also and consciousness i.e. Samadhi. The Sadhaka equally necessary to introduce a kind of or aspirant should develop a positive ’ desire for liberation. Its development is that eventually the mind is in a state of supported by the previous endeavors as meditation even when dealing with the the advanced ability to discriminate the business of everyday life. As this unsatisfactory superficial reality and the capacity is developed and deepened, the safety-promising, spiritual dimension of ’ higher experience. The practice leads until he reaches the final vision of truth, towards ultimate reality i.e. Brahman. which brings the aspirant at the final achievement of liberation or Mokśa. h the first one is Sravana which means The only way to attain absolute hearing. The practitioner has to go first liberation is when jnana is transformed through an extensive and intensive study, into . clarifies this for which one should go to his (the point in the as: spiritual teacher or master) and should brahmabhūtah prasann tm na śocati listen to the lesson on (about) Brahman. na k kśati | In ancient time it was done in Ashrams (the traditional school of Vedanta or samah sarveśu bh teśu madbhaktih Yoga), now a days it includes thorough labhate par m || studies of the traditional doctrines of the U h

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International Journal of Yoga and Allied Sciences (ISSN: 2278 – 5159) Volume: 2, Issue: 1

Meaning: In the state of atma-jnana or Me and attain divine realization. He self realization (called brahm-bhoot) a attains the full knowledge of what was jnani is impartial to all. He has no only partially understood.11 material desire and experiences no on being separated from any material Conclusion: object or person, yet he has not attained Jnana yoga is the path of wisdom, divine knowledge of God (brahm knowledge, and direct experience jnana). Because of this he can still fall 10 of Brahman as the ultimate reality. The from his spiritual height. path renounces both desires and actions, Krishna explains the atma jnani secures and is therefore depicted as being steep and perfects this knowledge only through and very difficult in the Bhagavad Gita. bhakti (devotion) and grace as: This path is often associated with the non-dualistic Vedantic belief of the bhakty m m abhij n ti y v n yaś identity of the with the Brahman. c smi tattvatah | For the followers of this path, the realisation of the identity tato m m tattvato gy tv viśate of Ātman and Brahman is held as the key tadanantaram || to liberation. Meaning: Only through bhakti to Me and with My Grace does an atma jnani know

References:

1. Ś h 2/20 2. Ś h 2/51 3. Kumar K. (2012) Yoga Education A text Book; Shipra Publications Delhi. 4. Ś h 2/53 5. Ś h 2/55 6. Ś h 2/56 7. Ś h 2/57 8. Ś h 2/58 9. http://www.indiayogi.com/content/medtech/jnana.aspx 10. Ś h 18/54 11. Ś h 18/55

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