Chapter 18 Shloka 55

भक्तया मामभिजानाति यावान्यश्चास्मि तत्त्वतः।

ततो मां तत्त्वतो ज्ञात्वा विशते तदनन्तरम्।।५५।।

The Lord says, O Arjuna:

Such a one, through his supreme devotion,

knows in essence What and Who I am.

Knowing Me thus in spirit,

he thereupon enters Me.

Chapter 18 Shloka 55

भक्तया मामभिजानाति यावान्यश्चास्मि तत्त्वतः।

ततो मां तत्त्वतो ज्ञात्वा विशते तदनन्तरम्।।५५।।

The Lord says, O Arjuna:

Such a one, through his supreme devotion, knows in essence What and Who I am. Knowing Me thus in spirit, he thereupon enters Me.

The Lord says that the one who knows Him through devotion, in other words:

1. One who is firmly established in Yoga and knows the Lord in essence.

2. One who experiences the Supreme after forgetting himself and establishing himself in that Supreme One.

3. One who transcends the body idea even whilst still abiding in the body.

4. One who offers his body to the Lord.

5. One who ceases to identify with his manifest body-self and identifies with the Unmanifest Essence.

6. One who knows himself to be the Atma Itself.

7. One who becomes an Atmavaan, that one:

–  loses himself in the lord;

–  is immersed in the Lord;

–  realises the essence of the Atma.

Now understand how this happens:

1. “I am the Atma” – practice this in life.

2. “I am the Lord” – practice this in life.

3. “I am Ram” – practice this in life.

4. “I am not the body” – practice this in life.

5. “I am Shiva” – believing this, embody Shiva in practice.

6. “I am the Truth” – believing this, live in the Truth.

7. “I am beautiful” – believing this, make your life beauteous.

If you truly believe that you are not the body:

1. Do not bother about the body-self.

2. Fulfil the tasks of others with that body.

3. Do not be afraid of recognition or defamation of the body-self.

4. Do not boast about the attributes of this body.

5. Do not be depressed on account of the negative traits of the body.

6. Do not try to hide the lacunae of the body.

7. And since you have no rights over the body, give it to those who have claims over it.

8. And since you have no pending jobs, engross yourself in doing the jobs of others.

9. It does not matter whether your body engages in an inferior or a superior job.

10. It does not matter if your body is made to sweep others’ homes or sit in the officer’s chair.

11. How does it matter to you if someone takes away all your rights or grants you infinite claims?

Use your intellect inasmuch as you never besmirch the Lord’s Name, and:

a) whatever be your ordained duty, see that it is discharged naturally;

b) ensure that you are not a slur on whichever Name you chant and worship;

c) ensure that your body belongs to whosoever seeks anything from it.

Gyan – Knowledge

What is gained by merely reading about the Essence of man? Even if you understand the theory of Advaita or non-duality you have acquired only a tiny speck of knowledge. Endeavour to know how one must translate this knowledge into life’s practice.

1. Endeavour to understand how the qualities of Ram can embellish your life.

2. Try to understand how That Divine One lived in His ordinary life.

3. Try to understand the essence of forgiveness.

4. What is the practice of compassion? Endeavour to know this.

5. Try to comprehend the practical expression of love.

6. What is the essence and the manifestation of love? Endeavour to understand this.

7. What is the zenith of sincerity? Endeavour to comprehend it.

8. The nature of Brahm is Adhyatam. To be akin to Brahm is the aim and the practice of sadhana.

9. Knowledge is that which is translated into life. All else is mere theory.

–  The proof of knowledge is life.

–  The proof of taking the Lord’s name can be found in life’s practice.

–  The proof of spiritual practice or sadhana is to be found in life.

Upasana or a worshipful proximity with the divine Beloved is practised in life. When the Lord is one’s constant and eternal Witness, upasana can be practised. A persevering and continuous upasana cannot be on the physical plane, it has to be on the subtle plane of the mind.

Then the ‘I’ will sit with the Lord within the precincts of the mind, and the body will go out and do its jobs. The intellect, too, will sit within with the Lord while the body does the work. Through this practice, ultimately only the Lord and the body will remain.

1. Soon, through such upasana, the body-self is forgotten.

2. Thereafter one will also forget the Lord’s name.

3. Then neither ‘you’ nor ‘I’ will remain.

4. The one who venerates the Lord no longer remains – then only the Lord remains.

5. Subsequently, even the Lord’s name becomes superfluous as only the Lord pervades this entirety.

6. When the worshipper, the worshipped and the process of worshipful remembrance are merged, Advaita or a non-dual unity is attained.

Little one, the ignorant also abide in Advaita – they cannot see the other! The spiritual aspirant perceives three entities – the Lord, ‘I’ and the world. Gradually these three are merged into two – the Lord and I. The proof of union with the Lord can be found in life. As the Lord’s attributes permeate the life of the devotee, unity is attained to that extent. Soon a day dawns when the Lord takes the place of the ‘I’ – the ‘I’ has forgotten itself completely.

­­–  First the ‘I’ became oblivious to its body.

­­–  Then the ‘I’ became oblivious to the ‘I’.

­­–  The ‘I’ soon lost its entity in practical life.

­­–  “I am Ram” – even this thought faded away.

­­–  Then only one remained.

­­–  Soon even that one does not remain.

Whosoever comes before such a one, becomes a part of him. This is the zenith of Advaita.

1. Then all qualifications of name and form become irrelevant.

2. The qualification of the intellect becomes superfluous.

3. The intellect becomes silent.

4. The qualifications of the mind disappear.

5. No attributes remain as such; when one becomes attributeless, every attribute becomes one’s own.

6. When all other qualifications become superfluous, what remains is the pure, pristine Atma.

7. Man claims these qualifications only as a consequence of his ego.

8. Having renounced his own name and form to his Lord, all other names and forms also cease to have any meaning.

9. When an individual is not influenced by his own qualities, he is no longer affected by the qualities of others.

The absence of all qualifications reveals the presence of the Atma. The mind becomes animate after receiving consciousness from the Atma. How can one superimpose the qualities of the mind on the Atma? The Atma is reflected in the intellect.

1. The intellect is merely a witness.

2. The intellect is only consciousness.

3. The intellect springs from the mind-stuff – the chit.

4. The intellect is inherent in Truth.

5. The intellect is inherent in Bliss.

These are the innate attributes of the Atmavaan and of one established in the Atma.

–  Consciousness and the mind combine to say “I know.”

–  The shrouded intellect, i.e. the intellect which is subservient to the mind, claims rights and is permeated with ego.

–  The pure intellect is devoid of any such superimposition and remains a pure witness.

The qualities of the mind are mirrored in the subservient intellect due to the attachments of the mind. The intellect that is devoid of any superimposition is not affected by any such attributes. Such is the intellect of the sthit pragya. The intellect which is uninfluenced even by itself can be said to be devoid of superimpositions. Such an intellect is not influenced by others, it is the real intellect. Now let us progress further.

The Atma

1. The Atma is not the intellect.

2. Nor is the Atma the witness.

3. The Atma is not the knower.

4. The Atma simply ‘is’. It is neither this nor that.

5. The essence of the Atma cannot be defined by words.

6. Who can describe that Indestructible Silence?

7. What can be the manifestation of the Unmanifest?

–  Perceive the actions of Brahm.

–  How can one describe the essence of Brahm?

–  Who can describe that which is subtle?

One can become That to experience it. Then no difference remains between the knower, knowledge and the known.

Now understand action and knowledge.

Action and Knowledge

Action

Actions cannot negate ignorance because:

a) actions are not antagonistic to ignorance;

b) nor are actions opposed to ignorance;

c) actions yield recognition and respect;

d) one can gain whatever one desires through action;

e) through actions one gains proof of one’s state.

Knowledge

There is a constant war between knowledge and ignorance. Any new knowledge one receives, negates one’s ignorance to that extent. Whatever new knowledge one gets, modifies and changes one’s concepts and beliefs. Thus knowledge is the eternal enemy of ignorance.

People often call actions ‘fetters’ – this is not a fact.

1. Actions are emancipating when conjoined with knowledge.

2. Actions are also the proof of knowledge, because actions comprise life. Actions are the manifestation of yagya.

One’s essential spirit is revealed not in impressive and ostentatious actions but in small, insignificant deeds. The annihilation of one’s individuality, one’s idea of doership, one’s idea of me and mine – all these are proved in life. Thus it is said:

1. Performance of duty is superior to mere belief.

2. The Lord has said, “I have no duty, still I discharge all obligatory deeds.”

3. The Lord has said, “A man of wisdom lives amongst the ignorant like an ignoramus and interacts as such.”

4. Little one, the above can only be possible after the annihilation of the intellect which is subservient to the body.

5. It is only one who has renounced the body idea, who has transcended both acclaim and insult, who can dwell among the ignorant as one of them.

6. It is only one who is oblivious of himself and not attached to any attributes, who can and does live like an ignoramus amongst the ignorant.

It is then that such a one becomes akin to Brahm Himself. Then he will verily beBrahm. Such a one will be unmanifest even whilst manifesting himself in a human form. Such a one enters Brahm Himself.