Chapter 4 Shloka 2
एवं परम्पराप्राप्तमिमं राजर्षयो विदु:।
स कालेनेह महता योगो नष्ट: परन्तप।।२।।
Then the Lord said:
Thus this Yoga, received from time immemorial, was known by the Raj Rishis; but O Arjuna! This Yoga has long since disappeared from the world.
Little one, it is said that this Yoga was first known by the Raj Rishis or royal sages.
1. In those times, the kings observed purity of spirit and deed.
2. They performed all possible actions for the welfare of their subjects.
3. They lived a life of yagya.
4. Being Kshatriyas, they constantly kept in readiness for death.
5. They sacrificed even their lives for the other’s welfare.
6. Their minds were rooted in Adhyatam, and they were devoid of attachment to the body.
7. They rested their faith in Brahm and conducted their lives with His support.
8. Divine qualities emanated from them.
9. They adhered to deeds of a selfless nature as prescribed by the Scriptures. Therefore they were known as Raj Rishis.
The Lord says, these were the Raj Rishis who possessed the knowledge of Yoga.
a) They attained perfection through the practice of Yoga.
b) Through yagya they gave their all.
c) They annihilated all traces of moha, attachment and the concept of ‘I’, keeping before themselves the exalted example of Brahm’s Supreme yagya.
d) They knew the body to be transient and controlled by the threefold Prakriti.
e) They recognised that all forms, names and actions too, were controlled by the three gunas.
f) Thus, they transcended the idea ‘I am the body’ and knew themselves to be the Atma.
g) They lived ordinary lives, conducting themselves in a detached manner for the welfare of the world.
Then why did this knowledge disappear?
1. People became individualistic.
2. They began to consider themselves to be the body.
3. They sought the protection and establishment of their own body.
4. They began to fear death.
5. They only sought pleasures to indulge the mind.
6. They engrossed themselves in the accumulation of material objects.
When a person disregards the Atma and becomes engrossed in the body, his downfall begins.
When the mind becomes accustomed to partaking of the pleasures of the objects, it becomes attached to those objects. It is the job of the intellect to give happiness to all and to teach the method for obtaining the desired joys. When the mind began to crave external objects, the intellect began to direct the senses in the pursuit of these objects. Thus the ‘I’ usurped the kingdom of the Atma, and the intellect, mind and senses became oblivious to their true essence. Thus was the precious knowledge of Yoga lost.
