Sampoorna Mahabharata • సంపూర్ణ శ్రీమహాభారతము • Episode 702

Episode 702: BG Ch 7

The servants located a beggar called Roukya in the Himalayas & tried to please him with gifts. But he said, ‘I do not need them as I am ever-content’. On learning about him, Jānaśruti delightedly came to meet him with a huge retinue.

He saw Roukya Maharishi going in circles gleefully on a wooden plank & laughing insanely. He felt as if he had entered a realm of powerful aura. He delightedly poured heaps of golden coins, & precious gems. With this, the Maharshi angrily screamed ‘Oh, fool!’

The king did not react to these abusive words. He keenly observed the Maharishi’s eyes. After a while, he held the Maharishi’s feet & beseeched, ‘Mahatma! My gaze attracted the Devatas wandering as swans. My aura petrified a few Devatas. But a thousand suns will fade on seeing your radiance. In your presence, I feel as if I have crossed Brahma-loka. Your penance is extraordinary. I can give up my throne and wander like a beggar to get this radiance. Please teach me the secret’.

Roukya Maharishi went away. The king left his soldiers & walked to him. He sat before him in Padmasana. Smilingly Roukya said, ‘There is no great secret. Daily I read the Bhagavad Gita 6th chapter & follow its Atmadhyana process. You can stay in the palace & follow this. You too will achieve this siddhi. Thereafter you live the way you want’. He initiated the King into the 6th chapter.

King Jānashruti returned & daily chanted the chapter. He attained supreme bliss & completed his mandated duties.

Lord Shiva said, ‘Parvati! I have heard this story being narrated by Vishnu to Lakshmi. Not everyone will be at the highest levels of Karma-yoga like the King. Yet, while pursuing Karma-yoga, if he chants this chapter daily, in this birth itself he will be fixed in the final samadhi’.


Chapter 7 Jnana Vignana Yogah

At the end of the 6th chapter, Krishna said, ‘Yogināmapi sarvēṣām’- I opine that even among Yogis, only he who fixes his mind upon Me and serves Me, is the best. With this statement, He created many opportunities for Arjuna to raise questions. By saying, ‘Among the Yogis he who serves Me (bhajati) with faith’, He introduced the concept of ‘bhakti’.

Krishna said, ‘mām bhajatē’. With this arose a question- Does ‘mām’ (Me) refer to the formless Supreme (Nirguna) or the Lord with form (Saguna)? Or was it to be interpreted as Vasudeva’s son Vāsudeva?

Earlier we have said that ‘I, Me’ in Bhagavad Gita must be interpreted as Nirguna Paramatma. As everyone cannot meditate upon Nirguna Paramatma, He devised a method by which the devotee can worship any deity with form. Those who find it difficult to worship even those forms can worship Vasudeva’s son Vāsudeva who is before them - to suggest these 3 meanings He used the word ‘I, Me’.

The first 6 chapters of BG constitute the Karma-kanda; the second 6 are the Bhakti-kanda & the last 6 are the Jnana-kanda. Bhagavan accepts this division as he gives the 12th chapter as Bhakti-yoga.

‘Those who serve Me with devotion are the best’- Hearing this Arjuna would ask, ‘If so, what is your real essence?’ So He wanted to clarify this and give the attributes of those who fix their minds upon Him.

śrībhagavānuvāca:mayyāsaktamanāḥ pārtha yogaṁyuñjan madāśrayaḥasamśayaṁ samagraṁmāṁ yathājñāsyasitachṛṇuǁ1ǁ

Listen to how one whose mind is fixed on Me & who considers Me as his sole refuge, understands Me without doubts while adhering to Yoga.

Unless one understands Paramatma’s original form & nature, he cannot remain fixed in Dhyana-yoga. So one must know His form, nature, glory and experience.

Bhagavan pledges- I will teach how, while pursuing Yoga-sadhana with a mind fixed on Me, the person who seeks shelter totally in Me can know Me, Paramatma.

A person performs actions (fire-rituals, penance, charities etc) seeking the fulfilment of any of the purusharthas. But a Yogi abandons them & seeks shelter exclusively in Him. Here, the steps to understand Paramatma are:
a) Cultivate a mind fixed on Him (abandon all other desires).
b) Along with it, pursue Dhyana-yoga. With this, all doubts will be shredded & Supreme Essence will be grasped.


jñānaṁ tehaṁsavijñānam idaṁ vakṣyāmyaśeṣataḥyajjñātvā nehabhūyonyat jñātavya mavaśiṣyateǁ2ǁ

I shall teach you completely that knowledge together with its experience, after knowing which there is nothing more to be known in the path of liberation.

Now we know why this chapter is called Jnana-vignana-yoga. He says, ‘I shall teach Jnana along with Vignana’. It is the knowledge accompanied by its practical application.

With Jnana one becomes omniscient & there will be nothing left to be known. To get such Supreme Jnana is extremely rare. There are many branches of knowledge. But even after knowing them all, something more to be learnt remains. However, if Paramatma Jnana is attained along with the experiential realization, nothing more is left to be learnt.