Chapter 9.1 Rajavidya Rajaguhya Yoga (Yoga of the Royal Knowledge and Royal Secret) Slokas 1-15
The ninth chapter is called Rajavidya Rajaguhya Yoga, (Yoga of the Royal Knowledge and Royal Secret). Bhagavan Krishna tells Arjuna that the Knowledge He is going to give him is a Royal secret and those who have faith in this Knowledge, and also practice it, become free from the birth and death cycles. But those who object to His teaching, end up getting caught in the birth and death cycles. Then, Sri Krishna gives examples of how He pervades everywhere in His “Unmanifested form”. He also discusses how beings are sent forth at the beginning of each cycle of creation. We also learn as to the difference between how the ignorant people and the Mahatmas perceive God, when God appears in human form.
Lord Krishna tells us about His Glories and explains the things He does for this world to sustain. He also discusses the simple things that the devotees can offer Him. We are given directions as to the ways the devotees should live their life, so that they can directly reach God.
Sloka 1- 3
1. The Blessed Lord said, “For you who does not cavil, I shall now declare this, the greatest secret, the most profound Knowledge combined with Realization (or experience), which having known, you shall be free from evil.”
2. Royal science, royal secret, the supreme purifier is this; realizable by direct intuitional knowledge, according to the dharma, very easy to practice and imperishable.
3. Persons without faith in this dharma (the divine Self), O Parantapa, without attaining me, they return to the path of rebirth fraught with death.
Bhagavan Krishna tells Arjuna that He is going to teach him this “King of sciences” (Rajavidya). When a person who has faith in His teaching of this most profound Knowledge and practices (Realizes or experiences) it, then that person is free from the sorrows of the birth and death cycles. But those people, who object to this dharma (of the divine Self), do not reach him. They get caught up in the birth and death cycles. This knowledge is the “Royal Secret” (Rajaguhyam). We learn from our scriptures that the goal of life after taking a human birth should be to reach God and not to aim for further birth and death cycles.
Sri Krishna here says, “rebirth fraught with death”. Fear of death is ingrained in human life. So, we must analyze it from our scriptural knowledge to get to the root of it, so that this fear can be managed or eliminated. As per Sri Krishna and the Rishis of the Upanishads, this fear arises from ignorance of what is Real and what is unreal. This ignorance can be eliminated only by Knowledge.
Swami Chinmayanandaji says, “the ignorant person thinks “I am the body”. The Self Realized (wise) man thinks “I have a body”. The difference between the two is that the wise man (jnani) understands that “I have a body that is enlivened by the Atman (Self), which never dies”. (Refer to Gita – Chapter 2).
I will further illustrate this briefly with a beautiful passage from Chandogya Upanishad.
The son Shvetaketu, returns from gurukulam (teacher’s home) after twelve years, having mastered the arts, sciences and all the vedas. The father Uddalaka Aruni, a Self-Realized rishi, notices the arrogance in his son, when the young man says, “Father, I have learned everything” and the father wants to teach him the real lesson. The father asks him whether he obtained the Knowledge by which what is unknown becomes known and what is unseen becomes seen. The son says, “I don’t know. Please teach me that, father” and falls at his father's feet.
The father shows different clay pots and toys and explains that even though there are different types of toys and vessels, they are all made up of clay which is the essential substance. The father says that “Therefore my child, you must get to know the essence of all things. The one thing that exists in everything in this universe”. The son says he still does not understand.
The father now takes him to a tree and describes how if life leaves a branch of the tree, that branch dies. But if life leaves the entire tree, the whole tree dies. He explains, “When life forsakes the body, the body dies but life itself does not die. That which does not die is Atman. “You are that Atman” (“Tat tvam Asi”), which is all-pervasive”. The son wants to know why we cannot see this all-pervasive Atman.
The father asks him to go and bring a fruit from the nearby banyan tree. Shvetaketu, the son, brings the fruit and Uddalaka tells him to break the fruit and asks him what is inside. The son breaks the fruit and says, “Seeds, father”. The father asks him to break open a seed and asks, “Now, what do you see?”. The son says, “Nothing, father”. The father asks, “If there is nothing inside the seed, how can a mighty banyan tree come from nothing? So, that “something” that we are not able to see is the essence of all things”. “You too are that (“Tat tvam asi”),
O Shvetaketu!” he tells his son. (“Tat tvam asi” means “That Thou (You) Are”).
The son has a valid question. He asks, “If we cannot see the Essence, how do we know It exists?”
The father says, “I will explain it to you. Put this salt in this pot of water”. Shvetaketu does as he was told. The father asks him to keep it inside the house and bring it in the morning. The son implicitly obeys and brings the water in the morning.
Father – “Can you now see the salt?” Son – “No, father”
Father – “Now taste it from the top part”. Son – “It is salty, father”.
Father – “Now taste it from the middle part”. Son - “It is salty, father”.
Father – “Now taste it from the bottom part”. Son - “It is still salty, father”.
Father --- “That which you cannot see but pervades everywhere is the Atman”.
“You too are That, O Shvetaketu” (“Tat Tvam Asi” = “That Thou (You) Are”)
Son says, “Father, I have understood now.”
(“Tat tvam Asi” is one of the four mahaavaakyams from the vedas.)
In sloka 2, Sri Krishna calls this Knowledge (of Atman) as the “Supreme purifier”.
Sloka 4-6
4. All this world is pervaded by Me, in My unmanifested form; all beings exist in Me but I do not abide in them.
5. Nor do beings exist in Me; behold My divine yoga! Supporting all beings, but not dwelling in them, is My Self.
6. As the mighty wind, moving everywhere, always rests in space, (akasha), even so know you, all beings rest in Me.
Lord Krishna now gives examples of how he is pervading everywhere in His unmanifested form with a comparison of wind and space. Wherever the mighty wind blows, it is always going to be in space (akasha) since space is pervading everywhere. This is the relationship between God and man. The human being always rests in God, no matter how much a person tries to think that he (she) is separate from God as per Bhagavan Krishna.
“Veveshti Vyapnothi iti Vishnuhu” (Vishnu is One who pervades everywhere).
Sri Krishna also asserts that He is the Supporter of all beings who exist in Him. But He does not dwell or abide in them. This may sound like a contradictory statement but it is not. Remember the example we discussed earlier that the waves are in the ocean but the ocean is not in the waves. The ocean (God) is infinite but the waves (beings) are finite.
7. All beings, O Kaunteya, (O son of Kunti), go into My prakriti (nature) at the end of a kalpa. I send them forth again at the beginning of the next kalpa.
8. Animating My prakriti, I, again and again send forth all this multitude of beings, helpless by the force of nature (prakriti).
Sri Krishna now explains how at the end of each cycle of creation, beings are folded back into Him and how at beginning of the next creation, the Lord sends forth the multitude of beings who are created as per His will. The word “Helpless” is used because we, as human beings do not have any control over this creation and destruction. “Animating My Prakriti” means, at the beginning of creation, Prakriti comes from unmanifest to the manifest state, being animated by the Purusha.
9. These acts do not bind Me, O Dhanajaya!, sitting like one indifferent and unattached to these acts.
10. Under Me as her supervisor, prakriti (nature), produces the moving and the unmoving; because of this, O Kaunteya, the world revolves.
Prakriti means matter and that includes the human body. Ishwara, the Lord, is the supervisor. Even though we are people of dynamism and act, (based on our karmas and vaasanaas), the Lord is not attached to our actions and it does not affect Him one bit.
11. Fools disregard Me when I dwell in human form; they know not My higher being as the great Lord of all beings.
12. Of vain hopes, of vain actions, of vain knowledge, and senseless, they verily are possessed of the delusive nature of rakshasas and asuras.
Lord Krishna now describes that the average person does not recognize “His divine play” when He appears in the human form. We need to examine why this happens. The human beings are a bundle of three gunas as we discussed in the past chapters. They are Sattvic, Rajasic and tamasic gunas. That delusive nature that Sri Krishna is explaining here, of rakshasas and asuras are, those with mostly tamasic nature. They do not recognize Him due to their base nature.
What are the various ways by which the mahatmas (great men of God) worship God?
13. But the mahatmas, partaking of My divine nature, worship me with a single mind, knowing Me as the imperishable source of all beings.
14. Always glorifying Me, striving firm in wows, prostrating before Me, and always steadfast, they worship Me with devotion.
Mind takes the color of what thoughts come to it. If the mind thinks of God, Godly qualities come to it. But if the mind thinks of a dog, then it exhibits animalistic qualities. Those who are predominantly sattvic in nature, (the mahatmas), understand that The Lord is in every human being and that the Self is the Imperishable source of all beings. So, they glorify the Lord always and surrender, worshipping God always.
15. Others also offering the “wisdom sacrifice” worship Me in various ways, regarding Me as the One, as the distinct and as the all-faced.
Lord Krishna says that there are three ways devotees worship Him. Those three systems are still in practice in Hinduism.
1) Advaitam - God is the One Reality (The world is unreal or false and is a manifestation of the maya shakthi of the Lord). By Realizing this Truth, (Self Realization), the person becomes one with God. Sri Adi Shankaracharya taught this.
2) Dvaitam - God is distinct from the Jagat (the universe) and the Jivatman (the individual). Both the Jagat and the Jivatman are distinct and depend on God. Sri Madhvacharya taught this.
3) Vishishtadvaitam or qualified monism – The universe and the beings in it are the sentient and the insentient aspects of the Lord. (for this reason, He is called the “all-faced”).
Sri Ramanujacharya taught this.
The critical point here is to recognize that in whatever way God is worshipped, it is acceptable to Him.
“Whichever way you conceive and worship God, either as formless or with form, hold fast and sincerely worship Him. But don’t think your way is the only way. In the course of your sadhana, by His Grace, you will find out that His attributes and forms are inexhaustible”.
- Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa
In the rest of chapter 9, Lord Krishna tells us about His Glories and explains the things He does for this world to sustain. He also discusses the simple things that the devotees can offer Him. We are given directions as to the ways the devotees should live their life, so that they can directly reach Him.
We will see the details in Chapter 9.2
Hari Om!
Dr.Shanmugam