तेषामेवानुकम्पार्थमहमज्ञानजं तम: |
नाशयाम्यात्मभावस्थो ज्ञानदीपेन भास्वता || 11||
teṣhām evānukampārtham aham ajñāna-jaṁ tamaḥ
nāśhayāmyātma-bhāva-stho jñāna-dīpena bhāsvatā
teṣhām—for them; eva—only; anukampā-artham—out of compassion; aham—I; ajñāna-jam—born of ignorance; tamaḥ—darkness; nāśhayāmi—destroy; ātma-bhāva—within their hearts; sthaḥ—dwelling; jñāna—of knowledge; dīpena—with the lamp; bhāsvatā—luminous
Translation:
Solely out of compassion for them, I, dwelling in their hearts, dispel with the shining lamp of wisdom the darkness born of ignorance.
Commentary:
The Lord’s compassion for His devotees is revealed here. The Lord is pleased with their undivided devotion, and wishes to confer an eternal gift on them. The Lord knows wealth, power, position and children, are not eternal reward. They pass away in time. So He wishes to bestow on them the everlasting gift of Brahmajnana. We understand from this that no one can reach that state without God’s grace, and that God’s grace is to be attained by pure and perfect devotion to the Lord.
Knowledge derived through Buddhiyoga is compared to a lamp that dispels darkness as soon as it is lighted. The light of knowledge thus shatters all darkness of ignorance. Nothing else but light can dispel darkness. One may struggle with darkness eternally with all his weapons, and yet it will not go, till by striking a match he brings in light. Such also is ignorance. One may do everything – Japa, Tapa, Pranayama, or Karma – and yet ignorance cannot be removed except by the flash of intuitional knowledge of Self. All other practices are intended to purify the mind and render it capable of perceiving the Truth (Brahman). They are means of Self-purification.
Who causes this flash of knowledge? Who confers this Buddhiyoga? The Lord. Where is He seated? He is seated in the human heart. It is He who kindles the light of knowledge. Without His grace, this cannot happen. And this lamp of knowledge (jnanadipa) is luminous (bhasvata). It is self-luminous, it is luminosity itself. Its effect is immediate. The darkness of ignorance which is enveloping man for ages and ages is shattered at one stroke, once and for all. No more does he wander in the wilderness of samsara. No more does he think of quenching his thirst in the waters of a mirage. He now knows the sharp distinction between the real and the unreal. He is now a Jivanmuktah. The bound soul who was thinking of himself as a body, subject to birth and death and all the thousand shocks of earthly existence, now realises in a flash that He is the immaculate and perfect Atma. He will realise that all those former thoughts of himself as a mortal, man and woman, weak and strong, happy and unhappy, lucky and unlucky, were mere superstitious hallucinations, and delusions. He will realise that at no time was he bound, that he is free at all times, but imagined himself to be bound and enslaved by ignorance (Avidya). He regains his freedom which is his birth-right, which he thought he had lost but which he never really lost. This knowledge comes to the devotee by the grace of the Lord.
“I destroy the darkness born of ignorance is the exhortation of the Lord.” The Lord has declared that Maya is difficult to cross, but those who take refuge in Him cross over His Maya which is Divine and composed of qualities. As this is the Lord’s promise, the aspirants have the duty to put faith in Him and worship Him with all their heart and soul. Then they will receive Brahmajnana, as the highest reward of their devotion. It comes at the proper time when the aspirant is ripe enough to receive it. So, no one need be disheartened that he has not yet received the light. Let him carry out the command of the Lord and wait with absolute trust and faith in the Divine will.
Question: When does man attain Moksha?
Answer: When the darkness born of ignorance is removed.
Question: How is it removed?
Answer: By the light of knowledge.
Question: How is the light obtained?
Answer: It is the gift of God.
Question: To whom?
Answer: To the one who receives God’s compassion.
Question: On whom does His compassion descend?
Answer: On him who worships Him with love and faith.
Question: How does the Lord know the heart of the devotee?
Answer: Because the Lord is present in the hearts of all.
Question: Where from delusion arise?
Answer: From ignorance (avidya).
Question: What is knowledge?
Answer: It is luminous, destroys ignorance and lights the path to liberation.
Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 10 🔻 (42 Verses)
