श्रीभगवानुवाच |
लोकेऽस्मिन्द्विविधा निष्ठा पुरा प्रोक्ता मयानघ |
ज्ञानयोगेन साङ्ख्यानां कर्मयोगेन योगिनाम् || 3||
śhrī bhagavān uvācha
loke ’smin dvi-vidhā niṣhṭhā purā proktā mayānagha
jñāna-yogena sāṅkhyānāṁ karma-yogena yoginām
śhrī-bhagavān uvācha—the Blessed Lord said; loke—in the world; asmin—this; dvi-vidhā—two kinds of; niṣhṭhā—faith; purā—previously; proktā—explained; mayā—by me (Shree Krishna); anagha—sinless; jñāna-yogena—through the path of knowledge; sānkhyānām—for those inclined toward contemplation; karma-yogena—through the path of action; yoginām—of the yogis
Translation:
The Blessed Lord said: O sinless Arjuna! In ancient times two paths of spiritual description were spoken by me – the Jnana yoga for the followers of the path of knowledge, and Karma yoga for the followers of the path of action.
Commentary:
O Sinless: Arjuna is free from sin. So he is fully qualified to receive the highest wisdom. When the cloth is clean, it can be dyed in any colour. The Lord knew the purity of Arjuna’s mind, and therefore he chose to teach him Brahma Vidya. Each individual, according to his ingrained disposition, seeks the path which is congenial to his nature. Some are born with an intellectual frame of mind and the path for them is that of enquiring into the Self (Jnana yoga). For these, the Lord taught the path of knowledge. Others are born with a practical temperament, and they love action. For them, the Lord pointed out another path – karma yoga. Each man is perfectly free to choose his own path. There is no compulsion. Any course of imposed discipline will go against nature, and will not yield the desired result. There may be many roads leading to the same destination. There may be different routes to climb up a peak. Any route will ultimately take the people to the top of the mountain. So the Lord here declares that man may follow any path which is agreeable to his character and reach the goal. Though in the Gita several yogas are stated, all of them can be brought under these two main divisions – Jnana Yoga and Karma Yoga.
The Lord says that he taught the two-fold path in times immemorial. So he is beyond time and place. He is Paramatma, appearing in the form of Sri Krishna and teaching the highest om to humanity.
Swami Vivekananda Says —
Arjuna asks: “You just advised action, and yet you uphold knowledge of Brahman as the highest form of life. Krishna, if you think that knowledge is better than action, why do you tell me to act?” [Shri Krishna]: “From ancient times these two systems have come down to us. The Sankhya philosophers advance the theory of knowledge. The Yogis advance the theory of work.[Source]
But it is a most difficult thing to give up the clinging to this universe; few ever attain to that. There are two ways to do that mentioned in our books. One is called the “neti, neti ” (not this, not this), the other is called “iti ” (this); the former is the negative, and the latter is the positive way. The negative way is the most difficult. It is only possible to the men of the very highest, exceptional minds and gigantic wills who simply stand up and say, “No, I will not have this,” and the mind and body obey their will, and they come out successful. But such people are very rare. The vast majority of mankind choose the positive way, the way through the world, making use of all the bondages themselves to break those very bondages. This is also a kind of giving up; only it is done slowly and gradually, by knowing things, enjoying things and thus obtaining experience, and knowing the nature of things until the mind lets them all go at last and becomes unattached. The former way of obtaining non-attachment is by reasoning, and the latter way is through work and experience. The first is the path of jnana-yoga and is characterized by the refusal to do any work; the second is that of karma-yoga, in which there is no cessation from work.[Source]
Each one of our Yogas is fitted to make man perfect even without the help of the others, because they have all the same goal in view. The Yogas of work, of wisdom, and of devotion are all capable of serving as direct and independent means for the attainment of Moksha. “Fools alone say that work and philosophy are different, not the learned.” The learned know that, though apparently different from each other, they at last lead to the same goal of human perfection.[Source]
Sri Ramakrishna frequently used the analogy of a mother cooking fish in different ways to explain how God provides various religious paths to suit the unique temperaments and capacities of different individuals. Here are the passages from the sources related to this:
- God provides different forms of worship for different stages of knowledge: “The mother cooks different dishes to suit the stomachs of her different children. Suppose she has five children. If there is a fish to cook, she prepares various dishes from it—pilau, pickled fish, fried fish, and so on—to suit their different tastes and powers of digestion“.
- People worship according to their own capacity: “People worship God according to their tastes and temperaments. The mother cooks the same fish differently for her children, that each one may have what suits his stomach. For some she cooks the rich dish of pilau. But not all the children can digest it. For those with weak stomachs she prepares soup. Some, again, like fried fish or pickled fish. It depends on one’s taste”.
- Differences in the capacity to comprehend: “The mother brings home a fish for her children. She curries part of the fish, part she fries, and with another part she makes pilau. By no means all can digest the pilau. So she makes fish soup for those who have weak stomachs. Further, some want pickled or fried fish. There are different temperaments. There are differences in the capacity to comprehend”.
- All religions seek the same object: Speaking to members of the Brāhmo Samāj, Sri Ramakrishna explained that Hindus, Muslims, Christians, and various other sects all seek the same God. “A mother prepares dishes to suit the stomachs of her children. Suppose a mother has five children and a fish is bought for the family. She doesn’t cook pilau or kāliā for all of them. All have not the same power of digestion; so she prepares a simple stew for some. But she loves all her children equally“. He further noted that “God has made different religions to suit different aspirants, times, and countries“.
- The Guru gives instructions suited to the disciple: When a devotee jokingly complained that the guru enjoys all the “good mangoes” himself and gives the bad ones to the disciples, the Master replied: “The mother knows what food suits the stomachs of her different children. Can all of them digest pilau and kāliā? Suppose a fish has been procured. The mother doesn’t give pilau and kāliā to all the children. For the weak child with a poor stomach she prepares simple soup. But does that mean she loves him the less?“.
Related Articles:
- For the sage aspiring to ascend to yoga, action is said to be the means; and for the same sage enthroned in yoga serenity is called the means. (BG 6.3)
- But he who rejoices, who is contented, who finds happiness in Atma only, has no work to perform. (BG 3.17)
