HOW DOES KNOWLEDGE DESTROY SIN?
yathaidhaamsi samiddho'gnir bhasmasaat kurute'rjuna
jnaanaagnih sarvakarmaani bhasmasaat kurute tathaa // 4.37 //
As the blazing fire reduces pieces of wood to ashes, O Arjuna, so does the Fire of Knowledge reduces all actions to ashes.
As the fuel pieces, irrespective of their quality, shape, size etc., will be reduced to one homogeneous mass of ash in the Yagna fire, all Karmas, good, bad or indifferent, get burnt up in the Fire of Knowledge and will become something different from what they were in their cause and effect condition. When the Knowledge of the Self dawns, all actions and their results cannot bring man into this world again for the enjoyment of fruits of his actions. This is reducing actions to ashes. When there is full enlightenment i.e. no idea of agency or doership and no desire for the fruits of actions, then action is no action at all as it loses all its potency.
Actions leave reactions in the form of residual impressions which mature at different periods of time depending upon the quality and intensity of the action. There are three kinds of Karmas or actions or fructification of past actions Viz.
• Prarabhdha - so much of the past actions that have given rise to the present birth (operative).
• Sanchita - the balance of past actions that will give rise to future births (not yet operative)
• Agami - the actions done in the present life (to be operative in the future).
The Fire of Knowledge cannot bring about the results of all actions except the Prarabdha which have already started producing effects.
na hi jnaanena sadrisham pavitram iha vidyate
tat swayam yogasamsiddhah kaalenaatmani vindati // 4.38 //
Certainly, there is no purifier in this world like Knowledge. A man who has become perfect in yoga finds it within himself in course of time.
There exists no purifier equal to knowledge of the Self. He who has attained perfection by the constant practice of Karma Yoga and Meditation will find knowledge of the Self in himself after some time. The surest means of acquiring this knowledge or wisdom is taught in the next verse.
MEANS OF ACQUIRING KNOWLEDGE
shraddhaavaan labhate jnaanam tatparah samyatendriyah
jnaanam labdhvaa paraam shaantim achirenaadhigacchati // 4.39 //
The man who is full of faith, who is devoted to it and who has subdued all the senses, obtains this Knowledge ; and having obtained Knowledge he goes at once to the Supreme Peace.
The three qualities that are necessary for an individual to be assured of the Knowledge Divine are enumerated here. Faith, devotion and self-control are the three imperative necessities to be acquired before one hopes to evolve to a diviner stature.
Faith (Sraddha): This is not blind belief or unquestioned acceptance of any declaration said to be divine. Faith indicates that by which an individual understands readily the exact import of the scriptural text as well as the words of advice of the teacher.
Devotion (Tatparah): The seeker must give his undivided attention to the path of self-development chosen by him and must on all occasions maintain in his mind a continuous consciousness of the Divine.
Self-control (Samyatendriyah): It is the sense organs that cause mental agitations and come in the way of maintaining oneself quietly in the higher values of life. Therefore, a seeker should learn to live in steady and constant sense-control.
The seeker who follows the above agenda of life reaches the state of Knowledge having attained which he soon reaches the Supreme Peace or the Supreme Joy, the goal of life. All activities in this world are undertaken to achieve better happiness or joy. So the goal of life is absolute happiness where all strife ends, all desires fulfilled and agitations exhausted. Sri Krishna indicates here that such a state of Supreme Peace is attained by acquiring the Divine Knowledge.
ajnashchaashraddhaadhaanashcha samshayaatmaa vinashyati
naayam loko'sti na paro na sukham samshayaatmanah // 4.40 //
The ignorant, the faithless, the doubting self goes to destruction; there is neither this world nor the other nor happiness for the doubting soul.
In the previous verse it was said that those who had faith and knowledge would soon reach the Supreme Peace. Sri Krishna repeats the same idea through a negative statement in this verse. Those who do not have these qualities will get themselves ultimately destroyed and completely ruined. He who has no Knowledge of the Self (ignorant), who has no faith in his own self, in the scriptures and in the teachings of his Guru (faithless) and who is of a doubting disposition because of which fails to enjoy this world on account of his suspicion about the people and things around him and who has innumerable doubts as regards the other world will not find any joy anywhere - neither here nor in the hereafter.
yogasannyasta karmaanam jnaanasamchhinnasamshayam
aatmavantam na karmaani nibadhnanti dhananjaya // 4.41 //
Actions do not bind the one, who has renounced actions through Yoga, whose doubts have been fully dispelled by Knowledge and who is poised in the Self, O Dhananjaya.
This verse is the summary of all the main secrets of life explained in this Chapter. It is only egoistic activities, motivated by egocentric desires that leave gross impressions in the inner personalities of men and bind them to reap their reactions. When an individual learns to renounce his attachments to the fruits of his actions, righteous or unrighteous, through Yoga and yet works on in perfect detachment and when all his doubts about the goal of life have been removed through Self-Knowledge, the ego comes to realize that it is none other than Atman, the Self. When such a person works, his actions do not bind him. The mutual relationship of true work, wisdom and self-discipline is brought out here.
Tasmaad ajnaanasambhootam hritstham jnaanaasinaatmanah
chhittwainam samshayam yogamaatishthottishtha bhaarata // 4.42 //
Therefore, with the sword of Knowledge (of the he Self) cut asunder the doubt about the Self born of ignorance, residing in your heart and take refuge in Yoga, arise O Bharata!
Sri Krishna advises Arjuna in this last verse of the Chapter to perform action with the help of knowledge and concentration. The knowledge referred to here is the knowledge by which one discriminates between the body and the Self and which consequently destroys grief and delusion.
The doubt in his heart whether it is better to fight or abstain is the product of ignorance. It will be destroyed by wisdom. Then he will know what is right for him to do. It is a call to every seeker to get up and act well in the spirit of Yagna and gain inner purity, so that he can experience the Supreme Peace which is the final goal of evolution.
om tat sat iti srimad bhagavadgeetaasu upanishatsu brahma vidyaayaam yogashaastre sri krishnaarjuna samvaade jnaana karma sanyaasa yogo naama chaturtho'dhyaayah
Thus in the Upanishads of the glorious Bhagavad Gita, the science of the Eternal, the scripture of Yoga, the dialogue between Sri Krishna and Arjuna, ends the fourth discourse entitled The Yoga of Renunciation of Action in Knowledge