Principles and Applications of Gyan Yoga in context of Bagavad-Gita Prof. Ganes Sankar Giri* *Professor and Head, Dept. of Yoga Dr Harising Gaur Central University, Sagar (MP) Email: ganes_sankar58@yaoo.com Abstract Te word Yoga. Tis pat of Yoga deals directly wit te igest of all uman desires te desire to know te Trut and it gives an explanation of wat Trut means and sows te practical way of realizing it. Trut is not te subject to cange, deat, decay and destruction. It never canges at any time; it was never born, and will never die. It is self-existent and does not depend on anyting. Gyana Yoga is te science tat provides a systematized and organized metod of study in order to fulfill tis desire to know te Trut. Key Words: Jiva, Braman and Mokśa. Introduction: Te trut or reality is only Atman te knowledge of self, wic is ultimate. To know tat and to know te importance of tat Atman a a M a a a B ū w B av a B ū a / Ajo a Ś śwa oa a Pu o a Ha a Ha a Śa ī // Meaning: Tis is never born, nor does it die. Tis is unborn, eternal, cangeless, ever-itself. It is not killed wen te body dies. 1 Wen te aspirant becomes aware of tis ultimate tru a aja Bu uk H P ala T ak w Ma īś a / Janmabandavini uk Pa a a a a a a // knowing te ultimate trut possessed of tis evenness of mind and abandoning te fruits of teir actions, freed for ever from te fetters of birt and go to tat state wic is beyond all evil tat is Mokśa. 2 Vedanta te knowledge is te main pat of Yoga; troug wic te aspirant becomes one wit Brama. 6
te Atman is A a a śwa ūpa (as blissful) śwa ūpa (knowledge form), Sat (trut), Nitya (forever), Sudda (pure) and Budda (intellect). In te real sense te Atman is Brama it self. Only Braman is te reality, tere is no existence except it. Braman is self-focused, endless, uninterrupted, unborn, conscious and blissful. As te fire is one and reflects in different form in several places, te same is te case wit Braman, it is one but appears in te form of soul of every creatures and it is beyond all of tem. According of unity of Jiva (te individual being) and Braman (te Supreme Being), te liberation. In oter words te knowledge of Braman and liberation According to tis tradition it is possible only wen te oneness of Jiva and Braman as been proved. It as been said tat te aspirant of iger level becomes able to know tat reality only troug listening te Srutivakya (te sayings of Braman). He becomes able to remove te difference between Jiva and Braman. According to Vedanta tis reality is possible only troug Knowledge. 3 Te compound jnana-yoga first appears in te Bagavad-Gita, were along wit bakti- and karma-yoga, it forms part of a compreensive treefold spiritual discipline. Te Gita praises jnana or wisdom for being te great purifier wic elps us to cross te sea of ignorance tat keeps us in bondage (see verses IV. 35-38). Tis purification takes te form of an evolution of te understanding or intelligence wic is variously influenced by te tree gunas (te basic qualities or constituents of prakrti or nature). In tamasa-jnana te understanding is of te nature of dullness and indifference and clings to a single aspect of te penomenal world as if it were te wole of reality. In rajasa-jnana te understanding is moved by passion and activity in perceiving a world of multiplicity witout a sense of an underlying unity. Finally in sattvik-jnana te understanding is illumined by te knowledge tat tere is but one immutable Reality. Wen te understanding or intelligence (buddi) remains stable in sattvik-jnana, yoga is attained. Śrutivipratipann te yad st syati niścal sam d v acal buddis tad yogam av psyasi Meaning: Wen your intelligence stands unsaken and stable in spirit samadi, ten will you attain insigt yoga. 4 praja ti yad k m n sarv n p rta manogat n tmany ev tman tuś a stitapragyas tadocyate Meaning: Wen a man puts away all te desire O, and wen is spirit is content in itself, ten is e called stable in intelligence. 5 dukeśv anudvignaman śukeśu vigatasp a v tar gabayakroda stitad r munir ucyate Meaning: He wose mind is untroubled in te midst of sorrows and is free from eager desire amid pleasures, e from wom passion, fear, and rage ave passed away, e is called a sage of settled intelligence. 6 ya sarvatr nabisneas tat tat pr pya śub śubam 7
n binandati na dveśti tasya pragy pratiś it Meaning: He wo is witout affection on any side, wo does not rejoice or loate as e obtains good or evil, is intelligence is firmly set in wisdom. 7 yad saśarate c yaś k rmo 'Çg n va sarvaśa indriy nindriy rtebyas tasya pragy pratiś it Meaning: He wo draws away te senses from te objects of sense on every side as a tortoise draws in is limbs [into te sell], is intelligence is firmly set in wisdom. 8 As a spiritual discipline, jnana is also central to te pilosopical traditions of Samkya and Vedanta. Samkya doctrines can be found in te Bagavad- Gita, and form te basis of te P -sutras. In bot te Samkya and Yoga darsanas, discrimination between te products of prakrti (nature) and purusa (pure consciousness) leads to liberation (kaivalya). However were Patanjali recommends practices tat advance from darana (concentration) toug dyana (meditation) to samadi in order to aid te development of tis discrimination, Samkya relies on te refinement of jnana alone. Bot Sankya and Vedanta argue tat wat binds us to te cycle of birt, deat and rebirt is avidya (ignorance), and tey look to knowledge to dispel it. In te Samkya tradition tis is sougt troug reason because te discriminative intellect (buddi) is taken to be te first evolute of prakrti, and so it as precedence over all te oter elements of nature. In Vedanta te situation is not so straigtforward. Even toug jnana-yoga is generally eld to be an important aid to liberation, teistic developments in some scools of Vedanta regard bakti or devotion to te Lord as te most effective means. However in Advaita Vedanta, wic became te dominant pilosopical position wit te decline of Buddism in India towards te end of te first millennium CE, jnana-yoga is considered to be sole means to moksa. 9 two pats: Antaranga practice and Baairanga practice. Bairanga (external) practice includes Viveka, a ag a Śa śa pa and Mu ukśu va; wereas te Antaranga (internal) practice includes Sravana, Manana and Nididyasana. Viveka (Discrimination): Te practitioner as to develop and cultivate te ability to recognize wat is impermanent, temporary and fleeting in life as te Sadaka experiences te fact - wat is of everlasting value and pointing to te eternal. Te practitioner becomes able to discriminate te superficial and te essential; as well as te illusory reality on te surface and te absolute reality in te inner, deep dimension of existence. In tis way te person tries to scrutinize, analyze and evaluate constantly te experiences, inclinations, decisions and actions. Vairagya (dispassion): In te practice of Vairagya te practitioner as to guard is mind against becoming possessed, infatuated and even sligtly disturbed by passions springing from te sensual desires. Later on e as to stop all te disturbances like attacment to tings tat bring sensual satisfaction. Te opposite of Vairagya is Raga (passion) wic means originally coloring, wic indicates tat passions are, in fact 8
obstructions of te mind wic do not allow clear vision. To acieve te clarity of mind (wic is essential for final knowledge and wisdom) attacments and passions must be avoided and abolised. Satsampati (Six - attainments): Tis discipline includes a six fold instruction of self - education for success on te pat of Yoga wic are: Sama: Te cultivation of tranquility of te mind. Dama: Self control in action Uparati: Means eradicating te eagerness to possess. Titikśa: To ave patience Sradda: Confidence (in te meaning of fait). Samadana: Intentness of te mind. Mumuksutva (longing for liberation): Tis fourt Sadana of Vedanta is very important. It sould be understood as te intense desire to get te iger level of consciousness i.e. Samadi. Te Sadaka or aspirant sould develop a positive desire for liberation. Its development is supported by te previous endeavors as te advanced ability to discriminate te unsatisfactory superficial reality and te safety-promising, spiritual dimension of iger experience. Te practice leads towards ultimate reality i.e. Braman. te first one is Sravana wic means earing. Te practitioner as to go first troug an extensive and intensive study, for wic one sould go to is Guru (te spiritual teacer or master) and sould listen to te lesson on (about) Braman. In ancient time it was done in Asrams (te traditional scool of Vedanta or Yoga), now a days it includes toroug studies of te traditional doctrines of te U to te mind of te aspirant te rigt direction and outlook and material for te second stages wic is Manana. Manana starts wit intellectual analysis of te material gained by studying te texts. Te analysis of te material gained by knowledge of te world of sensual and emotional experience and on te level of speculative tinking, final knowledge cannot be found. Absolute trut can lie only beyond tem. Wen te practitioner firmly arrives at tis conclusion, e is able to enter te pat of meditation wic brings im to te following and final stage of training wic is Nidisyasana. Tis expression can be translated as constant meditation. Tis stage of training makes it clear to te Sadaka tat te process of opening a new cannel to reality over and above te senses and te intellect is not a matter of mental exercises during meditational session only, but tat it is also and equally necessary to introduce a kind of tat eventually te mind is in a state of meditation even wen dealing wit te business of everyday life. As tis capacity is developed and deepened, te until e reaces te final vision of trut, wic brings te aspirant at te final acievement of liberation or Mokśa. Te only way to attain absolute liberation is wen jnana is transformed into jnana yoga. Krisna clarifies tis point in te Bagavad Gita as: bramabūta prasann tm na śocati na k kśati sama sarveśu b teśu madbakti labate par m 9
Meaning: In te state of atma-jnana or self realization (called bram-boot) a jnani is impartial to all. He as no material desire and experiences no pain on being separated from any material object or person, yet e as not attained divine knowledge of God (bram jnana). Because of tis e can still fall from is spiritual eigt. 10 Krisna explains te atma jnani secures and perfects tis knowledge only troug bakti (devotion) and grace as: bakty m m abij n ti y v n yaś c smi tattvata tato m m tattvato gy tv viśate tadanantaram Meaning: Only troug bakti to Me and wit My Grace does an atma jnani know Me and attain divine realization. He attains te full knowledge of wat was only partially understood. 11 Conclusion: Jnana yoga is te pat of wisdom, knowledge, and direct experience of Braman as te ultimate reality. Te pat renounces bot desires and actions, and is terefore depicted as being steep and very difficult in te Bagavad Gita. Tis pat is often associated wit te non-dualistic Vedantic belief of te identity of te Ātman wit te Braman. For te followers of tis pat, te realisation of te identity of Ātman and Braman is eld as te key to liberation. References: 1. Ś 2/20 2. Ś 2/51 3. Kumar K. (2012) Yoga Education A text Book; Sipra Publications Deli. 4. Ś 2/53 5. Ś 2/55 6. Ś 2/56 7. Ś 2/57 8. Ś 2/58 9. ttp://www.indiayogi.com/content/medtec/jnana.aspx 10. Ś 18/54 11. Ś 18/55 10