The Yoga Tradition

by Georg Feuerstein

  For, not even for a moment can anyone ever remain without performing action. Everyone is unwittingly made to act by the constituents (guna) belonging to Nature (prakriti).

  He who restrains his organs of action but sits remembering in his mind the objects of the senses is called a hypocrite, a bewildered person (âtman).

  But more excellent is he, O Arjuna, who, controlling with his mind the senses, embarks unattached on Karma-Yoga with the organs of action.

  You must [always] do the allotted action, for action is superior to inaction; not even your body’s processes can be accomplished by inaction.

  This world is bound by action, save when this action is [performed as] sacrifice (yajna). With that purpose [in mind], O Kaunteya [i.e., Arjuna], engage in action devoid of attachment. (3.4-9)

  Krishna points to himself as an example of enlightened activity:

  For Me, O Pârtha [i.e., Arjuna], there is nothing to be done in the three worlds, nothing ungained to be gained—and yet I engage in action.

  For, if I were not untiringly ever to abide in action, people would, O Pârtha, follow everywhere My “track” [i.e., example].

  Just as the unwise perform [their deeds] attached to action, O Bhârata [i.e., Arjuna], the wise should act unattached, desiring the world’s welfare (loka-samgraha). (3.22-25)

  The secret lies in the human mind as the primary source of all action. If the mind is pure, without attachment to deeds, it cannot be defiled by them even as they are performed. Only attachment, not action as such, sets in motion the law of moral causation (or karma) by which a person is bound to the wheel of existence in ever new re-embodiments. The mind that is polished like a mirror, freed entirely of the stain of attachment, spotlessly reveals things as they truly are. And what they truly are is the Divine, the Self. The perfected yogin always enjoys that divine vision:

  Whose self is yoked in Yoga and who beholds everywhere the same, he sees the Self abiding in all beings and all beings in the Self. (6.29)

  This vision of the sameness of all things and beings is the fruit of consummate nonattachment. Nonattachment is a matter of assuming the position of the transcendental Self, the eternal witness of all processes, and of penetrating the illusion of being an acting subject, or ego. Nonetheless, actions must continue to be performed.

  Acts must not only be performed in the spirit of unselfishness, or nonattachment, they also must be morally sound and justifiable. This view has not always been emphasized sufficiently in Western interpretations of the Gîtâ. If action depended solely on one’s frame of mind, it would be the best excuse for immoral behavior. The Bhagavad-Gîtâ does not propound such a crude subjectivism. For action to be “whole” (kritsna), or wholesome, it must have two essential ingredients: subjective purity (i.e., nonattachment) and objective rationality (i.e., moral rightness). The external factor of moral rightness or wrongness is determined by the traditional moral values and the prevalent code of behavior, as well as by the growing insight into rightness and wrongness through the practice of Yoga. The Gîtâ builds on the ethical foundations of the Mahâbhârata. The epic is, on one level, a gigantic attempt to come to grips with the nature of what is lawful (dharma) and what is unlawful (adharma). This is echoed in the following stanzas from the Gîtâ:

  What is action? What is inaction? On this even the sages are bewildered. I shall declare to you that action which, when understood, will set you free from ill.

  Indeed, [a yogin] ought to understand [the nature of] action (karman), he ought to understand wrong action (vikarman), and he ought to understand inaction (akarman). Impenetrable is the way of action.

  He who sees inaction in action and action in inaction is wise among men; he is yoked, performing whole (kritsna) actions. (4.16-18)

  The war into which Arjuna was drawn on the sagacious advice of the incarnate God Krishna was in the interest of the maintenance of a higher moral order. The Kauravas were power-hungry and corrupt rulers who had usurped the throne. The peace-loving Pândavas, on the other hand, had the welfare of the people at heart. The Gîtâ portrays Arjuna’s qualms about going into battle even over what is obviously right and lawful. Seeing his cousins and former teachers arrayed on the opposite side of the battlefield, he was ready to cast down his bow and surrender his claims to the throne, but Lord Krishna instructed him otherwise. His yogic teaching goes beyond both pacifism and warmongering, just as it goes beyond the mere doing of one’s duty on the one hand and the neglect of one’s obligations on the other. For, in the last analysis, the God-man Krishna expects his devotee to step beyond the moral realm. He makes this exhortation and solemn promise:

  Relinquishing all norms (dharma), go to Me alone for shelter. I will deliver you from all sin. Do not grieve! (18.66)

  The Lord abides in the heart region of all beings, O Arjuna, whirling all beings [in the cycle of conditioned existence] by His power (mâyâ), [as if they were] mounted on a machine (yâtrâ).

  To him alone go for shelter with your whole being O Bhârata [i.e., Arjuna]! By His grace you will obtain supreme peace, the eternal Abode. (18.61-62)

  Be Me-minded, devoted to Me, sacrifice to Me, do obeisance to Me—thus you will come to Me. I promise you truly, [for] you are dear to Me. (18.65)

  In the Bhagavad-Gîtâ, Yoga is not yet systematically outlined, as in the subsequent Maitrâyanîya- Upanishad and the Yoga-Sûtra, but all the principal elements of the path are present. For Krishna the yogic work consists essentially in the total realignment of one’s daily life to the ultimate Being. Everything that is done should be done in the light of the Divine. One’s whole life must become a continual Yoga. By seeing in everything the presence of the Divine and by casting off all mundane attachments, yogins purify their life and no longer take flight from it. With their mind immersed in the Supreme, they are active in the world, guided by the pure desire to promote the welfare of all beings. This is the well-known Hindu ideal of loka-samgraha, which literally means “drawing together of the world.”

  It is difficult to give this Yoga an appropriate label. It is not only Jnâna-Yoga and Karma-Yoga but also Bhakti-Yoga. It seeks to integrate all aspects of the human being and then to employ them in the great enterprise to reach enlightenment in this very life. For this reason, Krishna’s path might best be described as a kind of early “integral Yoga” (pûrna-yoga).

  The ethical activism of the Bhagavad-Gîtâ is founded on a panentheistic metaphysics: Everything exists or arises in God, while God nevertheless transcends everything. The supreme Being, Vishnu (as Krishna), is both the ultimate source of all existence and the manifest universe in its entire multiplicity. Vishnu encompasses Being as well as Becoming. Lord Krishna, the incarnate God, declares:

  By Me, unmanifest in form, this entire [universe] is spread out. All beings abide in Me, but I do not subsist in them.

  And [yet] beings do not abide in Me. Behold My lordly Yoga: My Self sustains [all] beings, yet not abiding in beings causes beings to be. (9.4—5)

  Vishnu is the all-embracing Whole (pûrna), the One and the Many. Since the Divine is everywhere and in everything, we do not have to shun the world in order to find Vishnu, but merely need to cultivate our higher wisdom (buddhi), the eye of gnosis (jnâna-cakshus), to be able to apprehend the omnipresent Being-in-Becoming.

  The Bhagavad-Gîtâ knows of two types of emancipation that are more accurately described as two successive stages of completeness. The first level of liberation, called brahma-nirvâna, is the extinction in the world- ground. Here yogins transcend the space-time continuum and abide in their essential nature. But this state is without outflowing love, and the divine person of Krishna remains concealed from them. The supreme Person is realized only in the higher form of emancipation when yogins awaken in God.

  That man who, having forsaken all desires, moves about devoid of longing, devoid of [the thought of] “mine,” without ego-sense—he approaches peace (shânti). This is the state of the Absolute (brahman), O Pârtha [i.e., Arjuna]. Attaining
this, one is no [longer] deluded. Abiding therein also at the end-time [i.e., at death], one attains extinction (nirvâna) in the Absolute. (2.71-72)

  He who has inner joy, inner rejoicing, and inner light is a yogin. Having become the Absolute, he approaches extinction in the Absolute. (5.24)

  Thus ever yoking the self, the yogin of restrained mind approaches peace, the supreme extinction that subsists in Me. (6.15)

  He who is intent on oneness (ekatva) and loves Me, abiding in all beings, in whatever [state] he exists—that yogin dwells in Me. (6.31)

  Love (bhakti) is a key element in Krishna’s teaching. On the finite plane, it is the surest mechanism by which yogin-devotees bond themselves to the Divine Person and thereby win grace. On the ultimate level, love is the very nature of the liberated condition. Thus Krishna states:

  Of all yogins, he who loves Me with faith and whose inner self is absorbed in Me—him I deem to be most yoked. (6.47)

  How may we understand the transcendental love in which the liberated yogin participates? Elsewhere I proposed this answer:

  The love that flourishes eternally between God and the Self-particles who have awakened to His presence is one of ineffable divine creativity: the Whole communing with Itself. The logical mind shrinks back from this paradox. It fails to gain a foothold in that realm in which all opposites coincide. The ultimate test must be unmediated experience. This transcendental love (para-bhakti) is an essential part of God and can be fully realized only in and through God. This love is … unconditional and without object.13

  The Gîtâs teaching of the eternal love that flows from the Divine Person to the devotee and to all creation is one of the most momentous innovations in the history of Indian religiosity. The Yoga taught by Krishna, the avatâra (divine descent), infused Hinduism with a rare emotionality that had until then been absent from the largely ascetic efforts of the Hindu seers and sages. Suddenly the spiritual seeker was empowered to relate to the Divine in personal terms, from the heart and not merely through the exercise of the will. This had in fact been the teaching of the ancient Vedic rishis, but it became gradually eclipsed by the tradition of fierce asceticism (tapas) both within and outside the orthodox brahmanical priesthood. The Gîtâ, in fact, introduces Krishna not so much as an innovator but as a revivor of ancient teachings that had been lost. Tentative expressions of the same teaching can be found in the early Upanishads, but with the Gîtâ the gospel of theistic devotion entered the popular consciousness and became a vehicle for the simple spiritual aspirations of countless millions.

  SOURCE READING 10

  Bhagavad-Gîtâ (Selection)

  Since there are numerous English renderings of the Bhagavad-Gîtâ available. I have abstained from bringing the full text here. However, a translation of the famous eleventh chapter in which Lord Krishna reveals his transcendental nature to his devotee Arjuna deserves to be included. This chapter is the dramatic climax of the Gîtâ. and Arjuna’s vision of Krishna as the Divine also is the culmination of the spiritual path taught by Krishna. The vision is a classic description of the mystical state of unity in which all things coexist in eternity—a state utterly bewildering to the unillumined mind. Somewhat unprepared for Krishna’s self-revelation. Arjuna, though he had prayed for it. is unable to bear the unitive vision for long and asks Krishna to resume his customary human form. This is more than a mere poetic ploy, allowing the composer to resume the metaphysical dialogue between divine teacher and human pupil, it also is a classic statement of the natural process of return from extraordinary mystical realization to ordinary life sustained by sensory awareness.

  For clarification. I should add that Krishna addresses Arjuna as Pândava (“Son of Pându”). Pârtha (“Son of Prithâ [i.e., Kuntî]”). Bhârata (“Descendant of Bhârata”), Dhanamjaya (“Conqueror of wealth”), and Gudâkesha (“He whose hair is gathered in a knot”), Arjuna, in turn, bestows upon Krishna various honorific epithets, such as Purushottama (“Supreme Person”), Hrishîkesha (“He whose hair is bristling from ecstasy”), and Govinda (“Cow-Finder.” go or “cow” signifying spiritual riches).

  Arjuna said:

  Out of favor for me, you have declared the supreme mystery called the deep Self (adhyâtman) by which this confusion (moha) of mine is dispelled. (1)

  For, I have heard of the creation and the dissolution of beings from you in detail, O lotus-eyed [Krishna], as well as of [your] immutable majesty (mâhâtmya). (2)

  Even as you have described [Your] Self, O supreme Lord, so do I desire to see your lordly Form. O supreme Person. (3)

  If, O Lord, you think it possible for me to behold that [cosmic Form of yours], O Lord of Yoga, then do reveal to me [your] immutable Self. (4)

  The Blessed Lord said:

  O Pârtha, behold My forms [which are] a hundredfold, a thousandfold, of varied kinds, divine, many- colored and many-shaped. (5)

  Behold the dityas, Vasus, Rudras, Ashvins. and Maruts. Behold, O Bhârata, the many marvels never seen before.14 (6)

  Behold now, O Gudâkesha, the whole world, [with all its] moving and unmoving [things], abiding as one here in My [cosmic] body, and whatever else you desire to see. (7)

  Yet never will you be able to see Me with this your [physical] eye. I will grant you a divine (divya) eye. Behold my lordly Yoga. (8)

  Samjaya [the narrator of the dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna] said:

  O King [Dhritarâshtra], having spoken thus, the great Lord of Yoga, Hari, then revealed [his] supreme lordly Form to Pârtha. (9)

  [His Form has] many mouths and eyes, many marvelous appearances, many divine adornments, many divine upraised weapons, (10)

  wearing divine garlands and robes, anointed with divine fragrances, all-wonderful. [Behold] the God, infinite, omnipresent. (11)

  If the splendor of a thousand suns were to arise at once in heaven, that would be like the splendor of that Great Self. (12)

  Then Pândava saw the whole world, divided manifold, abiding in the One. there in the [cosmic] body of the God of Gods. (13)

  Then Dhanamjaya, filled with amazement (vismaya), with bristling hair, bowing his head before the God and doing anjali,15 spoke [thus]: (14)

  O God, in your [cosmic] body I behold the Gods and all the various kinds of beings, Lord Brahma seated on the lotus throne, and all the seers and divine serpents (uraga). (15)

  Everywhere I behold you [who are] of endless Form, with many arms, bellies, mouths, eyes. I cannot see in you beginning, middle, or end, O All-Lord, All-Form. (16)

  I behold you with diadem, mace, and discus—a mass of brilliance, flaming all round. [Yet you are] hard to see, for [you are] entirely a brilliant radiance of immeasurable sun-fire. (17)

  You are to be known as the supreme Imperishable (akshara). You are the supreme Treasure-Store (nidhâna) of all this. You are the Immutable (avyaya), the Guardian of the eternal law (dharma). You are the everlasting Person (purusha)—[now] I know. (18)

  Without beginning, middle or end, of endless strength (vîrya), with infinite arms and with moon and sun as eyes: I behold you—[your] mouth a flaming offering-consumer burning up all this with your brilliance. (19)

  By you alone is this interspace between Heaven and Earth pervaded, and all the quarters [too]. Seeing this marvelous, terrifying Form of yours, the triple world shudders, O Great Self. (20)

  Verily, these hosts of Gods enter into you. Some, frightened, pray with the anjali[-gesture]. Crying out, “Hail [to you]!”, multitudes of great seers (rishi) and adepts (siddha) laud you with excellent hymns. (21)

  Rudras, dityas. Vasus, and the Sâdhyas, the Vishve[-devas], the [two] Ashvins, the Maruts, and the quaffers-of-steam, and the hosts of Gandharvas, Yakshas, Asuras, and adepts—all behold you in amazement.16 (22)

  Beholding that great form of yours, O strong-armed [Krishna], with its many mouths and eyes, arms, thighs, feet, many bellies, many formidable fangs—the worlds shudder, and so do I. (23)

  Touching the sky, flaming many-colored, with gapin
g mouths and flaming spacious eyes—beholding you [thus], my innermost Self (antar-âtman) trembles, and I cannot find a hold or tranquillity (shama), O Vishnu. (24)

  And seeing your [numerous] mouths [studded with] formidable fangs resembling the fire of lime, I know not where to turn, and I find no shelter [anywhere]. Be gracious, O Lord of the Gods, O World- Home! (25)

  And all these sons of Dhritarâshtra together with hosts of protectors of the earth—Bhîshma, Drona, as well as the son of Suta and also our war lords— (26)

  they swiftly enter your mouths with formidable fear-instilling fangs. Some are seen sticking in between your teeth with pulverized heads. (27)

  As many rivers and water torrents flow headlong into the ocean, so do these heroes (vîra) of the world of men enter your blazing mouths. (28)

  As moths in profuse streams enter a blazing flame to be destroyed, so do the worlds in profuse streams enter your mouths to be destroyed. (29)

  With flaming mouths, you lick up all the worlds, completely devouring them. Filling the whole world with brilliance, your dreadful (ugra) rays blaze forth, O Vishnu. (30)

  Tell me who you are of dreadful form. Salutations be to you! O Best of Gods, have mercy! I wish to know you [as you were] at first. For I do not comprehend your creativity (pravritti). (31)

  The Blessed Lord said:

  I am time (kâla), wreaker of the matured world’s destruction, engaged here to annihilate the worlds. Except for you. all these warriors arrayed in the opposed ranks shall not be [alive after this battle]. (32)

  Therefore, you, arise, win glory! Conquering the enemies, enjoy a prosperous kingdom! Verily, they are already slain by Me. Be a mere tool (nimitta) [for Me], O Savyasâcin!17 (33)

  Drona, Bhîshma, Jayadratha, and Karna, as well as the other [heroes] are [already] slain by Me. You must strike [them down]! Do not be distressed. Fight! You will conquer [all your] rivals in battle. (34)

  Samjaya [the narrator] said:

  Upon hearing these words of Keshava, Kirîtin (i.e., Arjuna], doing anjali, trembling, saluting again and bowing down, said to Krishna with stammering [voice], very frightened: (35)