3. sa eva 'yarn maya to 'dya
yogah proktah puratanah
bhakto 'si me sakha ce 'ti
rahasyarh by etad uttamam
(3) This same ancient yoga has been today declared to thee by Me; for thou art My devotee and My friend ; and this is the supreme secret
yogah puratanah: ancient yoga. The teacher declares that he is not stating any new doctrine but is only restoring the old tradition, the eternal verity, handed down from master to pupil.
The teaching is a renewal, a rediscovery, a restoration of know-ledge long forgotten. All great teachers like Gautama the Buddha and Mahavira, and R. are content to affirm that they are only restating the teachings of their former masters. Milindapanha explains that it is an ancient way that had been lost that the Buddha opens up again.[1] When the Buddha returns to his father's capital in an ascetic's garb with a begging bowl in hand, his father asks him : "Why is this?" and the answer comes : "My father, it is the custom of my race." The king in surprise asks : "What race?" and the Buddha answers :
"The Buddhas who have been and who shall be; Of these am I and what they did, I do,
And this, which now befalls, so fell before That at his gate a king in warrior mail
Should meet his son, a prince in hermit weeds."
The great teachers do not lay claim to originality but affirm that they are expounding the ancient truth which is the final norm by which all teachings are judged, the eternal source of all religions and philosophies, the philosophic perennials, the sanatana dharma, what Augustine calls the "wisdom that was not made; but is at this present, as it hath ever been and so shall ever
be"[2] bhaktosi me sakha Ceti. Thou art My devotee and My friend. Revelation is never closed. So long as the human heart has qualities of devotion and friendship, God will disclose His secrets to them Divine self communication is possible wherever we have sincerity and a sense of need. Religious revelation is not a past event; it is that which continues to be. It is possible for all beings and not the privilege of a few. "Every one that is of the Truth heareth my voice," said Jesus to Pilate.
