Gyaneshwari -Sant Gyaneshwar
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Chapter-4
Sankhyayoga
The blessed Lord said: 1. I had declared this indestructible Yoga to the Sun, who told it to Manu, and Manu taught it to Ikshwaku. Then Lord Krishna said to Arjuna, I had declared this same Yoga to the sun before, but that was a long time ago. Afterwards the Sun imparted this Yoga to Vaivasvata Manu. Manu practised it himself and then taught it to Ikshwaku. Thus this tradition has come down to us from ancient times. 2. Royal sages who knew this Yoga handed it down the line. By the great efflux of time, O Arjuna, this Yoga was lost. Then many other royal sages came to know this Yoga; but since then, there is nobody who knows it now. As men became specially attached to their bodies and sensuous enjoyments, they became forgetful of the knowledge of the Self (16-20). Their faith took the wrong course, and they became addicted to sensuous enjoyments, which they considered as the acme of happiness. Tell me, who will care to buy fine cloth in the village of nude holy men? Of what use is the sun to a person blind from birth? Who will applaud music in an audience of deaf persons? How will jackals develop a liking for moonlight? How will the crows that close their eyes just before the rise of the moon, recognise him? So how can ignorant persons who have not seen the boundary of dispassion, or even heard about discriminating knowledge attain to Me (21-25)? No one knows how this delusion spread, but considerable time was lost; and so this Yoga became extinct in this world. |
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