Gita Bhashya -Sankara 29

Shri Sankara's Gita Bhashya

(Sri Sankaracharya's Commentary on the Gita)

CHAPTER -2

And so, two separate viewpoints are particularised by the Lord by the words, " This which has been declared unto you is wisdom in regard to Sāmkhya. Hearken now to the wisdom of Yoga " (11-39). And of the two, He distinctively declares in the verse, " In the beginning (of creation), by Me, the embodiment of Veda", that the devotion to Jñāna Yoga resting on Sāriikhya buddhi (wisdom of Self-realisation) is for Sārhkhyas; and in like manner He distinctively speaks of the devotion to KarmaYoga resting on Yoga-buddhi (wisdom of Yoga) in the words, by Karma- Yoga (the Path of Action) for the Yogins (i.e. the active)" (III-3). In this manner, the two distinctive paths, one resting on he wisdom of Self-realisation and the other on the wisdom of (the action-oriented) Yoga, have been spoken of by the Lord Himself, sce.ng that Jñāna and Karma-(thc former) depending on the concepts of non-agency and one-ncss (of the Self), and (the latter) on those of doership and manifoldness (of sclves)cannot be related to one and the same person at the same instant. The very same distinction mentioned here has also been made clear in the Satapatha Brāhmana. Having laid down the renunciation of all work by the text, " Desiring this world (the Sell) alone, the Brāhmanas having non-attachment to the worldly life become recluses ", it says in the sequel, " What shall we achieve through children, we who have attained this world, this Self?". In the same Brāhmana, it is stated that before taking a wife and after completing the enquiry into Dharma (Vedic injunction) the worldly-minded man 'desired' to secure the means of attaining the three worlds, namely son and the two-fold wealth, human and divine—the human wealth consist­ ing of karma (work), being the means for attaining the world of Pitrs (the manes), and the divine wealth being Vidyā (meditation, upāsanā), constituting the means for attaining the world of the gods. Thus, it has been pointed out by Śruti that all works, Vedic and other, pertain only to the un-enlightened man who has desires. In the words, "Renouncing them, they lead a life of mendicancy", renunciation has been prescribed for him who is devoid of desire and wishes only for the world of the Self. This separate mention would be improper if the simultaneous combination of Vedic rites and Wisdom (of the Self) had been intended by the Lord.