Contents
Shri Sankara's Gita Bhashya
(Sri Sankaracharya's Commentary on the Gita)
CHAPTER -2
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Nor, also, would the disjunctive mention (of the two paths ol the two classes of persons) and other connected statements[1] be appropriate, if a combination of Knowledge with only such actioi as is prescribed by Smrti were intended. Moreover, the taun; (of Arjuna to the Lord)" Why then, dost Thou engage me in this' terrible action?" (II1-1) would be improper, knowing as he did that the act of fighting was the proper duty assigned by Srnj! to the Ksatriya. Therefore, none can demonstrate that combination of SelfKnowlcdge, even to the slightest extent, with action prescribed Śruti or by Smrti is taught in the Gltā-Śāstra (The Scripture of the Gita)[2]. Then, there is the case of the person, who (initially) having engaged himself in action through ignorance or from motives of desire etc., (subsequently) has his mind purified by the performance of sacrificial rites, gifts, religious austerity etc.,17 and in whom arises the knowledge concerning the supreme Truth—" all this is One only, the Brahman, the non-agent"—and who (thereafter), though he' ceased to be attracted to action or the result of action, is seen to perform action as assiduously as he did previously, (merely) for the guidance of the world:—that seeming activity of his is not the kind of activity with which combination of Knowledge is intended (by the opponent). Just as the performance of duties of the Kjatriya by the Lord, Vāsudeva (Himself) cannot be viewed as action to be combined with (His) knowledge as a means for attaining the end of human life (moksa), so also (is the semblance of activity) of the man of Self-Knowledge—absence of desire forfruitand of egotism being common in both cases. The knower of Truth does not think" I act", nor does he seek for the fruit (of action). |
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