Gyaneshwari -Sant Gyaneshwar
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Chapter-18
Release
In this way, this discourse known as the Bhagavad-Gita, enshrined in seven hundred verses, constitutes the Vedas incarnate, but is superior to it on the point of generosity. The Vedas are a veritable treasure of knowledge, but none are so niggardly in imparting it. They whisper knowledge into the ears of the first three castes (viz. the Brahmins, the Kshatriyas and the Vaishyas). They are sitting tight without giving elbow room (in the temple of knowledge) to the women, shudras etc. who are equally affected by worldly misery (Jnanadeva says). So it seems to me, that to make up for this deficiency and to make this knowledge available to all, the Vedas have assumed the form of the Gita. More than the Vedas, this Gita enters into their minds in the form of its meaning, into the ears through hearing and into the mouths through reciting (1456-1460). Whoever recites it everyday or spends his time in the company of those who recite it or copies it and distributes it in a book form, opens a free eating place providing the food of liberation in the market-place of worldly affairs. Just as the sky provides open space for all to dwell in the firmament, to stay on the earth or to roam in the sunlight, so the Gita welcomes all without discriminating between the best and the lowest and bestows upon them, the bliss and peace of liberation. Thus the Vedas, afraid of being called miserly, entered the womb of the Gita and got dazzling fame (1461-1465). Lord Krishna taught the Vedas, in the form of Gita, so that all can grasp them, with ease. Just as the entire household gets the supply of milk, which the cow releases for the sake of its calf, so the entire world becomes eligible for salvation, through Arjuna. The cloud sends rain out of kindness to the chataka bird, but the world gets satisfaction from it. The sun rises every morning, to make the helpless lotus blossom, but the eyes of all people become gratified by its light. Thus on the plea of Arjuna, Lord Krishna revealed the Gita to the world and lightened the heavy burden of its existence (1466-1470). He is thus, not only the Lord of Lakshmi, but, he is the veritable sun, who has illumined the three worlds, by the brilliance of the gem, in the form of Gitatext. Holy is that dynasty which gave birth to Arjuna, who became eligible for this knowledge and made its enclosure, free for all. |
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