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Chapter 13
Link:—ln the preceding verse, the Lord explained that the true knowledge of prakrti and Purusa, is the means of being free, from rebirth. Now, curiosity arises, whether there is any other means also to be free from rebirth i.e., to attain salvation. So, the Lord mentions four means, in the next two verses.
dhyanenatmani pasyanti kecidatmanambtmana
anye sadkhyena yogena karmayogena capare
Some perceive God in their own self by the self through meditation; others by the discipline of knowledge, and still others by the discipline of action. 24
Comment:
Dhyanenatmant pasyanti kecidatmanamatmana:- Strivers, by meditation on the Supreme Soul, Who is formless and attributeless, as well as, endowed with attributes and form etc., (as described in the twenty-seventh and twenty-eighth verses of the fifth chapter, from the tenth to the twenty-eighth verses of the sixth chapter and from the eighth to the fourteenth verses of the eighth chapter), according to their faith and taste, realize, the self or God.
As by knowledge of the distinction between, Prakrti and Purup, one's affinity with Prakrti is eliminated, so is this affinity, discarded by meditation. No meditation is possible, when mind is either in a deluded state, or in the volatile state. Meditation begins, in the non-volatile state. When the mind is concentrated in the self, that is the state of trance, in which there is no thought, of the world, body or any inclination etc. Then a Dhyanayogi, by perceiving the self in the self, by the self gets self-satisfied (Gita 6/19-20).
'Anye sankhyena yogena'—'Several strivers realize, the self by me self, through the Discipline of Knowledge, as has been described (from the eleventh to the thirtieth verses of the second chapter, from the thirty-third to the thirty-ninth verses of the fourth chapter, in the eighth and ninth verses as well as from the thirteenth to the twenty-sixth verses of the fifth chapter and in the fourth and fifth verses etc., of the twelfth chapter).
Here, the Discipline of Knowledge, stands for discrimination. A devotee, following the Discipline of Knowledge, discriminates between the real and the unreal. The real is eternal, all-pervading, unchanging, immovable, unmanifest and unthinkable, while the unreal is transitory, kaleidoscopic, movable and it always, undergoes modifications. Thus a devotee following this discipline, by discriminating the real from the unreal, isolates himself from prakrti and its evolutes and realizes, the self in the self, by the self.
'Karmayogena eapare'—Some strivers, attain the Supreme, through the Discipline of Action, as has been mentioned (from the forty-seventh to the fifty-third verses of the second chapter, from the seventh to the nineteenth verses of the third chapter, from the sixteenth to the thirty-second verses of the fourth chapter, in the sixth and seventh verses etc., of the fifth chapter). A devotee following the Discipline of Action, performs all his duties as well as religious sacrifice, charity, penance and pilgrimage etc., for the welfare of others. By doing so, his affinity with things, objects and persons etc., is renounced and he realizes the Supreme.
A man, has assumed his identification with the body. In order to do away with the assumption, he should assume his identification with the Lord, as he identified himself with the body. This identification with the Lord is not through senses etc. In knowing, the oversoul through instruments, dependence on matter subsists. Unless, affinity with Prakrti is renounced, he cannot get himself established, in the Supreme Soul. Therefore, Self-realization is beyond instruments.
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