This Chapter is called the Yoga of Renunciation, Freedom and Renunciation, and The Supreme Secret of Yoga by various commentators. This “wonderous dialogue” concludes the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita and touches many subjects that Sri Krishna has already discussed in previous chapters. The teaching begins with Arjuna’s question about renunciation – in Sanskrit called sanyasa and tyaga.
As Krishna says to Arjuna in slokas 11 and 12:
XVIII.11 As long as one has a body, one cannot renounce action altogether True renunciation is giving up all desire for personal reward.
XVIII.12 Those who are attached to personal reward will reap the consequences of their actions: some pleasant, some unpleasant, some mixed. But those who renounce every desire for personal reward go beyond the reach of karma.
A life of asceticism, living an austere life of a wandering pilgrim is sanyasa. Tyaga is relinquishing the fruits of action while engaged in one’s obligatory duty.
Sri Krishna is trying over and over to make it clear that renunciation is essentially a mental state. Attachment is a samskara, a living force in the mind. What makes the difference, Sri Krishna says, is the motivation (prompted by the gunas) behind the act of renunciation. In slokas 23-25, he describes the types of renunciation.
The kind of renunciation that Krishna recommends is not renouncing action but actions driven out of attachment for the fruits of action, the desire for personal benefit of ahamkara the Ego- I. Karma – phala– tyaga appears repeatedly in the chapters and is emphasized again here. This literally means relinquishing “the fruits of action.”
He further elaborates on types of renunciation and how this renunciation is influenced by the gunas that dominate the individual’s personality. Again, Sankhya philosophy is mentioned where the three gunas, constituents of nature, are key to understanding individual motivations for action/renunciation. Sri Krishna says that all doers of action are affected by these gunas: Sattva, Rajas and Tamas.
These gunas perpetuate three kinds of happiness which he explains further in slokas 37-39. We will read these aloud from the Eknath Easwaran translation. The conditioning of these gunas also affect the kinds of responsibilities that come naturally to an individual. Here the varnas or castes are discussed- what they are and how the ancient social order was managed in India – viz. Brahmins (the priestly class), Kshatriyas (warrior class), Vaishyas (merchant and business class) and Sudras (serving class). To understand the varnas and how they pertain to us, we have to understand our own gunas and motivations.
Each person’s duty comes naturally to them either by being born in a particular social order, as in the traditional structure, or finding one’s own path and living one’s dharma (duty). In a modern context it is our aptitudes, our own mental structures and innate strengths which enable us to find an appropriate profession.
The final part of the Chapter gives a description of one who is an enlightened person and is ready to reach union with Brahman. Sri Krishna returns to the importance of devotion and heart’s love for the divine. If the devotee takes refuge in the Lord, he will find peace and break out of the web of Maya (illusion, appearance) with the Lord’s grace.
Now Sri Krishna gives the supreme secret of Yoga – Slokas 53-66 as translated by Graham Schweig are most appropriate and we shall read them aloud during our May 6th session.
Arjuna is reassured and understands he has been blessed by Krishna since he approached Sri Krishna with humility and reverence to learn the highest truths.
Arjuna having received the supreme secret of Yoga is once more turned to action. He has been given the greatest Self knowledge and with Krishna’s teaching has destroyed his false identification as a body, sense, mind being. He is no longer gripped by the conditioning of the Gunas. With a clear understanding of his own divine nature and with devotion in his heart, he is ready to enter the battle.
~selected excerpts from Eknath Easwaran and Graham Schweig translations.
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