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RE: gItA shloka

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Krishna Kalale • February 16, 2000 


-----Original Message-----
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Sent:	Saturday, February 12, 2000 2:17 PM
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Subject:	Re: gItA shloka

Sriman Chandrasekaran said:

I have a doubt in the purport of the following verse in the 3rd chapter of
gItA.

    ..........
 >>>   tAn akr~thsna vidhO mandhAn kr~thsnavin na vichAlayEth ||
[Krishna Kalale]

Each acharya has commented on this verse in a different way.  Sri 
Ramanujacharya states: person though ignorant of atman and not qualified 
for jnanayoga, may however put forth efforts towards self realization by 
trying to focus on atman.  Since that person's mind is tainted by 
indulgences in material experiences, he may get caught up in the gunas or 
modifications of material experiences instead of really experiencing the 
self.  One should be free of material hankerings and association to be 
ready to realize the atman.  Since those ignorant people are not free from 
material desires, they are not ready for jnanayoga, hence they should do 
only karmayoga. One who is a mature jnanayogi should not persuade those 
ignorant aspirants to quit karmayoga and begin jnanayoga.  SInce people 
tend to follow the best among teachers,  they may try to emulate a 
jnanayogi and try jnanyoga; which may result in them losing both paths 
since they are not ready of jnanayoga and they have left karmayoga to 
perform jnanayoga.  Hence, a person qualified to jnanayoga should still 
perform karmayoga so that he sets an example to others who are not capable 
of doing jnanayoga.  By this that jnani loses nothing since he can attain 
self realization purely through karmayoga. this is the concept of 
lokasamgraha or "welfare of people in general".

the 18th chapter verse is different.  that does not exactly match with this 
message in this verse.

adiyen
Krishna Kalale