Sathya Sai Vahini Index

Jnana-Yoga

Jnana Yoga is mostly devoted to the study of principles, basic principles. This Universe or Cosmos that we cognise as outside ourselves can be explained by means of various theories of knowledge, but, no one of them can be convincing to the uninitiated. The Jnana Yogi weaves many such theories and hypotheses. He is not convinced of the reality of any material object in the Universe, or of any activity or even of any one else who propounds any other explanation. He believes that he should transcend the daily chores of life and not be bound by social or other obligations. In the vast Ocean of Isness, or Sath, all objects are but drops, in his view. They are all struggling to move from the circumference to the Centre, from which they manifested through Maya. The Jnana Yogi too yearns to merge in the Centre, the Core of Reality, away from the tangle of apparent diversity. He exerts himself to become the Truth, not only to become aware of It. Of course, as soon as he is aware of It, he becomes It. He cannot tolerate the thought that he and Truth are separate and distinct.

The Divine is his only kith and kin. He knows none other. He does not entertain any other urge, any other attachment, any other desire. God is all in all. He cannot be affected by grief or joy, failure or success. He sees and experiences only one unbroken, unchallenged stream of bliss-consciousness. For the person who is firmly established in this state, the world and its ups and downs appear trivial and illusory. In order to stay in that Consciousness, he has to counter the pulls of the senses and face the fascinations of the world without any agitation of mind.

The Jnana Yogi is vigilant against the temptations held before him by his senses, and turning them aside, he approaches the Divine and seeks strength and solace there. He realises that the power and energy that vitalise the tiniest of the tiny and the vastest of the vast is the same Divine Principle. His actions, thoughts, and words reveal this vision he has experienced. This is the Paramartha Drshti, the Supra-Vision. It sees all elements - the earth, fire, water, wind and sky - as the Divine itself and all beings - man, beast, bird, and worm - as emanations from God and therefore fully Divine.

One fact has to be noted here. If a person has this knowledge of the immanence of the Divine, and even of its transcendence, he cannot be honoured as a Jnani. For, the knowledge has to be digested through actual experience. This is the crucial test. It is not enough if the intellect nods approval and is able to prove that Godhead is all. The belief must penetrate and prompt every moment of living and every act of the believer. Jnana should not be merely a bundle of thoughts or a packet of neatly constructed principles. The faith must enliven and enthuse every thought, word and deed. The self must be soaked in the nectar of the Jnana.

The intellect is a poor instrument. For, what the intellect approves as correct today is tomorrow rejected by the same intellect on second thoughts! Intellect cannot judge things finally and for all time. Therefore, seek for the experience. Once that is won, the Atman can be understood 'as all this'. That is the Jnana Yoga. According to the Bharathiya way of thought, the Vedas are taken as the Voice of God. Thus, the Vedas are the primary source of all knowledge for Bharathiyas. Everything is tested on the basis of Vedas. The ancient sages have laid down that what agrees with the Vedas is agreeable to man; what does not thus agree cannot agree with him. The Vedas were not spoken by humans, or composed by men and women. They were heard and recorded by sages, and transmitted by the guru to the pupil for generations by word of mouth. The guru recited, the pupil listened and recited just as the guru did, with the same care and correctitude. Thus the Vedas have been handed down from centuries. No one can determine the exact dates when the Vedas were first heard or recited. Therefore, they are taken as Sanathana or Eternal.

At this point, we have to keep in mind another very important truth. All other religions prevalent in the world hold as authoritative communications made to some holy persons by God Himself in His Corporate Form, or through some Superhuman personalities or embodiments of parts or portions of Divinity. Bharathiyas do not follow this line. They declare that the Vedas are based on no human authority; they do not depend on any man for their validity. They are emanations direct from God; they are primeval; they are their own authority and validity. They were not written down or composed, constructed or put together.

The Cosmos or Creation is limitless, eternal and it has neither beginning nor end. So too, the Voice of God, namely the Vedas have no limit, they are eternal, they have no beginning nor end. 'Vid', the root from which the word Veda is derived, means, 'to know'. When Knowledge began the Vedas too manifested. The rishis visualised and announced them. They are the 'see-ers of mantras' - the mantra-drshtas.

The Vedas have two major sections: the Karmakanda and the Jnanakanda. First comes the Karmakanda and it is followed by the Jnanakanda. In the Karmakanda, a number of different 'krathus' or sacrifices in which oblations are offered in the sanctified fire, are mentioned. Most of them have been given up by Bharathiyas in recent times, since it has become difficult to perform them with the exactitude the Vedic rules prescribe. Some still continue in a very attenuated form. In the Karmakanda, the moral codes are insisted upon very much. The moral rules and restrictions regulating life and conduct refer to the Brahmachari (the student) stage, the Grhastha (householder) stage, the Vanaprastha (recluse) stage and the Sanyasa (monastic) stage. Also, the Karmakanda declares what is right and wrong for people following various professions and occupying different statuses. These are being followed here and there, in some thin form, by people in India.

The Jnanakanda is called Vedanta or the end of the Vedas, the Goal, the Finale. The Jnanakanda is enshrined in the Upanishads. The adherents of the Dwaitha, Visisht-adwaitha and Adwaitha schools of philosophical thought, the worshippers of Siva, Vishnu, Sakti, Surya and Ganapathi - all accept the supreme authority of the Vedas. They may interpret the Upanishads and other texts according to their own predilections and intellectual calibre, but no one dare question the authority of the Veda or the Vedanta. So, it is possible to use the words Hindu, Bharathiya or Vedantin, to the same person. The various schools of philosophical thought current at the present time may appear difficult to comprehend or as derived from unripe understanding; but, when the matter is thought over in quiet, or the texts are studied in silence, or investigated without prejudice it will become clear that they have all relied on the points raised and the conclusions arrived at in the Upanishads. The Upanishads are being symbolised and worshipped in image form in temples and in private shrines, as a tribute to this universal appeal. They have entwined themselves, inseparably, in our lives.

The Vedas are 'endless': Anantho vai vedaah. But, they are reduced into four collations and their essence was preserved in those forms. For promoting peace and prosperity in the world, the four were then taught and propagated. They are the Rg, Sama, Yajur and Atharvana Vedas. They uphold Dharma (Righteousness), proclaim the Reality, and promote peace and harmony by developing among men the attitudes of worship, music, and adoration and also by the cultivation of skill in weaponry and war. They present the ideal before mankind, and exhort them to follow.