जन्म कर्म च मे दिव्यमेवं यो वेत्ति तत्त्वत: |
त्यक्त्वा देहं पुनर्जन्म नैति मामेति सोऽर्जुन || 9||
janma karma cha me divyam evaṁ yo vetti tattvataḥ
tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti so ’rjuna
janma—birth; karma—activities; cha—and; me—of mine; divyam—divine; evam—thus; yaḥ—who; vetti—know; tattvataḥ—in truth; tyaktvā—having abandoned; deham—the body; punaḥ—again; janma—birth; na—never; eti—takes; mām—to me; eti—comes; saḥ—he; arjuna—Arjun
Translation:
Those who understand the divine nature of My birth and activities, O Arjun, upon leaving the body, do not have to take birth again, but come to My eternal abode.
Commentary:
The essence of the Upanishadic declaration “Brahmavit Brahmaiva bhavati” is restated in this verse. One who knows Brahman becomes that. Between knowing and becoming, there is no distinction in Brahmavidya. It is different in the objective world; there the knower and the known are different. But in the realm of the Self, knowing and becoming are one. In other words, only he who knows Him becomes Brahman. But what is this knowing of Brahman? It is certainly not an intellectual conclusion, drawn by logic and argument from a study of the Sastras. One may be convinced by the logical argument that Brahman alone is real, and yet he may be far far away from realising Him. This is not knowledge of Brahman. Knowing Brahman means the direct experience of Atma which is beyond the body, senses mind and intellect. This is to know Brahman in the essence (Tattatah).
In this verse, the Lord states that he who knows the essential principle of His divine birth and action enters Him and has no further birth. By deep mediation and ecstasy of devotion, man becomes one with the Lord. To know the nature of the Lord is Sadhana, and to become one with Him is Sadhya. The first is practice the second is the goal. One must know Him Tattvatah (i.e) by impersonal realisation according to the injunctions of the Sastras.
Divine: The life and work of the Lord are divine and they cannot be compared with those of mortal beings. The Lord is the master of Maya, whereas all mortals are enslaved by Maya. Their birth and action are controlled by Maya. On the other hand, the Lord controls Maya and acts in His own state of supreme perfection. The man who is able to understand the mystery unites himself with the Lord and has no need to go through the cycle of birth and death. It shows that birthlessness is not a negative state of emptiness or nothingness, but a positive state of perfection and blessedness. The doubt that the ultimate state can only be a state of nothingness is common to many people. Being habituated to confusing life with the operations of the body, senses, and mind, man is not able to conceive a state beyond these planes. But it is made clear here that unity with the Lord comprehends life at all levels and in all planes of existence and is infinitely more beyond.
Having abandoned the body: One should note that abandoning the body is not a precondition of realisation. Even when the physical body remains, if a man comes to know by meditation and devotion the ultimate mystery of the Lord, he becomes free from Samsara, the cycle of birth and death. What is here mentioned is only to affirm that there is no more birth for the knower of the Lord.
It will be sufficient for the youngsters who come here if they know only two things. If they know these, they will not have to practise much discipline and austerity. First, who I am, and second, who they are.
— Sri Ramakrishna [Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna]
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Questioner: “The Master used to say: ‘I have made the mould; now you may cast the image.’ What does this mean?”
Sri Sarada Devi: “To ‘cast the image’ means to meditate on the Master, to think of the various incidents of his life.” [Source: Sri Sarada Devi: A Divine Life in Pictures, by Swami Chetanananda]
Swami Bhuteshananda: “What do they look at? I am not good looking, an old frail man with a dark complexion.”
Swami Chetanananda said: “You are their guru.”
Swami Bhuteshananda: “If they think of this form of Bhuteshananda as the guru, then they will have no end of grief. One devotee came and said: ‘I have no peace of mind. How can I get some peace?’ I said: ‘There is a way that is simple and straightforward.’ ‘What is it?’ I said: ‘Give up all your desires.’ The devotee said: ‘We live in the world. How can we give up all desires? That is impossible.’ ‘Then you have to suffer,’ I said. ‘There is only one way—giving up desires. If you cannot do that, you will never get peace.‘ The Lord says in the Gita (9:33): ‘Having come into this transitory, joyless world, worship Me.’”
(Source: Stories of Vedanta Monks, Vol. 1)
Question: Who attains union with the Lord?
Answer: He who knows the mystery of the birth and work of the Lord in its essence attains union with Him.
Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 4 🔻 (42 Verses)
