THE BHAGAVAD-GITA WITH SRI SANKARACHARYA'S COMMENTARY INTRODUCTION Narltyawa is beyond the Avyakta; From the Avyakta the Mundane Egg is born; Within the Mundane Egg, verily, are these worlds And the Earth made up of the seven Dvipas.
[This is a paurawic verse speaking of the Antaryamin, the Inner Guide and Regulator of all souls. It is quoted here by the commentator in order that he may begin his important work, after the orthodox fashion, with the con* templation of his favourite God (Ishifa-Devata), namely, N&~ r&ya«a, and further with a view to shew that the Pura«a (archaic history), the Itihasa (ancient tradition) and the Gtt& teach one and the same doctrine. NEtr&yarca is, In the popular conception, the Creator who was brooding over the waters just before the "beginning of Creation. Cf. Manu I. 10. According to a subtler conception, N&r&yawa is the Antaryamin, the Divine Being in whom all embodied souls have their being. He is not a creature of the Avyakta, but far transcends it. It is the Avyakta,— the Avyaknta, Maya» the undifferentia- ted matter, — out of which, when in apparent union with Isvara, is evolved the principle of Hira/jyagarbba, here spoken of as Attda or the Mundane Egg, which is composed of the five simple rudimentai elements of matter. An intermingling of the five rudimentai elements of matter gives rise to the prin- ciple of the Viraj, of which are formed the Earth and all the 2 THE BHAGAVAD-GITA 2 THE BHAGAVAD-GITA other lokas or inhabited regions — (Anandagiri). The seven Dvtpas or insular continents are Jambu, Plaksha, Kusa. Krauncha, S&ka, S&lmala and Pushkara. For further parti- culars regarding these, see Wilson's Vish/wpur&wa, Vol, 1, p. 109 ff.]
The twofold Vedic Religion The Lord created the universe, and wishing to secure order therein He first created the Prajapatis* (Lords of creatures) such as Marichi and caused them to adopt the Pravntti-Dharma, the Religion of Works. He then created others such as Sanaka and Sanandana f and caused- them to adopt the Nivntti-Dharma, the Religion of Renunciation, characterised by knowledge and indifference to worldly objects. It is the twofold Vedic Religion of Works and Renunciation that maintains order in the universe. This Religion which directly leads to liberation and worldly prosperity has long t been practised by all castes and religious orders (var«a-&srama) ■ — from the br&hmawas downwards, — who sought welfare.
The purpose ol the Divine Incarnation When, owing to the ascendancy of lust in its votaries, religion was overpowered by irreligion caused by the vanishing faculty of discrimination, and irreligion was advancing, — it was # They are ten in number, Cf. Manu III, 34, 55. Authorities differ as to their names and number. See Wilson's Vishwupurana, Vol. I pp, 100—102.
t They were * without desire or passion, inspired with holy wisdom, estranged from the universe and undesirous of progeny.' See Vishnu- pur&na, Part I, Ch, VII. The authorities differ as to their names and number; see "Wilson's V. P., Vol I. pp. 77—78. These, declining to create progeny, remained— as the name of the first, Sanatkumara, implies— ever boys, Kumdras, that is, ever pure and innocent.
J The words ' dirgbewa kalena ' (meaning a long time) in the Com. are also construed* as an alternative interpretation, wiih the next follow- ing sentence. Then it means ' a long time after, ' 4,e»f when the Krita and the Treta Yugas had been over and the Dvapara-Yuga was approach- ing its end.— (A).
INTRODUCTION 3 INTRODUCTION 3 then that the original Creator (Adi-kartri), Vishnu, known as N&r&yawa, wishing to maintain order in the universe, incarna- .ted* Himself as Krishna, begotten in Devaki by Vasudeva, for the preservation of the ' earthly Brahman ' t of spiritual life (Brahmanatva) on the earth. For it was by the preserva- tion of spiritual life that the Vedic Religion could bepreserved^ since thereon depend all distinctions + of caste and religious order. The Lord, always possessed as He is of (infinite) knowledge, supremacy, power, strength, might and vigour, controls the Maya, — belonging to Him as Vistmu, — the Mula- prakrlti, the First Cause, composed of three Gu«as § or ener. gies, and He appears to the world as though He is born and embodied and helping the world at large; whereas really He is unborn and indestructible, is the Lord of creatures, and is by nature Eternal, Pure, Intelligent and Free [The special stress laid here on Maya as belonging to and being under the control of the Isvara is chiefly intended # The words in the Com. corresponding to this are ' arasena samba- bhuva,' As amsa means a part, it would mean that Krishna was a partial incarnation of God Vishnu-. But of the several forms of the incarnation of God, Krishna is on all hands recognised as a full incarna- tion of Vishnu. Accordingly, ^nandagiri explains ' amsena ' to mean * svechchhanirmitena-mayamayena svarupena,' that is, "in an illusory form created by His own will.
t The Commentator here refers to the following passage: " That G-od whom Lady Devaki begot by Vasudeva for the preservavation of the earthly Brahman -." (Santi^parva, 47th Adhyaya.) "Earthly Brahman " is explained by Nilakantfha to mean wthe Vedas, the brahmanas, and yagnas or sacrifices.
% Kshatriyas and others require the help of the brahmanas, the spiritual class, in the performance of sacred rites and in the study o£ Scriptures.-— (A») § For a full description of the Gunas see xiv. 5 et. seq.
4 THE BHAGAVAD-CITA to impress the idea that Maya does not exist or act independ- ently of Brahman, the Isvara. He is quite independent of Maya, unlike the individual souls who are subject to its influ- ence. The followers of the historical school of the Sankhya- darsana hold, on the other hand, that Matter and Spirit, Prakriti and Purusha, are two distinct principles, the former being as real as the latter and acting in unison with it. — (A.]
Without any interest of His own, but with the sole inten" tion of helping His creatures, He taught to Arjuna, who was deeply plunged in the ocean of grief and delusion, the towfold Vedic Religion, evidently thinking that the Religion would widely spread when accepted and practised by men of high character.
The Glta and the Commentary It is this Religion, which was taught by the Lord, that the omniscient and adorable Veda-Vyasa (the arranger of the Vedas) embodied in the seven hundred verses called Gitas.
This famous Gtta- $astra is an epitome of the essentials of the whole Vedic teaching; and its meaning is very difficult to understand. Though, to afford a clear view of its teaching, it has been explained word by word and sentence by sentence* and its import critically examined by several commentators^ still I have found that to the laity it appears to teach diverse and quite contradictory doctrines. I propose, therefore, to write a brief commentary with a view to determine its precise meaning.
Jnana-Yoga is the means to the Supreme Bliss The aim of this famous Gtta-$astra is, briefly, the Supreme Bliss, a complete cessation of samsara or transmig- ratory life and of its cause. This accrues from that Religion (Dharma) which consists in a steady devotion to the knowledge oi the Self, preceded by the renunciation of all works. So INTRODUCTION 5 with reference to this Religion, the doctrine of the Gita, the Lord says in the Anu-Gita* as follows: " That religion, indeed, is quite sufficient for the realisation of the state of Brahman, the Absolute.'* (Asv. Parva xvi. 12.) In the same place it is also said: " He is without merit and without sinf without weal and woe, — he who is absorbed in the One Seat, silent and thinking nothing."
And He also says: " Knowledge is characterised by renunciation. " (/ bid xliii. 26.) Here also at the end Arjuna is thus exhorted: " Abandoning all dharmas* come to Me alone for shelter." (xviii. 66.)
How Karma -Yoga is a means to the Supreme Bliss Though the Religion of "Works, — which, as a means of attaining worldly prosperity, is enjoined on the several castes and religious orders,— leads the devotee to the region of the Devas and the like, still, when practised in a spirit of complete devotion to the Lord and without regard to the (immediate) results, it conduces to the purity of the mind (sattva-suddhi). The man whose mind is pure is competent to tread the path of knowledge, and to bun comes knowledge; and thus (indirectly) * This forms part of the Asvamedhaparva and is contained in chap- ters 16-51 of that parva or section. It professes to be a sort of recapitula- tion of the teaching of the Bhagavad-GSla. Sometime after the fratrici- dal war was over, Arjuna requested Krishna " to repeat the instruction which had been conveyed to him on the holy field of Kurukshetra, but which had gone out of his degenerate mind. Krishna thereupon protest- ed that He was not equal to a verbatim recapitulation of the Bhagavad- glta, but agreed, in lieu of that, to impart to Arjuna the same instruction in other words through the medium of a certain ancient story,"— See Sacred Books of the East, Vol. VIII, pp. 197-198.
6 THE BHAGAVAD-GITA the Religion of Works forms also a means to the Supreme Bliss, Accordingly, with this very idea in mind, the Lord says: " He who does actions, placing them in Brahman,'* cl Yogins perform actions, without attachment, for the purification of the self.'* (v. 10> 11).
The specific subject and object of the Gita-Sastra The Gita Sastra expounds this twofold Religion, whose aim is the Supreme Bliss. It expounds specially the nature of the Supreme Being and Reality known as Vasudeva, the Parabrahman, who forms the subject of the discourse. Thus* the Gita-Sastra treats of a specific subject with a specific object and bears a specific relation (to the subject and object). A knowledge of its teaching leads to the realisation of, all human aspirations. Hence my attempt to explain it.
* It is considered incumbent on a commentator to state, before commenting on a work, tbe subject and the object, as well as the class of persons for whom it is intended, and the relation in whicb it stands to the three severally, Here the subject is the Para-Brahman; the ob- ject is Salvation, Moksha. It is intended for those who seek deliverance from the turmoil of sams&ra* It is related to the subject as an exposition thereof, and to the object as a means of attaining it.
FIRST DISCOURSE THE DESPONDENCY OF ARJUNA SamJaya narrates the course of the war Dhritarash^ra said: i. What did Pkndu's sons and mine do when they assembled together on the sacred plain of Kurukshetra, eager for battle, O Samjaya?
Sawjaya said: 2. Having seen the army of the P&wiavas drawn up in battle-array, prince Duryodhana then approached his teacher and spoke (these) words: Duryodhana addresses Drona 3. " O teacher, look at this grand army of the sons of Vknd% marshalled by thy talented pupil, the son of Drapada.
ggsRlr facias* s^sr?rir^: it tf n 4. "Here are heroes, mighty archers, equal in battle to Bhima and Arjuna,— Yuyudhana, Virafe, and Drupada, the master of a great car (maharatha).* 5. " Dhrishfoketu, Chekitana, and the valiant king of Kasi, Purujit and Kunti-Bhoja and that eminent man Saibya; •Sl 6, " The heroic Yudha-manyu and the brave Uttamaujas; the son of Subhadr& and the sons of Draupadi, all masters of great cars (mahlkathas).
r^. "N 7. " Bat know, O best of the twice-born, who are the most distinguished among us, the leaders of my army; these I name to thee by way of example.
* Technically, maharatha means a ' warrior proficient in military science who single-handed can fight a thousand archers.'
4—11] THE DESPONDENCY OF ARJUNA 9 8. '• Thyself and Bbishma, and Kama, and also K>ipa, the victor in war, Asv&ttMman and Vikaraa, and also Jayadratha, the son of Soma- datta; 9. " And many other heroes who have given up their lives for my sake, fighting with various weapons, all well-skilled in battle.
10. "This army of ours protected by Bhishma is inadequate, whereas that army of theirs which is under the protection of Bhima is adequate.* il. " And therefore do ye all, occupying your respective positions in the several divisions of the army, support Bhishma only."
* This sloka is differently interpreted by different commentators* -4nandagiri's gloss suggests various interpretations which all go to make Duryodhana mean that his army, larger and led by an abler leader than the enemy's, is more likely to win the battle.
Both armies ready for battle.
12. His mighty grandsire, (Bbisbma), the oldest of the Kauravas, in order to cheer him,, sounded on high a lion's roar and blew his conch.
»s ^ 13. Then, all at once, conches and kettle- drums, cymbols, drums and horns were played upon, and the sound was a tumultuous uproar.
14. Then, too, Madhava and the son of Pa.ndu9 seated in a grand chariot yoked to white horses, blew their celestial conches.
15. Hrishlkesa blew the Panchajanya, and Arjuna blew the Devadatta. Bhlma, (the doer) of terrible deeds, blew his great conch Pau^dra.
16. Prince Yudhish^hira, the son of Kunti, blew the Anantavijaya, while Nakula and Sahadeva blew the Sughosha and the Mampushpaka.
12—22] THE DESPONDENCY OF ARJUNA 11 17. The king of K&si, an excellent archer, Sikhandin, the master of a great car, Dhrish/a- dyumna and Viraia, and the unconquered S&tyaki; 18. Drupada and the sons of Draupadl, O lord of earth, and the son of Subhadra, of mighty arms, all together blew their respective conches.
19. That tumultuous sound rent the hearts of (the people) of Dhfitarashfra's party, making both heaven and earth resound.
Ariuna's survey of the enemy * 20-22. Then seeing the people of Dhritar&sh- fra's party regularly marshalled, while the discharge of weapons began, Arjuna, the son of Pindu, whose ensign was a monkey, O King of earth, took up his bow and said thus to Kmrma: " O Achyuta (Immortal), place my chariot between the two armies, that I may just see those who stand here desirous to fight, and know with whom I must fight in this strife of battle.
23. " I will observe those who are assembled here and are about to engage in battle desirous to do service in war to the evil-minded son of Dhritarashfra" Sa?njaya said: 24-25. O descendant of Bharata, Hrishike^a (Krishna) thus addressed by Guiakesa (Arjuna) stationed that excellent car betweeq the two armies in front of Bhishma and Dro^a and all the rulers of earth, and said: " O son of PHtha, look at these assembled Kauravas*" 20—30] THE DESPONDENCY OF ARJUNA 13 26-27. Then the son of Pritha saw arrayed there in both the armies fathers and grandfathers, teachers, maternal uncles, brothers, sons, grandsons and comrades, fathers-in-law and friends.
^ <\ sFOTflpr sr «prw: e«n»iw|jwreraT^ II ^ II 27-28. When the son of Kunti saw all the kinsmen standing, he was overcome with deepest pity and said thus in sorrow: Ariuna's words of despondency Arjuna said: 28-29t Seeing these kinsmen, O Krishna, arrayed and desirous to fight, my limbs droop down, and my mouth is dried up. A tremor comes on my body and my hairs stand on end.
30. The GaWiva slips from my hand, and my skin is intensely burning. I am also unable to stand and my mind is whirling round, as it were, ' 31. And, 0 Kesava, 1 see omens foreboding evil. Nor do I see any good from killing my kinsmen in battle.
32- I desire not victory, O Knsna, nor king- dom, nor pleasures. Of what avail is dominion to us, O Govinda? Of what avail are pleasures and even life?
ot*t*it: hto gprrasrsr ^ Tramp: i 33-34* They for whose sake dominion, enjoy- ments and pleasures are sought by us are here standing, having staked their life and wealth; teachers, fathers, sons as well as grandfathers; maternal uncles, fathers-in-law, grandsons, bro- thers-in-law as also (other) relatives.
30—39] THE DESPONDENCY OF ARJUNA 15 *s,.fs 35. These, O slayer of Madhu, I do not wish to kill, though they kill me, even for the sake of dominion over the three worlds; how much less, for the sake of the earth 1 «nj> 36 O Janardana, what delight shall be ours after killing the sons of Dhntasashto? On killing these felons, sin only will take hold of us.
3y. We had then better not slay oar own kinsmen, the sons of Dhfitarashta; for, how can we be happy, O M&dhava, after slaying our own people?
Arluna's grief at the evils of war rs. f\r» 38-39. Though these, whose intelligence is stricken by greed, perceive no evil in the extinction of families and no sin in treachery to friends, yet, O Janardana, should not we, who clearly see evil in the extinction of a family, learn to refrain from this sinful deed?
40. On the extinction of a family, the imme- morial dharmas * of that family disappear. When the dharmas disappear, impiety (adharma) over- takes the whole family. + 41. By the prevalence of impiety, O Krisrma, the women of the family become corrupt. Women corrupted, there will be intermingling of castes (varaa-sawkara), O descendant of Wishms.
42. Confusion of castes leads the family of these destroyers of families also to hell; for, their forefathers fall (down to hell), deprived of the offerings of pin^a (rice-ball) and water.
* The duties and ceremonies practised by the family in accordance with the scriptural command.
f Of the destroyed (according to some)? of the destroyer (according to some others).
40—46] THE DESPONDENCY OF ARJUNA. 17 35stsfS snfanfc fssrafe mmn n tf 3 u 43. By these evil deeds of the destroyers of families which cause the intermingling of castes, the eternal dharmas of castes and families are subverted.
* ♦ ♦ <s 44. We have heard, O Janardana, that neces- sary is the dwelling in hell of the men whose family dharmas are subverted.
45. Alas! we have resolved to commit a great sin, inasmuch as we are endeavouring to slay our kinsmen out of a craving for the pleasures of dominion.
46. It would be better for me, if the sons of Dhritarashfra, with arms in hand, should slay me unarmed and unresisting in the battle.
18 THE BHAGAVAD GITA.
Samjayasaid: 47. Having said thus, Arjuna, sorrow-stricken in mind, cast aside his bow and arrows in the midst of the battle and sat down in the chariot.
SECOND DISCOURSE. SANKHYA YOGA.
A rj una's weakness condemned by the Lord.
Samjaya said: 1. To him who was thus overcome with pity and afflicted, and whose eyes were full of tears and agitated, the destroyer of Madhu spoke as follows: The Lord said: 2. Whence in (this) perilous strait has come upon thee this weakness cherished by the unworthy, -debarring from heaven and causing disgrace, O Arjuna?
3. Yield not to unmanliness, O son of PrltM. It does not become thee. Cast off this base weak- ness of heart and arise, O tormentor of foes 20 THE BHAGAVAD GITA [DlS. XL Arjuua seeks instruction from the Lord.
1!
Arjuna said: 4. O slayer of Madhu, how shall I assail in battle with arrows Bhishma and Drowa, who are worthy of worship, O slayer of enemies.
5. Better indeed in this world to live even upon alms than to slay the teachers of high honor. But, were I to slay these teachers, I should only in this world enjoy the pleasures of wealth, delights stained with blood.
6. And we know not which * is the better * Which of the two — living upon alms without slaying others, or fighting tha enemy which is our duty.— (A) alternative for us; nor do we know whether we shall conquer them or they will conquer us. Even the sons of Dhritarash/ra, after killing whom we do not wish to live, stand arrayed against us.
7. My heart contaminated by the taint of helplessness, my mind confounded about Dharma,* I ask Thee: Tell me what is absolutely good. I am Thy pupil. Instruct me, who have sought Thy grace.
8. I do not indeed see what can dispel the grief which burns up my senses, even after attain- ing unrivalled and prosperous dominion on earth or even lordship over gods.
* Dharma ' here means * Brahman ' who supports all — (* 22 THE BHAGAVAD GITA. [DlS. II, Sawjaya Said: 9. Having spoken thus to Hnshikesa, Guda- kei-a, the tormenter of foes, said to Govinda, < I will not fight/ and verily remained silent.
10. To him who was grieving in the midst of the two armies, O descendant of Bharata, HHshi- kesa as if smiling, spoke these words: Self-knowledge alone eradicates misery Now the portion from i. 2 to ii- 9 should be interpreted as showing whence arise those evils of grief, delusion, etc, which in sentient creatures cause the misery of samsara. — To explain: In ii. 4 et seq* Arjuna displayed grief and delusion caused by his attachment for, and the sense of separation from, dominion, the elders, sons, friends, well-wishers, kins- men, near and remote relations, — all this arising from his notion that " I am theirs and they are mine.** It was when discrimination was overpowered by grit* and delusion that Arjuna, who had of himself been engaged in battle as the duty of the warrior caste, abstained from fighting and proposed to lead a mendicant's life* which was the duty of a different caste*. Accordingly, all creatures whose intelligence is swayed by grief and delusion and other evil influences naturally abandon their proper duties and resort to those which are pro- hibited. Even if they are engaged in their duties, their con- duct in speech, thought and deed is egoistic and is prompted * The brahmawas alone are allowed to. enter the fourth Asrama of sawnyasa, wKich consists in the renunciation of all formal religion and vjorldly possessions.
9—10] SANKHYA YOGA. 23 by a longing for reward. In their case, then owing to an accumulation of merit and demerit, of dharma and adharma, the sawsara, which consists in passing through good and bad births, happiness and misery, becomes incessant. Grief and delusion are thus the cause of samsara. And seeing that their cessation could not be brought about except by Self-knowledge added to renunciation of all works, Lord Vasudeva wished to teach that knowledge for the benefit of the whole world through Arjuna and began His teaching with ii. 11- The doctrine that knowledge should be conjoined with works Against the foregoing view some * say: — Moksha can- not at all be attained by mere A'tmaj«ana-nish#ha by mere devotion of Self-knowledge preceded by the renunciation of all works. — By what then? — Absolute freedom can be attain- ed by knowledge conjoined with works? such as the Agnib6tra prescribed in the Sruti and the Srrmti. This is the conclusive teaching of the whole Gita. As supporting this view may be cited — they say — the verses ii. 33, ii. 47» iv. 15, etc It should not be supposed that the Vedic ritual is sinful because it involves cruelty, etct — Why? — For, our Lord says that, since fighting which is the profession of the warrior caste is * According to A'nandagiri the "Wittikfira Is the commentator here referred to. A Wittikara'sj interpretation of the Brahma*sutras I. i.- 11 — 19 is also referred to by Sankaracharya in his commentary on that section. It is very probable that one and the same person was the author of the two Wittis or commentaries. The Vritti on the Gita was evidently very voluminous, inasmuch as Sri Sankaracharya' s bhashya is professedly very short in comparison with it. It is, therefore, not unlikely that the author of the Vritti on the Gita was no other than Bodhayana who is said to have written a voluminous commentary on the Brahma-sutras, nearly a million slokas in extent, and of which the 5ri-bhashya of Sri Bamanujacharya is said1 to be a mere abstract.
f Such as the eating of uchchish*a or what remains of the food, of which another has already eaten — (A).
24 THE BHAGAVAD GITA. [DlS. II.
a proper duty (of the caste), it is not sinful though it involves cruelty, to elders, brother's sons and the like and is therefore very horrible; and He further says that* in the case of a neg- lect of this duty, *' abandoning thy duty and fame thou shalt incur sin.*' (ii. 33). This is clearly tantamount to asserting that those rites which are enjoined as life-long duties by the Vedas are sinless though they involve cruelty to animals. Sankhja and Yoga distinguished This is (wrong* since the Lord has made a distinction between J#ana»nisb*ba and Karma-nisbfha, between the devotion of knowledge and the devotion of works, as based respectively upon two distinct standpoints— The real nature of the Self as expounded here in ii* 11 — 30 by the Lord is called Sankhya and intellectual conviction of the truth pro- duced by a study of that section,— that the Self is no doer, owing to the absence in Him of such changes as birth — forms the Sankhya standpoint (Sankhya-buddhi); and the enligh- tened who hold this view are called Sankhyas. Yoga consists in the performance — before the rise of the foregoing convic- tion— of works as a means to raoksha, requiring a knowledge of virtue and sin, and presupposing that the Self is distinct from the body and is the doer and the enjoyer* Such convic- tion forms the Yoga standpoint (Yoga-buddhi?, and the per- formers of works who hold this view are Yogins- Accordingly two distinct standpoints are referred to by the Lord in ii. 39. Of these, He will assign to the Sankhyas the J a na-yoga, or devotion to knowledge, based upon the Sankhya standpoint; and so also He will assign to the Yogins the path of Karma- yoga, or devotion to works, based upon the Yoga standpoint (iii. 3). Thus with reference to the Sankhya and the Yoga standpoints two distinct paths have been shown by the Lord, seeing the impossibility of J«ana and Karma being conjoined in one and the same person simultaneously, the one being 10] SANKHYA YOGA. 25 based upon the idea of non-agency and unity* and the other on the idea of agency and multiplicity. The distinction .made here is also referred to in the Satapatha-Brahmana. — Having enjoined renunciation of all works in the words, ** The br&hma«as who, having no worldly attachments, wish only for this region of the Self, should give up alt worldly concerns,** the Br&hma«a continues thus in explanation of the said injunction •• " What have we to do with progeny, — we who live in this region, this Self? " (Brihadara#yaka-Upa- nishad, iv. 4, 22).
In the same Brahmana {ibid, i. 4, 17) we are told that, before marriage and after completing the investigation into the nature of the Dharma and Vedic injunction, the man of the world * desired * to acquire the means of attaining to the three regions (of man, of Pitris, and of Devas), namely, a son and the twofold wealth, — the one kind of wealth being called * human (manusha),' consisting of works and leading to the region of Pitris, and the other kind of wealth being called 4 godly (daiva),' consisting in wisdom (vidya, upasana) and leading to the region of Devas. Thus the Vedic rites are inten- ded for him only who has desires and has no knowledge of the Self* The renunciation of these is enjoined on him who seeks only the region of the Self and is free from desire. This assigning of the two paths to two distinct classes of people would be unjustifiable if the Lord had intended a simultaneous conjunction of knowledge and Vedic rites.
Conjunction inconsistent with, the sequel