Bhagavad Gītā – Chapter 5 Notes

 

This is a recap chapter, but also makes a forward link with Chapter 6.

 

verses 5-6  “I am not the doer”

verse 13 renounce attachment

verse 14 action, cause and effect – all come from prakṛti.  Those who understand this and focus on Brahman are free from delusion.

verses 27-29 – and they will find Brahman within themselves, through meditation (raja yoga)

 

N.B.  The following translation makes it clear that Krishna is talking about prāṇāyāma in verse 27:

“Expelling outside contacts, and fixing the gaze between the two eyebrows, equalising the inhalation and exhalation, moving within the nostrils…”

 

 

 

 

Notes from Radhakrishnan’s commentary on BG

 

 

1   Arjuna’s question relates only to those who have not known the Self.  For the ignorant, work is better than renunciation.

 

The intention of the Gītā right through seems to be that the work to be abandoned is selfish work which binds us to the chain of karma and not all activity.  We cannot be saved by works alone, but works are not opposed to saving wisdom.

 

2   The Sāṁkhya method involves the renunciation of works and the Yoga insists on their performance in the right spirit.  They are at bottom the same but the Yoga way comes more naturally to us.  The two ways are not inconsistent.  In Sāṁkhya, jñāna or insight is emphasized.  

 

4   In this chapter, Yoga means karmayoga and Sāṁkhya means the intellectual way with renunciation of works.

 

13 The nine gates are the two eyes, the two ears, the two nostrils, and the mouth and the two organs of excretion and generation.

 

18 Great learning brings great humility.  As our knowledge increases we become increasingly aware of the encircling darkness.  It is when we light the candle that we see how dark it is.  What we know is practically nothing compared to what we do not know.

 

23 The non-attachment from which inner peace, freedom and joy arise is capable of realization even here on earth, even when we live embodied lives.  In the midst of human life, peace within can be attained.

 

25 To do good to others is not to give them physical comforts or raise their standard of living.  It is to help others to find their true nature, to attain true happiness.  The contemplation of the Eternal Reality in whom we all dwell gives warmth and support to the sense of the service of fellow-creatures.  All work is for the sake of the Supreme.  To overcome the world is not to become other-worldly.  It is not to evade the social responsibilities.

 

   The two sides of religion, the personal and the social, are emphasized by the Gītā.  Personally, we should discover the Divine in us and let it penetrate the human; socially, society must be subdued to the image of the Divine.  The individual should grow in his freedom and uniqueness and he should recognize the dignity of every man, even the most insignificant.  Man has not only to ascend to the world of spirit but also to descend to the world of creatures.