II: 42

[Krishna Jaya]

Chapter 2, Verse 42

 

"Those who lack discernment

May quote the letter of the scriptures,

But they are denying its inner truth."

 

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi:

 

"The Vedas are authentic expositions of the Dharma, the path of evolution.  They elucidate, step by step, the gradual process of the integration of life and teach the knowledge by which a person may rise through all levels of evolution and arrive at final liberation.  To enable one to profit by this wisdom, the Vedas advocate a course of disciplined action and thought. The discipline of action is dealt with in those chapters collectively called the Karma Kanda, which means pertaining to action.  In this and the following two verses, Krishna is referring to the Karma Kanda.

 

The purpose of the Vedic Karma Kanda is to establish a code of action that will bring success and prosperity in this life and hereafter.  It deals with the rites and rituals necessary to establish coordination between the different aspects of individual life: coordination between humanity and other creatures, between humanity and the forces of nature, between humanity and angels, and between humanity and God.  The Karma Kanda of the Vedas lays down specific conditions for the attainment of specific results.  It is a clear, practical exposition of the laws of nature governing cause and effect in creation."

 

Swami Shivananda:

 

"Unwise people who lack discernment place great stress upon the Karma Kanda.  They extol these actions and rewards unduly.  They are highly enamored of such Vedic passages which prescribe ways for the attainment of heavenly enjoyments.  However, life in heaven is also transitory.  After the fruits of one's good actions have been exhausted, one returns to the earth-plane for more lessons.  Freedom can only be realized through knowledge of the Self and not by performing even a thousand and one rituals."

 

Sri Aurobindo:

 

“In the Yoga of the Gita, works have a much wider significance than the sacrificial system of complicated rites.  All activity is to be regarded as worship.  Worship is the very condition of life.  With worship as their eternal companion, the father of creatures created the peoples. 

 

But the Vedic sacrifices of the Karma Kanda are offerings of desire directed towards material rewards, desire eager for the results of action, desire looking for a larger enjoyment in paradise.  The Gita admits that by these means one may get enjoyment here and paradise beyond.  It is I myself, says the divine teacher (chapter 9, verse 24) who accepts these sacrifices and to whom they are ultimately offered.  But this is not the true road, nor is the enjoyment of paradise the liberation and fulfillment which we humans are to seek.

 

It is the ignorant who worship the gods, not knowing whom they are worshiping, for they are worshiping, though in ignorance, the one Lord and it is he who accepts their offering.  To that Lord is worship to be offered, the true sacrifice of all life’s energies and activities, with devotion, without desire, for his sake and for the welfare of the peoples.  It is because the the Vedic sacrifices of the Karma Kanda obscure this truth and with its tangle of ritual ties people down to the action of the three Gunas that their limitations are pointed out.”

 

Baba Hari Dass:

 

“Work without devotion is sand.”