Bhagavad Gita: Fire of knowledge burn to ashes all reactions to material activities (Text 37, Ch 4, Transcendental Knowledge)

Yathaidhamsi samiddho' gnir

bhasma-sat kurute'rjuna

jnanagnih sarva-karmani

bhasma-sat kurute tatha

(Text 37, Ch 4, Transcendental Knowledge)

Meaning: As a blazing fire turns firewood to ashes, O Arjuna, so does the fire of knowledge burn to ashes all reactions to material activities.

*** Perfect knowledge of self and Superself and of their relationship is compared herein to fire. This fire not only burns up all reactions to impious activities, but also reactions to pious activities, turning them to ashes. There are many stages of reaction: reaction in making, reaction fructifying, reaction already achieved, and reaction a priori. But knowledge of the constitutional position of the living entity burns everything to ashes. When one is in complete knowledge, all reactions, both a priori and a posteriori, are consumed. In the Vedas, it is stated "one overcomes both the pious and impious reactions of work"

Bhagavad Gita: Cross over the ocean of miseries (Text 36, Ch 4, Transcendental Knowledge)

api ced asi papebhyah

sarvebhyah papa-krt-tamah

sarvam jnana-plavenaiva

vrjinam santarisyasi

(Text 36, Ch 4, Transcendental Knowledge)

Meaning: Even if you are considered to be the most sinful of all sinners, when you are situated in the boat of transcendental knowledge you will be able to cross over the ocean of miseries.

***Proper understanding of one's constitutional position in relationship to divine is so nice that it can at once lift one from the struggle for existence which goes on in the ocean of nescience.The material world is sometimes regarded as an ocean of nescience and sometimes as a blazing forest. In the ocean, however expert a swimmer one may be, the struggle for existence is very severe. If someone comes forward and lifts the struggling swimmer from the ocean, he is the greatest savior. Perfect knowledge, received from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the path of liberation. The boat of divine consciousness is very simple, but at the same time the most sublime.

Bhagavad Gita: Never fall again into illusion (Text 35, Ch 4, Transcendental Knowledge)

Yaj jnatva na punar moham

evam yasyasi pandava

yena bhutany asesani

draksyasy atmany atho mayi

(Text 35, Ch 4, Transcendental Knowledge)

Meaning: Having obtained real knowledge from a self-realized soul, you will never fall again into such illusion, for by this knowledge you will see that all living beings are but part of the Supreme, or , in other  words, that they are Mine.

Bhagavad Gita: Self realized souls impart knowledge (Text 34, Ch 4, Transcendental Knowledge)

Tad viddhi pranipatena
Pariprasnena sevaya
Upadeksyanti te jnanam
Jnaninas tattva -darsinah
(Text 34, Ch 4, Transcendental Knowledge)

Meaning: Just try to learn the truth by approching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self realized souls can impart knowledge  unto you because they have seen the truth.

Bhagavad Gita: All sacrifices of work culminate in transcendental knowledge (Bhagavad Gita, Text 33, Ch 4, Transcendental Knowledge)

Sreyan dravya-mayad yajnaj

jnana-yajnah parantapa

sarvam karmakhilam partha

jnane parisamapyate

(Bhagavad Gita, Text 33, Ch 4, Transcendental Knowledge)

Meaning: O chastiser of the enemy, the sacrifice performed in knowledge is better than the mere sacrifice of material possessions. After all, O son of Prtha, all sacrifices of work culminate in transcendental knowledge.

*** The purpose of all sacrifices is to arrive at the status of complete knowledge, then to gain release from material miseries, and ultimately, to engage in loving transcendental service to the Supreme Lord.

Bhagavad Gita: Different types of sacrifice born different types of work.Knowing them as such, you will become liberated (Bhagavad Gita, Text 32, Ch 4, Transcendental Knowledge

Evam bahu-vidha yajna
vitata brahmano mukhe
karma-jan viddhi tan sarvan
evam jnatva vimoksyase

(Bhagavad Gita, Text 32, Ch 4, Transcendental Knowledge)

Meaning: All these different types of sacrifice are approved by the Vedas, and all of them are born of different types of work. Knowing them as such, you will become liberated.

***

Different types of sacrifice mentioned in the Vedas suit different types of worker. Because men are so deeply absorbed in the bodily concept, these sacrifices are so arranged that one can work either with the body, with the mind, or with the intelligence. But all of them are recommended for ultimately bringing about liberation from the body.This is confirmed by the Lord herewith from his own mouth.

Bhagavad Gita: Divine consciousness is solution to all the problems of material existence(Bhagavad Gita, Text 31, Ch 4, Transcendental Knowledge)

nayam loko'sty ayajnasya

kuto'nyah kuru-sattama

(Bhagavad Gita, Text 31, Ch 4, Transcendental Knowledge)

Meaning: O best of the Kuru dynasty, without sacrifice one can never live happily on this planet or in this life: what then of the next?

***Existence in the material world is due to the multiple reactions to our sinful lives.Ignorance is the cause of sinful life, and sinful life is the cause of one's dragging on in material existence.The human form of life is the only loophole by which one may get out of this entanglement.Highest kind of happiness that a man can achieve is to be promoted to the spiritual planets by practice of divine consciousness. A life of divine consciousness is therefore the solution to all the problems of material existence.

Bhagavad Gita: Advance toward the Supreme eternal atmosphere (Bhagavad Gita, Text 30, Ch 4, Transcendental Knowledge)

Sarve' py ete yajna-vido

yajna-ksapita-kalmasah

yajna-sistamrta-bhujo

yanti brahma sanatanam

 (Bhagavad Gita, Text 30, Ch 4, Transcendental Knowledge)

Meaning: All these performers who know the meaning of sacrifice become cleansed of sinful reactions, and having tasted the nectar of the results of sacrifices, they advance toward the supreme eternal atmosphere.

***From the foregoing explanation of different types of sacrifice ( namely sacrifice of one's possessions, study of the Vedas or philosophical doctrines, and performance of the yoga system), it is found that the common aim of all is to control the senses. Sense gratification is the root cause of material existence; therefore, unless and until one is situated on a platform apart from sense gratification, there is no chance of being elevated to the eternal platform of full knowledge, full bliss and full life. This platform is in the eternal atmosphere, or Brahman atmosphere. All the above-mentioned sacrifices help one to become cleansed of the sinful reactions of material existence. By this advancement in life, not only does one become happy and opulent in this life, but also, at the end, he enters into the eternal kingdom of God, either merging into the impersonal Brahman or associating  with the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Bhagavad Gita: Divine conscious person always situated in the transcendental loving service (Bhagavad Gita, Text 29, Ch 4, Transcendental Knowledge)

apane juhvati pranam

prane panam tathapare

pranapana-gati ruddhva

pranayama-parayanah

apare niyataharah

pranan pranesu juhvati

(Bhagavad Gita, Text 29, Ch 4, Transcendental Knowledge)

Meaning: Still others, who are inclined to the process of breath restraint to remain in trance, practice by offering the movement of the outgoing breath into the incoming, and the incoming breath into the outgoing, and thus at last remain in trance, stopping all breathing. Others, curtailing the eating process, offer the outgoing breath into itself as a sacrifice.

Bhagavad Gita: Divine consciousness is transcendental (Bhagavad Gita, Text 28, Ch 4, Transcendental Knowledge)

Dravya-yajnas tapo-yajna

yoga-yajnas tathapare

svadhyaya-jnana-yajnas ca

yatayah samsita-vratah

(Bhagavad Gita, Text 28, Ch 4, Transcendental Knowledge)

Meaning: Having accepted strict vows, some become enlightened by sacrificing their possessions, and others by performing severe austerities, by practising the yoga of eightfold mysticism, or by studying the Vedas to advance in transcendental knowledge.

*** All yogis are faithfully engaged in different types of sacrifice (sacrificing their possessions, performing severe austerities, studying the Vedas) and are seeking a higher status of life. Divine consciousness, however, is different from these because it is the direct service of the Supreme Lord. Divine Consciousness cannot be attained by any one of the above-mentioned types of sacrifice but can be attained only by the mercy of the Lord and His bona fide devotees.Therefore, divine consciousness is transcendental.

Bhagavad Gita: Achieving self-realization (Bhagavad Gita, Text 27, Ch 4, Transcendental Knowledge)

sarvanindriya-karmani

prana-karmani capare

atma-samyama-yogagnau

juhvati jnana-dipite

 (Bhagavad Gita, Text 27, Ch 4, Transcendental Knowledge)

Meaning:  Others, who are interested in achieving self-realization through control of the mind and senses, offer the functions of all the senses, and of the life breath, as oblations(a thing presented or offered to God) into the fire of the controlled mind.

Bhagavad Gita: Human life are so arranged that one may become perfect in spiritual life (Bhagavad Gita, Text 26, Ch 4, Transcendental Knowledge)

Srotradinindriyany anye

samyamagnisu juhvati

sabdadin visayan anya

indriyagnisu juhvati

(Bhagavad Gita, Text 26, Ch 4, Transcendental Knowledge)

Meaning: Some [the unadulterated brahmacaris] sacrifice the hearing process and the senses in the fire of mental control, and others [the regulated householders] sacrifice the objects of the senses in the fire of the senses.

***The members of the four divisions of human life, namely the brahmacari, the grhastha, the vanaprastha and the sannyasi, are all meant to become perfect yogis or transcendentalists.Since human life is not meant for our enjoying sense gratification like the animals, the four orders of human life are so arranged that one may become perfect in spiritual life.

Bhagavad Gita: Offer sacrifices in the fire of the Supreme Brahman (Bhagavad Gita, Text 25, Ch 4, Transcendental Knowledge)

Daivam evapare yajnam

Yoginah paryupasate

brahmagnav apare yajnam

yajnenaivopajuhvati

 (Bhagavad Gita, Text 25, Ch 4, Transcendental Knowledge)

Meaning: Some yogis perfectly worship the demigods by offering different sacrifices to them, and some of them offer sacrifices in the fire of the Supreme Brahman.

*** A person engaged in discharging duties in divine consciousness is called a perfect yogi. The divine conscious person sacrifice everything for the satisfaction of divine, and thus all his material possessions as well as his own self-everything-is scarified for divine.

Bhagavad Gita: Attain spiritual kingdom (Bhagavad Gita, Text 24, Ch 4, Transcendental Knowledge)

Brahmarpanam brahma havir

brahmagnau brahmana hutam

brahmaiva tena gantavyam

brahma-karma-samadhina

(Bhagavad Gita, Text 24, Ch 4, Transcendental Knowledge)

Meaning: A person who is fully absorbed in divine consciousness is sure to attain the spiritual kingdom because of his full contribution to spiritual activities, in which  the consummation is absolute  and that which is offered is of the same spiritual nature.

***A conditioned soul, entangled in material contamination, is sure to act in the material atmosphere, and yet he has to get out of such an environment. The process by which the conditioned soul can get out of the material atmosphere is divine consciousness.

Bhagavad Gita: Fully Situated in transcendental knowledge (Bhagavad Gita, Text 23, Ch 4, Transcendental Knowledge)

Gata-sangasya muktasya
jnanavasthita-cetasah
yajnayacaratah karma
samagram praviliyate

(Bhagavad Gita, Text 23, Ch 4, Transcendental Knowledge)

Meaning:  The work of a man who is unattached to the modes of material nature and who is fully situated in transcendental knowledge merges entirely into transcendence.

*** Becoming fully divine conscious, one is freed from all dualities and thus is free from the contaminations of the material modes. He can become liberated because he knows his constitutional position in relationship with divine, and thus his mind cannot be drawn from divine consciousness.

Bhagavad Gita: Never entangled, although performing actions (Bhagavad Gita, Text 22, Ch 4, Transcendental Knowledge)

Yadrccha-labha-santusto
dvandvatito vimatsarah
samah siddhav asiddhau ca
krtvapi na nibadhyate

 (Bhagavad Gita, Text 22, Ch 4, Transcendental Knowledge)

Meaning: He who is satisfied with gain which comes of its own accord, who is free from duality and does not envy, who is steady in both success and failure, is never entangled, although performing actions.

Bhagavad Gita: Acts only for the bare necessities of life and not affected by sinful reactions (Bhagavad Gita, Text 21, Ch 4, Transcendental Knowledge)

Nirasir yata-cittatma
tyakta-sarva-parigrahah
sariram kevalam karma
kurvan napnoti kilbisam

(Bhagavad Gita, Text 21, Ch 4, Transcendental Knowledge)

Meaning: Such a man of understanding  acts with mind and intelligence perfectly controlled, gives up all sense of proprietorship over his possessions, and acts only for the bare necessities of life.Thus working, he is not affected by sinful reactions.

*** A divine conscious person does not expect good or bad results in his activities. His mind and intelligence  are fully controlled. He knows  that because he is  part and parcel of the supreme, the part played by him, as a part and  parcel of the whole, is not his own activity but is only being done through him by the supreme.

Bhagavad Gita: Abandoning all attachment to the results of activities, ever satisfied and independent (Bhagavad Gita, Text 20, Ch 4, Transcendental Knowledge)

Tyaktva karma-phalasangam

nitya-trpto nirasrayah

karmany abhipravrtto'pi

naiva kincit karoti sah

(Bhagavad Gita, Text 20, Ch 4, Transcendental Knowledge)

Meaning: Abandoning all attachment to the results of his activities, ever satisfied and independent, he performs no fruitive action, although engaged  in all kinds of undertakings.

Bhagavad Gita: One is understood to be in full knowledge (Bhagavad Gita, Text 19, Ch 4, Transcendental Knowledge)

yasya sarve samarambhah

kama-sankalpa varjitah

jnanagni-dagdha-karmanam

tam ahuh panditam budhah

(Bhagavad Gita, Text 19, Ch 4, Transcendental Knowledge)

Meaning: One is understood to be in full knowledge whose every endeavor is devoid of desire for sense gratification. He is said by sages to be a worker for whom the reactions of work have been burned up by the fire of perfect knowledge. 

Bhagavad Gita: Who is intelligent among Men (Bhagavad Gita, Text 18, Ch 4, Transcendental Knowledge)

Karmany akarma yah  pasyed

Akarmani ca karma yah

Sa buddhiman manusyesu

Sa yuktah krtsna-karma-krt

(Bhagavad Gita, Text 18, Ch 4, Transcental Knowledge)

Meaning: One who sees inaction in action, and action in inaction, is intelligent among Men, and he is in the transcendental position, although engaged in all sorts of activities.

*** A person acting in Divine consciousness is naturally free from the bonds of karma. His activities are all performed  for divine, therefore he does not enjoy or suffer any of the  effects of work. Consequently he is intelligent in human society, even though  he is engaged  in all sorts of activities for divine. Akarma means without reaction to work. Because everything is done  for divine, he enjoys  only transcendental happiness in the discharge of this service. Those who are engaged in this process are known to be without desire for personal sense gratification. The sense of eternal  servitorship to divine makes one immune to all sorts of reactionary elements of work.