श्रीमद्भगवद्गीताShrimad Bhagavad Gita 📖 Read as a flipbook

Bhagavad Gita · Dhyana Yoga (Atma-samyama Yoga)Chapter 6, Shloka 44 (6.44)

Original Sanskrit · श्रीभगवान्

पूर्वाभ्यासेन तेनैव ह्रियते ह्यवशोऽपि सः
जिज्ञासुरपि योगस्य शब्दब्रह्मातिवर्तते
॥ 6.44 ॥

pūrvābhyāsena tenaiva hriyate hyavaśo'pi saḥ
jijñāsurapi yogasya śabdabrahmātivartate

Translation

"By that same former practice one is drawn on (towards yoga) even against one's will; even one who merely seeks to know yoga goes beyond the shabda-brahman (the Veda)."

Interpretation

Shankaracharya — the power of samskara. Pūrva-janmani kṛtaḥ abhyāsaḥ … tenaiva balavatā hriyate — one is drawn by the powerful practice of a previous birth. A subtle point: if a karma of adharma is stronger than that yogic impression, it suppresses it for a while; but tat-kṣaye tu yogajaḥ saṃskāraḥ svayam eva kāryam ārabhate, na dīrgha-kāla-sthasyāpi vināśaḥ tasya asti — when that is exhausted, the yogic impression starts working by itself; even after being suppressed for a long time, it is not destroyed. Śabda-brahma = veda-ukta-karmānuṣṭhāna-phalam — the fruit of performing the rites enjoined in the Vedas; even one who merely seeks to know yoga goes beyond it — kim uta — what then of one who knows yoga and practises it with steadfastness!

Acharya Ramanuja — shabda-brahman = prakriti. Śabda-brahma deva-manuṣya-pṛthivy-antarikṣa-svargādi-śabdābhilāpa-yogyaṃ brahma prakṛtiḥ — shabda-brahman means that "brahman" (prakriti) which is spoken of with words like god, human, earth, heaven; the seeker karma-yogādikaṃ yogam anuṣṭhāya — practising karma yoga and the like, crosses beyond it and jñānānandaika-tānam ātmānaṃ prāpnoti — attains the self, whose nature is knowledge and bliss.

The difference: "Śabda-brahma" — Shankara: the fruit of Vedic ritual; Ramanuja: prakriti with its names and forms.

AI-assisted draft translation — under review.

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