Spiritual Message for the Day – The Anu-Gita by Swami Krishnananda
Baba Times Digest© | 9 November 2014 19.23 EST | New York Edition
The Anu-Gita
Divine Life Society Publication: A Short History of Religious and Philosophic Thought in India by Swami Krishnananda
Next to the Bhagavadgita, in importance, comes the Anu-Gita which occurs towards the end of the Mahabharata epic. This Gita is supposed to be a tentative answer which Krishna gave to Arjuna, on the latter's request to hear the contents of the Bhagavadgita once more. Krishna's reply meant that it was impossible to summon again that power of the Absolute, by which the wisdom of the Bhagavadgita was spoken. He, however, agreed to give Arjuna a substitute which goes by the name of Anu-Gita.
The Anu-Gita exhorts us to overcome the world by self-mastery. King Janaka says that he does not enjoy things for his pleasure, not even the smell that attaches to his nose, and hence he has conquered the earth-principle. He does not enjoy the taste that attaches to his tongue, and hence he has conquered the water-principle. He does not enjoy the form that attaches to his eyes, and so he has conquered the fire-principle. He does not enjoy the touch that attaches to his skin, and thus he has conquered the air-principle. He does not enjoy the sounds that attach to his ears, and so he has conquered the ether-principle. He does not enjoy the objects of thought which attach to his mind, and so he has conquered the mind. Janaka says that he engages himself in action, not for his pleasure, but for the sake of the presiding deities (adhidevata) and their elemental counterparts (adhibhuta). The correlation of the subjective (adhyatma), objective (adhibhuta) and the Divine (adhidaiva) principles in the Universe has been explained under the subject of creation in our discussion of the philosophy of the Upanishads.
The Fire of the Soul (adhyatma-agni) gets ignited by the control of the senses, by weaning the mind away from objects, and by a life lived in seclusion. The spiritual fire burns as a conflagration by self-restraint. He becomes fit for immortality, who can remain in this condition even for a minute at the time of his death. The five senses and the internal organ with its faculties of thinking and understanding are like the tongues of fire, to which the objects of sense, thought and understanding are the faggots. The Soul, as the seer, hearer, thinker, understander, etc., is like the several Ritviks or performers of a sacrifice. One should consider all objects as offerings in this sacrifice of sensation, cognition and perception. By the performance of this internal sacrifice, externality is negatived and there arises in one the power of cosmic creation. The knower, knowledge and known are the three oblations offered into the universal Fire of the Atman. The ten senses are the performers of the sacrifice. Their ten actions are the oblations in the sacrifice. Their ten deities are the fires of the sacrifice. Here, the mind is the ladle (sruk) and cognitive knowledge is the material. This sacrifice (yajna) is perpetually going on in the individual and the Universe. Hence, there is no condition of inaction anywhere.
When the mind is prompted to speak out its thoughts, the samana fire within gets lighted up, making the prana unite with the apana. Then, by means of udana, it rises upwards towards the head. And due to the work of vyana it passes through the throat, the palate, etc., and produces audible speech. When the action of the prana subsides, it again descends into the samana.
Like the senses, the prana also may be regarded as a performer of the universal sacrifice. The prana and the rest rise from Hiranyagarbha, the Universal prana, and return to Him again in the end. By the action of the Cosmic prana, air (Vayu) becomes apana through prana, vyana through apana, udana through vyana and samana through udana. The prana and apana move amid samana and vyana. When prana and apana are withheld, samana and vyana are simultaneously withdrawn. Udana is amid prana and apana and is the support of all the pranas. It is the Vaisvanara Agni, the Universal Fire situated in the individual as samana at the root of the navel, that rises as the powers of the senses as well as the cognitive and perceptive powers. prana and apana are like two oblations (ajya-bhaga) in the sacrifice and in their middle is the sacrificial fire in the form of udana. This is jnana-yajna and yoga-yajna.
One who moves with the consciousness of Brahman is a Brahmachari. He has no particular attachment to any action. Brahman is his sacrificial twig (samit); Brahman is his sacrificial fire (agni); Brahman is his sacrificial grass (samstara); Brahman is his sacrificial water (apas); Brahman is his preceptor (Guru). Such a one is a Brahmachari. One who looks on all beings with equality of essence, with no desire or ambition, attains to this divine state.
Excerpts from: Anu-Gita - A Short History of Religious and Philosophic Thought in India by Swami Krishnananda
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