Question

1. Is yoga an end result or a process? What are three different ways to achieve yoga? Outline the process of meditation that Krishna reveals to Arjuna as a course for achieving yoga. (250 words).

2. What, according to Krishna, is the proper mode of human action (karma)? How is the relationship between action (karma) and duty (dharma) discussed in this poem? (600 words)

Answer 1

I think yoga is the process and the end result of the process as well. The two can't be separated. In the context of the Bhagavad Gita, (Yoga) describes a unified outlook, serenity of mind, skill in action and the ability to stay attuned to the glory of the Self (Atman) and the Supreme Being. In order to attain clarity Krishna explains that one must gain control over lust, anger and greed.

The Bhagavad Gita extols three major margas or paths of Yoga which help the aspirant frame his personal nature with the highest goal, realization and union with Brahman, or the all-knowing and pervasive consciousness that governs the universe.

Although each path is different, the destination is ultimately the same. One path is not higher than the other; rather the lessons of each contain its own unique wisdom that provides an integrated and balanced view of one’s relationship to oneself and the higher reality.

These three paths are:

1. Karma Yoga: the path of Selfless Action
1. Bhakti Yoga: the path of Devotion
2. Jnana Yoga: the path of Self Transcending Knowledge

Krishna explains that both processes of yoga, the contemplative and the active, begin with learning how to control the mind, which is essentially dhyana, or meditation:

When the yogi, by practice of yoga, disciplines his mental activities and becomes situated in transcendence—devoid of all material desires— he is said to be well established in yoga. As a lamp in a windless place does not waver, so the transcendentalist, whose mind is controlled, remains always steady in his meditation on the transcendent self.

Such meditation, Krishna admits, is difficult, but one can achieve it through arduous effort:

It is undoubtedly very difficult to curb the restless mind, but it is possible by suitable practice and by detachment. For one whose mind is unbridled, self-realization is difficult work. But he whose mind is controlled and who strives by appropriate means is assured of success. That is my opinion.

2. The main body of the text deals with Krishna’s response, in which He urges the prince to action and the fulfilment of his duty, explaining that is is both his Karma and Dharma that have brought him to this pivotal point; emphasising that: “the Duty of a soldier is to fight – and fight well.”

Dharma is the first word of the Bhagavad Gita, and fittingly so, as Dharma is a central theme throughout the core of the text and forms the basis for later discussions on the nature of Karma.

Karma literally translates as “Action” or “Work” and, alongside Dharma, plays a fundamental role in the teachings of the Gita – as well as in Indian philosophical and religious thought as a whole – where it refers to the spiritual principle of action and reaction, or of cause and effect in the phenomenal world.

Dharma and Karma are thus conceived of as a pair of forces at work in the life of the individual.