– born of ignorance, residing in the heart of Harika; jñāna – knowledge; asīna – by the sword; atmanah – having cut off the soul; enaṃ – this; samṣāyam – doubt; yogam, yoga, having stood tall; uttishtha, rising up, he should fight; bharata – O descendant.
Therefore, dispel the doubts and confusions that arise in the heart due to ignorance. O Bharata! You must rise up and fight, endowed with yoga.
Purport: The system of yoga taught in this chapter is Sanatana Yoga, that is,
The eternal actions performed by the living entity are called. There are two classes of sacrificial acts in this yoga. One is called the sacrificial act of material possessions, and the other is called the pure spiritual act of self-knowledge. If the sacrificial act of material possessions is not combined with spiritual experience, it becomes material. But one who performs such sacrificial acts with a spiritual aim, that is, with devotional yoga, performs a perfect sacrificial act. Now, if we take spiritual acts, we find that they are also divided into two. Those who understand the self (his natural state), understand the truth about God, and follow the path of the Bhagavad-gita as it is, can easily understand these two important classes of spiritual knowledge. It is not at all difficult for him to attain perfect knowledge of the self as the divine. Such understanding is very beneficial. Because such a person can easily understand the divine activities of the Lord. In the beginning of this chapter, the divine activities of the Lord were discussed by the Lord Himself. One who does not understand the instructions of the Gita becomes careless. He is considered to be abusing the subtle freedom given by the Lord. One who, despite all these instructions, cannot understand the real nature of the Supreme Lord as eternal, blissful, and omniscient, is certainly a fool. By gradually accepting the principles of Krishna consciousness, ignorance is removed. Krishna consciousness is awakened through the sacrifice of various types of deity sacrifices, the sacrifice of the Supreme Brahma, and the sacrifice of celibacy, household life, sense control, yoga practice, penance, renunciation of material possessions, study of the Vedas, and the system of varnasramadharma. Ivansi sacrifices are the
They are known and depend on proper karma. But in all these karmas, the most important aspect is self-realization. He who seeks this goal is a true disciple of the Bhagavad-gita; but he who doubts the authenticity of Lord Krishna falls. That is why one is advised to study the Bhagavad-gita or any other scripture with surrender and service to a bona fide Guru. The bona fide Guru is in the eternal lineage of Gurus. He does not deviate from the teachings of the Bhagavad-gita, which were given to the Sun God millions of years ago. It was from such a Sun that the teachings of the Bhagavad-gita reached the earthly kingdom. That is why one should follow the path of the Bhagavad-gita as it is stated in the Gita itself; and one should also be wary of selfish people who lead others astray from the true path and boast about their own greatness. God is truly a blessed person, and His actions are divine. One who understands this becomes a liberated person from the very beginning of his study of the Bhagavad Gita.
This concludes the Bhaktivedanta commentary on the fourth chapter of the Srimad Bhagavad
