Bhagavad Gita 31: Verse 3.1—3.3: Jnanam & Karma Analysed, Sannyasa & Grhastha Ashramas Compared

A study of the Bhagavad Gita verse-by-verse. In this class, we enter the Third Chapter of the Bhagavad Gita dealing with the Topic of Karma. We study Verses 3.1-3.3. The Third Chapter begins with a question from Arjuna: If Krishna really thinks that Jnanam is superior to Karma, why is He impelling him (Arjuna) to engage in the gruesome Karma of fighting this war? Krishna responds by teaching Arjuna that the two-fold lifestyles- the lifestyle of the Sannyasis (Sannyasa Ashrama) and the Lifestyle of the Householders (Grhastha Ashrama) were taught by Him (as Ishvara through the Vedas) in the beginning of the creation. The former is governed by Jnana Yoga, and the latter by Karma Yoga. We look at the relative efficacy of each of these lifestyles for each of the Sadhanas.The two Sadhanas of Karma Yoga and Jnana Yoga are mandatory for all. But there is a choice in the Lifestyles adopted to go through the two mandatory Sadhanas. We look at what the choices are in this class. Timeline 0:00 - Guru Vandanam 2:07 - Gita Dhyanam 5:39 - Chapter Three - Introduction: The Seed for Arjuna's Question 16:08 - Verse 3.1 अथ तृतीयोऽध्यायः । कर्मयोगः अर्जुन उवाच । ज्यायसी चेत्कर्मणस्ते मता बुद्धिर्जनार्दन । तत्किं कर्मणि घोरे मां नियोजयसि केशव ॥ ३-१॥ 26:23 - Verse 3.2 व्यामिश्रेणेव वाक्येन बुद्धिं मोहयसीव मे । तदेकं वद निश्चित्य येन श्रेयोऽहमाप्नुयाम् ॥ ३-२॥ 52:07 - Verse 3.3 श्रीभगवानुवाच । लोकेऽस्मिन् द्विविधा निष्ठा पुरा प्रोक्ता मयानघ । ज्ञानयोगेन साङ्ख्यानां कर्मयोगेन योगिनाम् ॥ ३-३॥ Satyan Chidambaran is a full-time student of Vedanta and Sanskrit. He has been studying Vedanta under his Guru, Śrī Swami Paramarthananda ji, since 2003. A graduate of IIT Madras in Computer Science and a post-graduate from the University of Michigan, Satyan served at a global software firm in various technical leadership roles for 26 years before leaving the industry in 2019 to pursue his Vedanta and Sanskrit studies full-time. @Advaita-Drishti advaitadrishti.org © 2024 Advaita Drishti. All rights reserved. #advaitavedanta #upanishads #vedanta #advaita