Yog of Knowledge and Action
Chapter 4, Verse 34
tad viddhi praṇipātena
paripraśnena sevayā
upadekṣayanti te jñānaṁ
jñāninas-tattva-darśinaḥ
Learn that by worshipping the Feet of the Teacher, by questioning and by service; the men of knowledge who have seen the true principles of things, will instruct you in knowledge.
Here He says that if you approach an enlightened soul, a Guru, and prostrate yourself at the Feet of the Guru, render service, and with a humble heart, show that you are interested in being enlightened by the Guru, and in letting your heart be guided by the Guru, He will instruct you in this divine knowledge, the knowledge of the Self. There is no other way. The Master will guide you, the Master will carry you.
When one always tries one’s best to listen, to live in accordance with the word of the Guru and to surrender to the Will of the Master, one will know the Truth about God and will attain God-Realisation. Here, Krishna says, “Go to a Teacher, go to a Guru who has already attained that state of oneness with the Divine.” Not every guru has attained this state.
So even Lord Krishna says how important it is to find one’s Satguru in life, and taking shelter at His Feet. Only by surrendering to the Satguru, only by the Grace of the Satguru, will one know the Truth and be free from the bondage of karma; one will be free from the cycle of birth and death and one will attain God-Realisation.
Grace is what leads one out of darkness, what frees one from the ignorance of this big ‘I’, ‘I’, ‘I’. Without the help of the Guru, this kind of knowledge is very difficult to attain. Therefore, ask Him the Truth about God. Learn the Truth about God. And have this great urge to know who you are. Do your sadhana! Put in practice what the Teacher is teaching you. If you ask and have humility in your heart, then the Teacher, the Master, the Guru, will guide you.
There are many people who say, “Oh, we don’t need a Teacher. We don’t need a Guru.” They will never realise this knowledge. They will never realise that there is something greater than what they see in life.
Most of the people who live in the outside world, don’t know what they have inside of themselves. Sometimes they even forget that they are living beings. They roam the world like robots, forgetting that they have an Atma, a soul inside of them. When you talk to them, they say, “Ah, when we die, we die, it’s finished!” They are not interested in knowing more about life, so they come back again and again. They are bound by the wheel of time.
Krishna says, “Learn by serving.” He didn’t say, “Go just sit by the Guru’s Feet and that’s it! Laze yourself around.” Here Krishna says that you will attain good punya, you will attain good merit in life, by faithfully serving the Guru. Be devoted! Always try your best to please Him in every way, by acting in accordance with His wish. It’s through faith, reverence, and by accepting the Master’s guidance with humility, with an open heart, that one attains this knowledge from the Master. Only then will one master this knowledge and get to know about God-Realisation. When a deep longing to achieve something greater than just this mundane life awakens inside the heart, and when one is fully ready with humility, the Master will give the Brahma Jyaan, the knowledge of the Self, to the disciple and guide him.
Bhagavad Gita
