Gita Chapter 4

Gita Chapter 4

Lord is introducing Arjuna to the concept of time and at the same time reminding him of the cycle of life and death that He alluded to in the first half chapter 2.  Here He si giving His own example by telling Arjuna that I gave this knowledge to Sun in the beginning of time and Sun in turn imparted that knowledge to Vaivasvat and  who in turn gave this to Ikshvaku.  and so forth.  Arjuna, being the doubter can not beleive that Krishna was around so long ago.  That is when Krishna tells him about His own Divya Janam, Immanance, Eternal nature and Omnipresence.  Lord tells Arjuna not to be hung up just on this life time.  He tells him that Arjuna and everone else has taken birth and gone through death several times in the past.  But Arjuna does not remember that, and that is why he is so attached to this life time.  Once a person has truly realized  the fact that I have existed before and i will be, in the future although in different form, the attachemtnt to this one particular body and family will be overcome.  Thus allowing us to carry out our duties without being handicapped by this attachment  or Moha.  Here Lord also tells him how HE, from time to time,   comes to save the good people from the bad ones and also to re-establish Dharma. 

Understanding this concept of cycle of life and death in such a way and contemplating on Him in such a way clears the path for us to becoem one with Him and become like Him.  We become what we think and contemplate.  If we contemplate strongly enough about the Divine qualities of the Lord, than we will become like Him and become ONE with Him.

I am immanent, omnipresent, eternal, omniscient.  Those who contemplate me like that they they unite with me or become like me.  Jiva is considered to be the ansh or a  part of the Lord.  The process of contemplation on the qualities of God, makes it possible for the Jiva to reunite and regain the same qualities as of the Lord

Ignorance, doubt and scepticism is an obstacle in the spiritual path.  Acquire knowledge and overcome  these.  To acquire knowledge go to, respectfully ask question and serve a qualified sage.  That sage will give you the knowledge.  There  is nothing as beneficial as   knowledge in this world.  Just as fire burns the wood completely, similarly, knowledge ( of what  is action and what is inaction) will burn all the, karmas or  binding actions. ( knowledge will help you perform action without the binding effect, in essence meaning that  fire of knowlede has burnt the actions )  It helps you overcome doubt and scepticism and help you understand what it means to be engaging in action which is non binding.  You will be able to continue to perform non binding actions while you still appear to be engaged in activity.  It is really difficult to understand what it means to be perfoming an action, without acting, and what it is to be non performing an action and still be engaged in activity. 

When you engage in an activity without attachment to the outcome it means non performance of action.  But on the contrary if you are, all the time worried about the outcome and are engaging in activity with attachement to  the outcome and with the desire to enjoy the fruits of activities, than even if it appears that you are not doing anything, it is a binding action. 

Another way to be a non performer, but at the  same time engaging in activity is if you  perform all actions as Yajna or as worship to the Lord.  If all your actions are performed as an offering to the Lord, than also, those actions are non binding. 

Scriptures have described so many ways an individual may be performing Yajna:

    Sense control
    Pranayam practice
    Hatha Yoga
    Performing Homa and Havan to please various Devas
    Charity
    Vows of non violence etc
    Studying of the scriptures

These are some of the examples of Yajnas.  All these are performed with the help of  senses, body and mind etc. These all are physical actions or karmas But If these are performed as an offering to the Lord and some of the leftover  fruits are used for meeting the needs of the body, than  the fruits of thses Yajnas are like Prasadam. Than these will not have any binding effect.  But the ignorant ones may be performing these but if they keep all the fruits of these Yajnas for themselves only  than they are never going to be liberated. They keep going throught the cycle of life and death.  The wise ones understnd this and are freed and they come to me.