Chapter 4
Varenya said, ‘You have described renunciation and the yoga of action. But of these two, tell me Lord, which one is certainly the best.
Gajanana said, ‘The yoga of action and the renunciation of action are both practices for liberation. Between these two the yoga of action is distinguished from the renunciation of action. That person who is not affected by duality, who does not hate and desires nothing, renounces and is instantly and easily freed from bondage. They say that the acceptance of action and the renunciation of action have two different results. With just incomplete knowledge influenced by attraction for that yoga, the wise man attaches him self to one. Whatever is gained by renouncing the result of action is the fruit of yoga. Whoever knows this yoga as the acceptance of action, knows truly.
Only the wise know that renunciation is not the abandonment of action. The yogi in action who acts without desire becomes situated in Brahman. Pure, with his self and mind restrained, his senses conquered, he is completely absorbed in yoga. Whilst seeing the self in all beings, he acts without being tainted. The one who knows the truth and whose self is controlled by yoga, does not think, ‘I am acting’. They regard the eleven senses as the enumeration of actions.
He who acts should offer all actions to God and is not tainted by evil or merit, in the same way as the light of the sun, which moves, truly is not affected by which it touches. After giving up desire – pertaining to the body, speech, intellect, the senses and the mind – for the purification of consciousness, those who know yoga perform actions. One who is not situated in yoga who simply desires the fruits of action, is bound by the seeds of action. This eventually becomes one’s unhappiness.
After mentally renouncing all action within the mind the yogi becomes happy. Neither acting for his own enjoyment, nor causing others to act in the same way, he rejoices in any condition either good or bad.
Neither action nor the vehicle of action is created for anyone by Me. There is no interference and every action is done automatically through My energy. King, I do not cause the good or evil reactions for anyone. Those who have a poor fund of knowledge, their intellect covered by maya, are perplexed. Of those whose ignorance is destroyed by the self through discrimination of the self, their excellent knowledge shines like the sun. Those who are absorbed in Me, those whose minds definitely rest in Me, whose thoughts are on Me, who are fixed on Me, having discriminating knowledge, they are not reborn, their karmas destroyed. Those great munis who see with equal vision a dog, a dog eater, cows and elephants and all living creatures, and a brahmin who has discriminating and intuitive knowledge, always experiences the world as heaven. Seeing all equally, they are liberated whilst alive. Since Brahman is pure and equal, It is therefore perceived by them. After having experienced what is considered pleasant or unpleasant, they are neither elated nor distained. Resting in Brahman, in full knowledge, they know Brahman, regarding all things as the same spirit.
Varenya said, ‘What happiness is there in the three worlds when one is born as a demigod or a heavenly musician? Kindly, tell me Lord, as you are skilled in all knowledge.’
Ganesha said, ‘The man who delights in his own self and is attached to his own self, attains bliss and eternal happiness, for there is no happiness in the realm of the senses. Enjoyments which arise from the objects of the senses are the causes of misery and are connected to birth and death. The wise man is not attached to them. Given that desire and anger have a cause, he is able to conquer them by leaving aside worldly aspirations and he thus attains lasting happiness. Absorbed in the soul, eminating in the soul, happy in the soul, he who delights in the soul, and is the well-wisher of all living beings, will certainly gain the imperishable Brahman. They conquer the six enemies and are tranquil and controlled
Listen! For those who know their own self Brahman eminates everywhere. Seated in yogic asanas having controlled the mind through detachment from the objects of the senses. After concentrating the mind in the center of the brow, he sits, focused on breath control, which is the suspension of the inward breath. The insightful sages declare it to be of three kinds. Understand the division to be of weak, middle and highest standard. Pranayam is said to be the weakest because it has twelve vowels. It is declared to be middlle because it has twenty-one vowels. It is declared to be at the highest standard when it has thirty-six light vowels. Just like a lion or a tiger is compared to a furious elephant in weakness, so are ordinary living beings compared to the yogi. A person should control outward breath and the inward breath. One does not hurt animals nor people who have come under their auspices, King, just as air which is controlled burns away one’s karma, but not one’s body.
In whatever way a man might climb the stairs, so the yogis will bring the breath and the downward-moving-breath under control. After that the man should practice the drawing up of air, the stopping of breath and breathing out through one nostril. After that he will become one with the world and will know the past and the future. The concentration of the mind is considered be the result of the excellent twelve-vowel exercise of hatha yoga.
There is yoga that encompasses two acts of concentration. The master of yoga should always practice one. Whoever does this, lord, comes to know the three worlds. The triple-world will effortlessly come under his control, king. He sees the world in his own self under the form of Brahman.
In this way yogic asanas or renunciation of action give the same result to the person who does good for people and is not attached to the results of his action. After he knows Me as the mighty Lord of the triple-world, he gains liberation.
Om. This is the truth. This is called ‘The Two-fold Yoga and Renunciation’. It is the fourth chapter in the conversation between Ganesha and Varenya in the Uttarakhanda of the illustrious and great Ganesha Purana in the learned treatise on the immortality of yoga, in the illustrious Ganesha Gita which is in the essence of the Upanisads.
Chapter 5
Gajanana said, ‘My dear King, not desiring the results of one’s activities, whether they be termed transcendent or ritualistic, the yogi is recommended to perform his duties, not by ceasing action, but from a reliance on yoga. Mighty-armed King, I consider that devotional service alone is the cause for attaining yoga. Peacefulness and restraining the senses are considered the causes for success in siddha-yoga. Focusing on the objects of the senses is considered the enemy of oneself. The yogi who ignores the craving of the senses gains success.
One’s own self exists only through the self. We do not exist as separate from the self. Whether in friendship, or enmity, in freedom or imprisonment, in honor, disgrace, unhappiness and happiness, or with a close friend or amongst the good, in a friend, in an enemy, in indifference and hatred, sees iron and gold, the person who has conquered the self, who has discriminating knowledge, intuitive knowledge and continually has control over the senses, maintains the same equanimity. He becomes highly controlled when he practices yoga continually. Whether he is distressed, exhausted, confused, hungry, agitated in his thoughts, whether in time, in excessive cold, excessive heat or a mass of wind, fire and water, when quiet, very old, in a cow pen, in fire, near water, in a pool or in a hole, in a cemetery, on the bank of a river, near an old wall, near a funeral monument which has an anthill, in a country abounding in demons, etc., the knower of yoga, who is dedicated to meditation and yoga, should not practice yoga in inaction alone
Forgetfulness, being dumb, deaf, drunk, feverish and stupid always occur. They are flaws that arise through separation from knowledge. These flaws must be completely eradicated by one who habitually practices yoga, because a lack of diligence in respect of yogic practice, loss of memory and the rest certainly occur.
The yogi, never eating too much, but not eating too little, does not sleep excessively, nor does he remain awake to excess. He achieves success, Protector of the Earth, always practicing yoga. He should give up intentional desires and when restrained in eating and sleeping, after controlling all the senses, he should slowly withdraw the senses by means of the intelligence. He should withdrawal the fickle consciousness away from whatever it dwells on and, after concentrating the mind, he should diligently bring it under control of the self. Doing this always, the yogi attains the highest bliss and perceives his own self in everything and everything in his own self.
Whoever approaches me through yoga, I respectfully approach him also. I will liberate him, yet he should never abandon Me or I cannot free him. A person who has the same attitude in happiness, pain, exaltation, hatred, satiation and in thirst knows Me as omnipresent and knows all beings through the identity of the self. Liberated whilst alive, he is the lord of yogi’s because he is only attached to me. And he will be praised by the demigods led by Brahm?.
Varenya said, ‘I think this yoga must be considered as having two kinds, since the mind is bad, fickle and difficult to hold, Lord.’
The illustrious Gaj?nana said, ‘Whoever restrains the mind, which is difficult to control, is liberated from the wheel of existence which is like a machine for raising water. I created the solid wheel with saws which are the sense objects. A man cannot split it when it is completely covered by the spokes of karma. Austerity, dispassion, absence of desire in regard to corporeal enjoyments, the blessings of a guru, association with the good: these are the instruments for victory over samsara. Or, through yoga, he should bring the mind under control for its success. Varenya, this yoga is difficult to gain without victory over the mind.’
Varenya said, ‘What is the world for a man who has fallen away from yoga? What is his opinion and what will the result be? Lord, you are omniscient, so resolve this doubt which carries with it the wheel as the intellect.’
The illustrious Gaj?nana said, ‘A man who has a celestial body and has fallen away from yoga after he has enjoyed superb enjoyments in heaven, will be born in the family of a yogi, in the family of those who are pure. This yogi is reborn again due to the mental formations produced by prior karma, for one who has accumulated merit never reaches hell. By being fixed in knowledge, fixed in intellect, fixed in austerities and fixed in right action, overlord of men, he becomes the best yogi. Amongst them, the very best is the yogi who is devoted to me.’
Om. This is the truth. This is called ‘The Yoga which concerns the Application of Yoga’. It is the fifth chapter in the conversation between Ganesha and Varenya in the Uttarakhanda of the illustrious and great Ganesha Purana in the learned treatise on the immortality of yoga, in the illustrious Ganesha Gita which is in the essence of the Upanisads.
