Commentaries around
“In Jñāna Dhyānam the most difficult exercise for the mind
is the one of not exercising the mind.”
– Commentary on Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 13
“Knowledge from the past prevails and influences me to either judge or inquire.
Assuming my knowledge and my memory and I proceed is Asmitā Kleśa.
Assuming that I may be wrong and wishing to find out more is Asmitā Jñāna.
However to hesitate completely or question everything is Asmitā Kleśa.
– TKV Desikachar commentary on Yoga Sūtra Chapter Two verse 6
“Jñāna is like a sword to cut away Saṃśaya.”
– T Krishnamacharya commentary on Bhagavad Gītā Chapter Four verse 41
“What good is the sword of wisdom (Jñāna Asinā),
to cut away the chains of doubt (Saṃśaya),
if the holder is too weak to bear it.”
– T Krishnamacharya commentary on the Bhagavad Gītā Chapter Four verse 42
“Jñānam is the wisdom of ‘I am that’.
Vijñānam is the discernment that ‘I am not this’ ‘I am not that’.”
– TKV Desikachar on Bhagavad Gītā Chapter Seven verse 2
“Jñāna is one who understands
what is to be given up and
what is to be sought.”
– T Krishnamacharya commentary on
Bhagavad Gītā Chapter Seven verse 19
“Jñāna Yoga is where we
hear or read somebody’s words,
delve into them deeply,
discuss them with people,
engage in reflection,
until finally all doubts are cleared.
We see the truth,
we merge with the truth,
and that is Jñāna.”
– TKV Desikachar Religiousness in Yoga
‘Various Approaches to Yoga’
Chapter Seventeen Page 239
“A teacher who knows us very well might give us a Mantra
which has a particular connotation because of the way it has been arranged.
It that Mantra is repeated in the way it has been instructed,
if we are aware of the meaning and if perhaps we want to use a particular image,
Mantra Yoga brings about the same effect as Jñāna Yoga or Bhakti Yoga.”
– TKV Desikachar Religiousness in Yoga
‘Various Approaches to Yoga’
Chapter Seventeen Page 240
“The Hindu Veda classify Dhyāna into three major but not water-tight divisions:
1. Karma – actions, the details, precise actions and results of rituals, such as the how and where you sit; considered most important for Dhyāna.
2. Jñāna – inquiry, into anything from the lowest to the highest, such as God, myself, Prāṇa, Brahma, etc; recognising absolutely one object of inquiry, not many.
3. Bhakti – trying to connect myself with the highest force; to accept the absolute power of God – that he is Master and Teacher, the only reality.
Patañjali’s Yoga Sūtra, the definitive text on Yoga, classifies Dhyāna in different yet similar terms.”
– TKV Desikachar Madras December 20th 1988
There is always Rāga, it just depends where we are in ourselves in terms of a spectrum of being.
Thus Rāga can express itself within the spectrum of being as either a state of Jñāna Rāga
or a state of Kleśa Rāga or, as happens mostly, somewhere twixt the extremes of the two.
Either way according to TKV Desikachar’s teaching, progress is not possible without the drive of the emotional forces, they are the horses that pull the chariot.
As to which of the two paths (Jñāna Rāga or Kleśa Rāga) we find ourselves veering towards depends on our skill as a charioteer, coupled with our understanding of the nature of the forces/horses,
as well as the essential nature of the ‘food’ we ‘choose’ to feed them on.
Hence Desikachar’s quote:
“Each person has two forces Rāga and Dveṣa.
They are there to serve you, not you them.”
– TKV Desikachar on Bhagavad Gītā Chapter Three verse 34
“The five senses that transport experience from
the outer to the inner are called the Jñāna Indriya,
or the senses through which we receive the world.”
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