|
Bhagavad
Gita - March 27, 2009
Chapter
4, Verses: 1-3
Swami
Yogatmananda
Vedanta
Society of Providence
Please
click the 'Play' button to start.
It may take a minute.
Launch
in external player
To download
the lecture, please right-click here
and then click "Save Target As..."
IV.1:
I
imparted this imperishable Yoga to Vivasvaan; Vivasvaan taught this
to Manu, and Manu transmitted this to Ikshvaaku.
IV.2:
The king-sages knew this (Yoga) which was received thus in regular succession.
That Yoga, O destroyer of foes, is now lost owing to a long lapse of
time.
IV.3:
That ancient Yoga itself, which is this, has been taught to you by Me
today, considering that you are My devotee and friend. For this (Yoga)
is a profund secret.
The
above image is from Gita Darshan by courtesy of Sri
Ramakrishna Math, Hyderabad.
To
Order Audio/Video CDs : bookstore@vedantaprov.org
List
of Audio/Video CDs, DVDs
| 
|
Summary
of this lecture:
Bhagawad Gita is a scripture which gives us both theory (brahma-vidya)
and practice (yoga-shastra), making it a complete science of how to
lead our lives. It is applicable to everyone, being impersonal and universal.
In Chapter 3, Sri Krishna lays out the theoretical and practical aspects
of Karma yoga, the yoga of action. Chapter 4 begins with Sri Krishna
assuring Arjuna (and us) that this is not a new, un-chartered, untested
path; he has taught this science of Karma Yoga in previous ages too.
He taught Vivasvan who was the "first born," who in turn passed
it along to other students. Thus we learn that the science of Karma
Yoga is eternal, and that it is coming from the divine source; as such,
it is necessarily devoid of error. In Verse 2, Lord Krishna explains
that this knowledge was corrupted and distorted by humans who wanted
to preserve their desire for comfort. And so, as we are told in Verse
3, Krishna has taken a human birth again to share this "supreme
secret," this ancient teaching in its original form.
|
