T Ram Sewak

YOGA-AGNI

Kakabhushundiji continues to explain the gyan marg in Shri Ramcharitmanas 7.117. He states;

Jogagini lai, buddhi jai.

"Then kindle the fire of yoga (concentration of mind) and offer all auspicious and inauspicious karma as fuel. When the impurities of worldly attachments (mamata) are removed from the butter of dispassion (vairagya), then cool the pure ghee of knowledge (gyan) with resolute intellect (nischayatmika buddhi)."

Purifying butter into ghee requires heating it (which necessitates fire and fuel) and removing the impurities that float to the surface. Kakabhushundiji states that for a sadhak with a pure and stable mind, in a state of dispassion, the next step is yoga and transcending the karmas, which means going beyond the Karta Bhav

(I am the doer).

Yoga is the restraint of the mind's fluctuations (chitta vrittis) while concentrating on the ultimate goal, which is accomplished through both practice (abhyasa) and dispassion (vairagya). Yoga leads to indirect knowledge (paroksha gyan), which eliminates all accumulated (sanchita) and future (agami) karmas, both positive and negative. Only prarabdha karma (the karma that has already begun to bear fruit) remains.

Next, to transcend the Karta Bhav, we should cultivate the Sakshi Bhav, allowing us to observe ourselves as witnesses and to stop identifying with the body. We strive for the realisation that "I am not the body; I am the indestructible Atma." This understanding helps dissolve the illusion of Karta - "I am the doer" and leads to a state of surrender, in which you acknowledge that 'His will' drives all actions.

However, some impurities of 'I', 'Mine', 'You', and 'Yours' persist, along with remnants of desires, attachments, and arrogance. Their removal results in the pure ghee of Gyan (knowledge), which a resolute intellect should then solidify to prevent any slippage or decline. This verse (doha) echoes Shri Krishna's assertion in the Gita 4.37-38 that there is no purifier in this world

quite like knowledge! / DAILY WORLD /

The author is a former electrical Engineer and resides in the Himalayas. He can be occasionally reached at ramam.namami@gmail.com