dalyale palomaryah rawlins
Dorian Aldrege
BG 5.25: Those holy persons, whose sins have been purged, whose doubts are annihilated, whose minds are disciplined, and who are devoted to the welfare of all beings, attain God and are liberated from material existence.
In the preceding verse, Shree Krishna explained the state of the sages who experience the pleasure of God within themselves. In this verse, He describes the state of the sages who are actively engaged in the welfare of all beings. The Ramayan states:
Those who are beyond the dualities that arise from doubts, whose minds are engaged within, who are always busy working for the welfare of all living beings, and who are free from all sins achieve liberation in the Supreme.
Only a person who is fully in Krishna consciousness can be said to be engaged in welfare work for all living entities. When a person is actually in the knowledge that Krishna is the fountainhead of everything, then when he acts in that spirit he acts for everyone. The sufferings of humanity are due to forgetfulness of Krishna as the supreme enjoyer, the supreme proprietor, and the supreme friend. Therefore, to act to revive this consciousness within the entire human society is the highest welfare work. One cannot be engaged in such first-class welfare work without being liberated in the Supreme. A Krishna conscious person has no doubt about the supremacy of Krishna. He has no doubt because he is completely freed from all sins. This is the state of divine love.
Sages or saintly and holy men of purified minds who have true vision are known to be devoted to the welfare of all living entities. This has been seen to be a characteristic of compassion in them and becoming immersed in the Brahman or spiritual substratum pervading all existence they attain moksa or liberation from the material existence.
Once a person sins have been eradicated then these are the things which transpire. As such demerits diminish the feeling of alienation from the atma or soul also diminishes. Lord Krishna uses the words chinna-dvaitha meaning uprooting concepts of dualism such as pleasure and pain, joy and sorrow, success and failure etc. which give rise to doubts and delusions. How are they to be uprooted? By the sword of knowledge in the form of renouncing all desires for sense gratification and perceiving the atmas distinctive nature along with the Brahman or spiritual substratum pervading all existence. The eternal atma which evaporates all alienation is omniscient, knowing past, present and future. Therefore by atma tattva or realisation of the soul one is able to enact their individual consciousness attain communion with the ultimate consciousness and with all doubts removed realise that the destruction of the alienation from the individual atma and the distinctive nature of paramatma or the Supreme Soul reveal two completely different realities.
The spiritually intelligent saintly beings who perform the before stated instructions, who perceive things with discrimination and chant Vedic authorised mantras, who have refrained from all sinful actions leading to inevitable reactions by the practice of selfless actions without desire or attachment, whose doubts have been vanquished by the sword of spiritual knowledge and who mercifully are active for the benefit of all living entities. Lord Krishna reveals that such beings attain freedom from samsara or the perpetual cycle of birth and death by realisation of the Brahman or spiritual substratum pervading all existence.
5.25 Rsayah, the seers, those who have full realization, the monks; ksina-kalmasah, whose sins, defects like sin etc., have been attenuated; chinna-dvaidhah, who are freed from doubt; yata-atmanah, whose organs are under control; ratah, who are engaged; sarvabhutahite, in doing good to all beings-favourably disposed towards all, i.e. harmless; labhante, attain; brahma-nirvanam, absorption in Brahman, Liberation. Further,
The dictionary generally gives two main definitions of freedom. One is the state of not being imprisoned or enslaved. The second is the power or the right to act, speak or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint.
The state of not being imprisoned or enslaved can be a form of freedom. But the idea that the power and the right to be able to speak or act as you want without any hindrance, is a very limited understanding of freedom.
It ignores the law of karma, where for everything you do, every act you make, there will be an equal and opposite reaction. While you may be free to choose to speak and to act, you cannot escape the result of these acts. So, are you therefore truly free?
Another significant point is that I should recognize that it is possible for me, the spiritual being within this body, to become enslaved by my own mind and my own desires. Someone suffering from a mental illness can be an example. Such a person may be walking around shouting out and talking to themselves and throwing punches in the air, and then running up to people in a threatening way. We would look at this person with some feeling of pity. Their mind is broken, in a sense, and they are so controlled and trapped by their mind, that they have been reduced to this unfortunate state.
This is a graphic example which we can easily appreciate. But from a spiritual perspective an average person can be similarly victimized, but in a different way. When a person is unable to control their mind and desires, they are forced (sometimes against their will or better judgement) to act, and then must accept the consequences of their choices and actions in the form of karmic reaction.
People are bound to this world by the laws of karma. Some people are receiving good results and others are receiving unfortunate results. In both cases, they are in the same situation and they are both bound, just bound in different ways. Being bound to this world means repeatedly suffering the natural processes of disease, old age and then death, then birth again.
One who is enriched with good qualities is actually said to be rich, and one who is unsatisfied in life is actually poor. A wretched person is one who cannot control his senses, whereas one who is not attached to sensual gratification is a real controller [or someone that is in control]. One who attaches himself to sense gratification is just the opposite. Such a person is a slave.
Srimad Bhagavatam 11.19.44
This condition of being completely overwhelmed and being so strongly directed by the mind and the senses and losing our sense of actual spiritual identity and pure state of our consciousness is spelled out very clearly in the Bhagavad-Gita. It says:
The science of yoga teaches that you are not the body, nor are you the mind. The material world is not actually your home. You are a transient here in this particular lifetime. Our life in this body will come to an end and we will move on. Every time we act on material desire we get a whole load of karmic reaction which then binds us to this world and makes it so that we will be endlessly experiencing birth and then death.
The only way that you can come to a position of real freedom is by altering the direction of your life. You have the freedom to choose how you are going to live. It is within your own power to determine the outcome of your life and whether you actually achieve your rightful state of complete freedom or not.
Most people think freedom means no regulation. No control. But that is a very elementary and even childish understanding of freedom, because there are always consequences. If a person uses their intelligence and their freedom of choice to live a regulated and purposeful life, they can become free of all material suffering and all material conditions.
One who neither hates nor desires the fruits of his activities is known to be always renounced. Such a person, free from all dualities, easily overcomes material bondage. And is completely liberated, O mighty-armed Arjuna.
Bhagavad-Gita 5.3
One who is beyond the dualities that arise from doubt, whose minds are engaged within, who are always busy working for the welfare of all living beings and who are free from all sins achieve liberation in the Supreme.
Bhagavad-Gita 5.25
This is very advanced spiritual subject matter and it gives us a look at why the spiritual undertaking is so compelling and is so incredibly attractive, that if one experiences even the smallest drop of this realization or experience, their life is utterly transformed and the world loses its attraction.
Being situated in such a position one is never shaken even in the midst of the greatest difficulty. This indeed is actual freedom from all miseries arising from material contact.
Bhagavad-Gita 6.23
The temporary flashes of very limited happiness that one can experience from material pursuit cannot compare with the unlimited ocean of happiness, state of actual freedom, and the awakening of spiritual love that arises from mature spiritual realization, which is far beyond anything of this world.
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