Part I: Chapter III / X

Yoga of Mysticism

It is a refuge in the Lord by total self-surrender unto Him. It comes from knowledge of God’s true nature and from direct vision. In this way, one frees himself from the good and evil effects of his actions, all of which he performs as an offering at the Lotus feet of the Lord.

The Bhagavad-Gita is truly a compendium of the yoga systems prevailing at the time of its exposition, and in fact mentions as many as eighteen:

Vikhad Yoga (Ch. I), Sankya Yoga (Ch. II), Karma Yoga (Ch. III), Gyan-Karma-Sanyas Yoga (Ch. IV), Karma-Sanyas Yoga (Ch.V), Atam Sanjam Yoga or Dhyan Yoga (Ch. VI), Gyan-Vigyan Yoga (Ch. VII), Akshara-Brahma Yoga (Ch. VIII), Raja Vidya Raj Guhya Yoga (Ch. IX), Vibhuti Yoga (Ch. X), Vishva Rup Darshan (Ch. XI), Bhakti Yoga (Ch. XII), Kshestra Kehetragya Vibhag Yoga (Ch. XIII), Gun Trai Vibhag Yoga (Ch. XIV), Purshottam Yoga (Ch. XV), Devasura Sampad Vibhag Yoga (Ch. XVI), Shradha Trai Vibhag Yoga (Ch. XVII), and Mokshar Sanyas Yoga (Ch. XVIII).

From the above analysis, it is clear that the distinctions drawn between the various aspects of the yoga system are illustrative rather of the human mind’s habit of looking at the same thing in different ways, then of any inherent difference between one type and another. They are just different facets of the same subject, and they often overlap and interpenetrate each other.

If one studies the Gita closely enough, one will begin to see that while Lord Krishna speaks of different yogas to harmonize with varying human approaches to the Divine, the practical esoteric that accompanies them is the same.

When he initiates Arjuna into the mystic science, he opened his Divya Chakshu or Third Eye, and it was only subsequently that the prince could behold him in his Universal Form or Vishva Roopa (Ch. XI).

Finally, as Guru, the great royal yogi told him to leave all else and surrender himself completely to him; Sarva Dharman parityajya mam ekam sharanam vraja (Ch. XVIII).

Further hints of the inner path are not lacking in the Gita; thus in chapter I, we are told that at the very outset the Lord sounded the five melodied conch. But in the absence of a teacher who has himself practically mastered the science, we tend to treat it either on the level of intellectual discussion or that of ritual chanting, thus missing its inner import.

It may be noted that the dualistic assumption characterizes the first stages not only of Bhakti Yoga, but of all the other types of yoga as well.

They begin by distinguishing the Jiva from the Brahman; one imperfect, finite and limited, and the other Perfect, Infinite and Limitless. *Creation itself is the product of two principles, the positive and the negative: Sat and Sato in the purely Spiritual World, Purush and Prakriti at the higher reaches of Brahmand, Brahma and Shakti in mid-Brahmand, Kal and Maya still lower and Jyoti and Niranjan at the bottom of the Brahmand.

It is the union of these, whatever the stage, that brings about various forms into manifestation, from the minutest atom to the largest universe. (* This section is adjusted to the First Edition of 1961; Editor’s Note 2011.) The term Brahman itself comes from two roots: vireh which denotes growth or expansion, and manan which connotes 'cognition.' The process of creation is one in which the Unity projects itself into dualistic and pluralistic forms, and the Way back through the reverse process from duality and plurality to Unity. But so long as a person remains in the body, he cannot, according to the yogins, be always in a state of samadhi or union with the Adi Purush, the Primal Being. The yoga system therefore believes in videh mukti, or final liberation only after death.

Again, the highest heaven of the yogins is Sahasrar, the region of the thousand-petaled lights, and that of the Yogishwara is Trikuti, the headquarters of the Brahmand, the origin or the egg of Brahman itself. Most of the Prophets of the world descend from this region, which is a half-way house between the physical and the purely spiritual realms, and at times refer to the beyond as Par Brahm only.

The path of the Saints and the Masters, however, goes beyond these, for they speak definitely of Sat Lok, the abode of the True One, the realm of pure spirit, and of regions even beyond thereto: Alakh, Agam and Anami.