The Esoteric Significance of the Kathopanishad - 5.8 : Swami Krishnananda.

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Monday, November 23, 2020. 06:58.PM.

Chapter-5.  Sannyasa – The Renunciation of Erroneous Notions - 8.

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Hard is this way. Strait is the gate and narrow is the way. Strait: very narrow. One cannot pass through that gate. The path of the spirit is compared to the track of birds in the sky which is not visible to the eyes, or the path of fish in the water which cannot be seen physically. The birds have a path in the sky, but we cannot see that path. 


Ksurasya dhara nisita duratyaya; durgam pathas tat kavayo vadanti (Katha 1.3.14) :

 Like the edge of a razor which is subtle and cannot be seen by the eyes, so is the subtlety and the sharpness of the path of the spirit. It is not a wide national highway on which we can roll, closing our eyes.

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It is a very, very difficult thing because the mind which is gross cannot grasp this subtle, narrow, hairsbreadth of the spirit. We can jump this way, jump that way, but cannot strike this via media. We can go to extremes, but we cannot be harmonious. The path of the spirit is a harmonious adjustment of personality – not eating too much or fasting too much, not being awake always or sleeping too much, not doing nothing or always doing something, says the Bhagavadgita. 

Srimad Bhagavad Gita -Chapter-6, Slokam-16&17 :

"natyashnatastu yogo ’sti na chaikantam anashnatah

na chati-svapna-shilasya jagrato naiva charjuna." - 6.16


"yuktqhara-viharasya yukta-cheshtasya karmasu

yukta-svapnavabodhasya yogo bhavati duhkha-ha." - 6.17


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Yukta  : One who is united with the structure of reality is in a state of yoga. What is the structure of reality? It is universal existence. A pervasive being is the nature of reality. It is not in one place only, so we can neither withdraw ourselves from it nor enter into it. 

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Neither can we run away from it nor can we enter into it because it is everywhere. This is the reason why it is so difficult. 

Anur esa dharmah (Katha 1.1.21), says the great Lord Yama to Nachiketas. Subtle, atom-like, minute, electron-like is this path – invisible. 

Naisa tarkena matir apaneya (Katha 1.2.9): Logic is not the way. By logical argumentation one cannot know this.   

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Thus, this chariot of the body has to be driven by a discriminating reason. Bhagavan Sri Krishna and Arjuna should be seated in one chariot. God and man should work in unison. It is hard for us to imagine how God and man can work in unison, how the will of the individual can be united with the will of the nation so that there is no conflict with the government. Otherwise, there is fighting with everybody, and we cannot be in peace.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                ------------------                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

To be continued ...

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