35. Just as darkness can never engulf the sun, similarly, illusion can never again overcome the soul who has once attained enlightenment. Tadviṣhṇoḥ paramaṁ padaṁ sadā paśhyanti sūrayaḥ "Those who have realized God always remain in God-consciousness."
Under the illusion of Maya, we see the world as separate from God, and establish friendship or enmity with other human beings depending upon whether they satisfy or harm our self-interest. Divine knowledge that comes with enlightenment changes our perspective and vision of the world. Enlightened Saints see the world as the energy of God, and utilize whatever comes their way in the service of God. They also see all human beings as parts of God and harbor a divine attitude toward everyone. Thus, Hanuman says:
"I see the forms of Lord Ram and Mother Sita in everyone, and so I fold my hands and offer my respects to all."
36. Material existence is like a vast ocean, where one is tossed around by the waves of birth, disease, old age, and death. The material energy subjects everyone to the three-fold miseries: ādiātmik—miseries due to one's own body and mind, ādibhautik—miseries due to other living entities, and ādidaivik—miseries due to climactic and environmental conditions. In this state of material bondage, there is no respite for the soul, and endless lifetimes have gone by being subjected to these conditions. Like a football being kicked around the field, the soul is elevated to the celestial abodes, dropped to the hellish planes of existence, and brought back to the earthly realm, etc. according to its karmas of righteous or sinful deeds.
Divine knowledge provides the boat to cross over the material ocean. The ignorant perform karmas and get bound by them. Performing the same karmas as a yajña to God liberates the knowledgeable. Thus, knowledge becomes the means of cutting material bondage. The Kaṭhopaniṣhad states:
"Illumine your intellect with divine knowledge; then with the illumined intellect, control the unruly mind, to cross over the material ocean and reach the divine realm."
37. Even a spark of fire has the potential to become a major conflagration and burn down a huge heap of combustible material. In 1666, the Great Fire of London began as only a little flame in a small bakery, but as it grew it consigned to flames 13,200 houses, 87 churches, and most of the city offices.
We too have a heap of karmas attached to each of us, consisting of the reactions of the sinful and righteous deeds performed by us over infinite lifetimes. If we endeavor to exhaust these karmas by reaping their results, it will take many more lifetimes, and in the meantime further karmas will accumulate in an endless process. But Shree Krishna assures Arjun that knowledge has the power to burn our heap of karmas in this lifetime itself. That is because knowledge of the soul and its relationship with God leads us to surrender to him. When we surrender to God, he burns our stockpile of endless lifetimes of karmas and releases us from material bondage.
38. Knowledge has the power to purify, elevate, liberate, and unite a person with God. It is thus supremely sublime and pure. But a distinction needs to be made between two kinds of knowledge—theoretical information and practical realization.
There is one kind of knowledge that is acquired by reading the scriptures and hearing from the Guru. This theoretical information is insufficient by itself. It is just as if someone has memorized a cookbook but has never entered the kitchen. Such theoretical knowledge of cooking does not help in satiating one's hunger. Similarly, one may acquire theoretical knowledge on the topics of the soul, God, Maya, karm, jñāna, and bhakti from the Guru, but that by itself does not make a person God-realized. When one practices sādhanā in accordance with the theory, it results in purification of the mind. Then, from within one gets realization of the nature of the self and its relationship with God. The Sage Patañjali states:
"The knowledge attained by realization from within through the practice of Yog is far superior to theoretical knowledge of the scriptures." Such realized knowledge is being extolled by Shree Krishna as the purest sublime thing
39. Shree Krishna now introduces the concept of faith in the context of knowledge. Not all spiritual truths are immediately perceptible; some of them can only be experienced after having attained sufficient elevation on the path. If we only accept what we can presently verify or comprehend, we will be bereft of the higher spiritual secrets. Faith helps us accept what we cannot understand at present. Jagadguru Shankaracharya has defined faith as follows:
"Faith means firm confidence in the words of the Guru and the scriptures." When such faith is placed upon a wrong personality, it can lead to disastrous consequences. But when it is placed on the true Guru, it opens the pathway for eternal welfare.
However, blind faith is not a desirable thing. Before placing it on any Guru, we must use our intellect to confirm that the Guru has realized the Absolute Truth, and he is teaching it in accordance with the eternal Vedic scriptures. Once this is confirmed, then we should strive to deepen our faith in such a Guru, and surrender to God under his guidance. The Shvetashvatar Upaniṣhad states:
"The imports of all the Vedic knowledge is revealed within the hearts of those who engage with unflinching faith in devotion toward Guru and God."
40. The Bhakti Rasāmṛit Sindhu classifies sādhaks into three classes based on the degree of faith and knowledge:
"The highest sādhak (spiritual aspirant) is one who possesses knowledge of the scriptures and is also endowed with firm faith. The medium class sādhak is one who does not have knowledge of the scriptures, but is endowed with faith toward God and Guru. The lowest class sādhak is one, who neither has scriptural knowledge nor is endowed with faith." For the third category, Shree Krishna says that such persons cannot attain peace either in this life or hereafter.
Even worldly activities require the exercise of faith. For example, if a woman goes to a restaurant and places an order for the meal, she has faith that the restaurant will not mix poison in her food. If, however, she is besieged with doubts and wants to subject every food item to a chemical test first, how will she ever enjoy and finish her meal? Similarly, a man goes to barber shop to get a shave, and sits on the chair while the barber moves the sharp edge of his knife over his throat. Now, if the man doubts the barber and suspects his having the intention of murder, he will not be able to sit still for the barber to be able to shave him. Hence, Shree Krishna says in this verse that for the doubting person there is no happiness either in this world or in the next.
41. Karm is actions involved in prescribed rituals and social duties, sanyās means "to renounce," while "yog" means "to unite with God." Here, Shree Krishna has used the word yogasanyasta karmāṇaṁ, referring to "those who renounce all ritualistic karm, dedicating their body, mind, and soul to God." Such persons do their every action as a service to God. Shree Krishna says that their work performed in devotion do not bind them.
Only those actions bind one in karma, which are performed to fulfill one's self-interest. When work is done only for the pleasure of God, such action becomes free from all karmic reaction. They are like multiplying numbers with 0 (zero). If we multiply 0 with 10, the result will be 0; if we multiply 0 with 1000, the result will remain 0; and if we multiply 0 with 1 million, the result will still be 0. Similarly, the works that enlightened souls perform in the world do not bind them, because they are offered to God in the fire of Yog, i.e. they are done for the pleasure of God. Thus, although doing all kinds of works, the Saints remain unfettered from the bonds of karma
42. The use of the word heart does not imply the physical machine housed in the chest that pumps blood in the body. The Vedas state that one's physical brain resides in the head, but the subtle mind resides in the region of the heart. That is the reason why in love and hatred one experiences pain in the heart. In this sense, the heart is the source of compassion, love, sympathy, and all the good emotions. So when Shree Krishna mentions doubts that have arisen in the heart, he means doubts that have arisen in the mind, which is the subtle machine that resides in the region of the heart.
In the role of being the Spiritual Master of Arjun, the Lord has imparted to his disciple the knowledge of how to gain insightful wisdom from the practice of karm yog. He now advises Arjun to utilize both wisdom and faith to cleave out the doubts from his mind. Then, he gives the call of action and asks Arjun to rise up and do his duty in the spirit of karm yog. The dual instructions to both refrain from action and to engage in action still create confusion in Arjun's mind, which he reveals in the opening of the next chapter.