Verse 18.54

Verse 18.54: “Realising his oneness of essence with Brahman, he in the serenity of his self, has nothing to grieve for, nothing to long for; and maintaining an even disposition towards all beings, he attains highest Devotion to Me. (1091)

Commentary called Jnaneshwari by Jnaneshwar:

Then he, Oh Son of Pandu, with his qualification for his oneness of essence with Supreme Brahman, occupies the seat of serenity of his self secured by the realization of the ‘self. The dish becomes satisfactory (fit) for being taken in, when it rids itself of the heat with which it is cooked; or a river resumes its useful calm, after it rids itself of the hurry and bustle of its monsoon floods; or the music of all the subsidiary musical instruments ceases, when the vocal song (of which the former is the accompaniment) comes to an end. In that way the labour put forth to achieve the realization of the ‘self’ becomes quiescent with the realization of the self. This peaceful serene state is known by the name ‘the serenity of the (realisation of the) self’ and he (such perfected one) secures it Then (when he has attained this blissful state) he does not grieve for anything that he possesses not, nor does he display any longing to obtain some object in particular-both receive quietus at his hand, since for him everything in the universe is saturated with the same spiritual principle.

With the rising of the Sun, the stars lose their brilliance; in that way, with the realisation of the self, whatever direction he may look to, the (usual) order of distinction between being and being is obliterated, Oh Partha. The writing on a slate can be wiped out by the palm, in that way all sense of distinction (about diverse things disappears when he looks at them. Similarly, all adverse and unreal knowledge, created during the dreamy and wakeful states, gets extinguished in the non-manifest, and then as the realisation of Supreme Brahman increases, that non-manifest too wears out and it is (ultimately) dissolved completely in that full realisation. Hunger gradually decreases with each morsel of food taken in during meal, and then it completely disappears when it (hunger) is fully satiated; or as one marches on, the distance (of the road to be covered) becomes shorter and shorter and when the destination is reached, that distance is fully covered; or as the awakened state develops, the slumber is gradually lost, and disappears altogether, with the return of the state of full awakening; or as the moon gets into full phase, the growth of her brilliance stops, and there also ends the bright fortnight of the lunar month. In that way it is only when the knowing agent absorbs in himself all objects of knowledge and along with such absorption (he) merges himself into my essence, that the ignorance completely disappears.

At the world dissolution, the entire universe becomes one vast and unlimited sheet of water dissolving therein clearly differentiated entities such as rivers, seas, etc.; or when both the (earthen) pot (ghaṭa) and the hermitage (maṭha) cease to exist, there only remains the uniform and all-abiding sky: or with the burning out of fire-wood there remains only the fire; or with the melting of different sorts of ornaments in the mould, there remains behind only gold, robbed of different names and shapes; or with one getting awake and the dream disappearing, there remains the person all alone-by himself. In that way, excepting my own self, there remains nothing else for him (the seeker) including his own self, and he thus secures what is known as the fourth kind of devotion for Me.

This fourth kind of devotion is so named, since its ways differ from the ways followed by those in distress, or those eager to know, or those desiring the fulfilment of some cherished object. Practically this is neither the third nor the fourth or yet neither the first nor the last; in fact this is my own innate state (of Brahman). That(innate) light which sheds light on the state of ignorance in regard to myself, and reveals my true aspect which is different from what the worldly people take it to be and makes the devotee cognisant of the totality of the spiritual principle (which inheres in him) in all things everywhere, that light which makes one abide in faith, where one feels one should sit (fix up), and reveals its all-pervading continuity, thus enlightening him; that light which makes felt the ‘being’ or ‘not being’ of the universe in the way the appearance or non-appearance, of a dream depends on the existence of the one (dreamer)- that innate light of mine, Oh Kapidhvaja [Kapidhvaja], (one with a monkey as an emblem on his chariot) is what is named as devotion.

Therefore in the case of ‘affliction’ in one afflicted, against which relief is expected, that expectation of relief i.e. devotion I am turned into; in the case of one eager to know (me), Oh Warrior, the object of knowing constitutes this devotion, and I am represented as that object of knowing; in the case of one seeking some end, the desire for that end constitutes this devotion and it identifies me with that end and designates me as that end, Oh Arjuna. In that way this devotion operates, taking the support of ignorance and shows me (who am) the seer as the object to be seen. There is no mistaking the fact that there is only one (single) face and it is visible in a mirror, the mirror being responsible for the apparent duality (of face); the vision only sees one Moon and this is correct; but that there should appear two Moons (where there is really one) is illusion caused by the eye-disease called ‘Timir’ (timira).

Thus everywhere, through this devotion I make myself the cynosure (to the devotees) but that delusion of (myself being) the object of knowledge, which (even though it is not in Me), they fancy is in Me persists because they are obsessed by ignorance. As that ignorance has vanished now, the state of seeing inherent in the seeing agent merges into me, in the way the reflection merges itself into the original. The quality as gold is there unshaken, even though gold is mixed with alloy; yet when the alloy is completely burnt out, the residue is pure gold. Is not the Moon the very same even before the Full Moon night? (The only difference is that} on the Full Moon night she gets complete (in all her phases). In that way what is seen through knowledge is only myself. When I am thus seen it is myself (complete having secured my own self), and in such a state, the intermediate phenomenon in the form of the state of seeing disappears. Therefore, I say that this fourth (path of) devotion of mine transcends others involving dualism (of the seer and the object of seeing), Oh Arjuna.