197.4.35 Oh Pāṇḍava, once you know this,
You will never again fall into confusion.
This way you will see all creatures
Without exception in the Self, i.e. in Me.
What will that supreme wisdom teach us that we don’t already know, or which we can’t learn from books or from Google? For one thing, all our worldly experiences, perceptions, and knowledge are based on a deep delusion. We are like Plato’s men in the darkness of the cave who were mistaking shadows for reality. True jñāna will lift us from that darkness to the sunshine and fresh air of understanding. In that wondrous state, one will realize that behind all the differences, we see there is a shining commonalty that is the core consciousness (ātman). These are but different flickers of one and the same cosmic effulgence which is the Divine.
This perspective is truly magnificent. We are not told about good and bad behavior, meritorious action and sin, heaven and hell. We are told that wisdom will recognize the commonalty of all. True wisdom trumps pūja and bhajan, iconic worship and recitation of mantras, and recognizes the kernel of all existence, common to all human beings.
The chemical analysis of the body has revealed that ultimately there are molecules and atoms: the same in every human being, albeit in different genetic configurations. Likewise, says the Gītā, at the spiritual level we are all like water in different containers: the same molecules of H2O but with different chemicals and colorations superimposed. As informed scientific knowledge shows that all the waters we see, in no matter which container, consist ultimately of the same constituents, so too informed spiritual knowledge reveals that underneath all the differences which cause love and hate, affinity and acrimony, are sparks that have emanated from the same single source of cosmic awareness, which is what Krishṇa refers to here as me.
198.4.36 Even if you are the most sinning
Of all the sinners all,
With the raft of jñāna
You will cross over every evil.
This statement might, at first blush, seem somewhat strange. It says that even if one is the worst of all sinners one will be redeemed by acquiring that supreme wisdom.
Similar things have been said in other religions. The Reformation leader Martin Luther wrote, for example: “Be a sinner and sin boldly, but believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly…Pray boldly—you too are a mighty sinner.” The idea is that if one were to accept Jesus Christ, one will be absolved of all sins. In Islam, if one accepts Allah, all one’s sins will be forgiven, and the sinner will go to paradise.
The Gītā tells us here that the negative consequences of sins will be erased, not by accepting this God or that prophet, but by attaining the highest jñāna. This may be interpreted as saying that from the highest spiritual level all humans and all creatures great and small will be treated with equal love and one will not commit sinful acts. A sinful act does harm and hurt to a fellow beings. When it says even if one is the worst sinner, what is implied is that no matter how degrading, hateful, and hurtful one’s life may be as of now, if one adopts this enlightened humanistic perspective one will begin an altogether new chapter in life.
199. 4.37 Arjuna, just as burning flame
Turns fuel to ashes,
Likewise the wisdom-fire turns
All actions to ashes.
The log that used to light up the oven is turned to ash as the fire burns. The fire that is ablaze in a thick forest burns the trees and turns them to ashes too. Fire is the agent that brings to naught all that it touches. Fire is thus a powerful simile for anything that totally decimates something.
Here Krishṇa evokes this simile. Supreme wisdom refers to the highest level of spiritual realization. When one has attained it, all actions that are fruit-bearing in the sense of leading to rebirth will be rendered sterile. It is the equivalent of grace in theological systems. Differences disappear when a person sees the light of truth.
The imagery of fire turning to ash actions rooted in desire reminds us of the story of Kandarpa (Kāma) who once disturbed Shiva’s peaceful meditation by inciting him to lustful thoughts: enraged Shiva opened his third eye. The fire from that source dismembered Kāma, and he was turned to ash. Thus, the idea of a mystical fire making cinders of unhealthy factors in life was not new in the tradition.
But as Goethe reminded us, “Unsere Leidenschaften sind wahre Phönixe. Wie der alte verbrennt, steigt der neue sogleich wieder aus der Asche hervor” (Our passions are the true phoenixes; when the old one is burnt out, a new one rises from its ashes). That is the problem: the recurrence of desires, however much they are suppressed through self-control. The Gītā recognizes this, but it mentions here the aftermath of erasing desires and achieving full wisdom.
The notion of full spiritual enlightenment can be understood only theoretically by most readers of the Gītā since they are far from that state. It is surprising that many who comment on the work speak as if they have experienced self-realization.
This is not unlike a report on lunar surface that is given by journalists who have not landed on the moon. They themselves have not directly experienced the thrill that the astronauts felt when they set foot on the moon. Likewise, we trust the sages who utter these words, but we really have only secondhand knowledge of what they are talking about.
When we read popular accounts of some sophisticated branch of science, say the physics of the Higgs boson, we form some idea of what is being said, but it is simply impossible for one who hasn’t delved into the technical aspects of the subject to fathom what it is all about. The situation of the average reader of the Gītā is like that. The state of supreme wisdom is something that is known only in words.
We may interpret this verse thus: normally the particular actions we do will have an impact on us, as per the law of karma. But this will be the case only until we attain supreme spiritual awakening. It is somewhat like what happens when a simpleminded person with belief in ghosts and demons walks into a dark room where he hears some subdued sound. He/she will be frightened and may scream. But when one with a flashlight walks in, he/she is not frightened. The light corresponds to the wisdom fire that turns to nothing the fear experienced without light. The psychological constraints that cause restlessness disappear with a deeper understanding of the ephemeral nature of all life and existence.
Spurts of Thought 