Sankhya Yoga, Path of Knowledge, Gita 2

1. Introduction and summary of Chapter 2- Sankhya Yoga (Path of Knowledge)
2. Chapter reading Sankhya Yoga (Gandhi's Gita, Sivananda):
3. Key Themes of the Sankhya Yoga Chapter:
   1. Verses 1-10: Arjuna cannot discern his duty and seeks help from his master Sri Krishna
   2. Verses 11-30: Sankhya Yoga. Difference between body (finite) and Atman (imperishable self)
   3. Verses 31-37: Why should Arjuna fight?
   4. Verses 38-53: Karma Yoga (Nishkama Karma): selfless action to free oneself from the bondage of action (Karma Sannyasa Yoga). The Yoga of Wisdom
   5. Verses 54-72: The man of unwavering wisdom through Dhyana Yoga (Meditation)
4. Reading the versified version of Chapter 2
5. Analysis of each shloka and their comments from Chapter 2 (Gita Makaranadam by Swami Vidya Prakashananda)
6. Samkhya Yoga
   1. Introduction to Samkhya Yoga
   2. A Study on Sankhya Philosophy (by Swami Vivekananda)
   3. Sankhya and Vedanta (Swami Vivekananda)
7. Readings by Swami Vivekananda and Sri Ramakrishna related to Sankhya Yoga
8. Exercises of Chapter 2- The Yoga of Knowledge (Sankhya)

Important: this chapter is fundamental in the Bhagavad Gita, it contains the main teachings imparted by the Lord, through Sri Krishna, to Arjuna, and for all humanity. In the following chapters, Krishna will answer Arjuna's doubts, and expand on topics already explained. So he dedicates a lot of effort and love to studying and assimilating the wisdom contained in this chapter on Sankhya Yoga.

And don't forget that your goal as a seeker is to apply these pearls of wisdom in your life to achieve enlightenment and free yourself from suffering.

Key verse from the Bhagavad Gita

For Swami Vivekananda verse 3 “O Arjuna! Don't give in to helplessness. It doesn't benefit you. Abandon this miserable weakness of your heart. Arise, O burner of enemies!" It contains the essence of the Bhagavad Gita.

The student/seeker begins the study of the second chapter (Sankhya Yoga), one of the fundamentals of the Bhagavad Gita, reflecting on Sri Krishna's responses to the objections not to fight raised by Arjuna, clinging to his attachment to his relatives against whom he was going to fight. and fear, and exhorting him to fight.

The key teaching of this chapter is the difference between body (non-Self, finite) and Atman (self, imperishable, beyond death): the Self-knowledge.

In addition, we will analyze other fundamental points presented in this chapter, such as the need to balance the mind and be equanimous, avoiding pairs of opposites, how to control the senses, the freedom to decide behavior, attachment as a generating cause of desire and anger, the need to base our lives on knowledge and not on ignorance, the need to look within ourselves and realize that God (Sat-Chit-Ananda, Allah, Brahman...) resides in our hearts, the characteristics of a “man of sure understanding”…

«Just as Atman experiences childhood, youth and old age in his present body, so he will receive another body. The wise man is not deceived by this.. Just as a man discards worn out clothes and takes new ones, so Atman discards worn out bodies and leaves for new ones.» Bhagavad Gita 2-13 -22.

«Atman is never born nor never dies, nor having been, it will never cease to be; unborn, eternal, imperishable, primordial. Atman does not die when the body dies” Bhagavad Gita 2-29.

Understanding well the concept of Atman, and that God resides within us and therefore is in all beings, which will be analyzed in other chapters, will be vital to understanding the profound wisdom of the Bhagavad Gita and the Yoga Philosophy.

After having taught Arjuna the immortal nature of Atman, Sri Krishna introduced him to Karma Yoga, the Yoga philosophy of selfless action that he will develop extensively in Chapter 3 The Karma Yoga...

Chapter 2, verse 16 (Gita Makaranadam by Swami Vidya Prakashananda)

Chapter 2, Kapila (Swami Vidya Prakashananda)

Gandhi, Swami Sivananda, Paths of Yoga, Karma Yoga (Swami Vivekananda), Jnana Karma Sannyasa Yoga, Gita and business