The Anugita is part of the Asvamedhikaparva a book of the Sanskrit epic
Mahabharata. It contains Krishna's conversation with Arjuna when Krishna
decided to return to Dwaraka after restoring to the Pandavas, their
kingdom. The main topics discussed are transmigration of souls, means of
attaining liberation, description of gunas and ashramas, dharma, and the
effects of tapas or austerity.
Practical instructions
For those who aspire to live the Higher Life a teaching is offered for
practice. This piece of practical instruction is to be found in the
Anugita.
The Instructor says:
I have crossed beyond that very impassable place, in which fancies are
the gadflies and mosquitoes, in which grief and joy are cold and heat,
in which delusion is the blinding darkness, in which avarice is the
beasts of prey and reptiles, in which desire and anger are the
obstructers, the way to which consists in worldly objects, and is to be
crossed by one singly. I have entered the great forest.
Then follows the description:
There is nothing else more delightful than that, when there is no
distinction from it. There is nothing more afflicting than that, when
there is a distinction from it. There is nothing smaller than that;
there is nothing larger than that. There is nothing subtler than that;
there is no other happiness equal to that.Entering it, the twice-born do
not grieve, and do not exult. They are not afraid of anybody, and nobody
is afraid of them. In that forest are seven large trees, seven fruits,
and seven guests, seven hermitages, seven forms of concentration, and
seven forms of initiation. This is the description of the forest.
Description of Yajna in Anugita
In the Anugita Yajna is described in a very beautiful form. This Yajna
is going on daily in this body and it is going on everywhere in the
world, outside and inside. It is sacrifice of all those factors which
tend to tether the soul to the bodily tabernacle into the fire of the
knowledge of the Absolute. This is called Jnana-Yajna which means the
offering of knowledge into the fire of Knowledge. Which knowledge is
offered into which knowledge? The knowledge of our individual existence
in all its aspects is offered in the knowledge of the Supreme Being. The
concept of this mysterious Dharma before us cannot be contained in our
minds. |