The Bhagavad Gita: Wisdom From Realization and The Eternal Godhead
VII. Wisdom From Realization
The term used for wisdom is “jnana“, and for realization it is “vijnana.”
Jnana is the highest kind of knowledge…it is the direct knowledge of God, spiritual wisdom. Vijnana is beyond that, for it means an intimate, practical familiarity with God, even during daily affairs. One who has seen fire has jnana. But one who has actually built a fire and cooked on it has vijnana.
A cherished theme of later Hinduism is the idea that the world is Krishna’s “lila”, his play. He created the world in play, just as a child might desire to have companions to play with. Krishna participates in the game of life; his divine qualities shine through the world wherever there is excellence of any kind.
[In the Greek language, this reference to excellence is called “arete”]. Part of this play involves “maya“. In general this word means a kind of magic , where the power of a magician or sorcerer makes something to appear as real. In the Gita, maya is the creative power of the Godhead, where the unity appears as the world of innumerable separate things and entities with “name and form”. [This consciousness, or world view, is virtually the same as the “you” 有, and “wu” 无 of the “Dao De Jing”. These literally mean “to have” and “without”. To have “name and form”, and to be without “name and form. See the Dao De Jing chapters 1 and 40 on this website.] The delusions, confusion, and self-centered attachments in the world of maya are called “moha”.
Krishna says: “I am strength, free from passion and self attachment.
I am desire itself, if that desire
Is in harmony with the purpose of life.”
“Delusion arises from the duality of attraction and aversion.
Every creature is deluded by these from birth.”
“All those who follow the spiritual path are blessed.
But the wise who are always established in union
For whom there is no higher goal than me
May be regarded as my very Self.”
XIII. The Eternal Godhead
“The Lord is the supreme poet, the first cause, the sovereign ruler, subtler than the tiniest particle, the support of all, inconceivable, bright as the sun, beyond darkness.”
“This supreme Lord who pervades all existence, the true Self of all creatures, may be realized through undivided love. There are two paths, Arjuna, which the soul may follow at the time of death. One leads to rebirth and the other to liberation.