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Knowledge – The

Ultimate Purifier

One of the main objectives of Krishna’s teachings through the
Gītā is to bring the pristine beauty of knowledge and its critical
role in one’s path of evolution. Knowledge can be the ultimate
purifier of all embodied beings. Every one of us will necessarily
evolve. Nobody can stop evolving, both materialistically as well
as spiritually. Nothing whatsoever stops us from constantly
making efforts to increase the material output. However, raising
the level of the individual self is a much higher goal. The subject
matter of Chapter 4 of the Gītā (Jñāna Karma Sanyāsa Yoga) is
the evolution or pursuit of the Self.

Law of Gravity in Knowledge transfer
First of all, this chapter makes an important transition in that
Krishna completely distances himself from Arjuna. Up to
Chapter 3 Krishna and Arjuna were conversing like close
cousins. Whereas in Chapter 4, the first thing Krishna did was to
declare that He was much more than Arjuna’s cousin. For the
first time, He makes it clear to Arjuna that He is the Sākṣāt
Avatāra of the Paramātman.

During the conversation with Arjuna, Krishna creates some
discontinuity in Arjuna’s mind. He suddenly says, “Hey Arjuna,
do you know Manu? It was I who taught Manu the principles of
yoga.” 111 How so? “First, I taught the principles of yoga fully to

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