The Spiritual Import of the Mahabharata and the Bhagavadgita : Ch-9. Part-9.

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9: The Unity of the Lover and the Beloved :


Part-9.


Another type of devotee is those who seek expansion in their possessions (artha).

The exponents of the Bhagavadgita vary in their opinion as to the true meaning of this word artha.

Usually artha means material possession or empirical gain of some kind or other.

One who seeks material wealth or prosperity of a temporal character, and for this purpose resorts to God and devotion to divinities, such a devotee is regarded as an artharthi.

But others who study the Gita tell us that an atharthi need not be equated with a person who seeks material prosperity, for a reason which they deduce in this manner.

There is a sequence in the placement of the words in this half-slokam : "arto jijnasur artharthi jnani."

It appears as if the words go on rising from the lower to the higher categories, until one reaches jnana, which is the wisdom of God.

In this verse, artha is placed at the lowest level, the jigjnasu at the next, the artharthi at the third and jnani as last.

Swami Krishnananda

To be continued  ....


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