Bhagavad Geeta 08 | Ch13 V2 Shankar Bhashya continued; V7 Cultivating Straightforwardness (Arjavam)

Bhagavad Geeta 08 | Ch13 V2 Shankar Bhashya continued; V7 Cultivating Straightforwardness (Arjavam)
V2 Shankar Bhashya continued..
Scriptural injunctions do not apply to a jnani:
After Bhagavan Shankaracharya Ji clarifies who the scriptural injunctions are intended for, the poorva pakshi (opponent) raises another objection. He argues that if the jnanis do not perform Vedic rites, their followers might also neglect these practices, potentially rendering the shastras meaningless..
Bhagavan responds by explaining that true jnanis are exceedingly rare. The actions of the ignorant are not truly influenced by the jnanis; rather, they are driven by their own inherent likes and dislikes (raga-dvesha). Samsara (worldly existence) arises from avidya (ignorance) and does not touch the Kshetragya (knower of the field), just as mirage water cannot wet saline sand.
Opponent: But what about those jnanis that still claim to say "I am so and so..", and "this is mine..."
Bhagavan Shakaracharya Ji explains that those are not jnanis then, whenever there is identification with Body, mind, intellect, True knowledge is incompatible with identification with the body, mind, or intellect. Moreover, how can one discern whether a jnani is merely making statements for transactional purposes while internally identifying with the Supreme Self alone, or is truly identifying with the body, mind and intellect?
Also those that think Khestragya is Ishwara, and Khestra is distinct from it, and yet give reality to the illusory 'I' who is a samsari and needs to do practices of dhyanam etc. to acquire the knowledge of Kshetragya and then dwell in the true nature of the Lord, those are fools and deluded, and those who teach others this make them deluded as well.
V7: Cultivating Arjavam (Straightforwardness)
All the values mentioned in V7 reflect the nature of Truth, and if somebody is following those values, they will be able to own up nature of Truth.
Arjavam is absence of crookedness. Arjavam means whatever said is meant, and whatever is meant is acted upon. Arjavam is integrity in thought, word and deed. The greatest blessing of this quality is the person becomes trustworthy.
by
Br. Soham Chaitanya,
Resident spiritual teacher, Chinmaya Sandeepany San Jose