Bhagwad Gita - Post 253

Summary of 'Bhagwad Gita' ... Continued

Then Arjuna puts a question: “I have understood everything that You say, but I want to know how You are visibly present in this world. What are Your special manifestations? I understand that You are, generally speaking, present everywhere; but where are You especially manifest?”

Then Lord Sri Krishna gave a long list of special manifestations of great glories, powers and magnificence.

The whole point is that the Lord wants to drive into the mind of Arjuna the truth of God not merely being all things, or God being everywhere, God being present in highly excellent manifestations, God being the Creator, and God being the Procurer of all the welfare of people. 

There is no question of transmigration, going to another realm, taking rebirth in some other place, becoming a yogi and again practising yoga to reach God, and contemplating on the creation of the universe as if creation is outside God—as if there is a material out of which He fashions the world. These ideas must be completely removed from the mind. 

Also, all doubts of Arjuna having been removed through a clear description of the nature of the Atman and the origin and destruction of all created things, he is now ready to behold the Cosmic Vision. Krishna grants him the divine sight by means of which Arjuna beholds the Lord as the vast Cosmic Manifestation. 

The vision is at once all-comprehensive and simultaneous. In every direction Arjuna sees the Lord as the entire universe. All the created worlds, gods, beings, creatures and things stand revealed as the one gigantic body ( cosmic form being just an indication of the all pervasiveness, where the entire creation must be within the All Pervading Brahman) of the Lord. 

The Lord exhorts him to fight, he being only an apparent cause of the destruction of his enemies. Arjuna is unable to bear the pressure of the sudden expansion of consciousness and is filled with fear. He begs the Lord to assume once more His usual form. 

Krishna reiterates that this vision cannot be had through any amount of austerities, study, sacrifices or philanthropic acts. Supreme devotion is the only means by which one can have access to His grand vision.

Arjuna asks: “Are You the Supreme Person? Sometimes You refer to Yourself as Parama-Purusha—Supreme Person. 

Sometimes You say that You are indestructible, transcendent, and impossible even to conceive. In what way are we to worship You, O Lord? There are people who adore You as the Supreme Mahapurusha, Purushottama. 

With immense devotion they sing of You, they dance in ecstasy by taking Your name, they adore You day in and day out, and glorify You in all ways. 

There are others who are unified in their being with Your indestructible Super Being. Between these two great souls, whom do You regard as the best of yogins?”

Krishna replies, “I consider those people very near to Me and really united with Me whose mind is fixed on Me, who worship Me ever considering Me as their highest beloved, who have faith in Me only, and center their faith in nothing else. 

  

I certainly consider them as united with Me because their mind is wholly centered in Me in their utter devotion. But there are others who are united with Me in a different way.” 

The distinction drawn here is between those devotees who

worship the Supreme Being as the Parama Purushottama and those who are devoted to the Universal Inclusiveness, outside which even they do not exist. 

We may call these two ways of approach as bhakti and jnana, if we like; but the jnana referred to here is actually a kind of bhakti in the highest sense. It is called para bhakti, which is the same as jnana.

The Lord goes on to describe the qualities that a true devotee possesses. He neither attaches himself to anything nor does he have any aversion to things. 

He has a balanced mind under all circumstances. He is not agitated by the happenings of the world, nor does he himself cause any agitation in others. 

He is perfectly desire less and rejoices in the Lord within. He sees equality everywhere, being untouched by sorrow, fear, honor as also dishonor. He is perfectly content as he has surrendered his entire being to the Lord.

The path of devotion communicated during the conversation between Sri Arjuna and Lord Krishna is highlighted by providing answer to the following key questions:

1.    Should One Worship a Personal or an Impersonal God?

2.  What are the four Paths to God Realization explained in this chapter?

3.  Why Karma-Yoga is recommended to be the Best Starting Point for God Realization?

4.  What are the Key Attributes of a true devotee?

5.   Finally, why One Should Sincerely Strive to develop Divine Qualities?

In this Chapter, we have one of the most significant, most illuminating, most inspiring and most mystical portions of the Bhagwad Gita. 

The Lord gives us a wonderfully revealing insight into the human individual. It is the metaphysics of man, the unknown. The immortal Soul, with its physical embodiment, is the main theme of this discourse. 

The Supreme transcendental Spirit, which is the eternal substratum beyond both, is also described in a wonderful manner. The knower of the Supreme Reality is instantly liberated.

The blessed Lord tells us that the knowledge of the Field and the Knower of the Field is the true knowledge. This highest and the best knowledge grants us divine wisdom and spiritual illumination that lead to divine beatitude. This body is the Field. 

The Immortal Soul (yourself), dwelling in the body is the Knower of the Field. Verily, it is the Supreme Being who has projected Himself and assumed the form of this Knower of the Field within this body. 

This Self is none other than That. Thus, Lord Krishna explains the mystery of the individual soul dwelling within this mortal body. This knowledge constitutes the main subject matter of all the scriptures and the highest philosophical works.

The five elements, the ego, the mind, intellect and the ten organs, desire and aversion and such factors constitute the Field. Next follows a wonderful summing-up of what constitutes true knowledge. Then follows the declaration of the Supreme Soul, the knowledge of which grants us immortality. 

That Supreme Reality is the one universal Essence present everywhere. It pervades all. It shines within the inmost chambers of our heart, it is everything, it is the one seer, the witness, the guide, sustainer, experiencer and Lord of all. One who knows this mystery is not bound by activity even in the midst of life. 

When we perceive this supreme Presence dwelling in all beings we cannot injure anyone. Krishna asks us to see and know the difference between the Field (body or Prakriti) and the Knower of the Field (Spirit or Purusha), and thus reach the Self. This is the teaching and the message of this illuminating discourse.

There is a belief among commentators of the Bhagwad Gita that the great Upanishadic statement ‘tat tvam asi’ has something to do with this threefold classification of the chapters of the Gita. The individual is tvam—‘thou’. This ‘thou’, or individual, is taken up for an intensified form of study in the first six chapters. 

Tat means ‘That’—the Supreme. The nature of ‘That’ is taken up for study in the next six chapters. Asi means ‘art’; ‘thou That art’. The unification of the ‘thou’ and the ‘That’, the methodology of attaining the unity between the individual and the Universal, in all its details, is supposed to be delineated in the coming chapters, from the Thirteenth onwards.

Knowledge of the three cosmic qualities or Gunas, namely, Sattwa, Rajas and Tamas is now given through this discourse. 

The knowledge of these three Gunas, which hold the entire universe and all creatures under their sway, is of vital importance to each and everyone for their progress and happiness in life. 

Without this knowledge one will be forever bound by sorrow. In this knowledge we have the secret of success in worldly life as well as in spiritual life. Therefore, one should acquire this precious knowledge.

Lord Krishna reveals that these three qualities compose the Cosmic Nature. This Cosmic Nature is the primal source and origin of the entire creation and all things in it. Hence all things created are subject to their influence and irresistible power. 

The individual soul also is bound to the body by these three qualities present in Cosmic Nature. The Supreme Being brings about creation through the help of His Prakriti (Nature) endowed with these threefold qualities.

The highest of the three qualities is Sattwa. It is pure. It brings about happiness, wisdom and also illumination. 

The second quality of Rajas gives rise to passion manifested by intense attachment and greed. It causes sorrow and suffering. 

The third, termed Tamas, is the worst of all. It arises due to ignorance and results in darkness, lethargy and delusion.

Krishna asks us to diligently endeavor to cast out Tamas from our nature. We should control and master Rajas, and by holding it in check, wisely divert its power towards good kinds of activities. 

Sattwa should be carefully cultivated, developed and conserved in order to enable us to attain immortality. 

Lord Krishna teaches us this important subject in this discourse from the ninth to the eighteenth verse. He declares that one who rises beyond all the three Gunas through spiritual practices, becomes free from birth, death, old age and sorrow, and enjoys immortality.

In reply to a question from Arjuna, the blessed Lord describes the marks of one who has risen above the three Gunas. 

He states that if one constantly worships Him with exclusive devotion one will attain the highest divine experience and supreme peace and blessedness.

Krishna gives more details about the nature of the three gunas. Attachment to any one of the gunas will hold a person back, keeping them in the cycle of death and rebirth. 

However, the gunas of Rajas and Tamas are particularly detrimental to a person's process of enlightenment. 

Although Sattwa seems desirable, when it is held as an attachment it can keep one bound. For example, over attachment to the pursuit of knowledge or joy (without striving for inner experience of Knowledge gained) can keep a person embodied. 

Conversely, Sattwa without attachment can help a person leave the cycle of death and rebirth. 

The "light of knowledge shines forth / through all the gates of the body" in these people. This is one way such a person can be recognized and set apart from those still ruled primarily by Rajas or Tamas.

Many things can affect the rebirth of a person. The ruling guna at the time of death will determine the situation a person will experience when reborn into the next life. 

Those who die while ruled by Rajas are born to people who are attached to action, whereas those who die while ruled by Tamas are born to people who are deluded. 

This distinction could imply that a person who has led a good life could be reborn into a poor incarnation if they die in a state of anger. 

Although a person is ruled primarily by one guna or another, it is possible for that person to move back and forth between secondary gun-as over the course of a lifetime.

The realized sage, of course, goes beyond all these qualities, for, although it is Sattwa that enables him to reach God, even this quality will bind him if he is attached to it.

The aspirant should know the symptoms and signs of their presence in his personality and acquire a knowledge of their subtle workings. Then only can he maintain an unhampered and smooth progress in all activities of his life, both secular as well as spiritual. 

Love.