Summary of 'Bhagwad Gita' ... Continued
This discourse is entitled “Purushottama Yoga”
or the “Yoga of the Supreme Person”. Here Lord Krishna tells us about the
ultimate source of this visible phenomenal universe from which all things have
come into being, just like a great tree with all its roots, trunk, branches,
twigs, leaves, flowers and fruits which spring forth from the earth, which
itself supports the tree and in which it is rooted.
Sri Krishna declares that the Supreme Being is
the source of all existence, and refers allegorically to this universe as being
like an inverted tree whose roots are in Para Brahman, and whose spreading
branches and foliage constitute all the things and factors that go to make up
this creation of variegated phenomena.
This is a very mysterious “Tree” which is very
difficult to understand, being a product of His inscrutable power of Maya;
and hence a marvelous, apparent appearance without having actual reality. One
who fully understands the nature of this Samsara-Tree goes beyond Maya.
To be attached to it is to be caught in it. The
surest way of transcending this Samsara or worldly life is by wielding the
excellent weapon of dispassion and non-attachment.
Lord Krishna also describes for us the wonderful
mystery of His Presence in this universe and the supreme place He occupies in
sustaining everything here.
The Lord declares that it is a part of Himself that
manifests here as the individual soul in each body. He Himself is the indwelling Oversoul
beyond the self. He is the effulgence inherent in the sun, moon and fire. He is
present as the nourishing element in the earth. He is the inner witness of all
beings.
He is the Supreme Knower even beyond Vedic
knowledge. He is the resplendent Person who is beyond both this perishable
phenomenal creation as well as the imperishable individual soul which is a part
of His eternal essence.
Thus, because He is beyond perishable matter and
superior to the imperishable soul (enveloped in Maya), He is known in this
world as well as in the Vedas as the Supreme Person.
This discourse is important and very instructive
to all persons who wish to attain happiness, prosperity and blessedness, and to
seekers in particular, who wish to attain success in their spiritual
life.
Lord Krishna brings out quite clearly and
unmistakably here the intimate connection between ethics and spirituality,
between a life of virtue and God-realization and liberation.
Listing two sets of qualities of opposite kinds,
the Lord classifies them as divine and demoniacal (undivine), and urges us to
eradicate the latter and cultivate the divine qualities.
What kind of nature should one develop? What
conduct must one follow? What way should one live and act if one must attain God
and obtain divine bliss? These questions are answered with perfect clarity and
very definitely.
The pure divine qualities are conducive to peace
and liberation and the undivine qualities lead to bondage.
Purity, good conduct and truth are indispensable
to spiritual progress and even to an honorable life here.
Devoid of purity, good conduct and truth, and
having no faith in God or a higher Reality beyond this visible world, man
degenerates into a two-legged beast of ugly character and cruel actions, and
sinks into darkness.
Such a person becomes his own enemy and the
destroyer of the happiness of others as well as his own.
Therefore, a wise person, desiring success, must
eradicate vice and cultivate virtue.
In this world three gates lead to hell—the gates
of passion, anger and greed. Released from these three qualities one can
succeed in attaining salvation and reaching the highest goal, namely God.
The goodness or the badness of a
particular quality or action, the divinity or the demoniacal nature of any
behavior, cannot be asserted entirely by social standards. They become
acceptable or not acceptable on account of their relevance to the ultimate goal
of life.
If there is total harmony and
relevance with the final attainment, that attitude, that conduct, that
behavior, that thought and feeling will be considered as holy, divine, ethical
and moral.
But if there is behavior which is
opposed to the consciousness of the ultimate goal of life by encouraging
attachment, egoism, possessiveness, cruelty and associated qualities, then it
becomes unethical, immoral, bad, ugly, undivine.
This discourse is termed the “Yoga of the
Division of the Three Kinds of Faith”. The theme of this discourse arises out
of the question asked by Arjuna in Verse 1 with reference to the final and
closing advice of Lord Krishna in the previous discourse, contained in the last
two verses therein (Verses 23 and 24). Arjuna asks, “What about those who, even
though setting aside scriptural injunctions yet perform worship with faith?”
The Lord replies and states that the faith of
such men who ignore the injunctions of the scriptures could be either Sattwic,
Rajasic or Tamasic. This would be in accordance with the basic nature
of the person himself. And, conversely, as is the kind of faith, so develops
the nature of the man.
Thus, in all things like sacrifice, worship,
charity, penance, etc., these qualities become expressed in accordance with the
kind of faith in which the person concerned is based.
Three kinds of worship:
Satvika people
worship gods and goddesses, rajasika people worship angels and
demons, while tamasika people worship ghosts and spirits.
Three kinds of food:
Sattvika people like food
that improves health and increases appetite, joy, strength, and longevity. Such
food is also tasty, not very dry, cooked with balanced spices, nutritious, and
pleasing to the heart.
The food rajasika people
prefer is extremely bitter, sour, salty, dry, hot in temperature and with the
spices that burn the tongue and the body. Such food causes pain, worries
and disease.
Tamasika people
like food that is ill-cooked, tasteless, putrid, stale, left-over, and filthy.
Three kinds of Yajna
Sattvika yajna is
one which is performed following the guidelines of scriptures and saints.
Rajasika yajna is
performed with a clear motive of material gain and just to project oneself as a
spiritual person.
Tamasika yajna is
performed without following any guidelines.
Three kinds of austerities:
There are three kinds of
austerities, namely, physical, verbal and mental. Each of these
austerities is of three types: sattvika, rajasika, and tamasika.
Each of these austerities is sattvika if
it is performed with supreme faith and for spiritual development only, not for
any worldly gain.
The rajasika way
of performing austerity is to gain honor, attain higher status, receive
reverence from people in the society, and is filled with hypocrisy. The
result of such austerity is uncertain and short-lived.
When a person picks up a few ideas
and practices them as austerity to torture their own body and mind and simply
to harm others, then it is called tamsika austerity.
Three kinds of charity:
When charity is done with noble
purpose it is called sattvika charity.
Rajasika charity
is done in order to receive a worldly favor and for material gain.
Charity to an unworthy, at
improper place and time, and given with insults and disrespect is called tamasika charity.
All the above produce results in accordance with
the quality of the doer’s faith. These acts done with right faith lead to
supreme blessedness.
When taken up without any faith whatsoever, all
these actions become barren and useless.
Om, Tat and Sat
Om, Tat and Sat are three epithets
of Brahman. By that were created formerly the Brahmanas,
the Vedas, and the yajnas.
Therefore, the followers of
the Vedas always begin all yajnas, tapa and
charity enjoined by the scriptures with the utterance of “Om”.
People seeking liberation,
uttering the word “Tat”, perform yajna, tapa, and
charity only for spiritual development.
The word “Sat” is used whenever
one refers to the Ultimate Reality or something good or noble.
The eighteenth discourse, which is the
conclusion of the divine discourse of Lord Krishna, is in many ways a summary
of the foregoing portions of the Gita.
It covers in brief numerous important points
dealt with in the previous discourses. Here you behold the ultimate result or
effect of the Lord’s discourse to Arjuna. The drama of Arjuna’s utter despondency
and breakdown is finally resolved in triumphant self-mastery, strength and
bold resoluteness.
Its central message emerges as an assurance that
in and through the performance of one’s respective duties in life one can
qualify for the highest liberation, if one performs actions by renouncing
egoism and attachment and surrendering all desire for selfish, personal gain.
By regarding the performance of your duties as worship offered to God, you
obtain the Grace of the Lord and attain the eternal One.
Significantly, this discourse opens with a
question by Arjuna asking what is true Sannyasa and true Tyaga (renunciation).
In reply to this important and crucial query,
the blessed Lord makes it clear to us that real Sannyasa or
renunciation lies in renunciation of selfish actions, and even more in the
renunciation of the desire or greed for the fruits of any action.
Now, what is it that we abandon,
and what is it that we relinquish?
The word ‘sannyasa’
suggests renunciation, but it does not suggest what should be renounced. Here
is the difficulty before all Sannyasins. They know very well that when they
take to Sannyasa, something has to be renounced, because the
very word ‘sannyasa’ means renunciation; but what are they to renounce?
Generally they renounce their old clothes and put on new clothes, or they
renounce their land and property, their family, etc., if that could be
possible.
Actually, according to the
Bhagavad Gita at least, such a kind of relinquishment cannot be regarded
as Sannyasa. This is because a person may be physically away from
the object of attraction and attachment, but physical distance from the object
of attachment does not necessarily mean absence of attachment.
Sannyasins may, even after
entering into the holy order, keep in their minds the memory of large estates
of land that they had, etc. Renunciation is a difficult thing to understand;
and so is the case with tyaga, or abandonment.
Very clearly we are told that selfless and
virtuous actions, and actions conducive to the welfare of others should not be
abandoned. You must engage yourself in performing such action but renouncing
attachment and greed. The true and proper renunciation is giving up of
selfishness and attachment while performing one’s legitimate duties. This is
called Sattwic Tyaga.
We neither hate unpleasant action nor are we
attached to pleasurable action. As it is not possible for you to renounce all
action, the renunciation of egoism, selfishness and attachment in your activity
is declared as true renunciation.
Karma does not accumulate and bind one who is
thus established in such inner renunciation. The divine injunction is that God
must be made the sole object of one’s life. This is the heart of the Gita
gospel. This is the central message in its teaching. This is the one way to
your welfare here.
Now Sanjaya concludes his narrative by declaring
that where there is such obedience as that of Arjuna, and such willing
readiness to carry out the divine teachings, there surely prosperity, victory,
glory and all blessedness will prevail.
Love.
