Bhagavad Gita – Curtain Raising
D. Surya
Rao
The Bhagavad Gita said to have been told by God himself in human form of Sri Krishna to his cousin, friend and follower, Arjuna in the famous battle field of Kurukshetra is narrated by the sage poet, Sri Vyasa in his epic, ‘The Mahabharata’.
The great war of Kurukshetra was fought between the Pandavas and the Kauravas in Pre-historic times for a little piece of territory which by right should have belonged to Pandavas. Thus the Pandavas were compelled to wage a war when all their entreaties to arrive at a settlement had failed. All were ready for the fight and Arjuna who was to take part in it wanted to abstain from it because it involved killing of kith and kin. Then his Charioteer, Sri Krishna, had to exhort him to take up arms and fulfill his duty. That is how the Gita came into being.
The Gita deals with the fundamental questions, such as ‘What is God?’, ‘What is the purpose of life?’, ‘What is man?’ and so on. The argument is that Arjuna should fight the righteous war because it is his duty as a warrior. One should not shun one’s duty. It is a sin. More over, it is not he that does that work (fighting and killing his enemy) for, the real doer of things is God himself. Man, in his ignorance, thinks that he does everything himself.
Man is constituted of two parts-material and non-material. In other words, the body and the soul; the body is formed by the five elements and the soul is the spark of the Divine. As it enters the body, it assumes the role of the individual self and participates in the drama of life. Its actions depend upon the three gunas (tamas, rajas and sattva) and pave the way for the evolutionary process. Desires, sensual and worldly pleasure bind it to the body, and perpetuate the process of birth and death. The purpose of life is therefore to know the truth and work out for liberation.
The Gita tells in several ways how this liberation can be achieved. There are various factors involved in the attainment of liberation like one’s own nature, aptitude, desire, mental attitude etc. The mind occupies the key position in this endeavour. As long as the mind is turned towards gratification of the senses and agonistic demands, there can be no escape from the cycle of birth and death. Death is not the end of all; it is just the end of a phase. What perishes is the material part of man, the non-material part, i.e., the individual soul existing and taking birth in another body. The Gita is a scientific treatise on how to bring about an end to this continuous alternation between life and death.
In whatever situation man may find himself placed, his progress towards liberation depends on his nature which is dictated by the three gunas, his attitude to work, and constant, right and comprehensive perspective of the cosmic drama. Of the three gunas, sattva is the highest and gateway to knowledge regarding the supreme Being. To get rid of the other two gunas, laziness, passion and the associated evils of anger, lust, ego is a Herculean task. All sorts of impurities of mind and body have to be removed. Steadfastness, Patience, Devotion, Sympathy and Love should prevail. Then a right perspective of the entire field of work and of existence can be had. The first and foremost hurdle in this spiritual path is egoism, or, in other words, I-consciousness. Until and unless this hurdle is removed, one cannot step forward in this path. When this difficult but not impossible task of removing I-consciousness is accomplished, right attitudes are formed.
Attachment is a binding factor. Hence one must be without attachment to any person or thing. One must act but not with a desire for the fruit of action. Work must be done with total attention and ability. The thought must be on how best the work can be done and not on how much gain can be obtained from it. Here there is no I-consciousness. Work is done and all are benefited by that work. It means that work is not done with the sole purpose of benefiting the individual alone who does that work. The entire process of spiritual development depends on to what extent the consciousness of the worker is expanded. In that expansion ‘I’ must become insignificant. What is required to reach this state of extinction of the ego is to realize the fact that there exists a supreme power behind all action. The ultimate deciding factor for the successful accomplishment of an action is that power. Recognition of this fact paves the way for the right attitude and application to work.
The Gita is not a religious work meant for the people of a particular religion. It is a compendium of the process by which man can evolve himself into a higher being so as to be capable of attaining liberation. Man at the lowest rung is found possessing evil qualities, like greed, envy, lust, covetousness, anger, hatred etc. His mind can never comprehend the state of things that can bring him physical satisfaction. His existence is akin to that of an animal. The Gita explains why he is so; it explains why men are so differently constituted in natures. People who neither believe in the existence of the soul nor take it seriously can ever explain the difference in individual nature and fate. The Gita deals with the whole process of birth and death. The One becomes many; the One Supreme Power pervading the whole void can create and uncreate or destroy universes, within and without the range of human understanding. From an inert state of being to the highest state of consciousness the process of evolution is taking place. As already stated above, man’s nature is characterised by the three gunas, tamas (sloth), rajas (passion) and sattva (righteousness) in order of successive stages of progress. The preponderance of any of these three qualities shapes the habits, thoughts, actions etc, of an individual. The pure state of sattva is the pure state of righteousness. Hence the need to get transformed into that highest state of existence where the whole Universe appears not in its diverse shapes but in its essential divine unity.
The Gita upholds the truth that desire is the root cause of all bondage. Then attachment. These perpetuate the cycle of life and death. The Gita itself shows the way for liberation. It is through an evolutionary process. First, cleanliness of the body and mind, and of the home and surroundings is to be accomplished. Constant practice, understanding and introspection can help in this effort, secondly, evils of whatever type and degree they may be, have to be got rid of. This does not happen in a day or two. Constant vigil is needed over thought, word and deed so that they are all on the right side. Thirdly, affirmation is to be made of the truth that purpose of life truly is to get liberated from the bondage of life and death. Study of great books and company of great persons can be helpful in bringing about the needed transformation. From this we can understand the importance of a study of the Gita.
Today we are busily engaged in material pursuits in a keenly competitive world. The sole interest in life now is to acquire things which enhance bodily comforts and physical pleasures. There can be no end to this acquisition. Affluence as well as want keeps man’s vision limited to the superficial and visible aspects of life. In this mad race of acquisition he does not hesitate to adopt foul means, and he becomes morally corrupt and spiritually bankrupt.
The Gita makes a comprehensive study of man, his nature, behaviour and action. It explains everything about him and shows him the way to pull himself out from the mire of ignorance into which the perplexing system of life has thrown him. A critical study of the Gita elevates the mind, eliminates impurities of the body and mind and paves the way for right living, a prerequisite for spiritual progress. The Gita mentions different paths for liberation: Karma Yoga (discipline of work), Bhakti Yoga (discipline of devotion), Jnana Yoga (discipline of knowledge) etc. One can choose any of these according to one’s inclination. These disciplines are not disparate; they overlap one another. For example, a person following Bhakti Yoga can never be self centred in his approach to work and he can have the insight into the nature of things and gain knowledge.
The Gita is helpful to all people at all levels of understanding impelling them to improve, the quality of their life. Here is ‘the celestial light’ that dispels darkness and shows the path to spiritual progress.
The modern man is not properly trained in the art of living. He is taught mere science and technology. Though his study of these subjects has made him prosperous, it has not made his living happy. He finds himself tormented by discontent and unrest. Fraud, Corruption, Frustration, Crime and Violence are rampant in society. Higher values and thoughts appear to have lost their significance. Dazzled by material success, man has only learnt to pride himself on wealth and power. His whole endeavour seems directed towards unraveling the secrets of the visible nature and physical universe but not of the invisible existing along with it.
It is common knowledge that man’s effort has been to improve his lot physically and mentally. He has lost sight of the fact that what truly counts in life is spiritual progress. Hence the importance of the study of the Gita. One has to make a careful study of it in order to know the truths of human life.