The Nectar of Gita…for you, me and all! Essay 22 - “Doing Actions (Karma) with Knowledge (Gyan) is the Liberator”

Om Namo Bhagavathe Vaasudevaayaa!

“Doing Actions (Karma) with Knowledge (Gyan) is the Liberator”

Chapter 2; Sankhya Yoga

Krishna briefly explained the concepts of Sankhya Yoga in regard to the theory and nature of Aatman to Arjuna and moved on to the virtues of keeping up his Swadharma as Kshatriya.

“Oh Arjuna, all those great warriors that are holding you in high esteem for your valor thus far, shall think light of you under the impression that you are a coward who fled from the battlefield” (2/35)

“Further, they will not only be critical of your lack of fighting skills but also start taking ill of you in various ways which would definitely get you to grief” (2/36)

“Oh Arjuna, in case you get killed in the battlefield, you will get heaven; if you win, you will get to enjoy the luxuries of ruling a great Empire. So, either way you tend to gain. So, get up and be ready for the battle” (2/37)

This is a very important message for all of us. In our efforts to achieve something, if we get bogged down due to lack of self-worth at any point in time, this gives us encouragement to keep our efforts and good work going. If we achieve, we get a sense of fulfilment. In case we don’t achieve the desired result, at least it would be remembered as a good attempt and the feeling would be gratifying. This statement therefore, encourages people not to leave their work in the midst but to keep working towards the goals.

Similarly, in the fight with Avidya or ignorance, the practitioner or Sadhaka, might get into so many demotivating road blocks. The above exhortation from Krishna serves as an encouragement to them not to lose faith but pursue their sadhana with devotion and commitment. Unflinching devotion is a necessary requirement otherwise, the practitioner may get trapped in the cosmic delusion and lose his way permanently.

Krishna now explains how a person can avoid becoming a sinner if he performs actions in a certain way.

“Oh Arjuna, get ready for the battle with a stable mind that treats pleasure and pain; profit or loss; victory or defeat, with equanimity. Then you will not be guilty of sinning for whatever outcome that comes” (2/38)

Krishna is now getting into the secrets of karma yoga. He is about to explain the proper way of discharging actions so that one is not bound by the results of such actions. Here, balance of mind is the fundamental requirement. One should not get unduly elated on pleasures or get dejected on pain and suffering. Such a conduct prevents one from the bondage of actions. So, it is not doing karma that is the problem, but it is how we do karma which is the issue. Therefore, doing karma with ‘knowledge’ or intelligence is the liberator. That’s why Krishna first teaches Gyan or Knowledge and then gets into the Theory of Actions or Karma yoga.

Krishna having given some doses of Sankhya Yoga, now gets to introduce a bit of Karma Yoga to Arjuna in his efforts to lift him up from his quandary.

“Oh Arjuna, so far, I have revealed to you the concept of Aatman and its nature as propounded in the Sankhya Sastra. Now I am going to explain to you a few concepts of Karma Yoga contained in the Yoga Shastra. If you get that wisdom right, you will be free from the bondage of karma. Therefore, listen carefully” (2/39)

Any action or karma we do, brings a result which binds us. if we do a good action, some good result comes to us which we enjoy. Likewise, any bad action we do gets us a bad result which also binds us. For example, if we study hard for an exam, we get a good grade and we get into a good school or a job and we will be very excited about it. On the contrary, if we fail in the exam, we lose all such privileges and become very dejected. But Karma Yoga tells us a way that does not bind us to the resultant emotions of an action, if and only if we perform it in a certain laid down way. Krishna is going to tell us how to perform a karma in a non-binding way. So along with Arjuna, we should also pay utmost attention to this.

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The Nectar of Gita…for you, me and all! Essay 21 - “Following one’s Swadharma opens gates to Heaven”

Om Namo Bhagavathe Vaasudevaayaa!

“Following one’s Swadharma opens gates to Heaven”

Chapter 2; Sankhya Yoga

Till now Krishna was trying to convince Arjuna why it is futile to get dejected about the battle or killing the large contingent of relatives, friends, teachers and elders who were up in arms against one another ready for a kill. Krishna was teaching the tenets of Sankhya Yoga to help Arjuna to come out of his misery. He explained about Aatman and its nature. Let us quickly summarise the main arguments put forward so far:

• Aatman is eternal. All these relatives and others are the manifestation of the same Aatman. So, no need for feeling sad about them.
• Aatman is detached and unaffected. It discards one physical form and takes up another just like how a person discards worn-out clothes and wears new ones. Again, no need for crying for them.
• Even if one argues that the Aatman is not permanent and dies with the body, then also no need for worry as anything that is born shall die and gets reborn.
• These physical forms were not there before birth and shall not be there after death. They appear for a brief period in between which is an illusion. So, no need for worrying about these illusions.
• Even if the physical forms die, the Aatman cannot be killed and hence no need for lamenting.

Having explained the concept of Aatman, Krishna proceeds to deal with the situation from another angle.

“Oh Arjuna, even if you consider your Kshatriya Dharma, fighting a righteous battle is the most glorified and noble duty of a Kshatriya. You cannot back away from this bounden duty of yours” (2/31)

For a Kshatriya, protecting Dharma in a righteous battle is the swadharma or the bounden duty. In the face of a battle for Dharma, a true Kshatriya cannot back away. It brings dishonor to him and his lineage. Therefore, Krishna reminds Arjuna that, he hails from a hallowed lineage of Kshatriyas, and in a battle for protecting Dharma, a great warrior like him should not become chicken-hearted and shy away from fighting.

“Oh Arjuna, this opportunity is God-given, it opens doors to heaven. A Kshatriya who gets this situation on a platter is really a blessed one” (2/32)

Krishna here is extolling the virtues of Kshatriya Dharma and encouraging Arjuna to pick up his bow and arrow and get ready to fight a righteous battle without fear or remorse.

“Oh, Arjuna, if you shy away from fighting this righteous battle, you will be guilty of disrespecting your swadharma and your glory will be at stake and you will become a sinner” (2/33)

“People will talk of your infamous non-action for ages to come. For an honorable man death is preferable to an inglorious life” (2/34)

Now Krishna is emphasizing on the flipside of his quandary. Taken by dejection, if Arjuna backs away from the battle, he would be guilty of disrespecting his swadharma as a Kshatriya and will go down in history for the wrong reasons. Disowning swadharma tantamounts to sinning. People will talk of this infamous event for ages to come. He reminds Arjuna that leading an inglorious life is worse than death for an honorable man.

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The Nectar of Gita…for you, me and all! Essay 20 - “Life is but a period of Illusion between Birth and Death”

Om Namo Bhagavathe Vaasudevaayaa!

“Life is but a period of Illusion between Birth and Death”

Chapter 2; Sankhya Yoga

Krishna after explaining that even if one considers Aatman as indestructible and eternal or on the contrary, considers Aatman as perishable which dies with the body, there is no need for one to grieve the dead. As in both cases the Aatman shall take birth again. He further assures Arjuna thus;

“Oh Arjuna, all beings are invisible before they are born; become visible when they are born into a form; and disappear or become invisible after they are dead. Why do you grieve for such beings?” (2/28)

This is a very loaded statement. This implies that, before being born one is invisible; becomes visible when one is born into a physical form; and disappears after death. So, one is visible only during a temporary period which is transitory. The whole creation follows this principle. This temporary phase of visibility is an illusion. Krishna questions the wisdom of Arjuna in lamenting for those who are just an illusion. 

This cosmic rule was well explained by Jagadguru Sri Adi Shankaracharya. He says, whatever was not there in the Beginning and whatever would not be there at the End and is only there in the interregnum, is nothing but an illusion. As a corollary, he says, the physical world which doesn’t exist before creation (Srusti) and after apocalypse (Maha Pralaya), but exists in between, is also a Cosmic Illusion (Maya).

To understand it even better, let us take the example of our dream experiences. The dream world does not exist when one is in a wakeful state and also does not exist when one is awake from sleep. It only exists in our sleep state and the whole dream world which gives us real like experiences, melts into oblivion when we wake up from sleep. We all know that the dream world is just an illusion and do not give much importance whatever good or bad happens there. One doesn’t generally lament about happenings in the dream. Krishna advises Arjuna not to grieve about such an illusion.

Krishna further explains how different people perceive Aatman in different ways thus;

“Someone may see Aatman as an ‘amazing’ thing; some other may talk about it as an ‘amazing’ thing; yet some other may listen to it as an ‘amazing’ thing. Even after seeing, telling and listening about it, the fact is, no one is able to understand Aatman properly” (2/29)

We can understand from the above that ‘Aatman’ is something which is not realized by seeing, talking or listening about it. It is something which can be understood by only contemplation, deep meditation, introspection and inward looking. It is realized only through intense ‘Saadhana’.

Krishna completes explaining about the nature of Aatman by concluding that even if the person is killed, the Aatman inside the person cannot be killed and therefore there is no need for Arjuna to grieve about the people who would die on the battlefield (2/30)

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The Nectar of Gita…for you, me and all! Essay 19 - “One who is born shall die; one who is dead shall be born again”

Om Namo Bhagavathe Vaasudevaayaa!

“One who is born shall die; one who is dead shall be born again”

Chapter 2; Sankhya Yoga

Krishna by establishing the nature of Aatman as eternal and indestructible, further explains the characteristics of Aatman thus;

“Aatman cannot be known by the sensory organs. He is beyond the thought process of mind or consciousness and it doesn’t undergo any evolution. Oh Arjuna, realise this truth and come out of your grief” (2/25)

In the real world, we can see any physical object or understand it by either sound, taste, touch or feel. But all these do not help in the understanding of Aatman. It is beyond even thinking as we cannot know it by the sensory experiences. Everything in the world undergoes age related changes. But, Aatman is ancient and does not undergo changes due to passage of time.

The statement lays emphasis on realizing the true nature of Soul through a process of self-realisation that would help one to come out of worldly sorrows. Experiencing the true Self or Aatman through intelligent discrimination between what is permanent and what is transient takes one beyond all worldly miseries.

Truly understanding the mental state of Arjuna which is representative of the thought process of any ordinary individual who cannot differentiate between the Soul and the Body, Krishna further says;

“Oh Arjuna, even if you think that Aatman is perishable and dies with the body and takes birth again into a new being, then also there is no need for you to grieve” (2/26)

Here Krishna is taking the role of the ‘devil’s advocate’ and is taking the argument into the camp of the detractors. A large number of people may think that, the Soul and the body are one and the same; and birth and death occur to the body and the soul at the same time. Even assuming it to be true, Krishna says that in such a situation also one does not need to grieve.

“Oh Arjuna, even if you assume that Aatman also is destructible and dies at the time of the death of the body and takes rebirth along with a new body, be known that anything born has to die and anything that dies shall be born again. Going by this cosmic rule also there is no need for you to lament” (2/27)

Here Krishna is talking from the state of a common man. For the one who has no knowledge of the true nature of Aatman, there is no differentiation between Soul and Body. For him both mean the same and undergo death or birth. Even if one believes in this hypothesis also, there is no need for one to grieve the dead as they shall be reborn again. Therefore, Krishna even covers that kind of thought process and comes out with a suitable response.

Here one should not misunderstand that Krishna has departed from his concept of Aatman. He is covering his doctrine discussing it from the opposite dimension also.

The Nectar of Gita…for you, me and all! Essay 18 - “Aatman is beyond Size, Place and Time”

Om Namo Bhagavathe Vaasudevaayaa!

“Aatman is beyond Size, Place and Time”

Chapter 2; Sankhya Yoga

Krishna explains the difference between the Soul or Aatman which is eternal and the Body which is destructible. He further says;

“Just as how a person discards old and torn clothes and gets into new clothes, the Aatman discards a worn-out body and gets into a new physical body” (2/22)

This statement needs closer understanding. In real life, we see evolution in Nature and take it in our stride. We see trees shedding leaves in Fall and sprout new leaves in another season. We look at them with optimism that the new leaves will sprout soon. Similarly, when our clothes are worn out, we throw them out and get in new clothes without any sense of regret. So, Krishna implies that, death is nothing but discarding of a worn-out body and getting into a new one and therefore it’s not a thing to lament about.

Here many would get a doubt that, in real life, it’s not necessary that one dies at a ripe old age. People die quite young and we see children and even infants dying. Then how could we accept the statement that death is about discarding worn-out bodies? Here we need to understand the theory of Karma which dictates that a person comes into life bringing his ‘Prarabdha Karma’ or Karma for this life. Basically, this is the quantity of past karma that has been given for a person to experience and expend in this birth. People live till their ‘Prarabdha Karma’ lasts. It can be for 100 years or 100 days or for even for 1 day. So, we need to understand Krishna’s statement in the light of this. It should be understood that death occurs when the person’s ‘Prarabdha Karma’ is worn-out or expended and Soul or Aatman discards this body and goes for another.

Explaining further, Krishna says, the Aatman is not affected by the forces of the Five Elements or by any weapons.

“Weapons cannot destroy Aatman; Fire cannot burn it; Water can not wet it; Air cannot dry it out” (2/23)

This is a very important statement describing the nature of Aatman. Any being has 3 main components – Body, Consciousness and Aatman. Body is the physical aspect, consciousness is subtler and Aatman is even subtler. The physical elements or weapons can only hurt the physical body and not the subtler elements.

Krishna further reiterates;

“Aatman cannot be cut by weapons, cannot be burnt; cannot be dampened; cannot be dried up. It is Eternal, Omnipresent, Stable, Unaffected and Ancient”

In the physical world, everyone and everything is bound by Size, Place and Time. Nothing on Earth is beyond these three dimensions of measurement. For example, a person has a specific size or physical dimension and stays at a specific place (he can’t be at two places at the same time) and lives in a particular time period. The size and the time period may vary for persons and things. But finally, everything falls within the ambit of these 3 dimensions.

Now let us look at Aatman. It is subtler and has no size; It is Omnipresent as it is present in everything on Earth. When it is everywhere, it has no place limitations and is said to be stable. As we have seen earlier, it’s not affected by anything including the 5 Elements of Nature. So, it is said it is unaffected. It has no birth or death so it is said to be ancient and is therefore beyond Time. Time consumes every physical entity on Earth. But Aatman is not bound by time.

By saying the foregoing, Krishna assures us that Aatman which is the actual ‘I’ as different from the body, is eternal and indestructible. So, there is no reason for human sorrow and fear of death.