Bhagawad Gita - Introduction (1)

[Guest guest]

General Introduction to Bhagawad Geeta - By Swami Chinmayananda

 

IF THE Upanishads are the text-books of philosophical principles discussing

man, world and God, the Geeta is a hand-book of instructions as to how every

human being can come to live the subtle philosophical principles of Vedanta

in the actual work-a-day world.

 

Srimad Bhagawad Geeta, the Divine Song of the Lord, occurs in the Bhishma

Parva of the Mahabharata, and comprises eighteen chapters, from the 25th to

the 42nd. This great hand-book of practical living marked a positive

revolution in Hinduism and inaugurated a Hindu renaissance for the ages that

followed the Puranic Era.

 

In the Song of the Lord, the Geeta, the Poet-Seer Vyasa has brought the

Vedic truths from the sequestered Himalayan caves into the active fields of

political life and into the confusing tensions of an imminent fratricidal

war. Under the stress of some psychological maladjustments, Arjuna got

shattered in his mental equipoise and lost his capacity to act with true

discrimination. Lord Krishna takes in hand the neurotic mind of Arjuna for

a Hindu treatment with Vedic truths.

 

Religion is philosophy in action. From time to time an ancient philosophy

needs intelligent re-interpretation in the context of new times, and men of

wisdom, prophets, and seers guide the common man on how to apply effectively

the ancient laws in his present life.

 

If we try to digest properly the implications of the Geeta's advice in the

light of Vedic lore, it becomes amply clear how actions performed without

ego-centric desires purge the mind of its deep-seated impressions and make

it increasingly subtle in its purification and preparation for greater

flights into the Infinite Beyond. To explain this, we will just try to

review a little the conception of the mind and its functions in our

day-to-day life.

 

Mind is man. As he mind, so is the individual. If the mind is disturbed,

the individual is disturbed. If the mind is good, the individual is good.

This mind, for purposes of our study and understanding, may be considered as

constituted of two distinct sides - one facing the world of stimuli that

reach it from the objects of the world, and the other facing the "within"

which reacts to the stimuli received. The outer mind facing the object is

called the objective mind - in Sanskrit we call it the Manas - and the inner

mind is called the subjective mind - in Sanskrit, the Buddhi.

 

That individual is whole and healthy in whom the objective and subjective

aspects of the mind work in unison with each other, and in moments of doubt,

the OBJECTIVE MIND readily comes under the disciplining influence of the

SUBJECTIVE MIND. But unfortunately, except for a rare few, the majority of

us have minds that are split. This split between the SUBJECTIVE and the

OBJECTIVE aspects of our mind is mainly created by the layer of egoistic

desires in the individual. The greater the distance between these two

phases of the mind, the greater the inner confusion in the individual, and

the greater the egoism and low desires which the individual comes to exhibit

in life.

 

Through the five "gateways of knowledge", the organs of perception, all of

us experience the world of objects around us at all moments of our waking

state. The innumerable stimuli that react with our sense organs

(receptors), create impulses which reach the OBJECTIVE mind and these

impulses filter deep down to the subjective stratum through the intervening

layers of individual ego-centric desires. These impulses, thus reaching the

SUBJECTIVE mind of a person, react with the existing impressions of his own

past actions that are carefully stored away in the subjective layer and

express themselves in the world outside through the five organs of action

(effectors).

 

At each moment, man meets with different patterns of these stimuli, and thus

constantly gathers new impressions in the 'subjective-mind.' Every set of

impulses reaching it not only adds to the existing layers of impressions

already in it, but also gets coloured by the quality of these Vasanas

hoarded within. When they are translated into action, the actions carry a

flavour of the existing Vasanas in the 'subjective-mind'.

 

All of us live constantly meeting a variety of experiences; and at each

incident, we perceive, react with the perceived, and come to act in the

outer field. In this process, we unwittingly come to hoard in ourselves

more and more dirt of new impressions. The 'subjective-mind' gets

increasingly granulated by the overlapping signatures of our own past

moments. These granulations make the 'subjective mind' dull and opaque, and

form, as it were, an impregnable wall between ourselves and the spiritual

Divinity that shines eternally as pure Consciousness in all of us deep

within the core of our personality.

 

The theory of Vedanta repeats that reduction of the Vasanas in the means of

volatalising the mind. When I look into a mirror and do not see my face in

it, is not because the mirror is not reflecting the object in front of it,

but because the reflected image is not peceptible to my vision due to,

perhaps, the thick layer of dust on the mirror. With a duster, when I clean

the mirror, the act of cleaning does not CREATE the reflection of the face,

but it only unveils the reflection which was already there. Similarly, man

is not aware today of his divine spiritual nature because the

'subjective-mind' reflecting it is thickly coated with dull Vasanas gathered

by it during its ego-centric, passionate existence in the world.

 

To bring the subjective and the objective aspects of the mind together into

a happy marriage where the 'objective-mind' is well disciplined to act

faithfully as per the guidance of the 'subjective,' is the Yoga pointed out

in the Geeta. This is accomplished only by the removal of the dividing

factor-the ego-centric desires. The typical word used in the Geeta to

indicate this practical implication of Yoga is self-explanatory-Buddhi Yoga.

 

When this happy marriage between the subjective and the objective aspects of

the mind has taken place, thereafter that equanimous Yogin becomes skilled

in action,* and he, with his 'objective-mind,' reacts intelligently and

faithfully to the external stimuli; his actions become, as it were, a

purgation of the already existing Vasanas in his 'subjective-mind'. Thus,

through intelligent action, an individual can exhaust his existing

impressions, and ultimately redeem his 'subjective-mind' from the

granulations and make it more clear and crystalline.

 

This idea has been emphasised by great commentators like Sankara, who

tirelessly repeat that selfless activity, performed in a spirit of egoless

adoration and reverence to the divine ideal, would ultimately result in

inner purification. This, according to Sankara, is the most unavoidable

pre-requisite before the subjective mind can turn inward seeking to

rediscover the sanctuary of the Self, the Spiritual Reality.

 

Spiritually viewed, the 'subjective-mind' in thus a secret weapon in man to

be used as an OUTLET for the existing impressions that have come to be

stored up in it. But the tragedy is that the average man, in his ignorance,

misuses this dangerous weapon and brings about his own annihilation. He

uses it as an INLET and creates, during his selfish activities peformed with

low motives, a new stock of mental impressions.

 

In order to exhaust them, nature provides new equipments (bodies) in which

the same ego comes to live, repeatedly, life after life. The message of the

Geeta clearly points out that actions are not to be avoided and the world of

objects is not to be denied. On the contrary, by making use of them

intelligently, we must strive selflessly, and force the very Samsara to

provide us with a field for exhausting our mental dirt.

 

An unhealthy mind divided in itself, as we explained earlier, becomes an

easy prey to a host of psychological diseases. Weakened in its

constitution, it easily becomes a victim to all contagions. Arjuna was an

average educated man, and from the details of the Mahabharata, we know the

environments in which he grew up. But for the entire Mahabharata, we would

not appreciate so fully Arjuna's mental condition, without which Krishna's

message would have fallen flat upon the readers. Therefore, the Geeta is an

intrinsic part of the entire Mahabharata and the classic would have been a

hotch-potch story, without pith and dignity, if Srimad Bhagawad Geeta was

not in it - and the Geeta would have been a mere philosopher's riddle-poem

without the Mahabharata background. The story and the poem together are an

organic whole; each devoid of the other would be ineffectual and empty.

 

Modern psychology exhausts volumes in describing to us the dreary results of

suppression and repression of emotions. There are many moments in our lives

when we KNOWINGLY suppress many of our emotions; but more often in our

day-to-day life, we, UNCONSCIOUSLY, repress many of our sentiments.

Repressed emotions accumulate a tremendous amount of dynamic energy which

must necessarily seek a field for expression, and unless they are properly

guided they would boomerang back to destroy the very individual. Though

there are no direct explanations of any repressions of emotion in Arjuna, a

careful student of the story can easily diagnose that the great hero on the

battle-field came under the influence of his repressed conditions and

behaved as a victim of perfect neurosis.

 

The causes for his emotional repressions are not far to seek. A great hero,

confident of his own strength, was made to live amidst the unjust tyranny of

his Machiavellian cousins. At the same time the great archer could not give

vent to his nature because of the righteous policy of "Peace at all cost" of

his eldest brother, Yudhishthira. These repressed emotions found a healthy

field for expression in the severe Tapas which he performed during his life

in the jungles.

 

During the last year of their lives INCOGNITO, the Pandava family had to

serve as menials in the palace of the Raja of Virata. The carping injustice

and the cruel indignities of the situation caused, no doubt, a lot of

repression in Arjuna's mind. But even these found a healthy field of

expression in the battle that he had a wage against Duryodhana's forces that

came to challenge the Virata-might.

 

After their long and strenuous trials, when the Panadavas at last reached

their native kingdom, their tyrant cousin, with no rhyme or reason, denied

them not only their right to half the kingdom, but also all terms of

conciliation.

 

The shrewd, blind Dhritarashtra, father of the Kauravas, probably understood

the psychological condition of the great warrior, Arjuna, and on the day

previous to the great war, he sent Sanjaya, his emissary, to Arjuna with a

secret message. This message, full of mischievous import, sowed the seeds

of dangerous ideas in the mind of Arjuna, directing his energies caused by

the repressions of his emotions into wrong channels, so that he became a

hapless neurotic in the face of the great challenge. We shall read in the

First Chapter the very same arguments and ideas repeated by Arjuna

faithfully from the message he had the previous day from his uncle.

 

On that fateful day when both the armies were getting into formation, Arjuna

asks his charioteer, Lord Krishna, to drive the chariot to a point between

two forces, so that he may review the enemy lines. Larger in number, better

equipped more liberal in supplies and commanded by well-known personalities,

the Kaurava formation, expanding itself like an "eagle," stood poised to

swoop down upon the smaller army of the Pandavas. This was a sight severely

challenging the mental stamina of the Pandava hero. His 'objective-mind,'

under the impact of the stimuli, could not find any reaction from its

'subjective-mind (Buddhi), because the shattering of these two aspects was

complete due to the intervening layers of his egocentric assumptions and

desire-prompted anxieties. The dynamic forces released in his mind due to

the repressions were not properly channelised, but were mis-directed by the

suggestions of Dhritarashtra's words, and therefore, the greatest hero of

the times, Arjuna, suddenly became a despondent, bewildered, neurotic

patient.

 

The 'Krishna-treatment' on this patient of psychological derangement was

certainly a specific cure, in as much as, in the last chapter we definitely

hear Arjuna declaring that all his "delusions have ended." The rest of the

story of how, having come into his own, he became a rejuvenated warrior of

tremendous strength and valour, is quite well-known to all students of this

great classic.

 

In varying degrees, every man is a victim of this 'Arjuna-Disease' and the

'Krishna-cure,' being specific, is available to all of us at all times in

the philosophy of the Geeta.

 

In the Second Chapter, which is almost a summary of the entire Geeta,

Krishna indicates the two main lines of treatment. One is a "treatment of

idealism" wherein Arjuna is directed to a greater reality than his mind, ego

and intellect, and thereby the divorce between the 'subjective' and the

'objective' aspects of his mind is eliminated to some extent. In the second

half of the same chapter, we shall read and come to understand how selfless

activity will purge the existing Vasanas in the individual. Arjuna being a

Kshatriya, his mind has coloured by the impression of Rajo-guna (activity),

and so he needed a battle-field to exhaust those impressions.

 

Thus, we find Krishna repeatedly goading his friend with the words, "Get up

and fight." This need not necessarily mean that the Geeta is a

war-mongering scripture of the ruling-class. It is a call to each one of us

to get up and fight the battle of our own life, according to our own

Vasanas (Swadharma), so that we may exhaust them and thus gain inner purity.

As we take it up stanza by stanza for a close study of the entire Song, we

shall try to see how Krishna indicates the same truth from different angles

of vision and explains it in different words.