Bhagawad Gita Ch.4 Ver. 8-15 [Swamy Chinmayananda]

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In the descent of God explained here, it is very clearly said that the Lord

takes upon Himself, a body, projected for the purpose by Himself, and that

He reserves for Himself the Divine freedom to be IN it, and yet not OF it:

"THEN I BODY MYSELF FORTH." FOR WHAT PURPOSE ?

 

paritraaNaaya saadhuunaa.n vinaashaaya cha dushhkR^itaam.h .

dharmasa.nsthaapanaarthaaya saMbhavaami yuge yuge .. 4\.8..

 

8. For the protection of the good, for the destruction of the wicked and for

the establishment of rightenousness, I am born in every age.

 

It is quite evident that the Infinite cannot project Itself forth unless

there is some "desire." The State of Desireless-ness is but the State of

Actionless-ness. Without some equipment or the other, electricity cannot, of

its own accord, manifest itself. Similarly, the Supreme cannot, and need not

project out into a Divine, or an undivine form --- as an Immortal Omniscient

God or as a mortal foolish ego --- unless there is some desire, or the

other, to precipitate the manifestation A super-saturated solution, if left

alone, undisturbed, can carry its extra quantity of crystals in itself; but

the moment a minutest particle of the same substance is thrown into that

beaker, immediately, all the extra crystals get thrown out in crystal-form.

Similarly, the Dynamic Supreme, the Womb of Infinite potentialities, cannot

bring forth any form, or forms, unless there is an intention --- it may be

Divine, it may be good, it may be bad.

 

Then the DESIRE that made the Supreme assume the Divine form of Krishna ---

the Enchanting Cowboy, the Blue Lover-of-All-is here explained in Vyasa's

own words. In the stanza, Vyasa makes Krishna confess His initial "desire,"

that caused His manifestation.

 

The divinest of all "desires" is, indeed, a selfless thirst to serve the

world; but all the same it is a DESIRE. In order to "PROTECT THE GOOD," when

the Absolute starts ITs Godly career, it is the very necessity of Maya that

He, the very Lord of Delusion, has to take upon Himself one more added

mission," THE DESTRUCTION OF THE WICKED."

 

Here 'DESTRUCTION' is not annihilation of the individuals as much as the

REMOVAL OF THE WRONG TENDENCIES in the individuals. It is a process of

refitting the wardrobe wherein some old clothes are irredeemably spoiled,

and have to be eliminated in order to make more space for newly-made and

other refitted items. Similarly, Prophets, when they come, they encourage

the good, sometimes they rejuvenate the bad, and often eliminate the

poisonous specimens from the garden-of-life.

 

This much Lord Krishna was compelled to explain about Himself because it was

perfectly evident that Arjuna was blissfully unaware of the true Divine

nature of Krishna. The line of arguments adopted by Arjuna in the opening

chapter to justify his conduct in his friend's eyes would be meaningless if

Arjuna did not, in fact, believe that he was addressing a human being. It

would, in such a case, suggest that Arjuna was an utter atheist who would

not rely for his victory upon his Divine companion. All the same, when

Krishna comments upon Arjuna, characterising him as a non-caviller, a friend

and a devotee, deserving His assistance, Arjuna appeals to Krishna, with a

childlike simplicity: "DO TEACH ME, I AM THY DISCIPLE." This was undeniably

an attitude of profound respect but no indication that Arjuna treated

Krishna as God-Almighty, Himself.

 

WHY IS THE LORD GIVING THIS BIT OF HIS AUTOBIOGRAPHY?

 

janma karma cha me divyamevaM yo vetti tattvataH .

tyak{}tvaa dehaM punarjanma naiti maameti so.arjuna .. 4\.9..

 

9. He who thus knows, in true light, My divine birth and action, having

abandoned the body, he is not born again; he comes to Me, O Arjuna.

 

After explaining the how and the why of incarnations in general, Krishna

declares that those who, by constant contemplation upon this fact,

understand the Divine birth and activities of the Lord, end their

limitations and reach Godhood. That it is not a mere understanding or

knowing that is indicated here is clear from the very words, "IN TRUE LIGHT"

(Tattwatah), that is, we have to experience subjectively how and when the

Supreme Atman takes Its Avatara in us. Today, no doubt, individually, we

live as limited mortal brutes, but, at certain moments, when we are

entertaining pure selfless "desires," the very same Spark-of-Life in us

comes to manifest a divine potency and a celestial dash.

 

The stanza also subtly indicates that for one's spiritual development, the

practice of Upasana of the blissful form of the Lord is as efficient a

method as meditation upon the formless-Self. There are some professional

Vedantins who cannot accept the concept of the Lord having an embodiment.

They are merely barking at a shadow. To one who is practising sincerely and

whole-heatedly, the goal is equally available whether it is through the

Upasana of the Truth with a form (Saguna), or without any form (Nirguna).

 

Krishna is indicating here the Supreme State-of-Perfection, the

State-of-Existence from where "ONE IS NOT BORN AGAIN." In the earlier Vedic

literature the State-of-Godhood is described as the

"State-of-Deathless-ness" (Amaratva), while in the later Vedic literature we

find a slow change-over, and the Eternal is explained as the State from

which "ONE IS NOT BORN AGAIN" (Ajah). The evolution of this concept clearly

indicates the intellectual development in this country at that time. When a

society is immature, its members are afraid of death; but as they grow and

evolve, it is not death that frightens them so much as the possibility of a

new birth, for, it starts a new lease of agonising existence in imperfect

environments.

 

It is evident that the 'State-of-Deathless-ness' is itself the

'State-of-Birthless-ness,' because death can come only to that which is

born. And yet, the change in expression declares the maturity that was

gained by the Vedic-students of that period.

 

THIS PATH OF SALVATION IS NOT ONE MERELY REASONED OUT BY KRISHNA TO SUIT HIS

PRESENT PURPOSE, BUT IT WAS WALKED EVEN IN ANCIENT TIMES:

 

viitaraagabhayakrodhaa manmayaa maamupaashritaaH .

bahavo GYaanatapasaa puutaa madbhaavamaagataaH .. 4\.10..

 

10. Freed from attachment, fear and anger, absorbed in Me, taking refuge in

Me, purified by the Fire-of-Knowledge, many have attained My Being.

 

The entire "Path-of-Self-development" and the final Goal that is to be

reached have been indicated in this stanza. Without renouncing attachment

and its by-products, which always disturb one's mental equipoise, no

progress is ever possible for a seeker. Once this mental discipline is

gained, absorbed in the idea of Self-perfection, the seeker comes to take

total refuge in this great victory. Thereafter, the mission of

Self-perfection becomes a passion with him to thrill his life. When an

individual has thus gained this stage of Self-development, he becomes fit

for the study and practice of the great scriptures --- the Upanishads.

 

(a) The study of the scriptures at the feet of a Master, followed by (b)

independent analysis of Vedantic Truths by oneself in an attempt to

understand their real import, and lastly, © the seeker's slow and steady

attempt at balancing himself in single-pointed meditation --- all these

three together constitute the technique of Self-development as visualised in

Hinduism. A study of the theory of Vedanta and all our attempts to live the

life of tranquillity and love indicated therein, together constitute Jnana

Tapas.

 

There are some commentators who read into the stanza a synthesis of all the

three "Paths." The "Path-of-Action" is indicated in the first-half of the

first line, because, unless one trains oneself in the field of activity,

"DETACHMENT FROM DESIRES, FEAR, AND ANGER" cannot be gained. The

second-half, "ABSORBED IN ME AND TAKING REFUGE IN ME" indicates the

"Path-of-Love," wherein the devotee, binding himself with love to the 'Lord

of his heart'lives his life, taking refuge in nothing other than the Lord.

The "Path-of-Knowledge" is indicated by the discriminative analysis and the

constant and continued attempts at identification with the Self (Jnana

Tapas). The import is, that seekers walking all the seemingly different

"Paths" reach but the same Goal, the Supreme, "Me."

 

In fact, these three "Paths," are but three different techniques to perfect

our mind; all spiritual paths are but attempts to purify the mind, meaning,

to make it steady and single-pointed. Some of us identify ourselves more

with our bodies than with anything else. Others are, by temperament, living

more in their mental zones. And there are some again who live more in their

rational personalities. To all these three types of seekers, if one and the

same "path" is indicated, the chances are that the technique prescribed will

not be universal in its acceptance and application.

 

But whatever be the "Path" pursued, and whatever be the type to which the

seekers belong, the ultimate experience of Spiritual Perfection gained by

every one of them at the moment of illumination, is one and the same. This

is an incontrovertible fact, for the mystical literature of the world reads

as though every saint has borrowed and copied from all the earlier Masters

across the world!

 

THEN LORD KRISHNA MUST BE CHERISHING FEELINGS OF AFFECTION AND AVERSION,

SINCE HE LIBERATES SOME, AND NOT ALL. THE ANSWER FOLLOWS:

 

ye yathaa maaM prapadyante taa.nstathaiva bhajaamyaham.h .

mama vartmaanuvartante manushhyaaH paartha sarvashaH .. 4\.11..

 

11. It whatever way men approach Me, even so do I reward them; My path do

men tread in all ways, O son of Pritha.

 

Attachment and aversion are not the weaknesses of the Lord. He is a mass of

Dynamism, the source of all activities and achievements. We are given the

equipment through which we can, as we like, invoke this Infinite Mind. If we

rightly invoke and carefully use the equipments, as a reward for our

intelligent self-application, we can reach the Goal of our activities. If we

misuse them, the very same Divine Force can be the cause of our utter

disaster.

 

The fuel strength in the petrol can be converted into horse-power through

the mechanism under the bonnet. We can invoke the horse-power to reach our

destination, or we can easily dump ourselves into a mass of twisted wreckage

on the way-side and become a bundle of broken bones. These accidents are

caused by the carelessness of the driver, although the strength and power

with which the car dashes down the embankment of the road is, no doubt,

supplied by the same petrol. But the strength in the petrol had no

attachment for those whom it guided home safe. Nor can we say that it had a

hatred for those whom it wrecked. With neither attachment nor hatred, the

petrol gives its power when invoked through the mechanism of the engine, and

how to make use of the power depends upon us and our wisdom in employing it.

 

 

Similarly, here the Lord says, "I, AS LIFE, LEND MY POWER TO ALL WITHOUT ANY

PARTIALITY; IN WHATEVER FORM THEY INVOKE ME, IN THAT FORM I SERVE THEM." An

electric plug in the house can be made use of to hear a song over the radio,

to cool ourselves with the breeze of a fan, to boil water, to cook or to

warm the room with a heater; it all depends upon what instrument we plug

into it. It is never possible that electricity flowing through the fan, of

its own accord, can start emitting fire or light. Similarly, the unmanifest

Eternal Force of Life can be invoked, and It shall fulfil all "desires"

through us according to the type of our invocations.

 

IF GOD BE THUS FREE FROM ALL ATTACHMENTS AND OTHER EVIL PASSIONS, HE, THE

LORD, MUST BE GRACIOUS TO ALL CREATURES ALIKE AND MUST BE ABLE TO GRANT THEM

ALL THEIR DESIRES. THEN WHY IS IT THAT ORDINARILY MEN DO NOT DESIRE TO SEEK

THE LORD AND GAIN THE INFINITE? --- LISTEN WHY IT IS SO;

 

kaaN^kshantaH karmaNaa.n siddhi.n yajanta iha devataaH .

kshipra.n hi maanushhe loke siddhirbhavati karmajaa .. 4\.12..

 

 

12. They who long for satisfaction from actions in this world, make

sacrifices to the gods; because satisfaction is quickly obtained from

actions in the world-of-objects.

 

If the Atmic-force guides us on both, the path-of-good and on the

path-of-evil, then how is it that in this world of ours we see but a rare

few who are honestly trying to travel the path-of-rightenousness, while the

majority are pursuing the road-of-evil? This question must necessarily come

to the mind of all intelligent students, and Lord Krishna is answering this

possible query. He says, whether the mind wants to pursue an extrovert life,

or live the introvert joys, it can do so only by borrowing its capacity and

capability from the Omnipotency of the Atman; but the mind ever chooses an

extrovert career, in stinking sensuality, because it is easy to gain cheap

pleasures by satisfying the sensuous ticklings of nerve-tips.

 

This is the cause for sensuality in the world, and Krishna explains why a

majority of us, inspite of our best efforts, live a life of animal passions:

"BECAUSE SUCCESS RESULTING FROM ACTION IS QUICKLY ATTAINED IN THE HUMAN

WORLD."

 

On this globe of ours, the quickest results are gained when our sense-organs

come in contact with their desired objects as the result of deliberate

actions. Since a sensuous life is a life of least resistance, though of

cheap pleasures, the ordinary man, in his keen appetite for joy and peace,

wastes his spiritual strength in hunting after, procuring, and enjoying the

fleeting sense-objects. The truth of the statement is well within the

experience of every one of us.

 

The passage should not be understood only to say that worldly success is

easily gained, but that, as men, we can intelligently plan our actions in

such a way that we can, out of our actions, create or compel nature to yield

a greater dose of happiness than the members of the vegetable and animal

kingdoms.

 

MEN WHO ARE SEEKING THE LOWER OR THE HIGHER WAYS OF LIFE THROUGH THE

EMPLOYMENT OF THEIR SPIRITUAL STRENGTH CAN BE DIVIDED, UPON THE BROAD BASIS

OF THEIR INTROVERT AND EXTROVERT NATURES; AND THE EXTROVERT MEN CAN AGAIN BE

DIVIDED INTO FOUR TYPES, ON THE BASIS OF THEIR FINER DISTINCTIONS OF THE

TEXTURES OF THEIR THOUGHT AND ACTION.

 

chaaturvarNyaM mayaa sR^ishhTa.n guNakarmavibhaagashaH .

tasya kartaaramapi maa.n vid.hdhyakartaaramavyayam.h .. 4\.13..

 

13. The fourfold-caste has been created by Me according to the

differentiation of GUNA an d KARMA; though I am the author thereof know Me

as non-doer and immutable.

 

This is a stanza that has been much misused in recent times by the upholders

of the social crime styled as the caste system in India. Varna, meaning

different shades of texture, or colour, is employed here in the Yogic-sense.

In the Yoga Shastra, they attribute some definite colours to the triple

gunas, which mean, as we have said earlier, "the mental temperaments." Thus,

Sattwa is considered as white, Rajas as red, and Tamas as black. Man is

essentially the thoughts that he entertains. From individual to individual,

even when the thoughts are superficially the same, there are clear

distinctions recognizable from their temperaments.

 

On the basis of these temperamental distinctions, the entire mankind has

been, for the purpose of spiritual study, classified into four "castes" of

Varnas. Just as, in a metropolis, on the basis of trade or professions, we

divide the people as doctors, advocates, professors, traders, politicians,

tongawalas, etc., so too, on the basis of the different textures of thoughts

entertained by the intelligent creatures, the four "castes" had been

labelled in the past. From the standpoint of the State, a doctor and a

tongawala are as much important as an advocate and a mechanic. So too, for

the perfectly healthy life of a society, all "castes" should not be

competitive but co-operative units, each being complementary to the others,

never competing among themselves.

 

However, later on, in the power politics of the early middle-ages in India,

this communal feeling cropped up in its present ugliness, and in the general

ignorance among the ordinary people at that time, the cheap pandits could

parade their assumed knowledge by quoting, IN BITS, stanzas like this one.

 

The decadent Hindu-Brahmin found it very convenient to quote the first

quarter of the stanza, and repeat "I CREATED THE FOUR varnas," and give this

tragic social vivisection a divine look having a godly sanction. They, who

did this, were in fact, the greatest blasphemers that Hinduism ever had to

reckon with. For Vyasa, in the very same line of the couplet, as though in

the very same breath, describes the basis on which this classification was

made, when he says, "BY THE DIFFERENTIATION OF THE MENTAL QUALITY AND

PHYSICAL ACTION (OF THE PEOPLE)."

 

This complete definition of the Varna not only removes our present

misunderstanding but also provides us with some data to understand its true

significance. Not by birth is man a Brahmana (Brahmin); by cultivating good

intentions and noble thoughts alone can we ever aspire to Brahmana-hood; nor

can we pose as Brahmana merely because of our external physical marks, or

bodily actions in the outer world. The definition insists that he alone is a

Brahmana, whose thoughts are as much Sattwic, as his actions are. A

Kshatriya is one who is Rajasic in his thoughts and actions. A Shudra is not

only one whose thoughts are Tamasic, but also he who lives a life of low

endeavours, for satisfying his base animal passions and flesh-appetites. The

scientific attitude in which this definition has been declared, is clear

from the exhaustive implications of the statement: "ACCORDING TO THE

DIFFERENTIATION OF "guna" AND "karma."

 

We had tried to explain how the Self, functioning through Its own

self-forgetfulness (Maya) as it were, came to project forth temperamentally

in three distinct conditions of mental and intellectual life: Unactivity,

Activity and Inactivity. Through these triple channels flow the expressions

of Life manifesting the different ideas, agitations and actions of the

embodied-Life. None of the vagaries of existence would have been possible if

the equipments were not tickled by the touch-of-Life.

 

Krishna, as the very Source of Life, emphatically asserts here, that He is

the author of it all, in the sense that the ocean could say that it is the

author of all the waves, ripples, foam, bubbles, etc., and gold can assert

that it is the very creator and sustainer of all gold-ornaments in the

world, inasmuch as no gold-ornament can exist when the gold element is

removed from it.

 

But, at the same time the Infinite, being All-Pervading, as we have already

explained, cannot participate in any action and therefore, the Lord, in one

and the same breath, declares that though "HE IS THE AUTHOR OF IT," in His

own Real Nature," HE IS AT THE SAME TIME A NON-DOER."

 

Such contradictions in Vedanta become confusing to the students, as long as

they are not initiated into the SECRETS OF ITS STUDY. In our conversation,

we generally hear people say "that they reached their destination ten miles

away by sitting in a bus;I caught a train and reached here." Since we

understand it in our usual routine conversation, we do not try to dissect

such statements to discover the contradictions they contain. Sitting you

cannot travel. By catching a train, none can cover distances. And yet it is

so true. When we travel in a bus or a train, we donot move; we only sit and

hang on to our seats! But stillwe cover the distance because the vehicle in

which we sit, moves on. In other words, the motion of the vehicle is

attributed to us. Similarly, the creation of the temperaments, which should

be attributed to the mind and intellect, is attributed to the Lord. In fact,

the Lord, in His Essential Nature, being Changeless and All-Pervading, is

neither the Doer nor the Creator.

 

SINCE I AM NOT IN REALITY THE AUTHOR OF THOSE ACTIONS OF WHICH YOU THINK ME

TO BE AN AUTHOR:

 

na maa.n karmaaNi limpanti na me karmaphale spR^ihaa .

iti maa.n yo.abhijaanaati karmabhirna sa badhyate .. 4\.14..

 

14. Actions do not taint Me, nor have I any desire for the

fruits-of-actions. He who knows Me thus is not bound by his actions.

 

The Ever-pure and the All-full cannot be tainted, nor can It have any

sense-of-imperfection which can germinate any "desire." The Lord, the Self,

declares here: "ACTIONS DO NOT TAINT ME NOR HAVE I ANY ANXIETY FOR THE

FRUITS OF ACTIONS." Taint or "desire" can come only to an ego, which is "the

Self, functioning through a given mind and intellect." When the subtle-body

is tainted by "desires" and agitations then the ego in it seems to be played

upon by these two. This is better understood by the following analogy.

 

The sun, reflected in a bowl of water, is entirely dependent upon the

condition of the water. The reflected-sun is shaken when the water in the

bowl is disturbed and it appears to be dim when the water is muddy. Neither

the dimness nor the agitations of the reflection have caused any change at

all in the original object --- the sun in the Infinite Heavens. Similarly,

the ego suffers the evil tendencies and such other taints of the mind and

also gets disturbed, due to the "desires" for the FRUITS OF ITS ACTIONS. The

Self, in Its Pure Conscious-nature, is not at all affected by these delusory

disturbances of Its own reflection in the mental pool.

 

THIS SEEMS TO BE A NOVEL INTERPRETATION OF THE USUAL VEDIC TECHNIQUE OF

SELF-PERFECTION. IS THERE ANY PRECEDENT?... LISTEN:

 

eva.n GYaatvaa kR^itaM karma puurvairapi mumukshubhiH .

kuru karmaiva tasmaattvaM puurvaiH puurvatara.n kR^itam.h .. 4\.15..

 

15. Having known this, the ancient seekers-after-freedom also performed

action; therefore, you too perform action, as did the ancients in the olden

times.

 

After knowing Me that "I AM NON-AGENT AND I HAVE NO LONGING FOR THE FRUITS

OF ACTIONS," and realising the All-full Self-hood, there shall no more be

any "desire" or "egoistic vanities." The technique of Karma Yoga, as

enunciated and propounded in the last chapter, was practised, says Krishna,

even in olden times by many an intelligent seeker. In short, there is

nothing new in the "Path-of-Action" and all seekers trying to realise the

Self had been following the same technique.

 

"IF 'KARMA YOGA' IS TO BE PERFORMED, I CAN DO IT BECAUSE OF YOUR ADVICE. BUT

WHY SHOULD YOU ADD THAT THE ANCIENTS DID THE SAME?" IN REPLY TO THIS THE

LORD SAYS: "LISTEN, THERE IS GREAT DIFFICULTY IN UNDERSTANDING WHAT

CONSTITUTES RIGHT ACTION"... HOW?

 

[To be continued on next Monday...]