Jump to content
IndiaDivine.org

the Gita and modern problems

Rate this topic


Guest guest

Recommended Posts

Guest guest

The Bhagavadgita and modern problems

 

Dr Murli Manohar Joshi

 

The Indian philosophical thought inter alia rests on three treatises

known as Prasthanatraya. These are the Brahmasutras, Upanishads and

Bhagavadgita. The last work, perhaps the most widely read

Bhagavadgita, is a unique work taught by the Lord himself and we may

call it a divine dialogue between the Lord and Arjuna in the battle

field of Kurukshetra. The Lord chastises Arjuna for running away from

the call of duty and then step by step leads him out from frustration

and despondency to his divine duty to fight and win. In 18 chapters

and 700 verses not only Vedanta but also devotion has been preached

by the Lord. Bhagavadgita is the Upanishad, the Brahmavidya and the

Yogshastra combined in one. Millions all over the world read

Bhagavadgita as a matter of discipline. With his first journey to the

West for the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago almost hundred

years ago Swami Vivekanand popularised the message of Vedanta and

Bhagavadgita in the West and millions find solace in this great work.

Mahatma Gandhi followed the teachings of Bhagavadgita in his life. He

said: "I find a solace in the Bhagavadgita that I miss even in the

Sermon on the Mount. When disappointment stares me in the face and

all along I see not one ray of light, I go back to the Bhagavadgita.

 

I find a verse here and a verse there and I immediately begin to

smile in the midst of overwhelming tragedies—and my life has been

full of external tragedies—and if they have left no visible, no

indelibe scar on me, I owe it all to the teachings of the

Bhagavadgita." The beauty of Bhagavadgita, as of other sacred texts

is that it is not addressed to any particular denomination or

sections of people but to all mankind. Aldous Huxley says, "The Gita

is one of the clearest and most comprehensive summaries of the

Perennial Philosophy ever to have been made. Hence its enduring

value, not only for Indians, but for all mankind... The Bhagavadgita

is perhaps the most systematic spiritual statement of the Perennial

Philosophy." The significance of Bhagavadgita is also highlighted by

the fact that the great Adi Shankara wrote its commentary about 1200

years ago which was followed by almost all the great acharyas like

Anandgiri, Sridhara, Ramanuja and Madhvacharya. Sant Jnaneshwara's

Jhaneswari is still read in homes. Similarly, Lokmanya Tilak's

commentary on the text has inspired millions of people. Bhagavadgita,

as the essence of profound and noblest thought, is as relevant in our

times, as it has ever been. We are all Arjuna in our own way facing

the Kurukshetra or the struggles of life. We face times of

frustrations and disappointments, undecided where to go, sometimes

prepared to even give up. Those who read Bhagavadgita, overcome such

situations easily because one is reminded that in the call of duty

there is no going back.

 

One has to have faith in the Lord and oneself and engage in action as

duty without being obsessed with the result. In the course of life we

are always in the midst of action. It is important to understand that

the binding quality of action lies in the motive or the desire that

prompts it. Therefore, the frame of mind behind the act is important

and the Gita shows the path of detachment from desires and not

cessation of work.

 

Another important point made is that we should never think of

inaction. The healthy attitude of the life would be to be even minded

in success and failure and the Lord says that evenness of mind is

called Yoga. Motivated actions are inferior to those performed in the

equanimity of mind. Therefore, in comparison to result seekers, we

have to cultivate evenness of mind. The result of this kind of

attitude is that the equanimity of mind frees oneself in this life

from vice and virtue alike. When ones both good and evil are cast

away one reaches the stage of yoga which is the skill in action. In

this stage one is rid of selfishness and is incapable of evil. Yoga

is evenness of mind in success or failure while the mind rests in

God. What is true at the individual level is also true at the level

of society. All materialistic societies are running after

satisfaction of desires. This has given rise to unprecedented levels

of consumption. According to the World Bank, about three billion

people worldwide live on an income of less than two dollars per day

in 1993. Indeed, nearly 1.5 billion of the world population of six

billion is predicted to live in severe poverty at the beginning of

the millennium.

 

The gap between the rich and the poor is increasing day by day. 800

million people sleep hungry everyday. One billion people around the

world suffer from micronutrient deficiency. Global per capita water

supplies are declining and are now 30 per cent lower than they were

25 years ago. It is predicted that by 2050, as much as 42 per cent of

world's population will live in nations, which will not have

sufficient freshwater stocks to meet their combined needs of

agriculture, industry and domestic use. If the current consumption

patterns continue, the ecosystem that provides us with renewable

resources could well collapse long before the world runs out of non-

renewable resources. There is thus an urgent need to set up a firm

agenda on achieving `Sustainable Consumption' in the next few years

at a global level. The reasons for this situation is the unbridled

rush for the fulfillment of desires which are the subject of our

sense organs. Uncontrolled desires play havoc with the life of the

individuals and society and destroys wisdom. There are two different

and distinct paths of life: the materialistic and spiritual. The

materialistic path perforce leads to baser desires ambition and

exploitation. dkeekfJR;---- (16:10-16) Those who follows the

materialistic path give themselves up to insatiable desire, full of

hypocracy, excessive pride and arrogance, holding wrong views through

delusion. Their actions therefore, are of impure resolves.

 

The seekers of material life bound by hundreds of ties of hope, given

over to lust and anger, strive to secure by unjust means hoards of

wealth for sensual enjoyments and gratification of their desires. The

rich nations and the people with all the resources at their command

to fulfil their desire are ever striving for more and more but in the

process have lost peace and happiness. In a situation like this all

the world has to be aware that peace and happiness is not achieved by

pursuing and satisfying desires. Peace is enjoyed by those in whom

desires are merged even as rivers flow into the ocean which is full

and unmoving. The consumption fuels more consumption and it is a kind

of vicious circle and therefore, needs a holistic check because man

by nature has few requirements. When these requirements and demands

increase the consumption is also increased and as the scriptures say

man turns into animal. The solution to this lies in the following

verse of Ishopanishad:

 

A The verse says whatever we are able to see and observe is pervaded

by divine. It all belongs to Him, we have received everything from

Him and therefore, all the bounties of God are to be shared and let

there be no greed. In our thought, sharing is important and self

consumption comes next. This concept needs to be widely propagated to

change the materialistic outlook of the societies. The mankind craves

for happiness. This is human nature. But people are often confused

about the nature of happiness. Within one's being the `conscious' and

the `inert' dwell together. The conscious is always striving to unite

with the divine. But the inert, which is also the `maya' craves for

the world.

 

As one is influenced by `maya' one is drawn towards the `sansara'. It

has to be understood that the worldly desires are gratified by

worldly actions but the attainment of the Supreme is not dependent on

action. This needs extreme thirst for the divine.

 

In the context of modern problems I am deeply concerned about the

quality of the life. The winds of change are devastating and people

have hardly any time to think. It is a mad rush of materialism.

Bhagavadgita shows us the way out of the predicament and to be on the

path of spirituality. One has to endear oneself to the divine to be

merged in Him. Chapter XII of Gita is Bhaktiyoga. Step by step, from

knowledge, one has to graduate to devotion. The question may be asked

who is dear to Lord. The Lord says rs izkIuqofUr ekeso loZHkwrfgrs

jrk% (Those who are engaged in the welfare of all beings are able to

experience the divine. It is an expression of service to all

recognising the divinity in them. In verses 13 to 20 Krishna

enumerates the divine traits. He who has no ill will to any being,

who is friendly and compassionate, free from egoism and self-sense,

even-minded in pain and pleasure and patient. The Yogi who is ever

content, self-controlled, unshakable in determination, with mind and

understanding given up to Me— he, My devotee, is dear to Me. He from

whom the world does not shrink and who does not shrink from the world

and who is free from joy and anger, fear and agitation, he too is

dear to Me. He who has no expectation, is pure, skillful in action,

unconcerned, and untroubled, who has given up all initiative (in

action), he, My devotee, is dear to Me. He who neither rejoices nor

hates, neither grieves nor desires, and who has renounced good and

evil, he who is thus devoted is dear to Me. He who (behaves) alike to

foe and friend, also to good and evil repute and who is alike in cold

and heat, pleasure and pain and who is free from attachment. He who

hold equal blame and praise, who is silent (restrained in speech),

content with anything (that comes), who has no fixed abode and is

firm in mind, that man who is devoted is dear to Me. But those who

with faith, holding Me as their supreme aim, follow this immortal

wisdom, those devotees are exceedingly dear to Me. This is the

quality of man that Gita seeks to preach and even if one is not able

to achieve all these virtues and equanimity one should at least be

aware of them.

 

The Gita is the philosophy of life. It is in fact for contemplation

and application in our day to day working. Those who study the Gita,

their outlook in life becomes healthy. I sum up with the words of Sri

Aurobindo: "Our object, then, in studying the Gita will not be a

scholistic or academical scrutiny of its thought, not to place its

philosophy in the history of metaphysical speculation, nor shall we

deal with it in the manner of the analytical dialectician. We

approach it for health and light and our aim must be to distinguish

its essential and living message, that in it on which humanity has to

seize for its perfection and its highest spiritual welfare".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...