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The Bhagavad Gita
K. P. S. Kamath, M. D.
THE SECRET CODE OF THE BHAGAVAD GITA
AN OVERVIEW OF CONTENTS
Just as all the water in the vast, deep ocean is of no use to a thirsty
pilgrim, all the profound wisdom in the vast ancient scriptures of
India is useless to the seekers of knowledge unless they can apply at
least some of it in their everyday life. The Bhagavad Gita is like a
small, deep well of sweet water just off the shore of the ocean. The
problem is that the water cannot be easily drawn up from that well.
The water dispensed by the guardians of this well does not taste like it
came from that well. This book is like a small jug tied to a long rope
using which one can draw up some sweet water from that well and
quench one's thirst.
The main goal of this book is to bring to the general public the true
intent, spirit and wisdom in the Bhagavad Gita. It is the result of
fifteen years of study and research of the sacred book of the Bhagavad
Gita. Because this book deals with the little known aspects of the
Bhagavad Gita, it might arouse incredulity, anger and hostility in some
readers who are not aware of its basis and context. Truly spiritual
people, who are endowed with divine qualities, will refrain from
indulging in personal attacks against the author of this book before
reading the entire book, just because their view differs from that of
the author. Sensible point by point contradiction or rebuttal, civil
debate on the merits or demerits of the book, and
intelligent argument against its basic thesis are always welcome.
In the text of this book, the Brahmanic shlokas and concepts are
shown in Orange color; the Upanishadic shlokas and concepts in
Blue color, and the Bhagavatha shlokas and concepts in Green
color.
All these Gitas address the three fundamental issues raised by Arjuna
in the battlefield of Kurukshetra just as the Great War was about to
ensue: Shokum (Grief), Dwandwam (fickleness or unsteadiness of
mind as a result of loss of wisdom, engendered by mind's attachment
to sense objects) and Karmaphalam (good and bad consequences of
action). As a result of these three issues, Arjuna suffers from a
paralyzing emotional crisis resulting in a massive panic attack (1:28-
30).
Isn't this all there is to the Bhagavad Gita? Everyone knows this.
What, then, is the Secret Code of the Bhagavad Gita?
During the post- Vedic period (900- 200 B. C. E) the upper classes of
Brahmanism - Brahmins and Kshatriyas- became obsessed with
ostentatious desire- driven sacrificial rites, known as Kamya Karma
(18:2). Kama (hankering for and attachment to sense objects such as
lordship and wealth here on earth and heaven hereafter, 2:43;
3:37) and Sankalpa (desire for fruits of sacrifices, 6:1-
4) became hallmarks of Kamya Karma. Kamya Karma became the
outstanding symbol of corruption and decadence of Brahmanism
(3:12- 13; 16:12- 20). Obsession of the upper classes with Kamya
Karma had serious consequences in the society. In the course of time,
the upper classes suffered from the same three maladies Arjuna
suffered on the battlefield: severe Dwandwam in their pursuit of
Karmaphalam; and the rest of the society suffered much Shokam
due to loss of innocence. Large sections of the society, including many
grief- stricken Brahmins and Kshatriyas, began to abandon
Brahmanism in favor of various heterodox Dharmas such as Buddhism
and Jainism. Soon Brahmanism was in grave danger of disappearing
altogether. An internal revolution to either reform Brahmanism; or
salvage what little was left of it, or replace it with an entirely New
Dharma became an urgent necessity.
18:66: Abandon all Dharma ( Brahmanism and all its sub- Dharmas
such as Varnashrama Dharma, Jati Dharma and Kula Dharma;
and also all heterodox Dharmas: Buddhism, Jainism and Ajivika,) and
surrender unto Me alone (not to the doctrines of the Gunas and
Karma; or other gods, such as Indra and Agni, because now I am the
Eternal Dharma 14:27); I shall liberate you from all evil
(Shokam, Dwandwam and Karmaphalam engendered by the
doctrines of the Gunas and Karma); do not grieve.
With this one shloka, Lord Krishna ended the decaying Brahmanism
and all other Dharmas of the land and launched a New Dharma, right?
Well, let us not be presumptuous. Read on.
This book also explains how and why, in spite of Lord Krishna's
revolution to overthrow it, Brahmanism survived and even thrived to
the modern times. All discredited aspects of Brahmanism infiltrated in
disguised forms the egalitarian Hinduism, which succeeded it. Thanks
to Brahmanic death- grip on it, today Hinduism is riddled with
thousands of mindless and vulgarly ostentatious rituals, and senseless
superstitions, so characteristic of the decadent Brahmanic
Dharma. And it is treading the same ruinous path that Brahmanism
took 2,500 years ago. Lord Krishna's revolution against Brahmanism in
the Bhagavad Gita has been cleverly hidden from the public by
Brahmanic vested interests by means of brilliant feats of verbal
gymnastics, literary manipulations, distorted interpretations, blatant
misrepresentations and long- winded commentaries. In fact, the very
manifesto to overthrow Brahmanism has cleverly been converted into
the handbook of Brahmanism! Lord Krishna's Revolution to overthrow
Brahmanism has been thus totally neutralized. This book exposes this
grave injustice against Lord Krishna and His revolution, and reveals
the true intent, spirit and wisdom of His Gita.
Those who are not familiar with the Bhagavad Gita are recommended
to have a copy of the Bhagavad Gita at hand when they read this
book. I recommend The Bhagavad Gita with Sanskrit Text,
translated by Swami Chidbhavananda, Published by
Ramakrishna Tapovanam, Tirupparaitturai, Tamil Nadu. This is
an excellent small, 247 page, handbook without any commentary by
the Swami. The same author also published another book with
extensive commentary. The translations in the Secret Code book are
mostly taken from his book.
For those serious students of the Bhagavad Gita, who wish to know the
true purpose of the Bhagavad Gita, and benefit from the profound
wisdom in it without unnecessary religious bias or mind- boggling
explanations, I offer free day- long seminars anywhere in the United
States.
Chapter Four: The Three Distinct Gitas: This chapter reveals the
three distinct Gitas in the Bhagavad Gita: The Original Gita; the
Upanishadic Gita, and the Bhagavatha Gita. These three
Gitas promote three distinct creeds: Brahmanic, Upanishadic and
Bhagavatha.
Chapter Six: The Great Nastik Revolt: This chapter deals with the
ascendance of Buddhism and other heterodox Dharmas, which arose in
revolt against decadent Brahmanism. These heterodox Dharmas posed
grave threat to the very existence of Brahmanism.
Chapter Sixteen: The Battle for the Soul of the Ancient Dharma:
This chapter explains how the Bhagavad Gita became the battleground
for Brahmanism on one side and the Upanishadic and Bhagavatha
seers on the other, for the Soul of the Ancient Dharma. It also explains
how over the centuries various Brahmanic commentaries on the
Bhagavad Gita hid the true intent and destroyed the true spirit of
the Bhagavad Gita in order to promote the interests of Brahmanism,
while praising Lord Krishna to the skies.
CHAPTER ONE
A Personal Note
Question: Have you sought the approval and blessing of our religious
leaders for your book?
The only God I know is Truth. Lord Krishna embodies that Truth. This
book is the story of my discovery of that Truth in the Bhagavad Gita.
My allegiance is to that Truth alone and to no one else and nothing
else: not to Hinduism, not to Brahmanism, not to any class, caste or
family. I have laid bare in this book the Truth I discovered in and
about the Bhagavad Gita. I believe that I would not have discovered
these truths had I been tutored, indoctrinated, -or should I say
brainwashed- by a Brahmanic Guru. A Brahmanic Guru can teach us
only what his Guru taught him. And that Guru passed on to him what
his Guru taught him. There is no room for inquiry and original thinking.
We may never know the true motive of the very original Guru from
whom the succession of Gurus learned. Just as a copying machine
faithfully reproduces the original print including ink-spots and
blemishes, Gurus also repeat faithfully to their students everything
they learned from their Gurus. No Swami or Guru I have ever known
over the years has been free from some vested interest in maintaining
his personal status, security and interests. Swamis and Gurus who
knowingly or out of ignorance mislead the public about the true intent
and spirit of the Bhagavad Gita, and people bewildered by ignorance or
blind faith, might find this book unpalatable or even objectionable.
However, open-minded, reasonable, and secure people, who are well-
grounded in their sense of righteousness; who are not deluded by
fanaticism; and who are thirsty for new knowledge and hungry for new
insights should have nothing to worry about. This book should bring
them some breath of fresh air. Truth shall liberate us all.
Several people have asked me the question, "How did you get
interested in this project?" Well, it was purely accidental. About twenty
years ago, as I was hurrying toward the baggage claim area of St.
Louis, Missouri, airport, a middle-aged American man accosted me
with a book in his hand. He offered me a hard-bound "free copy" of
The Bhagavad Gita As It Is by Bhakti Vedanta Swami Prabhupada in
return for a ten dollar donation. The book promptly went on the
bookshelf in my family room, where it stayed unopened for the next
few years. Then, one day an American doctor friend of mine asked me
if I had a copy of the Bhagavad Gita. I lent him the book. After a few
months, he returned the book with a terse note, "tough going."
Since then I have talked with innumerable Indians about the Bhagavad
Gita, and every single one of them said that it was mighty hard to
understand commentaries written by various authorities, leave alone
its text. In fact, I have met Indians who have attended regular
discourses on the Bhagavad Gita by various Gurus and Swamis for
over ten years and yet have gained little understanding of its essential
wisdom. Words such as "tough, confusing, contradictory, disjointed,
and incomprehensible" frequently cropped up in conversations
regarding the Bhagavad Gita. Challenged by this, I started to read the
Bhagavad Gita in earnest. The first chapter was easy enough. When I
went to the second chapter, I found it so confusing, incoherent, and
self-contradictory that I had to resist the temptation to throw the book
across the room. Only my utmost regard for the sanctity of the book
prevented me from doing so. Over the next two years, I kept reading
the book again and again without making any headway. I often
wondered, "Why should a holy book be so difficult to understand?"
1. To reveal the fact that the Bhagavad Gita was in reality the
manifesto of a great socio- religious revolution by the Upanishadic and
Bhagavatha scholars to overthrow the decaying, sacrifice-obsessed,
hierarchical Brahmanic Dharma of ancient India, with the avowed goal
to establish in its place an enlightened egalitarian New Dharma of
people serving humanity selflessly and worshipping one God with
devotion. This was Lord Krishna's revolution.
3. To reveal how over the centuries since the Bhagavad Gita became
the text as we find it today, countless commentaries on the Bhagavad
Gita were written by Brahmanic scholars who continued the tradition of
hiding the true intent and destroying the true spirit of Lord Krishna's
revolution. The Brahmanic resurgence has been carried out with such
unsurpassed literary savvy and brilliant oratorical skills, that to this
day no one seems to know about either Lord Krishna's revolution to
overthrow Brahmanism or Brahmanism's counterrevolution to
reestablish itself. In fact, few people even know that ritual-oriented,
hierarchical Brahmanism and egalitarian Bhaktiyoga of Lord Krishna
are mutually exclusive concepts.
Karmaphalam
Metaphor
The following is the partial list of Sanskrit words used in this book.
Most of these words have multiple meanings. Knowing this well,
various authors of the Bhagavad Gita cleverly used them to convey
their messages without coming across as indulging in frontal attacks.
This left room for much ambiguity in the interpretation of the shlokas,
a situation which both sides took full advantage of. Ancient Sanskrit
scholars were masters of double entendre. The readers should
familiarize themselves with these words to make the best use of this
book.
Brahmanism: This was the instrument of law and social order in the
ancient Indian society. It is also known as Orthodox Vedic Dharma. It
controlled the society by means of a hierarchical class system known
as Varnashrama Dharma. The Brahmanic Dharma rested on the
bedrock of the doctrines of the Gunas and Karma. The four pillars on
which its superstructure stood were: sanctity of the Vedas; sacrificial
rites known as Karma or Yajnas; class system known as Varnashrama
Dharma, and supremacy of Brahmin class over the other three classes.
Gunas: These are ‘Qualities' which are forces of nature within us that
are irrepressible. The force of the Gunas can be comapred to the force
of gravity. The Gunas affect the quality of all actions. There are three
modes: Satvic (Goodness); Rajasic (Passion), and Tamasic
(Darkness). Brahmanism divided society into four great classes based
on these three Qualities. The doctrines of the Gunas and Karma
became the foundation of Brahmanism. However, the Upanishadic
seers claimed that the Gunas were the sources of lust, jealous rage,
attachment, delusion, and the like, and must be crossed over in order
to attain enlightenment. The Gunas express themselves by means of
Senses (desires) and Organs of Action (Karmaendriyas) such as hands,
legs, mouth and genitals.
Indriyani: The Senses. The Senses not only represent the functions of
five Senses, but also the raw impulse or drive (desire) to obtain sense
objects. They also stand for attachment and possessiveness. They
represent the Id in modern psychiatry.
Karmaphala: Fruit of one's action. The Brahmanic theory said that all
actions lead to earning Karmaphala. The fruits of our actions
accumulate. When one dies, he would go to hell or heaven depending
upon the quality of his fruits. After exhausting his merit or demerit, he
would be reborn on earth in a higher or lower class of people. This
cycle of birth, death, and rebirth is known as Samsara. This theory
motivated people to do good works in life. It also explained to them
the cause of their current misery in life.
Karmayoga: This is the Yoga of Selfless Action. In the Gita this was
given to Kshatriyas to replace Kamya Karma.
Kshatriyas: The warrior class. They are second of the two upper
classes in the four-tier Varnashrama Dharma. Many of them were
brilliant philosophers. Most Upanishadic philosophy was their creation.
In fact, the revolution to overthrow Brahmanism in the Bhagavad Gita
was led by them.
Sudras: The labor class of people, who did menial tasks in the society.
They were not allowed to hear the Shruthis.
Sukham: The Bliss one experiences when his mind comes in contact
with Atman. This counters Shokam (Grief).
Tyaga: Renouncing the fruit of one's action, the second of two pillars
of Yoga.
Yoga: This word stems from the word "yoke." It means harnessing
oneself to a specific task with single-minded concentration.
5. Atman is the small circle above the Intellect. This is the Self, the
essence of man, the divinity within him. It is the Brahman in the body.
It is deathless, eternal and indestructible. It is also free from desire,
attachment, possessiveness and action. In this desireless state, It is
the seat of Absolute Bliss. When the Buddhiyukta Mind merges with
Atman after giving up all desire, attachment and possessiveness, it
attains a steady state of Mind that is absolutely peaceful and immune
to stress. This state of Mind is known as Sthithaprajnya. This is when
one is said to have attained Self-realization. Samadhi is the ultimate
transcendental state of Mind in which one is totally oblivious to the
world around him and his Atman has merged with Brahman.
Self- realization
The Bhagavad Gita, The Song of the Lord, is a beautiful 700 shloka
long poem universally acknowledged as the Soul of Hindu Dharma and
philosophy. It is, for the most part, a dialogue between Lord Krishna
and Pandava prince Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra just as the
Great War of the Mahabharata epic was to begin. This is the
Mahabharata context of the Bhagavad Gita. The Bhagavad Gita has
another context: Historical. Without the knowledge of this context, it is
next to impossible to make proper sense of most of the shlokas in it.
This context consists of consequences of decay of Brahmanism,
ancient India's instrument of social order, in the post-Vedic period of
India's history. Most available commentaries on the Bhagavad Gita
make no mention of this context. Either the authors are not aware of
it, or they do not want to acknowledge it.
The Mahabharata epic is primarily about a Great War between two sets
of cousin princes over the inheritance of their ancestral kingdom of
Kuru in northwest India about three thousand years ago. These cousin
princes of Kuru family at war were collectively known as the Bharatas,
being the descendents of the great legendary king Bharata who lived
several generations earlier. The conflict begins when the five virtuous
Pandava princes, sons of the late king Pandu, demand their share of
kingdom from their cousins, the Kauravas. The legitimacy of their
demand comes under cloud because their father had abdicated his
throne and retired to the forest when he was still young. The Pandava
princes were born and raised in the forest. The blind older brother of
king Pandu, Dhritharashtra by name, took over the kingship and
appointed his one hundred sons, the Kauravas, as his legitimate
successors. When the Pandavas demand their share of the kingdom,
the Kauravas decide to get rid of them by hook or by crook. However,
failing to assassinate the Pandavas by various devious means, the
Kauravas finally agree to divide the kingdom under pressure from the
elders of the clan.
As the mighty and noble Pandavas expand their kingdom and prosper,
the Kauravas become consumed with jealous rage for their success.
Unable to annihilate the Pandavas by force the Kauravas now resort to
stratagem to recover what they had lost through settlement. They
invite the Pandavas to play dice with them. Their fraudulent maternal
uncle rigs the game. In the heat of the game, the Pandavas, led by
their naïve oldest sibling Yudhistira, lose their head and gamble away
their kingdom, themselves, and finally, even their common wife,
Draupadi. The Kauravas humiliate the vanquished Pandavas in public
court. The elders intervene again, and a compromise is reached
according to which the Pandavas must spend thirteen years in exile,
one of which incognito, before getting back their kingdom.
The Pandavas return from their thirteen year long exile stronger than
ever due to their alliance with powerful neighboring kings. Chief
among their allies is a wise prince of Yadava tribe and Vrishni family,
known as Krishna. When they demand the return of their lost
kingdom, now firmly in power, the Kauravas refuse to oblige. All
attempts at mediation for a fair settlement fail. The Kauravas even
refuse to concede just five villages to the Pandavas. The Great War
becomes inevitable. Rulers of various kingdoms of India polarize to
one side or the other. On the designated day, both sides meet face to
face on the great battlefield of Kurukshetra. At this critical juncture,
prince Arjuna, the greatest warrior among the Pandavas, suffers a
sever panic attack at the prospect of killing his own people. Suffering
from anticipatory grief (Shokam), fickleness of mind (Dwandwam)
and fearing bad consequences from his action (Karmaphalam),
Arjuna decides to walk away from the battle. The 64 shloka-long
parable of the distraught prince Arjuna, known simply as the Gita,
begins at this point in the Mahabharata. For the purposes of our
discussion, let us name this Gita the Original Gita.
The Historical context consists of the reason why the Original Gita was
added to the perennially expanding Mahabharata epic around 350 B.
C. Like the Mahabharata epic, the Original Gita was a quintessentially
Brahmanic text. Its main goal was to promote Varnashrama Dharma,
the hierarchical class system that divided the Brahmanic society into
four profession-based classes (18:41-45). The Varnashrama Dharma
was one of four pillars on which Brahmanic Dharma rested, the other
three pillars being, sanctity of the ancient, orally transmitted scriptures
known as the Vedas (17:24); sacrificial rites known as Karma or Yajna
(17:1), and supremacy of Brahmins over the other three classes
(Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Sudras, 18:41-44). This class system was
rooted in the Brahmanic doctrines of the Gunas and Karma (3:5,
27,33;18:59-60). These doctrines stated that everyone helplessly
performs his socially designated duty born from the Gunas (Qualities),
an irresistible mysterious force of nature within him. Furthermore, the
consequences of one's actions, known as Karmaphala, accumulate,
and one goes to hell or heaven depending on the accumulated sin or
merit (9:20). After the exhaustion of the sins or merit, however, one
would return to the earth to suffer or enjoy another life (9:21). His
status in his current life is determined by the quality of his action in
the past life (6:41). This belief system gave the evolving Brahmanic
society of ancient India a semblance of stability and order. Over time
the nexus of two upper classes of Brahmanism, Brahmin priests and
Kshatriya aristocrats, became infected with greed and arrogance. They
began to abuse sacrificial rites and the class system for personal gains.
A large number of disgusted and aggrieved people of all classes,
especially Kshatriyas, began to abandon Brahmanism in favor of
burgeoning heterodox Dharmas such as Buddhism, Jainism and other
assorted Dharmas. All these heterodox Dharmas, which the Bhagavad
Gita refers to as Para-Dharmas (3:35; 18:47), had little regard for
Brahmanism, especially for the Varnashrama Dharma. Whereas some
of them, such as Buddhism, were indifferent to it, the others, such a
Lokayata, were blatantly hostile to it.
Victorious you will enjoy the earth; dead you will go to heaven
It should be noted here that the Original Gita was not in the form of a
thoughtful and investigative dialogue characteristic of the Upanishadic
Gita that succeeded it. In the Original Gita prince Arjuna simply
expresses his misgiving about the war and prince Krishna issues a
sharp scolding for it and a delivers a stern lecture on the necessity,
virtues, and benefit of performing his Kshatriya Duty (Dharma) as per
the doctrines of the Gunas and Karma. In the Original Gita, from the
beginning to the end the relationship between prince Arjuna and prince
Krishna remains that of equals. Prince Krishna is neither the Guru
(2:7) nor the Lord of beings (4:6) of the Upanishadic Gita, nor is he
the Supreme Lord of the Bhagavatha Dharma (11:3). Arjuna's
surrender is only to the doctrine of the Gunas and Karma, and not to
prince Krishna. He merely acknowledges prince Krishna's grace and
agrees to act according to his word (18:73).
As we read before, there are only 64 shlokas from the Original Gita in
the current text of the Bhagavad Gita. The following 45 shlokas,
invoking the Brahmanic doctrines of the Gunas and Karma
constitute the essence of the Original Gita. The remaining 636 shlokas
in the text of the Bhagavad Gita were interpolated by various authors
later. They have nothing to do with Arjuna's dilemma. We will study
these in great detail later. The first 19 shlokas of the Original Gita,
introducing various heroes participating in the Great War and dealing
with preparation for the war, have been excluded here for the sake of
brevity.
In the above shloka, Arjuna lifts his bow as a symbol of his self-
confidence and battle-readiness. He was resolved to kill his enemies
and gain back his kingdom.
The thought of killing his own people arrayed against him, Arjuna
suffers a panic attack. Panic attack is an emotional distress with many
severe physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral symptoms brought
on by one's mind getting flooded with fear. What was Arjuna afraid of?
Based on all we know of him from the Mahabharata, his fear is highly
unlikely to be that of fear of dying in battle. Rather, his fear was that
of earning grave sin by killing his hapless relatives and friends, his own
people. Committing sin means earning bad Karmaphala by doing
something wrong in the eye of one's Dharma. According to
Brahmanism, one who commits sin goes straight to hell after death
(1:44).
In the following three shlokas, Arjuna questions the first of two basic
premises of Brahmanism: perform your duty and gain victory, empire
and pleasure here on earth.
Arjuna expresses disgust at the fact that his own people, for whose
sake he was waging the war, are willing to give up everything to fight
him! Who are these people who have given up their attachment to life
and wealth? Well, I suspect that in the Historical context this enigmatic
shloka refers to Sramanas, the ascetics of the heterodox Dharmas,
who gave up all attachment to worldly things and opposed
Brahmanism tooth and nail.
[In the Historical context this was exactly what aggrieved Kshatriyas
were doing in the post-Vedic period of India. Disgusted by the
obsession of the upper classes with earning Karmaphala by means of
sacrificial rites, they were giving up their Kshatriya Dharma and
becoming Sramanas, inactive monks. So, 1:47 is the crucial shloka
that instigates prince Krishna's stern lecture on the doctrines of the
Gunas and Karma. ]
[Note here that heroism, honor, nobility, gaining wealth and heaven
are the hallmarks of Kshatriyas as per the dictates of Brahmanism. In
the Upanishadic Gita that follows immediately, these epithets are
entirely discarded. The message of the Upanishadic Krishna is that
Arjuna should act without regards to honor or dishonor (14:25), gain
or loss (2:38), good Karma or bad (2:50-51). "Do the right thing, and
don't worry about what others think of you!" is the message of the
Upanishads (18:63).
If you win you will enjoy the earth; if you die you will go to
heaven
2:37: Slain you will gain heaven; victorious you will enjoy the
earth. Therefore rouse up O son of Kunti and be resolved to
fight.
3:5: None can remain really actionless even for a moment; for
everyone is helplessly driven to action by the Gunas born of
Prakriti.
[We will read later how the Upanishadic seers point out that the Gunas
also make people commit stupid (2:62-63) and evil acts (3:36-40) by
virtue of the fact that all common human weaknesses such as desire,
hatred, attachment, and delusion are rooted in them.]
3:27: The Gunas of Prakriti perform all Karma (action). With the
understanding clouded by egoism, man thinks, "I am the doer."
Now prince Krishna explains how the three Gunas are distributed
among the four classes of Varnashrama Dharma.
One's duty is dictated by the class in which one is born. This, in turn,
is determined by the Gunas assigned to that class.
18:45: Devoted each to his own duty, man attains the highest
perfection. How engaged in his own duty, he attains perfection,
that do you hear.
What is it that one attains by doing his own duty? It is the status of
highest perfection (Sumsiddhim). This merely means one has attained
the highest social status in his class by being an ideal member of the
Brahmanic society. It is like being given Bharata Ratna title to a
distinguished person. This is not the state of Self-realization of the
Upanishadic seers. Atman and Brahman are not in this equation.
The lower classes were assigned the Guna which defined their
respective professions.
18:59-60: If filled with Ahamkara, you think, "I will not fight,"
vain is this, your resolve; your nature (Guna) will compel you.
Bound by your own Karma (comeuppance) born of your nature
(Guna), that, which from delusion (of your Ahamkara) you wish
not to do, even that you shall do helplessly against your will, O
Kaunteya.
The reader should note here that the delusion of ignorance prince
Krishna refers to in this Brahmanic shloka is that of Ahamkara. What
this means is that when a man becomes egoistic, his mind becomes
disconnected from his inner sense of duty as dictated by Brahmanic
Dharma. In contrast, the ignorance mentioned in the Upanishadic Gita
that follows is that engendered by the Gunas themselves, and not by
Ahamkara.
If the Bhagavad Gita has only 64 shlokas of the Original Gita in its
text, how can we account for the remaining 636 shlokas in it? And
what purpose do they serve? Who added them, when and why? Why
do all the currently available commentaries on the Bhagavad Gita
pretend as if all these shlokas belonged in the Original Gita, and that
their only goal was to motivate Arjuna to fight? Now things get a little
complicated. Let me explain it this way:
Another simple way of looking at the Bhagavad Gita is: it is like a large
box holding 700 pieces of jigsaw puzzle, which originally came from
The reality is that the Bhagavad Gita, as we know it today, has three
distinct Gitas representing three separate creeds based on three
different pairs of doctrines, each superimposed on, and interlaced
with, the other. These three Gitas are hidden in plain sight in the body
of the text. Only painstaking analysis of the Bhagavad Gita reveals this
spectrum in all its colorful glory. Before we investigate the process by
which this came to be, let us take a brief look at these three distinct
Gitas with three distinct goals.
The Upanishadic Gita identifies the doctrine of the Gunas as the cause
of Grief and Dwandwa here on earth; and the doctrine of Karma as the
cause of Karmaphala resulting in Samsara hereafter. It identifies the
Gunas as the hotbed of all human weaknesses such as selfish desire,
jealous rage, attachment and delusion.
The Upanishadic Gita also attempts to wean away both Brahmins and
Kshatriyas from Kamya Karma (desire-driven sacrifices), and to reform
them by giving Jnanayoga (Knowledge of Atman) to the former (4:19,
37-38) and Karmayoga (selfless service to humanity) to the latter
(3:19-23) in its place.
The Upanishadic Dharma
The Arya
Over time, the terms Kama, Krodha, Moha, Sangas, and Sankalpa
engendered by Kamya Karma came to be strongly identified with the
decadent Brahmanism. Entanglement of mind with wealth, power,
honor, and heaven engendered by these Guna-rooted human foibles
(3:37) invariably leads to disconnection of the mind from its inner
wisdom leading to unsteadiness of mind -Dwandwa (2:14, 41;
4:22).[3] This, in turn, leads to self-ruin (2:62-63), and evil acts
against others (3:37-40). Increasingly Kamya Karmas were performed
disregarding the ordinances of ancient scriptures (16:21-24; 17:1)
solely for the purposes of gaining Karmaphala. There was another
side-effect due to mind's entanglement with material things: ignorance
of Atman -Avidya or Ajnana. When one loses the Knowledge of Atman,
the stage is set for him to suffer from Grief. In other words, the upper
classes of post Vedic society experienced the same three maladies
Arjuna suffered on the battlefield: Grief, Dwandwa and Karmaphala.
There came a time when the greedy priests gave so much importance
to the performance of the increasingly complicated Yajnas in violation
(16:23-24) of their original intent (3:10-11; 4:15) that they claimed
that without their performance the universe itself would be
destabilized. The performance of sacrificial rites became more
important than even the gods (3:12) for whom they were supposed to
be dedicated! For every affliction of society, there was only one cure:
performance of sacrifices (2:42); more sacrifices, and more elaborate,
expensive, vulgar and pompous sacrifices (2:43; 16:15). To top it all,
gruesome animal sacrifices became rampant and important part of
Vedic sacrificial rites. Thousands of innocent horses, cows, buffaloes,
bulls, goats, and birds were slaughtered mercilessly every year all over
the country. Gradually the sacred Vedic Dharma degenerated into
despicable irreligion (Adharma 4:7). As the sacrificial rites became
tainted by corruption (BG: 2:43, 49), the prestige of the sacred Vedas
and the moral authority of Brahmins steadily declined. There arose
much disaffection and antipathy for Brahmanism in society. Loss of
nobility and purity in the practice of the Ancient Dharma (11:18;
14:27) led to much Grief in the post-Vedic society resulting in
disastrous consequences: wholesale abandonment of Brahmanism by
millions of aggrieved people.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Intellectual ferment
The net result of this trend was that by 3rd century B. C. a large
number of people of all classes, especially Kshatriyas, were
abandoning the elitist Brahmanism and embracing egalitarian
heterodox Dharmas such as Buddhism and Jainism. This was no
different than the disgusted "lower castes" and "outcastes"
abandoning Brahmanized Hinduism, and embracing Christianity, Islam,
and Buddhism in the modern times. Becoming a monk or ascetic not
only meant giving up material comforts but also abandoning
Brahmanism and socially designated duty ordained by Varnashrama
Dharma. To Brahmanism, dissolution of Varnashrama Dharma or class
system meant class confusion (Varnasankara 1:41) and its
consequences, namely birth of unwanted progeny and decimation of
elite class.
We do not know exactly how effective the Original Gita was in stopping
the bleeding. For three centuries following the death of the Buddha in
483 B. C. Buddhism rose in leaps and bounds and the prestige of
Brahmanism continued to decline steadily. Large number of Kshatriya
men left their family and became Bhikkus of Buddhism, munis of
Jainism and Ascetics of other creeds. As Buddhism became the
dominant Dharma of India, Brahmanism felt a great threat to its very
existence. Buddhism had little regard for the Varnashrama Dharma as
its main motto was equality of all human beings based on right
conduct and not their class of birth.[1] This meant free admixture of
the upper class women with the lower class men. Brahmanism
chronically worried that admixture of upper class women with the
lower class men would lead to the birth of unwanted progeny (1:38-
44) and decimation of elitist class (3:24).
The following two shlokas with four hidden agendas were added by
Brahmanism seers to shore up Brahmanism.
1. The first hidden agenda: The phrase two "great sages worthy of
worship" probably refers to Lord Buddha and Lord Mahaveera, both of
whom were worshipped as great teachers even by a large section of
the Brahmanic society. Both these great men were, as it were,
"attacking" the corrupted Brahmanism by their Nastik philosophies.
Both these teachers rejected everything Brahmanism stood for: The
Vedas, Vedic sacrifices, Varnashrama Dharma, and supremacy of
Brahmins. Brahmanism, now in precipitous decline, was in a rather
precarious position of having to "counter-attack" heterodox Dharmas.
On the one hand, pro-Brahmanism authors knew that there was great
merit in the teachings of the Buddha as well as Mahaveera. On the
other hand, Brahmanism wanted to hang on to its ritual-oriented
ancient traditions. Brahmanic seers wondered how they could counter-
attack these opponents.
3. The third hidden agenda: The second of these two shlokas shores
up the position of Brahmins (represented by Drona) and Kshatriyas
(represented by Bheeshma) in the post-Vedic society when the
prestige of these two upper classes was taking a good deal of beating
due to their hankering for wealth, pleasure, and heaven (2:43) by
means of Kamya Karma. In these shlokas they are both described as
superiors worthy of worship even though they are desirous of wealth.
The fact is that in the Mahabharata epic neither patriarch Bheeshma
nor Guru Drona was desirous of any wealth whatsoever. They had
nothing personally to gain by this dreadful war. They were both on the
dole of Kauravas and were merely returning, though reluctantly, the
debt they owed them. Therefore, the phrase "even though they are
desirous of wealth" cannot be justified in the Mahabharata context.
The real intent of these shlokas is: So what if Brahmins and Kshatriyas
have become selfishly desirous of wealth? Remember that they are the
elite of the society and worthy of worship as per the dictates of
Varnashrama Dharma. Just bear it and grin.
4. The fourth hidden agenda: How could one enjoy the wealth and
desires tainted with blood? In the Mahabharata context, the sin of
killing the two great sages could rob Arjuna of the enjoyments of gains
he made by his deeds (Karma). The ensuing sense of guilt and
sinfulness could defeat the very purpose of the deed.
---------------------------
[1] In the Buddha's Words, Bhikku Bodhi, Wisdom Publication, Boston, 2005, page
132.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Uncertain times
If Atman resides in the body, why is it that we do not know It? Well,
the Upanishadic seers blamed it on the force of the Gunas (Natural
Qualities) (Maitrayani Upanishad: 3:2). The best way to explain the
force of the Gunas is that it is like gravity. Just as gravity attracts all
objects to it, it attracts Atman and binds it to the body (14:5). By
means of the same magnetic attraction, the Gunas induce the Mind to
desire sense objects and get attached to them (3:28-29, 3:34, 37-43;
2:62-63). The Mind's attachment to sense objects creates the
following problems:
Dwandwam: When the Senses become entangled with sense objects
the Mind becomes disconnected from Wisdom and suffers from
unsteadiness, loss of judgment, doubt and other symptoms of stress
(2:14).
The doctrine of Karma (Ch. Up: 5:10:7) evolved over several centuries
before the Original Gita was composed. It said that all actions or deeds
(Karma) result in consequences known as Karmaphalam (3:9). This
doctrine was beyond the power of even gods to change (5:15). It
explained why people suffered misery on earth even when they did
nothing wrong to deserve it.
As we read earlier, the goal of all Kamya Karma was not only to obtain
pleasure and lordship here on earth but also to attain heaven after
death (2:43). Initially the Brahmanic priests guaranteed the Kshatriyas
quick success on earth if they performed sacrifices (4:12). Inevitably
the question arose in the minds of Kshatriya nobles: "What if we
earned more Karmaphala than we could use up in one life time?" Well,
the clever priests had a ready answer for it too (9:20): "Don't worry;
you will go to heaven and have wonderful time there mingling with the
Devas!" That assurance gave the Kshatriya sponsors of sacrifices some
peace of mind. The problem with this assurance, according to the
Upanishadic seers, was the fact that the theory of Karma said that
once their Karmaphala was exhausted, they would take birth (9:21) on
this transient, joyless earth again (9:33). In other words, the voyage
to heaven of Devas always came with the compulsory return ticket.
This meant Karmaphala earned by means of Kamya Karma promoted
transmigration of the Atman hereafter.
In order to deal with this internal threat the clever Vedic priests did to
the Upanishads what modern businesses do to whistle-blowers:
promote them to oblivion and declare their discovery a Top Secret.
First they declared the Upanishads as integral part of the Vedas even
though the Vedic and Upanishadic doctrines were diametrically
opposed to each other. Then they interpolated into the texts of the
Upanishads whatever pro-sacrifice stuff that served their purpose
(Traittiriya Up: 1:1-9). Incredible amount of obscure, irrelevant, and
inappropriate materials (E.g. Brahadaranyaka Upanishad: 4:4:2-10)
were added to the original texts till no ordinary person could
comprehend what was already a rather complex concept. The essential
elements of the Upanishadic philosophy were buried in the avalanche
of irrelevant materials. Then they incorporated them into the Vedic
corpus as the Vedanta, the end of the Vedas, and gave them the
sacred status of Shruthi, that which was heard. The net result was that
the Upanishads became, more or less, that which you won't hear
any more. This was how the explosive new thought diametrically
opposed to Brahmanism was contained and kept under wraps away
from any busybody curious to know more about it. Even though the
literal meaning of the word Upanishad was "sitting near devotedly," it
came to mean a secret -Rahasya (4:3). This is no different from a
corrupt government classifying some damning information adverse to
it as "Top Secret."
Third, a little bit later they elevated Guru Krishna to the position of
the Lord of beings (4:6), a position equal to that of Prajapati of
Brahmanism, to protect the revolutionary shlokas from being
destroyed by the Brahmanic vested interests, and to reform corrupt
Brahmins (Chapter Four) and greedy Kshatriyas (Chapter Three).
However, unlike Prajapati, Lord Krishna declares Himself as more
powerful than the Prakriti (the Gunas).
3. They discredited the doctrine of Karma: They said that earning both
good and bad Karmaphala merely promotes Samsara (9:20).
Permanent liberation (Nirvana) from Samsara should be one's goal in
life (6:15).
Double entendre: Using the same shloka to give dual meanings, one
with reference to the Mahabharata context and the other the Historical
(2:47-49). As we will read later, their shlokas did not fit the
Mahabharata context as well as they did the Historical context.
Using pun (2:29; 52-53) to convey the hidden message. They used
words such as Karma, Dharma, Shruthi, and Veda in such a way that
the discerning reader would know their hidden, anti-Brahmanism
intent.
Pretending as if the shlokas were meant for Arjuna when, in fact, they
were meant for errant ritualists. They gave a clue to this fact by
addressing Arjuna as sinless (3:3; 15:20), and a person with divine
qualities (16:5) meaning, these shlokas did not apply to him. It is a
like a good scolding given by a father to his noble son within the
earshot of his errant nephew. The scolding given was meant for the
waywardly nephew, not for the noble son.
1. Firstly, the theme of the Original Gita came rather handy. In it the
noble prince Arjuna suffers from Grief and Dwandwa due to his
attachment to his relatives and friends (sense objects), and obsesses
over earning bad Karmaphala from his actions. Unable to deal with this
predicament, he desires to abandon his Dharma. The post-Vedic
society was riddled with the same three maladies. A large number of
Kshatriyas were abandoning Brahmanism full of Grief over its
decadence. The upper classes of Brahmanism were suffering from
Dwandwa due to their obsession with earning Karmaphala by means of
Kamya Karma.
In the second sentence of the same shloka, Arjuna expresses his fear
of committing a sin (earning bad Karmaphala) the burden of which
might make it impossible for him to go on living. When one knowingly
commits a sin, which is wrong-doing in the eye of his Dharma, he has
to constantly live with the fear of going to hell.
In the last sentence of this shloka, the Upanishadic seers set up the
Upanishadic format which elevates prince Krishna to the status of
Arjuna's Guru. The hidden intent in this shloka is that it authorizes
Guru Krishna to impart to the world Knowledge of Atman (2:11-13;
16-30) and Buddhiyoga (2:48-53) to replace the doctrines of the
Gunas and Karma, while appearing to address Arjuna's Grief,
Dwandwa and concern about earning bad Karmaphala.
2:11: You grieve for those who should not be grieved for; yet
you spell words of wisdom. The wise (who have gained the
Knowledge of Atman) grieve neither for the living nor for the
dead.
There are two meaning to the first sentence of this shloka. First, from
existential point of view, there is no need to grieve over those who, by
virtue of their wickedness, deserve to die. Second, wise people, who
have gained the Knowledge of Atman, know that when someone dies,
his Atman does not die, and so there is no need to grieve.
The second sentence of this shloka addresses the fact that Arjuna is
already grieving over those who are still alive. In other words, Arjuna
is going through what is known as anticipatory grief. There are
occasions in life when we grieve over the loss of loved ones by means
other than death -such as breakup or move to a distant place. But a
person who is wise, unattached to people does not feel the need to
grieve either for the living or the dead. They are beyond grief.
2:12-13: Nor I, nor you, nor any of these ruling princes was
ever non- existent before; nor is it that we shall cease to be in
the future. As the Atman in the body experiences childhood,
youth and old age, He also passes on to another body (after
death). The wise one is not deluded about this.
Grief arises from loss of people one is attached to. One's attachment
to sense objects is due to the force of the Gunas. Once the mind is
deluded by the Gunas, it loses touch with Atman, and so it forgets
about it. The wise, who know the eternal nature of Atman, are not
deluded by the Gunas and so they do not feel the need to grieve. After
death, Atman enters into another body and goes through the various
stages of life. The knowledge of this nature of Atman overcomes Grief
(Ch. Up.: 7:1:3; 8:7:3). To get in touch with Atman, however, one
must first overcome three functions of the Gunas: desire for,
attachment to, and possessiveness of sense objects.
Whereas the Gunas are cause of all action (3:5, 27 and 33), Atman is
completely actionless (13:29). Not only is it indestructible, but also it
does not slay anyone. A person who does not know the difference
between the two is ignorant of Atman. The second sentence of this
shloka might be a veiled reference to the Vedic god Indra, the slayer
of Vrtra, the demon. The author wants to stress the difference
between the Vedic divinity Indra, who is the very personification of the
Gunas, and the Upanishadic divinity Atman, which is free from the
Gunas. The word Indriyani (Senses) is derived from Indra, who is
described as sensuous.
2:20: The Atman is neither born nor does it die. Coming into
being and ceasing to be do not take place in it. Unborn, eternal,
constant and ancient, It is not killed when the body is slain. He
who cognizes the Atman as indestructible, eternal, unborn and
changeless, how can he slay or cause another to slay?
In the shloka above, Atman is compared with the Gunas. The Gunas
manifest themselves in the quality of one's actions; they can be
thought of a Satvic, Rajasic or Tamasic; and they manifest as one
Guna now and another next moment. Atman has no such qualities.
Once a person intuitively knows Atman as such, he will never grieve
again.
The literal meaning of this shloka is that in contrast to the body that
experiences the forces of nature by means of the Senses, Atman is
immune to them. Not only does Atman not act, it is immune to the
forces of nature. All Brahmanic commentaries just stick to this simple
literal meaning.
Having said all this, nothing more needs to be said about Atman!
The hidden meaning of this shloka is that even Vedic scholars, who
have heard about Atman by listening to Shruthi (that which is heard -
the Vedas and Upanishads), still know It not at all: shruthvaapyenam
veda na chaiva kashchit. Here the words shranothi, shruthva and veda
have been cleverly used as puns. What Guru Krishna is saying here is
that there are people who have heard from the Shruthis about Atman
and yet they have no Knowledge of Atman. Why? Well, their obsession
with Kamya Karma, promoted by the force of the Gunas, has
prevented them from knowing Atman.
Now Guru Krishna explains how to control Dwandwa. When the Senses
come into contact with sense objects, the Mind experiences Dwandwa:
I like this, I dislike this; this makes me feel good, this makes me feel
bad; I want to gain this, I don't want to lose it. A Dwandwa-ridden
mind has no peace. However, unlike Atman, Dwandwam is
impermanent. If one can control his Senses (desire and attachment)
he can control Dwandwa. Peace of mind is thus restored.
2:38: Treating alike pain and pleasure, gain and loss, victory
and defeat, engage yourself in the battle. Thus you will incur no
sin (Karmaphalam).
2: 42: The ignorant (Vedic ritualists who are deluded by the Gunas)
who delight in the flowery words disputing about the Vedas say
that there is nothing other than this (Kamya Karma).
The Vedic ritualists loved to engage each other in debate about various
Vedic doctrines that promoted Kamya Karma. The phrase "nothing
other than this" refers to the fact that for every malady in the society
Brahmanism had only one remedy: "Perform Kamya Karma to get
whatever you want! And give us food, cows, and gold!" The
Upanishadic seers claimed that ignorance engendered by "delighting in
the disputations" as far worse than that arising from performing
Kamya Karma itself (Brahadaranyaka Upanishad: 4:4:10;
Isopanishad: 9, 12).
2:43: They (the Vedic ritualists) are desire- ridden, who hold
attainment of heaven as the goal of birth and its activities; and
who are addicted to pompous sacrificial rites bringing pleasure
and lordship.
When the mind is entangled with sense objects, Dwandwa is the result
(2:14). The Dwandwa-ridden Mind is unsteady because it is deprived
of the steadying effect of Buddhi. Another way of putting this is: He,
who's Mind is guided by Buddhi, becomes the Buddha (enlightened);
he whose mind is entangled with sense objects becomes the Buddhu
(stupid)!
This single shloka forms the anthem of the Upanishadic Gita as well as
the revolution: Get over the Gunas, all three of them; eliminate
Dwandwa; cultivate goodness by giving up common human
weaknesses rooted in the Gunas such as greed, lust, and rage;
become detached from sense objects and give up fruits of action, and
be centered on Atman. The word Nityasatvasto here stands for
eternally fixed in goodness or truth. it does not represent Sattvic Guna
as some Brahmanic commentators claim. The bottom line is: Instead
of submitting to the power of any of the Gunas, one should take refuge
in Atman, the power higher than the Gunas. Instead of yielding to
doctrine of Karma and craving Karmaphala, one should renounce it
and act in the spirit of Buddhiyoga. Even though Guru Krishna seems
to address this shloka to Arjuna, clearly he is addressing Vedic
ritualists steeped in Kamya Karma.
In this seminal shloka Guru Krishna lays down the Law to the Vedic
ritualists who obsessively perform Kamya Karma desiring one sense
object or another. The word Adhikara in this shloka refers to the
entitlement claimed by various Kshatriyas to perform certain Yajnas,
and expect appropriate rewards from them by virtue of their
accomplishments in war and expansion of their territory. For example,
to perform Ashvamedha Yajna (horse sacrifice), kings were first
required to prove their entitlement by virtue of their accomplishments
and conquests. These entitlements were based on Vedic scriptures and
were granted to them by various priests on their payroll.
If Guru Krishna does not want the ritualists to perform Yajna without
desiring Karmaphala, what should their attitude be? Guru Krishna
recommends the ritualists to perform Yajna, if they must, without
desire for or attachment to sense objects; and with evenness,
equanimity, and equilibrium. His mind is steady in the face of success
as well as failure. One should always keep in mind that he is merely
returning the debt to the Devas. In this shloka, Guru Krishna
introduces the first of two elements of Buddhiyoga: Sanyasa - giving
up Kama (hankering) for sense objects.
Yajnas performed with Buddhiyukta mind breaks the bonds of
Karma
In this shloka Guru Krishna says that when a Buddhiyogi has raised
himself above the bewilderment engendered by desire and attachment
associated with Kamya Karma, he would be disgusted with Shruthis
yet to be revealed as well as the Vedas, which promote them. Here the
Upanishadic seers use the word Nirvedam as pun to express disgust
with the Vedas. This word means disgust as well as Vedalessness.
What are the Shruthis yet to be revealed? I believe they were referring
to the newer Shruthis that were being churned out around this time
promoting sacrificial rites, such as Taittiriya Upanishads. All
Brahmanism commentators simply gloss over this shloka which
expresses disgust with Vedic doctrines of the Gunas and Karma that
promote Kamya Karma.
2:53: When your Buddhi, (even while being) tossed about by the
conflicting Vedic doctrines, is firmly steadied in equilibrium (by
Buddhiyoga), then you shall achieve the transcendental state of
Yoga (Samadhi).
Once again Guru Krishna uses the word Shruthi as pun. The word
Shruthiviprathipanna can be interpreted as merely conflicting opinions
one hears, or conflicting Vedic doctrines. For one to achieve the
transcendental state of mind known as Samadhi, the highest state of
steadiness and concentration one could hope to achieve in life, he
must learn to steady his mind against the temptations of various
conflicting Vedic doctrines, such as the doctrines of the Gunas and
Karma, that promote desire, attachment and delusion. Once again,
Brahmanic commentators either gloss over this shloka or obfuscate its
true meaning altogether. Ramanujacharya goes a step further. He
simply says that the word Shruthi in this shloka does not mean the
Vedas, but just what one hears!
The answer is simple: Give up all desires of the heart and be satisfied
with the Bliss of Atman. Desire is rooted in the Gunas (3:37). The
moment one gives up all his desires, his Mind will connect with his
Buddhi as well as Atman.
Not only must one give up desire for sense objects, but also he must
give up his attachments to them. When one gives up attachments to
sense objects Dwandwa disappears. The steadiness of Mind thus
achieved, becomes the stepping stone to achieve Sthithaprajnya state
of mind. Such a person does not jump in joy when he receives a
fortune, nor sink into despair when he suffers a misfortune. Basically it
is Buddhiyukta Mind that has achieved evenness, equilibrium,
equanimity, in addition to the Absolute Bliss of Atman.
2:67: Just as the gale of wind pushes a ship on the waters, the
mind that yields to the roving Senses breaks away from its
Wisdom.
2:58: When also, like a tortoise withdrawing its limbs into its
body, one withdraws his senses from sense objects, his wisdom
is set steady.
Merely abstaining from sense objects does not mean the desire for
them is gone. However, once one gets in touch with Atman, even
those cravings disappear. Why? Well, Atman enjoys the Bliss
associated with not wanting or needing anything.
2:70-71: Not the desirer of desires, but that man attains Peace
(of Atman), in whom all desires merge even as rivers flow into
the ocean which is full and unmoving. That man attains Peace
(here on earth) who is devoid of cravings, freed from all desires
and without the feeling of "I" and "mine."
This shloka shows how Yoga promotes Bliss here on earth in contrast
to Kamya Karma which promotes Dwandwa here on earth. To achieve
the absolute Bliss of Atman even during one's lifetime, one must one
give up all aspects related to Kamya Karma: desire for, and
attachment to, and possessiveness (delusion of "I" and "mine") of
sense objects. In these shlokas Guru Krishna is clearly referring to the
Vedic ritualists who were obsessed with accumulating Karmaphala by
means of Kamya Karma and enjoying life here on earth. These shlokas
have no relevance to Arjuna's predicament.
Reforming Brahmins
However, we must keep in mind that the Upanishadic Gita was still
vulnerable to editing, interpolation, scrambling, and other tactics by
the vested interests to dilute or neutralize their revolutionary intent.
One of many examples of this is seen in the act of switching of
Chapter Three and Four by the final editor of the Bhagavad Gita. It is
an unfortunate reality that every single ancient scripture, including the
Vedas, the Upanishads, Sankhya Darshan, and Yoga Sutras, has been
manipulated, "worked over" and altered by Brahmanism scholars to
suit their interests. Texts which they hated, such as those of Lokayata
philosophy, were entirely destroyed.
Now the Upanishadic seers went about reforming the Old Guard:
Brahmin and Kshatriya ritualists. They further divided the
"Imperishable" Buddhiyoga into Jnanayoga and Karmayoga (3:3).
They assigned Jnanayoga -the Yoga of the Knowledge of Atman- to the
brainy Brahmins, and Karmayoga -Yoga of Action- to the brawny
Kshatriyas:
Note here that Lord Krishna refers to Arjuna as "sinless" thus hinting
that whatever follows does not apply to him, but only to Brahmins and
Kshatriyas who were busy earning (Karmaphala) by means of Kamya
Karma.
There are two goals for Chapter Four of the Bhagavad Gita: The first
goal is to elevate Guru Krishna to the position of the Lord of beings
(4:6-7). This guaranteed that the revolutionary shlokas will not be
destroyed by the vested interests. The second goal is to reform
Brahmins by weaning them away from Kamya Karma and initiating
them in the science of Jnanayoga (the Yoga of Knowledge of Atman).
They are urged to give up material sacrifice dedicated to Vedic gods
and, instead, are encouraged to perform "Knowledge Sacrifice (4:33),"
which means practicing Yoga to gain the Knowledge of Atman. Instead
of earning Karmaphala by means of Kamya Karma, they are
encouraged to "burn their Karmaphala in the fire (Yajna) of Knowledge
of Atman (4:37)" by which is meant, "You cancel-out all Karmaphala
when you worship Atman by means of Yoga." Now let us study the
revolutionary shlokas from BG Chapter Four.
Guru Krishna starts out in this chapter by declaring that he is the Guru
of Sun god. The Sun god gave the doctrine of Buddhiyoga to Manu, his
son; and Manu gave it to Ikshvaku, the founder of Ikshvaku or Sun
dynasty. The Imperishable Yoga Lord Krishna refers to here is, of
course, Buddhiyoga he taught to Arjuna in BG Chapter Two (2:40, 47-
51; 64-68). This Yoga is "Imperishable" because the Imperishable
Atman was introduced into its equation in 2:55-59. It decayed over
time because it was declared as a Top Secret and kept away from the
public by Brahmanic priests. Now Lord Krishna has revived it and
revealed it to Arjuna and the public at large by including it in the
Mahabharata, a Smriti to which everyone has access. It was
transmitted in regular succession by royal sages (Kshatriyas), not
Vedic priests. It is no longer a Top Secret.
4:3: The same ancient Yoga has been today told to you by Me,
for you are My devotee and friend; and this secret is supreme
indeed.
4:4: Arjuna said: Later was Your birth, earlier was the birth of
Vivasvat; how then am I to understand that You told it in the
beginning?
Here Arjuna faithfully plays his role of the humble, eternally perplexed
and curious disciple in the Upanishadic tradition (4:34), thus giving
Lord Krishna the opportunity to declare His incarnation and its true
purpose.
4:8: I take birth age after age for the protection of the good
and the destruction of the doers of evil deeds and for the
establishment of Dharma.
The doers of evil deeds are those who recklessly indulge in desire-
driven sacrifices -Kamya Karma. It is clear from this shloka that the
Upanishadic seers elevated Guru Krishna to the position of Lord of
being (4:6), for a specific purpose: to overthrow the decadent
Brahmanism and to establish a New Dharma to replace it.
4:9: He who thus knows My divine birth and action in true light,
having dropped the body, comes not to birth again, but comes
unto Me, O Arjuna.
4:11: In whatever way men identify with Me, in the same way
do I carry out their desires; men pursue My path, O Partha, in
all ways.
Lord Krishna wants Brahmins to follow His example and perform their
deeds (Yajnas) like He does - neither desiring fruits nor gaining them.
He is asking them to perform Yajna in such a way that they are not
tainted by Karmaphala. In other words, give up Kamya Karma and
perform all Karma is the spirit of Yoga (2:47-49).
This shloka explains that the ancient seers performed Yajna in the
spirit mentioned above: neither desiring the fruits nor gaining them.
The ancient seers performed sacrifices seeking liberation. The question
is: what were they seeking liberation from? Well, they were seeking
liberation from indebtedness to the Devas for their benevolence. If one
did not return to the Vedic gods something for their benovelence, it
was considered a sinful act of omission (3:12, 13, 16). One would then
earn bad Karmaphala, and rot in hell. Lord Krishna urges Brahmins to
perform sacrifices, if they must, like the ancient sages did and not like
the contemporary greedy priests did. Now Lord Krishna gives these
sages a refresher course on performing Karma in the right manner.
4:16-17: Sages (of the present time) too are perplexed as to what
action is (proper way to perform Yajna) and what inaction (non-
performance of Yajna, Sanyasa) is. Therefore I shall tell you what
action (right way to perform Yajna) is, by knowing which you shall
be freed from evil (of Dwandwa and Karmaphala). It is needful to
discriminate (proper) action, forbidden action (Kamya Karma)
and inaction (being a monk or Sanyasin); inscrutable is the way of
Karma.
A person who performs sacrifices will not earn any Karmaphala when
he gives up his desire for fruit. On the other hand, a person who has
given up performing sacrifices could still earn Karmaphala by not
giving up his desire for fruit (Sankalpa 6:1-4). A person who is
perceptive of this truth is wise (Yogi). Such a Yogi, who perfectly
understands this fundamental truth about action, inaction, and
forbidden action, could freely engage himself in all kind of activities,
including sacrificial rites, without being bound by its Karmaphala. So
what should Brahmins do to become wise (attain enlightenment of
Atman)?
4:21: Hoping for nothing (without hankering for sense objects), his
mind and self controlled (becoming Buddhiyukta), having
abandoned all possessions, performing Karma (sacrifices) by
body alone (without desire and design for fruit), he incurs no sin
(Karmaphala).
Lord Krishna tells Brahmins, "If you must perform sacrificial rites, do
so in the spirit of Yoga: without desire for, attachment to and
possessiveness of sense objects, and without any desire for fruits of
action. Perform it as mere physical ritual without any emotional
element." Lord Krishna has just converted Kamya Karma into
Nishkama Karma.
4:22: Content with what he obtains without effort (manipulations
and coercion), free from Dwandwa ("I like this, I don't like that; I
want this, I don't want this"), without envy ("he has more cows than
I"), balanced in success and failure ("if I have it fine, it I don't, that
is that is fine too"), though acting (performing sacrifices) he is not
bound (does not earn Karmaphala).
The Yajna should be performed with a steady state of mind, and only
as an obligatory ritual. There should be no room for any desire,
attachment, greed, coercion, or envy.
The above three shlokas form the anthem of Jnanayoga. They convey
the message that when a priest performs sacrifices without hankering
(Kama) for fruits, without design (Sankalpa), without pairs of
opposites (Dwandwa), without attachment (Sangas), without
possessiveness (Moha), and with his mind focused on the Self/Atman,
he does not earn any Karmaphala. In other words, one must give up
Guna-rooted weaknesses in all actions. Any personal action or sacrifice
thus performed with Buddhiyukta-Sthithaprajnya mind is known as the
Yajna of Knowledge of Atman. For it is free from all the negative
aspects of Kamya Karma. This is Jnanayoga. What are various
constituents of the Knowledge Sacrifice in contrast to Kamya Karma?
How is the Yajna of the Knowledge of Atman different from the Kamya
Karma of Brahmanism? Kamya Karma is dedicated to the Vedic gods.
Unlike in Kamya Karma, all the constituents of the Yajna of Knowledge
-oblation, ghee, the offering person, fire, object of sacrifice- are made
up of all-pervading Brahman. The Lord recommends Brahmins to
recognize "Brahman alone in the sacrifice." There is a paradigm shift of
the object of Yajna from Vedic gods to Brahman. In other words, Lord
Krishna "Upanishadizes" the Vedic sacrifices.
Now Lord Krishna further broadens the definition of Yajna. He explains
that there are other types of Yajnas (worships) in which both tangible
and intangible sense objects are sacrificed. What are various different
types of Yajnas one can find in the vast storehouse of Brahman?
The word Yajna is rooted in the word Yaj, meaning ‘to worship.' Any
sacrifice of tangible or intangible sense objects, done selflessly is a
Yajna of Knowledge of Atman, for it connects the Mind with Buddhi and
Atman. A Yajna does not have to have the fire burning in a sacrificial
altar. People who attempt to control their Senses (desires); people
who control their Organs of Action, say mouth, hands, sex organs
(refrain from evil acts); people who give up attachment to sense
objects; people who practice Pranayama; people who practice
austerity (Tapas), etc. are sacrificing something, and are thus
performing a Yajna on the altar of Self-realization. The point is, the
moment one gives up something he desires, his mind connects with
his Atman, and his sins (Karmaphala) are destroyed.
4:32: Various Yajnas such as these are spread out from the
mouth of Brahman. Know them all to be born of Karma
(sacrificial rituals of one kind or another); and thus knowing you
shall be free (from bondage of doctrine of Karma).
The hidden meaning of the above shloka is that one who sacrifices all
the above noted (4:25-30) functions of the Senses, the Organs of
action, the Mind and the Intellect in the fire of Knowledge of Atman, is
left with only the Atman. The one who obtains that nectar -Atman-
attains Bliss here on earth and attains Nirvana hereafter.
What is the nature of sacrifice one has to make to gain the Knowledge
of the Atman? Well, one has to give up desire for, attachment to and
possessiveness of sense objects; and also he must give up desire for
fruits of action. The moment one does this, his Mind connects with his
Buddhi and ultimately with his Atman. How does one go about
acquiring that enlightenment?
One seeks that Knowledge of Atman from the seers in the format of
Upanishadic instructions, not by submitting to a Vedic priest
performing a sacrifice or giving a lecture. Lord Krishna is redirecting
Brahmins to the wisdom of the Upanishads, away from the rituals of
Vedic sacrifices. Upanishads frequently state that one cannot gain
Knowledge of Atman by the Vedas.
4:36: Even if you be the most sinful of all sinners, yet shall you
cross over all (river of) sin by the raft of Knowledge (of Atman).
Even the worst kind of priests who have indulged in sinful acts can
cancel-out their accumulated Karmaphala by attaining the Knowledge
of Atman. Here the metaphor "river of sin" most likely refers to the
river of blood following gruesome sacrifices of animals. There is a
hidden agenda in this shloka. According to the Brahmanic doctrine of
the Gunas, one's actions are forever determined by his Guna, which
one is not able to repress or change (3:33; 18:59-60). This means,
when a man is of evil Guna, he has no redemption except by suffering
in hell after death, and being reborn on earth to pay for his sins. Lord
Krishna says that even worst kind of sinner can redeem himself by
taking refuge in Atman.
Lord Krishna uses the metaphor of "blazing fire reducing fuel to ashes"
to indicate that He is referring to Yajna. In the case of Kamya Karma,
the blazing fire reduces the fuel and sacrificed materials to ashes. In
contrast, the fire of Knowledge burns all Karmaphala to ashes.
These four shlokas aim to ward off doubts in the mind of Brahmin class
about the concept of the Knowledge of Atman and the benefit of
gaining it. Brahmins were the most learned of four social classes of the
ancient society. Even today the most Doubting Toms come from the
intellectual class of society in India. The ignorance-born doubt Lord
Krishna is referring to here is due to the delusion of the Gunas. Lord
Krishna urges Brahmins to give up their entanglements and take
shelter in Yoga to regain their Jnana or Knowledge of Atman.
---------------------------
Reforming Kshatriyas
3:5: None can remain really actionless even for a moment; for
everyone is helplessly driven to action by the Gunas born of
Prakriti.
We read this shloka as part of the Original Gita. Proponents of
Brahmanism loved this concept as the doctrine of the Gunas
consecrated their supremacy in the hierarchical class system of
Varnashrama Dharma. The world "helplessly" is invariably associated
with this concept (3:27; 3:33; 18:59, 60). If this were true, there was
no need for Lord Krishna to give Arjuna all this wisdom and motivate
him to fight. All Lord Krishna would have to do is to sit tight and
Arjuna would be "helplessly doing" his Kshatriya duty. Throughout the
BG, Lord Krishna counters this concept by saying that one must "cross
over the Gunas" (2:45) by recognizing Atman as a force greater than
Gunas (3:43; 14:19; 18:61). Lord Krishna wants Arjuna to act willfully
and decisively (18:63) by not submitting to the force of the Gunas,
with his Mind steadied by Buddhi, and focused on Atman (2:45). It is
Lord Krishna's contention that Gunas, operating via senses entangle us
with sense objects, disconnect the Mind from Buddhi; and cause
ignorance of Atman. Lord Krishna of the Upanishadic Dharma
immediately counters the Brahmanic doctrine of the Gunas in the
shloka below:
Originally, all Yajnas were performed without any selfish motive and so
they earned no Karmaphala (4:15). As we read before, the sole
purpose of these Yajnas was to return the "debt" owed to the gods for
their benevolence. In contrast, all of our daily activities have some
selfish motive and so they earn Karmaphala. Lord Krishna wants
Kshatriyas to perform their obligatory Kshatriya duty selflessly and
without attachment to fruits, in the same spirit as Yajna of the olden
days. Why is Lord Krishna introducing the topic of selfless Yajna here?
He is trying to wean ritual-obsessed Kshatriyas away from them.
It was Prajapati, the Vedic Lord of beings, who created mankind and
Yajna together so they could cherish each other. Yajnas brought on
rains; rains brought on food; food brought on people (3:14). The
people performed Yajnas not only to obtain rains, but also to return
the debt (RNa) and to thank the gods for their benevolence. They
burned surplus grains, herbs, ghee, and animals as symbols of their
gratitude for the benevolence of the gods. Note here that Lord Krishna,
the Upanishadic Lord of beings, distances himself from Yajnas. Yajnas
were the creation of the Prajapati, the Vedic god, who himself is not
free from the Gunas (18:40). Yoga, on the contrary, is the creation of
Lord Krishna (4:1), who is beyond the power of the Gunas.
The obligatory duty proposed in this shloka is clearly different from the
obligatory act mentioned in 3:17-18. In this shloka Lord Krishna
clearly has something else in mind for Kshatriyas: leading by selfless
service to humanity. Selflessness in action connects one's mind with
Buddhi and Atman resulting in Self-realization.
In 4:13, Lord Krishna said that he created the four Varnas based on
the distribution of the Gunas and Karma only to show that he neither
desired nor gained any Karmaphala due to that particular action. The
shloka 3:24, warning about the dangers of Varnasankara (class
admixture), is clearly a clever later interpolation by the pro-Vedic
lobby to bolster the cause of Varnashrama Dharma (also read 1:38-
44). The breakdown of class system due to ascendance of Para-
Dharmas was fraught with the danger of decimation of the upper
classes. This shloka, implying that Lord Krishna is constantly working
to keep upper class women from co-mingling with lower class men,
was a desperate attempt to reverse this trend. Nothing could be
farther from the truth. The constant elevating theme of the
Upanishadic Gita is equality of all living beings (5:18-19) due to the
fact that Atman is the same in all, and that one should cross over the
Gunas and break the bonds of Karma, both of which are the bases of
Varnashrama Dharma. Lord Krishna mentions twice that even the
worst kind of person can overcome his Karma by surrendering to Him
(4:36; 9:30). In His eyes no one is "unwanted progeny" because the
Atman in everyone is the same. "Unwanted progeny" is a Brahmanic
obsession.
The Anthem of Karmayoga
This shloka, as we read in the chapter titled The Original Gita, is a relic
of Brahmanism. In effect this shloka said to Arjuna, "How dare you
think that you can do anything against the force of your Guna? Gunas
determine all your actions. Deluded by your Ahamkara (egoism), you
think you can do anything you want!" However, Upanishadic seers
never get tired of telling that the Gunas are the problem, not the
solution. Gunas corrupt the Senses as well as Organs of Actions. See
how Lord Krishna demolishes the above Brahmanic claim in the next
two powerful shlokas.
3:28: But, O mighty armed, the one intuitive into the nature of
Guna and Karma knows that Gunas as Senses merely abide
with Gunas as Objects, and does not become entangled.
One, who understands that it is the nature of the Gunas to induce the
mind to get entangled with sense objects, frees himself from the
power of the Gunas. If a man becomes aware of his desire to have
illicit relationship with a woman, he tells himself, "This is my lust
rooted in the Guna that is deluding me. Let me not fall prey to it." One
must know that Gunas corrupt people's mind via the Senses. In 14:23
Lord Krishna tells Arjuna not to be moved by the Gunas.
This was certainly an Upanishadic shloka which was later modified into
Bhagavatha shloka by replacing Brahman with Me. Also this shloka has
been "worked over" by another author, probably with Brahmanic
leaning, as evidenced by the phrase "engage in battle," which is clearly
meant to make it look like it was meant for Arjuna.
3:31-32: Those who ever abide in this doctrine of Mine (as the
Lord), full of Shraddha (Faith) and free from caviling, they too
are released from bondage (of his actions). But those who carp
at My teaching and act not thereon, deluded in all knowledge
and devoid of discrimination (wisdom), know them to be ruined.
Lord Krishna issues a warning to those ritualists who do not follow his
advice. Those who do not abide by his teachings and continue to
indulge in Kamya Karma are thus ruined (2:62-63). Those who abide
by the above teachings of Lord Krishna are released from bondage of
their actions because their selfless actions earn them no Karmaphala.
Once again, Lord Krishna demolishes the doctrine of the Gunas. Gunas
are the allies of the Senses. Therefore they are the enemies of the
Mind. When Senses come into contact with sense objects, the mind
suffers from Dwandwa -attachment and aversion, pain and pleasure,
gain and loss (2:14-15). So he must overcome the influence of Gunas
on the senses by resorting to Buddhi and Atman.
This shloka was added to the Original Gita, as we read earlier in the
chapter titled, Brahmanism Defends Itself, by pro-Brahmanism
lobby to plead their cause with Kshatriyas who were abandoning
Brahmanism in droves to become Ascetics, Buddhists, and Jain monks.
This shloka is in juxtaposition to the shloka 2:4-5 in which Arjuna
considers giving up his Kshatriya Dharma as well as Brahmanism to
become a beggar (Bhikku). Along with 18:47-48, it is meant to bolster
Brahmanism Dharma and to dissuade Kshatriyas and other classes
from giving up Brahmanism. Now Lord Krishna moves to demolish the
Gunas once and for all.
3:36: Arjuna asks: But dragged by what does a man commit sin,
unwillingly though, O Krishna, constrained as it were by force?
Note here how Lord Krishna uses fire and smoke as metaphor for
Kamya Karma. Rajasic Guna envelops Wisdom like smoke envelops
fire of sacrifice. Rajasic Guna is the insatiable fire of desire that
consumes Wisdom, just as the sacrificial fire insatiably consumes
materials offered to it. Here the fire of desire is the metaphor for the
sacrificial fire of Kamya Karma. How does one slay this Guna? One
slays it by mastering first the Senses (saying No to one's desires,
cravings, and impulses engendered by the Rajasic Guna). Immediately
the Mind connects with the Wisdom. In other words, one slays the
Rajas Guna by means of Buddhiyoga. For one to get a handle on this
mechanism, one must have some idea about the apparatus of mind.
Lord Krishna provides this information below.
3:42: The Senses are said to be superior (to the sense objects);
the Mind is superior to the Senses; the Intellect is superior to
the Mind; and what is superior to the Intellect is He (Atman).
The Senses (Indriyani) not only stand for the five Senses by which we
perceive the world around us, but also for the unbridled drive that
drags the mind toward sense objects. It is the Id component -the raw
impulses- of the mind. It is the child part of the mind. Their main
function is to desire sense objects and seek to gain them. When the
Senses come into contact with sense objects, the mind experiences
Dwandwa (2:14). The seven allies of the Senses rooted in the Gunas
are: lust, jealous rage, arrogance, possessiveness, greed, jealousy and
insecurity.
The Mind (Manas) stands for the adult part -the Ego- of the mental
apparatus which has three functions: Thinking (I like this, I don't like
this); feeling (this makes me feel good, this makes me feel bad) and
acting (I gained this, I lost it). These opposites are known as
Dwandwa. The more one is attached to sense objects, the greater the
Dwandwa. The Mind that is operating under the influence of the
Senses and its Guna-rooted allies, suffers severe Dwandwa.
The Intellect (Buddhi, Wisdom) stands for the higher faculty of the
mental apparatus -the Superego. It has seven basic functions:
Memory, Knowledge, Insight, Judgment, Reasoning, Moral values, and
Noble virtues. The Mind which is guided by Buddhi becomes
Buddhiyukta. The Buddhiyukta Mind is free from Dwandwa.
Atman, also known as the Self, is the Essence of Man. It is the divinity
bound to the body by the power of the Gunas (14:5). It is the seat of
Absolute Bliss. When the Buddhiyukta Mind merges with Atman, it
achieves the Sthithaprajnya state of mind, and enjoys the
transcendental bliss of Samadhi here on earth and Nirvana hereafter.
The way to slay Rajasic Guna is to use higher faculties to subdue the
lower faculties. The Mind controls the Senses; the Intellect controls the
Mind; the Self is the Ultimate Power that controls the Intellect. The
meaning here is that our Buddhi and the Self should guide us in all our
behaviors, and not the Senses (desires). When the Senses guide our
actions, self-ruin (2:62-63), evil acts (3:37-40) and Samsara
(9:21) are the result. When the Self and Intellect guide our actions,
Bliss of Atman and Nirvana are the result (2:65, 71-72).
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[1] 16:12-20: "Bound by hundreds of ties of hope, given over to
lust and anger, they strive to secure by unjust means hoards of
wealth for sensual enjoyment. ‘This today has been gained by
me; this desire I shall fulfill; this is mine, and this wealth also
shall be mine in the future. That enemy has been slain by me,
and others also shall I slay. I am a lord, I enjoy, I am
successful, powerful and happy. I am rich and well- born. Who
else is equal to me? I will sacrifice, I will give alms, I will
rejoice.' Thus deluded by ignorance, bewildered by many a
fancy, enmeshed in the snare of delusion, addicted to the
gratification of lust, they fall into foul hell. Self- conceited,
stubborn, filled with the pride and intoxication of wealth, they
perform sacrifice in the name of ostentation, disregarding
ordinance. Given over to egoism, power, insolence, lust and
wrath, these malicious people hate Me in their own bodies and
those of others. Those cruel haters, the worst among men in
the world, I hurl these evil- doers for ever into the womb of the
demons only. Entering the demoniac wombs, the deluded ones,
in birth after birth, without ever reaching Me, they thus fall, O
Kaunteya, into condition still lower."
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
In these shlokas Lord Krishna asserts that in the final analysis, both
these paths lead to Self-realization and one is not much different from
the other (2:39-40). Since Jnanayoga (Sanyasa) and Karmayoga
(Tyaga) are two elements of Buddhiyoga, all that matters is that one
become a Buddhiyogi.
In this shloka, Lord Krishna goes back to His original stance that
Karmayoga is essential for all Jnanayogis to attain Brahman. Why is
this so? Well, for one to become a true Brahmajnani (one knowing
Brahman), he must identify himself in everyone else and serve them.
One is purified completely not only when he gives up attachment to
sense objects, but also when he gives up his fruits of action. What is
the essential characteristic of a Karmayogi?
A Yogi performs all actions without the "I" and "Mine and thus
earns no Karmaphala
All the above mentioned functions that are performed by the Sense
Organs and the Organs of Action (hands, mouth, etc.) are the
functions of the Gunas, and one must distance himself from them, and
focus on the higher power of Atman. The body performs all these
actions while the mind is focused on Atman. When a person
disentangles his mind from all sense objects, and his actions from its
fruits, then all his accomplishments are without the "I" and "mine." He
experiences all sensations without entanglement; and he performs all
actions without the egoism. Once the "I" and "Mine" are gone, one's
mind connects with Atman.
5:10: He, who acts abandoning attachment (to the fruits of his
action), dedicating his deeds to Brahman, is untainted by sin
(Karmaphala) as a lotus leaf by water.
This shloka introduces Brahman as the object of all action. One does
not earn Karmaphala if he does something without attachment to
fruits. If one gives up the fruits of his actions, who should have them?
"Give it to Brahman," says Lord Krishna (Ch. Up: 4:14:3). Since one
does not claim any credit for or benefit from his deeds, he earns no
Karmaphala resulting from it.
The Atman resides in the city of nine gates, meaning the body: two
eyes, two ears, two nostrils, one mouth, one opening of the urethra,
and one opening of the anus. Atman is devoid of any action, nor does
It cause action. The job of Atman is to enjoy the absolute peace
engendered by the state of desireless-ness, detachment and
actionlessness.
5:14: The Lord does not create agency or action for the world;
He does not create union with fruits of action. Nature does all
this.
If the Atman does not act or cause one to act, what is the force that
makes one to act and creates Karmaphala? Well, the answer is Nature
(Prakriti), meaning the Gunas. For example, we eat because the body
is hungry, not because Atman is hungry. Nature gives signal to the
stomach that it is time to eat. Likewise, people fall in love and get
married because Nature sends hormonal signals to the body saying, "It
is time for you to start producing children." Atman has nothing to do
with that decision. Likewise, attachment to sense objects and desire
for fruits of action are the functions of the Gunas. Why is Lord Krishna
bringing in here the issue of "action and union with the fruit of action"?
He wants to make a clear distinction between the Gunas and Atman.
The Gunas are the source of action as well as the desire to have its
fruits. Atman could not care less.
In this shloka, Lord Krishna takes issue with the doctrines of the
Gunas and Karma. He says that the merit or demerit (Karmaphala) of
one's actions is not the concern of Brahman. Whose concern is it then?
Well, merit and demerit are the function of the doctrine of Karma.
People perform bad as well as good deeds based on their respective
Guna. Attachment of the Mind to sense objects (wealth, power, etc.)
engendered by the Gunas, makes one ignorant of the Knowledge of
Atman. Regardless of what class one belongs to, if his mind is deluded
by the Gunas, he becomes ignorant of that Knowledge of Atman. The
true Knowledge of Atman liberates one from the delusion engendered
by the Gunas. Note here that the Lord lumps all the Gunas together.
He does not make a distinction between Satvic and Tamasic. All Gunas
delude man.
5:17: Those who think on That (Atman), merge with That, get
fixed in That, have That as the goal, they attain to non- return
(Nirvana), their taints (ignorance, weaknesses) beings dispelled by
Knowledge of Atman.
That, which Lord Krishna refers to, is Atman or Brahman. The way to
disentangle oneself from various sense objects is to give up the Guna-
rooted weaknesses and focus one's attention on Atman, which needs
nothing, wants nothing, and has everything. Since all actions of such a
person are devoid of desire, he earns no Karmaphala and so he is
liberated one from the cycle of birth, death and rebirth. How do we
know that one has attained the Knowledge of the Atman/Brahman and
overcome the force of the Gunas and Karma?
Truly enlightened people see everyone as their equals, they and attain
Self-realization even during their lifetime. Brahman is flawless and the
same in all people, whether they are Brahmins or outcastes. Those
who think that they are superior to others are ignorant of the true
nature of Brahman. What a revolutionary idea for the post-Vedic
times!
A person, who has attained the peace of Brahman, does not suffer
from Dwandwa: Feeling happy when he gets something good and
feeling grief when he gets something bad. He enjoys the
Sthithaprajnya state of mind which is immune to Grief, Dwandwa, and
Samsara.
5:21: With the self (Mind and Intellect) detached from the
external contacts (by means of withdrawal of his Senses, desires)
he realizes the Bliss in Atman. Devoted as he is to meditation of
Brahman, he enjoys Imperishable Bliss.
The moment one's mind completely disentangles itself from the sense
objects, it not only connects with his Buddhi, but also it connects with
the Atman. As one's disconnection is made stronger by focused effort,
one achieves the permanent peace that is Brahman. As you can see,
the words Atman and Brahman are used interchangeably.
Secret of Bliss
5:22: The delights that are contact- born are verily the wombs
of pain; they have, O son of Kunti, a beginning and an end; no
wise man rejoices in them.
Lord Krishna now focuses his attention of Kama (selfish desire) and
Krodha (jealous rage), the twin scourges rooted in Rajasic Guna
(3:37). Lord Krishna identifies these two weaknesses in Vedic
ritualists. He stresses again the need to control them to become a
Self-realized Yogi, who is eligible to attain the Bliss of Brahman here
on earth.
One's happiness and contentment must come from his contact with the
Atman within him and not from his contact with the external sense
objects. Since Atman and Brahman are one and the same, such a Self-
realized person achieves Nirvana hereafter.
In this shloka, Lord Krishna says that when Rishis (sages), whether
Brahmins or Kshatriyas, overcome bad Karmaphala, Dwandwa, and
various Guna-rooted weaknesses, they attain the Bliss of Brahman.
Note here that Lord Krishna calls for "the welfare of all beings," not
just the upper classes.
How does one control his roving eyes and hankering breath?
5:27: Shutting out external objects, fixing the gaze between the
eyebrow, equalizing the outward and inward breaths moving in
the nostrils, the sage who has controlled the Senses, Mind and
Intellect, who is solely pursuing liberation, who has cast away
desire, fear and jealous rage, he verily is liberated (from the evil
of Grief, Dwandwa and Karmaphala-Samsara).
In this shloka, Lord Krishna warns that one does not automatically
become a Yogi just because he gives up sacrificial rites. To become a
Yogi, he must give up his mental desire for fruit (Sankalpa). It is one
thing to give up something bodily; it is entirely another thing to give it
up mentally. For example, just because a person gives up eating meat,
he does not become a vegetarian. To be a true vegetarian, he must
give up his craving for it too. A true vegetarian is someone who feels
sick when he merely thinks about eating meat. Lord Krishna simply
detests hypocrites as He did in 3:6.
6:2: Know that as Yoga, O Pandava, which is called Sanyasa:
for none becomes a Yogi without renouncing Sankalpa.
Once again, Lord Krishna keeps hammering the point: Do not become
entangled with sense objects; nor seek fruits from your actions.
6:5: Let a man raise himself by his own Self; let him not debase
himself. For, he is himself his friend, and himself his foe.
When a man raises his lower self (Mind and Intellect) by allying it with
his higher Self -Atman, his lower self becomes his friend, for the lower
self (Mind) attains divine qualities. Instead, if a man's lower self, falls
prey to its Gunas and attaches itself to sense objects, he degrades
himself. His self, now aligned with the Senses (allies of the Gunas),
becomes deluded by the sense objects, and he commits stupid acts
(2:62-63) or evil acts (3:37-43). We noted this principle of conquering
the lower self with the higher Self in 3:43.
The Mind Must Find a Balance Between the Senses and Intellect
6:6: To him who has conquered his lower self by his higher
Self, his own self is the friend; but to him who has not subdued
the self, his own self acts as the foe.
5:27: Shutting out external objects, fixing the gaze between the
eyebrow, equalizing the outward and inward breaths moving in
the nostrils, the sage who has controlled the Senses, Mind and
Intellect, who is solely pursuing liberation, who has cast away
desire, fear and jealous rage, he verily is liberated (from the
evils of Grief, Dwandwa and Karmaphala-Samsara).
6:16-17: Yoga is not possible for him who eats too much or for
him who abstains too much from eating; it is not for him, O
Arjuna, who sleeps too much or too little. For him who is
moderate in eating and recreation, temperate in his actions,
who is regulated in sleep and wakefulness, Yoga becomes
destroyer of pain.
6:18: When the disciplined mind rests in Atman alone, free from
desire for objects, then is one said to be established in Yoga.
These six shlokas explain the fundamentals of Yogic meditation and its
result. A Yogi who has pacified his mind by the practice of Yoga attains
the Bliss of Brahman. How does one know that he has attained it? The
Self-realized Yogi sees himself in others and others in himself; and he
is same-sighted on all living and non-living objects (5:18-19; 6:8-9).
As you can see, this Upanishadic shloka followed 6:29 above before
6:30-31 were added by the Bhagavathas. The phrase "the same
standard as he applies to himself" is the foundation of the Upanishadic
doctrines.
Two Bhagavatha shlokas
Once again, these two shlokas must have been interpolated later by
the Bhagavatha scholars to convert the Upanishadic Gita into the
Bhagavatha Gita. Here Lord Krishna replaces Brahman as the object of
Mind's focus, which, in fact, does not happen till BG Chapter Ten. The
word "worships" -Bhajaty- is the clue to the later addition. Up to now
Bhakti has been nowhere in sight. Bhaktiyoga is yet to be refined and
introduced into the BG.
In this shloka Lord Krishna counters the claim of Brahmanism that one
is totally helpless in the face of the force of the Gunas. Lord Krishna
recommends Yoga as the means to overcome the force of the Gunas:
detachment from sense objects and giving up fruits of action.
Some degree of will power is needed for one to control his desire for,
attachment to, and possessiveness of sense objects. For example,
most of us are impulsive buyers. We go into a departmental store, see
some attractive stuff and we buy it on impulse. Now desire has
conquered good judgment of our Mind and Intellect. There are several
ways one could bring control over impulsivity such as this. Let your
Mind connect with your Buddhi. One's Buddhi would then suggest the
following:
1. Postpone the buying: One would say to himself, "I very much would
like to buy this, but let me think about it for a while. The sale is still on
for four more days and I have four days to think about it.
2. Question the basis for buying: One could ask himself: Is this item
absolutely essential for me? If the answers is no, then he would not
buy it.
4. Try to manage without the item in question: One can ask himself,
"Can I manage my life with what I already have? Why should I
complicate my life by getting another item?"
When we follow one or more of the above advice, our Mind becomes
Buddiyukta. Now we have learned to say "NO" to our Senses (desires).
Exercising even a little bit of will power results in our gaining more will
power as time passes. Gradually, our Mind would feel more control
over our Senses. Will power is nothing but the mind functioning under
the power of Buddhi.
The following anti-Vedic shlokas are inserted here to illustrate how the
Upanishadic seers did not miss an opportunity to downgrade
Brahmanism.
8:28: The Yogi who knows this (the northern and southern paths of
Sun) transcends the fruits of meritorious deeds attached to the
study of the Vedas, sacrifices, austerities (tapas), and charity
(daana), and attains the supreme primeval abode.
15:1-4: They speak of an eternal Ashvattha tree with its root above
and branches below. Its leaves are Vedic hymns; he who knows it is
the knower of the Vedas. Below and above spread its branches,
nourished by the Gunas; sense objects are its buds; and below in the
world of men stretch forth the roots engendering action (sacrificial
rites). Its real form is not perceived as such in this world, neither its
end, nor its beginning, nor its existence. Having cut asunder this firm-
rooted Ashvattha with the strong axe of non- attachment, then that
Goal should be sought for, going whither, they do not return again. I
seek refuge in the Primeval Purusha whence streamed forth Eternal
Activity.
These four anti-Brahmanism Upanishadic shlokas have been explained
by many Brahmanic scholar in such a way that they defy simple logic
or common sense. In fact, they have been turned into essentially pro-
Vedic verses!
Its roots go above to the heavens where Vedic gods reside, as well as
below in the world of men where they engender Kamya Karma. In
other words, this tree of Samsara is rooted in heavens above and
earth below. We read in 3:11 how performers of the sacrifices and the
Devas cherished each other.
Its leaves are Vedic hymns, which are sung during the sacrificial rites.
He who knows this tree of Samsara is the knower of the Vedas, the
Vedic priests. The Vedic priests believed in the hereafter (18:42).
Its branches, nourished by the Gunas (in which are rooted Kama,
Krodha, Sanga, Moha, and Dwandwa), go upwards and downwards
ending in buds which are sense objects. The upward branches seek
heaven (hereafter) and downward branches seek wealth and power
(here on earth) (2:43).
Its real form is not perceived as such in this world, neither its end, nor
its beginning, nor its foundation. This sentence might mean that
Samsara is a mysterious entity whose real form, its beginning, its end,
and its origin are difficult for one to perceive or fathom. Samsara is a
cycle of birth, death and rebirth. Cycles have neither a beginning nor
an end.
Now the enigmatic sentence: Its real form is not perceived as such in
this world; neither its end, nor its beginning, nor its existence. This
statement probably refers to the fact that no one in the post-Vedic
society seems to know the real form of Sanaatana Dharma, its end, its
beginning or its fundamental principles. Why is that? Well, it has been
corrupted beyond recognition by its current practitioners (also read
4:15). What should one do with this eternal tree of Sanaatana Dharma
that has been turned upside down? Well, you know the answer. Chop
down this tree rooted in Karma and nourished by the Gunas (desire
and attachment) with the strong axe of non-attachment (Yoga). Then,
instead of seeking the Brahmanic Goal of heaven and rebirth
(Samsara), that Goal (Brahman) should be sought from which there is
no return (Nirvana). In other words, chop down the tree of decadent
Brahmanism rooted in the doctrine of Karma and nourished by the
Gunas, by the axe of Yoga, and seek the Abode of Brahman (gain
Knowledge of Brahman). In other words, destroy the old Dharma
based on the doctrines of the Gunas and Karma, which seeks heaven,
and establish in its place a whole new Dharma based on the doctrines
of Yoga and Knowledge of Brahman, which seeks Nirvana.
The very next shloka gives the clue to both the above explanations:
15:5: Free from pride and delusion, with evil of attachment conquered,
ever dwelling in Atman, their desires being completely stilled, liberated
from Dwandwa known as pleasure and pain, un- deluded reach that
Goal Eternal (Nirvana).
The Upanishadic revolution ends with the following three shlokas in the
Bhagavad Gita in the form of the advice given by the Upanishadic Lord
Krishna to Arjuna. They squarely counter the Brahmanic advice given
to Arjuna in 18:59-60, which tell Arjuna that he was totally helpless in
the face of his Gunas and that he was being egoistic in refusing to
fight (18:59-60). Here we go:
18: 61-63: The Lord (who is more powerful than the Gunas) dwells in
the heart of all beings, O Arjuna, and by His Maya (and not the
Gunas) causes all beings to revolve as though mounted on a machine.
Seek refuge in Him alone (in order to overcome the force of the
Gunas) with all your heart (in which dwells the Atman), O Bharata. By
His grace you will gain Supreme Peace (here on earth) and Eternal
Abode (hereafter). Thus has wisdom more profound than all
profundities been declared to you by Me. Reflect upon it fully and
act as you choose.
The Bhagavatha creed was centered on Lord Vasudeva and its mode of
worship was known as Bhakti, which has come to mean personal
devotion. The word Bhagavatha means worshippers of Bhagavan, the
Lord. The cult of Vasudeva was popular in western part of north India,
at least during the second century B.C. E., as evidenced by the
inscription found on the column of Heliodorus situated in Besnaga, five
miles from Sanchi, India. This pillar, dated around 110 B. C. E., refers
to Vasudeva as the God of gods. With this and several other similar
evidences in mind, it is not hard to imagine that the Bhagavatha
revolution in the Bhagavad Gita, with the goal to establish a broad-
based Dharma centered solely on Lord Krishna, might have taken
place at the latest in the second century B. C. E. Somewhere along the
way, the identity of Vasudeva (11:50) merged with that of Lord
Krishna. In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna identifies Himself with
Vasudeva (7:19: "Vasudeva is all that is" and 10:37: "Of the Vrishnis I
am Vasudeva.").
The reason for the need for the new Divinity was explained in the
Bhagavad Gita itself:
10:12: Arjuna says: You are the Supreme Brahman, the Supreme
Abode, the Supreme Purifier, the Eternal, Divine Purusha, the
Primeval Deity, the Unborn, the Omnipresent.
11:13: There in the body of the God of gods, Pandava then saw
the whole universe with its many divisions drawn together into
one. Then
11:38: You are the Primal God, the Ancient Purusha; You are
Supreme Abode of all this; You are the Knower of the knowable
and the Supreme Abode; this Universe is pervaded by You, O
Being of infinite form!
They combined Yoga with Bhakti -devotion. Like Yoga, Bhakti did away
with sacrifices and mindless rituals. Thus devotional worship (Bhakti)
combined with Yoga of detachment from sense objects (Sanyasa) and
selfless acts (Tyaga) became Bhaktiyoga. The combination of Bhakti
and Yoga would bring Bliss here on earth and Moksha hereafter. From
now onwards, all deeds would be dedicated to Lord Krishna
("Krishnarpana"). In contrast to the ostentatious Yajnas of
Brahmanism, Bhaktiyoga is epitome of simplicity.
Look what Lord Krishna asks people to offer Him: a leaf, a flower, a
fruit, or just water! Not herbs, ghee, grain, or animals. The end result
of Bhaktiyoga is that the Bhakta gets closer and closer to Lord Krishna
and increasingly becomes godlier in nature here on earth. Instead of
the Upanishadic "Aham Brahmasmi" (I am Brahman!) the Bhakta
would say, "Aham Krishnasmi!" (I am Lord Krishna!).
All one has to do to get over the force of the Gunas is to take refuge in
the Lord.
What Lord Krishna is saying is: If you want to attain Moksha, worship
Me. If you want to continue Samsara, worship the Devas. He explains
this further:
However,
Note here repeated phrase Me alone. "But these men do not know
Me in reality; hence they fall" refers to ritualists who worship Vedic
Devas according to the doctrine of Karma.
Again, Lord Krishna condemns the Vedic ritualists who worship the
Devas:
7: 23: But the fruit that accrues to those men of small intellect
(ritualists) is finite. The worshippers of the Devas go to the
Devas (and keep on returning to earth). My devotees come to Me
(never to return to earth).
12:6-7: But those who worship Me, renouncing all actions in Me,
regarding Me as the Supreme Goal, meditating on Me with
single- minded Yoga- for them whose thought is set on Me, I
become very soon the deliverer from the ocean of mortal
Samsara (they will attain Moksha).
And by dedicating all fruits of actions to Lord Krishna, His Bhakta goes
to the Lord's Abode hereafter.
Lord Krishna downgrades and absorbs both the Vedic Devas and Rishis
(Vedic sages) into Himself and retires them forever.
10:2: Neither the hosts of Devas nor the great Rishis know My
origin (they are deluded by their Gunas). For in every respect I am
the source of Devas and the great Rishis.
Umm! Now Devas as well as Rishis are not much superior to other
lesser humans! Devas and Rishis suffer from Guna-rooted weaknesses,
too.
Arjuna affirms:
11:21: These hosts of Devas indeed enter into You; some in awe
extol You with joined palms....
11:39: You are Vayu, Yama, Agni, Varuna, the Moon, Prajapati,
and the Great- grandfather. Salutation, salutation to You, a
thousand times, and again and again, salutations to You.
11:15-16: Arjuna says: I see all the gods, O God, in Your body
and hosts of all grades of beings; Brahma, the Lord, seated on
the lotus, and all the Rishis and celestial serpents. I behold You
in infinite in forms on all sides, with countless arms, stomachs,
mouths and eyes, neither Your end nor middle nor the
beginning do I see, O Lord of the Universe, O Universal Form!
With these verses the Vedic gods as well as all relics of Brahmanism
were retired forever into obscurity! Lord Krishna, the Son of the soil,
the local Hero, incarnation of Supreme Ishwara is now in charge.
Incidentally, in the latter part of the Mahabharata epic the five
Pandava princes, who were born from the boons of Vedic gods Yama,
Vayu, Indra, and Ashwins, become subordinate to Lord Krishna.
Arjuna, born from the boon of Indra, the supreme Vedic god, humbly
surrenders to Lord Krishna (2:7; 11:40-42).
Again,
9:24: I am verily the Enjoyer and the Lord of all Yajnas. But
these men do not know Me in reality; hence they (ritualists who
perform Kamya Karma dedicated to Devas) fall.
9:27: Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer
in sacrifice, whatever you gift away, whatever austerity you
practice, do it as an offering to Me (and not to the Devas).
7:15: The evil- doers, the deluded, the lowest of men, deprived
of discrimination by Maya (the power of the Gunas) and following
the way of the Asuras (demons), do not seek refuge in Me.
Lord Krishna lumps the materialists with the worst kind of Kshatriya
ritualists and His critics and condemns them permanently to the womb
of demons (16:19-20). Even Lord Krishna could not save them all!
Lord Krishna throws the doors of His Dharma wide open to one
and all.
Finally Lord Krishna gives his devotees His most profound word
and solemn pledge
Swami Chidbhavananda follows this with four and one half pages of
complicated argument to justify his conclusion.
The Swami then follows this explanation with seven full pages of
detailed discourse, mostly elaborating on Sri Shankaracharya's
commentary.
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We read in the Chapters Two to Six of the Bhagavad Gita how the
Upanishadic seers countered Brahmanism shlokas and attacked all
aspects of Brahmanism. The Upanishadic revolution to overthrow
Brahmanism did not go unchallenged. By hook or by crook the
Brahmanic scholars reinstated Brahmanic doctrines of the Gunas and
Karma (Yajna) into the Bhagavad Gita. They appealed to one of the
most basic of human instincts: the need to dominate other human
beings. As they had done in the past (3:35; 18:47-48), they used Lord
Krishna Himself as the vehicle to bring about the counter-revolution.
The result is that Lord Krishna comes across as talking from one side
of His mouth now and from the other side the next moment.
In 4:13, Lord Krishna said that he created the four Varnas based on
the distribution of the Gunas and Karma only to show that he neither
desired nor gained any Karmaphala due to that particular action. The
shloka 3:24, warning about the dangers of Varnasankara (class
admixture), is clearly a clever later interpolation by the pro-Vedic
lobby to bolster the cause of Varnashrama Dharma (also read 1:38-
44). The breakdown of class system due to ascendance of Para-
Dharmas was fraught with the danger of decimation of the upper
classes. This shloka, implying that Lord Krishna is constantly working
to keep upper class women from co-mingling with lower class men,
was a desperate attempt to reverse this trend. Nothing could be
farther from the truth. The constant elevating theme of the
Upanishadic Gita is equality of all living beings (5:18-19) due to the
fact that Atman is the same in all, and that one should cross over the
Gunas and break the bonds of Karma, both of which are the bases of
Varnashrama Dharma. Lord Krishna mentions twice that even the
worst kind of person can overcome his Karma by surrendering to Him
(4:36; 9:30). In His eyes no one is "unwanted progeny" because the
Atman in everyone is the same. "Unwanted progeny" is a Brahmanic
obsession.
Even though Lord Krishna never gets tired of telling people to "cross
over the Gunas" the Brahmanism seers decided to reintroduce the
"Science of the Gunas" into the Bhagavad Gita (18:19). They
attempted to legitimize the doctrine of the Gunas by placing the
following four Upanishadic shlokas (14:1-4) before the fourteen
shlokas which embellished the three Gunas (14:5-18). These four
Upanishadic shlokas originally belonged with the subject of Purusha
and Prakriti (BG Chapter Fifteen). By transposing them here, the
Brahmanic authors made one think that the knowledge of the "Science
of the Gunas" would give one Self-realization! Exactly opposite is the
truth. The fact is that the Gunas destroy wisdom and Knowledge of
Atman (3:43). The perverse logic of Brahmanism seems to be, "It is
not enough if you have Knowledge of Atman, you should also have
Knowledge of the Gunas!"
14:16: The fruit of good action, they say, is Sattvika and pure;
verily the fruit of Rajas is pain, and ignorance is the fruit of
Tamas.
14:17: From Sattva arises wisdom; from Rajas arises greed; and
from Tamas arise heedlessness, error and ignorance.
14:18: Those who are fixed in Sattva go upwards; the Rajasikas
remain in the middle; and the Tamasikas, abiding in the
functions of the lowest Guna, go downwards.
Reading the above shlokas, naïve readers could easily believe that
Lord Krishna was endorsing the Gunas. There was no reason to
legitimize and embellish the three Gunas when Lord Krishna has
repeatedly blamed the Gunas as the fertile bed of all human
weaknesses such as desire, attachment and delusion, and they must
be crossed over if one wished to attain Self-realization. They were the
real enemies which must be slain (2:45; 3:37-43). Here is how Lord
Krishna Himself demolishes the Gunas once again in the shlokas that
follow immediately:
14:21: Arjuna asks: What are the marks, O Lord, of him who has
crossed over the three Gunas? What is his conduct? And how
does he rise above the Gunas?
14:22: Lord Krishna replies: He, O Pandava, who hates not light,
activity and delusion, when present, nor longs after them when
absent.
"Do not be moved by the Gunas! Resist them." This advice is exactly
opposite of Brahmanic advice in 3:5, 27, 33; 18:59-60, which says
that one is totally helpless under its spell and it is pointless to resist it.
When the mind experiences desire for, attachment to, and
possessiveness of sense objects, one must recognize them as
indicative of the Gunas in operation and therefore must not yield to
them. Lord Krishna says in this shloka that one should be firm and
unmoving in the face of the force of the Gunas. The advice in the
above shloka is also consistent with other anti-Guna shlokas (3:28-29;
3:34). So, how does a man behave when he has overcome the force of
the Gunas?
The person who has crossed over the Gunas becomes immune to
Dwandwa. He achieves evenness, equanimity, and equilibrium. And
because he achieves Atman, he achieves same-sightedness at all
sense objects. We read about this in 5:18-19; 6:8-9, 29. Besides, he
doesn't care what others think of him!
14:25: The same in honor and dishonor, the same to friend and
foe, abandoning all (selfish) undertakings - he is said to have
risen above the Gunas.
His mind has attained equanimity, evenness, and equilibrium who has
overcome the Gunas. Note here how Lord Krishna recommends
transcending the Dwandwa of honor and dishonor. Prince Krishna of
Brahmanism told Arjuna that dishonor is worse than death. Also note
here how the modern day Swamis and Gurus run after politicians and
the rich looking for honor and attention.
Without waiting for Lord Krishna's answer to the first question, they
ask a blatantly disingenuous second question, "Is it one of Satva,
Rajas, or Tamas?" Nothing could be more devious than this in a holy
scripture. Obviously they wanted these three words in there!
Who are these Yajnas dedicated to anyway? Well, they were dedicated
to the Vedic Devas, not to Lord Krishna (17:4). What is the goal of
these Yajnas? No one knows.
First of all, Lord Krishna has already explained what Sanyasa and
Tyaga are in BG Chapters Three to Six. They are the two essential
elements of Yoga. In spite of this, Arjuna wishes to "know the truth"
which means all that Lord Krishna has said so far about them is false.
In response to this Brahmanic Lord Krishna says:
Note here how Lord Krishna declared in 11:48 and 11:53 that one
cannot obtain the Lord by means of the Vedas, Yajnas, Tapas, Daana,
etc. Regardless, they now declare:
18:5: Acts of Yajna, gift and austerity should not be given up,
but should be performed; Yajna, gift and austerity are purifying
to the wise.
Now they divide Action into three modes (18:23-25). Yajna performed
according to ordinance, without attachment to sense objects and to
the fruits of action, without Dwandwa, is described as Satvic in nature.
In other words, a Yogi is again declared as one with Satvic Guna,
completely disregarding the fact that, by definition, to be a Yogi one
must cross over all three Gunas.
Now they describe the Agent or the Doer of action in three modes
(18:26-28). The agent is nothing but the Gunas.
Now they describe firmness in the three modes of the Gunas (18:33-
35). The firmness of a Yogi is described as Satvic in nature.
The Brahmanic seers follow the above shlokas describing the duties of
each class of Varnashrama Dharma as per the doctrine of the Gunas
and Karma (18:40-47). The Brahmanic shloka 18:48 says:
One should not abandon the duty to which one is born, though
it is attended with evil; for all undertakings are enveloped by
evil, as fire by smoke.
In effect, this Brahmanic shloka says that one should not quit
performing his socially designated duty just because such duty entails
doing something considered as evil, such as killing. Performing his
duty gains him good Karmaphala and heaven.
Shlokas 18:59-60 are from the Original Gita enunciating the Gunas
and Karma. These shlokas say that everyone does helplessly whatever
is dictated by the doctrines of the Gunas and Karma:
18:59-60: If filled with Ahamkara, you think, "I will not fight,"
vain is this, your resolve; your nature (Guna) will compel you.
Bound by your own Karma born of your nature (Guna), that,
which from delusion (of your Ahamkara) you wish not to do, even
that you shall do helplessly against your will, O Kaunteya.
They follow these two shlokas by the last Upanishadic shloka in the
Bhagavad Gita, which simply tells Arjuna to "reflect upon it and act
as you choose" and not act by meek submission to the doctrine of
the Gunas and Karma. When he takes refuge in the Lord, he
overcomes the doctrines of the Gunas and Karma, and so he is free to
make his own decisions and act as he chooses. He is no longer just a
puppet of the doctrines of the Gunas and Karma as claimed by
Brahmanism.
Now the Bhagavatha seers pick up where the Upanishadic seers left.
With this shloka, Lord Krishna eliminated all Dharmas of the land and
became the Ultimate Dharma. He offered Himself as the One liberating
people from the three evils (Grief, Dwandwa and Karmaphala) of the
doctrines of the Gunas and Karma, the foundation of Brahmanism.
This was Lord Krishna's finest hour.
Now you know the Secret Code of the Bhagavad Gita. Now you
know the true intent of the Bhagavad Gita: to overthrow
Brahmanism and all aspects of it: the doctrines of the Gunas
and Karma; Varnashrama Dharma; sacrificial rites; supremacy
of Brahmins and the Vedas. Now you know the true spirit of the
Bhagavad Gita: to establish an enlightened, egalitarian Dharma
centered on Lord Krishna, serving Him and humanity selflessly
and worshipping Him with single- minded devotion.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
As we read in the chapter titled The Original Gita, the main goal of
Brahmanism was to promote Varnashrama Dharma based on the
doctrines of the Gunas and Karma. Brahmanism encouraged all classes
to indulge in sacrificial rites dedicated to various Vedic gods to gain
Karmaphala in order to enjoy life here on earth and heaven hereafter.
This is how Brahmanic priests made their living.
This shloka has nothing to do with Arjuna's dilemma. Here the word
Karma means Yajna. It follows two shlokas in which Lord Krishna
offers Himself as a model for Brahmins to follow when they perform
sacrificial rites. He said whenever He did any deed, He did it in such a
way that he neither craved for nor earned any Karmaphala (4:13-14).
The original purpose of performing Yajna, as the ancient seers did, was
to clear the debt (Rna) to the gods for their benevolence (3:11-
12). So, Lord Krishna wants contemporary priests to revert back to
performing Yajna in the same spirit in which it was performed by
ancient seers, and not in the manner it is performed now (4:16). In
this and the rest of the shlokas in Chapter Four, Lord Krishna gives
a crash course to Brahmins on proper ways to perform Yajna and not
earn any Karmaphala. The message is, "Do not perform Kamya
Karma, but perform Yajna without any selfish motive like the ancients
did." The term "liberation" in this shloka does not stand for Nirvana of
the Upanishads or Moksha of the Bhagavathas. It stands for the
liberation from the "debt of gratitude" (Rna) owed to the Devas. "A
thief verily is he who enjoys what is given by them (Devas)
without returning them anything. The good who eat the
remains of Yajna are freed from all sins; but the sinful ones
who cook food only for themselves, they verily eat sin (earn bad
Karmaphala) (3:13). Clearing the debt, by eating only the remnants of
the Yajna, liberates one from this burden of debt. Not clearing the debt
earns one sin or bad Karmaphala. The Self, the Lord, Bhakti, Moksha,
Karmayoga, etc. are not in the picture as yet. Let us review five
Brahmanic commentaries on this shloka:
Swami Dayananda: "And what did the seekers, who had gone
before, do once they had the knowledge? They performed action -
purva karma kartam. Therefore, Krishna tells Arjuna that he should do
the same -tasmat tvam karmaiva kuru -which meant that Arjuna
should not take to sanyasa. He should do only what was to be done by
him."
I can give numerous examples such as this to prove the point. But
then I will need another whole book for that topic alone!
As you can see, the ploy used by the old guard is to discuss Lord
Krishna's comments as applicable to Arjuna only. In other words, the
whole text is read only in the context of Arjuna's personal dilemma in
the Mahabharata context only, and not in the historical context even
though the verses related to condemnation of the Vedas (2:46, 52-
53) and Kamya Karma (2:47-48); downgrading of Vedic Devas (9:20-
25); condemnation of Vedic ritualists (2:41-44); decrying selfish
desire, jealous rage, delusions, etc. associated with Kamya Karma
(3:37-40); declaration of Lord Krishna as an avatar of the Supreme
Lord born to establish a New Dharma (4:6-8); crash courses on proper
ways of performing Yajna; attempts to wean Brahmins and Kshatriyas
away from Kamya Karma; establishment of a New Dharma; display of
Lord Krishna's cosmic form (11:8-40) and the like are blatantly
irrelevant to Arjuna's immediate predicament, or Grief, Dwandwa and
fear of bad Karmaphala resulting from it. These were clearly meant to
address contemporary, acutely pressing historical and social issues, as
exemplified by decadence of Brahmanism, which resulted in
widespread Grief, Dwandwa and obsession with Karmaphala in the
society; and consequent rise of Para-Dharmas. We are to believe that
Lord Krishna was telling Arjuna, just as the Great War was to begin,
what is wrong with the Vedic sacrifices and Vedic ritualists! Only
extremely biased people bogged down by blind faith would refuse to
see that the Bhagavad Gita was deftly used as a vehicle to address
another pressing social issue, namely, wholesale disaffection of the
masses with Brahmanic Dharma.
The evil of caste system is the curse of Brahmanism
Over the past two millennia, completely ignoring the egalitarian and
inclusive message of the Bhagavad Gita, Brahmanism built on the
foundation of Varnashrama Dharma a whole superstructure of caste
system (Jati Dharma). In doing so, they appealed to one of the basest
of human instincts: need to dominate other human beings considered
as inferior. Over the centuries, untold atrocities were committed by
"superior" castes against the people of "inferior" castes or "outcastes."
Gandhiji, who considered the Gita "my mother", dedicated his life to
cleanse Hinduism of this worst kind of blot on humanity. He embraced
the outcastes as Harijan, the people of Hari, Lord Krishna. Many pro-
Brahmanism Hindus detested him (and still do) as the Gita's
philosophy is too broad for their narrow minds; too complex for their
ignorant intellects and too inconvenient for their brains that are frozen
in ancient times. It is no coincidence that Gandhi was assassinated by
a staunch pro-Brahmanism individual. To this day India abounds with
people who claim to be pukka Hindus who detest people belonging to
"lower castes." Over the centuries, religious leaders were quick to cash
in on "miracles" of lower caste Mahatmas such as Kanaka Dasa and
Santa Chokamele, but were very slow in letting them into Lord's
temples. Such hypocrisy and discriminatory treatment has led to
hundreds of thousands of "lower caste" people abandoning Hinduism
and embracing seemingly more egalitarian or open-minded religions
basically antagonistic to Hinduism. What is the reaction of fanatics of
Hinduism to this threat? They build paramilitary outfits named after
gods -Bajarang Dal, Ram Sena and the like, and mindlessly go on
rampage: burning churches, killing missionaries, dismantling
mosques and bad-mouthing other religions. They do not have the
sense to stop for a minute and ask, "What are we doing that makes
people want to abandon our Dharma? What can we do to make our
Dharma better?" You will not find one Guru or Swami worth his salt
who will condemn such mindless violence, or offer a sensible way out.
Maybe the Varna system had its place in India three thousand years
ago. The caste system (Jati Dharma), the superstructure built on the
foundation of Varna class system is an anachronism in the modern
world; people no longer perform jobs dictated by their caste as was
the case two thousand years ago. Now, in the fast shrinking world,
people do whatever job they are most qualified to do as per their
aptitude, education and training. As Lord Krishna says in the Bhagavad
Gita, enlightened people see everyone else in their own image and are
same-sighted on all people (5:18). We are all part of this incredible
Creation (13:30). The same Supreme God resides in all of our hearts
(10:20) regardless which class, caste, creed and religion we belong to.
This, above all, is the elevating and everlasting message of the
Bhagavad Gita. The Bhagavad Gita is truly supra-sectarian. Its
message is applicable to persons of every religion in the world. Lord
Krishna does not belong to Hinduism alone. He belongs to everyone on
earth.
Nowadays Brahmanic loyalists are busy building huge temples all over
India. This frenzy to build temples seems more as a reaction to
Muslims building mosques and Christians building churches all over
India, allegedly financed by foreign money, than due to genuine piety.
Some of them have gone to obscene lengths to embellish these
temples with ornate architecture. One such temple in India is entirely
wrapped in gold! Other temples are busy adorning the idols with gold,
platinum, precious jewels, and the like. Some of them are busy
building gold or silver chariot to the gods. Bigger statues of various
gods are springing up across India. Many Hindu temples have become
multi-crore rupee industries, primarily geared toward deluding pilgrims
into donating money, gold and jewelry. Nowadays, in certain temples
people must buy tickets to see the God's image! People who pay more
get preferences in idol's Darshan. As soon as one enters the temple,
he is coerced into performing one expensive Pooja or another. More
and more temples have realized that there is money to be made in the
name of the Lord. One can no longer go to holy places without being
thronged by pestering pandas. This degradation of worship of God is
regrettable. Yet, religious leaders have done absolutely nothing to
bring ethics and sanity into this business of God. It is not that they do
not enjoy a great deal of prestige and authority amongst the deluded
populace. It is simply that their moral compass has broken down and
they simply don't give a damn. If Lord Krishna is still in these temples,
one with true vision can see tears of grief running down His cheeks.
A case study: Mary, a fifty five year old married woman, came to see
me for severe depression and anxiety of about two months duration.
She complained of sleeplessness, crying spells, mood swings, anguish,
loss of interest, tension, loss of appetite and a host of other symptoms
indicative of high level of stress. Obviously Mary was suffering from
Grief and severe Dwandwa (stress). The question is: Fear of what bad
Karmaphala caused his woman to suffer from Grief and Dwandwa?
On further inquiry, she admitted to feeling trapped in a real-life
stressful situation for several months, which went as follows: Being the
only child of her parents who were in their nineties, the lady went to
their house a mile away daily to make sure that they had their meals,
taken their medications and had their daily bath. Whenever she went
to their house to check on them she found the house a big mess.
However, every time she tried to help, her parents became irate,
hostile and hateful toward her. They told her to get out of their home.
They cursed her and called her bad names. They threw various objects
at her to force her out of their house. Being their only child, she had
been raised by her parents very lovingly. She had never been abused
verbally or physically by them like this. Even though her parents'
doctor told her that they were both fairly senile, she was terribly hurt
by their persistently hostile behavior. It became clear that her fear of
rejection by them -bad Karmaphala- made it impossible for her to do
the right thing. In other words, she worried about bad Karmaphala of
her action, namely loss of love of her parents. She did not want to do
anything that would upset them even if that action was the right thing
to do.
As the situation got worse, she dreaded visiting her parents though
she worried about them all the time. After each visit with her parents,
she suffered panic attacks. Toxic emotions such as hurt, sadness,
helplessness, frustration, and hopelessness kept building up in her
mind. Soon she reached her breaking point and came down with
severe depression and anxiety.
After listening to her sorry plight patiently, I asked her, "Who are
these people you are trying to help?"
She looked at me as though she wanted to ask me if I was deaf. "What
do you mean?" she asked. "I told you! They are my parents!"
"No!!!" I chided her. "They are not your parents!"
She was baffled even more. She said forcefully, "I told you, they are
my parents!"
"They were your parents," I said laconically. "Now they are your
children."
This entirely new perception must have struck her like a bolt of
lightening. The patient appeared stunned for a minute. "They are my
children?"
"Yes. Now they are both senile to boot! They don't know what they are
saying or doing. They are now acting like two children who obviously
need someone to take care of them. If your five year old son acted like
this, you would not hesitate to impose your authority on him, would
you?"
"But I just can't stand them scold and curse me like they do! It upsets
me. I just can't take it anymore!"
"Their scolding should not upset you if you do not think of them as
your parents, and you realize that they don't know what they are
doing, right? Besides, you are now a grown up, no longer their little
princess!"
The lady was now smiling. The change of perception of her parents as
helpless children seemed to have made some sense to her. She now
recognized the reversal of roles.
Now I decided to tell her about the need to perform her daughterly
duty without regards to personal consequences.
I went on, "As their only child, you are motivated only by your love for
them and your sense of duty, right? You have no other motive, right?"
"That is right."
"None of their scolding and cursing should concern you as you are
merely doing your duty as a daughter. You should just take their
admonitions smiling, or even laughing. So, quit feeling hurt, sad,
helpless, hopeless, and frustrated. If you do the right thing with a
sense of duty and without any selfish motive, your parent's curse will
not affect you."
"I see your point, doctor!"
"In fact, you would be derelict in your duty to your parents if you now
backed off from taking care of them because of their childish behavior.
This is when they need you the most!"
"You are absolutely right, doctor!"
"Furthermore, if, in the course of time, you are unable to care for
them due to your own limitations, you may not have a choice but to
put them in a decent nursing home."
"Oh! No! No! I can't do that! I would feel very guilty to do that!"
"Well. Your guilt then would be quite irrational. If you are not able to
take proper care of them, they might fall down, break their hip,
become ill and starve to death. You would then feel even guiltier!
Admitting them to a nice nursing home might be lesser of two evils. At
least, someone would make sure that they ate their food, took their
medications and had their bath daily. If and when you do it, you have
no reason to feel guilty since you are doing it in their best interest and
without any ulterior design or motive."
The lady who left my office was very different from the one who had
walked in. Her painful emotions decreased dramatically in her mind.
Ventilation of emotions, change of perception of her parents as child-
like, and the understanding the liberating affects of selfless action
performed with a sense of duty immediately relieved her of Grief,
Dwandwa and fear of bad Karmaphala which she had suffered from for
two months. This is the wisdom of the Brahmanic Gita in action, pure
and simple. Some might say this is common sense. Well, common
sense is the first casualty when our mind becomes confused by our
fear of bad Karmaphala even when we know that the best thing to do
is to do our duty.
A case study: Linda is a sixty year old white married woman who is
very depressed over a painful life-situation. An elderly single man in
his eighties, who had been a father-figure, mentor and friend for over
forty years, had suddenly broken-up his friendship with her. She
suffered from much Grief over this loss. In addition, she suffered from
Dwandwa -self doubt and guilt. She feared that the breakup of this
relationship was as a result of her actions. In other words, she
believed that what she was going through was due to bad Karmaphala.
She described the circumstances as follows:
Over the past few years, her old friend's health had deteriorated
steadily. One day when she went to visit him she found him on the
floor in a coma. She had him hospitalized immediately. The doctors
diagnosed diabetic coma. When he came to, he expressed much
gratitude to Linda for saving his life. After he checked into a nursing
home permanently, he asked Linda if she would help him organize his
finances. She agreed. While going through the old man's files, Linda
discovered two un-cashed checks for big amounts. Thinking that the
old man had forgotten to deposit them in the bank, Linda deposited
both checks in his account in the bank. Believing that the old man
might be senile, she did not consult with him. To her surprise both
these checks bounced. When the old man came to know about this, he
became furious. Apparently, he had some private arrangement with
the issuers of these checks that they would not be deposited in the
account for some time.
Losing faith in Linda's judgment in managing his finances, the old man
now began to suspect evil motive in her actions. He abruptly cut off his
relationship with Linda and told her not to contact him again. Linda
was devastated by the loss of forty-year-long relationship with the
father-figure and friend all because of an innocent mistake she made.
Linda's emotional pain was heightened by the fact that she had no
relationship with her own father while growing up. Her relationship
with her own mother was tenuous at best. When she met this old man
in her early twenties, she filled the vacuum in her heart by making him
the father she never had. When the old man rejected her, buried pain
related to her own father resurfaced, the emotional pain doubled and
became unbearable. She collapsed into depression.
"In that case," I said to Linda, "you should not feel guilty or hurt about
this rift at all. Your motives were pure. You had no ulterior designs
(Sankalpa) of any kind when you did what you did. If the old man
suspects your motives in spite of this, you can not help it. It is now his
problem. If your love for him was truly non-possessive in nature; you
were not hankering for his money, and your actions were without any
desire for fruit, you should not grieve over this loss. You should face
this loss with evenness, equilibrium and equanimity of mind,
(characterized by Buddhiyukta mind). Write a letter to him explaining
your position on this matter. Offer to meet with him personally to
explain to him what happened. If he still refuses to meet with you,
consider it as his loss, accept the loss as unavoidable, and move on
with your life. Things like this happen in life."
The new perspective of the situation seemed to give Linda the needed
insight to calm herself down. Her Grief, Dwandwa and guilt over bad
Karmaphala disappeared. She accepted the loss as one of those
realities of life and moved on with her life.
Wisdom: Absolute Faith in the Lord counters fear. Higher the level of
one's faith, the greater is the freedom from Grief, Dwandwa and fear
of bad Karmaphala.
I asked Jo Anne, "Do you have Faith in God?" With tears in her eyes
she said, "Of course, I do." I then challenged her, "How strong is your
faith?" Jo Anne replied, "I guess not as strong as it should be." I
handed over to her a small article I had written on the topic of
Absolute Faith. She wiped her tears, put on her eye glasses and began
to read it:
God's Cab
The other day I hailed a cab for a ride to Jackson. As I got into the cab
I noticed that God was the cab driver. I told God, "I must be in
Jackson in thirty minutes. Can you make it?"
God looked at me earnestly and asked, "Do you have Faith in my
driving?" I replied, "Of course, absolutely!"
God smiled and said, "OK. Then just relax and take a nap. I will wake
you up when we reach Jackson." I slumped in the seat and fell asleep
expecting a smooth thirty minute ride to Jackson. Little did I know
what was coming.
It must have been a few minutes since I fell asleep when I was woken
up by loud honks of several cars. When I looked up I saw God driving
the cab one hundred fifty miles per hour through every red traffic light
on Kingshighway. "Oh, well, He must know what he is doing," I said to
myself. I fell back into my sleep again.
Next thing I know, I was woken up by tremendous noise of something
beating loudly against the windshield. All I could see was that the cab
was going through a field of ten foot tall lush green corn stalks. "Oh,
well," I said, "God must have His own crazy reason why He is driving
through this cornfield." I fell asleep again right away.
Within a few minutes I was woken up by a big thud of the cab diving
into a ditch. God had just made a U-turn in the median ditch of
Interstate 55. Now He was driving the cab north in the southbound
lanes. Southbound cars were buzzing past us eighty miles per hour on
both sides honking loudly. "Well," I said to myself. "There must be a
darned good reason why God seems to have gone out of His mind!" I
just closed my eyes to catch my nap again.
Then suddenly, the cab came to a screeching halt. "Here you are!" said
God. I woke up to see that I was at my destination. I got out of the
cab and said, "Thanks for the exciting ride! What is the fare?"
As I reached into my pocket for my wallet I heard God say, "You have
already paid it in full with your Faith!" Before I could say thanks again,
He had driven away in his cab. THE END
Jo Anne took a deep breath and held the paper close to her chest.
Then, with tears rolling down her pale cheeks, she said, "No. I don't
have Absolute Faith. I need to work on that. I must have more faith in
the Lord than I have. I must take whatever I get as His wish." I saw a
visible change in Jo Anne's gait when she left my office.
A week later, I saw her picture in the Obituary columns of the local
newspaper. Her husband called me to inform me that her last few days
were very peaceful. She had found peace in Absolute Faith. In this
case, her renewed faith helped her to get over the Grief over her
imminent death and Dwandwa (stress) of facing it. Knowing that she
would attain His Abode after her death gave her freedom from fear of
dying.
Over the past twenty five years, the number of people being
diagnosed as suffering from Bipolar Disorder (formerly known as
Manic-depressive illness) has increased dramatically all over the world.
This is a mood disorder in which one suffers from significant mood
swings. During the "high spells" the patient suffers from elation, high
energy, grandiosity, impulsiveness, restlessness, agitation,
preoccupation with making and spending a lot of money,
sleeplessness, excessive desire for sex and the like. Then the patient
switches to "low spells" in which the patient feels exactly the opposite
symptoms, such as depressed mood, low energy level, despair, loss of
interest in sex and other usual activities, and the like.
Case study of John: A 39 year old white married man, father of two
cute little girls was referred to me by his personal doctor for
complaints of "Bipolar Disorder." He complained of bouts of depression
alternating with bouts of elation; panic attacks; racing mind;
indecision; poor concentration and sleeplessness. These symptoms
started two years earlier, but had been getting steadily worse for the
past three months. By the time I saw him, he was completely
dysfunctional.
John revealed that over the past two years he drank alcohol on daily
basis to calm his nerves. By the time he came home, he was a nervous
wreck. He rarely talked with his two little daughters. He had no time
for his devoted wife.
1. I met with John and his accountant and advised them that John
should focus on one business -his factory. He had no business to get
into a business he had no business to get into.
2. I told John to sell off his entire property one buy one even if the
profit margin is low, and clear his loans as soon as possible. In the
mean time, he should meet with his bankers and rearrange his loans
so his immediate liability is reduced.
4. He agreed to sell his two million dollar home and move into a much
smaller house, which cost much less to maintain.
5. John agreed to find time for his children and wife; go out to eat with
them; find time to travel places with his family once his life returned to
normal.
Over the next six months, John accomplished almost all the above
goals. He succeeded in clearing all his loans. He settled the lawsuit
amicably. Decreasing his attachment to various sense objects (alcohol,
money, property, etc.) seems to have reconnected his Mind to his
Wisdom and thus stabilized it. I began to withdraw from him one
medication at a time. Within one year, I took him off of his mood
stabilizer as well, as now his Wisdom was acting as his mood stabilizer.
The picture below shows how the Mind is constantly caught between
the Senses (desire for sense objects such as money, power, food, title,
etc.) and Wisdom. When the Mind succumbs to the Senses and their
allies (the Guna-rooted human weaknesses) self-destructive and evil
acts follow. When the Mind acts under the influence of the Wisdom,
selfless and pure acts follow.
All over America today, thousands upon thousands of people like John
are given diagnosis of Bipolar disorder and put on potentially
dangerous drugs. Thus deluded by their psychiatrists, they stay on
medications the rest of their lives. Few psychiatrists take time to
examine these people's lifestyle, which is at the root of their Dwandwa
Disorder.
Here is a case study with exactly the opposite outcome. The following
case study illustrates the truth in the shlokas 2:62-63: Brooding on
the sense objects man develops attachment to them; from
attachment comes desire; from desire sprouts forth anger;
from anger proceeds delusion; from delusion confused
memory; from confused memory the ruin of reason; due to the
ruin of reason he perishes.
Case study of K.R: A young Indian doctor, married and father of two,
in training as a surgeon, became very jealous of the wealth of his
privately practicing physician friends. He could not wait till he
completed his training three years down the road. So he quit his
training and took up the job of emergency room physician in a local
hospital. However, his salary was not enough for him to compete with
his richer, self-employed friends. He began to brood over his
misfortune. He began to experience mood swings and anxiety. He
began to smoke and drink heavily to calm his disturbed mind.
To show off his wealth, he leased two very expensive luxury cars. He
threw lavish parties to his rich friends to proclaim to them that he was
in no way inferior to them. He deducted the expenses of these parties
as business expense. He drew a plan to build a ten-bedroom, ten-
bathroom palatial house. He flew only by first class. When he traveled
he stayed in expensive hotels. He borrowed heavily from local banks to
support his expensive habits. His friends suspected that he was
suffering from Bipolar disorder.
In no time at all it all began to catch up with him. He fell asleep while
driving his car and ran it into a ditch. He narrowly escaped getting
killed. He fell asleep on a patient he was operating on in the hospital
operating room. He was carried out of the operating room by orderlies
suspended by his limbs, and then he was suspended from the hospital
staff. The hospital administrator suspected the K. R. was suffering
from Bipolar disorder. He requested me to evaluate and treat him. I
excused myself from this task as I knew K. R. well as an arrogant man
who thought little of psychiatrists. However, I told the administrator
that even though K. R. displayed symptoms of Bipolar disorder, he
was, in fact, suffering from Dwandwa Disorder. The administrator was
mystified by my statement. I simplified the matter by telling him the
K. R. suffered from Money Disorder.
One day he noticed that the skin over his left forearm was dying. That
was the site where he had repeatedly injected himself narcotics. He
needed skin graft over the dead skin. He saw a plastic surgeon. The
plastic surgeon attached his forearm to his chest to transfer the skin
graft. With his left forearm attached to his chest, the doctor went on
with his bad behavior. No one could reason with him. Since his income
disappeared, the banks began to press him for the repayment of loans.
When he could not payoff his loans, they came to get whatever money
he had. He filed for bankruptcy. He lost his house, cars and everything
else. With his health and finances in complete ruin, he left town and
moved into a small apartment. He lived on the disability income from
insurance and the state. In the mean time, his wife and children went
through hell. Nevertheless, he kept talking about making millions of
dollars.
One day he showed up at my office saying he wanted my help. He was
so emaciated that he was just skin and bones. He threw his health
insurance card on my table and said feebly, "You will be paid for your
services. I guarantee you that with this card!" Then he explained that
he had made the appointment to get some painkiller drugs from me.
By now, he was beyond my reach. I had to tell him politely that it was
beyond my power to help him.
After several years of such misery, penury and poor health, he finally
died at age fifty seven, a completely broken man in every sense. His
mind was so strongly attached to money and he was so bogged down
by human weaknesses that his Mind seemed completely disconnected
from his inner wisdom. He had no memory of the lessons learned,
knowledge, judgment, reasoning, insight, moral values and noble
virtues. His arrogance kept him from getting help from anyone as he
thought he was smarter than everyone else. No one could reason with
him. No one could save him. THE END
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