When Gītopadeśa starts churning out, when the manthana starts inside, we are left with no other choice but to start a detour which is inward. This detour will bring you back to the very point where you left from. Life will still be riddled with puzzles, failure and success, but the one who comes back will not be the one who left for this detour.
Krsna's Detour
Bhagavadgītā’s first chapter is called “Arjuna Viśāda Yoga” a.k.a. Arjuna’s despondency. Unlike the popular belief that this chapter is about Arjuna’s antics and tantrums, his shallow understanding and self-centered thinking, this chapter, what I think, is about internalizing Arjuna’s mental condition through the contours of perfectly crafted verses, one arrives at a critical reflection on one’s own life. An introspection which, by the end of this chapter should replace Arjuna with you, the reader, ready to listen and understand what Kṛṣṇa has to say. Through classroom discussions and readings, I realized that Arjuna’s problem was not that of sorrow, grief, or fear; but it was a compound feeling of dismay, frustration and confusion. Arjuna through his words and gestures neither is fully in utter grief nor utter fear, but like every other human being is contemplating on the past and worried about the future. He was worried about the outcome of his actions and was in grief of an imaginary future, a future that existed only in his mind, with its pessimistic thoughts and feelings. We too observe and experience this state of dismay, hopelessness and aimlessness in our efforts. This is the condition of every human being who has attained a certain level of maturity and adulthood but is still lacking the knowledge of Self. And when they reach a crux, a decisive moment, they cede. This condition of Arjuna can be seen in the verses below, but it is important that the reader and/or sādhaka should replace Arjuna with himself or herself, to imbibe and find themselves standing in the midst of the two armies on the battlefield (Kurukṣetra). Once they (the reader) do that, they can visualize those moments of their life, that have either happened, happening or about to happen, where they felt all alone, and like a straw facing, or preparing to face, the headwinds of past and present karmas that are beginning to unfold into some unavoidable, and possibly terrible, outcomes. When they are able to do so, the Gītopadeśa will start to unravel itself and simultaneously Yogeśwara (another name for Kṛṣṇa) will descend, will incarnate to un-blind you.
वेपथुश्च शरीरे मे रोमहर्षश्च जायते || 29||
गाण्डीवं स्रंसते हस्तात्त्वक्चै व परिदह्यते |
न च शक्नोम्यवस्थातुं भ्रमतीव च मे मन: || 30||
निमित्तानि च पश्यामि विपरीतानि केशव |
न च श्रेयोऽनुपश्यामि हत्वा स्वजनमाहवे || 31||
My whole body shudders; my hair is standing on end. My bow, the Gandiv, is slipping from my hand, and my skin is burning all over. My mind is in quandary and whirling in confusion; I am unable to hold myself steady any longer. O Krishna, killer of the Keshi demon, I only see omens of misfortune. I do not foresee how any good can come from killing my own kinsmen in this battle.
Having understood Arjuna’s condition, the various strings that he has attached to his existence, to his self, Śrī Kṛṣṇa takes him on a de tour of understanding life, sorrow and happiness. It is a detour because Arjuna and we, both stick on ourselves many temporal labels that create illusions. In this journey of ours called life, where we are alone, we try to hold on to some of these temporal identities far too long or try to keep those identities even when they have expired or are about to expire; to satisfy our egos and feel transitory security (note the indirect reference to kāma and arthā). With all our private thoughts and passions kept only to ourselves, this indeed is a very lonely journey. And because everyone around us is on a same kind of journey—a lonely one—when Gītopadeśa starts churning out, when the manthana starts inside, we are left with no other choice but to start a detour which is inward, towards what we really are and who we really are, towards our that forgotten identity which is śāśvata and nityam. This detour will bring you back to the very point where you left from. Life will still be riddled with puzzles, failure and success, but the one who comes back will not be the one who left for this detour.
Leaving the depths of esoteric and soteriological teachings at bay, because an attempt to understand them requires a lifetime of efforts and constant contemplation (vairagya), I would like to express my view on what one can expect to “be” once they understand and internalize the Gītopadeśa. Bhagavadgītā or Śri Kṛṣṇa, propose two paths i.e., nivṛtti and pravṛtti mārgas (paths). I would again maneuver away from these two terms because they in themselves are huge disciplines which can bring renaissance to an individual’s worldview and their meaning of existence. It is also important to understand Hindu theology and Hindu God(s) as I (a Hindu) see it and not understand Hindu theology in the Western or Abhramic sense. If I have to summarize Hindu theology in a few lines; it is the present acting divinity to which an individual is a part. A Hindu is a part of a grand animation (mithya) where he sees his Gods or God appearing to pull him out of the illusionary effects of this animation (saṃsāra), like a father or a mother or a guru waking you up from your dream (ignorance). The divine does not help the Hindu to propel his life as he would like to, there are no temporal, worldly agendas that Hindu Gods (or God) promise to be fulfilled. Every boon and every curse is a transaction in this grand animation, a transaction that can go beyond one lifetime. The ultimate boon, if you may call it so, that Hindu divinity grants, is the realization of the reality of this animation and thereby enabling the Hindu to understand and accept his or her true identity, his true Self once again. It is interesting how revelation is used in modern terms, which is very egocentric; “I had a revelation”. But in a Hindu’s life a guru or a God brings or does the revelation. That is why it is the present acting divinity, which once put into motion pulls an individual out of the mundane.
Now that I have made an attempt to summarize Hindu theology and hopefully done a good enough job, let me get back to what to expect out of this detour and the Self that one will find. As you (the reader) begin your journey of Bhagavadgītā and understand Swami Dayananda Saraswati ji’s explanations of each verse, you will identify more and more with Arjuna, to a point that Arjuna will disappear, and it will be like Śri Kṛṣṇa is talking to you via Swamiji. Now, through these topographic contours, through this epistemology of tradition, this dichotomy and convolution of the two paths (nivṛtti and pravritti), through debates and discourses, the fabric of the perceived reality of world, of events, of emotions and thoughts starts to rupture. Your most cherished identities, your most awkward memories start dwarfing in front of your true Self that will start appearing gradually. But when a paradigm is shaken or broken, when a paradigm is ruptured there is always a competing, more compelling one at disposal. But as I said, when you (the reader) return from this detour, life will still be with its challenges, so the competing paradigm cannot be an external belief which you have to follow to make adjustments in your life, rather, it is a realization from within—a screeching voice—long suppressed by you, yet omnipresent (please note the word omnipresent). It is like a person who has been living within you, observing you, and yet not the agent (kartā) of your actions nor the enjoyer (bhogtā) of the results of your actions. He is like an indifferent you. This is the Self that one finds on this detour, when the labels one covers themselves with and the perceptions one builds, are removed. This is the realization that all worldly things; be it physical objects, relations, feelings or emotions are not Self but only part of a passing phenomenon which, though important and vital to carry on in this life, are not Self. Therefore, these things should not be the focus of one’s future actions. Rather one’s future and present actions should be performed not to sustain this identification with these objects, but the actions should be performed with a sense of duty and obligation. It is important to note that these obligations are not merely worldly, but have a larger meaning to the sacrificial nature of life (where the entire life becomes a yajña), and the responsibility is of how excellently one performs rather than whether one was able to achieve a certain goal or objective. When the mind dwells on the objectives and goals, they cast a dark shadow, and exercise a clout over reasoning and logic, they grow in size and number like tentacles, forever keeping you entangled. But when one performs the actions for the sheer joy of performing them and excellently executing them, there is no fear of outcomes. This does not imply that one should not have goals or objectives in life, but should keep a focus on individual actions as obligations or offerings towards one’s emancipation and liberation (jñāna), God (bhakti) or into the sacrificial fire of life (karma), which burns all karma and its results.
Having scribed my opinion, I would also like to mention that what I tried to explain here was more on the pravṛttī side rather than nivṛtti side of the traditional explanation. Nivṛttī is still the end goal (the higher path of the two), but as I said the higher path goes through the lower one. In other words, Hinduism does not teach you to be monastic from day-one and renounce everything, but teaches you to accept the battles of day to day life, its sorrows and joys, its failures and the victories as prasāda (left over of either devotional offering made to a God or into a sacrifice (yajña)). But I save this for later, and until then ask Kṛṣṇa to bring your chariot in the midst of the two armies (Bhagavad Gīta:
सेनयोरुभयोर्मध्ये रथं स्थापय मेऽच्युत || 21||
यावदेतान्निरीक्षेऽहं योद्धुकामानवस्थितान् |
कैर्मया सह योद्धव्यमस्मिन् रणसमुद्यमे || 22||
This blog is part of the reflection exercise on chapter one of Bhagavadgītā as part of HUA’s Bhagavadgītā course by Swamini Agamananda Saraswati.
Cover Image source: https://ar.pinterest.com/pin/789255903436785725/ Accessed 04/11/2021