The Bhagavad Gita is the Ultimate User’s Manual

The Bhagavad Gita is the Ultimate User’s Manual:

Knowledge cures Depression!

SOURCE:

The Sleepwalkers

A History of Man’s Changing Vision of the Universe

Arthur Koestler, 1959

Penguin Arkana, 1989, London

What
follows will be my own understanding of the Bhagavad Gita. I fully admit that
by commenting on this sacred text I am challenging myself in a way I never
thought possible. After reading many translations of the text, I realized that
the Bhagavad Gita is a book that stands the test of time and was intended to be
interpreted in a personal way by each one who approaches the song (gita) with
an open heart.

 

Yes, there are definite meanings based on earlier writings from the Vedas, Upanishads, and Samkhya; but as each consciousness feels Vyasa’s arrangement of
the Sanskrit words, each comes away with something different, something
uniquely their own. It should be read over one’s whole life because the meaning
will change for you as time changes you and your consciousness.

 

I hope that these words will offer some useful glimpse into Krishna’s Song of God, and I urge you to read various translations for yourself and draw your own
conclusions as to the meaning of these supernal verses. I cannot imitate
Vyasa’s divine poetry. But I do believe that the Bhagavad Gita provides us with
everything we need to know. The Gita is just as relevant and valid today as it
was in 150 BC when Vyasa’s ink was drying. It is the ultimate user’s manual for
the human being.

 

 

 

Arjuna’s Depression

 

The Bhagavadgita Parva is the third episode of the Bhishma Parva, the sixth of eighteen major books in the Mahabharata. In the western editions the chapters
have always been referred to as ‘books’ so in order to not create additional
confusion, I will also.

 

The Bhishma Parva begins with a description of the armies of the Pandavas, Yudhisthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Krishna, and the twins, assembling at Kurukshetra
against the armies of Dhritarashtra, Duryodhana, Bhishma, Drona, and Karna. The
text says that beyond Kurukshetra the entire earth felt empty as only the
children and the old were left in the houses. The armies of the world had come
to this ancient battleground and their vast camps covered many Yojanas, an
ancient unit of distance of about 40 miles. ‘Both armies stood for battle in
the field of Kurukshetra like two agitated oceans.’ (M.N. Dutt)

 

The blind Dhritarashtra would be useless in battle and remains back in his palace. Vyasa, the poet-author of the epic, visits him to warn him that the terrible
moment had arrived and that all will fight and die. Vyasa reminds Dhritarashtra
that man is subject to the power of Time (Kala) and therefore advises him to
find the wisdom not to grieve.

 

 

Remote Viewing the Battle

 

Vyasa offers to give the old blind man the inner power of seeing the battle, but Dhritarashtra does not wish to watch his sons wounded and bleeding, and asks to
only hear the proceedings described. He will remain blind. Vyasa therefore
gives to Sanjaya, a royal councilor, the boon of remote viewing the battlefield
- a Siddhic power called in Sanskrit sravana darshanam. And so it is that the

Bhagavad Gita is told to us via this ‘celestial vision’ which is said to reveal
even the thoughts in the mind.

 

Vyasa then confessed to Dhritarashtra that he had seen many ‘omens that forebode evil’ and the disastrous slaughter that was coming upon his realm. Malevolent
birds that feed upon flesh were gathered in glad anticipation and the earth was
quaking. He warned the old man that Kurukshetra would be covered with the
bodies of slain warriors and the Seer sees the sun ‘covered by headless trunks
when rising or setting.’ The gods and goddesses themselves tremble and vomit
blood. The constellations portend a terrible evil, a fearful comet was rising,
and the signs of the deterioration of Time were everywhere. Animals were being
born deformed, as in our own current toxic time.

 

The poet Vyasa tells Dhritarashtra that the earth will drink ‘the blood of thousands of kings’ and in a last minute plea for peace urges Duryodhana’s father to stop
the coming extermination. The blind man rationalizes his own ambition and
conveniently falls back on Fate, saying that the war was previously ordained.
Once more Vyasa asks Dhritarashtra to stop the war and warns him that the
slaughter of so many ‘can never produce any good.’ (M.N. Dutt)

 

Vyasa leaves and Sanjaya begins to remote view the battlefield Kurukshetra. The scholar Krishna Chaitanya/KK Nair suggests that Sanjaya serves the function of
a Greek chorus in the Mahabharata. Not only does he report to Dhritarashtra
what he see in his inner vision, but he also quite bluntly often reminds the
blind man that as head of his family, he is to blame and not his son Duryodhana.
Lord Krishna also lays the blame for war entirely on Dhritarashtra's shoulders.

 

 

Arjuna illuminates the sky with his effulgence ...

 

Arjuna is not the eldest of the five Pandava brothers and therefore Yudhisthira is the king. Arjuna, the son of Indra, is a warrior of blameless integrity and wisdom,
a hero of incomparable stature. He faces and defeats entire armies alone! Among
her five Pandava husbands, it is said that he is Draupadi’s favorite.

 

After Yudhisthira foolishly loses everything in that fateful unfair game of dice, Arjuna and his brothers are exiled into the forest. During the exile
Yudhisthira asks Arjuna to seek celestial weapons from his father, the god
Indra. Arjuna’s superb warrior skills were the result of the awesome powers of
his asceticism, and with these powers he reaches Indra’s sacred mountain in one
day, for he ‘possessed the speed like that of the mind.’ (M.N. Dutt)

 

Arjuna asks Indra for the boon of the knowledge of all weapons, but his father tells him that only Shiva the Destroyer can grant this boon. And so Arjuna increased
his devotion to severe asceticism, and for months lived on air, standing on his
toes with his arms stretched up towards the sky.

 

Shiva tests Arjuna arduously in combat and finding the son of Indra to be worthy, Shiva gives him the boon of weaponry and also reveals to Arjuna that in a
former life he was the great Seer Nara, the friend of Narayana (a form of
Vishnu and therefore Krishna) and that as Nara he engaged in thousands of years
of ‘fearful and austere’ asceticism. Arjuna’s prowess and integrity made him
worthy of the Gandhiva weapon.

 

But Arjuna also wants the Brahmashira weapon, which destroys the entire universe at the end of an era (yuga), for the purpose of destroying his enemies, the
armies of Duryodhana. Shiva offers him the Pashupata, one of his favorites,
which has similar powers and warns Arjuna to use it only with ‘proper’ reason.
The son of Indra felt pleased at having seen the great three-eyed Shiva and
received the boon of the Pashupata and Gandhiva weapons. His wondrous beauty
‘illuminated the sky with his effulgence.’ (M.N. Dutt)

 

 

Their Cousin Krishna

 

The mother of the five Pandava brothers, Kunti (Khoon-tee), is the sister of Krishna’s father, and so Krishna is their cousin. Krishna plays a crucial role
in the Mahabharata and his relationship with the Pandavas develops in depth and
complexity as he becomes the family guide. But Krishna and Arjuna were true friends
- men who loved to roam the countryside together hunting and sharing those
grand adventures that young men love. Arjuna marries Krishna’s sister Subhadra
and Krishna, who favors his dear friend, helps the two elope. Draupadi, who is
Arjuna’s first wife, accepts this marriage with some initial reluctance - but
Subhadra is a sterling girl who finds the way to win Draupadi’s heart.

 

 

Choosing Krishna

 

Before the battle began both Arjuna and Duryodhana came to Krishna and asked for his help. Krishna reminded them that he had vowed not to fight personally, but
makes the offer that one can have his armies and the other can have him. Ever
the impulsive arrogant brat, Duryodhana took Krishna’s armies, believing he had
for once outwitted Arjuna. Without a second thought Arjuna chose Krishna and
asked him to be his charioteer in the battle and to guide him through the war.

 

The metaphor is clear: Arjuna is us, human consciousness in conflict and confusion; the chariot represents the body, our nature, Prakriti and the three gunas; and
Krishna is the God-within, the guide through the battlefield of life.

 

 

Durga’s Blessing

 

Before leaving for battle, Krishna advises Arjuna to seek the blessing of the terrible goddess Durga (Beyond-Reach), the mother of the Vedas, who as the consort of
Shiva can take the form of the fiercest warrior and become the destroyer of the
world. Durga appeared in the sky and told Arjuna that he would indeed vanquish
his enemies as he was both invincible and had Narayana (Krishna) to help him.

 

 

Arjuna Whirling & Trembling

 

Feeling fearless and confident of victory, Arjuna and Krishna got onto their chariot and blew the celestial conchs. Krishna pulled the chariot out into the middle
of the field between the two armies (I.21) and Arjuna saw everyone assembled
there; he saw his family, his teachers, and friends, Bhishma and Drona, and
many others who he had known all of his life and loved - but now he must kill.
The sight of his kinsmen arrayed across Kurukshetra caused Arjuna to despair.
He told Krishna that his mouth had gone dry, his mind was whirling, his body
trembling; he drops the Gandhiva. Arjuna suddenly realizes that he can see no
good coming from killing his own family. He no longer wants victory and
kingship if the price is the murder of his ‘teachers, fathers, sons,
grandfathers’ and others who have been his family. (I.26-32)

 

This is known as Arjuna’s despondency or depression, and some have even speculated that Arjuna was in fact afraid and sought philosophy to justify his reluctance. I
find that difficult to believe of my hero; but regardless of his motivation,
this amazing poignant moment was the culmination of the lives of generations
and woven layers of circumstances that gave birth to Krishna’s glorious
Bhagavad Gita.

 

Arjuna could find no joy in killing Dhritarashtra's armies even if they had conspired to destroy the Pandavas in so many evil ways. He felt he would be committing an
unforgivable crime - and the greatest warrior of that world, in the middle of
the battlefield Kurukshetra, surrounded by hundreds of thousands of men, with
their chariots, horses and elephants, his heart filled with grief and his eyes
with tears, dropped his weapons and sat down in his chariot pit. (I.47)

 

 

‘I shall not fight!’

 

Remember that Arjuna and Krishna are great friends, and in the spirit of male camaraderie, Krishna smiled and spoke laughingly: ‘Why has this mood come over
you at this bad time ... Do not act like a eunuch!’ (J.A.B van Buitenen). This
translation always shocked me and made me laugh as it it so male. (II.2)

 

Arjuna admits that his mind is confused and says, ‘I shall not fight!’ (II.9)

 

Krishna is always smiling, but his smile is not mere camaraderie - it is the reflection of the highest wisdom inherent in his divine consciousness. I think of Krishna
as God realized in man. Thus Krishna is always the best of the human physical
embodiment revealed by his Oneness with the God within him. He is God fully
incarnated and man fully enlightened.

 

Yes, he does possess divine powers in the Mahabharata, but as Krishna Chaitanya/KK Nair points out in his writings, Krishna does not stop the war or save Draupadi’s
sons or even his own people when much later they fight among themselves and
destroy his clan. Krishna is meant to be understood as God working through the
human embodiment, just as we too have the choice to align our consciousness and
work with the God within.

 

 

The Soul is Eternal

 

Krishna then begins his discourse on Knowledge (Book Two) and says that both he and Arjuna, and all those assembled on that field, indeed all human beings, have
always existed and always will continue to exist. We pass from birth to
childhood, to youth, old age and death only to change and transmigrate from one
body into another. The wise are not confused by this. (II.12,13)

 

The five senses make their contact the external world and it’s objects, and send their information-impulses to our brain, allowing us to experience the
polarities of pleasure and pain, sukha-duhkha in Sanskrit. These experiences
are impermanent and are to be endured, for what is temporal has no ‘real’
existence and is unreal (Asat) in the sense that it is fluctuation and change.
While the real (Sat) always exists, as the Sufi Mahmud Shabistari says,
‘beneath the curtain of each atom.’ (II.14-16)

 

It is not that the external world has no value as some believe; however, its state of constant change makes it the unreal (Asat) in the sense that it is impermanent.
The external reality is very real to the five senses, but there is so much more
to our world that what we can see, hear, touch, etc. Everywhere there is the
imperishable (akshara) that permeates, supports and sustains the temporal
illusory hologram. Without Knowledge of this eternal, immutable, imperishable
Real - we are lost, floating on a sea of delusion and ignorance that tosses us
around at whim and fools us into thinking that possessions and pleasure can
give us meaning.

 

Krishna teaches his friend that this universe is pervaded by that which is indestructible and Arjuna has no power to kill that. The body may die, but the
soul (Atma) never dies. It simply transmigrates to a new body, just as we get
new clothes when our old ones are worn out. (II.17-22)

 

When our body is worn out we move into new forms that resonate with our thoughts, new data-collecting vehicles to expand our expression of the God within us all.
The realization that you never die changes your entire attitude towards living
and you have the opportunity to become less attached to the perils, failures,
and successes of your current identity self.

 

There comes a time when in wisdom you will not care if you have been immortalized by the media. Your search for meaning will not be based on the approval or
disapproval of others. You will care more about doing what is right, taking
action with the greatest integrity and knowledge you have available to you in
that moment, and that knowledge will always be changing as you continually
reevaluate its worth. You will ask yourself, not so much, what did I accomplish
- but rather what consciousness was I in when I acted.

 

 

Knowledge has the power to set you Free

 

Knowing that you move from life to life takes the desperation from your bondage to Time, and this enlightened realization releases you from the illusion that all
you have is this one body, this one chance.

 

As someone who was brought up in the west I realize that the concept of the transmigration of the soul is at first difficult to assimilate. If you are
truly determined and your intention is pure, you do have the ability within you
to recall the past lives of your current body. They reside in the DNA as
holographic information and you can play them like films. I have done this and
so have many others.

 

The soul (Atma) transmigrates from body to body. The small personal identity ‘self’ you imagine yourself to be does not reincarnate ever again. God forbid we
should always and forever be the same repetitious personality. That would be a
great bore. Transmigration was misunderstood as reincarnation by those who did
not deeply understand Hindu metaphysics.

 

 

Blinded by Science

 

You will find the greater freedom and you will realize that for all the comforts science has brought us, it has failed to acknowledge the imperishable (akshara)
and only measures what can be perceived by the five senses and those endless
machines which have been invented by them. I like to jest that we are blinded
by science. Krishna Chaitanya/KK Nair calls it ‘scientism’ and in his
illuminating book, The Betrayal of Krishna, says that because we ignored the
‘Why’ of the world, we may be destroyed by our ‘know-how.’

 

The exceedingly brilliant Arthur Koestler said in the book The Sleepwalkers, A History of Man’s Changing Vision of the Universe that he hoped ‘this book
would serve as a cautionary tale against the hubris of science. ...The dials on
our laboratory panels are turning into another version of the shadows in the
cave. Our hypnotic enslavement to the numerical aspects of reality has dulled
our perception of non-quantitative moral values; the resultant end-justifies-the-means
ethics may be a major factor in our undoing.’

 

 

Akshara, Dharma & Meaning

 

Krishna says that the eternal imperishable (akshara) cannot be cut, burned, or wet with water, nor will it dry and wither away. It is the all pervading - sarvagatas -
that is inside each and every one of us. It is this imperishable (akshara),
eternal, primordial (sanatanas), pervading (sarvagatas) All that we come to
trust and rely upon, no matter what. (II.23)

 

Krishna tells Arjuna that he should not grieve over the ineluctable movements of the Eternal Wheel. Birth and death are certain for all, therefore what reason is
there for him to mourn these men who wait on the battlefield Kurukshetra. In
fact because Arjuna is a warrior born into the Kshatriya cast it is his duty,
his Dharma to fight. (II.25-27; 30-33)

 

Each of us comes into this world with our own unique Dharma. We are each the accumulation of many lifetimes of a multitude of experiences. These experiences
create the reflexive substance of our consciousness and our consciousness -
meaning what we think and feel, and which is constantly changing for better or
worse - generates the electromagnetic-field-fabric of our hologram. Fabric is a
useful metaphor because it conjures up the image of 1000s of threads woven
together to create a multiplicity of patterns, colors, strengths and
weaknesses.

 

 

Sin & Freedom

 

We find meaning in our lives when we follow our Dharma. Meaning is ultimately far more important to a human being than the temporal rewards of pleasure and gold.
Krishna tells Arjuna that he should never abandon his duty. There is no sin in
following your own Dharma, because in doing so you are working in alliance - in
‘partnership’ as Krishna Chaitanya/KK Nair accurately terms it - with the God
within you and sin is only that which moves away from God. We always have that
choice - the choice to align our consciousness with God or to reject the tender
opportunity. That is our freedom.