“Wake up, Arjuna!”
A thundering voice woke him up
from his apparent state of ‘Samaadhi’!
“This ‘silent state’ is not the
‘highest good’ that I am trying to explain! Do you think that any person can
act in this world if he sits silently absorbed in such a trance without
realizing his own self? I have disclosed the method of qualifying for the
‘Highest Knowledge’; and the ‘easiest means’ of purifying the turbid waters of
the mind is Karma Yoga!
Running away from the onslaught of
pains and pleasures is not going to help in any way. Face everything cheerfully
with courage! At the end of this ‘self
-controlled path’ lies the ‘paradise of bliss and freedom’.”
Arjuna was completely awake.
The bliss of the trance was still
lingering in the mind. ‘Work’ became less attractive! Silence was beckoning…!
So he asked- “Is not the ‘contemplative method’ the best way to conquer the
good and evil effects of the ‘work’?”
He explained: “My friend! ‘Contemplation’ without ‘Knowledge’ is like a
lamp without oil! ‘Knowledge’ alone can help you cross over the ‘evils of
action’ and land you in the ‘shores of freedom’.
It is the only ship available in this path;
but this ship can be constructed only through ‘inaction in action’ i.e.,
‘detached action’ i.e., ‘detachment to the results of the action’.
Yoga is ‘Skill in Action’!”
Arjuna was still confused!
On the one hand Krishna
was declaring that ‘Knowledge’ was the highest; on the other hand he was also extolling
the glory of ‘perfect action’! Which again is the better of the two- ‘action’
or ‘knowledge’?
“My friend! What is that still
creates doubts in your sincere mind? Follow the Vedic instructions properly;
have faith and devotion; apply yourself to the ‘practice’ with utmost sincerity
; develop equanimity of mind; practice the art of sleeping in the lap of your
own Self; yet be awake to the happenings around you; you will become a ‘perfect yogi’!”
Arjuna worded his confusions:
“Well; when you say all these
things, it sounds perfect; yet all perfect actions do not lead to perfect
results!
I may not bother about the results
as you advise; but the society? The society expects something out of me and I
will be doing injustice to the world around me, if I fail to produce the
results expected out of me!
Take the example of this battle
itself; I may not care about the victory or defeat of the battle; but my
friends, my relatives, my brothers, my wives, all expect me to win and how can
I fail them? Tell me the method of avoiding failures in my actions and yet
achieve the ‘highest good’ in my life!”
“Failures? How will you fail? Why will your ‘perfect
action’ produce an ‘imperfect result’?
Don’t tell me that ‘perfection’
itself led to the failure! Don’t evade the responsibility of the’ failure’
which was caused not by the inert work you undertook; but because of the ‘selfishness’
that hides like a vampire in your heart, sucking away the blood of sincere work
allowing you to enjoy only the skeleton of the fruit!
You perform all actions to get
name, fame, wealth, and prosperity; tell me what you don’t aspire for! You want
all the pleasures of the world here and hereafter; your wants have no limit!
When one performs action not for the sake of the action but for the sake of
fulfilling the selfish desires, the ‘perfect action’ of his results in a
failure and creates an ‘imperfect result’.
So my friend! Act always with
self-control! Safeguard your mind from the lures sense pleasures; be so
self-controlled that even the taste for the pleasures disappears from the mind;
then only can you dream of success and a paradise of a society!”
***
Sense pleasures!
Arjuna’s mind ploughed thorough
his past life! He bent his head in shame! He was indeed a charming hero of all
the three worlds; but was he equal in any way to this great man who seemed to
be so simple, so innocent, so affectionate? Krishna
had always been a perfect son; a perfect husband; a perfect diplomat; a perfect
leader; a perfect friend; and a perfect yogi!
Not that this dark hero denied the
pleasures that life offered to him in a golden platter; women just seemed to
swoon in front of him, not with passion but with tears; some found a lost
brother in him; some a husband; some a father; some a friend; he was the
darling of all; yet he always was so calm and cool; so understanding; so
clever!
Never had Arjuna seen a tear drop
in those ‘sea-like’ deep eyes! But he - the great Arjuna, the greatest warrior
in the three worlds; famed for his charm even in the heavens had never been
free from passions, anxieties, furies, desires, hatreds, envies; the list was
endless!
His face reddened with
embarrassment.
May be he had a glimpse of the
thoughts that were running wildly in his friend’s mind!
“Arjuna! Do you think I had no
problems at all in my life…no struggles at all..? But I had learnt the art of
this ‘detached action’- even as a child of ‘eight’! How, from whom….? I do not
know! I just knew it by myself! It helped me to confront the gigantic task that
was
facing me and fulfill it to the
best of my ability!
आपूर्यमाणं अचलं प्रतिष्टं समुद्रमापः
प्रविशन्ति यद्वत्
तद्वत्कामा यं प्रविशन्ति सर्वे
स शान्तिमाप्नोति न कामकामी ॥
He alone into whom all the desires enter
like the waters entering the
completely full, steady and firmly placed ocean,
attains the quiescent state;
not the one who runs after the gratification of desires.
I too had to be in the midst of
enemies, lovers, adorers; yet I remained in my own Self; in the bliss of the
Self and just accepted everything the life offered me, like the ocean accepts
all the waters that come to it, itself never rising or overflowing! I remained
unaffected- whether pleasures embraced me or discarded me!
Be it the Brindaavan crowded with
the simple folk who sang the hymn of love, or be it Mathura crowded with
royalties playing the game of politics or be it the Dwaaraka burdened with the
duties of rising my clan to a prosperous heaven or be it the loss of Raadhaa
–‘the divine lotus blooming in the waters of Gokul’ or be it the passionate
embraces of roses pricking my body with thorns unknown to anybody; I lived
through all these undaunted by the experiences that flowed around me! I never
depend on the world for my happiness; rather it is the other way round”
Did he choke….? Did he hear
anything from far…? Was it a whisper…? Was it rising from the depths of his
heart..? Kaanhaa…Kaanhaa….! He closed his eyes for a second.
With a new vigor he continued:
ध्यायतो विषयान्पुम्सः सङ्गस्तेषूपजायते
सङ्गात्सञ्जायते कामः कामात्क्रोधोऽभिजायते
॥
क्रोधात्भवति सम्मोहः स्म्मोहात्स्मृतिविभ्रमः
स्मृतिभ्रम्शात्बुद्धिनाशो बुद्धिनाशाद्विनश्यति
॥
When a man keeps thinking about the objects of senses,
he feels drawn towards them.
By that attachment towards the objects, desire becomes intensified.
When desires get thwarted, anger bursts forth.
By anger confusion rises. By confusion all that was learnt gets forgotten.
When the mind forgets the good and bad of actions learnt in the past,
intelligence gets destroyed.
When intelligence is gone, a person is ruined completely.
या निशा सर्वभूतानां तस्यां जागर्ति
संयमी ।
यस्यां जाग्रति भूतानि स निशा
पश्यतो मुनेः ॥
The man
with the subdued senses is awake in the night
where all beings are asleep.
Where all beings are awake, that is the night for the Sage who is realized.
“Arjuna …! A man is destroyed only when he superimposes
the idea of pleasure on the sense-objects; he runs after them; feels dejected
at their loss; develops hatred towards the so-called obstacles in his mad race
after pleasures! Desire alone drags one towards the doom. Even a Sage can very
easily fall a prey to the lure of senses!
A person who works incessantly in
the ‘world of action’ unaffected by the experiences entering his mind is silent
and inactive within. He sleeps; yet is awake in the ‘bliss of his true being’.
But a man of the world is awake to the ‘apparent non-existent bliss of the
sense pleasures’ and is drowned in the ‘dark waters of ignorance’.”
Arjuna was listening very intently.
He did not observe Krishna slowly moving towards a rock nearby. He opened
his eyes at the sudden silence that hit him. Krishna
was not there. He looked around and found him sitting on the rock; with his
chin supported by his one hand; eyes staring vacantly at some ‘unseen void’.
Had he become the ‘ocean’, Arjuna wondered.
From far away he could hear the
neighing of some horses. Were they getting impatient with the ‘action-less
battlefield’? Should he return to the battlefield now? He looked at his friend.
Krishna was looking elsewhere; he seemed to be
lost in some other world; his face glowed with some hitherto unseen joy; his
lips hid a budding smile. Arjuna walked towards him as if pulled by unknown
force. He brushed aside his duty sense and decided to learn more about this
‘silence’ which his friend had managed to acquire!
Battleground or philosophy?
Action or silence?
Silence won!
ज्यायसी
चेत्कर्मणस्ते मता बुद्धिर्जनार्दन।
तत्किं
कर्मणि घोरे मां नियोजयसि केशव ॥
then why are
you guiding me towards this horrendous action?
Arjuna
hesitatingly whispered- “Krishna …!”
The Great Sage slightly opened his
eyes. His eyes looked enquiringly at his friend. Arjuna sat on the ground next
to his friend. He managed to blurt out his question somehow. His voice sounded
impatient; “Enough of this double-talk, Krishna !
Either tell me how to sit and contemplate or command me to enter the
battlefield. I cannot walk on two paths at the same time; so there!”
लोकेऽस्मिन्
द्विविधा निष्टा पुरा प्रोक्ता मयानघ।
ज्ञानयोगेन साङ्ख्यानां कर्मयोगेन योगिनाम् ॥
O Taintless Arjuna!
I have long back spoken about a
two-fold path for the beings of this world;
‘Path of Knowledge’ for the analytical
thinkers;
and ‘Path of Action’ for those
who want to attain the identity with
the Supreme Self
by some particular practice.
न कर्मणामनारम्भान्नैष्कर्म्यं
पुरुषोऽश्नुते ।
न च सन्न्यसनादेव सिद्धिं
समधिगच्छति ॥
A man does not attain ‘Freedom from
Action’ by not doing any action.
Just by renouncing everything also one
does not attain the Supreme state.
न हि कश्चित्क्षणमपि जातु तिष्टत्यकर्मकृत्
।
कार्यते ह्यवशः कर्म
सर्वः प्रकृतिजैर्गुणैः ॥
No one can remain doing nothing even for a moment
at any time.
All do actions helplessly by the qualities natural
to them.
He was no more the ‘son of
Vasudeva’ but ‘Vaasudeva’ the ‘Self of all’!
A majestic voice rose from the
depth of his being. THAT spoke:
“Arjuna! In the past I alone expounded this ‘single
means’ of ‘two-fold nature’;
‘Deliberative method’ for those
with high intellectual capacity and ‘Method of Action’ for those with
action-based minds!
How can anyone be free of action
at any moment of one’s life? You just want to escape your duties and sit in
contemplation doing nothing!
Tell me honestly! Can you sit and
meditate really even for a few minutes?
By just closing the eyes can the
‘bliss of the Self’ rise in you? With so many unfulfilled desires and endless
thoughts overflowing in your mind, how can you repose in the ‘silence of
contemplation’? Rather it is easier to engage oneself in some work and perfect
the control of the mind!”
Arjuna nodded in agreement.
“But
what sort of work should I do? Any special rituals?”
“No! Just do the ordained duties
that belong to you; duties towards the family; duties towards the society; do
whatever your mind seeks to do in the ‘righteous way’! The world is indeed
action-bound; but one can free oneself from the ‘shackles of duties’ only
through a ‘detached attitude’.
यज्नार्थात्कर्मणोन्यत्र लोकोऽयं
कर्मबन्धनः ।
तदर्थं कर्म कौन्तेय मुक्तसङगः
समाचर॥
All actions other than those done for Sacrifices are binding.
Therefore do actions for that only Arjuna, without attachment.
“Propitiate the ‘Gods presiding
over the manifold expressions of Nature’ and engage yourself in the ordained
duties without ‘attachment to the results’.”
Arjuna! Offer all your actions as
a ‘devoted offering’ to these divinities; gradually your mind will get
purified; you will be fit then to receive the ‘Higher Knowledge’!”
“Higher
Knowledge! Is there anything more to learn than what you have already taught so
far?” Arjuna asked with curiosity.
“Of course, my friend…! Knowledge
is unlimited! Knowledge has no bounds! Nobody can ever know everything; yet all
kinds of knowledge culminate in the ‘Knowledge of the Supreme Self’! ‘That
Supreme Self’ is denoted by various names- Self; Brahman; Immutable etc! But,
‘THAT’ is ‘nameless’; ‘formless’!
Yet, THAT forms the substratum of
all the names and forms.
कर्म ब्रह्मोद्भवं विद्धि ब्रह्माक्षरसमुद्भवम् ।
तस्मात्सर्वगतं ब्रह्म नित्यं यज्ञे प्रतिष्टितम् ॥
Action (rites) rises (ordained) from the
Brahma.
Brahma rises out of the Imperishable Brahman.
Therefore the all-pervading Brahman is always
established
in the
Sacrifice done for the good of the world.
‘Fluctuations’ created in that
‘Unfluctuating ocean
of Bliss
This ‘performance of the
sacrifice’, ‘the vibrating principle of action’ gives rise to the ‘waters of
experience’; which again creates the ‘various forms of food’ to be ‘eaten by
the individual selves’ - who identify with their ‘physical and mental
structures’; and the ‘beings’ rise out of the ‘food they eat’!
To make the long story short,
Brahman is established in ‘selfless work’.
यस्त्वात्मरतिरेव स्यादात्मतृप्तश्च
मानवः ।
आत्मन्येव च सन्तुष्टस्तस्य कार्यं
न विद्यते ॥
नैव तस्य कृतेनार्थो नाकृतेनेह
कश्चन।
न चास्य सर्वभूतेषु कश्चिद्व्यपाश्रयः
॥
He who is absorbed in the Self;
who is satisfied in that Self-state;
who feels blissful in the Self-state;
has no action belonging to him.
There
is nothing for him to gain
by
doing action or by refraining from action;
and he is not dependent on anybody.
When you learn to delight in your
own ‘Self’; when your mind constantly remembers the Self alone as the ‘Supreme
Truth’; when you do not even recognize the difference between good and bad;
then and then alone you can throw away your ‘Gaandiva bow’ into the welcoming
arms of River Yamuna and walk out of this world freed forever from the ‘sense
of duty’!
For a person who has found the
‘true state of his existence’, there is nothing more to gain from the
performance or non -performance of action in this world!
He is free! He is free! He is free
at last!!”
“Free at last!” The dark hued cloud thundered as it were!
Arjuna
was in deep thoughts!
Many a figures of the yore
appeared in his ‘mind’s arena’; the forms those men and women who had become
indeed ‘FREE’, while living embodied on this earth! King Janaka was one
realized sage, for sure; was Rama the ‘fortunate one’ blessed by becoming his
son-in –law? Sage Yaajnavalkya, the greatest thinker of those times, knew the
art of accumulating knowledge as well as wealth; he taught his dear wife
Maitreyi also the secret of the ‘Supreme Self’! The Greatest Sage Vasishta, the
‘Royal Preceptor’ of the ‘Solar Dynasty’ - had taught the sixteen year old
Rama- the ‘complete knowledge of Brahman’! Even now Arjuna knew that his
grandfather Bheeshma was a realized soul and had faced many a calamities with a
majestic smile! And there was Sage
Vyaasa - the dark and un-handsome scholar who had painstakingly edited the
Knowledge contained in the Vedas; he was the sole guide and shelter of the
Lunar Dynasty.
His brother Bheema must be in a
higher level of consciousness, no doubt; for, nowadays he appeared always lost
in a world of his own; he had even stopped getting furious at the mention of
his vicious cousin’s name! To top it all this simple ‘cowherd-friend of his’
was standing here expounding the ‘greatest secret of the Upanishads’ which escaped the grasp of even those who
performed penance in the dark corners of
the terrible forests! All these great souls never ran away from the family or
the society; even their womenfolk were great realized souls – Maitreyi, Seeta,
Gaargi…! Can I ever dream of becoming one of them? - Arjuna wondered!
कर्मणैव हि संसिद्धिमास्थिता
जनकादयः
लोकसंग्रहमेवापि स्म्पश्यन्कर्तुमर्हसि
॥
यद्यदाचरति श्रेष्टस्तत्तदेवेतरो
जनः
स यत्प्रमाणं कुरुते लोकस्तदनुवर्तते
॥
Janaka and others attained the Supreme state
only by performing actions.
Considering the welfare of the people at
least,
you should engage in action only.
What the noble ones act like, others follow
the same.
Whatever role-model he provides, people
follow the same.
न मे पार्थास्ति कर्तव्यम् त्रिषु लोकेषु किञ्चन
नानवाप्तमवाप्तव्यं वर्त एव च कर्मणि ॥
Paartha!
I do not have any duty to be
performed in all the three worlds;
nothing to be gained or not gained.
Yet I keep doing actions.
He could see clearly what was
going on in his friend’s mind. He was not titled Bhagavaan in vain; he could
read anybody’s thoughts at will! His mesmerizing voice filled the air once
more.
“My friend! The greatest men and
women of this world never rejected the duties towards their family and society.
They never ran away from their responsibilities. But for these great souls,
this society would collapse without a proper support!
Even men of lower caliber imitate
these great ones; so these model-souls can never afford to commit even a single
mistake in their public or private lives. They are held in high esteem by the
people and they are bound to live up to it.
If I was not an ideal figure
emanating justice, righteousness and knowledge, my whole clan of Yaadavas, who
adore me like a God would perish in no time!
After leaving the cherished village of Gokula
and entering the strange royal apartments of Mathura – I have never felt truly comfortable
donning the glamorous royal attires. But the call of the duty was too great to
ignore.
After my study-days in the
peaceful hermitage of Sage Sandeepani, I even thought of becoming a recluse to
escape the burden of the royal crown; but I did not; I could not; I was not
made that way; I could not run away from the very mission of my life for which
I had taken birth here!
Yes! I struggled! I faltered! But,
I succeeded! Now I am freed of the shackles of Karma! It does not matter to me
now whether I do my duty or not; I actually need not bother; I have risen above
the idea of duty and non-duty! I can choose to do ‘work’ or abstain from it; it
does not matter; but I never shied away from duties.
I am proud that my Yaadava clan
once humiliated and ridiculed as worthless is now acclaimed as the most
important clan; my clan now overflows with riches and is now safe and secure
within the fortress of the city of Dwaaraka, a mercantile centre establishing
trade with strangest lands across the ocean.
However I was careful not to throw
away the ‘Gems of Knowledge’ hidden within the treasure-chest of my heart
randomly to each and every person I met! Nobody had even the slightest hint of
the ‘inner state’ of my being!
I just plunged into the life with
abandon; faced the turbulent waters of the life with a cheerful spirit of
adventure! I thoroughly enjoyed the different phases of life whether they were
good or not! And, I did not disclose the ‘Knowledge’ in me to anybody; not even
to you, my closest friend! That is why you never caught wind of my innermost
thoughts till today! And, fortunately or unfortunately you have chosen this
critical hour for a discussion on ‘Knowledge’!”
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