Bhagvad Gita- Chapter 2 continued
Last month we concluded
with the following statement from Lord Krishna to Arjuna.
When your intellect
has cleared itself of its delusions, you will become indifferent to the results
of all action, present or future. At present your intellect is confused by
conflicting interpretation of the scriptures. When it can rest in pursuit of
the Atman (Soul), then you can reach union with the Atman.
Comments:
We have to talk a little
bit about Atman(Soul) and Brahman
(Almighty or Paramatma). The word Brahman should
not be confused with the word Brahmin. Brahman refers to the
ultimate which finds manifestation as Atma in every
being. Where as Brahmin refers to a caste.
According to Advaita Hindu Philosophy the eternal goal is for our Atman
to unite with the Brahman. That is the state of Mukthi
or Moksha or eternal bliss. That stage marks the end
of the cycle of rebirths. According to some of the scholars this philosophy has
found its expression in many faiths including Persian Sufis and Christian
mystics of the middle Ages.
Arjuna asks Lord Krishna
He knows bliss in the
Atman and wants nothing else. Cravings torment the heart: He renounces
cravings. I call such a man illumined.
He is not shaken by
adversity, Not hankering after happiness: Free from
fear, free from anger, free from the things of desire. I call such a man a
seer, and illumined. The bonds of his flesh are broken. When he is lucky he
does not rejoice. When he is unlucky he does not weep. I call such a man
illumined. The bonds of his flesh are broken. When he is lucky he does not rejoice.
When he is unlucky he does not weep. I call such a man illumined.
Like a tortoise can
draw on its legs the seer can draw on his senses. The men who abstain from
desires run away from them but carry their desires with them. But when a man
enters Reality, he leaves his desires behind him.
Even a mind that knows
the path can be dragged from the path. The senses are so unruly. But the
illumined controls the senses and recollects the mind and fixes it on Me.
Thinking about sense
objects will attach you to sense objects; Grow attached, you become addicted.
Thwart your addiction, it turns to anger; be angry, you confuse your mind. When
you confuse your mind, you forget the lesson of experience; Forget experience,
you lose discrimination(prudence); lose discrimination,
you miss life’s only purpose.
When a man has no lust
or hatred, he walks safely among things of lust and hatred. To obey the Atman
is his peaceful joy.
Water flows continually
into ocean, but the ocean is never disturbed. Desire flows into the mind of the
seer, but he is never disturbed and knows peace. The man who has forgotten
desire knows peace and lives without craving, free from ego and pride.
This is the state of
enlightenment in Brahman. A man does not fall back from it into delusion. Even
at the moment of death he is alive in that enlightenment. Brahman and he are
one.
This concludes chater 2.
Continued…
References – Bhagvad Gita translated by Swami Prabhavananda
and Christopher Isherwood, Introduction by Aldous
Huxley.
Note : I greatly recommend this book. It is very readable with an excellent introduction by Aldous Huxley