In the preceding verses, Krishna took the lofty stand of identifying the Supreme Reality with himself. The pronouncements he then made with regard to how the Great Power protects and sustains the world, in spite of the stunning divergence human nature embodies and displays, sometimes very destructively, are indeed consoling and reassuring. The inspiration and reliance that they repeatedly provide to the humanity in general, especially in the wake of the confrontations and conflicts people find all around, are so much that they make them think of Krishna in the most superhuman and godly dimensions. As we have already stated, it is true that these thoughts and attitudes enrich and empower them greatly, providing the necessary hope and confidence in the Almighty’s power of protection and the unfailing law of sustenance.
But Krishna is very particular that the devotees and seekers should not unduly cling to any eulogistic flair or fascination, only to miss the very import and benefit of devotion, and hinder their own progress in the path. He wants all to understand him in his human dimensions. Only then the message he imparts will become relatable and beneficial, as it happened in the case of Arjuna standing in the Kurukshetra battlefield. Thus, in the following verse Krishna comes out with the strictly human dimension, emphasizing the right equation between the seekers and himself:
बहवो ज्ञानतपसा पूता मद्भावमागताः ।।
Cultivating supreme reliance on me, reflecting constantly upon me, and my nature, many take to knowledge-austerity, whereby they transcend raga-dvesha-bhaya, and as a result, being purified, they become like me.
Every word or phrase that Krishna uses points out what should be the basic nature of devotional pursuit and what the devotee should aim at. To be devoted to the Supreme Reality, Krishna says, is to grow and nurture reliance on It. It is for the devotee to make his reliance supreme and wholesome. The devotion must bring instant changes in the devotee’s heart and mind.
To worship the Supreme Reality ceremonially makes the devotee think of placing Him on a high pedestal in a shrine or a puj¡ room. But in the pursuit of nurturing supreme reliance, the Supreme has to be installed in his own heart. How can then occasional or periodical worship of the idol be sufficient for the devotional growth and fruition? Krishna thus points out the real elements that constitute true practice of devotion and how they should involve the devotee’s heart and mind at all times.
The words mam-upasritah have profound meaning and relevance. Upasrayatva, the practice of relying upon the Supreme in a wholesome manner, is something that a devotee should cultivate ceaselessly. By its very nature, it is far from, and even a contrast to, any kind of occasional or periodic worship of the Deity. Growth of reliance will necessarily imply the feeling of fondness and closeness. Such a sense of intimacy, constantly felt and reflected, is what Krishna calls man-mayatva. The mind of the devotee will naturally begin to feel godliness and divinity. The transformation is quite pronounced and spontaneous.
After birth, as the body grows, the senses constantly collect the impressions of the world through interactions. These impressions fill the mind with world-inputs. Whatever the mind reflects from them will be only the world and its objects. In the process, the mind virtually becomes the objects themselves, meaning object-impressions. Such a worldly mind, or world-filled mind, undergoes a change in its character by courting godly reflections. Fondness for God, reliance upon Him, makes the mind reflect upon godliness in various ways. And this process verily becomes an effective counter to worldliness as such, and has the sure effect of sublimating the mind with increasing purity and divinity.
Devotees are normally given to only time-bound piecemeal worship. The time they devote for the purpose will be extremely short, if not negligible. Such short or piecemeal worship is always necessarily followed by many hours of worldly activities. Can such a short worship bring about in the devotee’s mind lasting transformation or purity? For worship to have the effect of really divinizing the worldly mind, it has to grow deeper, continuous and wholesome. In place of physical practices, where our limbs are employed to offer materials like flowers, fruits and the like, the inner mind should remain engrossed in the thought of God. How to achieve this kind of inner constancy?
This is where Krishna brings the idea of upasraya. Mental attunement or inner absorption is far more effective than external physical worship. Is not the mind the fundamental part of the human being, and the body only a subsidiary one? Should not devotional pursuit rest more upon the mind, the inner part, than upon the external senses or the body?
The hindrance to such inward reflectiveness (manmayatva) comes from the three adverse notes of the mind, namely raga, dvesha and bhaya (desire, hatred and fear), points out Krishna. In earlier chapters also, Krishna has referred to these hindering elements. How to deal with these triple notes of the mind is, in fact, an abiding concern of Bhagavadgita.
Raga, dvesha and bhaya are generated when the senses interact with the objects. We cannot expect a life or a world, in which these notes, to begin with, will not be present at all. They are like the drowning power of water. Can any one learn swimming except by entering the waters? In fact, the art of swimming lies not in eliminating or destroying the drowning power, but in properly using it to our advantage.
Similarly one has to distinctly understand the intriguing role of these triple notes and cultivate the skill of not getting intimidated or subdued by them. We have enough mental and intelligential resources by which the drowning power of the mind’s triple notes can be properly handled and transcended.
To transcend something is not to destroy it altogether, but to master the art and process of sublimating its adverse elements. In order to gain such transcendence, we need the requisite measure of knowledge and strength of Knowledge-pursuit, jnana-sadhana. Self-knowledge, atma-jnana becomes indispensable in such a context.
The purpose of devotion, Krishna emphasizes, is to free the mind from its constrictions and make our interactions with the world facile and benevolent. The sight of any obstruction should not unduly dissuade us or generate diffidence in our minds. Raga-dvesha-bhaya should rightly give a clear notice to the mind to be guarded against them and to strive to gain transcendence. So these obstructions should, in fact, help the mind to achieve more and more spiritual strength and purity.
Krishna has something more to say. He calls the process of devotional fondness and reflection, as he has defined, the jnana-tapas, meaning knowledge-austerity. It is the austerity – rigorous discipline – which is of the nature of intense knowledge and knowing. In other words, in this austerity the primary faculties at work are not the body and senses, but the mind and intelligence. Between the bodily and inner austerities, the inner is no doubt far more effective. In fact, the inner is the causal and the outer is the effectual. Any change or purity should first take place in this causal inner sphere itself. And this is what happens through devotional affinity, introspection and reflection.
This jnana-tapas, knowledge-austerity, has the immediate effect of purifying the devotee. Purified in this manner (putah), says Krishna, many have attained his state. What does this signify? To attain God-hood or Krishnatva is certainly the goal of true devotional life. It is not that a devotee practises devotion and still remains where he is, leaving God to His own pedestal. Every time the seeming distance between himself and God must be reduced, and there should come the day when the distance becomes extinct.
Krishna makes it clear that true sadhana must make the sadhaka a siddha (one who has achieved his goal). And in this case he is very firm that the devotee, through the purificatory process, must become like Krishna himself. Thus Krishnatva or Krishnahood is clearly presented as the goal and attainment for the humans.
Krishna’s body was like any other human body. It did perish like any other, after the allotted span of life on this earth. In that body existed a mind, heart and intelligence, like in all others’. Krishna’s mind had its unusual level of purity and sublimity. Krishna attained this dimension through his own effort and attention. This is sadhana.
If you go through Mahabharata, where Krishna is described as a human, living and moving with his princely and royal elegance, helping and aiding the Pandavas in particular, you will find his human dimension, of course, with its amazing heights of excellence. In conducting any activity or interaction, Krishna exhibits his own lofty insights and magnificence, which even today shine as a rare model worth emulating. How exactly did he gain this, and what were and still are the constituents of such a magnificent attainment, is clear from his own words and explanations.
Remember, Arjuna’s confession was that he was utterly confused and weak, and that he should be instructed about the path of supreme virtue and elevation (sreyas). Krishna’s instruction from then on was to lead Arjuna to the path he had solicited. This path or goal is valid not only for Arjuna but for everyone else any time anywhere. The focus on this humanhood of both the Teacher and the disciple should not be set aside. There is no purpose served by extolling matters indiscreetly and deifying Krishna or any other Teacher. Everything in the sphere of religion, devotion, philosophy, spirituality and yoga is meant for man and his actual pursuit and attainment. Unless this direct bearing on oneself is grasped at every point, the whole enunciation and its pursuit will become hollow and ineffective.
The way Krishna concludes this verse is also very significant:
“Bahavah jnana-tapasa putah mad-bhavam-agatah – purified through knowledge-austerity, many people are attaining to my state”. This kind of purification and attainment of Krishna-state is not a singular instance, nor is it a recounting of any stray incident of the past.
Krishna’s conclusion, “many attain my state” should be viewed in all its meaning and purpose. None should think that whatever is mentioned in Bhagavadgita is only idealistic. In fact, all these truths are applicable to any one who wishes to pursue them wholeheartedly, and the exhortation to all is to take up this ennobling pursuit.
By bringing in the Upanishadic truths and messages to the fierce battlefield of Kurukshetra, both Krishna and Vyasadeva have made the spiritual pursuit and goal all-applicable and ever-relevant. Divesting these great truths of the so-called traditional and religious insignia, they have presented the sublime pursuit as a beloved choice of daily life, wherever it prevails and whatever profession it entails. At home, in the places of work, in market, while travelling, in fact, anywhere, the immediate benefits of yoga attitude and introspection can be derived. This is what Krishna and Vyasadeva would always cherish and want.
In the 18th chapter also, Krishna’s statement about how and when a devotee enters his being, is quite striking and revealing. The verse commencing with the words “bhaktya mam-abhijanati” (18.55) refers to the attainment of jnana as a must for the final spiritual fulfilment in a devotee’s life. By the strength and sublimity which devotion engenders, says Krishna, the devotee will come to know him properly in truth. “Knowing me – what I am and who I am – gaining a full knowledge about me and my essence, he enters into me, my nature” – are the words he uses there.
Obviously, the question arises as to what can such a final entry be. In fact, does not already the whole creation live and move within the singular being of God, the Universal Presence? Like sky or space, godliness is permeating and engulfing the whole of creation. What further entry can be thought of any time? The only entry then will be the realization of the identity with God, that the true search and sadhana bring about in the seeker.
The seeker’s ideas about God and divinity have to change drastically. He must be able to assess matters clearly. He must realize that his own mind is the factor that needs purification, and this process consists in sublimating the emotions of raga, dvesha and bhaya. When these three stand dissolved or transcended, what remains will be utterly sublime like the transparent space. Such a pure mind will make him divine. He will begin to feel divinity always and everywhere. Just as colour and colourful objects alone shine constantly before the eyes now, so too godliness will begin to shine before the devotional mind and intelligence. The change takes place in one’s own within, in his mind and heart, not outside.
Purification of the mind consists in freeing the mind of the undue hold of the three adverse notes of attraction, repulsion and fear. The sublimity that then comes to reign, is the whole secret of spiritual sadhana. Make no mistake about it, says Krishna. He speaks with full humanness, and he wants all humans to follow this human message on human purity and sublimity.
It is here that a question becomes quite relevant: When this kind of knowledge-austerity (jnana-tapas) is available to one and all alike, why is it that a great many do not recognize and follow it in all earnestness and become godly as Krishna suggests? What exactly prevents the human heart from becoming a full heir to such freely offered fortune and reward? Krishna has his explanation for it:
क्षिप्रं हि मानुषे लोके सिद्धिर्भवति कर्मजा ।।
Aspiring for the acclaimed fruition and reward of rituals, people are inclined to worship various gods or deities. In this world, the fruition of such selective piecemeal worship is rather easy and quick.
Krishna’s pronouncement is actually a warning and correction. It has to be viewed in that light. While the jnana-tapas, knowledge austerity has the merit of purifying the mind instantly and directly, there is a general apathy in the mind of the people to take to it and avail of its immense benefits. Why is it so? Krishna says that such a consistent austerity will require a sincerity and wholesomeness, which human nature is prone to evade.
On the other hand, to do something occasionally, once in a while, is agreeable to all. It suits them well. Somehow everyone finds it easier to abide by religious regulations and restraints only for a specific event and for a short while. If instead, a regular discipline or refinement is demanded, the commitment called for becomes too much to adopt and abide by. So the easy path is preferred. This is a frailty of human nature, and none can be blamed as such for it. Of course, the role of viveka is to remove all frailties and make our mind pure and effective. And the sastras exist only to make this possible.
Vedas and sastras have prescribed a variety of rituals. Some of these are very elaborate and even hard to perform. Yet, attracted by the desire and greed for their promised rewards, people have undue flair to take to them. Human nature always has such a strong susceptibility. It is not to be questioned or denounced, but to be duly recognized and understood. Recognizing such a chronic susceptibility alone, Vedic thinkers have made various rituals available to mankind.
But Vedas themselves have declared that these are not the be all and end all of religious life. Alas, man does not pay sufficient attention to these declarations. He is blind to the truth, over-possessed and over-ambitious.
Remember the three verses by Krishna in the beginning of the Karma-yoga dissertation (2.42, 43 & 44). They begin with the words: “yam-imam pushpitam vacam – allured by the flowery speeches of the Vedas, people fall a victim to these short-living purposeless rituals.” The ritualistic praises are at best flowery, like the pal¡¿a trees, but not fruitful. The criticism and evaluation Krishna has provided in those verses must be repeatedly reflected upon and realized. Only then the undue flair for the inadequate and less purifying ritualistic path will decline, and with the help of discrimination the seeker will be drawn to the knowledge-austerity path.
It is following the same note of warning and correction that Krishna comments upon mankind’s undue flair for rituals in these verses too. As he emphasized then in the 2nd chapter, so he does here in the 4th also. All these verses are of supreme relevance. They compel the seeker to accept and pursue the lessons of purity, and take up earnestly the more effective knowledge-austerity path. One important part of Krishna’s Yoga message shines prominently in these verses.
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(From the Series Essential Concepts In Bhagavad Gita - Volume 2)
