Krishna continues to emphasize the true nature of God and godliness. To consider ‘God’ as solely responsible for everything in one’s life is far from reality. It is neither good for oneself nor compatible with the Creator. The whole devotional thought calls for a clear examination to find out where lies the responsibility of the devotee and where reign God and His purpose.
Neither the sense of doership (kartrtva) nor the actions (karmani), said Krishna, are a creation of Providence. In the same way, he further emphasizes that linking the results of actions with their actor (karmaphala-samyoga) is also not at the behest of the Lord. God does not ordain that anyone should enjoy or suffer the results of his actions. In other words linking the results of actions with their actor is not the domain of God at all. To be precise, there is no Godly decree on anyone in the matter of his undergoing the consequences of what he does.
Then how does the enjoyment or suffering of results of whatever each does in the way of action, take place at all? In answer, Krishna says that it is the complex play of Nature – individual as well as aggregate – that brings about the actor-action-result sequence (karma-phala-samyoga). The whole chain is a ‘handiwork of Nature’.
Krishna’s statement may appear to be shocking, but it should truly be revealing. Does not our earth keep revolving, bringing unfailingly the day and night as well as the seasons? What about the seas sending vapour to the sky, bringing it back as snowfall or rain, producing many a river from the great heights only to flow back to the same source (the seas)? But all this follows a definite sequence and order. The events of human life too are caused likewise. No additional will or agency is called for any time to cause these. ‘Human nature’ alone makes one function the way he does, and meet its natural consequence.
Human acts And human fate
Think of the so many incidents and events taking place around us. Is it not we who have made the civil and criminal laws to govern the individual and social life? It is also true that these laws are not ‘uniform’ in all societies. They are also subject to change and re-thinking by the will of the people or their rulers. Was there not a time when these laws were not in vogue?
Any enactment either by the king or the people’s representative body presupposes its faithful implementation by the legal machinery set up by the ruling powers. The objective is the welfare of one and all. Neither should the individual be an affront to the society nor the society to the individual. The legal process should not unduly punish anyone or allow any unjust escape. But in spite of all the safeguards and vigil exercised for the purpose, what comes to pass verily?
Are there not instances of actual murderers escaping legal indictment, and equally so, the innocent getting imprisoned? It is our own laws for which indeed we are the ‘creator’. We alone are responsible for their enforcement, under which such stunning errors and abuses take place. Where does the Lord of the universe come in here?
Is not a crucial debate ‘to remove capital punishment’ widespread in the world now? It clearly shows that the whole legal process along with its administration is an option and will of the humans themselves. Why should any outside agency, including the Lord, be then brought in to the scene?
Think a little further. Has not the world seen despotic rulers? And who could resist the plight or fate of the subjects under them? Even in democratic tradition, the one nominated or elected has sometimes appropriated unquestionable supremacy and power. Strangely enough, he could also gain ample followers and assistants who implicitly obeyed him and strove hard to spread such untold cruelty and destruction, which even today baffle all human standards of judgement. The concentration camps and gas chambers devised by such despots still remain a terror in the memory of the world!
How did all this come to pass? Can we link the hand of benign Providence with such atrocities and dispensations? If the whole episode were to reign in the domain of the Supreme Lord, none could have succeeded in perpetrating such tyranny at all any time!
In all such instances, the victims and their protagonists alone had to muster timely strength and organize the necessary resistance – in thought, word as well as deed – to bridle or thwart the trend of tyranny. But, was it without the consequent risks and tolls? The force as well as the counter force had equally to emerge from thoughts and actions of the humans themselves!
The Mahabharata provides many a striking example. Duryodhana, right from the beginning, was swelling with intolerance and hatred towards the Pandava cousins. Greed for kingdom and schemes for the destruction of his cousins verily robbed his conscience. Often his own father, Dhrtarashtra, more frequently the grandfather Bheeshma as also Vidura and the rest, warned and reprimanded him, condemning his evil designs. But wicked Sakuni (his maternal uncle) with some others stood to encourage Duryodhana, praising him and his plots.
The confrontation grew over decades. Duryodhana even tried to burn the Pandava brothers alive in the lacquer palace he specially built for the purpose! It was only due to Vidura’s prudence that the Pandavas were saved. Did the Lord have anything to do particularly anywhere? Like the sequences governing material existence, here too the natural mental laws and sequences alone did the work.
Duryodhana, like many other rulers of recent times, was given to his destructive tendencies. Krishna stood strongly against these and acted relentlessly to defeat his evil designs. It required decades of preparation, mobilizing ideological and martial support, before the Kurukshetra war became a reality. Did Krishna any time spare any effort? In upholding the cause of Pandavas and their righteousness, in agreeing to be the ambassador of peace for Yudhishthira, in arguing whenever necessary in favour of truth and justice, in clearing doubts and indecisions in the Pandavas’ minds, in taking timely safeguards at every crucial step, Krishna was acting fully as a human, facing every crisis and confrontation.
Duryodhana and his team moved with their svabhavas, tendencies, while the Pandava brothers acted according to theirs. Tendencies, wish and will ingrained in each alone acted in all these cases.
Bhagavad Gita is a comprehensive scriptural text. No other religion has perhaps disclosed such a paramount Truth so clearly – the truth that the Lord of the Universe does not cause ‘doership’, ‘enjoyership’ and ‘sufferership’, nor does He ‘link’ the actor with the result of his actions. The question then becomes inevitable: What is the seeker supposed to do with such ideas, and what next? Krishna’s compulsion as an exponent thus continues!
Human mind and psychology is the sole focus of religious life and pursuits. How to deliver timely strength, support and succour to the mind when needed? The harmless and harmonious manner in which this can be done, becomes the prime consideration of the religionist. And religious thoughts have been quite varied and colourful.
Rising above religious constraints
To hold God responsible for everything, to cultivate the wholesome attitude of surrender and dedication to Him, to ascribe omnipotence, omnipresence and omniscience to Him – all this has been very dear to the pious hearts. But can this mean that ‘the Truth’ about the whole subject should not be disclosed? The pious may remain innocent and even ignorant. Can the Wise pretend to be so? In fact, “there is no dharma superior to Truth” is the undeniable pronouncement of our culture!
Krishna thus has to discuss the truth as to how far does God really assume the status or position the religionists ascribe to Him. Does He ever come to the devotee’s rescue, especially in the matter of taking away or mitigating his (devotee’s) sin or evil, which threatens and haunts many a human mind and heart? The next verse gives a full answer to all these questions, making the exposition a revelation and a revolution alike. Any good seeker must begin to think deeply and set right his attitude, wherever it is wrong or insufficient:
The all-powerful Lord does not receive anyone’s sin or virtue. The right knowledge is covered by ignorance, and hence the beings are deluded.
Krishna discusses whether sin and virtue, which greatly haunt the human mind can be eliminated by giving them to the Lord, like passing a load from one’s head to another’s standing nearby. To think that it can be, and then to pray accordingly may be the temptation of the pious heart. In the eagerness to get rid of one’s sin, it is natural to ask the Supreme Lord to mercifully relieve the burden.
The prayer, as an act or expression of the praying devotee, may be quite justified. But when its true relevance is examined, we have to step into the realm of right understanding, where mere wish, will or emotional need cannot be allowed to rule. Sooner or later, the ‘mind-human’ will have to grow to the ‘buddhi-human’, the emotional devotee will have to grow to be a rational seeker.
At no time does the Lord of the Universe look into anybody’s sin! Nor does He intend to take it away. Is sin something like a material stock? Actions may be physical or visible, involving material organs and their functions. But their effects – namely, sin and virtue – on the actor are purely religious notions. They inhere only in the mind of the actor.
The mind feels stifled by the thoughts of sin, and how to dispose them of. When no way is found, devotional or religious refuge is sought and employed for the purpose. In the same strain, the Lord is associated with a number of qualities, all in tune with the needs of the human mind and heart. When desires rule the mind, the prayer to the Lord will naturally be to sanction and fulfil them. If it is fear, God is invoked to allay it. The whole process of prayerful submission implies more the devotee’s own needs and urges than the Lord’s true characteristics.
The afflicted mind does not stop to think whether its submission is correct or not. In the absence of proper reflection and inquiry, any idea may dominate and delude the mind. But can the thinking mind remain satisfied with such delusion?
In the material as well as spiritual life, is not the place of inquiry the same? Religion represents one field of thought. It takes up the subject of good and bad, righteous and unrighteous. It is natural for the mind to dwell on such considerations stifling the mind. When the need for redress becomes imperative, the mind looks to the Creator whom it holds in full esteem and adoration: “O Lord, remove my burden!” Who can deny the motivation?
Does not man act primarily by his subjective motivations and compulsions? The ultimate fruition of all acts is also subjective, be it relief, satisfaction or fulfillment. Think of any joy or contentment. Take the instance of a long-awaited childbirth. The event is physical, no doubt. The child born lies close by, separately. But the joy the event evokes is purely mental and emotional.
The need for joy and emotional support cannot be disregarded or undervalued. Devotees need an assurance or hope that as their mind feels stifled by the sins of what they have done, it can also get relieved by taking refuge in the Lord. While such piety and emotional needs are recognized for what they are worth, the deeper call of reason cannot be ignored. In fact, in any era, the evolution of human life is from unbridled emotion to well-refined reason and propriety. Has not Krishna himself stated in unmistakable terms the order of superiority in what constitutes human personality (3.42)?
Life is a constant interaction with the world. The world is, no doubt, stupendous, endless. Its variety is even more stupefying and imposing. All this apart, the fact remains that the interacting senses of the human body are ‘superior’ (parani) to the objects, however big the objects be, including earth, moon and sun. The mind, which marks the distinction from the material body, is ‘superior’ to the senses. And ‘intelligence’ is superior to the mind. Superior still is That – the Impersonal Immortal Soul, denoted by the term “I” in everyone (3.42).
This is how the pious notions about the Creator or the Supreme Reality come to be examined with reason, sooner or later. The rational norms for dealing with devotional or spiritual knowledge, propriety and righteousness cannot be different from those applied to other walks of life. An imagination may be useful to assuage a troubled heart. But sooner or later, the truth has to be understood to attain the final peace and contentment – the ultimate freedom or repose of mind and intelligence.
The fact, Krishna says, is that the Lord does not take away anyone’s sin. The truth is the same about virtue also. But why should Krishna include virtue also in this negation? The sinner will need to be redeemed of his sins and sinful effects. But will anyone similarly desire redemption from his virtue or merit (punya or sukrta) too? The point calls for deep introspection.
Krishna has been emphasizing right from the beginning the nirdvandva path. Earlier in this chapter (5.3), he has declared that through such a path one gets comfortably freed of all bondage. Sin and virtue constitute a dvandva. When one of them falls, the other is rendered baseless, non-existent. That is why staunch seekers, who yearn for moksha, pray to the Lord to take away both virtue and vice and make them free, liberated. This freedom from the bondage of virtue or the ego of good deeds and holiness, may not be relevant to non-seekers, ordinary devotees. But it has its great relevance to the life of a seeker. In fact, it is the backbone of true seeking.
If the Lord of the world neither accepts nor condones anyone’s vice and virtue, then where lies the hope of gaining freedom from the hold of sins? Is not such freedom imperative for everyone who fears sin? The question is very relevant, and Krishna has a clear reply:
Ajnanena-avrtam jnanam tena muhyanti jantavah Right knowledge is covered by ignorance and that is why beings get deluded.
Every idea that the human holds on to, is his own evolution. Why say much? Is not the alphabet man’s own formulation? Even now there are spoken languages which have no alphabet. In fact the alphabet was evolved much later than spoken language. In most cases, the language has been changed over the years, improved and modernized too. Everything about whatever we speak, hear, think and understand has its origin in we, the humans.
What can be the truth then about religious ideas, godly concepts and spiritual propositions? All have their origin in the human mind and intelligence. Their purpose too lies in man alone. Dissociated from mind and intelligence and disconnected from man’s own purposes, no word, idea, value or goal can be thought of. Any seeker must be sure of this. Lack of clarity, if any, must be removed by proper introspection.
As children begin to speak stumblingly, wrongly and incompletely, our mind and intelligence also stumble with their deliberations. The ideas, initially, may not be all correct. They may be incomplete, obscure and inadequate. Only in such a background the hunt for right knowledge becomes relevant. In every field of human pursuit and knowledge, this is so. Same is the case with spiritual or religious knowledge too. Everyone begins from somewhere, holds on to some ideas and then proceeds further to greater clarity and comprehensiveness. As he goes forward, new questions and doubts crop up. Then follows dedicated inquiry, which leads to right understanding.
Initially, the usual religious ideas begin to rule the mind, which is generally selfish, constricted and deluded. As the mind grows, those ideas prove inadequate, and even disturb the mind and intelligence. The plight compels inquiry. Mind analyzes, evaluates and ultimately seeks the presence of some Wise one as Krishna has said earlier (4.34). Then, seeking receives the right impetus.
Delusion, with all its constrictions, gradually drops. Clarity and knowledge dawn. Krishna describes the process in the next two verses:
Whose ignorance is removed by knowledge of the Self, that knowledge, like the sun, clearly reveals to them the supreme Truth. Knowing the supreme Truth, constantly feeling identified with It, taking It as the wholesome discipline and pursuit, making It as the supreme goal, they attain the state of birthlessness, their impurities and sinfulness being completely washed off by the Knowledge.
Ignorance means wrong or imperfect knowledge. The pursuit is to correct, improve and perfect it. If doership is not something ordained by the Creator, if sin and virtue also have no bearing upon Him, the whole subject needs to be thought of and reflected upon with a new focus.
Doership is only an attribute of the actor. Sin and virtue (punya and papa) also can be thought of only with respect to the actor’s actions. If the very doership is fallacious, what becomes of all these pious concepts about punya and papa? All seem to be groundless.
“Atmanah jnanena” says Krishna. Let the full knowledge of the atma, the Self, be sought, yearned for and gained. When that knowledge reigns in ample measure, all previous doubts and distortions leave. Knowledge shines ceaselessly as does sun in the cloudless sky. In that light, all notes of falsehood and contradiction flee. The supreme Truth about the world and the Creator, about oneself, the jiva, and about one’s birth and death, will be clearly revealed.
Is the knowledge of the Truth meant to stop all interactions, or it is to rid the mind of false ego or identity which breeds doership, enjoyership and sufferership in various forms? Thoughts and ideas become crystal clear, and with that all religious and spiritual doubts and delusions become extinct. The mind becomes light, free and poised.
For such a seeker, Krishna says, comes the great transformation – the full-fold jnana nishtha, which directly takes away all stains ignorance had caused and bred. Words and phrases Krishna uses to describe this nishtha are quite exemplary. They are quoted by staunch seekers and Knowers, setting the standard of wholesomeness the seeker should aim at.
Tad-buddhayah: Keep the supreme Truth constantly in the buddhi. Let not the intelligence swing or swerve from it (vyavasayatmika- buddhih referred to in the 2nd chapter). The buddhi should be wholesomely led by this supreme knowledge, keeping away all interceptions or deflections. To watch for any deflection and remove it becomes the constant practice for the sadhaka.
Tad-atmanah: As the Self is, so is the Knower. Knower’s real identity, he feels, is with the immortal unchanging Self, and not with the body or what all it does and brings about.
Tan-nishthah: To know the immortal nature of the Self clearly and well, and then to feel identified with It must itself be the nishtha – faithful discipline, refinement and sublimation. No other discipline or pursuit – be it a ritual, worship, or anything else – should have any appeal.
Tat-parayanah: The seeker should find this nishtha to be the final refuge and goal. He should not think of seeking or relying upon any other tradition, belief or faith – either for relief or for fulfillment of any desire. The sole source of everything lies within oneself. The inner alone causes and brings everything outer. This supreme reliance on one’s inmost essence is extremely significant. How to make it wholesome can be the crucial question.
Inner knowledge, inner identification, inner exclusiveness, inner refuge – it is no doubt a personal, direct wholesome pursuit and dedication. Its outcome is also immediate and wholesome.
All the dross and stain, wherever these were reigning, whatever were the causes behind, fully get washed off. Knowledge has the power, and with that alone one has to remove religious, spiritual and philosophical stains from the mind and intelligence. That is how the Wise ones become jnana-nirdhuta-kalmashah. It is not that the Lord comes and takes away anyone’s sins and virtues. The impurity or ignorance which gives rise to thoughts and ideas like sin, virtue and the like, gets dissolved in its very source, like darkness disappearing on the arrival of light.
The truth is that no agency from outside comes in to take away one’s sin or virtue. The feeling of sin itself vanishes, as unauthentic, unfounded and irrelevant. This happens when the buddhi (intelligence) takes to proper introspection and realizes the true nature of things. It is not God that redresses or removes the delusion. It is one’s own right knowledge about oneself that results in the extinction of delusion and all ideas associated with it. Krishna has explained the whole mystery, stressing that it is a sovereign, inner process of the seeker himself.
A discussion in Sreemad Bhagavatam is quite revealing and relevant to the subject. Prahlada, while praising the Lord, makes the following observation:
The Lord, whom devotees extol, is verily ever content and full with Himself, His qualities and nature. Although merciful to the core, He does not receive any praise, respect or offering which people, due to ignorance, make. Whatever respect or worship people offer to the Lord, verily acts for the offerers’ own sake, their own welfare. It is, in fact, like adorning one’s own face by looking at its reflection.
Devotion, from first to last, is an expression and pursuit of the devotee. It belongs to the devotee and subsists on him. But the devotees are prone to be totally unmindful of this basic fact. Hence their focus always lies in the external but invisible God. Devotees generally have neither time nor taste to listen to or reflect upon what God, whom they worship and adore so much, feels and thinks, if at all, about the subject.
Here the Bhagavatam author exhorts the devotees to introspect on how their prayers and worship become effective, and whether the one worshipped has verily anything to do in the whole process.
The Lord is nija-labha-purnah – full with Himself. He has no deficiency of any kind to be filled by another. He does not look for any kind of prayer, praise or offering from anyone. Will such a ‘full Lord’ ever think of any mana, ovation, including the offering of choice articles? What is then the purpose of the great, holy custom of praising the Lord colourfully and offering food, dress, bedding, cradle and other articles to Him?
The answer, Bhagavatam offers, is very simple. Those that do so lack the right knowledge. They are ignorant and deluded – avidushah. As long as the devotees think only of themselves, their needs and urges – irrespective of what the great Lord really is, such colourful worship and offerings will continue. Their ignorance about the Lord alone makes them resort to such multiple prayers and offerings. ‘Prabhuh na vrnite – the Lord does not receive’ is a very clear statement. One should not miss its relevance and import.
Does the worship have no effect then?
Sreemad Bhagavatam says: Devotional offering, though addressed to the Lord, results in enriching and empowering the worshiper, the devotee, himself. How? As one adorns his face reflected in the mirror! Though the adornment is made looking into the mirror and virtually on the reflection alone (prati-mukhasya), every bit of it falls on one’s own face (mukhasrih), not on the mirror or the reflection in it!
Any faithful act, done with earnestness and fervour, has its effect. That is in the very nature of actions and their actors. Devotional acts too, fulfil devotee’s own purpose and goal. It fulfils devotee’s prayers and needs.
What greater illustration is needed to bring home the truth? All the sahasra-nama (thousand names) addressed to Lord, are not meant to bring the least change in the character, feeling or intentions of the Lord. Through the utterance of every such name and word, what gets fortified, purified or embellished is the devotee’s own being.
People are, alas, very poor in thinking about the value and greatness of the gifts – namely their own body, mind, intelligence and heart – God has given them. They fail to use these gifts properly with purity, fervour and confidence. Without listening to the Wise or reading the lofty scriptures, they get lost in their own pet notions and fascinations. Reluctant to think deeply with straightforwardness and reason, or to follow the thoughts with sincerity, they prefer to revel in their own imaginations, hopes and delusions. Does it in any way alter the nature of Truth or the Lord?
The scriptures are there, but their voice is not heeded. Their exponents live and move compassionately, but are seldom followed seriously. Improper desires and fascinations take hold of the devotional mind. The intelligence too gets pledged in the muddle. What wonder then that devotees miss their own purpose, to remain denied of the supreme glory and fulfillment which true devotion promises!
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(From the Series Essential Concepts In Bhagavad Gita - Volume 3)
