As before, Krishna takes up the question and answers in a brief but fundamental manner. Arjuna’s question virtually means: How should one look at the plural, multiple notes that human nature evinces? How to evaluate the fondness, fascination and attunement it displays in religious life, so that the seeker may incorporate the right and eliminate the wrong?
Maybe Arjuna, in particular, wants to know how such people as are devoid of any allegiance to scriptural injunctions, but are sufficiently imbued with śraddhā (assiduous application to what is being done) are to be rated in terms of spiritual merits, qualities.
Here Arjuna clearly gives a provision to those ordinary people who have spiritual inclinations, but who are not generally religious. Does spirituality, he seeks to know, embrace them also equally? Is there any spiritual reward or salvation for them?
The three-fold śraddhā
Krishna clarifies:
Śraddhā of the embodied is nature-born; it is of three kinds – sāttvika, rājasika and tāmasika. Listen about it. Śraddhā of all is according to their essence. Man is an embodiment of śraddhā. Whatever one’s śraddhā is, he verily is that.
Krishna’s answer is quite fundamental. It is comprehensive too. The attention and application people generally display, he says, are threefold. The differences noticed are quite natural, meaning nature-born. It is like the varṇa he discussed earlier. Variety being inexorable with nature, the three-fold śraddhā is also inevitable in whatever is born of nature and sustained by it.
Krishna looks at everything and all, no matter whether it is a quality, trait or other features, as governed by Nature. And sattva, rajas and tamas constitute Nature. In other words, the three-fold classification found in all other spheres of creation also applies to śraddhā (attention and application), about which Arjuna enquires.
Man is embodiment of his śraddhā alone
In addition, Krishna makes a very significant statement. Śraddhā, he says, is something inseparable from one’s nature or inner constitution. In fact, every one is what his attention is. It is in and through attention and application that an individual grows, expresses himself and brings about all outcomes in his life. Whatever level and degree of attention one has, that indeed will be his actual worth, skill and ability, and consequently the quality of effort and resultant attainment.
Many people look at the same object, alive or non-alive. It is the function of eyes to see. But what follows makes all the difference. How much, how well, how deeply, how intently is this seeing done? This question does not relate to or stop with the eyes alone.
The inner mind employs the eyes. And the mind itself has intelligence to direct it. It is the mind and intelligence that make all the difference. What the eyes see becomes a further subject of study, analysis and finding.
People differ not so much in their eyes and what they do. The difference is wrought by the inner levels. All are born on the same earth and surrounded by the same pañcabhūtas. The sights outside are the same for all. But the thoughtfulness and observation each succeeds in making, will not be alike at all. And this results in the assorted nature of human ability, skill and worth in any walk of life. The degrees of attention and application found in people are strikingly variant, different. The entire research and development process revolves around the intensity of attention and application of the people involved in the pursuit.
So it means quite a lot when Krishna clarifies that an individual is made up of his attention and application alone. Arjuna himself illustrates this truth. He gazed at the war and warriors. What all thoughts crept into his mind and how suddenly did he become a nervous wreck, doubtful and reluctant to fight at all! The more striking, revealing part of the plight is the discomfiture the sight of Bheeshma and Drona caused. At the same time, he regards them as Mahānubhāvas, great ones noted for their exemplary righteousness and behavioural majesty.
Was this not then a sudden, unthoughtful reaction? Is it that the war was unanticipated? Were not Bheeshma and Drona expected to side Duryodhana? Being unassailable in their valour, it is natural that they both stood in front, leading the enemy camps. What then was there for Arjuna to feel so aghast, fearful and burst into tears?
Did not Arjuna think about the eventuality earlier? Why did he miss this crucial possibility? If he had known, how did his mind wage such a tempest of doubt, fear and reluctance, considering the fact that he and others had accepted the challenge from Bheeshma and raised reciprocal war cries?
What further? Are not Bheeshma and Drona icons of morality, ethics and righteousness, to be worshipped and emulated with adoration? If so, should not their presence as leaders of the opposite army signal Arjuna about the inevitable propriety of the confrontation?
What was quite proper for them should have been no different for Arjuna, their student and follower. Instead of arousing turmoil and fear, the presence of these venerable stalwarts should have instilled a higher dimension of righteousness and its supreme goal! The war acceptable to them should have been viewed alike by Arjuna, their disciple. Conceding its place and propriety, he should have accepted the fate and proceeded accordingly. At best he could have sought either from them or Krishna himself any clarification or enlightenment in the matter, for his confirmation.
Obviously, his vision was clouded, constricted. He failed to rise above the petty notions and feelings the mind is known to present in and out of time and occasion. His observation and analysis were not deep, proper or wholesome.
But when Krishna put forth his critical comments, disproving Arjuna’s claims, views and resolve, the reluctant mind became receptive and the intelligence became sharp, rational and enquiring. The śraddhā, he perhaps lacked till then, graced him and he began to appreciate Krishna’s viewpoint.
Attention – the focus of spiritual pursuit
The entire Bhagavad Gita dialogue is nothing but a product, an outcome, a resultant of Krishna’s śraddhā, attention and application.
In showing that the situation was not anything gloomy, but revealing, in making Arjuna see the eternal and wholesome relevance of human life, its mission and goal, Krishna displays a mastery and magnificence, which shine as exemplary even today.
How the one factor, namely śraddhā (attention), can mean so much of difference in making the mind dejected or delightful, is adequately brought home by Arjuna’s confrontation and subsequent enlightenment. So when Krishna says that a human is verily what his śraddhā (attention) makes him, it is a great statement of truth, revelation and assurance.
Spiritual seekers and Knowers will generally be dispassionate and indifferent to the world and worldly life. It is an inevitable part of their inspiration and evaluation. But can these qualities in any way imply or advocate inattention on the seeker’s part towards anything whatever? Krishna’s verdict on attention, śraddhā, should speak volumes in the matter.
Śraddhā is the first and last word in any field of knowledge, both in gaining and expressing it. It should be even more so in the context of spiritual wisdom. If attentiveness is there, it will express itself in all the fields of one’s life.
The Soul is present in everybody. Its presence alone activates the senses and initiates thoughts, emotions and knowledge. Without the Soul, neither the body can exist and function nor the mind, intelligence and ego, manifest. Yet, why is it that every one senses the body but misses the Soul? Even decades of effort and austerity sometimes fail to clinch the search for the Soul. Why?
It is sheer lack of attention to be sharp and focused on the goal. There is a general feeling that to be a spiritual person, seeker or Knower is to delight in unkempt hair, unclean dress and generally be careless about anything. Can there be a greater travesty?
Knowledge is noted for its sublime effects. It brings orderliness, rhythm, discipline and refinement at all levels. Only then it can make its votary worthy and effective in his interactions and achievements. In the name of knowledge, how can one be unclean, disorderly and disorganized? Attention, śraddhā alone brings knowledge, retains and employs it efficiently whenever and wherever needed.
It is true that spiritual seekers and votaries form an amazing assortment. That is because spirituality is amenable to one and all. So, all kinds of people, given to manifold habits and ways fill the spiritual arena. Let this be so.
But that is no reason for a sublime Knower to be shabby, haphazard and unrefined in the matter of living, moving, interacting, dressing and the like. Janaka sat on the throne and ruled Mithila, surrounded by knowledgeable ministers and advisers. He was yet a Knower.
What about Krishna, the Bhagavad Gita Instructor? Can there be a better example? To think deeply, get at right conclusions, be able to express and give effect to them in an appealing and rational manner calls for considerable attention and application. So attention or śraddhā is something that cannot be ignored or sacrificed by the human at any time. It is all the more so in the case of seekers and Knowers.
Think of the qualities Krishna has enumerated about the sthita-prajña and sthitadhī in the 2nd chapter, about the excellent devotee in the 12th and about the Knower in the 13th chapter. To grasp them with rectitude and reflect upon and embody them in actual life, how much of attention is called for! In fact, the very jñāna-sādhanā is a process of attention and assiduous application. That is why it becomes dear and rare too.
How well have the Upanishads declared:
Self-realization is a process of hitting at the Self within, like an arrow at its target. Praṇava or ‘OM’ is the bow for the purpose. One’s own mind is the sharp arrow to be fixed on it. And without carelessness, with unflinching attention, it has to be shot at Brahman, the inner target. Flying fast, the arrow will hit the target, penetrate it and be one with it.
Mind is present in all. Brahman also is there intact. All that is needed is to use this mind and hit at Brahman, the Self. To hit the closest target, with one’s own mind, should not become difficult at all. Yet, rarely this happens. What but attention can bring about this inner mastery?
Three-fold worship & practices
Krishna then distinguishes the śraddhā by tracing it to the type of worship people take to, so that Arjuna can understand how sāttvika, rājasika and tāmasika śraddhā differ from one another:
Those of sāttvika orientation worship devas (angels), rajasika ones worship yakṣas and rākṣasas (celestials and demons), and others of tāmasika temperament worship pretas (spirits of the dead) and bhūta-gaṇas (manes and ghouls).
Devas, angels, are considered to be pure beings, innocuous and helpful to seekers. They are given only to the good of their votaries. Yakṣas and rākṣasas are different, reciprocating whatever the worshippers offer. In the process, a measure of sublimation of desires may also transpire. Bhūtas and pretas are of still lower denominations, representing animosity, crudeness and belligerence. Worshipping them is generally with a view to harm someone inflicting bad plights and fates.
By categorizing the three kinds of worship in this manner, Krishna highlights where lies the real welfare. Human nature at its worst can bring about any extent of havoc and downfall to another. People often resort to rājasika and tāmasika worship, in their urge to bring harm to others.
Krishna adds:
Understand those people to be of demonic resolve and nature, who, resorting to methods not sanctioned in the scriptures, perform cruel austerities, full of hypocrisy and ego, driven by passions and desires. Such senseless people torture the bodily constituents and also the indwelling supreme presence.
Scriptures are the outcome of incomparably great search and research into human psychology and intelligence. The findings they set forth so fervently and lovingly are true and hence eternal. They have the supreme purpose of revealing to humanity the powers and potentials hidden in the mind, intelligence and heart.
Scriptural pronouncements are verily meant to inform, correct and help seekers in discovering their own insufficiencies and then make them strive wholesomely to redress these and attain heights of goodness, elevation and expansion. If such benevolent and benedictory scriptures are disregarded, the effects can only be colossally disastrous. Krishna wants to avoid such an eventuality. And so, he warns all concerned about the dangers befalling inattention to scriptures. He tells us to which extent can people be misled, if the place and purpose of scriptures is not evaluated or understood.
In the name of austerity, many wrong and harmful steps are taken up by virulent people. Fostering pride, egotism, coupled with ambition, possessiveness, the worst of austerities are taken up. And what is the outcome? Such austerities only stifle them. The ill-directed austerities only serve to torment the elemental body.
The austerity-mongers may persuade themselves to believe that such torturous austerities are necessary to please the respective deities. But, in reality, they have only one effect of self-torment and self-persecution. Claiming to propitiate the higher sources, they hurt, harm and injure the Indwelling Lord Himself. Whatever such people may adduce, they are to be regarded as villainous in their nature and resolve.
Either in religion or in philosophy and spirituality, nothing is implied calling for torturing oneself or another. Instead, it should be always a pursuit of harmless goodness, benignness and elevation. Bhagavad Gita emphasizes this point unambiguously.
Three-fold Austerity – Sāttvika, Rājasika and Tāmasika
Having defined śraddhā, attention, as three-fold, on the basis of the three guṇas, Krishna points out the manner in which delusion works in misguided seekers. He clearly denounces their passionate and hateful indulgences in the name of spiritual austerities. Krishna also categorizes eating and food preferences into Sāttvika, Rājasika and Tāmasika. This categorization he extends to include the sphere of Yajña, Dāna and Tapas in general.
Nothing, merely on the basis of its appearance, can be adjudged as good, benevolent or elevating. In human life, mind has greater place than the body and senses. More than what is being done, the attitude and aim that shape the actions are the important considerations. One is what his or her mind is.
Krishna has already stated: śraddhā-mayo’yam puruṣaḥ (man is what his śraddhā is). Sensory actions and indulgences bring their qualitative divisions in the mind. Krishna spells out the differences distinctly, though briefly. But understand that this is a spiritual classification. It has to be viewed accordingly.
Three-fold food preferences
Krishna now elaborates on the types of food preferred by people of various temperaments.
Foods relished by sāttvika people promote longer life, inner brilliance, bodily strength, health in general, happiness and contentment. They are delicious, soft, sustaining and hearty.
The moment the word ‘sāttvika’ is mentioned, many are apt to think of something hard, frugal, rare to attempt and far from nourishing. It is not so. Sāttvika food is the best form of food for the tongue and stomach as well as for providing nourishment and fervour.
See how Krishna describes it. Sāttvika food promotes long-life, intellectual vigour, physical and mental strength, well-being, contentment and joy. Even with lesser intake, sāttvika food provides adequate nourishment to preserve physical and mental health and strength. Can food provide inner, mental strength too? – one may wonder. Yes, it can.
Taste is an important factor in eating. Many are after taste and hence after many dishes and delicious delicacies. So far as sāttvika food is concerned, its qualities are the most pleasing and beneficial. Sweet, soft, sustaining, pleasing to the mind – thus goes the description by Krishna.
Rasyāḥ is the first word Krishna uses. It means delicious. What more do taste-mongers need? To cook tasty and Sāttvika food is an art, a unique excellence.
Digestion generally begins from the mouth. This will be possible only when the food is masticated well. Salivary glands will be stimulated only when the food is delicious. Sattva guṇa emphasizes this quality. Anyone would like, nay even prefer this strongly. The feeling that to be sāttvika is an exception, that it is very hard and troublesome, is not correct.
The next quality is that the food should be soft, easy to chew. Krishna also states that it is not so much the volume that matters as the quality. Nourishment each item provides should be substantial, so that the effect will endure for quite some time. Sāttvika food is quite sustaining. The food should be not only stimulating to the tongue, but also pleasing.
This means that sour or spicy condiments are to be used in such judiciously moderate proportions that the taste of each vegetable or cereal still remains pronounced. Condiments are but additives to the principal items. This makes cooking an art. Great attention is needed to cook well, deliciously, so that the food is conducive to proper digestion. In selecting the pulses and vegetables, cutting them to sizes, cleaning them well, boiling the items with regulated fire, attention counts most. The mind and attention of the cook can be discerned from the items he has prepared.
Further points Krishna brings forth are about the outcome of sāttvika food on the body, mind, intelligence, etc. Besides ensuring longevity, sāttvika food makes the intelligence sharp and subtle. It generates brilliance and strength to undertake sustained work. Comfort and contentment are the other qualities.
When the physical and mental qualities provided by sāttvika food are considered, it should become the first choice for any discreet seeker. Krishna then describes the contrasting characteristics of rājasika and tāmasika food. Bitter, acidic, salty, hot, pungent, dry and burning – giving rise to discomfort, grief and disease – such are the qualities of rājasika food. People who generally take such food, foster and develop rājasika tendencies and temperament.
Tāmasika food consists of items which are left over after eating, stale, tasteless, insipid, putrid, polluted and the like. To categorize food like this into three kinds, dwelling mainly upon the sāttvika features is a great contribution to the science of food and nourishment. The effort of the seeker must be to get tuned to sāttvika food, using minimum of condiments, spices, and such other additives.
Three-fold ritualistic sacrifices
He then speaks about yajñas, the ritualistic sacrifices. Sāttvika sacrifices are those done without any eye on the results promised. All yajñas by themselves need not be holy. Only when done with the holy attitude they become so (17.11). The holy attitude consists in taking the mind away from any specific promised result or outcome. The dis-identification (asakti) that should govern performance of all such holy acts has been the subject of Bhagavad Gita right from the beginning (3.19).
Whenever the mind of the performer is linked to the result of any yajña, it becomes rājasika. Also, ostentation while performing any rituals makes the whole performance rājasika and inferior (17.12).
Yajñas or sacrifices, however holy they may be, if done disregarding scriptural pronouncements, giving no importance to mantras, divine recitations, forsaking śraddhā, refusing to give the necessary consideration and rewards to Vedic scholars and priests, are undoubtedly tāmasika and only adverse outcome will follow such performance.
Now Krishna goes on to specify the three levels and kinds of tapas, austerity – bodily, oral and mental. It is a significant pronouncement by Krishna.
Human being is not merely a bodily entity. Body is at best a material aggregate. The power that has shaped it, organizing various functions is far above matter and materiality. That is the one called Soul or Self. Mind, intelligence and ego are but the Soul’s expressions. The biological aggregate, called the body, is merely a complex instrument in the hands of the inner mind and intelligence. The inner counterpart is the basic, fundamental, in human personality. The external body just serves it.
For spiritual austerity to be effective, it has to be deep and wholesome. And for this, it has to involve inner faculties too. By doing so, the pursuit becomes constant, consistent and co-existential with the daily interactions.
Physical austerity is rather simple, easy to pursue. Oral too is likewise. But to enfold the mind in the pursuit of austerity is not so. Nonetheless, austerity will serve its real purpose only when it engages the mind in full measure.
Austerity – physical, oral and mind-based
Krishna outlines the pursuit of such a wholesome austerity, which alone will help spiritual seeking:
Worship of celestial deities, brāhmaṇas, Teacher and the Wise, being given to cleanliness, straightforwardness, and practice of celibacy, non-violence – all these together constitute bodily austerity.
Worship is very common. But normally it is more a bodily involvement. Obeisance to the supreme Reality, however colourful, will not fetch fulfillment unless it is allied, says Krishna, with a parallel note towards Brāhmaṇas, Teachers and Knowers.
Krishna was a kṣatriya. Why should he still speak so significantly about Brāhmaṇas? Brāhmaṇas are a select group who devote their life exclusively to spiritual study, austerity and the unique enrichment these bestow. Some amongst them become so exclusive in their pursuit that they imbibe the worth and integrity to impart knowledge to others around. In fact, these are the ones who come to be known as Teachers.
The society always has the need for such exclusive lovers of wisdom, with the added competence to impart it effectively to the students. Any society, to remain resourceful, should seek such esteemed Teachers to lead its thoughts, aspirations and goals.
Knowers of Truth, sthita-prajñas, sthita-dhīs and guṇātītas are the chosen ones who embody and reveal the greatness of the Soul as well as the magnificence of spiritual wisdom. All of them together constitute the spiritual backbone of our land and people.
Bodily austerity does not end with routine external worship. Purity of senses, mind, intelligence and ego forms an integral part of the worship process. Straightforwardness, scrupulously avoiding stealth and hypocrisy are also indispensable. Continence or celibacy forms another important limb. It is wrong to think that celibacy is exclusive to the unmarried. Married people must also abide by progressive, graduated celibacy as a healthy discipline and austerity. This will enhance the worth and pleasantness of married life.
Non-violence is another equally important part of austerity. To kill, hurt or otherwise harm or intercept any form of life is not permissible to the sound tenets of worship. All the practices Krishna details should equally be included and pursued faithfully and assiduously. Only then the bodily part of austerity will be wholesome and healthy.
Now he goes to list the constituents of oral austerity:
Non-irritating, truthful and pleasing speech, reading of Scriptures and performing spiritual practices – these are the constituents of oral austerity.
Human life distinguishes itself by the scope and art of speaking. An individual’s worth and excellence are expressed in the words and language he uses. Character, refinement, elegance and the like are revealed in one’s speech. Good words imply great refinement and development. Bad or wrong words, on the other hand, can bring any extent of havoc.
Right from childhood, one should be trained to speak with restraint, dignity and elegance. Any inclination to hurt or harm others or insinuate another should be carefully avoided. Like many bad habits, urges for wrong words and speech are often deeply ingrained in one’s personality. The seeker should be watchful and discreet to unearth these latent notes in him and eliminate them effectively.
The discipline to be adopted is to avoid all expressions that will be hurting, harmful or insulting. Words and statements should amply represent and reveal the facts every time. No concealment or distortion should be sought or nurtured. At no time should one offend another.
On hearing one’s words, it should not be necessary to hunt for facts. This means one’s words have to be straightforward and self-revealing. Even that is not sufficient. To speak factually is one thing. But to do so without disturbing and displeasing others is another. Both should be ensured. That will constitute the right, noble oral austerity. In other words, the speech should reflect what is in the speaker’s mind. It must also be wholesome and readily serve its purpose.
Reading and learning the Scriptures and such other compositions, practising japa and the like are also part of oral austerity.
Cheerful disposition, gentleness, practice of silence, self-control, and purity of attitude and emotions – these are the limbs of mental austerity.
Inner austerity consists first of cheerfulness, which alone renders the mind a cherished possession. To be morose, irritable or crestfallen is wrong. Spirituality denounces it outright. Constant effort should be made to keep the mind composed. For cherishing and possessing a cheerful mind, no external glory or splendour is needed. Softness in general, safeguarding against all kinds of extremes and exuberance – these form another constituent of mental austerity. To be given to the practice of silence is also equally necessary. Self-control and moderation also contribute to inner austerity. This means the senses, mouth, mind and intelligence should all be sufficiently restrained, nay sublimated, to work with integration, so as to reveal the best spiritual qualities.
Purity in attitude and aim is equally indispensable. There will be many instances and occasions in which the inner attunement and intention will alone be decisive. The seeker should not lack or fail to ensure this part every time. After all, ultimately it is the mind and its stand that always counts.
Manaḥ kṛtam kṛtam kāryam, na tu deha-kṛtam kṛtam
– is a great dictum. It says that whatever is done at the mind level alone is verily done, and not what is getting done bodily.
The entire Bhagavad Gita gospel seeks to take away from Arjuna’s mind the wrong notion of sin and harm about the impending war and install in him the higher vision of non-doership and world-benefactorhood (sarva-bhūta-hite-rataḥ). It is thus an inner wholesome voyage in the mind, by the mind and of the mind, as will be seen later, especially in the concluding verses of the Text.
All these elements, it is obvious, are not exclusively religious. At the same time, true religion insists upon these. Characteral and behavioural goodness, amiability, refinement and the like can at any time stand independently. This is where spiritual life and sādhanā shine with distinction. While religious practices are always directed to an external God, spiritual disciplines and refinement are always self-based, self-subsisting. This difference should be carefully grasped.
By providing this kind of three-fold classification and explaining austerity as bodily, oral and mental, Krishna has made it possible for the committed seeker to analyze and identify his own inner deficiencies and strive to redress them.
The exposition is not aimed so much at analyzing others around as ascertaining one’s own inner constitution and striving to improve it. At the same time, no seeker need be repelled by seeing anything or anyone unpleasant around. True spiritual wisdom is meant to equip, enrich and empower the mind with ample resilience so as to assimilate any kind of worldly trait or input.
Krishna’s analysis of human life and pursuit based on the three guṇas is a distinct contribution to the subject of spiritual wisdom and its interactional display. While this chapter is fully devoted to it, in the next, the concluding one also Krishna makes a variety of additions. He states that Knowledge, Knower, activity, Will (dhṛti) and the like are also governed by the three-fold (guṇa-traya) constitution of Nature. Seekers will do well to pay special attention to the subject, so that they will be able to evaluate themselves as well as understand the surrounding complexity.
***
(From Essential Concepts in Bhagavad Gita - Volume 5)