Articles for Saadhana

Harih Om Tat Sat. Jai Guru.

You know, our scriptures are presented in such a manner that they give a lot of room for crisscross thinking to engage your mind, imagination, reason, enquiry, propriety etc.  I don’t know whether in the world there is any kind of a writing or even a language in which texts and books written will require so much of deep study, introspection and interpretation. In some of the Sanskrit texts, there are some usages, phrases, some special constructions and the like, some of which are even now not understood by the best of scholars.

There was one scholar in Trichur, one Mr. Narayana Pisharady. At one time he was saying that, “I found a certain usage of Kalidasa, the great poet. I was thinking, thinking, thinking, I could not understand any meaning at all, could not make out the right meaning.” For decades it was there ununderstood and after some time there was a great scholar in Kerala, Kaikulangara Ramawarrier. He had given a certain meaning and he found it. So he said, “Till I found that, my mind was always in a state of doubt.” No language at all is perhaps in the world which can occupy your intelligence and imagination as much as this Sanskrit language can do. That is why our scriptural compositions require a lot of commentary, commentary, commentary. Sankara wrote commentary for Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita and Brahmasutras. And Sankara’s disciples wrote further commentary on what Sankara had written. It is called vārtika, the other is called bhāshya.

Why I am saying this? Today I thought I will tell you something about Bhagavad Gita. You must be knowing that I am discussing Bhagavad Gita just like VedaVyasa has written it. Krishna was a human, Arjuna was a human, Vyasadeva was a human. Krishna and Arjuna were in the same chariot, Krishna standing, Arjuna sitting. The Bhagavad Gita transpired as a dialogue. There was not so much of premeditation about the talk. The crisis and the challenge came up very suddenly, unthoughtfully and Krishna just responded to it. Arjuna started receiving and raising questions, questions were answered, Krishna sometimes took up the thread and gave an extension, like that it became 700 verses. It was not somebody trying to write a book in a thoughtful manner, not at all so. Or it could be that Krishna and Arjuna spoke and VedaVyasa presents it in a very literary manner.

But the basic fact that Krishna was a human, Arjuna was a human, Vyasadeva was a human should not be forgotten. He was a charioteer – who? Krishna. Arjuna was the master of the chariot. So the conversation began. Arjuna said, “I am suffering from extreme distress. My whole body is being scorched by the grief I have. Can you do something to comfort and cool me? Then only I can think of speaking, getting up or taking my bow and arrow, if at all.” Krishna spoke to him. Within a matter of moments, Arjuna became involved in the dialogue, his tears stopped and he became even an enquirer.

As an enquirer he sets before Krishna, “I am deluded. I am not able to think what is right and wrong. So accept me as a student, a disciple, become an instructor, a teacher and lead me to the path of everlasting goodness and felicity.” This much Arjuna said. So in a matter of moments, the aggrieved and confused Arjuna became clear enough at least to say that, “I am confused and you have to give me clarity and direction and I was supreme good of life.” He did not say, “I must win the war and you should help me.”

This is what he said and the conversation began. Krishna as an instructor started speaking to Arjuna. So his position was that of a teacher. After some time he started posing himself as the supreme God. “I contain everything, I support everything, everything is in me, I am in them but I am not in them, they are not in me.” All the philosophy, he was giving a personal note.

Then, this is what I wanted to tell you. In the eighteenth chapter Krishna makes an observation. What is that?

So far he was speaking first as a teacher, then as God himself, now he says referring to God in the third person. Iśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe Arjuna tiṣṭhati – God is seated in the heart of all beings. What does he do?

Bhrāmayan-sarva-bhūtāni yantrārūḍhāni māyayā – remaining within the heart of everyone he goes on revolving them. Something like a rack and pinion trying to revolve the wheel.  Sarva-bhūtāni yantrārūḍhāni māyayā.

So God he says is seated in the heart of beings and he is the person who revolves your senses, revolves your mind, revolves your intelligence, revolves the entire world. Now what should you do?

Tam-eva śaraṇaṁ gaccha sarva-bhāvena bhārata – Seek Refuge under Him, third person, by all your attitude, emotion and knowledge.

tat-prasādāt parāṁ śāntiṁ sthānaṁ prāpsyasi śāśvatam - By His blessings you will get supreme quietitude and an eternal abode.

See the three positions he is striking. First as a teacher and instructor, then as God himself and towards the end he says, God is seated in the heart. Seek refuge under Him. By the virtue of His blessings you will attain eternality and peace.

Then he again comes back to say, “I am the teacher and regard me as everything and I will give you liberation.” I would like you to think about these things. They are very, very enlightening. Nobody will think about these matters. Everybody will say, Bhagavan Krishna, Bhagavan Krishna. Which Bhagavan and which Krishna? We only know of one Krishna who was born of Devaki, bred by Yasoda, who grew up in Vrindavana initially, went over to Mathura, Vasudeva and the others gave him some education, like that he grew up.

So it is something that you have to understand. Think about it and our scriptures give us a lot of opportunity to introspect, enquire into, explore into and the more you think and the more you write and speak, people will love to hear you. “Oh, Oh Oh!” How many people have written commentaries on Bhagavad Gita! How many people have spoken and written on Srimad Bhagavatam! Everything! So this is something very characteristic and beautiful, very profound about our scriptures.

Harih Om Tat Sat. Jai Guru.