विद्याविनयसंपन्ने ब्राह्मणे गवि हस्तिनि ।
शुनि चैव श्वपाके च पण्डिताः समदर्शिनः ।। ५.१८ ।।

vidyā-vinaya-sampanne brāhmaṇe gavi hastini |
śuni caiva śva-pāke ca paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ || 5.18 ||

Krishna began his instruction (in the 2nd chapter) with a distinct spiritual note. Along with it he also brought a strong philosophical message. He equally instilled into it a subtle, but pronounced, rational, yogic compulsion. But would all this be sufficient to make any message eternal and ever relevant, as Bhagavad Gita is acclaimed to be? To refuse to be ‘sectarian’ or merely ‘contemporary’ will not suffice to bestow the necessary sovereignty to make any gospel universal.

We are a greatly traditional people. The children of this land certainly imbibe from the mother’s breasts their strong religious leanings. Krishna’s words thus could not miss the sublime religious notes, in keeping with the culture of the land and its people.

Thus, he quotes Prajapati to make his call of yajna wholesome and authoritative, as yajna is the paramount prescription of the Vedas. He also equates detachment (asangata) with the lofty note of yajna, emphasizing such detachment to be a corollary of true (spiritual) enlightenment. All these he brought as additions to reinforce the strength and sublimity of his teachings. Krishna’s delineation of the sannyasa concept and ideal is also part of the same magnificence. You will constantly find in his instruction the repeated call to encompass all aspects of life and activity, as the means of wholesome sadhana and achieve the great expanse spiritual enrichment brings. It is through such beautiful amalgamation or blending of various cultural and refinemental notes that Krishna makes the message classical and eternal.

‘Equal vision’ of the Knower

But the most noteworthy part of the delineation is that Krishna, at times, definitely detaches his thoughts from all religio-philosophical moorings, making them stand sovereign with a solely worldly and secular front. This is the most exemplary note of Bhagavad Gita that should not be missed by anyone.

The nine verses in chapter V (18 to 26) that follow form such a distinct, independent set. Through them Krishna adorns spiritual sadhana with a completely secular framework – actional and interactional, interpersonal and behavioural, freed from all conventional religious and philosophical notes, making them rest solely upon routine, regular actions and involvement. Spirituality, he points out and assures, will still remain intact and the sadhaka will only get more and more enriched with the freedom and joy of true enlightenment. By this he absolves the true sadhaka from all religious injunctions and obligations.

Krishna cannot dissociate his yoga and spiritual exposition from its cardinal relevance, nay foundation, of samatva. He first made reference to it in the second chapter (2.48) while describing karma-yoga.

The Wise excel in looking with equanimity at the Brahmana endowed with learning and humility, the cow, the elephant, the dog as well as ‘the uncultured’.

The world is full of differences, variety, no doubt, in the sentient as well as the insentient. Our senses function merely to perceive the objects around and bring home their distinctions in all details and relevance. Otherwise the whole perceptional process will become meaningless and irrelevant. In such a background, Krishna pronounces a significant test for spiritual Wisdom – the endurance of equal vision.

Look at the seemingly most holy, endearing object. Look then at its full contrast, the most unholy detestable one. A cultured lofty brahmana on the one hand, and an uncultured, lowly person on the other. Or let it be the religiously worshipped cow or elephant, or the stray dog craving to eat faeces. The differences the eye brings, in all faithfulness and precision, should not invade the mind and heart. Deep inside, the unfailing note of sublime equalness (samatva) should reign in full splendour.

How is this possible? All bodies are without distinction, made of pancabhutas (five elements). In the elephant’s or in the dog’s body, as also in the brahmana and the lowly one, the composition is the same. The one Spirit has made all the bodies, with the panca-bhutas alone. So, bodywise there is no essential difference. Soul-wise also there is none. Wherefrom then come the differences at all? From the characteristic qualities, habits and behaviour! Are not all these a wholesome creation of sattva, rajas and tamas – the guna constituents of Nature? Thus in terms of the body as well as the Soul present in it, all beings are equal. And so far as the habits and ways are concerned, all are equally under the sway of gunas of prakrti. On which account then is one to be viewed differently from another?

The Wise-one thus see differences only in the sensory range. His mind and intelligence relentlessly bring forth their sublime note of oneness, uniformity or alikeness. This inner equalness reigns in parallel with the sensory vision, complementing it. It is like seeing the sun rising and setting, but knowing well it does not actually do so. We know it is a sensory perception due to earth’s rotation. Are not the two visions concurrent? Here too, the sensory external vision with its differences, and the inner perception of sameness reign without any mutual conflict or invalidation. This harmonious, non-conflicting samadarsana constitutes the essence and climax of true spiritual enlightenment and excellence.

The means for gaining this excellence depends solely upon interactional life. Do not allow the mind to be ruled by sensory differences. Instead, deny, overrule and sublimate them by proper introspection. The sensory interactions compel and facilitate such introspection. Thus the sadhana becomes more interactional than meditative or absorptional.

In such an interactional and sublimational enrichment is there any kind of religious ritual or ceremony? Is it not truly a comprehensive secular practice?

Krishna wants to emphasize this distinction, and by doing so, he is making the great spiritual teachings available to one and all, even to the ordinary worldly, non-religious people. That is why the gospel has ever since remained a universal one, with its unique appeal, inspiration and compulsion alike.