The Bhagavad Gita (18 page)

24-25  “Thus balanced in the face of pleasure and pain, these
yogis
are no longer a party to the machinations of the three forces within nature and in the body. They dwell always within Self,
Atma.
Dualities such as pleasure and pain, praise and blame no longer have any meaning. As they are established in this attitude of holy indifference, to them lumps of clay, stone, or gold are all the same. They have progressed beyond time, space, and circumstance, to the place where the mind is tranquil and ego disappears.

26  “The way to traverse the
gunas
is through steadfast practice of the three paths
(yogas)
I have prescribed: One, be thoroughly devoted to the Divine One
(bhakti yoga);
two, faithfully serve Divinity
(karma yoga);
and three, be constantly aware of this same Divinity in all others and in everything you do
(jnana yoga).

27  “Finally, beloved Arjuna, be always cognizant that I, the Divine One, am the foundation of both the manifested and unmanifested Godhead; I am the imperishable, immutable Brahman above all, who dwells within all as
Atma.
I am eternal truth and everlasting bliss.”

  1  Krishna pauses as though carefully weighing his next words. “Arjuna, let us now briefly delve into certain profound and esoteric truths regarding My most exalted nature and the highest goal of all, reaching My dwelling place. I will approach it through an analogy.

“Prakriti,
the world of matter, can be likened to the mythical
Ashvatta
tree, a giant, upside-down fig tree with its roots high in God and its branches stuck in the mud below. Like the aspen, its leaves are constantly shivering, always in movement; and like the banyan, it sends its branches downward toward the earth rather than upward — and those branches become firmly rooted in the earthly.”

  2  “The
Ashvatta,
referred to as the tree of worldly life, is comprised of higher branches, closer to God, and lower ones at the worldly level. The tree’s buds and quaking leaves are likened to human senses, fed by the saplike powers of nature, the
gunas.
The downward branches, stuck deep, are attachments that bind the individual soul
(jiva)
to earthly existence. To understand the nature of this upside-down tree is to see the inverted way that humans perceive life.

3-4  “Although the origin and totality of this tree of worldly life may be beyond the ken of humanity, know that its branches stuck in the world must be cut by the ax of nonattachment. When you sever these attachments an attitude of sacred dispassion comes, which is the prerequisite for spiritual vision. Then, spiritual intuition supplants your usual seeing, and your whole spectacle of the universe undergoes a dramatic change.

“But cutting the root bonds is not enough. After the ax has done its work, you must seek the supreme goal of life, liberation from the cycle of rebirth.

Atma) reach that Supreme Goal. When they are free of pride and have slashed their attachments, when they have dropped their craving for pleasure and aversion to pain, then these clear-seeing ones enter the light of the Supreme Goal.

  6    “That light is indeed bright beyond all light! Neither the sun, the moon, nor star, nor flash of lightning, nor fire lit on earth can shine in the self-luminescence of My realm. Once the individual soul achieves this
ultimate enlightenment he or she is forever with Me and is never restored to a separate existence.”

  7  “I will now explain more about the individual soul
(jiva).
The
Atma
(a part of Divinity) enters into a body in the womb before birth; thus it enters the world of matter. It draws around itself the five senses, with the mind as the sixth. The mind and senses, remember,
are prakriti,
a part of nature.

  8  “Like a breeze wafting the scent of perfume, the
Atma,
when it migrates from one body to the next, carries with it the mind and the senses. That means it brings along the intellect, the ego (sense of being a separate identity), and the lower mind; transferring thoughts and tendencies from previous lifetimes.

  9  “The individual soul
(jivatma),
because it has drawn the senses around itself, experiences the pleasures, desires, and pains of the world.

  10  “People who are unaware of the True Self Within
(Atma),
do not recognize this
jiva
in them that is using the senses. As the senses are limited to the mind level, they are incapable of comprehending
Atma,
which is above the mind.
Yogis,
however, possessing the eye of wisdom (intuitive faculty), do see Me, their
Atmic
Self within.

  11  “To obtain this ‘eye of wisdom’ you must do two things: surrender your ego and purify your mind. Only by accomplishing both of these will you behold Me. Those with only halfhearted surrender or only partially purified minds are not granted the capacity to see their
Atmic
Self.”

  12  “Remember, dear friend, that I am subtly inherent in everything,
everything
in the universe! I am the all-illuminating light of the sun, the light in the moon, the brilliance in fire — all light is Mine. I am even the consciousness of light, and indeed, I am the consciousness in the entire cosmos.

  13  “A minute drop of My primordial energy
(prana)
entering the earth supports and sustains all beings. I become the life-giving sap that nourishes all plants (including all healing herbs). In fact, it is My energy that gives rise to all forms of matter and energy.

  14  “I enter the bodies of living beings as the warmth of life. I am in their digestive systems as heat that turns food into strength. I am the in-going and out-going breath. These powers are aspects of My energy.

  15  “I am in all hearts. I reside throughout the cosmos as consciousness. From Me comes knowledge, understanding, and memory. I bring all these powers, and I also take them away.

“Try to contemplate the vastness and mind-boggling impermanence of the entire physical universe, Arjuna, and you just begin to gather an idea of My absolute permanence. By ruminating on the utter immensity of the cosmos you begin to receive hints of the incomprehensible scope of My omnipresence. I am present everywhere in all this vastness.

“I
am
beauty and bliss, Arjuna. It is I of whom all the different scriptures in the world speak. In fact, it is I who authored them.

  16  “There are two orders of beings in this world: mortal (temporal, perishable) beings and immortal (eternal, imperishable) Spirit. All creatures are perishable. The Spirit is imperishable.

17-18  “But distinct from and above
both
of these — higher than either mortals or Spirit, higher even than the highest deities — I exist as the Supreme
Atma,
the Immutable, Eternal, Imperishable Godhead. It is this utmost-level ‘I’ who pervades, and yet remains above and beyond all three worlds (earth, the in-between levels, and the heavens). As I transcend both the perishable and the imperishable, I am known in this aspect of Myself as the ‘Supreme Absolute Highest Self,’ or
Purushottama.

  19  “There is only one Reality, Arjuna, one! Those who know and see this Supreme level of Self in Me know and see the Truth. These enlightened souls devote themselves to Me with full hearts.

  20  “I have revealed this most profound and esoteric of all truths to you. The one who grasps this great secret will become enlightened; all duties and missions in life and the goal of millions of years of evolution will have been achieved. There is no higher knowledge. That one has done what has to be done.”

1-3  “I can see your continuing interest, old friend, and will now describe the distinctive qualities and practices of people with Divine tendencies and degenerate (sometimes called ‘demonic’) tendencies. First, the Divine traits:

“Fearlessness, purity (of heart and emotions), steadfastness (in pursuit
of Atma),
charity (alms giving), and control of senses.

“Sacrifice
(yajna,
the spirit of giving), study of scriptures, purification (austerity,
tapas,
literally to ‘melt’ and recast), straightforwardness (integrity, sincerity), and noninjury
(ahimsa,
doing no mental, physical, or spiritual harm).

“Also on the list of godlike traits are: truthfulness, absence of anger, renunciation (turning away from worldly attachments), equanimity, and not slandering.

“Compassion, not coveting (no desire), gentleness, modesty, not fickle (no fluctuations of mind), and vigor.

“Forgiveness, fortitude (courage, endurance, ‘putting up with’), cleanliness
(saucham,
clean mind and body), no hatred, and no pride.

“All those, Arjuna, are the cardinal virtues and tendencies that reveal the real nature of human beings: their Divinity.

4  “On the other hand are the degenerate qualities, behaviors and moods that render a person less than human:

“Pride (ostentation, hypocrisy), pompousness (arrogance), vanity (self-conceit), anger, harshness (coarseness, sternly judgmental), and absence of discrimination (between right and wrong, Truth and not-Truth, Real and not-Real).

5  “The ‘Divine’ behaviors on the longer list lead to liberation; the degenerate behaviors lead to more time on the wheel of death and rebirth. Do not be concerned, however, Arjuna, as your seeds are good; you have brought Divine qualities into this lifetime.

6  “Look more closely at degenerate behavior — not to dwell on negatives, but to guard against them.

7  “Degenerate beings, because they have no sense of truth or right conduct
(dharma),
do not know what they should or should not do. There is no purity in them.

8  “If asked why they carry on in such a detestable way they argue that the scriptures are a lie, that God is dead or never existed, that the universe is a dog-eat-dog place with no moral foundation. They contend that what exists in the world is merely the outcome of lust, or is just an accident.

9  “Holding this distorted viewpoint in their minds, they become enemies of the world and serve a negative purpose. Without thinking of the consequences of their actions, they cause destruction and suffering. If left alone to their self-indulgence they would heedlessly destroy the world.

10  “Stuffed with endless, insatiable desires, they are arrogant, vain, and prideful. They live in delusion and chase blindly after evil (those things that lead to suffering).

11  “Beset with dreads, they assume their fearfulness will n cease only upon their death — which is a fallacy, as the same mind will be reborn into a like situation. They are blindly certain that gratifying their own lust is all there is to life.

12  “They are bound on all sides by scheming, greed, and n anger because, being hurtful themselves, they attract hurtful people to themselves. They amass and hoard wealth for the sole purpose of indulging senses and whims. Grabbing for riches governs their every thought and move.

13-15  “They arrogantly proclaim, ‘I wanted this or that and I got it! Tomorrow I will get more. These riches are mine, and I will spend my life making more and more. I have destroyed this and that enemy, and I will get rid of the rest of them. I am indeed mighty. I am
ruler of my domain. I love having things of the world. I am successful, powerful, and rich. Who can compare to me? I will buy my way, making lavish contributions to the poor and weak, and revel in my own goodness.’ That is how far blindness and ignorance has eaten into their soul.

16  “These degenerates, bewildered, trapped in their addiction to sense gratification, are stuck in the spider-web of delusion. They spiral downward into the filthy, painful hell of their own foul minds.