Note to the readers: I would suggest that readers see my earlier blog on the the Gita before they read this.
As mentioned in an earlier blog, the Bhagwad Gita is one of the greatest literature in spirituality. I am attempting below to put down my understanding of some of the shlokas.
I :
Dhritaraashtra Uvaacha:
Dharmakshetre kurukshetre samavetaa yuyutsavah;
Maamakaah paandavaashchaiva kimakurvata sanjaya.
Dhritarashtra said:
1. What did the sons of Pandu and also my people do when they had assembled together, eager for battle on the holy plain of Kurukshetra, O Sanjaya?
This is the first shloka of the Gita and sets the stage for the Divine teachings. The great Mahabharatha war is just about to begin and the blind Kind Dritarashtra asks his charioteer Sanjaya to tell him what is happening on the battlefield where his sons are fighting against the sons of his brother Pandu. This is the historical setting of the war.
In symbolism, Dritarashtra stands for the mind which is blind. The mind can never make decisions and depends on the intellect for guidance. Dritarashtra was married to Gandhari who to respect the fact that her husband was blind, blindfolded herself. Though it may seem an act of sacrifice, symbolically, Gandhari who had eyes is the one who could have guided the blind king. She was the intellect. Now the mind(Dritarashtra) was wedded to Gandhari(blind or intellect covered). With them were born the 100 sons who were known as Kauravas. symbolically the union of the mind and a blind intellect creates the 10 offsprings each of the 5 action organs and the 5 sense organs. These 100 offsprings include jealousy, anger, hatred, cunningness etc. So on one side of the historical battle, we have the 100 kauravas. Within each of us since we have a mind which is rarely guided by the intellect, we have 100 vices waiting to surface at any time and lead us to destruction.
On the other side, Dritarashtra's brother was Pandu a noble and brave king who had 5 children who were known as the Pandavas. Symbolically Pandu represents pure intellect. His 5 sons stand for (a)what is the righteous thing to be done, (b)what are the unjust things to be avoided, (c)self control over senses, (d)the life principle which connects the inner consciousness to the mind/body/intellect complex and (e) Calmness. Within each of us we have the 5 good qualities that will lead us on path to liberation.
So the great battle historically is between the cousins. Symbolically it is a daily fight within ourselves pitting the 100 vices against the 5 virtues. We fight a daily battle along 3 planes. At the grossest level, it is a fight between what is right and what is wrong as defined by morality. When I see a beautiful woman and desire her, the first barrier is the moral barrier. Though morality is dictated by society's norms and cannot be an accurate guide to right behavior, it is still a vital barrier. Whereas marrying several women was acceptable in the earlier times, in current times it would be seen as immoral. So every action that we perform where there is a potential for conflict, the morality driven intellect fights against the potential immoral activities of the desire driven mind.
The next battle is at a higher level. There is no question of morality here. The fight is based on pure logic and understanding of the source of happiness. All of us desire happiness and keep searching for it without realizing that the source of our happiness is within. Owing to primordial ignorance we are distanced from the Truth of ourselves and just as we feel a void when we leave our home and go elsewhere, there is an inner void because of separation from Truth and we look to fill this void by getting sense objects from the material world. So it is a daily battle between the sense driven inclination to look outside for happiness versus the True knowledge that happiness is within.
The third battle is at a spiritual plane. All of us are nothing but the projection of the supreme Lord. Assuming that in my dream I meet Aiswarya Rai and fall for her, it is absurd since the character of me in the dream and Aiswarya Rai are nothing but my own mind projecting both the characters. So how can one part of my mind fall or desire another part of the mind. It appears so illogical. Similarly since we are all nothing but projections of the Lord, it is absolutely illogical for us to desire anything else because in reality i am everything and everything is mine. So this is a daily battle wherein i have to fight the ignorance feeling of duality wherein the world is separate from me versus the knowledge driven feeling of non-duality where I am the world and everything is me.
This then is the historical, symbolical and spiritual background to the Bhagwad Gita.
As readers may be aware, 3 of my books on spirituality are available on Amazon.com.
I invite readers of my blog to try any of the books and give me feedback so that I can make changes in the next edition.
1. My Humble Understanding Of Spirituality
My Humble Understanding Of Spirituality
2. Attain Infinite Bliss
Attain Infinite Bliss - A Spiritual Guide
3. The Spirit Of Spirituality
The Spirit Of Spirituality
As mentioned in an earlier blog, the Bhagwad Gita is one of the greatest literature in spirituality. I am attempting below to put down my understanding of some of the shlokas.
I :
Dhritaraashtra Uvaacha:
Dharmakshetre kurukshetre samavetaa yuyutsavah;
Maamakaah paandavaashchaiva kimakurvata sanjaya.
Dhritarashtra said:
1. What did the sons of Pandu and also my people do when they had assembled together, eager for battle on the holy plain of Kurukshetra, O Sanjaya?
This is the first shloka of the Gita and sets the stage for the Divine teachings. The great Mahabharatha war is just about to begin and the blind Kind Dritarashtra asks his charioteer Sanjaya to tell him what is happening on the battlefield where his sons are fighting against the sons of his brother Pandu. This is the historical setting of the war.
In symbolism, Dritarashtra stands for the mind which is blind. The mind can never make decisions and depends on the intellect for guidance. Dritarashtra was married to Gandhari who to respect the fact that her husband was blind, blindfolded herself. Though it may seem an act of sacrifice, symbolically, Gandhari who had eyes is the one who could have guided the blind king. She was the intellect. Now the mind(Dritarashtra) was wedded to Gandhari(blind or intellect covered). With them were born the 100 sons who were known as Kauravas. symbolically the union of the mind and a blind intellect creates the 10 offsprings each of the 5 action organs and the 5 sense organs. These 100 offsprings include jealousy, anger, hatred, cunningness etc. So on one side of the historical battle, we have the 100 kauravas. Within each of us since we have a mind which is rarely guided by the intellect, we have 100 vices waiting to surface at any time and lead us to destruction.
On the other side, Dritarashtra's brother was Pandu a noble and brave king who had 5 children who were known as the Pandavas. Symbolically Pandu represents pure intellect. His 5 sons stand for (a)what is the righteous thing to be done, (b)what are the unjust things to be avoided, (c)self control over senses, (d)the life principle which connects the inner consciousness to the mind/body/intellect complex and (e) Calmness. Within each of us we have the 5 good qualities that will lead us on path to liberation.
So the great battle historically is between the cousins. Symbolically it is a daily fight within ourselves pitting the 100 vices against the 5 virtues. We fight a daily battle along 3 planes. At the grossest level, it is a fight between what is right and what is wrong as defined by morality. When I see a beautiful woman and desire her, the first barrier is the moral barrier. Though morality is dictated by society's norms and cannot be an accurate guide to right behavior, it is still a vital barrier. Whereas marrying several women was acceptable in the earlier times, in current times it would be seen as immoral. So every action that we perform where there is a potential for conflict, the morality driven intellect fights against the potential immoral activities of the desire driven mind.
The next battle is at a higher level. There is no question of morality here. The fight is based on pure logic and understanding of the source of happiness. All of us desire happiness and keep searching for it without realizing that the source of our happiness is within. Owing to primordial ignorance we are distanced from the Truth of ourselves and just as we feel a void when we leave our home and go elsewhere, there is an inner void because of separation from Truth and we look to fill this void by getting sense objects from the material world. So it is a daily battle between the sense driven inclination to look outside for happiness versus the True knowledge that happiness is within.
The third battle is at a spiritual plane. All of us are nothing but the projection of the supreme Lord. Assuming that in my dream I meet Aiswarya Rai and fall for her, it is absurd since the character of me in the dream and Aiswarya Rai are nothing but my own mind projecting both the characters. So how can one part of my mind fall or desire another part of the mind. It appears so illogical. Similarly since we are all nothing but projections of the Lord, it is absolutely illogical for us to desire anything else because in reality i am everything and everything is mine. So this is a daily battle wherein i have to fight the ignorance feeling of duality wherein the world is separate from me versus the knowledge driven feeling of non-duality where I am the world and everything is me.
This then is the historical, symbolical and spiritual background to the Bhagwad Gita.
As readers may be aware, 3 of my books on spirituality are available on Amazon.com.
I invite readers of my blog to try any of the books and give me feedback so that I can make changes in the next edition.
1. My Humble Understanding Of Spirituality
My Humble Understanding Of Spirituality
2. Attain Infinite Bliss
Attain Infinite Bliss - A Spiritual Guide
3. The Spirit Of Spirituality
The Spirit Of Spirituality
In one of my posts, I had commented on the 5 Pandavas without indicating what each stood for. One of my sweet friends brought it to my notice that I had not told who stands for what. So here are the details:
ReplyDelete1. Dharamaraja stands for Divine calmness.
2. Bhima stands for the life force that links consciousness to the sense organs
3. Arjuna stands for divine self control. It is said that he had such a fantastic control over his sense organs that when Menaka the loveliest nymph of Heaven tried to seduce him, he could refuse.
4. Nakula stands for divine power of adherence or what ought to be done
5. Sahadeva stands for divine power of resistance or what ought not to be done
The same sweet lady asked me to explain the 100 vices. Rather than list all 100 vices, here is a sampling of the vices: material desire, anger, greed, avarice, hate, jealousy, wickedness, lust, sex attachment, dishonesty,ill will, harshness of speech, arrogance, listening to evil, tasting evil, seeing evil etc
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