“Only those scriptures, religions, philosophies which can be thus constantly renewed, relived, their stuff of permanent truth, constantly reshaped and developed in the inner thought and spiritual experience of a developing humanity, continue to be of living importance to mankind.” Page 5 – ‘Essays on The Gita’ by Sri Aurobindo.
“The Bhagavad-Gita is a true scripture of the human race, a living creation rather than a book, with a new message for every age and a new meaning for every civilization.”
- Sri Aurobindo.
The Gita’s teachings should not be confined to narrow boundaries of ritualistic practices and religious beliefs belonging to a particular geographical location or age in the history of mankind. This perennial scripture is a comprehensive analysis on human psychology and a profound treatise on the different elements constituting our being. It systematically explains the meaning of Dharma and its relationship with Karma (action) in the evolutionary perspective of man. It shows us how to remain fully involved in our worldly actions and yet be detached from them by a change in our attitude. It begins with Arjuna’s sinking outburst of depression, confusion and escape from the battlefield of life and ends with the enlightenment of Arjuna who finally understood the multiple aspects of Dharma with respect to his own Swabhava and Swadharma.
We may try to grasp the meaning behind Sri Aurobindo’s profound words ‘will yet liberate humanity’ expressed in 1921-22 and observe how Gita’s universal message is gradually spreading across the globe promoting positive attitude towards righteous action (Dharma) in all spheres of life despite the religious attribute attached to it, of initially being a Hindu scripture. It provides equally appealing answers to questions posed by those with scientific and practical thinking as well as those possessing a deep philosophical outlook of life. Its guiding principles inspire everybody in all walks of life ranging from those engaged in the most menial physical work up to those involved in the most enlightened intellectual activities, for it addresses the root cause behind the binding of oneself to Karma or action and practically guides us how to be and act in the material world and yet remain continuously connected with the spirit inside. Karma becomes an ecstatic prayer when done in an attitude of offering to the Divine for indeed we would always want an offering to be perfect. Every perfect action will get the most perfect expected results as per the laws of nature controlled by the unseen Divine Will. These basic principles, not limited by any religious or geographical boundaries are unchanged for the past, present and future generations and science too cannot ignore their validity.
When we compare the statistics of those with clarity of mind and purpose and happy in all circumstances with those depressed, stressed and confused in life in modern times, we shall surely find today the highest number of Arjunas with a state of mind as that he was in the battlefield of Kurukshetra, even though we have made magnanimous progress in acquiring the best material comforts. We often notice that our inner and the outer beings are in conflict with one another. It is only when our actions are in harmony with our feelings and thoughts aspiring for a higher purpose in life that the most mundane daily activities of life would become a means of Sadhana. As per Sri Aurobindo and Divine Mother - we are a composite being and an inseparable entity made up of our physical, vital, mental and spiritual or psychic parts. For different people and for the same person the controlling part of the self takes its turns and consequently our reaction to external stimuli varies at different times and situations without our being conscious about it. When we do an introspection of our own actions seeking Divine help we would certainly know which part of our being has controlled a particular action or speech of ours.
It is only for a few seconds in our routine life that we attempt to come in touch with our luminous psychic being and all our actions and outer life appear to be guided by that luminosity. To remain longer in that state of consciousness of being connected with our psychic self is all about Yoga and Sadhana, possible only as said by Sri Aurobindo in the book The Mother in its opening page “There are two powers that alone can effect in their conjunction the great and difficult thing which is the aim of our endeavor, a fixed and unfailing aspiration that calls from below and a supreme Grace from above that answers”. The three types of Yoga- Karma, Bhakti and Jnana are not different paths for self realization but are self complementary with one another as they all aim at the transformation of different parts of our being ( Sri Aurobindo’s Poorna Yoga - Integral Yoga – book Bases of Yoga). Bhakti Yoga gives a direction to the erratic vital being with its unpredictable and devastating emotions. Karma Yoga releases the binding of the physical being to the actions and consequently induces total surrender of this being to the Divine. It is the Jnana Yoga that addresses the reasoning mind with its thinking capabilities and opens its closed windows towards higher inspiration and intuition
Only after all parts of our being are transformed and surrendered to the Divine is our Self freed to come under the control of our psychic being. Then only we shall be able to experience ‘Ekameva Advitiyam Brahma’ as per Chandogya Upanishad - Divine Oneness in all and all in the Divine Oneness.’ We can memorize these words and utter them as many times but it would take many lives of Sadhana to put them into practice. We the children of Divine Mother are sitting on the coastal sands of the endless ocean of Her Grace and trying to collect a grain or two of Her Knowledge and taste a drop or two of her nectarous benevolence. The above principles offer the best antidotes today for these ever increasing levels of stress and aimlessness. Knowing the world around is given higher priority than knowing oneself. Knowledge of the Self is being forgotten while we are busy overloading ourselves with the knowledge of the world around us. We can narrate pages about people or events around us but when asked to describe about our own self, words fail us. This reminds us of Katha Upanishad where the student Nachiketa asks his teacher Yama for that knowledge knowing which everything else is known “This doubt that arises, consequent on the death of a man - some saying 'It (The SELF) exis’, and others saying 'It (The SELF) does not exist'. I would like to know this, under your instruction, O Death, what is the Truth." Kathopanishad, Part I, Ch 1, Sloka 20. The above references were mentioned to us on the first day in our class of ‘Study of Sri Aurobindo’s works’ in Ashram school...........…to be cont.
Note : All the concepts expressed here are from recollections of the words and explanations given by our teachers in Sri Aurobindo International Centre in the class on ‘ Essays on The Gita’ and the weekly enlightening talks held in the school premises by Nirod Da and Amal Kiran Ji.
- Sundari
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