On The Essence of Gita
R.N. Dubey

The Bhagvadgita (or the Gita) is an old scripture of spiritual science. It describes the ways to a wholesome life. Such a life is divine. It is free of suffering and full of bliss. The Gita says that the proper way to a divine life is through knowledge, devotion and karma. It requires a knowledge of the reality of life. It depends on devotion to knowledge and dedication to learning. The theory of karma explains the art of living a life that is free of stress and distress.

People often think that karma is the same as action. It is a mistake. Karma is the desire that prompts an action. The karmic consequences of an action depend on the intent behind it. For example, the act of cooking food has no karmic consequence. Cooking food to feed hungry people is good karma. If the food is cooked with the intent of mixing poison in it and feeding to kill people, it is bad karma. It is the thought behind the action that matters. The Gita, therefore, talks of clear thinking and describes methods that lead to it.

Desire is a thought, a mental event. It may or may not induce action. Yet, it generates karma that leaves impression in the chitta. The impressions stored in the chitta from the past shape the present. The karma acquired now will determine the future. It seems that not much can be done to change the present. However, proper steps can be taken now to shape the future. The way is through karma and requires a transformation in thinking.

The Gita says that the human form is a substratum. It is a means to whatever one wants to be. Intellect, ego and mind are the internal organs in a human body. A pure intellect can identify right from wrong, and real from unreal. It produces a sharp mind. A sharp mind knows what is best for its master, the soul. It avoids things not good for human welfare. It keeps the senses under control. If the intellect is not pure, and the mind is not sharp, the senses begin to control them. The mind becomes restless and goes wherever the senses take it. The Upanishads use a simple metaphor to explain this situation. It compares the body to a chariot. Intellect is the charioteer that controls the horses (the senses) through the reins (the mind). If the intellect fails to rein in the senses, it will take the chariot (human body) and its master (the soul) into a ditch. An intellect in control of the senses finds the way to destination.

The Gita says that human well-being depends on a healthy body, sharp mind and pure intellect. They can be achieved through tapa, daana and yagya. Tapa keeps the body and senses pure and clean. It requires disciple over things we consume or receive through our senses. Daana is an act of philanthropy. A charity given with the proper spirit reduces vanity. The ultimate daana is to surrender one's ego. Yagya is an act of oblation. It cleanses the society.

The mind normally works through senses in touch with the outside world. External influences create desire. For example, a love for a certain taste creates a desire for those things that have this taste. A sharp mind controls the tongue. It controls the desire for other things as well. If the mind is dull or weak, it can no longer control the desires. It, in fact, becomes attached to those things that satisfy its desire. A pure intellect can yet discriminate between what is good for the mind and what it desires. If the attachment reaches intellect, it can no longer discriminate. Therefore, the purity of intellect is essential for making choices that are good for humans and humanity. It helps one choose and lead a life free of suffering. The Gita says that action because of attachment corrupts the intellect. Action without attachment keeps it pure. There is no need to change the activities. The label karmayoga applies to all actions performed without attachment or desire for reward.

People complain that the mind is restless. There is a reason for it. The mind is a manifestation of Nature. Nature has three attributes; satoguna, rajoguna and tamoguna. The behaviour of a mind depends on the attribute that dominates it. A satoguni mind is serene. It looks for knowledge. A rajoguni mind is restless. It cannot decide and keeps wavering. A tamoguni mind is lethargic. It does not want to act or think.

It is possible to find the state of mind one is in. It requires self-study. Meditation provides the key for the study of the mind. It is a spiritual practice. It teaches how to elevate the state of mind from tamoguni to rajoguni and then to satoguni. People with satoguni mind develop faith and devotion for the highest truth. It comes from the conviction that there is a reality beyond Nature. They become seekers in search of that reality. They want to realize the blissful brahmic state.

Mind is man’s best friend. It ought to be kept in control by a strong will-power. If out of control, it becomes one’s worst enemy. A satoguni buddhi or intellect has a strong will-power. With the help of meditation, it can keep the mind under control. Strong will-power also leads to bhakti. The word devotion used in English for bhakti does not carry its full import. Bhakta is an antonym of vibhakta, which means divided. Bhakta is, therefore, one who is never separated from one’s ideal. One’s ideal is what one wants to be. Devotees, if used in the sense of bhakta, always consider themselves to be an integral part of what they want to be.

Meditation is a spiritual practice. It is a sadhana, a practice to achieve the highest good. One who indulges in sadhana is a seeker. The practice involves three states. A seeker has a physical state. It is composed of body, senses, mind and intellect. This is the gross or adhibhoutic state. The resident soul inside the body is related to adhyatmic state. It is subtle. Beyond these two is the divine or adhidaivic state. It is the causal state. Spiritual practice takes one from the gross to subtle and then to the causal state. Eventually, a seeker must cross all three states to reach the final destination of Brahmahood. The present gross state is a reality. The final state is the ideal state of being. Idealistic Realism is the theory that describes the path and method that takes one from the present reality to the ideal destination.

State of mind affects people in a big way. Earlier, people led a simple life and had limited needs. People would produce items and offer services they were good at. One would barter the goods and services. There was no need for money, coin or paper. People thought of their needs and worked to fulfill them. They worked for their needs and not for money. As the society became more complex, it created demand for more and different goods. Need was not as big a consideration anymore. Barter was no longer viable. The society created coins for exchange of goods. Later, paper money replaced coins. Money was thus made a medium for exchange of goods. The way of thinking changed over a period of time. Now, people make goods for money. They work for money. If somebody works hard, he claims to do so for more money. Need is not the criterion anymore. Imagine how the thinking has changed. Earlier people made money work for them, now they work for money.

The mind naturally runs to objects it likes and away from the objects it dislikes. At times, even the imaginary events and objects create a feeling of love or hate, happiness or sorrow. Attachment or revulsion is the reason for such feelings. They are obstructions in the spiritual growth. They must be removed. A change in the way we think of objects helps in this respect. Objects are made for use. Use them without being attached to them. Events can lead to experience. Observe them and do not become attached to them.

An encounter with a wise person can create a feeling of respect for him. It may, over time, turn into attachment and give rise to either a sense of personal inadequacy or a feeling of servitude. Both are bad for spiritual growth. Here, a change in outlook will help. Think that the person is wise because of his wisdom. He has acquired wisdom, and I can too with his help. Develop guru buddhi towards him. Approach him with reverence and offer to be a student. A student goes to a teacher to learn and become a teacher, eventually. One does not become a student to remain so forever. He will also serve the guru but out of respect for him. This is guru buddhi. The thought of inadequacy may lead to a desire to serve the wise person not as a student but as a servant. This is swami buddhi. In this case, one approaches the wise man to serve him. A servant does not serve to become a master. He serves because of his inadequacy.

The Gita talks of the aim of human life and the path that leads to it. It is full of bliss and free of suffering. It can be reached by all, irrespective of their sex, belief, colour or creed. It does require a journey through a spiritual path. To initiate the journey, one must know where to begin. To negotiate the path, one must know what lies ahead and prepare to deal with all eventualities. Pure buddhi is necessary for a person who wants to start on a spiritual path and wants to know about the destination. Buddhi is intellect. Pure buddhi turns away from the objects of senses and towards its source. The source is pure Consciousness. Knowledge is its nature. If the buddhi is pure, it can discriminate real from unreal. It cannot be pure if the external influences in contact with ego, mind and senses still control it. The purpose of the spiritual search is to dissolve the ego. Ego creates the feeling of me and mine, them and theirs. It is the source of multiplicity and hence the reason for stress. People feel stressed only when they are awake and when ego is working. People feel rested during sound sleep. There is no multiplicity in this state. The thought of me, mine and objects does not exist in deep sleep. They arise only after one wakes up.

Three types of people inhabit this world. A person can be a materialist, a seeker or an adept. A materialist is always running after the pleasures that one gets from sound, touch, form, taste and smell. He covets the enjoyment of all five. Even then, he is not satisfied. If there is something beyond them, he wants even that. When he fails to find peace from the enjoyment of sense objects, he becomes disillusioned. He looks for peace elsewhere. He turns into a seeker. A seeker must watch what he receives lest he falls prey again to the lure of the senses. He must exercise discipline over what he takes in and develop proper reason why he takes them. A seeker eats when hungry. He eats food not for the taste, but for the nourishment it provides. People who eat for the taste will eat even when they are not hungry. In the process, they eat more than what is good for the body. A seeker, on the other hand, eats only the amount that is good for his body. This is a vital difference. The act of eating food is the same in both cases.

Next requirement for a spiritual seeker is control over mind, speech and body. The body acts, speech communicates and the mind understands. It is said that food nourishes body and fashions mind, and water moulds speech. One should never take anything that disturbs the sharpness of mind. The next stage in the spiritual journey involves contemplation.

The Sanskrit word for contemplation is dhyana. The first stage of dhyana is dharana. The final stage is samadhi. Dharana is the concentration of the mind. It requires the mind to keep an uninterrupted focus on an object. When the mind thinks continuously about the object, it is dhyana. In this state, the mind does not think of anything except the object, even for a moment. Yet, the subject, the thought and the object seem to have separate existences. In the state of samadhi, the three entities that existed in dhyana merge into one. The mind takes the form of the object and the thought that connected it to the mind seems to disappear. The ego seems to disappear as well, but the awareness remains. The awareness remains in all three stages. It disappears only in sleep. The loss of awareness during contemplation means that the mind has gone to sleep. It is a break in the spiritual practice. It is not something a seeker should be proud of.

At first glance, dhyana seems difficult to achieve. The fact is that everyone contemplates at one time or other. Remember that contemplation is a continuous thought of an event or a person. A loved one is late coming home. It invokes a continuous uneasy feeling that the person may have met with an accident. Here, the mind fears separation. It worries till the person returns. This is an example of contemplation. But this act is due to attachment. It is not good for spiritual progress. If the same act is performed without attachment, it is proper dhyana. It cleanses intellect. It is also good for students. If a topic is not clear, he should contemplate on it, thinking from all possible angles. There should be no preconception. A preconceived idea is the sign of an attached mind. It is an obstruction to learning.

A non-attached mind turns away from the senses and towards its source. It is a pre-requisite for dhyana. A mind becomes attached to an object that it considers of value. The non-attachment of the mind is of a lower kind if it accepts a material value for objects, but finds them to have no use in the spiritual path. In a higher form of non-attachment, the mind develops an attitude that the object has no value of its own. If anything has any value at all, it is due to the life within the body. Nothing is of value to a dead body. Value is a perception of mind. The mind perceives in the light of awareness. A body after death has no awareness. Hence, it has no perception. A living body has. Yet, it values objects more than its own life. To use a common phrase, people die for the objects of pleasure. It is a wrong way to lead a life.

The Gita recommends proper sadhana for people who want to live a divine life that is full of bliss. Sadhana is a form of education. Its goal is to acquire the knowledge of reality through practice. In this practice, just like in any other, some things must be accepted, and some must be given up. Human life is a mixture of good and bad qualities. The spiritual practice or sadhana educates people in the proper sense of the word. It trains them to bring forth their inherent divine qualities. This is not enough though. The bad qualities must be removed as well. Once they are removed, the good qualities gradually begin to evolve. It can be done through self study or self education. Sadhana is an examination of how one’s own mind works. It is a study of the way one thinks. It identifies flaws in thinking and finds ways to remove them.

How did the imperfections arise? Humans have evolved from a lower form of life to the present form over several births and deaths. The karma of each and every life leaves impressions in the chitta. They remain in the subconscious mind till an opportunity comes for them to manifest. When the impressions from the animal life manifest, people act like beasts. The impressions of a divine life make one generous and kind.

Purusha and Prakriti are two aspects of Supreme Soul. The Samkhya philosophy considers both of them real. Purusha means the lord of the city. It is pure Consciousness. Knowledge is its nature. The other reality, Prakriti or Primordial Nature is always in flux. It has three attributes and is the cause of creation. Prakriti is the cause and the creation is its effect or manifestation. The first manifestation is chitta. It is not the soul. Only when chitta combines with consciousness, is it called jivatma or individual soul. Consciousness is infinite and eternal. The consciousness of the soul is the reason people think of immortality. Since chitta is finite, the infinite consciousness that manifests through it also appears finite and hence limited. People know through experience that all finite and limited things come to an end. The human body ends with death. The death is therefore certain. This, perhaps, is the reason why people fear death. The desire to live and the fear of death creates a dilemma and inflicts suffering. A real understanding of the situation will make people overcome the fear of death. They will then be free of suffering. The Gita says that people should know who they really are. Human beings have body and consciousness. Consciousness is eternal and not subject to change. It is the source of life. The body is an effect of Prakriti. It has a beginning and an end. The beginning is birth and the end is death. Death of a human body is certain. The salvation lies in the proper use of the body. Use it to generate proper karma as one would use a tool to good effect.

One must know how a tool works if one wants to use it properly. One must know the body if one wants to use it properly. A human body evolves from chitta, the first manifestation of Prakriti. Consciousness puts life in it. When consciousness animates chitta, it gives an experience of existence or a feeling of awareness, at first. This state is called buddhi or intellect. Next comes the feeling of self-existence or I am-ness. This is aham, I or pure ego. Aham erects an akaar (form or boundary) around it and becomes ahamkaara (egotism). It identifies everything within the boundary as mine. People keep power, vanity, desire, anger and greed within this boundary. A seeker of spiritual growth must give them up. There is no reason for a seeker to nurture them. Prakriti provides things that one needs for the spiritual journey. Consciousness provides the light.

The Gita uses the term Ishwar for pure Awareness. Ishwar extends His ishan or rule over His domain. He is the Lord of His creation. In this sense, Ishwar comes closest to the word God used in the West. The thought of Ishwar brings forth a notion of the domain He rules over and from which He stands apart. He is the Creator, but He is not a part of His own creation. The twin concept of the creation and Creator brings in the notion of duality. The Gita does not accept duality. It considers the two concepts to be the two aspects of Brahma. Brahma is neither the Creator nor the creation. It is the source of both. It is the Supreme Reality. What It appears to be is Its empirical form. Its effect in the form of a human being, for example, is a practical reality. The multiplicity is at the practical level. The Gita advises people to rise above this level. It explains how.

Nature provides things needed for the spiritual journey. The Gita says that one must develop a proper attitude towards  objects. It uses two words in this connection. One can exercise the right to use or the right to own. The right to own attitude feeds ego and increases greed, which creates a tendency to hoard. It leads to suffering. First of all, people struggle to accumulate things. Having done that, they develop fear of losing them. Then begins the struggle to keep the objects in possession. It does not matter if they are used, if at all. If people have the attitude that objects are for use and not to keep, they make the best use of them. They neither miss nor crave for things they do not have. They are content and in peace.

The Gita talks about shubhkarma (good deed) and satkarma (virtuous or righteous deed). The classification does not depend upon the action. It depends on the intention behind the action. A yagya is righteous if done to purify the chitta. It is a good deed if done to please deity and expect a reward. A daana or donation is righteous if given to disengage the ego from attachment to it. It is good if given in expectation of name and fame. Teachers teach and earn a salary for their effort. If the intention of a teacher is to educate the students, the act of teaching is righteous. It does not matter that the teacher receives remuneration for his effort. The same act of teaching is good work if performed to earn a salary. It makes no difference if the students gain knowledge and shed ignorance in the process.

Peace of mind is a phase acquired during spiritual practice. A seeker in this state feels merged in an infinite ocean of tranquillity. The events that bring sorrow or joy to others, no longer affect him. He has raised his consciousness from the body, senses, mind and ego and established it in the buddhi. There is no uncertainty of mind. There is only steadiness born of knowledge. However, this is not the ultimate goal of a seeker. He has learnt the reality behind the creation and freed himself from its elements. He is ready and the stage is set for him to visualize the reality.

The purpose of Prakriti is twofold. The objects it creates can put people in bondage. They can also lead one to freedom. The thought of using the objects for enjoyment is the cause of bondage. If an actualised thought brings joy, an unfulfilled thought causes grief. Even a memory of what one once had and does not have now produces grief. It is a suffering. One who has attained the peace of mind no longer thinks of enjoyment of the objects. There is, therefore, no ground for happiness or grief. There is no suffering. But it is not permanent. The search for the self and its source begins at this stage.

Many people think that their present status is due entirely to their own effort. They are vain and deluded. A person is born a baby, grows up as a child, gets an education as a student. The parents and the society take care of babies and children. They use the facilities that the government builds from the taxes it collects. Students get an education and training at Schools and Universities. The society and the government put them in place. They also build infrastructures, roads for example, and ensure protection for businesses. It is not possible for any one person to do all these. No one is born in a hospital he built, or educated from his childhood in a school he founded. Yet, if anyone thinks that he is self-made, he is deluded.

The reality is that the objects evolve from Prakriti under the lordship of Purusha. They are the two aspects of Brahma. Its knowledge is the subject of Brahma-vidya or the Science of the Absolute. It has two parts: paravidya or a higher knowledge and aparavidya or a lower knowledge. The relationship between the two is like the relationship between the center and the circumference of a circle. A circle is completely known if its center and radius are known. The number of radii in a circle is infinite, but they are of equal importance. The traditional disciplines of learning are as many in number as the radii connecting the centre to the circumference of a circle. They fall under the category of lower knowledge. They begin at the periphery and are pointers to the core. The higher knowledge refers to the education that progresses from the center to the circumference. It illuminates the periphery and at the same time reveals the existence of the center.

The subjects that do not lead to a knowledge of the core of existence are part of the lower knowledge. These subjects rely on the thoughts that focus on the objects and not their source. The source of awareness of the mind that makes it think is of no concern at all. When people educated in this system see the diversity and variety of objects, they begin to believe in multiplicity. It divides people. An understanding and awareness that the source of everything, of all lives is the same sow the seed of unity in diversity. Unity is in the essence. Diversity is in the appearance. Realization of unity is likely to lead to harmony and friendship. Diversity is the cause of conflict.

A person can be a real devotee only after realizing One-ness in all beings. This is not possible for those rooted in lower knowledge. They are on a radius and cannot see the center. They think that they have nothing in common with people on other radii. They cannot envision that all radii meet at a common core. One with higher knowledge knows the core. He has been there and knows the essence that binds. He works for the progress of all. He knows that any effort only for one’s own progress will not bring the desired result. It is like watering a branch to keep it alive while letting others wither. Such attempts do not succeed. The tree eventually dies and so does the branch. To succeed, one must water the roots. A person with vision of one-ness is happy to see the tree and all branches prosper.

No one ever enjoys the benefit of one’s action alone even if one wanted to. A devotee with a broad outlook derives immense pleasure from whatever he does. A greedy person is deprived of this pleasure. Consider the action of a weaver. If asked, he may say that he is weaving for food or for money. He sells what he makes, gets money and buys food. He may not think that people buy clothes to dress for protection against the weather. If he changes his outlook and begins to think that people will use the material he weaves to dress for their enjoyment and protection, he will experience a tremendous feeling of public service. He will no doubt get paid for his effort. If he thinks that he weaves for food or money, he will not get the satisfaction of doing public service. Take another case. If an industrialist puts in a factory to create jobs for unemployed people, he feels the satisfaction of public service and earns a profit at the same time. If his decision to build a factory was only for making money, he will still create jobs but may not have the satisfaction of doing so in the public interest.

The reason for development in life is not what one does, but why one does it. The karma of a person may benefit many and make them happy. If he fails to share their happiness, it is only because of his narrow thinking. It is this narrow thinking that makes people believe that they are working for money or their family. The reason for it is the limited ego, which feels only for those within its boundary. It is unable to see one-ness in all beings. The vision of one-ness brings all within the family. He works for the welfare of all. If his karma makes others happy, he shares in their happiness. He knows that his ability to serve is in reality a gift. This knowledge makes him humble. He understands the famous declaration of the Upanishad regarding the objects of the world: Use, enjoy, give and share whatever you have, do not be a vulture and think whom the wealth belongs to. People come and go, yet, the elements of Nature remain here. No one has ever owned them, nor will they in the future. A person cannot donate what he does not own. Ignorance is the reason why people think of themselves as the owners and donors. Knowledge makes them aware of the real situation.

Understand the Supreme Reality and His infinite glory. At the same time, know the real self and its nature. Only then it dawns that our existence is due to, and in the Supreme Self. One then sees One in many. This is the vision of reality. With it ends the constant turmoil between me and mine, and you and yours. Life becomes bliss.

Acknowledgement

This article is a synopsis of The Essence of Gita, an English translation by R. N. Dubey of Gita Tattvabodh by Brahmarishi Vishwatma Bawra. The original work is in Hindi.