nonlosinghero

The Gita ¹under the guise of physical warfare has tried to accentuate the perpetual duel that goes on in the heart of the humankind.

Author of the “Mahabharata” (Veda Vyasa) has not focused on the necessity of physical warfare rather he has proved its futility. He has made the victors shed tears of sorrow and repentance and has left them nothing but a legacy of miseries.

The Perfect Man

The Gita states “How a perfected man is to be known and what are the characteristics of a perfected man”?

In Gita the concept of perfection has been imagined and this concept has been personified via Krishna (God) who is regarded as the epitome of perfection and right knowledge.

Concept of Incarnation: Man’s Ultimate Spiritual Ambition

The idea of perfect incarnation is an after-growth to fulfil man’s lofty spiritual ambition and Krishna (in Hinduism) is regarded with the status of “Most perfect Incarnation”, which acts as the cornerstone on which “actions” of man can be tested.

It is to be noted that in Hinduism = Incarnation is ascribed-> To one who has performed some extra-ordinary service (action is involved) of mankind.

And it is imperative to note that a man is not at peace till he has become “one” with God.

To become “one with God” is the man’s ultimate spiritual ambition and this is regarded as the Supreme Ambition.

To achieve the “Supreme Ambition”- the only way is self- realisation.

And the object of Gita-It is to show the most “excellent way” to attain “self- realisation”.

And the excellent way/The Ultimate remedy/Tool is -> “Renunciation of fruits of action”.

Conclusion– Thus the ultimate game is that of self-realisation and once a man has achieved it, he will become one with the God in terms of both soul and body and will taste the ultimate freedom/salvation that all humankind long for.

Note– A human who is considered a God does not mean that he is the God, it implies that he possesses the qualities akin to the God, at best he can be considered as a spark of THE DIVINE/GOD (Urdu adage.).

The Game of Self- realisation and the Ultimate tool for its achievement

Self-realisation means the state of being one with the God in terms of both soul and body via which man can attain the state of salvation/freedom.

The Ultimate tool- “Renunciation of fruits of action”

Human Body and the Ultimate Tool

Human Body is considered akin to a “Prison” and it’s an eternal truth that where there is a body- there must be “action”, thus no man is exempted from labour but at the same time we must keep in mind that every action that we profess is corrupted with a sin.

The pertinent question that arises is that- how to attain freedom from this prison.

It’s a fact that every religion proclaims, that a man can attain freedom when he treats his body as a temple of God.

Thus another question arises that-> How the “body” of the man can be made the temple of god?

1. It’s a fact that every ‘body’ requires action and every action is tainted with sin.
2. Actions are of two types- 2.1 Desired Action (Tainted actions) 2.2 Desireless Action (Clean actions)
3.  Geeta states- Desireless action(clean action)(free from taint) and by renouncing the fruits of actions and by dedicating all activities to God, the body of man will be akin to the temple of god and thereby he can achieve freedom/salvation.

Note-There are two keywords-

1. Desireless action accompanied with renunciation-

Renunciation of the fruits of the Action is the core and Devotion and Knowledge are its revolving planets.

This desirelessness/renunciation is only achievable by constant heart-churn, right knowledge is a pre-requisite to attain it but along with such knowledge, devotion plays a very crucial role, and Geeta states- Devotion is primary and then the right knowledge will follow. But this devotion as described by the Geeta is no simple one but equivalent to that of a sage. (Sage always wrestles with death to please his deity.)

Note-This renunciation is the core around which the Geeta is woven.

Attributes of a True Devotee

1. A person who is jealous of none, who is a fount of mercy, who is without egotism, who is selfless, who treats alike cold and heat, happiness and misery, who is ever forgiving, who has a dedicated mind and soul to God, who causes no dread, who is not afraid of others, who is free from exultation(happiness), sorrow and fear, who is pure, who is versed in action and yet remains unaffected by it, who renounces all fruit, good or bad, who treats friend and foe alike, who is untouched by respect or disrespect, who is not puffed up by praise, who does not go under when people speak ill of him, who loves silence and solitude, who has a disciplined reason.

Conclusion- If a person can become a true devotee (devotion), knowledge will follow which will ultimately lead to the fulfilment of the supreme ambition, that is, self-realisation and the ultimate tool to achieve this ambition is renunciation of fruits of action.

Game of Self-realisation (To become one with the God in terms of soul and body which is equivalent to salvation/freedom)

Self-realisation (Salvation/ Freedom) =Devotion + Knowledge

True Self- realisation (True Salvation) = Devotion + Knowledge+ Renunciation of fruits of actions.

Conclusion– The ultimate “end” / ambition that every man long for is self- realisation (to be one with God) and when it is achieved it is equivalent to “freedom”.

Note- Always keep in mind that Salvation can’t be achieved“ without action.”

Illustration 1 –

Mere Knowledge of right or wrong will not make one fit for salvation, it is a saying that a mere learned man will pass as a Pandit but if such a person considers helping others’ as a liability due to the fact that he is very knowledgeable and thus he considers himself to be exempted from such a mundane task and hence not bound to do the same.

Illustration 2-

The notion of Bhakti- Generally people consider it as, to have a soft- heartedness and tell beads regularly but most of them disdain to do a loving service to help other persons and they only worry about that their telling of beads must not be interrupted.

But such a Bhakt is not reluctant to stop telling beads for his daily activities like eating and drinking.

Note– In both these illustrations in some way or another, the individual is avoiding action and it must be kept in mind that no person has attained salvation without action and that to must be along with the renunciation of fruits of one’s action(work), detached and work and have no desire for reward and work.

Importance of Action

According to Gita- “No one has attained is goal without action”.

Example- Raja Janak attained salvation via “Action” only.

 Thus action is a necessity and everyone must engage in action otherwise the world would perish.

Note- He who gives up action (work) falls and he who gives up only the reward rises. It’s the eternal truth.

Concept of Desired Action (Want of End/Result)

A person who don’t seek/ worry about the result is one who can wholly engross in the task that is in front of him, he will do great in that task.

He who always brood over the result often loses nerve in the performance of his duty.

A person who is brooding over the result (end) may in order to attain it will certainly resort to unworthy or foul means.

Thus desire for fruit( result)->Bitter experience.

Conclusion– With the teaching of Gita, one is bound to follow truth and ahimsa because when there is no desire for fruit, there is no temptation for untruth (lying) or Himsa (Murder).

Desire for fruit is the only universal prohibition.

The Author makes Krishna say:

“Do not entrust this treasure to him who is without sacrifice, without devotion, without the desire for this teaching and who denies Me. On the other hand those who will give this precious treasure to My Devotees will by the fact of this service assuredly reach Me. And those who, being free from malice, will with faith absorb this teaching, shall, having attained freedom, live where people of true merit go after death.”

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1. https://www.mkgandhi.org/ebks/message-of-the-gita.pdf ↩︎