Gita summaries - chp 1

Sarvam paravasham dukham sarvam athma vasham sukham etheth vidya  samasana lakshanam sukha dukha yo. This verse gives two fundamental truths regarding happiness and sorrow. Life becomes a sorrow when we depend on somebody else and everything becomes happiness if I am dependent on myself. This is the definition of dukham and sukham in short. DEPENDENCE is sorrow and INDEPENDENCE is happiness. This is not such a great truth we find in the scriptures but we experience it every day.

            If you have to come to this hall for the lecture then you need transportation. If you take the bus you know all the problems; it will be overcrowded, you may not get the seat, pick pocketers, or the bus may stop some furlong along. And if you take an auto rickshaw then you’ll know the problems; he will ask for return journey and ask for an inflated rate. Then I get a vehicle and it is always under repairs. The mechanic never gives the vehicle back. You’ll realize that wherever there is dependence there is dukham. Because wherever there is dependence there is expectation. Expectation on other people or things. Since others are not in my control my expectations may be fulfilled or often not fulfilled there is anxiety, sorrow, tension and frustration. So any time you are depressed analyze as to the cause of sorrow. You will find that you were expecting something from somebody or some object or some situation. As long as dependence is there, there will be expectation and as long as expectations are there, disappointments will be there and sorrows cannot be avoided. And if you delve deeper you’ll find our dependences or expectations are for three things alone: artha, kama and dharma.

The first is for security; we depend on money, shelter, company, job, status etc. I depend on people, situations and objects for security or artha. The second is we depend or expect entertainment. After I have security I want some kind of entertainment as I go to some beach or music programme or movie or watch cricket, tv, radio etc. This is kama. So everyone strives for security and happiness in their life time. The third and final expectation is that we believe in life after death in our culture. After death we travel to different lokas. The support for travel after death is dharma; it is only the punya karma done by the dead person and the karmas done by the children that will help in this travel. Many people want sons for the paraloka gati. They are worried whether their sons will do shradha and tharpanams. And whether he will marry within the same caste etc. The third expectation is dharma from oneself and one’s children for after death travel. The scriptures say that any dependence – while living in this world in the form of artha and kama or dharma after death – as long as any dependence is there on others your life will continue to be miserable.

Then what is the way out? sarvam athma vasham sukham; we should depend on ourselves for security; on ourselves for entertainment and on ourselves for after death travel. And a person who depends on himself or herself is called jeevan mukta. A “jeevanmukta” is a free person; means one who depends on oneself. He or she finds security in themselves; I don’t need anything for entertainment. And after death worries I don’t depend on my karma or my children’s performance of rituals. Rather he finds the 3 goals in himself. Such a person does not depend on money or job for this happiness; he does not depend on movies and any other person for his happiness; neither does he depend on any karma or his children for his after death travel as Krishna points out. Such a person is jeevan muktah and free while living in this world. All our scriptures are talking about this freedom alone, this independence alone and which alone is the source of joy.

The original scriptures that give this teaching of freedom is Veda. Vedas are meant for this independence which we call as moksha, muktihi, or parama purusharthah. These Vedas were later enlarged by rishis which are secondary scriptures. Primary scriptures are “shruthi” and these are revelations from God and there is no human intellect involved. Secondary scriptures are written by rishis, human beings, and they are “smriti grantha” and they contain the same teaching as those of the Vedas or Shruthi which are teachings of FREEDOM. Later these smrithis were elaborated in the form of Puranas, most of them attributed to Veda Vyasa, and these too deal with inner freedom. Thereafter came Ithiasa in the form of Ramayana and Mahabharata – again the same topic of freedom but in the form of stories. So all Vedas, Smrithi, Puranas and Itihasa deal only with one topic of freedom from artha, kama, and dharma. How to find artha in ourselves? How to find kama in ourselves? And how to find dharma in ourselves? Finding these in ourselves in moksha.

Even though DEPENDENCE is considered as SORROW and INDEPENDENCE is considered as JOY the problem is nobody can straight-away attain independence. Freedom cannot be directly attained by us. Initially we have to resort to dependence. Just as a baby learns to walk using the mother’s finger, or chair, or wall before it realizes its own strength in the legs. It falls many times but a time came when the child got independent. Similarly we were in the womb of the mother and dependent on her. Fed and supported by the mother the baby grew. It cannot remained satisfied there but kicked the womb and come outside. The fruit when it is raw has to depend upon the tree and once ripe it falls free and becomes independent. Similarly we join the school and learn before we grow out of it. So throughout our life we learn this lesson: Dependence, Grow, Independence.

            Similarly the scriptures divide our life into two stages. First stage is: Dependence on the world, dependence on the family, dependence on the neighbourhood, and dependence on everything for the fulfillment of artha, kama, and dharma. This first stage of dependence can be called a “religious life”. This is the teaching of Veda purva. Veda purva is the stage of learning to depend and growing. I have to depend on the family for physical growth, emotional growth, intellectual growth, spiritual growth. I have to depend on community and so many things. Then comes the next stage of life which is philosophy which is Vedanta where a person gradually withdraws. This is stage of scriptures that teaches an individual to reduce his/her dependence and learn to be happy and secure within themselves. When we resort to dependence initially we should remember that this dependence is only temporary. Only then dependence is a healthy dependence. Any dependence that leaves me permanently stuck, permanently attached, permanently addicted; such a dependence is unhealthy dependence.  Thus there are two kinds of dependences: unhealthy dependences that leads one from dependence to more dependence that leads to addiction like family addiction, money addiction or children addiction etc. Everyone must know that dependence must not be permanent, the fruit should not be permanently be in the tree and it should come out.  It would stupid for a student to say,” I like this teacher so much that I am going to be in class II for the rest of my lives”. This is not good for the student nor is it good for the teacher. A teacher is one who makes the student independent. Similarly a parent is great if they make their children independent. A father must not keep his kids permanently dependent on him and that is called attachment. Passion and attachment cause all kinds of problems. Therefore religion prescribes healthy dependence. That is why we have four ashramas in our tradition. Brahmacharya and Grishta ashramas are those in which an individual gets into activities, get into new relations etc. I grow gradually in the later stages I learn to withdraw in Vanaprastha and Sanyasa ashramas.  Thus religion first prescribes healthy dependence and thereafter takes us to independence. One is Veda purva and later is Vedanta. Thus Vedas, both – purva and antha – leads a person to freedom. This scriptures consisting of religion and philosophy is condensed in the Bhagavad Gita.

            Vedas are very vast and many people cannot study that. Many people have no time to study, many people are not qualified to study. We get the condensed version of the entire Vedic teaching in the Bhagavad Gita. As you are all aware Bhagavad Gita is a part of Mahabharata which is composed by the great Vyasacharya and who is an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Gita is a dialogue between Krishna, who is an avatara, and Arjuna in the Mahabharata battlefield. It consists of eighteen chapters and running to about 700 verses. Seven hundred verses seems to be very big but it is in fact very small when compared to Mahabharata that is over one lac verses. So Gita is less than one percent of the Itihasa. So Bhagavad Gita is a very small portion in the form of a dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna condensing the Vedic teaching.

            The first chapter of the Gita consists of 48 verses. This chapter can be broadly classified into two portions. The first portion gives the context for the dialogue to take place. The first 27 verses deal with the context. From 28 to the end of the chapter we discuss the description of human bondage or human dependence, as we said before sarvam paravasham dukham. That “paravasham” or dependence is discussed which is “samsara” or bondage. 

            In the first portion the context of the Mahabharata war is presented. As you are aware Mahabharata is about Kauravas and Pandavas. The Kauravas lead a sinful or  “adhramic” life. In the Gita they are called “atha thaee” or the “worst criminals”. Those who commit one of these five terrible sins is called “atha thaee”. The one who burns the house of other, the one who poisons another person, the one who kills another person with a weapon when the victim is weaponless, one who steals the wealth of another person; taking away the land or the wife of another person. If a person commits any one of these sins he is “atha thaee”. And Duryodhana has done all of them. He is not just “atha thaee” but a maha atha thaee. Pandavas had to suffer a lot due to Duryodhana who refuses to give land even after they had spent the prescribed time in the forests. He refused to give them even an inch of land. On the other hand the Pandavas are virtuous as Yudhistra was dharma putra and they followed ahimsa as they did not retaliate to the Kauravas atrocities. They tried sama, dhana, behda, to avoid a war and all of them before resorting to danda. Finally Lord Krishna was sent as a messenger as a last resort. The Vedas themselves says that if an adharmic person does not change then a person can retaliate. Ahimsa is not an absolute value but in certain conditions himsa becomes mandatory after exhausting sama, dana, and bheda. Only a kshtriya is entitled to use the danda. Not a brahmana, or a vyshya or a sudra can resort of violence. Only a kshtriya is entitled to use violence to correct or vanquish an adharmic person if the non-violent method has failed. The Pandavas were patient for a long time before they realized that war alone is the solution. They knew it was “dharma yudham”. The D-day was fixed and both the armies were assembled and facing each other. Duryodhana approached Drona and mentions all the warriors on both sides. The Kauravas are powerful both numerically and strength-wise as compared to the Pandavas and yet Duryodhana is diffident. By this Vyasa makes an important point: no amount of wealth or status will give security if dharma is violated. On the other hand the Pandavas had the support of dharma in the form of Lord Krishna on their side. They were enthusiastic in contrast. Bhishma spotting Duryodhana’s diffidence blew to conch to instil confidence in the prince. As we have seen in our life some people keep talking too much and this is a sign of insecurity and noise serves as a temporary boost to one’s morale. Noise is a nice method of escapism. Bhishma thus sounded the conch and started the great battle. Then all the warriors from both sides blew their conches and at that time Arjuna wanted to see the faces of the warriors arraigned against him. Arjuna commanded Krishna, “Take me to the middle of the battlefield and let me see.” Krishna is only a charioteer and he implicitly obeys Arjuna’s order for He is the servant and Arjuna is the master. Here Krishna does a little mischief as HE brings the chariot in front of Bhishma, Drona and not before Duryodhana or Karna etc. We have to pause for a moment and observe Arjuna’s mind which was fast collapsing. Arjuna’s happiness was dependent on Bhishma and Drona. He had a lot of attachment on both of them.

            That leads us to the second portion of the chapter where Arjuna’s mind undergoes a sea change. Until then Arjuna was not emotional upset and his intellect was very bright and clear. He very well knew that this was not a battle between relations but between dharma and adharma. But the moment he saw Bhishma and Drona his budhi, or intellect, was overwhelmed. And this is the beginning of samsara. Here we see samsara that is caused by dependence and Vyasa defines samsara in three technical terms. One is krupaya avisttah, meaning leaning or dependent or attachment on another person to be secure, to be comfortable, to be full and to be complete. Arjuna’s attachment to Bhishma and Drona was not ordinary. It is intense attachment. And sorrow is directly proportional to the intensity of attachment. That is why when a person dies different members in the family are affected in different measures. But for others who read the obituary in the newspaper it does not cause any emotion. So can you that death is the cause of sorrow? If death is the cause of sorrow then it must cause equal sorrow to all the people. Vyasa makes a point here: death is not the cause of sorrow, the object is not the cause of sorrow but it is your dependence (your leaning, psychological leaning, attachment) is the cause of sorrow. For us Bhishma and Drona are not important but we have got our own weaknesses. Arjuna has got his own weakness for them. Arjuna grew up on Bhishma’s lap and he must have heard many stories and so his attachment was intense; therefore sorrow too is intense even at the thought of their death. That imaginary loss was something he could not stand, and what to talk about actual loss. So the word krupa here means attachment. Here we should be careful and we must learn to differentiate between love and attachment. Love is a positive virtue and Krishna defines a wise person as an embodiment of universal love. In attachment I depend upon the other person where as in love I allow the other person to depend on me. Love is from a stronger person who directs it to a weaker person. Love comes from strength and when the other person wants my help I give it to them. But I am not dependent on them. Love is born out of independence and strength and there is no expectation. While in attachment it is born out of weakness, born out of dependence and there are lot of expectations. It is this attachment Vyasa says “krupa”. And Arjuna was “avisttah”, he was overwhelmed. This leads to sorrow or vishadah and that is why this chapter is called “Arjuna vishada” yoga. Vyasa points that everyone is facing vishada because of this raga only. The object of attachment may vary from person to person but the problem of attachment is universal. Arjuna’s sorrow was so intense and overflowing that it was expressed in the physical body. When the sorrow is mild it is only in the mind and not seen in the body, but when the sorrow is intense even the body is disturbed. Arjuna’s hands were trembling, his throat was perched etc. When the attachment is intense the vishada is also intense.

            Then there is another problem Vyasa points out. When there is sorrow then there is confusion or delusion. When emotion overflows in a person then the intellect is blunted; intellect is not able to think properly. That is why when we are angry we don’t know what we are saying. Some parents in angry shout at their kids as “donkey”; then what would be the elders? In intense emotions rational thinking is lost and right things are seen as wrong and wrong things as right. This is called “mohah”. This delusion or moha is seen as Arjuna says,” We will get paapam by killing these atha thaee.” According to dharma sastra a “atha thaee” must be given capital punishment even without a trial. It is like “shoot at sight” in modern terminology. A kshtriya must kill the “atha thaee” and he will only get punyam for it. He will never get paapam killing such an despicable person who has committed any of the five terrible sins. Had Arjuna said that killing Duryodhana is a sin then we can attribute to Arjuna’s ignorance. But saying killing these atha thaee is a sin means that he is terribly confused and deluded. These three put together is samsara or bondage – raga, shokha and moha. Attachment, Sorrow, Confusion.

            This problem of Samsara is not unique for Arjuna but it is universal. Had Gita only meant for Arjuna or to those living in 5^th century BC or 2^nd century BC then Gita is not relevant for us. Gita is relevant and it became popular for Arjuna represents the entire humanity. Humanity of any century. If we study our entire life we find in our life attachment, sorrow, and confusion. We go from one attachment to another. I love a person and whether she dies or deserts me then I go looking for someone. Even then I don’t learn the lesson that attachment is wrong. It is like giving up smoking and taking up chewing. Then gave up chewing and took up gambling; left gambling and took to race-course. We don’t recognize the sorrow caused by dependence and keep moving from one dependence to another. We don’t find any improvement in our life. Earlier we cried for losing marbles or balloons and now we cry for jobs and women. The cause of sorrow that stems from dependence varies but the sorrow itself does not go away. This is confused thinking and we go to our deaths in bondage. We don’t come out of bondage instead move from one bondage to another; not from bondage to liberation. Like moving from the frying pan to the fire. Arjuna experiences this samsara intensely and he decides not to fight this war. He dropped his bow and quiver of arrows and sat in the middle of the chariots with tears of sorrow. It is this problem of samsara we have to learn from the first chapter.

            Once we have understood the context and Arjuna’s samsara in this chapter we should focus on the fundamental human problem and not be diverted with questions like “What were the others doing when Arjuna-Krishna were having a dialogue? Or whether Arjuna is a fictitious character or real? Or whether Kurushetra is in Haryana or Afghanistan? Shankaracharya does not even write a commentary for the first chapter. From this we have to realize that we have to take the essence of the story and not delve on the story; we have learn the problem of samsara as it impacts our life and not go fishing after questioning the veracity of the story. Arjuna diagnosed the problem of samsara and therefore worked for a cure. In the same way we should also diagnose our disease and try to come out of it. The problem is not with the wife or children, the problem is not with the society or neighbor, the problem is not with the boss or subordinates but the cause of all our problems is due to your attachment on external objects or people. Then I understand that my sorrow is my problem caused by my ignorance and not those external things. As Swami Dayananda nicely says: The problem is you. The solution also is you. The first chapter is for “discovery of samsara”.

            After Arjuna’s experience of Raga- Shokha- Moha (Attachment-Sorrow-Delusion) we find that Krishna does not come to Arjuna’s rescue at all. Krishna is a free person and HE is not bound by samsara. Only a free person can help a person in bondage and not another bounded person. There is a rule in our sastras: NEVER ADVISE A PERSON UNTIL HE SEEKS. If we advise without their seeking then we will lose our value; our words will fall on deaf ears. If you are not asked, if you are not approached then don’t open your mouth. Many read a book or listen to a song and then insist on sharing with others. This is not right. We should only make an exception with respect to children and advise them till they grow up. Otherwise the general rule is never advise anyone unless they ask for it. You must only give advice then they are ready to take advice. Therefore the first chapter of the Gita ends with Arjuna’s discovery of samsara. Krishna does not give any advice in this chapter. HE does so only from the second chapter when Arjuna recognizes his helplessness and seeks the Lord’s advice. This requires humility; an arrogant person will not surrender. An arrogant person cannot surrender and only a person who surrenders can receive the teaching. We surrender at the feet of a guru who is a free person. How do we find a guru? Should we give an advertisement in the paper saying: we are all samsaris and we need a guru to lift us out of it. The Sastras themselves declare that when you are ready, when you are ripe and when you have discovered the problem of samsara and a person sincerely seeks a solution then the law of the Lord is that such a person will find a guru around. Arjuna surrenders at the feet of Lord Krishna and asks for the teaching. Only then the Gita teaching begins. The first chapter sets the context and discovery of the problem, the teaching starts only from the second chapter.