Through Spiritual Understanding.

The Bhagavad Gita is the essence ― the cream of the crop ― of Vedic philosophy. Here, in Chapter 2, is the essence of the Gita.

How does Krishna answer Arjuna’s questions? How does Krishna deal with Arjuna’s anxiety attack? How does God answer our prayers? How does life unfold for us when we become confused, anxious, nervous, worried, angry, or impatient? Or when the rug is pulled out from under us, and we are at our lowest point, or when we are falling. How does life unfold?

In this situation, Lord Krishna treats Arjuna with great respect and strength; he talks to his courage and wisdom.

Krishna says, O Arjuna, how is it that depression comes to you at this moment of decision and action? You are, and have always shown yourself to be clear-minded, knowing your priorities, and strong in heart.

Why suddenly now do you show such uncharacteristic behavior? [Verse 1–3]

Lord Krishna spoke to the grief-stricken Arjuna, whose teary eyes were overwhelmed by compassion. [1]

O Arjuna, from where does this anxiety and depression arise, at this critical juncture? It is unfitting honorable people, and prevents entering heaven. [2]

O Arjuna do not yield to unmanliness, it is not worthy of you. O terror of enemies, cast off this faint-heartedness and rise up. [3]

Repeating his concerns, Arjuna now states that he will not fight ― he chooses to be a conscientious objector. [Verse 4–10]

O Krishna, destroyer of enemies, how can I point my arrows in battle against Bhishma and Drona who are worthy of worship? [4]

Rather than kill these great Souls, it is better to live in this world as a beggar; otherwise, by killing them, all the spoils of war we attain will be stained with blood. [5]

It is not clear to me which is better, for us conquer them or for us to be conquered by them.

If we kill the sons of Dhritarashtra, we would lose the will to live. [6]

My nature is overwhelmed with pity and depression, my mind confused about my true duty.

I beg you Krishna, clearly instruct me on what is good for me, I am your disciple, and have taken refuge in you. [7]

Even if I win dominion over the earth and prosper, I don’t know what can remove my sense withering grief. [8]

Having stated his quandary, Arjuna, conqueror of enemies, said: “I shall not fight, O Govinda.” And fell silent. [9]

O Dhritarashtra, in the midst of the two armies, Krishna, as if smiling, spoke these words to the grief-stricken Arjuna. [10]

What is Real Does Not Change Now Krishna begins his explanation, starting from the most spiritual insights, moving to the more mundane reasons for Arjuna to fight.

Krishna says, You are upset for having to kill these people. Although what you say seems wise, it is not: you know no one dies. People are Souls, not bodies. Souls are eternal, bodies only house the Soul. The truly wise mourn neither for the dead nor the living.

All of us Souls have lived before in other bodies. Just as the Soul remains in the body as it changes from childhood to old age. So, too, the Soul remains as we change from one body to another. [Verse 11–13]

You are mourning for those who deserve not sorrow, yet you speak apparently as a wise person. The truly learned neither laments for the dead or the living. [11]

There never was a time I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings. Nor is there ever a time that any of us shall cease to exist. [12]

Just as the Soul passes through this body from childhood to youth and old age, so too the Soul reincarnates from one body to another. Thus the wise never become confused by the true nature of the Soul. [13]

Remember that we experience physical sensations such as heat and cold, pleasure and pain, through our senses. They are temporal, because they have a beginning and an ending. These experiences will eventually pass. If the mind is focused solely on ever-changing sensory experiences, it will not be possible to quiet the mental chatter long enough to realize one’s eternal Soul.

That which is real is no changing (eternal); that which is unreal is nonpermanent. So the ever-changing world can be said to be nonexistent, because it is not permanent. Only the Soul can be said to exist, because it is the one thing that does not change ever die, fight this injustice. [Verse 14–18]

O son of Kunti, it is only due to the interaction of the senses and sense objects that cause feelings of heat, cold, pleasure, and pain. They are temporary experiences, with a beginning and an end. Therefore try to endure them. [14]

O men among men, wise people are serene and not imbalanced by these sensations, remaining equipoise in pleasure and pain. This is the only way to be ready for liberation. [15]

The unreal world has no existence and the real world can never end. The knowers of truth see this reality. [16]

Know that what pervades all matter is eternal; this Soul cannot be destroyed. [17]

The body perishes, but the Soul in bodies is eternal, indestructible, and infinite. So fight O Arjuna. [18]

The Soul is eternal; it always existed, and always will exist. It doesn’t move, create, or change anything. So if a person is really the Soul, how can the Soul-Person be a killer if the Soul doesn’t do anything other than exist?

When clothes wear out, we don’t grieve too much about it; we simply buy new clothes. So too, the body is a covering for the Soul to wear in order for Self-Realization to have a form to realize its true eternal Soul. So when the body becomes old and unable to be a sturdy home for the Soul, the Soul casts off the old worn-out body and takes on a new one to continue the path to realize one’s true eternal nature (Self-Realization). [Verse 19–25]

One who believes the Soul is a killer, or thinks that the Soul is killed knows not the Truth;

Soul neither slays or is slain. [19]

The Soul is never born, nor ever dies. The Soul is unborn, eternal, changeless, timeless; it is not destroyed when the body is destroyed. [20]

O Arjuna, how can one kill anyone, when they know the Soul as eternal, unborn, and indestructible. [21]

Just as a person throws out old clothes and wears a new attire, like that, the Soul lets go of old, worn out bodies and takes on new bodies. [22]

Weapons cannot harm the Soul, fire cannot burn it, water cannot wet it, and air cannot dry it. [23]

The Soul cannot be pierced, burned, wet, or dried. It is eternal, omnipresent, unmoving, unchanging, and everlasting. [24]

The Soul is unmanifest, unknowable, immutable; therefore knowing this to be true, there is no reason to grieve. [25]

Now, if this talk of Soul is too abstract, Krishna next speaks from the mundane vantage; even from this view, there is no cause for grieving. From the point of view of life and death, we know that everything is born, lives, and eventually dies. So why grieve over the inevitable? [Verse 26–30]

O mighty-armed, even if you think the Soul continually revolves in the rebirth/death cycle, even then, there is no reason to grieve. [26]

Everything that is born, must die. And everything that dies, is born again. Therefore there is no cause to lament over inevitabilities. [27]

O Arjuna, we know nothing before and after birth; we only know things during life. So why grieve over the unknowable? [28]

Some see the Soul as wondrous, others speak of its wonder; some hear of the amazing Soul, and some, even after hearing about it still do not comprehend it. [29]

The Soul within the body of every living being is immortal; therefore, O Arjuna, you needn’t grieve over any creature. [30]

If you should be killed in battle, defending the helpless or the righteous, if you are killed doing your life-purpose, your God-given duties, then you shall go to heaven. If you are victorious, you shall enjoy heaven on earth. So for all these reasons, son of your mother Knowing the true permanent nature of the Soul and the ever-changing and impermanent nature of life, see no difference between pleasure and pain, and winning and losing. Focus on the eternal, focus on inevitability, focus on duty, and you cannot incur sin. Sin is a function of the ever-changing world. It occurs when you focus on or get stuck in the relative world: this is sin. Acting beyond change, acting for eternity, takes you beyond sin. This is known as Self-Realization (Moksha) [Verse 31–38]

Considering your life-purpose (dharma) is upholding righteousness, you should not waver; there is nothing more purposeful than fulfilling your life purpose. [31]

O Arjuna, fortunate are those who are forced to uphold righteousness in an unsought war; it is a open gateway to heaven for such a soldier. [32]

Conversely, if you do not fight in this righteous war, you abandon your spiritual duty and reputation, and thus incur sin. [33]

People will speak ill of you; for honorable and esteemed people, dishonor is worse than death. [34]

These great chariot warriors will interpret your inaction as fear, and for those who once had high regard for you, you will be seen in disgrace. [35]

Your enemies will maliciously insult you and discredit your heroism. What can be more painful than this? [36]

If you are killed in battle you will attain heaven; if you are victorious in this war you will enjoy the earth. Therefore, O Arjuna, with a resolved mind, arise and fight. [37]

Be equal minded in pleasure and pain, win and loss, victory and defeat; fight this battle. In this way, no sin will be attached to you. [38]

Now the spiritual kernel of Vedic philosophy is presented: Self-Realization and the mechanics of how bondage is caused and how one can remove the bonds to realize their true nature, the eternal Soul.

Krishna says, Let us now talk about yoga ― the action that merges the inner self with the universal Self, the realization of this eternal nature of Self.

If you are sincere, even a small amount of time devoted to yoga delivers you from fear. For this wisdom will free you from the bondage of actions of cause and effect (karma). Focus on your goals, or on the things that must be done without distraction. [Verse 39–41]

So I have explained to you the wisdom of Self-Realization. Now, listen about yoga of action without desire for reward; the knowledge of which frees one from the karmic bonds of cause and effect. [39]

In this yoga there is no wasted effort or negative consequences. Even a little, sincere practice of yoga saves one from great fear. [40]

O Arjuna, in this yoga, the sincere, resolved mind is focused and one-pointed; but the mind full of desires is scattered in many directions like branches on a tree. [41]

Avoid people’s words (spoken or written) just because they sound nice ― that is, if they are the words of a charismatic person or a sweet talker). Listen to the essence or substance of what is being communicated for true value.

Some people only do good to gain fame and power. Some aim for heaven (a temporary resting place before returning to earth for continuing on the path of Self-Realization), rather than aim to realize their eternal life.

Some people use knowledge as power or prestige, or to gain wealth.

How many people do you see worshipping knowledge above all else ― above ethics, spirit, or compassion. In our modern age, intellectual knowledge is prized over common experience.

Lord Krishna discusses the Vedic notion that the highest, most important knowledge is Self-knowledge, because it is the only permanent knowledge. If a person does not seek this permanence, then of what value is intellectual knowledge. If this knowledge does not provide a lasting experience, what good is it? So Krishna says that even the most spiritual of books are only words unless they provide of one’s relationship with their Soul compared to the relevance of spiritual books. [Verse 42–46]

O Arjuna, people who are proud of flowery words are satisfied with the literal Vedic verses, saying, ‘this is the only way to interpret the Vedas’. [42]

Others, full of desires for selfish, gratification of their senses, see heaven as their highest goal (not realizing it is temporary), and partake in many esoteric scriptural rites just to gain pleasure, wealth, power, and good rebirth. [43]

For people who overindulge their sense gratification, acquisition of power and worldly pleasures, their spiritual abilities are diluted, unable to focus on, or feel conviction of purpose to God. [44]

The Vedas deal with the three gunas. O Arjuna, be free from attachment to these Gunas; free from pairs of opposites (e.g., heat/cold, pleasure/pain), free from greed and hoarding, be ever steady and self-reliant. [45]

For a realized wise person (experiential knowledge), book knowledge of Vedas are of little use, just as well water is of little value when there is fresh lake water at hand. [46]

Unselfish Giving

Lord Krishna then discusses the relationship between working (including intellectual work) and experiencing eternity (a state of no boundaries, often called a state of no action).

The insight is that a person has the right to work to help others or to perform devotional work. But one is not to work to achieve the results (fruits — to get something personal from the action as the motive. So there is something uplifting, something spiritual about working for the sake of working. There is honor in doing your best, This is very similar to the story of the Garden of Eden where God admonishes Adam and Eve to not eat the fruits of the tree of knowledge. God says, avoid trying to get/use/enjoy the fruits of intellect (and stick to the experience of God or God’s grace (eg, the garden, the spirit). Because, when you put intellectual knowledge over the innocence of living and enjoying God’s world, believing that you can know more than God, then suffering comes.

Krishna continues his reasoning. Working for rewards results in an inferior form of work than does working to help, a more utopian attitude. So even if we do good work but expect some reward in return, that work becomes inferior owing to our lesser intent. (Clearly it is better than not doing good works, but in this context, we are examining various types of good works only.) For example, if the ABC Company decides to work/donate to help feed and clothe the look good in their community, then this becomes a something-for something giving agenda that diminishes their actions.

This is already clear to us when a company has done something dishonorable in the community such as mistreating workers, harming the environment, stealing from investors, etc. The response to being found out is often a PR effort to appear good, such as airing a commercial that highlights the supposed good actions of the company.

Many people do see through this faç ade. However Krishna is talking about something higher, about an already reputable person.

How many of you remember doing something just for doing it?

Helping for no reason? Giving without anyone knowing about it, or giving without wanting anything in return? How has that made you feel? Most people I have spoken with say it is the best feeling in the world; better than earning salary. This is what Lord Krishna is talking about.

One wonderful idea Krishna uses is, ‘do your best’ to do good. That is all a person need to do. Success is in God’s hands ― so just try your best, but do not try to make something happen. Otherwise the ego gets in the way and proclaims itself The Doer. The value of doing your best, or stated another way, act out of love, removes fear and guilt of failure from the picture. That is all God asks of us.

There is a Vedic tale of how the god Indra tried to hurt the villagers who stopped worshipping him and instead worshipped the one almighty God. Indra hurled a storm of objects down on the village. Lord Krishna lifted a mountain over the village to protect the people. In their gratitude and enthusiasm, the villagers all gathered poles and pushed the mountain up as if they were helping Krishna lift the mountain. They were overjoyed to think they were helping Krishna; but in reality, Krishna was doing all the lifting. So it is in life: we only need to hold our pole up in love and goodness. If it succeeds, it is because God is protecting the people.

Krishna also discusses work on the spiritual level. There are people who do spiritual acts, expecting to receive certain results. For example, they donate to their religious group to get a bronze plaque, or to show off to their friends how much money they have given; they offer prayers to give birth to a male child; or give money or do some charity and expect a favor in return. Lord Krishna warns us to be aware of this kind of egotism.

In the Upanishads (another Vedic text), it also says there are two paths to Self-Realization; the lower and higher paths. The first is doing good deeds for some reward (including heaven). The higher path is doing good deeds just for the sake of doing them. The deed itself makes the person feel grateful to be allowed to do the good deed; and that is reward enough for them. It is the higher path that more quickly brings one to Self-Realization.

A deeper, more complex, yet simple idea is discussed here. Devotional action (bhakti yoga) frees one from the bonds of this limited relative world to experience the eternal nature of one’s Soul. Bhakti (Divine love) allows a person to be free from the gunas and the various opposites in life. This means that even concepts, such as good and evil, pleasure and pain, winning and losing, are all of little importance, because they are all relative ideas; they do not relate to, nor can they compare to the value of experiencing eternal life.

We can obtain insight into how one becomes unaffected by worldly issues using an analogy of being in love with your spouse. There is the saying that love is blind. People do not see the faults of someone they love. Just as worldly love disengages one’s mind from normally troubling issues, so too loving God allows a person to feel freer without being troubled by smaller worldly matters.

The Gunas Defined

According to the Vedic view of creation, there are three fundamental principles that control everything: birth, life, and death. Everything has a beginning, a middle, and an end. The Vedas call these three fundamental principles the three gunas: sattwa or creation, rajas or maintaining, and tamas or concluding or ending.

Gunas are seen in our personalities. Some people like to create ideas, food, or companies. Some like to manage and keep an idea or business alive. Still others have the task of removing old, broken, unworkable things, ideas or institutions.

Just as food grows and stays fresh for a time and then becomes inedible, so too are people are born, live, and die. Careers begin and end.

Everything in creation is under the influence of these three laws.

Krishna tells us that the secret to peace and spiritual bliss is to go beyond the gunas. What does this mean? How can a person go beyond something that controls all material existence? The answer is to switch one’s focus from material life to one’s spiritual nature.

While sattwa guna creates all of material life, it is God who has created the gunas. In the beginning there was God, and He said, let there be creation. So God created the gunas to sustain creation and remove those things that would get in the way of maintaining it.

One may wonder how a person, who is composed of matter, can go beyond the three principles of matter. The answer is that, in this case, we are speaking of the person as the Soul. The person is not merely the matter that houses the Soul, but is the Soul.

Imagine three brothers: Sat, Roger, and Tom Goona. They want to start a computer software company named Goo-Na. It was Sati’s idea, and he did all the groundwork to get the company up and going. He got Good Ol’ Dad (G.O.D.), venture capitalists, to loan them the startup funds. But since Sat loses interest in the daily activities and likes to move on to create some more dot-com startup companies, Roger was the perfect choice to run the company.

Roger doesn’t have much creative sense, so he was happy that Sat started the company; Roger’s God-gifts lie in management and organization skills. So he runs the day-to-day operation.

Sat and Roger talked Tom into leaving his job at his salvage company and use his cleanup skills for their new company. Some of Tom’s responsibilities will be clearing out old computers, furniture, cell phones, cars, software, and so on, since the company must stay on the leading edge of technology and fashion (to impress the clients).

Tom also has the personality to compassionately deal with people when they must be let go. He is also in charge of disbanding parts of companies that their company takes over.

The people who work at Goo-Na have enjoyed their jobs, their salaries support their families, and everything runs smoothly. As the company becomes larger and more powerful, the brothers, human nature being what it is, begin to lose their idealistic focus. Roger becomes power hungry, ie, busy with hostile takeover attempts.

Tom has become lazy and sloppy, not clearing out old inventory, not showing up for work, preferring to sit and watch plasma screen TV all day. And Sat, well, he spends all of his time either creating new companies or reading scripture and meditating.

As a result, corporate ethics has slipped and customers are not getting quality products. Creative ideas to serve humanity have fallen by the wayside. Other companies are being harassed where they were previously community partners, and there are even some financial scandals afoot.

There remains one employee, Archie, who joined the company, and who is still inspired by its idealistic mission statement; however, he is quite upset that the company is not allowing him to truly help society. No one listens to his creative ideas. When he tries to talk to any of the brothers, they ignore him. Archie is stuck, trapped by the three brothers. The only way to get out of this predicament is to go over the heads of the Goona brothers. For this, he has to go Dad (G.O.D.) venture capitalists. G.O.D. holds the purse strings and decides whether to continue funding this company. Since Archie alerted G.O.D. about the loss of vision at Goo-Na, the G.O.D. company may be able to bring integrity, ethics, compassion back into this company by threatening to close them down (ie, stop funding them). As a result of Archie’s devotion to helping people, G.O.D. succeeded in putting Goo-Na back on track.

This story gives a brief idea of how the gunas work. Sattwa creates life. Rajas keeps things going. Tamas concludes the life cycle. To avoid getting caught up in material life and really know the eternal, nonchanging Divine bliss, Arjuna is advised to go beyond the three gunas and to directly seek God.

It may be easier to understand the value of spiritual devotion versus material ideas, through another analogy. A person can have a pile of wood, a box of iron, various tools, some plot of earth. They can even assemble these materials into a living structure. But only when a person, couple or family lives there, does the structure begin to mere object.

The other important point here is that Krishna advises people to not unduly strain themselves to achieve the results of one’s action, while simultaneously avoiding under acting or being inactive. Merely sitting doing nothing, keeps one from being involved on an external level only; it does not free the mind and feelings from such desires.

There is a myth that the path to Self-Realization is one of renouncing action, but this is incorrect: it is renouncing the desire for the result of action. Not acting does not release the desire for rewards. [Verse 47–53]

You have the right to fulfill your responsibilities and duties, but not the right to the results (work is its own reward). Neither work for the results of your action, nor be lazy because there is no promise of results to gain. [47]

O Arjuna, be grounded in yoga, perform your duties without attachment, seeing success and failure as the same. [48]

O Arjuna, working for reward is inferior to work that engenders spiritual purpose and closeness to God. So seek refuge in this path of growing spiritual experience. Wretched are those who can only work for rewards. [49]

One who has experienced this spiritual realization is freed from ‘good’ and ‘bad’ results in life. For this reason, undertake this path of yoga. Yoga means, skill in action. [50]

The wise who have released their desires for the rewards of action, become free from the yoke of birth and death, and find peace beyond materialism. [51]

When your spiritual awareness pierces the mire of delusion, at that time you will feel indifferent regarding all that you shall ever hear. [52]

When your spiritual intellect has been tossed by the conflicting opinions of the scriptures, then you will become fully established in the Self and attain Self-Realization or oneness with God. [53]

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