The Bhagavad-Gita on the Cause and Removal of Suffering

 

Maharishi (1967, p. 50) points out that the Bhagavad-Gita addresses the question of suffering in a way that is intended to apply to all forms of suffering and problems. It accomplishes this by presenting suffering in a most noble man, caused by a most difficult situation. Arjun is not only one of the greatest warriors of his time, but is also a man of personal integrity who has a clear mind and a full heart. He had committed himself to battle because he saw the need to prevent further oppression of his brothers and their people. Yet, at the same time, he feels such compassion for his kinsmen in the opposing army that he questions whether any good could come from the impending destruction. In spite of the wrong-doing of his cousin Duryodhan and others, he feels he could not enjoy a kingdom gained at the price of such conflict. As a result, he is unable to act at all.

Arjuna's suffering is brought on by an apparent conflict between his honorable qualities, his great sense of duty and his compassion. Maharishi notes that by portraying this particular dilemma in such a highly developed man, the Bhagavad-Gita addresses its solution to all forms of suffering, even in the " most noble, sinless and most highly developed in both heart and mind" (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, 1967, pp. 51-52).

Arjun, wanting only to do what is good, suffers because there is a conflict between duty to society and love of family. In Maharishi's commentary, the cause of suffering which emerges from this examination of Arjuna's situation is Arjuna's inability to integrate the conflicting demands which arise from the diversity of life. The source of Arjuna's dilemma, in Maharishi's analysis (1967, pp. 76-77), is the conflict between the dictates of Arjuna's mind (the value of duty) and heart (the value of compassion). Arjun is naturally attached not only to his brothers and their cause but to his relatives in the opposing army. As a result he feels divided in himself and in this lack of integration he is unable to act. Maharishi states:

Within man there is mind and there is heart. These, by their very existence as two, hold the possibility of suffering. When they are united, when there is harmony between a heart and mind full of righteousness and noble inspiration, suffering cannot arise. But when there is a lack of coordination or a conflict between them, suffering automatically results. (p. 50)

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The solution lies in the infusion into the field of duality of a non-dual element which blesses man's life with a status unaffected by suffering, even while he remains in the field where suffering is possible. (p. 52)

Lord Krishna responds to this situation by giving Arjun the knowledge and experience of the field of pure intelligence which integrates all the manifest diversity of life. This field, described by Lord Krishna as the field of Being, is identified by Maharishi Vedic Psychology as the unified field of natural law, the field of pure consciousness. This theme of removing suffering through attuning individual life with the unified field of natural law has been previously described in terms of both Maharishi Vedic Psychology and the principles of modern science (Alexander & Boyer, 1989). In the Bhagavad-Gita, Lord Krishna elaborates this same theme in terms which are concretely psychological in nature, concerned with the process of experience.

Lord Krishna states that suffering arises from the lack of the stable inner experience of fulfillment, which results in undue attachment to unstable external sources of satisfaction. He states:

 

All pleasures born of contact are only sources of sorrow; they have a beginning and an end, О son of Kunti [Arjun]. The enlightened man does not rejoice in them.

(V. 22)

In this verse, Lord Krishna points out that all satisfaction that has its basis in the contact of the self with the changing objects of the senses, without directly experiencing their nonchanging basis in pure consciousness, will lead to sorrow, because one is dependent on the environment for one's happiness. In a subsequent verse, he tells Arjun that the enlightened person, on the basis of unshakable inner contentment and bliss, is not at the mercy of circumstances. Maharishi (1967) comments upon this verse as follows:

... the intensity of happiness that one can enjoy depends on the level of one's consciousness. At every level of consciousness there is a corresponding intensity of happiness. This principle applies also to intelligence and power....

If the self delights in the experience of objects, since the objects are changing, the delight will soon be lost. This loss of pleasure will give rise to suffering. That is why the Lord says: " they have a beginning and an e n d.... The enlightened man does not rejoice in them." He who lacks contact with inner Being becomes engrossed in external pleasures....

When one joy comes to an end, the self is subjected to a state without joy which, in contrast with the experience of joy, is suffering. But if the Self has gained a state of perpetual happiness, then It is left with no possibility of suffering. Absence of bliss-consciousness is the source of sorrow. (pp. 367-368)

Maharishi's analysis of suffering also elaborates Lord Krishna's theme by relating suffering to action which is not in tune with the laws of nature governing human development. The inner fulfillment of bliss is found in the direct experience of pure con

THE BHAGAVAD-GITA: A CASE STUDY

sciousness, the total potential of natural law. When that is not available, behavior is guided by impressions from the senses which reflect only partial values of natural law without awareness of their basis in the unified field of natural law, the field of pure consciousness. The result of this restricted awareness is action that is not fully life-supporting for either the individual or the environment.

This is clearly brought out by Lord Krishna when he says that sensory pleasures have a " beginning and an end, " (V. 22) implying that they are finite; they do not provide the eternal fulfillment of pure consciousness. Thus, as Maharishi points out, if pure consciousness has not been stabilized as the basis of all conscious experience, sensory impressions may fragment the wholeness of life, which results in suffering. Arjuna's suffering arises from the fact that the wholeness of his life has been divided by his heart and mind drawing him in opposite directions. In order to solve his dilemma, Arjun must establish his consciousness in the unified field of natural law. In Maharishi Vedic Psychology, this is the only means to integrate life's most contrasting demands.

This case study emphasizes, however, that locating the source of suffering as attachment to the changing aspects of life does not imply that one should adopt an unnatural attitude of detachment, or that one should attempt to deny oneself the experience of joy.

Rather, Lord Krishna says:

 

Creatures follow their own nature. Even the enlightened man acts according to his own nature.

What can restraint accomplish?

(III. 33)

As Maharishi emphasizes, the implication is that attachment to pleasure is natural, and that the state of enlightenment, which is the greatest bliss, is also natural. Lord Krishna does not suggest that joy is at fault, but rather he asserts that the joy resulting from attachment to sensory pleasure is too shallow, transient, and divisive when not integrated by stabilized pure consciousness. In contrast, he proposes that Arjun gain a state of such inner fullness that all his desires and actions do not weigh heavily on him, but are supported and fully integrated by the totality of all the laws of nature:

 

He whom all desires enter as waters enter the ever-full and unmoVeda sea attains peace, and not he who cherishes desires.

(II. 70)

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In commenting upon this verse, Maharishi (1967) describes the enlightened man:

... his state is like that of an ever-full and steady ocean. This, being the state of absolute bliss, is the goal of all desires in life.

Desires arise from a particular want, from a lack of happiness; the mind is ever seeking a field of greater happiness. Thus desires are always flowing towards eternal bliss-consciousness, as rivers to the ocean.

Once bliss-consciousness is permanently attained, desires have serVeda their purpose and therefore cravings do not arise. This is a state of true contentment, a state of lasting peace.

... However, this does not mean that in order to attain peace in life a man should cease to desire and to aspire. It is the desires that lead a man to greater happiness and to fulfillment —  not the control and killing of desires, which has been widely advocated through the ages....

Thinking that to desire and to aspire will not lead to peace, people begin to abstain from enterprise and cease to open the gates of progress. This is simply a wrong understanding of the Lord's teaching.

The verse shows Arjun very clearly that the Self-awareness of the realized is like an ocean, which will accept any stream of desires and will satisfy it without being affected.

The ocean accepts the river as it comes and denies no stream rushing in, yet its status remains unaffected. Such is the state of established intellect, which cannot be affected by anything. It is a state of eternal peace. (pp. 170-171)

In summary, Maharishi's insight into Lord Krishna's analysis of suffering is that in a world of change and diversity, undue attachment to changing sources of pleasure gives rise to suffering through sorrow or conflict. He proposes that freedom from suffering is based on stable inner fulfillment and peace. This inner fullness is cultured through the experience of transcendental consciousness.

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