The Yopga of Divine and Devilish Estates

The Blessed Lord said: 1. Fearlessness, purity of heart, steadfastness in the YOGA -of-Knowledge, alms-giving, control of the senses, sacrifice, study of the SHASTRAS, and straightforwardness . . .

As we read the opening stanza we are reminded on the twenty VALUES of life, that were described earlier by Lord Krishna in His Divine discourse (XIII --- 8 to 12). Herein we find an almost exhaustive list of the noble TRAITS in a cultured man living the spiritual way-of-life; a life wherein he accepts and lives those twenty VALUES of life, while meeting the work-a-day world. And in the enumeration of these qualities, FEARLESSNESS (Abhayam) comes first. Fear is generated in one, only when one is in a field which is clouded by 'ignorance.' Fear is the expression of Avidya. Where there is 'Knowledge' there is fearlessness. By placing this quality of fearlessness at the head of the list, with the unsung music of sheer suggestiveness, the divine Acharya is indicating that true ethical perfection in one is directly proportional to the spiritual evolution attained by the individual.

PURITY OF HEART --- No amount of external discipline can supply the student the positive dynamism that is the very core in all moral living. The Geeta preaches a dynamic religion, militant both in theory and practice. The Divine Charioteer is not satisfied by a tame generation of passive goodness. He wants the members of the perfect Hindu society not only to live among themselves the highest values of life, but also to burst forth with the positive glow of righteousness and bathe the entire generation of men in the light of truth and virtue --- virtue that implies honesty of intentions and purity of motives. STEADFASTNESS IN THE YOGA-OF-KNOWLEDGE --- This ethical purity at the level of the heart cannot be brought about when the human mind is turned outward to the flesh. Only when the mind is constantly in unison with the Infinite Song of the Soul, can it discover in itself the necessary courage to renounce its low appetites, clinging attachments and the consequent foul motives GURGLING from within itself. Devotion of Knowledge (Jnana-Yoga) is thus the positive way to persuade the mind to leave all its low temptations. When a child is playing with a delicate glass curio, to save the precious object, the parents generally offer it a piece of chocolate, and the little child, anxious to get at the chocolate, drops the precious thing down. Similarly, a mind that is awakened to the serener joys of the Self will, naturally, never hang on to sensuous objects and their fleeting joys.

ALMS-GIVING (CHARITY), CONTROL OF THE SENSES AND SACRIFICE --- These three are now the techniques by which an individual successfully tunes up his inner instruments of knowledge in order to discover the required amount of "steady devotion to Knowledge." Charity must come from one's sense of abundance. Charity springs only from a sense of oneness in us --- oneness between the giver and the recipient. Unless one is able to identify oneself with others, one will not feel this noble urge to share all that one has with others who do not have it. Thus Daana is born out of a capacity to restrain one's instincts of acquisition and aggrandisement, and to replace them with the spirit of sacrifice, and it consists in sharing with others the objects of the world that one possesses. If charity (daana) develops in one the capacity to detach oneself from the wealth that one possesses and share it with others who are poorer, then we can say that control of the sense-organs (dama) is the application of the same spirit of sacrifice in one's personal life. To give a complete licence for indulgence to the sense-organs is to waste, unproductively, the total human vitality. To economise in the expenditure of energy through the sense organs in the fields of sense-objects is to discover an extra amount of untapped energy. This energy can be made use of as the motive power behind the mind and intellect that is set on a flight to the higher realms of meditation. To keep the mind turned up to the Self, a subtle energy is called forth, and it will be discovered within ourselves when we control our sense excesses. Without dama and daana the pilgrimage to Truth is merely a dream. In the Vedic period, SACRIFICE (Yajna) was the day-to- day devotional ritualism that the average man of spiritual seeking diligently practised. Without this regular prayer- cum-puja --- which is the substitute for Yajna available for us --- control of the sense-organs will be impossible, and without this control, the spirit of charity cannot come. In the absence of both daana and dama, spiritual experience of the Self, recognition of the Divine within us, is impossible. It is interesting to note that each subsequent term in this list is logically connected with the one indicated immediately before. STUDY OF THE SCRIPTURES

(Swaadhyaaya)

--- Traditionally, this term indicates regular study of the scriptures. Study of scriptural literature daily, in measured quantities, will provide the necessary inspiration to live the divine life in our day-to-day existence. But, scriptural study is indicated here by a very significant term, which in Sanskrit suggests that the study of the scriptures should not be merely an intellectual appreciation, but as the student reads the text-books, he must be able, simultaneously, to observe, analyse and realise the truth of what he is studying within his own life. Regular studies, coupled with regular practice (Yajna), will give us the courage to live in self-control of the sense- organs, which in its turn will supply us with steadiness in meditation for realising the Highest.

ASCETICISM (Tapas) --- All conscious self-denials at the body level, whereby an individual reduces his indulgences in the world outside, gains more and more energy within himself, and applies the new-found energy for the purpose of self-development, are called Tapas. UPRIGHTNESS (Arjavam) --- Crookedness in thought, emotion and general conduct has a self-destructive influence upon the personality. Actions belying one's own true intentions and motives, convictions and aspirations, realisation and discrimination will result in the crookedness of one's personality. He who is indulging in this way-of-life will thereby develop in himself a split personality and will soon lose the glow of efficiency and be impoverished in the powers of personal grit. In short, in this very opening stanza of the chapter, while enumerating the qualities of a "Divinely good" man, we find a definite scientific connection among them. Ethical values and moral beauties described in Hinduism are not arbitrary declarations of an imaginative Saint or a melancholy prophet. They are built on the rocky foundations of reason and experience. Sincerely pursued and consciously lived, they contribute to a better expression of the diviner possibilities in man which generally lie dormant. Ethics in India are not, by themselves, a passport to heaven, but are a preparation for a fuller unfoldment of the divine contents in the bosom of man.

MOREOVER, HERE ARE LISTED THE MENTAL CONTENTS OF THE GODLY:

2. Harmlessness, truth, absence of anger, renunciation, peacefulness, absence of crookedness, compassion to beings, non- covetousness, gentleness, modesty, absence of fickle-ness . . .

Continuing, Lord Krishna enumerates the mental contents of the godly type of men. HARMLESSNESS (Ahimsa) --- It does not consist so much in not causing bodily injury to beings in the physical world, as in not harming any living creature in the world around from the realm of thought. Physical ahimsa is simply impossible. To continue living, some kind of physical harm or the other has to be brought about; it is unavoidable. But even while bringing about unavoidable disturbances around ourselves, if our motives are pure and clean, the harm so wrought is not regarded as causing injury. TRUTH (Satyam) --- We have already discussed this virtue while explaining the last term in the previous stanza

"uprightness." AN EVEN TEMPER (absence of anger --- Akrodha) --- Sometimes it is rendered as 'angerless-ness' which is not very happy. A better rendering would be the capacity to check, at the right time, waves of anger as they mount up in our bosom, so that we do not manifest anger in our actions. It will be almost unnatural to expect the mind to become incapable of anger. But no emotion should be allowed to overwhelm us to such a degree as to render us almost impotent. This anger arises out of an insufferable impatience with others. In short, Akrodha does not mean 'without anger' but only 'keeping, as far as possible, an even temper.' SPIRIT OF RENUNCIATION (Tyaga) --- In this stanza also we find, as we noticed in the previous stanza, that there is a sequential order strictly followed in the development of thought from term to term. If without respect to Truth, we cannot live in the spirit of ahimsa, so also without the spirit of renunciation an even temper is but a vain hope. PEACEFULNESS (Quietude --- Shanti) --- If a seeker is capable of living, conscious of Truth harming none, keeping an even temper, in a spirit of renunciation, inspite of all disturbing environments and happenings around, then he is the one who shall come to experience peace and quietude in himself. Even in the midst of a stormy life and outrageous circumstances, such an individual can successfully keep his inward balance and intellectual poise. ABSENCE OF CROOKEDNESS (Unmalicious tongue --- Apaishunam) --- The ugliness or beauty of the tongue is ordered by the personality behind it. A shattered entity will seek self-gratification in malicious scandal- mongering, and the soft, fleshy tongue can often become more devastating than the most destructive missile. A seeker who is trying to reach a fuller and more exhaustive self-expression should develop such an inward harmony that his speech should echo the fragrance of his soul. A speech with softness of tone, clarity of expression, honesty of conviction, power of bringing a clear picture in the listener's mind with no veiled meaning, overflowing with sincerity, devotion and love, becomes the very quality of the autobiography of the speaker's personality. To develop, therefore, a habit of such speech would be unconsciously training many aspects in ourselves which are all necessary for the perfect disciplining of the inner equipments. COMPASSION (TENDERNESS) TOWARDS BEINGS --- In the society in general, it is not reasonable for a seeker to expect that all will keep up to the ideal that he himself entertains. There will be imperfections around. But to recognise, in and through those imperfections, the Infinite beauty of life expressed, is the secret of enduring tenderness in all Saints and Sages. Love alone can discover an infinite amount of tenderness in us. Unless we train ourselves to see the beauty of life pulsating through even wretched hearts and ugly characters, we will fail to bring forth tenderness to sweeten life within and without. NON-CONVETOUSNESS

(Aloluptvam)

--- In the subjective life, to live "without covetousness" means controlling our sense-organs from extreme indulgence in sense-enjoyments. An average man has an endless thirst and an insatiable hunger for sense indulgence. To remain in self-control without endless sense-hunger is meant by the term non- covetousness. GENTLENESS AND MODESTY --- These are not so much the particular disciplines of the individual, as the resultant beauty and harmony which an individual brings forth as the fragrance of his culture, in his contacts with the world outside. These two qualities are best seen in one who has established himself in all the above-mentioned noble qualities. The conduct of such a disciplined man will be both gentle and modest. ABSENCE OF FICKLE-NESS --- NOT UNNECESSARILY MOVING THE LIMBS (Achaapalam) --- Restlessness of mind and unsteadiness of character are reflected in the physical movement of a person. The body shadows the condition of the mind. A constant restlessness, a sudden outburst of activity, an immodest shaking of the body and voluptuous tossings of the limbs are all noticed only in individuals who have not yet cultivated a steady character and a purposeful personality. These can be seen in a child and there they are even considered as enhancing its beauty. But as an individual grows, the beauty in him is his mastery over himself as declared by his movements.

Shankara explains this as "NOT TO SPEAK OR MOVE HANDS AND LEGS IN VAIN." This is an extension of the meaning of this term, and implies the promptitude and economy of all physical energy in any efficient activity. Unnecessarily exhausting the muscles with indecisive movements and thoughtless exertions are signs of weakness in the personality. Such individuals are extremely imaginative and miserably weak in their intellectual calibre and emotional vitality. To avoid such movements, therefore, is to cure many simple weaknesses at the various facets of any given personality. MOREOVER, CONTINUING THE LIST OF DIVINE QUALITIES:

3. Vigour, forgiveness, fortitude, purity, absence of hatred, absence of pride --- these belong to the one born for the Divine Estate, O Bharata.

VIGOUR --- BRILLIANT GLOW (Tejas) --- This is not a mere physical glow of complexion produced by good food and ample rest. Nor is it just an exterior beauty arising out of careful tending of the physical structure and planned nourishing of the pads of flesh around the sage. The glow of spirituality is not literally a painted halo around him, glimmering as a ring-of-fire. The brilliance of his intellect, the twinkling joy in his eyes, the thrilling fragrance of peace around, the serene poise in his activities, the dalliance of his love for all, the light of joy that ever shines forth from the innermost depths of his being --- these constitute their resistible attraction of the personality of the sage, who, with abundant energy, serves all and discovers for himself a fulfilment in that service. FORGIVENESS --- PATIENCE (Kshamaa) --- The context in which the word is used here should increase the depth of its meaning. It is not merely "a capacity to patiently live through some minor physical or mental inconvenience, when insulted or injured by others." It is a subtle boldness that is shown by a man in facing the world around with an unruffled serenity even in the face of the most powerful opposition and provoking situations. FORTITUDE (Dhriti) --- When an individual daringly meets life he cannot expect, all the time, happy situations, favourable circumstances and a conducive arrangement of chances in his field of activity. Ordinarily, a weak man suddenly feels dejected and is tempted to leave his field of work when it is only half done. Many lose their chances of achieving the Highest, and desert the field of action, almost at the moment when, perhaps, victory is round the corner! In order to stick to his guns, man needs a secret energy to nurture and nourish his exhausted and fatigued morale, and this sacred energy welling up in his well- integrated personality is 'FORTITUDE.' Strength of faith, conviction in the goal, consistency of purpose, vivid perception of the ideal and a bold spirit of sacrifice cultivated diligently --- all these form the source from which fortitude trickles down to remove exhaustion, fatigue, despair and so on. PURITY (Shoucham) --- The word indicates not only the inner purity --- purity of thoughts and motives --- but it also suggests, the purity of environments, cleanliness of habit and personal belongings. As a result of an over- emphasis on subjective purity, today, we find in our society, an utter neglect of external purity. Clean clothes and civic-habits have both become rare in our society. Even the devotee-class is unmindful about these, although our religion emphasises that purity and cleanliness are unavoidable disciplines for a seeker. ABSENCE-OF-HATRED (Adroha) --- Harmlessness (Ahimsa) was a virtue explained in the previous stanza. Here the same virtue is repeated not only for the purpose of emphasis but also to indicate a slightly different shade of meaning. The term here should mean more than

"ABSENCE OF HATRED." Just as an individual will never have, even in his dream, any idea of injuring himself, a true seeker, in his recognition of the Oneness in all living creatures, must come to feel that to injure anyone is to injure himself. ABSENCE OF OVER-PRIDE (Na-ati-maanitaa) --- To leave off one's exaggerated notions of self-honour is, immediately to relieve oneself from thousands of avoidable excitements and responsibilities. Life is as light as a feather to one who has renounced his over- exaggerated pride while to a Coriolanus, life becomes a heavy cross, to be carried painfully, as it mercilessly cuts through the living flesh on his shoulders. The twenty-six qualities described above give us a complete picture of the nature of a man of 'Divine Estate.' These qualities are enumerated to serve as a guide to all those who thirst to become "perfect." To the extent we are able to reorganise our way-of-life and change our vision of the world around us on the above lines, to that extent we shall economise our energies, that are often wasted in idle pursuits. To respect and live these twenty-six values of life completely, is to assure ourselves of a right way-of-living. HERE FOLLOWS A DESCRIPTION OF THE DEMONIAC (ASURIC) NATURE:

4. Hypocrisy, arrogance and self-conceit, anger, and also harshness and ignorance, belong to one who is born, O Partha, for a demoniac-Estate.

The dark features of the ugly personalities in the world were never before so strikingly brought within the embrace of a simple stanza. All the Satanic forces that can ever come to express in the bosom of man have been brought together under some all-comprehensive 'types' of devilish-ness, as indicated here. To know them would be a sufficient warning of what we must avoid and what all traits, in us, we must carefully weed out from our mental composition, so that the greater energy that is available to a well-developed man, may, without any obstruction, flow out of our bosom. HYPOCRISY (Ostentation --- Dambha) --- 'Pretending to be righteous but living unrighteous ways of life' is the meaning that Shankara gives to this term. Hypocrisy is, certainly, one of the cheapest poses assumed by the vicious. To them, all their superficial glow of goodness and purity, of religiosity and sincerity are but attractive hoods to cover their deadly motives and ugly intentions. ARROGANCE (Darpa) --- Endless pride of learning, or of wealth, or of social status, or of family connections, gives to an individual a kind of insufferable uppishness, and he looks at the world and the happenings around him through this misinterpreting and self-deluding medium and lives in a world of imagined self-importance resulting in an arrogance that drives away all inward peace. Such an individual gets exiled from the love of the community around. An arrogant man is a lonely creature in the world and his only companions are his own imagined self- importance and dreams of his glories which none but he can see. And naturally he becomes highly self-conceited

(Abhimanah).

ANGER (Krodha) --- When such a self-conceited, arrogant, hypocrite looks at the world around him and finds that the world's estimate of him is totally different from his own estimate of himself, he revolts within and hence his wrath (Krodha) at everything around him. And once such an individual gets worked up with anger, in his speech and action, there must necessarily be a disconcerting insolence (Parushya). Such arrogance, self-conceit, wrath and insolence --- arise from his own self-delusions (ajnanam). He knows not himself, that he is ignorant of the scheme of the world around him, and consequently, he is blind to the right relationship that he should maintain with the world around him. In short, he is extremely ego-centric and he expects the world to be what he wants it to be, and, in his delusion, he supplies a mad blue-print prescribing how the world of healthy beings is to behave and act in his field of actions. This ignorance of oneself and one's relationship with the things and beings around is the secret cause that generally forces one to revolt against the environments and act quixotically. Such people are termed here by Krishna as the 'Diabolically Fallen,' the Asuric. Such a spectacular contrast provides by the picture of the Asuric, as given here, gloriously brings out the earlier picture of the 'Divinely Good' --- the Daivic, in relief. THE EFFECTS OF THE TWO NATURES --- THE DIVINELY GOOD AND THE DIABOLICALLY FALLEN - -- ARE SPOKEN OF AS FOLLOWS:

5. The divine nature is deemed for liberation, the demoniacal for bondage; grieve not, O Pandava, you are born with divine qualities. On hearing such an exhaustive enumeration of the qualities in the good and the bad hearts, it will be natural for every sincere student of the Geeta to feel a despair not knowing whether he himself belongs to the latter or the former category. Generally, one would find it easier to consider oneself bad rather than feel the confidence that one belongs to the good. Arjuna must have felt the same despair and, perhaps, reading this in his face, Krishna consoled him: "GRIEVE NOT, O PANDAVA! YOU ARE BORN OF THE DIVINE ESTATE." That a seeker has the necessary interest and perseverance to read the Geeta up to this chapter, itself shows that he belongs to the 'DIVINELY-GOOD' category! Both the ethical beauties and the non-ethical ugliness are painted here not for the purpose of sending the good to an eternal heaven and of damning the vicious to a perpetual hell! Here, the theme is taken up on a more scientific basis. Ethical virtues are the intelligent ways of reviving man's exhausted energies and fatigued spirit to live. By living these healthy values of a righteous life, the individual unshackles his psychological personality from its self- made entanglements: "THE DIVINE ESTATE LEADS TO RELEASE." As a contrast to this, the negative tendencies cultivated by the 'Diabolically Fallen' are self-made shackles that chain a man to a realm of confusions and sorrows, forbidding him to grow into the ampler fields of his own inner possibility:

"THE DEVILISH TO BONDAGE." GRIEVE NOT (Maa shuchah) --- To become sentimental and desperate or to exhaust oneself in self-pity, or self- condemnation, is a psychological malady, and one suffering from it can never discover in oneself, the energising cheer, the sustaining confidence, and the steady will that are required for an intelligent self- diagnosis and an effective self-cure. To a seeker, living the ethical values is, in itself, a kind of treatment to cure him of some of his personality-diseases. To the Hindus, a sinner is not a dangerous mental leper, or a failure of the Omnipotent Lord. To a Vedantin, Satan is not a perpetual challenge to God. The good, contaminated by weakness and 'ignorance,' is the evil. And the evil, when cured of 'ignorance,' itself becomes the good. A looking glass covered with dust, cannot reflect light, and mirror properly the objects in front of it. This is not because the glass has lost its capacity to reflect, but because its effectiveness has got veiled at present by the accumulated dust, which is essentially something other than the glass. To wipe it clean is to bring forth from it more clarity and light for the reflection. A 'Diabolically Fallen' one has also the same Infinite Light of Pure Wisdom --- but alas, extremely dimmed by false values and wrong concepts in his bosom.

TAKING UP THE 'DIABOLICALLY FALLEN,' KRISHNA SCIENTIFICALLY ANALYSES THEIR MENTAL CONTENTS, AND THEY ARE SEPARATELY OBSERVED AND STUDIED IN THE FOLLOWING STANZAS:

6. There are two types of beings, in this world, the 'divine' and the 'demoniacal; ' the divine have been described at length; hear from Me, O Partha, of the demoniacal.

According to Krishna the entire creation falls under two categories: the 'Divinely Good' (Daivic) and the 'Diabolically Fallen' (Asuric). But in fact, there is yet another group, the 'Incorrigibly Indifferent' (Rakshasic) about whom the Lord is serenely silent. This silence regarding them is perhaps more eloquent than all his eloquence regarding the other two groups! Religions and the techniques of self-development are addressed only to the former two groups and not to the Rakshasic type of men. They have not yet sufficiently grown in their evolution; they are still in the hands of the moulding Nature and they have yet to be properly baked in the furnace-of-life and its scorching experiences. As they grow up sufficiently, they come under the category of the

"Diabolically Fallen," and religion can come forward to lift them to the status of the "Divinely Good." From then onwards it can show them the way to experience and realise the Absolute Goodness which is the Eternal Reality.

If all about the Asura type was given in a broad sketch earlier, (XVI-4) the details are being filled in elaborately in the following stanzas. In almost all religious text-books of the world, the positive qualities of goodness and righteousness are glorified. But they rarely paint, exhaustively, the negative tendencies in a devilish personality. Some critics of Hinduism are jubilant in discovering this tendency in our scriptural texts as a great weakness in our prophets and seers. This criticism against Hinduism was levelled mainly by the critics of the nineteenth century. They are very silent nowadays because of the results of the twentieth century psychological researches and the success of some of the psychiatric methods. To become poignantly aware of the negative tendencies in one's own personality-structure, and to become consciously disgusted with those vulgar urges, are the ways of easily eradicating such wrong tendencies from one's inner nature. Be aware of a weakness; it readily disappears from our character --- says the modern psychiatrist. The bad is not merely an opposite of the good. It can never be that the good has certain urges and the bad has another type of urges. Human urges are always typical, and both the good and the bad are expressions of man's heart. Bad is only "GOOD MISCONSTRUED." Therefore, in the enumeration of the qualities of the bad, we do not have to meet with a sapless list of the opposites of the previous enumeration which pointed the good. As we discover the contents of the bad mind, we shall discover that they are all the very same as those of the good, but mis-applied under a wrong enthusiasm created as a result of some false evaluations. Virtue, poisoned with ignorance is evil; evil, treated and cured of its poison, when it regains its health, becomes virtue. THUS THE VERY FIRST STANZA WHICH PAINTS THE ASURIC TYPE OPENS, AS IT WERE, WITH AN APOLOGY FOR THE 'DIABOLICALLY FALLEN,' ALONG WITH A POWERFUL SUGGESTION ELICITING OUR MOST TENDER KINDNESS TOWARDS THEM:

7. The demoniac know not what to do and what to refrain from; neither purity, nor right conduct, nor truth is found in them.

WHAT TO DO AND WHAT TO REFRAIN FROM --- The men of Asuric nature know not either 'action' or 'inaction.' Here 'action' means any intelligent piece of work undertaken and pursued with a right motive so as to gain for ourselves a better inner satisfaction. Religious acts, selfless work and dedicated service are all examples of right actions whereby the individual gains not only immediate profits, but also the ultimate inner heightening of culture; for he will then be working without losing sight of his Higher Goal. 'Inaction' here means forbidding ourselves from striving in the right channels, and that can bring about only restlessness for ourselves and for others. The list enumerating the negative tendencies of the 'fallen' starts with the idea of 'ignorance.' This is very significant. If any one commits a crime in 'ignorance,' though justice may not accept it as an excuse, the heart of the society will readily discover a tender forgiveness for the erring soul. NEITHER PURITY NOR RIGHT CONDUCT NOR TRUTH IS FOUND IN THEM --- Outer cleanliness is, to a large measure, a reflection of the inner condition. A disciplined man with education and culture alone can, in fact, maintain a systematic order and cleanliness around him. One who is incapable of deciding the actions to be pursued as well as those to be avoided by him, has no harmony within; and therefore, there is no inner purity, or outer cleanliness (shaucha), for such an individual. If the mind is indisciplined there cannot be a decent, and well- regulated life, since outward behaviour (Achara) is nothing but an expression of the mind. Therefore, Krishna indicates that in them good conduct is conspicuous by its absence. He who is confused about 'action' and 'inaction,' who has no purity, or external cleanliness, and who fails in good conduct, cannot maintain TRUTHFULNESS in his words. All through, if you read these terms very carefully in the spirit in which the Divine Charioteer has given them out you will find in them a divine tenderness for such

'Diabolically Fallen' folks. There is no revengefulness for the sinner anywhere, even hinted at, in the entire length of the Geeta. It is a logical conclusion that such a man must necessarily be untruthful in words, not because he is deliberately pursuing dishonesty, but because by temperament he is incapacitated to be honest. MOREOVER:

8. They say, "the universe is without truth, without (moral) basis, without a God; not brought about by any regular causal sequence, with lust for its cause; what else? "

In the description of the 'Diabolically Fallen,' we recognise the picture of an utterly sceptical materialist who looks at life from his own limited intellectual standpoint, and who, naturally, fails to recognise any final purpose or permanent substratum for this seemingly confusing array of illogical happenings. Such materialists, however, have stalwart intellects and are capable of original and independent thinking, but they have to be a wee bit trained, to see something beyond what their general observation and analysis can discover for them. The materialist view-point of life and the world are explained in the stanza. WITHOUT TRUTH (Asatyam) --- Even when they are very scientific in their observation and analysis, the materialists fail to recognise the Truth that upholds the Universe. They recognise change, and the constant change itself is accepted by them as the world, without having for it any steady and changeless substratum. At the same time, scientists admit that change is a relative phenomenon and without a changeless, constant foundation, change cannot take place and give us the impression of continuity. Without a screen, steady and motionless, a running film cannot be projected; without a constant bed, the waters of the rivers cannot flow continuously. The everchanging universe cannot give us a constant APPEARANCE without its having a steady and changeless 'foundation.' This eternal and unchanging Reality behind the ever- changing Universe is called the Truth. According to the materialist, "the Universe is without Truth (Asatyam)." WITHOUT A LORD: (An-Ishwaram) --- There is no substratum; at least, is there a commanding intelligence that orders, regulates, and generally guides the happenings in the world? According to the materialist there is no such Director of Events, no Architect of Happenings. There is no Creator, no Sustainer. NOT BROUGHT ABOUT IN REGULAR SEQUENCE --- The entire universe of beings and things is formed only as a result of mutual combinations of the great elements and the sole ruling factor that determines Creation is "chance"; and the only deciding urge, propelled by which beings are born, is nothing but 'lust.' Even modern psychologists insist that the sex urge alone is the mother urge because of which everything is happening, every achievement is gained and every profit is made everywhere in life. AFTER DESCRIBING THUS, THE POINT OF VIEW OF THE PURE MATERIALIST, KRISHNA SYMPATHISES WITH THE LOT OF SUCH MEN AND TRACES THEIR INSTINCTIVE DEEDS:

9. Holding this view, these ruined souls of small intellect and fierce deeds, come forth as the enemies of the world, for its destruction.

HOLDING THIS VIEW --- Holding the view, as described in the previous stanza, that the world has no substratum, that there is no controlling power, and that the world continues to exist and procreate by itself, if a society were to live, giving full vent to animal nature, it will only achieve restless-ness and strife, disaster and destruction for itself. RUINED SOULS --- A balanced personality can only be for the individual who has, to begin with, a clear conception and a correct judgement of himself. Whenever an individual forgets himself, he acts in a manner unbecoming to the dignity of his birth, education, culture and social status, like a mad man or a drunken fool. When a materialist thus works in ignorance of his own divine status, he, naturally, behaves as though he is an animal --- insulting the divine status of his own evolution.

OF SMALL INTELLECT (Alpa-Buddhayah) --- Once an individual refuses to recognise the "Divine Presence of Truth," embracing and underlying life, he will function in life as a self-centred, selfish entity, endlessly striving to eke out his own personal satisfaction from the material world. Seeking complete fulfilment in the gratification of his sensual urges, he strives hard but discovers only a carping disappointment, a burning hunger and a sense of defeat in life. Krishna, in his infinite kindness, sympathises with such men and calls them "MEN OF SMALL INTELLECT." FIERCE DEEDS --- "If a materialist does not want to believe in the Eternal Reality, and if others must believe in some Permanent Truth, why not allow equal freedom to both --- the believers and non-believers?" This is a natural question that will arise in any man, if he be truly democratic and tolerant in his point-of-view. Anticipating such a doubt in a sincere student, Krishna says, in the second line of the stanza, that when an individual loses his faith in the Higher Reality, he becomes licentious at all levels of his expression. Prompted by his selfish urges to seek and discover his fulfilment in life, he would, perhaps, ultimately bring about irremediable disasters to his era. Historically, the world to-day is going through the same predicament as declared and anticipated in the Geeta!! Materialists, who do not recognise the Truth, seeking Its expression through life's happenings, will unconsciously bring about such a discordant note of disharmony in the community that it will plunge the world into a bloody mire of disastrous wars. THE VIEW-POINT OF THE LIFE OF A MATERIALIST AND HIS MOTIVES IN HIS EVERY-DAY LIFE, ARE BEAUTIFULLY DESCRIBED IN THE FOLLOWING STANZAS:

10. Filled with insatiable desires, full of hypocrisy, pride and arrogance, holding evil ideas through delusion, they work with impure resolves.

The gruesome ugliness of the inner nature of a pure materialist, as he struts about in the fields of his achievements, cannot be better expressed than what Vyasa has accomplished in this stanza. For a more vivid and thorough depiction of the mental contents of the 'Diabolically Fallen,' for a clearer description of the quality and texture of his activities in society, one has to go ransacking the entire existing literature of all the languages in the world, only to fail to find a parallel to this pregnant verse. FILLED WITH INSATIABLE DESIRES --- Activities are not at all possible unless they are instigated by desires. Where desires have ended, the expression of dynamic life in achievements is impossible. And yet, to remain as victims of desires, is to be some horrid machines of activity, vomiting out into the world our inner poison of ego and ego-centric passions. To sustain life only for the satisfaction of desires is unintelligent; for they have a knack of multiplying themselves as we go on satisfying them one after another. They are 'hard to appease.' Filled with insatiable desires, when a man uses his intelligence, abilities and knowledge, he naturally brings about an endless stream of disturbances in and around him. FULL OF HYPOCRISY, PRIDE (CONCEIT) AND ARROGANCE --- Desire is but an expression of the ego when the seeker seeks a permanent satisfaction and infinite fulfilment through sense enjoyments. When he is thus deluded in the misconception of his ego-vanity, negative tendencies such as hypocrisy, pride (conceit), and arrogance will naturally rise up, and smothered by them, he ceaselessly strives to satisfy the unending demands of his own unbridled desires. VICTIMS OF DELUSION --- Desire cannot come to the all- fulfilled. Desire can come only to him who fails to feel his own Infinitude and expresses himself as a limited ego (Jiva). Forgetting his own divine nature, in his identification with the unreal things and values of life, he develops in himself a hunger to enjoy peace and happiness. Naturally, numerous desires arise in him and seeking fulfilment of all such desires, he indulges in sense- gratification.

THEY WORK WITH IMPURE RESOLVE --- The mental biography of the 'Diabolically Fallen' (Asuras) is complete in its sequence when the stanza says that the ego, desperately struggling to gain inner peace, must necessarily forsake all consideration for others, ignore all noble values-of-life, and enter into the fields of activity, shamelessly intolerant, inconsiderate and even brutal. Drunk with passions, opiated with his own desires, he works in the world as a maniac, hurling blood and acid, death and disaster all around him in the community! The picture, viewed microcosmically, shows a materialist, building his life upon the restless waves of his desire- tossed mind. The same world-painting, when looked at macrocosmically, portrays vividly the ugliness of materialistic communities and nations. Life's beauty depends upon the beauty of the philosophy upon which it is built. If the foundations are false, the edifice, however strongly built, will prove to be no better than a card-castle. The economic break-up, social evils, political upheavals, and general restlessness that are found all over the world are all thoroughly discussed in this stanza, if we know how to read them all into it. It is also interesting to note how Krishna, while explaining the 'Diabolically Fallen' (Asuras), without directly saying so, is painting the picture of a materialist, who by nature, is an atheist in thought and a tireless hunter of pleasure in action. In this age of materialism, don' t we prove ourselves faithful to the type just now discussed!

PAINTING THE CONCEPT OF LIFE IN A CONFIRMED MATERIALIST, KRISHNA CONTINUES:

11. Giving themselves over to immeasurable cares ending only with death, regarding gratification of lust as their highest aim, and feeling sure that, that is all (that matters) .

ENDLESS CARES --- Wedded to anxiety and care, such desperate men drag their life of futile endeavours along the corridors of sobs and sorrows to the silent court-yard of death. In an ordinary life, cares besiege the citadel of peace and joy, especially when hosts of powerful desires conquer the individual. The struggles-in-acquiring (Yoga) and anxieties-in-preserving (Kshema) the acquired objects- of-desires are the contents of all cares of life. To waste an entire life-time in such anxieties, and in the end to realise how miserably one had failed is indeed a tragedy. SATISFACTION OF LUST AS THE HIGHEST (Kama- upabhoga-parama) --- Consistent effort either in the field of the good, or in the field of the vicious, put forth without a philosophy of life that sustains the continuity of an individual's activities, is a haphazard endeavour, ignoble and futile. The philosophy of life that is accepted by the 'Diabolically Fallen' is invariably the same wherever they be. The philosophy of the (Charvakas) atheists has been hinted at herein. To them, satisfaction of their lusty nature is the goal of life and there is nothing beyond it. ASSURED THAT IS ALL --- Generally, such materialists are no fools; they have an ample share of a rough and ready intellect. They do realise that a life dedicated to an endless hunt after sense-gratifications is a tragic way of living, and that is such a scheme of existence the individual is called upon to pay an exorbitant price for relatively insignificant gains. And yet, they continue, seeking satisfaction of their uncontrolled lust. If you question them, their answer is that life is nothing but a series of such strifes. They know not of any life, the contents of which are peace and joy. They are generally pessimistic, and since they scrupulously avoid seriously thinking about life, they invariably come to express suicidal tendencies and homicidal temperaments. According to them, sorrows and care alone constitute the fabric of life. They fail to discover any harmony or rhythm underlying the superficial disturbances in life. Entertaining no hope, either for themselves or for the world, they live with embittered hearts, revengefully meeting the happenings around them in the world. In unproductive exertions, they waste their powers only to die a miserable death; exhausted, wearied, disappointed. THE EXPRESSION OF THE ABOVE PHILOSOPHY IN THE LIFE OF THE INDIVIDUAL IS DESCRIBED IN THE FOLLOWING STANZA:

12. Bound by a hundred ties of hope, given to lust and anger, they do strive to obtain, by unlawful means, hoards of wealth for sensual enjoyments.

BOUND BY A HUNDRED TIES OF HOPE, LUST AND ANGER --- Bringing vividly to the mind of the student, the picture of such a materialist, Krishna records in this stanza, the activities of such an individual. Entangled by hundreds of desires, his mental and intellectual energies get dissipated. Such an individual becomes restless and impatient with things that happen around him, and soon loses his balance of mind --- his sense of judgement. Irritated and constantly unhappy with himself and his environments, such a man is seen in life 'GIVEN TO YEARNINGS AND ANGER.' Wherever desire is throttled, anger is natural. Since he is devoted to desires he pursues sense-fulfilments, and since in the world of competition, desire-fulfilments, often get throttled, his lusty urges get transformed into wild and passionate anger. THEY DO STRIVE, no doubt --- They do tirelessly and diligently strive to satisfy their ever-increasing urges. To secure their quota of sensual enjoyments, they must necessarily acquire and procure objects of sense- satisfaction from the world without. They are not seeking happiness as such or peace as such; theirs is the anxiety to quench a nameless thirst which they are constantly feeling --- a strange hunger they are chronically suffering from. They have not the mental equipoise to investigate into their urges, and analyse and judge them properly. Madly they strive on to acquire and possess, and in their desperate anxiety to indulge and to enjoy, they lose sight of the divine principles of existence and the noble dictates of their conscience. THEY DO STRIVE, day and night, to satisfy their inexhaustible passion, with wealth acquired and hoarded by all known unjust means. Though written some five thousand years ago, strangely enough, this portion of the description of the 'Diabolically Fallen' reads as though it were a bitter, but honest, criticism of our own age!! Thus, if students of the Geeta were to judge our era of brilliant scientific knowledge, material prosperity, secular achievements and political freedom, they will have to classify our era as of this 'Diabolically Fallen' type. Amidst the bleating sirens of our booming industries, the horrid thuds of our modern missiles, the devastating powers of nature that we have discovered and released for our own destruction, we may not give our ears to the thundering truth declared by the 'wise' men of such a distant past; but sincere students of the Geeta cannot but perceive the unquestionable veracity in them, and must come to feel sad for the world and age. CONTINUING, THE LORD PAINTS THE ATTITUDE OF SUCH PEOPLE TO LIFE:

13. "This has to-day been gained by me" --- "this desire I shall obtain" --- "this is mine" --- and "this wealth shall also be mine in future. "

There is not much in this stanza that calls for explanation, for the average man of the world to-day lives, exactly the life suggested here. The most successful man in a competitive world is the one who lives in constant consciousness of what he has already acquired, and remembers and sweats for his day-to-day ambitions, to acquire and possess, more and more of the wealth of the world. And the laughable paradox in the philosophy of possession is that the more one has, the more one craves for. No material-wealth hunter has ever declared, "I have this much now, that will do." On the other hand, when one gets drunk with the vanity of possession, one's shameless cry is only: "I HAVE THIS MUCH, AND THIS WEALTH SHALL ALSO BE MINE." The game of desires is an endless gamble. The more one possesses the more one is tempted to strive to possess more. Each time a man strives to acquire something, his desire is to feel his full share of satisfaction. But, invariably, his experience is that he is not fully satisfied, and in his disappointment, he thirsts for more and more possessions. Earlier in the Geeta, it is said that "he who has disciplined and controlled himself to such an extent that the world of stimuli cannot create in him even a ripple of reaction, alone knows what peace is and not the desirer of desires."

THIS STANZA POINTED OUT THE MATERIALIST'S ATTITUDE TO THE PHYSICAL THINGS AROUND HIM; THE FOLLOWING STANZA GIVES US HIS ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE WORLD OF BEINGS:

14. "That enemy has been slain by me" --- "and others also shall I destroy" --- "I am the Lord" --- "I am the enjoyer" --- "I am perfect, powerful and happy. "

The translation of this stanza is itself its commentary. And it is a commentary on the lives of us too! All businessmen in the world, unknown to themselves, constantly chant this stanza in their heart-of-hearts. "I destroyed one competitor in the market, and now I must destroy the remaining competitors also."... "In fact, what can those poor men do to stop me from doing what I want?"...

"Because there is none equal to me in any respect... I am the Lord. I enjoy, I am the most successful man. I am strong in influence, among political leaders, in my business connections, and in my bank balance. I am strong and healthy...." This, in short, is the ego's SONG OF SUCCESS that is ever hummed in the heart of a true materialist. Under the spell of this Satanic lullaby, the higher instincts and the diviner urges in man go into a sleep of intoxication. WHAT IS THE INTELLECTUAL ESTIMATE OF A MATERIALIST ABOUT HIMSELF? LISTEN:

15. "I am rich and well-born --- Who else is equal to me? --- I will give (alms, money) --- I will rejoice. " Thus are they, deluded by 'ignorance. '

Deluded by misconceptions of himself, such a man of sickly, bloated conceit looks at the world through a mind distorted by vanity, and wrongly judges the world and his own relationship with it. He feels happy and congratulates himself on his high birth and breed, on his belongings and wealth, and fails to find anyone equal to him. Self-exiled from society, he lives in a false castle of vanity, suffering innumerable psychological privations. He gloats that he will, by his ritualism, even order the gods to serve him --- that he shall, with his gifts, purchase the whole world. And thus glorified by the world, served by the gods, "I shall rejoice in the world..." Such are some of the maddest ravings of his restless heart, in the dark depths of his utter 'ignorance.' SUMMARISING THE THREE PREVIOUS STANZAS, IT IS SAID:

16. Bewildered by many a fancy, entangled in the snare of delusion, addicted to the gratification of lust, they fall into a foul hell. BEWILDERED BY MANY A FANCY --- When an ego- centric individual, who has thus sold himself to sense- indulgence, spends his time seeking gratification from the world-of-objects, his mind becomes ever unsteady. The mind of an indulgent sensualist soon learns to empty its powers of concentration and exhausts itself in its own hallucinations, fancies and imaginations. ENTANGLED IN THE SNARE OF DELUSION --- If the individual's mind, as a result of its false philosophy, gets dissipated in sapless dreams, his intellect also is in a sad condition. His power of judgement and discrimination is caught up in a web of delusions and false values. His intellect, cut off from its permanent moorings, has thereafter no platform of its own to spring from and come to a correct judgement and evaluation of life. It fails to recognise the permanent harmony of life, but recognises only its own ego-centric vanities. Life looked at through such a disturbing equipment naturally gives a distorted view. ADDICTED TO GRATIFICATION OF LUST --- When an individual's intellect is clouded, his mind gets agitated, and his sense-organs, which are the vehicles through which the mind-intellect has to express itself, certainly behave erratically. When a driver is drunk, the car cannot move properly. Naturally, therefore, such an individual becomes a victim of lust and sense-gratifications. THEY FALL INTO A FOUL HELL --- We need not be great philosophers to understand that such an individual, tired physically, confused mentally, and upset intellectually, will live here in a self-created hell, distributing his own personality-contents of woes to others around him. A man can make a heaven of hell, and a hell of heaven, by the harmony or discord in himself. A subjectively shattered personality cannot find peace or fulfilment in any situation. Even if the environments are conducive, he discovers, in himself, methods of unsettling them by his own inner sufferings. If a single individual who has these false values, discovers for himself but a sad world of sorrow even in the midst of happy surroundings, we can very well understand what would be the condition of the world when a good majority of us are having, in varying degrees, the above qualities. Hell and heaven are determined by the amount of discord or harmony that we successfully bring about in our inner makeup. WHAT THEN ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF SUCH PEOPLE, AND HOW DO THEY PERFORM THEIR YAJNAS?

17. Self-conceited, stubborn, filled with pride and drunk with wealth, they perform sacrifices in name (only) out of ostentation, contrary to scriptural ordinance.

Yajna need not necessarily be considered as the elaborate ritualism described in the Vedas. But it can be interpreted, in the Geeta style (III) as

"A CO-OPERATIVE

ENDEAVOUR IN WHICH EACH INDIVIDUAL POURS HIS BEST INTO THE ACTIVITY OF LIFE, AS AN OBLATION TO PROPITIATE THE POTENTIAL GOODNESS IN EXISTENCE, AND WHICH, WHEN INVOKED, IS TO BE DISTRIBUTED EQUALLY TO ALL." This spirit of selfless effort in the service of mankind was described by Krishna as the greatest Yajna; WORK IS WORKSHIP. SELF-CONCEITED, STUBBORN, FULL WITH PRIDE AND DRUNK WITH HIS OWN POSSESSIONS AND WEALTH --- When an individual enters the fields of social work or national service, he does not always do so with a true yajna-spirit only. Inspite of very many of the leaders and workers striving hard for the upliftment of their country, we find that the world of our age is falling away from peace, plenty, and prosperity. When a man of the 'Diabolically Fallen' type reaches any field of activity, in spite of his vociferous claims of selfless service, he is incapable of it, because of the very nature of his personality and character. Such friends of society can perform a yajna in name only. Unconsciously, their actions will be poisoned by their vanity, coloured by their sensuality, distorted by their arrogance, and generally polluted by their false philosophy. As a result of all their actions, sorrow alone will be the result. SUCH LOW MEN CONTINUE FALLING LOWER AND LOWER EACH DAY:

18. Given to egoism, power, haughtiness, lust and anger, these malicious people hate Me in their own bodies, and in those of others. Once egoism takes possession of an individual, he steadily sinks to the ugliest depths of animalism. Drunk with passions, he abdicates from all the dignity of a cultured man and behaves as an ineffectual beast, strutting about precariously on its hind legs! Such a biological freak, who is physiologically a man but temperamentally an animal, is the type that is now being discussed as the 'Diabolically Fallen' (Asura). Enumerating the inner contents of such an individual, Lord Krishna says that he is "FULL OF EGOISM, BRUTE STRENGTH, ARROGANCE, PASSION AND ANGER." Any one of these is sufficient to pull one down to the depths of depravity, but the Lord characterises the Asura - -- type of man as having all these qualities, all at once. Not only does he have these qualities --- and who does not have? --- but, unlike an evolver, the Asuric man comes to pin his faith on these qualities, and he struggles to discover his fulfilment only in the expression of these tendencies. What is the harm if an individual lives these values? This is a question that is often asked by an indulgent youth, when he is advised by his elders not to live yielding readily to his low urges and ugly temptations. The

Geetacharya here explains that the consequence of disrespecting all cultural values, and living an uncultured ego-centric existence of passions and desires would be nothing short of total destruction of life. Persons who are entertaining the above-mentioned attitudes, would ignore the sanctity of life, and without any compunction whatsoever, desecrate it. They will grow malignant, and in order to satisfy the low urges of egoism, would come to "HATE ME IN THEIR OWN BODIES AND IN THOSE OF OTHERS." The Sacred Life, the Paramatman, does not come out to express Its full play when blanketed by the low sensuous urges. Ethical values are disciplines of the thought-life, whereby a mind so tuned up becomes the right instrument to serve faithfully the seeker of the Self. Unethical values and immoral intentions choke the great Melody of Life and reduce it to a discordant, purposeless noise, shattering peace and contentment within one's own and in another's bosom. THE FALL IN EVOLUTION SUFFERED BY SUCH THOUGHTLESS MATERIALISTS AS A RESULT OF THEIR OWN FALSE VALUES AND FOUL ACTIONS IS BEING TRACED IN THE FOLLOWING STANZAS:

19. These cruel haters, worst among men in the world, I hurl these evil-doers for ever into the wombs of the demons only.

Specimens of the 'Diabolically Fallen' type of men are characterised here, in a spirit of loving despair by the Lord, "AS THE MOST DEGRADED OF MEN IN THIS WORLD. THEY ARE MALICIOUS AND CRUEL" --- malicious against the dignity of themselves, and cruel to the living beings around. They are, says the Lord,

"THROWN BY ME PERPETUALLY INTO THE WOMBS OF DEMONS." Here Krishna is identifying Himself with the 'Law' of Action and Reaction --- wrong action leaves wrong tendencies behind, and, propelled by such negative tendencies, the personality in an individual, after his death in this physical structure, demands an appropriate field of existence. An Asuric individual should necessarily discover his fulfilment only in an Asuric environment. Therefore the 'Law' of Action and Reaction orders that such cruel men, again and again, reach similar wombs until the sheer horror of their experiences brings home to them a sudden realisation of the follies and futilities in following such a low tempo of life. The idea of reincarnation suggested herein has already been exhaustively discussed earlier in our discourses (VIII-6). CONTINUING:

20. Entering into demoniacal wombs, and deluded, not attaining to Me, birth after birth, they thus fall, O Kaunteya, into a condition still lower than that.

Tracing the line of fall of an Asura type of man, Krishna says that an individual having repeatedly reached, as a result of his previous life, the same Asuric environment, life after life, fails to realise the Infinite joys of the Self. They never climb the heights of cultural beauty but slowly sink lower and lower to reach the bottom grades of beings. So far we had a vivid review of two types of men: the 'DIVINELY GOOD' and the 'DIABOLICALLY FALLEN.' A majority of us, in varying degrees, belong to the latter class. As a spiritual seeker is never satisfied merely with the theoretical explanations and descriptions, Krishna now advises the entire mankind, through Arjuna, on how even he who has fallen so hopelessly to the Asura level, can learn to climb up and steadily progress in his spiritual evolution. None is eternally condemned, nor does anyone deserve a perpetual hell --- such a view is illogical, unphilosophic, and stupid. DESCRIBING THE TECHNIQUE OF HASTENING ONE'S EVOLUTION, THE DIVINE CHARIOTEER SAYS:

21. These three are the gates of hell, destructive of the Self --- lust, anger and greed; therefore, one should abandon these three.

The Lord indicates here that there are three gateways to reach HELL. Earlier in a stanza, in the very same chapter, He described that HELL and HEAVEN are conditions created by the mind only; they are merely subjective experiences in life, and the three false values mentioned here are the main causes of the former. DESIRE, ANGER, GREED --- The main theme of the entire chapter is to call man away from a life of sense- gratification into the ampler fields of desireless actions and egoless perfections. Where there is desire, anger is a natural corollary. The constant flying of an individual's thoughts towards an object of gratification is called 'desire,' and when the steady flow of these thoughts of aggrandisement and possession are deflected by some obstacle, the refracted thoughts are called 'anger.' When disappointed in desire- gratifications, a storm of revolt rises in the mind, as a consequence of which anger soars up to toss, wreck and sink the boat of life. If ANGER is thus the thought-storm arising in our mind at the disappointment of a desire, GREED is the erosion of our mental strength and inner peace when desires are more and more satiated. When a desire gets fulfilled, an insatiable thirst for more and more joy holds the individual, and this endless appetite ruins the mental strength and saps dry the personality-vitality in the individual. Greed is a sense of dissatisfaction constantly pursuing and poisoning the sense of satisfaction that we have already experienced. In an undisciplined man, there can be no satisfaction at any time; even when his desires are satisfied he is unhappy, because his appetite for enjoyment is thereby sharpened and he hungers for more; if the desires are throttled, the disappointment brings into him anger, and he suffers the consequent wretchedness. If this logic about the action and interaction between desire, anger, and greed is accepted, then we are forced to accept Krishna's conclusion in this stanza: "THEREFORE ONE SHOULD FORSAKE THESE THREE." HERE FOLLOWS THE PRAISE OF THE RENUNCIATION OF EGO, ANGER AND GREED:

22. A man who is liberated from these three gates to darkness, O Kaunteya, practises what is good for him and thus goes to the Supreme Goal.

Those who are avoiding all the three gateways to hell are complimented here. It is promised that those who avoid derailing themselves into any of these dangerous by-paths of self-exploitation and self-ruination, will steadily progress on the straight path to their life's goal. To wander into fields of desire, anger and greed is to dissipate our energies. Devoid of the divine vitality of a fully grown and well-balanced human personality, the seeker feels fatigued and not strong enough to meet the terrible challenges that arise from within himself. To overcome the strong temptations of the sense-objects, the mind and intellect should re-charge the individual's inner abilities with which the individual can strive hard and effectively achieve self-expansion. He who is avoiding THESE THREE GATES OF DARKNESS --- which are sure to lead him into deeper and deeper confusions and despairs and ultimately take him to the sub-human level of existence --- will be, it is promised here, practising WHAT IS GOOD FOR HIM. The term 'Shreyas' has no equivalent word of the same import in English. It does not merely mean 'good' but it has a deeper and wider import in Sanskrit. Shreyas, when practised, not only brings happiness to the practitioner, but also contributes much to the well-being of the people around him. Progressing thus in the right direction, the individual

"GOES TO THE GOAL SUPREME." Cultural unfoldment cannot be a miraculous overnight development. The bud should grow, open and bloom, under the careful nourishment of steady discipline, vigorous study and perfect understanding. The unfoldment is more delicate than that of a flower. This stanza explains to the seeker what is to be avoided by him and indicates how he will thereby have a positive development and inner growth. But it may be asked how a POSITIVE growth can be effected as a result of a NEGATIVE act of denial. Avoiding bad food can preserve health but it cannot give the positive joy of taking a healthy full dinner. Similarly, avoiding the dissipation of our energies through desire, anger and greed, would, perhaps, end all our agitations caused by these three. But how can that create any positive development in ourselves? The Geeta preaches a positive way-of-life; and the stanza, as it stands, suggests this positive achievement when it says that such an individual "PRACTISES WHAT IS GOOD FOR HIM." WHAT IS THE POSITIVE PRACTICE?

23. He who, having cast aside the ordinance of the scriptures, acts under the impulse of desire, attains neither perfection, nor happiness, nor the Supreme Goal.

The Divine Teacher of the Geeta explains that when the ruinous expenditure of vitality, both psychological and intellectual, is stopped and energy is conserved, it has to be applied in the right direction. If again the energy is misused, the chances are that the seeker would dash himself down with a mightier bump to the depths of a miserable life. Ravana and such other mighty Asuras of the Puranas are typical examples of personalities that performed fierce tapashcharya (penance), accumulated inner dynamism, and yet achieved but a thorough self- destruction! So mighty was their strength that they made their own generation rock, crumble and bite the dust. To avoid such a calamity to the individual, as well as to the world around him, a severe warning must necessarily be given; and these two closing stanzas contain such a warning.

HE WHO DISOBEYS THE SHASTRAS AND ACTS UNDER THE IMPULSE OF DESIRE --- Such a man stands to gain no benefit at all. Here the term Shastra need not necessarily be understood as a bundle of ritualistic injunctions, strictly followed and sacredly insisted upon by the fanatic orthodox. The text-books discussing the Theory-of-Truth (Brahma-Vidya) and the technique of self- perfection (Yoga) are called Shastras, while other subsidiary books which explain and throw light upon the Shastras are called Prakarana texts; the latter explain the categories in the Science of Vedanta. Since the Geeta is a philosophical poem, exhaustively explaining the theory and practice of God-realisation, IT IS CONSIDERED AS A Shastra. UNDER THE IMPULSE OF DESIRE --- The theme developed in the previous two stanzas is that a seeker of the Higher, should of necessity renounce "desire, anger, and greed." We have explained earlier that ANGER is a product when desire is throttled, and GREED is a logical consequence when a passionate heart gains some fulfilment of desires. Therefore, desire is the root cause. Naturally, Krishna contrasts the way-of-life advocated in the Geeta with our ordinary way-of-life, wherein the main impulse is desire. The seekers are advised not to disobey the commands given in the Geeta Shastra and live under the impulse of their baser appetites and lower instincts. ATTAINS NEITHER JOY NOR SUCCESS, NOR GOAL --- What exactly would be the harm if one did not implicitly live the way-of-life advocated in the Geeta? The consequences of such an unintelligent and naughty disregard of the right-way-of-life is clearly indicated here. Propelled by desires, coaxed by greed, torn by anger and constantly dancing to the changing tunes of the lusty flesh, an individual comes to live a life of restless agitations and tyrannical passions. Such a man cannot feel any happiness or attain any cultural development. THEREFORE THE NATURAL CONCLUSION IS:

24. Therefore, let the Scriptures be your authority, in determining what ought to be done and what ought not to be done. Having known what is said in the commandments of the Scripture, you should act here (in this world) .

THEREFORE --- Because of the line of argument given in the last three stanzas, the seeker of an ampler life must necessarily follow the authority of the Scriptures in planning his way-of-life. The right conduct in life can be determined only when the individual has correct knowledge of WHAT IS TO BE PURSUED AND WHAT IS TO BE AVOIDED. The grand road to Truth is the same for all. It cannot be determined by each pilgrim according to his own whims and fancies. Shastras are declared by those, who had travelled the road many a time. And when the Rishis supply us with a map of the road-to-Perfection, we, the humble pedestrians, must pursue the path faithfully and come to bless ourselves.

HAVING KNOWN --- Therefore, before setting out on a pilgrimage to that Goal, every seeker is required to study intelligently the Scriptures, which are the reports left for our guidance by those who successfully walked the 'Path' earlier. A correct knowledge and a clear intellectual vision of the Goal and of the direction in which It lies, and perhaps, of the possible difficulties en route --- are the unavoidable pre-requisites for a seeker. YOU SHOULD ACT HERE --- Ninety per cent of the seekers, perhaps, 'know' the Shastra exhaustively, in all detail as explained above, but alas, how few of them discover in themselves the courage to live, the will to pursue, and the patience to wait till the Supreme is realised within themselves. Naturally, Lord Krishna closes the chapter with the injunction that man should act, without desire, anger, or greed. This is the right way of action as exhaustively discussed in the third chapter on

Karma yoga). Thus, in the UPANISHADS of the glorious Bhagawad-Geeta, in the Science of the Eternal, in the scripture of YOGA, in the dialogue between Sri Krishna and Arjuna, the sixteenth discourse ends entitled: THE DIVINE AND THE DEVILISH ESTATES