Arjuna said: 1. If it be thought by you that 'knowledge' is superior to 'action, ' O Janardana, why then, do you, O Kashava, engage me in this terrible action?

Arjuna still believes that, to fight against his cousins, teachers and grandfathers is a terrible (ghora) action. He seems to have forgotten, or not to have understood at all, Krishna's words in the last chapter. Kashava had therein explained and clearly indicated that the Mahabharata-war was not Arjuna's attempt to murder any of his cousins or teachers. Arjuna cannot have any individual personality in any army. It was a war. In a war the two armies fight, and it represents the clash of two ideologies. The Pandavas were convinced of the moral purity, the spiritual worth, and the divine glory of their standpoint in the imminent test of strength. But unfortunately, Arjuna could not sink his egoism, and see himself totally identified with the army, championing the cause of the good. To the degree he could not identify himself with the cause, to that extent he nourished a self-centered egoistic vanity, and, therefore, his moral puritanism in fighting the war. Arjuna means to say that Krishna's arguments were supporting the 'Path-of-Renunciation,' they included an advice to Arjuna to undertake the great and terrible 'Path- of-Action.' MOREOVER:

2. With this apparently perplexing speech you confuse, as it were, my understanding; therefore, tell me that "one" way by which, I, for certain, may attain the Highest.

Suffering from his own delusions as he was, Arjuna, intellectually an average man, had not in himself that amount of subtle philosophical acumen to discriminate between the subtle arguments, and grasp for himself whether the 'Path-of-Action' or the 'Way-of-Knowledge' was the direct approach to the Infinite, the Eternal. His question concludes, therefore, with a humble request:

"Tell me that 'ONE' PATH by which, I, for certain, can attain the Highest." As a child of that age, there was no doubt, even in Arjuna's mind, that life was not to be squandered away in merely producing, acquiring, hoarding and spending wealth. As a true child of Hinduism, he vaguely knew that he had to fulfil a great cultural mission in the world, and that material successes were only the means and not the end, or the goal. Partha's doubt was only on how best he could make use of the environments that presented themselves to him so that he might carve out for himself a greater cultural growth and a fuller spiritual unfoldment in himself. THE BLESSED LORD GIVES THE FOLLOWING REPLY WHICH IS IN CONFORMITY WITH THE QUESTION:

The Blessed Lord said : 3. In this world there is a two-fold path, as I said before, O sinless one; the 'Path-of-Knowledge' of the

SANKHYANS and the 'Path-of-Action' of the YOGINS. To consider the 'Path-of-Action' (Karma Yoga) and the 'Path-of-Knowledge' (Jnana Yoga) as competitive is to understand neither of them. They, being complementary, are to be practised SERIALLY one after the other. Selfless activity gives a chance to the mind to exhaust many of its existing mental impressions. Thus purified, the mind gains such a flight and ethereal poise that it can steadily soar into the subtlest realms of meditation, and finally come to gain the experience of the transcendental Absolute. Men belonging to foreign cultures find it very difficult to understand Hinduism when they approach it with all their native enthusiasm. They feel overwhelmed when they read of such a variety of 'Paths' and seemingly contradictory advices. But, to condemn Hinduism as unscientific because of this, would be a mistake, as colossal and as ludicrous as to say that medicine is no science at all, since, for each patient, the same doctor prescribes a different medicine, during a single afternoon!! Religious men, men fit for spiritual discipline, fall under two distinct categories: the active and the contemplative. Temperamentally, these two classes fall so widely apart, that to prescribe for both of them one and the same technique for individual development, would be to discourage one section and ignore its progress. The Geeta is not merely a text-book of Hinduism but a Bible of humanity. As such, in its universal application, it has to show methods of self-development to suit the mental and intellectual temperaments of both these categories. Therefore, Krishna clearly explains here that the two-fold path of Self-development was prescribed for the world-the 'Path-of-Knowledge' to the MEDITATIVE, and the 'Path- of-Action' to the ACTIVE. It is added that this classification and careful prescription for the two different types of men has been in existence from the very beginning of creation. For the first time, Lord Krishna is giving us here in this stanza, a glimpse of the identity of the man who is the author of the Geeta. If it were given out by the son of Devaki, a mere mortal who lived in that age, he would at best, have given us only an intellectual theory built entirely upon the observed data. Observed data always have a knack of changing, and when they change, the final conclusions also must necessarily change. We have now a hundred different political and economic philosophies, and numberless scientific theories that have all become outmoded when the social living conditions, or the economic structure, or the collected and observed data have changed in their set up, or in their imperative messages. If the Geeta was the conclusion of a mere mortal Krishna's intellect, the values of life preached therein would also have got outmoded and by now become fossilised! Here, He clearly says that, at the very beginning of creation, these two 'Paths' were prescribed by 'Me'; thereby indicating that Krishna is talking here not as the Blue Boy of Vrindavana --- not as the Beloved of the gopis - -- not as the great diplomat of His age --- but as a Man-of- Realisation, a Prophet, and a Seer, who lived in that period of Indian history. It is neither as Arjuna's charioteer, nor as a friend, nor as a well-wisher of the Pandavas, that He is talking at this moment. Perfectly identifying with the spiritual dignity in Himself, experiencing His Absolute Nature, it is as the Eternal substratum for the entire PLURALISTIC world, as the Cause of all Creation, as the Might in all substances, that He is talking now. Transcending all time and causation, in a burning conviction of the lived Truth, He declares here:

"At the very beginning of creation, these two 'paths' were given out by Me as the two possible methods by which the ACTIVE and the CONTEMPLATIVE could seek and re- discover the Eternal nature of their very Self." THE 'PATH-OF-ACTION' IS A MEANS TO AN END, NOT DIRECTLY, BUT ONLY AS A PREPARATION TO THE 'PATH-OF-KNOWLEDGE'; WHEREAS THE LATER, WHICH IS ATTAINED BY MEANS OF THE 'PATH-OF- ACTION,' LEADS TO THE GOAL DIRECTLY WITHOUT EXTRANEOUS HELP. TO SHOW THIS THE LORD SAYS:

4. Not by non-performance of actions does man reach 'actionlessness' ; nor by mere renunciation does he attain 'Perfection. '

Spiritually, as the Self, everyone of us is All-full and Perfect. Due to our 'ignorance'of this spiritual experience, we entertain in our intellect unending desires, each of them being our own intellect's attempt to fulfil itself! It is very well-known that we desire things that are not already with us in full, or in a satisfying quantity. As the desires in us, so are our thoughts; thoughts are the disturbances created in our mental zone by our desires. At every moment, the texture and quality of our thoughts are directly conditioned and controlled by our desires. Thoughts in an individual, expressed in the outer world- of-objects, become his actions; actions are nothing other than the actor's thoughts projected and expressed in the world. Thus, in this chain-of-'ignorance,' constituted of desires, thoughts, and actions, each one of us is caught and bound. If we observe them a little more closely, we find that these are not so many different factors, but are, in fact, different expressions of one and the same spiritual IGNORANCE. This ignorance (Avidya), when it functions in the intellect, expresses itself as DESIRES. When the desires, which are nothing other than the 'ignorance,' function in the mental zone, they express themselves as THOUGHTS. These thoughts, when they express in the outer world, become ACTIONS. Naturally, therefore, if the Supreme can be defined as "the experience beyond ignorance," it must necessarily be true that the Self is "the State of

"DESIRELESS-NESS" or

"the Condition of THOUGHTLESS-NESS" or "the Life of ACTIONLESS- NESS." By mere 'renunciation of action' (Samnyasa) no one attains Perfection. Running away from life is not the way to reach the highest goal of evolution. Arjuna's intention, you may remember, was to run away from the war-front, and, therefore, this misguided Hindu was to be re-educated in the right understanding of the immortal culture of the Vedas. For this purpose was the Divine Song given out by Krishna. Through action, to a purification of the inner instrument, applying which the seeker walks the 'Path-of-Knowledge' to reach ultimately the spiritual destination of self- development as indicated in this stanza. Hence it has been often quoted by all great writers on Hinduism. FOR WHAT REASON, THEN, DOES A PERSON NOT ATTAIN PERFECTION THAT IS FREE FROM ACTIVITIES BY MERE RENUNCIATION, UNACCOMPANIED BY KNOWLEDGE? --- THE REASON THUS ASKED FOR IS GIVEN AS FOLLOWS:

5. Verily, none can ever remain, even for a moment, without performing action; for, everyone is made to act helplessly, indeed, by the qualities born of PRAKRITI.

Man is ever agitated under the influence of the triple tendencies of Unactivity (Sattwa), Activity (Rajas) and Inactivity (Tamas) inherent in him. Even for a single moment he cannot remain totally inactive. Total inactivity is the character of utterly insentient matter. Even if we are physically at rest, mentally and intellectually we are active all the time, except during the state of deep-sleep. So long as we are under the influence of these three mental tendencies (gunas), we are helplessly prompted to labour and to act.

Therefore, not to act at all is to disobey the laws of nature which shall, as we all know, bring about a cultural deterioration in ourselves. If there is a creature who remains inactive physically, he will get dissipated in his thoughts. Therefore, the Geeta advises him to act vigorously with a right attitude of mind, so that he may avoid all internal waste of energy and learn to grow in himself. NOW, FOR HIM WHO KNOWS NOT THE SELF, IT IS NOT RIGHT TO NEGLECT THE DUTY ENJOINED ON HIM. SO THE LORD SAYS:

6. He who, restraining the organs-of-action, sits thinking in his mind of the sense-objects, he, of deluded understanding, is called a hypocrite.

To sit back physically retired is not the way to reach anywhere, much less the final State of Perfection. If this physical retirement is not efficiently accompanied by an equal amount of mental and intellectual withdrawal from the sensuous fields, the spiritual future of such a misinformed seeker is surely very bleak and dreary. The truth of this statement is very well supported by modern text-books on psychology. To dissipate ourselves with immoral or criminal thoughts is more harmful than to physically indulge in them. The mind has a tendency to repeat its own thoughts. When a single thought is repeated off and on, it creates in the mind a deepening impression, and afterwards all thoughts arising in the mind irresistibly flow in that prepared channel. Once the direction of the flow in the mind has become fixed, all external activities of that individual become coloured by this characteristic tendency. A mind that constantly meditates on sensuous pleasures carves out for itself a deep sensuous tendency and ere long we discover that the individual is helplessly egged on to act in the external world, as he had tragically planned for himself in his mind. To give physically a show of morality and ethics, while mentally living a shameless life of low motives and foul sentiments, is the occupation of a man who is not a seeker of spiritual fulfilment, but, as is termed here, a self- deluded hypocrite! Certainly we all know that, even if we can physically discipline ourselves, it is not easy for an average man to control the sensuous tendencies at his mental level. KRISHNA REALISES THAT AN ORDINARY MAN WOULD NOT KNOW HOW TO SAVE HIMSELF FROM THIS NATURAL INSTINCT AND, THEREFORE, HE PRESCRIBES THE FOLLOWING STANZA:

7. But, whosoever, controlling the senses by the mind, O Arjuna, engages his organs-of-action in KARMA YOGA, without attachment, he excels.

In these two innocent looking lines we have the entire Science-of-Right-Action and the complete technique of right living. The ECONOMICS OF THOUGHT is a science unknown to the modern world while the thought economists of yore carved out a Rishi-India and guided the country to the golden era of its spiritual culture. The mind is fed and sustained, nurtured and nourished by the five organs-of-perception, with stimuli drawn from the outer world of sense-objects. The mind in us, as it were, flows out through the sense-organs, and when it comes in contact with their respective objects, the sense-organs perceive them. If the mind is not co-operating with the sense-organs, perception is impossible, even though the objects may be within the field of the organs. That is why sometimes, when we are deeply attentive and fully interested in reading a book, we do not hear even when somebody calls us at our elbow. Examples can be multiplied. The prescription contained in this stanza asks a seeker to control the sense-organs by the mind. This can be effectively achieved only when the mind is given a brighter and diviner field to roam about in. To control the impetuosity of the mind with sheer will is like an attempt to dam a river while it is in flood. It is destined to be a futile attempt. Later on the Geeta will explain the technique of this control.

This control of the sense-organs by the mind is only the negative aspect of the entire technique of right living. Ordinarily, we spend a lot of our life-energies in the fields of sense-objects. When the sense-organs are thus controlled, we are conserving a large quantity of energy, and unless this gathered energy is immediately given a more profitable field of activity it is sure to break the bounds and flood the inner world and, perhaps, sweep away the entire personality equilibrium. The second line of this stanza advises us what we should do with the energies thus saved from their usual fields of dissipation. The stanza says that these energies must be spent in directing the seeker's organs-of-action to the appropriate fields of activities. Even here, a very important precaution has been lovingly advised by Krishna. The Karma Yogin has been warned to act with perfect detachment. When a camera is loaded with a piece of plain white paper, however long we may keep the lenses open against any well-lit object, no impression of the object concerned can dirty the paper! On the other hand, if that very same sheet of paper is sensitised, then, even a slight exposure will leave the impressions of the object upon it. Similarly, a mind plastered with attachment soon gathers on to itself impressions (vasanas) during its contacts in the external fields of activity. The Lord advises us to act without attachment, so that, instead of gathering new impressions, we may make use of our activities for the exhaustion of the existing vasana-dirt in our mental equipment.

The logical and scientific exposition of this theory is so complete that, no student of the Geeta can discover in it any loopholes for hesitation or doubt. By withdrawing the organs-of-perception from their unprofitable fields of activity, we save on the inner energy which is spent through the organs-of-activity on a chosen field of work; because of our inner attitude of non- attachment during the activity, no new rubbish is gathered by our mind, but, on the contrary, it gets itself burnished by the removal of its existing mental dirt. The very field of activity which ordinarily becomes a snare to capture and imprison a soaring, soul, itself becomes the exact art of self-liberation, when it is rightly employed by faithfully following the 'way-of-life' advised in the Geeta. WHEREFORE:

8. You perform (your) bounden duty; for, action is superior to inaction. Even the maintenance of the body would not be possible for you by inaction.

In our work-a-day world, we must understand this term 'bounden duty' (Niyatam Karma) in the text, to include all

"obligatory actions" of an individual in his home, in his office, and in the society as a national being. Thus, not to perform diligently all our duties in the home and in the world outside would be inaction. We are warned that even a healthy bodily existence is not possible if we were to live in complete inertia and inactivity. Inactivity brings about the destruction of the nation, of the society, and of the home, and often the very individual himself becomes victimised by his own idleness and suffers physical debilities and intellectual deterioration. IT IS ALSO WRONG TO SUPPOSE THAT ACTIONS LEAD TO BONDAGE AND THAT THEY SHOULD NOT, THEREFORE, BE PERFORMED. --- WHY?

9. The World is bound by action other than those performed 'for the sake of sacrifice' ; do thou, therefore, O son of Kunti, perform action of that sake (for YAJNA ) alone, free from all attachments.

Every action does not bring about bondages upon the doer. It is only unintelligent activities that thicken the impressions in the mind, and thus successfully build a thick and impenetrable wall between the ego-centre and the unlimited Divine-Spark-of-Life in us. Every action motivated by ego-centric desires thickens the veil and permits not even a single ray of the essential Divinity to peep through it, to illumine the life in us. According to the traditional translation, all activities other than the Yajna- activities will bring about vasana-bondages, and the individual's ultimate development and growth will be arrested. Yajna here means only "any self-sacrificing work, undertaken in a spirit of self-dedication, for the blessing of all." Such an action cannot be self-degrading and, therefore, it is self-liberating. The following stanzas also will become more and more clear, and universally appropriate in their meaning, only when we understand Yajna as "any social, communal, national, or personal activity into which the individual is ready to pour himself forth entirely in a spirit of service and dedication." Only when people come forward to act in a spirit of co- operation and self-dedication, can the community get itself freed from its shackles of poverty and sorrow. This is a fact endorsed by history. And such activities can be undertaken in a spirit of Divine loyalty, only when the worker has no attachment. Arjuna's defect was that he got too attached to the individuals in the opposing forces, and he developed, consequently, wrong relationships with them. Therefore, he came to feel that he must run away from the field of work that had presented itself before him. FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS ALSO, ACTION SHOULD BE DONE BY HIM, WHO IS QUALIFIED FOR IT:

10. The PRAJAPATI (the Creator) , having in the beginning (of creation) created mankind, together with sacrifices, said, "by this shall you prosper; let this be the milch-cow of your desire --- "KAMADHUK" (the mythological cow which yields all desired objects) .

Even when the Creator, the Total-mind, puts up the show of the Universe of the Five Elements and brings forth the living organisms along with man, on this stage of life to work, to strive and to achieve, he creates also Yajna, "the spirit of self-dedicated activities." The Yajna-spirit is seen everywhere: the Sun shines, the Moon appears, the Sea throbs, the Earth bears --- all in a spirit of sacrifice and self-dedicated motherly love with never even a trace of attachment or any kind of self-arrogating motives. The whole world of cosmic powers, and nature's phenomena function instinctively in the service of all. Even before life could appear on the face of the earth, the elemental forces had prepared the field with their constant activities performed in the sacred spirit-of-dedication. Even when life developed and multiplied, at all levels, we can easily recognise different degrees of Yajna-activities, which keep up the harmonious growth of existence. The above idea, when poetically put, becomes this pregnant stanza in the Geeta. The Creator created the world along with the "spirit-of-service" and the "capacity- for-sacrifice." As it were, the Creator declared, "by this spirit of self-sacrifice shall you multiply; this shall be the milch-cow of your desires." Kamadhenu is a mythological cow, supposed to have belonged to Sage Vasishta, from which all our desires could be milked out. The term, therefore, means only that no achievement is impossible for man, if he knows how to act in the discipline of co- operation, and if he is ready to bring forth into his activities the required amount of non-attachment and spirit of sacrifice. HOW CAN THIS BE ACHIEVED BY SACRIFICE?

11. With this, you do nourish the gods and may those DEVAS nourish you; thus nourishing one another, you shall, attain the Highest Good.

The whole Vedic concept of Devas is that of one Universal Power, ever active in the world of phenomena, receiving appropriate names because of Its multiple functions. All Vedic gods are but functional names of the one Supreme Creative Power manifesting in myriad forms. In understanding the stanza in its more universal application, we have to interpret the term Deva as the very

"presiding deity" in any field of activity, who blesses the worker in that field with his profit. The deity that blesses the worker in a field of activity can be nothing other than

"THE PRODUCTIVE POTENTIAL" in that given field. When we apply in any situation our true and sincere work, the efforts and sacrifices so made, as it were, invoke the 'PRODUCTIVE POTENTIAL' in that situation, which comes to manifest and bless the worker. This becomes obvious when we try to understand what we, in the modern world mean, when we say Mother India. In thus symbolising the might of a nation we mean the

'PRODUCTIVE POTENTIAL" of that country in all her spheres of activities. It is obvious that the productivity that is dormant in any situation can be invoked only by man's sincere efforts. This potential which generally lies dormant everywhere is the Deva to be cherished by the worker through the Yajna activities, and certainly the Deva will manifest itself to cherish, or to bless the worker. "Thus cherishing one another, man shall gain the Highest Good," is the Divine intention in the mind of the creator, says Krishna in this stanza. The Law-of-Seva is faithfully followed by every sentient and insentient member of the cosmos instinctively. Man alone is given the freedom to act as he likes and to the extent he disobeys this Universal Law-of-Sacrifice, Yajna, to that extent he comes to suffer, because he, with his arrogant and egoistic actions, brings discord in the harmony of the existence around him. MOREOVER:

12 "The DEVAS , nourished by the sacrifice, will give you the desired objects. " Indeed he who enjoys objects, given by the DEVAS , without offering (in return) to them, is verily a thief.

Here, Krishna repeats the unalterable ritualistic law "that the Devas, cherished by Yajna, will provide us with the desired objects." The truth of this statement becomes self- evident and clear when we re-read this statement substituting our meaning for the terms Deva and Yajna. The "productive potential" (Deva), when cherished through "self-dedicated work performed in a spirit of sacrifice" (Yajna), will provide the worker with the desired objects. This is the law-of-life. And when we thus earn a profit due to our sacrifices, we have every right to enjoy that profit SHARING IT AMONG OURSELVES. But no living creature should enjoy benefits of others' actions without contributing his own share to the total effort. In the capitalistic system of life we notice the wrong tendency of self-aggrandisement of profits produced out of the collective efforts of millions of workers. This ultimately creates sad maladjustments in all spheres of activity, and national and international peace is threatened when we thus upset the law of harmony in life. When this idea, familiar in modern finance, "that a member of a society who consumes without producing is a liability to the nation," is re-read in the language of the Vedas, it is spelt as the second line of this stanza. HE WHO ENJOYS OBJECTS, GIVEN BY THE Devas, the

"productive potential tapped," without offering his own Yajna-efforts into it, is termed here by Krishna as a 'social thief.' Considering the moral and ethical idealism recognised and respected at the time of the Geeta, the term 'thief' used here is indeed a powerful word, fully implying the low depravity and disrespectful nature of such a social criminal who eats without producing. ON THE OTHER HAND:

13. The righteous, who eat the "remnants of the sacrifices" are freed from all sins; but those sinful ones, who cook food (only) for their own sake, verily eat but sin.

As a contrast to such social criminals, feeding themselves upon the social wealth, in producing which they have not brought in any self-effort, in this stanza, we have the good, who receive for themselves their "share," after sweating hard in sincere Yajna-activities. Such people, as explained here "go beyond all sins." Sins of the past are the causes for the present pains, and the present sins would be the causes for the future sorrows. Thus, all causes for the sorrows in social life would be, no doubt, removed, if the good and socially- conscious members of a community were to feel satisfied in enjoying the "remnants" of their co-operative work performed in the true Yajna-spirit. As a contrast to these, it has been declared that those who cook food for themselves alone, "eat but sin." It seems that Krishna is perfectly against private property, not in the sense in which a communist would understand it. Krishna seems to be against the principle of arrogation of wealth, and of hoarding the same, motivated by lust of lucre, meant mainly for selfish enjoyment, utterly regardless of the privations and poverty of the unfortunate folks around in the community. It is said that such hoarders of wealth "eat but sin." FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS ALSO, ACTION SHOULD BE PERFORMED BY HIM WHO IS QUALIFIED FOR ACTION. FOR, IT IS ACTION THAT SETS THAT WHEEL OF THE UNIVERSE MOVING. HOW? THE ANSWER FOLLOWS:

14. From food come forth beings; from rain food is produced; from sacrifice arises rain, and sacrifice is born of action.

15. Know you that action comes from BRAHMAJI (the creator) and BRAHMAJI come from the Imperishable. Therefore, the all- pervading BRAHMAN (God-principle) ever rests in sacrifice .

The cosmic-wheel-of-cooperative-action is being narrated here in the familiar language of the Vedas. The living creatures are born out of food, and they are nourished by food. The mineral-wealth of the world becomes assimilable food --- both as vegetarian and non-vegetarian --- only by the action of rain upon it. But for rains the vegetables will not grow, and the lack of proper grazing- grounds is a danger to cattle-wealth. "Rains come as a result of Yajna, and Yajnas are performed through human action."

This stanza may read strangely to those who are not ready to bring the full shaft of their intelligence for the purpose of understanding it. It is evident to any modern educated man that living creatures are born out of matter. Matter is rendered consumable and digestible, nutritive and assimilable, only by the action of rains upon it. But the difficulty in understanding the stanza is when we come to the next assertion that "the rains come as a result of Yajnas." But in Krishna's words here, we are not warranted in accepting that he is advising Arjuna to follow ritualism. In this stanza, as also elsewhere all along the Geeta, the familiar terms of the Vedic period has been charged with new meanings and significances. "Rain" is the essential condition for the conversion of the mineral-raw-material into enjoyable and nutritive food. Similarly, in all fields of activity there is "an enjoyable profit" which can be gathered only when the fields come under "conditions favourable" for them to produce those profits. "Self- dedicated activities" (Yajna), when performed in any given field of endeavour, will be creating therein "conditions necessary for the field to smile forth" (rain) in a luxurious

"crop of profit" (Annam), enjoyable by the society. For example, the wasteful waters of a river flowing idly can be dammed and made use of, if the waters are intelligently employed in irrigating the fertile lands now lying fallow on its banks. Through sacrifice and work alone can the dam be built and when it is built, it provides

"conditions helpful" for bringing the lands on either side under the plough. Again, for making use of irrigated land, man has yet to strive: ploughing, sowing, weeding, waiting, gathering --- before he can come to enjoy the profit of his activities, the food. We are shown how this Wheel-of-Action (stanza-15), is connected with and includes the Supreme. The principle of right action, nay, even the power to act, has come out of the Creator himself and the Creator is none other than the Imperishable Supreme. Action IS in the new-born live baby; action is a gift from the Creator! Therefore, the All- pervading Supreme is ever centred in all undertakings pursued, by one or many people, in an honest spirit of Self-dedication, for the good of all. HE, WHO LIVES IN UNISON WITH THIS WHEEL-OF- ACTION, IS CONTRIBUTING TO THE HARMONY OF LIFE. WHAT HAPPENS TO HIM WHO DISOBEYS?

16. He who does not follow here the wheel thus set revolving, is of a sinful life, rejoicing in the senses. He lives in vain, O Son of

Pritha. Every member in the entire kingdom of the minerals, the vegetables and the dumb-creatures, instinctively follows this principle of Yajna and contributes thereby to the smooth running of the Universal-Wheel-of-Action. Among living creatures, man alone has been allowed the

FREEDOM OF ACTION to contribute to the harmony, or to bring about discord in the smooth running of this cosmic mechanism. So long as the majority of a generation manage to live abiding by the Law-of-Harmony they shall grow from strength to strength, opening up fields of happiness for themselves. Such periods are called the golden eras of their social and cultural life. But, this faithful obedience is not always possible, for all of them, at all times. At certain periods of history, man, as a social being, comes to revolt against this Eternal Law, and then, life starts slipping away from its peaceful domain of constructive growth, and shatters itself in tearful ruin. Such ages are the dark ages of despair and restlessness, war and pestilence, flood and famine. The question naturally arises as to why the bright day of the world slowly sets itself to bring in the dark night of chaos. The explanation is given here in the Geeta. A community is made up of its individuals. However much we may glorify the achievements of the community as such, we cannot totally ignore the contributions made by the units constituting the community --- the individuals. If the individuals are perfect, the community works smoothly. But, if the units are wrongly composed, then the entire healthy growth and strength of structure in the total collapses. The individuals' negative existence starts with their pre-occupation with their senses. In their limited recognition that they are themselves nothing more than their body, they become pre-occupied with its nourishment and fattening. As a body, they cannot perceive the Higher 'ways of life'; nor can they entertain any goal other than seeking satisfactions for their mere animal passions. In such an era, nobody would come forward to work in the redeeming noble spirit of Yajna, without which, no

"favourable circumstances" (rain), could be created for the

"productive potentials" (Devas) to manifest themselves as nourishing joy. Seekers of sense (Indriya-ramah), they compete among themselves, each seeking with lustful greed, his own selfish happiness, and they, often unconsciously, bring about a discordant rhythm in the Wheel-of-Action. Such people are considered by the Geeta as "living in sin," and the Divine Song asserts, "they live in vain." NOW THE LORD HIMSELF SUPPOSES ARJUNA TO ASK THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS: "IS THE WHEEL- OF-ACTION, THUS SET IN MOTION, TO BE FOLLOWED BY ALL, OR BY HIM ONLY WHO HAS NOT YET ATTAINED FIRM FAITH IN THE PATH OF KNOWLEDGE?"

17. But the man who rejoices only in the Self, who is satisfied with the Self, who is content in the Self alone, for Him verily there is nothing (more) to be done.

The Wheel-of-Action explained above is generally applicable to the majority of seekers, and actions in the world undertaken in a spirit of Yajna integrate their personality and make them more and more prepared for the highest vocation in life, meditation. Through selfless work, an individual gains an increasing amount of inner poise and when such a single-pointed mind is brought to function at the meditation seat, the meditator gains the experience of transcending his limited ego. To such a perfected one, work is not a training to purify himself but it is a fulfilment of his own God-realisation. It is a fact that we are egged on to activity seeking and demanding a better SATISFACTION and a complete CONTENTMENT. Satisfaction and contentment are the two wheels of the life-chariot. In order to gain a better satisfaction and to reach nearer the point of contentment we are goaded to act in the outer world, to earn and to save, to hoard and to spend. But the man of perfection, who on transcending his limited identification with his matter-envelopments, when he gets himself ushered into the All-perfect Realm of the Spirit, he comes to feel so satisfied with the State of Self-hood which he thereby attains, that he experiences a complete sense of contentment in the very Divine Nature, and that provides eternal satisfaction for him. Where satisfaction and contentment have arrived, there, in that bosom, desires cannot arise at all; and where the desires are not, there cannot be any action. Thus, the effects (Karya) are not possible in him; the effects of the spiritual 'ignorance'and 'desires,' 'thoughts' and 'actions.' Naturally, in such an individual there cannot be any

"obligatory duty"; all work has been at once fulfilled in him. Thereafter, he is free to act, or not to act, to serve, or not to serve, and lives as a God-man upon the earth. MOREOVER:

18. For him there is here no interest whatever in what is done, or what is not done; nor does he depend upon any being for any object. An ordinary man is whipped up to action either because of his anxiety to gain a profit or because of his fear that by not doing work he will be incurring a loss. But an individual, who has the subjective experience of the spiritual stature in him, who has, therefore, discovered an Eternal satisfaction in his own Self, and who has reached perfect contentment therein, will have no more action to perform, for he has nothing more to gain through activity, nor can he have any fear of losing anything in the world due to non-performance of any action. Such an individual, rooted in the experience of the Self, and depending upon nothing --- neither any being nor any object --- for his joy and bliss, has discovered the "Subject"; the objects-of-the- world are essentially nothing other than the "Subject," being tossed on the waves of agitations in the mind.

'YOU HAVE NOT ATTAINED TO THE RIGHT KNOWLEDGE, ALL-PERVADING LIKE THE FLOOD WATERS, (II-46) WHEREFORE":

19. Therefore, always perform actions which should be done, without attachment; for, by performing action without attachment, man attains the Supreme.

We have already noticed that Krishna pre-supposes no knowledge in his friend, nor does he thrust upon Arjuna bare statements that are to be blindly believed and silently swallowed by him. Proselytisation is not the technique of Vedanta. Hindus are strangers to it. Every strong statement of fact is preceded by a line of logical thoughts explained at length. Till now Krishna was explaining the 'wheel-of- action,' and after exhausting the exposition of this entire theory, he, in this stanza, is crystallising his conclusions encouraging Arjuna to act. Therefore, always perform actions which are obligatory in your present social status, in your domestic situation, as a member of your community and the nation. Even here, Krishna is repeating his warning to Arjuna that he must be careful in all his activities, to keep his mind away from all dangerous "attachments." The Lord has already explained how "attachments" directly help to form tendencies in the mind and deepen fresh vasana- impressions within.

"FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS ALSO YOU SHOULD PERFORM ACTION":

20. Janaka and others attained Perfection verily by action only; even with a view to protecting the masses you should perform action. Thus, the wise Kings of yore, such as Janaka and Ashwapati, had tried to attain Perfection, (Samsiddhi), by the 'Path-of-Action.' They were men of right understanding as they tried to liberate themselves through right actions performed in a spirit of detachment and self-dedication. They had set an example to the world by their achievement through an immaculate life of service. Krishna means that Arjuna too, a prince by birth, and one who has taken upon himself the entire responsibility of mobilising and fighting the war, should respect his Prarabdha and act diligently without running away from the battle-field as he had earlier intended to do. This is the only method by which he can gain a complete vasana- exhaustion in himself. Born as a king, he had a greater responsibility towards the community, than any other member. Therefore, it was his duty that he should keep to his post and work diligently. A creeper will never grow in a desert. It is nature's law that every living creature finds itself in the most conducive outerworld conditions. Thus viewed, because of the very fact that he had manifested himself as a son of his father in the family of kings, nature had judged that the most conducive circumstance in life for Arjuna was the life of a prince, daring dangers, fighting enemies, and generally ordering peaceful and progressive growth for the society.

"WHO SHOULD SECURE THE WELFARE OF THE WORLD? AND HOW?" THE ANSWER FOLLOWS:

21. Whatever a great man does, that other men also do (imitate) ; whatever he sets up as the standard, that the world (people) follows. Man is essentially an imitating animal. This is a psychological truth. The moral rejuvenation of a society in any period of history can take place only because of the example set up by the leaders of that nation. Students can be disciplined only when teachers are well-behaved; the minor officials cannot be kind and honest when the rulers of the country are corrupt tyrants. Children's behaviour depends entirely upon, and is ever controlled by, the standard of purity and culture of their parents. With this Krishna raises his next argument on why Arjuna should act in the world. Unless he diligently acts, the chances are that the entire community will follow the low standard of retreat from action set up by him and thus they will ultimately invite a general decadence of culture in life. Now, to emphasise the point and to make a lasting impression upon Arjuna of the teaching so far given (III-4 to 21), Lord Krishna indicates himself as an example. The Lord, though already a liberated soul (Mukta), is acting diligently, without attachment, as a model, for his generation to rise up above the slothfulness of the age into vigorous activity. The very creed of Krishna is "active resistance to evil." His non-violence is not the instinctive incapacity of the day- dreaming coward who cannot stand up against injustice and fight for the accepted principles of national culture. There could not have been any doubt now left in the mind of Arjuna regarding the efficacy of the 'Path-of-Action' advised to him.

"IF YOU HAVE A DOUBT AS REGARDS THE NECESSITY FOR WORKING FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE MASSES, WHY DO YOU NOT OBSERVE ME? WHY DO YOU NOT FOLLOW MY EXAMPLE, AND TRY TO PREVENT THE MASSES FROM GOING ASTRAY, SETTING UP FOR THEM AN EXAMPLE IN YOURSELF?"

22 There is nothing in the three worlds, O Partha, that has to be done by Me, nor is there anything unattained that should be attained by Me; yet, I engage Myself in action.

Being a Perfect-Man, a true Yogi, Krishna had no more desire for achieving or gaining anything in the world. Had He wanted a kingdom all for Himself, He could have easily carved out one, but He was in the battle-front only with a sense of duty towards the noble and the righteous cause the Pandavas stood for. The life of the Lord till the very moment of the Mahabharata war had been a perfect life of complete detachment and even then --- even though there was nothing He had not gained, nor had He anything further to gain --- He was spending Himself constantly in activity, as though work was to Him a rapturous game of enthusiasm and joy. CONTINUING THE SAME ARGUMENT, THE LORD SAYS:

23. For, should I not ever engage Myself in action, without relaxation, men would in every way follow My Path, O son of

Pritha. Why should the Lord work? What would be the loss to the generation if He were not to work at all? The masses always imitate their leaders and heroes in their dress, in their behaviour, in their moral values, in their actions, in all the branches of their activities. They fix their measure of perfection always by watching the standard of life of their leaders. If the Lord did not continue to work without relaxation, men also would follow in His wake and sink themselves into inactivity and so into an unproductive existence. In nature everything acts constantly and sincerely. The entire Universe survives and sustains itself by activity. In these stanzas, as everywhere, all along in the Geeta, the first person singular is used by Lord Krishna, not in the sense of the Blue Boy of Vrindavana, but as the Atman, or the Self-realised Man-of-Perfection. A liberated soul realises himself to be nothing other than the Spirit, upon which alone is the play of matter sustained, as the dream is sustained upon the waker. If this God-principle, though inactive in Itself, does not consistently serve the pluralistic phenomenal world as its permanent substratum, the world as it is now, cannot exist. The ocean never rises, in spite of the billows. Yet, it is a fact that without the ocean the waves cannot rise or dance. Similarly, if the Lord were not to keep on activity serving the world, the cultural life of the generation would stagnate.

"AND WHAT HARM IS THERE IF I DO NOT ACT?"... THE LORD SAYS:

24. These worlds would perish if I did not perform action; I would be the author of confusion of "castes, " and would destroy these beings.

If I do not perform action, it will not be conducive to the harmonious progress of the Universe, and the entire super-structure of our scientific laws and calculations will tumble down. The Universe is not a chaos; it is a cosmos. Lawless-ness is not noticed anywhere in the working of the cosmic forces. The phenomenal happenings, the movement of the planets, the rhythmic dance of the seasons, the music of creation, the law of colours are all happening in a harmony, implicitly obeying the law governing them all, and this Law is otherwise called the Mighty Power of Nature, or God. Lord Krishna, as an embodiment of God- hood, is declaring here: "If I do not perform work, the world would perish." Scientifically viewed, this declaration is not a superstitious absurdity, acceptable only to the blind believers, but it becomes a statement of fact, which even the microscope-gazers cannot honestly deny. The Lord represents not only the law governing the outer world of things and beings, but He is also the Law that governs the inner world of thoughts and emotions. The whole human society is divided into the four "castes" (Varna), by the Hindu saints and sages, ON THE BASIS OF THE INDIVIDUALS' MENTAL TEMPERAMENTS. In case the law governing the inner psychological temperaments is not functioning strictly, there will be confusion in behaviour and instability in character. The general translation "admixture of races" for "Varna- Shankara" contains a mischievous suggestion for the modern students inasmuch as they would directly understand it as a Divine sanction for the "caste-tyrannies" that are going on in the decadent Hindu society.

"SUPPOSE, ON THE OTHER HAND, YOU, ARJUNA, THINK --- OR SUPPOSE, FOR THAT MATTER, ANY OTHER MAN THINKS --- THAT ONE WHO HAS ACHIEVED HIS GOAL OF SELF-REALISATION, EVEN HE SHOULD WORK FOR THE WELFARE OF THE OTHERS, ALTHOUGH FOR HIMSELF HE MAY HAVE NOTHING MORE TO ACHIEVE OR GAIN"...

25. As the "ignorant" men act from attachment to action, O Bharata, so should the "wise" men act without attachment, wishing the welfare of the world.

It is very well known that all of us act in our own given fields of activities with all enthusiasm and deep interest, all day through, every day of the year and all through the years of our entire life-time. An average member of society is seen to wear himself out in the strain of constant activity. Irrespective of his health, careless of the severity of seasons, through joy and sorrow, man constantly strives to earn and to hoard, to gain and to enjoy.

Here Krishna says that a Man-of-Self-realisation also works in the world with as much diligence and sincerity, tireless enthusiasm and energizing joy, burning hopes and scalding fears, as any ordinary man striving in the competitions of the market-place. The only difference between the two is that, while the ignorant acts and is motivated in his actions by his "attachments and anxieties for the fruits," a man of Godly intentions or complete Perfection will work in the world, without attachment, only for the purpose of the redemption of the world. This subtle difference between the activities of the "wise" and the "ignorant" may not strike the modern reader as very important unless his attention is directed towards its universal application. It is the anxious "desire for the fruits" that dissipates the finer and nobler energies in the worker, and condemns his activity to utter failure. No doubt, even a Man-of-God, when he acts, must bring into his field of activity his own mind and intellect. The mind can function only when it is attached to something. It cannot remain alive, and yet, detached from every thing. "Detachment of the mind" mentioned here is only its "detachment from the FALSE irresistible fascination for objects" and this is gained through the process of "attaching itself to the NOBLER." Thus, when Lord Krishna says here, that the "wise" man should work "without attachments" he immediately indicates how this can be achieved. He advises Arjuna to act, "Desirous of guiding the world"

(Loka-sangraha).

Attachment becomes a clog or a painful chain on us only when it is extremely ego-centric. To the extent we work for larger schemes to bless a vaster section of humanity, to that extent the attachment loses its poison and comes to bless the age. Many poisons serve as medicines in their diluted form, while the same in a concentrated form can bring instantaneous death! The ego and ego-centric desires bind and destroy man, but to the extent he can lift his identifications to include and accommodate in it, larger sections of the living world, to that extent the attachment gathers an ethical halo, a divine glow, and becomes a cure for our subjective pains and imperfections. Here the practical method suggested is that Arjuna should work, unattached to his own ego-centric, limited concept of himself and his relations, and he must enter into the battle-field as a champion fighting for a cause, noble and righteous, against the armies that have come up to question and challenge the deathless 'values of higher living' as propounded and upheld by the Hindu culture. TO SUCH A MAN-OF-WISDOM WHO IS WORKING IN SOCIETY FOR THE SERVICE OF MAN, THE FOLLOWING ADVICE IS GIVEN:

26. Let no wise-man unsettle the minds of ignorant-people, who are attached to action; he should engage them in all actions, himself fulfilling them with devotion.

The chances are that when a man of equipoise and Self- discovery enters the field of activity, he will be tempted to advise his generation on pure ethics and abstract ideologies. The generation, misunderstanding the words and emphasis of such a Master, might come to a wrong conclusion that, to renounce activity was the direct path to Truth. The teachers are warned against such a hasty guidance which might damp the enthusiasm of the generation to act. Life is dynamic. Nobody can sit idle. Even the idler contributes to the general activity. In this ever-surging onward rush of life's full impetuosity, if there be a foolish guide who would plunge himself in the mid-stream and stand with upraised hands, howling to the generation to halt, he would certainly be pulverized by the ever-moving flood of life and its endless activities. Many a hasty Master has made this mistake and has had to pay for it. Krishna is declaring here only a Universal law for the guidance of the saints and sages of India that they should not go against the spirit of the times and be a mere revolt against life's own might and power. In this stanza is given out the art of guiding mankind, which can be used by every leader in all societies, be they social workers, or political masters, or cultural teachers. A society, that is functioning in a particular line of activity at any given period of history, should not be, all of a sudden, arrested in its flow, says Krishna, but the leader should fall in line with the generation, and slowly and steadily guide it to act in the right-direction, by his own example. A traveller motoring with the idea of going to Hardwar may miss his way and speed down towards Saharanpur, but the way to guide him back to the main road is not to halt him; because, by halting, he will never reach his own destination, or any other goal. So long as the wheels are not revolving on the road, distances are not covered. Keeping the wheels on the move, he has to change the direction of his movements until he comes to his right path, heading towards Hardwar. Similarly, man should act and even if he be acting in the WRONG DIRECTION, through action alone can he come to the RIGHT PATH of diviner activities, and gain the fulfilment of his Perfection. No 'wise'-man should unsettle his generation's firm faith in action. He must himself diligently perform the ordinary actions in a diviner and better fashion, and he must make himself an example to the world, so that the lesser folk may automatically imitate him and learn to follow his unfailing footsteps. IN WHAT WAY IS AN 'IGNORANT MAN ATTACHED TO ACTION?

27. All actions are performed, in all cases, merely by the Qualities-in-Nature (GUNAS ) . He whose mind is deluded by egoism, thinks "I am the doer. "

All along Krishna has been insisting that nobler actions are actions without attachment. This is easier said than done. Even if one intellectually accepts this idea, it is not at all easy for him to act up to it. To everyone of us the difficulty is that we know not how to get ourselves detached from our activities, and still act on in the field. The Lord gives here a method of discrimination by which we can easily develop the required amount of detachment. We had explained earlier how spiritual IGNORANCE expresses itself at the intellectual level as DESIRES, which again, in the mental zone, manifests as THOUGHTS, and the very thoughts, coloured by our mental tendencies, manifest themselves, in their fulfilment in the outer world-of-objects, as our ACTIONS. Thus, the tendencies of the mind (vasanas) express in the outerworld as actions. Where there are noble-thoughts, there, noble-actions manifest. When the thoughts are agitated, the actions also are uncertain, faltering, and confused. And where the thoughts are dull and animalistic, the actions generated from them are also correspondingly base, vicious, and cruel. Thus, the mind's projections in the outer-world are in fact a kind of crystallisation of the mental Vasana among the objects of the world and these constitute the

"actions."

Where there is a mind, there actions also must be performed. These actions are therefore GENERATED by the mind, STRENGTHENED in the mind and ultimately PERFORMED with the mind. But the individual, due to his wrong identification with his own mind, gets the false notion that he himself is the "actor" --- the "doer." This action-arrogating-ego naturally starts feeling an anxiety for its success and a burning attachment for the result of its actions. In a dream, we create a world of our own and we identify ourselves with the world so made, and this IDENTIFIER is called the 'dreamer.' We all know that the sorrows of the dream all belong to the 'dreamer' and to no one else. The 'dreamer' is liberated from his pains when he ends his identification with the dream kingdom. Similarly, the actions in the world outside, which are nothing other than the vasanas existing in one's own mind, cannot of themselves give one any attachment, but the attachment is felt by one who gets identified with one's own mental conditions. The moment one understands this simple fact, all one's attachments end, and therefore, one lives in perfect peace. This identification with the mental condition creates the false sense of ego which arrogates to itself the idea: "I am the doer." The "doer" demands the FRUITS OF HIS ACTION. To get over this attachment is to end this misconception.

BUT AS REGARDS THE 'WISE' MAN:

28. But he --- who knows the Truth, O mighty-armed, about the divisions of the qualities and (their) functions, and he who knows that GUNAS -as-senses move amidst GUNAS -as- objects, is not attached.

As a contrast to the point-of-view of the 'ignorant' man explained in the last stanza, Krishna explains here the attitude of the 'wise' man when he ploughs the field of activity. In him, attachment has no place, because of his constant, discriminating understanding that in all activities, it is his mind that projects out to form the action. When once the 'wise' man has realised that actions belong to the world of the mind, he is no more anxious for the fruits thereof. Success and failure thereafter belong to the mind and not to him. Likes and dislikes thereafter are of the mind and not his. Loves and hatreds are not his but of the mind. Thus, in complete inner freedom the God-man functions, as a true sportsman in his play-field, where the very enjoyment is in the sport and not in the score. Here, Arjuna is addressed as the 'mighty-armed,' and this is very significant in the mouth of Krishna at this moment. The very term reminds us of Arjuna's wondrous heroism as the greatest archer of his time. The implication is that a true hero is not one who can face an army and kill a few, but one who can save himself. A true warrior is only he who can tirelessly fight in the inner world, and gain a victory over his own mind and attachments. One who can act in the world's battle-field of actions, ever ruling over and never surrendering to the arrows of attachments that fly towards one from all directions, is the real Immortal Hero, who can thereafter sit unarmed on the chariots of mortal heroes, and without raising any weapon, can guide the destinies of many an army in every Kurukshetra! That Master Hero is called Tattwavit --- one who "knows" the Reality --- the Self. NOW:

29. Those deluded by the qualities of nature, (GUNAS) , are attached to the functions of the qualities. The Man-of-Perfect- Knowledge should not unsettle the 'foolish, ' who are of imperfect knowledge.

Although many know that all actions are the attempts of the mental impressions to fulfil themselves in the outer world, only the Perfect-one realises this Truth and generally becomes quiet and unattached in all his activities. The majority of us are in a state of complete delusion and are entirely victimised by our own mental temperaments. The flood of life, surging out through these existing vasana-channels, should not be blockaded in the activity. The advice given by Krishna in the earlier stanza (26) is, again for the purpose of emphasis, repeated here in different words.

The dull-witted one, unconsciously victimised by his own mental impressions, acts in the world outside shackled by a thousand burning attachments. A sage or a saint should not come into the arena of life to decry such a man's activities all of a sudden. Krishna's suggestion is that, while feeding the fire of life, he should carefully guide its flow into the right channel wherein the flood of life can reach to water the gardens of cultural development in the individual as well as in the community.

"HOW THEN SHOULD ACTIONS BE PERFORMED BY THE 'IGNORANT' MAN WHO SEEKS LIBERATION FROM HIS OWN SENSE OF FINITUDE, WHEN HE IS QUALIFIED ONLY FOR ACTION?" THE ANSWER FOLLOWS:

30. Renouncing all actions in Me, with the mind centered on the Self, free from hope and egoism (ownership) , free from (mental) fever, (you) do fight!

It has been clearly declared that the Divine opinion of the Lord is that Arjuna should fight. The Pandava prince is not, at present, fit for the higher contemplative life of pure meditation. Action has a tendency to create new impressions which again procreate impulses to act more vigorously. In order to avoid creation of new Vasanas even while acting for the purpose of Vasana-exhaustion, Krishna had already advised the method of acting without the spirit of ego, or ego-centric desires. The same theory is explained here while expounding a technique by which this consummation can actually be brought about. RENOUNCE ALL ACTIONS IN ME --- We have already noticed that by the first-person pronoun Krishna means the Supreme Self, the Divine, the Eternal. Renouncing all activities unto Him, with a mind soaked with devoted remembrances of the Self (Adhyatma Chetasa), the Lord advises Arjuna to act on. Renunciation of action does not mean an insipid life of inactivity. Actions performed through attachment and desires are renounced the moment we take away from action the ego-centric and the selfish stink. A serpent is dangerous only as long as its fangs are not removed. The moment these are taken out, even the most poisonous reptile becomes a tame creature incapable of harming anyone. Similarly, action gives rise to bondage only when it is performed with a heart laden with selfish- desires. Actions performed without desires are not actions at all, inasmuch as they are incapable of producing any painful reactions. Here, the renunciation of action only means the giving up of the wrong motives behind the actions. The purification of the motives is possible only when the mind is made to sing constantly the Divine Songs praising the glories of the Self. In the song of Truth the heart begins to throb with the highest Divine impulses. Actions performed in the outer world by such an individual are no more the ordinary actions but they become expressions of the Supreme Will through that individual. When the limited ego is replaced by the constant feeling of the Lord --- as "I am the Supreme" --- such an individual becomes the most efficient instrument for the expression of the Divine Will. Not only is it sufficient that we renounce thus all wrong actions, but we have also to make a few adjustments in our inner instruments in order to bring out an unobstructed flow of the Creator's Will through us. These are indicated here by the two terms "without hope" and

"without ego." A superficial study of the stanza is sure to confuse the student and drive him to the dangerous conclusion that Hinduism preaches, not a dynamic conscious life, but an insentient existence through life in a spirit of cultivated hopeless-ness! But a closer study of the import of these two terms will make us understand clearly that, in this stanza, Krishna is hinting at a great psychological truth of life! WITHOUT HOPE --- Hope is "the expectation of a happening that is yet to manifest and mature in a FUTURE PERIOD OF TIME." Whatever be the hope, it belongs not to the present; it refers to a period of time not yet born.

WITHOUT EGO --- Our ego-centric concept of ourselves is nothing but "a bundle of happenings and achievements of ours which took place, or were gained, in the past moments." Ego is therefore "the shadow of the past," and it has an existent reality only with reference to THE DEAD MOMENTS OF THE PAST. If hope is thus the child of the unborn future, ego is the lingering memory of a dead past. To revel in ego and hope is an attempt on our part to live, either with the dead moments of the past, or with the unborn moments of the future. All the while, the tragedy is that we miss the 'present,' the active dynamic 'present,' which is the only noble chance that is given to us to create, to advance, to achieve, and to enjoy. Krishna advises Arjuna, therefore, to act renouncing both hope and ego; and this is indeed a primary instruction on how to pour the best that is in us into the 'present,' blockading all unintelligent and thoughtless dissipation of our inner-personality-energies, in the 'past' and the 'future.' The instruction is so exhaustive in vision, and complete in its minutest details, that the stanza under review should be a surprise even to the best of our modern psychologists. Even though the technique so far advised can, and does, avoid all wastage of energy among the funeral pyres of the dead moments and in the wombs of unborn Time, yet, there is a chance for the man of action wasting his potentialities in the very 'present.' This generally comes through our inborn nature to get ourselves unnecessarily over-anxious during our present activities. This FEVERISH ANXIETY is indicated here by the term "fever" (Jwara). Krishna advises that Arjuna should renounce all actions unto the Lord and, getting rid of both hope and selfishness, must fight, free from all mental fever. How complete this technique is will be evident now to all students of the Geeta. The term "fight" is to be understood here "as our individual fight with circumstances, in the silent battle of life." Thus, the advice is not for Arjuna alone, but to all men who would like to live life fully and intelligently! The advice contained in this stanza reads as though quite unorthodox for those who have read the Vedas, with a limited meaning for its term "Karma-Yoga." IN ORDER TO HAMMER THIS NEW INTERPRETATION OF THE VEDIC TRUTH INTO THE ACCEPTANCE OF HIS GENERATION, THE LORD SAYS:

31. Those men who constantly practise this teaching of Mine, full of faith and without cavilling, they too are freed from actions. It is clearly brought out here that the above technique can bless us not by a mere study of it, but only when it has been properly practised in life. The term religion (matam) in Sanskrit, means 'opinion.' This is "Krishna's opinion" --- Sri Krishna's Matam. The philosophy of spirituality is universal and, therefore, the same everywhere. But religions differ from prophet to prophet, because there are many different OPINIONS entertained by these different Masters, regarding the best manner by which their particular generations could be guided towards the final experience of the Eternal-Factor. One ought not to live through life as a mere beast of burden doing its daily routine and sweating under the driver's whip. Work only hardens the muscles; it can smoothen out the ugly wrinkles in our character and add a glow of health and vitality to our inner personality only when we bring the inner equipments of our heart and head into the work which our hands and legs perform in the outer world. This is accomplished by pursuing the Karma Yoga advised earlier, with full faith (Shraddha) and without cavilling (Anasuyantah). FAITH (Shraddha) --- is a very pregnant word in Sanskrit which refuses to be defined fully by any single word in English. But Shankara's explanation of Shraddha has a purely intellectual import and it has no direct emotional appeal for the seeker. "Faith" in Vedanta means the ability to digest mentally, and comprehend intellectually, the full import of the advice of the Saints and the declarations of the Scriptures. In fact without "faith" no activity is ever possible; and "faith" cannot grow where intellectual convictions have not come to play in their full blaze. WITHOUT CAVILLING (Anasuyantah) --- A mere intellectual theory cannot be understood and appreciated without our adverse criticisms of it. We criticise to know and understand more exhaustively a piece of knowledge. But here, Krishna is advising a technique of living which cannot fulfil itself in our life through mere criticism and questioning. Krishna is warning Arjuna that he will neither understand fully, not come to gain the blessings of that Way-of-Life, by deep study and noisy discussions. It can be understood and experienced ONLY by living it. THEY TOO ARE FREED FROM WORK --- Immature students of the Geeta have been seen to cool down in their enthusiasm when they meet with the use of such terms. All through the chapter Krishna was insisting that man should act --- act diligently and rightly. All of a sudden He points to a strange-looking goal, WORKLESSNESS. Naturally, an intelligent reader immediately comes to feel a disgust at this ugly paradox. This is mainly because of our lack of appreciation of the term in its native Scriptural import. Earlier we have explained how the IGNORANCE of our Spiritual Nature gives rise to DESIRES, which in their turn cause THOUGHT-AGITATIONS, and also how WORK is nothing other than thoughts fulfilled among the sense- objects. Thus, the "State of Workless-ness," is itself the

"State of Thoughtless-ness," which indicates the

"Condition of Desireless-ness." Absence of all desires can come only when we rediscover the All-full Nature of the Self. In short, with the Knowledge of the Self, when spiritual "ignorance" is terminated, desires can no more arise. Thus, the term "FREED FROM WORK" indicates the state beyond "ignorance," or the State of Self-hood. This Supreme State, no doubt, can never be reached purely through work. Parliament Street is not the Parliament; but having reached Parliament Street, the Parliament cannot be very far away; one cannot miss reaching the Parliament there. Similarly, Karma Yoga is extolled here as the "Path" that takes one ultimately to the Supreme, because through desireless activity one achieves Vasana-purgation, thus making the mind purer and subtler for meditative purposes. AS CONTRASTED WITH THE ABOVE, SHRI KRISHNA EXPLAINS WHAT HAPPENS TO THOSE WHO CARP AT THIS THEORY OF RIGHT ACTION:

32. But those who carp at My teaching and do not practice it, deluded in all knowledge, and devoid of discrimination, know them to be doomed to destruction.

"Those who decry this great teaching of Mine and do not practise it," Krishna warns His students, "will become more and more deluded and will lose their discrimination." Man is encouraged to follow a life-of-action, only when he comes to appreciate that Way-of-Life completely in his understanding. When the very theory is decried, it is no longer conducive to the intellect to accept it. Thus, decrying a philosophy is a sign of one's intellectual rejection of it. Having once rejected intellectually, there is no chance of an individual ever striving to live that philosophy. Karma Yoga is a way-of-life, and we have to live it if we want to come under its grace. The Path-of-Work lies through a process of elimination of the desires in us. When the ego and ego-centric desires are eliminated, the work accomplished through such an individual is the true divine action, which is destined to having enduring achievements. To the extent man is NOT practising this efficient Way-of-Work, he would grow necessarily unintelligent, and to that extent, his discriminative capacity will deteriorate and ultimately get destroyed. The blessing, because of which man is considered superior to animals, is his divine faculty of discrimination. An intellect, strengthened by its own intrinsic capacity to distinguish between the Real and the unreal, the right and the wrong, is the mighty instrument of self-development in man. When this instrument is destroyed, man comes to behave in no better way than a biped animal; panting on the path of existence, bullied by its own lower instincts of miserable passions and low appetites. Naturally, he fails to make any true gain out of his life's chances, and finally destroys himself. THEN WHY DO NOT MEN FOLLOW THIS DOCTRINE AND PERFORM THEIR DUTIES FULLY? WHY SHOULD THEY FOLLOW OTHERS, OR ACT ON THEIR OWN? IN DISOBEYING KRISHNA, WHY ARE THEY NOT AFRAID OF TRANSGRESSING THE LORD'S COMMANDS? THE LORD SAYS:

33. Even a wise man acts in accordance with his own nature; beings will follow their own nature; what can restraint do?

Even the man-of-knowledge acts in conformity with his own nature, which is determined by the pattern of thoughts that arise in him. At any given instant of time, each one of us is determined by the thoughts that are in us at that moment; and the thoughts in us always get patternised by the channels of thinking, designed by the thoughts which we had entertained in the past. The nature of each individual is decided by the style of thinking which each is capable of. The man-of-knowledge mentioned here indicates one who has read and understood thoroughly the "technique of action" as explained in this chapter. Even when he knows the technique, the Lord says that it is not easy for him to follow it, because his mind is designed to carry his thoughts through ego-centric and selfish channels, ever panting to gain some desires. Because of these past impressions (vasanas), even an honest student finds it hard to practise this simple-looking technique in his life. The reason is quite universal: "BEINGS FOLLOW THEIR OWN NATURE." Naturally "WHAT CAN RESTRAINT DO" when nature is too powerful? This last statement in the stanza "WHAT CAN RESTRAINT DO?" is not a cry of despair in Krishna's philosophy, but it is the honest all-seeing vision of the philosopher in Krishna, who recognises that the higher ways of living are not meant for all. Men crowding on the lowest rung of the evolutionary ladder, overwhelmed by their own animal passions, find themselves incapable of renouncing them, and are, therefore, incapacitated to walk the Path-of-Action. It is only a slightly evolved entity, full of enthusiasm, activity and a passion for progress (Rajo- guna), who can follow this sacred "path" and benefit himself. This honest confession shows the broad- mindedness and tolerance of Krishna, the Universal Teacher. IF EVERY BEING ACTS ONLY ACCORDING TO HIS OWN NATURE --- AND THERE IS NONE THAT HAS NOT A NATURE OF HIS OWN --- THEN, THERE IS NO SCOPE FOR PERSONAL EXERTION AND THE TEACHING BECOMES PURPOSELESS. THE LORD EXPLAINS AS FOLLOWS:

34. Attachment and aversion for the objects of the senses abide in the senses; let none come under their sway; for they are his foes. In the last stanza, it is said that, even a man, well-read in the Shastras, cannot easily follow the highly ethical life which is demanded of a spiritual seeker, because his lower nature proves too strong for him. Prescribing a medicine which is not available, is not the art of healing. It is the philosopher's duty, not only to indicate the weaknesses in our present life and the State-of-Perfection, but he must also show us ways and means by which we can transport ourselves from our weaknesses into this ideal State-of- Perfection. Then, and then alone, can the philosopher bless his generation. Krishna indicates here the great robber in the 'within' of man, which loots away the true joys and thrills of 'right living.' Attachments and aversions of the sense-organs for their respective sense-objects are instictive, and natural, in every one. The sense-objects by themselves are incapable of bringing any wave of sorrow or agitation into the 'within.' We get agitated and disturbed not at our sense- organs, but in our mind. The mind gets disturbed because, when the stimuli reach the mind, it accepts, in its inherent mischief, certain types of stimuli as GOOD, and their opposites as BAD. Thereafter, it gets attached to the stimuli it experiences as good and develops an aversion for the opposite type of stimuli. Now the mind is prepared to suffer the agonies of existence in the sorrowful plurality. Whenever it comes in contact with the infinite number of objects outside, it pants to court the things of its own attachment and labours to run away from the things of its own aversion. This excitement of the mind is truly 'its tragedy.' Having stated this Truth, Krishna advises all seekers:

"LET NONE COME UNDER THEIR SWAY." The philosophy of Geeta does not suggest, even in its implications, any kind of running away from the world- of-sense-objects. Krishna's creed is to live HERE and NOW, in the midst of situations in life, in this very world, and to experience them through our sacred vehicles of the body, mind, and intellect. The only insistence is that on all occasions, a wise man should be a master of the vehicles and not a helpless victim of these matter-envelopments. And the secret of this mastery in life is to live free from the tyrannies of attachments and aversions. In order to detach ourselves from both our likes and dislikes, we have to get rid of our false ego-centric vanities. Likes and dislikes belong to the ego. Therefore, all ego-less acts, as we have explained earlier, accomplish a purgation of Vasanas. Vasanas create the mind; where the mind is, there revels the ego. To the extent the Vasanas have been reduced, to that extent the mind has become non-existent. Where the mind has ended, there the reflection of the Consciousness called the "ego" has also ended. THE METHODS BY WHICH WE CAN BRING ABOUT THE VASANA-PURGATION ARE EXPLAINED IN THE FOLLOWING:

35. Better is one's own 'duty' , though devoid of merit, than the 'duty' of another well discharged. Better is death in one's own 'duty' ; the 'duty' of another is fraught with fear (is productive of positive danger) .

The word Dharma in Sanskrit is the most elusive word for translation into English. It is used generally in more than one definite meaning. Terms like righteousness, good conduct, duty, noble quality, etc., are some of them. We have explained it earlier and found how Dharma essentially means "the Law of being" of anything in the world. That which determines one man's personality as distinctly different from another's, it is very well known, is the texture of the thoughts entertained by him. This texture of his thoughts is, again, in its turn, determined by the pattern of thinking (vasanas), which his mind has gained from its own past. These pre-determined 'channels-of- thinking' created by one's own earlier ways of thinking are called the Vasanas. Thus Dharma should be conceived here as the Vasanas in our mind, for no other explanation will be correct since the very discussion now is upon mental control. The word "duty," used by us in our translation, is, in this special sense, to be understood as Vasanas." Swadharma AND Para dharma --- Swadharma is not the duty which accrues to an individual because of his "caste," which is ever a sheer accident of birth. In its right import Swadharma means the type of Vasanas that one discovers in one's own mind. To act according to one's own taste, inborn and natural, is the only known method of living in peaceand joy, in success and satisfaction. To act against thegrain of one's own Vasanas would be acting in terms of Para dharma --- and that this is fraught with danger is very well known. In the context of the Geeta, there is a direct message for Arjuna. Arjuna is born a prince, trained in the art of war and has exhibited in his life his insatiable thirst for heroism and adventure. Naturally, his Swadharma is that of a prince and that can find fulfilment only in dangerous actions and endless exertions. Perhaps, as it was evident in the first chapter, Prince Arjuna had gathered during his early education, that the life of renunciation and meditation --- the life of a Brahmin --- was nobler than his own life. And therefore, he wanted to run away from the battle-field into the silent caves-of-meditation. In this stanza, Krishna reminds him that to act according to his own Vasanas, even imperfectly, is the right path for his development. It is dangerous to suppress his own personality-expression and copy the activities of someone else, even if he be living a nobler and diviner life. THOUGH THE SOURCE OF EVIL HAS BEEN POINTED OUT EARLIER (II-62 AND III-34), YET WITH A VIEW TO ELICITING A CONCISE AND CLEAR STATEMENT OF WHAT WAS BUT DESULTORILY AND VAGUELY EXPRESSED ARJUNA ASKS:

Arjuna said: 36. But, by what impelled does man commit sin, though against his wishes, O Varshneya, constrained, as it were, by force?

Following the tradition of the scriptures, the disciple now asks a definite question upon the very theme of the discussion. The very question shows that Arjuna has, to a large extent, got out of the hasty conclusions which he exhibited until the beginning of the second chapter. He has become introspective, and therefore, conscious of certain forces working within himself that were ruining and obstructing the play of his own higher impulses. The doubt is couched in such familiar words that it appears as though it is a doubt raised by some student of our own times. There is no living man who has not in himself a sufficiently clear conception of the good and the meritorious. Every one understands intellectually what is RIGHT, but it is only when it comes to action that one invariably gets tempted to do the WRONG. This paradoxical confusion, between one's ideology and one's own actions, becomes quite a big problem to all those who try to introspect and review themselves. The Divine in us, with Its nobler aspirations, wants to fulfil Itself with Its higher impulses and subtler achievements, but the animal instinct in us tempts us away, and we walk the path of the baser joys of the flesh. This invariably happens even against our own wishes. Arjuna is enquiring of the Lord: "What is the exact nature of this SATAN-in-our-bosom which thus systematically loots away the good in us?" Varshneya is the name of Lord Krishna, meaning: "One born in the family of the Vrishnis." THE LORD SAYS: "LISTEN. I SHALL TELL YOU WHO THAT ENEMY IS OF WHOM YOU ASK --- WHO IS THE SOURCE OF ALL EVIL":

The Blessed Lord Said: 37. It is desire, it is anger born of the "active, " all-devouring, all-sinful; know this as the foe here (in this world) .

IT IS DESIRE, IT IS WRATH --- Desire is the inner SATAN in the individual's bosom. We have seen earlier that desire is nothing other than our own spiritual "ignorance," expressing itself in our intellectual personality. This statement in the stanza is not to be understood as enumerating two different things. "Desire" itself, under certain circumstances, gains expression as "anger." A constant agitation of the mind, expressing as an uncontrollable impatience to gain something, is called

"desire." Desire is generally for something other than ourselves. In the clash of existence, beings and circumstances may come between ourselves and the

"object of our desire," and in such cases, our "desire" --- impulses, striking at the obstacle, gain the ugly look of

"wrath." Thus, whenever emotions for acquisition and possession of an object flow incessantly towards that object, the bundle of thoughts so flowing is called "desire;" while the same emotions, when they get obstructed from reaching their desired objects, and get refracted at an intermediate obstacle, are called "anger." This "desire-anger-emotion" is the very SATAN in us that compels us to compromise with our own intellectually known Higher values of existence, and tempts us to perpetrate sins. Greater the desire, greater the power in the pull towards the sinful and the low. Once desire has come to manifest itself in our intellect, it enshrouds the wisdom in us. Desire and anger, and their numberless children of sin and sorrow, must ever come to breed upon the marshy lands of our deluded intellect. To come under their sway is "ignorance." To come to rule over them is "Wisdom."

THE LORD NOW ILLUSTRATES HOW DESIRE IS OUR FOE AND HOW IT VEILS OUR DISCRIMINATION:

38. As fire is enveloped by smoke, as a mirror by dust, as an embryo by the womb, so this (wisdom) is enveloped by that (desire or anger) .

Three different examples have been given to illustrate how desires and the consequent anger delude our rational capacity and choke our discrimination. Repetition is an unpardonable crime against the "scriptural-style," and the Geeta faithfully follows the immortal style common to all Bibles of the world. There is no redundancy, or wasteful repetition in the Divine Song. With this understanding, when we try to readthe stanza we find that there are subtle implications in the three different illustrations used by the Lord. More is meant here than meets the eye. The discrimination in man is screened off and obstructed in its exercise due to the attachment in his mind for the ever-changing worldly-objects. We all know that our attachments to things can fall under three distinct categories. Our desires can either be low and vicious --- mind for the flesh-fleshy carnal pleasures --- or our ambitions may be for an active exertion in order to achieve power and wealth, to gain strength and might, to win fame and glory. There can also be a burning aspiration to strive and to achieve a diviner perfection and a Godly Self-illumination. Thus, our desires can fall under three headings according to the quality of the attachment --- inert (Tamasic), or active (Rajasic), or noble and divine (Sattwic). The veilings that are created over our discrimination by these different types of qualities (gunas) are indicated here by the three different examples. AS FIRE BY SMOKE --- A smoky fire-place, shrouded by dark curling smoke can sometimes, if not totally, at least partially, veil the brilliance of the light emitted by the flames. A wick without a chimney is less bright than with a chimney, proving the example under review. Even Sattwic desires veil the infinite glory of the Spirit. AS DUST ON A MIRROR --- This illustrates the veiling caused by agitations that cover the purer intellect due to our thick desires for glory and power (Rajasic). Compared with the former, this is indeed more complete, and the removal of it is, naturally, more difficult. The smoke rolls off even at a passing whiff of breeze, while the mirror cannot be cleaned even by a storm. It can be polished only by our own efforts at dusting it clean with the help of a clean, dry duster. Through the smoke, however thick it might be, the fire can be perceived; through the dust, if it be thick, no reflection at all can be seen in the mirror --- if at all seen it will only be dim. AS THE FOETUS IN THE WOMB --- This is an illustration to show how completely the Diviner aspect in us is screened off by the low animal appetites and the vulgar desires for the sensuous. The foetus is covered by the womb until it matures, and there is no method of observing it as long as it is in the womb. The veiling is complete, and it can drop off only after a definite period of time. Similarly, the desires for the flesh-fleshy enjoyments build, as it were, a womb around the discriminative power in us, and such low mental pre-occupations (Tamasic) can drop off only after a longer period of evolutionary growth undergone by such a deluded mind- and-intellect. In the true scriptural style, Krishna thus distinguishes between the different textures in the veils that come to cover the soul when the individual is entertaining different types of desires. In short, desire is that which hides the Divine in us. IN THIS STANZA IT IS NOT CLEARLY STATED, WHICH COVERS WHAT; THE LITERAL TRANSLATION OF THE WORDS AS THEY STAND IN THIS COUPLET ONLY SAYS, "SO IS THIS COVERED BY IT." THE TWO PRONOUNS, 'IT' AND 'THIS,' ARE DEFINED IN THE FOLLOWING STANZA AND THEREIN WE FIND AN EXPLANATION OF BOTH:

39. Enveloped, O Son of Kunti, is 'wisdom' by this constant enemy of the wise in the form of 'desire, ' which is difficult to be appeased, like fire.

This stanza vividly explains to us that discrimination (Jnana) the capacity to distinguish the Real from the unreal, the permanent from the impermanent, the true from the false, which gives man his higher status in the scale of evolution --- is the divine faculty that gets screened off from us due to our own greedy and insatiable desires. The pronouns in the previous stanza now stand clearly elucidated: the "discriminative capacity" in us (it --- idam) gets screened off by the insatiable "desires" (by this - -- tena). HE NOW TELLS US WHICH ARE THE SEATS OF 'DESIRE,' WHICH, BY ENVELOPING WISDOM, FORMS THE ENEMY OF THE WHOLE WORLD. THE SEAT OF THE ENEMY BEING KNOWN, IT IS EASY TO KILL IT:

40. The senses, the mind, and the intellect are said to be its seat; through these, it deludes the embodied by veiling his wisdom.

As a true soldier, Arjuna understands that there is an inner enemy called "desire," which, like an efficient saboteur, undermines the wealth and security of his inner kingdom; and as a true prince, the royal demand of Arjuna is for immediate information as to the exact hide- out of this dangerous bandit. Krishna, as the spiritual teacher, has to indicate to his adventurous student where exactly the den of this devil is, from where he plans his nefarious activities. Indicating the secret fortresses of this inner enemy "desire," the Lord says, "the senses, the mind, and the intellect are said to be its seats of action." A true criminal, functioning as an efficient leader of a gang, operating in a large area, will generally have more places than one to function from. Three main offices, from where "desire," in different forms, functions to destroy the peace and health of our inner life, have been indicated here very clearly. The sense-organs, functioning without restraint in the world of sense-objects, are a very convenient theatre for

"desire" to function in. When the external stimuli reach the mind through the sense-organs, the mind also becomes a breeding centre of sorrows created by "desire." Lastly, the intellect, working and playing with the memories of the sense-enjoyments it had lived, and of the mental attachments it had entertained, becomes yet another safe den for "desire" to function from. The deluded ego, foolishly identifying with the body, desires sense-enjoyments. Thoughtlessly identifying with the mind, it thirsts to experience more and more emotional satisfactions. And lastly, identifying with the intellect, it plans to re-live the remembered experiences of sense-enjoyments and mental-joys.

TO HUNT FOR "DESIRE" IN THESE THREE HIDE-OUTS IS TO COME, AT LAST, FACE TO FACE WITH IT. HOW FINALLY TO OVERCOME THIS INNER ENEMY IS DESCRIBED IN THE FOLLOWING STANZAS:

41. Therefore, O best of the Bharatas, controlling first the senses, kill this sinful thing, the destroyer of knowledge and wisdom. As indicated earlier, Krishna declares a truth only when he has exhausted all the logical arguments leading to it. After giving all the arguments, he summarises here:

"therefore, restrain the senses first," so that you may finally throw overboard the inner enemy "desire."

"Desire" is called sinful, since, in its grosser manifestations, it tends to make us live and work satisfying our lower nature, and thus persuades us to live a lower devolutionary life. Even at its best (Sattwic), like

"the smoke that covers the fire," "desire" does not allow the full dawn of the Infinite, which is the Self in us. Thus,

"desire," in all its textures, contributes to the sins of man, and, therefore, it is styled here as "THE SINFUL THING." It is easy for a doctor to prescribe a medicine for my wound and promise me an immediate healing. It is indeed consoling to have the prescription in my hand. But, I am sure, I will never gain a cure if the prescription requires me to prepare an ointment out of "sky-flowers." Similarly, it is quite a dignified advice for a spiritual Master to declare, "control the senses and cast off the 'desires,' O man!" --- But, unless the teacher gives us a method by which we can get this prescription dispensed, it will be as useless as the "sky-flower-treatment" for my painful wound. WHERE SHOULD ONE TAKE ONE'S STAND, AND CAST OFF THE DESIRES?"... THE ANSWER FOLLOWS:

42. They say that the senses are superior (to the body) ; superior to the senses is the mind; superior to the mind is the intellect; one who is even superior to the intellect is He, (the Atman ) .

This and the following stanza with which Vyasa concludes the third chapter of his incomparable Geeta, give every seeker a perfect technique by which he can bring about a successful hunting and capture of his inner enemy, "desire." Although we cannot expect in the Bhagawad Geeta --- especially in one of the very opening chapters --- an exhaustive treatment of the technique of meditation, yet we find that, in these stanzas, the Lord has etched out a complete outline of the "Scheme-for-Self-discovery." Compared with the objects of the world, we can easily understand that the sense-organs are more sacred and divine. Of the instruments that constitute our physical structure, certainly the sense-organs are subtler than the organs-of-action. Everyone of us can easily experience that our mind controls and orders our sense-organs, and, therefore, we know that the mind is subtler than the Indriyas. No doubt, the mind has a vast kingdom to roam about in, but, even so, it has its own limitations and fixed frontiers. From knowledge to knowledge we extend the frontiers of our mind and all along this aggressive march of new conquests it is the intellect that first crosses the existing frontiers of the mind, and wins for it the neighbouring kingdoms of "fresh knowledge." In this sense, the intellect has a greater pervasiveness than the mind, and, therefore, it is conceived of as being subtler than the mind. That which lies beyond the intellect is called the Supreme, the Atman. The Consciousness in man which lights up the very intellectual ideas in him must necessarily be subtler than the intellect itself. In the Upanishads it has been finally declared that there is nothing subtler than the Self, the Atman. The technique of meditation lies in the conscious withdrawal of all our identifications with our body, mind and intellect. All efforts end when we have thus gathered our entire awareness from its delusory pre-occupations and made it live in Itself as Itself --- as Objectless Awareness.

THE GOAL GAINED BY PURSUING THIS ART OF MEDITATION IS EXPLAINED IN THE FOLLOWING:

43. Thus knowing Him, who is superior to intellect, and restraining the self by the Self, slay you, O mighty-armed, the enemy in the form of 'desire, ' no doubt hard indeed to conquer.

With this stanza, not only does the chapter conclude, but, the special advice demanded by Arjuna has also been finally given. Through 'knowledge' alone is 'ignorance'ended; through a lived experience of the Self alone can we end our 'ignorance-of-the-Self.' This spiritual 'ignorance,' we have already found, creates 'desires.' The Lord has indicated earlier that 'desire' functions and thrives in the fields of the sense-organs, the mind, and the intellect. Through the processes of meditation, when we withdraw from our false identifications with the objects, the body and the mind, the 'desire'-faculty, that was till now roaming about and functioning in the outer fields, is gathered and established in the intellect. As long as we maintain in ourselves the limiting adjuncts of the matter-envelopments, so long we cannot realise our divine potentialities, but instead, in our delusion, we will understand ourselves to be nothing more than the little ego --- limited, bound, finite and ever-sobbing. After the re-discovery of our own diviner existence we will be able to live "restraining the self by the Self." In a perfect Buddha's life, his ego functions completely under the control of the diviner in him. No more then can the 'desire'-impulses, if at all they arise in the mind, play their mischiefs and bring about any devastations in his inner life. It is very interesting to note that the philosophy of the Geeta preaches a constructive re-organisation of life and not the destruction or rejection of life's possibilities.

"Desire," being a painful leprous oozing wound, we are lovingly advised about the balm to cure the malady, and to live thereafter, in all efficiency, as a Master of circumstances and a Lord of our own emotions. A seeker who has accomplished this in himself is called a God-man, a Sage, a Prophet!

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 third discourse ends entitled: THE KARMA YOGA This chapter is called Karma Yoga. The term Yoga means the act of connecting the lower with the higher, through a technique consisting of one's own self-evolution. Any method by which the lower in us is educated and trained to live a Higher way-of-life --- wherein we gain a more effective control upon both our life without and life within --- is called Yoga. Here is a method of self-development pointed out to the Arjuna-type of men, who, fully armed and standing on the battle-field of life, facing an array of opposing forces, more powerful, better organised, and well-supplied with equipments, are ready to fight and destroy them. In fact every honest man in life is to a large extent --- be he a fool, be he a saint --- an Arjuna facing his problems with hesitations... wanting to run away, and yet, not daring to do so! The training of Karma Yoga prepares us for the greater fights on life's battle-fields.