Upanishads -2 Ramblings from Bhagawad Geetha

Folks this is a slightly long piece. I would love your comments, after you patiently go thru this.


The idea that I can pen my thoughts to sort of bringing a focus to a wide range of discomfort tormenting my mind, was born some 5 odd years back. The seed for this was sown, nurtured with good fertilizers, over a long period of increasing perception about Providence which seemed somehow to intervene and thwart progress whenever there arose any desire in my mind. This was felt not only in the mundane temporal, but equal in proportion, in the more profound spiritual realms, to leave one bewildered at the apparent illogic of it all.

It was therefore no wonder that the initial pieces were predominantly in a “questioning” sort of mould, and often wore a flippant garb reflecting the then prevailing mood. Belying all expectations (a result of that firm belief of providences ways of nipping every action in bud) however, this exercise continued without hindrance; neither in the form of a reprimand from readers for writing bull, nor in the guise of an inability to pen a few lines on a regular and sustained basis.

Sometime in the midst of all these, there came the idea of a “blog”. Experience gave a strong “amber signal” ; perhaps the providential decree for a closure of this venture had been pronounced, was the immediate thought. But having been hooked into writing, and worse, even being able to like them, the enthusiasm part was not dulled sufficiently to say “no” to such an idea.

The better part was that slowly a vague feeling of relative comfort was also emerging; perhaps a time has come, for these shibboleths of the past to clear. All I had to do was to be innately true and honest in my “jignyaasaa”. This led to the urge to think aloud, and in the process share more and more. Frequent writing became a practice.

And surprise, of surprises, the initial angst, the feeling of an apparent inequity in His scheme of things, all these were slowly beginning to lose their intensity. The thought that perhaps there was / is a providential design in all these, was beginning to assert itself slowly but perceptibly. One could feel the evolution process. And in this progress, the last 3 pieces; starting from quotes from Kathopanishad, then a step-by-step SOP to that ultimate final beatitude, and my own interpretations of 4 purushaarthaas, have brought me to a stage where further queries appear less and less relevant. The abiding “peace in heart” however is not felt, though this now appears to come within the realm of an attemptable pursuit.

In our yearly “upakarma” day, there is this “athatho brahma jignyaasaa” piece at the fag end of “vedaarambham” part. Athatho roughly translates to “now therefore”. The immediate query is what next. In upakarma we say it is “brahma jignyaasaa”. But in my current stage of evolution, I will have to do what I have to, constantly trying to get to the Vivekam/vairagyam stage, leaving it to Him to decide when, and how. And since my analyses/queries/doubts, seem to have less relevance, and the readers seem to have more patience/preference in hearing stories/original thoughts from scriptures, I feel obligated to finding such interesting pieces, share with other members, accept this as His will, and truly believe that the elusive “shanthi” will come sooner than later.

Incidentally one of the other unique meaning of this word “shanthi” is “complete indifference to material pleasures/worldly enjoyments”, besides the regular meaning namely “Peace”. Indeed I am talking of this unique aspect also when I mention this word.

Another word which should start off this piece about some interesting aspects of “Bhagawad Gita” , is “prasthaanam”. Ordinary meaning of the word is “start of a journey”. The more unique meaning is “a wide royal path” a super highway as it were.
The term “prasthana thrayam” is I am sure you are all familiar with. The 3 super highways of our path to moksham are the (a) Upanishads (b) the Bhagawad Geetha and (c) Brahma Sutras. (Sutras are perceptive aphorisms). For all the three, Shankaraachharya has written his commentaries, known as Bhaashyaas. These then are the 3 super highways to take for one to reach the final destination of "atma tathwam".

The Upanishads represent the Sruti prasthana,(revealed texts) Geetha is smurity prasthana(remembered texts) and finally Brahma sutras are Nyaya or logic prasthanam. Bhagawad Geetha is also referred to as an Upanishad.

One of the interpretations of this great poem goes like this; Upanishad is like the Cow. Gita is the milk, Krishna is the milkman, Arjuna the calf, and wise people are the ones who would like to partake of this milk.

Gita is in the form of an upadesa of the Lord to Arjuna right in the battlefield of the Mahabharatha war. It starts off with Dhritharashtra asking Sanjaya with a query about what Mamakaha (my boys) and Pandavas, the two parties desirous of war “are doing”. The samskrit word “cha” means “and” in English. But after the word “cha” to denote his sons and the pandavas, there is this additional word “eva” used by the king. ( mamakaha pandavascha eva ). This word which normally means “also” when used in addition to “cha” gives it an “even them” kind of interpretation.

Dhrtitharashtra had never been able to consider his brothers sons as his own family. He also knew in his heart that the latter were noble/pious/ and righteous. The inference from the inadvertent usage of “eva” is therefore that though he could understand his sons’ desire for war, he was surprised that even the latter chose finally the same route.

If even the king was so clear about the pandavas’ righteous ways, what were the reasons that war could not have been avoided? There are 3 reasons advanced

1.The Lord’s avatar was to reduce the bhumi devis burden and war was inevitable.
2.Dhrtharashtra’s blind love for his sons ignoring even the basic needs of his brothers kin. Also an underlying hope that if Duryodhana was somehow able to defeat Pandavas in battle, he could not ask for more.
3.Kunti who had wished nothing except privations, so that she does not have to contemplate one moment without thoughts of Krishna. But the disrobing of Draupadi, and the designs of Duryodhana gang to imprison Krishna when He chooses to go as ambassador of “peace”, both of these appalled her. She believed that if these were not punished, there will be only adharma left.


It is said that the churning of evil thoughts of Dhritharashtra , brought forth the loss of his own 100 children. Unlike this, similar to the churning of curd which gives butter, churning in Arjuna’s mind on seeing his own kith and kin in the battlefield gave rise to the Gita, the Smiriti prasthana in the form of Lords upadesa about the transcendental reality of ultimate Brahman.


Let good thoughts prevail all around…….


Interesting?


Love

Vichu