The Relevance of the Bhagavadgita to Humanity : 10.3. Swami Krishnananda.

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Wednsday, March 24, 2021. 08:58. AM.
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Chapter - 10 : The Need for Sankhya -3.
The First Six Chapters of the Bhagavadgita
(Spoken on Bhagavadgita Jayanti)
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The physical body is said to be an embodiment of the forces of karmas, or the effects produced by one’s desires and actions. Now, they condition the body in a very important manner. The body does not exist unnecessarily. We do not live here in this body for nothing; there is a purpose in it, and it will be in this world as long as the purpose for which it has been manufactured has not been fulfilled. As a silkworm manufactures a cocoon, as a spider spins a web from its mouth, as the subtle can concentrate itself into a gross object, as gas can become liquid and liquid can become solid, similarly, the potentialities of longing or desire within the mind of a particular individual are for certain types of expression and enjoyment through contact with externals. These potentialities for self-expression in this manner will decide the duration of physical existence in a particular space-time complex, and also the kind of experiences one has to pass through.

The pertinent sutra of Patanjali in his Yoga System is relevant here. J?ti ?yu? bhog?? (Y.S. 2.13): The species into which one is born, the length of life which one will enjoy in a particular sojourn in this world, and the experiences that one will pass through are all decided already even in the mother’s womb. Due to the fact that all the potentiality for further expression in life outside are in the seed form at the very root of manifestation, the kind of impulsion of mind, the type of this desire and the intensity of it will decide the length of the physical existence, and also the kind of experiences that one has to pass through. Therefore, the body has to end one day. The momentum of the force of desires is the conditioning factor.

Sometimes another illustration is brought out to make the matter clear. You must have seen a potter’s wheel. Potters have a wheel by which they manufacture an earthen pot. The wheel is turned with the power of the hand. It is pushed with a particular momentum, and once it is pushed, it shall spin for some time. Now, the time for which it will be independently moving without being touched by the hand will depend upon the intensity of the push given to it. In a similar manner, the length of life that we will live in this world will depend upon the push that has been given by our desire to exist in this world. So, in a way, we wanted to live in this world. We wanted to live in this world only, and not in some other world. This is another argument why we should not make complaints. We have not to make complaints, because we wanted to come to this world only. We should not ask, “Why did God create this world?” because if we had no desire to come to this world, we would not have come to this world.

However, the physical body is subject to destruction, inasmuch as it had a beginning, and it shall have a rebirth. This is again something very interesting to note: A death of the physical body need not necessarily mean the death of desires, because the desiring principle is not the physical element. It is the mind, the psyche, that desires.

To be continued ....

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