The Philosophy of the Bhagavadgita - 2.4. : Swami Krishnananda.

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Chinmaya Mission :

A book release event of 'Shrimad Bhagavata' translation in Nepali was organized by Chinmaya Mission Sikkim on 9th of Dec.

The event was graced by Br. Divakar Chaitanya's The Talk on 'Art of Peace.'

It was held in the presence of Swami Pradhymna Shrestha, Padma Shree Sanu Lama, Nepali Sahitya Bhagwan president Rudra Poudyal and Chief information commissioner C.P Dhakal along with more than 100 devotees.

S K Sarda and H P Dhakal were inspired to translate the original Hindi book of Swami Tejomayananda Titled- ‘Shreemad Bhagawad Pravarchan’ into Nepali Language for the benefit of Nepali Bhasi living in Himalayas and worldwide.

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Saturday, December 17,  2022. 08:30.

Chapter 2: The Battlefield of Life - 4.

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We are in a field of the opposition of the forces, which work simultaneously in the universe outside and in the personality of ours inwardly. The universe is a battlefield in the sense of this metaphysical description of the constitution of the universe. We will understand why the Bhagavadgita is given in the context of a war and not in a chapel, a convent, a temple of worship. The universe is a temple, no doubt. In one sense, it is the shrine of the Supreme Being, the Absolute. We can adore anything and everything as God. But it is not to be done in a spirit of exclusiveness or isolation of any kind. Temporal perception works in a threefold manner, presenting this picture of creation as a permutation and combination of sattva, rajas and tamas.

The very first slokam of the Bhagavadgita brings to highlight two important words, ‘Dharmakshetra' and ‘Kurukshetra', significant terms indeed. The universe is a field of tremendous activity, of conflict and warfare. It is also a field of justice and law. ‘Kurukshetra' is ‘Dharmakshetra'. There is a law that integrates these apparently conflicting powers in the same way as there is a law inside us which integrates the cells of our physical body into a wholeness of personality. 

Every cell of our body is different from the other. It can disintegrate, and when the life force is withdrawn from it, it dissolves itself into the five elements, it decays, decomposes itself and loses its oneness. Every thought is different from every other thought. We can think one thousand things every day, and yet we know we are the person thinking these one thousand things. “I thought something yesterday, and I am thinking something today. Though there is no apparent connection between yesterday's thought and today's thought, yet I know that there is connection, because I am the person thinking these thoughts.”

There is an integration of the psychic structure as well as the physical body. This is the dharma, the law which organises things. Law is a name that we give to the system which organises bodies into a completeness or a meaningful wholeness, instead of their being thrown as scattered particulars or a meaningless chaos. Dharma is law; we may also call it justice. That which is in consonance with the system of the universe is the justice of the universe, and the way in which this justice operates in terms of the various particularities is the law. There is activity, there is movement, there is change, there is transformation—all pointing to an apparent diversity of things. But this is not the whole truth of the matter. There is an organisation everywhere, right from the atom to the solar system. 

Even an atom is not a chaos; there is a balance maintained by the constituents of the atom, the electrons getting conditioned and ruled by a central nucleus, and the solar system working beautifully by the power of the Sun who organises the system. A similar power is working within ourselves, on account of which we are individuals, a completely organised body. Our personality is not a disorderly heap. We have a capacity to think consistently, logically, and in an organised manner. There is a dharma operating everywhere, in the whole cosmos, the entire creation, in our own self, in the atom, in everything, notwithstanding the fact that there is distraction, difference, individualisation, egoism, and externalisation. The bringing together of these two tendencies in all things is the purpose of Yoga. Neither are we to lean externally too much on visible phenomena and be busybodies who have lost their soul, nor are we expected to be hibernating frogs in the crevice of our individuality, unrelated to the outer world.

The whole teaching of the Gita is centred on balance, equanimity, a putting in order of everything that is not in order—samatva. Things do not appear to be in order or in a state of harmony because of a preponderance of this externalising power, known as rajas. There is struggle everywhere, in everything, at all times, a struggle to maintain a balance. All struggle is an effort towards the maintenance of equilibrium in any field of life, in any plane of existence. The laws of various types—the governmental law, the social law, the communal law, the family law and various other systems of management—signify one and the same thing, namely, the necessity to maintain harmony, and it has to be maintained everywhere, in every walk of life, in any given moment of time. 

If there is a lack of balance anywhere, in any part of our body, for instance, or in any part of human society, there is then an anxiety creeping into our experience, at once. We are unhappy if there is a little thorn pricking the sole of our foot, and our joy goes away in a second. If there is some intractable element in society, which is disturbing the peace of the minds of people, we are obliged to be conscious of its existence and are also compelled to see what means can be adopted in setting right the situation. Even a single incoherent element is sufficient to disturb the entire balance, just as an earache is enough to make us grieve the whole day. The point is that there should not be any occasion for misbalance even in the slightest manner, and the whole of Yoga is a comprehensive approach to the situation of cosmic conflict which sympathetically reflects itself in every individual, also.

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To be continued

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