Philosophy of the Bhagavadgita : 18.6 - Swami Krishnananda. Blog Ends.

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Sunday, April 17, 2022. 19:00.

Chapter-18 The Yoga of the Liberation of  Spirit - 6.

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In the light of the purpose of the universe, which is a gradual evolution into the realisation of the freedom of the Spirit, from this point of view at least, all stages of evolution are a rise from an organic completeness of one type to another of a larger dimension and comprehension. War, battle, destruction, annihilation is not the purpose of Nature. Growth, evolution, constructive activity, and purposeful movement towards the ultimate realisation is the aim of the universe. Hence, we have to share knowledge, will, emotion and work among ourselves.

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These categorisations of social groups into classes are sometimes called castes in a wrongly intentioned manner. 

We have heard of the caste system, which is cowed down by people as a curse upon humanity. Yes, anything can become a curse and a blot, a shame, if it is distorted and misconstrued and read in the wrong place. Even if we eat our meal at a wrong time, it can be a curse to the body, and anything can be evil if its meaning is not understood and is misconstrued, abused, or exploited in any manner. 

The classification of society into the groups of knowledge, etc., is for the constructive, cooperative, wholesome existence of society. These are, in traditional terms, the classes of Brahmana,  Kshatriya,  Vaisya and  Sudra, whose purposes have been lost sight of these days, while the real intention here is super-individualistic and is meant for social welfare in the light of the true nature of things. They represent the blend of spiritual power, political power, economic power, and manpower necessary for social solidarity and a wholesome existence.

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The Great Teacher is winding up his message when he says that everything is controlled by God, personally in an impersonal manner. The whole universe revolves round Him, and there cannot be anything which is outside the purview of His knowledge. Our duty, therefore, is to surrender our individuality to That All-Being we call the Almighty. Our blessedness lies here. The more do we assert ourselves, so much is the worse for us, and the more we are in a position to affirm the existence of the Almighty as the all-comprehensive Being, the less would we be there as significant entities.

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“Drown your mind in this thought, devote yourself to the fulfillment of this ideal, perform every action for the purpose of receiving this Divine Grace from God. Surrender yourself, and prostrate yourself before this Great Creator. You shall reach Him, the Supreme Being; there is no doubt about this. Whatever you think deeply in your mind, that you shall become; whatever you feel in your heart, that is going to be your destination and goal; whatever you shall ask, that you shall be given.”

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In this blazing fire of knowledge, all sins are burnt out at once, and there would be no such thing as sin, ultimately. Sin is an error of understanding; it is not a thing that exists outside us like a terrifying devil. It is as darkness—it is not there substantially, it is just the absence of light. And, so, when the Sun of knowledge rises, this darkness shall automatically vanish; you need not worry about it. 

When the self surrenders itself wholly to the Omnipresence of God-Being, there cannot be a trace of evil or sin any more; there shall be the glow of enlightenment. It will be the possession of all existence at once, instantaneously, the possession of knowledge which amounts to an experience of delight, the ambrosia of immortality. You become possessed of Existence-Knowledge-Bliss at one stroke, in its infinitude and eternality.

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Again, to reiterate, the Bhagavadgita is cautious of the values of the various degrees or levels of self-advancement in the process of evolution. We have to emphasise again, tirelessly, that no stage in life is so unimportant as to be rejected or abandoned wholly. There is a relativity of all levels of existence, and, therefore, there is a necessity to blend together the phenomenal and the noumenal, the relative and the absolute. Man and God have to work together. 

This is the principle behind Arjuna and Krishna sitting in one chariot and driving forward in the field of the battle of the universe, which spiritual message is the connotation of the last verse, in the Eighteenth Chapter. Where man and God work in collaboration, there shall be victory; there shall be success; there shall be happiness; there shall be prosperity; there shall be righteousness ruling everywhere. 

Righteousness is the harmony between the individual and the Absolute, and this is Arjuna and Krishna working in union, seated in one vehicle. That vehicle may be this body, it may be human society, it may be the whole universe. Any field of operation is the chariot, and in every such field there should be this cooperation between the individual and the universal. In every bit of the relative or the particular, the universal is immanent, and the recognition of this universality in every particularity is the wisdom of life.

The End.

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