Relevance of the Bhagavadgita to Humanity : 20-2. Swami Krishnananda.

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Friday, April 22, 2022. 19: 00

Chapter 20: The Arising of the Concept of Unity-2.

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We need not enter into this metaphysical theme of Buddhism. However, that the joys of life are momentary is something well known. There is a sorrow in the beginning, and a sorrow in the end. When it has not come, it is a source of sorrow; when it goes, it is a source of sorrow. This is parinama, the consequence of enjoyment through sense indulgence. And it need not be imagined that for a short duration we may enjoy it even if it is to go after some time, because no one knows when it will go. It does not guarantee that it shall be with us for a long time. Hence, the imagination that one can possess and enjoy a desired object for even a temporary period should be considered as an unjustifiable position.

Now, just imagine, or take for granted, that it shall endure for a short time; even then it is not joy. We are under an illusion. The so-called joy of sense contact and possession of sense objects cannot be considered as a joy even for a moment, let alone for a long period, because it is, again, an illusion. All joy is an illusion. It is a psychic illusion, as we have optical illusions. What is the illusion? The gunas of prakriti are responsible for this operation called sense experience and its acceptance by the mind. All satisfaction is a beam of the ray of the light of sattva. Prakriti is all things. The whole universe is sattva, rajas and tamas. There cannot be a reflection of the state of balance in rajas and tamas.

Meanwhile, we may remember that joy is nothing but an experience of balance. When there is a sense of equanimity, we feel elated. We feel buoyant in physical health when there is equanimity of the forces of the physiological organs, and also when there is equanimity of the psychic functions. They are set in a state of equilibrium. The mind does not undulate with ups and downs of waves of distraction, because these waves of psyche arise due to the operation of rajas. In sattva there is no such undulation, no such wave-like movement of the mind. When there is a temporary flash of this equilibrated condition called sattva, we feel elated as if something has been experienced of the nature of blissfulness.

But prakriti's forces are like the movement of a wheel. A moving motorcar never allows the wheel to be in a particular position for even a moment. There is a continuous change of the position of the wheel due to the movement that is precipitated by the pressure of the whole structure of nature. Hence, it is not possible to expect the static and stable operation of sattva, or any kind of guna, for a long time. There is a perpetual, we may say a simultaneous, action of sattva, rajas and tamas. There is an opposition of the qualities of prakriti: gu?av?tti virodh?t. One opposes the other; one pushes the other down like the spokes of a moving wheel. We may say the spokes oppose each other – that which is down is up, and that which is up is down because of the compulsive movement of the wheel.

Dharmachakra pravartana is an analogy in Buddhist parlance. The law of the universe is dharma. It moves like a wheel, and it will not be stable in position. Therefore, every experience of any connection with any spoke in this wheel is a momentary experience. We shall not have a permanent possession of anything in this world. Even the possessor cannot exist for a long time. Neither the possessor as a subject of contact of objects, nor the object, can have enduring value in this world. They are like the moving waters of a river, like the surging flame of a lamp. There is continuous movement, and therefore there is no possibility of enduring satisfaction in this world.

To be continued ....

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