The Teaching Essence of the Bhagavad Gita

The Teaching Essence of the Bhagavad Gita Brahmavidyāyāṁ Yogaśāstre Srīkṛṣṇārjunasaṁvāde These words arise at the end of each chapter of the Bhagavad Gita. Those who do not know Sanskrit might not have even detected this. Those who know Sanskrit just take it for granted and circumvent it as something that needs to be recited at the end of each chapter, whatever the reason may be. But there is no unnecessary word in the Bhagavad Gita. There is nothing that can be circumvented or considered as preparatory, just to be buffed over; even if there is an illustrious apostrophe—śrībhagavān-uvāca—that also has a meaning in itself. What does the Bhagavad Gita teach? It teaches three things: Brahmavidyāyāṁ Yogaśāstre Srīkṛṣṇārjunasaṁvāde. It is repeatedly drummed into our ears. The commentaries on the Gita say that it teaches karma yoga, raja yoga, bhakti yoga and jnana yoga, a synthesis of yoga, the art of living; and what not! But the Gita itself tells us what it teaches by a colophon (a publisher’s emblem on the title page of a book) which is in three words only: Brahmavidyāyāṁ Yogaśāstre Srīkṛṣṇārjunasaṁvāde. Actually, these three words mean theory, practice, and realisation. There is theoretical physics, practical physics and there is the technological realisation of it. Theoretical physics is the advanced conceptualisation of the deep structure of physical reality, in whatever form. Then, with this insight gained through a methodological study of the constituents of matter, it becomes more acquiescent and one can handle it more easily. An unknown object is fearful. The more we know it and the more we become intimate with it, the easier it is for us to handle it, for any given purpose. Brahma-vidya is the science of the Absolute—the system of thinking which is made possible to understand by itself at any time, telling us about the total structure of things. To conceive the absolute is to, at once, take into consideration, in our processes of thought, all things connected with the object of thought—not only the inner constituents of the object as such, but also the relations that the object bears to other objects. The reality of a particular thing is not only in itself; it is also in that which determines it, restricts it, influences it, conditions it, defines it and makes it what it is. Every individual is an entity by itself. But this ‘being an entity by itself' is not so simple a matter as it appears on the surface. As humans, we appear to be totally secluded and we stand by ourselves, unrelated to external things. We can be in our own rooms and unconnected to things. But, we are not unconnected to things. The physical atmosphere, the social atmosphere and the psychological atmosphere establish us. So, even if we are alone in our rooms, we do not forget that our individuality is habituated by the presence of these social laws, of government and of the thoughts of people, in general. Hence, our individuality is only a fantasy and total individuality by itself is not a possibility. There is a relation of ‘A' to ‘B'. If we say that an object is red in colour, it is not a self-governing perception of the redness of that object. It is, at the same time, a characteristic that we draw between the redness and other colours which are not red. If there was only redness everywhere, we would not be able to observe the redness of things. There is a merit in the characteristic of a particular object which is red. That distinction lies in the fact that it is not about what is not red. The negative influence is exerted on this object. Our not being animals is a conditioning factor even if we are human beings. The existence that is outside us is not actually outside us. It just influences us. We have to check out into the structural pattern of the object in its relation to atmospheric conditions outside, which establishes it in quality as well as in quantity, so that to think in an absolute fashion would be to recognise the total structure of the universe even in an atom or to see the whole government in a single official. We can summon the entire government, if necessary, though no official can be called the government. In a similar manner, any object can draw sustenance from everything in the universe. Brahma-vidya is the art and the science of educating oneself in the manner of correctly perceiving the world, including one's own self, in the totality of relations, so that no partial vision of things can be regarded as an authorisation to the concept of the Absolute. Mostly, our perceptions are partial. They are limited to certain conditions. It is a condition related to a marketplace, a railway station, an airport, an office or a house. These are the things that limit our thoughts but we do not rise above the outward nature of these conditions. The human mind is restricted in terms of being sensor receptive. It is basically external in its nature and total perception is neither external nor internal. It is a blend of both the external and the internal, so that we are in the middle, between our perceiving capacity and the object that is being perceived. In a total perception of things, we are not within ourselves; we have transcended ourselves, nor are we in the object; we have transcended the object. We are in the middle as the blend—a blending consciousness which brings about a harmony between the seer and the seen or between any two faces of reality. In all situations, there are two aspects: the cause or the causative factor and the effect upon which the cause has an impact. It is very difficult for us to see the relation between cause and effect. Mostly, we see the cause as one thing and the effect as another. Brahma-vidya is a complicated subject. It is not just repeating of some words of the Upanishads or the Brahma Sutras or even the Gita. It is the entry of the consciousness into the very importance of the teaching, which is suggested in many of the verses of the Bhagavad Gita itself. मत्तः परतरं नान्यत् किञ्चिदस्ति (७.७); अहं आत्म गुडाकेश सर्वभूताशयस्थितः (१०.२०); पश्य मे पार्थ रूपाणी शतशोऽथ सहस्रशः (११.५); दिव्यं दादामि ते चक्षुः पश्य मे योगं ऐश्वरं (11.8); ज्ञेयं यत् तत् प्रवाक्ष्यामि यज ज्ञानत्वमृतं अश्नुते, अनादिमत परं ब्रह्म न सत् तन नसाद उच्यते (१३.१२); सर्वतः- पाणिपादं तत् सर्वतोऽक्षीशिरोमुखं, सर्वतःश्रुतिमल लोके सर्वम् आवृत्य तिष्ठति (१३.१३): The Total has eyes everywhere, has feet everywhere, has hands everywhere because it is neither a subject nor an object. In the total perception of things, we are not ourselves nor are we other than what we are. We are something beyond both what we are and what is other than what we are. This is the final import and learning from Brahma-vidya aspect of the Bhagavad Gita. Theoretical physics has to lead to applied physics. What is the purpose of simply knowing things? Knowledge has to be applied in practical life. Similarly, this Brahma-vidya which is the knowledge of the integrality of things has to be put into daily implementation in our activities and gestures, in our biases and prejudices, in our desires, attractions and in our repulsions. In every situation, this Brahma-vidya has to be there. We cannot be whole only at some time and a fraction at some other time. Will we be whole persons in our office and only a percentage in our houses? We are whole everywhere but if we behave in different ways at different times and convert ourselves into fractions of human personality; we are not living a wholesome life. It is not a holistic approach to life. Brahma-vidya is to be applied in the Yoga Shastra. It is the daily application of our consciousness, our mind and our attitude to anything in the world in terms of the lesson that we have learnt through Brahma-vidya. What is the purpose of this practice of yoga in terms of the wisdom that we gain through Brahma-vidya? It is Kṛṣṇārjunasaṁvāda: the conversation of the soul with God. Kṛṣṇārjunasaṁvāda is the conversation of the soul with the Absolute. The soul speaks to the Absolute. Arjuna's imagining the mighty Krishna is symbolic of the soul imagining the Cosmic Being in its daily life. Who can meet the Absolute? Who can talk with God, unless we are burnt and blazing in the purity of our spirit as God Himself is? Unless we have transcended the limitations of flesh and bone and the limitations of the psyche which are conditioned socially and politically; unless we are able to lift our consciousness above these limitations, how will we converse with God? Who can dare approach God when there is no communicating medium between ourselves and God? The wavelength of our individuality and the wavelength of God are in such contrast that there is no mingling of these two factors. The radio station of God is sending messages. We are unable to receive any message from God because our receiving sets here have a very weak wavelength and we cannot receive those messages. The Yoga Shastra or the practice of yoga is nothing but the tuning of the wavelength of our receiving sets to the wavelength of the message that comes from God's broadcasting station. This is Yoga Shastra and the purpose of this is to contact God directly. There is no use of thinking about God, praying to God, feeling God and imagining that one day we will realise God. It is necessary to confront Him every day, if it is true that He is present in every atom. In every atom, He is vibrating just like the sun is vibrating in the solar system. If that is the case, He is to be contacted. God is here and now and not an afterwards or a somewhere or someone. He is without these limitations of concept of space and time. Contact with God is contact with timelessness and with eternity. Such is the importance of the final teaching of the Bhagavad Gita, where the soul converses with God in its realisation of the perfection that it has to achieve finally through the Yoga Shastra. This is the practice of the discipline necessary in this world in the light of the knowledge of Brahma-vidya, which is the theoretical education that we receive of how the world is made. First, we have to know; then, we have to do and then we have to realise. A similar reference is made in the Eleventh Chapter of the Bhagavad Gita. It is not enough if we merely see and know, but we have to enter into it. It is necessary for us to enter into God in our daily lives. The entry into God's existence every day is the living of the divine life and we should not fear that this is a very hard thing. Who can enter into God every day? Where is God? Is He in some unimaginable infinity? It is nothing of the kind. Sarvataḥ pāṇipādaṁ tat sarvatokṣiśiromukham, sarvataḥ śrutimal loke sarvam āvṛtya tiṣṭhati (13.13); mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti (7.7): Outside God, nothing exists. If that is the case, what is the distance between us and God? Distance is abolished. It is a distance-less and timeless contact. That is possible for us, provided that we open the gates of our personality, open the windows to the sunshine of the Supreme Being that is illuminating us perpetually and melt our egos, which affirm that “I also exist together with God”. The biblical fall of Satan is nothing but the story of the affirmation of the ego in the presence of God: “If you are there, I am also there.” The devotee says, “God, Thou art, but I am also there to contemplate about you.” That devotee should not be there at all. Let that devotee melt and then God possesses him. The ocean enters into the rivers and the world melts into the consciousness which is both now and here. The Bhagavad Gita is a Brahma-vidya (knowledge), a Yoga Shastra and Srīkṛṣṇārjunasaṁvāda. It is a theoretical understanding of the structure of the cosmos, the practice of yoga and the daily contact with God in our practical affairs - which is true divine life.