Gurudev introduces Chapter 17: The Threefold Faith

CHAPTER XVII

The Three-Fold Faith

The concluding two verses of the last chapter introduced an idea that the Shastra is the final court of appeal in all doubts, and for the power of discrimination in us to arrive at all its moment-to-moment judgements. But it is very difficult for the average person to develop that amount of proficiency in the spiritual codes. Thus we cannot get a ready-reckoner which will easily guide us in our life's pilgrimage. Now, Arjuna's appetite to live the Higher-life more intensely has been fully whetted and he is mentally planning to give Krishna's philosophy a fair trial. As a man of action, when he mentally plans to live the Geeta way-of-life, he finds it hard, because of its insistence upon the 'knowledge" of the Shastras. At the same time, he is confident that he has developed in himself a sufficient 'faith' (Shraddhaa) in the nobler way-of-life, as enunciated in this sacred scripture.
This chapter opens with these doubts: is it sufficient if one lives with 'faith' a life of good conduct and noble aspirations, or is it necessary that he must 'know' the Shastra and work with 'faith,' implicitly obedient to the injunctions laid down in the Shastra?

Earlier also in the Geeta, on more than one occasion, (IV-39; XVI-23). 'faith' (Shraddhaa) has been prescribed as the fuel required for the seeker to soar higher. The emphasis and importance given to Shraddhaa are almost equal to those given to the Shastra, and therefore, Arjuna has every right to raise the question whether, even without the knowledge of the Shastras, blind-faith alone can take the seeker far!

The special capacity of the human intellect, not only to know and appreciate the Shastra, but also, to absorb and assimilate the noble ideals, so completely as to bear upon all one's actions, is called 'Shraddhaa.' It is that powerful, impelling force which springs forth spontaneously from within, and propelled by which, all layers of personality in an individual act in their appointed fields. 'Faith' is the content and the very essence of the equipments of man's whole being. 'Faith' gives the direction, the dash, and provides a destination for one's determination.

Instead of directly answering the question, the philosopher in Krishna takes this opportunity to give a thorough exposition of 'Faith' as seen in the various fields of man's endeavours --- his physical indulgences (ahara), his dedicated activities (yajna), his self-denials (tapas), and his charities (daana).

In the scheme of this discourse, the Lord first of all explains that Shraddhaa is of three kinds, according to the nature of the temperament (gunas) which the individual entertains in himself. The three classifications under which the temperaments fall are (1) balanced joy (Sattwa), (2) ambitious and feverish activities (Rajas), (3) vegetative existence and heedlessness (Tamas). Earlier this topic of the three gunas governing and controlling the mental and intellectual life of men was exhaustively dealt with. How men, under the influence of these gunas in varying proportions, would come to live the religious values, and strive for spiritual unfoldment is now being discussed. From a close study of this discourse, we can direct our activities away from the influence of the lower urges and guide our spiritual practices consistently on the royal path of sure success.

|| Chapter - 17 ||

Source: The Holy Geeta

End of Chapter 16 - March 29, 2017

Bg 16.23

yaḥ śāstra-vidhim utsṛjya vartate kāma-kārataḥ
na sa siddhim avāpnoti na sukhaṁ na parāṁ gatim

Bg 16.24

tasmāc chāstraṁ pramāṇaṁ te kāryākārya-vyavasthitau
jñātvā śāstra-vidhānoktaṁ karma kartum ihārhasi

Om tat sat iti śrīmadbhagavadgītāsu upaniśadsu 
brahmavidyāyām yogaśāstre śrīkṛṣṇārjunasamvāde 
daivāsurasampadvibhāga yogo nāma ṣodaśodhyāyaha

Translation

23. He who, having cast aside the ordinance of the scriptures, acts under the impulse of desire, attains neither perfection, nor happiness, nor the Supreme Goal.

24. Therefore, let the Scriptures be your authority, in determining what ought to be done and what ought not to be done. Having known what is said in the commandments of the Scripture, you should act here (in this world) .

Commentary

The Divine Teacher of the Geeta explains that when the ruinous expenditure of vitality, both psychological and intellectual, is stopped and energy is conserved, it has to be applied in the right direction. If again the energy is misused, the chances are that the seeker would dash himself down with a mightier bump to the depths of a miserable life. Ravana and such other mighty Asuras of the Puranas are typical examples of personalities that performed fierce tapashcharya (penance), accumulated inner dynamism, and yet achieved but a thorough self-destruction! So mighty was their strength that they made their own generation rock, crumble and bite the dust. To avoid such a calamity to the individual, as well as to the world around him, a severe warning must necessarily be given; and these two closing stanzas contain such a warning.

HE WHO DISOBEYS THE SHASTRAS AND ACTS UNDER THE IMPULSE OF DESIRE --- Such a man stands to gain no benefit at all. Here the term Shastra need not necessarily be understood as a bundle of ritualistic injunctions, strictly followed and sacredly insisted upon by the fanatic orthodox. The text-books discussing the Theory-of-Truth (Brahma-Vidya) and the technique of self-perfection (Yoga) are called Shastras, while other subsidiary books which explain and throw light upon the Shastras are called Prakarana texts; the latter explain the categories in the Science of Vedanta. Since the Geeta is a philosophical poem, exhaustively explaining the theory and practice of God-realisation, IT IS CONSIDERED AS A Shastra.

UNDER THE IMPULSE OF DESIRE --- The theme developed in the previous two stanzas is that a seeker of the Higher, should of necessity renounce "desire, anger, and greed." We have explained earlier that ANGER is a product when desire is throttled, and GREED is a logical consequence when a passionate heart gains some fulfilment of desires. Therefore, desire is the root cause. Naturally, Krishna contrasts the way-of-life advocated in the Geeta with our ordinary way-of-life, wherein the main impulse is desire. The seekers are advised not to disobey the commands given in the Geeta Shastra and live under the impulse of their baser appetites and lower instincts.

ATTAINS NEITHER JOY NOR SUCCESS, NOR GOAL --- What exactly would be the harm if one did not implicitly live the way-of-life advocated in the Geeta? The consequences of such an unintelligent and naughty disregard of the right-way-of-life is clearly indicated here. Propelled by desires, coaxed by greed, torn by anger and constantly dancing to the changing tunes of the lusty flesh, an individual comes to live a life of restless agitations and tyrannical passions. Such a man cannot feel any happiness or attain any cultural development.

THEREFORE THE NATURAL CONCLUSION IS:

THEREFORE --- Because of the line of argument given in the last three stanzas, the seeker of an ampler life must necessarily follow the authority of the Scriptures in planning his way-of-life. The right conduct in life can be determined only when the individual has correct knowledge of WHAT IS TO BE PURSUED AND WHAT IS TO BE AVOIDED. The grand road to Truth is the same for all. It cannot be determined by each pilgrim according to his own whims and fancies. Shastras are declared by those, who had travelled the road many a time. And when the Rishis supply us with a map of the road-to-Perfection, we, the humble pedestrians, must pursue the path faithfully and come to bless ourselves.

HAVING KNOWN --- Therefore, before setting out on a pilgrimage to that Goal, every seeker is required to study intelligently the Scriptures, which are the reports left for our guidance by those who successfully walked the 'Path' earlier. A correct knowledge and a clear intellectual vision of the Goal and of the direction in which It lies, and perhaps, of the possible difficulties en route --- are the unavoidable pre-requisites for a seeker.

YOU SHOULD ACT HERE --- Ninety per cent of the seekers, perhaps, 'know' the Shastra exhaustively, in all detail as explained above, but alas, how few of them discover in themselves the courage to live, the will to pursue, and the patience to wait till the Supreme is realised within themselves. Naturally, Lord Krishna closes the chapter with the injunction that man should act, without desire, anger, or greed. This is the right way of action as exhaustively discussed in the third chapter on Karma yoga).

Thus, in the UPANISHADS of the glorious Bhagawad-Geeta, in the Science of the Eternal, in the scripture of YOGA, in the dialogue between Sri Krishna and Arjuna, the sixteenth discourse ends entitled:
THE DIVINE AND THE DEVILISH ESTATES
Om Om Om Om Om

Sources: vedabase.com; The Holy Geeta

Introducing Chapter XVI: The Divine & the Devilish

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{Photo I took in Prambanan, Indonesia, in 2005. Looks like Astavakra Gita!}

Gurudev introduces Chapter 16:
CHAPTER XVI 
Divine and Devilish Estates

Every system of ethics catalogues a series of virtues and vices, and strangely enough all such systems read the same although their Prophets belonged to different times and places. Irrespective of clime, creed, race and tongue, a good man is a good man. No doubt, there are slight differences between faith and faith, but such differences are found only in the Prophets' emphasis on the peoples' abstinence from certain vices and/or cultivation of certain virtues. And their special advice and appeals to the people are obviously determined by the sort of life lived by the majority of the people in their respective eras and areas.
The very same qualities accepted as virtues some three thousand years ago, are still regarded as virtues, and even today, those who live them are considered virtuous and noble. Strangely enough, we find that human beings are the same in this uproarious present as they were in the peaceful past. In this chapter, the entire mankind, of all times and of all ages, has been classified under three types: (a) the Divinely Good (Devas), (b) the Diabolically Fallen (Asuras), and (c) the Incorrigibly Indifferent (Rakshasas). However, the Rakshasic type is not taken up for discussion in the following stanzas, most probably because, for that type, no conscious self-development programme is ever possible unless it be broken, recast and moulded again by the relentless hand of adversity.

Earlier, (in Chapter IX) we had a discussion in which Krishna explained the three kinds of nature of the sentient beings, Prakritis. Later on (in Chapter XIII) the Field-of-Experience (Kshetra), and the Knower-of-the-Field (Kshetrajna) were discussed in detail. In conclusion, it was established that the Subject, the 'Knower,' is one in all "Fields."

The natural question of a brilliant intellect, at this stage of discussion, could only be how and why the experiences are so varied from individual to individual, even though the "Subject" is one and the same. It was explained (in Chapter XIV) that the "Field," being under the influence of different temperaments (gunas), no two individuals can experience a given field of happenings in the same fashion. After thus discussing exhaustively, how the Fields-of-Experience differ from one another under changing temperaments, we had a discourse from the Geetaacharya, (in Chapter XV) on the essential nature of the Infinite and Eternal" Subject," the Knower-of-the-Field. This Purushottama had been ably painted therein as the Transcendental State of Perfection and as Pure Knowledge.

Naturally, therefore, in the logical development of thought in the Geeta, this chapter discusses the types of manifestations that are available in the living world when the same "Knower", the one Eternal Spirit, expresses Itself through various "Fields." The logic of the Sixteenth Chapter can generally be a bit confusing to all hasty students; and there are daring critics who have come to the conclusion that, more often than not, "the Divine Song of the Lord is a rambling poem." This is very unfair. The sequence in the thought development in Chapter Sixteen is from the ideas not yet concluded in Chapter Nine and from the ideas merely touched upon during the explanations in the preceding three chapters.

Another severe criticism generally levelled against Hindus is that as believers in the Non-dual Reality, the Brahman, they have no respect for moral and ethical values. Some critics compare the devotional religions, semetic or otherwise, with Vedanta, and desperately strive to establish an unsubstantiated superiority for themselves. But here a lie is given to this criticism; how consistently Vedanta insists upon the moral virtues, as a prerequisite even for entering its portals, is evident from the chapters of the Geeta. And this chapter will reveal how exhaustively the Rishis had pointed out the mental contents of the good as compared with those of the bad.

The anxiety of the Geeta is not to classify mankind as good and bad, to promise a paradise to the good and to curse the bad to endless damnation in hell. The qualities enumerated here are the result of scientific observations made in the physical, mental, and intellectual behaviours, when life, the "Knower," pulsates through a DISCIPLINED "Field," and an UNDISCIPLINED "Field" of experience.

|| Chapter - 16 ||

Source: The Holy Geeta

Chapter 15 concludes...

Bg 15.18

yasmāt kṣaram atīto ’ham akṣarād api cottamaḥ
ato ’smi loke vede ca prathitaḥ puruṣottamaḥ

Bg 15.19

yo mām evam asammūḍho jānāti puruṣottamam
sa sarva-vid bhajati māṁ sarva-bhāvena bhārata

Bg 15.20

iti guhya-tamaṁ śāstram idam uktaṁ mayānagha
etad buddhvā buddhimān syāt kṛta-kṛtyaś ca bhārata

Om tat sat iti śrīmadbhagavadgītāsu upaniśadsu 
brahmavidyāyām yogaśāstre śrīkṛṣṇārjunasamvāde 
puruṣottamayogo nāma pañcadaśosdhyāyaha

Translation

18. As I transcend the perishable and I am even Higher than the Imperishable, I am declared as the PURUSHOTTAMA (the Highest -PURUSHA) in the world and in the VEDAS.

19. He who undeluded, thus knows Me, the Supreme PURUSHA , he, all-knowing, worships Me with his whole being, O Bharata.

20. Thus, this most secret science (teaching) , has been taught by Me, O sinless one. On knowing this (a man) becomes 'wise' , and all his duties are accomplished, O Bharata.

Commentary

SHOWING THE ETYMOLOGY OF THE VERY TERM, PURUSHOTTAMA, THE LORD SHOWS HOW HE IS REALLY THE SUPREME:

Explaining the very word Purushottama, Lord Krishna says that Pure Consciousness is HIGHER than both the 'Perishable 'and the 'Imperishable.' The Perishable can continue its processes of change only against the Imperishable Truth. It is a scientific fact that no change is perceptible without reference to a changeless factor. If two trains are both moving at the same speed no movement is recognised by perceivers in both the trains. If the changes in the world of Matter --- the body, the mind and the intellect are recognised, then there must be a steady principle that illumines all these different changes. This constant factor among the Perishing is called the Imperishable.

This illumining factor gathers its status as the "Imperishable" only with reference to the "Perishable" realms. Once the perishable realms are transcended, the Imperishable amidst them Itself comes to shine forth as the Pure Infinite, which is the Purushottama. Since the Truth, Purushottama, is experienced only on transcending both the 'Perishable' and the 'Imperishable,' It is known by the term the 'Highest-Spirit' --- Purushottama. This term is used to indicate the Supreme-most Self, both by the ancient sacred volumes (Vedas), and by the poets and writers of the world.

NOW THE LORD SPEAKS OF THE FRUITS GAINED BY ONE WHO REALISES THE SUPREME TRUTH AS DESCRIBED ABOVE:

'Undeluded' means, one who has totally detached oneself from one's wrong identifications with body, mind, and intellect, and therefore, also from the world of perceptions, feelings, and thoughts, which these vehicles provide.

THUS KNOWS ME --- To 'know' here is not a mere intellectual comprehension, but a deep subjective spiritual apprehension. That the undeluded one thus experiences in himself that he is the Purushottama-principle Itself, seems to be the suggestion here.

Such a man who has fully identified himself with the Infinite "Me" alone is a true devotee, who 'WORSHIPS ME WITH ALL HIS BEING'; such a one is the greatest of devotees, declares the Geetaacharya. Identification with the beloved is everywhere the measure of love; the greater the love, the greater is our identification with the object of our love. Therefore, arithmetically, total identification should be the maximum Love or devotion.

The Highest Spirit, Purushottama, being the Infinite Consciousness, it is the 'All-knower', inasmuch as whenever anything is known through perception, feeling, or thought, it is the Principle of Consciousness that illumines it. One who has transcended one's matter-equipments and has successfully sought and discovered one's spiritual nature as the Infinite Consciousness, that individual, as the Supreme Awareness, is indicated here as the "All-knower" (Sarvavit).

THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUE NATURE OF THE LORD IS THE THEME OF THIS CHAPTER AND THE FOLLOWING CONCLUDING VERSE KRISHNA EXTOLS THIS THEME, WHICH GIVES LIBERATION TO MAN FROM ALL HIS FLESH-BORN SORROWS, MIND-BORN AGITATIONS AND INTELLECT-BORN RESTLESS-NESS:

In this concluding verse Krishna says that He has taught in this chapter 'THE MOST SECRET SCIENCE.' The spiritual science (Brahma-vidya) is termed as 'secret,' not in the sense that it should not be given out to anybody, but that it is a knowledge which cannot, of its own accord come to anyone, unless one is initiated into it by a 'Knower of Reality.'

O SINLESS ONE --- 'Sin' means an act, a feeling or a thought, which having been perpetrated, entertained, or thought of, comes back after a time to agitate our bosom with its insulting taunts and helpless regrets. In short, SIN is the resultant of the past that comes to demean our self-estimate and creates in us a lot of mental storm and consequent dissipation. One who has thus an inner personality which carries disturbing memories of undignified acts and cruel schemes, has indeed, a bosom that is ever agitated and restless. Such a mind-intellect-equipment cannot consistently apply itself to any serious and deep investigation into the subtle realm of the Pure Awareness that lies beyond the frontiers of the intellect. Therefore, the term 'sinless' in the context here only means "O STEADY-MINDED, ALERT AND VIGILANT STUDENT."

He who has realised this PURUSHOTTAMA-STATE of Consciousness becomes 'wise,' for he cannot thereafter make any error of judgement in life and thereby create confusions and sorrows for himself and for others around him.

The second of the benefits accrued by entering the Purushottama State is the enjoyment of a complete sense of fulfilment (Krita-krityataa) --- a total and overwhelming joy that comes to a man when he realises that he has fully accomplished what is expected of him. This is promised here in this verse as the reward for the realisation of the Purushottama-stage.

Thus, in the UPANISHADS of the glorious Bhagawad-Geeta, in the Science of the Eternal, in the scripture of YOGA, in the dialogue between Sri Krishna and Arjuna, the fifteenth discourse ends entitled:
THE YOGA OF THE SUPREME SPIRIT

Sources: vedabase.com; The Holy Geeta