CHAPTER XII
Path-of-Devotion
Knowing full well the essential temperament of Arjuna, the royal hero, Krishna had tickled his kingly ambition at the closing of the last chapter (XI-54). To a true king, the challenge of a greater glory is too strong to resist. Wherever a vaster field, a greater profit, a more glowing resplendency is recognised, he cannot resist the temptation to fight for it, to conquer it and bring it within his ruling hand, and thereby spread his unquestioned sway over the conquered domain. Expecting this reaction in his royal friend of endless heroism, Krishna had not only exhibited the divine glory of the Lord and His cosmic-form, but also declared to Arjuna that "THROUGH SINGLE-MINDED DEVOTION CAN THIS COSMIC-FORM BE KNOWN AND SEEN AND ENTERED INTO BY ANYONE." On hearing that this Infinite glory can be his through devotion, the Pandava Prince optimistically determines to make an attempt to conquer and bring to himself this spiritual glory.
Psychologically, Arjuna was already prepared to feel this heroic urge and he had the divine inspiration to make any sacrifice necessary and to put forth all the efforts needed for the conquest of the spiritual goal. We have found in the last two chapters how Arjuna, as an intelligent man, was hesitant to accept his charioteer as Divine. The Prince demanded an analytical explanation for the Lord's philosophical exposition. "I AM NOT IN THEM, THEY ARE IN ME." This was given out earlier (IX-4) but the scepticism in the intelligent Arjuna was still too deep to be totally annihilated by a mere verbal declaration of the glory of the Divine.
Naturally, the Prince demanded a physical demonstration of the same and the Lord showed the total Cosmic-Form. Once fully convinced by the double process of analysis and synthesis --- discussion and a demonstration of the same --- Arjuna's intellect surrenders totally with an aspiration to realise and become the Spirit.
Every individual wants to become and live what he is convinced of; as the thoughts, so the man. And, one who is convinced, is a greater seeker than a man of blind faith jogging along the thorny Path of time-worn habits.
It is a fact that the subtler personality can come to assert itself only when the grosser one is completely satisfied. As long as one is hungry, one's emotional nature goes on choking one's heart. When the stomach is full, the heart has the freedom to demand its emotional satisfaction of love and affection. The intellect can come to its full play only when the physical and the emotional aspects are at rest --- or, temporarily at least, satisfied. If there is an imperfection or incompleteness, either in the physical or in the emotional personality of man, he is not capable of invoking and directing the efficient play of his emotional and intellectual abilities.
In the same way, the spiritual urge for intuitive experience in a seeker expresses itself only when all earlier and outer demands are fully satisfied. This truth is beautifully brought out to us in the discussions contained in the chapter on the "PATH OF DEVOTION." When Arjuna is intellectually convinced and emotionally satisfied that the cowherd-boy is the Infinite's own playful manifestation, his scepticism as a soldier ends and he feels an urge to seek, to discover, to conquer, to possess and to rule over the kingdom of the Spirit.
In the Form-Terrible, Arjuna had observed the endless thraldom of the PAST, passing through the avenues of the PRESENT, to reach the courtyard of the FUTURE and meet the "Lord of Time" Krishna Himself there. Similarly, in the Lord, the Infinite, he saw "here" and "there" mingling with each other, and the farthest horizons nestling in the lap of the "here"! Naturally, Arjuna raised the question as to whether he should seek, love, and meditate upon the infinite form of the Formless, or upon the manifest divinity in the Cosmic-Form of Krishna.
The previous two chapters had completely satisfied the sceptic in Arjuna through 'discussion' (Ch.-X) and actual 'demonstration' (Ch.-XI) of the Lord's Cosmic-Form. The newly converted Royal Prince now feels an irresistible urge to conquer the Kingdom Divine within himself. The secret strategy for the sure conquerer was also indicated in the concluding stanza of the last chapter; devotion and consistency of self-application, free from all ego-centric attachment to the world-of-objects is the way charted out in the Geeta, and it is assured that thereby, "YOU SHALL ENTER INTO ME, O PANDAVA" (XI-55).
As a practical man-of-action, Arjuna is no idle philosopher, seeking a vain satisfaction in mere bookish erudition and profitless scholarship. He was not at all charmed by the theory as such. The warrior was impatient to enter the field of strife and bring under this sway the realm of glory demonstrated by his Charioteer. Therefore, the chapter starts rightly with a question that means business.
As a student of the Vedas, from his childhood, Arjuna was taught that the Absolute is Formless and Nameless and beyond the perceptions of the sense organs, feelings of the mind, and comprehensions of the intellect. But the Prince had a vivid first-hand experience of Krishna and His Cosmic-Form. Naturally, the doubt is raised by him as to whether it is more profitable to meditate upon the Truth as unmanifest or as manifest --- like the one shown by Sri Krishna.
The question raises a very moot point in religion. From time to time, Prophets and Masters had appeared to support, or to condemn, the worship of the God-Principle in and through a Divine-Form. Can the ocean be fully realised through the knowledge of the waves, or will the knowledge of the waves obstruct our comprehension of the ocean? In short, is idol-worship justified? Can it provide a helpful prop for the meditative mind to swing on and dive into the Infinite? If it can, what exactly is the technique? The entire chapter is dedicated to answer this question.
For its scientific thoroughness and for its wealth of details, the Geeta can always stand a good comparison with any of the modern text-books on secular sciences. Lord Krishna is ever conscious that He is talking to a man-of-action, Arjuna, a brainy sceptic.
|| Chapter-12 ||
Source: The Holy Geeta
Path-of-Devotion
Knowing full well the essential temperament of Arjuna, the royal hero, Krishna had tickled his kingly ambition at the closing of the last chapter (XI-54). To a true king, the challenge of a greater glory is too strong to resist. Wherever a vaster field, a greater profit, a more glowing resplendency is recognised, he cannot resist the temptation to fight for it, to conquer it and bring it within his ruling hand, and thereby spread his unquestioned sway over the conquered domain. Expecting this reaction in his royal friend of endless heroism, Krishna had not only exhibited the divine glory of the Lord and His cosmic-form, but also declared to Arjuna that "THROUGH SINGLE-MINDED DEVOTION CAN THIS COSMIC-FORM BE KNOWN AND SEEN AND ENTERED INTO BY ANYONE." On hearing that this Infinite glory can be his through devotion, the Pandava Prince optimistically determines to make an attempt to conquer and bring to himself this spiritual glory.
Psychologically, Arjuna was already prepared to feel this heroic urge and he had the divine inspiration to make any sacrifice necessary and to put forth all the efforts needed for the conquest of the spiritual goal. We have found in the last two chapters how Arjuna, as an intelligent man, was hesitant to accept his charioteer as Divine. The Prince demanded an analytical explanation for the Lord's philosophical exposition. "I AM NOT IN THEM, THEY ARE IN ME." This was given out earlier (IX-4) but the scepticism in the intelligent Arjuna was still too deep to be totally annihilated by a mere verbal declaration of the glory of the Divine.
Naturally, the Prince demanded a physical demonstration of the same and the Lord showed the total Cosmic-Form. Once fully convinced by the double process of analysis and synthesis --- discussion and a demonstration of the same --- Arjuna's intellect surrenders totally with an aspiration to realise and become the Spirit.
Every individual wants to become and live what he is convinced of; as the thoughts, so the man. And, one who is convinced, is a greater seeker than a man of blind faith jogging along the thorny Path of time-worn habits.
It is a fact that the subtler personality can come to assert itself only when the grosser one is completely satisfied. As long as one is hungry, one's emotional nature goes on choking one's heart. When the stomach is full, the heart has the freedom to demand its emotional satisfaction of love and affection. The intellect can come to its full play only when the physical and the emotional aspects are at rest --- or, temporarily at least, satisfied. If there is an imperfection or incompleteness, either in the physical or in the emotional personality of man, he is not capable of invoking and directing the efficient play of his emotional and intellectual abilities.
In the same way, the spiritual urge for intuitive experience in a seeker expresses itself only when all earlier and outer demands are fully satisfied. This truth is beautifully brought out to us in the discussions contained in the chapter on the "PATH OF DEVOTION." When Arjuna is intellectually convinced and emotionally satisfied that the cowherd-boy is the Infinite's own playful manifestation, his scepticism as a soldier ends and he feels an urge to seek, to discover, to conquer, to possess and to rule over the kingdom of the Spirit.
In the Form-Terrible, Arjuna had observed the endless thraldom of the PAST, passing through the avenues of the PRESENT, to reach the courtyard of the FUTURE and meet the "Lord of Time" Krishna Himself there. Similarly, in the Lord, the Infinite, he saw "here" and "there" mingling with each other, and the farthest horizons nestling in the lap of the "here"! Naturally, Arjuna raised the question as to whether he should seek, love, and meditate upon the infinite form of the Formless, or upon the manifest divinity in the Cosmic-Form of Krishna.
The previous two chapters had completely satisfied the sceptic in Arjuna through 'discussion' (Ch.-X) and actual 'demonstration' (Ch.-XI) of the Lord's Cosmic-Form. The newly converted Royal Prince now feels an irresistible urge to conquer the Kingdom Divine within himself. The secret strategy for the sure conquerer was also indicated in the concluding stanza of the last chapter; devotion and consistency of self-application, free from all ego-centric attachment to the world-of-objects is the way charted out in the Geeta, and it is assured that thereby, "YOU SHALL ENTER INTO ME, O PANDAVA" (XI-55).
As a practical man-of-action, Arjuna is no idle philosopher, seeking a vain satisfaction in mere bookish erudition and profitless scholarship. He was not at all charmed by the theory as such. The warrior was impatient to enter the field of strife and bring under this sway the realm of glory demonstrated by his Charioteer. Therefore, the chapter starts rightly with a question that means business.
As a student of the Vedas, from his childhood, Arjuna was taught that the Absolute is Formless and Nameless and beyond the perceptions of the sense organs, feelings of the mind, and comprehensions of the intellect. But the Prince had a vivid first-hand experience of Krishna and His Cosmic-Form. Naturally, the doubt is raised by him as to whether it is more profitable to meditate upon the Truth as unmanifest or as manifest --- like the one shown by Sri Krishna.
The question raises a very moot point in religion. From time to time, Prophets and Masters had appeared to support, or to condemn, the worship of the God-Principle in and through a Divine-Form. Can the ocean be fully realised through the knowledge of the waves, or will the knowledge of the waves obstruct our comprehension of the ocean? In short, is idol-worship justified? Can it provide a helpful prop for the meditative mind to swing on and dive into the Infinite? If it can, what exactly is the technique? The entire chapter is dedicated to answer this question.
For its scientific thoroughness and for its wealth of details, the Geeta can always stand a good comparison with any of the modern text-books on secular sciences. Lord Krishna is ever conscious that He is talking to a man-of-action, Arjuna, a brainy sceptic.
|| Chapter-12 ||
Source: The Holy Geeta
