The Bhagavad Gita Part 2: The Seeker and the Sought, by Mahendra Mathur
In the last issue of Tattva, we had an introduction of the Bhagavad Gita. In this issue, we are continuing the Bhagavad Gita series with an article on conquering desire and gaining knowledge of the Self.
The Hindu theory of jnana (knowledge), bhakti (devotion) and karma (action) forms the basis of Hindu philosophy. The Gita is the guide to “the science of being and the art of living. It is a complete guide to mastering the problems of day-to-day life—for any person of any age. The teachings of the Gita inspire all to realize the reality within them. The fulfillment lies in the simultaneous development of the heart and the mind.”
Life should be meaningful and purposeful. We should see the meaning of life, and then the whole life becomes the means to achieve that end. Living becomes purposeful when the end is clear. If I know the end, the other ends in life such as a house, a job, a wife or a husband or a son, can be seen in their proper perspective. They can all become the means to achieve the ultimate end. If the purpose of life is not clear, we have not really achieved anything in spite of all that has seemed to have been achieved.
The real end behind all the ends is to end the desire. There are three approaches to end a desire: 1) by acquiring the object of desire, 2) by giving up the desire as undesirable, and 3) by growing out of the desire. A follower of the first is called a samsari, the second a tyagi, and the third a sanyaasi.
The ones who go about fulfilling the desires as they arise in the mind find that more desires have cropped up even before one desire is fulfilled. They always find themselves wanting. No end seems to satisfy them because an end loses its significance by the time it is achieved. They find themselves dependent on objects of desire and the more the desires, the greater the degree of dependence. No particular end seems to give them freedom from dependence. Such a person who finds himself or herself as dependent on the fulfillment of the desires is a samsari regardless of whether or not he or she is married.
A tyagi is the one who has given up an object or a desire either because of an ideal or because of a bargain to get something better. But such a one still has a taste for the object. It is only when one grows out of the desire and is no more tempted by the object that he/she gains freedom from the object. He/she is sanyaasi in respect of that object. The Gita describes a sanyasi in verse 3 of Chapter V:
That is the true Renouncer, firm and fixed
Who seeks nought, rejecting nought – dwells proof
Against the “opposites.” O valiant Prince!
In doing, such breaks lightly from all deed.” V-3
Everyone is a sanyaasi with respect to a few things. With respect to a few more things we are tyagis in as much as we have reluctantly given them up and still entertain a value for them. And there are some other things without which we cannot do; with respect to them we are samsaris.
In our lives, the sadhya (the end desired) and sadhanas (means by which a desired end is achieved) keep changing, but one thing remains constant: the sadhaka or the seeker. Do I always want to remain the seeker? Do I want to remain dependent upon the objects and situations for my happiness or do I want to be free? There is happiness in freedom and unhappiness in dependence and therefore everyone wants to be like the sanyaasi who is not dependent upon anything for happiness. This total freedom is called moksha, which means liberation or release from dependence. The love for freedom or moksha is an innate urge in everybody. In everything, I want to be independent. I want to be free from desires, so I should be free to entertain whatever desire I want to have! My life should depend on the fulfillment of a desire. Only when I discover an adequacy, fullness, a richness that is not other than myself, I feel fulfilled – not just an occasional fulfillment which gets away from me and leaves me high and dry! It should be a freedom that is innate to myself. The sadhana must be such that one attains the sadhya, the moksa or the lasting fulfillment that every human heart yearns for, works for, and struggles for.
The time has now come for us to ascertain what this sadhya is. The Gita unfolds this in verses 16 and 17 of Chapter II.
“That which is
Can never cease to be; that which is not Will not exist.
To see this truth of both
Is theirs who part essence from accident, Substance from shadow. Indestructible,
Learn thou! The Life is, spreading life through all;
It cannot anywhere, by any means,
Be anywise diminished, stayed or changed.”
No kind of change can make me complete, therefore becoming complete is not possible. The only possibility is that I am already complete. If I am already a complete being and still want to be complete, it means I do not know myself. From self-ignorance, there is a disowning of the self and thus the predicament.
I have concluded that I am incomplete. What sadhana can remove this assumed incompleteness? The sadhana must be such as it removes this self-disowning, the self-ignorance. That sadhana or means can only be self-knowledge because knowledge alone can remove ignorance. Knowing my real nature is the only means of eliminating the self-ignorance and disowning the assumed incompleteness arising out of it. Hence the primary means of achieving completeness, freedom, fulfillment, is the knowledge of the Self. As the problem is one of ignorance, knowledge alone can be the solution.
Swami Dayanand Saraswati has explained this solution through an analogy of the liberation of Mr. Pot-Space. Once there was a 5-liter pot which had the feeling that he was small and limited. Being jealous of a 50-liter pot, the 5-liter pot somehow got himself recycled by a potter to be a 50-liter pot. Still the feeling of limitation continued because now he was jealous of a 100-liter pot! In due course of time he realized that he really wanted to be limitless. He discovered that regardless of what finite size he becomes, he will remain limited, because infinity cannot be reached by adding finite quantities. He could not get rid of his limitation, nor could he be happy with being limited. So he felt hopeless; he was frustrated.
One day he was introduced to a Guru-pot-space to whom he said, “O Lord I have tried all possible means, gained varied experiences, seen places, but I am still limited. Is there a way to become free from this limitation? Can you teach me a way to cross this sorrow?”
The Guru-pot-space said, “By a process of change you cannot become limitless. Even if you become a 50-liter pot, you are still limited. You will remain limited whether you become slim or expand. The limited cannot become limitless. But every natural urge has a means of appeasement. Without any change you should discover yourself to be a limitless, complete being. As you have the natural quest you must already be the complete being, and you must be ignorant of it.” Mr. 50-liter-pot rejoined, “If, as you say, I already am limitless, why don’t I feel so?”
The Guru replied, “That is my question! You are the limitless space, and how can you feel limited? This can only be due to ignorance. A 5-liter-pot-space will say, I am a 5-liter-pot-space’ A 500-liter-pot will say, ‘I am a 500-liter-pot-space.’ What is common in these expressions is ‘I am space.’ What is uncommon is the number 5 or 500 or 5 million. That ‘I am space’ is not known as it is. This ignorance alone makes you feel limited. From what stand-point are you saying, ‘I am a 50-liter-pot space’? You look at yourself only from the stand-point of the pot. But from the stand-point of ‘I am space’ how big are you? You, the space have no form. There is space above; there is space below; there is space around. In fact, in you the space, all the pots – big or small – have their being. You are the limitless space.” Understanding what he really was – a space that was unlimited - the 50-liter-pot-space got liberated.
What change did Pot-space undergo to become limitless? He discovered the truth about himself. He knew that from the stand-point of the pot, he was 50-litre space, but from his own stand-point – from the stand-point of space, he was the limitless space itself. This is called jnana of the pot-space. The self-knowledge is the primary sadhana – the Seeker realizing the Sought.
Colonel Mahendra Mathur prematurely retired from the Corps of Engineers of Indian Army in 1975 to build a highway in Tobago. Subsequently he was appointed Director of National Emergency Management Agency of Trinidad and Tobago before retiring in 1998. He has been a student of the Gita all his life and has talked about its message at some temples in Trinidad. You can contact him at mmathur@tstt.net.tt.
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