jabdakhata

In our last blog we asked that why would a kind and merciful God want war and destruction of mankind. The Supreme Lord’s message is not restricted to a particular age or context or person, it is universal. The purpose of a great destruction is to leave behind a message for the posterity, that do not cross your limits, or destruction is imminent. This is not a question of being kind or ruthless, this is simply a natural law. The  impersonal God is above any dualism of kindness or ruthlessness. He is detached from everything although He Is everything. We’ll see shortly in Gita that it is His will that is driving everything and everybody, though because of ignorance people talk about free will. The war is also His will, His writ upon an aggressive society which is drunk with pride, lust and avarice. He, who is the supreme creator, is also the supreme destructor. He as Atman or Brahman , the Supreme Being, is indifferent, beyond all dualistic attributes like kindness and compa

In the nineteenth century industrial revolution accelerated the growth engine. European nations were now rolling in money and surplus money meant – a) new scientific discoveries through promoting of new ideas which might be commercially viable b) wars and more wars to establish supremacy and gain a lion’s share of the plunders. Industry developed by leaps and bounds. Some new nations like Italy came up. Others like Germany emerged more powerful. France was reeling under the aftereffects of revolution and it could not withstand the shock of having a powerful neighbor. Russia under the Tsar was trying hard to keep pace. In sort, the European stage was prepared for a major confrontation and as Swami Vivekananda in his prophetic way assessed in 1897, Europe was sitting on a volcano waiting to be exploded. The race to establish control of the mineral rich areas of the world, like Africa and middle East Asia, aggravated the crisis and a “world war”, which was more of an intra European war

Lord Krishna now enters into a conventional form of argument with Arjuna, based on principles of virtue and vice. He explains that for a Kshatriya or warrior like Arjuna, there is no nobler profession than participating in a righteous war, on the side of the good. One whose dharma or duty is to fight should be delighted at the prospect of fighting for good against evil. If one does not do that, he falls from a high pedestal and people, including his enemies, look down upon him. Such a person would fall from grace and for a very long period of time people would remember him as coward, not as compassion incarnate as he is trying to portray himself. If we look into the historical context we’ll see that there are enough instances to justify what the Lord said here. If for instance Britain or United States, out of sudden compassion and spirit of non violence would have refused to fight Hitler and Nazis, many more Jews and other innocents would have been killed. To fight a scourge o

With monarchy and aristocracy getting rich, European nations had surplus wealth for patronizing art, culture, new explorations and sea voyages. This was one of the contributing factors behind the Renaissance. The great leaps made in art and literature were matched by the progress in science and philosophy. However Western philosophy and science were influenced by Helenic thoughts and Eastern ideas were not seriously considered or were not known at that time. The great strides made in Science were viewed with alarm by Church which saw its domination getting slackened with more liberal thoughts pervading the minds of educated and learned folks who were often the torch bearers of the society. At first the Church, with the help of the rulers, responded with brutal repression. Heretics and men (and women) of scientific temperaments were burnt alive, which resulted in a permanent rift between religion and science and in effect between spirituality and science. It is to be noted that in

The first three slokas in the second chapter of Gita is probably one of the greatest messages that Lord has for the mankind. This is proclaimed by none other than Swami Vivekananda in his lecture on Gita (Complete works of Swami Vivekananda). In no other scripture we find such a forceful exhortation. He says to Arjuna – Why are you dejected and despondent when there is a grave danger facing you? Where are all your bravery and noble instincts gone? Kutah tva kashmalam idam vishame samupasthitam Anaryajustam asargyam akirtikaram Arjuna Klaivam ma sma gamah Partha na etat tvam upapadyate ksudram hridayadaurvalyam tvyakta uttistha Parantapa “Do not become a eunuch, o mighty one, this does not befit you, the noble one, shun that small weakness which has gripped you, stand up and fight.” Through Arjuna this profound message is delivered to the entire mankind, to stand up and fight the terrible battle in the field of life, to be brave and bold and face all enemies. Therefore Gita is a

The first and foremost point is Gita cannot be seen in isolation from Mahabharata. The two are intrinsically related, just like Krishna's relation to Arjuna as a teacher and a student, as two friends and cousins. Although there were overt and covert attempts in the last two hundred years to prove that Gita was perhaps a later addition to Mahabharata, such intellectual assertions did not gain much ground. In Mahabharata we see that a stage is set for a great battle, there is no way this battle can be avoided because Duryadhana, the usurper, who has also played many a tricks on his cousins, the Pandavas, is adamant. All peace overtures, even one made by Krishna himself fall into pieces because Duryadhana and the Kaurava camp are not ready to compromise. Duryadhana flatly refuses donating even five villages to the five Pandava brothers. He is confident of winning because he has so many great warriors in his camp. His camp is also numerically superior, and he also draws solace from th

One of the major contentions of intellectuals against Gita is that Gita advocates war in contrast with Christian or Buddhist philosophies which value non violence above everything else. However they often tend to ignore the fact that the Vaishnava sect which is based upon the worship of Rama or Krishna as the incarnations of the supreme lord of the Universe, is fundamentally based on principles of non violence. Western academia’s love for non violence has led to the deification of Mahatma Gandhi as the incarnation of the age, just a shade below Christ and Buddha. Mahatma also defended Gita, but his interpretation was different. He was more defensive on the war advocacy part of Gita and postulated that the war described therein is symbolic, a representation of the inner conflict inherent in every human being. While this can verily be an interpretation, this is no reason for denying the war. Gita is definitely set against the background of war, the Great War between Pandavas and Kaurava

Sri Ramakrishna, like a child, was always very guileless and straight in his evaluation of others, esp. the so called scholars and intellectuals with mere book learning (who do not have spiritual traits like discrimination and renunciation to complement the learning thus acquired). He equated them with larks and vultures which soar high up in the sky (a reference to the high social status of the former) but still have an eye on the charnel-pit of greed and lust. These intellectuals clamour for name and fame. Being obsessed and driven by their ego they are highly opinionated. They are egotists and treat anybody differing from their opinions contemptuously. There are many a living sample of them whose quotes and opinions many times appear on the front pages of the newspapers. They have certainly made a name in the academic and material world without providing any practical benefit to the society and mankind. They adorn academic chairs. They are considered by the left liberal or right l

Love is a much misunderstood subject. Normally in our selfish relationship we often misconstrue love as the possessive love. But possessive love is almost certainly selfish love, it is also not unrequitted. If for some reason the other party does not pay back, often the love vanishes and is replaced by its sworn enemy – hate and repulsion. Such type of love is called "Raga" in Sanskrit and is intrinsically linked to its opposite - "Dwesha" or hatred. Love of a divine nature is on the other hand most often unselfish, unpolluted and unrequitted. It is also unconditional, not dependent on anything else. It is non possessive, since it is unselfish – the lover has no hassles in sharing her object of love with others, because she knows that by sharing her own love will not diminish, instead it will magnify by coming in contact with other love sources. Most often in a family set up love is possessive, selfish and conditional and dependent on so many preconditions to

The early adopters of Christ also included certain sects who were influenced by Buddhism, paganism and other ideals. Some of these sects, e.g. the Gnostics believed in reincarnation and many of their notions and practices were influenced by Eastern ideals of Vedanta (monism and dualism) and Buddhism. However some of these sects, being persecuted by the Church and the Holy Roman Empire, later fled to Persia and under Islamic influence many of them converted to Islam. Their original ideals helped them in forming a separate sect called Sufism with divine communion and love for God as the central theme. Others who remained in Europe, preserved the main teachings of Christianity and gave rise to what came to be known as Christian mystics who also believed in direct communion with God. Needless to say, in the middle ages, with the growing influence of Church, some of these Christian mystics were persecuted as heretics because their teachings and messages were not in sync with the preachi

Sri Ramakrishna had a simple way of teaching. Through many parables he has handed down very profound messages of Vedanta and other scriptures to his devotees and disciples. Himself uneducated in the traditional sense, he nevertheless derived this source of knowledge from direct realization. The supreme mother of the universe, according to him, passed on the required knowledge whenever a need arose for teaching others, just as a peasant woman moves forward the paddy for the removal of the husk. One of his famous parables was that of a physician to whom one day a father and a son duo appeared from a different, far away village for the treatment of the latter. The physician did a general check up but did not suggest any remedy. Instead he told them to come back next week. The next week the duo turned up and the remedy suggested was simple – “don’t eat any of those molasses”. The father was astonished – “why didn’t you tell us this last week?” he asked the physician in private. The lat

If we analyze European history we have seen sagas of rise and fall quite often. Spectacular rises have given way to humiliating and crushing falls. If we consider ancient Greeks as part of Europe, then we have a golden period followed by the rise of Romans, a general darkness after the fall of Rome which was assuaged by the spread of Christianity, even though this spread itself was marked by bloody wars between the so called “believers” and “heathens”. Europe’s ascent through the dark ages was threatened by a rapidly advancing Islam and therefore the two Semitic brothers got engaged in a series of devastating civil wars over the occupation of the common holy ground. In this respect Jews, the original inhabitants of middle Asia were nowhere to be seen and as Christianity spread its wings, they became an object of much hatred in the Christian world, because of their role in the killing of Jesus the Christ. Of course it was not apparent to the general populace that the Savior himsel

Swami Vivekananda was very categorical when he tried analyzing India and its problems. The kernel of India lies, not in religion, or dogma, or politics, nor in dharma or virtue, but in countless sagas of devotion, service, contemplation, sacrifice and wisdom, not found in any other culture. From time immemorial India’s culture has soaked it in the stories of Ramayana and Mahabharata, in the Vedas and Upanishadas, in Puranas and other smritis, poems like Gita Govinda or Ramacharitamanasa, Baul, Vaishnava and Sufi ballads. Many holy men have walked on the dusts of this land which has made this country holy, their well wishes and their spiritual practices have played a major role in shaping the destiny of this country despite the many obstacles and many enemies, both internal and external. Very few countries in the world have bled like India had over a span of more than thousands of years through myriads of foreign invasions. There are very few countries like India in which only a han

The differences and variations are nature's rule, not exceptions. Nature likes variations because it helps in maintaining a harmony among disharmony, order among chaos. Differences exist because they help in preserving the supremacy of nature. We are all different, in our tenacities, in our culture, beliefs, values, customs, manners, superstitions, attitudes, behaviour and a whole lot of other things. There are so many varieties of plants, animals, insects, and other living and non living organisms, there are so many varieties of natural formations, of colours, sounds, tastes, smells and other objects of senses. These varieties on the one hand exist because they fit with others. Take for instance culture - there is no inferior or superior culture, it merely fits the person who embraces it. Similarly the varieties of sense objects are there to satiate the sensory pleasures of different tastes and preferences, which themselves stem from the varieties of nature and character of a

While poverty of material wealth is a widely acknowledged source of tribulations, another type of poverty frequently goes unnoticed, and that is the poverty of mind. Poverty of mind is manifested in various forms – like corruption and nepotism, where gathering of material wealth at any cost is considered to be the very purpose of existence and where little consideration is displayed towards others, crime, vulgar display of wealth and power, fanaticism, bigotry and intolerance, biases and prejudices, deliberate maligning of whatever or whoever one dislikes ( You may be good, but I don’t like you and therefore I’ll say only bad things about you), lack of compassion, indifference towards injustice and evil ways, and so on. The drivers are ego, lust, greed, pride, jealousy, and so on. They obfuscate truth and cover mind just like fog covers a landscape. Poverty of mind is ubiquitous. One can see a rich spending millions in his daughter’s marriage while some poor and hungry suffers not far

A democracy, one would argue, would pave the way for a more liberal and tolerant regime and people would be aware of any transgressions in an era of fast communication. Dissent can be voiced and people can throw away elected representatives if they do not function properly. Secularism and pluralism are encouraged. Just puase, look around, and think. You are living in a democracy, are these the traits around you? The media, which is supposed to be the watchdog of a democracy often connive with the ruling elite as they propagate certain ideologies and hate campaigns against others. Media exhibit certain biases against specific classes, creeds and communities as they are controlled by organizations and insititutions which have their own vested interests. Thus news and opinions promoted are often false or worse, selectively false. Ruling classes often suppress information, esp. the ones which would be detrimental and inimical to their interest. Power and money play the supreme role and pe

In West such checks and balances were not elaborate. The king in the middle ages in Europe was often in cohort with the church which interefered extensively with the state affairs,and the nobility, who had their own vested interests. Thus Rajtantra in West was often of an inferior form and therefore people suffered a lot, whereas in India we hardly find any notable instance of people suffering for long under a corrupt regime, except during the period right after Shashanka in Bengal (known as Matsyanyaya) when there was no strong king at the helm and when the lawlessness reigned supreme. That state of affairs was discontinued when a strong monarch came to power (in case of Bengal the Pals ascended to the throne of Gauda). However when we come back to the flawed democracy that we’ve inherited we find that much of Swami Vivekananda’s apprehensions have come to be true. There is a heartless bureaucracy at the centre of affairs which is also largely corrupt and which has largely retaine

Swami Vivekananda was not very comfortable with the concepts of Western democracy, although he was aware of the merits. He saw various democracies from close quarters and felt that in their present form they would not be ideal for India. Because in a democracy, people should be intelligent and educated enough to understand the nuances of various decisions. Otherwise there is an inherent risk of an unintelligent or honest majority being taken for a ride by a cunning, devious but shrewd minority. Swami Vivakananda also felt that a democracy run by bureaucrats, is unsuitable as bureaucracy is normally heartless. Bureaucrats go strictly by policies and procedures and peoples’ woes do not matter to them. In an informal discussion with his disciples he cited the examples of many innocent persons from India who lost everything, including their lives, while nurturing a vein hope of going to England to lodge their complaints with the Queen and getting their problems resolved. He said that t

In Mahabharata, Shanti Parva, there is an interesting story as part of the conversasion between Bhisma, the aged Kuru warrior who is on his deathbed, and Yudhisthira, his grandson, the Pandava king,who belongs to the opposite camp and whose army just won the war against the Kauravas or the Kuru clan. In response to the questions asked by Yudhisthira, Bhisma is explaining to him the duties of a king, of a householder, of an ascetic, the path of righteousness and virtue and the ways of dealing with people, as well as the paths of attaining the highest knowledge. In the process we come across several stories and parables – one of them illustrates how diverse interest groups instigates persons to behave in a certain way and how people should be wary of the motives behind what seems like innocent advices. A Brahmin who lost his only son went to creamte him along with his village men. Since it was already evening they decided to stay for the night and cremate the child in the morning. A

In Gita the lord says in the second chapter, verses 62 and 63– Dhyatah vishayan punshah sangasteshupajayate Sangat sanjayate kama kamat krodhabhijayate Krodhatbhavati sanmohah sanmohat smriti bibhramah Smriti bhramsad buddhinashah buddhinashad pranashyati This means that while meditating constantly on a worldly matter which affects one deeply, one may develop an attachment and cannot get rid of the troublesome thought. Attachment results in desire and desire, if resisted or unfulfilled, results in anger. It is very surprising how the two common enemies of mankind as proclaimed in Gita – Anger and Desire, are intrinsically related, from the latter often the former evolves and the former often fuels the latter. The desire may be gross or even subtle, like earning some name and fame, a wish that somebody will praise an act, getting some material objects including begetting children, wealth and prosperity, power, good fortune, having to get go of something which is desirable or clo

How do we develop dispassion? One way is to consider this world as a hell, with all its sufferings and miseries and thereby long for a reprieve, a kind of escape from the mundane and gross reality. However, that is pessimistic approach. A far better way is to cultivate love, love for a better life, love for peace, love for the divinity inside and a strong belief that the divinity can be realized. Everybody in this world strives for a better life, for improvement in the living conditions. The purpose of natural evolution is improvement in living conditions, progressing from a lower to a higher and better form of life, from amoeba to human being with consciousness, from man to divinity, the seat of consciousness. The evolution happens over physical, mental and spiritual plain, when we change forms, when we mature and when we grow inwards. Meditation is a way of connecting to the divinity, of achieving this higher state, of being and becoming divine. Love is one of the ways of manifestin

Swami Vivekananda had prescribed several steps towards a good meditation – 1st step is to assume a posture and pray that the posture can be retained till the end. 2nd step is to pray for the well being of all, eliminate all selfish thoughts 3rd step is to do a few pranayams or breath control exercises (a maximum of three, because pranayams, although it is said that they can help in controlling the mind better by controlling the vital forces in the body, can be dangerous if not performed under the supervision of a qualified person) 4th step is to go for the actual meditation, for atleast half an hour. Swami Vivekananda also advocated letting the mind run around for sometime before even trying to focus it. The mind like an errant child, after playing for sometime will get tired and come back to its resting place, just as a child goes back to its mother after being tired with a day’s play. Another way which is advocated by spiritual seekers is to let the mind work its way ins