Understanding ego through the Bhagavad Gita

Let us first understand what ego is. Who will know about it? God, of course, who has created it. In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna states that a soul is part of Him (15.7). Surely, a part must serve the whole, who is God. There are several verses in the Gita where Lord Krishna has asked us, souls, to work for Him, as in verse 11.55. As God is complete in all respects, He does not need anything from us (3.22). What the Lord means is to serve His other parts - souls. Lord Krishna has praised such souls, as in verse 3.20, when He stated, “Such souls achieved perfection by working selflessly only.” These parts must have an identity, a feeling of being somebody. In a Sanskrit dictionary, it is defined as ‘apni satta ka bodha’. Translated into English, it means being aware of one’s existence. A soul is unique and very different from all others and, surely, has life. Analysing the word ‘ahankar’, it means “I do” or “I exist”. No matter how we see it, ahankar never means that one is superior in any way. False ego is what describes the wrong kind of pride or superiority.

A soul is not a doer, really. Only God or material nature are the actual doers; a soul can only desire or decide using his free will. There is nothing more a soul can do. So let us conclude that a soul is a part of God, subservient to God eternally, and meant to serve other souls as a duty. One can claim that one is good in a certain field and useful in some ways.

Any other emotion is false and harmful. Lord Krishna warned Arjuna of perishing if he continued to harbour the feeling of being the doer (18.58). In another verse, Lord Krishna clarifies the other doer: “All acts are carried out in totality by the modes of material nature. The feeling of being a doer is false” (3.27).

Such false ego causes a lot of harm. The biggest harm lies in ignoring God by assuming the world to be self-centric, whereas it is God-centric. The free will of an egoist supports this false notion. Ahankar comes in the way of ‘bhakti’ (devotion) (18.58). A soul does not have any independent power; taking credit is a result of great ignorance. There can be only one ‘Purushottama’ (Supreme Person), while others can be just persons.

One deprives oneself of all the help God can provide; the fault lies in bodily consciousness. This false sense of superiority can be got rid of by taking help from God — yes, by ‘kripa’ (grace of God). Devotees offer whatever they do, eat, the offerings they make, the charity they give, and the austerities they perform to God (9.27). Satsang helps in removing this false notion; Hanumanji is a classical example of being free from this fault. He always gave credit to Lord Ram for all His achievements.

The writer is a spiritual teacher and a popular columnist ; views are personal