The book’s maxims are helpful to the spiritual and materialistic needs of man of all times and space, believes Dr Asha Goswami
As the belief goes that every literary work is equipped with two elements — one being temporary, which makes it relevant to the time and country in which it is composed, and the other eternal, which makes it relevant in all ages and to all people all over the world.
Bhagavad Gita consists of both these elements since its maxims are helpful to the spiritual and materialistic needs of man of all times and space. For, it preaches a code of conduct to the man solving his problems pertaining to ethics, diet, and social obligations, which is within the reach of all groups in any caste and creed and is an asset for all, as this is universal in outlook; concrete in ideology which breaks the dividers of the nations.
For, the problem before Arjuna represents everybody’s day to day problems such as “what is his duty at all times when there is a conflict of which appears to be duty and how one has to sort out what is the right duty”. Moreover, modern man’s life has many affinities with Arjuna’s state at Kurukshetra on the eve of the Mahabharata war. Each of us enacting the role of Arjuna except not enjoying the privilege that was his of having lord Krishna by our side in the battlefield of life.
Hence, befittinglyGita can be proclaimed as common man’s manual besides being a masterpiece of contemplative philosophy. It teaches first what is man; what is his position in the world and what relation he has with the world and its people; what ought to be his mode of true living, his mission and goal of life.
It also serves as a practical guide for a man of action as it inculcates complete devotion to action and one’s duty. It preaches that man himself is the architect of his own perfection and bright future. As, according to Gita, man’s entity is formed as a result of his past actions or the samskaras and is thus inherited and he has only to modify it for better achievements. To meet this end, he has only to apply the Karma Yoga of the Gita, which is also termed as best code of action and proves as a great medium for man’s spiritual regeneration since it demands of him to remain completely indifferent towards the results of action and remain unaffected from the circumstances favourable or unfavourable.
Gita also aptly teaches the method which helps achieve such a state of mind, when it states that by inculcating the equanimity of mind through concentration and developing single pointed determination called as vyavasaayaatmikaa buddhi, such attitude can be attained by a person.
It also states that perform action by taking refuge inbuddhi which also represents lord himself since he abides in wisdom. Hence, such an action on the part of the man will also automatically turn into skill in action. This state thus serves a medium for a man of action to remain unattached to the consequences of his actions and this attitude of a man be proclaimed the Karmayoga of Gita. Such an attitude of mind will motivate the man of action to discharge selfless work even in different circumstances. The man of action is enjoined in Gita to forsake his ego which invests in him the feeling of doership which ultimately makes him attached to the consequences of action. Professing detached action,Gita also elaborates on the themes “as to what ought to be man’s status in society and how the man has to discharge his profession, how lowly it may be so well in the spirit that it is an offering to the lord and deeming it as a sacrifice in the reverence of God”.
Gita’s main preaching is that man must surrender to God all his problems which will automatically be solved. It, however, also lays emphasis that a man should maintain his dignity, as the divinity itself is manifest in him and he has only to awaken it through proper conduct, high ideals and noble sentiments which may provide ample impetus to a disturbed man like Arjuna to start new life with full courage by amending himself and adopting a unitive way of equalising inner and outer factors of life; by inhering clear reasoning or wisdom which will help him reconcile both the reasoning power and emotions, as the duality between these factors produces conflict and doubts in a person involved in Arjuna’s state who is in fix about right and wrong: Virtue and sin and the same will help him get rid of all these repressions represented by Arjuna’s state of negative character; of despondency and passivity.
Just like Arjuna he has to be free from the three modalities of nature: Sattva, Rajas and Tamas; from the pair of opposites and remain established in his pure state and remain self-possessed. It makes evident that problems faced by Arjuna represent every human being’s problems such as anxieties, negative and escapist attitude of regret and self-pity, blurred outlook which are not befitting a man of action.
Hence there is no exaggeration in proclaiming that Gita’s preachings are relevant to the practical crisis in application of ethics and spiritualism by the human beings. Its sermon of selfless duty or karma yoga is also paralleled with the path of devotion of God as well as a way to God realisation since it proclaims that even moksha can be attained by such a path which envisages one to render worship of God by discharging one’s duties which are beneficial and good for the fellow beings and society; and to discharge work not only in his individual hemisphere but as a social being.
Thus, Gita’s Karmayoga is also looked upon as a religious faith which is non-sectarian and a moral and spiritual code of conduct in the form of doing one’s obligatory duties while dwelling in union with the divine and without giving any thought to its reward which, however, all the more suits present-day man.
The writer is a noted Indologist and authority on Krishnaite Studies