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Symbolism of Mahabharata


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Arjuna's question is also each one of our question too. Knowing the Ego and the eternal Brahman or Un-conditional-Consciousness will only free us from suffering in our life.

Gita  Chapter -2

Sankhya Yoga (Analysis by dissecting)

Continued.......

       Arjuna curiously asked  what is the Ego that you are talking about and  how is it possible to transcend the Ego to know the imperishable, un-manifested, unthinkable and unchangeable "Brahman", through which we can overcome suffering in life?.

    Krishna replied that to transcend Ego one has to stop listening, acting and dancing to Ego's tunes. Here in the battle field Arjuna was reluctant to fight just because he was emotional and not using his intellect.

Ego is emotional and holds on to the mind and not to the intellect.

       Dur-yodhan who symbolize the Ego holds on to his father, Dritha-rastra (mind) and makes him dance to his tunes. The Ego is always emotional because it can easily control  the mind.

      Arjuna's Ego is like most of our Ego too, being emotional because of its strong identification to the mind. The mind is ignorant about reality and never listens to the rational intellect  (Vidhura in Mahabharatha).

      Krishna asks Arjuna to fight the war to set free from his identification (Ego) to the emotional mind. Our emotional mind forsakes duty. Our mind is lazy to do right actions at the right time. The Ego mind gets its power and shadows the Unconditional-Consciousness our true nature.

     To be duty bound is the best way to weaken the power of Ego. This is why Krishna says" O Arjuna! do your duty. It is the duty of a warrior (Kshatriya) to fight. There is nothing higher for a warrior than a righteous war. Develop a balanced mind. Having made pleasure and pain, gain and loss, victory and defeat the same, engage thou in battle.

What is balanced Mind?.

     To keep the emotional mind and intellectual mind is balanced mind. Most of the time the emotional mind dominates the intellectual mind. This leads to problems. Using the intellectual mind, we have to understand that all pleasures and pains, gain and loss, victory and defeat are part of life and are based on nature's law. But the emotional mind does not like this law of nature. The Ego through the emotional mind does not accept pain, defeat and loses.  So accepting pain, defeat and loss is to weaken the Ego and not to give up doing actions. This is how generally we mis-understand acceptance.

      Acceptance is to weaken the Ego and its strong hold over the emotional mind. Acceptance strengthens the intellectual mind and so brings a balanced mind.   Krishna says a person with such a  balanced mind is known as Sthithaprajna".

Gita  Chapter -2

Sankhya Yoga (Analysis by dissecting)

Continued.......

       Arjuna doubts swelled to a point is there someone who can live with a balanced mind.  Is it possible?  “O Lord Krishna! What is the state of a Sthithaprajna? ( a person with balanced mind).  How does he speak? How does he sit, how does he walk?” .

      Lord Krishna replied, “Such a balanced person is free from the crutches of his Ego (Jivanmukta) and therefore  is free from desires, longings, mine-ness, I-ness, attachment and fear. He is satisfied in his own Self. He is indifferent amidst sensual pleasures. He is not elated by getting desirable objects. He has a poised mind at all times and under all conditions. He has perfect control over his mind and senses.  He is centered in his own Self. Such as person is an embodiment of knowledge.  Krishna added that knowledge is power and that alone helps a person get  liberation.

       The essence of Krishna's above teaching is that the desires, longings, mine-ness, I-ness, attachment and fear all belongs to the Ego. Only by transcending the Ego one can free from the limitations posed by desires, longings, mine-ness, I-ness, attachment and fear, because these attributes are of that of the Ego.



Should be give up desires?

         No. The point is to keep the desires under strong vigilance of the intellect. The Ego swells its power by fuelling the desires through the emotional mind.  Therefore by working for the desires proposed by the intellect mind, one can keep a balanced mind and also lead a peaceful life.



Second day of war
       On the second day, once again the battle drums conches and trumpets were sounded. Second day war was more ferocious and cruel. Dur-yodhan had appointed Bhishma, the great grandfather of both the Pandavas and Kavravas. Bhisma caused heavy damage to the Pandava army.  Seeing this Arjuna asked Krishna to take him to Bhishma. Arjuna faced Bhishma and a very terrible fight ensued. All other soldiers stopped fighting to watch the spectacle. Arjuna was able to check Bhishma to some extent but he was still hesitating to kill his loving great grandfather in-spite of Krishna teaching Gita.

Working on Addictions / Habits

Exercise for second chapter of  Gita 

 This is will be one of the most challenging exercise for you to do. But it is Fun.



Second day of war
On the second day, once again the battle drums conches and trumpets were sounded. Second day war was more ferocious and cruel. Dur-yodhan had appointed Bhishma, the great grandfather of both the Pandavas and Kavravas. Bhisma caused heavy damage to the Pandava army.  Seeing this Arjuna asked Krishna to take him to Bhishma. Arjuna faced Bhishma and a very terrible fight ensued. All other soldiers stopped fighting to watch the spectacle. Arjuna was able to check Bhishma to some extent but he was still hesitating to kill his loving great grandfather in-spite of Krishna teaching Gita.

Exercise-2 for  second chapter.

This is going to be a great exercise. We understood from Krishna's teaching that only by transcending Ego we will know that we are not this body with petty desires, longings, mine-ness, attachment and fear. all this occurs because we think we are this Ego, mind, body, intellectual complex. Now as Arjuna asked Krishna our question is how to transcend this Ego. The beautiful answer lies from the events of the second day war. Dur-yodhan (Ego)  knew that Arjuna would be emotional in killing his beloved great grand-father Bhisma. Therefore Dur-Yodhan employed Bhisma to lead his army and so every time when  Arjuna encountered his grand-dad becomes emotional and loses interest to fight.

      Now it  is very important to understand that Bhisma  has a boon that he will not be killed and will die only when he wishes for death.   Isn't it interesting to note that our "habit's or addiction" is like this great-grand-father Bhisma?. No matter what others tell or advice, unless we ourself sincerely wish can we see the death of our habits and addictions? We all have like this one or more Bhisma's in us. Like Arjuna we become  emotional and hesitate to fight our habits and addictions when it comes to the point of fighting or confronting with our habits and addictions.

     Like Dur-yodhan our Ego employs habits and addictions to dance to its tunes. Like Bhisma in Mahabharat  we would be grumbling about our habits and addictions but cannot abandon it simply because of the controlling power of our Ego. To weaken the power of Ego, we must first overcome the chief commander of the army - Bhisma. Dur-yodhan (Ego) is the main enemy but it cannot be destroyed in one shot because it employs all others in the battle field like Duryodhan in Mahabharat war. He is killed only on the 18th day and till then Arjuna has to fight with his beloved relatives. Similar is our plight of fighting our Ego and in the process we have to kill many of our beloved habits and addictions.

    This is the sole reason of many spiritual practices advocating denial or giving up of of our habits. To mention a few are giving up smoking, alcohol, sweets, long hours of sleep,  taking up practices of fasting, silence etc are all oriented to fight the Ego indirectly. We cannot confront immediately our Ego but can only march forward step by step.

     So our exercise for the second chapter is this step of giving up of our habits or addictions. Find out one of your long lasting habit or addiction and work on it. The criteria for choosing one habit should be meet the following conditions.

1. Should be of long period and deep rooted.

2. Should be something that you want to give up and find it difficult  to give up.

3.You would feel miserable, emotional in giving it up.

             Arjuna was fondled by his great grand father when he was young. Among all the 105 grand children Arjuna was Bhisma's darling. Bhisma always gave Arjuna extra share of sweets and would tell bedtime stories. So Arjuna could not kill this loving Grandfather in the war. But krishna warns Arjuna that unless Bhismais killed Dur-Yodhan cannot bedefeated.

      It is certain that you all would grumble about giving up your great grandfather Bhisma ( Habits and addictions) , but understand  without that you cannot win your Mahabharata war going inside you. Understand clearly that giving up the habit and making you miserable is not the point here, but using this we will be able to confront our Ego and finally transcend it and know our real nature of peace.

Precautions while Working on Addictions / Habits

Exercise for second chapter of  Gita 

In the previous page we discussed about working on addictions and habits. here will discuss some pre-cautions to be taken care of  to ensure success of the task.



Cautionary note: Be aware of the tricks of the Ego. When you start working on your habit you will find it is easy for a few days. This is the trick of the Ego. It wants to give an impression that you overcame the addiction. So do it at least for 41 days. We have seen in healing page of Sakthi-foundation that most of  the treatments in folk medicine and Ayurveda are  given for 41 days. This is to represent a new birth in us, because we are for 41 weeks (including egg release)  in our mother's womb.

         After a few days of quit practice you would see that the habit storms back and temptations like a hurricane will try to swallow us. Do not yield to the temptation and witness all the justifications the Ego preaches to you not to give up the habits. It will try to say that you do not need to do such practices to master yourself. You are a strong personality and for you these petty practices are not needed.



Reminder

Again a reminder, the importance of this exercise is to  keep witnessing your thought processes and Ego's fear and restlessness while doing the practice. The witnessing is very important because witnessing weakens the power of Ego. You will understand about this in later chapters.



What to do when temptations arises?

       Temptations become inevitable in the beginning. Witness the temptations and then you might see that the more you witness the lesser the power of temptation. It is like watching someone who is planning to steal something in a grocery store. The more you watch or stare that person the more uncomfortable he or she feels to do the act.



Witnessing -the power of Bheema

     It is very interesting to note that Bheema the second Pandava kills all 99 brothers of the enemy including Dur-yodhan (symbol of Ego). Bheema represents presence or the witnessing attitude which is very powerful means to transcend Ego.

     Another approach is to do breathing exercises like Pranayama and also Yoga. This also helps to a significant extent. Breathing exercises and Yoga should not be done mechanically but with full awareness. The mind tries to run away from the present moment and wanders. Doing breathing exercises and Yoga focusing on all the twists and turns you can being the mind to the present. In-fact this is most important for doing all physical and mental exercises. Yoga or any other exercise is a waste is not done with this witnessing attitude. Healing occurs when we do Yoga will witnessing attitude because that connects the mind and body.

To be in the present is the "Present" (gift) of life.

Mind-body co-ordination comes only through the witnessing attitude. Unfortunately our minds are so occupied with the memories of the past and anxiety of the future, we seldom are in the |"present". To be in the present is the "Present" (gift) of life. This Gita exercises are oriented to bring out all these jewels you can adorn and make your life precious.



Walking

     Walking out doors is also another way. Walking should not be accompanied by music appliances on the ears or talking. Silent walking observing things around you and simultaneously  paying attention that you are observing things is a great way to overcome the temptations of Ego.



Chanting

      Another way based on our personal experience is to do chanting. Chanting helps in weakening the Ego. Chanting is to repeat a small word. It could be any name of a person, plant, animal, bird or any object. It could be chanting of Krishna's name or names of other spiritual traditions like Buddha, Jesus, Allah etc. The chanting can be done aloud or silently. The point is not to fall into the trap of temptation. In the initial  stages try to avoid situations that prompts temptations to handle it better.

 Share your experience

 Please share you fun experiences of your Ego trying to curb your Gita-exercises. Write to gethealed@sakthifoundation.org and also let us know whether we can share that in this site with your identity concealed.

 Before you proceed to next chapter.

There are more to come in the next chapters. Please continue to the third chapter only after practicing the second exercise at least for a week. With practice this would be another version of Gita you would read without any practical use.



Gita  Chapter -3

(Karma Yoga)

Essence of Chapter-3

          Arjuna felt Krishna was giving him contradicting statements in this chapter.  Arjuna asked Krishna  whether he should fight or not fight the war, he was more confused with  Krishna's answer of seeking the knowledge of Unconditional Consciousness or Brahman. 

        Arjuna's question is a very valid question indeed. “If  you think that knowledge  of knowing our true nature,  that is Unconditional Consciousness or Brahman is superior to action, why then O Krishna, do you engage me in this terrible action (war)?

         We would also ask the same question like Arjuna. If the purpose of life is know the Self, then why live a family social life, why not retire to the Himalayas?

         Krishna replies, “Man cannot remain even for a moment without performing some kind of action. Everyone is helplessly driven to action by the qualities born of nature. One may be able to physically stop doing actions for few minutes or hours, but the thinking action goes on incessantly.

Action in inaction and inaction in action.

       Since action is inevitable then what matters is, how the action is conceived at the mental level. The difference between an ordinary person and a self realized person lies in this great truth.

      Krishna tells Arjuna to see action in-action, which means the body is at rest, but witness the thinking action going on. We are always doing non-stop thinking and so we are not able to notice the Un-Conditional Consciousness, which is our true nature. We are not the thinker but the one who witnesses thinking.

       


       Whereas the Self realized person witness (in-action)  the thinking event (action) and so Krishna says  in-action in action. In-action is witnessing the action. While watching movies we become so identified with the shadow characters on the screen that we forget our true nature that we are witnessing a movie. Like the movie and the viewer and different the thinking-thinker and the witnessor are different.

      “The egoistic man thinks ‘I am the doer’. In reality Prakriti (Nature) does everything. This means that it is the Ego that thinks that it is the doer and enjoyer of the pleasures. However the irony is that the Ego does not accept the fact that it is also bound to suffer pain.

     Arjuna's immediate question was how to free oneself from mode of action and instead be the witnessor of actions? How to do an action without attachment or not expecting the fruits of an action?

      Krishna  replied that by performing action (duty) without attachment will alone help us know that we are really the witnessor.  This identity correction to be the witnessor is "Freedom" or Moksha. 

     This immediately gives rise to two questions: 1. Freedom from what? and 2. What is detachment?    

Gita  Chapter -3

(Karma Yoga)

Essence of Chapter-3 - Continued from last page.

What is Ego?

  


       Freedom that Krishna talks is the freedom from the limitations feeling imposed by the Ego. What is really  Ego?.

      To identify as the "Doer" of  action, instead of being the witnessor of action is Ego or Ahamkara? Like the movie example given in the previous page, to enjoy and suffer the actions in the movie story and get affected by it , instead of being the observer /witnessor of the movie is Ego.

     Since Ego identifies itself as the doer of actions it is also bound to the results of any action and suffer from it. Therefore Krishna says be detached and not expect the fruits of actions.

       The moment you expect the fruits of an action then you identify yourself to be the doer of the action,  which means you lose awareness of your real nature. This loss of awareness (ignorance)  about our True Self is the cause of all pain and suffering. 

       This understanding is the highest truth of this Universe. This understanding alone gives you Moksha (freedom from the cycle of birth and death). It is the identification (Ego)  that perpetuates actions that gives temporary pleasures but long lasting pain and suffering.

       Ego based actions are based on personal hatred, jealously, pride, delusion, likes and dislikes, lust and greed. Actions done in such a manner generates stress in an individual. You would have read in health section how actions done with expectations can trigger anger and stress if the results are not favorable.

         Ego is attached to the results which  means it expects results to happen the way it wishes. No one can perform an action without wishing for an expected result. The problem comes when we do not accept the fact that the results of any action abides by the laws of nature. Since the Ego does not know and wish to know the laws of nature, it stresses the mind and body when results are unfavorable or unexpected. The conclusion is that we have only choice of performing any action but the results come out based on the laws of nature. 

       We love to eat fatty foods and expect to have the body to be "fat free". The Ego is attached to the result of a fat free body. So detachment means to accept the results on action that abides by laws of nature. In other words, detachment is avoiding Ego to entertain its expectations of results based on it's likes and dislikes. Through this detachment of accepting results of actions,  one understands that the "Ego" loses its claims of "doer-ship" of any actions. 

         How can we perform an action in a detached mode?  Krishna says “Beware of  strong likes and dislikes (Raga-dvesha), the main obstructer of the enquiring spiritual path. Overcoming strong likes and dislikes, anger can be controlled. Through this anger management, Ego can be mastered which eventually leads to the knowledge of the Self.

Third day of war

           On the third day Bhishma attacked like a hurricane. Entire Pandavas army was like clouds before hurricane. There was major loss on the side of pandavas. There could not have been any chance for the Pandavas if Arjuna failed.   Krishna could sense Arjuna’s softness for Bhishma. He took the chariot to face Bhishma. Arjuna and Bhishma became engaged in a magnificent battle. But Arjuna was not achieving anything.  It was obvious to Krishna that Arjuna was still not fighting with his heart and soul.


                Krishna feigned anger on Arjuna and said "if I do not take up arms in this war, you Pandavas cannot win this war because you are   fighting  with Bhisma and others softly due to your emotional attachment to them". Instantly, Krishna took his powerful weapon, the Sudarshan Chakra  in his index finger. He jumped from the chariot and rushed towards Bhishma full of wrath.
            Now Arjuna was at Krishna’s feet begging him not to break his oath. Krishna had taken an oath that he will be a charioteer for Arjuna in the war and will  not take any weapons and fight. Arjuna feared that Krishna should not break his oath of not wielding the arms during the war for Arjuna's sake. Arjuna promised Krishna that he will fight with full vigor and will not allow Bhisma to defeat the Pandavas. He pleaded  to krishna to withdraw his weapon again and again and promised he would fight with his fullest capability,
              Arjuna proved himself true to his words. Now he joined the battle like a meteor raining fire. He drew upon his arsenal of the divine astras (weapons) and caused much death and destruction in Kauravas army. Sun was setting and the war stopped for the day. Kaurava monarch was downcast and dismayed.

Likes and Dislikes

Exercise-3 for  third chapter.

 What does the third day of war represent in us?

       We are all like Arjuna not putting knowledge into action. We will read about healthy food and its benefits but will never put it into practice. We will spend lot of  time in gathering all information about facts but fail to use them in daily life. Information will mature to knowledge only when it is applied in action. Most of us are only information gatherers by reading books, watching TV, listening to lectures and attending satsangs. But never put that into action. This is why Krishna wanted Arjuna to fight the war, to put into action the knowledge that he imparted to him.

The answer to why Krishna prompted Arjuna to fight the war.

          Krishna gave this highest Truth and wanted Arjuna to put that into action to experience this truth. Without putting into action this truth cannot be experienced. This should be the experience of every spiritual seeker and not in seeing lights in meditation. To experience that we are the Unconditional Consciousness dwelling as pure Awareness in the body.  This is the Spiritual bliss that the Vedas talk about and experienced by all the Self-Realized saints of the world. This bliss is known as "Sath-Chit Ananda".  Sath is Unconditioned Consciousness and Chit is Awareness and Ananda is bliss.

        To experience not only this spiritual knowledge but even materialistic knowledge we have to put into practice to experience the knowledge. Any knowledge is the theoretical aspect and the experience is the practical aspect of it.

       This is symbolized by Krishna taking arms to kill Bhisma and through that he provokes Arjuna to fight the war. Only through action you can witness the action if you are not attached to it or to its end result. Hence Krishna gave first the knowledge and made Arjuna to perform the action of fighting the war. Only through action can we transcend the Ego and know our True Self.


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