While the title of this article makes one assume it’s specificity about Hinduism, it is certainly not so. This article attempts to capture the importance of the right guidance, in the form of experience, instruction, teachings or lifestyle, that helps one evolve to a higher state.
Most of the religions in this world has a specific go-to text that outlines the right way to live life and evolve higher. They may define “right way” differently, or have a different perspective of “higher evolution”, but they are all geared towards benefits of the individual and universe at large.
Hinduism (or specifically speaking sanātana dharma) does not have one specific text. While this makes it an easy target of criticism and a subject of lack of clarity, it is just an interpretation of uneducated, confused or biased minds.
sanātana dharma, while accepting and encouraging diversity in emotional and intellectual fabric of every individual, guides them based on the current state of their spiritual evolution and their personality, to attain the highest state of being.
For individuals strongly passionate about service and betterment of all other beings, sanātana dharma guides them to the path of self-less service – कर्मयोग. For highly emotional individuals, it gently nudges them to love and devotion for the creator and his creation – भक्तियोग. For logical and analytical individuals, it instructs them on attaining truth through intellectual reasoning and experiential learnings – ज्ञानयोग. Finally, for individuals focused on self-control, it leads them in the direction of physical exercises, mental austerities and energy management techniques – राजयोग.
Such variety of paths and personalities makes instructions diverse in nature. Also, the one walking on path of devotion, may see the knowledge of absolute as dry and heartless. Whereas, the one walking on the path of knowledge may see life spent only in serving others as the opportunity lost. To make matters complex, individuals cannot be placed in these buckets clearly and permanently. One may show combination of liking for one or more types of paths, and that too, can change based on the influence of their surroundings and changes in their personality over time.
One cannot have one set of instruction for such diverse and fluctuating audience. Thus, sanātana dharma has various set of scriptures for different likings. उपनिषद are primarily enriched with knowledge that is too abstract for ordinary human intellect to fathom. इतिहास and पुराण sings glory of various forms of supreme, and makes one’s heart melt with emotions. A few scriptures are focused on philosophy, with primarily theoretical knowledge. Others focus on practical implementation, covering the way to live life implementing such philosophy. It is tough to find all this (various paths, their philosophy and practical aspects) in one text.
There is an exception though. And that is Bhagavad gītā. This is the text that has anything and everything that a seeker needs, no matter type of personality or stage of life he is in.
Let us understand in little more details.
In most of the sanātana dharma scriptures, authoritative source (teacher) gives instruction in the setting of a forest – saṃskṛta word for forest is आरण्यकम्. Etymologically आरण्यकम् means न रणम् इति आरण्यकम्, the place where there is no battle, no conflict, no agitations. While the word literally means forest, but it actually refers to a mind without agitations. This indicates a pre-requisite of a calm mind before knowledge can be absorbed. However, this is not the case with the gītā. Instructions of gītā were given in the battlefield (literally). Here, battlefield represents the agitated mind, mind that is filled with conflict and confusion. Thus, Bhagavad gītā is a text for commoner like us, who are fighting worldly battles every day, within and without us.
Another interesting aspect about some scriptures is that they assume the phase of life of a listener, either as a student (ब्रह्मचारी) or as the one retired from worldly life and focused solely on spiritual evolution (वानप्रस्थी). This is not the case with Bhagavad gītā. Instructions of gītā are given to a prince (Arjun) who is fully engaged in worldly life. In fact, he is about to fight a battle for his and his family’s rights, for righteousness. He is not a retiree and has not given up his worldly life. This makes Bhagavad gītā even more important, as most of us are still living in the world, engaging with it, have our needs and wants and fighting for it, and dealing with conflicts arising out of such fights.
As mentioned earlier, most of other scriptures take up and elaborate on one specific path. They either focus on knowledge, or service, or devotion or individual excellence. This makes that scripture appealing to an audience of a specific mindset. However, Bhagavad gītā not only elaborates on all paths but also indicates how beautifully interwoven they are; without any contradiction; leading us to the same supreme. This helps people with different texture of mental and intellectual fabric, to connect with different aspect of this text easily, enabling them to evolve in their unique way, while retaining their individuality. Bhagavad gītā is one of the few scriptures demonstrating union of all paths (योग समन्वय).
Most sanātana dharma scriptures either talk about philosophical aspects or its application in human life, rarely both. But that is not the case with Bhagavad gītā. It covers both the aspects. From the highest altitude of transcendental to the transactional realities of day-to-day life about types of food to eat, and somewhere in between. Gītā also covers duties of an individual based on his position in the society and the phase of life. Only Bhagavad gītā has audacity to show such a wide swing in topic selection. In fact, every chapter of gītā ends with the phrase “ब्रह्मविद्या“, which indicates philosophy / theoretical knowledge and “योगशास्त्र“, indicating applied sciences. Theoretical knowledge is just a dry intellectual gymnastics and remains incomplete till it is applied in ones’ daily life. This makes Bhagavad gītā, a complete scripture.
Last and truly unique aspect of Bhagavad gītā is about positioning of a teacher (गुरु) and a student (शिष्य). Typically, in all settings, teacher is at the higher pedestal, in stature, in knowledge, in experience and in spiritual evolution. Naturally the student is at the lower pedestal in those dimensions. However, that is not the case here, the teacher (श्रीकृष्ण) is a maternal cousin, almost the same age, a childhood friend and a charioteer (driver) of the student (अर्जुन). And the student is a prince, the most powerful warrior of his times. Even physically (as described in the scripture), the student is seated at higher level than the teacher (in the chariot). This indicates the need for appreciation of source of knowledge, no matter where it comes from. Humility expressed through openness in acquiring knowledge from any source, is the only prerequisite for a good student.
In addition to above five unique aspects covering knowledge, Bhagavad gītā has a few more aspects that are focused on how it is delivered.
Bhagavad gītā has a lot of repetitions of similar messages. This is a very important feature, considering the type of audience it caters to, and the type of circumstances under which this text may be studied. Agitated mind of commoners cannot grasp deep and subtle knowledge in one occurrence. For such minds, repetition is required for knowledge to sync deep in subconscious minds. Only then, the knowledge becomes ones’ own. Thus, repetition is unique and essential aspect of Bhagavad gītā.
Bhagavad gītā follows the art of storytelling very well. It starts and ends with the same message. “न अनुशोचन्ति” (2.11), is said in the beginning of the instructional part, and “मा शुचः” (18.66) is said in the final instructional verse. Both mean the same thing – “do not grieve / suffer”. Thus, the message is, “come out of sorrow / suffering”. In any presentation, presenter can connect clearly and very well to the audience if he defines the context (problem or opportunity) in the beginning and refers to the same context in the end, thus closing the loop.
Another beautiful aspect of this scripture is that it delivers the entire message completely in the beginning (in the 2nd chapter) and almost repeats it in the end (in the 18th chapter). In the middle, teacher takes a student through various aspects of teachings based on his questions. Thus, while student seems to be driving the topic selection, apparently assuming a lead role, teacher still covers aspects that are to be covered for the benefit of student based on his mental state. A teacher in Bhagavad gītā, like any good teacher, understands the intent behind a question and crafts response accordingly, instead of literally replying to the stated question.
Thus, while every scripture is a jewel, Bhagavad gītā is truly a crest-jewel. No wonder it is described as milk from all cows where cows represent all उपनिषद. सर्वोपनिषदो गावो दोग्धा गोपाल नन्दनः ।
So, if you are curious about studying and contemplating only one book on sanātana dharma, it ought to be śrīmad Bhagavad gītā, learned from the right source.
श्रीकृष्णार्पणम् अस्तु ।
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