14. Being Witness

 


If one word could describe the entire Gita it would be ‘drishta’ (witness), which appears in many contexts. An understanding of this is important as we think that ‘we’ do things and control situations. We need to free ourselves from this notion to lead a life of joy.

Arjuna, who was about sixty years old at the time of the Kurukshetra war, had lived a good life and enjoyed all luxuries. As a warrior he had tasted victory in many battles. At the time of war, he felt that he was the karta (aham-karta; ahankaar) and felt that he would be responsible for the death of his kith and kin. This led to his despondency on the battlefield.

The entire Gita is Lord Krishna’s attempt to tell him that he is not the karta. The Lord reveals that Arjuna is ‘drishta/sakshi’ - a witness. When we start realising ourselves to be nimitta-maatra – an instrument in the hands of the Almighty, we are on the firm path towards ‘being a witness’. In this state, Paramatma is recognised as the doer of all actions, while we see ourselves only as instruments through which they are performed.

Most of us believe that we are the cause of all our actions and masters of our destiny. In the Gita, Lord Krishna says that interaction between gunas creates karma, but not due to any karta (3.27). When we realise this fact at the existential level, we will enter the state of a sakshi.

Drishta (sakshi) is a state of intellect but is not manifest in the physical world. It is the ability that helps us to step back from the day-to-day happenings around us and have internal stability. It helps us realise that we should always act without desiring any particular outcome (karma-phal) (2.47). It is the ability to witness our feelings and subordinate them.

Krishna explains various aspects of sakshi and says that he truly sees who perceives Parameshwar (supreme Lord) present equally in all beings as the imperishable among the perishable (13.28); He who sees all actions are performed by prakriti (nature) alone and the Self as non-executor, he sees (13.30).


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

261. Shed the Ahankaar

Image
  K rishna says, “Abandon all dharmas and take refuge in Me alone. I will liberate you from all sins, grieve not” (18.66). While verse 2.14 can be taken as the beginning of the Bhagavad Gita where Krishna advises us to ignore the transient pleasure-pain polarities which are caused when senses meet sense-objects, the verse 18.66 can be considered as the end of the Gita. Krishna uses the word ‘ dharma’ , and he is certainly not referring to religion, faith, or righteousness, as each of these carries different meanings for different people. Bhagavad Gita is not a book of religion but of natural principles that govern our lives. On the other hand, a lot of clarity comes if we take the paradigm or subjective reality as the meaning of dharma . Paradigm is the combination of our opinions, imaginations and understandings about the things around us or the way things are from our point of view. It is like the partial understanding formed about an elephant by a blind person by touching only ...
Read more

258. Sins and Suffering

Image
  O ne of the common fears of humanity is about committing sins ( paap ). Every culture has evolved around the concept of sin, and the common belief is that all our suffering is due to sins committed in this life or previous ones. Religions thrive on our guilt of committing sins. Even Arjuna’s despondency is because of his belief that he will incur sin by slaying his elders, teachers and relatives. That’s why Krishna elaborates on this issue on various occasions in the Bhagavad Gita. Firstly, Paramatma takes no account of anyone’s virtue or sin. It is the problem of human beings who are deluded as their knowledge is covered by moha (delusion or ignorance) (5.15). Secondly, one hoping for nothing, with a controlled mind and body, doing mere bodily actions, incurs no sin (4.21). Even if we are the most sinful of sinners, we shall safely cross the sea of sin by the raft of wisdom (4.36). The wisdom is realising ‘That’ by which we will see all beings in the self (4.35). Thirdly, for ...
Read more

259. Tapasya with Devotion

Image
  K rishna says, “This (the Gita) is never to be spoken by you to those who are not austere ( a-tapaskaya ) or to those who are not devoted ( a-bhaktaya ). It should also not be spoken to those who are averse to listening and especially not to those who cavil at Me” (18.67). The spiritual journey toward unconditional love and eternal joy is both adventurous and, at times, lonely. In this path we are expected to shed all the beliefs we gathered in our lives. We are also expected to shed the sense of attachment to our physical possessions, feelings and relationships. That’s why very few reach the destination (7.3). Hence, one should pursue it like tapasya with devotion. On the contrary, when it is pursued out of curiosity, it leads to the illusion of knowledge which increases ahankaar . Coming as ‘the existence’, Krishna mentioned about not caviling at Him. It is the path of accepting and embracing all the diverse and seemingly contradictory aspects of existence without any cavil, w...
Read more