59. Facets of Ahankaar



Krishna observes that Arjuna is overwhelmed by the feeling of aham-karta (I am doer)-ahankaar and this was responsible for his despondency. Awareness about ahankaar will help us overcome it.

Ego is a small part of ahankaar. It is called arrogance when one experiences pleasure polarity of success, win or profit and falls into depression, unhappiness, anger when one goes through pain polarity of failure, defeat or loss. It is jealousy when others are experiencing pleasure polarity and sympathy in pain polarity.

It is there when we are gathering physical possessions and may also motivate us to shed them. It is responsible for action as well as inaction. It is the cause of destruction as well as creation. It is in knowledge as well as in ignorance.

Ahankaar gets boosted with praise and gets hurt by criticism. Both states make us amenable to manipulation by others. Ahankaar is behind every emotion in some sense or the other and these emotions influence our external behaviour. Ahankaar might appear to drive us to success and prosperity, but it is like getting temporarily high on drugs.

I, Me, My and Mine are the four legs of ahankaar. By avoiding the use of these divisive words in daily conversations and thoughts, we can weaken ahankaar to a large extent. Instead, we can begin using more inclusive or third-person language. For example, instead of ‘I did it’ we can use ‘it was done’.

Being nimitta-mātra means realizing that we are only instruments in the hands of the Almighty. In this state, Paramatma is recognised as the doer of all actions, while we see ourselves only as instruments through which they are performed. This realization enables us to free ourselves from the grip of ahankaar.

Ahankaar is born when we choose to identify with one polarity or the other. That’s the reason why Krishna advised Arjuna to remain choiceless in the middle where there is no space for ahankaar (2.48). Have food when hungry; wear warm clothes when cold; fight when needed; borrow the feelings when needed without choosing to identify with any of them.


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