179. Shifting Goalposts

A doctor, working at a mental hospital, took a friend to show him the hospital. His friend saw a man in a room with a photo of a woman. The doctor explained that the man loved that woman and got mentally unstable when he couldn’t marry her. In the next room, there was another man with the same woman’s photo and the doctor explained that he got mentally unstable after marrying her. This ironic story explains how fulfilled as well as unfulfilled desires can have similar disastrous consequences.

The same thing happened with Arjuna. At the beginning of the eleventh chapter of the Bhagavad Gita titled ‘Vishwaroop Darshana Yoga’, he wanted to see Krishna in His opulent form. But he was frightened when he saw the Vishwaroop of Krishna. Shaken, Arjuna now desires to see Krishna in his original form. Similarly, our goalposts in life keep shifting with time.

Krishna shows his Vishwaroop in which Arjuna sees that all his enemies are entering into the mouth of death. Krishna tells him that Arjuna is just a nimitta-maatra (an instrument in His hands) and tells him to fight without stress. In the end, Krishna says that this form can’t be seen through the study of Vedas, charity or rituals but only through devotion can one attain Him.

At the level of ignorance, one seeks fulfilment through the accumulation of material possessions. When a ray of awareness sets in, one starts charity which is usually to attain something higher like punya (virtue) to go to heaven after death. When Krishna says that charity can’t help, He advises transcending rituals, charity, Vedas and reach Him through devotion (bhakti).

It is like a staircase where charity, Vedas and rituals are steps, but they are not the destination. One must ascend through devotion as the final step to reach Him.