Gita Acharan

I n an ethics class, the teacher gives a lesson on being truthful and respecting elders. The next day, all the students memorize the lesson and repeat it in class. However, one student, who otherwise is brilliant, says he couldn’t learn the lesson and the teacher gets angry at that student as it was an easy lesson. The student explains that he lied on the previous day to protect his brother from the anger of elders, hence he couldn’t learn the lesson. This story illustrates the difference between ‘Knowing’ and ‘Being’. The following verses are one such example, they are very easy to understand but difficult to realise when we go through them. Krishna says, “Lust, anger and greed ( kaam , krodh and lobh ) are three gates of hell leading to the destruction of self. Therefore, one should abandon all three (16.21). By turning away from these entrances to the realm of darkness, man does shreya (welfare of all) and thereby attains the supreme goal” (16.22). To understand something, it ...

K rishna describes the demonic natured and says, “With multiple minds, entangled in the web of delusion, addicted to the gratification of sensuous pleasures, they sink into a foul hell (16.16). Such self-conceited, stubborn people, intoxicated by pride and arrogance in wealth, perform the sacrifices hypocritically and without following the scriptural injunctions (16.17). Blinded by a hankaar (I am a doer), power, arrogance, desire, and anger, these malicious men despise Me who dwells within themselves and also in all beings (16.18). These cruel haters, perpetrators of evil and worst among men, I hurl again and again into demonic wombs in the spheres of transmigration (16.19). These ignorant souls take birth again and again in demonic wombs. Failing to reach Me, O Arjuna, they gradually sink to the most abominable type of existence” (16.20). Krishna earlier declared that He is equally disposed to all living beings. None is dweshya (hateful) and none is priya (dear) to Him (9.29). B...

K rishna says that the demonic person thinks, “I have acquired this today and I shall now fulfill this desire of mine. This is mine, and tomorrow I shall have even more (16.13). I have killed this enemy and will slay other enemies too. I am the ruler among men; I am the enjoyer, I am perfect, powerful and happy (16.14). I am wealthy and well-born; Who else is equal to me? I will sacrifice, I will give, I will rejoice.” In this way, demonic persons are deluded by ignorance (16.15). In today’s world, this is often confused with ‘success’. This is the language of ahankaar (sense of doership) which thrives on comparison with others. A demonic person is gripped by ahankaar which gets a boost when success is attained in terms of acquiring more wealth when compared with others; when enemies are defeated or when one feels like a ruler after reaching the peak of the ladder. Comparisons can be used to improve ourselves by learning from people and situations. On the flipside, comparison dri...

K rishna continues about the demonic natured and says, “Believing that all this world is about fulfillment of bodily desires, such persons are engrossed till the moment of death in earthly anxieties (16.11). Held in bondage by hundreds of desires, lust and anger, they strive to accumulate wealth by unjust means, all for the gratification of their senses” (16.12). Anger is natural when desires are not fulfilled, thus they go hand in hand. That is why reigning in senses is one of the central preachings of the Bhagavad Gita. When one sets accumulation as the goal, there is a tendency to direct all their energy toward achieving it. On this path, one tends to justify all the means to achieve the said target irrespective of the justness of the means. This process entails grabbing from someone else - it could be a property or credit for good work; it could be grabbing market share or grabbing the space in mind which is called ‘influencing others’ for selfish motives as is done on social m...

K rishna deciphered existence and said that it is the combination of prakriti (nature) and purush (spirit) both of which are beginningless. Gunas (qualities) and vikar (evolution or change) are born of prakriti (13.20). While prakriti is also responsible for cause-and-effect, purush experiences them as polarities of sukh (pleasure) and dukh (pain) (13.21). Krishna further clarified that He is beyond perishable prakriti and even higher than imperishable purush , thus proclaimed as Purushottama (Supreme Being) (15.18). This recapitulation will help us understand the following verses. Krishna says, “Those possessing a demonic nature do not distinguish action from inaction. They possess neither purity nor proper conduct nor truthfulness (16.7). They say that the world is without absolute truth, without any foundation, without a Lord. It is nothing but born of mutual union (of male and female) caused by lustful desire” (16.8). Essentially, this is living a life at the level of pra...

  K rishna says, “ Tej (radiance of character), forgiveness, patience, purity, freedom from hate, absence of conceit -are the wealth of a divinely inclined person (16.3). Vainglorious pride, arrogance, conceit, anger, harshness and ignorance mark the man who is born with a demonic nature (16.4). Two types of men exist in the world - the divine and the demonic (16.6). The divine nature bestows liberation ( vi-mokshaya ); the demonic nature leads to bondage” (16.5). Since liberation and bondage are experiential, any explanation about them is likely to lead to confusion rather than provide clarity. The story of the trapped monkey will help us understand the dichotomy between bondage and liberation. Some nuts are kept in an earthen pot with a narrow mouth ( surahi ) in which the monkey’s hand barely fits. The monkey inserts its empty hand by squeezing through the mouth of the pot and grabs a fistful of nuts. As the fist is full, its size increases thus, it can’t come out of the pot,...