251. Me-Mine; You-Yours

 

Krishna says, “The one who attained perfection (of freedom from karma) can also attain Brahma (the eternal). Learn from me this supreme state of knowledge” (18.50). This is a continuation of what Krishna earlier explained about ‘freedom from karma’ which can be attained through non-attached intellect, conquering self and dropping desires (18.49).

Krishna says, “Endued with purified intellect, having conquered self through firmness, forsaking sound and other sense entanglements, abandoning attachment and hatred (18.51); dwelling in solitude, eating lightly, speech, body and mind subdued, ever engaged in yoga of meditation, taking refuge in vairagya (dispassion) (18.52); Freed from ahankaar (egoism), power, arrogance, desire, anger, greed, notion of ‘me and mine’ and being peaceful, one is fit for Brahma (the eternal)” (18.53).

Dwelling in solitude is the ability to detach oneself even in a crowd. Krishna gave an example of a lotus leaf that doesn’t get attached to water despite being submerged in water. It means maintaining a subdued mind and controlled speech even in adverse circumstances. Similarly, forsaking sound and other sense entanglements doesn’t imply running away from them. Krishna gave the example of an ocean which is not affected by merging rivers - rivers representing sensual entanglements. Together, this is nothing but vairagya (dispassion).

Bhagavad Gita is a manual to overcome ahankaar (aham-karta or sense of doer ship) that keeps us separate from ‘the eternal’ in every possible way. Similarly, the divisive notion of ‘me and mine’ consequently causes the notion of ‘you and yours’. Though this division looks logical at the level of ignorance, but the key is the realisation that this division brings misery and prevents us from having the joy of eternal state. That’s the reason why Krishna encourages us to free ourselves from both ahankaar and the notion of ‘me and mine’. Nimitta-maatra is the most effective antidote to ahankaar, the sense of personal doership. In this state, Paramatma is recognised as the doer of all actions, while we see ourselves only as instruments through which they are performed.

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