For the last five days, I have been interpreting the meaning of “Krśńa”, as a way of introducing the Giitá. I have said that Parama Puruśa is the only Guru; and since He is the only Guru, He has assumed the responsibility not only of guiding us to the path of spiritual progress, but of supplying the necessary provisions and inspiration for the purpose also. Else human beings would be living in the dark and would cry out in their slumber: “I am well and happy.” A frog living in a well takes the well to be the limit of the world; that there can be anything outside the well is beyond its comprehension.

Dharma gives inspiration to people in every sphere of their lives. Human life is all-comprehensive. It is not a single flower, but a bouquet. There are various flowers having different colours, shapes, sizes and fragrances; different kinds of sweetness as well. They spread their sweetness, their fragrance, their colour, in all directions. And therein lies their fulfilment, and the meaning of their existence.

If a person is dharmic, that person will leave a trace of his or her dharmic nature at every step. In his or her personal life he or she will never perpetrate injustice against anyone, nor tolerate anyone’s perpetrating injustice; and in their collective life they will not allow any social group to perpetrate injustice, nor allow that social group to tolerate its being perpetrated. They will see that everyone is on the right path in their crude-physical, subtle and causal existences; and that arrangements are made for everyone’s food, clothing, education and medical care. Moreover, they will give special attention to see that social life is well-knit. Because if there are defects in social life, and if those social and economic defects lead anyone to thievery, then the society will bear a hundred times more responsibility than the thief himself. Because it will be the society that instilled the theft propensity in that person.

When Shrii Krśńa appeared, India was fragmented into a number of small social groups and states. They were engaged in constant warfare among themselves. There were no ideological principles involved; it was all motivated by personal ambition and imperialistic lust. There was no philosophy behind it, nor was there any moral ideal or goodwill for mankind. Personal greed, gain and the imperialistic aggression of the rulers were the only driving forces that led one state to attack another. The lack of moral scruples in the rulers was responsible for such evil deeds. The land was divided into small pieces. In those days, this land stretched from the Pamir Plateau to South Asia and Southeast Asia. That is to say, it was a vast stretch of land from China and Siberia on the north to the Indian ocean on the south; and from the Mediterranean Sea on the west to Japan on the east.

Shrii Krśńa realized that no small separate state could ever be strong enough to defend itself. And those who cannot defend themselves cannot be expected to do any good to others either. So He decided that He would bring all together under one dharma rájya [rule of morality]; that He would unify India, otherwise divided into so many small fragments, so that this united social group, this united, righteous and strong India, might act as the model guiding light for humanity as a whole; might make humankind realize afresh that they as human beings must all move ahead together, and work together for the welfare of all. To bring this fragmented India together and build a Mahábhárata [Great India], He urged upon all the righteous rulers – not the rulers alone, but rather all righteous-minded people, common people, and even the unknown and unnoticed man of the crowds – to come forward and help him establish a dharma rájya. Vidura, for instance, was not even an average person, but rather a very obscure person. Krśńa sought to give concrete form to His dream of establishing a dharma rájya that would unite the land.

At that time, the country was fragmented into a number of smaller kingdoms. Such small states cannot defend themselves. It was about eight or ten years back that I told you in a Renaissance Club speech: “This age is not the age of big animals or weak countries.” Long ago did Krśńa realize this truth; and made arrangements accordingly. At that time the small states were Anga, Banga, Kalinga, Saorastra, Magadha, etc. The aim of Krśńa was to bring all these states under one banner and to establish one unified dharma rájya – a Mahábhárata.

It has already been mentioned that polarization was complete by that time. Whenever a novel ideology catches the imagination of a society, the society gets polarized. This was exactly what happened when Krśńa appeared on the scene. One section of society became supportive of and loyal to Krśńa, while another section was strongly antagonistic. The entire intellectuality became polarized. Krśńa was successful in creating a great unified India. The battle of Kurukśetra was the prelude to that great task. Because a dharma guru does not only teach spiritual philosophy. He is not merely to lead you by the hand; he is a source of inspiration to you; and his philosophy the guiding light of your life. How that philosophy can be implemented in practical life, even that He will explain to humankind in a way that will touch the innermost part of people’s hearts. Not only touch, but deeply move, profoundly agitate. This is exactly what Krśńa did; and the result of all this was the composition of the Giitá.

Directing Energy towards the Sahasrára Cakra

Arjuna represents tejastattva [luminous factor], the acoustic root of which is raḿ. The human navel is the seat of this raḿ. This very mańipura cakra is the centralized point of all the energy of the body, and its controlling acoustic root is raḿ. The word “Arjuna” stands for tejastattva. When this principle, this energy, this power – the dormant power hidden within – is properly utilized for a good purpose, a human being attains godhood. That is possible by arousing and pushing the latent power upwards. When, on the other hand, it is directed downwards, a human becomes a demon.

Krśńa provided inspiration to Arjuna; metaphorically, He inspired human energy, the human tejastattva, to progress towards the sahasrára cakra, passing through the anáhata, vishuddha and ájiṋá cakras, so that humans might progress in mental and spiritual realms and consequently feel their proximity, their oneness, with Parama Caetanya [Absolute Consciousness]. The shlokas, the songs, of the Giitá are an introduction to and inspiration towards that ideal.

Dhrtaráśt́ra uváca – “Dhritarastra said.” But what is the meaning of dhrtaráśt́ra? The root verb dhr + kta = dhrta. Dhrta means “that which has been held”. And what has been held? The ráśt́ra has been held. And what is a ráśt́ra? A structure, a framework. And what is it that holds one’s physical structure, one’s bodily framework?⁽¹⁾

You are a human being, what is it that provides support to you, to your physical structure, your human frame? Ráśt́raḿ dhrtaḿ yena sah dhrtaráśt́rah [“Dhrtaráśt́ra is that which holds a structure”]. Why is the structure intact? Who is providing support to it? When a person is dead, his bones and flesh disintegrate; while he is alive, on the other hand, they are interrelated in a unified system. He who is holding this very human structure, consisting of hands, legs, head, etc. – this ráśt́ra – is Dhritarastra. Ráśt́ram dhrtam yena [“that which holds a structure”]. But why? What is it that keeps the structure standing? Whose presence is it that prevents the structure from falling to pieces? And whose absence causes the structure to crumble down? Who is that entity? The mind is that entity. The “I” feeling in the mind is responsible for the stability of the structure. If this “I” feeling, or the mind in general, were not there, the human form could not exist either. This mind then is dhrtaráśt́ra. Hence, Dhrtaráśt́ra uváca means “The mind said,” “the mind asked.”

And why did the mind ask? Because it does not have inner vision or insight. The mind is influenced by the senses. It is incessantly running in all the ten directions. It is in search of its sustenance from all corners. It is not guided by intelligence and reason. The mind in fact is blind, and Dhritarastra was born blind.

Whom did Dhritarastra address? Sanjaya. Who then is Sanjaya? Sam – ji + al = saiṋjaya. When the resultant force arising out of this war, this conflict between vice and virtue, is directed towards human well-being – this very resultant force is then called viveka (conscience, the power of discrimination). The power to discriminate, to judge, between good and bad is the conscience. The conscience is that whose function is to identify good and bad and, selecting the good, to direct the mental energy towards that. So viveka means “conscience” or “power of discrimination”.

Being blind, the mind cannot see anything, nor does it understand anything. Hence, it turns to the viveka (vi – vic + ghaiṋ), because conscience has the power to discriminate between good and bad. Viveka, saiṋjaya, is nothing but the good force that comes out of the conflict between the good and the bad. That verily is what saiṋjaya stands for – samyak jaya [complete victory]; the total victory that comes out of the conflict. Dhrtaráśt́ra uváca – “The blind mind said.” To whom did he say? To Sanjaya. He said: “Sanjaya, tell me, how are the two warring parties doing in the battle?”

Since the mind could not see, it asked:

Dharmakśetre Kurukśetre samavetá yuyutsavah; Mámakáh Páńd́aváshcaeva kimakurvata saiṋjaya. Dharmakśetre Kurukśetre⁽²⁾ [“On the field of dharma, on the field of this universe”] yuddhártham [“for war”] samavetáh [“gathered”] mamapakśiiyáh [“my party”] tathá Páńd́upakśiiyáh [“and the Pandava party”] te kim akurvata [“what are they doing?”], bho Sainyaya, vada [“O Sanjaya, tell me”] – “Gathered on Dharmakśetra, on Kurukśetra, to fight a battle, what are my men and the men of Pandu’s party doing? What are the men on the side of virtue and dharma, and the men on the side of sin and adharma, doing? O wise Sanjaya, O one with deep insight, O viveka – tell me. I am Dhritarastra, the blind mind, the mind that cannot see. So you tell me, I am listening.”

Footnotes

(1) I.e., “What is the dhrta?” – not using the literal sense of dhrta, but using a derived sense. –Trans.

(2) After quoting the shloka as it appears in the Bhagavad Giitá, above, the author now proceeds to give a prose Sanskrit paraphrase. –Trans.