The Gītā is not a treatise with a limited outlook for one set of people. It is beneficial to the entire humankind. We firmly believe that the principles taught by the Gītā ought to be honoured by people of all countries, whatever stage they may be in. Their lives too would benefit from an application of the teachings of the Gītā. This treatise is for all humankind. This was not born only for the brāhmaṇas or the country of Bhārata. If it is said that Bhagavān taught the Gītā keeping only the Hindus in mind, it would be equivalent to accusing Bhagavān of favouritism and discrimination. Bhagavān has definitely proscribed the teaching of the Gītā to a few -
idaṃ te + na + ātapaskāya
na + abhaktāya kadācanaBG 18.67
This exclusion applies to people of all countries. Whatever country or class a person may belong to, the Gītā should be taught if the person has bhakti and virtue. Bhagavān has not excluded non-brāhmaṇas from studying the Gītā. On the contrary, all people should be taught. Hence it is clear that we have to accept association with other countries. The portion of the Gītā that is useful to all mankind has to be mentally ascertained. There is a portion applicable to all humankind as well as a part that applies to only a select few.
A thought on time
We should look at changing times from another perspective. The importance of time was discussed to some extent in the introduction to this lecture series. (That can be seen elsewhere or in an appendix.) Let us now revisit it. Time is change. Time can be defined as the succession of moments during which the naturally innate qualities of a certain thing are automatically expressed externally. The flow of instants during which a raw fruit ripens is time. When a raw mango plucked from a tree is incubated, the sour particles in it gradually become sweet. This is the transformation known as ripening. No external effort is needed for this. Nature makes it happen. This process requires "doing nothing" by the raw fruit’s incubators. Ripening requires non-interference from other people. While the others breathe and blink by themselves, the raw fruit ripens. If it is still left to incubate, the ripened fruit will rot and stink. Time is the opportunity for such change to occur.
Thus change in time is actually an evolution of the latent qualities and energies of the people of the world and not instituted by some external energy or thing. Europe, America, and India have come closer and mutually influence one another as a result of this inner evolution of human behaviour. The seeds of activity latent in the character of the viśva-mānava - universal - individual automatically germinate and express themselves externally. This is an explanation of the world’s behaviour from an analysis of first principles.
Thus the changes that have occurred in India and her people’s lifestyles are the results of the sustained effect of time and nature. We cannot hold anyone responsible for it. It seems prudent to consider the effects of international influence as something that is apauruṣeya (not of human origin.) Just as seasonal changes are not caused by humans (for the most part), worldly changes too are natural. It is the duty of human discernment to change food and clothing with seasons. Similarly it is imperative for human discernment to decide what and how much to accept when encountered with changes to life circumstances. What adjustments do we need to make for ourselves because of our Western interaction? What are the elements of our tradition that we cannot give up and have to conserve? What are the changes we need to bring about in the Westerners? Hence it appears to us that changing ourselves as well as the others is necessary. The path to this change has to be found through the light of the Bhagavadgītā. If the Gītā is not useful at this critical juncture, it would seem to us that the Gītā’s greatness might have to come down a notch.
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Before applying the Gītā to answer these four pressing questions it is necessary to gather the gist of the Gītā again.
If we were to state the essence of the Gītā in a single word, it would be jīvasaṃskāra (refinement of the jīva). The main goal of the Gītā is to purify the jīva and better it. This is also equivalent to the welfare or progress of the jīva. This amounts to removing the beginningless veil of māyā and delusion that has enveloped the jīva thereby enabling it to experience paramātmā. This indeed is dharma. The Gītā is a treatise on the principle of dharma. The jīva’s association with impurities of prakṛti is from time immemorial. There is no use of analysing how it came into this situation. What should be pondered is how to be released from it.
The śāstra assures us that it is possible for a jīva to attain a better state than the current one by being established in dharma. This assurance is repeated in the Gītā. Our first duty therefore is to firmly grasp this assurance through the heart and mind.
1. That it is possible for the jīva to attain the best possible future is the Gītā’s chief assertion. This assertion could even be termed a postulate. Whatever statement is accepted without any proof or testimony by parties desirous of understanding a principle is a postulate. An adjunct to this definition is that no further inquiries are even possible without the postulate. Other inquiries are possible only after accepting a postulate.
One could also consider the statement that it is possible for a jīva to have a better future as a hypothesis. The supposition that is at the root of all questions during an inquiry about a topic and might yield consistent answers is an arthāpatti (hypothesis) whose etymology is - anuktasya arthasya (of unsaid meaning), āpattih (obtaining). Another derivation is anyathā anupapadyamānasya arthasya upapādikā buddhikalpanā arthāpattih - the intellectual supposition without which the unsaid meaning cannot be obtained. The first achievement thus is the acknowledgment of the possibility of betterment either through accepting the śāstra’s testimony or one’s own intellectual assumptions.
2. If the jīva has to attain a better state, it should undergo a few purifying actions or refinements. The collection of such actions is dharma. We have seen Śrī Śańkara’s statement to this effect before.
jagataḥ sthitikāraṇam । prāṇināṃ sākṣādabhyudayaniḥśreyasaheturyaḥ sa dharmah||
(The sustainer of the universe. That which causes welfare and the supreme good for beings is dharma.)
3. Dharma is of two kinds. One is common to everybody. The second is for separate classes of individuals.
4. As all beings inhabit the same physical world, have mutual interaction, and share similar pre-conditions, their attainments and destinations will also be similar. Therefore their activities and hence their dharma are similar. These are denoted by sāmānya (general) dharmas. Truth, purity, and non-violence - are dharmas that apply to everyone equally, including Muslims and Christians.
5. Every jīva has two fields of activity - one public and common to all and the other private and individual. Though the world is the same, each being’s previous karma, debts and relationships, and consequent attainments are different. Each jīva has a beginningless story that is its own and private. As each jīva is an individual, it not only has dharmas of a common nature but also a few special dharmas. These are a jīva’s svadharmas.
Universal human dharma
Let us now discuss common dharmas without delving into individual or special dharmas. The common dharmas seen from the perspective of the Gītā appear to be ten in number.
- Acceptance of the self’s pre-eminence.
- Acceptance of īśvara’s authority.
- Acceptance of dharma.
- Limiting desire for pleasure.
- A duty towards maintaining world order.
- The practice of seeing the self in all - charity.
- Purifying daily life - yajña.
- The practice of reflection upon the supreme principle - tapas.
- Surrender - śaraṇāgati.
- Understanding the importance of tranquility over pleasure.
To be continued...
The present series is a modern English translation of DVG’s Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award-winning work, Bhagavad-gītā-tātparya or Jīvana-dharma-yoga. The translators wish to express their thanks to Śatāvadhāni R Ganesh for his valuable feedback and to Hari Ravikumar for his astute edits.
