Part 2 (1/2)

Arjuna, people wors.h.i.+p limited deities, limited as they are by their nature and their yearnings. From me comes their faith. From me comes fulfilment of their faith. The restricted stay restrained. Those who shatter the boundaries discover me: the limitless.-Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 7, verses 20 to 23 (paraphrased).

Literal and Metaphorical Those who are comfortable with imagination appreciate metaphors and symbols. Those who are not prefer the literal. Only through metaphors and symbols can one convey the conceptual. Without poetry, you cannot communicate ideas that are not material and measurable, like love, or justice or remarkability. But The Gita recognizes that the world is made up of different people, those who can only deal with the tangibility of mortality and those who can deal with the intangibility of immortality and rebirth. Krishna does not expect people to experience the world the same way as he does, or respond to the world exactly as he does. This is why Krishna has a 'menu-card' approach to solutions, suiting different capabilities and capacities.

Arjuna, immerse your mind in me and I will uplift you from the ocean of recurring death. If you cannot do that, then practise yoga and work on your mind. If you cannot do that, then do your work as if it is my work. If you cannot do that, then make yourself my instrument and do as I say. If you cannot do that, then simply do your job and leave the results to me.-Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 12, verses 6 to 11 (paraphrased).

My deha is different from yours. My hungers are different from yours. My a.s.sumptions are different from yours. My capabilities are different from yours. My experiences are diferent from yours. My expressions are different from yours.

You and I seek meaning The immortal resident of the body, the dehi, watches how the body experiences the world around it. But what is dehi exactly? Is it the senses that make the body responsive to external stimuli? Is it the mind within the body, or thoughts and ideas and imaginations within the mind, or concepts that filter all sensation and influence emotions? It is something unmeasurable, mystifying and debatable, like consciousness? Or is it conceptual clarity that bestows tranquillity? Does that conceptual clarity involve appreciating the unique human ability to give meaning to ourselves and the world around? We shall explore these ideas in this chapter.

Right at the start of The Gita, Krishna refers to dehi, the immortal that dwells in the body.

Arjuna, weapons cannot pierce it, fire cannot burn it, water cannot wet it, wind cannot dry it. It is everywhere, at all times, fixed, immovable.-Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 2, verses 23 and 24 (paraphrased).

Later, he refers to dehi as atma, the immortal located in the body, but beyond the reach of the senses and the mind.

Arjuna, detached, tranquil, a.s.sured, the observer resides in the city of nine gates.-Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 5, Verse 13 (paraphrased).

Bird Watching the Bird Eating Fruit The Rig Veda speaks of a bird that watches another bird eating fruit. This is a metaphor of the world (fruit), the body (bird eating fruit) and the dehi (bird watching bird eating fruit). We can watch others, and ourselves, seeking 'fruit'.

Krishna describes dehi, located inside the body, very much the same way as he describes purusha, located inside all of nature that surrounds the body. If dehi is within the self, purusha is within the other.

Arjuna, prakriti is responsible for all events around you. Purusha, resident of nature, experiences these events as painful and pleasurable circ.u.mstances.-Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 13, verses 20 and 21 (paraphrased).

The body we inhabit, and nature that is all around our body, is tangible (sa-guna). What resides in our body, and in nature, is not (nir-guna). Deha and prakriti are within the reach of the senses; they are bound by the rules of s.p.a.ce and time, which means that they can be measured and are impermanent. Dehi and purusha, however, are outside the reach of the senses, and are not bound by rules of s.p.a.ce and time, which means that they cannot be measured and are permanent.

Deha is part of prakriti. But is dehi a part of purusha? Since both are immortal and infinite, neither can be confined by s.p.a.ce, nor can they be separated. In other words, dehi is the same as purusha.

Arjuna, it is both in and out, inside the animate and the inanimate, far as well as near, difficult to gauge as it is subtle. It is not divisible yet appears divided in separate beings. It is what brings together and creates anew.-Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 13, verses 15 and 16 (paraphrased).

Deha is that which separates us from other ent.i.ties. Dehi is that which unites us to others. Deha establishes individuality. Dehi establishes universality. We discover deha through a.n.a.lysis (sankhya), by figuring out what isolates us from the world. We discover dehi through synthesis (yoga), by figuring out what connects us with the world. Arjuna's deha is not the same as Duryodhana's, Arjuna's deha is not the same as that of the horses that pull his chariot, but the dehi in Arjuna enables him to feel the fear and hunger in every living creature, and its absence in non-living creatures.

Deha and Prakriti Dehi and purusha are the same, yet they are also differentiated. Dehi is called jiva-atma and purusha is called param-atma, as dehi's experience is limited by the deha it resides in, while purusha's experience is unlimited, as it resides in limitless prakriti. Dehi or jiva-atma experiences a slice (bhaga) of reality. Bhagavan, who experiences every slice of reality, is then param-atma. The jiva-atma, who seeks fulfilment and fullness, is the bhagat or bhakta. Every living creature is a jiva-atma. For every jiva-atma, other living creatures are para-atma (the individual other). The collective of all living creatures makes up the param-atma (the collective other).

This relations.h.i.+p of the deha, prakriti and atma is best visualized in art as a spoked wheel, where the hub represents my body (deha) and the rim presents the body of the world around me (prakriti). The atma within us (jiva-atma) radiates like the spokes of a wheel and connects with the atma (para-atma) within everyone around us. All of this together const.i.tutes param-atma, the potential that everyone, including us, can realize. Such a spoked wheel whirls around Krishna's finger, indicating that param-atma is more than the sum total of all individual jiva-atmas. The jiva-atma depends on the param-atma but the param-atma is not dependent on the jiva-atma.

Arjuna, he is the perceiver of all sense objects without the senses. He is unattached, yet sustainer of all. He is devoid of all tendencies, yet the enjoyer of all material tendencies.-Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 13, Verse 14 (paraphrased).

Wheel Exploration of the relations.h.i.+p between jiva-atma and param-atma, between dehi and deha, purusha and prakriti, bhagavan and bhakta, has led to the many schools of Vedanta, schools that seek the essence of the Vedas. Advaita saw no difference between divinity and humanity; dvaita saw a complete separation; bheda-abheda saw humanity as part of the divine.

Different Schools of Vedanta Many see dehi as the seed of the purusha-tree. Each seed is separate from the tree, dependent on the tree, yet containing the tree. This idea is expressed in a beautiful hymn on completeness (poornamadah poornamidam) found in the Isha Upanishad: 'This is complete, that is complete, from completeness comes completeness, when completeness is added or subtracted, it still remains complete.' This hymn refers to the concept of infinity and the capability of human imagination. You are complete in yourself; I am complete in myself; yet we are part of a wider human narrative. Like the seed of the tree, we are part of completeness, as well as our complete selves.

Fruits of the Param-atma Tree So what exactly is dehi/atma/purusha? Various metaphors are used to describe it in The Gita: the ocean that is fed by rivers but never overflows (Chapter 2, Verse 70); the sky that is ever-present but always detached (Chapter 13, Verse 33); the sun that illuminates everything (Chapter 13, Verse 34). From Chapter 7 onwards, Krishna personifies the idea and starts equating himself with dehi and purusha, using the first person. Though Krishna sports a male form, he refers to his 'wombs', indicating the metaphorical nature of the language used.

Arjuna, forms and formless are my two wombs. I am the start and the end, the thread on which the world is strung like jewels. Nothing else but me.-Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 7, verses 6 and 7 (paraphrased).

Some identify dehi/purusha/atma with the soul. But soul is a Christian concept and in Christian mythology, especially, there is talk of souls that can get corrupted and bodies without souls. Dehi/purusha/atma of The Gita is eternally pure and permeates everywhere, even beings deemed most sinful and foul.

Some say dehi is not material, hence it must be something spiritual. We must be careful of this term, spiritual. It is an eighteenth-century European term that once referred to everything from the psychological to the paranormal and the occult, a meaning that is still popular in New Age religious orders. The West formally separated the psychological from the paranormal only in the twentieth century after the works of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, though religious folk continue to insist that the paranormal is real.

If not material, then dehi/purusha/atma can be mental. But it is also distinguished from all things that const.i.tute the mind: senses (indriyas), emotions (chitta), imagination (manas) and intelligence (buddhi). Some, therefore, identify it with consciousness, the ability to be self-aware. But scientists and gurus disagree on what consciousness exactly is. Scientists restrict consciousness to living organisms, especially higher ones, while gurus attribute consciousness to all of nature, even the inanimate.

Some identify the soul/spirit/consciousness as conscience (viveka). But conscience is an outcome of imagination and judgement: how we imagine ourselves and how we want others to judge us. Animals do not have a conscience, but for Hindus, atma is present in everything.

Ultimately, the exact ident.i.ty of dehi/purusha/atma will always be elusive, not just because it defies objective measurement, but also because you and I experience reality very differently, and use different words to describe our experiences. What is dehi to you may not be dehi to me. Also, what I thought dehi was today may not be what I realize dehi is tomorrow. Initially, dehi may be the mind, then it becomes intelligence, then consciousness, then imagination, concept, meaning, then something else which defies language. But it exists. And that is the point.

Arjuna, it exists in the heart of all beings that which is worth knowing, the knowledge itself, and that which is reached through knowledge. It is the light that illuminates life, and all of darkness too.-Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 13, Verse 17 (paraphrased).

What we can be sure of is that dehi cannot be an ent.i.ty, as by definition it cannot be measured. It has to be a concept. It can at best be experienced, hence it is a subjective truth, indifferent to the rules of science.

Arjuna, it has no beginning and has no qualities, and so does not change. It is located in the body, but it does nothing and covets nothing.-Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 13, verses 31 and 32 (paraphrased).

According to the five-container architecture of the body described in the Upanishads, our breath resides within our flesh, our mind resides within our breath, our concepts reside within our mind and our emotions reside within our concepts. We can only see the flesh and breath. We can sense the emotions by the way they are expressed through the body and the breath. Sensations received by the mind are filtered by concepts to create emotions. Emotions affect our mind and shape our concepts. When there is conceptual clarity, we experience tranquillity (ananda), no matter what the sensory experience is. Atma then becomes an idea that offers conceptual clarity, that establishes connection (yoga) with the world as it really is, not what we imagine it to be.

Atma as Conceptual Clarity In the absence of conceptual clarity, the dominant emotion is fear, fear of losing opportunities, fear of threats, fear of achievement, fear of abandonment, fear of invalidation. The emotion of fear impacts the way we think and what we believe. It contaminates the filtering of sensations and choice of responses. It creates a vicious cycle where atma is eclipsed by aham, our judgemental self.

Conceptual clarity draws attention to language, a key theme of the Vedas. Many animals use language to communicate. Their language is descriptive. Human language is used to a.n.a.lyse, construct and convey complex meaning. Through sound, image or gesture meaning is conveyed. That which is expressed (shabda) contains layers of meaning (shabda-brahmana), some literal, some metaphorical. These evoke multiple emotions (rasa) and experiences (bhava). Shabda is tangible (sa-guna), shabda-brahmana is intangible (nir-guna). Only through shabda, can shabda-brahmana be expressed and experienced. If we imagine our body as a shabda, then we are containers of meaning. Only thorugh our bodies can that meaning be expressed and experienced. When Hindus say that everything around us has atma, and bow to rocks and rivers, plants, animals, and humans, it is an acknowledgement that everyone and everything is meaningful and valid.

Atma as Meaning Like animals that seek food for their survival, humans yearn for meaning for their sanity: what is our value, our purpose and our ident.i.ty in this world? As long as we seek validation from the world around us, we are entrapped by aham. As soon as we realize that all meaning comes from within, that it is we who make the world meaningful, we are liberated by atma.

Arjuna, this fabulous all-encompa.s.sing being who resides within you, who is me really, and you really, is that which observes, approves, enables and enjoys ultimately.-Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 13, Verse 22 (paraphrased).

When we say that everything around us has atma, and we bow to rocks and rivers, plants and animals, to people around us, living and dead, we essentially mean that everything around is meaningful and valid. Who decides this? The dehi within, as well as the purusha without. We give meaning to others. We get meaning from others. We give meaning to each other. We may die but things continue to be meaningful, for atma never dies. There is always someone to give meaning.

Food and Meaning

Plants and animals, including humans, seek food. Additionally, humans also seek meaning: the dehi within the deha, the meaning within the word, the soul within the body, the metaphorical within the literal.

You and I have to face consequences The quest for food, security and meaning propels the living into action. Every action has reactions. Reactions create circ.u.mstances that we constantly experience. Can we control our circ.u.mstances, create fortune and avoid misfortune, by regulating our actions and the actions of others? Or can we simply withdraw from activity, turn away from all sensory seductions, save ourselves from disappointment and heartbreak, and thus find peace? Is there such a thing as good action and bad action? Can good actions have bad reactions and bad actions, good? Answers to these questions const.i.tute the doctrine of karma that means both action as well as reaction, which Krishna elaborates in Chapter 3 of The Gita.

In nature, gravity forces movement in all things inanimate. Plants defy gravity and grow towards the sky, propelled by the fear of death to seek sunlight and consume it as food, along with minerals and water pulled up by their roots. Animals graze and hunt and migrate for food. The act of eating is violent, as elements and plants and animals are devoured by the hungry. Where there is life, there is hunger. Where there is hunger, there is food. Where there is food, there is violence. Where there is violence, there are consequences. Nature is violent, as the hungry seek food. This is the fundamental truth of life.

In human society, violence is regulated. Forests are destroyed to make way for fields. Riverbanks are destroyed to create dams and ca.n.a.ls. Natural ecosystems are wiped out to make way for human settlements. In the Mahabharata, the Pandavas burn the forest of Khandava-prastha to build their city of Indra-prastha. The price is high: the resident snake people, the nagas, never forgive them or their descendants.