Part 4 (1/2)

The asura is one who is striving for success. The deva is one who is, or has been, successful. A determination to be successful drives the asura to do tapasya. Fear of losing what they have or fear of never getting back what they lost makes the devas seek Brahma. The asura does not believe that anyone will help him. The deva believes that G.o.d exists only to help him while he does not exist to help anyone. In other words, the asura does not believe in atma whereas the deva believes in param-atma, but has yet to realize jiva-atma, the human potential.

The description of the condition of the asuras in The Gita is brutal and resonates with what we see in the world around us, where great value is placed on what you achieve and what you possess.

Arjuna, asuras will say 'This I have gained, that desire of mine I have satisfied, that enemy of mine I have destroyed, by any means available; I am the master, the enjoyer, the successful, the strong, the happy; I am rich and I will donate; there is none like me.' Thus ensnared in his own net, addicted to satisfying his insatiable desire, he tumbles into a h.e.l.l of conceit and envy and rage; born again and again in similar wombs; trapped in the same context. Seeking more, getting angry when he does not get what he seeks and seeking more when he gets what he seeks, he is unable to escape the darkness and find the light of happiness.-Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 16, verses 12 to 22 (paraphrased).

The description above seems like judgement, or a wish, but is in fact observation: the inevitable outcome of what happens when we believe material things will bring us satisfaction, when we see humans as bodies who perform and acc.u.mulate, when we see the world in technocratic terms, devoid of meaning and a larger narrative. We expect things to give us pleasure but instead they fuel more yearnings, thus creating addiction, which fuels greed. We want more and more, and feel angry when we don't get what we desire.

Swarga, Pa-tala and Naraka In the Puranas, the residence of the asuras is called pa-tala, the subterranean realm; this is where they belong, just as the devas belong in the celestial realm, the sky above. But in The Gita, the residence of the asuras is called naraka, or h.e.l.l. Pa-tala is a physical description but naraka is a psychological description: lack of faith results in hopelessness and rage and hence creates h.e.l.l.

Victory over the devas does not bring the asuras satisfaction. Victory over the asuras does not provide enlightenment to the devas. Both are trapped in a merry-go-round, unable to break free. Yet, Vishnu ascribes greater value to the devas over the asuras, for the former look beyond the material, for some time at least. Both the Pandavas and the Kauravas are fighting over property, but at least Arjuna is listening to possibilities beyond.

Cycle of Victories and Defeats Yagna of the devas is good, as it forces us to look at the param-atma outside. Tapasya of the asuras is good, as it makes us discover the jiva-atma inside. But we need the two to inform each other. Only yagna is action without understanding. Only tapasya is understanding without action. When understanding impacts action and action impacts understanding, then it is yoga.

Arjuna, yoga will enable you to perform action without expectation, and look upon success and failure equally. Action focussed on intent is better than action focussed on outcome. Such action liberates you from all dualities, so improve your skills with yoga.-Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 2, verses 48 to 50 (paraphrased).

We all ride waves of fortune and misfortune. If you and I believe we alone control the waves, then we are asuras. If you and I feel ent.i.tled in fortune and remember G.o.d only in misfortune or in fear of misfortune, then we are devas. We are not yet in touch with the atma within and without.

You and I have potential We mistrust fellow humans and so yearn for something beyond humanity, someone who comforts us, indulges our hungers, our insecurities and our inadequacies, without judgement. And so, two thousand years ago, The Gita introduced Hinduism to the concept of bhagavan that consolidates and personifies earlier, rather abstract, notions of divinity, such as brahmana, purusha and atma. This theme, elaborated from chapters 7 to 12 of The Gita, is what makes the Bhagavad Gita remarkable, challenging the ritual nature of the Vedas, the intellectual nature of the Upanishads and acknowledging the role of emotions in our life. We are not rational creatures who feel; we are emotional creatures who rationalize.

In The Gita, the idea of G.o.d begins in Chapter 2 itself, when Krishna identifies himself as a tool to tame the senses.

Arjuna, the sage focusses on me to tame his senses and discover wisdom.-Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 2, Verse 60 (paraphrased).

But the real discussion on G.o.d starts when, after having heard Krishna speak of yagna and yoga, Arjuna expresses his discomfort with introspection and the inner journey.

Krishna, I feel the promise of sustaining equanimity through yoga is not easy as the mind is restless, fickle, turbulent like the wind while the senses are fixed and anch.o.r.ed.-Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 6, verses 33 and 34 (paraphrased).

Arjuna's honest admission reveals how it is not enough to simply instruct a seeker or student. Unless the heart feels secure, the head will never receive new ideas. Arjuna needs an anchor, a support, someone to lean on, the comforting hand of G.o.d. And so Krishna introduces himself as G.o.d: the invisible beyond the visible, the immortal beyond the mortal, the infinite beyond the finite, the metaphor beyond the literal. The idea of Krishna as G.o.d accelerates from Chapter 7 through chapters 8, 9 and 10 until there is a veritable explosion in Chapter 11, which leaves no doubt in Arjuna's mind that Krishna is indeed G.o.d.

The word used for G.o.d in The Gita is bhagavan, a departure from the word 'devas' used in the Vedas. The word 'bhagavata' was used in Vedic times to mean 'benefactor' or 'bearer of fortune', a t.i.tle for kings and sages. But The Gita transformed it. Thus, 2,000 years ago, it came to refer to G.o.d, especially visualized as Krishna or Vishnu, marking a s.h.i.+ft in the dominant theme of Hinduism. While every living creature is apportioned a slice of reality that is its lot in life, G.o.d is master of every slice.

When the Europeans came to India, they tried long and hard to equate the devas of the Vedas with the Greek G.o.ds and the bhagavan of The Gita and the Puranas with the Abrahamic G.o.d. They argued that just as Christians had s.h.i.+fted from polytheism to monotheism thanks to Christianity, Hindus did so thanks to The Gita. But such forced comparisons failed, as the lines between polytheism and monotheism were blurred in Hinduism. While the Abrahamic G.o.d expressly considers Greek G.o.ds to be false, the Puranic bhagavan sees the devas as a part of his being. This is not appropriation or inclusion; this is evolution, a journey from the limited to the limitless. It is also a journey from the physical to the psychological. G.o.d is not 'out there'; G.o.d is also 'in us' and 'in others'.

The Hindu G.o.d resists the finiteness of history and geography that attracted Western mythologies, but embraces the infinity offered by psychology, a subject that Europeans took seriously only in the twentieth century after the works of Freud and Jung.

Arjuna, at the end of many lives, the rare wise man finally realizes: Krishna is everything.-Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 7, Verse 19 (paraphrased).

Greek mythology had no concept of a singular almighty G.o.d. It had many G.o.ds. First, there were the t.i.tans who violently separated the earth G.o.ddess, Gaia, from the sky G.o.d, Ura.n.u.s, and became the rulers of the world. Then came the Olympians, the children of the t.i.tans, who overthrew them. The Olympians feared that the humans would overthrow them, and so kept them in place through the Fates. But occasionally, grudgingly, they admired a truly independent and defiant being: the hero, whom they gave a special place in the afterlife. The pattern here is overpowering, absorbing and appropriating the conquered. This mythology also shaped the worldview of the Romans who controlled the Mediterranean 2,000 years ago.

Greek G.o.ds But then 1,700 years ago, in order to unify an increasingly divided empire, the Roman Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity and rejected all old G.o.ds in favour of the G.o.d of Abraham, who allowed wors.h.i.+p of none other but Him. This G.o.d of Abraham was the creator of the world, distinct from the world He had created, who laid down rules of how humans should behave if they wished to return to heaven. This idea formed the basis of Islam as well. But the Muslims rejected the Christian claim that Jesus was the Son of G.o.d; they believed that Jesus was a prophet, like Abraham and Moses before him, but the final prophet who really mattered was Muhammad. The question of who is the true prophet continues to divide those who subscribe to Abrahamic mythology.

Abrahamic G.o.d The G.o.d of Abrahamic mythology is constantly described as jealous and possessive, someone who does not tolerate false G.o.ds. The G.o.d of Hindu mythology does not create such divisions, and is seen present in diverse local and folk deities, who serve as portals of a larger singular divine ent.i.ty.

One can say that the Abrahamic idea of G.o.d seeks purity, and so shuns contamination by the 'false', while the Hindu idea of G.o.d seeks completeness, and so keeps including many incomplete ideas of the divine in the journey towards infinity. This could account for why the legacy of pre-Christian Europe, America and Arabia has been completely wiped out or hidden, while various Vedic, pre-Vedic, post-Vedic and extra-Vedic practices continue to thrive and influence each other in India, under the large umbrella term called Hinduism.

Arjuna, those who exchange knowledge in order to venerate me, discover me inside themselves or outside, in multiple forms or as a singular universal whole. -Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 9, Verse 15 (paraphrased).

The earliest word for G.o.d in the Rig Veda is 'ka', which is the first alphabet in Sanskrit, from which come all the interrogative p.r.o.nouns such as what, when, where, why, how. Thus, divinity had something to do with enquiry. The kavi, or poet, enquired about ka. He later came to be known as the ris.h.i.+, the observer.

The ris.h.i.+s also used the word 'brahmana' to refer to divinity. The earliest meaning of brahmana is language-for it is through language that humans make sense of the world around them. In fact, language is what gives humans their humanity and distinguishes them from animals that communicate observation, but have no language to a.n.a.lyse and contemplate abstract thoughts. Brahmana also means expanding the mind, for language expands the mind.

The Vedic rituals invoke one purusha, a multi-headed and multi-limbed being, who permeates every aspect of the cosmos and whose division creates the world. In the Aranyakas, early speculative texts, there is reference to praj.a.pati, the mind-seed whose union with matter-womb creates the diverse world. Thus, division, and union, of divinity lead to creation. In the Upanishads, later speculative texts, brahmana, purusha and praj.a.pati are equated with atma, the immortal, located inside all beings as jiva-atma, and around all beings as para-atma. If jiva-atma is what one is and para-atma is what the other is, then param-atma is what one and the other can become. The identification of G.o.d with humanity starts being pa.s.sionately debated. From an abstract and mystical concept, G.o.d increasingly becomes a psychological concept.

History of Hindu G.o.d Two thousand years ago, in the Puranas, divinity was finally personified and given the form that we are very familiar with now. In fact, The Gita plays a key role in the s.h.i.+ft. In the pre-Gita period, G.o.d was a concept. In the post-Gita period, G.o.d became a character in human affairs.

The old abstract words-purusha, brahmana, praj.a.pati, atma- were gradually overshadowed by two new words: ishwara and bhagavan. Ishwara referred to the seed of divinity and bhagavan referred to the fully developed tree of divinity, laden with fruits and flowers. Ishwara is a.s.sociated with s.h.i.+va, the hermit, whose marriage to Shakti creates the world. Bhagavan is a.s.sociated with Vishnu, the householder, whose awakening results in creation and whose slumber results in dissolution. Between awakening and sleeping, Vishnu takes many forms to walk the earth, including that of Krishna. The Puranic s.h.i.+va and Vishnu presuppose the existence of the G.o.ddess, who is nature, hence mother of humanity, as well as culture, daughter of humanity.

Ishwara, Bhagavan and Shakti The G.o.d of Abrahamic mythology s.h.i.+es away from form. The G.o.d of Hindu mythology is both formless (nir-guna-brahman) and embodied (sa-guna-brahman), as described in Chapter 12 of The Gita. Without form, He is neither male nor female. With form, He may be birth-less and deathless, as in the case of s.h.i.+va, Vishnu and the G.o.ddess, who are described as self-created (swayam-bhu) and not born from the womb (a-yonija). Or He may experience birth and death, as any womb-born (yonija), as in the case of Ram and Krishna.

Though formless, the G.o.d of Abrahamic mythology is addressed, even visualized, in masculine terms. The G.o.d of Hindu mythology is visualized as sometimes male, sometimes female, sometimes both and sometimes neither. Thus, Krishna refers, in Chapter 7, Verse 6, to the world of matter and mind as his two wombs (yoni), while also speaking of how he places his seed in the womb of Brahma, in Chapter 14, Verse 3. Krishna also describes himself in feminine terms. In Chapter 10, he identifies himself as the Ganga River and the wish-fulfilling cow Kamadhenu. Naturally, in Maharashtra, the poet-saints had no problem referring to the local form of Krishna, Vitthal, as Vittha-ai or Mother Vitthal.

The G.o.d of Abrahamic mythology has no family or any such human relations.h.i.+ps. In Christian mythology, He has a son, but no wife. The G.o.d of Hinduism is visualized as a householder who deals with mundane human issues in temples and tales. Although the word 'brahma' remains sacred throughout Hinduism, referring to the divine potential in all things, the G.o.d Brahma in the Puranas is not wors.h.i.+pped, as he is visualized as the unenlightened householder, who seeks to control the G.o.ddess, chasing her relentlessly against her will, and so loses a head to s.h.i.+va. s.h.i.+va is wors.h.i.+pped as the enlightened hermit who is turned into an enlightened householder by the G.o.ddess. Vishnu is wors.h.i.+pped as the enlightened householder who takes responsibility for the G.o.ddess and adopts various forms to protect her while she provides for him, becoming Ram when she is Sita, and Krishna when she is Radha, Satyabhama and Draupadi.

Hindu Trinity From Chapter 7 of The Gita, the idea of G.o.d takes centre stage.

Arjuna, your senses experience eight parts of my manifested form: the five elements, emotions, intelligence and ident.i.ty. Beyond is my unmanifested form, that supports all this as a string holds a necklace of pearls together.-Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 7, verses 4 to 7 (paraphrased).

In Chapter 8, Krishna connects the impersonal mind (brahman) and impersonal matter (adi-bhuta) to the personal mind (adhyatma) and the personal body (adi-daiva), via impersonal action (karma) and personal connection (adi-yagna). Thus, divinity is connected with the individual, param-atma with jiva-atma. Krishna declares himself as the ultimate source and destination of all things, from where all things come and to which they return.

Arjuna, at the hour of death, he whose mind is yoked by devotion, breath stilled, attention focussed, thinks of me, comes to me.-Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 8, Verse 6 (paraphrased).

In Chapter 9, Krishna says that he is accessible to all, even those considered bad or inferior.

Arjuna, even those you consider villains should be respected if you find them walking my path, for they too will eventually find peace and joy. None of my devotees are lost, not even those generally held in disdain by the royal warriors: women, traders, labourers and servants, even those considered illegitimate.-Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 9, verses 30 to 32 (paraphrased).

In Chapter 10, Krishna says that he is present in all things, manifesting as excellence.

Arjuna, I am the life existing in all things. I am the beginning, the middle and the end. Amongst Adityas, I am Vishnu; amongst lights, the sun; amongst winds, the mirage; amongst constellations, the moon; amongst the books of knowledge, the melodies; amongst devas, Indra; amongst senses, the mind; amongst organisms, the awareness; amongst rudras, s.h.i.+va; amongst yakshas and rakshasas, Kubera; amongst elements, fire; amongst mountains, Meru; amongst priests, Brihaspati; amongst commanders, Kartikeya; amongst waterbodies, the ocean; amongst seers, Bhrigu; amongst chants, aum; amongst rituals, recitation; amongst the immobile, the Himalayas; amongst trees, the fig; amongst messengers, Narada; amongst gandharvas, Chitraratha; amongst yogis, Kapila; amongst horses, Uchhaishrava; amongst elephants, Airavata; amongst people, the leader; amongst weapons, the thunderbolt; amongst cows, the wish-fulfilling cow; amongst lovers, Kama; amongst earthly serpents, Vasuki; amongst celestial serpents, Ananta; amongst ocean-dwellers, Varuna; amongst forefathers, Aryaman; amongst regulators, Yama; amongst asuras, Prahalada; amongst reckoners, Yama; amongst beasts, the lion; amongst birds, the eagle; amongst cleansers, the wind; amongst warriors, Ram; amongst fish, the dolphin; amongst rivers, Ganga; amongst metres, Gayatri; amongst months, December; amongst seasons, spring; amongst deception, gambling; amongst my people, me; amongst your people, you; amongst storytellers, Vyasa; amongst poets, Shukra. I am the staff of the guardians, the strategy of the ambitious, the silence of secrets, the wisdom of the wise. I am the seed, without me there can be no element, no plant, no animal. There is no end to my manifestations. These are but samples of infinity-Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 10, verses 20 to 40 (paraphrased).

In Chapter 11, Krishna shows his expansive form (virat-swarup), on Arjuna's request and Arjuna discovers G.o.d as the infinite container (vishwa-rupa), cause and consequence of all things, at all times, and more.

Arjuna, behold my forms, hundreds, thousands, of myriad colours and shapes. Behold the thirty-three Vedic G.o.ds: eight vasus, twelve adityas, eleven maruttas, two ashwins and many more things never known before. See the entire universe in my body, the animate and the inanimate. Let me give you special eyes so that you can see this special sight.-Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 11, verses 5 to 8 (paraphrased).