Spiritual Message for the Day – Arjuna’s Delusion by  Sri Swami Chidananda

Baba Times Digest© | 14 May 2015 17.17 EST | New York Edition

Arjuna’s Delusion

Divine Life Society Publication: The Gita Vision by Sri Swami Chidananda

Arjuna took all these mental conditions, these strong emotions and sentiments to be real, to have some reality, sat. And he thought himself to be the experiencer of all these terrible ups and downs that were taking place inside the antahkarana. He identified himself with them. He thought: "This is happening to me," because at that time he was in a state of ignorance of his own true nature. He had no jnana of his svarupa which is nitya and nirupadhika (eternal and without attributes), which has no body, no mind, no intellect, no ahamkara (ego), no memory, no senses. It is beyond the body, the senses, the pranas and the four-fold interior instrument consisting of the mind, intellect, ego and memory.

Arjuna did not know it. Therefore, he thought that these passing phenomena were real, whereas in fact they had no reality. They were the product of maya; they were simply illusory things. Reality was his Self. But his entire interior was clouded, so he took the passing, the evanescent, the unreal, to be the real. All these silly sentiments and moods became for him a tangible reality. And his own reality, which is always above and beyond, the paramatma tattva, the nityasuddha, nityamukta, the eternally pure, eternally free, of the very nature of ananda, was to him a myth. He had no awareness of Reality. He took the unreal to be the real and allowed it to affect him in such a terrible way-weeping and wailing, profuse tears flowing out of his eyes, throat choked with emotion.

In an instant, the great World Teacher, Lord Krishna, recognised the situation, the source of his delusion. He thought within Himself: "I must give him the right knowledge. I must make him aware of what he is. I must bring about an eradication of this state of ignorance, of this ajnana and avidya." And so the first sentence He speaks is: "You need to get rid of this ignorance. You are speaking wisely, but you are in a state of ignorance. You are speaking apparently very wise words, but you are doing something very foolish. You are grieving for that which should not be grieved for."

Therefore, right at the very commencement, Lord Krishna diagnoses Arjuna's state as being due to ignorance, to a lack of vidya, a lack of jnana, a lack of a proper perspective of what is real and what is unreal, what is sat and what is asat. Arjuna is taking the unreal for the real and allowing himself to be terribly affected by it. He has forgotten his own reality. If only he had a glimpse of it, he would never succumb to such a mood, such an abject state.

Therefore, Krishna begins by telling Arjuna what he really is. He starts by telling him: "Your delusion is because you are thinking that these beings in front of you are perishable, that they can be killed, they can die, that you will destroy them and create anartha, great chaos. Let Me tell you, never were these beings ever not. Neither you, nor I, nor these beings were ever non-existent at any period of time. We have always been. And never shall we be non-existent at any time in the future.

"We shall always continue to be, because we are eternal; we are beginningless and endless, eternal and imperishable. That is what we are, you and Me and all these beings. So give up this deluded notion that anyone is being killed or that anyone is killing. Who can kill whom? It is ignorance. Those who do not know the reality of things, the truth about being, existence, they alone think someone is killing and someone is being killed.

"All these beings are eternal sparks of Divinity. Bodies come and go. Just as a person casting aside worn-out garments takes on new ones, even so the dweller within the body casts aside a worn-out body and takes on a new one. What reason is there to grieve? It is a transition. We close our eyes in death for a little while and then wake up into a new life. So why upset yourself in this manner?"

Thus, in ever so many ways, He brings home to Arjuna the central truth of Vedanta-the immortality of the inner Spirit, the imperishable nature of the atma tattva. It is avinasi (indestructible). Nothing can happen to It. It can never be put out of existence.

Arjuna asks many questions. All the questions are answered and his doubts are cleared. Again and again the necessity of being firmly established in this knowledge, if one really wants to succeed in life, is brought home. Otherwise one will be at the mercy of every little passing experience that afflicts one. Experiences descend like waves battering someone who is trying to swim across a storm-tossed ocean. This is inevitable. This is the world of dvandvas (the pairs of opposites) and ever-varying experiences. The pairs of opposites are always there. If there is day, there is night also. If there is joy, there is also sorrow. If there is pleasure, there is also pain. If there is success, there is also failure. It is inevitable. Face them boldly. They cannot touch you or afflict you. You are the ever-stable, never-changing atma tattva.

One who has thus realised, who has become established in this inner state, him nothing can touch. Not all the afflictions in the world can touch that being. Be in that state, ever serene, ever untouched, ever calm, ever stable!

Only such a being, who has become firmly established in the truth of his eternal, imperishable nature, only such a being is a truly successful person in life. He has already attained victory over life. Life cannot devastate that person. Life cannot shake up, agitate, confuse or delude him. Life can come and go; he will remain ever stable, like a rock, knowing that all things are passing except the Self within.

Everything here is perishable, evanescent, transitory, subject to decay and dissolution. The being who has seen this realises the pettiness of all desire, the uselessness of all things, the foolishness of running after pieces of glass when a priceless diamond is his birthright. Those who do not realise this take the unreal for the real. And mystics have very strong words to say about them: "A great wonder it is in this world of men, that discarding the life-giving nectar of immortality, the very ambrosia, they are running after poison which brings about death. They throw away a priceless jewel for the sake of a piece of glass. Wonder of wonders!"

When this folly of running after these petty, perishable things dawns upon a person of deep reflection, then that person clearly sees that his foolishness is no good. He feels: "This does not become me who am an amsa (part) of Isvara, Who is the very form of absolute knowledge, wisdom consciousness, jnana svarupa isvara."

When we are the essence of, part and parcel of that Knowledge-Bliss Absolute, how dare we manifest ignorance in our life? How shameful, how ignoble, how pitiable it is! Whatever mistakes and follies that we might have, in ignorance, committed are past and gone. We should once and for all forget them. We should now firmly resolve not to commit them in the future. We should endeavour to be always alert, awake and vigilant at every step, at every moment, at all times and in all circumstances. We should endeavour to keep ourselves armed with discrimination and sublime thoughts.

Excerpts from: Arjuna’s Delusion - The Gita Vision by Sri Swami Chidananda

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