Guidance from the Gita (Epics) for a Spiritual
Seeker
Divine Life
Society Publication: Difficulties of a Spiritual Seeker – The Ascent of
the Spirit by Swami Krishnananda
The Mahabharata and the
Bhagavadgita are the grand epic illustrations of the problems of a spiritual
seeker and of the ways of confronting them and solving them once and for all.
The Adi-Parva of the Mahabharata represents the condition of the seed in which
form the spiritual tendencies and powers lie latent and, having sprung up from
the seed, remain like tender children requiring great protection, care and
nurturing. The children grow up in a nebulous atmosphere of hope and insecurity
mixed up in a confused proportion and they are not quite confident of the
nature of their surroundings and the precise character of their future.
In the Sabha-Parva the aspect
of hope seems to be in a condition of jubilant fulfilment, and everything looks
secure, fine and grand. This is exactly the stage of the spiritual seeker and
the condition of tremendous enthusiasm and positivity, when he enters the sylvan
surroundings of holy seclusion or the rigorous atmosphere of a monastery in
which he expects to live the sublime life of contemplation on God. But there is
a sting attached to the end of the Sabha-Parva which turns all the glory of
initial enthusiasm into an anti-climax of utter suffering, and we find the
Pandava brothers getting into the clutches of a deceptive dice game and being
banished into the woods to find their fate in a wretchedness which would beggar
description.
And here we are in the Aranya-Parva.
Such is the sorry state of affairs now that even at the end of the period of
exile there is a need to live incognito for a time, lest the unfriendly forces
should wreak vengeance upon the audacious goodness of a noble aspiration which
is so offensive to the philistine world of social hypocrisy. So goes the
Virata-Parva. But truth triumphs, goodness ultimately succeeds, and the power
of virtue commands the admiration and attracts the attention of even the gods.
There is a turn of events suddenly, and in the midst of the worst of sufferings
promises come from mighty potentialities of the divine government, that things
are not so bad as they have appeared up to this time. Great energies get
gathered up, and sympathy and support come from all sides. Not only such
celestials as Indra but invincible heroes like Sri Krishna offer to join the
forces of virtue and aspiration in their battle against the opposing elements
of egoism, greed, lust and wrath, the powers earthly and the instincts
undivine.
The Udyoga-Parva describes the
assembly of powerful and undaunted friends of the Pandavas deliberating over
the courses of future action. This is the most complex among the eighteen
Sections of the Mahabharata, wherein we have a portrayal of colourful dramatic
scenes that are enacted prior to the commencement of the sanguinary war with
the forces of Nature which, in the vehemence of their asserting the beauty and
joy of a real diversity of values and the meaningfulness seen in sensory
contact and the physical possession of earthly goods, attempt to destroy the
diviner powers that are struggling to tend towards an ultimate unity of life.
It is here that there is the picture of a beautiful blend of human effort and
divine grace, and the rising of a confidence that success is perhaps a
possibility. God himself takes the responsibility of seeing that the needful is
done in the matter of the protection of the forces of divine aspiration and
virtue, and we have in the Udyoga-Parva a description of the majestic event of
such a superhuman character as Sri Krishna himself undertaking the task of
going on a peace mission to the assembly of the Kauravas. Not only that; the
dread power of God is visibly demonstrated as being there behind the powers of
goodness, virtue and aspiration, when the occasion arose for Sri Krishna to
exhibit his cosmic form.
The actual battle, however,
commences in the Bhishma-Parva, where, at the very beginning of the battle that
was to ensue, there is a surprising description of an astonishing attitude
which Arjuna reveals, quite contrary to the heroic preparations made earlier
for the fierce battle that was regarded as unavoidable.
This condition is precisely
the initial stage of actual spiritual practice—a sudden dampening of fervour, a
mixing up of emotions and a totally unexpected persistence of the seeker in
misconstruing all values and putting the cart before the horse, thus attempting
to turn upside down all the logic and ethics of that earlier occasion when it
was thought with great wisdom that there was an inescapable significance and
meaning in embarking upon the adventure of a war. What follows is the gospel of
the Bhagavadgita pronounced in eighteen Chapters representing the stages of the
ascent of the soul in its spiral movement towards the Absolute.
In the war of the spirit it is
not merely the forces of obvious evil, such as Duryodhana and his henchmen that
are to be faced and overcome, but also traditional law and ethics embodied in
Bhishma, though the oldest and the most venerable for everyone equally;
efficiency and learning going hand in hand with unscrupulousness adumbrated in
the personality of Drona, though extremely powerful and helpful; and
misdirected friendship and fraternal feeling as pictured in the figure of karna,
though immensely cooperative and a dependable source of awful strength. All
these good things, dear things, valuable things and sacred things have to be
sacrificed at the flaming altar of soul’s allegiance with and surrender to the
cause of the ultimate Goal of life. And in this awe-inspiring, heart-rending
and terrific war of the Spirit waged for the establishment of Truth and
Righteousness, the silent helping hand of God is seen to be vigorously active
right till the end, when the war is finally won, all which are some of the
beautiful scenes painted through the Chapters of the Mahabharata.
Continue to read:
Difficulties of a Spiritual Seeker – The Ascent of
the Spirit by Swami Krishnananda
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