Mahabharat and Ramayan are stories that have fascinated me for a very long time. But the numerous characters involved in the stories along with the multiple, interlinked stories have stopped me from picking up literature related to either of these and just read to get to know them better. I, of course, like any other kid from my generation (!), used to watch these on the telly every other Sunday along with ‘Stone Boy’ and ‘Giant Robot’ and ‘He-Man’. I enjoyed Ravan as much as Skeletor and Ram as much as He-Man and Hanuman as much as Orko as I tried to keep pace with the battle between families and the exile of Ram and the pursuit of Sita.
I’m sure most of us, at one time or another at Dadar station, have come across this bunch of people (who, I think are from ISKCON) selling the ‘Bhagavad-Gita As It Is’. Although tempted to buy, having this latent desire to get myself familiar with the two epic stories of our time, I have resisted consistently knowing that it would be relegated to one corner of my bookshelf. But recently, I thought of writing something about either of these and I happened to notice a copy of the above mentioned book at a friend’s house. So, I picked it up and rifled through it, the result of which is the following:
The Bhagavad-Gita is divided into Chapters with each Chapter having these Texts. I don’t know why I chose this particular Chapter and these Texts to write about. They were among the first things I came across and I didn’t go any further because I immediately found it relevant considering how the world functions and because of the phase I am in – a struggle between a desire to earn money and revel in luxuries and a desire to do something that leaves one with not so much money as satisfaction.
CHAPTER SEVEN:
Knowledge of the absolute
Lord Krsna is the Supreme Truth, the supreme cause and sustaining force of everything, both material and spiritual. Advanced souls surrender unto Him in devotion, whereas impious souls divert their minds to other objects of worship.
Text 20: (Translation)
Those whose intelligence has been stolen by material desires surrender unto demigods and follow the particular rules and regulations according to their own natures.
My interpretation:
Being the sensual creatures of luxury that we are, we have elevated money, power, lust, etc to demigod statuses. We worship them. We pursue them relentlessly. The pursuit never ends for we also fall prey to comparison. We compare ourselves constantly which only eggs us on even more, not unlike a drug addict, who needs a bigger and bigger fix every time to achieve the same high as he or she did the first time. And we are often blinded by this all consuming desire to get more and more. Governed by this new rule of desire, as ordained by these demigods, common sense takes a back seat and we become savages.
Text 21: (Translation)
I am in everyone’s heart as the Supersoul. As soon as one desires to worship some demigod, I make his faith steady so that he can devote himself to that particular deity.
My interpretation:
Of course, like Krsna says, each of us is blessed with faith: an inherent capability for unwavering focus, attention and devotion. We continue to pursue these demigods as if it were programmed into us, which, in a way it is, by society, by family, by peers, etc. We worship these demigods because we are taught to. We devote ourselves to a demigod or gods of our choice.
Text 22: (Translation)
Endowed with such a faith, he endeavours to worship a particular demigod and obtain his desires. But in actuality these benefits are bestowed by Me alone.
My interpretation:
Our ability to persevere lets us chase them without letting up, believing that they will bring us much happiness and satisfaction; believing that more money will make us happy not realizing that we become more and more fearful; believing that power will bring us love and respect not realizing that we make enemies and incur hatred, jealousy and envy; assuming our actions will have no dire consequences and giving into lust and suffering from guilt. Not realizing that while we worship these demigods, the happiness and satisfaction we seek as a boon, are often obtained from the simplest of things.
Text 23: (Translation)
Men of small intelligence worship the demigods and their fruits are limited and temporary. Those who worship the demigods go to the planets of the demigods, but My devotees ultimately reach My supreme planet.
My interpretation:
Blinded by gratification, that is an almost immediate consequence, we chase. But there is only so much we can do once we acquire wealth, power, etc. The euphoria of achievement is short-lived. The feeling reaches a plateau, once again making us victims of the desire to seek immediate gratification, pulling us yet again into the cycle of worshipping these addictive demigods whose boons are miserably ephemeral.
Like automatons, millions of us wake up and follow the same routines everyday for the same results not understanding that these are not the only things that we should be pursuing and that the happiness and peace of mind we are looking for are not going to be achieved by putting in 100 working hours per week and taking home a huge salary. And we wait, wondering why our quests are not returning any satisfactory answers.
