32. Why So Serious?

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Have you ever wondered why Bhagavadgita is not read by majority of the population even after being accepted to be the most sacred, most important scripture? No Hindu would deny the importance of this text, but strangely he does not open this book and read the contents. He will get upset and defend if someone talks lightly about Gita, but he has no idea what is in the book. Weird! We are possessive and protective about something without knowing what is in it. “It does not matter to me what is in the book, but I shall fight against anyone who talks bad about it. After all Krishna preached it and Krishna is God”. Can we call this as unconditional faith and surrender? Nah! This is laziness and slumber. Extremes look similar – we already saw several times. We only want to use the Gita to quench our thirst of quarrel. Religion has only become a pretext for us to hate someone, not expand the feeling of love and devotion.

But then again, many do try to read. They read a few pages perhaps, and then give up. It seems boring. All big big words. If the scriptures are so important, then they should be interesting. Why are they so dull and colorless? There may be several reasons for this.

First of all, we picture it artificially. Because of that, we have lost sight of the reality of that great event. For example, just look at the following goof. There is this question “How could Krishna preach Bhagavadgita in the battlefield? Was there enough time to preach so much?” And the wise men give so many explanations. Some say “Krishna only preached a little, Vyasa wrote it in detail”. And some even go to the extent of saying “Time stopped when Krishna preached the Gita. Everything became still”. Wah! How intelligent, but how absurd! And by telling all this cock and bull stories we have pushed Gita away from reality and thus from our hearts.

Ok then what could be the answer to this? Well, it is simple common sense. Suppose you go to a hotel with your friends. How long do you think you will take to settle down and place the order? 15 minutes at a minimum, isn’t it? So, if 5 people take so much time to settle down for a simple activity of having food, how much time do you think two huge armies (of millions) will take to settle down on the battle field and arrange themselves in formations? And that too on the first day of the battle? Won’t it require at least a few hours? Do you think all soldiers came and stood in a line like zombies holding a sword in their hands at sharp 7 AM in the morning? (this is how they show in the TV serials) Just imagine the reality of the situation! Thousands of soldiers, chariots, horses, elephants were being managed and arranged. How much time would both the armies require to settle down? 2-3 hours at least?

And how much time is required to cover 700 shlokas of the Gita? Krishna didn’t sing the shlokas, he was talking. He didn’t go “Laa la laaa laaa” like a rhyme (like how we chant today). If we do “Laa la laaa laaa” and chant, still we can easily chant 40-50 shlokas in 15 minutes i.e. around 200 in one hour. So, Krishna, with normal talking, in one hour would have easily covered the contents of 350-400 shlokas. So, the entire event of Gita can comfortably take place within 2 hours time, at the most. Isn’t this simple common sense? Do we require the time to stop for such a silly thing!

So, even for the incidence of the event of the Gita, we have such irrational explanations. Then how can we possibly see rationale in the content of it?!

Secondly, we do not identify ourselves with Arjuna (he is actually our representative). We do not become one with the reality of the situation that he was in. So, the first chapter itself becomes boring. It is not just about understanding “Oh, he saw Bhishma, Drona in enemy’s side, so he went into despondency”. But it is about realizing that we undergo this type of despondency several times in our lives, even for simple things.

Remember your school-day function. It is a big function and suppose you have accepted the duty of giving a small speech (say, welcome address). You yourself accepted the duty and you know that thousands will be watching you. But now you are trembling with stage-fear. Before your speech, every moment you are spending restlessly. You probably look at the illiterate sweeper woman who is peacefully sitting behind the stage and munching some snack, least bothered about the seriousness of the function. ‘So nice it would have been to be in her position, without any worries’ you think ‘Oh, who needs this school day function? It would have been so nice to just stay at home and watch some movie peacefully’. These types of thoughts go on and on in your mind. And finally the program begins, and you go to the stage to give the welcome address. Once you start speaking, you start feeling a little comfortable. With little nervousness and little excitement, somehow you finish the job and then leave the stage. PHEW. What a relief. And now, school-day suddenly transforms into a fun-filled function for you. You watch and enjoy the various events, receive a prize or two, get praised by some for your welcome address and so on. You no more think of school-day as a miserable activity. You no more think about being in the position of that sweeper lady. Where has your Vairagya gone now?

Well, this is very similar to what Arjuna went through. He knows all the facts beforehand. He knows that it is fight for justice and that he has accepted to fight voluntarily. He is a Kshatriya and he knows that fighting is in his blood. He also knows, well before the war, that Bhishma, Drona would be on the enemy’s side. But in that last moment, a fake despondency. ‘Oh how nice it would be to just sit in a forest and meditate? Who wants all this tedious fighting business?’. He says ‘It would be better to beg instead of fighting’! Just like our school-day despondency, this is very transient and it will not stay for long. If someone had told us ‘Ok, give me the speech, I will deliver it, you do not worry’, do you think we will be happy later for doing that? We will go into more despondency! Similarly, Arjuna would have only become more dejected later if he had gone back because of this last moment weakness.

‘Oh, who wants these family problems. It would have been so nice to be a bachelor’, ‘Oh, I have a presentation in front of the clients. It would have been so nice to be just a simple programmer instead of a project leader’ – we will have some or the other type of ‘escapist’ thoughts coming to us very regularly. And they are all fake – because if you follow them, you will go into more dejection. And secondly, once you taste success, all such thoughts are no more. So, they come only when you have to face a challenge, but totally vanish when all is well. It is not genuine Vairagya (detachment). It is Tamasik, not Sattvik. Symptoms are same, but reasons are a world apart. Genuine Vairagya will remain, irrespective of whether you are in problems or comfort. So, Arjuna had gone into a fake Vairagya when he said ‘I will go to a forest and meditate’. If he did go to a forest, all the while he would have only been thinking about Kurukshetra, not God. Same as how, if we, by chance, follow our escapist thoughts, will only be restless thinking about the job that we left incomplete, rather than being peaceful.

Thirdly, we forget the context of the Gita. It becomes evident from Arjuna’s questions and Krishna’s answers that during the time of the Mahabharata, the essence of Yoga and Spirituality were totally lost. Arjuna repeatedly says ‘You are confusing me. You say Jnana is great, but at the same time you are asking me to perform this horrible activity of war’. He, like most of us, thinks that Jnana marga means simply sitting and not doing anything. He thinks it has nothing to do with our day to day life. He seems to believe that Jnana = ‘no activity’ and Karma = ‘activity’. That’s why he asks ‘If Jnana is great, why should I follow Karma’! Because, he is desperately trying to follow his version of Jnana Yoga – running away and sitting in a forest. Same as how some of us may think. Arjuna was a highly qualified King and he does not have a clear picture of spirituality! Then what to speak of the common man of those times? This situation is also very similar today. There are scholars, no doubt, but how many have realization of the truths of the scriptures? Most of them are only busy arguing over Samskrita grammar.

The first time when Arjuna asks (beginning of 3^rd chapter) this question, Krishna says there are two approaches – Saankhya and Karma – both of which lead to the same goal. And since Arjuna’s need was Karma, he explains from the perspective of Karma. And Krishna’s answer is such a common reply – “If you just withhold activities of your limbs and sit still, you will not become a Jnana Yogi. You will continue to munch inside your mind and you will become a hypocrite”. Is there anything mysterious in this answer? Perhaps, even we would have given this reply to Arjuna! After that, Krishna goes on praising ‘Jnana’ and it goes on till the end of 4^th chapter.

In the beginning of 5^th chapter, Arjuna is back at square one (again, like us) – “If you praise Karma Sanyasa, why are making me perform Karma?” (again trying to runaway in the name of Sanyasa). He again fails to see that ‘Jnana’, ‘Sanyasa’ is a common backdrop for both paths. Once there is detachment, it does not matter what path we are in – active in the world, or contemplating in the forest. It depends on individual person’s Swadharma. So, Krishna clearly says “Only fools think that Saankhya and Karma are different paths. But both lead to the same end”. And since Arjuna was demanding a clear cut answer as to which one is better for him, Krishna says ‘Karma Yoga’ is better for Arjuna. Although Krishna answers this way, all the while he emphasizes the basis for both the paths - Jnana. Since, Arjuna’s definition of activity and non-activity was very narrow, Krishna makes phrases like “Action in non-action and non-action in action”. That means, a Jnani seemingly not doing anything is actually running the whole show of the dream, whereas a seemingly active person in Ajnana is actually only a puppet and is not doing anything.

In the beginning of 8^th chapter, Arjuna’s question is highly shocking. A King, a well educated man of the times asks “What is Brahma? What is Adhyatma? What is Karma? What is Adhi-Daiva and Adhi-Bhuta?” If Krishna was in front of us today, won’t we ask these question as well? Doesn’t it become clear that Arjuna is just our representative?

The second chapter of the Gita, which is the longest of all except for the concluding chapter, is supposed to be the end of the Gita. Krishna briefly covers everything – like a synopsis – in the chapter. But since Arjuna goes on getting confused, Krishna goes on clarifying in detail in the later chapters. In second chapter, we can notice one funny thing about Arjuna. While explaining Saankhya yoga, Krishna mentions ‘Sthitaprajna’ (Jnani). And then, Arjuna asks Krishna “What are the characteristics of a Sthistaprajna? How does he talk and interact?”. Oh my God! Throughout his life he has been with Krishna, a perfect Jnani, and Arjuna asks Krishna himself this question! Idiot! Isn’t it? He is again simply meant to represent us. We, being the perfect consciousness of the Self, want to ‘know’ the characteristics of consciousness! And we want to make it a subject of learning.

This way, the whole of Gita is just a simple philosophical conversation. Not some drama scene with a serious background music. God alone knows how many soldiers, horses and elephants were running around their chariot when they were discussing. If you had a serious spiritual discussion with a friend in a bus-stop, the scene is serious only for you. Not others. Others will not say “Oh he is discussing something spiritual, let me not go near”. Who will care? Everything around you will go on normally.

Perhaps, we can read Gita much peacefully and with a sense of reality, if we read it with this attitude. Then we will be able to read it with more of common sense than with prejudice and artificial seriousness. It will then become close to our heart, our true Self.

After all, Krishna begins the teachings with a mocking smile! (Gita – 2.10) So, why so Serious?