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When Moral values fail
Dear Friends:
Moral values are part of dharma, ideas that continues to hold our
society together. But they are made up by men and women, tailored to the
convenience of a particular society. Among various societies, they vary
somewhat, consequently, on particular issues, one moral issue in one
society can be regarded as a meaningless non-issue or even immoral in
another society. Sometimes, moral values are unable to provide a person
the direction to go.
Arjuna was in such a situation. His moral values failed him, left
him clueless, at the start of the battle of Kurukshetra. He was utterly
confused and wanted Sri Krishna to tell him the one true moral law so
that he could take a decisive action on the situation at hand. Instead,
Sri Krishna proceeded to tell him about Sprituality. Why did He do that?
Because, Divine law is imperishable, and any moral principle must be
formatted from that fabric. Let us take an example from the US
constitution. It says that all men are created equal and thus are free.
This clearly is no ordinary moral idea, and it is also found in the Srimad
Bhagavad Gita. For example,
vidyAvinayasampanne brAhmaNe gavi hastini
shuni chaiva shvapAke cha panditAH samadarshinaH. 5.18
This moral law of asking to see everyone to be Same is imperishable, for
it is grounded in Spiritual experience. I believe that this is also the
reason why Sri Krishna instead went on to describe Spirituality to Arjuna,
for Arjuna needed to know the Divine Will to break out of the moral logjam.
It may be that whenever we are faced with a moral logjam, it would be a
sure sign of Divine plan in action (Daiva), and it would be the time to
seek guidance either from Self or from a Self-realized person.
Another example of overwhelming moral dilemma in the SBG is when God said
that even the worst offender should be considered a sAdhu as soon as he
surrenders to the Divine (SBG 9.30), despite the usual 'moral'
observation of such people (SBG 7.15). In this case, superficial
adherence to morality (the pragmatic view, that is championed by the
popular media) will not suffice, because it does not conform to Divine
Will, elaborated as 'Surrender to Me, do not worry, I will deliver you from
all sins (SBG 18.66).
In summary, moral values must be grounded in Spiritual experience.
With best regards,
Dhruba.
