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> The essence of the Bhagavad-Gita is found in my signature below.
> Remember, the Gita is a process, not a book. Follow His directions,
and
> eventually find yourself in His presence. Your sincerity is the price
of
> admission into the miraculous.
> Guru Gary
> "Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall
> deliver you from all sinful reaction. Do not fear." - God,
Bhagavad-Gita
Dear Gary:
I agree with your statement that "Gita is a process and not a book."
Faith and intuition are fundamental ingredients for any religion and Gita
is no exception. The quoted verse in the signature of your posting is
one of the most admired verses in Gita (Chapter 18, Verse 66). Ramanuja
and Sankara have given great importance to this verse though they have
interpreted differently! The verse in Sanskrit is as follows:
Sarvadharmaan parityajya maamekam sharanam vraja
Aham tvaa sarvapaapebhyo mokshayishyaami maa shuchah
The word "Sarvadharmaan" is a complex word and the exact English
translation is almost impossible. Dharma can mean religion, duty, logic,
notions, traditions, ethics, faith, laws, right, good, etc. Sarva means
all-inclusive or absolute and the complex word "Sarvadharman" can mean
all-religions, all-duties, all-logic, all-notions, all-traditions,
all-ethics, all-laws, all-faith, and all-laws. Alternatively
"Sarvadharman" implies all preconceived ideas about religion, logic,
notions, traditions, ethics, faith, laws etc. Understanding the
traditions of the society during the Mahabharat time is essential for us.
What are the notions of Dharma during Mahabharat period? The war
between Pandavas and Kauravas is a symbolic war between dharma and
adharma respectively. The war did not disturb Dhryodhana whereas Arjuna
was worried and depressed.
Arjuna thought that killing his cousins, grandfather, other
relatives, teachers and friends were a great sin and he was not ready to
face the war. Training the citizens from childhood maintained the social
law and order on high morals. Dhryodhana, the prince was an exception to
this Dharmic society. The king Dhrtarashtra due to great attachment for
his son Dhryodhana has ignored the advice given by Bhishmar, Vidurar and
Dhronar. The trained citizens of the society with high moral values
couldn't act against the will of the king. The question, why does a
citizen with high moral values obey the king when the king asks the
citizen to commit a sin? When the citizen disobeys the king, he (she)
commits a sin according to the moral principles of that time.
Apparently, some sins are preferable to other sins! Dharma in this
context is relative and not absolute. Arjun who was well trained in
Dharmic values was hesitant and fearful to fight and kill his teachers,
cousins, other relatives and friends. Lord Krishna in this verse gave an
assurance to Arjun that he will fully forgive his sins when he develops
an attitude that he is just a messenger of God. Total surrender of one's
ego is necessary to remove the illusive plurality created by the monkey
mind.
The human heart has just enough space for either ego or divinity.
With the presence of ego, divinity vacates the human heart. All notions
of dharma and adharma, good and bad and joy and sorrow erupt in human
mind. When we surrender our ego, divinity reenters our heart and all
notions including the sin disappear. No human action is ever possible
without the direction from the total consciousness and ego is the
suppressor of this fundamental truth. When divinity fully occupies the
human heart, religion, sin and action are all abandoned! Ramanuja will
argue that the grace of God grants the unity between the Atman and
Brahman. Sankara on the other hand will argue that shredding the ego is
possible with the efforts of the human being and the human can attain
unity with the divinity. In Sankara's farmwork, all efforts of human
beings come from only one source - The Brahman. These two great masters
of Vedanta have understood that only one fundamental source of energy
controls all real and imaginary movements of this universe!
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