The Shrimad Bhagavad Gita is a dialogue between the Guru and the Shishya (disciple). It is an ideal of educational conversation. Arjuna’s questions have made Gita comprehensive. In education system, there are three basic principles of pedagogy or Educational Methodology – ‘Near to Far’, ‘Known to unknown’ and ‘subtle to gross’. The student should be provided education about what is close to him, before imparting the education about matters related to the distant. The range has to be gradually increased in this order and finally we can reach the level of the entire existence and the universe. The second principle is that the spectrum of knowledge from the known to the unknown should be used as a basis for gradual acquisition of knowledge. The third principle of education is to proceed from the subtle to the gross. These basic principles are not being followed in the present system of education. This is the cause of the education becoming dry, weary and complicated. We cannot develop Sookshma Prajna (subtle insight) by teaching the laws of the gross, materialistic world. It will become easy for us to understand the characteristics of the gross after assimilating the subtle thoughts and their subsequent reflections and discussions.
The Method Explained
Bhagwan Sri Krishna elucidates this method in the Bhagavad Gita. He challenges the Kshatriya Dharma of Arjuna by impugning his grieved state. He touches the topic which is closest to the heart of Arjuna and advises him, not to succumb to the state of unmanliness as it does not befit him. Shri Krishna refers to topics like Swarga (heaven) and Keerti (reputation) and admonishes Arjuna for his un-heavenly and disgraceful behaviour. He meant that the action of Arjuna would keep him away from heaven as well as bring ignominy to him.
Due to the onslaught on his grief-struck mind, Arjuna recognises the cowardice brewing in his mind. As a result of the parochial nature of his mental state, he could detect the sorrow and cowardice overwhelming his mind. Earlier in the first chapter, Arjuna not only supports his escapism but also ennobles it. He justifies it being in accordance with Dharma. The intellectual hypocrisy of Arjuna crumbles after the assailing treatment by Shri Krishna and his mind craves for the acceptance of the truth.
The voice which always points out our flaws, is eternally alive within us. It always points out all our weaknesses. However, we ignore it as we are overwhelmed with our conceit
The first step in the direction of disciplehood is the readiness of the mind to accept the truth. “kārpaṇyadoṣopahatasvabhāvaḥ pṛcchāmi tvāṃ dharmasaṃmūḍhacetāḥ 112.711” Meaning, the mind which has become afflicted with the guilt consciousness of cowardice has gotten deluded about what is dharma and what is adharma; I cannot understand the difference between the two and so I am asking you.
The voice which always points out our flaws, is eternally alive within us. It always points out all our weaknesses. However, we ignore it as we are overwhelmed with our conceit. The mind gradually gets into the habit of justifying all our inanities and ennobling our habits. It develops into a psychological complex and gradually evolves as our ‘alter ego’. If any friend or well-wisher brings that to our attention, we feel insulted. The mind cannot accept any exhortation as long as that knot is not untied. It can only be done in the presence of the Guru. The Guru introduces us to our knots. But only we have to loosen and untie them. An experiment in the form of a game played by children in the camps, makes this matter clear. A child is told to close his fist, while another is told to open it. In spite of trying very hard, the child cannot open the fists of the other person. Then the instructor says that he would utter a mantra and the fist would automatically open. The teacher says something in the ear of the student and his fist opens in the very next attempt. Everyone gets surprised as to what mantra it is. The mantra given by the teacher is simply that ‘When he tries to open your fist, you open it’. The lesson conveyed through the game is that as yourself long we do not desire, no other person can open our fist.
Understanding Gita By Being Arjuna
The knots of the mind are like that. They cannot be opened by the efforts of some other person. They have to be gently opened by us. After Arjuna becomes the disciple of Bhagwan Krishna, he is blessed with the vision of His Universal form, which is the subtlest knowledge in the world. The message of the Gita starts with the immortality of the Self while its final objective was to inspire Arjuna for performing his Karma and duties. Shri Krishna commences his elucidation with the most subtle knowledge about the immortal, eternal self so that Arjuna finally acquires the knowledge of the most gross duty of fighting the fierce battle. This is the best method of teaching.
Nowadays, we have regarded the subtlest knowledge as belonging to the domain of spiritualism and are distancing education from it. The syllabi have become completely mundane, in the name of practicality. But efficient behaviour is possible only after understanding the subtlest knowledge.
Arjuna was not ready to proceed on the path of his duty even after listening to the logical exhortations about Jnana (knowledge), Bhakti (devotion), Karma (action) and the highly sublime Raja Yoga (Mental Control). He asks numerous questions which are beautifully answered by Shri Krishna but finds himself incapable of forsaking his attachment. Then Bhagwan Krishna blesses him with a vision of his cosmic form. Only the vision of cosmic form dispels all the doubts. This is the final knowledge. The Gita gives true message of dedication to the Virat (cosmic form). Arjuna gets not only dumbfounded but also terrified by this cosmic vision. Arjuna, with folded hands tells Shri Krishna, ”I used to regard you as my friend and due to the lack of knowledge, did not behave properly with you”.
This friendly affinity was in fact the foundation of Arjuna’s disciplehood. Krishna is our friend also. When we recognise him as our friend, he blesses us with a vision of His cosmic form. We shall be able to discern the sacredness present in each particle and the immanent divinity in every creature. This will enable us to march fearlessly on the path of our duty.
Bhagwan Shri Krishna is a very versatile character and it is not very simple to comprehend his life play (Jeevan Leela). Hence, in many cases, it is most misunderstood avatar of Shri Vishnu. To know the essence of Bhagavad Gita, there is no need to try to get into the mind of Shri Krishna. In fact, we need to get into Arjuna mode and give up our fears and mental blocks at the lotus feet of the universal guide (Jagadguru) Bhagwan Shri Krishna. Being Arjuna entails untying the emotional knots. The ego centric thinking creates suppression of feeling leading to various frustrations. To attain disciplehood, one needs to surrender this ego to the Guru. Submission of the root cause ‘ego’ is beginning of untying of the knots. Then Gita is born. Therefore, Gita Jayanti is the celebration of disciples rather than the Guru. On the auspicious occasion of Gita Jayanti, come, let us untie the knots of our mind and become the disciple as well as the friend of Bhagwan Krishna.
