Twinn Swan

Sri Krishna–as a true Guru and as a true teacher–fully understood Arjuna’s mental debilities and intellectual incompetencies at the particularly momentous moment right before the Kurukshetra War. Just before the war is about to commence, Sri Krishna calls Arjuna to take action. But by the end, Sri Krishna counsels Arjuna towards the renunciation of action. Each stage of our lives requires a different medicine. What worked yesterday will not work today let alone tomorrow.

Activities in the outer world, no matter how necessary or noble they may be in their motivations, will undoubtedly leave emotional wounds and mental scars within the psyche of the person who has done (or not done) them. To mitigate the karma-phala–the fruits of those actions–and to soothe the mental afflictions and maladies that arise from our actions; methods of maintaining peace, tranquility and the quietude of the mind are discussed in the Bhagavad Gita.

Renunciation

In the Holy Gita, the path of renunciation is explained in a two-fold manner. Firstly, vis-a-vis our sense of agency (I, Me, Mine). We must surrender, release and let go of all possessiveness and hoarding. Secondly, we must overcome the restlessness and the anxieties that arise out of our obsessions and preoccupations with the fruits of our actions. By renouncing our agency and the fruits of our actions, we release ourselves from the vasana bondages which shackle our personality as we go about performing those very same activities.

One who faithfully and verily follows the technique expounded upon by Lord Krishna—and who develops his or her mind accordingly–will learn how to bring both the stagnant and the unruly mind aspects of the mind under the will of its determined charioteer. It is through this process and this journey that we finally give up all our weaknesses and positively grow into a healthier and more potent life of virtue and unparalleled strength.

It is only through meditation that that which was once a pipe dream becomes a living breathing reality.

Let a man lift himself by his own Self alone, and let him not lower himself; for, this Self alone is the friend of oneself, and this Self is the enemy of oneself. (6:5)

The Holy Geeta by Swami Chinmayananda

The lower mind is the Satanic saboteur that enchants and allures us away from our Divinity. When we chase after our lower desires, the mind becomes enslaved to the flesh. We end up needlessly hankering after external objects that only ever bring us temporal and brittle satisfaction. When our mind is under conditioning or affliction, it is seized by the lower desire.

But when the lower mind is brought into union with the intellect, the higher mind naturally begins to manifest. It is through the power of the intellect that the lower desires are brought under discipline and made to attune with the Divinity that resides within.

Lord Krsna

If we are stuck in a repetitive cycle, Sri Krsna is the charioteer who can lead us away and out of this repetitive cycle. The imagery of the chariot is, undoubtedly, a powerful one. The fact that Arjuna is unable to move symbolises the stuck mindset that he must get out of. Similar to Arjuna, if any of us are feeling trapped, the only way forward is to actually overcome what bound us in the first place. We must move forward. We cannot stay stuck. Action is required.

The lower self must be trained to slowly and steadily accept and come under the influence and the discipline of the higher self. During this process, the Guru, the scriptures and the places of worship will all undoubtedly play both a significant and limited role in your life.

At the end of the day, the actuality of whether we reach this higher state–this higher ideal of perfection–depends on how far we ourselves learn to haul ourselves out of our karmic and ancestral patterns. The lower desire within can raise itself and be enlightened to the ideal of the higher desire.

First and foremost, however, we must admit and realise our own weaknesses. We must wholly reject the false (the lower desire) and assert the truth (the higher desire). We should endeavour, as best we can, to the higher way of life. Once the period and process of introspection is over, we must annihilate our weaknesses and substitute them with new strengths. We must make sure that we never revert back to all the lower desires that we have so painstakingly destroyed.

Choosing to either condemn or or bless others based on scriptural injunctions has no merit. The help and the guidance to haul ourselves out of our own vasaras is always available to us. It all depends on whether or not we choose to make use of them or… go back to our good old ways knowing that they were never good at all.

The Madness of Emotional Repressions

An unhealthy mind is susceptible to a whole host of psychological diseases. When our mental strength is weak, it becomes susceptible to various temptations. Weakened in its overall constitution, it becomes a victim of various contagions. Unhealthy does not mean uneducated.

There are many moments in our lives when we knowingly choose to suppress our emotions. But most of the time, this process is subconscious. In turn, these repressed emotions accumulate a backlog of pending energy and momentum. If they remain unexpressed, they will later emerge to destroy the person.

Modern psychology is replete with case studies that describe to us the dreadful results of suppression and repression when it comes to our emotions. Arjuna was an educated man. While the Gita does not explicitly state that Arjuna had repressed emotions, anyone with a familiarity with the events that took place in the Mahabharata prior to the Gita, would undoubtedly reach the conclusion that the soon to be great hero on the battlefield of Kurukshetra was under the influence of his repressed emotions.

The reason for this repression is not un-understandable. Arjuna, who was already an accomplished warrior, was circumstantially forced to live under the tyranny of his Machiavellian cousins. His cousins did not follow the dharma. Instead, they used the weaknesses of others to benefit themselves. The great archer that was Arjuna could neither vent nor express what he truly longed to due circumstances that were beyond his control.

Repressed emotions must find a healthy outlet for release. For some, doing tapas penances allows them to release their pent up anger, rage, lust and so on. Arjuna had suffered a great deal of injustice throughout the course of his life. During the final years of their 13 year exile, the Pandavas had to do menial work in the palace of the Raja of Virata. The injustice of it all and the cruel indignities of the situation would have caused a lot of mental and emotional repression within Arjuna’s mind.

The Krishna cure of the patient Arjuna was a specific cure. It was to end, once and for all, all of Arjuna’s delusions. Once his emotional and mental repressions were released, Arjuna became a rejuvenated warrior of unsurpassable strength and valour. We are all, regardless of whether we know it, mentally and emotionally susceptible to the Arjuna psychology. But there is a cure and that cure is the antidote of Krishna.

Freedom

We find Krishna goading, pushing and encouraging Arjuna. “Stand up and fight!” Sri Krishna tells him. This is not advocating war, but rather, it is a call to each and every single individual not to admit defeat, no matter how strong the enemy forces appear to be. It is usually the enemy–the satanic forces and the lower desires–that sow the seeds of hazardous ideas within our minds. This, in turn, can lead us into directing our energies into the wrong places.

If we are caught and entangled by our lower desires, especially those that are repetitive in nature, all we need to do is make a different decision this time around: no matter how big or small that decision is. Once you do that, you identify who your enemy is–what the problem is–and you are capable of tackling it head on. Once you do that, the inner struggle is over.

For Arjuna, the enemy was Dhritarashtra. The forces that were released into Arjuna’s mind were due to emotional, psychological and mental repressions that were improperly channeled. Arjuna was misdirected due to the suggestions of Dhritarashtra’s words. Due to this, Arjuna became despondent, bewildered and unwilling to fight. It was utterly unthinkable.

Sri Krsna’s first advice to Arjuna is to go out into the battlefield. He knows that Arjuna is a capable fighter who has already proven himself in battle numerous times. Sri Krsna would never urge someone who did not have the capacity and the ability to go out there and fight. In the end, Arjuna would not only fight. He would also win.