In the previous episode, we had witnessed how the world functions as a “System” and how Bhagawan has created it so meticulously. This system is obviously led by Bhagawan, who keeps a cautious and an accurate track of all the “Karma” that each of us are performing here. In due course, we’ve also witnessed how Bhagawan has created items associated with the “Karma” that we perform. We saw an instance about how performing a “Homa” (Spiritual offering) may be considered as a very important “Karma” and how there are enormous things associated with it – For instance, ghee, wooden logs, flowers, fruits, rice, dal, etc. For preparing all these items, we need other people, animals, plants, etc. Hence, all these are closely knit to each other and this is why we say that “Mother Nature” is extremely skillful in terms of its creation! Thus, by creating this system, Bhagawan has given all of us an opportunity to perform our “Karma” in the way He wants us to perform.
Till now we’ve witnessed how Bhagawan has created all the “Jeevatmas” who work in tandem for achieving something in this world. In the same way, to assist these “Jeevatmas”, Bhagawan has also created the five major elements as well – We have the fire, earth, wind, water and sky. We shall take the same example of performing the “Karma” called “Homam” for Bhagawan as a divine spiritual offering. Of course, as all of us know, the main portion of the “Homam” is performing our offerings to “Agni Bhagawan”. As “Agni Bhagawan” represents the “Fire” element of Bhagawan’s creation, this is taken care of. In order to enable the fire to burn, we need Oxygen, isn’t it? This Oxygen is obtained from the “Wind” element of Bhagawan’s creation. Moreover, the “Wind” element is also necessary for many other things associated with the items that we offer as “Neivedhya” (Offerings to Bhagawan). For instance, if we’ve to offer cooked rice as a “Neivedhya”, we of course require heat to boil it, along with the “Water” element as well, right? If we’ve to move a step backward, rice grains are obtained from paddy, which are grown extensively on the ground. Hence, the “Earth” or “Soil” element of Bhagawan’s creation is of paramount importance. Along with the “Earth” element, we also need the “Water” and “Wind” elements to provide sufficient Oxygen / Carbon dioxide for the paddy to grow. Hence, we can see how this system is closely integrated with the five important elements of the world.
Thus, we can see how much effort Bhagawan has taken to create so many things for our “Jeevatma” to attain the highest “Moksha”. The “Jeevatma” has to utilize all these resources / facilities provided by Bhagawan to strive and perform our duty correctly with Bhagawan in thoughts and mind, isn’t it? We should understand here that if this entire system has to function correctly, all the elements associated with this system should work in tandem and with accurate integration, isn’t it? Thus, isn’t it our duty to contribute whatever little we can, for the system to run correctly? So now the question here is – How do we contribute to the proper functioning of this system? This is what we call in modern day management as “Systems Thinking” and is gaining a lot of prominence today.
So how do we apply the “Systems Thinking “ concept to what Bhagawan is explaining here? Let us take an example of a chariot being pulled as part of a temple festival. Many of us might be knowing that the chariot normally will be very heavy and cannot be pulled so easily. We need atleast a hundred or two hundred people coming together to pull the chariot. Many of us might just touch the chariot, worship it and come back without pulling it! Only a few of them might be taking deep breaths, putting in a lot of physical effort and pulling it, isn’t it? 🙂 Of course, this is on a lighter side, but most importantly, we’ve to understand one thing clearly – Because the chariot is extremely heavy, we see how people work in tandem to pull it through. This requires coordination, team effort and focused thinking, isn’t it? This is exactly what happens in the larger world as well – If we’ve to attain “Moksha”, most of the time, we might not be able to do it all by ourselves. We need the help and coordination of many other “Jeevatmas” and also many other associated items to succeed in our mission!
Thus, performing our actions meticulously is the only way through which we can attain “Moksha”, and this is the significance of the “Karma Yoga” which Bhagawan Krishna is explaining to Arjuna here. So for today, let us understand this concept of “Systems Thinking” very clearly and let us wait till the next episode to take this discussion forward! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 