In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhagawan Krishna continuing with His accord on what are the various characteristics that a “Raakshasa” would possess. As Bhagawan explains each and every point in detail, it is time for all of us to have a self-reflection as well. Given that all of us have our own preferences, likes and dislikes in life, we sometimes tend to overreact to a few things at a few circumstances, which might bring out the “Raakshasa” qualities from within us. We might of course not voluntarily do these as all of us are ardent “Bhaktas” of Bhagawan Krishna, but somehow, we tend to burst out a few times unconsciously. This is where, we’ve to be slightly careful and Arjuna is also shivering from within on this only. Of course, all of us know that neither Arjuna nor any of the Paandava brothers have walked the path of “Adharma” consciously even for a single minute till now. Arjuna himself knows it very well. However, the point here is, what if something is done unconsciously and Bhagawan would have taken account of that as an act of “Adharma” and what if because of this, we would be branded by Bhagawan as a “Raakshasa” who has to face the impending “Naraka Lokha” at the end of this birth?
This is where, as spiritual seekers, we’ve to develop that awareness within all of us. There should not be any slip as far as possible from our side, both consciously and unconsciously into the path of “Adharma”, which Bhagawan Krishna has listed earlier. Of course, as I had mentioned earlier, we might not do any acts of “Adharma” consciously, but we’ve to be very careful with the unconscious ones as well. For instance, many of us have the habit of killing small insects, ants, etc. whenever we see them in any part of our house. If we see a bunch of mosquitoes for instance, what would be our immediate reaction? We would only resort to kill them, wouldn’t we? Of course, for that purpose we’ve invented so many ways and means as well! 🙂 Killing a living being for no reason is obviously classified as a part of “Adharma”, but are we aware that killing a small mosquito or an ant will also end up landing us into this category? For instance, if we spot a lizard in the walls of our house – The first thing that we would do is to scare the lizard away! We might not be killing it, but we will scare it to death, won’t we? This is also an act of “Adharma”, but unconsciously we do these things every passing day! Hence, when we talk about “awareness”, we should be able to hold ourselves back from performing these kinds of so-called “Unconscious” acts of “Adharma”. The problem is, we never realize that we’re doing something wrong, yet we keep doing it! Thus, as spiritual seekers, we should try meticulously and minimize such “unconscious” acts of “Adharma”. In other words, we should analyze ourselves bit by bit and try to bring these unconscious acts into our consciousness. Once we start becoming conscious of these small things, our “Rajo Guna” and “Tamo Guna” will start reducing, thereby paving the way for our “Sathva Guna” to prosper. This is what Bhagawan Krishna wants from all of us!
Moving on further, Bhagawan Krishna adds one more important point in lines with whatever we’ve discussed today before He concludes the sixteenth “Adhyaaya”. Bhagawan says thus, “Oh Arjuna! Whenever you’re performing a task, you should always perform it as per whatever the “Shaastras” say. The “Shaastras” should always be your guide. You should not perform the task as per your own will and wish. If you do so, you’ll end up in a great danger. You should always understand what the “Shaastras” are explaining and all your actions should be in accordance with the “Shaastras”. Only if you do so, your “Sathva Guna” will prosper. Else, if you’re going to find your own way to perform your actions, your “Rajo Guna” and “Tamo Guna” will start assuming centre-stage! This is because, if you’re acting as per your will and wish, you are giving rise to your ego! If someone challenges your actions by saying that they are against the “Shaastras”, your ego will lead you to anger and frustration towards that person who is trying to correct you. Hence, my advice to you is very simple – Do your actions as per the guidance given by the “Shaastras”. Do not let your intellect decide what is right and what is wrong. The “Shaastras” should be your sole guide and not your intellect. Your mind and intellect will completely misguide you from reality!”
Saying thus, Bhagawan Krishna concludes the sixteenth “Adhyaaya” and these are obviously very important learnings for all of us as well. So for today, let us reflect upon these points and let us continue doing an introspection within all of us. We shall wait till the next episode to continue this discussion further! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 