Confucianism paper

6th edition

An Introduction .to the History of Eastern Thought -

•

Patrick S. Bresnan

Awakening

Awakening: An Introduction to the History of Eastern Thought engages stu- dents with lively anecdotes, essential primary and secondary sources, an accessible writing style, and a clear historical approach. The text focuses primarily on India, China, and Japan, while showing the relationships that exist between Eastern and Western traditions. Patrick Bresnan consistently links the past to the present, so students may see that Eastern traditions, however ancient their origins, are living traditions and relevant to modern times.

New to this Sixth Edition:

• A new introduction that provides a helpful overview of each of the nine- teen chapters and important connections between them

• An improved explanation of the nature of Vedanta philosophy, and a more logical organization of the Key Elements of the Upanishads in Chapter 3

• An extensive rewrite of Chapter 5, which deals with the subject of Ash- tanga Yoga as expressed in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

• A greatly improved presentation of Buddha's "Four Noble Truths" in Chapter 10

• A total recasting of the teaching of Nagarjuna in the Madhyamaka sec- tion of Chapter 12

• A clearer and easier to understand presentation of the teaching of the Dao De Jing in Chapter 14

• A major revision of Chapter 18 so as to clearly distinguish Chinese Chan from Japanese Zen

• Greater emphasis throughout, where pertinent, on the role of meditation practice in all Eastern traditions

• Revised and updated Questions for Discussion at the end of each chapter • New photos and two newly produced videos prepared by the author for

the book's companion website: http://patrickbresnan.com/.

Patrick S. Bresnan is a retired professor of history and philosophy at De Anza College, Cupertino, California, where he created a four-quarter course, Intro- duction to Eastern Philosophy, dealing with the historical development of the major philosophical traditions of Asian countries. That, plus extensive travel and study in Asia, resulted in the production of the college-level text Awaken- ing: An Introduction to the History of Eastern Thought. Other books by Patrick S. Bresnan include Them: The Adventures of a College Classroom Teacher (2012) and The Amazing Meditation Revolution: West Meets East ( 2013).

Awakening

An Introduction to of Eastern Thought

Sixth Edition

Patrick S. Bresnan

I~ ~~o~!!~n~~~up NEW YORK AND LONDON

Awakening

An Introduction to the History of Eastern Thought

Sixth Edition

Patrick S. Bresnan

I~ ~?io~!!~~~~up NEW YORK AND LONDON

Sixth edition published 20 I 8 by Routledge 71 I Third Avenue, New York, NY I 00 I 7

and by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park,Abingdon , Oxon, OXl4 4RN

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2018 Taylor & Francis

The right of Patrick S. Bresnan to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved . No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic , mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks , and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe .

Previous editions published by Pearson Education, Inc. 2003, 2007 , 2010,2013

Fifth edition published by Routledge 2016

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this title has been requested

ISBN: 978-1-138-06394-5 (hbk) ISBN : 978-1-138-06395-2 (pbk) ISBN: 978-1-315-16068-9 (ebk)

Typeset in Goudy by Apex Co Vantage, LLC Printed and bound by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY

Visit the companion website: http://patrickbresnan .com

Contents

List of Figures Acknowledgements Introduction

PART I

Hinduism and Related Traditions of South Asia

1 India before the Vedas The Lay of the Land 3 South Asia before the Vedic Age 5 The Theory of Indo-Aryan Migrations 8 Varna: The Caste System 14 The Brahmin Caste 17 Questions for Discussion 21

2 Veda and the Vedas Yajna: The Vedic Sacrifice 23 The Vedic Pantheon 28 An Overview of Vedic Cosmology 37 Questions for Discussion 41

3 Introdu ction to th e U pani sh ads Key Elements of the Upanishads 49 An Overview of Vedanta Cosmology 68 Questions for Discussion 71

4 The Bhagavad Gita The Bhagavad Gita and the Mahabharata 75 The Opening Scene 80

ix xi

x iii

3

22

42

73

vi Contents

The Bhagavad Gita as Metaphor 81 The Awakened Person 83 Karma Yoga 88 Raja Yoga 90 Bhakti Yoga 92 Questions for Discussion 93

5 Ashtanga Yoga The General Nature of Yoga 96 The "Eight Limbs" of Ashtanga Yoga 103 Questions for Discussion 113

6 Darshana The Orthodox Darshanas 115 The Heterodox Darshanas 127 Questions for Discussion 139

7 The Devotional Movement The Trimurti 143 Ramanuja 154 The Hindu Temple 155 Questions far Discussion 162

95

114

141

8 A Millennium of Strife 163 The Muslim Era 163 The Modern Era 173 Questions for Discussion 181

PART ' II Shakyamun i Buddha and the Early D evelopment of Buddhism

9 The Life Story of Shakyamuni Buddha The Palace Youth 186 The Sadhu Years 195 The Awakening 197 The Teaching Years 202 Questions far Discussion 207

183

185

10 Basic Teaching of Shakyamuni Buddha The Doctrine of Anatman 211 The Four Noble Truths 222 The Noble Eightfold Path 234 Questions for Discussion 241

11 Theravada Buddhism The Early Centuries 244 Ashoka 246 Theravada Buadhism 251 Questions for Discussion 261

12 Mahayana Buddhism Diversity and Religious Elements in Mahayana 268 The Nature of Buadha 269 Madhyamaka 275 Yogacara 285 The Bodhisattva 288 Artistic Expression in Early Mahayana 29 2 Questions for Discussion 297

PART Ill

Contents vii

208

243

262

Non-Buddhist Traditions of East Asia 2 99

13 Confucius and Confucianism 301 Confucius 305 Mencius 317 Other Voices from the Period of a Hundred Philosophers 320 Later Developments in the Evolution of Confucianism 326 Questions for Discussion 332

14 Daoism 334 Dao De Jing (Tao Te Ching) 335 Zhuang Zi (Chuang Tzu) 345 Religious Daoism 350 Questions for Discussion 359

15 Shinto 361 The Shinto Creation Story 363 The Shinto Shrine and Festival 365

viii Contents

Historical Development of Shinto 370 Questions for Discussion 374

PART IV

Buddhism in China and Japan

16 Early Buddhism in China Buddhism in the Tarim Basin 378 Tiantai Buddhism 382 Huayan Buddhism (Hua-Yen) 385 Pure Land Buddhism 385 Persecution and Recovery 391 Questions for Discussion 393

375

377

17 Tibetan Buddhism 395 The Establishment of Buddhism in Tibet 401 The General Character of Buddhism in Ti.bet 404 An Historical Overview of Buddhism in Tibet 420 Questions for Discussion 436

18 Chan Buddhism Bodhidharma 443 Huineng 455 After Huineng 466 Questions for Discussion 483

439

19 Zen Buddhism 485 Japan before Zen 485 Rinzai and Soto Zen 489 The Zen Monastery 502 Zen and the Arts 519 Questions for Discussion 5 28

Works Cited Index

530 532

Figures

1.1 Map of South Asia 1 1.2 An Indus seal (No. 1) showing the mysterious pictographs 7 3.1 Sadhus leaving a temple in Nepal 44 5.1 An Indus seal (No. 2) showing the figure in the posture

of Bhaddhakonasana 107 6.1 A beautiful sculptured example of a yab/yum; perhaps

ninth-century Tibet 138 7.1 Shiva, from an exterior panel of the Kandariya Mahadeva;

Khajuraho, India 151 7.2 Linga and Yoni; South India 153 7.3 Shiva and Parvati from an exterior panel of the Kandariya

Mahadeva 154 7.4 The Kandariya Mahadeva; Khajuraho, India 156 7.5 Tantric inspired exterior panel of the Kandariya

Mahadeva 159 7.6 A typical gopuram of the southern-style temple 160 8.1 The Taj Mahal; Agra, India 164 9.1 Map of Asia 183 9.2 Shakyamuni Buddha with right hand in the posture

of bhumisparsha ( earth touching) 199 11.l A Theravadin monk 251 12.1 Too bad this Thai stupa isn't in color. The entire surface

is covered in small gold tiles 294 12.2 The great bronze Buddha at Kamakura, Japan 295 14.l The Daoist yin-yang symbol 352 15.1 The famous Torii Gate at Miajima on the Inland

Sea, Japan 364 17.1 A Tibetan dorje 405 17.2 A fine example of a modern thangka, painted in the

traditional style 411

x Figures

1 7 .3 The Potala; Lhasa, Tibet 18.1 Bodhidharma 19.1 The kare-sansui at Ryoan-ji Monastery; Kyoto, Japan

All images are available to view in color at www.patrickbresnan.com.

433 444 518

Acknowledgements

And now the Sixth Edition, with a new publisher and a lot of great new peo- ple to thank. Let me just shine the thank-you spotlight on a few of the most prominent ones. Certainly the first in line is Andy Beck, Senior Editor for Philosophy at Routledge. Andy is the one who has to take the blame. He accepted the manuscript in the first place, and got the wheels rolling, and roll they have thanks to his excellent guidance . In line right behind Andy is Vera Lochtefeld, Editorial Assistant for Philosophy. Vera knows the program well; her most capable hands did a lot of the heavy lifting early on. Thanks to Ruth Berry, the Production Editor for Humanities at Routledge, and a very special thanks to Autumn Spalding, Project Manager, truly an eagle-eyed perfection- ist, very understanding, and a total joy to work with.

I also wish to express my gratitude to Roger Mack, whose support and wise counsel have been most appreciated. Also, my gratitude to Kathleen Daniels for her insightful help in reviewing tricky passages, as well as critiquing the videos for the companion website. And speaking of the website, thanks to Mark Branum of Stanford, whose wisdom regarding all things pertaining to a website was most appreciated. And, of course, thanks to my most understand- ing and helpful wife, Elizabeth, who has been through this process with me six times now. And we're still married! While I'm at it, I suppose I should thank Herr Johannes Gutenberg as well. If I had to make copies with ink and a quill pen, I don't think there would be more than one.

In addition, Nilgiri Press (Tamales, CA) and Eknath Easwaran (founder of the Blue Mountain Center of Meditation) granted permission for reprinting parts of the following works, copyright 1985 and 2007:

Ea waran, Eknath. 1985. The Bhagavad Gita. __ . 1986. The Dhammapada. __ . 1987. The Upanishads.

Introduction

The first edition of Awakening was published in 1999. At that time the Cold War was history, and progress toward a peaceful and prosperous world com- munity actually seemed possible. Then came September 11, 2001. After that horrendous day, the whole world changed. The spirit of optimism and com- munality was dead. It was replaced by pessimism, fear, terrorist brutality, and divisions between nations. A comment from the preface of the last edition is still quite apt:

"Spaceship Earth" is passing through a time of unprecedented change, and its attendant turmoil. More than ever, the need for compassionate understanding among the various communities that make up modem global society has become essential. The overarching goal of this book is to awaken you, the reader, to the great riches of the traditions examined in this book, and hopefully to motivate you to choose to become a part of the solution to the challenges we can expect to encounter as the undoubt- edly very exciting twenty-first century continues to unfold.

It is important to understand that Awakening is not simply an historical record. Rather, Awakening follows the millennia-long evolution of a tradition that is one of humanity's greatest achievements. From the very beginning, its central concern has been, and continues to be, the pervasive nature of human suffering; its cause and its solution. The beginning of this journey is to be found in ancient India, when the tradition that would come to be known as Hinduism first emerged and grew. It was out of Hindu India that Buddhism also emerged and grew. From its Indian homeland, Buddhism continued to evolve and pread throughout all parts of East Asia, absorbing into itself strong influence from other native traditions, such as Confucianism, Daoism, and Shinto. All of us alive today are the beneficiaries of that evolution. We need only to look and to understand.

Awakening is divided logically into four parts, which together present a broad overview of that millennia-long evolution. India is the setting for Part I. We begin with the Vedas, the seminal scriptures that gave form to the culture

xiv Introduction

and philosophy of early Hinduism. The Vedic Age gave way to the Age of the Upanishads, mystical compositions that carried Hinduism far from the fundamentally theistic character of the Vedas. The following chapters in Part I expand on the evolution of Upanishadic thought, both philosophical and mystical, and carry us through the difficult centuries of the Muslim Conquest up to the present time.

Part II carries the story forward. Its primary concern is the formative period of Buddhism, which in many important ways grew out of Hinduism. We begin with the life and teaching of Buddha himself. Following that, we will examine the first organized movements in Buddhism. The Theravada school of Bud- dhism developed first, followed by the vastly larger and more complex Mahay- ana. Many distinct schools of Buddhism developed within the umbrella of Mahayana, everything from the very "religious" to the decidedly philosophical.

In Part III, we will sidetrack a bit to examine three non-Buddhist traditions native to China and Japan, specifically Confucianism, Daoism, and Shinto. These would strongly influence the nature of developing Buddhism. That was especially true with regard to Daoism.

In Part IV, we return to the varied evolution of Buddhism, beginning with its early development in China. From there we climb up to the high country of Tibet to examine the unusual and entrancing world of Tibetan Buddhism (more correctly known as Vajrayana Buddhism). Returning to China proper, we next take up the highly important subject of Chan Buddhism. And, in the final chapter we explore Zen Buddhism. Although Zen was originally a direct transplant of Chan Buddhism from China, over time it developed into a dis- tinctly Japanese tradition.

It is interesting to note that all of the traditions examined in this book are alive and well today, and are contributing in significant ways to the continuing evolution of human society.

In this sixth edition, as with every new edition, you will find some new sections, some expanded and rewritten sections, and a thoroughgoing over- haul of the entire book. The most important of the new material includes a significant revision of the chapters dealing with Ashtanga Yoga, the basic teaching of Shakyamuni Buddha, the Madhyamaka section in the Mahayana Buddhism chapter, and the Chan Buddhism chapter. References and source material have been updated. The companion website has been overhauled and includes new photos and two new videos. All in all, I am satisfied that the sixth edition represents a major improvement over all that has come before. Welcome; I hope you enjoy the journey.

Patrick S. Bresnan Los Gatos, California

January, 2017

I would genuinely love to hear from you. Don't be reluctant to write. [email protected]

Int roduction xv

A Note about Punctuation and Transliteration

Two systems exist for spelling Chinese words in the Western alphabet: pinyin and Wade-Giles. Pinyin, the more recently developed of the two, attempts to overcome some of the phonetic and spelling prob lems of the Wade-Giles system. In Wade-G iles, for examp le, Tao is spelled with a "T " even though it is meant to be pronounced more like a "D," which is the correct spelling in pinyin. Pinyin is rapidly replacing Wade-Giles, and shall be th e system of choice in this book. In instances where it seems appropriate, I will include the Wade-Giles spelling in parentheses.

Chapter 2

Veda and the Vedas

As mentioned in Chapter 1, the word Veda is derived from the Sanskrit root vid, which means "to know." In the present context, it refers to knowledge of the highest sort, made available to all through the revelations of ancient seers. Ordinary truth emerges from the practical experience of the community, the stuff of daily life. It is added to by everyone over time. Veda, on the other hand, concerns matters of great moral and religious importance-the meaning of life and death, for example, and the proper relationship between gods and humans. Veda is sacred knowledge. By way of a rough analogy, we could say that in a Jewish or Christian community, knowledge about weather forecast- ing would be ordinary truth, but the Bible would be Veda.

Although it is probable that the roots of what would become the Vedas stretch far back into the distant past, the Vedas took on their mature form dur- ing the earliest historical period following the spread of the Sanskrit language in India, roughly between 1500 and 1000 BCE. This historical era is called the Vedic Age. With very few exceptions, the Vedas were produced by members of the Brahmin class and, in particular, by an elite group of scholars referred to as rishis. A rishi is a seer, an especially learned person who has become the teacher of others. Members of the Brahmin caste were the sole guardians and interpreters of the Vedas. Brahmins alone managed the great events at which the Vedas were chanted, events that were intended to result in a com- ing together of gods and humans.

The Vedas were organized into four great collections. They share much in common, but each of the four has its own general emphasis. The earliest, and by far the most significant, is the Rig Veda. The Rig Veda is a long and loosely organized collection of hymns and chants associated with sacrifices to the vari- ous gods. Composition of the Rig Veda probably began as early as 1500 BCE, but it's unlikely that it was organized into a comprehensive work until close to 1200 BCE.

The Rig Veda, and the others that followed it, were not meant to be liter- ary works in the sense of epic books. The Rig Veda is an aggregation of suk- tas (hymns), each of which was a long collection of verses chanted aloud by Brahmin priests at sacrificial rites. When completed, the Rig Veda consisted

Veda and the Vedas 23

of 1,028 separate suktas. These were in turn organized into ten mega-sections called mandalas. That kind of organization was an aid to memorizing, much needed before the advent of writing.

The groundwork for the great sacrificial rituals was laid down in the Rig Veda, but it was followed in time by other Vedas. Two other Vedas closely associated with the Rig Veda are the Sama Veda and the Yajur Veda. In the Sama Veda, certain verses of the Rig Veda were arranged for chanting in the form of song. The Yajur Veda is essentially a collection of formulas and instructions concerned with the correct arrangement of the ritual. It was essential that everything be done absolutely correctly.

The fourth of the Vedas is the Atharva Veda. It stands apart from the other three and was composed considerably later than the others. The Atharva Veda is mainly concerned with shamanistic formulas, spells, and mystical incanta- tions. It is widely believed that pre-Aryan Dravidian traditions are "peeking through" in the Atharva Veda. Nonetheless, this too came to be part of the great sacrifice rituals, and a priest called the Atharvan had the role of incorpo- rating the appropriate chants from this Veda.

Thus the Vedas-Rig, Sama, Yajur, and Atharva-provided the Brahmin priests with all the sacred verses they needed to properly conduct the great rituals of yajna, the Vedic sacrifice. The Vedas were their link to the gods. And, in the Vedas, the gods are endlessly praised, invoked, flattered; it some- times gets a bit monotonous to the modern reader. But behind all the praise, of course, is the real point of it all-the request.

Let's not lose sight of what this grand ritual was all about; the gods had something the people wanted-power over the forces of nature. And the Vedic rituals were their way of persuading the gods to use that power in the "right" way. But we must not assume that men and women of the Vedic Age were a dismal lot living in a state of constant worry. On the contrary, they seem to have been an optimistic, energetic people. They worshipped the gods in order to maximize the good things of life. True, they knew the weight of fear, and they prayed for freedom from illness and drought. But most of the time they were beseeching the gods for long life, success in battle, lots of healthy chil- dren, abundant food and drink-that sort of thing. The overall impression is of a people who enjoyed life and wanted to get the most out of it.

For the most part, the Vedas are not concerned with what we would call philosophical matters; they are clearly religious works-but not entirely reli- giou . Threaded throughout the Vedas are questions and speculations that are like the seeds from which the lush garden of Hindu thought will later grow. In other words, the Vedas are "square one."

Yajna:The Vedic Sacrifice

Our modern way of life is so scrubbed clean of ritual that it is difficult for u to imagine what life was like in earlier times when practically everything

24 Hinduism and Related Traditions

involved some sort of ritual. Vedic society, like most ancient cultures, was seemingly obsessed with ritual. There were ritual-laden ceremonies for vir- tually everything of significance in life: for coming of age, for marriage, for death, for planting the crops, for going to war, for preparing food, and on and on. Ritual touched just about everything in life. The head of the family might officiate at minor rituals, but really important rituals were reserved for the Brahmin priests.

For sheer drama and excitement, nothing could have surpassed the great ceremony yajna, the Vedic sacrifice. In a time of crisis, or perhaps on the occa- sion of some special celebration-when one or more of the gods was to be approached directly-the Brahmin priests could put together a very moving event. A sacred fire was the central element of those ceremonies, and there- fore it is customary to refer to such an event as a Vedic fire sacrifice.

The place where the sacrifice was to occur was holy ground, a special piece of land presumably set apart from the living area of the community. In those early days it was always an outdoor event; the familiar Hindu temple was still a thing of the distant future. It all began with the construction of a low plat- form made of mud bricks. This was the altar where the sacred fire would be located. Near the fire-altar, a great wooden stake was driven into the ground. The Rig Veda informs us that this sacred object would then be anointed and adorned with colorful ornaments . There is some evidence that this stake then became the fulcrum for a large circle etched in the ground, which was then highlighted with rocks or colored sand. The circle defined the sacred space, within which only the Brahmin priests were allowed to enter.

When all was ready, the ceremony would begin with the kindling of the sacred fire and the sounding of large conch shell horns. The fire was the heart of the sacrifice. It was believed to be the living presence of the god Agni. The offering of the sacrifice would be given into the center of the fire, the "mouth" of Agni, to be consumed in the flames and carried as smoke to the gods. The fire might be small, but more likely it was a roaring bonfire. In the Rig Veda, we find references to the fire as the "bellowing" of Agni.

The priests were dressed in their ceremonial robes, possibly including head- dresses of antler or bull's horns. The Brahmin who conducted the sacrifice was called the Hotri. He was the high priest and was assisted by priests of lesser rank, including the Udgatri, who chanted verses from the Sama Veda and whose special function was to summon the gods to the celebration with the hypnotic beauty of his song. The Brahmins believed that certain musical tones held magical qualities. The Udgatri was skilled in droning for a very long time in these tones. Another priest, the Adhvaryu, held the responsibility for overseeing the whole production. In a sense, he was the stage manager, and as he went about his work he chanted aloud verses from the Yajur Veda.

Yet another Brahmin, highly knowledgeable in the details of ritual proce- dure, actually presided over the ceremony, though he took no active part in it. He sat to the side and carefully observed everything, making sure that every

Veda and the Vedas 25

detail was performed correctly. Correct performance was believed to be abso- lutely essential if the sacrifice was to be successful.

The victim-offering of the sacrifice would be ritually sacrificed and some part of it given to the flames so that the spirit of the victim could be carried to the gods. The rest would be consumed by the participants. There is some evidence that human sacrifice was practiced in the early days, but it would seem that it was not the usual form. Noblemen of the Vedic Age were horse- breeding people and cattle raisers. In their eyes, no sacrificial offering could be more valuable than a fine stallion or a bull. The ritual offering of a fine horse was known as ashvamedha. Given the great love that the Indo-Aryans felt for the horse, to sacrifice one would almost be on a par with human sacrifice. Only a king, successful in battle, was entitled to sponsor the ashvamedha. An excel- lent white stallion would be let loose to wander wherever it wanted for one year. It was followed by a group of warriors who made a note of where it trave- led, for the king had a right to claim all of the land included in its wanderings. When the year was over the horse was driven back to the place of sacrifice, where it was ritually killed and cut up in preparation for the ashvamedha. As a part of the ceremony, the king's wife would join the just-killed horse under a cover and simulate sexual intercourse with it.

This was high drama; try to picture it-the great mandala marked out on the sacred ground, the roaring fire at its center, the Brahmin priests in their spectacular costumes, the endless droning of the chants summoning the gods to the celebration. What a spectacle it must have been! And that, of course, is what it was all about: elevating consciousness from the mundane to the transcendental so as to make contact with the gods. It was the gods who held power over the forces of nature. Men lacked that power, but needed it. It was the job of the Brahmins to make contact with the gods and influence their use of power. Ritual sacrifice, prescribed in the Vedas, was the way to make that contact.

Soma

One more element in these rituals remains to be considered. The modem reader might find it somewhat surprising, but to the Vedic priests it was the all-important ingredient. It played a major part in many of their sacred rituals. They called it soma.

oma was a drug, a very powerful drug that produced states of ecstasy and of wildly expanded consciousness. We don't know for sure what it was. There are some clues in the Vedas, but nothing that pins it down for sure. Soma went out of u e after the Vedic Age, and the source plant may have become extinct. Among still-existing possibilities, modem research has focused on a variety of the fly agaric mushroom as the best candidate. That fungus, although poten- tially very poisonous, produces a compound similar to psilocybin and could very well have produced the states described in the Vedas.

26 Hinduism and Related Traditions

Whatever it was, the Brahmin priests loved it-and so too, according to them, did the gods. There was great ritual in its preparation as well as in its consumption, all of it lovingly detailed in the Rig Veda and the Sama Veda. The Brahmins alone were entitled to use soma, though some of the precious liquid was shared with the gods, presumably by being dripped into the fire.

Use of the soma plant probably predates the Aryans in India. Soma was not a domesticated plant; it grew wild in hilly or mountainous country. Appar- ently, it was gathered only at night and, according to some, only by the light of the full moon. The Indologist A. L. Herman describes the method of its preparation:

The plant was brought to the place where the soma ritual was to be car- ried out, and there it was washed and cleaned. Then the stalks of the plant were crushed in a stone mortar by a wooden pestle, and the bruised and crushed remains were laid between stones and pressed. As the pressing stones, or wooden boards, were brought together, the juices trickled out onto a cleansing sieve, usually lamb's wool. Next the juice was strained and, finally, consumed by the priest or priests. The priestly celebrants chanted exuberant hymns to the soma to accompany both the crush- ing and the pressing ceremonies, hymns which invited Indra to come to the sacrifice and partake of the sacred soma juice, and which ecstatically anticipated the drinking of the juice.

(42)

Naturally the soma plant was considered sacred, and the name was applied not only to the plant, but also to the god, Soma, who was the personifica- tion of the spirit of the plant. After drinking the juice of the plant, the spirit temporarily inhabited a person and took over his consciousness. The Brahmin priests were convinced that soma was a vehicle-the vehicle-that could take them spiritually to the place where contact with the gods was possible. In the incredible ecstasy of soma, they were themselves like gods; soma made it pos- sible for them to share in the divine mode of being-or so they believed. Thus it was that soma became the heart of the ritual, the vital link between gods and humans. Consider these verses from the Rig Veda:

Drink thou of this (soma) ... for power and rapture. The men, the pressing stones, the cows, the waters Have made this soma ready for thy drinking. We have drunk soma ... And in the wild raptures of the juice ... We have become immortal; We have attained the light and discovered the Gods.

(Herman, 43)

Veda and the Vedas 27

Apparently it was not always an unmixed blessing. The bad trip was ever a worrisome possibility. The Rig Veda even seems to suggest the possibility of heart failure:

Be kind and merciful to us, Soma; Be good to our heart, without confusing our powers in your whirlwind. King Soma, do not enrage us; do not terrify us; Do not wound our heart with your dazzling light.

(RV: 8.79-7, 8; p. 121)'

Soma became the sine qua non of the Vedic fire sacrifice. It produced ecstasy, and in this state of mind the Brahmin priest truly believed that he had achieved freedom from the mundane plane and had ascended temporarily to the realm of the gods:

These glorious drops that give me freedom have I drunk. Closely they knit my joints as straps secure a chariot. The soma brings wild delight ... In the wild joy of soma the Gods wrought their glorious deeds.

(Herman, 43)

The verses quoted above are but a small sampling of the many paeans to the delights of soma found in the Rig Veda and the Sama Veda. So what are we to make of all of this? What was really going on at these gatherings of Brahmins?

One thing, I believe, is unarguable: the Brahmins did not take soma merely for the fun of it. No doubt they enjoyed it immensely, but to them it was a reli- gious experience, not a social event. They were amazed beyond understanding that such an effect could be produced by consuming the juice of a simple little plant that grew wild in the hills. They concluded, reasonably enough, that the gods had infused the plant with a sacred nature, a spirit, and that that spirit could enter into them if they consumed the juice of the plant. They treated it with the greatest respect and limited its use solely to the sacred ceremony. In this they were much like other cultures, such as the Native Americans of the southwest who use peyote for certain ritual purposes. The Brahmin priests believed that the state of mind produced by soma was a sort of god-consciousness in which they could commune directly with the gods. After all, that was their job.

After the Vedic Age, the use of soma declined and eventually died out altogether in India. Men became interested in other ways of achieving

1 Unless otherwise noted, all excerpts from the Rig Veda are taken from O'Flaherty. The page number at the end of the citation refers to the page in the O'Flaherty book.

28 Hindu ism and Related Tra dit ion s

transcendent consciousness. Whether or not the Vedic priests rea lly spoke to the gods is not the point. They believed they did, and in connection with that belief they created a vast corpus of ritual prayer that was passed on from gen- eration to generation. They called it Veda, sacred knowledge, and it is the solid foundation stone from which the tradition of Indian thought would develop.

A ll of thi s drama was designed to attract the attention of the gods and make contact with them. So who were these gods that were such important characters in the lives of men and women of Vedic times? This would be the appropriate place for us to turn to a brief consideration of the major deities addressed in the Vedas.

The Vedic Pantheon

Hindu mythology is an incredib ly complex subject. It includes a vast number of gods and goddesses, and their many stories are convoluted almost beyond imagining. But that fascinating story is not the subject of this study. My goal here is simply to introduce you to some of the major deities, ones that are prominently mentioned in the Vedas, and to include a sampling of pertinent verses from the Rig Veda.

In the Beginning

As you might expect, the creation story in Hinduism is wonderfully comp lex and allows for many variations. In its simplest form we can say that in the beginning was the One, the ultimate reality, which took the form of a golden cosmic egg, or embryo. The embryo became the earth and the sky, the most fundamental dua l aspects of the one reality. The earth was personified as Prithivi, th e mother of all, and the broad and luminous sky was personified as Dyaus, the male counterpart of Prithivi. From Dyaus and Prithivi were born the principa l gods and, indirectly, all other things.

So we see that at this most fundamenta l level, the dual character of nature, male and female, is honored in the personifications of earth and sky. They were not regarded as being distinct. The earth and sky were said to be like two hemispheres that were joined at the horizon to become one whole. The under- lying unity of the two was often expressed by joining the two names together into one name, Dyavaprithivi.

Principal Gods of the Vedic Pantheon

Over time, a vast number of gods and goddesses came to populate the Hindu pantheon. Fortunately, only a few of these were prominent enough to be men- tioned in the Vedas. But even among the prominent ones, the ro les are a little blurry. In contrast, each of the Greek and Roman gods seemed to have fairly precise responsibilities. But the Indian deities are more casual about who does

Veda and the Vedas 29

what. Among the chief gods, it almost seems that everybody does everything. One sometimes gets the feeling that the people of India were more concerned with the personality of the god than with his or her actual "job description."

Agni

Agni, a son of Dyaus and Prithivi, is the god of fire. In fact, he is the personifi- cation of fire. As such, Agni is very special to humankind. You could even say that of all the gods, Agni is the most special because his bright, warm presence is the center of every home and every ritual sacrifice. Whether he be a little candle flame or a roaring bonfire, Agni, the god of the long flowing red hair, is the friend and constant companion of men and women. It is fitting that the first of the ten "books" of the Rig Veda is dedicated to him.

Consider the importance of fire in the development of human society. At one time, our distant ancestors lived pretty much like other wild animals. The taming of fire changed all that. Fire-the mystifying and beautiful flame-gave warmth, and protection, and light to the fearsome dark of night. It opened the door to a new way of life, a human way of life. We can easily imagine that it was while grouped around the communal fire that our ancient relatives developed the arts of language, and shared their first thoughts about the mighty forces of nature. The mysterious essence of fire might well have been the first of nature's powers to be thought of as divine.

Agni is associated with the sun, the ultimate life-giving fire, and descends to earth in the form of lightning, the most awesome and terrifying of nature's acts. Blazes started by lightning strikes-which the Rig Veda says "descends on trees like an angry bull"-were probably our distant ancestors' first encounters with living fire. What courage it must have taken to approach the fire and overcome the natural fear of it! From that time forward, it became a friend and a powerful helpmate.

The Brahmins felt especially close to Agni because he was the priest of the gods, as well as the messenger. It was Agni that carried the oblation to the heavens. Agni was said to be always young because his spirit was renewed each time a fire was created. The kindling of the sacrificial fire was an elaborate ritual involving the rubbing together of two wooden sticks (no matches in tho e days).

Sometimes the fire was small, and sometimes it was not small at all; it was a huge roaring blaze. The sound alone must have been awesome. And Agni, the god of fire, was often symbolized as a great homed bull, roaring his message to the gods. The sacrifice would be consumed in the fire and taken in the rising moke to the gods for which it was intended:

To you, Agni, who shines upon darkness, We come, day after day, bringing our thoughts and homage. To you, the king of sacrifices, the shining guardian of Order,

30 Hinduism and Related Traditions

Be easy for us to reach, like a father to his son. Abide with us, Agni, for our happiness.

(RV: 1.1. 7-9; p. 99)

Now get dressed in your robes (of fire), Lord of powers and master of the sacrificial foods, And offer this sacrifice for us.

(RV: 1.26. 1; p. 100)2

Agni loved soma. Some would have been dripped into the fire at the appro- priate time in the ceremony:

Let Agni's bellowings reach to heaven As piercing weapons to destroy the demons. His angry glare breaks forth in the ecstasy of Soma. The obstacles of the godless cannot hold him back.

(RV: 5.2. 10; p. 103)

Agni's presence in the fire of ritual sacrifice was the most dramatic of his visita- tions, but certainly not the only one. Agni was, and still is, ubiquitous in Hindu culture. As the domestic fire he is an honored guest in every home, and the funeral pyre at the time of cremation is a man's or woman's final oblation to Agni.

Indra

Also a son of Dyaus and Prithivi, Indra held the title of first among the gods, though he was certainly not a king or ruler over the other gods. Indra was an awe- some god, much like Zeus in the Greek pantheon. He was identified with great strength and sexual prowess, and thus he was often associated symbolically with the stallion and the bull. Indra carried the vajra with him as the symbol of his power. This has often been identified as a thunderbolt, but in fact a vajra is a short metal rod with a stylized trident head at both ends. Whether or not this was meant to be seen as a thunderbolt is debatable. Perhaps this assumption is due to the resemblance of Indra to Zeus. According to some accounts, Indra killed his father, Dyaus, taking over his place, including his identification with the bull and stal- lion, and even making a consort of his own mother, Prithivi (shades of Oedipus).

Indra's origins go far back into the tribal past. He was regarded as a great warrior god and remained the favorite deity of the Kshatriya warriors, who sought to be, like Indra, strong and courageous in battle:

Ever young, Indra embodies all the virtues of youth: heroism, generosity, exuberance. He stands for action and service but also for the need of force

2 Unless otherwise noted, all excerpts from the Rig Veda are taken from O"Flaherty. The page number at the end of the citation refers to the page in the O'Flaherty book.

Veda and the Vedas 3 I

which leads to power, to victory, and booty ... [and what's more] Indra has numerous love affairs. Many instances are recorded of his lascivious- ness, and his example is often referred to as an excuse for adultery. He sends celestial nymphs to disturb holy men and bring an end to the pen- ances that give them a power which he fears.

(Danielou, 107-108)

Indra was tremendously generous if you found him in the right mood. Many were the sacrifices performed to Indra, beseeching him to grant numer- ous sons and to increase material welfare. Perhaps most important of all was the need for Indra's help in time of drought. India is a land that has always known terrible recurring droughts. In times of such crisis, the sacrificial fires would light the sky. It was Indra who had destroyed the power of Vritra, the demon who caused drought by welling up the river waters in the mountains. It was Indra who brought the monsoon rains on which everything in life depended. No wonder he was chief among the gods. In the Rig Veda, appeals to Indra are more numerous than to any other of the gods. Consider this sample:

Indra is sovereign lord of earth and heaven; Indra is lord of waters and mountains. Indra is master of those who prosper and the wise; Indra must be invoked at work and at rest. Greater than days and nights; The Giver of all is greater than the earth and the ocean's waters, Greater than the limit of the earth and the wind's expanse, Greater than all rivers and all our lands; Greater than all of these is Lord Indra.

(RV: VI.40.1, 2, 4) (Herman, 34)

Indra, like the other gods, was no stranger to the delights of soma. It would seem that he especially was fond of the experience:

They are pressing out the impetuous, exhilarating Soma juices For you, Indra. Drink them! They are cooking bulls for you; you will eat them, generous Indra, When they summon you with food.

(RV: 10.28.2, 3; p. 146)

Wildly excited like a bull, Indra took the Soma for himself And drank the extract from the three bowls in the three day Soma

ceremony. (RV: 1.32.3; p. 149)

32 Hinduism and Related Traditions

Varuna

Varuna was much like Indra; they were equally ancient, and their powers were almost indistinguishable. But where Indra was more responsible for warring and "making things happen," Varuna's job was more a matter of "maintain- ing," especially maintaining the great Order of Nature.

It was believed that everything in nature behaved in accordance with an inner natural law known as rita. Varuna was responsible for maintaining rita, and as such, he was present everywhere, pervading everything. When applied to human behavior, rita becomes the inner moral law that properly guides all action. Thus, Varuna was the supreme maintainer of all law, natural and moral. Varuna watched over the affairs of men and punished those who vio- lated the sacred law of rita:

Keep fear away from me, Varuna, And hold fast to me, 0 emperor of Order [rita]. Set me free from anguish As one would free a calf from a rope. I cannot bear to live apart from you, Not even for the blink of an eye.

(RV: 2.28.6; p. 218)

Sarasvati

The lovely goddess Sarasvati is mentioned several times in the Vedas. (Saras- vati is often spelled Saraswati.) Sarasvati shares her name with the Sarasvati River, regarded as a sacred river in the Vedic era. Hence, Sarasvati is properly regarded as a river goddess.

In modern times the mighty Indus River and its tributaries dominate the geography of western part of the Indian subcontinent, but that wasn't always the case. In ancient times the Indus shared center stage with a com- panion, the Sarasvati River. Like the Indus to its west, the Sarasvati was formed by the mingling of several mountain streams that tumbled out of the western Himalaya Mountains. The two rivers gradually approached each other in the north, and then ran side by side, separated by only about a hun- dred miles in places. They then flowed south to a shared delta that emptied into the Bay of Bengal.

Surprisingly, the great Sarasvati no longer exists. Until modern researchers were able to prove that it had indeed existed long ago, many believed that the Sarasvati was a myth, and that references to it in the Rig Veda were made in that spirit. So how in the world did it simply vanish? Actually, it wasn't all that simple. River systems are very fluid (no pun intended); they're always wiggling around, though usually too slowly to be seen in one lifetime. The flow of water follows the path of least resistance, and all kinds of things can change

Veda and the Vedas 33

that. With our modern technology---dams, levees, and so on-we appear to believe that we can gain control over rivers and prevent them from flooding or changing their course. (Well, yes ... up to a point.) Presumably, during ancient times tectonic remodeling in the highly earthquake-prone Himalayan region caused feeder streams of the Sarasvati to change their course, leaving the main course to slowly dry up. It's possible that water that originally went to the Sarasvati was redirected into the Indus system.

Whatever the case, the Sarasvati River did indeed flow during the time of the Indus Civilization, and was still surging in the Vedic Age. Given its abun- dant supply of fresh water, the Sarasvati was an immensely important part of life to human society throughout all of that time. Many important Harappan sites have been discovered along what were formerly its banks, including the once great city ofKalibangan. Among the Aryans of Vedic times the Sarasvati was so important that it came to be designated a "sacred" river. Given that it was a sacred river, it was only logical that a deity would come to be associated with it-in this case, a goddess of the same name, Sarasvati. Many verses in the Rig Veda are addressed to her.

Marked out by majesty among the Mighty Ones, in glory swifter than the other rapid Streams,

Created vast for victory like a chariot, Sarasvati must be extolled by every sage.

Guide us, Sarasvati, to glorious treasure: refuse us not thy milk, nor spurn us from thee.

Gladly accept our friendship and obedience: let us not go from thee to distant countries.

(RV: VXI; 13, 14)

During the Vedic Age the goddess Sarasvati was definitely important-even eventually being referred to as the "mother of the Vedas"-but she was not numbered among the major deities in the Vedas. That, however, would change significantly. In later centuries Sarasvati was identified with wisdom and learn- ing. In her iconic representations, Sarasvati is represented holding a book in one of her four hands. She becomes the epitome of refinement and culture.

arasvati certainly ought to be regarded as the patron deity of the humanities. Most significant of all, though, Sarasvati came to be seen as the "wife" (shakti) of the creator god, Brahma.

Surya

Naturally the sun, ultimately the most important of all of the elements of nature, would be personified as a god. And that god is named Surya (also known as Savatar or Savitri). To be precise, Surya is not identified with the sun; rather, he guides the sun in its daily path. Nevertheless, that still ranks

34 Hinduism and Related Traditions

him as a highly significant god, and verses directed to him are among the most beautiful and poetic in the Rig Veda:

His brilliant banners draw upwards the god who knows all creatures, So that everyone may see the sun. The Constellations, along with night, steal away like thieves, Making way for the sun who gazes on everyone. The rays that are his banners have become visible from the distance, Shining over mankind like blazing fires. Crossing space, you are the maker of light, seen by everyone, 0 Surya; You illumine the whole wide realm of space.

(RV: 1.50.1-4; p. 189)

Ushas

Ushas, the goddess of dawn, is one of the few female deities of high status in Vedic times. The lndo-Aryans, whose influence is so much to be seen in the Indian pantheon, were originally a nomadic, warrior society. Like their distant cousins who settled in Greece, they were a male-dominated society, and this was reflected in their gods. All of the male gods did, however, have wives, which are generally referred to as "consorts." Sometimes these consorts were influential, but all in all, the Vedic goddesses get pretty short shrift in the Vedas. Nonetheless, Ushas is much beloved, and verses dedicated to her in the Rig Veda go beyond even those praising Surya in poetic beauty. The Indologist V. M. Aptel puts it this way: "In the case of Usas, the goddess of dawn, the personification is light, the poet never losing sight of the beautiful physical phenomena behind the deity."

Gaily attired like a dancer with a garment of light, she rises in the east and exhibits her graces. She is ever-youthful, being born again and again. Her association with the sun is naturally very close, He is her lover, but as she precedes him, she is also said to be his mother. She is the sister of the night.

(in Majumdar, 372)

In the Rig Veda, it is put this way:

Like a dancing girl, Usas puts on bright ornaments; She uncovers her breasts as a cow reveals her swollen udder. Creating light for the whole Universe, Dawn has opened up the darkness as cows break out from their pen. Her brilliant flame has become visible once more: She spreads herself out, driving back the formless black abyss. As one sets up the stake in the sacrifice,

Veda and the Vedas 35

Anointing and adorning it with colored ornaments, So the daughter of the sky sets up her many-colored light.

(RV: 1.92.4,5; p. 179)

Rudra

Almost the extreme opposite of Ushas was the god Rudra. Whereas Ushas was light and delicate and very feminine, Rudra was dark and fearsome and stormy- tempered. Like Indra, Rudra was a god associated with the storm clouds that brought the life-giving monsoon rains. The reason for this duplication is that Rudra was presumably a major Dravidian god of very ancient origins who was simply incorporated into the emerging pantheon of gods with Sanskrit names. We know that the Dravidians had worshipped a god of storms who carried the thunderbolt and was known as the "Red God," and the Sanskrit root of Rudra is rud, which means red in English. A rain-giver would be too important to pass up, so he may have been taken into the family and merely given a new Sanskrit name. But he was definitely not one of the group. Rudra had few, if any, friends among the gods or men. He lived away from the others; the moun- tains of the north were his haunt.

Rudra was the only member of the divine pantheon who could sometimes show a malevolent streak. True, Rudra could bring the life-giving rain, but sometimes, for no apparent reason at all, he would send the rain as fierce storms that indiscriminately devastated the countryside. The raging typhoons and floods of India were blamed on the unpredictable ferocity of Rudra's tem- perament. The people of storm-battered Bangladesh know Rudra all too well. Rain, the very thing that made life possible, was also the thing that sometimes devastated life. Rudra, the personification of this dichotomy, united within himself both the beneficent and the dangerous aspects of nature. To Vedic man, Rudra represented the unconquered and unpredictable character of raw nature.

Rudra was a fearsome god, dark and unpredictable; he was the embodiment of wildness in the male nature. Rudra was something of a misfit among the Vedic deities. He wore his black hair long and tied in braids. Rudra got around in a splendid chariot, but one gets the feeling that if Rudra were alive today, his vehicle of choice would be a Harley.

Everyone's life has its share of calamities-seemingly unexpected and unde- served blows. Rudra took the blame for every kind of disaster. Even the other gods feared his anger. Invocations to Rudra are most often directed simply at keeping his anger at bay:

Praise him, the famous young god who sits on the high seat, The fierce one who attacks like a ferocious wild beast. 0 Rudra, have mercy on the singer, now that you have been praised. Let your armies strike down someone other than us.

36 Hinduism and Related Tra ditions

Let the weapon of Rudra veer from us; Let the great malevolence of the dreaded god go past us. 0 tawny and amazing bull; 0 God, do not become incensed or kill us. Be here for us, Rudra, and hear our call.

(RV: 2.33.12, 14, 15; p. 222)

Rudra of the Vedic Age would become identified with the great god Shiva in later times. Although Shiva retains much of the character of Rudra, his nature becomes vastly expanded and includes much in addition to the fear- someness of Rudra. The worship of Shiva is, therefore, a direct link with the Dravidian, pre-Aryan past of India.

Yama

Unlike the gods, men and women are mortals and must eventually know death. But the Vedas gave assurances of an afterlife, and Yama was the king of this afterworld. Yama was not exactly a god; he was the first mortal to die. The gods had granted him near-divine status and allowed him to find his way to the realm of the afterworld, over which he would preside until the end of time. His task was to conduct the dead to the realm of their ancestors:

Yama was the first to find the way for us, This pasture that shall not be taken away. Where our ancient fathers passed beyond, There everyone who is born follows, each on his own path.

(RV: 10.14.2; p. 43)

Although Yama was the personification of death and the afterlife, he was not imagined as negative and morbid. Yama's role was an important part of the total scheme of reality. Something of the notion of heaven and hell entered into the picture. Those who were faithful to the moral order of rita in their lives could expect a happy place in Yama's kingdom; the lot of those who had been unfaithful to rita was darkness and suffering.

It was not Yama, but the gods-particularly Varuna, the maintainer of rita- who decided what a person's fate would be. Yama merely carried out the judg- ment of the gods. But even if it should tum out to be a joyous afterlife, it was still death, and like people in all times, the men and women of the Vedic Age were terrified by death and begged their gods to help them: .

Go away, death, by another path that is your own, Different from the road of the gods. I say to you who have eyes, who have ears; Do not injure our children or our men.

(RV: 10.18.1; p. 52)

Veda and the Vedas 37

Let me not go to the house of clay [the gravel, 0 King Varuna, not yet. Have mercy, great ruler; be merciful.

(RV: 7.89.l; p. 216)

The good will of Yama was understandably very important to men and women of the Vedic Age. At the time of death, he could intercede for one with the gods, particularly Varuna. Perhaps for that reason, the Brahmin priests were especia lly generous with their soma where Yama was concerned:

For Yama press the Soma; to Yama offer the oblation; To Yama goes the well prepared sacrifice, With Agni as its messenger. Offer to Yama this oblation rich in butter, and go forth, So may he intercede for us among the gods, So that we may live out a long lifespan.

(RV: 10.14.13, 14; p. 44)

An Overview ofVedic Cosmology

Th e men and women of early Vedic times were fundamentally no different from peop le in any other time. They yearned for security and meaning in a world that is often vio lent and unpredictable. T he awesome forces of nature dominated their lives. But the forces of nature, uncontrollable though they may be, were seen to operate in orderly ways. That cou ld be the key to finding an underlying meaning to the great drama of life.

In response to this very human need for meaning, the religious leaders of the society engendered the gods, personifications of the forces of nature whose control shaped the destiny of human life. A long with identifying the gods there were, of course, appropriate rituals of worship and sacrifice designed to entice the gods into using their powers in beneficial ways.

Over time, an elaborate body of religious trad ition grew until it spread into every nook and cranny of life. Presiding over that scene were the Brahmins, the elite pr iest class of Vedic society. They were the custodians and preservers of the religious tradition, the essence of which was consolidated into a body of inspired know ledge known simp ly as Veda. Veda was given verbal expression in the sacred hymns, or chants, of the Brahmins--<:hants that we know as the Vedas.

Giving order and meaning to life is no casual concern. Veda proclaimed the truth with an authoritarian voice born of the belief in its divine source. And the truth proclaimed by Veda described a world organized into a rigid hierarchy of ascending levels of perfection. Humankind was in the middle, brute animals below, the gods above. And in each of these there was further classification by rank. In human life, the caste system was seen as the natural order of society that conformed to essentia l differences of perfection among the member families that made up the larger community. Each had its place,

38 Hinduism and Related Traditions

guaranteed for all time, and appropriate responsibilities that went with that place. (Meaning and security has its price!) The highest place, of course, was occupied by the Brahmana caste. They alone spoke to the gods-but they did so on behalf of everyone.

The pantheon of the gods was a splendid creation of the human imagina- tion. The Hindu pantheon represents humankind's poetic and mystical imagi- nation at its best. In no way is this statement meant to imply that this was a meaningless or erroneous pursuit. If Veda was to supply the much-desired order and meaning, the pantheon was its necessary capstone. And given the nature of human society at that time, it was both inevitable and reasonable.

The Vedas-practically our only source of information about the time- describe a society that was rigidly controlled by its own belief in a divinely inspired order. Altogether, life was seen to be like a great elaborate wheel slowly turning round and round. Everything and everyone, including the gods, had its proper place on that wheel, and its appropriate responsibilities corre- sponding to that place.

A person's sacred duty was to live his or her life in harmony with the cus- toms and responsibilities of one's caste and to faithfully worship the gods in the ways prescribed by tradition. If one did this (and nurtured a generous sup- ply of the virtue of acceptance), his or her hunger for order and meaning would be satisfied (probably), and from that would grow the all-important sense of security. Such a person was not a helpless twig tossed about in the chaotic stream of life, but rather a dignified and meaningful part of the whole. And that person's destiny, assuming that he or she faithfully played the part expected of him or her, was a happy afterlife in the kingdom of Yama. Death must inevitably come, but even this was no cause for terror or despair.

To the people of Vedic times, the gods were as real and as present as were other men and women. The stories of their adventures, and their involvement in human affairs, were endless. Invoking the favor of the gods-and staying the malevolence of demons-was the warp and woof of daily life in Vedic times. There were numberless rituals addressed to a rich variety of gods. India, then as now, was a land passionately devoted to the worship of its many deities. We may safely assume that sacred shrines and images were an important part of every village. Celebrations, festivals, and ritual sacrifice were the highlights of an otherwise very mundane existence. Religion, richly laced with magic and superstition, was what gave daily life a special meaning and excitement.

What we have here is a relatively unsophisticated agricultural society that in Vedic times was really not significantly different from other early cultures. The preceding description would apply to many other human societies in his- torical times. Traditional forms of belief and worship were the stuff of life for the vast majority of Indian men and women in Vedic times. And it must be stressed that this situation has not substantially changed for the population at large, even down to the present day.

Our concern in these pages, however, is not primarily with the religious beliefs of the common people. Rather it is with the contribution of a tiny

Veda and the Vedas 39

minority of men and women who struck off on a different path. They hun- gered for something that could not be satisfied with the customary menu. Out of their search came new answers to old questions. Had the evolution of Indian thought ended with the Vedas, one could argue that the philosophi- cal side of the Hindu tradition would not have come to occupy the especially important place in the history of human thought that it does. But it did not end there; the Vedas were just the beginning. Much, much more was to be built on this Vedic foundation.

Some argue that, although the tradition of Indian philosophical thought did indeed begin in the Vedas, there was far more in the Vedic foundation than ordinarily meets the eye. The common modem view of the Vedas is inaccurate, they argue, and is based largely on the writings of the thirteenth- century Indian scholar, Sayana, which holds that the Vedas were "the sac- rificial compositions of a primitive and still barbarous race written around a system of ceremonial and propitiatory rites, addressed to personified Powers of Nature and replete with a confused mass of half-formed myth" (as described in Aurobindo, 1).

There is another interpretation, however, which holds that the hymns of the Vedas can be interpreted along two quite different tracks. The straightfor- ward, obvious, literal meaning was for the uneducated common people. The other much less obvious track, something of a symbolic "secret teaching," was intended for the spiritually aware cognoscenti among the Brahmins. This is the view expressed incisively by the modem Indian philosopher Sri Aurobindo Ghose. Let's let him speak for himself:

One of the leading principles of the mystics was the sacredness and secrecy of self-knowledge and the true knowledge of the Gods. This wis- dom was, they thought, unfit, perhaps even dangerous to the ordinary human mind or in any case liable to perversion and misuse and loss of virtue if revealed to vulgar and unpurified spirits. Hence they favoured the existence of an outer worship, effective but imperfect, for the pro- fane, and inner discipline for the initiate, and clothed their language in words and images which had, equally, a spiritual sense for the elect, a concrete sense for the mass of ordinary worshippers. The Vedic hymns were conceived and constructed on this principle. Their formulas and ceremonies are, overtly, the details of an outward ritual devised for the Pantheistic Nature-Worship which was then the common religion, cov- ertly the sacred words, the effective symbols of a spiritual experience and knowledge and a psychological discipline of self-culture which were then the highest achievement of the human race.

(6)

That's quite a proposition! The argument is intriguing, isn't it? Whether or not the Vedas were constructed in a hidden symbolism is a matter of dispute. What is not in dispute at all, though, is that these largely religious works did

40 Hinduism and Related Traditions

indeed sometimes step into the realm of genuinely philosophical speculation. Threaded throughout the Vedas are seminal questions and speculations from which later Hindu thought will develop. One of the most striking examples is to be found in the final book of the Rig Veda. The author confesses his hopeless ignorance regarding the real nature of creation and suggests that everything has emerged from nothingness:

Then even nothingness was not, nor existence. There was no air then, nor the heavens beyond it. Who covered it? Where was it? In whose keeping? Was there then cosmic water, in depths unfathomed? ... But, after all, who knows, and who can say, Whence it all came, and how creation happened? The gods themselves are later than creation, So who knows truly whence it has arisen?

(RV: X.129.1-7) (Thapar, 131)

Isn't that an extraordinary passage! So far ahead of its time. As a matter of fact, woven through all of the much-repeated proclamations and entreat- ies of the Vedas are some subtle philosophical themes that appear to evolve and become more important with the passage of time. Chief among these is the yearning for something that stands behind the myriad things of life- something that underlies it all and gives order and unity to existence. Unity is the key word here. A sense of underlying unity is the hallmark of so much of Eastern thought. Like seeds just beginning to sprout, this theme appears in the Vedas, but will not grow to maturity until a later age. Nevertheless, the interest is there and shows up in different ways.

We see in the Vedas that there was a developing awareness that the One was fundamentally more real than the Many. The universe began as the One and eventually would return to the primal state from which it had emerged. Between this alpha and omega, the One would propagate itself as the myriad creatures that temporarily make up the great hierarchy of being. This point of view is certainly not prominent in the Vedas, but here and there in the Rig Veda we find tantalizing little nuggets such as, "To what is One, sages give many a title." Or, in the same vein of thought, "that One wherein abide all things existing."

The Doctrine of Rita is another case in point. Many came to believe that there is a law, a natural law, that is immanent throughout all of creation. Even the gods do not exercise their powers capricious ly. The gods, like all other creatures, must act in accord with the universal order of rita. The rising and setting of the sun was seen to be an example of rita; the changing of the sea- sons was rita; birth and death were the workings of rita. Applied to human behavior, the grand order of rita becomes moral law. Whatever one's caste, the proper goal of life was to live that life in accord with rita. Rita assures harmony

Veda an d the Vedas 41

and wholeness, the orderly evolution of life. Rita is the grand unifying order of Nature. In the concept of rita, the rishis gave form to the idea of a rational order that underlies and unifies all of Nature.

Again, I want to stress that, for the most part, the Vedas were not concerned with such philosophical matters. But still, there were stirrings-hints of what was to come. Undoubtedly, in the Vedas some were toying with the concept that the multiplicity of creation is rea lly a secondary, ephemeral sort of reality. That is what we see with our unenlightened eyes, but at a more transcendent level of consciousness it is possible to see that fundamentally all of rea lity is One. This opened the door to a vastly richer meaning of Veda. In the age that followed, there were some who could not resist the maddening temptation to give up everything and dedicate their lives to the search for that higher truth.

Questions for Discussion

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

How do you distinguish between Veda and the Vedas? Considering that there are four Vedas in all, why do you suppose that, in modem times at least, the Rig Veda receives by far the most attent ion?

How would you describe the Vedic fire sacrifice? Why do you suppose they went to so much trouble, so much spectacle and drama in the creation of a great sacrifice?

Why was soma so enormously important? Did they really need it? Suppose that soma had never existed: how would this have affected the religious functioning of the Brahmins?

How did the gods feel about the use of soma?

What does the term Dyavaprithivi refer to? What is its significance?

How did the Hindu pantheon of gods come into existence? Why do you suppose that they were almost all male gods in Vedic times?

What do you make of Rudra? He seems like such a misfit among the Hindu gods-or was he?

Why is it argued that, beneath all the superficialities, the Brahmin rishis were deeply interested in finding a principle of unity standing behind the manifold experiences of daily life?

How does rita tie it all together?

Chapter 3

Introduction to the Upanishads

The Upanishads are an outstanding addition to humanity's search for meaning and beauty in life-and in death. The Upanishads have been a rich source of inspiration throughout the ages and seem to speak with special eloquence to men and women of modern times.

The word upanishad is a combination of three Sanskrit root words, upa-ni- shad, which literally means "sit down close to [a teacher]"-that is to say, to be part of a group that "sits at the feet" of a master to learn from him (or her). For the most part, what we call the Upanishads were "secret teachings" in the early days. They were passed along orally within the groups that created them. It was a personal transmission not meant for the ears of others.

The Upanishads, like the Vedas, are part of a great body of sacred knowl- edge known as shruti. The word shruti originally meant "stream" in Sanskrit, but came to also carry the meaning of "revelation." Shruti, this "stream of rev- elation," began with the Vedas, those seminal works concerned mainly with invocations to the gods and guidance for proper ritual action, and reached its ultimate completion in the Upanishads. Over time, as will happen, questions arose concerning the correct interpretation of some passages in the Vedas. As a result, various interpretive commentaries were appended to each of the four Vedas. These commentaries-not at all in conflict with the traditional teachings of the Vedas-are known as the Brahmanas. By the late Vedic Age, shruti-at that time consisting of only the Vedas and the Brahmanas- provided Indian society with a complete, well-developed philosophy oflife-a Vedic Paradigm, you might say. That paradigm was described in the conclud- ing section of Chapter 1. It was a stable platform of belief and practice-but that was about to change!

It is reasonably safe to say that during the Vedic Age the only ones devoted to the search for transcendent knowledge were the rishis, almost all of whom were members of the Brahmana caste. That search was defined pretty nar- rowly by tradition; it consisted for the most part in studying the Vedas and · participating in ritual sacrifice. The rishi was not a rebel; he was a functioning member of the social system. Not only was he shaped by tradition, he was

Introduction to the Upanishads 43

also the upholder of that tradition. That situation was perfectly satisfactory for many, but definitely not for all, as we shall see.

By the time of the late Vedic Age-which is to say the time around the beginning of the first millennium BCE-evidence of a dramatic new movement began to emerge. It must have seemed unspectacular at first, but was destined to radically change the course of the stream of shruti. The thirst for transcend- ent knowledge, engendered in the Vedas, began to take a new turn. There were some few who were beginning to find the basically materialistic, world- embracing ideology of the Vedic Age to be woefully misguided. They saw the material world as the source of universal suffering, and fundamentally incapa- ble of ever satisfying the human longing for unending transcendent bliss (or, to put it in everyday language, perfect happiness). Their one and only goal was total liberation from this world of suffering, and the achievement of eter- nal union with what they believed to be an unchanging, non-material reality that transcends the ever-changing, imperfect reality of the material world. Significantly, they were to be the inheritors of the tradition of shruti, whose character was to change from a world-embracing ideology to one that was arguably world-renouncing. Such a quest held appeal for only a tiny minority of the population, but those who answered the call were willing to give up everything and totally dedicate their lives to a search for spiritual enlightenment.

Such a seeker of liberation is known as a sadhu, or by the English term "renunciate." He is willing to renounce everything-all material wealth, fam- ily, even his caste status-and go off into the wilderness, adopting an extremely austere lifestyle in order to dedicate himself fully to this all-consuming search. 1

The wilderness was essential for such men because they had voluntarily become "outcasts," and also because they wanted to get far away from the lures and distractions of ordinary life. Even today the Indian subcontinent is a land possessed of great tropical forests. In ancient times the wilderness would certainly have been much greater, and would have been a starkly different world from that of the towns and their adjacent farming lands. Most people avoided the forest; if nothing else, it was full of dangers-most people, that is, but not all. The renunciate freely chose to forsake the civilized world and take up residence in the fearsome wild lands of forests and mountains.

Many renunciate sadhus took the vow of sannyas and were thus known more specifically as sannyasis. A sannyasi is a disciple of a particular guru. But who were these renunciates? Where did they come from in the social order of the time? What explains such powerful motivation? Early on, some of them were Brahmins; many, though, were of the Kshatriya class. (Shakyamuni

1 To be technically accurate with regard to spelling, "renunciant" would be preferred over "renunciate." However, "renunciate" is so widely used that it has become the customary spell- ing and is the one I shall use in this book .

44 Hinduism and Related Traditions

Figure 3.1 Sadhus leaving a temple in Nepal

Photo by P. Bresnan

Buddha, the most famous of all renunciates, came from a Kshatriya family, but he would not appear on the scene until long after the tradition had matured.) These upper-caste renunciates were likely to be older men who had reached the final part of their lives. In the Hindu tradition a lifetime is divided into four parts (ashramas). The third and fourth parts apply to a man who is get- ting on in years, his children are grown, and he no longer is responsible for the duties of a householder. He then becomes free to devote all of his time to preparing for the inevitability of death (a very civilized tradition, in my opin- ion, and actually not morbid at all). Some may choose to renounce all of their worldly ties and go off to the forest, perhaps to join like-minded individuals in a spiritual community. Actually, this particular tradition was not all that new; it undoubtedly had been practiced to some extent for generations. These older men, although genuine sadhus, would have played little if any role in generat- ing the revolution that was about to occur.2

The deepest roots of the new renunciate movement would seem to be in the traditional culture of the long-suppressed Dravidian people. Though sup-, pressed, Dravidian culture was far from extinguished, and in the declining years of the Vedic Age, there is a detectable resurgence of Dravidian beliefs

2 In ancient times women did not become renunciates---they simply did not have the opportunity- but th at has changed dramatically in modern times.

Introduction to the Upanishads 45

and customs. What we see is a gradual fusing of the two cultures, the Aryan and the Dravidian. To a large degree, the growth of the renunciate movement may well have been the reemergence of a long-suppressed tradition among the Dravidian population, reaching back at least as far as the time of the Indus Civilization. As possible evidence of this we can look to certain passages in the Rig Veda that seem to describe the sadhu.

He with the long loose locks ... He is all sky to look upon: He with long hair is called this light. The Munis [sages], girdled with the wind, wear garments soiled of yel-

low hue. They, following the wind's swift course go where the Gods have gone

before. Transported with our Munihood we have pressed on into the winds: You therefore, mortal men, behold our natural bodies and no more.

(RV: X; 1-3)

The renunciate, then as now, gave up ordinary life in order to search for trans- cendent spiritual knowledge-self-realization, "enlightenment." His was a very hard life; few could endure it. Much of his time was given to spiritual study, prayer, and most important of all, meditation. He might give many hours of each day to the practice of meditation. All renunciates lived a life of severe self-denial, and many included rigorous ascetic practices as well, such as long fasting, or going about in the coldest weather with little or no clothing. All of this was intended to burn out the deep longing for comfort and ego- satisfaction that stood in the way of spiritual growth.

As you might expect, some renunciates were (and are) more successful in this way of life than others. Some are so remarkable, and their spiritual growth appears to be so impressive, that they acquire a reputation. Other renunciates seek them out, if only to gain something from simply being in their presence. A "holy man" who attracts a following of disciples is called by them a guru. A guru is the leader of a spiritual community. He is their guide and teacher. The title is conferred out of respect by the disciples, never by the man himself.

The relationship between the guru and disciple is one of mutual accept- ance and love; it has to be like the relationship between a loving father and son. The disciple gives himself entirely to the guru; the guru's will becomes his will-absolute, uncompromising trust is essential. And given this kind of relationship, it is just as obvious that only a genuinely enlightened master is appropriate for the role of guru. Anything less could lead to disaster. f Together the guru and his disciples form a tight-knit community. This kind

0 spiritual community is called ashrama. We refer to it as an "ashram." Origi-

nally'. the term ashram meant only the community itself. It was a small com- munity that was usually on the move . The ashram wandered about in the mountains or forest, acquiring their meager needs from the bounty of nature,

46 Hinduism and Related Traditions

or occasionally from begging. Begging was perfectly respectable. It was consid- ered meritorious to share one's food with the "holy men."

During the rainy season the community would need to settle down in one place. India's myriad rivers, swollen by monsoon rains, made travel virtually impossible. Over time, many of these communities acquired donations of land, and gradually gave up their wandering ways. Thus, in time the word ashrama came to refer to the place, the "hermitage," of a particular guru and his disci- ples. Once established, an ashram might continue to exist for many genera- tions, even centuries. The disciples cycled in and out as new ones replaced those who died, and the guru typically would appoint a successor. Continuity was thus assured.

But much more than mere temporal continuity was at stake here. It was the spiritual tradition of an ashram that was its real enduring soul. The reason such communities existed at all was that the individual members believed that such an arrangement was the best way to further their quest for spir- itual enlightenment. Sharing life with other searchers in a close relationship with a guru was considered to be a much richer life than the way of the soli- tary hermit. And what energized the community, in a spiritual sense, was its tradition of sacred teachings passed down from one generation to the next. That tradition was the community's treasure, and it was jealously guarded. It was "secret teaching" in the sense that they believed that only those initiated into the community and guided by its guru were capable of really understand- ing the truth contained in it. But that truth-contained in the teachings- was the key that could "unlock the gates of paradise."

Most of the Upanishads began life as just such secret teachings, enshrined in the tradition of various spiritual communities and handed down over many generations. Eventually they were committed to writing, and today they are available to all of us.

The Upanishads form the fourth part of shruti. There was a third part, however, known as the Aranyakas, that link the Upanishads with the Vedas and Brahmanas. Like the Upanishads that would follow them, the Aranya- kas were composed within renunciate communities that dwelt in the forest (aranya is the Sanskrit word for "forest"). Technically speaking, the Aran- yakas were commentaries on the various Brahmanas. Like the Brahmanas, the Aranyakas dealt with the proper performance of ritual, especially for the likes of themselves, whose lifestyle was very different from that of house- holders. However, they were also concerned with certain esoteric practices peculiar to themselves, and we find the beginning of intuitive philosophical ideas that will be fully developed in the Upanishads. In fact, the Aranyakas are best understood as a kind of introduction to the Upanishads; there is a seamless flow between them. As such, the Aranyakas function as a transition between the Vedas and Brahmanas, which were primarily concerned with right action, and the Upanishads, which were primarily concerned with right understanding.

Introduction to the Upanishads 4 7

The Upanishads were composed over a very long period of time, stretching from about 1000 to 200 BCE. Strictly speaking, the Upanishads are yet further commentaries on the Vedas, but the philosophical and mystical depth of the Upanishads goes far beyond anything that is presented in the Vedas. We could say-if I may be forgiven for using this analogy one last time-that the Vedas contain the seeds, but the flower comes to full bloom in the Upanishads. What had begun in ritual honoring of the gods culminated in a lofty inquiry into the true nature of reality. Whereas the Vedas were primarily concerned with suc- cess in this life, the Upanishads focus on liberation from worldly life through knowledge of the ultimate nature of reality and the self.

Collectively, the Upanishads are known by the term vedanta, which means "end of Veda" or "culmination of Veda." There's a bit of a problem, though, with the word vedanta. Let me explain. Each Upanishad was the product of the spiritual and philosophical tradition of a distinct group. Consequently, the Upanishads taken as a whole do not present a systematic, coherent philoso- phy. Differing schools of thought are represented in the various Upanishads. Over time, these would crystalize into distinct philosophical schools, known as darshanas. The Hindu tradition recognizes six orthodox darshanas. (An "orthodox" darshana is one that accepts the fundamental truth of the Vedas.) Each of these orthodox darshanas is a philosophical system that attempts, each in its own way, to correctly interpret the truth of Veda. Thus "Vedanta," in addition to being the term for the Upanishads as a whole, became the name of one of the six orthodox darshanas, albeit the one that was destined to become the foremost among them-and Vedanta absorbed much of the teachings of the others into itself. In other words, the teachings of the darshana of Vedanta are expressed broadly throughout the Upanishads, but not exclusively. There are also contributions from other darshanas, especially Samkya, which was actually the earliest philosophical system to be expressed in the Upanishads.

In the following pages, our examination of the Upanishads focus on the interpretation of Upanishadic thought as elucidated in the teaching of Vedanta. Certain specific contributions from other darshanas will be noted where appropriate. In this way, we can construct a coherent exposition of Upanishadic thought, and it is an exposition that conforms to what is broadly accepted as the orthodox interpretation of the Upanishads.

So, let's impose a little organization on all these names and facts. It's really a pretty straightforward evolution; everything is logically connected to every- thing else-and it all begins, of course, with the Vedas. The Vedas, especially the Rig Veda, are the ground from which all would grow. In Indian history, as with virtually all human societies, the distinctly human hunger for truth and security was fed by two great evolving traditions: the religious and the philosophical (if we may include scientific thought within the philosophical). :;:_ one degree or another, all human societies exhibit this duality. Both of

. ese traditions are well rooted in the Vedas; both develop from that begin- ning. The religious, or "devotional," has an especially rich history in India. We

4 8 Hinduism and Related Traditions

will look into that subject in Chapter 7. Our primary concern, though, is the philosophical tradition.

If we date the Rig Veda at around 1500 BCE, or possibly a little later, and the composition of the Bhagavad Gita at around 500 BCE, we can see that the orthodox philosophical tradition, the "stream" of shruti, flowed from begin- ning to end for approximately a full millennium. Despite the philosophical mutations that occurred over time, the evolution of shruti is-theoretically, at least-one united corpus.

For those readers who find interest in the technicalities, let me note that historians divide the evolution of shruti into four great periods. The compo- sition of the Vedas is, of course, the first period. It is linked directly to the second period, beginning roughly around 1000 BCE, during which time the Brahmanas were composed. These two periods are joined together, philosoph- ically speaking, into what is called the Karmakala, meaning that they were primarily concerned with karma, action-that is, proper execution of ritual, and most of all, ritual sacrifice.

The next great period, the relatively brief time of the Aranyakas, began more or less around 800 BCE. At least technically speaking, the Aranyakas were appendices to the Brahmanas, so the flow of shruti was not broken ( though it certainly did change course). The Aranyakas issued in the Upanishads, the final of the four parts of the evolution of shruti. The earliest of the Upanishads developed right out of the Aranyakas, so their beginning date would also be in the vicinity of 800 BCE, or shortly after.

Just as the Vedas and the Brahmanas are linked together in what is called the Karmakala, the Aranyakas and the Upanishads are joined together in what is called the Jnanakala, indicating that their primary interest was not action, per se, but rather knowledge, understanding. Being a transitional part of the evolution of shruti, the Aranyakas did in fact share something of both approaches.

The capstone to all of this was the Bhagavad Gita. Technically not an Upan- ishad, though very much like one, the Bhagavad Gita presents a brilliant effort to bring it all together - even, one could argue, the philosophical and the devotional traditions. We will examine the Bhagavad Gita by itself in Chap- ter 4. But for now, on to an examination of the philosophy of the Upanishads.

But wait--doesn't the difference between the Vedic Paradigm and the Upanishadic Paradigm seem much too great to allow them both to be included under the same umbrella, shruti? The philosophy of life created by the Vedic Paradigm was world-embracing; people prayed to their gods for improvements in life, not escape from it. And their ultimate goal was an afterlife that would be much like earthly life at its best. The Upanishadic philosophy (as we shall see) saw earthly life in highly negative terms. On the ever-turning "wheel of life," a given person was destined to be born, die, and be reborn over and over, until finally being able to escape from the wheel through acquiring knowledge of ultimate reality, at which time the illusory individual self would dissolve

Introduction to the Upanishads 49

forever into the infinite bliss of the universal Self. Given this disparity, why claim that the Upanishads are a continuation of shruti?

Well, the contrast between the Vedas and the Upanishads is undoubtedly large. But, it can be explained as a matter of development that has carried shruti to places distant from where it began. In other words, it's more a matter of evolution than contradiction. The composers of the Upanishads accepted the fundamental truth of the Vedas, but expanded on those truths, some- times intuitively expanding on what was only implied in the Vedas. Consider once again, for example, this rather famous verse from the Rig Veda that was included in Chapter 2.

Then even nothingness was not, nor existence. There was no air then, nor the heavens beyond it. Who covered it? Where was it? In whose keeping? Was there then cosmic water, in depths unfathomed? ... But, after all, who knows, and who can say, Whence it all came, and how creation happened? The gods themselves are later than creation, So who knows truly whence it has arisen?

(RV: X.129.1- 7) (Thapar, 131)

In a nutshell, then, it can be argued that the mystic philosophy of the Upanishads fulfills the Vedas. The composers of the Upanishads believed that the truth of their proclamations was inherent in the Vedas. Okay, now on to an examination of the philosophy of the Upanishads.

Key Elements of the Upanishads

The purpose of this study will best be served by treating the Upanishads as a group, rather than examining the principal ones individually. Taken as a group, the Upanishads give expression to a complete system of thought, one that addresses virtually all of the basic questions of life. Using appropriate selections from various Upanishads, I will attempt to identify the key themes of the Upanishads and show how they join together into one comprehensive whole. (Please remember that the following exposition is fundamentally based on the darshana of Vedanta, but contributions from other darshanas will be included, and noted, where appropriate.)

The p lace to begin such a study is right where you are. Consider the world a_round you. There's always a world around you, and so far as your own percep- tion is concerned, you're always right at its center. It doesn't matter what the condition of the world around you is at the moment; any condition will do. Th· " • ts world around us" is what we ordinarily call reality. What can we say about this reality simply by observing it? What basic observations always seem to be true about this world around us?

50 Hinduism and Related Traditions

The first thing to be said about reality is that there is a lot of it. We are sur- rounded by a seemingly infinite number of "things." Anything you can put a name on is a thing (at least as far as our brains are concerned), anything that can be a noun: a chair, for example, or a tree, or a garbage can, a guitar, a dog, a tel- ephone, a handwoven Panama hat, and so on ad infinitum. All of these myriad things are constantly interacting. And one of these things-the most important one by far-is myself. I am a thing among other things, interacting with them and changing with them as we all go along together in the flow of time.

Change is the key understanding here. Reality, as we perceive it, is con- stantly changing. Everything is in a state of change, all of the time! It is a never- ending flux, and nothing in the universe is exempt from it. With some things, clouds of smoke for example, the process of constant change is obvious. With other things, such as granite boulders, it's not so obvious. But we know it's going on anyway; it's just that it's slow to show the effects. But if we could see a time- lapse film of that granite boulder over some long span of geologic time, it would appear to be liquid (actually it is; everything is), or if it were possible for us right now to peek in at the atomic level of that boulder, we would see a whirlwind of movement and change. The appearance of unchanging solidity is only that: a superficial appearance.

This matter of constant change has a long history of troubling philosophers. If everything is always changing, always becoming something else, how can we say anything really definite about anything? How can we have a depend- able science if nothing sits still for even an instant? The Greek philosopher Heraclitus complained that you can't put your foot into the same river twice (because the flowing body of water is constantly changing its form; it's really a new "river" every moment)--quite a problem for someone who wants to be able to make definite, enduring statements about reality. As if that's not bad enough, it gets even worse. You can't even put your foot into the same river once (because the flow pattern is changing even as you put your foot into the water)!

So, we live in a world made up of things that are in a state of constant change. And, these things are constantly interchanging; everything is con- stantly becoming something else. Here again, this is sometimes easy to see, such as when a fire changes wood to smoke, and sometimes not so obvious, as when the surf changes a rock into sand. But here, too, it is simply a matter of time. Given enough time, everything decays, and out of that new things take form. The tree dies and becomes the soil. Out of the soil grows a blade of grass. The grass becomes the worm that eats it, and the worm becomes the bird that eats it. The bird dies and decays into the soil becoming one with it. Out of the soil grows a tree, and so on.

That brings us to a third point about change. Change is not capricious and meaningless (though it may sometimes seem that way). Change is always orderly, always reasonable. What I mean by this is that change always con- forms to the laws of nature. Change is always bound up in the process of cause

Introduction to the Upanishads 51

d eaect wherein the effect is necessarily a logical outcome of the cause. an II' ' . 3 Deer do not give birth to baby ducks, and fallmg apples do not fall upward. The important point is that everything-everything-is the result of some

prior thing that caused it. Everything is the doing of something else. An apple is what an apple tree does; an apple tree apples. Apples are an appling of the a le tree, and the apple tree itself is a treeing of the soil, and so on. Looked a~~n this way, there really are no such things as nouns. Nouns imply a static, set reality, like a snapshot. But in truth everythin2 is in movement, constantly in a srate of becoming. The late Alan Watts used ta suggest, tongue in cheek,

'that we should rPplace all ornms with verbs: "The horsing ate an appling from ~ein_g." Interesting idea, but I suspect it's not very likely to happen. .- Our concern here is with the fact that everything is the doing of something else. You are the doing of your parents, and they are the doing of their parents, and so on. The apple is the doing of the tree; the tree is the doing of planet Earth; the Earth is the doing of the galaxy, and on we go back in time. No mat- ter what you start with, you can-in fact you must-trace the chain of cause and effect back to the starting point of the universe. Everything ultimately goes back to the Big Bang. (And maybe before long, science will reveal that the Big Bang itself was the doing of something that preceded it.)

Everything is the doing of something that preceded it in an unbroken chain of cause and effect back to the beginning of the universe. So, the ultimate question is, what's doing the universe? If everything in the universe is the doing of something else, what is doing the universe? (Notice that the question is not, what did the universe; what started the universe? Whether or not the universe really began in the Big Bang is not our present concern. It's an interesting question, but it's not the right question.)

Given the fact that the universe exists-given the fact that all of this "stuff' around us exists-there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for why it has all evolved in the way it has; the laws of nature explain it fully. Given the fact that the universe exists in a particular condition at Moment-A, and again in a certain condition at Moment-B, Moment-B is a perfectly logical outcome of Moment-A. But that requires a "given the fact," and why should we be willing to do that? Everything, including the universe itself, has to have area- sonable explanation. So again, the ultimate, bottom-line question is, What's doing the universe?! In other words, why does anything exist at all? What is it that holds the universe in existence? Why is it that the universe continues to exist at all from Moment-A to Moment-B? What is it that is doing the universe? ~very cosmology must answer this question. In Vedanta, the answer to this all- important question can be summed up in a single word-Brahman.

3 The universality of the "law" of causality is challenged, of course, by quantum physics in mod- :m times. Our purpose, though, is to understand the reasoning of thinkers who lived long ago, efore a time when such considerations were even conceivable.

le/4~/4 '1'n,1,;)Y/.

~-

52 Hinduism and Related Traditions

Brahman

In the lexicon of Hinduism there is no more important term than "Brahman." The concepts that we shall be discussing in this chapter weave around the meaning of Brahman, constantly returning to it. The meaning of "Brahman," though, cannot be neatly captured in words. The best we can do is to say that Brahman is the underlying reality and root cause of all that is. Brahman- derived from the Sanskrit root brih, which means "to grow"-is the ultimate root of existence from which the entire universe "grows" and continues to exist.

It is very important to resist the temptation to let the imagination cast the word Brahman in the form of some personal being, especially a godlike being. Brahman is not a god; Brahman is not a "he"; Brahman is not any thing at all that can be identified and separated out from all other things. We could say that, fundamentally, Brahman is the Fact of Existence-pure and simple. Brahman is the reason things exist. Brahman is the ultimate inner essence of all things that exist. In the Mundaka Upanishad, Brahman is described as being invisible, ungraspable, eternal, and without any qualities whatsoever. Brah- man is the imperishable source of all.

In the Upanishads, Brahman is often referred to as "the Self," with a capital "S," meaning the innermost Self of all that exists. From the Katha Upanishad,

The supreme Self is beyond name and form, Beyond the senses, inexhaustible, Without beginning, without end, Beyond time and space, and causality, eternal, immutable.

(Katha Up: 10.3.15; p. 89) 4

This quote reveals the frustration in trying to define Brahman in words. By definition, Brahman transcends everything that can be a matter of experience, and that's what words are all about. Perhaps the best verbal definition of all is given in the Mundaka Upanishad. A sage being questioned about the nature of Brahman keeps answering, "Neti, neti, neti" (not that; not that; not that). In other words, we can only identify Brahman by negating every possible thing that we can imagine. What's left is Brahman. What is left? Well, that's why the sages call it "ungraspable." The most that we can say in words is that what's left is pure, undifferentiated existence itself-not some thing that exists:

Him our eyes cannot see, nor words express; He cannot be grasped even by the mind.

4 From The Upanishads, translated by Eknath Easwaran, founder of the Blue Mountain Center of Meditation, copyright 1987, 2007; reprinted by permission of Nilgiri Press, P.O. Box 256, Tomales, CA 94971, www.easwaran.org. Unless otherwise noted, all excerpts from the Upani- shads are taken from Easwaran. The page number at the end of the citation refers to the page in the Easwaran book.

Introduction to the Upanishads 53

We do not know, we cannot understand, Because he is different from the known And he is different from the unknown. Thus have we heard from the illumined ones.

(Kena Up: 1.3, 4; p. 68)5

Don't let the use of the masculine pronouns in this passage confuse you. Writers of the Upanishads were fairly casual about that sort of thing. Brahman clearly transcends gender; there's no question about that. But "it," nonethe- less, is often referred to as "he" in the Upanishads.

In trying to describe the admittedly indescribable, sages use many words- pure spirit, eternal, infinite, immutable, uncreated, unchanging, and so on. So far as they go, all of these are good words. But words are like "fingers pointing at the moon": fine, if they direct your attention to the moon; just don't mis- take the finger for the moon.

Suffice it to say, in the imperfect way of words, that Brahman is pure exist- ence. Pure existence is infinitely passive and undifferentiated. But the world of our experience is not passive at all; it is highly active. As emphasized earlier, a vast multitude of things is constantly coming into existence and passing out of existence. But if Brahman is all that exists, and is infinitely passive and undifferentiated, how can this be? In Vedanta philosophy (Advaita Vedanta), existence is definitely seen to be one, but the reality of Brahman is conceptual- ized in two ways. Fundamentally, the term Brahman refers to pure existence, eternal, unmoving, passive. But there is seen to be within this fundamental "Brahman" a potential for an expression of itself. The cosmos-moving, chang- ing, active-is this "expression" of Brahman.

In its pure, unmoving, essential suchness Brahman is known as nirguna Brahman ( without attributes), absolutely perfect and absolutely passive (at least conceptually speaking). As the active "creative" source of the cosmos, though, Brahman is known as saguna Brahman (with attributes). It is saguna Brahman that creates the universe-in the beginning, and for every continu- ing moment-as an expression, a manifestation of itself. In this way, it is Brah- man, the ultimate source of all that is, that does the universe.

This is not just a sly way of preserving belief in the unity of being; it is actu- ally an entirely reasonable solution. Consider this very rough analogy (and 1 stress the word very): Imagine yourself lying peacefully in some serene place, perhaps a quiet, grassy spot on a warm summer day. Your eyes are closed and you're not really thinking about much of anything, just enjoying the moment, enjoying your fact of existence. Suddenly and spontaneously you break out in

5 Some things do seem to be universal. How similar does this sound to the philosophical descrip- ;ion of God in the Christian tradition? Thomas Aquinas, in his thirteenth-century masterwork umma Theologica, defined God as the highest good-infinite, immutable, eternal omnipotent,

omniscient, uncaused, the First Cause (Creator) of all.

54 Hinduism and Related Traditions

song. After a while the song dies out, and you drift back into simply enjoying the moment. In this analogy (and I said it was rough) the quiet, passive you is like nirguna Brahman; the song is like saguna Brahman. The question is, are you and the song two different things, or are they two aspects of one real- ity, you? When you sing a song, is the act of singing you, or is it something separate from you? Is not your behavior-what you do--a fundamental part of what it is that defines you? Singing is a modified form of breathing; it's a way of expressing yourself. In the same way, the universe could be said to be the "song" of Brahman. Seen in this way there is no separation. All is One; all is Brahman:

As the web issues out of the spider, and is withdrawn; As plants sprout from the earth, As hair grows from the body, Even so, the sages say, This universe springs from the deathless Self, The source of life.

(Mundaka Up: Pt. I; 1.7; p. 110)

Maya

Thus Brahman-in-act (saguna Brahman) accounts for the existence of the cos- mos, which means all those myriad ever-changing, ever-evolving "things" that all together make up what we call the cosmos. The totality of all these "things" (or should I say "thing-ings") is known by the name maya. The word maya is derived from the very basic Sanskrit word, ma, which provided the root for words meaning "matter" and "measure." The English word magic is derived from the same root, and magic was an early Sanskrit meaning of maya. In Vedic times, maya referred to the magical powers of the gods. But in the Upanishads, maya has come to refer to the (seemingly) magical power of Brahman to evoke the appearance of the many out of the One. The word maya thus refers both to the creative power of Brahman and to what it is that appears to be created:

From his divine power comes forth All this magical show of name and form; Of you and me, Which casts the spell of pain and pleasure. Only when we pierce through this magic veil Do we see the One who appears as many.

(Shvetashvatara Up: IY.5; p. 225)

Know him to be the supreme magician Who has become boy and girl, bird and beast.

(Shvetashvatara Up: IV.11; p. 226)

Introduction to the Upanishads 55

Maya is the totality of everything that makes up the universe, the cosmos. But all of these things are constantly changing, constantly evolving, con- stantly becoming. So, what is it that's changing? If, for example, the earth becomes grass and the grass becomes the animal that eats it, then all of these things are really forms temporarily assumed by something more basic. In fact, that is the essential character of maya. Think about it: all of the things of maya are forms, expressions of that which is fundamental to all. That sentence bears repeating: All of the things of maya are forms, expressions of that which is fundamental to all. So what are the forms of maya forms of? This absolutely most basic essence, out of which arise all the displays of maya is known as prakriti.6

Prakriti (pronounced prah-KREE-tee) may be thought of as being ultimately the most simple state of matter and energy, or simply the power that gener- ates materiality in its primal state. The Upanishads are not precise about this point, nor does it really seem to matter. In any case, we can say that in giving birth to what we perceive as the material universe-whatever the ultimate nature of that may be-Brahman's act can be described as the expression of prakriti. And from the very first moment of time, prakriti became involved in the process of movement and change, which we envision as the evolution of the universe.

One of the amazing things about Vedanta is the harmony that exists between the insights of that ancient philosophy and those of modern science. Contemporary physics is enchanted by the quest for the primal, fundamental components of reality. In a sense, we could say that modern science is trying to get as close as is humanly possible to an understanding of the fundamental nature of prakriti. From the modem point of view we could say that prakriti took the form of primal energy that "froze out" into the elementary particles of nature. A quark is a form of prakriti, and so is a photon. (So, in fact, are the alleged "strings" of string theory.) This view does no violence at all to the original meaning of prakriti. In fact, it seems to develop the original concept and make it even more meaningful.

So, could you go to the pharmacy and purchase a small bottle of prakriti? Sure you could; anything in the bottle would be prakriti, and the bottle itself too. But could you purchase a bottle of "pure" prakriti? Sorry, that's not possi- ble. Prakriti is always in the form of something, no matter how elemental that something may be. You can no more have prakriti all by itself than you can have the color blue all by itself. It has to be a blue something.

From the point of view of the Upanishads, no matter how finely you slice it, you're still dealing with "forms." Perhaps the "ultimate substance" is unknow- a~le to the senses; we can only know its effects. But, from the point of view 0 Vedanta, it has to exist. "Forms" have to be forms of something. And this necessary ultimate substance is what we refer to as prakriti.

6 The concepts of prakriti and purusha are elucidated in the darshana of Samkya.

56 Hinduism and Related Traditions

Prakriti is not static. It constantly responds to the forces of nature, and out of this dynamic come all of the forms that we recognize as the world around us. The fundamental forces of nature-the threefold aspects of prakriti-are referred to as the gunas. The three gunas, elucidated in the Samkya tradi- tion, are tamas, the character of inertia, passivity; rajas, the character of energy, activity, dynamism; and sattva, the character of equilibrium, balance, and harmony. Everything that exists is said to be a result of the interaction of these three forces, though one will always dominate and it will establish the nature of the particular thing.7 In a seed, tamas dominates, but when it sprouts, rajas takes command. A healthy, mature tree exhibits sattva. The guna forces are always and everywhere in movement and interaction shaping the character of the forms that prakriti assumes. In modem terms we might think of energy as rajas, and gravity, the urge toward increasing entropy, as tamas.

Insofar as the material order is concerned, prakriti is all that exists. The things that we can see and name are forms that prakriti has taken. Like a slowly drifting smoke cloud, prakriti is constantly assuming myriad forms-forms that take shape and then dissolve into other forms. For billions of years, the cosmic dust cloud produced by the Big Bang has been slowly evolving new and ever more complex forms. We put names on these forms and call them dark energy, dark matter, galaxies, stars, planets, trees, kittens, microchips, handwoven Panama hats, and so on. But all of them remain at root that original cosmic dust, which has simply been good at evolving more complicated molecular forms over time. Everything that exists is simply a temporary form of prakriti. And that brings us back to maya. Maya is the world of changing forms; prakriti, so to speak, is what the forms are forms of.

An analogy will help. Imagine a potter at work. The first thing that the potter needs is a tub of clay. Then he or she will shape that clay into various artifacts. If one is for holding flowers, it will be called a vase. Another meant to hold soup will be called a bowl. I say "will be called" because, strictly speaking, there is no such thing as a vase or a bowl. Those words are just agreed-upon practical descriptions of what essentially is still clay. The clay hasn't changed; only its form has changed . Now some of it has become clay in the farm of a vase, or clay in the farm of a bowl. The names refer to the forms. If we break the vase, only the form has been destroyed. All of the clay is still there, though now it is in the form of shards. (Think LEGO.)

In this analogy, the clay, of course, represents prakriti, and the forms that the clay temporarily assumes are maya. When we give names to forms, we seem to confer on them a sort of reality that goes beyond the character of transient forms. It is the name that creates the illusion. Our mistake is to confer on the

7 Perhap s you see th e similarity between the gunas in Hindui sm and the concept of yin&yang in Chine se Daoism.

Introduction to the Upanishads 57

things of our experience a kind of reality unto themselves, rather than see them as the fleeting expressions of a deeper reality.

One more analogy: let's go back to that summer day when you were lying on the grass, only this time we'll have you watching a big puffy cloud drifting slowly overhead. It doesn't take much imagination to pick out all kinds of familiar shapes. A flower slowly turns into an alligator; an octopus becomes a chair. In the terms of the analogy, the cloud is prakriti; the forms it takes are maya. The forms arc real; you are not hallucinating. But their reality consists in being forms of the cloud, not in being substanding things with their own separate reality. If you thought that it really was a flower or an alligator, you would then be a victim of illusion. But it would be your own illusion, not inherently the fault of the maya. Vedanta maintains that this is a mistake that we often make.

Through the act of Brahman (saguna Brahman), the universe comes into existence and unfolds through time. What is unfolding are the myriad forms of nature; the countless, ever-changing things that make up the world around us. This is maya, our perception of the totality of the myriad farms (things) that make up the constantly changing character of nature. It is the particular way in which Brahman manifests itself. The Shvetashvatara Upanishad puts it this way:

[Brahman] is fire and the sun, and the moon, and the stars. He is the air and the sea. Brahman is the Creator, Prajapati. He is this boy, he is that girl. He is this man, he is that woman, And he is this old man, too, tottering on his staff. His face is everywhere.

(Shvetashvatara Up: IV.2; p. 225)

The same point is made in the Katha Upanishad:

The Self is the sun shining in the sky, The wind blowing in space; He is the fire at the altar and in the home the guest; He dwells in human beings, in gods, in truth, And in the vast firmament· He is the fish born in wate;, the plant growing in the earth, The river flowing down from the mountain. For this Self is supreme.

(Katha Up: II.2.2; p. 93)

. There is an excellent Sanskrit word, lila (LEE-la), which means "play," as in to play a musical instrument." The act of Brahman is often referred to as

58 Hinduism and Related Traditions

lila. Rather than say that Brahman creates the universe, many sages prefer to say that Brahman plays the universe. (It sounds so much more appealing when put that way, doesn't it?) After all, why does Brahman do the universe? There really can't be any purpose outside itself; nothing exists outside itself. ls it going too far to say that when you come right down to it, Brahman plays the universe for the fun of it? I don't mean to sound facetious; nor on the other hand do I wish to pretend that this is all heavy and serious business. It is what it is, and what it is-what everything is-is the lila of Brahman.

Brahman, pure existence, manifests itself as the universe. Everything that exists is the lila of Brahman. Brahman, attributeless Reality ... Casts his net of appearance over the cosmos And rules it from within through his divine power.

(Shvet. Up: Ill.1; p. 222)

This selection points out the difference of meaning regarding "creation" in the Hindu and the Christian traditions. In the Judea-Christian tradition, God is separate from His creation; He creates the world out of nothing. In the Hindu tradition, Brahman "creates" the cosmos out of itself ( that is, out of Brahman). Brahman and the "creation" (play) are one. 8

Brahman "rules" the universe. By "rule" is simply meant that the lila of Brahman is not whimsical, not erratic. From the beginning of time, the uni- verse has been unfolding in a grand and orderly fashion. This orderly evolu- tion of the universe, the lila of Brahman, is what is meant by the word Dharma; Brahman-Dharma.

Dharma--derived from the Sanskrit dhar, which means "to hold"-is the inner law that upholds the Order of Nature. We see it around us as the expres- sion of Natural Law, and over time it is expressed as the awesome unfolding of the evolution of the cosmos. Brahman projects the universe from itself, but does so in accordance with the order of Dharma.

8 It's fascinating to reflect on the fact that, far from being in conflict with the philosophical insights of ancient Hinduism, the findings of modern science often deepen our understanding of their truth. Take, for example, the teaching that fundamentally All is One; that the per- ceived separateness of the entities of maya is illusory. In modem times the progress of knowl - edge has revealed that at the beginning moment of the universe, everything--al! of it-was contained within an unimaginably small space, far smaller even than a subatomic particle-a "singularity," as it's called. Immediately that miniscule point expanded dramatically, and is expanding still. But-everything that exists in the present universe was contained within that tiny original dot! Nothing has been added. In effect, the universe of today is still that tiny dot, but simply expanded to its present extent . The evolution of the universe is the evolution of that original singularity. And again, nothing at all has been added. The evolution of the uni- verse, somewhat like a smoke cloud, has been ever-developing new and more complex forms. "Forms" is the key understanding. Evolving forms within the inherent unity. Realizing this, how can one question the fundamental oneness of Being?!

Introduction to the Upanishads 59

Brahman, then, is pure existence, the source of all that is. Maya is the crea- tive act of Brahman expressed as the evolution of the universe. And Dharma is the inner law of Brahman that causes the evolution of the universe to unfold in an orderly and harmonious way. Dharma is what gives unity and harmony to all of nature. To be in accord with Dharma is the proper state of

all things. Until human beings appeared on the scene, there was no problem concern-

ing Dharma; everything in nature "naturally" acted in accord with Dharma. The apple falling from the tree is Dharma; the Earth turning on its axis is Dharma; the lion pouncing on the antelope is Dharma. The balance of nature is Dharma. But human nature has the capacity for self-reflection, and, there- fore, the capacity to frustrate Dharma by willfully substituting personal desire in place of action for the good of the whole. As a result, the "balance of nature" can become very un-balanced (to say the least!). Thus it becomes the moral responsibility of men and women to transcend selfish desire and deliberately choose to live their lives in accord with Dharma. The word Dharma, therefore, refers to transcendent Natural Law and also to moral law. The concept of Dharma is in many ways an outgrowth of the Vedic concept of rita. Both are concerned with the inner order of reality.

In the grand view of the Hindu tradition, philosophical speculation is given a wonderful metaphorical expression in mythology. Sometimes this is the best way to intuitively grasp the meaning of that which admittedly is inexpressible. In Hindu mythology, the creator-god is known as Brahma (not to be confused with Brahman). Brahma brings forth from out of the depths of his own being a goddess (Devi) who personifies maya. The goddess is not a separate being: she is Brahma in the sense that she is the shakti, the female element that is intrinsically a part of the whole that is Brahma. The Hindu tradition holds that the passive and the active principles are fundamental in existence. The passive is represented by the male nature and the active by the female. Thus it is logical that the goddess, the shakti of Brahma, would represent maya and be responsible for the entrancing play that maya unfolds:

Maya is the continuous self-manifestation and self-disguise of Brahman- its self-revelation, yet its multi-colored concealing veil. Hence the dig- nity of all perishable things, on all levels. That is why their sum total is worshipped as the Highest Goddess, Mother and Life-Energy of Gods and Creatures, under the formula, Maya-shakti-Devi.

(Zimmer, Myth, 151)

Brahman-Atman

We have now reached the appropriate place to take up the doctrine ofBrahman- Atman, the quintessential feature of Vedanta. Given its great importance, we ~eed first to step back a little in order to see the larger picture out of which it ogically emerges.

60 Hinduism and Related Traditions

As we have seen, prakriti, through the ceaseless play of the gunas, produced, and continues to produce, all of the maya-forms of the universe. Each of us finds one of these forms to be of very special interest. That particular form is, of course, "myself." I am a physical being, a part of the world of maya, just like all other physical beings. But in an important way, I am unlike most of the other "things" of my experience. I am a conscious being, a "sentient" being. Among the myriad forms of maya, there can be seen to exist two distinctly dif- ferent kinds. There are those that exhibit consciousness, and there are those that do not exhibit consciousness. Those that do exhibit the potential for con- sciousness are called sentient beings (an animal, for example). Those that do not exhibit consciousness are called insentient beings (a rock, for example). This difference is, to say the least, momentous.

Consider the importance of consciousness-the absolute, unequaled importance of consciousness. Compared to it, nothing else really matters at all. And it's so completely amazing! Why does it exist at all? What causes it? How in the world can godly consciousness be "caused" by a bunch of insentient molecules that happen to be arranged in the form of certain neu- rons in the brain? It would seem as though the effect is infinitely greater than its cause. The Upanishadic tradition answers this question by saying simply: it can't. Prakriti can't cause consciousness. Consciousness, godly consciousness, is of the nature of Brahman itself. Brahman is pure spirit . In this view, pure spirit and pure consciousness are one and the same. Pure consciousness is not to be confused with ordinary thinking or feeling. It is in itself totally inactive. The word for this is purusha.9

Purusha is a tricky word to nail down. (Aren't they all!) The meaning of the word changed enormously from Vedic times to the Age of the Upanishads. In the Vedas, purusha refers to a mythic primal male whose body enveloped the entire cosmos. From the various parts of that body were derived the different castes. Obviously the meaning changed a lot, but the connotation of maleness was not entirely lost. In their more poetic moments, the authors of the Upani- shads refer to the male/female dichotomy of nature by representing purusha as the male aspect and prakriti as the female.

Brahman is purusha, pure infinite consciousness, and as such is aware of its own lila. Purusha is perfect and undivided, one and the same as Brahman itself (nirguna Brahman)-purusha is not divided into discrete parts. Prakriti, in the myriad evanescent forms of maya, is perceived as a manifold, but purusha is

9 As we will see in Chapter 6, not everyone agreed with the Vedanta position regarding the oneness of Brahman (puru.sha) and prakriti. Some systems, including Samkya, deemed exist- ence as dual in nature : one part pure, passive consciousness (Brahman or Puru.sha), the other the ever-changing production of prakriti. Both were seen to be eternal, and though they could interact, they were essentialy separate realms of existence

In a technical sense, the word consciousness refers to what is normally meant by the term "self- consciousness." That can be more than a bit confusing. In this book, to avoid confusion, I will use the word consciousness in its customary usage, and "self-awareness" for "self-consciousness."

Introduction to the Upanishads 61

the purely spiritual reality of Brahman itself and is One. Thus it follows that mY physical self is prakriti-an aspect of the play of maya-and subject to all the conditions of non-conscious prakriti. But the conscious self is not prakriti. We customarily recognize the importance of this distinction by spelling the purusha "Self' with a capital "S."

The Self-the indwelling conscious core of every sentient being-is Atman. Th e word atman is derived from an early root word, which means "to breathe." In many ancient cultures, the principle of life, the soul, was associated with the breath. This is understandable; a baby seems to come to life when it takes its first breath and remains vital and warm throughout life so long as breath- ing continues. Breath is also the meaning of the Latin spiritus, from which is derived our word "spirit."

Atman, then, is Brahman! The Dharma-evolution of the universe is the play of Brahman, the manifestation of Brahman. Atman, though, is not a man- ifestation of Brahman. This cannot be stressed too strong ly. The Atman is not a part of Brahman; Brahman is pure spirit and cannot be divided into parts. Atman is not a role of Brahman. Atman IS Brahman-the indwelling Brah- man within every sentient creature. 10

This Self who gives rise to all works, To all desires, all odors, all tastes, Who pervades the universe, Who is beyond words, Who is joy abiding, Who is ever present in my heart, ls Brahman indeed.

(Chandogya Up: Ill.14.4; p. 178)

Thus, in a manner of speaking, there are two important aspects to the nature of my being. The conscious core of my being (and of all sentient beings) is the Brahman-Atman. This is the Self, which, participating in the nature of puru- sha, is pure spirit, eternal, non-acting. The much more familiar self, though, is the ego, the maya-role that is identified with what I do. This is the prakriti-self, active, constantly changing, ephemera l, and not in itself conscious.

It is the Atman (purusha) that is the conscious subject of all that the ego (Prakriti) does and experiences. The Atman is the "hear-er" of what is heard, "see-er" of what is seen, "think-er" of what is thought:

The Imperishable is the seer [see-er], though unseen; The hearer, though unheard; The thinker, though unthought;

lO The Samkhya tradition, much like the Judeo-Christian tradition, holds that Purusha is not one, but many. Each sentient being is a form of prakriti that is "inhabited" by its own indi- vidual purusha (similar to the concept of "soul") (54 ).

62 Hinduism and Related Traditions

The knower, though unknown. Nothing other than the Imperishable can see, hear, think, or know. It is in the Imperishable that space is woven, warp and woof.

(Briluularanyaka Up: I.11; p. 41)

That which makes the tongue speak, but cannot be spoken by the tongue, Know that as the Self. This Self is not someone other than you.

(Kena Up: I.5; p. 68)

"This Self is not someone other than you." Profound indeed, but unfortunately far from apparent to us. In the normal course of development, the Atman (pure consciousness) becomes entranced, as it were, with the ego-role of which it is the conscious subject. So entranced, so enchanted, that it becomes absorbed in the game, going so far as to falsely identify with the ego-role that it observes. This is the understandable but fatal mistake that we all make early in the game. By way of a very loose analogy, I would compare the relationship of Atman and ego to the viewing of a film in which the camera gives you the impression that you are seeing the action through the eyes of the main character. If you get very absorbed in the action, you might forget that you are a separated observer and temporarily think that you really are that actor, that role. (Little children do this easily.) If the character in the film faces danger, you would feel that it was you who faces danger. In your entrancement you have identified with the experience. In like manner, when Atman falsely identifies its being with that of ego all of the troubles of the world are the result. To reveal this error, and to correct it, is the central thrust of Vedanta philosophy:

Like two golden birds perched on the selfsame tree, Intimate friends, the ego and the Self, dwell in the same body. The former eats the sweet and sour fruits of the tree of life, While the latter looks on in detachment.

(Munaaka Up: Ill.l.1; p. 115)

To sum things up: Vedanta philosophy holds that at the core of your being- and at the core of every other sentient being-is Atman . Atman is not maya; Atman is not a creation of Brahman; Atman is Brahman. The Brahman-Atman, though "individualized" in each sentient being, is Brahman. Atman is the true inner Self of each sentient being. Hence the powerful verse from the Chandogya Upanishad that ends with the Sanskrit words Tat tsvam asi! ("You are That!") The word "That" refers to the ultimate, unspeakable reality of Brahman:

In the beginning was only Being, One without a second. Out of himself he brought forth the cosmos

Introduction to the Upanishads 63

And entered into everything in it. There is nothing that does not come from him. Of everything he is the inmost Self. He is the truth; he is the Self supreme. And you are that, Shvetaketu; you are that.

(Chandogya Up: VI.2.2, 3; p. 183)

You are That! You are Brahman! You are not a creature of Brahman; you- are-Brahman! To really know this, to uncover and know the Atman within oneself, is the ultimate goal of life. Nothing else compares in significance.

There are some very profound implications in all of this, that is, in this asser- tion of Vedanta that the real me is Brahman. For one thing, there is ultimately no essential difference between me and all other sentient beings. We are all Brahman-the one, indivisible Brahman. We are simply different expressions of Brahman being manifest at the same time. You and I are one! The terrible feeling of separateness is only an illusion. At root, All is One.

Also, death has no reality; there can be no such thing as death. Brahman cannot die; Brahman is eternal. And Atman is Brahman. Therefore, the real enduring me cannot die. Only the prakriti-body role-the ego-------can "die" (die out). The Atman does not die:

We were never born, we will never die; We have never undergone change, we can never undergo change; Unborn, eternal, immutable, immemorial, We do not die when the body dies.

(BG: II.20; Easwaran, p. 63)

Avidya

We say that everyone is a unique individual. And it's true; no two persons are exactly alike. But what we see, what we identify as a person, is in fact the "persona," the personality, which is the ego-role that that individual plays. Through practice we get so good at playing the role that it becomes second nature. It may seem strange that people would identify with their roles and fail to see that they really are roles. But, according to Vedanta, this is exactly what we're doing; we're all actors going about our business totally wrapped up in the roles we play. "All the world's a stage," said Shakespeare, "and all the men and women merely players."

The stage play analogy is excellent. An actor on stage is clearly an "actor," but we don't want him or her to appear to be an actor. An actor gives a good performance to the extent that he really gets into the role. Wouldn't it spoil the role, though (as the late Alan Watts used to say), if the actor was continu- ally looking over his shoulder and winking at the audience? We want the actor to get into his role, but definitely not to the extent that he starts believing that

64 Hinduism and Related Traditions

he really is that role. That's going too far; it would take the fun out of the play. And it might be dangerous; there could be genuine mayhem on stage.

If an actor comes to believe that he really is the role that he plays, and adopts that personality as his own, we would judge that he had become men- tally ill. Such a person would be committed to a mental hospital for his own safety-and ours. Well then, should we not all be committed? Are we not all doing exactly the same thing? Typically, we all identify totally with the ego- roles that we play and believe with all our hearts that this is what I am (not something I do) . If we fall for our own act, are we not just as insane as the stage actor who falls for his act?

In Vedanta, this great illusion about the nature of self is called avidya. The word is derived from the Sanskrit root vid, which means "to know." This is the same root that gave us Veda. Another derivative is vidya, which means "knowledge"-knowledge of the highest sort. Veda is Truth, and vidya is knowl- edge of the Truth. In Sanskrit, the prefix "a" has the effect of negating the word (often the case in English too, as in "moral" and "amoral"). Thus, avidya comes to mean "ignorance," ignorance of the truth that the real Self is Brahman.

Avidya is the common condition of mankind; it is the "human problem." Avidya, the Upanishads contend, is responsible for all suffering. Note that the contention is not that avidya is responsible for much suffering, nor even for most suffering; the Upanishads proclaim that avidya is responsible for all of the suffering of mankind. What a statement!

We can sum up the matter of avidya in the following manner: to identify my being with the maya-role is fundamental ignorance. It is called avidya. Avidya is the powerful illusion that my reality consists in the "person," the role that I play. This ego-identification results inevitably in a sense of personal separa- tion, personal insecurity, angst regarding the unavoidability of personal death. Avidya, the common condition of mankind, is responsible for all suffering.

The proper goal of life is to see through the illusion of the separate self and to come to know the real Self, the Brahman-Atman. That is true knowledge. That is vidya:

The Self is indeed Brahman. But through ignorance people identify it with Intellect, mind, senses, passions, And the elements of earth, water, air, space, and fire. This is why the Self is said to consist of this and that, And appears to be everything.

(Bhih. Up: III.[4).5; p. 48)

The Self is the ear of the ear, The eye of the eye, And mind of the mind.

(Kena Up.: I.2)

Introduction to the Upanishads 65

The Self is the "eye of the eye." The eye (i.e ., the body) may die, but the eye of the eye cannot die. It is Atman; it is eternal.

Samsara

The Vedas held that death is followed by an afterlife, a sort of heaven or hell, but the Upanishads proclaim that the Atman will be reborn over and over until finally it bursts through avidya and awakens perfectly to its own Brahman identity. That may take eons of time and countless rebirths. This odyssey is known as samsara. It is Brahman's way of playing hide-and-seek with itself, so co speak, and time is of no consequence:

The world is the wheel of God, Turning round and round with all living creatures upon its rim. The world is the river of God, Flowing from him and flowing back to him. On this ever-revolving wheel of being The individual self goes round and round through life after life. Believing itself to be a separate creature, Until it sees its identity with the Self, And attains immortality in the indivisible whole.

(Shvetashvatara Up: I.4; p. 217)

Many believe that Atman begins the long journey of samsara at the abso- lute lowest level of sentient life, whatever that might be. Whatever it is, that minute speck of consciousness is the first step in the Atman's long journey. In accord with the unfo lding of Dharma, the Atman will ascend one lifetime at a time through the vast hierarchy of sentient life-forms. As the "wheel of life" turns round and round, the Atman will have been the conscious core of many a sentient being by the time it first comes forth in a human womb.

The particular kind of each rebirth is determined by karma, which has been accumulated by the Atman in its previous lives. Karma must not be confused with a system of reward and punishment. Vedanta does not hold that some sort of invisible police force is watching us ready to pass out negative karma cita- tions for our selfish acts. Karma is the natural outcome of the play of Dharma. It is purely and simply a matter of cause and effect. If I consume more calories t~an I burn, I will inevitably gain weight. It has nothing to do with morality; I_m not being punished . It's simply the natural play of cause and effect. At the ~ime 0 f_ego-death, the state of one's karma is carried over into the next life and etermines the character of the next rebirth .

. One widely favored way of interpreting this is as follows: progression upward is natural until the Atman reaches the level of human life. In the traditional 1 ~terpretation the hierarchy continues through the various castes. But now t ere is a difference. The human animal, unlike all previous species, is capable

66 Hinduism and Related Traditions

of fouling the machinery of Dharma. This is because the human life-form pro- vides the Atman for the first time with a maya-form that is capable of self- reflection. And as we have seen, the ego can choose to stand in conflict with Dharma by putting its own selfish desires in place of the good of the whole. Depending on its severity, this mode of behavior creates "negative" karma, which must inevitably influence the nature of that Atman's rebirth.

Sufficient negative karma at the time of ego-death can even result in an Atman falling backward and being reborn at a lower level of sentient life. Given this belief, it was inevitable, I suppose, that someone would attempt to work out what kind of rebirth would result from certain types of negative karma. It was widely believed that an unfaithful wife, for example, would be reborn as a scorpion. (There was no mention, so far as I know, of what would happen to an unfaithful husband.)

We can summarize the doctrine of samsara thus: It is obvious that sentient beings on Earth exist in a multitude of different kinds, a vast hierarchy stretch- ing from the lowest forms of animal life to mankind. Throughout all of this hierarchy there is a constant cycling of death and birth. The body, being maya and material, dies. But the Atman, being Brahman and thus spirit, is eternal and can never die. Each Brahman-Atman is reborn over and over in succes- sive bodies. This is the ever-turning wheel of samsara.

The doctrine of samsara is beautifully stated in several of the Upanishads. Consider this excellent example from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad:

As a caterpillar, having come to the end of one blade of grass, Draws itself together and reaches out for the next, As the skin of a snake is sloughed onto an anthill, And reaches out from the old body to a new, So does the mortal body fall. But the Self, freed from the body And dispelled of all ignorance, Merges in Brahman; infinite life, eternal light.

(Brih. Up: III.[4].3, 7; p. 4 7, 49)

Moksha

Brahman-Atman, the All in all of us, surpasses human reason, cannot be conceived of by the human imagination, and cannot be described; yet it can be experienced as the very Life within us (Atman), or intuited as the Life of the cosmos.

-(Zimmer, Myth, 142)

In the grand unfolding of Dharma, samsara is the slow progression of the Brahman-Atman to ever-higher levels of consciousness through the procession

Introduction to the Upanishads 67

of successive rebirths. Each rebirth presents the Atman with the potential for a new and higher level of consciousness, of gradually dawning Self-awareness. Samsara is Brahman's long quest for ultimately perfect rediscovery of Self:

As long as we think we are the ego We feel attached and fall into sorrow. But realize that you are the Self, And you will be freed from sorrow. When you realize that you are the Self, Supreme source of light, supreme source of love, You transcend the duality of life And enter into the Unitive State.

(Mundaka Up: III.[1]2, 3; p. 115)

"Enter into the Unitive State"; "be freed from sorrow." To be freed from the turning wheel of samsara-ultimately that's what it's all about. The Upani- shads proclaim that the unquenchable yearning for perfect bliss can finally be satisfied fully and completely. The only thing that stands in the way is ego: the grip of the illusion of ego. It is like a dream that holds us in the bondage of fear, and fear is the essence of suffering:

When one realizes the Self, In whom all life is one, changeless, nameless, formless, Then one fears no more. Until we realize the unity of life, we live in fear. His separateness becomes fear itself.

(Taittiriya Up: 11.7.l; p. 144)

But it is possible to awaken from the dream of ego. Moksha is awakening. In moksha, the ego-the illusion of the separate self-dissolves into the sea of peace that is Brahman:

As a lump of salt thrown in water dissolves And cannot be taken out again, Though wherever we taste the water it is salty, Even so, beloved, the separate self dissolves In the sea of pure consciousness, infinite and immortal.

(Brih. Up: 11.4.12; p. 38)

The awakened man or woman-the person in whom the Atman has awak- ~ned to the experience of moksha-lives daily life in a state of perfect peace, free

om fear and suffering. Such a one is free to "see himself in all, and all in himself." . In the time of the Upanishads there was some variety of opinion regard- ing the exact nature of moksha and how it was achieved. Many believed, for

68 Hinduism and Related Traditions

example, that the working out of samsara denied the possibility of moksha to all but high-caste Hindu males. Some would even go so far as to say that only the elite among the Brahmin caste were capable. It might be necessary to be reborn many times, even in spiritually advanced families, before the Atman was cleansed entirely of negative karma and thus ready to make the final step. All agreed though-or so it seems-that liberating oneself entirely from all selfish desires was the essential precondition of moksha. Hence the emphasis on the life of the renunciate for those who sought this highest of all goals.

The attainment of moksha means release from the great wheel of samsara, from the cycling of birth, and death, and rebirth. In moksha, the Atman awak- ens fully to its Brahman nature. Like a river returning to the sea, the Atman- liberated from avidya-awakens perfectly to its Brahman identity:

He is the eternal Reality, sing the scriptures, And the ground of existence. Those who perceive him in every creature merge in him, And are released from the wheel of birth and death.

(Shvet. Up: I.7; p. 218)

An Overview of Vedan t a Cosmology

The Upanishads came into being as the "secret teachings" of various forest communities living in remote parts of India as long as 3,000 years ago. They were part of the private heritage of those ashrams, lovingly preserved and handed down orally for generations. How amazed those spiritual seekers would have been if they could have foreseen the present-day legacy of their teach- ings. We can read and ponder their thoughts as if it were we who were "sitting down close to" the guru.

And why are we still reading and pondering the thoughts of such an ancient tradition? What is it that connects us so vitally with the genius of ancient India? We certainly don't share a similar way of life; it would seem that ours and theirs couldn't be more different. Superficially, that is obviously true; but at a deeper level, it's not true at all. Men and women in all times and all cultures are alike with respect to the basic needs of life. We all face the same questions with regard to the meaning of life, and the nature of death. People in every age-at least some people in every age-have yearned to get beyond the confusing complexity of ordinary life and find out what it's really all about. That is exactly what the Upanishads attempt to do, and they are as alive and provocative today as they ever have been in the past.

The Upanishads are a major contribution to the fund of human wisdom. Technically speaking, they were composed as commentaries on the Vedas. But they go far beyond the Vedas. The Upanishads, taken as a whole, present a complete synthesis of insight regarding the true character of human life. Allow me to attempt a brief summary of this synthesis .

Introduction to the Upanishads 69

We began by raising two questions: Why does anything exist at all? What's doing the universe? The Upanishads answer that it is Brahman, the root cause of all chat is, the Fact of Existence. Brahman is perfect and complete unto . elf· there is no need for Brahman to act. Then why does Brahman act; for its , what reason does Brahman "play" the universe? There is no purpose outside itself; there can't be. All we can say is that Brahman does the universe purely for its own sake. It is the "play," the lila, of Brahman.

The play of Brahman is not a haphazard affair. The universe unfolds in a rational and orderly fashion. This is due to the working of Natural Law, which is inherent in the lila of Brahman. We call this Dharma. It is Brahman-Dharma that accounts for the orderly evolution of the universe. It is Brahman-Dharma that accounts for the harmony and balance that we observe in nature from one day to the next.

The Dharma-evolution of the world that we know (the universe) began in a state of undifferentiated potentiality. Whatever that may be, it was, and always remains, the fundamental substrate of all material reality. We call it prakriti. Prakriti, responding to the ever-present influence of the basic forces of nature (the gunas) has evolved, and continues to evolve, all of the myriad forms ("things") that make up the constantly changing character of Nature.

The totality of all of these "things" of the materia l world is what we know as maya. Maya is reality in that, through the Dharma-evolution of prakriti, it is the manifestation of Brahman. Maya is illusory only to the extent that the forms of maya ( things) may be mistaken for having a reality of their own, rather than being the expression of a deeper reality. An analogy is often made to the dream state. The elements of a dream are clearly illusory, but at the time the dreamer believes the dream-experience to be real.

Among the myriad forms of maya, there can be seen to exist two distinctly different kinds: those that exhibit consc iousness (sentient beings) and those that do not exhibit consciousness (insentient beings). Consciousness is funda- mentally different from materiality, though it can be affected by materiality, as, for example, in the case of thought and feeling. But consciousness itself is non- material, hence spiritual, reality. Pure consciousness is the nature of Brahman.

Pure consciousness, the nature of Brahman, is known as purusha. Purusha relates to prakriti in a way that is somewhat analogous to you singing a song. Just as the song is an emanation of you, the material universe (maya) is an ~manation of Brahman. In a manner of speaking, the song has its own reality, ut fundamentally, it is you. In a similar way, the material universe has its own

re 1· b . a tty, ut at a more fundamenta l level, being an act of Brahman, an emana- tion of Brahman, it is Brahman. Brahman (purusha) is conscious of the play of ma .

ya, Just as you are conscious of the song. A Brahman, indwelling in a sentient being, is called Atman, Brahman- . r;an. The Brahman-Atman, though individualized in each sentient being, 15

rahman. The Atman is Brahman, not a "role" of Brahman, or a "crea- tu " f re O Brahman. Atman is the true inner Self of each sentient being. Atman

70 Hinduism and Related Traditions

is the conscious core of the ego-role of each individual. The role is everything that makes up that distinct person, body as well as behavior. Role includes the "personality," the ego. Ego is the role; Atman is not the player of the role; Atman is the conscious subject of the role.

To mistake the ego-role for the Atman is fundamental ignorance. It is called avidya. Avidya is the powerful illusion that my reality consists in the "per- son," the role. This ego-identification results inevitably in a sense of personal separation and personal insecurity. It is responsible for the universal dread of personal death. Avidya, the common condition of mankind, is responsible for all suffering! To see through the illusion of the separate self and to come to know the real Self, the Brahman-Atman, is the proper goal of life. That is true Knowledge. That is vidya.

It is obvious that sentient beings on Earth exist in a multitude of different kinds, a vast hierarchy stretching from the lowest forms of animal life to man- kind . Throughout all of this hierarchy there is a constant cycling of death and birth. The body, being maya and thus material, dies. But the Atman, being Brahman and thus spirit, is eternal and can never die.

The Brahman-Atman is reborn over and over in successive bodies. This progression of rebirths, this turning of the wheel, is known as samsara. In the grand unfolding of Dharma, samsara is the slow progression of Brahman- Atman to ever higher levels of consciousness through the procession of suc- cessive rebirths. Each rebirth presents the Atman with the potential for a new and higher level of consciousness, of gradually dawning Self-awareness. Sam- sara is Brahman's long quest for ultimately perfect rediscovery of Self.

The great wheel of samsara--of birth, death, and rebirth-culminates finally in the Atman awakening fully to the knowledge of its Brahman nature. Perfect, final awakening is referred to as moksha. Like a river returning to the sea, moksha is the state wherein the Atman is liberated from avidya, awakening perfectly to its Brahman identity. Maya is likened to a veil that hides Brah- man. In the words of a common Vedanta truism: "To see the universe as uni- verse is illusion, avidya. To see the universe as Brahman is truth, vidya." In the final end of Dharma, all of Atman will be "re-absorbed" in Brahman, and the play of lila will come to an end. Thus does Brahman, by "playing the universe," evolve eventually to perfect knowledge of Self.

At this point , the only question remaining is this: How does one achieve the awakening of moksha? What does one do? How does one live in order to prepare oneself for the experience? And the answer is simply this: one prac- tices Yoga. In a sense, it's accurate to say that Vedanta presents the "what," and Yoga presents the "how." The discipline of Yoga-so often sadly mischaracter- ized in modern times--offers the indispensable path that can lead one from the darkness of avidya to the light of moksha. In reality, the practice of Yoga calls for a total transformation of life. Over time, the nature and practice of Yoga came to be recognized as a darshana in its own right.

Introduction to the Upanishads 71

In the next chapter, Chapter 4, we will examine the way of Yoga as described in the great Bhagavad Gita. Although not technically an Upanishad itself, the Bhagavad Gita is a work that draws together and consolidates the teachings of the Upanishads. The Bhagavad Gita deals broadly with the subject of Yoga. It is addressed to the population at large, not just the relative few who had chosen the way of life of the renunciate yogi.

In Chapter 5, though, we will focus in on the Yoga Sutras, the canonical work in the Yoga tradition, a text addressed to that tiny portion of the popula- tion that consists of dedicated renunciates , presumably the members of ashram communities . In the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali (the author) fully describes the ele- ments of the Yoga lifestyle, especially with regard to the practice of Raja Yoga (the Yoga of meditation) .

I would like to end this chapter by returning briefly to the Chandogya Upani- shad. In this work, a young man named Shvetaketu has returned to his father's home after formally studying the Vedas for twelve years. Uddalaka, his father, observes that Shvetaketu seems very proud of all this learning. "But," Udda- laka asks his son, "Did you ask your teacher for that special wisdom which ena- bles you to hear the unheard , think the unthought, and know the unknown?" A surprised Shvetaketu replies that he did not . "What is that wisdom, father?" he asks. Uddalaka then uses several magnificent analogies to describe to his son the nature of the Se lf, the Atman within. Each of these ends with the stir- ring words, Tat tsvam asi! (You are That!)

As the rivers flowing east and west Merge in the sea and become one with it, Forgetting they were ever separate rivers, So do all creatures lose their separateness When they merge at last into pure Being. There is nothing that does not come from him. Of everything he is the inmost Self. He is the truth; he is the Self supreme. And you are that, Shvetaketu; you are that.

(Chandogya Up: VI.10.1-3; p. 184-185)

Questions for Discussion

1. What is the meaning of the word Vedanta?

2- What is an ashram? What critical role did it play in the origin of the Upanishads?

3· "Deer do not give birth to baby ducks, and falling apples do not fall upward." What is the significance of this seemingly obvious statement?

72 Hinduism and Related Traditions

4. Why is it so endlessly frustrating to try to define Brahman in words? How far are words capable of going in defining the meaning of Brahman?

5. What is the relationship between prakriti and maya?

6. Distinguish between prakriti and purusha.

7. "The doctrine of Brahman-Atman is the quintessential feature of Vedanta." What does this mean?

8. What is the all-important relationship between Atman and ego?

9. "Avidya is responsible for all suffering!" What in the world does that mean?

10. Why is it that the grip of the illusion of ego is the only thing that stands in the way of ultimate and perfect moksha?

Chapter 4

The Bhagavad Gita

The Bhagavad Gita opens on a field of battle where a most decisive engage- ment is about to begin. Two great armies have assembled to decide once and for all who will rule the North Indian kingdom of Bharata. Will it be the Pan- davas or their kinsmen, the Kauravas? After much bloodshed on both sides, the nob le-hearted Pandavas will eventua lly preva il over the evil-hearted Kau- ravas, but that is far in the future, and as the first battle is about to begin the excitement is building.

The preparations for battle have been nearly completed. The sacrifices have been made, the armor has been strapped on, the battle trumpets are sound- ing, drums are pounding, the warriors on both sides are shouting and getting themselves emotionally psyched up for battle. At this point Arjuna, the leader of the Pandavas, asks his charioteer to wheel him out into the no-man's- land between the armies so that he can get one last good look at the enemy's forces:

0 Krishna, drive my chariot between the two armies. I want to see those who desire to fight with me. With whom will this battle be fought? I want to see those assembled to fight for Duryodhana, those who seek to please the evil-minded son of Dhritarashtra by engaging in war.

(BG: l.21-23; p. 54)

The driver of the chariot is none other than Krishna, an incarnation of the divine Vishnu. When they reach the center of the battlefield, Arjuna, shield- ing his eyes from the sun, peers over at the army that he will soon attack. It suddenly dawns upon him that he is about to order the slaughter of old friends, former teachers, kinsmen. The realization hits him like a bolt of lightning, and he tota lly loses his will to fight. Numbed with sorrow, he actually sits down on the floor of his lightweight war chariot and refuses to fight:

"This is a great sin! We are prepared to kill our own relations out of greed for the pleasures of a kingdom." Overwhelmed by sorrow, Arjuna spoke these words. And casting away his bow and arrows, he sat down in his chariot in the middle of the battlefield. With the words, "I will not fight," he fell silent.

(BG: 1.45; 11.9; p. 56, 62)

74 Hinduism and Related Traditions

To say the least, it's a dramatic moment. Krishna, ever wise and calm, must think of something to get Arjuna back into the fight; leading the army is Arjuna's duty. And he'd better come up with something fast! What follows is a dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna that makes up all of the remainder of the Bhagavad Gita. In the course of this dialogue Krishna accepts Arjuna as his disciple and explains to him the teachings of Yoga. Naturally, a conversa- tion of this sort-particularly one that rambles on for eighteen "books" ( i.e., chapters)-would not ordinarily take place in the middle of a battlefield. But this story is being told in the epic style, and in an epic anything can happen.

The name Bhagavad Gita literally means "Song of the Lord." The Lord in this case refers to Krishna who, as mentioned earlier, was the mythical incar- nation of the great god Vishnu. Krishna, a compassionate and loving god, is a favorite among Hindus. The word song might better be translated as "chant." The Bhagavad Gita (often referred to simply as the Gita) was composed in verse form and was probably intended to be chanted aloud. In this respect, the Gita was much like the epics of other ancient cultures. Homer's Iliad, for example, was originally composed in verse form and was meant to be chanted, at least in part. And like the Iliad, the Gita was handed down in the oral tradi- tion for many generations before it was eventually committed to writing.

The Bhagavad Gita represents the grand climax of the richly creative period that saw the creation of the principal Upanishads. In a way, the Gita is a syn- thesis of the philosophy of the Upanishads. It brings together and harmonizes all of the principal themes found in the Upanishads. The Gita, though, is not classified as an Upanishad, although it seems very much like one. The Upan- ishads, generally speaking, were concerned with elucidating the difference between vidya (awareness of truth) and avidya (ignorance). The Gita, though, while reaffirming the truths of the Upanishads, goes beyond this and attempts to describe the way in which one actually makes the ascent to awakening. That is the way of Yoga; the Bhagavad Gita is in effect an exposition of Yoga.

The Yoga Sutras too, of course, was an exposition of Yoga. (We shall examine the Yoga Sutras in the next chapter.) The Yoga Sutras, however, was probably composed later than the Bhagavad Gita, and focuses very specifically on the path of Raja Yoga, the way of meditation. It is a practical guide addressed to that tiny part of the population known as renunciate yogis. The Bhagavad Gita, on the other hand, takes a broad, comprehensive approach. The Gita doesn't get into the specifics of practice the way the Yoga Sutras does. The Gita is addressed to all of the people, not just to dedicated renunciates, and embraces the various ways of Yoga in general. Nonetheless, the Gita, like the Yoga Sutras, concludes that the ultimate perfection of Yoga lay in the act of devotion, loving surrender to a Supreme Deity. We could say that, fundamentally, the Yoga Sutras is a celebra- tion of Raja Yoga, and the Bhagavad Gita is a celebration ofBhakti Yoga.

The Bhagavad Gita was not composed as an isolated work. It is a part- actually a very small part--of a much larger work known as the Mahabharata. The Mahabharata and the Ramayana are the two great epics of Hindu cul- ture. They were to early Indian culture what the Iliad and the Odyssey were

The Bhagavad Gita 75

to the culture of ancient Greece. The Mahabharata, and thus the Bhagavad Gita, although not part of the shruti tradition, do belong to the smriti tradition, which also contributed to the development of Vedanta. Unlike shruti, which is authorless and deals with infallible truth, the term smriti refers to an immense body of secondary works that are much loved and respected, but are not held to be infallible. The Puranas, popular stories dealing with the exploits of vari- ous deities, are a major part of the smriti tradition.

The Bhagavad Gita and the Mahabharata

The Mahabharata is a vast work; it seems that everything that makes up the culture of India is somehow included in it. The struggle between the Pandavas and the Kauravas is the central theme of the story, but woven in with that theme are a great many other substories. In the words of Sri Aurobindo Ghose:

[The Mahabharata is] not only the story of the Bharatas, the epic of an early event which had become a national tradition, but on a vast scale the epic of the soul and religious and ethical mind and social and political ideals and culture and life of India. It is said popularly of it and with a certain measure of truth that whatever is in India is in the Mahabharata.

( quoted in Feuerstein, 4 7)

History has virtually nothing to say about the composition of the Mahab- harata; what we know is more a matter of legend than history. Presumably there was a single author of the epic, but we know nothing of the life of that person. According to legend, though, the Mahabharata was written by a famous sage named Vyasa. He composed the entire work in only three years, and dictated it to the popular elephant-headed god Ganesha, who was the only one with a mind quick enough to follow the swiftness of Vyasa's thoughts. Ganesha even broke off one of his own tusks to use as a writing instrument. (Some believe, incidentally, that Vyasa never died. He lives to this day, so they say, in a secret hermitage somewhere back among the high ranges of the Himalaya.)

For our purposes, the name Vyasa will do as well as any. A literary genius ~amed Vyasa, it shall be agreed, was the author of the Mahabharata, just as It is agreed that Homer was the author of the Iliad. Determining when the ~ahabharata was created is also a tricky problem. Like Homer, the author of t e Mahabharata undoubtedly pulled together many traditional legends and stories, some of which had been in existence for centuries. We can reasonably conclude, though, that this was done sometime between the fifth and second ~~turies ~E because it seems very likely that this was the time when the M gavad Gita was composed. And the Bhagavad Gita was included within the

~harata. The overall tenor of the Gita suggests strongly that it was com- :se has a response to certain spiritual movements, including early Buddhism,

at ad come into existence at that time in Indian history.

76 Hinduism and Related Traditions

The Bhagavad Gita, then, is a small but key part of a much larger work, the Mahabharata. Writers on the subject almost invariably use the expression that the Gita is set like a precious jewel in the midst of the Mahabharata. Some have speculated that this jewel was not always there, that the Gita began life as an independent Upanishad and was appropriated by the author of the Mahab- harata. It's a beautiful addition, they say, but extraneous to the story of the epic. Most scholars today feel that this is highly unlikely. The integrity of the style of the Mahabharata continues more or less evenly through the Gita. And, far from being a brilliant departure from the main theme of the Mahabharata, the dia- logue that makes up the Bhagavad Gita provides the critical element necessary for making sense of the symbolism inherent in the story of this epic conflict.

Nevertheless, the principal reason why some believe that the Gita might have been a later addition to the Mahabharata is that it can stand so well on its own. Except for that small part that we call the Bhagavad Gita, the Mahabharata does not play a crucial role in our understanding of the evolution of philosophi- cal thought in India during the post-Vedic age. We can lift the Gita out of the Mahabharata and ignore the rest, and that is essentially what I intend to do. However, the placement of the Gita is intimately connected to the larger story, and I feel that it would be helpful to take a few moments here to outline the character of the story up to the opening of the Gita. (And, it's an excellent story.)

Vyasa, the legendary author of the Mahabharata, assigns himself an impor- tant role in the story. It all started one day when his father Parasara, a renowned Indian sage, hired the services of a ferryboat girl to carry him across a river. The girl, Satyavati, was so maddeningly lovely that Parasara found himself consumed with lust. She politely spurned his heated advances. But Parasara was quite a charmer, and Satyavati finally yielded to him when he promised her that she would not lose her virginity. He magically conjured a fog by the riverbank, and they made love hidden from view by the dense mist. Later that same day Satyavati gave birth to a son, and all of this without losing her virginity. (Quite a day!)

The son, of course, was Vyasa. Like his father, he became a highly respected sage. Concerned about the deteriorating state of human life, Vyasa resolved to dedicate his own life to collecting and explaining the spiritual lore of the Indian tradition. Meanwhile, his mother, Satyavati, became the wife of San- tanu, ruler of the Kuru kingdom. Given that Satyavati was committed to life- long virginity, Santanu was depending on his only son by a previous marriage to produce sons of his own and continue the family line. Unfortunately, the son died young, leaving two childless wives. Satyavati, feeling compassion for her grieving husband, summoned her own son, Vyasa, and begged him to help out . Vyasa reluctantly (or so we're told) agreed to sleep with both of the beau- tiful young widows. Both of the young women conceived, and in the course of time each gave birth to a son.

At that time Vyasa was living the life of a forest ascetic-unwashed, with long matted hair - and, under the circumstances, was said to be strikingly ugly.

"'

The Bhagavad Gita 77

A he approached the first of the young widows she was so revolted by the _. s ht of him that she turned her face away and closed her eyes. That infuriated 5y

1 g a and he responded by putting a curse on the girl. (Apparently , though, yas ,

he was not so angry that he declined to sleep wit~ her.) As a res~lt of ~he curse the first girl's son, Dhritarashtra, was born blmd. The other girl, bemg kind and noble-hearted, did not look away. Her son, Pandu, born shortly after Dhritarashtra, was perfectly healthy.

Because Dhritarashtra was the first to be born, he would have been the succes- sor to the throne. However, his blindness disqualified him, and the rightful line of succession went to Pandu and his descendants. From an early age it was obvi- ous that Pandu was uncommonly good and noble, whereas Dhritarashtra was a more average sort of person-that is to say, scheming and self-centered. With his rwo wives, Kunti and Madri, Pandu had five sons, the Pandavas, who like him were strong and courageous young men. Dhritarashtra, demonstrating that blindness was his only infirmity, produced one hundred sons. These hundred are referred to as the Kauravas, "the sons of Kuru," Kuru being the name of a king- dom. Dhritarashtra's sons, especially the eldest, Duryodhana, were mean-spirited and selfish young men. But the kingdom was secure. After all, it was Pandu and his sons who would inherit the crown. But that wouldn't make a very good story.

Pandu unexpectedly and tragically died young. It should be pointed out here that Pandu was actually not the biological father of any of the five Pandu brothers. All of them were divinely conceived. Here's how it happened. Pandu was out hunting one day with his bow and arrows. He came upon two deer that were mating, but they ran away when he appeared on the scene. He managed to kill the male, but then discovered that it was a Brahmin disguised as a deer. It was a horrible sin to kill a Brahmin, but, of course, he didn't know. Never- theless, the dying Brahmin laid a curse on Pandu, saying that he too would die in the pleasure of sexual intercourse. To prevent the curse from being fulfilled, Pandu vowed never again to engage in sex. His two young wives, Kunti and Madri, accepted that, but wanted sons. The gods were magnanimously will- ing to help out. Yudhishthira, Bhima, and Arjuna, all sons of Kunti, were the result of their divine generosity. But Madri also wanted a son, and with the help of the twin Ashvini gods, she herself gave birth to twins, Nakula and Sahadeva. Somewhat later, while out in the woods with Madri looking ~r ri~e fruits.' Pandu became overwhelmed with feelings of intense desire for . adn. Intoxicated by her loveliness, Pandu couldn't resist. As they were mak- ing love, Pandu was struck dead, thus fulfilling the curse.

1 tt the time of Pandu's early death his five sons were still only boys. The

e est, Yudhishthira, was the rightful heir to the crown, but he couldn't wear It ·1 h unti e became a man. In the meantime, his uncle, the blind Dhritarash- tra · d i seize the throne and ruled as regent. This might have been technically ~n awful, but all things considered, it could be argued that it was a reasonable , .. ave at th . H al . e ttme. e merged the two households, raising the five Pandu boys

ong with his own hundred sons.

78 Hinduism and Related Traditions

The court of Dhritarashtra was a large and active one. The courtly edu- cation of so many boys called for many teachers . In addition, there were seers, court officials, military men, and countless relatives. It wasn't long before everyone was aware that the five Pandu boys stood out from the rest. They were excellent young men; the comparison was stark and embarrassing, espe- cially to Dhritarashtra.

Dhritarashtra had hoped that in the course of time his own claim to the throne would be legitimized, and that his firstborn son, Duryodhana, would be accepted as the next king . To forestall this the leaders of the court pushed through a proclamation recognizing the young Yudhishthira as the rightful heir apparent. Now the sons of Dhritarashtra were consumed with jealous hatred. They decided privately to solve their problem by killing their five Pandu cousins. This set in motion a spectacular and complicated plot designed to do away with their rivals .

We need not go into the details here . Suffice it to say that at one point, pretending to want to make peace, they presented the Pandava brothers with a splendid palace in a nearby city. The modest-minded brothers really didn't want something so extravagant, but to be polite they accepted the peace offer- ing. The palace was designed to be very beautiful, and also very flammable. Having been tipped off, the brothers themselves set fire to the building during the dark of night, and with their mother escaped by way of a secret tunnel that led into the nearby forest. Unknown to the brothers, a traveling woman and her five sons were asleep in the palace when it burned to the ground. It was assumed by everyone that the charred bodies were those of the Pandava brothers and their mother, Kunti. The Pandava brothers had survived, but to stay alive they would have to remain in the forest disguised as holy men.

Here too the story might have ended, but again a dramatic event came to the rescue of the story line of the epic. Drupada, the ruler of the neighboring Pan- chalas, sent out the word that all of the nobles of North India were invited to a great festival whereat he would select a husband for his beautiful young daugh- ter, Draupadi. The Pandava brothers heard about it and decided to go disguised as Brahmin ascetics. Everyone who was anyone was at the festival, including the divine Krishna who was there as the leader of the powerful Yadava clan.

In the spirit of a good Robin Hood story, Drupada designed an archery contest for the would-be suitors. The winner, using a monster bow fashioned by Drupada himself, would have to hit a moving target, shooting through a revolving ring that was mounted high off the ground. As you might guess, it was a Pandava who won the prize. In fact, it was the noble Arjuna, destined to be one of the two central characters of the Bhagavad Gita. Soon Arjuna and the lovely Draupadi were married. In fact, at Arjuna's insistence the lovely Draupadi became the wife of all five of the brothers!

As a result of Arjuna's victory, and the consequent alliance of the Panda- vas with the Kingdom of the Panchalas-and, of course, their new friendship with Krishna and the Yadavas- the Kaurava brothers were more or less forced to sit down and settle their differences with their cousins. They reached a \

The Bhagavad Gita 79

romise settlement: the kingdom of the Kurus would be divided into two comp h The Kaurava brothers would keep the largest and best part along t e parts.

Ganges River, and the Pandavas would receive an inferior piece of land along he tributary Jumna River.

t Before long, trouble was brewing again. The industrious Pandavas <level- ed their poor parcel, transforming it into a rich and attractive land, thus

~~ousing the greed of their Kaurava cousins. Enter the wily Sakuni, an uncle of Duryodhana. He knew that the noble Yudhishthira had one weakness, one chat he shared with noblemen throughout history: He was a reckless and pas- sionate gambler. Sakuni enticed Yudhishthira into a game of dice wherein he skillfully cheated him out of everything. Yudhishthira lost his entire kingdom and all of the possessions of his brothers as well. And, as if that weren't hor- rible enough, Yudhisthira also lost Draupadi! At Duryodhana's orders she was literally dragged, weeping, into the throne room and humiliated before the rage-filled eyes of her five husbands. There she would have been stripped naked but for some divine intervention that caused her sari to unwind endlessly. This unthinkable insult sealed the fate of the evil Duryodhana, but revenge would have to wait. Dhritarashtra finally intervened, and at least Draupadi was returned to the Pandava brothers, but, penniless and vulnerable, they had to retreat back into the wilderness again, forced into exile for thirteen long years.

The Pandava brothers accepted the terms of the loss without complaint, but at the end of the thirteen years they demanded the restoration of their kingdom. Naturally, the Kauravas rejected the demand. Krishna interceded on behalf of the Pandavas, but got nowhere. Ultimately, it became appar- ent that the conflict could have only one resolution: war. The sons of Pandu did not want war for the sake of their own personal gain. They would have been willing to accept exile and poverty for the rest of their lives rather than visit the horror and suffering of war on their kinsmen. However, much more than personal satisfaction was at stake . This was a conflict between justice and injustice, good and evil. It was their duty as members of the warrior class to uphold the honor of their family and the good of the social order. For that reason they sadly agreed to shoulder the awesome responsibility of war; Arjuna would be their war leader. . Both sides began the long and arduous preparations for battle. And both

sides petitioned Krishna for his help. Krishna declared that he would not fight, but that instead he would offer either the services of his splendid army, or his ~w_n personal counsel. Duryodhana greedily chose the army. With the help of

nshna's fighting men, he reasoned, his army would be invincible in battle. As :tsult of this Krishna offered his personal service as charioteer to Arjuna. And

at~ how the two men, Krishna and Arjuna, happened to be together in the w~ ariot in the middle of the battlefield at the opening of the Bhagavad Gita.

1 d nhoted much earlier in these pages, the Aryan warriors of ancient India

ove t e bo d li h . w an arrow, and the horse-drawn war chariot . The chariot was a

6; tweight two-wheeled vehicle, probably made of wicker and leather. Pulled one or two well-trained horses, it was a deadly weapon . The chariot carried

80 Hinduism and Related Traditions

two men. One was the fighting man with both hands free to rain the killing fire of his arrows on the enemy. The other was the driver of the chariot. This man was no servant; he was a highly skilled and highly respected warrior. One false move could mean instant death for both men.

There is profound symbolism in the fact that Krishna was a charioteer in this story. Krishna's role in the Bhagavad Gita will be to instruct Arjuna in the ancient teachings of Yoga. The word Yoga is derived from the Sanskrit root yuj, which originally meant "to bind things together." The English word "yoke," as in "to yoke oxen," is a cognate of Yoga. One who seriously practices Yoga is called a yogi or yogin (yogini is the female form). There is some speculation that in its original meaning, a yogi was the man who trained the semi-wild horses and harnessed them ( yoked them) to the war chariot that he himse lf would drive into battle. In other words, he was a charioteer. That profession became a powerful symbol for Yoga, which demands that the yogi harness the wild horses of his own nature and drive the chariot of his own person into the battle against self-will and ignorance.

The Opening Scene

Thus we come to the gathering of the forces at the great battlefield of Kuruk- shetra, field of the Kurus. The army of the Pandavas is on one side, led by Arjuna. Facing them is the powerful army of the Kauravas, led by the eld- est brother, Duryodhana. Dhritarashtra, now old as well as blind, does not travel to Kurukshetra. T he battle, however, will be described to him by San- jaya, his personal driver. Sanjaya will be Dhritarashtra's eyes and ears; he will describe for him all that occurs on the battlefield. For the occasion Sanjaya has acquired magical powers of perception-he can hear everything that is said, even though the speakers be far away. T he author of the Mahabharata uses this device to make Sanjaya the narrator of the entire dialogue that is about to take place between Krishna and Arjuna. Sanjaya is relating the conversation to Dhritarashtra. It is for this reason that the opening line of the Bhagavad Gita, delivered by Dhritarashtra, reads thus:

0 Sanjaya, tell me what happened at Kurukshetra, the field of dharma, where my family and the Pandavas gathered to fight.

(BG: 11.1; p. 52)

As we saw at the beginning of this chapter, Arjuna asks Krishna to take him out to the center of the battlefield where he can get one last look at the enemy before ordering the attack. What he saw, of course, were "grandfathers, teach- ers, uncles, sons-in-law, grandsons-in-law, and friends." Arjuna was overcome by sorrow. Despairing, he spoke these words:

0 Krishna, I see my own relations here anxious to fight, and my limbs grow weak; my mouth is dry, my body shakes, and my hair is standing on

The Bhagava d Gita 8 1

end. My skin burns, and the bow Gandiva has slipped from my hand. I am unable to stand; my mind seems to be whirling.

(BG: 1.28-31; p. 52)

o Krishna, what satisfaction could we find in killing Dhritarashtra's sons? We would become sinners by slaying these men, even though they are evil. T he sons of Dhritarashtra are related to us; therefore, we shou ld not kill them. How can we gain happiness by killing members of our own family? Though they are overpowered by greed and see no evil in destroy- ing families or injuring friends, we see these evils. Why shou ldn't we turn away from this sin?

(BG: 1.36-39; p. 59)

Paralyzed with sorrow and confusion, Arjuna slumps to the floor of his char- iot, utterly unable to stand and lead his men into battle. "I will not fight," he says. In the heavy silence that follows this declaration our attention turns to Krishna. Krishna now must find a way to get Arjuna back into the fight. He must persuade Arjuna to do his duty, which is to lead his men into battle against the enemy.

To put it mildly, Arjuna is a conflicted man! He is experiencing a hopeless conflict. On the one hand, he knows that it is his sacred duty as a warrior to stand and fight in a just war. On the other hand, it is h is sacred duty to protect his family, certain ly not to kill them, and given the fact that some of them stand in the enemy ranks, that is exactly what he must do. No wonder he's sitting on the floor of his war chariot!

The Bhagavad Gita as Metaphor

Th is is an appropriate place to consider a most significant question regarding the Mahabharata in general and the Bhagavad Gita in particular. Was it the intent of the author of the Mahabharata that the story of this war be under- stood litera lly, or is the battlefield of Kurukshetra meant to be seen as a meta- phor for a very different kind of conflict? Is Krishna, as his words clearly seem to indicate, encouraging Arjuna to really join battle with his Kaurava kinsmen and visit slaughter upon them? Or do these words hold a different meaning, a metaphorical meaning, and the battle that Krishna has in mind is of a totally different sort from what is being litera lly described?

These questions have no easy answers. From the historica l perspective, it is probably true that the battle described in the Mahabharata is based on an actual ;ent that occurred in northern India sometime around the tenth century BCE.

1 e know very little about that great conflict, but it became enshrined in folk ~J:ds and would eventually become the unifying theme around which the 1

a bharata was composed. In this way it was very much like the Trojan War, an actua l h· · l ' Iliad B h Iliad 1stonca event, which became the basis for Homers . ut t e

Was not a documentary retelling of the Trojan War, and neither was the

82 Hinduism and Related Traditions

Mahabharata a retelling of its Indian war. Both epics used a dramatic event popularized in the traditional legends to provide a highly charged setting for a story about human strength and weakness.

Throug hout the centuries, some scholars have argued that the Mahabharata is meant to be understood in a literal sense, that the battle imagery is just that and nothing else and that Krishna is indeed urging Arjuna to fight and kill the enemy. This is not glorification of war, nor even a resigned acceptance of its inevitability. It is a story about honor and duty; it is the duty of Arjuna as a member of the Kshatriya class to behave as a warrior should, courageously accepting the responsibility of war when it is destined to be. To do otherwise would be to shirk his duty, to upset the working of Dharma, and thus to bring dishonor and evil to his family and to the entire social order.

It is difficult for many modem readers of the Bhagavad Gita to accept this point of view. A far more compelling interpretation is to see the Gita as meta- phorical. But what is the metaphor? Eknath Easwaran puts it this way:

Scholars can debate the point forever, but when the [teachings of the Gita are put into practice] I think it becomes clear that the struggle the Gita is concerned with is the struggle for self-mastery. It was Vyasa's genius to take the whole great Mahabharata epic and see it as metaphor for the perennial war between the forces of light and the forces of darkness in every human heart.

Arjuna and Krishna are then no longer merely characters in a liter- ary masterpiece. Arjuna becomes Everyman, asking the Lord himself, Sri Krishna, the perennial questions about life and death-not as a philoso- pher, but as the quintessentia l man of action. Thus read, the Gita is not an externa l dia logue but an internal one: between the ordinary human personality, full of questions about the meaning of life, and our deepest Self, which is divine.

(7)

Seen in this way, the real battlefield is right inside every man and woman ever born. It is the battlefield where the struggle between the higher nature and the lower nature is waged every day. Or to put it in the language of the Upanishads, the conflict is between avidya and vidya. Arjuna repre- sents the ordinary, unenlightened man or woman. He is bound up in his ego-attachments and the fear and suffering generated by that state of mind. Arjuna is the self with a small "s"; Krishna represents the Atman, the Self with a capital "S." Krishna represents our innermost Se lf. In the terms of this metaphor, Krishna is lovingly urging Arjuna to do battle against his own infatuation with his ego-attachments. He must attack and "kill" them, as it were. His reluctance is perfectly understandable, but it is the only way that he can liberate himself from the grip of delusion, and hope to awaken to knowledge of the Self. And the way to that awakening is the practice of Yoga. Krishna will teach Arjuna Yoga.

The Bhaga vad Gita 83

Eknath Easwaran tells the personal story of his journey by train one time in northern India. The train stopped at Kurukshetra, the legendary site of the reat battle, and everyone got off the train in excitement to see that famous

g lace-everyone, that is, but Easwaran. He didn't have to get off the train to ~ee the battlefield; it traveled with him wherever he went, and the same is true for everyone else. The battlefield of the Bhagavad Gita is to be found in our hearts and minds, not in the soil of North India.

Seen in the terms of this striking metaphor, the Bhagavad Gita becomes a personal message to all of mankind. It is universal, and it is relevant to every- one's life in every age and every culture. The metaphorica l interpretation of the Gita elevates the entire Mahabharata to the level of sublime literature. It transforms the Mahabharata from being simply the action-packed adventure story of one noble Indian family, to becoming the story of every person's odys- sey from darkness to light.

The Awakened Person

At the end of Book One we leave Arjuna, his will para lyzed, actua lly sitting down in his small war chariot, refusing to fight. To say the least, it's a dramatic moment. The spotlight turns to Krishna. He'd better think of something to get Arjuna back into the fight, and he'd better do it fast! The battle is about to begin, and the leader of the Pandavas is out in the midd le of the battlefie ld sitting down on the floor of his chariot. Not flustered in the least by the situ- ation, Krishna smiles at Arjuna and speaks to him in a calm, friendly tone of voice. "This despair and weakness in a time of crisis are mean and unworthy of you, Arjuna ... It does not become you to yield to this weakness. Arise with a brave heart and destroy the enemy." Arjuna repeats his determina t ion not to kill his kinsmen and former friends. It's a horrifying thought; he wou ld rather be dead himself. Krishna responds by taking aim at the very heart of Arjuna's dilemma, the problem of death:

You speak sincerely, but your sorrow has no cause. The wise grieve neither for the living nor for the dead. There has never been a time when you and I, and the kings gathered here have not existed, nor will there be a time when we will cease to exist. As the same person inhabits the body through childhood, youth, and old age, so too at the time of death he attains another body. The wise are not deluded by these changes.

(BG: 11.11-13; p. 62)

ffi. Clearly, the author of the Gita is using the character of Krishna to solidly : ~m the traditional, orthodox doctrines of Atman and samsara. At the very eginning of the dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna, this all-important

~a~ter is nailed down in a clear and distinct fashion. It is the cornerstone of the ed anta philosophy that the Bhagavad Gita is giving practica l expression to,

an th e author of the Gita wants no doubts to exist in the mind of the listener.

84 Hinduism and Related Traditions

Why is it so important to affirm the reality of Atman right at the begin- ning? We can only speculate . One possibility is that it was simply a reason- able place to begin. If the Bhagavad Gita is a summ ation of Upanishadic teaching and a practical guide for applying that teaching, then why not begin with the most fundamental principles? After all , Arjuna is grievously worried about the imminent death of many warriors, as if death were a real and final end of life. This is not an unre asonable interpretation. Another possibility exists, however. At the time the Gita was composed, the tra- ditional teachings were being actively challenged by many reform move- ments. Some, such as the Buddhists, were even going so far as to deny the reality of Atman, the spiritual bedrock of the whole orthodox tradition. It may well be that the Bhagavad Gita came into existence as an inspired counteroffensive against the self-styled reform movements. The author of the Gita, while accepting the need for some reforms, would not throw out the baby with the bathwater. In summing up the essential teachings of the Vedanta tradition he would answer the reformers, especially the Buddhists, by revealing the great practical truths of the orthodox tradition, and he would begin by strongly proclaiming the fundamental correctness of the doctrine of Atman.

Whatever the case may be, Krishna does indeed begin with a clear statement about the reality of Atman and samsara. Proclaiming it is one thing; knowing its truth is quite another. And Krishna's task is to lead Arjuna to an awakening in which he sees that truth. In so doing, Arjuna will see through the illusion that is responsible for his present state of confusion and suffering, and then he will be able and willing to stand up and fight. To achieve this end, Krishna declares that he will teach Arjuna Yoga. "You have heard the intellectual explana- tion of Samkya, Arjuna; now listen to the principles of Yoga." A little earlier, while expressing his feelings of despair, Arjuna had asked Krishna to accept him as a disciple. It was important for the author of the Gita to insert this because in the Hindu tradition it is imperative that a person request the privilege of being another's disciple; a genuinely enlightened teacher never recruits disciples. Thus it is now legitimate for Krishna to begin the teaching, and that is what the Bhagavad Gita is really all about. Above all else, it is a practical guide showing the listener (or reader) how to apply the teachings of the Upanishads in one's daily life. Krishna says that he will teach Arjuna Yoga because, in its general sense, Yoga refers to any path that can lead from ignorance to awakening.

One almost gets the feeling that Krishna is a little unsure about how to begin. His initial comments about Yoga are very lofty generalizations. He tells Arjuna that "Yoga is perfect evenness of mind" and that "Yoga is skill in action." Arjuna, however, is a man of action, a very down-to-earth kind of person . He's not interested in theoretical discussions. Arjuna wants practical advice with concrete examples. After listening for a little while, Arjuna interrupts Krishna with a question . You can almost sense his frustration, but at the same time his growing interest. Before getting into these more generalized matters, Arjuna wants to know, up front, what the person skilled in Yoga is actually like; in

The Bhagavad Gita 85

her words, how does he recognize the real McCoy. Lots of people claim to ~t enlightened, but when you look closely it invariably turns out to be only a e So before getting into a discussion of principles, Arjuna wants Krishna

rose. , describe for him what the really awakened person is like. How does he

c~alk? How does he talk? How does he behave in ordinary, everyday situations? ;r·una needs to know this so that he will have something concrete in mind th~t he can relate Krishna's teaching to.

Krishna apparently sees the wisdom in Arjuna's question and responds in a short monologue at the end of Book Two that is one of the most beautiful sections of the entire Bhagavad Gita. Gandhi felt that if this eighteen-verse section were all that had survived of the Gita, we would still have all of its essential wisdom. Krishna answers Arjuna's question; he describes for him the essential features of the truly awakened man or woman. Before we get to that, though, this would be a good place to look briefly at Krishna's description of che kind of person who is not a genuinely awakened individual. This is a very important matter to Krishna because the world is so obviously full of fakes. Many people are deluded by counterfeit wise men, and Krishna wants to be sure that Arjuna will not be one of them.

It seems that Krishna is most concerned about what he regards to be the false message of those who claim to be spiritually aware as a result of extremely ascetic lifestyles. Indian culture has always included a number of individu- als who drop out of ordinary life to become itinerant renunciates-the "holy men," the sadhus. Generally speaking, they are respected by the common peo- ple, who believe that they have achieved a higher state of spiritual awareness as a result of their austerities. There have always been some who are willing to go to great extremes of asceticism. The thinking behind this, usually, is that a higher truth can only be known when the distractions of maya are completely transcended. The ultimate goal becomes total inaction, because all action is rooted in maya. Krishna declares this to be a false path. Those who follow it are deluding themselves, as well as those who hold them in high respect:

He who shirks action does not attain freedom; no one can gain perfection by abstaining from work. Indeed, there is no one who rests for even an instant; every creature is driven to action by his own nature.

(BG: III.4, 5; p . 75) 1

h But wait till you see what's coming next! Krishna's strongest censure is for ~~se more ordinary kinds of people who proclaim, through their lifestyle, that

fillment is to be found in a selfish and materialistic pursuit of pleasure. This

It's · J . quite possible th at th e auth or of the Gita was specifically fixing the Jains in hi s sight s. eainism was one of the reform movements that the Gita seems to be reactin g to, and the Jains, specially · th . th

asc . In eir early days, sought release from all worldly att achments rough extreme enc practices.

86 Hinduism and Related Traditions

way of life is far more universal than the way of the ascetic monk and is there- fore much more pernicious. Often dressed in a seductively appealing form, it is the false path that Arjuna, and everyone else, has to deal with all of the time.

There are ignorant people who speak flowery words and take delight in the letter of the law, saying that there is nothing else. Their hearts are full of selfish desires, Arjuna. Their idea of heaven is their own enjoyment, and the aim of all their activities is pleasure and power. The fruit of their actions is continual rebirth.

(BG: II.42, 43; p. 65)

Krishna returns to this theme much later in the Gita and makes his point in very strong words. The relevance of these words would be recognized by men and women in any age:

"There is no God," they say, "no truth, no spiritual law, no moral order. The basis of life is sex; what else can it be?" Holding such distorted views, possessing scant discrimination, they become enemies of the world, caus- ing suffering and destruction.

Hypocritical, proud, and arrogant, living in delusion and clinging to deluded ideas, insatiable in their desires, they pursue their unclean ends. Although burdened with fears that end only with death, they still maintain with com- plete assurance, "Gratification of lust is the highest that life can offer."

Bound on all sides by scheming and anxiety, driven by anger and greed, they amass by any means they can a hoard of money for the satisfaction of their cravings .. . "I have destroyed my enemies. I shall destroy oth- ers too! Am I not like God? I enjoy what I want. I am successful. I am powerful. I am happy. I am rich and well-born. Who is equal to me? I will perform sacrifices and give gifts, and rejoice in my own generosity." ... Self-important, obstinate, swept away by the pride of wealth, they osten- tatiously perform sacrifices without any regard for their purpose. Egotisti- cal, violent, arrogant, lustful, angry, envious of everyone, they abuse my presence within their own bodies and in the bodies of others.

Life after life I cast those who are malicious, hateful, cruel, and degraded into the wombs of those with similar demonic natures. Degraded in this way, Arjuna, they fail to reach me and fall lower still.

(BG: XVI.8-20; p. 191-192)

That's quite a description, isn't it? Parts of it, at least, are painfully familiar to any person with human blood in his or her veins. So, having identified the principal enemies of the right path, let us return to Krishna's response to Arjuna's question . Arjuna had asked Krishna to describe for him, at least in general terms, the character of the person who truly is an awakened man or woman. "Tell me of those who Uve established in wisdom, ever aware of the Self, 0 Krishna. How do they talk? How sit? How move about?"

The Bhagavad Gita 87

Krishna only begins his response to Arjuna's question in the section at the end of Book Two. It's a theme that he returns to often throughout the Gita. The essential points can be summed up as follows:

They live in wisdom who see themselves in all, and all in them; who have renounced every selfish desire and sense craving tormenting the heart. Neither agitated by grief, nor hankering after pleasure, they live free from lust and fear and anger.

(BG: II.52; p . 67)

Free from self-will, aggressiveness, arrogance, anger, and the lust to pos- sess people or things, he is at peace with himself and others and enters into the Unitive State. United with Brahman, ever joyful, beyond the reach of desire and sorrow, he has equal regard for every living creature and attains supreme devotion to me.

(BG: XVIII.53-54; p. 210)

In these beautiful passages, Krishna is emphasizing that the genuinely awak- ened person is one who has come to see the underlying unity of all being, and who thus feels deep love and compassion for every being that exists. Such a person is a true "renunciate," not in the sense of renouncing the world, which Krishna insists is a false path, but rather in the sense of renouncing "every selfish desire and sense craving tormenting the heart." Thus it follows that the genuinely awakened person does not denounce sense pleasure as such (a com- mon misunderstanding), but only attachment to sense pleasure. It is the nature of life to often be pleasurable; this is natural and good; the problem develops only when the pleasures of life become objects of desire, the stuff of attach- ment. The awakened person is said to be free from attachment and its inevita- ble companion, aversion. The awakened person is kindhearted, good-natured, and above all, reveals in his or her daily life a compassion for all other beings.

Krishna wants Arjuna to understand (and remember, Arjuna represents all men and women) that the awakened person is most definitely not some rare saintly being, far beyond the reach of ordinary mortals. The awakened person is the truly real, down-to-earth human being and dwells in the heart of every man and woman, waiting only to be "awakened" by that genuinely rich way of life that Krishna wants Arjuna to see as the right path, the path of Yoga.

The remainder of the Gita amounts to a close examination of the way of ~oga. Krishna will focus on three: Karma Yoga, Raja Yoga, and Bhakti Yoga.

he author of the Gita chooses not to include Jnana Yoga, the way of special mystical and philosophical knowledge . Perhaps this is because it would obvi- ously not be a suitable path for the not-very-philosophical Arjuna, as would be true for most people. Also, Hatha Yoga is never mentioned by name. In fact, the ~o~d Hatha, referring to a specific school of Yoga, dealing with a highly special- ~~ system of bodily exercises (asanas) and breathing exercises (pranayama),

1 not come into existence until much later. At the time of the composition

88 Hinduism and Related Traditions

of the Git.a, such asanas and pranayama as were practiced were seen as being entirely a companion of the Yoga of meditation, and it was assumed that the student would learn these skills under the personal supervision of a master. It simply was not the sort of subject to be discussed in a work such as the Git.a.

In the organization of the Git.a as it has come down to us, the subject of Karma Yoga is taken up first; it is the theme of Book Three. Book Six deals spe- cifically with Raja Yoga, the Yoga of meditation. The remaining twelve books touch on many subjects, but are largely concerned with Bhakti Yoga, the Yoga of devotion. The Bhagavad Gita is not neatly organized, the way a modern text would likely be. To get the sense of the whole it is necessary to read the entire work, slowly and thoughtfully. And that's exactly what I hope you will do. These pages are in no way a substitute for reading the Git.a itself. Ideally, I hope that what you read here will inspire you to want to read the book itself and that you will be able to better understand it for having studied this first.

Karma Yoga

The word karma is derived from the Sanskrit word kri ("to do"), and in its most basic sense, karma simply means "action." This basic sense of the word, how- ever, would come to have a variety of meanings in the evolution of Eastern thought. Speaking very broadly, karma is usually associated with the principle of cause and effect: Actions one performs will inevitably have consequences. It's best, though, to pin down the specific meaning of karma for each philo- sophical system individually. The word karma, along with so much else from the "mysterious East," became enormously popular with some in the West dur- ing the 1950s and 1960s. Not too surprisingly, its meaning suffered a bit in translation from ancient Hindu culture to the modem counterculture.

Properly understood, Karma Yoga is the "path of right action." It deals with the kind of behavior-that is, lifestyle-that is appropriate for one who seeks to become a liberated man or woman. Having established that a life of action is natural and necessary, Krishna turns to the real question: what is right action? We are presented with two alternatives: action directed to the goal of personal profit and action directed to the welfare of all. It should come as no surprise that the author of the Git.a chooses the welfare of all as the correct answer:

Selfish action imprisons the world. Act selflessly, without any thought of personal profit.

(BG: III.9; p. 76)

The ignorant work for their own profit, Arjuna; the wise work for the welfare of the world, without thought for themselves.

(BG: III.25; p. 77)

You have the right to work, but never to the fruit of work. You should never engage in action for the sake of reward, nor should you long for inaction.

(BG: II.47; p. 66)

The Bhagavad Gita 89

Pretty startling suggestions, aren't they? Is Krishna really saying that I have ·ght to the fruit of my own work, that I should never engage in action for

non the sake of reward? How can this be? Is he suggesting that I would be a better

On if I refused my paycheck? These passages seem to fly in the face of cam-pers . . . rnon sense. Obviously, some careful mterpretatton 1s needed here.

In the view of the author of the Git.a, the proper goal of life is to become an awakened person; everything takes its value in relation to that all-important oal. He would agree wholeheartedly with the line from the gospel: "What

~oes it profit a man if he gains the entire world, and suffers the loss of his irnrnortal soul?" (Matthew 6:26). If the essence of Awakening is knowing the unity of all being, then the enemy of Awakening is the private ego and its endless selfish cravings.

The path of Karma Yoga is directed at one thing: it seeks to overcome the obsessive attachment to the welfare of the private self. It accomplishes this by redirecting the purpose of action to that which, by its very nature, is not ego- self-that is, the welfare of the larger community of which the individual is but a part. When one identifies with the whole community-and ultimately all of humankind-he can be entirely "selfish," so to speak, and the welfare of all will be served. In this view we have the very interesting contention that in the long run one's personal interests are best served by not focusing on the desires of the private self, but rather by deliberately acting in what one per- ceives to be the best interests of the whole community. In other words, work for the good of the whole, and your own interests will be best served. That may sound a little crazy at first, but the Git.a insists that it is true, and that under- standing it is the key to a genuinely successful life.

Karma Yoga is sometimes referred to as the Yoga of Selfless Service. Selfless service does not mean "good deeds"-helping someone across the street, for example, or picking up a hitchhiker. Good deeds are wonderful, of course, but that's not the point; selfless service means something else. The "service" in "selfless service" refers simply to action that in some way is of real value to the community. This could be just about anything. "Selfless" means simply that the action is not ego-bound. We all know such selfless moments. In fact, any time that one is totally absorbed in a task, the ego-consciousness is temporarily suspended. That is what happens naturally when you work at something you love to do. An artist absorbed in a painting, a scientist focused on a research project, a mother rocking her baby, or even a farmer plowing a field-all of ~hese are examples of potentially selfless action. The key point is that one _orgets himself, and temporarily transcends his ego-self by becoming absorbed in a loved activity.

. Now let's put them together. "Selfless service" refers to any kind of action 1 ~ which one loses oneself, so long as that action is beneficial to the commu-

~Lty. Thus, the path of Karma Yoga is open to everyone! Anyone who works in a ~eld that he or she loves, and which work is of value to the larger com- :unity, is, in fact, a Karma yogi. The farmer, the scientist, the teacher, the omemaker, the sculptor, the student, the garbage collector ( yes, definitely),

90 Hinduism and Related Traditions

the delivery person, even an insurance salesman (Why not?) - almost every kind of work can be a fertile field for Karma Yoga. The only requirement is that it be of some genuine value to the community, and that, all in all , the person loves the work . This is essential because it is only love that dissolves the grip of ego. If one does not love the work, it then becomes merely a means to an end. What this usually means is that the work becomes a means to making money, which can then be used to satisfy the desires of the ego.

This separation between action and its reward is precisely what Karma Yoga seeks to overcome. So long as there is separation, the ego is in control. That is why Krishna wants Arjuna to see that it is essential that the reward be in the doing, not separated from it. If we work for the sake of "profit," we are sepa- rating the reward from the work itself, something that would never happen, could never happen, if the action was something loved in itself. Does a mother caring for her baby have to be "paid" for it? Of course not; the joy is in the doing, just as it is with the artist. It is truly said that there is no such thing as a poor artist. The bottom line is that everyone is an artist, potentially at least; everyone can be a Karma yogi. That is why Krishna says, "The ignorant work for their own profit, Arjuna; the wise work for the welfare of the world, without thought for themselves."

Karma Yoga is often misunderstood as meaning little more than being a giving sort of person, someone who practices good deeds. Seen in its proper light, Karma Yoga amounts to a total reshaping of the goal of action in life. It is a renunciation of the belief that selfishly serving the desires of the ego is the way to fulfillment in life. Krishna sums it up well:

True renunciation is g1vmg up all desire for personal reward. Those who are attached to personal reward will reap the consequences of their actions; some pleasant, some unpleasant, some mixed. But those who renounce every desire for personal reward go beyond the reach of karma.

(BG: XVIII.11, 12; p. 206)

Raja Yoga

ln the still mind, in the depths of meditation, the Self reveals itself.

Book Six of the Bhagavad Gita focuses on Raja Yoga, the Yoga of meditation. Raj means "royal" or "rule" in Sanskrit, thus Raja Yoga is the "King of Yogas." Raja rules over the others in the sense that it is most central; it is the interface between ordinary consciousness and the Unitive State. It is through the practice of meditation that the aspirant learns to control the mind, strip down the layers of ego, and ultimately achieve the state of consciousness known as samadhi.

In the practice of Raja Yoga, one turns inward, deeply inward, shedding all of the layers of the private self and its restless mind . The objective is nothing less than the core of consciousness, in which state perfect peace reigns . Raja

The Bhagavad Gita 91

Yoga is thus the companion and the necessary opposing complement to Karma Yoga, whose nature is action . The out-going of Karma finds balance in the inward-turning of Raja. Together they are a complementary whole.

These two great Yogas, Karma and Raja, are found in all spiritual traditions, but, of course, they are known by many names. In Hinduism they became highly developed traditions. Shakyamuni Buddha, for example, who was himself a Hindu renunciate for many years, loved the practices of Raja Yoga. Although he would part company with some of the most fundamental beliefs of the Hindu tradition, he never abandoned the practice of meditation.

Up to this point in the discourse between Krishna and Arjuna, Krishna has wanted Arjuna to understand that through the practice of Karma Yoga, he can refashion himself into the kind of unselfish man who is receptive to higher knowledge. Then, in Book Six, Krishna reveals that the actual awakening of higher knowledge is an interior experience born in the consciousness of one who has learned to control the restless mind. Hence the need for Raja as well as Karma Yoga. But Arjuna, a very normal human being, is dismayed by the thought of ever being able to control something so fitful as the thinking mind:

0 Krishna, the stillness of divine union which you describe is beyond my comprehension. How can the mind, which is so restless, attain lasting peace? The mind is restless, turbulent, powerful, violent; trying to control it is like trying to tame the wind.

(BG: Vl.33, 34; p. 107)

How right Arjuna is! Controlling the thinking mind really is like trying to tame the wind. In India, a land where monkeys abound, the ordinary mind is called the "monkey-mind"; sometimes it is compared to a drunken monkey or even to a drunken monkey that's been stung by a scorpion (quite an image, but not far off the mark). Nevertheless, the experience of countless men and women over the ages proves that controlling the mind is possible. With dedi- cation, and patience, the practices of Raja Yoga can lead one to mastery of meditation, wherein "the mind is unwavering like the flame of a lamp in a windless place ."

In a much-loved section of the Gita, Krishna even gives Arjuna some prac- tical advice about the way to practice meditation. These verses suggest that the author of the Gita must have assumed that his work would have a wide audience; ordinarily, this kind of teaching would be a private matter between guru and disciple . Krishna's suggestion about using a deerskin and "kusha" g_rass should not be taken literally; he was merely referring to what was tradi- tional at the time among some yogis:

Select a clean spot, neither too high nor too low, and seat yourself firmly on a cloth, a deerskin, and kusha grass. Then, once seated, strive to still Your thoughts. Make your mind one-pointed in meditation, and your heart will be purified. Hold your body, head, and neck firmly in a straight

92 Hinduism and Related Traditions

line, and keep your eyes from wandering. With all fears dissolved in the peace of the Self and all desires dedicated to Brahman, controlling the mind and fixing it on me, sit in meditation with me as your only goal. With senses and mind constantly controlled through meditation, united with the Self within, an aspirant attains nirvana, the state of abiding joy and peace in me.

(BG: Vl.11-15; p. 105-106)

The subject of Raja Yoga will be fully addressed in the next chapter.

BhaktiYoga

Fill your mind with me; love me; serve me; worship me always. Seeking me in your heart, you will at last be united with me.

With these powerful words, Krishna gives expression to what is ultimately the great goal of the Bhagavad Gita, leading Arjuna from the ignorance of the separate self to awakening to his union with the Divine. The Gita is an exposition of Yoga. All paths of Yoga are excellent and important, and they are clearly interrelated. But, as the Gita develops, it becomes more and more apparent that the author of the Gita, through the words of Sri Krishna, is proclaiming that Bhakti Yoga, the way of devotion, is the greatest Yoga of all, greater even than Karma and kingly Raja. Loving devotion and service to a personal savior are what distinguish Bhakti. Krishna-the incarnation of Vishnu, one with the Ultimate Ground of Being-presents himself to Arjuna as the personal, compassionate manifestation of the Godhead, and as such, a savior who can be worshipped as an approachable, loving friend of humanity.

Just to be sure that there is no misunderstanding in this matter, the author of the Gita has Krishna spell it out in lucid terms. Arjuna wants to know which is better; the way of the head or the way of the heart. "Of those steadfast devotees who love you, and those who seek you as the eternal formless Reality, who are the more established in Yoga?" Krishna's reply leaves no doubt as to where the author of the Gita stands. "Those who set their hearts on me and worship me with unfailing devotion and faith are more established in Yoga" (BG: Xll.1, 2; p. 162).

In no way is this meant to imply that there is some sort of fundamental conflict between the various paths of Yoga. Nothing could be further from the truth. The various paths of Yoga are complementary. Although a given individual may be disposed to emphasize this one or that one, all must be expressed in the life of a true aspirant. And, Krishna proclaims, the life of Yoga comes together in the act of devotion, Bhakti Yoga. This is true not only for the sort of person for whom Bhakti means the customary forms of religious worship, but also for the philosophically minded person. "They worship me with

The Bhagavad Gita 93

one-pointed mind, having realized that I am the eternal source of all ... Full of ~evotion, they sing of my divine glory" (BG: IX.13, 14; p. 133).

The opening up of unrestrained selfless love is what it all ultimately comes down to. That is the essence of Krishna's teaching. The various paths of Yoga are ways of breaking down the love of an illusory ego-self and nourishing in its

lace a love of that which alone is real. Karma Yoga generates the love that ~ranscends the private self, and Raja Yoga returns it to the source, nourishing love of the real Self. Finally, in the love of a personal representation of the Godhead, one achieves the perfection of Yoga. Krishna sums it up beautifully:

I am that supreme Self, praised by the scriptures as beyond the changing and the changeless. Those who see in me that supreme Self see truly. They have found the source of all wisdom, Arjuna, and they worship me with all their heart.

(BG: XV.18, 19; p. 186)

Lord Krishna, having given all of the teaching to his disciple Arjuna, brings the great discourse to a close. There is nothing more to say. And now Krishna wants to know if he has succeeded. Has Arjuna awakened to a higher truth? Will he now stand up and "lead his men into battle?" Krishna asks Arjuna if he has listened with understanding. Is he now free from doubt and confusion? Arjuna, a changed man now, answers with firmness: "You have dispelled my doubts and delusions, and I understand through your grace. My faith is firm now; I will do your will" (BG: XVIII.73; p. 212).

Questions for Discussion

1. What is the relationship of the Bhagavad Gita to the Mahabharata? Why do some believe that the Gita was not originally part of the Mahabharata?

2. How is the story line of the Mahabharata structured in such a way as to lead inevitably to war between the Pandavas and the Kauravas?

3. Dhritarashtra was born before his brother, Pandu. How did it come to pass, then, that his firstborn, Duryodhana, was to be denied rightful suc- cession to the throne?

4· The five sons of Pandu were not really his sons. What's that all about?

5 · Why is it stated, "There is profound symbolism in the fact that Krishna

was a charioteer in the story"?

6 · Is the Bhagavad Gita meant to be understood literally or metaphorically? If

metaphorically, what would you say are the advantages of this approach?

94 Hinduism and Related Traditions

7. If one interprets the Gita metaphorically, what is the metaphor? In your judgment, what are the terms of the metaphor, and what does each represent?

8. Why does Krishna begin his teaching with a strong affirmation of the doctrines of Atman and samsara?

9. In the final eighteen verses of Chapter 2, Krishna describes his vision of the fully awakened person. How would you sum it up? Why do you suppose that Gandhi said that even if all of the Gita but these eighteen verses had been lost, the entire wisdom of the Gita would still have been preserved?

10. Eknath Easwaran refers to Karma Yoga as "selfless service." What is self- less service? Is it the same as what we mean by "good deeds?" What makes Karma Yoga a Yoga?

11. Correctly understood, what is the relationship between Karma Yoga and Raja Yoga? Can either one stand alone? Can any path of Yoga stand alone?

12. Loosely translated, "Raja Yoga" means King of Yoga. What makes Raja the king? Does this seem reasonable to you?

13. Even though Raja may be kingly, the assertion is made that the author of the Gita regards Bhakti Yoga to be the greatest of all Yoga paths. How do you feel about that? In what way could it be said to be true?

14. How do the various paths of Yoga come together to form a unitive whole?

15. How do you interpret the teaching of the Bhagavaa Gita? What is the quintessential message of the Gita?

Chapter 5

Ashtanga Yoga

In his song "Imagine," John Lennon wistfully asks us to imagine a world in which there are no possessions, no greed or hunger, everyone sharing the world peacefully and happily. The reality, as we all know, is much different . Suffering is a fact of life; it never fails to claim its share. It takes many forms: pain , worry, anxiety, dissatisfaction, loneliness, and on and on.

So what are we to do about it? The Vedic answer was fairly simple: the gods control our fate. If life is to be enjoyable-or at least as enjoyable as possible- worship the gods with a sincere heart, participate in the ritual sacrifices, place your trust in the good will of the gods, and make the best of what comes, con- fident that the afterlife will be forever free of suffering.

Although this approach was satisfying to many, there were some, as we have seen, who did not find it satisfying at all. By the later years of the Vedic Age, a reaction was setting in. Some found the Vedic paradigm much too simplistic, too na'ive, too materialistic, too lacking in insight as to the truth regarding the fundamenta l nature of reality. An alternative paradigm began to take form, one that would reach fullness in the mystic phi losophy of the Upanishads. The Vedas looked forward to rebirth in a sort of paradise; the Upanishads held that, in the normal course of things, one could look forward only to a dreary continuation of rebirths in this world. Whereas the Vedas were world- embracing, focusing on the good things of life, the Upanishads, by contrast, rejoiced in the possibility-at least the possibility-of total liberation from this world of end less suffering.

The prospect of Liberation (moksha) was what the Upanishads were (and are) all about, and in the various Upanishads we find an eloquent discussion t the changeless reality that underlies the constantly changing forms of daily ife. Failure to achieve Liberation, the Upanishads proclaim, is due to igno-

~nce. (avidya). The Upanishads drive this point home decisively. But, the A panishads have little to say about the way in which Liberation ( that is to say,

~akening) is actually achieved. That task is the province of Yoga. It is often said that the Upanishads give us the "what." And Yoga gives us the "how." h As we have seen, that great synthesis of the philosophy of the Upanishads,

t e Bhagavad Gita, dealt extensively with the subject of Yoga. However, the