ATTAINMENT 

By

Achala Bhakthan

 KARMANI EVA ADHIKARASTHE

MAA BHALESHU KATHAACHANA

was explained in my article on THE ART OF LIVING.   Let me now take up another equally important teaching of Sri Krishna: 

            SARVA DHARMAAN PARITHYAJYA

            MAAM EKAM SARANAM VRAJA

            AHAM TWAA SARVA PAAPEBHYO

            MOKSHA ISHYAMI MAA SUCHA

 A naughty interpretation : “Cast away all your duties and surrender to me”. Does this mean that we have no duties to perform in our life?  Does it suggest that we can escape “Action” at our will?  The key words are ‘DHARMAAN’, “PARITHYAJYA”, "MAAM EKAM", “SRANAM”.

 Let us examine each.  Dharmaan is the plural usage.  Dharmam can mean, Duties, Rules & Regulations, Obligations, Actions  etc. etc.  It can refer to

1)      All Rules and Regulations or Duties and obligations prescribed by our    Sastras/scriptures etc.

2)      It may mean all Actions that we are performing in this mundane world.

The first one seems to be contradictory to what is stated in our Scriptures like “Do your bounden duties without fail, do your Nithya Karma truthfully, Act as per the tenets of the Scriptures etc. etc.  In one way we are asked to obey the tenets of Scriptures and Lord Krishna says “Discard all Dharmaas”.   Is it not paradoxical?  Does this not sound Contradictory?

If it refers to the second one, is it possible for us to escape “Action”, since Action is the very basis of existence.  You cannot but act.  Every thought and deed come in this category of Action.  It covers all actions at physical, mental and intellectual levels.  Can you stay away from actions at these levels for a split of a second even?  Even if you want, can you escape Action?

If not, what does the above verse conveys?  When we act, we always question the authenticity of the saying by great seers, scriptures, puranas etc. We always question the efficacy of the saying and seek proof for everything.  In this process we get entangled in a cob-web (MAYA) and are never able to come out of it.  Thus, we never start and we always wander in the forest of DARKNESS  (Avidhya) or (Ignorance).  Ignorance or Avidhya is tolerable but lazyness to learn or lack of sincere effort to learn is intolerable. The basic quality Sadhaka (Seeker of Knowledge Supreme) should be “FAITH”.  Faith in the basic sayings of great seers, scriptures etc. without questioning and faith in a POWER which is the very basis of our existence.  Let me hasten to add “Faith” is not “Blind Belief” but a sound understanding and acceptance of the sayings. 

Let us find out what is meant by FAITH  In Scientific Research, what a Scientist is doing is nothing but take a basic principle or theory and put it to test in various ways to find out the effect and compare it with the result already announced.  This is a logical way of approach. Let us take up an example:  “If you touch the flame it will burn your fingers”.  Now you want to test it.  What will you do.  Please go near a flame and touch it with you fingers and see it yourself.  Will yu?  Not at all, because you have seen others doing it and suffering from it.  That means you have no direct knowledge or experience but have indirect knowledge or hearsay, which you believed, even though you have not experienced it directly.

Have you experienced death?  Don’t you believe it ?  Why or How? Think, think and think.  Are you not in the process of “Believing something which is not borne out of your direct experience”?  What is it called?  Is it not ‘FAITH” or BELIEF?  Now, what is the base of faith?  Is it direct knowledge?  Is it hearsay? Is it Belief?  What it is?  You take it for granted that what others experienced should be true.  That is an inner voice saying that “It is true, accept it”.This is called your Consciousness.  You must be able to identify this Consciousness in you when you do anything before questioning?  When you learn scriptures or for that matter anything, unless you approach it with a base of “FAITH” you will learn nothing. Now, if you have FAITH and believe what is stated in our Scriptures/Puranas etc., then you will agree that they ordain us to do our Dharma. To understand the import of this verse, we should study the situational factors first.

We have to take the context in which this is said.  This is said in a battlefield (Bharatha Yuddha) when Arjuna, the main warrior of Pandavaas collapses with sorrow and refuses to fight (do his Kshathriya Dharma), with an escapism attitude that he will have to kill all kith and kins to enjoy the fruit of action and he refuses or becomes helpless due to confused thoughts.  Then from his inner consciousness (Krishna) he gets the message which is said in scriptures.  This shows that he is sharp enough and is conscious even in such a battlefield about his FAITH.  Even in greatest distress we should listen to our inner consciousness with faith. 

A Kshathriya’s Dharma is to fight Adharma and re-establish Dharma.   He should not bother about all obstacles, relationships, sufferings etc. that are part and parcel of the battle.  If you are in military, you should fight the enemy, no matter if he is your father or close relative.  This is an order of your superior.  Don’t you take it up as your duty without questioning?  Because, if you do not, you will be court marshelled.  This is FEAR.  But what I state is FAITH.  What you do with fear you do with Faith and see the effect.

Let us personalize the above scene.  Lord Krishna, the SUPREME CONSCIOUSNESS in us.   Arjuna, JEEVATMA, that is YOU and I.  Battle Field the world of Maaya (materialistic world) or Avidhya or Ignorance.   War means fight against Avidhya.  MOKSHA means Realisation of the Supreme after which the attainer has no separate existence other than the SUPREME CONSCIOUSNESS, even though others see him in the Body, which is only a vehicle for HIM.

Now coming to the meaning of the verse,  Bhagawan says, you as a Sadhaka, never bother about consequences or obstacles once you resolve to Act.  You should always have your AIM before you and you should do your own Dharma, i.e. what is prescribed to your Varnasrama.  A Kshathriya should fight.   A Brahmin should impart Knowledge.  A Vaisya should deal in buying and selling and a Sudra should do service to these people.  This is the Varnaasrama Dharma prescribed by scriptures.  It is not caste based.  It is performance based.  Thus, when Arjuna fights, Krishna says do it sincerely, consciously to attain your Aim and do not bother about obstacles and after effects or results, which is really the word DHARMA points out here.  Dharma means every duty or action.  Expectation is also an action.  PARITHYAJYA, therefore,  means “Cast away all your EXPECTATIONS”, do your duty selflessly with self-confidence surrendering to CONSIOUSNESS (MAAM EKAM SARANAM).  Here, remember Krishna is CONSICOUSNESS personified and  Arjuna is JEEVA IN DISTRESS personified.  Thus, even in distress you should be able to hear the voice of your consiciousness, which will never fail you.  This is the meaning we have to derive, instead of questioning the seeming contradictions.

There is an inner meaning in this verse.  Do your Duty unattached, with faith (listening to the voice of and surrendering to your CONSCIOUSNESS)  and the result has to be “Success”.   If you approach a work with doubt, you will end in failure.   Finally, the message is:  A sincere SAADHAKA has to do SAADHANA without questioning its efficacy and with an aim to achieve:SUCCESS, without pondering over the right or wrong argument or without worrying about the result.  He should be optimistic and possess positive thinking.  .Don’t you think that this verse and the verse in my last messate are giving the same meaning.  They are two sides of a coin.

The last two lines “AHAM TWAA SARVA PAAPEBHOY MOKSHA ISHYAMI MAASUCHA”  are pointing out to the Bhala or result.  What is the Paapa left over in this process?  Nothing.  What is there to relieve us from Paapa when we do not do Paapa.  And when there is no Paapa or Punya due to selfless surrender, what is there to achieve other than MOKSHA or fear of birth and death.  Moksha is the result.  Is it away from us to attain?  Not at all.  It is there and we realize it.  That is all.   It is something like saying “When the light came the darkness disappeared”.  Here Light is CONSCIOUSNESS and darkness is IGNORANCE.  When Consciousness dawns, Ignorance goes away.  It is not a thing that is coming when one goes.  When Ignorance ends Consciousness shines.  That is all. This is called Attainment.

                   :  OM  TAT  SAT  :