| Why Self-knowledge |
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By Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha
Aapooryamaanam achala-pratishtham
Samudram-aapah pravisanti yadvat
What counts supreme in human life? Is it wisdom? How many
different levels or kinds of wisdom are there? Is there anything
indispensable in them, which no thinking man can afford to
ignore or avoid? Would it then be necessary to acquire that
sufficiently early in life? Suppose, one is not, for whatever
reason, able to fulfill this need, will it or can it lead
to his downfall? Will the consequence be colossal? What does
viveka teach us in this matter?
Well, in Arjuna, who drove to the battlefield of Kurukshetra
after thirteen years of austere preparation, we have a full
answer to all these questions. As a proud fighter, the master
of his chariot, he ordered the charioteer: "Take my chariot
in front". The famous Gandiva was lifted by him, showing
how powerful and determined he was. The charioteer was quick
in obeying. The chariot moved and stopped in place. And lo,
the scene changed. The bow slipped from the fighter's fist.
The hero began to tremble in doubt, fear, apprehension and
retreat. His mouth became dry. With a whirling mind and faltering
vision, the son of Kunti began to lament. Can the plight of
seeming hero change so abruptly? And why does it happen?
Material or objective knowledge alone will not be sufficient
to conduct oneself well in the world of variety. In our interaction
with the world, the senses have the visible place, no doubt.
But our personality is far deeper. Behind the sense exists
the mind, complex and elusive. The mind's strength and weakness,
its hope and despair, count greatly. They can affect our personality
and turn the fate of our interactions with the world. The
mind has its internal support in the Soul. The drive and inspiration
it is able to derive from the Soul will determine the strength,
clarity and heroism one is able to manifest in his activities.
Kunti's son did not know this truth. Or, even after knowing,
he became unmindful of it. May be, he disregarded the memory.
Was it then a punishment when his Gandiva slipped, hitting
his pride and proving his weakness? It was too much to see
that his eyes, which were to frown and fume in anger, suddenly
started flowing profusely in sweeping sorrow.
Forgetting his age, maturity, skill and past achievements,
Partha blurted forth before his charioteer shamelessly. What
did the fighter lack? Where had all his experience and might
disappeared? How could such a thorough downfall occur in just
a moment?
But, Krishna, the charioteer had no doubt or reluctance at
all. He said sternly that such crumbling in weakness and delusion
was impermissible. In a crucial moment of such a momentous
war, where was the place for weakness or indecision? The fighter
felt extremely bad, at his own weakness and at the reprimand
he got from the charioteer. As had been the earlier emotion,
so was the new emotion. Both worked quickly. And he said in
a note of confession.
"Yes, I badly need strength. I must find an ascent, a
stability, which neither knowledge and skill in archery nor
the merit of other successes can bestow. In the absence of
such a strength, all gains and knowledge seem to be useless.
One has to look to none else; I myself am the best proof for
this truth." Arjuna's mind was clear in its thought.
Admitting weakness, the heroic fighter begged of his charioteer
for courage and clarity, for composure and stability, finding
that these qualities lay somewhere deeper in the body, where
arrows would not reach. The great hero turning suddenly a
weakling, the proud countenance becoming instantly humble,
is the scene, which Kurukshetra first presented.
Rukmini's consort was, in fact, waiting for such an appeal
and surrender from his friend and brother-in-law. In place
of the fierce battle in Kurukshetra, it was thus that the
momentous conversation between the fighter disciple and the
charioteer-teacher took place first. The zealous search and
decisive finding, which should normally have transpired during
the long forest life that preceded, had to be focused in a
strictly opposite environment. Better late than never. In
the matter of knowing about one's own Soul, the treasure house
of human sustenance, every occasion is opportune; every situation
is befitting!
"Body is limited. Being born, it began to exist. Before
long, it will cease to exist and disappear. But remaining
like the pivot in a wheel, enabling and empowering all transformations
from birth to death, there exists the Soul, the Self. Immovable
and untransforming, the Self has no birth. For it to exist,
to be born is not necessary. This does not mean that it did
not exist earlier."
"In the case of the body, elemental and material, birth
is a precursory for existence. But in the case of the Self,
which enables the body's birth and existence, this precondition
does not apply. In fact, the higher domain of wisdom consists
in the ability and astuteness to think of and arrive at the
Self - the substratum of all material existence, the causal
factor in the bodily existence."
"Knowledge has two divisions, the inferior and superior.
Material knowledge relates to that sector, which can be studied
by our senses. The paravidya or superior wisdom, relates to
that, namely the Soul which abides within the body, unperceivable
to the senses. Body is that which is seen. Which verily shows
and reveals the body is the Self, the Atma. More important
and basic than the objects perceived, the sights seen, is
their revealer. That which reveals the sight comes first.
It precedes the vision. How can the Self, the revealer be
missed, forgotten, or relegated to unimportance?"
