| Why Self-knowledge |
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Arjuna's intelligence was getting clearer and sharper. A new
domain, a new horizon, began to shine before him. In the practice
of archery, hands and weapons join and work. The object aimed
at is external. It is a skill learnt and mastered by the senses
and external instruments.
The
para-vidya or Self-knowledge is not like this. Leaving
the body which is seen before us, the intelligence should
reach that which reveals the body. That sphere is not external,
but within. One can question, wait for the answer. Thus raising
questions, following them for answer, one should enter deeper
and deeper to reach one's own bottom. Self-search is thus
an inner process, an internal diving.
When the intelligence becomes engrossed in this, the mind's
agitation and confusion begin to decline. The result of
para-vidya
pursuit is instantaneous and evident.
Fighter Arjuna became a full-fledged seeker and investigator
- a new 'warrior' poised to conquer his own mind. Listening
to the charioteer with rapt attention, the features of the
Self one after another he wondered: 'where exists the body,
and how lofty is the Self! Body has an end.
Atma is endless,
infinite. Death is an apprehension which the body brings.
Immortality is the consciousness which the Soul generates
and preserves. If the body and senses throw us in deluging
darkness, the Self installs one in supreme brilliance'.
The fighter, standing in the battlefield enfeebled by delusion,
cast aside his weakness and got resolved to remain stable
with the awareness of the immortal Self - a new confluence,
an utterly new embarkment. Newer and newer levels began to
unfold in this adventure.
If the world outside the body is broad and expansive the world
within it is far more so. The son of Kunti desired to hear
more and more of the hidden, inner dimensions, their greatness
and glory, their beauty and infinitude. It made the charioteer
more eloquent.
Aapooryamanam achalapratishtham is the rare
exquisite pearl that fell during the illustrious dialogue.
Human life is constant interaction between the individual
and the wide world. None can think making it otherwise or
seeking redemption from it. There is no meaning in lamenting,
condemning or pitying, feeling guilty on any account. It is
true that the world remains immensely complex. Worldly interaction
will also then be correspondingly difficult, even tormenting.
But our personality has all the power and ability to assimilate
any kind of interaction and the vicissitudes emerging from
the process. Such a worth reigns in the domain of the Self.
Only for him, who does not know about the Self and its magnitude,
the world succeeds in causing agitation or unsettlement. But
the solution for the crisis is not in lament, self-pity or
self-condemnation. Enhance the depth and power of personality
by gaining Self-knowledge , and it its light find superior
dimensions within.
As in the body limited so is the Soul unlimited. The power
Soul can bestow, is also naturally endless. From the unbounded
Self, one can draw infinite courage and immense stability.
There is no question of any defeat in this inner adventure
and conquest. Let anything come in; it will only be filling
your personality, making you stronger, wider and deeper.
Look at the ocean. How many rivers enter the depth, gushing
and lashing? Is the sea shaken? Each river merges with it,
fills it. Yet the sea is not agitated. It remains stable in
its own depth and expanse. To be so unshakable, poised in
its own majesty, does the sea need any help from the rivers?
Human personality is deep and expansive like the ocean. Self-knowledge,
the superior wisdom, awakens man about this fact. He who realizes
this truth is a Self-knower - the one practicing Self-knowledge.
The Self-knower must and will remain unshaken, whatever may
come in to meet him from the world around. He is like the
sea, to which flows a number of rivers from different peaks
and terrains. "Arjuna, let this confusion and indecision,
which confronted you in the battlefield, usher in to instill
and preserve in you such an unshakeability and composure.
Do not be disturbed or shaken by anything. Receive one and
all developments and fuse them into the profundity and expanse
of the Self. Let the thoughts and emotions of the mind be
like the waves of the sea. Know that Self-wisdom is such as
to make you grow in these inner spiritual dimensions."
