Sharing Sanjivani (Sanjivani - Life Saving Herb)

Chapter (81) What is the difference between knowledgeable and ignorant people?

(81)  What is the difference between knowledgeable and ignorant people?

Lord Krishna explains Arjun that everything in universe is created by five elements water, earth, sky and fire becomes live with the presence of Atma tatva. Seeds grow into tree, body grows after birth, streams flow from the mountains and every construction of roads and houses change with passage of time. All the kriyas of listening, seeing, eating and drinking are done by the body and senses. Some kriyas are done automatically as digestion of food and circulation of blood and breathing while some kriyas are done with conscious efforts like reading, learning, helping and serving others. Every person does all these kriyas according to his own nature based on satva, Rajas and Tam. These kriyas are decided by intellect and its consequences are felt by mind. Hence all the five karmendriya, five Gyanendriya and five subjects of the senses are parts of nature. Everything is done by ‘nature’ not by ‘form’ of eternity. The ‘form’ of eternity is ‘soul’ which is not affected by any kriya and soul does not get involved in any kriya. But the ignorant person thinks all ‘these’ as ‘mine’ and ‘this’ ignorance of ownership and possession creates ’ego’ .Ego boosts up pride and the person who has this false pride is AHANKARVIMUTHATMA known as senseless person because of his pride. When the ignorant person sees his body and senses work, he thinks that ‘I am doing all this work ‘.When he finds his mind and intellect deciding karma and feeling emotions he thinks that ‘I am the creator and doer of this karma’. This ignorance of ‘being karta’ is ignorance.

Ego is of two types as the real ego which is related to the authority over things and relations and the unreal and so called belief of thinking that ‘I am the body’. Actually speaking real ego remains forever constantly with persons while so called belief of being own self as a body is temporary. The real ego is the forgetting our own form (that I am the part of eternity) and so called belief that I am the body which is perishable is unreal ego which create ‘pride’ of being ‘karta’ in the mind of owner. This pride of  karta creates attachments to things and relations and an ignorant person feels joy and sorrow, pain and gain by getting or losing those perishable things and relatives who are neither under his control nor his property.

All the kriyas are related with nature growth and development of livings, construction on non-livings, birth and death of livings and beginning and the end of history. Hence ‘to do’ and ‘not to do’ any kriya is related with nature not with the ‘soul’; Soul is eternal and permanent .It has no beginning or end. It is in the continuous form since the birth of universe. Soul is passive but when it interacts with nature, nature becomes active and it grows, develops and destroyed at last. Creation, growth and development and demolition is the form nature not of a ‘soul’. Soul is eternal, imperishable and everlasting. Because of his belief in ownership and ignorance of being karta an ignorant person believe in his relation with perishable things and worldly relation. But the knowledgeable person knows that he is neither ‘a body nor senses’ nor a part of perishable nature, but he is a part of eternal, omnipresent Almighty in the form of soul.

A person when thinks his body and senses as his own property he gets involved in sansar. Though he does not think Sansar as his own or under his control, he thinks his body as ‘own’ and under his own control hence he gets involved into relations with his parents family, friends and society. He wanted to fetch money, power, prestige and prosperity to make all his beloved happy. He wanted to earn name and fame and wanted to have control over his possession and over his relatives. This belief becomes the cause of attachment and greed, jealousy and envy and he falls into the bondage of rebirth. Only when a person can cut off his relation with everything as ‘karta’ or’ doer’ he could be free from the pride and ego and he could serve the society and others .He could be humble and fulfill his duties as to complete his destined karma or perform his role as directed by the Almighty and his past deeds. Until a person has his relation with ‘pride’ and possession and ego of ‘doer’ he could not be free from the bondage of karma because this pride and Ego are the root cause of birth and death. If a person could abandon his pride and ego, he could easily become free from the relations created by ever changing nature. Hence it is essential for a karma yogi Sadhak that he should give importance not to ‘Kriya’ but to his real ‘consciousnesses’. When inner consciousness and knowledge of self realization awakens, he could see the right path to get salvation.

Triguna- Satva, rajas and Tamas are created by nature . These three guna-virtues are responsible for the functioning of this Sansar. Hence the body of all the livings with their  senses, mind ,  intellect and substances are full of these trio- virtues and they are known as ‘GUNA-VIBHAG’ department of virtues. All the substance and kriyas go on changing every moment in the world. They have their beginning and end. They have their births and deaths while ‘soul’ is not related with anything.

When an ignorant person gets attached to all these perishable things, he finds himself under the bondage . The relation and attachment creates ’illusion’ .Illusion has its root in impoliteness and ingratitude which emerges out of ignorance. When the real ‘Consciousness’ emerges, attachment to every perishable things and changing relations disappears and a Sadhak could understand the difference between the body and the soul,The perishable and the everlasting,  the ever changing and everlasting, the illusive beliefs and the real knowledge. A Sadhak would consider all the kriyas as ‘conducted by nature; and does not get involved in them. When he gets detached from the role of nature, he would feel liberation. A Sadhak could understand that he could not make growth of a seed into tree by his kriya or he is not suppose to circulate blood in the body, digest food or performing respiration by his own efforts and the pride of karta would be demolished, Just as we do not know or remember anything during our sleep and when we wake up, we feel that we are ignorant about what we did in our sleep or dream .When a Sadhak awakens he has self realization as a part of eternity.

Let’s learn how to remain detached from the nature?