Withdrawal syndrome

अविद्यास्मितारागद्वेषाभिनिवेशाः क्लेशाः॥ पा यो सू २-३॥

As Patanjali says, avidya, asmita, raga, dvesha and abhinivesha are five obstacles which mask clear thinking. Avidya or Ignorance is in the root of all these five obstacles. Abhinivesha is too much attachment coming out of passion, or so to say blind attachment. Partha forgot his own past accomplishments and feel into vishada "withdrawal syndrome" because of his Abhinivesha. In the past, Partha had fought with Gandharvas to protect his very own cousin Duryodhana, neutralized the entire Kaurava army with his Sammohanastra while fighting for Virata maharaja, as per Vyasa's advice, had fought with Shiva and procured Pashupatastra. In-spite of being such an accomplished professional warrior, who hasn't been defeated so far, has now fallen trap to this withdrawal syndrome.

If we look at Rama in the contrast, he too had to face similar situation, before going to vanavasa, Bharata cried saying Ayodhya would be ruined in his absence, Vasista, the family guru who urged him to neglect the owe made by his father in haste and take care of his kingdom, Jabala rushi who taunted him of running away from his duty (kula dharma) of administering the country. In-spite of all this, Rama never got distracted, not even once repented about his decision of going on to Vanavasa. Such is the power of this withdrawal syndrome which can mask all past memories and lead us to misinterpretation of Jati dharma and Kula dharma. Partha, having fallen to such a syndrome goes further and uses all his intellect to hide his weakness.

अहो बत महत्पापं कर्तुं व्यवसिता वयम्।

यद्राज्यसुखलोभेन हन्तुं स्वजनमुद्यताः॥ गीत १-४५॥

 

War of conflicting minds

धर्मक्षेत्रे कुरुक्षेत्रे समवेता युयुत्सवः।

मामकाः पाण्डवाश्चैव किमकुर्वत संजय॥ गीत १-१॥

The very first shloka of Bhagavadgita portrays the conflict in the mind of Dhrutarashtra, who wants to know what his children and Padavas are doing in Kurukshetra. In the absence of Pandu, he being the eldest of both families could have ensured everybody’s wellbeing. Instead, he choose to be blind, refused to open-up his insight and control the bad deeds of his children. On the other hand, mother Gandhari, though a learned scholar herself misunderstood pativrata dharma and blinded herself, in the process compromising her duties towards children. Probably these two conflicts in parent’s mind resulted in Kauravas treading the path of adharma. Duryodhana, leader of Kauravas, who very well knew what is dharma and adharma but rejected to follow the right way. Arjuna, a great warrior himself and faced similar situation earlier (in Virat parva as Brihanale along with Uttara kumara) has now succumbed to depression after seeing his kith and kin on the opposite side. Dharmaraya was ready to give up their rightful share and accept just five villages to avoid the conflict, an unwilling warrior. All these 105 raja kumaras along with their armies have assembled in Kurukshetra, which is also a dharmakshetra but to wage war and kill each other, an act of adharma. In contrast, Draupadi was clear in her mind to wage the war and destroy the evil forces, which Krishna too agreed and ensured that the war is waged.

Introduction

Bhagavadgita Yoga and Psychology

सर्वोपनिषदो गावो दोग्धा गोपालनन्दनः।

पार्थो वत्सः सुधिर्भोक्त दुग्धं गीताम्रुतं महत्॥

Veda based ecology, Upanishad based methodology and Gita based psychology have become very relevant for today’s world. Vedas highlight the attitude one has to develop towards mother Nature, lack of which, is resulting in calamities like unseasonal rains, floods, cloud bursts, earthquakes, heat waves etc.  Upanishads give us the processes and tools with which, we can transform our lives to achieve health, happiness and prosperity. Finally Bhagavadgita, the current topic, explains how one should handle the mind which when mastered can result in un-paralleled growth, but when let loose, would become a root cause for complete deterioration. Gita beautifully explains this with the help of Partha who had to suffer because of his apartha (misunderstandings), mind calming and mind reading techniques used by Krishna to convert boiling mind into a blooming mind. In essence, how we the modern day parthas have to cultivate our own inner Krishnas to achieve peace of mind. In a nutshell, Vedas, Upanishads and Bhagavadgita are the three tools to overcome adhidaivika, adhibhoutika and adyatmika tapatrayas.

Preface

Namaste,

Our respected Acharya, Dr. Ramachandra Bhat ji has agreed to conduct a seminar series on
"Bhagavadgita Yoga & Psychology" at Eknath Bhavan, City office of S-VYASA University, Bangalore.

Main objective is to bring out mind reading and mind calming techniques highlighted by Krishna in Bhagavadgita and contemplate on how those techniques could be used in our daily lives.

Of-course attending Satsangs in person is the best option to absorb this body of knowledge. For those who couldn't attend, this blog intends to provide some salient points from the session.

I am deeply grateful to Acharya, Vidwan Dr. Ramachandra Bhat Ji who has provided an opportunity to attend the satsang, digest what ever I can and reproduce it in the form of this blog. With all due respects and reverence, I dedicate this blog to him.

Dhanyavadaha...
Shivaram

PS:
* Satsang usually happens every Saturday between 5 to 6 PM.
* In case if there is any change, you will be intimated by an email.
* Please register yourself to the mailing list by sending an email to svyasa.alumniblr@gmail.com.