Swami Tejomayananda

In Gita, Lord Krishna tells Arjuna that just as we shed our old clothes in order to wear new ones, the self also gives up many bodies and takes up new ones. The clothes do not even have to be old; they may have just been worn for a while. The body is not affected by the change of clothes. In the same way, atman does not get affected. It does not die. That is the nature of the self. It is imperishable.
“Weapons cleave It not, fire cannot burn It, water cannot drown It, and wind cannot dry It. This Self cannot be cut, or burnt, or drowned, or dried. It is eternal, all-pervading, stable, unmoving, and ancient. This Self is said to be unmanifest, unthinkable, unchangeable. Therefore knowing this to be so, you should not grieve (II:23-25).”
In this verse, Lord Krishna lists the natural sources of destruction. These are nature’s ways of destroying. Man has also created weapons of destruction. But even th­ese weapons cannot destroy the atman or the self; th­ey can only kill or hurt the body. On the relative pl­a­ne we see, for example, that fire exists in space. Fire can burn buildings and forests, but it cannot burn space.
Similarly, when several inches of rain fall, what harm does it do to space? It may drown people and objects, the winds may blow and cyclones may destroy houses and towers, but nothing happens to space. It remains there, ever unchanged, immovable and indestructible.
We may build a house and partition the space but when that house is torn down the house space merges back into the all-pervading space. That is because spa­ce is subtler than the other four elements. Even though space is subtler than the other elements, the human mind is subtler than space itself. And even subtler than the human mind is pure consciousness-existence.
That is why Lord Krishna says that atman, the self, cannot be burned, drowned, or destroyed in any way. Atman is eternal and all pervading. It is not manifest; it cannot be seen; it cannot be apprehended by the senses. Nor can we comprehend or conceive it by the power of the intellect. That is why it is called acintya (unthinkable). When we think of anything we think in terms of its properties, its nature, colour, form and shape. But atman has no properties, so how can we think of it?
Thus Lord Krishna tells Arjuna that he does not need to grieve over death because destruction of the body is inevitable, but atman is imperishable. When we understand the eternal nature of the self we don’t perceive ourselves as the slayer nor recognise others as being slain. The reason we grieve is because of our identifications, attachments, and personal likes and dislikes.
We want to acquire things that we like, and avoid those we dislike, but the world is not going to change for us. Events will occur irrespective of whether we want them to or not. Fire will not stop burning, that is its nature. Water will be wet, and air will dry. So we cannot expect things to change their nature to suit us.
All we can do is change ourselves: perform our duty without the sense of doership, without pride, and learn to handle the situations of life bravely. For Arjuna, his situation is very clear. He is faced with a war he has to fight. It is his duty, because it is a war of righteousness, a war of dharma.
“Furthermore, having understood your own duty (svadharma), you should not waver. For there is nothing higher for a kshatriya (warrior) than a righteous war (II:31).”
Here Lord Krishna advises Arjuna that from every standpoint his duty is now clear. From the absolute standpoint he knows why he should be fighting and from a relative standpoint he has to remember that he is a warrior. Lord Krishna reminds Arjuna that he now has a great opportunity to fight for a truly righteous cause and to establish dharma (righteousness).
This is what Arjuna has been preparing for all his life and such an opportunity is not likely to come again. Lo­­rd Krishna compares Arjuna’s situation to that of an ac­tor who has memorised all his lines but when it is ti­me for him to go on stage he develops stage fright and ca­­­nnot go on. Or to the racehorse that has been tr­a­ining all its life to run and is waiting for a signal to start the ra­­ce, but the signal never comes. Such an individual’s en­tire life will be wasted. Lord Krishna tells Ar­juna not to waver, to perform his duty and establish dh­ar­ma, for such an opportunity will not come to him again.
But what is the true meaning of dharma and where can we find the guidelines that indicate how we should perform our dharma? In the forthcoming columns, we will examine the teachings of the Gita on dharma.

— Swami Tejomayananda, head of Chinmaya Mission Worldwide, is an orator, poet, singer,
composer and storyteller. To find out more about Chinmaya Mission and Swamiji, visit www.chinmayamission.com.
© Central Chinmaya Mission Trust.