Field and its Knower

   Arjuna: In spiritual language several expressions are used that make no sense to me. These are Field and its knower, knowledge and wisdom, Matters to be known, male, female etc. Could Thou please enlighten me on these subjects.

   Krishna: Each human body is a field. A body with its individual nature, mind, intellect, ego, consciousness, feelings and senses — all together — is known as a distorted field. He, who can know the ins and outs of a distorted field, is its knower. No one except Me has any capacity to have such knowledge and as such I alone am the knower of all the fields. Realisation of the actual relation between a field and its knower is wisdom. Several qualities become apparent in the wise some of these are positive and some negative. The positive qualities are:

   (1) Singleminded concentration,   (2) Equality, (3) Forbearance,  (4) Simplicity,  (5) Devotion for the Divine and for teachers,   (6) Purity,   (7) Patience, (8) Self-control,  (9) Preference for a secluded life,   (10) Study and practice of Spirituality,   (11) Analysis of the necessity of the scriptures, and  (12) Complacency.

   The negative qualities are:

   (1) Lack of pride,   (2) Lack of the sense of prestige,   (3) Lack of jealousy,   (4) Lack of hatred,   (5) Lack of egoism,   (6) Lack of attachment,   (7) Lack of the feeling of comfort in society, and    (8) Lack of excitement at anybody’s birth, death, or malady.

   What is really to be known is My Divinity or in other words that -  (1) I am neither Truth nor Falsehood nor Maya,   (2) I am expressed in all the senses but none of them can cast   any influence on me,   (3) I am the refuge of all but I have no companion,   (4) I am the creator of the Gunas or the Work-forces of Nature but none of  them has any control over Me,   (5) The entire Universe is contained in Me, yet I inhabit all matters and   beings,   (6) I am difficult to be traced although I am ever near,    (7) I am dynamically static,   (8) I am smaller than an atom, yet I am all in the Universe,   (9) I am diversely expressed in different matters and beings although I am  only one,  (10) I am light beyond darkness,   (11) I reside in a person’s heart and work on his intellect, and  (12) I am Creation, Existence, Destruction — all in one.

  My Static Self is called Purusa or Male. A part of it resides in the heart of each living being and approves of and witnesses all its actions. This part of Mine is the knower of that particular individual body or Field.

  My Dynamic Self is called Nature or Female. It creates work, causation and authority in an individual field through the work-forces of Nature. This is known to be the individual nature of the particular field. Every movement, action, inaction, thought, feeling, sensation etc. of a field is carried on, every moment, by its individual nature with the sanction of the Purusa, who does nothing Himself and simply witnesses and enjoys the play of the forces over the body. It is the Divine Himself but at the same time it is the individual soul of the body. Earth, wood, stone, brick — everything has a soul. All work in the Universe is carried on by Nature in conjunction with the Divine. This I have already told you. As a single Sun lights up the entire Universe, so does a single Divine know all the fields inside out. However He works on each individual differently.

  It is possible to realise My Divinity through knowledge of the relation between a Field and its Knower. Realisation of the real working of Purusa and Nature over an individual field enables one to avoid re-birth. There are different disciplines that can be practised for such realisation viz. meditation, acquisition of Knowledge, work, austerity etc.

  The Work-forces of Nature

  Krishna: I shall now give you an idea of the highest of all spiritual disciplines. Realisation of this discipline enables a person not only to avoid re-birth in the present creation but in all future creations as well.  Nature is My creative organ. I Myself inseminate it for the creation of all living beings. Nature is the mother of all and I the father. It is through Nature that I have also create the three Gunas or Work-forces viz.

  (1) Sattwa or Virtuousness,   (2) Rajas or the Drive of Propensity, and   (3) Tamas or Passivity and Inertia.

Although their essential qualities are different, their object is the same i.e. to allure human beings to attachment for something or other so that they remain engulfed in Maya orIgnorance. None of the three forces, however, can be found to work alone on any individual human being. All the three can be noticed to be working on each individual but there is always the predominance of one over the other two. Prevalence of Sattwa causes purity, virtuousness and knowledge, results in knowledge and complacency and at the same time causes attachment to knowledge and complacency. Prevalence of Rajas causes desire and passion that lead one to enterprise, zeal in work and restlessness, results in attachment to persons, work and wealth and creates feelings of likes and dislikes and ultimately leads one to sorrow and disappointment. Tamas causes ignorance, lethargy and negligence and results in attachment to laziness and sleep. One in whom Sattwa is prevalent belongs to the highest order of human beings and takes re-birth only amongst the wise. He, in whom Rajas is prevalent, belongs to the middle order and is born amongst hard working people in his next life. The person in whom Tamas is prevalent belongs to the lowest order of human beings and is re-born amongst ignorant masses.

   I keep Myself beyond and above the Gunas or Work-forces. One can rise above them, pierce the veil of Maya that envelops the world and can witness the play of the forces over one’s own body, vital and mind. One, who has attained this state, has freed himself from the bondage of birth, infirmity and death.

   Arjuna: What is the distinguishing feature of a person who has attained such a state? What may be the process of attaining it?

   Krishna: The Work-forces play on the human beings in the same way as high and low tides play on river water — sometimes one prevails, sometimes another. People usually try to get hold of one of the forces and to stick to it. If it wants to depart, they try to cling to it. If any other approaches, they try to repel it. One can watch the play of the different forces on him and gradually cultivate Sattwa to take possession of his feelings by overcoming the influence of Rajas and Tamas. Having once been successful in making Sattwa to be the cvontrolling force of oneself, one has to rise above Sattwa as well. Freeing oneself thus from th eattachments that these forces cause, one can enjoy their play on one’s own body, vital and mind without being perturbed in the least by the approach or recedence of any of them. The difference between pleasure and pain, happiness and sorrow, like and dislike, friend and foe, compliment and insult, praise and blame, good and evil, birth and death, gold and pebble etc. disappears from one. All to one becomes the play of forces. One does not take initiative any work whatsoever but is ever prepared to do most diligently whatever work comes his way. Excitement stays away from such a person who remains ever calm, quiet, composed and complacent and lives in immutable peace.

   The principal method of attaining such a state is to love and worship Me with complete dedication and unfailing devotion and to go on until that state is reached without dallying in any wayside inn e.g. My Static Aspect i.e. Brahman that offers Silence and Bliss.

Eternity

  Krishna: Try to imagine one huge big tree that stands upside down with its roots rising high up into the sky, its trunk driving downwards into the earth. Some of its branches are rising upwards and others hanging downwards. It has innumerable aerial roots which are shooting down from the branches and are getting embedded in the earth. This is called the Tree of Eternity. Its branches are the fields on which the Work-forces of Nature have their play. The sprouts are the objects of the senses, each leaf is an esoteric mantra of the scriptures and the aerial roots are the vital desires. The tree is enormously big and spreads itself beyond the field of vision. The mystery underlying this Tree of Eternity has to be solved, that is to say Divinity has to be attained. But how can that be done?    This can be done by cutting into pieces the aerial roots of desire with the sword of non-attachment, by piercing through the sprouts that are the objects of the senses with the help of the leaves or mantras and by climbing up to the root of the Tree that is by attaining Divinity from which flows all inspiration for work. Whoever employs himself in this work has to throw out desire and attachment from himself utterly and has, with single-minded determination, to fathom the secret meanings of  the esoteric mantras and to strive to realise the light that shines brighter than the Sun within ones’s own self. This realisation produces control over one’s own life and death. One, who can accomplish this formidable task, can automatically come to know of the teachings of the scriptures.

   An infinitesimal part of the Divine appears in a mortal being as life, with the help of the senses and their objects, for the purpose of its own development and progress. Having enjoyed the objects of the senses for a while it reverts back to the Divine. Many a saint attempts to realise this play of the Divine with Himself. Such realisation is possible but is extremely difficult although to have experiences of it now and then is comparatively easy.

   The Divine’s own light is expressed through the Sun and the Moon. It is He who causes trees and plants to grow with the help of the rain that He causes to secrete from His own Being. Through Fire and Air, He creates a system of digestion of food and drink. He is continuously disclosing to humanity the real object and purpose of human life through intellect, knowledge, wisdom and the scriptures. Sitting in the heart of human beings He, at His will, discloses to them the secret as to how He holds and runs the Universe and how all secrets about Himself lie concealed in the scriptures as well as in intuition.

   My dynamic and static aspects are also called —   (a) Ksara or Fragile (which is constituted of the totality of the objects of   the senses) and    (b) Akshara or Immutable (i.e. Consciousness beyond and above the senses) respectively

   Beyond and above these two aspects is the Supreme Consciousness that is My real Self. He, who keeps his intellect and learning engaged constantly in worshiping Me, is the most intelligent of all human beings.

Human Nature

   Krishna: Human Nature can be divided into two broad categories —   (1) Divine and    (2) Demonic.

   He who has a divine nature has no fear, desire avidity, jealousy, anger, enmity or pride. He betrays purity, simplicity, humility, tenderness and cleanliness. Endurance, patience, self-control and compassion are ingrained in him. He never engages himself in criticising or even discussing about others. Selfishness is foreign to him. He has enormous strength, both physical and mental, and has unfailing interest in oblation, worship, meditation, study of the scriptures and acquisition of knowledge. A man of divine nature has no bondage. By the way, yours happen to be a divine nature.

   A child born as a consequence of intense lust has usually demonic nature which keeps him totally in the dark about the existence of the Divine. That there is an eternal purpose, discipline and evolutionary process behind creation can never be apparent to him. To him life appears to be meant only for the satisfaction of passions and desires. He is never amenable to rules and disciplines. Arrogance, pride, jealousy, enmity, anger, avarice and audacity prevail in him. His intellect is enveloped by falsehood and Maya. Driven by desire, he trades in falsity. Evil resolutions surge up in him constantly to drive him into endless harmful and demonic activities for the purpose of acquiring wealth and other material benefits. His greed is ever growing. The more wealth and material benefits he acquires, the more he wants. His whole life is spent in running after the vulgar prizes of the world. Victory over one enemy makes him consider himself capable of crushing every one who may have enmity towards him. Arrogance and pride make him consider himself to be the lord of the world, entitled to enjoy all the objects of the senses that the world provides. It is not rarely that a person of demonic nature is found to bear enmity towards the Divine. He makes a show of pompous oblations, charities etc. A person of such a nature has hardly any chance of being free from worldly bondages. He goes on rotating in the cycle of births and deaths without any significant change in his nature. Only when such a person can feel the existence of the Divine within himself and turns towards Him and adores and follows Him, he can save himself from the necessity of revolving in such a cycle. This turn leads towards prevalence of Sattwa in his nature and he may rise beyond the the Work-forces of Nature.

   If one can get rid of desire, anger and greed completely, one can attain to Divinity with ease. The scriptures contains various methods for conquering these adversaries, commonly known as vices. By following the suggestions of the scriptures, Divinity can be achieved. According to those prescriptions also it is just and proper for you to fight the battle without being influenced by such adversaries. You may consult the scriptures if you so like.

Respect

   Arjuna: Some people can be seen worshipping some Godhead or other with respect but without following any of the disciplines that the scriptures prescribe. Which of the three Work-force of Nature is prevalent in them?

   Krishna: The Human Soul is made of respect. The outer nature of a human being is the reflection of the quality of respect that constitutes his soul. Any of the three Work-forces of Nature may be prevalent in a person’s respect. The nature of a man’s respect can be recognised from his habits relating to (1) Austerities, (2) Oblations, (3) Worship, (4) Food, and (5) Charities. Before proceeding further, I should tell you that austerities too may be of three kinds — physical, mental or verbal. (1) Practice of purity in habits, non-violence and worship of Gods, preceptors and the wise people constitute physical austerity. (2) Patience, reticence, Complacency, forbearance, self-control etc. reflect mental austerity. (3) Speaking of truthful, pleasant and benevolent words that do not injure anybody’s feelings amount to verbal austerity.

   A Sattwik respect reflects in:

  (a) Single-minded devotion, non-expectation of any outcome of work and desirelessness in the practice of austerities;

   (b) Oblations performed in accordance with the prescriptions of the scriptures, solely out of deference and devotion to the Divine without expectation of any outcome whatsoever;

   (c) The worship of any Godhead;

   (d) The enjoyment of simple but tasty food that provides nourishment to the body to make it strong and long-lived; and

   (e) Charities made quietly to deserving persons with proper respect to the recipient at proper time and place without expectation of any return.

   A Rajasik respect reflects in:

   (a) Austerities performed pompously and with pride to attract human attention and honour;

   (b) Oblations performed with pomp and grandeur to attract human attention and to earn honour;

   (c) The worship of the senses;

   (d) The enjoyment of spicy, hot, sour and pungent food; and

   (e) Charities made unwillingly with the expectation of a return or with other selfish motives.

A Tamasik respect reflects in:

   (a) Austerities performed by torturing one’s body and consequently the soul inhabiting it i.e. Me, with the object of causing harm to others;

   (b) Oblations devoid of devotion, performed without following the prescriptions and without respect even for the priest;

   (c) The worship of evil spirits;

   (d) Relishing cold, stale, rotten and insipid food; and

   (e) Charities made to undeserving persons, without any respect for the recipient or at improper time.

    A person of demonic nature is often found to perform Tamasik austerities with the object of satisfying endless desires and of earning honour amongst the ignorant masses by show of power and strength.

   Eating, oblation, worship, austerity and charity are best done and performed as offering to the Divine by chanting “Om Tat Sat”. By Om one remembers the and calls the Divine. By Tat he prays for desirelessness and egolessness and by Sat one prays for being blessed with respect. Eating, oblation, austerity or charity devoid of respect is futile.

Reassurance

   Arjuna: I think I have mostly understood what Thou hast been saying. A little more clarification about the distinction between Asceticism or Renunciation of the world and Renunciation otherwise will be very helpful.

   Krishna: Giving up worldly work for the purpose of seeking the Divine in seclusion is called Asceticism or Renunciation of the world. Doing worldly work, without desire for reaping any benefit out of it, is called Renunciation in the spiritual language. It is impossible to give up all work because `work’ includes eating, sleeping, walking talking, giving, taking, creating, thinking, meditating, praying and even breathing. To give up all these is to invite death. Some teachers, of course, proclaim that oblation, worship, study of the scriptures, doing acts of charity, practice of austerities and other benevolent and virtuous works should not be given up. Those according to them constitute work that is necessary for purification of one’s body, vital and mind. According to them other works are useless for spiritual purposes and should be given up. Giving up of desire, attachment and outcome of the work is Renunciation as such. Good, bad or indifferent, any work done without desire for appropriation of its outcome makes Renunciation complete. One should not work too much nor too little.

   The outcome of work may be good, bad or mixed. One whose renunciation is real and complete is prepared, even before he starts working, to accept with equanimity whatever may be its ultimate outcome. Of course, this can be done only by those whose surrender to the Divine is complete and total and who is consequently peacefully complacent in his own self.

   Work may be physical, mental or vital. All work has five elements viz.   (1) The body,   (2) The worker,   (3) The various instruments,   (4) The many kinds of efforts, and   (5) Grace.

   Ego makes one think that he is himself the worker and also to impute virtue or sin in the action. An egoless person is not troubled by such thoughts and does not become a murderer even by committing murder. Knowledge, knower, and the object of knowledge are the three sources of work. The senses, the process and the worker are its foundation.

   Renunciation, Knowledge, work, process, worker, intelligence, persistence and pleasure may all be be Sattwik, Rajasik or Tamasik.    Working without attachment to the work itself or desire to reap its harvest is called Sattwik renunciation. `The same soul inhabits different bodies’ — is Sattwik knowledge. Working without attachment, aversion, desire or expectation of benefit and yet with sincerity is the Sattwik process of working. A willing but egoless worker having a strong determination and no regard for profitability, success or otherwise is known as Sattwik worker. The intelligence of a worker who has discrimination between truth and falsehood, moral and immoral, freedom and bondage, proper and improper and what should be feared and what not is Sattwik. The unwavering persistence by which one controls the mind, the senses and the life is Sattwik. The pleasure, which is slow to come and initially seems distasteful, poisonous and sorrowful, but ultimately turns out to be welcome, sweet and neutraliser of all sorrows is Sattwik. Such pleasure is born of one’s knowledge of one’s own self.

   Giving up of difficult or laborious work is Rajasik renunciation. `Different souls inhabit different bodies’ — is Rajasik knowledge. Working egoistically and torturing one’s body is the Rajasik way of working. Greedy, jealous, attached to work, desirous of success, rejoicing at success and lamenting at failure constitute the nature of a Rajasik worker. The intelligence of a worker who does not have such discrimination is Rajasik. The persistence which makes one to give all one’s attention and to cling to the satisfaction of desires, interests and pleasures with attachment to the outcome of everything he does and to what he chooses to think as right and justice is Rajasik. The pleasure that is easy to come and initially appears to be pleasant but ultimately turns out to be otherwise is Rajasik. Such pleasure is born of sensuality.

   Giving up of work that is conducive to one’s own nature is Tamasik renunciation. Mechanical working, illogical attachment to work, unwillingness to know one’s own self and narrow-mindedness signify Tamasik knowledge. Working wastefully and without taking into consideration its propriety or otherwise is the Tamasik way of working. A Tamasik worker is he who is lazy, slothful and deceptive. His intellect is crude and he is unwilling to pay proper respect to the respectable. The intelligence of a worker to whom falsehood appears to be the truth, immoral to be moral and improper to be proper is Tamasik. The persistence by which one through his ignorance clings to sleep, fear, grief, depression and pride is Tamasik. The pleasure that arises out of negligence of duty, laziness, deception and inertia is Tamasik. Such pleasure is born of ignorance.

   No God in the Heaven nor man on the earth can be totally free from any of the three Gunas. In all of them one or another of the three is prevalent as I have already told you.

   I create work and allot them to individual human beings. Allotment is made in accordance with one’s nature. I have divided human nature into four categories or classes viz.

   (1) Of the Brahmin — It consists of simplicity, cleanliness, forbearance,    self-control, self-satisfaction, peace, knowledge, austerity in habits and respect for the Divine;

   (2) Of the Ksatriya — It consists of valour, prowess, determination, astute   ness and capacity to rule, readiness to provide leadership and to fight bat   tles;

   (3) Of the Vaisya — It consists of the capacity for trade, commerce, indus   try. agriculture, dairy farming etc. People of such nature are industrialists,    businessmen and agriculturists; and

   (4) Of the Sudra — It consists of aptitude in serving people of the other  three classes of nature.

   Each individual is proceeding gradually towards his spiritual destiny through the work that I have allotted to him. It is not advisable for any one to forsake the work that is natural to himself even though he may have excellent capacity and aptitude for doing successfully such other work, as the attitude to leave the work that is natural to one and to take up other work arises out of a hidden desire for success and creates bondage and slavery to the work. It is only through work that is commensurate to one’s nature that one can conquer ego, attachment and desire and can also win freedom from all worldly bondage to gradually proceed towards one’s goal of uniting with the Divine. Of course, one can also conquer ego etc. by leaving his natural work and taking up asceticism requiring him to live in seclusion, maintain his body with the minimum of food and practise meditation. This latter way is really difficult and is not for everybody.

   The ultimate goal of all is union with the Divine. The easiest way of attaining Divinity is to surrender oneself entirely to the Divine and to do the work natural to oneself as an offering to the Divine.

   The ego of being the worker makes you decide against fighting the battle. Take note that residing in everybody’s heart, I drive everybody to work according to My will. You like it or not, the nature that I have bestowed upon you will yoke you to fight the battle. Your freedom of choice is confined between fighting it wilfully as My instrument as an offering to Me, without care for success or failure and with equanimity as to its results, and fighting the battle as a disgruntled worker working under compulsion. The first way will lead you towards freedom from all worldly bondage and bring you closer to Me. The second will entangle you more and more in the worldly bondage.

   I have disclosed to you all My secrets and that of the Universe. I have shown you My Divine Form of Time the Destructor. What remains is My highest secret. Since you are My favourite, I shall disclose that also to you. You must have by this time realised that I am the Divine and am all powerful. Think of Me! Have devotion and respect for Me! Worship Me! Surrender yourself totally and integrally to Me! Remember Me always and every moment of your life! And fight the battle! If your preconceived notion of sin still troubles you, I, as the Divine, assure you that I shall absolve you of all sin and evil that may befall you if, abandoning all laws of conduct and taking refuge in Me, you fight the battle as I command, as a willing instrument of Mine. Now it is for you to choose your own course of action!

   One last word! Please do not disclose what I have so long been telling you and what I have shown you to any one who does not have any devotion for Me. Remember always that for a person, who does not have devotion for Me, this knowledge will be too much to bear and may cause him mental imbalance. Devotees, listening to or reading about My secrets, will find enormous pleasure in discussing these amongst themselves and will overcome all worldly bondage. That is all for the present!

   (Arjuna picked up his bow with a sigh of relief and stood up)

   Arjuna: I am deeply obliged to Thee. By Thy Grace, all my confusion has cleared up. I am now fully prepared to fight the battle as Thou willest and as an instrument of Thine.