# 023 Entire teaching of Gita is in one verse

The teaching of Gita starts with and is entirely contained in Verse 11 of Chapter 2.

Asochyaan anvasochastvam prajnaa vaadaamsca bhaashase

Gataasoon agataasoonsca na anusocanti panditaah

You grieve for those who need not be grieved for. Yet you utter words of wisdom.

The wise don’t grieve for those who are dead or for those who are living.

This is the central teaching. All the rest are only to reinforce it.

Krishna primarily talks from the philosophical point of view (aadhyaatmika drishti–verses 12-25). However, he also reiterates the ethical point of view (dhaarmika drishti–verses 31-33) and worldly point of view (loukika drishti–verses 34-37).

In the verses 12 to 25, Krishna describes the nature of the Self (aatmaa).

 1.The Self is nitya (eternal) (12-15).

 The body undergoes birth, youth, old age and death. The Self is
 unaffected.(13) The body faces heat, cold, pleasure, pain, etc.  
 These come and go (14). The wise person, who knows that the 
 Self is eternal, is not affected by these (15). “Just as a person
 removes old clothes and wears new ones, the embodied Self
 discards old bodies and takes new ones.” (22) “Weapons cannot
 cut the Self. Fire cannot burn It. Water cannot wet It. Wind
 cannot dry It”(23).

 2.The Self is satya (real) (16).

 3.The Self is nirvikaara (immutable) & avinaashi (indestructible) (17).

 4.The Self is sarvagatah (all-pervading) (17) ie there is only one Self (ekam).

 5.The Self is aprameya (indeterminable) (18).

The Self is the Subject. It is not an object. So it is not accessible to the senses (avyakta) and not accessible to the mind (acintya). Just as how the camera can never be seen in any photograph taken by it and how the eye cannot see itself, the Self cannot be an object of experience. The Self is always the Experiencer. For this reason, it is also without any properties (nirguna). Properties belong only to objects and not to the Subject. Being nirguna, it is naturally immutable (nirvikaara), because any change is only a change in properties.

 6.The Self is akarta and abhokta (non-doer and non-enjoyer) (19).

The Self is neither the agent of action nor subject to the effects of action. So the Self is not affected by paapa or punya. It is not affected by action (karma) or the fruits of action (karma phala). This naturally follows nirvikaara. As the Self does not change, it cannot be a doer or enjoyer.

In verse 21, Krishna brings in another important point. This knowledge of the Self has to be owned up. It is not enough to know that “The Self is immutable” like knowing “That stone is immovable”. The Self has to be known as one’s own self and identify with It. When we say “The Self is immutable”, we should mean “I am immutable”. Only when the knowledge of the Self has thus been assimilated, it will have its effect.

Krishna concludes by saying “As the Self is avyakta, acintya and nirvikaara, you should not grieve about it” (25). Thus Krishna beautifully brings the argument back to the opening verse “wise men do not grieve” (11).

One may very well then ask, “If the Self is beyond the senses and the mind, how is knowledge of Self possible”. Sankara clarifies that any knowledge takes place in the mind only. Even knowledge about hunger, which relates to the body, is a mental knowledge only. Though the Self is beyond the senses and the mind, its knowledge can be and is in the mind.

There are two other philosophies that Krishna brings up here. The materialistic philosophy (which includes today’s Science) considers the sense of individuality and Consciousness to be a product of the material body. If this is the case, then people come into being with the birth of the body and die with the death of the body. For one who is born, death is inevitable. So, seen from this point of view also, one should not worry about death.

The second philosophy, which does not accept the Immutability of the Aatman, but considers it different from the material body. It considers that the Aatman takes bodies repeatedly one after the other. This is similar to the Buddhistic philosophy. In this case also, as birth and death are inevitable, one should not worry about death.

It should be noted that though the proponents of various philosophies come and go, the philosophies have been in existence and have been thoroughly studied and discussed since ancient times. Though Buddha came later, Krishna talks about that philosophy too.

After concluding the discussion from philosophical point of view in verse 30, Krishna takes up the ethical point of view in verses 31 to 33 thus:

The duty of a Kshatriya is to establish righteousness. Giving up the body in the attempt to establish righteousness should not be bothering him.  If the Kshatriya  refuses to fight for a righteous cause when the opportunity is presented, then it is dereliction of duty and will incur sin.

Next comes the discussion from the worldly point of view in verses 34 to 37.

Arjuna is well known for his bravery and fighting skills. He has created a name for himself. If he does not fight now for whatever reason, the world will talk ill of him. Everyone will say that Arjuna did not fight because he was afraid of the war. For an accomplished Kshatriya, infamy is worse than death. If Arjuna wins the war, he will enjoy the victory and the kingdom. If he loses and dies, he will earn a name. Thus in either case, Arjuna does not lose by fighting in the war.

Thus Krishna asks Arjuna to treat victory and defeat equally, and fight.

Next from verse 40, Krishna starts explaining from the point of view of Karma Yoga. Key sloka of Karma Yoga is (47):

Karmanyeva adhikaaraste maa phaleshu kadaacana

Maa karma phalaheturbhur maa te sangostva akarmani

You have right only to perform work, but never to the results. Never act motivated by the results of your actions, nor should you be attached to not performing your duties.

We have control over only what we do. The result depends on so many factors and so we do not have control over the results. Whatever we do is only a partial contribution among the several known and unknown factors that affect the result. But without our contribution, there is no chance of getting the results that we seek. So, we should not think we control the situation. We should know that we are vital and important contributors, but never controllers. We should be mentally prepared for any outcome. Doing the work with equanimity with respect to the results/fruits of our actions - success or failure - is called Karma Yoga (48). This is a paradigm shift in one’s thinking/attitude.

Karma Yoga is also called Buddhi Yoga because the change is only in attitude. The purpose of life is to grow. In human beings, growth is intellectual and emotional. Intelletual growth makes the person think about questions like “Who am I?”, “What is this world?” and “Who is God?”. Emotional growth manifests itself as universal love (51). This growth gives psychological independence to the person, which is detachment (vairaagya) (52). Then, the person learns the Truth about the Self and World. Then he gets clear knowledge (nischala). By slowly breaking the old habits of an ajnaani, he becomes firmly established in the knowledge (achala). Then he is a jivanmukta or sthitaprajna (53).

Conversion of the intellectual knowledge into emotional strength needs assimilation of the knowledge and transformation of old habits. Three saadhanaas are given:

1. indriya nigrahah – Regulation of the senses.

2. mano nigrahah   – Regulation of the thought process.

3. nididhyaasana    – Controlling the senses and the mind.

When the knowledge is fully assimilated, there will be no delusion. One enjoys the peace and serenity as a jivanmukta till the body drops. When the body drops, he attains videha mukti by which, he totally merges with the infinite without a trace (72).

Thus the second chapter summarizes the entire teaching of Gita, which is also the teaching of the entire Vedas.

(Condensed from Practical Philosophy and Rational Religion)