GITA AND HUMAN PSYCHOLOGY

GITA AND HUMAN PSYCHOLOGY

Et ologi all , the o d ps holog , ith its o igi att i uted to the
Greek psyche, ea s stud of the soul . I the ode pa la e, it ea s
the science of mind and behaviour. Now, this inter-related triad of soul,
mind and behaviour also constitutes the central concern of the Bhagavad-
Gita, which ultimately charts the course of harmonising the self (soul) with
the absolute (Brahman), involving inter-alia an in-depth analysis of human
mind and behavioural types. The Freudian structural model of the psyche
comprises three parts: the id, the ego and the super-ego. The id represents
in- o te de ies, the i sti ti e d i es a d i pulses i he ited at i th
a d laid do i the o stitutio of a pe so alit ; it a ts o the pleasure
p i iple , seeki g satisfa tio of i sti tual eeds. The ego a ts o the
ealit p i iple , seeki g to ha el a d eet the id s d i es of passio i
realistic ways, factoring in the influence of the environment through reason
and common sense, constantly conflicted by and constantly seeking to
mediate among the id, the super-ego and the external world, with a latent
predisposition for the id. Originally Freud termed ego to mean a sense of
self, but later modified the meaning as a set of psychic functions, such as
judgement, tolerance, reality testing, control, planning, defence
mechanism, intellectual functioning and memory. Super-ego is the urge to
perfection and represents internalised societal and parental standards of
right and wrong behaviour – a type of conscience that punishes
misbehaviour with sense of guilt.

Freud stressed on the dominance of sexual drive in the subconscious id.

This part of his theory was however contested by his one-time colleague,
Carl Jung, whose work on himself and on his patients convinced him that
life has a spiritual purpose beyond material goals and that spiritual
e pe ie e is esse tial to ou ell ei g. A o di g to Ju g, a s p i ipal
task is to discover and fulfill his deep innate potential in much the same
way the caterpillar fulfills its potential to become a butterfly. Based on his
study of Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism and other traditions,
Ju g suggested that i di iduatio – a journey of transformation to meet
the self and also to meet the divine – is at the mystical heart of all religions.

O iousl , Ju g s theo has so ethi g i o o ith the ps hologi al

insight of the Upanishads and Gita. In particular, the area of commonality

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i ludes Ju g s postulatio of i di iduatio as a i tegrated

t a sfo atio al p o ess e o passi g the olle ti e u o s ious ,
representing a deeper collective or social level of psychic functioning
u de l i g the F eudia pe so al u o s ious ; people at a ad a ed
stage of individuation tend to be harmonious, mature, humane and socially
responsible, having a good understanding of the human nature and the
universe. In addition to these classical models of Freud and Jung, in
contemporary psychology we come across other models, such as the Five
Factor Model FFM , listi g the ig fi e of ope ess, o s ie tious ess,
extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism to describe human
personality. Another notable post-F eudia odel is E i Be e s
Transactional Analysis, also called the Parent-Adult-Child model, integrating
the psycho-analytic and cognitive approaches.

As e p essl stated i all these ps hologi al theo ies, these a e all odels
to understand and characterise human mind and behaviour. Now, as we
would try to explore here, Gita is also concerned with classifying
personalities based on models: of the good, passionate and dull modes of
mind; of the divine and demoniac endowments; of the devotee and non-
devotee; of the steady and non-steady. In science, the underlying
hypothesis in modeling is that a super-imposition of plural models may
provide a better understanding of the truth of nature. The same applies to
understanding the truth of the human nature and spirit and its causal and
driving principles. In science, Niels Bohr propounded the Complementarity
principle to get beyond the conundrum of duality: that some characteristics
of an electron are explicable by its particle nature (deterministic model)
while some others are explained by its wave nature (probabilistic model).
Similarly, Gita makes the case that the human mind can be best understood
as a super-imposition of the models of impressions (vāsanās), modes
(guṇas), endowments (sampadas), and faiths (śraddhās). In much the same
way, the theory of adhyāsa loosel alled the e o theo , p opou ded
by Adi Shankaracharya, the earliest and greatest commentator on Gita, is
but a model to describe how the non-self comprising the body, mind and
organs superimposes itself on the self (ātman), which in turn is a
superimposition on the absolute (Brahman) or pure consciousness
(caitanya). The essence of the Upanishads and Gita is to get beyond these
superimpositions of error (avidyā) to reach the knowledge (vidyā) of the
self and of its identity with the absolute or the end-reality. The means to
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reach the end is to negotiate the bridge from the practical to the
transcendental, laid across the domains of philosophy, metaphysics, ethics
and psychology.

It is for this reason that through the ages Bhagavad-Gita with its lucidly
universal philosophy spanning the transcendental and practical realms has
fascinated readers – lay and scholar alike. In an exquisitely integrated
sequence of eighteen chapters, this incomparable gift to mankind lays out a
comprehensive blueprint for self-improvement and self-actualisation
leading toward the ultimate goal of spiritual liberation. In the words of Dr.
Radhakrishnan, the Bhagavad-Gita, as its chapter-ending colophons
i di ate, is oth etaph si s a d ethi s, brahmavidyā and yogaśāstra, the
s ie e of ealit a d the a t of u io ith ealit . As o e ould e pe t, a
work involving metaphysics and ethics must deal with the individual as well
as the group. In this study we are going to see how Gita does it, even
reaching up to the global level. Quite naturally, this marvel of synthesis, this
holistic integration of abstract ideas into an empirical blueprint, has been
the subject of deeply erudite commentaries by great sages and scholars.

In our further exploration of the human psychological dimensions of Gita,

we may draw reference to the classical rationalistic approach adopted by
two of the prominent post-Shankaracharya commentators on Bhagavad-
Gita. As pointed out by Swami Gambhirananda, Madhusudana Saraswati in
his Gūdhārtha Dīpikā adopts a successive approach, dividing the eighteen
chapters in three sections of six chapters each; the section on Karma-yoga
leading sequentially through Bhakti-yoga to the ultimate goal of Jñāna-
yoga. But according to Ananda Giri, the three sections are three steps to
realise the true significance of the Upanishadic aphorism: tat tvam asi (That
Thou art). The first six chapters on renunciation of fruits of actions provide
the means to attaining knowledge and unraveling the meaning of the word
tvaṃ (Thou). The next six chapters relate to the adoration of the Lord and
the unraveling of the word tat (That), while the last six chapters are
de oted to dete i i g the ea i g of the hole state e t That Thou
a t . A d sig ifi a tl it is i this last se tio o highe k o ledge elati g
to identity of the self with the absolute that one finds a clear and cogent
analysis of human psychology in terms of individual differences in mode,
attribute and faith. These three characteristics of the human mind are
respectively analysed in Chapters 14 (on classification of the three modes),

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16 (on the divine and demoniac endowments) and 17 (on the three kinds of
faith) of Bhagavad-Gita. As we shall see, the comprehensiveness and
subtlety of these analyses should tickle the intellect of any student of
psychology and of human behavioural patterns.

But before we go on to these three core chapters o the Lo d s

clarifications on ways of the human mind, we need to consider the kind of
questions that were raised by Arjuna that elicited the clarifications. Indeed,
A ju a s dou ts, aised i his uest fo u a eli g the self o thou tvaṃ)
i Gita s fi st se tio of si hapte s, a e the dou ts of a i d e ou te i g
a deep conundrum of reason and logic. One illustration of this dialectic was
his question in the third chapter:

atha ke a prayukto’yaṃ pāpaṃ carati puruṣaḥ /

anicchann-api vārṣṇeya balādiva niyojitaḥ //
Gita; 3.36
But O Krishna, by what is man impelled to commit sin, as if being
constrained by force, even against his wish?

K ish a s ead a s e hi h ould e ela o ated late he he la ifies

on the demoniacal attributes of mind) was:

kāma eṣa krodha eṣa rajoguṇa-samudhbhavaḥ /

mahāśano mahāpāpmā viddhy-enam-iha vairiṇam //
Gita; 3.37
This desire, this anger, born of the mode of passion, is all-devouring and
most sinful. Know this to be the enemy here.

Then again, in the sixth chapter Arjuna, in a more advanced stage of

k o i g his self, still oi ed a s pe ei ed helpless ess i o t olli g his
restive mind:

cañcalaṃ hi manaḥ kṛṣṇa pramāthi balavad-dṛdham /

tasyā’haṃ nigrahaṃ manye vāyor-iva suduṣkaram //
Gita; 6.34
For, O Krishna, the mind is fickle, turbulent, strong and obstinate. I think it
is as difficult to control as is the wind.

Krishna then agreed that indeed the mind is intractable and restless, but
advised that it can be controlled through practice and non-attachment
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(abhyāsena tu kaunteya vairāgyeṇa ca gṛhyate). This advice is replicated in

Pata jali s apho is o Yoga: These thought-streams) are controlled by
practice and non-attachment (Yoga-Sutra; 1.12). Thereafter, in the second
section the Lord and his disciple became engaged in a discourse on the
devotional path which led Arjuna to understanding the significance of the
a solute that tat), thus being ready to receive the deeper psychological
insight awaiting him in the aforesaid three core chapters (14,16 and 17) of
the final six. With this background, it is time now for us to delve into those
three chapters on the human mind.

In Chapter-14 relating to classification of the three modes (guṇas), the

primary constituents or tendencies of nature (prakṛti) are identified as
goodness (sattva), passion (rajas), and dullness (tamas). Here the term
guṇa is not just a quality like colour that inheres in some substance, but is
ever-dependent on the Person (puruṣa) characterised in Gita as the knower
of the field (kṣetrajña), the field (kṣetra) itself meaning the prakṛti – the
resultant state of balance of the three guṇas. It is these modes that bind
and condition the imperishable soul dwelling within the body. Then the
chapter proceeds to define the way these three modes bind the eternal
jīvātmā to the body. Goodness, being pure is illuminating and sorrowless,
and binds by attachment to happiness and to (ego of) knowledge. Passion,
born of craving and attachment, binds by attachment to action. Dullness,
on the other hand, is born of ignorance and deludes all embodied beings. It
binds by negligence, indolence and sleep.

The three modes are present in all human beings, only the degrees differ. It
is really a matter of weighted balance of one against two, where one mode
prevails, subduing the other two. The mode that is prevalent determines
the attitudinal type in which a person may fall: sātvika, rājasika or
tāmasika, the first type being characterised by the radiance (prakāśa) of
pure consciousness, the second by the urge to crave and act (pravṛtti), and
the third type by inertia (apravṛtti) and error-prone negligence (pramāda).
Hardly can one find a more scientifically reasoned analysis of human
behavioural types – and this is just the beginning! The same train of
ratiocination then takes us to the next station of understanding by
answering the question, so what happens? The answer stares at us, stark
and clear:

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ūrdhvaṃ ga chhanti sattvasthā madhye tiṣṭhanti rājasāḥ /

jaghanya-guṇa-vṛttisthā adho gacchanti tāmasāḥ //
Gita; 14.18
Those who are established in goodness rise upwards; the passionate
remain in the middle station; the dull steeped in the lowest mode of
activities sink downwards.

These are the levels through which the soul evolves, rising from inert
subjection to ignorance, through the strife for material enjoyments to the
pursuit of knowledge and happiness. But even at the highest level of
goodness, we remain a prisoner of insecurity, bound by the variable
interplay of our modes, in which the sattva in us may be overcome by the
othe t o odes. “o A ju a s e t uestio is uite e pe ted f o a kee
student: How is a person who reaches the status of triguṇātita (or
jivanmukta in his present life) by rising beyond the three modes
characterised? What is his way of life? How does he get beyond the modes?
As e fi d f o the Lo d s a s e s, the ha a te isti s of su h a pe so a e
more or less similar to the ideals of the person of steady wisdom
(sthitaprajña in the second chapter), or of the yogī (in the sixth), or of the
devotee (bhaktimān in the twelfth), leading us to infer that the
characteristics of ideality are the same, whatever may be the path to it. And
we also find that these are all characteristics of the mind, rather than just
of the od o its dis ipli e. Thus i epl to A ju a s uestio s the Lo d
clarifies:

sama-duḥkha-sukhaḥ svasthaḥ sama-loṣṭāśma-kāñcanaḥ /

tulyapriyā -priyo dhīras-tulyanindātmasaṃstutiḥ //
mānāpamānayos-tulyas-tulyo mitrāri-pakṣayoḥ /
sarvārambh-parityāgī guṇātītah sa ucyate //
Gita; 14.24-25
He who regards pain and pleasure alike, who is established in his own self,
to whom a lump of earth, iron and gold are of equal worth, who remains
the same amidst the agreeable and disagreeable, who is firm of mind, who
regards censure and praise with equanimity;
Who is the same in honour and dishonour, who is equally disposed toward
friends and foes, and who has renounced all initiative to act, he is called a
transcender of the modes.

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We now move to the Chapter-16 which deals with the divine and
demoniacal attributes of nature. As the build-up to this analysis we have,
apart from the modes of nature already discussed, one significant śloka
(15.2) from the chapter immediately preceding, relating to the secondary
roots of the inverted Cosmic Tree, spreading downwards as the impressions
(vāsanās or saṃskāras), which the soul carries as its baggage from past
deeds (incidentally, belief in rebirth is central to the philosophy of Gita).
And a preview of those vāsanās was even earlier given in the ninth chapter,
where these were classed as divine (daivīm), fiendish (rākṣasīm) and
demoniacal (āsurīm). However, the sixteenth chapter begins by showing
the distinctions between the good and the bad vāsanās by grouping them
under just two generic heads: the divine nature consisting of the good
sātvika vāsanā, prompting actions in a scripturally consistent manner; and
the demoniac nature, where the demoniacal and fiendish inclinations are
clubbed together, consisting of the impure rājasika and tāmasika vāsanās,
prompting scripturally inconsistent actions. This simplified two-tier
classification is intended to facilitate conscious adherence to divine and
rejection of demoniacal behaviour. This classification of human attributes is
so true to our all-too-familiar stereotypes that we can only marvel at the
analytical depth of universal human behaviour patterns that was explored
in the Bhagavad-Gita. The divine attributes are large in number, making
their total attainment a somewhat challenging proposition, but the degree
of difficulty or facility would depend on the in- o past aggage of
vāsanās that one may carry:

abhayaṃ sattvasaṃśuddhir-jñānayogavyavasthitiḥ /
dānaṃ damaśca yajñaśca svādhyāyastapa ārjavam //
ahiṃsā satyam-akrodhas-tyāgaḥ śāntir-apaiśunam /
dayā bhūteṣv-aloluptaṃ mārdavaṃ hrīr acāpalam /
tejaḥ kṣamāh dhṛtih śaucam-adroho nātimānitā /
bhavanti sampadaṃ daivīm abhijātasya bhārata //
Gita; 16.1-3
Fearlessness, purity of mind, persistence in knowledge and concentration,
charity, self-control, sacrifice, scriptural study, austerity and uprightness;
Non-injury, truthfulness, freedom from anger, renunciation, tranquility,
aversion to fault-finding, compassion to creatures, non-covetousness,
gentleness, modesty and freedom from restlessness;

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Vigour, forgiveness, fortitude, purity, freedom from malice and excessive

pride – these, O scion of the Bhaarata dynasty, are the endowments of one
who is born with the destiny of a divine nature.

After this listing of divine attributes as what should be acquired, the Lord
presently conveys in one brief verse the demoniac nature as what should
be eschewed:

da ho darpo’ti ānaśca krodhaḥ pāruṣyam-eva-ca /

ajnānaṃ cā’bhijātasya pārtha sampadam-āsurīm //
Gita; 16.4
Ostentation, arrogance, excessive pride, anger, as also harshness and
ignorance, these, O Partha, are the endowments of one born with the
destiny of a demoniac nature.

Indeed, blessed is the society where people of such attributes are not too
many. But it is not just a distinction of white and black. There are shades of
grey as well, for the simple reason that the large majority of us are
endowed with a mix of the divine and the demoniac: nothing is wholly good
or wholly evil. As regards their respective results, the divine attributes are
said to make for deliverance and the demoniac for bondage. Then in a
longish sequence of fifteen couplets (16.6 to 16.20), the Lord describes the
nature of the demoniac and the dreadful consequences of that nature. This
elaboration is in place, because the demoniac negatives (flaws) that need
to be shunned but have so far been given only a short shrift (in 16.4) need
more detailed analysis vis-à-vis the divine positives (idealities) that have
been covered at length in terms of the qualities of the sthitaprajña, the
yogī, the bhaktimān, and just now the divine. The sequence on the nature
of the demoniac thus begins with a significant prefatory couplet which is
loaded with Upanishadic implications having a profound bearing on human
psychology:

dvau bhūtasargau loke’s i daiva āsura eva ca /

daivo vistaraśaḥ prokta āsuraṃ pārtha me śṛṇu //
Gita; 16.6
There are two kinds of beings created in this world – the divine and the
demoniac. The divine have been spoken of at length. Hear from Me, O
Partha, about the demoniac.

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Here the first line obviously relates to the statement contained in

Brhadaaranyaka Upanishad: There are two kinds of descendants of
Prajapati (prājapatyaḥ), the gods and the demons. The gods were fewer,
and the demons more in number (Br.1.3.1). Later in its fifth chapter
(Br.5.2.1 to 5.2.3), Brhadaaranyaka specifies man as the third type of
prājapatya, and goes on to lay down the well-known repetition of the three
Da’s ade the hea e l oi e as P ajapati s te sel apho isti ou sel to
His th ee so s: Co t ol ou self ou o ga s dāmyata) to the gods;
Gi e datta to the e ; a d Ha e o passio dayadhvaṃ) to the
demons. Actually, these Upanishadic precepts are meant only for man,
because study of scriptures is intended for human beings alone. In any
ase, f o the ps hologist s ie poi t, to the hu a i d hi h is a
composite of myriad vāsanās, all the three aphorisms would apply.

Now, with the human and fiendish natures being included in the demoniac,
and with the divine type already dealt with at length, the second line marks
the beginning of the analysis of the avoidable demoniac aspects of nature.
The subsequent observations and conclusions are quite vivid, and are
meant to urge men to desist from demoniac tendencies. The following
summary would speak for itself:

The de o ia a e ig o a t a out hat to do a d hat ot to do. The

have neither purity, nor good conduct, nor truth in them. They say that the
world is without a moral basis, without a God and a causal origin, brought
about only by lustful passion. Holding fast to this depraved view, these lost
souls of feeble intellect and cruel deeds rise for the ruin of the world.
Surrendering themselves to insatiable desire, filled with vanity, pride and
arrogance, holding wrong views through delusion, they act with impure
resolves. They are beset with innumerable cares which end only with death,
and look upon gratification of desires as the highest and only goal. [This is
the materialistic doctrine of Chaarvaaka: Eat drink and make merry, for
death is certain and there is no come-back – yāvad-jivet sukhaṃ jivet,
hṛnaṃ krtvā ghṛtaṃ pibet / bhaṣmibhūtasya dehasya punarāgamanaṃ
kutaḥ //]
Bound by hundreds of shackles of desire, giving over to lust and anger
(āśāpāśa-śatair-baddhāḥ kāmakrodhaparāyanāḥ), they strive to amass
ealth foul ea s fo e jo e t of thei desi es. This foe is slai e
and I shall slay others as well. I am the Lord, I am the enjoyer, I am

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su essful, ight a d happ īśvaro’ha ahaṃ bhogī siddho’haṃ balavān

sukhī . I am rich and high-born. Who is there like me? I shall perform
sa ifi es; I shall gi e, I shall ejoi e – thus they are deluded by ignorance
a d e ilde ed a thoughts a d desi es.

Here we may pause to consider the deeper implications of the particular

o se atio , Holdi g fast to this dep a ed ie , these lost souls of fee le
intellect and cruel deeds rise for the ruin of the world: etāṃ dṛṣṭim-
avaṣṭavya naṣṭātmā o’lpa udhyayaḥ / prabhavanty ugra-karmāṇaḥ
kṣayāya jagato’ hitāḥ // (16.9 . O e a ha dl fi d a ette des iptio of
the a e of toda s o ld, he e age ts of fee le i telle t a d uel
deeds see to st i e fo i dless annihilation of the world with weapons
of mass destruction! This tendency and its result, so vividly characterised in
Gita, is nothing but a validation of the theory of collective consciousness
and societal harmony propounded by Carl Jung.

Finally, the Lord tells us of the terrible fate that awaits these demoniacal
men who, given to conceit, power, arrogance, lust and anger, despise Him
who dwells in their own bodies and in others:

tān-ahaṃ dviṣataḥ krūrān saṃsāreṣu narādhamān /

kṣipāmy-ajasram-aśubhān-āsurīṣv-eva yoniṣu //
āsurīṃ yonim-āpannā mūdhā janmani-janmani /
mām-aprāpyai’va kau teya tato yānty-adhamāṃ gatim //
Gita; 16.19-20
I constantly hurl these hateful, cruel evil-doers, these vilest of men, verily
into the demoniacal wombs.
Falling into demoniac wombs in birth after birth, these deluded fools, O
Kaunteya (Arjuna), do not reach me but go down to the lowest state.

But such dire ends need not be construed as a note of despair. The advice
here is to shake off the demoniac proclivities. On the optimistic side, it is
open to all to try and achieve purity and perfection. So the transcendental
psychologist alerts us of the three evils that lead to hell, after averting
which man can reach the highest state by doing what is good for his soul.
The three evils of the mind are unequivocally identified as lust, anger and
g eed, thus o e full a s e i g A ju a s ea lie uestio – by what is man
impelled to commit sin:

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trividhaṃ narakasye’daṃ dvāraṃ nāśanam-ātmanaḥ /

kāmaḥ krodhas-tathā lobhas-tasmād-etat-trayaṃ tyajet //
Gita; 16.21
The gateway to hell, leading to the ruin of the soul, is threefold, lust, anger
and greed. Therefore one should forsake these three.

Ne t, i Gita s Chapte -17, the aforesaid three modes of the mind are
shown as applicable mutatis mutandis to the religious attitudes of men. On
that basis, faith of the embodied is divided in three types, born of their
individual nature (svabhāva) based on past impressions, as good,
passionate and dull. The three types have their typical objects of worship:
Good men worship the gods, the passionate the demigods and ogres; and
the ignorant type worship the spirits and ghosts. Of the last two types the
Lord is highly critical: Those men, vain and conceited and impelled by lust
and passion, who perform violent austerities that are not ordained by
scriptures; being foolish torture all the organs in their body as also the in-
dwelling Me – know them to be of demoniacal resolve (17.2 – 17.6).

Thereafter a series of verses (17.7 to 17.28) deal with a number of issues

that would have been of much contemporaneous interest – about diet,
sacrifice, asceticism, gift (almsgiving) and renunciation. But similar
stereotypes following variant practices are still found in our midst. Here, as
a representative set, we would confine ourselves to the classification of the
three kinds of food to show that the human types have not changed much
in their typical dietary inclinations (17.8 – 17.10):

Foods that augment life, vitality, strength, health, happiness and delight,
hi h a e su ule t, soft, ou ishi g a d ag eea le a e dea to the good .
Foods that are bitter, sour, salty, very hot, pungent, harsh and burning,
producing pain, grief and disease are liked the passio ate .
That which is half-cooked, lacking in essence, putrid, stale, refuse and
u lea is the food dea to the dull .

Fittingly our last port of call in the psychological voyage through the
Bhagavad-Gita is the concluding Chapter-18 on soul s deli e a e. E e this
chapter, with its profound transcendental import, has much to offer on the
human mind and its strengths, foibles and follies. The three-fold method of
classification is applied here in respect of human attributes, agents and
actions, including the aspects of knowledge, work, its doer, intellect,
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steadiness and happiness – all i isi el atego ised i to the good ,

passio ate a d ig o a t t pes. The follo the i e ślokas (18.40 –
18.48 o dete i atio of duties ased o o e s atu e svabhāva) and
station (svadharma), leading up to the oft-quoted prescription:

śreyān svadharmo viguṇaḥ paradharmāt svanuṣṭhitāt /

svabhāva-niyataṃ karma kurvan nā’p oti kil iṣam //
Gita; 18.47 (cf. 3.35)
O e s o dut , though i pe fe tl do e, is ette tha a othe s dut
ell pe fo ed. B doi g dut di tated o e s o atu e, o e does ot
incur sin.

Here there are two schools of interpretation – one broadly catholic and the
other rigidly exclusive. The exclusivists interpret svadharma as the role
enjoined by the four-fold division of castes. This may have had been
appropriate in the ancient society, where strict division of labour on
hereditary family lines and skills would have been of use as a basic
organising principle. But now one could be more inclined to the liberal
view, which has illustrious modern proponents – Bankimchandra and
Radhakrishnan – to name just two of them. Dr Radhakrishnan, for example,
has given us these pearls of enlightened modern wisdom:

It is o use e plo i g ou i ds i tasks hi h a e alie to ou atu e. I

each of us lies a principle of becoming, an idea of divine self-expression. It
is our real nature, svabhaava, finding partial expression in our various
activities. By following its guidance in our thought, aspiration and
endeavour, we progressively realize the intention of the Spirit for us. What
we call democracy is a way of life which requires the right of every human
being to be a person, a unique entity. We should never despise any man,
fo he a do so ethi g hi h othe s a ot.

The ode atio alists i te p etatio of svabhāva-dharma also has

classical support – from none other than the inimitable Kalidasa:

sahajaṃ kila yad-vininditaṃ na khalu tat karma vivarjanīyam /

Abhijnana Shankuntalam
An in-born natural activity, even if questioned, should not be forsaken.

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GITA AND HUMAN PSYCHOLOGY

Then, in five couplets (18.49 – 18.53) is described the way to attain

perfection as the means to be united with the absolute. This final state of
transcendental bliss is again a state of the human mind, the state of
perfectness which only the blessed can reach:

ahaṃkāraṃ balaṃ darpaṃ kāmaṃ krodhaṃ parigraham /

vimucya nirmamaḥ śānto brahmabhūyāya kalpate // Gita; 18.53

(That person,) having discarded self-sense, force, arrogance, desire, anger,

possession, egoless and tranquil in mind, becomes fit to be one with
Brahman.

Having imparted His sublime wisdom, the Lord then leaves the decision to
A ju a s hoi e yathe’ chasi tathā kuru), because the Supreme does not
impose. It is for man to exercise his free will and make a conscious choice,
aided by knowledge and wisdom. After all Krishna is only the charioteer, he
is not one to constrain the warrior who has to win the battle in his mind
and come to his own considered decision. And the great warrior did reach
his firm and clear-cut decision, all his illusions removed and all doubts
finally resolved:

naṣṭo mohaḥ smṛtir-labdhā tvat-prasādān-mayā’ yuta /

sthito’s i gatasaṃdehaḥ kariṣye vachanaṃ tava //
Gita; 18.73
O Achyuta, my delusion has been destroyed and memory has been
regained by me through Thy grace. I stand with my doubts dispelled; I shall
act according to Thy word.

Thus e ded A ju a s jou e of the i d as e o ded i the golde o ds

of Bhagavad-Gita. The journey that had begun with the warrior-p i e s
despondency and self-doubt, causing him to throw down his arms, leading
his God-charioteer to shake him out of his apathetic stupor by the ringing
admonition: O Arjuna, cast off this kṣudraṃ hṛdayadaurbalyaṃ – this petty
faint-heartedness. It was essentially a psychological odyssey to
transcendental wisdom, surpassing pitfalls and obstacles that were all in
the mind.
Reference:

© Abhijit Basu, 2012 Page 13

GITA AND HUMAN PSYCHOLOGY

1. Bhagavad-Gita (Goodhartha Deepika) – Madhusudana Sarasvati (Translated

into English by Swami Gambhirananda), Advaita Ashrama, Kolkata.
2. The Bhagavad-Gita – S. Radhakrishnan, Harper Collins, India.
3. Bhagavad-Gita (With the Commentary of Shankaracharya) – Swami
Gambhirananda, Advaita Ashrama, Kolkata.
4. Upanishad – Compiled by Atulchandra Sen, Sitanath Tattvabhushan,
Maheshchandra Ghosh, Haraf Prakashani, Kolkata-700007.
5. ShreemadBhagavad-Gita – Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay (With
commentary in Bengali).
6. The Ego and the Id – Sigmund Freud, the Hogarth Press Ltd, London.
7. Symbols of Transformation, Collected Works, Vol. - 5 – Carl. G. Jung,
Princeton University Press.
8. Games People Play – Eric Berne, New York, Grove Press.
9. Historical Development of Indian Philosophy (concepts of non-dualism) –
Encyclopaedia Britannica.
10. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali:
http://sanskritdocuments.org/all_pdf/yogasuutra_meaning.pdf

N.B. This article is a reproduction of an essay of the same title appearing in

the autho s ook, titled Prophets, Poets, & Philosopher-Kings: Sketches on
I dia’s Spiritual & Literary Heritage, published in 2012 by Celestial Books,
an Imprint of Leadstart Publishing Pvt Ltd, Mumbai.

© Abhijit Basu, 2012 Page 14