Miscellaneous - Religion   

Search for the Self

CHENNAI: The Bhagavad Gita addresses issues related to the entire humanity — to all men and women who are keen to explore the purpose of life. Extolled as the essence of the Upanishads, this text balances the highest philosophy of the Vedanta with the practicalities of everyday life to provide ethical and moral guidance to all of us.

In a lecture, Sri A. Parthasarathy drew attention to Lord Krishna’s exposition of the scintillating experience of life that is manifested as individual beings when consciousness (Self) is associated with the body-mind-intellect complex. As a result, the individual is subject to the physical, emotional or intellectual pulls when responding to the body, mind or intellect respectively. But one is able to attain a spiritual level, only when striving to transcend these three limiting aspects and is able to focus on the Self which is the embodiment of consciousness.

A probing self-analysis to identify one’s focus is hence necessary as the first step in the spiritual quest. What is the identity attributed to the term “I” in one’s viewpoint? Is it the physical form, name and personality or is it the consciousness (Self) that one recognises as one’s true identity? No matter what one does in life, this basic question should always be in the foreground of one’s being. This helps in making us aware of the divine element in us that is always undying and wholesome, unlike the ephemeral, ever-changing and decaying aspects of the body-mind-intellect complex.

Lord Krishna makes it clear that through the journey of the soul from one birth to another, the subtle body comprising the senses and the mind accompanies the soul. These are each one’s inborn tendencies (Vasanas) and our inner desires that shape the individual personalities.

The Self carries with it these Vasasans through successive births just as the wind carries with it the fragrance of rose flowers or jasmine.

The implication is that the Self always remains pure and untainted even as the wind does not have any fragrance on its own nor does it imbibe the smells it carries. It is important that we discard these desires early in the way so that the goal of liberation can be attained.

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