Philosophy

ವಸ್ತುತಂತ್ರ-ಪುರುಷತಂತ್ರ

Appendix 2. What do we do with our sense organs?

The havoc created by the sense organs repeatedly comes up for discussion. There is no life without sense organs; but no peace of mind with them. How do we deal with them?

indriyāṇi pramāthīni haranti prasabhaṃ manaḥ । (BG 2.60) 

ವೇದಾಂತಾರ್ಥತದಾಭಾಸಕ್ಷೀರನೀರವಿವೇಕಿನಮ್ |

ನಮಾಮಿ ಭಗವತ್ಪಾದಂ ಪರಹಂಸಧುರಂಧರಮ್ || (ಅಮಲಾನಂದ)

ಧ್ವನಿನಾತಿಗಭೀರೇಣ ಕಾವ್ಯತತ್ತ್ವನಿವೇಶಿನಾ |

ಆನಂದವರ್ಧನಃ ಕಸ್ಯ ನಾಸೀದಾನಂದವರ್ಧನಃ || (ರಾಜಶೇಖರ)

The principle of the Self decides everything

The teaching of the Gītā begins from the second chapter in which Bhagavān classifies the entire Universe into the body and the embodied, and explains that while the body is subject to modification and destruction, the embodied Self consciousness is immutable, eternal, of one form and without any divisions. 

The Characteristics of a Knower

The teaching must have affected Arjuna a wee bit. He asks, “You mentioned about the state of being in samādhi and talked about a sthitaprajña (one of steady wisdom). What are his characteristics? How does he speak?” Bhagavān enumerates the marks of a knower which forms the education of a seeker. The nineteen ślokas from the 54^th to 72^nd were apparently Mahatma Gandhi’s favourites. These ślokas are useful for contemplation and practice. 

There are several tiers of instruction in the Bhagavad-gītā from the level of "patraṃ puṣpaṃ phalaṃ toyam" (offering a leaf, flower, fruit or water) to the level of nistraiguṇya (being beyond the three qualities). Not all of us can follow these teachings at all times. It is like a library wherein we select what we need. Though there are hundreds of lessons, it is up to us to choose what fits us. One’s itch cannot be relieved by another person. Only the experiencer knows what and where the itch is. 

Every jīva’s characteristics and circumstances differ from one another. Therefore every one’s dharma is different. Thus everyone has his or her own svadharma.

Dharma is a word not used just by the vaidikas but also employed reverently by the Buddhists and Jains. The vaidikas have employed this term in different śāstras and as part of different terminologies. Śrī Śaṅkara gives the following meaning:

jagataḥ sthiti-kāraṇam। prāṇināṃ sākṣād-abhyudaya-niḥśreyasa hetuḥ yaḥ sa dharmaḥ...
Śāṅkara-gītā-bhāṣya upodghāta

The system and set of acts that bestows

(i) Welfare upon beings in the world now and

The Self Cannot be Destroyed

It may be apt to recall the maxim of the English philosopher John Stuart Mill. It is not enough if one person forms an opinion or follows a certain set of actions because of faith in the words of others’ words. One should yearn to understand the exact reasons why a certain thing is good through one’s own analysis. Then the thing becomes truly beneficial. A belief that arises from blind faith may not be as fruitful.

The same words are stated by the Vedas that are thousands of years old –