Verses from the Bhagavad Gita

[inavalan]

A disciple of Master KH, Bhavanishankar Mullapoorcar, explains a verse from the Bhagavad Gita:

THE RIGHT RESOLVE (Aryan Path, June 1930)

"Even if the man of most evil ways worship me with exclusive devotion, he is to be considered as righteous, for he hath judged aright." Bhagavad-Gita, IX. 30.

Such verses as the above in the different scriptural books have been misinterpreted by the priest and purohit in every age and clime. Every religion nowadays is presented to the world for its superior claims. The truly spiritual man knows that all religions are true at their root and false as separated and separative factors.

The study of religions leads us to the eclectic nature of Religion. The Gita is an eclectic book. It is meant for all, even for one "who may be of the womb of sin." In the above Shloka it is not said that only a Brahman or an Aryan who had judged aright must be considered righteous, but all, whoever and whatever they be, provided of course that they "worship me" i.e., Krishna. But the Lord of Mystery was not ignorant that different men follow diverse ways of worship. He refers to them in this very ninth discourse. He also says: "I am the Ego which is seated in the hearts of all beings" (X. 20), including the man of most evil ways.

It is a well-known philosophical axiom that each one of us understands the universe in terms of his own power of senses, of mind, or of heart. The resplendent universe does not exist for the blind; the laws of Nature exist not for the lunatic; the good, the beautiful, the true exist not for the hard-hearted, the ugly tempered, and the selfish individual. Thus also, we are able to cognize the nature of Krishna only by the aid of that Spirit in us which is Himself. Thus we can see that it is the spirit of Krishna which in the true Christian is named the spirit of Christ, and unless, it is said, the Christ be born in him, he may be a church-goer but not a Christian. A Buddhist may repeat "I worship the Buddha"; unless the Tathagata light is lighted in his heart, he is not a true follower of the Enlightened One.

Krishna is the Self within each one of us. The first step in spiritual evolution is the acknowledgement of that fact. We may call it the Christ within, or the Buddha within; we may call ourselves "sons of Ahura Mazda" or "servants of Allah"; we have to recognize that names matter little and the reality they represent means everything.

Just as a single idea can be expressed in any tongue, and in pictorial and symbolic ideographs, so also the Spirit in man is one and the same though its shining forth in each is different according to the evolution of each human being. There are men of evil ways in each religion and nation, and for them all a method is here presented.

If a man resolves aright he is to be considered righteous; and his resolve is true when he has taken to "worshipping" Krishna. This is the first step: each person must begin to worship the Spirit of Deity which dwells in his own heart. What is worship? – it is becoming worthy of relationship; to be united to the Divinity within is the object of worship. We are in essence divine and spiritual. To succeed in transferring that divinity and spirituality to the living, toiling, suffering man is the task set out before us, by the Gita. To be united to the Higher Self is Yoga, and Yoga and worship are synonymous. So any man or woman who has resolved to listen to the voice of his own conscience, to seek for the still small Voice of God in his own heart, to gain communion with his own Higher Self, has judged and resolved rightly and is to be accounted righteous. In this doctrine is not offered some vicarious atonement, some hope of distant heaven, to some special few. Here is more than hope – certitude for each and every one, provided he exerts himself along the right line.

To sit in judgment over our lower self and to note all its foibles; to review its mischievous tendencies and correct them; – this is the task each one of us must perform at the close of every day. This leads to right resolve and the Great Light dawns in our consciousness as we repeat to ourselves the words of a Great Sage: "He who will not find our truths in his soul and within himself, has poor chances of success in Occultism." [Mahatma Letters 62]

B. M.

My interpretation:

Your physically-awake self has to harmoniously integrate with the inner aspect of your personality, your inner-self.

Similarly with your dream-reality, where to make the most of your dream-experience you need to become lucid and aware of your physically-awake self, in your physical-reality you need to become lucid and aware of your inner-self.

Whatever your participation and deeds in the physical-reality, that is as relevant as your participation and deeds in your dream-reality.