One of the greatest messages of Bhagwad Geeta is to shift from seeking to being. However, it is quite contrary to the way we live our lives. Krishna says that He is the source of everything and since we too are part of Him, we are already complete and there can not be any seeking in a state of completion. An accomplished actor does not play on the stage for the applause of the spectators, rather he plays for creative satisfaction. To explore different possibilities of acting on the stage. Great scientists do not invest their time and energy to come out with some theory or invention that will appeal to the masses, rather they make efforts to unravel the mysteries of nature.
How are the actions of an accomplished actor or a scientist different from those of an ordinary human? The mind of an ordinary man is conditioned by society and that conditioned mind sets different goalposts in terms of what it already knows. Different people set different goalposts in terms of money, powers, recognition, positions, knowledge, and social validation. The "seeking" of ordinary human beings is within the "frame" they are already aware of and live in. They want to get what their society considers to be desirable. They are in a race where everybody is running to win medals. On the other hand, great scientists and accomplished actors are not running after any of these "medals". Great scientists are rather interested in exploring the "truth" as it is. Accomplished actors work to create different possibilities on the stage. In both cases, their actions are not confined to their known frame. There is no seeking in their known frame and that's why they are interested in exploring the possibilities beyond the known frames.
I feel that it is almost impossible for anybody to explore the possibilities of life beyond his "frame" unless one is complete within the "frame". So long as there remains a seeking within the frame, it will be impossible to explore possibilities beyond. That's what Krishna tells Arjuna. Arjuna wants to run away from the battlefield thinking of how society will evaluate his actions. He feels that if fights the battle against his cousins, teachers, and elders, society will not validate these actions. He is also stuck in the frame of morality imposed on him by the society. He feels that fighting the battle will be against the established code of morality and he will get bad results. Thus, Arjuna is still "seeking" to conform to the social norms and the code of morality. Arjuna says in Chapter I-
तस्मान्नार्हा वयं हन्तुं धार्तराष्ट्रान्स्वबान्धवान्।
स्वजनं हि कथं हत्वा सुखिनः स्याम माधव।।1.37।।
स्वजनं हि कथं हत्वा सुखिनः स्याम माधव।।1.37।।
1.37. Therefore, we should not kill the sons of Dhritarashtra, our relatives; for how can we be happy by killing our own people, O Madhava (Krishna)?
कुलक्षये प्रणश्यन्ति कुलधर्माः सनातनाः।
धर्मे नष्टे कुलं कृत्स्नमधर्मोऽभिभवत्युत।।1.40।।
धर्मे नष्टे कुलं कृत्स्नमधर्मोऽभिभवत्युत।।1.40।।
1.40 कुलक्षये in the destruction of a family, प्रणश्यन्ति perish, कुलधर्माः family religious rites, सनातनाः immemorial, धर्मे spirituality, नष्टे being destroyed, कुलम् कृत्स्नम् the whole family, अधर्मः impiety, अभिभवति overcomes, उत indeed.
Arjuna is worried about the various consequences of his actions, all within the frame of the morality taught to him by his society. Despite all these doubts and fixations, one thing that Arjuna had was his unshakable faith in Krishna. Having all these doubts, he just surrenders to Krishna for giving clarity and when we look forward to the divine for clarity, he provides that without fail. That is what Krishna did to Arjuna. He says:
श्री भगवानुवाच
अशोच्यानन्वशोचस्त्वं प्रज्ञावादांश्च भाषसे।
गतासूनगतासूंश्च नानुशोचन्ति पण्डिताः।।2.11।।
अशोच्यानन्वशोचस्त्वं प्रज्ञावादांश्च भाषसे।
गतासूनगतासूंश्च नानुशोचन्ति पण्डिताः।।2.11।।
2.11 अशोच्यान् those who should not be grieved for, अन्वशोचः hast grieved, त्वम् thou, प्रज्ञावादान् words of wisdom, च and, भाषसे speakest, गतासून् the dead, अगतासून् the living, च and, न अनुशोचन्ति grieve not, पण्डिताः the wise.
Krishna tears apart the frame of morality and social validation Arjuna believed in. Fixation of these frames was not allowing Arjuna to perform his Swadharma. Arjuna understands the reality of breaking free of his existing frame of life and becomes ready to fight the battle of Kurukshetra. This could happen to Arjuna only because of his unshakable faith in Krishna. Krishna is ready to guide each one of us and probably that is the reason why Bhagwad Geeta has reached us. None of the historians knows its origin, yet Geeta inspires people in every corner of the world. The divine keeps sending different realized souls to sing the songs of Geeta again in different forms. Buddha comes to the Earth and sings the song of Geeta in the form of Vipassana and Kabir sings the song of Geeta in the form of Sakhi, Sabad, and Ramaini. Yet, most of us decide to close our ears and continue to remain fixated on our limited frame of life. Nobody can wake us up till we pretend to sleep. I feel that there is only one requirement to break free of the frames, we are trapped in. That is to have unshakable faith in the divine. Once we have that faith, divine, nature, consciousness, or almighty, by whatever name we call him, will act through our mind to navigate it in the right direction to help us break free of the limitations we have imposed on ourselves.
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