Aryans and We - страница 25

In the Bhagavad-Gita (chapter 3, Verse 36-37) Arjuna asks:

And the answer is:

The Vedas describe three gunas (modes) of the material nature: goodness, passion and ignorance. Goodness is the preserving principle of this world, passion is the constructive principle and ignorance is the destructive power. The Universe is divided into three parts: higher (the place where pious persons live), middle (the place for those who are guided by desires) and lower (the place for those who deserve suffering only) planetary systems. Higher planetary systems are the home for demigods, the middle ones are for people and the lower ones are for demons. But this is a schematic description. Let us now see the internal structure of gunas.

The main guna of the material nature is passion (desires). All living beings communicate with the material world by their desires. There are two ways to fulfill desires: divine and demoniac. The divine method is applied by pious people who subordinate fulfillment of their desires to the Lord and following His instructions they achieve fulfillment of desires without troubling others. Demoniac persons always put hopes on their own strength. To raise possibilities to fulfill their desires, they develop science. Their only goal in life is sensory pleasures. To get pleasures they do not consider whom and how much trouble they give. Such “pleasures” are of extreme temporary nature and sure to bring to the material nature’s measures aiming to “break” in a person his/her tendency to violence. We think that this world has been created for our enjoyment. In fact, it has got only one function, the function of reeducation. Influenced by passion, people impelled by desires develop the attachment to fruitful activities. Such persons are very active. Uncontrolled senses push them to illegal activities. Regardless of sufferings and troubles giving to others, they are busy only satisfying their own desires. They always search for the ways to fulfill their desires. They create anxiety, suffering and disorder in society. At the beginning they hope for happiness and then suffer. The material world is the jail and its main function is to restore the deviated consciousness of a living being. In our zeal for happiness without God we must suffer until we understand that we are not able to find the recipe of this happiness. This function is never tiresome for the material nature. What helps to restore the deviated consciousness? First, it is willingness to be responsive to desires (needs) of other living beings; secondly, sympathetic attitude to their sufferings; and finally, acceptance of the own quantitative nothingness (as an eternally small fragmental part of the Supreme Personality of Godhead) and dependence. The first goal can be reached when a person understands that other living beings similarly look for happiness and avoid sufferings. This happens when a person suffers. By suffering, one understands what the other felt when he/she caused this suffering. And by being happy, one understands that the other did not want to lose it like he/she does not want to lose it now. When one understands the necessity not to cause others sufferings, he/she passes to a realization of a higher condition: not to hurt even after being hurt (the ability to forgive) and let others be happy when you are yourself unhappy. Such behavior is only possible when we understand that those who cause us sufferings and make us happy do not do it incidentally. There are some higher powers allowing us to do it in accordance with our deeds in past lives. This mindset lets us subordinate our existence and behavior to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Let us see the example from the life of the Aryans. Five thousand years ago on our planet there lived the family of the spiritually elevated Aryans, the Pandavas who were the children of King Pandu. They had one wife Draupadi. For modern people this fact would be difficult to accept. But this fact has got its own background. Young Draupadi worshiped demigods with some religious rituals with the aim to get a good husband. When demigods were satisfied, they appeared before the princess and asked what she needed. The confused princess repeated her request five times. Then demigods blessed her to have five pious husbands. When it was the time to select a fiancé, there was also Arjuna, the middle brother of the Pandavas among the aspirants. He won the contest. Having got the beautiful Draupadi as his wife he came home with her. Coming to his mother, he said, “Look, what treasure I’ve brought”. No turning back, Kunti answered her son, “Good for you, all that you have brought equally divide among your brothers”. Saying so, she looked back and saw Draupadi and the confused Arjuna. A problem ensued. For the Aryans their word had a special meaning. The mouth of mother Kunti had given the order that was meant to happen: Draupadi was to become the wife of five brothers. But Draupadi herself did not agree to it. All disputes in the Aryan society were settled by seeress brahmanas (priests). They could give an advice for any situation. The same thing was also done at that time. They cast Draupadi’s horoscope and said, “This girl worshiped demigods and was blessed by them to have five husbands. This was the decree of providence for this blessing to fulfill”. Everyone became quiet and Draupadui agreed to become the wife of the five Pandavas. Later she gave birth to five children from the brothers. When the war on the battlefield of Kurukshetra started (it was the bloodiest battle in the human history where religious and demonic persons confronted each other), the son of Pandava’s spiritual master beheaded Draupadi’s five sons while they were innocently asleep. Arjuna chased Ashvatthama and captured him. He brought the captive to the feet of the great Draupadi who was in the inexpressible grief and wanted to behead the offender. Mother Draupadi stopped her husband by saying, “He is the only son of his mother and I do not want her to feel the same pain like me”. This is the example of nobleness of the Aryans. In their practical life they showed great soul qualities which were based on the perception of the equality of all living beings in the face of sufferings and happiness. Nowadays the patience is called on when someone else has suffered and measures to revenge are taken when we ourselves have suffered.