Living in conflict, we cannot always find reassuring spiritual sustenance that could guide and inspire. Swami Ranganathananda would say that we look to philosophy to give us guidance in our daily lives.
It does not always mean the academic or esoteric but something by which we can put our little actions of life in the context of a profound thought or ideal. Always open to reason, we have to also go beyond to develop the fortitude called sattvika by which the functions of the mind and the senses are regulated through yoga. Buddhi or intellect, the capacity for discrimination, is necessary. But without dhriti or willpower it is of little use.
The Vedas speak of happiness in the life hereafter on the basis of ceremonial sacrifices to various gods. The Upanishads emphasised meditation, ignoring action. But the Gita achieved a synthesis by reconciling the demand for action with the need for meditation. One who wants only to think without doing anything will be a failure and a thoughtless action could be disastrous. Krishna gives a holistic interpretation while presenting a positive approach to the issues involved particularly while dwelling on the various aspects of action and inaction in the eighteenth chapter.
The Gita adds ethical dimensions while retaining the metaphysical probes in a systematic exposition. Max Muller appreciates the boldness with which the precepts of truth and reason were enunciated by India's ancients. Swami Ranganathananda says that the thoughts proceeding from the Vedas and the Upanishads , reinforced by the ideas of Krishna, Buddha and Shankara and others have provided the basic inspiration to our cultural values,
The Gita does not advocate fear as an inducement for action but relies on the innate strength of the individual to spur him to action out of a sense of duty and self-esteem, with a mind steadied by yogic discipline. It is set in the battlefield of Kurukshetra where two armies stand arrayed to fight each other. A despondent Arjuna's reluctance to take up arms against his own people is castigated as being unmanly and escapist.
It symbolises the great battle of life from which you cannot take flight without being labelled a coward. Physical death is inevitable but the soul is immortal. In course of his dialogue with Arjuna, Krishna gives new meaning and spiritual import to life's activities by dwelling on the paths of work, devotion, meditation and knowledge to facilitate self-realisation, elaborating on the concept of dharma . Ethics have to resolve the conflicting demands of self and society, selfishness and altruism and your ego and selfless spirit.
Whether we surrender ourselves to God in bhakti , work without attachment, struggle to calm our mind or analyse our thoughts, elimination of the ego is the prerequisite. The message is of strength to raise ourselves to higher levels of self-expression in our search for the truth. The knowledge of the Atman, which is our true nature and the essence, is the basis of all human endeavour and achievement. With this end Krishna shows Arjuna the way to realise his true self, leaving him to apply knowledge and self-confidence to his challenges. Arjuna ultimately responds by saying, "Destroyed is my delusion, I am firm. My doubts are gone."
Reality is changeless. The ego, being subject to change, is therefore unreal. Hence Krishna urges Arjuna to transcend the dualities of experience like heat and cold, pain and pleasure and identify himself with the permanent and unchanging Being.