by Sri Bmal Mohanty
VOL No. 19
May. 2002

SYMBOLISM ASSISTS UNDERSTANDING

"Based on the lectures by Sri Bimal Mohanty"

And finally the third path so eloquently expounded in The Bhagavad Gita. Without action the goal is not attainable. One can not shirk action and aspire to reach God. That is the essence of Karma Yoga.

So if life has to progress towards that final destination, the Satchidananda, then Bhakti, Karma and Jnana must combine in life. Yamuna and Saraswati must merge with Ganga and then flow together to the great ocean. After the sangam or confluence the Bhakti of Ganga is enriched with the knowledge of Saraswati, strengthened by the Karma of Yamuna and together the river of life flows to the ocean of Bramhan. The names of Yamuna and Saraswati are irrelevant thereafter. It is only known as Ganga. The human life is only Ganga. Because if Knowledge is within us, if we are constantly engaged in action - the right action, then it is only Bhakti, our Dhrti, our singleminded commitment that will carry us to the end.

This is how our seers in the past devised to educate us in the path of Dharma. Next time you take a dip in the sangam, marvel about the depth of their thinking, think about these symbols and most importantly condition your mind to vibe with the central theme. It should not be a mere ritual.

When we talked about the various Gods or Devatas whom we must invoke to assist us in our fight against the dark forces, it also implied two levels of understanding. One way to look at the Devatas, is to personify them, attribute special powers to them and cultivate a sense of submission to these adorable qualities. To submit to Rama is to submit to the unbending moral truth - the maryada of truth - and by that, emulate those qualities in life. To submit to Krishna is to submit to uphold the dharma or right conduct against wrong doers, all the time. All these have the purpose of developing oneself as a better being. The Devatas then become examples to live by.

Another way to look at The Devatas - which appeals to higher understanding - is that the Devatas are nothing but qualities or bibhutis of that one Superconscious being, the Bramhan, without so much of a physical description. And since Bramhan is also within us, all these qualities are also within each of us. This means that all these Devatas, Vishnu, Shiva, Ganesha, Durga, they are also within us along with their power and strength. When we talk of invoking the Gods for our assistance, the higher mind understands it as increasing the consciousness, the awareness of these qualities, each represented by one God which lie dormant within us. When we become conscious of all these qualities we become Bramhan conscious.

Being consciousness of these qualities activates the latent power within us. The power gives us strength to find the shortcomings within us, and fight out to overcome them. This is what the wise understand as the Gods fighting the battles for us. The great power that lies sleeping within us, awakes and then lifts us up against all obstacles. The infinite capacity of man is then realised to its full potential and miracles are achieved. That is what they describe as Mukam karoti bacalam, pangu langhayate girim. The mute discovers the speech, a physically handicapped climbs over the mountains

Who achieves all these. It is this Jiva, the individual self like you and me who finally shows achievement. It is not the popular imagery that the Gods come down floating in their chariots and fight the battle of life for us. That imagery is true yet it is not true. The divine attributes, the qualities and strength that are bottled up inside us gets released and greatness is achieved. The power that we draw from concentrating and meditating on those special divine qualities, is the grace of the Gods. When we say that the Gods descend unto us, it is the highest activation, conscious feeling of these Godly qualities that rise within us. Gods merge with us and we become Gods.

Think for a moment this beautiful concept embedded in our Sanatana philosophy. This is positive thinking at its highest. This is the theory of self development. This is practical spirituality. When you worship a God, you activate that particular power that lies dormant in you. It is not another God. It is another attribute of the same Bramhan.

It not only explains why we worship so many Gods but also acts as a motivational force for our own self emancipation.