“O King, as I repeatedly recall this wondrous and holy dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna, I take pleasure, being thrilled at every moment.” (Sanjaya, Bhagavad-gita, 18.76)

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राजन् संस्मृत्य संस्मृत्य
संवादम् इमम् अद्भुतम्
केशवार्जुनयोः पुण्यं
हृष्यामि च मुहुर् मुहुः

rājan saṁsmṛtya saṁsmṛtya
saṁvādam imam adbhutam
keśavārjunayoḥ puṇyaṁ
hṛṣyāmi ca muhur muhuḥ

1. You have to take this

“Everyone else has already agreed. The entire community understands the urgency. We have kindly brought everything to you. No need to travel. No need for payment, either. Just take it. You must. We insist. We will give you a free donut, as a reward for your sacrifice, I mean time.”

2. There is no other way

“You are asking about what other ways there are to reach the ideal destination. There is no other option. This is the only one. Why are you so hesitant? Why are you doubting? If you have found what you were looking for, why do you insist that there must be something else? All other options are fraudulent. They are bluffing. Don’t trust them. Those people are demonic in nature.”

3. There is no time for research

“How do I know that everyone else is wrong? Have I conducted research? Think about it for a second. Who has time for research? You really want to take that chance? What if I am right? You will be saved. If you are wrong, then you are doomed forever. I don’t see why you are so willing to take the risk.”

4. This is your only chance

“Right now. Today. At this very moment. Be thankful that you can choose, that the option has been presented before you. You are asking about people who never make it out of the womb. What happens to them, you want to know. Your concern is for people from the past, who never had this option available to them. Stop with the distractions, already. Worry about yourself. A wrong decision here will lead you to an eternal life of pain and misery.”

5. Stop asking so many questions

“Seriously, you have to give it up. We can’t answer all of your questions, but why should that matter? Do you really think everyone else is silly? All these people in your community. Friends and family. Neighbors. Colleagues. They are just sheep? They have no intelligence? Come on, man! Everyone else is going along. You don’t see them causing trouble, do you? Why would we try to deceive you? Do you think we take pleasure in cheating others?”

…

The living beings in this world have a small amount of independence. They can consider different choices to action. They may have the opportunity to act on those choices, to turn potential into reality. There is no guarantee of a specific result, however, no matter how many times that chosen action has succeeded in the past. Even something as simple as getting out of bed in the morning cannot be taken for granted.

प्रकृतेः क्रियमाणानि
गुणैः कर्माणि सर्वशः
अहङ्कार-विमूढात्मा
कर्ताहम् इति मन्यते

prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni
guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ
ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā
kartāham iti manyate

“The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself to be the doer of activities, which are in actuality carried out by nature.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 3.27)

Choice spans across all areas of culture, including religion. We can choose to follow what we inherited from our family, which dates back many generations of our ancestors. We can also follow something new, after hearing an appeal. There is something like the marketplace of ideas when discussing public policy, but out of ignorance we may think such ideas are absent in the area of religion, thus preventing the emergence of any sort of honest exchange of ideas, in a friendly sort of competition.

Rather, the common appeal is towards either sentiment or configuration of the afterlife. Follow this religion so that you will avoid a hellish existence, for instance. Do not be an outcaste. Do not risk squandering your chance at an ideal destiny. Also, this is supposedly your only chance. You can make a choice, and so you now have to choose wisely. The only validation will be in the afterlife, but by then it is too late. You don’t want to be the only one not sailing on the boat travelling to the promise-land.

From the above reviewed hypothetical situation, depicting the classic case of selling snake-oil, we see that there is an easy way to poke holes in the argument. Snake-oil is the symbol of a fraudulent, deceitful, or useless product. The salesmen cannot argue on the merits, so they must resort to other means. The arguments typically rely on fear. If I can scare you about the unknown, about something neither of us can see at the moment, it will be more difficult for you to counter my arguments.

Unless, of course, there is some careful deliberation in considering the matter. The arena of ideas in public policy means that there will be debate. There is an honest back-and-forth. There is an exchange of arguments, such that both sides try their best to prove why their ideas should be heard, followed, and implemented. Religion should feature the same exchange. There should be some honesty to the presentation. There should be ideas instead of dogmas. There should be reliance on truths rather than beliefs, hopes, and myths.

More importantly, there should be a way to assess the impact. There should be progress that we can chart, if so desired. A comparison between the conditions from before and the state of being after. In the presentation of sanatana-dharma, as described in Bhagavad-gita, we see there is an immediate impact made on someone who is only on the periphery. They are merely relaying the dialogue, as they are able to see it, through the kindness and grace of a spiritual leader named Vyasa. Sanjaya is something like a narrator describing a scene taking place on a battlefield. Prior to the fiery exchange of weapons, to the fierce competition to emerge on top in a military conflict, there is a conversation between a bow-warrior named Arjuna and his charioteer named Krishna.

That conversation is known today as Bhagavad-gita, and although brief in comparison to much larger works of the Vedic tradition, such as Mahabharata and Ramayana, the two participants cover everything that is needed to be known. It is a kind of appeal towards religion, but in the genuine sense. The Sanskrit term “dharma” really has no equivalent in the modern world, as following your inherent duty is not typically equated with religion. Religion tends to have some other meaning, such as faith or belief.

Arjuna and Krishna discuss dharma, and Sanjaya passes along a transcript of sorts to a blind king named Dhritarashtra. At the end of the narration, Sanjaya admits to feeling a thrill at every moment while recalling that scene of Krishna and Arjuna on the battlefield. This means that genuine religion makes an immediate impact, even when the engagement is only indirect. Sanjaya is not necessarily following the advice given to Arjuna. He is not necessarily changing his ways, but simply hearing about dharma in that timeless presentation from Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is enough to bring about positive change.

Not to mention the specific references within that conversation to rising to the platform of knowledge. This is the mode of goodness, which is not entirely perfection, but a higher standard in comparison to ignorance. We start in ignorance, so every person should strive to gather knowledge of important matters. Krishna says that one way to tell if a person is in goodness, sattva-guna, is by the knowledge emanating from all nine gates of the body.

सर्वद्वारेषु देहेऽस्मिन्प्रकाश उपजायते
ज्ञानं यदा तदा विद्याद्विवृद्धं सत्त्वमित्युत

sarva-dvāreṣu dehe ’smin
prakāśa upajāyate
jñānaṁ yadā tadā vidyād
vivṛddhaṁ sattvam ity uta

“The manifestations of the mode of goodness can be experienced when all the gates of the body are illuminated by knowledge.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 14.11)

This is practical advice. This is not a promise for an unknown future. There is actionable knowledge passed along. We can try sanatana-dharma at home and see what happens. We can attempt to implement a culture of jnana and vairagya, knowledge and renunciation, ideally tied to a steady connection with the Supreme Lord in consciousness, in what is known as yoga, and judge for ourselves whether the living condition improves.

In Closing:

Nothing in proposal to lose,
There as option to choose.

Contested in arena ideas’ floor,
Real religion with purpose for.

Such that to experience a thrill,
Like in narrator Sanjaya to fill.

Who just by dharma separately hearing,
Like greatest hurdle of ignorance clearing.

Categories: the five

Tags: dailyprompt, life, medicine, poem, poems, poetry, religion, science