What Arjuna faced on the battlefield minutes before the Kurukshetra war can be called in today's terms as a severe psychological crisis. It was not merely a contemplative discussion, but actual physical nervous breakdown ("my body is trembling, mouth dry, unable hold the bow") incapacitating the most critical performer just when needed the most. It would have turned the whole Mahabharata upside down. Krishna's intervention can be viewed as an excellent example of psychotherapy with a unique and only effective solution beyond the reach of modern psychological theories and their techniques. Only Krishna could have pulled Arjuna out of his predicament.
In this article, I attempt to explain it using our Vedic-inspired psychology framework called Anubhuti Tantram. The framework helps us understand the severity of Arjuna's problem that extant models cannot even express, let alone solve.
Arjuna lost all motivation to fight, and the very thought of the war's terrible consequences pushed him into panic. What to do when all the 3 usual motives to live and work (trigunas) seem insipid and empty? What if the highest cherished purpose of life (dharma) suddenly is in direct conflict with the lives of the most loved and adored ones? What if life forces you to go against the highest ideals that inspired you so far (non-violence, brotherhood, altruism)? Arjuna faced these questions. Had he been self-serving or less empathic or less dharmic, this crisis wouldn't have arisen.
In a nutshell, Krishna's solution can be summarised in his one shloka:
त्रैगुण्य-विषया वेदा निस्त्रैगुण्यो भवार्जुन |
निर्द्वन्द्वो नित्य-सत्त्वस्थो निर्योगक्षेम आत्मवान् || 2-45||
निर्द्वन्द्वो नित्य-सत्त्वस्थो निर्योगक्षेम आत्मवान् || 2-45||
Ken Wilbur, a celebrated Psychologist, stated in a recent talk that Eastern contemplative traditions dismiss the individual ego and its shadow called Persona as illusory. Hence these traditions do not have a mechanism of psychotherapy.
On the contrary, we argue here that what Krishna did is psychotherapy. Krishna's suggested remedy to Arjuna's condition is not meditation, but a shift in attitude to motivate large-scale killing. He showed a fourth alternative motive for action - gunaatiita - that resolves Arjuna's dilemma. It is high time Vedic psychology is presented as a therapeutic model.
Trigunas of Saankhya: The Motives of Action
To understand gunaatiita, we need to understand properly what gunas mean. Gunas are not dravyas i.e., substance or building material of being like clay to a pot. They are gunas i.e. modes of functioning of being. Being is a conscious living organism or Jiva. It has multiple dimensions of existence called Koshas. Each kosha is in turn a self-contained being with its own self-identity, experience, agency etc.
Why does a being want to act? What motivates it to act? That's the question. Gunas are posited as the 3 classes of motives in the baddha sthiti or bound state of being. They are Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. Gunaatiita is the 4th class of motive to act.
Bhagavad gita doesn't give the technical definition of gunas. It only tells how they bind the being.
"nibadhnanti .. dehe dehinam avyayam". For definition, probably one has to go to Saankhya kaarikaa.
"nibadhnanti .. dehe dehinam avyayam". For definition, probably one has to go to Saankhya kaarikaa.
Sattvam .. karma-sangena badhnaati, jnaana-sangena cha ..
Sattvam is the class of motives driven by the sense of duty / service to a higher cause / being, or for enhancing one's awareness. Both imply an underlying assumption that I have a higher purpose to strive for, or insufficient awareness to overcome. Both are illusions.
Sattvam is the class of motives driven by the sense of duty / service to a higher cause / being, or for enhancing one's awareness. Both imply an underlying assumption that I have a higher purpose to strive for, or insufficient awareness to overcome. Both are illusions.
Rajo raagaatmakam .. tRshnaa sanga samudbhavam
Rajas means motivated by the being's urge to acquire, possess and enjoy - bhoga icchaa.
The underlying assumption is that I don't have it, and acquiring it will complete me - another kind of illusion.
Tamas tu ajnaanajam .. mohanam sarva-dehinaam,
Pramaada-aalasya-nidraabhih tat-nibadhnaati ..
Tamas is the class of motives that resists change. It's not merely urge to inaction but also action to maintain status quo. Its underlying assumption is comfort in current state and refusal to see beyond.
All three have some self-limitation as their basis - limited icchaa, jnaana or kriyaa shakti- the 3 malas or impurities mentioned in kashmir trika siddhanta.
Tamas is motive arising out of limited icchaa shakti / will.
Rajas is motive arising out of limited kriyaa shakti / capacity.
Sattva is motive arising out of limited jnaana shakti / awareness.
Tamas is not necessarily "bad". Sattva is not necessarily "good".
Arjuna is confused because all the three motives he knows are not working for him.
Gunaatiita means the being acts just for the joy of acting and participating in the drama, nothing else.
Gunaatiita motive is the method of Karmayoga. It is possible even for normal people not just yogis. That's what Krishna suggested Arjuna.
Gunaatiita motive is the method of Karmayoga. It is possible even for normal people not just yogis. That's what Krishna suggested Arjuna.
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