In the Mahabharata’s Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna struggles over the decision to fight against those he loves for what seems to be the greater good. Lord Krishna tells him about two basic types of self. The first is the self that is focused on the personal individual and his/her specific desires. The second is the self that is atman, which is Brahman. The first type is a form of maya, or illusion, which fools people into believing that, suppositionally, they are their bodies. The second type is the knowledge that is received when a person has achieved moksha.
The first is the type that Arjuna indulges himself in at the beginning of the battle by putting his guilt at the prospect of killing dear ones before the work he was born to do, his sva-dharma. Though his situation seems a very stressing and understandably divisive one, Lord Krishna looks at it quite simply. Arjuna was born into a certain varna according to his deeds in a previous life. As for everyone, his varna determines his dharma, and his emotions are irrelevant to the matter. Arjuna is aware of the importance of acting in accordance to his dharma. As a faithful Hindu he would believe that without dharma the world would cease to function. He would also know that not to fight, in other words, to act against his dharma, would be adharma, which is the cause of imbalance in the universe at large. Despite the sympathetic thoughts behind his doubt, Arjuna knows and is reminded that adharma is a sin and that it is his duty, even the purpose of his life, to partake in this battle.
This idea is tied in with the Bhagavad Gita’s distaste for those interested in self preservation. It is viewed as a lowly and selfish way to go about life, and those who seek it are despicable. This is especially true for those of the Kshatriya (warrior) varna, not in that they ought to be reckless or act without thought of their lives, as they are holy as well, but if any thought of preservation of the bodily self prevents a warrior from acting in accordance to his dharma it is seen as a most cowardly and disgusting sin indeed. Self sacrifice in battle is a death to be desired and an end to be honoured. This is because the Hindu faith teaches that the self as is generally accepted, in body and the individual’s thoughts and feelings, is naught but an illusion of maya. One’s true self is atman. If this has not been realised or accepted one might have misled priorities and goals in his or her life.
However, the importance of the self in terms of self restraint and self acceptance is made clear in the following quote from chapter six: ‘Let each man raise the Self by Soul, not trample down his Self, since Soul that is Self’s friend may grow Self’s foe, Soul is Self’s friend when Self doth rule o’er Self but Self turns enemy if Soul’s own self hates Self as not itself.’ Upon contemplation of this excerpt, the word self no longer looks nor sounds like a word, but some deeper meaning can also be understood. What Lord Krishna is telling Arjuna is that the self is important, but only in a positive way if it is kept under control, that is, if self restraint is learned. The soul is the most important part of individuals, not the so called self. If the self is under control and is accepted by the soul then there is a measure of harmony within a person. If the self grows more powerful than the soul or if the soul somehow rejects the self then there is vice. The soul and the Self must accept that they are one and the same.
Another commentary a little later in the chapter delves deeper into this issue. ‘When mind broods placid, soothed with holy wont; when Self contemplates self, and in itself hath comfort; when it knows the nameless joy beyond all scope of sense, revealed to soul - only to soul! and, knowing, wavers not, true to farther Truth; when, holding this, it deems no other treasure comparable, but, harboured there, cannot be stirred or shook by any gravest grief, call that state “peace,” that happy severance Yôga, call that man the perfect Yôgin.’ The state discussed here is moksha. As defined by the Vivekachudamani, moksha is, ‘Beyond caste, creed, family or lineage, That which is without name and form, beyond merit and demerit, That which is beyond space, time and sense-objects, You are that, God himself; Meditate this within yourself.’ A person who has achieved moksha is aware that he or she is Brahman. This is the most holy state of being, often described as being one of true bliss and liberation. People is this state have realised the maya of the world not only in theory but with entire acceptance and in practice. The limits of their bodies apparently no longer exist and they are therefore able to do miraculous acts. They believe that the physical self which most of the world believes in has ceased to be for them because, in truth, it never existed.
The quote goes on to say that a person who has achieved moksha is the perfect Yôgin. A Yôgin is a master of Yôga. The ultimate Yôgin is a perfect practitioner of all forms of Yôga. The form which is most relevant to moksha is Jnana yoga. It focuses on understanding Brahman as the ultimate reality. A person who practices this rejects desires and any unholy actions which accompany them. The path of Jnana yoga is, essentially, the path to moksha, which is why it is possibly the most difficult path of all. In a sense it is also the renunciation of the individual self.
In terms of modern psychology, the part of the ‘self’ which a person cannot alter for themselves (and is spoken of most in psychology) is generally the way that he or she is or has been nurtured by others. This holds true for such pioneers of psychology as Sigmund Freud. Others, such as Carl Jung, have theories which seem to have been influenced by the Hindu idea of atman and Brahman. Jung believed that we all share a collective psyche, which consists of matters pertaining to memory and experience from which a person grows and individualises themselves, but never loses. This is where his theory splits away from his studies of Hinduism. Hinduism is innovative in the sense that this concept makes the faith both incredibly personal and impersonal. On the one hand, God is literally everyone and everything. This makes the ‘father God’ of Christianity and Judaism seem comparatively tame in His closeness to the people. On the other hand, one might marvel at the impersonality of Hinduism for that very same fact. Moreover, when all people are nondifferentiable and tantamount to each other, the importance of varnas in strict Hindu society begins to become clear as a way to make people distinct from one another.
The first is the type that Arjuna indulges himself in at the beginning of the battle by putting his guilt at the prospect of killing dear ones before the work he was born to do, his sva-dharma. Though his situation seems a very stressing and understandably divisive one, Lord Krishna looks at it quite simply. Arjuna was born into a certain varna according to his deeds in a previous life. As for everyone, his varna determines his dharma, and his emotions are irrelevant to the matter. Arjuna is aware of the importance of acting in accordance to his dharma. As a faithful Hindu he would believe that without dharma the world would cease to function. He would also know that not to fight, in other words, to act against his dharma, would be adharma, which is the cause of imbalance in the universe at large. Despite the sympathetic thoughts behind his doubt, Arjuna knows and is reminded that adharma is a sin and that it is his duty, even the purpose of his life, to partake in this battle.
This idea is tied in with the Bhagavad Gita’s distaste for those interested in self preservation. It is viewed as a lowly and selfish way to go about life, and those who seek it are despicable. This is especially true for those of the Kshatriya (warrior) varna, not in that they ought to be reckless or act without thought of their lives, as they are holy as well, but if any thought of preservation of the bodily self prevents a warrior from acting in accordance to his dharma it is seen as a most cowardly and disgusting sin indeed. Self sacrifice in battle is a death to be desired and an end to be honoured. This is because the Hindu faith teaches that the self as is generally accepted, in body and the individual’s thoughts and feelings, is naught but an illusion of maya. One’s true self is atman. If this has not been realised or accepted one might have misled priorities and goals in his or her life.
However, the importance of the self in terms of self restraint and self acceptance is made clear in the following quote from chapter six: ‘Let each man raise the Self by Soul, not trample down his Self, since Soul that is Self’s friend may grow Self’s foe, Soul is Self’s friend when Self doth rule o’er Self but Self turns enemy if Soul’s own self hates Self as not itself.’ Upon contemplation of this excerpt, the word self no longer looks nor sounds like a word, but some deeper meaning can also be understood. What Lord Krishna is telling Arjuna is that the self is important, but only in a positive way if it is kept under control, that is, if self restraint is learned. The soul is the most important part of individuals, not the so called self. If the self is under control and is accepted by the soul then there is a measure of harmony within a person. If the self grows more powerful than the soul or if the soul somehow rejects the self then there is vice. The soul and the Self must accept that they are one and the same.
Another commentary a little later in the chapter delves deeper into this issue. ‘When mind broods placid, soothed with holy wont; when Self contemplates self, and in itself hath comfort; when it knows the nameless joy beyond all scope of sense, revealed to soul - only to soul! and, knowing, wavers not, true to farther Truth; when, holding this, it deems no other treasure comparable, but, harboured there, cannot be stirred or shook by any gravest grief, call that state “peace,” that happy severance Yôga, call that man the perfect Yôgin.’ The state discussed here is moksha. As defined by the Vivekachudamani, moksha is, ‘Beyond caste, creed, family or lineage, That which is without name and form, beyond merit and demerit, That which is beyond space, time and sense-objects, You are that, God himself; Meditate this within yourself.’ A person who has achieved moksha is aware that he or she is Brahman. This is the most holy state of being, often described as being one of true bliss and liberation. People is this state have realised the maya of the world not only in theory but with entire acceptance and in practice. The limits of their bodies apparently no longer exist and they are therefore able to do miraculous acts. They believe that the physical self which most of the world believes in has ceased to be for them because, in truth, it never existed.
The quote goes on to say that a person who has achieved moksha is the perfect Yôgin. A Yôgin is a master of Yôga. The ultimate Yôgin is a perfect practitioner of all forms of Yôga. The form which is most relevant to moksha is Jnana yoga. It focuses on understanding Brahman as the ultimate reality. A person who practices this rejects desires and any unholy actions which accompany them. The path of Jnana yoga is, essentially, the path to moksha, which is why it is possibly the most difficult path of all. In a sense it is also the renunciation of the individual self.
In terms of modern psychology, the part of the ‘self’ which a person cannot alter for themselves (and is spoken of most in psychology) is generally the way that he or she is or has been nurtured by others. This holds true for such pioneers of psychology as Sigmund Freud. Others, such as Carl Jung, have theories which seem to have been influenced by the Hindu idea of atman and Brahman. Jung believed that we all share a collective psyche, which consists of matters pertaining to memory and experience from which a person grows and individualises themselves, but never loses. This is where his theory splits away from his studies of Hinduism. Hinduism is innovative in the sense that this concept makes the faith both incredibly personal and impersonal. On the one hand, God is literally everyone and everything. This makes the ‘father God’ of Christianity and Judaism seem comparatively tame in His closeness to the people. On the other hand, one might marvel at the impersonality of Hinduism for that very same fact. Moreover, when all people are nondifferentiable and tantamount to each other, the importance of varnas in strict Hindu society begins to become clear as a way to make people distinct from one another.