Secrets of the Soul 3

dehino ’smin yathā dehe
kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā
tathā dehāntara-prāptir
dhīras tatra na muhyati

“As the embodied soul continually passes in this body from boyhood to youth and then to old age, similarly the soul also passes into another body at death. The self-realized soul is not bewildered by such a change.” [Bhagavad-gita 2.13]

Arjuna’s rationalization for refusing to fight in the Battle of Kuruksetra was that “If I kill the opposing fighters, especially Bhisma and Drona, my grandfather and teacher, then the society will become morally degenerate, and the sin incurred will make it impossible to be happy.” This was looking at the situation from a materialistic point of view. Arjuna was lamenting because he considered that death is the end of existence. Rather, considering his relatives as spiritual beings, he should have seen their changing bodies from old to new ones as rejuvenation of their life energy.

Kṛṣṇa’s argument is essentially: “Why are you lamenting over the body of your grandfather? He’s a grand old man. If he does not die—if you do not kill him in the imminent battle—how long he will live? Whether you kill him or not, soon he will die. You should be joyful because your grandfather is going to have a new body. Why are you lamenting?”

So Kṛṣṇa presented this argument, not to justify killing, but to encourage Arjuna to perform his duty of protecting religious principles. A child can hope for many things in the future. He has got a long duration of life just beginning, but what hope has an old man like Bhisma or Drona got? They may live only five or ten years more. So they cannot expect, or hope for anything great like this child. Their lives are finished. So Kṛṣṇa is trying to convince Arjuna that “There is no question of lamentation for your grandfather. Your grandfather is going to have a new lease of life. Why should you be sorry for killing him?”

But although this argument is given by Kṛṣṇa, the ultimate authority, nobody will agree to it because it seems contradictory to the principles of ordinary morality. Let’s look at Kṛṣṇa’s argument from another perspective.

Changing the body is an effect of the Law of Karma. Such changes of body are meant to facilitate varieties of enjoyment and suffering caused by the activities of the living entity in this life. So Bhisma and Drona, being noble souls in this life, were surely going to have either spiritual bodies in the next life, or at least life in godly bodies. Kṛṣṇa’s implication is: “Now, so far your grandfather and teacher, Bhisma and Drona, are concerned, they are among the greatest devotees. So as soon as they give up this body, they are going to Vaikuntha, the spiritual world.”

Just as a cruel or otherwise sinful person has already prepared his path to hell, the devoted and spiritual person has already been awarded spiritual emancipation by elevated activities in this life. All this is in accordance with the Law of Karma. For the person who is destined to go to the Kingdom of God, the sooner he dies is better for him. So Kṛṣṇa’s actual argument is, “Why should you lament for your grandfather and teacher? They are so highly elevated, spiritually advanced. Their deaths will take place soon anyway, because this material body is temporary. Now they have come to fight as a matter of duty. There is no guarantee of survival in war. So even if you kill them, there is no lamentation for anyone.” This is the instruction Kṛṣṇa is giving to Arjuna on the Battlefield.

Whether Arjuna killed them or was killed by them, in either case there was no cause for lamentation. Any man who has perfect knowledge of the constitution of the individual soul, the Supersoul, and both material and spiritual nature, is called a dhira or a most sober man. Dhiras tatra na muhyati: “A self-realized person is not bewildered by this change of the body.” Dhira means sober, undisturbed. A person who is not disturbed by paltry causes is called dhira.

Another example of dhira is given by the great poet Kalidasa. He wrote that dhira is one who is not disturbed, even in the presence of provocation. When there is no provocation, one may remain undisturbed, but even in the presence of provocation, one who is not disturbed is called dhira. So Kṛṣṇa says, “These persons who wish to fight you on the battlefield are highly elevated. Whether you kill them or not, soon they will die and be elevated to an exalted spiritual destination. You are also My friend. Why you are disturbed in this way? That does not look well.”

A sober man, dhira, is never deluded by the change of bodies by the living entity. An ordinary man who experiences the passing of someone close may cry, “Oh, my father is dead,” or “My friend is dead.” But one who is dhira knows, “What is this death? He has simply changed his body, so there is no question of lamentation.” A real self-realized yogi knows his own spiritual nature beyond a doubt, so he understands that death is simply another stage of transformation of the body, and the eternal soul remains forever. How much spiritual education is required for the ordinary person to come to this point?

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