In my post on ‘Thoughts, Desires, Passion and Lust’, I wrote that a thought has two parts, namely the subject and the object. The object is what or who one thinks of and the subject is invariably the false ‘I’ or the false ego which veils the real ‘I’, the ‘Self’ or the consciousness of a person. This false ego is based on the identification of the ‘Self’ with the body along with its attributes such as strength, beauty, general appearance and so on. The false ‘I’ which is seated in the mind, that I call the two faced trickster, tricks the real ‘Self’ into believing that the false ‘I’ is the real ‘Self’. Due to this delusion, the real ‘Self’ in a person allows the false ‘I’ to think and act freely without any restraint. This leads to the accruing of Karma and also strengthens the basic nature of the mind which the Atman takes along with it into the next Janma.
SBG 15:08 “When the soul which is the master, acquires a body, it takes the mind and the five senses from the body it has left, just as the wind takes different odours along with it.”
A deluded mind filled with ego, arrogance, selfishness, lust and desires, will continue to be so even in the Janma that follows until steps are taken in order to purify it. Take the example of a travelling salesman who moves from city to city. He stays in hotels when he goes to different cities to meet his clients. A disciplined and well organised salesman would always ensure that his clothes are laundered before he moves on to the next city so that he has clean clothes to wear for his meetings there. However, sometimes due to the lack of time or due to some other reason, he does not manage to get his clothes cleaned. This leaves him with no other choice but to wear soiled clothes in the next city. Similarly, people who do not ‘clean’ their thoughts in one Janma, are forced to carry those ‘soiled thoughts’ into the next Janma which will only get dirtier unless they are cleaned through knowledge and right action.
An uncontrolled mind carried along by the Atman into the next Janma, continues to delude the new person who is nothing but a combination of the mind and the five senses from the previous Janma and the transiting Atman. The new deluded person then continues to think and do things the way the mind, which they brought along from the past Janma, tells them to do. This Karmic cycle goes on for hundreds of Janmas until the person acquires true knowledge and defeats the deluding mind through right action.
SBG 2:45 “Vedic literature deals with subjects that fall under the three Gunas. O Arjuna, you should rise above the three, be free from the thoughts of acquisition and preservation, always remain in Sattva or goodness and be established in the Self.”
SBG 13:21 “The soul seated in Prakriti or Nature, experiences the Gunas or qualities born of Prakriti; and the attachment to the Gunas is the cause of the soul’s birth in good or in evil wombs.”
SBG 7:13 “The entire universe is deluded by the three Gunas of Prakriti, not knowing Me as being situated above them as the immutable Supreme.”
SBG 7:14 “My Divine Maya with the three Gunas of Prakriti, is definitely very difficult to overcome without knowing Me as being situated above them as the immutable Supreme. But only those who surrender to Me will be able to overcome this illusory energy or Maya.”
SBG 14:18 “Those who are seated in Sattva proceed upwards; the Rajasic dwell in the middle; and the Tamasic, abiding in the function of the lowest Guna, go downwards.”
SBG 14:19 “When the subject recognises the Gunas alone as the agent in all actions and treats the Self to be above the Gunas, he achieves My Divine Nature.”
SBG 14:20 “The embodied one or the Self, having crossed beyond these three Gunas out of which the body is evolved, is freed from birth, death, decay and pain, and attains to immortality.”
SBG 14:21 Arjuna said: “What are the marks of a person who has crossed over the three qualities, O Lord? What is his conduct and how does he go beyond these three qualities?”
SBG 14:22 Bhagavan Krishna said, “O Arjuna, he neither hates when light, activity and delusion are present nor longs for them when they are absent.”
SBG 14:23 “He remains unattached and is not moved by sense objects born of the Gunas. He knows that the ones that act and enjoy are the senses and the mind that are born of the Gunas but his real Self remains unwavering in all situations. “
SBG 14:24 “He is alike in pleasure and pain; dwells in the Self; to whom a clod of earth, a stone and gold are alike; to whom the dear and the unfriendly are alike; and is unmoved by praise or criticism.”
SBG 14:25 ” “He who is unmoved in honour and dishonour; is the same to friend and foe; and has renounced all actions by giving up claims of being the ‘Doer’, is said to have crossed the qualities.”.”
SBG 14:26 “And he who serves Me with unflinching devotion, crossing beyond the qualities, is fit for becoming Brahman.”
SBG 14:27 “For I am the abode of Brahman, the immortal and the immutable, of everlasting Dharma and of absolute bliss.”
Controlling the mind, is certainly not a very easy thing to do. However, developing deep devotion to Bhagavan Krishna and following His Divine Teachings greatly help in succeeding in this challenging task.
Arjuna asked Bhagavan Krishna : Gita 6:34 “The mind is certainly restless, turbulent, strong and unyielding, O Krishna! I think it is extremely difficult to control it just as wind is.” Bhagavan Krishna replied saying : SBG 6:35 “Undoubtedly, O mighty armed Arjuna, the mind is difficult to control and restless. But it can be restrained through practice and dispassion.”
Past negative Karma cannot be erased but it can certainly be ‘outweighed’ by acquiring knowledge that leads to right action and a life which has righteousness for its foundation.
Tavamithram Sarvada 