The chapter 2 of Gita is probably the most defining chapter of the Bhagavad Gita. It provides a clear answer to the questions of who we are and of life and death. From what I know about other religions, the Gita provides the clearest explanations to our birth and what happens when we leave this world. This chapter is often quoted at times of funeral to bring solace and understanding of who we really are and what is death.
The most revealing part of the message of this chapter is that we are made up of an imperishable soul (atma) which is enveloped by the costume of our bodies. When we can understand that the soul is permanent and this body enveloping the soul, is temporary, we begin to appreciate the wonders of this life. Our body is changing all the time and its physical form changes every 7 years or so. What we need to understand is that this temporary change continues after the event that we call death. All that happens is that the soul assumes and new costume, which is the event of birth. So the Atma never dies but it does change its envelope or costume. When we understand this, our attitude and behaviour towards other souls also changes for better.
The other powerful message and learning of this chapter is the duality of the life’s experiences of pain and pleasure, heat and cold etc that arise from our senses getting in physical contact with objects. These experiences are temporary but do cause pleasure or discomfort to us from time to time. The senses carry sensations to our mind and the mind gets agitated. We learn from this wonderful teachings that we can gain peace by practicing to withdraw our senses from the objects. This is done by regular meditation to control our mind to have a balanced response to the dualities of our experiences like pleasure and pain. So we do not get excited about a pleasurable experience nor do we get stressed too much about any painful experience. If we can control our mind and have a neutral reaction to life’s experiences, we can enjoy peace. We have to learn to control our senses by drawing our mind from outside to inside.
The third message of this chapter is about how we should perform our actions. This has brought an amazing transformation in my own life. Initially, as a business and professional person, I always believed that I should first define the fruits of my actions i.e. have a target and then perform my tasks accordingly. However, the teachings of chapter 2 are quite revolutionary on this subject. It says that one should not concern himself or herself with the fruits of their actions like gain or loss and victory or defeat. Instead he or she should concentrate on the actual actions by performing these with excellence and leave the fruits of actions in the hands of the Almighty. Initially this is hard to grasp but when you think hard, it is so very powerful. In any sphere of our lives if we perform relevant task with excellence i.e. hardwork, sincerity, honesty, care etc, then the outcome will always be the best. If our actions are driven by greed, deceit etc then the outcome also be bad.
When we have have learnt and mastered our understanding of these three realities, we are able to face any consequences that life brings upon us. We are as I say, top of the world.
