Paramahansa Yogananda, author of the spiritual classic Autobiography of a Yogi, reveals how the Gita’s author, the illumined sage Vyasa, encrypted in its slokas the essence of India’s age-old science of Yoga, presenting it as a complex allegory based on the historic battle of Kurukshetra. Each combatant, he explains, represents a specific psychological/metaphysical trait. And the clashes between them depict moral and spiritual challenges that all of us must face, along with the inevitable results of “siding” with one camp or the other. Victory for one brings disillusionment and despair, victory for the other, unalloyed bliss.
Those who have read the Mahabharata know that Pandavas lost their kingdom in a game of dice. As per the conditions agreed upon, they had to relinquish their kingdom and live in the forest for twelve years, followed by one year of remaining incognito (agyaatavas). After fulfilling this condition of thirteen years of exile, Pandavas rightfully demanded that their kingdom be returned to them, but the Kauravas refused to do so. Hence a war was declared. On the battlefield Arjuna became despondent when he saw the army he had to fight – brothers, uncles, blood-relatives, friends, etc. He felt that it was not worth fighting friends and relatives in order to regain the kingdom. Then Krishna gives a discourse — Gita — to encourage Arjuna to perform his duty.
Symbolically, man, although a spark of the Divine, lost his divine kingdom in the game of delusion. He is living in “exile” as a mere mortal. After many, many hard knocks, he realizes that his joyous divine kingdom lies within, which is free from pain and suffering. He wants the Divinity which is his, but it is denied by the Kauravas sitting in him – Desire (Duryodhana), Anger (Duhshasana), Greed (Karna-Vikarna), Jealousy (Kritavarma), Habits (Dronacharya), Ego (Bhishma), etc. So every person has to fight a war (Kurukshetra within) to regain his divinity. There are also Pandavas within each one of us – calmness (Yudhisthira), pranayama (Bhima), self-control (Arjuna), yama (Sahadeva), niyama (Nakula), soul-consciousness (Krishna), etc.
When Bhagavan Krishna points out to Arjuna that his friends and relatives are not his well-wishers because they have denied him his rightful kingdom, he resolves to fight. Similarly, when our habits are preventing us from enjoying our Divine Kingdom within, we have to fight our habits.
Paramahansa Yoganandaji assured: “Each person has to fight his own battle of Kurukshetra. It is a war not only worth winning, but in the divine order of the universe and of the eternal relationship between the soul and God, a war that sooner or later must be won.”
He further said, “As God talked with Arjuna, so will He talk with you. As He lifted up the spirit and consciousness of Arjuna, so will He uplift you. As He granted Arjuna supreme spiritual vision, so will He confer enlightenment on you.”
As Pandavas needed the support of many allies like Drupada, Virata, to win Kurukshetra war, we need the support of some divine qualities like devotion, discriminative intelligence, spiritual memory, etc. These metaphysical soldiers are the spiritual effects cultivated by the devotee’s practice of yoga-meditation. One is not necessarily born with these qualities. We can acquire them as we go along. Even if God-realization is not our present goal, we must remember that our aim is avoidance of pain and suffering, and attainment of permanent happiness. No one can deny that.
These spiritual qualities help us in pursuit of that goal of lasting happiness.
Paramahansa Yoganandaji gave many techniques, such as scientific meditation, affirmations, and visualizations, to acquire these divine qualities. His teachings have been compiled in the form of Yogoda Satsanga Lessons which can be studied by interested people, either in printed form or on a digital App.
