The Bhagavad-Gita: A Case Study in Vedic Psychology - Maharishi ...

MODERN SCIENCE AND VEDIC SCIENCE
In commenting upon this verse, Maharishi (1967) describes the enlightened man:
... his state is like that of an ever-full and steady ocean. This, being the state of absolute
bliss, is the goal of all desires in life.
Desires arise from a particular want, from a lack of happiness; the mind is ever seeking
a field of greater happiness. Thus desires are always flowing towards eternal bliss-consciousness,
as rivers to the ocean.
Once bliss-consciousness is permanently attained, desires have served their purpose and
therefore cravings do not arise. This is a state of true contentment, a state of lasting peace.
... However, this does not mean that in order to attain peace in life a man should cease to
desire and to aspire. It is the desires that lead a man to greater happiness and to fulfillment—
not the control and killing of desires, which has been widely advocated through the ages....
Thinking that to desire and to aspire will not lead to peace, people begin to abstain from
enterprise and cease to open the gates of progress. This is simply a wrong understanding of
the Lord's teaching.
The verse shows Arjun very clearly that the Self-awareness of the realized is like an
ocean, which will accept any stream of desires and will satisfy it without being affected.
The ocean accepts the river as it comes and denies no stream rushing in, yet its status
remains unaffected. Such is the state of established intellect, which cannot be affected by
anything. It is a state of eternal peace. (pp. 170-171)
In summary, Maharishi's insight into Lord Krishna's analysis of suffering is that in a
world of change and diversity, undue attachment to changing sources of pleasure gives
rise to suffering through sorrow or conflict. He proposes that freedom from suffering is
based on stable inner fulfillment and peace. This inner fullness is cultured through the
experience of transcendental consciousness.
The Bhagavad-Gita on the Experience of Transcendental Consciousness
As elaborated by Maharishi (1967), Lord Krishn describes the experience of the field
of pure or transcendental consciousness as one's innermost Self. His strategy for teaching
Arjun about transcendental consciousness is to provide Arjun first with an intellectual
understanding of the nature of the transcendental field and then with direct experience
of it. He begins with a description that allows Arjun to realize that there is
something to be gained beyond the range of his usual experience.
Lord Krishn first describes the field of transcendental consciousness, the unified
field of natural law, in several verses which follow in close succession:
Know that to be indeed indestructible
by which all this is pervaded. None
can work the destruction of this
immutable Being.
(II. 17)
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