Bhagavad Gita – excerpter

Följande inlägg blir några utvalda utdrag ur Bhagavad Gita, något som man alltid kan vända till. Som ni vet fick ”Gitan” ett uppsving under 70-talets hippierörelse. Detta är för mig obegripligt (se bland annat utdragen från II – Sankya Yoga).

I

41. By prevalence of impiety, O Krishna, the women of the family become corrupt and, women becoming corrupted, O Varsneya (descendant of Vrishni), there arises intermingling of castes!

42. Confusion of castes leads to hell the slayers of the family, for their forefathers fall, deprived of the offerings of rice-ball and water.

43. By these evil deeds of the destroyers of the family, which cause confusion of castes, the eternal religious rites of the caste and the family are destroyed.

44. We have heard, O Janardana, that inevitable is the dwelling for an unknown period in hell for those men in whose families the religious practices have been destroyed!

45. Alas! We are involved in a great sin in that we are prepared to kill our kinsmen through greed for the pleasures of a kingdom.

II

31. Further, having regard to thy own duty, thou shouldst not waver, for there is nothing higher for a Kshatriya than a righteous war.

32. Happy are the Kshatriyas, O Arjuna, who are called upon to fight in such a battle that comes of itself as an open door to heaven!

33. But, if thou wilt not fight in this righteous war, then, having abandoned thine duty and fame, thou shalt incur sin.

34. People, too, will recount thy everlasting dishonour; and to one who has been honoured, dishonour is worse than death.

37. Slain, thou wilt obtain heaven; victorious, thou wilt enjoy the earth; therefore, stand up, O son of Kunti, resolved to fight!

47. Thy right is to work only, but never with its fruits; let not the fruits of actions be thy motive, nor let thy attachment be to inaction.

49. Far lower than the Yoga of wisdom is action, O Arjuna! Seek thou refuge in wisdom; wretched are they whose motive is the fruit.

IV

13. In a Brahmana, Sattwa predominates. He possesses serenity, purity, self-restraint, straightforwardness and devotion. In a Kshatriya, Rajas predominates. He possesses prowess, splendour, firmness, dexterity, generosity and rulership. In a Vaisya, Rajas predominates and Tamas is subordinate to Rajas. He does the duty of ploughing, protection of cattle and trade. In a Sudra, Tamas predominates and Rajas is subordinate to the quality of Tamas. He renders service to the other three castes. Human temperaments and tendencies vary according to the Gunas.

88. The Yogi who is satisfied with the knowledge and the wisdom (of the Self), who has conquered the senses, and to whom a clod of earth, a piece of stone and gold are the same, is said to be harmonised (that is, is said to have attained the state of Nirvikalpa Samadhi).

VII

16. Four kinds of virtuous men worship Me, O Arjuna! They are the distressed, the seeker of knowledge, the seeker of wealth, and the wise, O lord of the Bharatas!

17. Of them, the wise, ever steadfast and devoted to the One, excels (is the best); for, I am exceedingly dear to the wise and he is dear to Me.

18. Noble indeed are all these; but I deem the wise man as My very Self; for, steadfast in mind, he is established in Me alone as the supreme goal.

IX

11. Fools disregard Me, clad in human form, not knowing My higher Being as the great Lord of (all) beings.

XIV

11. When, through every gate (sense) in this body, the wisdom-light shines, then it may be known that Sattwa is predominant.

12. Greed, activity, the undertaking of actions, restlessness, longing—these arise when Rajas is predominant, O Arjuna!

13. Darkness, inertness, heedlessness and delusion—these arise when Tamas is predominant, O Arjuna!

Vad är Kali Yuga

Modern tidsuppfattning är linjär (vi utgår här ifrån hur man ser på tid när det gäller sådant som mänslighetens utveckling, bortse från rumtid). Romarriket föll, därefter kom den mörka medeltiden, renässansen, upplysningen och vårt moderna samhälle.

Traditionellt har människan istället sett på tiden som cyklisk. I forna Indien var tiden uppdelad i fyra definierade tidsåldrar – yugor (Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dvapara Yuga och Kali Yuga). Enligt hinduismen degenereras människan i takt med att tiden rör sig genom dessa yugor. Till slut nås Kali Yuga (demonen Kalis, dvs kaosets tidsålder) som sedan ändas genom en kataklysm där Vishnus 10:e avatar Kalki sluter cykeln som åter når Satya Yuga.

Intressant är att den cykliska tidsuppfattningen även följde med till Europa. I grekisk mytologi hade tiderna istället namn efter metaller. Guldåldern följdes av silver-, brons- och järnåldern. Samma tidsuppfattning fanns i romarriket och i forna mellanöstern.

Även i de traditionella nordiska samhällena tycks den cykliska tidsuppfattningen ha funnits. Som de flesta vet är nedskrivna källor från denna tid ytterst sparsamma, men i Völuspá (Valans spådom) används ordet gullaldr för att beskriva tiden efter kataklysmen (Ragnarök). Tidsåldern innan Ragnarök (vår tidsålder) benämns vargtid.

Vad är då Kali Yuga? Vad kännetecknar den? För att besvara den frågon måste vi gå till gamla källor. I detta fallet Vishnu Purana (kommentarer inom paranteser är mina, kommentarer inom klamrar är författaren till boken jag hämtat utdragen ifrån, se källa längst ner) :

”Outcastes and barbarians will be masters of the banks of the Indus, Darvika, the Chandrabhaga and Kashmir. These will all be contemporary rulers reigning over the earth: kings of violent temper […]They will seize upon the property of their subjects; they will be of limited power and will for the most part rapidly rise and fall; their lives will be short, their desires insatiable, and they will display but little piety. The people of various countries intermingling with them will follow their example […]The prevailing caste will be the Shudra (4:e kasten, står för fysiskt arbete och jordelivet) […] Vaisyas (3:e kasten, förenklat köpmannakasten) will abandon agriculture and commerce and gain a livelihood by servitude or the exercise of mechanical arts [proletarization and industrialization] […] Kshyatrias (2:a kasten, krigarkasten) instead of protecting will plunder their subjects: and under the pretext of levying customs will rob merchants of their property [crisis of capitalism and of private property; socialization, nationalization, and
communism]

Wealth [inner] and piety [following one’s dharma] will decrease day by day until the whole world will be wholly depraved. Then property alone will confer rank [the quantity of dollars – economic classes]; wealth [material] will be the only source of devotion; passion will be the sole bond of union between the sexes; falsehood will be the only means of success in
litigation.

Earth will be venerated but for its mineral treasures [unscrupulous exploitation of the soil, demise of the cult of the earth] […] Brahmanical clothes will constitute a Brahman (1:a kasten, prästämbetet) […] weakness will be the cause of dependence [cowardice, death of fides and honor in the modern political forms] […] simple ablution
[devoid of the power of the true rite] will be purification [can there really be anything more in the alleged salvation procured in the Christian sacraments?]
In the Kali age men corrupted by unbelievers…will say: ”Of what authority are the Vedas? What are gods or Brahmans? […]” Observance of caste, order and institutes [traditional] will not prevail in the Kali age. Marriages in this age will not be conformable to the ritual, nor will the rules which connect the preceptor and his disciple be in force […] A regenerated man will be initiated in any way whatever [democracy applied to the spiritual plain] and such acts of penance as may be performed will be unattended by any results [this refers to a ”humanistic” and conformist religion] […] all orders of life will be common
alike to all persons […] He who gives away much money will be the master of men and family descent will no longer be a title of supremacy [the end of traditional nobility, advent of bourgeoisie, plutocracy] […]Men will fix their desires upon riches, even though dishonestly acquired [… ]Men of all degrees will conceit themselves to be equal with Brahmans [the prevarication and presumption of the intellectuals and modern culture] […] The people will be almost always in dread of death and apprehensive of scarcity; and will hence ever be watching the appearances of the sky [the meaning of the religious
and superstitious residues typical of modern masses] […]

The women will pay no attention to the commands of their husbands or parents […] They will be selfish, abject and slatternly;
they will be scolds and liars; they will be indecent and immoral in their conduct and will ever attach themselves to dissolute men […] Men having deviated into heresy, iniquity will flourish, and the duration of life will therefore decrease.

Slutligen:

”When the practices taught by the Vedas and the institutes of law shall nearly have ceased, and the close of the Kali age shall be nigh, a portion of that devine being who exists of his own spiritual nature in the character of Brahma, and who is the beginning and the end, and who comprehends all things, shall descend upon the earth [… ]He will then reestablish righteousness upon earth; and the minds of those who live at the end of the Kali age shall be awakened, and shall be pellucid as crystal. The men who are thus changed by virtue of that peculiar time shall be the seeds of [new] human beings, and shall give birth to a race who shall follow the laws of the Satya age, or age of purity [primordial age].

Källa: Vishnu Purana genom Julius Evola, Revolt Against the Modern World