Bhagavadgita -Radhakrishnan 31

The Bhagavadgita -S. Radhakrishnan

INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 7. The Individual Self The' problem of freedom vs. determinism has meaning only with reference to human individuals. It has no application to the Absolute which is above all opposites or to the sub-human species of plants and animals. If man is but the simple creature of instinct, if his desires and decisions are only the resultants of the forces of heredity and environment, then moral judgments are irrelevant. We do not condemn the lion for its ferocity or praise the lamb for its meekness. Man is the possessor of freedom. After describing the whole philosophy of life, the teacher asks Arjuna to do as he chooses. The whole teaching of the Gita requires man to choose the good and realize it by conscious effort. There are however many impediments to this freedom of choice. Man is a complex multi-dimensional being, including within him different elements of matter, life, consciousness, intelligence and the divine spark. He is free when he acts from the highest level and uses the other elements for the realization of his purpose. But when he is on the level of objective nature, when he does not recognize his distinction from not-self, he becomes a slave to the mechanism of nature. But, even when he falsely identifies himself with the objective universe, and feels that he is subjected to the necessities of nature, he is not without hope, for the one Spirit operates at all levels of being. Even matter is a manifestation of the Supreme. There is an element of spontaneity and creativity inexplicable in terms of mechanical forces even in the lowest forms of nature. Each plane of our being has its own consciousness, its surface thoughts, its habitual ways of feeling, thought and action. The ego should not persist in retaining its obscure and limited consciousness, which is a distortion of its true nature. When we subdue the senses and keep them under control, the flame of spirit burns bright and clear "like a lamp in a windless place." The light of consciousness stands in its own nature and the empirical self with its shifting tides of experience is controlled by buddhi in which is reflected the light of consciousness.