Need of Bhagavad Gita Concepts to Solve Emotional and Intellectual Conflict

INTRODUCTION

―mano matram jagat, mano kalpitam jagat‖ [In Sanskrit] ―the world is as the mind sees and feels it; the world is as the mind think of it‖ (as quoted by T.N.Sethumadhavan, 2010) In Bhagavad Gita battle is shown between the two opposing sides: on the left side one hundred sons of Dhritrashtra and on the right side soldiers of the Pandava brothers. Arjuna starts feeling giddy when he sees his kith and kin are in the battle field. They are on the opposite side. Then emotional and intellectual conflicts arise in his mind. He says to Lord Krishna ―Krishna, I seek no victory, or kingship or pleasures‖ (The Bhagavad Gita, P-25). Arjun thinks that it‘s worthless to win over family for his own wealth and glory. ―We (Pandava brothers) sought kingships, delights and pleasures for the sake of those assembled to abandon their lives and fortunes in battle.‖ (The Bhagavad Gita, P-25) Arjuna continued on to state that once the family was ruined and family duty was lost, only chaos was left to overcome what remained. He tried but all in vain. His mind was saying to do fight but his heart, emotions were stopping him to set his bow. He was suffering from emotional and intellectual conflict. Not only in social life but human being is facing this problem in personal life also. Lord Krishna clears his doubt with the concept of Dharma. Dharma can mean ‗law of the universe‘, ‗social and religious ruler‘, or one‘s own individual mission or purpose. On the Individual level, it can also mean a number of things .For example, in the Gita , Krishna points out to Arjuna that his Dharma is to be a warrior for fighting‘s sake. His Dharma must be grounded in a proper purpose .Whatever role we are fulfilling at the moment is our Dharma at that moment.

AND THE ROPE

In the novel ‗The Serpent and The Rope‘ characters Rama, who is an Indian and Madeleine, a French girl is also facing this conflict. Rama, a young scholar, meets Madeleine at a university in France. Though they seem to be made for each other, both alike in temperament and character, at times they are divided, a huge gulf separating them. Rama‘s trip back to India for his father‘s illness forcibly reminds him of the underlying contrasts between India and Europe. This story shows that not only in Indian community but in all community these types of conflicts are available. Both husband and wife have to face their problems and find their own solutions. Rama is egotistical but Madeline is modest. There is misunderstanding between couple. Nobody is ready to fulfilling his or her duties. That is the base of Bhagavad Gita by Lord Krishna. Every person should focus on duties not results. They would not be estranged. This problem could be solved by ideas and solutions given by Lord Krishna.

Bye-Bye Blackbird is the best example of identity crisis on one hand and the east-west encounter on the other hand. The problem of identity crisis is very common in our society. Especially when we talk about immigrants to the other countries, they suffer a lot for their physical, psychological, cultural and social identities. Bye Bye Blackbird by Anita Desai is novel of psychological conflict of the immigrants who suffer a mixed feeling of love and hate towards the country of their adoption. For lust of money, for getting good life style a lot of people go abroad. But they get humiliated by foreigners. In modern era we are not able to take decisions that what is right and what is wrong for us. It is written in Gita that a person should be determined and invincible. He must know how to overcome on his weakness. Human beings must be able to take decision for them. This is not the problem of one people but whole society is burning with this problem.

The novel ‗A Passage to India‘ is written by E.M. Forster presents a true picture of conflicts between people, societies and countries .Moreover it concerns the relations between the English and the native population of India during the colonial period in which Britain ruled India .The main characters of the novel are Dr. Aziz, a Moslem doctor , Mrs. Moore , an elderly British woman, Adela Quested .Moreover, Right from the beginning till the end, the novel ‗A Passage to India‘ shows Indian (East)as a there are always emotional, social, monetary and intellectual conflicts arise between east and west. This can be resolved by Lord Krishna views given in Bhagavad Gita that this world is like an inn. Nothing is permanent in this world. Human body is mortal. It is only soul that is immortal. Every materialistic thing will be destroyed one day. Lord Krishna begins his explanation by stating that all life on earth is indestructible, ―Never have I not existed, nor you, nor there kings; and never in the further shall we cease to exist.‘(The Bhagavad Gita, P-31). If Arjuna loses his life, then he gains heaven and if he wins then he gains the earth; thus there is no need for Arjuna to fear for his own fate.

―na tu evaham jatunasam na tvam neme Janadhipath na caiva na bhavisyamah sarve vayam atah param‖ [In Sanskrit] (The Bhagavad Gita, P-31) Certainly never at any time did I not exist, nor you, nor all these kings and certainly never shall we cease to exist in the future. All conflicts can be solved by teachings of Bhagavad Gita. It should be taught in school. It tells us the quality of good manager, good wife, good husband, good friend, good pupil and many more .In Bhagavad Gita, we can find the solution of every conflicts.

The present generation of youth is currently experiencing a lot of stress, worries and tensions. They are suffering from lots of diseases. The teachings mentioned in the Bhagavad Gita can be used to help them to lead a quality life. The beautiful thing about Gita is that it does not advocate the follower to sacrifice anything in this material world. Lord Krishna‘s Bhagavad Gita is a true guide who turns human being weaknesses into strengths, share responsibilities, selecting right set of individuals and given the knowledge to solve emotional and intellectual conflict. So in this era also we can take the solution of any conflict from lord Krishna‘s Bhagavad Gita.

1. Kripamurti, Krishan (2012). Shrimad Bhagavad-Gita: Bhagativedant book trust, 2012. 3. Google (2016). Emotional and Intellectual conflicts in literature. 4. Priya Viswanatham (2010). The Bhagavad Gita- It‘s Relevance Then and Now. 5. Desai, Anita (1971). Bye Bye Black Bird. Delhi: Orient paperback/ Vision Books. 6. Rao, Raja (1968). The Serpent and the Rope. New Delhi: Orient paper backs.

M.A. English, B.Ed., NET, Assistant Professor, Arya College, Panipat