You have probably heard of the saying “the pen is mightier than the sword”. This is true not only in the power of the written word in convincing your opponent about your perspective. It’s also true when we are on the path seeking enlightenment. We may have an inherent inclination toward self-realization or understanding the truth of our identity in relation to the whole. Our intuition may be urging us onward toward our own awakening of consciousness, but this sentiment is not enough. We also need to be grounded in the fundamentals.
One of the pitfalls of the path of self-realization is speculation, or mental concoction. Another is doubt. Both of these are firmly uprooted from the heart of the aspirant by knowledge. This is how it is described in the original texts on knowledge called the Vedas (“Veda” means knowledge in Sanskrit). And an essential core introductory book of the Vedas is the Bhagavad Gita. In chapter four of the Gita, Krishna tells his friend, the mighty military general Arjuna, that he can dispel the doubt he has regarding fighting in the coming battle by being equipped with knowledge.
Arjuna reveals his doubts to Krishna, who then spends chapter four reminding Arjuna of the power of being informed with knowledge to overcome such doubts. Krishna explains how this knowledge on the science of the self or spirit soul, has been handed down from the original source of our existence, since time immemorial, in a chain of teachers. And the solution is to hear this knowledge from a bona fide teacher in the chain of succession from the source. Chapter four is actually titled “Transcendental Knowledge”.
Krishna actually calls this knowledge a sword. He is speaking to a military general on the battlefield, where such weapons were used in ancient times. But he doesn’t tell Arjuna to pick up his sword. He uses the sword as an analogy, telling Arjuna that he can cut out the doubt or ignorance regarding self-realization with the sword of knowledge. In other words it is the knowledge received from the correct source that can be as powerful as a sword. Thus the saying, the pen is mightier than the sword. This reference goes back to Bhagavad Gita, spoken over 5000 years ago.
In the last verse of chapter four, Krishna concludes by saying to Arjuna:
तस्मादज्ञानसम्भूतं हृत्स्थं ज्ञानासिनात्मनः ।
छित्त्वैनं संशयं योगमातिष्ठोत्तिष्ठ भारत ॥ ४२ ॥
tasmād ajñāna-sambhūtaṁ
hṛt-sthaṁ jñānāsinātmanaḥ
chittvainaṁ saṁśayaṁ yogam
ātiṣṭhottiṣṭha bhārata
“Therefore the doubts which have arisen in your heart out of ignorance should be slashed by the weapon of knowledge. Armed with yoga, O Bhārata (the family name of Arjuna), stand and fight.”
Bhagavad Gita As It Is, chapter 4:32 translated by Swami A. C. Bhaktivedanta
If we are filled with doubt, or we doubt the authenticity of our source of information, it means that we don’t have enough knowledge on the subject. Or we have not obtained the best source of knowledge. FUD or fear, uncertainty and doubt, are things that plague us all in our various fields of engagement in life, from trading to self-realization. It comes from lack of knowledge, and the solution is to become more informed. DYOR or “do your own research”, applies here.
Once you have the “weapon” of knowledge, as it’s described here by Krishna, you can slash away any doubts that hold you back from making the best decisions in life. These doubts and speculations are like weeds in the garden of the heart where we are attempting to cultivate the flower of consciousness. We need to slash away these weeds with the weapon of knowledge so that our flowering consciousness regarding the nature of the self and the divine can blossom and bear the fruits of our endeavors.
Notice how in the very last sentence of this last verse of chapter four, Krishna says: “Armed with yoga...stand and fight” He doesn’t say pick up your sword, or even armed with “knowledge”. He says armed with “yoga”. And this is a key point obviously. In these Sanskrit texts no words are random or wasted. It is a very concise written language, where each text or verse is in seed form, revealing much depth for very few words.
The knowledge which Krishna is talking about, which produces the most powerful weapon regarding the path of self-realization, is the knowledge of yoga. Our battle in this lifetime is not against an external enemy. It is against the ignorance that clouds our consciousness, found in symptoms like doubt, based on lack of faith which is based on lack on knowledge. And the weapon against this enemy or obstacle is knowledge, and specifically the knowledge of yoga. Yoga is a Sanskrit word which translates to mean “the process of linking up with the source” or union with the original source”.
In other words it is the knowledge of the process of yoga that will inform us and empower us like a sword of knowledge to cut away the doubt and illusion from our true natures, while enabling us to link up with our original source, the personality of godhead once more. Not that we ever lost the connection, but it has simply been covered so that we can’t see it for what it is. So self-realization and god-realization are the two aspects of the one path on which the spiritualist, mystic or yogi walks.
You do not become god, you are eternally a separated individual consciousness, with your own relationship with god, the original source. And the process of yoga enables us to link up as one person to another, with the supreme divinity, Krishna – also known by many other names according to different incarnations throughout history. So arm yourself with knowledge, as revealed here in the Bhagavad Gita, and you will be able to cut away at the doubts and illusion blocking your path of transcendence. Sentiment is only half the recipe. Add knowledge from the authentic source and you have what it takes to make a perfection of your human form of life.
(image pixabay)