Gita 18.21 To equate others physical appearance with spiritual substance is vision in passion

Transcript

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Bhagavad Gita, 18.21 So here, Krishna is now speaking about knowledge in the mode of passion.
So this verse comes in the center. We could say among the three modes, passion is in the center, above is goodness, below is ignorance. Similarly, whenever Krishna describes the three modes of material nature, usually his description of passion comes in the middle.
So what does he say as characteristics of knowledge in the mode of passion? He says, पुठक्त्वेन तुयज्ञानम् पुठक्त्वेन पुठक् means separate. That knowledge which sees separateness. नाना भावान पुठक्विधान That there are different natures, नाना is various natures.
पुठक्विधान एचति सर्वेश भूतेशु So one sees different living beings as having different natures. That is, knowledge in the mode of passion. So, whereas, in the mode of goodness सर्वेश भूतेशु ये नई कम्भावम अव्वेय मिक्षते Whereas, there, in the mode of goodness, one sees the imperishable spirit, imperishable, indivisible spirit as the common spiritual nature of all living beings.
Here, one thinks that, in the mode of passion, that one’s essential nature is just as variegated as one’s physical structure. So, the physical appearance is equated with the spiritual substance. Some traditions say that, they talk about the soul, but then they say the soul can’t exist without the body.
And they say that, actually to separate the soul and body is not possible. So, often they equate the soul with the essential, they equate the body with the essential person. And this is the vision of separation, of segregation, of discrimination.
of confrontation, and ultimately of destruction. In this vision, we don’t see our commonality with others, we see the difference with others. Now, the very nature of the world is that, we will have differences.
We are all individuals, and we perceive the world from different perspectives. So, if we wish to resolve the differences, then we need to start with the 1% commonality, not 99% differences. So, to the extent we can find some common ground, to that extent, there is the possibility of harmony, of amicable resolution, or at least the possibility of resolution with the minimum damage or violence.
But in the mode of passion, one just can’t see the commonality, one sees only the separateness. You have the skin color, therefore you are different from me. You are born in this family, so this dynasty, that must be your nature, you are different from me.
You are from this country, people of this country are like this, and therefore you are different from me. So, we may generalize to a dangerous and misleading degree by assuming that people of certain nations or people of certain groups have certain characteristics. Again, we are not seeing the individuality of these people, for we are seeing that they are all actually as equivalent to their physical natures.
So, that knowledge by which we see prithaktvena, separateness. nānā bhāvān prithakvidhān Separateness is not just in appearance, but in substance, in essential nature. vetti sarveṣu bhūteṣu So, an extreme aspect of this seeing the other as different is to minimize or even demonize the other.
That will happen to a dangerous degree in knowledge in the mode of ignorance, which will be described in this verse. But reaching in the mode of passion will mean that, for example, humans will see certain animals primarily as potential food. So, they may raise an animal carefully, but after raising that animal, they see that animal not as an object for affection, but as an object for earning.
And thus, they lead that animal, slaughter that animal or sell that animal so that it can be slaughtered. And even people of different gender interact with each other, they will see each other essentially in terms of their gender. Certainly, our gender is a significant, a major part of our identity, but that is not alone what we are.
So, to see people only as men or to see people only as women and not to see them as souls is vision in the mode of passion. And such vision cannot help us much to come out of illusion. It keeps us in bodily consciousness.
If you want to rise out of bodily consciousness, we need to come to the mode of goodness. As for example, those who consider that most animals are simply potential food, when if they observe animals more closely and they see, for example, a cow whose beef is considered to be like a delicacy which many people want to eat. If they interact with a cow not seeing it as a queer animal that is worshipped by some Hindus, but approaching it with an open heart and open head, then they will see that the kind of affection that a cow lavishes on its calf and the kind of attachment and dependence that a calf displays towards its mother these are really not much different from what are displayed by humans.
And thus, they will start seeing that actually the animals are just like us. So, to become conscious of the consciousness present in others is actually an expansion of our own consciousness. In passion, we often objectify others.
We treat other human beings simply as sense objects. But to become conscious of the consciousness in animals is a step ahead from wanting to eat those animals. Because we see that actually they will also suffer like us.
Just because we are hungry we don’t want to kill someone who is just like us. So, to rise from knowledge in the mode of passion to knowledge in the mode of goodness we need to even if we can’t perceive the spirituality of all living beings we can still perceive the presence of consciousness in them and we can perceive how that consciousness leads to them experiencing many emotions very similar to ours and thus we can see that they are also like us and they also experience emotions like us. And thus, what to speak of animals this can apply even to humans and we can start seeing that people whom we had earlier considered very different from us be it based on race or caste skin color but then we will start seeing them as similar to us and that is the way to spiritual growth at least to growth to knowledge