PHRASES IN THE GITA - 46

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PHRASES IN THE GITA - 46

इन्द्रियाणीन्द्रियार्थेषु वर्तन्त .. (अध्याय ५ - श्लोक ९)

இந்த்ரியாணீந்த்ரியார்தேஷு வர்தந்த ... (அத்யாயம் 5 - ஶ்லோகம் 9)

Indhriyaaneendhriyaartheshu Vartanta ... (Chapter 5 - Shlokam 9)

Meaning :  The organs work for the organs ... 

There are many many organs performing specific functions in a human body .  Organs perform the actions .  for the needs of an other organ or for the overall functioning of the body .  Eyes see .  Ears hear .  Nose smells .  Tongue tastes .  Hands lift or carry .  Legs walk and run .  Heart beats .  Lungs expand and contract .  The intestines digest food .  Colons act to push out body wastes .  Nails grow .  Hairs fall .  Kidney purifies blood .  Barin thinks .  Intellect determines .  and so on .  The many organs in the body perform their respective functions .  Each act is for the overall better functioning of the whole body

But, man says and feels that "I am the doer" may be under the influence of Ignorance or Arrogance or sheerly due to a habit .  "I see " ;  "I hear. " ;  "I taste " ;  "I smell " ;  "I think " ;  "I carry " ;  "I walk " ;  "I run " ;  "I talk " ;  "I sing " ... etc.  This very man says, "It happens " or "It goes on " .. while referring to some other actions in the same body, actions subtler, unthinkable for him, actions beyond his perception ... 'Digestion of food .. pumping of blood by heart .. axpansion and shrinking of lungs pulling in and pushing out air ... growth of nails, hair-fall, excretion . blood purification in Lever and the Kidney .. He feels self to the doer only of more visible, grosser actions .. Shri Krishna says in the Gita "The Arrogant Idiot feels himself to be the doer of actions .."

A child in a family regularly visited by me, used to say, "My tummy is hungry ".  The parents wanted to change his 'Vocabulary'.  But, I feel he is expressing a Natural knowledge .  We adults also tap our belly, but say "I am hungry".  The child could recognize hunger rising in the stomach .  He wisely conclude that food has to be sent to the 'Tummy' to satiate hunger erupting there .  It is a natural wisdom of the child .  Stomach is hungry, and the hands, the mouth, the salivary glands, the tongue, the teeth, the esophagus, etc. perform their respective actions to satiate hunger in stomach .  Similarly, the Psyche is hurt and unhappy. The eyes role out tears to express and to reduce the grief in Psyche .  (It is not "I am crying ... It is .."Grief in Mind and hence tears in the eyes ..")  This is what Shri Krishna suggests in this phrase .. Indriyaani Indriyaartheshu ..Vartanta .. Organs work for Organ .. The act is in the Organ by the organ, for (another) organ ... I am not the doer ...

Similar are the claims like "I teach in ... institution " ; "I manage production in this Company"; "I run this factory" ;  These too are born out of ignorance .  We merely identify with acts within limits of our cognizance and claim to be 'doer' of these .  When our action is impeded by an unseen factor, by happenings beyond our field of 'vision' or grasp, by developments in distant lands, we do claim to be doer, but withdraw self and merely say, "It has happened".  A friend of mine owned a workshop in Dubai.  He proudly claimed to be the owner and said , "I run this factory, run successfully "..  Due to some unforeseen economic upheavals in the US, he landed into deep troubles and the factory closed down.  The upheavals in USA seemed not even remotely connected to his activity but he had to hide and run back home with heavy unpaid dues to workers and suppliers .  The words in his mouth were, "What can I do ?  This has just happened . The factory has closed down.  Heavy loss has occured ..."   'I' was absent in his explanation of the situation .  Another friend of mine, now no more, was the Country Head of Volks Wagon ...  He used to proudly declare self as "Proud In-charge " of an important MNC, a world leader in Motor industry ..  Some misdeeds of the company got revealed in the USA and this "Country In charge' had to go without salary for more than one year .  He wanted desperately to sell a few properties he had bought, but failed .  He developed strange disease, physical and psychic and died.  "I am In-charge".. "I run the show"... "I earn a heavy salary .."  when everything seemed to be under his control.  'I' disappeared and "The company is going through a crisis".. "Job is gone "... "Salary is gone "  "Some strange ailments have struck me, (again Me ??, not this body) ..  If I was doing, what stopped me from doing ?

It is sheer ignorance to feel and say, "I am the doer ..."  The organs work in their allotted spaces and it happens .  To claim the works performed by various organs for overall functioning of body as "My work" is as ignorant as claiming the work performed by a machine as my deed .  The firmer this realization, the lesser the Body Consciousness .