In life, we often find ourselves at crossroads where we have to decide between the voice from the heart and a voice that comes from the mind, whilst both voices are at loggerheads with each other. In this post, we lean on the wisdom in Bhagavad Gita, to know whether to follow our heart or mind, whenever facing such a dilemma in life.
Whenever we are about to make a big decision in life, we are often confronted with two voices from within. One comes from the mind, which is often conditioned by what we read and listen to and what we see and hear from the society. On the other hand, there is a voice from the depths of our heart, which often times leads us off the beaten track and hence makes us feel vulnerable.
Arjuna’s state of confusion in the battlefield
Bhagavad Gita, the song of God, is one of the most profound texts ever known to mankind. It is a dialogue between Shri Krishna, the supreme god head, and the mighty warrior Arjuna in the battle field of Kurukshetra. Just as the war was about to commence, Arjuna got overpowered with anxiety, fear and grief when he found himself face to face in the battlefield against his own family and loved ones.
The following lines spoken by Arjuna, depict the tug of war he faced between his heart and mind. Arjuna says to his charioteer, Shri Krishna, “My whole body shudders; my hair is standing on end. My bow, the Gāṇḍīv, is slipping from my hand, and my skin is burning all over. My mind is in quandary and whirling in confusion; I am unable to hold myself steady any longer. O Krishna, I only see omens of misfortune. I do not foresee how any good can come from killing my own kinsmen in this battle.”[1.29-1.31]
Stop deriving your sense of security from the society
In the opening scene of the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna faces the world of nature and society and feels utterly alone. He does not wish to buy inward security by submission to the social standard. So long as he looks upon himself as a kshatriya (a person belonging to the warrior clan) required to fight, so long as he is chained to his station and it’s duties, he is unaware of the full possibilities of his individual action.
Most of us, by finding specific place in the social world, give a meaning to our life and gain a feeling of security, a sense of belonging. Normally, within limits, we find scope for the expression of our life and social routine is not felt as a bondage. However, till the time one gives meaning to life, with the help of social constructs, it indicates that the individual has not yet emerged. He does not conceive of himself except through the social medium.
Arjuna could have overcome his feeling of helplessness and anxiety by submitting completely to the social authority, and just going with the “flow” and do what society expected him to do, i.e : to fight. However, doing that would have arrested his growth as an individual, as any sense of satisfaction and security derived by submission to external authority is brought at the price of integrity of the self.
Vox populi tells us to submit to the demands of the society as the individual can be saved by his absorption into society. But they forget that the group exists only to secure the complete unfolding of human personality. Arjuna disentangles himself from the social context, stands alone and faces the perilous and overpowering aspects of the world.
Conclusion : Should you follow your heart or mind ?
As shown by Arjuna, submission is not the human way of overcoming loneliness and anxiety. By developing our inner spiritual nature, we gain a new kind of relatedness to the world and grow into the freedom, where the integrity of the self is not compromised. We then become aware of ourselves as active creative individuals, living, not by the discipline of external authority but by the inward rule of free devotion to truth.
I would like to conclude this post with one of my favorite poems, titled ‘The Voice’, by Shel Silverstein. It says :
There is a voice inside of you
that whispers all day long,
‘I feel that this is right for me,
I know that this is wrong.’
No teacher, preacher, parent, friend
or wise man can decide
what’s right for you – just listen to
the voice that speaks inside.
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