As we read the opening stanza we are reminded on the twenty VALUES of life, that were described earlier by Lord Krishna in His Divine discourse (XIII — 8 to 12). Herein we find an almost exhaustive list of the noble TRAITS in a cultured man living the spiritual way-of-life; a life wherein he accepts and lives those twenty VALUES of life, while meeting the work-a-day world. And in the enumeration of these qualities, FEARLESSNESS (Abhayam) comes first. Fear is generated in one, only when one is in a field which is clouded by ‘ignorance.’ Fear is the expression of Avidya. Where there is ‘Knowledge’ there is fearlessness. By placing this quality of fearlessness at the head of the list, with the unsung music of sheer suggestiveness, the divine Acharya is indicating that true ethical perfection in one is directly proportional to the spiritual evolution attained by the individual.

PURITY OF HEART — No amount of external discipline can supply the student the positive dynamism that is the very core in all moral living. The Geeta preaches a dynamic religion, militant both in theory and practice. The Divine Charioteer is not satisfied by a tame generation of passive goodness. He wants the members of the perfect Hindu society not only to live among themselves the highest values of life, but also to burst forth with the positive glow of righteousness and bathe the entire generation of men in the light of truth and virtue — virtue that implies honesty of intentions and purity of motives.

STEADFASTNESS IN THE YOGA-OF-KNOWLEDGE — This ethical purity at the level of the heart cannot be brought about when the human mind is turned outward to the flesh. Only when the mind is constantly in unison with the Infinite Song of the Soul, can it discover in itself the necessary courage to renounce its low appetites, clinging attachments and the consequent foul motives GURGLING from within itself. Devotion of Knowledge (Jnana-Yoga) is thus the positive way to persuade the mind to leave all its low temptations. When a child is playing with a delicate glass curio, to save the precious object, the parents generally offer it a piece of chocolate, and the little child, anxious to get at the chocolate, drops the precious thing down. Similarly, a mind that is awakened to the serener joys of the Self will, naturally, never hang on to sensuous objects and their fleeting joys.

ALMS-GIVING (CHARITY), CONTROL OF THE SENSES AND SACRIFICE — These three are now the techniques by which an individual successfully tunes up his inner instruments of knowledge in order to discover the required amount of “steady devotion to Knowledge.” Charity must come from one’s sense of abundance. Charity springs only from a sense of oneness in us — oneness between the giver and the recipient. Unless one is able to identify oneself with others, one will not feel this noble urge to share all that one has with others who do not have it. Thus Daana is born out of a capacity to restrain one’s instincts of acquisition and aggrandisement, and to replace them with the spirit of sacrifice, and it consists in sharing with others the objects of the world that one possesses.

If charity (daana) develops in one the capacity to detach oneself from the wealth that one possesses and share it with others who are poorer, then we can say that control of the sense-organs (dama) is the application of the same spirit of sacrifice in one’s personal life. To give a complete licence for indulgence to the sense-organs is to waste, unproductively, the total human vitality. To economise in the expenditure of energy through the sense organs in the fields of sense-objects is to discover an extra amount of untapped energy. This energy can be made use of as the motive power behind the mind and intellect that is set on a flight to the higher realms of meditation. To keep the mind turned up to the Self, a subtle energy is called forth, and it will be discovered within ourselves when we control our sense excesses. Without dama and daana the pilgrimage to Truth is merely a dream.

In the Vedic period, SACRIFICE (Yajna) was the day-to-day devotional ritualism that the average man of spiritual seeking diligently practised. Without this regular prayer-cum-puja — which is the substitute for Yajna available for us — control of the sense-organs will be impossible, and without this control, the spirit of charity cannot come. In the absence of both daana and dama, spiritual experience of the Self, recognition of the Divine within us, is impossible. It is interesting to note that each subsequent term in this list is logically connected with the one indicated immediately before.

STUDY OF THE SCRIPTURES (Swaadhyaaya) — Traditionally, this term indicates regular study of the scriptures. Study of scriptural literature daily, in measured quantities, will provide the necessary inspiration to live the divine life in our day-to-day existence. But, scriptural study is indicated here by a very significant term, which in Sanskrit suggests that the study of the scriptures should not be merely an intellectual appreciation, but as the student reads the text-books, he must be able, simultaneously, to observe, analyse and realise the truth of what he is studying within his own life. Regular studies, coupled with regular practice (Yajna), will give us the courage to live in self-control of the sense-organs, which in its turn will supply us with steadiness in meditation for realising the Highest.

ASCETICISM (Tapas) — All conscious self-denials at the body level, whereby an individual reduces his indulgences in the world outside, gains more and more energy within himself, and applies the new-found energy for the purpose of self-development, are called Tapas.

UPRIGHTNESS (Arjavam) — Crookedness in thought, emotion and general conduct has a self-destructive influence upon the personality. Actions belying one’s own true intentions and motives, convictions and aspirations, realisation and discrimination will result in the crookedness of one’s personality. He who is indulging in this way-of-life will thereby develop in himself a split personality and will soon lose the glow of efficiency and be impoverished in the powers of personal grit.

In short, in this very opening stanza of the chapter, while enumerating the qualities of a “Divinely good” man, we find a definite scientific connection among them. Ethical values and moral beauties described in Hinduism are not arbitrary declarations of an imaginative Saint or a melancholy prophet. They are built on the rocky foundations of reason and experience. Sincerely pursued and consciously lived, they contribute to a better expression of the diviner possibilities in man which generally lie dormant. Ethics in India are not, by themselves, a passport to heaven, but are a preparation for a fuller unfoldment of the divine contents in the bosom of man.

MOREOVER, HERE ARE LISTED THE MENTAL CONTENTS OF THE GODLY:

Abhayam, fearlessness; sattva-samsuddhih, purtiy of the mind (sattva), mentally avoiding fraud, trickery, falsehood, etc. in dealings, i.e., honest behaviour; jnana-yoga-vyavasthitih, persistence in knowledge and yoga-jnana means knowledge of such subjects as the Self, learnt from scriptures and teachers; yoga means making those things that have been learnt matters of one’s own personal experience through concentration by means of withdrawl of the organs etc.; persistence, steadfastness, in those two, knowledge and yoga;-this [This-refers to all the three from ‘fearlessness’ to ‘persistence in knowledge and yoga’.] is the principal divine characteristic which is sattvika (born of the sattva quality). That nature which may occur in persons competent in their respective spheres, [Persons treading the path of Jnana-yoga or Karma-yoga have sattvika qualities. Some of the qualities mentioned in the first three verses occur only in the former, whereas the others are found in both or only in the latter.-Tr.]-that is said to be their sattvika attribute. Danam, charity, distribution of food etc. according to one’s ability; and damah, control of the external organs-the control of the internal organ, santih, will be referred to later; yajnah, sacrifices-Agnihotra etc. sanctioned by the Vedas, and sacrifices in honour of gods and others [Others: Those in honour of the manes, humans and other beings. Brahma-yajna, the fifth sacrifice, is referred to separately by svadhyaya.] sanctioned by the Smrtis: svadhyayah, study of the Rg-veda etc. for unseen results; tapah, austerity, those concerning the body, etc., which will be stated (17.14-16); arjavam, rectitude, straigthforwardness at all times-. Further,/p>p>16.2 Ahimsa, non-injury, abstaining from giving pain to creatures; satyam, truthfulness, speaking of things as they are, without unpleasantness and prevarication; akrodhah, absence of anger, control of anger that might result when offened or assulatd by others; tyagah, renunciation, monasticism-for, charity has been mentioned earlier; santih, control of the internal organ; apaisunam, absence of vilification-paisunam means backbiting; its absence is apaisunam; daya, kindness; bhutesu, to creatures in distress; aloluptvam, non-conveteousness, absence of excitement of the organs in the presence of objects; mardavam, gentleness, absence of hard-heartedness; hrih, modesty;; acapalam, freedom from restlessness, absence of unnecessary use of organs such as speech, hands and feet-. Besides,/p>p>16.3 Tajah, vigour, not the brightness of the skin; ksama, forgiveness, absence of internal perturbation when offened or assulated-absence of anger has been explained by us as the calming down of a perturbed mind; thus, forgiveness and absence of anger are distinguished; dhrtih, fortitude, a particular function of the mind which removes the tedium of the body and organs when they become exhausted, and being rejuvenated by which the body and organs do not feel any fatigue; saucam, purity-is of two kinds: external, with the help of earth and water; and internal, the cleanliness of mind and intellect, the absence of such impurities as trickery, attachment, etc.; purity of these two kinds; adrohah, freedom from malice, absence of the desire to injure others, absence of hatred; na-atimanita, absence of haughtiness-too much self-esteem (mana) is atimanah; one having that is atimani; its abstract form is atimanita; absence of that, na-atimanita, i.e., absence of the feeling of one’s being too honourable. These (qualities) beginning with fearlessness and ending with this, O scion of the Bharata dynasty, bhavanti, are; (the qualities) abhijatasya, of one destined to have;-what kind of nature?-the daivim, divine; sampadam, nature-of one destined to have divine attributes, of one who is worthy of the excellence of the gods, i.e., of one who would be illustrations in future. Thereafter, the demoniacal nature is now being stated: