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Kiet Nguyen IHRTLUHC

Professor A. Nottingham-Martin

Freshman Studies FRST 101

The Bhagavad-Gita: To find joy within no joy

The most beautiful thing about religion is that it is meant to guide

people toward doing the right thing in order to attain absolute internal joy.

Such a beauty shines through in the epic dialogue Bhagavad-Gita,

meaning Song of the Lord, which has been Hinduisms exemplary text

for many centuries. In between the verses lies what seems like a paradox:

even though Krishna teaches Arjuna that men of discipline do attain

perfect joy, he simultaneously preaches that a disciplined man must be

impartial to suffering and joy. However, Lord Krishna reconciles the conflict

by teaching that one must abstain from superficial pleasures in order to

achieve absolute joy.

Krishna teaches Arjuna to refrain from suffering and joy because a

man affected by those two things does not find peace. At the start of the

text, after Arjunas dejection upon realizing that he must fight against his

kin, Krishna says that Arjuna must learn to endure fleeting things and

that a man is fit for immortality when suffering and joy are equal for

him. (Bg. 2.14-15) These ephemeral things encompass sensual contacts

such as pain, pleasure, joy, or suffering physical experiences that never

cling to a person permanently. Therefore, when a man is unmoved by

suffering and joy, he attains his higher self, becomes a man of discipline

(Bg 6.7-8) and deserves immortality. This concept of not yielding to the
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temptation of joy nor the harshness of suffering spans throughout the

whole text. In the twelfth teaching, Krishna tells Arjuna that a man

impartial to joy and suffering is free from attachment. (Bg. 12.18) In

addition, he teaches that freed from dualities, from joy and suffering,

undeluded men reach that realm beyond change (Bg. 15.5) that is true

peace. When Krishna mentions dualities, he means that one should not

only stay away from superficial joy, but also its antithesis, which is

suffering, for residing in both ends of the spectrum hinders a man from

finding peace.

Paradoxically, through his teachings, Krishna also implies that there

exists perfect joy that appears desirable when described by the Lord

himself. In the sixth teaching, he says that When his mind is tranquil,

perfect joy comes to the man of discipline and that the man of discipline

easily achieves perfect joy in harmony with the infinite spirit. (Bg. 6.27-

28) This suggests that a disciplined man possesses the perfect joy that, in

Krishnas words, seems like a great quality that every man should aspire

to possess. Moreover, closing the fourteenth teaching, Krishna identifies

himself as the basis of eternal sacred duty and of perfect joy (Bg.

14.27), saying that faithful men who serve him attain perfect joy.

Therefore, he implies that perfect joy is the Lords reward for men who

worship him with devotion, and thus makes perfect joy appear covetable.

These verses contradict those which specify that discipline equals

abstaining from joy and suffering, since they ask the question whether a

man achieves perfect joy by desiring or not desiring it.

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Nonetheless, Krishnas two seemingly conflicting uses of the word

joy are in fact different from one another, in that refraining from worldly

external pleasures, a man finds the true joy within himself. In the third

teaching, Krishna talks about action and how one becomes disciplined by

performing necessary action and commits sin by not doing so: He who

fails to keep turning the wheel here set in motion wastes his life in sin,

addicted to the senses, Arjuna. (Bg. 3.16) By addicted to the senses,

Krishna refers to the sensory experiences containing external joy and

suffering, examples of which include material goods and physical pain.

However, in the next verse, Krishna explains to Arjuna, But when a man

finds delight within himself and feels inner joy and pure contentment in

himself, there is nothing more to be done. (Bg. 3.17) This verse suggests

that within a man indeed exists pure joy that he does not have to seek,

and that by disciplining himself, he easily achieves such joy. Going on to

talk about renunciation of action, Krishna preaches, Detached from

external contacts, he discovers joy in himself; joined by discipline to the

infinite spirit, the self attains inexhaustible joy. (Bg. 5.21) This position

does not contradict but even further supports that a disciplined man be

impartial to suffering and joy, because if a man is ignorant of external

suffering and joy, he sees the utmost satisfaction inside himself. Indeed,

Krishna points out that if a man disciplines himself by detaching himself

from external contacts, he has joy, delight, and light within; becoming

the infinite spirit, he finds the pure calm of infinity. (Bg. 5.24)

Apart from teachings on renunciation, those on discipline also

embody Krishnas lessons on joy and suffering. Krishna starts out by

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asking, Without discipline, he has no understanding or inner power;

without inner power, he has no peace; and without peace where is joy?

(Bg. 2.66) By the reiteration of the word inner, Krishna underscores that

it is not the outside experiences but the internal power and peace that

lead a man to absolute internal joy. Through this question, Lord Krishna

teaches Arjuna that there is no such thing as true joy if there is no

discipline. Later on, Krishna unambiguously differentiates between the

worldly joy and the perfect joy, especially in the sixth teaching. He

teaches, The higher self of a tranquil man whose self is mastered is

perfectly poised in cold or heat, joy or suffering, honor or contempt (Bg.

6.7). Through this verse, Krishna preaches that a man attains his higher

self and becomes serene when he is unmoved by external experiences,

such as temporary physical sensations (cold heat), superficial feelings

(joy suffering), or mercurial social reputation (honor contempt). Lord

Krishna subsequently talks about the absolute joy beyond the senses

that can only be grasped by understanding. (Bg. 6.21) He thereby puts

the emphasis on the inner joy that men feel when they are learned and

knowledgeable, not the external feeling of exultation to which every man,

whether he has understanding or not, easily falls. Hence, when a man

disciplines himself and abides in understanding, he is unmoved, even by

deep suffering. (Bg. 6.22) Krishna also says that, When his mind is

tranquil, perfect joy comes to the man of discipline (Bg. 6.27), which

means that a disciplined and tranquil man, or a man unmoved by

external joy and suffering, possesses perfect joy without having to seek

for it.
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Krishnas lessons in the sixth teaching culminate when he preaches

that by constantly practicing discipline, a man easily achieves perfect joy

in harmony with the infinite spirit. (Bg. 6.28) In conjunction with that

verse, the Lord tells Arjuna that One who serves me faithfully, with

discipline of devotion, transcends the qualities of nature and shares in the

infinite spirit. (Bg. 14.26) Through these verses, Lord Krishna says that

practicing discipline and fulfilling ones sacred duty are ways to devote

oneself to the infinite spirit, who is the basis of eternal sacred duty and of

perfect joy. (Bg. 14.27) Hence, only when one is disciplined and faithful to

Krishna without being led astray by external joy and suffering does one

discover the perfect joy that the Lord embodies.

All in all, Lord Krishnas positions on joy and suffering in the

Bhagavad-Gita are not only uncontradictory but also supportive of one

another. Even though there seems to be a conflict regarding Krishnas

teachings on joy and suffering at first, one learns that everything is

connected upon close examination: to find absolute joy, one only needs to

refrain from superficial joy. After grasping an unequivocal understanding

of Krishnas teachings on joy, one finds it hard to stumble upon the

distraction of external sensual experiences and focuses more on what

they are meant to do in order to attain the perfect joy they deserve.

Without any falsehood, the teachings on joy and suffering in the

Bhagavad-Gita come through as one united stream of knowledge whose

beauty everybody should appreciate.

Works Cited
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The Bhagavad-Gita: Krishnas Counsel in Time of War. Trans.

Barbara Stoler Miller. Bantam, 2004.

Revision thought process

1) Based on the feedback I received from the instructor, my peers, and

my own re-reading and re-thinking of my essay,

the strongest points of my paper are: clear and to-the-point arguments

that do not stray from the main point of the paper, with much supporting

evidence from the text.

and the weakest points of my paper are: phrasing needs to be fixed at

times, and the use of evidence to explain other evidence without adding

much to the paper.

2) The steps Ive taken to maintain/develop the strengths are:

When I add new ideas to the essay, I try not to make them go astray from

the path of the paper, and I also try my best to maintain the evidence.

The steps Ive taken to improve the weaknesses are:

I try to get over my fear of having the wrong opinion and be more

confident in expressing my subjective thoughts, so that the evidence

supports the paper much more staunchly without vagueness. I carefully

read the comments and improve my weaknesses thoroughly.

3) One thing I have learned through writing this paper is:

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I should not be scared of having the wrong opinion because a work of

art is meant to be seen under many perspectives there is no right nor is

there any wrong opinions, just opinions that are strongly backed by

evidence from the work of art. I will explain why I choose particular

evidence more thoroughly in future papers and not leave the readers with

uncertainty.