Gita 01.37 Consciousness That Is Contaminated Becomes Conquered And Covered

 

Audio Link 1: https://www.thespiritualscientist.com/gita-01-37-consciousness-that-is-contaminated-becomes-conquered-and-covered/

 

yady apy ete na paśyanti

lobhopahata-cetasaḥ

kula-kṣaya-kṛtaṁ doṣaṁ

mitra-drohe ca pātakam 

 

Word-for-word:

yadi — if; api — even; ete — they; na — do not; paśyanti — see; lobha — by greed; upahata — overpowered; cetasaḥ — their hearts; kula-kṣaya — in killing the family; kṛtam — done; doṣam — fault; mitra-drohe — in quarreling with friends; ca — also; pātakam — sinful reactions

 

Translation:

Even if these men, whose consciousness is overpowered by greed, do not see the fault in destroying a dynasty and the sin of betraying friends—

 

Explanation:

Arjuna continues his argument about why he should not fight. He says:

yady apy ete na paśyanti : “If they are not able to see,

lobhopahata-cetasaḥ : because their consciousness is overpowered by greed,

kula-kṣaya-kṛtaṁ doṣaṁ : to the fault in the destruction of the dynasty

mitra-drohe ca pātakam : and the sin of betraying one’s friends, which causes one to fall down to terrible destinations.” “Drohe” refers to envy and animosity, while “pātakam” refers to the fall that leads to terrible consequences.

 

Arjuna here says that even if they are not able to see it, we can, O Kṛṣṇa. Arjuna’s argument will continue in the next verse, where he emphasizes that since we can see it, we should not act the way they are acting.

 

We will focus on the theme of ‘lobhopahata-cetasaḥ’. ‘Lobha’ is desire or greed, ‘apahata’ means defeated, conquered, or covered, and ‘cetasaḥ’ refers to consciousness—greed can cover our consciousness. It is interesting how greed can conquer, cover, defeat, and misdirect our consciousness.

 

Consciousness is our fundamental energy, and it must be directed appropriately to foster inner growth. If this energy is misdirected, growth becomes impossible. To ensure proper direction, it is essential that consciousness remains pure.

 

What happens when consciousness is impure? Impure consciousness results in lopsided and distorted perception. When consciousness is contaminated or covered, it becomes conquered and veiled, making it incapable of perceiving things as they truly are.

 

Just as we would be unable to see clearly if our eyes are covered by a non-transparent cloth, similarly, when our consciousness is covered by contaminations, we lose clarity of perception. In some traditions, women cover their whole face, leaving only a small opening for their eyes. As a result, their vision is restricted to that narrow passage, significantly reducing their ability to see clearly.

 

Imagine if we had a covering like that. We would only be able to see certain things and not others. When consciousness is covered by greed, one sees only the object of desire and fails to recognize the price one must pay to obtain it. All that one perceives is, “This is what I want, and this is what I am going to get,” and that’s it. There’s no further consideration, no need for anything more beyond that.

 

For each of us, it is important to move forward while ensuring that our consciousness does not become covered. When consciousness is covered, selective vision can become deceptive and dangerous. For example, if we are traveling along a road and fail to notice a large pothole, deep ditch, or big bump, we will experience a severe jolt.

 

When people become greedy, their vision becomes captivated by the object of their craving, leaving little room for anything else. All they can think is, “This is what I want, and I will get it at all costs.”

 

Not only do they fail to count the costs, they don’t even consider them. Greed can blind a person to such an extent that they may even kill for the sake of it. It’s not that they are inherently monsters; rather, greed transforms them into monsters.

 

The soul is always pure and can never become impure. However, if the covering on the soul is impure, the soul, for all practical purposes, acts as if it is impure. It’s like a person who has eyes but is wearing a blindfold. The person is not actually blind, but they are functionally blind. Similarly, while the soul is essentially pure, it becomes functionally impure due to the covering of impurity.

 

Just as a person with a blindfold is fundamentally not blind but has eyes, their functionality is as limited as that of a blind person. Similarly, for the soul, its functionality becomes limited due to the contamination of consciousness. This contaminated consciousness cannot be easily rectified; it must be gradually and systematically addressed through steady purification.

 

To the extent that purification occurs, growth takes place. As purification progresses, the soul’s natural consciousness awakens. Impurity leads to an obsessive focus on one thing, causing blindness to the value of everything else.

 

Contaminated consciousness magnifies the value of the object of attachment while diminishing the value of everything else. As a result, the soul harms itself in the long run and others in the short run. This highlights the danger of contamination, and here, the danger of greed is being discussed. Clouded and contaminated consciousness becomes conquered and covered, making the soul, which is essentially pure, functionally impure due to the covering of impurity.