THE PROBLEM OF evil is a central one in every system of philosophy or religion, a problem that is usually explained away instead of itself being explained; and the difficulty of reconciling the conception of a God who is all good with the existence of evil remains. Monists of the West, in order to be consistent with their philosophy of absolutism, tend to deny the reality of evil; for, they declare, what we call evil is evil only because we do not view our lives sub specie aeternitatis (means ‘under the aspect of eternity’). What appears to be evil is in reality good when viewed in this manner.

And yet we must ask, can evil really be changed into good merely by viewing it in a special manner? Can pain be labeled pleasure provided we view it absolutely? It is true that pain maybe borne gracefully if we fix our gaze upon the ultimate goodness of God, but pain is a positive experience of suffering, at least during the duration of the experience. How then can a philosophy be at one with itself simply by denying evil or even more simply by affirming that it can be transformed into good when it is viewed "under the aspect of eternity"? The question remains unanswered in Western attempts to dodge this gravest of all ethical problems.

Vedanta meets the issue in a different way. In the first place, it asserts that, when viewed from the point of view of the Absolute, there is neither good nor evil, neither pleasure nor pain. Then evil no longer exists not because the magical power of the Absolute changes evil into good, but because both good and evil have ceased to exist. So long, however, as we are experiencing pleasure and pain, so long do both good and evil exist as empirically real. The experience of evil is indeed as much a positive fact as the experience of good. Vedanta thus recognizes both good and evil, and pleasure and pain, as positive facts of experience in our empirical lives, they being in effect the play of maya, neither real nor unreal. They cannot be said to be real, for we no longer experience them when we touch absolute experience; and they cannot be said to be actually unreal, for they are experienced in our empirical lives.

Thus, if we accept finite experiences as but the play of maya, the perfection of the Absolute is in no way tarnished. The experiences of pleasure and of pain within maya are in fact due to the good and evil deeds of an individual's past; they are the direct result of karma operating in an individual's life. Shankara compares God to the giver of rain. As rain falls to the ground, various plants ripen and grow and differ from one another, not because the rain is partial but because the seeds are different, Ishvara (God) in like manner is the dispenser of the Law, and individuals experience pleasure and pain according to the seeds of merit and demerit they have sown in themselves from a beginningless past.

So, again, the all-goodness of God is not contradicted by our own individual experiences of suffering and evil. Good and evil, that is to say, as they exist as maya, are relative—in the sense that the one without the other is meaningless. Shankara, therefore, distinguishes maya as being of two kinds—avidya (evil) and vidya (good). Avidya is that which causes us to move away from the real Self, or Brahman, drawing a veil before our sight of Truth; vidya is that which enables us to move towards Brahman by removing the veil of ignorance. As we receive illumination and come to know the Self, we transcend both vidya and avidya and cease to submit to the dominion or maya.

Source: Article by Swami Prabhavananda, Living Wisdom, Published by Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai, 1995.

Once Kanchipurna, a famous saint met Ramanuja and at the sight of Kanchipurna, Ramanuja’s joy knew no bounds. He got up and, offering him a seat, said, ‘Your coming here to-day is due to my good fortune. Boundless is the grace of Lord Varadaraja (God). Finding this ignorant boy of His, lost and wandering helplessly in this forest of Samsara (Cycle of Birth and Death), He has sent you as my guide. I can now enjoy the cool shade of the great sandal tree since you are here. You are my Guru; do accept me as your disciple.’

 ‘Ramanuja, my child,’ said Kanchipurna, on hearing this, ‘I am a Sudra (low caste), and what is worse, an ignorant man. You are a Brahmana and a great scholar. True, I am old in years, but you are old in wisdom. Not being versed in the Sastras, I am passing my life in the service of Sri Varadaraja. I am your servant; you are my Guru.’

 ‘Sir, you alone are really wise,’ Ramanuja replied. ‘If the knowledge of the Sastras only brings about pride of erudition instead of devotion to God, then it is false knowledge; better is ignorance than this. You have verily tasted the real essence of the Sastras; other scholars merely carry the burden, like the ass that carries the load of sandalwood. Please do not forsake me; I take refuge at your feet.’ So saying, Ramanuja suddenly fell at his feet and began to weep. 

Kanchipurna instantly raised him up from the ground and, embracing him in deep love, said, ‘My child, I am blessed to-day by seeing your devotion to God. Very soon will Lord Varadaraja (God) fulfil your desire.’

Sreyan svadharmo vigunah paradharmat svanusthitat;

Svadharme nidhanam sreyah paradharmo bhayavahah — (3.35)

‘Better is one’s own dharma, though imperfect, than the dharma of another well performed; better is death in one’s own dharma; another person’s dharma is fraught with fear.’

Everyone has his or her own dharma, or way of life and work and human relations. According to one’s psychological disposition, a person has a particular bent of mind and work capacities. That is one’s dharma.  Sri Krishna says; better to die in one’s own dharma, than to live in somebody else’s dharma. That dharma is good for that person, this is good for you. Find out your own dharma based on your own mental disposition. Sreyan svadharmo vigunah, ‘even though one’s own dharma is not so high quality, still it is the best for oneself.’ This is a teaching based upon individual identity of every human being, like the individuality of one’s thumb impression. Similarly, there is a psychic individuality. That is based on a certain bent of life, attitudes, reactions, likes and dislikes. All these constitute one’s individuality; let one respect it and not imitate somebody else; don’t be ashamed of yourself. This sloka refers to this need of our part to have faith in ourselves, confidence in ourselves, in one’s own psychological disposition. One can change it for the better but should not exchange it, should not cast yourself in the mould of somebody else.

Source: Universal Message of the Bhagavad Gita by Swami Ranganathananda

Karmanyakarma yah pasyed akarmani ca karma yah;

Sa buddhiman manusyesu sa yuktah krtsnakarmakrt­­­­­--- (4.18)

'One who sees inaction in action, and action in inaction, is intelligent among human beings, he or she is a yogi and a doer of all action.'

This is a very high level of thought in the whole Gita. 'One who sees inaction in action, and action in inaction, is intelligent among human beings, he or she is a real yogi and the most intelligent person and the doer of all action.' Karmani akarma yah pasyet, 'seeing inaction in action'. How can we see that? Looks contradictory, but it is not so; in human experience this can be perfectly realized to see inaction in action, and action in inaction. Sa buddhiman manusyesu, 'he or she is the most intelligent of persons', sa yuktah, 'he or she is a yogi', that is, the state we have to achieve eventually, when we realize our true nature.

This idea is echoed very beautiful in Chinese thought, in Taoism and partly in Confucian thought. There they call it, 'no work'. 'No work' is real work. Work is no work at all. It is a question of agency and attachment. When these two are not there, work ceases to be work, it becomes a play, it becomes spontaneous, it becomes natural. So, that is how the idea of work when there is effort, struggle, and tension. When you become thoroughly detached, then all that tension goes away. You are working, but you feel that you are not working. What a beautiful idea! Even in normal life, you can see a baby is sick at night and the mother is keeping awake to tend the baby's body. She doesn't feel the strain of that work at all. When there is such love, none will feel that strain. But a paid person will not have the same experience, because there is no such spontaneous love there. With a little spiritual development, work ceases to be burden, ceases to be drudgery. I have used a word which is very current in this modern context. Increasingly, today's industrial civilization is teaching people that work is drudgery. Joy must be found outside work. That is why too many holidays. As soon as Friday evening comes, millions people running out for a holiday. These five days were all drudgery. Let us have joy outside the five days. That seems to be the modern theory. In fact, so many Western writers have written on the subject. I once read an English writer writing thus in a paper:

People leave London on Friday afternoon, go by car, on the way there are so many cars to negotiate, you become angry, you create trouble, then go to seaside, so many people are there, you don't have vacant place there, you get angry there also, and when you finally return on Monday morning or Sunday night, you are more tired than you were when you left on Friday evening. This is happening all over the advanced part of the world. You can see plenty of it on the Mediterranean coast.

It will happen here in India also, because we separate joy from work. Work as a drudgery, Sri Krishna will not allow that attitude. There is joy in work also. From one joy to another joy is alright. But from drudgery to joy is not at all alright. Work can be full of joy, provided there is love in the heart. Then everything becomes fine. You can carry a heavier burden if there is love in the heart. That is one lesson that we must learn. People who are posted to the defend country in the Himalayan frontier, if they have the spirit of love for the nation, they will do their work happily and efficiently. Similarly, our administrative officers do devoted service when posted to faraway districts. By attachment you rarely do very great work and remain sane.

While working, you are not only working but also expressing your personality in work. In work when you express your personality, it is a wonderful spiritual experience. The Gita is trying to explain that idea, which work itself, is a spiritual education. If you want joy on a holiday, you can do so, not because work is drudgery. Gita will not allow it. Find joy in work. What a beautiful idea! Even the simplest work, you can find joy in it, because you have put spiritual value into the work. Work itself is just an external action. But it is my mind that gives value to the work that I do. I inject that value into work; then I find it is fine and quite pleasant.

Source: Universal Message of the Bhagavad Gita by Swami Ranganathananda

Sabdadibhih pancabhireva panca,

Pancatvamapuh svagunena baddhah

Kuranga-matanga-patanga-mina,

Bhrnga narah pancabhirancitah rim

 The deer, the elephant, the moth, the fish, and the black-bee these five have died, being tied to one or other of the five senses through their own attachment. What then is in store for man who is attached to all these five?

Being tied to one or other of the five senses, through their own attachment, these five have died (sab-dadibhih pancabhireva panca pancatvam-apuh swagunena baddhah). Which are these five?  These are the deer, the elephant, the moth, the fish, and the black-bee (kuranga-matan-ga-patanga-mina bhrnga). Five entities are taken here as examples. Each one of these perishes by its attachment to one sense organ. If this is so, says Shankara, what then is in store for man who is attached to all the five sense organs (narah pancabhir-ancitah kim)?

Sound (sabda) captivates the deer. When the deer hears a melodious sound, it stands with its eyes glaring, completely oblivious to the world around. By then the hunter comes and shoots it. This is the result of its attachment to the sense organ of sound. Next is touch (sparsa). In kerala and Mysore, hunters catch wild elephants by sending a female elephant into the forest. When the female elephant goes and touches the male elephant, the male elephant forgets the world, and the hunters come and enchain it. The male elephant does not even struggle! This is the magic of the organ or touch, through which a huge animal like an elephant also can be captivated easily. Then comes form (rupa). When we light a lamp, moths rush into it and perish because of its attachment to light or fire. We can see this especially in the rainy season. Then comes taste (rasa). To catch fishes we have to only let the bait into the water. Enticed by the eatable, the fish comes and is caught. This is due to its attachment to taste. Finally comes smell (gandha). The bee, attracted by the fragrance of the flower, enters it and is caught in it when the flower closes its petals. Thus it is killed there.

So these are the five entities that die due to their attachment to one or the other sense organs. Pancatvam-apuh means dissolution of the five elements. It is a technical term meaning death. The abovementioned five entities die because they are tied by their respective tendencies (svagunena baddhah). Guna means a rope, and also tendency. These entities are slave to their tendencies, their attachment to a particular organ, and they fall into the jaws of death.

If this is the case, then what to speak of man who is a slave to all the five sense organs! Just imagine his fate! As long as man is attached to his sense organs, there must be crime. Criminal tendency arises from this particular level. People, just carried away by the fascination for external objects, do mischief and commit crime. It is only when they are caught and put behind the bars that they repent and begin to think. By then it is too late. Due to their attachment to the sensory system they fall into the trap of misery and death. So we must know how to discriminate between the Self and the non-Self.

Source: The Message of Vivekachudamani by Swami Ranganathananda