Samkhya Yoga - Part 2 - Aham Bhavam

Chapter - 2 /part 2

Aham Bhavam: the Bhagavad Gita

Before, Krishna told that the reason for his sorrow is ignorance. Then he tells that a scholar or a knowledgeable person never becomes sorrowful about anything. The statement that the Bhagavad Gita put forward here is that the knowledge is the only solution for this. Knowledge and sorrow are two opposite things.  If a person becomes sorrowful, that shows lack of knowledge. Why the feeling 'sorrow' is sprouting up from mind? It is because of 'aham' or "I". Krishna through the Bhagavad Gita conveys the message that the feeling of "I" and "My" is the basic reason for sorrow. We feel sorrow only when something is happened to "me" or "mine". No one becomes sorrowful when something bad is happened to someone else.

Aham Bhavam and the Bhagavad Gita:

A person lives with the feeling of "I". It is called 'aham bhavam' . Then there forms the "my" feeling. And an attachment develops towards others or other things those are "mine". The Bhagavad Gita goes on mentioning that 'aham bhavam'  is the result of ignorance. A knowledgeable person or a philosopher or a Rishi never becomes sorrowful about anything or anybody. Ancient Indian philosophers or Rishis are those who used the knowledge, reason and argument in seeking  the ultimate truth of reality especially of the causes and nature of things and of the principles governing existence.

So Krishna tells Arjuna to drop the unreal and temporary sorrow and get up and perform the desired or liable karma or duty. Following chapters says that no one can abstain from desired duties. That is a sin. Further, Krishna explains that there is no point in worrying about the death of relatives in the war.

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