The Spiritual Import of the Mahabharata and the Bhagavadgita : Ch-8. Part-16.

8. In Harmony with the Whole Universe  :


Part-16.

These difficulties that we made reference to, which we have to face in the study of these divine and sublime subjects, are because of the persistence of certain weaknesses in our individualities. The weaknesses are nothing but the affirmations of our own selves. There is an inveterate impulse in every one of us to assert ourselves, and the biblical story of the fall of Satan, Lucifer, is a commonly accepted doctrine of the original fall of man.

That is the original fall, and the eating of the fruit of the forbidden tree is the assertion of individuality by a sudden awareness of good and bad, good and evil. We are told that Adam and Eve had no idea of good and evil—they did not even know that they were naked. This idea itself was not there; there was no consciousness of it, because they were communed to the whole creation.

The eating of the fruit of the forbidden tree is the desire to grab objects of sense for the satisfaction of the appetites that manifest themselves to the senses. These assertive forces persist until the day of doom, and they do not leave us; they go on whispering something into our ears.

Swami Krishnananda

To be continued  ....