Nectar of the Eternal: Wisdom from the Bhagavad Gita for a Joyful Life and a Sustainable World

By Eric Hutchins

India’s Bhagavad-Gita (the Lord’s Song) is a seminal work illuminating our path to inner wholeness of mind, spiritual wisdom, and a life fully lived. It begins as Arjuna, a handsome prince and the best archer of his time, must choose between two different courses of action and their equally unsatisfactory consequences. Either he causes the deaths of a great many kinsmen by fighting to win back his stolen kingdom, or he lets evil prevail by refusing to fight. Faced with the same heart-wrenching dilemma today, which path would we choose and why?

Bewildered, Arjuna refuses to fight and asks Lord Krishna, his best friend and charioteer, to advise him. Lord Krishna begins by admonishing him to fight the unrighteous in order to protect the righteous. Krishna goes on to tell Arjuna why his grief over the impending deaths of allies and adversaries alike is misplaced and, in any case, a waste of time. Finally, Krishna describes how Arjuna and the rest of us can do what is right in our lives and achieve lasting happiness. The key is cultivating a mental state of union with the part of ourselves that neither lives nor dies and yet lends each of us the conscious awareness needed to perceive, think, act, and live in this world.

In Nectar of the Eternal, author Eric Hutchins brings together the work of several renowned scholars including Mahatma Gandhi, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Vladimir Antonov, Eknath Easwaran, and Sir Charles Wilkins (the first to translate the Bhagavad-Gita into English in 1785). Their translations of thirty-eight key verses along with the author’s five decades of deep, introspective practice provide depth and clarity regarding how we may achieve more joyful lives, better enrich the lives of others, and help build sustainable communities and a peaceful world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Jul 15, 2019
• ISBN: 9781504395687

Eric Hutchins

Eric Hutchins’ life-long quest has been to live a full, joyful life in a more sustainable world. While reading in psychology, sociology, and anthropology at university, he began the daily practice of a traditional, self-transcending form of introspection. For five decades, he’s maintained his twice-daily introspective practices and East-West studies of human consciousness. His goal is to share humanity’s most important techniques for Self-empowerment and advance humanity’s fourth global r/evolution. He lives on the Central California coast and may be contacted at www.NectarEternal.site.

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Copyright © 2019 Eric Hutchins.

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The views expressed in Nectar of the Eternal are those of the author alone. They may or may not be shared by any of the translators. The translators’ views are expressed through their translations and, in many cases, their commentaries (see endnotes 11 through 20 for citations).

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

ISBN: 978-1-5043-9543-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5043-9544-1 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5043-9568-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018900329

Balboa Press rev. date: 11/05/2019

DEDICATIONS

Nectar of the Eternal is dedicated to the wholeness of human consciousness and to its steady, joyful, empathetic, compassionate, generous, creative, intelligent, and wise expression in all five realms of our lives and on all five corresponding levels of our local, state, and national communities. It’s dedicated to those who are already well along this path and to those who are feeling its sublime call for the first time.

This book is dedicated to Jackie, Andrea, Ben, Casey, Joseph, Kristina, Lulu, Ruby, Tulsi, and Will. And, it’s dedicated to the bright, engaged, forward-thinking individuals in every coming generation who will gain new insights leading to new achievements and adventures. May this book serve each of you well as you write your chapter in humanity’s fourth global r/evolution.¹

Comment or contact the author by visiting:

https://SurveyHero.com/c/NectarEternal

To participate in the conversation on positive, lasting change in every

realm of our lives and learn how easy it is to enjoy the

nectar of the Eternal Self, please visit

www.NectarEternal.site

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

With Deepest and Unending Gratitude for the Wisdom of

Lord Krishna, Adi Shankara,

Swami Brahmananda Saraswati, and

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

and

for the kindness and generous support of

Jennifer Arant

Wisdom from the Bhagavad Gita

for a Joyful Life and a

Sustainable World

Widely regarded as a global treasury of wisdom, India’s Bhagavad Gita² is an eighteen chapter dialogue between a warrior prince and Lord Krishna, an incarnation of Vishnu.³ Chapter 2 begins with Prince Arjuna refusing to battle his treacherous cousins for fear of incurring great sin and misery from their deaths. Krishna responds that his concerns are misplaced because, once created, no one ever ceases to exist. Krishna then describes a simple technique by which Arjuna may directly experience this for himself and gain the peace of mind to defend against evil, even when doing so promises dire consequences.

Nectar of the Eternal shows how bright, engaged, forward-thinking individuals from every walk of life and embracing every point of view may begin cultivating this supremely elevated state of mind; a state leading to wisdom, great achievements, and a fully satisfying life. When used by roughly 1 percent of a community of any size, Krishna’s introspective techniques also provide the necessary and sufficient conditions to make that community measurably more humane, prosperous, and environmentally sound.

How can a simple, introspective technique practiced for a few minutes each day accomplish all this? By continually replenishing eight core leadership qualities that elevate our everyday thoughts, intentions, spoken words, and actions. These qualities are steadiness of mind, durable joy, empathy, compassion, generosity, creativity, intelligence, and wisdom. A growing abundance of all these qualities makes it far easier for us to consider and address the needs of others as we consider and address our own.

In simple terms, the daily use of one of Krishna’s techniques gently removes all obstacles to the abundant flow of these qualities from their source deep within each of us. The naturally more robust expression of these qualities becomes the universal means by which we may achieve the two highest goals of every philosophical, religious, and social r/evolution⁴ worthy of the name. These goals are: (1) the full realization of every individual’s untapped potential for joy, harmony, leadership, and achievement and (2) every community’s social, economic, and environmental sustainability.

From Union, Unity of Purpose and the

Universal Means to Achieve.

CONTENTS

Dedications

Acknowledgements

Preface

The Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 2, Section 1

Arjuna’s Dilemma

Verse 4 Arjuna: How can I fight those worthy of respect and protection?

Verse 5 Arjuna: Killing these noble persons, I could not enjoy the pleasures of victory

Verse 6 Arjuna: Killing these noble persons, I would not wish to live

Verse 7 Arjuna: Heartsick and confused on matters of duty, I am your disciple. Guide me

Section 1 Summary

The Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 2, Section 2

The Eternal Self

Verse 11 Lord Krishna: The wise grieve neither for the dead nor for the living

Verse 12 Lord Krishna: [… because] each of us has always existed and will never cease to be

Verse 13 Lord Krishna: The Self dwelling in our bodies is eternal

Verse 16 Lord Krishna: [… because] the unreal has no being, the real never ceases to Be

Verse 20 Lord Krishna: The Self [dwelling in our bodies] is not slain when our bodies are slain

Verse 26 Lord Krishna: Even thinking of the Self as constantly being born and constantly dying, do not grieve

Verse 27 Lord Krishna: [… for] certain is death for the living and rebirth for the dead

Verse 28 Lord Krishna: Grieve not, because all creatures continue to exist, even after their bodies die

Verse 31 Lord Krishna: As a warrior sworn to fight evil, you will only benefit by engaging in this battle

Verse 33 Lord Krishna: If you do not engage in this righteous battle, you will be committing a sin

Verse 34 Lord Krishna: Word of your refusal to fight will spread and cause you greater pain than death

Section 2 Summary

Section 2 Supplement Relevant Verses from beyond Chapter 2

The Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 2 Section 3

Union with the Eternal Self

Verse 39 Lord Krishna: In the state of Union, you are freed from the bonds of action

Verse 40 Lord Krishna: The path to Union is easy, efficient, and delivers you from great fear

Verse 41 Lord Krishna: In this state of Union, your intellect is resolute and sharply focused

Verse 45 Lord Krishna: To achieve freedom through union with the Self, take your attention inward, beyond the three forces of all change in nature

Verse 46 Lord Krishna: In the state of Union, satisfaction is complete and the intellect is steady

Verse 47 Lord Krishna: You control your actions but not their results. Continue to act but do not live for the results

Verse 48 Lord Krishna: In the state of Union, you act free from both undue attachment and aversion

Verse 49 Lord Krishna: In the state of dis-Union, the intellect is unbalanced [in the direction of yearning for success and fear of failure], leading to action devoid of greatness. Take refuge in the intellect [united with the Self]

Verse 51 Lord Krishna: In the state of Union, you are free of all suffering

Verse 53 Lord Krishna: In the state of Union, your intellect remains unshaken

Verse 54 Arjuna: What are the signs of a man in union with the Self?

Verse 55 Lord Krishna: To achieve Union, go beyond all desires and there become satisfied in and by the Self alone

Verse 56 Lord Krishna: In the state of Union, attachment, fear, and anger depart

Verse 58 Lord Krishna: To achieve Union, withdraw your senses from their objects

Verse 59 Lord Krishna: On the path to Union, you cease to feed on the objects of your senses but still have a taste for them. On achieving Union, you lose even the taste

Verse 60 Lord Krishna: [In dis-union], the turbulent senses carry away even the most self-disciplined mind

Verse 61 Lord Krishna: To achieve Union, sit united, looking inward, beyond all thought

Verse 62 Lord Krishna: [In dis-union] observing the objects of sense, you become attached, then desirous, and finally angry

Verse 66 Lord Krishna: [In dis-union], your intellect is unsteady, happiness absent

Verse 67 Lord Krishna: [In dis-union], your intellect is easily carried away

Verse 69 Lord Krishna: That which is sight for all others would be like not seeing at all for the sage that truly sees

Verse 70 Lord Krishna: In the state of Union, you are unmoved by your desires

Verse 71 Lord Krishna: In the state of Union, you are at peace and free at last from I, me, and mine

Section 3 Summary

Section 3 Supplement

Concluding Discussion

Wisdom from the Bhagavad Gita for a Joyful Life and a Sustainable World

Postscript

1.   Bringing Forth Our Light A Proposal to the World’s Many Spiritual And Faith-Based Communities

2.   A Modest Proposal to Scientific, Social, and Spiritual Activists

3.   Ten-Question Interview With the Author

4.   Interesting and Worthwhile Reading

5.   Nectar of the Eternal Humanity’s Pathway to Inner Freedom, Happier Lives and Global Peace

6.   Becoming Humanity’s Next R/Evolution

7.   Discovering the Eternal Self

Endnotes

More Acknowledgments

The Author

PREFACE

Our lives are dizzying enterprises filled with ever-changing perceptions, thoughts, intentions, visceral feelings, spoken words, actions, intended and unintended consequences, events beyond our control, and an endless parade of aspirations, desires, achievements, and disappointments. But where is steadiness of mind, inner peace, lasting happiness, and the leadership skills we need to bring harmony, prosperity, and environmental stability to our communities?

Through it all, life seems to overtake us because we have no absolute control over the results of our actions or over the actions of others. All seems in flux and, as a result, we live in fear of not getting what we want and, when we do, we live in fear of not being able to keep it. Between the two, we are often too quick to anger and too slow to forgive.

Yet, it is said that life is 10 percent what happens to each of us and 90 percent what we do about it. This aphorism of personal empowerment and responsibility suggests a question: what qualities of thought, intention, speech, and action are both inherently good and most useful in creating the life we want for ourselves and others? The ancients knew that steadiness and balance of mind are always good. They knew that joy (happiness undiminished by disappointing events) is always good. They knew that empathy, compassion, and generosity are always welcome as are creativity and intelligence. And, they knew that above and incorporating all these, wisdom is always good.

The ancients also knew that the abundant expression of these qualities in the thoughts, intentions, spoken words, and actions of individual citizens ultimately determines the levels of social harmony, economic abundance, and environmental stewardship of our local, state, and national communities. Conversely, the waning expression of these same qualities in our lives is the root cause of every community’s disharmony, persistent poverty, and environmental decline.

Today, we ignore this ancient wisdom at our own peril. In a manner of speaking, each of us is a tree in a vast orchard attempting to make do for ourselves. Each of us bears fruit of one kind or another. Each of us needs to draw nutrients from our common cultural soil and water from the common aquifer hidden deep beneath our roots. And, each of us needs the sheltering advantages of those all around us and from the orchard as a whole. Thus, although we act for our own sake, our actions both require and strongly influence the well-being of others, particularly those in need of our care and protection.

What can each of us do to become naturally more joyful, productive, and satisfied in our lives? What can we do to contribute more to the lives of others? And, what can we do together to make our various tiers of community more socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable? Is there an answer to these questions that is compatible with all the philosophical, religious, and social doctrines we already embrace? And, is there an answer that is equally compatible with every life lived simply for the sake of day to day enjoyment?

With a global population well past seven billion, these are the questions on which both our personal and collective well-being now depend. The Bhagavad Gita, or Lord’s Song, makes clear that there is a universal practice that affirmatively answers these questions. This practice empowers every human being to make steady progress toward the lasting happiness we universally seek and the fully sustainable communities we urgently need. When a small number of individuals (on the order of 1 to 4 percent of any community) embraces this simple, neurocognitive technology, not only will the lives of the individuals using it steadily improve, but the lives of all citizens and the sustainability of the community as a whole will begin to steadily improve as well.

The Bhagavad Gita makes clear that we suffer both as individuals and as communities of individuals because the vast majority of us are all but cut off from the sustaining aquifer hidden deep below our mind’s busy surface. As absolutely real as our relationships, families, schools, places of employment, communities, and public institutions may appear to our senses and surface minds, they nonetheless have no real existence (no real being or consciousness) apart from that present within each of us. Thus, while all these realms of our lives may provide us with shelter and relief (and vexation), the vital force that nurtures and sustains them must flow from the aquifer of pure consciousness that is only accessible to — and through — each of us.

In this regard, the Bhagavad Gita offers us wisdom considered ancient in the time of Alexander the Great over 2,300 years ago — wisdom that was brought west from southern Asia (modern day India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh) to the courts of Babylon where it became known to philosophers traveling east from Greece.⁴ Today, with so many searching for the lasting joy that lies in abundance deep within each of us — and with so many communities unable to sustain themselves socially, economically, and environmentally — it is imperative that every thoughtful, engaged, forward-thinking individual learn first hand about the many personal and communal benefits that result from the daily use of the practical, mental technology described in the Bhagavad Gita.

Like any scientific enterprise, the enduring wisdom of the Bhagavad Gita offers both a body of concepts for understanding human development and a practical technology that works regardless of whether we agree with or even bother to know these underlying concepts. At first, the conceptual aspect of this knowledge sounds foreign, perhaps because it is expressed in a vocabulary no longer widely used and because its meanings run counter to what our senses and surface logic can verify.

Even so, the direct experience and benefits of using the Gita’s practical technology are soon undeniable. The same was once true with regard to the knowledge that the Earth is a sphere revolving around the sun and that matter exists in four different states instead of just three. Our senses and common sense told us one thing was true until a deeper understanding (derived from a practical technology — the telescope) proved another beyond all doubt.

Independent of ancient Vedic wisdom, the proven, practical technology of effortless self-transcendence is available to anyone wishing to cultivate lasting joy without the use of arduous self-denial or self-indoctrination. This is, itself, astonishing and contrary to everything we believe about where our happiness lies and how it may be permanently achieved. At the same time, the use of this proven, self-transcending technology naturally and steadily enlivens our finest, most self-elevating and Self-empowered⁵ qualities — qualities vital to happy, abundant lives that contribute to the lives of others and to the sustainability of our communities.

These qualities include an increasing steadiness of mind; an increasing independence from the self-limitations of I, me, and mine; an increasing abundance of unconditional joy; an increasing abundance of unconditional empathy, compassion, and generosity toward others; and abundant creativity, intelligence, and wisdom in addressing the challenges, large and small, we face each day.

These are qualities by which our daily thoughts, intentions, spoken words, and actions may weave steadily happier, more harmonious, and more satisfying lives. And these are the same qualities from which the most engaged, most forward-thinking segment of global society may weave steadily more social, economic, and environmental progress into the fabric of our communities, generation after generation.

In metaphorical terms, once a small but growing number of fruit trees are able to enjoy the abundant aquifer beneath the entire orchard, the orchard as a whole naturally begins to thrive and provide each tree with the shelter it needs in return. Seen from still another direction, a healthy, thriving orchard naturally emerges as more and more individual trees become healthier, more productive, and more in harmony with their environment.

The direction of global society has always been in the hands of those who seek a future brighter than the present and, at the same time, care as much for others as they care for themselves. Beneath all appearances and endless speculations, this truth remains unchanged: the lives of the vast majority are unfulfilled and the stability of global society continues to decline because members of this small, highly influential minority lack a direct, effective, universal, cost-effective technology to make things better for everyone — a technology fully compatible with every major philosophical, religious, and social doctrine already embraced.

Both the technology and the conceptual explanation for its many benefits are broadly presented in the Bhagavad Gita. Nectar of the Eternal takes an in depth look at the chapter critically important for an understanding of both elements. Its mission is to empower every member of the human race to become lastingly happy in life; to become a leader as best befits every situation; to become a strong contributor to our local, state, and national communities; and to become a strong contributor to humanity’s continuing r/evolutionary ascendency.

Eric Hutchins

Central Coast of California — Spring, 2019

NECTAR

of the

ETERNAL

Wisdom from the Bhagavad Gita

For A Joyful Life and a

Sustainable World

Introduction

The Bhagavad Gita is a small part of a much larger epic poem entitled the Mahabharata (Ma-ha-bar-ata, translated as the Great Family of Bharata). The larger work is longer than the Homeric Iliad and Odyssey combined and concerns the protracted struggle between two branches of the same royal family — the five sons of the deceased former king, Pandu, and the hundred sons of Pandu’s blind brother and current king, Dhritarashtra (Dree-tarash-tra).

The struggle is for control of Pandu’s portion of the kingdom located near modern-day Hastinapur in India. When the hundred sons refuse to return the Pandavas’ portion (won in a rigged dice game and subsequently held for an agreed period of time), a war involving a great many brothers, sons, uncles, and worthy noblemen on both sides becomes inevitable.

The Bhagavad Gita opens as Arjuna, the greatest archer of his time and leader of the Pandava army, asks his charioteer and best friend, Lord Krishna,⁶ to move his chariot out onto a hill overlooking both armies assembled for battle. There, Arjuna sees for the first time that his situation and that of his four brothers is unwinnable. To vanquish an unrighteous foe intent on stealing their kingdom, they must slay a great many kinsmen and others worthy of reverence. Yet, doing so would reduce their blood-soaked victory to defeat by another name.

Deeply distraught and confused by strong, conflicting duties to fight his evil adversaries and — at the same time — protect them from harm, Arjuna descends into a state of acute anxiety and declares his unwillingness to fight. This much is made clear in the first of the Bhagavad Gita’s eighteen chapters.

The second chapter introduces a number of topics that are developed in the sixteen chapters that follow. One such topic is the single, indestructible being that dwells deep within every human being. Another topic is a state of mind (Yoga, Enlightenment) in which this eternal being is permanently integrated with what the ancients called our intellects and we routinely regard as the I, me, and self who observes the world, thinks, recalls, feels pain, and so on.

Yet another topic in the second chapter is the mental attributes and observable qualities of someone in this supremely elevated state of mind called Yoga. A fourth and final topic is the path by which anyone may achieve this supremely elevated state. Because the second chapter covers all these related and important topics, it has been called the single most useful and important chapter in the Gita.

Narrowing our focus to this chapter, we will see that it is easily divided into three sections: section 1 (verses 1 through 10) recaps the battlefield, the two armies assembled, and Arjuna’s intractable dilemma. It concludes with his appeal to Krishna for guidance. Section 2 (verses 11 through 38) presents Lord Krishna’s description of the single, indestructible being that dwells within each and all of us; a being so intimately related to each of us that according to Krishna, once we exist, none of us ever cease to be. Section 3 (verses 39 through 72) presents both a description of someone in the mental state of Yoga/Union with this eternal being and a simple, practical means by which Arjuna and the rest of us may cultivate this supremely elevated state of mind, little by little each day.

Interestingly, each section of verses contains something in need of further clarification. In the first section, for example, we are moved to contemplate the true nature of Arjuna’s state of mind. Is he simply unable to decide which of two righteous but difficult courses of action to take or has he become so overwrought that he has descended into a state of acute anxiety and depression? In the second section of verses, is Krishna telling Arjuna not to grieve because something eternal in all of us never dies or because something eternal and unique to each of us never dies?

Finally, in the third section, is Krishna suggesting that Arjuna (and the rest of us) mimic the superficial mental qualities and outward appearance of the enlightened individual or is he suggesting that we release our attention to move inward until it merges with the eternal being that dwells in all of us? Most translators and teachers appear to support the notion of mimicry. However, a handful of easily overlooked verses in the third section broadly describes the inward movement of our attention as the universal means of cultivating this permanent state of inner freedom.

For many scores of generations, the Bhagavad Gita has remained one of the most read and appreciated books in the spiritual treasury of world literature. Why? Because it addresses something seminally important to our lives, our communities, and humanity at large. It describes four main paths to the profoundly elevated state of mind called Yoga; a state bestowing enormous personal, interpersonal, and communal benefits.

Of these, Lord Krishna’s introspective technique is the first described because it is the most direct and the most fertile soil for the development of the other three. Krishna’s raja or royal yoga serves in this way by lifting the veil that ordinarily isolates our experience in the outer world of daily life from the vast ocean of pure consciousness hidden deep within each of us.

More importantly, it offers us a simple and enjoyable daily practice that, in time, dissolves this veil, leaving us to know the truth and enjoy every moment of our lives, regardless of the events over which we have no control. Krishna’s simple, enjoyable, introspective technology offers us a practical means of leading such a fully realized, productive, and exemplary life; a life immersed in activity and adventure yet free of all attachments, deep longings, and paralyzing fears. For most of us, this is the greatest relief we can imagine.

However, the second chapter of the Bhagavad Gita contains something more. It contains the path by which our lives can naturally lead to steadily better relationships, families, schools and universities, places of employment, communities, and public institutions. How? By elevating the human condition, relationships between social groups, economic prosperity, community well-being, and institutional effectiveness. With all this in mind, the reader is encouraged to enjoy the nectar of eternal wisdom described in chapter 2 of the Bhagavad Gita and take full advantage of the introspective technology it describes as the basis for genuine self-development and lasting Self-empowerment.

Overall Objectives

Since Sir Charles Wilkins published the first English translation of the Bhagavad Gita in 1785, there have been literally scores of others. Some, like Wilkins’, are prose formed into paragraphs while others like Sir Edwin Arnold’s are, like the original Sanskrit, formed into verses (called slokas in Sanskrit). Owing to the inevitable differences between Sanskrit and English and the degree to which the translator sought to make his translation comprehensible to English-speaking readers, no two translations are exactly the same.

In addition, there have been commentaries by people like myself who have chosen to rely on the good, literal translations of others as the basis for gleaning the Bhagavad Gita’s timeless and universal truths. This second approach is possible because there are already a great many serviceable translations and they align with one another closely enough to make clear that all translators are working from more or less the same Sanskrit text.

Yet, even so, there are still relatively few commentaries that convey the essential meanings and practical utility of these verses for the general reader in clear English. In this commentary, I have placed ten different translations side by side for each of the verses chosen for consideration. This allows readers to judge for themselves whether my paraphrases and encapsulations of each verse selected are accurate. Next, I offer a simple, common sense comparison of both the clarity and style of the various translations for each verse. And finally, I offer my comments as answers to clearly stated questions.

All this empowers readers to consider the meaning of each verse for themselves and prepares them to give Krishna’s powerful, introspective technology an honest chance to prove itself useful in their lives. Of the two, the use of the technology itself is far more beneficial and important than understanding anything said about the yogic state of mind by translators or interpreters like me. That is, at the trailhead of our journey to higher states of consciousness, it is far more useful to begin the journey inward than to understand every last nuance about the goal in advance.

Once we actually begin, understanding will come on its own and further strengthen our confidence and commitment to our continued movement inward. Moving inward little by little each day, we move steadily upward the full integration of both fields of human consciousness. Progress toward this state of inner wholeness is the universal basis for steady progress in our lives and our communities.

Scope

For someone compiling and commenting on the translated texts of others, the first question is, which translations should one read and consider? Typically, nontranslating authors like myself read several well respected translations and then present their own paraphrase and