What You Own Owning You: A Bhagavad Gita Perspective

Today, life is all about the accumulation of things. We have money, property, machines, and so on hoping these will be the sources of our wealth and security. Unknowingly we may be overlooking a fundamental fact: what you own can own you. We attach ourselves to our possessions, dependent on them for our ego, and in doing so, we give up our freedom. The Bhagavad Gita is a most revered spiritual text that contains profound insights into the nature of attachment, worldly possessions, and the path to freedom. In this blog, we will be writing about this subject in the context of the Gita's teaching.

The Nature of Attachment

The Bhagavad Gita, a conversation between Lord Krishna and prince-warrior Arjuna, discusses a great deal of subjects, including duty (dharma), the nature of self (atman), and liberation (moksha) achieved. One of the important ideas of the Gita is the idea of attachment and suffering. The Gita teaches us that all things in the material world are temporary. Our property, whatever that may be—material possessions, family members, even our physical bodies—are likely to deteriorate and be lost to us. And yet human beings will come to be incredibly attached to these fleeting things and persuade ourselves that they make up our own and give us eternal happiness. Krishna, Chapter 2, verse 14, warns Arjuna not to resent things outside his control:

"O son of Kunti, the temporary onset of happiness and misery, and their eventual evanescence in due course of time, are similar to the advent and departure of the season of summer and winter. They originate in sense perception, and one should learn to tolerate them without getting disturbed."

This stanza is a reminder that possession and over achievement, which we so often dream about as bliss, are temporary. As the seasons pass, so too pass the circumstances of life. When we become so caught up in things, we get lost lamenting when they naturally shift or are removed from us.

The Illusion of Control

As we pursue wealth and possessions, deep within us is this secret desire to control. We think that if we have enough, we will be provided for in the future, secure, or protected from pain. The Bhagavad Gita tells us unequivocally, however, that such a need to control is mythical in nature. For your own good, let's just be upfront with you - we really don't have much that's really in our control out there.

Krishna is concerned with realizing the real nature of the self. He tells us we are not the body, nor the mind nor the emotions. We are the immaterial eternal soul (atman), and it is not based on the transitory and constantly changing material world. Identification with the body and mind causes us to become attached to something outside. In Chapter 3, verse 39, Krishna puts it as:

"That is why, in this world, the wise possessing actual knowledge, after becoming cognizant of the distinction between body and soul, retire from this world and are emancipated."

When we identify ourselves with what we possess, we tend to think that they are ours. It is this identification that causes us to get entangled in the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth (samsara). We do not own anything in reality because everything is temporary and at our disposal. The more we hold on to them, the more we observe ourselves getting controlled by our desires and possessions.

The Practice of Renunciation

One of the loveliest teachings of the Bhagavad Gita is that of renunciation (tyaga). Renunciation does not mean abandoning all in the world, but detachment from it. Krishna instructs Arjuna to perform his duty (dharma) without attachment to the result, a practice called nishkama karma.

Speaking in Chapter 2, verse 47, Krishna states:

"You have a right to work since you are assigned, but you have no right to enjoy the fruit of your labor. Never think that you are responsible for the fruit of your labor, nor be stubborn of idleness."

This shloka also teaches us that though it is natural to go towards goals and act, we must not be attached to the outcome. Win or lose, gain or lose, we must not get agitated. The Bhagavad Gita teaches us that peace and freedom come from detachment from the outcome of our action and the understanding that we are not the final masters of our lives.

Freedom from Possessions

The Gita is not an appeal to renounce all possessions and worldly existence but an appeal to alter one's perspective. Krishna asks Arjuna to complete his warrior's task but without attachment to victory or loss. The real goal is to attain inner freedom by relinquishing the hold of possessions and desires over us. In Chapter 18, verse 11, Krishna states:

"One who is not attached to the fruit of his action and works out of duty, and not for his own selfish motive of gain, is said to have renounced the fruit of action."

If we live in isolation, we are above the cycle of need and disillusion which is the cost of reaching out after worldly things. We are at liberty to see the world of worldly things without being the slave of it. The Gita, so to speak, teaches us that true possession does not consist of possession of things, but of realizing that we are trustees and not owners of all that we find in our life.

Material Possessions as Means to Service

The Bhagavad Gita doesn't instruct us to renounce material possessions but to use them as means to higher ends. Krishna instructs Arjuna to do something for a better purpose. The karma yoga philosophy, or the yoga of selfless action, is at the core of the philosophy of the Gita.

Krishna tells us in Chapter 3, verse 19:

"Free, then, from attachment, do your duty here in the world, for doing duty without attachment, one reaches the Supreme."

Possessions, wealth, and means can be utilized as means to serve others and fulfill our duties in the world. If we act without ego and without attachment to the fruit, we transcend the boundaries of the world. Possessions then no longer control us and are utilized as means for spiritual growth.

The Last Liberty

The Bhagavad Gita brings us ultimately to liberty (moksha). Liberty is not renunciation of the world, but liberty from the attachment to the world, desire, and identification with the flesh. Krishna instructs Arjuna to embrace that his higher self is the eternal soul and only real possession is the eternal self.

In Chapter 9, verse 22, Krishna reassures Arjuna:

"To the ever existing ones and to the ones who are memories unto Me in love, I grant the wisdom whereby they may come unto Me."

Freedom is possible if we are in harmony with the divine and if we realize we are not bound to the world. The wealth that we gain here can never be brought back; it is transient, as everything else in the world is. The Bhagavad Gita teaches us that freedom is possible if we let go of our attachments and bring the universal truth of our spiritual nature into our lives.

Conclusion

The statement "What you own ends up owning you" most accurately depicts man's vulnerability to falling in love with something we end up falling under its control and bondage, depriving us of our bliss and freedom. Bhagavad Gita teaches us with timeless lessons on how we can free ourselves from such possessions and enjoy an inner bliss, equilibrium, and spirituality. By understanding that in the world everything is transitory, by performing unattached selfless deeds without any attachment for the outcome, and by achieving detachment, we can break the shackles of desire and lead real lives of inner freedom. The Gita urges us to visualize our true nature to be the soul which is immaterial and live in a plane of higher thinking than worldly pleasures. Through this awareness, we can have the liberation which can be found outside of possession.

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