Tour of randomness and order via Bhagwad Gita

By G S Tripathi

In the Bhagwad Gita, Krishn says that what is the light of the day for ordinary folks is the darkness of the night for knowledgeable persons, and vice versa. Light and darkness are two facets of our lives. We are visible in the presence of light and invisible in its absence. Even in the shining of light there is darkness – the shadow.
Light, darkness and shadows explain the occurrence of eclipses, which take place due to the motion of Earth around the sun and the motion of the moon around Earth. Even day and night occur because of Earth’s spinning around its own axis.

Day, night, month and year are periodic in time. Eclipses are aperiodic or random but controlled by conditions. Periodicity and randomness are also associated with space. Arrangements of atoms in a crystal are periodic. On the other hand, the geography of Earth is aperiodic. Landscapes, mountains, rivers and oceans on Earth are largely aperiodic. So is the history of the world. There is no regular repetition of any event, large or small.

Thus, we live in the midst of regularity and randomness. However, randomness is more common than regularity. Even the vicissitudes of fame and fortune are not regular. Nobody can claim that his achievements or failures are periodic either in space or time.

In spite of this universal randomness, we can instil some order in our lives locally and temporarily through the control of our will power; we can change or unchange our lives, do or undo things. This will power is related to the strength of mind.

The Gita has mentioned something called vyavasayatmika buddhi, a focused mind. It is otherwise known as sankalpa. By exercising the power of mind, we can take control of ourselves, even the life of others. History of mankind is the history of such strong-willed people, be they leaders, reformers, philosophers, scientists, warriors or entrepreneurs.

Whatever we are, our fate and fortune are not inseparable from society. If we are strong, we contribute to society. If we are weak, we derive strength from society. Thus, there is an interdependence of one and many – individuals and society. According to William Cowper, “Society, friendship and love, divinely bestowed upon man.” In other words, these three aspects of collectivism are divine. Purity of mind strengthens them. A degraded mind pollutes them.
Mind, in turn, is fuelled by educa tion, health and knowledge. Therefore, a society where these three things are nourished becomes healthy. While the perception of an unhealthy, unwise mind is predominantly materialistic, that of a healthy, wise mind is spiritual.
A spiritual person is situated in the soul, which is placed higher than senses, mind, and intellect. Any professional can be situated in the soul, if he is guided by the purity of mind and heart and has control over the three primary vices of lust, anger and greed. This is essentially what the Bhagwad Gita says.

By arriving at where we begin, we establish the periodicity of thought nourished by good principles. Whenever we are in doubt, let us resort to this. All doubts will be dispelled and we will be able to largely avoid the complexities of randomness present in our lives abundantly.

The writer is an adjunct professor of physics at Berhampur University

END OF ARTICLE