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Nirguna brahmam is what the scriptures speak about Him. Nirguna means He does not have any guna. He is also known as Saguna brahmam. We will go into the interpretation of these words later. For the present, it is sufficient if it is understood that the Lord assumes emotions and remains unaffected by them. What does 'remaining unaffected' mean?
When discussing the vow of Arjuna (Time Management in Mahabaratha
II) we mentioned that He was concerned about the vow of Arjuna and the short and inadequate timeframe that he had set for himself. It goes to show that He assumes the qualities of an ordinary man. He is angered. He is depressed. He is concerned and worried. The epics show Him in all shades and colours, with all the qualities that man has.
Emotions and the way they are channelised
 Can the Lord have these emotions? Yes. He can and He has. We mentioned in the above article, the words of Andal "SinathinAl then Ilangaik kOmAnaich chetra". 'He who was infuriated and killed Ravana'. That goes to show that the Lord has all the qualities of man. We will discuss this later. The Lord does have all the emotions that we have. After all, He created man in His own image! The difference lies in the way they are
channelised. If our anger blinds our eyes, He shows us how anger can be channelised
into productive directions. If our concern depresses us and renders us inactive, He shows us how to chanalise this energy in the proper direction and to take the right action in the right time. We are affected by our emotions and go behind our wayward mind. He shows us how to remain unaffected by these mental states.
Returning to the story, you may recall that the Lord chided Arjuna for having made a vow without a moment's thought and for imposing upon himself a limited time frame under the most trying circumstances. Arjuna was grieved by the vicious, degenerated and heinous way in which his son Abhimanyu was killed. His vow to kill Jayatradha who was instrumental in the killing of Abhimanyu was natural.
The Lord saw his reasoning. He also saw the difficulties that Arjuna would have to face. The situation appeared to be immense. He had information on what the enemy would do the next day. They were planning of the most difficult and impenetrable army formations to protect Jayatradha. He gives out message number one. Collect details on the strengths and weaknesses of your enemy. For our environment, we can substitute the word 'enemy' with 'competition' when we are engaged in such an
endeavour.
All those who are engaged in designing a plan of action know this rule very well. Do everything to make your plan a success. But always be ready with a Plan B, in case your Plan A fails.
Well. The Lord set about His task of making His Plan B.
(To be continued…)
Hari Krishnan
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