Reins and Horses: Avatars and Mystics
The term reins of the horses depict the phenomenon of the mind while horses are alluded to the attributes and the senses. Krishna was portrayed controlling the reins (mind) for Arjuna. Furthermore, the horses (senses) were illustrated as white in colour, which means that Arjuna’s senses were already purified and his mind were at a certain level of control. Hence, Arjuna was someone who had already connected to his own higher being the Divine Individual Spirit (Krishna) who took full control of his mind and senses. Arjuna moves through the impact and guidance of his higher self. This is a spectacular illustration of the unseen architectures of our inner mechanism. In fact, the entire men or most of them in that period must be self-realized to some extent. If not self-realized, how can we account for the many amazing things that had occurred through their hands and the incredible amount of knowledge that had passed down from generations to generations in continuum. If this is true, the cogent question is, why the Kauravas were bent on doing evil? It is stated in Gita Chapter 1 verse 38,
“Their thoughts are overpowered by greed and they see no wrong in annihilating their relatives or wreaking treachery upon friends ”
One must understand that mysticism does not guarantee anyone any security or protection from sin and evil. As long as one still occupies the body, some ego has to be retained and hence, virittis or vibrations will re-emerge without it one cannot interact with the world. How much the mystic can control vices and surpluses solely lies in his or her hands since a mystic is considered as someone who has separated the eternal from the contingent and thus have the liberty or some control over how he or she wants to dispose of their affairs. However, Avatars (according to our definition in Chapter Avatar) unlike mystics had been granted security against vices for they have full control over the elements of nature as well and this was why Vishnu had always been depicted as someone who can envelope and drown himself in dreams after dreams while at the same time, he could extricate himself out whenever he wants form those alluring, captivating, dangerous seductive hold of maya. This is a dangerous game (leela) which mystics do not dare play with lest they get caught in the web of the mayic deceit, but for the Avatars they have total control over it and yet they religiously abide by the laws and destiny that govern it. Avatars appearance on earth were to teach mankind the lessons of life by becoming the ideal for the populace. They were not sent to seek or learn anything here. They were not here to pursue enlightenment either unlike mystics, but were sent only to be reminded of their purpose and mission for mankind. So, it is totally a different ball game for the Avatars.