Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy - Osho - Oshorajneesh.com

CHAPTER 4. RELIGION HAS NO HISTORY, IT IS ETERNAL
Here I am reminded of the story of a famous sculptor. He is busy carving a statue from a rock, when
a visitor comes to watch him sculpting. The artist is working with a chisel and hammer in his hand.
As he cuts away chips of rock with expert skill a statue begins to manifest itself. And then a statue
of superb beauty appears before the visitor’s eyes. The visitor is simply enchanted and he tells the
sculptor, ”Congratulations, you are a marvelous artist. I have never seen another sculptor creating
such an exquisitely beautiful piece.”
The artist cuts in, ”You understand me wrongly. I don’t create a statue, I only help manifest it. A
little while ago, passing by on the street, I saw by the wayside a statue hidden in this rock. I brought
the rock home and with my chisel and hammer removed the unnecessary chips from it and the
unmanifest became manifest. I did not create it, I just uncovered it.”
Krishna does not create Arjuna, he only uncovers him, only uncovers his self-nature. He makes him
see what he is. Krishna’s chisel cuts away the unnecessary and ugly parts of his personality and
restores him to his pristine being and beauty. What emerges at the close of the GEETA is Arjuna’s
own being, his individuality. But it seems to us that Krishna has created a new statue of Arjuna. The
sculptor’s visitor said the same thing, that he had seen him create it with his own eyes. But this is not
what a sculptor feels about his art. Many sculptors have confessed they had seen the statues inside
the rocks first and only then uncovered them. Rocks speak out to sculptors that statues are hidden
inside and call to be uncovered. Not all rocks are pregnant with statues; not all rocks are useful for
sculpting. Sculptors know where a statue is hidden and they uncover it. This statue happens to be
the being, the individuality of the rock that bears it.
The entire GEETA is just a process of uncovering. It reveals the pristine possibilities of Arjuna.
Question 6
QUESTIONER: YOU SAID THAT KRISHNA HAPPENS TO BE ARJUNA’S FRIEND, NOT
HIS MASTER, AND THEREFORE HE BEARS WITH HIM SO PATIENTLY AND CLEARS
HIS NUMEROUS DOUBTS. BUT IN THE SAME GEETA KRISHNA SAYS, ”SANSHAYATMA
VINASHYATI – A DOUBTING MIND PERISHES. ” HE SAYS SO LOOKING AT THE DOUBTING
MIND OF ARJUNA HIMSELF. BUT THE IRONY IS THAT ARJUNA DOES NOT PERISH, THE
KAURAVAS PERISH INSTEAD. PLEASE EXPLAIN.
When Krishna says ”SANSHAYATMA VINASHYATI,” he is speaking a great truth. But most people
make a mistake in translating the word sanshaya. The Sanskrit word sanshaya does not mean
doubt, it means indecisiveness, a state of conflict and indecision.
Doubt is a state of decision, not of indecision. Doubt is decisive; trust is also decisive. While doubt
is a negative decision, trust is a positive one. One person says, ”God is. I trust in him.” This is a
decision on his part. And this is a positive decision. Another person says, ”There is no God. I doubt
his existence.” This is also a decision, a negative one. A third person says, ”Maybe God is, maybe
God is not.” This is a state of sanshaya, indecisiveness. And indecisiveness is destructive, because
it leaves one hanging in the balance.
In the GEETA Krishna tells Arjuna, ”Don’t be uncertain, indecisive. Be certain and decisive. Use
your decisive intelligence and know for certain who you are, what you are. Don’t be indecisive as
Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy 81 Osho