JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL ACADEMIC RESEARCH FOR MULTIDISCIPLINARY Impact Factor 1.625, ISSN: 2320-5083, Volume 3, Issue 8, September 2015

INTRODUCING INTEGRAL DIMENSIONS BETWEEN LAW AND BHAGAVAD GITA: OVERLAPPING ELEMENTS AND CONSTITUTIONAL LAW PRINCIPLES

DR. K. PARAMESWARAN*

*Professor of Law, Symbiosis School of Law, Pune, India

ABSTRACT Law as a discipline by its intrinsic nature encompasses all other disciplines of knowledge. All disciplines of knowledge come to the discipline of law for a final rescue when it comes to defining and asserting interrelationships among variables, effects and outcomes. Bhagavad Gita is an ancient document explaining values of life and art of living. In this age of globalising world, conflicting forces have increased. All aspects of life, disciplines of knowledge and domains of work push each other to find a place at the top to dominate the rest. No aspect of study, work and way of life prefers to be subjected to any control. Everyone claims what they say and do, is the ultimate truth, final say on life and best alternative to all problems of existence. Religion is no different. It is said religion has brought problems to life; complex and complicated. Religion deals with sensibilities of mind, emotion and life that are difficult to understand and measure. What does Bhagavad Gita promise here? What can a law student and legal researcher learn from it? This article explores the integral relationship between the two. The author justifies that ‘what Indian Constitution promises, Bhagavad Gita inspires’.

KEYWORDS: Bhagavad Gita, Constitution of India, Directive Principles of State Policy, Fundamental Duties, Preamble, Religion.

INTRODUCTION It is very difficult to assess the full importance of a work that is known as Bhagavad Gita. A study course by John Algeo titled The Bhagavad Gita at the Department of Education, Theosophical Society in America summarised what is Bhagavad Gita in the following words (Algeo, 2000). ‘The Bhagavad Gita is one of the world’s most important books—indeed, one of the great books of human culture, Eastern and Western alike. In India, the Gita is many things: it is the major guidebook to the spiritual life in the Hindu tradition; it is an eirenicon—a work that harmonizes the diverse views of life that find a place within traditional Indic religious philosophy, and it is an inspirational and culture-defining book that is to Indian society what

230 www.jiarm.com JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL ACADEMIC RESEARCH FOR MULTIDISCIPLINARY Impact Factor 1.625, ISSN: 2320-5083, Volume 3, Issue 8, September 2015 the gospels are to the West. It is hard to overstate the importance and centrality of the Gita to Indian life’. Detailed researches have been made to analyse the significance of Bhagavad Gita (BG)1. They have given numerous expositions in almost all domains of knowledge and subjects of study. Some say BG is a case-study in Vedic psychology (Dillbeck, 1991), has management lessons (Mahadevan, 2008) and leadership lessons (Mahadevan, 2012), gives tips on managerial consciousness (Rarick & Nickerson, 2009), views on conflict resolution (Gayathri & Meenakshi, 2014), a tool for psychological transformation (Dash, 2014), study on war- philosophy (Kothari, 2002), method of organizational consciousness (Virdi, 2012), part of natural law (King, 2003), study on modern corporate social responsibility (Muniapan & Dass, 2008), must for people who are busy (Sivananda, 1998), treasure of scientific explanations (Newcomb, 2015), lesson for comparative study of philosophy (Maitra, 2006), significant for pure consciousness in education (Grant & Jones 2014), document for protection of environment (Mascaro, 1964), science-connected (Narla, 2015), wonderful philosophy by itself (Row, 1912), measure of sustainable development (Razak & Sanusi, 2010), study that gives political thoughts (Kapila & Devji, 2013), quest for the scientist Robert Oppenheimer (Hijiya, 2000) and what not? The list is endless. This is only a sample survey of what BG has to offer and what has been taken from BG so far. There might be many more as well, considering the plethora of research that has been culled out from this ancient and historical book satisfying the modern day needs for inter-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary studies. However, what connection does it have with the principles of Constitutional Law of India which is a charter of democratic polity of India? Does it mean that BG has principles and elements which legal reasoning can take into account, jurisprudence can dissect and legal philosophy can include under its umbrella? Generally, the elements and variables of any religion especially like BG are associated with aspects that are largely non-material and non- physical aspects of life, dealing with metaphysical inquiries of life. What should it do to deal with mundane aspects of our daily life which a law like Constitution of India is endowed with? Yet, what BG promises is something tangible, concrete and corporeal to our daily life making it an experience of peace, happiness, equality, justice and liberty (individual as well as collective) which the law of the Indian Constitution too is busy with. BG claims it has a key to life that lays harmony between animate and inanimate aspects of life making life and daily living integral which the followers of Constitution can take benefit from. This makes BG unique when it comes to daily life and all its aspects where a legal person finds it

231 www.jiarm.com JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL ACADEMIC RESEARCH FOR MULTIDISCIPLINARY Impact Factor 1.625, ISSN: 2320-5083, Volume 3, Issue 8, September 2015 interesting to see how life is integral without any disconnections as BG teaches. This integral aspect which BG teaches can throw light on our understanding and influence our behaviour with which social order and rule of law can become a living reality. If so, can jurisprudence of legal philosophy accommodate a book which has been considered as a book of religion? One of the tenets of the State polity and its sovereignty is that State is (must be) free from the clutches of religion that is widely known as the separation of church and State (BOISI, 2015). The American judiciary and its Constitution has explained a lot on this aspect of State and religion through its First Amendment that came into existence as a result of influence from Thomas Jefferson besides many others. However the author in this present article shows ways to find interrelations between these two great living documents. One, that holds ‘values of life’ from the viewpoint of a discipline though segregated into a specific and entrenched domain; call it spirituality or religion or yoga and, the other, which holds values to the ‘basis of law’ from the viewpoint of a ‘role of order’ in the society for everyone who belong to it. In this context what John Algeo says is interesting (Algeo, 2000). The Gita has been also, however, a powerful influence in the West. It is indeed part of a remarkable chain of links connecting East and West. The New England Transcendentalists— a group of nineteenth-century Americans who were an important school of thinkers and writers, in a number of respects anticipating later Theosophical thought—read the first English translation of the Gita. Henry David Thoreau, one of that group, in particular wrote about reading the Gita on the shore of Walden Pond, and its philosophy inspired a famous essay of his, “On Civil Disobedience,” about how to cope with societal injustice. Much later, when Mohandas Gandhi was a young man and a law student in England, he was introduced to the Gita by Theosophists, and then he read Thoreau’s essay, which in turn inspired his policy of satyagraha or passive resistance. Later Martin Luther King was in turn inspired by Gandhi’s policy to create his own program of nonviolence. So the Gita has echoed back and forth across the globe between India and America, as a defining document of contemporary thought and action. No other work has had a comparable influence across cultures in binding together East and West.

Bhagavad Gita and its Importance and Timeless Message The note of the Columbia University on the Bhagavad Gita is interesting to read as it comprises many details succinctly in one length. It reads the following (Prasad, 1988).

232 www.jiarm.com JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL ACADEMIC RESEARCH FOR MULTIDISCIPLINARY Impact Factor 1.625, ISSN: 2320-5083, Volume 3, Issue 8, September 2015

The Bhagavad Gita was originally not a standalone text, but was rather a dialogue embedded within a much larger epic, the Mahabharata. It is located at a very important juncture of the story. The hero, Arjuna, and his four brothers were dispossessed of their kingdom by their cousins, and are about to begin what will prove to be a very bloody internecine battle. Arjuna is in his chariot surveying the battlefield when the story begins. The Bhagavad Gita has been variously dated to 300 BCE to 300 CE, although current estimates tend toward the turn of the millennia or a bit earlier. While the epic itself is undoubtably quite ancient in its earliest portions, it is also a composite text, and the Bhagavad Gita is one of its later additions. It appears to be written in response to the Buddhists, whose message of renunciation is clearly rejected by the divine charioteer Krishna. It also reflects a new era of Hindu worship in which the older sacrificial rituals were waning in popularity, and a new trend toward theistic devotion was gaining strength. It was considered an important and quasi-independent text since at least the sixth century, when influential thinkers began writing commentaries upon it. The foreword given by Swami Chidananda on the Commentary of BG by Swami Sivananda is very illuminative. It says the following (Sivananda, 2000). The modern man in this present decade of the second half of the 20th century is greatly in need of an effective guide to light. He is groping. He sees only problems everywhere and no solutions are to be found anywhere. He does not know which way to turn, what course to adopt and how to move towards a better state of things. Therefore, his life is filled with restlessness, unhappiness and complication. The Bhagavad Gita contains words of wisdom and practical teachings that contain the answers to the above-mentioned condition of the present-day individual. Sri Aurobindo who is one of the most prolific writers who had appealed to the modern mind of humanity has explained what must be our demand and need from the Gita in the following words. They are so comprehensive that it resolves all the possible issues of debates that one might have with a book like BG. This gives us an interesting insight by which we can caution ourselves and put a restraint to ourselves that we do not take one form of methodology and epistemology as the sole repository of truth. Mankind has seen the kind of futility of exclusivism and the ostentatious attitude of the dogmatic pride in accepting and giving a final status to the word and to the idea that they consider as the ‘final analysis of knowledge’ as well as the ‘final knowledge on the analysis’. This has led to intellectual fundamentalism that is creeping nowadays into the mental and emotional landscape of mankind creating intolerance and animosity leading to problems in the rule of law. At this juncture what Sri

233 www.jiarm.com JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL ACADEMIC RESEARCH FOR MULTIDISCIPLINARY Impact Factor 1.625, ISSN: 2320-5083, Volume 3, Issue 8, September 2015

Aurobindo says here is something significant for us to understand the integral dimensions. He writes the following (Sri Aurobindo, 2001). ‘The world abounds with scriptures sacred and profane, with revelations and half- revelations, with religions and philosophies, sects and schools and systems. To these the many minds of a half-ripe knowledge or no knowledge at all attach themselves with exclusiveness and passion and will have it that this or the other book is alone the eternal Word of God and all others are either impostures or at best imperfectly inspired, that this or that philosophy is the last word of the reasoning intellect and other systems are either errors or saved only by such partial truth in them as links them to the one true philosophical cult. Even the discoveries of physical Science have been elevated into a creed and in its name religion and spirituality banned as ignorance and superstition, philosophy as frippery and moonshine. And to these bigoted exclusions and vain wranglings even the wise have often lent themselves, misled by some spirit of darkness that has mingled with their light and overshadowed it with some cloud of intellectual egoism or spiritual pride’. Thus, we must have an approach that is free of ideological bias where we do not hold any single or exclusive aspect of knowledge as the finality in conclusion. With this state of mind, we must seek for fresh perspectives whereby we research into methods that are integral to the system of the knowledge. What are the common considerations that we can keep together to our study of Constitution and BG? These common considerations must give us the necessary connect with which we can see and read both documents together. Firstly, it is the natural law principle where we consider the ‘fundamental aspect’ essential to law. It is foundational in nature that we cannot avoid it. Avoiding it is an act towards one’s own self-extinction. Preamble is a fundamental law that cannot be changed (Basic Structure). There are interesting perspectives about natural law and its role in the development of law- making and law-understanding. Its clear reason (Pope, 2015), growing and contemporary perspectives (Anon-I, 2015), connections with justice and human rights (Nirmal, 2007) and many more show us values for the society. Secondly, the legal research of deductive and inductive approaches (Anon-II, 2015; Worster, 2014) that we take into account for law-assessment, need and performance between the social needs and the necessity of State legislature become robust when we derive an understanding from natural law as available in the sense of legislative foresight that come by innate sense of duty. Again, when Preamble gives such a dictate it becomes easy for the State and its organs to know what it should do.

234 www.jiarm.com JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL ACADEMIC RESEARCH FOR MULTIDISCIPLINARY Impact Factor 1.625, ISSN: 2320-5083, Volume 3, Issue 8, September 2015

Thirdly, it is the ‘a priori sense’ to the fact of experience before the fact of the sense of experience. Such things are found again in Preamble which largely lays down the principle of social, political, cultural, religious, economic, psychological and all kinds of human life.

Overlapping Elements and Constitutional Law Principles Let us analyse the overlapping elements from BG and Constitutional Law principles from the Indian Constitution based on Preamble and the Fundamental Duties.

Preamble of the Indian Constitution (Ministry of Law & Justice, 2007): We, the people of India, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a [Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic] and to secure to all its citizens: Justice, social, economic and political; Liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship; Equality of status and of opportunity; and to promote among them all Fraternity assuring the dignity of the individual and the [unity and integrity of the Nation]; in our Constituent Assembly this twentysixth day of november, 1949, do hereby adopt, enact and give to ourselves this Constitution. Indian Constitution is a supreme document. It is a charter that binds the entire nation, her populace, and all the mental, emotional and physical activities of a billion people. A document bearing this magnitude in its values and reach ‘ought’ to consider and accept everything that the nation is composed of; constituted for. It cannot afford to have any ‘if and but’, which, will reduce its value from its eternal character, its immortal values to something transient and temporal in nature and kind. Mankind has suffered a lot to reach the present state of Nature. Studies on the origin of life and its history (Anon-III, 2015), evolution of the human lifespan, its past, present, and future (Finch, 2012), the play of human life (Norbeck, 1911), the problems of humanity (Bailey, 1998), manifold secrets (Blavatsky, 1888), and many more, illustrate how life and living have come to what it is now. How do we encompass all these understandings and accept the multitude and interplay of life? It is easy to think and feel what is popularly known as ‘unity in diversity’. However it will be impossible to crystallise everything that humanity has crossed through and passed from an evolutionary crucible whose intensity is what the universe, planetary existence and nations in the international community is holding to in their experience. To understand this and allow the interplay of life with all social, cultural, political, religious, economic and psychological aspects without conflict is a matter of great concern for a law-making energy and body of

235 www.jiarm.com JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL ACADEMIC RESEARCH FOR MULTIDISCIPLINARY Impact Factor 1.625, ISSN: 2320-5083, Volume 3, Issue 8, September 2015 people who have taken up this mammoth legal exercise. Indian Constitution is marvellous example of this. One can see this from the Preamble of Indian Constitution which is a summary of principles of all the religions of the world in its outcome. There are various aspects to Preamble which are of common knowledge to all those interested in Preamble can see below how Preamble can be connected to some of the verses in the Bhagavad Gita. Let us analyse them one by one. The structure of the analysis is such that the bare words of the Preamble are given, followed by verse(s) from the BG along with meaning. This is followed by a short summary of integral dimensions between the Indian Constitution and BG. Chapter is referred with ‘Ch’ with the respective serial number followed by the Verse(s) with corresponding number(s).

Preamble: We, the people of India, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a [Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic] and to secure to all its citizens: BG: Ch:10 Verse 39 (Swami Prabhupada, 2015)2 yac capi sarva-bhutanam bijam tad aham arjuna na tad asti vina yat syan maya bhutam caracaram

Meaning: Everything has a cause, and that cause or seed of manifestation is Kṛṣṇa. Without Kṛṣṇa's energy, nothing can exist; therefore He is called omnipotent. Without His potency, neither the movable nor the unmovable can exist. Whatever existence is not founded on the energy of Kṛṣṇa is called māyā, that which is not.

Integral Dimensions: In this verse Krishna is considered as the Supreme Being and from whom all the beings have manifested. Similarly Indian Constitution is the Supreme Being and from whom all the subjects owe their existence. We all exist because of the Constitution and our potent personalities of kinds of rights have been derived out of it. All animate and inanimate objects, things and beings that exist within the territory of the nation owe its source from the Constitution. Constitution controls every one of them.

236 www.jiarm.com JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL ACADEMIC RESEARCH FOR MULTIDISCIPLINARY Impact Factor 1.625, ISSN: 2320-5083, Volume 3, Issue 8, September 2015

Preamble: Justice, social, economic and political BG: Ch:4 Verse 7 yada yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavati bharata abhyutthanam adharmasya tadatmanam srjamy aham BG: Ch:4 Verse 8 paritranaya sadhunam vinasaya ca duskrtam dharma-samsthapanarthaya sambhavami yuge yuge Meaning: Ch:4 Verse 7 Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion-at that time I descend Myself. Meaning: Ch:4 Verse 8 In order to deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to re-establish the principles of religion, I advent Myself millennium after millennium.

Integral Dimensions: In this verse Krishna says that every time there is lawless-ness, he descends to rectify the same. Similarly Indian Constitution is given the same stature of Sovereignty, Supreme Will to rectify all the problems that arise out of the absence of rule of law. Fundamental Rights (Part-III) and its Writs jurisdiction, the jurisprudence of administrative law, and all forms of public law narratives are what are to be seen that act as conscious watch-towers of the society. Judiciary as one of the tripartite structure of organs of the Montesquieun postulate is the agent of this Constitutional service. Preamble: Liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship; BG: Ch. 18 Verse 47 sreyan sva-dharmo vigunah para-dharmat sv-anusthitat svabhava-niyatam karma kurvan napnoti kilbisam BG: Ch. 18 Verse 48 saha-jam karma kaunteya sa-dosam api na tyajet sarvarambha hi dosena dhumenagnir ivavrtah Meaning: Ch. 18 Verse 47

237 www.jiarm.com JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL ACADEMIC RESEARCH FOR MULTIDISCIPLINARY Impact Factor 1.625, ISSN: 2320-5083, Volume 3, Issue 8, September 2015

Every endeavor is covered by some sort of fault, just as fire is covered by smoke. Therefore one should not give up the work which is born of his nature, O son of Kuntī, even if such work is full of fault.

Meaning: Ch. 18 Verse 48 It is better to engage in one's own occupation, even though one may perform it imperfectly, than to accept another's occupation and perform it perfectly. Prescribed duties, according to one's nature, are never affected by sinful reactions. Integral Dimensions: These two verses become tricky when we connect them to the understanding of liberty. Liberty comes by freedom and freedom is basically an evolution of energy from one stage to another. Hence Krishna advices the path of action whereby one evolves and learns to know what life is and what constitutes life. Similarly through Indian Constitution liberty and freedom are inherent in the nature of things and one must use liberty and freedom to evolve and grow without any restrictions. Errors and imperfections are a part of growth in the evolution of human energies and they cannot hamper and restrict the flow of ideas and actions except that they do not injure anyone which get due protection from laws.

Preamble: Equality of status and of opportunity; BG: Ch. 6 Verse 9 suhrn-mitrary-udasina madhyastha-dvesya-bandhusu sadhusv api ca papesu sama-buddhir visisyate Meaning: A person is said to be still further advanced when he regards all-the honest well-wisher, friends and enemies, the envious, the pious, the sinner and those who are indifferent and impartial-with an equal mind.

Integral Dimensions: In this verse we see duty and directory given to human behaviour and conduct. However in case injury comes out of non-observance (commission or omission) of any behaviour and conduct, law indeed comes to operation. Nevertheless Krishna advises everyone to view and relate with everyone and everything with an impartial and equal mind.

238 www.jiarm.com JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL ACADEMIC RESEARCH FOR MULTIDISCIPLINARY Impact Factor 1.625, ISSN: 2320-5083, Volume 3, Issue 8, September 2015

Similarly Indian Constitution treats everyone equally and, according to the requirements which equality-clause demands in case of inequality as a result of social and economic circumstances.

Preamble: To promote among them all Fraternity assuring the dignity of the individual BG: Ch. 12 Verses 13-14 advesta sarva-bhutanam maitrah karuna eva ca nirmamo nirahankarah sama-duhkha-sukhah ksami santustah satatam yogi yatatma drdha-niscayah mayy arpita-mano-buddhir yo mad-bhaktah sa me priyah

Meaning: One who is not envious but who is a kind friend to all living entities, who does not think himself a proprietor, who is free from false ego and equal both in happiness and distress, who is always satisfied and engaged in devotional service with determination and whose mind and intelligence are in agreement with Me-he is very dear to Me.

Integral Dimensions: In this verse we see who becomes dear to Krishna – one who gives the best service to everyone without bias, fear, favour or any kind of feeling except with a clear and equal-mind. Similarly the Indian Constitution gives such scope of conduct to all the citizens. This attitude gives a great nobility and sanctity to the Preamble of the Indian Constitution which must be practiced. When one feels that he/she is also a part of everyone without superiority or inferiority, who is not troubled by the situations – social, political, cultural and economic, yet remains dutiful to the core commitment of oneself in service to one’s self as well as everyone else, with a clear and equal-mind he/she becomes the best example and great follower of the Constitution. From these aforementioned ideas integrating BG with the Constitutional Preamble we come to understand how Preamble and its principles become everlasting of life, for life and by life if one knows how to connect BG and Preamble in daily life. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) also affirms the essence of these principles for everyone to follow.

239 www.jiarm.com JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL ACADEMIC RESEARCH FOR MULTIDISCIPLINARY Impact Factor 1.625, ISSN: 2320-5083, Volume 3, Issue 8, September 2015

Fundamental Duties (Ministry of Law & Justice, 2007): 51A. It shall be the duty of every citizen of India—(a) to abide by the Constitution and respect its ideals and institutions, the National Flag and the National Anthem; (b) to cherish and follow the noble ideals which inspired our national struggle for freedom; (c) to uphold and protect the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India; (d) to defend the country and render national service when called upon to do so; (e) to promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India transcending religious, linguistic and regional or sectional diversities; to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women; (f) to value and preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture; (g) to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wild life, and to have compassion for living creatures; (h) to develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform; (i) to safeguard public property and to abjure violence; (j) to strive towards excellence in all spheres of individual and collective activity so that the nation constantly rises to higher levels of endeavour and achievement; [(k) who is a parent or guardian to provide opportunities for education to his child or, as the case may be, ward between the age of six and fourteen years.] The aforementioned Fundamental Duties in the Indian Constitution have yet another interesting integral dimension when compared with one of the verses of BG. BG: Ch. 3 Verse 20 karmanaiva hi samsiddhim asthita janakadayah loka-sangraham evapi sampasyan kartum arhasi Meaning: Even kings like Janaka and others attained the perfectional stage by performance of prescribed duties. Therefore, just for the sake of educating the people in general, you should perform your work.

Integral Dimensions: In this verse Krishna tells the importance of duties no matter what one’s position and stature is. Jurisprudentially rights and duties are necessary corollaries. Similarly Indian Constitution explains the importance of duties irrespective of one’s legal position and personality. Duty is a must and that must be completed. It is not only beneficial to oneself but also to everyone in the society. Hence doing one’s duty brings the attention of everyone in the society as the benefits reach everyone.

240 www.jiarm.com JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL ACADEMIC RESEARCH FOR MULTIDISCIPLINARY Impact Factor 1.625, ISSN: 2320-5083, Volume 3, Issue 8, September 2015

We all know the importance of fundamental duties, how it has come into force and what the implications are. It is a creative idea of obligation to be taken up by the citizens (42nd Amendment, 1976) in order to make the national life vibrate and rule-of-order friendly. Though there are difficulties as to what each duty given in the abovementioned Article really means (hence it has become non-justiciable) it is more of a directory of duties to govern our thoughts and deeds in order to bring them into the society and collective well-being. The Constitution has no provision to connect Fundamental Duties and Fundamental Rights, whether the non-fulfilment of the former can lead to violation of the latter. However the Indian Courts3 are giving effect to duties to the extent that it remains to be seen whether these duties given in 51A can remain as mere duties that are non-justiciable in the days to come.

Conclusion: Adherence or acceptance or practice of a law and legal principle in the society is a matter of cognitive association in which cultural and sociological surroundings play a great role, says the psychology research on human behaviour and habits. Noted research studies on human behaviour and its connection with the society show the link between thought, action and acceptance with the ecological surroundings and, how human behaviour forms and reacts. Several studies like evolutionary psychology, behavioural ecology and dual inheritance models (Smith, 2000) give us a clue to human behaviour with which we can asses why and how a human behaviour accepts a particular mode of function in thought and action. Law and legal rules demand ‘thinking and action’ which can be studied largely from these psychological factors. To put it in simple terms man following a law (law-habit) is based on how he was brought up, his cultural surrounding and various other social and political factors. Man is not alone devoid of any contact with the surroundings. In this he sees law as only a form which brings the source of his law-habit, no matter it is natural or positive law postulate. In fact a common and ordinary man might not even know the differences between various kinds and types of laws, its sources and legislative insights. He follows the rules of laws (law- habits) only up to his convenience, willingness and ability to follow or by the popular command of the sovereign. A detailed research report of the World Bank 2015 titled ‘Mind, Society and Behaviour’ is highly interesting which says that its report ‘aims to inspire and guide the researchers and practitioners who can help advance a new set of development approaches based on a fuller consideration of psychological and social influences’ (World Bank Group, 2015). It has provided three principles of human decision-making such as

241 www.jiarm.com JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL ACADEMIC RESEARCH FOR MULTIDISCIPLINARY Impact Factor 1.625, ISSN: 2320-5083, Volume 3, Issue 8, September 2015

‘Principle of Thinking Automatically’, ‘Principle of Thinking Socially’, and finally ‘Principle of Thinking with Mental Models’. They are based on groundbreaking research from across the social sciences, though studied for the developmental economics; it is indeed relevant to the psychology of human behaviour which is same when it comes to its energy from where thought and action decide the pattern of human behaviour. It is immaterial whether man’s actions affect economics or sociology or business. Formation of energy, mental will, emotion and instinct are scientifically the same except its outcome which affect man positively or negatively. This shows the relationship between human behaviour and development towards adherence to law and legal systems. Laws like the Indian Constitution, its Preamble and Fundamental Duties are very much concerned with these as they feel nobler spirit of the Preamble and Fundamental Duties ought to be imbibed. And this needs the support of many things other than man’s relationship only with himself (Reis, Collins & Berscheid, 2000). Based on this knowledge of psychology of the human behaviour which is helpful to understand law-habits of people, it will not be an overestimation or over-assessment to conclude that an ancient document such as Bhagavad Gita which is guiding the conscience of the human societies for 1000s of years will prove effective in achieving the Constitutional ethos and principles given in the Preamble and Fundamental Duties. In the context of an interdisciplinary study promoting integral dimensions between law and Bhagavad Gita studying their overlapping elements with constitutional law principles is a welcome trend for scholars and legal researchers. Let us listen to one of the ardent practitioners of Bhagavad Gita, Swami Krishnananda who speaks the language of the law in the way it is explained above. He says the following (Swami Krishnananda, 2015). When we fulfill the requirements of law, abide by the law that reigns supreme or operates in the atmosphere, that law is supposed to take care of us. Law protects. It does not always punish. It protects when we abide by it. It punishes when we disregard and disobey it. Our sufferings in life are therefore to be attributed to our disobedience of the law that operates in this world. We may be thinking that we are obeying a kind of law of a particular country, of a community and a family in which we are born. We think that is all-in-all, and that is enough to take care of us. But we know that if we are confined merely to the obedience of the law that prevails only within our family, and are disobedient to the law of the nation as a whole, our obedience to the family-law is not going to help us. The national law will pursue us, because we have disregarded it, notwithstanding the fact that we are humbly obedient to the family- law. And we can extend the analogy, further. The international law is also important, and if

242 www.jiarm.com JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL ACADEMIC RESEARCH FOR MULTIDISCIPLINARY Impact Factor 1.625, ISSN: 2320-5083, Volume 3, Issue 8, September 2015 we kick it aside, as if it is nothing, and we are obstinately patriotic in respect of our own little country, that also would not be a solace to us. Our whole country can be placed in a precarious situation because of its disobedience to the international set-up of things. Such is the case with everything, everywhere. We may be obedient to the little laws of this land, but we may be disobedient to a higher law, not merely the international law, but the inter- planary law, the universal law as we may call it. That may take action against us if we are ignorant of its workings. The Bhagavadgita displays before us the structure of the universal law that operates everywhere. And if we can abide by it, it shall supremely protect us as the protection that we can expect from the Central Constitution of a Government, and our little laws are subsumed under it. Such is the beauty of this message, the Bhagavadgita. Finally be it Plato’s perfect society (Levin, 2015) or Mahatma Gandhi’s ‘India of My Dreams’ (Gandhi, 1947), Constitutional spirit of Justice, Liberty, Equality and Fraternity remains the same, guiding our human behaviour.

References 1. Algeo J. (2000). The Bhagavad Gita: A Study Course: Analysis and commentary in 28 lessons. Retrieved from The Department of Education, The Theosophical Society in America website: https://www.theosophical.org/files/resources/selfstudy/Gita.pdf 2. Anon. (2015). Contemporary Perspectives on Natural Law: Natural Law As A Limiting Concept. Retrieved from Universidad De Murcia website: http://www.um.es/urbanoferrer/documentos/Natural%20Law.pdf 3. Anon. (2015). Reasoning: Inductive and Deductive Logic. Retrieved from Center for Teaching and Learning, Brigham Young University website: http://ctl.byu.edu/sites/default/files/docs/critical_reading_mini-lessons/37- Reasoning_Inductive_and_Deductive_Logic.pdf 4. Anon-III. (2015). Life’s Origin and History. Retrieved from Nicholls State University website: http://www.nicholls.edu/biol-ds/biol370/Lectures/History%20of%20Life.pdf 5. Bailey A. A. (1998). Problems of Humanity. Retrieved from Alice Bailey website: http://alice.bailey.it/images/testi-inglese/Problems-of-Humanity.pdf 6. Blavatsky H. P. (1888). The Secret Doctrine: The Synthesis of Science, Religion, and Philosophy. Retrieved from Theosophical University Press Online Edition website: http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/sd/sd-hp.htm 7. BOISI. (2015). Separation of Church and State. The BOISI Center Papers on Religion in the United States. Retrieved from BOISI Center for Religion and American Public Life, Boston College website: https://www.bc.edu/content/dam/files/centers/boisi/pdf/bc_papers/BCP-ChurchState.pdf 8. Dash R. K. (2014, Dec 12). Applying the Alchemical Transformation Model (ATM) to Study the Bhagavad Gita. Retrieved from Language in India, Vol.14 website: http://www.languageinindia.com/dec2014/dashatmgita.pdf 9. Dillbeck M. C. (1991). The Bhagavad-Gita: A Case Study in Vedic Psychology. Modern Science and Vedic Science, Vol.4, No.2, USA: Iowa. Retrieved from Maharishi International University website: https://www.mum.edu/pdf_msvs/v04/dillbeck.pdf 10. Finch C. E. (2012). Evolution of the Human Lifespan, Past, Present, and Future: Phases in the Evolution of Human Life Expectancy in Relation to the Inflammatory Load. Proceedings of The American Philosophical Society, Vol.156, No.1, pp 9-44. Retrieved from American Philosophical Society website: http://www.amphilsoc.org/sites/default/files/proceedings/Finch1561.pdf 11. Gandhi M. K. (1947). India of My Dreams. Retrieved from M K Gandhi website: http://www.mkgandhi.org/ebks/india_dreams.pdf 12. Gayathri N. & Meenakshi K. (2014, Dec). Emotional Intelligence Through The Bhagavad-Gita For Conflict Resolution. International Journal in Commerce, IT & Social Sciences, Vol.1, Issue 3.

243 www.jiarm.com JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL ACADEMIC RESEARCH FOR MULTIDISCIPLINARY Impact Factor 1.625, ISSN: 2320-5083, Volume 3, Issue 8, September 2015

Retrieved from International Journals of Multi Dimensional Research website: http://ijmr.net.in/pastijciss.php?p=Vol.%2001,Issue%2003,December2014 13. Grant J. D. & Jones C. H. (2014). The Significance of Pure Consciousness for Education. Retrieved from Maharishi University of Management website: https://www.mum.edu/wp- content/uploads/2014/07/education.pdf 14. Hijiya J. A. (2000). The Gita of J. Robert Oppenheimer. Proceedings of The American Philosophical Society, Vol.144, No.2, pp 123-167. Retrieved from American Philosophical Society website: http://www.amphilsoc.org/sites/default/files/proceedings/Hijiya.pdf 15. Kapila S. & Devji F. (Ed.). (2013). Political Thought in Action: The Bhagavad Gita and Modern India. Cambridge University Press, USA: New York 16. King M. S. (2003). Natural Law and the Bhagavad-Gita: The Vedic Concept of Natural Law. Ratio Juris, Vol.16, Issue 3, pp 399–415 17. Kothari M. M. (2002). The War Philosophy of the Bhagavadgita: Has It Any Relevance Today? Retrieved from Savitribai Puhle Pune University website: http://www.unipune.ac.in/snc/cssh/ipq/english/IPQ/6-10%20volumes/07%2002/PDF/7-2-5.pdf 18. Levin M. R. (2015). Plato's Republic and the Perfect Society. Retrieved from University of Dayton website: http://academic.udayton.edu/LawrenceUlrich/Leadership370/Plato's%20Republic%20and%20The%20 Perfect%20Society.pdf 19. Mahadevan B. (2008, Dec). Management Lessons from the Bhagavad Gita. Retrieved from The Vedanta Kesari, Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore website: http://www.iimb.ernet.in/sites/default/files/GitaManagement.pdf 20. Mahadevan B. (2012). Leadership Lessons from Bhagavad Gita. Retrieved from Impact, Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore website: http://www.iimb.ernet.in/sites/default/files/Leadership%20Lessons%20from%20Gita.pdf 21. Maitra K. (2006). Comparing The Bhagavad-Gita and Kant: A Lesson in Comparative Philosophy. Philosophy in the Contemporary World, Vol.13, No.1, pp 63-67. Retrieved from Department of Philosophy, University of North Carolina website: https://philosophy.unca.edu/sites/default/files/Writing_Samples/Maitra/Maitra- Comparing_the_Bhagvad-Gita_and_Kant_-_A_Lesson_in_Comparative_Philosophy.pdf 22. Mascaro J. (1964). The Bhagavad Gita and the Environment. Retrieved from International Environment Forum website: http://iefworld.org/cmpBhagavadGita_env.html 23. Ministry of Law & Justice. (2007). The Constitution of India. Retrieved from the Ministry of Law & Justice website: http://lawmin.nic.in/coi/coiason29july08.pdf 24. Muniapan B. & Dass M. (2008). Corporate Social Responsibility: A Philosophical Approach from an Ancient Indian Perspective. International Journal of Indian Culture and Business Management, Vol.1, No. 4, pp 408-420 25. Narla V. R. (2015). Scientific Analysis of Bhagavad Gita. Retrieved from Center for Inquiry website: http://www.centerforinquiry.net/india/resources/ebooksgita/ 26. Newcomb R. W. (2015). A Scientific Explanation of Chapter 13 of the Bhagavad Gita. Retrieved from A. James Clark School of Engineering, University of Maryland website: http://www.ee.umd.edu/~newcomb/file_transfer/GITA.pdf 27. Nirmal B. C. (2007). Natural Law, Human Rights and Justice: Some Reflections on Finnis's Natural Law Theory. Banaras Law Journal Vol.35 & 36, No. 1 & 2, pp 52-84. Retrieved from Banaras Hindu University website: http://www.bhu.ac.in/lawfaculty/bljvol35_36.html 28. Norbeck E. (1911). The Anthropological Study of Human Play. Retrieved from Rice University Studies website: https://scholarship.rice.edu/bitstream/handle/1911/63156/article_RIP603_part1.pdf?sequence=1 29. Pope S. (2015). Reason and Natural Law. Retrieved from BOISI Center for Religion and American Public Life, Boston College website: https://www.bc.edu/content/dam/files/centers/boisi/pdf/f09/Pope_Reason_and_Natural_Law.pdf 30. Prasad R. (1988). Bhagavad Gita. American Gita Society. Retrieved from Columbia University website: http://www.columbia.edu/itc/religion/f2001/docs/bhagavad.pdf 31. Rarick C. & Nickerson I. (2009, Jul). Expanding Managerial Consciousness: Leadership Advice from the Bhagavad Gita. Journal of Behavioral Studies in Business, Vol.1. Retrieved from Academic and Business Research Institute website: http://www.aabri.com/manuscripts/09151.pdf 32. Razak R. R. & Sanusi Z. A. (2010). The Concept of Sustainable Development in Human Civilisation: An Introspective View. Kemanusiaan, Vol.17, pp 19-36. Retrieved from Universiti Sains Malaysia website: http://web.usm.my/kajh/KAJH%2017/KAJH%20Art%202%20(19-36).pdf

244 www.jiarm.com JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL ACADEMIC RESEARCH FOR MULTIDISCIPLINARY Impact Factor 1.625, ISSN: 2320-5083, Volume 3, Issue 8, September 2015

33. Reis H. T., Collins W. A., & Berscheid E. (2000). The Relationship Context of Human Behavior and Development. Psychological Bulletin, Vol.126, No.6, pp 844-872. Retrieved from University of Rochester website: https://www.psych.rochester.edu/people/reis_harry/assets/pdf/ReisCollinsBerscheid_2000.pdf 34. Row T. S. (1912). Philosophy of the Bhagavad-Gita. The Theosophist Office, India: Madras. Retrieved from Canadian Theosophical Association website: http://www.theosophical.ca/otherdocuments/PhilosphyOfTheBhagavadGita_TSRow.pdf 35. Sivananda S. S. (1998). Bhagavad Gita for Busy People. Retrieved from The Divine Life Society website: http://www.dlshq.org/download/gita_busy.pdf 36. Sivananda S. S. (2000). Bhagavad Gita. Retrieved from The Divine Life Society website: http://www.dlshq.org/download/bgita.pdf 37. Smith E. A. (2000). Three Styles in the Evolutionary Analysis of Human Behavior. Adaptation and Human Behavior: An Anthropological Perspective. Retrieved from University of Washington website: http://faculty.washington.edu/easmith/ThreeStyles.pdf 38. Sri Aurobindo. (2001). Essays on the Gita. Sri Aurobindo Ashram Publications Department, India: Pondicherry, pp .3 39. Swami Krishnananda. (2015). The Philosophy of the Bhagavadgita. Retrieved from The Divine Life Society website: http://www.swami-krishnananda.org/gita/gita_01.html 40. Swami Prabhupada. (2015). Bhagavad Gita As It Is. Retrieved from website: http://asitis.com 41. Virdi A. (2012, Mar). Invoking the Organizational Consciousness: Insights from Bhagvad Gita. Retrieved from SIBM Vol.IV Symbiosis Institute of Business Management website: http://www.sibm.edu/assets/pdf/invoking.pdf 42. World Bank Group. (2015). Mind, Society, and Behavior: World Development Report. Retrieved from World Bank website: http://www.worldbank.org/content/dam/Worldbank/Publications/WDR/WDR%202015/WDR-2015- Full-Report.pdf 43. Worster W. T. (2014). The Inductive and Deductive Methods in Customary International Law Analysis: Traditional and Modern Approaches. Georgetown Journal of International Law, Vol.45, pp 445-521. Retrieved from Georgetown Law website: http://www.law.georgetown.edu/academics/law- journals/gjil/recent/upload/zsx00214000445.PDF

1 Hereinafter referred as BG. 2 All Sanskrit verses of Bhagavad Gita, their meaning and translation as mentioned in this article are taken from website: http://asitis.com 3 AIIMS Students’ Union vs AIIMS (2002) 1 SCC, 428, Ranganath Mishra vs Union of India (2003) 7 SCC 133, KRK Vara Prasad vs Union of India, (1980) AIR, AP 243, Mohan vs Union of India (1992) Suppl 1 SCC, 594, Ramprarasad vs State of Uttar Pradesh, AIR, 1988 All (309)

245 www.jiarm.com