Weapons of Knowledge and Yoga: Overcoming the Fear Created by Maya

 

When a man is attacked and has no weapons, he naturally feels more fear. But if he holds weapons in his hands, his fear diminishes. In the same way, whenever we feel afraid in any situation, we should understand that we are lacking some inner weapon of knowledge or yoga.

Either we do not have the weapon of faith, or we have the infallible weapons of knowledge and yoga but have locked them away like treasures in a trunk—they are not in our hands, meaning they are not active in our intellect at that moment. Or we do not yet know how to use these weapons. If we truly knew and applied them, then courage, bravery, and faith would naturally be visible in us.

We would understand that, in whatever form Maya is attacking right now, God has already given us the necessary knowledge. The Supreme has already taught us the strategies of this spiritual battlefield—the various ways Maya can attack and the tactics it will use. With this understanding, we realize that we have been empowered with many powerful weapons that can directly face and counter Maya’s assaults, and that God Himself is continuously giving us strength from above. Therefore, we can be certain that we will ultimately be victorious.

So what are these inner weapons of ours? Our weapons are like the conch shell, the chakra, and the gada. The Sudarshan Chakra and the gada symbolize such powers through which a person can easily face the storms of Maya. Yet, if along with these weapons a person does not have any shield or protective device, some fear will still remain in the mind. That essential shield is the weapon of the knowledge of the world drama—the understanding of how this entire play of life unfolds in time, and of the eternal, predestined, benevolent nature of the drama itself.