Bhagavad Gita Ch16 part 03 on 22 August 2021

Full Transcript(Not Corrected)

Om Jananim Sharadam Devim Ramakrishnam Jagadgurum Adapatmetayo Shritva Pranamami Mohur Moho Om Vasudevasudham Devam Kamsa Chanuram Ardhanam Devaki Paramanandam Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum Sarvopanishadho Gavo Dogdha Gopalanandana Partho Atsah Sudhirubhokta Dugdham Geetam Ritam Mahat Mukham Karuthi Vachalam Pangum Langhayate Girim Yath Kripathamaham Vande Paramanandamadham We have started this most beautiful 16th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita Yesterday night we had finished What is the third divine quality every spiritual aspirant has to develop without which spiritual progress is not possible The first was fearlessness and the second which was very important that is controlling one's own mind etc. and then Gnana Yoga Vyavasthiti Third one is very very important Gnanam means that knowledge in which we have faith which has been transmitted by our teachers through their knowledge and experience confirmed by their experience then we have to practice what we know our problem is that we know that we have to do something but as if some unknown force comes and holds us back that's because we have not done sufficient amount of Antahkarana Shuddhi which was the second one Sattva Shuddhi How to do it? This also will be dealt with in details in the future classes both in the 16th as well as 17th through the control of activities food, sleep, entertainment and developing sufficient willpower etc. which we will deal but the essence of it is we have to develop Sattva Guna through overcoming Tamoguna then progressing into lower Rajoguna into higher Rajoguna into lower Sattva Guna and that is what we need to do before we enter into the higher Sattva Guna which is Jnana Yoga Vyavasthiti Yesterday we had discussed what Shankara has said and now I also quoted some examples now what Sri Ramakrishna says about Jnana Yoga Vyavasthiti Steadfastness both in knowledge and steadfastness also in Yoga which means putting into practice what we know What does Sri Ramakrishna say? Do you know what ignorance means? He is first defining in order to tell us what is knowledge He is first defining what is not knowledge Do you know what ignorance means? It is the feeling This is my house These are my relatives I am the doer and the household affairs go on smoothly because I manage them but to feel I am the servant of God He is a devotee He is son That's a good attitude The realization that God alone is real and that He dwells in all Do not forget Him but remember all men must walk one day the same path What is the same path? If there is birth, there is growth, old age, decay, disease and death There is no exception Sri Ramakrishna so beautifully dealt with this What is ignorance? First of all to be attached to outside things Then to feel Ahamkara I am the doer Then to progress into feeling I see God everywhere God is everything but before coming to that we have to forge a strong relationship with God I am a servant of God Dasya Bhakti I am a devotee of God and then I am not only a devotee I am His own child So that is how slowly we grow and that is how Vaishnava literature classifies five steps of the Bhakti ladder Shanta, Vasya, Sakhiya, Vatsalya and Mathura Mathura is that I am none other than my beloved, my God So do not forget Him because remember all men must one day walk down the same path There is a beautiful song which is one of my most favorite songs Sri Rama Bhajo Dukhame Sukhame Sabu Nashwar Hai Mathu Maana Karo Sri Rama Bhajo Always worship Remember, meditate, pray, surrender to God Sri Rama means not Sri Rama but God It could be Sri Krishna, Buddha, Jesus or anybody Dukhame Sukhame What is the speciality? Whether a person is a saint or a worldly person or downright sinner Yesterday we discussed What is it? There are three types of people from the spiritual point of view Those who are born with spiritual qualities Those who are Asuri born with demonic qualities and those who are born with Rakshasi Prakruti to say they are the greatest sinners The second classification which we must never forget live and let live They are not true They are worldly people but they are not true evil people Some selfishness is there So their policy is live and let live That is the thing There is a beautiful Shiva Aparadha Kshama Apana Stotram where this fact every man must walk the same way strengthening, supporting this beautiful teaching of Sri Ramakrishna long before somebody had composed probably Shankaracharya SANSKRIT Beautiful shloka SANSKRIT Every day is gone One day gone and one day less from our longevity Why only one day? Even every millisecond And how is it going? SANSKRIT As we go on looking at it it is slipping away from us SANSKRIT Youth is also getting completely dissolved SANSKRIT A time that was gone is never ever going to come to us SANSKRIT Time is the devourer of everything in this world Remember we have already dealt with in the 11th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita Sri Krishna was asked by Arjuna I cannot recognize you Who are you? He says SANSKRIT So I am Kala I am the devourer Every second eats up everything in this world Not me, not you but everything living, non-living SANSKRIT We are all after happiness Lakshmi means by the way happiness If a man has got wealth but diseased he can't eat, he can't see he can't hear, he can't move he is paralysed he is old and his mind is restless What is he going to enjoy? So Lakshmi is that even if somebody doesn't have much but he is extremely happy that is called Lakshmi Vantah not merely wealth or possessions SANSKRIT As unsteady as small bubbles, small wavelets on the ocean in a tsunami SANSKRIT What about life? Life is like the momentary sparkling of lightning SANSKRIT Therefore O Lord, I understand it You are a Sharanatha You are one who gives refuse to everybody SANSKRIT And I have taken refuse in you SANSKRIT Just now please come and save me Same idea has been so beautifully mentioned in Mukunda Mala Stotram There was a great old war and he has composed this Mukunda Mala What is he talking about here? He says Oh my mind, addressing the mind you are like a bird and just now enter into the cage of the Sri Krishna's lotus feet Why now? Because when my throat becomes compressed by SANSKRIT then I will not be able to utter your name So just now you enter into the cage SANSKRIT SANSKRIT SANSKRIT SANSKRIT SANSKRIT SANSKRIT SANSKRIT SANSKRIT SANSKRIT When diseases are constricting my throat, where will be my attention? Only on how to breathe Those who suffer from asthma, they know their whole attention is on the body So therefore, this is the right time. This is the meaning of what Sri Ram Krishna says. Remember everybody must walk the same way, saint or sinner good or evil rich or poor powerful or powerless Then Sri Ram Krishna continues. Knowledge What is knowledge? Knowledge means that God alone is real and all else is temporary What's our idea? Devotee's idea? Worldly people's idea is that world is real, God is unreal. Most devotees idea is world also is real, God also is real. How? Because they say, Oh Lord You are the Srishti Kartha You are the Sthithi Kartha You are Brahma You are Vishnu. You are Maheshwara What you created cannot be unreal. So I want both world as well as you and how much you want? 50-50. What is 50-50? I want 50% of God 50% of the world What do you mean? Like that Swami Rivi Adityanathji Maharaj used to tell like a horse and a rabbit 50% rabbit of God, 50% of horse. This is what we call I want both God as well as the world But what is Ramakrishna telling us? That God alone is real Knowledge means the goal of life is the realization of God. Knowledge means that this world is only a temporary place. Knowledge means to remember God always and to keep the mind calm, balanced and rational and to practice discrimination between the real and the unreal So how many definitions are there according to Ramakrishna? First definition God alone is real So Brahma Sathyam Jagan Mithya What is the second one? The goal of life is the realization of God. What is the third one? Knowledge means that this world is only a temporary place but at the same time it affords us an opportunity to practice spiritual discipline and progress What is the fourth one? Knowledge is to remember God always and to keep the mind calm balanced and rational and to practice discrimination between the real and the unreal and one who is treading the path of knowledge strives to remember that he is a child or a servant or a devotee of God whatever be the circumstances of life, a devotee forges ahead with his practice Through regular practice he achieves steadfastness Steadfastness of knowledge is a sure sign of spiritual progress In this connection we have to remember the teaching of Bhagavan Krishna given earlier in the 13th chapter He also specially mentions Amanitvam, Adhamvitvam etc. in the 13th chapter and says to practice these spiritual qualities this is called Gnanam and everything else Anyatha Agnanam Agnanam means ignorance Why? Because this practice alone will slowly gives us health happiness and liberation Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha and the other one that means Manitvam Adhamvitvam all those qualities Rakshasi qualities or Asuri qualities they only keep us in this world of Samsara and Samsara according to Buddha is full of suffering This is the meaning Gnana Yoga Vyavasthiti We move on to the fourth Dhanam, Dhanam means charity Shankaracharya says Dhanam, Yathashakti Samvibhagah Annadheenam Annadheenam Yathashakti What is Dhana according to Shankaracharya Yathashakti, according to one's capacity What is it? Annadheenam Food, in those days you know there is no use giving money A guest comes to you after walking several days and then you give some money and say, my good man here I am giving some, what is he going to do? There were no hotels motels or people It is only cooked food That is why in Punjab many sadhus prefer to live in North India, not in South India It is a blemish on South India because even today, this question of looking after spiritual aspirants especially monks and nuns is very rare in South India. That is why all the sadhus migrate to North India So North India is famous, especially Uttar Pradesh especially Punjab If any sadhu is passing through the bazaars of Punjab at noon, at about 12 o'clock, most of the householders will look Babaji, biksha paya, roti khaya did you get any biksha? So they make specially keep one or two rotis aside for this kind of situations and that is why North India has produced so many wonderful saints Anyway, so not only annam but if you have got money if you have got if you are a doctor or Kaviraj, help people Akhandanandji, he met one Ayurvedic great pundit and he used to spend his own money to treat his patients. Akhandanandji loved this man so much he even wanted to construct a temple for Shri Ram Krishna when Swamiji was struggling but the family members of that man misunderstood Swami Akhandananda wanted to do away with him and mixed croton, seed powder so that he will die through diarrhea or dysentery etc. Anyway, this whatever a person has got that is what Holy Mother used to say so wonderfully, I will come back to that. So annam means whatever a person has something to share. Suppose you have something, why don't you pray for him? Why don't you talk sweetly with him? Why don't you give him at least a glass of water etc. That's what Shri Ram Krishna taught to M when a guest comes, give a small sweet, a glass of water, especially sadhus or devotees when they come and M and his family, even today keep up that practice happily that Kathamruta Bhavan has come to us today. So dhanam or charity is a very important virtue highlighted in the scriptures. Why is it highlighted? What is the philosophical reason? Because any spiritual aspirant is going to progress in spiritual life and progress in spiritual life means seeing God everywhere. Seeing God everywhere means feeling that I am everywhere. He says other people's happiness is my happiness, other people's suffering is my suffering and that's what Shri Ram Krishna had highlighted through his own experiences both at Deogarh and Madhur Babu's Jamendari also. That's what Holy Mother did whole life. So in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, there are three virtues highlighted as very important spiritual qualities. Tametam, Vedanuvachanena, Brahmanah, Vividhishanti, Yajnena, Dhanena, Tapasa, Anashakena. Yajna, dhanam and tapas are considered the most important disciplines. We are going to deal with these things because Shri Krishna had mentioned all these three. So Krishna tells us that charity is one of the divine qualities, dhanam. Certainly it is a great and very necessary virtue. Anybody who claims I am a spiritual aspirant and is not willing to share what he has got, at least to his capacity, to her capacity is not at all a spiritual aspirant. He belongs to the Rakshasi Prakruti because Shri Ram Krishna very often taught to Mathur Babu and other rich people that remember, do not forget you are a trustee, you are not a owner of anything that you have, neither the body nor the possessions nor much the mind. Everything belongs to the Divine Mother. So what is charity? It is not merely giving a gift or helping or serving. It is an attitude of mind, a way of looking at the world. What is the attitude? That who is my neighbor? Anybody who is in need is my neighbor. I hope you remember what I am talking about reference. In Bible, Jesus Christ was asked, who is your neighbor? He tells a parable. Once somebody fell down by the roadside and a religious person was passing by. He just looked at this fellow, turned his face away and proceeded on his way. But another man came who did not claim that I am a religious person. He saw, came running to this man, took him up on his horse and then took him to the nearest village, put him in a charity house, gave some money to the owner of that house, said that you treat this person. And then Jesus Christ says, he asks, who do you think is the neighbor? And the questioner without any doubt says the person who loved this person in distress and helped him, he is the neighbor. That is what he used to say. That is what, it is an attitude. Anybody who requires, he is a sharer. I am a sharer and I share with that person kindness, compassion, respect, sweet speaking and prayer for the welfare of others are some of the expressions of charity. Charity is love of God and love of man. Charity is living a simple life. Charity is living a simple life. What does it mean? It means I should be careful. This is my money. I can enjoy it as much as I like. I can buy for millions of pounds a big house. I buy a most expensive car. These are demons really in human forms. How much that money would have helped other people, God alone knows. So, charity is not merely giving. It is a way of life. Charity is living a simple life. It is a way of reducing selfishness and egotism. Charity should help us develop non-attachment towards the world. That is one of the characteristics of charity. Charity is a way of sharing and caring, loving and serving. Charity that's why Swami Vivekananda has greatest dictum, maxim that Shiva Jnane Jeeva Shiva which Kabir Das has expressed so beautifully I am inside you. I am outside you. Where are you searching for? Charity is an inevitable expression of love. In a way it is a way of giving back to the world what we receive from it. Really it is not charity. That's why in Hinduism every Hindu is one who is indebted to five sources for the Rishis, for the Devatas, for the one's own ancestors, for every other human being and every other non-human being living or non-living. We are indebted to the rivers, we are indebted to the oceans, we are indebted to the mountains, to the forests and any harm we do with awareness, with consciousness to anybody, not only living creature but even to non-living things, we are only like foolish Kalidasas, earlier Kalidasa who cuts the branch upon which he is sitting. That is what we have done, creating a big ozone layer. So what is charity? It's giving back to the world what we receive from it acknowledging that what I have received, I am just giving back. At least let us give back even if we cannot give back without compound interest. Real charity is to offer oneself to God and see the Divine in all beings. So our scriptures also divide charity into three. There are three types of charity. Material charity, intellectual charity and spiritual charity. Of these, spiritual charity, that is helping one to reach God in the highest. That's what Swami Vivekananda had done, Sri Ramakrishna had done. Through Swami Vivekananda he wanted to arouse the potential divinity in every man. When some stupid foolish Indian wrote, you are eating foreign food and you are mixing with foreign people, Mlechas in those days, Swami Vivekananda, caustic reply, that if you are so concerned about me, send a cook who will be a pure Brahmana and send also all the Indian food stuff. And that is the end of this man's reply because giving advice is what is called our natural tendency but following it, helping in any way, is not at all. So no other charity can be compared to spiritual charity. But Swami Vivekananda said first give Annadana. That will not do. Give Vidyadana. Give them knowledge. Give them secular knowledge. Give them scientific knowledge. Give them spiritual knowledge. Sri Ramakrishna's deeply pregnant with deep meaning, sayings that an empty stomach is no good for anything. Not to speak of spirituality, it is not good for anything. And this has been so beautifully illustrated in the Chandogya Upanishad. There was a disciple and then the Guru taught him that Annam Brahmeti. Anna, food is Brahman. And the disciple was sceptic. Every day I am eating Anna. How can Anna, food, be Brahman? Then the teacher told him to imprint such a strong lesson. My child, please fast for 15 days. And the disciple did not understand. He fasted for 15 days. But by that time, he had mastered many things. How to recite, etc. After 15 days of fasting, the teacher called him and said, My child, recite whatever you have learnt. Nothing was coming out because there was no input. There would be no output. Memory is gone. Everything is there. But accessing the memory is gone because prana is not functioning. Energy is not there. Then the teacher smiled and said, Now eat. And then he ate. After 15 days he said, Now recite. And like drinking water, gada gada gada, the whole thing has come out. Now you understand my child, everything depends upon food. Because if the body is not weak, body is weak, it is no good for anything. Not only spiritual. That's why, That's why Swami Vivekananda preached. Muscles of iron, nerves of steel, gigantic wheels. That's why he said. Not because people used to think they are like jiva chivas, living, walking corpses. And that is why India had gone through so much of degeneration. Preaching become weak, weak, weak by not eating, by not doing anything. Swamiji came and said eat meat, exercise, develop muscles and nerves and then only education. That is why Swami Vivekananda's remedy for all the spiritual, intellectual, physical sickness of the whole Indian nation is physical food, intellectual food through school education, college education, university education, finally spiritual education. So much of meaning is there. So what is charity? Ultimate charity is spiritual advice. Because once a person is free, he will not require anything else. But it must start with physical, then progress into intellectual, then progress into aesthetic, then moral, finally only spiritual. These are the five steps of the ladder gradually. Charity should be practiced with sincerity, humility, devotion, reverence and without expecting any return. Charity is done purely for pleasing the Lord. So important is charity. Holy Mother used to say in beautiful sutras, Those who have wealth, etc., must measure it out. But those who do not have, pray for them, speak to them and do everything that is sharing, caring and sharing. That's what He said. So, why does God incarnate? Out of compassion. What does He do? He comes to preach this particular idea of charity. Out of compassion, He preaches, His whole life is offered in sacrifice, which we will come when that word comes. But it means transforming one's life into a channel of divine service. Then we come to the fifth quality. Remember, there are many things to be told. But I am only briefly recollecting some of these important points. As I mentioned, I have written. The book is available. Please go through it. At least you will get essence of what I am talking about. So the fifth spiritual divine quality is Dhamaha. Dhamaha means what does Shankara say? And Dhamaha is the control of the external organs. And he is telling something very important. The translation into English is very weak. What is he telling? And again, what is Dhamaha? Dhamaha means instruments, external instruments. The physical body, all the tensions, organs, etc. Making them completely peaceful. That means they will be under one's control. They will never go outside the control. This is called conduct. In spiritual English language, this is called conduct. So what is the internal control? That is called character. But what is outside? Spiritual conduct. That's why in the four pillars of wisdom, one of our senior Swami has said, first everything starts with Achara. Achara means external conduct. You get up at this time and then you go and take bath and you do your Sandhya Vandanam, that is spiritual prayers, etc. And then when you see elders, so your mother, your father, your teacher or any elderly person, anybody who is a old person, oldness means not only Vayu Vrittaha, Sheela Vrittaha, Guna Vrittaha, Vidya Vrittaha, etc. Anybody who has what is called excellent qualities. He may be a man of great character. He may be a great devotee. He may be a great learned man. In whatever way a person excels, such a person bow down because by bowing down, we are bowing only to the Divine Lord. So all these come under Achara and when Achara, even without our understanding, we go on practicing and that is what our grandparents, our parents, our family members, they are supposed to teach to us. Of course, if they don't themselves practice, it is not going to happen. It is not going to. That is why the present generation is a degeneration, really speaking. All in the name of education, freedom, independent thinking, etc. So here we have to understand, first of all, Achara. Certain principles to be observed in life and when we go on doing it with Shraddha and Vakti, we slowly turn into Nishtha. Nishtha means what? A day will come without observing those things. We will not be able to progress any further in life. Even though I mentioned certain incident, but I am again going to do it, but very briefly. This occurs in the life of Ramanujacharya illustrating what is called Nishtha. Nishtha means absolute steadfastness in the practice of good conduct and this comes only after a long time of devoted practice externally. There was a disciple, there was a man who was very old, more than 80 years old and he humbly acknowledged the spiritual greatness of Ramanuja who was a young man, came to him and said, I would like to be your disciple and Ramanuja very gladly initiated him into Vaishnava tradition and then the disciple asked, what Guru Dakshina shall I give you? and the Guru, just listen carefully what is happening if you have forgotten or even if you remember a Guru told, young Guru, can say that this is what you have to do, command, so the Guru commands look here great man, Sir that everyday I will be returning from the temple of Lord Vishnu, Kanchipuram, Varadarajan temple, everyday I will be returning at about 12 o'clock, 1 o'clock or before 3 o'clock, on the way I would like to wash your feet, because that was achara younger one puts the feet of the elder one especially Guru or elderly person mother, father, in a plate and washes the feet with water and drinks that water as a manifestation, expression of tremendous Shraddha reverence, so you are elder to me you may be my disciple but you are elder to me in age, you are a Brahmana I would like to keep up this not only for my own sake as an example to everybody else he was not commanding him I am a Guru, you have to wash my feet, remember that observe that so the disciple also said yes, if this pleases you, if I can serve you that way, I will do that and everyday Ramanuja on his way to his home at about noon, he comes at different times and this man will be without eating food, because this is first I have to render service to my Guru he will come, he will be sitting there with a plate with water and with his feet stretched out and then Ramanuja will come, wash the feet of his disciple drink the water and then only the old man is free to go and eat food and one day Ramanuja forgot, he came by some other way to his home he was deeply thinking about some problem that there was there and whole day passed at about just before midnight before going to bed he remembered and he knew his disciple was a Nishtha one and immediately he ran to the house and found the old man waiting for his Guru and Ramanuja apologized to him, washed his feet quickly, drank it and said my apologies I kept you fasting please go and take some food and please take rest, this is a beautiful illustration and also I mentioned earlier in some of my classes, I do not remember Swami Advaitananda he was asked by Shri Ramakrishna to sit and meditate at the dawn and dusk, not to lie down, even though he was capable of meditating deeply while lying down so when Advaitanandaji was very old and he could not even move from side to side he insisted, my Guru told me, I will have to sit and meditate and Sharath Maharaj who was looking after him refused to do it because the doctors advised and he knew by common sense that it was not good then Latu Maharaj said that if you do not help me, I will call Hanuman Anjaneya, he will come and help me and Sharath Maharaj said you call your Anjaneya and after few minutes he was astonished to see the man who could not move one centimeter he was sitting upright his back was supported by bolstered by some number of pillows and then he understood, really Hanuman came and helped him why should you do it? not because it was necessary but because his Guru commanded him and that is called Nishtha so many incidents are there but I will not tell you about it so the first pillar is external conduct that in course of time transforms itself into Nishtha and this Nishtha in course of time purifies the mind and the man as an inkling what is the inner meaning of this conduct, that is called Shraddha and when Shraddha once possesses, the man enters into Dhyanam deep meditation so Achara, Nishtha Shraddha and finally Dhyanam this is what is called four pillars of progressing in spiritual life, this is what is meant Dhamma means complete control, this is what Upashamam Shanti Yati according to Shankaracharya Vahyakarananam Upashamaham that is what he said Dhamma is sense control one who aspires to self-knowledge, cannot be too careful about control of the senses unless the senses are controlled, it is impossible to control the mind and what does sense control mean does it mean that we close our eyes, ears etc obviously this is unrealistic, it cannot be the meaning for besides being impossible to stop them functioning it is unwise also to do so sense control means first using all the senses to discharge one's duties with proper care and attention, this improves our concentration and will power besides it gives a sense of fulfillment one of our senior swamis he told a beautiful thing, how to use the senses properly and he gives one example supposing you are walking in the street and you are serious about spiritual progress and your eyes until this time are accustomed to roam here and there, no command them, you see what is necessary, you have to see at your path, you have to see whether any obstructions are there ups and downs are there, whether there may be danger, that's all you need to do, don't go on looking this person's face, that person's face, what is happening left side right side, above, below that's none of your business and we have to practice that's why many people, especially Buddhists call it what is called walking meditation that is entire attention is focused upon my foot is rising and it is falling and only see three feet in front and not at all Christians were also advised to do the same thing so what about eyes ok what about hearing, can you put a limit to it, a control over it Sharath Maharaj, life there is an incident, so one day Sharath Maharaj was sitting in a small room even now you can see that room in the mother's house, Udbodhan he was writing the Ramakrishna, the great master Ramakrishna Lila Prasanga you know what happened when he was doing this some swamis, monks were loudly shouting and Golakma was there who had even a bigger voice I was remembering a small cartoon strip I have seen there was a library and the librarian wants everybody to maintain silence and he was such a stupid what is called idiotic person he was banging the table, silence every minute and the whole hall was shaking disturbing everybody so this Golakma she was shouting even louder than the monks, hey don't shout like that Sharath will be disturbed he is absorbed in writing naturally the monks were subdued but Sharath Maharaj heard it, he said Golakma I am very happy to hear the monks cutting jokes and laughing because a laughing monk is a happy monk I see that the boys are very happy let them go on talking I told my ears do not be disturbed by what you hear was Sharath Maharaj deaf? No was he hearing? Yes was it disturbing him? No that is what we have to understand, everything is done, all the sense organs are there but they do not disturb at all so we cannot really control, sometimes yes, when we are alone when we are trying to meditate yes we have to control but when we are about discharging our duties then it is better that we have to open our eyes fully and engage them in their respective duties too much, let us not control them I tell sometimes our devotees when you are cooking something nice for any Swami forget about God even forget about Holy Mother just pray to her that I am doing it for your son or daughter but do not disturb me let my mind be focused only upon this cooking the cooking will be much better in quality than anything else so sense control means one, using all the senses to discharge one's duties with proper care and attention, two using the senses in a way that does not agitate the mind but on the contrary promotes spiritual progress for example, let the eyes enjoy more of the divine forms, let the ears hear more devotional music or other scriptures let one talk and hear about spiritual things three, let all the senses be directed towards God, if we can remember God and try to do our duties only to please Him, then the senses will gradually turn towards Him this is called Karma Yoga and that is why Swamiji said, what is Karma Yoga? Karma Yoga that is the real Karma Yoga the control of the senses external senses is a difficult task but through constant practice and through the grace of God, it's possible a man becomes a saint by conquering the senses, is there anything impossible for a man who has subdued his passions he can even realize God through his grace, who is telling? Hiram Krishna is telling a man becomes a saint by conquering the senses is there anything impossible for a man who has subdued his passions for a person who has complete control over his sense organs and who is completely detached from any worldly objects, for him one's own house becomes Tapovanam the greatest place of austerity, then we come to the sixth quality called Yagnam, Yagnaha Yagnaha means what? Sacrifice so what does Shankara say? means sacrifices Yagnahotra etc. but sanctioned by the Vedas that is one part and there are also and sacrifices that means in modern times our pujas, our homas our singing devotional songs, our holding spiritual retreats, our japa etc. in honour of Gods and other scriptures, sanctioned by the Smritis first one sanctioned by the Shrutis Vedas, Upanishads second one sanctioned by our Smritis, Dharma Shastras as well as Puranas it is said in the Vedas that the Lord means Purusha made a sacrifice of himself for the sake of creation and he is sustaining it through continual sacrifice for it is he who is manifest in the form of the sun, the moon, the air the water, the space the fire, the earth etc. so it is said this is beautifully expressed in what we call Purusha Sukta a beautiful hymn on Purusha, Purusha means God, simple words I am using Purusha means the all-pervading Divine Lord, Purusha is another name for what we call in English language God God is the creator, how did he create? so from his head the Brahmanas were born Satvika people were born from his shoulders Kshatriyas were born from his Urus Vaishyas are born from his feet Shudras are born, what is it we are talking about, we are not talking the conventionally understood four castes the Plato, Socrates even divided people exactly in the same way the philosophers whom we equate with Brahmanas the warriors who are equated with Kshatriyas the merchants, business people who are equated to our Vaishyas and the workers, exactly same thing, depending upon what what is this classification due to, not by birth but by Gunas and Karmas Chaturvanyam Kaya Srishtam Guna Karma Vibhagashah according to the Gunas what Gunas are we talking about is the Sattva Guna very predominant, they are called Brahmanas, is the Sattva Guna less but Prajna Guna is more talking about Kshatriyas or warriors, is the Prajna Guna more and more or less of Sattva Guna and least of all Tamo Guna, they are talking about Vaishyas that is business people, now it doesn't apply to modern business people remember always, the modern business people are having most of them Rakshasi Prakruti, they cheat their own customers in every way, I will give you a small example sometime back, this big company called Apple had inculcated a software for reducing the battery power of their own customers millions of customers are fans of Apple products their products are good no doubt but through the software they are making a soft that's why it is called software so these people they have surreptitiously introduced an algorithm whereby the battery power will be exhausted very soon what is the purpose? so that these people they will have to run to the Apple repair products shops and then replace the batteries which they will charge cut throat price and then this is how their income, their wealth will increase, my dear friend you are cheating what is called your own customers and how much more wealthy you want to become even today are they stopping their products they wanted to stop the chargers you buy your own charger, buy your own keyboard, buy your own everything, only a mere iPad will be front even now they are trying in every possible way and people like me and you can never understand what things they are introducing and you know if anybody forgot their password, it is impossible to set it back this is in some way it is a protection they say some way millions of people their iPads become useless, completely useless, now it is a big environmental hazard because if you want to use, you have to throw them away and if you have to throw them away, it is going to create an environmental pollution just by way of illustration, that's all I wanted to give, every company is doing that way, producing different products everything I just wanted to add one thing if all the companies, all the governments and they depend heavily upon these people's contribution of money etc for keeping them in their political seats if they only said every product will keep the same port, the same type of battery, the same type of peripherals etc then the environmental hazard will come down by at least 50% now the politicians are not doing it, the companies are not doing it, they are even becoming more powerful than even any political powers there on earth and many people are taking advantage of this digital etc, now my point is here what, that without some amount of sacrifice it is impossible, the lord himself was sacrificing, how is he sustaining us because he who creates creation means remember from our Hindu point of view creation means he himself becomes it is not that god created everything out of nothing as some people believe there what he means is he created a manifesting himself as the clay manifests in the form of billions of its products, clay products but it is nothing but clay and he is sustaining just as a clay sustains a pot by being the clay so the lord is manifesting in the form of the sun in the form of the moon in the form of the stars in the form of a fire in the form of the five elements etc without even if one element becomes less, we will be less, our population will get destroyed so this is called manifestation of lord in the form of the sun the moon, air, water, fire, earth so the creation came out of sacrifice it is maintained by sacrifice hence sacrifice is the law of life life is a continual act of sacrifice willingly or unwillingly everyone is forced to participate in this sacrifice there are beautiful points we will talk about them in our next class Om Vasudeva Vasudham Devam Kamsa Chanuram Arthanam Devaki Paramanandam Krishnam Vande Jagad Gurum May Ramakrishna Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti Ramakrishna