View source for Bhagavad Gita Ch14 part 13 on 26 June 2021

== Full Transcript(Not Corrected) ==
Om Vasudeva Sutam Devam Kamsa Chanuram Ardhanam
Devaki Paramanandam Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum
Sarvopanishadogavo Dogdha Gopalanandana
Partho Vatsa Sudhir Bhokta Dugdham Geetam Ritam Mahat
Mookam Karuthi Vachalam Pangum Langhayate Girim
Yad Kripatamaham Vande Paramanandam Adhavam
We have been discussing in great detail this 14th chapter, very aptly entitled the chapter
dealing with the three gunas.
We have come almost until 21st verse of this, but just to recollect what we did in our last
class.
The Lord is declaring, one who understands that everything in this world, our body, our
mind and the whole world, all the activities that are going included in birth, growth,
then old age, disease, decay, death, everything done by mosquito, done by a microbe, everything
is being done only by gunas, prakruti, maya, the Lord has nothing to do with it.
Lord means here the Jeevatma, I who unnecessarily poke my nose and when the body says I am happy,
I say I am happy, when the mind says I am unhappy, then I say I am unhappy.
Not understanding, body is doing its job, mind is doing its job.
I have nothing to do with it.
This practice, if it goes on and on and on for some time, then it ends finally in that
slow conviction, slow but sure conviction that I am separate from the body and mind.
So identity becomes reduced and then a stage will come, let the body deal with the body,
let the mind deal with the mind.
This is what Shri Ramakrishna in his pithi saying, O mind, let the body deal with the
body but you remain absolutely separate and devoted to God.
It has nothing to do with you.
Just now we have issued a statement, whatever body does, that is the activity of the gunas.
Whatever the mind does, that is also activity of the gunas.
So how can Shri Ramakrishna say, O mind, let the body do, what he means is this kind of
a person who attained to this knowledge, I am not the body, I am not the mind, I am something
totally different.
I have nothing to do with body-mind, nothing to do with the three gunas, nothing to do
with the world.
That is the type of personality since we have to talk, you can't talk about a supreme reality.
We have to talk about in some understandable language says there is a pure mind, impure
mind means that which thinks I am the body-mind.
Pure mind means that which knows I have nothing to do with body and mind.
Ramakrishna used to express this in various ways.
So in support of that, we also had cited one of the most marvellous parables of Shri Ramakrishna,
the cough which goes through endless indescribable suffering and in the end when it falls into
the corridor, who is the corridor, Sadguru and then what does he do?
He separates the impure mind from the pure mind and highlights it, keeps it above and
then says to the disciple, my child, this is you.
That impure mind is mixed up with the gunas, even including sattva guna is not you.
This is the type of mind we are talking about.
This is what is, oh mind, oh pure mind, oh realised mind, let the body deal with its
own problems.
Sometimes it is healthy, unhealthy, happy, unhappy, that's absolutely fine.
So this is what the Lord is telling, when a person attains to that power of uninterrupted
discrimination, when a man of insight beholds no agent other than the gunas and also knows
him who is beyond the gunas, he attains my being.
This person of knowledge through continuous sadhana, spiritual effort combined with the
grace of God, what happens to him, crystal clearly, he comes to see two things.
First of all, the maya, prakruti, gunas, they do their own job, they are the subject, they
are the object and the subject-object play is called samsara or transmigration, I have
nothing to do.
And what is the second thing, there is something which is separate, which is not touched at
all.
Like as we say, the space is not touched by good smell, bad smell, good sight, bad sight,
etc.
So this Paramatma, Bhagawan, the highest reality, paramasatya, highest truth, supreme truth
is totally separate and how many such supreme truths, Brahmins are there, only one.
Therefore this purified mind has no option but to say that either I join the body-mind
complex or I identify myself with the Paramatma, that is the condition that is described here
as soon as he comes to know that there is something which is totally separate and that
supreme something and me, there is no separation, there is no division, there is no distance.
Why?
What causes separation, separateness, distinction, distance is the gunas.
Since there are no gunas, that means there is no mind.
Remember that when we are in deep sleep, there is no question of time-space causation.
These are the three which separate everything from everything else, which create the idea
that everything is separate, everything is different from each other and since that mind
is not there, this person knows only in human language, I am Brahman, even to a real knower
of Brahman doesn't say I am Brahman, it is for our sake, somebody is telling.
A child doesn't go on saying I am a child, a baby never says I am a baby, he knows, it
knows only the mother.
The Lord is declaring categorically when a person comes to know that he is not any part
of the gunas, prakriti, maya, he then awakens to the fact I am the infinite, I am the eternal,
I am the unborn, I am all blissful, all existence and all consciousness.
Then what happens?
gunan etan atitya trin dehi deha samudbhavan janma mrityu jaradukkai imuktaha amrutam asnute
So somebody may question, what is the result?
We are all utilitarians.
What do I get?
Do I get a gingerbread?
The Lord says you get more than a gingerbread, you become the gingerbread, you get more than
happiness, you become happiness, when you become happiness then you will not seek anything
else.
When the embodied soul has risen above the three gunas of which its body is made, it
gains deliverance from birth, death, old age and pain and becomes immortal.
Etan, dehi, the individual soul, so long as he has been identifying I am the embodied
soul, I have a body, I have a mind and I am caught in the net of the body-mind, I am completely
identified with this body-mind, such a knowledge is called dehi.
In reality, no one is caught, according to Advaita Vedanta, it's only like a bad dream,
like a king who dreamt after having nice dinner supper, he goes to bed, embraces his beautiful
young wife and then goes into a terrific, horrific, nightmarish dream, the neighbouring
king had declared war and he fought and he conquered, he drove me away and I am running
for my life and within few minutes I would be chopped to pieces and then fortunately
the borderline between his country and the other country comes and immediately the soldiers
of the other country shield him as soon as he crosses and the enemy soldiers had nothing
to do with it, then this person he sighs deeply, says thank God I am alive, whatever the future
I will face.
Was he really caught, was he really conquered, was he really bound, was he really running
away, was he really free, this is all a thought, a wrong thought, negative thought, unpleasant
thought, so even the bondage is unpleasant thought, that's why
Manaheva Manushyanaam Karanam Vandhamokshayoh
Mind alone is the cause of bondage, mind alone again is the cause of liberation too, that
is remove the first thorn called the thought of bondage with the second thorn called the
thorn of the opposite thought, I am completely free, I will never be bound, I am ever free
but this comes only during a long period of sadhana which may extend to many number of
lives, we have to understand that, Dehi is individual soul, so what happens, Ethan Dehasamudbhavan,
the three gunas give birth to the body-mind complex to the entire social structure in
this world, this is the most marvellous idea, we have to understand, we are the creators
of this world, so if our neighbours are good, we created them, they are troublesome, we
have created them, an enemy always tormenting me, we have created him, a friend, we have
created, everything is our creation, hard to believe, very few people believe but that
is the highest truth, how do we know, because through proper knowledge, we can overcome
all these things, Dehi, Ethan means these, these means three gunas, Dehasamudbhavan,
the gunas produced the body-mind and then external world and they in their turn influence,
change the gunas in the body-mind, this interaction, this psychosomatic effect is going on, Trin
gunan athithya, when this Dehi then transcends, crosses over, means what, not like crossing
the border land of a country, that means disidentifies himself with the body-mind, that is the meaning
of athithya, crossing over, going beyond, then what happens, Janma Mrityu, Jara Dukkhai
Vimukthaha Bhavati, so immediately, not later on, not even one millisecond later on, he
becomes free from birth, death, old age and all the types of sufferings that particular
body due to that particular prarabdha are subjected to, not only he becomes free, this
is a negative idea, are you having any troubles, no, but are you very happy, no, but that is
also a big problem, if I am offered a choice, you will have some problems but you will be
very happy or you will have no problems but you won't be happy, if this choice is given,
I don't think any one of us will ever reject type of suffering, okay, I am ready to pay
the price but I also want to be a happy person, to be happy is our real nature and then what
happens, simultaneously, just as when light is brought, then the idea of snake disappears,
the fear of snake disappears, when, after 5 minutes, no, immediately, then he attains
fearlessness which is called amrutha, it is joy, oh, how much I am relieved, now I have
no fear at all but that's a very pale comparison, here eternal infinite bliss is attained, that's
what he said, this jiva, dehi now says I am not the deha and immediately he crosses over
all the negativity and attains his own true nature which is sat, chit and ananda, now
how do we understand, this is a fact, I am going to give you a beautiful example, you
see even we, the most ignorant like anybody else, even we never identify ourselves with
anybody else, a mother hardly can 100% identify with her children, neither father nor wife
nor husband, everybody can only identify inevitably, inescapably, there is no other way, that's
why Agnivalka tells nobody loves anybody, everybody loves only one's own self, capital
S, this is a highest fact, even from the lower S point of view, just look at it, if I love
somebody it is because that object gives me happiness, anyway we should not forget the
example I am giving that even we accepting our identity with our own body and mind, we
are completely free with everybody, every object in this world, we are not identified,
we have the sense of possession of a few things but never completely identified and this grandest
truth has been illustrated through a very beautiful Bengali song, bebe dekho man, ke
ho karo noy, I have just translated, just discriminate a little, think deeply o my mind,
in this world nobody belongs to anybody and then he goes on to say, here is a wife, she
says to her husband one minute before that I love you the greatest in this world, without
you I cannot live, imagine after her saying this, he passes away, then what happens?
She is frightened to touch that body, among all hobbe bole, so even that inauspiciousness
will touch her, she will be shrinking away from touching that body which was so beloved,
what does it show?
Shows that she never loved the body but she only was loving herself because through that
object her desires are being fulfilled, that is the most marvelous thought we have to see,
so gunan etan atithya trin dehi deha samud bhavan janma mrutyu jaradukhai vimukta amrutam
ashnute, then we go on.
Now Arjuna has got a question, he compressed three points in one question, Arjuna after
listening to the Lord in the last three verses he is telling, Arjunam vacham, Arjuna said
kai lingai trin gunan etan atitho bhavati prabho, kimacharaha katham cha etan trin gunan
ativarthate, three points, three questions, what are the marks O Lord of the man who has
risen above the three gunas, first what is his conduct, second and how did he arise,
how does he rise above the gunas, asking he has already risen, the question of how does
he rise does not arise at all, he has become a jivanmukta, so the idea is he is not asking
now that how is he making effort to go beyond, what is he telling, how did he rise, so that
if he can indicate it then I can also follow his footsteps and that is how we will also
be able to overcome.
Let us now analyse a little bit this one, hey Prabho, now Arjuna is addressing the Lord
not as Krishna, hey Prabho, hey Guru, Sadguru, kai lingai, by what characteristics, by what
pointers, etan trin gunan atitho bhavati, that means how did he go beyond the three
gunas and if he had done it and I believe your words, how can I recognise such a person,
are there certain signs by which I can recognise all these qualities that he is a jivanmukta,
first question, saha, kim acharavan, how does he act and react, remember when a jivanmukta
that means he is a man of knowledge, he is living in this world and at the same time
if there is a body, there is a mind, the only difference is he never thinks I am the body
and mind but the external world, the weather, the circumstances, the summer heat, the winter
cold, the enemies, the detractors, the criticisers, the harmful people, everybody has to go, in
fact I would say the most criticised person in this world is God, I am making a bit of
fun, so suppose a devotee professes faith in God and then says oh Lord, I believe in
you, now fulfil my desire and then the Lord says okay, this is my devotee, I will fulfil
his desire, immediately the Lord, I am a foolish fellow, I asked for small things, why did
you not give me bigger things, after all you are supposed to be more intelligent than me
and you claim that you created me and then you claim that you love me and you claim that
you listen to every prayer and how come you have not given me much more than what I asked,
could you not have added something without my knowledge, this is the complaint, this
is even worse complaint, criticism, how many people are grateful to the Lord, that's
why the great Shankaracharya reminds us again and again, what does he say, he says do you
see my friend, you got a human body or say somebody confront Shankaracharya and then
he says my God, how much abundance of grace the Lord has bestowed upon you and this fellow
is a miserable fellow, from the birth he is thinking, then he says sir, are you mad, that
is the first appellation, why are you saying that God is full of grace towards me, then
Shankaracharya says my friend, you could have been born as an amoeba, as a piece of stock
or stone or a clod of earth but you are given the greatest of all births where a person
can attain to the highest which is called human birth, is it not the great grace of
God, alright, okay, somehow we will accept it, then what are the other things that you
have a desire, your faith in God, you want to progress towards God, you want to see God,
you have desire for God and this desire never mistake that you have created yourself, it
has come from God and only by God's grace, it will remain, then says what is the third
thing that see God has provided you all the best environment that you could get, this
is the greatest grace of God, whenever we tend to think God doesn't exist, why?
Because he never bestowed his grace upon me, he never paid any attention to my prayers
etc., all these three things are only the greatest grace of God and besides look back
and say you could have been killed, you could have lost so many things but as you are compared
to billions of other people, you are one of the luckiest persons much better than billions
of other people, let us do this kind of discrimination, then our happiness will increase, whether
our devotion will increase or not, definitely our devotion to God will increase, this is
what is Arjuna was asking, how do I recognize and how did he cross over, not how easy crossing
over and then how does he react because there would be no difference between the world's
reaction or the external world's existence and its effect upon a Jeevan Mukta or upon
a mosquito, upon anything else in this world.
Just I wanted to remind you because I observe these things, it was very hot and then a few
drops of water were left out, immediately hundreds of ants gathered there, so what do
I infer from it that they are feeling the heat and they are feeling the need for replenishing
themselves with water and a few drops are available here, immediately they gathered
there, what a marvellous event in nature, look at nature, everything else is wanting
to be free from want, from lack because each soul is potentially divine.
Then what is the third question, O Krishna, please tell me how did he rise above them,
now the Lord is going to describe that to us.
Now to go back to this, earlier also at the end of the second chapter, what we call sthita
prajna lakshanas, sthita prajnasya kaabhasha, how does a Jeevan Mukta speak, how does he
walk, sthita dehi kim prabhasheta, kim asita, prajeta kim, how does he sit, how does he
walk, how does he talk, that means how does he react, that was the same question and most
marvellous description was given, then in the third chapter, fifth chapter, sixth chapter,
twelfth chapter, thirteenth chapter, we have come across repetitions of these in so many
ways.
Now what we are going to understand that how do we know that who is a Jeevan Mukta, when
you see here is a person and there is probably more trouble brewing for him than anybody
else and yet he is seen sadhananda maya, sadhananda mayi kaali, there is a beautiful song, this
person is sadhananda maya, always happy and then if trouble comes, okay, that belongs
to the body, that belongs to the mind, I have nothing to do with it, that would be a typical
reaction.
So does the body suffer or not?
Some Prabuddhas, Prabuddha means here unintelligent person, puts the question, does a Jeevan Mukta
ever suffer?
My answer is, do you ever suffer in your deep sleep?
Even the greatest pain, the greatest worry, they are overcome when a person completely
becomes free because he is removed from the body-mind identification in sushupti avastha,
so long as he is there and how long?
Every day, God has given us five to six hours of complete relief from the body-mind identification,
not to speak, the disidentification during waking state, during dream state, etc., okay.
So much of Bhagawan's grace is there and we are supposed to say, if I can be without being
troubled, in spite of having troubles, then it is possible in waking state also, in dream
state also, if I can cultivate a special kind of a spiritual attitude, cultivate special
kind of a way of reacting.
Sri Ramakrishna's story of the farmer whose only son died, he came and he did not shed
a single tear because he said that in dream, I felt I was a king and I had seven beautiful
sons, not this what is called ugly, unintelligent son and as soon as I woke up, the whole of
that existence has come to an end but here, this also when I go to dream, I may be dreaming
again, I may be a king but if I go to the sleep state, we generally call it sleep but
some people to make it clear, call it deep sleep, godhanidra, sushupti, dreamless state,
etc., etc. but by this time, you should have been accustomed with all these things.
This is a wonderful illustration, how did he get to that state?
Because he has practiced it.
So that is how.
I remember a funny story, you know the British people have very bad idea about Indians, especially
Indian English, they always make fun with that peculiar accent, etc.
So once it so happened, Dr. S. Radhakrishnan was invited to I think either Cambridge or
Oxford to deliver a very important lecture on philosophy and he went there and he delivered
in such impeccable local English language.
After that, there were a few other programs, he came down and he was sitting in the front
pew and then a neighbor, an Englishman asked, sir, how could you speak being an Indian,
such a flawlessly beautiful English and immediately Radhakrishnan smiled and said, that is because
sir, I learnt it.
Indirectly meaning, you may be born as an Englishman but if you have not learnt it,
you will be only an uncouth, uncultured type of person, your pronunciation may be good,
I am not sure about it because BBC English is supposed to be the best pronounced English.
I have no problem in understanding what the BBC newsreaders and others who speak.
I have great problem with speaking some of the people, especially Welsh people and especially
people from northern part of London, etc., not to speak of various peculiar accents that
were there in slum areas, etc., anyway that was an incidental topic, I should not have
brought it up.
What are we talking about?
Here is a person, he had practiced it for a long time and therefore he practiced made
him perfect, so if I want to become also a gunatheetha, go beyond all the gunas, slowly
but surely I have to follow a definite path shown to me by my Guru and that is how I am
going to go beyond that, the Lord is going to answer.
Then kimacharaha, that means always is action and reaction, that means what?
Everything in our world is a reaction, we are born and that is an action beyond our control.
But after we are born, everything is action and reaction, mother looks at me, that is
an action, I react to her, that is a reaction and somebody slaps me, that is an action,
I react, that is a reaction, so like that the whole life is nothing but an interplay
between action and reaction and when this action started, God alone knows.
What am I trying to tell?
Even an enlightened soul, he has to be there, look at the life of Rama, he had to go through
endless trouble, look at the life of Krishna himself, how much he was criticized, he was
blamed, there were plans to do away with him by Duryodhana and others etc.
Endless troubles until finally he died because of an arrow discharged by a hunter mistaking
his soul for the foot of a deer.
Then what about Mahatma Gandhi, what about all people who suffered for our country, what
about Ramakrishna, holy mother, Swami Vivekananda, Swami Brahmananda, direct disciples, Ramana
Maharshi, any saint, the world will be the world only, we have no other way but we have
to keep it in mind.
Let us keep in mind this, how does he react?
I wanted to point out two things, first of all he looks upon the whole universe as his
own self, so you can understand how we react towards our self, how do we react when we
bite our own tongue with our own teeth, that is the first thing, the second thing is that
everybody says I am an instrument in the hands of the Lord, when a person is beyond Nirvikalpa
Samadhi, Aham Brahmasmi state, the question of thinking and willing doesn't arise but
as soon as there is a body-mind, this peculiar feeling will come, I am an instrument, Ame
Jantro, Tume Jantri, you are the mechanic, oh mother, it will come inevitably to everybody.
How does this Jivanmukta react?
He doesn't react, it is the divine mother, Jemni Bolao, Temni Boli, Jemni Korao, Temni
Kori, whatever way you make me speak, I will speak, whatever way you make me do, I will
do, this is what we need to understand it very clearly but we have to practice it slowly
slowly to the best of our ability, according to our ability and slowly by the grace of
God, we will be moving forward.
This is how the description is going to come, this is the second question and then how did
he clearly, how did he cross over these 3 Gunas?
That means how did he come to feel that I am not the body, I am not the mind, I am the
divine soul?
The Lord is giving answer, now we go to the 22nd, Sri Bhagavanam Vacham, the Lord says
Prakashancha pravruttincha mohame vachapandava madhveshtisam pravruttani nani vruttani kankshati
In 4 verses, the Lord is giving the answer to all the questions of the Arjuna.
First 2 shlokas, first answer for the first question, second 2 verses answer to the second
question.
Then we will come to the third question, how did he go about it, but these 4 verses itself
indicate to us crystal clearly that it is only by practicing certain spiritual virtues,
removing certain impure desires, impure actions and developing pure desires and putting them
into practice with pure actions in accordance with the scripture and the teaching of the
Guru.
First let me chant these 4.
Prakashancha pravruttincha mohame vachapandava madhveshtisam pravruttani nani vruttani kankshati
udasena vadaseno gunairyona vichalyate guna vartanta ity evam yo vatishthati nengate
sama dukha sukha swastha samalostasma kanchanaha tulya priya priyo dhiraha tulya nindatma samsthute
manapa manayo tulya tulyo mitrari pakshayoh sarvarambha parithyagi gunatita savujyate
The Lord said he hates not light or sattva guna, activity or rajo guna, and delusion
or tamo guna when they manifest in the body and mind nor longs for them when they are
not there.
So Arjuna, when they are absent, he who, sitting like one, unconcerned, indifferent, that means
completely unaffected, he who is unmoved by the gunas, not at all influenced, he who remains
firm and never wavers, knowing that the gunas alone are active, he who dwells constantly
in the Self and regards life, pleasure and pain, who looks on a clod of earth, a clod,
a stone and a piece of gold as of equal worth, who remains the same amidst agreeable and
disagreeable things, and who is a man of wisdom and who sees no difference between praise
and blame, he who is the same in honour and dishonour, the same to friend and foe, and
who has renounced all undertakings, such a man is said to have risen above the gunas.
A crystal clear answer, not much new because we have discussed all these things from amanitvam,
adambitvam, ahimsa, kshantirarjavam, etc. and sthita prajnaśyaka bhāṣa, we also discussed
it, everything, but any number of times these need to be heard by us because they have to
sink in our mind that am I behaving accordingly or not, just like a man is suffering from
a chronic disease and what is the difference, chronic disease is something which a person
has been suffering from a very long time, therefore what is the conclusion, such a person
can never expect an immediate relief or result or cure, it will take a long, long time, that's
what holy mother used to say, supposing my son, you have a ball of thread of different
colours all rolled into a ball and then there is some coloured thread which is yellow which
you require now and if you want to get it, you have to unwind the whole thing, then only
you will get it, we are going to discuss in some detail, not in deep detail because we
already have done that earlier, let us deal with these 4 shlokas now individually one
by one.
Sri Bhagavanvacha, the lord is replying to the query of Arjuna, prakasham, prakasha means
light, light means sattva guna, so when sattva guna is dominant, all the sense organs become
sharp, the mind becomes extremely concentrated, one pointed, paying complete attention and
alert and has endowed with memory so that it remembers everything in the past and so
its power of grasping and having the right knowledge will be very quick.
Here is a Jivanmukta at times in this body and mind which he was made to dwell as a guest,
as people go and live in the hotels for a few days but in Indian terminology what is
called a dharmashala is there, see Tibetan Dalai Lama is staying in dharmashala, dharmashala
means what some philanthropic person had built the guest house, anybody can stay there, everything
is temporary, that is called a dharmashala.
Here is an enlightened person, what does he do?
He recognizes immediately, I am living in a dharmashala, the famous Sufi story, one
day a king who was in earnest, he was thinking, pondering, how could I move forward in spiritual
life, progress in spiritual life and under his rule any fakir, that means wandering Muslim
saint can just enter or exit according to their will.
So a wandering fakir moved in and he just wanted to see and he saw beautiful paintings,
drapings and so many other very beautiful objects, costly objects.
Then suddenly he faced the king and asked him, he was a Muslim king of course, O king,
this house belongs to whom?
And then the king said it belongs to me, this dharmashala, this guest house belongs at the
moment to whom?
The question itself is not very clear at all.
The king was annoyed, he said why are you calling it dharmashala, a guest house, this
is my palace, I own it, I live in it and the fakir smiled and said, he pointed out to one
painting and said whose painting is that?
And that was my great-grandfather, where did he live?
In this house, in this palace, very palace, how long he lived?
50 years.
The next one he pointed out, whose is this painting?
My grandfather, where did he live?
In this house, how long?
40 years.
Then third one, who is this?
That's my father.
How long did he live? 55 years.
Where did he live?
In this house.
O king, where people live for a short time and depart hence without any address?
They have no address or neither address when they are born, where from they came we don't
know, neither address nor address and when they die also there is neither address nor
address where they go, when people come live there for a few days and depart without any
further clue where they are, what else do you want to call it?
The king was enlightened, he bows down and tries to practice it.
Most beautiful Sufi story we all have to remember, we lived in our grandfather's house, lived
in father's house, no, no, no, I came to London, I bought it, nobody lived, we are the first
persons to live, okay, the problem will come to your children, when you leave behind your
address and address, then they will also think this belongs to us.
What are we talking about?
The Sattva guna sometimes comes to the fore, sometimes Rajoguna will come to the fore.
As I mentioned, they are not doing deliberately anything, they are mere instruments in the
hands of God, sometimes Tamoguna also will come to their fore but they are not attached
to Sattva guna, they don't hit either Rajoguna or Tamoguna, whatever guna comes, he says
oh ma, you wanted to play this beautiful game, I am also game to your play, let me also participate
it, this is called Divine Leela.
When they come, what happens?
Nadveshti sampra vruttani, he doesn't hate when something is pleasant, he doesn't get
attached, something is very, very pleasurable or happiness giving, nani vruttani kankshati
and something has given him happiness and it disappeared, he doesn't desire again.
What does it mean?
He enjoys thoroughly every single moment saying this is Bhagawan's prasada, everything is
Bhagawan's prasada.
I cannot refrain myself from re-quoting a parable of a story of Sri Ramakrishna.
There was a great devotee of Sri Rama, he was a soldier, one day he was stabbed by his
own side, a Muslim soldier stabbing a Hindu soldier, this is a historical fact and then
he was on the point of expiring.
Then his fellow soldiers came to know, rushed to him and said you just point out that fellow,
we will take off his head above his neck.
Then he smiled and said it was Rama who made me what I am, it was Rama who killed me, nobody
else is to blame.
Such a noble reaction, that is how these great souls react.
So what are we talking about here?
Hey Pandava, O Arjuna, prakashancha, satvaguna, manifestation of satvaguna, pravruttincha,
manifestation of rajoguna, he feels like doing, he wants to run here and there like a child,
mohamaya vacha, he goes on telling no, no, I want only that.
I will give a small illustration, once Sri Ramakrishna was returning from Calcutta to
Dakshineswar, on the way he saw some roadside sweetmeat shops and there were colourful sweets
put in jars, very unhealthy, very infectious, but Sri Ramakrishna felt a desire like a child,
came to Dakshineswar, next morning he gave some money to Swami Adhutananda and instructed
him go and buy them at such and such a place and return back as soon as possible.
It is a big, wonderful story, but this much only I will recollect.
So the disciple returned long back and then Sri Ramakrishna was very angry, he was waiting
to eat those sweets, then he asked, why did you not come you rascal and then said smiling
happily Sir, I used my own brain, I thought why should I buy these worthless sweets, a
devotee will be blessed, I went to a devotee house, got them made and then I brought.
Sri Ramakrishna said, no, I did not want to eat these things, I wanted to eat only those
coloured sweets.
Now we have to thank Lattu Maharaj, otherwise he would have quit the body perhaps much earlier
than 1886.
Now the point is, this is called Tamoguna, it manifests, they are like children, they
don't discriminate, whatever attracts them, they want it, so they go on playing this beautiful
role, when something gives them pleasure, they will not get attracted, something gives
them pain, they will not get hatred, let it come, that's it, experience it, pass it on
and that is the nature of Leela, Bhagavat Leela.
Then we move on to the 23rd.
Udāsīnavat āsīnaḥ gunaiḥ yo na vichālyate gunāvartanta ity evaṁ yo avatiṣṭhati na
iṅgate.
He who sitting like one, completely unconcerned, indifferent, such a one is unmoved by the
gunas, he remains firm, never wavers, knowing that the gunas alone are active, not me, he
is neither overcome by the influence nor he hates them, it is just a beautiful play for
him to enjoy the divine sport, Divya Leela, that is what the Divine Mother said, Bhāvamukhe
thāku, remain in Bhāvamukha, Bhāvamukha means the Divine Leela, the realm of the Divine
Leela, everything is Divine Leela, which Swami Vivekananda sarcastically put it as life is
a circus, it is a circus because in the circus, the high adventure as well as the low buffoons
activities etc., they provoke so much of laughter but everything is only a circus, a fun, a
humour, nothing is to be taken as real at all, that is called Divine Leela, participating
in the Divine Leela is one of the greatest spiritual practices, we can all practice occasionally,
I say occasionally but most of the time, suppose, I am suffering from headache and I am really
suffering, then I say, oh mother, you want me to suffer, alright, I will get along with
you, I will go along with you and I will pretend to be suffering, even though I am not pretending,
even though I have to pay the heavy price, even though I become restless but thinking
in this manner is a spiritual practice, everything is Divine Leela, God is making fun, let us
be His Leelas, Sahacharas, His companions in this Divine sport, so Udāsīnavat, Udāsīna
means complete indifference, something is happening to somebody in some place of which
I don't know, what is my reaction? No reaction, why? Because I am not even aware of that,
only in this case, I see this body and mind interplay, Udāsīnavat means like an indifferent
person, not really an indifferent person, why? Because even though he is not attached,
he doesn't hate anything but even his, what is called greatest enemy, if he is in trouble,
this person will rush forward, embrace them, try to do his best including offering his
life if it can help the enemies because here is an enemy, here is a friend, it is our reaction
but for him, everything is the Divine Mother, Divine Leela, so Udāsīnavat, Udāsīnavat,
gunaihi yo na vichālyate, same idea from earlier, lokas is repeated, he who is not
moved at all, there is happiness, he is not moved, there is too much of restlessness,
he is not moved, there is too much of dullness, he is also not moved, gunaha vartante, it
is the small children playing, Ramakrishna used to give an example, a man is sitting
there in the log and enjoying the cool breeze and a lot of puppies were there and they were
all playing there, sometimes they shout at each other, bark at each other and try to
bite each other but he knows, it is all play, he doesn't go to interfere because at the
end they are all sleeping peacefully one above the other and when they go to mother, they
all forget everything, this is the nature of children, gunaha vartante, it is the gunas
who are creating the action, the gunas who are creating the reaction, iti matva, with
this firm conviction, matva means he is not thinking, the literal meaning is matva means
he is thinking thus, he is not thinking, he knows, he knows it is the divine mother in
the form of nature, in the form of these three qualities working, even the most wicked persons,
most wicked, evil, intolerably horrendous activities, they are all done, they are not
real, if they are real, then God is real but if they are appearances and that is why only
God only knows, we do not know, iti matva, with this firm knowledge because he knows
it, evam avatishtati, simply he sits there and like we enjoy a cinema, like we enjoy
puppies play, like we enjoy children's play, this person goes on enjoying everything, samadukha
sukha swasthaha, samalostashma kanchanaha, tulya priya priyo dheeraha, tulya ninda atma
samstuti, he who dwells in the self and regards alike pleasure and pain, who looks on a clod
of earth, a piece of stone and a piece of gold as of equal worth, who remains the same,
amidst agreeable and disagreeable things, who is a man of wisdom and who sees no difference
between praise and blame, continuing these are some of the characteristics that manifest
in an enlightened soul, not with effort but naturally, automatically like the continuous
flow of the Ganges river, there is no break at all between them, so when happiness comes,
he is swasthaha, he is firmly established in his own self, dukkha comes, he is firmly
established in his own self, swasthaha means swa means in one's own atman, sthaha means
to sit immovably, unmoving, that means what, having the firm knowledge that I am the atman,
being established in that atman, never deviating from that knowledge, whatever happens to the
body and mind, remember not to him, he never says something is happening to me, says something
is happening to this body and mind, something is happening to that body and mind, something
is happening to some other body and mind, beautiful examples come to my mind but I will
deal with them in our next class tomorrow evening with beautiful examples from Shri
Ramakrishna's teachings, for example just to give you a glimpse, during his sadhana,
he took a cloud of earth and a rupee coin and said taka mate, mate taka and establishing
firmly that knowledge in his mind, he threw them both in the Ganga, thereafter he need
not do because that sadhana had yielded its fruit, I only have a small regretful problem,
he should have left that rupee coin for me or for you also, I don't mind to share with
you, he should have left it but then it's all Divine Mother's will, okay, then people
criticised him, he was never moved and then he was very glad, somebody reported, sir so
and so is criticising you, he said oh, he is thinking of me only, what a marvellous
thing, unhappiness comes, he will take it as mother's play, happiness comes, he will
take it as mother's play, some people try to do harm, he will take it as mother's play,
some people try to honour him, he will take it as mother's play, these beautiful qualities
are what is called the way for spiritual progress so that we can attain it, which we will discuss
in tomorrow's class.
Om Vasudeva Sutam Devam Kamsa Januram Ardhanam, Devaki Paramanandam, Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum.
May Ramakrishna, Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti, Jai Ramakrishna.

[[Category:Bhagavad Gita]]