Bhagavad Gita Ch18 part 50 on 05 June 2022

Full Transcript(Not Corrected)

Om Jananem Shardam Devem Ramakrishnam Jagadgurum Pada Padmetayo Shritva Pranamami Mohur Moho Vasudevasutam Devam Kamsa Chanuram Ardhanam Devaki Paramanandam Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum Sarvopanishadho Ghavo Dogdha Gopalanandana Partho Vatsah Sudhir Bhokta Dogdham Geetam Ritam Mukham Karoti Vachalam Pangum Langayate Girim Yat Kripatamaham Vande Paramanandamadhamam We continue our discussion of the essence of the entire Bhagavad Gita. Yesterday we discussed Bhagavad Gita is an allegory. Allegory of our life and life is a battlefield. This world is that Dharmakshetra and it is a battlefield. Every millisecond we have to fight not only for our life but for our existence, for our knowledge as well as for our happiness. These are the three desires. Now Bhagavad Gita starts with the first chapter which depicts the condition of every one of us in this world. Arjuna was only a representation. So he was completely merged in grief and grief is the result of ignorance and ignorance is called avidya. What is avidya? Ignorance of who one truly is. That I am the Atman. I am the Divine. We forget and assume a secondary identification, non-Atman identification called body-mind identity and this ignorance leads to wrong identification. That's what mad people really mean and wrong identification leads to wrong decision and wrong decision leads to wrong actions and wrong actions inevitably bring undesirable results means suffering, grief, unhappiness not only to oneself but to the entire family, to the society in which we live. Just look at the present situation anywhere whether it is in Ukraine, it is only a representation. Every country, every state, every village, every family, Kurukshetra war is going on all because of what? Ignorance. Ignorance means wrong identification which literally means I am the body and I am the mind. I am this small personality called body and mind. So Arjuna who represents each one of us took a wrong decision because of ignorance and because of that his family suffered and whole society suffered but then when we realize then we seek what is the way out of this bondage and Bhagavad Gita is the answer. There is a way and it is inevitable because when we are happy we do not struggle. We rather do not want to change the situation and happiness means going beyond time and space but when we are unhappy then we struggle every millisecond how to get rid of this unhappiness as soon as possible. Is there any way? Yes, there is a way and the inevitable conclusions of every scripture in this world is go to God, self-realization, know who you are all mean the same thing. What it really implies are two things. First, so long as we remain identified with body-mind then that is called samsara, transmigration that is called worldly life. It is impossible to get out of grief because it is the very nature of the world to give both some happiness and some unhappiness probably more unhappiness than happiness. So there is a way out. Yes, complete. There is a total complete solution which removes this ignorance permanently. What is the way to know that I am beyond grief and to know that we have to understand we are not the body, we are not the mind we are not the finite beings we are the infinite beings we are God, we are the children of immortality all these words, different words mean exactly the same and that is what every scripture has to teach. Bhagavad Gita as we heard many times is the essence of all the Upanishads and the Upanishads is the essence of every scripture of the Bible, of the Quran because Hinduism is the practice of Vedanta according to particular rules, regulations, methods of worship, etc. but Vedanta is the very core, the essence of every scripture O man, you came from God your destiny is to reach God the sooner you try, the better for you and this is the truth and there are ways how you can do it. So every scripture has to teach Tattva, Purushartha and Hita What is the Tattva? Truth, reality. What is the reality? Each soul is potentially divine. What does it mean? You are not the body, you are not the mind you do not belong to the family family does not belong to you you are not your possessions and this applies to every single creature in this world then who are you? You are the immortal, eternal, unborn, undying Atman, Tattvamasi so everyone else and then what is the present condition? The present you, identified and suffering with the body is the result of your past and so also it applies to everybody but here is a fact your body, your mind and the entire world is created by the compassionate Lord so that you can become a sincere spiritual seeker and attain the goal and know who you are Aham Brahma Asmi there is nothing, nobody, no world apart from you you are everybody you are everything to manifest this truth this divinity who you are and now that divinity within you is hidden to make it manifest is the goal of life and this is the supreme purushartha called Moksha, liberation Hita what is the way? there are four yogas there are four paths four yogas all schools of philosophy all religions in the world and every human effort falls under one of these four yogas what are those four yogas? Karma Yoga Bhakti Yoga Raja Yoga and Jnana Yoga why four? because every human being has four faculties everybody has four faculties but one of the faculties either action or emotion or will or intellect dominate and use the other three faculties never we can separate one faculty from the other that means all the four yogas will always be there like the four ways pathways lanes of a motorway so let us start with briefly what is Karma Yoga? what is Karma Yoga? find out your duties in life according to the situation in life in society discharge your duties with love concentration rationality and devotion and do not be attached to the actions to the fruits of your actions and do not develop egotism offer each one of your actions to the Divine as worship accept whatever results the Divine has ordained for you this is what Sri Ram Krishna summarized live like a maid servant in a rich man's house love everybody do all the actions but a maid servant knows I do not belong to this house I am only discharging my duties my home is somewhere and I have my own home and in this context God is my home this brief is called Karma Yoga and Karma Yoga means the faculty of action then comes the faculty of will called Raja Yoga when will is dominating and is used to progress in spiritual life it is called Raja Yoga practice the eight limber yoga outlined in the Patanjali Yoga Sutras what are they Yama Niyama Asana Pranayama Pratyahara Dharana Jnana and Samadhi first Sampragnata Samadhi then Asampragnata Samadhi control all your sense organs and the body and the mind and live a detached life thus gaining complete control over one's mind you will realize that you are the divine soul called in the Sankhya Purusha I am the Purusha I am not the Prakruti then comes Bhakti Yoga Bhakti Yoga has to do with emotions so if we use emotions if emotions are dominant in our personality we have no choice but to use emotions but direct them towards our ultimate goal which is God Realization which means direct all the emotions towards God both personal as well as impersonal here are the brief directions first of all control and collect and unify and then direct all your emotions towards the divine develop a definite relationship with God either as a servant as a friend as a parent as a child or develop lover beloved relationship with God whatever you do offer it to the beloved your breathing your actions your thinking is for the pleasure of the beloved in this case it is your personal deity and in the end by the grace of the Lord you will achieve supreme devotion called Parabhakti and know that you and your beloved are but one this is the essence of Bhakti Yoga in some people through intellect not presumed superficial intellect which questions everything which doesn't believe in anything and which ultimately codes a terrible ruin called Nastikattva no there is an intellect it has been well cultivated but it wants to know the truth through discrimination if such a faculty called this sharp intellect wise intellect rational intellect is developed and directed towards the divine then what should you do first step develop a sharp intellect and an unbiased rationality objective rationality examine everything world scriptures God my life other people's life and try to know the real nature of everything if you do that nothing no truth no knowledge can hide itself always practice discrimination then give up what one comes to know what you come to know as undesirable and ultimately which leads one to unhappiness to grief to suffering give that up and complete control the sense organs and mind and develop intense yearning for the realization of your own Atma in simple words as Shankaracharya puts it Viveka Vairagya Shamadhi Shatka Sampathi and Mumukshottam then the teacher will come in all these four yogas and accordingly according to the nature of the recipient student guides him in that particular path and ultimately everybody will be reaching the goal everybody will realize he is divine so this is the essence of Jnana Yoga but Hiram Krishna tells us in this Kali Yuga in this present age a path of devotion is more suitable for most of the people in this age but even in the path of devotion Bhakti Marga Sharanagati complete dependence complete faith in God complete dependence on God complete surrender to God is the final advice of Hiram Krishna know that everything is possible only by God's grace now certain facts about life through the allegory of this Bhagavad Gita what is the allegory? Arjuna is the traveler he travels with the help of a chariot called this body this chariot is pulled by horses which represents sense organs and there is a chariot here who is a intelligent driver called Krishna or Bhagawan or scripture or Guru and the rider who has a good chariot a well behaved horses and a Sadguru inevitably he will reach the goal and this allegory has something to teach us so this Bhagavad Gita is both a Preah Shastra as well as a Shreyo Shastra Bhagavad Gita is a true guide which if followed faithfully can give us both worldly happiness as well as spiritual happiness and the first step but the first step is not to aim at spiritual happiness but by using our body mind to aim at what Hinduism crystal clearly outlines as three Purusharthas three desirable human goals Dharma Artha Kama and first this is called prayers this is called worldly happiness the world is not without happiness when we complain that world is full of suffering we are not talking about wrong belief we are talking if the rules of the game called life are not followed implicitly properly then the result would be suffering but if we follow that is develop Dharma righteous thinking righteous attitude righteous decisions righteous actions if you remember Buddha's eightfold teachings right discrimination right decision right speech right actions right thinking right concentration right meditation and right Samadhi is more or less follows the yoga system of eight Limbud eight steps which ultimately lead to happiness between worldly happiness and spiritual happiness Sri Ram Krishna never made any distinction between householders and sannyasins there are they are two lifestyles Krishna never says never talks about one is superior another is inferior he says these are two lifestyles that is why he defines Thyaga as giving up selfishness once it is given up everything will be smooth and it will lead to only good which is Moksha liberation so there is no conflict between worldly happiness but worldly Dharmic happiness Dharma Virudhho Kamo Asmi Bharat Arshava Bhagavad Gita still clearly says is my own manifestation and in any case we have no choice first step is Dharma second step is Artha third step is Kama and last step is Moksha we like climbing a ladder you cannot jump the ladder one has to get over the first step step into the second and then over third and finally one reaches the roof there is no conflict really speaking between Prayaha and Sreyaha many people very unintelligently make this unnecessary remark and confuse people anybody who follows the first three steps Dharma Artha and Kama inevitably they reach the first step and finally the second step is Kama and then Artha and finally Kama and finally the third step is Kama and then Artha and finally Kama and And the rest of the Gita is the answer as a remedy and lead us to Moksha. What is Samsara? It is worldly life. What does it consist of? Moha, delusion born of ignorance. Raga and Dvesha, likes and dislikes. And Shoka, ultimately ending in unhappiness. What is the problem in Samsara? Anything that we achieve, that we obtain, any object has three defects. First of all, no object can give complete and permanent happiness. Second problem, everything, every object that gives us some happiness inevitably brings its opposite, unhappiness. And third, every experienced object, it leads to strengthens the desire for that object. I want it again and that is called bondage. So dissatisfaction, bringing in the opposite and strengthening the bondage. These are the three main defects of any worldly object enjoyed as such without any reference to God. Now, some of the essential points in the Bhagavad Gita. Life, as we discussed earlier, this is only summarization. Life is a battlefield, but it is a righteous battlefield, Dharmakshetra. One reaps only what one sows. Nobody can cheat life. The law of karma is inexorable. This law of karma rewards everyone according to one's deeds. That's why Swami Vivekananda used to say that each one of us are the architects of our own future. What is the role of God? God is only a manager, the distributor of the results of one's own karmas, good or evil. And every one of us will recognize this truth sooner or later. And then only we stop blaming, blaming God, blaming everybody, blaming unknown factors, but firmly accept our own responsibility and only with that spiritual life will really start. Everyone, according to Vedanta, will be forced to turn towards God, to manifest one's own inner divinity and hence fight sooner or later, fight in order to manifest one's true nature. When one reaches this state, he or she will turn towards one's own scripture, Christians to Gospel, Muslims to Quran, Buddhists to Tripitaka, Hindus to Vedas or Upanishads or the Gospel or Bhagavad Gita for guidance and instruction. Bhagavad Gita starts in the battlefield called Kurukshetra. It is a war, it is a battle, but this war is only incidental. Every second in life is a battle for breath, for life, for knowledge and for happiness. Now what happens? Arjuna, he thought he was wise and because of the delusion, he fails to find a remedy for the ills of life. He could not prevent the war, Pandavas could not prevent the war. Why can't he find a remedy in this world? Because unhappiness, duality, combination of the opposites is the very nature of the world, like the curly tail of a dog. Remaining in this world, we wish to have permanent, complete happiness is impossible. Therefore, what to do? Become wise. Recognize the fact of the world's nature and seek a Guru. Surrender to Him. There are seven steps. I'll come to that. So Arjuna, we see in the first chapter, refused to play the game of life because later on, as Krishna says, your very nature will make you fight because that is your nature. Nobody can rebel against one's own nature. Each one of us is an Arjuna, deluded or enlightened. Deluded is more common. Enlightened is very uncommon. Like Arjuna, each one of us also have to go through seven stages to receive the divine guidance, teaching which helps us unfold our real nature. What are these seven stages? We get it at the beginning of the second chapter. First, discovery that there is a problem. We have a problem. I have a problem and I am the problem. Hence, I alone am the solution. There is no other problem. I am the problem. I think I am the body-mind that is the problem. What is the solution? I am not the body-mind. I am the Atman. That is the only solution. Second, what can I do about it? Discovery that we are helpless in the hands of Prakruti or three gunas. Third, let us accept I don't know the way out. I am completely helpless. Four, humble enough to seek a wise guide, a wise teacher called Sadguru. Fifth, accept Him and unconditional surrender with complete faith in Him and His teaching. Six, only then we become fit to receive the remedy called Upadesha, the instruction how to play the game of life and get out of the game. Seven, apply the medication, the Upadesha, practice the teaching and by the grace of God, in the end, we will be completely free. Only after Arjuna surrendered, Sisyas teham shadhim aam tvam prapannam, then only Krishna opened His mouth, the Jagadguru, because everybody in this world is an Arjuna and only the Guru of the entire world, only He knows about the nature of the world, about the nature of what is beyond the world and He alone can teach us. Every Guru is just an instrument, a representation, a pipe through which that Upadesha stream starts flowing. Then only Krishna started and that teaching of Krishna starts with the eleventh verse of the second chapter and it starts with asho chyan anva sho chesto, you are grieving for those who need not be grieved. You are thinking of Bhishma Drona, I am going to kill them, whether you kill them or not. You are not really the killer. Their own karma is the killer. Time, when the time comes, time is the killer. Body and mind, they will not survive. Already they are one foot in the grave, so you cannot kill them really. Why? Because you are talking not about Bhishma, not about Drona, you are talking about their bodies. Bodies are unreal, temporary and they are born, they change, they become old. Whether you kill them or not, body itself will dissolve into its constituent elements. This is the law of nature. So you are grieving for those who need not be grieved. Why? Because Bhishma is Atman, Drona is Atman. You are Atman. Everybody is an Atman. Duryodhana is an Atman. So the problem is not Duryodhana, the problem is your own karma and the remedy is your own karma. Overcome evil karma with good karma and the scripture gives you the right guidance, what is evil karma, what is good karma, how to overcome evil with good and then karma phala, both good and evil are given up through practice of yoga. You will know that you have nothing to do with body, with mind, with world, with actions, with the results of actions, with spiritual practice. Everything is only like a huge dream and that is the teaching every scripture gives. So to go beyond samsara which consists of obtaining moksha or self-knowledge is the Tattvarya, is the goal of every scripture, is the goal of all life, all evolution and this can be achieved, this goal moksha, liberation, self-knowledge not by any effort because finite effort cannot produce infinity. That is why the 66th verse of the last chapter, Sarva Dharmaan Parityajya, give up this vain effort of yours, completely surrender yourself to me. Surrender means what? Total identity with myself. The finite gives up the finiteness and identifies with infinity. That is the only solution. Mahasuchaha, so do not grieve, starts with Ashochya and ends with Mahasuchaha. Do not grieve because you are not removing the grief, you are removing the very cause of the grief but how to attain this total surrender? Follow any suitable path. Once Guru will tell you what is your nature, which guna is prominent, which samskaras are prominent and which path is good, whether he has to follow Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Raja Yoga or Gnana Yoga. All paths lead to the same goal. This is what is supported by the Lord. Ye atha mam prapadyante tan tathaiva jamyam By whichever path a man sincerely struggles, strives to reach me, I run to him and hug him to my bosom and release him from samsara. Whatever be the path, provided one is sincere, everyone without exception would reach me alone, even evil people. Why? How can anybody, an evil person, a cruel person, a pitiless person, a heartless person, a tormentor of the whole world, how can he become divine? Because my dear, I alone am. I alone exist. Brahman alone is. I am Brahman. Therefore, the goal of life is to know who I am really is. Aham Brahmasmi. Every Jeeva is Brahman. But because of Maya, we have forgotten our true nature. But we are all seeking that God alone. God means our own Self. This seeking and gradually progressing towards our goal is called evolution. And evolution progresses in three stages. First external, that is body-brain complex reaches its pinnacle, which is called human birth and there is no need for further biological evolution. Then internal, two stages. The first stage of internal evolution is development of first intellectual, rational, then aesthetic and finally moral. Expand yourself. Identify yourself with everybody. Not only humans, living, non-living, animals, birds, plants. And nowadays, because of the blessings of science, people are able to understand this and they are growing. But the third evolution, it is a lonely evolution. I cannot take even a single person. My father, my mother, my wife, my husband, my children, my friends, my co-religionists. No. It is the journey of the alone to the alone and that is called spiritual evolution. So biological, internal and spiritual. All will know the truth and will be liberated. As Ramakrishna says, there are infinite paths. Now, some of the important points we are going to discuss in slight detail. It is hard to understand, but that is the truth. Gita tells, Upanishads tell, Yatha Karma Yatha Shuddha, whatever is one's knowledge, whatever is one's understanding, whatever is one's decision, whatever is one's actions and that alone will happen. We cannot suddenly jump out of ourselves, but there are infinite paths to the infinite. That is what Sri Ramakrishna says, Jato Maut Tato Pauth. For a child, for a Hindu child, one way. For a Christian child, one way. For an Islamic child, Muslim child, one way. For a Buddhistic child, one way. For a grown-up person, one way. For a man, one way. For a woman, another way. For an old man, old woman, one way. For an Aasthika, one way. For an Aasthika, one way. There are infinite paths, but every path of these infinite paths leads only like an infinite number of doors leading into the same space within, which is Brahman. Here are some points we have to keep in mind. Whatever is happening in this world is the play of God. When we are in the initial stage, when we do not know that I am Brahman, but I do believe in the scriptures and the scriptures tell me that the creator of this world is God and everything happens by His will. This is made clear that we have seen, Ishwaraha Sarvabhoothanam Hridyeshe Arjuna Tishtati Brahmayan Sarvabhoothani Entra Rudhani Mayaya. I'll give the illustration. And it is every day happening and it's happening in everyone's life. You go to bed and straight away you may not go to deep sleep state. Usually there would be a dream world and in that dream world you create the entire. You are the one. You are that conscious being who creates the entire dream world in which you divide yourself into three parts. You, the subject, just like in the waking state and the entire world consisting of everything else, others' bodies, others' minds and in almost innumerable, countless plants, insects, animals, houses, roads, cars, everything, subject and object. You divide yourself into subject and object. But there is a third factor. You also remain as a witness consciousness, witnessing, remembering and that is what you remember upon your waking up. Upon waking up, two things happen. First of all, you recollect through memory what dream you had and then you say in that dream some good happens, some evil happens, some happiness comes, some unhappiness comes and then you will see everything there. But when you are dreaming, you think somebody came and hurt you. Somebody came and criticized you. Somebody came and loved you. Somebody came and gave you happiness. Everything is just like waking state. But upon waking, you think you only in the form of your tormentor, you only in the form of your friend, your beloved, you yourself divided into good and evil and you experienced both of them. But upon waking up, it is all unreal. That is the first thing. Secondly, there is nobody else excepting you and whatever happened in that dream world is happened, has happened because of your will. With this illustration, if you can understand that this waking world is also like a dream world. But just as in the dream world, we can never understand. Even if you are listening to my Gita talk and I am telling that everything is your own making, the law of karma, you will not believe. But if you believe in God, you say it is the will of God, it is the play of God. It is a play because you don't understand it is a play at that time. But upon waking up, I am that God and I played and it is absolutely fine. Okay, because if it is a play, death is okay, birth is okay, happiness is okay, unhappiness is okay. I can kill the entire world and yet do not feel regret in a play. But if it is real only because we think it is real, that is where problem comes, conflict comes, unhappiness comes. So, in this waking state, which we call the waking state, which wise people call it drama, Leela of God, it is a drama, it is a cinema. When we wake up to reality, then only we can understand it is all because of Ishwara's will, my will, because I and Ishwara are one upon waking up, not now. But so long as we are here, we happen to develop faith in God and we say whatever is happening in this world is the will of God and since God is good and God created me, He can never torment me, make me unhappy, if at all He is doing, it is for my own good. Like any mother punishing a child, only later on the child understands it is for my good because my mom loves me. So, this is what Bhagavad Gita wants to tell, Ishwara is playing with Himself, not with us. So, whatever is happening in this world is the play of God. That is the teaching of the Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads, Puranas, every scripture because if any religion says God is the creator, God is the maintainer, they will be forced to make this statement, God also is the destroyer and whatever God does can never be evil because by definition God is Sarva Mangala Mangaliya. Second, whatever happens is right and good, everything that happens. Am I being tortured? That's right, that's good. But at that time of experiencing, we may not understand but later on we understand, wisdom dawns, yes that's good and then we come to understand nobody can help anybody excepting God. Even Guru cannot help, He can bless us, He can give us the right direction, He can wish us well but we ourselves have to make effort not to obtain but to enjoy what we obtain by the grace of God. See Ramakrishna used to say a little bit funnily that one has to set milk into curds, churn butter and take that butter out and make it a Rasagulla and take it to the mouth and the fellow is not prepared even to open the mouth, so one has to catch hold of the throat and open that fellow's mouth, push that Rasagulla inside, take out a piston and push it down. Such is the laziness we all go through, really we are all lazy, Tamasik people, not that we don't act but we act in the wrong way, we travel in the wrong direction. Even if the experience is unhappiness again and again, rarely we wake up but everyone will be woken up sooner or later. So whatever happens is right and good and I mentioned a story of a king who had a minister who used to say everything is good. So one day the king decided to go on a hunting expedition and the prime minister has to accompany him and when the prime minister entered into the presence of the king, the king happened to sharpen his sword and accidentally he cut off his thumb and the minister on seeing this, he said very good, very good, very good and the king got angry, unable to understand, throw this minister into jail because when I am suffering from this, my thumb is cut off, he says it is very good but when the minister was being taken away into the jail, he said very good, very good, very good. The king in spite of that, he went on a hunting trip, he was caught by some peculiar religious sect who are accustomed to sacrifice human beings so they kept him prisoner overnight. Next morning they bathed him, decorated him while they were about to offer him to the goddess, suddenly they noticed his finger was cut and it is a defective offering so they said this offering is not good enough, it must be a perfect offering, leave him and the king was glad to escape with life and limb, came back and then he understood what the minister said, very good, very good and then he ordered the minister to be released and when the minister came, asked him, I understand now that my cutting my finger is very good but when you were being sent into the jail, you said very good, how can you explain it and the minister said smiling, don't you see, had you not put me in jail, I would have been with you and I would have been caught and I would not have been alive now, it is only because you put me in the jail, I escaped the dire fate, hard for us to understand but whatever happens, it is the right thing and it is good for us and karmaphala is good, if we are suffering that is good because that will awaken us in course of time, then no one can help anyone except God, can somebody eat for me, can somebody sleep for me, can somebody worry for me, can I help anybody, one of the greatest truths Swami Vivekananda exposed in his karma yoga is that everybody deserves and he gets what he deserves, good or evil, happiness or unhappiness, nobody can help this world, anybody in this world because it is God who created, it is God who maintains and supports and helps, nobody else, I myself am helpless, I cannot help anybody but if I do some good as an act of worship then that will be do good to me, if I help somebody not with the idea that I am able to help but with the idea it is a grand opportunity for me to serve God, Shiva Jnana Jiva Shiva, then that will hasten my spiritual progress and I will get out of this samsara bandhana sooner, so no one can really help anyone except God and God will be gracious to us if we pray, he will definitely bestow his grace, he is in fact ever ready to bestow his grace but Sri Ramakrishna has used to say the grace of God is always blowing like a southern breeze but one has to unfurl the sails that means struggle, self effort is necessary, so each one of us have to struggle to receive the ever blowing grace of God and to convert it into true knowledge which is to know that I am divine, I have no bondage, I have no unhappiness, I am infinite, I have no bondage, then all of us, there is no exception, there is nothing called Naraka or hell, yes there is but temporary corrective measure is called hell and all of us will reach the goal, all of us will know that we are God and we become free, this is one of the greatest contributions of Vedanta, there is nobody, believer, non-believer, good person, evil person, everybody will achieve the same knowledge ultimately, then what about this so called evil people and that is where Vedanta tells us crystal clearly that if somebody seem to be giving us unhappiness, seem to be killing us as it is happening now at present, I always take the present incidents as a shining examples to understand Vedanta, it is cruel, people think it is cruel to say, it is God's will that people are dying there and everybody is dying, both parties are dying, not only one party but even if one party happens to be suffering only, it is not the will, it is the will of God and the will of God is a law of Karma, a law of Karma is we have forgotten what we have done and in spite of that we are not awakening, we are not understanding, we are not analysing and then we are not waking up to the truth that there is God and we come from God, our destination is to go to God and this fact we are not able to understand, if it is a fact that God created, creation means he himself is manifesting with different names and forms just like a waker, as soon as he creates a dream world, he is manifesting in the form of his own individuality as well as entire dream world, only upon waking up there is no God, there is no world, it is me who has been imagining as though I split myself into these three subject, object and the witness, similarly there is nothing but God and God is playing with God, God is playing with himself, there is no I or you or he or she or it, so there is no question of anybody being excluded, there is no question of God created some people so that they will never attain, such a stupidity can never be admitted, if clay has become ten pots, no pot is without clay, all the pots, their true nature is clay, different names, different forms, different purposes, utilities are only temporary phenomena, ultimately they all break down, ultimately they will go back into their constituent element that is called the clay, so nobody will be left out, all of us will reach the goal, know that we are God and become free but if we are a little bit intelligent, we understand the rules of this game called life and follow the rules meticulously, then perhaps a progress will be sooner and we attain to that state, we return home very soon, that's what Sri Ramakrishna says, some all the children are out for play, some return back at noon to enjoy the fresh lunch prepared by mother, some are absorbed, they return two three hours later and get the same food but a little bit cold perhaps, I should not say, some people come only at midnight and Sri Ramakrishna adds if some child doesn't come at midnight, mother will break all the toys and forcibly take that child to her bosom, bring him home, wash him, put on fresh cloths, feed him nice food and puts him to bed so that he can have a second play next day, nobody will be excluded, this is a great contribution of Hinduism and when once a person knows Aham Brahmasmi and life is meant for that only, as I mentioned earlier, my body, my mind and the entire world are the instruments through which in course of time, I come to know that I am Brahman, the Guru will come, he will say the word that Tattvamasi and I realise by my own experience, you are right and then only Guru will disappear, Sadhana will disappear, Sadhya will disappear and I realise I was never in bondage, I was only dreaming, perhaps dreaming and I am ever free, I am the child of immortality, this is called Moksha or liberation and there would be no more rebirth and this is the essence of Bhagavad Gita, it is called Brahma Vidya, essence of the Upanishads leading us to know who we are and make us completely free. With this, we have completed the very essence of the Bhagavad Gita, especially yesterday's and today's talk are most important, if you have heard it and understood it and kept it in memory, you have understood really speaking the essence of all the Upanishads, past, present and future. From next classes onwards, I propose to take up some of the Upanishads one by one and discuss about them in the light of the Gita, in the light of the teachings of Sri Ramakrishna's life and teachings, Swami Vivekananda's life and teachings and all the great saints like Ramana Maharshi, etc. Probably, I will start with Prashna Upanishad. May Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti. Jai Ramakrishna.