Bhagavad Gita Ch12 part 04 on 19 December 2020

Full Transcript(Not Corrected)

Om Vasudevasutam Devam Kamsa Chanuram Arthanam Devaki Paramanandam Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum Sarvopanishadogavo Dugdha Gopalanandana Partho Vatsa Sudhir Bhokta Dugdham Geetam Ritam Mahat Mookam Karuthi Vachalam Pangum Langayate Girim Yad Kripatamaham Vande Paramanandam Adhavam We have been discussing the Bhakti Yoga, 12th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita. This chapter has 20 verses. This chapter opens with a question by Arjuna on behalf of all of us, which is the superior path, the path of devotion or the path of knowledge, meaning the path of worshipping God with names, forms and qualities or without names, forms and qualities or worshipping God as Saguna Brahma, worshipping God as Nirguna Brahma. What is the superior path? And the Lord categorically answers, there is no superior path. Whatever path is best suitable for a person, that path is the most superior path for any particular person. That exactly reflects what Shri Ram Krishna had been teaching from the very beginning. What most Hindus do, how do they do? They do not talk. They may not know the theories, but go and see every Hindu's shrine. There will be the pictures of all the Gods and Goddesses and at the same time the person says, your name is Ananta Padmanabha. Ananta means the infinite and from your stomach comes out Brahma. Navel comes out Brahma. Brahma means representing the entire universe. So everything is in you. You are in everything by instinct. Every Hindu knows and every Hindu also feels that Vipraha Bahudha Vadanti, even though Ekam Sat. So this has been reinforced by the teaching of Shri Ram Krishna and this is not a unique something. This was taught by Krishna several thousand years back to Arjuna and through Arjuna to all of us. Earlier we discussed, the Lord is telling, even though every path brings everyone, anyone to me, but there are some people who would like to worship me in a formless aspect, that is through Neti Neti, Gnana Marga and that is a difficult path for many. Maybe there are some people and one of the conditions is they should not think they are the body-mind. Only such people are in a position even to intellectually imagine God as beyond name, form and qualities. Means one who has got tremendous feeling, I am the body. But this has to be attained by people in a graduated manner and for most people we have to start with Saguna Brahma Upasana, meditation on the personal aspect of God with name, with form, with qualities and lest people should think this is only an imagination of our mind. What is the imagination I am talking about? That God has a form just like a table has a form, a man has a form, woman has a form, a tree has a form, a tiger has a form. This, my dear sir, if you have attentively studied the last chapter, 11th chapter, it is God only who is manifesting in reality as this whole world. Swami Vivekananda used to say, a stone is God, man is God and a cat is God, rat is God, mat is God. There is nothing which is not God. This is a 100% truth. But it is slowly, so long as we are with some amount of body consciousness, we have to divinize everything. Not that we are making something non-divine as divine but we have forgotten everything is divine and we are trying to bring back that vision through radial purification of the mind. And how this purification has to be done? That's being said in the 8th verse, which we have discussed actually in our last class. But just to recollect, Oh Arjuna, if you can do this, then you are going to live in me. I am going to live in you. We are going to live in each other. Later on we will discover there is no you, there is no me. What is, is nothing but God, Brahman. But that is the goal and we are far off from the goal. So we have to slowly start our journey. What is the way? You enter your buddhi into me. What do these two steps? First, make your mind filled with me. Second, make your buddhi, the faculty of determination. Only there should be one desire. One, what we call bucket list. In the bucket list, there should not be many and one among them is God. No, there should not be any other thing. Only one desire. And that is the last desire before we can attain moksha, mukti or liberation. So the Lord says, What is this mind? As we know, mind is that faculty of human personality which goes on deliberating. Is it this? Is it that? First, and then when it comes to a definitive knowledge aided by memory. Yes, yes, this is a tree. I thought it might be a human being in semi-darkness. But no, it's not anything else but only a human being. And I know that human being because I distinctly remember. I have seen him many times and I recollect. And so this is that person. This quesitation before coming to a definitive conclusion is the functions of the mind. So in mind, thoughts are there. Everything is a thought and this is called vritti. This is called pratyaya in Sanskrit and especially those who are interested in Sanskrit. Vritti means a circle. Why? Because a thought goes round and round and round like a circle. So like a bullock goes round and round extracting oil. So our mind goes round and round again and again and again. That's why it is called a vritti. It is also called pratyaya. Pratyaya means thought. Everything, a mentation, every thought is nothing but mind. Mind means thoughts. Thoughts means mind. But thoughts of different varieties. First of all, there are tremendous desires and these desires can be broadly classified into three types. What are the three types? All desires can be classified into three types. What are the three types? First of all, there is a desire not very intense. If it is fulfilled, fine. If it is not fulfilled, that's also fine. And such type of thoughts, though they flit across the space of our mind, but it doesn't really trouble us. But the second is a medium desire, medium force desire. And it will be nice. Not only nice, I think I must have it. I think I must have it. But do I want it right now or do I want? Can I also postpone it? Can I wait for it for some time more? And that is called the most intense desire. So what are we talking about here? Most intense desire and less intense desire and very less desire. So all the thoughts, first of all, consist of desires. Then there are emotions. Then whatever may be the type of desire, when it is fulfilled, if it is low intense, a little bit of happiness. If it is medium intensity, a little more happiness. But if it is too much of intensity, I just cannot live without it, it will give, for the moment at least, tremendous intense happiness proportionately. Take the example of thirst. So I am feeling a little bit hungry, a little bit thirsty, but I don't care. I can wait for several hours. And the intensity of hunger and thirst increases. I must have it, but I can wait for a short time, maybe half an hour and maybe 45 minutes. I know by that time I will be free. Even though it is troubling, one part of the mind is thinking about food, but the other part can be free. But when the mind is tremendously occupied with intense desire, it cannot think of anything else. It just wants, so proportionately a happiness also, it will be like that. But there is another kind of desire, which this object, this person, this climate, this particular event, most unpleasant. Again there are three types, less intense, little more intense, very intense. So when we can get rid of these negative events, persons or objects, then proportionately also we get happiness. At the same time, if what we want is not fulfilled and what we do not wish come to us, then both ways there will be suffering, but different degrees of suffering depending upon the intensity of likes or dislikes. These are called emotions. Mostly people are emotional people. Then mind also is occupied with plans. I would like to complete this study. I would like to become master of some art or some job, whatever it is. Then there is also nobility is there. Remember, every soul is potentially divine. Even the most wicked person has great goodness, but towards very limited number of people, maybe his family and maybe one or two people chosen from among the family members, etc. Even an evil person will be very good and sometimes this evil person can even sacrifice his life for the sake of his or her beloved. So noble ideas will be there and sometimes many talents will be there. A talented less fellow can never become a great wicked fellow. Even to become wicked, evil, a person needs tremendous energy, tremendous amount of intelligence. A stupid fellow can never become either a great thief or a murderer. If he tries, he will be caught immediately. All these things, thoughts, desires, emotions, aspirations, ideals, everything, all these different thoughts, remember, everything is a thought and the mind is nothing but these different types of thoughts going round and round at one particular point of time. Some desires will manifest, some thoughts will come, other times other thoughts will come. The Lord is advising Arjuna, now even if you are a wicked person, consider me, even think only of me. If anybody can do it, can anybody do it? Yes. Hiranyakashipu was full of hatred, but for whom? For Narayana, not any Tom, Dick and Harry. Kamsa was full of hatred. To whom? Towards Krishna and Balarama. So that is why they have filled their minds, their thoughts only of Krishna. I have to tell you something very interesting. These people we have to salute. They are the greatest living gurus. Hiranyakashipu, Kamsa, Shishupala, Dantavakthara, they are the greatest manifestation of Gurudham, teacherhood. Why do I say that? Because, just answer me, day and night what was Hiranyakashipu thinking? Day and night what was Kamsa thinking? Day and night what was Shishupala, Dantavakthara thinking? We have to understand, they appear to be wicked, but then you know what happens? They are, all these people unconsciously, they are always thinking about only God in a negative way, in the form of fear, hatred, anger, etc., enmity, etc. But what is it that we can learn from them? They are not thinking anything else excepting God. And soon what happened? Because they are thinking of God, they may be mistaking God, but because God is of the nature of Sat, Chit and Ananda, pure existence, pure knowledge and pure Ananda, and very soon their whole minds became transformed into God alike and they became God. This is what the Lord is telling. Do you love me? Then let all your thoughts be only about me. Or I should correct myself. Do you wish to love me? Do you wish to become my devotee? Then slowly turn every thought of yours into me. And this is the purpose for which worship in Hindu temples, in Christianity, in Islam, take Islam five times a day. Why five times? It could be every moment, but five times for the convenience of people. Now what are we talking about? Here the wise prophets, they have fixed that at least you withdraw your mind five times a day and think of Allah. And that's why they loudly announced, so that nobody can miss it. And many devout Muslims, they just wherever they are, stop the work, spread a towel or a small piece of cloth and kneel down and bow down to the Lord, turning towards Mecca. That's a wonderful practice. And whenever you hear this call of the Muslim, immediately let you remember your own Ishta Devata. Anyway, so worship. Take for example Christian worship. Elaborate rituals. What is the point? Every ritual is an action. Why so many actions? Because our minds are restless. But keep every restless thought occupied with a particular action, but all the actions centered around our chosen deity. Take the example of Hindu puja. Early morning you get up. Why do you get up early morning? Because you have to do puja. What do you do? Take bath. Why do you take bath? Put on fresh cloth to think of God. And why do you go and clean the shrine room? To worship God. Why do you gather flowers? To think of God. Why do you make sandal paste? To think of God. Why do you go on sitting and hours together worshipping? So that this restless mind, let it be restless, but let it be restless in engaging itself only with the central thought of God. Slowly these rituals, that is what Sri Ramakrishna meant, Sandhya, means rituals, merges in Gayatri, that is worship. And Gayatri japa ultimately when it matures merges in Aum. You don't need to do anything because God has possessed you. God is making you think. And what do you think God makes you think? Only about himself. That is what is meant by make every thought of yours, direct every thought, practice my presence. Whatever you do, whether you are eating, you are drinking, you are breathing, you are blinking your eyes, you are breathing in and out, your hands are moving, your legs are moving, whatever you do, turn all of them towards me. In course of time, through practice, we can do that. But this itself will not do. It must be helped, supported by something else. What is that? Buddhi. What does it mean? Unless we make a firm resolution that I want only God, let there be other desires. But go on intensifying, strengthening this Sankalpa that I want only God, I do not want anything else. Buddhi means the faculty of determination. And once through long practice, many lives of practice, the Buddhi understands God alone is real, then it becomes firmly fixed because nobody ever wants anything unreal. Our problem is, we think the world is real, we think the body is real, we think the mind is real and that's why the Lord is telling, both by filling your mind with godly thoughts, divine thoughts, potential divine thoughts and at the same time, making the firm resolve, everything is useless, only God alone is real, so I must think only about God. If we can practice this, then what does the Lord say? Fix your mind on me. Rest your determinative faculty on me alone. What does it mean? I do not want anything else. Though my mind desires many things, I know by the grace of my Guru, by the grace of God, by the study of scriptures, by the company of devotees, I know God alone is eternal, permanent, real, everything else is temporary. It is there but temporary. When this and as this idea intensifies, my thoughts also follow, our determination. Important point is that my buddhi must become fixed. Without that, any amount of practice will not bear fruit. That's very important point. So the Lord said, fix your mind on me alone, rest your thought on me alone and in me alone, what happens? Control your mind, direct it towards God. Fix your aspiration only on God and nothing else. Once we succeed to some extent, what happens? You will live in me. After you succeed in these two, you will be living only in me. Absolutely there is no room for doubt. What does it mean? It means a man who has reached that state, who knows God alone is real and this world is temporary. We are not saying unreal, but it is changing and it is always continuously bringing both realities. It is temporary. Once this idea becomes firmly fixed, then the mind becomes restless. As Sri Ramakrishna says, a child is busy with playing with dolls, but the moment he is hungry, hungry means his buddhi has become firm. I have to go to my mother. She alone can remove my distress and then the devotee lives constantly in God, thinking of God, imagining God, hearing about God, talking about God, reading, writing about God and pravachana, speaking about God and ultimately praying to God and dreaming about God. All the time God occupies. This is called living with God, living in the presence of God, living in God. As soon as this happens, that magic takes place. As soon as we start living in God, God starts living in us and that is what he says, attain through proper practice that state where your buddhi and your mind, both live only in me. There is no doubt about it and for that we have to go through four stages. The mind in its spiritual progress has to pass through four stages. What does four stages mean? Four types of thinking about God. In the elementary stage, first stage, we have to think of God like us. He has got a form, He has hands and feet but He can adapt to the devotee's desire. He can assume any form, any name and any quality. This is called aneka roopa ishwara dhyanam and through practice, with consistent practice, with tremendous shraddha faith, He enters into second stage. What is that second stage? God not only assumes forms like anybody else, God is only manifesting in the form of this entire universe. That is where Matru Devo Bhava, Pitru Devo Bhava, Acharya Devo Bhava, Aditya Deva. We divinize first loving people, second protecting people, third instructing people, fourth everybody else who has got, whoever has got, some great quality. But afterwards, the whole thing becomes, everything is nothing but a manifestation of God. So, the first stage is aneka roopa ishwara dhyanam. Second stage is vishwa roopa ishwara dhyanam. Remember, Sri Ramakrishna used to visit famous people. When somebody objected to it, he said, no, no, I have to visit because they are great people and that greatness is my Divine Mother. I am not going to see them. I am going to see my Divine Mother manifesting through them. And how did it manifest through them? Because they must have worked. They must have done sadhana. It could be sangeetha sadhana. It could be science sadhana. It could be account sadhana. Whatever sadhana, they have done really sadhana. This is the law. Without doing sadhana, nobody can get either money or name or special talent, special knowledge. It is all the manifestation of God. Then the third stage will be eka roopa ishwara dhyanam. Then he feels all devatas, all devadevatas, any form, any name, any quality, they all belong to one only God, Ishwara. This is called eka roopa ishwara dhyanam. Then wherever I see, oh, you are worshipping Shiva. He is my ishta. You are worshipping Krishna, Narayana, Devi, Jesus, God, Buddha, Allah, doesn't matter. They are different names. For my God only, He is only appearing in this particular form. This is called eka roopa means not one form. Seeing one God in every form is called eka roopa, ishwara dhyanam. This is a very highly developed stage which in yogic language is called savikalpa samadhi. Brahma, akara, vritti. See only Brahman. Then the person has reached the stage that can be attained by God's grace plus man's effort. But there is the fourth stage called nirvikalpa samadhi cannot be attained by human effort. Only the divine Lord must break that lost pratyaya, vritti. That is our Ishta Devata, Saguna Brahma. And one thing we have to understand here, when Sri Ram Krishna said to Totapuri, I can remove every other thought but the thought of the Kali. We should never think what is our concept of Kali and what was Sri Ram Krishna's concept of Kali. There is heaven and hell difference between these two. What was his concept? Ekarupa Ishvara. That was his concept of Kali. There is form at the same time, formlessness. That is a peculiar state, intellectually difficult to understand but that is the high third stage and that is the stage human being with the help of Guru, God and his effort can reach. Beyond that only God's grace must be there. What is the essence? O Arjuna, O spiritual aspirant, to control your mind, direct it towards me. You acquire what is called Viveka, discrimination, dispassion, control of the mind, body, sense organs, etc. Gradually increase your desire for God realization. That is called controlling the mind. Practice the presence of me. Practice the thought of God. Let there be many thoughts but all of them should be related, connected with God and for that the Sankalpa, firm determination. I want God and nothing else. This is called Thevara Mumukshutvam, intense desire for liberation. They must go hand in hand. That is the goal but even that is difficult. The Lord is coming down to people who are not even fit for that. Says in the 9th verse, If, O Arjuna, if you are unable to fix your mind steadily on me, then seek to reach me by the yoga of constant practice. The emphasis here is on practice, practice, practice. Remember, in the 6th chapter, Arjuna, on behalf of all of us, put a question. It's extremely difficult to control the mind, O Krishna. It is like catching hold of the air. Nobody can catch hold of air but the Lord says, Yes, that is true. This mind can be controlled, can be caught hold of but two things are necessary. One is constant striving called practice, practice, practice and practice. That was what Swami Brahmanandaji told to His disciple Swami Yudhiswaranandaji. Struggle, struggle and struggle. Practice and practice and practice. So He says, O Dhananjaya, O earner of wealth, Atha, if Chittam Samadhatam, to control the mind, Chittam Nasiknoshi, if you are incapable, Mayisthiram, if you are unable to control your mind because only a controlled mind can be directed. An uncontrolled mind can never be directed towards anything, much less on God. That's why a beautiful imagery of a chariot is given in Katha Upanishad we get. This body is the chariot. The sense organs are the horses. The objects which our sense organs enjoy is the pathways. The mind is the driver and the buddhi is the director. And for whose sake? The Jeevatma who is the sitting, the owner of the car. It is that Jeevatma, that individual soul. It is travelling with the help of this body and mind. And where is it travelling? From ignorance to knowledge. From a lower truth to a higher truth. We are all travellers. But good thing is travelling from God, in God, to God. As a Sufi saint had put it so beautifully. Only we are not able to understand, we cannot go beyond the realm of God. Wherever we go, the Divine Mother is sitting on a high tower and means inside our hearts and watching everything. Therein, Bhagavan Krishna gives the secret practice, practice and practice. There is nothing else. But mere mechanical practice. That's what most of us do. Whether we are doing meditation or whether we are doing japam, whatever thoughts we are thinking, they go round and round and round in a small circumference, never trying to rise to higher levels. It is natural to everybody. Every saint, remember, was in the same state like us. How did that person become saint? Through practice and through vairagya, this passion. How does this come? Through holy company, through now and then going to solitude and discriminating between what is real and unreal, what is permanent and temporary, as well as continuously doing, living like a maid servant in a rich man's house. I am talking about the five commandments of Sri Ramakrishna. Abhyasa Yogena. How long? So long as you don't reach. That's all. A beautiful incident. Thomas Edison was trying with the help of a lot of assistants to invent or to discover a good fuse. He already knew about the properties of electricity. He knew how to make a light bulb. But he experimented with a lot of fuses and it was going out. And then they did 10,000 experiments. And then one day, others got disheartened, approached him and said, Sir, let us give up this project because 10,000 times we failed. And Edison brightened up. He said, gentlemen, now we know how a fuse cannot be made in 10,000 ways. Now let us forget those things and try new means. And really very soon they were able to do. Even today, of course, a lot of improvements have taken place. But it was persistent. This is what every saint says. Go on trying, trying and trying. And Brother Lawrence, in his practice of the presence of God, says, for 10 years, I struggled very, very hard and many times I failed. And then he said, whenever I failed to remember God, I only put the blame on God. I said, Oh God, this is what happens if you do not hold me up. So take care. Do not sleep. Do not forget. Whenever your child is about to fall, be alert and protect me. If I fall down, the fault is yours and not mine. Abhyasa yogena, tatah mam iccha aptam dhananjaya. So the highest step is to think only about God, to feel God, to live in God. If we can't do it, that means, if we wish to attain to that state, then we have to take a lower step and practice. What is that lower step? That control the mind through practice, continuously. One senior Swami told me, when I complained about this, senior Swami said, Bhai, how much japam you do? I said, I try to do 10,000, sometimes 15,000. How many don't you remember God? Every now and then, yes, yes. Many times I suddenly come to and then I think, oh, I have forgotten. My lips are uttering the name of God, but my mind is thinking something else. So you increase that period of remembrance and then slowly, slowly, that remembrance part will increase, forgetfulness part decreases. This is the way we have to do. There is no other way, unfortunately. No miracle. We have to do our level best. So, oh, Dhananjaya, if you are unable to fix your mind steadily on me, then seek to reach me by yoga of constant practice. Okay, sir. And this is also too much for me. Then what should be done? So it is said in the 10th shloka, अभ्यासे प्यसमर्थोसे मतकर्म परमोभवा मदर्थमपिकर्माने कुर्वन्सिद्धिमवाप्स्यसे If you are incapable of constant practice, then devote yourself to my service for even by rendering service to me, you will attain perfection. Now Swami Vivekananda had returned from the West. Immediately he started Ramakrishna Mission. Why did he start? Many brother disciples opposed that move. We are doing japa, meditation, scriptural study and we could meditate for hours and hours and hours together. Really speaking, do you know, they used to get up before 3, sit after washing their hands, feet and faces. They used to sit. Even afternoon 3 o'clock, they were reluctant to get up. But this great grandmother, Ramakrishnananda Swami, he used to do puja and he used to sometimes go out, beg. Sometimes he used to take tuitions and earn little money. With that money, he will procure all the ingredients and then make food, very simple food, like khichdi, etc. and then make balls of them and used to call them. They were so intoxicated, they would not budge from their seats. Just imagine, 3 o'clock to 3 o'clock, 12 hours. Then he himself will go and they are not even opening their mouth. So he used to catch hold of their cheeks and then forcibly open their mouth and put the balls of this inside their mouth. Then they are willing to swallow it. How could they do that? Because Ramakrishna had given them that capacity. But they also earned that capacity through constant practice. Ramakrishna used to talk about them. There are some plants, first comes flowers, then comes fruits. There are some other plants, where first comes fruits and then slowly flowers will come. It is true. The gourds especially, a small fruit will come, gourd will come, and then at the end of that gourd, there is a huge flower and this is how Sri Ramakrishna through observation telling, there are some people who get a glimpse of God first and then they make it their own through constant practice. So he is telling, Oh Arjuna, if you cannot continuously practice, then that means your mind is restless. If your mind is, let it be restless, but engage it in activities. What are you doing? Cooking food. What are you doing for cooking food? You are going, working hard to get some money and what are you getting this money for? Because you want to make food. Why do you want to make food? Because you want to offer to God. Why do you want to offer to God? Because you are a devotee and you will not eat what is not offered to God. So you see, going for work is for God indirectly. Earning money is for God indirectly and buying provisions is indirectly for God and cooking them indirectly for God and then ultimately offering it for God. After offering, Prasada. What do you do? Eat. What does a devotee do? Eat. That eating also, Pramarpanam, for pleasing the Divine Lord. Everything that a devotee wants to do, wants only to please the Divine Lord. That's what he is telling. If you cannot constantly think of me one pointedly with controlled mind, then be engaged in any number of activities. But at the same time, you remember the central point. I am doing all this only because ultimately I want to merge in God. I want to live in God. If you are incapable of constant practice, then devote yourself to my service. For even by rendering service to me, you will attain perfection. It is a wonderful idea. You are talking to somebody, talk with goodwill, with prayer for the welfare of the person. Suppose that person doesn't like you, he abuses you and you say, thank you because you are giving me an opportunity to develop qualities like forgiveness, forbearance and prayer, well-wishing for your sake. If we wish well for those who love us, there is no wonder, there is no greatness in it. But if we can wish well for the people who hate us, torment us, if we can bless, that's what Jesus Christ says, somebody abuses you, bless them. If somebody harms you, pray for them. Even if they do anything, then if they slap you on one cheek, offer the other side, then if they take away your shirt, you give, one after the other with your coat also. Forgive them because they are all sent to you by the Divine Lord for your own sake so that this is what we call a fast lane, fast track. If you are unable to one-pointedly think about me, then be engaged, but this is called Karma Yoga, relate every action to me. You do it for my pleasure and you do it for my Anugraha, Kripa, compassion and I will give you nothing else excepting me. I will give you myself. Even performing actions for my sake, slowly, you will attain to that state where you begin to live in me and I also begin to live in you. It's a wonderful word, we have to understand. Supposing there is a wonderful building and it is two miles away and you liked it and you want to go near it. The building is not coming, walking towards you, but you are walking towards the building. Then what happens? The more you approach nearer, the building also comes nearer to you as it were. Extend this analogy. Suppose you see some very much loved person and there are two miles apart, somehow you come to know and then you are walking towards that person. What does the other person think? You think, you do, he is doing. That person also is walking very fast towards you. A child is walking towards the mother and the mother is running towards the child. I narrated one story in my past classes. I was at Cherrapunji. There was a dairy and once a cow had given birth to a calf. Next morning, after feeding the calf, the cow was let out for grazing in the nearby hills and then at about, I went at about 9, 9.30 and this cow had been let out about 7 o'clock or so. By this time, the calf was very hungry. Probably it was not given sufficient amount of milk. We Hindus, we take all the milk ourselves. So, poor calf was very low voice, it is crying, Ma, I am hungry. I want food. This cow, the long distance, there is no way it could really hear the cry of the baby. But I saw with uplifted tail, it was running and you have to see its eyes. They are only fixed on its baby. It straight came, entered into the cow shed and went and stood near the, keeping the hind legs near the calf and joyfully, the calf started suckling the Divine Mother. What is that? Ya Devi, Sarvabhuteshu, Matru Rupeni. If we walk one step towards God, God will come running hundred steps towards us. So, He is telling, even if you are not able to do or direct your mind and perform actions connecting me for my sake, then there is something else is there. Athaitadapyashakthosi Kartumadhyogam Arshithah Sarvakarmaphalatyagam Tathakuryatatmavan Arjuna, if you are unable to do even this, to do even what? To do everything for my sake and to do Karma Yoga, I am doing everything for the pleasure of God and I am doing everything for the grace of God and whatever God is pleased to be in us with, be happy with that. But if a person is incapable of doing that, okay, you try to do, I am doing something. With that feeling of egotism, do everything but at least to do this much. First part, I am doing this for the pleasure of God, that you might forget. But do not forget that whatever result comes, I offer it to God, let Him give to me what He thinks best. Athaitadapyashakthosi Kartum Madh Yogam Ashita If you are incapable of collecting, connecting everything with me, this is God's work. Every action, including breathing, if you forget that, that's fine. I can understand you. You are a baby. You can't do it. But whatever you do, do it to the best of your ability with your best intelligence, with full alertness. But then you say, Oh God, I did my best but I offer everything to you and whatever you deign to give me or not to give me, I will be quite happy with that. Sarva Karma Phalatyaagam Tathah Kuru Yathatmavan With great sincerity, with great effort, you surrender the fruits of all actions and take refuge in me. So gradually, step by step, the highest step is to live in God. If you can't do that, then you try to direct all your thoughts, all your meditations, all your determinations. If you are unable to do that, then practice Karma Yoga because body-mind will not keep quiet. Whatever it does, turn it into Karma Yoga. What is Karma Yoga? It has two parts. First part is Ishwara Arpana Buddhi. Whatever I do, I offer it as my worship, my offering to God. Second part is Ishwara Prasada Buddhi. Whatever happens afterwards, that is the Prasada, the grace of God. Is He giving happiness? That belongs to Him. God is gracious. He gave it to me. Is He giving unhappiness to me? That also is infinite grace because Holy Mother said misery is the gift of God. That is also grace of God. With this idea, whatever we do, that goes by the name of Karma Yoga. This is what Swami Vivekananda tried to propagate, Shiva Jnana, Eva Shiva. Serve, do everything for the grace of God as an offering to God. But if you are unable to do that, then practice, practice, practice. If you are unable to do that also, do at least some part of it. First part of it is Karma Yoga. But if you forget it, then say, whatever comes, all the results of actions, I offer it to God. And if you are unable to do that, then Sarva Karma Phala Tyagam Tatha Kuru Yataatmava Great Sincerity offer the results of every action to do. Suppose you forget and then afterwards when you remember, Oh Lord, I forget to tell you whatever I have done, I offer it to you. You please accept because you have given me the body, you have given me the mind, you have given me the faith, and you have given me the energy and prana. In fact, everything you have given, everything belongs to you. Unnecessarily, I am only assuming that I am the doer. Please help me to understand this. At least all the results, please accept. And what do you think? If a child had gathered a few fruits and gives it to its mother, what do you think the mother is going to do? Swallow them? She gives even more fruits, even better fruits, even sweeter fruits to the child. And the only fruit God gives is Himself. We will discuss the rest of the beautiful points in our next class. Om Vasudeva Sutam Devam Kamsa Janura Mardanam Devaki Paramanandam Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum May Ramakrishna, Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti.