Bhagavad Gita Ch18 part 49 on 04 June 2022

Full Transcript(Not Corrected)

OM JANANIM SHARADAM DEVIM RAMAKRISHNAM JAGAD GURUM PADA PADME TAYO SRIDHVA PRANAM AMI MOHO MOHO HO VASUDE VASUDAM DEVAM KAMSACHANURA MARDANAM DEVAKI PARAMANANDAM KRISHNAM VANDE JAGAD GURUM SARVO PANISHADO GAO DOGDA GOPALANANDANA PARTHO VATSAH SUDHIR BHOKTA DOGDAM GEETAM RITAM MAHAT MOOKAM KARUTI VACHALAM PANGAM LANGAYATE GIRIM YAT KRIPA TAMAHAM VANDE PARAMANANDA MADHAVAM So today, tomorrow, we will be discussing the essence of the entire Bhagavad Gita. Generally, when we study a scripture, the very first question that is posed is, why study any scripture of any religion, of any part of the world? So why the study of Gita? And there is a school of philosophy called Sankhya Yoga, and it is embodied in a particular scripture, the basic scripture of Sankhya Darshana. It is called Sankhya Karikas, and the very first Sutra says, TAPATRAYA ABHIGATHAT JIGNASA Enquiry comes only when there is suffering from three sources, TAPA, TRAYA. In Vedanta, we call them Adhyatmika, Adhibhautika, and Adhidaivika. Any sort of suffering can come out of three sources, our body and mind called Adhyatmika, anything from the outside world called Adhibhautika, and anything from those unseen forces, the manifestations of the one God called Panchabodhas, Adhishtana Devatas. So for whatever reason, whatever reason means without reason, suffering will never come. This is one of the foundational principles of Vedanta or Hinduism. The law of Karma, anybody is suffering, there must be a reason for that, a cause for that. And here is the most important point, and that cause cannot be anything which we do not deserve. That means we, through our past karmas, invite, deserve, whether it is happiness or unhappiness, not God, not Devatas, not ghosts, gowls, not any other human being, nothing else is responsible. Such a profound statement, put it in simple languages, it is the will of God. But if we use the word, the will of God, it raises some problems. One of the most important problems is, is God partial? Does He give happiness to some, withhold happiness and give more suffering? And that cannot be admitted, so the law of Karma. And we have to believe it from the scripture, because why we are born, where we are born, how we are born, and how long we live, and how much we experience happiness or unhappiness, first of all, they are unpredictable, and secondly, they cannot be proved at all. Therefore, the only thing left out is, we believe in the scripture which tells, you are the creator of yourself through your past karmas, and the conclusion is, you are the architect of your own future, and it all depends upon what you do now. This, in essence, is the Karma Siddhanta, the law of Karma. So, a Sankhya Karika starts with three types of suffering. The next question that comes is, we are in this world, the sufferings are coming from three sources. Is there anything the world can do? Can it help us? Yes, it can help us, but the help is incomplete, and it is not satisfactory. For example, if I have got a headache, it can only help me to get rid of the headache right now. The only solution to get rid of headache completely is to remove the head. To get rid of toothache permanently, to get rid of the tooth itself, and that is what every scripture wants to tell us. Call it God Realization, call it Atma Jnanam, Brahma Jnanam, by whatever blessed name you want to call it, and that is called Mukti, liberation, and that is your true nature. So, there is only scriptural inquiry starts only. Is there a completely satisfactory and permanent solution to all the problems of life? Yes, and that is to know who you are, because every problem can ultimately be traced to identification with body and mind. What a funny thing it is, just look at it this way. Accepting my body, my mind, from where I can go through happiness or unhappiness, but anybody else's body, else's mind, I can never experience, because I do not identify myself with any body, any mind. But as soon as I give up this identity with my own body and mind, I remain the pure consciousness, Shuddha Chaitanya, and all problems can only be completely destroyed. You don't need to destroy them. The moment one detaches oneself from body-mind, the body-mind lets them go through whatever they have to go through. I have nothing to do with that, and that's why inquiry into a solution, and that solution is called a scripture. Every religion has got a scripture, and this is how Bhagavad Gita starts with Arjuna's grief. And the funny thing is, he decided that because he was identified with body-mind, so Bhishma was a body and mind, Drona was body and mind, Duryodhana was body and mind, but killing Bhishma, Drona, and whom Arjuna called his own people, that would lead to sin. Sin means inevitable suffering, because every religion believes there is a future birth, including Buddhism, which doesn't speak much about personal God. So what is the way out of suffering? Or put it another way, what is the way for complete, permanent, unbroken happiness called Ananda? And is it possible? Yes. How is it possible? It is possible, not only possible, it is inevitable, because you are Sat, Chit, Ananda, Swaroopa. But at this moment, we are not aware of it. That's why the very first chapter of the Bhagavad Gita starts with Arjuna, Vishada, Yoga. As I was mentioning, what was the fun? Arjuna only thought about the battlefield, about the possible destruction of certain people like Bhishma, Drona, whom he loved, but he never regretted about Duryodhana, etc. So he was concerned, and he was concerned because he was thinking, I am the body-mind, so Bhishma, Drona is also body-mind, so killing that body-mind is complete destruction of Bhishma, Drona, etc. And that is the source of his problem, but very soon he realized that even if this is only a temporary problem, because he was in the battlefield, but it is an eternal problem, so long as we are under the impression that we are the body-mind, is there any solution? That's why he says, even if I get the happiness of all the three worlds by becoming ruler of the three worlds, this grief of mine cannot be assuaged. That means he became from a temporary suffering personality, because of delusion, he became an enquirer, spiritual seeker, and each one of us is an Arjuna. And like Arjuna, all of us are deluded. We do not know our real nature. Any happiness that we experience, if we argue, is not only suffering, sometimes we experience happiness also, but from the highest point of view, even our happiness is nothing but grief and unhappiness, because there are higher worlds, higher stages of both quality-wise and quantity-wise. A man who enters into an air-conditioned room for a short time, his happiness is only for a short time. But a man who lives in the air-conditioned room, he can have longer type of happiness. So there are higher worlds where it is said for a long time, there would be no trace of grief, but only pure happiness, but limited by time and quality. But that time compared to our lifetime is much, much longer, but in comparison with eternity, it is nothing. So we do not know our real nature. This is the Upanishadic philosophy and Bhagavad Gita is the essence of the Upanishads. And that's why Lord Buddha had said, life is full of suffering. Every man, all men want security, that means I do not want to die, I do not want any accident, I do not want any death. I want to know what is it that can give me both meaning, satisfaction in life, and the wisdom what to do, how to do, when to do. And of course, unbroken happiness. These three desires beautifully expressed through the Vedic prayer, Asat Oma Sadgamaya, Tamas Oma Jyotir Gamaya, Mrutyurma Amrutangamaya. So this is the first reason, escape from unhappiness, insecurity. But man is also a meaning-seeking animal. Even if we are happy, if we do not find meaning in life, we will not be happy at all, we will not be satisfied. And true meaning of what is life, what am I, is obtained only when we know fully who we really are, that is Aham Brahmasmi. Therefore, who can give these answers? Only scripture can give. So therefore, every scripture must clearly explain three things. What is the truth, what is the goal of life, and what is the way. The truth, the goal of life, and the ways and means of reaching that goal. And Bhagavad Gita is considered as the essence of all the Upanishads. Why? There are many scriptures in this world, but here is the speciality of the Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita is the essence of the Upanishads. And most of the scriptures, other than Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, etc., there are some problems with them. What is the problem? First of all, these scriptures, I am talking about non-Hindu scriptures, they advocate personalism, fanaticism, missionary zeal. That means our religion alone is true religion and no other religion can lead us to God, to salvation, to eternal happiness. Every scripture teaches the highest goal, which is Moksha, only indirectly and also inadequately. Every scripture speaks there is a personal God and you go to Him and you will be a happy person, call it paradise, call it kingdom of heaven, or call it Vaikuntha, Kailasa, whatever you call it. And other scriptures, that means other religions who follow their scriptures, literally do not give any freedom to their followers on how to call upon God. By what name should they call, by what path, but dictate every small detail, not giving the least freedom for their followers to think for themselves and to act for themselves. And that's why Swami Vivekananda used to call it religious bondage. He gave a lecture in the West, Is Vedanta the Future Religion? There he says the speciality of Vedanta is there is no authority of a book, no mythology and no rituals and any religion following a particular scripture. And if we eliminate the authority of the book and the mythology and rituals, that religion will fall apart. But the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita doesn't mention anything at all. Mainly the Bhagavad Gita is indicating what is liberation, how to attain liberation and you have no choice because you are that. So in comparison to the above defective points, but I have to add, it doesn't mean there are no realized souls. There were, there are, there will be in every religion. And they preach the true essentials of religion or scripture, but these teachings are not encouraged, they are not emphasized, they are not highlighted. But rituals only by one particular name, God can be called and only one particular path, one particular scripture, this is called fanaticism. That's why in Vedanta, there is no authority of a book, no mythology, no rituals. Even if somebody says, I do not believe in God, if he follows the pathway, it doesn't matter, he will reach the goal. But only thing is, he will be like a blind man following a path. So in comparison to the above points, in contrast to the above points, Bhagavad Gita, meaning Vedanta, meaning Hinduism, does just the opposite. The Gita and the Upanishads go straight to the heart of the matter. They talk about complete Moksha, freedom and how to attain it. That is the only subject. They emphasize the goal which is called Moksha and how one should transform one's life, not blindly following certain books, certain rituals, certain mythologies. And then only they talk about after emphasizing the goal, then only they talk about the means, the pathways and how to realize, how to reach that goal. And in these Upanishads, in the Bhagavad Gita, in Vedanta, a seeker is given complete freedom. How to call upon God, by what name or names, travel by what paths, infinite are the paths, follow what philosophy, any philosophy, no philosophy. Complete freedom is given in all these matters. But they insist only somehow man has to transform his life, become less and less and less selfish and become more and more and more universal and realize that I am the Atma. Now Gita means a song. Bhagavad Gita means song of the Lord. And literally there are more than 30 Gitas are there. If anybody thinks Bhagavad Gita is the only Gita, in the name of Gita, there are more than 30 Gitas. As an example, I will mention a few. Ribhu Gita, Hamsa Gita, Anu Gita, Avadhuta Gita, Ashtavakra Gita, Gopika Gita, Hamsa Gita, I only just mentioned a few. And on this Bhagavad Gita, literally thousands of commentaries are there. But as we discussed earlier, quite a number of times, the shortest, the latest and the best is that of Sairam Krishna. What is it? Reverse the Gita, utter it, repeat it, recite it, fast, Gita, Gita, Gita, Gita, Gita, Thagi, that means a renounce. Now what is to renounce? I will talk about it a little later on. Bhagavad Gita is also called one of the most important three scriptures called Prasthana Traya. Traya means tried. Prasthana means the foundational scriptures of Vedanta, call it Hinduism. And this Bhagavad Gita is known as Smriti Prasthana. Upanishads are called Shruti Prasthana. Bhagavad Gita is called Smriti Prasthana. Brahma Sutras is called Nyaya Prasthana. And almost every Acharya has written commentary. As I mentioned, there are thousands of commentaries by Indians, by non-Indians, by Westerners, by many people. Now we have to talk about the glory of the Gita. And I have to warn you, it is not an exaggeration. I will just recite some of them because we are talking about the very essence of the Bhagavad Gita. And we must have that faith that Bhagavad Gita is more than adequate. If I can study, if I can understand, and if I can transform, then my life will become a blessed life. Om Parthaya Pratibodhitam Bhagavata Narayanenasvaya Vyasena Grathitam Purana Munina Madhye Mahabharatam Advaitamrta Varshanim Bhagavate Ashtadasha Adhyayinim This Bhagavad Gita consisting of 18 chapters which is to be found in the middle of the Mahabharata in Bhishma Parva. And it has been put into a readable format by the ancient Rishi called Vyasa. And this is a direct teaching of God Himself in the name of Narayana or Krishna to Parthaya, to every sincere seeker. And what is this Bhagavad Gita? Advaitamrta Varshanim. And it reams literally Advaitamrta, the nectar of immortality called Advaita, that means Brahma Gnana. O Mother! Amba Tvam Anusandha Dhami Bhagavad Gitae Bhava Dveshani. O Mother! I meditate upon You. O Bhagavad Gita! I meditate upon You. Why? Because You are Bhava Dveshani, that is, You will destroy the ignorance. Then Gita Sugita Kartavya. This Bhagavad Gita should be thought, should be listened, should be talked about, should be meditated upon and follow the instructions. Kimanyaihi Shastravistarai. There is no need for any other scripture. Why? Because this is the essence of all scriptures. Yasvayam Padmanavasya Mukha Padmat Kinishruta. And this came directly from the mouth of the God. Like the teachings of Buddha came from the mouth of the Buddha and the Sermon on the Mount came directly from the mouth of the Son of God. And we know this famous one, Sarvopanishad Ogao. If we compare all the Upanishads to cows and Krishna as the milker of these cows and Partha, a very sincere seeker anywhere in this world is the calf and the milk that comes out is the very nectar which destroys the transmigration and confers the bliss of Brahman. And it is to be enjoyed by all wise people, commonsensical people. Ekam Shastram Devaki Putragitam Eko Devo Devaki Putrayat. There is only one scripture that is enough and that is Bhagavad Gita. And there is only one God who needs to be worshipped by whatever name and He is the Son of the Devaki. Eko Mantraha Tasya Namane. Only one mantra and that is the name of this Bhagavad Gita or Narayana. Yani Karma Pekam Tasya Devasya Seva. And Saru, that Divine Lord seeing Him everywhere. So literally, this comes in the Varaha Purana in the Gita Mahatmya and it is no exaggeration at all. And the Bhagavad Gita contains divine words emanating from the lips of God Himself. As a scripture, the Gita embodies the supreme spiritual truth. And though it is open, still it is the greatest secret. And this Bhagavad Gita contains the essence of all the scriptures. Sarvopanishad Gavu. And a devout study of this Bhagavad Gita every day reveals new facets of thoughts, new understanding. And hence, the Gita remains eternally new until we realise our own true nature. And it would be no exaggeration indeed if it is called the very storehouse of all scriptural knowledge. A reverential study of the Gita will lead one automatically to a comprehension of the truths contained in every other scripture. And no separate study is required to obtain this knowledge. About the Gita, the Mahabharata itself, wherein it is to be found, says the Gita comprises all the scriptures that were, that are, and that are to be. This occurs in Bhishma Parva, 44th section, 4th shloka. And Vedavyasa, who had put it in words, the divine sage himself says, that is, this one song of the God that came from the very mouth of God is more than enough to make us destroy all the suffering and to destroy this transmigration, that is, to give us true knowledge about ourselves. Therefore, it is said, the Gita alone should be sung, heard, recited, studied, taught, pondered upon, and assimilated properly and well practiced. What is the use of collecting other scriptures? Not because they are wrong, but because their essence is to be found here. The Lord Himself says in Paraha Purana, where this Gita Mahatmya, the glory of the Gita is said, गीताश्रयो अहम् तिष्ठामि गीतामेच उत्तमं ग्रहं। गीता घ्नानं उपासरित्य रीलोकहं पालयाम्यः। I always reside in this Gita as its knowledge. And if at all I am to be found in a house, I will be found in this house called Gita. And taking these teachings, the knowledge of the Gita, I look upon all these words, I protect them, I reward them, etc. I take my stand on the Gita. The Gita is my supreme abode. I maintain the three worlds and the strength of the wisdom contained in the Gita. Now, earlier I have said, Sri Ramakrishna's shortest commentary, the main teaching of Bhagavad Gita is Thyaga. तागी means Thyaga. A man renounce everything and become one with God. Thyaga renunciation can be divided into the following seven stages. This is depending upon the teaching of the Bhagavad Gita. Seven stages of renunciation. First, total renunciation of all prohibited acts. Never do anything that is prohibited. That means destroy selfishness. This is the first stage. Renunciation of actions motivated by selfish desires. Now, you slowly, first of all, get rid of all the negative activities. Second, slowly reduce the selfish activities. Performing everything, not only for one's own benefit, but for the benefit of other people, whether it be sacrifice, charity, penance, worship or any other activity. The object of securing freedom from this samsara. This is the second stage. Complete renunciation of thirst for worldly objects. Gradually become detached, what Sri Ramakrishna used to call, live in this world like a maid servant. Do everything. Perform your duty properly. But know in your heart of hearts, nothing belongs to me. I do not belong to the world. I belong to God. God belongs to me. And I am God. This is the third stage. And next, renunciation of the practice of accepting service of others with a selfish motive, whether it be servants, whether it is a company, whether it is wife or husband, whether it is children. Stop accepting service from anybody with a selfish motive. This is the fourth stage. Fifth, absolute renunciation of sloth, tamasikata and desires for fruits in respect of anyone's duties. A duty is one has to do according to one's stage in life, in one of the guna stages, varnashrama dharma it is called, whether it is worshipping Gods, service to parents, service to the society, performance of sacrifices, charity, etc. So, do not become negligent, do not postpone, but do them properly. This is the fifth stage of renunciation. In other words, renunciation of tamo guna, slowly progress into rajo guna and renounce rajo guna, progress into sattva guna, renounce also at the end sattva guna, and what remains is your own Self. Sixth, total renunciation of the sense of me and mine and attachment with regard to all worldly objects and activities. This is what Sri Ramakrishna used to say, I and mine is the bondage, you and yours is the liberation. And total, slowly of course, renunciation of this is me, and this is mine, and these are my possessions, I and mine. We have to slowly give up. Everything belongs to God. Body belongs to God. Mind belongs to God. The whole worldly possessions belong to God. The whole universe is created by Him. Everything belongs to Him. That is the sixth stage of renunciation called tyaga. Seventh stage, complete renunciation of latent desire and self-identification with regard to the world, one's own body, and all actions. If we can progress really, when we progress, we develop the capacity to detect the unconscious desires. They no longer remain unconscious. They remain unconscious only in the case of beginners. But as we advance in spiritual life, as we progress in introspection, as we progress in self-objectification, the hidden, the covered desires become adequate. Just as Swami Vivekananda used to say, as soon as a seed germinates, it is easy to destroy it. But the same seed plant becomes a tree, a huge banyan tree, it will be very difficult. It can be done, but it will be very difficult. And that was being described in the 15th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, अश्वत्धमेनम् स्विरोधमूलम् Extremely difficult, but it can be done. Being products of maya, all objects of the world are transient. But God alone, who is the truth, consciousness and bliss, सत् चित् अनन्द, is equally present everywhere. In fact, He alone is present and completely renouncing self-identification with the body, one should totally disclaim leadership with regard to all actions. Naturally, the question that comes is that how should we think about God? And Bhagavad Gita answers, it doesn't matter. But as a beginner, we can only think of God as Aguna with a body, with a particular name or names. Many, many names, many forms, many qualities. This is called qualified Brahman, called Saguna Brahma. And really speaking, with the mind, nobody can speak of the Nirguna Brahma. But slowly, slowly, we can conceive an idea by meditating upon space, etc. But that is far off goal. Where we are, let us start, earnestly pray to God, surrender ourselves, do all the seven types of renunciation, one after the other, not at the same time. And we will slowly understand that God has two aspects, with form, with names, with qualities, without form, without name, without qualities, Saguna and Nirguna. Then, in the Gita, one of the things that we have to achieve is called equanimity. Equanimity is the dominant note of the Gita. Whatever we are doing, the test of God-realisation lies in the attainment of equanimity. Equanimity has been pointed out as a distinguishing mark of those who have realised God through any of the paths. Diversed from equanimity, even spiritual practices, every spiritual practice is deficient. He who lacks equanimity cannot be called a spiritual practitioner at all. Of course, complete equanimity comes only after God-realisation, but from the very beginning. Whatever be the circumstances, happy, unhappy, heat and cold, respect and disrespect, loss and victory, loss and gain, victory and defeat, react a little bit, but not so much. You can set a limit and say, I will react this much. If we do not react, either we are sleeping, or we are dead, or we are like stones. That should not be. A wall, Swami Vivekananda says, doesn't lie, but after all, it is a wall. So, even-mindedness towards all beings, friends, enemies, well-wishers, ill-wishers, doesn't matter. That is one of the Samatvam Yoga Vichyate, destiny of Jivas after death. Because the most important thing is, a person who believes this life alone is real and everything is unreal, he is a disbeliever, non-believer, only a person who says there is eternal life, there is life after the fall of this body called death, and there are other worlds, other stages, other experiences, because the scripture tells us so, and our sense organs can never give us this information. We must have very strong Shraddha, faith in the scriptures. So, according to the Karmas that we do, we attain to that goal. Now, a few special features, which I will discuss later on, of the Bhagavad Gita. First, one of the greatest practical things about Gita is, it is what I said, CBT, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. Whatever we are, whether happy, unhappy, wise or otherwise, whatever it is, is all because of the influence of Avidya, Maya, ignorance. And ignorance manifests in the form of three Gunas, Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas. So, through our introspection, objectivity, self-objectification, we can understand which Guna is prominent most of the time, and our spiritual practice consists in slowly reducing the lower Guna, progressing to the higher Guna, it may take lives, doesn't matter, but ultimately, each step forward brings us more happiness, more security, more Ananda. So, find out, and Bhagawan has given in this 14th chapter, 16th chapter, 17th chapter, and more importantly, 18th chapter, our activity, and the doership, and the willpower, and the understanding, and the determination, and our happiness, everything is crystal clearly discussed. When Tama Guna is dominant, what type of personality we become. When Raja Guna is dominant, what type of personality we are. And when Sattva Guna comes, what transformation takes place in our life. Crystal clearly it is given, and this is very rarely seen in any scripture. You just tell me, let me know. If you get it in other scriptures, the descriptions are there, but this crystal clear naming, and dividing, and placing it before us, I don't think you will get it. Then, predominance of spirit over action in the Gita, that is what a person does, and even how he does, is not a primary thing, it is a secondary thing. But with what motive, what purpose, what understanding, with what vision, with what goal in mind, a person is discharging whatever duty he is doing. That alone determines the fate of one's future lives, and our goal is to transcend beyond these Gunas. So the motive should be that I am not the doer, God alone is the body, God alone is the mind, God alone is the entire universe, and unnecessarily, I do not come anywhere in this picture. We have discussed it, Adhishtanam tathakarta karancha prathakvidam ividhascha prathak cheshtaha daivam chaivatra panchamah. These are some of the special points which are very helpful in our spiritual life. Bhagavad Gita starts with the word Dharma. Remember, Dharmakshetre Kurukshetre, and it ends also with Dharma only. sarva-dharmaan parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja Give up every type of Dharma, that means total surrender and emergence in Me, then you will be freed automatically. And also, the first thing that comes is that Arjuna Vishada, that is, Arjuna was grieving, and it ends also with the end of grieving. mā śucahā So, the Gita Upadesa starts in the eleventh verse of the second chapter. The very first word is Ashocyan. You are grieving for things, for people, for events, for actions, which should never be grieved for. And it ends with the sixty-sixth verse in the eighteenth chapter. mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja ahaṁ tvā sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyā mā śucahā There is no ground for grieving because you are Amrutaswarupa. As we discussed in considerable detail in our last class, every chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, and there are eighteen chapters, and at the end of every chapter, the Bhagavan reminds us, Bhagavad Gita's every shloka is coming as the song of God. And what is it? Nothing but Upanishad. What is Upanishad? That which destroys the bondage and leads us to Self-realization. And this is called Brahma Vidya, Aham Brahmasmi. Everything leads to this knowledge, Aham Brahmasmi. I am Brahman, not only that. Sarvam khalvidam Brahma. Everything is Brahman. Excepting Brahman, nothing exists. But this is the goal. What is the way? Yoga Shastra. This Bhagavad Gita crystal clearly enumerates four important paths called Yogas. Four Yogas called Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Raja Yoga, and Jnana Yoga. Because a goal without a path is completely useless. Not only useless, it is dangerous also. And then Bhagavad Gita is an allegory. What is this allegory? Allegory is something which should relate to our life. It appears to be some strange story. No, an allegory is that which is intimately related with our life. Which can be related to our life. And we should put ourselves in that position. Very briefly, I will tell you. There is this battlefield. Two parties are ready to kill each other, to pounce each other, to destroy each other to the death. They are ready to die. They are also ready to kill the other ones. All for the sake of a kingdom. Very interesting conversation comes in the Mahabharata, I am just mentioning. That is not very important here, but it is very interesting. At the end, Duryodhana was hiding in a lake. And he knew how to go to the bottom and what is called Vayu Stambana. He can keep himself without breathing. And Pandavas came to know. And they went and then challenged him and they insulted him in a way, they pinched him. He had to come out. Then Duryodhana laughs and says, Hey Yudhishthira, I am donating this whole thing. After all, you wanted this kingdom. I am donating it. And then he laughs and pokes and said, After all, enjoyment means what I enjoyed. People were there and everything was peaceful. I did most marvelous things in life. I drank the happiness of the world to the very hilt. Now most of the fellows are dead, both on my side, on your side. This whole land is strewn with dead bodies. I am donating it to you. Yudhishthira replied, Who are you to donate? Because you have been defeated. A defeated fellow cannot use the word. I am donating it. We are not going to leave you like that. Anyway, I just mentioned because a useless gift, a gift over which I have no authority to give, that is what most of the time we are doing. Unfortunately, I feel like laughing. So there are many so-called good well-wishers of the Ramakrishna Mishra. They are working in Indian government. And the money that the Indian government allots for different works, including that which can be given to many charitable institutions, they are so happy to inform us. So many funds are remaining and they have not been spent. And the department is very anxious to spend that money. And you just apply. I see that crores and crores of rupees are released to you because this money belongs to the government. And he somehow wants to get a good name, come into the books of our good books. He is not at all sacrificing anything. He is earning thousands of rupees, he or she. But very few people have that large heartedness. That is something which I am not donating. I am only helping them to receive how they can use it properly. We know they use it properly. But my salary is my salary. And these people will appreciate me as a good devotee, good helper. And that is what I bask in. Selfishness can go no further. Because let me tell you the truth, unless each one of us sacrifices, there is no way we can progress. So, now Bhagavad Gita is an allegory. I said, you see Arjuna in a chariot drawn by horses and Krishna for the chariot here. And he said, I will not personally fight with anybody. But I am more than willing to be a charioteer and an advisor. Advisory capacity as an advisor, I will be more than happy. And the most marvelous thing is that Krishna had an invincible army called Narayana Sahinya. And Duryodhana also came to beg him for some help. He said, I divide my help into two parts. Me, Narayana, I will not fight. I am on one side. And all my fighting capable army is on the other side. Now, you choose what you want. And then first choice was given to Arjuna because both of them happened to come almost at the same time. And Krishna turned to Arjuna and said, first you ask. And Duryodhana's heart started beating fast. That suppose he asks, what is the use of this useless fellow Krishna? Because he doesn't fight. He will only give advice. I don't want. I have more than adequate advisors. And anyway, he never loved me. He will never give me any good advice. I have no faith in him. But his army is a completely different matter. And this Arjuna has been given the choice. And his heart was burning. Maybe Arjuna will take the choice and jump and get the first prize. But to his shock, Arjuna said, O Lord, I don't want yours. I want You. Because I know You are God. Where there is Krishna, there will be Tatra, Shri, Vijayaha, Bhutehi, Dhruvanitehi. And I know it. Mater Mama. And he chose Krishna. O Duryodhana, he would sigh of terrible relief and said, what a stupid fellow this Arjuna. Even on the beginning of this battlefield, and then very happily he went back. So many of these Narayanas, they fought against Pandavas and killed them. And they were also killed. Because you may be dying with curiosity, how did Krishna do this foolish thing? The thing is, these were all divine powers that are incarnated. No human being can ever destroy them. Only He can destroy them. So He took this opportunity to get them destroyed through His power in the form of the Pandava army. That is it. So now coming back very briefly to the allegory. The chariot is in the midst of the battlefield, Yudha Kshetra. And it is a Dharma Kshetra. And Arjuna was the person who has to fight. Krishna was the person who is His trusted, wise charioteer. And the most powerful white horses, four white horses, divine horses were pulling the chariot. The chariot was a gift of Gods themselves. These few points are enough. Life is a battlefield. Yudha Kshetra. What is the battle about? Between good and evil tendencies. Between spiritual and unspiritual tendencies. Between the struggle to become spiritual. And the maya, between the avidya maya and vidya maya. Between worldliness and spirituality. That is the battle. Constantly, continuously, each one of us are fighting. This life itself is a battlefield. But it is a Dharma Kshetra. That means what you sow, that you reap. Nobody can step out of this golden rule. That is the eternal law of Karma. Every one of us, good or bad, have to reap what we deserve. And what we deserve is what we ourselves have sown and we have to reap. That is why life is very real. Nobody can cheat life, nobody can cheat the world. It gives adequate one. Who is Arjuna? Each one of us. Even if we claim we are not spiritual. But we want happiness. We don't say it is a great mistake we commit. I want worldly happiness. No. I want happiness. Nobody wants money. Nobody is going to eat money with tomato sauce or anything. Money is an instrument for buying things. And nobody wants things. Nobody wants beautiful men, beautiful women, beautiful children. No. They are the means for my own happiness, for my own satisfaction. I want to love them. I want them to love me. But it is all related to my body, to my mind. So an object is only an instrument for bringing out the happiness which is already within each one of us. We forget that one. We are planning. So there is nothing called worldly happiness. Happiness, people try to obtain happiness through limited instruments is called worldly happiness. And once a person realizes limited instrument can give only limited happiness. For unlimited happiness, we have to remove all limitations. And that is called spiritual life. And that struggle to remove the limitations of the body and mind is called spiritual happiness. Everybody wants only infinite eternal happiness. But the means adopted differ, that's what is called limited means is called Preya. Unlimited is called Shreyaha. Limited happiness is called worldly happiness. Unlimited happiness is called spiritual happiness. We are all struggling only for unlimited happiness. But we have to be wise to choose whether we have to choose limited instruments or unlimited instruments or remove all limitations. But we require a guide and that guide is Paramatma. And that Paramatma has to guide us. How does He guide us? Because this battle has to be fought from a chariot. What is that chariot? Our body. And who is pulling the chariot? Our sense organs. It is our sense organs. What do you mean sense organs? And the sense organs, through them only we get to cognize the world, what is the world, good, evil, whatever it is. So the horses who are the pullers of this chariot, here in this case, our sense organs are pulling us. And who is Krishna? Who is the rider? Every Jeevatma is the rider. We, limited, I, identified with the body-mind. And who is the charioteer? Real charioteer is within the chariot. And He is Krishna. He is Vasudeva. And He is Paramatma. He is our true wisdom in the form of Chit. He is within us. If only we know how to go to Him and surrender ourselves, accept His guidance gladly with faith and follow His instructions, put them into practice, and that is how we can win every enemy. How do we win? Once we use this body, these sense organs, fight the evil tendencies and gradually, slowly but gradually, obtain mastery over them, the eye of our inner wisdom opens, and we come to know in the end that everything is Brahman and nothing is there excepting Brahman. Everybody is Brahman. The whole world is Brahman. Everything is Brahman. I am nothing but Brahman. And that is the goal, that knowledge is the goal which we are sure to obtain. So this is the allegory, each one of us in Arjuna, and all of us are in ignorance, because to identify the body-mind is called ignorance, and all of us are suffering from little happiness, but we are not happy. We want more happiness. That means we want unending happiness, unbroken happiness, eternal happiness, unbroken in time, unbroken by space, eternal and infinite happiness we want. And is that possible? Yes. A resounding yes. And how? By identifying ourselves with everything. And that is called to know, I am Brahman means I am everything, I am everybody. This is the allegory. So Bhagavad Gita starts with Arjuna's grief, and grief is the result of ignorance called avidya. And ignorance means absence of one's true nature, and ignorance leads to wrong identifications, wrong decisions, and wrong idea selections, and that brings undesirable results both to oneself and also to the society. Arjuna took a wrong decision because of thinking he is the body, and endangering himself, his family, and the entire society. Wrong decisions inevitably lead to grief. Arjuna then, after some time, realized his mistake because he is cultivating Satsanga. Satsanga, the company of Bhagavan Krishna Himself. That's what Sri Ramakrishna says, always cultivate Satsanga. And He is in the presence of Paramatma in the form of Sri Krishna. Then he understood. So he realized his mistake, accepts his mistake, and then seeks help, finds Krishna the only guide, surrenders himself to Krishna, and becomes a fit recipient of right advice. This is called Tattva. And what is the advice? You are not the body, you are not the mind, you are not the world, you are not the possessions. Not only you, nobody is a body, nobody is a mind, nobody is the world. Then who are you? You are the mortal, eternal, and unborn, the Atma, Amrutasya Putra, child of immortality. Marvelous teaching is there. We will continue tomorrow, see how far we can progress. May Ramakrishna, Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti. Ramakrishna.