Bhagavad Gita Ch18 part 45 on 21 May 2022

Full Transcript(Not Corrected)

auṁ jananīṁ śaraḍāṁ devīṁ rāma-kṛṣṇaṁ jagad-gurum pāda-padme tayo śṛitvaḥ pranamāmi muhur-muhur auṁ vasudeva-sutaṁ devam kamsa-cānūra-mardanam devakī paramānandam kṛṣṇaṁ vande jagad-gurum sarvopaniṣad-ogābho dogdhā gopālanandana pārtho vatsaḥ sudhir-bhoktā dubdhaṁ gītāmṛtaṁ māt mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅgaya te giriṁ yat-kṛpātam aham vande paramānandam ādhavam In our last class, we had been discussing the 75th shloka of the concluding 18th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita. vyāsa-prasādāt śrutavān etad guhyam aham param yogam yogeśvarād sākṣād kathayataḥ svayam I have been able to hear everything, to see everything, to know everything by the grace of Vyasa Deva. And what type of teaching is that? Most sacred, most secret, and it is the highest. And this is called Yogashastra, not from X, Y, Z, but yogeśvarād sākṣād, directly, what we call in English language, directly from the mouth of the horse. Bhagavan Himself knows what He is, how we can reach Him. And how can we reach Him? Only by prasāda, by kṛpa. There is no other way. We have seen that one. sākṣād kathayataḥ svayam And how could O Sanjaya look, hear, know everything? By the grace of the Vyasa. So, we have seen that with the 66th verse, the teaching is practically over. Then the Lord praises the greatness to whom it should be given and to whom it should never be given. And what happens to those who listen, even with shriddha, even today, not only at that time, even today, even in the future, at any time, by anybody, there is no rule, there is no regulation, there is no restraint, anybody, however sinful a person may be. Let him understand, I have been leading a wrong type of life, a negative type of life, now let me make myself more fulfilled, let my life be more meaningful. And with that Bhagavad Gita teaching is over. Practically almost 17 chapters, excepting the first 10 shlokas, plus the first chapter, everything else is the Bhagavad Gita. Now the venue has shifted from the battlefield to the Hastinapura and Bhagavad Gita starts with the question by Dhritarashtra and Bhagavad Gita ends again with the conversation in answer to Dhritarashtra's question, Sanjaya's words. We are dealing now with Sanjaya's words. Seventy-fifth one, we are exploring, almost we have come to the end. Aham Shrutavan, Sanjaya was telling to Dhritarashtra, reporting, not only reporting, but telling as the greatest well-wisher. Why was he telling? It's not a third-party report. Sanjaya was the most trusted, very faithful attendant, private secretary of Dhritarashtra, but Dhritarashtra was blind. Any kind of advice will not enter into his ears at all. So he had to suffer. He lost his whole family and this is symbolic. We are not talking about what happens in the physical world. This person who neglects God, that means who neglects righteous life, God and God's law, which is so beautifully explained in the scriptures, are not two separate things. Bhagavan Himself, in the form of His teaching, is Bhagavan. The teaching of Bhagavan, the Jnanam, that is Bhagavan and the enforcer, which is called law. You should read this. You should do this. You should never do that. All these things are laws, what we call Niyamas and this Niyama, law, is none other than Ishwara Himself. For example, you neglect a red light, ignore a red light or ignore a green light, then accidents can happen. Ignore the advice of health from your doctor. Ignore dietary rules. Anything you ignore, there is a right way, wrong way and right way is called right law and wrong way is called wrong law and that is Bhagavan. And Bhagavan, what does He do? What is Dharma? That which conducts us nearer to God is Dharma and that which takes us away from God, keeps us away from God is called Dharma. So Dharma, Dharma are none other than Bhagavan Himself. So this is what He is telling, O Dhritarashtra, I have heard everything, read everything. But I am also going to tell you straight forward, I am not frightened of you. I have been a blessed person. Nobody can harm me anymore because if there were any impurities previously to hearing the Bhagavad Gita, now all those impurities have been completely destroyed, washed away. First by hearing, second by beholding that divine form of Bhagavan Krishna and by His very presence, Vyasa Prasada, the grace of Vyasa. Who was Vyasa? Vyasa stands in the place of a Guru, Sadguru. And because of this Sadguru, I have been able to understand, I have been able to hear. That is why, Atmava Are Shrotavyaha, Mantavyaha, Nididhyasitavyaha. Atman should be heard, God should be heard, God should be thought over, God should be realized. Atmava Are Drotavyaha. And that is completely fulfilled, O great king, in my case. So nobody can harm me, even if you wish to harm me because Dhritarashtra has actually ousted this Sanjaya quite a number of times. So when Sanjaya is telling, I will tell you and what I tell you is Bhagavan's words. It's for your good, for everybody's good. Anybody like you, if they do not listen, if they do not ponder, if they do not practice, harm will come to them. Of course, none can be completely destroyed but the suffering can be very much more. So this is what Sanjaya was telling, Aham Shrotavan, Aham Darshitavan, by the grace of Bhagavan Krishna. Of course, through the grace of my Sadguru, Veda Vyasa. I have been able to hear, I have been able to see, I have been able to understand. Really, I have become thrice blessed. And he is acknowledging a gratefulness to the Guru. Vyasa prasadat etat. We get it and you can recollect at the end of the Vivekachudamani, the disciple who had that marvellous realisation, he acknowledges, Oh Guru, without you I could never have attained this. Whatever I attained solely through your grace alone. Vyasa prasadat etat. The word Vyasa prasadat is intended to express Sanjaya's eternal gratitude and humility that it could never have been possible all by himself who had so kindly gifted him a divine vision. Etat, it stands for the entire Gita in the form of the dialogue between Shri Krishna and Arjuna. And what is Bhagavad Gita? The sarvo upanishadho gavo, that is the essence of all Upanishads and made so easy. A mother, by the grace of God, produces milk, any mother, human, non-human, any mother and that what mother gives is most suitable, most helpful, most healthful, most beneficial for the child. So, I have been able to hear this entire Shastra, Bible, Koran or Tripitaka or Guru, Guru Granth Sahib, any scripture, it need not be big, it could be even just one, that everything is temporary, that is a Mahavakya, everything is changing, that is a Mahavakya, that is the essence of the scripture. So, etat stands for the entire Gita and I have been so fortunate because I have been able to hear the entire Gita, param, it is the supreme. What is this param means what? It is not ordinary knowledge, it is supreme knowledge about the supreme reality. The entire Gita is about the Atman. Atman is Brahman. Brahman is the most superior and it is most secret, gushyatamam. I said why gushyatamam? I gave several reasons. First of all, no pramana, no sense organs can bring us that knowledge, no intellect can bring us that knowledge because it is indriyatitha, jnanam. So, the only way is the scripture. Second reason, it is hidden where? Within the heart of oneself. We search everywhere but accepting within our own heart. Everybody searches for himself from outside. This is a marvelous truth we have to understand. Here is a person, what does he say? I want first class suite but he is not using proper language. He should say I am searching for myself. What is this searching for myself? I want to be happy. I believe this food material can give me, can make me happy person, at least happier than what I am now. So, is that object called suite, is it valuable, it is cherished, is it desired for its own sake or for my own sake? No, no, for my own sake. I am seeking myself. What is this then? Happiness because happiness is myself. Sat, chit, ananda. I am brahmaswarupa, I am brahmasmi, I am brahmananda. I lost it. I did not lose it but I thought I lost it. It is hidden. Therefore, it is there. Where? Everywhere. In front, behind, above, below. Where is it not? It is everywhere and yet I am blind. I cannot see it. So, that is why it is called guhyatama. Not only that, it is yoga. What did Sanjaya say? It is yoga. What is yoga shastra? Yoga indicates that which takes me, the path which leads me, the methodology which will unfold, which will uncover, make me understand that what I am searching is nowhere. It is me. It is myself. That secret, that which unfolds is called yoga. At the end of every chapter, Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads, Brahma Vidyayam, Yoga Shastra, the most practical thing, every shastra, it does not teach anything exotic. It simply says you reclaim your own treasure which is yourself, which is brahmananda. So, yoga. Yoga indicates this gospel contains, this Gita contains, it is detailed exposition of karma yoga, jnana yoga, dhyana yoga, bhakti yoga and every other practice, any other practice that was, that is and that would be in future but all leading to God realization and this applies to every scripture. So, this applies to the gospel of Shri Ramakrishna. It is the most marvelous scripture. It is the only scripture which can bring out the essence of every other scripture and at the same time remove all conflicting views. It is most positive. Shri Ramakrishna never condemns anybody, never criticizes anybody but he says every scripture is limited. So, you have to look for the real truth and that truth is God exists. I exist. I do not exist apart from God. I am one with God. Know this truth and man will be happy forever. Unbroken happiness would be his. So, this applies for every scripture and how did you come to know about it? Not xyz, not smriti, not tradition, guru parampara. Somewhere 10,000 years back somebody realized God and he passed it to his disciple. He also seems to have realized God and he passed it to his disciple. We do not know whether he realized or not. So, that teaching is coming even today. I am quoting from 4th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita itself. I have taught this Gita to Manu who was more than 10,000 years back because truth is one. Satyam is one. It cannot be changed. It will never be changed. So, even after billion years or even next kalpa someone wants to teach truth, only truth will be there. So, the teaching will never change. The methodology will never change. Some adjustments according to the changed circumstances will change. That's what revered Swami Ranganathanandji Maharaj wants to convey to us. Eternal values but for a changing society. That is the main mission of every avatara. Where from did you hear Sanjaya? He himself is telling. Yogeshwarath, Sakshat Yogeshwarath. I heard directly sitting in front of him. Yes, hearing from in front of him the first row in the audience. Yes, but how did you do that? Because Yasa had given me that beautiful 5k video and the best cell phone in the whole world. But these are also severely limited. They cannot, they can only show, they can only make me hear what people utter, what people do but we can never fathom what is inside their minds going on. But Yasa has given me that power. Oh Dhritarashtra, I can even see how the machines are ticking in your own heart. You are a, he did not say, but you are a crooked fellow even after this. Actually, Sanjaya was said to have followed into the battle after 10 days, after the fall of Bhishma. Then he returned to Hastinapura. This is one version is there. So, then he narrated saying Dhritarashtra was eager and then he says, you stupid fellow, you think you have got 11 Akshaudinis whereas Pandavas have got only 7 and you think you have got Bhishma, you have got Drona, the invincible warriors like Karna etc. and victory is yours. You are very, very stupid. You are not only blind physically, you are blind mentally. Of course, you cannot see what is going to happen in future. Your cherished Bhishma and Dhritarashtra knew Bhishma is invincible. So long as Bhishma is with my son's party, nobody, not even Pandavas can do. Forgetting Krishna was the Paramatma. He is the puppet puller and he has given what is called absolute statements. Oh, Arjuna, even if you withdraw from the battle for whatever reason, those people whom I had already killed are not going to survive. But if you accept my words and eagerly consent to become an instrument, then the glory will come. Arjuna had fought. Arjuna was a great hero. Arjuna had conquered. That glory will come to you only by my grace if you hear, if you surrender to my words. This is beautifully expressed in the last 78th shloka. We will come to that later on. But I have heard from this and I know what is happening in your hearts, in Duryodhana's heart, Karna's heart, Bhishma's heart etc. But I have come to tell you, Bhishma is already fallen. The next would be Karna. And by hearing this news, Dhritarashtra must have sunk to the lowest patala, depressed, because if Bhishma is gone, now if he was cherishing any flicker of hope that his sons are going to conquer, now he knows the inevitable conclusion of the war. So I have heard it by the grace of Vyasa Gurudeva, sakshat from whom? Yogeshwara. Bhagavan Krishna is not only Yogeshwara. He is the propagator of the Vedas. He is the person who made all the pathways, yogas, karma, bhakti, jnana, yoga. And he is the Yogeshwara. He is the one because of whose grace billions of others can become yogis only if they listen to his words, practice his teachings, even to a small extent. Here is something very wonderful for all of us to understand. Can we 100% practice a divine teaching? It is impossible. If we can practice one teaching, even one thousandth time, that is enough. Bhagavan doesn't see how much we have practiced. He sees with what sincerity we are practicing. That is why Sairam Krishna was very fond of saying, if a man takes towards God one step, God takes 100 steps towards him. It is even that first step we take is all the time by the grace of God. Wonderful illustration comes to my mind. The first steps of a baby and he is able to do it. The mother is ever ready. Mother, father, brothers, everybody is ready with thousand eyes. If the baby happens to fall, then they are ready to catch him. But sometimes they deliberately allow the baby to fall down so that, oh, he will cry. The second time he will cry. Then he understands, oh, even after I fell down, nothing happened to me. So I was only thinking, I will get up again. It will only increase his self-confidence. So sometimes Bhagavan makes us slip. But all the time, like a loving mother, how many eyes? Like Meenakshi, unblinking eyes, the mother will be looking. My child should never fall. I will never allow. When a child wants to get up from the mother's lap, if he happens to fall, he will only fall into the lap of the mother. She will not allow him to step outside her lap. And can we ever step outside the Divine Mother? It is impossible. So Yogeshwarath, who is the Lord of Yoga, and the same thing applies to Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, I am bringing because that is the latest Bhagavad Gita. As I mentioned earlier, let me remind you, the essence of all the scriptures are Vedas. The essence of all Vedas are Upanishads. The essence of all Upanishads is Bhagavad Gita. The essence of all Bhagavad Gita is the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. And the essence of the entire Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna is the first chapter where the five commandments of Sri Ramakrishna are simply outlined, indicating, symbolizing the four yogas and the fifth commandment, thou shalt realize God. That is what Yajnavalkya had taught to Maitreyi after saying, Atma must be directly experienced. I mentioned in my last class, M says he meditated upon, say some days, events at least a thousand times. And every time he meditates, he was endowed with an extraordinary vision, memory, nothing escapes him. Even then Sri Ramakrishna several times corrected him also. So he said, I have meditated thousand times. And what was he doing after the thousand times? He was only meditating, if not on this day events, on the next day events, on some other day's event, whole day he used to meditate. And there was another way of meditation of M, where devotees, as soon as they came to know about him, started flocking. And it was easy for M. He never rejected anybody. At any time, they can enter him. Excepting for meals and a bit of time for rest, M was continuously engaged in speaking again and again different things. And I have to inform you that there are quite a number of things which we do not get either in the Gospel or in the Great Master, which are there in the conversations with M, which was recorded by one of his own so-called devotees. That is published practically in, I think, 16 volumes of the M's Gospel. It is there, available. Many of the volumes are freely available on the internet by Kathamrita Bhavan based in Chandigarh. So this is a great lesson for all of us. We also, what is it? We also must read. We also must meditate. We also should pray. We also should continuously try to practice, but with one caveat. O Lord, whatever I do, it is nothing. It is only by your grace. Diyo yonah prachodayat. This Di is not information. There are many pundits who have information. There are so many people trying to write books on Sri Ramakrishna, on Christ, on Buddha and purely from academic point of view and not only they do not understand, but they also mislead other people, venturing into a field of which they have no clue at all. That is why the author of the Imitation of Christ, brother, he says that the only purpose of the Imitation of Christ is, or studying Bible, is to seek the truth, not to become a scholar. So this Di is never information. That which, that knowledge which transforms life as it did M's life, first visit, that is it. He was caught. His life started getting transformed. And even any one of us, if we go on reading, slowly but surely, depending upon our yogyata, our capacity, we also will be slowly getting transformed. And so Sanjaya was reporting, again we will enter into the next shloka. It is practically the same thing, but Sanjaya looks as if he cannot stop describing the same event, slightly different words, because such was his marvellous experience. We enter into 76th verse. This most marvellous dialogue, conversation, teaching, of whom? Keshava and Arjuna. Who is Keshava? The conqueror of the Yogeshwara, conqueror of all sense organs. And Arjuna is a disciple. Now we have to understand something which I will come very soon to that. So what type of conversation is it? Punyancha, adhutancha. Anybody who hears it, he will get punya. How does he get punya? Because one Swami told me something very interesting. You see, Gita, even if somebody spends half an hour studying the Gita, and it means any other scripture, it doesn't matter, but the scriptures speak only two things. The ephemerality of this world and the ultimate human goal which is God-realisation. These two only. Rest are incidental subjects, elaborating a little with examples, with stories, illustrating to encourage us, to inspire us. So even if somebody reads, this Swami told me and it is so beautiful, it stuck in my mind forever. Look here, brother, if somebody studies Gita, even for half an hour, at least for half an hour, his mind so accustomed only to move in the old grooves of worldly thoughts, worldly desires, worldly imaginations, at least for half an hour, the whole thing is stopped, the man is only thinking the most marvellous things. If not immediately, in course of time, it's bound to bring about an inner transformation. That is why this is a corroding acid. First it will go down and it starts. That is why many times we do not see the progress immediately, but it is slowly destroying the very foundations like an acid and when we understand, the whole old building will collapse and on that foundation, we have to construct a new building. But in this case, it is not complete destruction. It is you destroy something and you build something because this is a spiritual edifice, not an ordinary physical building. And Advottancha is most marvellous. Why is it marvellous? I will come to that point also. What is it? Samvadham. Samvadham means a lecturer is lecturing. It is not very useful and another person is trying to brainwash some other fellows. That also is not very useful. Here it is a loving exchange, conversation between a loving teacher and a willing, loving and a student who has the receiving capability and this is the exchange between these two. In simple words, Guru, Sishya, Samvadham. And then Samspritya, Samspritya. Samspritya means remembering. He uses twice. Why? Because there is a deep meaning in it that if we experience anything so pleasant, so happy, that which made us happy, again and again and again, we remember it. Even these events which made us, make us very unhappy, somebody insulted us, somebody deprived us or something, somebody robbed us or something, somebody hurt us deeply, we can never forget. Again and again, not only that, the more we remember, the more clarity it acquires, the more clear it becomes, crystal clear and the more it transforms us and the quicker it transforms us. And especially, this Sanjaya had seen that most marvellous universal form, what a Jivanmukta beholds. That was what Arjuna saw and by the grace of Sadguru, this Sanjaya also had seen. Of course, Vedavyasa must have seen. That only few people have seen. And then what is the very remembrance? Hrishyamicha moho moho and again and again and again, again and again, unstoppable. My hair is standing on end. I am rejoicing, rejoicing is what he says. O King Dhritarashtra, every time I remember this wonderful and sacred dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna, I rejoice again and again, over and over again. This holy Gita in the form of this mystic conversation, it is not orally conversation, it is spiritual conversation. That's why it is said. There is a beautiful word in Bengali language, it is called Misti. Misti means sweet and in Bengal, really, they prepare beautiful sweets. So here, a mystic is one who is soaked, as it were, in sweet syrup, that is Amrita. Like we get in the Bhagavatam, the churning of the milk ocean and the attainment of Amrita. People become immortal. This is the mystic dialogue, conversation between Krishna and Arjuna. We should now even forget Krishna and Arjuna. I will come to that point. I rejoice again and again, over and over again. So this holy Gita, in the form of this spiritual conversation, purifies Arjuna who studies. Not only purifies Arjuna, it purifies anybody who studies, who teaches, who hears, who ponders, who remembers and who listens to discourses on it and it does good to his soul in every way. There are instances that one word has transformed a person's life, even an ordinary person's life. In Bengali, there is a beautiful story. A zamindar, who was a great spiritual person, he was thinking of renouncing the world. One afternoon, he was traveling from a distant place to his own estate. Suddenly, he heard a washerman saying that addressing a daughter is addressing her father, the washerman, Baba, father, already so much time had passed. When are you going to burn all these dirty cloths? But in Bengali, it yields a double meaning. Oh father, so much you have already become old. When are you going to turn to God? When are you going to overcome all your worldly tendencies? And nothing happened, perhaps, to that washerman or even his daughter. But this zamindar, who was passing by, instantaneously, it brought about a transformation and he turned back, giving everything to servant, go and tell them, I am going to become a monk and this is the marvelous story. Similarly, we hear that the first Desert Father, Saint Anthony the Great, he went to the church one Sunday. The sermon was, if you wish to enter into the kingdom of heaven, then go home and sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, take up my cross and follow me. And that day, those words have completely transformed. How many lives have been transformed by the teachings of Christ, by the teachings of Buddha, by the teachings of Rama, by the teachings of Krishna. Now, of course, by the teachings of Swami Vivekananda, which are nothing but the teachings of Sri Ramakrishna and Holy Mother. So, here we have to remember something. In the eleventh chapter, we have seen the universal form of the Lord, Bhagawan, the Guru, the Jagat Guru, out of compassion, had shown, is a devout and willing disciple. Forget about Arjuna, forget about Krishna. Universal Lord has shown his universal form out of his sheer grace by bestowing upon him a divine eye, a spiritual eye, a godly eye, Brahma Chakshu. What did he say? Now, you look at me. The same Arjuna, disciple, who was looking at his Guru in a particular way before, now had seen the real nature of Bhagawan Krishna and says, you are not Krishna, you are not my friend, you are the divine Lord. So, not only Arjuna, even this Sanjay also had seen. So, everything that was happening in the battlefield, not only seeing, not only hearing, not only hearing what is near and seeing who is near, but even the remotest places, whatever was happening in the entire battlefield of 18 Akshaurinis, not only that, everything, every thought that was passing in the real leaders of the battlefield, he was able to find out. So, all this by the grace of Guru. Anybody who has that faith in the Guru, he can also have this one. But one must be prepared to transform, simply serving with some food material, giving some money, giving some physical materials, that is also good, but that is the least true disciple is one like A. Kalavya, who has tremendous faith that what Guru says is real and there is a law. Whatever we know to be the real, we cannot escape that knowledge, we will be forced to act. You may pretend by hearing so many people's words that this is not a snake, but this is a rope, it is not going to work out. But once you have seen, afterwards a billion people may tell you it is not a rope, it is a snake. You will not believe because now you know with your own hand. That is the power of true knowledge. Knowledge means that which brings transformation. Information means that which remains neutral. It is useful, but it does not bring about character transformation. Now a question comes here. Did Sanjaya really participate in the war? Yes, there is definite evidence that he did participate at least for a few days. Not only that, it was Sanjaya only who gave the news to the people who were searching for Duryodhana. Yes, I have seen him. He entered into that lake and there is evidence in the Mahabharata. He was caught by Satyaki and by the grace of Vyasa, no, no, you leave him because he has a mission in life. He has to report everything to Dhritarashtra and let him boil in his own soup, in his own stew. So some people say battle for 10 days. Some people say he has got that power to come and go. There is no definite answer, but there is evidence he did take part. Not only that, whatever anybody is scheming, everything he got. How did he get? By the grace of Vyasa Deva, Gurudeva. And then Vyasa had given him that power. For how long? Not forever. He said from the first day of the war until the war will continue, which in this case is for 18 days. By 19th day morning, the whole power will disappear. So what is this conversation? This is a most marvellous conversation. So what is this conversation? Between whom? Between first of all we think Krishna and Arjuna. No, it is between Guru and Sishya. It is between a wise man and an ignorant man. It is between God and Jivatma, Paramatma and Jivatma. It is between the infinite and that which is finite. And he who is ever merged in Ananda, Paramatma. And he who is completely submerged in Vishada. And he who knows the reality, Satya Drishti. And what was Arjuna's vision? Moha Drishti, Brahma Drishti. That means ultimately between Narayana and Nara, God and man, Paramatma and Jivatma. That is why Guru Brahma, Guru Vishnu, Guru Devo Maheshwaraha, Guru Sakshat, Param Brahma, Tasmai Sri, Guru Venamaha. Then Satya uses two words, Adbhutam and Romaharshanam. Adbhutam means indescribably marvellous. And Romaharshanam means just by beholding that sight, all the hairs on my body are standing like needles, standing up. See, if we have seen something, a marvellous something, each one of us at some point of time, we have at least beheld one. And one who did not behold this one, his life is a meaningless life, I would say. So why was Sanjaya telling that this Gita Shastra is such a marvellous incident? Because there is a stone, it is called philosopher's stone. And any metal that touches it instantaneously is transformed into gold. Is it only a tale, a legend or is it true? I have read in the great master written by Swami Saradananda, Sri Ramakrishna's Vedanta teacher, Totapuri. He knew because the Guru of Totapuri had imparted to him. But then he explained, this can never be used for any selfish purpose. If anybody dares to do that, that person will die and that person will suffer greatly and die. So Totapuri Maharaj has got. So it is possible. It is not legend. There must be some truth in it. But it is not our main thing. So what happens? Even a base metal, when it touches a philosopher's stone, it becomes transformed into the invaluable gold. That is what had happened in the case of Arjuna, in the case of any spiritual aspirant. So as soon as this philosopher's stone, the teaching of the philosopher, Bhagwan himself, as soon as this person who was completely immersed in inconsolable depression, dukkha, suffering, the outcome of Brahma, Moha, what happened? Immediately. How do we know? Because Krishna questioned him and Arjuna categorically answered, And this Arjuna, he did not want to fight even after seeing the entire Bhishma Drona, those who were ready to finish him, to cut him into pieces. As soon as he heard, he became completely, he took up his Gandiva. He threw his Gandiva. And that Gandiva, now completely he took it up again. The man who was sitting, he stood up with this Gandiva. And then he said, But what about you told me? I have decided not to fight. But this man, after hearing this marvellous, after touching this marvellous Gita teaching, he said, I am going to do, because you wanted me to do Loka Sangraha for the good of the world and I will do it. Not only that, as I mentioned earlier, this Bhagavad Gita is the essence of all the Upanishads. It is Brahma Vidya. It is Yogashastra. Not only that, so Gitasu, it is not one Bhagavad Gita. Every sentence, every word is meaningful. Everything is Mahavakya. Mahavakya means the great sentence, the great teaching, which indicates to us that you are thinking, you are born, you are going to die, you are a Jeeva, you are an individual. No, sir. You are none other than Brahman. This sentence which indicates the unity of the finite with the infinite, not really finite, thinking that we are finite and we are really infinite, that is called this beautiful ethos. And then see the greatness of this thing. Usually, when we want to go for any spiritual teaching, it should be an ashrama, beautiful, solitary places and no disturbances are there. And there, after having first class South Indian breakfast, sit in front of the Guru and then it is possible that we can hear. Where is this teaching has come? Where everybody was making the most intolerable noise, the horses, the elephants, the soldiers, the warriors, the servants, what is called the health team, what is called red cross team, everything should be there. The bearers who are about to take away those who are injured or those who are dead, all these things are part of that one. Do you think anybody will listen to that? Very interesting thing. Here, Arjuna, Bhagavan had taught, Arjuna had heard and he understood and he became transformed. He got back his memory, I am Atman and there is no difference between you and me, but this has all happened by your grace. This is called the Adhuta. So, the essence of all scriptures, which is so difficult to understand, only that is why it is called Rahasya Vidya, Aranya Vidya. Here, Bhagavan taught openly, maybe others were also listening nearby, but nobody could understand, nobody could become transformed, but Arjuna understood and Arjuna had become transformed and Sanjaya heard, Sanjaya became transformed. This is the, that's why, what is the proof? Arjuna's own words, I heard, understood, I realized, I became transformed, I will be an instrument, I will be a puppet in your hands, whatever you desire, that's what I am going to do. And what is this Gita? So secret, so supreme and it is the very essence of the Upanishads. We think Upanishads are so very difficult to understand. You try to understand Gita, you will understand everything. You try to understand the 66th verse of this Bhagavad Gita, that you give up all reliance upon everything, not Swadharma, not Paradharma, not any Dharma, but complete refuge, take refuge in me completely and I will save you. This is called the very essence of all the Upanishads and that is what Upanishads also completely confirm by certain statements which I will not go because I have gone through earlier. So all that tremendous secret, the highest teaching which will remove my miseries forever, make me infinite, not make me, but make me realize that I was infinite, I am infinite, but I forgot that I am infinite and this in such an understandable, easy language, this is the Adbhuta. There are so many meanings are there in that word, Adbhuta. One simple question that comes here and which most people of course will not listen, the question will not come, but if at all it comes, how much time did it take for the Bhagawan to teach this one and how much time did it take for Arjuna and do you think that, oh even if I recite Gita fast, I take at least minimum two hours, even if I do it faster, do you think the opposite enemies and then his own people were ever ready with the sunrise, they are all going waiting for two hours, there is Bhagawan, he started Bhagavad Gita, another two hours time it will take, meanwhile I can have a wonderful N S complete rest sleep, it's Microsoft CEO Pichaiya is supposed to be doing that one, without sleeping get all the rest, deep rest, no N S D R, it is there, a technique is there. Anyway that is what this person claims to do and he gets renewed energy, doesn't matter. Do you think people are going to wait? In my opinion the whole thing should has not taken more than a few minutes because it is Bhagawan and nothing is impossible for him or it could be other people like Narada deeply submerged in Maya thought that a few seconds or a few years but the reality is the truth of the teaching is take refuge in me but in order to take refuge in me, in order to succeed in taking refuge in me, you will have to purify your heart or a few sentences the Lord must have taught to Arjuna and then Vyasadeva had expanded it for the convenience of all of us in 18 chapters in about more or less 705 or 707 shlokas, it is there, that is the most adbhuta. Then Roma Harshanam, that is Roma means hair, Harshanam means because of this tremendous experience of joy, pleasure, ananda, the hair stands. When we read the gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, our great master, we hear Sri Ramakrishna was again and again by hearing about the mother, about God, about the Gita, about great things, hearing the songs, bhajans especially by Narendranath, great singers, his hair used to stand and then people could crystal clearly see how this sepid, insipid, this lifeless hair completely stands on hair for hours together, for minutes together, etc. This is called Roma Harshanam. So this knowledge as soon as Sanjaya heard, his heart was filled with wisdom, with happiness, with wonder and his whole body, especially after beholding that universal vision and remembering that again and again and again, the same effect is coming that each hair stands like a strong needle or like a strong weapon. But here in this case, it is like that. But there is also a background to it. You see all our Hindu Puranas which are 36 numbers, 18 main and 18 smaller or subsidiary Puranas and there are some persons trained completely in reciting them and then there was one person called as a Suta. Suta means one who is expert in narrating this like our modern Hari Katha people. So he was a Maharshi. He was not telling for professional sake. He was telling for the sake of imparting that knowledge and he had a son. He trained his son. He was called Roma Harshanam. So that is when he used to narrate, he believed in what he was teaching and his hairs, especially when he was describing Lord Hari or Krishna, it used to stand on end. Not only that, when he used to recite in such a way, the audience, straight his words go into his, that means he had the capacity to incite the emotions of his audience to the highest pitch and they also exactly experienced what he himself was experiencing in his own mind. When Shri Ramakrishna used to sing, when Narendranath used to sing, that's what used to happen. That's why he got this name, even though his name was a different name. He was called Roma Harshanam. He who could produce this one and then Sanjay is saying this Vasudevasya Parthasyacha Mahatmanaha, the conversation between Bhagavan Krishna, the son of Vasudeva and Mahatma Arjuna. Why did he call Arjuna as Mahatma? The Mahatma title is aptly apt for Bhagavan Krishna because he is Paramatma. But why did he do? Because Arjuna, after hearing, what did he become? He was not, he was a Sadharana Atma, Jivatma. He became a Mahatma. And as soon as he understood, he saw the divine vision and then he became a Mahatma. So what does it mean? Even us, if we can put place ourselves in the same situation as Arjuna and we completely surrender ourselves, relying upon Sri Krishna, if we can also listen to this, we will also become like Arjuna, a Mahatma. It will completely destroy all the worldly bondage. It will destroy all the moha, all the delusion. That is the outcome of agnana. When agnana comes, even the snake will disappear. But all the effects of the snake, fear, that beating of the heart and the blood flowing fast, everything will be completely destroyed. So if we can do it, and that's what Bhagavan had Himself certified, He who listens to that, but with one caveat, Shraddha, He also is going to attain, like Arjuna, into a Mahatma. It's a beautiful visma. So Sanjaya says, this gospel that has been taught by the Lord had captivated the heart of Arjuna so much that he had lost his relish for anything else. And Sanjaya also, same thing happened. And then now Sanjaya was experiencing, we don't know Arjuna's reaction because we know it, must know mohaha, but Sanjaya is clearly telling, Sanjaya, I was reminded of that teaching and that darshan again and again and merged in the thought of it. He was being transported with joy and overwhelmed with love. The same applies to any shastra. For us, it means the gospel, etc. Om Vasudeva Sutam Devam, Gamsa Chanuram Arthanam, Devakey Paramanandam, Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum. May Ramakrishna, Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti. Jai Ramakrishna.