| Listen to Prabhaata-rashmih Audio |
Harih Om Tat Sat. Jai Guru. Jai Guru.
Today I thought of telling you how the mind can be treated as a psychological entity and according to the laws concerning psychology. In other words, the laws concerning the mind and its working.
Mahabharata war was something very complex. Now recently, yesterday I came to know that the number of people who were killed in Kurukshetra were something like twenty crores. So far I was saying 4.5 million warriors were present there. This is on the basis of the calculation of eighteen akshauhinis of warriors present in which infantry was there, chariots were there, elephants were there, all of them taken together there is a calculation, what constitutes an akshauhini, and eighteen akshauhinis come to something like 4.5 million. Now in another place in Mahabharata it is mentioned that more than twenty crores of people have been killed. It was a very, very complex and excruciating war. That is why Arjuna got into trouble. He was unable to proceed in spite of a thirteen year old preparation. With the participation and so many expedient measures evolved and suggested and implemented by Krishna, the Mahabharata war was over and for the first time in India, thousands and thousands of young women followed Yudhishtira to get down to Bhāgeerathi, the holy Ganga, to perform Udhaka-kriya, Udakatarpana for the departed souls.
When Yudhishtira was going down and so many countless number of women following him, Kunti Devi suddenly came there running with disheveled hair and beating her chest and head. “My dear son, perform Udaka-kriya for Karna your elder brother also.”, she said. Yudhishtira completely lost his heart. He was aggrieved beyond measure. He started lamenting and crying, “Why is it that my mother did not tell me about this fact? Had I known it I would have given everything including myself, placed them at his feet, and the whole bloodshed would have been avoided. Fie upon me. I am not going to sit on the throne. I have not gained the war, won the war, but I have lost myself. I will go to the forest again, live for the rest of life eating fruits, leaves and roots.”
Many people tried to console Yudhishtira, the brothers and even Sri Krishna. Krishna’s words also were of no avail. Then Vyāsadeva was there, and he started speaking a few words of consolation. That somehow drove the attention of Yudhishtira and at one point Yudhishtira asked for a clarification. Then Vyasa Deva said, “No, I’m not the one to give you the clarification. Go to your grandfather who is still lying on the bed of arrows awaiting the departure from this world for Uttarāyaṇa to commence. Go to him. He will advise you.” Then Yudhishtira had a problem. “I am the most sinful grandson who went to the grandfather asking him how I can make him fall from the chariot. He told me the way. Such a wicked and sinful person as I am, how can I go to him again saying that I am having pain even after having done all this including making you fall from the chariot? Krishna, you should help me to talk to my grandfather.” Krishna said, “Yes.” And then Krishna took all the brothers and a great conversation started between the grandfather and the grandson. This is all introduction, I am telling you.
Now, Bheeshma started advising, “My dear child, there is no point in worrying about what has taken place already. Any event that comes to pass cannot be altered. The wheel of time is constantly revolving and it never knows to turn back. So the Kurukshetra war was a fact and now it is not a fact. It is over, it is only a memory. You are now stifled by the memory of the Kurukshetra war. Many things are necessary in this world whether you desire, approve or otherwise, war also is one. You tried to avoid the war in many ways, even Krishna was sent as an ambassador but was of no avail. So this war is inevitable in the course of the world. The rod of chastisement has to be kept up. Unless the people are brought under the rod of chastisement, punishment, they will not behave properly. What you suffer from is not the war and its consequences. It is only the memory which your mind generates. As the mind is stifled by the memory of an event, there is a way of treating it.” This is where I want you to think properly and grasp the message. “Now it is a memory that stifles you, memory of what? Something that has taken place over which you have no control and nothing can be done about it. It is only memory, memory, memory. The memory is the current, the event is not. The remedy and the redress lie in your deciding to perform Ashwamedha Mahāyāga. This is the highest of Vedic sacrifices. You take a resolution, a resolve to perform this sacrifice. Mahārājās perform this and to perform it at least one year of consistent preparation is necessary. So if you take a resolution, from then on Ashwamedha Mahayaga will be in your mind. It is not the memory of the past event, on the other hand it is the concern for the present and the impending event that will occupy your mind.”
“But, but Ashwamedha Yaga can be performed only by kings and emperors. What about ordinary people for whom a similar guilt and sin? How can they be washed off?
Then he said, “Lord Vishnu is the Lord of all sacrifices. One thousand names of Vishnu are very famous in our land. Paramashiva spoke about them to Parvathy long back. I know them. I will narrate all the names for you. Recite them and this is the remedy.”
Now the point that I want to emphasize is, ‘V’ should particularly hear. There is no necessity for you to get worried and fried by the memory of anything whatsoever. And the only way to treat the memory is to initiate the mind with a lot of attention and involvement into something that is good. This is how all our ceremonies, post death ceremonies etc. have been evolved. When somebody dies, especially a young man, untimely death we are all extremely concerned and we will all be afflicted beyond measure. But the fact of having to do ceremonies after the death, that intercepts. The death is a past event; ceremony is a present event. When the mind gets involved in the present ceremonies automatically the memory and the affliction it brings will have to vacate from the mind.
Yudhishtira started preparations for the Ashvamedha Yaga and you will find that mind gets occupied with the present, automatically the other memory will vacate. By the time the Ashvamedha Yaga is finished it will be more than one year. The eighteen day and the one year old preparation and performance of Ashvamedha Yaga even in terms of arithmetic, you will find the one year memory will be far greater than the eighteen day event memory. This is how psychology works, understand it. There is no magic here. It’s a fact. I think ‘V’ particularly should know this.
Any event that has come to pass has passed. There is nothing that you can do about it. It is either getting or leaving, holding or not holding, a blessing or a curse. It is foolish to think about the past, past, past, past, past! Why don’t you initiate a new involvement to treat the mind? See, if you take a vow saying that I am going to chant one crore of my mantra. One crore. So if one crore you are chanting the name of God or mantra can you imagine how much time it will take? So the mind gets heated about something new and to be done. Automatically the memory of the old will be subdued. It is such a wonderful thing and very simple also. But people refuse to do it. That is why we finally we are obliged to say only pūrva punya will make one do this not otherwise, and then keep quiet. No punya and no pūrva are necessary. It is a question of either faithfully doing it or knowing it discretely after analyzing the whole situation. How Bheeshma pitāmaha treated the most tormented mind of Yudhishtira, himself lying in a bed of arrows is something that all of you should remember and learn from.
Harih Om Tat Sat. Jai Guru.
