Articles for Saadhana

Harih Om Tat Sat. Jai Guru. Jai Guru.

Bhagavad Gita is a war-field dialogue that took place 5155 years back in Kurukshetra which is now in the State of Haryana, 165 km away from New Delhi. Bhagavad Gita is a portion from Mahabharatam. Mahabharatam itself is a very long historic narration done by Vyasadeva and the primary subject and focus in that narration is the decline and fall of the Kuru dynasty that ruled India for a long while.

I would like you to understand that we have two important dynasties about which we have memorable descriptions and narrations by various people. One is the Solar dynasty. The dynasty was called ‘Solar Dynasty’ because sun is the source of origin of earth. So, if at all you can name something, that name must give ample measure, ample scope for thinking, enquiry, assessment and the like. Not that you name somebody as Kuju, Guju, Suju and all that. Can anybody research into Suju, Kuju? But when you say Solar dynasty, it makes us think – ‘What is this Solar Dynasty? Why should the dynasty ruling a portion of the earth be named after the Sun?’

What relationship do we have with the Sun? The earth itself is a piece broken from the sun and it started falling and falling and falling. The tremendous heat of the sun got cooled and when it reached this particular portion in space, it was able to revolve around the sun. So, if at all we can think of taking people to the very source of their life, they thought that naming this dynasty as ‘Solar Dynasty’ would be best from the viewpoint of meaning, depth, enquiry and scope for research.

We have another dynasty which is Lunar dynasty. You know the position of moon, status of moon. Moon is revolving around the earth. And the light from the moon comes because of the sun rays falling on the moon and getting reflected. The difference between the two is that the sun is hot and brilliant; moon is only brilliant. Sun shines almost constant throughout the year but the moon waxes and wanes every month. So they named the next dynasty as Lunar!

There were so many small kingdoms. At the time of independence, there were more than 600 kingdoms in India. When British East India Company came here, it should have been many more. Out of all these, they found the Solar dynasty where Ikshvāku was there, Aja was there, Dasaratha was there, Sri Rama was there, that was the most countable and exemplary, value-rich kingdom as well as rulership. Another was the Lunar one.

Between the two, the Lunar is nearer to us than Solar in the passage of time. Vedavyasa wrote on this Lunar dynasty especially when Bhishma, Pandu, Dhritarashtra, Pandavas, Kauravas, Parikshit etc. were ruling. It is that narration that Vedavyasa gives us. As part of the historic narration, he had to describe also the dialogue that transpired in the war-field between Arjuna and Krishna. That dialogue was about war, for war, in war. It was explaining the nature of war and the need for fighting it, no matter what the consequences were, would be. So, it is a completely war gospel addressed by Krishna to Arjuna, asking Arjuna at every point of time, “You fight”. It starts with exhortation to fight and ends up with Arjuna answering that “I shall fight”.

Sanjaya putting a stamp that - “This dialogue is very very great. I was personally listening to it by virtue of Vyasadeva’s blessings. I also saw the Viśwaroopa of Krishna. Remembering what he said and remembering also what I saw, I am having my hairs stand on end. I can only tell you where Krishna is there to advise properly in matters of crisis and confrontation and Arjuna where he responds to Krishna and with lifted weapons, he is ready to fight injustice, only when the two agencies are there anywhere in the society, there will be prosperity, there will be advancement, there will be ethical rule and felicity.” This is how Bhagavad Gita ends.

I am discussing now Bhagavad Gita, chapter after chapter, verse after verse. And the one verse I have come to, I would like to say. In the 4th chapter, there are five important verses, each of which stands complete.                                   

Krishna says this in extension to his statement. Karmaṇy-akarmaḥ yaḥ paśyet. All karmas become fruitless, all karmas become inactive. There is no activity and there is no result accruing from karma if you understand it properly. Then He explains how.

Yadṛcchā lābha santuṣṭah. Do not pin your delight after performing something when the result arises. Carry the delight right from the beginning as a coordinate of your pursuit, as a co-existential element in your pursuit. When you take up an activity you should be delightful, when you progress in an activity you should be delightful, when you end it also you should be delightful, no matter whether the objective result fruitions or not.

Yadṛcchā lābha santuṣṭah. Consider the entire life to be providential or chance-driven. And whatever comes to you without your effort, without your asking, be pleased with it. Train your mind, culture your mind, reform your mind, attune your mind in such a manner that you will be happy with whatever is. Do not look for something to be happy. If the mind can be happy with something, it can be trained to be happy with everything and with nothing. Once you agree that contentment is a product of the mind, ask the mind to produce contentment throughout and mind will. So take to this formula. “Be contended with whatever chance brings”.

Then, dvandvātīto, the entire world and life are a collection of pairs of opposites. Prefer neither of them; if at all rise above them. I don’t look for any preference or prejudice, anything desired or undesired. I am setting my mind to accept everything that comes. If you accept the philosophy of God, all are God, all are equally divine. Everything is Brahma-maya, Sarvam khalvidam Brahma, Sarvam Vishṇu-mayam jagat. So be happy with everything and make the dwandvas ineffective in your mind. Let not the mind look for the preferred, and let it not be prejudiced by the unpreferred. Take the mind above both.

Vimatsaraḥ, have no sense of competition with anybody. If you play football, put your best. Never think about whether you will win or lose. Either you will win or you will make another win. Either you can be happy with your victory, or you can be happy with another’s victory. If victory is your aim, those who win you should become happy with. So either you should be happy with you - the winner, equally you should be happy with the other - the winner. Because you are looking for win, whoever wins gives you the delight. Your opponents have won, very good, they deserve it, be happy, shake hands with them. Vimatsaraḥ.

Samaḥ siddhāvasiddhau ca, whatever you do, whether it fruitions in the way you want or it does not fruition or it fruitions imperfectly or improperly, start smiling and laughing. “Wonderful! In the scheme of things, this is what has happened, very good.” Maybe at one time the expected does not come, at another time it comes in ample measure.

Would you like to go to a place where it is all daylight and no light, no night? Would you like to go to a place where it is all dark and no day? Or would you like to go to a place where day and night balance each other and you are quite happy? At night you rest, in the day you wake up.

Would you like to have a one-time meal for the whole life? One time and your stomach is full, will not allow you to take any more food? Would you like to have that? Or would you like to have hunger, appeasement, again hunger, again appeasement, again hunger, again appeasement? Tell me!

Would you like to open your eyes and keep the eyes open or would you like to have the eyelids function very fast, opening and closing? When you open and close, the eyes are restful. The film gets formed properly. Our heart is always beating, always taking rest. Lungs also. So, there cannot be a world of singleness. The world if at all, can only be doubleness, plurality. And be happy! If the world is plural, you cannot always have the expected; unexpected also will be there. In a big family, some children will be good and one or two may not be so good. It is just like the society having it so that you will have the task of dealing with the bad. And one tactic may not be sufficient. More than one will be necessary.

Every time, there will be ample opportunity for your intelligence to think, think, think, and evolve better and better. Suppose our sky is limited, 10 km from the earth we cannot go. It is all ends, the world is over. Would you like it? Or even if you travel a thousand years in a rocket, the sky will still be extensive before you? So the world is perfectly all right, my dear souls. Learn to understand the perfection and be happy. And what is the formula?

With these values and refinements constantly present in you, you can do any extent of, any kind of work, anywhere in the world. Because you will work, it is a delightful expression. It is a ceaselessly delightful expression. You don’t wait for the result. The result is only one part, one ghat in the flowing river of life. In the river of life! Please understand this! This is a formula where no God comes, no Soul also comes. All these verses are complete, each of them complete by itself and it is neither religious nor philosophical nor even spiritual you can say. It is a completely secular proposition where a methodology to live is presented and some disciplines and watchwords for the mind are presented which the intelligence should imbibe, implement and make them work on the mind.

Mind you, Bhagavad Gita is a historic text. And it presents to you the history of the Mahabharata war. Krishna analyses the human personality revealing its depth, magnificence and profundity. There is only one place where you can find out the inner depth and dimensions. That is the human body. Nowhere else you can measure it or get to it. So Krishna presented the human personality and analyses it. He discusses the constitution of the world and its complexity, then he also presents the nature of the interactions between the two.

Harih Om Tat Sat. Jai Guru. Jai Guru.