Context:
At the time of death, anyone who departs by giving up the body while thinking of me Alone, he attains My state. There is no doubt about this.
~ Shreemad Bhagvad Geeta (Chaper 8 : Verse 5)
Music Credits: Milind Date
~~~~~
At the time of death, anyone who departs by giving up the body while thinking of me Alone, he attains My state. There is no doubt about this.
~ Shreemad Bhagvad Geeta (Chaper 8 : Verse 5)
Music Credits: Milind Date
~~~~~
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00 5 and 6. Verse 5 reads, "At the time of death, anyone who departs by giving up the body while
00:22 thinking of me alone, he attains my state. There is no doubt about it. O son of Kunti,
00:31 thinking of any entity, whichever it may be, one gives up body at the end, he attains that
00:38 very one, having been always engrossed in its thought." So the question says, these
00:47 verses mention about the thought one, the one who is being thought. These verses mention
00:57 about the thought one has at the time of leaving the body and how this thought determines where
01:06 one goes. What is implied here by that and what is its importance in my day to day life,
01:11 would you ask that? Remember who is talking here. Shri Krishna is talking. I had just
01:23 said that every word has its meaning colored by the one who is using that word. In that
01:37 sense, even though words appear to have objective meanings listed in the dictionary, really
01:45 no word has any objective meaning. Not only do we use words as we are, we also mean words
02:00 as we are. Now the verses here say that if at the time of death you are thinking of me
02:13 Arjun, then you will attain liberation, you will not come back to this world. To take
02:19 the point further, the next verse says that the one that you keep thinking of is the one
02:29 that you get related to in your next birth. This probably confuses the reader a bit and
02:40 therefore they have raised a question. We have to investigate the meaning of the word
02:47 death. Shri Krishna means death. What does he mean? Is Shri Krishna looking at himself
03:01 as a body? No. There is no way the author of these lines takes himself as a corporal
03:15 being. Is Shri Krishna referring to himself as merely the Atma here? Well, yes and no.
03:32 He does refer to himself as the Atma here but the role that he is playing here is not
03:38 of Atma but of Avatar. Had he been merely the non-doer supreme truth, then he would
03:51 not have been found mortally present on the battlefield instructing Arjun. So discount
04:07 these two and see what you are left with. The body Krishna is not. Therefore when Krishna
04:14 says body, he is not referring to physical death. Atma does not die ever. Therefore when
04:24 Krishna uses the word death, he cannot refer to Atma. The word death does not apply to
04:30 Atma at all. Therefore when Shri Krishna says death, what exactly does he mean? Whose death?
04:41 He is talking of the death of the mind. The mind is the matter, the subject that Shri
04:50 Krishna is addressing here. The entire Bhagavad Gita is addressing the mind. Shri Krishna
04:57 is not talking to Arjun the man. He is speaking to Arjun the mind that is occupied in all
05:09 kinds of useless things, attachments, memories, hesitations. So when Shri Krishna says death,
05:21 what he means is the death of the mind. He refers to the subtle death, not the gross
05:30 death of the body that seems to occur only once in the lifetime or at the end of lifetime.
05:40 The body seems to meet only one death and that one death is final. Even though when
05:47 you look at the body microscopically, then you find that the body too is going through
05:53 a process of continuous death. Death is not an event. Even at the level of the body, death
06:01 is a process. But leave that aside. In the dimension of the mind, what is death? In the
06:10 dimension of mind, death is something that is continuously happening. Because the mind
06:16 is at no moment what it was the previous moment. Are you getting it? Continuously stuff is
06:29 happening here. Things are changing here. So what is it that Shri Krishna means? He
06:36 is saying is, if you are with me this moment, then that will enable you to be with me the
06:51 next moment. That's my blessing to you. On the other hand, if you are not with me in
07:00 the mental sense, if you are mentally not with me in this moment, then the next moment
07:06 you will find yourself having slipped further away from me. That does not mean that the
07:14 next moment it would be impossible for you to return to me, only difficult, more difficult.
07:23 Be with me and the next moment you will find yourself again in my lap. Drift away from
07:35 me and the next moment as you open your eyes, you find yourself at a great distance from
07:43 me. From there you still can come to me. That next moment is your rebirth. But that will
07:51 require a lot of doing and discipline. Instead of subjecting yourself to that kind of effort
08:03 a bit later, why don't you be with me right now? If you must think, Arjun, think with
08:11 me as the foundation of the thought. Don't have to think of me. I cannot be the object
08:20 of your thought. But let me be the purpose of your thought. Do you get these two? When
08:31 you think of something, then you are thinking of that thing. But you never think of something
08:36 for the sake of that thing. You always think of something for the sake of something else.
08:40 Why do you think of a pizza? For the sake of you? Shri Krishna is saying, think of whatever
08:51 you want to think. Let the object be according to your choice or the situation. But think
08:59 with me as the purpose of the thought. Who is Shri Krishna? Completion itself. Perfection
09:06 itself. Think of every matter so that you can come to completion. Think in a way that
09:18 brings you to completion, whatever be the matter. So if I am thinking, for example,
09:24 of that wall, then my purpose in entertaining that thought has to be to come to a certain
09:35 contentment or completion using that wall as the object. I know it sounds outrageous.
09:44 How can one use a wall to come to contentment? But then, don't we use the wall for all kinds
09:53 of stupid things? Have you not seen mankind raise walls very unnecessarily? We do keep
10:02 thinking of stuff. The question is, what is it that we are thinking of the stuff for?
10:13 All objects of thought are permissible. The question is, what are you thinking of that
10:23 thing for? You might be thinking of money. Alright. What do you think of that money for?
10:33 You might be thinking of a man or a woman. Alright. Fine. Good. But what are you thinking
10:38 of that person for? Are you thinking of that person in a way with the intention that that
10:50 person will bring you to contentment? That is what is meant by keeping Krishna in thought.
10:57 That is the purpose of these two verses. When Shri Krishna says, "Think of me", Shri Krishna
11:02 is obviously not to be objectified. Is Shri Krishna a handkerchief, a piece of wood, some
11:14 idol in a temple, some stone, a fabulous piece of architecture? What is Shri Krishna? How
11:22 will you think of Shri Krishna? He is beyond thought. Right? Therefore, what does it mean
11:28 to keep thinking of Shri Krishna? It means you can think of whatever you want to think.
11:34 But think in a way that brings thought to completion. Think in a way that brings the
11:40 thinker to contentment. That is what is meant by always thinking of Shri Krishna. You don't
11:47 have to literally think of Shri Krishna. So many people make that mistake. In fact, there
11:52 are entire movements dedicated to cultivating thoughts of Shri Krishna, the person. They
12:00 say Shri Krishna is a beautiful personality and you have to keep thinking of him. And
12:05 they actually do that. They think of Shri Krishna in some kind of a human form, close
12:11 their eyes and visualize. This is stupid. This is not at all what Shri Krishna meant.
12:18 You cannot think of Krishna. You have to think of the world. Whatever you think of will be
12:24 a worldly thing. Right? But think of it in a way that takes you to contentment, peace,
12:33 truth, completion. These four words that we just mentioned, they refer to Krishna. Are
12:41 you getting it? Therefore, being devoted to Krishna does not forbid thinking of this object
12:53 or that object. In fact, spirituality or Adhyatma is not at all about narrowing down the scope
13:02 of your thought. The spiritual man would be a great thinker. He would have the entire
13:13 sky available as the expanse to think. The space of his thought would be as unlimited
13:24 as possible. Then what is the difference between the thinking man and the spiritual man? Just
13:31 one difference. The thinking man often thinks for the sake of thinking. The spiritual man
13:40 thinks for the sake of liberation from thinking. Do you get the difference? So think a lot.
13:49 The question is what is your objective? What are you thinking for? Are you thinking because
13:54 you derive some kind of pleasure from being a thinker? And there is a lot of pleasure
13:59 in being a thinker. I am a thinker. What are you doing? I am thinking. Lost in thought.
14:05 As they say brooding, pensive. It kind of strokes the ego. Who are you? I am a thinker.
14:16 The spiritual man thinks equally deeply, probably even more deeply than the so-called intellectual
14:24 thinker. But he knows fully well that thought is not the end of thought. That the end of
14:33 thought has to be to carry you to a state where thought is not even needed. And that
14:40 state where you do not need thought, you do not need thought because you are now free
14:45 of the problem that thought was trying to resolve. That point where you do not even
14:51 need thought is the Krishna point. Do you get this? Don't think of Krishna. Think of
15:00 a closure. Have that as your goal. When you have that as your goal, then you can call
15:08 it as Krishna thinking or Krishna consciousness. Is that clear? Here, the way the concept has
15:26 been explained to Arjun, I am compelled to feel that Shri Krishna does not think of Arjun
15:36 as a very capable student. Shri Krishna has almost been forced to dilute the concept or
15:47 narrate the concept in a not so subtle form and that is understandable. Look at all the
16:00 tantrums that Arjun has been throwing till this point. Look at the way he has been raising
16:10 questions and some of his questions are even quite insolent. At some point he tells Krishna,
16:25 "Krishna, do not try to misguide me". So I do not really see an absolutely dedicated
16:34 disciple here. Obviously, you have to empathise with Arjun. Look at the situation. He is being
16:41 called upon to murder his own relatives. It is understandable if his head is spinning
16:50 a little bit right now. Therefore, this is not the occasion when Shri Krishna can deliver
16:57 the subtlest of concepts to him. Hence, he is, at least here in these few verses, speaking
17:06 a language that is a little coarse. That does not mean that Shri Krishna is delivering a
17:14 coarse concept. That merely means that that is the requirement of the listener in front
17:20 of him. Arjun does not seem to be in a position to understand and enjoy subtle things at this
17:28 moment. It is a battlefield, not a classroom. But these verses have been often misinterpreted
17:43 to cause a lot of confusion. People take them literally and start believing that irrespective
17:54 of the kind of life they have led, if they somehow utter the name of Krishna in the moment
18:01 of their death, then they will be liberated or they will be reborn in a pious way or in
18:13 a nice and happy and wealthy family. That kind of a belief must be dispelled. Shri Krishna
18:25 is talking of the mind and if Shri Krishna is to be remembered, then that remembrance
18:32 has to be constant remembrance. The mind comes and goes away every moment. Getting it? So,
18:44 just as the movement of mental activity is continuous, similarly, the remembrance of
18:53 Krishna has to be continuous. Let us not deceive ourselves by thinking that we can live and
19:02 think as we please through the 80 years of our lives and then suddenly in the moment
19:09 of death, we can compensate for all our stupidities by just once uttering the name of Krishna.
19:18 That is not going to happen. You require constant vigilance. Constant is the word.
19:27 Verse 7 now. Therefore, Arjun, think of me at all times and fight. Shri Krishna is unstoppable
19:41 here. Again, he says, think of me at all times. Therefore, think of me at all times and fight.
19:49 There is no doubt that by dedicating your mind and intellect to me, you will attain
19:54 me alone. The second line helps us, clarifies a lot. First line says, think of me at all
20:05 times and fight. And we are almost led into believing that Shri Krishna is saying, think
20:13 of me the man. Right? Think of me, the son of Yashoda. That's not what he is saying.
20:25 Look at the next line. There is no doubt that by dedicating your mind and intellect to me,
20:31 you will attain me alone. Dedicate your mind to me. Let me be the target. Let me be the
20:41 objective in everything that you do. I'll have to repeat some of the stuff that I have
20:48 already said, but I'll do that. Whenever we do something, we do it for a purpose. Let
20:57 the purpose be Krishna. The doing cannot be Krishna. The doing might just be purchasing
21:04 oranges from the market. Where is Krishna in this? Unless you want to believe that one
21:09 of the oranges is divine or something. And there are people who do that. They would say
21:17 that particular orange, that is not orange, that is corange. Krishna orange. No, none
21:28 of that. All your daily dealings will obviously involve dealing with the mortal world. Sometimes
21:38 you are buying oranges. The next moment you are just peeling the oranges. Then putting
21:50 the stuff in a juicer. Then sipping the juice. Is that not what daily life is all about?
21:58 What else do we do? We don't scale Mount Everest every day, do we? What we call as daily life
22:03 is just this. Enter the washroom, pick up the soap, apply it. There is no water in the
22:15 shower. Fight with somebody. Then come out and why are my clothes not ironed? Reach the
22:27 office with already a destroyed mood. Create nuisance. That's what daily life is. Shri
22:36 Krishna is saying, always remember what every moment is there for. The purpose, the purpose,
22:45 the purpose. I have to be the purpose. If you are fighting with someone, Arjun, fight
22:51 it for me. Ask yourself, are you fighting for your petty, own little ego or are you
22:57 fighting for me? I am the immeasurable. If you must fight, fight for the immeasurable.
23:02 And there would be times when fighting is unavoidable. So do fight. The question is,
23:11 what are you fighting for? What are these oranges for? What are you going to do with
23:18 the oranges? Are you going to dedicate them to the Krishna idol? No. Obviously the oranges
23:23 are going to go into your stomach. But then what is your strength, your bodily vigor for?
23:30 What do you require this body for? You must require this body for liberation. And then
23:39 even in the moment of purchasing, buying oranges, you are still remembering Krishna. That does
23:47 not mean that Krishna has to be in your thought. But if you are purchasing oranges for the
23:53 sake of your body, your body has to exist for the sake of liberation. Are you getting
24:02 it? That is what is meant by constant remembrance of Krishna. That is the actual meaning of
24:10 Krishna consciousness. It is about opening your eyes. It is not about looking hither
24:21 and thither and saying, "Oh, that is Krishna and that is Krishna and that is Krishna."
24:25 Krishna is not so cheap. Being omnipresent is something extremely subtle. Krishna is
24:36 indeed omnipresent but not in the way that you start saying, "Oh, this is Krishna, that
24:40 is Krishna. The bird is Krishna and the bird dropping to is Krishna." Very childish, all
24:53 this. Very childish. There is no doubt that by dedicating your mind and intellect to me,
25:16 you will attain me alone. Obviously. If you are doing something for the sake of Krishna,
25:21 that means you are doing something for the sake of, let's say, peace. And if you are
25:25 doing something for the sake of peace and you do it diligently and honestly, then you
25:30 will attain peace. And that is what is meant by saying that by dedicating your mind and
25:35 intellect to me, you will attain me alone. Work for the sake of peace and peace will
25:39 be what you get. Work for the sake of pettiness, nonsense and nonsense will be what you get.
25:49 Simple. Right? That does not mean that if you are constantly remembering Krishna in
25:57 a mental way, imagining, visualising, picturising, then a God called Krishna will descend from
26:10 the heavens in front of you and bless you and you will be reduced to tears like the
26:17 modern Sodama. These are very childish fantasies.
26:24 You take it?
26:30 [Music]