Strength sans attachment, and the limits of the material || Acharya Prashant, on Bhagavad Gita(2020)

4 months ago

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Video Information:
Shastra Kaumudi Live, 8.3.20, Ahmedabad, Gujrat, India

Context:
~ How Krishna is in all being exists?
~ Why people worship different-different lords?
~ What is meant by unopposed desired to Dharma?
~ What are the limits of the material?

बलं बलवतामस्मि कामरागविवर्जितम् ।
धर्माविरुद्धो भूतेषु कामोऽस्मि भरतर्षभ ॥

And of the strong, I am the strength which is devoid of passion and attachment. Among creatures, I am desire which is not contrary to righteousness, O scion of the Bharata dynasty.
~Shreemad Bhagvad Gita (Chapter 7, Verse 11)

Music Credits: Milind Date
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Transcript

00:00 The next version comes from verse 11 and 12 of chapter 7, Srimad Bhagavad Gita.

00:14 "And of the strong I am the strength which is devoid of desire and attachment. Among the creatures I am the desire which is not contrary to righteousness, who is Kayan of the Bharata dynasty."

00:29 Those things that indeed are made of Sattva and those things that are made of Tamas, know them to have sprung from me alone. However, I am not in them, they are in me.

00:46 Then the question says, "What is the significance of strength devoid of desire and attachment and desire unopposed to dharma?"

01:06 Also, what does Krishna mean by saying, "They are in me, yet I am not in them?" As this statement seems to contradict the verses 8 to 11 where he says,

01:20 "I am the light in the sun and the moon. I am the pure smell in the earth and life principle in all being." So, verse 8, 9, 10 have also been quoted.

01:40 And the verses say, from 8th to 10th, "O son of Kunti, I am the taste of water, I am the effulgence of the moon and the sun, the letter Aum in the Vedas, the sound in space and manhood in men.

02:00 I am also the sweet fragrance in the earth, I am the brilliance in the fire, I am the life in all beings and I am the austerity of the ascetics.

02:10 O path, know me to be the eternal seed of all beings. I am the intellect of the intelligent, I am the courage of the courageous."

02:19 So, the questioner is saying here, Shri Krishna is talking as if he is present in all beings. In sun he is present as brightness or brilliance,

02:34 in moon he is present as effulgence, in water he is present as taste, in the Vedas he is present as Aum, Pranav.

02:43 He says, "In the earth I am present as the sweet fragrance." And then, very quickly, he seems to contradict himself in verses 11 and 12 where he says,

03:00 "They are in me, yet I am not in them." He says, "What is happening here?" It has to be understood.

03:12 Everything in universe, in Prakriti, exists by virtue of the fundamental element. That fundamental element here is Krishna.

03:31 Everything in the universe exists by virtue of the fundamental element. The fundamental element expresses itself in all things,

03:48 but no particular thing expresses the fundamental element in its totality. Are you getting it?

04:04 You see, when you stand under a shady tree on a sunny day, don't you see a lot of little brilliant dots on the earth below the shade?

04:33 What are those little brilliant dots or spots?

04:42 They are images of sun. The tiny spaces between the leaves of the tree are acting as pinholes.

04:59 And the entire mechanism is acting as a pinhole camera.

05:11 It's a thick tree. The foliage is quite thick.

05:20 So, there are these little gaps from where the sunlight is passing. And the sunlight, when it hits the earth,

05:30 after passing through those little pinholes, creates on the earth images of sun itself.

05:41 Not sunlight, sun itself. Now, all those images, the various images, the hundreds of images,

05:48 sun actually, no, they are not sun. None of them is sun. But all of them are due to the sun,

05:57 and all of them are images of the sun, and all of them represent the sun.

06:03 That's what Krishna is saying here. He is saying, everything that you see in the universe has been powered by me.

06:13 It represents me. But nothing captures me fully. Right?

06:21 So, they are in me. I am not in them. Read it to say, I am not fully in them.

06:30 Partially, yes, all of them carry me. But no thing can carry me fully because everything is finite.

06:38 Everything is limited. I am infinite, limitless. How can any thing then carry me?

06:50 Are you getting it?

06:54 So, you get to see two things here. One, it has been a tradition in India to worship everything as a representation of the ultimate.

07:17 At the same time, nothing has been worshipped as the ultimate.

07:30 Therefore, there is Ishwar and there is Brahm. You can worship everything as a lord, as a small god, as a dev.

07:59 You can attach the word Bhagwan to a lot of entities because there is a lot that represents godliness.

08:15 But then you do not do these things with truth or Brahm. You can take a tree and worship it as a dev.

08:30 But you will not take a tree and worship it as Brahm.

08:36 So, there is acceptance of everything as a representative of godliness.

08:41 At the same time, there is a clear realization that nothing can be a substitute for the truth.

08:51 While everything has Bhagwatta, the god element, yet there is nothing that can be taken as truth almighty itself.

09:13 Things are admirable, respectable, worthy of worship because they act as a door.

09:27 They can take you beyond. But no thing is the beyond itself.

09:41 Therefore, the distinction between Ishwar and Brahm.

09:53 Then, the first part of the question, what is the significance of strength devoid of desire, attachment and desire unopposed to third?

10:05 Krishna is saying here, "and of the strong, I am the strength which is devoid of desire and attachment."

10:16 In general, where does our strength come from?

10:26 Our strength itself is powered by desire and attachment.

10:34 The more desirous you are, the more strong or the more headstrong you become.

10:43 Don't you?

10:46 Have you seen how one-pointed people become in pursuit of their desires?

10:56 Have you seen how energetic a man becomes when possessed by desire?

11:04 Have you seen how motivated we are when in the grip of attachment?

11:14 So, in general, all our energy flows from just the wrong places.

11:24 When you find a man very energetic, you can almost be assured that he is operating from the wrong center.

11:34 There are so many energetic people in the world.

11:39 What are they energetic for?

11:43 In general, most people are energetic to pursue their own narrow self-interests.

11:49 The moment we find that it is possible to further our personal welfare through a certain course of action,

12:01 we find that we are full of energy.

12:09 It is as if energy starts springing from some hidden sources within us

12:17 just so that we can proceed to meet our desire.

12:23 Even the laziest person becomes super active and agile,

12:35 brimming with movement and enterprise.

12:46 When he wants to get something.

12:53 No?

12:55 Shri Krishna is saying something different here.

12:58 He is saying, "I am that strength which is devoid of desire and attachment."

13:07 Where does this strength come from?

13:10 This strength comes from seeing the ill effects of desire and attachment.

13:15 One says, "I can see what desire and attachment have done to me and to the world,

13:22 and I now refuse to submit to my old fate.

13:31 I will now strongly and staunchly resist falling into the same traps that had hitherto snared me."

13:52 This is the form and declaration of that strength.

14:02 So there is a strength, there is an energy, there is a resoluteness

14:09 that comes from being possessed by desire,

14:14 and there is a strength that comes from seeing the ill effects of desire.

14:28 You see that the enemy is just around the corner.

14:34 And you remember what the enemy was able to do the last time he overpowered you.

14:40 You are ten times more determined now.

14:44 Krishna is talking of that strength.

14:47 You are saying, "I know you are very powerful,

14:50 and I know that you totally trample me when you are able to win me over.

14:58 I will not allow that to happen this time."

15:02 Right?

15:03 So I am pretty unflappable now.

15:08 This is the strength that Krishna is talking of.

15:11 So there is a strength that has the seal of maya over it,

15:18 and there is a strength that says, "I resist maya.

15:25 I want to go directly to Krishna."

15:28 Both these are quite strong.

15:31 But needless to say, if these two are matched against each other,

15:41 the right strength prevails.

15:46 The right strength prevails.

15:51 Right?

16:00 Then he says, "What is meant by desire unopposed to dharma?"

16:12 Again, you can see that there are two kinds of desires.

16:18 Mostly our desire stands in opposition to dharma.

16:22 Is that not our usual experience?

16:25 Right? Krishna is saying, "No, I am not that desire.

16:30 I am the desire that moves towards dharma.

16:35 I am the desire that is aligned with dharma.

16:41 That's what I am."

16:44 You are getting it?

16:47 He has to specify because mostly our strength, our resolution,

16:53 our desires, they all arise from the wrong places.

17:01 Rare is the man whose desire is towards dharma.

17:09 So much so that the word desire itself has turned into some kind of an abuse in spiritual practice.

17:21 Not because desire is condemnable per se,

17:27 but because most people practice just the wrong type of desire.

17:34 It is not desire that in itself is wise.

17:41 It depends on the desirous one.

17:45 Depending on the orientation of the desirous one,

17:51 desire will take its direction.

17:54 Desire could either be towards dharma, towards liberation, towards truth,

18:01 or desire could be totally opposed to dharma and satya.

18:11 Overwhelmingly, we find the evidence is that desire is opposed to truth.

18:19 So we have started saying that desire itself is the culprit, which it really is not.

18:27 There is a clear possibility, as Shri Krishna puts here,

18:34 to be desirous of Krishna himself.

18:40 That's when desire is your friend.

18:43 Otherwise, desire is your enemy.

18:45 Have the right desire.

18:47 People often come and ask about desirelessness.

18:53 Desirelessness means nothing.

18:55 Desirelessness is actually just another name for being free of desire of the wrong kind.

19:07 So I am desireless in the sense I do not have desire.

19:11 What kind of desire do I not have anymore?

19:13 The wrong desire.

19:15 That is desirelessness.

19:17 Desirelessness really then does not mean to not to have any desire.

19:21 Desirelessness then actually means to have the right desire.

19:25 The added advantage here in having the right desire

19:32 is that right desire can actually get fulfilled.

19:37 Wrong desire is such a losing endeavor that you can never succeed with it.

19:50 You will keep desiring and the desire will never really reach completion.

19:59 Right desire can actually reach completion.

20:02 And once it reaches completion, is there the desire or the desiring one left?

20:10 No. Both are gone.

20:13 So now it is desirelessness in the true sense of the word.

20:19 Because the desire is now fulfilled, truly completed.

20:24 So the desire and the desireless one, both are gone.

20:28 This you can call as desirelessness.

20:31 But this is the highest definition of desirelessness.

20:35 In general, when as a seeker, as a practitioner, you practice desirelessness,

20:43 what should it mean to you?

20:45 It should mean being free of desire of the kind that spells bondage.

20:52 That is desirelessness in a practical sense.

20:56 Right?

20:58 You were mentioning about desire and attachment.

21:01 What I would like to know is, every action, every day when I take it,

21:06 every action has got an attachment.

21:09 So, unless until I have a singleness and firmness of purpose,

21:13 why I am taking this kind of action,

21:15 whether it leads to a kind of liberation or for a selfish reason,

21:20 I need to analyze myself what this action actually happens.

21:24 So unless until there is an emotion to be there,

21:27 every action has got an emotion,

21:29 unless until I decide myself what is the purpose of this action, what I am doing.

21:34 So 99% of the action, if it really goes to the kind of liberation,

21:40 that I will have a better energy in my life.

21:43 Otherwise it drains my energy.

21:45 I believe that is what I meant to say. Is it correct?

21:49 That's what is meant by being reflective.

21:53 So, attachment, desire, it is there in every action.

21:55 But what action I take it?

21:57 What is the intention-made action?

21:59 If the intention, purity is there, it will just happen.

22:03 Because for me, from the beginning, 16 years until 61,

22:07 lot of uncertainties happened.

22:09 But I was not taking anything as difficult.

22:13 I took it, everything as in a good note.

22:16 Whatever comes good.

22:18 Whatever, there is nothing called bad or something like that.

22:20 I accepted wholeheartedly and working towards it.

22:22 So I feel that it is good.

22:24 So I never considered bad.

22:26 Was it right, actually?

22:28 That I cannot say with certainty.

22:32 But definitely if you are of a reflective temperament,

22:37 then it is commendable.

22:40 If you pause, if you take stock,

22:45 if you want to ask, where is this attachment or emotion

22:49 or urge or impulse coming from?

22:52 What do I really want to achieve?

22:54 If these questions remain present to you,

22:58 if such questions remain pertinent,

23:00 then it bodes well for your well-being.

23:08 No part of this recording may be reproduced

23:11 without Mooji Media Ltd.'s express consent.

23:19 No part of this recording may be reproduced

Strength sans attachment, and the limits of the material || Acharya Prashant, on Bhagavad Gita(2020)

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