What does it practically mean to fix one's mind on Krishna?||Acharya Prashant,on Bhagavad Gita(2020)

Acharya Prashant

‍♂️ Want to meet Acharya Prashant? Be a part of the Live Sessions: https://acharyaprashant.org/hi/enquir...  ⚡ Want Acharya Prashant’s regular updates? Join WhatsApp Channel: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va6Z...   Want to read Acharya Prashant's Books? Get Free Delivery: https://acharyaprashant.org/en/books?...   Want to accelerate Acharya Prashant’s work? Contribute: https://acharyaprashant.org/en/contri...   Want to work with Acharya Prashant? Apply to the Foundation here: https://acharyaprashant.org/en/hiring...  ~~~~~  Video Information: Month of Awakening, 24.04.2020, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India  Context: The Blessed Lord said: Those who, fixing their mind on Me,  worship Me, ever steadfast, and endowed with supreme Sraddhā,  they, in My opinion, are the best versed in Yoga.  Greater is their trouble whose minds are set on the Unmanifested;  for the goal of the Unmanifested is very hard for the embodied to reach. ~Shrimad Bhagwad Gita (Chapter-12, Verses-2, 5)  ~ How to fix the mind on Krishna?  ~ How to meditate upon Krishna?  ~ How to achieve thoughtlessness?  ~ Are we really know about Krishna? ~ What is worship?     Music Credits: Milind Date

Transcript

00:00Shreemad Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 12, verses 2 and 5.

00:25The Blessed Lord said, Those who, fixing their mind on Me, worship Me, ever steadfast and

00:34endured with supreme Shraddha, they, in My opinion, are the best versed in Yoga.

00:43Greater is their trouble whose minds are set on the unmanifested, for the goal of the unmanifested

00:50is very hard for the embodied to reach.

00:58The question says, To Arjun, an embodied Shri Krishna is available in His vicinity, physically

01:09overseeing his actions, and to him, the Lord says, Fix your mind on Me.

01:21But to someone like Me, to whom a Shri Krishna is not available in close proximity, in embodied

01:27form, what is the way to fix one's mind on Him?

01:34How is this different from worshipping the unmanifest?

01:44First of all, it has to be understood that Shri Krishna

02:13cannot be biased or partial towards one particular Jiva person named Arjun.

02:29If Krishna is indeed the ultimate, the total, then there is no question of Krishna being

02:45limited in time and space, Krishna being available only in one personality and Krishna being

02:58more favorably disposed towards one person, one friend, one disciple.

03:08Chapter 12 of the Bhagavad Gita is as special as the other chapters.

03:15Each chapter is unique.

03:20Shri Krishna says, Both are wonderful, those who worship Me in the unmanifested form, those

03:31who worship the nameless, formless Brahm, as well as those who worship the form of Me.

03:57Krishna says, Both are wonderful, I love both of them quite equally.

04:07But He adds that the way for those who want to worship the formless and unmanifested is

04:23full of troubles and pain.

04:29It is quite difficult and rather impractical for the embodied one to worship and fathom

04:40the bodiless.

04:43Therefore, their way, their sadhana is quite arduous and involves a lot of suffering.

04:57And He says that on the contrary, the ones who worship the form, the ones who invest

05:09themselves in the forms, the ones who see Myself formed are the ones who achieve Me

05:23relatively quickly and with relatively less suffering and difficulty.

05:33That's what He says.

05:36Now a lot of misinterpretation is possible here.

05:42When Shri Krishna says that Arjun, those who worship the form of Mine get to Me rather

05:51quickly, then the uninformed mind that wants to hurriedly jump to conclusions may conclude

06:10that Krishna is referring to that one particular form or personality of His that is visible

06:21to Arjun in the 10th century BC or whichever century it is.

06:31The fact is that the Krishna-Arjun dialogue is an event in time.

06:36It happened at a particular place.

06:39It happened on the fields of Kurukshetra.

06:43Surely it happened on a particular day or over a few particular days.

06:49So it is an event in time.

06:51Vasudeva Krishna, the person who spoke to Kuntiputra Arjun was a man.

07:00One particular man.

07:05When Krishna is speaking to Arjun as He does, it is through that man.

07:13Please, the difference, the distinction has to be very very clear.

07:20Krishna is Brahma itself.

07:27Krishna is totality itself.

07:31On that particular day, at that particular place, that totality was talking through the

07:41body and person of Vasudeva.

07:47So the Krishna that we know of, the one wearing morpang, the one wearing Sudarshan Chakra,

07:58the one acting as Arjun's charioteer is one particular instance of Krishnatto.

08:08He is not the Krishna.

08:12He is a Krishna.

08:17Krishna is total.

08:19The Krishna that we see speaking to Arjun is just one particular incidence of Krishnatto.

08:35There at that place, on that day, Krishnatto itself found expression through that man.

08:43Are you getting it?

08:47Therefore, we cannot say and we must not say that when Krishna is saying that Arjun it

08:57will be easier for you to be liberated if you seek me in forms, that Krishna is referring

09:07to that one particular form of His.

09:12But we have erroneously believed in this notion.

09:17Therefore, we have had cults of Krishna worshippers who have been worshipping one particular form

09:25of Krishna.

09:26No.

09:27Now we must understand what is it that Krishna means by worshipping His form.

09:32If Krishna is Brahm, then what is the form of Brahm?

09:36Tell me.

09:39If Krishna is Brahm, then what is the form of Brahm?

09:42Go to the Upanishads, you will get the answer.

09:45They tell you that the universe is the body of Brahm.

09:52The universe, sansar itself is the body or form of Brahm.

09:59So when Krishna is saying seek me in the form, Brahm is saying seek me in the form.

10:06Then you have to seek Brahm in the form of Brahm.

10:10And the form of Brahm is not necessarily the charioteer of Arjun.

10:16The form of Brahm is this entire universe.

10:20What Krishna is actually telling Arjun is, Arjun, you have to seek me in this formed

10:27world itself.

10:32You have to seek me in this formed world itself.

10:37You have to seek the truth of forms because truth is what you are seeking.

10:43What is your eye doing all the time?

10:45Looking at forms.

10:46What are your ears doing all the time?

10:48Hearing to forms.

10:53And what is it that you want from all this exercise?

10:56Listening, seeing, touching, grasping, groping, thinking, analyzing.

11:02What is it that you want from all this activity?

11:05You want the truth.

11:07Therefore, you have to seek the truth in all this because you have no option, Arjun.

11:13Your eyes will continue to look and if your eyes are continuing to look, then you better

11:19look for the truth in what you look at.

11:24You look at this, you look at that and if you look at this, you look at that.

11:27You look for truth in what you look at.

11:30That's what Krishna is saying.

11:31Krishna is not saying worship my particular form.

11:35Krishna is not saying that the truth looks like the one who plays the flute.

11:44We have made an error on this count.

11:48We have severely misinterpreted chapter 12.

11:54I am again asking you, is the truth going to express itself only in one particular form

12:03and if the truth is expressing itself only in one particular form, what are the other

12:08forms an expression of?

12:12Obviously, all forms are expressions of truth.

12:17For Arjun, that one particular form of Krishna is of great value.

12:21Why is it of great value?

12:23Because it will take him to the formless.

12:26That does not mean that the other forms are of no value.

12:30Further, that one particular form of Krishna that was available to Arjun will no longer

12:37remain available to everybody else.

12:40Even on the battlefield, that form that was available to Arjun was not available to the

12:45others or was it?

12:49So that's the problem with worshipping one particular form of Krishna.

12:55That one particular form was of utility to Arjun, whereas the total, the Godhead is compassionate

13:06enough to make himself available in diverse forms right in your vicinity.

13:16Why do you want to stick to that one form only that taught Arjun?

13:24Are you getting it?

13:27Look at your question.

13:28You are saying, oh Arjun was so lucky.

13:31He had Krishna by his side.

13:33I am not so lucky.

13:34I don't have a Krishna to guide me.

13:37So who do I listen to?

13:38Whom do I worship?

13:40Your notion is not well-founded.

13:44Arjun had one Krishna for him.

13:48There is nobody in the world who has not been blessed with an ample number of Krishnas.

14:00You must have the urge to seek truth.

14:06Your particular Krishna will appear and you cannot have ideas or notions about the form

14:15in advance.

14:19You just need to have that urge.

14:23Whatsoever assists your urge in reaching its fulfillment is Krishna.

14:31Krishna is what you seek.

14:32Krishna means totality.

14:34Krishna is what you seek and Krishna is what comes to assist you provided you are sincere

14:40enough.

14:42So it's not as if Arjun was especially lucky and you are not.

14:47Life is available to all of us and all forms in life, I repeat, are expressions and manifestations

14:56of truth itself.

14:59Therefore all forms in life are potentially manifestations of Krishna himself.

15:06That's what you have to be attentive to.

15:10Be attentive to whatever is going on.

15:13Be very very careful.

15:14Ask, what is this?

15:15What is that?

15:18And Krishna is saying if you do this, if you take the route of forms, Arjun you will reach

15:25me very quickly.

15:26That's the word he uses, quickly.

15:30If you keep imagining about the unimaginable, then maybe you will make some progress but

15:38it will be very tortuous.

15:40Maybe you will even reach the end but it will involve a lot of hardship.

15:47Far better it is to pay attention to the world, the world of names and forms.

15:52Pay attention to the world.

15:56Pay attention to images.

15:58Remember that all images are images of Krishna.

16:02There is no need to attach particular sanctity or importance to that particular image of

16:10Krishna that Arjun benefited from.

16:15You will probably not benefit too much from that image and that which you will benefit

16:21from is receiving your disdain because you are enamored with that one particular historical

16:31image.

16:34Think of it.

16:35If Arjun were to say that only the Rishis of the Upanishads can save me and all the

16:44Rishis are in antiquity, they are physically gone hundreds of years before Arjun was born

16:54and Arjun is saying no, no, they are the ones to whom the Vedas were revealed.

16:59They are the ones who gave us the Richas of the Upanishads.

17:03They are the real ones.

17:06Only they can save me.

17:07Then will Arjun be able to pay any attention to Krishna?

17:12If Arjun is already pre-decided, if Arjun has stubbornly concluded that only some historical

17:25figure will be of benefit to him, that only some historical image represents the truth

17:35to him, then will he be able to give respect and his ears to the image of Krishna standing

17:43right in front of him?

17:46He would be able to give neither respect nor his ears.

17:50Are you getting it?

17:53Go to the initial chapters.

17:55When Krishna is narrating the knowledge of Gita to Arjun, he does something quite strange.

18:06Even Arjun would have been a little surprised.

18:09He tells Arjun, Arjun this knowledge that I am telling you, it travelled from that Rishi

18:13to that Rishi, from that Rishi to that Rishi and then from that Rishi to that king and

18:17from that king to his son and then to this, then to this, then to this.

18:20An entire sequence he describes and says, and having travelled from this to this, now

18:26it has come to you.

18:27Arjun would have thought, why is Krishna saying all this to me?

18:37You must know why Krishna told all this.

18:40What Krishna is saying is, the knowledge that I am giving you, Arjun, is eternal.

18:50But it requires a fresh form in every age and for every recipient to receive this knowledge.

19:05Thousands of years back, there was that particular person who dispensed that knowledge and then

19:14100 years later there was somebody else and then 100 years later there was somebody else

19:18and then there was somebody else and there was somebody else and there was somebody else

19:20and now in this battlefield in front of you, it's me.

19:24Now tell me, if that sequence continued till Krishna Vasudeva, would that sequence have

19:30stopped after Krishna Vasudev?

19:33The sequence is still continuing till this date.

19:37Therefore, there is no need to be extremely or overly besotted with one particular image

19:48of Krishna.

19:49That will block you against receiving direct instructions and education from life.

19:56You will keep just clamoring for, harping for that Krishna and that Krishna, that person

20:03is gone, he is long since dead because he was a body.

20:09Bodies come and go.

20:11Krishnattva is not a body.

20:13The essence of Krishna is not a body.

20:16But the Krishna that is talking to Arjun is indeed a body.

20:20Therefore I said the one who is talking to Arjun is just one particular incidence of

20:27Krishna.

20:28He is one of the Krishnas.

20:30He is not the Krishna.

20:32He is not the Krishna.

20:35Just as in Buddhism you have, you know, now you do not say that there has been just one

20:42Buddha.

20:43You refer to Gautam Buddha as the Shakyamuni Buddha.

20:49And then you say, of course, there have been hundreds of Buddhas, hundreds of Buddhas.

20:55Gautam Buddha or Shakyamuni was just one particular incidence and there have been many more.

21:03Similarly, you have to look for your own Krishna and that Krishna, I say, may not look like

21:14Arjuna's Krishna at all.

21:17That Krishna may not be a male at all.

21:21That Krishna may not be a person at all.

21:24See what he is saying.

21:33The goal of the unmanifested is very hard for the embodied to reach.

21:40Krishna is again and again pointing to Arjun that Arjun, you are embodied, Arjun, you have

21:46a body, Arjun, you have a body.

21:48Since you have a body, you will have to look for a body in your vicinity.

21:56You'll have to look for a form in your vicinity.

22:00And if you indeed have to look for a form, is there a restriction that you have to look

22:04for only one particular form and especially one particular form that suits your notions

22:11and biases and imaginations?

22:14No.

22:17You have to be in love with Krishnatto and then so many forms would spring up to teach

22:26you.

22:27Are you getting it?

22:30You see, if you want to go deeper into it, if you are looking for Krishna and all you

22:37can look at is this wall, then you know your situation.

22:45What is it that you are looking for?

22:46You are looking for peace, let's say, or you are looking for realization or truth or freedom.

22:56You are looking for those things.

22:58But what is it that your eyes can show you at max?

23:03The wall.

23:04Do you see your situation?

23:08You want peace, you are looking for peace, but all that your eyes can see is that tree,

23:18that wall, that man, that child, that woman, that building, skies, rivers, roads, that's

23:26all that your eyes can look at, right?

23:31Now what is it that you must do?

23:34Neither can you stop looking for truth because that's the crying urge of your consciousness

23:42nor can you make your eyes not look at the material because that's the prakriti of the

23:49eyes.

23:50Both of these facts are unchangeable and immobile, right?

23:55Your consciousness will continue to look for truth and your eyes will continue to look

23:59at material.

24:02So then what is the only option available to you?

24:06Look for the truth in the material, through the material.

24:11That's how one has to see Krishna.

24:16And that is the only way.

24:17It's obvious.

24:18Are you getting it?

24:19So, how do you proceed?

24:27You look at material and you immediately know that the material, first of all, holds meaning

24:36to you not on its own accord but because you supply meaning to it.

24:45You make the material meaningful to yourself, right?

24:48Whatsoever you look at, if you are attentive, you will find that you are the one who supplies

24:54meaning to the object looked at.

24:59And if you are even more attentive, you will find that you are the one who actually creates

25:07or projects the object you are looking at without your eyes being what they are and

25:15without your brain being configured the way it is.

25:18Would you ever perceive an object?

25:21Would you?

25:22So, this world of forms is actually the world inside you.

25:32Now you are seeking truth.

25:35You are seeking truth and you are seeking truth in this world of forms because you have

25:41no other option.

25:43And now you discover that this world of forms is actually the world inside you.

25:48The world inside you exhibits itself as this world of forms outside you, correct?

25:54And you are seeking Krishna.

25:56So now what is the option you are left with?

25:58Seek Krishna within your own world.

26:02That's what Krishna is leading Arjun towards.

26:06You will have to seek Krishna within yourself because all forms are ultimately within yourself.

26:14Your mind is the form generator.

26:16It generates form and throws them around and then pretends as if the forms are all there

26:22objectively on their own.

26:23They are not there objectively on their own.

26:26You have thrown them and splashed them, scattered them all around you.

26:31And now in your ignorance, probably deliberate ignorance, you pretend as if that thing is

26:36out there whereas the thing is actually in here.

26:42Therefore if you have to look for Krishna, you will have to look for Krishna in here.

26:48And in projecting, and in projecting that thing out there, you know you have only demonstrated

26:56your great love for Krishna.

26:58Think of it.

27:00Think of it.

27:01So much is your love for Krishna that you project an entire universe to look for him.

27:10You love him so much that you actually create an entire universe to look for him.

27:22Why else do you create this entire universe?

27:25You create space for yourself.

27:27You create scope for yourself that you can use to search for Krishna.

27:35If you do not create the universe, where would you look for Krishna?

27:39That's the reason why the universe exists for you.

27:42So that you can go around looking for Krishna here and there in the universe.

27:46That's what we inwardly do.

27:49And once you realize this, then you smile at your own mischief.

27:56Think of this depth of love, mischievous love obviously, but still one has to respect the

28:05depth of this love.

28:08We have created an entire universe just so that we can enjoy looking for somebody.

28:17See if you want to play with your beloved, let's say you want to play badminton with

28:24your beloved and you have a field, but that field is covered with a lot of this and that

28:31and you know, maybe trash is there and maybe weeds are there.

28:38What is the first thing that you do?

28:40You go and clear it.

28:42You create space.

28:44You create space so that you can enjoy playing.

28:46Did you understand what I said?

28:50You create space so that you can play.

28:54That's what man does.

28:55We have created this space so that we can play with the beloved.

29:02It's just that we forget that it's a game that we have dreamt up.

29:09The beloved is not really lost.

29:14The one that we are looking for is just around.

29:19In fact, only because he is around, he is enabling us to perform all our mischief.

29:27Otherwise who would power our mischief?

29:31There has to be somebody as uniquely mischievous as Krishna to power our little mischiefs.

29:43Are you getting it?

29:49You see, Krishna is using the metaphor of forms, the root of forms to take Arjuna to

29:55the formless.

29:59That is a great way.

30:01He is using all images to take Arjuna to that which is beyond images and then there is the

30:07other root.

30:09What is the other root?

30:10The other root is to worship the formless, nameless Brahm.

30:17Where you start with an absence of images but find that at every step you are struggling

30:26with images.

30:28So that's not a practical or efficient root.

30:30Are you getting it?

30:31Krishna is very practical.

30:32Krishna is saying, all right, all that you have is images.

30:36So let's start with images.

30:37We will start with images happily, unabashedly and we will use images to cross over images.

30:46That's the way of Krishna, very practical man.

30:52And then there is the root of those who say, no, no, no, no image worship, no idolatry.

31:03We don't want to look at images at all.

31:09And we are not talking of deity worship here, we are talking in a more general sense.

31:17So they say, no, we believe in nirguna paasana, we believe in that one ultimate truth that

31:23has no form, no shape, no name, that is beyond, beyond, beyond.

31:27All right, what you are saying is absolutely true.

31:32The one you really want has no form, no shape, is absolutely beyond.

31:40But here the question is not whether he has any shape.

31:44The question is whether you have shape, you are embodied, you have shape and you are claiming,

31:56you are pretty arrogantly claiming that this shaped one will worship the one with no shape.

32:08How will you do that?

32:11Being shaped, have you ever come across anything that has no shape?

32:17Being shaped, can you even talk of the one that has no shape?

32:22Then being shaped, how exactly are you going to worship the one with no name, no form, no shape?

32:30Your intention is lovely, but your idea is impractical.

32:38Your method won't work.

32:41So you will start off with the intention to have no forms, no shapes.

32:49But as you move along, as you progress on your sadhana, you will find that you have

32:56been compelled to bring in shapes, forms, methods, rituals, all kinds of structures

33:06and every structure is a shape, is it not?

33:08Every structure is a form, that's what happens.

33:13Krishna is saying, instead of following this kind of a route in which you keep losing the game

33:25along the journey, follow a different route.

33:30Accept your mortal weakness and limitations right away.

33:34You say, I am embodied, so I have to start with bodies.

33:38I am embodied, so I will start with bodies.

33:40And starting with bodies, penetrate deep into bodies.

33:44Penetrate deep into bodies and discover their essence.

33:46At their essence, you will find me smiling.

33:51That's the way of Krishna.

33:54But you have to be very careful when Krishna is saying, penetrate deep into bodies or pay attention to bodies

34:01or worship the form of truth.

34:05Krishna is not asking you to limit yourself to only one historical form of Krishna.

34:14You cannot limit Krishna to history.

34:16It is a great insult to Krishna to limit him as one particular personality in history.

34:27You can do that with kings.

34:29You can do that to other historical figures.

34:35Krishna, if he really is ultimate, cannot belong to history.

34:43And if he cannot belong to history, then kindly do not pick up a historical shape, name and

34:48form and start worshipping it.

34:51It makes no sense.

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