Bhagvad Gita versus 'The Secret' || Acharya Prashant, IIT Kanpur session (2020)

Acharya Prashant

‍♂️ Want to meet Acharya Prashant? Be a part of the Live Sessions: https://acharyaprashant.org/hi/enquir...   Want to read Acharya Prashant's Books? Get Free Delivery: https://acharyaprashant.org/en/books?...  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~  Video Information: 15.07.2020, IIT-Kanpur-Webinar, Greater Noida, U.P.  Context: ~What is meant by egolessness?  ~ How to get rid of ego?  ~ If there is no desire for fruit, for whom does one perform that action? ~ Is Bhagvad gita solution of all problem? ~ What is the real desire of anyone? Music Credits: Milind Date ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ .

Transcript

00:00Then we have Keshav Maheshwari. He says the Bhagavad Gita says don't focus on the outcome

00:23of your work. But the book, the secret says visualize a positive outcome of your work.

00:33Which of these is true? You are comparing fine apples with rotten oranges.

01:03When these pop bestsellers and neo-spiritual classics tell you visualize what you will get,

01:23then they are just stoking the fire of your greed and imagination. They are not asking you what is

01:36it that prompts you to go for that particular thing. What they're saying is there is something

01:49you desire. Now start gratifying yourself in advance. That's one way to whet your appetite.

02:04After all the normal human being chases nothing but his desires. I'm going for something because

02:26I feel that the thing is going to provide me with physical pleasure and or mental happiness.

02:39I will not ask whether the thing is actually worthy of desire. I will not ask whether I

02:53really need to go after that thing. I will not ask who am I and what is it that I really need.

02:58Do I even need that thing? These are taboo questions in the modern world. Desire reigns

03:16supreme. You're neither supposed to ask yourself and certainly not others why they desire what

03:26they do. So you can desire anything in the name of free will and that's sacrosanct. You say well

03:36this is what I want. My truth is my truth. To each his own. Who are you to interfere in my

03:48personal preferences? So desire is taken as an absolute and when desire is taken as an absolute

03:58then statements like these come in. Visualize the outcome of your desire and that's just an

04:10appetizer before the main dish. All this will just egg you on towards the disastrous outcomes

04:29of blind desire. What Shri Krishna is saying is an absolutely different dimension of realization.

04:43He is saying do not go by what you desire. Do what is right and when you are doing what

05:00is right then the doing itself should be your only concern. When you chase that which you

05:11desire then obviously you can visualize the result as well because you are doing something

05:17that is within the purview of your imagination. You're doing something that is connected to your

05:24past. Will you chase something if you have absolutely zero experience of that thing in

05:33your past? Tell me. If you're chasing something you have surely either experienced it in the

05:41past or heard about it or read about it or dreamt of it. All of which are just versions of experience.

05:53But the right action does not really have much relation with the past. So you do not know what

06:10the outcome would be. Therefore how would you visualize it? To visualize something in the future

06:20you must have had some experience of it in the past. It must already be known. Only then you

06:25can visualize it. Otherwise visualization cannot take place. Shri Krishna is saying the right action

06:33would be absolutely fresh and new. So it is simply impractical to visualize the outcome. Further the

06:44right action is so demanding, so all-consuming that you cannot devote your energy towards

06:58thoughts of the fruits of action. Let the fruits come. Don't bother about the fruits. Do the right

07:11thing and that involves so much of courage and so much conviction. You are being told the right

07:21deserves your complete involvement, total immersion, total surrender. And if the action is

07:30right, if the motivation is right, if the actor is right, rest assured the result will be right. So

07:37why are you bothering about the result? The result is anyway going to be right. What if I don't like

07:49the result that comes? You may not like the results that comes but it is still going to be

07:54right. If you do not like the result that comes from the right action, then your like is not right.

08:03The result is still right. Challenge your likes and dislikes, not the rightness of the result.

08:12Are you getting it? So the entire emphasis in Shri Krishna's teaching is on checking your desire,

08:28investigating it, not leaping into action, not just jumping the cliff. You are being told fine,

08:45wait, wait, what really is worth doing, figure that out. And once that is sorted, then give

08:55everything that you have to the right action. Once you have given everything that you have to

09:03the right action, you don't have anything left to worry or worry for. Fight the right battle and

09:16forget the outcome. This is the way I put it. I say if the battle is right, then even defeat is

09:28victory. If the battle is right and you have to pick the right battle, it's very difficult to

09:39pick the right battle because all the wrong and trivial battles are so alluring. Pick the right

09:46battle and then even defeat is victory. Whereas if you have in the beginning picked the wrong battle,

09:54then how is defeat distinct from victory? Having picked the wrong battle, how does it matter whether

10:08you win or lose? So it is not about winning or losing. It is about fighting the right battle,

10:16first thing. The right battle and the right battle is bound to be impersonal. Anything that the person

10:33does for his limited interests cannot be good for him because the person is limited and if you are

10:40doing something for your limited self, it is only going to reinforce your limitations and are you

10:49alright with your limitations? It is your limitations that agonize you so much, don't they?

10:56So first of all, you are already so fed up of your limitations and then you act in a way that

11:09just reinforces your limitations. Is that wise? Therefore, the right action has to be for a bigger

11:20cause. It cannot be for your little personal interests or gains. That great cause for the sake

11:35of which must you act is also euphemistically called as Krishna. You could either say I work

11:48for Krishna, I dedicate my actions to Krishna or you could say I work for an immense cause.

11:53These two are the same thing.

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