Why does Krishna say that the Kauravs are already dead? || 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 to read Acharya Prashant's Books? Get Free Delivery: https://acharyaprashant.org/en/books?...   Read 3 handpicked wisdom articles, just for you: https://acharyaprashant.org/en/articl... ➖➖➖➖➖➖  Video Information: Month Of Awakening, 18.04.2020, Greater Noida  Context:  ~ How to know what to choose? ~ What should one learn from Arjun? ~ What makes Arjun worthy? ~ How to attain perfection? ~ Why is there so much difference in what we say and what we do? ~ Is visiting temples makes one religious? ~ What is the real meaning of Dharma?  Music Credits: Milind Date  ~~~~~

Transcript

00:00An entire bunch of questions comes from four verses of chapter 11 of Bhagavad Gita, verse

00:1925, 26, 27, 34.

00:25Having seen thy mouths fearful with tusks, blazing like pralay fires, I know not the

00:33four quarters, nor do I find peace.

00:36Have mercy, O Lord of the Devas, O abode of the universe, all those sons of Dhritarashtra,

00:45with hosts of monarchs, Bhishma, Drona and Sootputra, with the warrior chiefs of ours,

00:54enter precipitately into thy mouth, terrible with tusks and fearful to behold.

01:01Some are found sticking in the interstices of thy teeth, with their heads crushed to

01:08powder.

01:09Drona, Bhishma, Jaidrath, Karan, as well as all other brave warriors, these already killed

01:19by me, do thou kill.

01:23Be not distressed with fear, fight, and thou shalt conquer thy enemies in battle."

01:31The questioner says, on seeing the divine form, in place of feeling gratitude towards

01:40the Lord, why is Arjun more fearful and says that he doesn't find any peace in the four

01:46quarters and asks the Lord to have mercy upon him.

01:54Also Arjun sees that all sons of Dhritarashtra, with hosts of monarchs etc., enter into the

02:00Lord's mouth and Shri Krishna at one place says that he has already slain all of them.

02:06Does this mean that everything is preordained in some sense or is he predicting the future?

02:17Look at the ground reality, the practical situation.

02:24Arjun has just been delivered a shock, it's a root jolt, why would he feel grateful?

02:37His friend of 40 or 45 years, the one he thinks as intimately as the back of his hand,

03:06has suddenly displayed a totally unseen form to him.

03:15Why would Arjun feel grateful?

03:18And the form is not pleasant to talk with.

03:23The form is unnerving, violent.

03:36So Arjun is disturbed and he says, you return to your Chaturbhuj roop.

03:44That is far better, far more pleasant.

03:55How would you or anybody feel if one of your close friends displays a ferocious Radha roop to you?

04:08Grateful?

04:09No, you would be shocked.

04:12So is Arjun.

04:17Krishan says that he has already slain Dhritarashtra and the others in the Kaurav party.

04:31The question is, does this mean that everything is preordained or is Krishan predicting the

04:36future?

04:38Krishan is just reiterating the principle of Karma.

04:49The ones who choose death will get death.

04:55Truth alone is immortal, all else is mortal.

05:01Therefore, all else is prone to death.

05:08The one who is not choosing truth has already chosen death.

05:14Death lies then not in the future but in the event of the choice.

05:24And Krishan makes it abundantly clear and repeatedly clear that you will get what you choose.

05:34When I will come to you as per your choice, when I will behave and reciprocate to you

05:41according to your inclination.

05:47So all the Kaurav warriors, by the dint of the very fact that they are standing opposite

05:55to Krishan, have chosen something that is not Krishan, obviously.

06:03Had they chosen Krishan, they would not have been found standing opposed to Krishan.

06:11So they had a choice to make and what is the choice that they have made?

06:18The choice is to oppose Krishan.

06:20Krishan is truth.

06:21The ones who have opposed Krishan have already chosen death for themselves and that's what

06:26Krishan is saying.

06:27Krishan is saying they have already chosen death.

06:32You simply act as the means to deliver to them what they have chosen for themselves.

06:45You are in a sense just carrying out their wishes.

06:49You are not even killing them.

06:56You are just bowing to their own desire.

07:05You are just fulfilling their will.

07:10That's what Krishan is saying here.

07:14And that's also a template on how to behave with people.

07:36Give them what they have chosen.

07:39That is spirituality and that is justice.

07:43If someone has chosen Krishan, your dharma is not to stop him or obstruct him on his

07:59way to Krishan.

08:04And if somebody has chosen death, then do not be unnecessarily worried or pained or

08:18saddened if he meets death.

08:23In fact if the situation so demands, you will become the means through which death will

08:30come to that person.

08:31That doesn't mean you have killed him.

08:35He chose death and remember that even Krishan cannot negate or override the choices made

08:50by you.

08:53Even Krishan keeps waiting for you to make the right choice.

09:01As long as you do not, Krishan can be at most a teacher, a guide, I may even say a supplicant.

09:10Just see what he is doing with Arjun.

09:14If Krishan is who he really is and if Krishan knows fully well that the Kaurava party is

09:22bound to be decimated, then why does he have to teach Arjun which is de facto pleading

09:29to fight the Kauravas?

09:35If Krishan is indeed the Lord himself and all-powerful, why does he have to repeatedly

09:48push Arjun, persuade him, may I say even beseech him?

09:58Krishan could have as well simply willed and the Kaurava party would have evaporated.

10:14Or Krishan could have simply ordered Arjun, I do not want to hear any arguments from you.

10:20Just fight and kill the damn fools.

10:25He does not do that.

10:26He waits for Arjun to understand.

10:29He waits for Arjun's free will to arise in favour of Krishan.

10:39In that sense, you see, Krishan is the tallest of all liberals.

10:52He believes in freedom of choice.

10:54He says, yes is yes, no is no.

10:57I am not going to force myself upon you, neither obviously I am going to ride roughshod on

11:10you.

11:11I am not going to order you.

11:17I will just keep speaking to you, speaking to you, trying to convince, trying to teach

11:22you till you come to a point where you can make the right choice.

11:35So it is about your choice.

11:39I have repeatedly said that your freedom to choose is so inherent and so inalienable to

11:48you that even Krishan cannot take it away.

11:56Even Krishan will have to wait for your consent.

12:03It is just that by delaying your consent, you aren't harming Krishan.

12:08You are just making a fool of yourself.

12:18He will keep knocking.

12:20He won't barge in.

12:23That is the thing with the free one.

12:26He respects freedom.

12:41You asked, is everything preordained or nothing is preordained?

12:47The principle of karma offers you great freedom.

12:55And when you talk of fatalism, when you talk of a pre-written script, when you talk of

13:02a preordained future, then you are talking of zero freedom.

13:08The principle of karma simply does not sit well with any kind of fatalistic argument.

13:18Nothing is preordained.

13:21Every moment you have the liberty to make a fresh choice.

13:25Nothing is preordained except your ultimate destiny which is to be liberated.

13:38All else is within your powers, within your control, within your judgment.

13:45You will get what you do.

13:52You shall sow and you shall reap.

14:03But when you are sowing those seeds, know fully well that you would be the one reaping

14:08them.

14:12And once they are sown, you cannot avoid reaping.

14:20That facility is not available.

14:24Having been the doer, you will have to be the one who bears the results and fruits of

14:40your actions, the doing.

14:49Krishna is saying they all are already dead, Bhishma and Drona and Karna and all.

14:57Not because Krishna has willed them to be dead, but because they have chosen to be dead.

15:05They have chosen to be dead by arranging themselves against Krishna.

15:12So it's your choice.

15:15Be very mindful.

15:18Be very cautious.

15:20See what you are doing.

15:23All choices ultimately boil down to either choosing Krishna or choosing against him.

15:32If you will pay attention to your choices, this is what you will see.

15:37Whenever you have to make a decision, at the core of the decision lies this divide.

15:46It might even be a very simple day-to-day decision.

15:50But that's what the decision would entail or contain at its core.

16:00What do you want to pick?

16:01Krishna or something else?

16:04And Krishna stands for truth.

16:08So be very cautious.

16:13You write your own fate.

16:19It's a needless right that has been given to man.

16:23Man is in no position to capably exercise that right, yet that right has been bestowed.

16:32In most cases, it turns out that it's quite unfortunate that man has the right to choose.

16:39But still, you cannot give up the right to choose.

16:43You can choose anything, but you cannot choose to not choose.

16:50You will have to choose.

16:52Even when you are choosing to not choose, it is still a choice.

16:57So as we said, it is an inalienable part of being human that you will have to continuously

17:04choose.

17:06Moment to moment existence, human existence is a series of choices.

17:13Be very alert what's going on.

17:16Be very alert who is the doer.

17:20Be very alert who is the one who is receiving the experiences and all experiences are nothing

17:25but the results of doing.

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