(Gita-18) Arjuna's Struggle: A Lesson in Life Choices || Acharya Prashant, on Bhagvad Gita (2023)
♂️ Want to meet Acharya Prashant?
Be a part of the Live Sessions: https://acharyaprashant.org/en/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...
➖➖➖➖➖➖
#acharyaprashant
Video Information: 14.06.2023, Gita Samagam, Greater Noida
Context:
Arjuna's struggle in Kurukshetra
From where did the Gita begin?
How to overcome grief and be detached?
What is the final goal of the entire spiritual process?
तमुवाच हृषीकेशः प्रहसन्निव भारत ।
सेनयोरुभयोर्मध्ये विषीदन्तमिदं वचः ।।
Bhagavad Gita - 2.10
श्री भगवानुवाच
अशोच्यानन्वशोचस्त्वं प्रज्ञावादांश्च भाषसे।
गतासूनगतासूंश्च नानुशोचन्ति पण्डिताः ।।
Bhagavad Gita - 2.11
Music Credits: Milind Date
~~~
Be a part of the Live Sessions: https://acharyaprashant.org/en/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...
➖➖➖➖➖➖
#acharyaprashant
Video Information: 14.06.2023, Gita Samagam, Greater Noida
Context:
Arjuna's struggle in Kurukshetra
From where did the Gita begin?
How to overcome grief and be detached?
What is the final goal of the entire spiritual process?
तमुवाच हृषीकेशः प्रहसन्निव भारत ।
सेनयोरुभयोर्मध्ये विषीदन्तमिदं वचः ।।
Bhagavad Gita - 2.10
श्री भगवानुवाच
अशोच्यानन्वशोचस्त्वं प्रज्ञावादांश्च भाषसे।
गतासूनगतासूंश्च नानुशोचन्ति पण्डिताः ।।
Bhagavad Gita - 2.11
Music Credits: Milind Date
~~~
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00:00In the Bhagavad Gita, chapter 2, verses 10 and 11, so before we come to this point, we
00:00:29can see that Arjun has drowned himself in self-pity, sorrow, and made a declaration,
00:00:55I shall not fight and Arjun has been wallowing in his own self-appointed misery since quite
00:01:10a while now. Entire chapter 1, Vishadayog, and here we just said we are upon verse 10
00:01:26of the second chapter. So, Arjun sees no end. Arjun sees no possibility of swimming through
00:01:45or cutting a cross. He has resigned. And with a thump, he collapses on the floor of the chariot.
00:02:03My arms are unable to hold the bow and my mind is unable to hold its center.
00:02:15I resign. I just do not have it in me at this moment to know what is right and act
00:02:31with resolve. So, this is the only thing I can possibly do. Collapse in rejection, in total
00:02:47disappointment. And then speaks Krishan. And it's for the first time that we'll hear Krishan
00:03:05for the duration of this course. Come forth with insight, with sharp wit. The second verse of the
00:03:31day, 11, holds a very, very important teaching. So much so that I am tempted to say that if we can
00:03:41comprehend verse 11 of chapter 2, not much is thereafter left in the Gita to further comprehend.
00:03:53So, verse 10 just prepares the stage. It says, Arjun, situated as he was in the middle of the two armies,
00:04:13in his pitiful condition, is now spoken to by Krishna. And he smiles as he speaks the words that are now to come.
00:04:33There's nothing that reveals anything in this particular verse but for the smile. The smile is a symbol of aloofness.
00:04:48Arjun has sorrow, Krishna has a gentle smile, not a raucous laughter or something. A smile that indicates
00:05:01detachment. And that's very important because the gist of Arjun's condition is misplaced association.
00:05:16Misplaced because misunderstood. Whatsoever is misunderstood shall always remain. Be with me.
00:05:27It's your response that completes the loop and energizes me. Whatsoever is misunderstood in life shall always remain misplaced.
00:05:40You will not be able to give stuff its proper place if you do not understand. And what is it to understand?
00:05:50To know who you are and therefore to know what that thing is. There is nothing in your entire field of perception that is absolutely
00:06:04condemnable or fit for absolute rejection. Never to be touched at all. It says that you need to have a proper relationship with objects.
00:06:25That's what Arjun badly lacks here. He does not know what to do with the words of Krishna. He does not know what to do with the memories of the past and he does not know what to do with his weapons and what to do with all those warriors lined up against him.
00:06:55So Krishna smiles. That smile can come only when things are in their proper place. A smile of assurance. A smile of recognition and realization. A smile that says well nothing is at stake.
00:07:15That which matters has already been taken care of. That which needed to be decided always stood pre-decided. The war might be won, the war might be lost and it's quite possible Arjun might not even fight the war.
00:07:37Nothing is certain. Krishna has been respectful of Arjun's so-called free will. Quite possible Arjun might have decided to quit. The war wouldn't have happened at all. Duryodhana gets a walkover and a throne. Quite possible.
00:08:01Still Krishna is okay. It's a smile that says I am okay. Events that happen here, they cannot touch the core of something.
00:08:18Obviously it's important to fight and I'll counsel with all my advice and insight that Arjun fights. Irrespective of whether Arjun fights, irrespective of what happens of the fight, what comes out of it.
00:08:48Unconditional okayness is the final goal of the entire spiritual process. So if I ask you to give a more classical name to that fundamental unconditional okayness, what would it be? Atma. So that's what Atma is.
00:09:19An unconditional assured state of mental centeredness. That's Atma.
00:09:31A cleanliness, a purity, a fullness or an absolute vacancy within that no war, no peace, no this, no that, no victory, no defeat.
00:09:58Nothing can touch, nothing can alter it, nothing can spoil it, nothing can add to it, nothing can reduce it. If you have that, then you can play the game as Krishna does. If you do not have that, then you will be lost and troubled just like Arjun.
00:10:25That's the difference. There is nothing in Arjun as yet that's not formed of the world.
00:10:32As for Krishna, the world is the periphery of his being. He can go to the periphery, act there and coolly retire to his base, his home, his center.
00:10:55Arjun has no such shelter. Arjun has the world and only the world. And the nature of the world is such that sometimes it will offer you refuge and sometimes it will offer you refuse.
00:11:20Arjun has come to a point where the world is appearing very unaccommodative, very hostile, very unfriendly and those things can happen. If that's happening to Arjun, to some extent that's happening to Krishna as well.
00:11:44But it won't affect Krishna. Krishna is perfectly ensured within. That's what Arjun lacks. Arjun cannot smile at such a moment. That's the difference between Arjun and Krishna.
00:12:07Krishna can still afford the smile. Do you see how expensive a mere smile can be? Arjun cannot afford it. You have to pay for that smile.
00:12:27The price is ignorance. Give up your ignorance as the price, just as you give money to someone for something precious. Similarly, you buy that smile by paying with your ignorance.
00:12:58What is it that Krishna says next? Very important words and very likely to be misunderstood. He says, Arjun, all this while you have just been mourning for those who do not deserve to be mourned for.
00:13:22Yet, look at your words. You speak as if you are a man of wisdom. Had you really been a wise person, you would have grieved neither for the living nor for the dead.
00:13:44That's the mark of the wise. They do not grieve for the living or the dead. Now that's very curious. What does it mean to not grieve for the living, not to grieve for the dead?
00:13:58What does Krishna mean when he says you have been grieving for, crying for, mourning those who do not deserve it? What's the point? To understand all this, as we said, is to understand the very crux of Gita.
00:14:16So, who is a wise man? Basic definitions. Who is a wise man?
00:14:47What is the definition of a wise man?
00:14:49The first thing is to rephrase the question purely in terms of the three variables. Any question that I ask or life poses has to be reduced to those three variables. Otherwise, you will never get the right answer.
00:15:19In the beginning is the end. If you can be so attentive that any situation shows up as constituted of only those three, then you are home. Otherwise, you have lost the equation, the challenge, right in the beginning.
00:15:46So, who is a wise man? What's the first thing you should think of? The three. So, among these three, who is going to be wise or unwise? Very simple. But we forget. Therefore, it does not remain simple anymore.
00:16:03And that then becomes the definition of simplicity. What is it to be simple? To remember. To remember is to be simple. Once it is remembered, it looks atrociously simple.
00:16:20But only when it is remembered. Once it is in front of you, once it is in the mind, you will say it is ludicrous. What's there in it? It's so straightforward, so obvious. But it's straightforward and obvious only when?
00:16:43Close your eyes please. All of you please. Keep them closed. How many fingers? Keep your eyes closed. How many fingers? Look at the damn complexity of the question.
00:17:09Not one among you noble fellows has been able to answer. More complex than the JEE paper. Beats the rigor of rocket science. How many fingers?
00:17:29Open your eyes. Ridiculous. Just two. And you still couldn't answer it. It's so easy, obviously, but only when? You see that's the definition of simplicity.
00:17:58The simple man just simply sees. To be simple is to simply see. And then it becomes very difficult to explain to someone who just does not simply see. You have seen and the other one has not. Now how do you explain?
00:18:15My advice, don't explain. Encourage him to see. Your explanations will never help. Keep your eyes closed. I am trying to explain the number of fingers. Does it help? Does it help?
00:18:37The only thing that can help is if I can somehow encourage you or attempt you or whatever. Bring you to a point of seeing. And then I don't have to assist you. Then your powers are good enough for you. Just see.
00:18:58What is the definition of the simple man? He simply sees. Does it require great practice to see? Great skill? Great distinction? Qualification? What does it require?
00:19:17The absence of a stubborn refusal to open your eyes. Why do people not see? Do they lack eyes? No. Rather they have something additional to the eyes. Over and above the eyes. What is that?
00:19:41A certain stubbornness. I do have eyes but I also have eyelids. I have something additional over and above. I have eyes and I have eyelids. And I am so stubborn. I will use the eyelids to block the eyes.
00:20:04Who is a simple man? Who does not misuse his eyelids? The eyelids are meant to wash the eyes. Not block the eyes. Are you getting it?
00:20:29Do you train a kid's eyes to see? Now seeing is that natural. You don't train a fish to swim. You don't train a kid to see. Seeing is as natural as breathing is to an organism. It just happens.
00:20:47That is the thing with entire spiritual realization. You cannot be trained for it. It just happens. Realization is to the mind. What breathing is to the lungs. Natural.
00:21:07Do you have super specialized lungs if you are able to breathe? Ought we congratulate you? She breathes. Let's felicitate her.
00:21:27Then why do you think it's a distinction if someone is able to see? There is nothing distinct about it. You remember what sage Ashtavakra was saying in the afternoon? Who was there?
00:21:45He is always speaking that nobody was present. You are saying that that which even the gods plead for is so simply available to the realized man and yet he does not rejoice in it.
00:22:15The gods want it and yet do not get it. He said all the devatas, gods like Indra etc. Even they do not have what the liberated man has. The liberated person. Not man, woman, anything.
00:22:37And how does he have it? The answer is simply. No process, no method. It's just there. Realization is the very essence of consciousness.
00:22:56You don't have to train yourself in realization. You have to ask yourself why the hell are my eyelids so obdurate? That's the question you need to ask.
00:23:17Wonderful. Who am I not? Your task is not to stuff up but to clean up. But if you are stuffed up, the tendency is to further stuff up.
00:23:47You have to go against the tendency.
00:24:02Who is a wise man?
00:24:05Who is a wise man?
00:24:13Aham in love with atma is wisdom.
00:24:22Aham to utilize all its relationships with prakriti for the sake of atma is wisdom.
00:24:35Aham might be in love with atma but where are all its relationships? In the field of prakriti. And they will remain. Aham is not an abstract concept. Aham is embodied.
00:24:56Aham is this. This is aham. And if this is there, there will be relationships. You cannot be embodied and not related.
00:25:06What is wisdom? To use all your relationships for the sake of that. To realize that all relationships mean nothing in themselves.
00:25:20That all relationships are just means for a final purpose. For a high and sacred purpose. That purpose is realization, union, freedom, liberation, dissolution.
00:25:51Pick your favorite word.
00:25:56But to see that no relationship is an end in itself is very important.
00:26:02So what is it that aham must rejoice in and who is it that aham must grieve for?
00:26:20If that's the only relationship that must matter to the ego, if it has to grieve, what must it grieve for?
00:26:38If the world starts mattering too much to the ego, that's what must sadden the ego.
00:26:50Instead, we find reasons for celebration and dejection both within the world.
00:27:10We say there is something in the world which if attained is a matter of celebration and there are other things in the world which if occur are a matter of grief.
00:27:29That's not wisdom.
00:27:35Wisdom is to say if I lean to the left, I celebrate. And if I find myself tempted to the right, then I grieve.
00:27:55What is at the left? Aham. Atma. Truth.
00:28:02What is to the right?
00:28:04Being the ego, obviously there are things that are good for me, there is stuff that is bad for me.
00:28:23I can even say there do exist positives and negatives. There is something that I want to feel satisfied about. There is something that I want to feel worried about.
00:28:42But the distinction between what satisfies me and what worries me has to be right.
00:28:49I will be satisfied if I have used my prakritic relationships for the sake of liberation from prakriti. That is a matter of satisfaction.
00:29:00And I will be worried if I have sunk further into my relationships within prakriti.
00:29:12Are you getting it?
00:29:15If I have used my relationships well, the result will be that those relationships will bring me closer to liberation.
00:29:29If I am using my relationships well, I will be gaining progressive freedom from those relationships.
00:29:38And I will rejoice.
00:29:41And one mark that I do not understand myself or prakriti is that I will be misusing my relationships.
00:29:55I will be sinking into them.
00:29:57It is for such a situation that King Bhartrehari said that you think that you are consuming the world but actually the world consumes you.
00:30:18Does the wise man have no relationships? No, he does have relationships.
00:30:28The wise man and the unwise man, they have something in common. They both remain related to the world.
00:30:36Then where does wisdom lie? How is the wise one different from the unwise one?
00:30:42The wise one knows that all relationships are for the sake of liberation.
00:30:49The unwise one thinks that the relationship exists for its own sake.
00:30:57If this thing is in my life, it is an end in itself. Wise or unwise?
00:31:07This is in my life and it is for its own sake. Wise or unwise?
00:31:13But you see I am taking care of it. I have kept it close to my face.
00:31:19Why?
00:31:20Why?
00:31:24Only as long as it is bringing my words to you.
00:31:31So you are the end.
00:31:35One thing is I am keeping it close to my chest even if it does not function.
00:31:41That's surely unwise.
00:31:44The next thing is this is bringing my words to you all so I am keeping it close to myself.
00:31:53Wise or unwise? Still not wise.
00:31:59If I accept the second statement then this does not remain the end but you become the end.
00:32:05Even you are not the end.
00:32:07Just as this can be thrown away if it does not bring my words to you.
00:32:12Even you are not the end.
00:32:15If my words come to you and you decide not to engage with them
00:32:23then you should meet the same fate as a dysfunctional mic.
00:32:32Are you getting it?
00:32:34Are you getting it?
00:32:40This is not an end. Nothing in the entire world is an end. Only liberation is the end.
00:32:45That's the mark of wisdom.
00:32:49What will I grieve over?
00:32:52I will be grieved if I realize that this brings me no closer to my destiny
00:33:01and still I have been forced to carry it on my head or on my chest.
00:33:10That's something that will concern me.
00:33:16Are you getting it?
00:33:19Now tell me what does Krishna mean when he says Arjun you have been mourning for those who do not deserve to be mourned for.
00:33:27What does he mean?
00:33:28What does he mean?
00:33:29They will not bring you to liberation.
00:33:34Tell me Arjun, how were these people assisting you in your quest for liberation? Please tell me.
00:33:44Please tell me.
00:33:49Yes obviously the wise man does weep.
00:33:56It's found melancholy.
00:33:59Often. But for what?
00:34:02For the truth.
00:34:05Not for the world itself.
00:34:06Not for the world itself.
00:34:12And even if the wise man is sad for another person,
00:34:19his statement of sadness will be I am sad that this person has no love for the truth.
00:34:27I am sad that this person is not at all moving towards the truth.
00:34:34Are you getting it?
00:34:36In his sadness, there shines love for the truth.
00:34:44He will be impatient. Yes.
00:34:47Can he be angry? Yes.
00:34:50Can he be envious? Even that is possible.
00:34:53But at the centre of all this would remain the truth.
00:34:59He is present in the domain of Prakriti like anybody else.
00:35:08Any embodied being, he too is present there.
00:35:11So all those relationships are there. Everything is there.
00:35:14But at the centre remains the truth.
00:35:17Now tell me please Arjun, was truth at the centre of your relationship with those people that you grieve so much for?
00:35:30If you have to be sad, you have to be sad at your own condition.
00:35:39Your condition is of deep ignorance.
00:35:43Such deep ignorance that you are not able to benefit even from my presence.
00:35:52Instead, in your own little and funny way, you are trying to convince me of your stand.
00:36:04That's what you should be feeling sad about.
00:36:11I as a teacher stand right next to you.
00:36:16And yet you have failed the opportunity.
00:36:19That's what you should be beating your chest for.
00:36:27Instead, you are sad about this and that.
00:36:32That will happen, this will happen, that person will be lost, that person will feel bad.
00:36:43It's like your house.
00:36:45Your house, with all the valuables that you can have in life, has been set on fire.
00:37:01And you stand outside weeping and somebody asks you, what do you say?
00:37:05You say, oh the paint will come undone.
00:37:15The problem is not that you are weeping, the problem is that you are weeping for something so petty.
00:37:21The problem is that you are so stupid that you do not even know what you have really lost out on.
00:37:28Anybody here who has not experienced sorrow today, to whatever degree?
00:37:45All of you have experienced sorrow?
00:37:48Anybody who has not experienced anger, to whatever degree?
00:37:59All that is very okay.
00:38:03The problem is in the object of the sorrow.
00:38:11What are you grieving for, Arjun?
00:38:20You must have argued or quarreled with someone today.
00:38:23A low intensity quarrel maybe, but that happens, right?
00:38:31Anybody who didn't argue with anybody at all today?
00:38:36Not possible.
00:38:39The problem is not that you quarreled.
00:38:42The problem lies in what you quarreled for.
00:38:54Missing something? Missing someone?
00:38:58Raise your hands please, honestly.
00:39:05Front bench, last bench.
00:39:08The movement too. Yeah, good.
00:39:10Problem does not lie in being forlorn, or feeling empty, missing something, somebody.
00:39:21The problem lies in the fact that you are not aware of what you are missing.
00:39:28You are not aware of what you are missing.
00:39:31You are not aware of what you are missing.
00:39:33Empty, missing something, somebody.
00:39:40The statement of problem is, what is it that I am missing?
00:39:49The path of bhakti, devotion, is so much about just missing constantly.
00:39:56Missing, or virah, or vyog, becomes a virtue there.
00:40:05The saints are constantly peeved by their separation.
00:40:14Oh, I am missing you. When will you come to me?
00:40:18Now that you have come to me, why are our meeting hours so limited?
00:40:25What does this remind you of?
00:40:30Which one?
00:40:34I am missing you so much and you have come only for a couple of hours and the day is about to break.
00:40:42What are you missing?
00:40:46Does Krishna say here, it is a bad thing, immoral thing, to feel sad and grieve someone?
00:40:55Does he say this?
00:40:57What is it that he exactly says?
00:41:01Who does not deserve, that's what.
00:41:05Everything is alright in its proper place.
00:41:10Nothing is prohibited.
00:41:21You had good fun.
00:41:26Does that indict you?
00:41:31Must you be scolded for just that?
00:41:36But if you find Krishna scolding you for having fun, what's the probable reason?
00:41:49What was your fun made of?
00:41:55Who were you having fun with?
00:42:06He would say the same thing.
00:42:08Oh Arjun, you are having fun with those who do not deserve.
00:42:17Spirituality does not teach you not to have fun and it does not teach you not to shed tears.
00:42:24Shed tears for the right reason.
00:42:30Have fun with the right person.
00:42:36That's really inviting. Fun that liberates.
00:42:42Fun that liberates.
00:42:46That could be a byline for the last two SS sessions of the month.
00:42:54Hmm?
00:43:00Fun that liberates.
00:43:02So the problem is not that you let your hair down and had fun on the beach or whatever.
00:43:15The question is what did that episode of fun making do to you?
00:43:24If that elevates you, go and have more fun.
00:43:34What is it doing to you? That's what matters.
00:43:45What's your relationship with all that?
00:43:50That's what matters.
00:43:53Be honest.
00:44:08For most of us, the world or relationships are similar to the ones that we have with fast food.
00:44:23You order some fast food.
00:44:26How is the packet when it arrives to you?
00:44:32Neat.
00:44:34Tempting.
00:44:36Colorful.
00:44:40Everything in place, right?
00:44:44And then is a relationship of consumption.
00:44:4830 minutes later.
00:44:50What's the state of the consumed object?
00:44:54How does it look? The whole thing.
00:44:57Messy.
00:45:02The ketchup sachet.
00:45:06See how it looks once you have opened it.
00:45:11A few dots of red hair.
00:45:14A little oregano sprinkled there.
00:45:27A few crumbs of bread.
00:45:33Left from the ravaged piece.
00:45:40Can you visualize?
00:45:42So that's what has happened to the object of consumption.
00:45:46And what has that consumption done to the subject?
00:45:54What has the relationship done to both the parties?
00:46:02Worsened them, right? Yes.
00:46:12Have you been bettered? No.
00:46:15You have been dragged down.
00:46:17That's the problem.
00:46:20Has the burger been bettered? No.
00:46:25It stands ravaged.
00:46:30Even the burger might have had some possibility in life.
00:46:34That possibility is gone.
00:46:42The highlighted word is deserve.
00:46:50Weep for the one who deserves to be weeped for.
00:46:58Have fun with the deserving one.
00:47:05Ignore the one who deserves to be.
00:47:12And fight with the one who deserves to be.
00:47:17What against?
00:47:19Deserved.
00:47:21Figure out.
00:47:23What is it that the different objects in Prakriti deserve for themselves?
00:47:30And what will be the criteria that will decide the deservedness?
00:47:37Wonderful.
00:47:39The criteria is liberation.
00:47:42Something will lead you to liberation if you fight against it.
00:47:47So does Prakriti assist you or not?
00:47:52But all objects lead you to liberation in their own respective ways.
00:47:59And you should know that way. That's wisdom.
00:48:02In the gym, there is the water bottle and there are the weights.
00:48:09And everything in the...
00:48:12Swami Vivekananda used to say, the world is a big gymnasium.
00:48:17So everything in the world can possibly take you to liberation.
00:48:21You get the metaphor?
00:48:24But you are not supposed to eat the weights.
00:48:27You must have the right relationship.
00:48:29You must have the right relationship.
00:48:32And you are not supposed to use the water bottle as dumbbells.
00:48:37That won't help you.
00:48:39It's a 200 ml water bottle.
00:48:43Won't build any muscles.
00:48:48So something will lead you to liberation.
00:48:54By...
00:48:59Exciting you to fight it.
00:49:02How do the weights help you?
00:49:04You actually fight the weights.
00:49:07You don't do what the weights want to be done.
00:49:13The weights are under gravity.
00:49:16What do they want, if anything?
00:49:19They want to be on the floor.
00:49:21You fight the weights. Right?
00:49:24And the weights help you.
00:49:26Give everything what it deserves.
00:49:33There is nothing that does not have the potential to assist you.
00:49:39Everything is a friend.
00:49:44If you know yourself and if you know the relationship you need to have with it.
00:49:49Even ignoring something is a form of relationship.
00:49:54Something will assist you
00:49:59through the process of
00:50:03Upeksha.
00:50:09I don't let it blip on my radar.
00:50:12I don't let it blip on my radar.
00:50:20Something assists you
00:50:27by coming close to you.
00:50:32Bring that stuff close to yourself and you will be helped.
00:50:37There is something else that helps you when you
00:50:41push it away from yourself.
00:50:50How does the chest press help you?
00:50:57When you push the bar
00:51:00away from your chest. Right? That's when you are helped.
00:51:04If you say I have fallen in love with it
00:51:08and I will keep it right on my chest.
00:51:12She is my darling.
00:51:15She must rest on my chest.
00:51:21All you will get is a broken heart.
00:51:28Instead you are helped when you
00:51:34and she does not want to go away.
00:51:37There is gravity on her side.
00:51:39She wants to come right to your chest and your job is to
00:51:47I will do exactly opposite of what?
00:51:51And that's when you will be a friend to me.
00:51:54Is the bar or the weights a friend or not?
00:52:00Depends on your relationship with them.
00:52:03You can use the bar to break your head
00:52:07or you can use the bar to build your muscles.
00:52:18That entire army arranged in front of you Arjun.
00:52:25If you can have the right relationship there
00:52:28that will be good for you.
00:52:31That will be good for you
00:52:33and surprisingly good also for them.
00:52:37Instead if you have a relationship of illusion and attachment
00:52:41it's going to be bad for both the sides.
00:52:43And that's another rule of life.
00:52:48If it's bad for you, it's bad for the other party as well.
00:52:53We want to believe otherwise.
00:52:55We want to think in terms of zero-sum relationships.
00:53:01We want to believe in the exploiter-exploited model.
00:53:06It does not work that way.
00:53:09If a relationship is bad, it's bad for both the sides.
00:53:16It's not possible that one party can enjoy at the expense of the other.
00:53:22No, not possible.
00:53:23Not possible.
00:53:33Temporally it might appear that one party has gained at the expense of the other.
00:53:40But that's a temporal illusion.
00:53:43Soon you will discover that in hurting or harming the other
00:53:48you two have gone down.
00:53:53Arjun, you have been grieving for those who do not deserve to be mourned for.
00:54:10Yet you speak as if you are a wise one.
00:54:14This is not wisdom.
00:54:15Wisdom lies in seeing that the entire field of Prakriti is just one.
00:54:28Within Prakriti there can be no favourites.
00:54:32Because within Prakriti there can be no Atma or salvation.
00:54:39Equally within Prakriti there can be nothing absolutely repugnant or abhorable.
00:54:46Prakriti is neither good nor bad.
00:54:58Goodness lies in?
00:55:05Badness lies in?
00:55:09Your separation from Atma.
00:55:11And if you are separated from Atma, does that make Prakriti bad?
00:55:17It's your own bad choice.
00:55:22Prakriti can be a valuable assistant, a nice friend.
00:55:32That's what makes life beautiful.
00:55:35When you can have healthy relationships with the world.
00:55:42But you can have healthy relationships with the world only when your fundamental relationship is with?
00:55:51The problem is when you become infidel to the extent that you compromise on your fundamental relationship
00:56:03to strike a superficial relationship with some object in Prakriti.
00:56:12Atma is your home. Prakriti is your playground.
00:56:17Simple.
00:56:22If things are not good at home, will you feel free on the playground?
00:56:29Or relaxed on the playground? Will that happen?
00:56:32The first thing is sort out your home.
00:56:36Atma is your home.
00:56:38And when things are cool at home,
00:56:42then you can emerge out of your home and have a great time on the playground.
00:56:55Think of a homeless person on the playground.
00:56:59You see him enjoying.
00:57:01Think of a homeless person on the playground.
00:57:05You see him enjoying.
00:57:08The fellow is homeless, destitute.
00:57:12No home.
00:57:14Only the large playground. An entire golf course or something.
00:57:18Can you visualize him enjoying?
00:57:21Possible?
00:57:23First thing is the home.
00:57:27Center. Atma.
00:57:30And then the world is your playground.
00:57:34Or as Shakespeare said, the world is your pit.
00:57:48The wise grieve neither for the living nor for the dead.
00:57:54So, how are the wise?
00:58:00Cruel.
00:58:02Insensitive.
00:58:04Emotionless.
00:58:06Hard.
00:58:20Feelingless.
00:58:23Craggy.
00:58:30And then people get afraid of the Gita.
00:58:33Alright, enough for the day.
00:58:37The wise ones grieve neither for the living nor for the dead.
00:58:42If I follow this, what do I become?
00:58:47I grieve neither for the living nor for the dead.
00:58:54This is not a statement of insensitivity.
00:58:58It is a declaration of absolute love.
00:59:08Just that the part on love
00:59:15is unwritten and silent.
00:59:18How can I grieve for this or that?
00:59:23I am in love.
00:59:26I am in love with the real thing.
00:59:33If I grieve, it is for that.
00:59:43And if the real thing is that,
00:59:46then that will mean that I can grieve indeed for an object in Prakriti as well.
00:59:53Only if and only because
01:00:06I was to meet my sweetheart.
01:00:1411th hour, my bike broke down.
01:00:18I find no other means of transport.
01:00:22And I am crying over my bike.
01:00:27Is the bike my sweetheart?
01:00:33You get this.
01:00:35So you could be found crying over an object in Prakriti,
01:00:40but only if your relationship with that object
01:00:45is of the right nature.
01:00:50I am crying over my bike because my bike was to take me to my beloved.
01:00:57Otherwise the bike is of no use.
01:01:04The bike in itself means nothing.
01:01:14It is neither good nor bad.
01:01:19And I will celebrate.
01:01:22Another day, I might be found celebrating
01:01:28the loss of my bike.
01:01:32If somehow that loss
01:01:37enables my union with my darling,
01:01:42then I will celebrate the loss of that same bike.
01:01:48Has the bike turned a villain overnight?
01:01:53What has happened?
01:01:55Nothing.
01:01:57The bike was just a medium.
01:01:59Let everything in Prakriti just be a medium.
01:02:06Remember your love.
01:02:07All else is just a medium.
01:02:13Prakriti can be a wonderful mediator.
01:02:22That's what her right place is.
01:02:30Born in her, housed in her,
01:02:34located in her,
01:02:37use her to go beyond her.
01:02:44And you cannot go beyond her if you do not know how to use her.
01:02:50Learn to use her rightly.
01:02:54That's the right relationship.
01:02:58And now you know why
01:03:01the spiritual man has often been found very unreliable and untrustworthy by the world.
01:03:09Because the world wants itself to be the end
01:03:17of your relationship.
01:03:19And you are telling the world, no, you are not the end.
01:03:22You exist just to be used.
01:03:25And the world says, what indignity?
01:03:30I feel so used.
01:03:33And the wise one says, but that's what your place is.
01:03:37You exist to be used.
01:03:40Your problem is not that I used you.
01:03:43Your problem is that you assumed
01:03:46that you can be something or somebody
01:03:51beyond usage.
01:03:54How presumptuous.
01:03:56You thought you could be an end?
01:03:59You thought you could be the destination?
01:04:03That's what your problem is.
01:04:05So your problem lies in your own assumption.
01:04:08No, you exist to be used.
01:04:14I exist to be used.
01:04:19I have been constantly saying, use me.
01:04:24You exist to be.
01:04:27This exists to be.
01:04:40I'll be very delighted to wear
01:04:48one of those casings
01:04:50that are found on dustbins.
01:05:03Use me.
01:05:13What else?
01:05:17I cannot be your destiny.
01:05:18You cannot be my destiny.
01:05:24We both have our separate and respective love affairs.
01:05:32What is the maximum then that we can mean to each other?
01:05:37You use me and I use you.
01:05:40Ultimately, anyway, we both have our own
01:05:45our own respective love affairs.
01:05:55You cannot be my beloved, I cannot be your beloved.
01:06:02You are in love with that, I am in love with that.
01:06:04I am in love with that.
01:06:11The best thing is that we both just rightly use each other.
01:06:22That's wisdom.
01:06:24That's also love.
01:06:35How to determine whether a relationship is right?
01:06:40Have you been of right use to that person?
01:06:43Has that person been of right use to you?
01:06:52How to know
01:06:57that you have a lover?
01:07:00Somebody is proving useful to you.
01:07:05That's a lover.
01:07:14Acknowledge, you may not.
01:07:19But that's a veritable lover.
01:07:22The condition is met.
01:07:24The name might be withheld and that does not matter.
01:07:30If someone is of use to you, that's what love is.
01:07:34What kind of use are we talking of?
01:07:43Not friends with benefits kind of use.
01:07:46What kind of use are we talking of?
01:07:50That use.
01:07:54That one particular central distinct use, no other use.
01:08:05Are you getting it?
01:08:13If you want to weep for your relatives Arjun, convince me they were taking you to liberation.
01:08:22If they were indeed taking you to liberation, they deserve to be mourned.
01:08:29But honestly tell me Arjun,
01:08:31which among those gentlemen was actually leading you to realization?
01:08:38Come on, be honest and let me know.
01:08:40Which all among them?
01:08:46There is nobody there.
01:08:48There is just nobody there who was of any real use to you.
01:08:53And yet you are shedding tears for them.
01:08:55Is that wise of you?
01:08:57Is that wise of you?
01:09:03This is what is called Nirmanta.
01:09:06The world is terrified of this approach.
01:09:11The world takes this as cruelty, insensitivity.
01:09:15The only right relationship Arjun you can have with them is that you use them.
01:09:34And you can use them only by fighting against them.
01:09:36Be just to them.
01:09:43Why?
01:09:48That is the only service you can render them.
01:09:52Fight them.
01:10:07I am being good to you.
01:10:10I am shooting at you.
01:10:14Because that is the only right relationship possible between the two of us.
01:10:23So this is Dharma.
01:10:26To have the right relationship with whatever.
01:10:32With you.
01:10:36Dharma demands that the right relationship has to be of war.
01:10:41So this is a Dharmic act.
01:10:45I will take off your head.
01:10:48That is my love for you.
01:10:55Sounds simply absurd, right?
01:11:02Poor Arjun.
01:11:05Think of his condition.
01:11:08For you it is just a case study.
01:11:10For him it was brothers and relatives in flesh and blood.
01:11:24And he is a man of social upbringing and common morality.
01:11:28And he is being told kill.
01:11:31That is love. Kill.
01:11:33How unwise of you to shed tears for them.
01:11:37Just kill.
01:11:42The philosophy has to be understood.
01:11:45This is not rhetoric.
01:11:47This is based on very sound, firm, unyielding principles.
01:11:54This is not just Krishna's fleeting opinion.
01:11:58This is coming from deep underlying principles of Vedanta.
01:12:04This is coming from the three.
01:12:10And only if you are established in the rule of the three,
01:12:17will you be able to appreciate what this verse really implies.
01:12:22If you do not remember or appreciate this rule,
01:12:27you will never be able to understand the import of this verse.
01:12:31You will miss out.
01:12:34Or you will come to some roundabout kind of interpretation which does not really help.
01:12:46If you want to be helped, you have to hit the like button.
01:12:49If you want to be helped, you have to hit the bull's eye.
01:12:53And that can happen only by the rule of the three.
01:13:03Hitting it.
01:13:08The wise man will never be found weeping.
01:13:11Yes or no?
01:13:13Quick.
01:13:14If he is found weeping and he is indeed wise, what's the likely reason?
01:13:24But then Atma is not an object. So Atma does not really exist in the sense of objects.
01:13:30If the wise man is found weeping, what is he possibly weeping for?
01:13:37Or more concretely,
01:13:41the loss of something that was useful.
01:13:48The loss of something that was useful.
01:13:55The wise man has thrown a grand party.
01:14:00Is the wise man, the spiritual man, the man of Gita not entitled to celebrate? Yes or no?
01:14:05He is entitled to celebrate. Alright. So he is entitled.
01:14:09Now he has thrown a grand party. What's the likely reason?
01:14:15He has been helped or he has found something useful.
01:14:23He has struck the right relationship
01:14:27with something that he sees will lead him to liberation.
01:14:32He sees will lead him to liberation.
01:14:42Let there be lights and music and what not.
01:14:57Is the wise man never found anxious?
01:15:03If he is indeed anxious, what's the likely reason?
01:15:12Forget Atma. Atma is not something you can think of or hold in your hand.
01:15:18So all the reasons are concerned with Prakriti.
01:15:22The wise man has been seen anxious.
01:15:26He has come to something and he is not able to figure out the right you, the right relationship.
01:15:36Or he thought of something as useful.
01:15:40But it's turning out to be not useful.
01:15:49Is the wise man never found hopeful?
01:15:53He can be found hopeful.
01:15:56And if he is found hopeful, what's the reason?
01:16:02He is seeing something that might emerge as useful.
01:16:10So the entire spectrum of human associations and emotions
01:16:18is experienced by him and exhibited by him.
01:16:23Just that the objective always is
01:16:31Do I weep? Yes, for that.
01:16:34Do I laugh? Yes, for that.
01:16:38Do I run? Do I halt?
01:16:42Do I jump? Do I dive?
01:16:45I do everything that anybody else does.
01:16:49The difference does not lie in the action.
01:16:54All the actions that are displayed by the common public are displayed by the wise man as well.
01:17:04The difference lies in the center, in the actor.
01:17:12When people laugh, it is because they are pleased.
01:17:17When the wise one laughs, it is because he has seen.
01:17:28There is a laughter that arises from being pleased.
01:17:36And there is a smile that arises from having seen.
01:17:46There is a satisfaction that arises from consuming something.
01:17:57There is a satisfaction that arises from liberating someone, of being used to someone.
01:18:17Copyright © 2020 Mooji Media Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
01:18:21No part of this recording may be reproduced
01:18:24without Mooji Media Ltd.'s express consent.