Real Meaning of Duty in the Mahabharata || Acharya Prashant (2023)

Acharya Prashant

‍♂️ 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: 07.06.2023, GSE, Goa   Context: Why did Arjuna care for victory? Why was Gita spoken at the Kurukshetra?  Is everything in the world a phenomena?  What is the central purpose of spirituality?   Music Credits: Milind Date  ~~~

Transcript

00:00Hello Acharyaji. So, at times while learning from the Gita, I get a slightly nihilistic

00:12taste of the nature or the world. And the prime example being this verse, like, if everything

00:19in nature is a process or a phenomena, we cannot label phenomena as a greater phenomena

00:24or a lesser phenomena or a right phenomena or a wrong phenomena. So, my question is then

00:30why should Krishna or Arjuna care if they win the war? Like, Arjuna's duty being to

00:36kill the embodied on the other side and to win the war is a natural process. So, would

00:42be if it were the case that Duryodhana wins it. So, all this Gyan could have been given

00:47to Arjuna despite the outcome of the war or the war itself. Similarly, in our day-to-day

00:54life, why should we care so much if a crime, let's say, is committed? Why not just label

00:59it as a natural process and smile instead of taking serious actions against the criminal

01:03on which the institution of laws are based? Your entire question began with, if everything

01:10in nature is a phenomena. Yes, that's, I mean, I have a, that's not, I mean, yeah, that sounds

01:16like. Please, wait, wait, wait. If everything in nature is a phenomena, to whom? To you,

01:22right? Yeah. Now, is everything in nature a phenomena? Change the if with is. Yes. To you,

01:31is everything in nature a phenomena? To you, is everything in nature a phenomena? Yes. Then,

01:37you are Krishna. I mean, so that's what we learnt today, isn't it? Sir, we are not talking ideals

01:47here. To you, forget about the if, get into the is. If is imagination, right? If is imagination.

01:57And your entire question began with an if. Yes. Okay. So, replace the if with is. To you,

02:04is everything in nature a phenomena? I mean, if I say no, would I be contradicting the truth?

02:17How does that matter? We are asking for the fact. When you see things, the way you lead your daily

02:25life, do you look at people as processes? No. So, then the if has been answered, right? Yes.

02:35To you, stuff in the world is not phenomenal. To you, stuff in the world is meaningful and

02:45purposeful. What does phenomena mean? Phenomena basically means illusion.

02:54And the purpose of all spirituality is to heal your suffering. Is the world a phenomena to you?

03:02No. Therefore, you suffer. And therefore, you must be shown that the world is a phenomena.

03:09Right. Right? And therefore, some action has to be taken.

03:20Krishna is bringing Arjun towards that action through this Gyan. Therefore, this Gyan is needed.

03:29The purpose of spirituality is not to deliver you abstract concepts. It is to relieve you of

03:35your suffering. Always begin from your inner condition. Your inner condition is of illusion

03:42and consequent suffering. It's not that Krishna told you that the world is phenomenal. So,

03:49you start saying, if the world is phenomenal, Vedanta asks for whom? To you, it is not phenomenal.

03:55Therefore, you have to learn that it is phenomenal. And that's what the Gita is about.

04:00What Arjun is doing is that he is embarking on a course of action that will keep proving to him

04:10that the phenomena is not a phenomena but a reality. He says, those are people, not processes.

04:22And if you believe in something too much and for too long, then that belief becomes your truth.

04:31Krishna does not want Arjun to continue in his belief

04:40because that would be a false truth. He is saying, oh, I will kill those people.

04:44They are not people at all. They are processes. But if you keep believing that they are people,

04:48you will also keep believing that you are a person. And if you are a person, your suffering will continue.

04:53So, all these are questions arising from bad logic and they have always been there. Well,

05:05if the world is just an illusion, why should we bother for the right action?

05:14Well, if the rabbit is just a phenomena, why should I not kill it, eat it? I have not killed anybody.

05:23My Lord, there has been no murder because there was no person at all. That is only process.

05:29Why are you sending me to the jail? I didn't kill anybody

05:33because there was no person in the first place. So, all these are instances of bad logic.

05:40If you are saying, there was no person, first of all prove to me that you do not think of yourself

05:45as a person. There might in the absolute sense have been no person. But to you, there was a person.

05:55Therefore, in your own frame of reference, you did commit a murder.

06:00Therefore, you will be punished. And therefore, the objective of all punishment

06:05has to be to bring you out of your own frame of reference.

06:10That is the objective of punishment. To beat the nonsense out of you. To beat your own personal

06:16frame of reference out of you. And that's what is called bringing you back to your senses.

06:25Did the murder happen? In your own frame of reference, it did happen. Didn't it happen?

06:30Had you known that there is a thing called a murder, you wouldn't have shot at that person

06:34in the first place because you already know you cannot kill him. Then why will you fire at him?

06:40In your own sense, in your own inner world, you did think that the person dies, right?

06:47And hence, you fired at the person. So, in your own world, you did commit a murder.

06:52And therefore, in your own world, you must face a punishment.

06:56It's all with respect to somebody. That's Vedanta. It always asks, for whom? To whom?

07:05Thank you, Acharya ji. Got it.

07:09Thank you, Acharya ji.

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