Video Information: Shastra Kaumudi, 20.12.2021, Rishikesh, India
Context:
~ How did Krishna teach Arjun?
~ What is the essence of the Bhagwad Gita?
~ Bhagwad Gita holds a very special place in spirituality.
~ What makes Bhagwad Gita so special?
~ The real meaning of Gita
~ How to understand Bhagwad Gita?
Music Credits: Milind Date
#acharyaprashant #vedanta #youth
Context:
~ How did Krishna teach Arjun?
~ What is the essence of the Bhagwad Gita?
~ Bhagwad Gita holds a very special place in spirituality.
~ What makes Bhagwad Gita so special?
~ The real meaning of Gita
~ How to understand Bhagwad Gita?
Music Credits: Milind Date
#acharyaprashant #vedanta #youth
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00It's from a 30-year-old assistant professor.
00:04She is asking, Namaste sir, often while talking to friends and colleagues, I tend to nowadays
00:10talk about the Upanishads, but they see it as some sort of exotic different type of readings
00:17that I am undertaking, as opposed to realizing that they are the very essence, the authority
00:21on life.
00:23In my social circle, an academician is an authority.
00:27I cannot seem to communicate that Upanishads are not a side study, but really everything
00:32that could be seen and heard.
00:34There is no question at the end, but I think she is asking that how do I communicate to
00:39them that the Upanishads are really the essence and authority of life.
00:46And also why is that such a situation?
00:48You will have to continue going deeper into the Upanishads.
00:54Two things will then concurrently happen.
00:59One, you will gain the conviction and the argument to be more convincing to others.
01:12Secondly, you will lose the need to be more convincing to others.
01:21Oh, you will gain the power, the argument, the clarity to be more convincing to others.
01:36Equally, you will lose the need to be more convincing to the others.
01:42In your question, I sense a lot of need.
01:45Where does that need come from?
01:48That need comes from the desperation to keep the company of the Upanishads and still not
01:58lose your old company.
02:03If you are with the Upanishads and with people who do not acknowledge the Upanishads, what
02:12are you doing with those people?
02:15Right now it is not as if you want to do others a favor by explaining the Upanishads to them.
02:25Right now, you are in a need to explain to the others because probably you cannot afford
02:33to be without the others.
02:37That is because your study of the Upanishads is still not deep enough.
02:45What is liberation?
02:46If not liberation from bad company, of what use have the Upanishads been if they could
02:54not give you the strength, the conviction to reject bad company?
03:08And bad company is not merely that which would abuse the Upanishads.
03:15If you think of Upanishads as some exotic toys, what else is bad company?
03:34So it's a funny combination.
03:38You become more capable of explaining to others and you become less needful of explaining
03:45to others.
03:47Now you do not explain to others because it's an obligation upon you.
03:58You do not explain to others because you cannot survive without the others.
04:05Now you explain to the others from a position of strength, not a position of desperation.
04:15And that's when, the funniness in the story continues, that's when others realize that
04:24Upanishads indeed do have power, when they will see that you are not even interested
04:29in explaining to unworthy people, they will realize you have understood something important.
04:38And then they will come abegging, they will say, please tell us what you have known, please
04:45tell us what you have known, and now you are not desperate to explain to them.
04:52Now you will choose the worthy listeners and when the worthy ones will be there, you will
04:59find you are very capable of explaining to them.
05:04Initially the condition is the opposite.
05:13You are desperate to explain to others and not capable of explaining at all.
05:21So you can imagine what happens.
05:25You run around gathering people, trying to convince them that the Upanishads you have
05:31recently gained familiarity with are nice things to read, but you yourself don't have much depth.
05:42So the crowd that you gather does not get impressed by you.
05:49Your arguments have hardly any depth.
05:54So it is this huge crowd you have gathered out of your need, out of your own desperation
05:58to maintain relationships and company, and the crowd just feels bemused and amused.
06:14What is this new thing he has gotten into?
06:24And all in all, one gives the Upanishads a bad name.
06:34Some smart chap comes up with a smart question and that fellow has had nothing to do with
06:40spirituality at all and he comes up with a funny question.
06:45People are smart and you have no proper response.
06:53What have you done to the Upanishads?
06:56You have given them a bad name.
07:02First thing in liberation is feel empowered to dismiss unworthy people.
07:10Why do you have to be in their company?
07:19If a worthy one is spotted, do everything you can to relay this special knowledge to him or her.
07:34But unworthy ones, unwilling ones, two hoots to them.
07:44People come, take the Upanishads from here and then feel depressed, their parents or
08:02spouses are not heeding to the Upanishads.
08:08So I ask them, why must your spouse or your parents be the first ones to gain this knowledge from you?
08:21If they are not listening to you, go and teach this to your neighbor or to some random person
08:26on the street.
08:31There are so many eligible and willing people, they will be very happy to receive this knowledge
08:38from you.
08:39But to them you will not go, because you do not have a blood relationship with them, because
08:44you do not have selfish interests tied to them.
08:48So you won't go to them, instead you go to their spouse.
08:54It's alright, I do not say, do not teach the Upanishads to your spouse.
08:58But having tried with your spouse, if you meet resistance and unwillingness and also
09:07ineligibility, why do you still keep wasting your time with that ineligible person?
09:19Aren't there other more deserving candidates to invest your time upon?
09:29Go to them, teach them.
09:33But no, we are held captive by bonds of blood, by bonds of pecuniary or social interest.
09:52I have just learned the Upanishad and if I can impress my boss with it, I will gain a quick promotion.
10:00So I will go to the boss and gift a copy of the Upanishads and the boss doesn't care
10:05and then I am hurt.
10:06Then what do I do?
10:07I ask Acharya, Acharya ji, how to impress one's boss with the Upanishads?
10:11Offer your resignation, he will be impressed.
10:19Your resignation will be your first baby step towards the Upanishad.
10:25Why work under a boss who is stupid enough to not respect the Upanishads?
10:31Aren't you ashamed?
10:43But the boss is boss.
10:45Even if the boss throws the Bhagavad Gita to the dustbin in front of you, you will not resign.
10:53Because we are servants to money.
10:59No?