Video 2

2. Bhagavad Gita | Chapter 2 Verses 1-10 | Swami Sarvapriyananda

Ghita and I made some introductory remarks about the bhagavad-gita 18 chapters but the first chapter is it just sets the stage the teachings do not really start in the first chapter so we will not be doing the first chapter we all know those who have studied the bhagavad-gita that in the first chapter it it sets the stage for this great teaching the two have two groups of the same clan the Pandavas and the Kauravas the same dynasty actually in ancient India they are engaged in civil war the Pandavas to sort of oversimplify the Pandavas are the good guys and the Kauravas are the bad guys and Arjuna is one of the five Pandava brothers and Krishna who is an incarnation of God an Avatara Krishna is his driver Shover Hedra he drives the his drives a genius chariot in this great battle and before the battle begins Arjuna asks Shri Krishna that take me out there in the middle of the two arrayed armies I want to see who's who's foolish enough to come and fight with me he was full of bravado and confidence but once he goes there and he sees all his relatives because it's a civil war so the people they're going to fight are their own relatives two factions of the same royal house and so he has great qualms about the battle which is about to ensue though it is a righteous war because the Kauravas are really nasty guys now Arjuna says that maybe we shouldn't fight this war I don't want to fight this war I want to give up and withdraw from this war and now Sri Krishna is going to engage him to do his duty and so starts the teaching remember the teaching is ostensibly a Civil War fought a long time in prehistoric times in India and but it's not really about a civil war it's not really about some princess of different royal houses fighting a war what use are in interest would that be to us what it is really about is our spiritual battle each one of us has to fight this battle of life daily everyone has this as this challenge facing it could be a challenge in yar it could be a challenge get along with difficult people every day it could be a difficult job it could be a bad financial situation it could be ill health it could be loneliness it could be whatever or a combination of all these factors and all of us at different times in life this is the battle which faces us every day you wake up in the morning this is the battlefield in front of us this is what's actually sri krishna speaking about so his message is spiritual teaching is a is an eternal teaching it is immediately applicable to us each one of us in fact one of the great Swami's in the past in our order he was a very great teacher of Vedanta Bhaskar eshwara Nanda who founded the Ramakrishna mutt in Nagpur yes Nagpur I never saw him but from all our seniors those who saw him he was evidently a remarkable teacher so they maintained notes handwritten notes of his teachings and I had access to some of those notes remarkable the notes of the first class on the bhagavad-gita he taught it many times so on one of these cycles the first class he gave on the bhagavad-gita and so this is how he starts off he tells those and those who are around sitting in the class were young monks and novices he tells them remember these three things when you study the Gita first I have come here because I need it keep the need the purpose vibrating in Sanskrit prime keep the purpose of this study vibrating in your heart why am I here why am i listening to the Gita I need it it will be of great help strenght peace wisdom for me that's why I need it that's why I am here so so that the exact words he said was keep the prayer janam vibrating in your mind prayer Jeremy's the need the benefit the purpose that should be vibrating in the mind when we study not that I'm always thinking about it and he won't listen to what I'm saying but my it gives me the orientation the proper orientation why I am studying this the second thing keep in mind is who is teaching who is the teacher who is the speaker here it is shri krishna it's not your philosophy professor it's not a pundit or a scholar not somebody who is airing his or her own particular philosophical opinion it is an incarnation of the lord himself who is speaking it gives it an entirely different dimension the way we should receive these teachings if you would hotline to God and ask him I wish I could talk to God I want to know what God would say to me here is what God would say to you you'd say I've said it look it up in the Gita this is what God not to Arjuna to me so do remember who's teaching the second thing the teacher it is Shri Krishna and the third thing is it speaks to life so how what does it mean to me how do I use it in life that's also something that we should keep in mind the purpose keep the need vibrating mind there is yeah there's a place here to said you can you can come up here come up here he just makes make space for yeah who is teaching and the practical use in my life what does it mean for me in my life yeah there are by the way I mentioned it last time and this time I also mentioned there are many many translations of the Gita available I was happy to hear that in the summer in Yale University in New Haven they had a special course on the bhagavad-gita I think a six-week course was offered by a professor and they have also started a project to collect all the translations I think only the English translations of the bhagavad-gita all that are available so they won't have a library of the gate 30 as a university just by the way not that it's directly relevant just a couple of weeks back I was in Washington DC there was a what they called a global gita convention and a 2-day convention on the Gita and more than a thousand people showed up so that's interesting and there's a huge hall in George Mason University in Washington DC now there are many many translations of the Gita available and I'm informed by our book sales counter here that here itself we have several translations available I would recommend these Swami tapasya Nanda's Gita if you don't have a geet already many of you already have it but just so you just take a look after the class this is I think the best you can get in one volume where you have the original Sanskrit with a transliteration that means you need not know the Devanagari script to read it you can read it in the Roman script itself that's there and with a very terse but compact but insightful explanation so tronic swami tapassin there was one of our he was one of the vice presidents of the order several decades ago and one of the most profound scholars we had so his gita is there one which i used often Swami swore upon and this Gita is a smaller one it just has the original verse and the English word by word meaning and maybe an occasional one or two lines up notes so that's the small smaller version so rupa and disease kita you can take a look at that one there are many ancient commentaries on the bhagavad-gita the one I will rely on over the next year's I don't know how long will he take I remember in in in Turkish II a class was starting on Manduca Rica which we are doing in Wednesday's idea I was not in the class but I heard of an old tape recording of the class the first class and the old swami who was teaching somebody in the class asked how long is this going to take to complete the text and the swami said well death to complete is not the purpose the purpose is enlightenment right so complete and never say that I am reading the some TV one of my teachers told we never say I've read the bhagavad-gita always say I'm reading the bhagavad-gita so yeah the purpose is not to complete it and as long as the breath flows you're breathing in and out the class will continue that means in Hindi he said jab Tex last July as long as the breath is flowing the class will continue and another swami much more much less accommodating he was starting a class on on sanskrit grammar one of the most boring things you can except for pundits pundits love it but everybody else finds it very bored I hear the same thing about those who have taken Latin grammar so Sanskrit grammar is starting a class in Sanskrit grammar in Luther cache in the Himalayas and the first class somebody asked how long is this going to take and Swami said who said that leave leave right now just go away right now don't come back to the class no but yes but here we have a fixed time this is Manhattan we can't go on like that yes but as so in the in this duration I will use many sources so people ask me which book are you using so I will use many sources especially many ancient commentaries but the central one which I'll rely on is Adi Shankaracharya commentary who wrote this on 1400 years ago there are good English translations available two of them are here so I mean gambrel in disease translation it it has the original verse and an English translation of the Sanskrit coming to the sanskrit commentary itself is not there in the gum around the addition in the there's another translation of Shankar Acharya commentary by by professor Krishna warrior it can be ordered on request for those who know Sanskrit so it has the original Sanskrit and an English translation also if you want a detailed explanation long-running commentary on the bhagavad-gita I can do no better than to recommend Swami Ranganathan and the gist that runs to three volumes so that's their each verse with a detailed commentary on that and there are many many more many more for example the one I am holding right now doesn't mean that you're going to start looking for this because I might hold another one next time you come so this is for example a Gita with the commentary of Sridhar Swami who was one of the medieval commentators he wrote a very simple sanskrit commentary seven hundred eight hundred years ago he is actually well known for his commentary on the bhagavata srimad-bhagavatam anyway first chapter of the bhagavad-gita after eighteen chapters the first chapter it just sets the stage Arjuna says for these reasons I shall not fight the world oh he had come there to fight the war now he says I won't I want I want to quit and the second chapter onwards the teaching starts in fact the teaching starts with the tenth verse of the sec after from the tenth birth onwards of the second chapter so in fact if you look at Shankaracharya commentary adi shankara's commentary that starts with the ten the worse of the second chapter he does not deal with the first chapter not with the first ten verses of the second chapter after the tenth verse of the second chapter directly when Srikrishna touch starts teaching he starts his commentary but we'll start with the second chapter itself the first chapter each of the chapters has a name and each of the names ends with yoga so for example second chapter is Sankhya yoga the first chapter is called Arjuna by Shahada yoga the yoga of Arjuna's depression depression yoga is over I am sure it's not a Yahweh you've heard of a herd of all different kinds of yoga remember this yoga is yoga we mean here a spiritual path not downward dog not the yoga postures in Lhasa that that's also a path but that's the physical part part of it this is a spiritual path and various paths of spiritual development are taught by Krishna to Arjuna 18 chapters each of them is called a yoga but does not mean there are eighteen yoga's there there are many different teachings regarding these yoga's across the chapters but even in one sense depression unhappiness it's not in itself a spiritual thing unhappiness in itself is not a spiritual thing it becomes spiritual Arjuna transforms his depression is his misery as unhappiness his frustration with the situation into a gateway to spirituality why what he does is he surrenders she asks Krishna to guide him Here I am I'm caught in this terrible situation I don't know what to do I am very unhappy please tell me what I should do if we do that with our unhappiness then our unhappiness is a doorway to spirituality it will lead to spiritual growth and spiritual development take it to God ask God this I'm unhappy it's terrible what can I do now so then unhappiness becomes a yoga Arjuna it simply means the word itself comes from the reeju the sanskrit term bridge ooh I'll be throwing around Sanskrit terms without always translate if I do not translate you're free to raise your hand and ask me to translate I remember I used to teach Vedanta in Hollywood in a class in a small group you know in the library there and this is gentleman who was a very interesting person he was quite totally innocent of Sanskrit he would sit at the back and he would wildly wave his hands and I would know that's a flag that I'm giving too much Sanskrit so I would stop and translate so Arjuna the word is related to the Sanskrit Riju which means straightforward simple straightforward sri ramakrishna says if a person is simple straightforward that is a very good spiritual sign such persons you will know that simplicity is a sign that it is the last birth yes he has said that charlotta means the word oh very interesting the word in Bengali or in Sanskrit or Hindi Cyril or charlotta it means simplicity it also means straight literally a straight line would be Sherrill so and simplicity also so Arjuna the word also has the same etymological root there is a because it's a geat I'd set in the Mahabharata and the Mahabharata is literally the greatest story ever told once in a while stories will come in and that's good so there's a story just preceding the war Krishna how did he come to be Arjuna's chariot driver one day he was taking his usual the great Indian siesta the afternoon siesta say Krishna and the two two parties to the war to two sides Arjuna representing his side the Pandava side and Duryodhana the main villain representing his side the Coralville they arrive almost simultaneously to Krishna's doors to ask for his help in the upcoming war now Duryodhana is arrogant he goes and sits in the comfort comfy chair which happens to be near to krishna's head and arjuna who is full of humility and respect he goes and sits at the foot of the bed near to krishna near krishna's feet now it so happens then when krishna wakes up he opens his eyes and whom does he see first he says he sees arjuna and she's arjuna well you are here what do you want before he can Arjuna can't say anything Duryodhana and we see that the disaster is going to happen so he says wait just a minute I am here and Krishna looks around and by the way I'm not making it up but it's in the Mahabharata itself I was reading the original verses just yesterday so he looks up looks back and sees the reason I sitting there and then he launches into this this solid look here Krishna says to both of them I do not doubt that you were here first Oh Prince Duryodhana but I also did see Arjuna first hence I shall help both of you of course he wants to help out jhana and so you are free to ask me I offered these two to you one is my powerful army whose Krishna is also King it's called in Nara and escena the Inara any army I'm going to offer this army full of well trained warriors brave in battle that's one thing I offer the other thing I offer is myself alone unarmed I will not pick up I will not fight and kill anybody in this war I will not pick up a weapon even now you choose I will ask Arjuna to choose first because the rules are you asked the younger person to choose first and Arjuna is younger now you can imagine two reels and a wish if you thinking oh no but Arjuna to his delight Duryodhan is delight Arjuna says I choose you my lord and do you then of course is delighted and reversed I was thinking what a fool i-i've got the army and Arjuna's guard just one person and Christian no matter how great he's not going to fight anyway so he thinks he has got the better part of the deal and he leaves happily Arjun also leaves happily but one has chosen God the other one has chosen the world and we all know what happened those who know the story of the of the war wherever if we have God on your side always know that you are going to succeed in every respect especially in the one which matters most in the Indian spiritual respect if you're the world on your side it will slip away from your fingers it always has the very word for the world in Sanskrit jagat means gotcha T that which goes wealth goes youth goes power goes fame goes health goes all of it goes because it is jagat that which goes so that's how Krishna came to be driving a chariot Arjuna's chariot and now Arjuna is seeming to back out of the whole deal and he says to Krishna I won't fight because of these reasons so here it starts the second chapter the second chapter is called Sankhya yoga just a comment about this before we start what does Sankhya yoga mean Sankhya is the name of a philosophy but that's not what it means here among the six Orthodox schools of Hindu thought nyaya vaisheshika Sankhya yoga yoga itself is a school of philosophy Patanjali is yoga system and then purva mimamsa and Vedanta these are the six Orthodox schools in one way of classification among these six is is the Sankhya system of philosophy of Kapila having said that that's not what it means here here in the second chapter Sankyo means the path of knowledge Viveca to discriminate between to analyze to see that in this non it in this world that which goes Jagat non eternal world what is real what is eternal what is what having here what is worthwhile what is real what is finally what is the goal what is the whole point of it all the one who realizes this to isolate the reality from the unreal the unchanging from the changing this is called Vivica the world another name for this is Sankhya Vivica means to discriminate to separate another name is Sankhya basically Sankyo yoga here means the way of knowledge in fact sri krishna's central teaching of the entire bhagavad-gita is given in the second chapter what Krishna wants to point out the teaching about the Atman who or what we really are that's the central teaching the entire bhagavad-gita that's given in the second chapter in fact the second chapter has four parts first is Arjuna will become a disciple of Krishna then Krishna starts teaching the teaching is in three parts one first part is the central part of the teaching where Krishna tells Arjuna what he is what we all really are what's the truth about ourselves and this universe second part is spiritual practices third part is arjuna asks a question suppose i become enlightened this what you are teaching me suppose i do it and i get enlightenment what difference will it make it's a very good question a very specific question this enlightened person how is this person different from us you know specifics how does this person walk and talk and interact with others and so on so these are the parts of the second chapter and the teaching is really complete in this second chapter complete means the essence so what are the other sixteen chapters Arjuna asks questions and those questions you will see are not unnecessary there are our questions by the time we have finished the second chapter we will have that question and you will immediately see to your amazement and delight of Joon asks that question and so starts another chapter then another chapter in another chapter somebody was joke I was joking that the eighteenth chapter is the last one because Arjuna has sort of what so the term cottoned on to to Shri Krishna's method of teaching so in at the end of the chapters Krishna's prompting him to you do you understand what I've are you doubts clarified do you get it Arjuna says yes I get it I have no more questions because he knows one more question means one more chapter will start I am just joking so the teaching is complete in eighteen chapters but the essence of the teaching is given in the second chapter let's start you chant along with widows who have the text you can chant along I'll chant a nice change after be Sanjay watch ton Tata creepy 'victim cantata creepier victim a shrew pune Kulik shanem a shrew pune kula-ghnanam vichy Dunton eaten welcomed she done to me done welcome watch mother Sudan Sudan Sanjay the one who is narrating all this is remember all this is like Dhritarashtra the blind king if you don't know who the blind king is what's what's happening don't worry I will not explain that now because then a lifetime won't be enough because the Mahabharata is literally the greatest epic so there is a long story anyhow Dhritarashtra the blind king is sitting in his court he wants to know what's happening on the battlefield he is the father of the Kauravas the bad guys so he asks his courtier Sanjaya please tell me what happened and why cause why Sanjay Sanjay has this blessed by God the divine best by the Vyasa the divine eye by which he can see what's going on in the battlefield and report back life you know breaking news so he pioneered that long before you know CNN and Fox and so and so forth so he is going to he's the one who's narrating all this this is what happened this is what krishna said this is what Arjuna said this is what happened so he is telling the blind king to him means who Arjuna who is overcome with pity and grieving with eyes filled with tears and agitated Madhu sadhana spoke these words mother Susan is Krishna one thing to get used to is in those days everybody had many names different names so Arjuna is referred to by different names Arjuna's one name the most common one but there are others we shall come across Krishna has many names so Madhu Susan is one of the well-known names of Krishna it means the one who destroyed the demon madhu so to Krishna to Arjuna who was sorrowing overcome with pity and unhappiness because of what was about to happen and eyes were full of tears to such an extent that he couldn't see properly he is in the first chapter we saw how his great bow the Gandiva has slipped from his hand and he sits down he can't even stand his knees are trembling he sits down in sorrow has like a nervous breakdown you know he sits down in the middle of the chariot and unhappy not willing to continue with with what was he was going to do to him Krishna Madhu sadhana Krishna spoke these words eben Whatcom one commentator says that notice how he said these words instead of saying Krishna spoke to Arjuna Krishna spoke these words these are literally the first words that Krishna has spoken in the Gita and they are hammer blows they are scolding there are sharp words in fact to a person who is confused and shaky and in the midst of almost nervous breakdown a reality check a sudden shock is necessary and Krishna delivers that in the next two verses he gives a big shock to Arjuna you see Arjuna when you were saying all these things this is bad we shouldn't fight this war and let them do what they want let's just get away from this place it will lead to so much destruction people that die all of which he had planned for and literally put together an army all of which was recognized University to be his duty now he's saying no this is bad and why it is bad he's giving reasons what happens is we do not see our weakness as weakness the mind as a trick which it which it plays it disguises our weakness as strength as righteousness because we always have a need to see as ourselves as being in the right and so we justify it immediately to ourselves and he gives him but we also recognize deep down that did we are doing something wrong so we need support from others so he trots out his reasons and he expects Krishna to be sympathetic to support him that's why he has said all those things in the first chapter and he expects Krishna will say yeah you're right let's go home let's not fight about this was a bad idea to begin with Krishna does just the opposite he scores harsh words in the next toward so they come at one of the commentator says look at how it is emphasized spoke not spoke to Arjuna spoke these words to Arjuna what what follows these lines to Arjuna I remember a senior monk in our order who told me many years ago when I was a novice he told me a story about his days as a novice many many years decades ago when he was a novice in one of our monasteries he was unhappy for some reason and he wrote he had this very senior monk whom he looked up to who lived in a different monestry in in Rishikesh so he would write letters those were the days before the social media or email or anything like that so you write letters and you wrote in a letter to that very senior monk Swami I can't stay in this ministry I don't like it people be don't like me I'm unhappy he used the words I can't bear it anymore I can't bear them anymore I will run away from here and he wrote that he expected sympathy advice sympathy and he told me what he got back was a terrible shock to him but it was the best thing that happened to him in his life he said what did he get back he got back one of those little postcards when that old Swami had written one line just one line remember others are also putting up with you I can't bear these people anymore and he wrote back remember other people are bearing you by putting up with you in Bengali Monera kyo-ahn Norah tomorrow chuckles and he said when I read this it was such a shock that tears came to my eyes but then I straightened up and then I put put my life together and see if he's among 40 years later also he's doing very very well in fact extraordinarily well so that's the medicine which Arjuna gets from Krishna Shri Bhagwan watch kutas to akash malum edom cutest watch malum Edam viescha me--some opus tetum shamisen opus tetum inari ahjusshi Thomas William Analia Judge Thomas sorghum Aki tea Karim Arjuna rocky tea Karim Arjuna the Blessed Lord said when so Arjuna has this weakness not to be entertained by honorable men Aryans not conducive to the attainment of heaven leading to ill fame come on you at this crisis so in this time of crisis literally in the middle of a battlefield but that crisis is always crisis for us it is actually we don't recognize it we get comfortable with life but it is crisis for us about it in the middle of this crisis whereas this weakness come upon you Kuta ha means from there which means it's not natural to you you are not like this you are resolute your noble your brave he says an aria Jew system not worthy of an Aryan remember Aryan here does not mean erase it as a terrible muddle has been created by the Nazis first of all the the racism of an Aryan I'm just reading in the it is mentioned in the Rig Veda what is an Aryan is different defined there a one who follows Dharma ethics and ethical lifestyle one who is enlightened and I think the sense of gianni not well read but in the sense of being enlightened in not not just spiritually enlightening just means enlightened in in life gianni and the one who is who excels in nobility so that is an Aryan not nothing to do with a race as such though the Vedic people were called audience racially but here it does not mean race so it is noble for a noble person this is not right for a noble person what you what this weakness you are entertaining the Nazis for example most infamously they made a horrible mess of it the symbol the swastika the swastika is a it's a bad word nowadays because of Nazis but it's a Sanskrit word and it means of all things the auspicious so they took took the symbol luckily they didn't use it as it is they twisted it so at least that this is a saving grace but for the rest of the world has become a symbol of evil but it literally means a symbol of that which is auspicious anyhow on our iam it almost the same if we write it in English it would exactly be the same an Aryan an area an area means not Aryan not worthy of being entertained by Aryans this this kind of weakness and then he says a sorghum not worthy of we will not take you to heaven Archy Tikaram not conducive to your good name on this on in this life three things Krishna has said first of all the noblest of people do the right thing not because of anything else but because it is the right thing an Aryan he said that noble person will do something right because it is the thing to do not because it will get him in any particular advantage so literally it's this Shankar Acharya in his introduction to brahma sutra bhashya says peshwaji via wish HR thing is in Sanskrit what it means is there really is no clear distinction between animals and even the most learning of men what does he mean by that he says just as the example he gives there Shankar Acharya just as a cow is tempted by a man holding juicy green grass in front of it and it goes towards that man another man holding a stick looks at it threatening Lee and the cows thinks it's going to hurt me and it runs away even so men who ought to know better they are tempted by certain things in the world and they are scared of other things in the world and because of that they do not do what is right and we do not refrain from what is bad why do we do evil it's either temptation or fear nobody wants to be bad but then why do it because we know when we know something is wrong and yet we go ahead and do it it's because we have been tempted or we have been forced by fear something is there either fear or temptation and so the noble person the Aryan is one who is not tempted into doing wrong things or nor is scared from away from doing the right thing so that is one and one step below this is a person who is a good person a religious person who would like to be a good person so that he can go to heaven after death a sorghum do the right thing so that you are rewarded with heaven after death that was the motivation for the for the Vedic people at that time that follow the follow Dharma you will go to heaven after death follow our Dharma you will be punished after death so this is a second this is actually one step done down the first the more noblest - people do things because it's right not because we take them to heaven but suppose that does not motivate you now here is the second thing that if you do not do this duty this is not conducive to your attainment of heaven after death if that also does not motivate you who knows if there is heaven or not who cares then if that does not motivate you the third thing he says it is not conducive to your good name to your reputation in this world itself in this life immediately will be subjected to Kalam calumny that you are a coward you day you did not do your duty you you never word for it here we have a right appropriate word loser you say so then they'll call you a loser so so three and you know ya an are iam this is not something that a noble person would do second is it is not going to take you to heaven if you go on like this and it's going to ruin your reputation as a noble person as a great warrior some opposite item the word some opposite a term means not only has it come upon you it has taken possession of you see there is something which you might occur to us do I do this or do I don't do this but we don't speak about it it occurs to us and I speak about it but we don't do it it occurs to us and we start talking about it and it takes over the way it determines our actions and that's what has happened to Arjuna he's not only thinking about quitting he's speaking about it and defending it and sat down in the middle of the battlefield he's thrown his above a bow and I wrote down so it has taken possession of you one more by this time Arjuna must have been shocked he thought he had given out a very nice defense of his decision and Krishna seems to be seeing just the opposite third verse clavia Mossberg ama part mass Mihama but night at AU Papa deity narita to AU / / deity should remarried or valium children read or beryllium just to taste her / on top of that dish topper on top so Obata yield not to unmanned leanness it is not worthy of you shake off this shaking of this mean faintheartedness arise o scorcher of foes Krishna says to Arjuna a new name parta this comes from Rita his mother is Kunti Arjuna smothers Kunti the Queen and one of her name's is Britta daughter of P - so pretty and so part is the son of Prieta another name for Arjuna is Conti again and again Krishna uses it it also means son of Kunti so partner means son of Britta conte I mean son of Kunti and Kunti and both are the same now actually I've got some numbers for you in the whole of the bhagavad-gita actually Krishna uses the name partha for Arjuna 38 times so somebody is bothered to count 38 times and he uses that name kaunteya son of Kunti it means the same thing 24 times this is not without significance because the names which are used the point to something he is telling he is pointing out to Arjuna who he is and what he's doing right now does not at all match what he's supposed to be doing he's a warrior one of the most famous warriors and that and the son of a warrior queen kunti so by mentioning his mother he points out Prieta or Kunti points out who who is see if you read the original Mahabharata the original verses beautiful just reading before the war started Krishna tells asks Kunti was they going into the war maybe he/she will never see your children again says he says to Kunti and what all Queen do I say to your sons who are about to plunge into this terrible storm of war Kunti says to my sons or Krishna say this the time for which actually a warrior princess born that time is upon us that time is upon us that time is here for which a warrior is born that reminds you of those stories or the Spartans but the Spartan mothers would say to their children that go out the to the sons they go out into this battle and return with your shield or upon it that means with your shield means you're standing upon it means they would carry the dead bodies back on the shield Kunti says to not does not say to Krishna that protect my children and make sure that they come back alive no she says tell them that I said the time for which you were born at Kshatriya warrior prince is born that time is upon us not to such the truest to the son of such a mother he's pointing he is calling him with his mother's name part o part and what does he say claim be amass Mihama do not be paralyzed into inactivity tribe young means neutered do not be paralyzed into inactivity you you are a resolute warrior night at well papa deity the word succeeding part son of praetor son of such a warrior queen next word is this does not befit you you see the juxtaposition what should you do what do i do then this mean faintheartedness this smallness this pettiness he what Arjuna was putting forth as and as goodness you know I'm a nice person that he calls meanness faintheartedness smallness and he says give it up get rid of it Renea doll volume faintness faintheartedness literally it means faintheartedness weak of heart Goodrem means small mean petty small get rid of that and rise up stand up rise up and then the next word he uses though he addresses arjuna parantapa Oh Scott sure of force or one who is a terror to his foes so look at the language krishna is using this this verse is regarded by swami vivekanand this is one of the preliminary verses before the teaching but so I'm Vivek on the regards it as one of the central teachings of bhagavad-gita that before any kind of spirituality any yoga any religion anything you know what is required first a willingness on my part to change my life can be better I am willing to take action show me how unless the person is that the person is willing to learn and change wisdom of the world is their great masters of their wonderful teachings which have transformed lives for centuries across civilizations they are all there our heritage is there but unless I am willing to change it won't work I have already told you how Krishna actually tried to convince Duryodhana to change somebody asked me you know why didn't he teach the bad guys they would have prevented the war why tell all this to a person who's good anyway Arjuna the problem a guy is a bad guy because of that not because inherently anybody's bad it's because not willing to change absolutely convinced I am right who are you to teach me so Krishna actually tried to teach the Duryodhana this is not right it's not Dharma and do you know Duryodhan famous response just a minute Krishna don't tell me what is right and wrong because I know what is right and I know what is wrong I mean look at the honesty of the man he doesn't justify it he says I know what I'm doing is wrong and I know what you want me to do is right didn't say yes so in that case but my problem is not that it's not that I don't know I know but I can't stop myself from doing what is wrong it's either so tempting and out of anger or lust or greed I can't stop it and what is right I don't feel like doing it it's the eternal human problem Socrates said what is to know the good is to be good immediately we said no no no that's not true actually Socrates is right if the human mind and personality were in its in its noblest condition what is right the moment you know it you would do it but our minds are not fit we have ruined this instrument which God has given us by dumping trash in it by conditioning by prejudice by desires by lust and greed and conditioning so that we know what is right look at it look at the eye I admit I know I can't do it I admit this is bad I can't stop so this must be something wrong symbols my why is my intellect at war with the rest of my personality what knows part of me knows this is right the other part won't listen so the problem is in here it's not in the teaching it's not in morality or religion or ethics that's why Krishna says you have to stand up shake off this meanness this smallness Swami they kind of said the old religion said one who does not believe in God is an atheist the new religion say one who does not believe in himself is an atheist believe in himself means I am good I can change I can make my life better this is the essential of first condition to any kind of spirituality religion morals philosophy whatever practical if you want to make a change you know this was said to me by a monk again in the Himalayas in a very the example he used was a very rural kind of village kind of example but very telling he said in the villages we who have lived in villages we know that when the farmer when he sees a calf which is ill if the calf is trying to get up you can make it stand on its legs and it will recover you know that but if the calf which is it's not trying to get up the morn no matter how much you try to lift it up it will come crashing down again if the poor thing is struggling you know you can help it it cannot stand up on its own the farmers know this they know it's a very bad sign when the the calf is gripped given up even when you try to put it on its legs it won't side won't work you can't get it on slugs so that's exactly what is happening here krishna wants Arjuna to take up the to decide to change then krishna can't help and this is what we must do this faith in ourselves i can change my life for the better part son of brick' arjuna reacts the next few verses are Arjuna's reaction we will read it quickly because I want to start the teachings of Krishna from the next class onwards so up to the next few verses will be together basically what Arjuna will do is react with indignation like that Swami said when he when you read that one line reply from the senior teacher that remember other people are putting up with you his first reaction was anger and tears in his eyes you can imagine Arjuna he is like haven't you heard what I was saying how can I fight against these people they are my teachers all of which he was ready to do until that moment they are my teachers they are my relatives and what's the use of fighting this war I don't want a kingdom and so on he repeats those very quickly here Arjuna watch cotton Bhishma Sankey cotton Bhishma mahom Sankey Drona MA Medusa Donna Drona ma Medusa Donna issue be pretty or charming issue P patio T ami pooja every Sudan pujari Sudan Arjuna said o mother Susannah how can I fight in battle with arrows how can I shoot arrows at the revered Bhishma our grandsire at the revered master Drona who taught us you know we learned how to shoot arrows and fight from the their teacher Drona that the all the princes were taught by Drona so how can we fight against them how can I shoot arrows at these revered persons to whom who are worthy of respect and worship to whom I cannot utter an impolite word you are asking me to shoot them with arrows then 5th verse guru not wahi mahabhava guru not him aha Shriya bottom bike Shama P hell okay shreya bottom bike sham happy hallo ki hot tot talk amongst Oberon neva hot particle monster guru Neha bungee a bogan Adira predict on bungee abhor gand rutila predict on he actually makes a very nice case I would be convinced Krishna is not he's a tough cookie what does he say that without killing these Nobles these elders it's much better to live on arms you see if he says how can I fight against them then the immediate answer to that would be then you are done for if you do not defeat your enemies they are going to wipe you out you may have all these qualms about it they don't they have come here to kill you so here's answer to that Arjuna's answer to that is it's much better to you know not fight and I'll become a beggar I'll beg for my food and live he is a prince of a royal house he knows if he does not fight he will not get the kingdom he will not get his do this alright I'll be a beggar it's much better to live on arms in the world rather than kill these great people if I kill them and then I get I know I deserve it it's my birthright the kingdom and everything I get it all and I fulfill my desires but they'll be drenched with the blood off of these revered people how can I enjoy it Rudra predict Daniel drenched in the blood at this point most of us at would would yeah yeah you're right I never thought of that krishna is a tough cookie dough when Danny Arjuna goes on notch a Tod with marketer and Oguri notch I hated with Katherine Hungary oh yeah DRA Jima yeah Devon oh joy you get wajima yeah Devon oju Yanni bought wanna GG be Sharma Yan IVA hot wanna GG be Shama Davis T top Remicade hot Rashtra they were Stata prom okay tartre Rashtra and he goes on in the same stream he says Arjuna says if I fight this war what I don't know really what would be better you know what is better you fight a war you would like to win he says no I don't know it is winning better or losing better cuz it isn't it better that we are killed in this war was if we win this war then he says then we would have killed those our own kinsmen without whom why would we want to live we live for the family and we're killing the family wiping them out and I get the kingdom it's an empty victory so is it better to win this war or better to lose this war I really don't know and he knows that he is not making much sense so in the next verse he admits for the first time very interesting till this point he has been arguing his case that I'm right let's stop let's go back home whatever will happen will happen now he says I'm confused I understand he's honest about it I know my weakness that I have lost my resolution I don't know what's right and wrong anymore so the 7th verse for the first time he admits this Karpin yadav osho POTUS above God Pinedo show paratus Wawa preacher meet on her Massimo touch it a preacher meet and Armas amudha cheetah yet shreya shot miss Cheatham brew hit on me yah-tchi shot miss Chatham brew hit on me she should stay home shot him on tuam prapannam she should stay home shot him on tuam prapannam for the first time he says I'm your disciple teach me he has not said this earlier why teach me because I am overcome with carpenter dosha literally means smallness creep Erna the Sanskrit word means a miser small petty I'm overcome with mean-minded in smallness Dharma some more ochita it means my intellect is clouded I don't know what's right or wrong anymore what should I do I'm asking you for the first time is asking what am I asking yet shreya what's right what's the right thing to do brew hit on me tell me why should you tell me she's just a I'm I'm dye disciple shoddy monk teach me to improper Nam I am I take refuge in thee you know you see any spiritual path it starts with first acknowledgment I am NOT here to discuss philosophy with you I'm here to learn from you you can ask questions but the question is also part of learning so here he says prepare nam i take refuge in the buddhist the whole buddhism starts with buddham sharanam gachami damn Shinigami sangham sharanam gachami i take refuge in the buddha in the dhamma the teaching and in the community of spiritual community the Sangha so here for the first time Arjuna admits I need to learn I need to change and you can teach me I take refuge in you see Krishna never teaches like that Krishna Krishna doesn't put up no weight on to class and on the signboard and the website you can come and I'm going to teach you a ton no unless you are asked a Christian I would never teach he doesn't advertise and you have to chase him down and catch hold of him and say I'm willing to listen to you seriously then you teach I'll tell you a little secret here there's a tradition among some people those who study the Gita this verse 7th verse what they do is when they are in confusion unhappy they want help they repeat this verse in a prayerful attitude to God before going to sleep and the idea is God comes in your dreams and shows you the way it's it's a well you can say it's an interesting practice repeat this verse several times with the prayerful attitude didn't go to sleep and then you get guidance 8 now he proposed Shamim I'm up on a dirt now he proposed Shamim I'm up on a dirt yet show come with Shoshanna mean Rihanna yet show come with church on I mean Rihanna Abu mosa partner Adam of Abu mosa partner it dumb rajim Suriname a pitcher deeper tiem rajim Suriname a pitcher deep Adam Juna goes on I do not indeed see that which would remove this grief of mine that is utterly drying up my senses that means I'm freezing basically what we might say today even if I were to attain in this world a kingdom without rivals and prosperous and even lordship over the gods suppose you guarantee you're going to win this battle and you're going to get this wonderful Kingdom or maybe you lose the battle but or whatever it is and you go to heaven after death in both cases I still don't see the point in fighting this battle I mean I'm overcome with sorrow and unhappy having said this what did Arjuna do ninth verse Sanjaya even mocked wha Rishikesh um Ava Mukhtar Rishikesh um good acacia parantapa good acacia parantapa note CIT govinda m-- now you'd theoretical indem aqua touché named Bob who - name Bob who so Sanjay the one who's come narrating all this to the blind king he says having said this to Krishna Arjuna here's another name of Arjuna GU rakesh of the Conqueror of sleep Arjuna the one who was a terror to his foes he said to go in the go in there's another name of Krishna so don't get confused there only to hear Krishna and Arjuna he said I shall not fight no yoshiya and then he kept quiet he fell silent then what happened the tenth verse Tom vulture Rishikesh ax Tom vulture Rishikesh prophets and Eva Bharata Rajas and eva bharata senayor ubhayor madhye saying or by or McGee Rishi tantum Needham watch aha Rashid and me Tom watch a beautiful verse which says o king - o king wins Sanjay is telling the blind king okay King to whom to the one who was sorrowing full of sorrow that is Arjuna was sitting quietly in between the two assembled armies look at the grand setting of the teaching one of the most dramatic settings possible in the min between the two armies Krishna spoke these words to Arjuna as if smiling not at all tense not at all at all annoyed not at all eager relaxed and smiling he's supposed to be the ideal of karmayoga swami vivekananda points out the lease the icon we have of the chariot in the battlefield and Krishna holding the reins of the horses the five horses symbolize the five sense organs and Arjuna is thus is the soul the jivatma sitting there and Krishna is the guide swami vivekananda points out notice how in all the depictions in the midst of this tremendous action dynamic situation krishna is so relaxed and smiling swami vivekananda midst midst of intense action and in the midst of eternal calm you know in the world is quiet and you are alone and all mind doesn't become dull or sleepy the mind works like a blast furnace inside your wine is working under control when you're thinking deeply or meditating or whatever though outside it's all quiet and calm and when the outside is so busy Manhattan I think once when we awaken to give the example of a Street in New York in those days here's here in 1894 and your mind is calm as if you're meditating in a Himalayan cave is that possible yes it is after this eleventh verse onwards the teaching starts again look Adam which are the words these words were spoken emphasizing the real teaching starts now so eleventh verse onwards we shall see what Krishna teaches but we know the central teaching of all of Gita all of Vedanta this one truth which you find here the divinity within us the the unknown the infinitude written within us is revealed by Krishna I was just reading Thoreau Henry and David sorrow when he goes into retreat Walden in his Diaries he says I begin my days by studying the bhagavad-gita he writes I'm bought into it I'm into contact with the dawn of an earth of an early civilization I'm paraphrasing it's a light light of an early civilization a mind wider and greater than we have in these modern times we were brought into contact a wisdom so ancient so vast and broad he rewrites so beautiful he writes in Walden Pond I begin my day studying the bhagavad-gita very good Oh Shanti Shanti Shanti hurry he that sat sri ramakrishna master sri ramakrishna by the way person did not think much of book learning but one book he approved off was the bhagavad-gita he said he literally said boogita is a fine book you should read the Gita his Bengali ku boy poor way it's a good book