Video 36

36. Bhagavad Gita l Chapter 3 Verse 30 l Swami Sarvapriyananda

yes so just so that you know that these classes are recorded as usual and put up the audio will be put up so bhagavad-gita class we were studying the third chapter we had done the second chapter and then we were studying the third chapter where we stopped last year it's been a more or less one year since we have had the Geeta classes and I I continued my gita studies actually at Harvard in the Divinity School there was one course on the bhagavad-gita which I took so we studied the bhagavad-gita with the commentary of Medusa and Saraswathi which is a very comprehensive commentary very nice very beautiful commentary so that that allowed to explain if mother Susan keeps coming in once in a while or quite often in my explanations okay let me just get this out of the way at the end of the second chapter what had we had seen was Shri Krishna in response to Arjuna's question about what his duty is in this battlefield shri krishna taught him vedanta at Magana the knowledge of the self that you are not the body not the mind the you are the Atman which is immortal which cannot be destroyed by any weapon which is unchanging which is of the nature of existence consciousness bliss and all of this whatever you experience is an appearance in this Atman and this is to be realized once you realize this one one goes beyond sorrow one attains peace and fulfillment and that's the ultimate goal of human life enlightenment leading to moksha spiritual liberation and then Krishna went on to tell Arjuna that you must engage in action that means you must fight this battle one second you must fight this a battle why one second I just and justice a little bit my screen to my comfort yes so one must fight this battle karma one must do one's duty in a detached way and then finally he ended by saying by realizing that you are the Atman you become free at the last verse was Asia Brahm his city part no improper Vemma he ot attaining the state of Brahman state of Brahman means realizing that you are pregnant having attained this one does not enter into delusion anymore one does not enter into the cycle of birth and death one does not suffer anymore so that's that's very ended but this left Arjuna confused why because he heard two things one is the path of knowledge that I do not know this is amazing this wonderful thing about myself that that I am an extraordinary spiritual being that I am consciousness and in mortal existence and always fulfilled sat-chit-ananda I am NOT this body of flesh and blood so this extraordinary thing that I that they could be unaware of such a thing about ourselves so this was the path of knowledge by the path of knowledge one realizes this this is one thing which Arjuna heard and the second thing here it was the path of action you have to do your duty and do it in a detached way karma Nevada Cara's there you have right to the action alone not to the fruits of that do not give up action do your action without attachment to them to the fruits of action so he was confused he thought krishna was telling him two things two alternative things the path of knowledge gain yoga the path of action karma yoga and naturally wanted to know which one should I do he starts this the third chapter with the question the third chapter of the bhagavad-gita starts with a question from Arjuna ji o CJ it karma nasty Metabo Dear John janardana if you think that the Ghani oka is superior to karma yoga because it leads to enlightenment it leads to moksha dr. Kim come on Igor Imam Nereus acacia so why are you engaging me in this terrible action that means right now what what we are going to do this battlefield and tell me one so keep it simple don't confuse me with all this you know different options give me one thing to do which is good for me which is Sri o hum that means I will attain the highest goal what is the highest welfare in human life moksha tell me what how do I do that and they remember krishna answered this by saying you have misunderstood me I did not say that these are two options I taught one spiritual path one integral spiritual path of which these are aspects of parts you see karma yoga we know the structure karma yoga leads to purification of the mind and then there will be meditation which leads to concentration of the mind with the purified and concentrated mind gianni yoga becomes effective that means then it leads to enlightenment we have talked about this again and again that's the structure of sadhana according to advaita vedanta see in sanatana dharma it's never Disick's cluesive it's always all the paths are included so always an integral approach whether it is shankara's advaita vedanta or ramanuja's Vashisht advaita or mother was greater Vedanta there will be an aspect of bhakti there will be an aspect of karma action there will be an aspect of knowledge meditation so all of them are there depending on the philosophical structure one of them is played up others and made subservient and in the path of Advaita Vedanta gianna knowledge is the one which leads to enlightenment to to realization why because it's the problem is ignorance if the problem is ignorance the solution is knowledge but not straight away for that there is a preparation necessary necessary knowledge comes in this mind you have to work with this body and mind to purify the personality the mind the subconscious mental structure has to be purified of desire and distraction then only Balanta becomes useful you see when we go to ad rate of a danta the first thing we are told fourfold qualification by now most of you have us have heard it again and again till you're sick of it Viveca Vairagya the six fold treasure and momoke should roam intense desire to be free those come when the mind is sufficiently purified so the purification of the mind karma yoga is absolutely essential that's what Shankara explains throughout shri krishna teaches that and shankar explains why this emphasis on karma and about in the Bhagavad Gita because it is indispensable for spiritual life so our Genet misunderstood it's like I want to fly to Mumbai so you're - so you will tell me alright take not now it's not possible now but so you take a cab to JFK and then take a flight to Mumbai or Delhi or even to go to India that way now if I say tell me one either cab or aeroplane which one you can see no no you misunderstood me the entire journey is an integrated journey of which the first part has to be by a car to the airport and then the second part has to be by the aeroplane aeroplane is Gani yoga from aeroplane you to complete your journey so both are essential they are not options even Swami Vivekananda when he said these are the four paths he did say each of them can take you to the to the goal karma bhakti gana meditation and in fact if you look at the Shastras the classic Shastra for meditation is Patanjali Yoga Sutras classic Shastra may be performer T for example is the nadia bhakti sutra for example none of them ever say that we are one step in the way and other then you have to after this you have to go to some other you know complete meditation and then you have to study you know drink - every wake or a production of Ooty then only you will get moksha know each of them claim that by what we are teaching by that itself you will get moksha true but some is awakened remember what he ultimately recommended was a harmony of the four paths he said it is much it's it is the best option is to have all four in your life it is the safest most powerful most convenient most natural and among those four one may be more to your liking mode may be more suited to your mental makeup and you'll see automatically that will become predominant but it's good to have all four it's in the same way krishna says that karma yoga is essential so the section which we are reading we had done verse number 27 last time everything will be completed the section which we are reading was krishna was saying to arjuna that what about after enlightenment after enlightenment do I still have to do action and he says yes why for the welfare of others so he gives a particular argument that we are deodar charity stretched whatever the wise one enlightened one who a whomever be considered superior or excellent in our in just need not just be in spiritual life it could be in family life it could be in in at work the person whom we considered to be superior excellent is the person we tend to imitate so the 21st verse sri krishna's starting a section where is telling arjuna that even after enlightenment one does work we have done all this we are the authorities reached at the elevator or jhana whatever the superior person does all others follow that person and therefore the enlightened one has a special responsibility to act in such a way that it will inspire everybody to to follow the Harma he gives the example of Janaka he says people like Jonica attained enlightenment through action only and look at me he gives his own example that I have nothing to attain through action in the three worlds know me apart a stick at opium three shoe locatio Kanchana in the three worlds I have nothing to be attained no duty to be done and yet I am continuously Krishna is continuously engaged in doing good in inaction so why if I do not do what I'm supposed to do then people will imitate me and this will lead to chaos and destruction of society and civilization how should the enlightened person act just as the unenlightened the ordinary people act out of attachment out of desire let the enlightened people do their duty without attachment without desire for what purpose if you have no purpose then why would you do there is a purpose locus Angra home chica loca Sangram loca Sangram means welfare of everybody so desiring to set an example inspiring people he says Joe Shaheed servic Armani encourage people in moral ethical action in the spiritual life you as an enlightened person may not need karma yoga but everybody else needs Karma Yoga so you engage in karma yoga you may not need ritualistic worship but many people do that's the place where we start spiritual life so you also the enlightened person also should engage in as an example to others I remember a story of Swami jagadananda he was a disciple of the Holy Mother Mahadev his disciple and one of my teachers just turn on the G shubra tomorrow's had seen Jai Ramji many years ago or he had heard the story so jagged angie was a bit even in his lifetime he was regarded as an enlightened person as a Jeevan Mukta he is he's the translator of the great master Sri Sri Lela Rochon go in the English first in the English translation right now we have a wonderful translation by Swami Chidananda ji but the English translation before that was but Swami jaga Gandhiji so this great Swami and also some of us we know the story that when the holy mother visited Balu mutt and she saw the Brahma cherries and the sadhus you know cutting vegetables dressing the vegetables and she praised them so how nicely the boys are cutting which to you know cutting the vegetables or dressing the vegetables and a monk said to her that whether it is by spiritual practices or by cutting vegetables the goal is to please the Divine Mother which means her of course she didn't say anything she smiled this the Swami who said this to her was from jagadananda he was standing there at that time so this is when we jagadananda but why am I telling you this story the story is this that many many years ago decades ago in our ashram Dehradun kitchen put this an ashram just outside Dehradun so swami jagged angie was in there in his old age and one brahmacari saw this great Swami you know plucking flowers for the worship morning worship in the shrine he's going in the garden and plucking flowers and collecting flowers for the morning worship this to stop would help the pujari the worshiper and his bromo cherry was puzzled he went and asked the Swami Swami you're such a great way daunting Jeevan Muktha I didn't say that but he does is a great way daunting why are you plucking flowers so the idea in the mind of the very mature is a great vedanta will probably be studying the opening shots giving lectures or sitting in meditation you know something like that plucking flowers for the daily worship of Shri Ramakrishna in the temple that's like a beginner's thing why would such a person do it so why are you plucking flowers now the Swami seems he had a very sweet smile and he was very tall so he looked down with that classic smile and he said then my boy tell me what should I do in Bengali the whole it to me valo ami ki Cody now what does it mean that there is a misconception in our mind about what action an enlightened person can do or whether a enlightened person should do any kind of practice at all after all they are beyond all these things no the enlightened person does this practice one reason is as Krishna says as an encouragement to everybody else and of course it's also an expression of their enlightenment the same reality whom they realize as a humdrum asked me the same reality they see as Sri Ramakrishna in the same worship which you do through Panasonic studies where there is mantra japa meditation Samadhi is also done through puja let me share this here interesting insight otherwise I'll forget so we have this very interesting class with Professor or indem Chakraborty on Kashmir Shaivism and before and after the class sometimes the professor calls me with sudden incites so which are very valuable worship of the image and he suddenly called me with great excitement so you know it is true worship of the image idol worship and Hindus are criticized for idol worship it but what is this Idol and he said it's I doll I and doll it's a doll of the eye the eye consciousness within is objectified here as this particular image any form of saguna brahman God with qualities so I dollar and I never thought of that so that is also an expression of the same spirituality same realization anyway so now with DVM Junaid do not confuse people by saying no you need not why are you remaining in samsara become a monk go to the Himalayas sit and meditate in Samadhi why are you reading this why are we going to a temple why are you repeating mantra of Ishta devatha you are Brahman whom are you worshiping if you say these things it puts people in total confusion it's actually harmful to spiritual practice to a spiritual path you will meet such characters in the high Himalayas one of our monks he was on a pilgrimage to I think but three not or somewhere so we have to stop on the windows days they had to stop and they would stay in a tent at night so he sat down instant covered with himself with a blanket it's cold and was doing his mantra japa evening repetition of the mantra and one of the traditional non-dualistic Swami's was there he poked his head into the tent and he looked at this sadhu up up and down and he said what even now you are repeating a mantra here you pass on a mahadji even now you're doing a person of God your Brahman that's the idea actually so Kara Vivi you pants enough Krishna says never do such things no Buddha badum generate Sri Ramakrishna was very particular about this used to say Bob nurse turkleton I don't destroy anybody spiritual progress a spiritual path once you're surrounded by a group of devotees and a pundit had come a scholar and this scholar once the scholar was a little mischievous a little sarcastic so one devotee was a very simple devotee with a lot of devotion to God and the pundits started questioning this God how do you know that God exists what is the proof and like this after some time sri ramakrishna became very annoyed and he told the pundit say you call yourself a pundit you are harming that poor person's bhakti devotion to God he said cottage on me Pune back to haganai bhakti house with a lot of the merits of so many births I'm doing good in so many births that accumulated merit develops into little devotion for God little faith in God and here you are you call yourself a pundit as color and you are damaging the fate of the simple man shame on you and the pundit slunk away got up he was embarrassed and he sort of walked of it left the 27th verse so what is it that the enlightened person knows and the unenlightened person does not know and gets trapped in action so the 27th verse was Prakriti kriyamanani gunaih karmani sarvasah a hunka of amor at Makaha metamagnetic all action in the world is done by prakruti of the gunas of Prakriti prakruti nature and nature is composed of three gunas we know this waking sorry I'm so used to Manduca software just Thomas and all the products of clarity are also composed of these three gunas specially this body and mind so this body is made of the three gunas it's material even the mind according to Vedanta Sankey all the Indian philosophy this material it's made of the constituents of prakruti and action is done by these material entities so what is action world made of Prakriti body made of prakruti and mind made of practically senses made of practically these are the ones which interact and the unenlightened person not knowing that that my real nature is Atman pure consciousness gets under the sway of ego what is ego that which which which you know unifies body and mind and and says I am the doer I am the one who's speaking I am the one who's talking I am the one who's thinking I desire I love I want I remember all activities of the body all activities of the mind are integrated there's a word appropriated so the ego appropriates everything thoughts in the mind I am thinking eyes are seeing something I see the body is walking I walk a desire comes up from the subconscious mind I want so this ego deluded by this ego the Atman thinks through the my mind that I am this body and mind and I am acting a hunka Ravi mood at Makkah Tahoma Timothy deluded by the ego which is a part of the body mind which is all prakruti thinks that I am acting action done by prakruti through a body and mind in a material world consciousness which is entirely separate from this things I am the doer so this is what we have done till we are done till 27th verse now we shall go ahead quickly is there any particular question right now no all right yes probably well please know we had done now as far as I remember bracket can you look it up I think it was 20 was it 27 yeah yeah if you go to SoundCloud you will see up to 27 yeah and there is one more feedback coming in this up to verse 29 we have done well yeah yes sir we have definitely done 27 and 28 and 29 I'll just follow up to that so they're going to go ahead we just quickly touch on 27 28 and then 28 29 and then go to 30 so we have done this that was the last class you look up SoundCloud or this audio recordings where they are available you will see those have been done alright let us go ahead was there anybody else yes Domanick yes it is because of the prakruti yes yeah that is the mystery isn't it so we start there we are already in tackle there and so how do we see the difference between prakruti and ourselves the Earthmen and remember getting entangled and getting free both are in the mind the Atman in itself is ever free it's only using the mind that you know it's like reflecting this truth in the mind that I the Ockman am ever free of prakruti of body and mind action goes on at the level of body and mind till now I was thinking I am this now instructed by Krishna instructed by Vedanta I'm aware of a deeper dimension to myself which is not involved in body right yes actually it sounds peculiar how does the mind realize itself but it's consciousness the mind illumined by consciousness consciousness plus mind it's like it's like a very good example is when I say I am happy I am happy who is saying this actually if you see physically it's the tongue which is saying it the vocal apparatus I am happy but it refers to the mind where is happiness happiness is not on the tongue or in the voice box happiness is in the mind mine cannot speak so the mind uses the vocal apparatus to express its happiness similarly Atman itself does not think or get confused or get realized also all the ignorance is in the mind but it refers to the Atman no no tragedy does not get liberated the Atman who was under the confusion that I am one with prakruti realizes that I am not one with prakruti and both the ignorant confusion and the Enlightenment both are at the level of intellect of the mind which is part of prakruti so Prakrit even Sankey of example but kriti does two things involving the Atman in action it gives the result Baga and also gives liberating knowledge finally liberate the Atman from itself broccoli never is never neither bound not liberated prakriti's matter is material and yeah it's just this physical universe physical and subtle universe now if the unenlightened person is getting trapped in prakruti in this way what does the how is the enlightened person different unlined light in person gets trapped by the action performed by the body and mind in the material world and thinking itself to be the body and mind but then what is the difference well about when how does the enlightened person act 28 verse so I hope all of you have got some text any text will do as long as it has got the original bhagavad-gita tucked away to maha-baho goona karma vibha guy you gonna gonna show votante a team at nasa jetty so a great warrior on the contrary the knower of the truth of the distinction between the constituents of prakruti and their operations does not attach himself to works knowing that the constituents operate amidst constituents it's it sounds very dry in English constituents operator home constituents to that 208 to to means to distinguish two means but but to distinguish the enlightened person from the unenlightened person what's the difference Prakriti guna this term Prakriti guna means body mind prakriti's is nature and guna means its constituents and it means the products of nature the entire cosmos material universe the body and the mind including the senses the motor organs sense organs and the the mind intellect memory and ego all of that is property the actions performed by the body and mind are also prakruti the objects which the body and mind interact with are also prakruti and so this is how the enlightened person knows he says guna karma Vibha jo knows that this distinction of the gunas buddhist means Prakriti con a practical I remember it means body mind specifically here it means body mind everything in the cosmos is practically gonna but here specifically body mind so it knows the distinction between Prakriti corner that means body mind karma the activities performed by this body mind and what is the knowledge of the enlightened one neither of them is Atma I am NOT the world obviously not I am NOT reactions I perform nor am i this body and mind through which actions are performed this is the knowledge of the enlightened one does the enlightened one stop action then no guna Ganesh or tanta objects are interacting with objects I am the witness of it all so action goes on see when the i-ight this suppose this is the body-mind and this is the world an action is when they interact whether I am interacting with the world and this is this is action this is ignorance if I say no I will not interact with the world I will stop action I will sit in a cave and meditate I will not get involved in any kind of activity like Arjuna said I will not fight this war this is also ignorant because in both cases I the consciousness I think I am this body mind so you see activity under ignorance and withdrawing from activity under ignorance both are in karma both are in practically both our ignorance only guna gonna show art on te team at Juana's all dirty the gunas body mind guna shoe objects body mind is interacting with objects that is action knowing this ET Matua knowing this the enlightened one does not get caught up is is never attached to this this is what I want to do this is what I don't want this is good that is bad these two are not me neither the body mind is me nor is the world with which the body mind is interacting with this distinction which is called guna karma vivre Haga that neither the body mind nor the wishes the objects with which the body mind interacts none of them are me see the body mind and the world are in continuous change in action krishna said earlier in the chapter you cannot stop action even for ya even for an instant action at the level of the body mind is continuously going on the moment that I am identified with the body mind I think I am this then I will be constantly caught up in action and there is no way of withdrawing from that action those who think that this is very bad and I will not get involved in this I am going to separate myself from I know in the Himalayas once I was staying a little hot and this young man is too in a cave near near my heart and he would come and speak with me now he was not actually in in any particular sense of spiritual seeker he told me his story he said that he had been working in Lucknow with a nonprofit organization in India they are called NGOs and his Vidya is a very idealistic young man and then he told me that he got so annoyed with the internal politics and the petty little you know personality clashes and even some corruption in that so-called idealistic nonprofit so he got disgusted and I ran away to the Himalayas I will not get involved in all of this so far so good he's staying in a cave and he's attending classes by a Swami in another cave that's how it goes on their caves and huts he came and shared his sorrow with me he used to come into Hill he told me you know the truth is Swami I don't like any anything anymore good such an e like that so you see if there's no intense spiritual desire that that I will get enlightenment I will have God realization I must come out of samsara get get freedom if that is not there simply irritation with the world and try to separate run cell from the world it will just lead to depression and frustration that unhappiness is there so you cannot as long as one is attached to the body mind as I am this you cannot really say that I will not be involved because you already are involved this one the body mind is involved in the world you're the part of the same material order prakruti one more verse then I'll take up one or two questions and we'll move on to the main verse today 29th verse in contrast to this enlightened person 29th worse again repeats the confusion of the unenlightened Prakrit air guna some more ha sad Jonte guna karmasu Tana krishna vido Munden krishna bin which are late so those who are confused or deluded by the constituents of Prakriti the gunas of clarity they get attached to the activities of these constituents such Jean Tigana karma so the one who knows the totality Krishna wit Krishna which means Krishna means everything not Krishna Krishna means everything which means no the knower of everything knower of everything means the one who was referred to in the earlier verse who knows body mind is prakruti matter not me the world is prakruti matter not me made of sattva rajas tamas so the whole thing is interacting with itself I am the separate witness you see it's not even annoyed it's a very very song Qian framework the this is the person who knows the whole thing occurred accretes nabbit the one who does not know the whole thing what do they know they know the one one who does not know the whole thing partial knowledge they only know the world and body mind and they think I am the body-mind and here is the world either I will engage in action or I will be spiritual so-called withdraw from from the world those people the one who knows the totality should not disturb them should not confuse them nirvichara life which all it means confuse them confuse them by saying that you are the searched on and the what action for you you are Brahman that will not help so that's the 29th verse retreat a chorus am more confused and deluded by the gunner's of prakruti those who are attached to action I want this I do not want that and therefore I will try to get that and I will try to avoid this if I succeed in my actions I am delighted if I fail I am depressed and this going from unhappiness to unhappiness the knower of the totality should not disturb them but do you know what should should this person do encourage them in dharmic actions the whole of the whole of you know the four levels of life four stages of life brahmacharya then Griest then one oppressed sannyasa was meant to bring about this maturity from you see how it works just when you are young a child or a teenager it's me and mine I want to be happy I want to be successful I'm it's all for myself then you grow up a little more become responsible parents wife husband children more and more once activities become for them so parents you might say worldly but notice the worldliness is actually not exactly for themselves yeah it's it's almost entirely for the welfare of the children so led in their happiness is my happiness in their success is my success you see little expansion has come not just me further expansion comes if there is if a person is the harm occur you know and a thinking person over years automatically a kind of maturity develops that why only these children why only this little family which is connected to this body I am thinking for the welfare of the community welfare of all humanity of all beings this kind of expansion slowly comes so encourage people in action but just make it Darmok action so from our Dharma immoral and unethical action to ethical and moral action from ethical and moral action which may be with desire to ethical and moral action without desire just for the sake of doing good to people and from there automatically a spiritual quest will is bound to come before we go to the next verse he is there somebody has a question yes yes answer is Brahman the many words for it Atman purusa Brahman and it is you it's your real nature whatever we can think of as object this world this body this prana these thoughts this intellect even this ego I I if you can experience it as an object it's all part of Prakriti now normally this is all that we know my world and my self what krishna is telling us the great secret is imparting here is neither your world not this body and mind you consider to be yourself are you you are not this we have studied in Vedanta earlier this is a drishya an object we are the witness of that so it's not even the mind it's not even the intellect it's not even the ego the consciousness which illumines ego ah-hum consciousness will illumines intellect mind body and when the senses that consciousness you are none of these things all of these things are part of practical product subtlety so this is a sanction framework in which a clear distinction is made between purusa and prakruti Atman and prakruti they don't use the term Brummel so pollution means you the consciousness and prakruti is all that we are using the body mind senses usually we do not know this secret so we think we are the body mind senses this person who has been bar and I am a man a woman a father mother and this professional who's working all of them are true but that's not the entire story about you that's why he has used the word Krishna with no one who knows the totality we don't know the totality we know only a small part of it and that's why we get trapped this prakruti of Sankhya is actually the maya of advaita in Sankhya prakruti and kirusha treated separately you have to realize you are not difficulty or not the body mind that is what he calls Prakriti guna that we are not the products of prakruti in advaitha Vedanta not only is practically separate and it's also not real it is the same Brahman which is appearing as priority so in a in Sankhya there is a duality prakruti Purusha is final ultimately two things are there Purusha you the consciousness and prakruti and of course each one of a separate position is a different matter Advaita Vedanta says no there is one reality you alone and you alone are appearing as priority when Sankhya prakruti is real innovative around the prakruti becomes Maya which is an appearance not ultimately real one more person has Nash karma means going beyond action and shri krishna at the beginning of third chapter when arjuna says tell me one path of action path of knowledge and what is it is in his mind he does not want the path of action because he does not want to fight this war anyway when krishna is pushing him to do his duty and do karma yoga fight this war without detachment he does not like that suggestion so what is in his mind is nice car mere reddish karma means transcending action and krishna teaches him I think the third verse of the third chapter is that by giving up action nobody transcends action now he sannyasa now Deva rush Carmy impurity or know that you do not enjoy the transcending of action just by taking sannyas and not being engaged in the world it will become like that young man who was sitting in the cave and I apparently witness but he is saying Kucha Chan electrum go it's depression unhappiness that is true because if you are if you are I just lost track of my thought yes so a if if one is you know not does not have a higher spiritual goal even sitting in the Himalayas after some time what will you see just rocks and water and cold and loneliness you feel unhappy after sometime unless there is a spiritual goal which one is pursuing what is nice karpea it is your real nature it's the real nature of the Atman in the Atman there is no action Y action is in practically as we Krishna is saying all action is done by prakruti we only don't know the difference actually your real nature is nature male but that is not realized only by stopping action this example I gave suppose this is the world / treaty and this is you the but you means your body mind this is also practically now when this is engaged with this we say it's action when this withdraws from this I will sit in the mountain we say this is inaction but Krishna says this is not in action this is also a kind of action it's a kind of foolishness the body mind and the world are continuously moving and they're in action together you have to realize you're apart from the body mind in the world that is real mesh Kamiya and that's the goal of karma yoga and gamma yoga does that address your question yes thank you now comes a beautiful verse 38 verse this is really the verse I wanted to talk about today we have time yes so all right we say all right Krishna I have understood the enlightened person knows that I'm not the body and mind has understood the real secret of action body and mind continue to act but I am the unaffected witness but suppose I am NOT enlightened yet I have to be honest I do feel I am the body and mind I am reading all this but I get a idea about the witness but I feel I am this body and mind especially when I'm not in zum class when I am actually in the world engaged in action I feel I am this person and I'm acting so what do I do what is the practice shri krishna we would have said i've been telling you all this while karma yoga situation is not like that he again gives the whole teaching in a very beautiful verse 38 verse wonderful words so let me just read out the verse verse number 30 my sarvani karmani sannyasi Atma cheetahs nourish ear Niram hood wha you just were we gotta Jorah ha surrendering all works to me mean means Krishna God by with a spiritual ideal or consciousness with the spiritual consciousness near our shield without desire near mama without attachment you just engage in this fight that means your battle of life we gotta do our without literally it means being free from fever that means being free from suffering and sorrow and anxiety so what does this whole thing mean surrender or offer all your activities to me who I you the Jeeva who is who thinks that you are not yet enlightened you don't really think of yourself as the witness Patricia you think of yourself as the body-mind so far all right here is a practice for you all the activity yes as body mind as the Jeeva ahankara I am the person who is acting to this body and mind in this way only continue acting all your actions activities all means sir body means laukika waiheke all your spiritual practices your puja chanting meditation plus all your secular activities your walking talking cooking driving teaching business everything medical service all of that do it as a worship of God my serve our knees and yes you giving up offering all of this to me to me means to Shri Krishna to to the Lord to Bhagwan how will you and Sandhya means and the important thing suddenly she literally means giving up so here giving up means not giving up the activities this is the teaching of Krishna continue the activities you cannot give up continue the activities offering them sannyasa means offering them to me mentally like a puja when you offer flowers fruit incense similarly how do you do that adhyatma jitters are very important what is the internal attitude I am this Jeeva seeking enlightenment God realization I am the doer I feel I am the two humm cata Ishwara issue elaborate about the Shankar Acharya says and as the servant of Ishwara Bhagwan God in whatever form you understand love and worship the Lord is my master I am the servant and I am doing this as my service to God what all your daily duties all your religious Act worship all your professional activity everything is my offering my service to God the Lord is my master I am thy servant this is called Antioch machetes are the goal should be a spiritual goal this is what he's saying that there is an ultimate reality which I have to realize and this is my worship this my practice and then near Oishi without any desire of my own it activities will go on but it's not ultimately for satisfying my personal desires which was the goal earlier near mama with detachment it is not me and mine now all that knowledge will come useful I have been taught this world is pretty this body is pretty I have not realized it yet but I have been taught this so this should be my attitude it's not mine even the mind the thoughts the activity the prana by which I get the energy all my actions karma all of them they belong to God up to the ego even I the one which is feeling I I also belong to God all of this entirety from the external world to the body to the senses to the mind to the intellect to the ego also all of it belongs to God non mama not mine we gotta Chara without any concern without any anxiety now see desire and possessiveness this leads to anxiety all sorts of stress and strain they come because of desire and possessiveness it is mine and I want these things clear so when you say that it is not mine and all of it is worship of God we'll see immediately tension will go away it is the Lord's world it is the Lord's body the children of the family the company the economy coronavirus all Lords I give unto the Lord everything that I experience so with this you will become unconcerned serene because he's going to fight a war so there'll be a lot of stress and lot of unhappiness and tension and sorrow you can see today people were struggling with illness there are doctors fighting life and death battles in the ICU in all the places there are people whose business is failing they're people who are working who are afraid I may be laid off what is the future the students who are afraid will die get a job afterwards what what about the health of my parents and my relatives and so on so all of this tension all of this belongs to the Lord I offer return to the Lord otherwise Jorah Hodge fever say we hit Jorah means fever we gotta join up without any tension exempt teenagers do they use the term or the Americans here also be COO being COO the teenagers use the term take a chill pill take a chill pill means to relax and act engaged in action but relaxed so Sri Krishna is always portrayed in these books you know he's driving the chariot of Arjuna and dynamic these horses is holding them back in the middle of the battlefield place of action but he always has a slight smile on his lips so eternal eternally relaxed eternally calm deeply calm in the midst of intense action that is Karma Yoga Swami Vivekananda's description it eternal calmness in the midst of intense activity the garage or aha you just engage in the battle of life don't withdraw that is not spirituality now quickly I will share with you some insights from swami ram soup das ji now he has a very nice commentary in hindi called sadhaks and javonni so I use a number of commentaries shankara's come in free always now more and more mother Susan's commentary Shri Harris commentary I used to use it earlier right now the book is not with meats in in my apartment at Harvard and the Swami Rancic does his Hindi commentary which is very nice in this verse he has given some very wonderful observations which I'll quickly share with you then we can take a few questions first he gives a sh loca beautiful shloka from Mahabharata from the Shanti Pervin of Mahabharata that shloka goes like this do Akshara Muhammad rip to tree akshar Umbra mahashiv Atum mummy teacher Bhavan brick to Norma me teacher Joshua Tom [Music] these this word of two letters two letters are death and three letters are the eternal Brahman two letters mama mine the Sanskrit word mind mama this is the two letters mine Pavitra - this is death and the three letters na mama not mine means nine not mine shush wotton grandma is the eternal Brahman so such a powerful small I never had never seen this verse earlier in such a precise way and compact and powerful way all of Karma Yoga is given to us not mine dying my lord everything belongs to God if you say what belongs to you only God belongs to you but everything else belongs to God the world body mind senses intellect even the ego this I feeling this little sentient being I also belong to God when it gives it quickly several points I'll quickly run through them body prana senses mind none of them wherever ours they are not ours they will never be ours what we think it is my body my mind my projects in life my desires no this is false they wear now towers they are not ours they can never be ours and why not he says between the eternal and non eternal neatly or an idea between the eternal and non eternal there can be no relationship that which is continuously changing and you the consciousness which is beyond change you cannot be tied see if you sit still and another person or say a dog is moving and you are tied with that to the dog you are holding a leash either you will be able to pull that the dog or the dog will pull you I've seen sometimes dogs are so powerful they pull the personnel of rather than the person so if you are connected to something moving and changing you will be forced to move and change with it but if you are unchanging by nature you are beyond change pure consciousness pure being no birth no death no change no disease no old age then you cannot be connected to this body which is has got a birth and growth and old age and disease and death it only appears to be connected he says money via you just think you think that it's it's I'm connected to this body actually or not in no place in no way are you connected to the body or even the mind very powerful insight you think about it I am NOT the body I am not the mind I am not connected to the body I am not connected to the mind the body and mind are not - I am aware of them but they are not mine they all belong to God great relief will come if you think about it he says all activities you can surrender them to the world you can surrender them to prakruti or you can surrender them or offer them to God it's the same thing amounts to the same thing world means these many people speak like this see I don't understand all your religion and everything but I have some duties I have to take care of my family and my children I have some responsibilities to my job and I try to do a good job so I really don't want anything from this but this is what is the fact and I'm trying to do my best you are offering your work back to the world you don't want anything he says that's good enough a deeper understanding is all of this is not the world the world is nothing but practically the source is practically so prakruti is doing everything I am the witness that's the second way same thing but this is better which it's the song Qian inside but the priority in Vedanta prakruti is the power of God it is Maya so if you offer it to God all the activities that's the best of all so this is one interesting insight world prakruti God you offer your activities to whatever you're doing without a wanting anything behind all will be spiritual but the best one is to offer it to God what about me if I offer everything to God no need to ask for anything God will give you whatever we need once we do this everything belongs to God including I myself whatever I need will be given by God it's just current of the body-mind uper karana house car gadgets then activity karma the activities which I perform with these instruments and I the Jeeva all of us below everything belongs to God and he says this is cutting the links with priority Sankyo wants you to cut pollution prakruti be ogre separation this is separation not actually trying to stop activity let everything go on but I know this is my internal attitude at the heart machetes are internal spiritual attitude or spiritual consciousness this he calls among the with Chadha this is cutting your relationship with prakruti pollution clarity are separated this attitude so not physically so the sannyasa does not mean actually I'm going to give up everything so I give away my house my gadgets and all my favorite possessions what do they call yard sale I'm selling everything of divorce husband wife and children I say you go your orphans from now on I am nothing to you this is physical giving up he says no no not physical giving up all of it is offered to God mentally and he says here see the pooja which we do they are also we're offering to God the distinction subtle distinction my money I am using it to do the puja so I am giving what is mine to you and the internal attitude there is so you give me something back that is the attitude that kind of religious bargaining that is at the heart of most conventional religion I do a puja I offer a Virata you know offer of observe a vow I do something so that it is mine I am offering to you my lord now I want something in return then you cure this disease or you give me a job or this so this is conventional religion and what krishna is teaching here no not like this whatever belongs to you that only I'm offering to I I recognize the fact that nothing nothing here belongs to me it is all time then what will happen is he says very sweetly he says Ishwara God is very pleased with this attitude when if you bargain you will get what you want he says if you give misciagna to God my the Shires my objects i give to you my lord then the lord returns the exact favor my objects I will give back to you something you'll get what you want that's it finished but if you give yourself and everything to the Lord then the Lord gives himself to you so you get infinity in return you get moksha God is pleased by this attitude he says then what happens is all the work that you do and all the instruments that you use in work they all become part of your puja whether you're driving you are doing a computer call you are taking care of the children everything becomes part of puja then it becomes a spiritual practice then activity goes on same activity goes on but now it becomes a spiritual practice another point he makes is desires will keep coming after this also say I make the surrender now then desires will keep coming because of the conditioning of the mind attachments will keep popping up as desires come as attachments come as sorrow and reactions come keep continuously offering it to God so it is it's a practice to be repeated whenever you have trouble I am saying that I am detached and all belongs to God not to me but I feel this attachment I cannot overcome then offer it to God let the Lord take care of it mentally do that then he takes up this word you just swap fight the battle of life and he points out the importance of work he says in 6th chapter 6 we will read 2nd versity says our Uruk showmen a yogam Karmakar an amateur the third verse for those who are climbing on the path of spiritual not yet advanced but we are moving upwards work is the means sod on eyes work and another place in 12 chapter 12 verse they are not he says they are not karma volatile go higher than meditation is Karma Yoga giving up the results of of work so work this is fighting the battle of life it is essential Shri Krishna's again and again recommended it he also says the which words work is worse than battle why a battle is mentioned here Arjuna's battle the worst kind of work in the field of action the worst kind of action the most terrible kind of action is war and if Arjuna can do karma yoga in the midst of war whatever is our activity in life whatever we are going to do we should not think this is very unspiritual and spiritual activity something else so in our own field of activity in family in job in our day-to-day struggles it can all be spiritual eyes last point very interesting point he mentions look at the verse yes the whole verse is about karma yoga karma yoga the verse tells you that offer all activities to me my serve Arne Carmen is an Nisa and Abdi at machetes are with a spiritual attitude and myth make sure near Ashida should not be any personal motive behind it near my mother she detachments not mine and then regatta Jolla I'm free of anxiety he says look at this verse carefully the first part first quarter of it my serve on eHarmony sannyasa is bhakti-yoga offering all activities to me at the hot Matassa with the spiritual consciousness is gana yoga and the last line of the verse Neera Neera mom abude wa mrs. yu da sua we got a tiara that is karma yoga for you in this one verse which is about karma yoga but actually you find bhakti Jana and karma together good I'm done and I have over yes sattva and Thomas serenity and laziness they look alike both seem very calm but one is just sleepy other one is calm and meditative so Thomas is overcome by Rajas and resist by scepter so the practiced way of practicing which is a whole chapter which is gonna try Viva yoga will come up the whole practice is overcome laziness by action and action is to be restrained by serenity so yes one good way is to have a routine and stick to it no matter what your mood is today I am lazy today I don't feel like it or today I feel very restless I will not do my meditation know whether it is Raja sir Thomas they have to be converted into sattva because that way is a good basis for spiritual practice remember even such way is not spiritual but it's a good basis for spiritual practice anybody yes you're supposed to offer everything to the Lord and the Lord believe me knows us much better than we know ourselves what we consider to be bad actions in over which we feel guilty about or which we feel unhappy about are simply childish in the eyes of the Lord but still I understand what you mean so there are certain things which we hesitate what somebody who is very beloved to me somebody who is very respected there are certain things that I will not do or offer to that person so similarly if that is so then the lord is the most beloved in the most respected so how can I offer something ugly something something you know which is maybe sinful or I don't like it then you do not but try to overcome at least depend on the Lord that this is what is there please help me to overcome this yes very good I get this feeling that I talk too much too fast so maybe we'll try to do a little less so that more people can participate next time we can move a little more slowly then but there is this all right if you have any feedback also you can write and let me know whether I should go a little more slowly or there should be more interaction I still have to get used to this this format is electronic format let me do the Shanthi mantra Oh Zhang de Xiang this Shante he hurry he own that's a Sri Ramakrishna Moscow chanting the verse together yes that would be good there's a suggestion but zoom the problem is if you try to do something together the zoom gets confused because it'll keeps flipping back and forth between different speakers that's the only problem with zoom in one of the last classes which I had at the Divinity School they tried to play a song which was sung by different people together in different countries but it was a mess let me see all of us be dispersed all right then now thank you placate and thank you for coming I'm seeing so many people some new faces yes : Babu is there you can see the oshika someplace from across right across the country and the way on the west coast some from Texas I'm from California yes one or two are from India yes that must be really early there take care stay safe may the Lord bless all of us Jai Sri Ramakrishna you