Video 61

61. Bhagavad Gita I Chapter 5 Verses 2-4 I Swami Sarvapriyananda

guru we are studying the bhagavad-gita we are on chapter 5 which is called sannyasa yoga the yoga of sannyasa and arjuna asked a question that you have taught me renunciation of action and the performance of action which is good which is better which one will lead me to the highest goal that is moksha enlightenment and freedom tell me one with certainty now we saw last time in the discussion of this question that these questions this question can be interpreted in two ways in one way it does not make much sense because if you are talking about the performance of karma yoga or the or gyana yoga doing your action uh without a selfish motive doing duty for duty's sake or as a worship of god for the purification of the mind and um yoga for getting knowledge for getting enlightenment well then both are necessary there's no option there one has to purify oneself and make one make the mind ready for enlightenment and for enlightenment one has to pursue this vedantic enquiry so in that sense there is no choice but there is a choice in the in the sense of what kind of life should i lead to achieve enlightenment i want enlightenment i want god realization i want the final freedom but before me there are different approaches we have been told that one can attain it while remaining a householder in the midst of action in the midst of worldly relationships and yet become enlightened or one can leave all of that and become an all renouncing monk completely dedicated to vedantic inquiry and meditation and without any relationships with the world no positions no relationships no obligations or duties that is also possible so which one these two are possible and last time we discussed some religions which stress or maybe over stress monasticism early buddhism was very monastic though mahayana is much more balanced but early but the buddhism was very monastic jainism is very monastic there are religions which do not stress monasticism at all or completely forbidden so for example in islam or in judaism they have ascetic traditions but not monastic traditions as such even sikhism so sikhs have great respect for monks i've seen that in the himalayas so sikhs come and you know there's they have a bhandara for they feed the monks and have very great respect and these are hindu monks the medantic monks but the sikhs themselves do not advocate uh renunciation and monastic life so that's very interesting um and there are religions like say christianity catholic christianity and hinduism which have strong monastic traditions and yet they do not stress it or overstress the monastic aspect of it so all this all these in hinduism the both of these options are open one may one may um remain as a householder and become enlightened one may actually um one can become a monk from the very beginning from the brahmacharya stage itself so like we we become monks in the ramakrishna order we become monks at the very beginning of our lives you know before getting into the householder life or what was traditionally prescribed that at one point one may go beyond householder life and become a monk uh become a sannyasi i know such people in their householders and then they retired from the jobs the children grew up and went away and then maybe the person usually men i have met who had no more obligations uh maybe the wife had died and or the children were no longer in touch and this person decides i want to become a monk formally and that has also happened i've seen that a lot of that so which of them so what do i do arjuna is asking so we shall see sri krishna's answer verse number two sri bhagavan sannyasa karma yogas the blessed lord said renunciation and performance of selfless action both lead to liberation but of the two the performance of selfless action is superior to the renunciation of action so the words used here are sannyasa and karma yoga sannyasa and karma yoga both will lead you to moksha here just um you know this but i'm still putting it out there so that you are aware of it i am giving these interpretations based on shankaracharya's interpretation it's an advaithic interpretation i'm giving because if you take up other interpretations these words same words will be interpreted in different ways so for example in this verse i will say according to the advaithic interpretation sannyasa and karma yoga both lead to moksha now what sannyasa means here is one gives up worldly possessions and relationships and formerly assumes you know the ochre robe the vows of sannyasa and gives up secular and worldly religious duties also and then one becomes a monk and has no positions no no obligations no relationships and is one is dedicated entirely to vedantic inquiry so the bulk of the time and energy is spent in what in sravana manananda and even here in monasticism there are two kinds of monks one is called vidwaat sannyasa another one is called vividhisha sannyasa the vidhwat sanya says the renunciation of the enlightened a person who has already become enlightened before taking to formal monasticism has already realized i am brahman now may decide to become a monk formally because that seems to that person to be the best expression of that person's enlightenment that kind of lifestyle is most suited so one may become a monk but that person has not become a monk in order to become enlightened he's already free he's a jivan mukta and feels that being a monk is the easiest way to express enlightenment to live the life of a jivan mukta the other kind of monk most of us are in the second kind the second kind is vivid shah sannyasa means desire to know the desire to become enlightened we have come into monastic life in order to with a desire to become enlightened with the desire to get brahma-gyana the knowledge of brahman so vivid sannyasa we are not enlightened yet and we need all spiritual practices including karma yoga so we have a whole set of spiritual practices which are prescribed and such monks but they are monks they are formerly monks and they do not have worldly responsibilities so that's one group and they will practice sravanamananananananananananananananananananananananananan and negedhasana plus some kind of upasana will be given in our ramakrishna order we continue the practice of easter devata and ishta mantra among traditional vedantic monks they may not do that they may they made up to becoming a monk they may repeat the gayatri mantra after becoming a monk they give up the gayatri mantra they may repeat om just om itself that's a that's a kind of meditation and there'll be karma yoga they'll have to work for the ashram or you know serve the guru or do some kind of karma yoga the usual rituals of the hindu grihastha are not meant for monks whereas and and therefore they and in this way they will attain enlightenment hopefully whereas those who are in worldly life in in grayastra ashram if they want to become enlightened he says karma yoga they will perform karma yoga now all the work that they do all the duties they perform at home on the community or in their careers now mentally the attitude changes earlier why were they doing it dharma karma for attainment of pleasure utter for attainment of success and power and wealth and dharma the basis of on the basis of morality and ethics they would pursue these worldly goals that was the life of a householder and they would also perform religious duties so that they accumulate merit after death they go to heaven swarga prakti but they'll come back again so this once the person decides this is not for me i want the highest god realization but remaining in worldly life then that person takes to karma yoga all those things are performed now but as a worship of god and then here is the advaithic interpretation it addition which is not clear in the verse itself will that person by performing karma yoga attain to enlightenment advaita vedanta would say no no with by performance of karma yoga purification of mind will be there and they need to undergo um shravana manan and dhasana the full course of ghana yoga listen they have to come to the gita class basically to put it very simply you have to do your duties in the world and you know family but as karma yoga and come to the class and you know do self-inquiry meditate on it till one gets enlightenment and that's possible in householder life too he says so this is the meaning of the first line nishreya sakarao means the highest welfare so nishreisha is highest welfare in fact in the introduction to the bhagavad gita shankaracharya says the vedic religion has two aspects it's a beautiful uh description of what religion is what is religion after all so shankaracharya says the vedic religion has two aspects pravriti lakshmana and everything and everything has used these terms again and again pravrtti literally means circling outwards going out into the world action literally it means action niriti means withdrawal the inward journey the spiritual journey what are the purposes of these two pravriti welfare prosperity growth development so the whole course of human development personal and civilizational all that is covered under abu dhabi and religion is helpful there religion is meant for that it gives you morals and ethics it you have the blessings of god for the spiritual journey all of these things are necessary for a family life for your personal life family life and this and the civilizational life so for the growth of our prosperity growth for your own self-development to become a better pers person a bigger person you know to have full play to your talents achieve things in the world you know in the field of whether it's business or education or art or science whenever all sorts of growth and development uh betterment human betterment that is called abu dhayr and that is the purpose of religion that you might say that one might do that without religion also truly especially in today's world we are more secular than it has ever been in known history our modern civilization especially in the advanced countries is more secular less religious than it has ever been in the history known history of humanity so we are pursuing secular goals of human development without religion but religion has a role to play it has a psychological role to play for good for our psychological health it is it gives us ethics and morals and so on there is a big debate now can you have an ethical society a moral society without religion without any kind of religion there are um there's reasoning on both sides i remember i had an interesting discussion in the monastery you are often discussed the india is such a religious country so much corruption and so many problems in society and uh i remember the first time i visited i went outside india i saw singapore and i went to australia both are very high functioning states you know if you always see the top 10 in living standards australia new zealand will always be there in the top 10 very little corruption very advanced in terms of technology very prosperous very little poverty so i asked and in both cases i saw very little religion so religion has become less and less important over over time so you have a high functioning civil society without religion now what does this mean one monk said that this is just a recent phenomenon you have to give it time give it 100 years 200 years with a completely secular non-religious society and see what the effect is right now you have centuries of you know everybody who was more or less australian until last you know like until the 60s or 70s they were all christians they had centuries of christian tradition behind them the whole civilization was a christian civilization in singapore you have buddhism and confucianism and christianity and hinduism so the effect of all of these is is still very much there you can't say that it is a completely religion-less society on the other hand um one gentleman in australia said religion has been declining over the last 20 30 years um until 1960s 70s religion is pretty strong people went to church and it was pretty religious also pretty corrupt pretty racist and and now he says people have lost interest in religion all sorts of religion and pretty prosperous pretty you know one of the least corrupt countries in the world so what do you say that religion is not necessary for ethics and morals i don't know the answer really i mean if you have a completely secular society which is also very moral and ethical that that would be interesting yeah but anyway shankaracharya says one of the purposes of religion is obvious personal and societal development religion helps and the blessings of god are necessary and also remember in the vedic idea it was not just in this life you also want a very good life after this so you go to heaven and after that a better birth better placement next time so all of that is given by pravriti lakshmana the the part of religion which is concerned with the vedic karma khanda the ritualistic portion of the vedas that's a kind of conventional religion and then shankaracharya says another part of religion is nivriti lakshana the religion which is circling inwards which is the inward spiritual journey what is the goal there what's the goal in the first one development prosperity growth betterment human betterment what is the goal in the second one this is shankaracharya that uses the word nish which means moksha freedom from this entire cycle of birth and death so religion is covered both to put it simply religion has these two aspects there's a conventional part of religion where and i like to put it this way we use god for your own welfare god is a convenience for my life my life is better if i add a little bit of god to it and the second kind of religion the higher religion the spirituality is um my life for god the goal of my life becomes god goal of my life in the first one is betterment welfare and god helps the goal of my life in the second and the second one is um god god itself himself herself or itself enlightenment is the goal so here in the gita already it is the second goal very clearly that's why i never retire i'm never tired of repeating this again and again whatever one may use the gita for for management for physical health for um you know positive psychology for therapy all those things are fine but the gita is a moksha sastra is a scripture teaching you the second goal of religion the higher goal of religion spiritual freedom that's why he says both of these are paths of spiritual freedom means both the householder spiritual seeker and the monastic spirit the monastic is by definition a spiritual seeker why would you adopt a monastic life unless you are a spiritual seeker and the householder is by choice a spiritual seeker but arjuna's question was not this arjuna's question was tell me one which is better for me and then he says among the two better than becoming a monk is to be a spiritual seeker in householder life he says karma yoga which is karma yoga is better than you know performing your actions in life in worldly life in a spirit of karma yoga is better than giving up the actions in sanskrit is sarupatha yaga giving the actions up all together not engaging in um you know doing anything in the community or in the family just withdrawing to an ashram a cave or a hut in the himalayas that's an alternative and that's possible and you can become enlightened by that that's all very clear let's be clear about that and yet uh krishna says that the path of the householder spiritual seeker is better is better there are advantages then number three what sort of advantage why is this better remember krishna has an ulterior motive here arjuna is all ready to run away and become a monk krishna wants him to fight this battle so krishna says no no this one you can fight the battle be a prince and a warrior and become enlightened too wouldn't that be great third verse a so the person who has neither raga or dwesha likes or dislikes should be known as a perpetual renouncer of action the perpetual sannyasi is already naturally a monk for o mighty armed one one who is free from the dual throng is easily freed from bondage so there is an advantage to householder life the advantage is you know suramar krishna the holy mother and others they would say that why would you wander around begging for a morsel of food i think i mentioned how swami turian and the in vinda were in austere you know wandering as a wandering monk you're supposed to beg for food up to three houses five houses or seven houses one day he begged for food from 30 houses and it was a very poor area nobody had anything to give except a piece of dry bread chapati so he was exhausted and he was dismayed and frustrated he was thinking people are working poor people are working to earn their livelihood i am a parasite i am not doing anything not producing anything and he went to sleep under a tree and then he had that experience of of expanding to include the whole universe and he felt i am the atman this whole thing itself i'm identified with everything and he had this great feeling of joy um but another time he got one piece of dry chapati after begging a lot and he he went to a well and he dipped the bread in water of the well and he stuffed that soggy chapati into his mouth telling his body eat eat for you i'm put i'm put to so much trouble just to feed you so it's like he's feeding the body so there are advantages notice when people would come to sri ramakrishna and householders would come to sri ramakrishna and say that should we give up then and sudama krishna would always say why should you give up you should stay in in householder life and call on god and the rest of you would say there are so many advantages to a householder life but for a select few those young boys who became the first generation of monks led by narendra nadu became vivekananda when they came in no uncertain terms he encouraged them to become monks i mean when their parents were outraged and they would come and tell sulam krishna you tell them they should get married and get jobs and he would say i tell them they but they don't listen and when the parents would go away he would praise those boys and says don't listen to them that you he would encourage them to become monks only to a small group um so now the problem is immediately the big objection in our minds would be in householder life there are so many obligations and there are so many preoccupations and distractions so our time and energy is taken up you have to earn a livelihood you have to take care of yourself and other people you have to take up responsibilities not only for your family but for for example if you have a job if you have some responsible position in in society arjun is a general in an army just imagine so so many responsibilities in comparison the monk has nothing just just that person and at the most an ashram which is also you can do in a detached way because it's there's no personal acts to grind there so isn't it much easier to be a monk so first of all later he will say why it is not easier to be a monk but now he says that in householder life it is true that there is a lot of um demands upon you and what it manifests that as it says is ragadvaisha is the problem he says here um jonathan the one who does not um is not repulsed or has no strong dislikes no strong desires this is a real problem in householder life is not that there are so many responsibilities i have seen monks managing huge institutions lots and lots of responsibilities i've seen many monks without any responsibility at all that's also there but some monks i have seen at least so for example i saw lokeshwar and the institute of culture uh in gold park in calcutta huge institution hundreds of people working there lots of problems at that time there was a marxist government in power in west bengal and trade unions and they're generally anti-religion and so organizations are run by religious organizations you know like monks they're always targeted so all sorts of problems they faced but they managed they they shouldered all those huge responsibilities so lightly you know with peace and a smile and with kindness and grace so the problem is not responsibility the problem is not relationships the problem is not possessions the problem is our relate our internal the way we relate to these things normally what happens is why it is householder life is such a struggle it is not so much the external problem as our reaction to those problems it is our ra graduation our likes and dislikes likes and dislikes is a mild word raga literally means intense attachment intense desire doesn't means dislike repulsion and we are guided by that and there are many such sources which continually awaken this kind of likes and dislikes desires in our mind we have endless unexplained expectations yes that's another good way of putting it we have huge expectations of the world of um people of husband wife even more expectation of children uh even more respect and expectations of colleagues of society of politics and political parties so many expectations and unexamined we feel we we deserve these things we feel we are entitled and then we are shocked when these desires are not fulfilled i was just reading um there was a very smart psychologist here in new york many years ago nobody reads him nowadays i think dr albert ellis so albert ellis uh he i looked him up once it said that at one time he was rated higher than carl jung i mean he was like the most highly rated psychologist after freud for some time and he was right here in new york anyway i was reading in one of his books he says one of the first things i tell patients when they come to me who come to me for counseling so the first things i tell them is the road to hell is paved with unrealistic expectations the road to hell is paved with unrealistic expectations she gives an example of a patient name he has not given maybe a lady or whatever it is this patient says that i had been troubled by this person who was a drunkard and one day i came to the very simple realization that you cannot have these expectations of a drunkard see what was happening is this person said i i deserve to be treated better any normal person expects this basic um you know behavior this basic decent behavior from another person and this person he realized no i cannot expect that because that person is a drunkard is a alcoholic you cannot expect normal reactions behavior response even the ordinary things which you expect decent behavior from others you cannot expect it at all and he says it's a very simple thing but this patient said it was a great revolution to me this person with whom i had struggled for so many years against whom i have got so much resentment and rage built up most of it is due to my unrealistic expectation of something that person cannot give so this is i realized what the doctor had said road to hell is paved with unrealistic expectations shri krishna is saying most of the problems this is why one cannot be spiritual in householder life is because of our unrealistic expectations really the problem is not with householder life the problem is not with um with family the problem is not with relationships with possessions with duties with really um with responsibilities all of those things can be managed if we manage our expectations to manage your expectations the two things raga and vaisha likes and dislikes if the whole thing is now converted into karma yoga i do not want anything from these people i do not want anything from these relationships no expectations this is a battlefield for me it is an ashram for me in fact household is grista ashram in the householder life itself is called an ashram every stage of life is called an ashram ashram is a place for spiritual development so gria starship is an ashram for spiritual development and here all these things which i have to do because of my relationship because of my position because of my responsibilities i shall do as karma yoga as the worship of god it is a special kind of spiritual sadhana which i am performing does not matter how others react whether they satisfy my expectations or not it does not matter i have to see whether i am doing sadhana whether i am doing karma yoga if you do that what a high praise krishna has for that attitude he says this person is ever a monk a monk is somebody who gives up these responsibilities maintains serenity and practices spiritual um practices in in solitude you know in distance from samsara whereas this person in the midst of samsara in the midst of family he says he is nithya sanyasi sanyasi means is ever a monk he's already a monk this person who lives like this managing expectations who has these no unreasonable hatreds or unreasonable expectations we may say yeah but i have reasonable expectations no you don't all our expectations from samsara are unreasonable who are you to demand anything from anybody we demand that because we go into samsara with the idea this is for my enjoyment this is for my satisfaction it is not from the very beginning they have made a huge mistake it is a place for spiritual practice just like an ashram is a place for spiritual practice if you go into it with that attitude what can i give here how can i serve here my lord has come in the form of husband wife children my lord has come in the form of my co-workers my neighbors how do i best serve how do i best do my duties as as puja as spiritual practice then you will see this problem will resolve itself very easily that is the only difference i have seen monks who manage huge institutions hospital instead of culture i mentioned swami okay swaranji i heard from a monk that once there was a communist agitation and they got word that a huge crowd was going to come and surround the institute and they're going to throw rocks and so one of the monks said let me call the police and swami lokashwanji told him no no need to call the police and the expected thing happened the next day this month told me himself next day as expected there was a big crowd outside shouting slogans and throwing rocks and we heard one big rock smashed through the window of the swami's office secretary's office so we ran down there to see what happened and we saw swami lokesh ranji was writing a letter at his desk and the big window had been smashed a rock had actually come into the office and was lying on the carpet with smashed glass loki swansea just had looked up and he went back to his writing now how is that possible how is that possible that story is there about this attachment and detachment you know the classic story about janaka raja and shukadeva so sukadeva the paradigm of a great monk who has completely renounced everything who has only you know has his line cloth and nothing else in the world he comes to the emperor janaka for a discussion about vedanta so they are having a discussion on about vedanta janaka is an emperor but he's also very interested in vedanta and so they have a discussion about atman and brahman and so on till the news comes that the the city of mithila is on fire and the whole the capital city is on fire and the monk shukadeva is out of there like an arrow he runs out like an arrow here somewhere he goes then he comes back to watch janaka's is still sitting there on the chair smiling what happened oh swami where did you go and panting shukadeva says oh it's all right i have one change of you know the loincloth that's my only dress the only dress he has got in the world and nothing else in the position in the world one line cloth and one change so which i had washed in the river and hung it out to dry on that tree branch of a tree and i thought if the fire spreads to the tree and it burns up the line because i went to check and i saw it's all right it's not burnt and janaka smiles when he says if the entire city were to burn down nothing of mine would be burnt um so now it's not that it's not like nero fiddles while rome burns not like that he's doing whatever needs to be done whatever needs to be done in the moment he's doing that and yet it's absolutely serene now it does not mean that by becoming a monk like literally physically giving up all things you'll be free of attachment you'll be actually able to manage likes and dislikes may not be may not be i have seen monks who after becoming they have no responsibilities in the world completely free of all all responsibilities no positions but see where the mind becomes attached still very much involved in uh so for example just to give an example when i was in the himalayas somebody told me of a particular monk who is very well known for his renunciation he would not touch money so no money what did he do although of course lots of devotees came to him especially because he would not touch money he would uh they would bow down to him and offer him money and he had this long pair of pincers with which he would grasp the coins and put it in a box if you have to go to all that extent why not touch the money itself if you are going to accumulate money for the ashram or whatever fine so yeah the rag advaitha on the other hand i have no of a particular swami in one of our ashrams so one gentleman who is to be a volunteer for that ashram he would say that the swami um the old swamp has passed away now who was the head of that it's a small ashram in calcutta whatever money the devotees would give he would throw into one of the dryers in his uh table so whenever i would go and ask we need money for shopping or we need money to buy something for the temple or shrine or something like whatever he would thrust his hand into that dryer and pull out money whatever was there he never knew what was there he never counted he never bothered so he was there money is right there but there's no attachment no interest in it at all now which is better who is managing expectations attachments to money better of course i'm not recommending that as people in the world household as you follow such financial methods of management and you'll be in trouble you can do perfectly good i've seen monks who perfectly manage the accounts and finances many such monks were really good at it not one paisa one one sent up that belongs to them but everything is done perfectly the accounts and the money the investments of an ashram and maintain because it's for them it's a puja it's it's uh i i knew a monk i won't tell his name he was in charge of investing money for our main monastery in balur he grew to be so good at his job that financial company with his investment wizards would come to ask not for spiritual advice for investment advice from him but he didn't make one one cent out of it one rupee out of it it was just for the ocean another monk who was an expert in dairy farming so goshala in the ashram he told me something and he was so well known that veterinary doctors would come to him that the the big institutes which ran huge dairies would ask him to visit and give give them advice and other ashrams would call him not that all monks were in charge of are experts this monk was it is also i asked him and he told me you know what happened i was a novice not even a sannyasi and there was an old swami in charge of the dairy which was very run down into this like poor condition and the swami died and the head of the monastery told me you go and take charge of the dairy i said i have no idea i've never even milked a cow i'm scared of cows so it doesn't matter it's god's work you go and do whatever you can so he said i set about to it i asked people who knew and i worked with my own hands cleaning the dairy i asked veterinary veterinary doctors consulted them i stayed up late in the night you know after reading vedanta i would read veterinary books i would i went to take courses on dairy management till he became an expert this is this is a pun that works only in um uh bengali so i'll try my best to translate it he's a very humorous swami so he said you know the grace of god is upon me so there's the pun on the word guru means cow and guru means of course spiritual master and as a spiritual novice you are supposed to serve the spiritual master that's one of the duties the karma yoga a monastic novice is supposed to do so he said instead of serving the guru i served the guru that means i served the cow but the effect is the same all right one more point and then i'll move ahead so the idea is if you manage expectations if you manage ragadveisha if you and how do you do that by converting everything that we do in in our daily lives in samsara in krista into karma yoga you are as good as a monk who is like a real sincere spiritual seeker a monk who has given up all these attachments you you in fact you will not have no disadvantage what seems to be a disadvantage in greased life is basically because of the way we deal with the problems in greased life in in householder life so that was his point just one point a senior monk told me which matches what what shri krishna is saying here a senior monk told me you know it is the high class of spiritual seekers the evolved class of spirit advanced spiritual seekers who can deal with their problems in meditation who can sit in meditation and as things come up from the subconscious mind they can deal with them it can be done one can overcome one's past conditioning by meditation but it requires a very highly trained mind and a very pure mind which can do that then he said for the rest of us for ordinary people like us we need external struggle we need external struggle we have to deal with difficult people we have to work hard we have to put up with physical illness all of these forms of external struggle which are richly available in householder life and ashram life also will provide it to you when you get into an ashram so uh that is actually good for spiritual development it's good for spiritual development it's not good at the beginning to be left completely alone in a cave in the in the himalayas very soon you get tired of it how long will you feel poetic about it's just wind blasted icy rock and ma and waterfalls and and just solitude turning into like a vacuum of loneliness if the mind is not ready you'll be driven mad by that kind of life means easily in if you lead this kind of a life in householder life you are set free from bondage easily you see one would expect the opposite it is easier if you are a monk it seems to be so monks have it easy you don't have any you don't have to earn your living we are providing for you you don't have to maintain a house either you're in a cave or a heart or an ashram which is maintained by devotees everything is maintained in society by householders not by monks or by students in the brahmacharya ashrams rashford wanna prastasram all three are built on the foundation of grastasham so the householder is the one who is the foundation of society so it seems everything is easy for the monk but no spiritual life is actually easier srirama krishna says the one who thinks of god in the midst of the struggles of society is a hero before i go on let me just take a look at the activity in the chat and questions praveer baby says i understand monasticism in india really started with buddha's this correct no even the buddha's own life what turned him towards spiritual life what is the fourth thing that he saw a monk he saw an old person sick person dead person and then the fourth thing he saw was a monk and there were so many monks buddha himself met them there were lots of them at that time and for a long time go way before buddha britain the hero of vedanta was the first hero of vedanta yagya valkyr who was married he had two wives and what does what happens at the end of the is already enlightened and what happens at the end of the other necropolis he becomes a monk he leaves and walks away and he becomes a monk becoming a monk it you come across it again and again in the upanishads in the vedas so long before buddhism long before jainism in the vedic society also monasticism was there but yes in a big way it came into being with buddhist monasticism the joiners are not given enough credit jaina monasticism also is highly developed along with the buddhist monasticism vishwanathan says could you please help us understand arjun's motivation behind sannyasa he did not say that directly but see the whole idea was he did not want to fight that war and now krishna told him about enlightenment he will become god and realize god that's the goal of life then the solution is inevitable that it's it just follows straight away i don't want to do this nasty stuff and i want to become enlightened that really sounds good and the way to become enlightened becoming enlightened is to give up all this go to a mountain or a forest and meditate and that's it so he wanted to follow that's something that krishna wanted him wanted him not to do to stop that in chapter 4 sri krishna taught arjun the way to see brahman in all actions in everyday life given that why is arjuna considering becoming a monk rather than seeing the action in front of him as yankya yes that is the crucial teaching um to do all action as that purifies and leads to enlightenment arjuna is heard only partially not fully absorbed it's actually a see the clear teaching is here in householder life you are pursuing dharma or takawa you want moksha be a monk so that kind of division was very clear and so to break that mould to be in the householder life and become enlightened and that idea shri krishna is pushing and it's not a new idea actually in the vedas in upanishad you see many of the rishis were taught the upanishads many of them were householders the father is teaching the son husband is teaching the wife there are women in the court of of the kings who are questioning philip vedanti philosopher yagya valkyrie's greatest opponent and questioner in the court was gargi so all of this was there and most of them were householders but yes arjuna has not fully absorbed the implications and it's our benefit also that the whole thing has been explained in detail over the next several chapters it will go on this theme will be repeated again and again by the way um i'm selling it very hard what a krishna's vision of becoming an enlightened householder like like himself or like janaka but it's also true that it's very difficult it's difficult bill says ethical values are transcendent even without god per se so say swamiji yes that is true ethical values themselves can lead to enlightenment if you pursue goodness far enough it becomes god good becomes god abhijit says after day of an office it becomes evident end of the day that most of the issues and pressures that we felt during the day result of friction caused by ego may be similar to unrealistic expectations or likes and dislikes correct correct this is what is being pointed out the real friction which causes tiredness frustration unhappiness complication is is within us it's not so much the office or the family or the you know problems will be there anyway you run away from difficult people in the family you'll find difficult people in the ashram in the householder life it's the struggle is little more of course i know this story about a monk who was grumbling to a devotee many years ago i don't like this ashram so in our system we have many ashrams and if we have problems somewhere we can be supposed to adjust and stay there but we can ask our main monastery for a transfer so this swami was saying to this gentleman or devotee that i'll go away i'll take a transfer and go away then that old gentleman was sitting here he smiled and said some you can do that but spare a thought for us we married people in jobs and in you know householder life we will stay with the same people till the end of our lives we can't keep changing you have the option today you don't like it you walk away you'll get another set of people another place an entirely new setup not possible for us i cannot go away from this house and this place into another house another place like a drop of a hat like you can so that was a big lesson for that monk that it is possible it's much better to adjust where you are ultimately you cannot run away from your problems these problems have been are the product of our prada the karma so if i try to run away from them they will come in another form in the other place i become i have so many troubles because of you know job pressures and so many problems in this world i give it up i become a monk i have no connection with earning money i have no connection with people i have no responsibilities i will sit and read gita only suddenly i will find body is ill sickness comes in the body the same karma which is giving me trouble in household life in some way is now giving me trouble what is the last thing that i can't give up the body the body is there he'll give me trouble in the ashram there'll be difficult people in the ashram so these problems will keep following us ramya says is that what swamiji means when he says be free from hope for nothing from anyone yes i work also seek not avoid not so i'm awakened to give a nice formula avoiding is what arjuna wanted to do and a restless person keeps on seeking newer and newer projects and what to do next fill up the day from morning till evening keep busy especially in these countries i see people are very up and doing so if you if there is a spot in your calendar which is free it makes you uneasy why is it free let me fill it up with some activity no that is restlessness neither seek nor avoid brahmacharya ashram precedes grahastasia what's the premature training for the householders prabhupada yes it was training for householders and monks so at the end of brahmacharya ashram you actually have an option do you want to go into gria starstrom and householder life or do you become one to become a monk why would you want to become a monk the whole idea was taught that ultimately the whole purpose is god realization is enlightenment do you want to take the scenic route then go and become a marry and get a job and go out into the world do all these things or do you want to take the less scenic route the direct path and become a monk straight away do you have that kind of the problem with the monastic life will be talked about next why it is it requires extra preparation it's not all that it's not as easily available option as one might think okay i've got two options i can be a household i can be a monk not so rbg tasks is a consequence of our actions and expectation of enjoyment fruit of the action is that where our expectations come from yes our expectations come from sense of entitlement or expectations come from the desire for enjoyment gita they asks struggles of life teaches to diksha uristashim is a great way to develop in nature diksha is forbearance patience absolutely absolutely grastasham householder life in the family and in your community in the career it develops the quality of patience forbearance which is very very important just remember that beautiful insight from dr albert ellis that wise old psychologist unrealistic expectations are the the road to hell is paved with unrealistic expectations perfect karma yogi will be very close to being again if not already correct purification of mind leads to gyan almost directly as advaitans we will insist on sravana mananananandhasana but the fact is practically speaking realization is very fast i have seen myself um monks who are not particularly intellectual they have been they have not been reading so much of panchadashi or you know um drink trisha vivek or whatever it is advanced or any other advanced text of advaita vedanta not engaging in intellectual debate but they have a kind of deep devotion to sri ramakrishna they have worked hard all their life in the ashram whatever work has been given to them they have led simple austere and hard lives now at this time when when i talk to them about vedanta when i say when it sometimes the occasion for discussion comes up they get these vedantic insights just like that it's immediately clear to them and they the conviction comes also very clearly understanding and conviction comes very clearly in contrast i have seen professors and scholars highly trained who have read much more than me not convinced not have not understood also they make mistake after mistake so why this is the difference in the purification purification of mind absorption of vedanta the the insight must flash it's not enough to read about it it must become your own truth like that person in who was being counseled by dr albert ellis and who said i just now realized all these expectations i had of this drunken person was unrealistic expectations you could have told him that him or her but you have to that person has to realize for oneself what i thought was most justified is most unjustified you should not have expected these things similarly this vedantic insights it must become a living truth and purification of mind is absolutely necessary for that sridhara says how does struggle in householder life exactly help us progress you know this is by purification of mind but remember remember it must be for the purpose of god realization somebody may say so arjuna if he goes and fights a battle he's been fighting battles all along isn't that karma yoga no it is not till this point he was fighting battles for dharmathakama for doing his duty as the kshatriya and for becoming prosperous in the world for getting a kingdom whatever whatever a warrior prince used to do in those days that was the purpose the purpose is very important and the attitude is very important then only karma becomes karma yoga otherwise not i do not want anything from it i am doing it as a worship of god or i am doing it for the welfare of others i have no personal gain from it at least this attitude must be there all right i'm not taking the other questions i'll just read one more verse and stop actually this verse requires some explanation let me just read it verse number four so new new term is introduced here foreign yoga it's only the ignorant who say that these are different even if you follow one you will get the result of both so what does it mean what is sank here here and what is yoga why suddenly this is talking about sankhya so here again the matter of interpretation comes and i'm following shankaracharya very strictly to put it simply what what does shankaracharya make of this verse he says krishna introduces this term sankhya what does sankhya mean here it means a person who has formally become a monk and following the path of ganna yoga following the path of ghana yoga has formally become a monk spiritual seeker and uh is practicing vedantas learning vedanta thinking about it meditating upon it and leading the life of a genuinely leading life of a monk that is what is meant by sankhya so here sankhya does not mean the sankhya philosophy only yoga what does yoga mean yoga here means a grihastha a householder who is a spiritual seeker who is also following um karma yoga and also in addition to that ghana yoga afterwards in order to get moksha so being a householder and a spiritual seeker being a monk and a spiritual seeker are the two paths mentioned here this is shankaracharis and the interpretation of shankaracharya and the purpose of both the goal of both is moksha if you are a spiritual seeker in any one of these paths your goal is moksha so he says those who think these two are different they will not lead to the same goal bala means children are ignorant people ignorant people think these two are different being a householder being a monk are different even if you're a spiritual seeker no if you're a spiritual seeker both of them will lead to the same goal take up any one aastita means practice it samyak sincerely follow it sincerely fulfill its conditions then ubhay or indate you will get the result of both result of both means both lead to the same goal which is enlightenment and freedom you will get both or you will get you will get the result of both which is freedom or enlightenment moksha brahma na pandita the wise do not see a difference here so one after the brahmacharya studentship the initial preparatory phase one can directly become a monk and seek enlightenment that's fine too one can be in householder life and seek enlightenment practice karma yoga and gyani yoga that's fine too one can be in householder life and be a spiritual seeker at at one point later in life become a sannyasi like in traditional you know after gries one can become a monk also some people do that's fine too all of them will lead to spiritual realization the big point is making here and it will run counter to teachings of some of the sects which were prevalent at that time and some of the early buddhist sects were very clear only if you are a monk bhikkhu or a bhikkhuni monk or none then only you can become enlightened other sects claim that only if you are a monk in a male body and then only you become enlightened in this life otherwise you cannot be a pious religious householder and end up with good karma next life will become a monk and then you become enlightened but krishna here is saying that's not the point it's in this context that this is seems to be such a unique very powerful teaching all right i think we'll stop here i'll be like that monk with pincers who grabs the money i give her one of my regular reminders of um do keep uh donating it's it's easy if you use the paypal if you go to the website and there's a button where you can donate whatever you can what you feel like that keeps help helping us in this time of the pandemic so that's my digital pincer with which i can grab the money