1. Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4 - Lesson 1 of 10

As with all scriptures, it is the knowledge and experience that is transmitted verbally as Śri Krṣṇārjuna Saṁvād, an intimate dialogue between Master of the world, Jagadguru Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa and His dear devotee and disciple, Arjuna. It is called śruti in Saṃskṛit, meaning something that is heard.

Gītā, as Bhagavad Gītā is generally called, translates literally from Saṃskṛit as 'Sacred Song of God'. Unlike

the Vedas and Upaniṣads, which are stand alone expressions of Truth, the Gītā is written into the greatest Hindu epic, the Mahābhārat, called a purāṇa, an ancient historical happening. It is part of the recorded history of the greatest tradition, the paramount civilization in all its Divine grandeur and its human complexity, so to speak.

No other epic or part of an epic has the special status and space of the Gītā. No other book but the Gītā gives a scientific, systematic, applied science of living joyfully in completion, while empowering the human actionfield with authenticity to evolve into a responsible Divine play-field.

Called the royal supreme knowledge rājavidyā rājaguhyaṁ (9.2), this one sacred book conveys the essence of knowledge contained in all written and oral vedic truths to enrich the simplest to complex humans at all planes. It holds within itself the direct key to every possible human enquiry, the solution to every dilemma of emotions, and the sublime righteous path and goal of every quest of rising or falling civilizations for every age, time or geography. As a consequence of the presence of the Gītā, the Mahābhārat epic itself is considered a sacred Hindu scripture.

Gītā arose from the super consciousness of Śri Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme God, the complete Incarnation Purṇāvatār, and is therefore considered Gītāśastra—the essential scripture, knowing which, one is liberated from all incompletions, yaj jñātvā mokṣyase asubhāt (9.1) and Gītopaniṣad—the essence of all Upaniṣads, the purest and highest knowledge to be ever known and cognized because it gives the direct experience of the Self pavitram idam uttamam pratyakṣāvagaṁ dharmyaṁ (9.2).

Gītā is the ultimate practical teaching on the inner science of spirituality that expresses as outer victory and success in life now and after. It is not, as some scholars incorrectly claim, a promotion of violence. It is about the impermanence of the mind and body, and the need to go beyond the mind, ego and logic.

The answers of the Divine, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, transcend time and space. Śrī Kṛṣṇa's message is everlasting and joyfully performed, and is as valid today as it was on that fateful battlefield over five thousand years ago. The science of Gītā is the eternal technique of living in completion; the song of Gītā is the eternal life-enriching nectar, having no expiry date, time or age!

Mahābhārat, literally meaning the great Bhārata, is a grand narration about the nation and civilization, which is now known as Bharat. It was then a nation ruled by king Bhārata and his descendants.

Your whole life is nothing but the Mahābhārat War. The Mahābharāt should be read again and again to understand the intricacies of life, the complications of life, and the ability to handle life. The true story of this perfectly recorded epic is about two warring clans, Kauravas and Pānḍavas, closely related to one another. Dhṛtarāṣṭra, the blind king of Hastināpur and father of the 100 Kaurava brothers was the brother of Pānḍu, whose children were the five Pānḍava princes.

It is a tale of strife between cousins and ultimately between dhārmic and adhārmic,

Since Dhṛtarāṣṭra was blind, Pānḍu was made the king of Hastināpura. Pānḍu was cursed by a sage that he would die if he ever entered into a physical relationship with his wives.

He therefore had no children. Vyāsa says that all the five Pānḍava children were born to their mothers Kuntī and Mādri through the blessing of divine beings. Pānḍu handed over the kingdom and his children to his blind brother.

Kuntī, who is the embodiment of tapas, spiritual penance, had received a boon when she was still a young unmarried adolescent, that she could summon any divine power at will to father a child. Before she married, she tested her boon. The Sun god, Sūrya appeared before her.

Karṇa was born to her as a result. In fear of social reprisals, she cast the newborn away in a river. Yudhiṣṭra, Bhīma and Arjuna were born to Kuntī after her marriage by invocation of her powers, and the twins Nakula and Sahadeva were born to Mādri, the second wife of Pānḍu. What happened during the MahabharatA?

Yudhiṣṭra was born to Kuntī as a result of her being blessed by Yama, the god of death, dharma and justice, Bhīma by Vāyu, the god of wind, and Arjuna by Indra, god of all the divine beings. Nakula and Sahadeva, the youngest Pānḍava twins, were born to Mādri, through the Divine Aśvini twins.

Dhṛtarāṣṭra had a hundred sons through his wife Gāndhārī. The eldest of these Kaurava princes was Duryodhana. Duryodhana felt no love for his five Pānḍava cousins. He made many unsuccessful attempts, along with his brother Duśśāsana, to kill the Pānḍava brothers. Kuntī's eldest son Karṇa, whom she had cast away at birth, was found and brought up by a chariot driver in the palace, and by a strange twist of fate, joined hands with Duryodhana.

Dhṛtarāṣṭra gave Yudhiṣṭra one half of the Kuru kingdom on his coming of age, since the Pānḍava prince was the rightful heir to the throne that his father Pānḍu had vacated.

Yudhiṣṭra ruled from his new capital Indraprastha, along with his brothers Bhīma, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva.

Arjuna won the hand of princess Draupadī, daughter of the king of Pāñcāla, in a svayaṁvara, a marital contest in which princes fought for the hand of a fair damsel.

In fulfillment of their mother Kuntī's desire that the brothers share everything equally, Draupadī became the wife of all five Pānḍava brothers. Duryodhana persuaded Yudhiṣṭra to join a gambling session, where his cunning uncle Śakunī defeated the Pānḍava king.

Yudhiṣṭra lost all that he owned—his kingdom, his brothers, his wife and himself, to Duryodhana. Duśśāsana shamed Draupadī in public by trying to disrobe her. The Pānḍava brothers and Draupadī were forced to go into exile for fourteen years, with the condition that in the last year they should live incognito or ajyāta vāsa.

At the end of the fourteen years, the Pānḍava brothers tried to reclaim their kingdom. In this effort they were helped by Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the king of the Yādava clan, who is the eighth divine incarnation of Bhagavān Viṣṇu.

However, Duryodhana refused to yield even a needlepoint of land, and as a result, the Great War, the War of Mahābhārat ensued. In this war, various rulers of the entire nation that is modern Bharat aligned with one or the other of these two clans, the Kauravas or the Pānḍavas.

Kṛṣṇa offered to join with either of the two clans. He says, 'One of you may have Me unarmed. I will not take any part in the battle. The other may have my entire Yādava army.'

When the offer was first made to Duryodhana, he predictably chose the large and well-armed Yādava army, Nārāyaṇī Senā, in preference to the unarmed Kṛṣṇa.

Arjuna joyfully and gratefully chose his dearest friend, his life mentor and his Guru, Kṛṣṇa, Nārāyaṇa, to be his unarmed charioteer!

This whole history is such a beautiful happening. Mahābhārat is actually your life! Every character in the Mahābhārat teaches so much! We don't need to go anywhere for our life success or fulfillment or for anything else that we may desire. We don't need to study any other book to learn the human psychology or the science of living and leaving. Whether we seek righteous living—dharma; or we want to learn business or administration, economy or abundance—artha; or we want to create the best rich lifestyle—kāma; or we want to be a leader and want the enriching life of being enlightened mokṣa, for all these purposes, we don't need anything other than the Mahābharāt!

Study each character. We will not find any more characters in our life than the characters described in the Mahābharāt!

Any character we see in our life is mapped to Mahābharāt's one character. They are either half or full representation of some character.

To know how to handle them and even handle yourself, just see how Śrī Kṛṣṇa handles them and handle them the same way. The Mahābharāt war is a representation of life as it was lived in that age.

Vyāsa, its author is an unbiased historian who recorded the whole history as it happened without trying to apply any makeup. People ask whether the Mahābharāt war happened at all!

If the Mahābharāt was a story and not history, Vyāsa should receive multiple Pulitzer prizes for his highly creative work! The Mahābharāt is the longest literary work in the whole world with hundred thousand Saṃskṛit verses—the longest poem ever written with such delicate harmony of unmatched poetic perfection. It is larger than the Greek epics. Vyāsa had no computer, no tape recorder with speech-to-text capabilities. He dictated and Bhagavān Ganeṣa wrote it down!

• Yudhiṣṭra is embodiment of Integrity the power of words, vāk śakti.
• Bhīma is embodiment of Authenticity the power of thoughts, mano śakti.

Arjuna is embodiment of Responsibility—the power of feeling, prema śakti.

• Sahadeva is embodiment of Enriching the power of living, ātma śakti.
• Nakula is embodiment of causing reality for others.

• Śakuni, the maternal uncle of Duryodhana embodies the pattern of self-hatred, which is cunningness personified.

• Droṇa represents all the best knowledge one imbibes and the teachers one encounters, who guide us but are unable to take us through to the ultimate flowering of enlightenment. It is difficult to give them up since one feels grateful to them. This is where the Enlightened Master, the incarnation steps in and guides us.

• Duryodhana, represents one's ego or root-pattern, the most difficult to conquer as it leads one to self destruction. One needs the full help of the Master here. It is subtle work and even the Master's help may not be obvious, since at this point, sometimes the ego makes us deny and disconnect from the Master as well.

• Karṇa is the repository of all good deeds and it is his good deeds that stand in the way of his own Enlightenment. Śrī Kṛṣṇa has to take the load of Karṇa's puṇya, his meritorious deeds, before he could be liberated. The Enlightened Master guides one to drop one's attachment to good deeds arising out of what are perceived to be charitable and compassionate intentions. He also shows us that the quest for and the experience of enlightenment is the ultimate act of compassion that one can offer to the world. Bhagavan Ṣri Kṛṣṇa, the 8th most powerful purnāvatar of Ṃaha Viśnu, is the embodiment of pure celebration, boundless love, compassion, and completion.

Bhagavan Ṣri Kṛṣṇa is the only incarnation demonstrating and expressing Ṣarva Ṃangalatva all the auspicious qualities and all dimensions of an avatar during His physical happening. The līla Bhagavan Ṣri Krsna is one of sheer innocence and simplicity, in a peace-loving, diplomatic, conflict-free way.

Karṇa is the repository of all good deeds and it is his good deeds that stand in the way of his own Enlightenment. Śrī Kṛṣṇa has to take the load of Karṇa's puṇya, his meritorious deeds, before he could be liberated. The Enlightened Master guides one to drop one's attachment to good deeds arising out of what are perceived to be charitable and compassionate intentions. He also shows us that the quest for and the experience of enlightenment is the ultimate Till now everyone blames Bhagavan Sri Krishna for this Kurukshetra war but that's the greatest sacrifice Bhagavan Sri Krishna did to save the planet Earth. If Kurukshetra was not conducted at that time under the controlled conditions and direct supervision of Bhagavan Sri Krishna, planet Earth would not have survived more than three years.

act of compassion that one can offer to the world. Bhagavan Ṣri Kṛṣṇa, the 8th most powerful purnāvatar of Ṃaha Viśnu, is the embodiment of pure celebration, boundless love, compassion, and completion. Bhagavan Ṣri Kṛṣṇa is the only incarnation demonstrating and expressing Ṣarva Ṃangalatva all the auspicious qualities a nd all dimensions of an avatar during His physical happening. The līla Bhagavan Ṣri Krsna is one of sheer innocence and The wide spread availability of the Astra shastras without Shastra, without the knowledge and vision, was posing a huge threat to the whole of humanity and planet Earth, and for life itself. The greatest achievement of Bhagavan Sri Krishna is destroying all the weapons in one controlled condition and saving planet earth, eliminating the nuclear weapons and the knowledge of these nuclear weapons to save humanity from total annihilation.

conflict-free way.

simplicity, in a peace-loving, diplomatic,

Bhagavad Gītā appears in the heart of Mahābhārat in Bhīṣma Parva, the sixth chapter of its eighteen chapters. Veda Vyāsa, the narrator, in glorifying the Gītā sings, 'the one who drinks the water of Ganges (the sacred river for Hindus) attains liberation, what to speak of the one who drinks the nectar of Gītā?

Gītā is the essential nectar of the Mahābhārat, bhāratamṛta sarvasvam as it is directly spoken by Nārāyaṇa, Bhagavān kṛṣṇa Himself.'

The armies assembled in the vast field of Kurukṣetra, now in the state of Haryana in modern day Bharat. All the kings and princes were related to one another, and were often on opposite sides. Facing the Kaurava army and his friends, relatives and teachers, Arjuna was overcome by remorse and guilt, and wanted to walk away from the battle out of total powerlessness unbecoming an invincible warrior among warriors.

Śrī Kṛṣṇa's dialogue with Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukṣetra out of His utmost concern and love for him and humanity is the content of Bhagavad Gītā. Of its seven hundred and forty-five (745) verses, Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa sings the Gītā in six hundred and twenty (620) verses responding to Arjuna's fifty-seven (57) enquiries.

Śrī Kṛṣṇa persuades Arjuna to give-up his powerlessness unfitting an Ārya—the spiritually evolved one who understands human life and urges him to raise himself again as Parantapa—the conqueror of enemy, and take up arms and vanquish his enemies. They are already dead,' says Śrī Kṛṣṇa, 'All those who are facing you have been already killed by Me. Go ahead and do what you have to do. That is your responsibility. Do not worry about the outcome. Leave that to Me.'

science of yoga and Vivasvān

taught Manu, the father of

mankind and Manu in turn

taught Ikṣvāku.'

Anything created out of the space of completion stands eternally.

evaṁ paraṁparāprāptamimaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ I sa kāleneha mahatā yogo naṣṭaḥ parantapa

The supreme science was thus received through the chain of master-disciple succession and the saintly kings understood it in that way. In the course of time, the succession was broken and therefore the science as it was appears to have been lost.

If you want the ultimate experience, you have to go to a living enlightened Master.

sa evāyaṁ mayā te'dya yogaḥ proktaḥ purātanaḥ I bhakto 'si me sakhā ceti rahasyaṁ hyetaduttamam

That ancient science of Enlightenment, or entering into eternal bliss, is today taught by me to you because you are my devotee as well as my friend. You will certainly understand the supreme mystery of this science.

Logic can never lead you to Self-Realization. The qualification to receive the Truth is Devotion.

Kṛṣṇa is just thirty-two years old when He makes these statements! Physically His body is only thirty-two years old. But He says, 'I gave this imperishable knowledge to Sūrya, the Sun god—imaṁ vivasvate yogaṁ proktavān aham avyayam (4.1).'

With logic, you cannot understand this statement. With ordinary logic, which you use in your daily life, you cannot make any meaning out of this statement. The truth is not new. It is eternal; neither new nor old. Eternal means it is beyond time and space.

When you are in completion, anything you create stands for eternity. It is immortal and eternal. For a religion or any civilization to be alive, three things are important. First, the knowledge and the science of lifestyle, Upaniṣad — what is birth, what is death, why life, what is the purpose of life — the answer to all questions of living and leaving. Second, the buildings architecture and arts. And third, the language.

All these three are made out of the magnetic field of completion in sanātana- dharma. That is why these three things can never be destroyed, no matter how much anyone tries. The architectural wonders and monuments created out of completion, and the linguistic monument and wonder, Saṃskṛitaṁ born out of completion — these can never be destroyed.

Just like the wonders of the world, if you analyse the linguistic wonders of the world, Saṃskṛitaṁ, the devabhāśā— language of Divine, will be the first and only linguistic wonder of the world.

The word Saṃskrit means well done, refined, perfect. Anything created out of the space of completion stands forever, stands eternally. Completion is eternal, Nitya.

When a disciple is not in the space of completion, if he is not completely ready to listen, naturally the technique becomes a ritual.

Our Vedic Masters always transmitted and mirrored the truths through the oral tradition of disciple succession from the enlightened Master to the disciple. The disciple sits in Upaniṣad at the feet of the Master. Upaniṣad means sitting with the Master. Upaniṣad is nothing but — a Master who gets into a space and lets the disciples sit around and mirror his neuron activity in their brains. Upaniṣad is the best way to transmit the experiential expression of the great tattvas.

Understand: If you are not enlightened, you can easily get carried away by anything that you see! The truth or the spirit of anything can be easily lost. If you want to destroy any law, all you need to do is just follow it to the letter and miss the spirit. That is why time and again our Upaniṣads insist upon going to a living enlightened Master.

All our books are only manuals. Vedas are the only books that are courageous enough to declare that they cannot give you Enlightenment. If you want the ultimate experience, you have to go to a living enlightened Master.

This science of Upanishads is given to kingly saints, not to just any saint. Only they can preserve the science as it is. Be very clear, only an enlightened person who is a king or a king who is an enlightened person can know the totality of spirituality. Only a rich man who has enjoyed material wealth can understand the meaning and relevance of spirituality.

Only a king can enter into enlightenment, because he knows there is nothing in the outer space that can fulfill him. He has seen everything; all possible comforts, enjoyments and pleasures. If somebody who has not experienced depression of success enters spirituality, he will stand in front of God and beg, 'God give me this, give me that.'

He may be a religious person, but never a spiritual person. Only a person who trusts that God has the power and the intelligence, can enter spirituality, trusting implicitly that He knows when to give and what to give.

One cannot tell this ultimate truth to a person who is not ready. If it is shared it should become a source of inspiration that transforms your life. By sharing the spiritual experience, if it gives you the courage to take the same jump, if you also feel, 'I think I should also experience the same joy, the same bliss, I should not postpone it,' if it becomes an inspiration for you, then it is worth sharing.

Listen. There was a great Master in South Bharat. He sang a set of poems on Śiva. He did not even write, he just sang the verses. Close disciples who lived around him requested him to put it in writing so that it could be useful to society. He said, 'No, they are my intimate love letters to my Lord. It is my personal relationship. How can I publish it?' the Master says, 'If somebody comes and asks you about your personal life, you can't share it. Only if you become intimate with him, it is possible to open up.'

The Master says, 'It is my intimate relationship with God. How can I share that with the public?' Then one disciple, who considers himself intelligent asks, 'Why? When you can share it with us, why can't you share it with the world?'

Then, the Master says, 'By becoming a disciple, you have become a part of me. Only with a person who has become a part of me can I share these poems. Physically you may be another body, but mentally, you have fallen in tune with me. You have become like a womb, completely ready to receive the divine energy. This is the reason I share my experience with you.'

Unless you enter into a deep receptive mood, unless you become a simple, innocent being, you cannot receive the ultimate truth. The ultimate truth is beyond logic. Initially when you start to teach the truth, it always starts with logic. Words go logically. But after some time, you have to leave logic behind. Otherwise, you can't reach the Divine. You can't talk to God through

logic. If you want the divine relationship to happen, you need love. Here, only a person who understands, who has become a part of the Master can receive the Master's experiences. Unless you become part of the Master, it is very difficult to understand his message. Beyond Logic Lies Devotion. Here, the qualification to receive the truth is devotion. Great truths can never be expressed by logic, because logic is not sharp enough!

That is why Krishna says, 'Now I am telling you these secrets just because you are my devotee and friend, just because you are near and dear to me. The person who does not have a connection with Kṛṣṇa, cannot receive the message.

Now Kṛṣṇa enters deeper level truths where you need to come down from your head to your heart, where you need to sit with your whole being and listen to the truths. All you need to do is to sit with a complete open being in the space of listening, with a complete relaxed feeling. Let Krishna raise our inner space by His presence. Let Krishna be in our inner space and enlighten our consciousness.

Help the student understand that the ancient science of enlightenment can be received through devotion to an enlightened master. Help the student understand that the ancient science of enlightenment is beyond logic and can be received through devotion to an enlightened master.

• 1. Why was the science of yoga lost?
• 2. What is Upanishad ?
• 3. What is the difference between a religious person and a spiritual person?
• 4. Why is it necessary to give the ultimate truths only to the person who is devoted?
• 5. What locks the Maṇipūraka Chakra? What is the ultimate knowledge?What is the most important qualification to receive the highest truth?
• 6. Why is devotion to the master necessary?
• 7. What is meant by Listening?

1. paper

2. water colour, brush sketch pens

Draw a picture of the sun and the moon. Sun is radiating its own self-effulgent light energy while the moon is mirroring the light of the Sun.

The master is radiating pure consciousness and the disciples who sit at his feet in complete openness and relaxation also starts to mirror the master's neuron activity in his/her brain and thus experiences the ultimate truth. The supreme truth can be learnt only from an enlightened master.

Part 2: Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4 - Lesson 1 of 10_English_part_2.md

• 1. Chart paper
• 2. Pictures or coloured paper for a collage

Make a picture collage on a chart paper of all the things that have withstood the test of time, for example: the Pyramids of Giza, Ajanta Ellora, sanskrit etc. Take color print out of pictures of these items and paste them on to the chart. Use color pens to add a title, captions, slogans, border etc.

Most things die down or disappear over time.Anything created out of the space of completion stands eternally.

The topic of debate or Vaakyartha Sadhas is "Is it beneficial to have Spiritual Knowledge ?" Ask children to choose to speak in favour of or against the topic. Ask them to jot down the points they wish to make during their argument on a piece of paper. All children should be offered an opportunity to express their opinions and their thoughts must be guided through questions by the moderator so that each child can reach a right conclusion.

The supreme science of Yoga must be received from an enlightened master.