1. Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4 - Lesson 2 of 10

Srīmad Bhagavad Gītā is the ultimate sacred scripture of yoga, Yogaśastra and the pristine glory of the Vedic culture, the eternal living tradition called sanātana-dharma. It belongs to the whole Universe for it is delivered to the Universe by the source and embodiment of

Universe. We salute and bow down to Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who spoke the Bhagavad Gītā out of His infinite love and compassion for all beings.

Whenever unrighteousness, adharma becomes predominant and dharma, righteous living declines and the Yoga of Enlightenment is lost,

Parabrahma Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Consciousness appears again and again to revive this sacred yoga, to protect and to enrich the devoted beings; and destroys adharma to re-establish the pure and everlasting dharma. Song

Gītā is also called Brahmavidyā the Knowledge of Brahman, the supreme absolute truth; it is Jīvan Mukti Vijñāna the Science of Living Enlightenment.

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.'

arjuna uvāca

aparaṁ bhavato janma paraṁ janma vivasvataḥ I kathametad vijānīyāṁ tvamādau proktavāniti

Arjuna says: 'Oh Kṛṣṇa, you are younger to the sun god Vivasvān by birth. How am I to understand that in the beginning you instructed this science to him?'

Krishna is one example of when the divine descended and walked on planet earth in human form.

śrībhagavānuvāca bahuni me vyatītāni janmāni tava cārjuna I tānyahaṁ veda sarvāṇi na tvaṁ vettha parantapa

Bhagavān says: Many many births both you and I have passed. I can remember all of them, but you cannot, O Parantapa!

Divinity is able to take birth in human form.

ajo 'pi sannavyayātmā bhūtānām īśvaro 'pi san I prakṛtiṁ svāmadhiṣṭhāya saṁbhavāmyātmamāyayā

Although I am unborn, imperishable and the lord of all living entities by ruling my nature I reappear by my own māyā

Enlightened masters never die, they only leave the body, they are eternally alive and available to you. The Divine takes birth again and against to take us to enlightenment.

yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānirbhavati bhārata I abhyutthānam adharmasya tad ātmānaṁ sṛjāmyaham

Whenever positive consciousness declines when collective negativity rises, O Bhārat again and again, at these times, I happen Myself

Kṛṣṇa means that He happens on the planet Earth again and again in so many forms to guide and enrich the people.

paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām I dharmasaṁsthāpanārthāya saṁbhavāmi yuge-yuge

To protect the pious and to annihilate the wicked to re-establish righteousness I Myself appear, age after age

Krishna promises to happen again and again on planet Earth to protect the pious and restore righteousness.

'Arjuna and Kṛṣṇa are almost of the same age. Suddenly, Kṛṣṇa says He gave this science to the Sun god thousands of years ago! Moreover, Arjuna lived with Kṛṣṇa for a long time. He knows and has seen the human side of Kṛṣṇa, all of Kṛṣṇa's līlā (plays), all of Kṛṣṇa's moods. So now, it is very difficult for Arjuna to believe Kṛṣṇa's words.

This is what all disciples who live around Enlightened Masters undergo. They find it difficult to understand the Divine descending and walking on the planet Earth in human form. Arjuna struggles to understand. How can the Divine descend? Arjuna is shocked when Kṛṣṇa says, 'Thousands of years ago, I taught this science of Enlightenment to the Sun God, Vivaṣvān.'

He says, 'How can I understand? Please tell me.' He does not say, 'How can you say this?'' He is now ready to believe, but he wants a little explanation.

Whenever enlightened Masters descend on the planet Earth, they face this trouble, again and again. When Rāmakṛṣṇa declared that the same being who came as Rāma and Kṛṣṇa had now come down in the form of Rāmakṛṣṇa, he was called mad! People did not receive or respect him. But a few qualified people received his words and transformed their Lives.

"I always tell people, my best discourses are always given to small, close devotees. Because when you speak the truth to an intimate group, it will be straight. It will shake your whole being and transform your whole life. Those who are not yet ready cannot receive it. For a spiritual discourse, what matters is the quality of the people present."

This very Gītā is delivered to only one person. When Kṛṣṇa delivered Gītā, only one person listened to it. But today, millions and millions, not even millions, billions read and practice it. For a billion Hindus, this is the basic scripture. Only one person listened to Kṛṣṇa.

Today the whole world uses it. To express the truth, the quality of the person who listens is important, not the quantity of persons.

Bhagavān says, 'O Arjuna, many, many births both you and I have passed. I can remember all of them but you can't.' Then He says, 'Although I am unborn, imperishable and the Lord of all living entities, I reappear by my original māyā, by controlling my nature.'

All this while, Kṛṣṇa was only playing the role of ācārya (teacher,) intellectually enriching Arjuna of the truth and giving him knowledge. For the first time, He opens up. He declares the truth about His nature.

He shows the divinity of His nature. This is the point where Kṛṣṇa starts to speak the ultimate truth as it is.

Till then, He was a little shy to open up to Arjuna!

When a disciple is not ready, you can't open up, you can't tell the truth. Now, the disciple is ready. So Kṛṣṇa opens up. He says, although I am unborn and my transcendental body never deteriorates and although I am the Lord of all living entities, I still appear in every millennium in my original transcendental form. Three things we need to understand here.

First He says, 'I am unborn, ajopi. I never take birth. I am the ultimate Parabrahma. I am the ultimate energy.' I don't think anyone else has declared it so clearly. Here, Kṛṣṇa straightaway declares the truth. 'I am God, bhūtānām īsvaro'pi san,' He says.

That which never takes birth can never die; only that which takes birth can die.

Here Kṛṣṇa declares, I never take birth and I never die. I am the Lord of all living entities—

ajo'pi sann avyayātmā bhūtānām īśvaro'pi san.

Q: 'Swamiji, can dead Masters teach us like Paramahamsa Yogananda, Mahavatar Babaji etc.? If I pray to them, can they show me the path?'

A: Dead masters are not dead as you think. When they are alive, their presence had a body. When they are dead, their presence has no body, that's all. Having a body or not having a body is in no way going to affect their presence. They are eternally alive and available to you. All you need to do is just turn towards them. When normal human beings die, the soul leaves the body. In the case of masters, they leave the body! The very wording is different. So having a body or not having a body is in no way connected to their presence. They are available to the planet always, to the whole of humanity.

It is very difficult to understand Masters. With integrity and authenticity, if you reach out, even if they don't have the body, you will be able to relate, connect, and talk to them. When you don't have integrity and authenticity, even with a living Master you will miss him. He says, 'I am the Lord of all the entities. But I still happen in every millennium in my original transcendental form; using my own māyā (Illusion).

Because of my māya, I assume the body and incarnate Myself, sambhavāmy ātma-māyayā.' Kṛṣṇa means that He happens on the planet Earth again and again in so many forms to guide and enrich the people. Ordinary human beings are in the clutches of māyā or illusion due to which they take birth. But Kṛṣṇa has māyā itself under His control and takes birth due to His own wish! But again and again we miss Him. That is why we are here again and again! Again and again we miss them. That is why again and again He has to happen on planet Earth to lift us, to show us the way, to enrich us with Enlightenment.

Whenever there is a decline in individual consciousness, when-ever the collective unconsciousness increases, to establish the righteousness of the eternal consciousness, the science of eternal bliss, dharma saṁsthāpanārthāya, I Myself appear, millennium after millennium—sambhavāmi yuge yuge.

He keeps the generation of enlightened Masters open for the future, the possibility of enlightenment open for the future generations on planet Earth. He keeps the whole science open for the future. Only a courageous being like Kṛṣṇa can declare this truth; sambhavāmi yuge yuge.

Q: Swamiji, are there more Enlightened Masters on the planet?' A:

'Surely. There are hundreds of Enlightened Masters. Don't think I am the only one.' If you own any business, you would not give out the address of similar businesses in the city. Only if you are authentic, you can declare yes, there are so many other things available.

Q: 'Swamiji, if I take initiation from THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM, can I go to another master?'

A:

'Not only can you go, I also encourage that you should go. Pluck flowers from all the beautiful gardens and make a beautiful bouquet for yourself!' The human ego is such that it needs to be beaten by more than one person for it to die! So go and learn the best things.

In science, the principle of entropy states that the energy level of every system, including the Universe, degrades with time. So it is with consciousness.

Over time individuals start losing their positive consciousness and collective negativity builds up. Of course, this does not imply that every single person becomes evil intentioned, but on an average, spirituality, awareness, righteousness and consciousness of individuals deteriorate at certain periods of time.

A whole nation can become collectively unconscious as Germany did under Hitler and Lankāpurī under Rāvaṇa. In history, over many thousands of years, each time such collective unconsciousness built up, there has been deliverance. It is as though there is a cycle of positivity and negativity, up and down, over time. Dharma, righteousness is restored eventually. This is Kṛṣṇa's promise.

Help the student understand that the presence of the divine godhead is the truth and divinity lands on human form in order to enrich us into enlightenment. Help the student understand that the presence of the divine godhead is the truth and his promise of deliverance to humanity is real.

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

• ❖ Are there more than one enlightened master on planet earth at a time?
• ❖ Is it alright to go to and learn from more than one enlightened master in life?
• ❖ For a spiritual discourse to be successful, what is more important: quality of the disciple or number of disciples.
• ❖ What is entropy in the spiritual energy of the Universe ?
• ❖ What is collective unconsciousness or negativity?
• ❖ What is Krishna's promise to humanity?

• 1. Paper
• 2. Pencil
• 3. Colour pens
• 4. Crayons
• 5. Printer
• 6. Chart paper

Ask each child to print pictures of all the enlightened masters they have heard of, read about or met in their life. The pictures should be pasted on a chart paper to make a collage. Under each master's picture, their name and lifespan (birth year - death year), place of samadhi/principle ashram must be mentioned.

Enlightened Masters, irrespective of whether they are in the body or not having a body, are eternally alive and available to all of us. With integrity and authenticity, if you reach out, even if they don't have the body, you will be able to relate, connect, and talk to them. When you don't have integrity and authenticity, even with a living Master you will miss him.

• 1. Paper
• 2. Pen or pencil

Write a 150 words essay about an enlightened master who is not in the body, who has inspired you the most. If the child is young, the acharya can help him/her words.

Whenever there is a decline in the spiritual awareness, culture and consciousness of individuals and communities, enlightened masters appear on planet earth to raise the level of consciousness on the planet. Krishna has promised that each time he will appear in human form and save humanity.

The divine godhead, can appear on planet earth and take permanent residence in a human body, and radiate pure consciousness, in order to save humanity and raise the collective consciousness.

The divine godhead, can appear on planet earth and take permanent residence in a human body, and radiate pure consciousness, in order to save humanity and raise the collective consciousness.

Krishna is one example of when the divine descended and walked on planet earth in human form. For a spiritual discourse, what matters is the quality of the people present.