1. Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4 - Lesson 3 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.'

janma karma ca me divyamevaṁ yo vetti tattvataḥ I tyaktvā dehaṁ punarjanma naiti māmeti so 'rjuna

One who knows or experiences My divine appearance and activities does not take birth again in this material world after leaving the body but attains Me, O Arjuna.

When Krishna declares that he is the Ultimate, he reminds us of our potential and inspires us to enter the same consciousness, to experience the same bliss.

vītarāgabhayakrodhā manmayā māmupāśritāḥ I bahavo jñānatapasā pūtā madbhāvamāgatāḥ ॥ ४-१०॥

Being freed from attachment, fear and anger, being filled with me and by taking refuge in me, many beings in the past have become sanctified by the knowledge of me and have realized me.

When Krishna declares that he is the Ultimate, he reminds us of our potential and inspires us to enter the same consciousness, to experience the same bliss.

ye yathā māṁ prapadyante tāṁstathaiva bhajāmyaham I mama vartmānuvartante manuṣyāḥ pārtha sarvaśah

I reward everyone, I show Myself to all people, according to the manner in which they surrender unto me, in the manner that they are devoted to me, O Pārtha!

kāṅkṣantaḥ karmaṇāṁ siddhiṁ yajanta iha devatāḥ I kṣipraṁ hi mānuṣe loke siddhirbhavati karmajā

Men in this world desire success from activities and therefore they worship the gods. Men get instant results from active work in this world.

Results of actions are instantaneous. However, prayers are granted after they are adjusted for appropriateness by divine wisdom.

Kṛṣṇa says, 'If you understand the truth of the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities, once you leave the body you will not take birth and death like ordinary humans do. If you understand My transcendental nature, you will also achieve the same transcendental nature.' 'If you understand that I don't take the body, you will not take the body either. If you understand I am liberated, you will realize that you are also liberated.'

When Kṛṣṇa says, 'I am the Ultimate,' He expresses the space of possibility. He reminds us of our potentiality. He enriches us to define ourselves with authenticity as He defines Himself. He inspires us to enter the same consciousness, to experience the same bliss.

Understand, when Enlightened Masters say 'I', they don't have any meaning behind that 'I'. Only divinity speaks. For you, the word 'God' is just a word with no solid meaning. But when you say 'I,' you attribute a solid meaning, a solid identity to it, which is supported by solid experience. You know it. You feel it. If somebody asks, 'Are you mad?' you shout at them and prove it! But when you say 'God', your understanding is not supported by any experience. With enlightened people, when they say 'God', it is based on solid experience and when they say 'I,' it has no Meaning.

He boldly declares, 'I am God.' What courage and energy behind His words! It can come only from a solid experience, a deep conscious experience.

Here, when Kṛṣṇa says, 'I,' there is just the Divine that is speaking. There is nobody inside. It is pure emptiness. Just the Divine, the pure Existence speaks through Him.

Let us see the secret of the birth and death of Kṛṣṇa, how we all go through the birth and death Cycle.

The Kaṭhopaniṣad says you will pass through a tunnel and see 'Anguṣṭha mātra puṛuṣa antarātma—meaning the thumb sized light, which is your soul when it leaves the body.

See, when you leave the body, the moment the physical body dies and relaxes, that very moment the soul leaves the body.

At that time,what you perceived as the highest pleasure in your life surfaces. If you thought eating was the highest pleasure in your life, naturally while leaving the body, you will think, 'I should take a body which will continuously help me to eat. You go through all the choices and you decide to take a pig' s body. Whatever you think is the greatest experience in your life, which-ever experience occupies your maximum inner space, you decide your next birth based on that desire.

Please listen, nobody else decides your birth. It is simply you who chooses. It is clearly the conscious decision of your soul.

This life is your decision, please be very clear about it. Including poverty, everything is your decision. Don't think poverty has been forced upon you. Even that is your decision. When we take birth, we take birth based on our fear and greed. On one side, greed pushes us.

'Let me become the son of a king, let me become the son of a rich man.' On the other side, our own fears say, 'No no, I can't take on so much responsibility.' Along with money comes the responsibility of protecting it.

When we take birth, we take birth based on our fear and greed. Most of the time, we only want the enjoyment; we don't want the responsibility. A person who is ready to take on the responsibility as well as the enjoyment will never be deprived.

Ordinary man takes birth based on fear and greed. That is why his whole life is driven by fear and greed. Enlightened Masters assume the body out of love and compassion.

Here Kṛṣṇa gives a technique to cut these kārmic bonds, to be complete and realize the reality. Actions that are complete and free from fear and anger do not create bonds, vītā-rāga bhaya krodhā. They lead us towards elevated consciousness. Fear and anger that arise out of greed pattern are two of the most provocative emotions, the root patterns that create incomplete action, and lead to bondage.

Kṛṣṇa offers a way to be in His space of completion. He says, 'Be drowned in Me, man-mayā mām upāśritaḥ; you will have no anger, no fear. All actions will thus be without bondage. In this manner, you can be purified and realize Me, pūtā mad- bhavām āgatāḥ (4.10).' He gives the assurance that having followed this path, many people in the past have achieved Realization.

Kṛṣṇa explains here why non-attachment is so difficult. It is in our nature to look for success in whatever we do. It is impossible to embark on an activity expecting it to fail. There is nothing wrong in looking for success at the end of an activity. What creates problems is the illogical attachment to that expectation of success. What Kṛṣṇa says here shows that our mindset, human nature, has not changed in over five thousand years. Even then they were looking for material success. They were looking for instant results. When they prayed to God they were praying to fulfill their expectations of material success.

He says you normally pray to God not as an expression of gratitude, but to seek unfulfilled material desires and all that you think will bring you happiness. All your actions, Kṛṣṇa says, are based on material success, and He says such activities bear instant results in this world, kṣipraṁ hi mānuṣe loke.

This does not mean whatever you pray for is instantly granted by the God you prayed to. God, fortunately, has far more wisdom than we have. God uses His buddhi, wisdom, to grant what He deems appropriate.

However, the result of your actions is instant. The karmaphala is immediate. When you think good thoughts, do good deeds, you feel good, you are in heaven. When you think evil, you act evil, you feel evil and you are in hell. That is all there is to karma. This is the cosmic cause-effect principle. You are what your intent is; you become what your intent is. Karma acts instantly, here and now.

Impress upon the children that our life, including both its blessings and curses, are our own choice. When we take the responsibility that comes along with our desires, our desire manifests.

Impress upon the children that the technique of completion must be practiced as a way of life.

• ❖ Explain the sequence of events between death and birth ?
• ❖ What is the main difference behind the reason for the birth of ordinary men from that of an enlightened master?

❖ Why is it important to take responsibility for our aspirations?

❖ What kind of actions create bondage?

• ❖ What are the common types of prayers people ask God?
• ❖ Why does god not answer certain prayers instantaneously or exactly as requested?
• ❖ Why are people most attached to get a successful result from their actions?
• ❖ What is the Karmic Cause and Effect principle?

1. Paper

2. pencil and color pencils

Draw your life-cycle from birth to death and rebirth. Depict the picture of you as a baby transforming into an adult then changing into an old person then becoming a dead body and then again taking rebirth as a baby. Put arrows between each stage of life to show life's natural progression. Now break the cycle of birth and death by striking off the arrow between death and rebirth; instead make a new arrow pointing towards a new choice of "Liberation". Uses your imagination to depict your Liberation You may show yourself transforming into air waves, thumb sized oval light, Krishna, a heart etc.

Life and death are cyclic events until the soul attains liberation.

Part 2: Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4 - Lesson 3 of 10_English_part_2.md

Encourage and guide the children to enact an extempore street play for an audience showing the natural progression of life of a central character (boy/girl) from birth to old age and all problems associated with each stage of life i.e. depression, pear pressure, failures in various spheres of life, illness, death etc . And the coming of a Guru/spiritual master into his/her life leading to enlightenment, blissful life and ultimate liberation from the cycle of birth and death. Encourage Kids to use simple props like scarfs, moustaches, wigs, spectacles, bandages etc. to enhance the performance and the depiction of characters of the play.

The happening of an enlightened master is the greatest breakthrough and turning point in the life of the central character of the play.

Discuss why non-attachment to the results of our actions is so difficult. Why do we look for success in whatever we do?

Incarnation happens out of love and compassion. When Krishna declares that he is the Ultimate, he is reminding us of our potential and inspires us to attain his state.