1. Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4 - Lesson 5 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.'

nirāśī ryatacittātmā tyaktasarvaparigrahaḥ I śārīraṁ kevalaṁ karma kurvannāpnoti kilbiṣam

The person who acts without desire for the result; with his consciousness controlling the mind, giving up all sense of ownership over his possessions and body and only working, incurs no sin.

When you understand that you are unique and Existence has equipped you with all that you need to fulfill all your desires, you will actually be able to live life in completion and work sincerely for the sake of enriching.

yadṛcchālābhasantuṣṭo dvandvātī to vimatsaraḥ I samaḥ siddhāvasiddhau ca kṛtvāpi na nibadhyate

He who is satisfied with profit which comes of its own accord and who has gone beyond duality, who is free from envy, who is in equanimity both in success and failure, such a person though doing action, is never affected.

Only the person who realizes the purposelessness of life can have the strength to enrich himself and others, only he can go beyond duality and surpass envy, only he can be satisfied in any action with whatever profit comes from that action of its own accord.

gatasaṅgasya muktasya jñānāvasthitacetasaḥ I yajñāyācarataḥ karma samagraṁ pravilī yate

The work of a liberated man who is unattached to the modes of material nature and who is fully centered in the ultimate knowledge, who works totally for the sake of sacrifice, merges entirely into the knowledge.

One who works for the sake of enriching sacrifice, merges into the knowledge. Live life in completion and work sincerely for the sake of enriching.

brahmārpaṇaṁ brahmahavir brahmāgnau brahmaṇā hutam I brahmaiva tena gantavyaṁ brahmakarmasamādhinā

The offering, the offered butter to the supreme in the fire of the supreme is offered by the supreme. Certainly, The supreme can be reached by him who is absorbed completely in action.

The ultimate knowledge can be reached only by surrendering to completion, to the four tattvas of integrity, authenticity, responsibility and enriching.

daivamevāpare yajñaṁ yoginaḥ paryupāsate I brahmāgnāvapare yajñaṁ yajñenaivopajuhvati

Some yogis worship the gods by offering various sacrifices to them, While others worship by offering sacrifices in the fire of the supreme.

The being which has surrendered to the four tattvas is brahmaṇyam bahuputratām—the favorite inheritor of the Cosmos.

Real knowledge comes with experience, not through words. The space you carry, the attitude, the intention, and the thoughts behind the action actually decide the energy behind the action. The collective declarations to bless the world— lokāsamastā sukhinobhavantū, let the whole world be prosperous, can change your entire inner space. That is the power of completion!

I tell you, all the so-called natural calamities are nothing but the effects of global negative thoughts born out of collective incompletions. Your space, your thoughts and energy directly affect your body, your cell structure, your decisions, your capacity to fulfill your decisions and outer world incidents, even accidents. You create a pattern that creates and attracts similar incidents to you.

If you can complete with your greed and fear patterns, which is what we have normally, and create the space of bliss or ānanda, then your energy flow will start brimming and your thoughts will be authentic, your words will be integrated and you will be more in the space of completion.

When you do this, you have every power to control outer world incidents because you and existence have a very deep connection at the energy level. When you are blissful, when the space you carry is not one of worry, fear and greed but one that is in the present, always complete and joyful, you will automatically attract all good things to yourself.

Your inner space is connected to the universe. All our minds are not individually separated pieces of the universe. They are all one and the same. Not only interlinked, our minds directly affect each other. This is what is called 'collective consciousness.' Though each one is independent in his consciousness, when one is conscious of one's true nature, one feels that one is part of the whole Universe.

Each one's thoughts straightaway affect the others around. Not only are those staying around you touched by your thoughts, everyone who is living on the planet is touched by your thoughts.

Once you become aware and realize that you are a part of the collective consciousness, that you don't have an individual identity; you realize that you do not have a separate ego. You think you own your individual identity.

In Existence, there is no such thing as a separate individual identity. Once you know this truth, you go beyond pain, suffering, depression and diseases. As long as you are individually conscious, you will be continuously suffering.

You think you are different from Existence. When you are in tune and become a part of the collective consciousness, Nature is your friend and it will protect you. As long as you think you are an individual consciousness different from Nature, it will protest.

Even at the physical level, you are not an individual. Your body and the body of the sun are directly connected. Any small change in the body of the sun can make changes in your body. Any small change in your body can change the body of the moon. Even if you are not able to relate to this logically, it is true. Even in the mental layer, you are not alone. Any thought put in anyone else's head comes and touches you and any thought created in your mind goes and touches someone else.

At the spiritual level, the moment you understand you are deeply connected to the whole Universe, not only do you start experiencing bliss, but you also start really living in the space of oneness and opening many dimensions of your being. If you disappear into the collective consciousness, you will experience so many dimensions, so many possibilities, you cannot imagine it!

A pure mind is God itself and not something separate from it. The Essence of Life is 'Enriching'. There is no purpose to life, except to live in completion and to enrich others and yourself with completion.

The purpose of life is to enrich life with completion.

Life has no purpose but it has a meaning. Living incompletion and enriching others with completion is the meaning of life. All the time, we are taught that life has a goal, a purpose, and we run behind various goals hoping to achieve satisfaction in life. But life has no goal; the very life, the very path itself is the goal.

When you realize this, you relax into the space of completion, you expand in your ability to infuse the great spiritual truths, enriching yourself and others with them, and you are unaffected by success or failure, although doing actions.'

Make the children understand that Living in completion and enriching others with completion is the purpose of life.

Restate the understanding from the lesson, that you are unique and Existence has equipped you with all that you need to fulfill all your desires and achieve completion.

• ❖ What is collective consciousness?
• ❖ How is an individual connected to the Universe?
• ❖ What is the purpose of life?
• ❖ What is the goal of Life?
• ❖ What is the root cause of jealousy or envy?
• ❖ What are the four tattvas?
• ❖ Explain what each of the four tattvas mean?
• ❖ Can the ultimate truths be reached through intelligence?
• ❖ Can the ultimate completion be attained through wealth?

1. Paper 2. Color pens

Calligraphy is the art of writing letters by hand in a beautiful way. Take a paper and write any one of your favorite verse from the Bhagavad Geeta in Sanskrit with its translation in English using Calligraphy.

We must expand in our ability to infuse the great spiritual truths in ourselves and others.

Part 2: Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4 - Lesson 5 of 10_English_part_2.md

Write down all the seven layers of human existence. Write down examples of how human beings are connected with the universe at each level. How does considering oneself separate from existence adversely affect each layer.

If you think you are separate at the physical layer, you will invite disease. If you think you are separate at the mental layer, you breed violence. If you think you are separate at the soul level, you get spiritually stunted. At the spiritual level, the moment you understand you are deeply connected to the whole Universe, not only do you start experiencing bliss, but you also start really living in the space of oneness and opening many dimensions of your being.

Living incompletion and enriching others with completion is the meaning of life. When we relax into the space of completion, we expand in our ability to infuse the great spiritual truths, enriching yourself and others with them, and we are unaffected by success or failure of our actions.