1. Bhagavad Gita Chapter 7 - Lesson 1 of 8

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.'

śrībhagavānuvāca mayyāsaktamanāḥ pārtha yogaṃ yuñjanmadāśrayaḥ asaṃśayaṃ samagraṃ māṃ yathā jñāsyasi tacchṛṇu

Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa says, Arjuna, Listen to Me, you can know Me completely and without doubt by practicing yoga in true consciousness of Me, with your mind attached to Me.

Unless we drink the milk, we will never get the benefit of the milk. Unless we imbibe Kṛṣṇa, we cannot get the benefit of the Gītā.

jñānaṃ te'haṃ savijñānam idaṃ vakṣyāmyaśeṣataḥ yajjñātvā neha bhūyo'nyaj jñātavyamavaśiṣyate

Let Me explain to you in detail this phenomenal and absolute knowledge along with its realization; by knowing which, there shall remain nothing further to be known.

Kṛṣṇa has created keys for all kinds of human beings. Kṛṣṇa fulfills every need of every human being.

manuṣyāṇāṃ sahasreṣu kaścidyatati siddhaye yatatāmapi siddhānāṃ kaścinmāṃ vetti tattvataḥ

Out of many thousands of men, hardly one endeavors or strives to achieve perfection of self-realization; of those so endeavoring, hardly one achieves the perfection of selfrealization and of those, hardly one knows Me in truth or reaches that state of oneness with Me.

There are millions of people out there, but only a few hundred are present today to listen to the Gītā. And out of these few hundred, only a few will listen authentically.

bhūmirāpo'nalo vāyuḥ khaṃ mano buddhireva ca ahankāra itīyaṃ me bhinnā prakṛtiraṣṭadhā

Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego all together these eight constitute My separated external energies.

With all these elements, the energy cycle is complete.

apare'yamitastvanyāṃ prakṛtiṃ viddhi me parām I jīvabhūtāṃ mahābāho yayedaṃ dhāryate jagat

Besides these external energies, which are inferior in nature, O mighty-armed Arjuna, there is a superior energy of Mine. This comprises all the embodied souls of all the living entities by which this material world is being utilized or exploited.

We are above the energies that constitute us. When we realize our Self, we realize that we are Divine and nothing less.

Ability to speak into the listening of yourself is Completion.

Ability to speak into the listening of yourself is ability to complete.

That is the ability to complete.

This chapter is about how human beings approach the Divine, why they approach the Divine, and at what level they approach the Divine.

We approach the Divine in the way we want It. According to our maturity, we approach the Divine. At what level do we approach the Divine? What do we receive in return? How do we grow in maturity?

Kṛṣṇa gives the answers to these questions in this chapter. Here He says, 'Out of many thousands among men, one may endeavor for perfection, and out of those who have achieved perfection, hardly one knows Me in truth.'

The Master is always ready to share and enrich with his experiences. That is his mission in life. The infinite compassion that fills an enlightened being is forever bursting to be let out to share, to teach, to guide, and to enrich.

He is available continuously to the whole humanity, enriching with Enlightenment. That is why Kṛṣṇa says that He is now ready to explain.

You will see miraculous transformations happening in your body and mind. Listening is God! Just by listening, you experience God! The question is whether or not Arjuna is ready to listen. Even if Arjuna was ready to listen and he became enlightened, are we ready to listen today, now?

Why does Kṛṣṇa say that a few even try, and of those who try, very few succeed?

Remember that He is talking about Self realization, about understanding who we are. Why is it so difficult even to try? We do not want to try because we are afraid.

Why do we find it difficult to meditate? After all, all we do in meditation is close our eyes and remain silent. Why is it difficult? We give appointments to everyone else every day of our lives, willingly and unwillingly. Why is it so difficult to give half an hour a day to ourselves?

The truth is that we have forgotten where we came from. Nothing in the way we are brought up and 'educated' tells us that we come from Bliss and we can regain that bliss. If we realize how easy it is to be blissful and return to our original state, no one can control us. That is what liberation means. But society, religion, and political and family structures operates on the principle of control.

The moment we realize who we are and we are liberated, these institutions cannot make us do what they want us to do. From childhood we are conditioned to avoid looking too deeply into ourselves because if we do, we may find the truth and be liberated. Most of society doesn't know these deeper truths. This is how society puts generation after generation of people in deep illusion.

The path to Self-realization is the path of aloneness. It is not a lonely path; it is an 'alone' path. When we are alone, we are not lonely. We are all-in-one; that is what being alone means. From being fragmented, we become whole. From being islands, we become the Universe.

This is the knowledge that Kṛṣṇa offers humanity. Out of His deep compassion He says, 'Please listen to Me and realize your Self and be liberated.' One in a million may heed His words and start on this path.

He then says that only one in a million who starts on this path will eventually find his own Self, and thus find Me. In these verses Kṛṣṇa explains who He is. Kṛṣṇa explicitly separates Himself from His manifested energies in these verses.

What we perceive as manifested energies — the five natural elements that are earth, water, fire, air and ether, and the three inner elements of mind, intelligence and ego — are His energies no doubt, yet they are not Him.

Puruṣa and prakṛti are considered the operative principles of the Universe in the Hindu philosophical systems of Sāṅkhya and Vedānta. Puruṣa and prakṛti are unmanifest energy sources, puruṣa being inactive and prakṛti capable of being active. Everything else arises from these two elements when they operate together. Prakṛti gives rise to the Cosmic and individual intelligence and the five natural elements. The Taittreya Upaniṣad explains that the Cosmic energy gave rise to etheric energy or the energy of space, ākāṣa, which pervades the Universe.

Prakṛti gives rise to the Cosmic and individual intelligence and the five natural elements. The Taittreya Upaniṣad explains that the Cosmic energy gave rise to etheric energy or the energy of space, ākāṣa, which pervades the Universe.

This is the largest and subtlest quantum of energy that pervades the Universe. From etheric energy the energy of air arises. It is this energy of air, or vāyu, that sustains us in our body-mind system as the carrier of pranic or life energy. From the energy of air arises the energy of fire, agni. Many salutations in the Ṛg Veda, the first of the Hindu scriptures, are addressed to the fire. Almost all Vedic rituals are performed for the fire god. Āpas, the energy of water, arose from the energy of fire. Pṛthvī, the energy of earth arose from the energy of water.

The Taittreya Upaniṣad goes on to say that it is from the earth energy that plants, herbs, food were created, from which came humans. Within the human is the intelligence that is a hologram of the Cosmic intelligence. The energy cycle is now complete.

The Cosmic intelligence is reflected in the human as the mind. The mind in turn uses the senses to access the external world. Each of the senses, sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch are related to the natural elements. Ether is linked to sound or the ears; air is linked to touch and the skin; fire is linked to color and form, and hence to sight and the eyes; water is linked to taste and the tongue; earth is linked to smell or the nose.

The mind receives information through the senses of perception, and executes decisions through the senses of action. When the senses are denied access to the external world, which is their sustenance, the mind shuts down. Thoughts cease! Ego is a creation of the mind. It is an illusion because it is not permanent; it is not the truth.

True realization of the Self is achieved when the ego is shed and when the mind stops.

Then, inner intelligence awakens to the Cosmic intelligence. Here, Kṛṣṇa refers to ego as ahaṁkāra. It is our identity that we project outwards, which is always in excess of what we think of as ourselves.

There is another side to our ego, called mamakāra, which we project inwards; what we think of as us inside us. This mamakāra is always lower than what we think ourselves to be. The perpetual gap between this outer projection and inner projection creates self-doubt, stress, suffering and disease within us

Here, Kṛṣṇa refers to ego as ahaṁkāra. It is our identity that we project outwards, which is always in excess of what we think of as ourselves. There is another side to our ego, called mamakāra, which we project inwards; what we think of as us inside us.

This mamakāra is always lower than what we think ourselves to be. The perpetual gap between this outer projection and inner projection creates self-doubt, stress, suffering and disease within us.

When we realize our Self, we realize that we are Divine and nothing less. Anything we think about ourselves which is lower than this, is low self-esteem, is selfdoubt. What Kṛṣṇa says is true for all of us. We are above the energies that constitute us.

We too are the energy that constitutes our body-mind system. All that we lack is the awareness of this Truth.

Part 2: Bhagavad Gita Chapter 7 - Lesson 1 of 8

Our natural state is to know ourselves. Once we realize the Truth that we are God, there is no difference between Kṛṣṇa and us. We are enlightened. That is what Kṛṣṇa came to prove. He has no need to prove that He is God. He doesn't care if we know it or not. His mission was to enlighten Arjuna, and through Arjuna, the rest of humanity. His mission is to prove to us that we too are God

Approach God in the right way to get miraculous transformations happening in your body and mind. To help children understand the manifest and the unmanifest.

• How is completion defined in this lesson?
• What is the Masters life Mission?
• What is the importance of listening?
• Why do so few try to be transformed?
• What is puruṣa ?
• What is prakṛti ?
• What are the five natural elements?
• What extra three elements to the five natural elements are needed to get to the eight elements of verse 7.4?
• What is the difference between Kṛṣṇa and ourselves?

• 1. Paper
• 2. Sketch pens,
• 3. colouring pens

Draw the eight elements as an energy cycle: start by drawing a circle on the page. Draw the 8 elements around this circle: earth, water, fire, air, ether (space), mind, intelligence, and ego

Prakṛti gives rise to the Cosmic and individual intelligence and the five natural elements.

1. TV for watching YouTube

Show the children an explanation of the transmission of energy from element to element that happens during a homa

Puruṣa and prakṛti are unmanifest energy sources. Everything else arises from these two elements when they operate together. Hinduism has the science of transmitting energy.

Hold Vaakyartha sadhas with the children on "one in a billion reaches me". How it is special to be part of learning from Kṛṣṇa

When we realize our Self, we realize that we are Divine and nothing less. Kṛṣṇa's mission was to enlighten Arjuna, and through Arjuna, the rest of humanity