1. Bhagavad Gita Chapter 7 - Lesson 5 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.'

caturvidhā bhajante māṃ janāḥ sukṛtino'rjuna ārto jijñāsurarthārthī jñānī ca bharatarṣabha

O Bharatarṣabha, best among Bhārata, four kinds of piousmen begin to render devotional service unto Me. they are: the distressed, the desirer of wealth, the inquisitive, and those searching for knowledge of the Absolute.

The first are the people who are distressed, i.e., the working class or śūdra. The second are the people who desire wealth, i.e., the business people or vaiśya. The third are inquisitive people, like a kṣatriya who never rests because he constantly asks, 'What next? What next? What next?' The fourth is the person who searches for knowledge of the Absolute: He is a brāhmaṇa.

teṣāṃ jñānī nityayukta eka-bhaktir viśiṣyate priyo hi jñānino'tyartham ahaṃ sa ca mama priyaḥ

Of these, the wise one who is in full knowledge and ever united with Me through single-minded devotion is the best. I am very dear to him, and he is dear to Me

When you devote yourself to the divine mission, you become a devotee. That is when you become dear to Him.

udārāḥ sarva evaite jñānītvātmaiva me matam āsthitaḥ sa hi yuktātmā māmevānuttamāṃ gatim

All these devotees are indeed noble; one who knows Me, dwells in Me. Being engaged in My mission, he attains Me.

Kṛṣṇa says beautifully that He is in you and you are in Him. The moment you understand this ultimate Truth, the moment you approach the Divine with the right attitude, you become the Divine

bahūnāṃ janmanām ante jñānavānmāṃ prapadyate vāsudevaḥ sarvamiti sa mahātmā sudurlabhaḥ

After many births and deaths, he who knows Me surrenders to Me, knowing Me to be the cause of all causes and all that is. Such a great soul is very rare.

with a living enlightened Master, we need to transform our life. We need to experience the truth

Kṛṣṇa now goes deeper. In prayer, we pray to God; in meditation, we become God! Prayers give us immediate results. Praying to that higher principle or to the Divine is not wrong, yet it is not enough. Whereas in meditation, we become that higher principle or the Divine to which we constantly pour out our prayers. This is permanent. The Divine is nothing but a mirror; we see our own reflection. And whatever we do to the Divine comes back to us. The more we understand, the more we grow and relate with the Divine in a more mature way.

I have seven kinds of people who approach me: One, people who approach me out of greed; two, people who approach me out of fear; three, people who approach me out of worry; four, people who approach me for name and fame; five, people who approach me out of jealousy and comparison; six, people who approach me out of ego, to strengthen their ego by saying, 'I am a disciple of the SPH THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM

I am close to him. He knows my name.' Just to have ego satisfaction they come to swamiji; finally, seven—there are a few, very few who approach swamijij out of gratitude. At different levels, people approach the Master or God. The more mature we are, the more we will feel connected to that person who will give us fulfillment. When we become mature, when we are above fear and greed, we will approach the same Master, the same God, with more maturity, with more intimacy. We will feel deeply connected to him

In Bhāgavatam (Hindu epic glorifying devotion onto incarnations), we learn about five different attitudes with which we normally relate with a Master or God:

Dāsa Bhāva—seeing God as a lord or master and oneself as a servant, as with Hanumān who saw Rāma as his master and served Him as a path for liberation. Vātsalya Bhāva seeing God as a divine child, as with Yaśodā who saw Kṛṣṇa as her son. Sakha Bhāva—seeing God or the master as a friend, the way Arjuna related with Kṛṣṇa. Mātṛ Bhāva—seeing God or the master as a father or mother, the way Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa related with goddess Kāli (representation of the divine mother). Finally, the fifth attitude is madhura bhāva—seeing God as a beloved, the way Radhā saw Kṛṣṇa.

This attitude needs a tremendous amount of maturity. Only if we experience the consciousness which is beyond the body, can we relate with the Divine with the attitude of a beloved, madhura bhāva.

The more mature we are, the more the gratitude happens.

The less the maturity, the more we fill our life with prayers. Prayer is greed; confession is fear!

'Gratitude is the greatest prayer, and thank you, the greatest mantra.' When we go beyond prayer and confession, we experience gratitude.

We experience the Divine.

Kṛṣṇa explains how we can grow step-by-step, how we can reach the ultimate maturity, how we can create and experience the Divine at the ultimate level.

Based on how we approach the Divine, only based on how mature we are, the whole community system has been created. How much we enrich and share with society depends on how mature we are. With the same maturity, we approach God also.If we feel money is missing in our lives, we go to the God who gives money. If we miss knowledge, we go to Sarasvatī (the goddess of knowledge), who gives knowledge.

If we feel insecure, we go to the god who protects us; we go to Mother Durgā or Kāli. If we miss spiritual experience, the ultimate experience, then we go to the divine incarnations, the ultimate expressions of the Divine.

Kṛṣṇa says, 'Four types of people come to Me caturvidhā bhajante māṁ ' He explains the four types as four communities. The first are the people who are distressed, i.e., the working class or śūdra. The second are the people who desire wealth, i.e., the business people or vaiśya. The third are inquisitive people who continuously enquire, continuously ask, 'Tataḥ kim? Tataḥ kim? Tataḥ kim?' (What next?) A kṣatriya, for example, never rests because he constantly asks, 'What next? What next? What next?'

The fourth is the person who searches for knowledge of the Absolute: He is a brāhmaṇa.'

They experience Him in different ways, according to their maturity. As long as you are caught in fear or greed, you will be attracted and go only to those types of gods.

It is easy to go to a temple and pray, but difficult to go to a living Master and meditate. It is for mature people, not for everyone. In the temple we see thousands; but in spiritual places, we see a few hundred. It is not for all; it's a luxury!

The person who approaches Me out of love and gratitude, is the best person, for I am dear to him and he is dear to Me.' By this one verse, Kṛṣṇa ends the whole conversation, the whole concept Kṛṣṇa says, 'Starting at different levels is ok, but don't stop there."

We can start or take off from any level. However we should not stop and stagnate there. It is like failing to proceed to the second standard from the first.

It is as if we want to stay in the same cozy, familiar level.

It takes many lifetimes to understand and achieve this maturity. A common saying is, 'As many Masters, so many paths.'

However Swamiji says, 'As many disciples, so many paths!' The Master may utter the same truth to his disciples, yet each understands and interprets in his or her own way.

They all approach the Divine, but from different planes. Hence the attitude, the context with which one approaches matters how one experiences the Divine.

Here Kṛṣṇa says, 'Out of these, the wise is always devoted to Me. He is the best person.' To start with, you can start at any level, yet you must strive to reach the Ultimate. And please don't think, 'Oh! Kṛṣṇa says it will take many lives; let me take some more lives and become mature. ' No! If you can enter into the knowledge this moment, the experience can happen to you this very moment. You don't need to postpone. Every moment is a new birth for you and every moment is death. The outgoing breath is death, and the incoming breath is birth. So be very clear, every moment you die and take birth. This moment can be a new birth for you. The person who understands this truth takes a new birth.

Kṛṣṇa says: ahaṁ sa ca mama priyaḥ— He is dear to Me, and I am dear to him. He is in Me and I am in him. Kṛṣṇa says beautifully that He is in you and you are in Him. The moment you understand this ultimate Truth, the moment you approach the Divine with the right attitude, you become the Divine. All you need to do is chang your attitude. Over! Change your inner space and the whole thing is done

One important thing. The Master or the Divine is in you only when you engage yourself in enriching service to Him. When you devote yourself to the divine mission, you become a devotee.

That is when you become dear to Him. Your worship is no longer selfish. It is towards the mission of the Divine, in whatever form.

In the words of the SPH Stop sitting in front of me, gazing and waiting for words to drop. Work for my mission. Enrich yourself and others by helping me to transform people. As long as you sit and gaze, you chase me. When you work for my mission, I chase you. I shall always be with you.

There are seven steps in spiritual progress—

• 1. Go around many temples, perform many rituals, pilgrimages, etc.
• 2. Do rituals by yourself
• 3. Concentrate and pray to one God instead of rituals
• 4. Chant verses in praise of God
• 5. Instead of chanting, visualize His form and meditate upon it
• 6. Instead of meditating on any form, fall into that same consciousness, realize that the form and your soul are one and the same, that God and the soul are one and the same
• 7. Experience reality! Don't think these seven steps will be done in one lifetime.

People take hundreds of lives to achieve this maturity. It is rare to achieve this maturity.

Only a person who has understood, after many, many births and deaths, who has matured, who has enough knowledge, surrenders to Me, surrenders to the living Master, says Kṛṣṇa. with you.

Part 2: Bhagavad Gita Chapter 7

In Bharat kids play with wooden dolls. For one doll, they will drape a sāri and say, 'This is mother.' They will dress another in a dhoti and call it father,

then brother, and so on. They say, 'Mother is cooking. Father is going to office,' and place the father doll in a small car. And then, they will say, 'Sister is going to school.' They will make cry sounds as though the sister cries not wanting to go to school. This seems like a game for kids.

But please understand, you play the same game too in your life. You catch somebody and say, 'You are my mother, you are my father, you are my wife, you are my husband, you are my son, and you are my brother.' And if that doll doesn't behave

according to your frame or your image, you say, 'It's not a good doll,' and you throw it away and cry.

In the same way, when somebody doesn't behave according to your frame, you feel they hurt you. You want all the people in your life to play their role the way you want them to play.

When that doesn't happen, you feel hurt. Only a person who is a little mature thinks, 'What am I doing? How many times will I do this same psychodrama?'

Kṛṣṇa says, 'One who understands that the cause of all causes is Me, realizes the ultimate divine. He realizes thus, 'How many times will I play the same drama? How many times will I make the same mistakes?'

Until this realization, the whole thing is repeated again and again without end, without the experience.' 'The person who has understood, who has knowledge of this truth, surrenders unto Me, surrenders to the Master, an enlightened being, knowing Me to be the cause of all causes and all there is. Such a great soul is rare.

Only if you go with an attitude of love and gratitude, with maturity, only then do you see a living enlightened Master. The moment you see an enlightened being as He is, you will become enlightened. There's no doubt about it.

Help the children understand the seven different levels of approaching God, the five attitudes with which we relate with a Master or God, and the four types of people Kṛṣṇa says come to Him. Encourage them to understand what makes them dear to the divine, and how rare it is to find great souls that connect to the Master.

• What is an important difference between prayer and meditation?
• Name some of the different kinds of people who approach the Master or God.
• Who are the four types of people in the community system?
• How many paths are there between disciple and master?
• What does Kṛṣṇa say the wise people do that makes them the best people?
• How should we experience every moment, each outgoing breath and each incoming breath?
• What do you need to do for your worship to no longer be selfish?

1. Paper

2. Colored pens Photos or a slide show of different images of Kṛṣṇa, or have a Kṛṣṇa deity

Show the photos of Kṛṣṇa. Then encourage the children to draw the Master, Kṛṣṇa, based on how they like to see Him, to remember Him.

The moment you approach the Divine with the right attitude, you become the Divine

Small pieces of paper with one item from this list written on each paper:

• ❖ People who approach Kṛṣṇa out of greed

• ❖ People who approach Kṛṣṇa out of fear People who approach Kṛṣṇa out of worry

• ❖ People who approach Kṛṣṇa for name and fame People who approach Kṛṣṇa out of jealousy and comparison

• ❖ People who approach Kṛṣṇa out of ego, to strengthen their ego

• ❖ People who approach Kṛṣṇa out of gratitude.

• Dāsa Bhāva—seeing God as a lord or master and oneself as a servant

• Vātsalya Bhāva—seeing God as a divine child

• Sakha Bhāva—seeing God or the master as a friend

• Mātṛ Bhāva—seeing God or the master as a father or mother

• Madhura bhāva—seeing God as a beloved

People who are distressed,i.e., the working class or śūdra People who desire wealth, i.e., the business people or vaiśya Inquisitive people who continuously enquire, continuously ask, 'Tataḥ kim? Tataḥ kim? Tataḥ kim?' (What next?), i.e. a kṣatriya People who search for knowledge of the Absolute, the brāhmaṇa

Children take turns to take one paper. They don't show it to anyone (for the younger children help them read their paper without letting the others hear).. They then need to act their role in silence and the other children guess the hidden word.

All come to Kṛṣṇa, all reach Kṛṣṇa, but from different levels. From different levels all go to the same God, but they will not experience Him in the same way.

Hold Vaakyartha sadhas on: "Every moment is a new birth for you and every moment is death. The outgoing breath is death, and the incoming breath is birth. So be very clear, every moment you die and take birth. This moment can be a new birth for you. The person who understands this truth takes a new birth.

The Master may utter the same truth to his disciples, yet each understands and interprets in his or her own way. They all approach the Divine, but from different planes