1. Bhagavad Gita, Commentary by Nithyananda - Chapter 10 - I am the Ultimate

In this series, a young enlightened Master, THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM comments on the Bhagavad Gita.

Many hundreds of commentaries of the Gita have been written over the years. The earliest commentaries were by the great spiritual masters such as Sankara, Ramanuja and Madhva, some thousand years ago. In recent times, great masters such as Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Ramana Maharishi have spoken from the Gita extensively. Many others have written volumes on this great scripture.

THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM's commentary on the Bhagavad Gita is not just a literary translation and a simple explanation of that translation. He takes the reader through a world tour while talking about each verse. It is believed that each verse of the Gita has seven levels of meaning. What is commonly rendered is the first level meaning. Here, an enlightened master takes us beyond the common into the uncommon, with equal ease and simplicity.

To read THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM's commentary on the Gita is to obtain an insight that is rare. It is not mere reading; it is an experience; it is a meditation.

Sankara, the great master philosopher said:

'A little reading of the Gita, a drop of Ganga water to drink, remembering Krishna once in a while, all this will ensure that you have no problems with the God of Death.'

Editors of these volumes of Bhagavad Gita have expanded upon the original discourses delivered by THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM through further discussions with Him. For ease of understanding for English speaking readers, and to cater to their academic interest, the original Sanskrit verses in their English translation have been included as an appendix in this book.

This reading is meant to help every individual in daily life as well as in the endeavour to realize the Ultimate Truth. It creates every possibility to attain nityānanda, eternal bliss!

This chapter, the tenth chapter of Bhagavad Gita, is called vibhuti yoga, the yoga of divine manifestations. In this chapter, Krishna explains His glories. In the last chapter, He explained the ultimate secret of how to feel deeply connected with the whole of Existence. Now He goes on at length and in great detail explaining how He is the Ultimate and how He expresses Himself.

People often see me observing and appreciating my own photographs.

They see me listening to songs in my praise and enjoying them. They see me dressed in finery at times and think I am admiring myself. To me, this body, I, is not reality. My skin is foreign to me, leave alone what I wear on top of my skin. Most of the time I wear a two piece saffron clothing. I am equally comfortable in that as I am with more expensive garments that I wear for special occasions. I look at myself, as you look at me, and I am equally appreciative.

An enlightened being no longer has an identity. His only identity is the merged identity with the universe. When Krishna, the ultimate Master, talks about Himself in this chapter, He talks from the perspective of Parabrahma Krishna, the Cosmic Krishna and not Vasudeva Krishna, the son of Vasudeva, the mortal Krishna. The entire Gita is delivered from Krishna's cosmic conscience. In this chapter especially, He is at the peak of His cosmic consciousness, before He reveals Himself as that consciousness visually to Arjuna in the next chapter.

Every word that the great Jagatguru, the universal Master utters here, is a gift to Arjuna and to humanity. The verses in this chapter are the authority on which the Bhagavad Gita rests. It is these verses that make this a sruti, a sacred scripture.

10.1 Lord Krishna said:

Listen again, Oh Arjuna! You are My dear friend,

Listen carefully again, I shall speak further on knowledge for your welfare.

Please understand, a Master's relationship with his disciple is in many forms. Usually this is described in five forms.

The most basic relationship between a Master and disciple is that of a master and a servant, dasa bhava. The relationship of Hanuman with Rama represents this type. Another is the relation of a mother to her child, vatsalya bhava, as in the case of Yasodha to infant Krishna. A third is the relation of the child to the mother, matru bhava, like the relation of Ramakrishna to Mother Kali.

A fourth relation is the relation of friendship, sakha bhava, feeling that the Master is the closest friend. The fifth is that of the beloved, madhura bhava, like the relation of Radha to Krishna.

Here, Krishna refers to the fourth relationship, sakha bhava, as exemplified by His friendship with Arjuna. He is the Master to His disciple Arjuna as well as Arjuna's friend.

In the last chapter, Krishna gave the technique or the understanding of feeling deeply connected with the Whole, with Existence. He told Arjuna that He is revealing the greatest of all secrets to him because Arjuna is His dear friend. Now He explains the next step.

Usually, as an individual ego, we see the Whole as our enemy. We are like small waves in a big ocean. However, suddenly, the wave starts thinking that the ocean is its enemy. When it is created, while it exists or when it drops, the wave is connected to the ocean. However, the wave thinks that it is in some way different from the ocean. Not only that, the wave starts fighting with the ocean. For the wave to realize that it is fully connected with the ocean, it must be consumed by the ocean. The ego must dissolve. The individual identity of the wave must disappear. This is the first step to enlightenment.

We live in the illusion of our self-created identities. Each wave relates to another wave but not to the ocean. It adopts another wave as its father, mother, wife or child and relates with these. However, ultimately, each one of these related waves disappears just like the wave itself.

Yet, the impermanence of its own existence as a wave as well as the impermanence of other waves around it to whom it feels related, does not sink in easily. It is difficult when we are a wave to see beyond ourselves to our connection to the ocean. We must rise beyond the individuality of our existence as a wave to see that we are part of the larger ocean.

If we look at the human body, we can see this oneness so beautifully exemplified. The human body consists of trillions of cells living in total harmony. If we look at the individual cell though, it has intelligence by itself. It can survive even if its center, the nucleus, which is considered the central intelligence of the cell, is removed.

However, when it is a part of the whole body, it is not the intelligence of the individual cell alone that is at work but the collective intelligence of the body-mind system that governs. This collective intelligence ensures that this remarkable system of the human body-mind works smoothly.

A small story:

A visitor was curious to know whether a particular town would be a good place for him to settle down. He asked a local farmer, 'What do you think about the mayor of the town?'

The farmer replied, 'That man does not do anything for the town. He is useless.' The visitor went along and met a potter. He asked the same question. The potter replied, 'My life has hardly improved after he became mayor. I am waiting for the next election so that this mayor will be removed from his post.'

The visitor then went for lunch to a small restaurant. He asked the restaurant owner what he thought about the mayor. The owner replied, 'I don't know which fool elected him. He does not know anything about his work.'

Now, the visitor was curious to know what the mayor thought about his own work. He scheduled an appointment with the mayor and asked him, 'Sir, how much do you get paid for your job?'

The mayor replied, 'Pay? I don't get paid anything for this job. I took it up because it gives me prestige!'

Our ego makes us think that we are the center of the world and we try to protect our status constantly. For anybody else, our ego has no meaning. Everyone has far greater concerns in their lives. They are worried about themselves. They don't have time to think about us.

The enlightened Japanese Master Suzuki wept profusely when his Master passed on. Someone asked him, 'You are enlightened; you shouldn't be crying over your Master's death.'

Suzuki replied, 'My Master was the most extraordinary man on planet Earth.' The person asked him, 'What was so extraordinary about him?'

Suzuki replied, 'I have never seen such an extraordinary person who thought he was the most ordinary.'

In ordinary life, the average person thinks he is extraordinary. When we feel that we have undergone maximum suffering, our ego feels good; we feel we are extraordinary. Only when our enemy is big, we feel big. When our enemy is small, we feel small. For the same reason, if our suffering is big, we feel good. Our ego is satisfied. We measure life by the amount of our suffering. That is why we constantly torture others as well as ourselves.

Suzuki's Master was extraordinary because he thought he was the most ordinary person, whereas everyone else in this world thinks he is extraordinary. The thing about enlightened people is that they think they are ordinary. And the thing about unenlightened people is that they think they are extraordinary!

When people have depression, they feel big. If we look deeply, everyone thinks he is extraordinary because he thinks his problems and his arguments are the greatest. A man who feels ordinary and believes in simplicity, gives respect to everybody's arguments. He knows how to put himself in another's shoes.

Because of our ego, we think that we are extraordinary and that a lot of things happen in this world because of us. We are all unique creations of Existence but we are not responsible for the world. The wave cannot attribute to itself the power of the ocean. It must realize that it is a part of the ocean. Instead, it tries to separate itself from the ocean, which is a futile effort.

All of us think that the world runs because of us. Please be very clear that the world does not run because of us. It runs in spite of us! Fifty years before our birth, don't you think the world was running as it is now? Fifty years hence, do you think the world will stop because you are not here?

A proverb says that if the cat closes its eyes, it thinks the whole world has become dark. This is similar to the ostrich sticking its head in the sand when it sees impending danger. It thinks because it can't see the world for those few moments, no one can see it either!

A small story:

A man was sitting in a boat while the boatman did his best to row the boat as fast as he could. The man needed to reach the other side of the riverbank. The man became impatient and began pacing back and forth inside the boat. After some time, he started running inside the boat.

The boatman said, 'Please sit down and allow me to row the boat.' The man replied, 'I have no time to be seated. I need to reach the other side as soon as possible!'

If we look at ourselves, this is what we do most of the time: we run inside the boat. Of what use is it?

Ramana Maharshi describes a beautiful story:

A man was traveling on a train carrying his luggage on his head. A fellow passenger asked, 'Why are you carrying your luggage on your head? You can put it down and sit peacefully.'

The man replied, 'It would be too heavy for the train!'

Little did he realize that the train was even now not only carrying him, but his luggage as well! In the same way, the Divine not only takes care of you, it also takes care of your mind. But you always think you are taking care of yourself. That is the foolishness of the mind.

We are waves of the Divine. We are part of this Whole. We cannot exist as an island. We cannot be an isolated existence. We exist in the cosmic Whole just as the wave exists in the vast expanse of the ocean. The ego gives us the feeling that we are individual, separate and isolated whereas the reality is that we are a part of this Existence, in it and supported by it.

There are two ways in which we can live. First, we can embrace and welcome reality, in which case our ego must dissolve because only then can we face reality. Please understand that this reality is God. God is not some entity hidden in some remote corner of the universe or in the sky. He is the reality around us.

The second way of living is how most of us live: we create a shell, a dream world around ourselves to defend a false ego, which has no substance in reality. This is what is meant by maya - illusion. In Sanskrit, there is a beautiful explanation of this term maya: ya ma iti maya. That which does not exist but which troubles us as if it exists is maya, illusion!

Since we are hidden in this capsule of our unreal world with our ego as the center, we cannot feel the immediate presence of God, who is actually the closest to us.

The prana (vital energy) which is going inside our body and which is coming out, is not our property. It is the property of Existence. Prana is not the air that we breathe in and out. Prana is the vital energy that the air that we breathe in carries with it. Air is a mere vehicle to carry the prana. Just like a truck carries and delivers material for the construction of a house, air acts as a carrier for the vital energy, prana. We do not need air to survive. We need prana to survive.

Constantly, the air goes in, leaves the prana inside and comes out. Constantly, we take prana through the air from the cosmos. If the incoming breath carries more prana than the outgoing breath, we are going towards life. Then, we expand, we strengthen our body and we strengthen our energy. If the outgoing breath carries more prana than the incoming breath, be very clear, we are going towards death.

Understand that whatever we think of as our being cannot function if prana doesn't go in and come out. The source of our life is not our property.

Again and again, we think that we end where the physical boundary of our body ends and anything outside that boundary constitutes the external world. This physical boundary is not our boundary. We think that whatever is outside the physical boundary of our body constitutes the Existence and we constantly think that whatever is outside is our enemy.

Imagine that the Sun disappears one day. Do we think we could live without the rays of the sun? If the air were to disappear, will we be able to survive? If we are dependent for our survival on the Sun that is billions of miles away, how can our boundary end where the physical boundary of our body ends? Understand, we are deeply related to Existence.

None of us can exist as and by ourselves. We are not completely separate, self-sufficient entities. We are part of an interconnected Whole. When we lose sight of the Whole, we become unaware of our links to one another.

Interesting studies on cells in organisms have established that each cell can only act in one of two ways at any given time. It can focus on growth or on selfprotection. It cannot do both simultaneously. A cell placed in a dish moves spontaneously towards a nutrient if it is placed on another part of the same dish. If a toxin is placed in the dish instead of the nutrient, the cell moves away from the toxin. If the nutrient and toxin are placed at the same time in the dish, the cell is in a dilemma.

Within the body system, the cellular intelligence normally focuses on growth by diverting blood flow and oxygen flow, which is the prana or energy flow, to the growth centers of the body. However, when the mind body detects an external or internal threat, a series of actions are initiated to divert the energy flow to the limbs for protection. As long as the threat remains, growth is sacrificed in favor of protection. The mind-body fights or flees the threat.

Since you consider Existence to be your enemy, you continuously try to protect yourself from others. Look at yourself carefully and you will notice that you always look at people with the attitude, 'Why has he come? What is he going to steal from me? What is he going to take from me? How will he exploit me?'

Continuously, you are in a protective mood, trying to protect yourself from others. The moment you see somebody, you start the calculation, 'Why is he here? What should I do before he does something to me?' You defend yourself. You are always calculating because you feel threatened by the existence of the other. The moment you think Existence or the Whole is your enemy, you become defensive. Defending is a polite word for offending. All over the world, the military forces of all countries are called defensive armies. Then who is offending? Every country claims that its army is an army for defending itself. Then who is really offending?

The idea of defending is a subtle way of offending. When you feel the Whole is your enemy, that everybody except you is your enemy, you spy continuously and fight constantly.

The fighting mood creates an increasingly violent feeling in you, with more and more restlessness in you. The first thing Krishna teaches as rajavidya rajaguhyam (secret of secrets), is that Existence is not your enemy. It responds to your thoughts. It continuously cares for you. It is intelligence.

Please be very clear: if you live with the attitude of enmity, even when you live, you will be dying. When you live with the attitude of enmity with the Whole, you will constantly be tortured. When you live with the feeling of friendliness, with the attitude that Existence is your friend, that Existence is your own, you feel a deep easiness.

We need to realize that we are part of the same energy system as the universe. The wave must understand that it is part of the same energy system as the ocean. Hindu scriptures describe the five energy elements that comprise nature: earth, water, fire, air and ether. All major cultural traditions such as the Chinese have a similar understanding. The human system is a combination of the same elements as the universe, so are all beings, inanimate and animate.

Even scientifically, we are understood to be energy at the most basic level. There is no longer any confusion that matter and energy are different. The Singularity concept establishes that matter and energy are not only convertible from one to another, but they also exist together as one. We are the universe and the universe is us.

Above all, more than the easiness, you will feel deeply connected to Existence. Even if the wave thinks that it is different from the ocean and starts defending itself from the ocean, ultimately it will fall into the ocean, however much it tries to defend itself.

By its very nature, the wave starts in the ocean, exists in the ocean and will fall into the ocean. If it understands that it is a part of the ocean, it will be utterly relaxed. It will live a blissful life. If it fights the fact, it will fight with the ocean. But eventually it has to fall into the ocean.

The ultimate secret that Krishna wants to reveal is that Existence, Parasakti, Brahman, is your friend, not your enemy. It is intelligence and it responds to your thoughts. This is the first understanding. Next, in this chapter, Krishna says, 'I am That.' He says, 'I am the whole of Existence.' In the next chapter, He gives the experience of the cosmic consciousness to Arjuna. These chapters lead Arjuna step-by-step to an elevated consciousness.

In the previous chapter, Krishna says, 'Don't have enmity with Existence.' In this chapter, He says, 'I am the same energy. Not only you don't have need to have enmity, have a deep love.' In the previous chapter He says, 'Drop your enmity against the universal energy, brahman and atman.' Now, He explains how to feel connected to Existence. In the next chapter, He gives the cosmic experience. In the vishwarupa darshana yoga, He gives the experience to Arjuna that He is in the whole cosmic consciousness.

First, He removes enmity. Then, He creates the feeling of connectedness. Finally, He gives the advaithic (nondual) experience. These three chapters lead Arjuna step-bystep. They elevate Arjuna from a low level to a higher level.

Let us study this scripture with intense devotion and deep sincerity. Along with Arjuna, we will grow. We will not miss it.

Krishna says, 'For your benefit, because you are My dear friend, I shall speak to you further, giving knowledge that is better than what I have already explained.' Krishna explains His glory not for His own sake but for Arjuna's sake. Krishna does not explain His glory to show His ego.

You need to understand an important thing: The ego of the king is based upon how many people accept him as king. The more the number of people who accept his ego, the greater his ego will be. Suddenly, if all the ministers, all the warriors and all his citizens are taken away from him, what will happen to his kingdom? What will happen to his kinghood? He will lose the base, he will lose the very idea of kinghood, and he will not be a king anymore. His ego will be totally shaken.

A beautiful story:

A great saint called Dakshinamurthy Swamigal lived in Tamil Nadu. He lived the life of a Paramahamsa. The sky was all that covered his body. He never wore clothing. He lived like a child, happily in bliss.

One day a king came to meet him. Swami was sitting under a big tree meditating blissfully. The king expected the Swami to stand up and receive him with respect. The Swami however did not bother. He did not care about the king. The king egoistically said, 'What! You are an ordinary beggar. I am a king. Don't you know how to respect me?'

The Swami laughed and said, 'Actually, you are the beggar. You are begging respect from me. You feel respected only when somebody gives you respect. However, I don't feel respected when somebody gives me respect nor do I feel disrespected when somebody doesn't give me respect. Whether somebody respects me or not, it is not in any way related to my consciousness. I do not ask you why you are not respecting me. I am not bothered about that. The moment you ask, you are a beggar.'

Then he continued, 'Your personality or ego could be shaken if your army and all your ministers leave you. Oh King, your being is dependent upon somebody else.'

That is why it is said that when Buddha begged for alms, He looked like a king and the kings looked like beggars! Outward possessions cannot make us regal. The inner bliss that radiates makes us regal.

Be very clear, that is why leaders are always in trouble. Never think leaders lead us. We lead the leaders. The honest truth is that as long as we accept them as leader, they will be our leader. Just as we are concerned about their ideas, they are also concerned about our opinions. Continuously, they are bothered about our ideas.

Dakshinamurthy Swamigal says, 'You are king as long as your citizens accept you. So, naturally, directly or indirectly, you will be begging your citizens to accept you because your consciousness is dependent upon them. In my case, that is not true. Whether somebody accepts or not, I am blissful. I am a Paramahamsa. My Paramahamsahood can never be taken away from me. But, your kinghood can be taken from you. So, be sure that the moment you ask for respect, you are a beggar. I am not.'

A clear truth is that the person whose ego is enriched by more and more citizens is a politician. He is an egoistic person. But an enlightened man reveals himself for the sake of the disciple's understanding. Here, Krishna does not speak about Himself out of ego.

Whether Arjuna accepts it or not, Krishna is Krishna. Krishna was in a blissful state even before Arjuna became His disciple. Krishna will be in a blissful state even after Arjuna becomes His disciple. Irrespective of whether Arjuna is His disciple or not, Krishna is in the same blissful consciousness.

One important thing: in the next chapter, Arjuna says, 'Oh Krishna! Forgive me. I called You by Your community name: 'Hey Krishna, Hey Yadava, Hey Saketi! I called You by Your first name. I called You by Your community name.' In Bharat, if you are a very close friend, only then you call a person by his community name. Arjuna says, 'I called You by Your community name: Yadava (Krishna's community). I called You Krishna, Yadava and I called You my friend! I called You these names thinking that You are my friend, a normal human being like me. But now, I understand. You are the God of Gods. You are Mahadeva (Supreme God). Forgive me please, I beg of You! You must forgive me and accept me as Your disciple. Forgive me for my ignorance. I did not know Your greatness, please forgive me!'

Because of this statement, Krishna's ego does not become big. Please understand: Krishna was safe. He had all the glory from day one until the very end. Even with all His glory, He allowed Arjuna to call Him by these first names and community names. He never said, 'Don't you know who I am? How dare you call me by my first name!' He never carried a business card.

Carrying a business card is the biggest problem. Observe how people behave. Wherever they go, the first thing they ask is, 'Do you know who I am?' We carry a business card. We give this card to whomsoever we meet.

Not only that, there is an important thing to be understood about this: never think that your business card is wallet-sized. It is of a huge billboard's size! Just because you can't carry that, you carry a small version. Your business card is the size of a billboard. Because you can't carry it wherever you go, you carry it in a small way. After giving that card, you say, 'I am this; I am that.' Krishna never carried a business card. Krishna never bothered about it.

A small Zen story:

The Governor of a Japanese province came to visit a celebrated Zen master. The Governor, as was the custom, sent in his business card through an attendant. The Master read the card, 'Suzuki, Governor of Kobe Region.'

The Master said loudly enough so that the Governor could hear, 'Tell that idiot of a Governor I have no time to meet Governors!'

The disciple took the card back to the Governor. The Governor was an intelligent man. He crossed out the word Governor and sent it back saying Suzuki wants to meet the Master to seek advice.

The Zen Master happily received him.

A Master cares nothing about business cards or who you are and what your status is. He is only concerned about the state of your being.

Even when Arjuna was talking with Krishna in a friendly way, He was humble. Krishna responded to Arjuna in the same way that Arjuna spoke to Him. Suddenly now, Arjuna says, 'Krishna! I didn't know You were such a great person. You are God Himself. Please forgive me.'

Even after this, Krishna had not become egoistic. He says, 'Don't worry. Don't bother about that.' He is simple. He is humble.

Before the experience, at the time of the experience and after the experience, Krishna is the same. Only Arjuna undergoes a tremendous change. Before the Gita started, at the time of the Gita and after the Gita, Krishna is the same. But before the Gita, Arjuna was different. At the time of the Gita, Arjuna was growing. After the Gita, he was a totally different man.

Here, Krishna does not explain His glories out of ego. He explains to give an understanding to Arjuna. He explains so that Arjuna will experience Him. When Krishna says, 'I am,' He means the Cosmic Consciousness, the egoless being and the enlightened energy.

Again and again, He expresses the glory of enlightenment, the glory of atmagnana (knowledge of the Self). That is why He is so confident and clear. With such clarity, He explains, 'I am Everything.' Even to utter these words, you need courage. No normal man can say, 'I am God' to somebody else. If he does, the next day he will be in a mental asylum with a special seat reserved for him!

Here, Krishna is courageous enough to declare and the person who is listening experiences it.

What is the science? What does it take for an enlightened man to declare himself as enlightened and as God? What do we need as a disciple to experience that as the truth?

Many hundreds of enlightened Masters declare this truth again and again. Sometimes the people who listen to them become enlightened like Arjuna or Vivekananda. Sometimes the disciple is hurt and disturbed by the statement and crucifies the Master. The people of Rome felt hurt when Jesus declared, 'I am the son of God.' They crucified Jesus.

Ramakrishna said, 'Who came as Rama, who came as Krishna, is residing in this body as Ramakrishna.' He boldly declared this, not when he was healthy, but when he was suffering from throat cancer. He affirmed, 'Who came as Rama, who came as Krishna, has come down in this body as Ramakrishna.' These words did something in Vivekananda. It was then that Narendra became Vivekananda.

When Krishna declared, 'I am God,' Arjuna became enlightened. Why? What happened to Arjuna that did not happen to the Roman people? What do you need to create this experience?

See, be very clear that the experience of Krishna, Christ, Buddha and Mahavira, is all one and the same. As the enlightenment experience, it is the same. When they express the enlightenment, why are there different reactions? When they express their enlightenment and declare their divinity, some people become enlightened and some run away.

Many disciples around Buddha were practicing with Him. When they heard Buddha declare that He was enlightened, they ran away. Some people run away, some become enlightened and some crucify the Master. Why?

How can we also become enlightened when we listen to Krishna's words? How can we listen? How can we have that benefit? How is that to happen? With what mood are we supposed to receive the words?

First, in the case of Jesus, the people who heard His declaration of truth, vibhuti, the glory, were egoistic and aggressive. That is why they killed Jesus. Buddha's disciples were egoistic but not aggressive. So they ran away.

Next, Arjuna, Krishna's disciple, is totally in love with Krishna. He has totally surrendered to Krishna. He is not ready to suspect anything. By now, he is clear. His head has stopped working. His logic has stopped analyzing.

This truth should be declared only to a person who is totally, intimately related and feeling connected with the Divine.

Arjuna has completely surrendered to Krishna. What is surrender? When we hear the word 'surrender', we think that it is the easiest thing to do since we don't need to do anything. For example, if we meditate, we need to do something. But if we need to surrender, we think we don't need to do anything. Hence, we think it is easy.

This is because we think about surrender in a totally different way compared to what the Masters mean by the word 'surrender'. When we use the word 'surrender', we only say that we have surrendered. We do not really surrender.

A small story:

A man lived without any faith in God. One day he suddenly fell from a ledge and was dangling from a hilltop barely holding onto a tree's root. He was totally scared and remembered people saying that God can help in the most hopeless situation.

He called out, 'Oh God! I have never had faith in you. Are you really there? Can you save me now?'

God answered, 'Surely I can, Son. Simply let go of the root that you are holding and I will catch you from below.'

The man cried out again, 'Is there anyone else out there who can help me?'

Our faith and surrender are mere words. We delude ourselves thinking we have surrendered. In fact, we have not. Our faith, our surrender is never total surrender. There are three levels of surrender: surrendering the 'I', surrendering the mind, and finally, surrendering both the 'I' and the mind.

Surrendering the 'I' is surrendering the individual ego. Surrendering the mind is surrendering the mental setup, the mental conditioning.

A small incident from Ramakrishna's life:

A devotee came to Ramakrishna saying that he was addicted to alcohol and did not know how to give it up. Ramakrishna gave him a simple though surprising remedy. He told him to surrender the drinking habit to Kali.

The man was obviously shocked but he started offering the drink to Kali and then drank intensely. He came back in three days to Ramakrishna saying that he had given up drinking. Not only had he given up his drinking habit, but he also could not drink anymore at all! The drinking habit had dropped him.

When you truly surrender to the Divine, surrender can work miracles on you. If you think logically as well, how can you offer a drink to Devi, to the Goddess? The next thing is if you cannot offer the drink to Devi, how can you drink it, since the same Goddess resides in your body?

When you offer yourself at the feet of the Master, your ego disintegrates. The mind is just your collection of all the thoughts and habits that you have formed. For example, if you get up in the morning, your mind instinctively tells you that you need your morning coffee since that is a habit. Similarly, if you are constantly worried, it becomes a habit and you worry in every situation without realizing it.

When someone praises you, you choose to get flattered. If someone criticizes you, you choose to get disturbed. The mental setup has been etched so much that you don't realize that it is you who is making the choice of how to react. When you surrender, you cannot choose.

A small story:

One day, Lord Vishnu and Goddess Lakshmi were in a relaxed mood and having a chat in heaven. Suddenly, Vishnu jumped up from His seat and ran a few yards. Then he made a U-turn and returned to His seat.

Lakshmi was perplexed and asked, 'Lord, why did You run in the first place? Then, why did You return immediately after running only a few yards?'

Vishnu replied, 'I saw a man in the process of stoning one of My devotees. I ran to help. Then I saw him pick up stones to retaliate. Seeing that, I decided that he did not need My help.'

When you surrender, you cannot choose to react. When you surrender, the egocentric 'I' totally disintegrates. Please understand: The egocentric 'I' is eccentric.

When you surrender, you will be bubbling with joy and bliss. You will be like a kid. Have you seen an ugly child? Even in the poorest country, the kids are beautiful. On the same count, have you seen a single adult who is beautiful? Enlightened people are like children, bubbling with bliss. They are called dvija (born again). After the death of the ego, it is a new birth. The father and mother give us our first birth. The second birth is given by God and guru.

You see, there are three types of joy. The first is joy due to the senses, which is called pleasure. This joy is like the pleasure of taste on eating tasty food.

The second type of joy is experienced through nature. When you see a majestic mountain, a beautiful serene sunrise, a river gushing down, you feel this joy. Just at the moment you perceive this beauty in nature, your mind stops working and you stand in awe in front of the beautiful sunrise. Very soon though, your mind kicks in with 'This is a beautiful sunrise.' But just before you analyze it, you experience pure joy.

The last type of joy happens for no reason. This is bliss. It is a continuous, constant bubbling of joy and ecstasy in your being without the need for any external agent. You can experience this when you surrender your sense of 'I', your ego. Then, your mind will have spontaneity. As of now, you are constantly preparing for the future.

Even if you must meet a friend, in your mind you prepare what to discuss, what to do. You have no strength to face the situation. So you write a script and enact that. If something happens that does not conform to your script, you struggle to handle the situation.

If you understand that Existence is your friend and it deeply cares for you, you will not feel the need to live according to a script. Instead, you will have tremendous courage and trust yourself to live life spontaneously. Then, instead of re-living life and reacting to life based upon past memories and experiences, you live life with spontaneous responses to situations. If you live in a simple way, you don't need a script. If you live based upon truth, you don't need to remember the lies that you told your friend the last time in order to maintain them.

Every moment we project what we are not. Once we project this false image, we need a script to remember what we have projected. We are so careful not to make small mistakes that we make the biggest blunder of all living according to a script and enacting the same drama over and over!

Please understand that Existence constantly cares for you. Trust the intelligence in you. Accept and welcome life as it flows.

Krishna says that if you continuously merge in Me, I will take care of all your needs and necessities. You will be My responsibility.

In the last chapter Krishna promises: Yogakshemam vahamya aham: My responsibility is Yoga, to get the things that you need, and kshema, to take care that they remain with you. Vahamya aham: He makes this promise. He says I will take care of you spiritually and materially. You shall not lack anything. You will always be in bliss. You may wonder how this is possible. When you surrender to the Divine, your higher consciousness will be activated and you will have the intelligence and courage to live everything.

Vivekananda, in his commentary on Patanjali's Yoga Sutra, says that our prayers to God do only one thing: awaken our own inner potential energy. When we pray intensely, banish the thought that our prayers are heard somewhere and someone blesses us. Our own inner potential energy is awakened and showers its blessings upon us in the form of God, irrespective of what form we worship.

The ultimate intelligence is first understanding that Existence cares for us, and secondly, surrendering to that Existence. Realizing that Existence is not a brute force or power but an intelligent energy, is the key to a life of bliss.

When we surrender the mind, we go from mind to 'no-mind' state. The mind actually arises from possessiveness. Tantra says that the ego is based upon possessions. Look deeply and we will see that the origin of our mind lies in whatever we think of as ours. Our idea of 'mine' creates the sense of 'I'. Most of us think that from 'I', the 'mine' arises. No! It is from the sense of 'mine' that 'I' arises. The root of the tree of 'I' is 'mine'.

We think that if we have more possessions, we have more freedom. Yes, we will have more freedom, but only the freedom to choose between one suffering and another suffering. We can never choose between suffering and joy through possessiveness. How can we enjoy something with the feeling of possessiveness? We will be in constant fear of losing our possessions. The feeling of 'mine' never lets us enjoy it.

Let me share a real incident from my life:

There was an old lady in my village who would ask me to get tobacco leaves for her every morning. I would ask her for money to buy the tobacco leaves. She would tell me to ask my father for the money. I bought her tobacco leaves everyday with my father's money thinking that she was poor and could not afford to pay for them.

The woman's home had a big well that was always full. She was so possessive that she never allowed anybody to touch the water. Once in a medical emergency, the village doctor requested water from the well, but she refused. But when she was on her death-bed, the same doctor came to attend to her.

He asked her, 'Of what use to you now is the water in this well? Can you take this water with you?' The woman still did not feel that she had done anything wrong by refusing to give water to the doctor when he had asked for it.

Anyway, she died soon afterward. Subsequently the village people found a large box filled with jewelry under her bed. She had so much money and riches during her life. Yet, she never enjoyed it. She felt content and secure by just possessing the riches.

Man works hard at retaining wealth during his life and finally loses the capacity to enjoy it.

As of now, ninety nine percent of our time and energy is wasted on worrying. If we surrender, all that time and energy can be turned towards expressing our creativity. We will not have worry and suffering. We will be learning lessons.

There is a beautiful book 'How to Know God' written by a philosopher. The author observes that although no court of law has proved the existence of God, ninety percent of the people in the world believe in God. The result of this is that creativity has improved and life has become joyful because all the energy of worrying has been channeled into creativity.

J. Krishnamurti says beautifully, 'Ninety nine percent of your worries don't come true. The one percent that comes true is good for you.'

Ramakrishna narrates a beautiful story:

A priest lived on the banks of a river. Everyday a milkmaid delivered milk to him for his puja (worship) early in the morning. One day when she arrived very late, the priest asked her what had happened. The maid explained, 'The river I must cross to come here flooded.'

The priest casually chided her saying, 'What do you mean that you were late because the river flooded? People cross the ocean of samsara (life) by chanting Krishna's name.'

From the next day onwards, the maid came on time. The priest asked, 'You are bringing the milk at the right time. Have the floods subsided now?'

The maid replied, 'No, the river is still flooded. But you taught me that I could cross the river by repeating Krishna's name. I cross the flooded river everyday by repeating Krishna's name.'

The priest was shocked and asked her to show how she did it. The innocent maid sincerely repeated Krishna's name, stepped into the river and started walking across.

The priest thought that if an ordinary maid can cross the river by taking Krishna's name, he should be able to do the same easily! So, he lifted his clothes and stepped into the river. The fact that he lifted his clothes to get into the water shows how little faith he had! His mouth was uttering Krishna's name but his heart was filled with doubt and fear, and he fell into the river.

If we try to calculate after saying that we have surrendered, we project our mind onto the idea of what will happen after surrender. When we say that we have surrendered, how can we say that nothing has happened in spite of our surrender? If we have truly surrendered, we have no right to expect something to happen after we have surrendered.

A Master was asked, 'How do I know that I have really surrendered?' The Master replied, 'If you have really surrendered, this question itself will disappear. There will be a feeling of utter bliss and relaxation.'

You surrender everything, not only your pain and suffering but also your responsibility. This does not mean that you stop doing household work or going to office. You continue to do so but with the mood of utter relaxation. Surrendering yourself is a clear, conscious decision.

If we look into our lives, we see that our relating with God is never true surrender. Most of the time, we beg God to give us what we want. The next stage is when we bargain: if you give me this, I will give you that. The third stage is blaming God: I went to this temple so many times; yet, God has not listened to me.

Most of the time, we don't have the intelligence to know what we want. If God were to listen to our requests and desires, this world would have perished a long time ago! This game of begging, bargaining and blaming in the name of praying has nothing to do with true devotion.

There is a beautiful story in the Mahabharata:

Before the war started, Duryodhana and Arjuna went to Krishna's palace to seek help from Krishna. Both were relatives of Krishna and wanted Krishna's help. Krishna was sleeping. Arjuna, the Pandavas' representative, sat at the feet of Krishna. Duryodhana, the Kaurava's representative, sat near the head of Krishna.

The moment Krishna opened His eyes, He saw the person sitting at His feet. He asked him, 'How are you, Arjuna? When did you come?

Arjuna said, 'I have come to seek your help.' Krishna said, 'Surely I will help, don't worry.'

Duryodhana who was sitting at the head of the bed said to Krishna, 'I came before Arjuna. You should help me.'

Krishna turned and saw Duryodhana. Krishna replied, 'Surely I will help, don't worry.' He said, 'I will be on one side and my powers will be on the other side. Which one do you want?' Duryodhana who could choose first, thought, 'Let us have shakti (power).' He replied, 'I will have your powers and weapons.' Arjuna thought, 'Let us have buddhi (intelligence).' He was happy to have Krishna on his side. Obviously the Pandavas were the ones who won the war.

The man who chose intelligence, the man who trusted God, had intelligence and won the war. He won the game.

If we look deeply into what kind of relationship we have with God, we will see that when we pray, we think that God has the power to give but He does not have the intelligence or wisdom to know what to give. This is what we believe when we insist that He gives us what we want right now.

If we trust God has only power, we never win in life. As soon as we trust He also has wisdom, we surrender. Only then things can start happening. When we surrender, we believe that God has power and intelligence. When we believe God has only power, religion starts. When we believe He has wisdom, spirituality starts. When we believe He has only power, we do rituals and pamper Him. We start doing all possible things to continuously bribe Him to give us what we want. All rituals done with self-promotion are bribing. What do we do? Don't we tell the priest our name in front of God before we offer prayers? Do we think that He doesn't know our name? We go to the temple and tell the priest not only our name but our father's name, our forefathers' names, where we are from. Do we think God doesn't know where we are from and who we are?

Part 2: Bhagavad Gita, Commentary by THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM - Chapter 10 - I am the Ultimate

We describe everything in a detailed way. Why? We do not want the courier parcel of the blessings of God meant for us to reach someone else. We are afraid that our parcel, the boons that are supposed to come to us will reach someone else. All our puja and bribing techniques prove clearly our arrogance, which again and again shows our belief that God has power but not intelligence.

Decide consciously that from this moment, you will surrender everything at the feet of God, to the energy that runs this whole world. We don't need to believe in any name or form. Trust the energy pervading the universe and trust it to run your life.

Now, even after we surrender, at some time, a doubt will naturally arise in us whether we have totally, actually surrendered. Understand that the Divine Intelligence gave us the intelligence to surrender in the first place and that same Divine Intelligence has given us this doubt to doubt our surrender. Surrender the doubt also at the feet of the divine energy. So do not wait to change and become perfect before surrendering. No! Surrender yourself as you are, consciously, totally. Surrender deeply and your whole being will be flooded with new bliss.

Krishna says,

Mahabaho shrnu me paramam vachah yat te aham priyamanaya vakshyami hitakamyaya.

Because you are My dear friend, you are deeply connected to Me, I am revealing this truth to you.

Let me explain a few basic things. Actually, when we feel deeply connected to some person, the person will almost look like God. We will feel so deeply related. If we feel deeply connected to the person, no matter whether it is our husband, wife, kids, parents or our Master, he will look like God. Whatever he does, we will feel that he is divine.

Why do we think the eternal lovers Ambikavati and Amravati, Devadas and Parvati, Laila and Majnu, Romeo and Juliet, felt that the other person is God? They almost felt as if their partner was divine. They gave their life for the other person. Why?

When we feel deeply connected, when we feel deeply related, when we are in love with the other being, that other being will look almost like God. Look at the great Mirabai. She was so much in love with Krishna who was not even physically in front of her. Yet, she felt so deeply connected to Him. She talked to Him, sang His praises and became totally immersed in Him. When Mirabai was given poison, she even drank that, totally surrendering herself to Krishna. The power of her love and devotion was such that even a deadly poison had no effect on her!

Vivekananda describes a naga sannyasi who lived in a cave. All kinds of wild animals surrounded the area, including snakes. He had a lot of snakebite marks, but he was so connected to Existence that he even welcomed a snake! All we need is the attitude of deeply connecting through the heart.

The problem is that we have forgotten how to connect through the heart because all our relationships have become superficial. Now, the wife is no more a wife. In the modern day society, the husband is no more a husband. He is just a boyfriend. She can be with him as long as she wants. She can leave him when she doesn't want.

Be very clear: in Sanskrit, we don't have an equivalent word for divorce. The idea never existed! In Hindu marriage, no divorce is allowed. We take an oath in front of agni (fire), 'As long as you are alive, as long as I am alive, I will support you.' Both partners take this oath in front of agni. The Jataragni which is inside our body is represented by the agni in the ritual fire outside.

As long as this fire is inside our body, we will be alive. The moment this fire in our body disappears, our body will be in fire! Either the inner fire is in our body or our body will be put in outer fire.

In front of this fire, we take the oath. That is why they say agni-sakshi: fire is the witness. In front of the fire, we take the oath, 'Hereby, I commit, as long as this body is alive, I will support you. As long as this body is alive, you will take care of me. It is a commitment of a lifetime.

Sanskrit doesn't have an equivalent word for divorce because the concept did not exist at that time. With the cultural invasion of the so-called developed cultures, the materialistic cultures, changing the wife, house and car has now become a fashion. Once in three months, the house, car and wife become outdated.

Some time ago, a man asked me to bless his divorce. In Bharat, a Master is not only a spiritual person. He is also marriage-broker, stockbroker, financier, counselor, psychiatrist and a doctor. Masters are supposed to do all these things. Whatever decisions are advised by an enlightened person are for your good. Out of compassion and responsibility for the world, the Master acts.

I asked this man to tell me the real problem before I gave advice. I always try to patch up differences between people. One should have a strong case before going for a drastic step.

The man replied, 'One day when my wife brought me coffee in the morning, she spilled hot coffee on me. The fight started from there.' He then went back down his memory lane to give all his arguments against her.

Some communities in Bharat follow a custom at the time of marriage where the bride and groom compete to find a ring dropped in a pot of water. It is done more for fun. Whoever grabs the ring will have it. The man exclaimed, 'Right from that time, she spelled trouble for me. She scratched my hand while playing that game.' Look at the mentality! He has forgotten all the coffee she has brought him everyday before he wakes up. He feels no gratitude for that. Instead, he blames her for spilling coffee.

We forget the arguments that go against our judgment and pick up those that support our judgment. If you scan our life and see how many times we do this, you will understand what I am saying.

The outer world is a projection of the inner world and the eye projects it. Whatever is visible as the outer world is a mere projection. For instance, if there was a scene in a movie we did not like, we would not be able to change it by clearing the screen. Instead, we would need to switch off the projector or change the reel. Likewise, we try without success to change things in the outer world. Our frustration and depression are due to our attempt to manipulate the screen rather than the projector.

We fantasize about a holiday on a beautiful beach in Hawaii as ultimate bliss. However, when it happens, our thoughts are not of the beach but of our office and deadlines! I tell people that if we sit in the house and worry, it is homework. If we sit in the office and worry, it is work and if we sit on the beach and worry, it is vacation! The mind is the same, only the location is different. How can we change the mental state by changing the place? We are engaged all the time in changing the status, not the state.

We need to change the state, not the status. When we begin to change the state, we work with the projector and make progress, but changing our status is like working with the screen. Changing our wife, house or car is like working with the screen and it does not help us. Changing our mind and therefore our fantasies is the only way.

When we don't pass judgment on others, we reach the state of acceptance, the state of compassion. When intelligence happens, we reach the stage of acceptance. Acceptance is the first step and not the final step. When we welcome people and situations, compassion happens. Beloved means being loved, not body love.

What is the difference between intellect and intelligence? Intellect is always prejudiced. Intelligence is always fresh. When we pass judgment and collect evidence to substantiate our decision, it is intellect. When we first collect evidence and pass judgment without bias or prejudice, it is intelligence.

In fact, this is a true scientific attitude: we need the urge to know the truth, the perseverance to gather data and the courage to follow the conclusion. Patanjali's Yoga Sutras is an excellent example of a true scientist's research report. We need to embody these values to do justice to the scientific attitude.

Many people do not have the courage to follow their results. Galileo declared that the Earth goes around the Sun, which challenged the widely held Christian belief of a heliocentric world. He was persecuted. In his writings, he added the footnote, 'We as Christians can deny this but since the Earth and Sun are not Christians, they will continue to move the way they do, irrespective of Christian beliefs.'

So, even from the scientific perspective, we need to analyze data with an unbiased perception before we conclude, before we judge.

Ninety nine percent of the time we make the judgment and collect arguments to substantiate our judgment.

Look at your life and see how your mind works. How do you act in your daily life? The vast majority of the time, your judgment is ready. For example, your son comes home late by a few hours. You make a judgment. You will not accept any of his explanations. They can't shake your judgment. On the contrary, you pick arguments to support your decision. After that incident, whatever he does, you will be biased by your previous judgment.

Similarly, after living with your wife for a few months, you create a concept about her. Then, whatever she does, you pick only those arguments that are necessary for your already formed judgment.

Whenever we try to live for our judgment, our ego, and our decisions, we make our life miserable. And we make the lives of others miserable also. Most of the time others do not create the miseries we face. Just to prove our ego, we create them. We may not even derive any benefits from them.

Whenever we think too much of ourselves, we believe only in our judgments and lay the blame on others. When we understand that we are simple beings, we start seeing the arguments clearly before passing judgment. We start making decisions on our lives in the right way and our relationships with others changes.

Most of the time, when we are attracted to a person of the opposite sex, we say it is love. If it is someone else's emotion, we call it lust. Or when we become angry, we say it is for the other person's good. Yet, if others become angry with us, we say they have ego.

People boast about their deeds to me but quickly add that they are only informing me and not boasting. When others boast, we say it is ego. But we justify when we say the same thing by calling it information. We use different arguments for others. We put on one set of lens when we look at the world and another set when we look at ourselves.

Actually, we have forgotten how to relate through the heart, the intense way of relating. Our relationships have become superficial. We don't really know the meaning of the word, 'falling in love'.

Whenever Ramakrishna worshipped, did puja, he felt that Devi was present. He never felt that the statue was a stone. He felt the presence of Devi. When we deeply fall in love, even a stone can become God and guide us. When we don't feel connected, even if God comes down, we will ask for His business card! If we strongly feel connected, if we know how to open ourselves, a stone can become God and guide us. That is what happened to Ramakrishna. He spoke to Kali Devi. He talked to Devi directly.

Let me tell a beautiful story that happened in Ramakrishna's life:

Ramakrishna was the priest in the Devi temple. He used to taste the food before offering it to Devi. All the temple authorities told him, 'No! You cannot do

this. That is sacrilegious.' Ramakrishna said, 'I don't know all these things. I feel that She is my mother. How can I offer the food unless I know the taste? And if you don't want me to offer, I will stand outside and offer. But, I will offer.'

They agreed, 'Alright, do whatever you want.' Not only that, when he decorated the idol of Devi, he placed a small thread near the nose of Devi to see whether She was breathing or not, whether She was alive or not. And the story says, the thread vibrated due to Devi's prana. He felt Devi everywhere.

There is another beautiful story you should understand and this is solid truth. Please understand: it is the truth.

In Bengal, devotees put bangles made out of conch shell on the wrists of Devi in the Dakshineshwar temple. Devi Kali has four hands: two are 'abhaya hasta' and 'varada hasta' - 'protecting hand' and 'providing hand' respectively. In the third hand, She holds the khadga (sword). In the fourth hand, She holds the munda, the head of a demon that represents the human ego.

Actually, this is a philosophical representation. It means: if we cut our ego with the sword of knowledge, She protects and takes care of us.

In three of the hands of this statue, it is easy to put a bangle on. In the hand She is holding the sword, the sword can be removed and the bangle can be put. In the protecting and giving hands, the bangle can be slid in. However, the fourth hand of Devi holds the head of the demon. In that hand, we cannot put the conch bangle over the demon's head nor can we remove the head.

One day a devotee brought four bangles for Devi. Within half an hour, Ramakrishna somehow decorated each of Devi's wrists with one of the four bangles. Even though it was physically impossible, Devi's fourth hand was now wearing a bangle! The bangle was small compared to the large hand of the statue. The statue was not broken nor was the bangle broken.

The devotee was surprised, shocked. This incident is mentioned in the reminiscences of Ramakrishna, written in original Bengali by the close devotees, the householder disciples of Ramakrishna.

The devotee asked, 'Master, how did you put the bangle on Devi? Did you break it and paste it?' Ramakrishna said, 'No.'

The devotee asked curiously, 'Did you break the statue?' Ramakrishna said, 'No.'

The statue is made of black marble. Neither the stone statue was broken nor the bangle was broken. Still the bangle was on the hand of Devi. The devotee was shocked. He asked, 'How did you do it?'

Ramakrishna asked, 'What is the problem? I told Ma (mother), 'Mother, drop the head for a few minutes. She dropped the head. I put the bangle on. I gave her the head back. She started holding it again; that's all!'

Please understand: If you visit Dakshineshwar, Calcutta, please don't miss seeing that bangle. That bangle is still there. Somehow, by divine grace, I had the chance to go into the sanctum sanctorum and I saw the bangle at close quarters. Still, it is a mystery as to how Ramakrishna put on the bangle. One thing is sure: neither the statue nor the bangle is broken.

The energy is such that even stone can respond. We should never think that the deity in the temple is stone. It is archa-avatara: embodiment of God. Never think it is stone. It can straightaway respond to us.

Honestly, when I first read that reminiscence, I did not believe it. I was a strong intellect before enlightenment. I am the kind of person who never believes easily. I never trust anything. I prefer to verify and do cross-checking. I thought, 'One more story. Alright, leave it.'

In North Bharat, we can go inside the sanctum sanctorum. Even in Kasi, in the Vishwanath temple, we can touch the Vishwanath deity and offer. There is only one condition: we must first take a bath and then go in. When I went to the Kali temple, the priest took me inside. I touched the bangle and completely rotated it. The bangle is made of conch-shell and it rotates. Neither was there a cut nor was the statue broken. It is still a mystery!

Be very clear: when we feel connected, when we know how to open ourselves, when we know how to surrender, even stone can become God and guide us. When we don't know how to open, how to surrender, even if God comes, we will ask for His identity card. We will be unable to relate with Him.

Now all we need is the mood of being deeply in love with Krishna, deeply connected to Krishna, deeply related to Krishna. If we can open ourselves to Krishna when He describes His glories, it will not be words. We will feel it.

First, Krishna removed the enmity between jivatma (Self) and paramatma (supreme Self). Arjuna is the jivatma. Krishna is the paramatma.

We may not be aware but we continuously maintain enmity with paramatma, Existence. That is why we suspect life. We have fear about what will happen in the next moment. We are afraid of life because we don't believe what is going to happen the next moment. We don't trust Existence.

All life insurance is just because we don't trust Existence. Understand that life insurance is not life insurance. It is death insurance. Real life insurance is devotion to the Ultimate. Understanding that Existence is taking care of us is the real life insurance. It is the only life insurance. All other things are death insurance that goes to our families who are waiting for it! So that is not life insurance. That is death insurance.

A small story:

A young child was playing on the beach. He wanted to wade into the ocean. His mother ran after him and said, 'Don't go into the ocean. Play in the sand. Don't go into the water.'

The boy asked, 'Why? Daddy is going into the water. Why are you not stopping him? You are stopping me.' The mother said, 'He is insured!'

So please be very clear: all our insurance is death insurance. It is not life insurance. Understanding that Existence is taking care of us and that It is not our enemy, is the only life insurance we need.

One more thing: when we have the deep love - the connection with Existence, even when we die, we know that He knows where to keep us. We will be utterly relaxed. Even after death, we know He will protect and guide us. So now itself, our mind should be prepared to fall in tune with this energy; to obey, to surrender to the Ultimate will. Now itself, our body and mind should be prepared.

If we live life fighting with Existence, our life will be hell. Nothing else can be done. All we need to do is know how to feel connected.

First, Krishna removes the enmity between the individual Self and Existence. Now, He explains the glory of Existence. Next, He gives the experience that the individual Self and Existence, the Supreme Self, are the same.

Step-by-step, He leads Arjuna from visishtadvaita to dvaita (duality), dvaita to advaita (duality to non-duality), advaita to beyond advaita: anubhuti, experience. He leads Arjuna to a spiritual experience step-by-step. I spoke earlier about the three essential identities in our lives. These are: jiva, individual Self; jagat, the world in which this Self lives; and Ishwara, Creator of jiva and jagat, or in other words God.

Initially we see these three as separate entities, just as the water drop sees itself as separate from the ocean. There are different approaches in Hindu philosophy as to how the individual Self can reach the Creator, the Divine. The concepts of vishishtadvaita and dvaita are based on a separation between the Self and the Creator, with deep devotion connecting the two. Devotion leads the Self to the Divine and an understanding of the Divine. Yet they remain separate. It is like the water drop realizing it is part of the ocean and yet separate.

Advaita philosophy integrates the Self and the Creator into one non-dual entity, of which jagat, the world, forms a part. So the three seemingly separate entities merge into one. Advaita says that separation is an illusion, maya, and that true realization of the non-dual aspect of the Self and the Divine leads to liberation and enlightenment. These are different ways of looking at the same situation. None of them is wrong.

Krishna leads Arjuna from the concept of separation into the understanding of integration. Krishna makes Arjuna understand that nothing stands between him and Krishna, except his level of understanding.

Please be very clear: these are not contradictory. Many people ask me, 'Master, is dvaita or advaita right? Is visishtadvaita or dvaita right?' They are not contradictory. They complement each other. They lead us step-by-step to more and more understanding. They lead us step-bystep to the ultimate spiritual experience.

In Bharat, this clash between advaita and dvaita is a big fight. Is the Sankara bhashya (Sankara's commentary) big or is Ramanuja bhashya big? Sankara was the founder of advaita philosophy and Ramanuja founded the dvaita philosophy. The problem is that supporters of these scriptures have not studied either of them deeply. When we study deeply, we understand that they say the same thing in different languages.

All enlightened Masters speak the same thing in different ways. If we surrender, we will have the same experience of advaita-anubhav, non-duality experience*.* If we achieve the non-duality experience, we will have deep surrender.

The man who has achieved advaita-anubhava has tremendous devotion. For example, the verse of Sankara says:

bhajagovindam, bhaja govindam govindam bhajamudhamate samprapte sannihite kale nahi nahi rakshate tukrunjkarane.

Sankara says, 'Oh Fool! May you start meditating on Govinda (God) now. May you start remembering Govinda now. Nahi nahi rakshate tukrinjkarane means: when Yamadharma, the Lord of Death comes, intellectual knowledge will not help you. Your intellectual knowledge will not guide you.

A great advaita-gnani, sage of non-duality experience*,* will be a great devotee. And a great devotee will be an advaita-gnani! Both are one and the same. Only those who have not realized the experience argue.

Ramakrishna tells this beautiful story:

Four people approach a water tank. One person says, 'I am going to drink tanneer, meaning water in Tamil. The other person says, 'No! In that tank, there is only water. Tanneer is not there.' The third person says, 'No, I am going to drink paani (water in Hindi).' The fourth person says, 'I am going to drink neeru (water in Kannada).'

One person says, 'No, my grandfather told me that there is only water.' The other person says, 'My grandfather constructed this tank. He says it is tanneer.' Then, another person says, 'My grandfather has all the knowledge. He said it is neeru.'

The four people start fighting without even going near the tank, without seeing the tank, before ever reaching the tank. They kill each other and die.

If they had had enough patience to peer into the tank, they would have understood that the four words are the same. What they meant by water, tanneer, paani and neeru are one and the same. However, these people did not have that much patience.

If we experience it, we will understand that Ramanuja, Sankara, Buddha and Madhvacharya are all one and the same in their experience.

A small story:

A Vedanta bookstall at a book-fair was selling the Brahmasutra Sankara bhashya and the Ramanuja bhashya. An elderly pundit, a scholar well read in the scriptures, stopped by and saw one volunteer standing in the store.

He wondered how much knowledge of these books this salesman had. He asked the volunteer, 'Do you know the difference between Sankara bhashya and Ramanuja bhashya?'

The volunteer replied, 'Forty-five rupees, sir!'

All he knew was the price, not what was inside those books! To him the difference was a dollar.

If you go inside dvaita and advaita philosophies, both show the same knowledge, wisdom and experience. All we need to know is how to open ourselves and surrender to this Existence. Then we will experience at the level of our being that Existence is taking care of us. Please be very clear: if Existence doesn't want us here, we cannot be here for a single moment. Even for a single moment, we cannot be here. There is no reason for Existence to keep us alive. If it is keeping us alive, we are wanted. We are wanted in this form, in this way, in this place. That is why we are kept alive.

God continuously cleans all the garbage. He never waits. Everyday He clears away all the old things. He is the perfect energy that maintains cleanliness. They say that cleanliness is next to godliness. I say that cleanliness is godliness. It is not next to godliness.

Unless we are needed, we will not be kept alive. Just by being alive, He proves that we are needed. We are wanted. We are not an accident. We are an incident. Don't think that we are alive due to an accident. We are an incident. When we understand that we are an incident, we feel deeply connected. We open ourselves to Existence.

I tell people: trust, even if you are exploited. You may say, 'What is this, Master? What kind of teaching are you giving? You are asking us to trust even if we are exploited.'

Be very clear: there are two kinds of lives. One is living completely with trust and the other is living completely with an insecure feeling. The person who lives in insecurity may have more wealth. He may have two or three more sofa sets, two or three more beds, a little bigger house, yet he can never rest. The person who lives with the insecure consciousness may have more comfort but he will never be blissful.

On the other hand, the person who lives with deep trust in Existence may have less comfort but he never misses that comfort. People who trust Existence are always showered with blessings. They may miss a little comfort but they will live like God on planet Earth. They will live like a flower on planet Earth. They will be a blessing for the whole planet. The Earth is alive because of a few people who live radiating this trust, who live radiating the divine grace.

In Genesis God says to Abraham, 'If ten good people are found in the country, I will not destroy that land.' Bharat has been invaded so many times. Still that culture is alive. Still it exists in spite of the invasions, in spite of all the troubles. Nobody can shake it. Nobody can touch it because it continuously produces enlightened Masters! As long as Bharat produces enlightened Masters and supplies them to the world, it will not be destroyed.

You see, each country contributes something to humanity. For example, the western society contributes to the social structure. They work with so many different social structures. Germans contribute to the medical field. They have done so much research in medicine. The Japanese contribute to the field of technology. The Chinese contribute to the level of production. In some way or the other, all nations contribute.

Bharat contributes by creating enlightened Masters. For anything else, we can go to other countries. For spirituality, we must turn towards Bharat. All the great spiritual cultures were born and nurtured in Bharat. All the spiritual cultures have had their basis and inspiration from Bharat.

We should trust, even if we are exploited. Even if we are exploited, when we live with trust, we live like God on planet Earth. After all, we are going to live on this Earth for a maximum of seventy to eighty years. In those seventy to eighty years, why should we continuously torture others and ourselves? When we live in an insecure consciousness, we torture others and ourselves.

One more thing about this that is important for us to know: if we defend ourselves because of our insecurity, we will not only offend others but we will also miss the joy of living on planet Earth. If we trust even if we are exploited, how much will we lose? All that we possess is nothing more than a sand castle.

According to the Hindu mythological stories, Vyasa lived longer than any other man. Someone asked why he didn't build a house. Vyasa replied, 'After all, I am only going to live for a few years. Why should I build a house? Why waste my time?'

A Zen koan says, 'Children build sandcastles on the beach until the evening. Before they go back home, they destroy them.' However, we build castles with costly things, that is the only difference! We take things seriously. Children have intelligence, not seriousness.

If we can, let us live with the completely relaxed mood of deep trust. Our life will be like a flower. Our presence will be a blessing. Our existence will save planet Earth. No matter what crosses our path, we will just be living and enjoying. It is a blessing.

What have we brought here to lose? Our insecure consciousness is nothing but ignorance of the truth. What are we going to carry with us after death? Nothing! A simple truth: neither have we brought anything nor are we going to take anything.

While we are here we can relax and trust that Existence will provide for us. If the energy moving inside our body can convert bread into blood, can't it bring bread to us? Just to convert bread into blood mechanically, we need an industry that measures three miles in length. Yet, the whole process happens inside our body without our conscious effort.

Our brain receives information, analyzes, understands and responds. This entire process that is happening inside our brain would need a computer three stories high that would create a sound equal to at least ten generators.

When people tell me, 'Master, my mind is too noisy, I don't feel the silence or peace,' I tell them, 'for the amount of work done by your mind, it is silent! Never think it is noisy.'

The big problem is that we don't trust our energy. We don't trust the cosmic energy. When it can convert bread into blood, can't it help us? Can't it give us the intelligence to bring bread, sustenance into our lives? It can guide us. It can give us enough intelligence to bring bread for our life. When the energy can move planets and run the whole universe, can't it take care of us?

Let me narrate to you a real incident:

Sharada Devi, the wife of Ramakrishna, opened a charitable hospital in Calcutta. There were two counters: one counter where medicines were given free for the poor and another counter for people who could afford to buy medicines.

One employee of the hospital complained to Sharada Devi, 'Mother, even rich people stand in the counter for the poor and take advantage of the free medicines. What should we do about this?'

Sharada Devi replied, 'Don't be concerned. When a rich man stands in the line for the poor, be assured that he is also poor, and give him medicines. Even if he has money, he is a poor man. He has come here as a beggar.'

She makes a beautiful statement, 'Outer wealth doesn't make one rich or poor. It is the inner attitude that matters. If you live with trust, even if you are exploited, even if you lose your comforts of the outer world, you will live like God on this planet Earth. You will float. You will never merely walk. You will become a divine person.'

J. Krishnamurthi says, 'Trust always does good. Unfortunately, we don't have the patience to allow it to work in our lives. We must allow the seed to sprout and the flower to blossom. However, if we keep watching to see when it will flower and act like a security guard with a weapon in our hand, our very threat will not allow it to flower.'

I am asking you to trust Existence, not based upon my intellectual knowledge but from my personal experience. If you believe me, if you trust my words, when you trust Existence and relax from your tensions, headaches, worries and problems, be sure that you will be taken care of. Miracles will happen in your life. When you put your energy totally on trust, something happens in you. An alchemy takes place in you.

A small story:

Everyday a bank manager took home all the cash and brought it back each morning. He found himself trembling all the way back home and couldn't sleep at night because of his sense of responsibility for the money in his custody. After a month, he could not do it anymore.

He finally wrote a letter to his boss asking to be relieved of the job, explaining that he was afraid to keep the money each night. The boss replied that even if the money were lost, he would not be blamed and that he could continue with his job. The manager slept peacefully from that day onwards.

Why? What is the difference in him now? He is doing the same job. Why is the fear or sorrow no longer there? It is because the responsibility for the money shifted to a higher authority, that's all. This is surrender. Do your duty and leave all of the responsibility to Existence. She will take care!

So we have two choices: we can live, offending and defending continuously. Even if we have comfort, our being will have nothing more than a wound. Or we can lead a totally relaxed life with utter freedom and complete trust in Existence. We can have physical, mental, emotional and psychological freedom. We can have liberation here and now.

The moment we live with trust, we are liberated. Nothing hurts us anymore. If we live with the truth, we beautifully live even our death because we trust that Existence will take care of us even then. If we live without trust, we will be killed by the fear of death. Every moment, we will be dying. With trust, even in our death, we will be living, celebrating!

Here, if we can relax and feel deeply connected to what Krishna says, we will experience the state that Krishna expresses when He tells us about His glories, His vibhuti.

10.2 Neither the hosts of deities nor the great sages know My origin, My opulence.

I am the source of the deities and the sages.

10.3 He who knows Me as the unborn, without beginning, and supreme Lord of all the worlds,

Only he who has this clarity is wise and freed from all bondage.

Krishna says, 'Neither the devatas (Gods) nor the rishis know Me.' He means that neither people who work in the line of comforts and luxury nor the people who work in the line of religion and tapas (penance) know Him. 'But, I am their origin.'

Whether we live a spiritual or a materialistic life, our root is our consciousness. We should understand an important thing: whenever Krishna says, 'Me, Me, Me,' He is referring to the enlightened Consciousness.

One real incident:

I was invited to a conference by a group of Krishna bhaktas (devotees). I can't say devotees as the word devotee is a beautiful word. They were more like fanatics. I went humbly, politely and in a friendly way.

Suddenly, they confronted me and started arguing. They asked me, 'Do you believe in Gita?' I said, 'Yes, Gita is the ultimate book. I respect it and I worship it.' They questioned me, 'Then why do you worship Shiva?' I was shocked. They asked me, 'You should worship only Krishna. Why are you worshipping Shiva? Why do you put vibhuti (holy ashs) on your forehead? Why do you wear rudraksha (fruits of rudraksha tree)?'

I asked them, 'How does respecting Shiva and wearing rudraksha contradict respecting and following the Gita?' They said, 'No. Krishna says in the Gita, 'I am everything,' so how can you worship Shiva?' I was surprised.

I said, 'When Krishna says 'I', He means the parabrahma swaroopa (universal Self) of Him. He means the formless consciousness of His being. He represents the universal energy. He doesn't mean the six-foot form with the flute and peacock feather. The form is beautiful as long as it leads you to the formless.' If He means the six-foot form, how could He say that He taught this knowledge to Vivaswan? He says, 'I gave this knowledge to Ikshvaku. I gave this wisdom to Surya.' He says, 'I gave this knowledge to Ikshvaku. And from there, it came down to Manu.' He says again and again, it is He who gave this knowledge to these great people who lived thousands of years before Him.

When the Gita was delivered, Krishna was thirty-two years old. If He was speaking about His form, how could He say, 'I gave this knowledge to Surya. I gave this knowledge to Manu?' When Krishna says 'I', He means the Cosmic Consciousness.

Immediately, the people who were arguing asked, 'How can you say the form and energy are different? When He says 'I', He means the form also.'

I explained, 'I do not want to disrespect Krishna's form. When the form represents the energy, the form is also energy, no doubt. But, it is not that you cannot worship another form. You don't have to become a fanatic.'

One person started arguing, 'How can you say that when Krishna says 'I', He doesn't mean the form but He means the energy?' Then, I had to refer to another important scripture, the Anu Gita that was delivered in the Mahabharata after the Bhagavad Gita.

After the war is over, Arjuna asks, 'Krishna, please tell me whatever You taught me before. I remember the essence but I forgot the words because You taught me the whole thing during the war. I have forgotten the words. Please repeat once more. I want to listen to those great teachings.'

You will be surprised but Krishna says, 'Arjuna, not only you, I have also forgotten.' He says:

Na cha kyam tanmaya bhuyastatah

bhaktom aseshtaha paramhee

brahmarathi yogayuktena tanmayaha.

This is in the Mahabharata in Ashwamedhika Parva.

Krishna says, 'Arjuna, I can't give the teachings again because they were said in that high spiritual, eternal consciousness. At that time, I was in that high, eternal consciousness. I was radiating My enlightenment. That very enlightenment spoke through Me. The universal consciousness spoke through Me. The universal energy expressed itself through Me. That is why all those teachings came out. I represented the universal energy, the universal consciousness at that moment. Now I cannot give you the same teachings again.'

He says that these things are expressed in that high, eternal Consciousness. Please understand that when Krishna says 'I', He means the enlightened energy, the universal consciousness.

When I quoted this verse, the senior religious pundits (scholars) arguing with me said, 'You look young, but you seem to be well read. We cannot argue with you!'

The greatness of Sanatana Dharma – the religion of eternal righteousness later called Hinduism - is that it doesn't produce fanatics. It doesn't believe in conversion. All the eastern religions, whether it is Hinduism or Buddhism, don't believe in conversion. They don't convert anybody by fear or greed, by bread or by blood. Neither by bread nor by blood do they convert people.

Whether you worship Krishna, Christ, Muhammad or Buddha, it does not make any difference. Please continue to worship whomever you believe in and whomever you connect with, that's enough. Be intense in your path. Nothing else needs to be done. There is no need for fanaticism because all forms are representations of the same divine energy.

There is a question here from the audience: 'I am a worshipper of formlessness, the formless energy. Can I become your disciple and follow dhyana (meditation)?'

Only then can you become my disciple!

Only if you are the worshipper of the formless, you can become my disciple. There is a strict instruction for my disciples that they should not meditate on my form. If you have done any of our meditation camps, you know. There is a strict instruction: you cannot meditate on my form. You should not meditate on my form.

And be aware, if any guru tells you to meditate on his form, escape from him. You are falling into the net. You are falling into indirect slavery. Never, never, do that. You will slowly get exploited. Spiritual slavery is the worst slavery. Never be caught in that.

The basis of spirituality is that it should lead us to liberation. In spirituality, if we are caught in slavery, then even God cannot save us. Never meditate on my form. I tell people: never meditate on my form.

And in our healing initiation, the third level program, there is a clear instruction: you cannot meditate on my form. The form will be here today and gone tomorrow. It will disappear tomorrow. How long will forms be here? Forms can never be here forever.

Form is a representation. Understand: it is like the finger pointing to the moon. I am telling you, 'There is the Sun. There is the Moon.' Instead of looking at the Sun or Moon, if you catch hold of this finger, you miss what I am showing you! You miss what I represent. When the finger points to the Moon, if you catch the finger, you miss the Moon.

In the same way, the Master represents the divine consciousness. If you catch His form, you miss the Divine. Never be caught in the form. I tell people: never meditate on my form. If somebody tells you to meditate on his form, be very clear that you are being exploited. Escape. Save yourself.

All I want you to understand is that when Krishna says 'I', He means the universal consciousness.

In the next verse, He uses the word mudhaha, fool. Again He uses the word 'fool'. He says only someone who is free from all the sins understands Him. Again and again, what does He want to convey? what does He expect as a qualification from us in order to experience Him?

There is one more question: 'Master, again and again, you say all we need is one simple understanding. Exactly what am I missing? Tell me. I think I have that understanding. I almost feel I am around the corner. Yet, I am unable to experience what Krishna says. What am I missing? Where am I missing? Please tell me.'

As I was telling you, what and where exactly do we lack? The person who asked this question is totally frustrated. He says, 'Everyday at the end of the lecture, you bring everything to the one point that the inner being should be transformed. And exactly what am I lacking? Please tell me.'

Everyday I bring and stop at that subject so that you will ask this question. Now, I can tell exactly where you are lacking. First, the thirst should be created. The quest should be created. Then, the quest should be answered.

When the question becomes a quest, you speak in this language. When the urge becomes urgent, you speak in this language.

A small story:

A man continuously asked a Zen Master to teach him how to become enlightened. One day the man was following the Master on the banks of a river. The Master turned around and pushed the man's head into the river.

After a few seconds of being underwater, the Master released his grip and the man came up gasping for breath, desperately struggling to be out. The Master asked what he wanted in the few moments he was being held underwater. The man replied, 'Obviously some air.'

The Master replied, 'When your urge to become enlightened becomes like the need for air, come to me.'

Many seekers are just like window shoppers. Window shopping is just walking along the street and seeing what's there. Many seekers are window shoppers. They go from Master to Master.

Going from Master to Master is not wrong. It is perfectly alright. However, not learning from anybody is wrong. Again and again, I tell people, 'Go to all the gardens, but pick flowers and make a beautiful bouquet.'

But what do we do? We don't pick flowers from any garden. That is where the problem starts. A lot of people are just window shoppers. They go around. They don't do anything. They act as if they are seekers. Above all, they want to satisfy themselves that they are seekers. This is hypocrisy.

Either put your whole effort into seeking, or forget it and carry on with life. If you say that you are trying to pick up a book, but you don't pick it up, what does it mean? It is just cheating.

Ramakrishna says beautifully, 'If somebody's hair is burning, will he keep quiet? Will he say, 'I have no time now. I still have many more years. Later on, I can take care?' The moment there is fire on a person's head, he tries to put out the fire. He runs towards water.

Exactly where are we missing? Because we feel too much ego in our being, when Krishna says He is God, we feel He is egoistic. For example, if I suddenly say, 'I am God,' what will you naturally think? 'This guy has gone crazy and he has too much ego.'

Please understand: when you say the word 'I', the meaning is different from when a Master says it. When you say the word 'God', the word is empty. When you use the word 'God', it is just a superficial understanding. It has no solid truth behind it. When you say the word 'God', it is some collected thoughts about whatever you have read or heard or whatever you think about God, that's all. It is not a solid truth or experience for you.

Whereas when you say the word 'I' or your name, there is a solid meaning and experience behind that word for you. But when you say 'God', there is no solid meaning behind that word. When it comes to enlightened Masters, the word 'I' has no solid meaning. It is vague, superficial. However, the word 'divine' or 'enlightened' or 'God' has a solid meaning. It is their very experience.

Just because you have ego, you think Masters have ego and you miss the meaning of their expression, their declaration. If you can, push your ego a little aside and listen to the words of the Masters intensely.

I know, I can see how this whole scene of the Gita between Arjuna and Krishna would have happened. After Krishna's teachings Arjuna completely and totally melted in front of Krishna.

Krishna explains, 'Oh my dear! Understand, I am everything. I have come down. I have happened in this body to liberate you.'

Immediately, the man who is centered on fear, says, 'If you are everything, do all these things for me. Alter this world.' If he is centered on greed, he says, 'If you are everything, give me all these boons.'

The moment the Master says he is God, the moment Krishna says He is God, if you are centered on greed, you catch him and ask him to give you all the boons. You start begging, 'Give me this, give me that, give me this, and give me that.' You start begging. If you are centered on fear, again, you catch him and say, 'Please protect me from this. Protect me from that.'

The moment we demand, divinity disappears because we have brought in the business consciousness, the business mind. The attitude which exists between the Master and us plays a major role in our experiencing Him as divine and our experiencing ourselves as divine.

Many people say, 'Master, if my son is healed, I will give you so much money. If my daughter is healed, I will give you this property.' I start laughing.

First of all, I never asked them for anything. Second, the moment we start bargaining, the whole beauty of the relationship is gone. For healing to happen, a special bridge is necessary. The bridge or a deep connection, a deeply connected feeling is required. A deep love is necessary.

The moment we bring in the business mood, it is over! As soon as we start bargaining, neither can I heal nor can the person being healed receive the energy. The bridge is disconnected. There is no bridge anymore. If that bridge is there, even without seeing me, you can be healed. You don't need to even see me. You don't need to be in my presence.

Continuously, again and again, I receive emails from all over the world, 'Master, you gave me darshan (vision) and removed my sufferings. Master, you gave me darshan and healed me. Master, you appeared in front of me and answered my question.' Then they ask, 'Master, do you know the times when you appear and give darshan to us?'

Now, let me tell you clearly, honestly: I do not know. Let me break the business secret. Let me tell the whole truth as it is: I do not know. Actually, in no way am I involved.

Just because of your trust, deep love and devotion, the cosmic energy guides you using this form, that's all. I rent this body to the Divine. Because I disappeared, because my ego disappeared, the Divine uses this form to guide you. Over! Otherwise, it is totally between you and the cosmic energy. I cannot involve myself. I have no say. I cannot appear for somebody and say, 'No, he is not my favorite, I cannot appear for him.' No! I cannot show favoritism. It is not under my control.

It is between your attitude and the Divine. It is your ability, your attitude to receive, that creates the bridge. Again and again, I tell people: all I can do is, go back and download the information regarding the darshan that you had, and tell you what happened when you had the darshan and what instruction was given to you. I can go back, download, bring that information and give it to you. That's all. I have no other say over it. I have no control over it.

With all enlightened people, this is what happens. The moment I claim that I gave darshan, the whole thing is over. The moment I declare it is I who appeared, the whole thing is over. Then, the Divine will stop using this form.

As long as I am clear that this is not me and it is Parashakti, Existence, using this form, She continues to use this flute to play Her songs. She continues to use this form to do Her mission. She continues to use this form to bless Her devotees.

When I say Parashakti, I mean the cosmic energy. Don't think there is some lady with four hands! It is the cosmic energy. She does Her job using the forms of people who have surrendered their form to Her. Because I vacated, She is living.

All you need to do is just get out of your system. The Divine will get in. If you get out of your system, the Divine will get in. Again and again, I tell people it is not me who gives the darshans. I don't give visions and it is not related to me. I don't even know when it happens.

All I can say is that when you come back and tell me, if you tell the place or date, I can download and see that file. I can search and bring the file back and tell you in a detailed way what happened. Nothing else is in my control.

When you feel connected, you are open. You don't need to see the Master. The cosmic energy will guide you. There is no need for His nearness. But when you spoil the relationship, when you bring business into the relationship, nothing can be done. Nothing can be done because the bridge is broken.

I was watching the CNN channel. They were talking about how the New Orleans Bridge had disappeared in a natural disaster. Like biscuit pieces, the pieces of the bridge are missing. The bridge is not there. In the same way, the very bridge does not happen between you and the Master when business enters. For the bridge to happen, we need the attitude of complete surrender or understanding, feeling deeply connected. Here, by now, Arjuna is almost feeling connected. He has just dropped his fear and greed.

The big problem with the spiritual process is that you will have what you want when you drop the idea of having that. That is where the problem starts. A deep, passive waiting without knowing what is going to happen is passive surrender. That is total surrender. The moment you decide 'I will wait forever', things happen.

As long as you are in a hurry, you are agitated. You stop things from happening in you. It is like trying to get the lotus to blossom. What do you do? You open the petals by hand. Will it be a flower? It will never be a lotus flower. The lotus flower blooms by itself when the Sun's rays pierce it. Give a little space to yourself so that your being blossoms.

The moment you decide to wait, things start happening. You don't need to wait anymore. You must wait until you decide to wait. The moment you decide to wait, you don't need to wait anymore.

A beautiful story:

Narada, a devotee of Vishnu, was going to Vaikunta (abode of Lord Vishnu). On the way, he saw a yogi sitting in meditation. The yogi asked Narada, 'Oh Narada, please ask Vishnu how long I must wait before I become enlightened?' Narada said, 'Surely I will ask,' and he went on his way.

Next, Narada encountered a man who was jumping and dancing under a tree. He asked Narada, 'Oh Narada, please ask Vishnu when I will have his darshan.' Please be very clear, he never asked when he would become enlightened. He asked Narada when he would have Vishnu's darshan, His vision. He said, 'Ask Him to grace me. How long should I wait for His grace?' Narada said, 'Surely I will ask, don't worry.'

Narada went to Vaikunta and came back with the replies. The yogi asked him what Vishnu had said. Narada said, 'Vishnu said you must wait four more janma (lives) to become enlightened.' The yogi fell into depression, 'Oh, four janmas! What will I do?'

The person who was dancing, jumping around asked Narada 'What did Vishnu say?' Narada said, 'He said you must wait for as many janmas as there are leaves on this tree. Then you will have His darshan. Only then His grace will fall upon you.'

As soon as he heard this, the man said, 'Oh! He gave me the assurance that He will grace me! That is enough.' He started jumping and dancing again.

The moment he uttered this, there was a stroke of lightning and the Divine descended. The man became enlightened.

So understand, deep patience and the decision to wait is surrender.

Take the life of Buddha as an example. With utmost sincerity he tried to get enlightened with all meditation techniques and spiritual practices. When nothing worked, He relaxed and let go of everything, trusting Existence. That very moment, He became enlightened.

In my life, as long as I was doing meditation, I never became enlightened. As long as I was doing all the practices, penance, I was so agitated. Nothing happened. Actually after my enlightenment, I came to know that because of the penance, I had postponed my enlightenment. To tell you honestly, at the age of twelve, I had become enlightened. I did not know that I had become enlightened. I tried to hold on to the experience. I tried to possess nithya ananda, eternal bliss. The moment I tried to possess it, it started slipping away, like wet soap.

If you try to catch soap, what happens? Naturally, it will slip. Since I tried to catch the experience, it slipped from me. The day I decided ultimately that I would do no more catching, no more fishing, no more casting the net, no more searching, no more seeking, when I decided to relax and wait, it simply happened. The day you decide to wait, things happen.

Usually, when somebody is blessed and if he is healed, he tells someone else about it. If the second person comes with the attitude of getting healed, he naturally misses the whole game.

If he comes as a devotee, or to understand all these things, healing automatically happens as a by-product. When we want it as the main product, we miss the whole bridge.

Especially, when we bring the business approach, like a deal between friends, the whole attitude, the relationship is no more between guru and disciple. Then it is like a business relationship. Energy cannot be transmitted in a business relationship.

One more thing: we need courage to stake everything on trust. It is like that moment when a seed must let go of its fears and break to open and become a tree. This is why we call nirvana as the last nightmare.

If a dream is too wild, we wake up. Similarly, when we get a jolt or shock in life, we wake up to enlightenment. Enlightenment happens when there is a sudden shock to our dream state.

Zen monasteries use strange techniques to enlighten a person.

Let me tell you one such story:

A Master was walking on the third floor of the monastery. A disciple sincerely asked him for enlightenment. Suddenly, the Master turned and pushed him off the third floor. The disciple had total faith in his Master and was entirely calm. He fell like a flower and got up to dance!

Strange as this may seem, research says that our body's weight does not cause a heavy landing. When children fall, they do not hurt themselves badly. When a person falls and drowns in a river, the dead body, though filled with water and heavier, floats, whereas a lighter, living person drowns. They infer that it is our ego, our solidness that causes the damage!

A whirling Sufi dancer used to become airborne at moments during his dance, yet he never ever hurt himself upon landing. Levitation done by yogis is similarly achieved through an egoless state.

The wonder with Masters is that there is no failure, ever. Their's is a foolproof system!

A small story:

A naga (Hindu sannyasi who is usually naked) was so fond of his Master that he would stand behind the Master and constantly imitate his hand and body movements. The Master did not mind on account of his sincerity. Once when a discourse was on, the Master raised his hand and so did the disciple.

The Master turned to the disciple and cut off his hand with a sword. So great was the disciple's devotion that along with his severed hand, his ego fell and he became enlightened. The other disciples asked the Master if this was not too high a price to pay for enlightenment.

The Master replied, 'Compared to the number of lives people must take to achieve this state, this is a small price indeed!'

We need the energy to let go, to allow the transformation to happen. Like the seed that lets go of its fear in becoming a tree, we too must have the energy to let go, to allow the transformation to happen.

Christian theology calls the last moment 'the dark night of the soul'. Buddhists use the term 'the last nightmare'. In that moment, when our ego is dying, we must be willing to let go of the past. Enlightenment never happens as a continuity of something. It happens in a flash, as a new birth.

In Sanskrit we call it vishaada. The first chapter of the Gita is Arjuna vishaada yoga. Arjuna's dilemma was so great, yet he was willing to trust Krishna and let go. In such a situation, no mental decision taken is correct and when the Master guides you, you must be ready to let go and follow what he says completely, implicitly.

Arjuna had the courage to believe totally in Krishna and let go, which was why he had the vishwarupa darshan, the cosmic vision of Krishna. We must have the energy to let go, to allow the dark night to happen to us. Only if we have trust in the Master can the ultimate gain happen to us.

The Master George Gurdjieff had strange techniques to enlighten disciples. He had a rule that anybody engaged in any activity, on hearing his cry, 'Stop!' should immediately stop whatever they may be doing, sit down and meditate.

He had a stream inside his ashram. Once three disciples were in the stream when he cried 'Stop!' However, no sooner than he had cried out, the water in the stream began to rise. Frightened, two of the disciples immediately rushed out of the water. The third continued to meditate. His ego drowned with his body and a new being floated.

We need to trust in order to experience the unknown space. At that moment, we have only the Master to hold onto. We must accept the new experience happening to us, and deeply trust that the energy to transcend our old personality is entering us.

Krishna emphasizes the feeling of connectedness. Feeling deeply connected with the Master is the basic need to understand this truth. That is why the east gave so much importance to the guru, the Master.

There is one more question here:

'Respected Master, I have received deeksha (initiation) from my guru and know the relationship of guru and disciple. My guru took samadhi (left the body) in 1952. I gathered all his teachings and am trying to apply them. I never saw my guru in person. Now, since I listened to your discourses everyday, I have experienced that Lord Krishna is talking directly to me from the Bhagavad Gita and it is a beautiful experience. I do not want to let it go. I have the fear that I am greedy and not sure whether I can have two gurus in my life.'

Ramakrishna answers this question. You can have as many gurus as possible. I tell my disciples whom I initiate, 'Not only do I allow you to go wherever you want to go to learn, I also encourage you to learn from wherever you want. Pick flowers from all the gardens and make a beautiful bouquet.'

One more thing: even if our ego is beaten from one thousand sides, it will not die. How can you expect your ego to be killed by one person? May you learn from all sides. Let your ego be crushed from all sides. All you need to experience the truth is growth. Wherever you can experience, don't miss it. Wherever you get the chance, take it.

And be very clear: don't go to a person who says, 'Don't go to others.' Safeguard your freedom. Preserve your freedom. Other than that, you are completely free to go and learn.

So, you don't need to feel guilty. You don't need to feel you are doing something wrong if you listen to his teachings or practice my teachings. I can be sure I won't have any problem with your Master. And after all he has passed away. I will talk to him directly now. Don't bother about it! We have our understanding. You need not worry about it! Relax and enjoy.

When we feel deeply connected, the connectivity is enough. Nothing else is necessary. That itself can guide us.

One more important thing: please understand, to whom we feel connected is not important. To whom we surrender is not important… I can tell you one more business secret, in the same way that Krishna says rajavidya raja guhyam, secret of secrets. Let me tell these business secrets that nobody usually reveals because the whole business is built on these secrets. But I am very clear, 'let me tell you the whole thing.'

Please understand that to whom we surrender is unimportant. The attitude of surrender, the attitude of feeling connected is what liberates us. That is enough. It will liberate us. Nothing else is necessary. The very intensity has power. The attitude of surrender has the power to transform our life. Nothing else is required.

One small story:

A person who faced a lot of troubles in life felt that he had had enough. He ran away to the forest to find an enlightened guru to help him achieve liberation. He searched day and night but was unable to find anybody.

Then he decided, 'Whoever I first meet on this road, I will accept as my guru. I will follow his instructions. Oh God, I know you are here. Send me the proper person to guide me.' He sat down and waited patiently for someone to come along.

After two days a thief came running on that road in the evening. The man caught hold of the thief's feet, 'Oh Master, please save me. You are my God. You are my guru. Please instruct me on how to become enlightened.'

The thief said, 'What is this? What is happening?' He said, 'Let me go! Let me go. I am a thief. I must escape. The police are chasing me! Let me go. I must run away.' The man said, 'No! You are my God. You are my guru. You must instruct and guide me on the path of enlightenment.'

The thief said, 'Fool! Don't you see I have stolen all this jewelry? Let me go, otherwise, I will kill you. I can kill you right now. But if I kill you, I must spend ten minutes. By that time, the police will have caught up with me. I don't have ten minutes. Otherwise, I would have killed you by now.'

The man said, 'I don't know about all that. You are my guru. Teach me.' The thief said, 'Alright. This is a big problem. You say I am your guru. Then listen to me. Will you do whatever I say?' The disciple said, 'Yes, surely. I am here for that.'

The thief said, 'Sit.' He sat down. The thief said, 'Close your eyes.' He closed his eyes. The thief gave the instruction, 'Don't open your eyes until I return and tell you to open your eyes.' The man sat with all sincerity and closed his eyes. The thief escaped. The man continued sitting for hours. Slowly, days passed. Then a week passed. A month passed by. The man sat without food or water, absolutely still.

Shiva observed the depth of his sincerity and suddenly appeared to give him darshan and enlightenment!

This may look like a story. Yet, there is a beautiful meaning and truth behind it. Please understand that sincerity is enough. Nothing else is needed.

The feeling of connectedness is enough. You may ask, 'How should we feel the connectedness, Master?'

The very boiling in you that you want to feel it is enough. The very boiling, the very quest that you want to feel it, that intensity is enough. You will start feeling.

The very intensity has the power to create that in you. Nothing else is necessary. All I am trying to do through these Gita lectures is one thing: create that fire in you. That's all.

Automatically, you will search for the solution. All I do through this program or our meditation camps is give a taste or one glimpse. Then, you will run after it. Then, we don't need to do anything. All I do is to give you deep inspiration, converting your questions into quest, transforming your questions into quest and creating a deep thirst.

Q: Master, you say it is okay to follow other Masters and it is like picking beautiful flowers to make a garland. But what if the result is comparison between one Master and another as a continuous process? One will end up nowhere.

Each seeker of truth has a path. It may be gnana knowledge, bhakti - devotion or karma - action. Each seeker must experiment to find out which path is suitable for him, which path attracts him, and then choose his guru.

In the initial stage, while you are in search of the right Master, it is useful to search, experiment and verify. It may be comparison or not necessarily also. Masters express themselves quite differently and so you can make a bouquet out of the truth you gather from different Masters.

However, at some point it is necessary to decide on a path and a Master who can appropriately guide you in that path. As long as you are just gathering knowledge, you do not need a Master. Reading books and various scriptures is enough. You do not need the guidance of a living Master if you do not plan to internalize and imbibe within you what you are adding as knowledge. The knowledge stops at the head and does not touch the heart and the being.

If you wish to move deeper into the path of Selfrealization, you need to be touched in your heart and being. You need to be touched by a Master. Only an enlightened Master can pass on the ultimate experience

Part 3: Bhagavad Gita, Commentary by THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM - Chapter 10 - I am the Ultimate

that he has had to you. Then, you experience a quantum jump. But to decide to move into the path to this extent, your questions must turn into a quest and your urge must become urgent. When and if you reach this stage, you automatically choose one Master in preference to another!

It is actually a match. Only the right Master can evoke the right chemical response in your mind-body system. Only the right Master can create the head, heart and being level connection with you. At this stage, if you decide on the Master and the Master accepts you as his disciple, you enter into a serious relationship. The Master initiates you and takes responsibility for your spiritual growth in return for your acceptance of him as your Master.

Please understand that this is a serious matter. It is not trivial. That is why I insist on at least a year of cooling off period when people want to become my disciples and stay in our ashram. The work that the Master does on you is spiritual surgery. It is no less painful than physical surgery. Here you do not have anesthesia. It is surgery of your ego. You may feel that because I accepted you as my disciple and allowed you into the ashram, I need to give you my attention. I may not look at you for weeks. I may not speak to you. I may ask you to be silent for weeks.

Disciples who have gone through this process know how difficult it is. It is not a game. Many run away from the surgery. They would never have expected it would be the way it is. They do not know that dropping their ego, their identity and their need for attention, are essential before they can move forward in their spiritual path. Some who run away go to other Masters whom they think may be more kind, more loving. If the Master is a real Master and the right Master for them, the cycle just repeats, because that is what the person needs to truly transform!

So then, it becomes a cycle of guru hopping, just like hopping from one bar to another or one club to another in search of greater pleasures. You will not get anywhere with this hopping. You will be wasting your time and that of the Masters.

People like this also use one Master against another. They list what they understand as the good and bad points of each and write books. All those who spend three weeks each in different ashrams and write books, belong to this variety. Their purpose is to make money and create a name. They are not really looking for spiritual progress. I don't choose to be part of this game. Our mission is serious.

While I do encourage you to search and gather knowledge, I suggest you do that until you decide to commit to the spiritual path seriously. At that point, choose a Master, get accepted and stay with that Master. There are hundreds of enlightened Masters on this planet. There is no shortage of genuine Masters. There is only a shortage of sincere disciples!

When you go to another Master or ashram, please do not wear my mala and talk about my mission or me. That is an insult to that Master and to me. You will only create confusion amongst his disciples. Similarly, I request that you not wear another Master's mala or talk about his teachings when you are in our ashram because that will confuse those who are here and who are still in their tentative steps.

A real life incident between Ramakrishna and Vivekananda:

Vivekananda was a brilliant advaita philosopher. He had no interest in the devotional path, the bhakti marg. Ramakrishna realized that the path of advaita, nonduality, was best suited for Vivekananda and encouraged it.

Ramakrishna was training another disciple in bhakti marg, the path of devotion. Vivekananda took it upon himself to convert this disciple to his philosophy of advaita. Given his brilliant powers of persuasion and authority, Vivekananda was successful in confusing this disciple.

Ramakrishna called Vivekananda, his star pupil and said to him sadly, 'You have destroyed all that I was trying to build for years. His path is not your path. By talking him out of his chosen path, you have done irreparable harm to his progress. Now, it will take years for him to recover.'

This became true. It took years after the Master's death for this disciple to make progress.

This is why I insist that my disciples do not become one another's mentor, no matter how spiritually evolved they may think they are. They can only confuse and mislead. They do not have the capacity to see what a disciple needs and how that disciple needs to be developed.

The spiritual path is like the rest of life. One needs to experience what life has to offer in terms of pain and pleasure. At some point, you develop the maturity to distinguish between what is good for you and what is not, what makes you happy and what gives you only temporary pleasures. The same maturity happens with your spiritual quest. You need to experience before you can decide, barring those exceptions when the meeting of the beings is instantaneous.

10.4,5 Intelligence, knowledge, freedom from doubt and delusion, forgiveness, truthfulness, control of the senses, control of the mind, happiness, distress, birth, death, fear, fearlessness, non-violence, equanimity, satisfaction, austerity, charity, fame and infamy, all these various qualities of living beings are created by Me alone.

10.6 The seven great sages and before them, the four great Manus, come from Me,

They arose from My mind and all the living beings populating the planet descend from them.

10.7 He who knows all this glory and powers of mine, truly, he is fully united in Me;

Of that there is no doubt.

If you understand this first verse, you can immediately relax. Krishna says, 'Whatever you have, whether you have a good name or a bad name, it is created by Me.' Then be certain that whatever you have is a gift from the Divine.

A small story:

There was once a great sage, Suka. His father, Vyasa, taught him the knowledge of the Truth and sent him to the court of King Janaka. Janaka was an enlightened king and lived in a state of bliss beyond his mind-body state. He was called videha, meaning living without and beyond the body.

King Janaka heard that Suka was coming to learn wisdom and made arrangements to receive him. When the boy arrived at the palace gates, the guards hardly noticed him. He was the son of one of the greatest, well-known sages but he sat there for three days and nights. Hardly anybody bothered to look at him or take care of him.

Then the ministers of the king suddenly heard that the son of Vyasa was waiting outside the palace gates and they rushed to receive him. They brought him into the palace with honors, put him in a magnificent room and gave him the best food and comforts.

The face of Suka was serene whether he was treated with utmost honor or he was being made to wait outside the palace gates. Next, he was taken to King Janaka.

The king was sitting on the throne. There was music playing and dancing and amusements going on in his court. Janaka gave the boy Suka a cup filled to the brim with milk and asked him to go around the room seven times without spilling a drop.

The boy took the cup of milk without a word and started walking round the room. In the midst of all the revelry and attractions, he was not distracted the least and effortlessly went round the courtroom seven times. He could not be affected by anything going on in the world unless he chose to let it affect him.

When he brought the cup back, King Janaka said, 'I can only repeat what your father has already taught you and what you learned yourself. You have known the Truth, my boy. Go home.'

Suka was established in the Divine. He knew that everything was the expression of the cosmic consciousness and so his equanimity was never disturbed by how he was treated or by what he had or didn't have.

In the early chapters of the Gita, we see that Arjuna's experience was different from young Suka's. Unlike the boy, Arjuna was confused by what he was thrust into and tried to hide it in lofty words of concern about killing his kinsmen. Of course, Krishna could see right through this and brushed aside Arjuna's arguments. Krishna pointed out that the foolishness Arjuna experienced by torturing himself with his emotional instability was unwarranted. Krishna advised Arjuna to accept the situation and realize the true unattached, unfettered, free nature of his being.

Krishna asks us to accept life as it is. Only when we accept ourselves as we are, can we accept others. Only then we will feel deep friendliness with others. Deep friendliness with others is spirituality. Understand that spirituality is honest, deep friendliness with others.

Love is the flowering of our consciousness. Whenever our consciousness expresses itself through the heart, compassion happens, lust becomes love. The touch will become so vibrant, so soothing. I firmly believe that love is the greatest healing power on planet Earth. I tell my healers, 'If you can't spread love, you can never heal.'

When people meet me, I stretch out my hands as soon as I see them. Many feel strange. They feel that spirituality means seriousness and being reserved. Here I am reaching out to people with my stretched hands. It doesn't match the picture of spirituality or the spiritual person that they carry in their heads. According to them spirituality is never associated with sharing or loving.

People from various backgrounds having a range of ailments visit our ashram to take healing from me: young and old people, cancer and HIV patients, and people with various other disabilities. If a person has pain in the leg, I get up from my seat and bend down to touch their leg to heal. I do not differentiate between the foot and hand. It is just one body.

An elderly, traditional and conservative swami gave me friendly advice about this practice. He remarked, 'You are a swami. It is unbecoming of a swami to come down from his seat and touch someone's feet. It is against the tradition.' I replied politely, 'The very seat and the cloth which I wear (saffron robes) mean compassion. I acquired this seat because of my compassion. I am not here because of the seat.'

Spirituality means flowing. Spirituality means spreading love and compassion. Whenever we serve out of compassion, we never feel that we have served. We feel that we have been given an opportunity to serve.

Vivekananda says, 'The hand of the person who gives should be below and the person who accepts should have his hand above*.*' In our case, the opposite happens. The giving hand is above and the receiving hand is below. We should be grateful to God that we have been given the opportunity to serve somebody.

That is why Vivekananda replaces the word seva service, with puja - prayer. The idea of seva puts us on a higher pedestal than the one we are serving. With seva we are serving Him. In puja, we are offering, not serving. When compassion happens, we offer. We never serve.

Whether we believe it or not, as of now, we have a deep enmity or hostility towards others. We may smile at others like models posing for the camera. We may smile, but we never feel friendly. We keep a safe distance and play a safe game because we never feel any real friendliness with others.

To correct this, the first thing you need to do is accept yourself as you are. Some people tell me, 'I am unable to accept myself as I am, Master. What can I do?' I tell them, 'At least accept that you are unable to accept yourself. That is enough.'

If we accept that we are unable to accept ourselves, it is enough. We will drop from the mind. We need to accept ourselves as we are. Otherwise, if we are unable to accept ourselves as we are, at least accept that we are not able to accept ourselves as we are. That very acceptance will open a new consciousness in us.

Forgiving others and forgiving yourself are one and the same. Jesus says, 'Love your neighbor as you love yourself*.*' Unfortunately, we don't even love ourselves. So how can we love others?

When we torture others with our judgment and prejudices, we torture ourselves, too. We use the same sword to kill others and to commit suicide ourselves. The same mind deals with others as well as with us.

When we try to poison others, there will be a deep sense of guilt in us because the same mind is working in our inner space. We use strong words when we are angry. And once the anger dies down, the sharpness that had been emitted outward turns inward to create a deep guilt. The height of the anger and the depth of the guilt are equal. If the height increases, the depth increases as well.

When Krishna says, 'Happiness and distress, birth and death, fear and fearlessness, non-violence and equanimity, satisfaction, austerity, charity, name and fame, fame and infamy, all these various qualities of living beings are created by Me alone,' He means accept your life as it is.

The moment we accept life as it is, we experience divinity in everything. We don't exclude anything. The moment we accept, a cognitive shift happens in us. As of now, the cognitive process happening inside our mind, the cognition agent, is centered on enmity.

The moment we accept ourselves, we accept the whole world. Then, the cognitive shift happens in us. The cognition that happens inside our system will be centered on bliss. Then we experience the whole thing as divine.

Krishna explains His glory. He says, 'I am everything.' He declares, 'I am the universal consciousness. The person who truly knows My glories and powers, engages in yoga, the union of individual consciousness with ultimate consciousness, and undoubtedly attains liberation.'

The sapta rishis, the seven sages that Krishna talks about, are not seven old men with flowing beards sitting in meditation and penance, waiting for something to happen. From my experience, this is the energy field that drives this universe. This energy field referred to as the sapta rishis has the intelligent power to make decisions that determine the course of the universe.

During my parivrajaka, wandering days before enlightenment, I lived for about nine months in Tapovan, beyond Gangotri and Gomukh, in the Himalayan mountain range at a 17,000 foot altitude. Even now, no roads lead to Tapovan and there are no permanent structures to stay in. I lived like many other sannyasis, staying in caves, covering myself with jute cloth and newspaper in the winter and eating whatever fruits were available. Tapovan is referred to as Shambala, heaven on earth. It is the point from which one can move from the material earthly plane up to the spiritual plane.

The sapta rishis exist as an energy field reachable from Tapovan. Tapovan is the spiritual helipad from where enlightened beings ascend to a higher ethereal nonmaterial plane. Many years later I took devotees to Gomukh and showed them Tapovan. I went into deep samadhi that night at Gomukh and they were frightened. The next morning I was up before them. I woke them up and said, 'I told the sapta rishis that I would love to stay on with them. They promptly threw me out!'

Krishna refers to sapta rishis as the universal consciousness that was born from His mind, from Him, the Primal Source and Primal Creator. He is the sapta rishis. His energy decides what enlightened beings should do, and directs their actions. Every movement that I make is governed and decided by this energy.

In Hindu mythology, Manus are the children of Brahma, the Creator. There is a lineage of Manus, fourteen Manus, who populated the Earth. Each Manu ruled for a period. The collective period of all fourteen Manus equals one kalpa, one day in the life of Brahma. In Sanskrit, all humans are termed Maanava, meaning those descended from Manu.

As the universal consciousness, Krishna is all in one. He is the Creator, Sustainer and Rejuvenator. He is Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. He also transcends all three as the Parabrahman, the Supreme Super Consciousness.

One needs to do nothing except understand and accept what Krishna is. The Master says that belief and understanding alone liberates us. Nothing more is needed.

10.26 Of all the trees, I am the Banyan tree and of all the sages of the gods, I am Narada.

Of the Gandharvas, I am Chitraratha. Of the realized souls, I am the sage Kapila.

10.27 Of the horses, know me to be Ucchaishravas born of the nectar generated from the churning of the ocean.

Of the elephants, Airavata and of men, the king.

10.28 Of the weapons, I am the thunderbolt. Of the cows, I am Kamadhenu;

For begetting children, I am the God of love. Of the snakes, I am Vasuki.

10.29 Of the serpents, I am Ananta. Of the water deities, I am Varuna.

Of the ancestors, I am Aryama and of the ones who ensure discipline, I am Yama.

10.30 Of the Daitya (demons), I am Prahlad and of the reckoners, I am Time.

Of the animals, I am the king of animals (Lion) and of the birds, I am Garuda.

Krishna says among the trees He is the banyan tree. The banyan tree develops its root-like structures from the branches. These grow into the earth as secondary roots. The metaphysical meaning of the banyan tree is that just as the banyan tree grows its roots upside down unlike other trees, the spiritual person shuns the illusory outer world, the world that most people run after. Instead, he goes inwards towards the Absolute.

In a later chapter Krishna says that the leaves of the banyan tree are the Vedas. He who knows this tree is the knower of the Vedas.

Of all the spiritually enlightened Masters, the rishis, Krishna says He is Narada. Narada is considered the greatest of all devotees. His mind is immersed in remembering Vishnu, forever chanting 'Narayana, Narayana'. Krishna identifies Himself with His greatest devotee.

Of the Gandharvas, the celestial beings, Krishna says He is Chitraratha. Gandharvas are celestial beings skilled in music and they are guardians of the soma juice – the nectar of the divine beings. Chitraratha is the king of the Gandharvas.

Among the Self-realized persons, Krishna says He is Kapila the sage, the author of the Sankhya system of philosophy, which deals with the elements of the physical universe and the spiritual world. Kapila is also considered an incarnation of Vishnu.

Ucchaishravas is the legendary snow-white horse that emerged during the churning of the ocean of milk described in the Bhagavatam.

According to the story, the devas, the good, oppressed by the asuras, the evil, appealed to Lord Vishnu for help. Vishnu directed the devas to churn the ocean of milk upon which Vishnu rests, using Meru, the mountain, as the staff and Vasuki, the serpent, as the rope. Vishnu became the base as a tortoise upon which Meru rested. Since the devas did not have the strength to do the job alone, they enlisted the help of the asuras promising them a share in whatever materialized.

During the churning, various divine entities emerged. Among these were the divine horse, Ucchaishravas, and the four-tusked king of the elephants, Airavata, whom Indra took as his mount.

As part of the churning process, a deadly poison alahala also emerged that threatened to take the lives of the devas and asuras. Shiva came to their rescue and drank the poison.

Finally, the nectar of immortality emerged. Vishnu, in the form of a beautiful damsel Mohini kept the asuras occupied, while He allowed the devas to drink the amrit, nectar of immortality, and become invincible.

This is a metaphysical representation signifying how we are pushed and pulled by desires in our lives. From this churning in our life, various products emerge. The nectar of immortality emerges when we offer our entire being to the Divine, as we go beyond the push and pull of desires, beyond life and death. Then we dwell in ultimate bliss. There may be obstacles in the path. Yet, the Master supports and protects us during our churning, as we endeavor to realize the ultimate state. Just as Shiva drank the poison that came out as a result of churning the ocean, the Master holds the disciple steady as the unconscious samskaras rise to the surface during our spiritual maturing.

Krishna says, among the weapons, He is vajra, the thunderbolt. This is the weapon of Indra, king of the demigods. Vishnu is considered to be present in the vajra. Indra was specifically given this weapon - the thunderbolt, for a purpose. Krishna does not choose His own weapon, the chakra, the mighty discus. Instead he used Indra's vajra that was made from the bones of the great sage Dadhichi, who gave up his life to destroy the evil Vritasura.

Among the cows, He says He is the sacred cow, Kamadhuka, or Kamadhenu, which also emerged during the churning of the ocean. In the Hindu way of life, the cow is worshipped for her essential utility. Kamadhuka is considered to be the cow that grants all wishes and is the mother of all cows.

Krishna says, for begetting children, He is the God of love, the basis for procreation.

He says He is the Vasuki of serpents. Vasuki is the king of snakes. Vasuki was used as the rope and wound himself around Meru, the staff, for churning the ocean of milk.

Krishna says, among the nagas, non-poisonous snakes or creatures of the nether world, He is Ananta, the manyhooded serpent who forms the bed of Lord Vishnu. He is said to support all the planets on his various hoods, including the Earth.

Among the water beings, Krishna says He is Varuna, the God of the mightiest water body, the ocean.

Among the ancestors, Krishna says He is Aryama, one of the Adityas, who presides over a planet occupied by the energy bodies of our ancestors.

Of the ones who ensure discipline, Krishna says He is Yama, the Lord of death. Death is the perfect equalizer of all beings. Death is the only certain thing in the life of all beings and it treats everyone exactly the same whether they are big or small, rich or poor. So the Lord of death, Yama, ensures perfect discipline. The Sanskrit word yama means both discipline and death. Yama is the first of the eight paths of Patanjali's Ashtanga yoga.

Of the Daityas, Krishna says He is Prahlad. The Daityas are considered to be a race of beings that warred against the demigods. Prahlad was the son of a powerful Daitya King, Hiranyakasipu. Hiranyakasipu did severe penance and obtained a boon that he could not be killed by either man or animal, at night or in the day, either inside or outside his abode, on earth or in space and neither by animate nor inanimate weapon.

Upon receiving this boon, Hiranyakasipu was convinced that he was immortal. He believed there was no way in which all these conditions could be fulfilled; therefore he believed that death could never touch him. He became arrogant and attacked the devas.

However, his son Prahlad was a pious child. Hiranyakasipu could not tolerate that his son was a staunch devotee of Lord Vishnu, someone he despised. He was furious to see Prahlad chant Vishnu's name day and night. In his fury, Hiranyakasipu made multiple attempts to have his son killed by pushing him off a cliff, trampling him under an elephant and making him sit on a burning pyre.

Hiranyakasipu's attempts were futile since each time Prahlad prayed to Vishnu in complete surrender and escaped the punishment untouched.

I mentioned this story earlier but I will elaborate on it a bit more now. Once, when Prahlad extolled the glories of Vishnu, Hiranyakasipu furiously asked him, 'If you claim that Vishnu exists everywhere, does he exist in this pillar as well?' Prahlad calmly and confidently replied, 'Yes, he very much exists in the pillar.' This was too much for Hiranyakasipu. He charged at the pillar and smashed it.

To his utter surprise, a figure that was half-man and half-lion emerged from the pillar. Consequently, it was neither man nor animal. It was twilight time. Hence, it was neither day nor night. The pillar was located at the threshold of the exit of Hiranyakasipu's palace. So it was neither inside nor outside his abode. The figure, Narasimha held Hiranyakasipu in his hands, placed the terrified king on his thighs so he was neither on earth nor in space. In this state, Narasimha tore into Hiranyakasipu's stomach with his claws, thus killing him by neither an animate nor inanimate weapon!

All the conditions granted to Hiranyakasipu in the boon had been honored and still Death could grab him! Vishnu, as the incarnation of Narasimha, killed Hiranyakasipu and proved once again that He is always available to take care of his devotees.

The young Prahlad is a supreme example of devotion. His life is the example that total surrender to the Divine is possible and that such surrender leads the Divine to completely care for His devotees, in all situations and at all times.

Of the reckoners, Krishna says He is Kala, Time itself. Time is the ultimate reckoner. No being exists who can beat Time. Irrespective of who it is, Time always moves on. It cannot be stopped by anyone.

Of the animals, Krishna says He is the Lion, king of the jungle.

Among birds, He says He is Garuda, king of birds, the eagle who is the mount of Lord Vishnu.

Q: Krishna talks about the churning of the milky ocean and of the many beings who came out of the ocean. What is the significance of this event and the beings that emerged from the ocean of milk?

A: The Bhagavatam epic says that the celestial beings or demigods wished to extract the divine nectar from the ocean of milk that Vishnu rests upon in order to become immortal and defeat their nemesis, the demons. Since the demigods did not have the physical power to do the churning by themselves, they enlisted the help of the demons. At the same time, they asked Vishnu to ensure that only they had access to the nectar.

This story signifies the fight between your positive thoughts, represented by the demigods*,* and your negative and depressing thoughts represented by the demons. The fight between the uplifting and depressing thoughts is the churning that happens within you. You feel like a roller coaster, sometimes happy but most of the time sad.

The only way out of the churning is to become detached or un-clutched. When you understand and internalize that thoughts are not connected to one another, you become un-clutched. You realize that you link one thought to another to form a shaft, either a shaft of pain or a shaft of pleasure. Either way you suffer. Even the shaft of pleasure is not continuous. When it stops, you feel let down.

Initially, when you go through the un-clutching process, as one does in the Nithyanandam meditation program that I personally conduct, your positive and negative thoughts join together to prevent you from dropping them. The churning gets worse. You get seriously depressed. Even small, negative thoughts that you would normally ignore get magnified and haunt you.

The Master is the tortoise in this process and the process of un-clutching is the staff or spindle. Throughout the process, your Master supports you. You may develop minor powers of intuition during this process analogous to the divine creatures that arose out of the ocean as it got churned. And the apsaras, the celestial maidens who emerge, represent fantasies that you may develop during your depression.

Eventually, the nectar of intelligence emerges and you settle into a state where there are mainly positive thoughts. As you progress further, you merely witness your thoughts with the understanding that these thoughts are unconnected. You are aware that connecting them only leads to suffering.

As you progress further, you reach a thoughtless state. You need trust in your Master and patience in order to reach this state.

10.31 Of the purifiers, I am the Wind. Of the wielders of weapons, I am Rama.

Of the water beings, I am the Shark and of the flowing rivers, I am Jahnavi (Ganga).

10.32 Of all creations, I am surely the Beginning and end and the middle, Oh Arjuna.

Of all knowledge, I am the Spiritual knowledge of the Self. Of all arguments, I am the Logic.

10.33 Of the letters, I am the 'A'. Of the dual words, I am the Compounds and surely I am the never-ending time.

I am the Omniscient who sees everything.

10.34 I am the all-devouring Death and I am the Creator of all things of the future.

Of the feminine, I am Fame, Fortune, Beautiful speech, Memory, Intelligence, Faithfulness and Patience.

10.35 Of the Sama Veda hymns, I am the Brihat Sama and of all poetry, I am the Gayatri.

10.36 Of the months, I am Margashirsha and of the seasons, I am Spring.

10.36 Of all the cheating, I am Gambling. Of the effulgent things, I am the Effulgence.

I am Victory, I am Effort, I am the Goodness of the good.

10.37 Of the descendants of Vrishni, I am Vasudeva Krishna. Of the Pandava, I am Arjuna.

Of the sages, I am also Vyasa and of the thinkers, I am Usana.

10.38 Of rulers, I am their Scepter. Of the victorious, I am Statesmanship. Of all secrets, I am also Silence. Of the wise, I am Wisdom.

Of the purifying elements, Krishna says He is the formless and pure wind. The wind pervades the other elements such as earth, water and fire and removes impurities.

Of the wielders of weapons, He says He is Rama, the seventh incarnation of Vishnu. Rama defeated Ravana, the demonic ruler of Lanka who abducted his wife, Sita. Rama was a righteous ruler and chosen heir to his father's throne. Yet, Rama went into exile to uphold his father's vow. Rama is considered the greatest archer ever known. Of the ten incarnations of Vishnu, Rama is the incarnation just prior to Krishna.

Of the aquatic beings, the fish, He says He is the Shark, the most powerful and feared.

Of the rivers, He says He is Ganga. The river Ganga is worshipped in Bharat as Goddess Ganga. Millions of people pray in the waters of the Ganga everyday. On its banks, millions of people gather everyday to offer puja to Ganga and to take a holy dip in the waters. The sage Jahnu swallowed Ganga as she rushed down the Himalayas into his ashram. Bhagiratha begged the rishi to release Ganga. That is why Ganga is known as the daughter of Jahnu and has the name 'Jahnavi'.

As Ganga descends from the Himalayas to the plains, there are multiple places of pilgrimage where people revere the river and offer daily prayers. Ganga is considered to be the river that descended from the heavens. Millions of people standing and praying in the waters has energized the whole river and explains why Ganga has the inexplicable ability of cleansing Herself.

Let me share a factual observation recorded in the reminiscences of the British who ruled Bharat. When the British traveled by ship from England to Bharat, their water became spoiled during the long journey. However, on the return trip from Bharat to England, the water from the Ganga remained pure even after reaching England. The research showed that Ganga water had the miraculous power of cleansing itself.

Of all the creations, Krishna says He is the beginning, the middle and the end, thus establishing that He is all that existed, exists and will exist. He is the creator, created and creation.

Of the various branches of knowledge, He is the ultimate spiritual knowledge, Self-realization. Other branches of knowledge result from intelligence. Only Selfrealization requires intuition and something beyond.

Of all arguments, He says He is the logic that binds everything together.

Of the letters, Krishna says He is the first letter, the origin of all that is spoken and written. Of the dual words, a class of words in Sanskrit, He is the compound word. He affirms He is never-ending time and the Creator of this universe, Brahma.

Krishna says He is the Creator and Destroyer.

Of the feminine qualities, He says He is the seven Devis, Goddesses, who impart fame, fortune, beautiful speech, memory, intelligence, faithfulness and patience. In Sanskrit all these qualities have feminine nouns to represent them. He says these attributes in women come from Him.

Krishna said in an earlier verse that among the Vedas, He is the Sama Veda that contains beautiful songs and hymns. Now, He says, among these hymns, He is the Brihat Sama, a unique melody.

Of all poetic meters, He says He is Gayatri. Various invocations and prayers in the Vedic literature are set to Gayatri meter, including Devi Gayatri, Rudra Gayatri, etc. This meter is 24 syllables, usually in 3 or 4 lines.

This verse can also be translated to mean that Krishna says, 'I am Gayatri amongst the mantras.' Mantras, are the sacred syllables that create awareness of the divinity within our inner space. The very vibrations created while chanting the Sanskrit mantras purify the mind-body system and raise the energetic frequency. Here, Krishna states that Gayatri is the greatest of the mantras. Its popularity has been evident from the earliest Vedic times. This was the first mantra taught when the child entered a gurukul, the traditional Vedic schools of the enlightened Masters.

Gayatri literally translated means 'the song that emancipates'. Gayatri is an invocation to the Ultimate Intelligence. This prayer creates self-awareness:

OM bhur bhuva suvaha tat savitur varenyam bhargo devasya dheemahi dheeyo yona prachotayat

Freely translated, this means:

We bow to You, that Ruler of physical, mental and spiritual planes,

That which is beyond all, the Supreme Brilliance,

May You kindle our inner awareness!

It is a prayer to the Supreme Intelligence to awaken our inner Intelligence.

Gayatri is not merely a prayer or a mantra. It is far more than that. It is a tantra, a technique that can create tremendous awareness and intelligence in our being. Mantra means the syllable that shows the way to go beyond joys and sufferings of the world. Mantra makes us more centered. Tantra is more than that. It is an instant delivery system.

Generally, religions condition us from childhood by installing in us value systems and beliefs, our samskaras – engraved memories. Gayatri is a technique that completely liberates us from our samskaras. Gayatri gives complete freedom and thus a new way to think. It is like a torch to guide one on one's path. Children were taught this mantra from early childhood in ancient times so that they could be free from their samskaras.

Let us say a person asks for the way out of a forest.

You explain, 'Go straight ahead one mile and you will see a lion. Then, take a left turn and proceed one mile and you will see a snake. From there, take another left turn and continue until you see a panther. At that point, go right and walk straight ahead until you come out of the forest.'

If you guide him like this, the man will not find his way out of the forest. When you walked into the forest, you saw those animals. But by the time the man takes these directions and walks into the forest, the scene will be different and he probably will not have the same animals there to guide him. He will be lost!

Consequently, the way you traveled may not be the right way for him. So, instead of giving him useless directions, the best method is just to give him a torch or flashlight. He can use the torch to find his own way out of the forest.

Gayatri is not about giving someone beliefs or prayers to be chanted to any Gods or during any form of worship. It is a pure technique. It is pure words with the embedded that can lead to pure Intelligence.

Continuous meditation on this mantra, just continuous recitation of this mantra with awareness, directly leads one to the Ultimate Intelligence.

Gayatri mantra says, 'Let us meditate on the energy which awakens the Intelligence in our Being. Let that Intelligence help us meditate on It.'

Contemplate the meaning of Gayatri mantra. This mantra creates a beautiful vibration inside our being. Repeating the mantra mentally and letting the mantra sink into our being is like planting a seed in our being that will lead to thousands of fruits in the outer world as well as inner world. It gives us what we want along with giving us the inner space in which we don't want anything.

Among the months, Krishna says, He is the month of Margasirsha, November and December in the Gregorian calendar. In Bharat, these months bring joy to people as they are the time when grains are collected from the fields. Also, the month has a lot of spiritual significance because the auspicious days of Vaikunta Ekadasi fall in this month. This month in the Divine calendar is the early morning time, the brahma muhurtam, the most auspicious part of the day. This is the time recommended to focus on worship.

Among the seasons, Krishna says, He is spring. Nature is at the pinnacle of Her creation in spring with new blossoms on trees and pleasant weather, which is neither too hot nor too cold. Spring thus signifies life, growth and the beginning of the cycle of life.

Krishna declares that of all vices, He is Gambling. Even in the vices He says He is present! Anybody who deludes himself by thinking that He is not present in 'unvirtuous' activities should realize that the Divine exists everywhere and in all activities and things.

By this, Krishna also refers to the fact that Yudhistra's vice of gambling brought about this Great War. Known as the wisest of all men, the most righteous being, Yudhistra, the Pandava Prince, had one vice that brought him down. That was his weakness for gambling.

Krishna says, He is the Effulgence that is the essence of all radiant things.

He declares He is the Victory of the victorious, the Effort needed to succeed, and sattva, Goodness, amongst the attributes.

Krishna's father, Vasudeva, was a member of the Vrishni or Yadava race. Amongst the Vrishnis, Krishna says He is the Ultimate, Vasudeva Krishna. Amongst the Pandavas, He says He is the arch bowman, Arjuna.

Of the sages, He says He is Vyasa, author of the great epic Mahabharata that includes the Bhagavad Gita. Vyasa is also referred to as Veda Vyasa, the compiler of the Vedas who split one Veda into four Vedas so that the common person could understand the knowledge in the Vedas.

Of the thinkers, Krishna says, He is Usana, also known as Sukra, guru of the Asuras, celestials with a negative bent of mind.

Krishna says, 'I am the Scepter, the danda, the rod of punishment of the King.' As a Master, Krishna wields the yoga danda, the divine staff of wisdom. A ruler is not merely a refuge for his subjects, but also the rule giver, the disciplinarian. So is the Master.

10.39 Also, of whatever beings exist, I am the Seed, Oh Arjuna.

There is nothing that exists without Me in all creations, moving and unmoving.

10.40 There is no end to My divine glories Oh Parantapa.

What has been said by Me are examples of My detailed glories.

10.41 You should know that whatever glories exist or whatever beautiful and glorious that exists, all that surely is born of just a portion of My splendor.

10.42 Of what use is it to know about the many manifestations of this kind, Oh Arjuna?

I pervade this entire world with just a part of Myself.

Krishna says to Arjuna, 'Enough has been said. You can take no more. Whatever I have said, whatever more I can say, will only be a drop in the ocean, a small fragment of what I am. There is nothing that is not Me, nothing that can exist outside of Me, and nothing that has not been created from and by Me.'

He has given the background to Arjuna, so that Arjuna is prepared to see His formless form. Arjuna is now in a mode of total surrender and in deep gratitude.

Now, let us also experience these words of Krishna in a mood of absolute surrender and total gratitude.

Close your eyes, and meditate on the divine glory of Krishna.

Express deep gratitude for whatever way your life has been elevated. Express deep gratitude to whoever has helped you achieve health, wealth and education. Each and every one of these are expressions of the Divine.

Remember every one of them for the reasons they were in your life. Remember all of them who helped you to flower in your life. Remember all of them with love and respect, with love and gratitude.

Remember your mother who gave you this body. She is the embodiment of the Divine, Parabrahma Krishna. Give her your gratitude.

Remember your father who gave you life. Feel him and give your gratitude to him.

Remember all the teachers and professors who gave you education. They are embodiments of the Divine.

Feel deeply grateful to all of them for their contribution to your life and to your being.

Whoever has helped you to grow economically, whoever contributed to your economical growth, directly or indirectly, remember all of them and give your gratitude to them. Feel deeply connected to all of them.

Whoever gave you mental strength and understanding about life when you needed it, whenever you were depressed, whoever gave you courage when you were in a low mood, remember all of them. They are embodiments of the Divine, representatives of the universal consciousness. Remember all of them and give them your gratitude.

Whoever helped you grow spiritually, whoever helped you grow in spiritual understanding, remember all of them. Give them your gratitude. They are representatives of the Divine. Give them your gratitude for giving spiritual understanding to you, for adding something to your life.

Whoever helped you with understanding on the level of material wealth or spiritual growth, remember all of them and offer them your gratitude.

Ultimately, give gratitude to the Divine Energy, Parabrahma Krishna, who gave all this intelligence and understanding to us in our life.

Just drop yourself and become one with the cosmic energy. May you become part of the whole universe, part of the energy that is moving the Sun, Moon and planet Earth.

paarthaaya pratibodhitaam bhagavataa naaraayanena svayam vyaasena grathitaam puraanamuninaa madhye mahaabhaaratam advaitaamrutavarshineem bhagavateem ashtaadashaadhyaayineem amba tvaamanusandadhaami bhagavadgeete bhavadveshineem

Om paarthaaya pratibodhitaam bhagavataa naaraayanena svayam Vyaasena grathitaam puraanamuninaa madhye mahaabhaaratam Advaitaamrutavarshineem Bhagavateem ashtaadashaadhyaayineem Amba tvaamanusandadhaami bhagavadgeete bhavadveshineem

OM, I meditate upon you, Bhagavad Gita the affectionate Mother, the Divine Mother showering the nectar of non duality and destroying rebirth, (who was) incorporated into the Mahaabhaarata of eighteen chapters by sage Vyasa, the author of the Puraanaas, and imparted to Arjuna by Lord Narayana, Himself.

vasaudovasautM dovaM kmsacaaNaUrmad-nama\ dovakIprmaanandM kRYNaM vando jagad\gauruM

Vasudeva Sutam Devam Kamsa Chaanura Mardanam Devakee Paramaanandam Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum

I salute you Lord Krishna, Teacher to the world, son of Vasudeva and Supreme bliss of Devaki, Destroyer of Kamsa and Chaanura.

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Shri bhagavan uvacha

bhuya eva mahabaho shrnu me paramam vachah yat te aham priyamanaya vakshyami hitakamyaya 10.1

Shri bhagavan uvacha: Lord Krishna said; bhuya: again; eva: surely; mahabaho: big-armed; shrnu: hear; me: My; paramam: supreme; vachah: word; yat: that which; te: to you; aham: I; priyamanaya: dear to Me; vakshyami: say; hitakamyaya: with the desire for your benefit

10.1 Lord Krishna said: Listen again, Oh Arjuna! You are My dear friend, Listen carefully again, I shall speak further on knowledge for your welfare.

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na me viduha sura ganaha prabhavam na maharshayaha aham adir hi devanam maharshinam cha sarvashaha 10.2

Na: not; me: My; viduha: know; sura ganah: demigods; prabhavam: glories; na: not; maharshayaha: great sages; aham: I; adi: origin; hi: certainly; devanam: of the gods; maharshinam: of the great sages; cha: and; sarvashaha: in all respects

10.2 Neither the hosts of deities nor the great sages know My origin, My opulence.

I am the source of the deities and the sages.

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yo maam ajam anadim cha vetti loka maheshvaram asammudhaha sa martyeshu sarva papaiha pramuchyate 10.3

Yo: who; maam: to Me; ajam: unborn; anadim: without beginning; cha: and; vetti: know; loka: worlds; maheshvaram: supreme lord; asammudhaha: without doubt; sa: he; martyeshu: mortal; sarva: all; papaiha: sins; pramuchyate: delivered

10.3 He who knows Me as the Unborn, without Beginning, and supreme Lord of all the worlds,

Only he, who has this clarity, is wise and freed from all bondage.

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buddhir jnanam asammoha kshama satyam damaha shamaha sukkham dukkham bhavobhaavo bhayam cha abhayam eva cha 10.4

buddhir: intelligence; jnanam: knowledge; asammoha: free from doubt; kshama: forgiveness; satyam: truthfulness; damaha: control of senses; shamaha: control of mind; sukkham: happiness; dukkham: distress; bhavobhaavo: birth and death; bhayam: fear; cha: and; abhayam: fearlessness; eva: also; cha: and

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ahimsa samata tushtistapo danam yasho ayashaha bhavanti bhava bhutanam matta va prithagvidhaha 10.5

ahimsa: non-violence; samata: equanimity; tushti: satisfaction; tapo: austerity; danam: charity; yasho: fame; ayashaha: infamy; bhavanti: become; bhava: nature; bhutanam: living beings; matta: from me; eva: surely; prithagvidhaha: in various forms

10.4,5 Intelligence, knowledge, freedom from doubt and delusion, forgiveness, truthfulness, control of the senses, control of the mind, happiness, distress, birth, death, fear, fearlessness, non-violence, equanimity, satisfaction, austerity, charity, fame and infamy, all these various qualities of living beings are created by Me alone.

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maharshayaha sapta purve chatvaro manavas tatha madbhava manasa jata yesham loka imaha prajaha 10.6

maharshayaha: great sages; sapta: seven; purve: before; chatvaro: four; manavas: manus; tatha: and; madbhava: endowed with My power; manasa: from the mind; jata: born; yesham: of them; loka: worlds; imaha: all this; prajaha: living beings

10.6 The seven great sages and before them, the four great Manus, endowed with My power,

They arose from My mind and all the living beings populating the planet descend from them.

एतां विभतिं योगं च मम यो वेत्ति तत्त्वतः। सोऽविकम्पेन योगेन युज्यते नात्र संशयः।।१०.७।।

etam vibhutim yogam cha mama yo vetti tattvataha sovikampen yogen yujyate natra sanshayaha 10.7

etam: all this; vibhutim: glory; yogam: powers; cha: and; mama: My; yo: who; vetti: knows; tattvataha: truth; sa: he; avikampen: without distraction; yogen: in yoga; yujyate: engaged; na: not; atra: here; sanshayaha: doubt

10.7 He who knows all this glory and powers of mine, truly, he is fully united in Me;

Of that there is no doubt.

�…हं सर्वस्य प्रभवो मत्तः सर्वं प्रवर्तते। इति मत्वा भजन्ते मां ब्रुधा भावसमन्विताः।।१०.८।।

aham sarvasya prabhavo mattaha sarvam pravartate iti matva bhajante maam budha bhava samanvitaha 10.8

aham: I; sarvasya: all; prabhavo; source; mattaha: from Me; sarvam: all; pravartate: emanates; iti: thus; matva: knowing; bhajante: pray; maam: to Me; budha: wise; bhava samanvitaha: surrender

10.8 I am the source of all the spiritual and material worlds. Everything arises from Me.

The wise who know this are devoted to Me and surrender their heart to Me.

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macchita madgataprana bodhayantaha parasparam kathayantashcha maam nityam tushyanti cha ramanti cha 10.9

macchita: with mind engaged in Me; madgataprana: lives absorbed in Me; bodhayantaha: enlightening; parasparam: one another; kathayantashcha: talking about My glories; maam: about Me; nityam: always; tushyanti: satisfied; cha: and ramanti: enjoy bliss; cha: and

10.9 With mind and lives absorbed on Me, always enlightening one another and talking about My glories, the wise are content and blissful.

तेषां सततयुक्तानां भजतां प्रीतिपूर्वकम् । ददामि बुद्धियोगं तं येन मामुपयान्ति ते । ।१०.१० ।।

tesham satatayuktanam bhajatam preetipurvakam dadami buddhiyogam tam yen maam upayanti te 10.10

tesham: to them; satatayuktanam: always engaged; bhajatam: praving; preetipurvakam: with love; dadami: I give; buddhiyogam: intelligence; tam: that; yen: by which; maam: to Me; upayanti: come; te: they

10.10 To those who are always engaged in Me with love, I give them enlightenment by which they come to Me.

तेषामेवानुकम्पार्थमहमज्ञानजं तमः । नाशयाम्यात्मभावरथो ज्ञानदीपेन भास्वता।।१०.१११।

tesham eva anukampartham aham ajnanajam tamaha nashayamya atma bhavasto inanadeepen bhasvata 10.11

tesham: to them; eva: also; anukampartham: out of compassion; aham: I; ajnanajam: born of ignorance; tamaha: darkness; nashayamya: destroy; atma: within; bhavasto: themselves; jnanadeepen: lamp of knowledge; bhasvata: shining

10.11 Out of compassion to them, I destroy the darkness born out of their ignorance by the shining lamp of knowledge

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Arjuna uvacha

param brahma param dhama pavitram paramam bhavan purusham shashvatam divyam adidevam ajam vibhum 10.12

Arjuna uvacha: Arjuna said; param: supreme; brahma: truth; param: supreme; dhama: sustenance; pavitram: pure; paramam: supreme; bhavan: yourself; purusham: person; shashvatam: original; divyam: godly; adidevam: original god; ajam: unborn; vibhum: glorious

Arjuna said:

10.12 You are the Supreme Truth, Supreme Sustenance, SupremelyPpurifier, the primal, eternal and glorious Lord.

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ahustvam rushayaha sarve devarshir naradastatha asito devalo vyasaha syayam chayva braveeshi me 10.13

ahu: say; tvam: to you; rushayaha: sages; sarve: all; devarshi: sage of gods; narada: Narada; tatha: and; asito: Asita; devalo: Devala; vyasaha: Vyasa; svayam: personally; cha: and; eva: surely; braveeshi: explain; me: to me

10.13 All the sages like Narada, Asita, Devala, and Vyasa have explained this.

Now you are personally explaining to me.

सर्वमेतदृतं मन्ये यन्मां वदसि केशव । न हि ते भगवन व्यक्तिं विदुर्देवा न दानवाः।।१०.१४।।

sarvam etad rutam manye yanmaam vadasi keshava na hi te bhagavan vyaktim vidurdeva na danavaha 10.14

sarvam: all; etad: these; rutam: truths; manye: accept; yat: which; maam: to me; vadasi: say; keshava: Keshava; na: not; hi: surely; te: your; bhagavan: lord; vyaktim: express; viduh: know; deva: gods; na: nor; danavaha: demons

10.14 Oh Kesava, I accept all these truths that You have told me.

Oh Lord, neither the gods nor the demons know You.

स्वयमेवात्मनाऽत्मानं वेत्थ त्वं पुरुषोत्तम। भूतभावन भूतेश देवदेव जगत्पत्ने । ।१०.१५। I

svayam eva atmana atmaanam vettha tvam purushottam bhuta bhavan bhutesha devadeva jagatpate 10.15

svayam: own; eva: surely; atmana- by yourself; atmaanam: yourself; vettha: know; tvam: you; purushottam: perfect man; bhuta bhavan: origin of beings; bhutesha: lord of beings; devadeva: god of gods; jagatpate: lord of the world 10.15 Surely, You alone know Yourself by Yourself,

Oh Perfect One, the Origin of beings, Oh Lord of beings, Oh God of gods, Oh Lord of the world.

वक्तमर्हस्यशेषेण दिव्या ह्यात्मविभुतयः । याभिर्विभूतिभिलोकानिमांस्त्वं व्याप्य तिष्ठसि । १०.१६। ।

vaktum arhasy asheshena divya rhyatma vibhutayaha yabhir vibhuti bhir lokan imanstvam vyapya tishthasi 10.16

vaktum: say; arhasy: deserve; asheshena: in detail; divya: divine; hi: surely; atma: Your; vibhutayaha: glories; yabhi: by which; vibhuti: glories; lokan: worlds; iman: these; tvam: You; vyapya: pervade; tishthasi: remain

10.16 Only You can describe in detail Your divine glories by which You pervade this universe

कथं विद्यामहं योगिंस्त्वां सदा परिचिन्तयन। केषु केषु च भावेषु चिन्त्योऽसि भगवन्मया । १०.१७। १

katham vidyam aham yogimstvam sada parichintayan keshu keshu cha bhaveshu chintyosi bhagavan maya 10.17

katham: how; vidyam: know; aham: I; yogi: yogi; tvam: you; sada: always; parichintayan: contemplation; keshu: in which; keshu: in which; cha: and; bhaveshu: nature; chintyosi: contemplated; bhagavan: lord; maya: by me

Part 5: Bhagavad Gita, Commentary by THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM - Chapter 10 - I am the Ultimate

10.17 How may I know You by contemplation? In which forms should I contemplate on You, Oh Lord?

विस्तरेणात्मनो योगं विभुतिं च जनार्दन। भुयः कथय तुप्तिर्हि श्रृण्वतो नास्ति मेऽमुतम।।१०.१८।।

vistarena atmano yogam vibhutim cha janardana bhuyaha kathaya truptirhi shrunvato nasti memrutam 10.18

vistarena: in detail; atmano: of Yourself; yogam: powers; vibhutim: glories; cha: and; janardana: Janardana; bhuyaha: again; kathaya: say; trupti: satisfaction; hi: surely; shrunvato: hear; na: not; asti: there; me: my; amrutam: nectar

10.18 Tell me in detail of Your powers and glories, Oh Janardana.

Again, please tell for my satisfaction as I do not tire of hearing Your sweet words.