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Bhagavad Gita Chapter 11 - Collection

Drop The Fear, Get Up And Gain Glory

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Illustration of Lord Krishna with a flute

Authored by

THE SPH NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM

Sri Krsna illustration

श्रीभगवानुवाच । कालोऽस्मि लोकक्षयकृत्प्रवृद्धो लोकान्समाहर्तुमिह प्रवृत्तः । ऋतेऽपि त्वां न भविष्यन्ति सर्वे येऽवस्थिताः प्रत्यनीकेषु योधाः ॥ ११-३२॥

śrī bhagavānuvāca kālo’smi loka-
kṣaya-kṛt pravṛddho lokān
samāhartumiha pravṛttaḥ | ṛte’pi
tvāṁ na bhaviṣyanti sarve
ye’vasthitāḥ pratyanīkeṣu yodhāḥ

Śrī Bhagavān says: I am the
mighty world-destroying Time, I
am now destroying the worlds.
Even without you, none of the
warriors standing in the hostile
armies shall live.

POWERFUL COGNITION

When Krsna speaks of destroying and wiping out the world, He is talking about the destruction of the illusory physical and material world. He is the destroyer of fantasies, He is the destroyer of identities, He is the destroyer of egos, and He is the destroyer of all that is unreal.

तस्मात्त्वमुत्तिष्ठ यशो लभस्वजित्वा शत्रून् भुङ्क्ष्व राज्यं समृद्धम् ।
मयैवैते निहताः पूर्वमेवनिमित्तमात्रं भव सव्यसाचिन्
॥ ११-३३ ॥

tasmāt tvamuttiṣṭha yaśo labhasva jitvā
śatrūn bhuṅkṣva rājyaṁ samṛddham |
mayaivaite nihatāḥ pūrvameva
nimittamātraṁ bhava savyasācin

Get up and gain glory. Conquer the enemies and enjoy the prosperous kingdom. I have slain all these warriors; you are a mere instrument, Arjuna

A young boy dressed as a deity or king seated on an ornate golden throne

POWERFUL COGNITION

Do work without getting attached to the result of work.

Illustration

द्रोणं च भीष्मं च जयद्रथं च कर्णं तथान्यानपि योधवीरान् ।
मया हतांस्त्वं जहि मा व्यथिष्ठा युध्यस्व जेतासि रणे सपत्नान्
॥ ११-३४ ॥

droṇaṁ ca bhīṣmaṁ ca jayadrathaṁ
ca karṇaṁ tathānyānapi yodhavīrān |
mayā hatāṁstvaṁ jahi mā vyathiṣṭā
yudhyasva jetāsi raṇe sapatnān

Droṇa, Bhīṣma, Jayadratha, Karṇa
and other brave warriors have
already been slain by Me; destroy
them. Do not be afraid; fight and
you shall conquer your enemies in
battle

POWERFUL COGNITION

As long as we flow with time, things happen as they should.

INTRODUCTiON

Krsna explains in these verses what He really is. 'I am time,' says Krsna. 'I devour and destroy the world.' This is one of the most potent truths uttered by Krsna in Gita. He has earlier talked to Arjuna about atman, about rebirth, about the nature of karma, about doing work without getting attached to the result of work, and about His glories.

For the first time, He takes off His mask and says matter-of-factly, 'I am the Destroyer.' He pulls no punches in responding to Arjuna's query, 'Who are you, and what is your purpose?' Time never stands still. It moves on. Nothing can stop the flow of time. Nothing can bring back time. Nothing can move time forward. Time destroys. The future constantly moves into the present, and then into the past. The sad part is that though we can only experience the present, we constantly try to escape the present.

Feather illustration

We are forever caught in the fantasies of a future

we know nothing about and the regrets of a past

we never really lived when it was our present.

Krsna is stating a simple fact here.

Illustration of Krsna

'With or without you,' He says, 'All these warriors will be dead. As time, I shall devour them. It is not you who are the cause. You can be the superficial reason. By being the instrument of their destruction, be the gainer of fame, wealth, and power.' It is easy to interpret these words of Krsna to mean that the future is predestined, since He says all these enemies of Arjuna will be destroyed. From this we can even interpret that His role is to protect the good and destroy the evil.

Illustration of Paramashivam / Krishna

As Mahakala, time personified, Krsna destroys all, the good and the bad. Time does not differentiate. Time does not keep accounts of whether you did good deeds or bad. Time moves on and destroys the present into past, future into present and past.

Illustration of young Krsna / Paramashivam sitting in meditation posture

As long as we flow with time, things happen as they should. When we resist and try to have things the way we wish them to be, rather than the way they would be, we get in the way. Like the rock that gets pounded by the river and eventually gets reduced to fine dust, we too get reduced to nothing by time.

By imitating the reed in the river that bends offering no resistance, we can flow with time. Struggling to choose is not freedom. It is the bondage of the mind. There is no need to make a choice. Choice happens at the level of the mind, not at the level of the being.

Choicelessness can be the choice. When Krsna speaks of destroying and wiping out the world, He is talking about the destruction of the illusory physical and material world. He is the destroyer of fantasies, He is the destroyer of identities, He is the destroyer of egos, and He is the destroyer of all that is unreal. It is important to understand what Krsna means in these words.

As the supreme consciousness, He too is the energy of Siva, the Rejuvenator. Siva is not the Destroyer as He is made out to be. He recreates by destroying. There can be no life without death.

Portrait of Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam

Arjuna's dilemma was his fear of killing all those he loved and respected. He wondered whether he was causing the destruction of his entire lineage by doing this.

In truth, Arjuna was fighting against the destruction of his own conditioning. His samskaras, past memories of parental, teacher related, and other conditionings were difficult to destroy. This great war is really the fight between Arjuna and his samskaras. Krsna once again takes responsibility for this destruction. Earlier there were only words. Now Arjuna had seen the destruction for himself. He had seen the Kaurava warriors being consumed by the destructive destination that Krsna had become. It was impossible for Arjuna to disbelieve what he had seen - Bhisma, Drona, Karna and othersdisappearing into the vast form of Krsna.

Sri Krsna playing the flute against a cosmic background

Now Krsna consoles Arjuna. 'You have seen the truth of what happens. They have been destroyed already.

Do not lose heart. Do what you have to do. Fight and destroy what remains, which is just the illusion of your fears.

Portrait of Paramahamsa Nithyananda

GOALS:

To understand that we ought to
live blissfully in the present
moment and not succumb to the
regrets of the past or the worries
of the future

ASSESSMENTS

1. What cognition about time have you gained from this lesson?

2. What was Arjuna's dilemma?

3. Fill in the blank. Destruction is necessary for R_ j _ v_ n_ t _ _n.

4. What is the main idea Krsna has conveyed to Arjuna here?

Art of the Day

ART OF THE DAY

Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam profile

ART OF THE DAY:

KEEP THE PICTURES iN FRONT AND DRAW BEHiND

Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam

MATERIALS NEEDED:

  1. Any picture,
  1. plain sheet,
  1. pencils or sketch pen.

PROCEDURE

Give the materials needed, encourage each child to keep the picture in front of them and ask them to draw the picture by keeping the paper behind.

INFERENCE

When we focus, when we unclutch we can do difficult things easily.

Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam deity

ACTIVITY OF THE DAY

Portrait of Paramahamsa Nithyananda

ACTIVITY OF THE DAY:

Tapping using both hands in opposite direction

MATERIALS NEEDED:

PROCEDURE:

1. Each child is asked to tap both their hands on their thigh simultaneously in opposite directions. Start with a slow pace at first and then increase to a very fast pace. This activity needs coordination and concentration.

INFERENCE:

Children focus on being in the now by this activity. This needs full awareness, being in 'just now', focusing in the present unclutching all the past previous thoughts. "Just for being, we should feel grateful". And every second is a gift, enjoy and experience it.

Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam on a swing

WORKSHOP OF THE DAY

Portrait of Paramashivam

WORKSHOP OF THE DAY:

VAAKYARTHA SADHAS - I AM UNKNOWN TO MYSELF

Instruct the children to analyze and discuss as a group, what kind of personality they are, if they say they are a happy person ask them if they are happy all the time or do they change when undesirable events happen. If they say they are an angry person. Ask them whether they are always angry? We keep changing from one personality to another depending on the situations we encounter. We cannot say 'I am this'.

Inference: We cannot remain the same all the time, since we keep on changing our personality depending on the inputs we receive from society; it is true that 'I am unknown to myself.

Photograph of Paramahamsa Nithyananda

Conclusion:

The only certainty in our life is that when time moves on it is forever lost. However much we may regret and repent, nothing will change what has happened. But we do have the power, at the moment of the present, to shape our future. Predestination is simply the choice that we did not exercise. Only when we are aware, in the present moment, can we craft our future. Not when it is still the future and not when it slips into the past. We need to use all our intelligence, energy, and creativity to live blissfully in this moment, not in thoughts about the future or regrets about the past.

- BHAGAVAD GITA -

BOOK XI, VOLUME X