Bhagavad Gita Chapter 15 - Lesson 4 of 8

INTRODUCTION

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Jīva bhūtaḥ—conditioned living entity, ‘conditioning’ is the new word that Kṛṣṇa uses here. Recent research tells us that human beings walk on two legs due to conditioning.

A group of scientists recently found a seventeen-year-old boy in a forest. Wolves had raised him. The scientists tried to teach him how to walk on two legs and speak a few words.

They were unable to do this and he died within a year. Man walking on two legs is due to conditioning. Everything we consider as human nature is nothing but conditioning. Here Kṛṣṇa says, ‘conditioned world, jīva-loke’. Everything is conditioning. Right and wrong, honor and dishonor, are all conditioning, all are patterns. We think of honor or dishonor because we are taught that way. We are conditioned. If a group of people give us a certificate and clap their hands, we take it as an honor. That is the way we are taught. But never judge yourself by others’ applause. This idea of honor drives many people mad. Never accept the judgment of the crowd.

Here Kṛṣṇa gives these meditation
hymns to re-program your causal
layer for completion of your
saṃskāras and creation of space.
After crossing the three layers and
going beyond the causal layer, you
enter a space where you are free
from conditioning. This is the space
of completion and creation! May
you be free from all conditioning!
Kṛṣṇa says: ‘They are attracted by
the six senses that include the
mind—manaḥ ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi
prakṛti sthāni karṣati (15.7).’

There are five physical senses
and the sixth sense is the mind,
ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi. However,
according to me, the mind is
the only sense and the so-called
five physical senses are slaves to
it. The mind jumps around. If
the mind can be handled, all
the other five can be handled.

The spirit in the body-mind
living in this material world,
moves from one body to
another carrying these root
thought patterns just as the
wind carries fragrance.
Saṃskāras in one body quit
that body and take shelter in
another.

This continuous vicious cycle of
movement of saṃskāras is what Kṛṣṇa
refers to as saṃsāra, the life-and-death
cycle.

Kṛṣṇa says ‘taking these, gṛhītvā etāni saṃyati (15.8)’. What does He mean by ‘these, etāni’? In the previous verse, Kṛṣṇa talked about the six senses, including the mind. He refers to them here. When the spirit leaves one body and moves to another body, it carries the six senses, ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi, the five physical senses and the mind, in the same way as the wind carries fragrances, vāyur gandhān ivaśayāt (15.8).

Kṛṣṇa answers a frequently asked
question about sin. People ask
whether sins come with them from
one birth to another. Sins never
follow. Only imprints travel. For
example, if a man commits one
hundred murders, the quantity will
not follow, but the basic mentality
of violence accompanies and
tortures him. Only the mental
setup is carried. The concept of
karma is often used to justify
actions, by saying, 'It is our
karma,' 'It is our fate,' 'It is our
destiny, what can be done?,'
'Whatever had to happen has
happened.' This is pure fabrication
and justification of our negative
deeds.
Just as the wind carries fragrances,
consciousness carries saṃskāras,
causal level imprints, from body to
body.

We have the freedom to act: the free will to decide and act. Ironically, only an enlightened Master has no freedom. Enlightened Masters are driven by Parāśakti’s will; they are guided by Her, that universal power, into doing what they must do. Understand: I cannot take a single step on my own. My limbs move in accordance with Her wishes. The ordinary human being, jīva bhūta is in control of his destiny. All that nature provides are paths in our lives and we choose the path we travel by. We decide the path. What drives us into taking one fork or another is vāsana, the ‘smell’ that the spirit carries. It is the subtle imprint of our past actions, saṃskāras and karmas. It is not definitive or predestined. We have the choice to redefine that vāsana, that smell, into either a stink or a wonderful fragrance. It is in our hands only. Whether we wish to travel in the same merry-go-round or decide to break out and walk free is our decision.

Rāmakṛṣṇa beautifully says that the soul travels from one body to another like we move from one room to another. When He left His physical body, His wife Sārada Devi was about to remove her jewelry. (Traditional Hindu families do not allow a widow to wear jewels, especially the sacred thread signifying marital status, and bracelets.) Just as she was about to remove the sacred thread, Rāmakṛṣṇa appeared and told her not to remove it. He said, ‘Where have I gone?

Just to another room. Don’t remove your jewelry.’ From that time till her end, Sārada Devi followed His words. This may seem easier today. But in those days, in an orthodox Hindu family in a small village, it was not so. She was highly courageous.

A young Nithyananda Paramashivam wearing traditional red clothing and ornaments.

Someone who completes with all social conditioning, who sheds all root patterns in his causal layer, moves from body to body as easily as moving from one room to another. We create big buildings. We accumulate a good bank balance. We have friends. Just as we start enjoying life, suddenly death appears before us. We fear death only because it takes everything away from us.

If we are unattached, if our causal layer is not filled with saṁskāras, if we are not gripped by social conditioning, we will not fear death. We know it is like moving from one room to another. As Kṛṣṇa says in Sāṅkhya Yogaḥ, ‘It is like changing one dress for another.’ The saṁskāras of this life are the result of prārabdha karma, the mindset and bio memory, along with the spirit from the vāsanas, the imprints of the past birth that are carried into this birth. It is always a mix of pain and pleasure.

GOALS:

Helping the students understand that human nature is made up of social conditionings and that we must go beyond the causal layer, to become free from all conditioning.

ASSESSMENTS

Why do people fear death?

How does society influence human nature?

Does the sins of one lifetime come with the person into the next birth? What do people say to justify their negative deeds?

Why is death described as changing one dress for another?

What do we drop and what do we take along into our next birth!

[Figure: Pencil and paper icon]

ART OF THE DAY

ART OF THE DAY:

DRAW YOUR IDEA OF DEVOTION

MATERIALS NEEDED:

Used Glass jar Glass paint outliner (black or gold colour) Transparent glass paint or glass stain Paint brushes Cotton swabs (optional)

PROCEDURE:

Remove any paper labels on the glass jar, wash it clean and let it dry. Make the outlines of the design of your choice on your glass jars, you will need to use a glass paint outliner. Allow the outlines to dry completely. Apply the glass paint inside the outlines. If bubbles appear in some areas, simply paint over the bubbles. Let your jar dry.

INFERENCE:

Like a piece of Glass the human being is pure consciousness, free from all social conditioning, root thought patterns, samskaras and desires or vasanas. However, due to our delusion, with our mind we color ourselves with false patterns of samskaras and vasanas.

ACTIVITY OF

THE DAY

ACTIVITY OF THE DAY:

YOU ARE THAT

Procedure:

Start by asking students to identify out loud the social conditionings that they feel have impacted their lives. What are their ideas of “right” and “wrong”, etc. Then, ask them to discuss what they can do to remove those thought currents from their space.

After a few minutes of discussion, narrate this small story: Queen Madalasa gave birth to seven children. Each child became enlightened by the age of seven and moved out of the kingdom. Their father, the king, was puzzled. How did seven children in a row become enlightened? He probed into the issue and found that Madalasa had taught them one phrase, Tat Tvam Asi (You are That). Just by internalizing ‘Tat Tvam Asi’, their mental setup changed. They were complete with the root thought patterns, saṁskāras in the causal layer. They became enlightened.

Enlightenment is the removal of
root thought patterns, saṃskāras
and the dissolution of
conditioning.

We return to our pure original
state. This is why enlightenment
is referred to as samādhi. The
Saṃskṛt word samādhi means
‘returning to the original state’.

INFERENCE:

When we recognize that we are pure consciousness, we destroy all seed thought patterns that reside in our causal layer and we are not moulded by social conditioning. Anyone who completes all social conditioning, who sheds all root patterns in his causal layer, starts living enlightenment

WORKSHOP OF THE DAY

WORKSHOP OF THE DAY:

VAAKYARTHA SADHAS

PROCEDURE:

1. Topic of discussion is “Just as the wind carries fragrances, consciousness carries saṁskāras, causal level imprints, from body to body.”

CONCLUSION: On our death, consciousness carries our saṁskāras, causal level imprints, from the discarded body to the new body. Then we live another lifetime, driven to action based on the vāsana, or subtle imprint of our past actions, saṁskāras. And thus the never ending cycle of birth-and-death continues. If we are unattached, if our causal layer is not filled with saṁskāras, if we are not gripped by social conditioning, we will not fear death.