- BHAGAVAD GITA -
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BOOK XVIII, VOLUME VI
What Is Courage ?
Authored by
THE SPH NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM
यस्य नाहङ्कृतो भावो बुद्धिर्यस्य न लिप्यते ।
हत्वाऽपि स इमाँल्लोकान्न हन्ति न निबध्यते
॥ १८-१७ ॥
yasya nāhaṅkṛto bhāvo buddhir
yasya na lipyate hatvā ‘pi sa
imāl lokān na hanti na
nibadhyate
One who is egoless, whose
intelligence is not of
attachment, though he may
kill, is not the slayer and is
never bound by his actions.
POWERFUL COGNITION
When we surrender, we learn to include everything.
SPIRITUAL PRACTICE BECOMES LIFE GIVING NECTAR
Kṛṣṇa says that spiritual practice, that is the state of satva, is difficult in the beginning, and it is like poison; however, it becomes life-giving nectar in the end.
Sensual pleasures born out of rajas, on the other hand, seem like nectar in the beginning but become poisonous. In the tamasic state, Kṛṣṇa says, one is deluded as if in sleep, laziness and illusion. Every human is in one state or another.
Of course, one who has
reached that level of
completion does not think
of killing. As long as we
have the idea of ‘I’ and
‘mine’, we attack or kill.
When we exclude, we kill.
On the other hand, when
we surrender, we learn to
include everything
One thing we need to
understand. We kill others only
when we feel insecure. We do not
need courage to make war. We
only need cowardice. Only
cowards go to war. They are
afraid for themselves and kill
others. To kill others, we do not
need courage. We simply need
cowardice.
The person who is courageous
never kills others. He is
established in non- violence.
Only cowards continuously try
to hurt others. A courageous
person does not try to hurt
others. That is the reason Kṛṣṇa
makes this bold statement —
one who is not entangled in
ego, even if he kills, does not
kill.
Kṛṣṇa emphasizes here: May you be
liberated from entanglement. May you
liberate yourself from ego, yasya
nāhaṅkṛto bhāvo. He does not ask
Arjuna to kill. One problem is that
people give their own meaning to
words. They have their own delusive
cognition.
Do not give your own meaning to what Kṛṣṇa has said! He is asking you to be liberated from ego. He is asking you to be complete with your root patterns. The person who has realized that he is part of a whole will not kill even if he kills. Grasp the proper meaning of this. Kṛṣṇa asks you to experience the truth about yourself. He does not ask you to kill people. Recognize the correct meaning. Kṛṣṇa inspires you to realize the truth of your natural space of completion, not to kill.
Kṛṣṇa uses killing as an extreme
example to make Arjuna think.
The focus is on non-attachment
arising out of egolessness, which is
the space of completion. You
need to know, completion done
in the space of completion
transforms your personality,
transforms your being, heals the
intense, constant, agitāted
violence you carry towards you
and others.
When one no longer feels the need to survive, anything that one does is without attachment and without expectation. When a person is in that state, he is truly in completion with Existence. If such a person destroys, it is similar to the destruction caused by Nature, which happens at a different frequency and understanding level as I explained earlier.
Kṛṣṇa makes this statement to drive the point home to Arjuna that it is his responsibility to stand up and fight instead of running away from the battlefield.
GOALS:
Helping
children/teenagers
understand what is
courage.
-Helping
children/teenagers
experience their natural
space of completion.
ASSESSMENTS
- What do we do when we exclude?
- What happens when we surrender?
- When do people kill others?
- How does a courageous person act?
- What is Krishna emphasizing on?
- Why is Krishna making such an extreme statement to Arjuna?
ART OF THE DAY
ART OF THE DAY:
TRUE COURAGE!
MATERIALS NEEDED:
Paper, Markers, pen, Eraser, Scissors, Glue, etc.
PROCEDURE First, remind the children that a truly courageous person is always established in non-violence. Then, ask them to make a card to someone in their life which they find most courageous. Ask them to write down the reason why they feel this way by giving an example of a situation where the person showed courage.
INFERENCE A courageous person never tries to hurt others.
ACTIVITY OF THE DAY
ACTIVITY OF THE DAY:
YOUR NATURAL SPACE
MATERIALS REQUIRED
A Big paper on which all the children can draw or write a word. Pens, markers, erasers, etc.
PROCEDURE:
Ask each child to close their eyes for 3 minutes while contemplating on the truth: “Kṛṣṇa inspires you to realize the truth of your natural space of completion, not to kill.” Tell them to witness whatever comes in their inner space during that short meditation (any image, letter, word, sentence, etc.).
Then, at the end of the meditation, ask each child to draw or write what appeared to them on the same big piece of paper (all children draw and write on the same paper).
You can then enjoy the masterpiece together and ask each child to describe their experience (how the word, thought, image appeared, how they feel the big piece of paper looks with everyone’s contribution on it, how completion makes them feel, how they would know if they are not in the space of completion, etc).
ACTIVITY OF THE DAY:
YOUR NATURAL SPACE
INFERENCE
Completion transforms your personality, transforms your being, heals the intense, constant, agitāted violence you carry towards you and others.
WORKSHOP OF THE DAY
WORKSHOP OF THE DAY:
VAAKYARTHA SADHAS GRASP RIGHT MEANING!
First, engage in a short discussion about the real message that Krishna is giving Arjuna here. Then, read this small story to the children/teenagers and ask them to discuss whether the way that the boy acted and reacted is aligned to what Krishna is teaching Arjuna.
Once there was a little boy in a Zen monastery training to be a monk. One day, when he was cleaning his master's room he accidentally broke his master's favorite teacup. He wanted to confess to his master about the teacup, but was scared that he would punish him.
WORKSHOP OF THE DAY:
VAAKYARTHA SADHAS GRASP RiGHT MEANiNG!
He approached the Master and asked him, ‘Master, isn’t it true that everything that was born has to die someday?’ The master replied, ‘Yes.’ The boy then showed him the fragments of the broken cup and said, ‘It was time for your teacup to die.
Conclusion
Kṛṣṇa inspires you to realize the truth of your natural space of completion, not to kill.
- BHAGAVAD GITA -
BOOK XVIII, VOLUME VII