Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18 - Lesson 8 of 19

CHARACTER SKETCH

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❖ Yudhiṣṭra is embodiment of Integrity— the power of words, vāk śakti.

❖ Bhīma is embodiment of Authenticity— the power of thoughts, mano śakti.

❖ Arjuna is embodiment of
Responsibility—the power of feeling,
prema śakti.

❖ Sahadeva is embodiment of Enriching— the power of living, ātma śakti.

❖ Nakula is embodiment of causing reality for others.

CHARACTER SKETCH

❖ Śakuni, the maternal uncle of
Duryodhana embodies the pattern
of self-hatred, which is cunningness
personified.

❖ Droṇa represents all the best knowledge one imbibes and the teachers one encounters, who guide us but are unable to take us through to the ultimate flowering of enlightenment. It is difficult to give them up since one feels grateful to them. This is where the Enlightened Master, the incarnation steps in and guides us.

❖ Duryodhana, represents one’s ego or
root-pattern, the most difficult to
conquer as it leads one to self-
destruction. One needs the full help
of the Master here. It is subtle work
and even the Master’s help may not be
obvious, since at this point, sometimes
the ego makes us deny and disconnect
from the Master as well.

CHARACTER SKETCH

❖ Karṇa is the repository of all good deeds and it is his good deeds that stand in the way of his own Enlightenment. Śrī Kṛṣṇa has to take the load of Karṇa's punya, his meritorious deeds, before he could be liberated. The Enlightened Master guides one to drop one’s attachment to good deeds arising out of what are perceived to be charitable and compassionate intentions. He also shows us that the quest for and the experience of enlightenment is the ultimate act of compassion that one can offer to the world.

❖ Bhagavan Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the 8th most powerful purnāvatar of Maha Viśnu, is the embodiment of pure celebration, boundless love, compassion, and completion. Bhagavan Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the only incarnation demonstrating and expressing Śarva Maṅgalatva all the auspicious qualities and all dimensions of an avatar during His physical happening. The līla Bhagavan Śrī Kṛṣṇa is one of sheer innocence and simplicity, in a peace-loving, diplomatic, conflict-free way.

Till now everyone blames Bhagavan Sri Krishna for this Kurukshetra war but that's the greatest sacrifice Bhagavan Sri Krishna did to save the planet Earth. If Kurukshetra was not conducted at that time under the controlled conditions and direct supervision of Bhagavan Sri Krishna, planet Earth would not have survived more than three years.

The wide spread availability of the Astra shastras without Shastra, without the knowledge and vision, was posing a huge threat to the whole of humanity and planet Earth, and for life itself. The greatest achievement of Bhagavan Sri Krishna is destroying all the weapons in one controlled condition and saving planet earth, eliminating the nuclear weapons and the knowledge of these nuclear weapons to save humanity from total annihilation.

A stylized illustration of an open book resting on a wooden book stand, with bright, celebratory sparkles above it.

Bhagavad Gītā appears in the heart of Mahābhārat in Bhīṣma Parva, the sixth chapter of its eighteen chapters. Veda Vyāsa, the narrator, in glorifying the Gītā sings, ‘the one who drinks the water of Ganges (the sacred river for Hindus) attains liberation, what to speak of the one who drinks the nectar of Gītā?

Gītā is the essential nectar of the Mahābhārat, bhāratamṛta sarvasvam as it is directly spoken by Nārāyaṇa, Bhagavān kṛṣṇa Himself.’

The armies assembled in the vast field of Kurukṣetra, now in the state of Haryana in modern day India. All the kings and princes were related to one another, and were often on opposite sides. Facing the Kaurava army and his friends, relatives and teachers, Arjuna was overcome by remorse and guilt, and wanted to walk away from the battle out of total powerlessness unbecoming an invincible warrior among warriors.

Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s dialogue with Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukṣetra out of His utmost concern and love for him and humanity is the content of Bhagavad Gītā. Of its seven hundred and forty-five (745) verses, Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa sings the Gītā in six hundred and twenty (620) verses responding to Arjuna’s fifty-seven (57) enquiries.

Śrī Kṛṣṇa persuades Arjuna to give-up his powerlessness unfitting an Ārya—the spiritually evolved one who understands human life and urges him to raise himself again as Parantapa—the conqueror of enemy, and take up arms and vanquish his enemies. They are already dead,’ says Śrī Kṛṣṇa, ‘All those who are facing you have been already killed by Me. Go ahead and do what you have to do. That is your responsibility. Do not worry about the outcome. Leave that to Me.’

A depiction of Lord Krishna holding a flute, adorned in gold jewelry and a crown, seated before a golden backdrop.

यत्त कृत्स्नवदेकस्मिन्कार्ये सक्तमहैतुकम् ।
अतत्त्वार्थवदल्पं च तत्तामसमुदाहृतम्
॥१८-२२॥

yat tu kṛtsnavad ekasmin kārye
saktaṁ ahaitukam
atattvārthavadalpaṁ ca tat
tāmasamudāhṛtam

The irrational, baseless, and
worthless knowledge by which
one clings to one single effect
as if it is everything, such
knowledge is in the mode of
darkness of ignorance.

POWERFUL COGNITION

Ocean you can own, but not possess.

नियतं सङ्गरहितमरागद्वेषतः कृतम् ।
अफलप्रेप्सुना कर्म यत्तत्सात्त्विकमुच्यते
॥ १८=२३॥

niyataṁ saṅgarahitam
arāgadveṣataḥ kṛtam
aphalaprepsunā karma yat tat
sāttvikamucyate

Obligatory duty performed
without likes and dislikes and
without selfish motives and
attachment to the fruit, is in
the mode of goodness.

POWERFUL COGNITION

Owning is different and possessing is different.

यत्त कामेप्सुना कर्म साहङ्कारेण वा पुनः ।
क्रियते बहुलायासं तद्राजसमुदाहृतम्
॥१८-२४॥

yat tu kāmepsunā karma
sāhaṅkāreṇa vā punaḥ
kriyate bahulāyāsaṁ tad
rājasamudāhṛtam

Action performed with ego,
with selfish motives, and
with too much effort, is in
the mode of aggression.

POWERFUL COGNITION

Satva is living in a reality world
of owning and also letting
others own.

अनुबन्धं क्षयं हिंसामनपेक्ष्य च पौरुषम् ।
मोहादारभ्यते कर्म यत्तत्तामसमुच्यते
॥ १८-२५॥

anubandhaṁ kṣayaṁ
hiṁsām anapekṣya ca
pauruṣaṁ mohād ārabhyate
karma yat tat tāmasamucyate

Action that is undertaken
because of delusion,
disregarding consequences,
loss, injury to others, as well
as one's own ability, is in the
mode of ignorance.

POWERFUL COGNITION

Kṛṣṇa defines a sātvic person as one
who sees the collective
consciousness, the whole, in parts.

OWING IS
DIFFERENT,
POSSESSING IS
DIFFERENT

The pure space, satva seems to be
a little heavy, little too much of
joy! You feel you can't afford it.
It is like you don't want to own
the whole ocean, you want to
own only the beach. Because
only in the beach you can put a
fence and ensure that others can't
enter into it. Ocean you can
own, but not possess. Please
understand, owning is different
and possessing is different.

All of us can own the whole
world; that is not a problem
at all. But we can't possess
it, that is where the
problem starts. Owning is
different and possessing is
different. The whole village
owns the village temple, but
you possess your house. We
not only own our house, we
possess it and make sure
that others don't enter.

We don't want to own the
ocean, we want to possess the
ocean. When we want to
possess, we know that we
can't possess the ocean. Not
only we can't deny entry to
other human beings, we can't
deny entry to other animals.
There are millions of animals
below.

When we want to possess that is
where the problem starts. Rajas
corrodes you. It eats up your soul.
There is no boundary to possessing,
no end to greed and no limit to fear.
These are the driving forces of rajas.
Rajas is about trying to attain what
you don’t have, trying to eliminate
and possess what you want to have,
not being complete with what you
have, not being complete about
where you are and not being
complete and happy when you are in
the present moment. You are either
constantly in the future, imagining
what you would like to be and what
you would like to possess, or you are
in the past thinking about how you
could have done better. Rajas is
living in a fantasy world of
possessing. Satva is living in a reality
world of owning and also letting
others own.

You are either constantly
in the future, imagining
what you would like to be
and what you would like
to possess, or you are in
the past thinking about
how you could have done
better. Rajas is living in a
fantasy world of
possessing. Satva is living
in a reality world of
owning and also letting
others own.

GOALS:

-Helping students
understand the difference
between owning and
possessing. -Helping the
students understand the
difference between Satva
and Rajas.