Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18

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 Krsna 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.

Bhagavad Gġtā appears in the heart of Mahābhārat in Bhġṣma Parva, the sixth chapter of its eighteen chapters. Veda Vyāsa, the narrator, in glorifying the Gġtā 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 Gġtā?

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

A portrait of Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam

A warrior riding a horse on a battlefield

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

अर्जुन उवाच । संन्यासस्य महाबाहो तत्त्वमिच्छामि वेदितुम् ।वेदितुम् त्यागस्य च हृषीकेश पृथक्केशििनिषूदन ॥ १८=१ ॥ arjuna uvāca saṁnyāsasya mahābāho tattvamicchāmi veditum tyāgasya ca hṛṣīkeśa pṛthak keśiniṣūdana

O mighty armed Kṛṣṇa, I wish
to understand what is the
essence, tattva of renunciation,
tyāga and the renounced order
of life, sannyāsa, and the
difference between the two, O
Hrīśīkeṣa, O Killer of the
demon Keśī.’

POWERFUL COGNITION

The words of a Master are energy.

ARJUNA SPEAKS
NOW AFTER BEING
SILENT FOR A
LONG TIME.

Arjuna will stop speaking soon.
He has just a few words. He is
not questioning. He just
expresses a few doubts. The
arrogance or violence in Arjuna's
being has disappeared. He has
become like a flower due to the
experience of the cosmic vision
that Kṛṣṇa showered on him. I
cannot even call these words
doubts. He just wants to hear the
truth from Kṛṣṇa again and again.

Sometimes after listening to
the whole discourse,
disciples ask me to repeat a
joke or a story once more!
They have heard it once but
want to hear it again.
Especially from the master,
listening to certain things
again and again gives great
joy. The words of a Master
are energy. These words
drill deep into you and
transform you. At the time
of listening, you may not
realize their impact. But
they never fail to impact
and enrich you. Arjuna asks
some of these questions to
listen to Kṛṣṇa again.

sannyāsasyā mahā-bāho tattvam
icchāmi veditum I tyāgasya ca
hṛṣīkeśa pṛthak keśi-niṣūdana II
18.1

Arjuna says, 'O Mighty One, I
wish to understand the purpose
of renunciation and of the
monastic life of Sannyāsa. O
Hriśikesa (another name of
Kṛṣṇa, one who is in complete
control of His senses), please tell
me the truth.

As I told you, it is not that Arjuna does not know. He has just heard the whole thing. Still, he wants to listen to it once more. Sometimes we enjoy listening to the same thing over and over. It is not that we do not understand, but it gives us great joy to listen to the same thing again and again! Like that, Arjuna wants to listen to the same truth again and again.

Arjuna wants to know why a person
would want to sacrifice everything and
what is the process of renunciation.

In India it is often difficult to distinguish a renunciate, a Sannyāsi, from a common beggar. Both seek alms. Both possess very little. And both are homeless. Many people take the easy path and treat the Sannyāsi like a beggar and shoo him off.

IN THE SPH’s OWN WORDS: “I tell my disciples, ‘When in doubt treat the beggar as if he were a monk. If you have money to give, what harm is there if you give it to enrich another person?’ Some people tell me, ‘But Swamiji, they are cheating us!’ So what?”

Illustration of a person playing a flute

So, giving alms to a Sannyāsi is like taking out insurance. You expect that your merits are getting noted down in a Cosmic record to decide whether you go to hell or heaven. . Make it simple. Give out of your completion. Give unconditionally if you can afford it. Give even if you cannot afford it. that is when giving becomes truly enriching. When you sacrifice what you cannot afford to sacrifice, by the mere act of giving, you become a renunciate, a Sannyāsi. How noble it is!

Arjuna is confused about the act and the actor. What is important is the act. Anyone can be the actor.

GOALS:

Helping children
understand that giving
should always come from
a space of completion.
Helping children
differentiate between
"act" and "actor".
Helping children
understand the space a
Sannyasi carries.