Extreme Statement🔗

18.17 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.

A very dangerous statement! Krishna goes to the extreme.

No master except Krishna can make such a courageous statement. Krishna makes a bold statement here. One who is not motivated by ego, whose intelligence is not based on attachment, though he may kill many men in this world, he does not kill, nor is he bound by his actions.

Of course, one who has reached that level of awareness 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 Krishna makes this bold statement — one who is not entangled in ego, even if he kills, does not kill.

Krishna emphasizes here: May you be liberated from entanglement. May you liberate yourself from ego. He does not ask Arjuna to kill. One problem is that people give their own meaning to words. They have their own understanding.

A small story:

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. 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.'

We must know how to present our argument. But here, do not give your own meaning to what Krishna has said! He is asking you to be liberated from ego. 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. Krishna asks you to experience the truth about yourself. He does not ask you to kill people. Recognize the correct meaning. Krishna inspires you to realize the truth, not to kill.

Another small story:

A Jew, an Italian and a Polish man applied for a position at the police academy. First the Jew was interviewed.

He was asked, 'Who killed Jesus?'

The Jew said, 'The Romans killed Jesus.' He was asked to join duty the next day and was sent out.

Next the Italian entered and was asked the same question. He replied, 'The Jews.' He was asked to report to work the next day.

The Polish man came next and was asked the same question. He replied, 'I do not know.' The officer gave him one day to think about it and to come back with the answer.

The man returned home and his wife asked him, 'What happened during the interview?' The husband replied, 'I got the job. The first day itself I have been given a murder case to solve!'

We can give whatever meaning we want to words. Do not give the wrong meaning to Krishna's words. Krishna asks you to liberate yourself from your ego. He does not ask you to go around killing people. Understand the truth behind the words. Only a master like Krishna can make such a courageous statement.

Krishna uses killing as an extreme example to make Arjuna think. The focus is on non-attachment arising out of egolessness. 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 tune 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.

Krishna makes this statement to drive the point home to Arjuna that it is his duty to stand up and fight instead of running away from the battlefield.

Q: Swamiji, your disciples say that you burn them. This makes us afraid. What does it mean?

Of course, my disciples are right. I don't know in what context they said this, but they should not let out these business secrets!

When you wish to be a gazer, just looking at me and enjoying, I give you brain candy in addition to the eye candy that you take yourself!

When you become serious, when you see meaning behind my words and when you believe that I can help you move forward spiritually, you come closer to the state of a disciple. I start advising you to drop my form and focus on the formless.

When you become a disciple, you become my responsibility. Your spiritual progress is no longer your responsibility alone; it is mine too. I can no longer smile and let you go your way. All spiritual progress is about dropping the ego, and the master's primary job is to remove that ego. It is surgery and the master is the surgeon.

Please understand this clearly. If you stay with me for sometime, you will know that I am not a śānta svarūpa, a calm and smiling visage, all the time. My disciples run from place to place while I shout instructions to them. Outsiders are sometimes shocked at the words that I use. 'How can a master say such things?' they wonder. They have not read or understood the Gita, that is why they react like this!

Even when I seem aggressive, that is just the picture I present. Inside me there is no emotion or aggression. There is not even satva (goodness). A master is beyond the three guṇas - attributes. He is a triguṇarahita. He has transcended the three attributes of satva (goodness), rajas (aggression) and tamas (lethargy or inaction).

Yes, my disciples may have told you that I burn them; but I am sure they told you that with pride and love! Otherwise why would they stay with me? I don't force them. They see the change and transformation that happens within them when their ego drops and bliss rises within. Why would they want to stay? Very soon they understand that my shouting, anger and all this burning is superficial, a mask meant for their progress. They understand that compassion drives the surgery.

In fact, I tell them openly, and it is a danger for me, that the only thing that makes me sad is when a disciple leaves me. It does not happen often, but it happens. It does not happen because they are unhappy that I shout, but because the path takes them away from what they think they want. I feel sad because their beings brought them to me after having had the experience of running away in previous bodies. The spirit, the being, hopes that at least in this lifetime it will be redeemed through a master.

There is nothing to fear from me or any master. The master is driven by one thing: compassion for you. He needs nothing in return. There is nothing that you can give him, which is of any value to him. His compassion for you is totally unconditional.

# Components Of Action

18.18 Knowledge, the object of the knowledge and the subject of the knowledge, the knower, are the three factors that stimulate action; the senses, the action and the performer comprise the three components of action.

18.19 According to the guṇa theory of Sāṅkhya, there are three types in knowledge, action, and performers of action. Listen as I describe them.

18.20 That knowledge by which the one imperishable reality is seen in all Existence, undivided in the divided, is knowledge in the state of goodness.

18.21 The knowledge by which one sees different realities of various types among all beings as separate from one another, such knowledge is in the mode of aggression.

18.22 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 or ignorance.

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

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

18.25 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.

18.26 The performer who is free from attachment, non-egoistic, endowed with resolve and enthusiasm, and unperturbed in success or failure is called good.

18.27 The performer who is impassioned, who desires the fruits of work, who is greedy, violent, impure, and affected by joy and sorrow, is called aggressive.

18.28 The performer who is indisciplined, vulgar, stubborn, wicked, malicious, lazy, depressed, and procrastinating is called ignorant.

In these verses Krishna explains the nature of man, the human.

Krishna has already said that the final performer is not man, nara, but the divine, Narayana. Even so the human is still the subject, the medium that we are dealing with. All the frailities that we have are inherent in our nature. These are the guṇas or attributes that define our behavior. These attributes control our thoughts, words and actions. One is not all the time, from birth to death, in one guṇa or attribute.

The guṇas are of three kinds: satva, rajas and tamas. Satva is defined as calm, peaceful, spiritual and good, etc. This is generally the attribute of spiritually inclined persons. Rajas is translated as aggressive, passionate and active, etc. This is the primary attribute of kings, warriors and business people. Tamas is lazy, ignorant and passive, etc. Tamas is seen as the inactive component that many of us experience at times. It is the active component of those who live to eat and sleep.

In these verses Krishna beautifully defines in detail the qualities and effects of these guṇas upon us. His purpose in doing this is to make us aware of what happens within us. Majority of the time we are ignorant of why we react the way we do. As the master explains in these words, and once we understand how we react, we can move to the next level of understanding and shift to a superior attribute.

Yes, all of us must be rajasic or aggressive, part of the time to accomplish things. Even so, if we can act aggressively without greed, anger or fear affecting us, as well as acting without attachment, we are in the satvic mode, although superficially we seem to be in the rajasic mode.

Krishna defines a satvic person as one who sees the collective consciousness, the whole, in parts. He understands that he is not alone and not an island, rather he is linked with everyone and everything in this universe. He understands his connection with the cosmic energy.

A satvic person is not focused on himself. He realizes that his survival and possessions, the 'I' and 'mine', are meaningless. His activities are selfless, without expectation of praise or reward, and without attachment to the process or result. Such a person is not affected by the seeming success or failure of what he undertakes because there is no feeling of 'I' and 'mine' involved in his actions.

It is not that difficult to move into a satvic state. True, you may not be able to stay there all the time, but once you understand how this state liberates you, you try more and more to stay there.

To be in the satvic state is to understand that past and future are mere illusions. They do not exist. Past is gone, never to return. Why worry? Future is a mirage. All you can do is activate your present moment. That is all you can do. The present moment determines your future. Once you focus on the present, your awareness increases manifold and you drop expectations and attachment. You just do what is needed. You respond to reality. You respond to the now. You are in satva.

You fall into a rajasic state when you distinguish between you and I, between this and that. There is no differentiation. Your mind, the ego, creates this differentiation. Your saṁskāras bring up this differentiation between you and others. A rajasic person does everything expecting a reward. He is selfish, aggressive and impatient. When he does not get what he wants, he is upset. Failure is a blow to his ego.

A rajasic person can never be happy. Please understand, almost all of you are driven by rajas. This is the predominant attribute in modern times. Rich or poor, intelligent or foolish, educated or uneducated, almost everyone compares himself with the next person and wants what the other person has. As long as you are driven by your desires, and not satisfied with what you have, you are in rajas.

Rajas corrodes you. It eats up your soul. There is 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, not being happy with what you have, not being happy about where you are and not being 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 have, or you are in the past thinking about how you could have done better. Rajas is living in a fantasy world.

In tamas one is fully in delusion. One sticks to embedded beliefs, knowledge or conditions without making an effort to verify whether they are right or wrong, appropriate or not, harmful or not. Religious zealots and gangsters are in tamas. There is no difference between them; only their objectives are different. Both are dogmatic, violent and totally selfish. They adopt any means, even criminal, to achieve their objectives.

Tamas does not just mean inactivity, laziness and procrastination. Yes, it is all that; however, it also includes mindless action performed without realizing that one

is part of a whole. The ego is so enlarged that it believes it is the whole. It believes nothing else of significance exists; others are of no consequence. A Hitler who destroyed millions of people believing that they were inferior was in deep tamas. Tamas is an animal at its worst, when it stops heeding the laws of Nature. And only a human can be in tamas. An animal can never be in tamas because it is directed by the intelligence of Nature.

Q: I am a Nithya Spiritual Healer and I meditate regularly. Along with detachment, I find that I become disinclined to do anything. Then I become afraid that I am falling into laziness. What is happening?

You are on the right path. Do not worry. What is happening is what needs to happen.

Society, in the form of political or religious institutions, tries to control you through fear and greed.

These institutions believe that unless you are prodded by fear and greed, you cannot be effective, productive and valuable. To whom are you productive, effective and valuable? It is certainly not an advantage to your own Self. Perhaps it benefits these institutions.

Fear and greed make you seek in the external world for fulfillment. You seek to act on your thoughts and words. These can never be fulfilled. The same fear and same greed reappear no matter how many times you have experienced them before.

You are in rajas, the mode of aggression, when you act on your thoughts. People ask, ‘How can I live without acting on my thoughts? Who will pay my bills?’

Please understand that when Nature has provided you with a built-in system that converts bread to blood, can it not take care of providing you with bread as well? Nature does not trust you with anything that is critical to your existence. That is why essential activities such as breathing, growing and digesting, etc. happen without your involvement!

Stop acting on your thoughts. Stop looking for their meaning. Instead seek the source of thoughts. For instance, if you feel hungry, ignore that thought. When your body feels that desperate hunger, it will by itself seek and procure the food to fulfill its needs.

When you do this, when you stop acting on the meaning of words, you fall into tamas, into inaction. That is what you fear. There is nothing to fear. You will stay in that inaction until your hatred against your restlessness and greed get worked out. Once that happens, you come out of that inaction, that tamasic state, purified.

Please understand, you do not move from tamas into rajas and then into satva as you may think. You do not move from inaction to aggression and then to peace. You start with rajas, which is the state of your day-to-day activity, when you are in the mode of doership, seeking to fulfill the meaning of your thoughts and words.

When you stop seeking meaning, you fall into inaction, tamas, for a brief period, until you start seeking the source of your thoughts and move into satva. You will feel the effect of inner healing and understand that the universe does take care of you.

Your being is always centered. Your mind is always at the periphery.

Your mind constantly seeks the outer and is led by the senses. Your being stays centered at the core and is directed inwards. You are constantly tugged back and forth between the center and the periphery. When you are at the periphery, you are truly mad. You are overcome with fear and greed. You are consumed by lust, the desire for power and wealth.

When you are at the center, you are Shiva. You are in cosmic consciousness.

Over time, you develop the capability to stay somewhere in between. You have no choice. You must choose a state of semi-madness, because your mind will not let you stay at the center. You become eccentric, moving briefly back and forth between the bliss at your core and the illusions at your periphery.

At the periphery your senses control you. They make merry. Once in a while, if you are intelligent, you realize that you are getting nowhere. You go wherever your senses lead you and try to enjoy the sense objects presented to you. Over time the enjoyment decreases. You need more and more of the same pleasure whereas the enjoyment becomes less and less. You are about to become addicted. Some bit of intelligence in you warns you to get out.

You move away from the periphery and try to move towards the center where you have experienced brief moments of great peace and happiness. Your awareness does not last long. Your mind becomes restless and you return to your old ways. You move back towards the periphery.

Please understand that at the peripheral level, you are in the grip of the need to survive and possess. You are governed by ego, or 'I' - the need to survive, and 'mine' - the need to possess. Two strong forces keep you tethered to the periphery: fear of losing your identity and greed to possess more and more.

Your ego reduces when you realize your connection with others and understand that you can collaborate with them more effectively than if you compete. Your need to possess more and more decreases when you develop the awareness to enjoy what you have instead of rushing to acquire more.

As you move from being eccentric towards staying longer at the center, you move from past and future to the present moment. You move from suffering to bliss.