P OF - Life Bliss Programslifeblissprograms.org/e-books/pdf/bhagavad_gita_1st... · 2012-03-09 · Parabrahma Krishna, the Cosmic Cobsciousness and is therefore considered a scripture.

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P A T H O F K N O W L E D G E

Published by Nithyananda Foundation, Bangalore, India

Copyright© 2006

First Edition: July 2006

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproducedby any mechanical, photographic, or electronic process, or inthe form of a phonographic recording; nor may it be storedin a retrieval system, transmitted, or otherwise be copied forpublic or private use without permission in writing fromNithyananda Publishers. In the event that you use any of theinformation in this book for yourself, the author and thepublisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

All proceeds from the sales of this book go towardssupporting Nithyananda Foundation�s charitable activities.

Printed in India by W Q Judge Press, Bangalore, India

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BHAGAVAD GITA � The Song of God : Chapter 4

NithyanandaTalks given in USA on The Bhagavad Gita � Chapter 4

Logic can never lead you to self realization.Dissolution of logic will.

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CONTENT

Bhagavad Gita: A Background ............................................... 8

Introduction .............................................................................. 13

Path of Knowledge .................................................................. 15

Appendix

Science and spirituality ............................................... 238

Offerings from Nithyananda Foundation ................... 246

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! Paaqaa-ya p/itbaaioQataM Baagavata naaraayaNaona svayaMvyaasaona ga/iqataM puraNamauinanaa maQyao mahaBaartMAWOtamaRtvaiYa-NaIM BagavatIM AYTadSaaQyaaiyanaIMAmba %vaamanausandQaaima Bagavad\gaIto BavaWooiYaNaIM

Om paarthaaya pratibodhitam bhagavataa naaraayanena svayamVyaasena grathitaam puraanamuninaa madhye mahaabhaaratamAdvaitaamrutavarshineem bhagavateem ashtaadsaadhyaayineem

Amba tvaamanusadadhaami bhagavadgite bhavadveshineem

Om Bhagavad Gita, I meditate upon you, the affectionateMother, the divine mother showering the nectar of nonduality and destroying rebirth, incorporated into theMahabharata in eighteen chapters by sage Vyasa, with whichLord Narayana, the Supreme Consciousness Himself,enlightened Arjuna.

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vasaudovasautM dovaM kmsacaaNaUrmad-nama\dovakIprmaanandM kRYNaM vando jagad\gauruM

Vasudeva Sutam Devam Kamsa Chanura MardanamDevaki Paramaanandam Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum

I salute you Lord Krishna, Teacher to the World, son ofVasudeva and supreme bliss of Devaki, destroyer of Kamsaand Chanura.

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Bhagavad Gita: A Background

Bhagavad Gita, or Gita, as it is often called, is considered asacred scripture, a sruti, that which was transmitted byhearing. As a sruti Gita is clubbed along with the ancientscriptures of Veda and Upanishad which are the expressionsof the great sages, the maharishi.

Veda and Upanishad, the sruti, were not God given as somepeople believe. They arose through the insight and awarenessof the great sages when they went into a no mind state.

Gita is a part of the purana, the epics; it forms part of theHindu epic Mahabharata. Unlike the Veda, which wereinternalized by the great sages, the maharishi, or theUpanishad, which were the teachings of these great sages,Gita is part of a story narrated by Vyasa, a great sage.

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No other purana, or part of a purana, has this special statusas the Gita. Gita arose from the super consciousness ofParabrahma Krishna, the Cosmic Cobsciousness and istherefore considered a scripture.

Mahabharata, literally the Great Bharata, refers to the nationand civilization developed by the descendants of Bharata, agreat King who ruled a region, what today is known as India.The story of this epic is about two warring clans, Kauravaand Pandava, closely related to one another. Dhritharashtra,the blind King of Hastinapura and father of the 100 Kauravamen was the brother of Pandu, whose children were the fivePandava princes.

Pandu, originally the King of Hastinapura, was afflicted by acurse of a sage and he handed over the kingdom and hischildren to his blind brother Dhritharashtra. Vyasa, the sagewho tells this story, says that all the five Pandava childrenwere born to their mother Kunti through her union withdivine beings by immaculate conception, since Pandu himselfwas incapable of siring children as a result of his curse. Kuntireceived a blessing when she was still a young unmarriedadolescent that she could at will summon any divine power.

Duryodhana, the Kaurava Prince, had no love lost for his fivePandava cousins. Along with his even more wicked brotherDushassana, he made many attempts to kill the Pandavabrothers off without success. Karna, Kunti�s eldest son whomshe had cast away at birth, since he was born before she was

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married through her union with the Sun God, by a strangetwist of fate joined hands with Duryodhana.

On his coming of age, the Pandava Prince Yudhishtra beingthe rightful heir to the throne that his father Pandu hadvacated, was given by his uncle Dhritharashtra half thekingdom. Yudhishtra ruled from his new capital Indraprasthawith his brothers Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva.Arjuna, won the hand of Princess Draupadi, daughter of theKing of Panchal in a swayamwara, a marital contest in whichprinces fought for the hand of a fair damsel. To obey thepromise that the five Pandava brothers made to their motherKunti that they would share everything equally, Draupadibecame the wife of all five Pandava brothers.

Duryodhana persuaded Yudhishtra into a gambling session,where the evil Sakuni as Duryodhana�s representativedefeated the Pandava King. One by one, Yudhishtra wasmade to lose all that he owned, his kingdom, his brothers,his wife and himself to Duryodhana. Draupadi was shamed inpublic by Dushassana who disrobed her. Pandava brothers andDraupadi were forced to go into exile for 14 years, with thecondition that in the last year they should live incognito.

At the end of the 14 years, Pandava brothers tried to reclaimtheir kingdom. In this effort they were helped by Krishna, thedivine reincarnation of Vishnu in the form of the King ofYadava clan. However, they were rebuffed by Duryodhana.Finally, war resulted, the Great War, the War of

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Mahabharata. Various rulers of the entire nation, that istoday India, aligned with one or the other of these twoclans, the Kaurava or the Pandava.

Krishna offered to join either of the two clans. He said: �Oneof you may have me unarmed, not taking any part in thebattle. The other may have my entire Yadava army�. The firstoffer was made to Duryodhana, who predictably chose thevast Yadava army, in preference to the unarmed Krishna.Arjuna chose Krishna as his unarmed charioteer.

The armies assembled in the vast field of Kurukshetra, nowin the state of Haryana in modern day India. All the Kingsand Princes were related to one another, often on oppositesides. Arjuna was charioted by Krishna himself. Facing theKaurava army and his friends, relatives and teachers, Arjunawas overcome by remorse and guilt and wanted to walk awayfrom the battle.

Krishna�s dialogue with Arjuna on the battle field ofKurukshetra is the content of Bhagavad Gita, which literallymeans Song of the Divine. Krishna persuaded Arjuna to takeup arms and vanquish his enemies. �They are already dead�,says Krishna, �all those who are facing you are dead. Goahead and do what you have to do. That is your duty�.Bhagavad Gita has eighteen chapters and is presented as thenarration of Sanjaya, Dhritharashtra�s charioteer to the blindking.

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The Great War of Mahabharata lasted 18 days. All theKaurava Princes as well all their commanders such asBhishma, Drona and Karna were killed in battle. The fivePandava brothers survived as winners and became the rulersof the combined kingdom.

In this dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna, the dialogue isbetween man and God; nara and Narayana as they aretermed in Sanskrit. Arjuna�s questions and doubts are thoseof each one of us. The answers of the Divine, Krishna,transcend time and space. Krishna�s message is as valid todayas it was on that fateful battlefield some thousands of yearsago.

Like Arjuna many thousand years ago, you are here in adialogue with a Master. May the Master�s words resolve yourquestions and clear your doubts.

Nithyanandam!

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Introduction

In this series, a young enlightened Master, Nithyanandacomments on the Gita. Thousands of commentaries of theGita have been written over the years.

Amongst the earliest were by the great spiritual Masters suchas Sankara, some thousand over years ago.

In recent times, great Masters such as RamakrishnaParamahamsa and Ramana Maharishi have spoken from theGita extensively. Many others have written volumes on thisgreat scripture.

Nithyananda�s commentary of the Bhagavad Gita is not aliterary translation and an explanation of that translation. Wehave added here, for the sake of the curious reader, all the

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verses in Sanskrit or Devanagari script along with the Romanor English script transliteration, word by word meaning and asummary of that verse�s meaning. Here the comparison withother commentaries stops.

Nithyananda takes the reader through a world tour whiletalking about each verse. It is believed that each verse of theGita has seven levels of meaning. What is commonlyrendered is the first level meaning. Here, an enlightenedMaster takes us beyond the common into the uncommon,with equal ease and simplicity.

To read Nithyananda�s commentary on the Gita is to obtainan insight that is rare. It is not mere reading; it is anexperience; it is a meditation.

Sankara, the great Master philosopher said:

�Bhagavad gita kinchita dheeta, ganga jala lava kanika pita,sakrutapi ena murari samarcha, kriyate tasya yame na charcha�

�A little reading of the Gita, a drop of Ganga water to drink,remembering Krishna once in a while, all this will ensurethat you have no problems with the God of Death.�

The original discourse delivered by Nithyananda has beenfurther expanded with His inputs into this book version.

May this reading help you in your endeavor to attain Truth.

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Path of Knowledge

I welcome you all with my love and respects. Today�s subjectis �Path of Knowledge�.

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¸ÉÒ ¦ÉMÉ´ÉÉxÉÖ ÉÉSÉ<¨ÉÆ Ê´É´Éº´ÉiÉä ªÉÉäMÉÆ |ÉÉäCiÉ´ÉÉxÉ½þ¨É´ªÉªÉ¨ÉÂ*

Ê´É´Éº´ÉÉxÉÂ ¨ÉxÉ´Éä |ÉÉ½þ ¨ÉxÉÖÊ®úI´ÉÉEò´Éä%¥É´ÉÒiÉÂ**4.1**

Shri Bhagavan uvachaImam vivasvate yogam proktavan aham avyayam

Vivasvan manave praha manur ikshvakave abraveet (4.1)

Shri Bhagavan uvacha: the Lord said; imam: this; vivasvate: tothe Sun God; yogam: the science of yoga; proktavan:instructed; aham: I; avyayam: imperishable; vivasvan: SunGod; manave: to Manu, the father of mankind; praha: told;manuh: Manu; ikshvakave: to King Ikshvaku; abraveet: said

The Lord said:

�I instructed the imperishable science of yoga to the Sun God,Vivasvan, and Vivasvan instructed it to Manu, the father ofmankind and Manu in turn instructed it to Ikshvaku.�

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You need to understand, Krishna is just thirty-two years oldwhen He gives this statement. He is just thirty-two years old.Physically His body is only thirty-two years old. But, He says,�I gave this knowledge to Surya, the Sun God.� Of course,this is very difficult to understand!

With logic, you cannot understand this statement. Withordinary logic, which you use in your daily life, you cannotmake any meaning out of this statement. And Krishna goeson.

In the next statement He says:

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B´ÉÆ {É®ú {É®úÉ|ÉÉ{iÉÊ¨É¨ÉÆ ®úÉVÉ¹ÉÇªÉÉä Ê´ÉnÖù&*

ºÉ EòÉ±ÉäxÉä½þ ¨É½þiÉÉ ªÉÉäMÉÉä xÉ¹]õ& {É®úxiÉ{É**4.2**

Evam parampara praptam imam rajarshayo viduhasa kaleneha mahata yogo nashtaha parantapa (4.2)

evam: thus; parampara: Master-disciple succession; praptam:received; imam: this science; rajarshayah: the saintly kings;viduha: understood; sa: that knowledge; kalena: in the courseof time; iha: in this world; mahata: by great; yogaha: thescience of yoga; nashta: lost; parantapa: subduer of theenemies

The supreme science was thus received through the chain ofMaster-disciple succession and the saintly kings understood itin that way. But in the course of time, the succession wasbroken and therefore the science as it is, appears to be lost.

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The science as it is, appears to be lost.

These two verses should be understood. First thing to beunderstood is that the truth is not new. It is eternal. It isneither new nor old. It is eternal. Eternal means it is thereforever. It never becomes old. It was never new. Eternalmeans that which is beyond time.

Anything that is described based on time, only such thingscan be said to be new or old. Anything new will become oldone day. Anything old was new at one time. Eternal means itis beyond the new and the old. It is there from timeimmemorial. But it has never become old. That is what ismeant by the word eternal.

Here, this science, the science of enlightenment, is eternal,or nithya. It is neither new nor old. The science that welearnt yesterday (see chapter 3), the same �science� is goingto be explained further.

Yesterday, I gave the first glimpse of this in the previouschapter of the Gita. The first thing that needs to beunderstood is this first glimpse. If you allow those words topenetrate you, if you open yourself to those words, thenstraightaway those words can give you the first glimpse ofenlightenment. They can lead you to the first step ofultimate liberation.

Understanding the purposelessness of life will wash away all

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its stresses, pressures, loads, whether it is physical or mental,from your being. You are liberated in that same moment.

Krishna doesn�t give you any technique that works overlengthy periods of time. There are techniques that work overlong, lengthy courses of time. You will have to practiceforever. Your son or your daughter may get the result!

Krishna says, �No�! He says, �now, here or nowhere�! Eitherhave the result now, here, or nowhere. All His techniquesstraightaway give you the experience. If you can allow thatone idea of purposelessness, the beauty of purposelessness,into your conscience, that very moment the breeze ofenlightenment enters your heart. That very moment, thehealing of your being starts. Healing of bhavaroga (emotionaldiseases) and healing of samsara roga, the disease of birth anddeath, start.

Five thousand years ago, Krishna says, �I gave this science toSurya, to the Sun God and the Sun God instructed Manu.Sun God is Vivasvan. Vivasvan instructed Manu, the fatherof mankind. Manu passed this wisdom on to Ikshvaku.

Here, Krishna gives the succession, the lineage throughdisciples. He gives the parampara (lineage), the guru-shishyaparampara (Master-disciple lineage). In course of time,yogonashta, the science of yoga is lost, Parantapa, Arjuna.

You should understand why this science is lost.

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When a disciple who listens is not sincere, if he is notcompletely ready, naturally the technique becomes a ritual.Understand that there is only one difference betweentechnique and ritual. When it is done sincerely, even anordinary ritual becomes a great meditation technique thatleads you to enlightenment. When it is done without anysincerity, as a routine, without understanding, then even ameditation technique becomes a ritual. The only differencebetween a meditation technique and a ritual is sincerity. It isjust sincerity.

�In course of time, the science is lost�. He has used abeautiful phrase, �the supreme science was taught, thesupreme science was delivered�. You don�t lose that supremescience in just one generation. In one generation, it nevergets lost. In course of time, somebody or the other, even asingle un-enlightened disciple is enough to destroy the wholescience. Even a single person in that chain is enough tobreak the succession of disciples.

The problem is, when your Master creates a big movementand if you come to his seat without having the qualification,you are the most dangerous person. I have seen people whojust come into the throne as a successor; they are the mostdangerous people. They have everything exceptenlightenment.

A person, who creates a movement, creates it only out ofenergy and enlightenment. If he doesn�t have the energy, no

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movement will be created around him. For the person whosucceeds the founder, it is just a gift. The whole movementis a gift. He has got a complete infrastructure and setup, allready gifted to him. He doesn�t have anything to add.

A person who writes just because he is a writer is adangerous person. But if a person writes because he genuinelyhas got something to write, that�s okay. Only such a personcan be called as a writer.

A small story:

One guy said, �Only after writing five best sellers, I didrealize that I don�t know anything!�

His friend asked, �Then did you stop writing?�

This guy replied, �No! By then I have become too famous! Ican�t stop!�

When you get somebody�s throne as a successor, you will befilled with ego. The successors have everything exceptenlightenment. I always tell people never to go to successors.Because the whole setup was created by somebody and theyjust represent. They don�t have anything from theirexperience. They are good librarians, but not Masters.

We must be very clear in the difference between a librarianand a Master. Librarians are good. They preserve books. Butthey can only preserve the books, nothing more than that.

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The successor is also a good librarian, a good parrot. He canrepeat the whole thing.

A small story from Zen Buddhism:

A disciple of a great Master sits and talks about Zen to hisfollowers. An enlightened Master comes to him and says, �Youhave yourself not become enlightened. What right do youhave to teach others?�

Out of ego he says, �Don�t you know? I am the disciple of thegreat Master.� The Zen Master laughs.

He just laughs and says, �If you wash the cup in which youhave kept tea, will that water have the same taste as tea?�

Can you say that the water that is used to wash the cup, inwhich the tea is kept, is equivalent to tea itself? Whatrelationship can be there between the tea and the waterwhich is used to wash the cup that had contained the tea?

Imagine that a cup of tea is here. Another cup containswater that was used to wash a used teacup. What will bethe relationship between the tea and the water that was usedto wash the used teacup? There will be no relationship. Youcan hardly smell the tea in the water!

So, if a person is not enlightened and is just a successor, hewill be dangerous. He will be dangerous. He carries just thebook and not the knowledge.

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That is why Zen Masters always destroy their books whenthey leave the body. Before leaving the body they destroy thebooks. They say that if you have got Zen in your life, if youhave achieved enlightenment, you can teach. Otherwise keepquiet. At least you will not disturb the society. At least youwill not create more trouble in the society. If you are asuccessor without the experience, you are the most dangerousperson.

A small story:

In South India, there was a big mutt, a traditional monastery.Everyday the worship of Siva used to be conducted there.The Master there had a pet cat. He used to love animals.He had a cat with him. The cat being so affectionate tohim, used to come and disturb him when he sat for prayers.

When he prayed, the cat would come and jump on him andrun around him. So, finally, he asked his disciple to coverthe cat with a basket before he started prayers. Accordingly,they caught the cat and covered it with a basket and theprayer started. Everyday before they started the prayer, theywould catch the cat. It would be covered with a basket andthe prayer would start.

After some time, it had almost become a ritual. Beforestarting the prayer, even if the cat was not inside the ashram,they would search for the cat! Even if the cat had goneoutside, for a walk maybe, they would go, search for it,

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catch it, cover it with the basket and then start the prayer!After covering the cat, they would start the prayer.

In the course of time, the Master passed away. Now thedisciples were in a very confused state. What to do? Whowould conduct the prayer? Anyhow, a successor came.Because the Master passed away, the cat also ran away fromthe monastery. Maybe it did not get good treatment, so itran away.

The successor, before starting the prayer, called the disciplesand asked, �What happened to the cat? Unless we get a cat,how can we start the prayer?�

So, the disciples went in search of a cat all over town.Finally, somehow, they got a cat. They brought it, covered itwith the basket and the prayer started. After few months, itbecame very difficult to catch cats. Where to get the cats?

So, they said, �Master, it is very difficult to get cats. Please,you have to do something.�

The Master said, �Alright, if there is no cat, then let us stopthe prayer!�

In course of time, because there was no cat, they stoppedpraying.

If you are not enlightened, this is what happens. If thedisciple is not enlightened, this is what happens. The truth islost. The spirit is lost.

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If you want to destroy any law, all you need to do is justfollow the letter and miss the spirit. That is enough. You justfollow the letter, forget about the spirit, that�s enough. Youwill end up doing exactly opposite to what the law intended.You just go against what the law was created for.

In course of time, people who had not become enlightenedand those who were not sincere, entered into this field andcorrupted the science. Because of that, the science was lost.That is why time and again, our Upanishad insist upon goingto a living Master.

All our books are only manuals. Veda are the only books thatare courageous enough to declare that they cannot give youenlightenment. Veda are the only books that are courageousenough to declare that they are not the Ultimate. They sayvery clearly that they are only manuals.

If you want ultimate reference, you have to go to a livingMaster. What do all medical books say in the end? Consultyour family doctor! They end with this one line! All thesethings are only manuals. You can�t take medicines just byreading a medical book. You can�t take medicines from aperson who is not a doctor.

In India, compounders, that is to say, doctors� assistants asthey were known then, would learn the trick of the trade, byand by. In course of time they would know, headache meantyou had to take a yellow tablet! For stomach pain, green

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tablet and back pain, black tablet and so on. They wouldknow the color of tablet for a particular disease. If you goand take medicines from a compounder, you may sometimesget healed. You may get the cure. But it is very dangerous.It is very dangerous.

Taking medicines from compounder and learning from un-enlightened Masters are one and the same. Going to anunenlightened person and taking medicines from acompounder are one and the same.

Please be very clear, a compounder at the most may destroyyour body, your one life. But unenlightened master candestroy your lives after lives. He can destroy, misguide you,and create trouble, for lives after lives. This is because thewhole thing is lost if you have missed even a single crucialpoint.

Here Krishna says,

Evam parampara praptam imam rajarshayo viduhasa kaleneha mahata yogo nashtaha parantapa

One important thing, He says, �rajarshayo viduha�. Thisscience is given to rajarishi, (raja: king, rishi: saint), not tojust any rishi.

If you have attended yesterday, you would know, the scienceHe taught is quantum spirituality, which gives you both thematerial world as well as the spiritual world. That is why Hesays, �rajarshayo viduha�.

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If this had been only for rishi, he would have emphasized onlyon the inner world, inner space. Had it been only for kings,he would have emphasized on the outer world and wealth.Here He says, �rajarshayo viduha�.

�Evam parampara praptam imam rajarshayo viduha�, the scienceis delivered to the kings, enlightened masters; enlightenedmasters who are kings. Only they can preserve the science asit is.

Be very clear, only an enlightened person who is king or aking who is an enlightened person can know the totality ofspirituality.

People again and again ask me, �What should we do for thepoor?� I say, �Give food and medicines for the poor. Servethem.�

Only a rich man who has enjoyed material wealth canunderstand the meaning and relevance of spirituality.

Be very clear, I am telling the honest truth. Poor men whohave not seen the outer world can understand only religion.They can go and beg in front of God. But they can neverunderstand the ultimate spirituality.

Only a person who has seen the outer world completely, whoknows there is nothing in the outer world, only such aperson can enter into the inner world. Only he can enterinto the inner space.

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If you still have hope about the outer world, you cannotexperience the ultimate spirituality. You cannot experiencethe ultimate enlightenment.

Only a king can be utterly frustrated. Only a king can becompletely qualified to enter into enlightenment, because heknows there is nothing in the outer space that can fulfillhim. He has seen everything. He has seen all possiblecomforts, all possible sense enjoyments and all the so-calledpleasures. He can enter into the spirituality honestly.

If somebody who has not experienced the depression ofsuccess enters into spirituality, quickly he will stand in frontof God and beg, �God give me this, give me that�; he may bea good religious person. From morning to night, he may sitand do rituals. But he will never be a spiritual person.

There is a very big difference between a religious person anda spiritual person. When you know God has got sakti (power)to give whatever you want, your religion starts. When youunderstand he has got sakti to give what you want and buddhi(intelligence) as to when to give, then you enter intospirituality.

We all believe God has got sakti to give what we want. Butwe don�t trust that He has got buddhi also to give in the righttime! We don�t believe that. That�s why we beg and beg!Only a person who trusts that God has got sakti and buddhican enter into spirituality, trusting implicitly He knows whento give and what to give.

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Spirituality is the ultimate luxury. Please be very clear, Ialways tell people, a person who is poor, meaning, who hasnot experienced the comforts of the outer world, he can be agood religious person. He can stand in front of God and begand pray.

But only a person who has seen the outer world to theextreme, who is completely frustrated, who has completelyexperienced the depression of success, can turn towards theinner world. Only he can become a healer.

I always tell, only a person who understands thepurposelessness of life can heal himself and others. Only hecan be a healer. Only he can be a spiritual person. Only hecan be a real spiritual being.

Here, Krishna uses the word rajarishi. A person who has livedfully both in the inner space and outer space, only he canexperience the truth of the totality. Of course, when aperson who is not sincere enough to realize this truth entersinto the system, he corrupts. And his very presence spoils thesystem. So, Krishna says, �In course of time, the science islost.�

In the next sloka, Krishna says:

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ºÉ ´ÉÉªÉÆ ¨ÉªÉÉ iÉä%t ªÉÉäMÉ& |ÉÉäCiÉ& {ÉÖ®úÉiÉxÉ&*

¦ÉCiÉÉä%ÊºÉ ¨Éä ºÉJÉÉ SÉäÊiÉ ®ú½þºªÉÆ ÁäiÉnÖùkÉ¨É¨ÉÂ**4.3**

Sa vayam maya tedya yogaha protkaha puratanahaBhakto asi me sakha cheti rahasyam hyetad uttamam (4.3)

Sa: that; eva: certainly; ayam: this; maya: by Me; te: to you;adya: today; yogaha: the science of yoga; proktaha: spoken;puratanaha: very old; bhaktaha: devotee; asi: you are; me: My;sakha: friend; cha: also; iti: therefore; rahasyam: mystery; hi:certainly; etat: this; uttamam: transcendental

That very ancient science of the ultimate enlightenment orentering into the eternal bliss, is today told by Me to youbecause you are My devotee as well as My friend andtherefore, you will certainly understand the supreme mysteryof this science.

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This is a beautiful sloka. Let me repeat it once more:

Sa vayam maya tedya yogaha protkaha puratanahabhakto asi me sakha cheti rahasyam hryetad uttamam

He says: �I am telling you about this very ancient science ofthe ultimate enlightenment or entering into the eternal bliss,and being My devotee and My friend, you will understandthe supreme mystery of this science�.

This has to be understood very deeply. One cannot tell thistruth, this ultimate truth, to a person who is not ready; Irepeat, to a person who is not ready. And truth told to aperson who is not ready, creates danger for himself anddisturbs others as well.

Again and again, people ask me during my meditationprograms; in many of my meditation programs, people ask me,�Master, please talk about your enlightenment, talk aboutyour spiritual experience�. I never open my mouth. I neverspeak about my personal experience, spiritual experience,unless I know them or unless I am connected to them for atleast six months. I wait. People ask me. �Why don�t you talkabout this, Master? Why don�t you tell us about your spiritualexperience?� This is the reason. If intimate experiences areshared when you are not ready, you always doubt.

There are two angles to this. If we have courage, we willstraightaway question the experience. You straight away

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question. You say, �It is just a lie. This is a story. What areyou talking? This cannot be truth.� You will straightawayoppose.

Or the other angle: If you don�t have that much of courage,you will just think, �Alright, this is one more story! I haveheard one thousand stories. Here is one more story. Leave it.Anyhow, after all, it is free!�

Nothing else will happen. The spiritual experiences cannotbe shared and cannot be opened just for nothing. If it isshared it should become an inspiration source for you. Itshould become a force that transforms your life. Then it isworth sharing.

By sharing the spiritual experience, if it inspires you to enterinto the space, if it gives you the courage to take the samejump, if you also feel, �I think I should also experience thesame joy, I should experience the same bliss, I should notpostpone it�, if it becomes an inspiration source for you, thenit is worth sharing. Otherwise it is not worth sharing.

There was a great Master in South India. He wrote a set ofpoems on Siva. He did not even write, he just sang. He justused to sing. He sang a set of poems on Siva. It was neverrecorded in writing.

Close disciples who lived around him requested him topublish it as a book, or to put it in writing, so that it could

34


be useful to the society. He said, �No, they are my intimatelove letters to Lord. How can I release this to the public? Itis my intimate expression. It is my personal relationship, howcan I publish it? How can I bring it out to the public?�

If, for example, you see somebody for the first time and hestraightaway starts asking you personal questions, how wouldit be? Would it not be too rude? It is too rude. And Indiansare the only people who do that mistake. It is too rude. Theydon�t bother to introduce themselves. They don�t bother tounderstand. They tend to be abrupt. If you ask personalquestions straightaway, without even getting acquainted, howwill the other person feel?

I heard that somebody met one of my disciples andstraightaway started asking, �Where are you staying? Who ispaying for your apartment? What is happening? Who are thepeople staying with your Master?� I was just surprised. Howcould this happen? How can such a thing happen? I don�tthink any intelligent man would do this. It takes a littleintelligence to understand. You can�t talk or ask straightaway, it is very impolite.

You need to understand, you can�t share your personalexperiences straightaway with anybody and everybody. It isvery difficult.

Same way, this Master says, �If somebody comes and asks youabout your personal life, you can�t share it. Only if youbecome intimate with him, it is possible to open up.�

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Only then conversation happens. See, for a conversation tohappen, you need certain intimacy. If both are filled withtheir own ideas and arguments, a conversation can neverhappen. If both are filled with their own words in theirminds, if both are prejudiced, a conversation can neverhappen.

I always tell people, in marriage, in the first year, man speaksand woman listens. In the second year, woman speaks andman listens. Third year onwards, both of them speak andneighbors listen! The conversation never happens! Onlyarguments go on.

As long as the other person is in a mood of argument, truthcannot be shared. The satya (truth) cannot be shared. Satyacan never be expressed.

The Master says, �It is my personal relationship, it is myintimate relationship with God. How can I share that withpublic? I cannot.�

Then one disciple, who considers himself intelligent, asks,�Why? You can share with us. When you share with us, whycan you not share with the world?�

Then, the Master says, �By becoming a disciple, you havebecome a part of me. Only a person who has become a partof me can share this poem. Only with him I can share thesepoems. Physically you may be another one body, but mentally,

36


you have fallen in tune with me. You are completely ready toreceive me. You have become like a womb, ready to receivethe Divine energy. This is the reason I share my experiencewith you.�

Unless you enter into a deep receptive mood, unless youbecome a complete, total, simple innocent being, you cannotreceive the Ultimate Truth. Please be very clear, theUltimate Truth is beyond logic.

Initially when you start to teach the truth, it always startswith logic. Always your logic is addressed. Words go logically.But, after some time, you have to leave the logic behind. Youhave to leave the logic behind. You can�t catch the Divine.

You can�t talk to God in logic. In prose, you cannot relatewith Him. Only in poetry you can relate with God. That iswhy, all over the world, whenever it comes to prayer, it isonly through songs and poems.

Whether it is Eastern or Western culture, any culture,whether it is Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, anyreligion, when it comes to relating with God, it is alwayspoetry; because, you can�t relate with the Divine logically.You can�t relate with the Divine through logic. Prose is notuseful anymore, to relate with the Divine.

If you want the Divine relationship to happen, you need love.You need the language of poetry. Here, only a person who

37


understands, only a person who has become a part of theMaster, only he can receive the Master�s experiences. That isthe reason the Master says, �I share my songs with you,because you have become me, I cannot share this withpublic.�

There was another great saint called Manickavasagar inwhat is today known as Tamilnadu in South India.Throughout his life he sang about Siva. But he never wrote.He never recorded his poems. He only sang. He used to justsing but never had he recorded it. Manickavasagar neverwrote his poems. Always he used to recite, that�s all.

Once, Siva Himself came down as an old man and said, �OManickavasaga, I have heard that you sing beautiful songs ofSiva. Why don�t you recite them for me? I am your disciple.�

Manickavasaga was in an ecstasy. So in that ecstasy, hestarted singing everything. He Himself recorded the wholething. Siva himself recorded, put the songs in writing.

After recording, He put the signature, �Recited byManickavasaga, written by Ambaravanan�, Siva Himself.

He placed the leaf at the entrance of the temple anddisappeared. Next day morning, the priests saw the leaves.Suddenly, they realized, the signature says, �Manickavasagarrecited and I Myself recorded this.�

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Till the end, till his death, he never recorded. Then all thedisciples go and ask him, �Oh Master, please give us themeaning. Please explain the meanings for all these songs�.

He straight away walks into the temple and says, �He is themeaning for all the songs.� He points to the Lord and says,�He is the meaning� and walks into the deity and disappearsinto the God, into the Divine.

This is a beautiful symbolic representation. This story is abeautiful symbolic representation. He becomes one with theDivine. Till the end, he never recorded. Only somebody elserecorded. It was so beautiful; God Himself came down andrecorded.

Unless you become part of the Master, it is very difficult tounderstand His message. That is why Krishna says, �Arjuna,this supreme science, the technique of entering into theeternal bliss is today told by Me to you, because you are Mydevotee as well as My friend. You are My devotee as well asMy friend and can therefore, understand the transcendentalmystery of this science.�

This cannot be told to the person who is not ready. This isone more thing: when you speak the Ultimate Truth to aperson who is not ready, it leads to many troubles. Not onlydoes he not understand, but he also starts creating troublefor others.

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With the right person, even a lie told by him will do good tosociety. In the wrong hands, even truth will do harm to thesociety. To whom it is delivered is more important thanwhether it is the truth or lie.

With a wrong person, even a great truth like Advaita (non-duality), �I am God�, may make him start to think, �I amGod� and make him start doing all nonsense. With a wrongperson, great truths will become harmful things.

And one more thing, a wrong person can never understandthe truth told by Krishna. For example, Krishna says, �I amGod. I am everything. Surrender unto Me�. If the person isnot completely devoted, if the person is not in tune withKrishna, if he has not understood Krishna, what will hethink? �What an egoistic fellow he is! How dare he tell meto surrender to him?� Naturally the person, instead ofunderstanding Krishna, will create more trouble for Krishna.He will only create more trouble for Krishna.

Here, the qualification to receive the truth is devotion. Ifyou have heard all the things I have said in the other threechapters, it is okay, because it is expressed logically. Till thispoint, I am able to bring both logic and spirituality together.

Now the time has come when I have to give the pure truthas truth. Please be very clear, great things can never beexpressed by logic, because logic is not sharp enough. Logicis not so sharp as to express the Ultimate Truth.

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Somebody asked me, �Master, why don�t you prove Godlogically?� I told him, if I can prove God logically, then logicwould become God! Logic will become greater than God.God is great because He cannot be proved by logic. He isbeyond logic. He is beyond your logic.

Here, Krishna is going to speak about something that isbeyond logic. This is where you leave your logic behind,where you need to be completely open, where you need to sitin a total passive mood, where your being needs to be opento receive.

One thing, either you will understand or you will notunderstand, anything told logically. That�s all. There is noother danger. When it comes to the deeper level teachings,either you understand, or you misunderstand.

The teachings which Krishna is going to deliver now, theyare much deeper, they are much more subtle than theteachings which were delivered in the last two or threechapters.

That is why He says, �Now I am telling you these secrets justbecause you are My devotee and friend, just because you arenear and dear to Me. You are My own.� That is the reasonHe uses the word bhaktosi, He says, you are My devotee, mesakha cheti, and you are my friend. Sakha means friend. �Thatis the reason I am expressing this truth to you.�

41


The person who is not completely in tune with Krishna, theperson who is not ready to trust the Master, cannot receivethe message. He cannot understand it. Not only will he notunderstand, he will misunderstand. Misunderstanding alwaysleads to complications.

Understand that now Krishna enters into the deeper leveltruths, where you need to relax a little from your logic,where you need to come down from your head to the heart,where you need to sit with your whole being and listen tothe truths.

And, if these truths are heard without complete openness,not only you will not understand, you will misunderstand.Misunderstanding this truth may lead to many complications.

So, Krishna gives a warning. Here, Krishna gives a warning,�rahasyam hryetad uttamam�. I am giving you these secrets, themysterious science of realizing the Ultimate, Oh my dearfriend and devotee, Arjuna.�

So, now let us enter into the science that is taught byKrishna.

Let us begin with a small prayer to Krishna:

Vasudeva sutam devamKamsa Chanura mardanam

Devaki paramanandamKrishnam vande jagat gurum

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We enter into the path of knowledge. Great truths that canstraight away transform your life, if only you are ready tounderstand, are now about to be told.

Understand, Vedanta always emphasizes on three things:shravana, manana and nidhidhyasana. Shravana means listening.Manana means meditating, contemplating on it. Nidhidhyasanameans expressing it in your life, or experiencing it in yourlife.

Here, these truths do not need these three steps. Justlistening is enough. Just listening is enough for it to becomean experience. Shravana is enough, it becomes nidhidhyasana.Nothing needs to be done. But all you need to do is to sitwith a complete open being, with a complete openness, witha complete relaxed feeling.

These words are uttered for your sake, not for the sake of theMaster.

So we will just take a few minutes to meditate on SriKrishna, the great, enlightened Master. Let us pray to Himto let Him allow His words to penetrate our being, let Himreside in our consciousness, let Him lead us to eternal bliss.

Just take few minutes, close your eyes and intensely pray toHim: Oh Master, lead us to the experience. Give us theunderstanding. Let Him raise our inner space by Hispresence. Let Him be in our inner space and enlighten ourconsciousness.

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Vasudeva sutam devamKamsa Chanura mardanam

Devaki paramanandamKrishnam vande jagat gurum

I salute you Lord Krishna, Teacher to the World, son of Vasudevaand supreme bliss of Devaki, destroyer of Kamsa and Chanura.

Krishna starts His message.

Here is a question by Arjuna to which He responds. Themessage is delivered as a response to this question byArjuna:

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+VÉÖÇxÉ =´ÉÉSÉ+{É®Æú ¦É´ÉiÉÉä VÉx¨É {É®Æú VÉx¨É Ê´É´Éº´ÉiÉ&*

EòlÉ¨ÉäiÉÊuùVÉÉxÉÒªÉÉÆ i´É¨ÉÉnùÉè |ÉÉäCiÉ´ÉÉÊxÉÊiÉ**4.4**

Arjuna uvachaAparam bhavato janma param janma vivasvataha

Katham etad vijaneeyam tvam adou proktavan iti (4.4)

Arjuna uvacha: Arjuna said; aparam: younger; bhavatah: Your;janma: birth; param: superior; janma: birth; vivasvatah: of theSun God; katham: how; etat: this; vijaniyam: can I understand;tvam:You; adau: in the beginning; proktavan: instructed; iti:thus

Arjuna said, �Oh Krishna, you are younger to the Sun GodVivasvan by birth. How am I to understand that in thebeginning You instructed this science to him?�

45


This shows that Arjuna still needs to have the maturity. Heasks, �The Sun God is elder to You by birth; he is so muchYour senior. How am I to understand that in the beginningYou instructed this science to him?�

Arjuna and Krishna are almost equal in their age. Suddenly,Krishna says that thousands of years ago He gave this scienceto Surya. This is very difficult to understand. Moreover,Arjuna lived with Krishna for a long time. He knows andhas seen the human side of Krishna, all of Krishna�s leela(plays); all of Krishna�s dramas; all of Krishna�s moods. Hehas seen him more as a human being. So now, it is verydifficult for Arjuna to believe Krishna�s words.

This is exactly the same trouble all disciples undergo.Disciples who live around enlightened Masters, the troublesthat they undergo are exactly the same. It is very difficult tounderstand the Divine descending and walking on the planetEarth in a human form.

Arjuna struggles to understand. Arjuna is not able to relate.How can the Divine descend? What is happening? How canKrishna declare, �Thousands of years ago, I gave this scienceto Surya?� It is very difficult.

Suddenly, for example, suddenly if I tell, �Hundred years ago,I was the person who taught all these sciences to someenlightened master!� How will you feel? It will be verydifficult to understand, to grasp.

46


If I suddenly make a statement: �Hundred years ago, I taughtall these things to the Masters who were there.� It is verydifficult to believe. And naturally questions will rise.

Here, the same thing happens. Arjuna thinks, �How can Hesay this? How can I understand?� But of course he hasbecome little polite. That is why he says, �How can Iunderstand?� He does not say, �How can you say this?�

In the second chapter, when Krishna asks, �Arjuna, go andfight�, Arjuna asks, �How can you say this? How can you tellme to sin?� But now, he has become more polite, he hasunderstood a little bit of the truth, he has become littleintelligent. He says, �How can I understand? Please tell me.�

He is ready to believe, but he wants a little explanation. Thisis ok. But there are a few people who are prejudiced. Theyare clear. They say, �No. We don�t bother. We don�t believe.We don�t want.� In that case, nothing can be done.

Here, Arjuna says, �I am ready to believe, but how am I tounderstand? Please instruct me. Please show me the rightthing.�

Always, when enlightened Masters descend on the planetEarth, whenever they come down, they face this trouble. Againand again and again, they face this trouble. WhenRamakrishna declared that who came as Rama and who cameas Krishna, the same person has come down in this form as

47


Ramakrishna, he was called mad. He was called mad. Peopledid not receive him. People did not respect him. But therewere few qualified people who received his words andtransformed their lives. They established the truth of hisstatement.

See, all philosophies or all movements, they start in two ways.One is the political movements, which start with hugecrowds and huge followers. For the person who leads, themore the numbers in the crowd, the greater number ofpersons in attendance, larger the quantity, the more powerfulhe feels and starts making all kinds of statements and claims.These movements start with a huge number, but over aperiod of time, they slowly disappear. Once the founder dies,the movement dies.

The second type of movement is the spiritual mission. Whenthe Masters declare the truth, the quantity may not be there,but the quality will be there. Only few individuals, fewselected individuals listen to those truths, thoseproclamations.

When Ramakrishna declared: who came down as Rama andwho came down as Krishna is present here in this body asRamakrishna, hardly few heard. Hardly a few were ready totrust. In those few, the quantity may not have been there, butthe quality was certainly there. They have transformed theirlives. It started as a very slow, small thing, but expanded,exploded into an international mission, a spiritual movement.

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When it started, only sixteen disciples were there.Ramakrishna had only sixteen disciples. Today, millions ofpeople worship him as God. Millions of people have realizedthe truth of the words that He uttered. These spiritualmissions start in a very small way, but expand and explode.

Political movements start in a very big way, but contract anddie down. The moment the founder dies, the foundation alsocollapses. But in spiritual missions, the moment the founderdies, things start happening. It starts expanding.

For a political speech you need quantity. The more thenumber of people present, the stronger is the speech. But fora spiritual discourse, you need quality. The more the personis intense, the more the truths that come out.

For a political person, the inspiration is in numbers. How wellwas it covered in the TV? In how many newspapers have thereports come in? It matters to him as to how many papercuttings he can collect. That matters. But for a spiritualperson what matters is how many ego-cuttings he can do.

For a political person it is the paper cutting, for a spiritualperson, the ego-cutting. For a spiritual discourse, how manypeople are intense, the quality of the people present, theseare the things that matter. The more intense a person, higherand higher level truths come out. More of higher truths comeout.

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I always tell the people, my best discourses are given alwaysto a small, close circle. The best truths are spoken only to asmall, close circle. Because when you speak the truth, it willbe straight. It cannot be received by normal men. It willshake the whole being. It will transform your whole life.

That is why, Ramakrishna, whenever he wanted to speakhigh truths he would close the doors and call his sanyasidisciples and he would speak only to them. He would notspeak to the public.

This very Gita is delivered to only one person. To one personthis is delivered and it is spoken. When Krishna deliveredthe Gita, only one person heard. But today, millions andmillions, not even millions, billions read and practice.

For all Hindus, this is the basic book. For billions of Hindus,this is the basic scripture. Only one person heard. Today thewhole world uses it. So, to express the truths, the quality ofthe person who hears is important, not the quantity ofpersons.

Now He starts the answer to this question:

50


¸ÉÒ ¦ÉMÉ´ÉÉxÉÖ ÉÉSÉ¤É½ÚþÊxÉ ¨Éä ´ªÉiÉÒiÉÉÊxÉ VÉx¨ÉÉÊxÉ iÉ´É SÉÉVÉÖÇxÉ*

iÉÉxªÉ½Æþ ´Éänù ºÉ´ÉÉÇÊhÉ xÉ i´ÉÆ ´ÉäilÉ {É®úxiÉ{É**4.5**

Shri Bhagavan uvachaBahuni me vyateetaani janmani tava cha arjuna

tanya aham veda sarvani na tvam vettha parantapa (4.5)

Shri Bhagavan uvacha: The Lord said; bahuni: many; me: ofMine; vyatitani: have passed; janmani: births; tava: yours; cha:also; arjuna: O Arjuna; tani: all of those; aham: I; veda: doknow; sarvani: all; na: not; tvam: yourself; vettha: know;parantapa: O scorcher of the foes

The Lord said: Many many births both you and I havepassed. I can remember all of them, but you cannot, OParantapa!

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Let me repeat this beautiful sloka:

Bahuni me vyateetaani janmani tava cha arjunatanya aham veda sarvani na tvam vettha parantapa

Bhagavan says, �O Arjuna, many, many births both you and Ihave passed. I can remember all of them but you can�t.�

Next statement, He says:

52


+VÉÉä%Ê{É ºÉzÉ´ªÉªÉÉi¨ÉÉ ¦ÉÚiÉÉxÉÉ¨ÉÒ¶´É®úÉä%Ê{É ºÉxÉÂ*

|ÉEÞòËiÉ º´ÉÉ¨ÉÊvÉ¹`ÉªÉ ºÉÆ¦É´ÉÉ¨ªÉÉi¨É¨ÉÉªÉªÉÉ**4.6**

Ajo api san avyaya atma bhutanam ishvaropi sanPrakritim svam adhishthaya sambhavamyatma mayaya(4.6)

aja: unborn; api: though; san:being so; avyaya: withoutdeterioration; atma: spirit; bhutanam: living entities; ishvaraha:supreme Lord; api: though; san: being so; prakritim:transcendental form; svam: of Myself; adhishthaya: being sosituated; sambhavami: I do appear; atma-mayaya: by My maya

Although I am unborn, imperishable and the lord of all livingentities, by ruling My nature, I reappear by My own maya.

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Krishna first says: We have both passed through many birthsthat I remember, and you do not. Then He says, �Although Iam unborn, imperishable and the lord of all living entities, Ireappear in my original maya by controlling My nature�.

Ajo api san avyaya atma bhutanam ishvaropi sanprakritim svam adhishthaya sambhavamyatma mayaya

I think this is the first time where He declares His divinity.All this time, Krishna was only playing the role of acharya(teacher), intellectually convincing the truth andintellectually giving the knowledge to Arjuna.

For the first time now, He opens up; He declares the truthabout His nature. He shows the divinity of His nature. Ithink this is the point where Krishna starts to speak theUltimate Truth as it is. Till then, I think he was little shy toopen up to Arjuna!

When a disciple is not ready, you can�t open up, you can�ttell the truth. Now, the disciple is ready. So Krishna opensup.

He says:

Ajo api san avyaya atma bhutanam ishvaropi sanprakritim svam adhishthaya sambhavamyatma mayaya

He says, although I am unborn and My transcendental bodynever deteriorates and although I am the lord of all living

54


entities, here He says very clearly, bhutanam ishvaro: I am thelord of all the living entities; I still appear in everymillennium in My original transcendental form.

Three things we need to understand: first He says, �I amunborn. I never take birth. I am the ultimate parabrahma(Cosmic Godhead). I am the ultimate Energy.�

Krishna clearly declares. I don�t think any one else hasdeclared so clearly; even Jesus says I am the Son of God.Here, Krishna straightaway declares the truth.

Of course it does not mean Jesus is not God. But Hisdisciples are not mature enough to receive the truth, that�sall. At one point He says, the Father and the Son are oneand the same. At one point, maybe to some close disciple,He declares, the Father and the Son are one and the same.Please be very clear, when the disciple is mature, Master isunderstood.

Here, straightaway Krishna declares, �I am unborn, ajopi, I amunborn, eternal Consciousness, eternal bliss and Mytranscendental body never deteriorates. You can always relatewith Me. I never die. I am unborn and I never die�.

One important thing you should know, that which nevertakes birth can never die; that which takes birth, only suchcan die. Here Krishna declares, I never take birth and Inever die. I am the Lord of all living entities, bhutanamishwaro.

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Somebody asked me, �Master, can dead Masters teach us?Can we relate with the Masters who left the body? LikeParamahamsa Yogananda, Mahavatar Babaji, all of them.�One person came and asked me, �If I pray to them, can theyshow me the path? Can they show me the truth?�

I told him: Be very clear, dead Masters are not dead as youthink. They are not dead. When they are alive, theirpresence had a body. When they are dead, their presence hasno body, that�s all. Having a body or not having a body is inno way going to affect their presence. They are available toyou always. They are eternally available to you. All you needto do is just turn towards them, that�s all. They are eternallyavailable. When they are in their physical body, theirpresence has got physical body. When they are no more,their presence has no physical body, that�s all. But they areavailable always. They are alive.

When it comes to death of normal beings, they leave thesoul. When it comes to Masters, they leave the body. Thevery wording is different. For a normal person, soul leavesand we say, the soul left, or he leaves the soul, he dies; thelife has left him.

For Masters, they leave the body. So having a body or nothaving a body is in no way connected to their presence.They are available to the planet earth always. Always theyare available to the whole humanity.

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I always tell people, it is very difficult to understand Masters.Because whether they have the body or not, their presenceis unchanged.

With intensity if you reach out, even if they don�t have thebody, you will be able to relate with them. You can get themessage. You will be able to talk to them. You will be ableto relate with them.

When you don�t have intensity, sincerity, even with a livingMaster you will miss Him. With sincerity, even with a deadMaster, you will be able to have the truth, you will be able toachieve. Without sincerity, even with living Master, you willmiss Him. You will Miss him.

Understand, He says, �I am the Lord of all the entities. But Istill appear in every millennium in my original transcendentalform, sambhavami atma mayaya; taking My own maya.Because of My maya, I assume the body and come down. Iassume the body and incarnate Myself.�

He means, He happens on the planet earth again and againin so many forms to guide the people. But again and againwe miss Him. We are all conquerors of Buddha, conquerorsof Krishna. We are conquerors of Ramakrishna. That is whywe are here again on this planet earth.

Please be very clear, we conquer them. We conquer RamanaMaharishi. We conquer Ramakrishna. Even they can�t do

57


anything to us. That is why again and again we are here.Again and again we miss them. That is why again and againHe has to come down. He has to come down again andagain to the planet earth to lift us, to show us the way, toguide us.

The next statement: I can say, this one sloka , if it isunderstood, not only the whole Gita, all the spiritualscriptures can be realized. Here He declares:

58


ªÉnùÉ ªÉnùÉ Ê½þ vÉ¨ÉÇºªÉ M±ÉÉÊxÉ¦ÉÇ ÉÊiÉ ¦ÉÉ®úiÉ*

+¦ªÉÖilÉÉxÉ¨ÉvÉ¨ÉÇºªÉ iÉnùÉi¨ÉÉxÉÆ ºÉÞVÉÉ¨ªÉ½þ ÉÂ**4.7**

Yada yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavati bharataAbhyutthanam adharmasya tada atmanam srujamyaham (4.7)

Yada: whenever; yada: wherever; hi: certainly; dharmasya: ofreligion; glanih: degradation; bhavati: becomes; bharata: Odescendant of Bharata; abhyutthanam: predominance;adharmasya: of collective negativity; tada: at that time;atmanam: self; srujami: manifest; aham: I

Whenever there is a decline in positive consciousness,whenever there is a predominant rise in collective negativity,again and again, at that time, I am reborn.

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There is one more sloka which we need to understand. Wewill study these two slokas together. Next He says:

{ÉÊ®újÉÉhÉÉªÉ ºÉÉvÉÚxÉÉÆ Ê´ÉxÉÉ¶ÉÉªÉ SÉ nÖù¹EÞòiÉÉ¨ÉÂ*

vÉ¨ÉÇºÉÆºlÉÉ{ÉxÉÉlÉÉÇªÉ ºÉÆ¦É´ÉÉÊ¨É ªÉÖMÉä ªÉÖMÉä**4.8**

Paritranaya sadhunam vinashaya cha dushkrutamDharma samsthapanarthaya sambhavami yuge yuge (4.8)

Paritranaya: for the nurturing; sadhunam: of the devotees;vinashaya: to annihilate; cha: also; dushkrutam: of wicked;dharma: righteousness; samsthapana arthaya: to reestablish;sambhavami: I do appear; yuge: millennium; yuge: aftermillennium.

To nurture the pious and to annihilate the wicked, and tore-establish righteousness, I am reborn age after age.

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Whenever there is decline in individual consciousness,whenever the collective unconsciousness increases, Dharmasamsthpanarthaaya, to establish the righteousness of theeternal Consciousness, science of the eternal Bliss,sambhavami yuge yuge, I Myself appear, millennium aftermillennium.

Only a Master like Krishna can declare the truth so clearly.

Here Krishna declares, I come down again and again, toright the wrong. He keeps the whole thing open for future.He keeps the generation of enlightened Masters for future,the possibility of enlightenment for future. He keeps thewhole science open for the future. Only a courageous manlike Krishna can declare this truth.

People come and ask me, �Master, are there many moreenlightened Masters on the planet earth?� I tell them, surely.There are hundreds of enlightened Masters. Don�t think I amthe only one. There are hundreds, hundreds and hundreds. Ican say, even thousands. Thousands of Masters are available.

Only a courageous man can declare the truth as it is. If youare in business, you cannot accept there are other similarshops in your city. If you own any business, you would notgive the address of similar shops in the city. Only if you arehonest, you can declare, yes, there are so many thingsavailable.

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Again and again people ask me this question, �Master, if Itake initiation from you, can I go to another Master?�

I tell them: Not only can you go, I encourage, you should go.Pluck flowers from all the beautiful gardens and make abeautiful bouquet.

And your ego is such, even if thousands of people beat uponit, it will not die. How can you expect your ego to die byone person? How can you expect the ego to die by one blow?So go wherever it is possible and learn the best things. Pluckflowers from all the gardens and make a beautiful bouquetfor yourself.

Only a courageous person like Krishna can declare thetruth; sambhavami yuge yuge, which means He keeps thepossibility open for the next generation. He keeps thepossibility of enlightenment open for the planet earth.

This one single idea if it is understood, straightaway you willbe enlightened.

This verse is a promise, it is deliverance to all of humanity.In science the principle of entropy states that the energylevel of every system, including the Universe, degrades withtime. So it is with consciousness. Over time individuals startlosing their positive consciousness and negativity builds upcollectively. Of course, this does not imply that every singleperson becomes evil intentioned, but it does mean that on an

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average spirituality, awareness, righteousness andconsciousness of individuals deteriorate over time at certainperiods of time.

One must understand that consciousness is always individual.When one is conscious, one accepts all of humanity in thesame manner as oneself; yet, each individual needs to beaware of one�s own consciousness.

On the other hand, negativity or the unconsciousness can becollective. A whole nation can become collectivelyunconscious as Germany did under Hitler, and othercountries such as Italy and Japan followed.

In History, over many thousands of years, each time suchcollective unconsciousness has built up, there has beendeliverance. It is as though there is a cycle of positivity andnegativity, up and down, over time.

In science there may be entropy, but in spirituality there isnone. Righteousness is restored eventually. This is Krishna�spromise.

He says the next sloka:

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VÉx¨É Eò¨ÉÇ SÉ ¨Éä Ênù´ªÉ¨Éä´ÉÆ ªÉÉä ´ÉäÊkÉ iÉk´ÉiÉ&*iªÉCi´ÉÉ näù½Æþ {ÉÖxÉVÉÇx¨É xÉèÊiÉ ¨ÉÉ¨ÉäÊiÉ ºÉÉä%VÉÖÇxÉ**4.9**

Janma karma cha me divyam evam yo vetti tattvatahaTyaktva deham punarjanma naiti mam eti so Arjuna (4.9)

janma: birth; karma: work; cha: also; me: of Mine; divyam:divine; evam: and; yo: anyone who; vetti: knows; tattvataha: inreality; tyaktva: leaving aside; deham: body; punah: again;janma: birth; na: never; eti: does attain; mam:unto Me; eti:does attain; sah: he; arjuna: O Arjuna

One who knows or experiences My divine appearance andactivities, upon leaving the body, does not take birth again inthis material world, but attains Me, O Arjuna.

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This is a very strange statement. He says, �One whounderstands the nature of My birth and death will beliberated from this birth and death cycle.�

How can it be? He says, understand My transcendentalnature of birthlessness and deathlessness; just now He saidhe is birthless and deathless. Ajopi: I am birthless. Just nowHe says, ajopi san avyaya atma bhutanam ishwaropi san. Hesays, I am birthless and deathless.

Now He says, if you understand the truth of Mytranscendental nature of My appearance and activities, onceyou leave the body, you will not take birth and death. If youunderstand My transcendental nature, you will also achievethe same transcendental nature.

If you understand that I don�t take body, you will also realizeand you also don�t take the body. If you understand I amliberated, you will realize that you are also liberated. Howcan it be?

We will start with an incident from Ramana Maharishi�s life.In the presence of Ramana Maharishi, everyday they used tosing some songs. There is a song called. �Ramana Satguru�,which means praising Ramana Maharishi, Ramana is the truemaster. So when the song is sung, Ramana himself used tosing along with the devotees.

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Not only would he be sitting and enjoying, he would also besinging along with the devotees. Somebody asked him, �Whatis this? You are an enlightened person, you yourself aresinging your own name, you are also singing, Ramana satguru,Ramana satguru. What do you mean by this?�

Bhagavan says, �Fool! Why are you reducing Ramana to thissix feet body? Why are you reducing me to this six feetbody?�

This is a deep, very subtle thing; difficult to understand. Hesays, �As you are all seeing this body from away, same way, Iam also seeing this body. For you Ramana is somebody. Forme also the Ramana is somebody. I am not associating withthis name and form. That is the reason, just like you all canenjoy with name, I can also enjoy, because I have notassociated myself with this form.�

I tell you, an egoistic person, at least in public will not showthat he enjoys, because, if he shows, people will see that heis egoistic. Egoistic man will make others praise him. He willnever be open. Here, Ramana Maharishi is totally open. Heis straight. He says, just like you enjoy, I also enjoy thisname, enjoy this form, because I don�t feel this is me. I don�tfeel associated with it. The name is just getting repeated.

Another incident: one of his disciples, Muruganathan writes�Ramana Puranam�. It is the stotra (verses in praise) ofRamana Maharishi. He wrote few lines and somehow he was

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not able to write. So he just brings the paper and puts it atthe feet of the Master and says, �Bhagavan, I am not able towrite� Bhagavan says, �all right, you go, let us see tomorrow�.Next day when the disciple comes back, he sees that thepoem is completed.

Bhagwan himself has written and completed. Three hundredlines He wrote and completed the whole poem. The disciplewas surprised. Bhagwan himself had written about Himself;his own stotra, written by Himself.

Later, when the disciple published, when it came out as abook, the author put a small footnote: �From this lineonwards, Bhagavan himself wrote�, just so that the devoteeswould be aware that those particular verses were Bhagavan�sown words.

The first copy of the book was taken to Bhagavan. Bhagavanjust saw the book, saw the footnote: �From this line onwardsBhagavan Himself wrote�.

He turned to the disciple and asked, �Oh! Were the otherlines written by you then?�

He asks, �Oh! The other lines are all written by you??�

Only a man who has disappeared into the DivineConsciousness can write his poem.

Bhagavan says, when you wrote all those verses, it was Mewho wrote through you. You cannot think about Me. You

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cannot write about Me. What do you know about Me?

Unless I express Myself through you, you cannot knowanything about Me. In Bhagavatam (life story of LordKrishna), Krishna Himself sings, just like how He now says,bhutanam ishwaropi, I am the Lord.

Here, He says beautifully, this word is such a beautiful word:bhutanam ishwaropi. I am the Lord of all living beings.

A mere boy from Brindavan, a cowherd boy from Brindavan,says this. See you should not look at Krishna from today�sperspective. You should understand the whole scene as ithappened, when this happened on the battle field atKurukshetra.

Now, because of time, we have accepted Krishna as God.But this was said when He was alive. When He was alive,people could not accept Him as a God. Hardly few peoplerealized that He was God.

When Rama was walking on the planet earth, only thesaptarishi (the seven sages) knew He was an incarnation.Nobody else knew. Same way, when Krishna was alive, veryfew people recognized who He was. At least Rama lived adecent life; He is easy for people to realize. But Krishnalived such an ecstatic life; it is very difficult to realizeKrishna.

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For a socially intellectual person, or a so-called religiousperson, it is very difficult to realize Krishna, very difficult tounderstand Krishna. But He says, bhutanam ishwaropi, I amthe Lord of all living entities.

Naturally, it is difficult for them to understand. It is verydifficult for people to understand. Somebody asks Ramana,�Why are you speaking about yourself? Why are youexpressing your glory?�

Bhagavan says, �If I don�t tell about Myself, you can neverunderstand Me. Unless I reveal, you can never realize.Unless I express, you can never understand. Just out Mycompassion for all of you, I express the Truth, I expressMyself.�

It is like, you are going somewhere and you see a traffic jamin the road. You know one of your friends is ahead of you inthe same road. You ring up and ask him, �How do you feel inthat place, is there a traffic jam? Can I come by the sameroad or should I take some other road?� Will he not have thesimple basic courtesy to guide you? He will surely have thatbasic courtesy. He will tell you, �No, no, this route is okay,you come. In ten minutes everything will become all right, inthis area there is no traffic jam.� Some instruction he willgive you. He will guide you.

With the same basic courtesy, Krishna is revealing His truthtowards you. He is revealing His truth to all of us. He is

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revealing His truth to us. It is just a simple basic courtesy ofhelp for fellow travelers.

Here, when He says, �I am God, I am the Ultimate�, He saysthere is a possibility, �When I can achieve, why not you?� Heshows the possibility, He gives us the courage; He encouragesus. Here He says, �When I can achieve, why not you?�

It is like a seed always afraid of breaking. It always feels, �IfI break and the tree doesn�t happen, then what will happen?I will die.� But the tree says, �Unless you open, I cannothappen�. Unless the seed opens, the tree cannot happen. Seedsays, �No, No No, let the tree happen; then I will open�. Butthe tree says, �No No, first you have to open, only then I canhappen.� The problem between the tree and the seedcontinues endlessly.

It is necessary for somebody to give a little courage to theseed. A tree which was seed once and now which hasbecome tree, one such tree comes and says, �Oh seed, don�tworry, open, I was also a seed. I opened, today I havebecome tree. Be courageous. Don�t worry. You will neverperish. Open. Just like me you will also become tree.�

In the manner how the tree gives courage to the seed, in thesame way Krishna gives courage to us. You can also becomeGod, Me. You can also experience the truth like Me.

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When He says, I am the Ultimate, He expresses thepossibility. He shows us the possibility. He again and againreminds us of our potentiality. He inspires us to enter into thesame consciousness. He inspires us to experience the samebliss. He shows us the way of the truth, which we need toexperience.

When Krishna reveals this truth, be very clear, Krishna isnot egoistic. He is expressing His true nature out of simplebasic courtesy to fellow travelers.

The senior tree encourages the junior seed to open up andbecome a tree. The tree assures the seed. It says, �Don�tworry, I have become a tree. You can also become like me.You don�t have to feel you will disappear.� It is assurance.

That is why again and again, I tell you, when He tells us �Iam God�, He means, �You are God�. He gives you thecourage; He encourages you to enter into the sameexperience.

And one more thing we need to understand, as I was tellingyou, as Ramana says, �Why do you reduce Ramana into thissix feet body?� Ramana is far superior. Far greater than his sixfeet body.

When enlightened Masters say �I�, they don�t have anymeaning behind that �I�. Only the divinity speaks. For anormal man, when he says the word �God� it is just a word.

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There is no meaning behind it. At the most, someimagination about God, that�s all. There is no solid meaningbehind that word.

For example, when you say �God�, the word has no meaning.It is just mere empty word, supported by some imagination.But when you say �I�, you have a solid meaning for it, youhave solid meaning. You know clearly what you mean. Butwhen you say �God�, you don�t know what you mean. Theemotion or the understanding is not supported. The word isnot supported by an emotional understanding or experience.

But with enlightened people, when they say �God�, it is basedon solid experience and when they say �I�, it has no meaning.It is just for utility. It is an empty word. Because they can�tuse any other word; they have to use some word; so they usethe word �I�. They have to use some word, there is no otherway. That is the reason they use the word �I�.

There was a great enlightened Master. His name wasNisargadatta Maharaj, who lived in India. Somebody went tohim and asked, �Master, you say enlightened people don�thave karma. But how can you speak? How can you do allyour activities if you don�t have karma?�

He said, �I am not doing anything!� The disciple asked, �No,you are speaking to me. How can you speak to me if youdon�t have karma?� Nisargadatta Maharaj said straightaway, �Iam not speaking to you�. He said, �I am not speaking to you!�

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He was saying the words and yet He said, �I am not speakingto you�. Very difficult to understand!

Then Maharaj says, �Because you wanted me to speak, thespeaking is happening through this body. There is nobodyinside�. Just like a hollow bamboo. When the breeze enters ahollow bamboo, it comes out as music. There is nobodyinside, just empty hollow bamboo. That is why whatever goesin comes out as music.

When you become like a hollow bamboo, whatever wordscome out of your mouth becomes mantra, a sacred syllable.Your form becomes yantra, the tool of liberation, and yourwhole life becomes tantra, a technique for liberation. Yourwords are Sastra, scriptures. Your form is the center for Stotra,devotional prayers. And your life is sutra, the technique. Yourvery life is sutra.

Here, when Krishna says, �I�, there is nobody inside, just theDivine is speaking. Just the emptiness is speaking.

Then, the disciple asks Nisargadatta Maharaj, �Then how doyou say I am not speaking to you? What do you mean by theword �I�?�

Maharaj says, �Because there is no other word, I have to usethe word �I��. But this �I� has not no meaning like how your �I�has got meaning. Your �I� is supported by experience. Whenyou say the word �God�, it is empty word. It is not supportedby experience.�

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When you say the word �I�, it is supported by solidexperience. You know it. You feel it. If somebody asks, �Areyou mad?� you shout at them at prove it!! When somebodyasks, �Are you a dog?� you just bark at them and prove it!You know, the �I� in you is solid. It has got meaning.

But when you utter the word �God�, it has no meaning. It issuperficial, some imagination which you read in some books,which is taught to you in some discourse; which you heardwhen you were small child from your mother. That�s all.

But, when enlightened people, enlightened Masters, say theword �I�, it has no meaning. How the word God is empty foryou, the word �I� is empty for them. There is no meaning.And when they say the word �God�, there is a solidexperience for that word.

Here, when Krishna says �I�, there is nobody inside. It is pureemptiness. Just the Divine speaks through him. Just the pureExistence speaks through him. He has become a hollowbamboo. He has become pure energy. That is why,courageously He can declare, He can say, in a battlefield,bhutanam ishwaropi.

Sitting in a home, comfortably, where you have all thesecurity, safety, all insurances, all protection and declaring �Iam God� is very easy, because there is nothing risky. There isno risk. You don�t need to take any big risk. You don�t needto prove anything. Just make the statement, what is there?After all it is free! Say whatever you want!

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But Krishna is making this statement in a place where Heneeds to prove. He is making this statement in a battlefield,where all risky things are there, where His life itself is atrisk. One arrow is enough to finish His body. He will bedead. But He is making this statement in that space. In thebattlefield He declares, �I am God.�

What courage and energy has to be there behind His words!It can come only from a solid experience, a deep consciousexperience.

Yesterday, I told you the story of Alexander threatening anenlightened Master with his sword, and the Master laughingat Alexander. �Fool�, he said, �what will you destroy. What isin me is indestructible.�

Only an enlightened man can laugh in front of a sword.Alexander is standing with naked sword and this Master islaughing. He is not bothered. Just imagine, on the street, ifsomebody is holding a gun towards you, and asking for yourwallet, will you be able to laugh? Impossible!

But here, this person is able to laugh, in front of Alexander�ssword. The courage which comes out of satya, truth is thecourage which comes out of experience! One important thingwhich Vedanta can give you is courage; courage to live,courage to face life and death; courage to see the wholeExistence, courage to face the whole Existence.

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One of the great disciples of Vivekananda, sister Niveditaasks him, �Swamiji, if I come with you what will you teachme? What will you give me?�

Vivekananda says, �I will teach you how to face death.� Thatis the ultimate teaching. Here, Krishna is giving thatultimate teaching.

In these two slokas, He says,

Yada yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavati bharataAbhyutthanam adharmasya tada atmanam srujamyaham

Paritranaya sadhunam vinashaya cha dushkrutamDharma samsthapanarthaya sambhavami yuge yuge

Then the next statement is very strange:

Janma karma cha me divyam evam yo vetti tattvatahaTyaktva deham punarjanma naiti mam eti so Arjuna

Arjuna, if you understand the secret of My birth and death,you will be liberated from birth and death.

How? Let us see the secret of the birth and death ofKrishna, how we all go through the birth and death cycle.

Now, just as how Krishna made the statement, �I tell youthis because you are My devotee and friend�, now I have tomake the same statement to you all again.

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Here I am going to speak something which is beyond logic,purely experience. Before speaking, I take an oath: whateverI speak is the truth. Because whenever the ultimate truth isuttered, whenever something beyond our logic is uttered, wenever receive it.

Please be very clear: a silent listener is a person who isthinking about something else! A silent listener is a personwho is thinking about something else. Whenever something istold which goes beyond our logic, we never receive it.

If we are courageous enough, we fight, we question, weargue. If we don�t have that much of courage, we don�tallow that word to enter into us. To tell you honestly, wenever believe anybody.

Please be very clear: we never believe anybody. It is always anargument. It is always an argument, sometimes open; atother times, in the mind. If we can�t express it openly, youcontinuously repeat the same words in the mind.

That is why, before entering into the truths, I tell you thatwhat I am speaking is the truth. If you can, receive it. Thereis a possibility of transformation, because here I am speakingthe truth which is realized only by experience, which cannotbe logically true.

There is a beautiful website on NDE, Near Death Experience(http://www.nderf.org). If you find time, try to read that

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website. A doctor has done research spending 30 years, juston this NDE, Near Death Experience. Just on this NearDeath Experience, he has done research for 30 years.

Let me first describe what Near Death Experience is. Peoplewho are declared clinically dead, after four or five hours,sometimes they come back. Especially these mothers-in-law!They don�t leave! And, after four or five hours, they comeback!

The doctor who made this website went around all over theworld, meeting only those types of people; only the peoplewho came back to life after four to five hours; people whoare declared medically dead by doctors, clinically dead.Those who have come back to life after the doctor�sdeclaration �No; no; he is dead. Over�

He has traveled all over the world and met about 10,000people. He has recorded and collected the reminiscences ofover 10,000 people. If you find time, try to see the website.And he has collected so many different kinds of experiencesfrom different kinds of people - Experiences from Buddhists,experiences from Christians, experiences from Hindus,experiences from Muslims.

He has categorized and explained everything. In the end hemakes one important statement. After doing research for somany years; so many religions describe the death in so many

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ways. Some say you will reach a place called heaven, St.Peter will be standing at the Pearly gates, if you have donepunya or merits, only then you will be taken in; if you havecommitted sins, you will be taken to eternal hell, each onehas got their own faith.

Some say there is no hell or heaven, you directly go toVaikunta (place where Vishnu lives). Some say there will be aspecial Pushpaka Vimanam (mythological aircraft), specialaircraft, sent from Kailash (place where Siva resides), whereRambha and Menaka (celestial dancers) will be there, servingyou and you will be directly taken to Siva�s place. There areso many different versions as to what happens after death orwhat happens at the time of death, so many versions.

The Kathopanishad says, you will enter through a tunnel andsee the Angushta matra purusha piranam, meaning the lightwhich is thumb sized, which is your soul. You will see thelight when the soul leaves the body. There are so manyexplanations, so many different kinds of versions as to howdeath happens, and how your spirit enters into the next body.

This doctor, after doing such a big research for thirty years,he says, �I have studied so many Near Death Experiences.Now I can tell one thing, only when people live, they areChristians, Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, etc. That is to say,they belong to different religions. When they die, all of themundergo the same experience.

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He says very clearly, all of them undergo the sameexperience, and this is the experience, which is described inKathopanishad.

Here, Krishna explains that beautifully. In a much deeperway He explains in Purushottama Yoga. We will see thatsubject when we come to that chapter. We will study then.Now I just want to give you an introduction. I just want youto know the science into which we are entering.

He says, people belong to different religions only when theyare alive. When they are dead, they follow only one path,which is described in the Kathopanishad. Exactly whathappens at the time of leaving the body?

When you leave the body, the moment the physical body diesand relaxes; the moment the physical body says, �I cannothold the soul anymore, I am tired�, that very moment thesoul leaves the body.

You decide, based on your life; how you have lived in the70-80 years, what you think as the highest pleasure in yourlife. If you think eating is the highest pleasure in your life,naturally you would have spent the whole life in eating.Then at the time of leaving the body, eating is the highestpleasure.

You will think, �I should take a body which will continuouslyhelp me to eat, eat, and eat. Which is the best body?� You

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see through all the choices. Then you decide: pig is the bestbody. Let me take that janma (life).

If you have thought that sleeping is the greatest, happiestand most joyful experience in your life; if you have lived yourwhole life in sleep, tamas (inactivity), then you would think,�I think that is the best experience in my life. Why not takethe buffalo body? I can then spend my whole life in sleeping�.

Whatever you think is the greatest experience in your life,which senses you have spent most energy on, maximum time,maximum part of your inner space, you decide your nextbirth based on that desire, based on that point.

Please be very clear, nobody else decides your birth, it is youwho decide. It is simply you who choose. It is clearly aconscious decision of your individual soul.

I am ready for any of your questions. Naturally this is a very,I can say, controversial subject, very difficult to understand.But after this, any question you ask, you are welcome towrite and put in the box. Surely I�ll answer, respond to allyour questions. But you need to understand the science ofbirth and death, the mystery, the secret and mystery behindbirth and death.

Here Krishna says beautifully, �Here I am telling you thesecret of things.� Krishna says �rahasyam hetuduttamam�. �I amtelling you the mysterious ultimate science, Oh my deardevotee and friend: Bhaktosi me sakha cheti rahasyam

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hetuduttamam: I am telling you the ultimate mysteriousscience.�

We need to understand one thing, how we take birth. Let usanalyze this concept with question and answer. Understand,now I made few statements: �You take birth based on yourdesires, based on how you live�. �Birth and death is yourconscious decision�. These are all few statements I made.

We will analyze these statements with the questions andanswers. Only then we will be able to internalize it. If youjust hear, it will not go inside. I always encourage people toput questions. Because, it is only when you question that youwill be able to relate with the idea.

Never think that by asking questions, everyone around willlook at you and you will look like a fool. If you ask aquestion, you may look like a fool. If you don�t, you will be afool! Better to look like a fool than to be a fool.

We will analyze this whole concept, the secret of birth anddeath, the mysterious science which Krishna delivers, throughour question and answers. Then you will be able tointernalize this truth. The moment this truth is understood,you will immediately see the life is a blessing.

The life is your decision, please be very clear. Includingpoverty, everything is your decision. Don�t think poverty hasbeen forced on you. Even that is your decision. When wetake birth, when we assume the body, we take birth based on

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our fear and greed. On one side, greed pushes us, �Let usbecome the son of a king, let us become son of rich man�.The other side our own fears say, �No no, I can�t take somuch of responsibility�.

Please be very clear, along with money, big responsibility ofprotecting it comes. Along with money, the big responsibilityof protecting the money also comes. That is why Lakshmi ishanded over to Vishnu, the protector. Lakshmi, Goddess ofWealth, is neither with the creator, Brahma, nor with thedestroyer, Siva. She is with the Protector, with Vishnu.

Along with Lakshmi, wealth, money, the responsibility toprotect it also comes. Most of the time we don�t want to takethe responsibility. We want only the enjoyment. We want onlythe enjoyment, we don�t want the responsibility. That iswhere the trouble starts. A person, who is ready to take theresponsibility and enjoyment, will never miss, will never bedeprived.

If you understand this secret, mystery, clearly, this momentyou will feel your life is a blessing, it is not curse. Usually wealways blame life. �If I am given chance, I would have madethe world much better than what it is now!� We always thinkwe can develop on this creation.

Be very clear, surely God is much more intelligent than us!Whether your life or the Existence, He has done themaximum, what can be done. Because we don�t understand

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the mystery of our conscious decisions, we continuously blamelife and the person who gave this life to us.

Let me tell you one small incident. It really happened. Ithappened in America. A small boy had autism. People inAmerica would know about autism since it is very commonthere. In India all these words are very rare. In India thenames of diseases are also very rare.

Anyway, there was a small kid with autism. About 7-8 yearold boy. He was brought to me for healing. The father andmother requested me, �Master, please heal him, help him tobecome all right.� I put my hand on his head and startedhealing.

Immediately, the boy started talking to me in Tamil, mymother tongue. The family doesn�t know Tamil. He doesn�tknow even a single word of Tamil. He is from anotherregion.

Parents were shocked. They said, �We don�t know how hetalks Tamil, because we don�t know Tamil.� Simply the boystarted talking in Tamil with great clarity. They said thatnormally, even in English he does not speak fluently. One ortwo words only he utters. But that day, straight away hestarted speaking to me.

And he said, �Stop healing�. Using Tamil slangs, he told mevery crudely �Stop healing�. I was shocked; first of all, to hear

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him speak in Tamil in clear words, and then in a cruderough manner, �Stop healing�. I was shocked.

Then I told him, �Why are you asking me to stop healing?� Ithought some evil spirit is there inside his body, maybe someother spirit. So I started asking, �Who are you? Why are youasking me to stop?�

Then, he said, �I took this decision consciously. I don�t wantto take the responsibility of leading a regular life. I don�twant to take the responsibility of attending school, makingmoney and of leading a regular life. That is why I took thisaffliction. I took this decision of autism consciously.�

Whole thing he spoke to me in Tamil, in my mother tongue.And I don�t know how you will be able to believe, because itis related to the person, I am not able to give his name andreference. But I tell you honestly, it is the truth. It is thetruth.

Straight away he started addressing: �I don�t want to take theresponsibility of life. I am not interested in doing all theseregular things, going to school, going through life. That iswhy I took this type of body. I wanted somebody to take careof me. I want to just enjoy.�

Then I asked him, �All right, that is okay, beautiful, but whydid you take birth with such nice people?� And the parentsare so devoted to me, they are very nice people. They aregreat devotees. I told him, �they are such nice people, why

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did you take birth to them? Why did you come down as ason for them?�

Then he replied, �I took birth in their family, because theyare nice people! They will take care of me. They will notabandon me. Had it been somebody else, they would haveabandoned me. They wouldn�t have taken care of me. That isthe reason I took birth in their family.�

Whole thing he spoke to me in Tamil. I was just shocked.And in the end, by force he removed my hand from hishead. Then I said, �Alright, I cannot interfere in the decisionof any individual�. I cannot interfere in anybody�s life.

The greatness of God is that He gives you the freedom to bein bondage. Even if it is freedom, He never forces it on you.He gives you the freedom to be in bondage because it is yourchoice. And in the end, I was not able to heal this boy. AndI did not heal him.

The whole thing, your whole birth, is based on your fear andgreed. But enlightened Master�s birth is based on love andcompassion. The whole secret is this. Ordinary man takesbirth based on the fear and greed. That is why his whole lifeis driven by fear and greed. His whole life runs based on fearand greed. Enlightened Masters, they achieve the body out oflove and compassion.

That is why Krishna beautifully says: atma mayaya, because ofMy own energy, My own sakti, My own maya, I take birth.

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Sambhavyam atma mayaya. Prakritim svam adhishthayasambhavamy atma mayaya, �With My own energy, just out ofMy love and compassion, I land on this planet earth�.

Next question follows: How can we be liberated by knowingthis truth? In what way it is going to help us directly in ourlife?

Please be very clear, when I say the word birth and death, Idon�t mean just dying in the end of your life. I mean everynight�s sleep is your birth and death. Every night when you goto sleep, you die! When you come back, morning, you takebirth. Every day, you assume the body. Every day, you leavethe body. When you go to the karana sareera (causal body),when you go to sleep, when you fall asleep, every day, youdie. When you come back, every day you come back to life.

Now, as of now, every day morning, how do we come back tolife? How do we take this body? Just look deeply. Whathappens at that time when you get up from bed?

First thing, usually, the moment you get the awareness, eithera thought based on greed or fear hits you. Thought based ongreed, maybe you wanted to meet somebody, you have gotsomething to do or thought based on fear, you have to go tooffice, you have to do this work: some thought based on fearor greed hits you. Immediately, you jump out of your bed. AmI right? If you have analyzed your waking up: your assumingthis body, that moment is taking birth.

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Please be very clear, that moment you take the body matters.These are the basic, very subtle, mysterious secrets of alteringthe whole consciousness. Early morning, with which thoughtyou enter into the body, which thought makes you assume thebody, is going to play a major role in your consciousness. Thefirst thought is going to play a major role in yourconsciousness.

As on now, usually, how do you get up? Either a thoughtbased on fear or greed that hits you. Immediately you jumpout of the bed. Either you wanted to do something or youare afraid that you have to go to your routine. You assumethe body because of fear or greed.

But an enlightened man, an enlightened Master assumes thebody out of love and compassion. He comes out, just to pourhis compassion out, just to share himself with the wholeworld. When I say birth and death, I not only mention aboutthe death which happens in the end, I mean every day.

If you understand this once and alter your thoughts at thetime of waking up, you will alter the whole consciousness,quality of your consciousness can be changed.

It is just like how a camera works. First moment, whateverscene is there in front of the camera eye, that is recorded inthe film. That will stay there for ever. Same way, at the firstmoment of your consciousness with which you assume thebody, the thought that you have while entering into the body

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plays a major role the whole day on your consciousness.

When you get up from bed, the first thought, let it berelated to love and compassion. Let it be related to a deepdivine spiritual thought. Get up only to express your life inbliss. Get up just out of joy. The moment you come toconsciousness, the moment you become aware of yourself, �OhLord, so beautiful! You have given me one more day! I havecome back to life once more. Just to see your Existence. Iam blessed you have given me one more day extension!�

Please be very clear, you have no right to have extension.Don�t think life is your birthright. I have seen many peopletaking things for granted. Before they get the job, they wouldsay, �If I get that $10000 per month salary, I will be reallysafe. I will feel blessed.� The moment you get the job, in onemonth, you think it is your birthright. You think it is yourbirthright and you start thinking about $100,000 salary.

Birth itself is not your right. How can you say something isyour birthright? The word birthright is completely wrong.Birth itself is not your right. You have no right. It is a puregift. You can�t extend even a single breath.

You can�t do even one single moment, inhaling or exhaling,unless the Divine allows you, unless the Parasakti gives theextension. So every day is a blessing. Every day is anextension. When you get up from the bed, get up, come outof the bed, assume the body with this gratitude to the

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Divine, your whole quality of your consciousness will change,you will become an incarnation.

Here I am giving you the straight technique how to becomeKrishna, how to enter into Krishna consciousness, how tobecome an incarnation. The man who assumes the body outof love and compassion is an incarnation. If you assume thebody out of greed or fear, you are man. If you assume thebody out of love and compassion, you are an incarnation, youare divine.

Early morning, first thought, let it be from gratitude, let it befrom love, let it be from compassion. Your whole life willbecome pure eternal bliss. Your whole life will be a differentconsciousness.

I was explaining the secret of birth and death: how we gothrough, how it is our conscious decision, how it is ourchoice.

Please be very clear, your whole life is purely yourresponsibility. Nobody has forced anything on you! It iscompletely your responsibility. It is you who is taking theresponsibility of your whole life. It is not forced on you. It isyour decision.

Always people ask me, �Then why do we get into accidents,Master?� Please be very clear, everything including accidentsis your choice. I am making a bold statement: everything

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including accidents is your choice. You can put yourquestions, I will explain the question tomorrow when I seethe question. Then you will understand this truth in a muchdeeper way.

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´ÉÒiÉ®úÉMÉ¦ÉªÉGòÉävÉÉ ¨Éx¨ÉªÉÉ ¨ÉÉ¨ÉÖ{ÉÉÊ¸ÉiÉÉ&*

¤É½þ ÉÉä YÉÉxÉiÉ{ÉºÉÉ {ÉÚiÉÉ ¨ÉnÂù¦ÉÉ´É¨ÉÉMÉiÉÉ&**4.10**

Vita raga bhaya krodha manmaya mam upashritahabahavo jnana tapasa puta madbhavam agataha (4.10)

vita: free from; raga: attachment; bhaya: fear; krodha: anger;manmaya: fully in Me; mam: unto Me; upashritaha: takingrefuge; bahavah: many beings; jnana: wisdom; tapasa: bypenance; puta: sanctified; madbhavam: My nature; agataha:attained

Being freed from attachment, fear and anger, being filledwith Me and by taking refuge in Me, many beings in thepast have become sanctified by the knowledge of Me andhave realized Me.

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Here Krishna gives us a technique to attain Him. If we areable to live in such a way as to be free from theattachments born out of anger and fear then we can beabsorbed in Him, we can attain Him.

We have to understand, all actions create their ownreactions. When we sow a seed, the action though it mayappear to be complete, is in reality not so. We have set intomotion a cycle, a chain of events. The seed sprouts andbecomes a plant or tree.

Thus, it is so in the order of Existence, that every action orwe can say, cause, has its own reaction or we can say, effect.It is, therefore, quite difficult to escape from the clutches ofthe cause-effect cycle. Here, Krishna gives a technique howto cut these karmic bonds. How to escape and realize thereality?

Actions free from fear and anger do not create bonds. Theylead us towards elevated consciousness. I always say, fear andanger that arise out of thwarted greed are two of the mostprovocative emotions that lead towards a bondage creatingaction.

Attachments are our bondage to the future based onexperiences of the past. We have unfulfilled desires that wehope to fulfill. We look for results. We get attached to thepossibility of these results. When the results happen the waywe wish them to, there is temporary satisfaction. More wishesarise. More attachments are formed.

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When things do not happen the way we want them to, wefeel sorrow, we are depressed. We strive again.

Either way it is a never ending cycle that brings sorrow inthe end. When we let go attachments, and perform actionswith no expectations, we enjoy the path of action. There isno stress of what must happen, since there is no attachment.

Krishna offers a way out: He says, be drowned in Me; youwill have no anger, no fear. All actions will thus be withoutbondage. In this manner, you can realize Me.

He gives the assurance, the valid proof, that having done so,having followed this path, many people in the past haveachieved.

He is not telling us, if you do this, maybe something goodwill happen. He gives the positive assurance. Do it, you willachieve. Not only one or two people, many people have doneso and have realized Me, He says.

Let us see the next sloka:

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ªÉä ªÉlÉÉ ¨ÉÉÆ |É{ÉtxiÉä iÉÉÆºiÉlÉè É ¦ÉVÉÉ¨ªÉ½þ¨ÉÂ*¨É¨É ´Éi¨ÉÉÇxÉÖ ÉiÉÇxiÉä ¨ÉxÉÖ¹ªÉÉ& {ÉÉlÉÇ ºÉ´ÉÇ¶É&**4.11**

ye yatha mam prapadyante tans tathaiva bhajamy ahammama vartma nuvartante manushyaha partha sarvashaha (4.11)

ye: all of them; yatha: as; mam: unto Me; prapadyante:surrender; tan: unto them; tatha: so; eva: certainly; bhajami:do I reward; aham: I; mama: My; vartma: path; nuvartante: dofollow; manushyaha: all people; partha: son of Pritha;sarvashaha: in all respects

I reward everyone, I show Myself to all people, according tothe manner in which they surrender unto Me, in the mannerthat they are devoted to Me, O Partha!

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Masters are like mirrors. They are a true reflection of theconscience. Devotees get whatever they ask for. If thedevotee is praying for wealth, he gets that. If he is afterhealing his bodily or mental illnesses, he is granted that. Tothe devotee who says, �Oh Lord, I want nothing exceptknowledge of Your true reality�, the Lord grants him that, Heshows him the way to the Ultimate Reality.

If you visit our ashram there is something for everyone. Noone has to go back empty handed. We have prayers, yagna,homa (fire rituals), bhajan (devotional songs), yoga,meditation, etc for all kinds, for all needs of devotees. Peoplefrom all walks of life, from all cross sections of society, fromall kinds of economic strata, have a place here.

For the devotee who has faith in worship, we have temples.For the devotee who wishes to attain through yoga, we havevarious programs. For those on the path of knowledge, wehave enough and more avenues and meditation techniques.Only in this manner can we lift the consciousness of ameaningful section of the society.

I always say, we cannot hope to transform the society throughsome mass movement. It can only happen through individualtransformation. The mass has to be of such transformedpeople. When such people act together, it will have the samepower as a laser beam.

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I always say that each devotee and each disciple is unique.The way I treat each one is unique. What I tell one personis not applicable to another. I warn my disciples, time andagain, please do not advise someone else based on the adviceI have given you. It will only cause more confusion.

Vivekananda once lectured another disciple of Ramakrishnaand made him believe that all his devotional beliefs werenonsense. He convinced the disciple that he must follow theadvaithic, non duality route that Vivekananda himselfespoused.

Ramakrishna called Vivekananda immediately, withoutanyone telling him what had happened. He said sorrowfullyto Vivekananda, �what have you done to this person? I havebeen working on him based on his nature and being. Now,with your words you have set him back in his spiritualprogress.�

Here, Krishna promises and reaffirms what He has said earlierthat He will take care of every need of His devotee.

Only the most compassionate Being, only such a person whocares for all, will make this statement. Now it is left to thedevotee to have some wisdom, some intelligence as to whatto approach the Master for.

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EòÉRÂóIÉxiÉ& Eò¨ÉÇhÉÉÆ ÊºÉËrù ªÉVÉxiÉ <½þ näù´ÉiÉÉ&*ÊIÉ|ÉÆ Ê½þ ¨ÉÉxÉÖ¹Éä ±ÉÉäEäò ÊºÉÊrù¦ÉÇ ÉÊiÉ Eò¨ÉÇVÉÉ**4.12**

kankshantaha karmanam siddhim yajanta iha devatahakshipram hi manushe loke siddhir bhavati karmaja (4.12)

kankshantaha: desiring; karmanam: of activities; siddhim:success; yajante: worship; iha: in this world; devataha: gods;kshipram: instant; hi: certainly; manushe: in human society;loke: in this world; siddhih bhavati: becomes successful;karmaja: worker

Men in this world desire success from activities and thereforethey worship the gods. Men get instant results from activework in this world.

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Krishna explains here why non attachment is so difficult. Itis in our nature to look for success in whatever we do. It isimpossible to embark on an activity expecting it to fail.

There is nothing wrong in looking for success at the end ofan activity. What creates problems is the illogical attachmentto that expectation of success. We become so obsessed withwhat we desire that the expectation consumes us.

What Krishna says here shows that our mindset, humannature, has not changed in over 5000 years. Even then theywere looking for material success. They were looking forinstant results. When they prayed to Gods they were prayingto fulfill their expectations of material success.

Again, I must say that Krishna is the greatest psychologistwho ever lived. He has measured human nature accurately.What we want is results, material tangible results, andinstant results. In His days, in Krishna�s days, when samskarawere relatively far lower, when cerebral pollution was muchless, the word �instant� itself must have been rarely used.People had a different concept of time. There was much lessrush and much less aggression.

Yet, the Master uses a term �kshipram�, instant. The Master istalking about humanity, past, present and future.

He says you normally pray to Gods not for expression ofgratitude and not for spiritual benefits, as an innocent person

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may mistakenly assume, but to seek unfulfilled materialdesires. You go to a temple and pray to the idol so that youmay have more money, beautiful spouse, more children, betterjobs and all that you think will bring you happiness.

All your actions, Krishna says, are based on material successand He says such activities bear instant results. Please notethat they bear instant results. Whether you understand it ornot, all these prayers and actions do produce instant results.

This does not mean that whatever you pray for is instantlygranted by whichever God you prayed to. God, fortunately,has far more wisdom than we have. God uses His buddhi,wisdom, to grant what He deems appropriate.

However, the result of your actions is instant. Thekarmaphala is immediate. When religions talk of karma, andthe fruits of karma, karmaphala, in terms of merits and sins,papa and punya, and they tell you that you will go to hell ifyou accumulate papa, and that you will go to heaven if yougain punya, they use these concepts only to control you. Theytry to control you through fear and greed; through fear ofhell and greed of heaven. That is all.

There is no papa and punya, spiritually speaking; none of it isaccumulated and presented to you at the pearly gates byChitragupta or St. Peter. There is no hell or heaven. Hell orheaven are both states of your mind, not locations in somedistant future in God�s own land.

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When you think good, when you do good, you feel good andyou are in heaven. When you think evil, you act evil, youfeel evil and you are in hell. That is all. That is all there isto karma. This is the cosmic cause and effect principle. Youare what your intent is; you become what your intent is.

Karma acts instantly. It is here and now. It is not slowgrinding of the wheels of God. You live in the tormentedmindset of a sinner or the blissful mindset of a sagedepending on what you choose to think and do. Rememberthat. Do not blame your actions on some misunderstoodprinciple of karma.

Karma is in your hands. You are a free spirit, you have freewill, you have freedom of thought and action, not merelyguaranteed by your national constitution, but by God�s ownconstitution. What you sow, you shall certainly reap.

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SÉÉiÉÖ ÉÇhªÉÈ ¨ÉªÉÉ ºÉÞ¹]Æõ MÉÖhÉEò¨ÉÇÊ´É¦ÉÉMÉ¶É&*iÉºªÉ EòiÉÉÇ®ú ÉÊ{É ¨ÉÉÆ Ê´ÉnÂùvªÉEòiÉÉÇ®ú É´ªÉªÉ¨ÉÂ**4.13**

chatur varnyam maya srishtam guna karma vibhagashahatasya kartaram api mam viddhy akartaram avyayam (4.13)

chatuh varnyam: the four divisions of human society; maya: byMe; srishtam: created; guna: attribute; karma: work;vibhagashaha: in terms of division; tasya: of that; kartaram:doer; api: although; mam: Me; viddhi: known; akartaram: asthe non-doer; avyayam: unchangeable

Depending upon the distribution of the three attributes orguna and action, I have created the four castes. And yet, Iam to be known as the non-doer, the unchangeable.

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Now, we come to the controversial topic of the so-calledcaste system. Krishna says, I have created the four castesdepending upon the distribution of the three guna.

We have to understand a bit about the guna. The word �guna�can be roughly translated to mean �attribute� or �quality�. Allpeople have all or at least one of the guna in them. Thereare three basic guna and they are: sattva or purity, rajas oractivity and tamas or inactivity.

This one sloka has been quoted out of context by so manypeople from such a long time. People quote this slokawhenever they want the support of religion for making thecaste system more solid.

They say, �Krishna Himself has sanctioned it� or, �This systemhas been given by the incarnation Himself.� We should try tosee and examine, what Krishna meant. If we look a little bitmore deeply into Krishna�s words, we can see that He usesthe words, �depending upon the distribution of the threeguna.� He does not say, �depending on the birth�.

It is a fact, I can even say a truth- and there is a lot ofdifference between fact and truth- that no two persons on thisplanet earth can be the same. By the same token, all personsare unique and possess unique ratios of the three guna.

Again, we have to note that Krishna does not discriminate.He does not say that this caste is superior; the other one is

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inferior and so on. He merely states that there are basicallyfour kinds of people, the character of the person will be ofthat guna which is more in him, which is more dominant inhim.

The same way that guna does not happen at birth, varna, thecaste too, does not happen by birth. Guna, the mentalattribute, is an inherent part of one�s nature, carried overwith the vasana from previous births. Krishna says, based onthe guna, one is born with, I decide on his varna, caste.

In the tradition Vedic Hindu system of education, a Guru,the Master, took charge of children at an early age andtrained them. He was not only the disseminator of knowledgeto these children in what was known as the gurukulamsystem, but he was also the decider of the career and future.The Guru evaluated the aptitude of each child under hiscare based on the child�s mental attitude and attribute, theguna, and then decided on the vocation that the child shouldpursue. This decision was a very scientific process based onan evaluation of the attitude, aptitude, likes and dislikes ofthe child, supported by astrological studies.

The varna were four fold. Brahmin were the scholars andpriests, intellectually inclined, mostly satva guna based people.Kshatriya, were the soldiers, nobles and Kings, aggressive,ambitious, physically strong, and rajas guna based people, witha mix of satva. Vaisya was the business community, tradersand businessmen, with strong commercial acumen, with a mix

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of rajas and satva guna. Sudra were the workers, physicallyable and skillful, with a predominance of tamas guna.

Based on these skill sets, the children were trained; based ontheir guna not birth, they were trained for their vocations,their varna. It was similar to an assessment of aptitudes andstreaming the children, but far more scientific than what isdone today in the name of streaming.

Over time, as is human wont, this system was manipulated.Those who believed that they had better varna, decided theyshould make it a hereditary right, a birth right. This wasimposition of social and political evil, misuse of power.

A system that did not allow the son of a Brahmin to be apriest if he was unsuitable or the son of a Kshatriya to be awarrior if he was inadequate, was corrupted to allow that tohappen.

Krishna states very clearly, that only he who transcends thesethree guna can reach My state, can reach the higher levelsof consciousness. To reach Krishna one has to be a trigunarahita, beyond the three guna. One becomes a non doer, a novarna, no guna person.

In the next verses, He elaborates on this aspect.

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xÉ ¨ÉÉÆ Eò¨ÉÉÇÊhÉ Ê±É¨{ÉÎxiÉ xÉ ¨Éä Eò¨ÉÇ¡ò±Éä º{ÉÞ½þÉ*<ÊiÉ ¨ÉÉÆ ªÉÉä%Ê¦ÉVÉÉxÉÉÊiÉ Eò¨ÉÇÊ¦ÉxÉÇ ºÉ ¤ÉvªÉiÉä**4.14**

na mam karmani limpanti na me karma phale spruhaiti mam yo abhijanati karmabhir na sa badhyate (4.14)

na: never; mam: unto Me; karmani: work; limpanti: affect; na:not; me: My; karma phale: fruits of action; spruha: long for; iti:thus; mam: about Me; yah: one who; abhijanati: understand ;karmabhih: by the reaction of such work; na: never; sah: he;badhyate: gets caught

I am not affected by any work; nor do I long for the fruits ofsuch action. One who understands this truth about Me alsodoes not get caught in the karmic bonds of work.

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B´ÉÆ YÉÉi´ÉÉ EÞòiÉÆ Eò¨ÉÇ {ÉÚ Éê®úÊ{É ¨ÉÖ ÉÖIÉÖÊ¦É&*EÖò¯û Eò¨Éê É iÉº¨ÉÉk´ÉÆ {ÉÚ Éê& {ÉÚ ÉÇiÉ®Æú EÞòiÉ¨ÉÂ**4.15**

evam jnatva krutam karma purvair api mumukshubhihakuru karmaiva tasmat tvam purvaiha purvataram krutam (4.15)

evam: thus; jnatva: knowing well; krutam: performed; karma:work; purvaih: by the ancient people; api: although;mumukshubhiha: who attained liberation; kuru: perform; karma:prescribed duty; eva: certainly; tasmat: therefore; tvam: you;purvaiha: by the predecessors; purvataram: ancient

When a desire is fulfilled, it no longer creates ripples in themind. Desires that get fulfilled are the basic needs that oneis born with, which are the result of the carry over vasana,the prarabda karma.

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All other desires are acquired by us by comparing ourselveswith others. These are wants not needs. Existence has noway of fulfilling such wants. Says Ramana beautifully: Theuniverse can fulfill the needs of all its inhabitants, but itcannot fulfill the want of even one person. Wants never stop;they grow and grow; want and greed only stop with death.Even then they continue to haunt as the mental attitude,the carried over vasana.

When one works out of basic wants he acquires no karma,since the desires get fulfilled and do not recur. Look at apoor man with just one pair of footwear. He is happy that hedoes not have to go barefoot. Till that footwear is exhausted,he has no need for another one. In comparison, many of youacquire dozens of shoes, many of which you rarely wear.These purchases were born out of your wants, which willnever be fulfilled. Nor will you ever get joy out of thesepossessions. Once acquired, they lose value and then youseek the next acquisition. The cycle goes on.

Have you ever seen a rich man sitting at a five starrestaurant enjoy his meal in the same manner as a hardworking manual laborer eating his sandwich. The rich manwill be more worried about the various illnesses that he hasand what he should not eat than the quality of the food infront of him.

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A person who has a conscious birth, only a person who has aconscious birth, is aware of his prarabda karma, the list ofneeds he is born with. Only he can extinguish his karma byfulfilling this list. Such a person has no attachment to hisneeds or the results of his action to fulfill these needs.These needs carry an energy of their own that gets themfulfilled. Once fulfilled, they leave no karma trace.

Krishna, the ultimate Master, is always conscious. He, ofcourse, has no karma, no unfulfilled desires, and noattachment. So is it with every enlightened Master. Hisdesires get fulfilled as they arise.

When I desire food, it appears. When I feel the need tosleep, I rest. There is no gap between my desire and itsfulfillment. There is no trace of that desire after it isfulfilled. The fulfillment is complete. The attachment is zero.Therefore, there is no karma.

This is the lesson every Master tries to teach His disciples.Work from your needs, not wants. Act without attachment.You shall attract no karma. You shall be liberated.

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ËEò Eò¨ÉÇ ÊEò¨ÉEò¨ÉæÊiÉ Eò´ÉªÉÉä%{ªÉjÉ ¨ÉÉäÊ½þiÉÉ&*iÉkÉä Eò¨ÉÇ |É´ÉIªÉÉÊ¨É ªÉVYÉÉi´ÉÉ ¨ÉÉäIªÉºÉä%¶ÉÖ¦ÉÉiÉÂ**4.16**

kim karma kim akarmeti kavayo apy atra mohitahatat te karma pravakshyami yaj jnatva mokshyase ashubhat (4.16)

kim: what; karma: action; kim: what; akarma: inaction; iti:thus; kavayah: the wise; api: also; atra: in this matter;mohitaha: confused; tat: that; te: unto you; karma: action;pravakshyami: I shall explain; yat: which; jnatva: knowing;mokshyase: be liberated; ashubhat: from ills

What is action and what is inaction, even the wise areconfused. Now, I shall explain to you what action is, knowingwhich you shall be liberated from all ills.

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Eò¨ÉÇhÉÉä ÁÊ{É ¤ÉÉärù´ªÉÆ ¤ÉÉärù´ªÉÆ SÉ Ê´ÉEò¨ÉÇhÉ&*+Eò¨ÉÇhÉ¶SÉ ¤ÉÉärù ªÉÆ MÉ½þxÉÉ Eò¨ÉÇhÉÉä MÉÊiÉ&**4.17**

karmano hy api boddhavyam boddhavyam cha vikarmanahaakarmanash cha boddhavyam gahana karmano gatiha (4.17)

karmanah: action; hi: certainly; api: also; boddhavyam: shouldbe understood; boddhavyam: to be understood; cha: also;vikarmanaha: wrong action; akarmanaha: inaction; cha: also;boddhavyam: should be understood; gahana: very difficult;karmanaha: action; gatiha: to enter into

The complexities of action are very difficult to understand.Therefore, to understand fully the nature of proper action,one has to understand the nature of wrong action andinaction.

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Eò¨ÉÇhªÉEò¨ÉÇ ªÉ& {É¶ªÉänùEò¨ÉÇÊhÉ SÉ Eò¨ÉÇ ªÉ&*ºÉ ¤ÉÖÊrù ÉÉxÉÂ ¨ÉxÉÖ¹ªÉä¹ÉÖ ºÉ ªÉÖCiÉ& EÞòiºxÉEò¨ÉÇEÞòiÉÂ**4.18**

karmani akarma yaha pashyed akarmani cha karma yahasa buddhiman manushyeshu sa yuktaha krutsna karma krut (4.18)

karmani: action; akarma: inaction; yaha: one who; pashyet:sees; akarmani: inaction; cha: also; karma: action; yaha: onewho; sah: he; buddhiman: wise; manushyeshu: in humansociety; sah: he; yuktaha: yogi; krutsna karma krut: althoughengaged in all activities

He who sees inaction in action and action in inaction, iswise and a yogi, though engaged in all activities.

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Here, Krishna says that the person who sees inaction inaction and action in inaction has attained transcendence.When you see that it is not the �I� in you that is doing theactivities but it is the senses following their nature, when yousee that it is the mind that is creating the false sense ofidentification of you with the action, then you have realized.You have attained transcendence because you are now nolonger in the clutches of the mind.

It is the mind that makes you attached to something andrepulsed to something else. When you are not in the clutchesof the mind, you are free. Even though you do actionsbecause the senses by nature have to perform their functionslike the eyes see, the ears hear, the tongue tastes, the nosesmells and the skin feels, yet, you are free from the bondageof action because you do not have any identification with theaction, you do not have any emotional attachment toanything. So, naturally, you are free and you are liberatedand you can do what you are doing most beautifully withoutexpecting any particular result or being bothered by theresults of the action.

This is what is being �unclutched�. Being �unclutched� is thestate where you are free and liberated. Let me expand on theword �unclutching� and what I mean by it.

Constantly you are connecting all your thoughts and creatingshafts in your mind. For example, the headache whichhappened 10 years ago, the headache which happened 9

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years ago, the headache which happened 8 years ago, theheadache which happened yesterday, they are allindependent experiences which happened in your life.

For the sake of easy reference, you categorize all theseexperiences in your mind into one category of headache. It isarchived just for utility purpose, to serve as reference. Justlike how you file documents in your office in variouscategories, in various files. But, what happens? By and by, youstart believing that all these experiences are connected.

The suffering which happened 10 years ago happened for adifferent reason, in a different place; it was a totally uniqueexperience. The suffering which happened 9 years agohappened for a totally different reason; it was a completelydifferent experience. The suffering which happened 8 yearsago was again for a different reason.

Initially for the sake of ease, you archive them in the sameplace, for easy reference. By and by you start believing theyare connected. When you start believing they are connectedyou create a shaft.

If you connect all the painful memories, you create a painshaft: �My life is suffering, my life is pain.� You start believingyour whole life is a chain of suffering, a long chain ofsuffering.

When you start believing your whole life is suffering youhave created a pain shaft and you are waiting in your life

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only for painful incidents, so that you can elongate thatshaft.

One more thing you should understand, whatever youbelieve, you expand it. If you believe something, you willagain and again see that in your life.

That is why again and again Vedic rishi, sages, say, youcreate what you want. You create what you desire. By seeingyou create. What ever you believe you will create andexpand.

Once you start believing your life is a pain, you are waitingunconsciously for painful incidents to strengthen that belief,to strengthen that judgment.

We don�t usually collect arguments to pass judgments; wecollect arguments to support our judgments. The judgment isready; we only collect arguments to support it. When you areclear that your life is a pain shaft, a big chain of pains, youare waiting for more judgments to support your faith; morejudgments to support your belief.

Second thing, whenever you are adding the painful incidentsunconsciously, constantly, consciously, you will be trying tobreak that shaft.

If you believe your whole life is a shaft of joyful experiences,which we do very rarely, constantly you are in fear, will itcontinue? You think, will it continue in the same way?

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If you believe life is a shaft of painful incidents, you do twothings: unconsciously gathering more and more incidents andstrengthening your faith and consciously trying to break theshaft. If you believe life is a chain of joyful incidents,unconsciously you will be in fear that it will end andconsciously you will try to prolong it. Understand these twobig dramas we do with ourselves.

But the big difficulty, the important thing that we forget isthat you can neither break the shaft nor elongate it, becausethe shaft itself does not exist.

The shaft does not exist. You can neither elongate it norbreak it. When you started archiving all the incidents inyour life for the sake of easy reference, by and by you startedbelieving that they are really existentially connected.

When you start believing that they are existentiallyconnected together you believe your life as a pain shaft or ajoy shaft. When you start believing life as a pain shaft youtry to break it; when you believe it as a joy shaft, you try toelongate it.

But one important thing you forget, you can neither breaknor elongate because the shaft itself does not exist.

Just try this experiment:

Sit down for ten minutes with a pen and paper. Now, juststart jotting down whatever comes in your mind. Please do

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not edit your thoughts; write them down as it is. Do notjudge yourself and do not try to control what comes in yourmind. If you try to judge, you are playing a hypocritical gamewith yourself, that�s all. Just write down whatever comes.

Now, read whatever you have written. You can see foryourself how unconnected, illogical your thoughts are!

You will be sitting here and thinking, �I think tomorrow Ishould go to my office�, then �No, no no, I should just wakeup and decide then�, then, �What should I do about dinnertonight?�

Have you seen a fish tank? Have you seen how the bubblesrise up in a fish tank? There is a gap between one bubbleand the next. But, the gap is too small; it looks like acontinuous stream.

Just like the bubbles in a fish tank, there is a gap betweenone thought and another thought in your mind as well. Ifyou look a little deeply you will realize your thoughts, bytheir very nature are independent.

For example, if you see a dog in the street, suddenly youremember your pet you used to play with as a child. Thenyou will remember your teacher you studied with as a child,then, where your teacher used to stay.

If you look at it logically, you will see logically that the dogin street and the teacher are not connected. There is no

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logical connection, but simply your mind flows, it is simplyflowing. If you look a little deep you will understand yourthoughts are illogical, independent, unconnected.

When you believe that your mind is logical, when youbelieve that your mind has got its own logic, you havecreated the first original sin for yourself. That is the originalsin. Believing your mind is logic is the first sin.

Understand, by your very nature you are unclutched. By yourvery nature you are unconnected.

It is like you trash all your emails but you pick some upemails from the trash. Similarly, every moment the thoughtsare being renounced by you, by your very nature. Newthought appearing means the old thought has beenrenounced. But even after renouncing you try to pick up thethoughts from the dust bin and try to create a new shaft.

You feel that some valuable thoughts have been dropped inthe dust bin, so you pick up some thoughts here and there.You pick up these thoughts from the dust bin, put them nearyour bed, spray a little perfume and keep them nice andpretty!

All you need to do is few things. First, have a clearunderstanding that you are creating a shaft, shaft of pain, orshaft of joy and trying to fight with it, by either trying toelongate or by trying to break.

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Second thing, you don�t even have to unclutch yourself. Byyour very nature if you stop creating a shaft you areunclutched. You don�t need to unclutch.

Then we start asking, �How will I do my job? How will I takecare of my things? Will I not just lie down in my bed?�Understand, the moment I say these things, the first questionpeople ask is, �If I am unclutched, why should I go to myjob?� I ask, why should you not go to your job?

The moment you say you will not go for your job, it meansyou have a little hatred or a little vengeance against the job.That is why the moment you get some excuse you want toescape from that. You are expressing your anger, your violenceagainst your routine, nothing else.

I always tell people, alright, don�t do anything; just beunclutched; how many days will you be lying in your bed?Maybe ten days, until your tamas (laziness) gets exhausted.See, you have a certain amount of tamas in you, one of thethree attributes of sattva (harmony), rajas (action) and tamas(laziness). Until your tamas gets exhausted you will lie there,but after that what will you do? Naturally, you will startworking, you will start moving. Do not be afraid; do not beafraid that if you are unclutched, you will not do your dailyroutine.

That is what Krishna means by action and inaction. Wecannot by nature by inactive. You will day dream if nothing

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else. You will clutch on to fantasies. You will try to escapefrom reality by deluding yourself, because your mind isclutched onto a soft and easy dream shaft.

When you truly unclutch, when you are in the presentmoment, without any attachment to the past and future, youwill realize that you are full of energy. You just cannot keepquiet. You will have to do something. That �something� willbe dictated by your present moment awareness, not byfantasies.

I tell you, what you think as �you� is not necessary to runyour day to day life. This is the basic truth. What you thinkas you is not necessary to run your day to day life. This truthhurts us.

See, if somebody is happy independent of us, we can�ttolerate it, it is too much. Constantly we feel we are needed.That is why we project our sufferings, so that we feelimportant. What you think as �you� is not necessary to runyour day to day life.

People come and ask me, �constantly I repeat the positiveaffirmations, �I should stop smoking, I should stop smoking�but it is not working, why Master?� All these creativevisualizations create more and more trouble. Because the veryword, �I should stop smoking�, the very word �smoking� iscontradicting.

When you decide I should get rid of the headache,constantly you are remembering the headache.

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Instead you can do a very simple thing like decide to have aglass of water. The moment you decide to have a glass ofwater, you have a new thought. The old thought of�headache� has to disappear because the new thought has tocome in its place.

You ask me, �How can it be so simple, Master?� It is simple.Constantly you are taught that it is not so simple. It issimple. If you really understand that, it is so simple.

But, soon after, the thought of headache may come back,what to do? Understand: your faith in it is what brings itback, which is the basic problem.

And one more thing: if it comes back, it goes also. Whydon�t you celebrate those moments in which it left you? Whydo you constantly remember the moments it comes back?

People ask me again and again, �I fail when I try to unclutchMaster.� I tell them, why are you connecting your past failurewith your present failure? When you connect all the pastfailures, you create one more word, �failure�. The failure thathappened 9 years ago, the failure that happened 8 years ago,the failure that happened yesterday are independentincidents. Why do you connect all of them and create thenext experience also?

Just relax and stop connecting and suddenly you will seesuch a deep inner healing happening in you, such a deep

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peace happening in you. Suddenly you will see you havedropped out of the war, the constant running. Just relax.

I tell you when you become a drop out, when you drop outof this war, when you drop from this whole game, suddenlyyou realize the whole thing is just a psycho drama happening.Because you are constantly supporting it, you are creatingthese shafts.

Try this simple meditation:

Just close your eyes. Whatever words are rising in you, justlet them rise. Just do not connect them with any otherthought. Just don�t create a shaft; just unclutch.

If you feel bored, or if your mind asks what to do, justunclutch from that thought. Do not even connect with thatthought. Just sit, be unclutched. If your mind connects witha thought, just unclutch. Do not create, maintain, or destroythoughts.

Try this for a few minutes and you can see the effect foryourself. Krishna says that to understand what action is, youneed to understand what inaction is. In my programs, this iswhat I tell people. To understand what meditation is, youneed to understand what meditation is not.

I spend a day and a half explaining what meditation is notand less than half a day about meditation. It is the same

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thing about healing. For two full days people are explainedwhat healing is not with the help of a detailed manual!Then I come in and ordain the healers, which takes onlyhalf an hour!

When you unclutch, you are seemingly in inaction. However,the removal of the bondages of the various shafts of pain,pleasure, fantasies etc releases so much of energy within youthat you are now actively passive. You are at the height ofpotential energy, ready to release that energy for what everpurpose you decide in that present moment.

If instead, you are actively day dreaming, caught in the webof your shafts of fantasies and pleasures intermingled withsorrow and pain, you are seemingly active, very busy, buttotally uselessly busy. In fact, counterproductively busy, as youare then digging into more suffering!

In the process of unclutching, you transcend both action andinaction. You have destroyed the false notion of connectivityof thoughts and have reached the state of the presentmoment, the state of no mind, and the state of droppingthoughts.

In this present moment of unclutched condition, you areactive and yet not attached to any activity. You are truly inKrishna Consciousness.

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yasya sarve samarambhaha kama sankalpa varjitahajnanagni dagdha karmanam tam ahuha panditam budhaha(4.19)

yasya: one whose; sarve: all kinds of; samarambhaha: in allsituations; kama: desire for sense gratification; sankalpa:determination; varjitaha: devoid of; jnana: of perfectknowledge; agni: fire; dagdha: being burnt by; karmanam:actions; tam: him; ahuha: declare; panditam: wise; budhaha: ofthose who know

One who, in all kinds of situations, is determined and devoidof all desires for sense gratification is of perfect knowledge.The sages declare such a person wise whose actions areburnt by the fire of knowledge.

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All our suffering and pain arise when we associate ourselveswith the senses and the mind. The real Self in you iseternal, timeless, never-changing.

It is like this: when you see the clouds drifting in the clearsky, is the sky actually changing? No! The sky is like thecanvas over which clouds of different forms and shapes driftacross, sometimes completely covering the sky behind andsometimes drifting apart to reveal the sky behind.

When you travel in a train, have you seen outside thewindow? All the objects outside, the trees, the rocks, thebuildings, everything seems to be in motion. It is relativemotion that gives you this effect, this feeling that everythingaround you is moving.

Just like this is a maya, delusion. So, under the effect ofmaya also, it appears as if the Self is being affected by theemotions and the perceptions of the senses.

Just like when the clouds go over the clear blue sky itappears that the sky is being covered by different types andcolors of clouds, so also the Self is like the clear sky overwhich the clouds of different emotions go over.

If you see yourself in a clear lake or a mirror, what you see isa reflection of what is being projected, right? Just like that,in the lake of the Self, of the Being, whatever quality isprojected on it is what you will see reflected in the lake.

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Does it mean that the lake has become dirty or clean? Thereflection has no reality, no solid existence.

Actually, the Self is One and it is permanent. The Self inyou, in me, in the person next to you is all the same. Wheneverything is you, what is there to fear? Where is thequestion of conflict and jealousy and fear and greed?

Everything is you. Enjoy this world in which you are present inso many forms and manifestations. Enjoy it in all these forms.However, enjoy without getting caught in attachment. Oursenses are treacherous. They create addictions whichoverwhelm us. The more we have, the less we enjoy, and yetwe cannot do without them. True wisdom is to step back fromwhat the senses tell you, for they never tell you the truth.

Have you seen a person sell something, say paintings? Youcan see, the seller would be busy trying to convince people,trying to get the best bargain. But, see someone who isstanding witnessing this whole scene; someone, who is neitherinterested in buying the painting nor in selling it. Only hecan completely enjoy the painting.

This world is like a poem written by the great poet and allthat comes in the poem are verses of infinite bliss.

A small story:

There was once a father stag that was standing with theyoung stag in front of a lake. The stag was looking at its own

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reflection in the water of the lake and telling the young stag,�Son, see how powerful we are! Look at what we have beenendowed with, long horns, strong feet, sharp eyes. We aretruly powerful.� Just as the stag was talking, a dog jumped infront of the stag. The stag, in a split second, instinctively outof fear, just leapt and ran.

Then the child stag asked its father, �Father, what is the useof being powerful if we have to run away from the dog?�

When we are faced with a testing situation, we forget all ourtruths which we teach ourselves, as a philosophy.

Now, that does not mean that we do not accept the truth. Itis just that we feel we are not strong enough to experienceit. We need to persevere, fill the mind with the highestthoughts, the highest truths.

See, without the right ideals, you may reach the goal but itwill take much longer. But, if we have the right ideals, wewill reach the truth much faster. When you take the help ofthose who have seen the Truth and declare that to you,instead of scoffing at them and what they teach, it is moreintelligent to experiment with the techniques, which they sayhave given them knowledge and at least try these out.

We are taught that we are weak human beings, sinners. But,the Vedic rishi have time and again declared, �amrutasyaputraha�. We are children of immortality. Let us be open to

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positive, affirmative thoughts rather than repeating negativeand self-defeating thoughts to ourselves. These are not justpositive thoughts or statements; understand these are greatTruths that our rishi have experienced and which theydeclare to us, encouraging us to experiment and experienceas well.

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ty=ktv== k:m=*f:D==s=V<g=] in=ty=t=&pt==e in=r=Xy=/ +

k:m=*[y=< aiB=p=>v=&T==eCip= n=Ev= ik]:ic=t=< k:r=eit= s=/ ++äî++

tyaktva karma phala sangam nitya trupto nirashrayahakarmany abhipravrutto api naiva kinchit karoti saha (4.20)

tyaktva: having given up; karma phalasangam: attachment toresults of action; nitya: always; truptah: satisfied; nirashrayaha:without shelter; karmani: in action; abhipravruttah: being fullyengaged; api: although; na: does not; eva: certainly; kinchit:anything; karoti: do; saha: he

Having given up all attachment to the results of his action,always satisfied and independent, the wise man does noaction, although engaged in all kinds of action.

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A very simple example on how our perception is what decideseverything including our attachment: If there is a baby and apot of gold lying next to it, suppose a thief comes and stealsthe pot of gold. Would the baby be bothered about it? Doyou think it will be upset about it?

No! The baby would not even know that the thief has donean act of stealing the pot of gold. But, suppose an adultwere to be in the place of the baby. Surely, he would beupset and angry about the thief stealing the pot of gold, is itnot?

What we have inside decides what we see outside. Thechild being blissful and centered within would never seeanything disturbing outside, whereas an adult sees things ina different light because of his attachment and greed.

That is what Krishna says here: be involved completely inthe action yet be detached, independent and satisfied inyourself. Then, you can function beautifully, spontaneously,flowing in tune with the ultimate energy of Existence. Lifethen becomes a celebration. Every breath that you take,every single thing that you do is an act of joy and anexpression of the loving energy in you. Your joy is no longerdependent on what society says or thinks about you or youractions because you are completely centered in yourself.

You see: Whatever we do, whatever we think, we aresubconsciously seeking concurrence and approval from the

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people around us in some subtle way. We are very keen thatwe should earn a good name from everyone. You may notaccept this but if you analyze deeply, you will not be at easewithout the appreciation and endorsement of the peoplearound you. If you just sit and note down, in a day, howmany things you do to get a good name, to maintain yourreputation in society, you will realize.

It is like a signature campaign that you are involved in yourwhole life. All your activities, all your efforts are to get thesignature of the others around you. In a big register, youmake a column, �Good father� and then you do whatever isexpected of you from your children and you ask for theirsignature under the column of �Good father�. Then you go toyour wife, to your boss, to your friends, you make therespective columns like �Good husband�, �Good employee,�Good friend� and then you do all the things that they expectyou to do and ask for their signature under their columns. Ofcourse, all these people also come to you for your signaturein their registers under the columns meant for you.

Why do we bother so much about others� opinions about us?Why are we deriving strength from others? One, we don�tknow anything about ourselves. We know ourselves onlythrough others� opinions of us. Second: When others give ustheir approval and attention, they are actually giving usenergy. Attention is energy.

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Be very clear: when you are dependent on external sourcesfor energy, it only means that you are psychologicallyhandicapped. When you need physical support, you arephysically handicapped. When you need psychologicalsupport, you are psychologically handicapped, that�s all. Withphysical handicap, you know that you are handicappedbecause you can see it clearly, but with psychologicalhandicap, you don�t even know that you are handicapped.

If you have seen children play, you might have seen thembuilding castles with cards. They will place the cards at acertain angle to each other and build several layers of suchpatterns in a pyramid shape. Kids happily build the pyramidand equally happily remove one card from the castle andwatch the whole thing falling down.

Just like this, we build our own self-image like a castle, outof people�s opinions of us and arrange all these certificatesand signatures and build a castle to form our self-image. Theimage would look beautiful but if even one person withdrawstheir certificate, what happens? The castle simply collapses!You start feeling miserable and unfit. You see, at least in thecase of the children, they build their castles with their owncards. But we build our castles with others� certificates. Sowhat do we do? We start working hard in maintaining thecastle. We start behaving in a way such that people don�tremove their certificates. This is how we get enslaved.

Because you don�t know anything about yourself, you turn tosociety for an answer. And society happily puts its labels on

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you, �you are good-looking�, �you are a failure�, and so on.

Like how a parcel without a proper address is pushed fromplace to place, we move around, collecting all the stampsthat society puts on us. By and by, we forget our true natureand that we are not the labels, but the stuff inside theparcel.

I tell you: Never invest so much in others� opinions that theybecome the center of your life. Don�t make others as thesource of your energy. Don�t depend on others for yourpsychological survival.

Be your own source of Energy and inspiration!

Ashtavakra says beautifully, �Bondage is when the mind longsfor something, grieves about something, rejects something,holds on to something, is pleased about something ordispleased about something. Liberation is when the mind doesnot long for anything, grieve about anything, reject anything,or hold on to anything and is not pleased about anything ordispleased about anything. Bondage is when the mind istangled in one of the senses and liberation is when the mindis not tangled in any of the senses. When there is no �me�,that is liberation, and when there is �me� there is bondage.Consider this carefully and neither hold on to anything norreject anything.�

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nirashir yata chitta atma tyakta sarva parigrahahashariram kevalam karma kurvan napnoti kilbisham (4.21)

nirashih: without desire for the result; yata: controlled; chittaatma: mind and consciousness; tyakta: giving up; sarva: all;parigrahaha: sense of ownership; shariram: body; kevalam: only;karma: work; kurvan: doing so; na: never; apnoti: acquire;kilbisham: sinful reactions

The person who acts without desire for the result, with hisconsciousness controlling the mind, giving up all sense ofownership over his possessions and body and only working,incurs no sin.

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Understand, a sense of ownership over possessions and overyour body is the same thing. What can you say are yourpossessions? You came with nothing at all. Can you claimthat you were born with anything that is your own property?Same way, you are going to leave this world also empty-handed. All your possessions and wealth and luxuries, canany of that come with you when you leave this body? No!

People ask me, �Master, why do you wear sherwani (NorthIndian dress) and jewelry?� I normally wear this two-piecesaffron clothes and the only jewelry I wear is these rudrakshabeads. But, when I am going for some discourses or for aspecific event, maybe a corporate event, to adjust to theoccasion, I wear sherwani. I tell them, this body itself is acovering, a cloth for me; what then is this second covering ofclothes?

This very prana, the very life breath that is going inside yourbody through the air you breathe itself is not your property.It is the property of Existence. Your very life is a sheer gift toyou from Existence.

When you realize this, you will immediately see that all yourfears and worries and greed are so baseless; you are runningbehind something thinking it is yours but of what relevanceare these really? When your very life is a gift to you, howcan you claim anything else is your possession?

One more thing: real knowledge comes by experience, notthrough words just by talking about it.

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Let me tell you, the moment you imbibe a single point oftruth or any single dimension of truth in any way, if youcatch a single idea and imbibe it honestly, truthfully, it cando wonders.

Vivekananda says beautifully, �Even if you memorize all thebooks in all the libraries of this world, it will not help you inany way other than increasing your ego over the bookishknowledge you have. Instead of having a whole library inyour head, just know five concepts in your heart.�

I tell you, use only one idea and try to imbibe it in yourbeing, experience it in your life; your life will be transformed;even a single idea, just one idea!

In Tamil Nadu, South India, they describe beautifully the lifeof 63 enlightened masters in a book. The name of the bookis Periapuranam. If you study the life of these Masters fromthis book, you find that there are some Masters who haven�tdone anything, nothing has happened in their lives.

There are some Masters who have just plucked flowers andoffered to God; nothing else. Yet, they achievedenlightenment. It is not what you do that is important. Howhonest you are with the act is what really matters. Whenthey did the act of offering flowers, they were true andhonest to the action.

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We also offer flowers everyday and do all possible things butwe aren�t enlightened. The only thing we get is extraexpense in maintaining the garden or buying flowers! We arenot honest. When these Masters pluck flowers to offer toGod, they are thinking of Him to whom they are offering theflowers. They are totally devoted to the thought of the deityand there is nothing else that is distracting them.

When we pluck flowers, even if it is to offer to a favoritedeity, we are thinking of something else, somebody else. Ihave seen these people who do rituals regularly. Wheneverthey are doing any rituals, they are thinking of somethingelse. Their thoughts are in either their office work or something at home. I have seen these people who regularly chantthe 1000 names of the gods and goddesses, the Vishnusahasranama and Lalitha sahasranama. The moment they startchanting, they start looking at the index number of the versethat they have reached. They are desperate to see how farthey have read and how much else remains to complete thechanting.

The attitude, the intention, the thoughts behind the actionactually decide the energy behind the action, however itmay look externally.

The power of thought is immense. In fact, some of the latestresearch shows how our DNA can be influenced andreprogrammed by words and frequencies. It has actually beenstudied that when a number of people focus their thoughts

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on something similar, like during Christmas or football WorldCup, certain random number generators in computers start todeliver ordered numbers instead of the random ones.

I tell you, all the so-called natural calamities are nothingbut the effects of global negative thoughts.

Your thoughts and Energy directly affect your body, your cellstructure, your decisions, your capacity to fulfill yourdecisions, the outer world incidents, even accidents. Youcreate a mental setup that creates and attracts similarincidents to you.

If you can change your mental setup from greed and fear,which is what we have normally, to one of bliss, or ananda,then your Energy flow will start brimming and your thoughtswill be much clearer and more in the present. When you dothis, you have every power to control the outer worldincidents because you and Existence have a very deepconnection at the Energy level. When you are blissful, whenyour mental setup is not one of worry, fear and greed butone that is in the present, always joyful, you willautomatically attract all good things to yourself.

One thing: All your minds are not individually separatedpieces of the universe. They are all one and the same. Allyour minds are interlinked. Not only interlinked, theydirectly affect each other. This is what I call �CollectiveConsciousness�. Though each one is independent in hisconsciousness, when one is truly conscious of one�s true

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nature, one feels as if one is part of the whole universe.

Thoughts straightaway affect each other. Your thoughts are asinfectious as your cold. People may escape from cold but yourthoughts are more infectious than your cold.

If you catch a cold from someone, you may suffer physicallyfor a few days and then finally get over it. But when youcatch thoughts from people, not only do you suffer mentallybut the suffering is forever; not just once.

Similarly, anything you think, affects the people staying around.Not only are those who are staying around you touched byyour thoughts, everyone living on the planet earth is.

The next truth: Not only in the mental level, even in thedeeper conscious level, you are connected. See, your body isnot just one body. Actually, there are seven layers of bodies.

Physical Pranic Mental Etheric Causal Cosmic Nirvanic

You

I

You God I

God

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The first layer is the physical body. The second is the pranicbody. There are seven such energy layers of the body. Theseenergy layers can be represented as concentric circles withthe physical layer as the outermost circle and the seventhlayer, the nirvanic body as the innermost.

We go into complete detail into these seven layers of bodiesduring the Nithyananda Spurana Program (NSP), our secondlevel meditation program.

In the physical layer, you, God and I can be represented asthree different points in the outermost concentric circle. Inthe physical level, the distance is too much. If you comedown a little, to the pranic level, the distance is reduced. Ifyou come down deeper, to the mental level, the distancebetween you and me is still reduced and so is the distancebetween you, God and I. When you go deeper and deeper,these three entities finally merge into one. Please be veryclear that at the deep end of all these layers, God, you and Iare one. There is no distance.

Once you become aware and realize that you are a part ofcollective consciousness, that you don�t have an individualidentity, you realize that you do not have a separate ego.

You think you own your individual identity. In Existence,there is no such thing as a separate individual identity. Onceyou know this truth, you go beyond pain, sufferings,depressions and diseases.

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Understand this: as long as you are individually conscious,you shall still be continuously suffering. Why do you thinkyou are continuously resisting nature? Whatever nature offers,you resist.

There is a beautiful saying:

Man as a rule is a foolWhen it is hot asking for coolWhen it is cool asking for hotAlways asking what is not

When it is cool, you resist. You think you are different fromExistence. I have seen sanyasi, monks, living in Himalayasliving almost nude in the cold, in the snow. I have myselflived in such conditions, but the body was never disturbed. Inever had a problem. I never thought that I was differentfrom the atmosphere, never had the feeling of separationfrom nature. It is only when you start thinking that you aredifferent from the atmosphere, from the air that is aroundyou, you start resisting it.

The other day I read an interesting interview of this manwho survived his jump into the Niagara falls. If you havebeen to the Niagara Falls, you can imagine the depth of thefact that someone survived jumping down the Niagara Falls.I cannot imagine someone surviving that Niagara Falls. Hesays beautifully, �When I jumped, I became a part of thatNiagara Falls. I felt like I was a part of it. I never felt that Iwas different from the falls.�

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When you are in tune with collective consciousness, whenyou become a part of the collective consciousness, nature iswith you, nature is your friend and nature will protect you.Nature will not harm you. As long as you think that you arean individual consciousness different from nature, nature willprotest you. As long as you are in tune with CollectiveConsciousness, nature protects you.

A very simple thing, you can practice now, if you are feelingcold, just relax, identify the area where you are feeling cold,witness that area. In that area, don�t resist the atmosphere,don�t resist the air, don�t resist the temperature, don�t resistnature and don�t resist Existence. Just say to yourself, �I amnot going to resist nature, I am not going to resist thetemperature, I am not going to resist Existence, let me relax.�Be conscious and decide. With this you will see the bodyrelaxing and the idea of cold disappearing from that part andyou become completely comfortable. When you think you aresomething different from nature, you are disturbed by nature.

The Whole, the Universe, is a hologram of which you are apart. Just as in a hologram, every single part reflects thetotality of that hologram even if it is split, you reflect thetotality of the whole, that is the universe.

Another example, when a living person falls in a well anddies, the dead body floats. The dead body is heavier thanwater. Yet, it floats. But a living body, which is lighter, doesnot float. It drowns. Why do you think this is so? As long as

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you are living, you are not able to relate with water. Your egoprevents that; your mind prevents that. In a dead body thereis no mind and no ego.

Wherever you want to achieve success, in a social or aneconomical context, only when you feel in tune with thewhole group and fall in tune with the CollectiveConsciousness, you will be able to achieve what you want toachieve. As long as you feel you are an individual, you wantto have an idea that you are somebody, an identity, be veryclear that you will be resisted and you will be resisting.Whether it is home or office or workplace or industry, thiswill happen.

If you disappear into the Collective Consciousness, you will beagain and again protected and taken care of. You will attaincomplete success, not only socially and economically, but youwill experience it. It will be a feeling of fulfillment.

As long as you resist the current, whether it is yourworkplace or your house or your company or any place forthat matter, as long as you do not disappear into theCollective Consciousness, you will be continuously creatinghell for yourself and for others.

Even if in the physical layer, if you think you are somethingseparate, be very clear, you will be inviting diseases. Onemore thing, in the mental layer, if you think you areseparate, an individual, again and again, you will be sowing

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the seeds of violence. The seeds of violence will be createdwhen you feel you are an individual. With CollectiveConsciousness, you unify but with individual consciousness,you dissect, you cut things in pieces. Logic always breaks.Intuition always unites. At the soul level, if you think you arean individual, there is no possibility of any spiritual growth.

First thing, at the physical level, you are not an individual.Your body and the body of the sun are straightawayconnected. Any small change in the body of the sun canmake changes in your body. Any small change in your bodycan change the body of the moon. Even if you are not ableto logically relate, it is true.

In the mental layer, also, you are not alone. Any thoughtwhich is put in anyone else�s head comes and touches youand any thought created in someone else�s mind goes andtouches someone else. Any thought sowed by someone cantouch you and affect you.

It is like ripples created in the water on a lake. If you arecreating a strong wave, you will be creating an impressionwith your thought. You will be leading and inspiring otherswith your thought. If your thoughts are not solid enough,other waves will impress you.

Either you live like a leader or you will be a follower. Thereis no in between. You always think, I will not be a leader, Icannot do that much. I will not be a follower either; I shall

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maintain my own stand. This is simply impractical. There isno such thing as my own stand. Either you lead or you follow.

In the mental level also, again and again, if you think youare an individual, you will be resisted. The moment youunderstand that you are a part of the CollectiveConsciousness, you will not be resisted but will be actuallywelcomed and accepted.

In the ultimate way, at the spiritual level, the moment youunderstand that you are deeply connected, totally connected,intensely connected to the whole universe, not only do youstart experiencing bliss, but you really start living, openingmany dimensions of your being.

See, right with this one body, you can think so much, enjoyso much. If you disappear into this Collective Consciousness,you will experience so many dimensions, so many possibilities,you cannot imagine.

See, now that you have one body, you can enjoy so much.Imagine what you can do if you have two bodies. Justimagine what you can do when you have so many bodies.Imagine one body is an air conditioner and the other one is aheater. Imagine three different bodies in different countriesenjoying different cultures. Similarly if the multitudes ofbodies increase, so would be the joy, the bliss. The samething you will experience when you are a part of CollectiveConsciousness.

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During the Indian festival day of Holi, raas purnima, Radhaand the Gopi (women devotees of Krishna) experienced theCollective Consciousness of Krishna. This is referred to asraas leela when Krishna gave them the experience ofCollective Consciousness. We have a very wrong idea aboutthis raas leela. We think that this raas leela is somethingwhere Krishna had a relationship with so many women. Thisis a wrong concept. Krishna was just 10 years old then! Wehave not read the original scriptures and have come up withour own conclusions. We pick up and support what we want.We just want some support from some scripture and somemaster so that we can do something behind his back. So wejust start blaming Krishna. What happened actually was thatHe gave Collective Consciousness experiences to the wholegroup of gopika and Radha. The Collective Consciousness iswhat I call God.

Throughout NSP, the Nithyananda Spurana Program, you willrealize that you are a part of the Collective Consciousness.Not only that you are a part but you are the CollectiveConsciousness. You are not an individual consciousness asyou think. Layer by layer when we go deeper and deeper, youwill realize that you are just one with everything. So,automatically the diseases disappear. You start feeling the wellbeing in the mental layer, the pranic layer, the etheric layer,the physical layer and all the other layers.

You are like an onion. If you peel the onion layer by layer,what is there inside, just emptiness! The onion thinks it has

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got something solid but when it is opened layer by layer, it isempty. Similarly, you think that you are individualconsciousness, but if you peel the individual layers, you willexperience you are nothing but the Cosmic Consciousness,the Collective Consciousness.

In NSP, that is what we do, opening of your minds. You areasked to write for yourself, about your pains, desires, guilt andpleasures. You are not going to show these to anyone else.People ask me why I am asking them to write all this. Youare not going to show me or anybody else. People ask me whythey should write them down when they already know. I tellpeople that by writing them down they are opening theirminds in my presence. When they open their minds, I canheal their minds.

First of all you should understand that I do not heal. Mypresence heals. When the sun rises, lotus blooms by itself.The sun need not go and open the petals of the lotus.Similarly, in the presence of the Master, healing happens.Healing is not done, it happens. I can heal your body as it isin my presence.

In the same way, if you open your mind, it can be healed. Ifyou open it, the sun can heal it. The energy heals all thewounds. NSP is opening up your energy layers one by oneand your pains, pleasures, guilt and desires are opened up.When they open up, you experience God; not only do yousearch for God but experience God, since pure mind is Goditself and not something separate from it.

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ªÉoùSUôÉ±ÉÉ¦ÉºÉxiÉÖ¹]õÉä uùxuùÉiÉÒiÉÉä Ê´É¨ÉiºÉ®ú&*ºÉ¨É& ÊºÉrùÉ´ÉÊºÉrùÉè SÉ EÞòi´ÉÉÊ{É xÉ ÊxÉ¤ÉvªÉiÉä**4.22**

yadruccha labha santushto dvandvatito vimatsarahasamaha siddhav asiddhau cha krutvapi na nibadhyate (4.22)

yadruccha: out of its own accord; labha: gain; santushtaha:satisfied; dvandva: duality; atitah: surpassed; vimatsaraha: freefrom envy; samaha: equal; siddhau: in success; asiddhau:failure; cha: also; krutva: doing; api: although; na: never;nibadhyate: affected

He who is satisfied with profit which comes of its ownaccord and who has gone beyond duality, who is free fromenvy, who is in equanimity both in success and failure, sucha person though doing action, is never affected.

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MÉiÉºÉRÂóMÉºªÉ ¨ÉÖCiÉºªÉ YÉÉxÉÉ´ÉÎºlÉiÉSÉäiÉºÉ&*ªÉYÉÉªÉÉSÉ®úiÉ& Eò¨ÉÇ ºÉ¨ÉOÉÆ |ÉÊ´É±ÉÒªÉiÉä**4.23**

gata sangasya muktasya jnana avasthita chetasahayajnaya acharataha karma samagram praviliyate (4.23)

gata sangasya: unattached to the modes of material nature;muktasya: of the liberated; jnana: knowledge; avasthita:situated; chetasaha: of such spirit; yajnaya: for the sake ofsacrifice; acharataha: practice; karma: work; samagram: intotal; praviliyate: merges entirely

The work of a liberated man who is unattached to themodes of material nature and who is fully situated in theultimate knowledge, who works totally for the sake ofsacrifice, merges entirely into the knowledge.

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We all are taught from childhood that there is a purpose tolife. We are guided that we should all work towards goals inlife, which are almost always material goals. We are expectedto live up to the expectations of our parents, later ourteachers, much later our spouses and children.

There is no purpose to life, except to live. The purpose of lifeis to enjoy life. How can one enjoy life if one gets saddledwith a bagful of goals that bind us down to duties,responsibilities and obligations? We are too stressed out by allthat is expected of us that we have no time to enjoy whatwe are doing. This should be our goal instead.

Life is not about purpose, life is not about goals. Life is notlifestyle. Life is not about impressing people about how rich orhow clever, or how beautiful or how skilled you are. Life isabout enjoying the journey of life. It is not about the stress oflooking for the destination. When the path is right, whenyou enjoy the path, the destination is always right, it willalways be enjoyable.

Only the person who realizes the purposelessness of life canbe satisfied in any action with whatever profit comes of thataction of its own accord. Understand: life has no purpose butit has a meaning. All the time, we are taught that life has agoal, purpose and we run behind various goals hoping toachieve satisfaction in life. But, life has no goal; the verylife, the very path itself is the goal. When you realize this,you relax into the present and are not affected by success orfailure.

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All this jealousy and envy also come when you think that lifehas a goal and somebody else has been given something morethan you to reach this goal. When you understand that youare unique and Existence has equipped you with all that youneed to fulfill all your desires, you will actually be able tolive life. Otherwise, you will only be running behind somegoal or the other and envy others who you think are closerto that goal towards which you are running. You will becaught in this roller-coaster of success and failure.

Understand that the goal of life is like a mirage. It does notexist in reality but it continuously creates illusions of itsexistence. Live life every moment in bliss; enjoy it frommoment to moment and you can see the tremendousdifference it makes to the very quality of your life.

A small story:

This has happened according to the stories in my nativeplace, Thiruvannamalai, a spiritual nerve centre in India. Icall that place a spiritual incubator. Just like prematurebabies need an incubator to supply air and all the basicthings, for an enlightened being to land on the planet earth,you need a spiritual incubator to protect and help theenlightened beings.

The story says, Brahma has to find the head and Vishnu isasked to find the feet of Siva. See the story is beautiful, ithas a beautiful meaning. Who is Brahma? The husband of

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Saraswati. Who is Vishnu? The husband of Lakshmi, wealth.The story says that Brahma started searching the head, thesahasrara.

Vishnu started searching for the feet. Vishnu came back aftersome time and accepted, �I am not able to find; pleaseforgive me.� And Brahma, who realized he will not be ableto find Siva�s head, cut off a flower to give a false witnessthat he touched the head of Siva and brought the flowerfrom there.

You need to understand the story: Vishnu is the embodimentof wealth, Brahma is the embodiment of intellect. Neither bywealth nor intellect you can achieve enlightenment, that isthe truth of the story.

One more important thing, if you dig in the line of wealth,ahankar, you will get frustrated, you will understand, you willface the depression of success and really you will becomehumble. You will fall and you will understand. But if you digin the line of intellect you will never accept you aredefeated.

If you travel in the line of ahankar in the outer world atleast at one point you will understand, you will experiencethe depression of success. You will say, �Enough! Let me rest.I understand that enlightenment can never be achieved inthis line.� But the person who travels in the line of mamakar,the line of intellect, not only does he never achieve, he will

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not even be able to understand that he can not achieve. Theintellect, the ego becomes so sharp, so subtle; he brings falseclaims and false techniques that he has achieved it. Thosefalse claims are only those false flowers, the false witness.

The ultimate knowledge can be reached through sincerity,not through intellect or wealth. Then, you are not caught inrunning behind the senses, behind the inner world or outerworld.

Now, Krishna talks about the different kinds of sacrifices:

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¥ÉÀÉ{ÉÇhÉÆ ¥ÉÀ½þÊ´É¥ÉÇÀÉMxÉÉè ¥ÉÀhÉÉ ½ÖþiÉ¨ÉÂ*¥ÉÀè É iÉäxÉ MÉxiÉ´ªÉÆ ¥ÉÀEò¨ÉÇºÉ¨ÉÉÊvÉxÉÉ**4.24**

brahmarpanam brahma havir brahmagnau brahmana hutambrahmaiva tena gantavyam brahma karma samadhina (4.24)

brahma: Supreme; arpanam: offering; brahma: Supreme; havih:butter; brahma: Supreme; agnau: in the fire of; brahmana:Supreme; hutam: offered; brahma: Supreme; eva: certainly;tena: by him; gantavyam: to be reached; brahma: Supreme;karma: action; samadhina: by complete absorption

The offering, the offered butter to the Supreme in the fire ofthe Supreme is offered by the Supreme. Certainly, theSupreme can be reached by him who is absorbed completelyin action.

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nèù´É¨Éä ÉÉ{É®äú ªÉYÉÆ ªÉÉäÊMÉxÉ& {ÉªÉÖÇ{ÉÉºÉiÉä*¥ÉÀÉMxÉÉ´É{É®äú ªÉYÉÆ ªÉYÉäxÉè ÉÉä{ÉVÉÖ¼´ÉÊiÉ**4.25**

daivamevapare yajnam yoginaha paryupasatebrahmagnav apare yajnam yajnenaivo upajuhvati (4.25)

daivam: gods; eva: thus; apare: others; yajnam: sacrifices;yoginaha: yogis; paryupasate: worship; brahma: Supreme; agnau:in the fire of; apare: others; yajnam: sacrifice; yajnena: bysacrifice; eva: thus; upajuhvati: worship

Some yogis worship the gods by offering various sacrifices tothem, while others worship by offering sacrifices in the fire ofthe Supreme.

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This is a beautiful sloka similar to the Upanishad verse:

Om Poornamada poornamidam Poornad poornamudachyatePoornasya poornamadaya Poornameva vasishyate

The Whole is full. From the Whole, if the Whole isremoved, what remains is still the Whole.

In mathematics, there is a similar analogy: from infinity, ifyou remove infinity, what remains? What remains is stillinfinity!

People ask me often, �Who created the universe?� I tell you,the Universe itself is the creator. The creation, creator andcreated are not three separate things. The Universe itself isthe creator, the created and the creation.

See, if there is somebody creating the universe, that meansthe creator is intelligent and the created and the creationare not. But, the Universe is intelligence. The universe, theCosmic Energy is intelligence and that itself pervades theuniverse.

You and I are manifestations of this Cosmic Energy, we arecreations of the Cosmic Energy. But, what does�manifestations of the Cosmic Energy� mean? The intelligentCosmic Energy pervades our very beings. The Cosmic Energyis the creator; so, we are the creator as well. The creator, thecreation and the created are all the same; they are notseparate identities.

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Earlier I had talked about this Tamil scripture calledPeriapuranam. Periapuranam describes the lives of 63 nayanmar.These nayanmar were great Siva devotees, they were morethan devotees; they were disciples of Siva though Siva wasnot physically present to teach them. The energy of Siva wasenough to teach and fulfill them.

One of these nayanmar did nothing in his life except topluck flowers and offer to Siva. Another sang songs. Inwhatever they did they offered themselves to Siva. Theysacrificed themselves and their action to their beloved Siva.They were so completely absorbed in that activity, whether itwas of gathering flowers or singing songs or whatever else itwas, that nothing else remained in their mind and thoughts.

Even the physicality of Siva was not relevant to thesenayanmar. They were consumed by the energy of Siva. Theysacrificed themselves in the fire of Siva. They were one withSiva. For them, the creator, creation and created were oneand the same.

In the same manner, the gopi of Brindavan immersedthemselves in Krishna. Nothing but Krishna was visible tothem. Radha, the epitome of all gopi, asks a friend. �why isthat wherever I look, and what ever I look at, I see onlyKrishna?�

Says the friend so beautifully, �Radhe, that is because youwear Krishna as your eye shadow. What ever you see is only

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that eye shadow who is Krishna.� A true devotee not onlysees God in everything, but is also ready to sacrifice anythingfor His sake. We shall see the various kinds of sacrifices inthe next few slokas, verses.

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¸ÉÉäjÉÉnùÒxÉÒÎxpùªÉÉhªÉxªÉä ºÉÆªÉ¨ÉÉÎMxÉ¹ÉÖ VÉÖ¼´ÉÊiÉ*¶É¤nùÉnùÒÎx´É¹ÉªÉÉxÉxªÉ <ÎxpùªÉÉÎMxÉ¹ÉÖ VÉÖ¼´ÉÊiÉ**4.26**

Shrotra adini indriyanya anye samyama agnishu juhvatishabdadin vishayan anya indriya agnishu juhvati (4.26)

shrotra adini: hearing process; indriyani: senses; anye: others;samyama: equanimity; agnishu: in the fire; juhvati: offers;shabdadin: sound vibrations; vishayan: objects of sensegratification; anye: others; indriya: of sense organs; agnishu: inthe fire; juhvati: sacrifice

Some sacrifice the hearing process and other senses in thefire of equanimity and others offer as sacrifice the objects ofthe senses, such as sound, in the fire of the sacrifice.

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ºÉ´ÉÉÇhÉÒÎxpùªÉEò¨ÉÉÇÊhÉ |ÉÉhÉEò¨ÉÉÇÊhÉ SÉÉ{É®äú*+Éi¨ÉºÉÆªÉ¨ÉªÉÉäMÉÉMxÉÉè VÉÖ¼´ÉÊiÉ YÉÉxÉnùÒÊ{ÉiÉä**4.27**

Sarvani indriya karmani prana karmani chapareatma samyama yogagnau juhvati jnana dipite (4.27)

sarvani: all; indriya: senses; karmani: actions; prana karmani:activities of the life breath; cha: also; apare: others; atmasamyama: equanimity of the mind; yoga: yoga; agnau: in thefire of; juhvati: offers; jnana: knowledge; dipite: interested in

One who is interested in knowledge, offers all the actionsdue to the senses, including the action of taking in the lifebreath into the fire of yoga and is engaged in the yoga of theequanimity of the mind.

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dravya yajnas tapo yajna yoga yajnas tatha aparesvadhyaya jnana yajnash cha yatayaha samshita vrataha (4.28)

dravya: material wealth; yajnah: sacrifice; tapah: penance;yajnah: sacrifice; yoga: yoga; yajnah: sacrifice; tatha: and;apare: others; svadhyaya: self-study; jnana: knowledge; yajnah:sacrifice; cha: and; yatayaha: enlightened; samshita: strict;vrataha: vows

There is the sacrifice of material wealth, sacrifice throughpenance, sacrifice through yoga and other sacrifices whilethere is sacrifice through self-study and through strict vows.

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+{ÉÉxÉä VÉÖ¼´ÉÊiÉ |ÉÉhÉ |ÉÉhÉä%{ÉÉxÉÆ iÉlÉÉ{É®äú*|ÉÉhÉÉ{ÉÉxÉMÉiÉÒ ¯ûnÂùv´ÉÉ |ÉÉhÉÉªÉÉ¨É{É®úÉªÉhÉÉ&**4.29**

apane juhvati prana prane apanam tatha apareprana apana gati ruddhva pranayama parayanaha (4.29)

Apane: outgoing breath; juhvati: sacrifice; prana: life energy;prane: ingoing breath; apanam: outgoing breath; tatha: and;apare: others; prana: incoming breath; apana: outgoing breath;gati: movement; ruddhva: checking; pranayama: breathcontrol; parayanaha: so inclined

There are others who sacrifice the life energy in the form ofincoming breath and outgoing breath, thus checking themovement of the incoming and outgoing breaths andcontrolling the breath.

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+{É®äú ÊxÉªÉiÉÉ½þÉ®úÉ& |ÉÉhÉÉx|ÉÉhÉä¹ÉÖ VÉÖ¼´ÉÊiÉ*ºÉ´Éæ%{ªÉäiÉä ªÉYÉÊ´ÉnùÉä ªÉYÉIÉÊ{ÉiÉEò±¨É¹ÉÉ&**4.30**

apare niyata aharaha pranan praneshu juhvatisarve apyete yajna vido yajna kshapita kalmashaha (4.30)

apare: others; niyata: controlled; aharaha: eating; pranan: lifeenergy; praneshu: in the outgoing breath; juhvati: sacrifice;sarve: all; api: though; ete: these; yajna: sacrifice; vidaha:knowing; yajna: sacrifice; kshapita: purified; kalmashaha: sinfulreactions

There are others who sacrifice through controlled eating andoffering the outgoing breath, life energy. All these peopleknow the meaning of sacrifice and are purified of sin orkarma.

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ªÉYÉÊ¶É¹]õÉ¨ÉÞiÉ¦ÉÖVÉÉä ªÉÉÎxiÉ ¥ÉÀ ºÉxÉÉiÉxÉ¨ÉÂ*xÉÉªÉÆ ±ÉÉäEòÉä%ºiªÉªÉYÉºªÉ EÖòiÉÉä%xªÉ& EÖò¯ûºÉkÉ¨É**4.31**

yajna shishta amruta bhujo yanti brahma sanatanamna ayam loko astya ayajnasya kuto anyaha kurusattama (4.31)

yajna shishta: as a result of such sacrifice; amruta: nectar;bhujah: tasted; yanti: approach; brahma: Supreme; sanatanam:eternal; na: never; ayam: this; lokah: world; asti: is; ayajnasya:to one who does not sacrifice; kutah: where; anyaha: other;kurusattama: O Best among the Kurus

Having tasted the nectar of the results of such sacrifices,they go to the Supreme Eternal Consciousness. This world isnot for those who have not sacrificed. How can the other be,Arjuna?

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B´ÉÆ ¤É½ÖþÊ´ÉvÉÉ ªÉYÉÉ Ê´ÉiÉiÉÉ ¥ÉÀhÉÉä ¨ÉÖJÉä*Eò¨ÉÇVÉÉÎx´ÉÊrù iÉÉxºÉ´ÉÉÇxÉä ÉÆ YÉÉi´ÉÉ Ê´É¨ÉÉäIªÉºÉä**4.32**

evam bahu vidha yajna vitata brahmano mukhekarma jan viddhi tan sarvan evam jnatva vimokshyase (4.32)

evam: thus; bahu: many; vidhah: kinds of; yajna: sacrifice;vitatah: distributed; brahmanah: of the Veda; mukhe: in theface of; karmajan: born of work; viddhi: should know; tan:then; sarvan: all; evam: thus; jnatva: knowing; vimokshyase: beliberated

Thus, there are many kinds of sacrifices born of workmentioned in the Veda. Thus, knowing these, one will beliberated.

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In all these verses, Krishna talks about the various types ofsacrifices. You should know that when we say �sacrifice�, it isnot just the act of giving but the attitude, the understandingthat is important. Otherwise, you may do everything,following all the rituals according to the scriptures, exactlyfollowing the procedure but you will miss out on the realintent for which the ritual or the act had to be done.

A beautiful story from the Bhagavata Purana:

Once, Krishna was playing with his friends. After playing, hisfriends were tired and they asked Krishna, �O Krishna, weare feeling hungry. Please tell us where we can go for food.�Krishna replied, �Go to the nearby hall where learnedBrahmins are performing a great ritual to attain heaven. Tellthem that you have been sent by me and request them togive you some cooked rice.�

Krishna�s friends went as directed by Krishna to theBrahmins and asked them, �We have been sent here byKrishna who is playing with us nearby. We are hungry andKrishna asked us to seek food from you.�

The Brahmins were all caught up in the rituals and sacrificesaccording to the prescribed procedures. They did not,however, know the intent of the sacrifice. The very Energyfor whom the sacrifice was being made was asking foroffering but the Brahmins could not see that.

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Krishna�s friends returned disappointed and came back andtold Krishna what happened. Krishna on hearing about thefoolish Brahmins just laughed and said, �Now, go to theinnocent wives of these Brahmins and ask them the samething.�

The friends now went to the wives of the Brahmins and toldthem, �O ladies, we have been sent here by Krishna who isplaying with us nearby. We are hungry and have come to youfor food.�

The ladies, on hearing that they had been given such awonderful opportunity to serve, gathered all the food fromtheir houses and rushed to feed Krishna and his friends.

The very act of service, the welcoming attitude is what isimportant.

There is a beautiful verse in the Mahabharata which goes:�With a guest come all the gods. If the guest is honored, soare they; if he goes away disappointed, they are disappointedtoo.�

That is why in Sanskrit, we say, �atithi devo bhava�, the guestis God. �tithi � means date and the prefix �a� negates it.Therefore, one who arrives unexpectedly without prior dateor appointment is the guest.

When somebody comes unexpected also, serve him; that isreal welcoming attitude. The word used for ritual giving inSanskrit, is �dana�, which means sharing, imparting.

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Ayurveda speaks of four kinds of defects which can afflictcooked food: the defect of time (kala dosha) which affectswhen the food has been kept for too long, the defect offlavor (rasa dosha) which causes the food to lose its taste,the defect of company (samsarga dosha) when it is touchedby unclean hands, or in which some insect has fallen andthe defect of sentiment (bhava dosha) which affects when thefood is offered with ill grace or without affection. Such afood is not food, it is poison and the worst out of the fourcategories.

The true meaning of sacrifice lies in the meaning withwhich it is done. Look at the trees. They live for the welfareof others, themselves facing the stormy winds, heavy showers,heat and snow, all the while protecting us from them. Theynever turn away anybody coming to them. Even they don�tturn back the man who is coming to fell them down; theystill give shade and fruits and flowers to that man as well.All of their many parts: leaves, flowers, fruits, shadow, roots,bark, wood and fragrance, are useful to others.

In Mahabharata, after Yudhishtra had won the Great War, hecelebrated it by performing the Aswameda yagna (horsesacrifice). A reigning monarch would let his champion horseloose to wander as it pleased, and all the land it coveredwould become his. If any other king tried to stop the horse,there would be a war. In Yudhishtra�s case after the defeat ofthe Kaurava, he was the unchallenged monarch.

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After the rituals were over, a mongoose came into the ritualspace and rolled around on the ashes of the sacrificial fire.All those who watched were perplexed. This mongooseseemed no ordinary mongoose. One side of it was all golden.The other side was normal brown. Having rolled around, themongoose looked up with a disappointed look andannounced: this sacrifice is nothing compared to that of theBrahmin!

Yudhishtra, the Pandava Prince was startled. Being a gentlesoul, he enquired of the mongoose: what do you mean?

The mongoose recited its experience.

There was a Brahmin, his wife, his son and his daughter-in-law who lived in Kurukshetra. This Brahmin was very poorand subsisted on alms he obtained every day. He would neverstock any food, and would live on what he got each day.One day all that he managed to get was some maize flour.Over the previous few days he had received nothing, and thefamily has not eaten at all. His wife cooked this flour andmade four portions. As they sat down to eat, a strangerknocked on the door seeking food.

The Brahmin invited him in, gave him water to wash anddrink, and requested him to sit with them. He gave theguest the portion that was kept for himself. The guest atethat portion and looked unsatisfied. Immediately, theBrahmin�s wife gave her portion to the guest. The guest ate

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that too with relish and seemed still hungry. In turn the sonand his wife gave their portion too, though they too werefamished.

The guest ate all that was offered to him. He then blessedthe Brahmin and his family: you had nothing for yourselfexcept this little cooked flour. You had not eaten for days.Yet, you sacrificed it to a stranger when he walked inhungry. Hunger destroys a man�s awareness, and leads himastray. You, despite your hunger, maintained your awarenessand dharma. Yours is the greatest of all sacrifices. Yoursacrifice has earned you all and all your ancestors the rightto heaven.

So saying the guest disappeared. A chariot came down totake the Brahmin and his family to heaven. I was in thathouse when this happened. There was a beautiful fragrancethat arose from the flour that the Brahmin�s wife had cooked.Attracted by that fragrance, I rolled on a bit of the flour thatwas scattered. Immediately, my body that touched the flourturned golden. But, alas, there was not enough flour left tocover my entire body.

Since then I have been to all the great sacrifices of all thegreat kings, and I have failed to convert my other halfgolden. Not even one amongst these great sacrifices matchedthe sacrifice of the Brahmin�s family.

So saying, the mongoose disappeared.

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No sacrifice is truly a sacrifice, if one could �afford� to giveaway what is being sacrificed. A wealthy man giving awayalms is not sacrificing anything. He may be doing a gooddeed, that is all.

Krishna mentions many forms of sacrifice here. He talks ofsacrifices of material wealth, yoga and penance; acombination of material, physical, mental and spiritualsacrifices. When these are done by a person at some cost andpain to himself, they would be genuine sacrifices. Otherwisethey would merely be meaningless rituals.

However, even that which is given away by someone who canafford what he is giving away, with good intentions, wouldresult in gains to that person. His very intentions would alterhis mind set and liberate him. A person, who does notbelieve in sharing his wealth, will not only not enjoy hiswealth in this life, but will also, as a result of his mentalmake up, suffer in future births. When one does sacrificewhatever is dear and whatever is difficult to give away, onethen enters a completely different plane of sacrifice, one thatliberates the person. Such a person enters a plane of true nonattachment leading to liberation.

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¸ÉäªÉÉxpù ªÉ¨ÉªÉÉtYÉÉVYÉÉxÉªÉYÉ& {É®úxiÉ{É*

ºÉ´ÉÈ Eò¨ÉÉÇÊJÉ±ÉÆ {ÉÉlÉÇ YÉÉxÉä {ÉÊ®úºÉ¨ÉÉ{ªÉiÉä**4.33**

shreyan dravyamayad yajnaj jnana yajnah parantapasarvam karma akhilam partha jnane parisamapyate

shreyan: superior; dravyamayat: material wealth; yajnat:sacrifice; jnana yajnah: sacrifice in wisdom; parantapa: Osubduer of foes; sarvam: all; karma: activities; akhilam: intotality; partha: O son of Pritha; jnane: in wisdom;parisamapyate: ends in

O subduer of foes, the sacrifice of wisdom is superior to thesacrifice of material wealth. After all, all activities totally endin wisdom.

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iÉÊuùÊrù |ÉÊhÉ{ÉÉiÉäxÉ {ÉÊ®ú|É¶xÉäxÉ ºÉä ÉªÉÉ*

={ÉnäùIªÉÎxiÉ iÉä YÉÉxÉÆ YÉÉÊxÉxÉºiÉk´ÉnùÌ¶ÉxÉ&**4.34**

tad viddhi pranipatena pariprashnena sevayaupadekshyanti te jnanam jnaninas tattva darshinaha

tat: that; viddhi: understand; pranipatena: by approaching aspiritual master; pariprasnena: by questioning; sevaya: byoffering service; upadekshyanti: initiate; te: unto You; jnanam:wisdom; jnaninah: enlightened; tattva: truth; darshinaha: see

Understand these truths by approaching a spiritual Master, byasking Him your questions, by offering service. Theenlightened person can initiate the wisdom unto you becauseHe has seen the truth.

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We spoke about the story of Brahma and Vishnu trying toreach Siva�s crown. Vishnu was able to accept that he failed,whereas Brahma could not. A wealthy person realizes thelimits of wealth, whereas a person of knowledge becomesarrogant. Sacrificing knowledge is far more difficult thansacrificing wealth. For a scholar to admit that he does notknow is similar to committing suicide. He is losing hisidentity.

Krishna advises the seeker to sacrifice one�s knowledge andone�s intellect at His feet; or at the feet of the Master toexperience the Ultimate Truth.

A Master is one who has experienced the Truth. Teacher isone who teaches knowledge by communication. Master is onewho can simply transfer his experience of truth to you. Hecommunes with you.

In Sanskrit, there are three beautiful words to describe this.You are born in the bhu garbha, the womb of the mother; thissignifies your physical birth. The teacher with his love andteachings gives birth to you in the hrit garbha, the womb ofthe heart. The Master gives birth to a completely new you, atransformed being in the jnana garbha, the womb ofknowledge. You become re-born, dvija.

All you need to do is be open to the guru, the Master. Whenyou open yourself to the Master, his presence simply healsyou. He can elevate you to the same experience as His. This

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is what the Vishwarupa darshan is. Krishna elevated Arjunato the same level of Consciousness in which He Himself was.

Understand, Masters have no vested interest for themselves;they have no karma to exhaust. They descend into thisplanet earth out of sheer compassion for humanity.

Just like a low pressure region attracts the winds, so alsowhen a depression is created in this world, when peopledesire for a Master to descend, the formless energy ofExistence descends in a form. This energy is what is knownin different forms as Krishna, Christ, Buddha, different names.

Buddha says,

Buddham saranam gacchamiDhammam saranam gacchamiSangham saranam gacchami

This means,I surrender to BuddhaI surrender to Buddha�s teachingsI surrender to Buddha�s mission

Actually, the Master, his teachings and mission are not threedifferent entities. No! The Master lives in all three, thebody, his teachings and mission. Masters come to dispel theignorance of seekers, to show them the path. Only a third ofthe master�s energy is in the physical body. The other third isin the teachings and another third is in the mission.

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Nithyananda is Nithya-Dhyana-Ananda all in one. Nithya, theMaster in the body as Nithyananda, Dhyana, my teaching andmessage of meditation and Ananda, my mission of bringingforth the fountain of bliss that is lying latent in you, all thethree together constitute the energy called Nithyananda.

It is easy to follow the Master in His physical form becauseMasters are so alluring and attractive by nature and they donot expect you to give them anything is return.

The next level is to follow the teachings of the Master. Thisis slightly more difficult because other than gazing at thebeautiful form of the Master, now you have to actually dosomething. You have to follow his teachings, practice themand not just listen to them. Then, you really internalize whatthe Master teaches but it requires some effort for you.Though it is only for your own growth, your laziness andtamas cause you to not do this.

The final level is where you give your life to the mission andto spreading the Master�s teachings. This is the most difficultsince it requires from you the ultimate commitment for life.

People think ashram life is very easy and it is meant forretired people who can just sit and eat and have an easy life.No! Ashram life is a life of work because you are constantlyimplementing the Master�s teachings and your whole missionis to spread his words.

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When you surrender to the Master, you surrender to hismission and to his teachings as well. When you surrender atthe physical level, you surrender your physical self, yourcomforts to the Master, to imbibe and spread his teachingsand mission.

On the physical level, you sacrifice your comforts, like desiresfor luxury, wealth, food or sleep. I cannot call it sacrificebecause you will feel from your very being that this is whatyou really want to do, this is the best use of your time andenergy.

And I tell you, when you take up the responsibility of themission, you will realize that what seemed to you as a load,as a responsibility is actually a blissful experience. How canthe mission of the Master give anything other than pure bliss?The moment you surrender to the Master and his missionand you stand up to take up the responsibility, you will findthat simply the Divine Energy flows through you and you justflow effortlessly and express yourself most beautifully. All youneed to do is to be stable and available and the DivineEnergy will make you able!

On the mental level, you surrender your intellect to servethe Master and the mission. You surrender your mentalfaculties, mental pursuits to serve the mission according tothe needs of the mission. You become like a liquid flowinginto the shapes and moulds created by the Master. TheMaster knows best the best way in which you can grow. He

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creates the moulds for each of you according to your needsand abilities. Trust Him, drop your solid ego and becomefluid so you can fill in the spaces He creates for you.

On the Being level, when your very being surrenders to theMaster, your Being recognizes clearly the call of the Master.You become a part of the Master. You no longer carry anyseparate identity.

This process of transformation automatically happens whenyou surrender to the Master and his teachings and mission.The water is converted into the formless steam. Like steam,you now explode in all directions; now. There are nolimitations because all boundaries and limitations exist only inthe mind. You now transcend the mind and express yourpotential. The Master tirelessly and compassionately pushesyou in different ways so you can also experience and be inthe same state of eternal bliss.

Masters are established in the truth; out of compassion, theyemote with you in a manner that you can understand. But,the only emotion that a master knows is love. All otheremotions are just affectations to teach you in the languageyou understand. I always tell people, when I showcompassion to you, I cheat you. When I fire you, I teach you.Either way, you grow.

The Veda also clearly declare that a Master is needed. Youmay have access to all the books, the recorded teachings of

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the Masters. But, you have only the words; where is the bodylanguage?

For example, look at Yoga. Yoga as it is taught now has beenreduced to just a form of physical exercise. Of course, it hasphysical benefits but physical health is just one of thebenefits. Yoga as taught by Patanjali is much more than abunch of postures; it is a means to enlightenment. The wayPatanjali conceived it was as a means to enlightenment. But,the body language of Patanjali is no longer there for us; onlyhis words are there. Words can only convey so much; youneed a living Master who is in the same Consciousness, thesame state to convey the underlying essence behind thewords.

There is a beautiful verse in the Guru Gita which says, �TheGuru just wipes off with the big toe of his left foot your fatewhich Brahma has written on your forehead.� The Mastercan change your very destiny. He can simply take you to anew dimension which you could not even have imaginedabout. An astrologer may be able to predict your future, buta Master can simply change your future. He is one with theExistence which is operating this whole Universe; can theenergy which runs the planets and stars not have the powerto handle your life?

The big problem is that it is very difficult to relate with aliving Master. You see, it is very easy for people to relate

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with dead Masters. You can look at him as God. You canproject all your imaginations that you have about God onhim.

See, during Chaitanya Mahaprabhu�s time, there were peoplewho were lamenting to him, �Oh; how we wish we had beenalive at the time of Sri Krishna! We would have been solucky to just catch a glimpse of Him; we would have beenblessed!� The people could not relate to ChaitanyaMahaprabhu, the living Master and they wanted to justescape saying they missed Krishna, who was no longer in thebody.

Same way, during Ramakrishna�s time, there were peoplesaying, �Oh! How lucky we would have been had we beenborn in Chaitnaya�s time!� They had anyways missedChaitanya; now, they simply missed Ramakrishna as well.

When Krishna promises that He descends again and again,what He means is the Krishna energy will descend on Earthagain and again. People think Krishna will come down in thesame form, with the yellow dhoti, the flute in hand and thetwo peacock feathers in the head. Again and again, Krishnahappens on planet earth, but we are so cunning, we manageto miss all the Masters.

Another thing: it is easy to fool yourself escaping from aliving Master and just worshipping a Master who has left thebody. It is easy to escape by just worshipping. You think

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nothing else is needed and you can just tell whatever youwant to the idol, do some rituals and get away with it.There is no transformation. You can just say, �Amayamanahankaram aragam amadam tatha��; �I offer my non-attachment to you�, �I offer my ego to you�. You can say thatto an idol and that idol will be there, just standing. But, ifyou tell me that, what will I do? I will simply catch yourneck, �Eh; where is your non-attachment? Give it here.Where is your ego? Surrender that!�

With the living Master, he will be constantly working onyou, to cut your ego and to show you your true Self which ismuch higher than your small ego. But, the ego is afraid todie at the Master�s hands; so you try to escape.

Just be open to the Master�s energy and you can see yourselfbeing transformed in front of your very eyes. Just being in theMaster�s presence can heal you. Just being open to Hisenergy can get rid of the biggest cancer in you, your ego.

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ªÉVYÉÉi´ÉÉ xÉ {ÉÖxÉ¨ÉÉæ½þ Éä ÉÆ ªÉÉºªÉÊºÉ {ÉÉhb÷ É*

ªÉäxÉ ¦ÉÚiÉÉxªÉ¶Éä¹ÉähÉ pùIªÉºªÉÉi¨ÉxªÉlÉÉä ¨ÉÊªÉ**4.35**

yaj jnatva na punar moham evam yasyasi pandavayena bhutany asheshena drakshyasy atmany atho mayi (4.35)

yat: that; jnatva: knowing; na: never; punah: again; moham:desire; evam: thus; yasyasi: shall go; pandava: O son of Pandu;yena: by which; bhutani: living entities; asheshena: totally;drakshyasi: will see; atmani: in the Supreme; atho: or; mayi: inMe

O Pandava , knowing this you will never suffer from desire orillusion, as you will know that all living beings are in theSupreme, in Me.

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Narada once asked Krishna what maya is. Krishna put himthrough an experience to make him understand maya.

Krishna told Narada, �I am thirsty, Narada. Can you bringme some water to drink?� Narada immediately said, �Yes, MyLord. I will get you a pitcher of water right now.� Naradarushed to get Krishna water. He reached a house andknocked on the door desperately asking for some water.

A beautiful lady opened the door. As soon as she opened thedoor, Narada was so struck by her beauty and forgot hisquestion itself. He fell in love with the lady and proposed toher instead. The lady agreed, Narada got married to her.Years passed and they had children and they were livinghappily.

One day, a huge flood came and swept all the neighboringvillages. The flood reached Narada�s village as well. Narada,desperate to save his family and himself, took his family andtried to get away to higher land.

But, the flood was huge and as they were trying to wadethrough the waters, holding hands, a current of water sweptand took Narada�s son whom he was holding in one hand.His son was swept away by the waters.

As he struggled to grab his son, Narada�s wife who washolding on to his other hand, was pulled by the flood. Shewas separated from him and the water simply swept her away.

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Losing both his son and wife, Narada was completelyovercome by sorrow and was crying aloud. Just then, Krishnaappeared on the scene and asked, �Narada, what happened toyou? You went to get water for me. Where were you?�

Suddenly, it occurred to Narada in a flash as the wholething passed by in front of his eyes. The whole scene justpassed before his eyes and Narada understood what maya is.

He understood the meaning of maya, the attachment to theephemeral which is bound to perish one day or the other.

When you realize your true Self, that is when you starttalking like Ashtavakra who declares beautifully,

�I am infinite like space and the natural world is like a jar.To know this is knowledge and then there is neitherrenunciation, nor acceptance, nor cessation of it.

I am like the ocean and the multiplicity of objects iscomparable to a wave. To know this is knowledge and thenthere is neither renunciation, nor acceptance nor cessation ofit.

I am like the mother of pearl, and the imagined world is likethe silver. To know this is knowledge, and then there isneither renunciation, nor acceptance, nor cessation of it.

Alternatively, I am in all beings, and all beings are in me. Toknow this is knowledge, and then there is neitherrenunciation, nor acceptance, nor cessation of it.�

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When you realize the truth that you too are one with theuniverse, there is nothing more to desire; there is nothing tobe attached to. There is no longer any differentiationbetween who you are and what the universe is. Maya, theillusion of that separation disappears. That is why the Masteris called guru, one who leads you from gu, which is darknessto ru that is light; one who leads you from ignorance to bliss.

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+Ê{É SÉänùÊºÉ {ÉÉ{Éä¦ªÉ& ºÉ´Éæ¦ªÉ& {ÉÉ{ÉEÞòkÉ¨É&*ºÉ´ÉÈ YÉÉxÉ{±É´ÉäxÉè É ´ÉÞÊVÉxÉÆ ºÉxiÉÊ®ú¹ªÉÊºÉ**4.36**

api ched asi papebhyaha sarvebhyaha papa kruttamahasarvam jnana plavenaiva vrjinam santarishyasi (4.36)

api: even; chet: if; asi: are; papebhyaha: of sinners; sarvebhyaha:of all; papa: sins; kruttamaha: greatest sinner; sarvam: all;jnana plavena: by the boat of knowledge; eva: certainly;vrjinam: the ocean of miseries; santarishyasi: cross completely

Even if you are the most sinful of all sinners, you willcertainly cross completely the ocean of miseries through theboat of knowledge.

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This whole concept of sin and virtue is societal. In somesocieties, it is a sin to marry more than once while in someothers, it is not. In some societies, animal sacrifice is a sinwhile in some others, it is a religious ritual.

Knowledge makes the whole difference. Here, Krishna saysbeautifully, �Even if you are the most sinful of all sinners, youwill certainly cross completely the ocean of miseries throughthe boat of knowledge.�

At the spiritual level, the concept of sin does not exist. It isa creation of man, of man made institutions, of religious,societal and political organizations to control others throughfear. In all such institutions you will find different sets ofrules apply to those who rule and to those who are ruled. Allare not judged by the same standards. A king will beimmune to any sin and punishment whereas his subjects willbe at the king�s mercy to be judged and punished.

There is a common understanding, or shall I saymisunderstanding that Eve committed the original sin byeating the apple at the persuasion of the snake. Thisunderstanding did not come from Christ, as this lore is part ofthe Old Testament which predates Christ by thousands ofyears. This legend of Adam and Eve and creation is commonto Judaic, Christian and Islamic traditions.

If this is to be true, none of us should be eating apples.

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The original sin is merely one of forgetting our true nature,our true divine nature. Animals do not care whether they areanimals or divine. They flow with nature. They eat whenthey are hungry, mate when nature guides them, and sleepwhen they are tired. In that sense, they are one with nature,one with divinity. They are not confused like us humans.

Humans eat when they don�t have to, and become obese.They watch TV long after they are tired and eyes areclosing. Sex is no longer for perpetuation of species, butentertainment. We have corrupted our true nature throughmisuse of our intellect. That is the sin we have committed.

When you have the true knowledge, the intent, theunderstanding of what you are doing, the very intent andknowledge will make the action divine, the act will nolonger be just a ritual but it will be a means to reach theUltimate. Automatically, you will cross the ocean of miseriesbecause misery itself is a result of ignorance of your true Self.

When �spirit� is added to a �ritual�, it becomes �spi-rituality�.When wisdom is blended into the ritual, it truly becomes theprayer.

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ªÉlÉèvÉÉÆÊºÉ ºÉÊ¨ÉrùÉä%ÎMxÉ¦ÉÇº¨ÉºÉÉiEÖò¯ûiÉä%VÉÖÇxÉ*YÉÉxÉÉÎMxÉ& ºÉ´ÉÇEò¨ÉÉÇÊhÉ ¦Éº¨ÉºÉÉiEÖò¯ûiÉä iÉlÉÉ**4.37**

yathaidhamsi samiddho agnir bhasma sat kurute arjunajnana agniha sarva karmani bhasma sat kurute tatha (4.37)

yatha: as; edhamsi: firewood; samiddhah: blazing; agniha: fire;bhasmasat: turns into ashes; kurute: does; arjuna: O Arjuna;jnana: wisdom; agnih: fire; sarva: all; karmani: actions; bhasmasat: to ashes; kurute: does; tatha: and

Just as a blazing fire turns firewood to ashes, O Arjuna, sodoes the fire of wisdom burn to ashes all actions, karma.

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A beautiful story:

Once, there were four blind men. They were travelingthrough a forest. They came across an elephant. But, none ofthem had ever seen an elephant in their lives. All that theyhad known in their lives was through the four senses ofhearing, touch, taste and smell. So, when they came acrossthe elephant, each of them started touching and feeling itand tried to figure out what it is in front of them.

The first man touched the elephant�s trunk and said, �Oh;this is a tree trunk in front of us.� The second persontouched the legs and said, �No; this is a stump of wood!�

The third person touched the tail and said, �No way! This isa rope!� The fourth person who was touching the body said,�This is a boat!�

Even if you are not blind, almost all of what your senses feedinto you can be false and interpreted based on yourinclination. What you perceive through your senses isinterpreted by the filter of your ego. Your ego decides as tohow you understand what you see, hear, touch, taste orsmell, and thereafter how you act.

There is only so much you can see through the lens of yourego. Whatever you see will be tinted because you are seeingit through your mind, through your biased perceptions basedon past memories. To see the Truth, you need to really �see�

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beyond your ego, mind and senses. When you do that, youcan see the infinite dimensions of the Ultimate.

The words that you gather cannot give you the ultimateknowledge. When you just gather words without digestingthe meaning, either indigestion sets in or you start vomitingout those words on others.

A small story:

Once a blind man went to a doctor to see if he had anyhopes to get his eyesight back. The doctor checked him andsaid, �Yes; I can do an operation and you can get youreyesight back. Then, you can drop your stick and startwalking.�

The man replied, �Doctor, I understand I will get my eyesightback. But, how can I walk without the stick?�

The blind man can not understand that he cannot walkwithout a stick. He does not even know what it means to beable to see. Simply, the doctor has to do the operation andgive him back his eyesight and automatically, he will dropthe stick.

When I tell people to drop their mind, they look at me as ifI am a mad man. �How can we drop the mind?� they ask. �Itis easy for you, you have renounced everything, you have nowife, no responsibilities, and on top of it you are enlightened.

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So, you can talk. How can we living in this ocean ofbondage, the samsara sagara, be mindless and survive?�

It is when you drop the mind, it is when you stop connectingyour thoughts to form a shaft, it is only then you really start�seeing�. Your ego stops interfering with the truth of what yousee; it stops filtering and adding tones to what your sensesexperience. Your baggage of value systems and beliefs, yourembedded memories, and your samskara dissolve and the newyou is born. You are reborn.

All your actions then arise out of intuition, from thesuperconscious state, the state of truth, where no mind canexist.

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xÉ Ê½þ YÉÉxÉäxÉ ºÉoù¶ÉÆ {ÉÊ´ÉjÉÊ¨É½þ Ê´ÉtiÉä*iÉiº´ÉªÉÆ ªÉÉäMÉºÉÆÊºÉrù& EòÉ±ÉäxÉÉi¨ÉÊxÉ Ê´ÉxnùÊiÉ**4.38**

na hi jnanena sadrusham pavitram iha vidyatetat svayam yoga samsiddhaha kalena atmani vindati (4.38)

na: never; hi: certainly; jnanena: with wisdom; sadrusham: incomparison; pavitram: pure; iha: this; vidyate: exists; tat: that;svayam: himself; yoga: in devotion; samsiddhaha: matured;kalena: in time; atmani: in himself; vindati: enjoys

Truly, in this world, there is nothing so pure as wisdom. Andone who has matured to know this enjoys in himself in duecourse of time.

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¸ÉrùÉ´ÉÉÄ±±É¦ÉiÉä YÉÉxÉÆ iÉi{É®ú& ºÉÆªÉiÉäÎxpùªÉ&*

YÉÉxÉÆ ±É¤v´ÉÉ {É®úÉÆ ¶ÉÉÎxiÉ¨ÉÊSÉ®äúhÉÉÊvÉMÉSUôÊiÉ**4.39**

Shraddhavan labhate jnanam tatparaha samyate indriyahajnanam labdhva param shantim achirena adhigacchati (4.39)

shraddhavan: faithful person; labhate: achieves; jnanam:wisdom; tatparaha: attached to it; samyata: controlled;indriyaha: senses; jnanam: wisdom; labdhva: having achieved;param: Supreme; shantim: peace; achirena: without delay;adhigacchati: attains

A person with shraddha (faith) achieves wisdom and hascontrol over the senses. Achieving wisdom, without delay, heattains the Supreme peace.

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Again, here, Krishna uses the word �shraddha�. Actually,shraddha cannot be translated as faith. Shraddha does notmean faith, it means faith plus courage to execute the idea,courage to experiment with the idea is shraddha. Courage toexperiment with the idea is what is shraddha.

When you have the knowledge and at the same time, youhave courage to follow the teachings, then you can achievethe Ultimate.

Many people do not have the courage to follow their resultsthrough. When Galileo declared that it is the earth that goesaround the sun, while the Christian belief at that time wasthat everything revolves around the earth, he waspersecuted. In his writings, he actually has a footnote: �Wecan deny this but since the earth and sun are not Christians,they will continue to move the way they do, irrespective ofChristian beliefs!�

If you see our Eastern rishi, they did so much of innerresearch for millions of years. Millions of rishi have done full-time research for thousands of years using their bodies andminds as inner laboratories. This knowledge of the innerworld is the result of their courageous experiments andstudies. They were true inner scientists who had not only thecuriosity and perseverance to know but also the courage tofollow their findings.

Look at Patanjali, he boldly declares all that he says in the

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Yoga Sutra is completely open to experimentation andverification. You are free to try this and if you find anythingmore to be added or edited, you are free to do so. He hasexperimented and presented his research report; he invitesyou to try out these in your life and if you learn somethingmore from that, his work is open to editing. That is thebeauty of our system; it is a living system open to beingupdated.

Our Masters have declared, it is the truth that matters; sothey present their research reports based on what they havelearnt from experience. If something can be lost by practicingthe Truth, it is better to lose it. Whatever cannot stand, letit be washed away. It is better for our Being that it be lost asearly as possible.

Of all religious and spiritual doctrines, it is only thescriptures of the Sanatana Dharma, the eternal path ofrighteousness, as the Hindu philosophy is called, that allowthemselves to be updated. The Veda and the Upanishad, thegreat sruti, which we believe are the voices of nature, are notrules and regulations. They are truths to be understood andfollowed only in awareness. There are no punishments if onedoes not follow them, nor is one condemned a sinner, as inmany other religions.

The rules and regulation, which followed in later days, thesmruti, came clearly with the injunction that they can bemodified if there was need. Nothing was sacrosanct just

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because it was uttered. There was no word of God whichwas a sin not to follow. All what we follow blindly today astraditions, came through societal wisdom. It is for us to siftthrough the truths of these with conscious awareness.

Once tested, proven and accepted, we need to have thecourage to practice these truths. Mere knowledge isinsufficient. That is what shraddha is about. With shraddha,faith combined with courage, you make the effort to conqueryour senses, and direct your mind towards truth, instead ofyour mind and senses leading you wherever they wish to.

Many people in this world have Lakshmi (wealth), Saraswati(knowledge) but very few people have Kali (courage) tofollow. When Lakshmi and Saraswati join with Kali, yourliberation is assured.

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+YÉ¶SÉÉ¸ÉqùvÉÉxÉ¶SÉ ºÉÆ¶ÉªÉÉi¨ÉÉ Ê´ÉxÉ¶ªÉÊiÉ*xÉÉªÉÆ ±ÉÉäEòÉä%ÎºiÉ xÉ {É®úÉä xÉ ºÉÖJÉÆ ºÉÆ¶ÉªÉÉi¨ÉxÉ&**4.40**

ajnash cha ashraddha nascha samshayatma vinashyatinayam loko asti na paro na sukham samshaya atmanaha(4.40)

ajnah: with no wisdom; cha: and; ashraddhanash: lack of faith;cha: and; samshaya: doubt; atma: person; vinashyati: destroy;na: never; ayam: this; lokah: world; asti: is; na: not; parah:next; na: not; sukham: happiness; samshaya: doubt; atmanaha:of the person.

Those who have no wisdom and faith, who always havedoubts, are destroyed. There is no happiness in this world orthe next.

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ªÉÉäMÉºÉÆxªÉºiÉEò¨ÉÉÇhÉÆ YÉÉxÉºÉÆÊUôzÉºÉÆ¶ÉªÉ¨ÉÂ*+Éi¨É´ÉxiÉÆ xÉ Eò¨ÉÉÇÊhÉ ÊxÉ¤ÉvxÉÎxiÉ vÉxÉ\VÉªÉ**4.41**

Yoga sannyasta karmanam jnana sanchinna sanshayamatmavantam na karmani nibadhnanti dhananjaya (4.41)

yoga: yoga; sannyasta: renounced; karmanam: actions; jnana:knowledge; sanchinna: cut; samshayam: doubts; atma: self;vantam: situated; na: never; karmani: actions; nibadhnanti:bind; dhananjaya: winner of riches

O winner of riches, one who has renounced the fruits of hisactions, whose doubts are destroyed, who is well-situated inthe self, is not bound by his actions.

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iÉº¨ÉÉnùYÉÉxÉºÉÆ¦ÉÚiÉÆ ¾þiºlÉÆ YÉÉxÉÉÊºÉxÉÉ%%i¨ÉxÉ&*ÊUôk´ÉèxÉÆ ºÉÆ¶ÉªÉÆ ªÉÉäMÉ¨ÉÉÊiÉ¹ö`ÉäÊkÉ¹`ö ¦ÉÉ®úiÉ**4.42**

tasmad ajnana sambhutam hrit stham jnana asina atmanahachittvainam samshayam yogam atishthottistha bharata (4.42)

tasmat: therefore; ajnana: ignorance; sambhutam: born of; hrit:heart; stham:

situated; jnana: knowledge; asina: by the weapon of;atmanaha: of the self; chittva: cutting off; enam: this;samshayam: doubt; yogam: in yoga; atishtha: situated; uttishtha:stand up; bharata: O descendant of Bharata

O descendant of Bharata, therefore, stand up, be situated inyoga. Armed with the sword of knowledge, cut the doubtborn of ignorance, that exists in your heart.

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Beautiful sloka! Krishna says, there is no happiness for thosewho always have doubts and who have no knowledge andfaith. He uses the word �always�. He does not say that fromthe beginning itself, you should not have any doubts. Havingdoubts is natural; as long as you have the mind, doubts willbe there. But, you can go beyond it.

In the Siva Sutra, Devi asks, �Oh Siva, what is your reality?What is this wonder-filled universe? What constitutes theseed? Who centers the universal wheel? What is this lifebeyond form, pervading forms? How may we enter it fullybeyond space and time, names and descriptions? May mydoubts be cleared.�

Beautifully she expresses her whole state of mind throughthese few words. The last words, beautiful words �Let mydoubts be cleared�. She never says, �Please answer myquestions.� If she had made that mistake �answer myquestion�, she would have produced one more Gita.

See, in the Gita, Arjuna is not ready to surrender to Krishnacompletely; that is why in the beginning Krishna has to givehim all the intellectual answers. Arjuna thinks he can solvehis confusion through these answers; he doesn�t know thatthese are much deeper doubts and need to be clearedthrough experience of the truth. That is why Krishna has togive more than 700 verses to first convince Arjuna that hedoes not know. When Arjuna finally gives up saying �I don�tknow� then Krishna reveals Himself; He reveals the Truth

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and makes Arjuna experience it because that is the only wayhe will realize the Truth.

If you say �let my questions be answered�, you want onlyintellectual answers. But Devi says, �Let my doubts becleared, whether you give words or energy or techniques, Idon�t bother, but let me be free from doubts.�

When question becomes quest, you start speaking in thislanguage. When urge become urgent, you start speaking inthis language.

Devi starts with beautiful words, �Let my doubts be cleared�.This shows a deep surrender of Devi. Deep, passive, waiting,without knowing what is going to happen is passivesurrender. That is what I call total surrender.

Actually, the moment you decide �I will wait forever�, simplythings start happening. As long as you are in a hurry andagitated, you stop things from happening in you. It is like youtry your best for the lotus to blossom. What will you do? Youopen the petals by hand. Will it be a flower? It will never bea lotus flower. Lotus flower can be called a lotus flower onlywhen it blossoms by itself. Give a little space.

The moment you decide to wait, simply things starthappening, you don�t have to wait anymore. You have to waittill you decide to wait. The moment you decide to wait, youdon�t have to wait anymore.

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When you ask �why�, you cannot reach the truth. Becauseyou are not even ready to see �what� and you ask the �why�before that. Just allow the Master to do the operation andgive you back your true Self and automatically, you will dropwhat you are not.

Krishna refers here to the stages in the Master-disciplerelationship. There are many levels. The first is pureintellectual, doubt-based. �Doubt-based� refers to the negativedoubts, which are purely intellectual. It is like you are tellingyourself on seeing the Master, �Eh! What is this guy going tosit and do? Let us see. How is this fellow able to mobilizesuch a big crowd at such a young age? He seems to behardly 30. Doesn�t seem to be trained in marketing anddoesn�t seem to be very intelligent also. How this fellow ismobilizing such a big crowd around him? What is going on?�

Then, the next step is intelligence; from intellect tointelligence. You tell yourself, �Why not attend this programand see what this fellow is really doing?� By this time, it haschanged from �What this fellow is doing!� to �Oh; I think hemeans something. But, I neither believe nor disbelieve. Ok;let us see.� The intellect is becoming intelligence. You aregiving little space for the Master.

Then, next, if you continue to start looking in, first fromintellect to intelligence, then from intelligence tointelligence combined with emotion, like 60% intelligence,40% emotion, that is the time you will feel like a friend.

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After that, it becomes 60% emotion and 40% intelligence.That is the time you will feel like the Master is like an elderlike a father or mother or lord or teacher. You feel respectful.

And then, the relation becomes pure emotion. You will feel adeep connection like a mother and son.

Then, after that, it is neither emotion nor intellect norintelligence. It is a Being level relation. It is the deepconnection of a beloved, the madhura bhava.

And suddenly, you will see, not even the beloved, beyond thebeloved. You start experiencing the mahabhaava, what I callthe guru disciple, experiencing you as the Master. That iswhat I call �Tat tvam asi�. �Tat tvam asi� means �That artthou�.

First it is just intellect, where you have doubts. But, youhave to go beyond that. If you are stuck in this level ofnegative doubts, naturally you will suffer with the doubts andmisery. The next level is intelligence, then 60% intelligenceand 40% emotion, then 60% emotion and 40% intelligence,then pure emotion, then 60% emotional and 40% beinglevel, then pure being level and then all these andsomething more.

I am presenting this secret science as a hypothesis. Now youare welcome to analyze this with your questions. Thismysterious inner science, the mysterious great science we willanalyze; we will analyze with your questions.

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Q. Dear Master, how to find our whether somebody isenlightened or not?

A. Arjuna asks the same question. I think in the secondchapter, Krishna answers this same question. Let me give youthe sloka.

Arjuna asks:

Sthitaprajnyasya ka bhasha samadhisthasya keshavaSthitadheeha kim prabhasheta kim aseeta brajeta kim (II.54)

Sthitaprajnyasya ka bhasha samadhisthasya keshava

Arjuna says, �Krishna, what are the symptoms of those whoseconsciousness is thus merged in transcendence? How does hespeak and what is his language? How does he sit and howdoes he walk?

This is a question from the second chapter. Of course, in thesecond chapter, Arjuna is not ready to even relate withKrishna. That is why Krishna is explaining aboutenlightenment.

Immediately Arjuna asks how to find out whether somebodyis enlightened or not; how an enlightened man would walkand sit. Actually he is addressing this question to find outwhether Krishna is enlightened or not!

For example when Krishna says that these are the qualities ofenlightenment and explains about it, immediately, Arjuna

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asks, �how does an enlightened man behave, tell me�. Whatdoes this mean? First thing, he doubts Krishna, Krishna�sauthority. He wants some scale with which he can measureKrishna.

But one important thing, even though out of compassion,Krishna tries here to answer logically, you cannot logicallymeasure. That is the Ultimate Truth. Just out of compassion,Krishna tries to give some idea. Actually, Krishna is justpostponing the question, He does not answer. There are two-three methods.

A person came to me and he asked me, �Master, please tellme how to realize God. How to achieve God? Teach mesomething about God, Atman.�

I just told him, �Yes, how are you? Where are you from?What are you doing? What is your wife doing? How is yourfamily?�.� I started talking. And he also started talkingsomething. The conversation went on and on. After that hewas with me three hours, but he didn�t raise the subjectagain!

He forgot the very question. He did not even remember thequestion which he asked. He did not even come to thesubject. Then understand how important this question is forhis life.

He asked just because he had to ask something. When you

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see the Master, you feel you have to show that you havesome spiritual interest, some way you have to relate withhim. And you have to show you also know a few words.

I have seen few pundits. They come and stand in front of meand recite long big terminology; big, big words. One guycame and told me, �Master, tell me the mantra to relate withthe eighteen-handed Kali�. He was asking me to give himthe mantra to do worship of the eighteen handed Kali. �Sheshould listen to what I say. Give me the mantra�.

I told him, �First learn the mantra to make your two-handedwife listen to your words! First learn how to handle two-handed women! Then you can go about learning how towork with eighteen handed women!�

You don�t know the basic science of life, how to live withyour wife! You want to learn big words. And we always wasteour life with big words, with big terminology.

And this guy who wanted to know about God forgot thequestion! After that he spent with me two-three hours, hedid not even remember the question. He asked the questionjust because he had to speak something. It was not hisquest. Questions are answered in one way; quest isaddressed in the other way.

Please be very clear, questions are answered in one way,

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quest is addressed in the other way. One person came to me,young man, and he asked me, �Master, have you seen God?�It seems he had read lot of Ramakrishna and Vedantaliterature. And I could see that he was wearing theVivekananda medallion around his neck.

He asked, �Have you seen God?� I asked him, �Have you readRamakrishna and Vivekananda�s life?� He said, �Yes! I amasking you like how Vivekananda asked Ramakrishna. Sameway I am asking you. Have you seen God?�

I just caught hold of his shirt, so that he should not runaway. Then I said, �Ramakrishna said that he had seen God.And simply Vivekananda followed Ramakrishna. Throughouthis whole life he was with Ramakrishna. Now I tell you, notonly I have seen, I will show you, come!�

The fellow ran away! He just disappeared. He escaped andran away.

Then I told him, �Don�t ask the question if you can�t takethe responsibility, just because you read Ramakrishna andVivekananda�s lives.� Vivekananda asked Ramakrishna, true.But he had the courage, guts, to follow Ramakrishna. WhenRamakrishna said �Yes, I have seen God�, he followed. I toldhim, not only I have seen Him, I�ll show you, come. Thefellow just escaped!

We always waste our lives with empty words. Question will

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be addressed in a different way, quest will be addressed in adifferent way. Here is a question. Arjuna is asking aquestion. It is not a quest.

He asks:

Sthitaprajnyasya ka bhasha samadhisthasya keshavaSthitadheeha kim prabhasheta kim aseeta brajeta kim

How to find out whether it is a question or quest, do youknow? If it is quest, you will have only one word, you willput one question and stop, you will wait for answer.

If it is just an intellectual question, you will continuouslyarrange ten words. Here he is asking ten questions: How doeshe speak? What is his language, how does he sit and how doeshe walk? That means, he is not even interested in answer.

If you are interested in the answer, you will stop with thefirst question. You will wait for the answer. Then you willput the next question. But here he goes on putting thequestions, purely intellectual. Arjuna is on the process. He ison the process. Then Krishna starts.

Of course, please be very clear, Krishna is not answering. Heis just postponing the question. He knows that answering thisquestion is in no way going to help. So He answers in such away that Arjuna would neither feel he did not receive theanswer, nor could he come to a conclusion with the answer!

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Here He is giving an answer:

Prajahati yada kaman sarvan partha manogatanAtmany evatmana tushtaha sthithaprajnyas tadochyate

He says, Partha, when a man controls all types of desires andselfish deeds which arise from the mind and when he remainssatisfied with himself and his consciousness, in his eternalbliss, then he is said to have a stable mind and life.

All right, how many of you can find out with this scale,whether somebody is enlightened or not? Tell me. Here Hehas given the answer. Can any of us use this answer? Afteranswer, you will have more problem than before answer!

Actually, sometimes, by giving an answer, you will createmore questions than what existed before the question wasposed! Originally if Arjuna had ten questions, after thisanswer, he would have had have twenty questions! Becauseanswer says, �who is completely established in his ownconsciousness, who is satisfied in his own consciousness, he issaid to have stable mind and life.�

And He says, �He is said to have�. He is not giving from Hisexperience. He could have said, �He is sthithaprajna� But Heis not saying that. �It is believed, or said to have stable mindand life�; He is just trying to escape, putting the blame onthe tradition. He is not directly coming in the front. He isnot confronting the question directly. He is just passing itaway.

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Ramakrishna, whenever the close disciples ask for some boon,he would say, �Don�t worry, I�ll take care.� Whenever hewanted to avoid, he would say �Go to Kali and pray. Go toKali and pray!� He would say, �No No, go there to the Kalimandir (temple), Kali is there, go there and pray!� He wouldnot put himself in the front. He would just avoid. The samething Krishna is doing here. He is saying, �It is believed� sothat if some more questions come, He can always escape.

Next sloka:

Dukheshvanu dvignamanaha sukheshu vigataspruhahaVeetaraga bhaya krodhaha sthiradheer munir uchyate (II.56)

The translation goes: One whose mind remains free fromemotional agitation, even in miseries and does not search forpleasure and who is free from attachments, fear, anger iscalled an enlightened man who is in eternal bliss, eternalconsciousness.

If your inner space is not filled with too much of emotionalattachments, it can freely flow in life. It can freely flow inlife.

Many people ask me, �Master, how are you continuously ableto quote from the scriptures? From where are you able to getso much of information? How are you able to speak so manythings?� I tell them, �Very simple secret.� So many people ask,�How are you able to have such a sharp memory? Give us atechnique to have sharp memory.�

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This is the ultimate important technique for sharp memory.How to have sharp memory? Just drop the emotionalattachments.

It is just like how a computer works. If your hard disc isfilled with high-resolution photographs, what will happen? Itwill crash! If it is filled only with word documents, it canhandle any amount of memory. Your emotional attachmentmakes word documents into high-resolution photographs.Word documents are transformed into high-resolutionphotographs, high-resolution pictures by your emotionalattachment to it.

When you are emotionally attached to it, again and againyou remember only that. That portion takes away majority ofyour inner space. Your whole inner space is swallowed, takenaway, by that one particular picture.

If at all you can do surgery in your inner space and peerinside, you will see that most of your whole inner space isfilled with four-five big-sized photographs. Your wife or familyor your kid or your close family, only those four-five pictureswould be there in high resolution. 90% of your hard disc isfilled with these four-five high-resolution pictures. That iswhy you don�t have memory space left for any other work.Your whole memory space is already occupied. No memoryspace is left.

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But if at all you can bring down, if at all you can reduce theemotional attachment, for these few high-resolution pictures,you will be able to handle more word documents, more worddocuments.

That is the secret here Krishna is giving. Whose inner spaceis completely free, whose hard disc is completely clean, whocan process any information at any time, whose inner space isopen, free and sharp, he is called sthithaprajna. He is calledthe person who is in eternal consciousness.

These are all few answers Krishna gives for Arjuna. But I tellyou, with this scale, you will never be able to find who isenlightened or who is unenlightened, by using this scaleintellectually it is simply impossible.

If you want an honest answer, I can tell one thing, you cannever find logically. If somebody is enlightened, when you seehim, simply something will happen inside your heart. Beyondyour intellect, your whole heart will fall in tune with him.Simply you will not be able to forget him.

You will be pulled. Your whole being will be attracted. Yourwhole being will be automatically filled by him. You will notknow what is happening to you. You yourself will not be ableto understand or analyze logically.

You will be just waiting, when can I see him next? When canI see him next? Simply your heart will fall in love. I can say,with Masters, you rise in love. With ordinary people, you fall

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in love; with Masters, you rise in love. Simply something willhappen in your space. Beyond your control, beyond yourlogic, your heart knows, he is enlightened. Simply you can�tsay no to him.

Be very clear, if that happens, that person is going to helpyou. That person is going to show you what life is. Thatperson is your Master. If that doesn�t happen, don�t bother,continue your search. You will meet the right person.Continue your search, you will meet the right person.

Don�t bother who is enlightened, who is not enlightened.Intellectually you cannot find out. If somebody is going tohelp you, simply your heart will fall in tune with him. If itfalls in tune with him, even if he is not enlightened, he willhelp you. You will be helped by him. Even if he is notenlightened, you will be helped by him.

If your heart has not fallen in tune, even if he isenlightened, he is not for you. Forget about it. So you don�thave to use your head at all. Just relax. Your heart knowshow to show you the right path, how to guide you in theright path. Your heart is the judge, which will guide you,automatically, in the right time, in the right moment, towardsthe right person.

So, let the divine Parabrahma Krishna guide us all to theright energy, to the right attitude and the right experience.Let Him shower the eternal bliss. Let Him make usexperience and radiate eternal bliss, nithyaananda. Thank you.

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Om tatsaditi srimat Bhagavad Gitaasupanishadsubrahmavidyaayaam yogasaastre

SriKrishnaarjunasamvaade Gyanakarmasanyasa yogo naamachaturtoyadhyayaha

Thus ends the fourth chapter named �Path of Renunciationwith Knowledge� of the Upanishad of the Bhagavad Gita,the scripture of yoga, dealing with the science of theAbsolute in the form of the dialogue between Krishna andArjuna.

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BHAGAVAD GITA – The Song of God : Chapter 4

vasaudovasautM dovaM kmsacaaNaUrmad-nama\dovakIprmaanandM kRYNaM vando jagad\gauruM

Vasudeva Sutam Devam Kamsa Chanura Mardanam

Devaki Paramaanandam Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum

I salute you Lord Krishna, Teacher to the World, son of Vasudevaand supreme bliss of Devaki, destroyer of Kamsa and Chanura.

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GlossaryFor purposes of simplicity, the phonetic of Sanskrit has not been

faithfully followed in this work. There is no perfect transliteration

guide from Sanskrit to Roman script.

Aswattama is spelt as also Asvattama, Aswathama, Aswatama

etc., all being accepted. Sanskrit, as Hinduism, is tolerant.

Correctly pronounced Atma is Aatma; however in the English

format a is used both for a and aa, e for e and ee and so on.

The word s as used here can be pronounced as s or ss or sh;

for instance Siva is pronounced with a sibilant sound, not

quite s but not quite sh as well.

This glossary is not meant to be a pronunciation guide, merely an

explanatory aid.

Abharana: Removal; vastrabharana is removal of vastra,

clothes

Abhyasa: Exercise, Practice

Acharya: Teacher; literally ‘ one who walks with’

Advaita: concept on non duality; that individual self and the

cosmic Self are one and the same; as different from the

concepts of Dvaita and Visishtadvaita, which consider self and

Self to be mutually exclusive.

Ahara: Food; also with reference to sensory inputs as in

pratyahara

Ajna: order, command; the third eye energy center.

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Akasa: Space; sky; subtlest form of energy of Universe

Amruta, amrit: divine nectar whose consumption leads to

immortality

Anahata: that which is not created, heart energy center

Ananda: Bliss; very often used to refer to joy, happiness etc.

Anjana: eye shadow

Apu: Water, as energy

Arti, aarti: worshipping with a flame, light as with a lamp lit

with oiled wick, or camphor that is burnt

Ashirwad: Blessing

Ashtanga Yoga: Eight fold path to enlightenment prescribed

by Patanjali in his Yoga Sutra.

Asraya: Grounded in reality; ashraya dosha, defect related to

reality

Atma, Atman: Individual Self; part of the universal Brahman

Beedi: Local Indian cigarette.

Beeja: seed; beeja mantra refers to the single syllable mantras

used to invoke certain deities, e.g. gam for Ganesha

Bhagavan: Literally God; often used for an enlightened

Master

Bhavana: Visuliazation

Bhakti: Devotion; bhakta , a devotee

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Brahma: Creator; one of the Hindu Trinity of supreme Gods

Brahmachari: literally one who moves with the True Reality

Brahman, one without fantasies, but usually taken to mean a

celibate; brahmacharya is the quality or state

Brahman: Ultimate reality of the divine, universal intelligent

energy

Brahmin: Person belonging to the highest caste or varna, the

scholar or priest class

Buddhi: Mind; also wisdom, intelligence. Mind is also called

by other names, manas, chitta etc.

Buddhu: a fool

Chakra: Literally a ‘wheel’; refers to energy centers in the

mind body system

Chaksu: Intelligent power behind senses.

Chandala: An untouchable; usually one who skins animals

Chandana: sandalwood

Chitta: Mind; also manas, buddhi.

Dakshinayana: Sun’s movement South starting 21st July

Darshan: That which is seen; usualy referred to seeing

Divinity

Dharma: Righteousness

Dhee: Wisdom

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Diksha, Deeksha: Grace bestowed by the Master and the

energy transferred by Master on disciple at initiation or any

other time; may be through a mantra, a touch, a glance

or even a thought.

Dosha: Defect

Dhyana: meditation

Drishti: that which is seen

Gada, Gadha: Weapon, similar to a mace; also Gadhayudha

Gopi, Gopika: Literally a cowherd; usually referred to the

devotees, men and women, who played with Krishna, and

were lost in Him

Gopura, gopuram: Temple tower

Grihasta: A householder; a married person; from the word

griha meaning house

Guna: the three human behavioral characteristics or

predipositions; satva, rajas and tamas

Guru: Master; literally one who leads from gu darkness to ru

light

Gurukul: literally ‘tradition of guru’, refers to the ancient

education system in which children were handed over to a

guru at a very young age by parents for upbringing and

education.

Homa: Ritual to Agni, the God of fire; metaphorically

represents the transfer of energy from the energy of Akasa

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(space) , through Vayu (Air), Agni (Fire), Apu (Water), and

Prithvi (Earth) to humans.

Iccha: Desire

Ida: along with pingala and sushumna the virtual energy

pathways through which pranic energy flows.

Ithihasa: Legend, epic, mythological stories

Jaati: Birth; jaati dosha, defect related to birth

Jagrat: awake

Japa: Literally ‘muttering’; conitinuous repetition of the name

of divinity

Jiva samadhi: Burial place of an aenlighetend master, where

his spirit lives on; jiva means living.

Jyotisha: Astrology; jyotish is an astrologer.

Kaivalya: Liberation; same as moksha, nirvana ..

Kala: Time

Kalpa: Vast period of time; similar to Yuga.

Kalpana: Imagination

Karma: spiritual law of cause and effect, driven by vasana

and samskara

Kosha: Energy layer surrounding body; there are 5 such

layers. These are: annamaya or body, pranamaya or breath,

manonmaya or thoughts, vigyanamaya or sleep and

anandamaya or bliss koshas.

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Kriya: Action

Kshana: Moment in time; refers to time between two thoughts

Kshatriya: Caste or varna group of warriors.

Kundalini: Ebergy that resides at the root chakra ‘muladhara’

Maha: Great; as in maharishi, great sage; mahavakya, great

scriptural saying

Mala: a garland, a necklace; rudraksha mala is a necklace

made of the seeds of the rudraksha tree.

Manan: What is thought

Manas: Mind; also buddhi, chitta.

Mandir: Temple

Mangal: auspicious; mangal sutra, literally auspicious thread,

the yellow or gold thread or necklace a married Hindu

woman wears

Mantra: A sound, a formula; sometimes a word or a set of

words, which because of their inherent sound , have

energizing properties. Mantras are used as sacred chants to

worship the Divine; Mantra, tantra and yantra are approaches

in spiritual evolution.

Maya: That which is not; not reality ; illusion; all life is maya

according to advaita.

Moksha: liberation; same as nirvana, samadhi, turiya etc.

Muladhara: the first energy center, mula is root, adhara is

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foundation, here existence

Nadi: River

Naadi: Nerve; also an energy pathway which is not physical

Naga: a snake; a naga sadhu is an ascetic belonging to a

group that wears no clothes.

Namaskar: Traditional greeting with raised hands palms

closed

Nanda: unbound

Nari: woman

Nidhityasan: What is expressed

Nimitta: Reason; nimitta dosha, defect based on reason

Nirvana: liberation ; ‘nibbhana’ in Pali language; same as

moksha, samadhi.

Niyama: The second of eight paths of Patanjali’s Ashtanga

Yoga; refers to a number of day to day rules of observance for

a spiritual path.

Papa: sin

Phala: Fruit; phalasruti refers to result of worship

Paramahamsa: Literally the ‘supreme swan’; refers to an

enlightened being of a specific level.

Parikrama: The ritual of going around a holy location, such

as a hill or water spot

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Parivrajaka: Wandering by an ascetic monk

Pingala: please see Ida

Prana: Life energy; also refers to breath; pranayama is the

control of breath

Pratyahara: Literally ‘staying away from food’; in this case

refers to control of alls senses as part of the eight fold

ashtanga yoga.

Prithvi: Earth energy

Purohit: Priest

Puja: normally any worship, but often referred to a ritualistic

worship

Punya: merit

Purana: Epics and mythological stories such as Mahabharata,

Ramayana etc.

Purna: Literally ‘complete’; refers in the advaita context to

Reality.

Rajas, rajasic: the mid characteristic of the three human guna

or behavior mode, referring to aggressive action.

Putra: son; putri is daughter.

Rakta: blood

Ratri: Intensity; also night;

Rishi: A spiritual sage

Sadhana: Practice, usually a spiritual practice

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Sadhu: literally a ‘good person’; refers to an ascetic; same as

sanyasi

Sahasranama: Thousand names of God; available for many

Gods and Goddesses, which devotees recite

Sahasrara: thousand petal lotus, the crown energy center

Sakti: Energy; intelligent energy; Parasakti refers to Universal

Energy; Divinity; considered feminine; masculine aspect of

Parasakti is the Purusha.

Samadhi: state of no mind, no thoughts; adhi is original and

sama is becoming that; literally, becoming one’s original state;

liberated, enlightened state. Three levels of samadhi are

referred to sahaja, which is transient, savikalpa, in which the

person is no longer capable of normal activities, and

nirvikalpa, where the liberated person performs activities as

before.

Samsaya: Doubt

Samskara: embedded memories of unfulfilled desires stored in

the unconscious that drive us into decisions, into karmic

action.

Samyama: Complete concentration

Sankalpa: Decision

Sanyas: Giving up worldly life; sanyasi or sanyasin, a monk, an

ascetic; sanyasini, as referred to a lady monk.

Sastra: Sacred texts

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Satva, satvic: the highest guna of spiritual calmness

Siddhi: Extraordinary powers attained through spiritual

practice

Sishya: Disciple

Simha: Lion; Simha Swapna is nightmare.

Siva: Rejuvenator in the Trinity; often spelt as Shiva. Siva

also means ‘Causeless Auspiciousness’; in this sense, Sivaratri,

the day when Siva is worshipped is that moment when the

power of this Causeless Auspiciousness is intense.

Smarana: Remembrance; constantly remembering the Divine.

Smruti: Literally ‘that which is remembered’; refers to later

day Hindu works which are rules, regulations, laws and

epics, such as Manu’s works, Puranas etc.

Sradha: sincere

Sravan: what is heard

Srishti: That which is, which is created

Sruti: Literally ‘that which is heard’; refers to the ancient

scriptures of

Veda, Upanishad and Bhagavad Gita, considered to be Words

of God.

Stotra:Devotional verses, to be recited or sung

Sudra: Caste or varna group of manual laborers.

Sutra: Literally ‘thread’; refers to epigrams, short verses which

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impart spiritual techniques.

Sunya: Literally zero; however, Buddha uses this word to

mean Reality

Sushumna: Please see Ida

Swadishthana: where Self is established; the groin or spleen

energy center

Swapna: Dream

Swatantra: Freedom

Tamas, tamasic: the lowest guna of laziness or inaction

Tantra: Esoteric Hindu techniques used in spiritual evolution

Tapas: Severe spiritual endeavor, penance

Thatagata: Buddhahood, suchness..a pali word

Tirta: Water; tirtam is a holy river spot and a pilgrimage

center

Trikala: All three time zones, past, present and future;

trikalajnani is one who can see all three at the same time; an

enlightened being beyond time and space.

Turiya: state of samadhi, no mind

Upanishad: Literally ‘sitting below alongside’ referring to a

disciple learning from the Master; refers to the ancient

Hindu scriptures which along with the Veda , form sruti.

Uttarayana: Sun’s movement North, starting 21st January

Vaisya: Caste or varna group of tradesmen.

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Vanaprastha: The third stage in one’s life, when a

householder, man or woman, gives up wordly activities and

focuses on spiritual goals

Varna: Literally color; refers to the caste grouping in the

traditional Hindu social system; originally based on aptitude,

and later corrupted to privilege of birth.

Vasana: the subtle essence of memories and desires, samskara,

that get carried forward from birth to birth

Vastra: Clothes; vastrabharana, removal of clothes, often used

to refer to Draupadi’s predicament in Mahabharata, when she

is forcibly undressed by the Kaurava Prince.

Vayu: Air

Veda: Literally knowledge; refers to ancient Hindu scriptures,

believed to have been received by enlightened rishi at the

being level; also called sruti, along with Upanishad.

Vibhuti: sacred ash worn by many Hindus on forehead; said

to remind themselves of the transient nature of life

Vidhi: literally law, natural law; interpreted as fate or destiny

Vidya: knowledge

Vishada: Depression

Vishnu: Preserver in the Trinity; His incarnations include

Krishna, Rama etc.; also means ‘all encompassing’

Vishwarupa: Universal Form

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Yama: discipline as well as death; One of the eight fold paths

prescribed in Patanjali’s Ashtanga Yoga; refers to spiritual

regulations of Satya (Truth). Ahimsa (Non Violence),

Aparigraha (Living simply); Asteya (Not coveting other’s

properties) and Brahmacharya (giving up fantasies); Yama is

also the name of the Hindi God of Justice and Death.

Yantra: Literally ‘tool’; usually a mystical and powerful graphic

diagram, such as the Sri Chakra, inscribed on a copper plate,

and sanctified in a ritual blessed by a Divine presence or

an Enlightened Master

Yoga: literally union, union of the individual self and the

divine Self; often taken to mean Hatha Yoga, which is one of

the components relating to specific body postures.

Yuga: a long period of time as defined in Hindu scriptures;

there are four yugas: Satya, Treta, Dwapara and Kali

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Scientific Research on Bhagavad Gita

Several institutions have conducted experiments using

scientific and statistical support techniques to verify the truth

behind Bhagavad Gita. Notable amongst them is the work

carried out by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, whose findings are

published through Maharishi Ved Vigyan Vishwa

Vidyapeetham.

Studies conducted using meditation techniques related to

truths expressed in the verses of the Bhagavad Gita have

shown that quality of life is significantly improved through

meditation. A greater sense of peace resulting in reduced

tendency towards conflict has been found.

Meditators gain greater respect for others and appreciate

others better. Their own inner fulfillment, without external

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inputs, increases, resulting in self respect and reliance in turn

leading to self actualization.

The ability to focus enhances and brain function integration

has been demonstrated. These have resulted in greater

comprehension, creativity, faster response time in decision

making as well as superior psychomotor coordination.

Stress levels have been shown to decrease with enhanced

sensory perception and overall health. Tendency to depression

has been clearly shown to decrease.

There is enough evidence to show that as a result of

meditation, individuals gain a better ethical lifestyle which in

turn improves their interaction with others in the community,

resulting in less conflict and crime. Group meditation of 7000

people (square root of 1% of world population) was

significantly correlated to reduced conflict worldwide.

Meditation leads to higher levels of Consciousness. There is

supporting evidence to show from the work of Dr David

Hawkins and others through the tools of Kinesiology that

human consciousness has moved up in the last few decades,

crossing a critical milestone for the first time in human

history. Dr. Hawkins also rates the Bhagavad Gita at the

very highest levels of Truth conveyed to humanity.

We acknowledge with gratitude the work done by the

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi institutions and Dr. David Hawkins in

establishing the truth of this great scripture.

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Family tree of the Kings of Hastinapura

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Key Characters in the Bhagavad

Gita

Pandava’s side:

Krishna: God Incarnate. Related to both Kaurava and

Pandava. Arjuna’s charioteer in the war

Drupada: A great warrior and father of Draupadi

Drishtadummna: The son of King Drupada

Shikhandi: A mighty archer

Virata: Abhimanyu’s father in law and king of a neighboring

kingdom

Yuyudhana: Krishna’s charioteer and a great warrior

Kashiraj: King of neighboring Kingdom Kashi

Chekitan: A great warrior

Kuntibhoj: adoptive father of Kunti, the mother of first three

Pandava

Purujit: Brother of Kuntibhoj

Shaibya: Leader of the Shibi tribe

Dhrishtaketu: King of Chedis

Uttamouja: A Great warrior

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Kaurava’s side:

Sanjay: Charioteer and narrator of events to Dhritharashtra

Bheeshma: Great Grandfather of the Kaurava & Pandava.

Great Warrior

Drona: A great archer and teacher to both Kaurava and

Pandava

Vikarna: third of the Kaurava brothers

Karna: Panadava’s half brother. Born to Kunti before her

marriage

Ashvatthama: Drona’s son; said to always speak the truth

Kripacharya: Teacher of martial arts to both Kaurava and

Pandava

Shalya: King of neighboring kingdom and brother of Madra,

Nakula and Sahadeva’s mother

Soumadatti: King of Bahikas

Dushassana: One of Kaurava brothers, responsible for

insulting Draupadi

Appendix

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Nithyananda...

Paramahamsa Nithyananda is a Master and modern mystic

living amidst us today. Starting out at a young age, and

enduring years of intense penance, he persevered with the

single-pointed vision of experiencing inner bliss. He traversed

the length and breadth of the country studying yoga, tantra

and other Eastern metaphysical sciences with great Masters in

India and Nepal. He had many profound spiritual experiences

before experiencing inner bliss.

His mission is to help each individual actualize his inherent

potential. With a pragmatic and compassionate approach, and

an enlightened insight into the core of human nature, he has

emerged as an inspiring personality who continues to touch

and transform the lives of millions across the world.

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His divine healing touch has taken the shape of Nithya

Spiritual Healing – a scientific system of spiritual healing

through meditation. He heals people world over, through his

direct touch and through ordained healers, curing illnesses

ranging from migraine to cancer.

The Nithyananda Foundation is his worldwide movement to

spread his message of meditation and bliss. With its spiritual

nerve center in Bangalore, India and the Western

Hemisphere headquarters in Los Angeles, USA, it operates in

over 800 centers in 30 countries across the world, working

steadily in transformation of humanity through transformation

of the individual.

His lucid explanation of practical issues and simple and

dynamic meditation techniques, help individuals blossom at

the physical, emotional and spiritual levels. Thousands of

volunteers – Ananda Sevaks work to support the mission world

over.

By offering himself as a living laboratory, he works with

Scientists across the globe to bridge the modern Western

system of logic and evidence and the ancient Eastern system

of mysticism, thus bridging Science and Spirituality for the

benefit of humanity.

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Bridging Science and Spirituality...

Swamiji works with doctors and scientists across the world to

record and analyze the mystic phenomena through modern

technology. He is continuing to intrigue the world of medical

science with results from the study of His own neurological

system. From the results recorded, scientists feel that the

potential for altering the rates and progression of many

diseases like heart ailments, cancer, arthritis, alcoholism etc.

is beginning to look achievable. They are compelled to

declare that there continues to be indications that the

human mind can choose to heal the human body...

For centuries, science and spirituality have been battling it

out on these issues of perennial importance for humanity.

Although spiritual leaders have always maintained that the

no-mind state is a ‘ real’ phenomenon, and a perfectly

realizable goal for all of us, the scientific community has

naturally been unwilling to accept this without solid proof.

For the first time in our century, science has hopefully found

a key to supernormal and paranormal phenomena, with sound

medical evidence that explains why the spiritually super-

evolved are blessed with ‘powers’ that the rest of us can only

dream about. The following few pages are summaries of

various types of research conducted on Swamiji’s neurological

system during His visits to the United States of America.

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Mind of a Mystic

A report by Dr. R. Murali Krishna, President COO,

INTEGRIS Mental Heath & James L. Hall, Jr. Center for

Mind, Body and Spirit, Oklahoma

Paramahamsa Sri Nithyananda Swami is a trim, healthy-

looking young man with dark, shoulder-length hair.

Handsome and polite, possessing an open manner and a

wealth of curiosity, he could be any ordinary American

college student.

The difference is that ordinary American college students do

not wear saffron robes and turbans, have not experienced

spiritual enlightenment and are not regarded as a teacher, healer

and mystic by millions of people in all corners of the world.

A Mind Matters Column™

The Mind of a Mystic

By R. Murali Krishna, M.D.

President COO, INTEGRIS Mental

Health & James L. Hall, Jr. Center for

Mind, Body and Spirit

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A mystic? The term is not a bad fit for ‘Swami’, as he is

known. Mystics, popular culture tells us, have direct

communion with God. Through means not understood or

measurable, mystics are thought to have access to ultimate

realities or truths. Picture a mystic and you’ll probably picture

someone full of bliss, someone gifted with lofty thoughts and

insights that the rest of us do not possess.

The very presence of a mystic is thought to bring peace and

healing to others.

That’s an apt description of Swami, a 27-year-old from South

India. He is approached by thousands of people every year

seeking relief from diseases and ailments that conventional

medical approaches have not cured. Swami’s background

lends him the air of a mystic, too. He left his home as a teen,

visited ashrams across India, immersed himself in philosophy,

read extensively and mastered the art of meditation.

When Swami passed through Oklahoma City recently as one

stop in his world travels, I asked him if he would let me use

some of modern medicine’s newest technology to peer into his

brain while he meditated. My goal: to understand, measure

and demystify what happens during the mystic phenomena.

Swami, who believes that meditation has a scientific basis,

happily agreed.

The procedures Swami went through were administered by

some of Oklahoma City’s finest and most experienced

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physicians, neuropsychologists and researchers: Drs. Fordyce,

Ruwe and Higgins of the Jim Thorpe Rehabilitation Center

Neuropsychology Department and Dr. Chacko of the PET

Center of Oklahoma. These doctors were using technology

they use with patients on a routine basis. When they look at

images obtained by their technology, they know what’s normal

and what’s not.

The results from testing Swami? Decidedly not normal!

Imaging Brain Activity

Our first look into Swami’s brain was achieved with the help of

a Positron Emission Tomography (PET) device. Unlike

traditional diagnostic techniques that produce images of the

body’s structure or anatomy, such as X-rays, CT scans or MRI,

PET produces images of the function of the brain through the

metabolic activity of cells. An analog of glucose is attached to

a radioactive PET tracer. The PET scanner then images the

metabolically active brain areas at any given time.

In the case of Swami, the drug was intended to identify

highly active areas of the brain in an alert and conscious

state, in the early stages of meditation and during deep

meditation.

The results of the PET scan tests were stunning. To begin

with, the activity in the frontal lobes of Swami’s brain were

significantly heightened, even in early meditation stages. The

level of activity was several times higher than would be seen

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in the average human brain under any conditions. The

frontal lobes are associated with the functions of intelligence,

attention, wisdom and judgment.

When we then asked Swami to go into the deepest

meditation state, there were two more remarkable findings.

First, the dominant hemisphere of Swami’s brain was more

than 90 percent shut down. It was as if Swami’s brain had

packed up and gone on vacation. It was quiet and still,

completely at peace … and Swami had made it so at will.

A second amazing aspect of Swami’s deep meditation was

that the lower portion of his mesial frontal areas lighted up

in a very significant way. This area roughly corresponds to

the reputed location of the mystical ‘Third Eye’.

When we later asked Swami what he was doing when the

mesial frontal areas lighted up, he said he was opening his

Third Eye.

Associated with both cosmic and inner knowledge, and

thought to be a place of clarity and peace, the Third Eye is

considered by many to be the seat of the soul. Were we

seeing an indication that deep meditation can open an area

of the brain responsible for communicating with the divine,

looking deep into the mysteries of Self or creation? I believe

the PET scan revealed what I call the brain’s ‘D-spot’.

Whether you consider the ‘D’ in D-spot to stand for Delight,

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the Divine or even Dopamine (the chemical through which

our bodies experience pleasure), initial indications are that

meditation can stimulate it.

Measuring Brainwaves

The second procedure we used to look into Swami’s brain is

known as Quantitative Electroencephalography, or QEEG.

QEEG measures electrical patterns in the brain, patterns

commonly referred to as brainwaves.

There are four bandwidths of brainwaves, each different in

speed, and each associated with a different state of mind. For

instance, beta brainwaves are small and fast and linked with

an awake, alert state of mind. Alpha brainwaves are slower

and larger and are connected to feelings of well-being. Theta

waves represent a state of consciousness that is close to

sleep, a stage in which there is a sense of calmness and

serenity without active thought.

In a day’s time, most people will experience all four types of

brainwaves. The progression from one bandwidth to another,

though, is not so easily in their control.

From Swami’s QEEG, though, we can see that he has

complete control over his brainwaves. When in deep

meditation, his brain smoothly shifted from one state to

another, like a talented pianist playing the scales. There was

no hesitation and no retreating, just continuous, fluid shifts

from one type of brainwave to the next. Because the QEEG

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represents the five brainwave bandwidths as colors, it was as

if we were watching Swami float from color to color within a

rainbow!

Conclusions

The brain is the body’s most complex organ, containing more

than 100 billion neurons, each of them in chemical and

electrical conversation with upto 10,000 other neurons. Its

sheer capacity to process information is astonishing.

Remarkably, that complexity presents little difficulty for

Swami in managing his brain activity. Swami’s mind – his

thoughts, emotions and intellect – control his brain. He can,

in a very fluid, easy way, shift his brain function and alter his

brainwaves.

More than answering questions, the voyage we took into the

mind of a mystic brings intriguing questions for study.

Are there techniques we can learn and teach that will bring

balance and peace into people’s lives?

Can we invoke a healing response or accelerate healing

through specific training? Can we learn techniques that will

allow us to control pain or alter the course of a disease?

Can we learn to activate what I call our D-spot, thus

putting us in instant connection to delight or the divine?

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The results from our study of Swami are new pages in our

world’s growing book of research on the brain. There

continue to be indications that the human mind may be able

to choose to heal the body. We’re now looking at the

possibility of people learning and acquiring these healing

capabilities, an event of immense benefit for humankind. The

potential for altering the rates and progression of many

diseases – heart disease, cancer, arthritis, alcoholism and

many others – is beginning to look achievable.

Swami is a bridge between the invisible, ancient world of

mysticism and the modern, visible world of science and

discovery. As brain research continues on a widespread basis,

and as we appropriately bring the phenomena of mysticism

into the realm of science for further study, we are taking

strides on a path of hope and health.

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Offerings from Nithyananda Foundation

Specialized meditation programs are designed and offered

continuously worldwide to benefit millions of people at the

levels of body, mind and spirit. Some of the meditation

programs currently offered are as follows:

Ananda Spurana Program (ASP) / Life Bliss Program (LBP)

- Energize yourself!

The ASP or LBP is a chakra meditation camp.

It introduces us to the 7 vital energy centers in our body

called the chakras, whose functioning has a direct bearing

upon our physical and mental well-being. It explains the

direct relationship between our emotions and these energy

centers and offers simple meditation techniques for effective

handling of our own emotions, better clarity and a positive

mental setup, better interpersonal relationships, renewed and

inspired attitude towards work, and a blissful life.

There is a similar such program designed for students,

referred to as the student ASP or student LBP.

Nithyananda Spurana Program (NSP)

- Death demystified!

Death is the mystery of all mysteries. Our idea and fear of

death pervades every moment of our lives and creates

conflicting emotions in us. We simply miss out on the art of

real living because of this.

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This program clearly explains what happens at the time of

death. It draws the relation between our created emotions of

desire, fear, guilt, pain and pleasure with the seven energy

bodies in us. It explains how each of these emotions arises

from one of these seven bodies and how they work upon the

departing soul as it crosses each of them. It brings to surface

all our conscious and unconscious emotions that have been

accumulated over the past lives, so we may be free from their

clutches. It is like a complete spiritual bath to be reborn,

equipped with the technique to live and leave joyously with

astounding awareness to replace deep ignorance.

Shakti Spurana Program (SSP)

- Cleanse yourself!

This is a meditation program that gives us an insight into

the 3 energy bodies in us that are the physical, subtle and

causal bodies. Suppressed emotions, unfulfilled desires,

restlessness, nervousness, lethargy and similar such emotions

associated with these 3 energy bodies are dealt with. It offers

solutions and techniques to kindle the inner intelligence to

liberate ourselves from these emotions.

Atma Spurana Program (ATSP)

- Connect with your Self

Man is an integral part of Existence. When he realizes this

experientially, he is enlightened. This meditation program

describes the five body sheaths called koshas that stand in the

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way of man realising this truth. It offers techniques that pull

our awareness through these sheaths to reach the Self.

Bhakti Spurana Program (BSP)

- Enrich your emotional Being

Over passing years, the mind has taken over the being.

Humanity has fallen victim to the futility of the intellect.

The emotional being suffers as a result of this.

Bhakti or devotion is the language of the being. It is supreme

love towards Existence or God. It frees us from base

emotions, bringing equanimity of the mind and deep

fulfillment. It fulfills all our wants and takes us beyond them.

The Bhakti Spurana Program is a 4-day program that unfolds

the path of bhakti to the modern man. It steers us from

intellect to the being, from mundane worship to sheer

intimacy - with the Divine.

Nithyanandam

- Enlightenment intensive…

This is an intense meditation camp; a unique and first ever

offering of the technology of Bliss or Nithyanandam. All keys

to the ‘Experience of Enlightenment’, are handed over in

totality by the Master himself. This is an opportunity to go

beyond body and mind and experience pure Consciousness.

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Dhyana Spurana Program (DSP)

- Mind is a myth; realize and liberate!

Our mind is nothing but a collection of our thoughts. By

nature, our thoughts are unconnected, independent and

illogical. But we try to connect all these thoughts and create

suffering for ourselves. The moment we realize that our

thoughts are unconnected and independent, we drop our

mind and become un-clutched. The moment we drop our

mind, we are liberated.

The Dhyana Spurana Program is a meditation program that

helps us drop our mind and remain centered in pure

Consciousness.

Arogya Spurana Program and meditation therapy

- Be healthy!

Arogya or Good Health is not just an absence of disease, it is

a positive well-being ness.

The Arogya Spurana Program is an intense meditation camp,

on the integrated science of body, mind and spirit. It is an

opportunity to understand that our body is not just a bio-

mechanism but one that has its roots in deep Consciousness

and Intelligence.

The Arogya Spurana Meditation therapy is a health and

healing program that takes you through meditation and

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healing to heal specific ailments, besides creating a new

mental setup attuned towards a positive wellbeingness.

Nithya spiritual healing initiation

- become a healer!

The Nithya spiritual healing initiation is a scientific process

by which you are initiated in the Ananda Gandha chakra to

become a channel for the Divine Energy to flow through you

to heal others. It works on the principle that Energy is

Intelligence. The uniqueness of this is that, it not only heals

the patient but also helps in your own spiritual growth.

Outwardly it is Healing and inwardly it is Meditation.

Ananda Yogam

- Expand and explode

Ananda Yogam is a free one-year residential program for youth

between 18 and 30 years of age. With its roots in the Eastern

system of Mysticism and Vedic learning, this program is to

empower the modern youth with

• Vocational skills

• Success Formulae and deeper Truths for Life

• Healing, meditation and yoga for overall well-being

• The capacity to actualize one’s entire potential

• Creative intelligence and spontaneity

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This program creates a clear and sound mental makeup in

every individual. It unleashes the untapped and infinite

capacity within, to excel in the outer world while remaining

centered within. It instills in one, the essence of the ancient

Vedic principles and the modern system of Logic. It creates

individuals with a capacity to be economically and spiritually

stable.

Above all, this is a lifetime opportunity to live and learn

under the tutelage of an enlightened Master.

Ananda Galleria (Divine Shop)

The Ananda Galleria offers a wide range of books in English,

Tamil, Kannada, Gujarati, Telugu, Hindi, Portuguese, French

and other languages, compiled from Nithyananda’s discourses

worldwide. Also available are Nithyananda’s discourses in

cassettes, Audio CDs and Video CDs. In addition are

available a host of items like photographs of the Master,

shawls, chanting boxes, malas, chain dollars, photograph of

His eyes, T-shirts and so on.

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SUGGESTED FOR FURTHER READING...

Guaranteed Solutions

Guaranteed Solutions is a book aimed at bringing a radical

understanding of our emotions such as sex, fear, worry,

attention-need, jealousy, ego and discontentment. The

information is a compilation of the worldwide talks that

Nithyananda has given in meditation camps such as the

Ananda Spurana Program (ASP) and Life Bliss Program

(LBP). It introduces us to the 7 vital Energy centers in our

body called the chakras, whose functioning has a direct

bearing upon our physical and mental well-being.

The ASP/ LBP meditation camps explain the direct

relationship between our emotions and these Energy centers.

We are educated on the subtle ways in which these

emotions affect our overall well-being. In a very

comprehensive manner we are taught how these debilitating

emotions are mere shadows without objects. Powerful

meditation techniques are imparted to handle these

emotions. We are given the assurance that it is possible to

lead a life free from the power these emotions wield over us.

These camps provide tremendous scope to liberate ourselves

from the dilemmas of the mind and depression of our Being;

to be free from the mental slavery that is keeping our spirit

in bondage. We are helped to create a space in us to flower

and re-connect with our inner core, with our true Self -

which is beyond the body and mind, which is pure and

Eternal Bliss Nithyananda! These meditation camps are

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continuously conducted worldwide by trained teachers of the

Foundation.

Bliss is the Path and the Goal

This book is a compilation of Nithyananda’s discourses

covering a range of subjects, from How the Mind Works t o

How we abuse our bodies to Coping with the duality of material

and spiritual life. It answers many questions giving an updated

understanding, kindling our inner intelligence, and tuning us

to inner awareness. It is a handbook to guide us through the

workings of the mind, body and being so that we may live

our life in bliss.

Beyond Life and Death

Meditation is the way to unite, to commune between birth

and death. It teaches the art of living and leaving. Else, we

get caught in just one more cycle of life and death. In these

pages, through his discourses, Nithyananda demystifies death

and explains the need to understand it. He states with no

uncertainty that unless we understand death, we will not be

able to live life with richness.

From Ignorance to Enlightenment

In this book, Nithyananda takes us through Patanjali’s Yoga

Sutras. Sutras by definition are epigrams that mean a lot by

saying very little. There are many layers of meanings in each

Sutra. Nithyananda comments on these timeless Truths, giving

an updated understanding to the modern man. He answers

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questions that many spiritual seekers have through the

aphorisms of Patanjali.

Nithyopanishad

Upanishad means ‘sitting at the feet of the Master’.

Nithyopanishad is a compilation of a living enlightened

Master’s talks on the Master-disciple relationship. In a setting

fit for the Gods, amidst the Himalayan mountains, in the lap

of the sacred river Ganga, the Master expounds timeless

Truths in the classic Upanishad tradition. Questions transform

into doubts, doubts dissolve into awareness, as the Master

spreads his energy over the group. Anyone who has himself

the question, ‘Why do I need a Guru?’ will find his answers

here.

For further details and to purchase any of the above items,

please visit www.nithyananda.org.

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Our Main Nithyananda Meditation Acadamies (NMA)

USA:

Nithyananda Dhyanapeetam

928 Huntington Dr, Duarte,

Los Angeles, CA 91010. USA

Ph.: 1-626 –205-3286

Email: [email protected]


4610, N.High Street

Columbus, OH 43214, USA

Ph.: 614-571-8425

India:


Nithyanandapuri, Kallugopahalli

Mysore Road, Bidadi, Bangalore - 562 109

Karnataka. INDIA

Phone: 91 +80 65591844 / 27202084

Fax: 91 +80 7288207

Email: [email protected]

URL: www.nithyananda.org


Sri Ananda Rajarajeshwari Temple, Nithyananda Giri

Pashambanda Sathamrai Village

Shamshabad Mandal

Rangareddy District

Andhra Pradesh - 501 218

INDIA

Ph.: +91 93470 65288

E-mail: [email protected]

256



Nithyanandapuri

102, Azhagapurampudur, Salem – 636 016

Tamilnadu. INDIA

Ph.: 94433 64644 / 94432 35262


Nithyanandapuri

Zamin Pallavaram, Chennai – 600 043 Tamilnadu

INDIA

Ph.: 98404 27966 / 94440 19791


Nithyanandapuri

Othaivaadai Street, Pavazhakundru, Tiruvannamalai – 606 601

Tamilnadu. INDIA

Ph.: 94432 33789 / 94433 26202


Nithyanandapuri

2/200, Tirumangkuruchi Post

Namakkal – 637 003

Pavazhakundru, Tamilnadu. INDIA

Ph.: 94433 88437 / 93447 17629

P OF - Life Bliss Programslifeblissprograms.org/e-books/pdf/bhagavad_gita_1st... · 2012-03-09 · Parabrahma Krishna, the Cosmic Cobsciousness and is therefore considered a scripture.

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