12. Chapter 12 — Bhakti Yogaḥ · The Yoga of Devotion

12.1

अर्जुन उवाच | एवं सततयुक्ता ये भक्तास्त्वां पर्युपासते | ये चाप्यक्षरमव्यक्तं तेषां के योगवित्तमा:

arjuna uvāca evaṁ satata-yuktā ye bhaktāstvāṁ paryupāsate / ye cā’py akṣaram avyaktaṁ teṣāṁ ke yoga-vittamāh / / 12.1

Arjuna asked: Who are considered perfect, those who are always engaged sincerely in Your worship in form, or those who worship the imperishable, the unmanifest formless You?

arjuna uvāca — Arjuna says · evaṁ — thus · satata — always · yuktāḥ — engaged · ye — those · bhaktāḥ — devotees · tvāṁ — you · paryupāsate — worship · ye — those · cā — and · api — also · akṣaraṁ — imperishable · avyaktaṁ — the unmanifest · teṣāṁ — of these · ke — who · yogavittamāḥ — perfect in knowledge of yoga

Arjuna now speaks in a totally different manner. His thought trend is different now. He asks, ‘Which of these two types of people are considered to be better: those who are always engaged in your bhakti, devotional love towards you or those who merge in the Brahman, the unmanifest, formless, Cosmic consciousness?’ arjuna uvāca evaṁ satata yuktā ye bhaktās tvāṁ paryupāsate I ye cāpy akṣaram avyaktaṁ teṣāṁ ke yoga-vittamāḥ II 12.1 Please be clear, Arjuna is not asking for himself. From here, the discourse becomes a simple discussion. It is more like trying to record the truth for future generations. The questions from here onward are neither doubts nor enquiries.

Arjuna tries to put the whole thing down in the expression form, so that it will be a useful reference for future generations. A flow of Arjuna’s love for humanity, an expression of his divine experience, prompts him to seek answers to these vexing questions and record the answers from the godhead Himself. Arjuna asks, ‘Who will be established in You totally? Will it be a devotee or a person who is enlightened?’ Religious people or so-called religious people, confuse others with this verse about Arjuna’s question as to whether worshipping the form or worshipping the formless is right. These people are so confused that Bhakti Yogaḥ Love Is Your Very Life 863 they do not know right from wrong.

They use their intellectual arrogance and misunderstanding to confuse others. Let me tell you, this is not what Arjuna meant by asking this question. If we look at Kṛṣṇa’s answers, we will understand. Experience Or Expression? Completion Or Enriching? Arjuna asks, ‘Is it good to be established in the experience of the Divine consciousness, just to stay in it and enjoy the eternal bliss that flows from that experience? Or is it better to express that love and gratitude created by the conscious experience towards the whole world and every living being? Which is correct? Which one is preferred?’ See, when we have a spiritual experience, some people stay in that experience with closed eyes, that’s all.

Only with eyes closed can they see God. They do not seek to use their senses, since the bliss within is so great and beautiful that absolutely no sensory input remotely matches that bliss. However, there are others who are impelled to open their eyes, by the Universe to communicate that blissful experience through their expression to enrich others. The so-called scholars enter into endless debates on savikalpa samādhi and nirvikalpa samādhi. Savikalpa samādhi is the state where the experience of samādhi continues. Nirvikalpa samādhi is when the expression of samādhi starts. Savikalpa samādhi is supposed to be a lower state, and one is supposed to work towards the second and higher state of nirvikalpa samādhi.

But it is not an ironclad rule. In my case, both happened together. I did not go through two stages. I went through just one and reached the state where the experience was allowed to be expressed. It was the will of the Divine, Parāśakti. Please understand that this is not a choice that people make. An option is not presented to those who have such experiences. Those who experience the Divine transcend that point of freewill. They are driven wholly, in each step that they take, by Parāśakti, the Universal energy; by Kṛṣṇa, the Super-conscious Divine. Arjuna understands that he and others who have had an experience of the Divine, face the choicelessness.

He knows that Kṛṣṇa decides what he should do. Yet, he asks because he wants everyone to understand. Arjuna asks, ‘What type of a person is greater? Is it a person who closes his eyes and sees God within himself or a person who opens his eyes and sees God in every being? Who is greater?’ Please understand, he is not asking whether worshiping the form or worshiping the formless is greater. Yet so-called religious people have interpreted it that way, and created problems between the teachings of the great masters, Ādī Śaṅkarācārya and Rāmānuja. Śaṅkara followed jñāna, the path of knowledge, and Rāmānuja followed bhakti, the path of devotion.

Jñāna, focuses on the formless through intellectual queries. Bhakti focuses on the form, sheer devotion, as if the Divine were alive as It indeed is! However, those who have studied Śaṅkara and Rāmānuja in depth know that there was much devotion in Śaṅkara’s approach and much knowledge in Rāmānuja’s approach! Both approaches converge. One without the other never works. Expressing the gratitude that happens because of the experience is devotion. Having that experience and rejoicing, staying in that experience is knowledge; that’s all. Kṛṣṇa’s answer is that both paths are the same. The paths are intertwined. The first one leads to the second one and the second one leads back to first one.

We have heard the term vicious circle. First one leads to the second and the second one leads back to the first one. Now, I want to introduce another word, ‘virtuous circle.’ Vicious circle leads to low energy or lower level of consciousness. Virtuous circle leads to high energy, a higher level of consciousness! Bliss leading to devotion and gratitude, devotion and gratitude leading to bliss: these two form the virtuous circle that lead us to higher consciousness. Bliss means the experience of completion that leads us to the expression of gratitude and enriching. Again, the expression, the gratitude of enriching, leads us to bliss, and bliss leads us to deeper completion.

One leads to the other and therefore it is a virtuous circle. Bhakti Yogaḥ Love Is Your Very Life 865 Usually we are caught in the vicious circle. Fear leads to greed and greed leads to fear. More fear leads to more greed, and more greed leads to more fear. This is the vicious circle. Here Kṛṣṇa introduces the virtuous circle. Virtuous circle is what He calls dharma, righteousness, that which must be followed in the path of truth. Dharma means virtuous circle, that which leads us to live and express higher and higher levels of Consciousness. That in turn leads us to higher and higher levels of blissful experience. Consciousness and bliss lead to expression of that consciousness and bliss, which in turn lead to higher level experiences. Fix Your Mind On Me

12.2

श्रीभगवानुवाच | मय्यावेश्य मनो ये मां नित्ययुक्ता उपासते | श्रद्धया परयोपेतास्ते मे युक्ततमा मता:

śrī Bhagavānuvāca mayyāveśya mano ye māṁ nityayuktā upāsate / śraddhayā parayo’petās te me yuktatamā matāḥ / / 12.2

Lord Kṛṣṇa says: Those, who by fixing their mind on Me eternally, and those who are steadfast in worshipping Me with supreme faith, I consider them to be perfect in Yoga, ready to be united with Me.

śrī bhagavān uvāca — Lord Kṛṣṇa says · mayi — on Me · āveśya — fixing · manaḥ — the mind · ye — those · māṁ — Me · nitya — eternally · yuktāḥ — engaged · upāsate — worship · śraddhayā — with faith · parayā — supreme · upetāḥ — endowed · te — these · me — by Me · yuktatamāḥ — perfect in yoga · matāḥ — opinion

Bhagavān says, ‘Those who are established in their consciousness that expresses devotional gratitude, bhakti, are always engaged in Me. Those who focus on the transcendental faith, meaning the experience that they undergo at the time of Cosmic experience, they are engaged in Me. Both are ultimate. Both are united in Me. Saṃskṛit is a beautiful language. We can make any meaning out of any word. That is why thousands of commentaries on the Gītā are possible, yet the Gītā is still new. No book has been commented upon by so many masters, as much as the Gītā has been. Each master gives his own meaning. Again, I insist that if a person who has not had a spiritual experience starts expressing, lecturing, he will naturally be in trouble and create trouble for others as well.

In the same way that the blind leads the blind, both end up in trouble. A person without any spiritual experience, when he translates or talks, he automatically does only ‘text torturing.’ Real Completion Expresses as Enriching with Love Understand this small example: Let us say I draw a diagram and explain the concept of an experience that I have had to you. Later, you present only an audio CD of this session to a friend who did not attend this lecture. You have not had the experience; you merely translate my experience. How much can you explain? He will not be able to grasp much. He will miss my body language completely.

You can- Bhakti Yogaḥ Love Is Your Very Life 867 not explain accurately either, because you are not the one who had the experience. A person who just has the audio recording or a book copy, cannot understand much. Like that, Bhagavad Gītā is a transcription of the audio recording. Even the voice modulation is not there. How much can you translate or interpret? That is why Vivekananda emphasized, again and again, not to read or listen to anything expressed by a person who has not personally experienced the truth. Most importantly, he said, ‘Bother about who is speaking, rather than what he is speaking.’ He emphasized the personal experience.

He added, ‘All the books in the libraries in this world cannot lead you to the truth. Once you have realized the truth, you do not need books.’ Spiritual experience transcends mind and ego. It is pure, uncolored and permanent. By expressing an understanding of someone’s experience, one may express a fact or an opinion at best, but never the truth. Truth must be experienced to be expressed. Here Bhagavān says, mayyāveśya mano ye māṁ nitya yuktā upāsate I śraddhayā parayopetās te me yuktatamā matāḥ II 12.2 Those who express their experience as devotion, see the world, upāsate. The word upāssana can be translated in many ways. When we see the Divine in everybody, when we express the truth of the spiritual experience, whatever we do is upāssana.

Please be very clear, when we can’t see the Divine in people around us, we can’t see the Divine in any statue or any Master either. If we don’t see the Divine in living beings, we cannot see the Divine in a God or a Guru. If it were not for the great master Rāmānuja, South India would have completely lost its spirituality. Śankara settled in the north even though he was born and brought up in the south. He spent most of his time in North India. Because of Rāmānuja, devotion and spirituality thrived in South India. Until his end, Rāmānuja stayed in South India. Not only that, Śankara lived only until the age of thirty-two.

Rāmānuja lived on planet Earth for a long time and inspired thousands of people in the path of spirituality and meditation. One young man asked Rāmānuja, ‘Master, please tell me how I can achieve bhakti, achieve God, achieve devotion?’ Rāmānuja asked him, ‘Have you ever loved anybody in your life?’ This man was shaken. He said, ‘I am a pure brahmacāri, a celibate. How can you ask me this question? I came to learn about God and you ask me this question?’ Rāmānuja says, ‘First go and love somebody. See how you feel when you love somebody. Then come back and I will teach you about God. I will teach you about bhakti, devotional love.’

This man was naturally taken aback. He could not understand Rāmānuja. Understand, unless we love the person whom we can see, how will we love an entity that we have never seen? If we can’t love human beings whom we see everyday, how can we love the form of God whom we have never seen? What Rāmānuja says is true. We should also understand that unless we radiate love in the space where we stay, we can’t love the whole world. Again and again I tell people, loving the whole world is easy. Loving your wife is difficult. Loving the whole world is easy because we don’t need to do anything to substantiate it!

All we must do is to say, ‘I love the whole world.’ But when we love our wife, we must change our inner space to that of completion. We must change our mind, our words, our feeling and our very living. We must bring integrity to our words. We must bring authenticity to our thinking and our actions; responsibility in our feeling, and enriching in our living. There starts the problem! Listen! You need to know that relationships are not something external. It is an expression of yourself, how you feel about you. The relationship you carry with you is projected as the relationship with the world! I tell you, when you bring integrity in your relationship with others, honoring the words you gave or completing the words you gave, Bhakti Yogaḥ Love Is Your Very Life 869 the way others look at you will be transformed immediately.

To truly love and enrich someone whom we spend our life with, to prevent familiarity from breeding contempt, we need to complete with others and our self, and drop our ‘I’ and ‘mine’. As long as we consider our spouse as a possession, what arises in our mind and heart is violence, not love. We will feel we must control the other being and we will feel we must prove that we are the owner. To even comprehend the meaning of true love, we need to drop the feeling that we possess. Being established in that consciousness of completion or expressing it towards enriching the Universe is the same. When a person is merged, when a person is established, he automatically radiates.

If the love is not happening, if the expression is not happening, the person has not experienced. When the real experience of completion happens, it automatically expresses as enriching. Experience is not something we can possess and keep in our cupboard. No! Experience will possess us and it will radiate as enriching through us. This is because we cannot possess an experience. Only the experience can possess us. When experiences possess us, whatever we do will be a song. Any word that comes out will be a song. Our being will be so light. We will simply float. Our body language will radiate grace. All our expressions will be a great enriching service to humanity.

An Enlightened man never keeps quiet nor does he talk, he just sings. That is why the Gītā is given in the form of a song. The Gītā is not prose. It is poetry. Great truths can never be expressed in logic. They can only be expressed through poetry. Prose is logic. It is bound. It is rigid. But poetry is emotion. It is love and it flows. Kṛṣṇa says that a person established in the consciousness of completion is great; however, the person who expresses, who shares, who automatically radiates the power of living by enriching is as great as the one who is established. The truth is that if a man is established in consciousness, he will radiate, he will enrich, and he will sing.

Let me tell a small story of a great devotee, a bhakta, who lived in Varanasi. This man was a great devotee of Kṛṣṇa. He owned a small copy of the Bhagavad Gītā. That was his entire possession, his only wealth. Every morning he bathed in the sacred river Gaṅgā while reciting the Bhagavad Gītā with devotion. He spent the whole day sitting and meditating on Kṛṣṇa. He was continuously in the ecstasy of Kṛṣṇa. He radiated Kṛṣṇa bhakti, devotional love towards Kṛṣṇa. Of course, we see these types of souls only in India. Society does not disturb people who just sit in ecstasy. Society takes care of them. In any other country such people would be called homeless, hounded by police and the public, put in a shelter and disrespected.

Indian culture is beautiful. If we sit in ecstasy, we are respected and worshipped! This person was in ecstasy, always singing Kṛṣṇa’s name, in Kṛṣṇa dhyāna, in Kṛṣṇa meditation, in Kṛṣṇa smaraṇa, repeating Kṛṣṇa’s name. He was lost in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. One day a beggar came and asked, ‘Oh Swami, please give me something. For the last three days I have not eaten.’ Now this posed a big problem to the bhakta. He himself was a beggar and had only one possession, the Gītā. He owned nothing else. If someone gave him food, he ate. Otherwise, he just sang Kṛṣṇa’s name. His only property was the Gītā. He looked to see if there was something to give.

There was only the Bhagavad Gītā, which he had preserved and worshipped for many years. That was his sole possession, akin to God for him. It was everything to him. Suddenly, he gathered the courage of authenticity and Bhakti Yogaḥ Love Is Your Very Life 871 took hold of the book and said, ‘I have nothing. I have only this book. However, if you go to the city and tell people that this book was my possession, you will be able to auction it. Surely someone will buy it. Many people respect me. To some extent, they feel devoted to me. So Kṛṣṇa’s blessing is there. Go to the market and auction this book.

Take the money and eat and fulfill yourself, and be happy.’ The beggar took the book and went away. The next morning, when he was about to chant the Gītā, the bhakta said, ‘Oh Kṛṣṇa, I have given away your words to keep your words. What is your word? Your word is to radiate bhakti, to radiate devotion. I gave away your word to keep your word.’ This man was a true devotee. He had seen the truth. He had experienced it. So he was able to express it. He translated his devotion to Kṛṣṇa as love to enrich his fellow men. Keeping Kṛṣṇa’s word was more important than keeping Kṛṣṇa’s book. Actually, if we use His words properly with integrity and authenticity, we will have the experience of completion, of devotion. We will radiate His words, we will enrich with His love. They Too Attain Me

12.3

ये त्वक्षरमनिर्देश्यमव्यक्तं पर्युपासते | सर्वत्रगमचिन्त्यञ्च कूटस्थमचलन्ध्रुवम्

ye tv akṣaram anirdeśyam avyaktaṁ paryupāsate / sarvatragam acintyaṁ ca kūṭa-stham acalaṁ dhruvam / / 12.3

But those who worship with awareness the imperishable, the unmanifest, that which lies beyond the perception of senses, the all pervading, inconceivable, unchanging, the non-moving and permanent, those who worship by restraining their senses, and are working with even mind for the benefit of mankind, they too attain Me.

ye — those · tu — but · akṣaraṁ — imperishable · anirdeśyaṁ — indefinable · avyaktaṁ — unmanifest · paryupāsate — worship · sarvatragaṁ — all pervading · acintyaṁ — inconceivable · ca — also · kūṭasthaṁ — unchanging · achalaṁ — immovable · dh- ruvam — fixed

12.4

सन्नियम्येन्द्रियग्रामं सर्वत्र समबुद्धय: | ते प्राप्नुवन्ति मामेव सर्वभूतहिते रता:

sanniyamyendriya-grāmaṁ sarvatra samabuddhayaḥ / te prāpnuvanti mām eva sarvabhūta-hite ratāḥ / / 12.4

But those who worship with awareness the imperishable, the unmanifest, that which lies beyond the perception of senses, the all pervading, inconceivable, unchanging, the non-moving and permanent, those who worship by restraining their senses, and are working with even mind for the benefit of mankind, they too attain Me.

sanniyamya — restrained · indriyagrāmaṁ — all the senses · sarvatra — every- where · samabuddhayaḥ — equally disposed · te — they · prāpnuvanti — achieve · mām — Me · eva — only · sarvabhūta hite — for the welfare of all living beings · ratāḥ — engaged

Kṛṣṇa is saguṅa brahman, the physical Cosmos, who showed Himself in this form to Arjuna, in His viśvarūpa, Cosmic form. Kṛṣṇa is nirguṇa brahman as well, the formless consciousness. In both the form and the formless, He is Kṛṣṇa, the Divine consciousness who has all the attributes that He talks about here. The Divine is imperishable. It is akṣaram. Everything else in this material Universe may come and go, appear and disappear, while the Divine remains forever. It is unique and incomparable and cannot be benchmarked against anything, as it is supreme. It is avyaktam, unmanifest and acinytam, inconceivable, and therefore cannot be comprehended by the senses. It cannot be grasped by thoughts and mind, which is why one’s mind-body needs to be transcended to glimpse the Divine.

The Divine resides everywhere and is omnipresent. The true devotee sees his Lord everywhere. Rāmakṛṣṇa describes the love of a true devotee this way: ‘It is the love of a chaste wife for her husband, the attachment of a miser towards his hoarded wealth, the craving of a worldly person for sensual pleasures, all rolled into one and directed towards the Lord, creating devotion.’ The true devotee, who follows either path with completion, with his senses focused on the Lord, experiences Him and also experiences the Bhakti Yogaḥ Love Is Your Very Life 873 bliss of enriching humanity. The devotee sees the Lord in everyone he meets. His experience of His Lord becomes His expression of love to all.

Kṛṣṇa’s beloved Radhā tells the gopīkās (cowherdress who were around Kṛṣṇa), ‘I don’t know what has happened to me. I see Kṛṣṇa in everybody. I feel that everybody is Kṛṣṇa. I don’t know what is happening.’ One of the gopikās answers, ‘You have devotion as the very black eyeliner in your eyes!’ It is like this: When you wear dark glasses everything appears dark; when you wear green-tinted glasses, everything appears green. In the same way, when you have devotion as your very eyeliner, whomsoever you see appears as Kṛṣṇa, appears divine! Here, Kṛṣṇa says, the person established in super consciousness space of completion and the person who radiates devotion and lives for enriching are the same.

They are not two different groups. Formless or Form? Kṛṣṇa does not create two groups. Arjuna presents two groups as the reality that he sees: those who are established and those who are radiating. Kṛṣṇa says both are the same. He does not divide them into two groups, those who are established and those who radiate, or those who are complete and those who enrich. Kṛṣṇa says, a person who is established always radiates and the person who radiates is always established. As I said earlier, it is a virtuous circle. Rāmakṛṣṇa says, ‘When a bell rings, each stroke has a sound form of its own. But even when the bell stops ringing, we continue to hear the sound.

That’s how God appears, both as form and as formless.’ Once again, Kṛṣṇa makes the point here. When one has realized the formless nature of the Divine, its imperishability and its unmanifest nature with controlled senses, one works for the enrichment of mankind. Once the experience of the formless divine happens, it is no different from the experience of the form. Both lead to the truth that one is a part of collective consciousness. The expression of this realization is one of deep humility and compassion. It is manifested as deep gratitude and surrender. One learns to flow with the energy of this Universe. One no longer struggles against the currents of life.

When we are full of ego we tend to control. We believe we can bring order to an otherwise chaotic world. It takes only a moment to realize that this entire Universe and planet Earth function not because of us, but in spite of us. Millions and millions of stars and planets in this Universe function in apparent chaos. But understand, the Universe is always in order. We want to be in order but we are truly chaotic. Only when we surrender to the will of the Universe, we fall into the cosmic order. Things go well for us. When we give up wanting, we get what we want. When we get what we truly want, it enriches mankind.

Because when we surrender, Kṛṣṇa takes care. Kṛṣṇa is not the Kṛṣṇa whom you think He is. He is not the single form you are used to. He is the Super conscious energy, the Cosmic Energy, Parāśakti. Formless Is Difficult

12.5

क्लेशोऽधिकतरस्तेषामव्यक्तासक्तचेतसाम् || अव्यक्ता हि गतिर्दु:खं देहवद्भिरवाप्यते

kleśo’dhikatarasteṣām avyaktāsakta-cetasām / avyaktā hi gatir duḥkhaṁ dehavadbhir avāpyate / / 12.5

For those whose minds are set on the unmanifest, the formless, it is more difficult to advance; attaining the formless unmanifest is difficult for the embodied.

kleśaḥ — trouble · adhikataraḥ — greater · teṣām — of those · avyaktāsaktacetasām — whose minds are set on the unmanifest · avyaktā — unmanifest · hi — for · gatiḥ — goal · duḥkhaṁ — sorrow · dehavadbhiḥ — for the embodied · avāpyate — is attained

Kṛṣṇa says here what many of us know to be true. He says, intellectuals find it more difficult to comprehend the Divine. Once, Brahma and Viṣṇu had a conflict as to who was greater. For any conflict, two egos are required. When anybody, who is in space, time and form, forgets to take responsibility for other’s irresponsibility, there will be conflict. Now, the Universe is at stake! So Śiva, the one who is responsible for everything, enters the realm of space and time as Aruṇācaleśvara, as jyotisthambha, an infinite shaft of light that spans the Universe. Śiva said to them, ‘The one who finds either of my two ends is greater.’

Viṣṇu assuming the form of a boar, dug through the earth searching for the lower end of the light shaft. Brahma flew up as a swan to reach the upper end. After a very long time, Viṣṇu realized the futility in trying to find Śiva’s beginning and returned. He restored his authenticity by completing with Śiva, for attempting to look for His unmanifest beginning. Brahma continued regardless. On his way up, he found a flower floating down, who said that it was falling from Śiva’s head for many lifetimes of Brahma. Startled, Brahma realized there was no way he would reach the end of the shaft, and forced the flower to support his claim that he, Brahma, had picked the flower from Śiva’s locks.

Hearing Brahma’s lie, his lack of integrity, Śiva became furious and taking the form of destruction, Rudra, cut off one of Brahma’s heads and forbade him from being worshipped. There is metaphoric meaning to this happening. Viṣṇu represents wealth or sthiti (sustenance) and Brahma represents intellect or sṛiṣṭi (creation). Sṛiṣti and sthiti think that they are the ultimate until samhāra, destruction enters their life. Only then, do they realize that they are not the ultimate! That is why Mahādeva has to happen in their life in the form of Rudra, destruction. Mahādeva appears to Brahma and Viṣṇu to expose their inauthenticity to them, and makes them responsible for their inauthenticity and others’ inauthenticity.

In one’s search for the truth, the Divine, the unmanifest, avyakta, which is what the intellectual seeker is focusing on, the intellect, the mind or ego will be the block that makes the path difficult to traverse. The individual carries not only the body but the mind as well. And with the mind, it carries the ego. As Kṛṣṇa points out—avyaktā hi gatir duḥkhaṁ (12.5). Unless the mind-body is transcended by the process of completion and surrender, spiritual advancement is difficult. Shedding the ego and restoring completion is the most difficult thing for the mind-body system. Ego provides the mind-body with its identity, with its existence. Till then, Mahādeva, the embodiment of completion and responsibility, has to appear again and again in your life to remind you to take responsibility.

Whether now or in Kṛṣṇa’s time, the world revolved around the power of thought, the power that seems to provide knowledge and skills. It was essential for one’s recognition and status in life. Dropping the ego and taking responsibility to restore authenticity is the most difficult thing for the body-mind, especially for one who is Bhakti Yogaḥ Love Is Your Very Life 877 focused on the intellect. Whenever you look at any destruction as a reminder of your inauthenticity and irresponsibility, it is no more a destruction in your life. You have learnt how to make anything negative into something positive, to strengthen your life. If you are able to make anything negative into positive, the moment it enters into your life, you are Śiva—Causeless Auspiciousness. Liberation From Birth And Death

12.6

ये तु सर्वाणि कर्माणि मयि संन्न्यस्य मत्पर: | अनन्येनैव योगेन मां ध्यायन्त उपासते

ye tu sarvāṇi karmāṇi mayi sannyasya matparāḥ / ananyenaiva yogena māṁ dhyāyanta upāsate / / 12.6

But those who worship me with single minded devo- tion, renouncing all activities unto Me, regarding Me as their supreme goal, whose minds are set in Me, I shall deliver them soon from their ocean of the birth and death cycle.

ye — who · tu — but · sarvāṇi — all · karmāṇi — actions · mayi — in me · sannyasya — renounc- ing · matparāḥ — regarding me as the supreme goal · ananyena — focussed · eva — even · yogena — with yoga · māṁ — me · dhyāyantaḥ — meditating · upāsate — worship

12.7

तेषामहं समुद्धर्ता मृत्युसंसारसागरात् | भवामि नचिरात्पार्थ मय्यावेशितचेतसाम्

teṣām ahaṁ samuddhartā mṛtyu-saṁsāra-sāgarāt / bhavāmi na cirātpārtha mayy āveśita cetasām / / 12.7

But those who worship me with single minded devo- tion, renouncing all activities unto Me, regarding Me as their supreme goal, whose minds are set in Me, I shall deliver them soon from their ocean of the birth and death cycle.

teṣām — for them · ahaṁ — I · samuddhartā — the savior · mṛtyu saṁsāra sāgarāt — from the ocean of life and death cycle · bhavāmi — become · na cirāt — before long · pārtha — Arjuna · mayi — in me · āveśita cetasām — of those whose minds are set

Kṛṣṇa makes a promise here. Kṛṣṇa says unequivocally, ‘I shall deliver them from their material existence, the ocean of saṁsāra, the cycle of life and death, mṛtyu-saṁsāra-sāgarāt. All that the Lord asks is that the devotee be devoted to Him. ye tu sarvāṇi karmāṇi mayi sannyasya mat-parāḥ I ananyenaiva yogena māṁ dhyāyanta upāsate II 12.6 Kṛṣṇa says, ‘If you surrender to Me, surrender all your actions and the fruits of those actions to Me, do my service, meditate upon Me, remain single-minded upon My consciousness, I shall then liberate you. I shall make sure you never need to be born again.’ It is the roar of a lion. It is the roar of the King of this Universe.

‘Surrender to Me and I shall liberate you. Serve Me and I shall liberate you.’ To most of us, God is only a concept and we worship that concept. Most of the time, we beg of that concept. We pray, ‘Give me this O Lord, give me that O Lord.’ When we have one prayer answered, we begin the next. As long as God answers our prayers, as long as the Master provides us with what we ask for, our faith in Him lasts. The moment the prayer goes unanswered, our faith dissolves. We move on to another God or Master. We do not realize that often God does not answer our prayers out of Bhakti Yogaḥ Love Is Your Very Life 879 sheer compassion, out of sheer love for us.

From time to time, God in His infinite wisdom turns down our requests such as wanting to become rich, wanting to be well, wanting to have children, and so on. We then move away from Him. Listen. Surrendering to the Divine is not conditional. It must be total. There can be no ‘ifs’, ‘ands’, or ‘buts’. It cannot be, ‘If you grant my prayers, I shall be devoted to you.’ That is business. Most of our relationship with God is business. There are three kinds of surrender. First, there is surrender of one’s intellect. For many, this is possible. Once we understand that there is a Universal energy far greater than us, most of us can accept and surrender intellectually to that supreme power.

At least we can say, ‘I surrender.’ That’s how many of us prostrate in a temple or before a master. The entire body touches the ground signifying our surrender. For that moment, our ego takes a vacation. Surrender at the next level is emotional. One can melt at the thought of God or master. There is love, there is gratitude pouring out of our hearts and we feel tears streaming down. We become bhaktas, devotees. Rāmakṛṣṇa said, ‘If you have tears in your eyes when you think of God or your Master, be very clear, this is your last birth! You are ready for liberation.’ We are ready but not liberated until we reach the last and third step.

This step of surrender is the surrender of one’s senses. Our surrender is total at this stage: complete, spontaneous, instant and natural. Kṛṣṇa says, ‘When you surrender to Me, I shall liberate you.’ To reach Him, we must surrender totally without deviation. Our senses must be surrendered to Him. Our entire consciousness, our complete awareness must only be of Him and nothing else. Nothing else needs to be done. The technique is so simple. ‘Surrender and I shall save you,’ says the Master. ‘I shall save you without delay, immediately—bhavāmi na cirāt pārtha mayy āveśita cetasām (12.7).’ The Lord has made it so simple. Yet, we find it so difficult to believe Him. Live In Me Always

12.8

मय्येव मन आधत्स्व मयि बुद्धिं निवेशय | निवसिष्यसि मय्येव अत ऊर्ध्वं न संशय:

mayyeva mana ādhatsva mayi buddhiṁ niveśaya / nivasiṣyasi mayyeva ata ūrdhvaṁ na saṁśayaḥ / / 12.8

You fix your mind on Me alone, establish your mind in Me. You will live in Me always. There is no doubt in it.

mayi — upon Me · eva — only · manaḥ — mind · ādhatsva — fix · mayi — upon Me · bud- dhiṁ — mind · niveśaya — apply · nivasiṣyasi — you will live · mayi — in Me · eva — alone · ata ūrdhvaṁ — thereafter · na — no · saṁśayaḥ — doubt

Just fix your mind upon Me, the supreme personality of the Divine and engage all your mind, body and senses in Me and you will thus live in Me always, without a doubt, assures Kṛṣṇa. mayy eva mana ādhatsva mayi buddhiṁ niveśaya I nivasiṣyasi mayy eva ata ūrdhvaṁ na saṁśayaḥ II 12.8 ‘Na samśayaḥ, without a doubt,’ He says. Now He comes to the technique. At one point the virtuous circle must begin. First, He explains the virtuous circle of the ultimate experience and expression. Now He comes to the technique. Please understand that love is not a mood. It is not a mere emotion. It is our very Existence.

As long as it is our mood, it will come and go. There are two kinds of love, horizontal love and vertical love. Let me explain. Horizontal love is like a horizontal line, flat. It is related to time: it starts and ends. Anything that starts must end. If it takes more time to end, don’t think it is permanent. Anything that starts must end. It may take a few years or a few months, but it ends. It is impermanent and time bound. This is horizontal love. Horizontal love is related to time. Vertical love is related to consciousness. Vertical love neither starts nor ends. It does not discriminate.

It is our very quality. It flows. If we discriminate and love, it cannot be love. It is an infatuation. As long as the other person fits into our frame, our love grows. The moment the other person doesn’t fit into our frame, our love disappears. In our Inner Awakening meditation retreat, I ask people to make a list Bhakti Yogaḥ Love Is Your Very Life 881 of at least one or two persons in their lives whom they really love. Usually, in the beginning, people come up with a big list: husband, wife, father, mother, brother, sister and so on. They include people whom they would like to please or need to please in order to be happy and be undisturbed themselves.

When I begin the process, people start crossing out names of people from their list, one by one. Understand, if you cross out something, then it was not love even in the first place. However, people get stuck when they come to the names of their sons or daughters. I say that all your love is for some reason. For economical benefit or psychological support, you hang onto these relationships. The next reason we love is to receive good certificates, positive recognition. Sometimes we share love and show love. We may not do so for economical benefits or psychological support, but we may expect a good certificate or attention for being loving and kind.

Some need for attention is always present. There is always some dependent need in us that motivates us to express love. It is never unconditional or complete love. People say, ‘No Swamiji. I don’t love my son or daughter for any of these three reasons.’ I ask them, ‘Alright, if suddenly your son starts to decide things on his own, if he doesn’t fit into your frame, if he doesn’t follow your guidance, will your love be the same? Enquire authentically.’ Naturally people say, ‘No, it will not be, the love will reduce a little.’ What does this mean? We love our next generation as long as they are extensions of our life.

We fulfill our desires through them. Whatever we couldn’t accomplish, we try to accomplish through them. As long as they act and live as an extension of our life, the relationship is beautiful. But the moment they start deciding on their own, the moment they feel we are suffocating them, the moment they stand up and say ‘no,’ the relationship takes a different turn. This is horizontal love. That is why it ends with some reason. Vertical love never ends because it never starts. Suddenly, at some point we realize, we are living inside everybody just as we live inside our own body. There is a beautiful example given in the Upaniṣads.

A master asked a disciple, ‘Do you enjoy all your five senses?’ The disciple said, ‘Yes.’ The master enquired, ‘What if one of your senses was missing, would you have the same amount of joy?’ The disciple replied, ‘No, it would be twenty percent less, and if two of my senses were missing, it would be forty percent less.’ The master suddenly said, ‘What if you had five more senses?’ The disciple answered, ‘Naturally my enjoyment would be a hundred percent extra. If I am given one more body, naturally I will enjoy everything twice as much. Or if I am given five bodies, naturally I will enjoy things five times as much.’

If we experience that we are living in all the bodies of this world, how much joy or ecstasy would we experience? It would be immeasurable, eternal and ultimate. That is what enlightened people experience all the time—living Advaita! When they experience themselves as the whole Universe, or as being in every body, they experience tremendous ecstasy, pleasure or bliss. That is why they don’t need anything from the outer world. An elderly person came to one of our programs. Afterward, he said to me with a lot of sympathy, ‘You have become a master and an ascetic at such a young age. You have missed life.’ He expressed his sympathy.

He felt that I had missed out. I told him, ‘Don’t be sympathetic towards me. Actually I should feel sympathetic towards you. Even after sixty years, you are unable to liberate yourself. Even after sixty years, you are suffering Bhakti Yogaḥ Love Is Your Very Life 883 in saṁsāra, the illusion of worldly life. I should be sympathetic towards you!’ Real Renunciation Is Completion With The Whole When we experience ecstasy and bliss within, we don’t feel we are missing anything from the outside world. Real renunciation is not about our renouncing the world. It is about the world renouncing us. When we have that completion, joy, ecstasy and bliss, we automatically radiate that bliss.

We never feel that we miss anything or that we have lost something. I tell people not to renounce the world unless they feel completion and ecstasy inside. Never renounce. Work towards completion and ecstasy. When that happens, renunciation automatically happens. If you renounce the outer world without having established the inner world with completion, you will fall into depression. When you are complete with you, the world will be complete with you. When you are incomplete with you, the world will be incomplete with you! Completion with you is Inner Awakening. Completion with the whole Universe is Sannyāsa. Sannyāsa means completion with the Whole. You are clear with your accounts and there is no incompletion!

I have seen many Sannyāsis who have taken this path without achieving the inner experience of completion. They are caught in social service and then fall into depression. Around the age of forty to forty-five, they become depressed. They counsel the whole world while they are depressed. Never renounce the world unless you have had a solid experience of completion inside. When you have had the experience, you don’t need to renounce. Automatically renunciation happens. All these things will drop you. Instead of you dropping them, they will drop you! You dropping these things always creates problems. When they drop you, it is the right thing. When you start experiencing the joy in you, nothing needs to be renounced, automatically renunciation happens.

Establish Your Intelligence On Me Here, Kṛṣṇa gives techniques to start the virtuous circle. ‘Fix your mind on Me, mayy eva mana ādhatsva. Establish your intelligence in Me, mayi buddhiṁ niveśaya. In this way, after acquiring the boundary-less consciousness, you will live in Me always, nivasiṣyasi mayy eva.’ How should we establish our intelligence in Him? Continuously try to enrich yourself and others with these thoughts and ideas that Kṛṣṇa teaches. Rāmakṛṣṇa says that what we belch depends upon what we eat. For instance, if we eat some kind of vegetable or fruit, the smell of that comes out when we belch. In the same way, if we add these ideas continuously to our mind and consciousness, we naturally radiate them.

They start shining through our being. When He tells you to let your intelligence be established in Him, it means that when we are in trouble, the solution should automatically come to us based upon these ideas. As of now we run and refer to a book, which means we have a Guru only in the outer world. If we digest and enrich ourselves with these ideas, even when we don’t have problems, they will lodge themselves in us and take us to higher and higher levels of completion. When we have problems, they will guide and enrich us. If you read books only when you are in trouble or when you are seeking a solution, you will not digest the ideas because your mind will be confused.

How will you receive them? How can you digest them when you are troubled and confused? It can’t happen this way. I tell you: dharmo rakśati rakśitāḥ When you protect dharma, it protects you. When you excite dharma, it excites you. When you enrich dharma, it enriches you. When you are integrated to it, it is integrated into you. When you are authentic with it, it is authentic with you. When you take responsibility for it, it takes responsibility for you. Only when you enrich it, will it enrich you. Dharma means the natural law of the Cosmos. It is an independent intelligence. When your mind is in the normal state, receive these ideas and en- Bhakti Yogaḥ Love Is Your Very Life 885 rich yourself and others constantly as a regular habit.

Let it become your normal life style. Just as you eat and bathe everyday, in the same way, absorb these ideas regularly. Understand, from my daily morning satsangs to Inner Awakening program, and even after that, I continue to speak on the four tattvas to enrich people with this dharma. Then, is it all the same? No! It is neither the same nor is it different! It means that you are being guided deeper and deeper, layer by layer, into the same tattvas! In his commentary on the Chandogya Upaniṣad, Śankara has written beautifully about purification of food. āhāra śuddho satva śiddho dhruvā smṛtiḥ When our āhāra, food, is purified, our memory is purified.

Please understand that āhāra doesn’t mean just the food that we eat. It refers to whatever we take in through the five senses. Television programs that we watch are āhāra. Music that we listen to is āhāra. The food that we eat is āhāra. The odours that we smell are āhāra. The touch that we enjoy is āhāra. So, all that we take in through the five senses should be pure. Only then can we radiate purity, can we radiate bliss, can we radiate divine intelligence. Unless we purify the āhāras that is ingested through the other senses as well, we cannot expect purification of our memories. I feel blessed that when I was born and brought up, there was no television in my village.

People ask me, ‘Swamiji, how do you grasp things so easily?’ Of course, I somehow pick up things easily, quickly. One small fact: Only a few years ago I started speaking English. I studied a little bit of English in school but that was through my native language Tamil in which I learned everything. Look in! Look into your life. When you start taking responsibility, you can decide the way your heart beats; you can decide the way your lungs function; you can even control the automated organs of your body and you can decide the functioning of non-mechanical parts of your brain. Each one of us have mechanical parts and non mechanical parts of the brain.

Mechanical parts of the brain are responsible for the functioning of your body—like the heart, lungs, liver, kidney, intestine, the functioning of your nervous system, experiencing touch, taste, seeing etc. The non-mechanical parts of your brain are responsible for the extraordinary powers—like telepathy, teleporting, vāk siddhi (the power of words, wherein any blessing given becomes a reality). Please listen. Extraordinary powers are not mythological stories or just some blind faith. I have already done enough scientific research to demonstrate the genuineness of the possibility of teleportation, telepathy and materialization. Only when you take the responsibility, will you find the solution. I tell you, in every situation take the responsibility. You will have leadership consciousness happening in you, īśvaratva.

Our brains are hardwired to experience higher possibilities and higher consciousness. It is this part that I call as non-mechanical parts of your brain. Listen! Whether you accept it or not, understand it or not, your body carries at least seventy times more energy and power than what you use in your day-to-day life. Science has proved this through various methods and ways. Just one small alteration in your brain can make you live without food, for months! I am not giving you any fantasy theory. I am giving you the practical experience of hundreds of my disciples who are living this through nirahara samyama. Purify Your Senses, Without A Doubt Reach Me If you watch some horror movie continuously for three days, you will start seeing ghosts!

Even a screen moving will look like a ghost. Whatever happens around you, you will connect it with the impression of ghosts that was left on your unconscious. Another thing, ghosts as such don’t have a physical body. As ordinary Bhakti Yogaḥ Love Is Your Very Life 887 humans, you have three bodies—physical, subtle and causal. Even if spirit bodies exist, they don’t have a physical body. Of course, first of all, they don’t exist. But for argument’s sake, if I collect all of your arguments and if I must argue and accept that they do exist, they exist only in the subtle body and causal body. No ghost comes to you with a physical body except your spouse!

Never allow these horrible things that cause suffering, into your consciousness. If you don’t allow these things into your consciousness, your intelligence will automatically be established in the Divine. The thoughts that you take in, play a major role in the expression of your consciousness. Just take in this one truth that Kṛṣṇa speaks of, ‘Establishing your intelligence in Me.’ Please understand that whatever you take in as your inputs, you establish your mind only on that. So let your inputs be purified. Let purification of your sensory inputs, happen to you. Your consciousness will automatically be established in the Divine. Again and again, try to absorb these ideas. Let these ideas penetrate you.

Don’t go behind ideas that make you feel low and that put you into depression. For example, for the last eleven days you have been listening to these ideas. Now, when a problem arises, you will automatically remember, ‘Swamiji said this. I have heard this idea. I think this is what I must understand now.’ This will start arising from your being. The truth will begin to enrich you from within yourself. If it starts coming up, you have authentically listened to what I have said. Otherwise, you are just a silent listener, a silent listener who is sitting here and seriously thinking of something else or passing judgment on my oratorical skills!

Whether you are a silent listener or somebody who really heard the discourse, can only be determined by how much these words get repeated in you. I tell people that when the source of the words is enlightened consciousness, the words simply penetrate you and automatically come into your mind whenever you need their help. People ask me, ‘Swamiji, how can we remember these ideas and practice them?’ I tell them, ‘Never bother remembering them. Just listen, that’s enough. These words are from my experience. So naturally they will penetrate your being.’ Whenever it is necessary, you won’t need to remember these words. The words will remember you. Without effort, these words will stay in you and surface.

Automatically they will come up when needed. They will erupt into your consciousness, like a pop-up. Similar to the pop-up on your computer monitor, they come up in your consciousness and guide you. You don’t need to do anything. All you need to do is authentically listen, as a means to put them into your being. Listen, listen to these words repeatedly. Naturally your consciousness will be established in the Divine. Kṛṣṇa says, ‘Immerse your mind completely in Me. Focus your entire attention upon Me. Without a doubt you will reach the blissful state.’ Practice To Perfection

12.9

अथ चित्तं समाधातुं न शक्नोषि मयि स्थिरम् | अभ्यासयोगेन ततो मामिच्छाप्तुं धनञ्जय

atha cittaṁ samādhātuṁ na śaknoṣi mayi sthiram / abhyāsayogena tato mām icchāptuṁ dhanañjaya / / 12.9

If you are not able to fix your mind upon Me then Arjuna, with the constant practice of Yoga, you try to attain Me.

atha — if · cittaṁ — mind · samādhātuṁ — to fix · na — not · śaknoṣi — you are able · mayi — upon Me · sthiram — steadily · abhyāsa yogena — by the practice of yoga · tataḥ — then · mām — Me · iccha — desire · āptuṁ — to get · dhanañjaya — Arjuna

12.10

अभ्यासेऽप्यसमर्थोऽसि मत्कर्मपरमो भव | मदर्थमपि कर्माणि कुर्वन्सिद्धिमवाप्स्यसि

abhyāse’pyasamartho’si matkarmaparamo bhava / madarthamapi karmāṇi kurvan-siddhim avāpsyasi / / 12.10

If you are not able to practice even this yoga then performing your duties and surrendering all your actions to Me, you will attain perfection.

abhyāse — in practice · api — even if · asamarthaḥ — unable · asi — you are · matkarma — My work · paramaḥ — dedicated to · bhava — become · madarthaṁ — for Me · api — even · karmāṇi — work · kurvan — performing · siddhim — perfection · avāpsyasi — you will achieve

Here Kṛṣṇa talks about Abhyāsa Yoga. What is Abhyāsa Yoga? Abhyāsa Yoga is the practice or method of yoga of holding the mind constantly in a state of union with Divinity. It is the state of complete immersion in the consciousness of Kṛṣṇa. Why does Kṛṣṇa speak about Abhyāsa Yoga? In the last chapter, Kṛṣṇa gives Arjuna a glimpse of the universal consciousness, Viśvarūpa darśan. However, Arjuna is unable to stay in that state permanently. Arjuna comes out of the experience because of fear or old saṁskāras, root thought patterns of past desires. He slips from that state of consciousness. Therefore, Kṛṣṇa speaks about Abhyāsa Yoga, how to establish oneself in that consciousness.

That’s why He speaks about abhyāsa, which means practice. A Path For Everyone He gives a solid path, or a solid solution to take care of our whole life, to establish ourselves in that consciousness. Continuously, again and again, in our daily life, let us receive these ideas, intranalyze these ideas in our consciousness and let our inner space be filled with these ideas. Let us not waste a few moments. Let our whole inner space be filled with these great thoughts. That is the way to establish us in that super consciousness. Kṛṣṇa continues to give more tips for establishing ourselves in that consciousness and radiating devotion. Kṛṣṇa instructs continuously over the next four verses.

He gives various options, step-by-step. He says: If we can’t do this, do that. If we can’t do that, do this. The first thing He says is, ‘Oh Dhanañjaya (winner of wealth), fix your mind upon Me. With constant practice, try to attain Me. If you are not able to practice, then perform actions for Me. In this way, develop the desire to attain Me. ’ atha cittaṁ samādhātuṁ na śaknoṣi mayi sthiram I abhyāsa-yogena tato mām icchāptuṁ dhanañjaya II 12.9 Rāmakṛṣṇa Paramahamsa had advised a lady to meditate upon the form of goddess Kālī. She said that however much she tried she was unable to meditate on Kālī; she was always distracted.

She came back to Rāmakṛṣṇa upset that she could make no spiritual progress. Rāmakṛṣṇa enquired whether the lady’s attention was diverted to someone or something else. The lady confessed that she was thinking of a young nephew, a child, whom she was fond of. Immediately, Rāmakṛṣṇa advised her, ‘Focus your attention on this child whom you love. Meditate upon him.’ The lady came back after a few weeks satisfied. Having started her meditation upon the child whom she loved, she could meditate. And once she could meditate, she could transfer her focus to goddess Kālī! The mind can be trained. What is important is concentration. Once we learn to focus our attention completely on something, single-pointedly, we can train the mind to be like a laser beam.

That laser beam can then be transferred to any object with equal facility and success. Vivekananda has said, ‘Once you learn all that there is to be known about a handful of clay by focusing your complete attention on it, you will know about all the clay everywhere in the world.’ Kṛṣṇa refers to completing with the mind through constant practice of meditation, which is part of the yogic path. Meditation is not about sitting down with eyes closed for half an hour every day or every other day or when we get time. Meditation is incessant and obsessive focus upon the Divine. Meditation is a way of life. Bhakti Yogaḥ Love Is Your Very Life 891 Since He knows that we may not be able to lose ourselves in devotion to Him, He offers this as an alternative.

‘If the mind cannot be focused on Me,’ says the Lord, ‘try this. Practice again and again uniting with Me through meditation.’ When neither seems possible, Kṛṣṇa offers one more way. ‘Do whatever you must. Do your duty as you need to and are able to. But then, surrender what you do to Me. Do what you do for My sake, mat-karma-paramo bhava.’ By performing whatever we do with total faith in Him, and with a deep feeling of surrender to Him, we reach Him. abhyāse ‘pi asamartho ‘si mat-karma-paramo bhava I mad-artham api karmāṇi kurvan siddhim avāpsyasi II 12.10 Kṛṣṇa implies two things through His statement. First, the results of whatever is done with an attitude of surrender to Him, belong to Him.

Our responsibility is to do, and do it well. We have the right to ‘doer-ship’ not ‘owner-ship’. The Lord is the owner of the fruits of actions that we perform on His behalf. When we learn to do this, we automatically imbibe the concept of non-attachment to the end result. What happens is in His hands, not ours. We then start focusing on the path, not the goal. We focus on the process, not the product. And when we do this, our performance gets better because we no longer are stressed by what the end result might be. We are no longer worried since the outcome is in safe hands.

If we travel with this awareness, whatever path we take is the right path. Whatever destination we reach through this right path is the right destination. When worship becomes a way of life, when spirituality becomes a part of daily life, there is an attitude of surrender to the Divine. One feels intuitively that whatever happens will be for common good and good for oneself. It does not matter if our neighbor has more than what we have. In fact, we rejoice that the neighbor has more than we have. We no longer have expectations of what we hope to get. When surrender happens, there is no end-point that one strives for.

Wherever the path leads is the right destination. With focus only on the path and not on the goal, expectations of what may happen drop. Whatever happens is good. This non-attachment and lack of expectations is the hallmark of a karma yogi, one who has surrendered his actions to the Divine. Kṛṣṇa implies one more thing. He wants us to do His service. He wants us to work on and enrich His mission. He says, ‘Engage yourself in activities on My behalf, and you will attain Me, mad-artham api karmāṇi kurvan siddhim avāpsyasi.’ I tell people, ‘Do not worry about whether I am here physically with you or not. If you chase Me, you will never be one with Me.

Work to enrich My mission. In whatever way you can, work on activities that enrich humanity. Work on My behalf. Then, instead of you chasing Me, I shall chase you. I shall always be with you.’ Working on the mission of the Divine is a sure guarantee to reach Divinity. Work For Me

12.11

अथैतदप्यशक्तोऽसि कर्तुं मद्योगमाश्रित: | सर्वकर्मफलत्यागं तत: कुरु यतात्मवान्

athaitad apy aśakto’si kartuṁ madyogamāśritaḥ / sarva-karma-phalatyāgaṁ tataḥ kuru yatātmavān / / 12.11

If you are not able to work even this way, surrender- ing unto Me, give up all the results of your actions to Me without ego.

atha — even though · etad — this · api — also · aśaktaḥ — unable · asi — you are · kartuṁ — to perform · madyogam — My yoga · āśritaḥ — taking refuge in · sarva karma — of all activities · phala — of the results · tyāgaṁ — renunciation · tataḥ — then · kuru — do · yatātmavān — self controlled.

Kṛṣṇa gives various possibilities to Arjuna, one after another. His compassion for Arjuna’s spiritual evolution knows no limits. He never gives up on Arjuna. ‘If you cannot do this, do that. And if you cannot do that, at least do this,’ Kṛṣṇa continues. In the last four verses, He continuously gives options to Arjuna. Kṛṣṇa says, ‘Fix your mind upon Me alone. Live in Me.’ Then He felt that He had to give Arjuna an option, in case Arjuna could not succeed. ‘If you cannot fix your mind upon Me, steadily practice and practice again,’ He advised. He relented further, ‘If you cannot do this repetitive practice, if this is too much for you, then work on My mission.

Whatever you do, do it for Me.’ Kṛṣṇa now says, ‘If you are unable to do even this, which is work for My sake, then just abandon your ego and turn over the results of your actions to Me, sarva-karma-phala tyāgaṁ tataḥ kuru yatātmavān (12.11).’ Kṛṣṇa relents from His standpoint that Arjuna should work only on those activities that are Kṛṣṇa’s. He feels that there may be conditions that may prevent Arjuna from devoting all his time only to those activities that are Kṛṣṇa’s. See how relevant Kṛṣṇa’s advice is, even by today’s standards. None of us can hope to sit idle and be taken care of. We must do something to occupy ourselves.

In our day-to-day reality of life, not all may be able to work on God’s mission alone, all the time. We may be able to spend only some time on activities that are selfless activities that benefit humanity overall, and activities that are spiritual. We need to spend a lot of time on activities that are of material benefit to us and to others related to us. Nothing is lost, assures Kṛṣṇa, and He provides the bridge between material pursuits and spiritual pursuits. Kṛṣṇa brings in the core concept of the Gītā, that of ‘renunciation’. He says, ‘Do what you must do with an attitude of surrender to Me and sacrifice the results of your actions to Me, with complete control over your self, your ego.’

We feel responsible for the results of our actions. Whether we succeed or fail in what we do, either proud and happy, or guilty and sad, our ego makes us feel responsible. We identify ourselves with what we do and the results of what we do. Kṛṣṇa says, ‘If you cannot do whatever else I have told you to do, do this. Drop your ego. Drop the fruits of your actions and renounce them to Me.’ The freedom that results from what Kṛṣṇa advises is true liberation. Once we realize that we no longer are the masters of our destiny, decision makers of the results of our actions, we feel a weight lifting off our shoulders.

It is He who is now responsible for the results of our action. We still are the ‘doers’, but no longer the ‘owners.’ One may wonder, how can I succeed in this rat race? Remember that even if you are the winner in this rat race, you are still only a rat! It is an illusion of our minds that we decide the results of our actions. It is pure fantasy to believe that we decide the result of our actions. We cannot even guarantee that we will survive our next breath. Our life is not in our hands. What arrogance, therefore, to imagine that activities in the outer world are subject to our control!

There is a power higher than us that decides the results of our actions. Once we realize this and start believing in the wisdom of that higher power, strange and mystical things happen to us. We just need to let the Universe, Kṛṣṇa, the Divine, decide what is best for the rest of humanity and us. Let us surrender the results of all that we do to this sacred power. Whatever then happens to us is for the Bhakti Yogaḥ Love Is Your Very Life 895 good, for our good and the good of everyone in this Universe. We are surrendering to the cosmic power that surrounds us. Without Its grace we cannot live or take our next breath.

Say, ‘Do what you think is best for me’ with deep completion and see what happens. Not merely does the end goal materialize, but an immense spiritual relief will overtake you. ‘Renounce unto Me,’ says Kṛṣṇa, ‘surrender yourself to Me, and I shall liberate you.’ Attain Peace

12.12

श्रेयो हि ज्ञानमभ्यासाज्ज्ञानाद्ध्यानं विशिष्यते | ध्यानात्कर्मफलत्यागस्त्यागाच्छान्तिरनन्तरम्

śreyo hi jñānamabhyāsāj jñānāddhyānaṁ viśiṣyate / dhyānāt karma-phala-tyāgas tyāgāc chāntir anantaram / / 12.12

Knowledge is better than mere practice. Meditation is superior to knowledge. Renunciating the fruit of actions is better than meditation. After renouncing of fruits of actions, one immediately attains peace.

śreyo — better · hi — indeed · jnānam — knowledge · abhyāsāt — than practice · jñānāt — than knowledge · dhyānaṁ — meditation · viśiṣyate — superior · dhyānāt — than meditation · karmaphala tyāgaḥ — renunciation of the fruits of action · tyāgāt — than such renunciation · śāntiḥ — peace · anantaram — thereafter

Kṛṣṇa gives so many possibilities. Step-by-step, He gives options. Actually, these are not only for Arjuna’s mind. These are for all kinds of minds. Let me tell a small story from Ramaṇa Mahaṛṣi’s life: Somebody goes to him and asks, ‘Bhagavān, what spiritual technique should I use?’ He says, ‘Do ātma-vicāra, Self-inquiry. Start questioning—Who am I?’ After a few days, the devotee comes back and says, ‘It is difficult to do Self-inquiry, can I just meditate?’ Bhagavān says, ‘Alright, do meditation.’ After a week, the person returns and says, ‘Meditation is also difficult. Can I do japa, repetition of mantra and recitation of verses?’ Bhagavān says, ‘Alright, do that.’ A few days pass and he is back again saying, ‘Japa is also difficult.

Can I do pūjā, the ritual worship?’ Bhagavān says, ‘Alright. Do pūjā.’ Within a week the man is there asking, ‘Pūjā is also difficult. Can I start going only to the temple?’ Bhagavān says, ‘Alright, do what you want.’ Masters do not want to close the doors for anybody. They do not give Bhakti Yogaḥ Love Is Your Very Life 897 up on anybody. Please understand, they give possibilities for everybody. Here, in these verses, Kṛṣṇa deeply enriches giving options to everyone. We need to have tremendous spontaneity to understand this. Only with spontaneity will we be able to handle these instructions. For example, if you don’t feel like meditating and are in a low mood, don’t try sitting in a room with closed doors, forcing yourself to meditate.

Just go out, go to the temple. Spend some time freely walking and moving around. It will relax you. Then you can enter into meditation. And if you are not able to do that also, do something else. Do something that helps to keep you in a relaxed mood that makes you feel relaxed. Then, you can enter into meditation. Do Something Enriching Here, Kṛṣṇa gives step-by-step instructions up to the ultimate and last step. The last step is being in the consciousness, being in bliss. But just because you can’t do that, don’t stop trying altogether. Don’t give up on you. Do something enriching at least. I have seen people speak about meditation, about ātma-sādhana and all sorts of complicated things.

But when it comes to practice, just thinking of meditating makes them stop their rituals, everything. In the end they do not even meditate. They say, ‘I don’t have enough time, Swamiji. My mind won’t concentrate and I cannot sit quietly.’ First they stop everything in the name of meditation. Then they drop meditation because of other reasons! Then they have neither this nor that. Kṛṣṇa doesn’t want that to happen. We need spontaneity to decide what we need and what to do at each moment. Actually spontaneity is a spiritual quality. Only a man who is not caught in his past, who is able to slip away from his past, can be spontaneous.

We can only be spontaneous if we are complete with our past and we don’t have a vested interest in our past decisions. If we have vested interests in the past, we may think, ‘No, all these years I have lived believing this idea, and understanding things this way. Today just because something is said to me I will not change. I cannot! I am not going to change.’ Then we can never be spontaneous and complete! We will miss life and miss it miserably. The quality of life updates itself. It can be called intelligence only as long as it updates itself. When it stops updating itself, it is intellect.

It can no longer be called intelligence. Intelligence is living energy. The Saṃskṛit word dhī means ‘that which is alive’. In Saṃskṛit, the word for intelligence is dhī. Dhī is energy that is alive, which continuously updates itself. In the Gāyatrī mantra (the sacred chant) that is central to Hindu worship, we seek to enhance this intelligence-energy when we pray to the Divine. Only if we don’t have a vested interest in our past, in the decisions of our past, or the way in which our past was lived, the way in which we lived our past life (not a different birth, but our life before this moment), will we be spontaneous.

Spontaneity is a great spiritual quality. An incident about spontaneity: Once I was giving a discourse on the Īśāvāsya Upaniṣad. An elderly person, who looked like a well-read scholar, walked into the hall. After the discourse, without any basic courtesy, he stood up and said, ‘All these fools have not read anything, which is why you can make them listen to you. Can you make me listen to you?’ I said, ‘Please come nearer Sir. I cannot hear what you are saying.’ When he came nearer I said, ‘Please come to this side and repeat what you said Sir.’ He moved to that side. Then I said, ‘I think there is a table in the way, please move to the other side Sir.’

He moved and came nearer. Then I said, ‘You have already listened to me three times. Now sit and listen to what I have to say!’ You can never escape from spontaneity. After this incident, sometime later, I was reading a book about a similar incident that happened in a Zen master’s life. I was surprised to see how history repeats itself! When you Bhakti Yogaḥ Love Is Your Very Life 899 have spontaneity, nothing can stop you. Spontaneity is a great spiritual quality. Here Kṛṣṇa gives four different instructions. Either you can establish yourself in Bhakti Yoga – Path of Devotion, or live a regular life of spiritual routine, or sacrifice all the fruits of action to God, or live in consciousness and act.

You can do whatever you want. He says, ‘If not this, do this. If not these, then that…’ Now all that we need to understand is that we should not limit ourselves at one of the lower levels of Kṛṣṇa’s teachings. We should bring authenticity, the space of possibility and always try to move or expand to a higher level. When you can’t reach a higher level of authenticity, at least stay at the lower level and keep trying without renouncing all efforts completely. Keep at it. You will be surprised at what happens when you put in your sincere authentic effort. Ultimate Freedom Somebody asked me, ‘Swamiji, why do we have so many gods in India or in the Eastern religions?’

All Eastern religions have many gods, whether you consider Hinduism, Buddhism or Jainism. They all have many gods, so many saints and so many gurus, while Western religions have only one God. Why?’ Vivekananda puts it across beautifully in one discourse. Freedom is the basic condition for growth. In any field, if growth has to happen, freedom is the basic condition. In the East they have had inner freedom. No one disturbs your religion here. Spiritual practice is an option. That is why we have the concept of iṣṭadevatā, your favorite god. Iṣṭadevatā means you can worship whatever form suits your mind. The scriptures mention 330 million devatas, demigods or gods.

Actually I think that was probably the size of the population at that time! They wanted each person to have his own customized god. That is why they say 330 million gods! If the scriptures were to be written now, they would say six billion gods. Each one has the freedom to choose their path and one’s own god. Each one has the freedom to consider himself as god as he realizes the divinity in himself. People have inner freedom, which is why the East has grown so much spiritually. In the West, you can’t have your own god. In India, anyone can declare himself to be a saint overnight.

In the freedom of the East, many good things happen. Tremendous research happened in the inner world because of that freedom. Much research has been done in the inner world and many truths related to the inner world have been brought to light, brought to humanity, because so many people have entered into it. There will always be a few fakes. When so many millions of people take the path, and so many millions of things are expressed, one or two superstitions come about as well. You may think superstitions exist only in relationship to spirituality. A lot more superstitions exist in science. At least in spirituality the masters do not have any vested interests in declaring something.

Nothing significant will be added to their personal lives. They are still going to eat only that much and are going to wear only those few pieces of clothing. But when it concerns scientists, whatever they declare is going to give them name and fame, money, and additional comfort in their lives. So naturally they have vested interests. With spiritual people, the more they renounce and the less they enjoy the outer world comforts, the more they are respected. So naturally, whatever truths they declare, whatever research they do will not add anything new to their personal lives. The respect they are given is based upon their lives, not their words.

With scientists, it is based on their words. So in science, there is a greater possibility for superstitions than in spirituality. And when more and more people take to this spiritual life, there will always be one or two superstitions that result. Just because of this, we can’t say that religious freedom or spiritual freedom is wrong. There is a lot of good in it also. The West has social freedom. You can marry as many times as you want to. You can change your house to your taste. You can change your profession any number of times. You can dress as you wish. Nobody will Bhakti Yogaḥ Love Is Your Very Life 901 mind.

Even now, I know people in India who obey family traditions, who have not left their family homes. They don’t change professions and they don’t change lifestyles. In the East, they don’t have social freedom. They have spiritual freedom. In the West, they have social freedom but not spiritual freedom. For any growth to happen freedom is a basic necessity. Here, with these four options, Kṛṣṇa is expressing spiritual freedom for us. He says that there are so many paths, and tells us to choose whichever one suits our mentality, and to practice at least one option. It is not so important which option that we choose. It is essential only that we choose something!

Eastern traditions offer many choices. If you are an intellectual person, then Śiva could be your choice and you can continuously sit and meditate. If you are inclined towards devotion, then Viṣṇu could be your choice. The path includes singing and dancing like the great masters Caitanya. Just sing the glory of the Lord like the Alwars, devotional saints of Tamil Nadu, related with Viṣṇu. If you are inclined towards yoga, if you are a yogi, then Devi is the one for you. Meditate on Her, offer worship and tantric practices. There are many different kinds of techniques, and the options are many. You have customized ways, customized paths for your personal growth.

Thus, naturally wherever one is, one can grow and reach the level one is supposed to reach. You are continuously given choices, given options. Naturally, one tends to take up something or the other. The East has explored and done much research on the inner space because of spiritual freedom. The West has achieved so much at a social level because of social freedom. Of course, India has struggled because of the lack of social freedom, but it has gained tremendously because of spiritual freedom. Here Kṛṣṇa gives many choices in spiritual freedom. One cannot expect any master, other than the Eastern masters to be so compassionate, concerned, caring, and generous as to give so many enriching possibilities.

In the West, the law is compassionate as it gives a lot of options. In the East, the spiritual system is compassionate as it gives a lot of enriching options. In India, spiritual freedom is given more importance. These four enriching options are representative of the spiritual freedom given to society. Here Kṛṣṇa gives Arjuna the spiritual freedom to choose and of course, not only to Arjuna, but through Arjuna, to all of us. If you cannot practice the regulations of Bhakti Yoga, try to work for Me because by working for Me—mat-karma paramo bhava, you will enrich yourself and come to the perfect stage—kurvan siddhiṁ avāpsyasi (12.10). Surrender, The Best Enriching Option Then one by one He gives all enriching options and finally says, śreyo hi jñānaṁ abhyāsāj jñānād dhyānaṁ viśiṣyate I dhyānāt karma phala tyāgaḥ tyāgāc chāntir anantaram II 12.12 ‘If you can’t follow these practices to enrich yourself, engage yourself in the cultivation of knowledge.’

He says, ‘At least collect all these life solutions.’ Cultivation of knowledge means collecting solutions to life’s mysteries, such as how to avoid depression, how to be more courageous, how to be strong, how to avoid unwanted desires and how to prevent emotional blocks. This kind of knowledge that you can collect as life solutions can help and protect you. In the USA, you are taught about earthquate kit, that water bottles and other vital safety things should be a part of the kit. Western society prepares people for these eventualities. But we also need to prepare people to face the earthquakes that happen within, the emotional imbalances that occur within.

Just like preparing for an earthquake, one needs to be equipped with an inner earthquake kit. This inner earthquake kit is what I refer to as ‘life solutions’ or knowledge. Collectthesethingsnowsothatwhenyoufacedepression,youwillbe prepared. All of us will face some sort of inner earthquake at some point Bhakti Yogaḥ Love Is Your Very Life 903 in time. As long as one is alive, naturally at some point, some friends will die, some relatives will die, or some near and dear ones will fall sick or die. All these things are inevitable. The inevitability of each moment must be understood. Understanding the inevitability of life and collecting knowledge, collecting the tools, the ideas to support and balance us at those moments, is jñāna, knowledge.

We need to prepare ‘earthquake kits’ for our lives. Otherwise we will be unable to recover. The aftermath will be terrible. The Eastern system continuously prepares people for inner hurricanes and inner earthquakes. Jñāna or knowledge is the earthquake kit for the inner space. People are prepared. They do not have to choose between inner and outer spaces. Have an outer earthquake kit in your car, and an inner earthquake kit in your heart. Now, because of the internet, we can have both. Someone asked me, ‘Swamiji, Buddha enlightened ten thousand people. What is your aim?’ I replied, ‘Without newspapers or telegrams, without the internet, without airplanes, if Buddha could enlighten ten thousand people, then with all these amenities, we should be able to enrich with enlightenment at least one million people.

Only then is it worth having all these amenities.’ Now we can have everything in the inner world and the outer world. We can have an earthquake kit in our cars and an inner earthquake kit in our hearts or inner space. Never take inner earthquakes lightly. Taking inner earthquakes lightly means we are acting out of ignorance. When quakes come in the outer world, we can blame somebody and be rid of the responsibility. But when it comes to the inner world, we can’t blame anybody. Each of us must take responsibility for everything happening in and around us. As Kṛṣṇa says in an earlier chapter: uddharet ātmanā ātmānaṁ ātmānaṁ avasādhayet I ātmaiva hyātmano bandhuḥ atmaiva ripurātmanaḥ II 6.5 You must help yourself ascend.

You must raise yourself by yourself. If you can help yourself ascend, then you are your best friend. Otherwise you are your worst enemy. He gives enriching possibilities, among the different paths like practicing, cultivation of knowledge, meditation or renunciation of the fruits of actions, karma phala tyāga. Among these paths, one is better than the other. First, He mentions that the path of meditation, dhyāna is better than knowledge, jñana— jñānād dhyānaṁ viśiṣyate. Better than meditation is offering everything at the feet of God—dhyānāt karma phala tyāgaḥ. He says that by renunciation of the fruits of action one can immediately achieve peace— tyāgāc chāntir anantaram (12.12). As long as we think that ‘everything is mine,’ we suffer.

The moment we surrender, the moment we hand the whole thing over to the Divine, inner healing happens. Our inner space experiences the breeze of divine healing. Often people think that surrender is some sort of loss of control. Giving up is an expression of weakness. Letting go is irresponsibility. Understand that control is an expression of ego. All control arises out of the need for ‘I’ and ‘mine’. Control seeks power. Power corrupts. Surrender is liberation. Surrender is the expression of choicelessness, of leaving the decision to the Divine after doing what one can do. Unless we let go of our expectations and our attachment to the results of our actions, we will continue to build unproductive stress and incompletions within us that will not raise us to our peak possibility.

When we learn to focus totally on what we need to do and work on the process, without worrying about the destination, whatever we do is done better, faster and more effectively. Kṛṣṇa’s teaching is not merely spiritual. It is highly practical. It is not only after-life enhancing, but it is present-life enabling. He says that for the person who renounces the fruits of action, eternal peace is the immediate result, yāgāc chāntir anantaram (12.12). When we renounce ownership to what we do and hand over the ownership to the Divine, peace and bliss descend upon us. There is true liberation in giving Bhakti Yogaḥ Love Is Your Very Life 905 up attachment to the results of what we do.

This liberation comes from not having expectations of any kind. We are detached from the results of our actions. That allows us to focus totally on what we have in hand, in the present moment of completion. Staying in the space of completion is peace, bliss, liberation, or mokṣa. He Is Very Dear To Me

12.13

अद्वेष्टा सर्वभूतानां मैत्र: करुण एव च | निर्ममो निरहङ्कार: समदु:खसुख: क्षमी

adveṣṭā sarvabhūtānāṁ maitraḥ karuṇa eva ca / nirmamo nirahaṅkāraḥ samaduḥkhasukhaḥ kṣamī / / 12.13

One who has no dislike or envy for any being, who is friendly and compassionate to everyone, free from the sense of I and mine, the ego, maintains equanimity of mind both in joy and sorrow, forgiving, ever satisfied, united with Yoga, has a strong commitment to Me and has fixed his mind and intellect upon Me, such a devotee of Mine is very dear to Me.

adveṣṭā — non envious · sarvabhūtānāṁ — toward all living entities · maitraḥ — friendly · karuṇa — kindly · eva — certainly · ca — also · nirmamaḥ — with no sense of proprietorship · nirahankāraḥ — without false ego · sama — equal · duḥkha — in distress · sukhaḥ — and happiness · kṣamī — forgiving.

12.14

सन्तुष्ट: सततं योगी यतात्मा दृढनिश्चय: | मय्यर्पितमनोबुद्धिर्यो मद्भक्त: स मे प्रिय:

santuṣṭaḥ satataṁ yogī yatātmā dṛḍhaniścayaḥ / mayy arpita-mano-buddhir yo madbhaktaḥ sa me priyaḥ / / 12.14

One who has no dislike or envy for any being, who is friendly and compassionate to everyone, free from the sense of I and mine, the ego, maintains equanimity of mind both in joy and sorrow, forgiving, ever satisfied, united with Yoga, has a strong commitment to Me and has fixed his mind and intellect upon Me, such a devotee of Mine is very dear to Me.

santuṣṭaḥ — satisfied · satataṁ — always · yogī — one engaged in yoga · yatātmā — self controlled · dṛḍhaniścayaḥ — with determination · mayi — upon Me · arpita — engaged · manaḥ — mind · buddhiḥ — and intelligence · yaḥ — one who · madbhaktaḥ — My devotee · saḥ — he · me — to Me · priyaḥ — dear.

you don’t do these, that too is okay. However, if you do them, you will be very dear to Me—yo mad-bhaktaḥ sa me priyaḥ.’ In other words, it is emotional black mail, not directly but indirectly, but all for a good cause! ‘One who is not envious, but is a kind friend to all living entities, who does not think of himself as a proprietor, and who is free from false ego, who is equal in both happiness and distress, who is tolerant, always satisfied, self-controlled, and engaged in devotional service with determination, with intelligence fixed on Me, such a devotee of Mine is very dear to Me.’ adveṣṭā sarva bhūtānāṁ maitraḥ karuṇa eva ca I nirmamo nirahaṅkāraḥ sama-duḥkha-sukhaḥ kṣamī II 12.13 santuṣṭaḥ satataṁ yogī yatātma dṛḍha-niścayaḥ I mayy arpita mano-buddhir yo mad bhaktaḥ sa me priyaḥ II 12.14 Bhakti Yogaḥ Love Is Your Very Life 907 Important Qualities Of Enriching Understand here, He says, ‘Who is not envious and a kind friend to every living entity.’

These are important qualities. Let us analyze our minds. When we honestly analyze our mind, we realize that if somebody came to you and told you he loved you, you wouldn’t believe it. The first thingyouwoulddoisfigureoutwhathewantsfromyou.Youdon’tbelieve you are worthy of being loved. Next, you don’t believe that somebody can honestly love you, because you don’t love anybody honestly. Because you are calculative, you expect the other person also to be calculating. All our love is skin deep and you know how deep skin is! Here, He says, ‘A person who is a kind friend of everyone, who honestly serves, feels the friendliness in everybody and is free from false ego.’

Now we should understand the term ‘false ego, ahaṁkāra’. Ego not only means showing what you don’t have, but also hiding what you have. There are two types of ego: active ego and passive ego. Active ego is showing what you have and passive ego is characterized by these kinds of thoughts, ‘Oh, what can I do, I am a simple person, I cannot achieve anything, and I cannot do anything.’ Hiding oneself is an outcome of the passive ego. An inferiority complex is a manifestation of the passive ego. At least there is one positive point regarding the superiority complex. With a feeling of superiority, wherever one goes, one gets a big beating from society.

But with inferiority complex, society does not attempt to correct you. It is a cunning way of hiding yourself from life. You will not even know that you have a problem. A person who looks for name and fame, and a person who doesn’t want name and fame are both egoistic. If you ask for name, you are egoistic. And if you don’t, it shows passive ego. Whereas a person who lets things happen and a person who allows things to flow, lives in reality. Kṛṣṇa makes a comment, ‘After all, who is going to know who you are? Why do you think you are a big person and your name is so great and that everybody knows your name?

You think you are great, that is why you don’t want name and fame. Nobody knows your name, relax.’ Kṛṣṇa says clearly. Nobody knows our name. Asking for name and fame and saying, ‘I don’t want name and fame,’ are different aspects of ego, different varieties of ego. The inferior ego is also ego, which is why he says ‘false ego’. You are not only supposed to be free from ego, you are supposed to be free from false ego as well. You shouldn’t hide yourself in inferiority complexes. A small story: A master tells a disciple, ‘Please press my feet.’ The disciple says, ‘Oh, I am a sinner, how can I touch Your feet?’

He does not want to do it because he is lazy. So he says, ‘I am a great sinner. I am impure. How can I touch Your feet; how can I do that?’ Later, a devotee brought fruits and prasād, offerings. The master put a little in his mouth and left the rest. The next day, he saw nothing on the plate. He asked his disciple, ‘What happened to the fruits and prasād?’ The disciple answered, ‘It was guru prasād, offering to the master. I could not let it go for a waste. I finished the whole thing because it was guru prasād.’ Look at the mind, how nicely it handles different situations!

Wherever we want, we insert whatever is convenient. The moment you understand the futility of your goal and wealth, that nothing is going to be with you forever, all of these divine qualities radiate through your being. You will be transformed into a person who is established in forgivingness, who maintains equanimity of mind, who is satisfied and united with yoga. Actually, when you are blissful inside, you radiate these qualities. A man who is totally blissful inside radiates pleasantness for absolutely no reason. We continuously carry a sense of slight irritation in our being; we are Bhakti Yogaḥ Love Is Your Very Life 909 waiting to pounce on people.

We don’t know what we are doing. We jump and bite people at the slightest provocation, because we carry some irritation pattern within us. We continuously vomit upon others the suffering and misery that we feel. This irritation pattern arises within us out of constant worry, inner chatter because of incompletions. We feel we may not get what we are planning for and what we want. Worry arises as a result of the gap between what we expect and what we think we are capable of getting. Worry is futile because there are many factors other than our capability that determine the outcome of what we do. We cannot control even our own breath.

We cannot say with certainty whether we will take the next breath. What arrogance it is then to think that we can determine our future or the outcome of our actions! Worry and irritation are pointless and make you powerless. Worry, anxiety and irritation dissolve once we settle into the present, the space of completion. Only in the present are we in a position to influence our actions and the immediate outcome of those actions. When we settle into the present, thoughts cease and worry and irritation disappear. We realize how irrelevant, unproductive and inauthentic worry is. Only how consciously you live, with what consciousness you choose to live remains with you.

Only the consciousness of completion remains with you. When you understand the importance of your state of being, you automatically start radiating pleasantness and joy. Meditation For Devotion I give people a simple meditation technique to experience Bhakti Yoga–the Path of Devotion. Just practice the technique of radiating pleasantness and friendliness. How does one do it? From morning till night whenever you remember, inhale, inhale, and inhale only the pleasant qualities of bliss. Visualize you are inhaling bliss and exhaling bliss. Your whole being will be filled with joy. In the beginning you will be visualizing, imagining. But in a few days you will realize it is your quality. One more thing you should know is that imagination and visualization are two different things.

Imagination translates into kalpanā in Saṃskṛit, while visualization translates into bhāvanā. Bhāvanā is different from kalpanā. Kalpanā means imagining things that are not there. For example, if you think of an elephant with ten trunks, that is imagination, kalpanā, that which is not there. But bhāvanā means visualizing that which is present but maybe eluding you. If you sit during the day and visualize stars in the sky, that is not imagination. It is visualization. Because stars are in the sky even though you are unable to see them. So visualizing stars is not imagination. Perceiving what is there but what you are unable to see at this moment is visualization.

Trying to perceive what can never exist is imagination. So understand that meditating on gods and goddesses is not imagination. It is visualization. They are there. You cannot see them; that is all. You are supposed to fall in tune with them, like tuning your television. Similarly, visualization is tuning yourself. Just continuously visualize inhaling and exhaling bliss. Visualise prāṇa – the life giving energy—going inside and coming out. Prāṇa is energy and bliss. Prāṇa is not merely air. Prāṇa is the energy that goes through air. For example, a truck comes up to your house and unloads luggage and leaves. The truck is air and the luggage is prāṇa.

Using air as a medium, prāṇa enters. Prāṇa-śakti is the subtle part of air. Prāṇa-śakti is bliss energy, ānanda-śakti. So whenever you inhale, visualize yourself inhaling bliss. When you exhale, visualize yourself exhaling bliss. Inhale light and exhale light. Think that your whole body is a beanbag filled with light. Imagine your body is a beanbag filled with bliss and light. You will automatically start radiating bliss instead of irritation. Instead of vomiting the poison of anger and jealousy on others, you will radiate love and bliss. ‘Such a devotee of mine is very dear to Me, yo mad-bhaktaḥ sa me priyaḥ.’ Kṛṣṇa says that if somebody lives in this manner, that devotee is close to Him.

He doesn’t say ‘Do or don’t do.’ He does not want to make more rules. He is tired of making rules. He has reached a point where Bhakti Yogaḥ Love Is Your Very Life 911 his attitude is, ‘If you can, do it, otherwise, what can be done?’ He is in a relaxed mood. I think this happens to all masters. After some time they say, ‘Alright, do whatever you want, what can be done?’ They can guide or show you only to a certain extent. Beyond that if masters persist, people start thinking that the masters have some vested interest in making people enlightened. Understand, they just share to enrich with what they have, out of completion, joy and bliss.

You are not ready to trust the Master. You keep resisting Him. When the Master says drop ‘I and mine,’ people are afraid that the Master may pick them up and take it with him! People are suspicious. That is why Masters sometimes say, ‘This is the right way, but do as you want to do.’ ‘One who has fixed his mind and intellect upon me, mayy arpita mano buddhir (12.14),’ says Kṛṣṇa. It is difficult for the devotee and disciple to have this attitude of surrender to the Master or the Universe. As long as things go the way the person wants, as long as the Master allows the devotee to do what he wishes, the Master is a great master and worthy of celebration.

But once the Master turns serious and takes up his responsibility of spiritual surgery on the disciple, he wants to run away. I tell people, ‘Decide well in advance whether I am your right Master or not.’ A Master takes his responsibilities seriously. His major responsibility is surgery; it is the surgery of the cancer of ego. Once the disciplemakesacommitment,theMastermakeshiscommitmenttoo.Itis dangerous to run away from the operating table. You lose your whole life by running away. You may have to wait many births before you get another chance. Here, Kṛṣṇa is in the same mood and He says, ‘Such a devotee of Mine is dear to Me,’ that’s all. He is talking about the commitment that the devotee makes to Him. He says, ‘One who makes that commitment to Me and fixes his mind and intellect upon Me, he is dear to Me and will be liberated.’ So says the great Master of the Universe. Be Unaffected

12.15

यस्मान्नोद्विजते लोको लोकान्नोद्विजते च य: | हर्षामर्षभयोद्वेगैर्मुक्तो य: स च मे प्रिय:

yasmānnodvijate loko lokānnodvijate ca yaḥ / harṣāmarṣabha-yodvegair mukto yaḥ sa ca me priyaḥ / / 12.15

He, by whom the world is not affected adversely, and who in turn does not affect the world adversely, and he, who is free from joy, anger, and anxiety, he is dear to Me.

yasmāt — from whom · na — not · udvijate — is agitated · lokaḥ — the world · lokāt — from the world · na — not · udvijate — is agitated · ca — and · yaḥ — who · harṣāmarṣabhayodvegaiḥ — from joy · muktaḥ — freed · yaḥ — who · sa — he · ca — and · me — to me · priyaḥ — dear

12.16

अनपेक्ष: शुचिर्दक्ष उदासीनो गतव्यथ: | सर्वारम्भपरित्यागी यो मद्भक्त: स मे प्रिय:

anapekṣaḥ śucirdakṣaḥ udāsīno gatavyathaḥ / sarvārambhaparityāgī yo madbhaktaḥ sa me priyaḥ / / 12.16

He, who is free from wants, who is pure and skilled, unconcerned, untroubled, who is selfless in whatever he does, he who is devoted to Me, he is dear to Me.

anapekṣaḥ — free from expectations · śuciḥ — pure · dakṣa — expert · udāsīnaḥ — unconcerned · gatavyathaḥ — untroubled · sarvārambha parityāgī — renouncing all undertakings · yo — who · madbhaktaḥ — my devotee · saḥ — he · me — to me · priyaḥ — dear

Kṛṣṇa now moves into higher gear. Once you let go of joy, anxiety and anger, once you transcend these emotions, you reach a state of calmness that takes you close to Him. Now, He moves from ‘nissaṇgatvaṁ’ to ‘nirmohatvaṁ,’ from emotional non-attachment to non-attachment to desires. We need to understand the difference between ‘wants’ and ‘needs’. Needs are necessary for us to survive on planet Earth, like the basic needs of food, shelter, etc. The great Jain master Māhāvira says, ‘The moment you are born on this planet, the Universe sends everything with you that you need.’ We just need to trust the Universe and we shall get what we need to live.

We shall not want anything else. However, we end up seeking more. Basic needs are no longer enough. Everything we have is a match for what others have. It is a constant cycle of ‘What next? What next?’ Even before we start enjoying what we have got, we make a plan to get more. There is no joy in having, the joy is in chasing. There is no end point to this chase. When you become the richest in your family, you need to become the richest on the street and then the richest in the town, then the richest in the country and then the richest in the world.

There is no end. Wants are endless. Wants are suffering. Wants are born out of comparison with oth- Bhakti Yogaḥ Love Is Your Very Life 917 ers. Needs, our basic needs, carry the energy within them for fulfillment. Wants only carry the seeds of our own suffering. During our Nithya Kriya Yoga Program, or LBP Level 2, we take participants through the seven layers of the energy bodies that the spirit passes through when we die. In this process, the departing spirit remembers all that happened during its time in the body until the point of death. It is like a fast replay of all that has happened, every incident that is stored on the hard disk of our memory.

In one of the sessions, I ask people to make a list of their desires, their needs and wants. They fill pages with it. I ask them to review the list many times. Then they do a meditation process. At the end of the meditation, I ask them to recollect from memory their list of desires. What they can recollect is usually a fraction of what they have written. It is as if they started with a large tree full of leaves, their desires, and during this meditation the tree shed almost all its leaves, as if the leaves were dry and dead. What it retained glowed like golden leaves.

Whatever is left in their memories, those desires glow like gold. They are the ones that carry the energy for their fulfillment! These desires are the true desires that they carry. If the process is done with awareness, these desires are always selfless desires. They may enrich the individual, no doubt, but they always enrich humanity. Only such selfless desires carry the energy of the Universe with them for fulfillment. When our desires are our own true desires, when they reflect our real needs, when they express themselves in our inner energy, we don’t feel any desperation about trying to achieve them. The realization comes that, as a matter of the natural course of events, these desires will be fulfilled.

We are not driven and we are not troubled. We accept that these will happen. Therefore, Kṛṣṇa counsels Arjuna, ‘Become free from wants, be selfless and you shall be untroubled, liberated and you will reach Me.’ Beyond Love And Hate

12.17

यो न हृष्यति न द्वेष्टि न शोचति न काङ् क्षति | शुभाशुभपरित्यागी भक्तिमान्य: स मे प्रिय:

yo na hṛṣyati na dveṣṭi na śocati na kāṅkṣati / śubhāśubhaparityāgi bhaktimānyaḥ sa me priyaḥ / / 12.17

He who does not rejoice or hate or grieve or desire, renounces both good and evil and who is full of devotion, he is dear to Me.

yaḥ — who · na — not · hṛṣyati — rejoices · na — not · dveṣṭi — hates · na — not · śocati — grieves · na — not · kānkṣati — desires · subhāśubha parityāgī — renouncing good and evil · bhaktimān — full of devotion · yaḥ — who · sa — he · me — to me · priyaḥ — dear

Kṛṣṇa now goes into another level of controlling the mind. He now refers to one who does not love or hate—yo na haṛṣyati na dveṣṭi. He is not talking about not loving anyone. When we love the way we do, with conditionality and expectations, it works well as long as these expectations are fulfilled. When something does not work the way we wish it to, the love disappears like a dewdrop in the sun. In its place, hate appears. Hatred and love are opposite sides of the same coin as long as love is conditional. Love can flip into hatred in a moment, the moment we feel that our expectations are threatened.

In love of this type, there is external rejoicing, sharing of joy and happiness and public expression of happiness as long as the emotion remains. Often, love or what we believe is love is related to time and space. So long as the distance is large and the time of contact is minimal we see a few defects in those we profess to love. Once we get closer and spend more time, we see the real picture. It can also convert love into hatred. To transcend love and hatred which are two different expressions of the same perceived reality, we need to drop expectations. We need to develop a sense of non-attachment.

We need to be complete in our love. We all go through several stages of relationships in our lifetime. As children, we are totally dependent upon parents. Our parents influence us and our love for our parents is conditional. We love them only because there is no option. To survive, a child must depend upon its parents. As Bhakti Yogaḥ Love Is Your Very Life 919 we grow into adolescence, we question many things we took for granted as an infant or a child; therefore, teenagers rebel. They wish to be independent. They break rules. In adulthood, we learn that to survive and coexist, we need to follow societal rules and regulations.

We develop skills to get along with others. We learn to work and relate with others. Otherwise, we may become misfits in society. The single most important lesson that people learn in adulthood is that it is important to relate with people meaningfully. As we grow and mature, and the spirit and its development become important, we seek guidance. We look for a Master. With the Master, the relationship is the reverse of what we started with as a child. We are once again concerned about survival, but it is the survival of the spirit and not the mind or body. To help in this survival of the spirit, the relationship that we need with the Master is one of absolute dependence once again, but with a difference.

For the relationship to work, it now needs to be totally unconditional and based upon deep trust. The only relationship that will work with the Master is total and unconditional love out of completion. It is absolute surrender. Surrender transcends love and hate. When one is in a mood of total surrender to the Master or the Divine, both being one and the same, the concept of good and evil, sin and merit disappear. In a spiritual sense, there is nothing that is a sin. No one is sitting up there with a notebook and pencil and deciding whether we should go to hell or heaven by measuring our sins.

There is no hell or heaven. Hell and heaven are not geographical. They are psychological, within our mind. We commit sins because we are already in our own hell. We do well to others when we are in our space of heaven or bliss. Kṛṣṇa breaks the mold. He tells us, ‘Go beyond good and evil, śubha-aśubha parītyāgī (12.17).’ He says this because there is no such thing as good and evil. It is all in our mind. When we understand this truth we are in His realm. That’s His promise. This Is Whom I Love

12.18

सम: शत्रौ च मित्रे च तथा मानापमानयो: | शीतोष्णसुखदु:खेषु सम: सङ्गविवर्जित:

samaḥ śatrau ca mitre ca tathā mānāpamānayoḥ / śītoṣṇasukhaduḥkheṣu samaḥ saṅgavivarjitaḥ / / 12.18

One who treats friends and enemies the same, who faces in the same manner honor and dishonor, heat and cold, happiness and sorrow, fame and infamy, one who is always free from attachment, always silent and satisfied with anything, without a fixed home, who is fixed in mind and who is devoted to Me, such a person is very dear to Me.

samaḥ — equal · śatrau — to an enemy · ca — also · mitre — to a friend · ca — also · tathā — so · māna — in honor · apamānayoḥ — and dishonour · śīta — in cold · uṣṇa — heat · sukha — happiness · duḥkheṣu — and sorrow · samaḥ — same · saṅgavivarjitaḥ — free from all association

12.19

तुल्यनिन्दास्तुतिर्मौनी सन्तुष्टो येन केनचित् | अनिकेत: स्थिरमतिर्भक्तिमान्मे प्रियो नर:

tulyanindāstutir maunī santuṣṭo yena kenacit / aniketaḥ sthira-matir bhaktimānme priyo naraḥ / / 12.19

One who treats friends and enemies the same, who faces in the same manner honor and dishonor, heat and cold, happiness and sorrow, fame and infamy, one who is always free from attachment, always silent and satisfied with anything, without a fixed home, who is fixed in mind and who is devoted to Me, such a person is very dear to Me.

tulya — equal · nindā — in defamation · stutiḥ — and repute · maunī — silent · santuṣṭaḥ — satisfied · yena kenacit — with anything · aniketaḥ — having no residence · sthira — fixed · matiḥ — mind · bhaktimān — engaged in devotion · me — to Me · priyaḥ — dear · naraḥ — a man

12.20

ये तु धर्म्यामृतमिदं यथोक्तं पर्युपासते | श्रद्दधाना मत्परमा भक्तास्तेऽतीव मे प्रिया:

ye tu dharmyāmṛtam idaṁ yathoktaṁ paryupāsate / śraddadhānā matparamā bhaktās te ’tīva me priyāḥ / / 12.20

Those who truly follow this imperishable path of righ- teousness with great faith, making Me the supreme goal, are very dear to Me.

ye — who · tu — indeed · dharmya — righteous path · amṛtam — nectar · idaṁ — this · yathā — as · uktaṁ — says · paryupāsate — follow · śraddadhānā — with faith · matparamā — taking Me as the Supreme Lord · bhaktāḥ — devotees · te — they · atīva — very much · me — to Me · priyāḥ — dear

Again Kṛṣṇa says, ‘Such a person, full of devotion is dear to Me— bhaktimān me priyo naraḥ (12.19).’ He is not ready to put down any more rules, which means He is almost ending His instructions. He is almost saying, ‘This is the way, if somebody is like this then I love him, that’s all. I am not interested in anything else.’ He says, ‘One who is neutral towards friends and enemies, who is the same in honor and dishonor, heat and cold, joy and pain, free from attachment to the fruits of action, who remains the same in criticism and praise; who is thoughtful, who is content with whatever he gets, who does not care for any house and is resolute in mind, such a man, full of devotion is very dear to Me.’ samaḥ śatrau ca mitre ca tathā mānāpamānayoḥ I śitośṇa-sukha-duḥkheṣu samaḥ saṅga-vivarjitaḥ II 12.18 Bhakti Yogaḥ Love Is Your Very Life 921 tulya nindā-stutir maunī santuṣṭo yena kenacit I aniketah sthira matir bhaktimān me priyo naraḥ II 12.19 Here is a beautiful phrase, ‘One who does not care for any house and who doesn’t bother to build a house for himself, aniketah sthira matir.’

Let me tell you a story. Rāvaṇa lived for one kalpa (many thousands of years). Śrī Vyāsa lived for four kalpas. Rāvaṇa was building Lankāpuri, his capital in Śrī Lanka. He got Lankāpuri as a gift from Śiva and he was developing it. When Vyāsa came to the city, Rāvaṇa asked him, ’Oh Vyāsa, did you see my palace, and my country? How grand they look.’ Vyāsa replied, ‘Yes, I have seen them.’ Rāvaṇa showed him everything with pride and asked, ‘Why don’t you build a house for yourself?’ Vyāsa smiled and said, ‘My life is just four kalpas. I have no time to waste building houses. After all, I am going to live here for only four kalpas, why should I waste time building houses?’

Rāvaṇa lived for only one kalpa, for which he built such a big house. Śrī Vyāsa whose life was four times as long, thought it was unnecessary to waste part of his life building houses! ‘One who is not concerned about owning a house is full of devotion and he is near to Me, dear to Me.’ Kṛṣṇa concludes this chapter on Bhakti Yoga, Union through Devotion, saying that one who lives in dharma, righteousness is devoted to Him. ye tu dhamāmṛtam idaṁ yathoktaṁ paryupāsate I śraddhadhānā mat-paramā bhaktās te ‘tīva me priyāḥ II 12.20 Dharma is spiritual righteousness. It is not, and has nothing to do with rules and regulations laid down by society and religion.

Human tendency is always to break rules. Societal rules seem to restrict one’s freedom of expression and movement. Understand that you are no sinner! Divinity resides within us. Our only sin, the original sin, is in not recognizing that we are divine. Therefore we don’t need to strive to attain enlightenment. We just need to become aware of our inner divinity. In this modern age, the path of dharma, righteousness that Kṛṣṇa talks about leading to Him, is the path of meditation. When we follow meditation, one automatically gets into the virtuous circle of conscious awareness and completion that takes us to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Meditation is a process of shutting the mind down by completing with all root thought patterns of the mind.

In this process of reaching the no-mind state, the ego drops. The barrier to the realization that our true nature is divine disappears. We become who we are. We realize we are complete. We realize we are one with the Divine. Let us pray to the ultimate energy, Parabrahma Kṛṣṇa, to make us all experience the truths of Bhakti Yoga, that love is our very life. Let us pray to Him to give us the conscious experience of bhakti, devotional love, and make us experience and radiate eternal bliss, Nityānanda. Thank You. Thus ends the twelfth chapter named Bhakti Yogaḥ, ‘Union through Devotional Love,’ of the Bhagavad Gītā Upaniṣad, Brahmavidyā Yogaśāstra, the scripture of yoga dealing with the science of the Absolute in the form of Śrī Kṛṣṇārjuna saṃvād, dialogue between Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna.

The Field And The Knower Of The Field You are a wave in the ocean of Existence. When the wave understands that it is not separate from the ocean, it drops its resistance and merges with the ocean. c h a p t e r Kṣetra Kṣetrajña Vibhāga Yogaḥ In this chapter, Kṛṣṇa speaks to enrich Arjuna about kṣetra (Field) and kṣetrajña (Knower of the Field). This chapter is known as the Kṣetra Kṣetrajña Vibhāga Yoga, or the yoga of discrimination of the kṣetra, the field, and kṣetrajña, the knower of the field. Kṛṣṇa clearly talks about the physical matter in which we exist, as well as the consciousness that stays in the matter.

In some way or other all of us are related to this whole universe, whether we understand it or not, whether we experience it or not. The consciousness is the root cause. It is not only the origin, but also the cause. It is the source from which we come and in which we stay. The whole Universe, the Universal consciousness, is the space in which we all happen. Kṛṣṇa uses the wave and the ocean as an analogy. The ocean is the Universal consciousness or god, ātma or whatever we may call it. Buddhists use the word Nirvāṇa, Vedantis say Brahman. Kṛṣṇa reveals the secret that we are like the waves, and the whole is the ocean.

He explains how we can experience completion and infinity with the ocean. Our only problem in life is that somehow we have forgotten that we are a part of the ocean. We forgot that we belong to the kṣetrajña. The word kṣetrajña means consciousness, which is the cause for the field to function. Kṣetra means field and kṣetrajña means knower of the field. Kṣetra means body and kṣetrajña means the consciousness that knows it has a body. Our consciousness is kṣetrajña and our body or matter is kṣetra. In this chapter, Kṛṣṇa reveals the secrets of kṣetra and kṣetrajñya. If we don’t know the secrets of kṣetrajña, the kṣetra acts as if it is the owner.

The Field And The Knower Of The Field KṣetraKṣetrajñaVibhāgaYogaḥ TheFieldAndTheKnowerOftheField 925 Getting Into the Body and Mind A small example: You buy a new car. You sit in the car and start driving. Suddenly, after ten minutes you realize that you do not know how to stop it. If you don’t know how to stop the car, you are not driving the car, the car is driving you. In the same way, we get into this mind and into this body and start living. Suddenly at one point, we find that we are unable to stop the body or mind. It goes on as it wants and it is uncontrollable.

Bring the body and mind under your conscious awareness. The body and mind are good servants but not good masters. As servants, they are great. Of course, without the body and mind you cannot live life, you cannot enjoy life. They are needed. But, unless they are under your control, they will become your masters. Only two options are possible: Either you enjoy them or they enjoy you. In the beginning you may start smoking. After some time, you may not really be enjoying the smoke, but the smoke will be enjoying you. Similarly, in the beginning you may start drinking alcohol. After some time, the alcohol will be drinking you.

In the beginning you start a habit and after some time that habit takes over your life. The habit will be enjoying your life. Then you are no longer a person with choices: You are a set of habits that is continuously repeated without your control. When we start using a car without reading the owner’s manual, suddenly we realize that we do not know where the hand brake is. We don’t know how to turn left or right. When we enter into the body and mind without knowing how to handle them, we are in the same situation. Bring the body and mind under your control before you are brought under their control.

Whether it is a material life or a spiritual life, unless the body and mind are under our control, whatever we may think or whatever we want to do is of no use. Suppose we sit down in the morning and draw out a big plan for the day, analyzing all the data, ‘I must do this,’ ‘I must do that,’ but at the end of the day, beyond our control, we spontaneously indulge in a drink and sleep or do other things, what is the use of the whole day’s plan? Nothing! We go on creating what we want to do in our mind, but at the end of the day, the body behaves the way it wants to.

Even the mind behaves as it wants to. We get nowhere! ‘Life,’ the very word ‘life,’ can happen only when the body and mind are under your control. As long as the body and mind are not under your control, you will not even experience the word ‘life.’ Until the body and mind are under your control, you are not living. Only the root thought patterns or the engraved memories are living you. Unless you find your root thought patterns and complete, life does not start for you. Until we experience the kṣetrajña, the knower of the field, the real life never begins. This is why the vedic system considers a person to be born only when his individual consciousness is awakened.

Until then his physical birth is not accepted, nor is he considered a human being or a manuṣya. According to the Vedas, when someone’s inner consciousness is awakened he is considered a human being or a person who has taken birth. Until then he is one among the animals. The Saṃskṛit word manuṣya has two meanings. One is ‘descendant of Manu,’ and the other is ‘the man who can handle the mind or one who has gone beyond the mind.’ Manu is supposed to be our first forefather. Only when we can handle the mind, we become manuṣya. In Saṃskṛit they say, ‘pratyagātma caitanya jāgrataṁ.’ It means that only when the individual consciousness is awakened is one considered to be a person.

In the Indian Vedic system, when a child turns seven he is initiated into the Gāyatrī, a sacred mantra or chant. You should understand one important thing here. The Vedic religion, or Hinduism, the integrated sanātana-dharma, is the only religion in which there is no enslaving or encaging or engaging philosophy. You are not given any faith, any concept and any philosophy; you are only enriched to awaken your highest possibility, your consciousness. You are not asked to believe in anything. You are just given a technique to do completion with your body and mind. That’s all. KṣetraKṣetrajñaVibhāgaYogaḥ TheFieldAndTheKnowerOftheField 927 The first thing that our Ṛṣis or ancient Indian Enlightened Masters want us to do is to bring our body and mind under our control with the power of completion.

They want us to learn how to live in completion with our body and mind. The Gāyatrī mantra is like an owner’s manual for the body and mind. If we have a car, an owner’s manual is a basic need. Without reading the owner’s manual, if we start driving a car, then whose mistake is it? Only at around the age of seven do we start to handle our body. After the age of seven the intellect starts working and we start making decisions. The moment we start making decisions, we should first know how to bring the body and mind under control. That is why the Vedic Masters teach the completion technique to awaken the inner intelligence and to master the consciousness. It is similar to reading the owner’s manual before using the car. What You Know Is Not You

iti śrīmadbhagavadgītāsūpaniṣatsu brahmavidyāyāṁ yogaśāstre śrīkṛṣṇārjunasaṁvāde bhaktiyogo nāma dvādaśo’dhyāyaḥ