1. isbn 978-1-934364-03-1

Content: BhagavadGita

Content: commentary

Content: by

Content: Nithyananda

Content: Path

Content: of

Content: Knowledge

Content: 4

Content: BhagavadGita

Content: The meditation techniques included in this book are to be practiced only after personal instructions by an ordained teacher of Life Bliss Foundation (LBF). If some one tries these techniques without prior participation in the meditation programs of LBF, they shall be doing so entirely at their own risk; neither the author nor LBF shall be responsible for the consequences of their actions.

Content: Published by

Content: Life Bliss Foundation

Content: Copyright© 2008

Content: First Edition: December 2006

Content: Second Edition: July 2008

Content: Ebook ISBN: 979-88-88572-066-3

Content: ISBN 10: 1-934364-03-7 ISBN 13: 978-1-934364-03-1

Content: All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher. In the event that you use any of the information in this book for yourself, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Content: All proceeds from the sale of this book go towards supporting charitable activities.

Content: Printed in India by WQ Judge Press, Bangalore.

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Content: Bhagavad Gita Demystified

Content: Nithyananda

Content: Discourses delivered to Swami's and Ananda Samajis of the Nithyananda Order all over the world

Content: Beyond Scriptures

Content: Path Of Knowledge

Content: Chapter 4

Content: Logic can never lead you to Self-realization. Dissolution of logic will.

Content: Path of Knowledge

Content: CONTENTS

Content:

1. Bhagavad Gita: A Background 7

Content: 2. Introduction 15

Content: 3. The Path of Knowledge 19

Content: 4. I Am Reborn Age After Age 49

Content: 5. To Know Me Is to be Liberated 65

Content: 6. Understand and be Unaffected by Action 100

Content: 7. Action in Inaction and Inaction in Action 110

Content: 8. Equanimity in Success and Failure 130

Content: 9. Know the Meaning of Sacrifice and Be Purified 152

Content: 10. You are No Sinner 162

Content: 11. Doubt Destroys 178

Content: 12. Scientific Research On Bhagavad Gita 198

Content: 13. Kuru Family Tree 200

Content: 14. Glossary Of Key Characters In The Bhagavad Gita 201

Content: 15. Meaning Of Selected Sanskrit Words 203

Content: 16. Invocation Verses 216

Content: 17. Verses Of Gita Chapter 4 217

Content: 18. About Paramahamsa Nithyananda 245

Content: 5

Content: Path of Knowledge

Content: Bhagavad Gita: A Background

Content: Bhagavad Gita is a sacred scripture of the Vedic culture. As with all scriptures, it was knowledge that was transmitted verbally. It was called sruti in Sanskrit, meaning something that is heard.

Content: Gita, as Bhagavad Gita is generally called, translates literally from Sanskrit as the ‘Sacred Song’. Unlike the Veda and Upanishad, which are self-standing expressions, Gita is written into the Hindu epic Mahabharata, called a purana, an ancient tale. It is part of a story, so to speak.

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Content: As a scripture, Gita is part of the ancient knowledge base of Vedic tradition, which is the expression of the experiences of great sages.

Content: Veda and Upanishad, the foundation of sruti literature, arose through the insight and awareness of these great sages when they went into a no-mind state. These are as old as humanity and the first and truest expressions in the journey of man's search for truth.

Content: Unlike the Vedas, which were internalized by the great sages, or the Upanishads, which were the teachings of these great sages, Gita is part of a story narrated by Vyasa, one of these great sages. It is narrated as the direct expression of the Divine.

Content: No other epic, or part of an epic, has the special status of the Gita. As a consequence of the presence of Gita, the Mahabharata epic itself is considered a sacred Hindu scripture. Gita arose from the super consciousness of Krishna, the Supreme God, and is therefore considered a scripture.

Content: Mahabharata, literally the Great Bharata, is a narration about the nation and civilization, which is now known as India. It was then a nation ruled by King Bharata and his descendants. The story of this epic is about two warring clans, Kauravas and Pandavas, closely related to one another. Dhritarashtra, the blind King of Hastinapura and father of the 100 Kaurava brothers was the brother of Pandu, whose children were the five Pandava princes. It is a tale of strife between cousins.

Content: Pandu was the King of Hastinapura. A sage cursed him that he would die if he ever entered into physical relationship with his wives. He therefore had no children. Vyasa says that all the five Pandava children were born to their mothers Kunti and Madri through the blessing of divine beings. Pandu handed over the kingdom and his children to his blind brother Dhritharashtra and retired to meditate in the forest.

Content: Kunti had received a boon when she was still a young unmarried adolescent, that she could summon any divine power at will to father a child. Before she married, she tested her boon. The Sun God Surya appeared before her. Karna was born to her as a result. In fear of social reprisals, she cast the newborn away in a river. Yudhishtra, Bhima, and Arjuna were born to Kunti after her marriage by invocation of her powers, and the twins Nakula and Sahadeva were born to Madri, the second wife of Pandu.

Content: Yudhishtra was born to Kunti as a result of her being blessed by Yama, the God of death and justice, Bhima by Vayu, the God of wind, and Arjuna by Indra, God of all divine beings. Nakula and Sahadeva, the youngest Pandava twins were born to Madri, through the divine Ashwini twins.

Content: Dhritharashtra had a hundred sons through his wife Gandhari. The eldest of these Kaurava princes was Duryodhana. Duryodhana felt no love for his five Pandava cousins. He made many unsuccessful attempts, along with his brother Dushashana, to kill the Pandava brothers. Kunti's eldest son Karna, whom she had cast

Content: away at birth, was brought up by a chariot driver in the palace and by a strange twist of fate joined hands with Duryodhana.

Content: Dhritharashtra gave Yudhishtra one half of the Kuru Kingdom on his coming of age, since the Pandava Prince was the rightful heir to the throne that his father Pandu had vacated. Yudhishtra ruled from his new capital Indraprastha, along with his brothers Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva. Arjuna won the hand of Princess Draupadi, daughter of the King of Panchala, in a swayamwara, a marital contest in which princes fought for the hand of a fair damsel. In fulfilment of their mother's Kunti's desire that the brothers would share everything equally, Draupadi became the wife of all five Pandava brothers.

Content: Duryodhana persuaded Yudhishtra to join a gambling session, where his cunning uncle Shakuni defeated the Pandava King. Yudhishtra lost all that he owned - his kingdom, his brothers, his wife and himself, to Duryodhana. Dushashana shamed Draupadi in public by trying to disrobe her. The Pandava brothers and Draupadi were forced to go into exile for 14 years, with the condition that in the last year they should live incognito.

Content: At the end of the 14 years, the Pandava brothers tried to reclaim their kingdom. In this effort they were helped by Krishna, the King of the Yadava clan, who is considered the eighth divine reincarnation of Vishnu. However, Duryodhana refused to yield even a needlepoint of land, and as a result, the Great War, the

Content: War of Mahabharata ensued. In this war, various rulers of the entire nation that is modern India aligned with one or the other of these two clans, the Kauravas or the Pandavas.

Content: Krishna offered to join with either of the two clans. He said, 'One of you may have me unarmed. I will not take any part in the battle. The other may have my entire Yadava army.' The first offer was made to Duryodhana, who predictably chose the large and well-armed Yadava army, in preference to the unarmed Krishna. Arjuna joyfully and gratefully chose his friend and mentor Krishna to be his unarmed charioteer!

Content: The armies assembled in the vast field of Kurukshetra, now in the state of Haryana in modern day India. All the Kings and Princes were related to one another, and were often on opposite sides. Facing the Kaurava army and his friends, relatives and teachers, Arjuna was overcome by remorse and guilt, and wanted to walk away from the battle.

Content: Krishna's dialogue with Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra is the content of the Bhagavad Gita. Krishna persuaded Arjuna to take up arms and vanquish his enemies. 'They are already dead,' says Krishna, 'all those who are facing you have been already killed by Me. Go ahead and do what you have to do. That is your duty. Do not worry about the outcome. Leave that to Me.'

Content: The Gita is the ultimate practical teaching on the inner science of spirituality. It is not as some scholars

Content: incorrectly claim, a promotion of violence. It is about the impermanence of the mind, body, and the need to destroy the mind, ego and logic.

Content: Sanjaya, King Dhritharashtra’s charioteer, presents Gita in eighteen chapters to the blind king. All the Kaurava Princes as well as all their commanders such as Bhishma, Drona and Karna were killed in battle. The five Pandava brothers survived as winners and became the rulers of the combined kingdom.

Content: This dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna is a dialogue between man and God or nara and Narayana as they are termed in Sanskrit. Arjuna’s questions and doubts are those of each one of us. The answers of the Divine, Krishna, transcend time and space. Krishna’s message is as valid today as it was on that fateful battlefield some thousands of years ago.

Content: Nithyananda explains the inner metaphorical meaning of Mahabharata thus:

Content: ‘The Great War of Mahabharata is the fight between the positive and negative thoughts of the mind, called the samskaras. Positive thoughts are the Pandava princes and the negative thoughts are the Kaurava princes. Kurukshetra or the battlefield is the body. Arjuna is the individual consciousness and Krishna is the enlightened Master.

Content: The various commanders who led the Kaurava army represent the major blocks that the individual

Content: consciousness faces in its journey to enlightenment. Bhishma represents parental and societal conditioning. Drona represents the conditioning from teachers who provide knowledge including spiritual guidance. Karna represents the restrictive influence of good deeds such as charity and compassion, and finally Duryodhana represents the ego, which is the last to fall.

Content: Parental and societal conditionings have to be overcome by rebelling against conventions. This is why traditionally those seeking the path of enlightenment are required to renounce the world as sannyasin and move away from civilization. This conditioning does not die as long as the body lives, but its influence drops.

Content: Drona represents all the knowledge one imbibes and the teachers one encounters, who stop short of being to able to take us through to the ultimate flowering of enlightenment. It is difficult to give them up since one feels grateful to them. This is where the enlightened master steps in and guides us.

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

Content: Finally one reaches Duryodhana, one's ego, the most difficult to conquer. One needs the full help of the Master here. It is subtle work and even the Master's help may not be obvious, since at this point, sometimes the ego makes one disconnect from the Master as well.

Content: The Great War was between one hundred eighty million people - one hundred ten million on the Kaurava side representing our negative samskaras - stored memories - and seventy million on the Pandava side representing our positive samskaras - stored memories - and it lasted eighteen days and nights. The number eighteen has a great mystical significance. It essentially signifies our ten senses that are made up of gnanendriya - the five senses of perception like taste, sight, smell, hearing and touch, and karmendriya - the five senses initiating action like speech, bodily movements etc., added to our eight kinds of thoughts like lust, greed etc. All eighteen need to be dropped for Self-realization.

Content: Mahabharata is not just an epic story. It is not merely the fight between good and evil. It is the dissolution of both positive and negative samskaras that reside in our body-mind system, which must happen for the ultimate liberation. It is a tale of the process of enlightenment.

Content: Mahabharata is a living legend. Bhagavad Gita is the manual for enlightenment.

Content: Like Arjuna many thousand years ago, you are here in a dialogue with a living enlightened Master in this book. This is a tremendous opportunity to resolve all questions and clear all doubts with the Master's words.

Content: Path of Knowledge

Content: Introduction

Content: In this series, a young enlightened Master, Paramahamsa Nithyananda comments on the Bhagavad Gita.

Content: Many hundreds of commentaries of the Gita have been written over the years. The earliest commentaries were by the great spiritual masters such as Sankara, Ramanuja and Madhva, some thousand years ago. In recent times, great masters such as Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Ramana Maharishi have spoken from the Gita extensively. Many others have written volumes on this great scripture.

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Content: Nithyananda’s commentary on the Bhagavad Gita is not just a literary translation and a simple explanation of that translation. He takes the reader through a world tour while talking about each verse. It is believed that each verse of the Gita has seven levels of meaning. What is commonly rendered is the first level meaning. Here, an enlightened master takes us beyond the common into the uncommon, with equal ease and simplicity.

Content: To read Nithyananda’s commentary on the Gita is to obtain an insight that is rare. It is not mere reading; it is an experience; it is a meditation.

Content: Sankara, the great master philosopher said:

Content: ‘A little reading of the Gita, a drop of Ganga water to drink, remembering Krishna once in a while, all this will ensure that you have no problems with the God of Death.’

Content: Editors of these volumes of Bhagavad Gita have expanded upon the original discourses delivered by Nithyananda through further discussions with Him. For ease of understanding for English speaking readers, and to cater to their academic interest, the original Sanskrit verses in their English translation have been included as an appendix in this book.

Content: This reading is meant to help every individual in daily life as well as in the endeavour to realize the Ultimate Truth. It creates every possibility to attain nithyananda, eternal bliss!

Content: Path Of Knowledge

Content: The human psyche longs for continuance. Continuation and perpetuation of one's identity is of the utmost importance to us.

Content: We trace our lineage back as far as we can go back in memory and records, so long as we can ensure that something noteworthy is there. We would like to be sure that our heirs are well taken care of. The more insignificant we are, the more important the lineage becomes. The more unsure we are of the quality of our offspring, the more important it becomes to provide for them.

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Content: Arjuna has been driven by the same dilemma. To defend the fears he has about his own identity, he cites historical moral codes that discuss how one's ancestors and descendants are affected by one's deeds in this life. It is a simple transference of his present uncertainty to the past and future.

Content: People ask me, 'When was this universe created? How and why?' I tell them that the next time God calls for a conference, if I am invited, I shall ask this question and find out the answer!

Content: As far back as I can see this universe has existed. As far into the future as I can see this universe continues to exist. I can see no beginning and no end to this universe. It has been there forever and will be there forever. The human form as we know now may change, but the universe will continue to exist.

Content: The form and identify that we are familiar with is perishable. It is matter. Like all material things, it is subject to creation, destruction and recreation. The universe is energy. It is formless energy. As it sees fit, it transforms into matter and again back to energy. That energy is imperishable.

Content: This is what Krishna explained earlier to Arjuna. This energy, which is the energy of the universe, is the same energy that is within us. This energy is indestructible. It cannot be destroyed by a weapon, burnt by fire, dried by the wind or wet by water. Whatever we see as destruction to the body-mind system is actually the conversion of the matter back into energy.

Content: All religions may not accept this principle of energy in man and universe as eternal and continuous. That is immaterial. Views of religions change and have to change as new knowledge arises. Scientists are now in agreement that matter and energy are the same and convertible in time and space. Advances in Quantum Physics have shown that sub atomic particles can appear in different forms and shapes depending on when they are viewed, how they are viewed and who views them.

Content: This is a real incident that occurred in my life.

Content: After my Self-realization I returned to the South of India. People used to come to me for healing and out of respect offered me food and shelter. Once I was staying in the house of a person whom I had healed. He had a young son who became fond of me and used to run errands for me.

Content: One day at noon, as I was alone in the room that I was staying in, someone came for healing. This boy ran up to my room and barged in without knocking. He then ran out screaming incoherently. His father was concerned that something had happened to me and rushed up. The door was open and I received him smiling.

Content: By now the boy had calmed down but was still shaken. He stammered that when he came into the room, he found that my body was cut up into pieces and floating all over the room. He got the shock of his life and ran out. When he saw I was fine, he was happy.

Content: I later explained to the father and others what had happened. When I am in deep meditation, my body frequency changes. Human eyes can only see some

Content: frequencies. Different parts of my body are in different frequencies, some visible to the eye and some invisible. Therefore, my body appeared to the boy as if it was dismembered.

Content: There was no magic or miracle. It is just a natural law that is now being understood.

Content: It is the same with materialization of objects. People think it is magic, miracle or trickery. It is none of these. It is simple science. It is converting matter into energy, moving it in energy form and converting it back to matter. I can demonstrate this scientifically with the help of modern technology such as Kirlian photography.

Content: I showed my ashramites how this can be done. I made them count the number of rudraksha necklaces that they had in stock in a cupboard. I produced one from there as if miraculously and showed it to them. Then, I sent them back to count the number of necklaces in the cupboard. They found there was one less in the cupboard!

Content: Anyone can do this. All that they need is to know how.

Content: No matter can be produced from nowhere. It can only be produced out of energy. Fortunately this energy source is infinite in the universe. This universe is known to be constantly growing. There is not even a known theoretical limit to its size.

Content: The very first verse of the first Hindu scripture, Isavasya Upanishad, says that ‘out of energy arises all matter.’

Content: Isa vasyam idam sarvam

Content: Upon reading this verse Einstein said, 'It is only now that I could establish that energy arises from matter. Thousands of years ago these sages knew more. They knew that matter arises from energy. We are yet to establish this. The last frontier of Science is the threshold of Spirituality.'

Content: It is important to understand that the constant factor in us as well as in the universe is this energy that is eternal. Once we understand this and understand further that there is no separation between the universe and us, all our confusion will be at rest. There will no longer be any fear of death, and there will no longer be the greed to acquire and hoard.

Content: After all, the energy that is who we are is forever. Once we understand and accept this, we are in eternal bliss, nithyanandam!

Content: 4.1 The Lord said:

Content: 'I taught the Sun God, Vivasvan, the imperishable science of yoga and

Content: Vivasvan taught Manu, the father of mankind and Manu in turn taught Ikshvaku.'

Content: 4.2 The supreme science was thus received through the chain of Master-disciple succession and the saintly kings understood it in that way.

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Content: In the course of time, the succession was broken and therefore the science as it was appears to have been lost.

Content: 4.3 That ancient science of enlightenment, or entering into eternal bliss, is today taught by me to you because you are my devotee as well as my friend.

Content: You will certainly understand the supreme mystery of this science.

Content: You need to understand that Krishna is just thirty-two years old when He makes this statement. He is just thirty-two years old. Physically His body is only thirty-two years old. But He says, 'I gave this knowledge to Surya, the Sun God.'

Content: Of course, this is very difficult to understand!

Content: With logic, you cannot understand this statement. With ordinary logic, which you use in your daily life, you cannot make any meaning out of this statement. But Krishna goes on to say other things.

Content: In the next statement He says:

Content: The science as it was appears to have been lost.

Content: These two verses should be understood clearly. First thing to be understood is that the truth is not new. It is eternal. It is neither new nor old. It is eternal. Eternal means it is there forever. It never becomes old. It was never new. Eternal means that which is beyond time.

Content: Anything that is described based on time, only such things can be said to be new or old. Anything new will

Content: become old one day. Anything old was new at one time. Eternal means it is beyond the new and the old. It is there from time immemorial. But it has never become old. That is what is meant by the word eternal.

Content: Here, this science, the science of enlightenment is eternal or nithya. It is neither new nor old. The science that we learned in chapter three, the same 'science' is going to be explained further.

Content: I gave the first glimpse of this in the previous chapter of the Gita. The first thing that needs to be understood is this first glimpse. If you allow those words to penetrate you, if you open yourself to those words, then straightaway those words can give you the first glimpse of enlightenment. They can lead you to the first step of ultimate liberation.

Content: Understanding the purposelessness of life will wash away all its stresses, pressures and burdens from your being, whether they are physical or mental. You are liberated in that same moment.

Content: Krishna doesn't give you any technique that works over lengthy periods of time. There are techniques that work over long, lengthy courses of time. You will have to practice forever. Your son or your daughter may get the result!

Content: Krishna says, 'No!' He says, 'Now, here or nowhere!' Either have the result now, here, or nowhere. All His techniques straightaway give you the experience. If you can allow that one idea of purposelessness, the beauty of

Content: purposelessness, into your conscience, that very moment the breeze of enlightenment enters your heart. That very moment, the healing of your being starts. Healing of bhava roga, emotional diseases and healing of samsara roga, the disease of birth and death, start.

Content: Five thousand years ago, Krishna says, 'I gave this science to Surya, to the Sun God and the Sun God instructed Manu. Sun God is Vivasvan. Vivasvan instructed Manu, the father of mankind. Manu passed this wisdom on to Ikshvaku.

Content: Here, Krishna gives the succession, the lineage through disciples. He gives the parampara (lineage), the guru-shishya parampara (Master-disciple lineage). In course of time, yogonashhta, the science of yoga is lost, He says.

Content: You should understand why this science is lost.

Content: When a disciple who listens is not sincere, if he is not completely ready, naturally the technique becomes a ritual. Understand that there is only one difference between technique and ritual. When it is done sincerely, even an ordinary ritual becomes a great meditation technique that leads you to enlightenment. When it is done without any sincerity, as a routine, without understanding, then even a meditation technique becomes a ritual. The only difference between a meditation technique and a ritual is sincerity. It is just sincerity.

Content: 'In course of time, the science is lost.' He has used a beautiful phrase, 'the supreme science was taught, and the supreme science was delivered.' You don't lose that supreme science in just one generation. In one generation,

Content: it never gets lost. In course of time, somebody or the other, even a single un-enlightened disciple is enough to destroy the whole science. Even a single person in that chain is enough to break the succession of disciples.

Content: The problem is, when your Master creates a big movement and if you come to his seat without having the qualification, you are the most dangerous person. I have seen people who simply come into the throne as a successor; they are the most dangerous people. They have everything except enlightenment.

Content: A person who creates a movement, creates it only out of energy and enlightenment. If he doesn’t have the energy, no movement will be created around him. For the person who succeeds the founder, it is just a gift. The whole movement is a gift. He has got a complete infrastructure and setup, all ready and gifted to him. He doesn’t have anything to add.

Content: A person who writes just because he is a writer is a dangerous person. But if a person writes because he genuinely has got something to write, that is okay. Only such a person can be called as a writer.

Content: A small story:

Content: One guy said, ‘Only after writing five best sellers did I realize that I don’t know anything!’

Content: His friend asked, ‘Then did you stop writing?’

Content: This guy replied, ‘No! By then I became too famous! I couldn’t stop!’

Content: When you get somebody's throne as a successor, you will be filled with ego. The successors have everything except enlightenment. I always tell people never to go to successors. That is because the whole setup was created by somebody else and the successor just represents. They don't have anything from their own experience. They are good librarians, but not Masters.

Content: We must be very clear in the difference between a librarian and a Master. Librarians are good. They preserve books. But they can only preserve the books, nothing more than that. The successor is also a good librarian, a good parrot. He can repeat the whole thing.

Content: A small story from Zen Buddhism:

Content: A disciple of a great Master sits and talks about Zen to his followers. An enlightened Master comes to him and says, 'You have yourself not become enlightened. What right do you have to teach others?'

Content: Out of ego he says, 'Don't you know? I am the disciple of the great Master.' The Zen Master laughs.

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

Content: Can you say that the water that is used to wash the cup in which the tea is kept, is equivalent to tea itself? What relationship can be there between the tea and the water that is used to wash the cup that had contained the tea?

Content: Imagine that a cup of tea is here. Another cup contains water that was used to wash a used teacup. What will be the relationship between the tea and the water that was used to wash the used teacup? There will be no relationship. You can hardly smell the tea in the water!

Content: So, if a person is not enlightened and is just a successor, he will be dangerous. He will create damage. He carries just the book and not the knowledge.

Content: That is why Zen Masters always destroy their books when they leave the body. Before leaving the body they destroy the books. They say that if you have got Zen in your life, if you have achieved enlightenment, you can teach. Otherwise keep quiet. At least you will not disturb society. At least you will not create more trouble in society. If you are a successor without the experience, you are the most dangerous person.

Content: A small story:

Content: In South India, there was a big traditional monastery. Everyday the worship of Shiva used to happen there. The Master had a pet cat. He used to love animals. The cat being so affectionate towards him, used to come and disturb him when he sat for prayers.

Content: When he prayed, the cat would come and jump on him and run around him. So finally, he asked his disciples to cover the cat with a basket before he started prayers. Accordingly, they caught the cat and covered it with a basket and the prayer started.

Content: Everyday before they started the prayer, they would catch the cat, put it in a basket, cover the basket and then start the prayer.

Content: After some time, it had almost become a ritual. Before starting the prayer, even if the cat was not inside the ashram, they would search for the cat! Even if the cat had gone outside, for a walk maybe, they would go, search for it, catch it, cover it with the basket and then start the prayer!

Content: In the course of time, the Master passed away. Now the disciples were in a very confused state. What to do? Who would conduct the prayer? Anyhow, a successor came. Because the Master passed away, the cat also ran away from the monastery. Maybe it was not treated properly, so it ran away.

Content: The successor, before starting the prayer, called the disciples and asked, 'What happened to the cat? Unless we get a cat, how can we start the prayer?'

Content: So the disciples went all over town in search of a cat. Finally somehow, they got a cat. They brought it, covered it with the basket and the prayer started. That cat also ran away. They had to catch a new cat. After a few months it became very difficult to catch cats. Where to get the cats from?

Content: So they said, 'Master, it is very difficult to get cats. You have to do something now, please help us.'

Content: The Master said, 'Alright, if there is no cat, then let us stop the prayer!'

Content: In course of time, because there was no cat, they stopped praying!

Content: If you are not enlightened, this is what happens. If the disciple is not enlightened, this is what happens. The truth is lost. The spirit is lost.

Content: If you want to destroy any law, all you need to do is just follow it to the letter and miss the spirit. That is enough. You just follow it to the letter and forget about the spirit, you will end up doing exactly the opposite to what the law intended. You just go against the very reason why the law was created.

Content: In course of time people who had not become enlightened and those who were not sincere, entered into this field and corrupted the science. Because of that the science was lost. That is why time and again our Upanishads insist upon going to a living Master.

Content: All our books are only manuals. Vedas are the only books that are courageous enough to declare that they cannot give you enlightenment. Vedas are the only books that are courageous enough to declare that they are not the ultimate. They say very clearly that they are only manuals.

Content: If you want the ultimate reference, you have to go to a living Master. What do all medical books say in the end? Consult your family doctor! They end with this one line! All these things are only manuals. You can't take medicines just by reading a medical book. You can't take medicines from a person who is not a doctor.

Content: In India, compounders, that is to say, doctors' assistants as they were known there, guys who prepare medicines like pharmacists, would learn the trick of the trade by and by. In course of time they would know headache meant you had to take a yellow tablet, for stomach pain, green tablet, back pain, black tablet and so on. They would know the color of tablet for a particular disease. If you go and take medicines from a compounder, you may sometimes get healed. You may get the cure. But it is very dangerous.

Content: Taking medicines from compounders and learning from unenlightened Masters are one and the same. Going to an unenlightened person and taking medicines from a compounder are one and the same.

Content: Please be very clear, a compounder at the most may destroy your body, your one life. But unenlightened Master can destroy you lives after lives. He can destroy, misguide you, and create trouble, for lives after lives. This is because the whole thing is lost if you have missed even a single crucial point.

Content: Here Krishna says,

Content: Evam parampara praptam imam rajarshayo viduha sa kaleneha mahata yogo nashtaha parantapa

Content: One important thing, He says, 'rajarshayo viduha'. This science is given to rajarishi, (raja: king, rishi: saint), not to just any rishi.

Content: If you have attended yesterday's lecture, you would know that the science He taught is Quantum Spirituality,

Content: which gives you both the material world as well as the spiritual world. That is why He says, 'rajarshayo viduha'.

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

Content: 'Evam parampara praptam imam rajarshayo viduha', the science is delivered to the kings, enlightened Masters; enlightened Masters who are kings. Only they can preserve the science as it is.

Content: Be very clear, only an enlightened person who is king or a king who is an enlightened person can know the totality of spirituality.

Content: People again and again ask me, 'What should we do for the poor?' I say, 'Give food and medicines for the poor. Serve them.'

Content: Only a rich man who has enjoyed material wealth can understand the meaning and relevance of spirituality.

Content: Be very clear, I am telling the honest truth. Poor men who have not seen the outer world wealth can understand only religion. They can go and beg in front of God. They can never understand the ultimate spirituality.

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

Content: If you still have hope about the outer world, you cannot experience the ultimate spirituality. You cannot experience the ultimate enlightenment.

Content: Only a king can be utterly frustrated. Only a king can be completely qualified to enter into enlightenment, because he knows there is nothing in the outer space that can fulfill him. He has seen everything. He has seen all possible comforts, all possible sense enjoyments and all the so-called pleasures. He is ready to enter into spirituality with earnest honesty.

Content: If somebody who has not experienced the depression of success enters into spirituality, he will stand in front of God and beg, 'God give me this, give me that'; he may be a good religious person. From morning to night, he may sit and do rituals. But he will never be a spiritual person.

Content: There is a very big difference between a religious person and a spiritual person. When you know God has got the shakti (power) to give whatever you want, your religion starts. When you understand he has got the shakti to give what you want and the buddhi (intelligence) as to when to give, then you enter into spirituality!

Content: We all believe God has got the shakti to give what we want, but we don't trust that he has got buddhi also to give it at the right time! We don't believe that. That is why we beg and beg! Only a person who trusts that God has got shakti and buddhi can enter into spirituality, trusting implicitly He knows when to give and what to give.

Content: Spirituality is the ultimate luxury. Please be very clear, I always tell people, a person who is poor, meaning, who has not experienced the comforts of the outer world, he

Content: can be a good religious person. He can stand in front of God and beg and pray. But only a person who has seen the outer world to the extreme and who is completely frustrated with it, who has completely experienced the depression of success, can turn towards the inner world. Only he can become a healer.

Content: I always say that only a person who understands the purposelessness of life can heal himself and others. Only he can be a healer. Only he can be a spiritual person. Only he can be a real spiritual being.

Content: Here, Krishna uses the word raja rishi. A person who has lived fully both in the inner space and outer space, only he can experience the truth of the totality. Of course, when a person who is not sincere enough to realize this truth enters into the system, he corrupts. And his very presence spoils the system. So, Krishna says, 'In course of time, the science is lost.'

Content: In the next verse, Krishna says:

Content: Sa vayam maya tedya yogaha protikaha puratanaha bhakto asi me sakha cheti rahasyaṃ hṛyetad uttamam

Content: He says, 'I am telling you about this very ancient science of the ultimate enlightenment or entering into eternal bliss, and being my devotee and my friend, you will understand the supreme mystery of this science.'

Content: This has to be understood very deeply. One cannot tell this truth, this ultimate truth, to a person who is not ready. I repeat, this truth cannot be delivered to a person who is not ready. And truth told to a person who is not ready, creates danger for himself and for others as well.

Content: Again and again, people ask me during my meditation programs, in many of my meditation programs, people ask me, 'Master, please talk about your enlightenment, talk about your spiritual experience.' I never open my mouth and speak about my personal experience or spiritual experiences, unless I know them or unless they are associated with me for at least six months. I wait. People ask me, 'Why don't you talk about this, Master? Why don't you tell us about your spiritual experiences?' If intimate experiences are shared when you are not ready, you always doubt and spoil the whole thing for yourself.

Content: There are two angles to this. If we have courage, we will straightaway question the experience. You will straightaway question what is being shared. You will say, 'It is just a lie. This is a story. What are you talking about? This cannot be the truth.' You will straightaway oppose.

Content: Or the other angle: if you don't have that much of courage, you will just think, 'Alright, this is one more story! I have heard one thousand stories. Here is one more story. Leave it. Anyhow, after all, it is free!'

Content: Either one of the two will happen. The spiritual experiences cannot be shared and cannot be opened just for nothing. If it is shared it should become an inspiration source for you. It should become a force that transforms your life. Then it is worth sharing.

Content: By sharing the spiritual experience, if it inspires you to enter into the space, if it gives you the courage to take the same jump, if you also feel, 'I think I should also experience the same joy, I should experience the same

Content: bliss, I should not postpone it', if it becomes an inspiration source for you, then it is worth sharing. Otherwise it is not worth sharing.

Content: There was a great Master in South India. He wrote a set of poems on Shiva. He did not even write, he just sang the verses. He sang a set of poems on Shiva. It was never recorded in writing.

Content: Close disciples who lived around him requested him to publish it as a book, or to put it in writing, so that it could be useful to society. He said, 'No, they are my intimate love letters to my Lord. How can I release this to the public? It is my intimate expression. It is my personal relationship. How can I publish it? How can I bring it out to the public?'

Content: If, for example, you see somebody for the first time and he straightaway starts asking you personal questions, how would it be? Would it not be rude? It is too rude! And Indians are the only people who do that mistake. It is too rude. They don't bother to introduce themselves. They don't bother to understand. They tend to be abrupt. If you ask personal questions straightaway, without even getting acquainted, how will the other person feel?

Content: I heard that somebody met one of my disciples in the USA ashram and straightaway started asking, 'Where are you staying? Who is paying for your apartment? What is happening? Who are the people staying with your Master?'

Content: I was surprised. How could this happen? How can such a thing happen? I don't think any intelligent man

Content: would do this. It takes a little intelligence to understand. You can't talk or ask straight away. It is very impolite. You need to understand that you can't share your personal experiences straightaway with anybody and everybody. It is very difficult.

Content: In the same way, this Master says, 'If somebody comes and asks you about your personal life, you can't share it. Only if you become intimate with him, it is possible to open up.' Only then conversation happens. See, for a conversation to happen, you need a certain intimacy. If both are filled with their own ideas and arguments, a conversation can never happen. If both are filled with their own words in their minds, if both are prejudiced, a conversation can never happen.

Content: I always tell people, in marriage, in the first year, the man speaks and the woman listens. In the second year, the woman speaks and the man listens. The third year onwards, both of them speak and neighbors listen! The conversation never happens! Only arguments happen.

Content: As long as the other person is in a mood for arguments, truth cannot be shared. The satya (truth) cannot be shared; satya can never be expressed.

Content: The Master says, 'It is my personal relationship and it is my intimate relationship with God. How can I share that with the public? I cannot.'

Content: Then one disciple, who considers himself intelligent asks, 'Why? You are sharing with us. When you can share with us, why can you not share with the world?'

Content: Then, the Master says, 'By becoming a disciple, you have become a part of me. Only a person who has become a part of me can share this poem. Only with him I can share these poems. Physically you may be another one body, but mentally, you have fallen in tune with me. You are completely ready to receive me. You have become like a womb, ready to receive the divine energy. This is the reason I share my experience with you.'

Content: Unless you enter into a deep receptive mood, unless you become a complete, total, simple innocent being, you cannot receive the ultimate truth. Please be very clear, the ultimate truth is beyond logic.

Content: Initially when you start to teach the truth, it always starts with logic. Your logic is always addressed first. Words go logically. But after some time, you have to leave the logic behind. Otherwise, you can't reach the Divine.

Content: You can't talk to God through logic. In prose, you cannot relate with him. Only in poetry you can relate with God. That is why, all over the world, whenever it comes to prayer, it is only through songs and poems.

Content: Whether it is Eastern or Western culture, any culture, whether it is Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, any religion, when it comes to relating with God, it is always poetry, because, you can't relate with the Divine logically. You can't relate with the Divine through logic. Prose is not useful anymore to relate with the Divine.

Content: If you want the divine relationship to happen, you need love. You need the language of poetry. Here, only a

Content: person who understands, only a person who has become a part of the Master, only he can receive the Master's experiences. That is the reason the Master says, 'I share my songs with you, because you have become me. I cannot share this with the public.'

Content: There was another great saint called Manickavasagar in what is today known as Tamilnadu in South India. Throughout his life he sang about Shiva. But he never wrote. He only sang. He used to just sing but he had never recorded it. Manickavasagar never wrote his poems. He used to always recite, that's all.

Content: Once, Shiva himself came down as an old man and said, 'O Manickavasaga, I have heard that you sing beautiful songs of Shiva. Why don't you recite them for me? I am your disciple.'

Content: Manickavasaga was in an ecstatic state. So in that ecstasy, he started singing everything. Shiva himself recorded the songs. Shiva himself recorded, put the songs in writing.

Content: After recording, Shiva signed the palm-leaf document, 'Recited by Manickavasaga, written by Ambaravanan', Shiva Himself!

Content: He placed the leaf at the entrance of the temple and disappeared. The next day morning, the priests saw the leaves. Suddenly, they realized, the signature said, 'Manickavasagar recited and I myself recorded this.'

Content: Until the end, till his death, he never recorded his songs. Then all the disciples went and asked him, 'Oh

Content: Master, please give us the meaning. Please explain the meaning to all these songs.'

Content: He straightaway walked into the temple and said, 'He is the meaning for all the songs.' He pointed to the Lord and said, 'He is the meaning,' and walks into the deity and disappears into the God, into the Divine.

Content: This is a beautiful symbolic representation. This story is a beautiful symbolic representation. He becomes one with the Divine. Till the end he never recorded his songs. Only somebody else recorded them. They were so beautiful. God himself came down and recorded.

Content: Unless you become part of the Master, it is very difficult to understand his message. That is why Krishna says, 'Arjuna, this supreme science, the technique of entering into the eternal bliss is today told by me to you, because you are my devotee as well as my friend. You are my devotee as well as my friend and can therefore, understand the transcendental mystery of this science.'

Content: This cannot be told to a person who is not ready. And one more thing: when you speak the ultimate truth to a person who is not ready, it leads to many troubles. Not only does he not understand, but he also misunderstands and starts creating trouble for others.

Content: With the right person even a lie told by him will be good for society. In the wrong hands even truth will do harm to society. To whom it is delivered is important, rather than whether it is the truth or a lie.

Content: With a wrong person, even a great truth like Advaita (non-duality), 'I am God', may make him think, 'I am

Content: God' and make him start doing all nonsensical things. With a wrong person, great truths will become harmful things.

Content: And one more thing, a wrong person can never understand the truth told by Krishna. For example, Krishna says, 'I am God. I am everything. Surrender unto me.' If the person is not completely devoted, if the person is not in tune with Krishna, if he has not understood Krishna, what will he think? 'What an egoistic fellow he is! How dare he tell me to surrender to him?' Naturally the person, instead of understanding Krishna, will create more trouble for Krishna. He will only create more trouble for Krishna.

Content: Here, the qualification to receive the truth is devotion. If you have heard all the things I have said in the other three chapters of the Gita, it is okay, because it is expressed logically. Until this point, I am able to bring both logic and spirituality together.

Content: Now the time has come when I have to give the pure truth as truth. Please be very clear, great things can never be expressed by logic, because logic is not sharp enough. Logic is not so sharp as to express the ultimate truth.

Content: Somebody asked me, 'Master, why don't you prove God logically?' I told him, 'If I can prove God logically, then logic would become God!' Logic will become greater than God. God is great because He cannot be proved by logic. He is beyond logic. He is beyond your logic.

Content: Here, Krishna is going to speak about something that is beyond logic. This is where you leave your logic

Content: behind, become completely open, sit in a totally passive mood, open up your being and be ready to receive.

Content: One thing, with logic, either you will understand everything or you will not understand anything. That's all. There is no other danger. When it comes to the deeper level teachings, either you understand, or you misunderstand.

Content: The teachings which Krishna is going to deliver now are much deeper. They are much more subtle than the teachings which were delivered in the last two or three chapters.

Content: That is why He says, 'Now I am telling you these secrets just because you are my devotee and friend, just because you are near and dear to me. You are my own.' That is the reason He uses the word bhaktosi. He says, 'You are my devotee, me sakha cheti, and you are my friend.' Sakha means friend. He says, 'That is the reason I am expressing this truth to you.'

Content: The person who is not completely in tune with Krishna, the person who is not ready to trust the Master, cannot receive the message. He cannot understand it. Not only will he not understand, he will misunderstand. Misunderstanding always leads to complications.

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

Content: So, Krishna gives a warning. Here, Krishna gives a warning, rahasyaṁ hṛyetad uttamaṁ. 'I am giving you these

Content: Path of Knowledge

Content: secrets, the mysterious science of realizing the ultimate, Oh my dear friend and devotee, Arjuna.'

Content: So, now let us enter into the science that is taught by Krishna.

Content: Let us begin with a small prayer to Krishna:

Content: Vasudeva sutam devam Kamsa Chanura mardanam Devaki paramanandam Krishnam vande jagat gurum

Content: We enter into the path of knowledge. Great truths that can straightaway transform your life, if only you are ready to understand, are now about to be told.

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

Content: Here, these truths do not need these three steps. Just listening is enough. Just listening is enough for it to become an experience. Shravana is enough; proper shravana becomes nidhidhyasana. Nothing needs to be done. All you need to do is to sit with a complete open being, with a complete openness, with a complete relaxed feeling.

Content: These words are uttered for your sake, not for the sake of the Master.

Content: So we will just take a few minutes to meditate on Sri Krishna, the great, enlightened Master. Let us pray to Him to let Him allow His words to penetrate our being.

Content: Let Him reside in our consciousness. Let Him lead us to eternal bliss.

Content: Just take few minutes, close your eyes and intensely pray to Him: Oh Master, lead us to the experience. Give us the understanding.

Content: Let Him raise our inner space by His presence. Let Him be in our inner space and enlighten our consciousness.

Content: I salute you Lord Krishna, teacher to the world, son of Vasudeva and supreme bliss of Devaki, destroyer of Kamsa and Chanura.

Content: Q: Master, you had said somewhere that rituals are not considered relevant now because we have lost the code to understand them. Is Krishna talking about the same thing when He says that the science has been lost?

Content: You are right, that is what Krishna is talking about.

Content: Whatever the great Masters, including the incarnations, taught based on their experience was not in such form whether verbal or non-verbal, that anyone could understand. First of all, the concepts behind these experiences were not relevant to all. Secondly, in order to transmit the experiences to others, which was the intention of the great Masters, it was necessary to prepare the recipients.

Content: Both these considerations reduced the number of persons to whom these truths and these experiences could

Content: be conveyed and taught. When the disciples were sufficiently trained there was no need for verbal communication. It could be communicated in silence. It was an energy transfer between the Master and the disciples, which was the most efficient and most effective way. For this to happen, the disciples had to be at the same energy level as the Master; at least when the teaching had to be imparted.

Content: This is possible, as my disciples know. The Master can initiate and train his disciples to be at his energy level, so that they can imbibe his messages better.

Content: At the earlier stage, and sometimes later as well, Masters did use words; but these words had different meanings at different energy levels. Often these were coded as metaphors. They were coded as rituals.

Content: When Jesus said that the bread he gave was his body and the wine he gave was his blood, he did not intend his chosen few to become cannibals. It was a metaphor about sharing his energy with them. Over time this was institutionalized as a ritual, which had meaning as long as there was readiness by the followers to accept the ritual with deep faith. When this became a routine, it lost its original energy and meaning.

Content: The reason Masters were secretive about the truths they transferred was because of the tremendous power of these truths. If misunderstood, the energy of these truths could have been misused, as indeed they have been from time to time, even with all their precautions. At the first level, they could harm the user and at next levels they

Content: can be used to harm others. Intelligence is needed to use such energies.

Content: For instance, when your third eye center is opened and energized, you can get the power to make anything happen. The third eye center, ajna, is represented by a twin leaved lotus. One leaf represents shakti, power or energy, and the other buddhi, intelligence or wisdom. When this chakra, this energy center is energized, one gets the power to do anything along with the wisdom to use that power. All your dreams can be realized; at the same time you will know that all that you realized are only dreams.

Content: Only disciples with awakened ajnas were entrusted with the secrets of the experiences of these Masters. As any one who has tried would know, awakening the third eye is not easy. It is the control point of all energy in the mind-body-spirit system and your entire system must be energized correctly for the ajna to be awakened. More than anything else, this needed the guidance and grace of the Master.

Content: The great enlightened Master Ramana Maharishi taught mostly in silence. His teaching was seemingly simple. He said, ‘Keep asking Who am I, and you will realize the truth.’ I was initiated into this when I was very young by a disciple of Bhagavan Ramana, and I played around with this method, which was called self-enquiry. I had my first spiritual experience as a result by the age of 12.

Content: One of my disciples had been practicing this method for many years on his own after reading about it. He was

Content: very serious and tried hard, but with no result. He met me after many years of this practice and was initiated as a Nithya Healer, which is when I accept a disciple. He told me that it was then for the first time, without any seeming effort, he was able to understand what self-enquiry was about.

Content: The lineage of the Master-disciple system is a sacred one. When it is continuous, consciousness prevails in the planet; when it is broken, darkness descends.

Content: 4.4 Arjuna said: 'Oh Krishna, you are younger to the Sun God Vivasvan by birth. How am I to understand that in the beginning you instructed this science to him?'

Content: 4.5 The Lord said: Very many births both you and I have passed. I can remember all of them, but you cannot, O Parantapa!

Content: 4.6 Although I am unborn, imperishable and the lord of all living entities,

Content: By ruling my nature I reappear by my own maya.

Content: 4.7 When positive consciousness declines, when collective negativity rises,

Content: Again and again, at these times, I am reborn.

Content: 4.8 To nurture the pious and to annihilate the wicked,

Content: To re-establish righteousness I am reborn, age after age.

Content: Krishna starts His message.

Content: Here is a question by Arjuna to which He responds.

Content: Krishna delivers the message as a response to Arjuna’s question.

Content: This shows that Arjuna still needs to have the maturity.

Content: He asks, ‘The Sun God is elder to you by birth; he is so much your senior. How am I to understand that in the beginning you instructed this science to him?’

Content: Arjuna and Krishna are almost equal in age. Suddenly, Krishna says that thousands of years ago He gave this science to Surya. This is very difficult to understand.

Content: Moreover, Arjuna lived with Krishna for a long time. He knows and has seen the human side of Krishna, all of

Content: Krishna’s leela (plays), all of Krishna’s dramas, all of Krishna’s moods. He has seen Him more as a human being. So now, it is very difficult for Arjuna to believe Krishna’s words.

Content: This is exactly the same trouble all disciples undergo. Disciples who live around enlightened Masters undergo exactly the same troubles. It is very difficult to understand the Divine descending and walking on the planet Earth in a human form.

Content: Arjuna struggles to understand. Arjuna is not able to relate. How can the Divine descend? What is happening? How can Krishna declare, ‘Thousands of years ago, I gave this science to Surya?’ It is very difficult to understand.

Content: Suddenly, for example, suddenly if I tell you, ‘A hundred years ago, I was the person who taught all these sciences to some enlightened Master!’ How will you feel? It will be very difficult to understand, to grasp, is it not?

Content: If I suddenly make a statement, ‘A hundred years ago, I taught all these things to the Masters who were there.’ It is very difficult to believe. And naturally questions will rise.

Content: Here the same thing happens. Arjuna thinks, ‘How can he say this? How can I understand?’ But of course he has become a little polite. That is why he says, ‘How can I understand?’ He does not say, ‘How can you say this?’

Content: In the second chapter, when Krishna says, ‘Arjuna, go and fight,’ Arjuna asks, ‘How can you say this? How can you tell me to sin?’ But now, he has become more polite.

Content: He has understood a little bit of the truth. He has become a little intelligent. He says, 'How can I understand? Please tell me.'

Content: He is ready to believe, but he wants a little explanation. This is ok. But there are a few people who are prejudiced,They are clear. They say, 'No. We are not bothered. We don't believe. We don't want it.' In that case, nothing can be done.

Content: Here, Arjuna says, 'I am ready to believe, but how am I to understand? Please instruct me. Please show me the right thing.'

Content: Always, when enlightened Masters descend on the planet Earth, whenever they come down, they face this trouble. Again and again and again, they face this trouble. When Ramakrishna declared that who came as Rama and who came as Krishna, the same person has come down in the form as Ramakrishna, he was called mad! He was called mad! People did not receive him. People did not respect him. But there were a few qualified people who received his words and transformed their lives. They established the truth of his statement.

Content: See, all philosophies or all movements can be started in two ways. One is the political movement, which starts with huge crowds and huge followers. For the person who leads, the more the numbers in the crowd, the greater number of persons in attendance, the more powerful he feels and starts making all kinds of statements and claims. These movements start with a huge number, but over a period of time, they slowly dwindle in quality and quantity. Once the founder dies, the movement dies.

Content: The second type of movement is the spiritual mission. When the Masters declare the truth, the quantity may not be there, but the quality will be there. Only a few individuals, a few selected individuals listen to those truths, those proclamations.

Content: When Ramakrishna declared, ‘The one who came down as Rama and who came down as Krishna is present here in this body as Ramakrishna,’ hardly a few actually heard him! Hardly a few were ready to trust. In those few, the quantity may not have been there, but the quality was certainly there. They transformed their own lives. It started as a very slow, small thing, but expanded, exploded into an international mission, a spiritual movement.

Content: When it started, only sixteen disciples were there. Ramakrishna had only sixteen disciples. Today, millions of people worship him as God. Millions of people have realized the truth of the words that he uttered. These spiritual missions start in a very small way, but expand and explode.

Content: Political movements start in a very big way, but contract and die down. When the founder dies, the foundation also collapses. But in spiritual missions, the moment the founder dies, things start happening. It starts expanding.

Content: For a political speech you need quantity. The more the number of people present, the stronger the speech. But for a spiritual discourse, you need quality. The more intense the persons, the more deep the truths that come out!

Content: For a political person, the inspiration is in numbers. How well was it covered on the television? In how many newspapers have the reports come in? It matters to him as to how many newspaper cuttings he can collect. But for a spiritual person what matters is how many ego-cuttings he can do! How many people's egos he can cut and liberate.

Content: For a political person it is the paper cutting, for a spiritual person, it is the ego-cutting. For a spiritual discourse, how many people are intense, the quality of the people present, these are the things that matter. The more intense a person, the higher the level of the truths that come out.

Content: I always tell people, my best discourses are given always to small, close circles. The best truths are spoken only to a small, close circle. Because when you speak the truth to an intimate group, it will be straight. It will shake the whole being. It will transform your whole life. Those who are not yet ready cannot receive it.

Content: That is why Ramakrishna, whenever he wanted to speak high truths he would close the doors and call his sannyasi (monk) disciples and he would speak only to them. He would not speak to the public.

Content: This very Gita is delivered to only one person. When Krishna delivered the Gita, only one person heard. But today, millions and millions, not even millions, billions read and practice.

Content: For all Hindus, this is the basic book. For a billion Hindus, this is the basic scripture. Only one person heard

Content: Krishna. Today the whole world uses it. So, to express the truths, the quality of the person who hears is important, not the quantity of persons.

Content: Now Krishna starts to answer this question:

Content: Let me repeat this beautiful verse:

Content: Bahuni me vyateetaani janmani tava cha arjuna tanya aham veda sarvani na tvam vettha parantapa

Content: Bhagavan says, ‘O Arjuna, many, many births both you and I have passed. I can remember all of them but you can’t.’

Content: Krishna first says, ‘We have both passed through many births that I remember, and you do not.’ Then He says, ‘Although I am unborn, imperishable and the lord of all living entities, I reappear in my original maya by controlling my nature.’

Content: Ajo api san avyaya atma bhutanam ishvaropi san prakritim svam adhishthaya sambhavamyatma mayaya

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

Content: For the first time now, He opens up. He declares the truth about His nature. He shows the divinity of His nature. I think this is the point where Krishna starts to speak the ultimate truth as it is. Till then, I think He was a little shy to open up to Arjuna!

Content: When a disciple is not ready, you can't open up, you can't tell the truth. Now, the disciple is ready. So Krishna opens up.

Content: He says, although I am unborn and my transcendental body never deteriorates and although I am the Lord of all living entities, here He says very clearly, bhutanam ishvaro: I am the Lord of all the living entities; I still appear in every millennium in my original transcendental form.

Content: Three things we need to understand. First He says, 'I am unborn. I never take birth. I am the ultimate Parabrahma (Cosmic divine energy). I am the ultimate energy.'

Content: Krishna clearly declares this. I don't think any one else has declared so clearly, even Jesus says I am the Son of God. Here, Krishna straightaway declares the truth. 'I am God,' He says.

Content: Of course, it does not mean Jesus is not God. At one point he says the Father and the Son are one and the same. At one point, maybe to some close disciple, he declares, 'The Father and the Son are one and the same.' Please be very clear, when the disciple is mature, the Master is understood.

Content: Here, straightaway Krishna declares, 'I am unborn, ajopi, I am unborn, eternal consciousness, eternal bliss and my transcendental body never deteriorates. You can always relate with me. I never die. I am unborn and I never die.'

Content: One important thing you should know is this: that which never takes birth can never die; that which takes

Content: birth, only such can die. Here Krishna declares, I never take birth and I never die. I am the Lord of all living entities, bhutanam ishwaro.

Content: Somebody asked me, 'Master, can dead Masters teach us? Can we relate with the Masters who left the body, like Paramahamsa Yogananda, Mahavatar Babaji etc.?' One person came and asked me, 'If I pray to them, can they show me the path? Can they show me the truth?'

Content: I told him: be very clear, dead Masters are not dead as you think. They are not dead. When they are alive, their presence had a body. When they are dead, their presence has no body, that's all.

Content: Having a body or not having a body is in no way going to affect their presence. They are available to you always. They are eternally available to you. All you need to do is just turn towards them, that's all. They are eternally available. When they are in their physical body, their presence has got a physical body. When they are no more, their presence has no physical body, that's all. But they are always available. They are alive.

Content: When normal human beings die, the soul leaves the body. When it comes to Masters, they leave the body. The very wording is different. For a normal person, the soul leaves and we say, the soul left, or he leaves the soul, he dies; life has left him. For Masters, they leave the body. So having a body or not having a body is in no way connected to their presence. They are available to the planet Earth always. They are always available to the whole of humanity.

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

Content: With intensity, if you reach out, even if they don't have the body, you will be able to relate with them. You can get the message. You will be able to talk to them. You will be able to relate with them.

Content: When you don't have intensity or sincerity, even with a living Master you will miss him. With sincerity, even with a dead Master, you will be able to have the truth, you will be able to achieve. Without sincerity, even with a living Master, you will miss him.

Content: Understand, He says, 'I am the Lord of all the entities. But I still appear in every millennium in my original transcendental form, sambhavami atma mayaya; taking my own maya. Because of my maya, I assume the body and come down. I assume the body and incarnate myself.'

Content: He means He happens on the planet Earth again and again in so many forms to guide the people. Ordinary human beings are under the clutches of maya or illusion due to which they take birth. But Krishna has maya itself under His control and takes birth due to His own wish! But again and again we miss him. We are all conquerors of Buddha, conquerors of Krishna. We are conquerors of Ramakrishna. That is why we are here again and again on this planet Earth.

Content: Please be very clear, we conquer them. We conquer Ramana Maharishi. We conquer Ramakrishna. Even they can't do anything to us. That is why again and again we

Content: are here. Again and again we miss them. That is why again and again He has to come down. He has to come down again and again to planet Earth to lift us, to show us the way, to guide us.

Content: The next statement, I can say, the next two verses, if understood, then not only the whole Gita but all the spiritual scriptures can be realized. Here He declares:

Content: Whenever there is a decline in individual consciousness, whenever the collective unconsciousness increases, Dharma samsthanarthaaya, to establish the righteousness of the eternal consciousness, science of Eternal Bliss, sambhavami yuge yuge, I myself appear, millennium after millennium.

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

Content: Here Krishna declares, 'I come down again and again, to right the wrong.' He keeps the whole thing open for the future. He keeps the generation of enlightened Masters for the future, the possibility of enlightenment for the future. He keeps the whole science open for the future. Only a courageous man like Krishna can declare this truth.

Content: People come and ask me, 'Master, are there many more enlightened Masters on the planet Earth?' I tell them, 'Surely.' There are hundreds of enlightened Masters. Don't think I am the only one. There are hundreds, hundreds and hundreds. I can say, even thousands. Thousands of Masters are available.

Content: Only a courageous man can declare the truth as it is. If you are in business, you cannot accept there are other similar shops in your city. If you own any business, you would not give the address of similar shops in the city. Only if you are honest, you can declare, yes, there are so many things available.

Content: Again and again people ask me this question, 'Master, if I take initiation from you, can I go to another Master?'

Content: I tell them: 'Not only you can go, I also encourage that you should go. Pluck flowers from all the beautiful gardens and make a beautiful bouquet for yourself!'

Content: And your ego is such, even if thousands of people beat upon it, it will not die. How can you expect your ego to die at the hands of just one person? How can you expect the ego to die by just one blow? So go wherever it is possible and learn the best things. Pluck flowers from all the gardens and make a beautiful bouquet for yourself.

Content: Only a courageous person like Krishna can declare the truth; sambhavami yuge yuge, which means He keeps the possibility open for the next generation. He keeps the possibility of enlightenment open for planet Earth.

Content: This one single idea if understood, can straightaway make you enlightened.

Content: This verse is a promise; it is deliverance to all of humanity. In science, the principle of entropy states that the energy level of every system, including the universe, degrades with time. So it is with consciousness. Over time individuals start losing their positive consciousness and collective negativity builds up. Of course, this does not

Content: imply that every single person becomes evil intentioned, but it does mean that on an average, spirituality, awareness, righteousness and consciousness of individuals deteriorate over time at certain periods of time.

Content: One must understand that consciousness is always individual. When one is conscious, one accepts all of humanity in the same manner as oneself; yet, each individual needs to be aware of his own consciousness. On the other hand, negativity or the unconsciousness can be collective. A whole nation can become collectively unconscious as Germany did under Hitler, and other countries such as Italy and Japan followed.

Content: In history, over many thousands of years, each time such collective unconsciousness has built up, there has been deliverance. It is as though there is a cycle of positivity and negativity, up and down, over time.

Content: In science there may be entropy, but in spirituality there is none. Righteousness is restored eventually. This is Krishna’s promise.

Content: Q: Master, this verse ‘paritranaya sadhunam...’ is one of the most quoted from the Gita. If this were to be true, Krishna should be on this planet all the time and there should be no evil. However, this is not the case. Can you please explain again what this verse means?

Content: Krishna does not say there would be no evil; He says He will be reincarnated again and gain to reduce collective unconsciousness and to destroy the evil.

Content: As long as humankind lives upon this planet, both good and bad will exist; both good and evil will exist together. What Krishna talks about here is the excess of bad over good.

Content: In a spiritual sense, from Krishna’s point of view, there is no good or bad. There is no evil as such, spiritually speaking. As in nature, all these seemingly contradictory qualities coexist. What Krishna says to Arjuna, is for the consumption of mankind. Mankind has created this differential between good and bad, and can only understand behavior in these separate modalities.

Content: When I tell you that in spiritually there is nothing good or bad or that to an enlightened Master there is no such difference, what will your first response be?

Content: You will think: ah, now I have it! I can do whatever I want because this Master has said that there is nothing either good or bad. I can cheat, I can kill and I can do many things that I thought were bad and that I thought would affect me spiritually.

Content: Please understand that you are as yet in a state where there is a material difference between what is good and what is bad. Your own conditioning makes that differentiation. When you are completely free of that conditioning, that samskara, the very awareness and consciousness that caused the conditioning to disappear will provide you the direction as to what you should do, without any differentiation of good or bad.

Content: In addition, for its own preservation, society lays down rules and regulations, and religions lay down

Content: commandments. These are moral codes not spiritual. They arise from conscience not consciousness.

Content: When you are in tune with yourself, when you are Self-realized, you shed all your boundaries. You are no longer a spirit bounded by your body, bondaged in your body, but you are a universal spirit, one with the universe. That was the first feeling I had when I had my first spiritual experience at the age of 12. I could relate to everything around me as myself. There was no separation from anything.

Content: When there is no separation, you cannot think of harming anyone else, because then you will be harming yourself! With this awareness, you do not have to constantly worry about doing good or bad. Your awareness itself will lead you on a path that is right for you as well as for others.

Content: It is the creation of this awareness and the awakening of one's consciousness that Krishna talks about first. But it is simpler for a mortal to understand this in terms of good and bad, so Krishna elaborates, saying that He will come again and again to protect the good and to destroy the evil.

Content: This destroying the evil is not a one-time job! Otherwise why should Krishna promise that He would come again and again? It is in the nature of existence to be in many forms, some of which we understand as some good and some as bad. Inherently there is no difference.

Content: However, this state of awareness is the realization of one's true Self, one's true nature. This is the state that we

Content: belong to. Krishna, the ultimate Master, out of His infinite compassion, wants us to reach that state. This promise arises out of His compassion to enhance our state and not out of an outraged expression of anger to destroy evil.

Content: 4.9 One who knows or experiences my divine appearance and activities does not take birth again in this material world after leaving the body But attains me, O Arjuna.

Content: 4.10 Being freed from attachment, fear and anger, being filled with me and by taking refuge in me, Many beings in the past have become sanctified by the knowledge of me and have realized me.

Content: 4.11 I reward everyone, I show myself to all people, according to the manner in which they surrender unto me,

Content: In the manner that they are devoted to me, o Partha!

Content: 4.12 Men in this world desire success from activities and therefore they worship the gods.

Content: Men get instant results from active work in this world.

Content: This is a very strange statement. He says, 'One who understands the nature of My appearance and activities will be liberated from this birth and death cycle.'

Content: How can it be? He says, 'Understand my transcendental nature of birthlessness and deathlessness.' Just now He said he is birthless and deathless. Ajopi: I am birthless. Just now He says, ajopi san avyaya atma bhutanam ishwaropi san. He says, 'I am birthless and deathless.'

Content: Now He says, 'If you understand the truth of the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities, once you leave the body, you will not take birth and death like ordinary humans do. If you understand My transcendental nature, you will also achieve the same transcendental nature.'

Content: 'If you understand that I don't take body, you will also realize and you also will not take the body. If you understand I am liberated, you will realize that you are also liberated.' How can it be?

Content: We will start with an incident from Ramana Maharishi's life. In the presence of Ramana Maharishi, everyday they used to sing some songs. There is a song called. 'Ramana Satguru', which means 'Praising Ramana Maharishi, Ramana is the true Master' So when the song is sung, Ramana himself used to sing along with the devotees.

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

Content: Bhagavan says, 'Fool! Why are you reducing Ramana to this six feet body? Why are you reducing me to this six feet body?'

Content: This is a deep, very subtle thing; difficult to understand. He says, 'Just as you are all seeing this body from a distance, in the same way, I am also seeing this body. For you Ramana is somebody. For me also Ramana is somebody! I am not associating with this name and form. That is the reason why just like how you all can enjoy singing the name, I also enjoy, because I have not associated myself with this form.'

Content: I tell you, an egoistic person, at least in public will not show that he enjoys, because, if he shows, people will see that he is egoistic. An egoistic man will make others praise him. He will never be open. Here, Ramana Maharishi is totally open. He is straight. He says, 'Just like you enjoy, I also enjoy this name, enjoy this form,

Content: because I don't feel this is me. I don't feel associated with it. The name is just getting repeated, that's all.

Content: Another incident: one of his disciples, Muruganathan writes 'Ramana Puranam'. It is the stotra (verses in praise) of Ramana Maharishi. He wrote a few lines and somehow he was not able to write further. So he just brings the paper and puts it at the feet of the Master and says, 'Bhagavan, I am not able to write.' Bhagavan says, 'Alright, you go, let us see tomorrow.' The next day when the disciple comes back, he sees that the poem is completed.

Content: Bhagavan himself wrote and completed it. He wrote three hundred lines and completed the whole poem. The disciple was surprised. Bhagavan himself had written about himself; his own stotra, written by himself!

Content: Later, when the disciple published it, when it came out as a book, the author put a small footnote: 'From this line onwards it was written by Bhagavan himself', just so that the devotees would be aware that those particular verses were Bhagavan's own words.

Content: The first copy of the book was taken to Bhagavan. Bhagavan just saw the book, saw the footnote: 'From this line onwards it was written by Bhagavan himself.'

Content: He turned to the disciple and asked, 'Oh! Were the other lines written by you then?'

Content: Understand, he asks, 'Oh! Does it mean that the other lines are all written by you?'

Content: Bhagavan said, 'When you wrote all those verses, it was I who wrote through you. You cannot think about me. You cannot write about me. What do you know about me?'

Content: Unless I express myself through you, you cannot know anything about me.'

Content: Only a man who has disappeared into the divine consciousness can write his poem.

Content: In the Bhagavatam (life story of Lord Krishna), Krishna himself sings, 'I am the Lord,' just like how He now says, bhutanam ishwaropi.

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

Content: A mere boy from Brindavan, a cowherd boy from Brindavan, says this! See, you should not look at Krishna from today's perspective. You should understand the whole scene as it happened, when this happened on the battlefield at Kurukshetra.

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

Content: When Rama was walking on planet Earth, only the saptarishis (the energy of seven sages that controls the world) knew He was an incarnation. Nobody else knew. In the same way, when Krishna was alive, very few

Content: people recognized who He was. At least Rama lived a controlled life; he is easy for people to accept. But Krishna lived such an ecstatic and spontaneous life; it is very difficult to realize Krishna!

Content: For a socially intellectual person, or a so-called religious person, it is very difficult to realize Krishna, very difficult to understand Krishna. But He says, bhutanam ishwaropi, I am the Lord of all living entities.

Content: Naturally, it is difficult for them to understand. It is very difficult for people to understand. Somebody asks Ramana, 'Why are you speaking about yourself? Why are you expressing your own glory?'

Content: Bhagavan says, 'If I don't tell about myself, you can never understand me. Unless I reveal, you can never realize. Unless I express, you can never understand. Just out of my compassion for all of you, I express the truth, I express myself.'

Content: It is like this: you are going somewhere and you see a traffic jam on the road. You know one of your friends is traveling ahead of you on the same road. You ring up and ask him, 'How is it at that place? Is there a traffic jam? Can I come by the same road or should I take some other road?' Will he not have the simple basic courtesy to guide you? He will surely have that basic courtesy.

Content: He will tell you, 'No, no, this route is okay, you come. In ten minutes everything will become alright. In this area there is no traffic jam.' He will give you some instructions. He will guide you.

Content: With the same basic courtesy, Krishna is revealing his truth towards you. He is revealing his truth to all of us. He is revealing his truth to us. It is just a simple basic courtesy of help for fellow travelers.

Content: Here, when He says, 'I am God, I am the ultimate,' He says there is a possibility - when I can achieve, why not you?' He shows the possibility, He gives us the courage, He encourages us. Here He says, 'When I can achieve, why not you?'

Content: It is like a seed always afraid of rupturing to become a tree. It always feels, 'If I break and the tree doesn't happen, then what will happen? I will die.' But the tree tells the seed, 'Unless you open, I cannot happen.' Unless the seed opens, the tree cannot happen. The seed says, 'No, no, no, let the tree happen; then I will open.' But the tree says, 'No, no, first you have to open, only then I can happen.' The problem between the tree and the seed continues endlessly.

Content: It is necessary for somebody to give a little courage to the seed. A tree that was a seed once and now has become tree, one such tree comes and says, 'Oh seed, don't worry, open, I was also a seed. I opened and today I have become a tree. Be courageous. Don't worry. You will never perish. Open. Just like me you will also become a tree.'

Content: In the manner how the tree gives courage to the seed, in the same way Krishna gives courage to us. You can also become God, like me. You can also experience the truth like me.

Content: When He says, 'I am the ultimate,' He expresses the possibility. He shows us the possibility. He again and again reminds us of our potentiality. He inspires us to enter into the same consciousness. He inspires us to experience the same bliss. He shows us the way of the truth, which we need to experience.

Content: When Krishna reveals this truth, be very clear, Krishna is not egoistic. He is expressing His true nature out of simple basic courtesy to fellow travelers.

Content: The senior tree encourages the junior seed to open up and become a tree. The tree assures the seed. It says, 'Don't worry, I have become a tree. You can also become like me. You don't have to feel you will disappear.' It is an assurance.

Content: That is why again and again I tell you, when He tells us 'I am God', He means, 'You too are God.' He gives you the courage; He encourages you to enter into the same experience.

Content: And one more thing we need to understand, as I was telling you, as Ramana says, 'Why do you reduce Ramana to this six feet body?' Ramana is far superior, far greater than his six feet body.

Content: When enlightened Masters say 'I', they don't have any meaning behind that 'I'. Only the divinity speaks. For a normal man, take yourself for example, when you say the word 'God' it is just a word. There is no meaning behind it. At the most, you will have some imagination about God, that's all. There is no solid meaning behind that

Content: word when you use it. But when you say 'I', you attribute a solid meaning for it, you have a solid identity. You know clearly what you mean. But when you say 'God', you don't know what you mean. The emotion or the understanding is not supported well with any experience. The word is not supported by an emotional understanding or experience.

Content: But with enlightened people, when they say 'God', it is based on solid experience and when they say 'I', it has no meaning. It is just for utility sake that they use the word 'I'. It is an empty word for them. Because they can't use any other word, they use the word 'I'. They have to use some word; there is no other way. That is the reason they use the word 'I'.

Content: There was a great enlightened Master. His name was Nisargadatta Maharaj. He lived in India. Somebody went to him and asked, 'Master, you say enlightened people don't have karma. But how can you speak? How can you do all your activities if you don't have karma?'

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

Content: He was saying the words and yet he said, 'I am not speaking to you.' It is very difficult to understand!

Content: Then Maharaj says, 'Because you wanted me to speak, the speaking is happening through this body. There is nobody inside.' He was just like a hollow bamboo. When

Content: the breeze enters a hollow bamboo, it comes out as music. There is nobody inside, just empty hollow bamboo. That is why whatever goes in comes out as music.

Content: When you become like a hollow bamboo, whatever words come out of your mouth become a mantra, a sacred syllable. Your form becomes yantra, the tool of liberation, and your whole life becomes tantra, a technique for liberation. Your words are sastra, scriptures. Your form is the center for stotra, devotional prayers. And your life is sutra, the technique. Your very life is sutra.

Content: Here, when Krishna says, 'I', there is nobody inside. It is just the Divine that is speaking; just the emptiness that is speaking.

Content: Then the disciple asks Nisargadatta Maharaj, 'Then how do you say I am not speaking to you?' What do you mean by the word 'I'?

Content: Maharaj says, 'Because there is no other word, I have to use the word 'I.' But this 'I' has got no meaning like how your 'I' has. Your 'I' is supported by experience. When you say the word 'God', it is an empty word. It is not supported by experience.'

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

Content: But when you utter the word 'God', it has no meaning. It is superficial, some imagination which you

Content: created through what you read in some books; something which was taught to you in some discourse; which you heard when you were a small child from your mother. That's all.

Content: But when enlightened people, like enlightened Masters, say the word 'I', it has no meaning. How the word 'God' is empty for you, the word 'I' is empty for them. There is no meaning. But when they say the word 'God', there is a solid experience for that word.

Content: Here, when Krishna says 'I', there is nobody inside. It is pure emptiness. Just the Divine speaks through him. Just pure Existence speaks through him. He has become a hollow bamboo. He has become pure energy. That is why He can courageously declare in a battlefield, bhutanam ishwaropi, I am the Lord of all beings.

Content: Sitting in a home, comfortably, where you have all the security, safety, all insurances, all the protection, and declaring 'I am God' is very easy, because there is nothing to risk. There is no risk. You don't need to take any big risk. You don't need to prove anything. Just make the statement, what is there in it? After all it is free! Say whatever you want!

Content: But Krishna is making this statement in a place where He needs to prove it. He is making this statement in a battlefield, where all the risky things are there, where his life itself is at risk. One arrow is enough to finish his body. He will be dead. But He is making this statement in that space. In the battlefield He declares, 'I am God.'

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

Content: Earlier I told you the story of Alexander threatening an enlightened Master with his sword, and the Master laughing at Alexander. 'Fool', he said, 'what will you destroy? What is in me is indestructible!'

Content: Only an enlightened man can laugh in front of a sword. Alexander is standing with a naked sword and the Master is laughing. He is not bothered. Just imagine, on the street, if somebody is holding a gun towards you, and asking for your wallet, will you be able to laugh? Impossible!

Content: But here, this person is able to laugh, in front of Alexander's sword. The courage that comes out of satya, truth, is the courage that comes out of solid experience. One important thing that the Vedanta scriptures can give you is courage; courage to live, courage to face life and death; courage to see the whole Existence, courage to face the whole Existence.

Content: One of the great disciples of Vivekananda, sister Nivedita asks him, 'Swamiji, if I come with you what will you teach me? What will you give me?'

Content: Vivekananda says, 'I will teach you how to face death.' That is the ultimate teaching. Here, Krishna is giving that ultimate teaching.

Content: In these two verses, He says,

Content: Yada yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavati bharata Abhyutthanam adharmasya tada atmanam srujamyaham Paritranaya sadhunam vinashaya cha dushkrutam Dharma samsthavarthaya sambhavami yuge yuge

Content: Then the next statement is very strange:

Content: Janma karma cha me divyam evam yo vetti tattvataha Tyaktva deham punarjanma naiti mam eti so Arjuna

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

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

Content: Now, just as how Krishna made the statement, 'I tell you this because you are my devotee and friend', now I have to make the same statement to you all again.

Content: Here I am going to speak on something which is beyond logic. It is purely experience. Before speaking, I take an oath: whatever I speak is the truth.

Content: Whenever the ultimate truth is uttered, whenever something beyond our logic is uttered, we never receive it completely. Please be very clear: a silent listener is a person who is thinking about something else! A silent listener is a person who is thinking about something else. Whenever something which goes beyond our logic is told, we never receive it.

Content: If we are courageous enough, we fight, we question, we argue. If we don't have that much of courage, we

Content: don't allow that word to enter into us. To tell you honestly, we never believe anybody.

Content: Please be very clear: we never believe anybody. It is always an argument. It is always an argument, sometimes open, and at other times, in the mind. If we can't express it openly, we continuously repeat the same words in the mind.

Content: That is why, before entering into the truths, I tell you that what I speak is the truth. If you can, receive it. There is a possibility of transformation, because here I speak the truth that is realized only by experience, which cannot be logically true.

Content: There is a website on NDE, Near Death Experience (http://www.nderf.org). If you find time, try to go through that website. A doctor has done research spending 30 years, just on this NDE, Near Death Experience. Just on this Near Death Experience, he has done research for 30 years.

Content: Let me first describe what Near Death Experience is. People who are declared clinically dead, after four or five hours, sometimes come back to life. Especially these mothers-in-law! They don't leave! And, after four or five hours, they come back! I was just joking.

Content: The doctor who created this website went around all over the world, meeting only those types of people; only the people who came back to life after four to five hours, people who are declared medically dead by doctors. He was interested only in those who have come back to life after the doctor's declaration that the person is dead.

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

Content: So many religions describe the death process in so many ways. Some say, if you have done punya or merits, you will reach a place called heaven, and St. Peter will be standing at the pearly gates, and only then you will be taken in; if you have committed sins, you will be taken to eternal hell. Each one has got his or her own faith.

Content: Some say there is no hell or heaven and you directly go to Vaikunta (place where Lord Vishnu lives). Some say there will be a special pushpaka vimana (mythological aircraft), special aircraft, sent from Kailash (place where Shiva resides), where Ramba and Menaka (celestial dancers) will be serving you and you will be directly taken to Shiva's place. There are so many different versions as to what happens after death or what happens at the time of death.

Content: The Katopanishad says you will enter through a tunnel and see the Angushta matra purusha piranam, meaning the light that is thumb sized, which is your soul. You will see the light when the soul leaves the body.

Content: There are so many explanations, so many different kinds of versions as to how death happens, and how your spirit enters into the next body.

Content: This researcher has categorized and explained everything. In the end, after doing research for so many years, he makes one important statement. He says, 'I have studied so many Near Death Experiences. Now I can tell one thing: only when people live, they are Christians, Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, etc. That is to say, they belong to different religions. When they die, all of them undergo the same experience.'

Content: He says very clearly, all of them undergo the same experience, and this is the experience that is described in the Katopanishad.

Content: Here, Krishna explains that beautifully. In a much deeper way He explains later in the chapter on Purushottama Yoga. We will see that subject when we come to that chapter. We will study that then. Now I just want to give you an introduction. I just want you to know the science into which we are entering.

Content: He says people belong to different religions only when they are alive. When they are dead, they follow only one path, which is described in the Katopanishad.

Content: Exactly what happens at the time of leaving the body? When you leave the body, the moment the physical body dies and relaxes, the moment the physical body says, 'I cannot hold the soul anymore, I am tired,' that very moment the soul leaves the body.

Content: You decide what you think of as the highest pleasure in your life based upon how you have lived in the 70-80 years. If you think eating is the highest pleasure in your

Content: life, naturally you would have spent the whole life in eating. Then at the time of leaving the body, eating is the highest pleasure.

Content: You will think, 'I should take a body which will continuously help me to eat, eat, and eat. Which is the best body?' You see through all the choices. Then you decide: pig body is the best body. Let me take that life!

Content: If you have that thought that sleeping is the greatest, happiest and most joyful experience in your life, if you have lived your whole life in sleep, tamas (inactivity), then you would think, 'I think sleep is the best experience in my life. Why not take the buffalo body? I can then spend my whole life in sleeping.'

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

Content: Please be very clear, nobody else decides your birth, it is you who decides. It is simply you who chooses. It is clearly the conscious decision of your individual soul.

Content: I am ready for any of your questions. Naturally this is a very controversial subject; very difficult to understand. But after this, any question you ask, I will surely. But you need to understand the science of birth and death, the mystery, the secret and mystery behind birth and death.

Content: Here Krishna says beautifully, 'Here I am telling you the secret of things.' Krishna says 'rahasyam hetuduttamam'.

Content: 'I am telling you the mysterious ultimate science, Oh my dear devotee and friend: Bhaktosi me sakha cheti rahasyam hetuduttamam: I am telling you the ultimate mysterious science.'

Content: We need to understand one thing: how we take birth. Let us analyze this concept with questions and answers. Understand, now I made few statements: 'You take birth based on your desires, based on how you live in the previous birth. 'Birth and death are your conscious decisions.' These are all the statements that I have made.

Content: We will analyze these statements with questions and answers. Only then we will be able to internalize it. If you just hear these words and go away, they will not go inside you. I always encourage people to ask questions. Because it is only when you question that you will be able to relate with the idea.

Content: Never think that by asking questions everyone around will look at you and you will look like a fool. If you ask a question you may look like a fool. If you don't, you will be a fool! Better to look like a fool than to be a fool.

Content: We will analyze this whole concept - the secret of birth and death, the mysterious science that Krishna delivers, through our question and answers. Then you will be able to internalize this truth. The moment this truth is understood, you will immediately see that life is a blessing.

Content: This life is your decision, please be very clear about it. Including poverty, everything is your decision. Don't

Content: think poverty has been forced on you. Even that is your decision. When we take birth, when we assume the body, we take birth based on our fear and greed. On one side, greed pushes us, 'Let me become the son of a king, let me become the son of rich man.' On the other side, our own fears say, 'No no, I can't take on so much of responsibility.' Please be very clear, along with money, a big responsibility of protecting it comes. Along with money, the big responsibility of protecting the money comes. That is why Goddess Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth, is handed over to Lord Vishnu, the Protector! Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth, is neither with the Creator, Brahma, nor with the Destroyer, Shiva. She is with the Protector, with Vishnu.

Content: Along with Lakshmi who represents wealth, the responsibility to protect Her also comes. Most of the time we don't want to take the responsibility. We only want enjoyment. We only want the enjoyment, we don't want the responsibility. That is where the trouble starts. A person who is ready to take on the responsibility as well as the enjoyment, will never miss and will never be deprived.

Content: If you understand this secret mystery clearly, this moment you will feel that your life is a blessing and not a curse. Usually we always blame life. 'If I am given a chance, I would make the world much better than what it is now!' We always think we can develop on the existing creation.

Content: Be very clear, surely God is much more intelligent than us! Whether it is to do with your life or to do with the

Content: whole of Existence, He has done the maximum of what can be done. Because we don't understand the mystery of our decisions, we continuously blame life and the person who gave this life to us.

Content: Let me narrate to you a small incident. It really happened. It happened in America. A small boy had autism. He was a small boy who was about seven or eight years old. He was brought to me for healing. The father and mother requested of me, 'Master, please heal him, help him to become alright.' I put my hand on his head and started healing.

Content: Immediately, the boy started talking to me in Tamil, my mother tongue. The family doesn't know Tamil. Even the boy doesn't know even a single word of Tamil.

Content: The parents were shocked. They said, 'We don't know how he is speaking Tamil, because we don't know Tamil.' The boy simply started talking in Tamil with great clarity. They said that normally, even in English he does not speak that fluently. He would utter only one or two words. But that day, straight away he started speaking to me.

Content: And he said, 'Stop healing.' Using Tamil slang, he told me very crudely, 'Stop healing.' I was shocked to first of all hear him speak in Tamil in clear words, and then in a crude rough manner, 'Stop healing!' I was shocked.

Content: Then I asked him, 'Why are you asking me to stop healing?' I thought some evil spirit is there inside his body, maybe some other spirit. So I started asking, 'Who are you? Why are you asking me to stop?'

Content: Then he said, 'I took this decision consciously. I don't want to take the responsibility of leading a regular life. I don't want to take the responsibility of attending school, making money and leading a regular life. That is why I took this affliction. I took this decision of autism consciously.'

Content: The whole thing he spoke to me in Tamil, in my mother tongue. I don't know how you will be able to believe this. Because this is personal, I am not able to give his name and reference. But I tell you honestly that this really happened.

Content: Straightaway he started addressing me: 'I don't want to take the responsibility of life. I am not interested in doing all these regular things, going to school, going through life. That is why I took this type of body. I wanted somebody to take care of me. I want to just enjoy.'

Content: Then I asked him, 'Alright, that is okay, beautiful, but why did you take birth with such nice people?' They are such nice people, why did you take birth through them? Why did you come down as a son for them?'

Content: Then he replied, 'I took birth in their family because they are nice people! They will take care of me. They will not abandon me. Had it been someone else, they would have abandoned me. They wouldn't have taken care of me. That is the reason I took birth in their family.'

Content: All the while, he spoke to me in Tamil. I was shocked. And in the end, by force he removed my hand from his head. Then I said, 'Alright, I cannot interfere in the

Content: decision of any individual.' I cannot interfere in anybody's life.

Content: The greatness of God is that He gives you the freedom to be in bondage. Even if it is the ultimate freedom He offers you, He never forces it on you. He gives you the freedom to be in bondage if that was your choice. And in the end, I did not heal him.

Content: The whole thing, your whole birth, is based on your fear and greed. But the enlightened Master's birth is based on love and compassion. The whole secret is this. Ordinary man takes birth based on fear and greed. That is why his whole life is driven by fear and greed. His whole life runs based on fear and greed. Enlightened Masters achieve the body out of love and compassion.

Content: That is why Krishna beautifully says: atma mayaya, because of my own energy, my own shakti, my own maya, I take birth. Sambhavyam atma mayaya prakritim svam adhishthaya sambhavami atma mayaya. 'With my own energy, just out of my love and compassion, I land on this planet Earth.'

Content: The next question that follows is this: how can we be liberated by knowing this truth? In what way is it going to help us directly in our life?

Content: Please be very clear, when I say the word birth or death, I don't mean just dying at the end of life. I mean every night's sleep is your birth and death. Every night when you go to sleep, you die! When you come back, in the morning, you take birth one more time. Every day, you assume the body. Every day, you leave the body.

Content: When you go to the karana sareera (causal body), when you go to sleep, when you fall asleep, every day, you die. When you come back, every day you come back to life.

Content: Now, as of now, every day morning, how do we come back to life? How do we take this body? Just look deeply. What happens at the time you get up from bed?

Content: First thing, usually, the moment you get the awareness that you are awake, either a thought based on greed or a thought based on fear hits you. A thought based on greed - maybe you wanted to meet somebody, you have got something to do, or a thought based on fear - you have to go to office, you have to do finish some deadline. Some thought based on fear or greed hits you. Immediately you jump out of your bed. Am I right? If you have analyzed your waking up, how you assume this body every morning, that moment is actually your taking birth.

Content: Please be very clear, that moment that you take the body matters. These are the basic, very subtle, mysterious secrets of altering the whole consciousness. Early morning, with whichever thought you enter into the body, whichever thought makes you assume the body, that thought is going to play a major role in your consciousness. The first thought is going to play a major role in your consciousness for that entire day.

Content: But an enlightened person, an enlightened Master assumes the body out of love and compassion. He comes back just to pour his compassion out, just to share himself with the whole world. When I say he comes back, I mean his coming back every day, every morning!

Content: If you understand this once and alter your thoughts at the time of waking up, you will alter your whole consciousness; the very quality of your consciousness can be changed.

Content: It is just like how a camera works. The first moment the lens is opened, whatever scene is there in front of the camera eye, is recorded in the film. That will stay there forever. In the same way, during the first moment of your consciousness while assuming the physical body, the thought that you have while entering into the body plays a major role on your consciousness for the whole day.

Content: When you get up from bed, let the first thought be related to love and compassion. Let it be related to a deep, divine spiritual thought. Get up only to express your life in bliss. Get up just out of joy. The moment you come to consciousness, the moment you become aware of yourself, express, ‘Oh Lord, so beautiful! You have given me one more day! I have come back to life once more just to see Your Existence. I am blessed that You have given me one more day extension!’

Content: Please be very clear, you have no right to have any extension. Don’t think life is your birthright. I have seen many people taking things for granted. Before they get the job, they would say, ‘If I get that $10,000 per month salary, I will be really safe. I will feel blessed.’ The moment they get the job, in one month, they think it is their birthright.

Content: Birth itself is not your right. Then how can you say something is your birthright? The word birthright is

Content: completely wrong. Birth itself is not your right. You have no right even to your own birth. It is a pure gift. You can't expend even a single breath thinking it is your own.

Content: You can't inhale or exhale for even one single moment unless the Divine allows you, unless the Parasakti gives the extension. So every day is a blessing. Every day is an extension. When you get up from the bed, get up, come out of the bed and assume the body with this gratitude to the Divine. The quality of your whole consciousness will change and you will become an incarnation.

Content: Here I am giving you the straight technique on how to become Krishna, how to enter into Krishna Consciousness, how to become an incarnation. The man who assumes the body out of love and compassion is an incarnation. If you assume the body out of greed or fear, you are man. If you assume the body out of love and compassion, you are an incarnation and you are Divine. Your whole life will become pure eternal bliss. Your whole life will happen with a different consciousness.

Content: I was explaining the secret of birth and death: how we go through, how it is our conscious decision, how it is our choice.

Content: Please be very clear, your whole life is purely your responsibility. Nobody has forced anything on you! It is completely your responsibility. It is you who is taking the responsibility of your whole life. It is your decision.

Content: People always ask me, 'Then why do we get into accidents, Master?' Please be very clear, everything, including accidents is your choice. I am making a bold

Content: statement: everything, including accidents is your choice. You can send me your questions. I will explain the answers tomorrow when I see the questions. Then you will understand this truth in a much deeper way.

Content: Here Krishna gives us a technique to attain Him. If we are able to live in such a way as to be free from the attachments born out of anger and fear, then we can be absorbed in Him, we can attain Him.

Content: We have to understand, all actions create their own reactions. When we sow a seed, the action, though it may appear to be complete, is in reality not so. We have set into motion a cycle, a chain of events. The seed sprouts and becomes a plant or tree.

Content: Thus it is so in the order of existence, that every action or we can say, cause, has its own reaction or, we can say, effect. It is therefore quite difficult to escape from the clutches of the cause-effect cycle. Here Krishna gives a technique for how to cut these karmic bonds. How to escape and realize the reality.

Content: Actions that are free from fear and anger do not create bonds. They lead us towards elevated consciousness. Fear and anger that arise out of greed are two of the most provocative emotions that create action, and lead to bondage.

Content: Attachments are our bondage to the future based on experiences of the past. We have unfulfilled desires that we hope to fulfill. We look for results. We get attached to the possibility of these results. When the results happen

Content: the way we wish them to, there is temporary satisfaction. More wishes arise. More attachments are formed.

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

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

Content: Krishna offers a way out. He says, 'Be drowned in Me; you will have no anger, no fear. All actions will thus be without bondage. In this manner, you can realize Me.'

Content: He gives the assurance, the valid proof, that having done so, having followed this path, many people in the past have achieved.

Content: He is not telling us, if you do this, maybe something good will happen. No! He straightaway gives the positive assurance. 'Do it, you will achieve! Not only one or two people, many people have done so and have realized Me'

Content: Masters are like mirrors. They are a true reflection of us. Devotees get whatever they ask for. If the devotee is praying for wealth, he gets it. If he wants healing for body or mind, he is granted it. To the devotee who says, 'Oh Lord, I want nothing except knowledge of Your true reality,' the Lord grants him that. He shows him the way to the ultimate reality.

Content: If you visit our ashram, you will see that there is something there for everyone. No one goes back empty handed. We have prayers, fire rituals, devotional songs, yoga, meditation, etc. for all kinds of people. People from all walks of life, from all cross-sections of society, from all kinds of economic strata, can find their place here.

Content: For the devotee who has faith in worship, there are the temples. For the devotee who wishes to attain through yoga, there are various yoga programs. For those on the path of knowledge, there are enough and more avenues and meditation techniques. Only in this manner can we lift the consciousness of society.

Content: I always say we cannot hope to transform society through any mass movement. It can happen only through individual transformation. The mass has to be made up of such transformed people. When such people act together, it will have the same power as a laser beam.

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

Content: Vivekananda once lectured another disciple of Ramakrishna and made him believe that all his devotional beliefs were nonsense. Such was the powerful personality of Vivekananda that he convinced this disciple that he must follow the advaitic, non-duality route that Vivekananda himself espoused, instead of the bhakti or

Content: devotional path that Ramakrishna had chosen for that disciple.

Content: Ramakrishna called Vivekananda immediately, without anyone telling him what had happened. He said sorrowfully to Vivekananda, 'What have you done to this disciple of mine? I have been working on him based on his nature and being. Now, with your words, you have set him backwards in his spiritual progress. It will take me years to bring him back on his path.'

Content: Here, Krishna promises and reaffirms what He has said earlier, that He will take care of every need of his devotee.

Content: Only the most compassionate being, only such a person who cares for all, will make this statement. Now it is left to the devotee to have some wisdom, some intelligence as to what to approach the Master for.

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

Content: There is nothing wrong in looking for success at the end of an activity. What creates problems is the illogical attachment to that expectation of success. We become so obsessed with what we desire that the expectation consumes us.

Content: What Krishna says here shows that our mindset, human nature, has not changed in over five thousand years. Even then they were looking for material success.

Content: They were looking for instant results. When they prayed to God they were praying to fulfill their expectations of material success.

Content: Again, I must say that Krishna is the greatest psychologist who ever lived. He has measured human nature accurately. What we want is results, material, tangible results, and instant results. In His days, in Krishna’s days, when samskaras were relatively fewer, when the cerebral pollution was much less, the word ‘instant’ itself must have been rarely used. People had a different concept of time. There was much less rush and much less aggression.

Content: Yet the Master uses a term ‘kshipram’, instant. The Master is talking about humanity, past, present and future.

Content: He says you normally pray to God not as an expression of gratitude and not for spiritual benefits, but to seek unfulfilled material desires. You go to a temple and pray to the idol so that you may have more money, a beautiful spouse, more children, better jobs and all that you think will bring you happiness.

Content: All your actions, Krishna says, are based on material success and He says such activities bear instant results. Please note that they bear instant results. Whether you understand it or not, all these prayers and actions do produce instant results.

Content: This does not mean that whatever you pray for is instantly granted by whichever God you prayed to. God, fortunately, has far more wisdom than we have. God

Content: uses His buddhi, wisdom, to grant what He deems appropriate.

Content: However, the result of your actions is instant. The karmaphala is immediate. When religions talk of karma, which is action and karmaphala, the fruits or outcome of such action, they speak in terms of merits and sins, papa and punya. They tell you that you will go to hell if you accumulate sins, and you will go to heaven if you gain merits. They use these concepts only to control you. They try to control you through fear and greed; through fear of hell and greed of heaven. That is all.

Content: There is no papa and punya, spiritually speaking. None of it is accumulated and presented to you at the pearly gates by Chitragupta or St. Peter. There is no hell or heaven. Hell and heaven are both states of your mind, not locations in some distant future in God’s own land.

Content: When you think good thoughts, when you do good deeds, you feel good you are in heaven. When you think evil, you act evil, you feel evil and you are in hell. That is all. That is all there is to karma. This is the cosmic cause and effect principle. You are what your intent is; you become what your intent is.

Content: Karma acts instantly. It is here and now. It is not some slow grinding of the wheels of God. You live in the tormented mindset of a sinner or the blissful mindset of a sage depending on what you choose to think and do. Remember that. Do not blame your actions on some misunderstood principle of karma.

Content: Karma is in your hands. You are a free spirit; you have free will and you have freedom of thought and action. It is not merely guaranteed by your national constitution, but by God's own constitution. What you sow, you shall certainly reap.

Content: Q: Master, you say that we decide our rebirth, in terms of what we shall be born as, to whom, where etc. Why are so many desperately poor and sad people out there? Why would they ever want to be born that way? People say that is their karma, which to me seems more acceptable.

Content: Yes, we do decide on our rebirth. Rebirth is decided by the mindset of your previous life. It is the accumulated effect of all the experiences that you have had in your earlier life, the samskaras. These samskaras leave a subtle footprint in your spirit that it carries when it leaves the mind-body system. This is called the vasana.

Content: If vasana is a seed, samskara is then a partly grown plant and karma is a fully grown tree. All these are to do with your desires. As long as you do not move out of your desires, vasana, samskara and karma bind you. Karma is not cause and effect as you think. It is not as if you do something, your religion or society labels as bad and you are born a pig, or if you do all good things, you will go to heaven. No.

Content: There is no heaven and hell. These are what you create in your own mind. You live in hell throughout your life

Content: if you have a bad mindset. If you are always happy and carefree, you live in heaven.

Content: Krishna says elsewhere that you are reborn as what your last thoughts are. He means that you are reborn in line with your vasana, or mindset. You may think, 'Ok, that is good, I shall think good thoughts when I die and I shall be reborn comfortably.' I tell you, if you have lived a miserable life fighting with everyone throughout your life, your last thoughts can be no different. In any case, you cannot plan your death and if you know you are going to die, you will not be able to think differently just because you are going to die.

Content: If you were a miser all your life, your last thought will be of money. It will not even be positive; it will be only about hoarding money. If you had been a playboy all your life, your last thought will be on sensual pleasures only. There is no way you can avoid that.

Content: So your question is, 'Why would any one want to be born a beggar?' You remember the autistic boy I told you about, the one that I didn't heal? Why was he born autistic? His spirit had decided that he had had enough responsibilities in his previous life. He just did not want any responsibility in this life. He would rather be a non-responsive person with no responsibilities and being taken care of.

Content: A wealthy man in his previous life may have had enormous burdens and miseries that his spirit did not wish to repeat in its next body. He may have regretted accumulating wealth. He may have had money but may

Content: have been cast aside by his family and friends. He may have been generally feeling miserable, so much so that he would not wish to be wealthy again. So, he is born poor.

Content: Why do you assume that to be poor is to be unhappy? This is not at all true. I have met many people who are poor as it relates to money and do not know where their next meal is coming from, and yet are wonderfully happy. It is the mindset. Material wealth does not guarantee happiness. Your state of happiness depends on how you treat wealth and poverty.

Content: You may ask, 'Ok, I can accept your theory on being poor; but, then why would anyone want to be born terribly unhealthy and with painful diseases. Surely, this could not have been brought about by any desire.'

Content: You can ask my disciples. Many of them have come to me with chronic and life threatening illnesses, some, just days before meeting me have been told by doctors that they were going to die. But they have lived on. These people if you see are the sincere seekers. They all would have had the same quest - Self-realization. In their previous births they must missed the experience. For one reason or another, they would not have been able to find and stay with a Master, which would have helped them in their spiritual paths. After many such failures, their spirit would have decided that it would be born in a condition, desperate enough, that it would lead to a Master. What better than an incurable disease that only a Master can cure? That is how we say even diseases are our choice!

Content: So, you do decide your rebirth, as what, how, where, and to whom.

Content: In our second level meditation courses LBP 2 - Nithyananda Spurana Program, we take participants through the energy layers that the spirit passes through at the time of death. This program is in a sense a re-creation of one's death, and the participant literally feels reborn. In one of the sessions the participants work through what they think are their desires at that moment. When they go through the meditation that takes them through that energy layer, they understand that most of what they assumed as their desires were not real. They realize their true desires, the vasana, the prabda karma, with which they were born into this world.

Content: 4.13 Depending upon the distribution of the three attributes or gunas and action, I have created the four castes. Yet, I am to be known as the non-doer, the unchangeable.

Content: 4.14 I am not affected by any work; nor do I long for the outcome of such work.

Content: One who understands this truth about me also does not get caught in the bondage of work.

Content: 4.15 All the wise and liberated souls of ancient times have acted with this understanding and thus attained liberation.

Content: Just as the ancients did, perform your duty with this understanding.

Content: 4.16 What is action and what is inaction, even the wise are confused.

Content: Let me explain to you what action is, knowing which you shall be liberated from all ills.

Content: Now, we come to the controversial topic of the so-called caste system. Krishna says, 'I have created the four castes depending upon the distribution of the three gunas or attributes.'

Content: We have to understand a bit about the gunas. The word 'guna' can be roughly translated to mean 'attribute' or 'quality' that we are born with. It is like a state of mind and it is also a reflection of the prabdha karma, the vasana, and the mindset with which we are born into this world. All people have all or at least one of the gunas in them. There are three basic gunas and they are: sattva or purity, rajas or activity and tamas or inactivity.

Content: So many people have quoted this one verse out of context for such a long time. People quote this verse whenever they want the support of religion for making the caste system more solid.

Content: They say, 'Krishna himself has sanctioned it' or, 'this system has been given by the incarnation Himself.' We

Content: should try to see and examine what Krishna actually meant. If we look a little bit more deeply into Krishna’s words, we can see that He uses the words, 'depending upon the distribution of the three gunas.' He does not say, 'depending upon the birth'

Content: It is a fact, I can even say a truth - and there is a lot of difference between fact and truth - that no two persons on this planet Earth can be the same. By the same token, all persons are unique and possess unique ratios of the three gunas.

Content: Again, we have to note that Krishna does not discriminate. He does not say that this caste is superior, the other one is inferior and so on. He merely states that there are basically four kinds of people, the character of the person will be of that guna which is more in him, which is more dominant in him.

Content: The same way that guna does not come by birth, varna (caste) too does not happen by birth. Guna, the mental attribute, is an inherent part of one’s nature, carried over with the vasana from previous births. Krishna says, 'Based on the guna one is born with, I decide on his varna, one’s caste.'

Content: In the traditional Vedic Hindu system of education, a guru, the Master, took charge of children at an early age and trained them. He was not only the disseminator of knowledge to these children in what was known as the gurukul system, but he was also the decider of the career and future of each child. The guru evaluated the aptitude of each child under his care based on the child’s mental attitude and attributes, the gunas, and then decided on the vocation that the child should pursue. This decision was a

Content: very scientific process based on an evaluation of the attitude, aptitude, likes and dislikes of the child, supported by astrological studies.

Content: The varna system was four-fold. Brahmanas were the scholars and priests, intellectually inclined, mostly satva guna based people. Kshatriyas were the soldiers, nobles and kings, aggressive, ambitious, physically strong, and rajas guna based people, with a mix of satva. Vaisya was the business community, traders and businessmen, with strong commercial acumen, with a mix of rajas and satva guna. Sudras were the workers, physically able and skillful, with a predominance of tamas guna.

Content: Based on these skill sets, the children were trained; based on their gunas not birth, they were trained for their vocations, their varna or caste. It was similar to an assessment of aptitudes and streaming the children, but far more scientific than what is done today in the name of streaming.

Content: Over time, as happens, this system was manipulated. Those who believed that they had a better varna, caste, decided they should make it a hereditary right, a birthright. This was an imposition of social and political evil, a misuse of power. A system that did not allow the son of a brahmana to be a priest if he was unsuitable or the son of a kshatriya to be a warrior if he was inadequate, was corrupted to allow that to happen.

Content: Krishna never condoned the system as it exists today.

Content: Krishna states very clearly that only he who transcends these three gunas can reach His state, can reach the higher levels of consciousness. To reach Krishna one

Content: has to be a triguna rahita, beyond the three gunas. Then, one becomes a non-doer, a no varna, no guna person.

Content: In the next verses, He elaborates on this aspect.

Content: When a desire is fulfilled, it no longer creates ripples in the mind. Desires that get fulfilled are the basic needs that one is born with, which are the result of the carry over vasana, the prabdha karma. We acquire all other desires by comparing ourselves with others. These are wants, not needs. Existence has no way of fulfilling such wants.

Content: Ramana Maharishi says beautifully: The universe can fulfill the needs of all its inhabitants, but it cannot fulfill the want of even one person. Wants never stop. They grow and grow. Want and greed only stop with death. Even then they continue to haunt as the mental attitude, the carried over vasanas.

Content: When one works out of basic needs, he acquires no karma, since the desires get fulfilled and do not recur. Look at a poor man with just one pair of footwear. He is happy that he does not have to go barefoot. Till that footwear is exhausted, he has no need for another one. In comparison, many of us acquire dozens of shoes, many of which we rarely wear. These purchases are born out of your wants, which can never be fulfilled. Nor will we ever get joy out of these possessions. Once acquired, they lose value and then we seek the next acquisition. The cycle goes on.

Content: Have you ever seen a rich man sitting at a five star restaurant enjoying his meal in the same manner as a

Content: hard working manual laborer eating his sandwich? The rich man will be more worried about the various illnesses he has and what he should not eat than the quality of the food in front of him.

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

Content: Krishna, the ultimate Master, is always conscious. He of course has no karma, no unfulfilled desires, and no attachment. So it is with every enlightened Master. His so called desires get fulfilled as they arise.

Content: When I desire food, it appears. When I feel the need to sleep, I rest. There is no gap between my desire and its fulfillment. There is no trace of that desire after it is fulfilled. The fulfillment is complete. The attachment is zero. Therefore, there is no karma.

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

Content: Q: Master, even though Krishna may not have meant the caste system to develop the way it has developed in India today, it has become an evil practice. How can one accept this? It needs to be eliminated. Is it not?

Content: If you are looking for a socially acceptable answer, I am not the person to address this question to. If you are looking for a politically acceptable answer, I won't be able to satisfy you.

Content: If you are looking for the truth, the truth is this.

Content: Each of us is unique. We all have different strengths, and along with them some weaknesses as well. All societies are based on this differential uniqueness. That is why every society, every political structure and every religious organization has a leader to take decisions and to make that effective. If each of us were to lead an independent life, totally separate from each other's, all living in forests and mountains, such structures may not be needed. In such a case the race will not survive either. The moment man and woman start living as husband and wife to build a family, you start institutionalizing a family structure, with hierarchy and inequality.

Content: Every society has its norms on how the hierarchy works. What you call a democracy is not equality. There are rulers and the ruled. The ruled may live under the illusion that they appoint the rulers, but they are not equals; the same rules do not apply to both. Even in communism, there was no equality between the rulers and the ruled; there was only forced equality amongst the ruled. The rulers were dictators.

Content: In Western countries today, you say you are a democracy and everybody is equal. But some people are more equal than others. There are the rich and the poor and various shades in between. So your society is based on the power of money. In another country it may be based on power of land ownership; in yet another, it is based on the power of connections or the power of education and so on. There is always an underlying basis to differentiate one person from another. Without this differentiation, organized society does not function.

Content: In the Vedic culture that prevailed in ancient India, this differentiation was based on aptitude. At an early age in the schooling system, called the gurukul or the Master's environment, children were tested for aptitude and trained accordingly. It was not, as I mentioned before, based on birth, but it was based on aptitude. This is the best method I can think of, far better than bringing up a generation based on birth, or parents' wealth or family connections and so on.

Content: If it had not been for this caste system, the Vedic culture would not have survived till today in India even to the extent it has. It is the brahmana communities in various locations, who even at the risk of their lives, protected and nurtured this culture and preserved the knowledge. If centers like Chidambaram in the south and Varanasi in the north are repositories of Vedic culture, it is mainly because of the brahmana community who acted in accordance with what they were taught to be their righteous duty.

Content: Today, these people are vilified in parts of India. Do people remember the contribution that they have made? Do they acknowledge the contribution made by the caste system?

Content: system to the preservation of the Vedic culture? Do they realize that it is this Vedic culture that will be India's differentiation and success factor in the world, now and in future?

Content: It is said that Lord Macaulay, who visited India almost two hundred years ago on behalf of his Queen of England, declared after traveling through the whole country that he could not find a single beggar or thief.

Content: He recommended that to conquer India, the British had to destroy her culture and education system. He said that Indians would lose their self-esteem, start thinking that the English culture was superior and allow themselves to be ruled.

Content: Whether this incident is true or not, this man was prophetic and that is what happened. The British destroyed the cultural base of India, far more definitively than the Mughals before them. The British planted the seeds of hatred towards the caste system so that they could divide and rule. 'Educated' Indians gladly followed.

Content: Let us not judge based on political and social prejudices, incited by some who have vested interests. In every form of society there will be some who feel disadvantaged. They will need something in that society to blame for their seemingly disadvantaged position.

Content: In the USA for instance, can you ban wealth creation because the society is differentiated based on wealth and not all can be wealthy? That is what Russia and China tried for many decades and we now know the result.

Content: I do not think abolishing the caste system is a solution. Removing the selfish motives that have been added to it is one solution. Building the Vedic tradition of education is another solution. The Vedic culture did not prejudice anyone based on caste. It enhanced one's capability to serve society based on this caste system. Our society can benefit from a proper understanding of this system, instead of trying to eliminate it. Even if you eliminate this there will be another form of differentiation that will be neither different nor better.

Content: 4. 17 The complexities of action are very difficult to understand. Understand fully the nature of proper action by understanding the nature of wrong action and inaction.

Content: 4.18 He who sees inaction in action and action in inaction, is wise and a yogi, Even if engaged in all activities.

Content: 4.19 He who is determined and devoid of all desires for sense gratification, he is of perfect knowledge.

Content: The sages declare such a person wise whose actions are burnt by the fire of knowledge.

Content: 4.20 Having given up all attachment to the results of his action, always satisfied and independent,

Content: The wise man does not act, though he is engaged in all kinds of action.

Content: Here, Krishna says that the person who sees inaction in action and action in inaction has attained transcendence. When you see that it is not the 'I' in you that is doing the activities but it is the senses following their nature, when you see that it is the mind that is creating the false sense of identification of you with the action, then you have realized; you have attained transcendence because you are now no longer in the clutches of the mind.

Content: It is the mind that makes you attached to something and repulsed by something else. When you are not in the clutches of the mind, you are free. You do actions because the senses by nature have to perform their functions. For example, the eyes see, the ears hear, the tongue tastes, the nose smells and the skin feels. Yet, you are free from the bondage of action because you do not have any identification with the action; you do not have any emotional attachment to anything. So naturally, you are free and you are liberated and you can do what you are doing most beautifully without expecting any particular result or being bothered by the results of the action.

Content: This is what it means to be 'un-clutched'. Being 'un-clutched' is the state where you are free and liberated. Let me expand on the word 'un-clutching' and what I mean by it.

Content: Constantly you are connecting all your thoughts and creating connecting links in your mind. For example, the headache that happened ten years ago, the headache that happened five years ago, the headache that happened three years ago, the headache that happened yesterday, are all independent experiences that happened in your life.

Content: For the sake of easy reference, you categorize all these experiences in your mind into one category of 'headache'. It is archived just for utility purpose, to serve as reference. It is just like how you file documents in your office in various categories, in various files. But what happens? By and by, you start believing that all these experiences are connected.

Content: The suffering that happened ten years ago happened for a different reason, in a different place. It was a totally unique experience. The suffering that happened five years ago happened for a totally different reason. It was a completely different experience. The suffering that happened three years ago was again for a different reason.

Content: Initially for the sake of ease, you archive them in the same place, for easy reference. By and by you start believing they are connected. When you start believing they are connected you create a shaft.

Content: If you connect all the painful memories, you create a pain shaft and conclude, 'My life is suffering, my life is

Content: pain.' You start believing your whole life is a chain of suffering, a long chain of suffering. When you start believing that your whole life is suffering you have created a pain shaft and you are waiting in your life only for painful incidents, so that you can elongate that shaft.

Content: One more thing you should understand, whatever you believe, that is what you expand also within you. If you believe something, you will again and again see that in your life. That is why Vedic rishis, sages, say that you create what you want. You create what you desire. By seeing you create. What ever you believe you will create and expand.

Content: Once you start believing that your life is a pain, you are waiting unconsciously for painful incidents to strengthen that belief, to strengthen that judgment. We don't usually collect arguments to pass judgments; we collect arguments to support our judgments. The judgment is ready. We only collect arguments to support it. When you are clear that your life is a pain shaft, a big chain of pains, you are waiting for more judgments to support your faith, more judgments to support your belief.

Content: Second thing, whenever you are adding the painful incidents unconsciously, constantly, you will be elongating that shaft, even though you may want to consciously end the pain by breaking it. If you believe your whole life is a shaft of joyful experiences, which we do very rarely, constantly you are in fear about whether the joy will continue. You wonder, 'Will it continue in the same way?'

Content: If you believe life is a shaft of painful incidents, you do two things: unconsciously you gather more and more incidents and strengthen your faith about how your life is painful and consciously you also try to break the pain shaft! If you believe life is a chain of joyful incidents, unconsciously you will be in fear that it will end and consciously you will try to prolong it. Understand that these two big dramas we are continuously enacting with ourselves.

Content: But the big difficulty, the important thing that we forget is that you can neither break the shaft nor elongate it, because the shaft itself does not exist. You can neither elongate it nor break it. When you started archiving all the incidents in your life for the sake of easy reference, by and by you started believing that they are really existentially connected.

Content: When you start believing that they are existentially connected, you believe your life as a pain shaft or a joy shaft. When you start believing life as a pain shaft you try to break it; when you believe it as a joy shaft, you try to elongate it. But one important thing you forget, you can neither break it nor elongate it because the shaft itself does not exist.

Content: Just try this experiment:

Content: Sit down for ten minutes with a pen and paper. Now, just start jotting down whatever thoughts come to your mind. Please do not edit your thoughts; write them down as they are. Do not judge yourself and do not try to control what comes to your mind. If you try to judge,

Content: you are playing a hypocritical game with yourself, that's all. Just write down whatever comes.

Content: Now, read whatever you have written. You can see for yourself how unconnected and illogical your thoughts are!

Content: You will be sitting here and thinking, 'I think I should go to my office tomorrow', then the next minute, 'No, no no, I should just wake up and decide then', then, 'What should I do about dinner tonight?'

Content: Have you seen a fish tank? Have you seen how the bubbles rise up in a fish tank? There is a gap between one bubble and the next. But the gap is so small that it looks like a continuous stream. Just like the bubbles in a fish tank, there is a gap between one thought and another thought in your mind as well. If you look a little deeply you will realize that your thoughts are independent thoughts like the independent bubbles. By their very nature, your thoughts are independent.

Content: For example, if you see a dog in the street, suddenly you remember the pet you used to play with as a child. Then you will remember the teacher you studied with as a child, then, where your teacher used to stay, and so on! If you look at it logically, you will see that the dog in the street and the teacher are not connected in any way. There is no logical connection, but your mind simply flows. If you look a little deep you will understand that your thoughts are illogical, independent and unconnected.

Content: When you believe that your mind is logical, when you believe that your mind has got its own logic, you have created the first original sin for yourself. That is the original sin. Believing your mind is logical is the first sin.

Content: Understand, by your very nature you are un-clutched. By your very nature you are unconnected.

Content: Connecting thoughts and seeing is like trashing all your emails and picking up some emails from the trash back again. When I say trash mails, I mean the thoughts that have left you already. Every moment you are renouncing the thoughts by your very nature. A new thought can appear only when the old thought has been renounced. But even after renouncing you try to pick up the thoughts from the dustbin and try to create a shaft with it. You feel that some valuable thoughts have been dropped in the dustbin, so you pick up some thoughts here and there. You pick up these thoughts from the dustbin, put them near your bed, spray a little perfume on them and keep them nice and pretty!

Content: All you need to do is a few things. First, have a clear understanding that you are creating a shaft, shaft of pain, or shaft of joy and trying to fight with it, by either trying to elongate it or by trying to break it. Second thing, you don’t even have to un-clutch yourself from the shaft because the shaft is imaginary. By your very nature, if you stop creating a shaft, you are un-clutched. You don’t need to un-clutch.

Content: Then we start asking, ‘If I un-clutch, how will I do my job? How will I take care of my things? Will I not just lie down in my bed and waste my life? If I am un-clutched, why should I go to my job?’ I ask you, why should you not go to your job?

Content: The moment you say you will not go for your job, it means you have a little hatred or a little vengeance

Content: against the job. That is why the moment you get some excuse you want to escape from your job. By saying all these things, you are expressing your anger, your violence against your routine, nothing else.

Content: I always tell people, 'Fine, don't do anything; just be un-clutched; for how many days will you be lying in your bed?' Maybe ten days, until your inactivity (tamas) gets exhausted. See, you have a certain amount of tamas in you. Tamas is one of the three attributes of purity, activity or inactivity. Until your tamas gets exhausted you will lie there, but after that what will you do? Naturally, you will start working and you will start moving! So do not be afraid; do not be afraid that if you are un-clutched, you will not do your daily routine.

Content: That is what Krishna means by action and inaction. You cannot by nature be inactive. You will day dream if nothing else. You will clutch on to fantasies. You will try to escape from reality by deluding yourself, because your mind is clutched onto a soft and easy dream shaft.

Content: When you truly un-clutch, when you are in the present moment, without any attachment to the past and future, you will realize that you are full of energy. You just cannot keep quiet. You will have to do something. That 'something' will be dictated by your present moment awareness, not by fantasies. I tell you, what you think as 'you' is not necessary to run your day-to-day life. This is the basic truth. What you think as you is not necessary to run your day-to-day life. This truth hurts us.

Content: See, if somebody is happily independent of us, we can't tolerate it, it is too much. Constantly we need to feel

Content: we are needed. That is why we expect people to project their sufferings on us and we too project our sufferings on them, so that we feel important. What you think as 'you' is not necessary to run your day-to-day life.

Content: People come and ask me, 'Constantly I repeat positive affirmations, 'I should stop smoking, I should stop smoking,' but it is not working. Why, Master?'

Content: All these creative visualizations create more and more trouble. Because in the very words, 'I should stop smoking', the word 'smoking' is contradicting the 'I should stop'. You land up empowering the word 'smoking' as much as you are empowering the words 'I should stop'! Instead you should say, 'Let me have only healthy habits' or something totally positive without even the word 'smoking' in it.

Content: Similarly, if you have a headache, instead of empowering the thought of the headache, you can do a very simple thing like deciding to have a glass of water. The moment you decide to have a glass of water, it becomes a fresh thought. The old thought of the headache has to disappear because the new thought that is water has to come into play, right? Once you keep replacing the thoughts, you break free from the headache based thought patterns and eventually expel the headache from your system itself.

Content: You ask me, 'How can it be so simple, Master?' It is simple. Constantly you are taught that it is not so simple. It is simple. If you really understand, it is so simple. But soon after doing this, the thought of headache may come

Content: back, then what do you do? Understand: your faith in it is what brings it back. This is the basic problem. You are so faithful towards the thought about the headache, that you forcefully drag it back into your system; you being back a trashed file, that's all.

Content: And one more thing: if it comes back, it can go also, is it not? Why don't you celebrate those moments in which it left you? Why do you constantly remember the moments it came back?

Content: People ask me again and again, 'I fail when I try to unclutch Master.'

Content: I ask them, 'Why are you connecting your past failure with your present failure?' When you connect all the past failures, you create one more word, 'failure'. The failure that happened nine years ago, the failure that happened eight years ago, the failure that happened yesterday are all independent incidents. Why do you connect all of them and create the next experience also as a failure?

Content: Just relax and stop connecting and suddenly you will see such a deep inner healing happening in you; such deep peace happening in you. Suddenly you will see that you have dropped out of the war, the constant running. Just relax. I tell you when you become a drop out, when you drop out of this war, when you drop from this whole game, suddenly you will realize that the whole thing is just a psycho drama happening. Because you are constantly supporting it, you are creating these shafts, that's all!

Content: Try this simple meditation:

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Content: Just close your eyes and sit. Whatever words are rising in you, just let them rise. Just do not connect them with any other thought, that's all. Just don't create a shaft; simply un-clutch.

Content: If you feel bored, or if your mind asks what to do, just un-clutch from that thought as well. Do not even connect with that thought. Just sit, be un-clutched. If your mind connects with a thought, just un-clutch. Do not create, maintain, or destroy any thought.

Content: Try this for a few minutes and you will see the effect for yourself. Krishna says that to understand what action is, you need to understand what inaction is. In my programs, this is what I tell people. To understand what meditation is, you need to understand what meditation is not.

Content: I spend a day and a half explaining what meditation is not and less than half a day about what meditation is. It is the same thing with healing too. For two full days people are taught what healing is not with the help of a detailed manual! Then I come in and ordain the healers, which takes only half an hour!

Content: When you un-clutch, you are seemingly in inaction. However, the removal of the various shafts of pain, pleasure, fantasies etc, releases so much of energy within you that you are now actively passive. You are at the height of potential energy, ready to release that energy for whatever purpose you decide in that present moment.

Content: If instead, you are actively daydreaming, caught in the web of your shafts of fantasies and pleasures intermingled

Content: with sorrow and pain, you are seemingly active, very busy, but totally and uselessly busy. In fact, you are counterproductively busy as you are then digging yourself into more suffering.

Content: In the process of un-clutching, you transcend both action and inaction. You successfully destroy the false notion of connectivity of thoughts and reach the state of the present moment, the state of no mind, and the state of dropping thoughts. In this present moment of un-clutched condition, you are active and yet not attached to any activity. You are truly in Krishna consciousness.

Content: All suffering and pain arise when we associate ourselves with the senses and the mind. The real Self in you is eternal, timeless, never changing. It is like this: when you see the clouds drifting in the clear sky, is the sky actually changing? No! The sky is like the canvas over which clouds of different forms and shapes drift across, sometimes completely covering the sky behind and sometimes drifting apart to reveal the sky behind.

Content: When you travel in a train, have you looked out through the window? All the objects outside - the trees, the rocks, the buildings - everything seems to be in motion. It is relative motion that gives you this effect, this feeling that everything around you is moving. Just like this is a maya, delusion, because of the effect of maya also, it appears as if the Self is being affected by the emotions and the perceptions of the senses.

Content: Just like when the clouds go over the clear blue sky it appears that the sky is being covered by different types

Content: and colors of clouds, so also the Self is like the clear sky over which the clouds of different emotions go over.

Content: If you see yourself in a clear lake or a mirror, what you see is a reflection of what is being projected, right? Just like that, in the lake of the Self, of the being, whatever quality is projected on, it is what you will see reflected in the lake. Does it mean that the lake has become dirty? No! The reflection has no reality, no solid existence.

Content: Actually, the Self is permanent. The Self in you, in me, in the person next to you is all the same. When everything is you, what is there to fear? Where is the question of conflict, jealousy, fear or greed?

Content: Everything is you. Enjoy this world in its many forms and manifestations. Enjoy it in all these forms. However, enjoy without getting caught in attachment. Our senses are treacherous. They create addictions that overwhelm us. The more we have, the less we enjoy, and yet we cannot do without them. True wisdom is to step back from what the senses tell you, for they never tell you the truth.

Content: Have you seen a person sell something, say a painting? You can see the seller would be busy trying to convince people, trying to get the best bargain. But see someone who is standing witnessing this whole scene, someone, who is neither interested in buying the painting nor in selling it. Only he can completely enjoy the painting!

Content: This world is like a poem written by the Great Poet and all that comes in the poem are verses of infinite bliss.

Content: Path of Knowledge

Content: A small story:

Content: There was once a father stag that was standing with the young stag in front of a lake. The stag was looking at its own reflection in the water of the lake and telling the young stag, 'Son, see how powerful we are! Look at what we have been endowed with - long horns, strong feet, and sharp eyes. We are truly powerful.'

Content: Just as the stag was talking, a dog jumped in front of the stag. The stag, in a split second, just leapt and ran instinctively out of fear.

Content: Then the child stag asked its father, 'Father, what is the use of being powerful if we have to run away from the dog?'

Content: When we are faced with a testing situation, we forget all our truths that we have taught ourselves as philosophy. Now, that does not mean that we do not accept the truth. It is just that we feel we are not strong enough to experience it. We need to persevere, fill the mind with the highest thoughts, the highest truths. Then, it can become an experiential reality in our lives.

Content: See, without the right ideals, you may reach the goal but it will take much longer. But, if you have the right ideals, you will reach the truth much faster. When you take the help of those who have seen the truth, it is more intelligent to experiment with the techniques that they advocate.

Content: We are taught that we are weak human beings, sinners. But the Vedic rishis have time and again declared, 'We are

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Content: the children of immortality.' Let us be open to positive, affirmative thoughts rather than continuously repeating negative and self-defeating thoughts to ourselves. These are not just positive thoughts or statements. Understand that these are great truths that our rishis have experienced, which they declare to us, encouraging us to experiment and experience as well. They are not mere words trying to convey an idea. With them come the energy and power of the experience that is possible for every one of us.

Content: Here is a very simple example of how our perception is what decides everything including our attachment: if there is a baby and a pot of gold lying next to it, suppose a thief comes and steals the pot of gold, would the baby be bothered about it? Do you think it will be upset about it?

Content: No! The baby would not even know that the thief has done the act of stealing the pot of gold. The baby wouldn't be upset about any loss of wealth. But suppose an adult were to be in the place of the baby. Surely he would be upset and angry with the thief stealing the pot of gold, is it not? What we have inside decides what we see outside. The child, being blissful and centered within itself, would never see anything disturbing outside, whereas an adult sees things in a different light because of his conditioned attachments and greed.

Content: That is what Krishna says here: be involved completely in the action yet be detached, independent and satisfied within. Then you can function beautifully, spontaneously,

Content: flowing in tune with the ultimate energy of Existence. Life then becomes a celebration. Every breath that you take, every single thing that you do is an act of joy and an expression of the loving energy in you. Your joy is no longer dependent on what society says or thinks about you or your actions, because you are completely centered in yourself.

Content: Whatever we do, whatever we think, we are subconsciously seeking concurrence and approval from the people around us in some subtle way. We are very keen that we should earn a good name from everyone. You may not accept this but if you analyze deeply, you will not be at ease without the appreciation and endorsement of the people around you. If you just sit and note down, in a day, how many things you do to get a good name, to maintain your reputation in society, you will realize what I am saying.

Content: It is like a signature campaign that you are involved in for your whole life. All your activities, all your efforts are to get the signature of the others around you. In a big register, you make a column, ‘Good Father’ and then you do whatever is expected of you from your children and you ask for their signature under the column of ‘Good Father’. Then you go to your wife, to your boss, to your friends, you make the respective columns like ‘Good Husband’, ‘Good Employee, ‘Good Friend’, and then you do all the things that they expect you to do and ask for their signature under their columns. Of course, all these people also come to you for your signature in their registers under the columns meant for you.

Content: Why do we bother so much about others' opinions about us? Why are we trying to derive strength from others all the time? The reason is, one, we don't know anything about ourselves. We know ourselves only through others' opinions of us. Second, when others give us their approval and attention, they are actually giving us energy. Attention is energy.

Content: Be very clear, when you are dependent on external sources for energy, it only means that you are psychologically handicapped. When you need physical support, you are physically handicapped. When you need psychological support, you are psychologically handicapped, that's all. With physical handicaps, you know that you are handicapped because you can see it clearly, but with psychological handicaps, you don't even know that you are handicapped.

Content: If you have seen children at play you might have seen them build castles with cards. They will place the cards at a certain angle to each other and build several layers of such patterns in a pyramid shape. They happily build the pyramid and equally happily remove one card from the castle and watch the whole thing collapse! In fact, they will delight in that aspect just as much as the building up of the card castle.

Content: Just like this, we build our own self-image like a castle out of people's opinions of us and arrange all these certificates and signatures and build a castle to form our self-image. The image looks beautiful until even one person withdraws their certificate. Then what happens? The castle simply collapses! You start feeling miserable

Content: and unfit. You see, at least in the case of the children, they build their castles with their own cards. But we build our castles with others’ certificates. So what do we do? We start working hard to maintain our ‘castle’. We start behaving in a way such so that people don’t remove their certificates, so that people will think well of us. This is how we get enslaved.

Content: Because you don’t know anything about yourself, you turn to society for an answer. And society happily puts its labels on you, ‘you are good-looking’, ‘you are a failure’, and so on. It is like how a parcel without a proper address is pushed from place to place. We move around, collecting all the stamps that society puts on us. By and by we forget our true nature, and the fact that we are not the labels but the stuff inside the parcel.

Content: Never invest so much in others’ opinions to the point that they become the center of your life. Don’t make others the source of your energy. Don’t depend on others for your psychological survival. Be your own source of energy and inspiration!

Content: Ashtavakra says beautifully, ‘Bondage is when the mind longs for something, grieves about something, rejects something, holds on to something, is pleased about something or displeased about something. Liberation is when the mind does not long for anything, does not grieve about anything, does not reject anything, does not hold on to anything and is not pleased about anything or displeased about anything. Bondage is when the mind is tangled in one of the senses and liberation is when the mind is not tangled in any of the senses. When there is

Content: no 'me', that is liberation, and when there is 'me' there is bondage. Consider this carefully and don't hold on to anything nor reject anything.'

Content: Q: Master, what you say is very difficult to practice even if we accept it. For instance, if we are injured and feel the pain now, it is the reality for us in this present moment. I do not need to link it to the past experiences. So how will I break out of the connectivity with pain?

Content: Treat the pain of the present as the pain of the here and now. Do not link it to pains that you had in the past and with the sufferings that you experienced then. They have no relevance to the present pain.

Content: In Quantum Physics theories of today, they say that we collapse events that happen separated in space and in time into a current experience. These events are separate events. They may or may not have been sequential. That does not matter. But the logical connection is somehow established in your mind.

Content: If you feel pain, you normally would like to wish that pain away. You keep thinking again and again, 'I do not want this pain.' This does not work because your mind gets caught in the word 'pain'. It does not let go. So the pain does not go.

Content: If you wish the pain to dissolve you need to focus on wellness. Do not associate the experience with the word

Content: pain' which has negative connotations in your mind. Instead, think about being well.

Content: Better still, focus your attention on the pain. Watch the pain intensely but without ascribing the word 'pain' and the meaning 'suffering' to it. For a brief moment the pain may seem to intensify but then it will dissolve. Try it the next time you have any pain.

Content: Pain is caused by the absence of attention to your body-mind system. It is your system telling you that it needs to be looked after. Pay attention, close attention to it. It will feel better and the pain will go away.

Content: Another thing is that pain and suffering are two different things. Pain affects the body. Suffering affects the mind. You can have pain in your body and yet have no suffering. Body pain cannot be avoided, as it is physical, but mental suffering is your own creation.

Content: When you un-clutch, when you stop linking with the past, what disappears is the suffering. Each experience is viewed as a new one with no past association. You will find that this is not so difficult to do. You need some practice, that's all.

Content: Equanimity in Success and Failure

Content: 4.21 The person who acts without desire for the result; with his consciousness controlling the mind,

Content: Giving up all sense of ownership over his possessions and body and only working, incurs no sin.

Content: 4.22 He who is satisfied with profit which comes of its own accord and who has gone beyond duality, who is free from envy,

Content: Who is in equanimity both in success and failure, such a person though doing action, is never affected.

Content: 4.23 The work of a liberated man who is unattached to the modes of material nature and who is fully centered in the ultimate knowledge,

Content: Who works totally for the sake of sacrifice, merges entirely into the knowledge.

Content: 4.24 The offering, the offered butter to the supreme in the fire of the supreme is offered by the supreme.

Content: Certainly, the supreme can be reached by him who is absorbed completely in action.

Content: 4.25 Some yogis worship the gods by offering various sacrifices to them,

Content: While others worship by offering sacrifices in the fire of the supreme.

Content: A sense of ownership over possessions and over your body is the same thing. What can you say are your possessions? You came with nothing at all. Can you claim that you were born with anything that is your own property? In the same way, you are going to leave this world also empty-handed. Can any of you say that all your possessions and wealth and luxuries will go with you when you leave this body? No!

Content: People ask me, 'Master, why do you wear sherwani (North Indian dress) and jewelry?' I normally wear this two-piece saffron clothes and the only jewelry I wear is these rudraksha (sacred seed) beads. But when I am going for some discourses or for a specific event, maybe a corporate event, to adjust to the occasion, I wear sherwani. I tell them, 'This body itself is a covering, a cloth for me; how does this second covering of clothes matter?'

Content: This very prana, the very life breath that is going inside your body through the air that you breathe itself is not your property. It is the property of Existence. Your very life is a sheer gift to you from Existence. When you realize this, you will immediately see that all your fears and worries and greed are so baseless. You are running behind something, thinking it is yours but of what relevance is it really? When your very life is a gift to you, how can you claim that anything else is your possession?

Content: One more thing: real knowledge comes by experience, not through words; not just by talking about it. Let me tell you, the moment you imbibe a single point of truth or any single dimension of truth in any way, if you catch a single idea and imbibe it honestly, truthfully, it can do wonders to you.

Content: Vivekananda says beautifully, 'Even if you memorize all the books in all the libraries of this world, it will not help you in any way other than increasing your ego over the bookish knowledge that you have. Instead of having a whole library in your head, just know five concepts in your heart.'

Content: I tell you, use only one idea and try to imbibe it in your being, experience it in your life. Your life will be transformed by even a single idea, just one idea.

Content: In Tamilnadu, South India, they describe beautifully the lives of 63 enlightened Masters in a book. The name of the book is Periapuranam. If you study the lives of these Masters in this book you will find that there are some Masters who did not really do anything; nothing really happened in their lives. They would have just plucked flowers and offered them to God, nothing else. Yet they achieved enlightenment! It is not what you do that is important. How honest you are with the act is what really matters. When they did the act of offering flowers, they were true and honest to the action.

Content: We also offer flowers everyday and do all possible things, but we are not enlightened. The only thing we get is the extra expense of maintaining the garden or buying the flowers! The problem is, we are not honest. When these Masters plucked flowers to offer to God, they were thinking of Him to whom they were offering the flowers. They were totally devoted to the thought of the Lord and there was nothing else that was distracting them.

Content: When we pluck flowers, even if it is to offer to a favorite deity, we are thinking of something else, somebody else. I have seen these people who do rituals regularly. Whenever they are doing any rituals, they would be thinking of something else. Their thoughts are in either their office or in their home. I have seen these people who regularly chant the 1000 names of the Gods and Goddesses, the Vishnu sahasranama and Lalitha

Content: sahasranama. The moment they start chanting, they start looking at the index number of the verse that they have reached. They are desperate to see how far they have read and how much else remains to complete the chanting.

Content: The attitude, the intention, and the thoughts behind the action actually decide the energy behind the action, however it may look externally. The power of thought is immense. In fact, some of the latest research shows how our DNA can be influenced and reprogrammed by words and frequencies. It has actually been studied that when a number of people focus their thoughts on something similar, like during Christmas or the football World Cup, certain random number generators in computers start to deliver ordered numbers instead of the random ones.

Content: I tell you, all the so-called natural calamities are nothing but the effects of global negative thoughts. Your thoughts and energy directly affect your body, your cell structure, your decisions, your capacity to fulfill your decisions, the outer world incidents, even accidents. You create a mental setup that creates and attracts similar incidents to you.

Content: If you can change your mental setup from greed and fear, which is what we have normally, to one of bliss, or ananda, then your energy flow will start brimming and your thoughts will be much clearer and more in the present. When you do this, you have every power to control the outer world incidents because you and Existence have a very deep connection at the energy level. When you are blissful, when your mental setup is not

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Content: one of worry, fear and greed but one that is in the present, always joyful, you will automatically attract all good things to yourself.

Content: One more thing: all our minds are not individually separated pieces of the universe. They are all one and the same. All our minds are interlinked. Not only interlinked, they directly affect each other. This is what I call the 'collective consciousness'. Though each one is independent in his consciousness, when one is truly conscious of one's true nature, one feels as if one is part of the whole universe.

Content: Each one's thoughts straightaway affect the others around. Your thoughts are more infectious than your cold. If you catch a cold from someone, you may suffer physically for a few days and then get over it. But when you catch thoughts from people, not only do you suffer mentally but you suffer forever also; not just once.

Content: Not only are those who are staying around you touched by your thoughts, everyone who is living on the planet Earth is touched by your thoughts.

Content: The next truth: not only in the mental level are you connected; even in the deeper conscious level you are connected to every other being. See, your body is not just one body. Actually, there are seven layers of bodies.

Content: The first layer is the physical body. The second is the pranic body. There are seven such energy layers of the body. These energy layers can be represented as concentric circles with the physical layer as the outermost circle and the seventh layer, the nirvanic body as the innermost.

Content: BhagavadGita

Content: You

Content: PHYSICAL BODY

Content: PRANIC BODY

Content: MENTAL BODY

Content: ETHERIC BODY

Content: CAUSAL BODY

Content: COSMIC BODY

Content: NIRVANIC BODY

Content: God

Content: I

Content: We go into complete detail of these seven layers of bodies during the Nithyananda Spurana Program (NSP), our second level meditation program, now called Life Bliss Program Level 2 or LBP 2.

Content: Now, in a physical layer, you, God and I can be represented as three different points in the outermost concentric circle. In the physical level, the distance is so much. If you come down a little, to the pranic level, the distance is reduced. If you come down deeper, to the mental level, the distance between you and I is still reduced and so is the distance between you, God and I.

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Content: When you go deeper and deeper, these three entities finally merge into one at the inner most nirvanic layer. Please be very clear that at the deep end of all these layers, God, you and I are one. There is no distance between the three.

Content: Once you become aware and realize that you are a part of collective consciousness, that you don’t have an individual identity, you realize that you do not have a separate ego.

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

Content: Understand this: as long as you are individually conscious, you will be continuously suffering. Why do you think you are continuously resisting nature? Whatever nature offers, you resist.

Content: There is a beautiful saying:

Content: Mind as a rule is a fool When it is hot, asking for cool When it is cool, asking for hot Always asking what is not!

Content: When it is cool, you resist. You think you are different from Existence. I have seen sanyasis, monks, living in the Himalayas, living almost nude in the cold, in the snow. I have myself lived in such conditions, but the body was never disturbed. I never had a problem. I never thought that I was different from the atmosphere, never had the

Content: feeling of separation from nature. When you start thinking that you are different from the atmosphere, from the air that is around you, you start resisting it.

Content: The other day I read an interesting interview of this man who survived his jump into the Niagara Falls. If you have been to the Niagara Falls, you can understand the enormity of the fact that someone survived jumping down the Niagara Falls. I cannot imagine someone surviving that Niagara Falls. He says beautifully, 'When I jumped, I became a part of that Niagara Falls. I felt like I was a part of it. I never felt that I was different from the falls.'

Content: When you are in tune with the collective consciousness, when you become a part of the collective consciousness, nature is with you, nature is your friend and nature will protect you. Nature will not harm you. As long as you think that you are an individual consciousness different from nature, nature will protest. As long as you are in tune with collective consciousness, nature protects you.

Content: A very simple thing that you can practice now.

Content: If you are feeling cold, just relax, identify the area where you are feeling cold, witness that area. In that area, don't resist the atmosphere, don't resist the air, don't resist the temperature, don't resist nature and don't resist Existence. Just say to yourself, 'I am not going to resist nature, I am not going to resist the temperature. I am not going to resist Existence. Let me relax.' Be conscious and decide. With this you will see the body relaxing and the idea of cold disappearing from that part and you become completely comfortable. When you think

Content: you are something different from nature, you are disturbed by nature.

Content: The Whole, the universe, is a hologram of which you are a part. Just as in a hologram every single part reflects the totality of that hologram even if it is a split. You reflect the totality of the Whole that is the universe.

Content: Another example; when a living person falls in a well and dies, the dead body floats. The dead body is heavier than water. Yet, it floats. But a living body, which may be lighter, does not float. It drowns. Why do you think this is so? As long as you are living, you are not able to relate with water. Your ego prevents that. In a dead body there is no mind and no ego and so it floats.

Content: Wherever you want to achieve success, in a social or in an economic context, only when you feel in tune with the whole group and fall in tune with the collective consciousness, will you be able to achieve what you want to achieve. As long as you feel you are an individual, as long as you want to have an idea that you are somebody, an identity, be very clear that you will be resisted and you will be resisting. Whether it is in the home or at the office or workplace or industry, this will happen.

Content: If you disappear into the collective consciousness, you will be again and again protected and taken care of. You will attain complete success, not only socially and economically, but you will experience it as a deep feeling of fulfillment.

Content: As long as you resist the current, whether it is your workplace or your house or your company or any place for that matter, as long as you do not disappear into the collective consciousness, you will be continuously creating hell for yourself and for others.

Content: Even if in the physical layer, if you think you are something separate, be very clear, you will be inviting something separate, be very clear, you will be inviting diseases. One more thing, in the mental layer, if you think you are something separate, if you think you are an individual, again and again you will be sowing the seeds of violence. The seeds of violence will be created when you feel you are an individual. With collective consciousness, you unify but with individual consciousness, you dissect, you cut things into pieces.

Content: Logic always breaks while intuition always unites. At the soul level, if you think you are an individual, there is no possibility for any spiritual growth.

Content: First thing, at the physical level, you are not an individual. Your body and the body of the Sun are straightaway connected. Any small change in the body of the Sun can make changes in your body. Any small change in your body can change the body of the Moon. Even if you are not able to logically relate to this, it is true.

Content: In the mental layer also, you are not alone. Any thought which is put in anyone else's head comes and touches you and any thought created in your mind goes and touches someone else. Any thought sowed by someone can touch you and affect you.

Content: It is like ripples created in the water in a lake. If you are creating a strong wave, you will be creating an impression with your thought. You will be leading and inspiring others with your thought. If your thoughts are not solid enough, other waves will impress you.

Content: Either you live like a leader or you will be a follower. There is no in between. You always think, I will not be a leader, I cannot do that much; I will not be a follower either; I shall maintain my own stand. This is simply impractical. There is no such thing as my own stand. Either you lead or you follow.

Content: In the mental level also, again and again, if you think you are an individual, you will be resisted. The moment you understand that you are a part of the collective consciousness, you will not be resisted but will be actually welcomed and accepted.

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

Content: See, with just this one body, you can think so much, enjoy so much. If you disappear into the collective consciousness, you will experience so many dimensions, so many possibilities, you cannot imagine.

Content: Now that you feel you have just one body, you are enjoying this much. Imagine what you can do if you have two bodies. And just imagine what you can do when you have so many bodies! Imagine three different bodies in different countries enjoying different cultures. Similarly if

Content: the multitudes of bodies increase, so would the joy, the bliss. This same thing you will experience when you are a part of collective consciousness.

Content: During the Indian festival day of Holi, raas purnima, Radha and the gopis (women devotees of Krishna) experienced the collective consciousness of Krishna. This is referred to as raas leela when Krishna gave them the experience of collective consciousness. We have a very wrong idea about this raas leela. We think that this raas leela is something where Krishna had a relationship with so many women. This is a wrong concept. Krishna was just ten years old then!

Content: We have not read the original scriptures and have come up with our own conclusions. We pick up and support what we want. We just want some support from some scripture and some Master so that we can do something behind his back. So we just start blaming Krishna. What happened actually was that He gave the experience of collective consciousness to the whole group of gopikas and Radha. This collective consciousness is what I call God.

Content: Throughout LBP 2 course, you will realize that you are a part of the collective consciousness. Not only that you are a part, but that you are the collective consciousness. You are not an individual consciousness as you think. Layer by layer when we go deeper and deeper, you will realize that you are just one with everything. So automatically the diseases disappear. You start feeling the wellbeing in the mental layer, the pranic layer, the etheric layer, the physical layer and all the other layers.

Content: You are like an onion. If you peel the onion layer by layer, what is inside? Just emptiness! The onion thinks it has got something solid but when it is opened layer by layer, it is empty. Similarly, you think that you are an individual consciousness, but if you peel the individual layers, you will experience you are nothing but the cosmic consciousness, the collective consciousness!

Content: In LBP 2, that is what we do, opening of your minds. You are asked to write for yourself, about your pains, desires, guilt and pleasures. You will not be showing your notes to anyone else. People ask me why I ask them to write all this when they already know it. I tell people that by writing them down, they are opening their minds in my presence. When they open their minds, I can heal their minds.

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

Content: In the same way, if you open your mind, it can be healed. If you open it, the Sun can heal it; the energy heals all the wounds. LBP 2 is about opening up your energy layers one by one. Your pains, pleasures, guilt and desires are opened up. When they open up, you experience God. Not only do you search for God, but you experience God as well. Pure mind is God itself and not something separate from it.

Content: We are all taught from childhood that there is a purpose to life. We are guided that we should all work towards goals in life, which are almost always material goals. We are expected to live up to the expectations of our parents, later our teachers, much later our spouses and finally our children.

Content: Understand, there is no purpose to life, except to live. The purpose of life is to enjoy life. How can we enjoy life if we get saddled with a bagful of goals that bind us down to duties, responsibilities and obligations? We are too stressed out by all that is expected of us that we have no time to enjoy what we are doing. This should be our goal instead.

Content: Life is not about purpose; life is not about goals. Life is not lifestyle. Life is not about impressing people about how rich or how clever, or how beautiful or how skilled you are. Life is about enjoying the journey of life. It is not about the stress of looking for the destination. When the path is right, when you enjoy the path, the destination is always right, it will always be enjoyable.

Content: Only the person who realizes the purposelessness of life can be satisfied in any action with whatever profit comes of that action and of its own accord. Understand: life has no purpose but it has a meaning. All the time, we are taught that life has a goal, a purpose, and we run behind various goals hoping to achieve satisfaction in life. But life has no goal; the very life, the very path itself is the goal. When you realize this, you relax into the present and are not affected by success or failure.

Content: All this jealousy and envy also comes when you think that life has a goal and somebody else has been given something more than you to reach the goal. When you understand that you are unique and Existence has equipped you with all that you need to fulfill all your desires, you will actually be able to live life. Otherwise, you will only be running behind some goal or the other. You will envy others who you think are closer to that goal towards which you are running. You will be caught in this roller coaster of success and failure.

Content: Understand that the goal of life is like a mirage. It does not exist in reality, but it continuously creates illusions of its existence. Live life every moment in bliss; enjoy it from moment to moment and you can see the tremendous difference it makes to the very quality of your life.

Content: A small story:

Content: This has happened according to the mythological stories in my native place, Tiruvannamalai, a spiritual nerve center in India. I call that place a spiritual incubator. Just like how premature babies need an incubator to supply air and all the basic things, for an enlightened being to land on planet Earth, you need a spiritual incubator to protect and help them.

Content: The story says that Brahma, the Creator had to find the Lord Shiva's head and Vishnu, the Sustainer, was asked to find Shiva's feet. The story is beautiful and it has a beautiful meaning. Who is Brahma? He is the husband of Saraswati, the Goddess of Knowledge.

Content: Who is Vishnu? He is the husband of Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth. The story says that Brahma started searching for the head. Vishnu started searching for the feet. Vishnu came back after some time and accepted, 'I am not able to find Your feet; please forgive me.' Brahma also realized he would not be able to find Shiva's head. But instead of accepting the fact, he decided to cheat. He took a flower as a false witness to testify that he had touched and brought it from Shiva's head.

Content: You need to understand the story: Vishnu is the embodiment of wealth. Brahma is the embodiment of intellect. Neither by wealth or intellect can you achieve enlightenment. That is the truth of the story. Neither by wealth nor by intellect can you achieve enlightenment.

Content: One more important thing: if you dig in the line of wealth, you will get frustrated, you will understand, you will face depression of success and you will really become humble. You will fall and you will understand. But if you dig in the line of intellect you will never accept you are defeated.

Content: If you travel in the line of ahankara or externally focused ego, or the path of material success in the outer world, at least at one point you will understand. You will experience depression of success. You will say, 'Enough! Let me rest. I understand that enlightenment can never be achieved in this line.'

Content: But the person who travels in the line of mamakara, internally focused ego or the line of intellect, not only

Content: does he never achieve, he will not even be able to understand that he cannot achieve. The intellect, the ego becomes so sharp, so subtle; he brings false claims and false techniques to say that he has achieved it. Those false claims are only those false flowers, the false witness.

Content: The ultimate knowledge can be reached only through sincerity, not through intellect or wealth. Then you are not caught in running behind the senses, behind the inner world or outer world.

Content: Now, Krishna talks about the different kinds of sacrifices:

Content: This is a beautiful sloka similar to the Upanishad verse:

Content: Om Poornamada poornamidam Poornad poornamudachyate Poornasya poornamadaya Poornameva vasishyate

Content: The Whole is full. From the Whole, if the Whole is removed, what remains is still the Whole.

Content: In mathematics, there is a similar analogy: from infinity, if you remove infinity, what remains? What remains is still infinity!

Content: People ask me often, ‘Who created the universe?’ I tell you, the universe itself is the creator. The creation, creator and created are not three separate things. The universe itself is the creator, the created and the creation.

Content: See, if there is somebody creating the universe, then that means the creator is intelligent and the created and the creation are not. But the universe is intelligence. The universe, the cosmic energy is intelligence and that itself pervades the universe.

Content: You and I are manifestations of this cosmic energy. We are creations of the cosmic energy. But what does 'manifestations of the cosmic energy' mean? The intelligent cosmic energy pervades our very beings. The cosmic energy is the creator, so, we are the creator as well. The creator, the creation and the created are all the same; they are not separate identities.

Content: Earlier I had talked about this Tamil scripture called Periapuranam. Periapuranam describes the lives of 63 nayanmars. These nayanmars were great Shiva devotees. They were more than devotees; they were disciples of Shiva, though Shiva was not physically present to teach them. The energy of Shiva was enough to teach and fulfill them.

Content: One of these nayanmars did nothing in his life except to pluck flowers and offer to Shiva. Another sang songs. In whatever they did they offered themselves to Shiva completely. They sacrificed themselves and their actions to their beloved Shiva. They were so completely absorbed in that activity, whether it was gathering flowers or singing songs or whatever else it was, that nothing else remained in their mind and thoughts.

Content: Even the physicality of Shiva was not relevant to these nayanmars. They were consumed by the energy of Shiva. They sacrificed themselves in the fire of Shiva. They were one with Shiva. For them, the creator, creation and created were one and the same.

Content: In the same manner, the gopis of Brindavan immersed themselves in Krishna. Nothing but Krishna was visible to them.

Content: them. Radha, the epitome of all gopis, asks a friend. 'Why is it that wherever I look, and what ever I look at, I see only Krishna?'

Content: Says the friend so beautifully, 'Radha, that is because you wear Krishna as your eye shadow. What ever you see is only that eye shadow that is Krishna.' A true devotee not only sees God in everything, but is also ready to sacrifice anything for His sake. We shall see the various kinds of sacrifices in the next few verses.

Content: Q: Master, you said that at the inner most energy layer, the nirvanic layer, God, you and I are all one, and that one realizes one's divinity. In the LBP 2 course, you teach this as a part of one's death process. Can one achieve this state while still alive?

Content: A very good question and the answer is, of course, you can.

Content: In the LBP 2 course - the Nithyananda Spurana Program, we do teach techniques to go through each of these seven energy layers. These are the layers that the spirit passes at the time of death. The first four layers are still within this life span. Even part of the fifth is. Every day you move from the gross body through your subtle body into your causal body.

Content: The gross body is the physical body in the waking state. The subtle body is your dream body, where you are when you dream at night. The causal body is where

Content: you are when you are in deep sleep. The Causal body layer is close to death. Every day you do travel to death and come back. This is the process that refreshes you, rejuvenates you and revitalizes you. In fact, if you lose this for a few days you will die of tiredness.

Content: When the spirit crosses the causal layer, it cannot return. Causal layer is a dark passage that is the transition point between this world and the reality beyond. This darkness of the causal body corresponds to the darkness of the mother’s womb, which is where the departing spirit travels as it seeks and assumes a new body.

Content: We take you through this journey to rid you of the feeling of fear of death and to dissolve all your engraved memories that condition you. At the end of the LBP 2 course, you are rid of all your samskaras, the engraved memories that cause you all the suffering. You lose all your negativities. You are born anew. So you may opt for a new spiritual name at the end of the program as well.

Content: At the next level, when you come for the Healer’s Initiation program, I teach you how to reach the layers beyond the causal layer while you are still alive!

Content: All our Nithya Healers, when they go into their meditation, the Ananda Gandha meditation, reach the highest level of energy, the seventh layer of nirvanic energy. They do this every time they meditate. They can be in meditation all the time. So they can be in the nirvanic layer of energy all the time!

Content: At the time of initiation, I open an energy point called the ananda gandha, the fragrance of bliss. This is the

Content: convergence point of all the seven energy centers, the chakras, in your mind-body system. When you focus on this point after initiation, it leads to a deep experience that holds you in the present moment. You can be in this state and function normally. Many of our Nithya Spiritual Healers stay in this state at work as well, not merely while healing.

Content: At this state, the Healer is at the level of the cosmic energy and at the energy level of their Master. That is why they are able to heal. The healing energy of the cosmos flows through them and heals. All that is needed is that they drop their mind, which they do when they go into meditation.

Content: So you don’t have to die to reach the nirvanic layer of energy. All that you need to do is to open your mind-body system to allow the energy to come into you.

Content: So don’t die! Just become a Nithya Spiritual Healer and reach the nirvanic energy, that’s all.

Content: 4.26 Some sacrifice the hearing process and other senses in the fire of equanimity

Content: And others offer as sacrifice the objects of the senses, such as sound, in the fire of the sacrifice.

Content: 4.27 One who is interested in knowledge offers all the actions due to the senses,

Content: Including the action of taking in the

Content: life breath into the fire of yoga and is engaged in the yoga of the equanimity of the mind.

Content: 4.28 There is the sacrifice of material wealth, sacrifice through penance, sacrifice through yoga

Content: And other sacrifices while there is sacrifice through self-study and through strict vows.

Content: 4.29 There are others who sacrifice the life energy in the form of incoming breath and outgoing breath,

Content: Thus checking the movement of the incoming and outgoing breaths and controlling the breath.

Content: 4.30 There are others who sacrifice through controlled eating and offering the outgoing breath, life energy.

Content: All these people know the meaning of sacrifice and are purified of sin or karma.

Content: 4.31 Having tasted the nectar of the results of such sacrifices, they go to the supreme eternal consciousness.

Content: This world is not for those who have not sacrificed. How can the other be, Arjuna?

Content: 4.32 Thus, there are many kinds of sacrifices born of work mentioned in the Vedas.

Content: Thus, knowing these, one will be liberated.

Content: In all these verses, Krishna talks about the various types of sacrifices. You should know that when we say 'sacrifice', it is not just the act of giving, but the attitude of giving. This understanding is important. Otherwise, you may do everything, following all the rituals according to the scriptures, but you will miss out on the real intent for which the ritual or the act had to be done.

Content: A beautiful story from the Bhagavatam:

Content: Once, Krishna was playing with his friends. After playing, his friends were tired and they asked Krishna, 'O Krishna, we are feeling hungry. Please tell us where we can go for food.' Krishna replied, 'Go to the nearby hall where learned brahmanas (priests) are performing a great ritual to attain heaven. Tell them that you have been sent by me and request them to give you some cooked rice.'

Content: Krishna's friends went as directed by Krishna to the brahmanas and asked them, 'Krishna sent us here. We are hungry and Krishna asked us to seek food from you.'

Content: The brahmanas were all caught up in the rituals and sacrifices according to the prescribed procedures. They did not, however, know the intent of the sacrifice. The very divine energy for which the sacrifice was being made was asking for an offering, but the brahmanas could not see that.

Content: Krishna's friends returned disappointed and came back and told Krishna what happened. Krishna, on hearing about the foolish brahmanas, just laughed and

Content: said, 'Now, go to the innocent wives of these brahmanas and ask them the same thing.'

Content: The friends now went to the wives of the brahmanas and told them, 'O ladies, we have been sent here by Krishna who is playing with us nearby. We are hungry and have come to you for food.' The ladies, on hearing that they had been given such a wonderful opportunity to serve, gathered all the food from their houses and rushed to feed Krishna and his friends.

Content: The very act of service, the welcoming attitude is what is important.

Content: There is a beautiful verse in the Mahabharata that says, 'A guest comes with all the Gods. If the guest is honored, so are the Gods; if he goes away disappointed, the Gods are disappointed too.'

Content: That is why in Sanskrit, we say, 'atithi devo bhava', the guest is God. 'Tithi' means date and the prefix 'a' negates it. Therefore, one who arrives unexpectedly without prior date or appointment is the guest.

Content: When somebody comes unexpectedly also, serve him. That is a real welcoming attitude. The word used for ritual giving in Sanskrit is 'dana', which means sharing, imparting.

Content: Ayurveda speaks of four kinds of defects which can afflict cooked food: the defect of time (kala dosha) which affects it when the food has been kept for too long, the defect of flavor (rasa dosha) which causes the food to lose

Content: its taste, the defect of company (samsarga dosha) when it is touched by unclean hands, or in which some insect has fallen and the defect of sentiment (bhava dosha) which affects the food when it is offered with ill grace or without affection. Such food is not food; it is poison and is the worst out of the four categories.

Content: The true meaning of sacrifice lies in the meaning with which it is done. Look at the trees. They live for the welfare of others, themselves facing the stormy winds, heavy showers, heat and snow, all the while protecting us from them. They never turn away anyone coming to them. They don’t turn their back even on the man who is coming to fell them down. They still give shade and fruits and flowers to that man as well. All of their many parts, leaves, flowers, fruits, shadow, roots, bark, wood and fragrance, are useful to others.

Content: In the Mahabharata, after Yudhishtra had won the Great War, he celebrated it by performing the Aswameda yagna (horse sacrifice). A reigning monarch would let his champion horse loose to wander as it pleased, and all the land it covered would become his. If any other king tried to stop the horse, there would be a war. In Yudhishtra’s case after the defeat of the Kauravas, he was the unchallenged monarch.

Content: After the rituals were over, a mongoose came into the ritual space and rolled around on the ashes of the sacrificial fire. All those who watched were perplexed. This mongoose seemed to be no ordinary mongoose. One side of it was all golden. The other side was normal brown. Having rolled around, the

Content: mongoose looked up with a disappointed look and announced, 'This sacrifice is nothing compared to that of the Brahmana!'

Content: Yudhishtra, the Pandava prince was startled. Being a gentle soul, he enquired of the mongoose, 'what do you mean?'

Content: The mongoose recited its experience.

Content: Once there was a brahmana, his wife, his son and his daughter-in-law who lived in Kurukshetra. This brahmana was very poor and subsisted on alms he obtained every day. He would never stock any food, and would live on what he got each day. One day all that he managed to get was some corn flour. Over the previous few days he had received nothing, and the family has not eaten at all. His wife cooked this flour and made four portions. As they sat down to eat, a stranger knocked on the door seeking food.

Content: The brahmana invited him in, gave him water to wash and drink, and requested him to sit with them. He gave the guest his own portion. The guest ate that portion and looked unsatisfied. Immediately, the brahmana's wife gave her portion to the guest. The guest ate that too with relish and seemed hungry still. In turn the son gave his portion too, though he too was famished.

Content: The guest ate all that was offered to him. He then blessed the brahmana and his family. 'You had nothing for yourself except this little cooked flour. You had not eaten for days, yet you sacrificed it to a stranger

Content: when he walked in hungry. Hunger destroys a man's awareness, and leads him astray. You, despite your hunger, maintained your awareness and dharma. Yours is the greatest of all sacrifices. Your sacrifice has earned you all and all your ancestors the right to heaven.'

Content: So saying this, the guest disappeared. A chariot came down to take the brahmana and his family to heaven. I was in that house when this happened. There was a beautiful fragrance that arose from the flour that the brahmana's wife had cooked. Attracted by that fragrance, I rolled on a bit of the flour that was scattered. Immediately, my body that touched the flour turned golden. But, alas, there was not enough flour left to cover my entire body.

Content: Since then I have been to all the great sacrifices of all the great kings, and I have failed to convert my other half to golden. Not even one amongst these great sacrifices matched the sacrifice of the brahmana's family.

Content: So saying, the mongoose disappeared.

Content: No sacrifice is truly a sacrifice, if one could 'afford' to give away what is being sacrificed. A wealthy man giving away alms is not sacrificing anything. He may be doing a good deed; that is all.

Content: Krishna mentions many forms of sacrifice here. He talks of sacrifices of material wealth, yoga and penance - a combination of material, physical, mental and spiritual sacrifices. When a person does these at some cost and

Content: pain to himself, they would be genuine sacrifices. Otherwise they would merely be meaningless rituals.

Content: However, even that which is given away by someone who can afford what he is giving, if done with good intentions, would result in gains to that person. His very intention would alter his mindset and liberate him. A person who does not believe in sharing his wealth will not only not enjoy his wealth in this life, but will also suffer in future births as a result of his mental make up.

Content: When one sacrifices whatever is dear and whatever is difficult to give away, that one enters a completely different plane of sacrifice, one that liberates the person. Such a person enters a plane of true non-attachment leading to liberation.

Content: Q: Master, many rich people may give with selfish intents, but those who benefit do not see the intent. They see just the benefit. If one insists on noble intentions while giving, very little may then be given. This will only affect those who need it most. What to do then?

Content: Whether now or in Krishna’s time, what you say has been true. Most givers give to boost their ego, or give so that they can receive more than what they give. All the great kings of Krishna’s age conducted sacrifices as rituals, more to enhance their status than from any deep sense of selflessness.

Content: Nothing can be done about this. That is the way the world is. Before he gives away any money to any charitable purpose, the CEO would like to make sure that the photographer is ready and waiting and that the picture is published in the next day's papers.

Content: The entire meaning of sacrifice is lost in the process. What is there to sacrifice then? What is happening is a business deal. Let us say you practice yoga purely for health reasons, for being fit. It is not the sacrifice of breath or life force that Krishna is talking about here. When each breath is surrendered to the cosmic energy, from where it actually originates, with a complete awareness and understanding of this truth, it becomes a sacrifice.

Content: Krishna is guiding those who wish to advance in their path to Self-realization on what to do. He is not stopping those who give with selfish reasons. He outlines how those who give selflessly benefit in moving towards eternal consciousness.

Content: Ramakrishna has said that if you keep repeating the word Gita you end up saying taag or tyaag, which means sacrifice. The entire focus of Gita is sacrifice or non-attachment. This is the key issue here. Giving without expecting something in return leads to doing everything that you do without expecting anything in return. In turn this leads to doing what you have to do without worrying about issues like what you can get out of it, what will happen if you don't do it, and how I can get more out of it.

Content: By learning to give without expectation, you break a bondage; the bondage of expectations. This liberates you.

Content: Do not worry about other people or how the rest of the world will survive. This universe has survived for eternity, not just some billions of years as scientists estimate it. It will survive such people also. When you understand Krishna’s words, try to follow them. Give without asking, sacrifice without intent. This will uplift you. It will take you into nithyananda, eternal bliss.

Content: 4.33 O conqueror of foes, the sacrifice of wisdom is superior to the sacrifice of material wealth. After all, all activities totally end in wisdom.

Content: 4.34 Understand these truths by approaching a spiritual Master, by asking him your questions, by offering service. The enlightened person can initiate the wisdom unto you because he has seen the truth.

Content: 4.35 O Pandava, knowing this you will never suffer from desire or illusion,

Content: You will know that all living beings are in the supreme, in me.

Content: 4.36 Even if you are the most sinful of all sinners,

Content: You will certainly cross completely the ocean of miseries through the boat of knowledge.

Content: We spoke about the story of Brahma and Vishnu trying to reach Shiva’s crown or head. Vishnu was able to accept that he failed, whereas Brahma could not. This symbolically indicates that a wealthy person (symbolized by Vishnu) realizes the limitations of wealth, whereas a person of knowledge (symbolized by Brahma) becomes arrogant and refuses to acknowledge the limitations of knowledge. Sacrificing knowledge is far more difficult than sacrificing wealth. For a scholar to admit that he does not know is similar to committing suicide. He is losing his identity.

Content: Krishna advises the seeker to sacrifice one’s knowledge and one’s intellect at His feet, at the feet of the Master to experience the ultimate truth.

Content: A Master is one who has experienced the truth. A teacher, on the other hand, is one who teaches knowledge by just communication. A Master is one who can simply transfer his experience of truth to you. He communes with you.

Content: In Sanskrit, there are three beautiful words to describe this. You are born in the bhu garbha, the womb of the mother; this signifies your physical birth. The teacher with his love and teachings gives birth to you in the hrid garbha, the womb of the heart. The Master gives birth to a completely new you, a transformed being in the gnana garbha, the womb of knowledge. You then become re-born, dvija.

Content: All you need to do is be open to the guru, the Master. When you open yourself to the Master, his presence simply heals you. He can elevate you to the same experience as his. This is what the vishwarupa darshan is. Vishwarupa darshan refers to Krishna revealing His cosmic form to Arjuna in order to show him who He really is. Krishna elevated Arjuna to the same level of consciousness in which He himself was.

Content: Understand, Masters have no vested interest for themselves; they have no karma to exhaust. They descend into this planet Earth out of sheer compassion for humanity.

Content: Just like a low pressure region attracts the winds, so also when a depression is created in this world, when people desire for a Master to descend, the formless energy of Existence descends in a form. This energy is what is known in different forms as Krishna, Christ, Buddha etc.

Content: Buddha says,

Content: Buddham sharanam gacchami

Content: Dhammam sharanam gacchami

Content: Sangam sharanam gacchami

Content: Path of Knowledge

Content: This means,

Content: I surrender to Buddha, the enlightened Master

Content: I surrender to Buddha’s teachings

Content: I surrender to Buddha’s mission

Content: Actually, the Master, his teachings and his mission are not three different entities. The Master lives in all three, the body, his teachings and his mission. Masters come to dispel the ignorance of seekers, to show them the path. Only one third of the Master’s energy is in the physical body. The other third is in the teachings and another third is in the mission.

Content: Nithyananda is nithya-dhyana-ananda all in one. Nithya, the Master in the body as Nithyananda, dhyana, my teaching and message of meditation and ananda, my mission of bringing forth the fountain of bliss that is lying latent in you, all the three together constitute the energy called Nithyananda. Understand that.

Content: It is easy to follow the Master in his physical form because Masters are so alluring and attractive by nature and they do not expect you to give them anything is return.

Content: The next level is to follow the teachings of the Master. This is slightly more difficult because other than gazing at the beautiful form of the Master, now you have to actually do something. You have to not just listen to his teachings but also follow his teachings, practice them. Then, you really internalize what the Master teaches but it requires some effort for you. Though it is only for your own growth, your laziness (tamas) causes you to not to do this.

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Content: The final level is where you give your life to the mission and to spreading the Master’s teachings. This is the most difficult since it requires from you the ultimate commitment for life.

Content: People think ashram life is very easy and it is meant for retired people who can just sit and eat and have an easy life. No! Ashram life is a life of work because you are constantly implementing the Master’s teachings and your whole mission is to spread his words.

Content: When you surrender to the Master, you surrender to his mission and to his teachings as well. When you surrender at the physical level, you surrender your physical self, your comforts to the Master, to imbibe and spread his teachings and mission.

Content: On the physical level, you sacrifice your comforts, like desires for luxury, wealth, food or sleep. I cannot call it sacrifice because you will feel from your very being that this is what you really want to do and this is the best use of your time and energy.

Content: And I tell you, when you take up the responsibility of the mission, you will realize that what seemed to you as a load, as a responsibility, is actually a blissful experience. How can the mission of the Master give anything other than pure bliss? The moment you surrender to the Master and his mission and you stand up to take up the responsibility, you will find that the divine energy simply flows through you and you just flow effortlessly and express yourself most beautifully.

Content: All you need to do is to be stable and available and the divine energy will make you able!

Content: On the mental level, you surrender your intellect to serve the Master and the mission. You surrender your mental faculties, mental pursuits to serve the mission according to the needs of the mission. You become like a liquid, flowing into the shapes and moulds created by the Master. The Master knows the best way in which you can grow. He creates the moulds for each of you according to your needs and abilities. Trust him, drop your solid ego and become fluid so you can fill in the spaces he creates for you.

Content: At the being level, when your very being surrenders to the Master, your being clearly recognizes the call of the Master. You become a part of the Master. You no longer carry any separate identity.

Content: This process of transformation automatically happens when you surrender to the Master, his teachings and mission. The water is converted into formless steam. Like steam, you now explode in all directions. There are no limitations because all boundaries and limitations exist only in the mind. You now transcend the mind and express your potential. The Master tirelessly and compassionately pushes you in different ways so you can also experience and be in the same state of eternal bliss as he is.

Content: Masters are established in the truth. Out of compassion, they emote with you in a manner that you can understand. But, the only emotion that a Master knows is love. All other emotions are just affectations to teach you in the language you understand. I always tell people, ‘When I show compassion to you, I cheat you. When I fire you, I teach you. Either way, you grow.’

Content: The Vedas also clearly declare that a Master is needed. You may have access to all the books, the recorded teachings of all the great Masters. But, you have only the words; where is the body language?

Content: For example, look at yoga. Yoga as it is taught now has been reduced to just a form of physical exercise. Of course, it has physical benefits but physical health is just one of the benefits. Yoga as taught by Patanjali is much more than a bunch of postures. It is a means to enlightenment. The way Patanjali conceived it was as a means to enlightenment. But the body language of Patanjali is no longer there for us; only his words are there. Words can only convey so much; you need a living Master who is in the same consciousness, the same state, to convey the underlying essence behind the words.

Content: There is a beautiful verse in the Guru Gita which says, 'The guru just wipes off with the big toe of his left foot your fate which Brahma has written on your forehead.' The Master can change your very destiny. He can simply take you to a new dimension, which you could not even have imagined. An astrologer may be able to predict your future, but a Master can simply change your future. He is one with Existence, which is operating this whole universe. Can the energy which runs the planets and stars not have the power to handle your life?

Content: The big problem is that it is very difficult to relate with a living Master. You see, it is very easy for people to relate with dead Masters. You can look at him as God. You can project all your imaginations about God on him.

Content: See, during the great Master Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's time, there were people who were lamenting to him, 'Oh, how we wish we had been alive at the time of Sri Krishna! We would have been so lucky to just catch a glimpse of him: we would have been blessed!' The people could not relate to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the living Master! They wanted to just escape saying that they missed Krishna, who was no longer in the body at that time!

Content: In the same way, during Ramakrishna's time, there were people saying, 'Oh! How lucky we would have been had we been born in Chaitanya's time!' They had anyway missed Chaitanya; now, by saying this, they actually missed Ramakrishna as well.

Content: When Krishna promises that He descends again and again, what He means is the Krishna energy will descend on Earth again and again. People think Krishna will come down in the same form - with the yellow dhoti, the flute in hand and the two peacock feathers in the head. Again and again, Krishna happens on planet Earth, but we are so cunning, we manage to miss all the Masters.

Content: Another thing: it is easy to fool yourself, escaping from a living Master and just worshipping a Master who has left the body. It is easy to escape by just worshipping. You think nothing else is needed and you can just say whatever you want to the idol of the Master, do some rituals and get away with it. You escape all possibilities of any transformation happening. You can just say, 'Amayam anahankaram aragam amadam tatha...'; 'I offer my non-attachment to you', 'I offer my ego to you.'

Content: You can say that to an idol and that idol will be there, just standing. But, if you tell me that, what will I do? I will simply catch your neck, 'Hey! Where is your non-attachment? Give it here. Where is your ego? Surrender it!'

Content: With the living Master, he will be constantly working on you, to cut your ego and to show you your true Self, which is much higher than your small ego. But the ego is afraid to die at the Master's hands, so you try to escape.

Content: Just be open to the Master's energy and you can see yourself being transformed in front of your very eyes. Just being in the Master's presence can heal you. Just being open to his energy can get rid of the biggest cancer in you, your ego. Even the closest disciple or devotee may have this egoistic feeling of being close to a Master.

Content: Narada is considered to be the most dedicated devotee of Vishnu, whose incarnation Krishna is. Narada once asked Krishna what maya or illusion is. Krishna put him through an experience to make him understand maya.

Content: Krishna told Narada, 'I am thirsty, Narada. Can you bring me some water to drink?' Narada immediately said, 'Yes, my Lord. I will get you a pitcher of water right now.' Narada rushed to get Krishna water. He reached a house and knocked on the door desperate to get water.

Content: A beautiful lady opened the door. As soon as she opened the door, Narada was so struck by her

Content: beauty he forgot his question itself. He fell in love with the lady and proposed to her instead. The lady accepted his proposal and Narada married her. Years passed and they had children and lived very happily.

Content: One day, a huge flood came and swept away all the neighboring villages. The flood reached Narada’s village as well. Narada, desperate to save his family and himself, took his family and tried to get away to higher land.

Content: But the flood was huge and as they were trying to wade through the waters, holding hands, a current of water swept and took away Narada’s son whom he was holding in one hand. His son was swept away by the waters.

Content: As he struggled to grab his son, the water pulled Narada’s wife also away. She was separated from him and the water simply swept her away.

Content: Losing both his son and wife, Narada was completely overcome by sorrow and started crying aloud. Just then, Krishna appeared on the scene and asked, ‘Narada, what happened to you? You went to get water for me. Where were you?’

Content: Suddenly, it occurred to Narada in a flash that the whole thing that passed by in front of his eyes was nothing but a dream. The whole scene passed before his eyes and Narada understood what maya was. He understood the meaning of illusion, the attachment to the ephemeral, which is bound to perish one day or the other.

Content: When you realize your true Self, that is when you start talking like Ashatavakra, who declares beautifully,

Content: 'I am infinite like space and the natural world is like a jar. To know this is knowledge and then there is neither renunciation, nor acceptance, nor cessation of it.

Content: I am like the ocean and the multiplicity of objects is comparable to a wave. To know this is knowledge and then there is neither renunciation, nor acceptance, nor cessation of it.

Content: I am like the mother of pearl, and the imagined world is like silver. To know this is knowledge, and then there is neither renunciation, nor acceptance, nor cessation of it.

Content: Alternatively, I am in all beings, and all beings are in me. To know this is knowledge, and then there is neither renunciation, nor acceptance, nor cessation of it.'

Content: When you realize the truth that you too are one with the universe, there is nothing more to desire; there is nothing to be attached to. There is no longer any differentiation between who you are and what the universe is. Maya, the illusion of that separation, disappears. That is why the Master is called guru, one who leads you from gu, which is darkness, to ru that is light; one who leads you from ignorance to bliss.

Content: A Master does not differentiate between who is good and who is bad. He is not bothered about what you do, whether what you do is considered meritorious by society or sinful. This whole concept of sin and virtue is societal. In some societies, it is a sin to marry more than once while in some others it is not. In some societies

Content: animal sacrifice is a sin while in some others it is a religious ritual.

Content: Knowledge makes the whole difference. Here, Krishna says beautifully, 'Even if you are the most sinful of all sinners, you will certainly completely cross the ocean of miseries through the boat of knowledge.'

Content: At the spiritual level, the concept of sin does not exist. It is a creation of man, of man-made institutions, of religious, social and political organizations to control others through fear. In all such institutions you will find different sets of rules apply to those who rule and to those who are ruled. All are not judged by the same standards. A king will be immune to any sin and punishment whereas his subjects will be at the king's mercy to be judged and punished.

Content: There is a common understanding, or shall I say misunderstanding that Eve committed the Original Sin by eating the apple at the persuasion of the snake. This understanding did not come from Christ, as this lore is part of the Old Testament, which predates Christ by thousands of years. This legend of Adam and Eve and creation is common to Judaic, Christian and Islamic traditions.

Content: If this were true, we should not be eating apples today.

Content: The Original Sin is merely one of forgetting our true nature, our true, divine nature. Animals do not care whether they are animals or divine. They flow with nature. They eat when they are hungry, mate when

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Content: nature guides them, and sleep when they are tired. In that sense, they are one with nature, one with divinity. They are not confused like us humans.

Content: Humans eat when they don’t have to, and become obese. They watch television long after they are tired and eyes are closing. Sex is no longer for perpetuation of the species, but a form of entertainment. We have corrupted our true nature through misuse of our intellect. That is the sin we have committed.

Content: When you have the true knowledge, the intent, the understanding of what you are doing, the very intent and knowledge will make the action divine, the act will no longer be just a ritual but it will be a means to reach the ultimate. Automatically, you will cross the ocean of miseries because misery itself is a result of ignorance of your true self.

Content: When ‘spirit’ is added to a ‘ritual’, it becomes ‘spirituality’. When wisdom is blended into the ritual, it truly becomes the prayer.

Content: Q: Master, even if you say that ignorance of our true divinity is the original sin, it still means that we are all still sinners, as we have all forgotten our true nature. So, religions that label all of us as sinners are in fact correct, aren’t they?

Content: Ignorance is not a sin; it cannot be a sin. I am referring to this as a sin to put it in perspective to show that what

Content: has been told to you about Adam and Eve is incorrect. I am trying to tell you that sex is not sin, and never can be. I am telling you that the Original Sin has nothing to do with an apple and a serpent. These are metaphors whose truth is not literal.

Content: The story of Adam and Eve is to show that humanity has forgotten its origin and its true nature. As a result humanity suffers. It may be a sin because you suffer, because you do not have to. You are a creature of bliss and you have no reason to suffer.

Content: Sins are your own creation. They are creations of your mind. The word sin and the word forgiveness should be eliminated from our dictionary, if we are to be happy and blissful. There is nothing called sin in spirituality. There is nothing called hell. Both reside in your mind, one as an action and another as a location. That is all.

Content: You are being controlled by this word 'sin' and you are promised redemption through another word called 'forgiveness'. Both are manipulative words that have been created solely to control you, to rule you. They are designed so that you cannot be free. How can religions and society rule you otherwise? You will also be like the mystics, the Sufi saints, the Gnostics, and the yogis who do not care about sins and forgiveness because they are already established in the right knowledge.

Content: These religious leaders who control you through the fear of sin are the sinners; they are the ones who Existence would punish, if Existence were to punish

Content: anyone. They make the rules and then make sure that the rules do not apply to them.

Content: Lenin said religion was the opium of the masses. He was being too mild. At least opium leaves you with a euphoric feeling. Religion leaves you with depression. All religion can do is to make you feel small, inadequate and a sinner. Its only purpose is to control you by fear.

Content: No Master who founded the concepts on which these religions arose later ever said that man or woman is a sinner. They all uniformly talked about the divinity that resides within each individual. Time and again they said, search within and you shall find the truth. If all humans are sinners, were these Masters also sinners? If they were not, how did they become exceptions?

Content: We are all born with a divine spirit. Please understand that you are not a human being in search of a divine experience. You are indeed a divine being having a human experience. When you are born, a veil of ignorance prevents your perception of this truth. Unfortunately society and religion, instead of removing that veil, reinforces that veil, so that they can control you. Once in a while, you suddenly wake up realizing that there is something deep within that you are missing. The search begins.

Content: If you are lucky and if you are sincere, you find a Master who leads you upwards. He raises you in love. He helps you find that truth within, the realization that you are divine. You are then released of all your bondage. If you are not that fortunate, your spirit, at the

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Content: Path of Knowledge

Content: point of death, longs for that release and realization. You are born again and again, with the sole meaning of realizing yourself. Once you realize the truth of your own divinity, you no longer are governed by the cycle of life and death and rebirth, which is called samsara in Sanskrit.

Content: Be sure that you are no sinner! You are indeed divine!

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Content: 4.37 Just as a blazing fire turns firewood to ashes, o Arjuna,

Content: So does the fire of wisdom burn to ashes all actions, all your karma.

Content: 4.38 Truly, in this world, there is nothing as pure as wisdom.

Content: One who has matured to know this enjoys in himself in due course of time.

Content: 4.39 A person with shraddha (courageous faith) achieves wisdom and has control over the senses.

Content: Achieving wisdom, without delay, he attains supreme peace.

Content: 4.40 Those who have no wisdom and faith, who always have doubts, are destroyed.

Content: There is no happiness in this world or the next.

Content: 4.41 O winner of riches, one who has renounced the fruits of his actions, whose doubts are destroyed, who is well situated in the self, is not bound by his actions.

Content: 4.42 O descendant of Bharata, therefore, stand up, be situated in yoga.

Content: Armed with the sword of knowledge; cut the doubt born of ignorance that exists in your heart.

Content: A beautiful story that you may have read as a child:

Content: Once, there were four blind men. They were traveling through a forest. They came across an elephant. But none of them had ever seen an elephant in their lives. All that they had known in their lives was through the four senses of hearing, touch, taste and smell. So, when they came across the elephant, each of them started touching and feeling it and tried to figure out what it was.

Content: The first man touched the elephant's trunk and said, 'Oh, this is a tree trunk in front of us.' The second person touched the legs and said, 'No, this is a stump of wood!'

Content: The third person touched the tail and said, 'No way! This is a rope!' The fourth person who was touching the body said, 'This is a boat!'

Content: When you follow sensory inputs and come to conclusions, you are no different from the blind men. Even if you are not blind, almost all of what your senses feed into you can be false and interpreted based on your inclination. The filter of your ego interprets whatever you perceive through your senses. Your ego decides as to how you understand what you see, hear, touch, taste or smell, and thereafter how you act.

Content: There is only so much you can see through the lens of your ego. Whatever you see will be tinted because you are seeing it through your mind, through your biased perceptions based on past memories. To see the truth, you need to really 'see' beyond your ego, mind and senses. When you do that, you can see the infinite dimensions of the ultimate.

Content: The words that you gather cannot give you the ultimate knowledge. When you just gather words without digesting the meaning, either indigestion sets in or you start vomiting out those words on others.

Content: A small story:

Content: Once, a blind man went to a doctor to see if he had any hope in getting back his eyesight. The doctor

Content: checked him and said, 'Yes, I can do an operation and you can get back your eyesight. Then, you can drop your stick and start walking.'

Content: The man replied, 'Doctor, I understand I will get back my eyesight, but how can I walk without the stick?'

Content: The blind man could not understand that he can walk without a stick! He does not even know what it means to be able to see. The doctor has to do the operation to give him back his eyesight, then automatically he will drop the stick.

Content: When I tell people to drop their mind, they look at me as if I am a mad man. 'How can we drop the mind?' they ask. 'It is easy for you, you have renounced everything, you have no wife, no responsibilities, and on top of it you are enlightened. So, you can talk. How can we, living in this ocean of bondage, the samsara sagara, be in no-mind and yet survive?'

Content: It is only when you drop the mind, it is only when you stop connecting your thoughts to form a shaft, that you really start 'seeing'. Your ego stops interfering with the truth of what you see. It stops filtering and adding tones to what your senses experience. Your baggage of value systems and beliefs, your embedded memories, your samskaras, dissolve, and the new 'you' is born. You are reborn.

Content: All your actions then arise out of intuition, from the super conscious state, the state of truth, where no mind can exist.

Content: In the next verse, Krishna uses the word 'shraddha' again. Actually, shraddha cannot be translated as faith. Shraddha does not mean faith, it means faith plus courage to execute the idea; courage to experiment with the idea is shraddha. Courage to experiment with the idea is what is referred to as shraddha.

Content: When you have the knowledge and at the same time, you have courage to follow the teachings, then you can achieve the ultimate.

Content: Many people do not have the courage to follow their results through. When Galileo declared that it is the Earth that goes around the Sun, while the Christian belief at that time was that everything revolves around the Earth, he was persecuted. In his writings, he actually has a footnote: 'We can deny this but since the Earth and Sun are not Christians, they will continue to move the way they do, irrespective of Christian beliefs!'

Content: If you see our eastern rishis, they did so much inner world research. Millions of rishis have done full-time research for thousands of years using their bodies and minds as laboratories. This knowledge of the inner world is the result of their courageous experiments and studies. They were true inner scientists who had not only the curiosity and the perseverance to know but also the courage to follow their findings.

Content: Look at Patanjali: he boldly declares all that he says in the Yoga Sutras is completely open to experimentation and verification. He says, 'You are free to try this and if you find anything more to be added or edited, you are free to

Content: do so.' He has experimented and presented his research report. He invites you to try out these in your life and if you learn something more from that, his work is open to editing. That is the beauty of our system; it is a living system open to being updated.

Content: Our Masters have declared that it is the truth that matters, so they present their research reports based on what they have learnt from experience. If by practicing the truth one loses something, it is better to lose it. Whatever cannot stand the test of truth, let it get washed away. It is better for our being that it gets lost as early as possible.

Content: Of all religious and spiritual doctrines, it is only the scriptures of the Sanatana Dharma, the eternal path of righteousness, as the Hindu philosophy is called, that allow themselves to be updated. The Vedas and the Upanishads, which we believe are the voices of Nature, are not rules and regulations. They are truths to be understood and followed only in awareness. There are no punishments if one does not follow them, nor is one condemned a sinner if one doesn't follow them.

Content: The rules and regulations, which followed in later days, came clearly with the injunction that they can be modified if there was need. Nothing was sacred just because it was uttered. All what we follow blindly today as traditions, came through societal interpretation. It is for us to sift through these truths with conscious awareness.

Content: Once tested, proven and accepted, we need to have the courage to practice these truths. Mere knowledge is

Content: insufficient. That is what shraddha is about. With shraddha, faith combined with courage, you make the effort to conquer your senses, and direct your mind towards the truth, instead of your mind and senses leading you wherever they wish to.

Content: Many people in this world are blessed by Lakshmi (Goddess of Wealth), Saraswati (Goddess of Knowledge) but very few people are blessed by Kali (Goddess of Courage). When Lakshmi and Saraswati join with Kali, your liberation is assured!

Content: In the next few beautiful verses, Krishna says that there is no happiness for those who always have doubts and who have no knowledge and faith. He uses the word 'always'. He does not say that from the beginning itself you should not have any doubts. Having doubts is natural; as long as you have the mind, doubts will be there. But you can go beyond it.

Content: In the Shiva Sutra, Devi asks, 'Oh Shiva, what is your reality? What is this wonder-filled universe? What constitutes the seed? Who centers the universal wheel? What is this life beyond form, pervading forms? How may we enter it fully beyond space and time, names and descriptions? Let my doubts be cleared.'

Content: Beautifully she expresses her whole state of mind through these few words. The last words are, 'Let my doubts be cleared.' She never says, 'Please answer my questions.' If she had made that mistake by asking 'answer my question', she would have produced one more Gita through Shiva.

Content: See, in the Gita, Arjuna is not ready to surrender to Krishna completely. That is why in the beginning Krishna has to give him all the intellectual answers. Arjuna thinks he can solve his confusion through these answers; he doesn't know that these are much deeper doubts that need to be cleared through experience of the truth. That is why Krishna has to give more than 700 verses to first convince Arjuna that he does not know. When Arjuna finally gives up saying 'I don't know' then Krishna reveals Himself! He reveals the truth and makes Arjuna experience it because that is the only way he will realize the truth.

Content: If you say 'let my questions be answered', you want only intellectual answers. But Devi says, 'Let my doubts be cleared, whether you give words or energy or techniques, I am not bothered, but let me be free from doubts.'

Content: When questions become a quest, you start speaking in this language. When the urge becomes urgent, you start speaking in this language.

Content: Devi starts with beautiful words, 'Let my doubts be cleared.' This shows a deep surrender of Devi. A deep, passive, waiting, without knowing what is going to happen, is passive surrender. That is what I call total surrender.

Content: Actually, the moment you decide 'I will wait forever', things will simply start happening for you! As long as you are in a hurry and agitated, you stop things from happening in you. It is like you trying your best for the lotus to blossom. What will you do? You open out the

Content: petals by hand. Will it be a flower? It will never be a lotus flower. A lotus can be called a lotus flower only when it blossoms by itself. Give it a little space and time.

Content: The moment you decide to wait, things will simply start happening, and you don’t have to wait anymore. You have to wait till you decide to wait. The moment you decide to wait, you don’t have to wait anymore.

Content: When you ask ‘why’, you cannot reach the truth, because you are not even ready to see ‘what’ and you ask the ‘why’ before that. Just allow the Master to do the operation and give you back your true Self, and automatically you will drop what you are not.

Content: Krishna refers here to the stages in the Master-disciple relationship. There are many levels. The first level is purely intellectual, doubt-based. ‘Doubt-based’ refers to the negative doubts, which are purely intellectual. It is like you are telling yourself on seeing the Master, ‘Eh! What is this guy going to sit and do? Let us see. How is this fellow able to mobilize such a big crowd at such a young age? He seems to be hardly 30. He doesn’t seem to be trained in marketing and doesn’t seem to be very inteligent either. How is this fellow mobilizing such a big crowd around him? What is going on here?’

Content: The next step is intelligence; from intellect to intelligence. You tell yourself, ‘Why not attend this program and see what this fellow is really doing?’ By this time, it has changed from, ‘What this fellow is doing!’ to ‘Oh I think he means something. But I neither believe nor disbelieve. Ok let us see.’ The intellect is becoming intelligence. You are giving a little space for the Master.

Content: Then, next, if you continue to start looking in, first from intellect to intelligence, then from intelligence to intelligence combined with emotion, like 60% intelligence, 40% emotion, that is the time you will feel like a friend towards the Master.

Content: After that, it becomes 60% emotion and 40% intelligence. That is the time you will feel like the Master is like an elder, like a father or mother or lord or teacher. You feel respectful towards him. And then, the relation becomes pure emotion. You will feel a deep connection like a mother and son.

Content: Then, after that, it is neither emotion nor intellect nor intelligence. It is a being level relationship. It is the deep connection of a beloved, the madhura bhava.

Content: And suddenly, you will see, he is not even the beloved, he is beyond the beloved. You start experiencing the mahabhaava, what I call the guru-disciple experience, experiencing yourself as the Master. That is what I call 'Tat tvam asi'. 'Tat tvam asi' means 'That art thou'. It means you are the Master.

Content: First it is just intellect, where you have doubts. But you have to go beyond that. If you are stuck in this level of negative doubts, naturally you will suffer with the doubts and misery. The next level is intelligence, then 60% intelligence and 40% emotion, then 60% emotion and 40% intelligence, then pure emotion, then 60% emotional and 40% being level, then pure being level and then all these and something more.

Content: When you go beyond doubts and beyond faith, into the realization of the formless energy that is you, then you find yourself.

Content: I am presenting this secret science as a hypothesis. Now you are welcome to analyze this with your questions.

Content: Q. Master, how to find out whether somebody is enlightened or not?

Content: Arjuna asks the same question. I think in the second chapter, Krishna answers this same question. Let me give you the verse.

Content: Arjuna asks:

Content: Sthitaprajnayasya ka bhasha samadhisthasya keshava Sthitadheeha kim prabhasheta kim aseeta brajeta kim (II. 54)

Content: Arjuna says, 'Krishna, what are the symptoms of those whose consciousness is thus merged in transcendence? How does he speak and what is his language? How does he sit and how does he walk?'

Content: This is a question from the second chapter. Of course, in the second chapter, Arjuna is not ready to even relate with Krishna. That is why Krishna is explaining about enlightenment.

Content: Immediately Arjuna asks how to find out whether somebody is enlightened or not; how an enlightened man would walk and sit. Actually he is addressing this

Content: question to find out whether Krishna is enlightened or not!

Content: For example, when Krishna says that these are the qualities of enlightenment and explains about it, immediately, Arjuna asks, 'How does an enlightened man behave, tell me'. What does this mean? First thing, he doubts Krishna, Krishna’s authority. He wants some scale with which he can measure Krishna.

Content: But one important thing, even though, out of compassion, Krishna tries here to answer logically, you cannot logically measure enlightenment. That is the ultimate truth. Just out of compassion, Krishna tries to give some idea. Actually, Krishna is just postponing the question, He does not answer. There are two or three methods to deal with questions.

Content: A person came to me and he asked me, 'Master, please tell me how to realize God. How to achieve God? Teach me something about God, something about atman and brahman.'

Content: I started talking to him, 'Yes, how are you? Where are you from? What are you doing? What is your wife doing? How is your family?' I started a polite conversation. And he also started talking. The conversation went on and on. After that he was with me for three hours but he didn’t raise the same question even once!

Content: He forgot the very question. He did not even remember the question that he had asked. He did not even come to the subject. Then understand how important this question was for his life!

Content: He asked just because he had to ask something. When you see the Master, you feel you have to show that you have some spiritual interest. In some way you have to relate with him. And you have to show that you also know a few words.

Content: One guy came and told me, 'Master, tell me the mantra (chant) to relate with the eighteen-handed Kali.' He was asking me to give him the mantra to worship the eighteen-handed Kali. He said, 'She should listen to what I say. Give me the mantra for it.'

Content: I told him, 'First learn the mantra to make your two-handed wife listen to your words! First learn how to handle two-handed women! Then you can go about learning how to work with eighteen-handed women!' You don't know the basic science of life, how to live with your wife! You want to learn big words. We always waste our life with big words, with big terminology.

Content: So this guy who wanted to know about God forgot the question itself! After that he spent two or three hours with me, but he did not even remember the question. He asked the question just because he had to speak something. It was not his quest. Questions are answered in one way; quest is addressed in another way.

Content: Please be very clear, questions are answered in one way, quest is addressed in another way. One person came to me, a young man, and he asked me, 'Master, have you seen God?' It seems he had read lot of Ramakrishna and Vedanta literature. And I could see that he was wearing the Vivekananda medallion around his neck.

Content: He asked, 'Have you seen God?' I asked him, 'Have you read Ramakrishna and Vivekananda's life?' He said, 'Yes! I am asking you like how Vivekananda asked Ramakrishna. In the same way I am asking you. Have you seen God?'

Content: I just caught hold of his shirt, so that he would not run away. Then I said, 'Ramakrishna said that he had seen God. And Vivekananda simply followed Ramakrishna. Throughout his life he was with Ramakrishna. Now I tell you, not only have I seen, I will show you, come! Once I show you, you have to be with me for your whole life.'

Content: The fellow ran away! He just disappeared. He escaped and ran away.

Content: Then I said, 'Don't ask the question if you cannot take up the responsibility. Don't ask just because you read about Ramakrishna and Vivekananda's lives.' Vivekananda asked Ramakrishna, true. But he had the courage, he had the guts to follow Ramakrishna after that. When Ramakrishna said, 'Yes, I have seen God,' he followed. I told him, 'Not only have I seen Him, I can also show you, come.' The fellow just escaped!

Content: We always waste our lives with empty words. Questions will be addressed in one way, while quest will be addressed in a different way. Here, Arjuna is asking a question. It is not a quest.

Content: How to find out whether it is a question or quest? If it is a quest, you will have only one word, you will put one question and stop. You will then wait for the answer.

Content: If it is just an intellectual question, you will continuously speak out at least ten words. Here he is asking ten questions: how does he speak? What is his language? How does he sit and how does he walk? That means he is not even interested in the answer!

Content: If you are interested in the answer, you will stop with the first question. You will wait for the answer. Then you will put the next question. But here he goes on posing questions, purely intellectual. Arjuna is in the process. He is in the process. Then Krishna starts.

Content: Of course, please be very clear, Krishna is not answering. He is just postponing the question. He knows that answering this question is in no way going to help. So He answers in such a way that Arjuna would neither feel he did not receive the answer, nor would he be able to come to a conclusion with the answer!

Content: Here He is giving an answer:

Content: Prajahati yada kaman sarvan partha manogatan Atmany evatmana tushtaha sthitaprajnyas tadochyate

Content: He says, ‘Partha, when a man controls all types of desires and selfish deeds that arise from the mind and when he remains satisfied with himself and his consciousness, in his eternal bliss, then he is said to have a stable mind and life.’

Content: Alright, how many of you can find out with this scale, whether somebody is enlightened or not? Tell me. Here He has given the answer. Can any of us use this answer?

Content: After the answer, you will have more problems than before the answer!

Content: Actually, sometimes, by giving an answer, you will create more questions than what existed before the question was posed! Originally, if Arjuna had ten questions, after this answer, he would have had have twenty questions! Because the answer says, 'Who is completely established in his own consciousness, who is satisfied in his own consciousness, he is said to have a stable mind and life.'

Content: And He says, 'He is said to have'. He is not giving from his experience. He could have said, 'He is' But He is not saying that. 'It is believed, or said to have a stable mind and life'; He is just trying to escape, putting the blame on the tradition. He is not directly coming in the front. He is not confronting the question directly. He is just passing it away. He is just pushing it away.

Content: Ramakrishna, whenever the close disciples asked for some boon, he would say, 'Don't worry, I'll take care.' Whenever he wanted to avoid the question or boon for the present, he would say, 'Go to Kali and pray. Go to Kali and pray!' He would say, 'No, no, go there to the Kali mandir (temple), Kali is there, go there and pray!' He would not put himself in the front. He would just avoid. The same thing Krishna is doing here. He is saying, 'It is believed' so that if some more questions come, He can always escape.

Content: Next verse:

Content: Dukhesv anudvignamanāḥ sukhesu vigataspruhaḥ vītarāgabhayakrodhaḥ sthiradhir munir ucyate (II.56)

Content: The translation goes: one whose mind remains free from emotional agitation even in miseries, and does not search for pleasure, and who is free from attachments, fear and anger, is called an enlightened man - who is in eternal bliss, eternal consciousness.

Content: If your inner space is not filled with too much of emotional attachments, it can freely flow in life. It can freely flow in life.

Content: Many people ask me, 'Master, how are you continuously able to quote from the scriptures? From where are you able to get so much information? How are you able to speak so many things?' I tell them, 'It's a very simple secret.' So many people ask, 'How are you able to have such a sharp memory? Give us a technique to have sharp memory.'

Content: This is the ultimate important technique for a sharp memory. How to have a sharp memory? Just drop the emotional attachments.

Content: It is just like how a computer works. If your hard disc is filled with high-resolution photographs, what will happen? It will crash! If it is filled only with word documents, it can handle any amount of memory. Your emotional attachment makes word documents into high-resolution photographs. Word documents are transformed into high-resolution photographs, high-resolution pictures, by your emotional attachment to it.

Content: When you are emotionally attached to it, again and again you remember only that. That portion takes away

Content: the majority of your inner space. Your whole inner space is swallowed, taken away, by that one particular picture.

Content: If at all you can do surgery in your inner space and peer inside, you will see that most of your inner space is filled with four or five big-sized photographs. Your wife or family or your kid; only those four or five pictures would be there in high resolution. Ninety percent of your hard disc is filled with these four or five high-resolution pictures. That is why you don’t have memory space left for any other work. Your whole memory space is already occupied. No memory space is left.

Content: But if at all you can bring it down, if at all you can reduce the emotional attachment for these few high-resolution pictures, you will be able to handle more word documents, and therefore have more memory.

Content: That is the secret Krishna is giving here. Whose inner space is completely free, whose hard disc is completely clean, he who can process any information at any time, whose inner space is open, free and sharp, is called sthithaprajna. He is called the person who is in eternal consciousness.

Content: These are all the few answers Krishna gives for Arjuna. But I tell you, with this scale, you will never be able to find out who is enlightened or who is unenlightened; by using this scale intellectually it is simply impossible.

Content: If you want an honest answer I can tell one thing: you can never find it logically. If somebody is enlightened, when you see him, something will simply happen inside

Content: 195

Content: your heart. Beyond your intellect, your whole heart will fall in tune with him. You will not be able to forget him.

Content: You will be pulled. Your whole being will be attracted to him. He will automatically fill your whole being. You will not know what is happening to you. You yourself will not be able to understand or analyze logically.

Content: You will be just waiting, thinking, ‘When can I see him next? When can I see him next?’ Your heart will simply fall in love. I can say, with Masters, you rise in love; with ordinary people, you fall in love! Something will happen in your space. Beyond your control, beyond your logic, your heart will know, he is enlightened. You will not be able to say ‘no’ to him.

Content: Be very clear, if that happens, that person is going to help you. That person is going to show you what life is. That person is your Master. If that doesn’t happen, don’t bother, continue your search. You will meet the right person. Continue your search, you will meet the right person.

Content: Don’t bother about who is enlightened, who is not enlightened. Intellectually you cannot find out. If somebody is going to help you, your heart will simply fall in tune with him. If it falls in tune with him, even if he is not enlightened, he will help you. You will be helped by him. Even if he is not enlightened, you will be helped by him.

Content: If your heart has not fallen in tune, even if he is enlightened, he is not for you. Forget about him. So you

Content: don't have to use your head at all. Just relax. Your heart knows how to show you the right path, how to guide you in the right path. Your heart is the judge, which will guide you, automatically, in the right time, in the right moment, towards the right person.

Content: So, let the divine Parabrahma Krishna guide us all to the right energy, to the right attitude and the right experience. Let Him shower eternal bliss. Let Him make us experience and radiate eternal bliss, nithyananda. Thank you.

Content: Thus ends the fourth chapter named “Path of Renunciation Of Action and Knowledge” of the Upanishad of the Bhagavad Gita, the scripture of Yoga, dealing with the science of the Absolute in the form of the dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna.

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Content: BhagavadGita

Content: Scientific Research on

Content: Bhagavad Gita

Content: Several institutions have conducted experiments using scientific and statistically supported techniques to verify the truth behind the Bhagavad Gita. Notable amongst them is the work carried out by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, whose findings are published through Maharishi Ved Vigyan Vishwa Vidyapeetam.

Content: Studies conducted using meditation techniques related to truths expressed in the verses of the Bhagavad Gita have shown that the quality of life is significantly improved through meditation. These studies have found that meditators experience a greater sense of peace resulting in a reduced tendency towards conflict.

Content: Meditators gain greater respect for and appreciation of others. Their own inner fulfilment increases resulting in improved self-respect and self-reliance, leading to Self Actualization.

Content: One’s ability to focus along with brain function integration is enhanced. These have resulted in greater comprehension, creativity, faster response time in decision-making and superior psychomotor coordination.

Content: Stress levels have been shown to decrease with enhanced sensory perception and overall health. The tendency towards depression has been clearly shown to decrease.

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Content: Path of Knowledge

Content: There is enough evidence to show that as a result of meditation, individuals gain a better ethical lifestyle that in turn improves their interaction with others in the community, resulting in less conflict and crime. Group meditation of 7000 people (square root of 1% of world population at the time of the study) was significantly correlated to a reduction in conflict worldwide.

Content: Meditation leads to higher levels of consciousness. Through the research tools of Applied Kinesiology, Dr. David Hawkins (author of the book Power vs. Force) and others have shown that human consciousness has risen in the last few decades, crossing a critical milestone for the first time in human history. Dr. Hawkins’ research also documents that the Bhagavad Gita is at the very highest level of Truth conveyed to humanity.

Content: We acknowledge with gratitude the work done by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi institutions and Dr. David Hawkins in establishing the truth of this great scripture.

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Content: BhagavadGita

Content: Kuru Family Tree

Content: Dhritharashtra; The blind King, to whom the happenings on the battlefield are being narrated

Content: Gandhari - 1st wife

Content: Dhuryodhana and his 99 brothers

Content: Vaishya - 2nd wife

Content: Yuyutsu

Content: Kaurava Princes

Content: Step brothers

Content: Pandu; the original King who handed over the kingdom and care of his 5 sons to his brother Dhritharashtra

Content: Kunthi - 1st wife

Content: Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna

Content: Madri - 2nd wife

Content: Nakula, Sahadeva

Content: Pandava Princes

Content: Draupadi-wife to all five Pandava. Subhadra- Arjuna's wife, Krishna's sister

Content: Abhimanyu- son of Arjuna & Subhadra Draupadeyah five sons of Draupadi

Content: 200

Content: Path of Knowledge

Content: Glossary of Key Characters in the Bhagavad Gita

Content: Pandava's Side:

Content: Krishna: God Incarnate; Related to both Kaurava and Pandava; Arjuna's charioteer in the war

Content: Drupada: A great warrior and father of Draupadi

Content: Drishtadummna: The son of King Drupada

Content: Shikhandi: A mighty archer and a transexual person

Content: Virata: Abhimanyu's father-in-law; King of a neighboring kingdom

Content: Yuyudhana: Krishna's charioteer and a great warrior

Content: Kashiraj: King of neighboring kingdom, Kashi

Content: Chekitan: A great warrior

Content: Kuntibhoj: Adoptive father of Kunti, the mother of first three Pandava princes

Content: Purujit: Brother of Kuntibhoj

Content: Shaibya: Leader of the Shibi tribe

Content: Dhrishtaketu: King of Chedis

Content: Uttamouja: A great warrior

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Content: Kaurava’s Side:

Content: Sanjay: Charioteer and narrator of events to Dhritharashtra

Content: Bhishma: Great grandfather of the Kaurava & Pandava; Great warrior

Content: Drona: A great archer and teacher to both Kaurava and Arjuna

Content: Vikarna: Third of the Kaurava brothers

Content: Karna: Panadava’s half brother, born to Kunti before her marriage

Content: Ashvatthama: Drona’s son and Achilles heel; Said to always speak the truth

Content: Kripacharya: Teacher of martial arts to both Kaurava and Pandava

Content: Shalya: King of neighboring kingdom and brother of Madra, Nakula and Sahadeva’s mother

Content: Soumadatti: King of Bahikas

Content: Dushassana: One of Kaurava brothers; responsible for insulting Draupadi

Content: Path of Knowledge

Content: Meaning of common Sanskrit Words

Content: For purposes of simplicity, the phonetic of Sanskrit has not been faithfully followed in this work. No accents and other guides have been used.

Content: Aswattama is spelt as also Asvattama, Aswathama, Aswatama etc., all being accepted.

Content: Correctly pronounced, Atma is Aatma; however in the English format a is used both for a and aa, e for e and ee and so on. The letter s as used here can be pronounced as s or ss or sh; for instance Siva is pronounced with a sibilant sound, neither quite s nor sh. Many words here spelt with 's' can as well be spelt as 'sh'.

Content: [In the glossary, however, letters have been indicated in brackets to facilitate pronunciation as intended in the Sanskrit text.]

Content: This glossary is not meant to be a pronunciation guide, merely an explanatory aid. It is merely a compilation of common words.

Content: A(a)bharana: adornment; vastra(a)bharana is adornment with clothes

Content: Abhy(a)asa: exercise; practice

Content: A(a)cha(a)rya: teacher; literally 'one who walks with'

Content: Advaita: concept of non-duality; that individual self and the cosmic SELF are one and the same; as different from the concepts of dvaita and visishta(a)dvaita, which consider self and SELF to be mutually exclusive

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Content: A(a)ha(a)ra: food; also with reference to sensory inputs as in pratya(a)ha(a)ra

Content: A(a)jna: order, command; the third eye energy centre

Content: A(a)ka(a)sa: space, sky; subtlest form of energy of universe

Content: Amruta, amrit: divine nectar whose consumption leads to immortality

Content: Ana(a)hata: that which is not created; heart energy centre

Content: A(a)nanda: bliss; very often used to refer to joy, happiness etc.

Content: Anjana: collyrium, black pigment used to paint the eye lashes

Content: A(a)pas: water

Content: Aarti: worshipping with a flame, light, as with a lamp lit with oiled wick, or burning camphor

Content: A(a)shirwa(a)d: blessing

Content: Ashta(a)nga yoga: eight fold path to enlightenment prescribed by Patanjali in his Yoga Sutra

Content: A(a)shraya: grounded in reality; a(a)shraya-dosha, defect related to reality

Content: A(a)tma, A(a)tman: individual Self; part of the universal Brahman

Content: Beedi: local Indian cigarette

Content: Beeja: seed; beeja-mantra refers to the single syllable mantras used to invoke certain deities,

Content: e.g., gam for Ganesha.

Content: Bhagava(a)n: literally God; often used for an enlightened master

Content: Bha(a)vana: visualization

Content: Bhakti: devotion; bhakta, a devotee

Content: Brahma: the Creator; one of the Hindu trinity of supreme Gods, the other two being Vishnu, and Shiva

Content: Brahmacha(a)ri: literally one who moves with the true reality, Brahman, one without fantasies, but usually taken to mean a celibate; brahmacharya is the quality or state of being a brahmachaari

Content: Brahman: ultimate reality of the Divine, universal ntelligent energy

Content: Bra(a)hman: person belonging to the class engaged in Vedic studies, priestly class

Content: Buddhi: mind, intelligence; mind is also called by other names, manas, chitta etc.

Content: Buddhu: a fool

Content: Chakra: literally a 'wheel'; refers to energy centres in the mind-body system

Content: Chakshu: eye, intelligent power behind senses

Content: Chanda(a)la: an untouchable; usually one who skins animals.

Content: Chandana: sandalwood

Content: Chitta: mind; also manas, buddhi.

Content: Dakshina(a)yana: Sun's southward movement starting 21st June

Content: Darshan: vision; usually referred to seeing divinity

Content: Dharma: righteousness

Content: Dhee: wisdom.

Content: Deeksha: grace bestowed by the Master and the energy transferred by the Master onto disciple at initiation or any other time, may be through a mantra, a touch, a glance or even a thought

Content: Dosha: defect

Content: Dhya(a)na: meditation

Content: Drishti: sight, seeing with mental eye

Content: Gada: weapon; similar to a mace; also Gada(a)yudha

Content: Gopi, Gopika: literally a cowherd; usually referred to the devotees, who played with Krishna, and were lost in Him

Content: Gopura, gopuram: temple tower

Content: Grihasta: a householder, a married person; coming from the word griha, meaning house

Content: Guna: the three human behavioural characteristics or predispositions; satva, rajas and tamas

Content: Guru: Master; literally one who leads from gu (darkness) to ru (light)

Content: Gurukul, Gurukulam: literally ‘tradition of guru’, refers to the ancient education system in which children were handed over to a guru at a very young age by parents for upbringing and education

Content: Homa: ritual to Agni, the God of fire; metaphorically represents the transfer of energy from the energy of A(a)ka(a)sa (space), through V(a)ayu (Air), Agni (Fire),

Content: A(a)pas (Water), and Prithvi (Earth) to humans. Also y(a)agna, yagna

Content: Iccha: desire

Content: Ida: along with pingala and sushumna the virtual energy pathways through which pranic energy flows

Content: Ithiha(a)sa: legend, epic, mythological stories; also pura(a)na

Content: Jaati: birth; jaati-dosha, defect related to birth

Content: Ja(a)grata: wakefulness

Content: Japa: literally ‘muttering’; continuous repetition of the name of divinity

Content: Jeeva samadhi: burial place of an enlightened Master, where his spirit lives on

Content: Jiva (pronounced as jeeva) means living

Content: Jyotisha: Astrology; jyotishi is an astrologer

Content: Kaivalya: liberation; same as moksha, nirva(a)na

Content: Ka(a)la: time; also maha(a)ka(a)la

Content: Kalpa: vast period of time; Yuga is a fraction of Kalpa

Content: Kalpana: imagination

Content: Karma: spiritual law of cause and effect, driven by va(a)sana and samska(a)ra

Content: Kosha: energy layer surrounding body; there are 5 such layers. These are: annamaya or body, Pra(a)namaya or breath, manomaya or thoughts, vigya(a)namaya or sleep and a(a)nandamaya or bliss koshas

Content: Kriya: action

Content: Kshana: moment in time; refers to time between two thoughts

Content: Kshatriya: caste or varna of warriors

Content: Kundalini: energy that resides at the root chakra 'mula(a)dha(a)ra' (pronounced as moolaadha(a)ra)

Content: Maha(a): great; as in maharshi, great sage; maha(a)va(a)kya, great scriptural saying

Content: Ma(a)la: a garland, a necklace; rudra(a)ksha mala is a garland made of the seeds of the rudra(a)ksha tree

Content: Mananam: thinking, meditation

Content: Manas: mind; also buddhi, chitta

Content: Mandir: temple

Content: Mangala: auspicious; mangal sutra, literally auspicious thread, the yellow or gold thread or necklace a married Hindu woman wears

Content: Mantra: a sound, a formula; sometimes a word or a set of words, which because of their inherent sounds, have energizing properties. Mantras are used as sacred chants to worship the Divine; mantra, tantra and yantrā are approaches in spiritual evolution

Content: Ma(a)ya: that which is not, not reality, illusion; all life is ma(a)ya according to advaita

Content: Moksha: liberation; same as nirva(a)na, sama(a)dhi, turiya etc.

Content: Mula(a)dha(a)ra: the first energy centre, moola is root; a(a)dhara is foundation, here existence

Content: Nadi: river

Content: Naadi: nerve; also an energy pathway that is not physical

Content: Na(a)ga: a snake; a na(a)ga-sa(a)dhu is an ascetic belonging to a group that wears no clothes

Content: Namaska(a)r: traditional greeting with raised hands, with palms closed

Content: Na(a)nta: without end

Content: Na(a)ri: woman

Content: Nidhidhy(a)asan: what is expressed

Content: Nimitta: reason; nimitta-dosha, defect based on reason

Content: Nirva(a)na: liberation; same as moksha, sama(a)dhi

Content: Niyama: the second of eight paths of Patanjali’s Ashta(a)nga Yoga; refers to a number of day-to-day rules of observance for a spiritual path

Content: Pa(a)pa: sin

Content: Phala: fruit; phalasruti refers to result of worship

Content: Paramahamsa: literally the ‘supreme swan’; refers to an enlightened being

Content: Parikrama: the ritual of going around a holy location, such as a hill or water spot

Content: Parivra(a)jaka: wandering by an ascetic monk

Content: Pingala: please see Ida.

Content: Pra(a)na: life energy; also refers to breath; pra(a)na(a)ya(a)ma is control of breath

Content: Pratya(a)hara: literally ‘staying away from food’; in this

Content: case refers to control of all senses as part of the eight fold ashta(a)nga yoga

Content: Prithvi: earth energy

Content: Purohit: priest

Content: Puja (pronounced as pooja): normally any worship, but often referred to a ritualistic worship

Content: Punya: merit, beneficence

Content: Pura(a)na: epics and mythological stories such as Maha(a)bha(a)rata, Ra(a)ma(a)yana etc.

Content: Purna (prounounced poorna): literally ‘complete’; refers in the advaita context to reality

Content: Rajas, rajasic: the mid characteristic of the three human guna or behaviour mode, referring to aggressive action

Content: Putra: son; putri: daughter

Content: Rakta: blood

Content: Ra(a)tri: night

Content: Rishi: a sage

Content: Sa(a)dhana: practice, usually a spiritual practice

Content: Sa(a)dhu: literally a ‘good person’; refers to an ascetic; same as sanya(a)si

Content: Sahasrana(a)ma: thousand names of God; available for many Gods and Goddesses, which devotees recite

Content: Sahasrara: lotus with thousand petals; the crown energy centre

Content: Sakti: energy; intelligent energy; Para(a)sakti refers to universal energy, divinity; considered feminine; masculine aspect of Para(a)sakti is purusha

Content: Sama(a)dhi: state of no-mind, no-thoughts; literally, becoming one's original state; liberated, enlightened state. Three levels of samadhi are referred to as sahaja, which is transient, savikalpa, in which the person is no longer capable of normal activities, and nirvikalpa, where the liberated person performs activities as before.

Content: Samsaya: doubt

Content: Samska(a)ra: embedded memories of unfulfilled desires stored in the subconscious that drive one into decisions, into karmic action

Content: Samyama: complete concentration

Content: Sankalpa: decision

Content: Sanya(a)s: giving up worldly life; sanya(a)si or sanya(a)sin, a monk, an ascetic

Content: sanya(a)sini, refers to a female monk

Content: Sa(a)stra: sacred texts

Content: Satva, sa(a)tvic: the highest guna of spiritual calmness

Content: Siddhi: extraordinary powers attained through spiritual practice

Content: Sishya: disciple

Content: Simha: lion; Simha-Swapna: nightmare

Content: Shiva: rejuvenator in the trinity; often spelt as Shiva. Shiva also means 'causeless auspiciousness'; in this sense,

Content: Shivara(a)tri, the day when Shiva is worshipped is that moment when the power of this causeless auspiciousness is intense

Content: Smarana: remembrance; constantly remembering the divine

Content: Smruti: literally 'that which is remembered'; refers to later day Hindu works which are rules, regulations, laws and epics, such as Manu's works, Puranas etc.

Content: Sraddha: trust, faith, belief, confidence

Content: Sravan: hearing

Content: Srishti: creation, which is created

Content: Sruti: literally 'that which is heard'; refers to the ancient scriptures of Veda, Upanishad and

Content: Bhagavad Gita: considered to be words of God

Content: Stotra: devotional verses, to be recited or sung

Content: Sudra: caste or varna of manual labourers

Content: Sutra: literally 'thread'; refers to epigrams, short verses which impart spiritual techniques

Content: Sunya: literally zero; however, Buddha uses this word to mean reality

Content: Sushumna: Please see 'ida'

Content: Swa(a)dishtha(a)na: where Self is established; the groin or spleen energy centre

Content: Swapna: dream

Content: Swatantra: free

Content: Tamas, taasasic: the lowest guna of laziness or inaction

Content: Tantra: esoteric Hindu techniques used in spiritual evolution

Content: Tapas: severe spiritual endeavour, penance

Content: Thatagata: Buddhahood, state of being such...a pali word

Content: Tirta: water; tirtam is a holy river and a pilgrimage centre

Content: Trika(a)la: all three time zones, past, present and future; trika(a)lajna(a)ni is one who can

Content: see all three at the same time; an enlightened being is beyond time and space

Content: Turiya (pronounced tureeya): state of samadhi, no-mind

Content: Upanishad: literally 'sitting below alongside' referring to a disciple learning from the master;

Content: refers to the ancient Hindu scriptures which along with the Veda, form sruti

Content: Uttara(a)yana: Sun's northward movement

Content: Vaisya: caste or varna of tradesmen

Content: Va(a)naprasta: the third stage in one's life, (the first stage being that of a student, and the second that of

Content: householder) when a householder, man or woman, gives up worldly activities and focuses on spiritual goals

Content: Varna: literally colour; refers to the caste grouping in the traditional Hindu social system; originally based on

Content: aptitude, and later corrupted to privilege of birth

Content: Va(a)sana: the subtle essence of memories and desires,

Content: samska(a)ra, that get carried forward from birth to birth

Content: Vastra: clothes

Content: Vastra(a)harana: removal of clothes, often used to refer to

Content: Draupadi's predicament in the

Content: Maha(a)bha(a)rata, when she was unsuccessfully disrobed

Content: by the Kaurava prince

Content: Va(a)yu: air

Content: Veda: literally knowledge; refers to ancient Hindu

Content: scriptures, believed to have been received by enlightened

Content: rishi at the being level; also called sruti, along with

Content: Upanishad

Content: Vibhuti (pronounced vibhooti): sacred ash worn by many

Content: Hindus on forehead; said to remind themselves of the

Content: transient nature of life; of glories too

Content: Vidhi: literally law, natural law; interpreted as fate or

Content: destiny

Content: Vidya: knowledge, education

Content: Visha(a)da: depression, dilemma etc.

Content: Vishnu: preserver in the trinity; His incarnations include

Content: Krishna, Rama etc. in ten incarnations; also means 'all

Content: encompassing'

Content: Vishwarupa (pronounced vishwaroopa): universal form

Content: Yama: discipline as well as death; One of the eight fold

Content: paths prescribed in Patanjali's

Content: Ashta(a)nga Yoga; refers to spiritual regulations of satya

Content: (truth), ahimsa (nonviolence), aparigraha (living simply); asteya (not coveting other's properties) and brahmacharya (giving up fantasies); yama is also the name of the Hindu God of justice and death

Content: Yantra: literally 'tool'; usually a mystical and powerful graphic diagram, such as the Sri Chakra, inscribed on a copper plate, and sanctified in a ritual blessed by a divine presence or an enlightened Master

Content: Yoga: literally union, union of the individual self and the divine SELF; often taken to mean

Content: Hatha yoga, which is one of the components of yogasana, relating to specific body postures

Content: Yuga: a long period of time as defined in Hindu scriptures; there are four yugas: satya, treta, dwa(a)para and kali, the present being kali yuga

Content: ॐ पार्थाय प्रतिबोधितां भगवता नारायणेन स्वयं व्यासेन ग्रथितां पुराणमुनिना मध्ये महाभारत अद्वैतामृतवर्षिणीं भगवतीमष्टादशाध्यायिनीम् अम्व त्वामनुसन्दधामि भगवद्गीते भवद्वेशिनं

Content: OM, I meditate upon you, Bhagavad Gita the affectionate Mother, the Divine Mother showering the nectar of non duality and destroying rebirth, (who was) incorporated into the Mahaabhaarata of eighteen chapters by sage Vyasa, the author of the Puraanas, and imparted to Arjuna by Lord Narayana, Himself.

Content: वसुदेवसुतं देवं कम्सचाणूरमर्दनम् देवकीपरमानन्दं कृष्णं वन्दे जगद्गुरुं

Content: I salute you Lord Krishna, Teacher to the world, son of Vasudeva and Supreme bliss of Devaki, Destroyer of Kamsa and Chaanura.

Content: श्री भगवानुवाच इमं विवस्वते योगं प्रोक्तवानहमव्ययम्। विवस्वान् मनवे प्राह मनुरिक्ष्वाकवेऽब्रवीत्॥४.१॥

Content: Shri Bhagavaan uvaacha : the Lord said; imam: this; vivasvate: to the Sun God; yogam: the science of yoga; proktavaan: instructed; aham: I; avyayam: imperishable; vivasvaan: Sun God; manave: to Manu, the father of mankind; praaha: told; manuh: Manu; ikshvaakave: to King Ikshvaaku; abraveet: said

Content: 4.1 The Lord said: 'I taught the sun god, Vivasvan, the imperishable science of yoga and Vivasvan taught Manu, the father of mankind and Manu in turn taught Ikshvaku.'

Content: एवं परम्पराप्राप्तमिमं राजर्षयो विदुः। स कालेनेह महता योगो नष्टः परन्तप॥४.२॥

Content: Evam paramparaa praaptam imam raajarshayo viduhu sa kaaleneha mahataa yogo nashtaha parantapa 4.2

Content: evam: thus; paramparaa: Master-disciple succession; praaptam: received; imam: this science; raajarshayah: the saintly kings; viduhu: understood; sa: that knowledge; kaalena: in the course of time; iha: in this world; mahataa: by great; yogaha: the science of yoga; nashta: lost; parantapa: subduer of the enemies

Content: 4.2 The supreme science was thus received through the chain of master-disciple succession and the saintly kings understood it in that way.

Content: In the course of time, the succession was broken and therefore the science as it was appears to have been lost.

Content: स एवायं मया तेऽद्य योगः प्रोक्तः पुरातनः। भक्तोडसि मे सखा चेति रहस्यं ह्येतदुत्तमम्‌॥ ४.३॥

Content: Sa eva ayam mayaa tedya yogaha proktaha puraatanaha Bhakto asi me sakhaa cheti rahasyaam hy etat uttamam 4.3

Content: Sa: that; eva: only; ayam: this; maya: by Me; te: to you; adya: today; yogaha: the science of yoga; proktaha: spoken; puraatanaha: very old; bhaktaha: devotee; asi: you are; me: My; sakhaa: friend; cha: also; iti: therefore; rahasyaam: mystery; hi: because etat: this; uttamam: supreme

Content: 4.3 That ancient science of enlightenment, or entering into eternal bliss, is today taught by me to you because you are my devotee as well as my friend.

Content: You will certainly understand the supreme mystery of this science.

Content: अर्जुन उवाच

Content: अपरं भवतो जन्म परं जन्म विवस्वतः। कथमेतद्विजानीयानं त्वमादौ प्रोक्तवानिति ॥4.8॥

Content: Arjuna uvaacha :

Content: Aparam bhavato janma param janma vivasvataha Katham etat vijaaneeyam tvam aadou proktavaan iti 4.4

Content: Arjuna uvaacha : Arjuna said; aparam: of recent origin; bhavatah: Your; janma: birth; param: very old; janma: birth; vivasvatah: of the Sun God; katham: how; etat: this; vijaaneeyam : can I understand; tvam: You; aadau: in the beginning; proktavaan: instructed; iti: thus

Content: 4.4 Arjuna said:

Content: 'Oh Krishna, you are younger to the sun god Vivasvan by birth.

Content: How am I to understand that in the beginning you instructed this science to him?'

Content: श्री भगवानुवाच

Content: बहूनि मे व्यतीतानि जन्मानि तव चार्जुन। तान्यहं वेद सर्वाणि न त्वं वेत्थ परन्तप॥४.५॥

Content: Shri Bhagavaan uvaacha :

Content: Bahooni me vyateetani janmaani tava cha arjuna taany aham veda sarvaani na tvam vettha parantapa 4.5

Content: Shri Bhagavan uvaacha: The Lord said; bahooni : many; me: of Mine; vyateetani: have passed; janmaani: births; tava: yours; cha: also; arjuna: O Arjuna; taany: all of those; aham: I; veda: do know; sarvaani: all; na: not; tvam: yourself; vettha: know; parantapa: O scorcher of the foes

Content: 4.5 The Lord said:

Content: Many many births both you and I have passed.

Content: I can remember all of them, but you cannot, O Parantapa!

Content: अजोडपि सन्नव्ययात्मा भूतानामीश्वरोडपि सन्। प्रकृतिं स्वामधिष्ठाय संभभवाम्यात्ममायया॥४.६॥

Content: Ajo api san avyaya aatma bhootaanaam eeshvaropi san Prakritim svaam adhishthaaya sambhavaamy aatma maayaya 4.6

Content: ajo; unborn; api; also; san; being so; avyaya; instructible; aatma: spirit; bhootaanaam: living entities; eeshvaraha: supreme Lord; api; also; san; being so; prakritim: nature; svaam: of Myself; adhishthaaya: keeping under control; sambhavaamy: I come into being; aatma maayaya: by My divine potency.

Content: 4.6 Although I am unborn, imperishable and the lord of all living entities,

Content: By ruling my nature I reappear by my own maya.

Content: यदा यदा हि धर्मस्य ग्लानिर्भवति भारत। अभ्युत्थानमधर्मस्य तदाऽऽत्मानं सृजाम्यहम्॥ ४.७॥

Content: Yadaa yadaa hi dharmasya glaanirbhavati bhaarata Abhyutthaanam adharmasya tadaa aatmaanam srujaamyaham 4.7

Content: Yadaa yada: whenever; hi: well; dharmasya: of righteousness; glaanih: decline; bhavati: takes place; bhaarata: O descendant of Bharata; abhyutthaanam: predominance; adharmasya: of unrighteousness; tadaa: at that time; aatmaanam: self; srujaami: bring forth; aham: I

Content: 4.7 When positive consciousness declines, when collective negativity rises,

Content: Again and again, at these times, I am reborn.

Content: परित्राणाय साधूनां विनाशाय च दुष्कृताम्‌। धर्मसंस्थापनार्थाय संभवामि युगे युगे॥४.८॥

Content: Paritraanaaya saadhoonaam vinaashaaya cha dushkrutaam Dharma samsthaapanaarthaaya sambhavaami yuge yuge 4.8

Content: Paritraanaaya: for the protection of; saadhoonam: of the pious; vinaashaaya: to destruction; cha: also; dushkrutaam: of the wicked; dharma: righteousness; samsthaapanaa arthaya: to establish; sambhavaami: I manifest; yuge yuge: age after age

Content: 4.8 To nurture the pious and to annihilate the wicked,

Content: To re-establish righteousness I am reborn, age after age.

Content: जन्म कर्म च मे दिव्यमेवं यो वेत्ति तत्त्वतः। त्यक्त्वा देहं पुनर्जन्म नैति मामेति सोऽर्जुन॥४.९॥

Content: Janma karma cha me divyam evam yo vetti tattvataha Tyaktvaa deham punarjanma naiti maam eti sorjuna 4.9

Content: janma: birth; karma: work; cha: and; me: of Mine; divyam: divine; evam: so also; yo: anyone whoever; vetti: knows; tattvataha: in reality; tyaktvaa: after leaving aside; deham: body; punah: again; janma: birth; na: never; eti: attains; maam: unto Me; eti: does attain; sorjuna = sah( he) + arjuna (Arjuna)

Content: 4.9 One who knows or experiences my divine appearance and activities does not take birth again in this material world after leaving the body

Content: But attains me, o Arjuna.

Content: वीतारागभयक्रोधा मन्मया मामुपाश्रिताः।

Content: बाहवो ज्ञानतपसा पूताः मद्भावमागताः॥४.१०॥

Content: Veeta raaga bhaya krodhaa manmayaa maam upaashritaaha bahavo jnaana tapasaa pootaa madbhaavam aagataaha 4.10

Content: veeta: free from; raaga: passion; bhaya: fear; krodha: anger; manmayaa: fully absorbed in Me; maam: unto Me; upaashritaaha: taking refuge; bahavah: many beings; jnaana: wisdom; tapasaa: by penance; pootaa: sanctified; madbhaavam: My nature; aagataaha: attained

Content: 4.10 Being freed from attachment, fear and anger, being filled with me and by taking refuge in me,

Content: Many beings in the past have become sanctified by the knowledge of me and have realized me.

Content: 223

Content: ये यथा मां प्रपद्यन्ते तांस्तथैव भजाम्यहम्। मम वत्र्मानुवर्तन्ते मनुष्याः पार्थ सर्वशः॥ ४.११॥

Content: ye: whoever; yathaa: wharever way; maam: unto Me; prapadyante: seek; taan: unto them; tathaa eva: in the same way; bhajaami: I approach; aham: I; mama: My; vartmaa: of the path; anuvartante: follow; manushyaaaha: people; paartha: son of Pritha; sarvashaha: in all respects

Content: 4.11 I reward everyone, I show myself to all people, according to the manner in which they surrender unto me,

Content: In the manner that they are devoted to me, oh Paaratha!

Content: काड्क्षन्तः कर्मणां सिद्धिं यजन्त इह देवताः। क्षिप्रं हि मानुषे लोके सिद्धिर्भवति कर्मजा॥ ४.१२॥

Content: kaankshantaha: desiring; karmanaam: of activities; siddhim: success; yajanta: worship; iha: in this world; devataaha: gods; kshipram: quickly; hi: for; maanushe loke: in human society; siddhihi bhavati: success comes; karmajaa: born of action

Content: 4.12 Men in this world desire success from activities and therefore they worship the gods.

Content: Men get instant results from active work in this world.

Content: चातुर्वर्ण्यं मया सृष्टं गुणकर्मविभागशः।

Content: तस्य कर्तारमपि मां विद्ध्यकर्तारमव्ययम्॥१८.१३॥

Content: chaatur varnyam mayaa srishtam guna karma vibhaagashaha

Content: tasya kartaaram api maam viddhi akartaaram avyayam 4.13

Content: chaatur varnyam: the four divisions of human society; mayaa: by Me; srishtam: created; guna: attribute; karma: work; vibhaagashaha: in terms of division; tasya: of that; kartaaram: doer; api: although; maam: Me; viddhi: know; akartaaram: as the non-doer; avyayam: immortal

Content: 4.13 Depending upon the distribution of the three attributes or gunas and action, I have created the four castes.

Content: Yet, I am to be known as the non-doer, the unchangeable.

Content: न मां कर्माणि लिम्पन्ति न मे कर्मफले स्पृहा।

Content: इति मां योऽभिजानाति कर्मभिर्न स बध्यते॥१८.१४॥

Content: na maam karmaani limpanti na me karma phale spruhaa iti maam yo abhijaanaati karmabhirna sa badhyate 4.14

Content: na: never; maam: Me; karmaani: work; limpanti: affect; na: not; me: My; karma phale: in fruits of action; spruhaa: longing for; iti: thus; maam: Me; yah: one who; abhijaanaati: understands; karmabhiḥ: by the action; na: never; saḥ: he; badhyate: is bound.

Content: 4.14 I am not affected by any work; nor do I long for the outcome of such work.

Content: One who understands this truth about me also does not get caught in the bondage of work.

Content: एवं ज्ञात्वा कृतं कर्म पूर्वैरपि मुमुक्षुभिः। कुरु कर्मैव तस्मात्त्वं पूर्वैः पूर्वतरं कृतम्॥ १८.९९॥

Content: evam jnaatva krutam karma poorvair api mumukshubhihi kuru karmaiva tasmaat tvam purvaih poorvataram krutam 4.15

Content: evam: thus; jnaatva: knowing well; krutam: performed; karma: work; poorvaih: by the ancient people; api: also; mumukshubhihi: by those seeking liberation; kuru: perform; karma: prescribed duty; eva: only; tasmaat: therefore; tvam: you; poorvaih: by the predecessors; poorvataram: as in the past; krutam: as performed

Content: 4.15 All the wise and liberated souls of ancient times have acted with this understanding and thus attained liberation.

Content: Just as the ancients did, perform your duty with this understanding.

Content: किं कर्म किमकर्मेति कवयोडप्यत्र मोहिताः।

Content: तत्ते कर्म प्रवक्ष्यामि यज्ञात्वा मोक्ष्यसेदशुभात्॥ ४.१६ ॥

Content: kim karma kim akarmeti kavayopi atra mohitaaha tat te karma pravakshyaami yat jnaatvaa mokshyase ashubhaat

Content: kim: what; karma: action; kim: what; akarma: inaction; iti: thus; kavayah: the wise; api: also; atra: in this matter; mohitaaha: confused; tat: that; te: unto you; karma: action; pravakshyaami: I shall explain; yat: which; jnaatvaa: after knowing; mokshyase: be liberated; ashubhaat: from ills

Content: 4.16

Content: 4.16 What is action and what is inaction, even the wise are confused.

Content: Let me explain to you what action is, knowing which you shall be liberated from all ills.

Content: कर्मणो ह्यपि बोद्धव्यं बोद्धव्यं च विकर्मणः। अकर्मणश्च बोद्धव्यं गहना कर्मणो गति:॥ ४.१७ ॥

Content: karmanah: of action; hi: for; api: also; boddhavyam: should be understood; boddhavyam: to be understood; cha: also; vikarmanaha: wrong action; akarmanaha: inaction; cha: also; boddhavyam: should be understood; gahanaa: mysterious; karmanaha: of action; gatihi: way.

Content: 4. 17 The complexities of action are very difficult to understand.

Content: Understand fully the nature of proper action by understanding the nature of wrong action and inaction.

Content: कर्मण्याकर्म यः पश्येदकर्मणि च कर्म यः। स बुद्धिमान् मनुष्येषु स युक्तः कृत्स्नकर्मकृत्॥ ४.१८ ॥

Content: karmany: in action; akarma: inaction; yaha: one who; pashyet: sees; akarmani: in inaction; cha: also; karma: action; yaha: one who; sah: he; buddhimaan: wise; manushyeshu: among men; sah: he; yuktaha: yogi; krutsna karma krut: engaged in all activities

Content: 4.18 He who sees inaction in action and action in inaction, is wise and a yogi,

Content: Even if engaged in all activities.

Content: यस्य सर्वे समारम्भाः कामसङ्कल्पवर्जिताः।

Content: ज्ञानाग्निदग्धकर्माणं तमाहुः पण्डितं बुधाः॥ ४.१९ ॥

Content: yasya sarve samaarambhaaha kaama sankalpa varjitaaha jnaanaagni dagdha karmaanam tam aahuhu panditam budhaaha 4.19

Content: yasya: one whose; sarve: all kinds of; samaarambhaaha: in all situations; kaama: desire for sense gratification; sankalpa: purpose; varjitaaha: devoid of; jnaana: of perfect knowledge; agni: fire; dagdhaa karmanaam: whose actions have been burnt; tam: him; aahuhu: declare; panditam: wise; budhaaha: the wise.

Content: 4.19 He who is determined and devoid of all desires for sense gratification, he is of perfect knowledge.

Content: The sages declare such a person wise whose actions are burnt by the fire of knowledge.

Content: त्यक्त्वा कर्मफलासङ्गं नित्यतृप्तो निराश्रयः।

Content: कर्मण्यभिप्रवृत्तोऽपि नैव किञ्चित्करोति सः॥ ४.२० ॥

Content: 229

Content: tyaktvaa karma phalaa sangam nitya trupto niraashrayaha karmany abhipravruttopi naiva kinchit karoti saha 4.20

Content: tyaktvaa: having given up; karma phalaa sangam: attachment to results of action; nitya: always; truptaḥ: satisfied; niraashrayaḥa: without shelter; karmani: in action; abhipravruttaḥ: being fully engaged; api: although; na: does not; eva: verily; kinchit: anything; karoti: does; saha: he

Content: 4.20 Having given up all attachment to the results of his action, always satisfied and independent,

Content: The wise man does not act, though he is engaged in all kinds of action.

Content: निराशीर्यतचित्तात्मा त्यक्तसर्वपरिग्रहः। शरीरं केवलं कर्म कुर्वन्नाप्नोति किल्बिषम्॥४.२१॥

Content: niraasheeryata chittaatmaa tyakta sarva parigrahaḥ| shaareeraṁ kevalaṁ karma kurvannāpnoti kilbiṣam 4.21

Content: niraasheehi: without desire for the result; yata: controlled; chitta atma: mind and consciousness; tyakta: giving up; sarva: all; parigrahaḥa: sense of ownership; shaareeraṁ: body; kevalaṁ: only; karma: work; kurvan: doing so; na: never; aapnoti: acquire; kilbiṣam: sin

Content: 4.21 The person who acts without desire for the result; with his consciousness controlling the mind,

Content: Giving up all sense of ownership over his possessions and body and only working, incurs no sin.

Content: 230

Content: यदृच्छालाभसन्तुष्टो द्वन्द्वातीतो विमत्सरः। समः सिद्धावसिद्धौ च कृत्वापि न निबध्यते॥४.२२॥

Content: yadrucchaa laabha: what is obtained unsought; santushtaha: satisfied; dvandva: pairs of opposites; ateetah: surpassed; vimatsaraha: free from envy; samaha: equal; siddhau: in success; asiddhau: in failure; cha: also; krutvaa: after doing; api: even; na: never; nibadhyate: bound

Content: 4.22 He who is satisfied with profit which comes of its own accord and who has gone beyond duality, who is free from envy,

Content: Who is in equanimity both in success and failure, such a person though doing action, is never affected.

Content: गतसङ्गस्य मुक्तस्य ज्ञानावस्थितचेतसः। यज्ञायाचरतः कर्म समग्रं प्रविलीयते॥४.२३॥

Content: gata sangasya: unattached to the modes of material nature; muktasya: of the liberated; jnaana: knowledge; avasthita: established; chetasaha: of such spirit; yajnaaya: for the sake of sacrifice; aacharataha: practice; karma: work; samagram: in total; pravileeyate: melts away.

Content: 4.23 The work of a liberated man who is unattached to the modes of material nature and who is fully centered in the ultimate knowledge,

Content: Who works totally for the sake of sacrifice, merges entirely into the knowledge.

Content: ब्रह्मार्पणं ब्रह्महविर्ब्रह्माग्नौ ब्रह्मणा हुतम्‌ ।

Content: ब्रह्मैव तेन गन्तव्यं ब्रह्मकर्मसमाधिना ॥ ४.२४ ॥

Content: brahmaarpanam brahma havirbrahmaagnau brahmanaa hutam

Content: brahmaiva tena gantavyam brahma karma samaadhinaa 4.24

Content: brahma: Supreme; arpanam: offering; brahma: Supreme; havihi: oblation; brahma: Supreme; agnau: in the fire of; brahmanaa: by the Supreme; hutam: offered; brahma: Supreme; eva: only; tena: by him; gantavyam: to be reached; brahma: Supreme; karma: action; samaadhinaa: by complete absorption

Content: 4.24 The offering, the offered butter to the supreme in the fire of the supreme is offered by the supreme.

Content: Certainly, the supreme can be reached by him who is absorbed completely in action.

Content: दैवमेवापरे यज्ञं योगिनः पर्युपासते ।

Content: ब्रह्माग्नावपरे यज्ञं यज्ञेनैवोपजुह्वति ॥ ४.२५ ॥

Content: daivamevaapare yajnam yoginah paryupaasate |

Content: brahmaagnavaapare yajnam yajnenaivopajuhvati || 4.25 ||

Content: daivam evaapare yajnam yoginaha paryupaasate brahmaagnau apare yajnam yajnenaiva upajuuhvati 4.25

Content: daivam: gods; eva: only; apare: others; yajnam: sacrifices; yoginaha: yogis; paryupaasate: worship; brahma: Supreme; agnau: in the fire; apare: others; yajnam: sacrifice; yajnena: by sacrifice; eva: only; upajuuhvati: offer as sacrifice.

Content: 4.25 Some yogis worship the gods by offering various sacrifices to them,

Content: While others worship by offering sacrifices in the fire of the supreme.

Content: श्रोत्रादीनीन्द्रियाण्यन्ये संयमाग्निषु जुह्वति। शब्दादीन्विषयानन्य इन्द्रियाग्निषु जुह्वति ॥ ४.२६ ॥

Content: Shrotraadeeni indriyaany anye samyamaagnishu juhvati shabdaadeen vishayaan anya indriyaagnishu juhvati 4.26

Content: shrotraadeeni: organ of hearing; indriyaany: senses; anye: others; samyama: self discipline; agnishu: in the fire; juhvati: offers as sacrifice; shabdaadeen: sound vibrations; vishayaan: objects of sense gratification; anya: others; indriya: of sense organs; agnishu: in the fire; juhvati: sacrifice

Content: 4.26 Some sacrifice the hearing process and other senses in the fire of equanimity

Content: And others offer as sacrifice the objects of the senses, such as sound, in the fire of the sacrifice.

Content: सर्वाणीन्द्रियकर्माणि प्राणकर्माणि चापरे । आत्मसंयमयोगाग्नौ जुह्वति ज्ञानदीपिते ॥ ४.२७ ॥

Content: Sarvaani indriya karmaani praana karmaani chaapare aatma samyama yogaagnau juhvati jnaana deepite 4.27

Content: sarvaani: all; indriya: senses; karmaani: actions; praana karmaani: activities of the life breath; cha: also; apare: others; aatma samyama: self control; yoga: yoga; agnau: in the fire of; juhvati: offers; jnana deepite: kindled by wisdom.

Content: 4.27 One who is interested in knowledge offers all the actions due to the senses,

Content: Including the action of taking in the life breath into the fire of yoga and is engaged in the yoga of the equanimity of the mind.

Content: द्रव्ययज्ञास्तपोयज्ञा योगयज्ञास्तथापरे । स्वाध्यायज्ञानयज्ञाश्च यतयः संशितव्रताः ॥ ४.२८ ॥

Content: dravya yajnaastapo yajnaa yoga yajnaastathaa apare svaadhyaya jnaana yajnaashcha yatayaha samshita vrataaha 4.28

Content: dravya: material wealth; yajnaah: sacrifice; tapah: penance; yajnaah: sacrifice; yoga: yoga; yajnah: sacrifice; tathaa: and; apare: others; svaadhyaaya: self-study; jnaana: knowledge; yajnaah: sacrifice; cha: and; yatayaha: striving souls; samshita vrataaha: those of strict vows.

Content: 4.28 There is the sacrifice of material wealth, sacrifice through penance, sacrifice through yoga

Content: And other sacrifices while there is sacrifice through self-study and through strict vows

Content: अपाने जुह्वति प्राणं प्राणेऽपानं तथाऽपररे।

Content: प्राणापानगती रुद्ध्वा प्राणायामपरायणाः॥ ४.२९॥

Content: apaane juhvati praanam praane apaanam athaa apare

Content: praanaapaana gatee ruddhvaa praanaayaama paraayanaaha 4.29

Content: Apaane: in the out going breath; juhvati: sacrifice; praanam: life energy; praane: in the life energy; apaanam: the outgoing breath; athaa: thus; apare: others; praana: inhaling; apaana: exhaling; gatee: movement; ruddhvaa: after restraining; praanaayaama: breath control; paraayanaaha: so inclined

Content: 4.29 There are others who sacrifice the life energy in the form of incoming breath and outgoing breath,

Content: Thus checking the movement of the incoming and outgoing breaths and controlling the breath.

Content: अपरे नियताहाराः प्राणान्प्राणेषु जुह्वति।

Content: सर्वेऽप्येते यज्ञविदो यज्ञक्षपितकल्मषाः॥ ४.३०॥

Content: apare niyataahaaraah praanaan praaneṣhu juhvati|

Content: sarve'pyete yajñavido yajñakṣapitakalmaṣāḥ||4.30||

Content: apare niyata aahaaraaha praanaan praaneshu juhvati sarve apy ete yajnavido yajna kshapita kalmashaaha 4.30

Content: apare: others; niyataa: controlled; aahaaraha: eating; praanaan: vital energy; praaneshu: in the vital energy; juhvati: sacrifice; sarve api ete: all of these; yajna vidaaha: those knowing sacrifice; yajna kshapita kalmashaaha: those destroying their sins through sacrifice.

Content: 4.30 There are others who sacrifice through controlled eating and offering the outgoing breath, life energy.

Content: All these people know the meaning of sacrifice and are purified of sin or karma.

Content: यज्ञशिष्टामृतभुजो यान्ति ब्रह्म सनातनम्। नायं लोकोऽस्त्ययज्ञस्य कुतोऽन्यः कुरुसत्तम ॥४.३१॥

Content: yajna shishta amruta bhujo yaanti brahma sanaatanam na ayam loko asty ayajnasy a kuto anyaha kurusattama 4.31

Content: yajna shishta: left over of sacrifice; amruta: nectar; bhujah: one who enjoys; yaanti: attain; brahma: Supreme; sanaatanam: eternal; na: not; ayam: this; lokah: world; asty: is; ayajnasy a: to one who does not sacrifice; kutah: where; anyaha: other; kurusattama: O Best among the Kurus

Content: 4.31 Having tasted the nectar of the results of such sacrifices, they go to the supreme eternal consciousness.

Content: This world is not for those who have not sacrificed. How can the other be, Arjuna?

Content: एवं बहुविधा यज्ञा वितता ब्रह्मणो मुखे । कर्मजान्विद्धि तान्सर्वानेवं ज्ञात्वा विमोक्ष्यसे ॥ ४.३२ ॥

Content: evam: thus; bahu: many; vidhah: kinds of; yajna: sacrifice; vitataah: explained; brahmanah mukhe: in the words of the Veda; karma jan: born of actions of mind, sense and body; viddhi: know; taan: those; sarvaan: all; evam: thus; jnaatvaa: after knowing; vimokshyase: will be liberated

Content: 4.32 Thus, there are many kinds of sacrifices born of work mentioned in the Vedas.

Content: Thus, knowing these, one will be liberated.

Content: श्रेयान्द्रव्यमयाद्यज्ञाज्ज्ञानयज्ञः परन्तप । सर्वं कर्माखिलं पार्थ ज्ञाने परिसमाप्यते ॥ ४.३३ ॥

Content: shreyaan: superior; dravyamayaat: material wealth; yajnaat: sacrifice; jnaana yajnah: sacrifice in wisdom; parantapa: O subduer of foes; sarvam: all; karma: activities; akhilam: in totality; paartha: O son of Pritha; jnaane: in wisdom; parisamaapyate: ends in

Content: 4.33 O conqueror of foes, the sacrifice of wisdom is superior to the sacrifice of material wealth.

Content: After all, all activities totally end in wisdom.

Content: तद्विद्धि प्रणिपातेन परिप्रश्नेन सेवया।

Content: उपदेक्ष्यन्ति ते ज्ञानं ज्ञानिनस्तत्त्वदर्शिनः॥ ४.३४॥

Content: tat viddhi pranipaatena pariprashnena sevayaa

Content: upadekshyanti te jnaanam jnaaninas tattva darshinaha 4.34

Content: tat: that; viddhi: understand; pranipaatena: by approaching a spiritual master; pariprashnena: by questioning; sevayaa: by offering service; upadekshyanti: will advise; te: unto you; jnaan am: knowledge; jnaanina h: the enlightened; tattva darshinaha : the spiritual seers.

Content: 4.34 Understand these truths by approaching a spiritual master, by asking him your questions, by offering service.

Content: The enlightened person can initiate the wisdom unto you because he has seen the truth

Content: यज्ञात्वा न पुनर्मोहमेवं यास्यसि पाण्डव।

Content: येन भूतान्यशेषेण द्रक्ष्यस्यात्मन्यथो मयि॥ ४.३५॥

Content: yat jnaatvaa na punar moham evam yaasyasi paandava yena bhootany asheshena drakshyasy aatmany atho mayi 4.35

Content: yat: which; jnaatvaa: after knowing; na: not; punah: again; moham: desire; evam: thus; yaasyasi: shall attain; paandava: O son of Pandu; yena: by which; bhootaani: living entities; asheshena: totally; drakshyasi: will see; aatmani: within yourself; atho: then; mayi: in Me

Content: 4.35 O Pandava, knowing this you will never suffer from desire or illusion,

Content: You will know that all living beings are in the supreme, in me.

Content: अपि चेदसि पापेभ्यः सर्वेभ्यः पापकृत्तमः । सर्व ज्ञानप्लवेनैव वृजिनं सन्तरिष्यसि ॥ ४.३६ ॥

Content: api chet asi paapebhyaha sarvebhyaha paapa kruttamaha sarvam jnaana plavenaiva vrjinam santarishyasi 4.36

Content: api: even; chet: if; asi: you are; paapebhyaha: of sinners; sarvebhyaha: of all; paapa: sins; kruttamaha: greatest sinner; sarvam: all; jnaana plavena: by the boat of knowledge; eva: only; vrjinam: the ocean of miseries; santarishyasi: you will cross.

Content: 4.36 Even if you are the most sinful of all sinners,

Content: You will certainly cross completely the ocean of miseries through the boat of knowledge.

Content: यथैधांसि समिद्धोऽग्निर्भस्मसात्कुरुते ऽर्जुन । ज्ञानाग्निः सर्वकर्माणि भस्मसात्कुरुते तथा ॥ ४.३७ ॥

Content: yatha: as; edhamsi: firewood; samiddhaha: blazing; agnihi: fire; bhasmasaat: ashes; kurute: does; arjuna: O Arjuna; jnaana: knowledge; agnihi: fire; sarva: all; karmaani: actions; bhasmasaat: ashes; kurute: does; tathaa: in the same way.

Content: 4.37 Just as a blazing fire turns firewood to ashes, o Arjuna,

Content: So does the fire of wisdom burn to ashes all actions, all your karma.

Content: न हि ज्ञानेन सदृशं पवित्रमिह विद्यते । तत्स्वयं योगसंसिद्धः कालेनात्मनि विन्दति ॥ ४.३८ ॥

Content: na: not; hi: certainly; jnaanena: with knowledge; sadrusham: similar; pavitram: pure; iha: here; vidyate: exists; tat: that; svayam: himself; yoga: in devotion; samsiddhaha: purified; kaalena: in course time; aatmani: within self; vindati: acquires.

Content: 4.38 Truly, in this world, there is nothing as pure as wisdom.

Content: One who has matured to know this enjoys in himself in due course of time.

Content: श्रद्धावाँल्लभते ज्ञानं तत्परः संयतेन्द्रियः। ज्ञानं लब्ध्वा परां शान्तिमचिरेणाधिगच्छति॥४.३९॥

Content: Shraddhaavaan labhate jnaanams tatparaha samyate indriyaha jnaanams labdhvaa paraam shaantim achirena adhigachhati 4.39

Content: shraddhaavaan: faithful person; labhate: achieves; jnaanams: knowledge; tatparaha: attached ; samyata: controlled; indriyaha: senses; jnaanams: knowledge; labdhvaa: having achieved; paraam: Supreme; shaantim: peace; achirena: without delay; adhigachhati: attains

Content: 4.39 A person with shraddha (courageous faith) achieves wisdom and has control over the senses.

Content: Achieving wisdom, without delay, he attains supreme peace.

Content: अज्ञश्चाश्रद्दधानश्च संशयात्मा विनश्यति। नायं लोकोऽस्ति न परो न सुखं संशयात्मनः॥४.४०॥

Content: ajnashcha ashraddhaanashcha samshayaatmaa vinashyati na ayam loko asti na parO na sukham samshayaatmanaha

Content: ajnah: ignorant; cha: and; ashraddhaanah: one having no faith; cha: and; samshayaatmaa: douting soul; vinashyati: perish; na: not; ayam: this; lokah: world; asti: is; na: not; parah: next; na: not; sukham: happiness; samshayaatmanaha: of the doubting soul.

Content: 4.40 Those who have no wisdom and faith, who always have doubts, are destroyed.

Content: There is no happiness in this world or the next.

Content: योगसंन्यस्तकर्माणं ज्ञानसंछिन्नसंशयम्। आत्मवन्तं न कर्माणि निबध्नन्ति धनञ्जय॥18.49॥

Content: Yoga sannyasta karmaanam jnaana sancchinna sanshayam aatmavantam na karmaani nibadhnanti dhananjaya

Content: yoga sannyasta karmaanam: on who has dedicated his actions to God according to Karma yoga; jnaana sancchinna samshayam: who doubts have been cleared by knowledge; aatma vantam: self possessed; na: not; karmaani: actions; nibadhnanti: bind; dhananjaya: O Dhanañjaya

Content: 4.41 O winner of riches, one who has renounced the fruits of his actions, whose doubts are destroyed, who is well-situated in the self, is not bound by his actions.

Content: तस्मादज्ञानसंभूतं हृत्स्थं ज्ञानासिनाऽऽत्मनः। छित्त्वैनं संशयं योगमातिष्ठोत्तिष्ठ भारत॥४.४२॥

Content: tasmaat: therefore; ajnaana: ignorance; sambhootam: born of; hrit stham: situated in the heart; jnaanaasinaa: by the sword of knowledge; aatmanaha: of the self; chittvaa: having cutting off; enam: this; samshayam: doubt; yogam: in yoga; aatishtha: be firm; uttishtha: stand up; bhaarata: O descendant of Bharata

Content: 4.42 O descendant of Bharata, therefore, stand up, be situated in yoga.

Content: Armed with the sword of knowledge; cut the doubt born of ignorance that exists in your heart.

Content: What is the purpose of our lives?

Content: There is no goal to life. As long as we struggle towards a goal in life, we miss the joy of living. There is no distant goal to be reached that will liberate us.

Content: When each moment itself becomes the reason to exist and celebrate, that moment becomes the path and the goal.

Content: So how to act without purpose? What is inaction in action? What must you sacrifice to enjoy the eternal bliss that Krishna declares as His true nature? How can we know if someone is enlightened and qualified to guide us?

Content: In chapter four of the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna addresses these doubts for Arjuna. Nithyananda addresses these very doubts for the contemporary seeker who is struggling with the same confusions that plagued Arjuna thousands of years ago.

Content: He teaches that simple awareness and the courage to experiment, will lead to the ultimate inner transformation.

Content: © Ebook ISBN: 979-8-88572-066-3

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