Address misery first by recognizing its fundamental cause then its circumstantial cause Gita 09.33

Thank you.
Hare Krishna. Bhagavad Gita has 9.33. Krishna speaks over here, since this world is anityam, temporary, asukham, it is a place which is devoid of eternality and devoid of happiness. Therefore, imam prabh, having attained this world, worship me.
Now, the atma is sat, chit and ananda. So nitya, the atma is nitya whereas this world is anitya. The atma is anandi, sat, chit, ananda, this world is asukham.
So there is a radical difference, not just a difference, there is a radical contradiction between the nature of this world and the nature of our core self. And this difference is the primary cause of our distress to the extent we can recognize that we are distressed because of our, not because of so much specific issues, specific issues are definitely there as causes of distress. But if we recognize the generic mismatch, so this world stresses not just the specific issues, specific flashpoints, but the generic fundamental incompatibility between our essential nature and the world’s nature.
And the more we understand this difference and the more we strive to address this difference in a reasonable, rational way, the more we won’t get worked up by specific issues, but will work to address the fundamental issues. Thus, for example, if we understand say that we are in a place where say the native language, the fundamental incompatibility, let us consider if we are in a place where people do not understand the language we speak and we do not understand the language they speak, then there may be specific statements we do not understand or they do not understand. We won’t get so worked up why they misunderstood this or why they misunderstood that because we will understand the fundamental mismatch is there.
Similarly, at that time, so that time we may need to do something specific to address the misunderstandings, maybe get a translator to communicate between us and them. But along with that and more foundational than that, we will need to make sure that we do not let ourselves get carried away, get consumed, get unnecessarily irritated by specifics. So, like that, once we understand the essential incompatibility between this world and us, then we can work for the specifics in whatever way is necessary.
That would mean we will work towards purifying, we will work towards redirecting our central shelter from the world to Krishna. We will redirect our focus from striving to simply connect with ourselves, striving to address the specific thing which we may need to address. But we also move forwards and try to see what can be done about the generic incompatibility that is the generic problem that is there.
Or to give another example, there is a disease, it has its cause and its symptoms. So, symptoms need to be addressed, of course, if somebody is coughing severely, then maybe they need to be given something to help them with their cough. But along with that, they may well need to, have they got TB, have they got something which is causing these cough attacks? That also needs to be seen.
So, Krishna is in this particular section of the Bhagavad Gita, focusing on the fundamental issues. Fundamental issue is that, Oh Arjuna, bhaja swamam, just worship me. Why? Because anityam asukham lokam, this world is a place of misery and it is generically a place of misery for everyone, whether people are wealthy or whether people are poor.
There is misery for everyone. And the capacity to accept that this world is a place of misery and that we are not in control of things, that does not mean we are not in control of anything, but just acknowledging that there is a limit to our scope of control. Sometimes things can go wrong in ways which are far beyond our capacity to control.
Just acknowledging that, it is paradoxical that sometimes acknowledging our powerlessness can give us a sense of power that, or rather put it another way that the failure to increase, to acknowledge our powerlessness increases our powerlessness. So, for example, if I am in a situation where, in a place where people do not understand the language I am speaking and they do not understand the language which, basically we do not understand each other’s languages, then still I try to speak in my language and I try to communicate, it just does not work. It is much better if instead we work, okay, I am powerless here to communicate with them.
Once I accept my powerlessness, then the next step will be okay. I can start looking for alternatives, but in that particular situation, verbal communication through words in a particular language is powerless. The faster I acknowledge that, the more likely it is that I can do something to change it.
The more I delay acknowledging that, the more I decrease the probability of changing things. So, here, let us think how we could address this issue. So, acknowledging our powerlessness is actually a way to power.
It is not that I am utterly powerless. I have the power maybe to remove this particular problem this way or address it in this particular way. But somehow it is, this particular point, it is not working.
So, failure to acknowledge our powerlessness increases our powerlessness, whereas acknowledging our powerlessness directs us to where our power lies. In a foreign country where there is a language gap, then my power lies in either learning nonverbal communication or in finding someone who can communicate in that situation, who knows both languages. So, there are always doors that can be opened, but the doors can be opened only after I acknowledge that the door on which I am going through is closed.
You would not even start looking for other doors if we think somehow, why is this door not opening? Why is this door not opening? Why is this door not opening? By focusing on putting first things first, we can move onwards in dealing with other things in our life. But similarly, when we recognize misery as a part of life in this world, that would mean, say for example, misunderstandings as an inherent feature of relationships in this world, then we won’t get so worked up when a particular relationship becomes dogged by misunderstanding. Yes, we will in a practical way do what is necessary to address the misunderstanding without letting ourselves be carried away by negativity.
The same principle applies in general that whenever we see misery in life, by understanding that misery is natural to this world, we don’t get worked up inordinately, but we work without getting too much into the mode of blaming specific causes to addressing the generic cause of our incompatibility with the world’s essential nature and of taking shelter of Krishna and then with ourselves calmed and composed by excusing the shelter of Krishna, then we return back to discuss how to specifically again respond to that particular situation. When Krishna says, that this world is a place of misery, therefore, just worship me. That worship me does not mean Krishna is telling Arjuna to tolerate the atrocities which have been done by the Kauravas.
He just asks them to act assertively to change that. But it is done in a way that does not, it is not a knee-jerk reaction. It is a mature choice for establishing dharma.
It is a mature assertive choice for establishing dharma is different from a knee-jerk reaction that may itself comprise a dharma and perpetuate a dharma. Thank you.