Essence of Gita 5 – Choose God over the world

Hare Krishna. Welcome back to this last part of our discussion on the essence of the Bhagavad Gita.

We discussed till now how love is the essence of the Gita, and how a spiritual foundation of life helps us to see how our longing for love can be eternally fulfilled, when it is directed towards the supreme spiritual reality God. And then we discussed the essence of the Gita as manifested in four verses. 10.8 to 11.

In this last session, we will talk about how the Gita's message of love is demonstrated in the setting where it is delivered. By setting, we are not talking now about the war field on which the Gita was spoken. We discussed that in the first talk.

Now we are discussing about the chariot itself. So, God is often thought as a supreme being to whom everyone else has to bow down. But the Bhagavad Gita reveals a dramatically different conception of God, where God is a charioteer.

Charioteer is like a chauffeur. And now how if we came to know that President of America had become the chauffeur for someone, we would be amazed. We expect that President of America would have a dozen or more chauffeurs being ready to drive his vehicle wherever he wants to go.

How would he become a chauffeur for someone? We would be intrigued. What is happening over here? So like that, the Bhagavad Gita begins by describing the first mention of God comes in the Bhagavad Gita. Krishna comes in 1.14 where it describes that Krishna and Arjuna are mati sandanesita madhava pandavas chaiva divyam shankhau pradagmatuhu that mati sandanesita on a magnificent chariot they are situated.

and madhava pandavas chaiva the Bhagavad Gita is a poetry. And there are many beautiful poetic ornaments in the Gita. And one of those ornaments is the his ranks madhava pandava both Krishna and Arjuna have many different names but here the first reference to them together comes in a poetically alliterative reference madhava pandavas chaiva and what do they do? divyam shankhau pradagmatuhu they burn their conscience divine conscience.

So Krishna who is the supreme God he has become the charioteer of his devotees. So this demonstrates that love when directed towards God is selfless. Yes, we do need to love and serve God but that serving God does not mean that we have the nature of love, when we talk about love we say we fall in love.

We don't say we stand in love. Why fall in love? Because when we love someone we become so captivated by that person that we think you are so great in front of me I'll do whatever you want me to do. So most often what happens when people fall in love or claim to fall in love is infatuation.

But the test of love is not how we fall in love but how we stay in love. So love is tested not by the initial infatuation but it is tested by subsequent dedication and dedication means we are ready to do what it takes to sustain that relationship to deepen that love. And here we see in the Bhagavad Gita that God has become the devotee become the charioteer of his devotee.

So Krishna is taking the menial position of a chauffeur for his devotee. Such is the sweet depiction, sweet relationship between God and his devotee. And such is the relationship that we all can have.

Because at one level the body is like a chariot for us and Krishna is present as a charioteer in our heart also. That that the supreme lord is present in the heart of all living beings situated in the heart and that all living beings are wandering this lord is guiding us. We are all seated in the machine and Krishna is guiding us.

Then charioteer guides similarly Krishna also guides all of us. So now the point is how did Krishna become the charioteer of Arjuna. At one level Krishna shows his love for Arjuna by willingly taking the subordinate position of the charioteer.

Love of course is never unidirectional. To be truly fulfilling it has to be bidirectional. Both people should love each other.

Just as Krishna demonstrates his love for Arjuna by being there in his heart as a charioteer similarly Krishna is present in the heart of all of us also to guide us. So he is directing the wanderings of all of us and just as when Arjuna turned to Krishna for guidance Krishna gave guidance and helped him to attain victory. Similarly if we turn to Krishna for guidance we can also attain victory in our life attain success in our life supreme success, supreme satisfaction of undying spiritual love.

So now when Krishna speaks how has Krishna become the charioteer of Arjuna? That has happened because of Arjuna's choosing Krishna before the war before the war started the two opponents the Kauravas and the Pandavas started seeking allies among the various kings in different parts different nearby parts. So both Krishna both sought the assistance of Krishna. So Duryodhana himself decided to go to Krishna to seek an alliance with him and Arjuna also went and when they came to Krishna's palace both of them entered.

Actually Krishna came Duryodhana came slightly earlier and then he entered into Krishna's palace and they were told that Krishna is sleeping. So Duryodhana went and waited for him near his head. Arjuna came followed him and he went and stood near Krishna's feet and then Krishna after sometime opened his eyes and he said, Oh Arjuna when did you come? Welcome.

And Krishna got up and as he turned around he said, Oh Duryodhana you are also here. When did you come? Please come. And then he greeted both of them and after initial greetings he asked, What can I do for you? Duryodhana said that as you know there is going to be a war between the Kauravas and the Pandavas and I have come to seek your alliance.

And then he saw Arjuna was also there and he already knew that Krishna and Arjuna were friends so he didn't want his interest to be jeopardized. So he tried to push his own interest by saying that Krishna you know that I came here first so you should fulfill my request. So Krishna smiled sweetly and he said that Oh Duryodhana you may have come here first but I saw you first.

So there was Arjuna's humility which stood him in good stead. Other than going and standing by Krishna's side, he stood by Krishna's legs and that's how Krishna saw him first. Now Duryodhana was seething with annoyance at this time but Krishna smiled and he said but still I will try to help both of you and he said because I saw Arjuna first and moreover Arjuna is younger to you so naturally he should get the first chance to ask you something and Krishna said that because you are both related to me I have decided I will not fight in this war.

I will be on one side as a counsellor and on the other side will be my whole army. One Akshahuni Narayan Sena and you can choose whatever you want and Duryodhana started burning in and said Oh I lost my chance. What will be the use of Krishna if the Narayan Sena is not there.

Arjuna assured Narayan Sena and I will have to go back with this Krishna who had also said that I will be unarmed and I will be a non-combatant. I will not fight in the war. So without any hesitation Arjuna immediately said Oh Krishna I choose you and Duryodhana exploded with joy but curving his joy he said Oh I guess then I will have to settle for the Narayan Sena and he took the Narayan Sena and departed.

Now Duryodhana does a comparative assessment of the two forces in the first few verses of the Bhagavad Gita from the second verse, third verse onward third, fourth verse onward he starts speaking till around the eleventh, twelfth verses. So there he describes the important warriors on both sides but he misses out one person it's Krishna because he thinks Krishna is a non-combatant so he doesn't count Krishna and yet if we look at the Mahabharata what takes place Krishna even without fighting plays a decisive role in ensuring the Pandavas victory. So Duryodhana represents the quintessential materialist who thinks that material things are all that matters and when somebody is not fighting what is the use? He is simply calculating in gross 1D terms Why is that person not fighting? That person doesn't count but Arjuna is a spiritualist.

The devotee has a spiritual vision and he chooses God over the world and because he chooses God over the world Krishna becomes so pleased. Krishna says what can I do for you Krishna? Arjuna says please become my charity. Krishna agrees So when we choose God when Arjuna chooses God over the world God gives Arjuna the world Now God gives Arjuna the intelligence, the insight, the ideas by which at critical times throughout the war he is able to make the right moves Similarly in this world when we turn towards God, when we devote ourselves to God we may think what am I getting practically? Is it going to give me some money? Is it going to give me some job? Is it going to give me some position? What am I getting tangibly? But actually more important in the tangible are the intangibles.

So we see that nowadays more and more organizations are recognizing the importance of stress management because they are recognizing that even if the employees are physically present with us for long hours if they are mentally and emotionally disturbed, if they are stressed out then they cannot function So our productivity our success doesn't just depend on our time or our ability it also depends on our stability and that inner stability comes by having a stable foundation to our lives and God is that stable foundation When we turn to God, when we devote ourselves to God, He is the rock that never shakes. He is the calm amidst the storms of the world He is the shelter who never fades. He is the one whose love for us never dies out So when we have that connection for God within us then we can face whatever the world throws our way we can face it with integrity and stability and just as Arjuna eventually attained victory despite overwhelming odds against him similarly whatever difficulties we may face in life if we choose God over the world consistently if we stay devoted to God then God will help us to weather whatever storms come in our life and it is to reveal this message of love and to invite us to this life of love that Krishna speaks the Bhagavad Gita and that Krishna descends to this world in the way of Jinmashtami to attract our hearts and lives to Him So on the on this occasion of meditating on the essence of the Gita we can contemplate how the Gita redirects and fulfills our deepest and strongest longing, the longing for love.