Gita 06.37 – Considering future problems is a sign of intelligence

6.36 6.37 Three texts Arjuna will ask a question to Krishna 6.37 With faith one who is engaged In the path of yoga Ayat One is unable to continue Yoga On the path of yoga One gets deviated The mind gets deviated And following the mind The seeker gets devoted The potential yogi gets deviated Not attaining yogic perfection What is the Destination of such a person Oh Krishna please tell me The connection In the previous sections To the word manas The point of Ishtama yoga Is to bring the mind To a point of equanimity Towards everything And Arjuna said that is very difficult Because the mind Rages like a wind And Krishna replied that it is difficult But it is possible by practice And it is essential And it is doable That was the answer 35.36 Now here Arjuna asked another question Based on the mind The mind is Because the mind is restless The mind goes away from Krishna And the yogi too Will not be able to stay on that path for long Because Essentially Where our mind Is that's where we are And where our mind goes That's where we go When the mind goes away The yogi will also Go in that direction sooner or later And then The yogi will not attain perfection And then What will be the destination of such a yogi In general The Impulsive person The short sighted Or the foolish person Just lives Only for the moment That means If The present is enjoyable Then that's all that matters And don't worry About the future that's what people think about But In fact the sign of wisdom Sign of intelligence Is the capacity To prepare for the future When We face difficulties When we face challenges Then to the extent that We are prepared for the future To that extent we will be able to Deal with it Even in the plant kingdom Or in the animal kingdom The plants that grow Their roots as deep And as far as possible They are the plant They are the plant that survive Survive the longest Amidst adverse conditions Because even if the Water level Under the ground goes down Still their roots have already deep rooted And they can find water wherever it is available Similarly Say we consider a desert The Animals like Camels have their hump Which is Specially devised to enable them To provide food To store food, store water And So even when they Have to go for long distances without water They are able to live Now these animals May not consciously think Of Developing a hump or But the point is That the same supreme lord who maintains Everyone Creates within These living beings biological Mechanisms by which Long term survival becomes Possible even when there is no Short term need for it So the In general The capacity To see long term is important For For dealing with Crisis That will come in the long run And such a capacity for long term Perception is especially essential For pursuing spiritual life And Arjuna Expresses a natural concern here That If We take up Spiritual life that means we will have to At least to some extent Give up material life So now Arjuna was never living A sensuous want, an adharmic material life He was living A dharmic material life That means If you look at the Mahabharata Of which the Bhagavad Gita is a part The Kshatriyas Generally live As depicted in the Mahabharata A life of Dharma, Artha, Kama That they do Dharma They do Sacrifices, they offer respect to the Brahmanas And they Protect overall Brahminical culture And by all this By living a life of Dharma They expect to ascend to heaven They expect to By living a life of Dharma they expect Artha and Kama In this world They have great wealth and they have beautiful queens And they expect to go to heaven Where they can have similar things So now Karmakanda requires Substantial amount of wealth And resources And commitment So Dharma, Artha, Kama Is in that sense Not easy To ensure So those who ensure Dharma, Artha, Kama And those who Practice Dharma, Artha, Kama They cannot renounce The world The way Ashtanga Yoga requires Krishna is depicted So just Leave everything, go to secluded place And Sit on an asana In a place that is neither too high nor too low And practice meditation So all that Krishna is describing here This is not very This is not practical when doing Karmakanda So more or less the person renounces the world So then If one is not doing Karmakanda duties One cannot expect to go to heaven So the person will not attain heaven And now If that person is not going to attain heaven Then what is the prospect? Is that person going to Go to Hell? No, it depends on what kind of Karma one does What other activity one is going to do So Krishna, Arjuna is asking that If one is If he would do his Karmakanda duties If you do your Karmakanda duties You will go to Swarga If one does one's Yoga sadhana very seriously Then one will attain Moksha That's the central understanding But if one If Say a candidate Gives up Karmakanda And thereby gives up the prospect of attaining heaven And then practices Yoga But does not Persevere in the path of Yoga Because of the restless mind Then that person will not get Moksha also So what will be the destination Of such a person that Neither Swarga Nor Moksha What will be the destination of such a person And the whole Idea underlying the anxiety of Arjuna that is expressed through this is That Arjuna is a far-sighted person Who is considering The consequences The various possibilities That might emerge When he makes a particular choice And accordingly he wants to make a Intelligent choice Even if it involves some risk He wants it to be a Intelligent calculated risk And therefore he asks this question And Krishna Will answer it from 41 to 45 Arjuna will Verbalize this question further in two more verses And then Krishna will begin his answer Thank you.