Gita 18.35 – Expecting the worst of everything is ignorant, not transcendent

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
thank you ignorance he is talking about how sometimes this this is where one does not give up negative thought patterns which holds on to them even when it is hurt by them that is Krishna says in the mode of Indranath Vishadam in the mode of Indranath Vishadam is Vishad is moroseness moroseness is a habitual negative outlook towards life sometimes the philosophy that the philosophical point that the world is a place of misery can be misunderstood or misapplied to rationalize pessimism that means sometimes some people may start thinking that because because so many things are because anywhere this world is a place of misery anywhere there are going to be Adhyatmik, Adhibhakt, Kalpavik, Klesh anywhere I am going to grow old, get deceased and die so anywhere there is going to be misery therefore why should I do anything and whenever I do anything also I start expecting the worst of everything and such an attitude one may rationalize as being realistic but it is not at all based on the reality yes this world is a place of misery but beyond this world and supervising this world and even acting through this world is a god of love Krishna loves us and his love is not restricted to only otherworldly things that means Krishna’s love is not restricted to how he takes us out of this world and even if someone says that Krishna’s ultimate love is taking us out of this world which is true still it is by living in this world that we go outside the truth and it is not that Krishna doesn’t give us any glimpses or experiences of his love while we are in this world so if we start expecting the worst of everything if we start a project and we expect oh the people working with me will cheat me if somebody is running a factory my factory will catch fire oh when I have to do a big business deal that time I will fall sick the mind will go into all kind of negative thought fantasies and we may give in to these thought fantasies thinking that this is all that is required for that this is all what is expected in life and we are simply living out the dukkha alaya philosophy actually we would be living out the opposite of the Bhagwad Gita’s understanding of life because Arjuna’s focus you know if we were just simply to take the dukkha alaya as a message then Arjuna could well have said that oh the Kauravas have exiled us and the fact that they have exiled us proves how how this world is a place of misery and how people are untrustworthy how everything goes against us otherwise how could Yudhishthira’s mind have become so twisted as to gamble away everything so if this world is a place of misery let’s get out of it why fight a war to why fight a war to to regain the world in fact if Shrila Prabhupada had been pessimistic then he would never have been able to persevere despite despite going through so many reversals Prabhupada faced reversal after reversal after reversal his business collapsed because of various reasons his god brothers did not help him people were not interested he was sent back to Godhead magazine when he went to America his body was taken down and he got a heart attack even when he was in America the janitor stole his typewriter when he started trading western people his first western student went mad because of drugs and tried to attack Prabhupada himself if Prabhupada had been a pessimist then he could well have said Yes, this is how the world is meant to be and let it stay as it is, let me just, I’ll go back to Vrindavan, chant Hare Krishna and get out of this miserable world. Prabhupada did not do that. Why? Because he was not just seeing the actions of the world.
He was seeing the opportunity to express his devotion to Krishna even in this world. He was seeing how, despite everything, how all these reversals were opportunities for him to show his love for Krishna. Normally when we love someone, we want to do something special for that person.
Now what is the special thing that we can do for such a person? For Krishna, what can we do? Normally love is expressed, tested and expressed very intensely when we go through lot of difficulties to do something for our beloved. So here, when Prabhupada saw his difficulties coming his way, he saw them as opportunities to intensify his devotion. Krishna, even if I don’t get any result in the material level, still I will do all this for your sake and thus I will express my love for you.
That was Sri Prabhupada’s mood and it was a mood which was wonderfully successful. In terms of pleasing Krishna who eventually rewarded Sri Prabhupada in extraordinary ways. So what we see here is this extraordinary point that while the world is a place of misery and while we need to be prepared for things going wrong, at the same time we don’t have to be habitually morose about everything.
Just like a doctor who is in a hospital. In a hospital, people are sick and that’s to be expected. In a hospital, sometimes some people’s conditions become worse, sometimes even after less treatment, sometimes some people die.
So this is something which is a hard fact of life. But if such a thing makes the patient, makes the doctor morose about everything, then the doctor will not even treat anyone properly. So similarly, the point of scripture telling us this world is a place of misery is that we don’t see the world as divorced from Krishna, as an arena for our own enjoyment in this world, independent of Krishna.
Instead, we see the world as an opportunity to go deep in our relationship with Krishna, in our love for Krishna. With this attitude, when we work, we focus not on whether things are going to work out right or wrong. We focus on how we can best serve Krishna in every situation.
And because whatever we are doing is an expression of our devotion to Krishna, so we want it to come out wonderfully. And we do all that we can, all that is in our power to ensure that it comes out positively. But if in spite of our efforts, things do come out wrong, then rather than blaming it as the characteristic of the world, we focus on the Krishna factor.
Yes Krishna, even though things go wrong still, I am meant for your service and whatever I am doing is for your pleasing you. I had hoped that by getting this result in your service, I will be able to please you. But if somehow I am not able to get that result for you, still my intent to please you remains.
And I will try to express that intent in some other way. Thus, a devotee remains not only far away from marauders, but a devotee stays always cheerful. Brahma Bhuta Prasanna Atma Now Krishna is Param Brahma.
So we could say when somebody is conscious of Krishna, they are not only Prasanna, but Paramprasanna. Supremely cheerful. So why not letting our vision get locked in this world, either in terms of getting enjoyment in this world, or in terms of being jolted by the miseries that come to us in this world.
But instead, focusing on the principle of reciprocating with Krishna through all situations. By focusing on seeing that no matter what happens, whether things work out right or things work out wrong, the intent to serve Krishna is always right. And that will always produce the right spiritual result of pleasing Krishna.
And he will reciprocate rightly by revealing his beauty and sweetness more to us. And thus, even while living in this world, which is miserable, and even while going through reversals in this world, we, by being conscious of Krishna, will be able to, by the power of that remembrance of Krishna, transcend worldly misery and stay happy. And that’s what is our aspiration in life.
So moroseness, in contrast, arises from a very fragmented and incomplete view of the world. We feel morose. As Krishna says, moroseness is the characteristic of the mode of ignorance.
So moroseness arises when one’s vision is caught by the promises of enjoyment in this world and is further caught by the frustration due to one’s inability to enjoy the world. So now this inability, this realization of one’s inability to enjoy the world, does not spawn renunciation. It spawns frustration because one does not have any higher wisdom.
There are two kinds of I give up. One kind of give up is I give up because Oh, I don’t have the ability to do it. And I would love to do it, but Oh, what to do? No, I just can’t do it.
So this kind of giving up is due to frustration. Now, of course, sometimes it may be intelligence to give things up rather than beat our head against a wall. So if one can’t recognize one basic musical note from another and one hopes to become the next Mozart, then it may well be better to give up.
But this give up actually arises from frustration due to one’s inability to enjoy the world and despite having the desire to enjoy this world. The other kind of give up is actually giving to go up. When we give up out of frustration, we go down because we become demoralized.
We develop inferiority complex. Oh, I tried this and tried this and tried this. Nothing works out.
Maybe I am good for nothing. But when we give up out of renunciation, we give up to go up. Renunciation means we understand that there is something higher to lie.
And that’s why irrespective of whether I may or may not be able to do a particular thing, pursuing that particular course of enjoying this world is not worth my time and energy. And therefore, I will not pursue it. So thus, there is a world of difference between giving up out of frustration and giving up out of renunciation.
And in the Vishada, the moroseness in the mode of ignorance is characterized by feelings of helplessness and hopelessness. Oh, I want to enjoy but there is no way I can enjoy. And I don’t know what I will do.
Because material enjoyment is all that there is to life. That’s the materialistic conception. And certainly, Tamoguna is characterized by materialistic conception of life.
Materialism is all that there is to life. But I don’t have what it takes to enjoy materially. So then what am I to do in my life? I don’t know.
And thus, the person becomes frustrated. So this sort of frustration is due to the arising in the mode of ignorance, due to a very very incomplete and even incorrect vision of life, whereas the kind of vision that comes by the practice of Bhakti is transcendental, where one desires to go beyond this world by one’s determined practice of Bhakti and one does not get obsessed with the misery, even after understanding the miserable nature of the world, but one sees beyond the misery to the opportunity for reciprocating love with Krishna in every situation in one’s life.