Gita 18.73 Harmony with the divine infuses our fleeting insignificant lives with lasting significance

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Hare Krishna. So here Krishna is, after completing the Gita, Arjuna is speaking his understanding, his conclusion of the discussion.
Arjuna speaks the most in the first chapter wherein Krishna speaks just two words. वाच पार्थ पश्य इतान पार्थ पश्य इतान Oh Arjuna, see this. You could say the leg is on the other side and at the end of the Gita, Arjuna speaks only two verses.
One at the start of the chapter when you ask, he wants to understand Tyaga and Sannyasa and here where he is expressing his conclusion, expressing his understanding. Suppose there is a class and after the class, naturally the speaker would like to have some feedback. Of how the audience liked the class.
So all the more so if it’s an audience of one. Sometimes we feel disheartened if when we are giving classes there’s only very few people. Krishna is Supreme Lord Himself and he spoke the whole Bhagavad Gita to an audience of one.
More than the quantity of the audience, the quality of the audience that matters. And Krishna spoke to just one person, Arjuna. He spoke out of his affection.
And of course that conversation got immortalized in the Bhagavad Gita and it is available for everyone to hear and learn from. At the same time, the important thing is to recognize that Krishna is the well-wisher of everyone. And as the well-wisher of everyone, he is present in our hearts speaking to us too.
Internally and externally through the Gita, through the Gurus. Here he states, Nashto Moham. So after he has spoken, Arjuna responds, My illusion is destroyed.
Nashto Moham. That’s a direct response to what Arjuna had asked. Kachchid eta chhutam partha tvayekagre na chetasah.
Kachchid ajnanasamoham. Pranashtaste dhananjaya. Kachchid ajnanasamoham.
Pranashtaste. Has your ignorance and illusion been destroyed? So Arjuna replies, yes. Nashto Moham.
Yes, pranashta, nashta, the same word. My illusion has been destroyed. And, Smriti labdha.
And it is not that what Krishna has spoken is unknown entirely to Arjuna. The knowledge that we are not the body but the soul, this knowledge was well understood in the culture at that time. But that knowledge had just gone to the background of the consciousness and so was not easily accessible.
So here, that same knowledge is being made easily accessible to Krishna to Arjuna by Krishna and it has now come back to his recollection. it’s coming back to the recollection. Smriti labdha.
Yes, my memory has been destroyed. And who has done this? Prasadam, my Achyuta. Oh Krishna, you are Achyuta.
You are the infallible Lord. You have done this for me and I am very grateful to you. So, Prasadam, it’s your mercy.
Mercy means there is no obligation. Krishna, out of his own kindness, chose to help Arjuna. And that is Krishna’s immense mercy on Arjuna.
Prasadam, my Achyuta. I am well situated. My doubts are gone.
And lastly, I will do your will. It’s such an important point to understand that actually every one of us has to do our particular will. We will do what we feel like doing.
But if we are guided, then we will understand that what Krishna wants is ultimately the best for us. And therefore, if we can do what Krishna wants for us, then we can move forward steadily in our journey towards Krishna. So therefore, it’s vital that we be able to take care of things in their proper perspective.
So the higher perspective where we understand that there is a bigger plan to our life. That we are a part of something bigger than ourselves. And that our own small, insignificant seeming lives can have a bigger significance when they are connected with something significant that is much bigger than us.
That is the call for harmony of the Bhagavad Gita. And this is the harmonious response coming from Arjuna. Ultimately, illusion is caused by misperception.
And the most fundamental misperception is the perception of disconnection. When we see ourselves as lonely, isolated fragments in the vastness and emptiness of space. But then we feel that are we just parcels of protoplasm who have just come alive for a few moments, for a few minutes, for a few years, for a few decades and only to go back to nothingness.
Does anything count at all? That’s the kind of thought which troubles us. And if you want to go beyond that kind of thought, then we need to persistently apply ourselves to the practice of bhakti. That persistent application to the practice of bhakti means that we see that I am that we are parts of Krishna and Krishna is He is the well-wisher of everyone.
He is our well-wisher and He is everyone else’s well-wisher. So by our will, by our plan, we may be able to do some good to some people. But if we can connect with Krishna and if we can serve Krishna, then by His will, we will be able to do much more because He is a greater well-wisher of even those for whom we are well-wishers.
So in that sense, Arjuna is thinking, how can I kill my relatives? But while he is concerned about his relatives, Krishna is concerned even more for them. And by doing Krishna’s will, not only will Arjuna’s good be done, but also the opponent’s good will also be done. So when Arjuna gets this bigger picture of reality, Arjuna understands that there is much more to life than what meets the eye.
And there is a bigger plan to life even amidst perplexity. That there is the clarity and the humility to surrender. It is that clarity and humility that we all seek and that is what is provided here or demonstrated here by Arjuna when he says, Achyuta, O Krishna, You are unfailing.
You have given me the vision that has dissipated my delusion. And therefore, I bow to you in submission.