Gita & Damodara Lila Parallels, Leicester | Chaitanya Charan

Thank you very much for coming today.

And today we'll be discussing on the Bhagavad Gita and connecting with Damodar Leela. So many of you have been given a copy of this book. Have you got some of you? So we'll read something from this book.

This is my latest book, one of my latest books on the Bhagavad Gita. It's prayers inspired by Bhagavad Gita. So can we go to page 28? It is verse 1.46. So in this book, I've taken the Gita's verses and then seen how we can see them not just as sources of wisdom, but also as inspirations for prayer.

Because Krishna is not just giving us instruction. Krishna also wants to bless us and empower us to apply those instructions. So let's look at this particular verse.

Are all of you able to see from here? Thank you. If you like, you can repeat after me. O Lord of my heart, let me never lose heart.

Let's try to recite this verse. evamuktvārjuna-saṅkhe rathopasta-upāviṣad viśrujya-saśaram-chāpam śoka-saṅvigna-mānasah Thus speaking, Arjuna, torn inside, set his bow and arrows aside. Upon his chariot seat he sang, his heart heavy, his mind blank.

This is Bhagavad Gita 1.46. So I've taken the Gita's verses and translated them poetically so that we get some sense of the emotions within the verses. So I request different participants to read one paragraph. Who would like to read the first paragraph? Yes, please.

My dear Lord, the challenges the world throws upon me can sometimes be so complicated as to be overwhelming. My dear Lord, the challenges that the world throws upon me can sometimes be so complicated as to be overwhelming, stultifying and paralysing. Just as Arjuna had cast aside his bow, unwilling and unable to fight, many other times, when I have felt that casting aside my metaphorical bow, losing my will to fight against problems that seem unfair, unanswered and unsolvable.

Yes. So for all of us, when we go through life, we sooner or later face problems. And when the problems come, how we deal with those problems largely determines the journey of our life.

Successful people are not people who don't have problems. They are people who face problems positively, purposefully and eventually successfully. So now we can have problems of different kinds, different magnitudes.

If we are going on our path of life, we might have a problem, like a boulder that is blocking us. It can be a slightly bigger boulder. It can be a giant boulder.

Now sometimes it's not just a problem that is there on the path. Sometimes it seems to be rolling towards us to crush us. So it's sometimes we are going towards the problem because it's on our path.

Sometimes on our path the problem seems to come upon us. And sometimes some problems just seem unsolvable. So at such times, how do we decide? Should I push on? Should I dodge this problem? Should I keep pushing on? If you're working in a particular job and we're not rising in our career the way we expect, should we keep trying over there or should we look for a different job? Should we look for a different career change itself? So we all have to make decisions in life.

And Arjuna is facing a situation where his heart is agonised. His mind is blank. I just don't know what to do.

And it is in this situation that Krishna speaks the Bhagavad Gita. So broadly, if you look at the context, Arjuna and Krishna, on the other hand, Yashoda and Krishna, they seem to be very different. One is in Vrindavan, which is a joyful place.

The other is in Kurukshetra, which is a fearful place. There's going to be a deadly war over there. One is a warrior.

The other is a mother. The commonality is that both of them are interacting with the Lord. And while interacting with the Lord, there are certain common dynamics.

On one side, what Krishna, what Arjuna wants to do is not do what Krishna wants him to do. So Arjuna, basically there is in essence, the commonality is there is a sense of conflict between Krishna and Arjuna and between Yashoda and Krishna. The conflict between Yashoda and Krishna is Krishna wants to do mischief.

Yashoda wants to restrain him. Krishna wants to run away. Yashoda wants to catch him.

Krishna wants to be free. Yashoda wants to tie him. So it's very much within the context of love.

But there is a conflict. Now we may say, how can anybody have a conflict with God? Everybody has a conflict with God. We don't acknowledge it.

But now this is within the purview of the Leela. But when you talk about God, at one level, we can say that there is something which is beyond our capacity to control. And there is something which is in our capacity to control.

So now Yashoda Mai is trying to tie Krishna and she's struggling. If we are in that particular pastime at that particular point, then she is getting more and more and more rope. But still she's not able to tie Krishna.

So if you consider Arjuna's situation, that is Arjuna is there to fight a war and Krishna is there by his side. Krishna is supporting him as a charioteer who will now become his counsellor. And Krishna wants him to fight.

And Arjuna feels, no, fighting doesn't seem to be the right thing to do. It's a terrible war over here. I would rather die myself than kill my elders like Bhishma and Drona.

I don't want to fight this war. So the commonality is this conflict between the human will and the divine will. Or we could put it other ways that the human will and the divine will.

So that's one way to put it. Another way is what is controllable for us and what is uncontrollable for us. At least at present.

What is in our control and what is beyond our control. So for Arjuna, he would much rather that the war didn't happen. And the Pandavas have tried their very best to have a peaceful solution.

But that has not happened. So now he's facing a particular situation. In every situation there is something controllable, there is something uncontrollable.

And how does the dynamic between the two occur? In the case of Mother Yashoda, she keeps trying to tie Krishna, keeps trying, keeps trying, keeps trying and eventually he succeeds. Now Arjuna loses his will to even try. I don't want to fight this war.

So in one sense, both of them, there is something uncontrollable. Yashoda is not able to tie Krishna and Arjuna doesn't want to fight the war. Arjuna has to fight a war which he can't avoid.

The uncontrollable is same for both of them. In the controllable, in one sense, Arjuna is quitting and Yashoda Mai is persevering. Now what happens? Krishna speaks the Bhagavad Gita and gets Arjuna also to persevere.

But the common dynamic we are going to discuss is that there is this situation in our life when there is the uncontrollables and how we deal with them at that time. So let's look at the second paragraph. Who would like to read? Yes, please.

Even if I lose the will to fight a particular battle in this world, let me never lose the will to connect with my father. Yes, thank you. So, if we consider in our life that there are situations Now the situations trigger some emotions inside us.

So the situation is unfavourable. The emotion that comes within us is, say, unpleasant. If we are given a lot of work in our workplace, far more than our colleagues and peers, we feel resentment.

Now, based on those emotions, we take decisions. So we could say the emotions are internal, the situations and the decisions are external. Quite often, based on the emotion of the moment, we take decisions.

But the consequence of the decisions can go far beyond the moment. See, the situations in our life are often reversible. Today, I might feel terrible about my job.

Today, I might feel terrible about a relationship. Today, I might feel terrible about my life itself. And now that emotion might come because maybe I had a bad day at work.

Or maybe I had a very nasty altercation with a loved one. So the situations can be bad. So the situations, however, today I might have a very unpleasant day, tomorrow I might have a better day.

So our situations are reversible. That's the nature of the world of duality. Sometimes happiness, sometimes sadness.

Happiness and distress. Now, because of the reversible situations, we often get strong emotions. But the emotions are also reversible.

Today, I might feel dreadful, tomorrow I might feel wonderful. However, if based on those emotions, we take decisions, often the decisions can be irreversible. The situations are reversible, the emotions are reversible, but the decisions can be irreversible.

Somebody gets angry with the amount of work they have at workplace and they just get in a mood of anger or frustration, they just resign. Now, next day they feel, okay, this is not such a bad job, I want to go and get the job again. You might not get the job.

Or the worst could be that if somebody faces some setbacks and failures in their life and they feel so depressed that they think, I want to end my life. That is one decision that is irreversible. So what we would like to do is create some boundaries.

So, boundaries so that the reversible situations, they do not trigger strong reversible emotions inside us. Ideally, we would like that situations should themselves not be reversible. Life should always be good for you.

But that is not in our control. Situations will be reversible. But we would like that the emotions that are triggered within us are not reversible.

And even if emotions are triggered, at least we can have another boundaries where we don't act on those emotions. So we all may feel angry at times. But say if we are talking with somebody who is a senior or a superior, elder, then although we feel angry, we will keep that emotion inside us.

We won't act on it. So we need some boundaries or filters. So that's what Arjuna is facing a situation where he just doesn't want to fight.

And in that the emotion that he is experiencing is why am I here? I just don't want to be here. I want to quit. But he is taking a decision that could be reversible.

There now he has built an alliance which is strong enough to fight against the Kauravas. But if he quits at this moment, he may never be able to form an alliance like that again. That moment and the momentum of that moment will be lost forever.

So when we face situations in life, situations of failure, of setback, of loss, at that time, how do we respond? So we do not have to fight a battle the way Arjuna has to fight. We are not trying to tie Krishna. But this principle that when situations come upon us, they can be unfavourable.

They can be unpleasant. Mother Yashoda was trying to tie Krishna and she felt indignant. No, I am your mother.

It's my duty to discipline you. I told you don't steal butter. You didn't listen to me.

You further destroyed pots. I'm going to punish you. And this is for your good.

But still she was not able to tie. So in those situations certain emotions come up. So how do we create these boundaries for ourselves? And how do we know how to persevere or when to persevere? That's what we'll discuss.

Let's move to the next paragraph. Who would like to read the third paragraph? You can read it. Sure.

Brilliant. What is your name? Riddhi. Riddhi.

Let's give her a round of applause. Every single word you pronounce clearly. Nice.

So when our situations are difficult, so we could have, we could have darkness outside and we could have darkness inside also. And we may feel what do I do at such times? But beyond the darkness that is outside the darkness that is inside. The Gita explains that our emotions primarily occur or reside in our mind.

But beyond the mind is the soul and next to the soul is the super soul. So darkness might be there outside and inside. But if you consider here, there is the mind, there is the soul and here there is the super soul.

So now if you consider here, there is the outer situation, whatever it is. There is some outer problematic situation. So from that situation we are getting darkness and from our mind that darkness is getting much more aggravated.

And still in spite of this from Krishna a far greater light can come. So if we keep looking, we as souls, we can either look toward the world, we can look at our own mind or we can turn and look towards Krishna. So when we turn towards Krishna and we look towards Krishna.

So this is the mind, the soul and this is the super soul. Super soul is the manifestation of Krishna within our hearts. So we turn towards Krishna and we look at Krishna.

That life itself may be such that sometimes in particular situations there is just no option for us. We may lose a particular battle. Arjuna heard the message of the Gita and became confident, ready to fight the war.

And he fought the war. Krishna told him, I have arranged for your victory. And that victory did come eventually.

Still Arjuna also faced painful reversals. He lost first his son Eravan, then he lost his son Abhimanyu, then all the Pandavas lost their sons in the final night. It's all very painful.

But still it was victory ultimately. So we cannot guarantee that every single battle that we fight we will win. But we shouldn't lose the will to fight the war itself.

That is the spirit that we want to maintain. So the principle is that if we consider there is a mountain and there is an ocean. So now from the mountain the river goes towards the ocean.

Now when the river is going towards the ocean, if there are different rivers, different rivers may take different paths to the ocean. Now the same river may not always be able to go by the same path also. Sometimes there is a landslide, sometimes a dam is built.

So the river when it is going towards the ocean, it is fixed and flexible. It is fixed in purpose. Its purpose is to go towards the ocean.

It's flexible with respect to the path. That if I cannot go this way, I'll go this way. If I cannot go left, I'll go right.

If I cannot go left or right, I'll go below. I'll go above. I'll find some way.

So that river is like each one of us. The ocean is Krishna. Our consciousness is meant to forever flow towards Krishna in a mood of loving service.

Now sometimes we may try to do one particular thing and it may not work. But if it does not work, that does not mean nothing will work. That does not mean we stop trying to serve.

We stop trying to do our dharma. We stop trying to do the right thing in a mood of service to Krishna. So like that we need to find a way to keep moving forward.

Now if the river only sees, oh this is a big obstacle over here. How can I ever go beyond this obstacle? It might get blocked. But if it keeps proceeding, it will go ahead.

So there could be two extremes you might go towards. One is that we become loose about the purpose itself. And we become rigid about the path.

Both of these are unhealthy. So if we become loose about the purpose, that means for all of us we say what is the purpose? Okay, I have a family. I have to take care of my family.

I have a job. I have to do my job. I have this and that.

We have many roles, many areas in our life which we want to work. Now we, each one of these is like a battle we are fighting in life. Some battles we may be more successful.

Some battles we may not be so successful. But if we just become, okay, nothing, this didn't work in my life and that didn't work in my life and that didn't work in my life. Therefore nothing will work in my life.

And we just stop flowing. That is unhealthy. So this is where if we become loose in purpose, people become lethargic, people become apathetic, people become irresponsible.

This is where people just are going through the motions of life. And they are just not living. That is people become depressed and there is nothing worth living for.

On the other hand, if we become rigid about the path, we become hyper controlling. We, if a small thing goes wrong, we just blow like a bomb. And anybody who comes to meet us, they don't know what will trigger us.

People may not speak it like that, but talking with us is like walking on a minefield. So we want to avoid both extremes. So when we lose purpose means we are thinking that nothing is controllable.

I cannot do anything at all. And we become rigid about the path that means everything should be controllable. Everything should go the way I want it to go.

So now we cannot have either of these. Now in between these two comes the way we need to live. That is fixed in purpose and flexible in path.

Whatever situation we are put in that we have a job, we have some hobbies, we have some, we have family, we have so many roles in life. But ultimately all my roles are meant for you, O Lord. I have a child that is not just my child.

This is Krishna's child put in my care. And I will take care of my child in the mood of service to you. So we are fixed in our purpose.

We cannot be loose. So this fixed purpose comes by the practise of bhakti. When we practise bhakti, it is not that Krishna is there for us at the end of our life's journey.

Let's put it this way. This is the material world. This is the spiritual world.

This is where Krishna is residing ultimately. This is the material world where we are residing. So now we may think, OK, I go through life and at the end of it, this is where I get to Krishna.

That is one way of looking at it. It's true. But actually a more complete understanding is that Krishna contains everything.

That right now, one of the teachings of Gita is that that everything is in Krishna and Krishna is in everything. Everything is in Krishna. All of existence is in Krishna.

When Krishna showed the universal form, the virat rupa, nothing exists outside Krishna. So everything is in Krishna and Krishna is in everything. Andantarastra paramam chayantarastham.

Krishna is present in our heart as a Paramatma. So Krishna is not just the destination for us that at the end of our life journey we meet Krishna. Krishna is actually the companion for us right now.

So when we say, so this is the difference between the river going towards the ocean. It's like the ocean is already with the river. But the river has not yet realised it.

So when we practise bhakti, at least to some extent we feel some presence. There is some bigger reality. There is something beyond me, beyond my daily world.

This problem and that issue and that thing, there is some bigger reality. So once we get a sense of that bigger reality, when we do our sadhana, when we chant the holy names, when we come to satsang, when we worship the deities, what happens? We start realising Krishna is not just an immediate reality. Krishna is also the bigger reality.

So we stay fixed initially for us. The world is very big and Krishna, if God exists, He is very small. But when we practise bhakti, what we experience is that the world becomes small.

Sorry. The world becomes small and Krishna becomes big for us. And when this happens, as Krishna becomes the bigger reality for us, then we stay connected with Krishna.

That's how by experiencing Krishna, we can become fixed in our purpose. Krishna, you are the bigger reality. I want to be with you.

I want to realise you. The success of every day is not how many things in our to-do list we completed. The success of each day is did I come to know Krishna a little better? Did I come to love Krishna a little more? That is the success of each day as we move forward.

So we become fixed in purpose. Now that is the river has to go towards the ocean. Krishna is the bigger reality does not mean that the world is an unreality.

The world is also real and our responsibilities and our roles in this world are also important. That will bring me to the last part that when the river is moving towards the ocean, so should it keep moving this way or should move left, should move right? When we are trying to endeavour, Mother Nishoda was trying to endeavour to tie Krishna, Arjuna was thinking should I fight or should I not fight? So when what is in our control, how do we know how much to keep pushing onwards in a particular direction? Let's read the last sentence over here. Yes, please.

Let me live not in fear of the world's darkness, but in the hope of your light. Yes, not in fear of the world's darkness, but in the hope of your light. Now what does this mean practically for us? For us, the ultimate hope is that through whatever we go to in life, we ultimately reach Krishna.

We talk about fixed in purpose. The purpose of life is twofold. One is a universal purpose and the other is an individual purpose.

The universal purpose for everyone is that we are souls, we are separated from God, who is the soul of our soul, who is the whole and universal purpose for everyone is to be united in love with God. The universal purpose for all rivers is to get to the ocean. At the same time, each river has its own individual path by which it gets to the ocean.

And what is important, a prominent Gita commentator Vedanta Deshika, he says that each river as it is moving towards the ocean, it does enormous good to thousands and millions of life forms that exist on the banks of the river. It provides life nourishing, life sustaining water. Like that, by our ultimate purpose, the universal purpose for every one of us is to go to Krishna.

But during the journey of our life, each one of us is meant to do good in the world. The people whom we interact could be our family. It could be our community.

It could be our professional colleagues. It could be the larger world we are a part of. We are meant to do good in the world.

So that universal purpose, it's fixed. This universal purpose is fixed. The individual purpose, that's flexible.

Flexible means it varies from person to person. It varies also according to time, place, circumstances. Desha or time, place, can be Desha Kaala Patra.

So to know when to persevere and how long to persevere, we have to look at another aspect of how things work in the world. This is a slightly technical concept. I won't go too much in technicality.

But broadly I'll explain this. This is based on 18.14 in the Bhagavad Gita. Krishna says, what are the factors that lead to success? When we do an action, from the action to the result, what are the factors that determine it? So he says, Adhishthanam tatha karta, Karanam chyapu takvidha, Vidhas chyapu tak cheshta, Daivam chaivatra panchamam.

So if we consider the action to be a mountain and the result to be another mountain, then from the action to get to the result, there is a bridge that is required. Now that bridge has five planks in it. So what are these five planks? Adhishthanam tatha karta.

The soul is there. And then destiny is there. These are two factors which are beyond our control.

For anybody to do anything, the soul has to be there, the person has to be alive. And for everything that we do, there are things completely beyond our control. That is the unknowable for us.

But beyond that, Krishna says, that there are three things. That is the talent, that is the tools, the Karanam. What are the… Say somebody is a very good singer.

Now what does that mean? Somebody says they have a golden voice. Now what does it mean? If you take an x-ray of their throat, you won't find gold over there. Is it? The physical senses are just very similar as everyone else's.

They will be a little tougher, more exercised, but it's essentially the same. The talent that is there is invisible. It's subtle.

The talent exists in the tools. Then there is the Adhishtana, that is the environment. And then there is the Cheshta, that is the commitment.

So talent, environment, commitment. Could summarise this as acronym TEC. That for a person to succeed, there are these three factors that are involved.

So do you have the talent to succeed in that field? Somebody might be a very good at cricket. But suppose they are born in a country like America, where at least 50-20 years ago, cricket was not a big thing. When I started going to America, I started travelling abroad for sharing spiritual wisdom more than a decade ago.

So the first time I went to America, the organisers there told me, don't give any cricket examples over here. I said, why is that? For Americans, cricket is an insect. They don't know about it as a game at all.

So somebody might be very talented at cricket, but if the environment is not supportive, then you really can't do much over there. Now the talent might be there, the environment might be there, but after that the commitment is required. You have to practise, you have to excel.

Now talent is more dormant. From talent, we have to develop skill, which requires training and practise and perseverance. So when all these three come together, that's when the result comes.

These three factors can be understood in different ways. So suppose somebody wants to dig for gold. First of all, the gold has to be there.

If there is no gold underground, no amount of digging is going to give the gold. And having gold alone, that is the environment. Having gold itself is the environment.

Then we cannot dig for gold with our fingernails. We need the right tools. That is like the talent, that is the Karanam.

And then it is not that even if we get a good spade or we get a drill, just drill for one minute and you're going to get gold. No, it requires commitment. Talent, environment, commitment.

So now, why are we discussing this right now? We're discussing this point that if the river is trying to move towards the ocean and it's being blocked, so should it keep pushing in that area itself or should it shift to some other area, some other path? So we are playing a particular role. Maybe we are doing some service, trying to do some service for Krishna. We are doing some job.

We are pursuing something and we're not getting the desired results. So should we keep persevering or should we do something else? So for that, these are the three factors that we need to enquire. That do I, first of all, have the talent? Then is the environment supportive? And then is the commitment adequate? Have I persisted in this for a sufficient amount of time? And I'll take one example for this.

And based on that, we will conclude and we'll have some question answers. That if you consider the life of Srila Prabhupada, Srila Prabhupada started the Krishna consciousness movement. And if you look at his life story, it's remarkable.

Till the age of 17, he had no success worthily. Initially, when he met his spiritual master in 1922, at that time he just got married, he had a child. And he said that if my spiritual master had met him a few years before, if I had got married, I would have joined his mission.

But now it would be unfair for my family. So he worked as a pharmacist. That was his business.

Srila Prabhupada, by nature, was a teacher. So as a pharmacist, with his customers, he would have philosophical discussions. He would be sharing his spiritual wisdom with them.

And he worked very hard. He started a pharmacy first in Kolkata, then he started another in Mumbai, then he started another in Prayag. He did all this in different parts of the country.

And at those times, there were no planes. You had to travel by trains. Prabhupada would read most of the scriptures that he read in the trains.

And Indian trains were not comfortable trains. He was not driving in first class. So it was difficult.

But he did that through all those journeys. But somehow, although he worked very hard, it just didn't work. The talent, his talent, he was by nature a teacher.

He had business ability, but that just didn't work. Then he started, he retired from his household life, after having completed his responsibilities at some functional level, and then he focused on sharing spiritual wisdom. And he was doing that in India, but still that just didn't work.

People were just not receptive. There are many reasons, but basically he found that he was trying to speak in English, and he was giving more philosophical wisdom. People wanted bhakti and spirituality, they were natural languages, and they wanted stories to be entertained.

It was like a pious form of entertainment. So Prabhupada found that the environment was not supportive. Then what did he do? He decided to come to America.

Now when he decided to move to America, it was an interesting decision. His thought was that Indians are infatuated by the white skin. So if Indians see that western people are practising bhakti, then they will start valuing bhakti more and they will start practising it.

Now if you see here, it's a material calculation. Indians not being interested in bhakti is maya. Indians being infatuated by the white skin is also maya.

So Prabhupada was using one form of maya to counter another form of maya. The Bhagavatam says if a thorn has gone in our leg, we use another thorn to take out the first thorn. So like that.

So Prabhupada changed the environment. Now even when he changed the environment, it was not that he was welcomed in America with open arms. There was practically no one to receive him when he landed in America.

And then he had to strive. He was first in butler of Pennsylvania and there he was treated more like a curiosity object than a spiritual teacher. At that time, if there had been cell phones, people would have come to Swami, one selfie.

And that's what they were not interested in. They were not interested in self-realisation. They were not interested in the self.

They were interested only in the selfies. Then he gave some talks in university in Philadelphia. He came to New York.

He was more in the prosperous side of New York, but people were not interested. Then he went to the Bowery and there he was attacked by the person who seemed to be likely to have become a student. Then he went to the Lower East Side, which was a crime infested area which is filled with people using drugs.

But there Prabhupada found an audience. So he had to persevere. There was the commitment.

So talent, environment, commitment. He was naturally a good speaker. Speaking and teaching was his calling.

He found the right environment and then he had committed. And then in the last 10 years of his life, spectacular success came about. More than 100 temples were built.

Based on his writings and speaking, over 70 books were published. He went around the globe almost 14 times on speaking tours. He inspired thousands and millions of people to live in a more spiritual way of life.

Many thousands of them became devotees of Krishna. He got spectacular success. Now we could say all this is ultimately Krishna's plan and that is true.

No doubt. But how it works out, the underlying principles are universal. So for us, when we are not getting success, rather than thinking, Oh, I have to keep doing this, keep doing this, or I just have to quit.

We can try to be a little more objective. Do I have the talent in this particular field? So is first of all, is the talent sufficient? Anybody can say that I have some talent, but is the talent sufficient? Is the environment supportive? If the talent is not sufficient, then can we develop the talent? Maybe we can, but there is a limit. A person who has an IQ of 120 might make it 130 or 140.

But 120 IQ is not going to become 170 suddenly. So somebody has some musical ability, everybody can improve that. But somebody who struggles with basic musical notes may not become a musical genius.

So do we have the compatible talent? Then is the environment supportive? And have we been committed long enough? Has our commitment been adequate? So if all three have been done and still things don't work out, then we can understand that maybe there is destiny over here. That maybe it's God's will that this will not work out. Now if you see Arjuna, let's come back to Damodarlila and Bhagavad Gita and conclude this, that if we consider with respect to Yashodamayi, she is the mother.

And she is playing the role of a mother of Krishna. And she is in Vrindavan where the environment is supportive for her to play that role of the mother. Then now does she have the talent? Yes, she is a very responsible woman.

She thinks of creative ways to take care of her child. She has to discipline him also. She is thinking of ways in which I can discipline him without hurting him.

Initially she has a stick, but she put the stick aside. She says, I don't want to scare my child too much. Now for her, she has to show the commitment.

So keep trying, keep trying to tie Krishna till she finally succeeds. Now, if you go back to Arjuna, what happens? Arjuna has the talent. He is the best archer in the world.

He is in the right environment. But this is the war towards which the whole Mahabharata is moving. His whole life is prepared for this war.

And suddenly at that particular time, his commitment falls short. He gets confused. But then Krishna boosts his commitment through the wisdom that he gives him.

Now even when Arjuna works with the talent, with the environment, with the commitment. Now you may say where is Krishna in all this? It is Krishna who gives us the talent. It is Krishna who arranges the environment for us.

And it is Krishna who inspires the commitment within us. But still the responsibility, Krishna will do all these things for us, but the responsibility is ours. To discover the talent.

So it is our responsibility. Some of our talents are like, if we get a land in the inheritance, and there are beautiful rose flowers growing over there. Some of our talents are visible.

But some of our talents may be invisible, they may be hidden, they may be dormant. It's like a treasure buried under the ground. You have to dig to find it.

So Krishna has given the talent, but we have to discover it, we have to develop it. And then it is for us to see whether the environment is supportive, whether we can make it supportive, whether we can go to a supportive environment. And then we have to push on, we have to have the commitment.

We do these three things, then in this world also the river can keep moving. That the river keeps moving, keeps moving and eventually gets to the ocean. So while getting to the ocean, whether it goes this way or that way, it will give water, life sustenance to everyone who encounters its way.

It encounters along the way. Similarly, Krishna will bless us if we persevere on the path of bhakti, in a mood of service to him, playing our roles and responsibilities. He will enable us to do something meaningful in this world and attain the supremely meaningful destination beyond this world.

I'll summarise what we discussed. Broadly discussed three points. Our theme was Gita and Damodar Lila parallels.

So within that, the first thing we discussed was the principle. The past time themselves are very different. But the principle is there is a human divine dynamic.

There is Arjuna and Krishna and there is Yashoda and Krishna. And both of them there is a conflict. Yashoda wants to do something that doesn't seem to be working.

Arjuna is put in a situation where he doesn't want to do something. So we discussed that there is for all of us in our life, there is the controllable which you could say is the human will and there is the uncontrollable that is the divine will. So how do these two interact? That was the issue we were discussing.

Now, when this uncontrollable comes up, when situations around us seem to be unfavourable, so we discussed how the situations, they trigger emotions in us. And what do those emotions do? Decisions come. So for us we want to be careful that all the situations, they are reversible.

They are not always controllable, but they are reversible. The emotions, they are also reversible. But if we take decisions, they will be irreversible.

So we don't want the emotion of the moment to trigger us, to take irreversible decisions. That's why our point was we want to create some boundaries so that we don't get so emotionally affected by the situation. Or even if we are emotionally affected, we don't just simply impulsively act out on it.

So how to develop those boundaries? That was the other part of the session. So when we are able to see that there is a bigger picture, that when if we see the purpose of life, the purpose of life is twofold. There is a universal purpose.

It's like the river. All rivers are meant to go towards the ocean. But we also have an individual purpose.

Now in the universal purpose, that is fixed for us. The river is going towards the ocean. The individual purpose is flexible.

So like a river going towards the ocean, the river may go one way, the river may go second way, the same river may also go by different ways. So we discussed that we need to avoid two extremes. One is we become loose in the purpose itself and we become apathetic, depressed, disheartened or we become rigid about the path.

So each one of us, universal purpose is like the river going towards the ocean, we are meant to go towards Krishna. The individual purpose is that we are going to find our path towards Krishna. Based on our talents, our abilities and in between is the situation we want to be in.

So fixed in purpose and flexible in path. So how do we do these two things? So if we get this understanding that yes, there is a bigger purpose for my life and even if this situation is not working, something, a bigger plan is still working in my life. That will ensure that we don't get so emotional in terms of being affected by it or acting out on it.

And then in terms of the practical, the path for us to move ahead. So the universal purpose, how do we pursue that? It is by the practise of bhakti. So by the practise of bhakti, we start realising that initially for us the world is very big and Krishna is small.

But if we keep practising bhakti then what happens? Krishna becomes bigger for us. The world becomes smaller. So we understand that God, Krishna is not just our destination.

He is also our companion. He is right here with us now. And we may get some experience, some glimpse of his presence and that will help us to persevere, to stay fixed in purpose.

And then with respect to the individual, how do we find that? We discuss the acronym T.E.C. That should I persist in a particular path? We look for whether we have the talent. Then we look for whether I am in the supportive environment. And then finally we look for whether I have the commitment.

So we discuss the Prabhupada's life example to see how even he had to persevere. Things didn't come easy to him. He had the talent but it's a different field.

And he had to change the environment. He was a pharmacist. From there he became a preacher.

He was preaching in India. Then he went to America. And there he pushed on in America till he found the results.

And then such dramatic results came for us. So for all of us, from the world, we talk about situations, darkness may come. From the emotions, darkness may also come.

But if our vision is fixed beyond our situations and our emotions on our Lord, then from the Lord, light will always come towards us. And with that light, we can always be hopeful. We can always be purposeful.

Thank you very much. Hare Krishna. Are there any questions or comments? Yes, please.

I'm just reflecting on your example that you gave of the mountain, the river. It goes to Krishna. But on an individual, trying to find a purpose.

For example, there'd be a circumstance where you're forced, the river's actually forced to go in one way. So for example, if you've got an education system, it's like you have to either pass or fail. And if you fail, then obviously you can't.

There's no other way. So how do you change the environment? Yeah. So sometimes our environment constrains us.

And yes, that is true. See, this is where the concept of karma also comes in. That we can choose our present karma, but we also have a certain karma baggage from the past.

And that karma baggage determines the talent we have. Not everybody has the same level of talent. So similarly, our karma, our past karma also determines the environment we are in.

So most of us live in a relatively peaceful part of the world. Some occasional crimes might happen here and there, but we are living in a peaceful part of the world. There are parts of the world where there are wars happening constantly.

There are sectarian violence going on. So it's much more difficult to live over there. So why is somebody living over there? Why is somebody born over there? That's karma factor over there.

So we all have to live within certain limitations. So we may have to decide, is my talent so important for me that I have to change the environment? Now what would that mean? That means that somebody drops out from college and decides, I must pursue my own career, my own career independent of education. Somebody decides, no, even when we want to do something that we like to do, nobody can do only the things they like to do.

Say, even if somebody wants to be an author and they like writing. Now, after writing, they have to promote their book, they have to publicise, they have to do interviews. They will not like all those things.

They have to do those things. Nobody in life can always do only what they like to do. So we all have to do certain things which we do not like to do.

So what should not happen is that rather than simply deciding our life choices based on what we like and what we don't like. It is that sometimes I may have to go through a particular environment so that I can be in a more favourable environment afterwards. And where I can pursue.

So we have to make certain decisions like that. So Arjuna, he was a great archer. But when Draupadi was being dishonoured, when the Pandavas had to live in the forest, he could not do much with his archery.

The environment was such that he could not use that archery at that time to protect them from that particular danger. So for all of us, some situations we have to accept. But when we are persevering, rather than taking every failure personally.

Oh, I am a loser. That's why nothing is working out. You have to evaluate what exactly is the cause.

And then how much can the environment be changed? How much do I have to find some other talent which is more supported in the environment? And then move forward. So those are decisions which individually we have to take. Does that answer your question? Thank you.

Any other questions or comments? Yes, please. I am sorry if you have already come to this, but what about the element of confidence over fear? So if you have a service to do and you feel that you have a talent for it, for many, including Arjuna, they came to the point of, I can't do this, I am too fearful. How then can you be assured of Krishna's support and presence within that service? Or do you think, because it seems quite easy to think, well, I don't have talent for this, and I don't have the ability to do this service.

So how do you measure, how do you understand if that service will have action? Yeah, good question. So if we are to do some service, but we don't feel the confidence. Now how do we develop that confidence? We could very well say that I just don't have the talent for this particular service.

Yes. Two things mainly, that often when we seek to do a service, we have a particular conception of success in that service. And we often evaluate that, oh, maybe I am not good for this service, maybe I am not good enough for this service, based on whether we have got that particular success or not, or whether we are likely to get that particular success or not.

But sometimes it's like success may be different from our definition of success. So growth in life can be at one level attaining success, or we can say reaching success, but growth may also require redefining success. That what is success? Growth can be both ways.

So what do I mean by redefining success? That generally whenever we do any service, there are two aspects to the service. There is the external aspect and the internal aspect. The external is, say, if we are trying to share bhakti, we are giving some talks, the external aspect is how many people come for the talks, how many people become inspired, how many people become transformed.

That is the external aspect. Now the internal aspect is that we ourselves are absorbed in Krishna. That our attraction to Krishna increases.

That, like I said, every day did I come to know Krishna a little better? Did I come to love Krishna a little more? So through every talk that we give, every interaction we have with others, it is not just others come to know Krishna a little better, do we ourselves come to know Krishna a little better? Now if we look at Srila Prabhupada, when he went to America, he had been trying from 1922 onwards till 1965 and he had very little external success to share. But still he was not bitter. The people who had tried very hard and not succeeded, then they become very bitter.

But he was not at all bitter. Those who met him in America when he was just an unknown Swami walking on the streets of New York, they saw him, he was just so cheerful, so happy. Speaking about Krishna, singing about Krishna, cooking for Krishna, writing about Krishna, there was just happiness in that.

So we could say that there is, through our service, there is the outer impact or the outer contribution. Now we want that, no doubt. But through our service, there is also the inner connection that is to develop.

Through our service, Krishna becomes the bigger reality for us. Now based on this, we consider four quadrants. That we could say that if there is only outer contribution without inner connection, that means somebody sings very nicely.

But when they are singing, their concern is not how much Krishna is pleased with me, their concern is how many people are marvelling at how nicely I sing. So then what will happen? That person will become prideful. They may be doing the service, but it's all about pride and ego and recognition.

Now if somebody has neither outer contribution nor inner connection, then they are going to become very resentful. Nothing is working in life. They will be bitter and resentful.

Now if somebody has inner connection, but there is no outer contribution, they will still be graceful. Now if there is outer contribution, they will be grateful. They will not think I am only grateful.

So we can say Shri Prabhupada, in his life from 1922 to 1966 almost, or we can say even 1968, because he didn't get success immediately. After 1968, the movement really took off. And then 68 to 77, that's when the outer contribution also started manifesting.

So for us, we try to make sure if are we meant to persist in a particular service, even when we are getting no success, then we should see through the service, am I at least experiencing the inner connection with Krishna? That's when we'll be able to persevere in that service. So some people, they may go out for distributing books, and it's just exhausting emotionally, physically, and they do it, but they feel completely drained by it. They don't even feel spiritually nourished by it.

Now we will be spiritually purified by it, but we won't feel nourished by it maybe. But if they come and do worship the deities, or they come and make garlands for the Lord, they feel much more connected with the Lord. So we have to see both.

Ideally would be, we would all like to be in quadrant four. We could say that best is that we can be in quadrant four. But if not, then at least in quadrant three.

Now, we don't want to be in quadrant one. If we are in quadrant one, we should try to get to quadrant three soon. But definitely we don't want to be in quadrant four.

So for all of us, we can't entirely control this, but we explore. Which is the service by which I can make an outer contribution? Which is the service by which I can make an inner connection? And we may have two, three services like that, and we explore among those, and one of the services may become our life's calling, and our life's way of serving Krishna primarily. Does that answer the question? Thank you.

Any last question before we stop? Yes, please. So how do we understand, at a personal level rather than technical level, that Krishna is in everything and everything is in Krishna? See, when we look at spirituality, there are broadly two aspects. You know, there are the concepts, and it's important to understand the concepts.

But then we are not just interested here in learning concepts. It's more that we want to make connections. Ultimately the connection is between our heart and Krishna.

But connections are also that we want to connect our life with Krishna. We want to connect our talents with Krishna. We want to connect our family members with Krishna.

So bhakti is not just about learning concepts, but it's also making connections. So Arjuna had a natural interest in archery, and he used that archery to serve Krishna. So from that perspective when we say everything is in Krishna.

So everything is in Krishna. Now what does this mean? One way to understand is that whatever happens is within Krishna's plan. Everything is in Krishna.

It's not just an abstract. Krishna is a universal form and everything is contained within it. Krishna is not just a museum exhibit.

You see how I contain everything. That's not the point. Everything is, whatever happens is within Krishna's plan.

That doesn't mean bad things don't happen. Bad things can happen in life. But even through those bad things, Krishna is acting.

So for me I got this sense, at least a vague level from my mother when I was growing up. And then when I read Shastra, I got much more clearer. Many of you know that I need crutches for walking.

So when I was one, my mother was staying in a small town in Maharashtra. My mother took me to a local clinic to get the polio vaccine. Now the polio vaccine is one of the most reliable vaccines.

And polio is almost eliminated in the world, eradicated. But in this, because it's a small town, there used to be power outages over there. And the previous night there had been a power outage.

And because of that, the fridge in which the vaccine had been kept had got heated up. And neither the attendant nor the physician noticed that. So because of the extra heat, the germs in the vaccine had multiplied.

And when that vaccine was given to me, instead of preventing polio, it ended up causing polio. So now I don't remember any of it. I was just about one.

I was just learning to take my first steps and I fell down. And I couldn't walk normally thereafter. But my first memory of this was, I was about two and a half or three.

And a distant relative had come to our home. And she was consoling my mother saying, Oh, it's so sad your son got polio. And I remember my mother's voice, very calm, clear, confident.

She said, whatever he lacks physically, God will provide him intellectually. Now, I don't know why she said that. Whether she observed some intellectual ability in me.

Or not her observation, it was her hope, her prayer, her blessing, whatever. But somehow that stayed with me. Not the God part, the intellectually part first.

And as I grew up, I did notice that I was quite good at studies. I could remember things quickly. I could articulate things well.

So overall, I developed in that intellectual side. And so in that sense, everything is within Krishna. That whatever happens, Krishna has some plan.

So no event can happen in our life which is outside the plan of Krishna. That of course does not mean that we should keep letting bad things happen. But if bad things do happen, despite best efforts, that does not mean that anyone's life is necessarily ruined.

Krishna can act even through those situations. So everything is in Krishna. And then Krishna is in everything.

Now what does that mean? That's the other part. Krishna is in everything. That one way to understand this is the potency of everything comes from Krishna.

So like if you consider cricket, that all players, they all want to play well, they want to be in form, they want to score. But sometimes these players go out of form. Nobody wants to go out of form.

So anybody who has any special talent, if they are little bit introspective, little bit self-aware, they do realise that it's almost as if something beyond me is acting through me. It is my talent and yet it is not my talent. Any creative person, somebody could be a musician, somebody could be an author.

One day you write very well, the next day you just don't get any ideas. So there is something beyond us which is acting through us. So Krishna is in everything means, one way of understanding it is, I have intellectual ability.

So when I try to write, you know some days what I write, it's brilliant. Most days what I write is okay. Some days I write and I feel I should never write again.

What am I doing over here? So but that's just that we, our ability is not just our ability. Krishna says, I am ability in human beings. So the potency of everything comes from Krishna.

That means Krishna is in everything. So there is that well-known prayer, says that, you are the mother, you are the father, you are the sibling, you are the friend, you are the wealth, you are the wisdom, you, oh my Lord, are everything. What does this mean? That actually, now when a mother offers milk to a newborn baby, that is the mother's love.

These are the most selfless and intimate acts of love. At the same time, is it only the mother's love? The mother does not do anything special to manufacture milk in her breasts. The same God who sent a child into the world through the womb of that mother also sends milk in her breasts for that baby.

So the potency of everything comes from Krishna. So everything is within Krishna's plan and the potency for doing everything ultimately comes from Krishna. That's one way to understand, sarva-bhūtastham ātmānaṁ sarva-bhūtāni ca ātmānaṁ Thank you very much.

Śrī Kṛṣṇa bhagavān akhī śrīla Prabhupāda akhī gaur bhakta vṛndakī ca ithāi gaur premānandi.