The Gita’s transformational power explained through four special words in its last verse

[Talk on Bhagavad-Gita 18.78 at Melbourne, Australia]

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Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Hare Krishna. Hare Krishna.
It’s wonderful to be here amongst all of you today. And I will speak on the transformational power of the Bhagavad Gita. Especially as it is conveyed in its last verse.
The transformational power of… Hare Krishna. The transformational power… Is there some loose connection somewhere? Hare Krishna. Hare Krishna.
That’s a better transformation. So… The transformational power of the Bhagavad Gita. So I will take the last verse and I will talk about some significant words.
Four or five significant words from the last verse. Which will illustrate this theme of how the Bhagavad Gita transformed Arjuna and how it can transform us. So the last verse of the Bhagavad Gita is… Those of you who know it can recite after me.
Yatra Yogeshwara Krishna Yatra Partha Dhanur Dharaha Tatra Shreer Vijayo Bhute Dhruvani Tirma Tirmama So this verse is saying that wherever there is the Lord of all the strict power, Krishna and wherever there is the wielder of the bow, Arjuna, Partha there, there will be opulence, victory, morality and all such things. Wealth, Tirma Tirmama. And that is my opinion.
So who is speaking the last verse of the Bhagavad Gita? Krishna is the overall speaker of the Bhagavad Gita. But this particular verse is spoken by Sanjaya. He is saying that.
This is my understanding. So I will focus on, depending on how much time we have, I will focus on Dhanur Dharaha, then I will speak on Yogeshwara, then I will talk about Matthir Mama and Yatra. And if we get more time, we will talk about Nithira and other things also.
So Dhanur Dharaha. What does that word mean? Dhanur is bow. Dharaha is bearer.
Bearer, holder. Holding it. So now this word Dhanur Dharaha has a significant meaning over there.
Of course Arjuna was known as the archer. But at the start of the Bhagavad Gita, in the first chapter, he says that the Gandiva, my bow, is slipping from my hands. So the Gandiva is slipping from my hands.
And not only does it slip from his hands, actually he puts it aside. He put aside his bow and arrow. I will not fight.
I cannot fight. I will not fight. So by hearing the Bhagavad Gita, the Arjuna who had put aside his bow, saying I will not fight, has now picked up his bow in readiness to fight.
Now the fighting signifies, actually Arjuna’s willingness to do a difficult duty. It was a difficult challenge because his relatives and others were there on the opposite side. So when we face a difficulty in our life, at that time we may become disheartened.
And just like Arjuna put aside his bow, also we may say I can’t, I quit. So just as Arjuna became disheartened, we also become disheartened at times in our life. And just as the Bhagavad Gita’s message enlivened Arjuna, similarly it will enliven us.
So Dhanur Dara signifies the transformation the Bhagavad Gita brought about. Now if you look at the Bhagavad Gita itself, how many verses does it have? 700 verses. Now out of them, even if we consider all the verses, although all of them are not spoken by Krishna, some of them are spoken by Sanjay, some of them are spoken by Dhritharashtra, some of them are spoken by Arjuna, even if we consider all the 700 verses together, if we consider the number of letters that are there in those verses, the number of syllables, number of letters, actually the whole length of the Bhagavad Gita is actually not more than the number of letters you will get on the front and back page of Times of India.
So just by reading or hearing that much, Arjuna became completely transformed. And the magnitude of this transformation, to understand this, is that for a warrior to put aside his bow in the battlefield is an extreme thing. It’s not that he is defeated, he is not ready to fight itself.
Like say, now in a few months, the cricket world cup is coming, and say the cricket world cup final match is there, and say we have India’s top batsman, and India, the match is about to begin, they are going to bat, they come on the cricket pitch, and then suddenly the batsman says, I can’t bat. The batsman puts aside his bow. Puts aside, not his bow, his bat.
Puts aside his bat, and instead of standing in a posture, he just sits down on the ground itself. Come on, this is not a time to lose nerve. You are a talented batsman, now you have to bat.
So of course multiply this thousands of times. It doesn’t matter how important when you consider world cup to be. It’s not that people’s lives are at stake.
There it is much, much bigger stakes. But they just gave an idea, so Arjuna got so discouraged. He just put aside his bow, I can’t fight.
And then, still, by the end of the Bhagavad Gita, he became ready to fight. So what happened? What was the Bhagavad Gita’s message that transformed Arjuna like this? So each of these messages, I will try to summarize in one sentence or a phrase. So this Dhanur Dharah, this signifies the Gita’s essential message, look up and things will look up.
Look up and things will look up. That sometimes things are looking down, this is going wrong, that is going wrong, that everything seems to be gloomy, everything around seems to be gloom and doom. So at that time, when we feel that things are going wrong in our lives, at that time we are simply looking at those things and feeling more and more disheartened.
We look up. Look up means, who is there up? Ultimately Krishna is there up. So the Bhagavad Gita raises Arjuna’s vision upwards.
Now upwards means that first there is a body, animating the body is the soul. And the soul of the soul is Krishna. He is the whole of whom we are parts.
So the Gita raises Arjuna’s vision, starting from the body to the soul. First he says, how can I fight against my relatives? How can I kill them? It’s a reasonable argument, he cannot kill them. But there is weakness and there is wickedness.
When somebody has weakness, we can give forgiveness. So weakness means what? They have anger, they have greed, they have lust. And under the force of that impulse, they do something wrong.
Then, okay, they are themselves repentant, they are themselves apologetic. It’s a one-time event. Their intelligence, their moral sense, it’s still strong.
But somehow the force of the moment sidelines it. The force of the desire, the force of the impulse sidelines it. So weakness leads to hot-headedness.
Where people do something wrong under the pressure of the moment. Whereas wickedness is not hot, it leads not to hot-headedness, but to cold-bloodedness. Wickedness, when it makes people cold-blooded, that means they very systematically, calculatedly plan how to do wrong.
They plan how to hurt someone, how to gratify their desires, no matter what the cost it may be to another person. So when somebody has wickedness, to give them forgiveness is foolishness. Why? Because they are not going to change because they don’t even feel the need to change.
Their inner compass has got so misdirected that their moral sense has become dumbed, their intelligence has become misused. So intelligence, instead of restraining them from doing wrong, they are using their intelligence to scheme how to do wrong. Such a person who is cold-blooded, they need a replenishment.
If somebody, to understand why that fighting was required, what Krishna tells Arjuna is, just don’t look at the body. The body, yes, you have to kill the body. But why? To kill because Duryodhana has become so, so unconscionably wicked.
Say, Duryodhana tried to dishonor and disrupt the property in public. Now this kind of horrible act, sometimes some brutal people do, but somebody will catch a victim unsuspecting on a lonely road or some private place, they try to do like that. But suppose somebody does it in public, it’s even more brazen.
Suppose somebody tries to do such an act in a police station. That’s outrageous. You know, recently there was this attack to Kashmir on the Indian defence forces.
It’s got blood boiling because it was attacked directly, not on the citizens, not on the civilians, but on the defence forces. So, Duryodhana was a person who was so wicked, that, so brazen that in the royal assembly, where people, where justice is to be given, where punishment is to be given, there itself he was ready to do such a thing. And he was not in the least repentant about it.
His only repentance was that he did not succeed in doing it. His only regret about the incident was that something happened and he couldn’t succeed. So, such a remorseless, heartless person deserved to be punished.
And Krishna told him that, still, you are not fighting against them. It’s remarkable that the whole Bhagavad Gita does not contain even a single word of incitement. See, he did like that to Draupadi, therefore you have to fight against them.
Bhagavad Gita doesn’t talk in those terms at all. Although that is true, but the Bhagavad Gita focuses on that the soul and the body are two different things and sometimes the body can become so contaminated and perverted by lower desires that that body itself can’t be beat. Just like sometimes a person’s arm or some limb becomes contaminated by some disease, like gangrene or something like that.
Then, the rot in that limb may spread over the whole body and kill the person. And then the doctor says, amputate the limb. Amputate that particular limb in the body.
Now, that’s painful, but that’s what is required to save the rest of the body. Similarly, Krishna tells Arjuna that, see even Duryodhana is a soul, but that soul right now is covered by a wicked body. And unless that wicked body is separated from the soul, the soul cannot go free forwards and evolve.
So, what Krishna told Arjuna to do is see beyond the body to the soul and see that this will benefit not just you, that you will get a gignum. That’s not the purpose. This will benefit even Duryodhana.
Otherwise, he will continue doing wrong and what will happen? If we consider the social body, like one wicked Duryodhana, seeing him, many other people will also think, I can also become wicked. I can also abuse power like this. That infection will spread.
That’s the amputation that is required. Now, beyond this, so from the body to the soul, but beyond the soul to the whole. The whole is Krishna.
So, Krishna tells Arjuna, don’t think that you are fighting this war against the Kauravas. This is not a war between you and the Kauravas. This is not a war against anyone.
This is a war for Dharam. This is a war to establish modern and spiritual order in society. And Krishna gave Arjuna a vision of how he as Krishna is the lover, is the well-wisher of all living beings.
He says that when you get spiritual knowledge, you will never fall into illusion. But you will see that all living beings are mine and are in me. You will see, they are all souls and they are all my parts.
So, I care for them more than you can ever care for them. That applies to Arjuna, as Arjuna is Krishna’s devotee, and that applies to everyone. So, when we look at our plans, and the plan doesn’t seem to be working, sometimes we come to a situation where there is no good choice available.
This is a bad choice, this is a bad choice, this is a bad choice. All that we can choose is which is the least bad choice. Sometimes we come to a situation in life like that.
At that time, if we look just simply by our human vision and our human plan, this is a terrible situation. But if we look beyond, there is a higher plan. Krishna is our well-wisher and Krishna has a bigger plan for us.
When we see that, then that gives us encouragement, that gives us hope. Even if none of our plans seem to be working, but Krishna’s plan is still working. We look at the present and plan the future.
Krishna looks at the future and plans the present. Because he looks at the future and plans the present, sometimes from our present perspective, Krishna’s plan may not make any sense to us. But there is a plan.
That’s why when we keep looking at the situation, why is this happening like this, why is this happening like this, why do I have to do like this? That’s what perplexes us. But look up. When you look up to Krishna, not just in a sentimental sense, but actually by practicing bhakti, you connect with Krishna.
Look up at Krishna. Then, see, Krishna’s plan is still acting. And let me do my part in Krishna’s plan.
Let me do what I can to serve Krishna right now. Then things will start looking up. Things will start looking up.
That is the significance of dhanur dharah. Arjuna, who had put aside his bow in discouragement, picked up his bow in readiness to fight. This transformation happened because the Bhagavata helped him to look up from the body to the soul, from the soul to the whole, to Krishna.
And thus, he saw that Krishna’s plan is still acting. Although his plan seemed to be thwarted. And thus, when he looked up, things started looking up.
So that was the first point. So, as I said, I’ll be seeing these four points. And after each point, it would be nice if you could do some reflection.
Any particular thought, any particular point which struck you, anything you found relevant, anything you would like to share with someone else after the class. This is a point I liked. Is there any point which you would like to reflect right now? Yes, please.
Yes, Krishna looks at the future and plans the present. And what do we do? Look at the present and plan the future. And what this means is, thank you, it’s very nice, it’s an important point.
An example we could have for this is, let’s say there’s a doctor. And the doctor is treating a patient. Now the patient and doctor have the same purpose.
That is, to cure the patient. Now, the doctor may give an analgesic and antiseptic. A medicine for taking care of the pain and a medicine for curing the disease.
Now, if the patient is not very medically savvy, and the patient is also stingy, and the patient finds, actually, this analgesic is so cheap, this antiseptic is so expensive, and the patient discovers that whatever pain I have, I just take the analgesic and the pain goes away. So, why do I need to take the antiseptic? Now, all the patient is saying is, looking at the present, I have pain, I take this medicine, the pain goes away. Now, what the doctor is saying is, actually, the analgesic is fine, but the most important thing is the antiseptic.
Now, look at the future. You have this infection within you, and if this infection is not removed, then things will become far worse. So, the patient can’t see the future problems that are going to come because of the disease that is inside the body.
All the patient can see is that I have this pain, the pain goes away. But the doctor sees the disease and sees the prognosis of the disease. So, the doctor will say, take this medication.
He says, this is so bitter, and I take it and the pain doesn’t go away by itself. So, now the patient says that, no, no, no, I just want this analgesic. And the patient starts taking only the analgesic.
And the doctor will say, no, stop it. I will take this medicine. So, sometimes similarly, what happens is, Krishna’s purpose and our purpose are ultimately the same.
That we all want to, we want to become happy, we want to become free from distress. But sometimes, we seek some short-term solutions. Ultimately, every material solution is a short-term solution.
We may have some, this problem, that problem, that problem. And we solve that problem, but after sometime, some other problem will come up. So, most material solutions, they were required.
The pain is there, pain medicine is required. But, they may be necessary, but they are not sufficient. But we get too obsessed with this.
Why is this job not working out? Why is this relationship not working out? Why is this health issue not getting resolved? Why is this weather so hostile? We get obsessed with that. And, even if that is resolved, after sometime, that problem comes back, or some other problem comes back. So, when we seek material solutions alone, and we don’t get material solutions, then we feel frustrated.
Like, if we seek a painkiller, don’t get a painkiller. But, when we see Krishna, what Krishna sees is that actually, the focus on the medicine, that antiseptic is spiritual growth. Sometimes, when we are just looking at this level, this doesn’t work, let me try this way, we keep trying material things without turning to Krishna, without praying to Krishna.
Yes, we need a material solution also. But, first look up. Look up, and see the big picture.
And then things will start looking up, and then we can move forward. So, any one more point? Yes? Practically, to determine right or wrong, because it’s a perspective, clear right or wrong, and you react to it, what’s the guidance to… Sometimes, we just do things which there’s no clear right and wrong, and we react instinctively at that time. Yes.
Sometimes, life just doesn’t give us the opportunity to think deeply and calmly about situations. We are just in the heat of the moment, we want to take a decision. But then, later on, we can reflect and check.
Sometimes, we make the right decisions, and sometimes we make the decisions right. Okay, I came to an intersection, I was not sure should I take left or right? And I took right, and then I found, oh, I meant to go left. Then, it doesn’t necessarily mean we have to go back all the way.
From wherever we realize, then we make the decision right and come on the road. Route. So, similarly, at that time, we just have to use whatever intelligence we have, and make the decision.
Sometimes, thinking on the feet, that’s what we have to do. But broadly speaking, the Mahabharata says that right and wrong, ultimately, the scripture tells us what is right and wrong, in terms of broad principles. Scripture is like a compass, which is the direction we are going to go in life.
But specific situations can be very complex. So, there are three broad factors which can be considered by deciding. There is the content, the intent, and the consequence.
Content means, what are we doing? So, broadly speaking, we understand, say, speaking lies is bad. But suppose a child is not ready to take a medicine, and the mother puts the medicine in a chocolate inside, and uses it. Mother says, isn’t the medicine there? No, this is chocolate.
The mother is saying something which is not exactly true, but that is for the benefit of the child. Sometimes, if the child is not taking the medicine, that’s required. So, there is the content of what we are doing, there are broad categories for that, there is intent, why we are doing it.
And sometimes, we learn something by consequence. My intent was good, what I did also I thought was right, but sometimes the consequence came wrong. Then also we realize, that was not the best decision I made.
Then we make the best out of it. So, life never comes with a guarantee of right decisions. So, we just have to do the best that we can.
But Krishna is so expert, that he can bring good even out of the bad. He can guide us in such a way that even if we have made a mistake in the past, from there also, he can take us on the right route afterwards. So, that’s the first word.
Which was this word? Anuradhara. Now, let me look at another word, that is describing Krishna. Yatra, what was the word? Yogeshwara.
So, actually, this was, what he spoke was, I am going to elaborate at that point. Yogeshwara is the lord of mystic power. So, now this word Yogeshwara is significant.
Actually, it doesn’t come many times in the Bhagavad Gita. There are some names which come repeatedly. Yogeshwara comes only in the 11th chapter and in the 18th chapter.
Does anyone know what is the 11th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita? The Virat Rupa. That the whole universe is shown inside Krishna. And when Sanjay sees this, he is astounded.
He is showing the whole universal form. Arjun is just talking about Krishna. At one moment, at the next moment, Krishna disappears.
And he sees this. Many faces, many eyes, many mouths. He just turned.
Pashyami Yogeshwar Vish Pashyami Vishweshwar Vishwaroopam And see the universal form on such often obeisances over there. So, see that astonishing form that the word Yogeshwara is used over there. And now the same word is used over here for Krishna.
Why? Because for Arjun, there are going to be many challenges. Although he has taken up the battle. He has become Dhanur Dera.
And although he is a great archer, the path to success is not going to be a smooth path for him. So, here, through the message of the Bhagavad Gita, and through the demonstration of the Vishwaroopam by Krishna and Bhagavad Gita, Sanjay is conveying to Dhritarashtra that Arjun has Krishna who is the lord of all mystic powers. And he can do miracles.
He can do astonishing things. And that’s why, he says that even if you think that you have more forces than him, you have 11 Akshavas, he has just 7, you have Gauravas of the caliber of Vishwa and Drona, but still, he has Yogishwara. He can do anything.
That is the power of God’s mysticism. And the Bhagavad Gita philosophically describes how God can do miracles. And then it demonstrates majestic, miraculous, mystical vision of the Vishwaroopam.
Where everything in the universe is present within him. So, Krishna can do miracles. And that’s why Arjuna is looking up and things are looking up.
What that means is that we may not find a way ahead, but Krishna can create a way ahead even if there is no way. Krishna can guide us to find a way and there is no way Krishna can help us create a way for us. So sometimes, we limit ourselves by having limited faith in God’s power.
We limit ourselves by having limited faith in God’s power. That Krishna can work in ways that we can’t even think about. At one level, faith means that Krishna exists, Krishna cares, Krishna will protect.
At another level, faith also means openness to possibility. Openness to possibility means that we made a plan and that plan is just not working. We are going along a path and bang! Right in front of us, the door closed.
You see darkness all around. What do I do? At that time, when that one door is closed, Krishna is so mystical that even if there is a thick wall around us, Krishna will create a door for us. Krishna will create a door and take us ahead.
Sometimes when we see darkness in our lives, the mind makes us think this darkness is like a dungeon. But the darkness is not like a dungeon. It’s like a tunnel.
What is the difference between a dungeon and a tunnel? Sorry? Yes, exactly. Life at the end of the tunnel. A dungeon? It’s a prison.
There is no way out. So, when we understand Yogeshwar, even if to our vision, it may appear that this is a dungeon, there is no way out. Just whatever I do, it’s just going to lead to trouble.
In management parlour, they call this a lose-lose situation. But Krishna can pave a way where there is no way out. That is the power of Yogeshwar.
We see this in the life of Srila Prabhupada. When he went to America at the age of 70, it was so difficult for him. He had tried for 40 years in India and he had not been very successful.
Not many things. Not many people had actually started taking Krishna Bhakti very seriously. And he was going to America, a completely distant land where he had never been there.
To give a cricket metaphor, it’s like a batsman who has played many matches in India and has not done very well. And then the batsman goes to a foreign land. If you can’t play here, how can you play there? That’s what people would think.
There was a lady who eventually gave Prabhupada passage to go to America. She said, Swamiji, if you want to speak the Bhagavatam, why do you have to go to America? You come to my house every day, I will hear Bhagavatam from you. Now Prabhupada was not interested in speaking Bhagavatam as a ritual.
It is a pious ritual. Prabhupada wanted people to become devoted and dedicated to it. So, Prabhupada, when he went alone, he didn’t even know whether there would be vegetarian food available in America or not.
He didn’t even know that vegetarian food would be available on the ship or not. He didn’t even know that vegetarian food would be available on the ship or not. Ship itself was 40-50 days journey.
So, he took as much vegetables and grains that he could with him. And when he came to America, he didn’t even know whether to turn left or right. But he just kept taking one step forward.
And Krishna arrived. Krishna worked in such amazing ways that just at the right time, Prabhupada came to America. When he came to America in 1960s, that was the time when the counterculture was going on.
People were very eagerly exploring Eastern spirituality, Indian spirituality especially. And Prabhupada just…Krishna came at the right time and it was a dramatic transformation. Within 10 years, there were 108 temples.
Thousands and thousands of people took up Krishna Bhakti across the world. So, this is Yogeshwara. Krishna can do amazing things.
So, if we stay very attached to our expectations and our plans, like this is the door and this is how I want to go ahead. And when that door gets closed, then we keep glaring at that door. Why is this not opening? Or we start crying and we blind our eyes.
And some other door opens but we don’t even see it. So, we can have our plans, certainly we have our intelligence and we should use our intelligence to make plans. But if we hold on to our plans lightly, not tightly, lightly.
Yes, this is my plan. I’ll do it the best that I can. But if this doesn’t work, I’m ready.
Okay, Krishna, how can I serve you? So, if we have that attitude, how can I move ahead? How can I serve you? Then we’ll see Krishna has his own ways. Krishna is Yogeshwara. And that lord of mysticism is actually with us.
Krishna was there for Arjun, he’s also there with us. That was the second point, that Krishna is Yogeshwara. And how Krishna is Yogeshwara is both philosophically and visually demonstrated in the Kurukshetra by the Vishwara Upadarshan.
And later on in the Kurukshetra war, there are many times when Krishna uses his mystic power to help Arjun. Most famously when he has to avenge Abhimanyu’s death by killing Jaidat. Krishna covers the sun and he does that mystic power.
So, I was telling this story in America and in a university. So, one student asked this question. He says, if Krishna could have covered the sun, Krishna could have killed Jaidat also.
Isn’t it? So, why did Krishna have to cover the sun and Arjun had to go through the whole labour of labour of going through the whole army, breaking through all those defensive arrangements, working so hard. Krishna would have killed Jaidat also. The mood over there is that actually Krishna wants us to endeavour and Krishna wants us also to get the benefit.
So, if Krishna has just done that, then we would have been glorifying Arjun’s devotion, his dedication, his excellence. So, Krishna wants us to endeavour and Krishna removes the obstacles and we get the benefit. Of course, devotees, we understand that it is not I alone doing it.
Krishna’s mercy is also there. But Krishna can himself by his miraculous powers remove all obstacles. But when we endeavour, when we strive, by that we grow.
By that we grow in faith, we grow in maturity, we grow in discipline and that growth stands us in great stead in future in our life. So, this is the second point. Yogeshwara.
So, any reflections on this? Yes, please. I think, for me, when you are struggling, everything is dark and you said, you look up and say, Krishna, how can I serve you? For me, it’s the opposite. When there is nothing, I can’t do anything, then suddenly all I can do is I beg and say, you know, please help me rather than, you know, I don’t have that serving attitude, I just have, please give me, like, get me out of this.
And instead of looking for solution, I look for I look for problems, why it happened, like, you know, reasoning behind it. How do you get out of that thing? I think that’s perfectly reasonable to do. Whenever we have a problem, we want a solution.
Rather than asking Krishna, how can I serve you? He says, please get me out of this. And I ask, why this is happening? There is human intelligence and divine intelligence. And both can point in the same direction.
But sometimes divine intelligence goes much further than human intelligence. So, if we have got into some situation and with our intelligence we, you do an analysis and we try to find a way ahead. We try to find a solution.
That’s good. That’s using our intelligence in the mood of service. But sometimes our intelligence just doesn’t work.
So, it’s like, say, a door is closed and you push against the door. Sometimes the door may break or sometimes somebody may open the door. So, like that, some situation we got into and we are using our intelligence, exercising, somehow trying to find a way ahead.
And then we find a way ahead. But sometimes we can’t. So, at that time when we can’t, at that time rather than simply continuing with the intelligence in a vain quest.
So, there are times, normally, bhakti means we surrender with intelligence. We use our intelligence also to serve Krishna, to surrender to Krishna, to do other duties in a mood of service to Krishna. But there are times when we surrender with intelligence.
Surrender with intelligence and surrender with intelligence. Krishna, I just can’t figure this out. I just can’t figure this out.
I don’t know what I should do. Is winning good for me? Is leading this world good for me? Or just fighting and losing my life over here is good for me? I don’t know. Then he turns up to me.
I don’t understand. So, similarly, there are times when our intelligence will not work. So, one definition of intelligence is to know what to do when we don’t know what to do.
Just like, say, if you are using a new device. Say, you have got a oven or a phone or a computer and you are fiddling around with this and this and this and suddenly the device hangs up. It stops working.
Then, what do I do? I don’t know what to do. Then, call an expert. Isn’t it? So, my intelligence helps me to solve the problem.
But my intelligence at least tells me call up the expert. So, like that, for us, praying to Krishna, chanting Hare Krishna in a prayerful mood is like dialing the expert. So, intelligence means to know what to do when we don’t know what to do.
Disconnect with Krishna. And when the why question doesn’t lead to any answers, then we shift to the how question. So, we say, Krishna, get me out of this.
The mood is the same, but ultimately, our mood is that we want to serve Krishna. So, Krishna, how can I serve you right now? Go in the situation. What steps can I take so that I can move out of the situation and continue serving you? So, that’s not necessarily two different things.
Like, how can I serve you? When it’s, please get me out of the situation, it’s just a different expression. When it’s, please get me out of the situation, that is a more self-centered way of looking at things. That’s not necessarily bad.
Sometimes, life puts us in that predicament. In the same situation, say, Krishna, I want to serve you, but in this situation, I just can’t see any way how can I move forward. So, please, tell me how I can serve you.
So, that prayer itself can also be a service to Krishna. Because praying is also a way of connecting with Krishna. Praying is also serving Krishna.
So, that is the second point. And now, Yogeshwara. So, I’ll try to take one or two more.
Yatra, and there is Matir Mama. So, Matir Mama is, what does it mean? This is my opinion. Now, you may wonder that Bhagavad Gita is Krishna’s words and you want to know Krishna’s message.
So, why is the last word of the Bhagavad Gita my opinion? And it’s Sanjay’s opinion. Sanjay is simply the messenger. Sanjay is not the expert.
Sanjay is a very famous doctor, writes a book on how to treat a patient. And because it gets over, and the person who is the editor of the book or the person who is the translator of the book or whatever is the conveyor of that book’s message. Maybe the publisher of the book or whatever, that person writes, this is my opinion.
Who cares about your opinion? We feel like that. But, the last word being Matir Mama is, it has a special significance over there. What are the first words of the Bhagavad Gita? Dhritarashtra.
Yeah, Dhritarashtra. You can recite it. Dhritarashtra Vacha Dharmakshetre Kurukshetre Samavetayu Yotsavaha Mamangaha Pandava Shaiva Kimakurvata Sanjaya So what happened in the battlefield? Kimakurvata.
So now, generally, when somebody asks what happened? Say, some dramatic event is going to happen. What is going to happen? Commentary is asking. Then Sanjaya is giving a factual description of what happened.
But based on what happened, he is also giving a prediction of what is going to happen in future. So when he is saying that victory is going to be on the side of side where there is Krishna and Arjuna. That means, he is saying victory is not going to be on your side.
Victory is going to be on the other side. And now, nobody can predict the future. Actually, many times, we feel the future is so uncertain.
This may happen, that may happen, that may happen. And our mind can make us very fearful about the future. What will happen? What if that happens? What if we get some terrible disease? The mind can make us very fearful.
And adding to the insecurity and the fear is we don’t know what is going to happen in the future. But the fortunate thing is even the mind doesn’t know what is going to happen in the future. So we can’t predict the future but even our mind can’t predict the future.
So the mind’s fears are not like a reliable forecast. You know, if you have some very unreliable weather app, says tomorrow there is going to be a storm and there is bright sun tomorrow. This is not a good app.
So our mind’s forecast are like an unreliable forecast. So when we start feeling fearful, yes, that may happen. But that may not happen.
The mind is not an expert in telling the future. So Mathir Mama indicates that Sanjay is saying that this is my opinion that victory is going to be over there. So he is gently hinting towards Mithrashtra that your plan is not going to be successful.
But that’s one contextual level of meaning. But there is another deeper, broader meaning. The whole purpose of the Bhagavad Gita is not just to say demonstrate God’s glory.
It’s not to demonstrate or establish God’s position. It’s not to proclaim God’s position. The purpose of the Bhagavad Gita is to transform man’s disposition.
To change human will so that it is aligned with divine will. That way like I earlier said, if Krishna had wanted to win the war, Krishna could have won the war by his own, on his own. He didn’t even need Arjuna.
If Arjuna said I will not fight, he’d say okay, who cares for you. I will, I will. By my mystic power I can win the war.
But the whole purpose of the Bhagavad Gita is not just to show God’s power. It is to transform human will. And the Bhagavad Gita is demonstrating that transformation of the human will at both levels.
And the Bhagavad Gita can say, we can say it ends with Krishna’s conversation with Arjuna. And what is Arjuna’s last word? I will do your will. So I will do your will means that Krishna whatever he has told in the Bhagavad Gita, that mission has been successful.
Arjuna’s will has become harmonized with Krishna’s will. So the same is demonstrated to Sanjay. Sanjay has also gained confidence in Krishna’s omnipotence.
Sanjay’s will, Sanjay’s conception, Sanjay’s intelligence has also become transformed. So whatever is God’s understanding, whatever is God’s plan, whatever is God’s will, when that becomes our understanding, that is when we become spiritually realized. So we want to become the purpose of, there is one thing which is faith.
Faith means that, yes, I don’t know what is going to happen, but I have faith that something good will happen. But there is faith and there is realization. Realization means, it is something which we have experienced.
The difference between faith and realization is, say if I am going to a doctor, and I have heard a lot about the doctor, how good the doctor is. And when I take the doctor’s prescription, I have faith that I will be cured. But realization means that I have, I take the medicine and I get cured.
Then that doctor’s expertise is not a matter of faith for me. It’s a matter of realization. I have experienced it.
If I have already been cured, and then somebody says, this is a bad doctor. He says, your judgment is bad. Doctor is not bad.
I have been cured of it. So similarly, for Sanjay, when he is saying that Matheer Mama, this is my opinion. That means, he is saying that his intellectual conviction has become aligned with the divine revelation.
So he got the realization with the divine plan. His intelligence has got aligned. His understanding, his opinion, everything has got aligned with him.
So he got the realization of Krishna’s power when he saw the Vishwaroopa. And that’s what he remembers in the penultimate verses of the Gita. I am thrilled on taking up that awesome form.
Matheer Mama. So, my opinion is not talking about subjectivity over here. The presence of my opinion is talking about personal realization.
That is not just an abstract philosophy which is, okay, I just report that philosophy. No, his personal realization. This is what I also consider to be.
So for us, as we grow in bhakti, it’s not just going in ears. We see how Krishna acts in our life. We see how Krishna transforms our hearts internally.
We see how Krishna protects us externally. And then we start realizing what is this? This is true. This is my opinion, not in terms of subjectivity, but in terms of realization.
This is what I have experienced. I am not just speaking this because I have heard it from someone else. I have heard it, but I have experienced it.
So when we speak with realization, there comes a greater depth and authenticity to what we speak. Matheer Mama is not expressing subjectivity. Matheer Mama is expressing authenticity.
This is my realization. And that’s how the Bhagavad Gita outline the process of bhakti yoga is meant to give us this realization. Prateksha Vagamam Dharmyam.
When we practice bhakti as in the Bhagavad Gita, we ourselves start getting realizations. See earlier we might have been very short tempered. We start practicing bhakti and we start becoming calmer.
Earlier when stressful situations came, we would just crumble under the stress. But now, we are still more composed. We are able to deal with situations better.
The indicates are maturing. We are growing. And like that we all get realizations.
So this is the significance of Matheer Mama. The Bhagavad Gita is not just giving an abstract philosophy nor is it just talking about divine glory. It is giving lofty philosophy.
It is also talking about God’s glory. But the purpose of it is to transform the human intention. And to give us realization.
To give us personal conviction. To bring authenticity to our spiritual practice. So any reflections or comments about this? Yes.
That’s a good one. Yeah. Beautiful point.
Senior is not one who has seen years pass by. Beautiful. Yeah.
You could say that. If you only keep, if you see only what is near, then you have not really seen yet. You have to see bigger things.
You have to see distant things. Our vision has to expand. Thank you.
Any other points? Sometimes Krishna says, this is my opinion. So what is the significance of that? Let’s look where we see this. 13.3 13.23 says that.
Many places actually. So he says that Kshetra kshetra gaya gyanam yatha gyanam matambama That when you understand Kshetra and Kshetra gaya, one who understands matter, spirit and consciousness. Matter and consciousness.
When you understand these things, then a person has knowledge. So now when Krishna is saying this. It’s very significant that Krishna does not draw upon his position as God to force Arjun to do his work.
Krishna uses reason and of course scripturally based reason, but reason and logic to explain to Arjun why he should do what he should do. So Krishna even in the Bhagavad Gita when he reveals that he is God, actually if you see the first time Krishna says he is God it is almost a casual reference. He says that he gives Arjuna the philosophical knowledge and then he says in the past I gave this to Suryadeva.
Hey wait a minute, pause pause pause. How could you give it to Suryadeva? Then he says actually I have appeared many times in the past. So it’s almost casually he tells that yeah I am God.
Then towards later he very categorically proclaims But Krishna’s purpose in telling Arjun that I am God is not to demand obedience. I am God, you have to obey me, otherwise I will send you to hell. That is not the mood of Krishna at all.
Krishna is saying that if at all he uses the point that I am God, he uses that point to boost his reasoning. That therefore consider my words seriously. So I know the stuff.
It’s like say a doctor, let’s say we go to a hospital and we find that somebody is some person in a white robe tells us that actually I have to do a surgery. Now we may say okay I will take a second opinion and come back. But if we come to know that that person who gave us that opinion is the best doctor in the entire city and not only the best doctor in the entire city all the other doctors have been trained by this doctor only.
Then maybe I don’t need a second opinion. If he is that expert, then I will do what he tells me to do. So Krishna is telling even his position that telling his position is not to demand obedience.
It is to increase the persuasiveness of his argument. Ultimately the doctor cannot force the patient to do the surgery. The patient has to confront.
Similarly when Krishna talks about his Godhood that is to enhance his reasoning that is not to impose his will. So Krishna says my opinion, it is in the mood of his approaching Krishna it’s like a dialogue between friends. It’s a very serious dialogue but it’s a dialogue between friends.
And although there is an understanding that Krishna is becoming the teacher and Arjuna is the student but still there is a mood of mutual affection. If Krishna was just handing out a commandment to Arjuna Do this, then there would be no reason for him to speak 700 words. One word, Yudhya.
Finish. Krishna doesn’t do that. So when he is saying my opinion, that is again not in the sense of subjectivity because Krishna is omniscient.
So his vision and his opinion is the ultimate reality. But he uses this word, this is my opinion, to enhance the mood of the conversation. To enhance the flavour of the discussion, the conversation and Krishna is telling his opinion to enhance the personal nature of the discussion.
Like a doctor gives a medical opinion. Now that medical opinion, there is a top-notch doctor, it’s to be taken very seriously. The word opinion is not to indicate relativism or subjectivity.
It is actually to bring gravity but in the context of that discussion. Yes, it’s a good question. Why did Krishna want Bhishma to be killed in the battlefield? Bhishma is a very multi-layered character in both the Bhagavatam and the Mahabharata.
Very gallant, very heroic, very learned and even very devoted. But, in many ways, Bhishma is a literalist. Literalist means, sticks to the literal letter of the law all the time.
So, there is what is called Niyamagraha. Niyamagraha means, it can have two meanings. One is the Agraha, Agraha doesn’t accept the rule at all.
The other meaning is, just holds on to the rules without understanding the purpose of the rules. So now, because of his sticking to the literal word of the law, what happened is that he often there are times when he acted grievously wrong. So, when Draupadi was being dishonored, he just remained silent.
Why? Because he had said that I will always be by the side of the ruling Kuru king. Putik kind of thing. Now, he never thought that the ruling Kuru king would ever do or allow to be done such a dastardly thing over there.
Unfortunately, that happened. And Draupadi appealed to him. She was trying her best to avoid this catastrophe.
And he said that if Yudhishthira gambled himself first, then how could he have gambled me? If he was not his own master, how could he be my master? And then, Bhishma says over there that actually you know, yes, if somebody has already lost themselves, then they can’t gamble. But they can’t gamble anyone else because they don’t possess anything else. But at the same time, he says the wife always belongs to the husband.
So, considering these both principles, I am confused. And therefore, I cannot Yudhishthira. Now, okay, now whether when he says the wife belongs to the husband, it’s not in the sense of like a possession or domination.
It’s like a possession in the sense of protection. So, whether you consider whether the wife belongs to the husband or not, the important thing is that the Kshatriya is meant to protect people from being hurt. And he gets so caught in the technicality of a decision, forget the big picture.
So, he passively let a disaster happen and stayed silent. So, that silence cost him dearly. And eventually, Prabhupada also says in the second chapter, Bhagavad Gita, because he remained silent when Draupadi was being dishonored.
Like a terrible crime was happening and the police remained silent at that time. And the police are guilty of neglect. So, Bhishma had to be punished for that neglect.
And, of course, Bhakti works in in often inconceivable ways. So, at a material level, what happened was that wrongdoing was grievous. And he got a grievous consequence for that.
His body was pierced with so many arrows. Excruciatingly painful. So, Krishna did not overlook his wrongdoing just because he was a devotee.
But at the same time, Krishna did not overlook his Bhakti because he had done wrong. Krishna considered both. And both he considered means that Krishna came to, when Bhishma fell on that arrow and went, Krishna came and blessed him.
And Bhishma said, I am so much pleased. He said, I will bless you with absorptions that you will not feel pain. And then Krishna stood before Bhishma and later on, after Kurukshetra, what heard from him.
And he understood, learned scripture for him. And eventually, in Krishna’s presence, Bhishma departed. So, whatever devotion we do, that is never lost.
Even if we do some terrible wrong things also, the devotion is not lost. And the devotion will lead to the ultimate protection and ultimate liberation. Bhishma’s departure was supremely auspicious.
That is the model of how in the Lord’s presence we can depart from the world. At the same time, if somebody has done something serious wrong, there are consequences for that. So, he had to go through those consequences.
Because he seeking to the literal word of the law, yes, he wanted to protect the Kuru dynasty. He wanted to protect the Kuru king. But here the Kuru ruler was actually the enemy of the Kuru dynasty.
The Kuru ruler was only trying to assassinate his cousins. He was creating a dissension. So, whose side should he be on? So, because he stood by the literal word of the law, without considering the spirit of the law, he erred.
And because of that, he had to go through the consequence of dying on the war field. So, let’s quickly finish the last point. I want to go briefly.
The last is the first word. Yatra. Yatra means what? Where.
So, where there is Krishna and where there is Arjuna, there will be victory. Now, it’s interesting. We could say that Kundi is in Kurukshetra.
In Kurukshetra, Pandavas will win. He could have said that. But this Yatra signifies that where or wherever, wherever there is Krishna and wherever there is Arjuna, there will be victory.
And Arjuna represents each one of us. We are all souls like Arjuna. We get into illusion sometimes.
And like Krishna and the idols, we come out of illusion. And just as Krishna and Arjuna went together on a chariot, in the Upanishads, the body is often compared to a chariot. And on the chariot of the body, the soul is there as the passenger.
Just like Arjuna was the passenger in the chariot. And intelligence is meant to be the charioteer. And when we hear the Bhagavad Gita, when we assimilate the Bhagavad Gita, then we bring Krishna as the charioteer.
We get our intelligence from Krishna. And in fact, our intelligence becomes Krishna-ized. It becomes spiritualized.
It becomes Krishna-ized. So, Prabhupada says in one initiation lecture that now, when you surrender to Krishna, that means you have handed over the reins of your chariot to Krishna. So, what Krishna is saying is that this is not just one… what the Bhagavad Gita’s last word, Yatra, conveys this is not just one historical incident that happened thousands of years ago.
This is an eternal principle. It is not just a specific historical prediction that he is making that will be victory for the Kauravas. He is asserting a universal eternal principle.
That wherever there is Krishna and wherever there is Arjuna, there will be victory. But he says that in everybody’s heart there is Krishna and Arjuna. We all are like Arjuna.
And Krishna is the Paramatma in everyone’s heart. But the important thing is Dhanurkara. And Arjuna who has become ready to do Krishna’s will.
Similarly, if we become ready to do Krishna’s will, if we become determined to serve Krishna, no matter how many obstacles, how many discouragements, no matter how many negativities we face in our life, we stay determined to serve Krishna, then there will be difficulties. But Krishna will help us go through those difficulties. Krishna will help us to grow through those difficulties.
So no matter how big the problems we are facing, how big the obstacles may be, if we persevere in a mood of devotion with Krishna, Krishna will see us through those obstacles. So Krishna does not promise in the Bhagavad Gita a stormless sea. He doesn’t say, you just become my devotee and you know what problems you will have.
But what Krishna promises is an unsinkable ship that storms will be there, but this is a ship, a ship of bhakti, a ship of determined devotional attitude towards Krishna. It is a ship that no storm can sink. Of course, we may sink if we jump out of the ship.
If we get scared because of some wave, we may think, oh this wave is so big. If we jump out of the ship, it’s a problem. But if we stay in the ship, if we stay determined to serve Krishna, then no matter how big and how threatening the waves may be, the ship is unsinkable.
The ship will not only protect us amidst the storm, but it will also take us through the storm towards Krishna. That shivir vijayoh bhutir, that victory, that prosperity, that ultimate success of life is something which can come to every one of us if we say, stay devoted to Krishna. So the mode of the Bhagavad Gita is that whatever happens, stay devoted to Krishna, stay determined in the service of Krishna.
And if we are determined in the service of Krishna, even through whatever storm may come our way, Krishna will protect us. So I’ll summarize what I spoke today. I spoke on four main points between the last verse of the Bhagavad Gita.
So the Bhagavad Gita as the theme was, the Bhagavad Gita’s transformational power. In less words than what might be there in just two pages of a newspaper, the Bhagavad Gita changes Arjun, is completely disheartened before the biggest battle of his life, makes him completely alive and ready to fight. So how does it bring it about? The first was, look up, and what will happen? Yes, look up and things will look up.
So instead of just looking at our situation, look up at the Lord who is ultimately orchestrating our situations. So look up means that from the body, from the material level, look to the spiritual level, look to the soul. So Krishna told Arjun, you are not killing your enemies.
You are actually doing a surgery by which you are separating their pure souls from their impure bodies so that they are protected and the social body is protected. And then beyond the soul, look to the super soul, the whole Krishna that Krishna has a plan. You are not fighting against them.
You are fighting for me to execute my plan. So when we simply look at our plans and they don’t seem to be working, you might get disheartened. But we look at the present and plan the future, whereas Krishna looks at the future and plans the present.
So when we look up, we can better see this big picture and we can become hopeful and energized once again. Then what a second? Yogeshwara. Yogeshwara means Krishna as a lord of mystic powers can do things which may seem impossible for us.
So even if we see that all is completely locked and we are blocked, but Krishna and that’s why we don’t lose hope, but wait. Faith at one level means a certainty. Yes, Krishna will protect.
But faith at a practical level also means openness to possibility. Okay, if this door is closed, let me see which door opens. So if we keep glaring at the door which is closed or if we keep crying because the door is closed, then we miss out on some other door that may open.
So when there is darkness in our life, that darkness is not what? Do you remember? The darkness is not a dungeon. It is a tunnel. Just keep moving forward and the darkness will get over.
Krishna has that miraculous power and then I talked about Prabhupada. How Prabhupada after being so after having so many challenges in India and not having much successes but later on he persevered and went to America and just amazing people were reached and transformed by him. By Krishna’s mercy.
Then third was Mantirama. The purpose of the Gita is not just to proclaim God’s glories. It is not just to proclaim God’s position, but it is to transform man’s position.
So Krishna can do whatever he wants on his own. But he wants us to participate. He wants us to take credit.
He wants us to grow. So there is faith which we need to take the steps forward. When we take the steps, like when we take medicine.
But Mantirama may indicate that he has got realization. You have seen Krishna’s Vishwaroopa? This is really God. He can do amazing things.
So the process of bhakti gives us not just faith, but realization. So Mantirama talks not about subjectivity, but about authenticity. Not just some theoretical philosophy I have heard, but something which I have personally realized.
And last was Yatra. Bhagwan is not just talking about a specific historical situation. He is talking about a universal principle.
Wherever Krishna and Arjuna are there, like that, in every body there is a super soul and a soul. If the soul becomes ready to serve Krishna, then the child in the body, Krishna will guide that person to achieve ultimate success in life. So rather than getting disheartened by seeing the obstacles, we look towards Krishna and we focus on Krishna.
Problems may seem very big. Krishna doesn’t promise a stormy sea, but he does provide an unsinkable ship. If we stay in the ship of service to him, we will weather all storms and will attain an ultimate solution.
Thank you very much. Hare Krishna. How can we know whether our will is aligned to Krishna’s will? Firstly, it is not necessary that Krishna’s will is like only one narrow path.
It is a personal relationship between us and Krishna. And there are many occasions when Arjuna expresses his will also. Arjuna says, I am going to bring down Jaidrath.
Krishna initially says, it is too big a challenge. Arjuna says, no, I want to go. Krishna says, okay.
I will help you in doing it. So we shouldn’t think that Krishna’s will is just like one frozen path and if we don’t find that path, we are lost forever. It is not like that.
It is reciprocal. We can say Krishna’s will is more like a direction than a path. And you could say it is like a GPS.
The GPS tells us, go in this direction. And also it uses a route to go in that direction. Suppose we are going in a particular direction and then we are meant to turn right but we turn left.
And what does the GPS do? Re-routes. Does GPS say, you need to obey me, get lost. So, GPS re-routes and shows us the way from wherever we are.
But then, these are very indicators. It was 23 minutes but now it has become 27 minutes. Now it has become 35 minutes.
Something is wrong. So, similarly, sometimes, when we are going on the path of life, what is God’s will may not be so clear. So, we use our best intelligence.
We pray to Krishna. We consult some, it’s a very important thing, we consult some senior devotees and take their inputs. And then, based on that, we take a decision.
But after we take a decision, we keep observing. That, okay, is this actually bringing me in a constructive direction? Is it taking me in some other direction? So, the route and the directions may not seem to be that clear. But, it is that, if we consider there are 100 decisions in our life.
So, we could say there are maybe 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 decisions where the right is very clear. Maybe in 30-40 decisions, it’s not so clear. In 10 decisions, it’s completely unclear.
So, in general, in the situations where we know what is the right thing to do, if we do the right in that situation, then by that, we are showing Krishna that we want to do His will. And the more we do His will, when we know what His will is, the more His will will become clearer to us. Because our own consciousness will evolve.
There is tamad, rajas and sattva. There is the mode of ignorance, mode of passion, mode of goodness. So, we could say, in the mode of ignorance, our consciousness becomes like a insulator.
This is more or less an example. It’s an insulator. No wisdom, no insight can flow through it.
Whatever goes, it gets completely blocked. So, in the mode of passion, it’s like a semiconductor. Something goes, something stays.
Then, in goodness, we become like a conductor. And we could say, in pure goodness, we just become like a mirror, a full 100% transmitter. Not a mirror, like a transparent glass.
So, basically, we, the more we try to situate ourselves in goodness, that means, the more we do the things that we know are right, the more we avoid the things that we know are wrong. By that, even if that doesn’t seem to give us guidance in the other confusing situations, but still, that action will raise our consciousness towards sattva, towards goodness. And once our consciousness is risen towards sattva, then getting Krishna’s guidance will become much, much easier.
So, basically, I will say three things. First is that, we don’t have to worry too much. What if I am not doing Krishna’s will? We certainly will be concerned, but Krishna’s will is not like one plan, we are lost, we are forever lost.
Even if we take a wrong turn, we will always come back on the right track. The second point is that, wherever we can, we where we know what is right, we focus on doing that. And by that, we show Krishna we want to do his will, and we also raise our consciousness.
And when we are doing a particular decision, then we try to pray to Krishna, consult senior devotees, and try to situate ourselves also in sattva guna at that time, so that we can take a more mature decision. That way, we can move forward. Yeah.
Usually, we the whole so it was a power struggle, but very virtuous, and someone who had a clear decision between material and things, surely it’s not just the kingdom that they wanted. So, just like to say that it’s all Krishna’s thing, where Krishna wanted to show what’s the right thing, and let the dharma prevail. Okay.
Good question. So, was the Kurukshetra war fought simply to gain a kingdom, or was it all Krishna’s plan to demonstrate dharma? I would say like, it’s in between both. It’s definitely not only to gain a kingdom.
If that had been the case, both Yudhisthira and Krishna wouldn’t have offered the proposal of just five villages. Just give us five villages. And settle peacefully.
So, they offered that, that means, they just wanted some symbolic gesture of reconciliation. If even that is not coming, then you just cannot remember such a person. So, if I explain elaborately how Duryodhana was so brazenly adharmic, such a person would have been allowed to rule untrammeled, that person would have wreaked havoc in society.
So, it was, the war was fought to establish dharma. Now, isn’t it that the war was arranged by Krishna? The word arranged is a little dicey word to use, because everybody has free will. And it is not that Krishna orchestrated Duryodhana to fight the war.
Krishna, in fact, went as a peace messenger and tried in every possible way to dissuade Duryodhana. Sometimes, he may say that I have done everything humanly possible. In the case of Pandavas, you can say they tried everything humanly possible and everything divinely possible also.
Krishna is God. Krishna is servant. But Duryodhana was not ready to listen even to that.
Therefore, it’s not that Krishna wanted the war. Krishna wanted the establishment of dharma. And if Duryodhana had been ready to come a little bit on the path of dharma also, then the war could have been avoided.
But because Duryodhana stayed adamantly on the path of dharma, then the war had to be fought. The war was not Krishna’s will. We can say that establishing dharma was Krishna’s will.
And Duryodhana’s obstinacy made the war essential for establishing dharma. Did Krishna want to establish Yudhishtira as the king to prevent the coming of Kali Yuga? But Kali Yuga is anyway going to come. So then why fight the war at all? Why do all this? There are two overall trends in the world.
There is, the trend is, the nature of the world is to degenerate. In physics, this is called thermodynamics, it is called the principle of entropy. Things gravitate towards disorder in their left arm, their arm.
And you see, if you keep a food item just like that, it gets spoiled. Everything gets spoiled. So the nature of the world is, things will deteriorate.
So, that applies even to morality and ethics. Dharma will also decline. Now, parallel with that, we have free will.
And with that free will, say, if we own a house, but we are not staying in that house, then if we go once in a month, once in three months, once in six months, we will see dust accumulated over there, cobwebs are there, things will degenerate. But we can and should maintain the order. So, we may go and clean the house or we may hire someone to clean the house.
We will try to establish order. So, that is called the principle of negentropy, the opposite of entropy. Human beings can, by their endeavor, counter the inevitable decline and establish order.
Now, because we are finite beings, the extent to which we can counter entropy is finite. But we all have been given certain areas, certain responsibilities. So, within that responsibility, area of responsibility, in Sanskrit it is called Kshetra, that is the area of influence.
Within that, it is our responsibility to try to keep things as right as possible. So, that is simply our duty. And that alone is not our duty.
That means, we also, ultimately things cannot be set right forever in the world. But we set them right enough so that we can practice spirituality and rise beyond the world. So, in the Bhagavad Gita, in 4.8 and 4.9, these two things are talked about.
The Bhagavad Gita is spoken for two purposes. One is to transform the world and the other is to transcend the world. So, the world transforming mission is talked about in Krishna’s service.
परित्राय साधुना विनाशाय दुष्टुतान् धर्मसंस्थापनार्थाय संभवामि युग्ये युग्ये So, धर्मसंस्थापनार्थाय means to establish order in this world. But then, next verse he says, जन्मकर्मचलि विद्यम् एवं योगति तत्वतः तेक्त्वा देहं पुनर्जन्म 90 मामे 80 सो अरुजिना But if you become devoted to me, you will attain me beyond this world. So, we want to maintain enough order in this world, so that we can in an orderly way transcend the world.
So, there are both aspects transforming the world and transcending the world. So, we could say that Kaliyuga’s progress is inevitable. But, we as human beings also have responsibility.
And we, even if we can’t stop Kaliyuga, we can protect ourselves from the influence of Kaliyuga. And we can protect others from the influence. Say, if it’s weather forecast is heavy rains.
Now, if we have to go out for some work, then either we can just go like that recklessly and get soaked or we can take a raincoat or umbrella. And then that will protect us. And if we have an umbrella, we can protect someone else also.
So, Yudhishthira Maharaj, if he is taking the responsibility as a king, as a king, he is meant to protect people from Adharma, from the influence of Adharma. So, when Krishna had the whole Kurukshetra war fought, it is, there is, there is a part of Krishna’s mission that is historical and there is a part of Krishna’s mission that is trans-historical. Historical means, at that time, he established Dharma.
Now, the historical aspect of the mission is never going to be eternal. Because the nature of this world is everything declines. So, Krishna established Dharma and the Dharma was there for gloriously for some time.
But the nature of the world is that it is going to decline after some time. Then Parikshit came. Parikshit also went in Dharma.
But after Parikshit came and went, things declined. But during that time, it was limited. That’s the historical aspect.
But the trans-historical aspect is that Krishna by doing all this has taught us eternal spiritual principles for life. He has given the Bhagavad Gita, the spiritual guidebook. Through the way the Pandavas are protected, how the Pandavas act in different situations, we get examples and incidents that can guide us and inspire us.
So, that is the trans-historical benediction or gift of that particular set of incidents and narratives. So, yes, things are going to get degraded. But we can protect ourselves and we can protect others.
So, in our situation, according to our capacity, each one of us is meant to make a difference. And that’s what the Kulkshetra war was about. That we make a difference at that time.
And every generation is going to require its own people to make a difference. No matter how great the saints be in the past, they are not here to make a difference. They are here in the sense that if we try to spiritualize our consciousness and share spiritual consciousness with others, their blessings will be there for us.
But every generation, the people in that generation have to take the responsibility. So, Yudhishthir took the responsibility of that generation. Sorry, Pariksit took the responsibility of that generation.
And at that time, Krishna, in many wonderful ways, empowered them, protected them, benefited them. Does that answer your question? Thank you very much.