When tolerance is a strength and when a weakness. Gita 2.14. Adelaide, Australia

Disclaimer: This transcript was generated using AI and may contain occasional errors or inaccuracies.

So, let's look at the verse. This is 2.14 from the Bhagavad Gita. Shreemate Bhaktivedanta Swami Itinamine Namaste Saraswati Deve Gauravani Pracharine Nirvishesha Shunyavadi Pashyatya Deshatarine Vancha Kalpataru Bhyascha Kripasindhu Bhyevacha Patitanam Pavanebhyo Vaishnavebhyo Namo Namaha Jai Shri Krishna Chaitanya Prabhu Nityananda Shri Advaita Gadadhara Shri Vasadhi Gaurabhakta Vrinda Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare My dear Lord, please guide us all so that we can face life's challenges with your wisdom and your love.

Problem? So, let's recite this verse. So, Matra Sparsha, that refers to the contact of the senses with the sense objects. Matra Sparsha Stukaunteya Matra Sparsha Stukaunteya Shito Shana Sukha Dukha Daha Agama Paino Nityas Tam Stitiksha Swabharata Tam Stitiksha Swabharata So, Krishna is saying that Matra Sparsha, that means the contact of the skin with the atmosphere, the tongue with some food items, the eyes with certain sights which are likable or unlikable.

Matra Sparsha, by that, what happens? Sometimes Shita Ushna, heat or cold comes or Sukha Dukha, happiness, distress comes. You get this. And this is Agama Apaino.

There is a beginning and there is an end. Anityas, it's temporary. And therefore, Tam Stitiksha Swabharata.

Therefore, tolerated. So, let's try to understand what Krishna is speaking about in this particular verse. And we will discuss, I will write and draw certain things over here.

Now, I'll ask a quick question, some of you, if you like to answer. When you hear the word tolerance, what does it mean to you? Any thoughts? Tolerance is acceptance. Yes, correct.

Good point. So, we are in a particular situation, we accept that situation. Anything else? So, yeah, calmness, steadiness we can say.

When we tolerate something, we stay calm amid that situation. Sorry? Equipoised, yeah. So, life has its ups and downs, but we want to stay not affected by those ups and downs.

Yeah, true. Anything else? Go with the flow. Okay.

Yeah, things are going in a particular way, we can't change them. So, then go with the flow. That's a nice way of looking at it.

Anything else? Yes. Adaptability. Tolerance is adaptability.

Okay. So, things change and then we learn to find our way, adapt. That's true.

So, equipoised, we could say unaffected. Yes. I was giving a class in America to young people.

And I asked this question, what is, it was a group of young people, many of their parents were spiritually minded, their children were not. And these were teenagers. So, they had been forced to come for the class.

So, I asked them, what is tolerance? So, one of the boys cheekily said, what I am doing right now. I am tolerating this class right now. I hope all of you don't have to do that.

I'll keep this class quite short. Let's look at what the Gita is saying in context. All of you, what you said, it has validity in it.

There are different ways in which you can approach tolerance. So, if you look at the Bhagavad Gita's context itself when it talks about tolerance. This is 2.14. And Krishna is talking about tolerance.

Now, when is the Bhagavad Gita spoken? When or where is it spoken? Kurukshetra war. When? Just before the war is about to happen on the battlefield. And when Krishna is telling Arjuna to tolerate, does he mean that, oh, the Kauravas did so many atrocities to you.

They dishonored your wife. They defrauded you of your kingdom. They tried to arrest me also.

Tolerate all that. Is that what Krishna is saying? No. So, when we talk about tolerance, naturally brings the question, what to tolerate? So, Krishna is not telling Arjuna to say tolerate the Kauravas atrocities.

What he is telling him to tolerate is the difficult duty of fighting. That Arjuna has to fight. Now, Arjuna is a trained warrior.

So, why would fighting be difficult for him? Yes, because he saw his, especially gurus, 2 people on the opposite side. Who are they? Bhishma and Drona. Katham bhishmam aham sankhe, Dronam chamadu sudana, Ishubhipratiyot syami, Pujaravari sudana.

He says, these are my worshipable elders. They, I should be offering flowers in respect to them. These are not just ordinary elders.

These are the elders from whom Arjuna learned archery. These are the elders for whose pleasure Arjuna learned archery. And now these are the same elders whom he has to fight and kill with that same archery.

It's extremely difficult. So, Krishna acknowledges, yes, it's painful, but tolerate it. Tolerate so that you persevere in your duty.

So, that's why there is a fundamental two different understandings of tolerance. One is a misunderstanding. Tolerance means passivity.

Oh, anybody does anything, just be tolerant. That is passivity. But what Krishna is talking about tolerance is perseverance.

That in what you are meant to do, in the duty that you are supposed to do, there are difficulties. And in facing those difficulties, persevere. For that, you tolerate.

So, a few years ago I had come here to Australia to one place and I was giving a similar talk on tolerance. And there is one person who actually is quite intelligent. He likes to hear my talks and afterwards he comes and we have nice discussions.

Many times if I ask people after a class, how was the class, they do very nice. Now that appreciation is not very helpful for me. So, I asked him, okay, nice.

What did you like? What did you find helpful? Was anything not clear? So, he gives me good feedback that way. So, he had come a little late. He was sitting behind in the class.

So, then after the class I asked him, how did you find the class? He said, normally your classes are very intellectually stimulating. Today, I was able to practically apply the class in the class itself. I said, what do you mean? My class was on tolerance.

Did you really have to tolerate my class? So, he said, no, I was sitting behind. And where I was sitting, the person sitting next to me was having their phone not in silent mode. So, there were beeps and there were rings and the person was picking up and talking on the phone.

And I was getting annoyed and I was going to tell that person, put your phone in silent mode. But then I thought, this is a class on tolerance. So, let me tolerate.

So, now, is that tolerance desirable? No. Why? Because in every situation, see for all of us in our life, there are some things which are big things and some things that are small things. So, essentially tolerance is so that we can keep small things small and thereby we can keep big things big.

Say, some of you may, many of you are here are Indians. If you have come from India here, etc. Maybe being in a distant country, maybe it's cold, maybe it's lonely.

Now, this is difficult. But say, if you came for studies over here, it may be lonely, it may be difficult, the culture may be different. But if your big thing is to build your career, big thing is to tap the opportunity of the country over here.

Then the loneliness or the environment, the social or the social climate or the environmental climate, physical climate, you may decide it's a small thing. I can tolerate it. But suppose somebody comes to a place like Melbourne, which is colder than here, and they start freezing constantly and they are constantly sick and they are not able to function at all.

They may decide then that maybe I cannot stay over here. That has become a big thing for me. So, the point is that tolerance is fundamentally to keep small things small so that we can keep big things big.

And that's why the verse which comes before this, as I said, is 2.14. The verse before this is 2.13. And this gives intelligence. So, intelligence helps us to understand what is the big thing and what is the small thing. And then tolerance helps us to act on that intelligence.

So, Krishna tells Arjuna, you think that you are going to kill, you have to kill Bhishma and Drona. But you are forgetting that they are souls. They are eternal spiritual beings.

And you are thinking that when you shoot arrows, that will cause pain to them. That's true. But that will cause pain to their bodies.

They are souls. They are virtuous souls. But somehow they are caught in a situation where they have to support the vicious Duryodhana.

And by your arrows, although you will be hurting their body, you will be freeing their soul from the situation of supporting the vicious Duryodhana. So, focus on that bigger picture. When you learn to focus on that bigger picture, then you will be able to tolerate this.

So, tolerance is about keeping small things small so that you can keep big things big. So, now Krishna is not here telling by any means that, oh, killing anybody is alright because they are not the bodies and soul. No.

We need to avoid hurting anyone in any way as much as we can. But sometimes a smaller pain may be required for a greater relief. See, if we have a small child and the child has got some infection and then they have to get a shot.

Do we in Australia use the word injection or shot over here? Flu shot. Flu shot or injection? Shot. Shot.

Okay. So, in India we obviously use the word injection. In, I think I was in some countries in Russia, their shot means gun shot.

You have to get a shot. No, why do I get a shot? So, now suppose the child has to get a shot. Now getting that injection is a pain.

Now as parents we don't want to cause any pain to our child. But we understand that the pain of that injection will protect from a greater pain. Now the small child may not understand the idea of a disease and all the big pain that will be caused by the disease.

So, for the child, the doctor is a bad guy. And when we take the child to the doctor, we become the bad guy. You are hurting me.

But we with our intelligence understand that the pain of the shot is a small thing. The big thing is preventing the disease. And therefore, now tolerance is only possible when we have clarity of what is the big thing and the small thing.

So, if the child is not guided by parents, then the child will not understand. And no child will voluntarily take shots. It is quite unlikely for a small child.

So, the idea is that even when we talk about pain in life, there can be big pain and there can be small pain. And tolerance means that we accept the small pain so that we can escape, avoid, dodge the big pain. Similarly, if we consider pleasure, tolerance, normally we think about tolerance in terms of pain.

Tolerate something which is painful or tolerate something which is unpleasant. Say if we work in an office and maybe our boss is rude or maybe our colleagues are not very polite, they are demanding. Maybe we experience some racism, whatever.

Now, if that job gives us a good pay and we need the money right now or if that job is going to give us a good career path in the future, it's going to improve our CV for the future, then we may decide, okay, whatever unpleasantness I am experiencing in my office, that is a small thing. And the career path or the salary that I am getting, that is a big thing. But suppose somebody is well settled financially, they already have a respectable profile and they have many career openings there.

And then they find a very taxing, even demanding or abusive work environment, they may decide that this job is not worth it. So, that's why what is a small thing and what is a big thing? That can vary according to time, place and candidate. Time, place and candidate, there is a Sanskrit word for this.

Desh, kaala and paatra. So, for different people at different times in life, different things could be important. Understanding this enables us to decide whether I should tolerate this or not.

And sometimes when we are communicating with others, we tell them, just tolerate this. Say, how can you tell me to tolerate this? This is unbearable. And when you tell me to tolerate this, that means you don't care for me at all.

What is happening is, they are thinking this is a small thing and for us it is a big thing. So, that's why the call to tolerate itself can sometimes seem provocative. It can seem passive.

It's as if, you know, I am being mistreated and you are telling me to tolerate it. Why should I do that? But the point is, tolerance is never meant to justify or perpetuate mistreatment or abuse or exploitation of any kind. The point is, in life, ultimately there is no, nothing worthwhile is easy in life.

Everything that is truly worthwhile requires effort. So, the question comes that in our particular situation, is that effort worthwhile? So, some people may say, yes, it is worthwhile. Some people may say it is not.

So, now, who is right? That varies. So, for example, as I gave the example of a career, maybe at the start of the career somebody may decide a difficult work environment, I will tolerate it because I want to build my career. Somebody well established in the career, they may say that, okay, no, I don't want, I don't want to tolerate, I have options.

So, things can vary. Similarly, different people may have different priorities. Say, somebody may decide that I am, I don't have good health right now.

So, I will, I will bear with this poor health so that I can build my career. And then afterwards, then I will focus on my health when I am older. Now, okay, if it's a minor health inconvenience, it can work.

But if somebody breaks down completely, then that health cannot be neglected. What is that saying? People lose their health to gain wealth. Then they lose their wealth to regain their health.

And in the end, they lose both their health and their wealth. That is how death comes. So, what happens? What is the big thing and what is the small thing in our life? That is what we need to understand.

That's where intelligence comes in. And when we study sacred texts like the Bhagavad Gita, they help us to strengthen our intelligence. So, I will make two last points and then we have one or two questions if we have time.

That as I said, what is a big thing and what is a small thing? Then it will vary according to different people. At the same time, this big and small, it is subjective. That means it depends on subject.

But it is not exactly relative. Relative means, oh, you think it is important, I don't think it is important. It's not that simple.

It may vary for different people at different times. But there are some truths that are not relative. For example, every one of us is going to die.

For example, everything that we pursue in this world is temporary. So, the question comes that if something is short lived and something is long lived, something is short lasting, something is long lasting. So, what is long lasting should be more important than what is short lasting.

So, that idea that what pertains to the body is short lived, what pertains to the soul is long lasting. So, this is not a relative idea. Many people think that, okay, bhakti which I do, that's just a cultural preference.

You like to go to a temple, I like to go to a movie theatre. You like to go to satsang, I like to go to a bar. You like this, you do that, I like this, I do that.

People think this is just a cultural preference. Or this is not even cultural, a personal preference. Well, yes and no.

Yes, everybody has freedom, everybody has free will, everybody can do whatever they want. But the two are not equal. Why? Because when we practice spirituality, we are investing in our souls.

We are focusing on what is eternal. So, what is a big thing and what is a small thing, it is not just simply subjective. That for us, we are souls, we have a relationship with Krishna who is the supreme lord.

And that relationship is our only lasting relationship. So, therefore, tolerance in this context means that, yes, sometimes if we have to practice, if we have to come to a temple, you know, maybe our home is far away from the temple. So, we have to travel long distance, maybe public transportation not available.

There is greater inconvenience. Somebody may say, there is inconvenience so much, I can't go to temple. Well, that's short-sighted.

The inconvenience is temporary. But the gain that we will get by going to the temple, that is eternal. So, understanding what really matters, that is, what is the big thing and what is the small thing.

So, we have, when we study Shastra, when we study the Bhagavad Gita, when we come to satsang and study the Bhagavad Gita, that swadhyay, that shastra actually nourishes our intelligence. It reminds us what is lasting and what is fleeting. Just a few days ago we celebrated Narasimha Chaturthashi and there Hiranyakashyapu had immense power, far greater than what we can dream about.

But Prahlad saw that, yes, he has this power, but it is temporary. And therefore, he was not infatuated by that. He says that Kaal Javed, by the power of time, it will all be destroyed.

He stayed fixed in the devotion to the Lord because that was eternal. So, once we have the intelligence, then we develop tolerance. Now, our capacity for tolerance is increased by our sadhana.

So, by our shastra study, by our swadhyaya, by our studying scriptures, we understand at an intellectual level. We are reminded and convinced, this is more important, this is less important. Then when we actually do sadhana, we say come to a temple and do puja, we chant the holy names of Krishna, we participate in kirtan, by that it's not just an intellectual conception, we actually get some personal experience.

We get the experience that there is a bigger reality. That all these issues that are going on in my life, they are there. Sometimes our mind may be very disturbed, but we come to a temple, we participate in kirtan, we take darshan and we start feeling peaceful.

It's not that the problem has gone away, but still our mind has become peaceful. Why has that happened? Because we have become reminded, not just intellectually, but experientially, that there is a bigger reality. So, this is the last image I will conclude with.

If you forget everything from this talk, try to remember this one image. Now, for most people in life, we consider the world is the big thing. And God is a small thing.

When I was introduced to bhakti about 30 years ago, I started talking about it with all my friends, relatives, acquaintances. So, one of my uncles told me, God, I have a very good relationship with him. Now, I had never seen him go much to a temple or read any spiritual books or discuss anything philosophical.

So, I said, what do you mean a good relationship? He said, mutual non-interference. He is happy there and I am happy here. So, basically, what we are treating God as a small thing.

So, that means, God doesn't really matter to me. Now, I may be happy here right now, but I won't be happy forever. That eternal happiness comes in my relationship with God.

So, as we grow spiritually, that means, through again, the sadhyaya and sadhana, these are two ways we grow spiritually, then what is big and what is small changes for us. The world becomes smaller and God becomes bigger for us. Now, God is always the biggest reality.

Philosophically, he is the biggest reality, but psychologically for us, he becomes bigger. And when he becomes the bigger reality, then the world's ups and downs, they don't affect us so much. The world will always have ups and downs.

Now, when the world is very big for us, then the ups and downs also become very big. And we go up and we go down. Now, we have mood swings.

Next stream, people have bipolar disorders. So, where one day that person is so cheerful, we feel as if, you know, this person has all the happiness in the world. And the next day, that person looks so dark and gloomy, we feel wherever they go, they will drive all the happiness out of the world.

What's going on? So, for them, the world's dualities are affecting them so much because the world is very big for them. So, when we practice bhakti, as the world becomes small, now we are not saying the world becomes maya in the sense that it's false and we don't care for it. We just understand it's not that big.

I have this problem, this spoke like, this person spoke like this to me, that person did this, this didn't work out. Okay, these things happen. They will come, they will go.

When the world becomes small, then the ups and downs also, they don't affect us so much. And when God becomes a big thing, because he is big and he is unchanging, he is always with us. That is how we stay steady, we stay calm.

So, tolerance is not just a matter of raw willpower by which we crush our emotions. I am feeling extremely angry with you but somehow I will tolerate you. That kind of reluctant, resentful suppression of our emotions will not last for long.

It will eventually lead to explosion. But when there is actually a transformation of not just our perspective but our priorities. Perspective is more intellectual.

Intellectually I understand this is more important. But actually our priorities, our heart is transformed. So, when Krishna becomes the bigger reality for us, then even if things go wrong for us, we are not affected.

Srila Prabhupada is the founder acharya of ISKCON. At the age of 70, he went to America. And at that time, most people retire from their lives.

And they settle down. Those who are religious people, pious people, they go to some place like Kashi or Vrindavan and think that I live here and I leave from the world over here. At that time he went to America.

And for him, there was hardly any success throughout his life. He had tried to build a big business and somehow it had not worked out. He had tried multiple places in Mumbai, in Kolkata, in Prayag.

He had taken care of his family responsibly, diligently. But it had not been very successful. He had tried to write books but he had not got much response in terms of people seriously reading the books.

Nominal appreciations had come. He had written magazines but there were no takers. He had tried to start an organization in Jhansi.

The same people who had supported him had turned against him. And then finally when he went to America. Now, if he had evaluated his possibility or prospects for success in the worldly terms, if the world had been very big for him, he would have thought, it's impossible for me.

How can I succeed? That's what people told him. That you are saying that you will go to America and share Krishna Bhakti in America. Since you have not succeeded in India also.

And this is home territory. It's like some cricket player. That person can't score one run in Indian cricket pitches and they say, I will come to Australia and score a double century.

If you can't work on home territory, how are you going to work? Prabhupada, for him the world was small. He felt that yes, Krishna has a mission. His Guru Maharaj had told him that speak in the English language.

Go to the West and share Krishna's message. So, he went to the West. For him, Krishna was the bigger reality.

And that's why even when he could at the age of 70, when it was very unsafe, when he got heart attacks on his journey to America, still he went to America. And then Krishna blessed him with extraordinary success. In the last 10 years of his life, he built 108 temples, he wrote over 70 books, he circumnavigated the globe 14 times.

He inspired millions of people all over the world to take up bhakti. And yet, even when he got all this success in the world, the world never became bigger than Krishna forever. There was one project for which he worked extremely hard, more than any other project.

That was the Juhu project. In Juhu he wanted to build a grand temple. And it was a wilderness at that time.

Now, Juhu is the most elite part of Mumbai. But that time, 1970s, it was wilderness. And there was a Double D League politician who wanted to take the money and not give the land also.

And he sent gundas over there to attack the devotees. So, at that time, Prabhupada said that if he wants to steal Krishna's land, he will have to go over my dead body. So, Prabhupada fought for that land.

And he worked extremely hard to build the temple. And yet, you consider the timeline of his life? No. He left the world on November 14, 1977.

And the Juhu temple was inaugurated in Sankranti, just two months later, 1978. He worked so hard to build this temple. You know, suppose we want to build a, we spent our whole life building a house.

And it's merely going to be constructed. And he said, I want to live to see it constructed. So, he could have said that Krishna, just let me live and see the temple being inaugurated.

And yet, a couple of days before he departed, he was asked by one of his followers, Swamiji, do you have any last desires? And Prabhupada replied, kuch icha nahi. Kuch icha nahi. I have no desire.

Now, would Prabhupada not have desired to see the temple being inaugurated? He had promised Krishna, I will build a temple for you. Would he not have wanted to see that? Yes, of course. But for him, it was not that I will build the temple.

It was, I am the sevak of Krishna. If Krishna wants to use me to build the temple, I am here to build the temple. If Krishna wants to call me back to him, I am ready.

He understood, he accepted that I am an instrument in Krishna's hand. Nimitta matram bhava saugas aaj. Krishna's temple will be built.

If not through me, then through someone else. So, for him, even when he was doing something in the world for Krishna, the world did not become bigger than Krishna. And that's how his tolerance came from his absorption in Krishna.

That's why coming to the temple is not just a cultural ritual or just a feel-good social practice. It is actually a means to strengthen ourselves spiritually. So that life's ups and downs will not affect us so much.

So, our bhakti will nourish our intelligence and increase our tolerance. And that's how we can navigate life's dualities more gracefully. I'll summarize what I discussed today.

I discussed three main points in our discussion on tolerance. The first point was the concept. So, whenever we want to tolerate, the first question comes, what? What to tolerate and then that means also what not to tolerate.

So, we discussed Krishna is not telling us how to tolerate the atrocities on the cover of us. So, what to tolerate and what not to tolerate, that understanding that means that tolerance is that we want to keep small things small. And so we can keep big things big.

And that's why if we consider the next part of it is that what is the foundation of tolerance? The foundation of tolerance is intelligence. It is when we have intelligence, we will know what are the big things in our life. So, and what are the small things? Now, what is big and what is small? Now, it is relative.

It is subjective in the sense that for different people at different times it may be different. However, that does not mean it is just relative. Why? Because some things are temporary and some things are eternal.

Some things are short lived, some things are long lasting. And that is not a subjective matter. So, that's why there is an absolute standard, absolute difference between temporary and relative.

And in that context we talked about the part of transcendence. Transcendence means divinity. So, what is the ultimate big thing in life? That is God.

We talked about that. For most people the world is very big and God is small. But as we grow spiritually, the world becomes smaller and Krishna, God becomes bigger.

And when this happens, this is the basis of actual tolerance. This tolerance is not passivity. It is not I am helpless so I can't do anything.

It is persistence. It is I will stick to what is important for me. Not that I will be passive.

It is not suppressing, it is not emotional suppression. That oh, you know, I am so angry with you but I can't do anything so I will tolerate it. It is actually emotional redirection.

Redirection means our understanding of what is important changes. And that's how we are able to tolerate because something else has become more important for us. We discussed in the Prabhupada's example.

I talked about how both pain and pleasure. Pain, sometimes a small pain needs to be accepted so that a bigger pain can be avoided. And that is tolerance.

Conversely, sometimes a small pleasure needs to be avoided so that a bigger pleasure can be attained. So, for all of us, this intelligence and tolerance, both of these are important. So, intelligence comes by our svadhyay, when we study shastra.

And tolerance comes by our sadhana. So, when we actually practice bhakti, we experience peace even in the presence of problems. We are reminded that there is a bigger reality.

There is a bigger plan. And whatever is going wrong in my life, this will pass. And that's how tolerance becomes easier for us.

When we regularly connect with Krishna through practice of bhakti and experience transcendence. That's how Prabhupada was not afraid of failure when he alone went to America. Although he had no track record of success.

Because for him, the focus was not the world and what he had achieved in the world. It was what Krishna wanted him to do. And similarly, when he was in the verge of the greatest success.

So, tolerate fear and pain, that was that, oh, I am going alone. There is nobody with me. I have no experience in doing this.

How will I succeed? Prabhupada tolerated that fear and pain. But then, at the end of his life, when the biggest achievement of his life was just about to come, that would have been great pleasure. But for Krishna's sake, he was able to tolerate letting go of that pleasure also.

So, that is the greatness of the great devotees of the Lord. And we can follow in their footsteps by embracing the path of bhakti and learning to become more intelligent and more tolerant. Thank you very much.

Shrimad Bhagavad Gita ki? Jai. Shri Krishna Bhagavan ki? Jai. Srila Prabhupada ki? Jai.

Jai Gauru Premanand. You have time for questions? Okay. Any quick questions? So, I have written some 30 books.

So, much of what I spoke today about small things and big things. This is explained in my latest book. This is called, You Are Not Your Mind, You Are Better.

If any of you would like to stay in connection with me, connected with me online, this is my WhatsApp community. You can join this if you like. So, this is You Are Not Your Mind, You Are Better.

So, why does our mind make small things into big things? And when it does that, how can we make it calmer? Why does our mind remember negative memories and forget good memories? So, how does bhakti actually transform our mind? 64 questions about the mind are answered in this book. And it's simple two-page articles and there are some illustrations, diagrams, emoticons explaining the concepts. Then this is Wisdom from Ramayana on Life and Relationships.

This explains through 20 stories, various virtues like tolerance and patience and determination. So, how was it? Lord Ram had no fault and yet he was exiled. So, how was he able to tolerate that? What was his thinking? So, Vali and Sugri were best of friends, yet they became enemies.

How did misunderstanding happen? How can such misunderstanding be avoided? That's explained in this book. And then this is Prayers Inspired by Bhagavad Gita. This is basically, sometimes you think Bhagavad Gita is a very difficult philosophy.

But here I have taken key verses from the Gita and explained them in terms of prayers. So, for each verse, each key word, there is a beautiful picture of Krishna deity and there is a poetic translation of the verse. There is a one-sentence spiritual affirmation and then there is a simple one-page prayer.

So, how we can connect through the Gita's verses in a prayerful mood with Krishna, that's explained in this book. So, some of these books are available and I will be here for some time in case you want the books to be signed or you have any questions. Otherwise, we are also going to order and ship the books.

If any of you want, you can tell Abhiram Prabhu your name and your desire for books and we will send them to you. Thank you very much. Hare Krishna.