Читать книгу The Gita Happiness Retreat - Sheetal - Страница 9
ОглавлениеArjuna Surrenders To Lord Krishna
“Let’s move on to the next chapter. Chapter 2 has 72 shlokas. I request each participant to read two shlokas each that is translated in English.” Everyone started reading one after the other.
Contents of the Gita Summarized
Sanjaya said: Seeing Arjuna full of compassion, his mind depressed, his eyes full of tears, Madhusudana, Krishna, spoke the following words.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: My dear Arjuna, how have these impurities come upon you? They are not at all appropriate to a man who knows the value of life. They lead not to higher planets but to disgrace.
O son of Pritha, do not surrender to this degrading inability to take action. It does not become you. Give up such petty weakness of heart and arise, O chastiser of the enemy.
Arjuna said: O killer of enemies, O killer of Madhu, how can I counterattack with arrows in battle men like Bhishma and Drona, who are worthy of my worship?
It would be better to live in this world by begging than to live at the cost of the lives of great souls who are my teachers. Even though desiring worldly gain, they are superiors. If they are killed, everything we enjoy will be tainted with blood.
Nor do we know which is better conquering them or being conquered by them. If we killed the sons of Dhritarashtra, we should not care to live. Yet they are now standing before us on the battlefield.
Now I am confused about my duty and have lost all composure because of pitiful weakness. In this condition I am asking You to tell me for certain what is best for me. Now I am Your disciple, and a soul surrendered unto You. Please instruct me.
I can find no means to drive away this grief, which is drying up my senses. I will not be able to get rid of it even if I win a prosperous, unbeaten kingdom on earth with supreme power like the demigods in heaven.
Sanjaya said: Having spoken thus, Arjuna, chastiser of enemies, told Krishna, “Govinda, I shall not fight,” and fell silent.
O descendant of Bharata, at that time Krishna, smiling, in the midst of both the armies, spoke the following words to the grief-stricken Arjuna.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: While speaking learned words, you are mourning for what is not worthy of grief. Those who are wise cry neither for the living nor for the dead.
Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be.
As the embodied soul continually passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A sober person is not confused by such a change.
O son of Kunti, the nonpermanent appearance of happiness and sorrow, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense awareness, O descendant of Bharata, and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed.
O best among men [Arjuna], the person who is not disturbed by happiness and sorrow and is steady in both is certainly eligible for freedom.
Those who are seers of the truth have concluded that of the material body there is no permanence, and of the eternal [the soul] there is no change. This they have concluded by studying the nature of both.
That which spreads through the entire body you should know to be indestructible. No one is able to destroy the imperishable soul.
The material body of the indestructible, immeasurable and eternal living entity is sure to come to an end; therefore, fight, O descendant of Bharata.
Neither he who thinks the living entity is the killer nor he who thinks it has killed is in knowledge, for the self [soul] kills not nor is killed.
For the soul there is neither birth nor death at any time. He has not come into being, does not come into being, and will not come into being. He is unborn, eternal, ever existing and original. He is not killed when the body is killed.
O Partha, how can a person who knows that the soul is indestructible, eternal, unborn and permanent kill anyone or cause anyone to kill?
As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, the soul similarly accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones.
The soul can never be cut into pieces by any weapon, nor burned by fire, nor moistened by water, nor dried by the wind.
This individual soul is unbreakable and insoluble, and can be neither burned nor dried. He is everlasting, present everywhere, unchangeable, immovable and eternally the same.
It is said that the soul is invisible, unimaginable and permanent. Knowing this, you should not grieve for the body.
If, however, you think that the soul is always born and dies forever, you still have no reason to moan, O mighty-armed.
For one who has taken his birth is sure to die, and after death one is sure to take birth again. Therefore, in the unavoidable discharge of your duty, you should not moan.
All created beings are invisible in their beginning, visible in their temporary state, and invisible again when they are destroyed. So what need is there for sorrow?
Some look on the soul as amazing, some describe him as amazing, and some hear of him as amazing, while others, even after hearing about him, cannot understand him at all.
O descendant of Bharata, he who lives in the body can never be killed. Therefore, you need not grieve for any living being.
Considering your specific duty as a Kshatriya, you should know that there is no better engagement for you than fighting on religious principles; and so there is no need for hesitation.
O Partha, happy are the Kshatriyas to whom such fighting opportunities come unsought, opening for them the doors of the heavenly planets.
If, however, you do not perform your religious duty of fighting, then you will certainly incur sins for neglecting your duties and thus lose your reputation as a fighter.
People will always speak of your disgrace, and for a respectable person, dishonor is worse than death.
The great generals who have highly esteemed your name and fame will think that you have left the battlefield out of fear only, and thus they will consider you worthless.
Your enemies will describe you in many unkind words and mock at your ability. What could be more painful for you?
O son of Kunti, either you will be killed on the battlefield and attain the heavenly planets, or you will conquer and enjoy the earthly kingdom. Therefore, get up with determination and fight.
Do fight for the sake of fighting, without considering happiness or sorrow, loss or gain, victory or defeat-and by so doing you shall never incur sin.
Thus far I have described this knowledge to you through analytical study. Now listen as I explain it in terms of working without fruitive results. O son of Pritha, when you act in such knowledge you can free yourself from the bondage of works.
In this attempt there is no loss or decline, and a little advancement on this path can protect one from the most dangerous type of fear.
Those who are on this path are determined in purpose, and their aim is one. O beloved child of the Kurus, the intelligence of those who are uncertain is many-branched.
Men of small knowledge are very much attached to the flowery words of the Vedas, which recommend various fruitive activities for elevation to heavenly planets, resultant good birth, power, and so forth. Being desirous of sense pleasure and luxurious life, they say that there is nothing more than this.
In the minds of those who are too attached to sense enjoyment and material richness, and who are confused by such things, the unwavering determination for devotional service to the Supreme Lord does not take place.
The Vedas deal mainly with the subject of the three modes of material nature. O Arjuna, become transcendental (superior) to these three modes. Be free from all dualities and from all anxieties for gain and safety, and be established in the self.
All purposes that are served by a small well can at once be served by a great reservoir of water. Similarly, all the purposes of the Vedas can be served to one who knows the purpose behind them.
You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty.
Perform your duty with a balanced mind, O Arjuna, abandoning all attachment to success or failure. Such calmness is called yoga.
O Dhananjaya, keep all bad activities far distant by devotional service, and in that awareness surrender unto the Lord. Those who want to enjoy the fruits of their work are misers.
A man engaged in devotional service rids himself of both good and bad actions even in this life. Therefore, strive for yoga, O Arjuna, which is the art of all work.
By thus engaging in devotional service to the Lord, great sages or devotees free themselves from the results of work in the material world. In this way they become free from the cycle of birth and death and attain the state beyond all miseries [by going back to Godhead].
When your intelligence has passed out of the dense forest of misbelief, you shall become indifferent to all that has been heard and all that is to be heard.
When your mind is no longer disturbed by the flowery language of the Vedas, and when it remains fixed in the trance of self-realization, then you will have attained the divine consciousness.
Arjuna said: O Krishna, what are the symptoms of one whose consciousness is thus merged in transcendence (experience beyond the normal)? How does he speak, and what is his language? How does he sit, and how does he walk?
The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: O Partha, when a man gives up all varieties of desire for sense pleasure, which arise from mental creation, and when his mind, thus purified, finds satisfaction in the self alone, then he is said to be in pure transcendental consciousness.
One who is not disturbed in mind even amidst the threefold miseries or overjoyed when there is happiness, and who is free from attachment, fear and anger, is called a sage of steady mind.
In the material world, one who is unaffected by whatever good or evil he may obtain, neither praising it nor disliking it, is firmly fixed in perfect knowledge.
One who is able to withdraw his senses from sense objects, as the tortoise draws its limbs within the shell, is firmly fixed in perfect consciousness.
The embodied soul may be restricted from sense enjoyment, though the taste for sense objects remains. But, ending such engagements by experiencing a higher taste, he is fixed in consciousness.
The senses are so strong and quick, O Arjuna, that they forcibly carry away the mind even of a man of discrimination who is trying hard to control them.
One who restrains his senses, keeping them under full control, and fixes his consciousness upon Me, is known as a man of steady intelligence.
While thinking deeply about the objects of the senses, a person develops attachment for them, and from such attachment lust develops, and from lust anger arises.
From anger, complete misunderstanding arises, and from misunderstanding confusion of memory. When memory is confused, intelligence is lost, and when intelligence is lost one falls down again into the material pool.
But a person free from all attachment and hatred and able to control his senses through regulative principles of freedom can obtain the complete mercy of the Lord.
For one thus satisfied [in Krishna consciousness], the threefold miseries of material existence exist no longer; in such satisfied consciousness, one’s intelligence is soon well established.
One who is not connected with the Supreme [in Krishna consciousness] can have neither transcendental (superior) intelligence nor a steady mind, without which there is no possibility of peace. And how can there be any happiness without peace?
As a strong wind sweeps away a boat on the water, even one of the roaming senses on which the mind focuses can carry away a man’s intelligence.
Therefore, O mighty-armed, one whose senses are kept under control from their objects is certainly of steady intelligence.
What is night for all beings is the time of awakening for the self-controlled; and the time of awakening for all beings is night for the inward-looking sage.
A person who is not disturbed by the never-ending flow of desires-that enter like rivers into the ocean which is ever being filled but is always still-can alone achieve peace, and not the man who strives to satisfy such desires.
A person who has given up all desires for sense pleasure, who lives free from desires, who has given up all sense of proprietorship and is free from false ego-he alone can attain real peace.
That is the way of the spiritual and godly life, after attaining which a man is not confused. If one is thus situated even at the hour of death, one can enter into the kingdom of God.
Now let me Summarize Chapter 2:
Arjuna who was confused about his duty, surrenders to Lord Krishna as His disciple and requests the Lord to instruct him. Lord Krishna teaches Arjuna the difference between temporary material body and the eternal spiritual soul. Lord Krishna reminds Arjuna of his duty as a Kshatriya and encourages him to fight on religious principles. Lord also explains him the ill effects of not fighting. Lord Krishna explains the process of transmigration, the nature of soul, devotional service to the Supreme and the characteristics of a self-realized person.
He talks about how to work without fruitive results, by engaging in devotional service to the Lord and becoming free from the results of work in the material world. In this way become free from cycle of birth and death and attain the state beyond all miseries by going back to Godhead. This state is known as Krishna consciousness. When one is connected with Supreme in Krishna consciousness, he receives superior intelligence and a steady mind and from this comes the ultimate state of peace and happiness.
I asked everyone, “Can anyone tell me what do you understand from this chapter?” One participant replied, “Arjuna surrenders to Lord Krishna asking to help him or guide him”. The other said, “It talks about transmigration, the difference between our body and soul.” One participant asked, “How is this relevant today?” I said, “This is my favorite question, let me share something interesting with all of you.
I want you all to close your eyes and imagine you are on a big ship; suddenly the ship is about to sink. Captain of the ship calls for emergency “Abort, Abort” and you jump into the water to save your life. You see a lifeboat and swim towards it. After you climbed on it, how many people do you think will be there with you on that lifeboat? 2, 5, 10, 15, 20 etc. These are exactly the number of friends you have in your life, this is according to a personality quiz that I happen to come across many many years back while surfing the Internet. Now I want you to ask yourself how many best friends do you have in your life? 0,1, 2, 3, etc. These best friends are nothing but your Lifesavers who will help you through trouble waters. So have at least 1-2 best friends in your life.
There are 4 ways to find your best friend for life.
1: Find a friend with two ears and an open heart
I came across a beautiful meme which says, ‘When two ears are put side by side, it forms the shape of the heart. Interestingly, the word “ear” sits right in middle of the word “heart” (h-ear-t). The ear is the way to the heart. So, if you want to win someone’s heart, learn to listen to him or her.’ Sometimes in our life, we don’t need any advice but just a sincere friend to talk our heart out. There is a quote that says, “Just being with your best friend, is all that you need.” So have that Lifesaver who will listen to you and console you in trouble situations.
2: Find a friend who will guide you in the right direction
We all know that Lord Krishna and Arjuna were Best Friends. When the war between Kauravas and Pandavas was finalized, Duryodhana and Arjuna went to Lord Krishna for support. Lord Krishna said, “I will help you both, but to one I will give my vast army and to the other I will only give moral support because I will not fight”. Arjuna immediately chose Lord Krishna because he knew with His support and guidance they will win the war and Duryodhana was too happy to have the army by his side. This was indeed the turning point in the Mahabharata, where just the presence of the Lord was needed to win the war. Arjuna surrendered himself to Lord Krishna for guidance. Similarly, we are also like Arjuna who are facing challenges in our day-to-day lives and we too need a best friend like Lord Krishna by our side to help us win inner battles, to achieve success in our lives, to live our life in happiness and peace. So have that Lifesaver, have that Best Friend who will guide you in trouble situations.
3: Find a friend whom you can trust but keep your eyes open
You see trusting someone is the most difficult thing. You feel scared what if this friend tells someone or what if he or she laughs at me or gives me a wrong advise. But the thing is unless you open your heart out, how will you know that this person can be my best friend. You finally will get two results: A best friend for life or a lesson for life. I have 2 best friends in my life for the past 20 years and 1 best friend from school. Many a times they would advise me that there is a ditch ahead of you, don’t go. I used to not listen and then I would fall into the ditch. But they were always there giving their hands to pull me out of the ditch, of course after having a hefty laugh. That’s what friendship is. It takes a lot of time, patience and energy to build trust. But also be careful of those friends who can take you in wrong direction. Never let anyone take advantage of you for money, love, sex, drugs or revenge. So have that Lifesaver whom you can trust, who can take you out of trouble waters but at the same time keep your eyes open on the Lifesaver, making sure he or she doesn’t drown you.
4: Find a real friend who will hold your hands and give you a hug
Today we are in a technology driven environment where we have more number of friends on Facebook and Instagram than the ones close to us. We spend more time on smartphones than with people wanting to be with us. Go knock at the door of your friends, give them a hug and spend time with them. Take time out for real people because real friends hold hands not virtual ones. When you are surrounded by negative energy, your best friend will hold your hand give you a tight hug and transfer positive energy to make you feel good.
There was a girl who had many friends on Facebook but she didn’t have a single best friend. As time passed by, she started feeling lonely, sad, depressed and later ended up committing suicide. I happened to ask many middle age men and women, “Do you have a best friend in your life?” The answer I received was common, “Are you kidding, at this juncture of our lives who has time for friends we are too busy with work and family.” When I asked the same question to old men and women, the answer I got was, “Wish I had a best friend in my life.” So have that Lifesaver who will hold your hands, give you a hug and will never leave you alone.
Arjuna was fortunate enough to have Lord Krishna by his side, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. So when Lord Krishna saw that Arjuna is refusing to fight the war because of his feelings of compassion towards his blood relatives. He became his Lifesaver and a Best Friend who guided and motivated him to do his duty by showing him the right direction, after he surrendered to Lord Krishna asking for help.
God cannot be there everywhere, so he created a Best Friend. So let’s make a new beginning by having a Best Friend in our life. With whom we not only want to party with but who is also a good listener who urges us to share our problems, who can guide us to take the right decisions in life and whom we can trust by keeping our eyes open. In this digital age of Facebook and Instagram, lets take a step forward and move from a tech life to a more human life and have a Best Friend for Life.
Everyone in the session stood up and started applauding on the simple yet wonderful life lesson.
**Lesson No: 5 Have at least 1 Best Friend in your life who will guide you in the right direction, who will help you win inner battles and help you come out of trouble situations.
Everyone sat down and then a hand went up, one participant asked, “Madam the title of chapter 2 is Contents of The Gita Summarized, how would you summarize The Bhagavad Gita?”
I said, “Would you all like to hear another interesting story that will answer this participant’s question? Everyone nodded.
Once there was a doctor who was very famous. He treated patients having mental illness with a 100% success rate. The patients who went to him once for treatment never visited him again, but surely they became his ambassadors and spread his name like wild fire. The doctor became so famous that even Lord Krishna wanted to personally meet him and know his secret.
So Lord Krishna disguised Himself as a patient and went to this famous doctor and said, “Doctor I feel very lonely, depressed all the time. I also feel stressed most of the time. Because of worry and anxiety My blood pressure always remains high and sugar levels shoot up. My heart is also weak. Please help Me doctor.” Doctor said, “The same problem is faced by most of the patients who come to me.”
Doctor then showed Lord Krishna the picture of the sacred ‘Bhagavad Gita’.
Lord Krishna smiled from within and said, “Doctor what are you trying to say, I don’t understand. Please give me medicine and not this picture. How can this picture cure my problems?”
Doctor told, “Look at this picture carefully. What do you see?”
Lord Krishna said, “I see Arjuna sitting with folded hands along with Lord Krishna who is guiding him on a chariot. The chariot has four horses and Lord Krishna as charioteer holds their reins. I also see that the chariot is right in middle of the two armies with Pandavas on one side and Kauravas on the other side.”
Doctor said, “Great observation.”
He further continued, “Now let me explain how it is related to you and your problems and what is the medication.”
Doctor said, “The two armies represents the two types of people we find in this world. Pandavas represents good and divine type of people and Kauravas represents bad and demonic type of people. We too come across both types of people in today’s life. Some give us happiness like our family and friends; some gives us stress in our life. Man is continuously fighting not only between these two types of people but also within himself between what’s right and wrong, good path and bad path, positive thoughts and negative thoughts.”
“Arjuna represents the soul who is fighting this battle from within him. Like Arjuna we must face this life and its challenges on our own. He is praying to Lord Krishna and surrendering himself completely to the Lord for guidance and help.”
“Here Lord Krishna shows us that God is always there to support and guide us. Lord Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead who is situated as Paramatma in the heart of every living being. Krishna is your inner voice, inspiration and divine guidance that is continuously guiding the lost, lonely and depressed souls in the right direction. Only when you become aware of His presence within you, will you become free from all problems.”
“Lord Krishna is holding the reins of the four horses. Here horses represent our senses that tend to move in different directions and are difficult to control. Only when you completely surrender yourself to Lord Krishna, He will help you take control of your mind which is the rein with which all the senses that is the horses come under control and they start moving into the right direction according to the will of the Lord.”
“The chariot in between is nothing but our life. Till the time we are on this chariot, means till the time we are alive, we have to fight our own war.”
Doctor further asked another question, “Do you know why was The Bhagavad Gita told in middle of both the armies? Lord Krishna said, “No, why.” Doctor said, “It’s because Life is all about balance.”
Lord Krishna as patient was surprised to see the doctor’s in-depth knowledge and philosophy. He then smiled and asked the famous doctor, “Doctor medicine please.”
Doctor said, “Firstly ‘Stop Worrying’. Surrender all your worries to Lord Krishna, just like how you unload a heavy baggage from your head and put it to the ground. Stop thinking negative. Have faith in Lord Krishna that He is there with you always and is just a call away and He will come to your rescue. Just imagine a Supreme Power is waiting for your instructions. Read the sacred book ‘The Bhagavad Gita’ daily this will bring peace in your life. Your fears will disappear. And talk your heart out about your problems to your best friend. If you don’t have a best friend then find one that’s your lifetime medicine.”
Doctor said, “Please come back to me if your problem is not solved. But I haven’t seen my patients come again.”
Lord Krishna smiled and said, “Even though you have become a doctor by studying so hard. You are practicing it very truly, perfectly and performing your duty to the best of your abilities without worrying about success or failure. I bless you.”
Lord Krishna then smiled and left his clinic with great satisfaction.
This knowledge and philosophy holds true in today’s times, wherein man is struggling with the war going on within himself, he is overcome by negative thoughts and fear all the time. Because of negative thoughts he is unable to fulfill his desires and dreams. This is precisely leading him to sadness and depression. Only when you truly surrender yourself to Lord Krishna, you will be able to control your strong senses with the help of your mind by focusing on the right and positive thoughts. Your inner guiding light Lord Krishna will guide you in the right direction.”
After hearing this story, everyone in the session carefully looked at the picture I showed on the ppt. I then asked everyone, “What is the life lesson from this story?”
**Lesson No: 6 Do not let negative thoughts take control of you. You have to overcome challenges and fight your own war. Use your mind to control your senses by focusing on the right and positive thoughts.
