(Gita-27) Krishna's Warning to Arjuna: Everyone is Making This Mistake! || Acharya Prashant (2024)
Video Information: 15.11.2024, Vedanta: Basics to Classics, Greater Noida
📋 Video Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
1:06 - The Nature of Liberation
5:10 - Exploring the Vedas and Their Teachings
8:05 - The Role of Desire in Spiritual Growth
10:19 - Turning Inward for Liberation
12:15 - The Journey from Nature Worship to Self-Inquiry
17:32 - The Courage of Disillusionment
20:13 - Innocence and Honesty in Acknowledging Desires
26:48 - Liberation Through Fully Experiencing Desire
31:38 - Hypocrisy in Desire and Its Consequences
37:56 - The Transition from Rituals to Vedantic Knowledge
41:33 - Recognising the Central Message of the Upanishads
47:35 - Honesty as the Key to Inner Freedom
51:53 - The Role of Relationships in Addressing Inner Truths
1:00:30 - Gita’s Teachings on Moving Beyond Desire
1:09:24 - Desirelessness: The Core of Spiritual Practice
Description:
Acharya Prashant highlights humanity’s tendency to seek fulfillment through external desires, a theme reflected in the Vedas. The Rigveda, with its hymns and rituals directed at natural forces like Agni and Surya, mirrors the initial human engagement with the world for needs like health, prosperity, and protection. This outward focus is not a flaw but an inevitable starting point rooted in human nature.
The Vedic seers approached their desires with honesty, allowing disillusionment to lead them beyond these desires. The journey from Karmakand (rituals) to the Upanishads symbolizes a shift from external dependence to internal realization. The Upanishads reject fulfillment through nature or rituals, urging inward exploration for true liberation.
Modern society’s denial of desires fosters self-deception and spiritual stagnation, contrasting with the Vedic sincerity. Acknowledging and understanding desires is essential for their dissolution, paving the way to freedom and alignment with deeper truths.
🎧 Listen to Acharya Prashant on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/2QmVEAAnsNE7Xs0MW0Li8Y?si=09fbcbc7c99c469b
Music Credits: Milind Date
~~~
Video Information: 15.11.2024, Vedanta: Basics to Classics, Greater Noida
📋 Video Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
1:06 - The Nature of Liberation
5:10 - Exploring the Vedas and Their Teachings
8:05 - The Role of Desire in Spiritual Growth
10:19 - Turning Inward for Liberation
12:15 - The Journey from Nature Worship to Self-Inquiry
17:32 - The Courage of Disillusionment
20:13 - Innocence and Honesty in Acknowledging Desires
26:48 - Liberation Through Fully Experiencing Desire
31:38 - Hypocrisy in Desire and Its Consequences
37:56 - The Transition from Rituals to Vedantic Knowledge
41:33 - Recognising the Central Message of the Upanishads
47:35 - Honesty as the Key to Inner Freedom
51:53 - The Role of Relationships in Addressing Inner Truths
1:00:30 - Gita’s Teachings on Moving Beyond Desire
1:09:24 - Desirelessness: The Core of Spiritual Practice
Description:
Acharya Prashant highlights humanity’s tendency to seek fulfillment through external desires, a theme reflected in the Vedas. The Rigveda, with its hymns and rituals directed at natural forces like Agni and Surya, mirrors the initial human engagement with the world for needs like health, prosperity, and protection. This outward focus is not a flaw but an inevitable starting point rooted in human nature.
The Vedic seers approached their desires with honesty, allowing disillusionment to lead them beyond these desires. The journey from Karmakand (rituals) to the Upanishads symbolizes a shift from external dependence to internal realization. The Upanishads reject fulfillment through nature or rituals, urging inward exploration for true liberation.
Modern society’s denial of desires fosters self-deception and spiritual stagnation, contrasting with the Vedic sincerity. Acknowledging and understanding desires is essential for their dissolution, paving the way to freedom and alignment with deeper truths.
🎧 Listen to Acharya Prashant on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/2QmVEAAnsNE7Xs0MW0Li8Y?si=09fbcbc7c99c469b
Music Credits: Milind Date
~~~
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00:00If that pizza or rasgulla or whatever is indeed so charming that it captures your entire mind,
00:00:07devote yourself fully to it, and then you will be liberated.
00:00:09If money is something that you think will redeem you, go.
00:00:1424 hours, eat, drink, think, sleep money.
00:00:18You find that man or woman so fascinating, go spend 24 hours, I mean not only 24 hours,
00:00:25I mean all 24 hours, today's 24 hours as well as tomorrow's.
00:00:29Distance from the object of desire maintains the charm.
00:00:34It's a very dirty trick.
00:00:36We never allow ourselves to know the object of desire fully.
00:00:40We at least postpone the knowledge.
00:00:42The one thing that will again and again strike you about the Vedas is honesty.
00:00:47They don't pretend.
00:00:48And they give two hoots to what you will think about them.
00:00:51Like a naked child, totally naked.
00:00:53You feel scandalized looking at what he's doing.
00:00:55But he is least worried.
00:00:57Lipsettings, yeah, yeah.
00:00:59What?
00:00:59Yeah, you too have it hanging there.
00:01:02What are you gaping at?
00:01:10The nature of the process of liberation is peculiar.
00:01:28You feel a certain angst within.
00:01:46A silent hollowness.
00:01:48And to begin with, you venture out in search of something that can plug the hollow.
00:02:19The beginning will always be towards the external.
00:02:31That is inevitable.
00:02:33It is a rule.
00:02:36Because that's how we are made.
00:02:41The eyes, all the senses, including the mind.
00:02:49They are by birth biologically programmed to look outside at the world.
00:03:06When you are in need or in trouble, you wave towards the world.
00:03:18And the throat cries out, help, help, again towards the world.
00:03:23If something troubles you at one place, you do not run inwards.
00:03:35You do not run to your insides.
00:03:37You run towards another external place.
00:03:42Whatsoever has attracted you has always been a subject of the senses.
00:03:56So that's how we are configured.
00:03:59Hence it is inevitable, we said, that the beginning will be in the outward direction.
00:04:13That's also how the Vedas begin.
00:04:21They look outwards.
00:04:25And that will always happen.
00:04:27That is not really a weakness.
00:04:35That is not a fault, not something to be ashamed of.
00:04:43That's a constitutional compulsion.
00:04:57The way we are constituted.
00:05:03So that's how we said the Vedas also begin.
00:05:08They look at the world.
00:05:11If you look at the oldest of the Vedas, I have been revisiting it these days.
00:05:20Every few years or so I return to the Vedas.
00:05:28This would be my 6th or 8th or 10th, I don't know, some return to the Vedas.
00:05:35I was in Mumbai and this time I purchased fresh copies of all the Vedas,
00:05:42even though I already have 2 or 3 copies.
00:05:47That's my way to make a fresh beginning.
00:05:53And I am revisiting the Rig Veda.
00:05:55And every time you go to them, there are fresh insights.
00:06:05What happens is that we look at the whole road
00:06:17from the point of view of the destination.
00:06:24We look at the climb,
00:06:29standing at the summit.
00:06:33And then the climb will always look a little inferior,
00:06:40a little useless,
00:06:44a little abhorrable,
00:06:47lowly climb.
00:06:51What we forget is that without the climb,
00:06:56all the ups and downs,
00:06:59all the meandering,
00:07:03the summit wouldn't have been possible.
00:07:08Those who are exposed to Vedanta,
00:07:12when they look at Karmakand,
00:07:15it is a bit prakritic
00:07:18that the approach sometimes is of condensation.
00:07:24With a condescending eye, we look at Karmakand part,
00:07:34which is both understandable and also childish.
00:07:43It's understandable because indeed Vedanta is the summit.
00:07:48The philosophical rigor of Vedanta cannot be matched
00:07:55by the Sankhita or the Brahman part.
00:08:03So in that sense, it's understandable.
00:08:06But what is also to be understood is that the Vedas are an organic growth.
00:08:14You look at Prakriti, you look at all its elements,
00:08:19and whenever you initiate the journey with Prakriti,
00:08:23the approach is of desire.
00:08:25So you look at Prakriti with desire.
00:08:31So the various forces and forms
00:08:37and effects of Prakriti,
00:08:42you give very different, very interesting names
00:08:51and you associate charming stories with them.
00:08:58That's what the initial part of the Vedas is about.
00:09:03And because the whole thing will come from desire,
00:09:07man is a creature of desire, is he not?
00:09:10So therefore to each of these names, forms, forces,
00:09:14you go and you ask for things.
00:09:19What things?
00:09:20The same things that we today ask for.
00:09:25Nothing has changed and that's why
00:09:28spiritual literature from ancient times remains relevant even today.
00:09:34So the things that you ask for today are the same things
00:09:38that are being asked for in the mantras of Rig Veda.
00:09:47Ten thousand mantras there.
00:09:51In more than a thousand Suktas.
00:09:59Ten Mandals.
00:10:03And more than 95% of them are about desire.
00:10:09Some natural force you pick up.
00:10:12Indra, Vayu, Agni.
00:10:20Even the famous Gayatri Mantra
00:10:24is addressed to Surya.
00:10:31Savita.
00:10:34So some natural force and then what do you ask?
00:10:38Please, more crops.
00:10:43Please, you know,
00:10:46longer life
00:10:49and disease-free bodies
00:10:54for me and my family and my clan.
00:10:59Please,
00:11:02wreak destruction on that other tribe,
00:11:05destroy them fully.
00:11:08Agni, can you do that for me?
00:11:12These things.
00:11:13These things.
00:11:16And these things,
00:11:19once you go deeper into them,
00:11:22the depth itself enables you to surpass them.
00:11:29Because when you initiated the journey,
00:11:32the purpose was very clear.
00:11:34We said there was an internal angst
00:11:37and Indra or Vayu or Varuna
00:11:39or Agni or Surya,
00:11:44they are incapable of healing the angst.
00:11:55And then, only then you are forced to turn inwards.
00:12:01That's what happens in the Vedas
00:12:03and that's also what happens in the life of every seeker.
00:12:09The initial movement is always towards
00:12:13the outside.
00:12:15Right?
00:12:16And your life
00:12:19can become
00:12:21like the Vedas,
00:12:23can mirror the Vedas,
00:12:24it can resemble the Vedas,
00:12:26if you can do what the Upanishads do.
00:12:29The Upanishads take
00:12:31a very courageous flight.
00:12:37While the Karmakand part is busy with
00:12:40with nature worship,
00:12:44offering sacrifices
00:12:47and asking for favours,
00:12:50the Upanishads
00:12:53suddenly then,
00:12:55it's not really sudden,
00:12:57but in the text it does appear
00:12:59a bit abrupt.
00:13:01The Upanishads
00:13:03suddenly declare nothing doing.
00:13:08If I keep
00:13:11asking
00:13:13for fulfilment of desires from Prakriti,
00:13:16I'm never going to have it.
00:13:20I'll forever remain dissatisfied
00:13:23and I don't want to just end up discontented.
00:13:28I'll have to look inwards,
00:13:30I'll have to ask myself,
00:13:32who is the one who is always begging?
00:13:37Now that's a tremendous change
00:13:41from the initial plane
00:13:45where you are continuously saying,
00:13:47oh please Deity, you come over,
00:13:49here is the Yagya sacrifice,
00:13:52can you come over and sit here
00:13:55and accept my offering?
00:13:58Here is the Somras for you,
00:14:00I know you love it.
00:14:02Please take this, please take that.
00:14:05And bless me in return.
00:14:08The Upanishads just move beyond all that.
00:14:12No nature worship there.
00:14:16No effort to
00:14:19extract
00:14:21any kind of favour from
00:14:23Prakritic forces.
00:14:26We should say, I've understood,
00:14:28who am I and why do I relate to Prakriti
00:14:31in such and such ways.
00:14:35Are you getting it?
00:14:37Now both these parts
00:14:39are very very important.
00:14:41I cannot even say one is more important
00:14:43than the other.
00:14:49Boarding is important and so is deboarding.
00:14:53Checking in is important and so is
00:14:55checking out.
00:14:57How do I declare that checking out
00:14:59is more important than checking in?
00:15:01How will you check out if you never
00:15:03checked in?
00:15:05Are you getting it?
00:15:09Though when you are checking out or
00:15:11deboarding, it appears that this is
00:15:13the higher act
00:15:15because this is the final thing.
00:15:17This is what completes
00:15:19and culminates.
00:15:23But that's not so.
00:15:29It's like taking a ferry
00:15:31to the other shore.
00:15:37A boat ride.
00:15:39Obviously when you
00:15:41reach there,
00:15:43then you leave
00:15:45the boat
00:15:47and it will appear
00:15:49that leaving the boat is
00:15:51the final thing that
00:15:53helps you land at the destination
00:15:55and that's true.
00:15:57If someone were
00:15:59to take a snapshot,
00:16:01he will say, see, this is the
00:16:03final thing.
00:16:05This man
00:16:07is stepping out
00:16:09from the ferry.
00:16:13You got into the boat and then you got
00:16:15out of the boat. Getting out of the boat
00:16:17is the moment when you land
00:16:19on the destination. So it appears
00:16:21great. But what is also
00:16:23true is that you
00:16:25needed to get on. You also needed
00:16:27to
00:16:29cover the entire
00:16:31distance across the river.
00:16:37Are you getting it?
00:16:43But
00:16:45the problem
00:16:47occurs
00:16:49when one gets
00:16:51so
00:16:53enamored
00:16:55with the boat ride
00:16:57that he refuses
00:16:59to leave the boat.
00:17:03Obviously I am assuming
00:17:05that first of all you took the boat.
00:17:07The vast
00:17:09majority of people
00:17:11are so satisfied
00:17:13at their own
00:17:15shore
00:17:17that they will just
00:17:19refuse to accept
00:17:21any
00:17:23boat or
00:17:25overtures of any boatman.
00:17:37It would be
00:17:39sensible, logical.
00:17:41We can only
00:17:43guess but probably factual to say
00:17:45that
00:17:47it would
00:17:49have been difficult to
00:17:51reach the Upanishads
00:17:53without
00:17:55the nature worship part.
00:18:03You need to be disillusioned
00:18:05before you get
00:18:07disentangled.
00:18:13Remember
00:18:15nirasha?
00:18:17How will you
00:18:23get
00:18:25disillusioned
00:18:27free of hope
00:18:31if first of all
00:18:33there is no hope?
00:18:37Now we all do remain hopeful
00:18:39since birth itself. That's right.
00:18:41But the
00:18:43but the
00:18:45beauty, the courage of the Vedas
00:18:47lies in the fact that they said fine if
00:18:49Prakriti is where we are to get
00:18:51our satisfaction from.
00:18:53Let's go the whole
00:18:55distance. If
00:18:57Prakriti is what gives us what we
00:18:59want, then let's accept
00:19:01the forces of nature as
00:19:03gods and goddesses. No?
00:19:05No hypocrisy.
00:19:09If I live
00:19:11for the sake of my desires, then let
00:19:13me turn the objects
00:19:15of my desires into
00:19:17gods and goddesses.
00:19:21Now this is a very
00:19:23honest approach
00:19:27and a bold one.
00:19:29We all do want
00:19:31stuff but we never
00:19:33have
00:19:35the rigor
00:19:37and the courage
00:19:39to simply accept
00:19:41that the object that we want
00:19:43is indeed our god.
00:19:45You might be dying after
00:19:47something but will you ever
00:19:49openly accept that the stuff that you
00:19:51are dying after is your
00:19:53de facto god? You will not
00:19:55accept.
00:19:57Inwardly, yes, that thing is
00:19:59indeed your god and is ruling you,
00:20:01commanding you.
00:20:03But you will never accept
00:20:05it.
00:20:07Not to others, not to yourself
00:20:09that the thing is your
00:20:11god.
00:20:13The Vedas
00:20:15just honestly accept. They say
00:20:17okay, fire is so
00:20:19important. It gives us protection.
00:20:21Think of those times.
00:20:23Think of those times. Fire used to be
00:20:25so important and
00:20:27fire used to be
00:20:29the vehicle
00:20:31for fulfillment of so many desires.
00:20:33Food,
00:20:35protection, illumination,
00:20:37come on, everything.
00:20:39Plus man was not
00:20:41entirely savage by the time
00:20:43we came to the Rig Veda.
00:20:45There was a
00:20:47fair degree of civilization.
00:20:49We had started
00:20:51dealing with metals.
00:20:53We had started getting into
00:20:55construction
00:20:57and in all of that fire
00:20:59played an important role.
00:21:01Even medicines.
00:21:05Fire was needed for all of that.
00:21:07So fire
00:21:09fulfills so many desires.
00:21:11So what do I do?
00:21:13I will say fire is god.
00:21:17Fire is god.
00:21:19That's very
00:21:21innocently honest. Is it not?
00:21:23Cute.
00:21:27I wish we had the honesty
00:21:29to simply say mother pizza.
00:21:33Because that's how it is for many of us.
00:21:35No? Is it not?
00:21:39In the dead of the night
00:21:41you are worshipping her,
00:21:45invoking her,
00:21:49dialing her up
00:21:55and then that
00:21:57from
00:21:59yes
00:22:01comes with
00:22:03the word of the goddess
00:22:07and whispers in your ears
00:22:09Margarita.
00:22:11And that's
00:22:13the mantra.
00:22:17We are not honest
00:22:19enough to accept that
00:22:21these things are our gods and goddesses.
00:22:27Look at someone.
00:22:29If he were
00:22:31honest he should be found worshipping
00:22:33the pillow.
00:22:35The pillow should be hoisted.
00:22:39Hung from the
00:22:41roof or something.
00:22:43Ceiling.
00:22:45An offering should be made.
00:22:47Please.
00:22:49Because the pillow is where
00:22:51this fellow's desires
00:22:53are most fulfilled.
00:22:57We are
00:22:59hypocrites in that sense.
00:23:01There we said
00:23:03there is a certain innocence.
00:23:05They said if we get our sustenance
00:23:07from sun
00:23:09we will worship sun.
00:23:11And that's so fair.
00:23:13No?
00:23:15They could see that everything is coming
00:23:17from the sun. So why not worship the sun?
00:23:21And then
00:23:23when you honestly
00:23:25devote yourself to
00:23:27whatever you think
00:23:31is fulfilling your desire
00:23:33that's and
00:23:35only then
00:23:37is when
00:23:39disillusionment can set in.
00:23:43Why do we not get
00:23:45disappointed fully?
00:23:47Why are our hopes not
00:23:49and never dashed fully?
00:23:51Because we never commit
00:23:53ourselves fully to the object of our desire.
00:23:55We are smart
00:23:57people.
00:23:59We'll chase something
00:24:01and yet not admit to ourselves
00:24:03that we are chasing that thing.
00:24:09In comparison
00:24:11the Vedic seers are
00:24:13extremely
00:24:15innocent and very honest.
00:24:19They say the cow is giving us so much.
00:24:21We'll worship the cow.
00:24:23Simple.
00:24:25You also extract so much from the cow
00:24:27but you don't really worship the cow. Do you?
00:24:31Some plant is giving them something.
00:24:33There is the somrus
00:24:37which is most probably
00:24:41a drink of intoxication
00:24:43but it used to give them pleasure.
00:24:45The same kind of dopamine rush
00:24:47that you also rush for.
00:24:49And they said no.
00:24:51It's a wonderful thing.
00:24:53There are so many mantras praising
00:24:55just the somrus.
00:24:57You know you prepare it
00:24:59this way and then you offer it
00:25:01to Indra and Indra would be just
00:25:03delighted.
00:25:05And after Indra is delighted you can have it.
00:25:13We hide.
00:25:15We pretend.
00:25:19They don't hide.
00:25:21They don't pretend.
00:25:25And that is also the reason why
00:25:27some of the mantras
00:25:29they have been used
00:25:31by detractors
00:25:33to present the Vedas
00:25:37as
00:25:39abominable.
00:25:41They say you see what kind of stuff is being talked of here.
00:25:45Because there are references
00:25:47even to sexual activity
00:25:49in a very innocent way.
00:25:51In a very childlike way.
00:25:53People come and say
00:25:55you see these are the Hindu's religious scriptures
00:25:57and they are talking of
00:25:59sex in this way.
00:26:01No.
00:26:03They are talking of everything that is there
00:26:05in the prakritic universe.
00:26:07So they are talking of
00:26:09sex also.
00:26:11Because when you think of fulfillment
00:26:13one of the directions you rush
00:26:15towards is sex.
00:26:17So they are talking of sex as well.
00:26:21They are talking of crops.
00:26:23They are talking of the soil.
00:26:25They are talking of the clouds.
00:26:27And animals.
00:26:29Forests.
00:26:31Of course rivers.
00:26:35I am principally
00:26:37referring to the Rig Veda here.
00:26:39Maybe because of recent sea effect.
00:26:41I am with the Rig Veda these days.
00:26:45Are you getting it?
00:26:49So that's a wonderful thing.
00:26:51A thing of honesty.
00:26:53You find
00:26:55yourself drawn to something.
00:26:57Don't be a hypocrite.
00:26:59Just declare I am drawn towards this thing.
00:27:01And I am moving towards this thing.
00:27:03Only then will you
00:27:05meet disappointment.
00:27:09And without that disappointment
00:27:11there can be no liberation.
00:27:13The reason we are never liberated is because
00:27:15we double deal.
00:27:19Are you getting it?
00:27:25You binge and then you fast.
00:27:31And that's why you will never
00:27:33stop
00:27:35eating
00:27:37the nonsense that invites you to binge.
00:27:43If that
00:27:45pizza or
00:27:47rasgulla or whatever
00:27:49is indeed
00:27:51so charming
00:27:53that it captures your entire mind
00:27:55devote yourself fully to it.
00:27:59And then you will be liberated.
00:28:09If money is something
00:28:11that you think will
00:28:13redeem you, go.
00:28:1724 hours, eat, drink,
00:28:19think, sleep money.
00:28:25And then you will be liberated.
00:28:27Liberated not because you will earn
00:28:29enough of it.
00:28:31Because you will realize this is not that.
00:28:33And that kind of liberation
00:28:35seems to have happened
00:28:37in the process of the Vedas.
00:28:43You find that
00:28:45man or woman
00:28:47so fascinating.
00:28:49Go, spend 24 hours.
00:28:51I mean not only 24 hours.
00:28:53I mean all 24 hours.
00:28:55Today's 24 hours
00:28:57as well as
00:28:59tomorrow's 24 hours.
00:29:01Today's 24 hours as well as
00:29:03tomorrow's.
00:29:05Go spend 24 hours.
00:29:07And you will run.
00:29:11I mean run away.
00:29:19Distance from the object of
00:29:21desire
00:29:23maintains the charm.
00:29:27It's a very dirty trick.
00:29:31We never allow ourselves to know
00:29:33the object of desire fully.
00:29:37We at least postpone
00:29:39the knowledge.
00:29:43Sooner than later
00:29:45that knowledge will
00:29:47come to you.
00:29:51Uninvited.
00:29:53Unwanted.
00:29:57But we want to postpone it.
00:29:59And we postpone it to such a point
00:30:01that when, even when
00:30:03the knowledge comes, it's already too late.
00:30:09It's not that you will never learn
00:30:11the reality of that man or woman.
00:30:15But by that time you will already have three kids.
00:30:17Now what can you do?
00:30:19It's too late
00:30:21to learn.
00:30:25And this thing that you are learning after 30 years
00:30:27you could have learnt in three days
00:30:29had you allowed yourself to ask
00:30:31the right questions.
00:30:33It could have learnt,
00:30:35been learnt, very simple.
00:30:39But those simple questions
00:30:41that can be asked
00:30:45over just an ordinary evening
00:30:47it takes maybe two hours,
00:30:49three hours of a discussion.
00:30:51We do not let those
00:30:53questions be asked
00:30:55over three decades.
00:30:57However,
00:30:59reality has a way of catching up
00:31:01with our nonsense.
00:31:03Facts will show up.
00:31:07But as we said, by that time
00:31:09it's too late.
00:31:13The Rishis didn't allow it to get too late.
00:31:17They got into it fully.
00:31:19They said, we are doing it.
00:31:21As you say, I am into it these days.
00:31:23So they were totally into Prakriti.
00:31:29I am into Prakriti.
00:31:31And that's why they were redeemed.
00:31:33And even then it didn't
00:31:35happen over a fortnight
00:31:37or a month.
00:31:39The Rig Veda is understood
00:31:41to contain
00:31:43mantras that span
00:31:45many centuries.
00:31:49Minimum of three to four hundred years.
00:31:51It could be longer.
00:31:57That's the kind of time
00:31:59disillusionment takes to come.
00:32:03Even to a
00:32:05person with honesty,
00:32:07innocence and courage.
00:32:11And one
00:32:13lifetime is just maximum
00:32:15hundred years.
00:32:17How much time do you have?
00:32:19But we find enough time
00:32:21to deceive ourselves.
00:32:25There is not enough time
00:32:27even to honestly explore
00:32:29how do you manage to have time
00:32:31to deceive yourself.
00:32:33Even if you get into honest
00:32:35inquiry, you might find even
00:32:37hundred years is a little too less.
00:32:41Even the fastest ones take
00:32:43several decades.
00:32:45How do you
00:32:47manage to
00:32:49just
00:32:51keep telling
00:32:53lies to yourself.
00:32:55That includes everyone, me, you,
00:32:57we all stand at the same plane.
00:33:03Getting it?
00:33:07So the
00:33:09Vedas
00:33:11move on.
00:33:13They start with nature worship
00:33:15and then they move on.
00:33:17And it's such a tremendous
00:33:19moving on.
00:33:23The world
00:33:25has never seen
00:33:27anything like it.
00:33:33In fact, some people say that
00:33:35the Upanishads are against the Vedas.
00:33:39That magnitude
00:33:41of dissonance.
00:33:43They do not understand
00:33:45that the Upanishads would have
00:33:47been difficult to come to
00:33:49sense the Vedas.
00:33:51But indeed
00:33:55to be charitable to them,
00:33:57if you just read
00:33:59the mantras
00:34:01pertaining to nature worship
00:34:05and then you go to
00:34:07some of the most
00:34:09philosophical,
00:34:11philosophically acute
00:34:13verses
00:34:15of the Upanishads,
00:34:17you find no similarity.
00:34:19And therefore, one could be forgiven for thinking
00:34:21that the Upanishads actually
00:34:23oppose the Vedas. They really do not.
00:34:25There is an organic linkage.
00:34:31But the difference is
00:34:33similar to the difference
00:34:35that a newbie
00:34:37can find
00:34:39between let's say
00:34:41a piece of the root
00:34:43of a mango tree
00:34:45and fruit of the
00:34:47mango tree.
00:34:51Let's say there is someone who does not know
00:34:53the process of the mango tree.
00:34:55He does not know how the seed
00:34:57yields the whole tree.
00:34:59And to that person
00:35:01you show a part of the
00:35:03root
00:35:05or a part of the gutli,
00:35:07the seed.
00:35:09And then you also show
00:35:11a full
00:35:15luscious,
00:35:17ripe, juicy fruit.
00:35:19And you say you look at this and look at this.
00:35:21He will say this is
00:35:23totally opposite of this.
00:35:25The root looks dry
00:35:27and dark.
00:35:31And this is
00:35:33full of bright colors and there is such
00:35:35juice and aroma and
00:35:37flavor and all that can attract
00:35:39you and the root is so lifeless.
00:35:45That's a matter of appearance.
00:35:47The fact is that the fruit could not
00:35:49have come without the
00:35:51root.
00:35:53That's the relationship.
00:35:57Are you getting it?
00:35:59The one thing that will again
00:36:01strike you about the Vedas is
00:36:03honesty. They don't
00:36:05pretend.
00:36:07And they give two hoots to what
00:36:09you will think about them.
00:36:11Like a naked child.
00:36:13Totally naked.
00:36:15You feel scandalized looking at what
00:36:17he is doing.
00:36:19But he is
00:36:23least worried.
00:36:25Looks at you and says
00:36:27yeah, yeah, what?
00:36:29Yeah, you
00:36:31two have it hanging there.
00:36:33What are you gaping at?
00:36:35Get lost.
00:36:49Hypocrisy, self-deception.
00:36:51They nip
00:36:53the process right in the
00:36:55bud.
00:36:57You don't even get to start.
00:37:01If you will not acknowledge your desires
00:37:03how will you ever know your desires?
00:37:07And that's why I rate
00:37:09psychoanalysis so highly.
00:37:13Unearthing the content
00:37:15of the unconscious mind
00:37:17where all your
00:37:19primitive and suppressed desires
00:37:21are lying.
00:37:23If you will not know that you
00:37:25have been desirous since
00:37:27ages, if you will
00:37:29not face, acknowledge,
00:37:31encounter your desires
00:37:33there is no way of getting
00:37:35liberated from them.
00:37:39But social sanctions
00:37:41and religious
00:37:43morality
00:37:45they
00:37:47prevent us from acknowledging
00:37:49that we desire so much
00:37:51and so many
00:37:53objects.
00:37:55What
00:37:57has morality taught you?
00:37:59Desire is evil.
00:38:01But that's not
00:38:03so in the case of the Rig Veda.
00:38:05Here you see the very dance of desire.
00:38:09Mother river, can I ask
00:38:11for one more thing?
00:38:13I'll
00:38:15worship you more, but please give me this
00:38:17thing. As I said, like a naked child.
00:38:19Unafraid to ask.
00:38:23Constantly inviting the
00:38:25gods. You please come. The feast
00:38:27is ready.
00:38:29And this time we have some
00:38:31special butter for you.
00:38:33Gods please come.
00:38:35And they really believe that the gods
00:38:37are coming and enjoying the meals.
00:38:39And now that the gods are satisfied
00:38:41they'll say
00:38:43can I
00:38:45have one more wife?
00:38:54Not that.
00:38:56It's just about asking for desires.
00:38:58There is philosophical content as well.
00:39:00The philosophy of the Upanishads
00:39:02couldn't have just
00:39:04suddenly exploded.
00:39:06You find
00:39:08the germs,
00:39:10the genesis of
00:39:12that philosophy
00:39:14in the
00:39:16earlier parts as well.
00:39:18But predominantly it's about
00:39:20desire fulfillment as Sri Krishna
00:39:22says in the Gita.
00:39:24Kama karma.
00:39:26Kama karma.
00:39:30So,
00:39:32the first part is about
00:39:34exploring desire.
00:39:36Sakaam.
00:39:38And then you come to
00:39:40the Upanishads and that's
00:39:42about seeing desire
00:39:44and getting free
00:39:46of desire. That's Nishkaam.
00:39:48That's
00:39:50the journey. You begin
00:39:52from Sakaamta and you come to
00:39:54Nishkaamta.
00:40:02Now this does not
00:40:04mean that you have to run after your desires.
00:40:06Why? Because you are
00:40:08already at the peak of your desires.
00:40:14Is there anybody here
00:40:16whose mind is not full of desires?
00:40:18You don't need to add to the list
00:40:20of your desires. Because there
00:40:22have been teachers in the past
00:40:24who have advanced this argument.
00:40:26They have said, you know, unless
00:40:28your desires get
00:40:30huge and big
00:40:32and they reach a critical
00:40:34mass and they explode,
00:40:36you'll never be liberated. No sir, you don't
00:40:38need that. Why? Because your desires
00:40:40have already reached a critical mass.
00:40:42You don't need to add
00:40:44to the mass that you have.
00:40:46We are already slaves
00:40:48of desire.
00:40:50But we like to hear
00:40:52when somebody says, you know, you must
00:40:54pursue your desires.
00:40:56And at the peak of your desires, you will get
00:40:58desirelessness. You say, fine.
00:41:00That's a good kind of
00:41:02sanction.
00:41:04Very liberative license.
00:41:10Let me consume
00:41:12more and more. And now even Guruji has allowed.
00:41:14Not Guruji,
00:41:16Babaji.
00:41:18I have him here.
00:41:30Getting it?
00:41:32I am so sure
00:41:34that at least a few
00:41:36of you must have been wondering
00:41:38that right,
00:41:40this session
00:41:42this session
00:41:44is telling me why I am not
00:41:46advancing
00:41:48in my spiritual way
00:41:50because I have not
00:41:52been running after, running fully
00:41:54after my desires. No, you are already
00:41:56running fully after desires. You are
00:41:58just in a
00:42:00hypocritical way, not acknowledging
00:42:02the difference
00:42:04between you and the seers of Rig Veda
00:42:06is not that they were
00:42:08desirous and you are less desirous.
00:42:10The difference is that they were innocent
00:42:12and you are not.
00:42:14They were innocent, honest
00:42:16and they just acknowledged that yes,
00:42:18I do want protection.
00:42:20I do want a long life.
00:42:22I do want a disease-free body.
00:42:24I do want
00:42:26my clan, my tribe to expand.
00:42:28I do want victory over
00:42:30my adversaries.
00:42:32They acknowledged it.
00:42:34That they said, you know, this is what I want.
00:42:36Interestingly,
00:42:38the initial parts of the Vedas
00:42:40do not talk of liberation.
00:42:42They do not say that I want.
00:42:44They say these are the things that I want.
00:42:48Good life,
00:42:50healthy body.
00:42:52I must live very long.
00:42:54I must have lots of
00:42:56milk and
00:42:58butter to consume
00:43:00and also meat.
00:43:02There are places where the Vedas
00:43:04talk very liberally of
00:43:06meat of all kinds.
00:43:08They say, you know, I want all these things
00:43:10like the common man.
00:43:18They do not say that I want
00:43:20liberation.
00:43:24The difference is not that there is desire
00:43:26over there and there is
00:43:28lesser desire over here.
00:43:30The difference is that we are
00:43:32hypocrites.
00:43:34We desire and yet we pretend
00:43:36that we do not because we are afraid.
00:43:38They are not afraid.
00:43:40They are real dudes.
00:43:42If I want something,
00:43:44I'll go out and announce.
00:43:46If I want
00:43:48something, I'll go out
00:43:50and announce. Yes, I want it. Fine.
00:43:52And that's the reason why ultimately
00:43:54they saw their wants getting
00:43:56dissolved.
00:43:58Whereas most of us inwardly
00:44:00there are just
00:44:02so many desires
00:44:04boiling, boiling,
00:44:06boiling.
00:44:08A melting
00:44:10pot of desires. That's what our
00:44:12being is.
00:44:14Desires coming from all kinds.
00:44:16Melting, fusing into
00:44:18one.
00:44:20But outwardly we pretend that we are
00:44:22religious, spiritual, moral,
00:44:24what not.
00:44:30And that has happened with all the Indic
00:44:32religions.
00:44:34That's the case with in fact religions in
00:44:36general. Everywhere it's the same case.
00:44:40It's difficult to find
00:44:42a bigger hypocrite than the
00:44:44religious man.
00:44:48He wants all the things
00:44:50that the irreligious
00:44:52man or the atheist does.
00:44:54But he pretends that he does not.
00:44:56So what does he
00:44:58create? He creates back doors
00:45:00and underground tunnels
00:45:02to fulfill
00:45:04his desires in the dark
00:45:06of the night.
00:45:12Pakhand.
00:45:14Wanting
00:45:16the same thing but not
00:45:18having the guts to
00:45:20acknowledge.
00:45:24Self
00:45:26observation
00:45:28Atma Vidya
00:45:30is about having guts to see
00:45:32what lies within.
00:45:34It's not difficult to see. It's difficult
00:45:36to acknowledge.
00:45:40Do you understand this?
00:45:42Not difficult to see.
00:45:44How is it difficult to
00:45:46see? These are your own insides.
00:45:48How can it be difficult to see?
00:45:50You are the experiencer of all your
00:45:52desires. Are you not?
00:45:54If you do not know, who does?
00:45:58Nobody knows
00:46:00better than you the kind
00:46:02of desires
00:46:04that keep
00:46:06swarming within.
00:46:08You are not blind. We are just
00:46:10dishonest. We know.
00:46:12We do not acknowledge.
00:46:16Acknowledgement is everything.
00:46:18That's why I ask you
00:46:20to post your reflections
00:46:22on the community and that's why
00:46:24you dread posting
00:46:26reflections because you
00:46:28know
00:46:30that your fact is
00:46:32too terrible to be posted.
00:46:36Do you understand
00:46:38why there is such a low
00:46:40rate of your posts
00:46:42on the community?
00:46:44And several of you are
00:46:46so smart that they have found
00:46:48ingenious
00:46:50shortcuts.
00:46:52They take my words
00:46:54and post there. That's their reflection.
00:46:56Some of them
00:46:58don't even bother to take my words.
00:47:00They simply take my posters and put there.
00:47:02And they say, now we are unblocked.
00:47:04You might be unblocked
00:47:06on the community. You will not be unblocked
00:47:08in life.
00:47:14Some say
00:47:16sheer genius.
00:47:18The fellow says, posting
00:47:20for unblocking.
00:47:26Genius.
00:47:36That's where you are stuck.
00:47:38You know
00:47:40the
00:47:42hell hole
00:47:44that your insights are.
00:47:48I just
00:47:50want you, I request you
00:47:54to be bold enough
00:47:56to accept that.
00:47:58You will not accept
00:48:00that you are stuck in hell.
00:48:02There is no way
00:48:04you can move out.
00:48:08It's not at all coincidental
00:48:10that you do not want to reflect.
00:48:12It's not just about
00:48:14members of the
00:48:16community, the general members,
00:48:18even people within the foundation.
00:48:20Rarely do they
00:48:24post anything
00:48:26of any consequence.
00:48:30On the other
00:48:32extreme are people who appear
00:48:34like pouring their hearts out.
00:48:36But that too is a way
00:48:38of deception. Because
00:48:40you are writing so much.
00:48:42Just so that the writing
00:48:44suffices for being.
00:48:46I have written so much and that is
00:48:48enough. Now I don't need to change.
00:48:50See, I have done so much. What have you done?
00:48:52Written.
00:48:54And that suffices.
00:48:56There are those
00:48:58who block change by not writing
00:49:00at all. And there are
00:49:02those who substitute change
00:49:04with writing too much.
00:49:08Maya
00:49:10Maa Thagini Hamjani
00:49:13Now what do I do?
00:49:15I am helpless in this regard.
00:49:19Sometimes I just chuck it all away and say
00:49:21fine.
00:49:23Let me just thrash someone and have a good time
00:49:25and go to sleep.
00:49:36How much can one waste oneself
00:49:38on people who
00:49:40just are determined
00:49:42to stay where
00:49:44they are?
00:49:52The more
00:49:54you are inwardly
00:49:56conscious
00:49:58of your
00:50:00internal rot,
00:50:02the more
00:50:04you will be afraid
00:50:06of opening up to life.
00:50:11The more
00:50:13you will remain guarded.
00:50:17It's not that you are
00:50:19an introvert.
00:50:24The bigger reason is that
00:50:26you have secrets
00:50:28to hide.
00:50:37And the society has said
00:50:39if you tell
00:50:41others about your weaknesses
00:50:43and the rot and all
00:50:45the disease and everything,
00:50:47then that person
00:50:49will look unfavorably at you.
00:50:51So
00:50:53your social standing, your self-worth
00:50:55is gone. And that's the problem.
00:50:59The Lok Dharam, the Lok Sanskriti,
00:51:01the culture we are brought up
00:51:03in,
00:51:05it places too much value
00:51:07on the way people
00:51:09look at us.
00:51:11The reason
00:51:13why we become dishonest.
00:51:17Not that
00:51:19we are liars.
00:51:21An environment is created
00:51:23in which lying
00:51:25becomes necessary.
00:51:29If the fellow
00:51:31in front of you
00:51:33is someone who cannot stand
00:51:35the facts,
00:51:37what is he
00:51:39incentivizing you to do?
00:51:41He is
00:51:43incentivizing you to lie.
00:51:45And that's the kind of
00:51:47environment that exists in the society.
00:51:51If you just
00:51:53expose the facts,
00:51:55there will be
00:51:57disdain and discarding
00:51:59and disapproval.
00:52:01Whereas
00:52:03you are
00:52:05considered
00:52:07respectable
00:52:09and acceptable
00:52:11if you just keep presenting
00:52:13pleasant lies.
00:52:17Is that not what most
00:52:19youngsters
00:52:21do to their parents?
00:52:25I mean, come on.
00:52:27When you speak to your parents on phone,
00:52:29do you disclose
00:52:31facts really?
00:52:37Not that you really want to lie.
00:52:39It's just that the fact would be unacceptable
00:52:41there even though it's such a
00:52:43harmless fact. Nothing.
00:52:45I'm there
00:52:47in the shopping mall.
00:52:49The fact is this. But it's 10
00:52:51PM.
00:52:55And mama coming from a Vaishnava background
00:52:57thinks that, you know,
00:52:59the girl should be back
00:53:01maximum
00:53:03by 4 PM.
00:53:1110 PM
00:53:13is
00:53:17Armageddon.
00:53:21Worse than World War 3.
00:53:23So she will ask,
00:53:25what is this loud
00:53:27music blaring in the background?
00:53:29No mama, it's my roommate.
00:53:31Nothing.
00:53:35He's sitting
00:53:37at an eatery. That's all.
00:53:39Now what's
00:53:41so scandalous about an eatery?
00:53:43But mama cannot accept it.
00:53:45So you are forced to lie.
00:53:49And continuously lying
00:53:51to others, others, others, others.
00:53:53It becomes
00:53:55a habit to lie to yourself.
00:53:59And that's why
00:54:01I become so angry at parents.
00:54:05The ones who do not know life
00:54:07and yet try to bring one more
00:54:09life to this world.
00:54:15They teach you to lie.
00:54:17Though they will ostensibly
00:54:19tell you, always speak the truth.
00:54:23But through
00:54:25their sanctions and beliefs and rigid
00:54:27opinions,
00:54:29they are the ones who train you
00:54:31into all kinds of lies.
00:54:33And you become a habitual liar.
00:54:39And then that habit of lying turns
00:54:41inwards also. You just
00:54:43forget. Continuously
00:54:45you are telling others, continuously.
00:54:47You didn't
00:54:49take the shower in the morning.
00:54:51But since the
00:54:53morning, 40 times you have told
00:54:5540 respectable persons that you
00:54:57have taken a bath.
00:54:59By the
00:55:01time you reach evening,
00:55:03you would have forgotten
00:55:05that you have not taken a bath.
00:55:09And you will start believing
00:55:11actually within yourself
00:55:13that you did take the
00:55:15shower in the morning.
00:55:17That's how it happens.
00:55:21One of the
00:55:23markers of good company is
00:55:25you don't have to lie there.
00:55:29Good company is where
00:55:31even your worst part
00:55:33is not frowned
00:55:35upon.
00:55:41If anything is frowned upon,
00:55:43it is
00:55:45dishonesty. If you
00:55:47lie about
00:55:49something that you did,
00:55:51then
00:55:53the
00:55:55other
00:55:57might frown. And that is
00:55:59okay. But he will not
00:56:01frown upon what you did.
00:56:03He will frown upon the fact that
00:56:05you hid what you did.
00:56:07These are two very different things.
00:56:13One is doing
00:56:15something
00:56:17what you can call as bad and the other is
00:56:19hiding it.
00:56:21A good relationship is
00:56:23where you are
00:56:25not supposed to hide
00:56:27things.
00:56:31The articles of association of the
00:56:33partnership do not
00:56:35include a clause that says
00:56:39we will present agreeable
00:56:41faces to each other.
00:56:43You can present your most
00:56:45disagreeable self to the other.
00:56:49And all that the other would say is
00:56:51I will help you in overcoming
00:56:53it.
00:56:55He will not say no, no, no. If it exists,
00:56:57hide it.
00:56:59I am not strong enough to
00:57:01accept that you have a face
00:57:03like that.
00:57:05The fellow says I am strong enough to
00:57:07accept whatever
00:57:09follies you carry.
00:57:11And then I am
00:57:13also strong enough
00:57:15to lend you a hand to overcome
00:57:17all that.
00:57:21I am not saying that
00:57:23the fellow should say okay fine I have
00:57:25seen your ugly and evil face
00:57:27and let it remain that way.
00:57:29He is not saying this. What is he saying?
00:57:31He is saying first of all yes.
00:57:33Like a doctor, I am alright
00:57:35with you exposing the
00:57:37disease to me.
00:57:39You go to a doctor
00:57:41and you expose
00:57:43some rotten part of your body to
00:57:45the doctor and the doctor says what nonsense
00:57:47rascal bastard get lost.
00:57:49What kind of doctor is that?
00:57:53And anything can be there you know.
00:57:55We are very
00:57:57colorful people. You go to a gynecologist
00:57:59and
00:58:01the gynecologist just explodes.
00:58:03He says what have you done?
00:58:05Where have you done?
00:58:07I am not a doctor. I am a priest.
00:58:11Doctor
00:58:13first of all is fine
00:58:15with looking at your reports
00:58:17your body whatever it is.
00:58:19Even if your numbers are
00:58:21way off the mark.
00:58:23Something should be within
00:58:253 units of something and your report
00:58:27says instead of 3 units it is 3000 units.
00:58:29The doctor will not run away.
00:58:31Nor will the doctor shoot you
00:58:33in the head. Nor will he call the police.
00:58:35The doctor will say
00:58:37fine I have seen this now I will
00:58:39treat you.
00:58:41That is the marker of a good relationship.
00:58:45You can come
00:58:47and be
00:58:49naked in front of me.
00:58:53You do not need to hide or pretend.
00:58:55And after
00:58:57that it is not that I will say remain
00:58:59this way. Now that I have
00:59:01known your weakness,
00:59:03your suffering
00:59:05I will assist you in
00:59:07overcoming it.
00:59:11Are you kidding?
00:59:13The right relationship
00:59:15with desire
00:59:17and it is because of
00:59:19this right relationship
00:59:21that the
00:59:23Vedas finally
00:59:25climax
00:59:27into the Upanishads.
00:59:31Had they not
00:59:33had the right relationship the Upanishads
00:59:37would have been difficult to come.
00:59:43It is possible that posterity
00:59:45will
00:59:47remember only the Upanishads.
00:59:49It is very much possible
00:59:51that the Vedas
00:59:53will be remembered
00:59:55only through the Vedanta and
00:59:57as Vedanta. It is
00:59:59possible but still
01:00:01we must remember
01:00:03that the credit belongs to the
01:00:05entire process not just the
01:00:07fruit.
01:00:09The credit belongs to the entire tree
01:00:11not just the fruit. Though
01:00:13obviously no one brings the entire tree home.
01:00:15What do you bring
01:00:17home? Just the fruit.
01:00:19That's fine.
01:00:21Bring home the Upanishads but
01:00:23also maintain
01:00:25a certain
01:00:27gratitude to the
01:00:29Vedas. That's fine.
01:00:31Now that's the
01:00:33context in which the
01:00:35current verse
01:00:37reveals itself.
01:00:39Krishna is saying
01:00:41that
01:00:43the
01:00:45knower, the Jnani
01:00:47the Brahma Jnani
01:00:49the Brahmagya
01:00:51who is being
01:00:53represented as the Brahman here.
01:00:55Brahman not
01:00:57as a particular
01:00:59Varna or caste
01:01:01but as Brahmagya
01:01:03the knower of Brahma.
01:01:07He does not have much to do
01:01:09with the Vedas.
01:01:11That's what this verse is saying today.
01:01:15In a
01:01:17poetic flourish, Shri Krishna
01:01:19puts it this way.
01:01:21He says, you know, if the entire
01:01:23surface of the whole planet
01:01:25were covered
01:01:27with water
01:01:29how much would a sane person
01:01:31have to do
01:01:33with a limited pool of water?
01:01:37If there is an infinite supply of
01:01:39water on this planet, how
01:01:41much would a sane person
01:01:43or a Jnani have
01:01:45to do with a small
01:01:47pool or pond?
01:01:49How much?
01:01:51Not much. He says that's
01:01:53how much the
01:01:55knower
01:01:57must have to do with the Vedas.
01:02:03But this is addressed
01:02:05to the
01:02:07knower, the Jnani.
01:02:19If the earth is completely drowned
01:02:21in water, obviously
01:02:23then
01:02:25the kind of use
01:02:27one has of small wells,
01:02:29lakes, pools, etc.
01:02:31the self-aware
01:02:35the Atma Jnani
01:02:37has only
01:02:39that much concern with the Vedas.
01:02:45Now
01:02:47this verse is set
01:02:49at the point of
01:02:51de-bolding.
01:02:55It applies
01:02:57only to those who boarded,
01:02:59completed
01:03:01and now they must
01:03:03de-board. It does not
01:03:05apply to those
01:03:07who have not even reached the airport,
01:03:09who are still
01:03:11snoring in their beds.
01:03:13This does not apply to those.
01:03:15He said
01:03:17once you
01:03:21have totally taken
01:03:23in the Upanishads, so much so
01:03:25that the Upanishads have gone in
01:03:27and reduced you, dissolved you.
01:03:29You have become the Upanishads.
01:03:31Then
01:03:33things that deal
01:03:35with fulfillment of desire
01:03:37and all these gods and goddesses
01:03:39and Prakriti,
01:03:41you are left with
01:03:43not much to do with them.
01:03:47You get this?
01:03:49You are
01:03:51beyond that now.
01:03:53That's the
01:03:55whole thing
01:03:57about the
01:03:59path of
01:04:01knowledge.
01:04:03Knowledge meaning self-knowledge.
01:04:05Once you know what
01:04:07lies within, then
01:04:09what lies outside
01:04:11does not remain
01:04:13as significant, as important,
01:04:15as compelling, as
01:04:17charming
01:04:19and as overpowering and
01:04:21overwhelming anymore.
01:04:23That is freedom. Who wants
01:04:25to be overpowered?
01:04:27Desire
01:04:29is actually when an
01:04:31object overpowers you.
01:04:33It takes control
01:04:35of you.
01:04:37It starts
01:04:39deciding,
01:04:41dictating your
01:04:43steps, your moves and maneuvers.
01:04:45That's desire.
01:04:47An object
01:04:49getting totally on top of you.
01:04:51So,
01:04:53you have your life.
01:04:55You have your life that is full of desires.
01:04:57Right?
01:05:01Now, your
01:05:03purpose is to
01:05:05go to the
01:05:07Upanishads.
01:05:09The Karmakand
01:05:11part won't teach you
01:05:13Why? Because
01:05:15what you find there is something
01:05:17that you already have.
01:05:19What do you find there?
01:05:23Poetic play of
01:05:25desires. Can I get
01:05:27this? Can I get that?
01:05:29But that is something that you
01:05:31already have. That's the point you
01:05:33already are at.
01:05:35Are you not doing the same things?
01:05:39Are you already not doing the same things?
01:05:41So, what kind of spiritual
01:05:43progress can you get
01:05:45by repeating what you are
01:05:47already doing?
01:05:53The Upanishads stand
01:05:55at a point
01:05:57that's higher than you.
01:05:59They will be of
01:06:01help.
01:06:03No kind of nature worship
01:06:05is going to help you.
01:06:07No kind
01:06:09of ideation,
01:06:11mentation,
01:06:13image worship
01:06:15is going to help you.
01:06:17Because that is something that you are
01:06:19already doing. Are you not worshipping images?
01:06:21Come on.
01:06:23One day I will be the CEO.
01:06:25What are you worshipping? Think
01:06:27the image of the CEO.
01:06:29Because you are not the CEO right now.
01:06:31But what do you have? An image
01:06:33of the CEO. So, image worship is
01:06:35something you are already doing.
01:06:37What can you gain by worshipping a few
01:06:39more images?
01:06:43Nature worship is something
01:06:45you are already doing. Are you not?
01:06:47Everything is
01:06:49Prakriti.
01:06:51Even that palace
01:06:53of your dreams is
01:06:55Prakriti. So, that's nature worship.
01:07:01And for young people, everything is Prakriti.
01:07:03So, the body
01:07:05of your
01:07:07beloved
01:07:09again is
01:07:11Prakriti. And that's what you worship.
01:07:13In the name of love, the body.
01:07:15So, we are already
01:07:17nature worshippers.
01:07:19Be it money, be it prestige
01:07:21or be it sex. What are we
01:07:23worshipping? Prakriti.
01:07:25If you are already doing that,
01:07:27no point repeating that.
01:07:31So, that cannot be religion then.
01:07:33Because religion
01:07:35is supposed to take you
01:07:37from a point where you are to a point
01:07:39where you are not.
01:07:41Religion is not about circumambulating
01:07:43your own current place.
01:07:47If you are here
01:07:49and
01:07:51your Lok Dharmic processes are about
01:07:53Babaji is
01:07:55nodding again and getting offended.
01:07:59You are here.
01:08:01Right? And if your
01:08:03Lok Dharm is about
01:08:05how will it help you? You are already here.
01:08:11So, the religion that you need
01:08:13is of the Upanishads.
01:08:15Not of Karmakand.
01:08:17That's what
01:08:19Shri Krishna is teaching Arjun here.
01:08:21Arjun,
01:08:23what will you do with the Vedas?
01:08:25And when Shri Krishna says Vedas,
01:08:27what does he mean here? Karmakand.
01:08:29In fact, you know,
01:08:31still there is a school of thought
01:08:33that does not include
01:08:35the Upanishads
01:08:37in the Vedas.
01:08:39They say only
01:08:41the mantras are the Vedas.
01:08:43In fact,
01:08:45chances are,
01:08:47if you go and if you buy a copy
01:08:49of the Vedas,
01:08:51it may not include the Upanishads.
01:08:53Because in the popular
01:08:55mind, the Upanishads are separate.
01:08:57If you go and if you say,
01:08:59fine, Rig Veda, they will give you Rig Veda
01:09:01without the
01:09:03Upanishads.
01:09:05So, when Shri Krishna is saying
01:09:07how much can you have
01:09:09to do with the Vedas, he is
01:09:11discarding the
01:09:13Karmakand part.
01:09:15Because that is what is typically called
01:09:17the Ved.
01:09:23Are you getting it?
01:09:25Ved to you should mean
01:09:27Vedanta,
01:09:29Upanishad.
01:09:33And that's coming
01:09:35from
01:09:37no lower
01:09:39source than Krishna himself.
01:09:41Krishna himself
01:09:43is saying, and you have
01:09:45seen this
01:09:47being addressed earlier as well,
01:09:49where he was saying, if your mind
01:09:51is full
01:09:53of all the
01:09:55verses of the
01:09:57Vedas that deal with desire
01:09:59fulfillment, you will never come to
01:10:01understand what I am telling you, Arjun.
01:10:03Remember that
01:10:05verse?
01:10:07Who are the people who
01:10:09never understand Krishna?
01:10:11The ones whose minds are full
01:10:13of
01:10:15Karmakand. If your mind is
01:10:17full of Karmakand, Shri Krishna himself
01:10:19has very clearly said, you will never understand
01:10:21the Gita. Because Karmakand deals
01:10:23with desire.
01:10:25Whatever you do, you do for the
01:10:27sake of desire.
01:10:29So you are going, right?
01:10:31And
01:10:35circumambulating a tree, Parikrama.
01:10:39Is that Nishkam ever?
01:10:41Let's say all those
01:10:43women who are doing it.
01:10:45Ask them, why are you doing it? And they will tell you,
01:10:47the reason is, this will give me something.
01:10:49My husband will get some long life from this.
01:10:53There is desire.
01:10:55There is no
01:10:57ritual, not a single ritual
01:10:59that is not associated with
01:11:01and the central
01:11:03message of Gita is
01:11:05desirelessness and that's why
01:11:07Lok Dharm and Gita do not go together.
01:11:09Because Lok Dharm is all about
01:11:11desire fulfillment.
01:11:13You create Gods
01:11:15who are supposed to fulfill desires.
01:11:17Full stop.
01:11:21Think of a single God who does not fulfill desires.
01:11:23God or Goddess.
01:11:29Therefore, Gita does not talk of Gods and Goddesses.
01:11:33Gita talks of yourself, Aham.
01:11:35And says, the Aham
01:11:37has to look into itself
01:11:41and be gone.
01:11:47You can take this as a community exercise.
01:11:51Ten rituals that you know of
01:11:53and the desires
01:11:55they are supposed to fulfill.
01:11:59Ten rituals that are practiced
01:12:01at your place or region,
01:12:03house, locality,
01:12:05religion, whatever.
01:12:07Take ten
01:12:09rituals and in front
01:12:11of each, write the desire that
01:12:13they are supposed to fulfill and you will be amazed.
01:12:15Not a single ritual
01:12:17is about desirelessness.
01:12:21The next verse is
01:12:23one of the
01:12:25juiciest we can get in the Gita.
01:12:27I resisted
01:12:29my temptation to come too early to it.
01:12:33Though the current verse we had
01:12:35taken up in some way in the previous session also.
01:12:39Next verse is special.
01:12:41We will come to it
01:12:43in the next session.