# Bhagavad Gita Decoded

**satsanghs delivered to Swamis, Ananda Samajis, Satsanghis and members of THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM Sangha all over the world.**

*Bhagavad Gita*

Decoded

by

# His Holiness THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM

with the original Sanskrit texts, transliteration, English translation

*All meditation techniques, practices and procedures described or recommended in this book, are suitable for practice only under the direct supervision of an instructor, trained and ordained by THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM. Further, you should consult with your personal physician to determine whether those techniques, practices and procedures are suitable for you in relation to your own health, fitness and ability.*

*This publication is not intended to be a substitute for a personal medical attention, examination,diagnosis or treatment. Should any person engage in any of the techniques, practices or procedures described or recommended in this book, he would be doing so at his own risk, unless he has received a personal recommendation from his own physician and from an instructor trained and ordained by THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM.*

#### **Bhagavad Gita Decoded (English)**

#### **Published by THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM University Press Copyright Table of Contents

| I.   | Bhagavad Gītā: A Background             |
| :--- | :-------------------------------------- |
|      | Mahābhārat Is The Story Of Your Life   |
|      | Amidst The Warfield Appears The Song Of God |
|      | Introduction To Bhagavad Gītā Decoded |
|      | Gītā Belongs To The Whole Universe      |
| II.  | Foreword: Bhagavad Gītā And The Four Tattvas |
|      | Mahābhārat, The Personification Of Gītā |

## **chapter 1**

| Śastras, Stotras, Sūtras |     |     |     |
| :----------------------- | :-- | :-- | :-- |
| Arjunaviṣāda Yogaḥ       |     |     |     |
| Beyond Scriptures        |     |     |     |
| Planet Earth Is A Battlefield |     |     |     |
| Ego Needs Support        |     |     |     |
| The War Begins           |     |     |     |
| Arjuna Falters           |     |     |     |
| Intelligence Questions   |     |     |     |
| Arjuna's Dilemma         |     |     |     |
| Rigors Of Incompletions  |     |     |     |
| Good Men Do Not Kill     |     |     |     |

| The Breakdown Into Powerlessness |     |     |     |
| :------------------------------- | :-- | :-- | :-- |
|                                  |     |     |     |

#### **You Are God**

| Sāṅkhya Yogaḥ                      |     |
| :--------------------------------- | :-- |
| Drop The Powerlessness And Stand Up |     |
| Surrender Is Not Based On Powerlessness |     |
| We Never Cease To Exist            |     |
| The Only Reality Is Impermanence   |     |
| You Are Immortal                   |     |
| Death Is But A Passage            |     |
| Responsibility Of The Kṣatriya    |     |
| Experience Matters, Not Knowledge |     |
| Act Without Worry About Result     |     |
| Be Steady With Authenticity In Action |
| Follow That Complete Man!          |
| Monkeys In Your Mind               |
| Wake Up!                           |

## **chapter 3**

#### **Beauty Of Purposelessness**

| Karma Yogaḥ                    |     |
| :----------------------------- | :-- |
| To Act Or Not To Act           |     |
| To Act Is Human Nature          |     |
| Selfless Enriching Liberates   |     |
| Enriching Sacrifice Or Sin     |     |

| Acting Without Attachment      |     |
| :----------------------------- | :-- |
| Responsibility, The Space Of Leadership |
| Role Of The Wise               |     |
| Do As I Teach With Authenticity |     |
| Do Your Responsibility         |     |
| Control Your Senses            |     |

## **The Path Of Knowledge**

| Jñānakarmasannyāsa Yogaḥ      |     |
| :----------------------------- | :-- |
| I Taught This Science To Sun   |     |
| I Myself Appear, Age After Age |     |
| To Know Me Is To Be Liberated  |     |
| Understand And Be Unaffected By Action |
| Action In Inaction And Inaction In Action |
| Equanimity in Success and Failure |
| Know Sacrifice And Be Purified |     |
| You Are No Sinner              |     |
| Self-Doubt Destroys            |     |

## **chapter 5**

### **Live All Your Possibilities**

| Sannyāsa Yogaḥ            |     |
| :------------------------ | :-- |
| Action Or Renunciation    |     |
| Devotion Above Action     |     |
| Controlling The Mind      |     |

| Cleansing Ignorance With Knowledge |     |
| :------------------------------- | :-- |
| The Dog And The Dog-Eater        |     |
| The Path To Self Realization     |     |
| Know Me And Be In Bliss         |     |

#### **Look In, Be Complete Before Any Conclusion**

| Dhyāna Yogaḥ                       |     |
| :--------------------------------- | :-- |
| Attain The State Of Yoga           |     |
| Are You Your Friend Or Your Enemy? |     |
| Bring Integrity To Control The Senses |
| Neither Too Much Nor Too Little    |     |
| Self Is Satisfied In The Self By The Self |
| Be In The Self And See The Supreme  |     |
| Controlling The Wavering Mind      |     |
| Where Do I Go Without Yoga?        |     |
| Rare Birth Of A Yogi             |     |
| Become A Yogi                    |     |

## **chapter 7**

#### **Listen, Cognize And Radiate**

| Jñānavijñāna Yogaḥ |     |
| :----------------- | :-- |
| One In A Billion Reaches Me |
| I Am The Thread!    |     |
| I Am Eternal       |     |
| Four Pious Men     |     |

| I Am In Your Heart |     |
| :----------------- | :-- |
| No One Knows Me    |     |
| No Sin, No Virtue |     |

#### **The Art Of Leaving**

| Akṣarabrahma Yogaḥ              |     |
| :----------------------------- | :-- |
| Knowing Him At The Time Of Death |     |
| Your Last Memory Follows You In Next Birth |
| Be Sure To Reach Me           |     |
| Remember Me Constantly        |     |
| Brahma's Day And Night         |     |
| My Supreme Abode               |     |
| Passing In Light               |     |
| Be Fixed In Devotion           |     |

## **chapter 9**

### **Secret Of All Secrets**

| Rājavidyā Rājaguhya Yogaḥ          |     |
| :--------------------------------- | :-- |
| Eternal, Easy And Joyfully Done    |     |
| All Rest In Me                     |     |
| How To Be Unattached               |     |
| Worship Me In Any Form But With Devotion |
| I Am Immortality And Death!        |     |
| Reside In Me, I Give And Preserve   |     |
| Life After Life                    |     |

#### L Bhagavad Gita Decoded

| Anyone Can Reach Me |     |     |     |     |     |
| :------------------ | :-- | :-- | :-- | :-- | :-- |
|                     |     |     |     |     |     |

## **chapter 10**

#### **You Are The Ultimate**

| Vibhūti Yogaḥ                   |     |
| :----------------------------- | :-- |
| Because You Are My Dear Friend |     |
| I Am The Source                  |     |
| I Create You                    |     |
| Experience The Light Of Knowledge |
| Know Yourself By Yourself       |     |
| I Am The Beginning, Middle And End |
| I Am Banyan Tree, I Am Time    |     |
| I Am Rāma                       |     |
| There Is No End To My Glories  |     |

## **chapter 11**

#### **Kṛṣṇa: The Cosmic Window**

| Viśvarūpa Darśan Yogaḥ |     |
| :---------------------- | :-- |
| I Wish To See Your Divine Form |
| Let Me Give You The Divine Eye |
| A Thousand Blazing Suns        |     |
| Worlds Tremble with Fear       |     |
| Tell Me Who You Are            |     |
| Get Up And Gain Glory, Be Not Afraid |
| You Are Everything and Everywhere |
| Kṛṣṇa, Yādava, My Friend      |     |

| Your Familiar Form          |     |
| :-------------------------- | :-- |
| Only You Have Seen This Form |     |
| Only In This Way Can You Reach Me |

| Bhakti Yogaḥ                    |     |
| :----------------------------- | :-- |
| Who is Perfect?                 |     |
| Fix Your Mind On Me            |     |
| They Too Attain Me             |     |
| Formless Is Difficult          |     |
| Freedom From Birth And Death   |     |
| Live In Me Always              |     |
| Practice To Perfection         |     |
| Work For Me                    |     |
| Attain Peace                   |     |
| He Is Very Dear To Me          |     |
| Be Unaffected                  |     |
| Selfless In Action             |     |
| Beyond Love And Hate           |     |
| This Is Whom I Love            |     |

| Kṣetra Kṣetrajña Vibhāga Yogaḥ | What You Know Is Not You |
| :----------------------------- | :------------------------- |
|                                |                            |

| Consciousness And Conscience |     |
| :-------------------------- | :-- |
| Inner Science Technology    |     |
| Consciousness Is Eternal     |     |
| Understanding The Energy     |     |
| Many People, Many Paths       |     |
| We Are Brahman               |     |
| Soul Situated In Body Does Nothing |

#### **Find Your Root Pattern And Complete**

| Guṇatraya Vibhāga Yogaḥ |      |
| :----------------------- | :--- |
| Why Kṛṣṇa Repeats       |      |
| Natural Attributes, Guṇas  |      |
| Guarding The Senses      |      |
| The Depression Of Success |      |
| Where Do We Go From Here  |      |
| Going Beyond The Guṇas   |      |
| Expression Of The Divine  |      |

## **chapter 15**

#### **No Questions, Only Doubts**

| Puruṣottama Yogaḥ               |     |
| :----------------------------- | :-- |
| Journey Into The Causal Body |     |
| Cutting Down The Tree          |     |
| Completion And Creation Techniques |
| Mind Is The Conditioning         |     |

| You Are Your Saṁskāras |     |
| :---------------------- | :-- |
| Awareness Not Achievement |     |
| From Me Comes Memory And Knowledge |
| Collective Consciousness     |     |

### **You And Me**

| Daivāsura Saṁpad Vibhāga Yogaḥ |     |
| :----------------------------- | :-- |
| Qualifications Of Divinity     |     |
| You Are A Demon If             |     |
| How To Save Our Planet?         |     |
| How To Save Ourselves?         |     |
| Sensory Traps                  |     |
| Cast Into Suffering            |     |
| Of Gold And Women              |     |

## **chapter 17**

### **Authenticity: Straight Way To Liberation**

| Śraddhatraya Vibhāga Yogaḥ |     |     |
| :-------------------------- | :-- | :-- |
| Way To Worship              |     |     |
| Don't Torture Me             |     |     |
| Trust And Practice Authenticity |
| We Are What We Eat          |     |     |
| Enriching Without Expectation |     |     |
| Austerity Of Deeds, Words And Thoughts |
| How To Give?                  |     |     |

#### **Drop Everything And Surrender**

|     | Mokṣa Sannyāsa Yogaḥ          |     |
| :-- | :----------------------------- | :-- |
|     | The Act And The Actor          |     |
|     | Never Give Up Selfless Enriching |
|     | Duty Without Delusion          |     |
|     | Technology Of Surrender        |     |
|     | Extreme Statement              |     |
|     | Components Of Action           |     |
|     | Meanings Of Life               |     |
|     | Delusion Of Senses             |     |
|     | Rightful Conduct, Not To Perfection |
|     | Instructions For Enlightenment   |     |
|     | Work Always Under My Protection |     |
|     | Root Patterns Will Drive You    |     |
|     | Surrender To Him Completely     |     |
|     | Surrender To Me, I Will Liberate You |
|     | Without A Doubt, He Comes Back To Me |
|     | Kṛṣṇa Is Present              |     |
| II. | Bhagavad Gītā Verses           |     |

|           | Invocation Verses   |     |
| :-------- | :------------------ | :-- |
| Chapter 1: | Arjunaviṣāda Yogaḥ |     |
| Chapter 2: | Sāṅkhya Yogaḥ      |     |

|           | Chapter 3:              | Karma Yogaḥ              |     |
| :-------- | :---------------------- | :----------------------- | :-- |
|           | Chapter 4:              | Jñānakarmasannyāsa Yogaḥ |     |
|           | Chapter 5:              | Sannyāsa Yogaḥ           |     |
|           | Chapter 6:              | Dhyāna Yogaḥ             |     |
|           | Chapter 7:              | Jñānavijñāna Yogaḥ       |     |
|           | Chapter 8:              | Akṣarabrahma Yogaḥ        |     |
|           | Chapter 9:              | Rājavidyā Rājaguhya Yogaḥ |     |
|           | Chapter 10:             | Vibhūti Yogaḥ            |     |
|           | Chapter 11:             | Viśvarūpa Darśan Yogaḥ   |     |
|           | Chapter 12:             | Bhakti Yogaḥ             |     |
|           | Chapter 13:             | Kṣetra Kṣetrajña Vibhāga Yogaḥ |
|           | Chapter 14:             | Guṇatraya Vibhāga Yogaḥ  |     |
|           | Chapter 15:             | Puruṣottama Yogaḥ        |     |
|           | Chapter 16:             | Daivāsura Sampad Vibhāga Yogaḥ |
|           | Chapter 17:             | Śraddhatraya Vibhāga Yogaḥ |     |
|           | Chapter 18:             | Mokṣa Sannyāsa Yogaḥ     |     |
|           |                           |                          |     |
| II.       | Appendix                |                          |     |
|           |                         |                          |     |
|           |                         |                          |     |
|           |                         |                          |     |
|           | Glossary                |                          |     |
|           | About His Holiness THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM |

# Bhagavad Gita: A Background - -

*vasudeva sutaṁ devaṁ kamsa cānūra mardanam I devakī paramānandaṁ kṛṣṇam vande jagad gurum II*

> 'I salute unto you Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa, Guru (master) of the world, son of Vasudeva, supreme bliss of Devakī, destroyer of Kamsa and Cāṇūra'

Śrīmad Bhagavad Gītā is the ultimate sacred scripture of yoga, *Yogaśastra* and the pristine glory of the Vedic culture, the eternal living tradition called *sanātana-dharma*. It belongs to the whole Universe for it is delivered to the Universe by the source and embodiment of Universe. We salute and bow down to Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who spoke the Bhagavad Gītā out of His infinite love and compassion for all beings.

Whenever unrighteousness, *adharma* becomes predominant and *dharma*, righteous living declines and the Yoga of Enlightenment is lost, *Parabrahma* Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Consciousness appears again and again to revive this sacred yoga, to protect and to enrich the devoted beings; and destroys *adharma* to re-establish the pure and everlasting *dharma*—the Science of Enlightenment. *dharma saṁsthāpanārthāya sambhavāmi yuge yuge*—this is Śrī Kṛṣṇa's promise and the essence and spirit of the Gītā.

Gītā is also called *Brahmavidyā*—the Knowledge of Brahman, the supreme absolute truth; it is *Jīvan Mukti Vijñāna*—the Science of Living Enlightenment. As with all scriptures, it is the knowledge and experience that is transmitted verbally as *Śri Krṣṇārjuna Saṁvād*, an intimate dialogue between Master of the world, *Jagadguru* Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa and His dear devotee and disciple, Arjuna. It is called *śruti* in Saṃskṛit, meaning something that is heard.

Gītā, as Bhagavad Gītā is generally called, translates literally from Saṃskṛit as *'Sacred Song of God'.* Unlike the *Vedas* and *Upaniṣads*, which are stand alone expressions of Truth, the Gītā is written into the greatest Hindu epic, the Mahābhārat, called a *purāṇa*, an ancient historical happening. It is part of the recorded history of the greatest tradition, the paramount civilization in all its Divine grandeur and its human complexity, so to speak.


The Mahābharāt war is a representation of life as it was lived in that age. Vyāsa, its author is an unbiased historian who recorded the whole history as it happened without trying to apply any makeup. People ask whether the Mahābharāt war happened at all!

Let me tell you this: If the Mahābharāt was a story and not history, Vyāsa should receive multiple Pulitzer prizes for his highly creative work! The Mahābharāt is the longest literary work in the whole world with hundred thousand Saṃskṛit verses—the longest poem ever written with such delicate harmony of unmatched poetic perfection. It is larger than the Greek epics. Vyāsa had no computer, no tape recorder with speech-to-text capabilities. He dictated and Lord Ganeṣa wrote it down!

The Mahābharāt is like an ocean. It has at least 10,000 stories woven into it. All of these are seamlessly woven into the main text even though each is an independent event. Just imagine the effort required to create hundreds of thousands of characters and maintain the integrity of these characters throughout the epic without the help of editors. Do you think anyone could do it today?

Because it is impossible to create such a work of fiction, one needs to accept this as a compilation of true incidents that reflect the lifestyle in what is referred to as Tretā yuga, third quarter of Time, in our scriptures. This is how people behaved then and how people behave now. What happened then repeats itself now, again and again!

The Great War of Mahābhārat is the fight between the positive and negative thought patterns of the mind called the *saṁskāras* or the root thought patterns—meaning the deep identity or the earliest memory you carry and create about you and others. Please understand, don't think you carry only the identity about you, you also carry an identity of the world inside you and look at the world only through that. That is what I call root thought pattern—the identity through which you see you and the world.

The positive thought patterns are the Pānḍava princes and the negative thought patterns are the Kaurava princes. Kurukṣetra or the battlefield is the body. Arjuna is the individual consciousness and Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the enlightened Master, the supreme consciousness driving and guiding the individual consciousness.

The various commanders who led the Kaurava army represent the major incompletions of root patterns and conflicting patterns that the individual consciousness faces in its journey to Enlightenment or liberation, *mokṣa*. Bhīṣma, the grand patriarch of the Kuru clan who embodies *dharma*, represents the pattern of parental and societal conditioning. Droṇa, the teacher of both the Kauravas and the Pānḍavas, represents the conditioning from teachers who provide knowledge including spiritual guidance.

Śakuni, the maternal uncle of Duryodhana embodies the pattern of self-hatred, which is cunningness personified. Karṇa represents the restrictive influence of good deeds such as charity and compassion done out of incompletion from the pattern of feeling deprived. Finally Duryodhana represents the ego or the self-denial pattern, which is root of the root patterns and is the last to fall.

Parental and societal conditioning has to be overcome by rebelling

against conventions. This is why, traditionally, those seeking the path of enlightenment are required to renounce the world as Sannyāsi and move away from civilization. This conditioning does not die as long as the body lives, but its influence drops.

Droṇa represents all the best knowledge one imbibes and the teachers one encounters, who guide us but are unable to take us through to the ultimate flowering of enlightenment. It is difficult to give them up since one feels grateful to them. This is where the Enlightened Master, the incarnation steps in and guides us.

Karṇa is the repository of all good deeds and it is his good deeds that stand in the way of his own Enlightenment. Śrī Kṛṣṇa has to take the load of Karṇa's *puṇya,* his meritorious deeds, before he could be liberated. The Enlightened Master guides one to drop one's attachment to good deeds arising out of what are perceived to be charitable and compassionate intentions. He also shows us that the quest for and the experience of enlightenment is the ultimate act of compassion that one can offer to the world.

Finally one reaches Duryodhana, one's ego or root-pattern, the most difficult to conquer as it leads one to self-destruction. One needs the full help of the Master here. It is subtle work and even the Master's help may not be obvious, since at this point, sometimes the ego makes us deny and disconnect from the Master as well.

The Great War was between 180 million (18 crore) people—110 million on the Kaurava side representing our negative root patterns and conflicting patterns (saṁskāras) and 70 million on the Pānḍava side representing our positive patterns. The War lasted 18 days and nights. The number eighteen (18) has a great mystical significance. It essentially signifies our ten (10) senses that are made up of five *jñānendriya*—the senses of perception like taste, sight, smell, hearing and touch, and five *karmendriya*—the senses initiating action like speech, bodily movements, etc., added to our eight (8) kinds of thoughts like lust, greed, etc. All eighteen need to be dropped for self-realization, completion or liberation, *mokṣa*!

Mahābhārat is not just an epic history. It is not merely the fight between good and evil. It is the dissolution of both positive and negative *saṁskāras* (root patterns) that reside in our bio-memory or body-mind system, which must happen for the ultimate liberation. It is a tale of the path of living advaita, the process of powerfully living, radiating enlightenment and causing enlightenment for humanity.

#### **Gītā Belongs To The Whole Universe**

#### **Mahābhārat is the living legend. Bhagavad Gītā is the manual for Enlightenment.**

Understand, the Gītā is not just for the people who worship Kṛṣṇa or who worship Śiva or who worship Arjuna or who worship Buddha or Mahāvira. Gītā is spoken by the Cosmos through Kṛṣṇa. That is why Vyāsa is using the word *Bhagavān* for Śrī Kṛṣṇa throughout the Gītā. So, it is universal. Nobody can claim it or own it as it is given by the Universe to the human society, to the whole civilization. It is not a personal property of anybody; not even the personal property of Hindus. Once it is delivered, it belongs to the whole world!

The essence of the whole Bhagavad Gītā is the Master awakening responsibility in the disciple. That is why everywhere the Gītā talks only about responsibility!

Through '*karmaṇy ev'ādhikāraste mā phaleṣu kadācana* (2.47)—you have the right to work, but never to the outcome of the work', through '*tvakvottiṣṭha parantapa* (2.3)—Giving up your powerlessness, arise, O Parantapa' and through '*uddhared ātmanā'tmānaṁ* (6.5)—raise yourself by yourself ', Śrī Kṛṣṇa is awakening the responsibility in Arjuna—Guru is awakening the responsibility in all of us through the awakening of Arjuna, the hero of Gītā.

When you study the Gītā, you will find that Arjuna's logic seems to be very intelligent. He does not want to fight. But Kṛṣṇa emphasizes the intelligent ones need to enter into the fight from the space of *advaita* (non-duality), with the power and joy of feeling responsibility.

Only to a close friend with whom you can open your heart can your struggles be opened. Only when you are able to respect somebody more and more by knowing his struggles and conflicts, by knowing the success he achieved, you become a friend to him. But, by knowing somebody's struggles and conflicts, if you start judging him, there is no friendliness. It is an envious relationship waiting to vomit enmity. It is a seed sown with poison.

Here, Kṛṣṇa shares Gītā to His own closest dearmost friend, Arjuna, who is beyond any envy or incompletion, to whom He can really show *viśvarūpa* (cosmic form) and reveal all His dimensions, with whom He has a freedom to just say, 'Do not yield to this degrading impotence of powerlessness,' 'Do it Kaunteya! O son of Kuntī, just do it,' '*nānuśocitum arhasi* (2.25)—Do not grieve for the body,' and '*mat-karma-kṛn mat-paramo mad-bhakaḥ* (11.55)—Do My work! Be My devotee! Always undividedly think of Me, you shall enter into Me.'

Finally Kṛṣṇa goes to the extreme of saying, '*sarva dharmān parityaja mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja* (18.66)—Give up all your concepts and ideas about *dharma*, about right and wrong. Just surrender to Me. I will liberate you.'

To say these words of surrender what an intimate understanding, what a feeling connection, what a space of completion between Master-disciple, beloved-friend should have been there between Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna. Kṛṣṇa summarizes His Gītā saying drop your life at My feet. I will not cheat you, I will think for you. I will see to it you achieve the ultimate—*mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucah*—I will liberate you, do not fear or worry!

Like Arjuna many thousand years ago, you are here on the warfield of your life in a dialogue with the living Enlightened Master, the rare living Incarnation in this book.

This is a tremendous opportunity to resolve all life questions, to complete with root thought patterns and to clear all self-doubts by listening into the Master's words and allowing His energy to rewrite your future! This is an extraordinary possibility to awaken your true nature, to arise with your inner powers, and to cause your highest reality—with the Master driving your Self into the absolute victory of life—Living Enlightenment, Living Advaita.

> *yatra yogeśvaraḥ kṛṣṇo yatra pārtho dhanurdharaḥ I tatra śrīrvijaya bhūtir dhrūvā nītir matirmama II 18.78*

'Wherever there is Yogeśvara Kṛṣṇa, the Master of all mystics, and wherever there is Pārtha (Arjuna), the supreme carrier of bow and arrow, there will certainly be opulence, victory, extraordinary powers, and morality. That is my opinion.'

# Foreword: Bhagavad Gita And The Four Tattvas

### **The Great 'Why'**

The *Bhagavad Gītā* opens with the great 'WHY', reflecting the personal crisis that we all face at some point of our lives.

We are drawn into the protagonist Arjuna's life at a crucial moment, when the renowned young prince is getting ready for a bloody battle against a huge army consisting of his own family, cousin and teachers. Struggling with fears, a misconstrued sense of duty and an awakening consciousness, the young prince is caught in the dilemma of his life.

Even after five thousand years, Arjuna's dilemma is still alive in humanity's experience of life. Our questions are hardly different from Arjuna's...

- Why are we here?
- Why do we do what we do in our lives?
- Why don't we find fulfillment, even after years of working for success in the world?
- Why do more and more challenges await us, even after we solve and overcome numerous challenges?
- How can we become spiritually mature and integrated individuals? Why is this path even required?

This '*Why*?' can be answered in a very simple way—You are here to manifest your ultimate Possibility!

But each one of you has to discover your own answer to this '*Why*'. Any other answer can only be an inspiration for you to discover your *own* answer. We can only move when we have the ability to handle this great '*Why*'. Whether you know it or not, only your deepest conviction about your '*Why'*, only your deepest clarity about your purpose, can give you the inspiration, energy and courage to face life.

This great 'Why' is the seed of God himself! This seed is put inside you when you are sent to planet Earth, so that you do not rest until you become a tree and bear fruit. Please understand, every seed has an energy called *vīrya*, which does not rest till it produces more seeds. Even if you eat the seed, you cannot destroy it, because that *vīrya* still goes into your body and does its job in some other way! The question 'Why' is the *vīrya* put into your very DNA structure to help you realize yourself.

This is the journey that Arjuna undertakes through the Gītā. Under the compassionate guidance of the enlightened master Kṛṣṇa, Arjuna faces and realizes the meaning of the great 'Why', to become a realized soul.

Just like Arjuna, you too will not be able to rest until you realize the meaning of the great 'Why' for you.

Just as Kṛṣṇa addresses Arjuna's questions, THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM addresses the readers' questions and doubts, guiding us on the path of transformation, refusing to give up on us until we discover our full potential and live like Gods on earth. As you read this book, you will find the presence of THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM guiding you to discover your own unique yet universal path to realization.

## **Life Is Expansion**

#### **The Art of Listening**

Through the entire opening chapter of the Gītā, it is Arjuna who continuously speaks, while Kṛṣṇa listens, listens and listens!

Only an intelligent man will allow the other person to speak. We all continuously speak to each other, but a 'real' conversation does not happen. We simply carry out simultaneous monologues with each other. We are polite enough to pretend that we are listening, so that we will, in turn, be heard. You need intelligence to allow the other person to speak. You need intelligence to listen!

When you listen to others, you listen to yourself. And when you don't listen to others, you also don't listen to yourself. Are you getting it? Only when you listen to you, you will be able to listen to others. When you listen to others, you will also listen to YOU! Because any listening that happens, happens from the space of completion. Please understand, you can only listen when you are complete. If there is any incompletion in you, you will not be able to listen.

What is incompletion? For example, you are sitting here right now, hearing me speak, but you are not listening to me, you are thinking—'I have not done this, I have not done that, this has not happened, that has not happened, I am restless'–that is incompletion. If you have such incompletions inside, be very clear, you will not be listening to me. You may be sitting here out of compulsion or some other reason, but you will not be listening to me. And when you don't listen, more and more incompletions happen. It is a vicious circle.

If you *listen*, especially to the words that come out of the space of completion of an enlightened being, you will suddenly see that the energy of those very words goes and changes your inner space.

See, when you come to me and tell me about your problems, I give you my authentic listening. That is why you suddenly feel light; you suddenly feel that all your problems are not big anymore. It is the power of listening. Listening awakens your intuition. Listening awakens your innermost intelligence. Listening is GOD!


At the root of *mamakāra* is your *jīva*—your soul, in which all of us are one. If you suppress it in one body, it simply comes out in another body. When you are suppressing your expectations (*mamakāra)* about you in your own body, it simply comes out as *anyakāra* in another's body. Nobody else is forcing you. It is your own expectation about you, giving you one more chance! Now, it is no more somebody else's *anyakāra*. You are simply expanding to fulfill your own *mamakāra* and *ahaṁkāra*.

Others' expectation about you is nothing but a reminder, another chance that Bhagavān (Divine) gives you to realize yourself. When you realize that this is also your own expectation about you, you will have fulfillment!

The *Bhagavad Gītā* is the manifestation of Arjuna's suppressed longing to realize his own divine self. With authenticity, Arjuna discovers his power of thinking. He is now able to dive deeper into his suppressed thoughts and allows them to surface in Kṛṣṇa's Divine presence!

In the early chapters, Kṛṣṇa shares His *anyakāra* for Arjuna. He urges Arjuna to realize his eternal blissful *self*. He gives him an intellectual understanding of this truth. Through the chapters of *Jñana-karmasannyāsa Yogaḥ* and *Sannyāsa Yogaḥ,* Kṛṣṇa guides Arjuna on the ways to achieve this.

Kṛṣṇa gives the ultimate winning strategy of life to Arjuna—to stand up with the courage of authenticity in all his actions—*yogaḥ karmasu kauśalam.* He urges Arjuna to devote himself to yoga to expand himself to his peak energy. Kṛṣṇa then deepens Arjuna's understanding by revealing to him the deeper truths of death, renunciation and *sannyāsa*.

Once this understanding has settled in Arjuna, Kṛṣṇa leads him to the next *tattva*, Responsibility, the power of feeling.

#### **Responsibility—Waking Up To Your Highest Possibility**

Kṛṣṇa's teachings in the next chapter, *Dhyāna Yoga*, can be summarized in these words—'Look in' and 'Take responsibility to raise yourself '.

*Listen! Responsibility is the key that awakens the power of feeling.* The power of feeling is unlocked when you recognize yourself as a leader and take responsibility for everything in and around you!

Here, Kṛṣṇa teaches Arjuna the techniques to go beyond the mind and senses and become liberated. He guides Arjuna to rise to the level of *Īśvaratva*, leadership consciousness and become like Himself.

That is why Kṛṣṇa says,

*uddhared ātmanātmānaṁ nātmānaṁ avasāyadet I ātmaiva hy ātmano bandhur ātmaiva ripur ātmanaḥ II 6.5*

'You are your own friend; you are your own enemy. Evolve yourself through the Self and do not degrade yourself.'

By this Kṛṣṇa means—if you know the technique of how to raise yourself by yourself, you are the friend of your Self. If you let yourself down, you are the enemy of your Self!

> Listen: Responsibility means thinking, feeling, acting and cognizing life from the truth that YOU are the source of everything; therefore, you are responsible for all happenings inside you and around you.

I know the big question you will all have now! You must be thinking, 'How can I be responsible for everything happening around me? I can be held responsible for what is happening inside me. How can I be held responsible for what is happening outside me? For example, if an accident happens in my life, how can I be responsible?'

Everybody asks this question. Let me answer you.

- A person who does not feel responsible even for his own actions is an animal. He lives at a very low level of consciousness!
- A person who feels responsible for his own actions is a human being. He lives at the middle level of consciousness.
- A person who takes responsibility even for others' actions is Divine. He lives in leadership consciousness, *Īśvaratva*.

Please understand, only when you feel that you are responsible for everything happening in and around you, you will start looking into the truth and start seeing the possibility for a solution. Only when you take responsibility will you even find the solution!

Listen. When you take responsibility, the higher energies express through you. Even if you take one step towards responsibility, the Cosmos takes a thousand steps towards you, taking responsibility for you. When you are in the space of responsibility, both your inner space and your outer space support you. The whole Universe supports you, because the Universe experiences its fulfillment through the cognition of those who feel responsible.

Take responsibility in every situation. When you don't feel responsible, you are a drop in the ocean. When you feel responsible, you are the ocean in a drop! When you take responsibility, *Īśvaratva,* leadership consciousness starts happening in you.

*The power of feeling is nothing but your ability to realize yourself as the source of all the happenings in your life.* This understanding gives you tremendous control over your own life and gives you the power to be a positive influence in the life of others.

With responsibility, life happens to you. But life always demands

your expansion, because expansion is the natural flow of life. The more you engage with life, the greater the expansion that will be demanded of you. When you take responsibility for whatever is seen and experienced by you, that which is unseen and un-experienced by you takes responsibility for you! If you take responsibility for the known part of God and the world, the unknown part of God and the world takes responsibility for you. When God takes responsibility for you, you are God. You are an Incarnation!

Kṛṣṇa guides Arjuna to realize Kṛṣṇa consciousness through the *tattva* of responsibility. Kṛṣṇa's teaching of responsibility culminates in *Viśvarūpa Darśan,* where He blesses Arjuna with a glimpse of His Cosmic dimension, His infinite expansion—a foretaste of Arjuna's own Enlightenment.

Listen.

Your expansion frightens you. Whenever bigness is demanded of you, whenever you feel you are being 'forced' to expand, you shrink even further into your comfort zone. Your tiredness, your weakness, your powerlessness all these are nothing but the resistance you have to seeing your own bigness!

That is what becomes of Arjuna after *Viśvarūpa Darśan*, the fear of expansion overtakes him. But being devoted to Kṛṣṇa, the embodiment of Cosmos, Arjuna responsibly expands and awakens his Enlightenment with the next *tattva* of enriching, the power of living. Kṛṣṇa assures him after the *darśan* that only by taking the responsibility to enrich others—by doing His work, by being undividedly devoted onto Him, can Arjuna expand himself into his highest possibility—*madkarma-kṛn mad-paramo mad-bhaktaḥ* (11.55)!

#### **Enriching With Enlightenment**

We now come to the fourth *tattva*—enriching. Enriching means infusing all these three *tattvas* continuously, in your life and others' lives!

## Bhagavad Gita Decoded

that he was a thief and had burgled the palace the previous night. The master was aghast.

He started weeping loudly, 'What a great sin I have committed by allowing a thief to spend a night in my monastery! I gave him food too. What can I do to make up for my sin?'

At that time, he heard a voice from the sky, weeping even louder than him, 'You are upset and weeping because you have looked after him for one night. What about me? I have been looking after him everyday for all these years!'

The master had actually become egoistic. He started feeling holier than others because of which he looked down upon the thief as a less holy person. God never differentiates between a sinner and a saint. These are all societal.

Every atom on Earth is divine. When we just realize this very life is a divine gift to us, our attitude changes from taking life for granted to one of gratitude to Existence for everything! Have you worked hard to earn this life? With every breath that you take every moment, the life energy flows into you and keeps you alive. We take for granted the life energy that converts bread into blood. The mind continuously runs behind 'more and more.'

If we make two lists: one list of what we have, what Existence has showered upon us and a second list of what we really want to have to feel happier, we will quickly realize how much longer the first list is. Have we ever strongly considered what our life would be like if we did not have even a small limb? Can you imagine the limitations we would have without a toe or thumb, not to speak of our eyes or ears? We take so much for granted. We assume that what we have been given is our rightful due and so we only crave for more. We are here as gifts of Nature. Instead of being grateful to Existence for what we have been showered with, we complain about what we do not have.

Remember that when God does not grant us what we seek, He is

doing it out of deep compassion and wisdom. He does not grant many of our prayers because He knows that far better than us. We have no wisdom when it comes to asking.

The Divine is far wiser and knows what we really need. There is a huge difference between what we want and what we need. For the next couple of days, just try living with the attitude of gratitude, with love for everyone and everything around you, with a deep completion. Automatically, you will begin to experience every person and every happening as a unique creation of Existence, as a reflection of the Divine. Just decide consciously that you will respond with love, whatever may be the situation. Just the very attitude change will bring tremendous peace and relaxation into you.

Kṛṣṇa says, when you look every single thing without differentiation, without fear or favoritism, without attachment, then you are a true renunciate, a true *Sannyāsi.*

## **Death, Only A Passage**

Can you look at death and birth in the same manner? We celebrate birth, we condole death. Why? Both are passages. Neither is a beginning nor an end. The cycle of life is continuous. We move seamlessly from birth through living into death and again into birth. It is just that in this life, we do not remember what happened in the period between our death in our previous birth and our birth this time. That loss of memory is for our own safety. We are perturbed by that loss of memory.

What we do not know frightens us. If we understand that death is no different from birth and that life after death may be no different from our current life, there will be no fear. This can happen when we have the experience of death while we are still alive. This is what we teach in our programs. An important thing: How we look at death reflects a lot of the way we look at life. I can say our perception of death changes our way of life.

Death is feared by most of us because it is considered a discontinuity. When we realize that death is just a continuation in some other form, we will not fear death. Then the joy of birth and the sadness at death will both be seen as the same. Our idea of birth and death is direct evidence of how we look at various situations in life. That is why understanding about birth and death is actually fundamental to leading a life of realization.

Understand, one who knows that what he sees is illusion, just a play of mind, he will not fear death. As long as we hold on to this illusion created by the mind that we call reality, we have a feeling of losing it when we think of death. When we see pain and pleasure as the same and are not affected by either of them, we will be free from the fear of death. Because then we realize that nothing is taken away from us when death comes.

Enlightened Masters' experience about death teaches us a lot. Bhagavān Ramaṇa Mahaṛṣi got his enlightenment through a conscious experience of death. When Bhagavān was a young boy, one day he was just lying on his bed at his Uncle's house in Madurai, South Bharat. Suddenly he got the feeling that he was going to die! He had two choices: to resist the feeling or to go through it. He chose the second, to go through death as it is, consciously. He became enlightened after he experienced the process of death.

Usually people resist, so they pass into a coma and leave the body in a state of unconsciousness. In our second level program, the *Nithya Kriya Yoga* or Life Bliss Program Level 2, we go into the complete understanding of death, what happens exactly when we die. We enrich you to experience the process of death and to understand how and what happens, so that there is no mystery and, therefore, there is no fear. At least once if we go through death with deep consciousness, we will lose our fear for death automatically.

Bhagavān was courageous enough to choose the second path. He allowed death to happen without any resistance. He saw clearly one by one, the parts of his body dying. Slowly, his whole body was dead, turning into ashes. Suddenly, he realized that something remained even after that, which cannot be destroyed. At that moment, it hit him that he was pure consciousness, beyond the body and mind! He was simply a witness to the whole thing! That knowledge was tremendous and it never left him. When he came back into his body, he was *Bhagavān Ramaṇa Maharṣi*, the Enlightened Master! When we conquer the fear of death, we conquer death itself, because death is just one more imagination! When we get over the cycle of greed and fear, we can be in equanimity in all situations in life; then we are situated in the supreme consciousness. It is then we have touched our core, our real Being.

## **Steady Your Intelligence, Go Beyond Opposites**

Kṛṣṇa goes on to explain the characteristics of one who is Supreme. He says that one who is of steady intelligence, *sthira buddhir asammūḍho;* one who does not get caught in the play of opposing emotions or patterns like pleasure and pain, happiness and misery, is truly not deluded and is established in the truth, and in the Supreme, *brahma-vid brahmaṇi sthitaḥ* (5.20). He is Supreme himself.

What do we need to know to get out of the whirlpool of emotions? If we look deeply, we will see that all our emotional incompletions like fear, greed or worry, at the root, are born of an expectation for a certain situation to happen in a certain way. We live in a virtual world of fantasy and when there is a gap between reality and imagination, the trouble starts. The greater the gap, the more tension and disappointment we experience. We start to like or dislike something based on this gap. The likes and dislikes are a product of the mind, not of the being which is just bliss.

Beautifully, Kṛṣṇa says, 'An object of enjoyment that comes of itself is neither painful nor pleasurable for someone who has eliminated attachment and who is free from the dualism of self and the other and therefore, from desire.'


Why do we feel tired? We feel tired when we are not integrated within ourselves. One half of our being that wants to express itself but we have suppressed it for various societal reasons. The other half of our being is what is expressing itself in the manner that we are forcing it to. Because we constantly have to put in an inauthentic effort to be what we naturally are not, we become tired at some point. When we become tired, the suppressed, unconscious half of us becomes more powerful than the conscious, pretentious half, and it starts dominating.

Just integrate yourself. Be with completion rather than suppressing yourself, and there will be no unconscious half to fight with. Then where is the question of feeling tired? We feel tired only when we are not completely involved in what we are doing. Become complete, integrated, and whole. Then you can never feel tired, whatever you may do.

See how is it that you don't feel tired after sitting with me for so many hours? It is because when I speak, I speak from my being, with a totality. When I speak with totality, you automatically receive me and my energy. This is the state from which enlightened Masters operate. That is why there is no sense of tiredness in them even though they are intensely involved in what they do.

We feel tired only when there is a gap between what we are doing and what we want to do. When we are driven by greed for something, we are caught up in the goal and the goal is something we want to achieve. What we are doing is not yet the goal and hence, we feel we are running towards the goal. Or we are driven by fear of something; we want to escape from the object of fear and hence we are not completely involved in what we are doing.

Honestly, I can't understand how a man cannot sit with himself. It is our body, our mind after all. Just sit! You are not able to sit because you continuously pour the wrong fuel into your system.

We are continuously chasing power. The hunger for power is so high in us that we are always running behind something to get control over it. First, let us get our body and mind under our control. As of now, it is under the control of fear or greed. Let that be controlled by us. Then, automatically, we can get anything under our control. If our body and mind are not under our control, whatever we wish to bring under our control will never come under our control.

One thought from greed is enough: our body just runs. One thought from fear is enough: our body just runs. Let it be completely under you. May you be complete with your body and mind!

### Just Be Happy From Within

Here is a beautiful *sūtra,* a beautiful technique from Kṛṣṇa to enter into the supreme consciousness: 'Just be happy, restful and complete from within', says Kṛṣṇa, '*yo'ntaḥ sukho antar-ārāmas tathāntar-jyotir eva yaḥ* (5.24).'

Just be happy from within. Let your smile be a deep expression of the love in your being. All of us are so used to living an artificial life that we have forgotten our being. Every moment, we are continuously either in greed by running after our desires or in fear by continuously running away from something. Our happiness in every moment is measured only by greed or fear. This means we are not actually experiencing the moment of completion. We can enjoy something totally only when we are completely in it and we can be complete only when we are totally in the present moment, enjoying what we are doing here and now.

When you are in the space of completion in the present moment with full enthusiasm, you are in a state of bliss. Bliss is the state of joy that has no reason and which is not affected by the past or future. Naturally, the present blissful moment will give birth to future moments of bliss. We enter a virtuous circle rather than being caught up in the vicious cycle of fear and greed that we are now caught in.

Why do we run behind our desires or why are we afraid of something? It is because we think life has some goal to be achieved and we continuously run towards the goals. Understand, life in itself has no goal. The very life itself is the goal. The path itself is the goal. If we think the goal and the path are different, we will run towards the goal; we will run towards the horizon. Can we ever touch the horizon? The more we run towards it, we will find it receding from us, because the horizon is imaginary, it is an illusion.

If we are running behind a goal in life, we will be disappointed at the end of life. But when we see life itself as a goal, we make the path itself as the goal. So every moment is blissful! The goal is achieved every moment of our life. So every moment when we live with full completion, with full enthusiasm, with powerfulness, we actually enjoy that moment. When we are completely immersed in the present moment, we enjoy the path. When the path itself becomes the goal, we enjoy the goal also every moment.

The self-realized one is complete, powerful, active and happy because he is completely in the present moment, living in reality. The Divine energy blissfully flows through him and he no longer needs to derive energy for his activities from desire or fear.

Here, Kṛṣṇa refers to the state in which we are in the peak of activity yet in the ultimate relaxation. Such a state is indeed possible and is the only state in which we can really be involved in what we are doing, and completely satisfied, complete and blissful in what we are doing.

### Why To Feel Responsible?

This is what Kṛṣṇa says: When we are tuned fully inwards, we no longer have any attachment to what happens outside; we are one with the All, the Existence, and we have transcended all *karma.* We are then in *brahma nirvāṇa*—the ultimate liberation, one with Existence, and we are in *nityānanda,* eternal bliss. When we feel genuine love for others, we feel responsible for everyone, and we take up more and more responsibility. We want to enrich others and share that love with as many as people as possible.

When we are tuned inwards, we live in the present; the past and future do not exist for us. When we are in the present, we are one with Existence. I call this All-one-ness. We are All-in-One. We are in the space of Advaita, non-duality. We encompass everything. In this state, we are at the height of spontaneity; we are at the peak of our possibility. Spontaneity does not mean creativity. Creativity is a byproduct. Spontaneity is being in the present, being responsible for everything. Nothing is excluded. We flow out, we expand and cover.

The more responsibility we take up, the more we expand. Responsibility is something that can be easily shrugged. But if we don't shrug it and keep on shouldering it with the right reason, we will expand and the divine energy will automatically flow in us. And we can take up more and more responsibility only when we feel overflowing energy in us.

**With responsibility, we harness the power of feeling**. When we feel the space of responsibility, we take it up without any doubts. Usually whenever we are asked to do something, the mind comes in between and the responsibility feels like a load. Without the right context of responsibility, our mind creates dilemma. We start analyzing intellectually and logically. So at the end of it, we act out of greed or fear. As long as we intellectually weigh the situation for good and bad, the mind exists. We have to cross this barrier by completing with our greed and fear patterns. We have to cut across the wall of incompletions and enter the space of feeling the responsibility. The dilemma of wanting or not wanting to do something should not come at all. Many times when people come to me and I ask them to do something, just by the way they say, 'Yes, I will do it,' I can tell whether they really want to do it or not!

Our response to take up a responsibility is shaky and inauthentic when we are in a dilemma, when our mind operates. We should take up responsibility spontaneously. Then the mind will not have its say. We just know, that's all. We operate from an extreme relaxation and spontaneity. The ability to respond spontaneously out of the space of completion is what I call responsibility.

**Please listen! Responsibility can happen to you only after completion.** If you take responsibility because you have to be a performer, or a leader, or be productive, you will feel responsibility as a weight on you! If responsibility is taken out of wrong reason, you are not going to feel responsible!

Listen! Understand, only when you complete, you will know the right reason for taking responsibility. Only then, you taking responsibility will be really useful to you. So understand, responsibility can happen in you only after completion!

**I'll now tell you** *why* **you need to feel responsibility, why you should take responsibility. Listen. Whatever happens in and around you—you ARE the source!** That is why you need to take responsibility for whatever is happening in and around you. You need to take responsibility because you are responsible, and not for any other reason.

Whether you believe it or not, you ARE the source. With this

clarity, out of this context, if you take responsibility, every action, whether it is taking your children to the school, attending to your calls or your business meeting, everything will become a spiritual practice leading you to *jīvan mukti,* living enlightenment.

When you learn responsibility, you may naturally perform well in your office, in your business, in your family. You will become responsible, no doubt. I am not against it. I am not against you performing in your office or you taking responsibility for your family. But all that should be the side effect! The main effect of you feeling responsibility should be you becoming *jīvan mukta*, living enlightenment!

Live this principle of responsibility. Then you will understand that all your decisions will be out of the experience—'I am the Source.' Listen! If you function with this truth, '*I am the source, so I am responsible*'; everything you do will become a spiritual practice for you to become a *jīvan mukta.*

Only when we go beyond the incompletions of the mind, beyond duality, we see the absolute oneness and synchronicity of the entire Existence and we start living in the state of Advaita. When we reach this state, there is no mind that is acting. We are in a state of deep relaxation, completion and bliss. And this awakens the power of feeling in us to spontaneously respond to everything with responsibility.

When we feel genuine love for others, we will take up responsibility because we want to share that blissful love with others around us. Only when we work out of bliss, we will do things to enrich others and ourselves. Taking responsibility and enriching makes life happen to you! When we take up responsibility spontaneously, we do not act out of fear or greed. We will always be giving.

# Know Me And Be In Bliss

*5.27, 5.28 Shutting out all external sense objects, keeping the eyes and vision concentrated between the two eyebrows, Suspending the inward and outward breaths within the nostrils and thus controlling the mind, senses and intelligence, The transcendental who is aiming at liberation, becomes free from desire, fear and the byproduct of desire, fear and anger, all three. One who is always in this state is certainly liberated.*

*5.29 One who knowing Me as the purpose of sacrifice and penance, As the Lord of all the worlds and the benefactor of all the living beings, achieves peace.*

Here, 'Me' refers to the supreme witnessing consciousness, the Kṛṣṇa consciousness; it is not the six-feet Kṛṣṇa frame. I always tell people, the outer Guru, the Master is needed only to awaken the inner Guru. Once the inner Guru, the consciousness is awakened, the outer Guru needs to be dropped. Just like after burning the dead body, the very stick that is used to stoke the wood is dropped into the same pyre, so also the outer Guru needs to be dropped.

For the first time, Kṛṣṇa gives a beautiful technique to move your energy from fear and greed to divine consciousness, eternal consciousness. Your fear is rooted in the *svādiṣṭhāna cakra*, the energy center situated two inches below the navel. Your greed is rooted in the *mūlādhāra cakra*, the energy center that is in the root of your spinal cord.

Kṛṣṇa gives us the technique to elevate ourselves from these two cakras to the eternal consciousness, the *ājñā cakra* at the brow center, where the eternal consciousness resides. When we have elevated our self to *ājñā*, we go beyond our ego or mind. We are all caught in the *mūlādhāra* and *svādiṣṭhāna*, fear and greed.

That is why, continuously, we can watch and see that we have a sort of a tensed feeling. We will be continuously holding our *mūlādhāra* and *svādiṣṭhāna* tightly. Now, just feel yourself in your *mūlādhāra* area. You will see that you are tightly holding yourself in tension.

Kṛṣṇa explains how to relax that area, how to stop the fuel coming from greed and fear, and get the *amṛta-dhāra* (flow of nectar) from the eternal consciousness. Shutting out all external sense objects, keeping the eyes and vision concentrated between the two eyebrows, suspending the inward and outward breaths within the nostrils and thus controlling the mind, senses and intelligence, the transcendental who is aiming at liberation, becomes free from desire, fear, and the byproduct of desire, fear and anger—all three. One who is always in this state is certainly liberated.

First, He gives the technique to enter that state. Then He says if you can stay in that state, you are liberated. Now, at least let us try to have a glimpse of this state that Kṛṣṇa explains in this verse. I will guide you step by step through this meditation. Please try to enter that state.

### Meditation

Please sit straight and close your eyes. Let your head, neck and backbone be in a straight line. Intensely pray to that ultimate energy, *Parabrahma* Kṛṣṇa, to give us the experience of this meditation.

First, visualize all your senses completely shut; your eyes are completely closed. Don't allow any visualization to happen inside your being. You should close the eyes too, because we continue to see things from behind our eyelids even though we shut our eyelids. Visualize that your eyeballs have become completely dark. You are seeing only darkness in front of you.

Visualize your ears are shut. Visualize your sense of touch is shut. Visualize your smelling capacity is shut. Visualize your face to be shut. Feel deeply that all the five senses have been shut down.

Inhale and exhale as slowly as possible. Slowly, let your nostrils blow the air. Let your consciousness reside between the two eyebrows. In a very relaxed way, be aware of the space between your two eyebrows. Don't concentrate; don't tense yourself. Just be very relaxed, have a deeply relaxed awareness.


Let your *mūlādhāra cakra,* located at the base of your spine, be relaxed. Let your *svādiṣṭhāna cakra*, located just below the navel center, be relaxed. Let your whole consciousness come up to the *ājñā cakra,* which is between the eyebrows.

Concentrate on the space between the eyebrows.

Visualize cool, soothing light in the *ājñā cakra*, in the space between the eyebrows. Relax in the *ājñā cakra*. Forget all other parts of your body. Forget about the body, mind and the world; remember only the *ājñā cakra*, the space between the two eyebrows.

Go deeply into the *ājñā cakra*, in the space between the two eyebrows. Visualize a beautiful, cooling, soothing light in the *ājñā cakra*. Let you experience beautiful, blissful light in the *ājñā cakra.* Don't tense yourself; let your awareness be in the *ājñā cakra* in a very relaxed way; let your consciousness rest in the space between the two eyebrows.

Relax in the same space of eternal consciousness. Let you be beyond the body and mind. May your intelligence be awakened. Let you work from your eternal consciousness. Let you have the pleasant awareness of the *ājñā cakra*. Let you all have the grace of the divine consciousness. Let you be established in the eternal consciousness. Let you all be in, with and radiate eternal bliss, *nityānanda.*

*Om śānti, śānti, śāntihi...*

*Om tat sat.*

Relax. Slowly, very slowly, you can open your eyes.

Try to remain in this mood at least for the next ten days.

Understand: Don't concentrate by force. Have a pleasant awareness. When you keep the pleasant awareness around your *ājñā cakra*, your whole energy will be directed towards the Eternal Consciousness. You will receive energy from Eternal Consciousness, from immortality, *amṛtatva.* You will be driven from above by the Eternal Consciousness. If you are driven from below by fear or greed, you are man. If you are driven from above, you are God.

Let you learn the science of how to connect yourself with the Divine energy, how to be driven by the Divine Consciousness. Let you live all your possibilities. Let you function through the Eternal Consciousness.

> *Thus ends the fifth chapter named Sannyāsa Yogaḥ, 'The Yoga of Renunciation,' of the Bhagavad Gītā Upaniṣad, Brahmavidyā Yogaśāstra, the scripture of yoga dealing with the science of the Absolute in the form of Śrī Kṛṣṇārjuna saṃvād, dialogue between Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna.*

# Look In, Be Complete Before Any Conclusion

You are your best friend and you are your worst enemy. Whether you wish to degrade yourself or raise yourself by yourself is in your hands. Krsna gives the technique to unite with Him in yoga, the Supreme Consciousness by becoming a Yogi. ...

# Look In, Be Complete Before Any Conclusion

We will start with a beautiful history from Mahābhārat: Once the elders of Kuru royal family wanted to test the intelligence of their new generation of princes, the Kauravas and the Pāṇḍavas as to—who is more intelligent and wise—Kaurava kids, the hundred sons of King Dhritarāṣṭra or Pāṇḍava kids, the five sons of King Pāṇḍu. So, they devised a competition.

They said to all the Kaurava and Pāṇḍava young princes, 'You will be given one gold coin. With that one gold coin, you will have to fill your palace house!' This was the test laid out for them.

The Kauravas took the gold coin and sat together. Naturally, hundred brains will mess-up any plan, any program. See, you can have hundred hands but not hundred brains. Be very clear, all great things are done by hundred hands and hundred legs, but not by hundred brains. Brain should be only one. In life, unfortunately, we have thousands of brains, but not a single hand!

So, these hundred Kaurava brains all sit together, intensely discuss, argue, and even fight among themselves, 'How can we fill the whole house with one gold coin?' they speculated. Each brain came up with its own strategy, just to be pulled down by the other. Then, finally after enough squabble and confusion, they came to the conclusion, 'The elders are all cheats, they are abusing us, trying to exploit us, and making us feel we are failures!'

After this whole drama of blaming others, of feeling deprived and cheated, finally they decided that for one gold coin they could get only hay grass, which is the left over chaff of grains and paddy after crop harvesting.

Here, the Pāṇḍavas sat together into the listening of *dharma*. Even though each Pāṇḍava is a peerless specialist with unmatched expertise in some field, they all were always aligned under Dharmarāja, *dharma*! Understand, Yudhiṣṭra, the eldest of the Pāṇḍava brothers is Dharmarāja, the king and embodiment of *dharma*!

Listen! All the five Pāṇḍavas are sons of Nature born as immaculate conceptions of Divine powers. Yudhiṣṭra is *dharma* incarnate, who along with the four Pāṇḍava brothers, embodies all the four *tattvas* of integrity, authenticity, responsibility and enriching, empowered with the powers of words, thinking, feeling and living.

Bhīma, the son of Vāyu (wind god), represents the physical valor, the strength of integrity and authenticity. Arjuna, the son of Indra (the king of gods), is Nara incarnate, the highest evolved human energy of Nārāyaṇa, Lord Kṛṣṇa. Arjuna is physiological power, the power of feeling awakened by responsibility! Both Bhīma and Arjuna are totally different expressions of unique divine powers. The ability to thrash is different, the ability to aim is different! Arjuna, the embodiment of physiological power, has the ability to aim and shoot, which needs mastery over the body, mind and senses. Nakula embodies the sense of intelligence and the space of possibility that is awakened by authenticity, the power of thinking. Nakula is one of the most intelligent strategy planners, who plans all the war strategies. Sahadeva is the aligner of time, he is a great astrologer expressing integrity, the power of words. All of them are always aligned under *Dharmarāja* Yudhiṣṭra. Because they are aligned to *dharma,* Pāṇḍavas are like one brain having ten hands, all together united to express enriching, the power of living.

**Listen! I am defining Dharma. The power of your words, the power of your thinking, the power of your feeling, and the power of your living, this is Dharma. Dharma is aligning yourself to the flow of the Cosmos.**

So, they all sit together aligning to Dharmarāja and discuss, 'What

will fill the whole house with one gold coin? When our elders say then *it is possible*.'

Please understand, you can look at this test of intelligence from two possibilities. One group *looks out* and wails, 'I think these elders are all fools. They don't know what they are asking us to do. They are just trying to prove we are all small fellows.' This is the thought trend of Kauravas. Then come the sons of immortality, Pāṇḍavas, who *look in* and wonder, 'When elders say, then there must be way. They are trying to teach us, educate us, and enrich us through this. When elders say, *it is possible*.' So finally, Pāṇḍavas also decide to fill the house with one gold coin! How they did it, let us see!

At the time of supervision, all the Kuru elders—Grandsire Bhīśma, Droṇa, Vidura, and Dhritarāṣṭra assembled; they first went to Duryodhana's palace house. On reaching, they saw the whole house full of hay and all these Kauravas were standing outside! They could not even get into the house!

Bhīśma asks them, 'What happened? Why are all of you standing outside?' Kauravas reply, 'What can be done? You only told us that we have to fill the whole house with one gold coin; what else can we get with just one gold coin? So we filled it with hay grass. Here you see! We won the competition!'And all these Kauravas are now standing outside! Neither these hundred brains nor the Kuru elders are able to get into the house.

Dhṛitarāṣṭra, the father of Kauravas becomes very happy! He hurriedly concludes, 'See my sons and their intelligence! They filled the whole palace house. They should be declared victorious!' Droṇa, the teacher of Kurus and Pāṇḍava princes, once a poor Brāhmaṇa, was supported by King Dhritarāṣṭra. So, whatever Dhṛitaraṣṭra says becomes the *conclusion* for Droṇa; and so, he simply agrees to the blind king's conclusion. But, Bhīṣma stops Droṇa, saying, 'Wait! Let us go to the other house also to see, and then decide who won the game.'

On entering the Pāṇḍava palace home, they see the whole house is

filled with light and perfumed with fragrant incense. Understand, for that one gold coin, they bought earthen lamps and lighted them up along with pleasing, special perfumed incense. The moment the elders entered, the Pāṇḍavas washed their feet, gave them seat and fruits. Enriching them thus, Pāṇḍavas tell them humbly, 'Please see, the whole house is filled! Filled with light and perfume, pleasant smell!'

Of course, the blind King Dhṛitarāṣṭra is not ready to accept this! So, he goes to every corner, puts his sharp nose and smells to investigate if every corner is filled with pleasant perfume. He finds that all corners have the pleasant fragrance. Finally, the Kuru elders come to the right conclusion and declare that Pāṇḍavas won the game. Pāṇḍavas stand victorious!

Please understand, listen!

**Completion is creating a space which is full where you can Live! As the space of Pāṇḍavas is full with light and filled with pleasant fragrance, so is the inner space of completion full with power and filled with the fragrance of bliss—***ānanda gandha,* **where you can live.**

Both palace houses are full. You also always keep yourself full; but the question is do you keep the house full like Kauravas or Pāṇḍavas? Find out that! Is your inner space like Kauravas or Pāṇḍavas? That's all! Have you brought the hay and filled it all around your house, or have you brought the pleasant smell and the light within?

Please understand, completion keeps you full and gives you the fulfilled space to live! Incompletion keeps you full but never fulfilled; you will never be able to live there. Because of their deep incompletions, Kaurava brains fight violently. Finally when they get tired of fighting with their incompletions, they get utterly confused, and jump to the wrong conclusion of filling their house with hay! The Pāṇḍavas who are full with the space of completion and filled with the power of living, beautifully enrich the elders and enrich themselves, enjoying the light and fragrance!

Please understand, the modern day CEOs, leaders are filled with stress. What is stress actually? It is nothing but filling yourself with hay! You are filled not fulfilled. You are occupied but not useful. Before making one decision, when you think about it two hundred times, you are tired just like the Kaurava brains! Usually, when there are so many incompletions fighting in your brain, either your projects die down, or they take a totally opposite turn!

Reduce the incompletions you infuse on yourself; reduce the abusal you do to yourself. Reduce the mental setup of Duryodhanas' on you. Duryodhanas' are nothing but bunch of incompletions, no power! Actually, they took the decision of buying the hay and filling the house because they were not able to handle the whole confusion and fight among themselves. So, they just jumped to the wrong conclusion, '*let's do something*!' Listen! Any decision made out of incompletion in the mood of '*let's do something*' is suicide! So understand, '*let's do something*' out of incompletion, restlessness generated by incompletion, is the pesticide! If you do it just for yourself, it is suicide; if you do it for the family, it is homicide; if you do it for many people, it is genocide.

What Pāṇḍavas did is out of the pure space of completion. I tell you, when you create the space of completion, every moment you create a new way of thinking, new way of feeling, new way of knowledge, new way of being, and a new way of making yourself available to society and to humanity.

#### **Look in, create the space of completion before coming to any conclusion! This is the message of this chapter.**

The sixth chapter of the *Bhagavad Gītā, Dhyāna Yogaḥ* starts with Kṛṣṇa's words. In this chapter Arjuna is not asking any questions to Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa continues His answers from the previous chapter.

# Attain The State Of Yoga

6.1 *Bhagavān says:*

*One who performs his actions without being attached to their fruit (outcome) of his work is a Sannyāsi, and he is truly an ascetic; a Yogi also.; not the one who renounces to light the fire and performs no action.*

- *6.2 O Pāṇḍava, what is called renunciation, or sannyāsa, you must know to be the same as yoga, or uniting oneself with the Supreme., for never can anyone become a yogī, until he renounces the desire for self-gratification [saṅkalpa].*
- *6.3 A one desirious of achieving the state of yoga or no-mind state, action is said to be the means and for the one who is already elevated in yoga, cessation from all actions is said to be the means.*
- *6.4 Any one is said to have attained the state of yoga when, having renounced all material desires, he neither acts for sense gratification nor engages in result-focused activities.*

Kṛṣṇa continues with what He said earlier in a little more detailed way. He says, the person who is not attached to the fruits of his action is an ascetic and a *karma yogi*, one who continuously does authentic work without being attached to the results.

Please understand, *karma—*the state of action, or *sannyāsa*—the state of renunciation, is not related to your doing. It is directly related to your being. Being a sannyasi, a renunciate monk, is not a status, it is a state of mind. Whether you are doing *karma yoga* or you remain a *Sannyāsi* is in no way going to affect you. If one is a *karma yogī,* one goes about doing the work that is allotted to him without attachment and without expectations. This is done even in the middle of one's life as a householder, a businessperson or an employee. The status is not of any consequence.

In the same manner, it is immaterial whether one dons saffron robes to be a renunciate or an ascetic. One can wear all the outer trappings of a monk and still be fully attached to the *saṁsāra māyā*, the illusion of life. In the verses of *Bhaja Govindam*, Ādī Śaṅkarācārya, the Enlightened Master of ancient Bharat, says this beautifully about the ascetic who cheats the world and himself. He says, the ascetic has his hair knotted, or he shaves his head bald, or he pulls out his hair one by one in penance, he wears saffron robes, but he does not see, even though he has eyes. He does all this only to fill his belly!

One's attitude, one's inner space, one's *being* alone matters. Here Kṛṣṇa gives the gist of the previous chapter.

People repeatedly ask me, *'Swamiji,* should we renounce everything to achieve Enlightenment? How can we lead our day-to-day life and yet hope to achieve spiritual progress?'


I tell them, 'No! Just renounce what you don't have. That is enough. You don't have to renounce what you have.' I tell them to live with completion with whatever they have, and to just renounce what they don't have. We fantasize about all that we do not have, that is the problem. There are thousands of things that we don't have, but we live with all those things mentally. The problem is not what we have, we have got used to those things anyway. That is our reality. It is what we don't have that creates problems. Just renounce what you don't have. That is enough to solve all the problems. Then you will start living intensely with what you have.

One of the major problems we bring upon ourselves is that we chase desires and possessions. And once we have achieved what we want, we don't enjoy it. It is as if the enjoyment is only in the chase and not in the possession itself. The present has no meaning to many of us. Because of this, we miss reality, we miss true enjoyment. It is the illusion of the speculative future that draws our interest and causes misery to us.

### Live with Reality, Live like God

There is a beautiful word in Saṃskṛit: *brahmacarya.* Just like many other Saṃskṛit words, this word has no equivalent word in English. The word has often been wrongly translated as celibacy. *Brahma* means Existence, reality, divinity. *Carya* means 'living like'. Brahmacarya refers to a person who lives like the gods, who lives with Existence, who lives with reality. Brahmacarya does not mean one who is unmarried. Brahmacarya refers to one who lives with reality, one who lives unattached. One of the four stages of life as defined by the scriptures is brahmacarya. This period of brahmacarya at Gurukul, under the Master's guidance in one's early years, provides the background to shed fantasies and live life in reality.

In today's world most of us live with fantasy. We don't live with the reality of our existence. From our childhood, we are exposed to so many different forms of media that flood us with fantasies. On physical maturity, everyone searches for an ideal person who can match their fantasy with great vigour and determination! Even if you find someone who matches your so-called ideal, when you start living with the person, life will slowly reveal that the ideal image so carefully built over many years is different from the person with whom you are living. There is always a screen of fantasy between your spouse and you, just like between life and you. You are continuously developing on life but you are not ready to look into life as it is.

A person who is mature enough to live with reality in the space of completion has achieved the state of brahmacarya. He is living with the real person or situation. He is complete in the present moment for what it is; he does not dream of how it should be. So just drop your fantasies. Live with reality. That is what I call brahmacarya. Brahmacarya is nothing but high energy, that's all.

**I am defining brahmacarya. It is nothing but being authentic with high energy happening in you.** Only when you have low energy, you need other person's presence in your life. Brahmacarya is nothing but being authentic with your high energy.

Here, Kṛṣṇa says, 'Just renouncing the sacred fire and not performing one's duty does not mean one is an ascetic or *sannyāsi.*' In those days, fire was the basis for everything, whether it was cooking or spiritual practice. For everything one needed fire. I can replace the word 'fire' with 'cell phone' for today's world! In this age, we can say, 'Don't think that by sacrificing the cell phone and laptop you become a *sannyāsi* or a great *karma yogi.*' Just like how the cell phone and laptop have become a basic necessity today, in those days *agnī* (fire) was a basic need in life. Just like how we are able to relate with people through the cell phone, our ancient *ṛṣis* (mystics) knew the techniques of relating with the higher energy through fire.

Understand, the Vedic Masters knew how to use fire to communicate with the higher energy, just like how we use the cell phone to communicate. All of science is based on using light particles, whether it is electricity, atomic energy, or other forms of energy, but with different formulae. Whether it is our fan or a microscope or a laptop or atomic bomb, everything can be reduced to that one single thing, the technique of handling light or electro-magnetic particles. Scientists worked on light energy and created all these objects. Our eastern sages worked with sound energy and created all these products. We really had the *pushpak vimāna* (flying chariot) and we did really have the *brahmāstra* (nuclear weapon). Everything is true.

But in the course of time we lost the technology, that's all. As the technology for handling sound waves was lost, the existence of these things is being questioned today. People now believe that all these things are just mythology, just epic stories. No! I tell you, Purāṇās are histories not stories; they are 'His-stories'. Just because we have lost the key and are not able to open the lock, don't think that there is no treasure.

The entire collection of scriptures, the *Vedas* is nothing but learning the techniques of tuning oneself to work with sound particles. Just as scientists work with light particles, the sages have worked with sound particles. They were able to relate with higher energies and were able to communicate just with the vibrations through fire. Whether it was Sañjaya, the minister of the Kaurava king Dhritarāṣṭra, who saw the Mahābhārat war through telepathy with his third eye, or the *puśpak vimāna*, the flying chariot, or *brahmāstra*, the ultimate fire weapon, these were all true. When the cultural invasion of Bharat happened, these techniques were lost.

I have seen a *Sannyāsi* create fire by just uttering a few words. Even now, if we go to the *Kumbha Melā* (the holy river Gangā festival, planet's largest spiritual gathering in Bharat), we can see hundreds of people like this. I have seen many Sannyāsis—some bury their heads inside the Earth for more than twenty-four hours; many can play with sound energy. I have seen a sannyasi floating in the air and another sitting on a board full of sharp nails, with people watching them in awe.

### Be Complete and Renounce your Thoughts

So here, Kṛṣṇa says that just by renouncing fire, a person cannot become a Sannyāsi. Similarly, here I can say that just by renouncing our cell phone in life, we cannot become a sannyasi. The space needs to be transformed. To truly renounce, the mind has to renounce thoughts. Usually, wherever our body is, our mind is not. When we are at home, our thoughts are at the office. When we are at the office, we worry about what is happening elsewhere. When we are on vacation, we worry about work. To bring the mind to where the body is to renounce the inner chatter by completing with thoughts patterns. This is the starting point of renunciation.

Thoughts cannot be suppressed. The more we suppress them the more they erupt. We need to let go. We need to constantly bring ourselves back to where our body is, to the present space of completion, to the here and now, away from the dead past and the unborn future.

**Renunciation of the past and the future, by bringing our mind to focus on the present space of completion, is true renunciation.**

This renunciation does not happen by giving up objects of material welfare such as the fire and the cell phone. It also does not happen by giving up what we think is superficial to spiritual progress, such as rituals. Giving these up without bringing in the true completion of consciousness is not renunciation.

In the first verse Kṛṣṇa gives the essence of the previous chapter. Now He continues. Kṛṣṇa has already said that renunciation for the sake of renunciation, renunciation of material things without renouncing desires, is of no value.

Please listen. You have to renounce fantasies. These fantasies are the creation of the ego, mind, identity, root patterns—whatever name you wish to call it. This self creates up all these unreal fantasy visions, to keep you occupied and under control.

We may think that we are in control of our mind. But actually, our mind controls us. This is what Kṛṣṇa means by *sañkalpa*, self-interest, because the mind wishes to satisfy the senses that it operates and controls. By visualizing, by hearing, by smelling, by tasting, by touching, through the sense organs, our mind wants us to experience pleasures that will keep us under its hold. Only when we renounce the mind's control by going beyond the senses can we become a true renunciate. 'Control your senses and still your mind so that you can reach Me,' Kṛṣṇa says in earlier chapters.

When Kṛṣṇa talks about 'self ', it is the small 'self ', the external identity that we confuse with our Self, the real inner core, the Truth. Only when we do renounce this so-called identity, which is not the true Self, then we will perceive our self as the supreme Self that is our true identity. An ordinary person sees his own self as being the body, mind, memories, senses and the identities that he creates for himself. These are the channels through which we can project ourselves onto the outer world. Normally we create two identities. One identity called *ahaṁkāra,* the identity that we project to the outer world. This identity is usually based on our achievements in society, our profession, our possessions, etc. The second identity is called mamākara, the identity we project to our inner self. This identity is usually based on our ideas about our attitudes, our beliefs, and our self-esteem. Through a combination of these two identities we create an image about ourselves that we hold on to with deep conviction and belief. Our true Self is beyond all these inner and outer images.

Please listen. If we don't want to be controlled by the mind, any activity that we perform to satisfy this false identity or ego should be renounced. As long as we allow our senses to feed us, we will be nurtured and controlled by sensory pleasures that satisfy our ego. Our mind will then keep us in its control.

Listen. I am defining Yoga.

**Renunciation of these fantasies that we feel we need for self-satisfaction is Yoga. Yoga is the state when our desires, expressed through sensual pleasures, dissolve. We unite with our true Self in this state. In this state, there is no gap between the Divine and us.**

Whether we believe it or not, accept it or not, want it or not, we are God. We are divine. All we can do is accept it, experience it, live and powerfully express it or we can just continue to struggle and fight with it. This is the truth.

A small story:

A man was informed that his wife had just fallen into the river. He ran to the river to save her. To everyone's surprise, he jumped into the river and started swimming in the opposite direction, against the current.

People who watched the scene shouted to him and called him a fool. They asked him, 'Why are you swimming against the current? Your wife has been carried with the current, downstream.'

The man said, 'You don't know my wife. Even in the river, she would go only against the current!'

We can be like a rock in the water, forever resisting the flow of the water. The river pounds the rock, eventually reducing it to sand that settles at the bottom. Or we can be like the reed that bends and flows in whichever direction the water flows. By giving in to the water flow, the reed rests in the water.

In Saṃskṛit there are two terms, '*dṛṣti sṛṣti*' and '*sṛṣti dṛṣti'*. *Dṛṣti sṛṣti* means to look at the world as it is and take life as it comes. *Sṛṣti dṛṣti* is just the opposite, when we want to create the world as we would like it to be, as we want to see it. We want the world running according to our fantasies, instead of coming to terms with the reality of the world. This is a sure recipe for disaster, much like the woman swimming against the current and meeting with disaster.

We have a choice. We can either move against the current, believing that we control our destiny, and struggle all the time. Or we can flow with the current, surrender to the Divine of which we are an integral part, and be in bliss. Whether we go against the current or go with it, we are in the water. Whether we realize it or not, we are Divine. When our desires for external sensual pleasures are controlled, we experience the divinity within.

#### Yoga—Uniting the Body and Mind

This is the state of yoga that Kṛṣṇa talks about—*yogārūḍhasya tasyaiva śamaḥ kāraṇam ucyate* (6.3), the state of true renunciation where there is no suppression. Instead, there is transformation into completion. The path is no longer towards self or sensory satisfaction. In fact, there is no 'towards' or 'goal.' The goal is the path itself. When we lead our life with no expectations, the mind cannot speculate or control us.

Kṛṣṇa says next, 'A person who initially wants to start practicing a yoga system laid down by the sages should carry out all activities in line with that system. Activities for all other reasons will then cease.'

This is such a beautiful instruction for anyone doing yoga. Today, the true meaning of yoga is completely lost. Yoga is not about physical exercise or sweating in high temperatures. Its purpose is not bodily fitness. Yoga integrates body, mind and spirit. It is a journey into the inner Self, towards the Self.

Patañjali, the great sage and the father of Yoga, who authored Yoga Sūtras, laid down an eight-limbed system called *Aṣtāṅga Yoga*. Today this is being misinterpreted as 'eight steps of yoga'. Patañjali laid down eight limbs or parts that needed to be practiced simultaneously, not separately or sequentially. There is no meaning in practicing yoga through only two of the eight parts: *āsana,* physical postures, and *prāṇāyāma*, breath control. But these are the only two parts taught by most yoga teachers today. What is the point? Nothing of real value will come out of it.

In Patañjali's Aṣtāṅga Yoga, bliss is the goal, the path, and the end result. Have you seen even one yoga practitioner enjoying what he or she is doing? They are grimacing all the time, forcing their body, controlling their breath, torturing themselves. What for? Patañjali never asked them to torture themselves or their students. Yoga as it is practiced now only breeds ego. They have added many components to yoga: Deluxe yoga, Super deluxe kuṇḍalini yoga! Yoga should be done as *bhoga*, not as *roga*. Yoga should be done as an enjoyment, excitement, bhoga and not as a roga, disease. The excitement you radiate in your body, the whole bio-memory should be alive. Whole intelligence should be alive, up!