Thoughts on The Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 2: Verse 70 - Verse 72)

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Hello, and welcome to another episode of The Bearded Mystic Podcast and I'm your host, Rahul N Singh.

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And today we're going to be continuing on with my thoughts on the Bhagavad Gita.

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Thank you for joining today and for taking the time to listen or watch this podcast episode.

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If you would like to support The Bearded Mystic Podcast you can do so by signing up to The Bearded Mystic Podcast Patreon page.

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You can find the details in the show notes and video description below.

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Let's do a recap of the previous verses.

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In the last episode we looked at verses 66 to 69 and Sri Krishna there explains that the person who is not able to connect to their true self due to their lack of discernment of what they really are, the real and the unreal.

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They will have a mind that is unsteady and there will be nothing but turbulence and they will never be in peace.

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Therefore, this person can never experience contentment as there is no peace within their own mind.

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Our mind is uncontrollable, if it continuously runs after what the senses want, therefore we lose all knowledge of the Atman and Brahman, the real and the unreal.

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We lose our focus on liberation.

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And Sri Krishna describes that how one with a steady mind can withdraw their senses away from the objects of their senses and remain in that steady wisdom, where Brahman shines and illuminates all.

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Controlling our senses, understanding wisdom and knowing what our true nature is and that is Brahman itself, this illumines the mind.

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We are truly awake even though to the world, we may look like we are sleeping and away from material desires, but really we are fully alert, fully awake because we are not chasing after the objects of things like cars and wealth than bigger houses and bigger, better clothes, branded clothes, all sorts of those things.

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The Sage does not entertain that as their main function of life.

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Their main function of life is to remain steady in the wisdom of Brahman.

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So the Sage knows the real difference between who is awake and who is asleep.

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So we're going to be looking at Chapter two, verses 70 to verse 72.

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And these are the last three verses in chapter two.

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So we will be concluding chapter two in this episode.

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Let's look at verse 70.

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Just as the ocean remains undisturbed by the constant flood of rivers, so one who has achieved shanti is unaffected by the influx of external material desires.

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While the unrestrained are always disturbed by endless currents of kama, sense desires.

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Just as the ocean remains undisturbed by the constant flood of rivers.

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So one who has achieved shanti is unaffected by the influx of external material.

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This is the line that we'd be looking at right now, no matter how many material desires appear, this, that Sage who has now attained peace and tranquility will be unaffected.

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Sri Krishna is giving us is a template on what to follow.

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So that Sage has attain peace and tranquility, and they will be unaffected.

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They have attained that inner desire to be liberated, to know its True Self.

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They automatically know what their True Self is and that desire is now met.

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The Sage is not overwhelmed by the material desires.

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Just like an ocean is unaffected.

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When rivers converge within it.

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The ocean is not affected by the current that is in those rivers.

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The ocean remains stable and steady.

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So that Sage like the ocean can be in front of many objects, and their influence of those objects by the senses, it will have no effect upon the Sage as they will just dissolve away in that Pure Awareness, in that Pure Consciousness.

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In the next line Sri Krishna says, while the unrestrained are always disturbed by endless currents of kama, sense desires.

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The one who has no control is always disturbed by the endless currents of sense desires or kama.

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So there's no peace here.

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They are pulled in every direction.

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So wherever sensations can occur, they're going towards that.

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They see something they like, a sensation is created.

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And therefore the desire to continue that sensation is always desired, is always wanted.

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The context of the whole verse is that person is full of peace, who is not overwhelmed by the material desires and can watch all these desires appear and disappear.

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The unrestrained ones run towards sense desires and sensations and the current of these desires are endless and limitless until one who has the knowledge of Brahman that True Self, then they are not effected by the currents of those sense desires.

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Those sensations may occur in them, but they're not driven by them.

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They do not go towards those sensations.

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If they have those sensations, say they achieve them, they still are not attached to those sensations.

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They're able to continue to be in that state of Brahman, to be as Brahman.

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And the awareness does not need sensations to be itself.

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Let's remind ourselves of this.

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Verse 71.

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The person who sheds all material kama, whose actions are not determined by material longings, who says nothing is mine and I am not from matter.

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That person attains Shanti.

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So we going to look at the whole verse together.

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The person who sheds all material kama, the material sense desires whose actions are not determined by material longings, their actions are not done because they long for materialistic things.

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Their actions aren't defined by that.

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And who says nothing is mine and I'm not from matter.

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That person attained Shanti.

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We'll look at that more in a minute.

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So that person who removes all material sense desires.

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They are no longer directed by those desires.

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They attain peace.

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They can be in that tranquil state only.

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The Sage functions in the world only to make efforts to maintain their body, to just spread the message of truth, or just to be in the Awareness of Truth itself.

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They may not even want to spread the message of truth, but they just enjoy being in that state.

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They don't have any attachment to the body and there's no me or mine.

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Therefore there's no attachment to objects.

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They understand that everything in this world is not theirs because at the end of the day, they're going to die.

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This body's going to go.

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It's going to be disposed of.

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So whatever we think we owe actually we don't, it's very temporary.

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It's like a blip in this whole eternity.

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And that eternal lifespan, meaning the eternal nature of Pure Consciousness.

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So they understand that nothing is mine.

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And who is this mine for them?

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Who is this me and mine?

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This me and mine is awareness.

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Therefore what can belong to that person of Pure Awareness when itself is objectless?

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Yeah, contentless, how can it possess any object?

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That is what awareness is.

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It's objectless therefore there's no possession going on there.

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Likewise, it says I am not from matter because the self is Formless.

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It's non matter.

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Brahman is Consciousness, it doesn't have a form.

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It doesn't have an image.

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It doesn't have a structure.

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It doesn't have content.

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It doesn't have an object.

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It cannot be perceived.

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It's simply life as it is Adi Shankara Ji says that the Sage does not even have this deep rooted idea of mine, even when accepting something needed merely for the upkeep of the body.

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So say the Sage received some food.

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They don't have this thing of the food is mine.

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If they see someone who is hungry next to them, they will give the food to the person who is hungry.

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They will not say it's my food because you was given to me.

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That's not the way they think, and this is something hard to maybe practice, but not impossible.

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Otherwise Sri Krishna would not talk about it.

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And those people, they are forever at peace because they have no greed, no pride for whatever they have.

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And that may even apply to the knowledge they have because they know Brahman doesn't mean they're going to have pride about it.

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Oh I know Brahman, and you don't.

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You're less than me.

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They're not going to think that way.

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Why would someone who is awake, be angry at someone who is asleep.

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They know that sleep is necessary.

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They know that ignorance is necessary, but they know that ignorance is not reality.

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That's the only difference.

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Now, the context of the whole verse is the Sage only functions to maintain the body.

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Yet, has no attachment to the body and therefore is always at peace.

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That also means that they are content with the idea that they will lose this body.

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This body will one day die and they are at peace with that.

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Whatever is received is not considered as one's own, but just needed for a particular function.

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So just the function is adhered to no possession, no attachment is given to those things that are given.

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Now we go to verse 72, the final verse of Chapter Two.

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Oh, Arjuna.

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If one does not become steady in Brahman-realization.

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Then they will continue to be confused by matter.

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But if a Yogi is standing as a being of Brahman.

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When they leave their body, then they achieve the state of Brahman Nirvana.

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The first line is Oh Arjuna, if one does not become steady in Brahman realization.

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What is a person meant to be steady in?

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Steady in the knowledge they've received in this chapter Two.

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That knowledge of what is Real and unreal Sat and Asat.

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How do we define something that is real, that which does not change.

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That which is permanent, that which is beyond modification.

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That, which is unreal is everything that is subject to decay, to deterioration, to change.

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Yeah.

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Whatever goes through the pair of opposites is unreal.

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Yeah, pain pleasure, unreal.

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Yeah.

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Even suffering and contentment, unreal because we may fluctuate between the two.

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We may fluctuate between the idea of being content when we may not be.

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So that person who is steady in Brahman realization, they're not confused by the objects of the world.

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They're not confused by the world.

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They're not confused by Maya.

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Neither do they find an aversion towards Maya.

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But the one who doesn't understand, they will always be confused.

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Is Maya real?

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Is Brahman real?

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They will be constantly going through those questions.

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That means the realization hasn't occurred.

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It's not steady.

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The one who is steady understands, what matter is.

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They understand the reality of matter.

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Yes, it has a function and we are only meant to use it for that function.

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That is it.

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In order to become steady, one needs to be in the remembrance as much as possible of Aham Brahmasmi or I am Formless.

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I am Brahman.

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I am this Ultimate Reality.

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I am this Pure Awareness, this Pure Consciousness, and to be steady in that realization, to be steady in that understanding.

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And the next line is, but if a Yogi is standing as a being of Brahman, when they leave their body, they achieve the state of Brahman Nirvana.

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So the one that dies knowing they are Brahman they become liberated and remain in that awareness.

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In fact, because they're liberated before they have died, they are always in awareness, but a Yogi has to maintain this.

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They have to continuously remind themselves that they are being of Brahman.

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They are this Ultimate Reality.

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They are not separate to Brahman.

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So this life has to be lived in that full awareness that they are Brahman and that in the next life they're going to be Brahman, because that only Brahman is.

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There's no duality between the times either this life and next life.

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None of that.

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They know only life is, only Brahman is.

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That's the state of that person, who understands.

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The Yogi has to remain fixed in this.

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Remain completely focused on this.

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And only that person who remains established in Brahman during their life will be able to remain identified in Brahman after death.

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No longer will they feel that they are disembodied when death occurs.

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So that person who dies will not be confused.

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It knows it is Brahman.

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The manas has been transformed.

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And this is where it's very important that our mind understands fully that even after death only Brahman is.

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One is not going to go to heaven.

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One is not going to come back into this world and be reincarnated.

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None of that is going to happen.

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That person who remembers Brahman, stays as Brahman.

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It's as simple as that.

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So the context of the whole verse is that the knower of Brahman remains Brahman, now and forever.

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And this wonderfully sums up exactly what chapter two is all about.

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Being and remaining as being Brahman.

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I would say and suggest that whatever we've learned in chapter two is going to be the base of all the knowledge that we're going to explore in the next chapters.

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This knowledge that's been given in chapter two of the Real and the unreal has to be how we understand the future chapters.

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What's important is that we establish ourselves in Brahman as much as we can, we should try to meditate upon Brahman and remind ourselves that we are this awareness.

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This awareness that does not change in any way.

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This awareness that isn't reliant on the body or the mind.

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This awareness that does not need to be created by thought or by memory.

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This awareness that is always here and now.

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Let us remain established in this.

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I pray that we all remain established in this awareness, that we all remain established in Brahman and that each one of us that have listened to this podcast and have listened to chapter two, that all those sincere people achieve moksha in this life.

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So this brings chapter two of the Bhagavad Gita to the end.

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And we will continue with the next episode on my thoughts of the Bhagavad Gita with chapter three.

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A new episode is uploaded every Sunday of the podcast.

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Thank you very much for listening.

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Aum Shanti Shanti Shanti.

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Aum Peace Peace Peace.

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Namaste