Thoughts on The Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 9: Verse 1

Transcript

WEBVTT

00:00:02.028 --> 00:00:05.448
Hello, and welcome to another episode of The Bearded.

00:00:05.448 --> 00:00:08.448
Mystic Podcast and I'm your host, Rahul N.

00:00:08.448 --> 00:00:08.897
Singh.

00:00:09.198 --> 00:00:18.385
Thank you for taking out the time today to either watch or listen to this podcast episode Today we will be continuing on with my thoughts on the Bhagavad Gita.

00:00:18.467 --> 00:00:21.917
But before we do begin, there's a few things I would like to announce.

00:00:22.295 --> 00:00:33.615
Please do give your support to the Bearded Mystic Podcast by signing up to the podcast Patreon page for ad-free and bonus episodes and other benefits depending on the tier that you select.

00:00:34.091 --> 00:00:37.121
Details or in the show notes and video description below.

00:00:38.021 --> 00:00:45.521
00 AM Eastern Standard Time, there is a free virtual meditation session along with discussion and Q and A.

00:00:45.920 --> 00:00:52.639
You can find the details in the show notes and video description below if you're interested in meditating with us as a community.

00:00:53.978 --> 00:00:55.929
Please like, comment, and subscribe.

00:00:55.959 --> 00:00:57.579
If you're watching this on YouTube.

00:00:57.819 --> 00:01:08.980
If you're listening to this on your favorite podcast streaming app, please give this podcast a five star rating and do review the podcast and follow or subscribe to get future episodes.

00:01:09.343 --> 00:01:15.772
So today we will beginning with chapter nine, and we'll be looking at verses one to verse five.

00:01:16.052 --> 00:01:17.442
Let's start with verse 1.

00:01:17.873 --> 00:01:24.602
Sri Bhagavan spoke to Arjuna: Because you are never jealous of my opulence, and you are sincere.

00:01:24.695 --> 00:01:27.756
I will share these supreme secrets with you.

00:01:28.266 --> 00:01:35.495
By realizing this divine knowledge, you will become immune to anything that could otherwise cause you harm.

00:01:35.909 --> 00:01:37.319
Let's break this verse up.

00:01:38.228 --> 00:01:44.308
Sri Bhagavan spoke to Arjuna because you're never jealous of my opulence, and you are sincere.

00:01:44.706 --> 00:01:48.126
I will share these supreme secrets with you.

00:01:49.099 --> 00:01:55.188
First of all, we can understand here that Sri Krishna wants to make it clear that Arjuna has some great qualities.

00:01:55.868 --> 00:01:57.819
One, he's never jealous.

00:01:58.069 --> 00:02:03.819
Arjuna doesn't seem to have any sort of jealousy about the greatness of others, and especially Sri Krishna.

00:02:04.453 --> 00:02:08.158
And this is one things that we need to note within ourselves.

00:02:08.473 --> 00:02:16.274
Do we have jealousy for anyone that is higher than those in terms of spiritual progress or further ahead in the spiritual progress?

00:02:16.623 --> 00:02:19.683
This can creep in without just even knowing.

00:02:19.734 --> 00:02:26.933
Whenever we find there is an aversion of some kind in terms of learning from someone, we can find that happening.

00:02:26.938 --> 00:02:32.114
So it's great psychological insight from Sri Krishna.

00:02:32.468 --> 00:03:00.925
That can show you what happens to a disciple when they are in the company of a true teacher, in the company of a true spiritual friend, and what that can entail and how the seeker or the devotee can get feelings of, like I said, aversion, of disillusionment, of jealousy, and that can hinder our progress.

00:03:02.319 --> 00:03:05.650
We also know Arjuna adores Sri Krishna.

00:03:06.009 --> 00:03:17.409
This is obviously highlighted in one of the most famous stories that are told in the Mahabharata, Duryodhana and Arjuna come to see Sri Krishna.

00:03:17.926 --> 00:03:19.486
And he's having an afternoon nap.

00:03:19.516 --> 00:03:28.926
And basically, Duryodhana sits near the head of Sri Krishna and Arjuna sits near the feet of Sri Krishna.

00:03:29.729 --> 00:03:36.770
And when Sri Krishna wakes up, he asks them, you know, what are they here for?

00:03:37.280 --> 00:04:01.296
And, they're both are looking for help in the war from Sri Krishna and Sri Krishna gives the choice of either his really strong army, from his own land or himself and, and he asks Arjuna to pick because Arjuna was the first person he saw when he woke up because Arjuna was at his feet.

00:04:01.537 --> 00:04:10.610
But that also shows Arjuna's humility that he didn't feel that he was at the same level, and he also respected Sri Krishna.

00:04:10.875 --> 00:04:22.428
And in India, in our Indian culture, it is very important that whenever we are in the company of, not elders, but people who are wiser, it doesn't matter how old you are, it's about wisdom.

00:04:22.819 --> 00:04:34.199
Whoever you feel you can learn from, which can be literally everybody, you sit at their feet, even the Upanishads is sitting at the master's feet is what it really can mean.

00:04:34.978 --> 00:04:37.199
So anyway, back to the story.

00:04:37.439 --> 00:04:44.593
Sri Krishna asks them what they want and Arjuna says, I want you Sri Krishna and Duryodhana laughs.

00:04:44.863 --> 00:04:47.444
And he is like, you choose one person.

00:04:47.673 --> 00:04:49.624
I wanted to pick the army anyway.

00:04:50.029 --> 00:04:52.610
And you know, this is an army of thousands.

00:04:52.970 --> 00:04:58.970
And this goes to show that Arjuna really does adore Sri Krishna.

00:04:59.449 --> 00:05:01.800
And it's not something that's just happened now.

00:05:02.180 --> 00:05:04.319
It's from a long time.

00:05:04.339 --> 00:05:06.680
And that shows his level of respect.

00:05:07.079 --> 00:05:17.944
Even though he may not have intuited what his decision would've brought, but it certainly shows that he was a lot wiser than people make him out to be.

00:05:18.434 --> 00:05:24.029
Anyway, back to the verse that Arjuna absolutely adores him and it's really obvious.

00:05:24.067 --> 00:05:29.697
Most of all, Arjuna has been a sincere seeker with his questions and has not pretended to be anything else.

00:05:29.916 --> 00:05:31.507
He's not pretended to be enlightened.

00:05:31.507 --> 00:05:34.994
He's not pretended to be something else, really strong.

00:05:35.384 --> 00:05:37.874
He's never disregarded anybody.

00:05:38.110 --> 00:05:49.314
He's held everyone, even those against him in high regard, and this is something to note because not everyone can deal with their enemies in the same way.

00:05:49.699 --> 00:05:55.555
With Arjuna, you can see even with his questions to Sri Krishna, they've been very valid.

00:05:55.975 --> 00:06:02.545
Even though they may seem critical of Sri Krishna, like for example, when he tells Sri Krishna, you've only killed demons.

00:06:02.545 --> 00:06:06.084
You never killed your gurus or your family members like you're asking me to do.

00:06:07.435 --> 00:06:09.504
Even with that, there's a sincerity to it.

00:06:09.535 --> 00:06:10.675
There's an honesty to it.

00:06:12.144 --> 00:06:16.584
Also his ability to be open with his mental state.

00:06:17.064 --> 00:06:21.055
How many of us are willing to admit that things are not okay in our lives?

00:06:21.925 --> 00:06:26.964
But Arjuna does this in the midst of a war where he is meant to fight now.

00:06:27.055 --> 00:06:29.785
That's his whole job, is to fight as a warrior.

00:06:30.375 --> 00:06:38.605
And in this battle he's talking about feeling low and talking about giving up.

00:06:39.415 --> 00:06:40.285
Who does that?

00:06:40.788 --> 00:06:49.158
Then when he accepts Sri Krishna as a Guru, then he asks these questions so he can understand deeply.

00:06:49.668 --> 00:06:54.738
How many of us, if we did ask a spiritual question, don't even do any follow up.

00:06:55.579 --> 00:07:01.168
And we then don't even care about how much we've achieved or how much we've learned.

00:07:01.819 --> 00:07:07.475
And actually normally our follow up questions tend to determine how much we've actually learned.

00:07:09.629 --> 00:07:20.062
It's only in enlightenment at the end of our journey of awakenings that we end up going towards silence.

00:07:21.351 --> 00:07:28.105
But before that, most of us, not all, but most of us, will ask follow up questions.

00:07:28.110 --> 00:07:33.665
So, I want us to appreciate Arjuna here and just like Sri Krishna is doing.

00:07:34.098 --> 00:07:38.778
Like I said, sometimes we may voice our grievances and hold back, but Arjuna doesn't do that.

00:07:38.783 --> 00:07:40.644
That's why I think Arjuna is a lot wiser.

00:07:40.978 --> 00:07:47.103
He is smarter, he's intelligent, and his sincerity speaks volume.

00:07:48.408 --> 00:07:53.057
And due to this, the secrets are going to be shared with Arjuna because he has earned it.

00:07:53.668 --> 00:08:02.187
This is the one thing that people don't understand, especially in the bhakti circles, people think, oh, if I have devotion, if I just surrender, I'll get everything.

00:08:02.584 --> 00:08:05.074
No, you have to earn that.

00:08:05.494 --> 00:08:09.543
And it's determined by how much you use your intellect in the beginning.

00:08:10.553 --> 00:08:11.853
Surrender happens afterwards.

00:08:12.153 --> 00:08:20.000
Before that, there's a whole work of the mind to address to deal with, and this is why Arjuna has earned it.

00:08:20.211 --> 00:08:27.334
While a lot of us, I don't think we deserve this type of knowledge because we are not willing to do the work beforehand.

00:08:27.514 --> 00:08:33.874
We just expect that, oh yeah, we just say to a master, to a spiritual teacher, yeah, we offer our life to you.

00:08:34.144 --> 00:08:35.583
We will do whatever you say.

00:08:35.884 --> 00:08:47.410
But really we wanna do our own thing, like deal with life in the way we want, but then expect to attain every fruit or reward possible in the spiritual journey, it doesn't work that way.

00:08:48.077 --> 00:08:56.264
In the second part of the verse, he says, by realizing this divine knowledge, You will become immune to anything that could otherwise cause you harm.

00:08:57.043 --> 00:09:08.548
First of all, once he has this divine knowledge, which he's already been given, but there's gonna be more emphasis on this, this knowledge of Brahman than whatever comes his way, will never harm him.

00:09:08.847 --> 00:09:19.648
Ultimately, when he has this knowledge of Brahman, when he understands it, when he abides in it, nothing will harm him because he's not the body and mind because that's a changing reality.

00:09:19.827 --> 00:09:22.288
He's that Witness Consciousness, which is changeless.

00:09:23.163 --> 00:09:29.148
Now, the harshest reactions could occur to him, but they will not touch him.

00:09:29.687 --> 00:09:33.498
They will not modify his behavior, modify the way he feels.

00:09:33.827 --> 00:09:36.048
They will not harm him in any way.

00:09:36.317 --> 00:09:38.327
They will not touch him in any way.

00:09:38.510 --> 00:09:40.740
They will not blemish his character in any way.

00:09:41.028 --> 00:09:45.918
These are the guarantees that Arjuna is getting and so are we, if we pay heed to the knowledge.

00:09:45.918 --> 00:09:47.989
If we pay attention to the knowledge.

00:09:48.139 --> 00:09:49.818
If we understand the knowledge.

00:09:50.749 --> 00:10:01.475
The one thing also that I find that happens in bhakti a lot, and there's a reason why I'm talking about bhakti a lot because the bhakti chapters are about to arrive.

00:10:02.249 --> 00:10:12.778
One thing I wanna mention is that true bhakti also means that you first understand the knowledge and that you get away from physical worship, idol worship.

00:10:12.948 --> 00:10:22.769
And I don't mean idol worship, just in terms of murtis actually, I'm on about worship in terms of the physical form alone.

00:10:22.769 --> 00:10:26.639
Like sometimes we think the physical form of the Guru should be worshiped.

00:10:26.729 --> 00:10:32.192
No, this is again, spiritual immaturity.

00:10:34.190 --> 00:10:39.169
I'm not saying don't appreciate the guru's form because without the Guru you wouldn't be where you are.

00:10:39.509 --> 00:10:42.450
But what I'm saying is the knowledge should be supreme.

00:10:43.080 --> 00:10:44.820
The knowledge is what you follow.

00:10:44.820 --> 00:10:46.470
The Gyana is what you follow.

00:10:46.710 --> 00:10:48.120
The Gyana is everything.

00:10:48.570 --> 00:10:51.809
This should be our insight.

00:10:52.004 --> 00:10:56.955
Also, if you're reading the Gita, it's not simply just reading the Gita or reading any of the scriptures.

00:10:56.980 --> 00:11:06.461
It's about practicing the teachings, putting it into our lives, experimenting with the teachings, seeing if they work, see what works for us, see what doesn't.

00:11:06.640 --> 00:11:10.431
Because not all of us are gonna go down the path of bhakti.

00:11:10.451 --> 00:11:12.760
Not all of us are gonna go down the path of Gyana.

00:11:13.211 --> 00:11:16.091
Not all of us are gonna go down the path of selfless service.

00:11:16.380 --> 00:11:19.410
Not all of us are gonna go down the path of meditation.

00:11:20.010 --> 00:11:25.650
Every one of us may have a mixture of all four or a mixture of two or, or just follow one.

00:11:26.894 --> 00:11:29.174
Whatever works for you is what matters.

00:11:29.235 --> 00:11:31.845
There's no right or wrong way, and that's.

00:11:32.414 --> 00:11:41.884
That's the message I wanna give on the podcast, even though my focus is more Gyana and a bit of bhakti and a bit of meditation and a bit of, selfless service (seva).

00:11:42.424 --> 00:11:44.945
But most of all, you gotta find your own.

00:11:45.715 --> 00:11:55.225
The other thing I wanna say about this is that Sri Krishna also is telling Arjuna, that remember what I'm telling you?

00:11:55.518 --> 00:11:59.538
One, you're gonna be immune to any harm in terms of if you get hurt in this.

00:11:59.778 --> 00:12:02.988
Remember, it's only happening to the body, not to your real self.

00:12:03.347 --> 00:12:12.168
And also if you're doing an action and you let go of the doership, remember you are not going to get the reactions to that karma.

00:12:13.168 --> 00:12:17.687
Now what he means by that is it's not that the body and mind will not face the consequences.

00:12:17.717 --> 00:12:26.807
It may do so, but because your intellect is so strong, because you're established in Brahman, it will not harm you the way it would harm somebody else.

00:12:27.607 --> 00:12:35.707
Yeah, you could do the same actions as the next person, but because you've been practicing the spiritual teachings, it will not cause you the same level of harm.

00:12:36.008 --> 00:12:36.788
Verse two.

00:12:36.990 --> 00:12:40.830
This is the secret knowledge that is primarily given to those who rule.

00:12:41.197 --> 00:12:49.096
It is the knowledge that empowers leaders to truly protect all beings and serve in a way that is pure and beyond the corruption of tamas.

00:12:49.538 --> 00:12:56.232
This knowledge is clear, always supports dharma, brings joy to all and is always true.

00:12:56.666 --> 00:12:58.089
Let's break this verse up again.

00:12:58.249 --> 00:13:02.188
This is the secret knowledge that is primarily given to those who rule.

00:13:02.485 --> 00:13:12.032
It is the knowledge that empowers leaders to truly protect all beings and serve in a way that is pure and beyond the corruption of tamas.

00:13:12.918 --> 00:13:17.230
Indirectly here, Sri Krishna has already made Arjuna the winner of the war.

00:13:17.639 --> 00:13:21.846
He's already declared his victory, which is very interesting.

00:13:22.259 --> 00:13:26.509
But he's also telling Arjuna that this is the way to lead your nation too.

00:13:27.028 --> 00:13:28.739
This is the way to lead your kingdom.

00:13:29.258 --> 00:13:34.197
He's referred to this knowledge as the royal knowledge, the raja vidya, the royal knowledge.

00:13:34.197 --> 00:13:41.967
This is how utilizing this knowledge is how he's got to rule, But what is the true ruler?

00:13:42.447 --> 00:13:44.607
What is really ruling everything?

00:13:45.168 --> 00:13:47.052
It's this Brahman, this Shared Being.

00:13:48.149 --> 00:13:51.448
Therefore, this is the knowledge of Formless Awareness.

00:13:51.645 --> 00:13:56.495
This knowledge of Formless Awareness is what makes us established in Brahman.

00:13:56.686 --> 00:14:03.432
Established in the Formless, makes us Formless in terms of identity, if you could call it identity.

00:14:04.393 --> 00:14:08.452
But we no longer associate with the body and mind.

00:14:08.482 --> 00:14:12.562
Therefore, we don't associate with name and form, status, title, and all this.

00:14:13.528 --> 00:14:16.467
But we rule because we serve without a title.

00:14:16.498 --> 00:14:17.668
We don't need the title.

00:14:17.668 --> 00:14:21.418
People give the title, but we don't rule from that title.

00:14:21.423 --> 00:14:23.581
We simply serve others.

00:14:24.000 --> 00:14:24.571
That's it.

00:14:25.087 --> 00:14:29.597
Now, this knowledge of Brahman is the true protector of all.

00:14:29.778 --> 00:14:34.158
If Arjuna keeps note of this knowledge, he will always be protected by it.

00:14:34.991 --> 00:14:47.932
When one says the world beyond laziness, inertia, or even expectations of some kind, one attains, the love of the nation, the love of the people, the respect of the people.

00:14:48.263 --> 00:14:52.403
And people will serve you because they see that you are an honest person.

00:14:52.673 --> 00:14:56.572
They see that you're a sincere leader, a sincere ruler of the nation.

00:14:56.966 --> 00:15:01.466
Now, what it means by over laziness and inertia, what can happen when people rule?

00:15:01.677 --> 00:15:06.386
You see this in companies today, which are really the new kingdoms.

00:15:06.716 --> 00:15:09.267
You see people become lazy with their ideas.

00:15:09.267 --> 00:15:10.277
They stop caring.

00:15:10.947 --> 00:15:20.246
They do cost cutting exercises where they stop caring about the people and they care more about the margin of profit instead of the margin of happiness.

00:15:21.506 --> 00:15:22.616
This is what happens.

00:15:22.647 --> 00:15:24.476
That's laziness and inertia.

00:15:25.376 --> 00:15:25.677
Yeah.

00:15:25.856 --> 00:15:31.639
When you start seeing that, for example, right now we see there is the whole layoff situation.

00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:34.919
In my opinion, this is the corruption of tamas.

00:15:34.940 --> 00:15:37.820
This is laziness from these companies.

00:15:38.000 --> 00:15:45.320
If you're not losing money in terms of if you are not in losses, why are you letting people off?

00:15:47.370 --> 00:15:51.909
You should allow people to work for you as long as you're earning profit, what's your issue?

00:15:52.230 --> 00:16:02.960
And a lot of these companies, okay, maybe some of them are facing difficulties, but a lot of them are still earning billions in profit and they're paying zero taxes.

00:16:03.537 --> 00:16:06.658
So that is what Sri Krishna is talking about here.

00:16:07.708 --> 00:16:13.948
Anyone that is doing these things, you can see they are lazy.

00:16:14.369 --> 00:16:19.259
The other aspect of laziness is that there is a big disparity in the income.

00:16:19.739 --> 00:16:30.359
So you see a lot of CEOs earning millions and you see, the lowest pay worker in the company earning a couple of thousands, they're just earning five digits.

00:16:31.563 --> 00:16:36.504
And in the lower end, we're talking about 15,000, 20,000, dollars or pounds.

00:16:38.120 --> 00:16:41.940
In my opinion, there shouldn't be such a big disparity.

00:16:42.539 --> 00:16:47.850
So that's also laziness where we don't have proper structure.

00:16:48.844 --> 00:16:53.364
These are the things to note where we can adapt this to the modern day life.

00:16:53.364 --> 00:16:59.759
So if you have a business, if you're an entrepreneur, that's how you apply the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita.

00:17:00.038 --> 00:17:13.404
It's not about being a poster person of, oh look, I'm following the Gita, I'm following the messages of Sri Krishna, look at me, while I rake in millions and let everyone else earn peanuts.

00:17:14.065 --> 00:17:15.144
That is not it.

00:17:15.535 --> 00:17:18.744
Or you earn money on the back of other people.

00:17:19.105 --> 00:17:31.162
Paying for like courses and stuff, and yet you're not really giving them anything that's truly tangible, in terms of you're not helping them actually, spiritually.

00:17:31.461 --> 00:17:39.251
For example, there is a very popular YouTuber podcaster, I won't mention the name outta respect.

00:17:41.788 --> 00:17:45.582
They have this coaching academy or coaching thing.

00:17:46.598 --> 00:17:50.348
Now how many other people are actually getting coached by that person?

00:17:51.801 --> 00:18:02.932
I doubt it, and the reason why I doubt it is because I've not heard one person today say, well, I come from that school where I got coached by that person.

00:18:03.204 --> 00:18:14.809
The one thing that I wanted to do with this podcast, with my podcast, or with the YouTube community is that if anybody comes to me for help, and they want to be coached.

00:18:14.809 --> 00:18:18.349
One, I should always be available for that.

00:18:19.997 --> 00:18:24.196
And you know, there may be a time when one cannot do that, for example.

00:18:24.406 --> 00:18:30.977
I think with that YouTube personality or podcast personality, I think now it gets to a point where it's difficult.

00:18:31.037 --> 00:18:46.967
So if you are putting a paywall there, what my issue was with the paywall is really, it is not that person messaging you, it, it's basically like an AI bot that is literally messaging you, not that person.

00:18:49.453 --> 00:18:53.233
So for me, what it is, the person has to be there.

00:18:53.653 --> 00:19:10.692
If I am to do this one day of spiritual coaching, academy, then I would expect myself to be the person that is leading it and I should be the one that helps you personally.

00:19:11.862 --> 00:19:15.011
And not only that, but there's follow up from me.

00:19:15.162 --> 00:19:20.501
It's not literally you do the course or you do the program and then I forget about you.

00:19:21.011 --> 00:19:21.461
No.

00:19:22.172 --> 00:19:27.902
Even if, say at one point I'm the coach and the other person is learning.

00:19:28.832 --> 00:19:39.664
Well, even if we become peers, at the end of the day, if we both become coaches, which should be the goal anyway, is that this should multiply.

00:19:39.670 --> 00:19:46.954
People should, I should be able to coach people who then will help others and they should have their own system.

00:19:47.224 --> 00:19:50.105
In fact, it'd be even greater if they're more successful than me.

00:19:52.929 --> 00:19:55.088
That should be the way it works.

00:19:56.183 --> 00:20:09.259
When I say this about obviously these people that are huge YouTube stars in the spiritual circles who've utilized the Bhagavad Gita, the Upanishads or non-duality or anything like that.

00:20:10.509 --> 00:20:21.400
But the other side is especially Gurus today in spirituality, especially them, how many of your people are enlightened?

00:20:22.299 --> 00:20:25.470
Not people, you just say they're enlightened, actually are enlightened?

00:20:27.673 --> 00:20:30.369
And how many of them have you turned into gurus?

00:20:32.349 --> 00:20:33.940
That should be the real test.

00:20:34.210 --> 00:20:37.630
If you still have disciples, in my opinion, there's a problem.

00:20:39.859 --> 00:20:57.336
This has to be addressed, not only in the spiritual circles, but even those that have taken a step back from being spiritual gurus, but are more like coaches or who made it more of an entrepreneurial thing, even with you?

00:20:58.446 --> 00:21:01.807
How are you creating more coaches?

00:21:03.307 --> 00:21:09.450
Like really, and that you have a code of ethics to support it.

00:21:10.470 --> 00:21:13.710
You know, it's not necessarily that this person can go wild.

00:21:14.319 --> 00:21:15.670
These are the things to look at.

00:21:15.720 --> 00:21:23.359
This person is not corrupted by finding shortcuts and looking for ways to bypass the system.

00:21:23.359 --> 00:21:25.640
No, that's not the real ruler.

00:21:26.609 --> 00:21:30.539
There are no shortcuts on the spiritual path because of how direct it is.

00:21:30.630 --> 00:21:31.650
It's simple as that.

00:21:32.400 --> 00:21:33.849
There's no shortcuts.

00:21:35.054 --> 00:21:40.701
There can be a shorter path and a more direct path but there's no shortcuts.

00:21:42.659 --> 00:21:47.348
In terms of to get to enlightenment, work has to be done.

00:21:48.898 --> 00:21:56.565
And then in the second part of the verse: this knowledge is clear, always supports Dharma, brings joy to all and is always true.

00:21:57.105 --> 00:21:59.234
This knowledge is about absolute clarity.

00:22:00.825 --> 00:22:06.605
It will clear all your doubts, it will address any questions you have.

00:22:07.355 --> 00:22:09.454
That's how pure this knowledge is.

00:22:13.025 --> 00:22:20.690
And if you feel that this knowledge cannot be questioned, then the knowledge you have is not perfect.

00:22:23.453 --> 00:22:29.529
This knowledge should be able to stand the test of doubt completely.

00:22:33.247 --> 00:22:36.676
Then it supports dharma meaning the path towards righteousness.

00:22:37.636 --> 00:22:41.656
So always you will be following that path of righteousness.

00:22:42.203 --> 00:22:44.898
Whatever is right for the many, not for the few.

00:22:45.739 --> 00:22:46.548
Simple as that.

00:22:48.318 --> 00:22:49.969
It brings joy and happiness to all.

00:22:50.538 --> 00:22:58.278
Anybody you encounter loves being in your company, loves being in the company of that truth and that remembrance, it strengthens them.

00:22:59.709 --> 00:23:01.269
And it is eternally true.

00:23:01.269 --> 00:23:05.499
Like I said, beyond doubt and will never disappear or leave.

00:23:05.528 --> 00:23:07.058
It cannot leave you in any way.

00:23:07.058 --> 00:23:08.378
It cannot disappear in any way.

00:23:08.528 --> 00:23:11.598
It's eternally static, you could put it that way.

00:23:13.094 --> 00:23:15.074
And nobody can take this knowledge from you.

00:23:15.344 --> 00:23:17.913
Nobody, not one person.

00:23:19.119 --> 00:23:26.410
You can lose it if you don't abide in it, but nobody can take it away from you.

00:23:26.859 --> 00:23:34.539
There's no magic mantra where there's someone will say something and suddenly you lose that Brahm Gyana or you lose that wisdom.

00:23:34.900 --> 00:23:40.420
No, you or me, ourselves, we can bring ourselves down.

00:23:40.981 --> 00:23:46.182
And we can lose that wisdom, but that wisdom does not leave us.

00:23:47.261 --> 00:23:48.432
Then verse three.

00:23:49.275 --> 00:23:59.882
Those persons who cannot stay in a state of shraddha and focus upon the invisible yet essential truths of dharma cannot attain a permanent connection with me.

00:24:00.592 --> 00:24:05.521
So they stay on the path that leads to repeated birth and death through samsara.

00:24:06.015 --> 00:24:08.085
We're gonna look at the whole verse itself.

00:24:08.904 --> 00:24:17.249
If we cannot remain in reverence, in faith, in deep faith to Brahman, then we will be repeating the process of birth and death.

00:24:17.368 --> 00:24:18.898
This is true.

00:24:19.588 --> 00:24:21.328
What does reverence mean?

00:24:21.328 --> 00:24:22.469
What does shraddha mean?

00:24:23.525 --> 00:24:27.545
It means that you are completely dedicated, completely devoted.

00:24:28.261 --> 00:24:31.021
It's, it's an unbreakable trust that you have.

00:24:33.419 --> 00:24:38.189
This, you know, he talks about the invisible and yet essential truths.

00:24:38.729 --> 00:24:40.858
One thing, I'm just gonna take a step back here.

00:24:41.338 --> 00:24:47.848
The underlying kind of truth that's there is this Nirguna Brahman, is this Formless Awareness.

00:24:47.848 --> 00:24:58.521
That knowledge of, the revelation of that, if you are truly having that reverence towards Nirguna Brahman, you're fine.

00:24:58.967 --> 00:25:05.864
You will not go through samsara again because you are completely devoted, but a lot of us aren't.

00:25:06.493 --> 00:25:15.000
A lot of us, we use spirituality as entertainment, and that is not on, in my opinion.

00:25:15.864 --> 00:25:17.723
We are not here to be entertained.

00:25:18.713 --> 00:25:20.483
We are here to be transformed.

00:25:21.836 --> 00:25:43.109
So a lot of people think, oh, you know, they attend a jagrata or they attend um, a kirtan or they attend a like a Mahashivratri event and they think, oh, look at the dancing, the celebrities and all this stuff that is all entertainment.

00:25:43.140 --> 00:25:44.849
It's got nothing to do with wisdom.

00:25:45.119 --> 00:25:47.730
Got nothing to do with your self transformation.

00:25:48.299 --> 00:25:50.069
Don't get fooled by such things.

00:25:50.817 --> 00:25:51.717
That's opulence.

00:25:55.451 --> 00:25:56.321
That's not Dharma.

00:25:58.692 --> 00:25:59.801
Let's make that very clear.

00:26:00.422 --> 00:26:02.761
Dharma is Nirguna Brahman.

00:26:02.981 --> 00:26:03.541
Simple.

00:26:04.409 --> 00:26:06.298
That's the complete righteousness.

00:26:09.595 --> 00:26:20.815
So the invisible yet essential truths of dharma is everything related to Brahm Gyana or the insights into Formless Awareness as I refer it to.

00:26:23.612 --> 00:26:44.724
those things can be leading an honest life, being sincere in your dealings, not being corrupted in any way, not harming others, when you're doing your actions, you devote it all to this Brahman and you don't see it as the body and mind doing it.

00:26:45.199 --> 00:26:53.375
Those are the, some of the invisible yet essential truths that are there, but also that you are not an individual soul.

00:26:53.454 --> 00:26:54.815
You are Brahman itself.

00:26:55.595 --> 00:27:08.953
So little things like that are the invisible truths and essential truths, or even one can say the mahavakyas of the Upanishads can be considered to be the essential truths of dharma.

00:27:10.544 --> 00:27:16.038
If we do not focus on this, then we will not have a permanent connection with Formless Awareness.

00:27:16.234 --> 00:27:20.644
Either it will be very transient or we will not appreciate it at all.

00:27:21.634 --> 00:27:43.882
That's simply what can happen, and if you fail to have this complete reverence and faith towards the truth, we will keep reentering samsara, this world and this universe, and if that's what we want, that's fine, but if like me, you, you want this, journey to come to a conclusion and a great conclusion.

00:27:44.932 --> 00:27:59.071
Then we want to end this repetition of birth and death, and we want to be free from this cycle of transmigration, and we want to enter into complete liberation whilst we are alive.

00:27:59.775 --> 00:28:00.825
Then the fourth verse.

00:28:03.944 --> 00:28:10.244
This entire jagat is pervaded by My invisible murti ‘nonmaterial transcendental form’.

00:28:10.576 --> 00:28:16.696
All beings are standing within Me, but I am not contained by or encompassed within them.

00:28:17.356 --> 00:28:19.366
This is very powerful.

00:28:20.325 --> 00:28:28.983
One verse, which I think if a lot of the so-called bhakti traditions that follow Sri Krishna as the ultimate.

00:28:29.269 --> 00:28:38.980
If they understood this verse, they wouldn't be, their philosophy wouldn't, well, actually, their philosophy doesn't stand, in fact, because of this one verse.

00:28:39.849 --> 00:28:42.490
So let's understand what this means.

00:28:43.000 --> 00:28:44.230
let's break this verse up.

00:28:44.944 --> 00:28:51.505
This entire jagat is pervaded by My invisible murti ‘nonmaterial transcendental form’.

00:28:52.369 --> 00:28:57.500
So this entire world, this entire universe is pervaded by Formless Awareness.

00:28:57.529 --> 00:28:58.549
This is what it means.

00:28:58.759 --> 00:29:05.945
So Formless Awareness is basically what you could say the ultimate being, and that is what we worship.

00:29:06.215 --> 00:29:10.819
This is the true form and the whole world, this whole universe is contained in it.

00:29:11.059 --> 00:29:12.529
Everything is contained in it.

00:29:12.679 --> 00:29:22.864
You could say the endless universes are within this invisible murti ,this non-material transcendental form.

00:29:23.646 --> 00:29:23.977
Yeah.

00:29:24.186 --> 00:29:28.477
The only true murti that exists is this Formless Awareness.

00:29:28.626 --> 00:29:37.146
In fact, what gives life to the murtis that we see in the mandirs is this Nirguna Brahman, this Formless Awareness.

00:29:37.284 --> 00:29:38.513
This is what it is.

00:29:39.443 --> 00:29:44.114
So if you understand what murti puja is.

00:29:44.884 --> 00:29:50.459
This is what murti puja is when you are worshiping this Formless Awareness.

00:29:50.638 --> 00:30:02.855
When you are in the awareness of Formless Awareness, that is murti puja in the true sense of the word, the true sense of the devotional act.

00:30:04.112 --> 00:30:12.182
So meditation and constant remembrance of Formless Awareness is the most supreme act of worship.

00:30:13.201 --> 00:30:15.451
That is true murti puja as I mentioned.

00:30:15.612 --> 00:30:17.261
I want us to be clear on this.

00:30:17.739 --> 00:30:36.300
So it has to be always based on Formless Awareness and you know, I would even go to this point and say that many use murtis of brass or clay, but the true rishis use Formless Awareness as the true murti.

00:30:36.567 --> 00:30:39.800
This is the way we have to be the latter.

00:30:40.550 --> 00:30:48.445
We have to be the rishis that use Formless Awareness as the murti as the true form.

00:30:49.536 --> 00:30:54.336
So like it says invisible, it's a non-material transcendental form.

00:30:55.205 --> 00:30:55.566
Yeah.

00:30:55.715 --> 00:31:04.205
It's meant to transcend form and it you could say, translates to the essence.

00:31:05.435 --> 00:31:17.226
So the essence behind all of existence, behind space as well, behind emptiness is this Nirguna Brahman, this Formless Awareness.

00:31:19.189 --> 00:31:29.088
Then the next part of the verse is: all beings are standing within Me, but I am not contained by or encompassed within them.

00:31:30.071 --> 00:31:33.336
All beings in existence are standing within Brahman.

00:31:33.936 --> 00:31:35.166
Let's make that very clear.

00:31:35.166 --> 00:31:39.817
When I say beings, I'm also talking about the celestial bodies.

00:31:39.997 --> 00:31:47.426
This whole universe, the stars, the moon, the planets, everything, people, we are all standing with Brahman.

00:31:47.644 --> 00:31:50.094
Everything is contained with Brahman.

00:31:50.624 --> 00:31:57.584
These people or individual existences can never contain or encompass this Brahman - Nirguna or Saguna.

00:31:58.070 --> 00:32:10.611
So what that means is that that whole essence, that complete essence cannot be just in one person or in one form.

00:32:16.257 --> 00:32:17.576
It can be.

00:32:18.426 --> 00:32:24.560
We can be within this because remember, this is essentially unreal.

00:32:24.891 --> 00:32:43.965
This name and form, this changing body and mind, this can never, this is all within Brahman, all within the Witness Consciousness.

00:32:46.306 --> 00:32:58.009
We have to understand this even Saguna, with attributes even then, because essentially Saguna is Nirguna.

00:32:59.671 --> 00:33:02.641
The attributes are attribute-less eventually.

00:33:06.376 --> 00:33:12.676
This Brahman cannot be contained by the beings.

00:33:13.997 --> 00:33:19.067
You know, a being cannot say, someone cannot say, well, I have the whole of Formless Awareness.

00:33:22.007 --> 00:33:23.176
When there's only Formless.

00:33:23.176 --> 00:33:24.356
Awareness, how can there be two?

00:33:24.997 --> 00:33:28.376
How can there be a being and Formless Awareness?

00:33:32.876 --> 00:33:41.193
Or how can someone say Formless Awareness is only within me, not within others, not possible.

00:33:41.493 --> 00:33:44.804
Therefore, do not think that this existence contains Brahman.

00:33:45.153 --> 00:33:50.564
It is Brahman that allows all existence to be contained within Itself.

00:33:52.894 --> 00:33:55.644
So don't think that, oh, this universe contains Brahman.

00:33:55.644 --> 00:34:00.840
No, there's this Brahman and this universe is contained within It.

00:34:01.740 --> 00:34:03.000
It exists within It.

00:34:03.240 --> 00:34:04.861
Without Brahman, there is no world.

00:34:04.861 --> 00:34:06.060
There is no universe.

00:34:07.000 --> 00:34:15.940
Therefore, the true rishis, they see everything as Brahman because of that, because there is no real cause to the universe, there's only Brahman.

00:34:17.630 --> 00:34:20.760
And everything else is a projection within that one.

00:34:22.123 --> 00:34:22.664
Simply.

00:34:23.414 --> 00:34:24.487
Then verse five.

00:34:24.864 --> 00:34:28.603
This is the immense power of my yoga created by my Atman.

00:34:28.806 --> 00:34:33.206
Behold, even though all beings reside within me and are Mine.

00:34:33.677 --> 00:34:37.702
I'm also a separate individual being entirely apart from them.

00:34:37.942 --> 00:34:49.251
So this is very important to understand because we have to go back to what he said in the, in the verse about being the invisible murti So we have to go back to that to understand.

00:34:49.628 --> 00:34:50.708
Let's break this verse up.

00:34:50.987 --> 00:34:55.829
He says, this is the immense power of my yoga created by my Atman.

00:34:55.880 --> 00:34:59.719
The union with brima means we see that this is the power of oneness.

00:34:59.840 --> 00:35:00.170
Yeah.

00:35:00.230 --> 00:35:01.639
This is the power of the yoga.

00:35:01.639 --> 00:35:09.329
This is the power of that union and it's created by this Purusha, this Ultimate Reality by this Nirguna Brahman.

00:35:09.989 --> 00:35:11.489
And this is the immense power.

00:35:12.059 --> 00:35:15.440
When you are one with all, then all is contained within you..

00:35:16.309 --> 00:35:17.804
This is what you can understand.

00:35:18.528 --> 00:35:26.449
And as Krishna says, rightfully so, that all is created by my Atman meaning it is Consciousness that has manifested all of this.

00:35:27.168 --> 00:35:29.088
Without Consciousness this cannot be.

00:35:30.081 --> 00:35:30.862
Think about it.

00:35:31.264 --> 00:35:34.835
Before any object of awareness, Awareness is prior.

00:35:35.255 --> 00:35:37.085
Therefore, awareness is supreme.

00:35:37.175 --> 00:35:42.875
And that is what Sri Krishna means by my Atman, Formless Awareness, not himself.

00:35:44.269 --> 00:35:46.130
His form died physically.

00:35:46.487 --> 00:35:48.673
I've mentioned this many times on the podcast.

00:35:50.983 --> 00:35:55.666
His Atman did not remain on Earth, and he never was on earth.

00:35:56.106 --> 00:35:57.487
It was everywhere.

00:35:57.757 --> 00:35:58.836
It is everywhere.

00:35:59.797 --> 00:36:00.666
That is what we are.

00:36:01.717 --> 00:36:07.860
So what we can say is that the mind creates the world through the five senses.

00:36:08.099 --> 00:36:25.414
Either way is right, either we say this mind has created everything and through the five senses, it projects its power, but essentially it's all unreal because when the mind diminishes or the five senses lose its power, there's only Witness Consciousness.

00:36:25.414 --> 00:36:26.463
There's only Awareness.

00:36:28.016 --> 00:36:33.447
It's through that power of awareness that all this is created.

00:36:35.634 --> 00:36:42.793
That's what we need to understand, that the screen of Awareness is what allows the movie of the world, of our existence to play.

00:36:44.567 --> 00:36:45.047
Okay?

00:36:45.217 --> 00:36:46.297
That's the way to see it.

00:36:47.047 --> 00:36:56.603
Another way is to see that the base of everything is Nirguna Brahman and everything has arise from the imagination of Nirguna Brahman.

00:36:57.215 --> 00:36:58.342
That's another way to see it.

00:36:58.489 --> 00:37:12.889
What I've just said here is based on what I've learned in Yog Vasistha, which I recommend that we should all learn, maybe in the, maybe in the future, I will look into Yog Vasistha on the podcast and and do a series on it.

00:37:14.402 --> 00:37:24.621
And then the next part of the verse is: Behold, even though all beings reside within Me and are Mine, I'm also a separate individual being entirely apart from them.

00:37:24.748 --> 00:37:28.599
All beings reside with Brahman and are Brahman's always.

00:37:29.199 --> 00:37:30.878
There's nothing separate to Brahman.

00:37:31.349 --> 00:37:32.208
It's all Brahman.

00:37:32.931 --> 00:37:33.202
Right?

00:37:34.115 --> 00:37:38.257
But Brahman is also distinct from them all, and as awareness completely separate.

00:37:38.530 --> 00:37:40.820
Remember this is based on Sankhya Yoga.

00:37:41.181 --> 00:37:43.570
You have the Purusha and you have Prakriti.

00:37:43.570 --> 00:37:47.981
Prakriti is nature and Purusha is that Changeless, Witness Consciousness.

00:37:48.190 --> 00:37:53.050
So what Sri Krishna is basically showing Arjuna and us how to make it your own.

00:37:53.391 --> 00:37:56.514
Don't see it as a knowledge out there, but bring it in here.

00:37:56.934 --> 00:37:58.853
That's why he's trying to show us.

00:37:59.063 --> 00:38:02.543
If we understand this hint, we will go much further on the journey.

00:38:02.626 --> 00:38:09.016
But if we think Sri Krishna's highlighting how powerful he is, then we've lost the plot.

00:38:10.336 --> 00:38:11.626
Literally have lost a plot.

00:38:13.336 --> 00:38:16.336
The whole plot is to say, you are this reality.

00:38:17.251 --> 00:38:21.481
Bring it inside of you now and understand that is the only Reality.

00:38:22.322 --> 00:38:26.012
That's what Sri Krishna is trying to do to Arjuna and for us.

00:38:27.119 --> 00:38:29.458
It is apart from everything, despite this oneness.

00:38:29.458 --> 00:38:36.298
So that everything is interconnected, but also awareness is always separate to it because it's the only thing that really is.

00:38:36.568 --> 00:38:39.298
Everything else is just like the images on the screen.

00:38:40.909 --> 00:38:44.498
When the projector turns off, the screen remains.

00:38:45.219 --> 00:38:51.579
Yeah, so the projector can be your body, your five senses, the mind processes everything.

00:38:51.748 --> 00:38:53.398
That's the images on the screen.

00:38:53.829 --> 00:39:00.976
Then once the projector stops, the senses stop projecting, the senses stop giving information.

00:39:01.186 --> 00:39:02.565
The mind stops functioning.

00:39:02.956 --> 00:39:04.726
Then all you have is awareness.

00:39:05.280 --> 00:39:05.806
The screen.

00:39:07.286 --> 00:39:10.485
There'd be no more projection, just the screen of Awareness.

00:39:10.635 --> 00:39:17.539

Thoughts on The Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 9: Verse 1 - Verse 5)

Follow:

Featured Episodes

Thoughts on The Bhagavad Gita Episodes

Recent Episodes

Thoughts on The Bhagavad Gita Episodes

Wisdom of the Mystics Episodes

General Spirituality Episodes

Advaita Vedanta Episodes

Guided Meditation Episodes

Conversations with The Bearded Mystic Episodes

Thoughts on The Upanishads Episodes

Direct and Unfiltered Episodes

Oneness Conversations Episodes

Bearded Mystic Reacts Episodes

Browse episodes by category

New to The Bearded Mystic Podcast?