This talk, Contradictions in the Bhagavad Gita, was given by Sri Sri Raghushankar in January of 1994 in Wegis, Switzerland. Why do you say that the Bhagavad Gita is full of contradictions? Please explain. Remember you promised. Okay, this is interesting. One of the most amazing ancient literature available in the world is Gita. It's commonly known as Gita or Bhagavad Gita. This is a dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna in the midst of the war, just before the commencement of the war. War field usually is not a place for knowledge. It is a place where rage, anger, hatred and all other negative emotions spring up and goes in full swing in actions as well. That is what is war. But here somebody is telling someone about meditation. Amidst of this huge chaos where millions of elephants and men and horse and all these weapons and forces assemble ready to fight. So this is a big contradiction to begin with. And if you have just gone through chapter by chapter, everywhere you will find contradiction. A very logical person if he reads Gita, he will feel more confused, he will keep it aside. He says this is not something to be read. See when you take it, Krishna tells Arjuna, if you don't fight, people are going to scold you. They will scorn at you, they will look down upon you. Look he doesn't apply the principle, don't be football of others opinion. He is telling him, you know what, people are going to laugh at you. It's better to die than to have dishonored life. And if you lose honor, what is the fun in living? Better you die instead of losing your honor, your respect, your prestige. Now this he is pumping his ego. And Arjuna didn't yield for it. Otherwise probably Gita would have finished there. He was little more clever. He said I don't bother whatever people think about me. Whoever can say whatever. I am not going to fight this war, Krishna. Why are you telling me to do such horrible work? Then he talks about the dharma. He says, you think I will gain some happiness by killing my own brothers, my own cousins? And people who taught me all this archery and all these elders and all these wise people, you ask me to fight with them, I will go to hell. He says, I am not going to fight, you do whatever you want. I am going off. So he puts his arms down and he was about to leave. Then Krishna tells Arjuna, look this is not your dharma. Your dharma when you have come in the battlefield is to fight. You are a warrior. If you win the war, then you will become the king. If you lose it, you will go to heaven. No, he never says that, ok, you are definitely going to win the war. Go ahead. No, he says, suppose you win the war, you will be the king of this world. If you die, you will go to heaven. Otherwise you will neither be here nor there. You will have no place on this earth. Nor in the heaven. Now Arjuna is more puzzled now. And then Krishna further says, you think you are killing them, they are already dead. Anyway they will be dying. See they are all very old people, many of them are old. And these other young people, it is not worth for them to live also in this world. They are all full of anger, anguish, agitation. What do you think you are going to kill them? Anyway the soul can never be killed, not destroyed. Give them all idea about the self. Self is indestructible. What do you think you are going to kill them? Just take your weapon and shoot at them. Don't think you are shooting at them, just leave it to me. And then Krishna says, action is deepest thing. You cannot escape from action. Anyway things happen. He gives so many arguments. People are always dying and always getting born again. You are a fool if you think you are killing them. Time is anyway destroying them all. He brainwashes a little bit, says action is the important thing. You must do action. Without action you will be nowhere. He goes further ahead and tells Arjuna, action is okay but knowledge is better than action. He praised action in the third chapter so much. But when he moves to the fourth, he says knowledge is great. Then what in knowledge? Again there is a question and again confusion. Arjuna says, tell me one thing please. You are saying all these sort of things and putting me in such a mess. I am already confused. You are confusing me more. Please tell me one thing. You said little while ago knowledge is great. Then you say action is the best thing we should do. You should do action. In a few minutes later you say you must do yoga, become a yogi. Drop everything, all these attachments to things around you. He says, please don't play like this in this war field. Tell me definitely. Please tell me definitely what I should be doing. Then Krishna tells him, he is intelligent. Who sees action in inaction and inaction in action. I would consider as intelligent only who sees action in inaction and inaction in action. Do you get it? What is it? While you are acting if you are focused on the essence then there is inaction. It doesn't act. And the reverse is true as well. You can apply this and see it in various ways. If you don't do something then also you have acted. Not doing. If you have done something then also you have not acted. Because by your not acting something else could have happened. Do you see? You didn't become the president of America. If you had become you could have done something else. So in your not becoming the president of America you have done a lot. You have done a lot of good or bad whatever. Are you getting what I am saying? And if you have acted then also there is an inaction. Because you have done this you couldn't do something else. This is one level of looking at it. From a very mundane level. And every action has got a? Inaction. And every inaction has got a? Action in it. So you see suppose you don't fight the war. Then also you have acted. You have not fought the war so you have made all those people do whatever they wanted to do. All chaos and you are responsible for the chaos. Can't you see that? Arjuna shakes now. And then he takes him to Dhyana Yoga. The meditation. Sixth chapter. He says okay. When you are very much confused no use of talking anymore. Now sit and meditate. He tells him how to meditate. Do pranayama. And then he tells him not one method. He says okay some people do it. Some people fast. Some people do pranayama. Some people do this. Some other people do this. And finally he says all these people do. Many. But what is most dear to me is one who thinks of me alone. Because he says he is the greatest among the yogis who keeps me in his heart. Whether he meditates or not. Even among the meditation. Meditators he says. One who keeps me in his heart. He is the greatest. He is the real yogi. Because I am constantly with him. Whatever he is doing. Because he is not breaking away from meditation. From morning till night he will be in meditation. So he talks about meditation. And then further. Like this there are many contradictions. Then he says Arjuna there is nobody dear to me at all. And he says there is nobody whom I love and there is nobody I hate. And then further he goes and gives the whole list of qualifications whom he really loves. In the 12th chapter he says you know whom I love very much. Who is very dear to me. One who is like this, like this, like this, like this, like this. He counts all that qualities that they should possess. Like this you will see many, many contradictions. See there is one place he says there is nothing like knowledge. And then he says knowledge is just like a detergent soap. Don't cling on to knowledge also. First he says don't cling on to action. But you must act. He says knowledge is better than action. So why don't you go to knowledge. Then when he is going into knowledge he says knowledge is just like a detergent. Don't cling on to knowledge also. So step by step one gets on to this step and then he says no not this step. The next step. But when you read it in a totality, the whole thing, take it, it looks very contradictive. From there to there. Do you see what I am saying? And then says oh look at what is the creation. Tells him what is your body. You are the soul, you are the immortal soul living in this body. You are immortal. Tells him you are immortal. He says no then you have to again think and do what you should do. Says if you just do whatever comes to your mind you will be nowhere. He says you have to follow the discipline. He says you have to look into the shastras, listen to that. You have to move according to natural law. And then he tells him all about what is sattva, rajas and tamas. The three gunas. And says you have to do according to three gunas. Later on he says finally he tells him okay I have told you all that I can. Now you do whatever you want. Finally he says oh I am taking off. Says you do whatever you want. Whatever is best for you I have told you. It's up to you to do whatever you want to do. But then he says but I warn you. Even if you take a decision against my wish you will do what I want. Because what I want is what is going to be happening. Because what would happen and what I want there is no difference. Then he says sarva dharman parityaja. Look Arjuna you are very dear to me. Again contradiction. Before he said I have nobody dear. He says you are so dear to me. Look drop all the things that you think you should do, you shouldn't do. Everything. Just take refuge in me. Finally said I will liberate you from all clutches. You see once he says in the chapter of action. You should act without looking for the fruit of action. Don't be interested in the fruit of action. Just act without the fruit of action. But then he is tempting him. Well if you don't act properly then. See it's again contradiction. See you have to do action according to natural law. Then you are attached to the fruit of action isn't it? If you tell him oh see if you win the war then this this will happen. If you lose the war this this will happen. So you should do like this. That means already attention on fruit of action. But then he says don't worry about the fruit of action. All that was to see Arjuna was like a friend. If you read Bhagavatam you will see that. Except one Vidura and one Uddhava. Even Uddhava says nobody thought he was even enlightened. They all thought he is very smart. Many of them. Of course there were Pandavas. There were some people. There were the Gopis who knew who Krishna was. How total he was from all angle. But many of them did not see him that way. So so same thing with Arjuna. Arjuna thought oh he is very dear friend of me. But when Krishna shows him in one moment that he is infinite. There is no limit and everything is within him. Finally he says Arjuna you can't see without the eye of knowledge. So now I give you a special vision. Special eye of knowledge which I have never given to anybody. He says in ages I am giving it to you now. Because this is the time. So with that he gives him a vision a flash. Arjuna simply gets shattered that moment. His whole mind gets shattered. He sees that the whole creation everything. The mountains and the rivers and the past the present and the future. Everything dissolving into Krishna. Krishna is that space is that infinity. In him everything is coming and everything is dissolving. Everything is like a movie. For an instant he sees that whole life and the whole universe. And all the memory all that was associated with it. Just flashes out like a movie. And it was frightening for him. Then he pleads so please show me your simple natural very friendly face. I like that. I like your simple smile and being my friend. I just want that. I don't want to see anything beyond. This is too much for me. This is too much for me. Please take it out. So he was shaking already from a different angle. Now he got shaken in a different direction. And he calms down. This is called Vishwa Rupa Darshan. The vision of the universal. At one moment the whole universe appeared as form of Krishna for Arjuna. Then he calms down. Then he is told about the yajnas and all the different principles. And arrangements in society. The law with which the society works. The universe works. And what is real sannyasa. How to real being in the center. How to be really centered and work. Unraffled by any events, instances. See an instant happens. And see how that words or that instance sticks the mind like stick glue. Just an event, an instant happening. Just like a glue sticks to the mind and you try to get rid of it. It doesn't. It gets more messy. Your mind is caught up. Oh he said that. They said this. They didn't say this. You know all those words. My God. Once they go away then you see such a relief. Oh where was this peace before? What has happened to me? Sudden realization comes. So we think peace comes to us from outside somewhere. This is not so. Our nature is peace. You are peace. The center of you, you are peace. But that has been dumped with garbage. Disturbance and that has to be thrown out. Just throw it out. You can actually feel it that all the brain cells, the entire brain becomes so calm and settled. The moment this garbage goes out. And deep inside you can really smile as a flame of peace. Words get stuck to the mind. The more I try to get rid of them, the more they get stuck. How can I free my mind? Yeah, this is again Arjuna asks the same question. He says, Krishna, I'll let you say all this. This all sounds very magical. He says, it's not easy. He says, this mind is so difficult to control, like controlling air. Can anybody control air? He says, no. Nobody can control air. How it blows, how the wind comes and goes. Like wind, this mind is impossible to control. What do I do? Then Krishna says, He says, yes, I agree with you. He says, yes. I know it is difficult. But it is not impossible. He says, with practice, with abhyas and vairagya, dispassion. Getting to the center again. And you will be able to succeed. He says, you will succeed. But you know, he was such a doubting Thomas. I mean, chapter six or seven, he gets the universal vision. Still Krishna has to go on for another seven chapters. He tried all his tricks. And finally gave up. And that trick worked. So when Arjuna says, I give up, Krishna says, I give up. You know, I can't do anything. You do whatever is best for you. You think, you do it. He says, you just think on whatever I have said, and you do. And then Arjuna says, no, no. Now I am clear in my mind. I will do whatever you say. So Krishna had to speak on 18 chapters to get him to that point. But we can do it at the very first chapter. If he had done perhaps in the very first chapter, that trick would have worked. But it is beautiful the way it has flown. That every step, knowledge has unfolded, unfolded. Just by visions also people cannot change. You know, okay, a miracle has happened. Some transformation has happened. Something has happened. He does not really bring it up totally from oneself. It needs something more. That's why after the vision, when he gave them the infinite vision, after that he spoke about who is dear to him. The twelfth chapter on devotion. And then he comes on all the other things, you know. Creation about food, talks about food also. What is sattvic food? What is rajasic food? What is tamasic food? How the food can affect your system. That's why truth is in contradiction. It's contradictory. It may appear to be all contradictory mess from one angle, but that is in fact reality. Dear Guruji, my motivation for the work is very little. Even the longing for God is so small. Often times there is nothing. What could I do? Should I pretend and go on? Could you help me or tell me how I can get motivation and longing with gratitude? Certain times such dullness grips on you. But don't give up. And you have not given up. That is one thing that's good. There is such a desert, such a flatness, such a dullness. If it comes in life sometime here and there, now and then, don't be shaken. Know you will be helped. And there will be help definitely. Just move through it. See when you travel in train, sometimes you find beautiful scenery, sometimes it's all tunnel. And sometime it is desert. There is nothing around you. When you come in through such places, don't think you will be stuck there forever. It's just a passing phase. Just this one word that this is only a passing phase. And if you feel very lethargic to do any work, then look into your diet. Do a little more asanas, run, do something, shout, yell, and create some trouble around you. Even then the flatness will be gone, you know. You will feel some pain and some unhappiness, some misery. Even then, you know, when you feel really unhappy, you go very deep and it stirs something in you. To be read aloud. Are there any tapes of your speaking about rising children that are available? If not, could you talk about this? We are making tapes to how to raise the adults. You don't need to do anything with children. It's only adults they need a repair. Unfortunately, the adults who have power over the children, they have to do something to the adults. Children are naturally, they have a tendency to share. You know, do not obstruct them in that. Don't create a selfishness in that. Oh, keep it yours, don't break it, don't give it to anybody. Don't give such commands to children. Share, let them be with everybody. And if you find them a little aggressive here and there, then you should know that they need a little more exercises or some tough work, hard work. Because the aggressivity in a child is because of restlessness. The energy does not find a channel to go. Do you know something? People who do gymnastics and lift weights, they are not aggressive at all. Do you know that? All these bodybuilders, people who work very hard, or truck drivers who are doing hard work, they are not aggressive. If you are aggressive and still you think you are doing hard work, I tell you, you may be doing, but not fully 100% putting your mind into that work. Or you have done somewhere too much without taking rest. There is some switch somewhere missing. See that? Especially in children, I am not talking about adults. In children, if you find aggressivity, let them do a lot of exercises, physical work, games, exercise, dance, music. And observing small things, nature, allow them to observe. When the awareness sharpens, then this aggressivity dissolves. First of all, when somebody is aggressive, they are not aware that they are aggressive. As an adult, if you are aggressive, that you are not aware that you are aggressive. But when you become aggressive, and you know that you became aggressive, you have done a big step, taken a big leap. You have at least now become aware that you are very aggressive. I am not saying this is good or bad. It should be under your control. Then it is okay. If you are aggressive out of your own control, then there is something wrong. Some screws have to be fit. And especially when children dislike something, just go into the root of it. Why they dislike it? And make them understand that there is nothing to dislike. Suppose a child is averse to yogurt. And you just nicely tell them and show them, see, yogurt, if you drink, you will become a superman or something. And just try to force a little bit into them. Then you will see very fast they will lose the aversion further. Whatever aversion they have, it is easy to get rid of it. But if the aversion sits there inside, once one grows older, then it becomes difficult to get it out. In the same way, kindness can be incalculated then. If a child is catching hold of the butterfly, then you should say, see, butterfly also has life. And you shouldn't kill it. And inculcate those values, kindness, love, compassion, care for animals, all that in that age, then a child will blossom more sensitive. Otherwise if a child kills a butterfly and shows, see, I have killed a butterfly. Oh, very good. You can kill many more. I will take you to the park. Today it will kill butterfly. Tomorrow it will kill something else. And next day, you know, it just grows on like that. Hunting and all that stuff. So that sensitivity they have that need to be protected. Panditji, why do you accept the personality cult? Don't know the English word for it. This is in German. Personne cult. In my view, your person is not the most important, but your meditation techniques, your wise words, all what you give us in exercise. Can you give your opinion about this? This is my first advanced course. For example, when we walked, people made maybe 50 photos instead of let you enjoy the nature. For example, let you walk with two or three people who you choose yourself instead of with the mass of people with whom you on that moment was. I think if you listen to Bhakti Sutras, all the steps, you will understand that when somebody is in bliss and joy, how they behave appears very crazy from different angle. When people are spaced out, they see there is no difference. Feel all are one. Then people sometimes dance, sing, sit, and forget things, and do things all opposite, whatever. And it is all accepted. So do not judge anybody. Of course, it would be nice just to walk and enjoy the nature. And if somebody is so interested in taking photographs, let them flash. Why do you curb their freedom? So I do not say no. So all right, whatever makes them happy, let them do it. Or I don't engage a photographer to photo me all the while we walk. But when somebody is doing, of course we tell them it is not necessary. What do you do with all the photos? Anyway, you don't even look at them afterwards. Even if you look, what is the use of it? It is not much use. But when there is such an urge to click the camera, we don't need to mind much about it. Somebody else like this once asked me, why they keep flowers around you? I said, well, I don't know. Why people should give you flowers? Well, these gestures, whatever we do, we bring flowers or keep flowers here. These are all mine. They are not at all important. Or when people stand up, why should they all stand up? When people stand up, why should they all stand up? Somebody else asked me once, why should people all stand up when you walk in? I said, never tell people to stand up. In fact, tell everybody to be seated. But everybody has the freedom to express whatever their heart says. So there is no need to curb that. In fact, this is the only place where all the personality dissolves. Spiritual knowledge means there is no person. It's no person. You dissolve all the persons in your mind, become so hollow, so empty. Otherwise, the world is full of personality cults. Whether you see a movie, movie stars, or politician, yeah, any party, and then there is politician. Their pictures. Even in a communist country, see, communism, see, all are one, but still Lenin is not one among them. They are different. Because our mind is used to see division, to see smallness. But meditation is not that. It is seeing the infinity in everybody. Even though you see people, you see them just as hollow, empty space, walking around. So in your mind, you know and understand all are one. One light, one being. One consciousness. That is divine. All other things are secondary. Gestures, the way one gestures. When we went to Belorussia, they welcomed us with a cup of salt. This is how in Russians people welcome. In India people, they welcome with a cup of sugar. And if somebody is welcomed with a cup of salt, in India it's a big insult. But the same action in Russia is an honor. Somebody is welcomed with a cup of salt, it is a very royal welcome. So the gestures are different in different places. And customs are different. Habits are different from different people. So we just accept everybody, create space for everything in our life. Maintain that equanimity in you. When somebody comes and scorns at you, then also you smile. Someone comes and gives you a flower, then also you smile. Then you have risen high. Then you have really become a human. You have risen above the personality cult. Always in your mind you are thinking, Oh, this man said this thing to me. Okay, I'm going to see this person. Oh, that person blamed me. The moment you have people inside your head and fight with them mentally, that is personality cult. Your mind is devoid of any person judgmental. If you stop judging about anybody in your mind, then you have risen above the personality cult. Divine cult then. Just see. Don't give much recognition to people's behavior because they just behave and they themselves do not know why they behave like that. One's behavior is foreign to oneself most of the time. See deep inside them you will find there is a huge field of energy, huge field of existence which is responsible for everything in the world. Then you will not blame anybody, accuse anybody, find fault with anybody. That is what is said in seeing God in everybody. If that word God becomes very difficult for you, then you can say, Okay, you see one big mind in everybody. Don't think people are all different individuals. They are part of one big ocean. Like in one ocean many waves come. Everybody is part of one big life, one big ocean, one big existence. If you can see this truth, this reality, then you are above personality. You know, some mistake happens. Maybe in the kitchen. Somebody while boiling the milk, they spill all the milk down. You know what happened? Immediately what your mind says, observe. Are you blaming any particular person there? Oh, this person did that. If your mind complains, for an event which has happened, suppose you have spilled the milk, what you would do? Suppose you did the same mistake. Somebody else did it. What's the big difference? You can also do that same mistake, isn't it? But when somebody else does a mistake, you boil. Have you noticed yourself? Getting angry? Just check this tendency in your mind. First step towards unity. How you can achieve unity is when a mistake happens, see that as a mistake, not as that person's doing something intentionally. Are you getting? And then you generalize, Oh, everybody is like this. All the people are hopeless. Mind starts. This is the way you started slipping down. Copyright © 2021 Mooji Media Ltd. All Rights Reserved. No part of this recording may be reproduced without Mooji Media Ltd.'s express consent. The Thirteen Monks Chant Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Govind Radhe Govind Radhe Govind Radhe Govind Radhe Govind Radhe Govind Radhe Govind Radhe Govind Radhe Govind Radhe Govind Radhe Govind Radhe Govind Radhe Govind Radhe Govind Radhe Govind Radhe Govind Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Govinda, Radhe Govinda Radhe Govinda, Radhe Govinda Radhe Govinda, Radhe Govinda Radhe Govinda, Radhe Govinda Radhe Govinda, Radhe Govinda Radhe Govinda, Radhe Govinda Radhe Govinda, Radhe Govinda Radhe Govinda, Radhe Govinda Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Murali Manohar He Giridhari Murali Manohar He Giridhari Madhav Mohan Rasa Vihari Madhav Mohan Rasa Vihari Madhav Mohan Rasa Vihari Murali Manohar He Giridhari Murali Manohar He Giridhari Madhav Mohan Rasa Vihari Murali Manohar He Giridhari Madhav Mohan Rasa Vihari Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Govind Radhe Govind Radhe Govind Radhe Govind Radhe Govind Radhe Govind Radhe Govind Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Murali Manohar Hey Giridhari Murali Manohar Hey Giridhari Radha Manohar Ras Vihari Radha Manohar Ras Vihari Murali Manohar Hey Giridhari Murali Manohar Hey Giridhari Radha Manohar Radha Manohar Ras Vihari Radha Manohar Ras Vihari Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Radhe Shyam Slokas