Education
Episode 1: Chapter 1 - Part 1
In this episode, we embark on a profound journey through the Bhagavad Gita, exploring its significance and the wisdom it imparts for understanding life's complexities. The discussion highlights t...
Episode 1: Chapter 1 - Part 1
Education •
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Speaker A
Sam, hurry up. Okay. O Shri Sadgura Venamaha O Samastajana Kalyani Niratam Karunamayam Namachin Mayam Devam Sadguram Brahma vidvaram Bhavani Shankara 1 day Shraddha Vishwasarupinam Yabhyam Vinana Pashanti Siddhasvantashtamishwaram Vasudevasutam Devam Krishnam Vande Jagad Kurum Ramaya Rama Bhadraya Ramachandra Vedasudhayam Nirbhayatvamaro Gata Dhanavastiya Om Namashivaya Om Namashivaya Happy Holi. I am very happy to begin this Grand Yajna. A study about Shrimad Bhagavad Gita. By the blessings of Puja Gurudev and the blessings of Lord Sri Krishna and all the Devatas, we are beginning this great study. We will be studying the entire Bhagavad Gita right from the first chapter onwards. Every month I will speak for a week on one chapter. So we will go on till the 18th chapter. Second chapter and 18th chapter is quite big. So we might take two months to study them. But otherwise one month per chapter. So the first question which comes to our mind when we begin this study is why should we study Bhagavad Gita? So first let me answer that question and then we will go into details of Gita. Why we should study Gita. We have enough knowledge with us. We have gone to school, we have gone to colleges. We have gained enough information, enough knowledge. So what is the need for the study of Bhagavad Gita? What is so special about Bhagavad Gita? I can differentiate the knowledge which we gain in this world and the knowledge which is given in Bhagavad Gita. We can call it wisdom. And the knowledge we have in this world is just knowledge. We gain knowledge of a particular aspect of our life. Life is very vast. Life is so many facets are there to life. But in the world we generally gain a knowledge of a particular aspect of life. If you ask some person, who are you? He might identify. He or she might identify with the knowledge which that person has gained. And say that I am a doctor or I am an engineer or I am a lawyer. But the knowledge of law or knowledge of medicine is only a small aspect of life. Life is not medicine alone. Life is not just law. There are lot of aspects of life. Life is about relationship. Life is about finding a purpose in life. Life is about the various emotions which come into our mind. Life is about dealing with those emotions. Life is about expressing our talents or expressing what is there within us completely. For example, a plant, let us say a rose. That plant becomes complete when it blossoms and it gives those beautiful flowers. Similarly, our life is not just a tiny little thing or little aspect. Lot of different facets are there to our life. And Bhagavad Gita gives us that wisdom which helps us to understand our life completely holistically. We have in Bhagavad Gita a dialogue between Bhagavan, Sri Krishna and Arjuna. Now Arjuna represents all of us. He was, during his time, he was the best warrior and he had some of the best knowledge available during that time. But still he got totally confused in the battlefield. He could not decide whether to fight the war or not to fight this war. He got thoroughly confused. He was confused regarding his own nature that who am I after all? What is my identity? What is my role in this whole world? And he had confusion regarding his duties. Also. He did not know whether to fight this war was good or not good. So he got thoroughly confused regarding his nature and regarding his duties. And that confusion led to great grief. In order to remove Arjuna from this confusion and also to release him from his grief, Bhagavan taught this Bhagavad Gita. He gave him some guidance and some wisdom which was very, very essential to him. And it is not only essential to Arjuna, but through Arjuna, Bhagavan has given this knowledge or wisdom to all of us. When we study Bhagavad Gita, we will find that our life will get totally transformed. That is one of the most interesting phenomena of this Bhagavad Gita. It is that wisdom which will transform us totally. There is what you call, there is that wisdom in this Bhagavad Gita which will give us first of all a purpose for our life. See, lot of us when we live in this world, we try to find some goal or other to attain. Right from our childhood, I remember as a child, even I had lot of various types of goals. First of all, when we go to school, looking at our teacher, we want to become like a teacher only. I want to become a teacher. Teacher means and then teach everyone. Then as we went through the schooling, various different types of goals came in our mind. Want to become a pilot? Want to become an engineer. That becomes like a goal in life. Then we also see various our relatives and friends. Some of them are good Successful doctors. So suddenly we develop that desire. Why not become a doctor? I can give medicine, I can cure people. Then as we go to college, we get involved with more and more people. More friends go into various types of entertainment pleasures. And many times we get the desire to become some glamorous person also in life. Want to become a film star. Or when we see cricket match then we also feel that oh, I can also become a sports person. Or many people, when they watch that Miss Universe and other competition then secretly they develop that desire. Oh, if only I can be also one of them. So in this way, looking at this world, we develop various desires in our mind to attain this goal or that goal. But if we analyze all these goals, if we try to study them very deeply, we will find that there is some purpose behind this goal. Suppose I decide to become an engineer. I should ask this question that why do I want to become an engineer? What is the purpose? Maybe I want to earn lot of money. But why do I want to earn lot of money? Oh, I want to build a big house and I want to have a very comfortable life. But why do I want to have a comfortable life? When I ask why many times to the actions which I am performing, to the goals which I have set in life then the purpose comes out more and more clearly. Finally I will have to say that I want everything so that I can become happy. But why do I want to become happy? There is no why. I just want to become happy. That's a very strange thing which we experience. All of us. We experience whatever be our goal in life. The purpose behind all these goals is that we want to be happy and we want to be peaceful. If suppose I attain some goal and I don't get that peace and happiness, I feel incomplete. There are some people who decide that okay, if only I can attain this goal, I will be very happy. And all they attain that goal. But still they feel that their life is somehow incomplete. I hope you are with me. Yeah. Thank you. So if we analyze our life, not only my life but your life, we will find each one of us. We have some goals we have set in our mind. Some immediate goal, some long term goal. But if we ask that question that why I want to attain what I want to attain, why I want to achieve that goal, whichever goal which I want to achieve, then the purpose will come out. And that purpose is something subtle. What I want to attain. The goal is something which we can define. It is something gross. It can be, it can be defined. I can convey to you Suppose I say that I want to become a doctor. It is something which can be defined. If I say I want to become a. Nowadays lot of new professions have also come. I want to become. I don't know what new professions. I want to become those. A band player, maybe music. Or I want to raise some nice breed of horses. It is something which you can more or less understand. Yeah, this is the goal. But what is the purpose? Is something subtle. I want to be peaceful. I want to be happy. Happiness is the purpose behind everything we do in life. Happiness is something very subtle. Happiness is sometimes gained. Sometimes seem to come from the world outside. But happiness is always experienced within. We have lot of money and I feel happy that happiness is felt within. Not in the money, not in the furniture, not in the house. But it is experienced somewhere within. So this happiness or this peace which I feel is what I seek. Not only I seek but every one of us, we seek this. Therefore in Hindi also when we give Ashirvat we say Sukh or Shanti. Miljaya Sukh or Shanti. Not Sukh without Shanti. Not Shanti without Sukh. Sometimes Sukh is there but no Shanti. Then it is just pleasure. We throw a party. We get oh lot of excitement is there but no Shanti. After all people go away. We have to wash the dishes because the servants have drunk all the remaining whatever is there. And nobody is awake. So there is lot of joy seem to be there but there is no Shanti. But at times we feel oh everything is peaceful. But there is tension in the atmosphere. In the world also we sometimes say the situation is peaceful but tense. So there is peace but no happiness. That means the peace is incomplete. And happiness without peace is incomplete. Happiness. We want to be happy. We want to be peaceful. And when do we want to be happy? And when do we want to be peaceful? We want to be happy now. And we want to be peaceful now at all times. Suppose somebody says that after five years you will become peaceful and you will become happy. That type of happiness I don't want. I want happy. I want to be happy. Year and now I want to be happy at all times. I want to be happy. When I say I you also. I want to be happy under all circumstances. I want to be happy without much effort. If someone says that you climb Mount Everest and you will be happy. It's too much of effort. I want to be happy. Awarefully someone says you take some drug or go to sleep, you will be happy. No, I want to be awake and I want to Experience that happiness. I want a happiness which is everlasting. I don't want a short happiness. See, this is all that we desire. This is all that we seek in our goals, in our relationship, in our careers, in our day to day actions. We are seeking this. We are seeking something which is much sublime. But when we look at our life, we find that somehow we have not attained this. We as humanity, we as human beings, we have gained great strides in different fields. In the field of science, in the field of arts, in the field of music, in the field of medicine. We have gained great strides. We achieved great things. But still human being as such is not very peaceful and not very happy. People who do research, they keep doing this type of research. That which country is very happy, which. Which community is very happy. What type of environment makes a person happy. But generally they fail to come to the point. So we have all the knowledge in the world. We have all the facilities in the world. But somehow we find they lack in giving me that peace and happiness. Don't you agree? Okay, we should start with agreement. I mean, continue with agreement. But this is very, very strange thing which we experience in this world. So what is lacking? If we, if we look at it, we'll find that there is some something which is lacking somewhere. And that what is lacking is called wisdom. The right type of wisdom, the right understanding is lacking. And that is supplied to us by Shrimad Bhagavad Gita. Bhagavad Gita is a book of wisdom. It is a book studying which we will gain this wisdom. And this wisdom will tell us how to be peaceful and how to be happy under all circumstances. This book will not only tell us how to be personally happy, but it will also tell us how to make our family, our community, happy and peaceful. This book will give us the path of righteousness which if we follow sincerely, we will gain not only internal peace, but external prosperity. Let me just bring a term which is very famous which is used in Bhagavad Gita, which is the very first word of Bhagavad Gita. You know what is that term? Dharma. Dharma is the first word of Bhagavad Gita. And the last word is Mama. According to our great Rishi Munis, the essence of a book, especially the scriptures, is conveyed at times by the first and the last word itself. The first word Dharma means that path of righteousness. And Mama means my Dharma also means nature. So the entire essence or the theme of Bhagavad Gita is to reveal to us, my nature. Who am I? What is my real nature? While defining this Dharma. Actually, Dharma is such a word which doesn't have just a single word translation in English. While talking about this word Dharma, Bhagwan Shri Adi Shankaracharya Ji, he says that Dharma is that which follow. When we follow it, it will give us Abhudai and nishray. Abhudhai, Nishresha, Karanam. Abhudaya means all round prosperity and Nishresa means inner peace and joy. It's very interesting. Bhagavad Gita will not teach us a technique by which we become poor. Bhagavad Gita doesn't tell us that you drop everything and go to the forest and stay there and you will be peaceful and happy. We may not know about the tigers there, but you will be peaceful and happy. Bhagavad Gita teaches us a path by which we can attain all round prosperity and inner peace and joy. Abhudhaya and Nishresa. If we follow this path of Dharma which is indicated in this Gita, Bhagavan says, your actions will become so efficient, your relationship with the world will become so perfect, your interaction with the people around you will become so harmonious that you will be able to attain outer prosperity. Our scriptures talk about those ancient times when people used to follow this Dharma very sincerely. Will find that they talk about a prosperous country, a prosperous kingdom. When we see the description in Mahabharata also of Hastinapur, of Indraprastha, it was a prosperous kingdom, lot of wealth, even Ramayana. We have the description of Ayodhya and of Janatpuri. They were not just poor places or poor kingdom, they were very prosperous. And how they attain this prosperity by following the path of Dharma. In this path of Dharma, briefly, if I have to say, more importance is given to duties rather than rights. See, in the modern times, our attention gets more and more focused on rights. R I G H T S We talk about. Everyone talks about rights nowadays. Animal rights, human rights, right for the. What you call for a woman of trees and of plants, of environment. Everyone talks about rights. Why so much is so much attention is given to rights? Because people somewhere are not performing their duties. When we fail to perform our duties, then we have to talk about rights. For example, a family is there, mother, father, children. If suppose everyone performs their duties which is allotted to them. The parents, they perform their duties, the children, they perform their duties, then the rights are taken care of automatically. When each and every member of the community performs their duties well, then the rights of the community is taken care automatically, not only of human beings, but even of animals, birds, plant. Everyone is taken care of automatically. So Bhagavad Gita. Bhagavan talks about this path of righteousness also as Dharma. He says, if you follow this path of Dharma, you will gain all round prosperity. And as you gain all round prosperity, you will also gain peace and happiness within. As we move in our life, we will find our life becoming more and more peaceful, more and more happy within, and the outer situation becomes more prosperous, more harmonious. Now, what exactly is this Bhagavad Gita? Just few details. Many of you must have heard Bhagavad Gita before also. But we always have to assume that you are listening it for the first time. So we give all the statistical details also. So Bhagavad Gita is a text of about 700 verses found in the middle of Mahabharata. Tomorrow I will tell you briefly the story of Mahabharata also briefly. It is found in the middle of Mahabharata. It's a dial, it's in 18 chapters and it's a dialogue between Bhagavan Sri Krishna and Arjuna. Bhagavad Gita is considered the essence of all the scriptures. It is considered the essence of the Upanishads. Also Sarvopanishad. There is a very famous mantra, Sarvopanishado, Gavo Dob dha, Gopalanandanaha Partho Vats. The Upanishads are like cows. And Bhagavan Sri Krishna is the milkman, I mean the one who milches the cow. And Bhagavad Gita is the milk and the Vatsa. Arjuna is the vatsa, the Kaaf. Not only Arjuna, but other wise people also are the calves who drink this. Bhagavad Gita, the very source of our spiritual wisdom comes from the Vedas. Vedas are the most ancient scriptures in the world. There is a very famous statement that Veda, Akhila Dharma Mulam, that Veda is the very root, very source of all Dharma in this world. It's very, very ancient. Vedas are considered to be revealed scriptures. They are not product of human intellect. Most of the scriptures, most of the wonderful scriptures of this world are not product of human human intellect. They are revealed. There is a very strange thing happen when the mind becomes absolutely peaceful and quiet. When our mind becomes absolutely still and in a state of perfect tranquillity. A very strange thing happens. And what is the strange thing? Knowledge Happens that is called intuition. Such intuitive knowledge is the. Is the. Is the scripture? Are the scriptures. Scriptures are knowledge revealed, wisdom revealed. To the Rishis, who were the great scientists of life, in their deep state of meditation, when their mind was absolutely peaceful and quiet, the knowledge happened. Since it happened, it is not a product of human intellect. It is not a product of step by step thinking. See, we experience such things in our life. At times we just happen to know something we don't know why we know that even in the field of science also this type of cases are there. Like the famous story of Newton. It is said one day Newton was sitting in the garden, very peaceful, very quiet. And suddenly one apple fell on his head. And he started wondering that why this apple fell down, why didn't it fell up, why didn't it go up in sky? And then suddenly that revelation took place about the gravitational law. That there must be some force within this earth which is pulling that apple towards itself. Even about Archimedes, it is said, you must have heard great scientist. So he was sitting in his bathtub. And that is the only place where you are totally free of all your other worries and all best place to relax and enjoy life. Bathtub. And during those times, those people were not very regular in taking their bath because water shortage and whatever. So he was totally relaxed. He was thinking about a problem in science. But then he gave up all his worries. And he was just sitting in that bathtub, free of all his worries and totally silent. And when he was in that state of complete peace and silence, Eureka. Suddenly that discovery happened. Suddenly he realized the law of buoyancy and all of water. A revelation took place. And that is called a revelation. A knowledge which just comes in a receptive mind and intellect. Our mind or our intellect, when it is peaceful and quiet and calm, it acts like a receiver. Just as our television or our radio. When the radio is absolutely tuned properly, it is a perfect receiver and it receives the waves which are already present. Even here, when where we are sitting, lot of radio waves are there. Around fm, amw, BMW. No, sorry, various radio waves are there but we can't hear because we don't have the proper equipment. Or it is switched off luckily and it is not tuned. But when we switch it on and it is tuned, we can hear what is already there. Radio doesn't create the music. Radio just receives what is already transmitted. Similarly, the great Rishimunis did not create the scriptures. They just received this in their deep state of meditation. Therefore, no Rishimuni claims this Knowledge they don't sign their name after the scriptures. So it's a revealed scriptures. So Vedas are revealed knowledge in the peaceful. Even now in the present time also, if our mind becomes absolutely still, we will gain that understanding within. Once one person approached Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi Ramana Maharshi was a great saint from South India. Person approached him and he requested. He said, I want to see God, please help me. He said, you just sit here and be still. Not just physically, but mentally also be still and when you become perfectly still, you will know that you are God. Be still and know you are God. In Patanjali Yog Sutra also Patanjali Rishi says Yoga Chitta Vritti Nirodha that what is Yoga? Yoga is the stillness of the mind. No thoughts are disturbing the mind. A person is awake and the mind is still. See, generally when we are asleep, our mind is still. Hopefully otherwise there also we start dreaming. But when we are awake and the mind is absolutely still in that stillness, the seer of the mind gets established in itself. Tada Drishtuhu Swarupe Avasthanam. So the Vedas are the scriptures which were revealed to the Great Rishi Munis. In the Vedas we have the Karmakanda that is the portion which teaches us about action, about the various types of rituals which help to purify our mind. In the Vedas there is a portion wherein it teaches Upasana different types of meditation techniques to create give that concentration to our mind. And the Vedas contain the Upanishad, the knowledge portion which reveals the nature of that supreme reality. So Bhagavad Gita is the essence of the entire scripture, the Vedas. If we cannot study the Vedas, if we cannot study all the Puranas Itihas. Just by studying Bhagavad Gita you will get the essence of everything. There's a very famous Shloka that Gita Sugita Kartavyaha Kim Anya Shastra Vishtarayhi Yas Vayam Padmanabhsya Mukha Padma Vinishrutaha that you study Gita itself properly, beautifully, completely studied, deeply contemplate on it. Need not go into all other scriptures. Then you don't have to study other scriptures. If you study Bhagavad Gita properly, no need to study all other scriptures. Why? Because this Gita has been revealed directly by the Lord Himself. Mukha Padma Vinishrutaha. So Gita is considered as the very essence of the Upanishad. Essence of The Scriptures and the study of that Gita gives us that wisdom. This wisdom will make our life more peaceful. This wisdom will make our life more happy. This wisdom will give us that prosperity. Again, to briefly convey the essential teaching of Bhagavad Gita, I can say that there are three important factors which are taught in Bhagavad Gita. As I go along, I will increase the number at present trees enough. Bhagavad Gita teaches us how to be a good person, how to make our mind or our heart pure. Bhagavad Gita teaches purity of the mind. One Bhagavad Gita teaches us complete wisdom. And third thing, Bhagavad Gita teaches us efficiency in action. Purity of our mind or our heart. Wisdom and efficiency. All these three are necessary to make our life complete. To make our personality complete, all these three are necessary. Goodness of the heart, wisdom and efficiency. And all this. Bhagavan calls it Dharma. Only in the 12th chapter, while talking about the goodness of the heart, Advaishta, Sarvabhutana, Maitra, Karunaye Vacha. Bhagavan says this is Dharma. That this is Dharma. To have no hatred for any living being is called Dharma. To be friendly with all beings is called Dharma. To have compassion, to have the sense of forgiveness, to be free from pride and ego is called Dharma. Goodness of the heart. Amanitvamadam Vitvam Ahimsaakshantirajavam. Freedom from pride and vanity, freedom from fear. Goodness of the heart is revealed in Bhagavad Gita. What is the meaning of that goodness and how to attain it? Because the joy which we feel in this world depends directly on the goodness of our heart. How pure our heart is, we will be able to experience joy. See, when our heart is not very pure, we experience joy. When something I get, if I get a lottery, I feel happy. But when my heart is pure, I will be happy. Even when the other person is happy, I will be happy to see other person happy also. So my nature or my ability to be happy increases. So goodness of the heart. Second thing which Bhagavad Gita will give us is, as I said, wisdom. Nyan vidnyan wisdom. Ability to see the world in a different way. When Arjuna came on the battlefield, he saw the whole army in front of him, both the armies. He told Bhagavan Krishna to bring his chariot in between the two armies. He saw both the armies and Arjuna got totally confused. Bhagavan gave this knowledge by this knowledge the vision of Arjuna changed. Wisdom gives us vision. Wisdom gives us a new eye to look at the world. The eye of wisdom. It tells us how to look at the world, how to look at ourselves, how to look at the different situation and the way we look. We experience different things in this world. It changes our vision. I give this example very often about how the change in vision can change our attitude completely. There was this person waiting for his flight to take off and he was sitting there outside. Actually his bag was kept at one place and he was busy reading one novel waiting for the announcement and he had bought one packet of Uncle Chip and he had kept it on the chair next to him and he was reading that novel. James had lich's. I don't know whether people read it now or some other novel. And he was just picking up on Uncle Chip and eating and another one lady was sitting on the other chair and suddenly he noticed that she also picked up one Uncle Chip and started eating. Stranger strange. I bought this Uncle Chip and this auntie is eating my Uncle Chip. Very strange, but I was. That person was so involved with the novel that he said forget about it, let me just take another piece. And he continued eating and then thinking in his mind at what horrible people are there, at least they should have some courtesy. If she is hungry she should ask. And he was very furious. Suddenly the announcement happened and that a lady got up and went and he also got up and he started collecting his bag and suddenly he noticed that there is a fresh packet of Uncle Chip on the other chair. And he realized that is the packet which he had bought. And all the time he was eating the Uncle Chip which belonged to the auntie. When he came to know this, his attitude suddenly changed. Instead of cursing that auntie suddenly he changed his attitude and he started saying that oh that I was wrong all the time. It was I who was selfish, I who was. And she was so kind enough to share the packet of Uncle Chip with me. So vision, the vision can change. If I. When I look at this world, if I think the world is my is a. Is a battlefield and I have to, I have to fight to gain things in this world then that is what I get. I get a fight. Because that is my vision. And as per my vision, things happen in this world. If I look at the person in front of me as my competitor then I have to struggle, I have to fight with that person also. But if my vision change, if my attitude of looking at that person and the world changes then Suddenly the world also changes. Wisdom gives us that vision. I remember the story of Swami Ram Tirtha also. Great saint from North India. And he was going to America. And he was wearing this sanyasi dress carrying very few, few things. Only one jolie was there with him. One little bag. And he was on that ship which was sailing to America. A lot of other foreigners, other people were there. And this strangely dressed person. People were quite amazed that who is this person? And one person was observing him that he is not carrying much saman. He seemed to be alone. He is totally in his own world. As though, but absolutely peaceful. No agitation on his face, a smile on his face and moving around on the deck fearlessly. So he approached him that who are you and where are you going? He said, I am Swami Ram and I'm going to America. He said, have you been there before? He says, no, the first time I'm going. He said, do you know any person? He says no. He said, do you have any friend there in America? He said, no. He said, where will you stay? You're going to a strange land. You don't have a friend. You don't have anyone. The where? It's a strange place. You can't stay just like that. Who is your friend there? Who will take care of you? Who will. Who will where? You will what you call. He will give you food and take care of you in all ways. Who is there? He said, you, you are my friend. You are asking so with so much concern in your eyes about my welfare. You are my friend. You will take care of me. Why I have to worry? I will stay at your place. It's a factual thing. And that person was so amazed. He was so touched. Because he experienced as though his own, some near and dear one. He is telling him. He said, yes, you stay at my place. I will take care of you. And he stayed with him for some six months or so when he was in America. Because Swami Ram, his vision was the world is my home. World is not a battlefield. World is not a enemy ground or something. This world is my home and all people are my own. They are my own self. They are not strangers. They are not enemies. They are not some rakshasas or something. They are my own self. When he looked at them with that attitude, the world also responded to him with that attitude. So this is a very powerful thing which is. Which is conveyed in Bhagavad Gita. It gives us that vision. The vision of oneness. The vision of oneness. See our science, our politicians, our Economists, our people in this world, they give us lot of wonderful vision. But all their vision is of division only. They give us vision of how I am better and the other fellow is bad. They give us vision wherein we see differences in the world and where we see differences there will be fight. Even if we see differences among Gods, there will be fight. If we see differences among religions, there will be fight. There won't be an expression of love. There won't be an expression of kindness or compassion. This expression comes only with the vision of oneness. So that vision of oneness is revealed in Bhagavad Gita very beautifully. When we study it sincerely, deeply contemplate on it, our eyes will change. Eyes means not the physical eye. The way we look will change. Actually it will change. So Bhagavad Gita gives us the purity of our heart. We will be able to experience some emotions which we have never experienced. It is said that if we leave this world without experiencing some sublime emotions like compassion, like forgiveness, like real friendship, like humility then we have not experienced. See, we generally want to experience things of this world. People ask oh, have you seen that movie? Very nice. If you have not experienced, your half, your life is gone. Hundred movies you should see before you die and everyone will have a different list of hundred movies. So by the time you see all this, you will die watching the movie itself. So the purity of the heart. We are able to experience some emotions which are so deep and so sublime that we will not. We will not mind even dying early if we have to experience. If we get that experience of that sublime emotion like compassion, like real. What you call that state of supreme humility or that experience of fearlessness? Fearlessness. With all the wealth, with all the position, with all the weapons in this world we may not experience fearlessness. Fearlessness is experience when we get the right direction which is given to us in Bhagavad Gita Abhayam Bhagavan says fearless. When Hanumanji went to Lanka, all people were scared of that Ravana. Even the Devtas were scared of Ravana. They were frightened like anything. And here our Hanumanji was standing there fearlessly. So Ravan asked that how come you are so fearless? He said that I am the Sevak of the Lord who is controlling this whole world. Who is the master of this whole world. I am his Sevak. Why should I have any fear? It gives us that fearlessness. It gives us the experience of some of the most sublime emotions which are very rare. So purity of the mind. I mean the right vision. That is wisdom. And third thing which Bhagavad Gita gives us is good alert efficiency. Efficiency in action. Goodness of the heart remains in the heart. Wisdom remains in the in our mind. But efficiency is that goodness and that wisdom when it comes out, it is the efficiency. A person who is wise and a person who is good but not efficient is totally becomes useless only it is like money in the bank which we cannot use. Money in the Swiss bank but we forgot the password. That is called inefficiency. Lot of knowledge is there but don't know how to put it into practice. Efficiency is to put into practice. What I have understood through my action, through my speech, through my other expressions I can express what is there within me. It's like the flower. When it blooms the fragrance which was there in the flower it comes out and gives fragrance to the whole world. Efficiency is very important. All three are important. If even one is missing from our life, our life will become incomplete and sometimes dangerous. I will tell you if we have let us say no goodness of the heart but other two is there. Other two will not be complete also. Wisdom will not be of oneness. But a person is very intelligent and very efficient. But not of a good nature. Heart is not good. Such a person is the most dangerous person in the world. Most of the harm which is caused in the world are caused by intelligent smart people who are very efficient. Not by poor little people. Smart, intelligent, efficient people who know how to handle different equipments and all goodness. Even even Ravan. He was very intelligent, very efficient. But heart was not pure. So created lot of disturbance in the society. So very important. But suppose somebody is good at heart but not wise. Such a person suffers in the world in a way. Good hearted but little unwise. So we perform some actions or we interact in such a way that we start getting different type of experience. Many people say, I am such a good person, why I have to suffer? Why good person suffer? You suffer not because of your goodness but because of your foolishness. Because if I am good, I should also be wise enough. See, Bhagawan, Krishna is good and he was very wise. When he went to Duryodhana, Duryodhana invited him. He said, you come to my place for food in my Mahal. Krishna said, no, I will go to Vidur's house. He knew the chalaki of Duryodhana. He knew that he is trying to do some harm only. So we should have that goodness but we should have that intelligence and wisdom to understand the nature of people and the world around the outward nature, nature of their mind, nature of their intellect. Hmm. It's like my goodness when I look at the cow and I with my goodness, I look at the tiger, I see the same divinity. I want to serve them. I want to go and embrace the cow. Very good idea. But I want to go and embrace the tiger. Very bad idea. Wisdom will tell me to keep a distance. So wisdom is required. Goodness of the heart is required, and efficiency is also required. All these three we come to know in gain through the study of Bhagavad Gita. So with this little introduction, tomorrow I will tell you the background of Bhagavad Gita in context with Mahabharata also. So what exactly is the situation in which Arjuna was taught this Bhagavad Gita? That will make it very clear. We will chant today's. Since we are beginning this Bhagavad Gita, we will chant the first verse and try to understand it. This will be the style. We will chant these Shlokas and we will try to understand the meaning directly as it is revealed by the Lord himself. You please repeat after me. Om Shri Paramatman. Om Shri Paramatman. Dhyatarashtra Together Kema Kurvata Sanjaya. This Bhagavad Gita is a dialogue between Dhritarashtra and Sanjay. And Sanjay reveals the dialogue between Bhagavan, Krishna and Arjuna. So it begins with this question of Dhritarashtra. He is asking Sanjaya, who was his minister, that what exactly happened when my son's Makaha means his hundred and one children and all the Kaurava armies. He called them Mamakaha, my people. When my people and Pandavaha and the army and this Pancha, Pandava and all. When they assembled Sama Veta. When they assembled where? Kurukshetre at Kurukshetra. What is this Kurukshetra? Dharmakshetra, which is a very holy place. And why did they assemble there? They had a party or something. He says no Yuyut Savah in order to fight when they assembled there? Please tell me, came Akuruvatta Sanjaya that what did they do when they assembled there? See, Mahabharata war happened for 18 days. I will tell the story tomorrow. But briefly. The story is that these Kauravas had taken the kingdom of the Pandavas by trick and they were not willing to return it to them. And Bhagavan Krishna himself tried his level best by following the path of Samadama Dhan David Sama. Negotiation and all. But it was not possible to gain even a inch of land from them. And this war became necessary. And before the war this Dhritarashtra was totally blind. So before the war Ved Vaisji approached Dhritarashtra and he said that if you are willing then I can give you that vision. I can give you eyes by which you can see what is happening. He said no, I don't want to see this war. Because deeply within him he knew that all his people will get killed. See still that Moha was there, attachment was there. He said, I don't want to see this war but I want to hear about it. I want to know what is happening there. So please give this vision to my minister. He had a minister, a loyal minister, Sanjaya. And to this Sanjay, Bhagavan Veda Vaisji was the very avatar of Bhagavan. He gave him a divine vision. By this vision Sanjay could hear what is happening in the battlefield. He could see what is happening in the battlefield. He can also know what is happening in the minds of people in the battlefield. So this war happened for 18 days. But on the 10th day of the war Bhishma Pitamaha he fell on the battlefield pierced by these arrows, hit by Arjuna. And he was lying on the he did not die. He was lying on that battlefield pierced by hundreds of arrows. And he was the commander in chief. On him only relied the entire Kaurava force to win this war. But here Bhishma Pitamaha fallen down, first wicket gone, Commander captain out. So this was a shocking news. This news Sanjay conveyed to Dhritarashtra. He was in this Mahal. He was shocked. He did not believe his eyes, his years. So he asked at that time, he asked Sanjay, please tell me in detail what exactly happened. How could Arjuna fight with Bhishma Pitamaha and defeat him? What energy, what strength did he gain from where he got this courage to fight with Bhishma Pitamaha? Also please tell me what happened. And to his question Sanjay describes the entire scene to him. So it is a flashback. On the 10th day Sanjay tells what happened on the first day of the war. So it is not a live, what you call commentary, live telekastni after 10 days recorded thing. And Sanjay tells him and that is how the Bhagavad Gita begins. Tomorrow I will give you the background of this Mahabharata and how this Bhagavad Gita is exactly placed in it and importance of this war. And then also we will study each and every Shloka. Now we will conclude. Today we are beginning this beautiful text. So today we will have a special Aarti of Srimad Bhagavad Gita. And then we will conclude with a prayer chant together. Sundarasupuniti Devi Sad guna di Hari Rashikas Omja Bhagavana Poornamidam Poorna Sam sa.