We need to collaborate to survive. That is what cells do.🔗

api trailokyarājyasya hetoḥ kiṃ nu mahīkṛ te nihatya dhārtarāṣṭrān naḥ kā prī tiḥ syāj janārdana

I do not want to kill these ones even to gain control of all three worlds, much less for the earthly lordship. What pleasure will we get by destroying the sons of Dhrtarastra, Janardana? Only sin will overcome us if we slay these wrongdoers.

Only a courageous person will have the confidence to open himself up so transparently and expose his innermost fear patterns,

What is the Why of my Life?' cries Arjuna

It takes a lot of courage of authenticity to bring integrated listening to our thinking, to stop and question our lives, our actions and society's plan for us. Understand, the attitude of asking 'WHY' needs awareness, but we forget to ask the 'why'. We don't take our thoughts, words and deeds to the logical conclusion. It takes authenticity, the power of thinking, the inner strength to say to the world, 'Stop, I want to get off; I want to know why am I doing, what I am doing? I want to seek true inner bliss!'

It takes tremendous courage of authenticity to recognize the transitory nature of life and its limited offer of happiness, to say — 'I want something more.' It takes enormous courage to complete with the materialism of the world to seek one's true purpose in life. I tell you, if just the 'why' is kept alive, 'why am I feeling powerless?', 'why am I feeling tired', 'why am I feeling sick?', 'why am I depressed?'; just if the 'why' is strong enough to take you to the logical conclusion, our problems will be solved. If we just keep this one question alive, 'Why am I doing what I am doing?' and are able to take this one question to the logical conclusion in our life, I tell you, we will be enlightened. You will radiate enriching!

What is the purpose of my life, Kṛṣṇa?' wailed Arjuna.

Arjuna is now thinking with integrity and questioning himself, his training and his purpose when faced with the task of fighting against his kinsmen. The scene from his chariot has taken him off balance! In his heart he knows that what he is about to do is correct. All of his training as a kṣatriya confirms this as well. But when faced with the reality of actually killing those who have been near and dear to him, he loses his will. He is feeling completely powerless. Why?

Arjuna is a courageous man. Only a courageous person will have the confidence to open himself up so transparently and expose his innermost fear patterns, his lack of integrity and inauthenticities and seek help. Arjuna was not depressed, he was confused. He could certainly differentiate between right and wrong. His sudden confusion grew out of his awareness of his parental and societal patterns that what he had been taught throughout his life, might be wrong! Fortunately for Arjuna, his charioteer is none other than Kṛṣṇa Himself, Lord of all beings and knower of all! Only He can see what is at the heart of Arjuna's grief. Only He could provide answers to Arjuna's doubts and completion to his dilemma.

Arjuna argues that the reason one would fight to gain power and wealth was for the sake of one' s near and dear ones. However, his near and dear ones were the people with whom Arjuna should fight! Even if they killed him, he would not consider killing them at any cost, 'If I would not kill them for all the riches of the three worlds, why would I destroy them for the sake of earth, this one world, alone? Arjuna questioned Kṛṣṇa. When asking, Arjuna calls Kṛṣṇa as Madhusūdana, which means the slayer of the demon Madhu. Arjuna implies that Kṛṣṇa may be a destroyer, but Arjuna himself would not like to be one like Him.

Arjuna's dilemma had now become deeper and more complicated. He had now got into justifications as to why he should not kill; he began to justify his lack of integrity and authenticity. To any observer, his dilemma had validity. This is a common cunning, safe game we all play with ourselves. When the stakes are high in any competitive environment, when we don't want to expand to our peak capability, we play this inauthentic game. We fantasize about rewards far greater than what could possibly materialize. The more unrealistic and unlikely the reward, the easier it is to refuse it.

Arjuna is playing this same safe, inauthentic game. Understand, when we are authentic, we will commit words which express our maximum peak capacity, as per our understanding, and as per others' understanding of our peak capacity. When we unlock the power of thinking, we will be able to spontaneously focus our thoughts to achieve our highest potential.

ś

Who was offering Arjuna the three worlds anyway? The notion was a pure figment of his overexcited imagination. If Krsna had actually offered Arjuna the control of the universe, Arjuna's dilemma would have become far worse! However, posing it as a symbolic question as Arjuna did made him look noble.

He is consoling himself with the idea that the rewards of winning this battle are too small and that even if he were to be offered control of the universe, he would not be tempted. It is a safe position he is taking, since the chances of his being offered the control of the universe are infinitely small. What matters is that it calms his bruised mind and keeps the focus off the real source of his fear.

Time and again, people play this game with themselves and others. It starts when we cannot face the truth and therefore cannot tell the truth. So we camouflage the truth in a more acceptable presentation. Then we are caught in denial.

To help the student understand, how we distract ourselves from our real fears.

• 1. What comparison of a reward did Arjuna mention for being in battle ?
• 2. Are there any relationships in your life that you had but due to incompletions, that relation was broken?
• 3. How was Arjuna courageous?
• 4. What happens when we unlock the power of thinking?
• 5. What is authenticity?

MATERIALS NEEDED:

• 1. Picture of Muladhara Chakra

• 2. Paper
• 3. Pencil (or) Sketch pen

PROCEDURE:

Talk to the children about the Muladhara Chakra and show the picture of the Muladhara Chakra to the children. Encourage the children to see the picture of Muladhara Chakra and draw the chakra. Muladhara - Desire - Fantasy/ Reality Muladhara means 'the root and basis of existence'. Mula means root and adhara means basis. This chakra is locked by fantasy and imagination and it flowers when you drop your fantasies and welcome reality. Drop your imagination and start living with reality. When this chakra is opened you become so sensitive and loving: When the energy of this chakra is transformed, it will overflow from you as love, just drop your expectations and you will find a tremendous upsurge of energy.

Understanding about Muladhara Chakra helps children to understand themselves Review the importance of keeping the Muladhara Chakra cleansed and also assuming responsibility to your actions