Bhagavad Gita Chapter 11

As long as we flow with time, things happen as they should.

Krsna explains in these verses what He really is. 'I am time,' says Krsna. 'I devour and destroy the world.' This is one of the most potent truths uttered by Krsna in Gita. He has earlier talked to Arjuna about atman, about rebirth, about the nature of karma, about doing work without getting attached to the result of work, and about His glories.

For the first time, He takes off His mask and says matter-of-factly, 'I am the Destroyer.' He pulls no punches in responding to Arjuna's query, 'Who are you, and what is your purpose?' Time never stands still. It moves on. Nothing can stop the flow of time. Nothing can bring back time. Nothing can move time forward. Time destroys. The future constantly moves into the present, and then into the past. The sad part is that though we can only experience the present, we constantly try to escape the present.

We are forever caught in the fantasies of a future we know nothing about and the regrets of a past we never really lived when it was our present. Krsna is stating a simple fact here.

'With or without you,' He says, 'All these warriors will be dead. As time, I shall devour them. It is not you who are the cause. You can be the superficial reason. By being the instrument of their destruction, be the gainer of fame, wealth, and power.' It is easy to interpret these words of Krsna to mean that the future is predestined, since He says all these enemies of Arjuna will be destroyed. From this we can even interpret that His role is to protect the good and destroy the evil.

As Mahakala, time personified, Krsna destroys all, the good and the bad. Time does not differentiate. Time does not keep accounts of whether you did good deeds or bad. Time moves on and destroys the present into past, future into present and past.

As long as we flow with time, things happen as they should. When we resist and try to have things the way we wish them to be, rather than the way they would be, we get in the way. Like the rock that gets pounded by the river and eventually gets reduced to fine dust, we too get reduced to nothing by time.

By imitating the reed in the river that bends offering no resistance, we can flow with time. Struggling to choose is not freedom. It is the bondage of the mind. There is no need to make a choice. Choice happens at the level of the mind, not at the level of the being.

Choicelessness can be the choice. When Krsna speaks of destroying and wiping out the world, He is talking about the destruction of the illusory physical and material world. He is the destroyer of fantasies, He is the destroyer of identities, He is the destroyer of egos, and He is the destroyer of all that is unreal. It is important to understand what Krsna means in these words.

As the supreme consciousness, He too is the energy of Siva, the Rejuvenator. Siva is not the Destroyer as He is made out to be. He recreates by destroying. There can be no life without death.

Arjuna's dilemma was his fear of killing all those he loved and respected. He wondered whether he was causing the destruction of his entire lineage by doing this. In truth, Arjuna was fighting against the destruction of his own conditioning. His samskaras, past memories of parental, teacher related, and other conditionings were difficult to destroy. This great war is really the fight between Arjuna and his samskaras. Krsna once again takes responsibility for this destruction. Earlier there were only words. Now Arjuna had seen the destruction for himself. He had seen the Kaurava warriors being consumed by the destructive destination that Krsna had become. It was impossible for Arjuna to disbelieve what he had seen - Bhisma, Drona, Karna and othersdisappearing into the vast form of Krsna.

Now Krsna consoles Arjuna. 'You have seen the truth of what happens. They have been destroyed already.

Do not lose heart. Do what you have to do. Fight and destroy what remains, which is just the illusion of your fears.

To understand that we ought to live blissfully in the present moment and not succumb to the regrets of the past or the worries of the future

1. What cognition about time have you gained from this lesson?
2. What was Arjuna's dilemma?
3. Fill in the blank. Destruction is necessary for R_ j _ v_ n_ t _ _n.
4. What is the main idea Krsna has conveyed to Arjuna here?

MATERIALS NEEDED:

1. Any picture,
2. plain sheet,

3. pencils or sketch pen.

PROCEDURE

Give the materials needed, encourage each child to keep the picture in front of them and ask them to draw the picture by keeping the paper behind.

INFERENCE

When we focus, when we unclutch we can do difficult things easily.

Tapping using both hands in opposite direction

PROCEDURE:

1. Each child is asked to tap both their hands on their thigh simultaneously in opposite directions. Start with a slow pace at first and then increase to a very fast pace. This activity needs coordination and concentration.

INFERENCE:

Children focus on being in the now by this activity. This needs full awareness, being in 'just now', focusing in the present unclutching all the past previous thoughts. "Just for being, we should feel grateful". And every second is a gift, enjoy and experience it.

Instruct the children to analyze and discuss as a group, what kind of personality they are, if they say they are a happy person ask them if they are happy all the time or do they change when undesirable events happen. If they say they are an angry person. Ask them whether they are always angry? We keep changing from one personality to another depending on the situations we encounter. We cannot say 'I am this'.