Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18 - Lesson 8 of 19

Character Sketch

Śakuni, the maternal uncle of Duryodhana embodies the pattern of self-hatred, which is cunningness personified.
Droṇa represents all the best knowledge one imbibes and the teachers one encounters, who guide us but are unable to take us through to the ultimate flowering of enlightenment. It is difficult to give them up since one feels grateful to them. This is where the Enlightened Master, the incarnation steps in and guides us.
Duryodhana, represents one's ego or root-pattern, the most difficult to conquer as it leads one to self destruction. One needs the full help of the Master here. It is subtle work and even the Master's help may not be obvious, since at this point, sometimes the ego makes us deny and disconnect from the Master as well.

Karṇa is the repository of all good deeds and it is his good deeds that stand in the way of his own Enlightenment. Śrī Kṛṣṇa has to take the load of Karṇa's puṇya, his meritorious deeds, before he could be liberated. The Enlightened Master guides one to drop one's attachment to good deeds arising out of what are perceived to be charitable and compassionate intentions. He also shows us that the quest for and the experience of enlightenment is the ultimate act of compassion that one can offer to the world.

Bhagavan Ṣri Kṛṣṇa, the 8th most powerful purnāvatar of Ṃaha Viśnu, is the embodiment of pure celebration, boundless love, compassion, and completion.

Bhagavan Ṣri Kṛṣṇa is the only incarnation demonstrating and expressing Ṣarva Ṃangalatva all the auspicious qualities and all dimensions of an avatar during His physical happening. The līla Bhagavan Ṣri Krsna is one of sheer innocence and simplicity, in a peace-loving, diplomatic, conflict-free way.

Karṇa is the repository of all good deeds and it is his good deeds that stand in the way of his own Enlightenment. Śrī Kṛṣṇa has to take the load of Karṇa's puṇya, his meritorious deeds, before he could be liberated. The Enlightened Master guides one to drop one's attachment to good deeds arising out of what are perceived to be charitable and compassionate intentions. He also shows us that the quest for and the experience of enlightenment is the ultimate Till now everyone blames Bhagavan Sri Krishna for this Kurukshetra war but that's the greatest sacrifice Bhagavan Sri Krishna did to save the planet Earth. If Kurukshetra was not conducted at that time under the controlled conditions and direct supervision of Bhagavan Sri Krishna, planet Earth would not have survived more than three years.

Character Sketch act of compassion that one can offer to the world. Bhagavan Ṣri Kṛṣṇa, the 8th most powerful purnāvatar of Ṃaha Viśnu, is the embodiment of pure celebration, boundless love, compassion, and completion. Bhagavan Ṣri Kṛṣṇa is the only incarnation demonstrating and expressing Ṣarva Ṃangalatva all the auspicious qualities a nd all dimensions of an avatar during His physical happening. The līla Bhagavan Ṣri Krsna is one of sheer innocence and The wide spread availability of the Astra shastras without Shastra, without the knowledge and vision, was posing a huge threat to the whole of humanity and planet Earth, and for life itself. The greatest achievement of Bhagavan Sri Krishna is destroying all the weapons in one controlled condition and saving planet earth, eliminating the nuclear weapons and the knowledge of these nuclear weapons to save humanity from total annihilation.

conflict-free way.

simplicity, in a peace-loving, diplomatic,

Bhagavad Gītā appears in the heart of Mahābhārat in Bhīṣma Parva, the sixth chapter of its eighteen chapters. Veda Vyāsa, the narrator, in glorifying the Gītā sings, 'the one who drinks the water of Ganges (the sacred river for Hindus) attains liberation, what to speak of the one who drinks the nectar of Gītā?

Gītā is the essential nectar of the Mahābhārat, bhāratamṛta sarvasvam as it is directly spoken by Nārāyaṇa, Bhagavān kṛṣṇa Himself.'

The armies assembled in the vast field of Kurukṣetra, now in the state of Haryana in modern day Bharat. All the kings and princes were related to one another, and were often on opposite sides. Facing the Kaurava army and his friends, relatives and teachers, Arjuna was overcome by remorse and guilt, and wanted to walk away from the battle out of total powerlessness unbecoming an invincible warrior among warriors.

Śrī Kṛṣṇa's dialogue with Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukṣetra out of His utmost concern and love for him and humanity is the content of Bhagavad Gītā. Of its seven hundred and forty-five (745) verses, Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa sings the Gītā in six hundred and twenty (620) verses responding to Arjuna's fifty-seven (57) enquiries.

Śrī Kṛṣṇa persuades Arjuna to give-up his powerlessness unfitting an Ārya—the spiritually evolved one who understands human life and urges him to raise himself again as Parantapa—the conqueror of enemy, and take up arms and vanquish his enemies. They are already dead,' says Śrī Kṛṣṇa, 'All those who are facing you have been already killed by Me. Go ahead and do what you have to do. That is your responsibility. Do not worry about the outcome. Leave that to Me.'

yat tu kṛtsnavad ekasmin kārye saktaṁ ahaitukam atattvārthavadalpaṁ ca tat tāmasamudāhṛtam

The irrational, baseless, and worthless knowledge by which one clings to one single effect as if it is everything, such knowledge is in the mode of darkness of ignorance.

Ocean you can own, but not possess.

niyataṁ saṅgarahitam arāgadveṣataḥ kṛtam aphalaprepsunā karma yat tat sāttvikamucyate

Obligatory duty performed without likes and dislikes and without selfish motives and attachment to the fruit, is in the mode of goodness.

Owning is different and possessing is different.

yat tu kāmepsunā karma sāhaṁkāreṇa vā punaḥ kriyate bahulāyāsaṁ tad rājasamudāhṛtam

Action performed with ego, with selfish motives, and with too much effort, is in the mode of aggression.

Satva is living in a reality world of owning and also letting others own.

anubandhaṁ kṣayaṁ hiṁsām anapekṣya ca pauruṣam mohād ārabhyate karma yat tat tāmasamucyate

Action that is undertaken because of delusion, disregarding consequences, loss, injury to others, as well as one's own ability, is in the mode of ignorance.

Kṛṣṇa defines a sātvic person as one who sees the collective consciousness, the whole, in parts.

The pure space, satva seems to be a little heavy, little too much of joy! You feel you can't afford it. It is like you don't want to own the whole ocean, you want to own only the beach. Because only in the beach you can put a fence and ensure that others can't enter into it. Ocean you can own, but not possess. Please understand, owning is different and possessing is different.

All of us can own the whole world; that is not a problem at all. But we can't possess it, that is where the problem starts. Owning is different and possessing is different. The whole village owns the village temple, but you possess your house. We not only own our house, we possess it and make sure that others don't enter.

We don't want to own the ocean, we want to possess the ocean. When we want to possess, we know that we can't possess the ocean. Not only we can't deny entry to other human beings, we can't deny entry to other animals. There are millions of animals below.

When we want to possess that is where the problem starts. Rajas corrodes you. It eats up your soul. There is no boundary to possessing, no end to greed and no limit to fear. These are the driving forces of rajas. Rajas is about trying to attain what you don't have, trying to eliminate and possess what you want to have, not being complete with what you have, not being complete about where you are and not being complete and happy when you are in the present moment. You are either constantly in the future, imagining what you would like to be and what you would like to possess, or you are in the past thinking about how you could have done better. Rajas is living in a fantasy world of possessing. Satva is living in a reality world of owning and also letting others own.

You are either constantly in the future, imagining what you would like to be and what you would like to possess, or you are in the past thinking about how you could have done better. Rajas is living in a fantasy world of possessing. Satva is living in a reality world of owning and also letting others own.

-Helping students understand the difference between owning and possessing. -Helping the students understand the difference between Satva and Rajas.

True or False: Owning and possessing mean the same thing. When do our problems start? What are the driving forces of rajas?

How does rajas approach the past, the present and the future? In what kind of world does rajas live in? In what kind of world does satva live in?

MATERIALS NEEDED:

Paper, pen, pencil, markers, eraser, etc.

PROCEDURE

Ask the students to draw 3 characters named "possession", "greed" and "fear". Once children are done drawing, tell the names of the characters one by one and ask the students to enact them through body language, sounds, etc. Let them enact each character for 1 minute. At the end, ask the children what enacting these 3 characters created inside of them/What thoughts/cognitions came up.

INFERENCE

Materials required:

Paper, pens, pencils, eraser, ruler

PROCEDURE:

Ask the students to draw two timelines (one for rajas, one for sattva) and to identify the past, the present and the future on each. Then ask the students to take the rajas timeline and to write down things that they wish they will possess in the future and things about the past that they regret or wish they had done better. Then ask them to discuss how thinking about what they don't have makes them feel, what cognitions come up inside them.

Materials required:

Paper, pens, pencils, eraser, ruler

PROCEDURE:

Also ask them to discuss how thinking about things they wished they had done better in the past makes them feel. At the end of the discussion, ask the students to take the sattva timeline and to write down only what is happening right now in this moment. Ask them to share how being in the present makes them feel and what cognitions arise in them

INTERFERENCE

Rajas is about trying to attain what you don't have, trying to eliminate and possess what you want to have, not being complete with what you have, not being complete about where you are and not being complete and happy when you are in the present moment. You are either constantly in the future, imagining what you would like to be and what you would like to possess, or you are in the past thinking about how you could have done better.