Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4

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.'

cāturvarṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ guṇakarma vibhāgaśaḥ I tasya kartāram api māṁ viddhyakartāramavyayam

Depending upon the distribution of the three attributes or guṇas and action, I have created the four castes Yet, I am to be known as the non-doer, the unchangeable

The present day narrative about the evil caste system of ancient Bharat is a myth and a concocted lie. The truth is that the system of classification is based on the predominant guna (sattva, rajas, tamas) in a person and not dependent on his birth.

na māṁ karmāṇi limpanti na me karmaphale spṛhā I iti māṁ yo 'bhijānāti karmabhirna sa badhyate

I am not affected by any work; nor do I long for the outcome of such work One who understands this truth about me also does not get caught in the bondage of work

The desires we carry from a previous birth, have the innate energy and intelligence capable of fulfilling itself without acquiring karma.

evaṁ jñātvā kṛtaṁ karma pūrvairapi mumukṣubhiḥ I kuru karmaiva tasmāttvaṁ pūrvaiḥ pūrvataraṁ kṛtam

All the wise and liberated souls of ancient times have acted with this understanding and thus attained liberation

Just as the ancients did, perform your duty with this understanding

Have no unfulfilled desires, no incompletion, and no attachments, you will have no karma.

kiṁ karma kimakarmeti kavayo'pyatra mohitāḥ I tat te karma pravakṣyāmi yaj jñātvā mokṣyase'śubhāt

What is action and what is inaction, even the wise are confused. Let me explain to you what action is, knowing which you shall be liberated from all ills

Work from your needs, not from your wants.

karmaṇo hyapi boddhavyaṁ boddhavyaṁ ca vikarmaṇaḥ I akarmaṇaśca boddhavyaṁ gahanā karmaṇo gatiḥ

The complexities of action are very difficult to understand Understand fully the nature of proper action by understanding the nature of wrong action and inaction

Proper action can be understood by understanding what comprises inaction and wrong action.

karmaṇyakarma yaḥ paśyedakarmaṇi ca karma yaḥ I sa buddhimān manuṣyeṣu sa yuktaḥ kṛtsnakarmakṛt

He who sees inaction in action and action in inaction is wise and a yogi, Even if engaged in all activities

Your joy is no longer dependent on what society says or thinks about you, because you are complete in yourself.

yasya sarve samārambhāḥ kāmasaṅkalpavarjitāḥ I jñānāgnidagdhakarmāṇaṁ tam āhuḥ paṇḍitaṁ budhāḥ

He who is determined and devoid of all desires for sense gratification he is of perfect knowledge. The sages declare such a person wise whose actions are burnt by the fire of knowledge

In the process of Unclutching, you transcend both action and inaction, karmaṇi and akarmaṇi.

tyaktvā karmaphalāsaṅgaṁ nityatṛpto nirāśrayaḥ I karmaṇyabhipravṛtto'pi naiva kiñcitkaroti saḥ

Having given up all attachment to the results of his action, always satisfied and independent, the wise man does not act, though he is engaged in all kinds of action.

Be involved completely in the action yet be detached, independent and satisfied within.

Now we come to the controversial topic of the caste system. Kṛṣṇa says, 'I have created the four castes depending upon the distribution of the three guṇas or attributes.' Guṇa means 'attribute' or 'quality' that we are born with.

It is a reflection of the prārabdha karma, the vāsana, and the mindset with which we are born. There are three basic guṇas: satva or purity, rajas or activity and tamas or inactivity.

The varṇa system was four-fold. Brāhmaṇas were the scholars and priests, intellectually inclined. Kṣatriyas were the soldiers and kings, ambitious and physically strong. Vaiṣyas were the business community with strong commercial acumen. Śudras were the workers, physically able and skillful.

Based on their guṇas, their skill sets and not birth, the children in ancient Gurukul were trained into their vocations, their varṇa or caste. Over time, this system was manipulated. Those who believed that they had a better varṇa, caste, decided to make it a hereditary right. Earlier, the son of a brāhmaṇa could not to be a priest, if he was unsuitable or the son of a kṣatriya to be a warrior if he was inadequate. Kṛṣṇa states very clearly that only the one who transcends these three guṇas can reach His state, can reach the higher levels of consciousness. To reach Kṛṣṇa one has to be a triguṇa rahita, beyond the three guṇas. Then, one becomes a non-doer, a no-caste, no-attribute person.

When a desire is fulfilled, it no longer creates ripples in the mind. Desires that get fulfilled are the basic needs one is born with, which are the result of the carry- over vāsanā, the prārabdha karma. We acquire all other desires by comparing ourselves with others. These are wants, not needs. Existence has no way of fulfilling such wants.

When one works out of basic need, he acquires no karma. These possessions born out of our wants can never be fulfilled or enjoyed. Once acquired, we seek the next acquisition. The cycle goes on.

Being 'Unclutched' is the state where you are free and liberated. Let me expand on the word 'Unclutching.' If you observe your mind keenly, you will see that you are constantly connecting all your thoughts and creating links in your mind.

You connect all painful memories, create a pain shaft and conclude, 'My life is suffering, my life is pain.' Now when you start believing your whole life is suffering, you have created a pain shaft and you are waiting only for painful incidents in your life so that you can elongate that shaft.

Whatever you believe is what you create within you and outside you. You will see that manifesting in your life over and over again.

That is why vedic ṛṣis, sages, say that you create what you want. By seeing, you create. You will wait unconsciously for painful incidents to strengthen that belief, that life judgment.

Second thing, whenever you add the painful incidents unconsciously, you will be elongating that shaft, even though you may want to consciously end the pain by breaking it.

If you believe your whole life is a shaft of joyful experiences, which we do very rarely, constantly you are in fear about whether the joy will continue. If you believe life is a shaft of painful incidents, you do two things:

1. Unconsciously you gather more and more incidents and strengthen your faith about how your life is painful, and consciously you try to break the pain shaft!
2. If you believe life is a chain of joyful incidents, unconsciously you will be in fear that it will end, and consciously you will try to prolong it.

These are two big dramas we are continuously enacting with ourselves. You forget that you can neither break the shaft nor elongate it because the shaft itself does not exist! The shaft itself is your own imagination.

When you believe that your mind is logical, you have created the first 'original sin' for yourself. Understand, by your very nature you are unclutched. Every moment you are renouncing the thoughts by your very nature. A new thought can appear only when the old thought has been renounced. But even after renouncing them you try to pick up the thoughts from the dustbin and try to create a shaft with them.

Kṛṣṇa says to understand what action is, you need to understand what inaction is. When you unclutch, you are seemingly in inaction or akarma. However, the removal of the various shafts of pain, pleasure, fantasies etc., releases so much energy within you that you are now actively passive. You are at the height of potential energy, ready to release that energy for whatever purpose you decide in that moment. If instead, you are actively daydreaming, caught in pain and pleasures shafts, then you are seemingly active and busy, but totally useless. In fact, you are counterproductively busy, pushing yourself deeper into more suffering.

When we are blissful and complete within ourselves, we would never see anything disturbing outside. That is what Kṛṣṇa says here: Be involved completely in the action yet be detached, independent and satisfied within. Then you can function spontaneously, flowing in tune with Existence. Life then becomes a celebration. Every single thing you do is an act of joy and an expression of the loving energy in you. Your joy is no longer dependent on what society says or thinks about you, because you are complete in yourself.

Make the Child understand that unfulfilled desires, incompletions, and attachments, lead to karma. Our desires should be based out of our needs and not our wants. If we practice completion and immerse ourselves in Krishna Consciousness, we will be liberated. Help the child understand that it is important to rest in the present moment, in the space of completion, in the state of nomind. In this state you can be completely involved in action yet detached.

❖ What is the commonly told narrative about the Hindu caste system?
❖ What is the basis of the caste system prescribed by Krishna?
❖ What happens to the desires that are unfulfilled at the time of death?
❖ What happens to the desires we acquire in the present lifetime?
❖ Are our thoughts connected?
❖ Are our thoughts logical?
❖ What is the pitfall in connecting thoughts and creating a memory shaft?
❖ What is daydreaming?
❖ When we day-dream are we caught in imaginary pain and pleasures shafts?
❖ What is the state of no-mind?

Part 2: Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4 - Lesson 4