KAILASA Library/Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4/Character SketchSign in
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.'

yathaidhāṁsi samiddho'gnir bhasmasātkurute'rjuna I jñānāgniḥ sarvakarmāṇi bhasmasātkurute tathā

Just as a blazing fire turns firewood to ashes, O Arjuna, so does the fire of wisdom burn to ashes all actions, all your karma.

It is only when you drop the mind that all your actions arise out of intuition, from the super conscious state, the state of truth.

na hi jñānena sadṛśaṁ pavitramiha vidyate I tatsvayaṁ yogasaṁsiddhah kālenātmani vindati

Truly, in this world, there is nothing as pure as wisdom. One who has matured to know this enjoys in himself in due course of time.

The one established in authenticity is enriched with knowledge.

śraddhāvāllabhate jñānaṁ tatparaḥ saṁyatendriyaḥ I jñānaṁ labdhvā parāṁ śāntim acireṇādhigacchati

A person with śraddhā (courageous faith) achieves wisdom and has control over the senses. Achieving wisdom, without delay, he attains supreme peace.

When you have the knowledge and the courage of authenticity to follow and live the teachings, then you can achieve the ultimate knowledge, the knowledge of enlightenment.

When I tell people to declare completion and drop their mind, they look at me as if I am a mad man. They ask me, 'How can we drop the mind? It is only when you drop the mind, drop your self-doubts, it is only when you stop connecting your thoughts to form a shaft, that you really start 'seeing'. Your ego stops interfering with the truth of what you see.

It stops filtering and adding tones to what your senses experience. Your baggage of embedded memories, your saṁskāras, dissolve, and the new 'you' is born. All your actions then arise out of intuition, from the super conscious state, the state of truth, where no mind can exist. Śraddha Enriches you with Knowledge.

In the next verse, Kṛṣṇa uses the word 'śraddha' again. What a beautiful verse, 'śraddhāvān labhate jñānaṁ—the one established in authenticity is enriched with knowledge.' Actually, śraddha means faith plus the courage of authenticity to live to your highest possibility; the courage to be established in the peak of your capability. Understand, continuously committing with words that express your maximum peak capacity, as per your understanding and as per others' understanding is what is referred to as śraddha, authenticity.

Authenticity means stretching, stretching, and stretching. Go on stretching, that is Life! Go on stretching without fear, and without giving up on yourself. Do anything to honor and fulfill your words. Stretch yourself. Let all the powers inside you be unleashed!

Kṛṣṇa declares the power of authenticity here, 'śraddhāvān labhate jñānaṁ (4.39).' Only the authentic one is enriched with knowledge. When you have the knowledge and the courage of authenticity to follow and live the teachings, then you can achieve the ultimate knowledge, the knowledge of enlightenment. Many people do not have the courage of authenticity to see their research through. The eastern vedic sages did so much inner world research.

Millions of them have stretched themselves fearlessly doing full-time research for thousands of years, using their bodies and minds as laboratories. Why? Just to enrich others! This knowledge of the inner world is the result of their authenticity, their space of possibility to do courageous experiments and studies just for enriching others. They were true inner scientists, true śraddhavān who had not only the curiosity, 'the great why' and the perseverance to know, but also the courage of authenticity to follow, live and express their findings.

Look at Patañjali, the father of yoga—He boldly declares that all that he says in the Yoga Sutras is completely open to experimentation and verification. He says, 'You are free to try this, and if you find anything more to be added or edited, you are free to do so.' He has presented his research report. He invites you to try out these in your life and if you learn something more from that, his work is open to editing. That is the beauty of our system; it is a living system open to being updated.

Of all religious and spiritual doctrines, it is only the scriptures of the sanātana-dharma, the eternal path of righteousness, as the Hindu philosophy is called, that allow themselves to be updated. The Vedas and the Upaniṣads, which we believe are the voices of

Nature, are not rules and regulations. They are truths to be understood and followed only in awareness. There are no punishments if one does not follow them, nor is one condemned as a sinner if one doesn't follow them.

This is the greatness and pristine beauty of sanātana-dharma, the eternal path of living. We are the most powerful, most sophisticated, most intelligent, most cutting-edge presentation of the Truth left with the possibility to evolve more and more, open for the possibility of being updated! Nothing was sacred just because it was uttered. All that we follow blindly today as traditions came through societal interpretation.

It is for us to sift through these truths with conscious awareness. Once tested, proven, accepted and intranalysed, we need to have the courage of authenticity to practice these truths. Mere knowledge is insufficient. That is what śraddha is about.

With śraddha, faith combined with courage of authenticity, you make the effort to constantly stretch and align yourself to the peak capability of what you feel as you, what you project as you, and what others' perceive as you. This dawns the ultimate knowledge in you.

With authenticity you conquer your senses, and direct your mind towards the truth, instead of your mind and senses leading you wherever they wish to. The state of fear can be born in you only when you are inauthentic. Only a man in authenticity, living authenticity, is a liberated one enriched with the ultimate knowledge, śraddhāvān labhate jñānaṁ

Impress upon the students that we need to have the courage of authenticity to practice these truths of sanatana dharma.

  • ❖ What is śraddha ?
  • ❖ What is authenticity? What are the benefits of living in authenticity?
  • ❖ Scriptures of which religion are open to experimentation, verification and updation?

MATERIALS NEEDED:

  • 1. ice cream sticks
  • 2. glue,
  • 3. scale,
  • 4. pencil
  • 5. scissors
  • 6. sand paper
  • 7. acrylic paint,
  • 8. brush

PROCEDURE

Make an airplane / glider with the ice cream sticks and glue.

INFERENCE

Encourage the kids to express their peak creative potential by making a glider that can actually fly. Go on stretching your capacity to create, that is Life!

Let us narrate a story:

'Once, a blind man went to a doctor to see if he had any hope of getting back his eyesight. The doctor checked him and said, 'Yes, I can do a surgery and you can get back your eyesight. Then, you can drop your stick and start walking.' The man replied, 'Doctor, I understand I will get back my eyesight, but how can I walk without the stick?' The blind man could not understand that he can walk without a stick! He does not even know what it means to be able to see. The doctor has to do the surgery to give him back his eyesight, then automatically he will drop the stick. Now substitute the "stick" for the "human mind" and "blindness" with "ignorance". What is your take-away from the story?

INFERENCE:

You will see that the hesitation to drop the mind is because of ignorance. When true knowledge dawns on us, the ignorance melts away and automatically the mind is dropped.

It is only when you drop the mind that all your actions arise out of intuition, from the super conscious state, the state of truth.