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.'
ye hi saṁsparśajā bhogā duḥkhayonaya eva te ādyantavantaḥ kaunteya na teṣu ramate budhaḥ
The intelligent person surely does not enjoy the sense pleasures, enjoyments which are sources of misery and which are subject to beginning and end.
"First, let us get our body and mind under our control."
śaknotīhaiva yaḥ soḍhuṁ prākśarīravimokṣaṇāt kāma-krodhodbhavaṁ vegaṁ sa yuktaḥ sa sukhī naraḥ
Before leaving this present body, if one is able to tolerate the urges of material senses and check the force of desire and anger, he is well situated and he is happy in this world.
Only a person who has gone beyond greed and fear can relax into his being. He will know what his place is in this planet Earth.
yo 'ntaḥsukho'ntarārāmas tathāntar-jyotir eva yaḥ sa yogī brahman-irvāṇaṁ brahmabhūto'dhigacchati
One who is happy from within, active within as well as illumined within, surely, is a Yogi and he is liberated in the Supreme [brahma-nirvāṇa], is Self-realized and attains the Supreme
When we are completely immersed in the present moment, we enjoy the path. When the path itself becomes the goal, we enjoy the goal also every moment.
labhante brahma-nirvāṇam ṛṣayaḥ kṣīṇakalmaṣāḥ chinn-advaidhā yatātmānaḥ sarvabhūtahite ratāḥ
Those, whose sins have been destroyed, who have dispelled the dualities arising from doubts, whose minds are engaged within, and who are working for the welfare of other beings, attain the eternal liberation in the Supreme [brahma-nirvāṇa].
Only when we work out of bliss, we will do things to enrich others and ourselves
kāmakrodhaviyuktānāṁ yatīnāṁ yatacetasām abhito brahmanirvāṇaṁ vartate viditātmanām
They who are free from lust and anger, who have subdued the mind and senses, and who have known the Self, easily attain liberation [brahma-nirvāṇa].
When we feel genuine love for others, we will take up responsibility because we want to share that blissful love with others around us.
If we don't fuel our being with fear and greed, suddenly, we will see a new clarity. We will start working out of intelligence, out of Divine Consciousness, out of Eternal Bliss. Just decide, 'Whatever I do out of greed will only result in more greed. I have been getting nowhere. Enough!' In the same way, if we are escaping from something out of fear, decide, 'Alright, how long can I escape? This fear will come and attack me in some other form. If I am afraid of this now, I will be afraid of something else later. So let me face it now.'
Again and again, Kṛṣṇa declares, 'Let you live in the space of completion. Let you work out of bliss.' And I tell you, if you are complete and work out of bliss, you will create bliss for yourself and for others; you will never know what tiredness is.
Let me tell you honestly that I still can't understand the meaning of the word 'tiredness.' How can you have tiredness? Tiredness is the inner contradiction between the icchā śakti (power of desire) and kriya śakti (power of action), between your being and your action. Inside, there is a deep problem. Your greed and fear are attacking each other. If we are feeling tired, it means there is a big war going on inside you. The Mahābhārat war between fear and greed is happening within you.
Why do we feel tired? We feel tired when we are not integrated within ourselves. One half of our being that wants to express itself but we have suppressed it for various societal reasons. The other half of our being is what is expressing itself in the manner that we are forcing it to. When we become tired, the suppressed, unconscious half of us becomes more powerful than the conscious, pretentious half, and it starts dominating.
First, let us get our body and mind under our control. As of now, it is under the control of fear or greed. Let that be controlled by us. Then, automatically, we can get anything under our control. If our body and mind are not under our control, whatever we wish to bring under our control will never come under our control.
Just Be Happy From Within
Here is a beautiful sūtra, a beautiful technique from Kṛṣṇa to enter into the supreme consciousness: 'Just be happy, restful and complete from within', says Kṛṣṇa When you are in the space of completion in the present moment with full enthusiasm, you are in a state of bliss. Bliss is the state of joy that has no reason and which is not affected by the past or future.
Why To Feel Responsible?
This is what Kṛṣṇa says: When we are tuned fully inwards, we no longer have any attachment to what happens outside; we are one with the All, the Existence, and we have transcended all karma. We are then in brahma nirvāṇa—the ultimate liberation, one with Existence, and we are in nityānanda, eternal bliss. When we are tuned inwards, we live in the present; the past and future do not exist for us. When we are in the present, we are one with Existence. I call this All- one-ness.
We are All-in-One. We are in the space of Advaita, non-duality. We encompass everything. In this state, we are at the height of spontaneity; we are at the peak of our possibility.
The more responsibility we take up, the more we expand.
With responsibility, we harness the power of feeling. When we feel the space of responsibility, we take it up without any doubts.
Responsibility can happen to you only after completion. If you take responsibility because you have to be a performer, or a leader, or to be productive, you will feel responsibility as a weight on you! Listen! Understand, only when you complete, you will know the right reason for taking responsibility.
Why you need to feel responsibility, why you should take responsibility.
Whatever happens in and around you—you ARE the source! That is why you need to take responsibility for whatever is happening in and around you. You need to take responsibility because you are responsible, and not for any other reason. Whether you believe it or not, you ARE the source. When we feel genuine love for others, we will take up responsibility because we want to share that blissful love with others around us. Only when we work out of bliss, we will do things to enrich others and ourselves. Taking responsibility and enriching makes life happen to you! When we take up responsibility spontaneously, we do not act out of fear or greed. We will always be giving.
To understand to live in the space of completion and work out of bliss Help the children understand where tiredness comes from Help them understand responsibility
- 1. What decision can you make to get out of greed?
- 2. What decision can you make to get out of fear?
- 3. What is tiredness?
- 4. Why do we need to get our body and mind under our control?
- 5. What is the technique Kṛṣṇa gives us in this lesson?
- 6. What happens to our attachment to the outside when we are tuned fully inwards?
- 7. What does Swamiji call being one with Existence?
- 8. What is the difference between responsibility taken for the right reason and responsibility taken for reasons that are not the right ones?
- 9. Who is the source for whatever is happening in and around you?
MATERIALS NEEDED:
- Paper 2. Colouring Pens
PROCEDURE:
Challenge the children to find a way to draw that their tiredness is their inner contradiction between icchā śakti (power of desire) and kriya śakti (power of action).
If we are feeling tired, it means the Mahābhārat war between fear and greed is happening within us.
Materials Needed:
Blindfolds for half the children A few obstacles to place around the room like a cushion, an empty cardboard box, balloon.
Procedure:
Place the obstacles around the room. Put the children into pairs. One of the pair wears a blindfold and the other child is responsible for taking the blindfolded child around the room safely, without bumping or tripping. After a little while, change the roles in the pair. Ask the children how it felt to be responsible for someone else, whether it was a heavy responsibility or a blissful one.
When we feel genuine love for others, we will take up responsibility because we want to share that blissful love with others around us.