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.'

prāpya puṇyakṛtāṃ lokān uṣitvā śāśvatiḥ samāḥ śucīnāṃ śrī matāṃ gehe yogabhraṣṭo'bhijāyate

The person who has fallen from yoga [yogabṛasṭa] after many years of living in the planets of the pious and doing virtuous deeds, takes birth in the house of the virtuous and prosperous

A person who has performed virtuous activities takes birth in a family of righteous people

athavā yogināmeva kule bhavati dhī matām etaddhi durlabhataraṃ loke janma yadīdṛśam

Or the Yogī certainly takes birth in a family of wise people. Certainly, such a birth is rare in this world

We can choose our body and the time that we wish to be born.

tatra taṃ buddhisaṃyogaṃ labhate paurva dehikam yatate ca tato bhūyaḥ saṃsiddhau kurunandana

O son of Kuru, on taking such a birth, he revives the intelligence, consciousness of the previous body, and tries again to attain complete success [yoga]

On taking birth, we continue the journey where we left off.

Kṛṣṇa talks about how we choose everything in our lives, including our birth, when and where we are born and whom we choose as our parents. This truth may seem difficult for most of us to believe. Our birth is not just an accident. It is an incident and we are the ones who choose all the details about this incident. We must understand that it is only we who program and design everything and everybody in our life, including our parents and environment.

For example, if we live to eat rather than eat to live, at the time of death, we will still have the desire to continue eating. So, we might choose the body of a pig. Or, if we have lived our life only for sleeping, we might choose the body of a buffalo. So, based on the attitude we have lived with, we choose the next body. This is the basic idea on which our janma-maraṇa cakra (cycle of life and death) revolves.

Here, Kṛṣṇa gives the assurance to Arjuna and to the whole of humanity that a person who has performed virtuous activities takes birth in a family of wise people or in a prosperous family.

When we live our life running behind our greed and desires, running after "what next? what next....?," naturally, at the time of our death also, we will not be ready to leave the body. The body will be tired of running behind desires continuously, but the mind will not be ready to leave. So we will leave the body in the pain and suffering. If we can just relax into the present, we will leave the body in a relaxed way, peacefully

Once we leave the body, in three kṣaṇa, three moments, we get into a new body and we are reborn. Kṣaṇa in Saṃskṛit means the gap between two thoughts. If we have been constantly running behind desires, the gap between two thoughts will be really small for us. When we learn to relax into the present, the gap between two thoughts increases and the three kṣaṇas can be a long time. Here, Kṛṣṇa says that on taking birth, we gain the intelligence of the previous body and continue the journey where we left off.

One thing we should understand here is that when we say death, it is not just the death that happens at the end of our life. It is what happens every day and night. Every day we leave the body. We go to the causal body when we fall asleep. Every day we die. When we wake up, we come back. Every day we come back to life. As of now, every morning, how do we come back to life? How do we take this body again in the morning? Just look deeply. What happens at the time when we get up from bed?

First thing, usually, the moment we gain awareness, either a thought based on greed or fear will hit us. There will be thoughts based on greed such as, 'I need to get this today,' or thoughts based on fear such as, 'I have to finish this work today.' Some thought based on fear or greed will hit us. Immediately, we will jump out of our bed. When we get up from bed, let the first thought be related to love and compassion.

Wake up only to express life in bliss. Wake up just out of joy.

Goals:

For the child to understand our choices in the cycle of life and death.If we alter our thoughts at the time of waking up, we will alter the whole consciousness..

• Is our birth an accident?
• Who programs and designs everything and everybody in our life?
• What does assurance Kṛṣṇa give to Arjuna?
• When do we leave the body in pain and suffering? What is a kṣaṇa?
• How many kṣaṇa between when we leave the body and we get into a new body?

• What should be our first thought when we get up from bed?

MATERIALS NEEDED: ❖ Paper Pens

• ❖ Color pens

PROCEDURE

Normal birth certificates have only minimum information on them, like date of birth and parents' names. Get the children to design themselves a new birth certificate which has all information they can think of that they chose for their birth.

INFERENCE

We are the ones who choose all the details about our birth. Our birth is not just an accident. It is an incident.

PROCEDURE

Hold a short Unclutching meditation for the children. Explain that their thoughts are just like bubbles in a fish tank, the bubble starts, rises up, then dissolves again. Ask them what happened with their thoughts during the Unclutching meditation.

INFERENCE

It's possible to have shorter and longer gaps between two thoughts When we learn to relax into the present, the gap between two thoughts increases

Get the children to hold Vaakyartha sadhas on

• ❖ How they now understand sleep,
• ❖ How they can ensure that when they wake up, they are reminded to think about things related to love and compassion