Ayurveda Initiative For Global Health

Sankhya Yoga Chapter 2, Verse 37   hato vā prāpsyasi svargaṁ  jitvā vā bhokṣyase mahīn  tasmād uttiṣṭha kaunteya  yuddhāya kṛta-niścayaḥ   If slain, you shall win Heaven, if victorious, you shall enjoy the Earth;   therefore, arise, O son of Kunti, and resolve to fight.   As you saw earlier, Arjuna is confused in his mind and even wants to run away from fighting. Here Krishna says, “Your state of confusion has been removed, which means that you will now win the battle, you will conquer the Kauravas. You will be victorious.” He says, “You shall enjoy the Earth, – therefore arise, O son of Kunti, and resolve to fight. You will be victorious in this battle and you will also be victorious in Heaven. You will win both ways.” So this removed Arjuna’s worry about whether he would be victorious or not. Here Krishna says it, “You will be victorious!” Because He knows that Arjuna will have full victory over the Kauravas. This is a tricky point. Krishna says...

Sankhya Yoga Chapter 2, Verse 36   avācya vādāṁśca bahūn  vadiṣyanti tavāhitāḥ  nindantas tava sāmarthyaṁ  tato duḥkhataraṁ nu kim   Many unseemly words will be spoken by your enemies, slandering your strength; what is worse grief than that?   You see, Krishna is using the feeling of guilt, the knife, and putting it inside again. He says, “If you run away from your enemies, the infamy of the public scandal will cause acute distress. It will be terrible. Duryodhana and the other Kauravas will use this; they will enjoy this. They will ridicule you and not only you – they will also ridicule your whole family. They will say to your other brothers, ‘Your brother, Arjuna, ran away.’ They will start calling your family, even your mother, many names. They will speak words of reproach and defame you. If you lose fame, Arjuna, how would you take this?”   You see, the Pandavas also cared very much about their fame. Krishna says, “This will bring great suffering t...

Sankhya Yoga Chapter 2, Verse 35   bhayād raṇād uparataṁ  mansyante tvāṁ mahārathāḥ  yeṣāṁ ca tvaṁ bahu-mato  bhūtvā yāsyasi lāghavam   The mighty men will think you fled from the battle through fear, and you, whom all think highly of, will allow a stain to fall on your honour.   This verse is also about Arjuna’s honour, about how people will look at him. Krishna says, “‘The mighty men’: Bhima, your brothers, Bhishma, Duryodhana, Drona and many others – they all have great esteem for you. If you run away, they will have an extremely low image of you. They will be broken! They will be shocked if you run away out of fear!” Raising the question of fear on the battlefield, Lord Krishna says, “In this state of mind, Arjuna, you are being disgraceful, because a warrior should not have fear. These people will look at you and say, ‘My goodness! Where did this fear come from?’ They will never believe that your motive in fleeing battle was to protect them. How could ...

Sankhya Yoga Chapter 2, Verse 34   akīrtiṁ cāpi bhūtāni  kathayiṣyanti te’vyayām  saṁbhāvitasya cākīrtir  maraṇād-atiricyate   Besides, men will recount your perpetual disgrace, and to an honourable man, dishonour is worse than death.   Here Krishna is using reverse psychology, talking about guilt in another way. He says to Arjuna, “If you don’t do your duty, you will lose your reputation and you will be exposed to sin. People will talk badly of you, but not only that, the rishis and the celestials will all look at you in a questioning way. Your ancestors will also be crying. So, get up and fight! Don’t let people talk ill of you. You are from the warrior clan!”   “...dishonour is worse than death.” It is very important to understand that, during this time, people were very concerned about their honour and about giving their word. When they gave their word, they kept it. They would rather have died than not have kept their word. The Lord reminds Arjuna...

Sankhya Yoga Chapter 2, Verse 33   atha-cet tvam imaṁ dharmyaṁ  saṅgrāmam‌ na kariṣyasi  tataḥ sva-dharmaṁ kīrtiṁ ca   hitvā pāpam avāpsyasi   But if you do not fight this righteous battle, then you have abandoned your   duty and virtue and your glory, and you shall incur only sin.   Here Lord Krishna reminds Arjuna, “If you don’t learn to accept what God is giving you in life and run away from your duty, run away from your dharma, then you are committing a big sin.” If you don’t first accept what God is giving you to do in life, and you don’t realise your dharma, you will fail in life, and you will ‘incur only sin’.   It is because of the fear of sin that Arjuna wants to run away from fighting. But here Krishna turns it around and says, “No, My dear! You will commit sin if you run away.” First Arjuna wants to run away, fearing the sin and the guilt that will come upon him. But Krishna says, “No way, don’t do that! It will be not virtuou...

Sankhya Yoga Chapter 2, Verse 32   yadṛcchayā copapannaṁ  svarga dvāram apāvṛtam  sukhinaḥ kṣatriyāḥ pārtha  labhante yuddham īdṛśam   Happy are the Kshatriyas, O Arjuna, to whom a war such as this comes of its own accord; it opens the gates to Heaven.   Here again, Bhagavan Sri Krishna tells Arjuna, “Happy are the Kshatriyas, O Arjuna, to whom a war such as this comes of its own accord;” He says, “Look! You should be rejoicing! You have not come here to make the war happen, but it came to you! It gives you the opportunity to do your dharma. You should welcome this opportunity to do your dharma. You should accept it! Welcome it!”   “...it opens the gates to Heaven”: when you do your duty in life, accepting what God is giving you to do, it draws you closer and closer to God-Realisation. By accepting what God is giving you in your daily life, you are opening the gates to receive more. By showing that you are doing your duty; by accepting what God gives y...

Sankhya Yoga Chapter 2, Verse 31   sva-dharmam api cāvekṣya  na vikampitum arhasi  dharmyāddhi yuddhāc-chreyo  ‘nyat kṣatriyasya na vidyate   Looking to do your own duty, you should not tremble; there is no greater   good for the Kshatriya than righteous battle.   Krishna again reminds Arjuna of his duty as a Kshatriya, as a soldier. He says, “There is no greater thing for a soldier to do, than to fight. You should not divert yourself from your aim. Knowing now that the soul is immortal and that the body is separate from the soul, why do you lament? You should go and fight! Don’t just stand there and think! Don’t continue to analyse the problem from many different points of view. You are from the warrior caste, so do your duty! This is the natural duty of a Kshatriya – to not run away from a battle. If ‘the Kshatriya’ starts running away from the battle, all is finished! Then all that you have worried about will happen. It will not happen because ...

Sankhya Yoga Chapter 2, Verse 30   dehī nityam avadhyo’yaṁ  dehe sarvasya bhārata  tasmāt sarvāṇi bhūtāni  na tvaṁ śocitum arhasi   This dweller in the body of everyone is eternal and indestructible, O Bharata, therefore, you should not grieve for any creature.   Here Krishna explains that the soul, the dweller in the bodies of all living entities, can never be killed. The Lord says that in the bodies of all human beings in this world, there resides only One Supreme Soul. It is only due to ignorance that one sees differences in the diverse bodies. In reality, there is no diversity: there is only One Supreme Soul which we are all connected to, and which we are all part of. What is in me, is in you. It is in Arjuna. It is in Krishna. Lord Krishna reminds Arjuna, “I am in everyone as the Supreme Soul, Paramatma.” Every Atma is part of Paramatma: every Atma is part of this cosmic body which makes Paramatma, the only One Reality. He uses the word ‘indestructible...

Sankhya Yoga Chapter 2, Verse 29   āścaryavat paśyati kaścid enam  āścaryavad vadati tathaiva cānyaḥ  āścaryavac cainam anyaḥ śṛṇoti  śrutvāpy-enaṁ veda na caiva kaścit   One sees it as a mystery or one speaks of it or hears of it as a mystery, yet none truly know it. That Self, which we look on and speak of and hear of as that which is wonderful, beyond our comprehension, no human mind has ever known this Absolute.   Here Krishna says that the soul is something wonderful and that it’s very rare to meet an individual in this world who has perceived the true wonders of the soul. The soul is not a worldly object. He says, “None truly know it,” because the soul cannot be perceived by the senses, the mind or the intellect. To know something, you usually need the mind, no? But how can the mind perceive something that is beyond the mind? The soul is transcendental and unique. It is the only reality that abides eternally within the consciousness of every human bei...

Sankhya Yoga Chapter 2, Verse 28   avyaktādīni bhūtāni  vyakta-madhyāni bhārata  avyakta nidhanānyeva  tatra kā parivedana   Beings are unmanifest in the beginning, manifest in the middle, unmanifest likewise are they in disintegration. What is there to be grieved at, O Bharata?   In the beginning, before birth, the soul has no connection with this body. “In the middle”, when the body gets manifested, the soul still doesn’t have any connection to the body. And after death, the soul will maintain no connection to the gross body. The soul manifests in a body to do its karma, to finish the karma which had been created in past lifetimes, yet it remains untouched by anything. Then the soul frees itself upon passing from this body: it doesn’t hang onto the body. The Atma goes through this process. Lord Krishna says that this is like a dream world: the dream world is non-existent before and after the dream. It is only during the dream that the dreamer seems to hav...

Sankhya Yoga Chapter 2, Verse 27   jātasya hi dhruvo mṛtyur  dhruvaṁ janma mṛtasya ca  tasmād aparihārye ‘rthe  na tvaṁ śocitum arhasi   Death is certain for those who are born, and birth is certain for those who die; therefore what is inevitable ought not to be a cause of your sorrow.   There are many people and schools of thought who don’t believe in liberation, in salvation. They always think that they have to be reborn, that they can’t attain the Lord. They bind themselves to this wheel of life and death. They are in ignorance of liberation, in ignorance of attaining the Grace of God.    Krishna asks, “Why are you crying, Arjuna? Birth and death are conceived only in ignorance.” If one is in ignorance about liberation, one will never attain it. People who believe that they can’t run away from birth and death – because of their belief – they are stuck in that reality. If people want to believe that, why should you grieve? The drama of birth and...

Sankhya Yoga Chapter 2, Verse 26   atha cainaṁ nitya jātam  nityaṁ vā manyase mṛtam  tathāpi tvaṁ mahābāho  naivaṁ śocitum arhasi   Even if you think of the Self as being constantly subject to birth and death,   still, O mighty-armed, you should not grieve.   Here the Lord explains that the soul is not “subject to birth and death”, what dies is only the body. But you as the soul, you are eternal. He says, “Don’t grieve, My dear, because grieving makes you weak.” Learn to accept this as the Will of God. And when you learn to accept life – everything that happens in life as the Will of God, as a present from God – then you will be free from grief.   Krishna says, “Grieve not, ‘O mighty-armed’.” Again Krishna is addressing Arjuna as the, “mighty-armed,” mahābāho. He means, “You are strong! You are not weak.   Don’t go into weakness.” Bhagavad Gita 

Sankhya Yoga Chapter 2, Verse 25   avyakto’yam acintyo’yam  avikāryo’yam ucyate  tasmād evaṁ viditvainaṁ  nānuśocitum arhasi   It is unmanifest, it is unthinkable, it is immutable, so is it described;   therefore, knowing it as such, you should not grieve.   Here Krishna asks Arjuna, “Why are you grieving, My dear? Why are you crying? The soul ‘is unmanifest, it is unthinkable’”. The soul can’t be conceived by the mind, the mind can’t comprehend it. The mind can’t understand the soul, because the soul   is beyond the mind.   If you are looking at the soul only from the point of view of the mind, do you think that the mind can understand the soul? A mind which is always moving around is, ‘cañcala’, “restless,” dancing and jumping like a monkey, from one thought to the other. How can the mind, which is in constant movement, be still and perceive the unmovable? The mind will always move from one thing to another until one has gone deep...

Sankhya Yoga Chapter 2, Verse 24   acchedyo’yam adāhyo’yaṁ  akledyo’śoṣya eva ca  nityaḥ sarvagataḥ sthāṇur  acalo’yam sanātanaḥ   It cannot be cut, it is incombustible, it can neither be drenched nor dried.   Eternally stable, immobile, all-pervading, ever-existing.   Krishna continues explaining that the soul cannot be destroyed by any weapon because it is indivisible, unmanifest, constant and immutable. Krishna says that weapons don’t have any power to destroy this reality. Here the word ‘weapons’ also refers to karma: Krishna means that karma has no power to destroy the soul. Krishna uses the words ‘stable’, and ‘immobile’ to describe the soul. The soul is still and motionless. The soul is ever focused in the stillness. Whatever is moving, whatever is bound by vibration, is in constant change, and whatever is in constant change, has a limited existence.   “All pervading.” This means that there is no place where the soul is not present. Th...

Sankhya Yoga Chapter 2, Verse 23   nainaṁ chindanti śastrāṇi  nainaṁ dahati pāvakaḥ  na cainaṁ kledayanty-āpo  na śoṣayati mārutaḥ   Weapons cannot cut it, nor the fire burn it, nor do the waters drench it, nor   the wind dry it.   Overtaken by his feelings for his relatives, Arjuna asks, “How can I kill them?” He starts to worry and grieve, thinking, “How could I do that?” Lord Krishna reminds him that weapons cannot cut the soul, nor can fire burn it. Referring in this verse to fire, water, and wind, He explains that the elements don’t have any effect on the soul: neither fire, water, or wind, can do anything to the soul. He says, “Even if the body is cut into pieces by a weapon, the soul is not. Even if the body is burned, the soul will not be burned. Even if water dissolves the body, the soul is not touched by it.”    During the time of the Mahabharat War, the elements were used as weapons.   Here Krishna says that even if ...

Sankhya Yoga Chapter 2, Verse 22   vāsānsi jīrṇāni yathā vihāya  navāni gṛhṇāti naro’parāṇi  tathā śarīrāṇi vihāya jīrṇāny  anyāni sanyāti navāni dehī   The embodied soul casts away old bodies and takes up new bodies, as a   man changes worn-out clothes for new.   Here Lord Krishna says, “When one’s clothes get old, one changes them for new ones. Like that, when your body becomes old – but you still have karma to work out, and you are not yet fully realised – you will take another body. You will come back again into this material field to continue to advance, until the full Realisation awakens.” But then, one will ask, “What is the full Realisation?” Is it the Realisation of the Atma or of the mind? It is the Atmanivedam: the Atma Itself surrenders to the Supreme. Krishna refers to the body as old worn-out clothes. The body will go through the same cycle of birth, life, and death, again, again and again. This kind of suffering is because you are t...

Sankhya Yoga Chapter 2, Verse 21   vedāvināśinaṁ nityaṁ  ya enam ajam avyayam  kathaṁ sa puruṣaḥ pārtha  kaṁ ghātayati hanti kam   Who knows it as immortal, eternal, imperishable, spiritual existence, how   can that man slay, O Paartha, or cause to be slain?   In this verse, Bhagavan Sri Krishna brings to Arjuna’s attention that the one who has the true knowledge of the soul, can never think of harming anyone, or cause anyone to be killed. The thought of harming another person will never arise in the mind of one who has realised Brahma Jyaan or Atma Jyaan – because he is aware. If one has the knowledge that one is not the body, mind or intellect, rather the soul, one will never identify oneself with what one sees on the outside, and believe that one can kill. Krishna is saying that there is only one Consciousness that remains – the existence of the Spirit only, everywhere. And this Spirit can neither die nor harm anyone or anything. Krishna is rem...

Question - Gurudev, how does one achieve and maintain inner strength? Gurudev Sri Sri - By waking up to this knowledge. It should not be that just once a year you come, listen to some knowledge and go away. Make it part of your daily routine, so that it is maintained. Also, humility is important. Sometimes, people get so numb to knowledge. They think, 'I know it all. One should not get into that arrogance, 'I know the knowledge, what is there to know. The constant revival of knowledge, of the same points that you know, and reliving it is important. It is not a very tough or difficult task, and even if you lose the knowledge for a moment, it just comes back. Knowing that it comes back, you don't really lose it, it is there.

Question - Gurudev, what is it about seva that makes people dynamic versus doing office work? Gurudev Sri Sri - See, we have to do something and we keep doing something. When we do something, we want something out of it for ourselves. Now if you do something for which you don't want anything in return, but you just want to be useful in life, that is called seva. An action for which you are not expecting a reward, but you are happy just by doing an action, which would bring benefit to others, that is seva. An action for which you do not want any benefit for yourself, but instead you want to be beneficial to others, that is seva.

Question - Gurudev, is there any specific lesson we can learn from the entire Ramayana? Gurudev Sri Sri - Yes, Ramayana has a lot of significance. The Ramayana is not just a story which happened long ago, it has a philosophical, spiritual significance and a deep truth in it. The words 'rays' and 'radiance' come from the Sanskrit root word 'ra' 'Ra' means light, 'Ma' means within me, in my heart. So, Rama means the light within me. That which is radiant in every particle of the being is Rama. Rama was born to Dasharath and Kousalya. Dasharath means 'Ten Chariots' The ten chariots symbolize the five sense organs and five organs of action. Kousalya means 'skill'. The skillful rider of the ten chariots can give birth to Ram. When the ten are used skillfully, radiance is born within. Rama was born in Ayodhya. Ayodhya means 'a place where no war can happen' When there is no conflict in our mind, then the radiance can dawn. The R...

Question - Gurudev, the breath is so powerful. How does it work in connecting us to the subtle dimension? Gurudev Sri Sri - My dear, in the subtle you are already connected. The breath only makes you realize that you are connected. Your mind is always outside and it does not come back to itself, so the breath is the first step in bringing the outgoing mind inward. It is the doorway or the pathway, and meditation keeps the mind in the inner chamber.

Question - Gurudev, nowadays there is an increase of anger and rage in the children towards their parents. What can be done towards this? Gurudev Sri Sri - Just keep them busy in music, knowledge and service. If they start doing this early on in their childhood and growing years, then the anger and such tendencies will be reduced.

Question - Gurudev, what can I do to increase my capacity to take your blessings? How can I make my cup bigger? Gurudev Sri Sri - In the Advanced Course you all have heard of the Shatt Sampatti (six wealths, or six fold virtues) • Sama (calmness or quietude of mind) • Dama (self control or restraint of the senses) • Uparati (satiety) • Titiksha (power of endurance) • Shradha (faith), and • Samadhana (equanimity or one-pointedness of the mind) This is what you must focus on increasing more in your life. By enhancing these virtues, your capacity to receive blessings will increase. Among the four pillars of knowledge, the third one that has these six wealths, that is what we must increase. Also we must do Seva (service) and Sadhana (spiritual practices).

Question - Gurudev, what should one do when one experiences sorrow and suffering? Gurudev Sri Sri - Have patience. When you have come here to the Ashram, drop all your sorrow and miseries here, and just walk ahead. There is no misery or suffering that cannot be gotten rid of. Have you ever seen a cloud that never moves and stays in one place permanently? It is impossible. In the same way, your misery and suffering are like clouds. Some clouds disappear in an instant, while some take a little longer to go away. But they do pass away and that is inevitable.

Sankhya Yoga Chapter 2, Verse 20   na jāyate mriyate vā kadācin   nāyaṁ bhūtvā bhavitā vā na bhūyaḥ  ajo nityaḥ śāśvato ‘yaṁ purāṇo  na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre   This is not born, nor does it die, nor is it a thing that comes into being once and passing away will never come into being again. It is unborn, ancient, everlasting; it is not slain with the slaying of the body.   This part is so wonderful. Krishna says that the soul was never born: we can’t even say that we are born from God. All we can say is, “We come out of Him.” The soul is never born, nor does it die. Krishna is saying that the soul is not something which is passing by or has modifications with birth and death. Death doesn’t have any grip on the soul: even birth doesn’t have any grip on the soul. It is ever-free. Modifications are only for the body. Krishna says that all that is “passing away will never come into being again,” meaning that what one has gone through before, it won’t hap...