Hari om everyone,
We commenced today's class with a few minutes of meditation, followed by geetaa chanting. We wanted the students to chant on their own. So together, pretty much without much help, the class chanted till verse 12! We were so happy and continued our learning until verse 15. Below are the recordings for 13 - 15.
We were so impressed with the chanting that we forgot to do the geetaa dhyaanam today! There were some corrections. We had a funny one today - In verse 9, they said 'naanaa-shaastra-praharaNaaH...' instead of 'naanaa-shastra-praharaNaaH...' This brought us to discuss why pronunciations are very important in Sanskrit. As per what they'd said, it would mean that the kauravas and paaNDavas were standing ready in the war field, with scriptures in their hands and said to each other, 'here, I throw the rigveda at you...' 'Wait! I will hurt you with the upaniShads...' (That would have been a less harmful war for sure!) Because 'shaastra' means scriptures whereas 'shastra' means weapons. They were standing ready with weapons! So, a simple addition of an 'a' can unintentionally change the meaning completely and in this case, funnily also :).
We started our chapter 7 discussions. We had discussed in the previous class that the first ShaTkam (6 chapters) of the geetaa explained the aspects and attributes of the jeeva (you). The next 6 chapters explain about the Lord and the last 6 connect the equation between the two (you and the Lord).
We suddenly hit upon a question as to why do we need to know the bhagavadgeetaa?! We wanted to brush it aside for a while.
We thought it is interesting to see what we would do if we were handed a brand new Tesla or a new blender and we didn't know how to operate them? Suggestions were: ask someone who already has it; check with the guy who sold it to you; just press a button and 'wing' it (ya, why not :); check YouTube videos; check the user manual. Bingo! They had got on the right track. Yes! The best and most authentic information regarding an object can come from its maker only.
But unfortunately, when we were born, we didn't bring a user manual along. Sure mom and dad would have loved it if there were 'off' and 'on' buttons when the baby was crying! But they had to figure out the many reasons for the baby's tears... Growing up, the baby too, has to figure out the purpose of its life. But how? Who knows the best answer? Who has the user manual? Who do we ask? Well..., who better to ask than our Maker, the Lord Himself!!
Someone did... and he got the response as below :)
Someone did... and he got the response as below :)
So, now we know why we need to study the geetaa! We absolutely need it to know our purpose for life and how to conduct ourself in this life. But why? The lions, the tigers, the cheetahs, the zebras or the mosquitos don't do any such studying. Then why should we?
All animals are born with an innate nature and do not have it in their control to change that.
- A Lion can't attend a pravachan with our Swamiji and decide, "violence and killing is bad... Let me convert to be a vegetarian." It is not built for that! ('Did you know' moment: the length of the intestines of carnivores is much smaller than that of the herbivores. It practically can't digest plant-based food.)
- A mosquito cannot feel the sorrow of the people it bites and quit sucking blood! (Another 'Did you know' moment: Only female mosquitoes bite and suck blood. They do this to nourish the eggs in their stomach.)
ONLY humans have the power to make choices! We call this 'Free will'. Let's hold this thought for now.
We as humans function at our ego level for most of the time. When we say 'ego' we don't mean it as in 'egotistic' in English. In terms of vedaanta, the definition of 'ego' is not just an inflated opinion of oneself but something more. Time and again, we have seen the chart that Gurudev shows - the BMI chart. We saw the expansion of these acronyms. They stand for Body, Mind and Intellect. We wrongly 'identify' ourselves at these 3 levels. We discussed with 3 different sample scenarios and understood what it means to be 'identifying' oneself with these aspects. The ensuing discussion was interesting.
They asked: So, what do we do? If someone comes with a gun to shoot, should we offer ourselves as we are not supposed to identify ourselves with the body?
Our answer: Our shaastras (yes, not shastra here :) have given us the answers! 'sharIramAdyaM khalu dharmasAdhanam' - the body is the foremost instrument for doing dharma. Just as steam floating randomly in the air has no power, but can move an entire train when generated in a steam engine, we need this body for the functioning of the jeeva. So, we certainly need the body, but we should not get overly obsessed about beautifying its superficial appearance.
They asked: How about the mind? Do we just say, "Oh..., I am not sad, but my 'mind' is sad?" (They giggle)
We said: We can't say that! If we do, they will put us in a nut-house (all giggle). It is not for saying, but for the understanding that we are not the mind and hence not engage with it.
(At this point, they remembered the example of the river we'd discussed some time ago. They connected the example of how we should not be in the river to experience the river, but be on the banks to watch it flow by. We were certainly impressed with their recollection!)
We continued: There is nothing for us to brag about how smart we are because we are not our intelligence either! Only humans have the power to make these choices.
They collectively start thinking out loud: What do you mean ONLY humans have the best opportunity? How about Gods? Aren't they already better than us? We have so many Gods! Even they have a lifespan? Are you saying viShNu will stop being viShNu one day?!!
We: Hold the horses! Let's go one at a time... Do you think we are polytheistic or monotheistic? I mean, we do have many Gods, don't we?
Some: Mono
Some others: Poly
Us: Supposed you are good at Science, would you do Science all the time? If you like sleeping, can you sleep all the time? (We did get some Ayes for this one :). If you love food, can you keep eating all the time?
They: No! I wish! Of course not!
They: So, who is this parabrahma now?
Us: There is a clay pot. What can you see about it?
Them: Shape..., size..., clay..., color...
Us: Ok, now one by one, just one at a time, we will remove the atoms of clay from the pot and keep it aside. When we are all done, to the last atom, can you please show me the shape, size and color of the pot?
Them: NO!
Us: Why not? We took out only the atoms of clay. Nothing was removed from the shape or color or size!... EXACTLY! parabramha is He who makes up the whole universe, without whom nothing can even exist!!
Us: Hold the thought regarding the time span of devatas. We have to wind up the class to go for aarati and pledge. We will discuss this next class.
Announcement: There is a Chinmaya Kalarangam program coming up that showcases the talent of our Bala Vihar children. Check the below link for further details
https://temple.chinmayavrindavan.com/index.php/cultural-events-upcomming/922-chinmaya-kalaarangam-vi
https://temple.chinmayavrindavan.com/index.php/cultural-events-upcomming/922-chinmaya-kalaarangam-vi
Until next week, happy contemplating.
Regards,
Rashmi and Kishore.
Rashmi and Kishore.
