Gita in Bollywood

The following recent movies are worth watching.

God Tussi Great Ho : Salman Khan
&
Oh My God : Akshay Kumar

These 2 movies are not just hilarious but if you watch them carefully and listen (not merely listen) they have messages that the Gita is trying to give us. I may not agree with everything in the movie but largely they are entertaining while trying to convey a spiritual message.

About "E"

"E" is the most EMINENT letter of the alphabet.

MEN or WOMEN don't exist without "E".

HOUSE or HOME can't be made without "E".

BREAD or BUTTER can't be found without "E".

"E" is the beginning of "EXISTENCE" and the end of "TROUBLE."

It's not at all in 'WAR'


It's once in 'HELL' but twice in 'HEAVEN'.

"E" represents 'EMOTIONS' hence all emotional relations like FATHER, MOTHER, BROTHER, SISTER have 'E' in them.

"E" also represents 'EFFORT' & 'ENERGY'

...hence to be 'BETTER' from good "E" comes twice.

Without "E", we would have no 'LOVE', 'LIFE', 'WIFE' or 'HOPE' & 'SEE', 'HEAR', 'SMELL', or 'TASTE' as 'EYE', 'EAR', 'NOSE', 'TONGUE' & HEART are made of "E".

Hence Go with "E" .............but without EGO.
🌹

The important "S" letter words in Spirituality

Seva : Selfless service
Sadhna : Contemplation, Meditation
Satsangh : In company of good people, thoughts & actions
Sadachar : Internaly behaviour good for all
Samatvam : Equipoise
Sadbhav : Neutral feeling / equal eye for all
Swadhya : Regular reading of scriptures
Scriptures : Learning for them
Samadhi : Deep meditation
Sacred : Life is sacred
Source : Never forget the source of everything is God

A story relating to chapter 4

Chapter 4 is about the knowledge of HIM

Grand Conversation between twins inside the womb:

Baby 1: And you, you believe in life after birth?

Baby 2: Absolutely. It’s obvious that life after birth exist. We are here to become stronger and to get ready for Whatever awaits us next.

Baby 1: This is absurd. There is nothing after birth! What would life look like outside the womb?

Baby 2: Well, there are many stories about the other side. I’ve heard there is a blaze of light there, an intense and profound feeling of joy with deep emotions, thousands of things to live for… For example, I’ve heard that we’ll eat with our mouth, there.

Baby 1: That's silly. We have an umbilical cord and that is how we eat. Everyone knows that we don’t use our mouth to eat! And, on the top of it, no one has ever come back from the other world… Those stories are all coming from naïve people. Life just ends at birth. Period. That’s the way it is and we must accept it.

Baby 2: Alright, then allow me to think differently. That's for sure, I have no idea what life after birth looks like, and I can’t prove anything to you. But I like to believe, that in the next world, we’ll be able to see our mother and that she will take care of us.

Baby 1: “Mother”? You mean that you believe in ‘Mother’? Oh! So where is she?

Baby 2: Everywhere, don’t you see it! She is everywhere, all around us. We are part of her and it's thanks to her that we are living right now. Without her, we wouldn’t be here.

Baby 1: This is ridiculous! I’ve never seen any mother so it’s obvious that she doesn’t exist.

Baby 2: I don’t agree, that’s your way of seeing things. Because sometimes when everything quiets down a little bit, we can hear her sing. We can feel her hugging our world. I’m pretty sure that our life will start after birth.

Read it a second time by changing some words.... Change the word

BIRTH to DEATH

WOMB to WORLD


It is a fantastic and simple way to explain and understand.

Gita Simplified & with stories : Chapter 18

What is this chapter about

• Liberation through renunciation
• Nirvana by giving up Ego 
• Yoga of liberation and renunciation 
• Moksh Sanyasa yoga
• The Perfect Renunciation

Summary of chapter

• This chapter is like a recap of the previous 17 chapters. There is a bit from almost all chapters here
• All that has been said from chap 2 onwards , the key points are summarised here.
• True sanyasa is giving up ego  
• Sanyas is giving up desire prompted action & Renunciation is giving up the fruits of all actions
• Route to nirvana is giving up ego. To give up ego one needs spiritual knowledge
• This chapter revisits knowledge about Atman, Karam Yoga, Gyan Yog, Dhyan Yog, Bhakti Yog, 3 Gunas in nature, Lords vibhutis and so on

Shlokas references

• 78 shlokas, the longest chapter. 
• 18.02 : giving up selfish motives in all we do 
• 18.23, 24, 25 : Actions can be Satvik (without doership, seeking nothing in return) or Rajasic (done with ego & desire and expecting results) or Tamasic (done with ignorance)
• 18.26, 27, 28 : A Doer may be Satvik (unattached, unegoistic, unswayed by result ) or Rajasic (full of attachment and seeking fruits of action) or Tamasic (lacking self control, procastinating, uncultured)
• 18. 29, 30, 31, 32 : Budhi  may be Satvik ( understands path of bondage and renunciation, should and should not, bondage and liberation) or Rajasic (does not understand or see dharma & adharma) or Tamasic (ignorant, may see adharam as dharam)
• 18.33, 34, 35 . Dhriti may be Satvik (unwavering, controls mind & senses) or Rajasic (fondness of dharam, art & kamm and seeking rewards) or Tamasic (evil minded, does not give u anxiety, pride etc)
• 18.37, 38, 39 : Joy may be Satvik (poison like/difficult/ painful in start, and ends in joy. Calm intellect) or Rajasic (starts as nectar, attractive & sweet thru sense organs, and ends up in trouble) or Tamasic (stupefies one, excessive sleeping, obstination) . One that is short term and leads to trouble later Vs what seems painful in the beginning but leads to lasting joy
• 18.41- 18.44 : the Vedic society had 4 varnas based on mental, intellectual and physical capabilities, it was determined by karmas and not by birth. 
• 18.46 : doing ones duty with honesty, dedication and faith 
• 18.47 : work aligned to ones nature and ability and dedicated to Lord is akin to worship.
• 18.66 : Put in your best effort and accept results as God's will
• 18.68-69 : Gift of spiritual knowledge is the best 
• 18.70-18.71 : Listening, imbibing, sharing, facilitating the sharing of knowledge is service to Lord 
• 18.73 : Arjun is free of delusion and grateful for the knowledge
• 18.78 : Everlasting peace and prosperity is possible, doing duty with spiritual knowledge. Where ever lord is and his disciple equipped with knowledge, victory and unfailing righteousness is there.

Key message from the chapter 

• Duty, Discipline & Devotion 
• Acting with the spiritual knowledge, actions dedicated to God leads to liberation.

Summary in poetry 

Know about abandonment and renunciation

Here is my ultimate declaration

Never should be abandoned, sacrifice, charity and austerity

Since it leads to purity         

Obligatory duties, all should perform

Agreeable or disagreeable, pure men always conform

Detached and not desiring of the fruit

Every prescribed duty, they execute

Action and its causes, understand all the facts

Helps you comprehend the reasons behind all acts

Kinds of knowledge, action, intellect, fortitude and pleasure

Are pure, passionate or dark, three in measure

Everyone’s duties depends on how their qualities bind

Qualities born of nature are four in kind

By engaging in their own duty, wise men attain perfection

And with Supreme they make their connection

Heart of every being is Lord’s dwelling

Seek his refuge and manifest your divine being

Secret of secrets, this wisdom I have shared so clear

It is because to me you are so dear

With all the knowledge gained, you reflect

Choice is yours and now you act

If you take refuge in me for sure

Will liberate you from all the sins, this I assure

This supreme knowledge with devotion who teach

Without any doubt my abode, they reach

                        With your grace, I am now aware

My doubts are dispelled, this I declare

                        My faith is firm and intact

                        Now as per your words, I will act.

A story related to the message

I am no Crane

A holy man named Kaushika had acquired great spiritual powers. One day, he sat under a tree meditating. A crane at the top of the tree soiled his head with its droppings. Kaushika looked up at it angrily, and his angry look killed the bird instantly. The holy man was pained when he saw the dead bird lying on the ground. Some time later, he went as usual to beg for food and stood before the door of a house. The housewife was busy serving her husband with food and seemed to forget the holy man waiting outside. After her husband had been fed, she came out with food, saying, “I am sorry to have kept you waiting long. Forgive me.”

But Kaushika, burning with anger, said: “Lady, you have made me wait for a long time. This is not fair.”

“Kindly forgive me,” said the woman. “I was serving my sick husband and hence the delay.”

“It is good to attend the husband,” replied Kaushika, “but you seem to be an arrogant woman.”

“I kept you waiting only because I was dutifully serving my sick husband,” she replied. “Please do not be angry with me. I am no crane to be killed by your angry thought. Your anger cannot harm a woman who devotes herself to service of her husband and family.”

Kaushika was surprised. He wondered how she knew of the crane incident.

She continued: “O great one, you do not know the secret of duty, or that anger is the greatest enemy that dwells in human beings. Go to the village Rampur in Mithilā and learn the secrets of doing one’s duty with devotion from Vyādha Rāj”

Kaushika went to the village and met the man named Vyādha Rāj. He was surprised to learn he was selling meat at a butcher’s shop. The butcher got up from his seat and asked: “Honored sir, are you well? Did that pure lady send you to me? I know why you have come. Let us go home.”

The butcher took Kaushika to his house where Kaushika saw a happy family and was greatly amazed at the love and respect with which the butcher served his parents. Kaushika took his lesson from the butcher on doing one’s duty. Vyādha Rāj did not kill the animals; he never ate meat. He just carried on his family business after his father retired.

Afterwards, Kaushika returned to his house and began to serve his parents, a duty which he had neglected before.

The moral of this story is that you can reach spiritual perfection by honestly doing whatever duty is yours in life. This is a true worship of God (Gita 18.46).

Related posts on this blog   

• Spiritual significance of Ramayan!
• Effort & Destiny
• Dharam Arth Kaam Moksh
• War & peace : Preparation for war, exam or moksha

Gita Simplified & with stories : Chapter 17

What is this chapter about

• Division of Faith 
• The three fold faith 
• Shraddha traya vibhaga

Summary of chapter

• The entire Prakriti and each individual is made up from the Guna's
• Our past actions impact the combination in current life. And our current choices will determine our next life and our progress to reach the Lord.

Shlokas references

• 28 shlokas
• 17.1-17.22 : Faith as rooted in the gunas
• Faith is determined by the dominance of one or other Gunas (SRT)
• Faith is rooted in natural disposition which is derived from past experiences and karmas
• Who they worship, the foods dear to then, the likes and dislikes, choice of words, tone of speech, charitable acts for the 3 categories or people are different
• The intentions / feelings while doing an action are also typical of persons with dominance of S/R/T
• The awareness ( a Satwa quality) can help us avoid the Tamsic qualities like  laziness, ungratefulness or the Rajasic ones like arrogance and selfishness.
• 17.23-17.28 : Om, Tat, Sat : these 3 words summarises the entire universe
• Om : Essence of all sounds. The universal frequency. The original and final sound.
• Tat : That , denoting the lord
• Sat : what is True . Good. 

Key message from the chapter 

• Sattwa : divine, pure, selfless in nature. Likes healthy, fresh, juicy nourishing foods. Worships Devas and reads scriptures, chants mantras, prays for the larger good.
• Rajas : worldly, commercial, transactional in nature. Enjoys sour, salty and pungent foods. Worships with personal fruits gains in mind.
• Tamas : selfish, lazy in nature. Eats stale and tasteless foods. Worship if any lacks faith and mantras etc.

Summary in poetry 

Faith of the embodied is a threefold kind

It depends on how their innate natures bind

Pure, passionate or dark

It depends on their inner mark

Know about three types of food, sacrifice and austerities

And the threefold way of giving charities

Harmless, truthful, helpful and pleasant

In austerity of speech, these are present

Discipline of the mind brings silence and calmness

And self restraint, purity and gentleness

Without any faith, one who does all these in haste

In this life and hereafter, goes only waste

A story related to the message

The Thirsty Crow

It was a hot summer day. A crow was very thirsty. He flew from place to place looking for water. He could not find water anywhere. Ponds, rivers, and lakes were all dry. The water in the well was too deep. Crow was very thirsty for water. He flew and flew. He was getting both tired and thirsty, but he did not give up the search.

At last he thought death was near and remembered God and started to pray for water. He saw a pitcher of water near a house. This made him very happy as he thought there must be water in the pitcher. He sat on the top of the pitcher and looked into it. To his great frustration he found that the water was at the bottom of the pitcher. He could see the water, but his beak could not reach the water. He became very sad and started to think how he could reach the water. Suddenly an idea came into his mind. There were stones near the pitcher. He picked up stones from the ground, one by one, and started dropping them into the pitcher. The water began coming up. Soon the crow could reach it easily. He drank the water, thanked God, and happily flew away.

Thus it is said, “Where there is a will, there is a way.” The crow did what we all should do. He did not give up. He had faith that his prayer would be answered. Here is another good story:

The Rabbit and the Turtle

A turtle always moves very slowly. His friend, the rabbit, often laughed at the slow turtle. One day, the turtle could not bear the insults and challenged the rabbit to run a race with him. All the animals in the jungle laughed at the idea because a race is usually between equals. A deer volunteered to be the judge.

The race started. The rabbit ran fast, and soon he was ahead of the turtle. As the rabbit came closer and closer to the winning post, he felt sure of winning. He looked back at the slow moving turtle, who was far behind.

The rabbit was so sure of winning that he thought, “I will sit under the tree and wait for the turtle. When he comes here, I shall run fast and cross the finish line before he does. This will make turtle angry, and it will be fun to see the turtle insulted.”

The rabbit then sat under a tree. The turtle was still far behind. A cool wind was blowing gently. After some time passed, the rabbit fell asleep. When he woke up, he saw the turtle crossing the finish line. The rabbit had lost the race! All the animals in the jungle were laughing at the rabbit, and he learned a valuable lesson:

“Slow and steady wins the race.”

You can succeed in any work if you work hard with strong faith. Be enthusiastic about what you want, and you will get it. We are the creator of our own fate. Thoughts create our future. We become what we always think of. So never think a negative thought or allow doubt to enter your mind. Keep working toward your goal. You cannot get anythingthrough laziness, negligence, and delay. Keep your dream alive in your heart, and it will come true. All difficulties can be removed by faith in God and a firm determination to succeed. But the fruits of success must be shared with others. If you want your dream to be fulfilled, help fulfill someone else’s dream!

Here is a story of a man who learned

that God helps those who help themselves.

A Man Who Never Gave Up

Yava was the son of a sage who practised hard penance to get the blessings of Indra, the King of Devas. He tortured his body with austerities and thus awakened the sympathy of Indra. Indra came before him and asked why he was hurting his body.

Yava answered: “I wish to be a great scholar of the Vedas. It takes a long time to learn the Vedas from a teacher. I am practising austerities to get that knowledge directly. Bless me.”

Indra smiled and said: “Son, you are on the wrong path. Return home, find a good teacher, and learn the Vedas from him. Austerity is not the way to learn; the path is study and study alone.” With these words, Indra went away.

But Yava would not give up. He did his course of spiritual practise (austerities, penance) with even greater effort. Indra again came before Yava and warned him again. Yava announced that if his prayer was not answered, he would cut off his arms and legs one by one and offer them to the fire. No, he would never give up. He continued his penance. One morning, during his austerities, when he went to bathe in the holy Gangā River, he saw an old man on the bank throwing handfuls of sand into the river.

“Old man, what are you doing?” asked

Yava.

now to cross it. Useful work, isn’t it? ” Yava laughed and said: “What a fool you must be to think you can build a dam across this mighty river with your handfuls of sand! Go home and do some other useful

The old man replied: “I am going to build a dam across the river so people can cross the river easily. See how difficult it is to work.”

The old man said: “Is my work more foolish than yours of learning the Vedas, not by study, but by austerities?”

Yava now knew that the old man was Indra. Yava earnestly begged Indra to grant him learning as a personal wish.

Indra blessed him and comforted Yava with the following words: “I grant you the wish you want. Go and read the Vedas; you will become learned.”

Yava studied the Vedas and became a great scholar of the Vedas.

The secret of success is to keep thinking about what you want all the time and never give up until you get what you want. Do not let negative thoughts, such as delaying to start work, laziness, and carelessness stand in your way.

Related posts on this blog

• Intentions in eating
• The Guna's
• Guna's a revisit
• The 3 Little Pigs & the 3 Gunas

Gita Simplified & with stories : Chapter 16

What is this chapter about

• Divine (Daivi) & Demonical (Asuri) qualities
• Divine & Demoniac Natures

Summary of chapter

• All have good & bad qualities. Depending on combination/majority one gets classified as good or bad.
• Lust (sexuality), hunger (greed) & anger is in animals but circumstancial  /natures call. However in humans it can be all consuming 

Shlokas references

• 24 shlokas
• 16.1-16.18 The divine & demonic types
• 16.1-16.3 : 26 Divine qualities : fearlessness, purity, ahimsa, freedom from vanity
• 16.4 - Demonic qualities : Pride, arrogance, wrath, rudeness, pretentiousness, anger 
• 16.9-16.24 : Gateway to hell
• 16.23-16.24 : Scriptures help in arresting the demonic qualities and develop divine qualities

Key message from the chapter 

• Since all may not have a Guru to guide, scriptures help guide us humans
• Self control and awareness key to developing divine qualities
• With reference to the Shlok 16.1-3
  If we draw an analogy  between increasing our divinity and inproving our health. Then, we can see that the 26 Daivigun are like a list of nutritious food for our soul. 
  The asuri sampada ke durgun are the junk food. Only a steady diet of nutritious food can improve our spiritual  health.

Summary in poetry 

Those who are born to attain sublime qualities

Possess all the divine properties

But those who are born for a demoniac estate

Exhibit all the traits that enslave

With hypocrisy, anger, lust and arrogance

They walk the path of only ignorance

Lust, anger and greed are three gates to pain

Renounce these and pursue the noble aim

Follow the guidelines prescribed in sacred text

They are the authority in what is best

A story related to the message

The Dog and the Bone

One day a dog found a bone. He picked it up in his mouth and went to a lonely corner to chew it. He sat there and chewed the bone for some time. Then the dog felt thirsty and picked up the bone in his mouth and walked over a small wooden bridge to drink water from the creek

When he saw his own reflection in the water, he thought there was another dog with a bone in the river. Becoming greedy, he wanted to have the other bone also. He opened his mouth to bark and take the bone from the other dog. As soon as he opened his mouth to grab the other bone, the bone dropped out of his mouth and fell into the creek. The dog realized his mistake, but it was too late.

Greed can be overcome by being satisfied with what one has. A satisfied person is a very happy person. A greedy person cannot find true peace and happiness in life.

The Story of Queen Draupadi

Draupadi was the common wife of five Pāndavas. She was the daughter of a Rishi in her past life. She was very beautiful and virtuous, but in her past life, due to her past Karma, she had been unable to get married. This made her unhappy. So she started austerity to please Lord Shiva. After a long and difficult austerity, she pleased Lord Shiva, who asked her to choose a blessing of her choice. She asked for a husband who would be very religious, strong, a very good soldier, good looking, and gentle. Lord Shiva granted her wish.

In the next life, she was married to five brothers, but she was not very happy with this strange situation. Draupadi was a great devotee of Lord Krishna, who knows the past, present and future of all beings. He knew of her sorrow and explained what she had asked for in her past life. Lord Krishna said it was impossible for one man to have all the qualities she wanted in her husband, so she was married to five husbands in this life, who shared all these qualities among them.

After hearing this explanation from the Lord Krishna Himself, she, her parents, and her five husbands cheerfully accepted what fate had given them and lived happily.

The moral of the story is that one cannot find a husband or wife with all good or bad qualities, so one must learn to live with whatever is given by fate. There is no perfect spouse because no one has only good habits and no bad habits.

Related posts on this blog

• Dormant sanskars & soccer
• Imitating others!

Gita Simplified & with stories : Chapter 15

What is this chapter about

• The Yoga of the Supreme Person
• Mystery of the all-pervading person
• Purushothama Yoga 

Summary of chapter

• The Supreme being, the supreme spirit, the super-soul, The  Father, Mother, Ishwara. Para brahma, paramatma. The Supreme Spirit is the source  & root of everything.
• The Roots are the supreme spirit
• The trunk is Atma or Brahman
• Cosmos are the branches
• Holy books / scriptures are the leaves
• Individual souls are the fruits & flowers.
• Everything in the universe has its origin in Brahman
• The creation / world is changeable, ever changing and does not last forever. Atma/Paramatma are "akshar" / unchangeable. 
• The gunas feed the sense organs and that sustains the cycle of samsara 
• There is a mention how the memories (built up thru senses) go along with atma to next life. Just like air carries the scent of flowers.
• Sansar Varnan ( Universe & the Tree) 
• Very huge / vast
• When inside , cause is invisible. Cant see start of it - roots!
• Many branches ( lokas)
• Occupied by many living beings ( birds & bees & insects)
• Birds & bees consume fruits of tree (Jiva's Karma & their fruits)
• Leaves cover the tree ( scriptures protect the universe)
• Inexplainable : Seed & Tree ( Chicken & egg)
• Eternal. Nityam. Forever
• Moves with wind. ( Karma / Jiva moves with the mind)
• Tree if uprooted ceases to be. Jiva with gyana is liberated.  Gyan leads to detachment & that is the axe to cut free.

Shlokas references

• 20 shlokas
• 15.1-15.3 : The Mystic Asvatha Tree
• 15.4-15.15 : Transcendence & Immanence of the divine
• Vairagya is the tool to break free from samsara. Steps to practice Vairagya
• Accept the dwandha ref Sukh & Dukh
• Free from pride & delusion
• Reduce expectations and target to be free from desire
• Overcome attachment (awareness)
• Measure your spiritual progress
• Distance from worldly affairs
• 15.10 : Taking things for what they are not. Or Not taking things for what they are.
• 15.16-15.20 : The Purushotama 

Key message from the chapter 

• Knowing that the world and gross body etc are all temporary & changeable and becoming aware of the only permanent indestructible supreme being.
• Living in sansar as sansari is like a hamster and its wheel, always moving and still there.
• The quest to know more than & beyond the tree (sansar) and its origin etc.

Summary in poetry 

Know this eternal truth that the individualized Self

Is nothing but an eternal part of Myself

In the body with five senses and the mind, I reside

Providing vitality for all beings, everything I preside

Those who possess the divine eye

Behold ME and contemplate so high

In the sun, moon and fire, know that light to be mine

I support all beings by my strength so prime

Related Q&A

Q. Why has the saṁsāra been represented as a ‘vṛkṣa’ (tree)? 

A. Saṁsāra is represented as a tree (vṛkṣa) because of the etymological meaning of the Sanskrit term ‘vṛkṣa’ – ‘that which can be cut down’. 

The experiences of change and sorrow that the world of plurality gives us can be totally ended through detachment. The ‘tree of saṁsāra’ that has seemingly sprung forth from the Infinite Consciousness Divine, can be cut down by shifting our attention from the tree to the Divine. 

It is thus for the purpose of indicating that saṁsāra can be ended that it is represented as a ‘vṛkṣa’ (tree).

A story related to the message

A Story of Baby Krishna

Baby Krishna had an elder half-brother named Balarāma. Both played together in the village of Gokul. Krishna’s birth mother’s name was Devaki. His father’s name was Vasudeva. Krishna is also called Vāsudeva. Krishna spent His childhood years under the care of Aunty Yashodā. Both Balarāma and Krishna were the favorites of the village milkmaids. Their mothers loved them proudly. Yasodā and Rohini (Balarāma’s mother) dressed their young boys colorfully, Krishna in yellow with a crown of peacock feathers in His hair, and Balarāma in blue. The two boys went from place to place, making friends wherever they went. Most of the time they got into a lot of trouble!

One day, they were playing outside with a few of the other village boys, digging in the dirt, making mud pies, and getting very dirty. After a while, one of the older boys ran to mother Yashodā and said, “Krishna has been a bad boy, He has been eating clay!” Yashodā was annoyed with her young son. She had also been hearing other complaints from villagers that Krishna had been stealing butter from their houses. She came out of her house and asked

Krishna angrily, “Did you really eat clay, Krishna? How many times have I told you not to put things in your mouth!”Krishna didn’t want to be punished, so he played a trick on mother Yashodā. He opened His mouth wide and said, “See, Mother, I haven’t been eating anything. These boys are just lying to get me in trouble.”

Yashodā looked inside Krishna’s mouth. There, in the little boy’s mouth, she saw the whole universe---Earth and stars, the wide empty space, the entire galaxy and the Milky Way, the oceans and the mountains, the Sun and the Moon. All were contained within His mouth. She realized then that Krishna was Lord Vishnu incarnate, and she was about to fall before Him and worship.

But Krishna didn’t want her to worship Him. He just wanted her to love Him the way mothers love their children. He could have come to earth in any form to fight the demons, but He liked being a little boy to a mother and a father who had performed many difficult spiritual practices to have God as their child. Baby Krishna realized that His trick had been a big mistake!

Quickly, He spread His power of Māyā over her. The next minute Yashodā was holding her son as usual, with no memory at all of what she had just seen in Krishna’s mouth.

The Story of Shri RamaKrishna

The Lord came to this earth as RamaKrishna, born on February 18, 1836, in the village Kamarpukur of West Bengal. Most of the stories I have told you are from his “Tales and Parables of Shri RamaKrishna.” Swami Vivekananda was one of his most famous disciples. Swami Vivekananda was the first Hindu monk who came to the USA in 1893. He established the Vedanta Society in New York. RamaKrishna led a very simple life, depending on God for his daily food and other necessities of life. He would not accept any money. He was married to Sarada Ma, whom he treated like his mother and never had any child. Sarada Ma used to tell her disciples: “If you want peace of mind, do not look into others’ faults; rather, look into your own. No one is a stranger; the whole world is your own.” Sarada Ma also warned her disciples not to be too close with persons of the opposite gender, even if God came in that form. RamaKrishna worshipped Goddess Kali as his personal deity in a temple at Dakshineshvar near Kolkata. This temple still exists today.

Related posts on this blog

• Origin & essence of everything leads to GOD
• Old & new versions of religion/Vedas
• The food chain & God

Gita Simplified & with stories : Chapter 14

What is this chapter about

• Three Gunas of Nature
• Division according to Gunas
• The Three Modes of Material Nature

Summary of chapter

• Universal womb / father
• Awareness on Gunas and their impact
• At one point one Guna in dominance
• When Sat dominates then Knowldege, friendliness, helpfulness increase
• When Rajo in dominance then action oriented and desire for fruit
• And when Tamo dominating , ignorance covers knowledge & ruins intellect. Dullness & delusion
• Rising above Gunas and away from their influence as we have the intellect to choose what is right and devotion to lord.

Shlokas references

• 27 shlokas
• 14.1-14.5 : All beings have same origin. Come from same womb/father.
• 14.6 -14.20 : Nature has 3 aspects/gunas/dispositions.
• Actions / reactions / feelings are based on ones guna combination
• An aware person has the ability to change the combination of SRT and hence the course of life
• We have to rise above the gunas to attain liberation
• Stop laziness & procastination. Do what is right & needs to be done. Selflessness. And then devotion to take us forward.
• 14.21 -14.27 : Who is trigunatit? beyond the gunas. 
• Attributes described (combination of Stithpragya 2.55-2.72 and Bhakta 12.13-12.20)
• Same to friend & foe, equipoised, no attachments, no doership, depend only on God.....

Key message from the chapter 

• Gunas form the nature and have an impact on every aspect of prakriti.

Summary in poetry 

Purity, Passion and Inertia, constituents are three

Of the Nature, that is born from ME

Purity binds to knowledge and divineness

At all times leads to happiness

Elements of Passion are restlessness and constant action

It can only lead to pain and dejection

Inertia binds to useless activity, sleep and indolence

Result of which is ignorance

Everyone is so bound by these modes of three

One who transcends them becomes free

A story related to the message

Three Robbers on the Path

Once a man was going through a forest when three robbers jumped on him and robbed him.

One of the robbers then said, “What is the use of keeping this man alive?”

He was about to kill him with his sword when the second robber stopped him, saying“What is the use of killing him? Tie him to a tree and leave him here.”

The robbers tied him to a tree and went

away.

After a while, the third robber returned and said to the man: “I am sorry; are you hurt? I will untie you.”

After setting the man free, the thief said: “Come with me. I will take you to the public highway.”

After a long time, they reached the

road.

Then the man said: “Sir, you have been very good to me. Come with me to my house.” “Oh no!” replied the robber, “I can’t go

there. The police will know it.” The forest is this world. The three

robbers are the three Gunas: goodness, passion and laziness. It is they who rob us of Self- knowledge. Laziness wants to destroy us. Passion ties us to the world. Goodness frees us from the grasp of passion and laziness. Under the protection of goodness, we are rescued from anger, passion, greed, and laziness. Goodness also loosens the bonds of the world. But goodness is also a robber. It cannot give us the pure knowledge of God. It can only show us the path leading to the house of God. We have to rise above the three Gunas and develop love of God.

Related posts on this blog

• Three little pigs and the Gunas
• Seven Dwarfs

Gita Simplified & with stories : Chapter 13

What is this chapter about

• The Knower and the Known
• The creation and the creator
• Nature, the Enjoyer & the Conciousness

Summary of chapter

• Prakriti & Purusha : The purusha seated in Prakriti is the experiencer 
• Knowing God possible only with faith as the un-describable cannot be described with words.
• The creator and creation are different under the dualistic philosophy.

Shlokas references

• 34 shlokas
• 13.1 - 13.6 : 
• The Kshetra and the Kshetragya
• The Seen , the object, the body.  The Seer, the subject, the Jiva
• 13.7-13.11The Seen & seer, body & spirit are mixed up in an ignorant person
• Each being is a unique BMI combination - a vibhuti of the lord.
• 17 attributes of knowledge : humility, forgiveness, steadfastness, self control equipoise, no ego, no attachment...and so on
• 13.12 -13.15 : The object to be known is the supreme being. Difficult to describe. It creates everything and is in everything!!!! Ultimate consciousness.
• 13.16 -13.34 : Knowledge of ones spiritual identity. The body mind part of universal nature (prakriti) and the spirit is part of supreme being (purusha). Ignorant about the connection with supreme being, one connects to the attributes of material nature.

Key message from the chapter 

Each of us is apart of the creation and are his creation. Knowing about our true nature and the connection between the seen and seer when one is on the path of realisation.

Summary in poetry 

Understand the concept of Matter and Spirit

The gross and subtle elements that is born with it

Knowledge will awaken the sleepy soul

Help you reach your lofty goal

Humility, non-injury, purity and unpretentiousness

Forgiveness, respect for teacher, self-control and uprightness

These are the qualities one must gain

With this knowledge, he is not born again

Those who see the Lord in every being

Reaches HIS eternal divine dwelling

A story related to the message

The Salt Doll

Once a salt doll went to measure the depth of the ocean so it could tell others how deep the ocean was. But every time it got into the water, it melted. Now, no one could report the ocean’s depth. That’s how impossible it is for anyone to describe God. Whenever we try, we melt into the big, mysterious ocean of His reality.

We can’t describe Brahma. In a trance we can know Brahma, but in trance reasoning and intellect stop altogether. This means one does not retain the memory of experiences in trance (Samādhi). One who knows Brahma becomes Brahma-like (Gita 18.55). and does not talk, just as the salt doll melted into the ocean and could not report the ocean’s depth. Those who talk about God have no real experience. Thus, Brahma can only be experienced and felt.

The Vegetarian Tiger

Once a tigress attacked a herd of sheep. She was pregnant and very weak. As she sprang on her prey, she gave birth to a baby tiger and died within a couple of hours. The baby tiger grew up in the company of the lambs. The lambs ate grass, so the baby tiger followed their example. When they made sounds, the baby tiger also made sounds like a sheep. Gradually it grew to be a big tiger. One day another tiger attacked the same herd of sheep. The tiger was surprised to see a grass- eating tiger in the herd. Running after it, the wild tiger at last grabbed the cub, and the grass-eating cub began to make sounds like a sheep.

The wild tiger dragged it to the water and said: “Look at your face in the water. It is just like mine. Here is a little meat. Eat it.”

Saying this, the wild tiger put some meat into the vegetarian tiger’s mouth. But the vegetarian tiger would not take it and began to make the sound of a sheep again. Gradually, however, it got the taste for blood and began to like the meat.

Then the wild tiger said: “Now you see, there is no difference between you and me. Come along and follow me into the forest. ”

We have been thinking that we are this body which is limited in time and space. We are not this body. We are the all-powerful Spirit in the body.

Related posts on this blog

• Water is not wet

Gita Simplified & with stories : Chapter 12

What is this chapter about

• Bhakti Yoga
• Communion through loving devotion
• Devotional Service

Summary of chapter

• Like in earlier chapter where Arjun compares Gyan Yoga and Karam Yoga, he compares Bhakti yog now with Gyan
• Qualities of a Bhakta, which have commonalities with the stith pragya and a karam yogi mentioned in earlier chapters.

Shlokas references

• 20 shlokas in this chapter
• 1-7 : Arjuna wants to know who is better yogi. 
• The one who worships you as an absolute with form & attributes or the one who worships your formless and unmanifest and indestructible aspect
• Both reach God
• In Gyana no duality (Advaithya), no desire .  And in Bhakti , some duality (Dvaitha) and easier for most
• 8-12 : Description of practicing devotion
• Karam Phal tyag / Ishwar arpan & prasadh budhi / abandon fruits of action / surrender doership / relinquish the result of action
• Establish intellect in God, dedicate action to God, relinquish fruit of action , dedicate work to God
• Some have the inborn devotion, and others develop by practise and dwelling upon God
• External worship like temple visit as well as internal like meditation and naam jaap
• 13-20 : Who is Bhakta ? Attributes & Qualities ( In chap 2 describes Stithpragya
• 12.16 &17 :
• 12.18 &19 :
• Who is "sam" (same) with friend & enemy
• Equipoise in praise and criticism, (Honour, dedicate to God; dishonour , introspect and grateful for idea to improve);  in cold & heat, pleasure & pain
• Contemplative : on higher goals
• No sense of ownership
• Firmness of the mind.
• be a "nimita" 
• Qualities & attributes : Desire-less, pure, resourceful (daksh : clever n efficient), unattached (impartial), unworried (beyond distractions). Neither desires nor grieves. Nor rejoices or hates. Renounces good and evil. Full of devotion. 

Key message from the chapter 

• This chapter builds up and explains how Karam, Gyan & Bhakti all are interconnected.
• Bhakti yog is a base of Karam Yog & Gyan yog. With out faith and devotion the other two will not be complete

Summary in poetry 

One who worships and meditates on ME

I help to liberate, such a noble devotee

He who is ever friendly and without any ego

Always the same to a friend or foe

Equipoised in honor and dishonor, praise and censure

Cold and heat, pain and pleasure

Neither rejoices nor hates

Nor grieves nor desires

Pure, forgiving, alert, full of compassion and devotion

Content, silent and steady in meditation

Adroit in work and possessed of firm conviction

And without any agitation

Free from elation, envy, anxiety and fear

Such a devotee is near and dear

A story related to the message

The Story of Bhakta Prahlāda

Hiranyakasipu was the king of demons. He performed a very difficult spiritual practice, and Lord Brahmā gave him a boon that he could not be slain by man or beast. The boon made him arrogant, and he terrorized all the three worlds, saying that there were no gods other than himself and everybody must worship him.

He had a son named Prahlāda, a religious child who always worshipped Lord Vishnu. This angered his father greatly; he wanted to drive the thought of Vishnu from his son’s mind, so he turned him to a strict teacher to train him to worship only Hiranyakasipu as God and not Vishnu.

Prahlāda not only refused to listen to the teacher, but started teaching the other students to worship Vishnu. The teacher was very angry and reported this to the King.

The King burst into his son’s room, and shouted, “I hear you have been worshipping Vishnu!”

Trembling, Prahlāda said softly, “Yes father, I have.”

“Promise me that you will not do that again!” demanded the king.

“I cannot promise,” Prahlāda immediately answered.

“Then I will have you killed,” shouted theKing.

“Not unless it is the wish of Lord Vishnu,” replied the child.

The King tried his best to get Prahlāda to change his mind, but nothing worked.

He then ordered his guards to throw Prahlāda into the ocean, hoping that would frighten Prahlāda into promising not to worship Vishnu anymore. But Prahlāda remained loyal to Vishnu and kept praying to Him in his heart with love and devotion. Guards tied him to a huge rock and threw him into the ocean. By God’s grace, the rock fell away and Prahlāda floated safely to the surface of the water. He was surprised to see Vishnu on the shore.

Vishnu smiled at him and said, “Ask me anything you want.” Prahlāda, replied, “I don’t want kingdom, wealth, heaven, or a long life. I just want the strength to always love You and never turn my mind away from You.”

Lord Vishnu granted Prahlāda’s

wishes. When Prahlāda returned to his father’s

palace, the King was stunned to see him alive. “Who brought you out of the sea?” he

demanded. “Lord Vishnu,” said the child, simply. “Do not say that name before me,”

shouted his father. “Where is your Lord Vishnu? Show him to me,” he challenged.

“He is everywhere,” replied the child. “Even in this pillar?” asked the King. “Yes, even in this Pillar!” replied

Prahlāda confidently. “Then let him appear before me in

whatever form he wants,” cried Hiranyakasipu and broke the pillar with his iron club.

Out from within the pillar jumped a being called Narasimha, who was half man and half lion. Hiranyakasipu, stood helplessly before him. Frightened, he called out for help,but none came. Narasimha picked up Hiranyakasipu

and placed him on his lap, where he mauled his body and tore it apart. Thus Hiranyakasipu met his end.

God blessed Prahlāda for the deep faith he placed in Him. After the death of Hiranyakasipu, demons were crushed, and the Devas took over the world once again from demons. To this day, the name of Prahlāda is counted among the great devotees.

Related posts on this blog

• Duality
• Yog in Gita
• Stages of spiritual evolution