Verse 12.12🔗

Kṛṣṇa gives so many possibilities. Step-by-step, He gives options. Actually, these are not only for Arjuna’s mind. These are for all kinds of minds. Let me tell a small story from Ramaṇa Mahaṛṣi’s life: Somebody goes to him and asks, ‘Bhagavān, what spiritual technique should I use?’ He says, ‘Do ātma-vicāra, Self-inquiry. Start questioning—Who am I?’ After a few days, the devotee comes back and says, ‘It is difficult to do Self-inquiry, can I just meditate?’ Bhagavān says, ‘Alright, do meditation.’ After a week, the person returns and says, ‘Meditation is also difficult. Can I do japa, repetition of mantra and recitation of verses?’ Bhagavān says, ‘Alright, do that.’ A few days pass and he is back again saying, ‘Japa is also difficult.

Can I do pūjā, the ritual worship?’ Bhagavān says, ‘Alright. Do pūjā.’ Within a week the man is there asking, ‘Pūjā is also difficult. Can I start going only to the temple?’ Bhagavān says, ‘Alright, do what you want.’ Masters do not want to close the doors for anybody. They do not give Bhakti Yogaḥ Love Is Your Very Life 897 up on anybody. Please understand, they give possibilities for everybody. Here, in these verses, Kṛṣṇa deeply enriches giving options to everyone. We need to have tremendous spontaneity to understand this. Only with spontaneity will we be able to handle these instructions. For example, if you don’t feel like meditating and are in a low mood, don’t try sitting in a room with closed doors, forcing yourself to meditate.

Just go out, go to the temple. Spend some time freely walking and moving around. It will relax you. Then you can enter into meditation. And if you are not able to do that also, do something else. Do something that helps to keep you in a relaxed mood that makes you feel relaxed. Then, you can enter into meditation. Do Something Enriching Here, Kṛṣṇa gives step-by-step instructions up to the ultimate and last step. The last step is being in the consciousness, being in bliss. But just because you can’t do that, don’t stop trying altogether. Don’t give up on you. Do something enriching at least. I have seen people speak about meditation, about ātma-sādhana and all sorts of complicated things.

But when it comes to practice, just thinking of meditating makes them stop their rituals, everything. In the end they do not even meditate. They say, ‘I don’t have enough time, Swamiji. My mind won’t concentrate and I cannot sit quietly.’ First they stop everything in the name of meditation. Then they drop meditation because of other reasons! Then they have neither this nor that. Kṛṣṇa doesn’t want that to happen. We need spontaneity to decide what we need and what to do at each moment. Actually spontaneity is a spiritual quality. Only a man who is not caught in his past, who is able to slip away from his past, can be spontaneous.

We can only be spontaneous if we are complete with our past and we don’t have a vested interest in our past decisions. If we have vested interests in the past, we may think, ‘No, all these years I have lived believing this idea, and understanding things this way. Today just because something is said to me I will not change. I cannot! I am not going to change.’ Then we can never be spontaneous and complete! We will miss life and miss it miserably. The quality of life updates itself. It can be called intelligence only as long as it updates itself. When it stops updating itself, it is intellect.

It can no longer be called intelligence. Intelligence is living energy. The Saṃskṛit word dhī means ‘that which is alive’. In Saṃskṛit, the word for intelligence is dhī. Dhī is energy that is alive, which continuously updates itself. In the Gāyatrī mantra (the sacred chant) that is central to Hindu worship, we seek to enhance this intelligence-energy when we pray to the Divine. Only if we don’t have a vested interest in our past, in the decisions of our past, or the way in which our past was lived, the way in which we lived our past life (not a different birth, but our life before this moment), will we be spontaneous.

Spontaneity is a great spiritual quality. An incident about spontaneity: Once I was giving a discourse on the Īśāvāsya Upaniṣad. An elderly person, who looked like a well-read scholar, walked into the hall. After the discourse, without any basic courtesy, he stood up and said, ‘All these fools have not read anything, which is why you can make them listen to you. Can you make me listen to you?’ I said, ‘Please come nearer Sir. I cannot hear what you are saying.’ When he came nearer I said, ‘Please come to this side and repeat what you said Sir.’ He moved to that side. Then I said, ‘I think there is a table in the way, please move to the other side Sir.’

He moved and came nearer. Then I said, ‘You have already listened to me three times. Now sit and listen to what I have to say!’ You can never escape from spontaneity. After this incident, sometime later, I was reading a book about a similar incident that happened in a Zen master’s life. I was surprised to see how history repeats itself! When you Bhakti Yogaḥ Love Is Your Very Life 899 have spontaneity, nothing can stop you. Spontaneity is a great spiritual quality. Here Kṛṣṇa gives four different instructions. Either you can establish yourself in Bhakti Yoga – Path of Devotion, or live a regular life of spiritual routine, or sacrifice all the fruits of action to God, or live in consciousness and act.

You can do whatever you want. He says, ‘If not this, do this. If not these, then that…’ Now all that we need to understand is that we should not limit ourselves at one of the lower levels of Kṛṣṇa’s teachings. We should bring authenticity, the space of possibility and always try to move or expand to a higher level. When you can’t reach a higher level of authenticity, at least stay at the lower level and keep trying without renouncing all efforts completely. Keep at it. You will be surprised at what happens when you put in your sincere authentic effort. Ultimate Freedom Somebody asked me, ‘Swamiji, why do we have so many gods in India or in the Eastern religions?’

All Eastern religions have many gods, whether you consider Hinduism, Buddhism or Jainism. They all have many gods, so many saints and so many gurus, while Western religions have only one God. Why?’ Vivekananda puts it across beautifully in one discourse. Freedom is the basic condition for growth. In any field, if growth has to happen, freedom is the basic condition. In the East they have had inner freedom. No one disturbs your religion here. Spiritual practice is an option. That is why we have the concept of iṣṭadevatā, your favorite god. Iṣṭadevatā means you can worship whatever form suits your mind. The scriptures mention 330 million devatas, demigods or gods.

Actually I think that was probably the size of the population at that time! They wanted each person to have his own customized god. That is why they say 330 million gods! If the scriptures were to be written now, they would say six billion gods. Each one has the freedom to choose their path and one’s own god. Each one has the freedom to consider himself as god as he realizes the divinity in himself. People have inner freedom, which is why the East has grown so much spiritually. In the West, you can’t have your own god. In India, anyone can declare himself to be a saint overnight.

In the freedom of the East, many good things happen. Tremendous research happened in the inner world because of that freedom. Much research has been done in the inner world and many truths related to the inner world have been brought to light, brought to humanity, because so many people have entered into it. There will always be a few fakes. When so many millions of people take the path, and so many millions of things are expressed, one or two superstitions come about as well. You may think superstitions exist only in relationship to spirituality. A lot more superstitions exist in science. At least in spirituality the masters do not have any vested interests in declaring something.

Nothing significant will be added to their personal lives. They are still going to eat only that much and are going to wear only those few pieces of clothing. But when it concerns scientists, whatever they declare is going to give them name and fame, money, and additional comfort in their lives. So naturally they have vested interests. With spiritual people, the more they renounce and the less they enjoy the outer world comforts, the more they are respected. So naturally, whatever truths they declare, whatever research they do will not add anything new to their personal lives. The respect they are given is based upon their lives, not their words.

With scientists, it is based on their words. So in science, there is a greater possibility for superstitions than in spirituality. And when more and more people take to this spiritual life, there will always be one or two superstitions that result. Just because of this, we can’t say that religious freedom or spiritual freedom is wrong. There is a lot of good in it also. The West has social freedom. You can marry as many times as you want to. You can change your house to your taste. You can change your profession any number of times. You can dress as you wish. Nobody will Bhakti Yogaḥ Love Is Your Very Life 901 mind.

Even now, I know people in India who obey family traditions, who have not left their family homes. They don’t change professions and they don’t change lifestyles. In the East, they don’t have social freedom. They have spiritual freedom. In the West, they have social freedom but not spiritual freedom. For any growth to happen freedom is a basic necessity. Here, with these four options, Kṛṣṇa is expressing spiritual freedom for us. He says that there are so many paths, and tells us to choose whichever one suits our mentality, and to practice at least one option. It is not so important which option that we choose. It is essential only that we choose something!

Eastern traditions offer many choices. If you are an intellectual person, then Śiva could be your choice and you can continuously sit and meditate. If you are inclined towards devotion, then Viṣṇu could be your choice. The path includes singing and dancing like the great masters Caitanya. Just sing the glory of the Lord like the Alwars, devotional saints of Tamil Nadu, related with Viṣṇu. If you are inclined towards yoga, if you are a yogi, then Devi is the one for you. Meditate on Her, offer worship and tantric practices. There are many different kinds of techniques, and the options are many. You have customized ways, customized paths for your personal growth.

Thus, naturally wherever one is, one can grow and reach the level one is supposed to reach. You are continuously given choices, given options. Naturally, one tends to take up something or the other. The East has explored and done much research on the inner space because of spiritual freedom. The West has achieved so much at a social level because of social freedom. Of course, India has struggled because of the lack of social freedom, but it has gained tremendously because of spiritual freedom. Here Kṛṣṇa gives many choices in spiritual freedom. One cannot expect any master, other than the Eastern masters to be so compassionate, concerned, caring, and generous as to give so many enriching possibilities.

In the West, the law is compassionate as it gives a lot of options. In the East, the spiritual system is compassionate as it gives a lot of enriching options. In India, spiritual freedom is given more importance. These four enriching options are representative of the spiritual freedom given to society. Here Kṛṣṇa gives Arjuna the spiritual freedom to choose and of course, not only to Arjuna, but through Arjuna, to all of us. If you cannot practice the regulations of Bhakti Yoga, try to work for Me because by working for Me—mat-karma paramo bhava, you will enrich yourself and come to the perfect stage—kurvan siddhiṁ avāpsyasi (12.10). Surrender, The Best Enriching Option Then one by one He gives all enriching options and finally says, śreyo hi jñānaṁ abhyāsāj jñānād dhyānaṁ viśiṣyate I dhyānāt karma phala tyāgaḥ tyāgāc chāntir anantaram II 12.12 ‘If you can’t follow these practices to enrich yourself, engage yourself in the cultivation of knowledge.’

He says, ‘At least collect all these life solutions.’ Cultivation of knowledge means collecting solutions to life’s mysteries, such as how to avoid depression, how to be more courageous, how to be strong, how to avoid unwanted desires and how to prevent emotional blocks. This kind of knowledge that you can collect as life solutions can help and protect you. In the USA, you are taught about earthquate kit, that water bottles and other vital safety things should be a part of the kit. Western society prepares people for these eventualities. But we also need to prepare people to face the earthquakes that happen within, the emotional imbalances that occur within.

Just like preparing for an earthquake, one needs to be equipped with an inner earthquake kit. This inner earthquake kit is what I refer to as ‘life solutions’ or knowledge. Collectthesethingsnowsothatwhenyoufacedepression,youwillbe prepared. All of us will face some sort of inner earthquake at some point Bhakti Yogaḥ Love Is Your Very Life 903 in time. As long as one is alive, naturally at some point, some friends will die, some relatives will die, or some near and dear ones will fall sick or die. All these things are inevitable. The inevitability of each moment must be understood. Understanding the inevitability of life and collecting knowledge, collecting the tools, the ideas to support and balance us at those moments, is jñāna, knowledge.

We need to prepare ‘earthquake kits’ for our lives. Otherwise we will be unable to recover. The aftermath will be terrible. The Eastern system continuously prepares people for inner hurricanes and inner earthquakes. Jñāna or knowledge is the earthquake kit for the inner space. People are prepared. They do not have to choose between inner and outer spaces. Have an outer earthquake kit in your car, and an inner earthquake kit in your heart. Now, because of the internet, we can have both. Someone asked me, ‘Swamiji, Buddha enlightened ten thousand people. What is your aim?’ I replied, ‘Without newspapers or telegrams, without the internet, without airplanes, if Buddha could enlighten ten thousand people, then with all these amenities, we should be able to enrich with enlightenment at least one million people.

Only then is it worth having all these amenities.’ Now we can have everything in the inner world and the outer world. We can have an earthquake kit in our cars and an inner earthquake kit in our hearts or inner space. Never take inner earthquakes lightly. Taking inner earthquakes lightly means we are acting out of ignorance. When quakes come in the outer world, we can blame somebody and be rid of the responsibility. But when it comes to the inner world, we can’t blame anybody. Each of us must take responsibility for everything happening in and around us. As Kṛṣṇa says in an earlier chapter: uddharet ātmanā ātmānaṁ ātmānaṁ avasādhayet I ātmaiva hyātmano bandhuḥ atmaiva ripurātmanaḥ II 6.5 You must help yourself ascend.

You must raise yourself by yourself. If you can help yourself ascend, then you are your best friend. Otherwise you are your worst enemy. He gives enriching possibilities, among the different paths like practicing, cultivation of knowledge, meditation or renunciation of the fruits of actions, karma phala tyāga. Among these paths, one is better than the other. First, He mentions that the path of meditation, dhyāna is better than knowledge, jñana— jñānād dhyānaṁ viśiṣyate. Better than meditation is offering everything at the feet of God—dhyānāt karma phala tyāgaḥ. He says that by renunciation of the fruits of action one can immediately achieve peace— tyāgāc chāntir anantaram (12.12). As long as we think that ‘everything is mine,’ we suffer.

The moment we surrender, the moment we hand the whole thing over to the Divine, inner healing happens. Our inner space experiences the breeze of divine healing. Often people think that surrender is some sort of loss of control. Giving up is an expression of weakness. Letting go is irresponsibility. Understand that control is an expression of ego. All control arises out of the need for ‘I’ and ‘mine’. Control seeks power. Power corrupts. Surrender is liberation. Surrender is the expression of choicelessness, of leaving the decision to the Divine after doing what one can do. Unless we let go of our expectations and our attachment to the results of our actions, we will continue to build unproductive stress and incompletions within us that will not raise us to our peak possibility.

When we learn to focus totally on what we need to do and work on the process, without worrying about the destination, whatever we do is done better, faster and more effectively. Kṛṣṇa’s teaching is not merely spiritual. It is highly practical. It is not only after-life enhancing, but it is present-life enabling. He says that for the person who renounces the fruits of action, eternal peace is the immediate result, yāgāc chāntir anantaram (12.12). When we renounce ownership to what we do and hand over the ownership to the Divine, peace and bliss descend upon us. There is true liberation in giving Bhakti Yogaḥ Love Is Your Very Life 905 up attachment to the results of what we do.

This liberation comes from not having expectations of any kind. We are detached from the results of our actions. That allows us to focus totally on what we have in hand, in the present moment of completion. Staying in the space of completion is peace, bliss, liberation, or mokṣa. He Is Very Dear To Me