Verse 18.1🔗

Arjuna speaks now after being silent for a long time. He will stop speaking soon. He has just a few words. He is not questioning. He just expresses a few doubts. The arrogance or violence in Arjuna’s being has disappeared. He has become like a flower due to the experience of the cosmic vision that Kṛṣṇa showered on him. I cannot even call these words doubts. He just wants to hear the truth from Kṛṣṇa again and again. Sometimes after listening to the whole discourse, disciples ask me to repeat a joke or a story once more! They have heard it once but want to hear it again. Especially from the master, listening to certain things again and again gives great joy.

The words of a Master are energy. These words drill deep into you and transform you. At the time of listening, you may not realize their impact. But they never fail to impact and enrich you. Arjuna asks some of these questions to listen to Kṛṣṇa again. arjuna ūvāca sannyāsasyā mahā-bāho tattvam icchāmi veditum I tyāgasya ca hṛṣīkeśa pṛthak keśi-niṣūdana II 18.1 Arjuna says, ‘O Mighty One, I wish to understand the purpose of renunciation and of the monastic life of Sannyāsa. O Hriśikesa (another name of Kṛṣṇa, one who is in complete control of His senses), please tell Mokṣa Sannyāsa Yogaḥ Drop Everything And Surrender 1251 me the truth.’

As I told you, it is not that Arjuna does not know. He has just heard the whole thing. Still, he wants to listen to it once more. Sometimes we enjoy listening to the same thing over and over. It is not that we do not understand, but it gives us great joy to listen to the same thing again and again! Like that, Arjuna wants to listen to the same truth again and again. Arjuna wants to know why a person would want to sacrifice everything and what is the process of renunciation. In India it is often difficult to distinguish a renunciate, a Sannyāsi, from a common beggar.

Both seek alms. Both possess very little. And both are homeless. Many people take the easy path and treat the Sannyāsi like a beggar and shoo him off. I tell my disciples, ‘When in doubt treat the beggar as if he were a monk. If you have money to give, what harm is there if you give it to enrich another person?’ Some people tell me, ‘But Swamiji, they are cheating us!’ So what? Get cheated, that’s all. When you give, give out of completion, give unconditionally or don’t give at all. When you give out of completion, not expecting anything in return, what difference does it make whether you give to a monk or a beggar.

If you expect that a monk will bless you if you give and that the blessing will have effect, why can’t the blessing of a beggar have the same effect? And how do you know that a person wearing a monk’s garb is truly leading a monk’s life? So, giving alms to a Sannyāsi is like taking out insurance. You expect that your merits are getting noted down in a Cosmic record to decide whether you go to hell or heaven. Make it simple. Give out of your completion. Give unconditionally if you can afford it. Give even if you cannot afford it. That is when giving becomes truly enriching.

When you sacrifice what you cannot afford to sacrifice, by the mere act of giving, you become a renunciate, a Sannyāsi. How noble it is! Arjuna is confused about the act and the actor. What is important is the act. Anyone can be the actor. Never Give Up Selfless Enriching