“Paarthaya Prathibhutitaam bhagavataam Naaraayaneyasvayam vyasena…”

Paarthaya Prathibhutitaam bhagavataam Naaraayaneyasvayam vyasena pratitaam Puranamuninaam madhye mahabharatam

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# Advaitaam rutavarshineem

Bhagavateem ashtaadashaadhyaayineem Ambatvaam manusandhadaam Bhagavad geete bhavatveshineem.

Krishna says: Imam vivasvate yogam proktavaan aham avyayam Vivasvaan manave praaha manur ikshvaakavebraveet.

The translation goes like this:

Lord Sri Krishna says: ‘I instructed the imperishable science of yoga to the Sun God, Vivasvan, and Vivasvan instructed it to Manu, the father of mankind and Manu in turn instructed it to Ishvaku.’

You need to understand, Krishna is just thirty-two years when he gives this statement. He is just thirty-two years old. Physically his body is only thirty-two years old. But he says I gave this knowledge to Surya, the Sun God. Of course, very difficult to understand! With logic, you cannot understand this statement. With ordinary logic, which you are using in your daily life, you cannot make any meaning out of this statement. And he goes on, goes on. And the next statement says:

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# Evam parampara praptan imam rajarshayoviduhu

Sakaaleneha mahataa yogonashta parantapaha

The supreme science thus received through the chain of disciplic succession and the saintly king understood it in that way. But in the course of time, the succession was broken and therefore the science as it is, appears to be lost. The science as it is, appears to be lost.

These two slokas should be understood. First thing, the truth is not new. It is eternal. It is neither new nor old. It is eternal. Eternal means it is there forever. It never becomes old. It is never new. Eternal means beyond time. Anything which can be described based on the time, only those things can be said as new or old. Anything new will become old one day. Anything old was new at some day. Eternal means it is beyond new and old. It is there from time immemorial. But it has never become old. That is what is meant by the word eternal.

Here, this science, the science of enlightenment, is eternal, nithya. It is neither new now old. The science which we learnt yesterday (see chapter 3), the science which is going to be explained further. Yesterday I gave the first glimpse. The first thing to be understood, that is the first glimpse. If you allow those words to penetrate you, if you open yourself to those words, straightaway those words can give you the first glimpse of enlightenment. They can lead you to the first step of ultimate liberation. Understanding the purposelessness of life all the stress pressure, load, whether it is physical or mental will be taken away from your being. You are liberated in that same moment.

Krishna doesn’t give you any technique which will work over a lengthy period of time. Over a long period or course of time. There are techniques that work over long, lengthy course of time. You will practice and practice forever. Maybe your son or daughter will get the result. No! He says, now here or, nowhere! Either have the result now, here, or nowhere. All his techniques straightaway give you the experience. If you can allow that one idea of purposelessness, the beauty of purposelessness, into your conscience, in that very moment, the breeze of enlightenment will enter your heart. That very moment, the healing of your being will start. Healing of bhavaroga. Healing of samsara roga- the birth and death - will be healed, will start this process.

Five thousand years age, He says, I gave this science to Surya, to the Sun God, and the Sun God instructed to Manu. Sun God is Vivesvan. Vivesvan instructed it to Manu. Manu instructed the same thing to Iksvaku. Here he gives the disciplic succession. He gives the parampara (lineage), the guru-sishya parampara (Master-disciple lineage). In course of time, yogonishtaparantapa – the science is lost. You should understand, why this science is lost.

When a disciple who listens, if he is not sincere, if he is not completely ready, naturally the technique becomes ritual. Understand that there is only one difference between technique and ritual. When it is done sincerely, even ordinary ritual will become great meditation technique which leads you to enlightenment. When it is done without any sincerity, as a routine, without understanding, as a routine, then even a meditation technique will become ritual. The only difference between meditation technique and ritual is sincerity. It is just the sincerity.

In course of time, the science is lost. He has used a beautiful word, ‘the supreme science was taught, the supreme science was delivered…’ you don’t lose that supreme science just in one generation. In one generation, it never gets lost. In course of time, somebody or the other, even a single un-enlightened disciple is enough to destroy the whole science. Even a single person in that chain is enough to break the disciplic succession.

A small story from Zen Buddhism: a disciple of a great Master is sitting and talking about Zen to his followers. One enlightened Master comes to him and says, ‘you yourself have not become enlightened, what right you have to teach them?’ this disciple, out of ego. The big problem is, when your Master creates a big movement and if you come to his seat without having the qualification, you are the most dangerous person. I have seen, the people who just come into the throne as a successor, they are the most dangerous people. They will have everything except enlightenment. Person who creates a movement, he will create only out of energy and enlightenment. If he doesn’t have, no movement will be created around him. But the person who succeeds, for him it is just a gift. The whole movement is gift. He has got a complete infrastructure, setup. But he doesn’t have anything to share. Person who writes just because he is a writer is a dangerous person. But a person who writes because he has got something to write, that’s OK. Only he can be called as writer.

Another small story: One guy said, only after writing five best sellers, I realized I don’t know anything! His friend asked, ‘Then did you stop writing?’ this guy replies, ‘ No! By then I have become too famous! I can’t stop!’

When you get somebody’s throne as a successor, you will be filled with ego. They have everything except enlightenment. I always tell people never to go to successors. Because the whole setup is created by somebody and they just represent. They don’t have something from their experience. They are good librarians, but not Masters. We must be very clear in the difference between librarian and Master. Librarians are good. They preserve the books. But they can only preserve the books, nothing more than that. This person, he is also a good librarian, good parrot, he can repeat the whole thing. He out of ego says, ‘Don’t you know, I’m the disciple of the great Master?’ the Zen Master laughs. He just laughs and says, ‘If you wash the cup in which you have kept the tea, will that water have the same taste of the tea?’ cay you say that the water which is used to wash the cup in which the tea is used, is equivalent to tea? How much of relationship will be there between the tea and the water which is used to wash the cup that had contained the tea? For example, one cup tea is there. In the other cup, water which was used to wash a used tea cup is there. What will be the relationship between the tea and the water which is used to wash the cup of the tea? There will be no relationship. Hardly he may smell the tea in the water.

So, if a person is not enlightened and just is a successor, he will be dangerous. He will be dangerous. He will carry just the book and not the knowledge. That is why Zen Masters, they always destroy their books when they leave the body. Before leaving the body they destroy the books. They say if you have got the Zen in your life, if you have achieved the enlightenment, let you teach. Otherwise keep quiet. At least you will not disturb the society. At least you will not create more trouble in the society. If you are a successor without experience, you are the most dangerous person.

Small story: in South Bharat, there was a big mutt, a traditional monastery. There everyday the worship of Siva is conducted. The Master there had a pet cat. He used to love animals. So he had a cat with him. The cat is so near to him, it used to come and disturb him when he sat for pooja (traditional worship of Gods). When he does pooja it would come and jump on him, it would run around him. So he asked his disciple to cover the cat with a basket before he started the pooja. Accordingly they caught the cat and covered it with a basket and the pooja started. Everyday before they start the pooja, they would catch the cat, it would be covered with a basket and the pooja would start. After some time, it had almost become a ritual. Before starting the pooja, even if the cat was not inside the ashram, they would search for the cat! Even if the cat had gone outside, for its walk maybe, they would go out, search for it, catch it, cover it with the basket and then start the pooja! After covering the cat, they would start the pooja.

In the course of time, the Master passed away. Now the disciples were in a very big trouble. What to do? Who will do the pooja? Anyhow the next successor came. Because the master passed away, the cat also ran away from the ashram, monastery. The cat did not get good treatment, so it ran away. The next successor, before starting the pooja, he called the disciples and asked, ‘What happened to the cat? Unless we get a cat, how can we do the pooja?’

They went in search of a cat all over the town, finally somehow they got one cat. They brought it, covered it with a basket and the pooja started. After few months, it had now become very difficult to catch cats. Where to get the cats? So they said, ‘Master, it is very difficult to get cats. Please, you have to do something.’ The Master said, ‘All right, if there is no cat, then let us stop the pooja’. In course of time, because there was no cat, they stopped the pooja.

If you are not enlightened, this is what happens. If the disciple is not enlightened, this is what happens. The truth is lost. The spirit is lost. If you want to destroy any law, all you need to do is just follow the letter and miss the spirit. That is enough. You just follow the letter, forget about the sprit, that’s enough, you will do exactly opposite to the law. What for the law is created, you just go against it.

In course of time, the people who have not become enlightened, who are not sincere, they entered into this field and corrupted the science. Because of that, the science was lost. That is why again and again and again, our Upanishads insist, go to a living Master. All our books are only manuals. Vedas are the only books which are courageous enough to declare that we cannot give you enlightenment. Vedas are the only books which are courageous enough to declare that they are not ultimate. They say very clearly that they are only the manuals. If you want ultimate reference, go to a living Master. All the medical books, what do they say in the end? Consult your family doctor! They will end with one line. All these things are only manuals. You can’t take medicines just by reading a medical book. You can’t take medicines from a person who is not a doctor.

In Bharat, compounders, that is, the doctors’ assistants, by and by, they would learn the trick of the trade. By now they know, headache means, yellow tablet! Stomach pain – green tablet. And back pain – black tablet. They know the color of tablet for a particular disease. If you go and take medicines from a compounder, sometimes you may get healed. You may get the cure. But it is very dangerous. It is very dangerous. Taking medicine from compounder, learning from un-enlightened Master are one and the same. Going to an unenlightened person and taking medicine from compounder are one and the same. Please be very clear. A compounder at the most may destroy your one body, your one life. But unenlightened master will destroy your lives after lives. He can destroy, misguide you, create trouble, for lives after lives. Because even a single point if you lave lost, if you have missed, the whole thing is lost.

Here Krishna says,

## Evam paramparaapraaptam imam raajarshayo viduhu

Sa kaaleneha mahataa yogonashta parantapaha.

One important thing, he says ‘raajarshayo viduhu’. This science is given to rajarishis, not to just rishis. The times in which he teaches – yesterday if you have attended you would know – the science is quantum spirituality, which gives you both the material world as well as the spiritual world. That is why he says, ‘raajrshayo viduhu’. Just rishi means, he would have emphasized only on the inner world, inner space. Just king means he would have emphasized on the outer world, wealth. Here he says, ‘raajarshayo viduhu’.

Evam paramparaa praaptam, imam raajarshayo viduhu. The science is delivered to the king-enlightened masters; enlightened masters who are kings. Only they can preserve the science as it is. Be very clear, only an enlightened person who is king, or a king who is an enlightened person can know the totality of spirituality.

People again and again ask me, what should we do for the poor? Give food and medicine for poor. Serve them. But only a rich man can understand spirituality. Be very clear, I am telling the honest truth. Poor man can understand religion. He can go and beg in front of God. But he can never understand the ultimate spirituality. Only a person who has seen the outer world completely, who knows there is nothing in the outer world, only he can enter into the inner world. Only he can enter into the inner space. If you still have hope about the outer world, you cannot experience the ultimate spirituality. You cannot experience the ultimate enlightenment. Only a king can be utterly frustrated. Only a king can be completely qualified to enter into enlightenment, because he knows there is nothing in the outer space which can fulfill him. He has seen everything. He has seen all possible comforts, all possible sense enjoyments, all so called pleasures. He can enter into the spirituality honestly. If somebody who has not experienced the depression of success enters into spirituality, again he will be standing in front of God and begging. ‘God give me this, give me that…..’; he may be a good religious person. From morning to night he will sit and do the rituals. But he will never be a spiritual person.

There is a very big difference between a religious person and a spiritual person. When you know God has got shakti to give whatever you want, your religion starts. When you understand he has got shakti to give what I want and buddhi when to give, you enter into spirituality. We all believe God has got shakti to give what we want. But we don’t trust that he has got buddhi also to give in the right time. We don’t believe that. Only a person who trusts that God has got shakti and buddhi can enter into the spirituality. Spirituality is ultimate luxury. Please be very clear, I always tell people, a person who is poor, meaning who has not experienced the comforts of the outer world, he can be a good religious person. He can stand in front of God and beg, pray. But only a person who has seen the outer world to the extreme, who is completely frustrated, who has completely experienced the depression of success can turn towards the inner world, can become a healer.

I always tell people, the person who understands the purposelessness of life only he can heal himself and heal others. Only he can be a healer. Only he can be a spiritual person. Only he can be a real spiritual being.

Here Krishna uses the word rajarishi. The person who has got inner space and outer space, both. Only he can experience the truth of the totality. Of course, when some person you don’t know or is not sincere enough to realize this truth, when he enters into the system, he corrupts, and his very presence spoils the system. So Krishna says, ‘In course of time, it is lost.’

The next, Krishna says, Sayavadam may ya didtye yoga prota puratanah Bhakto saka sama te ti rahasyetamuttamam.

Beautiful sloka. Sayevadam may ya didtye yoga prota puratanah Bhakto saka sama te ti rahasye tamuttamam.

He says: that very ancient science of the ultimate enlightenment or the entering into the eternal bliss is today told by me to you because you are my devotee as well as my friend and can therefore you can understand the transcendental mystery of this science. This has to be understood very deeply. You cannot tell this truth, this ultimate truth to a person who is not ready, to a person who is not ready. And truth told to a person who is not ready will create danger for himself and will disturb others also.

Again and again, people ask me during my meditation programs. In many of my meditation programs, people ask me, Swamiji, please talk about your enlightenment. Talk about your spiritual experience. I never open my mouth. I never speak about my personal experience, spiritual experience, unless I know them or unless I am connected to them for at least six months. I wait. People ask me. Why don’t you talk about this Swamiji? Why don’t you tell us about your spiritual experience? This is the reason. When you are not ready, if intimate experiences are shared, always we doubt. Two things. If we have courage, we will straightaway question the experience. You will straightaway question. You will say this is just lie. This is story. What are you talking? This cannot be truth. You will straightaway oppose. If you don’t have that much of courage, you will just think, all right, one more story! I heard one thousand sorties. Here one more story. Leave it. Anyhow after all it is free. Nothing else will happen. The spiritual experiences cannot be shared and cannot be opened just for nothing. If it is shared it should become an inspiration source for you. It should become a force which will transform your life. Then it is worth sharing. By sharing the spiritual experience, if it inspires you to enter into the space, if it gives you the courage to take the same jump, if you also feel, I think I should also experience the same joy, I should experience the same bliss, I should not postpone it. If it becomes an inspiration source for you, then it is worth sharing. Otherwise it is not worth sharing.

There was a great Master in South Bharat. He wrote a set of poems on Siva. He did not even write, he just sang. He just sang. A set of poems on Siva. It was never recorded in writing. Close disciples who lived around him, they requested him, publish it as a book. Or to put it in writing, so that it can be useful to the society. He says, no, they are my intimate love letters to Lord. How can I release this to the public? It is my intimate expression. It is my personal relationship, how can I publish it? How can I bring it out to the public? For example, you are seeing somebody for the first time. He straightaway starts asking you personal questions. It will be too rude. It will be too rude. And Bharatns are the only people who will do that mistake. It will be too rude. They don’t bother to introduce themselves. They don’t bother to understand. They will be straight. If you ask straightaway personal questions. I heard somebody met my disciple and straightaway started asking, where are you staying? Who is paying for your apartment? What is happening? Who are all staying with Swami? I was just surprised. How can this happen? How can this happen? I don’t think any intelligent man will do this. If takes little intelligence to understand. Straightaway you can’t talk, ask, it is very difficult. You need to understand, you can’t share your personal experiences straightaway with anybody. It is very difficult. He says, if somebody comes and asks you about your personal life, you can’t share it. Only if you become intimate with him, it is possible to open up. Only then that conversation can happen. See, for a conversation to happen, you need certain intimacy. If both are filled with their side arguments, never the conversation will happen. If both are filled with some words in their mind, if both are prejudiced, never a conversation can happen.

I always tell people, in marriage, in the first year, man speaks and woman listens. Second year onwards, woman speaks and man listens. Third year, both of them speak and neighbors listen! In the first year, man speaks and woman listens, in the second year, woman speaks and man listens. In the third year both speak and the neighbors listen. Never the conversation happens! Only arguments go on. (36-52) As long as the other person is in the mood of argument truth cannot be shared. The satya(truth) cannot be shared. Satya can never be expressed.

He says it is my personal relationship, it is my intimate relationship with God. How can I share that with public? I cannot. Then one disciple, who thinks himself as intelligent, asks: why? You share with us. When you share with us, why not with the world? Then he says: by becoming a disciple, you have become a part of me. Only a person who has become a part of me can share this poem. Only with him I can share these poems. Physically you may be another one body, but mentally, you have fallen in tune with me. You are completely ready to receive me. You have become like a womb, ready to receive the divine energy. This is the reason I share my experience with you. Unless you enter into the deep receptive mood, unless you become a complete, total, simple innocent being, you cannot receive the ultimate truth.

Please be very clear, the ultimate truth is beyond logic. Initially when you start teaching the truth, always it starts with logic. Always your logic is addressed. Words go logically. But, after some time, you have to leave the logic behind. You have to leave the logic behind. You can’t catch the Divine. You can’t talk to God in logic. In prose, you cannot relate. Only in poetry you can relate with God. That is why, all over the world, whenever it comes to prayer, it is only songs, poems. Whether it is eastern culture or western culture, or any culture, whether Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, any religion, when it comes to relating with God, it is always poetry. Because, you can’t relate with Divine logically. You can’t relate with Divine through logic. Prose is not useful anymore, to relate with Divine. If you want the divine relationship to happen, you need the love. You need the language of poetry. Here, only a person who understands, only a person who has become a part of the Master, only he can receive His experiences. That is the reason the Master says, I share my songs with you, because you have become me, I cannot share this with public.

There is another one great saint called Manickyavasakar. Throughout his life he sang about Siva. But he never wrote. He never recorded the poems. Only sung. It is just repeated by him, but never he recorded it. Manickyavasagar never wrote his poems. Always he used to recite, that’s all. Once, Siva himself comes down as an old man and he says: O Manickyavasaka, I heard that you used to sing beautiful songs of Siva. Why don’t you recite them for me? I am your disciple. Manickyavasaka is in ecstasy. So in that ecstasy, he starts singing everything. He Himself records the whole thing. Siva himself records, puts the songs in writing. After recording, He puts the signature: recited by Manickyavasaka, written by Ambaravaanan, Siva himself. He puts the leaf at the entrance at the entrance of the temple and disappears. Next day morning the priests see the leaves. Suddenly they realize- the signature says: Manickyavasagar recited and I myself recorded this. Till the end, till his death, he never recorded. Then all the disciples go and ask him, Oh Master, please give us the meaning. Please explain the meanings for all these songs. And he straight away walks into the temple and says, he is the meaning for the whole songs. He shows the lord and says, he is the meaning and walks into the deity and disappears into the God, into the divine. Beautiful symbolic representation. This story is a beautiful symbolic representation. He becomes one with the divine. Till the end, he never recorded. Only somebody else recorded. It was so beautiful, God himself came down and recorded.

Unless you become part of the Master, it is very difficult to understand his message. That is why Krishna says: Arjuna, this supreme science, the technique of entering into the eternal bliss is today told by me to you, because you are my devotee as well as my friend. You are my devotee as well as my friend. And can therefore understand the transcendental mystery of this science. This cannot be told to the person who is not ready. And one more thing: when you speak the ultimate truth to the person who is not ready, it leads to many troubles. Not only he does not understand, he also starts creating trouble for others. With the right person, even a lie will do good to the society. In the wrong hands, even truth will do harm to the society. To whom it is delivered is important than how much it is truth or lie. With a wrong person, even a great truth like Advaita (Non-duality), or, ‘I am God’, may make him start thinking, ‘I am God’ and start doing all nonsense. With a wrong person, great truth will become harmful thing.

And one more thing, wrong person can never understand the truth told by Krishna. For example, Krishna says, ‘I am God. I am everything. Surrender unto Me’. If the person is not completely devoted, if the person is not in tune with Krishna, if he has not understood Krishna, what will he think? ‘How egoistic a fellow he is! How dare he tell me to surrender to him?’ Naturally the person, instead of understanding Krishna, will create more trouble for Krishna. He will only create more trouble for Krishna.

Here, the qualification to receive the truth is devotion. If you have heard all the things I have said in the other three chapters, it is ok, because it is expressed logically. Till this point, I am able to bring both logic and spirituality together. Now the time has come when I have to give the pure truth, as truth. Please be very clear, great things can never be expressed by logic, because logic is not so sharp. Logic is not so sharp to express the ultimate truth. Somebody asked me, Swamiji, why don’t you prove God logically? I told him, if I can prove God logically, then logic will become God! Logic will be greater than God. God is great because God cannot be proved by logic. He is beyond logic. He is beyond your logic.

Here, Krishna is going to speak something which is beyond logic. Where you leave your logic behind, where you need to be completely open, where you need to sit in a total passive mood, where your being needs to be open to receive – one thing, anything told logically: either you will understand, or you will not understand. That’s all. There is no danger. When it comes to the deeper level teachings, either you will understand, or you will misunderstand. The teachings which Krishna is going to deliver now, they are much more deeper, they are much more subtler than the teachings which are delivered in the last two or three chapters. That is why he says, now I am telling you these secrets just because you are my devotee and friend, just because you are my near and dear one. You are my own. That is the reason he uses the word bhaktosi, he says, you are my devotee, me sakhacheti - and you are my friend. Sakha – friend. That is the reason I am expressing this truth to you. The person who is not completely in tune with Krishna, the person who is not ready to trust the master, he cannot receive the message. He cannot understand it. Not only he will not understand, he will misunderstand. Misunderstanding always leads to complications.

Understand, now Krishna is entering into the deeper level truths, where you need to relax a little from your logic, where you need to come down from your head to the heart, where you need to sit with your whole being and listen the truths. And, if these truths are heard without the complete openness, not only you will not understand, you will misunderstand. Misunderstanding this truth may lead to many complications. So Krishna gives warning. Here, Krishna gives warning: rahasyam hetuduttamam: I am giving you these secrets, the mysterious science of realizing the ultimate, oh my dear friend and devotee, Arjuna.

So now let us enter into the science that is taught by Krishna.

Vasudeva sutam devam

## Kamsa chanoora mardhanam

Devaki paramanandam Krishnam vande jagat gurum.

We are entering into the path of knowledge. The great truth, which can straightaway transform your life, just by a mere understanding, just by a mere understanding – understand, in Vedanta they always emphasize on three things: shravana, manana and nidhidhyaasana. Shravana means listening. Manana means meditating, contemplating on it. Nidhidhyaasana means expressing it in your life, or experiencing it in your life.

Here, these truths does not need these three steps. Just listening is enough. Just listening is enough, it will become experience. Shravana is enough, it will become nidhidhyaasana. Nothing needs to be done. But all you need to do is to sit with a complete open being, with a complete openness, with a complete relaxed feeling. These words are uttered for your sake not for the sake of the Master. So just we will take a few minutes to meditate on Sri Krishna, the great enlightened Master, and pray to him to let him allow his words to penetrate our being, let him reside in our consciousness, let him lead us to eternal bliss. Just take few minutes, close your eyes and intensely pray to him: Oh Master, lead us t the experience. Give us the understanding. Let him raise our inner space by his presence. Let him be in our inner space and enlighten our consciousness.

Vasudeva sutam devam Kamsa chanoora mardhanam Devaki paramanandam Krishnam vande jagat gurum.

Thavakathamrutham tatva jeevanam Kavivineelitam kalmashavakam Shravanangalam trimalatagam

# Orikanjite guritatanaam

Krishna starts his message. Here is a question by Arjuna to which he responds. This message is delivered as a response to this question.

# Aparam paravo janma param janma vivasvataha

Kathadattvijaaneeyaa tvamaathou proktavaanitihi.

Arjuna says, Oh Krishna, the Sun God Vivesvan is senior by birth to you. How am I to understand that in the beginning you instructed this science to him? This shows that still Arjuna needs to have the maturity. He is asking, the Sun God is senior to you by birth, he is so senior. How am I to understand that in the beginning you instructed this science to him? Arjuna and Krishna are almost equal in their age. Suddenly Krishna says, thousands of years I gave this science to Surya. This is very difficult to understand. Moreover, Arjuna lived with Krishna for a long time. He knows, he has seen the human side of Krishna – playing and all Krishna leelas (plays); all Krishna’s dramas; all Krishna’s moods. He has seen him more like a human being. So now, it is very difficult for Arjuna to believe Krishna’s words. This same exact trouble all disciples undergo. Disciples who live around enlightened Masters, the troubles which they undergo – this is the same exact trouble. It is very difficult to understand the Divine descending and walking on the planet earth in a human form. Arjuna is struggling to understand. Arjuna is not able to relate. How can Divine descend? What is happening? How can Krishna declare, thousands of years ago, I gave this science to Surya? It is very difficult. Suddenly, for example, suddenly I tell, hundred years ago, I only taught all these sciences to some enlightened master! How will you feel? Very difficult to understand, to grasp. Suddenly if I make a statement : hundred years ago, I only taught all these things to the Masters who were there. It is very difficult to believe. And naturally the question will rise.

Here, the same thing, Arjuna is asking, how can he say this? How can I understand? But of course he has become little polite. That is why he says, ‘how can I understand?’ He does not say, ‘how can you say this?’ In the second chapter, when Krishna is asking, ‘Arjuna go and fight’, Arjuna asks, ‘how can you say this? How can you tell me to do this sin?’ but now here he says – he has become little polite – he has understood the truth little bit. He has become little intelligent. He says, ‘how can I understand? Please tell me.’ He is ready to believe, but he wants little explanation. This is OK. But there are few people who are prejudiced. They are clear. They say, No. we don’t bother. We don’t believe. We don’t want. Then nothing can be done. Here, Arjuna says, I am ready to believe, but how am I to understand? Please instruct me. Please show me the right thing.

Always, when enlightened Masters descend on the planet earth, when they come down, they face this trouble. Again and again and again, they face this trouble. When Ramakrishna declared that who came as Rama who came as Krishna, the same person has come down in this form as Ramakrishna, he was called as mad. He was called as mad. People did not receive him. People did not respect him. But there were few qualified people who received his words, who have transformed their lives. They established the truth of this statement.

See, all philosophies or all movements, they start in two ways. One is the political movements, which starts with a huge crowd, huge followers. The person who leads, the more the number of crowd, the more number of persons, more the quantity, more powerful he feels and he starts making all the statements, claims. These movements, they start with a huge number, but slowly, slowly, slowly they disappear. Once the founder dies, the movement dies.

The next, second type, the spiritual missions, when the Masters declare the truth, the quantity may not be there, but the quality will be there. Only few individuals, few selected individuals listen those truths, listen those proclamations. When Ramakrishna declares: who came down as Rama, who came down as Krishna is here in this body as Ramakrishna, hardly few heard. Hardly a few were ready to trust. But those few, the quantity may not be there, but the quality was there. They have transformed their lives. It started as a very slow small thing, but expanded, exploded into international mission, spiritual movement. When it started, only sixteen disciples were there. Ramakrishna had only sixteen disciples. Today, millions of people worship him as God. Millions of people have realized the truth of the words that he uttered. These spiritual missions, they start in a very small way, but expand and explode. Political movements start in a very big way, but contracts and dies down. The moment founder dies, foundation also dies. But in spiritual missions, the moment founder dies, it starts happening. It starts expanding. For a political speech you need quantity. The more the number of people, the more the speech will be strong. But for the spiritual discourse, you need quality. The more the person is intense, the more the truths will come out. For political person, inspiration is numbers. How many paper cuttings, in how many newspapers the reports have come. How many paper cuttings he can collect. That matters. But for a spiritual person how many ego cuttings he can do is what matters. For a political person the paper cutting, for a spiritual person, ego cutting. How many people are intense, the quality matters for a spiritual discourse. The more intense a person, the more higher truths come out. More higher truths come out. I always tell the people, my best discourses are given always to a close small circle. The best truth is spoken only to a closed small circle. Because when you speak the truth, it will be straight. It cannot be received by a normal man. It will shake the whole being. It will transform your whole life. That is why, Ramakrishna, whenever he want to speak high truths he will close the doors and call his sannyas (renuncient) disciples and he will speak only to them. He will not speak to the public. This very Gita is delivered to only one person. To one person this is delivered and it is spoken. When Krishna delivered the Gita, only one person heard. But today, millions and billions, not even millions, billions read and practice. For whole Hindus, this is the basic book. For billions of Hindus, this is the basic scripture. Only one person heard. Today the whole world uses it. (65-09) So to express the truth, the quality of the person is necessary, not the quantity.

Now he starts the answer to this question:

Bahooni me vyatitaani janmaani tava chaarjuna Taanyaham veda sarvaani na tvam vettha parantapa

I repeat: Bahooni me vyatitaani janmaani tava chaarjuna Taanyaham veda sarvaani na tvam vettha parantapa

Bhagwan says, many many births both you and I have passed. I can remember all of them, but you cannot, O Parantapa! (Parantapa – another name for Arjuna). O arjuna, many many births both you and I have passed. I can remember all of them but you can’t. Next statement, he says:

Ajopi sannavyayaatma bhootanaam ishvaropisan Prakrtim svaam adhistaaya sambhavaami aatmamaayayaa.

Ajopi sannavyayaatma bhootanaam ishvaropisan Prakrtim svaam adhistaaya sambhavaami aatmamaayayaa.

He says, although I am unborn, my transcendental body never deteriorates and although I am the lord of all living entities, I still appear in every millennium in my original transcendental form. Let me repeat this: He says, although I am unborn and my transcendental body never deteriorates and although I am the lord of all living entities I still appear in every millennium in my original transcendental form.

I think this is the first statement where he declares his divinity. All this time, Krishna was only playing the role of acharya (teacher), intellectually convincing the truth, intellectually giving the knowledge to Arjuna. First time, he opens up, he declares the truth about his nature. He shows the divinity of his nature. I think this is the point where Krishna starts speaking the ultimate truth as it is. Till then, I think he was little shy to open up to Arjuna! When a disciple is not ready, you cant open up, you can’t tell the truth. Now, the disciple is ready. So Krishna opens up. He says:

# Ajopi sannavyayaatma bhootanaam ishvaropisan

Prakrtim svaam adhistaaya sambhavaami aatmamaayayaa

He says, although I am unborn and my transcendental body never deteriorates and although I am the lord of all living entities – here he says very clearly – bhootanaam ishvaropi : I am the lord of all the living entities. I still appear in every millennium in my original transcendental form.

Three things we need to understand: first he says, I am unborn. I never take birth. I am unborn. I am the ultimate parabrahma (cosmic godhead). I am the ultimate energy. Krishna clearly declares – I don’t think any one else has declared so clearly – even Jesus says I am the Son of God, I am the Son of God. Here Krishna straightaway declares the truth. Of course it does not mean Jesus is not god. But his disciples are not matured enough to receive the truth, that’s all. At one point he says, the Father and the Son are one and the same. At one point, maybe to some close disciple, he declares, the Father and the Son are one and the same. Please be very clear, when the disciple is mature, Master is understood.

Here, straightaway Krishna declares, I am unborn – ajopi – I am unborn; eternal consciousness, eternal bliss and my transcendental body never deteriorates. You can always relate with me. I never die. I am unborn and I never die. One important thing you should know, that which never takes birth can never die; which takes birth only that can die. Here Krishna declares, I never take birth and I never die. I am the lord of all living entities, bhootanaam ishwaro.

Somebody asked me, Master, can dead Masters teach us? Can we relate with the masters who left the body? Like Paramahamsa Yogananda, Mahavatar Babaji, all of them. One person came and asked me, if I pray to them, can they show me the path? Can they show me the truth? I told them, be very clear, dead masters are not dead as you think. They are not dead. When they are alive, their presence had a body. When they are dead, their presence has no body, that’s all. Having a body or not having a body is in no way going to affect their presence. They are available to you always. They are eternally available to you. All you need to do is just turn towards them, that’s all. They are eternally available. When they are in their physical body, their presence has got physical body. When they are no more, their presence has no physical body, that’s all. But they are available always. They are alive. When it comes to normal being, he leaves the soul. When it comes to masters, they leave the body. The very word is different. For a normal person, soul leaves and we say, the soul left, or he leaves the soul, he dies; the life has left him. For masters, they leave the body. So having a body or not having a body is in no way connected to their presence. They are available to the planet earth always. Always they are available to the whole humanity. I always tell people, it is very difficult to understand Masters. Because whether they have the body or not have the body, their presence is same.

With intensity if you go, even if they don’t have the body, you will be able to relate with them. You can get the message. You will be able to talk to them. You will be able to relate with them. When you don’t have intensity, sincerity, even with a living master you will miss him. With sincerity, even with a dead master, you will be able to have the truth, you will be able to achieve. Without sincerity even with living master, you will miss him. You will miss him.( 74-51) Sometimes you will mess him!

Understand, he says, I am the lord of the entities. But I still appear in every millennium in my original transcendental form – sambhavaami atmamaayaya; taking my own maya. Because of my maya, I assume the body and come down. I assume the body and incarnate myself. He means, he happens on the planet earth again and again in so many forms to guide the people. But again and again we miss him. We are all conquerors of Buddha, conquerors of Krishna. We are conquerors of Ramakrishna. That is why we are here again on this planet earth. Please be very clear, we conquer them. We conquer Ramana Maharishi. We conquer Ramakrishna. Even they can’t do anything to us. That is why again and again we are here. Again and again we miss them. That is why again and again he has to come down. He has to come down again and again to the planet earth to lift us, to show us the way, to guide us.

The next statement: I can say, this one sloka , if it is understood, not only the whole Gita, all the spiritual scriptures can be realized. Here he declares:

## Yada yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavati bhaarata

Abhyurtaanamadharmasya tadaatmaanam srujaamyaham

Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, there is a decline in spiritual dharma, there is a decline in the spiritual science, or predominant rise of negativity happens, O Bharata, at that time, I descend myself. Whenever there is a decline in positive consciousness, whenever there is a predominant rise in collective negativity, again and again, at that time, I descend myself.

There is one more sloka which we need to understand. We will study the sloka together. Next,

Paritraanaaya saadhunaam vinaasaaya cha dushkrutaam

## Dharmasamsthapanaarthaaya sambhavaami yuge yuge

To deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to re-establish the principles of spirituality, the eternal consciousness, I myself appear. Dharmasamsthpanaarthaaya – to establish the dharma of the eternal consciousness, science of the eternal bliss, sambhavaami yuge yuge - I myself appear millennium after millennium. Only a master like Krishna can declare the truth so clearly.

There are so many masters who declare, I am the last. No more prophets after me. I am the only begotten Son of God. That is why people have punished them. There are so many people who declare : I am the only one. No! there cannot be only one. Here Krishna sees and says the truth completely. If there is small little bit of ego left only then you can make the statement: I am the last. People who declare I am the last, thy have some serious problem. Something seriously wrong. Mahaveer declares, I am the last tirthankara. Jesus declares I am the only begotten son of God. Mohammed declares, I am the last prophet. But here Krishna declares, I come down again and again. He keeps the whole thing open for future. He keeps the generation of enlightened masters for future, the possibility of enlightenment for future. He keeps the whole science open for the future. Only a courageous man like Krishna can declare this truth.

People come and ask me, Swamiji, are there many more enlightened masters on the planet earth? I tell them, surely. There are hundreds of enlightened masters. Don’t think I am the only one. There are hundreds, hundreds and hundreds. I can say even thousands. Thousands of masters are available. Only a courageous man can declare the truth as it is. If you are in the business, you cannot accept there are some more shops in your city. If you on any business, you cannot give the address of some more shops in the city. Only if you are honest, you can declare, yes, there are so many things available. There are so many things available. Again and again people ask me this question. Swamiji, if I take initiation from you, can I go to other masters? I tell them: Not only can you go, I encourage, you should go.

Pluck flowers from all the beautiful gardens and make a beautiful bouquet. Pluck flowers from all the gardens and make yourself a beautiful bouquet. And your ego is such, even if thousands of people beat, you will not die. How can you expect you to die by one person? How can you expect the ego to die by one blow? So go wherever it is possible and learn the best things. Pluck flowers from all the gardens and make a beautiful bouquet for yourself. Only a Krishna, courageous person, can declare the truth – sambhavaami yuge yuge, which means he keeps the possibility open for the next generation. He keeps the possibility of enlightenment open for the planet earth. This one single idea if it is understood, straightaway you will be understood, enlightened.

He says the next sloka:

# Janma karma cha me divyam evam yo vetti tattvataha

Tyaktvaa deham punarjanma naiti maam eti sorjuna.

Translation goes: One who knows the transcendental nature of my appearance and activities, does not upon leaving the body, take this birth again in this material world, but attains the eternal bliss, my nature, O Arjuna.

This is a very strange statement. He says, one who understands the nature of my birth and death will be liberated from his birth and death cycle. How can it be? He says, if you understand my transcendental nature of birthlessness and deathlessness – just now he said he is birthless and deathless. Ajopi – I am birthless. Just now he says: ajopi san avyayaatma bhootaanaam ishwaropisan. He says I am birthless and deathless. Now he says, if you understand the truth of my transcendental nature of my appearance and activities, once you leave the body, you will not take birth and death if you understand my transcendental nature, you will also achieve the same transcendental nature.

If you understand that I don’t take body, you will also realize and you also don’t take the body. If you understand I am liberated, you will realize and you are also liberated. How can it be? (85-00)

We will start with an incident from Ramana Maharishi’s life. In the presence of Ramana Maharishi, everyday they used to sing some songs. There is a song called. ‘Ramana Satguru’, which means praising Ramana Maharishi. So when the song is sung, he himself used to sing along with the devotees. Not only will he be sitting and enjoying, he will also be singing along with the devotees. Somebody asked him, what is this? You are an enlightened person, you yourself are singing your own name, you are also singing, ramana satguru, ramana satguru. What do you mean by this. Bhagwan says, fool, why are you reducing Ramana to this six feet body? Why are you reducing Ramana to this six feet body? Deep thing, very subtle thing. Difficult to understand. He says, as you are all seeing this body from away, same way, I am also seeing this body. For you the Ramana is somebody. For me also the Ramana is somebody. I am not associating with this name and form. That is the reason, just like you all can enjoy with name, I can also enjoy. Because, I have not associated myself with this form. I tell you, an egoistic person, at least in public will not show that he enjoys. Because, if he shows, people will tell he is egoistic. Egoistic man will make others praise him, will never be open.

Here, Ramana Maharishi is totally open. He is straight. He says, just like you enjoy, I also enjoy this name, enjoy this form, because I don’t feel this is me. I don’t feel associated with it. it is just getting repeated. Another incident: one of his disciples writes ‘Ramana Puranam’, means the stotra of Ramana Maharishi. He wrote few lines and somehow he was not able to write. So he just brings the paper and put is at the feet of the master and says, ‘Bhagwan, I am not able to write’ Bhagwan says, all right, you go, let us see tomorrow. Tomorrow whenh the author comes back and sees – his name is Muruganathan – he sees that the poem is completed. Bhagwan himself has wrote and completed. Three hundred lines he wrote and completed the whole poem. He was surprised. Bhagwan himself had written about himself. His own stotra, written by himself. Then when he published, when it came out as a book, the author put a small foot note: these lines, Bhagwan himself wrote, just so that the devotees will be aware that it is his own words. The first copy of the book was taken to Bhagwan. Bhagwan just sees the book, sees the footnote: from this line Bhagwan himself wrote. He turns to the disciple and asks: Oh! The other lines are written by you?! He asks, Oh! The other lines are all written by you??

Only a man who has disappeared into the divine consciousness can write his poem. ( 89-50) Bhagwan says, when you wrote all these poems, it was me who wrote to you. You cannot think about me. You cannot write about me. What do you know about me? Unless I express myself through you, you cannot know anything about me. In Bhagavata (life story of Lord Krishna), Krishna himself sings, just like how he now says, bhootaanaam ishwaropi – I am the lord. Here he says beautifully, this word is such a beautiful word: bhootaanaam ishwaropi. I am the Lord of all living beings. Mere boy from Brindavan, a cowherd boy from Brindavan. See you should not look at Krishna from this time. You should understand the whole scene when it is done, when it is repeated.

Now, because of time, we accepted Krishna as God. But this is said when he is alive. When he is alive, people cant accept him as a God. Hardly few people realized that he is God. When Rama was walking on the planet earth, only the saptarishis (the seven sages) knew he is incarnation. Nobody else knows. Same way, when Krishna was alive – at least Rama lived decent life; he is easy for people to realize. But Krishna lived such an ecstatic life, it is very difficult to realize Krishna.

For a social intellectual person, or a so-called religious person, it is very difficult to realize Krishna, very difficult to understand Krishna. But he says, bhootaanaam ishwaropi – I am the Lord of all living entities. Naturally, it is difficult for them to understand. It is very difficult for people to understand. Somebody asks him, why are you speaking about yourself? Why are you expressing your glory? Bhagwan says, if I don’t tell about me, you can never understand about me. Unless I reveal, you can never realize. Unless I express, you can never understand. Just out my compassion I express the truth, I express myself.

It is like, you are going somewhere and you see a traffic jam in the road. You know one of your friends is ahead of you in the same road. You ring up and ask him, ‘how do you feel in that place, is there any traffic jam? Can I come in the same road or should I take some other road?’ will he not have a simple basic courtesy to guide you? He will surely have a basic courtesy. He will tell you, ‘No no, this route is OK, you come. In ten minutes everything will become all right, in this area there is no traffic….’ Some instruction he will give you. (93-41) He will guide you. With the same basic courtesy, Krishna is revealing his truth towards you. He is revealing his truth to all of us. He is revealing his truth to us. A simple basic courtesy of helping for fellow travelers.

Here when he says I am God, I am the ultimate, he says there is a possibility that when I can achieve, why not you? Here he says, he shows the possibility, he gives us the courage, he encourages us. When I can achieve, why not you? It is like a seed always afraid of breaking. It always feels, ‘If I break and tree doesn’t happen, then what will happen? I will die. But the tree says, unless you open, I cannot happen’ Unless the seed opens, tree cannot happen. Seed says, ‘ No, No No, let the tree happen then I will open’. But the tree says, ‘No No first you have to open, only then I will happen’ The problem between he tree and the seed continues, continues and continues. Somebody is necessary to give a little courage to the seed. The seed which was seed once and now which has become tree, one such tree comes and says, oh seed, don’t worry, open, I was also a seed. I opened, today I have become tree. Be courageous. Don’t worry. You will never perish. Open. Just like me you will also become tree.

How the tree gives courage to the seed. Same way Krishna gives courage to us. You can also become God. Me. You can also experience the truth like me. When he says I am the ultimate, he expresses the possibility. He shows us the possibility. He again and again remains our potentiality. He inspires us to enter into the same consciousness. He inspires us to experience the same bliss. He shows us the way of the truth, which we need to experience. When Krishna reveals this truth, be very clear, Krishna is not egoistic. He is expressing his true nature out of simple basic courtesy to fellow travelers.

How the senior tree is encouraging the junior seed to open up and become a tree, the tree is an assurance for the seed. It says, don’t worry, I have become tree. You can also become like me. You don’t have to feel you will disappear. It is assurance. That is why again and again I tell you, when he tells ‘I am God’, he means, ‘You are God’. When he says I am God, he means, you are God. He gives you the courage, he encourages you to enter into the same experience.

And one more thing we need to understand, as I was telling you, as Ramana says, ‘Why do you reduce Ramana into this six feet body?’ Ramana is far more superior. Far more higher than this six feet body. When enlightened masters say ‘I’, they don’t have any meaning behind that ‘I’. Only the divinity speaks. For normal man, when he says the word, God, it is just a word. There is no meaning behind it. At the most, some imagination about God, that’s all. There is no solid meaning behind that word. For example when you say God, the word has no meaning. It is just mere empty word, supported by some imagination. But when you say ‘I’, you have a solid meaning for it, you have solid meaning. You know clearly what you mean. But when you say God, you don’t know what you mean. The emotion or the understanding is not supported. The word is not supported by an emotional understanding or experience.

But with enlightened people, when they say God, it is solid experience and when they say ‘I’, it has no meaning. It is just for utility. It is an empty word. Because we can’t use any other word, they have to use some word, they use the word ‘I’. They have use some word, no other way. That is the reason they use the word ‘I’. There was a great enlightened Master. His name is Nisargadatta Maharaj, in Bharat. Somebody goes to him and asks, ‘Master, you say enlightened people don’t have karma. But how can you speak? How can you do all your activities if you don’t have karma?’ he says, ‘I am not doing anything!’ the disciple asks, ‘No, you are speaking with me.’ How can you speak with me if you don’t have karma? Nisardatta Maharaj says straightaway, ‘I am not speaking to you’. He says, I am not speaking to you! He is saying the words and he is saying, I’m not speaking to you - very difficult to understand. Then Maharaj says, ‘Because you wanted me to speak, the speaking is happening through this body. There is nobody inside. Just hollow bamboo. When the breeze enters the hollow bamboo, it comes out as a music. There is nobody inside. Just empty hollow bamboo. That is why whatever goes in comes out as a music, comes out as a music. When you become hollow bamboo, whatever words comes out of your mouth, becomes mantra. Your form becomes yantra, your whole life becomes tantra. Your words are shastra. Your form is the center for stotra. And your life is sutra. Your very life is sutra.

Here, when Krishna says, ‘I’, there is nobody inside, just the Divine is speaking. Just the emptiness is speaking. Then the disciple asks Nisargadatta Maharaj, ‘then how do you say I am not speaking to you? What do you mean by the word ‘I’? Maharaj says, because there is no other word, I have to use the word ‘I’. But this ‘I’ has not no meaning like how your ‘I’ has got meaning. Your ‘I’ is supported by experience. When you say the word ‘God’, it is empty word. It is not supported by experience. When you say the word ‘I’, it is supported by solid experience. You know it. You feel it. If somebody asks, ‘Are you mad?’ you shout at them at prove it!! When somebody asks, ‘Are you dog?’, you just bark at them and prove it! You know, the ‘I’ in you is solid. It has got meaning. But when you utter the word ‘God’, it has no meaning. It is superficial, some imagination which you read in some books, which is taught to you in some discourses, which you heard when you were small boy from your mother. That’s all.

But, when enlightened people, enlightened Masters, when they say the word ‘I’, it has no meaning. How the word God is empty for you, the word ‘I’ is empty for them. There is no meaning. And when they say the word God, there is a solid experience for that word.

Here, when Krishna says ‘I’, there is nobody inside. It is pure emptiness. Just the divine speaks through him. Just the pure existence speaks through him. He has become hollow bamboo. He has become pure energy. That is why, courageously he can declare, he can say, in a battlefield; in a battlefield he says, bhootaanaam ishwaropi.

Sitting in a home, comfortably, where you have all security, safety, all insurances, all protection, sitting in that type of place, and declaring ‘I am God’ is very easy, because there is nothing much risky. There is no risk. You don’t need to take any big risk. You don’t need to prove. Just make the statement, what is there? After all it is free! Tell whatever you want! But he is making this statement in a place where he needs to prove. He is making this statement in battlefield, where all risky things are there, where his life itself is at risk. One arrow is enough to finish his body. He will be dead. But he is making this statement in that space. In the battlefield he is declaring, I am God. Then what courage and energy will be there behind his words! It can come only from a solid experience, a deep conscious experience.

As I was telling you yesterday, only an enlightened man can laugh in front of sword. Alexander is standing with naked sword, and this Master is laughing. He is not bothered. Just imagine, on the street, if somebody is holding the gun towards you, and asking for your wallet, will you be able to laugh? Impossible! But here, this person is able to laugh, in front of Alexander’s sword. The courage which comes out of satya, the courage which comes out of experience, Vedanta says. One important thing which Vedanta can give you is courage – courage to live, courage to face life and death; courage to see the whole existence, courage to face the whole existence.

One of the great disciples of Vivekananda, sister Nivedita, she asks Swamiji, ‘Swamiji, if I come with you what will you teach me? What will you give me?’ Vivekananda says, I’ll teach you how to face death. That is the ultimate teaching. Here, Krishna is giving that ultimate teaching. In these two slokas, he says,

Yadaa yadaahi dharmasya glaanirbhavati bhaarataa Abhyurtaanamadharmasya tadatmaanam srujaamyaham

Paritraanaaya sadhoonaam vinaashaayacha dushkrutaam Dharmasamsthapanaarthaaya sambhavaami yuge yuge

Then the next statement, that is very strange:

Janma karma cha me divyam evam yo veti tattvataha Tyaktvaa deham punarjanma naiti maam eti sorjuna.

Arjuna, if you understand the secret of my birth and death, if you understand the secret of my birth and death, you will be liberated from birth and death. How? Let us see the secret of the birth and death of Krishna

How we all go through the birth and death cycle. Now just like how Krishna made a statement, ‘ I tell you this because you are my devotee and friend’, now I have to make a statement again. Here I am going to speak something which is beyond logic, purely experience. Before speaking, I take an oath: whatever I am speaking is truth. Because whenever the ultimate truth is uttered, whenever something beyond our logic is uttered, we never receive it. Please be very clear: silent listener is a person who is thinking about something else! A silent listener is a person who is thinking about something else. Whenever something is told which goes beyond our logic, we never receive it. if we are courageous enough, we fight; we question; we argue. If we don’t have that much of courage, we don’t allow that word to enter into us. To tell you honestly, we never believe anybody. We never believe anybody. Please be very clear: we never believe anybody. It is always just argument. It is always an argument, sometimes open; at other times, in the mind. If we can’t express it openly, you continuously repeat the same words in the mind. That is why, before entering into the truths, I tell you, what I am speaking is truth. If you can, receive it. There is a possibility of transformation, because here I am speaking the truth which is realized only by experience, which cannot be logically true.

There is a beautiful website called NDE, Near Death Experience: NDE.Com. If you find time, try to read that website. A doctor has done research spending 30 years, just on this NDE, Near Death Experience. Just on this Near Death Experience, he has done research for 30 years. Let me first describe what is Near Death Experience. People who are declared clinically dead, after four or five hours, sometimes people come back. Especially these mother in laws! They don’t leave! They are not leaving. And, after four or five hours also, they come back!

Only the people who came back after four-five hours, this doctor went round all over the world, meeting only these type of people; people who are declared medically dead by a group of doctors, clinically dead. Doctor declares, No No he is dead. Over. Like this he has traveled all over the world and met about 10,000 people. He has recorded and collected the reminiscences of over 10,000 people. If you find time, try to see the website. And he has collected so many different kinds of experiences. Experiences from Buddhists, experiences from Christians, experiences from Hindus, experiences from Muslims, from so many people he has collected experiences.

He has categorized and explained everything. In the end he makes one important statement. After doing research for so many years; so many religions describe the death in so many ways. Some say you will reach a place called heaven, St. Peter will be standing at the pearly gates, if you have done punya or merits, only then you will be taken in. if you have committed sins, you will be taken to eternal hell – each one has got their own faith. Some say there is no hell or heaven, you directly go to Vaikunta (place where Vishnu lives). Some say there will be a special Pushpaka Vimanam (mythiological aircraft), special aircraft, sent from Kailash (place where Siva resides), all the Rambha and Menaka (celestial dancers) will be there, serving you, and you will be directly taken to Siva’s place, there are so many different versions as to what happens after death; or what happens at the time of death, so many versions. And Kathopanishad says, you will you will enter through a tunnel and see the Angushta maatra purusha piraanam, meaning the light which is thumb sized, which is your soul. You will see the light when the soul leaves the body. There are so many explanations, so many different kinds of versions as to how the death happens, and how you enter into the other body.

This doctor, after doing such a big research for thirty years, he says: I have studied so many Near Death Experiences. Now I can tell one thing, only when people live they are Christians, Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, etc. That is to say, they belong to different religions. When they die, all of them undergo the same experience which is described in Kathopanishad. He says very clearly, all of them undergo the same experience, which is described in Kathopanishad. Here, Krishna explains that beautifully. Much more deep way he explains. When we come to that chapter, Purushottama Yoga, we will see that subject. We’ll study then. Now I just want to give you an introduction. I just want you to know the science in which we are entering.

He says, people belong to different religion only when they are alive. When they are dead, they follow only one path, which is described in the Kathopanishad. Exactly what happens at the time of leaving the body. When you leave the body, the moment the physical body dies, physical body relaxes, the moment physical body says, I cannot hold the soul anymore, I am tired, the moment the soul leaves the body, you decide, based on your life – how you live in the 70-80 years, what you think as the highest pleasure in our life. If you think eating is the highest pleasure in your life, naturally you would have spent the whole life in eating. Then at the time of after leaving the body, eating is the only highest pleasure. I should take the body which will continuously help me to eat eat, eat. What is the best body? You see through all the choices. Then you decide: pig is the best body. Let me take that janma (life) if you have thought that sleeping is the greatest happy joyful experience in your life, lived your whole life in sleeping, tamas (inactivity), then you think, ‘I think that is the best experience in my life. Why not take the buffalo body? So that I can spend my whole life in sleeping’

Whatever you think is the greatest experience in your life, or you can enjoy, which sense you have spent more energy, maximum time, maximum part of your inner space, you decide your next birth based on that desire, based on that point. Please be very clear, nobody else decides your birth, it is you who decide. Simply you choose. It is clearly conscious decision of your individual soul. I am ready for any of your questions. Naturally this is a very, I can say, controversial subject, very difficult to understand. But after this any question you ask, you are welcome to write and put in the box. Surely I’ll answer, respond to all your questions. But you need to understand the science of birth and death, the mystery, the secret mystery of birth and death.

Here Krishna says beautifully, here I am telling you the secret things. Krishna says ‘rahasyam hetuduttamam’. I am telling you the mysterious ultimate science, Oh my dear devotee and friend - ‘Bhaktosi me sakha che’ti rahasyam hetuduttamam’: I am telling you the ultimate mysterious science.

If we can understand one thing, how we take birth. By analyzing this concept with question and answer. Understand, now I made few statements: ‘You take birth based on your desires, based on how you live’. ‘Birth and death is your conscious decision’. These are all few statements I made. We will analyze these statements with the question-answer. Only then we will be able to internalize it. If you just hear, it will not go inside. I always encourage people to put questions. Because only when you put questions, you will be able to relate with the idea. Never think asking questions, if you ask some question, all will look at us, we will look like a fool. If you ask question, you may look like a fool. If you don’t, you will be a fool! Better to look like a fool than to be a fool.

We will analyze this whole concept, the secret of birth and death, the mysterious science which Krishna delivers through our question and answers. Then you will be able to internalize this truth. The moment this truth is understood, you will immediately see the life is a blessing. The life is your decision, please be very clear. Including poverty is your decision. Don’t think poverty has been forced on you. Even that is your decision. When we take birth, when we assume the body, we take birth based on our fear and greed. One side the greed is pushing, ‘Let us become the son of a king, let us become son of rich man’. The other side your own fears say, ‘No no, I can’t take so much of responsibility’. Please be very clear, along with money, big responsibility of protecting it comes. Along with money, the big responsibility of protecting the money also comes. That is why Lakshmi is handed over to Vishnu, the protector. The Lakshmi is neither with the creator, Brahma, nor with the destroyer, Siva. She is with protector, with Vishnu. Along with Lakshmi, wealth, money, the responsibility to protect it also comes. Most of the time we don’t want to take the responsibility. We want only the enjoyment. We want only the enjoyment, we don’t want the responsibility. That is where the trouble starts. The person who is ready to take the responsibility and enjoyment, will never miss, will never be deprived.

If you understand the secret, mystery, clearly, this moment you will fell your life is a blessing, it is not curse. Usually we always blame the life. ‘If I am given chance, I would have made the world much better than what it is now!’ we always think, we can develop on this creation. Be very clear, surely God is much more intelligent than us! Surely God is much more intelligent than us! Whether your life or the Existence, He has done the maximum, what can be done. Because we don’t understand the mystery of our conscious decisions, we continuously blame the life and the person who gave this life to us.

Let me tell you one small incident. It really happened. In America only it happened, one small boy, autism problem. Autism, you all know. All these words are very common here. In Bharat all these words are very rare. In Bharat the names of diseases are also very rare. Here only I am hearing all new new. There was a small kid with autism. Maybe 7-8 year-old boy. He was brought to me for healing. The father and mother requested me, Swamiji, please heal him, help him to become all right. I put my hand on his head and started healing.

Immediately the boy started talking to me in Tamil, my mother tongue. The family doesn’t know Tamil. He doesn’t know even a single word of Tamil. He is from other region. Parents are shocked. They said, we don’t know how he talks Tamil, because we don’t know Tamil. Simply the boy started talking in Tamil. Very clear way. They say even in English he will not speak fluently. One or two world only he will utter. Straightaway he started speaking to me. And he says, ‘stop healing’. In Tamil he said in a very slang way. In Tamil he said in a very slang way, and he told me ‘Stop healing’. I was shocked. First of all to listen Tamil from him, and clear words, ‘stop healing’. I was shocked. Then I told him, why are you asking me to stop healing? I thought some evil spirit is there inside his body, maybe some other spirit. So I started asking, who are you? Why are you asking me to stop? The he says, ‘I took this decision consciously. I don’t want to take the responsibility of going to the regular life. School, making money, and all this regular life, I don’t want to take the responsibility. That is why I took this disease. I took this decision of autism consciously. Whole thing he spoke to me in Tamil, in my mother tongue. And I don’t know how you will be able to believe, because it is related to the person, I am not able to give his name and reference. But I tell you honestly, it is truth. It is truth. Straightaway he started addressing. He says, I don’t want to take the responsibility of life. I am not interested in doing all these regular things, going to school, going to life. That is why I took this type of body. I wanted somebody to take care of me. I want to just enjoy. Then I asked him, ‘All right, that is OK, beautiful, but why did you take birth for such a nice people?’ and the parents are so devoted to me, they are very nice people. They are great devotees. I told him, they are such a nice people, why did you take birth to them? Why did you come down as a son for them?

Then he says, ‘I took birth in their family, because they are nice people! They will take care of me. They will not abandon me. Somebody else means, they would have abandoned me. They wouldn’t have taken care of me. That is the reason I took birth in their family. Whole thing he spoke to me in Tamil. I was just shocked. And in the end, by force he removed my hand from his head. Then I said, ‘all right, I cannot interfere in the decision of any individual’ I cannot interfere in anybody’s life. The greatness of God is that He gives you the freedom to be in bondage. Even if it is freedom, He never forces it on you. He gives you the freedom to be in bondage - because it is your choice. And in the end, I am not able to heal this boy. And I did not heal him.

The whole thing, your whole birth, is based on your fear and greed. But enlightened Masters birth is based on Love and Compassion. The whole secret is this. Ordinary man takes birth based on the fear and greed. That is why his whole life is driven by fear and greed. His whole life runs based on fear and greed. Enlightened Masters, they achieve the body out of love and compassion.

That is why Krishna beautifully says: Atmamaayaya – because of my own energy, my own shakti, my own maya, I take birth. Sambhavyaam aatmamaayaya. Prakratim swamanishtaaya sambhavyaam aatmamaayaya. With my own energy, just out of my love and compassion, I land on this planet earth.

Next question comes: How can we be liberated by knowing this truth? In what way it is going to help us directly in our life? Please be very clear, when I say the word birth and death, I don’t mean just dying in the end of your life. I mean every night sleep is your birth and death. Every night when you go to sleep, you die! When you come back, morning, you take birth. Every day, you assume the body. Every day, you leave the body. When you go to the karana shareera (Causal Body), when you go to the sleep, when you fall asleep, every day you die. When you come back, every day you come back to life.

Now, as on now, every day morning how we come back to life? How we take this body? Just look deeply. What happens at that time when you get up from the bed? First thing, usually, the moment you get the awareness, either a thought based on greed or fear will hit you. Thought based on greed, maybe you wanted to meet somebody, you have got something to do; or thought based on fear, you have to go to office, you have to do this work – some thought based on fear or greed will hit you. Immediately, you will jump out of your bed. Am I right? If you have analyzed your waking up: your assuming this body, that moment is taking birth. Please be very clear, that moment you take body. These are the basic, very subtle, mysterious secrets of altering the whole consciousness. Early morning, with which thought you enter into the body, which thought makes you assume the body, is going to play a major role in your consciousness. The first thought is going to play a major role in your consciousness.

As on now, usually, how you get up? Either a thought based on fear or greed. That only hits you. Immediately you jump out of the bed. Either you wanted to do something or you are afraid that you have to go to your routine. You assume the body because of fear or greed. But an enlightened man, an enlightened Master assumes the body out of love and compassion. He comes out, just to pour his compassion out, just to share himself with the whole world. When I say the birth and death, I not only mention about the death which happens in the end, I mean every day. If you understand this once and alter your thoughts at the time of waking up, you will alter the whole consciousness, quality of your consciousness can be changed. Just like how camera works. First moment, whatever scene is there in front of the camera eye, that is recorded in the film. That will stay there for ever. Same way, the first moment of your consciousness with which you assume the body, you will enter into the body, that moment with what thought you enter into the body, that plays a major role the whole day on your consciousness. When you get up from the bed, the first thought, let it be related to love and compassion. Let it be related to a deep divine spiritual thought. Get up only to express your life in bliss. Get up just out of joy. The moment you come to consciousness, the moment you become aware of yourself, ‘Oh lord, so beautiful! You have given me one more day! I have come back to life once more. Just to see your existence. I am blessed you have given me one more day extension.’

Please be very clear, you have no right to have extension. Don’t think life is your birthright. I have seen many people taking things for granted. Before they get the job, they would say, ‘if I get that 10000 $ per month salary, I will be really safe. I will feel blessed.’ The moment you get the job, in one month, you think it is your birthright. You think it is your birthright and you start thinking about the 100,000 $ salary.

Birth itself is not your right. How can you say something is your birthright? The word birthright is completely wrong. Birth itself is not your right. You have no right. It is pure gift. You can’t extend even a single breath. You can’t do even one single moment, inhaling or exhaling, unless the divine allows you, unless the parashakti gives the extension. So every day is a blessing. Every day is an extension. When you get up from the bed, get up, come out of the bed, assume the body with this gratitude to the divine, your whole quality of your consciousness will change, you will become an incarnation.

Here I am giving you the straight technique how to become Krishna: How to enter into Krishna consciousness, how to become an incarnation. The man who assumes the body out of love and compassion is incarnation. If you assume the body out of greed or fear, you are man. If you assume the body out of love and compassion, you are incarnation, you are divine. Early morning, first thought, let it be form gratitude, let it be from love, let it be from compassion. Your whole life will become pure eternal bliss. Your whole life will be a different consciousness.

I was explaining the secret of birth and death. How we go through, how it is our conscious decision. How it is our choice. Please be very clear, your whole life is purely your responsibility. Nobody has forced anything on you! It is completely your responsibility. It is you who is taking the responsibility of your whole life. It is not forced on you. It is your decision.

Always people ask me, then why do we get into accidents, Swamiji? Please be very clear, including accidents are your choice. I am making a bold statement : including accidents are your choice. You can put your questions, I will explain the question tomorrow when I see the question. Then you will understand this truth in a much more deeper way.

Here I wanted to stop by presenting this hypothesis. I am presenting this secret science as a hypothesis. Now you are welcome to analyze this with your questions. You will look into this secret science, rahasya hetuduttamam. Krishna says beautifully in the 4th chapter 3rd sloka, ‘rahasyam hetuduttamam’. This mysterious inner science, the mysterious great science we will analyze we will analyze with your questions.

Before ending this session, I will answer these few questions which is presented, given by our devotees yesterday.

Dear Swamiji, how to find our whether somebody is enlightened or not? Arjuna asks the same question. I think in the second chapter, Krishna answers this same question. Let me give you the sloka.

Arjuna asks: Stitaprajnasya ka bhaashaa samaadhisthasya keshavah Sthitadheeh kim prabhaaseta kim aaseeta vrajeta kim ( Ch.II. 54)

## Stitaprajnasya ka bhaaasaa samaadhisthasya keshavah

Arjuna says, Krishna, what are the symptoms of those, what are the symptoms of one whose consciousness in thus merged in transcendence? How does he speak, and what is his language? How does he sit and how does he walk?

This is a question from the Second Chapter. Of course, in the second chapter, Arjuna is not ready to even relate with Krishna. That is why Krishna is explaining about enlightenment. Immediately arjuna aska, how to find out whether somebody is enlightened or not. How an enlightened man will walk and sit. Actually he is addressing this question to find out whether Krishna is enlightened or not! For example he says, these are the qualities of enlightenment. Krishna explains about enlightenment. Immediately Arjuna is asking, how an enlightened man will behave, tell me. Means what? First thing, he is doubting the Krishna, Krishna’s authority. He wants some scale with which he can measure Krishna.

But one important thing, even though out of compassion Krishna tries here to answer logically, you cannot logically measure. That is the ultimate truth. Just out of compassion Krishna tries to give some idea. Actually Krishna is just postponing the question, he is not answering. There are two three methods. Actually one person came to me and he asked me, Swamiji, please tell me how to realize God. How to achieve God? Teach me something about God, Atman. I just told him, ‘Yes, how are you, you are from where, what you are doing, what your wife is doing, how is your family….’ I started talking. And he also started talking something. Conversation went on, went on. After that he was with me three hours, but he has not raised the subject again! He forgot the very question. He did not even remember the question which he asked. He did not even come to the subject. Then understand, how much this question is important for his life, how much this question is important for his life. He is asking just because he has to ask something. You have seen Swamiji, you have to show that you have some spiritual interest, some way you have to relate with him. And you have to show you also know few words.

I have seen few pundits. They come and stand in front of me and recite long big terminology. Big big words. One guy came and told me, ‘Swamiji tell me the mantra, how to do vasyaat ashta gajapati maha lakshmi durga devi.’ He is asking the eighteen-handed Kali, give me the mantra to do vashyaa of the eighteen handed Kali. She should listen what I say. Give me the mantra. I told him, ‘first learn the mantra to make your wife listen to your words! First learn how to handle two-handed women! Then you can go about learning how to work with eighteen handed women!’ you don’t know the basic science of life – how to live with your wife! You wanted to learn big big words. And we always waste our life with big big words, with big big terminology. And this guy, he forgot the question! He forgot the question. After that he spent with me two-three hours, he has not even remembered the question. The question asked just because he has to speak something. It is not his quest. Questions are answered in one way, quest is addressed in the other way.

Please be very clear, questions are answered in one way, quest is addressed in the other way. One person came to me, young man, and he asked me, ‘ Guruji, have you seen God?’ It seems he had read lot of Ramakrishna Vedanta literature. And I could see that he was wearing the Vivekananda Dollar around his neck. ‘Have you seen God?’ I asked him, have you read Ramakrishna and Vivekananda’s life?’ he said, ‘Yes! I am asking you how the Vivekananda asked Ramakrishna. Same way I am asking you. Have you seen God?’ I just caught hold of his shirt, so that he should not run away. Then I said, ‘Ramakrishna has said that he has seen. And simply Vivekananda followed Ramakrishna. Throughout his whole life he was with Ramakrishna. Now I tell you, not only I have seen, I will show you, come!’ The fellow ran away! He just disappeared. He escaped and ran away. Then I told him, ‘don’t ask the question if you cant take the responsibility, just because you read Ramakrishna and Vivekananda’s lives.’ Vivekananada asked Ramakrishna, true. But he the courage, guts, to follow Ramakrishna. When Ramakrishna said yes, he followed. I told him, not only I have seen him, I’ll show you, come. Fellow just escaped.

We always waste our lives with empty words. Question will be addressed in a different way, quest will be addressed in a different way. Here is a question. Arjuna is asking a question. It is not a quest. He is asking, Stitaprajnasya ka bhaashaa samaadhisthasya keshavah Sthitadheeh kim prabhaaseta kim aaseeta vrajeta kim

How to find out whether it is a question or quest, do you know? If it is quest, you will have only one word, you will put one question and stop, you will wait for answer. If it is just an intellectual question, you will continuously arrange ten words. Here he is asking ten questions: How does he speak? What is his language, how does he sit and how does he walk? Means, he is not even interested in answer. If you are interested in answer, you will stop with first question. You will wait for the answer. Then you will put the next question. But here he goes on putting the question - means, pure intellectual. Arjuna is on the process. He is on the process. Then Krishna starts. Of course, please be very clear, Krishna is not answering. He is just postponing the question. He knows, answering this question is in no way going to help. So he is answering in such a way, neither Arjuna will fell he did not receive the answer, nor the Arjuna can come to a conclusion with this answer! Here he is giving an answer: Prajahaati yadaa kaamaan sarvaan paartha manogataan Aatmany evaatmanaa tushta sthithaparjnas tadochyate.

He says, Paartha, when a man controls all types of desires and selfish deeds which arise from the mind, and when he remains satisfied with himself and his consciousness, in his eternal bliss, then he is said to have a stable mind and life.

All right, how many of you can find out with this scale, whether somebody is enlightened or not? Tell me. Here he has given the answer. Can any of us use this answer? After answer, you will have more problem than before answer! Actually sometimes, by giving answer, you will create more questions than before the question was there! Originally if Arjuna had ten questions, after this answer, he will have twenty questions! Because answer says, ‘who is completely established in his own consciousness, who is satisfied in his own consciousness, he is said to have stable mind and vice.’ And he is telling, ‘he is said to have’ he is not giving from his experience. He could have said, ‘he is sththaprajna’ But he is not telling that. ‘it is believed, or said to have stable mind and vice’ he is just trying to escape, putting the blame on the tradition. He is not directly coming in the front. He is not confronting the question directly. He is just passing it away. He is just passing it away.

Ramakrishna, whenever the close disciples ask for some boon, he will tell, don’t worry, I’ll take care. Whenever he wants to avoid, he will tell, ‘Go to Kali and pray. Go to kali and pray! He would tell, No No, go there, Kali mandir is there, Kali is there, go there and pray!’ He will not put himself in the front. He will just avoid. The same thing Krishna is doing here. He is saying, ‘it is believed’ so that if some more questions come, he can always escape.

Next sloka:

## Dukheshvanu dvignamanaaha sukeshu vigatasprhah

Veetaraaga bhaya krodha sthiradheer munir uchyate.

The translation goes: one whose mind remains free from emotional agitation, even in miseries, and does not search for pleasure and who is free from attachments, fear anger is called an enlightened man who is in eternal bliss, eternal consciousness.

If your inner space is not filled with too much of emotional attachments, it can freely flow in the life. It can freely flow in the life. Many people ask me, ‘Swamiji, how are you continuously able to quote from the scriptures? From where you are able to get so much of information? How are you able to speak so many things?’ I tell them, ‘Very simple secret.’ So many people ask, ‘How are you able to have such a sharp memory? Give us a technique to have sharp memory.’ This is the ultimate important technique for sharp memory. How to have sharp memory? Just drop the emotional attachments. It is just like how a computer works. If your hard disc is filled with high-resolution photographs, what will happen? It will crash! If it is filled only with word document, it can handle any amount of memory. Your emotional attachment makes word document into high-resolution photograph. Word documents are transformed into high-resolution photographs, high-resolution pictures by your emotional attachment to it. When you are emotionally attached to it, again and again you remember only that. That portion takes away majority of your inner space. Your whole inner space is swallowed, taken away, by that one particular picture. If at all you can do surgery in your inner space, most of your whole inner space will be filled with four size photographs. Your wife or family or your swallows your immediate family. Only those four by pictures will be there in high resolution. 90% of your hard disc is filled with that four by high-resolution pictures. That is why you don’t have memory space left for any other work. Your whole memory space is already occupied. No memory space is left.

But if at all you can bring down, if at all you can reduce the emotional attachment, for this few high-resolution pictures, you will be able to handle more word document, more word documents. That is the secret here Krishna is giving. Whose inner space is completely free, whose hard disc is completely clean, who can process any information at any time, whose inner space is open, free and sharp, he is called stithaprajna. He is called the person who is in eternal consciousness.

These are all few answers Krishna is giving for Arjuna. But I tell you, with this scale, you will never be able to find who is enlightened or who is unenlightened, by using this scale intellectually - simply impossible. If you want an honest answer, I can tell one thing, you can never find logically. If somebody is enlightened, when you see him, simply something will happen inside your heart. Beyond your intellect, your whole heart will fall in tune with him. Simply you will not be able to forget him. You will be pulled. Your whole being will be attracted. Your whole being will be, automatically, filled by him. You will not know what is happening to you. You yourself will not be able to understand, analyze logically. You will be just waiting, when can see him next? When can I see him next? Simply your heart will fall in love. I can say, with masters, you rise in love. With ordinary people, you fall in love; with masters, you rise in love. Simply something will happen in your space. Beyond your control, beyond your logic, your heart knows, he is enlightened. Simply you can’t say no to him.

Be very clear, if that happens, that person is going to help you. That person is going to show you the life. That person is your master. If that doesn’t happen, don’t bother, continue your search. You will meet right person. Continue your search, you will meet right person. Don’t bother who is enlightened, who is not enlightened. Intellectually you cannot find out. If somebody is going to help you, simply your heart will fall in tune with him. If it falls in tune with him, even if he is not enlightened, he will help you. You will be helped by him. Even if he is not enlightened, you will be helped by him. If your heart has not fallen in tune, even if he is enlightened, he is not for you. Forget about it. So you don’t have to use your head at all. Just relax. Your heart knows how to show you the right path, how to guide you in the right path. Your heart is the judge, which will guide you, automatically, in the right time, in the right moment, towards the right person.

So, let the divine Parabrahma Krishna guide us all to the right energy, to the right attitude, and the right experience. Let him shower the eternal bliss. Let him make us experience and radiate eternal bliss, nithyaananda. Thank you.

Vasudeva sutam devam kamsa chanoora mardhanam Devaki paramaanandam krishnam vande jagad gurum.