Class Summary for March 18, 2018 - Chapter-2: 13, 14

Summarized by Srividhya Swaminathan:        

We discussed sloka 13 & 14 

Sloka 13

Like all verses in BG, Shri Krishna once again tries to open Arjuna's eyes, through the light of Knowledge. He gives multiple examples, to make Arjuna understand, that physical body is just a vehicle( to perform Sadhanas) & Atma is eternal. Arjuna so far was willing to give up & accept defeat & now has reached a stage of Saranagathi (total surrender) to Sri Krishna. Like us, Arjuna too has strong resistance to change. He is unable to overcome the grief or feeling of emptiness, in waging war against his own people.

            Just like how the Sun clears the mist, Sri Krishna Bhagwan, through his cutting insight , breaks through the Ignorance of Arjuna, by helping him face the truth/reality, removes the illusion & leading him to the path of enlightenment.

 Bhagwan further adds, that just as how we don't grieve about the natural transformation from childhood to old age, we must also not mourn about the transition of Atma from one physical body to another& hence persuades Arjuna to face reality. (This transition helps the Atma to evolve and hence there is no point in showing resistance to this change)

14th Sloka

In his attempt to make Arjuna understand the nature of Atma or knowledge of self, Bhagwan 1st gives him clarity on 'what it is not'

          In this sloka, Sri Krishna reinforces that worldly objects of pleasure & pain experienced through the sensory organs are not permanent. Just as we accept the climate change, we should also accept that nothing is consistent & by realizing this, we will remain unaffected in all situations, thus encourages Arjuna to endure it.

At good times its natural for any person to lose balance or 'to be carried away' & at not so good times, we tend to give up easily. Its a limited way of thinking. 

Like Arjuna, our awareness and thoughts are mixed up, and like how Gurudev suggests, by constant inquiry & inner reflection, we can try and achieve inner stillness & calm.This inquiry will help us decide, what thoughts to hold on to & ones that don't belong to the true self(we should remove that by Meditation & inner reflection)

Other topics discussed in class

1) Coping strategies to accept unexpected loss of loved ones.

2) Importance of 13days ritual.

    - how it helps the grieving family to accept reality slowly& thus Atma in its transition from 1 world to another or next Birth.

3) In some situation the Atma itself wants or  does not wan't to be trapped in its physical form & travel of the Atma in 

     Extreme cases of self - destruction.

4) We also discussed about how in our culture, people who are in last stages of life travel to "Kashi Labh - Mukti Bhawan". Its evident that we have 'burning desire for liberation'. (Mumukhshatvam)

To conclude the topic I would like to quote the following -

"If we accept death, we die only once, otherwise we die a million times. 

What we accept - from that we are free; what we do not accept- we remain entangled"   "