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| Volume
3 - Issue 9 SEP 2005 |
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35. The Wise man sees God in the microcosm as well as the macrocosm. He makes no distinction between a saint and a sinner. For him, the saint and the sinner are both God in disguise. Can you go through life like that? Impossible! That is why I recommended for you the Path of Action. Got it?’ 36. ‘I now come to something I had put off earlier, namely about My Incarnation. I take on a human form whenever I feel that My direct presence here on earth is absolutely essential. Further, I choose the parents of the body, the place of birth and also the exact time of birth. All these factors are entirely under My control. Thus, the time chosen is sacred, the place chosen is sacred, and the parents of the body also are holy people.’ 37. ‘The Avatar moves about like ordinary mortals. He will talk like an ordinary peerson, He will eat, sleep, and dress like an ordinary peerson. But there the similarity ends! The Avatar is without blemish in every respect, and personifies Sathya (Truth) and Dharma (Righteousness). Ever smiling, He radiates Prema (Love) all the time. Not even an iota of selfishness and self-interest can ever be found in Him. Ever compassionate and ever full of Kshama or forbearance, He is always giving. Thus His hand is always above, and never below receiving!’ 38. ‘Like humans, the Lord in human form is also ever engaged in actions. However, whereas ordinary humans get bound as the result of their actions, the Lord is not so bound.’ 39. Arjuna asks, ‘How is that? I don’t follow.’ 40. Krishna explains: ‘The answer is simple. Actions bind one to the world when performed with some self-interest. As I told you, I have no self-interest, not even a trace of it. I am beyond this world and come here just to play a specific role for a limited time. All My actions are based on Pure Love, and that is the reason why actions can never bind Me.’ 41. Arjuna asks, ‘If I perform actions with Pure Love, will I also be free from getting bound?’ 42. Krishna replies, ‘Of course! And that is precisely the lesson I have come to teach you! Selfless action based on Pure Love is the bottom line. You must always give and not grab. You must give and forgive. You must give and forget. Remember, it is in giving that you really receive. And what is that you receive? My Grace!’ 43. Seeing a frown on Arjuna’s face, Krishna now says, ‘Mind you, I am not saying that actions performed with expectation of specific rewards are necessarily evil. A mother may want her son to do well so that she could be proud of him. This is a natural human instinct. Such a desire is not immoral or a sin. However, it is entirely worldly, and based on body-attachment. That is what binds one to the cycle of birth and death.’ 44. ‘Worldly desire, no matter how good it might seem, always leads to bondage. Worldly desires inevitably chain you to the cycle of birth and death. You may want many things and all these desires might not get fulfilled in this birth. So destiny offers you another birth but then, in that birth you also face much misery. And so on it goes: Birth again death again; in between, sojourns in so many wombs! What a fool man is! If only he would constantly think of the Lord!!’ 45. ‘So you see, the Avatar is not like you in terms of the purpose for which actions are performed, and that is why He remains beyond always. There is one other point that I must mention. People often lament, “O God why did you inflict this suffering on me?” But do these people think of Me in their moments of success? Hardly! Instead they give all the credit to themselves and are busy accepting congratulations. So it would seem that all I do is to spread misery! But let that pass.’ 46. ‘Arjuna, man alone is the master of his Destiny and not God above. God merely watches and says yes to all that man wants. If he wants to be good, God says yes. If he wants to be bad, God says, “Alright do so if that is what you want”. If man wants desires to be fulfilled God says go ahead. If on the other hand man wants to be liberated, God not only says yes but helps with great enthusiasm.’ 47. Arjuna asks, ‘You say man alone is the master of his Destiny. But there are certain things not explained by this statement. Let us say there is a poor couple. They have a son who is badly handicapped. These people are very good and highly devoted to You. They are not doing any harm to anybody. Yet they are suffering. Why are they being punished? Don’t tell me they are punishing themselves.’ 48. Krishna smiles and replies, ‘I am glad you asked this question because this is a common confusion that people have. You see, people accumulate positive and negative points in every birth. This account has to be settled. Often it is not settled in one lifespan and there is a carry over. In the example that you gave, both the parents and the handicapped boy are settling the account of their respective past Karma. Men do not realise that they are the masters of their own fate; the fault lies not in the stars but in themselves.’ 49. ‘The solution to all this, as I have already told you, is to totally surrender to God and let Him shape your life. But unfortunately, people think of God only when they are in trouble and more or less forget Him when things are going smoothly. This kind of part-time devotion will simply not work! Beware!!’ 50. ‘In such matters, you must draw a lesson from the Wise. They too live in this very same dual world with all its pairs of opposites. But their outlook to these is very different.’ 52. ‘The point that I am trying to make is simply that the Wise man is above duality that most people are in the grip of. What deludes ordinary people does not delude the Wise man.’ 53. ‘Creation is a clever puzzle designed by God. It fools 99.9999% of the people. Sometimes it even makes them believe that the transient is Eternal and that the Eternal does not exist! Everyone sees people dying all the time and yet, most people do not realise that they too would have to go one day. If they did, would they not give serious consideration to what they must do with their lives? Do you see anyone doing that? Hardly!’ 54. ‘Incidentally, this is where Karmaphala Tyagam (Renouncing the results of actions) that I taught you earlier comes in handy. When you are truly engaged in Karma Yoga, the world just flits by. You are so immersed in working for God and offering everything to Him, that you couldn’t care less about duality and all that stuff! You will get wet only when you go out into the rain without an umbrella. If you stay at home, how can you get wet?’ 55. ‘In short, while the Sankhya Yogi truly rises above delusion, the Karma Yogi bypasses it neatly by firmly attaching himself to God. I might add that God likes the Karma Yogi very much. Do you get the hint Arjuna?’ To be continued…. |
Vol 3 Issue 9 - September 2005 |
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