GITA FOR CHILDREN
PART 19

Continued from the previous issue….

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Chapter – 8

1. Arjuna says to Krishna, ‘Krishna, my head is reeling! Forgive me please, but there are so many doubts of mine that You have got to clear. You keep saying again and again “God is your Indweller, I am in your Heart”, and things like that. Can you please explain these statements in simple language that I can easily understand?’

2. Krishna replies, ‘Why not? After all, you are My dear friend. Let Me start this way. I suppose you understand that you are a composite of the gross body, the Mind and Atma. You are a three-in-one composite – you understand that, don’t you?’

3. Arjuna nods, and Krishna continues. ‘You are a MBA, that is, an entity made up of the Mind, the Body and the Atma. In various ways I am present in the body and I am present in your Mind. On top of all this, I am the Atma that pervades everywhere, including every cell and atom of your body. Thus, I am there everywhere within you. Indeed, My presence is very strong.’

4. ‘Actually, I am present not only in you, not only in all humans, but in every single entity in the Universe, from an ant to the galaxies. By the way, and this may come as a surprise, I am also present in the wickedest person on earth.’

5. Arjuna shakes his head vigorously as if to indicate that he is confused, while Krishna smiles and continues. ‘Don’t worry; it will all become clear. Let Me start with your body. You know it is made up of atoms. Since I am present in each atom, you must right away concede that I am present within you as the power of every single atom within your body. OK so far?’

6. ‘But don’t imagine that is all. I have a much stronger presence as the Praana or the life force within your body. The body is a living factory in which so many extraordinary things happen all the time. The heart keeps pumping, the lungs breathe, the stomach digests, and so on; all these functions are occuring without you doing anything about them. How? It is My life-force that takes care of all these.’

7. ‘Skeptics dismiss My presence and declare, “It is all bio-chemistry.” Bio-chemistry indeed. Such people who simply do not want to acknowledge My presence are fools, that is all.’

8. ‘However, the ancients were wise. They understood that all activity in the human body connected with life, from digestion to motor activity, is driven by My Divine power. They acknowledged this in many ways, via their prayers and offerings especially. They expressed their adoration for what I do inside and had special names for Me. One of these is Vaishvanara. Another is Angeerasa, and so on.’

9. ‘By the way, I hope you understand how I happen to be present in wicked persons in some aspects. Their hearts also beat, their stomachs also digest, etc. Who does that? Me, of course! I do all these things, even though such persons deny Me and go against My tenets. But let that pass for now.’

10. ‘From the gross body let Me now move on to the Mind. The Mind can be regarded as being made up of two parts, the lower Mind and the Higher Mind. The lower aspect is what people normally call the brain while the Higher Mind is that which is capable of contemplating, analysing, deducing, etc. The Higher part is mighty powerful and has tremendous creative capability. All this power flows entirely from Me.’

11. ‘The loftiest region of the Higher Mind is just a step away from the Heart. It is called Buddhi. By the way, when I say Heart, you must not confuse it with the physical heart that pumps blood. I am speaking of the Spiritual Heart.’

12. ‘This Heart is My permanent residence. It is My residence because the Heart is the seat of Compassion. The Heart is called Hridaya. HRIDAYA = HRID + DAYA. Daya means Compassion. Thus, the Heart is the seat of Compassion.’

13. ‘Compassion cannot exist without Prema or Love. Hence the Heart is also the seat of Love, Kshama or forbearance, and so on. In brief, the Heart is the fountainhead of all Divine virtues and qualities.’

14. Arjuna asks, ‘Krishna, I agree that God is present in a wicked man as the life force. But surely the wicked man has no Heart. Therefore, how can God be his Indweller?’

15. With a smile Krishna replies, ‘No Arjuna, what you are saying is not true. Let us say there is a river and that a dam is built across it. Suppose the dam shutters are closed. Then there would be no water downstream but upstream there would be water in the reservoir. Do you agree?’

16. ‘The situation with respect to an evil person is similar. That person too has a Heart and God resides there also. But the virtues of the Heart are dammed and do not flow to the Mind and the Body. That is why the person’s thoughts are wicked and his actions are bad.’

17. ‘Yet, just as there is always some small seepage in a dam, even so-called bad people occasionally exhibit traces of good. So don’t write them off completely.’

18. ‘Suppose a bad man sees a small baby smiling happily. Charmed by the baby, this man would also smile in return. The baby is close to God and that is why it is happy. And in that brief instant, even that evil man is in communion with God. By the way, it has happened many times that a bad man has suddenly turned good. Don’t you know the story of Sage Valmiki, who has described My earlier Avatar in his immortal Ramayana? Earlier, he was a robber but one day he changed. That happened when the shutters of the dam were raised. Thus, God resides in the Hearts of all, without any exception.’

To Be Continued...

– Heart2Heart Team

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