The Indian Dharma

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of the discussion on Bhagawan Krishna’s detailed accord on how to perform our “Yogam” everyday. As we know by now, “Yogam” is entirely for our mental and “Atman” well-being and this is an opportunity for us to focus on Bhagawan completely. In this regard, Bhagawan has initially given some instructions as to how we commence the “Yogam”. He mentions about the selection of a silent and a serene place without any disturbances of any external sounds. Then, Bhagawan explains why we should perform the “Yogam” alone and in a secluded environment and not amidst a group of people. This is because, when we are in a group, we start getting distracted very easily and this should be avoided. Since “Yogam” has got more to do with “Bhagawad-Anubhavam” (Experiencing Bhagawan within), it has to be done all alone and in a secluded environment. Thirdly, Bhagawan also stressed upon the seating position, which is “Padmaasanam” (Highly recommended), with our back upright. Bhagawan mentions this because, only if our back is straight, we would be able to focus completely on Him, without any distraction with respect to physical comforts. Moreover, Bhagawan advises us not to sit on an “Aasanam” which has too much cushion. 

With all this in place, we commence our “Yogam”. Now, Bhagawan explains how we should perform it. Our only focus while performing “Yogam” should be Bhagawan and nothing else. We should be able to bring Bhagawan’s divine physical form in our mind and start meditating on that. As we understand this point, there is a myth surrounding the entire process of meditation today – Many people teach us that we can meditate with a “free mind” without any thoughts. Some people even advise us to have a soft background instrumental music while we are trying to meditate. We can still go with the second point, but the first one is extremely impossible to achieve – The reason being, our mind can never be devoid of thoughts! Given our state of affairs today and given our stressful surroundings, both personally and professionally, our mind will only keep wandering around with so many thoughts about who said what and how we should react to such things in future. Even otherwise, our mind would only be simply wandering here and there without any reason! Hence, achieving a state where our mind will completely be devoid of any thoughts, is almost next to impossible. 

This is why Bhagawan emphasizes that we start our “Yogam” with Him in our mind. Even this might be very tough for many of us for sure. We might start our meditation with Bhagawan in mind for the first 1-2 minutes, and then gradually our mind will start roaming around and would start to think of everything other than Bhagawan! 🙂 In other words, focusing completely on Bhagawan for a long time in itself is a herculean task for many of us. If such is the case, how can we get to a state wherein our mind will be completely thoughtless? Thus, as we’re meditating with Bhagawan in focus, there are high chances that our mind can slip away easily. This is where we should be steadfast in our approach. Many of us start quitting the practice with some sort of frustration that meditation is not for us! This should not be the case. We should keep trying and trying every time. Initially it might be extremely tough to bring our mind under focus. However, with repeated attempts over time, we might be able to slowly start bringing our mind under control. This requires meticulous practice and dedication and we should have the important qualities of patience and perseverance to take this forward to the next level. We should not get scared that our mind is not coming under control during the first time itself. 

Thus, even though we say that it is not easy to bring our mind under control, it is still possible and for this, we should slowly start watching our mind whenever we sit for meditation. We should carefully observe our thoughts and understand our thought process and with this, we can gradually reduce the activeness of our thought process. So for today, let us understand up to this point clearly, and in the next episode, we shall elaborate on how we should constantly keep a watch on our thoughts and thought process when we sit to meditate! Stay tuned for an important accord! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhagawan Krishna explaining the procedure of performing the “Yogam” to Arjuna. In due course, we’ve also understood the difference between “Yogam” and “Asanam”.  While “Asanam” pertains to our physical well-being, the “Yogam” refers to our mental well-being. Bhagawan Krishna is focusing more on the “Yogam” part than the “Asanam” part. Of course, while we perform it today, we perform it as “Yogasanam”, where we take care of both physical and mental well-being together. This is of course extremely necessary in today’s context, given our work commitments, the stress and strain that we undergo every passing day, etc. Starting the discussion on “Yogam” thus, Bhagawan first emphasizes upon the “place” that we’ve to select for performing the “Yogam”. The place must be silent and devoid of any noise. Moreover, “Yogam” is something that has to be performed alone and not as a group. Secondly, Bhagawan talks about the “Aasanam” (Seat) upon which we should sit and perform our “Yogam”. The “Aasanam” should enable us to sit straight with an erect back, comfortably without causing any back pain or physical discomfort. Of course, when we talk of physical comfort, we should avoid cushions and other luxuries, so that we do not fall asleep. 

Moving on further thus, Bhagawan continues His accord on the “Yogam”. Bhagawan Krishna says thus, “Oh Arjuna! While performing your “Yogam”, you should make sure that you sit in the “Padmaasanam” position, wherein you keep your right leg over your left thigh and left leg over your right thigh. This enables you to automatically sit straight and also, all your nerves that are below your hips will come under the control of your brain. This will ensure that you have absolute control of your body and mind. By sitting in the “Padmasanam” position, your mind will not be able to deviate into expecting physical comforts. It will slowly start getting focused into the “Yogam” that you’re trying to perform!” 

Moreover, Bhagawan Krishna now talks about the posture that we’ve to sit in detail. Bhagawan says that we should sit in an upright position with our head, neck and our back in a straight line. This indicates the upright position that we’ve to sit. Normally when we sit down on the floor (Of course, today we’ve shunned the habit of sitting on the floor completely) for a long time, we would start having pain in our lower back. Immediately we would start fearing that this back pain would start getting more intense if we continue sitting in the “Padmasanam” position, and we would immediately come out from that. However, this is a wrong practice. The more we try and sit in the “Padmasanam” position, pushing our back even straighter than before, our back pain will start diminishing gradually and our body will slowly get used to it. The problem here is that we’ve been so accustomed to sitting on cushions and luxury chairs and our backs have literally lost the habit of being upright. Hence, we should slowly cultivate this habit of sitting on the floor and that too in the “Padmaasanam” position, and this is very important for performing our “Yogam”. 

Moreover, now Bhagawan is explaining how to focus our mind and sense organs. Bhagawan explains to Arjuna thus, “Oh Arjuna! You should ensure that you do not look here and there by turning your neck in all directions! You should keep your neck still. You should focus your eyes at the tip of your nose. While doing so, you should bring your mind and your thought process towards me slowly. You should focus on me and try to stay in this focus for as long as possible. Thus, this is how you start meditating!” 

Now this is a very important point stressed upon by Bhagawan Krishna, and for today, let us understand this. In the next episode, we shall witness some myths that we might be having about meditation in today’s context and how Bhagawan Krishna busts these myths while talking about “Yogam”. Stay tuned for an interesting accord! 🙂

In the previous episode, we had witnessed a very important discussion pertaining to “Detachment” and how this is very much applicable and implementable in today’s scenario as well. As Bhagawan says, performing our “Karma” with a detached mindset will automatically yield the ultimate result of realizing our “Atman”. If we perform our “Karma” with detachment, our mind will become a very good friend and a great companion of ours. However, if we’re getting into worldly pleasures and expectations while performing our “Karma”, our mind is going to become the biggest enemy of ours as well. Hence, both are possible with our mind and it is up to us to shape up our mind accordingly. It is in this regard, we’ve witnessed how we can practise “Detachment” even while staying in our “Grhasta-Ashrama”, and it is not necessary everytime that a detached person becomes a “Sanyasin”. This is a myth and we’ve seen an appropriate discussion on this yesterday. 

Moving on further thus, Bhagawan is now going to explain how to perform a “Yogam”. Bhagawan explains that whenever we’ve to perform a “Yogam”, we should be alone and with single-pointed focus. We should not confuse here with the “Yogasana” that we do today. We might ask a question regarding this – “Oh! All of us learn “Yogasana” in groups of 50-100 people together these days. Is it wrong to do the “Yogasana” in a group because Bhagawan explains here that we should do it alone?” The answer is very simple – “Asanam” is something that we do for the well-being of our physical body (“Deham”), whereas “Yogam” is something that we do for the well-being of our mind and “Atman”. We should understand this difference very clearly. Many of us say “Yogasanam” for the daily practice of “Yoga”, but there are two parts to it – “Yogam” is for the mental well-being and “Asanam” is for our physical well-being. Here in this context, Bhagawan Krishna is not talking about the “Asanam” part. He is more focused towards the “Yogam” part here and for this, Bhagawan says that we’ve to be in unison if we’ve to practise “Yogam”. 

Mainly, “Yogam” pertains to sitting in meditation and trying to calm our mind by making it free from external disturbances. If we’ve to sit in a group and do meditation, something or the other will keep on happening around us and we would easily get distracted, wouldn’t we? This is why Bhagawan is very specific and strict that while performing the “Yogam” part, we should be in complete solitude. Only then we would be free from all the external noise and disturbances. Moreover, Bhagawan says that the place where we sit down for meditation should be a good one. There should not be any foul smell around the place, nor water falling everywhere around. The place should not be very breezy and with a lot of sound. The place that we select should be very quiet and serene. Bhagawan says thus:

“Shuchou deshe pratishtaabhya sthiramaasanam aatmanaha!”

Now that we’ve looked at the place where we’ve to sit, Bhagawan is now talking about the “Aasanam” (Seat) that we should sit upon. Bhagawan says that the “Aasanam” that we sit upon should not be having any sort of cushion on it, however, it should be comfortable for us to sit upon. The “Aasanam” should enable us to sit erect with a straight back. If we sit on an “Aasanam” that has cushion in it, we’re going to fall asleep immediately! 🙂 Physical comfort should be bare minimal when we sit for meditation. However, having said that, the “Aasanam” should not have any sort of physical discomfort as well – It should not cause back pain when we sit for a longer time. Hence, there should be a certain balance here – The “Aasanam” should be devoid of cushion, but at the same time, the “Aasanam” should enable us to sit in an erect posture. 

Thus, these are certain prerequisites that we need to follow when it comes to performing our “Yogam” and for today, let us understand this point very clearly. We shall continue this discussion forward in the next episode, wherein Bhagawan is going to explain how to focus our mind towards Him! Stay tuned for an important and interesting accord! 🙂

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhagawan Krishna explaining how our mind can be both a friend and a foe to us at the same time. If our mind is a detached one from all the worldly affairs, our mind can be a great friend for us in enabling us to execute our “Karma Yoga” with 100% effort and sincerity. However, if our mind is going to get into the trap of worldly pleasures and affairs, it is only going to go deeper and deeper into this pit and is never going to recover from it. Thus, in this situation, our efficiency and dedication towards our “Karma Yoga” comes down drastically, which indicates that our mind has clearly become our enemy here! Hence, it is up to us to channelize our mind in such a way that our ultimate purpose of realizing our “Atman” is achieved. This should be our end goal, rather than the end result of our actions that we perform. 

Here is where we might have a confusion – What is “end goal” and “end result of our actions”? Are these two terms same or different? For this, we can have multiple answers, but my take on this is very simple – When Bhagawan says that we should not look at the “end result of our actions”, He refers to the short-term goals that we have in our mind while performing our actions. Whereas, when Bhagawan talks about the “end goal”, He refers to the ultimate realization of the “Atman”. There is a clear demarcation here – The latter refers to the long-term goal, which Bhagawan Krishna is very particular about, right from the second “Adhyaaya”. In this context, readers might also remember that we’ve clarified an important doubt when it comes to the “Karmanyevaadhikaarasthe…” shloka. Just recalling the earlier discussion, when Bhagawan says that we should not look at the end result while performing our actions, Bhagawan refers to the “end result of our actions” (Short-term goals) and not the “Ultimate end result” (Long-term goal) of “Atman” realization. Of course, with every action that we perform, we should always have the “Ultimate end result” in our mind, which means that we are dedicating all our actions to Bhagawan’s divine lotus feet. By cultivating this mindset, our actions would automatically become a spiritual offering to Bhagawan. This is something that we need to understand in clarity – Bhagawan is more interested in the long-term goal of “Atman” realization, and not on the short-term goals, which are the end-results of our individual actions that we perform. 

Secondly, we should also understand the true meaning of the term “Detachment”. When Bhagawan explains that a “Detached mind” is our friend, what does He mean here? As we’ve seen earlier, a “Detached” mind is something that is free from the cusp of worldly desires. Now, we might think that it is very easy to say all this, but is it practically implementable? Given the advent of technology, social media, the urge to stay connected all the time with people, the urge to enjoy some pleasurable experiences in our life, etc. how do we practise “detachment” in today’s scenario? Of course, I totally agree that it is easier said than done. However, it is all up to our mindset for everything, isn’t it? 🙂 If we develop the right mindset for practising “detachment”, obviously we’re going to be able to live up to Bhagawan’s expectation. For instance, if we take the usage of technology and social media, we can use it for all the right purposes, can’t we? We can take the “Bhagawad-Vishayam” (Significance of Bhagawan) to a different level altogether, by making it reach hundreds and thousands of people with just a press of a button today. We can use our senses to see, talk and listen about Bhagawan all times. We can also use social media to reach out to as many people as we want and create “Satsangs” effectively from all corners of the world! Hence, if we take the right effort, technology and social media can be employed effectively to spread “Bhakti”, rather than involving ourselves in unwanted gossipping and wasting our time in certain wrong ways. 

Moreover, the term “detachment” has a myth – Many people have this notion that when Bhagawan says “detachment”, we should renounce our family life (“Grihasta-Ashrama”) and become “Sanyasins”. This is a wrong interpretation altogether. We can still be part of the “Grihasta-Ashrama” and practise “Detachment”. For instance, we want to experience certain pleasures in life which would lead us to having children – We can do this also with a detached mindset. Our ultimate purpose of marriage is to carry the “Bhakti” movement forward, isn’t it? Both the husband and wife should join hands together and carry forward the “Bhakti” and in due course, it is also necessary that the next generation of people are created in this world, so that this “Bhakti” movement can be taken forward by them for the next 40-50 years. For this, we need to have children and if this is the mindset, we can obviously go for it and still be in “Detachment”, can’t we? Hence, we should realize that “Detachment” is not merely going to “Sanyaasa” mode. “Detachment” can be practised even by normal people like us as part of our “Grihasta-Ashrama” as well. For another instance, even while we perform our everyday duty of bringing up our children with the right education, we should not have a selfish motive that only our child should shine and the others should go down. Rather, if we have a “Paropakara” intention that Bhagawan has given us this duty of evolving the next generation with regards to health, education, etc. channelled through the “Bhakti Maarga”, this itself is “Detachment”. This is because we’re growing up and raising our children not merely with an expectation that they will take care of us during our old age (Which is of course important as well), but with a mindset that this is a duty given to us by Bhagawan Krishna as a part of my “Karma Yoga”. If we do this with this mindset, automatically our actions are going to be performed with a detached mind, which in turn is going to make us attain our ultimate goal, which is the “Atman” realisation! 

So for today, let us understand the concept of “Detachment” very clearly and let us start implementing this in our everyday life as well. We shall continue this discussion forward in the next episode as well! Stay tuned! 🙂

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhagawan Krishna elaborating on the fact as to how our mind plays an important role while we perform our “Karma Yoga”. We’ve witnessed Bhagawan Krishna explaining how our mind is a very important entity through which we realize our “Atman” and its significance. Moreover, He also explains how in this regard, our mind can be our greatest friend as well as our greatest enemy too. For our reference and understanding, we shall revisit this important shloka as we have a detailed analysis of the shloka in today’s context. Bhagawan Krishna says thus, 

“Uddaredaatmanaatmaanam aatmaanam avasaadayeth!

Aatmaivahyaatmano banduhu aatmaiva ripuraatmanaha!!”

So Bhagawan clearly explains here as to how we can use our mind as a friend while executing our “Karma Yoga” efficiently. We might wonder thus, “Oh! How can the mind be both a friend as well as an enemy to us? The mind is a single entity within all of us, isn’t it? If such is the case, how can this mind give a “double action” within us?”  Bhagawan says that a detached mind can be our greatest friend, however, an attached mind can be our greatest enemy! The mind might be just a single entity, but the nature of the mind is what matters here the most. When we say “detached mind”, Bhagawan says that the mind should not run behind worldly attachments whatsoever. In other words, the mind should be completely one-point focused towards the “Karma” that we perform, and  if this happens, our mind can be our greatest friend in realizing our “Atman”. However, if our mind is straying into the trap of worldly attachments, the path of our “Karma Yoga” gets derailed completely and we’re going to land up in a complete mess. For this also, our mind is the sole reason! 

Thus, from this point of discussion we can infer that the mind can be a cause of success as well as failure. If we’re completely focused on our duty, the mind will be our best companion all through the journey of “Karma Yoga”. However, if we are distracted with worldly pleasures, the mind can easily pull us down and make us end up in failure. In the present day context, it is important for all of us to analyze whether our mind is a friend or an enemy to us. In today’s scenario, there are a whole lot of ways through which we can get distracted quite easily. With the advent of  “social media” today, we are exposed to a variety of stuff that’s happening around us, within just a touch of a button on our mobile phones. Thus, while performing our duty, many of us have this habit of looking at our mobile phones frequently and this itself is the greatest distraction ever! Are we able to control our mind, which is trying to get distracted into the mobile phone, while performing something important? Are we able to focus our concentration on our work activities, despite the temptation to look into social media? This is where we can easily test ourselves, whether our mind is a friend to us or a foe! If the mind should be our friend, we should train our mind to be controlled by not deviating from the path of our ultimate goal. Rather, our mind will become a foe to us if we’re easily distracted into things other than our duty. 

Of course, I’m not saying here that we should completely refrain from the usage of social media. Social media is very much essential, given today’s requirements and challenges. But what I’m saying here is that, we can use social media judiciously in a way that it would be of benefit and not a disaster. Many of us, especially youngsters today are completely hooked into social media today, forgetting their fundamental duty of focusing on academics, and this is a sad state of affairs that we see across society today. Moreover, there is also a trend of posting some photographs and counting the number of “likes” and “comments” that we receive for them on social media platforms. This has become a status symbol for many of the youngsters today and gradually, it has become an addiction as well! The more the number of likes / comments, the more the popularity of this person, and vice versa! This status symbol has caused many people to go into addiction and gradually into depression as well! If we’re getting into such things in life, obviously as Bhagawan Krishna says, our minds are going to become the greatest enemy ever! Whereas, if we’re able to junk all this and focus solely on our work activities, our mind can be our greatest friend, and this is where we talk about “detachment”. 

So for today, let us understand this point clearly and in the next episode, we shall try and understand what exactly Bhagawan is talking about when it comes to being “detached”. Stay tuned! 🙂

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhagawan Krishna concluding the fifth “Adhyaaya” with a beautiful explanation on the point of “Souhaardham” and how He follows it meticulously towards all living beings in this world equally. Basically, “Souhaardham”, as we’ve seen yesterday, means “Thinking good for all living beings at all times”. We’ve also witnessed how this “Souhaardham” has gone down in the present day, wherein jealousy, anger, frustration, ego, etc. start dominating us at several points in time. This makes us feel that we’re far superior than others and as a result, we tend to discard others with a pinch of salt. Such an attitude should be avoided and as ardent “Bhaktas” of Bhagawan Krishna, we’ve to implement this meticulously, both in our personal and professional spaces. 

With this, we now move from the “Sanyaasa Yoga” to the “Vibhooti Yoga” which is the sixth “Adhyaaya” of the Bhagawad Gita. Here, Bhagawan is going to teach Arjuna as to how to practise “Karma Yoga” in reality. In the previous “Adhyaaya” we’ve seen Bhagawan emphasizing once again to Arjuna that nobody can escape “Karma Yoga” and it is mandatory for everyone. Going into “Karma-Sanyaasa” merely signifies escapism, which is not warranted at all in this world. As we move further from here, Arjuna is asking Bhagawan Krishna as to how to put this “Karma Yoga” to practice, despite having enormous challenges in performing it meticulously. Bhagawan now talks about how to use the “mind” (“Manas”) to uplift the “Atman”. He says thus, 

“Uddaredaatmanaatmaanam aatmaanam avasaadayeth!

Aatmaivahyaatmano banduhu aatmaiva ripuraatmanaha!!”

This is once again a very important shloka here, which signifies the “Manas” and how we should employ the “Manas” in uplifting our “Atman”. Bhagawan Krishna says thus, “Oh Arjuna! The main aim of performing your “Karma Yoga” is to uplift your “Atman”. For this, your mind plays a very important role. Just like how we have a bucket tied to a rope and a pulley of a well to fetch water, our “Manas” (mind) is the one that is tying the “Atman”. Just like how you use the rope and the pulley to lift the bucket full of water slowly, you should use your “Manas” to uplift your “Atman”, and there’s no other option that is there apart from this. For this, if I’ve to talk about the role of the mind, a focussed mind is essential to accomplish whatever I’m saying. A mind which is completely focused on its agenda of “Atman-Upliftment” will be your best friend. Whereas, a mind which is wandering here and there without any control will be your Atman’s biggest enemy!” 

Now this is an extremely important point for us to understand. Bhagawan Krishna has cryptically told us how important is the role of mind here in performing our “Karma”. When we talk about a “focussed mind”, it means a mind which is completely “detached” from worldly affairs and is completely able to concentrate on the actions that we perform. A focused mind is something which always has Bhagawan as it’s top priority and everything else comes second. However, on the contrary, a mind that is not focused enough will lead us into the trap of worldly affairs and once trapped, it is very difficult for us to come out of them! This is where, Bhagawan Krishna is warning Arjuna not to get into this vicious trap. So for today, let us start pondering over this important point and in the next episode, we shall continue having a detailed discussion on this point with some modern-day applications to it. Stay tuned! 🙂

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhagawan Krishna making yet another big declaration as He’s in the process of explaining how to see all living beings equally. Bhagawan says that when all of us perform various kinds of spiritual offerings, irrespective of who does what, all of them reach Bhagawan Krishna only. Hence, as He receives all these offerings, Bhagawan never differentiates between who does what. He accepts all the offerings from all people equally without any differentiation. Moreover, Bhagawan also explains that He is someone who always keeps thinking about the welfare of all living beings equally at all times – Just like a mother or a father would not differentiate between their two children at home,Bhagawan being the divine father treats all His children (Bhaktas) equally. 

This is what we call in Sanskrit as “Souhardham”, which means, “Always thinking good for others at all times”. We should make a strong introspection here – Is this characteristic relevant in today’s scenario? Even within our family, do we see everyone with an attitude of “welfare”? In many families, the sad reality today is that, even parents and children, brothers and sisters fight amongst each other in the name of “property” and “money”, isn’t it? Why is this happening? It is because of “jealousy” that we’ve developed over time. The moment we see someone having a better lifestyle than us, we immediately start thinking thus, “Oh wow! Till yesterday this fellow was a popper and today look at how lavish his lifestyle has become! He is very lucky to get a job that gives him enormous money, whereas, I’m not that lucky enough to earn more than what I am earning today!” This is the typical jealousy that all of us have today. Thus, even within the close family and friends’ circle, if we’ve to go and meet elders to secure their blessings on any festival eve, do people really bless us with their hearts? Many times, the answer is “No”! The moment someone sees us better than themselves, they immediately start feeling jealous, rather than feeling happy for us, don’t they? This is where all of us in society go wrong! The moment we start seeing people with jealousy, this paves the way for further arguments, fights and breaking up of our own families! 

This is exactly what Duryodhana did too, didn’t he? The moment he started feeling jealous about Yudishtra’s growth in stature as a righteous king, he was unable to digest it and the resultant of this jealousy is where all of them are standing against each other at Kurukshetra, ready to fight a war! Now we can see here as to how jealousy ultimately leads to a disastrous war, which would ultimately lead to a mass destruction. This is why Bhagawan includes this point during the concluding part of this “Sanyaasa Yoga” (Fifth Adhyaaya). If we are able to view each other as equals, automatically the jealousy aspect would go down, which in turn would result in a peaceful way of living. Of course, in today’s context none of us are going to wage a war against each other as Duryodhana and Co. did, but this jealousy leads to the unfortunate breakdown of the entire family system in our society, isn’t it? Just because one of our brothers or sisters are doing well in their lives, does it mean that we will feel jealous of them? Rather, if we’re also interested in achieving a similar lifestyle, we should work and put efforts accordingly to secure one. There is no use of feeling jealous about somebody else’s growth, which will only ultimately hamper our own growth and peace of mind. 

Hence, Bhagawan Krishna’s point of contention is very clear – Irrespective of various differences that we might have amongst each other, we should be able to see the “Atman” inside all of us, and thereby we should accept everyone equally. This is the point that I too wanted to highlight once again, keeping the present-day context in mind as part of this episode. Hence for today, let us understand this point clearly and we shall wait till the next episode to continue this discussion further! Stay tuned! 🙂

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhagawan Krishna explaining to Arjuna as to how a leader should have an unbiased approach towards everyone. When it comes to performing our “Karma”, we should ensure that all living beings around us are treated on the same plane. Of course, we might have differences with regards to our “Deham” and our “Gunas” that dominate us from time to time. However, we’ve to rise above these two levels and try to view the “Atman” within everyone, which is the same. If we have this outlook towards our people, automatically the biassed feeling will go away and we would be able to see everyone on the same plane. A person who is able to view the “Shuddha-Atma-Savrupa” in every living being is the one who is a “Sama-Darshi”. Once a person obtains this “Sama-Darhsan”, it automatically paves the way from obtaining the ultimate “Brahma-Darshanam”. 

Moving on further thus, Bhagawan Krishna explains that a person who obtains this “Brahma Darshanam” here in this world itself, will be able to cross the ocean of “Samsaara” (Worldly pleasures and bondings that we have). In our daily life, we might have several bondings with several people and other living beings, don’t we? Right from our parents, our spouse, our children, our pet animals, friends, relatives, etc. – We have enormous numbers of bondings that we keep establishing with others from time to time. Of course, these are important, but we’ve to understand one thing clearly – The fundamental basis of this bonding that we have with others is that, we’re seeing them as “special” as compared to many others, aren’t we? For instance, our parents are obviously special to us because they are the ones who gave us birth in this world. Our family members are special because they are closely associated with us in many ways. Similarly, we have some speciality connected to all the people with whom we bond. Here is where we fail to understand many times that there is nothing unique in the people with whom we bond, as compared to the others in this world, in terms of viewing the “Atman”. When we start seeing others who are outside our bonding circle, we start spotting out differences in them and many times we try avoiding them too! This is where Bhagawan Krishna explains that we should not fall into this trap of differentiating between people. This same habit comes to us in the organization too where we work. We start spotting differences between our colleagues, and as a leader if we do this, we’ll certainly get into trouble. 

As Bhagawan says thus, He is now going to make yet another declaration here – He says to Arjuna towards the end of this fifth “Adhyaaya” that irrespective of who the person is, whatever offerings that he / she does in this world, reaches Him ultimately and there is no difference in this as well. Hence, even if we see through this angle, all living beings are the same in Bhagawan’s eyes, isn’t it? Now this is a very important shloka which we’ve to understand. Bhagawan says thus, 

“Bhoktaaram yagnya tapasaam sarva lokha maheshwaram! 

Sukritam sarva bhootaanaam gnyaatvaamaam shaanimirchasi!!”

Thus, Bhagawan explains to Arjuna – “Oh Arjuna! Please understand – All the “Pujas”, “Homas”, “Yagnyas”, “Dhaanam” and any other spiritual offerings that are done in this world, will ultimately reach me. I’m the sole receiver of all your spiritual offerings. There can never be a single person in the middle who can receive them. All these spiritual offerings in this world are performed with the primary aim of worshipping me. Moreover, I’ve told you that you’ve to see everyone equally, didn’t I? Now see how I follow what I say – I’m someone who accepts any kind of offering from any living being in this world, without any differentiation. Irrespective of whoever the person is and whichever the living being is, I’m someone who thinks about their welfare at all times. This is how you’ve to be neutral and unbiassed!” 

Now this is a very important message that all of us should understand here from Bhagawan, as He makes yet another clear declaration to all of us! So for today, let us reflect upon this point and in the next episode, we shall continue with this discussion further! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhagawan Krishna talking about the implementation of “Karma Yoga” and what are the major pre-requisites for the same. Firstly, we should perform our actions, keeping all our likes and dislikes apart. If we’ve to perform a duty and if it is bound to us, irrespective of whether we like it or not, we’re supposed to do it. There is no question of skipping it or escaping from it at any point of time. This is where Arjuna is going wrong too – On the “emotional” front, Arjuna wants to give an excuse to not fight the battle as he’s seeing all his relatives and friends standing opposite to him and thereby run away from the battlefield. This is where Bhagawan Krishna is smart enough to put this anti-escapism as the first and the foremost prerequisite to perform the “Karma Yoga”. Secondly, while performing the actions, we should always have a neutral approach. This is also very important because every action that we perform, would create an impact on all living beings directly or indirectly. Hence, we should be very careful to have an unbiased approach towards our actions. 

This is a very important lesson for modern-day leadership as well. We’ve seen that if leaders show signals of bias, by favouring one employee more than the others, the morale and trust that employee’s’ have with the leader will go for a toss. Once the morale and trust are broken, it is very difficult to rebuild it, no matter how much effort the leader is putting to do so. Hence, leaders should be extremely careful in this regard – If there’s a growth opportunity, it should be opened up equally for all people, rather than just a “selected few”. Everyone should be treated on the same plane, and this is where people will respect the leader, moving forward. 

Moving forward thus, Bhagawan gives a different angle to this above narrative now. Bhagawan says thus, “Oh Arjuna! Look at the picture like this – It is primarily depending upon the nature of the “Karma” that each of us are involved in, our “Gunas” take shape. For instance, those who are into penance and “Tapas” will have their “Sattva Guna” on the higher side, pushing the other two Gunas down. Similarly, those who are warriors like you, will have the “Rajo Guna” on the higher side. Thus, the differences between people may arise due to their “Karma” as well, because their “Gunas” are closely aligned with the “Karma” that they perform in this world. However, what is more important here is that, as a king, you should be able to see these differences at a bare minimal level and should be able to rise up from all these. If you look at the “Atman” of all the people, it is the same across everyone. This is what we refer as “Shuddha-Atma-Svarupam”. If you’re able to see the “Atman” inside everyone, you will find that all living beings are the same. You should rise to this level in life, leaving behind all the differences that you see with respect to “Deham” and “Karma”!” 

Now this is a very important point that all of us should understand as well for the present-day. We might come across so many people in our day-to-day life in several spheres of occupations / professions. All of them have their own definitive duties to fulfil. All of them have different ways to earn money. Some of them might be great professors, some might be great teachers, some might be great and accomplished corporate professionals, some might be shopkeepers, some might be great entrepreneurs, some might be roadside shop owners, some might be maids doing household jobs at various homes, etc. The world is wide open with many avenues to earn money. But when we take up one avenue firmly, we commit to it and take it as our “Karma”. Through the discharge of our duties as part of this “Karma”, we earn money and feed our families. Thus, the nature of the job and the nature of our “Karma” might determine what “Guna” might dominate upon us, isn’t it? Thus, on ground, there might be “n” number of differences between all of us with regards to the nature of “Karma” that we perform. Ultimately, we should remember one thing – All our professions are important for the sustained upliftment of our society at large and no profession is more significant or less significant in nature. Of course, some professions might yield more money, and some might not. But that doesn’t mean that one profession is less significant and the other is more, isn’t it? This is where we should learn to look at the significance of each profession, rather than entertaining the differences between them in terms of money, name and fame. Now the third level that we’ve to enter into is – All people, irrespective of being in various professions, have one thing in common, which is the “Atman”. If we try to look at the “Atman” level, we shall find all the people to be the same! Bhagawan wants us to rise up to this level only. 

Hence, as a leader, when we say that having an unbiased approach towards people is necessary, this is how we do it – We should rise up to the level of viewing the “Atman” inside all our employee’s. Perhaps our levels in the organization might be different, but as people, all are one! If a leader cultivates this mindset, he / she would become a great and an exceptional leader! So for today, let us understand this point very clearly and we shall wait till the next episode to continue this discussion further! Stay tuned! 🙂

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the commencement of the fifth “Adhyaaya” which is the “Sanyaasa Yoga”. Here, Bhagawan Krishna clearly demarcates between actual “Sanyaasa” and “Karma Sanyaasa”. He explains that a “Sanyaasin” is someone who actually renounces his / her entire “Grihastha-Ashramam” and goes to the forest to perform penance. However, a “Karma Sanyaasin” is someone who just renounces his / her “Karma” alone and nothing else, which is actually not a good practice at all. Through the sloka which we witnessed towards the end of the previous episode, Bhagawan Krishna highlights that a “Karma-Sanyaasin” is only interested in somehow escaping from his duties and is not really involved in the actual “Gnyaana Yoga” process that Bhagawan was earlier talking about. Hence, through this point, Bhagawan Krishna nudges Arjuna indirectly that there is no possibility for him to escape from the battlefield, and he has to fight the war, no matter whatever happens. 

Continuing further thus, Bhagawan Krishna advises Arjuna – “Oh my dear Arjuna! I know that you’re a great warrior and you’re one of the best when it comes to the bow and arrow technique. You’ve specially obtained the “Gaandeepa” from the Devas and this is not easy to obtain for many others. Hence, you should use it in the right way possible. Hence, when you fight the war, you should keep aside your likes and dislikes. You should not fight the war just because you’ve to kill Duryodhana or anybody for that sake. Your sole motto should be to fight the war to establish “Dharma” in this world. Your personal instincts should not take over at any point in time. Oh Arjuna! I know that you had been hurt very badly by Duryodhana and Ducchaasana in the past when Draupati was manhandled in public. I’m sure you will have a lot of revenge mentality in you. However, you should keep your revenge mentality aside when you fight this war. This revenge mentality accounts to your likes and dislikes. Thus, if you’ve to perform your “Karma Yoga” properly, it is very important that you set aside all these worldly aspects!” 

Saying thus, Bhagawan Krishna also explains how to perform the “Karma Yoga” even better. He says thus, “Oh Arjuna! When you commence performing your “Karma”, you should do so with the intention that all “Jeevatmas” in this world are equal. You should always be fair and equal with everyone, without seeing differences between them. In the previous second “Adhyaaya” I’ve clearly explained how the “Atman” and the “Deham” are two different entities. Even though the “Deham” might have enormous differences amongst people, the “Atman” that resides inside everyone is the same. Hence, you should always treat everyone equally and this is the start point of the entire “Karma Yoga”! 

Now whatever Bhagawan Krishna has explained here as part of this episode, is sending a clear message to all of us – Firstly, when it comes to performing our actions, we should discard our likes and dislikes that might be associated with it. We might have our own preferences for many things in life. Just because we might like something, we might show more interest in it and just because we might completely dislike something, we might completely ignore it, which might also be a part of our duty. This is where we’ve to be careful and this is exactly what Bhagawan Krishna is pointing out. For instance, as I’m a professor in a university, I might like to teach one batch of students who are extremely studious and committed, but at the same time, there might be another batch wherein we might not find such people. Hence, just because I do not find committed students in a batch, should I stop teaching them altogether? The answer is “No”, isn’t it? This is where, we’ve to shun our likes and dislikes and irrespective of whether people are committed or not, I’ve to perform my duty as a professor to teach everyone properly to the best of my ability. Next, as per Bhagawan’s second pointer, as a professor, I should treat all my students in the class as equals, shouldn’t I? This is where fairness comes while performing our actions. When we teach students, we should make sure that all of them are given equal opportunities to express themselves, and also when it comes to evaluating their performance, we should be utterly fair to everyone. Even in the leadership perspective, the first and the most important quality of a great leader is to have fairness towards all employee’s in the organization. There should be no bias in the system, and if people start understanding that there are a few people who are favoured more than a few others, it would start creating rifts, isn’t it? Also, as a result, the trust factor between the leader and employee’s would greatly diminish, which would lead to talented employee’s quitting the organization.

Hence, these are the major management / leadership implications of what Bhagawan Krishna is explaining here, and for today, let us understand up to this point. We shall wait till the next episode to continue this discussion further! Stay tuned! 🙂