The Relevance of the Bhagavadgita to Humanity- 2.2.Swami Krishnananda
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05/11/2019.
Chapter-2. The Sabha Parva of the Mahabharatam-2.
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We are going to be told in the Mahabharatam what the potentialities of these children in the royal family of the Pandavas and the Kauravas were. We will be surprised at all the things we have in ourselves. We have every blessed thing. There is nothing that we do not have.
Each one began to manifest his potentiality. There is a vociferous tendency also present in us, side by side with an affectionate tendency. It is not that we are capable only of affection; we are capable of many other things also. Our capability beggars description.
There is nothing we are not capable of. Immense affection, kindness, goodness – yes, we are capable of that. And we can trample on somebody’s foot, and on the head of somebody. Even this is not impossible for us.
“Down you go to hell!” you may cry to a man, even if he be your own brother. “To hell you go! I will bury you alive.” These are also our capacities, capabilities. And wondrous capabilities of genius, scholarship, art, music, and happy behaviour are also our potentiality.
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These started manifesting themselves. Gradually there was a split in the ideology of these children.
For what reason do people hate one another? Is there a reason behind it?
We do not require a reason for hatred, even as love also does not require much of a reason. Perhaps, love and hatred have no reason behind them. The moment we apply reason, they cease to be affections and hatreds. So it is not that only reason is present with us; unreason also operates.
There is a potentiality for the capacity to defy every kind of rational attitude. “I cannot listen to you. Don’t talk to me.” Sometimes we say that, and is it a rational attitude?
We have decided not to listen; we have decided not to do something, or we have decided to do it. This kind of attitude is the expression of another faculty in the human being, which is not reason. There are many other things also inside us. We are a Pandora’s box. If we are opened, anything can be found in us. I am not trying to expatiate on any special field of human psychology here. The subject is something else.
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The Pandavas and the Kauravas were happy children. Slowly they became unhappy children. What a wonder!
Don’t you believe that we slowly become more and more unhappy when we grow in age? Or are we going to be more and more happy?
Let each one think of himself or herself. “I have been a daughter, I have been a son of so-and-so, I have come out from the womb of the mother, and I was a happy little child playing in the garden of the house. Now, am I more happy today than I was at that time due to my studies, due to my activities, due to my being busy with this or that occupation?”
Let each one find out. “Am I more happy today than when I was a little child, or am I more unhappy?” You will not be able to have a clear answer to this question. You may say, “Yes, I don’t think I am as happy as I was, but…”
Now, that ‘but’ is a very crucial question.
You would not like to be a baby merely because of the fact that babyhood is a happier state. Otherwise, who would like to grow up into the adult condition?
To be continued ....
========================================================================
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
05/11/2019.
Chapter-2. The Sabha Parva of the Mahabharatam-2.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*
We are going to be told in the Mahabharatam what the potentialities of these children in the royal family of the Pandavas and the Kauravas were. We will be surprised at all the things we have in ourselves. We have every blessed thing. There is nothing that we do not have.
Each one began to manifest his potentiality. There is a vociferous tendency also present in us, side by side with an affectionate tendency. It is not that we are capable only of affection; we are capable of many other things also. Our capability beggars description.
There is nothing we are not capable of. Immense affection, kindness, goodness – yes, we are capable of that. And we can trample on somebody’s foot, and on the head of somebody. Even this is not impossible for us.
“Down you go to hell!” you may cry to a man, even if he be your own brother. “To hell you go! I will bury you alive.” These are also our capacities, capabilities. And wondrous capabilities of genius, scholarship, art, music, and happy behaviour are also our potentiality.
**
These started manifesting themselves. Gradually there was a split in the ideology of these children.
For what reason do people hate one another? Is there a reason behind it?
We do not require a reason for hatred, even as love also does not require much of a reason. Perhaps, love and hatred have no reason behind them. The moment we apply reason, they cease to be affections and hatreds. So it is not that only reason is present with us; unreason also operates.
There is a potentiality for the capacity to defy every kind of rational attitude. “I cannot listen to you. Don’t talk to me.” Sometimes we say that, and is it a rational attitude?
We have decided not to listen; we have decided not to do something, or we have decided to do it. This kind of attitude is the expression of another faculty in the human being, which is not reason. There are many other things also inside us. We are a Pandora’s box. If we are opened, anything can be found in us. I am not trying to expatiate on any special field of human psychology here. The subject is something else.
***
The Pandavas and the Kauravas were happy children. Slowly they became unhappy children. What a wonder!
Don’t you believe that we slowly become more and more unhappy when we grow in age? Or are we going to be more and more happy?
Let each one think of himself or herself. “I have been a daughter, I have been a son of so-and-so, I have come out from the womb of the mother, and I was a happy little child playing in the garden of the house. Now, am I more happy today than I was at that time due to my studies, due to my activities, due to my being busy with this or that occupation?”
Let each one find out. “Am I more happy today than when I was a little child, or am I more unhappy?” You will not be able to have a clear answer to this question. You may say, “Yes, I don’t think I am as happy as I was, but…”
Now, that ‘but’ is a very crucial question.
You would not like to be a baby merely because of the fact that babyhood is a happier state. Otherwise, who would like to grow up into the adult condition?
To be continued ....
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