The Essence of the Gospel of the Bhagavad Gita : 8. Swami Krishnananda
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02/12/2019.
(Spoken at a conference in Delhi on December 27, 1973.)
Post - 8.
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The senses drive us outward to the objects which are supposed to bring us temporary satisfaction. Kama, krodha and lobha—lust, anger and greed—drive us outwardly to the objects of sense, like Duryodhana going for wealth, name, fame and prestige in society. But the simple Pandavas, wearing only a single raiment on their bodies, were entirely dependent on the grace of Krishna, and turned inward rather than outward.
Sometimes you find yourself in the wilderness in the search of divine grace, as the Pandavas found themselves in the forest for thirteen years. When you search for Truth, you will find yourself in a no-man’s land, as it were. The world will not help you anymore because the world does not want virtue, it wants only satisfaction of sense. For a time it appears as if evil gains an upper hand and drives you into the forest, and virtue does not succeed. The good men suffer in this world; the evil men prosper. How is it? It is like the prosperity of Duryodhana for the time being and the suffering of the Pandavas in the forest. But in that forest it is that the Pandavas received help from invisible sources. Indra and Varuna and Kubera and Agni and Bhagavan Sri Krishna himself came there, asking if they could give any kind of help. The Pandavas were good children treading the path of righteousness, rather than asking for the pomp and the glory of Duryodhana who wanted only objects of sense and temporal happiness.
In the beginning, vice appears to gain an upper hand and succeed, but as Manu says in his Smriti, root and branch will be destroyed one day or the other. Ravana also appeared to succeed in the beginning, but what happened to him?
The simple Rama who walked without even any footwear, who had no chariot of his own, who had no gorgeous dress like Ravana, a single Rama was enough to foil all the attempts of the pompous Ravana because it was material glory which was quantity opposing the great quality of virtue and divinity. One Rama was sufficient to face the multitude of many a Ravana. Thousands of Rakshasas were burned to ashes by a single arrow of Rama in Janasthana, and a single act of goodness, which is the dedication of the self to God, is enough to summon the grace of invisible forces. Uncalled for, unrequested, divine forces descended upon the very place where the Pandavas were suffering in the forest. The Pandavas never asked for help from any person, not even from the gods. They simply suffered and suffered and suffered. But suffering cries out in a louder tone, in a manner that the whole world will reverberate with it. The cry of a single suffering soul is enough to shake the whole earth, and Indra descended from the heavens. All the deities that guarded the quarters came down to help the Pandavas, and finally virtue succeeded because it had the backing of divinity.
When God begins to help man, who can face him?
To be continued ....
=======================================================================
02/12/2019.
(Spoken at a conference in Delhi on December 27, 1973.)
Post - 8.
========================================================================
The senses drive us outward to the objects which are supposed to bring us temporary satisfaction. Kama, krodha and lobha—lust, anger and greed—drive us outwardly to the objects of sense, like Duryodhana going for wealth, name, fame and prestige in society. But the simple Pandavas, wearing only a single raiment on their bodies, were entirely dependent on the grace of Krishna, and turned inward rather than outward.
Sometimes you find yourself in the wilderness in the search of divine grace, as the Pandavas found themselves in the forest for thirteen years. When you search for Truth, you will find yourself in a no-man’s land, as it were. The world will not help you anymore because the world does not want virtue, it wants only satisfaction of sense. For a time it appears as if evil gains an upper hand and drives you into the forest, and virtue does not succeed. The good men suffer in this world; the evil men prosper. How is it? It is like the prosperity of Duryodhana for the time being and the suffering of the Pandavas in the forest. But in that forest it is that the Pandavas received help from invisible sources. Indra and Varuna and Kubera and Agni and Bhagavan Sri Krishna himself came there, asking if they could give any kind of help. The Pandavas were good children treading the path of righteousness, rather than asking for the pomp and the glory of Duryodhana who wanted only objects of sense and temporal happiness.
In the beginning, vice appears to gain an upper hand and succeed, but as Manu says in his Smriti, root and branch will be destroyed one day or the other. Ravana also appeared to succeed in the beginning, but what happened to him?
The simple Rama who walked without even any footwear, who had no chariot of his own, who had no gorgeous dress like Ravana, a single Rama was enough to foil all the attempts of the pompous Ravana because it was material glory which was quantity opposing the great quality of virtue and divinity. One Rama was sufficient to face the multitude of many a Ravana. Thousands of Rakshasas were burned to ashes by a single arrow of Rama in Janasthana, and a single act of goodness, which is the dedication of the self to God, is enough to summon the grace of invisible forces. Uncalled for, unrequested, divine forces descended upon the very place where the Pandavas were suffering in the forest. The Pandavas never asked for help from any person, not even from the gods. They simply suffered and suffered and suffered. But suffering cries out in a louder tone, in a manner that the whole world will reverberate with it. The cry of a single suffering soul is enough to shake the whole earth, and Indra descended from the heavens. All the deities that guarded the quarters came down to help the Pandavas, and finally virtue succeeded because it had the backing of divinity.
When God begins to help man, who can face him?
To be continued ....
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