Chapter 15 - The Bhagavad Gita for Children

[Guest guest]

PERSON Jai: Grandma, I am confused by the difference between Supreme

Spirit, Spirit, divine beings and individual souls. Will you please explain

them again?

mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"> Grandma: Yes, Jai, these are terms you

should understand well. The Supreme Spirit is also called the

Supreme Person, the Supreme Being, the Supersoul, the Absolute, Father, Mother,

God, Ishvara, Allah and many other names. The Supreme Spirit is called

ParaBrahm, Paramatma, ParamaShiva or Krishna in Sanskrit. The Supreme Spirit is

the source

or the root of everything. There is nothing higher than the Supreme Spirit.

Spirit (Brahm or Atma) is a part of the Supreme Spirit that expands and

supports the entire cosmos. Divine Beings (Devas, Devis), such

11pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"> as Vishnu,

Brahma, Shankara and many others are the expansions of Brahm (Spirit).

Individual Souls (soul or Jeeva) such as all living beings are the expansions

of divine beings.

5.5in 6.0in">The Supreme Spirit and Spirit do not change and last forever.

Divine beings come out of spirit and have a very long life span. Individual

souls or the living beings have a very limited life span. (Gita 15.16) If you

compare the creation with a tree, then the Supreme Lord

10.0pt">Krishna (Supreme Spirit) is the root of the tree. Atma or Brahm (also

spelled as Brahman, Brahma) is the trunk of the tree. The cosmos are the

branches of the tree and the holy books such as the Vedas, Upanishads, and

Gita, Dhammapa

10.0pt">da, Torah, Bible, Koran etc. are its leaves. (Gita 15.01-02) Individual

souls such as living beings are the fruits and flowers of the tree. Do you see

how everything is connected and part of the Supreme Being? Jai:

1"> How about planets, such as the Sun, and the Moon and the stars?

Grandma: The entire visible world, such as the Sun, Moon, Earth,

planets, galaxies was created by Lord Brahma and is supported by Lord Vishnu

and is destroyed by Lord Shankara or Shiva. Remember that Brahma, Vishnu and

Shankara are a part of the energy of the Spirit or Brahm. The light energy of

the sun also comes from Brahm, and Brahm is a part of the Supreme Being, Lord

10.0pt">Krishna. (Gita 15.12) The sages tell us that everything is nothing but

another form of Lord Krishna. Krishna is inside and outside everything. He has

actually become everything. The One has become all. He comes to the earth in

human form to establish law and order (Dharma) when needed.

3.5in 4.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in">Here is a story when the Supreme Lord

Himself incarnated as Krishna about 5,100 years ago.

Roman'; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt">18. A Story of Baby Krishna Baby

FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt">Krishna had an elder

half-brother named Balarama. Both played together in the village of Gokul.

Krishna’s birth mother’s name was Devaki. His father’s name was Vasudeva.

Krishna spent His

mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt">childhood years under the care of Aunty Yashoda.

Both Balarama and Krishna were the favorites of the village milkmaids. Their

mothers loved them proudly. Yashoda and Rohini (Balarama’s mother) dressed

their young boys colorfully, Krishna in yellow with a crown of peacock feathers

in His hair, and Balar|ma in blue. The two boys went from place to place, making

friends wherever they went. Most of the time they got into a lot of trouble!

10.0pt"> One day, they were playing outside with a few of the other

village boys, digging in the dirt, making mud pies, and getting very dirty.

After a while, one of the older boys ran to mother Yashoda and said, “Krishna

has been a bad boy, He has been eating clay!” Yashoda was annoyed with her

young son. She had also been hearing other complaints from villagers that

mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt">Krishna had been stealing butter from their houses.

She came out of her house and asked Krishna angrily, “Did you really eat clay,

Kanha? How many times have I told you

not to put things in your mouth!” Krishna didn’t want to be punished, so He

played a trick on mother Yashoda. He opened His mouth wide and said: See,

Mother, I haven’t been eating anything. These boys are just lying to get me in

trouble.

10.0pt">Yashoda looked inside Krishna’s mouth. There, in the little boy’s mouth,

she saw the whole universe --- Earth and stars, the wide empty space, the entire

galaxy and the milky way, the oceans and the mountains, the Sun and the Moon.

All were contained within His mouth. She realized then that Krishna was Lord

Vishnu incarnate, and she was about to fall before Him and worship. But Krishna

didn’t want her to worship Him. He just wanted her to love Him the way mothers

love their children. He could have come to earth in any form to fight the

demons, but He liked being a little boy with a mother and a father who had

performed many difficult spiritual practices to have Krishna as their child.

Baby Krishna realized that His trick had been a big mistake.

10.0pt">Quickly, He spread His power of Maya over her. The next minute Yashoda

was holding her son as usual, with no memory at all of what she had just seen

in Krishna’s mouth.

10.0pt"> You can read lots of interesting stories of Krishna’s adventures and

tricks with village milkmaids when you get time.

2.0in 2.5in 3.0in 3.5in 4.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in"> The Lord also

comes as a saint or a teacher to teach us from time to time. Here is a story of

such

Roman'; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"> a saint: 19. The Story of Shri

RamaKrishna The Lord came to this earth in the form of Rama

FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt">Krishna, born on

February 18, 1836 in the village Kamarpukur of West Bengal. Most of the stories

I tell you are from his “Tales and Parables of Shri RamaKrishna.” Swami

Vivekananda was one of his most famous disciples. Swami Vivekananda was the

first Hindu monk who came to the USA in 1893. He established the Vedanta

Society in New York. RamaKrishna led a very simple

life, depending on God for his daily food and other necessities of life. He

would not accept any money. He was married to Sarada Ma whom he treated like

his mother and never had any child. Sarada Ma used to tell her disciples: If

you want peace of mind, do not look into others’ faults; rather, look into your

own. No one is a stranger; the whole world is your own. Sarada Ma also warned

her disciples not to be too close with persons of the opposite gender even if

God came in that form. RamaKrishna worshipped Goddess Kali as his personal

deity in a temple at Dakshineshwar near Kolkatta. This temple still exists

today. Chapter 15 summary: Brahm cannot be destroyed and is the cause of all

causes. Krishna

is called ParaBrahm or the Supreme Being. He is also called the Absolute because

He has no origin. He is the source of Brahm. Everything in the universe comes

out of Brahm. The entire visible world and its creatures are created by the

creative power (Brahm|), sustained by Vishnu, and destroyed by Shankara.

"Gurur Brahma Gurur VishnuGurur Devoh Maheshwar;Gurur Shakshat

ParambramhaTashmai Shri Gurur Veh Namah"May the Merciful Sri Sai Baba always

shower His grace on us and our families and remove

our problems and anxieties by giving us all - strength , goodluck, success and

happiness with peace of mind.Sai bhakt,Deepa Hdebu7366