GITA FOR CHILDREN -1

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must be done to stick to them. The children of today understand quite clearly a

lot of what is going on. Deep in their Hearts, they are sensitive and affected

by Adharma. Yet, when it comes to application, they also follow the path of

Adharma. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, the type of advice that the

elders give. The elders violate every rule in the book and yet tell the young,

“Listen, this is bad; that is not good. You must not do these things,” etc.

The response is: “Well, if you could do it, why not us?” Secondly, the media in

collusion with vested interests actively promote Adharma and immorality in a

thousand different ways. The two together create peer pressure and that is

something that the young in particular find very difficult to resist. That is

one big reason why the battle of life has become far more difficult. Prolonged

physical hunger leads to death by starvation. Prolonged spiritual hunger would

likewise lead to the death of humanness. Spiritual hunger is worldwide, though

people may not realise it. The rich suffer from it in one way and so do the

poor. Thus the Message of the Gita is relevant for all. It is very important to

reach out to the young in all lands. That is the only way to ensure, at least in

some measure, the world would be what God wants it to be. CHAPTER 1

Dhritarashtra tells his friend Sanjaya, “Please tell me, O Sanjaya, what my

sons and those of my brother Pandu are about to do on the battlefield in

Kurukshetra?” Sanjaya replies: “O King! Your eldest son Prince Duryodhana is

approaching Battle Commander Dronacharya, the Guru of your sons as well as the

Pandavas. I can now see Duryodhana speaking to Dronacharya. He says: ‘O Master!

Please

take a good look at our brave army with so many renowned warriors. They have

come from different places to support us and to fight for us. Please Sir, make

sure that venerable Bhisma, our Commander-in-Chief, is well protected, at all

cost’.” Sanjaya continues: “And now, all the great warriors on the two sides

are blowing their respective conches, signalling their readiness to commence

battle. I can also see Krishna and Arjuna blowing their conches.” “Arjuna is

seated in a chariot with Krishna Himself acting as the charioteer. Flying from

that chariot is a standard bearing the figure of Hanuman.” “Arjuna is now

telling Krishna: ‘Krishna, please drive the chariot to a spot midway between

the two armies. I want to get a close look at our enemies, the evil Kauravas’.”

“Krishna drives the chariot to the midway region as requested by Arjuna and

says, ‘There, Arjuna, take

a good look at your adversaries’.” “Arjuna slowly surveys the warriors

assembled on the two sides. And what does he see? Nothing but his grandfather,

his teachers, his cousins and various other relatives, his friends and so on.

Some are lined up on one side and the rest on the other.” “Arjuna is deeply

troubled by what he is seeing and says: ‘Krishna, as I look around me, I see

nothing but kith and kin. Do I have to kill people of my own blood for the sake

of a mere kingdom? No Krishna, I cannot slaughter my friends, relatives and

elders. What pleasure can there be in such killing? What benefit? On the

contrary, it is a sin to win a kingdom after butchering one’s own people’.”

‘Maybe the Kauravas are blinded by greed and want to wage war but I do not have

to do so. I do not have to be blinded similarly by greed, jealousy and all the

rest of it. I just cannot fight. It is

better that my enemies strike me than I kill them.’ Reporting all this, Sanjaya

tells Dhirtarashtra, “I can now see Arjuna dropping his bow and sinking into his

chariot, filled with deep anguish.” CHAPTER 2 Sanjaya continues and tells

Dhritarashtra: “Krishna is now beginning to say something to Arjuna, who

appears to be drowned in sorrow.” Krishna says, ‘Arjuna, how come you have

suddenly become so remorseful at this very last minute? You can’t quit now; it

is too late for that! You must cast aside your doubts and misgivings. Get up

and enter into battle!’ Arjuna asks, ‘Krishna, how is that possible? Bhisma

over there is my grandfather! Are You asking me to shoot arrows at my own

grandfather who has showered so much love on me?’ ‘And over there is my Guru,

Dronacharya? How can one kill one’s own Guru? Can there be a greater

sin?’‘Frankly Krishna, I cannot see any great purpose in this war. I am very

confused at present. To fight or not to fight – that is my question!’

‘Krishna, I seek refuge in You. Totally surrendering to You, I pray to You for

guidance.’ With a broad smile on His face, Krishna replies, ‘Arjuna, you are

acting like a perfect fool! You are mourning the death of your relatives etc.,

even before they have died!’ ‘Do you know anything about life,

death, and what happens after death? You obviously do not, for if you did, you

would not be chickening out like you are trying to do now. Let Me drive some

hard facts into your thick skull!’ ‘Arjuna, your big problem is that like

everyone else, you think you are the body. You are also used to seeing bodies

being born and die. Since all these images have got stuck in your Mind, you are

now worrying about death.’ ‘Now listen to this carefully. Neither you nor I are

the body, though we both possess them. I wear My body like a dress and so do

you.’ ‘Now who is this “I” that is wearing the body? It is the Atma Arjuna, it

is the Atma! By the way, there is no such thing as My Atma, your Atma and so on.

It is the same Atma that is present everywhere, wearing many dresses. There is

only one Atma, period.’ 11. ‘Now who is this “I” that is wearing the body? It

is the Atma Arjuna, it is the Atma! By the way, there is no such thing as My

Atma, your Atma and so on. It is the same Atma that is present everywhere,

wearing many dresses. There is only one Atma, period.’ 12. ‘Are you wondering

how this is possible? Maybe an example would make things a bit clearer. Just

look up in the sky during the daytime. You will see some clouds here and there

and empty sky in between. There is water vapour everywhere, including in the

spaces between clouds. In some places this water vapour shows itself up as

clouds; elsewhere, it is not visible, but it is present all the same.’ 13.

‘Notice two other points. Firstly, the clouds keep on changing their shapes,

and secondly, no two clouds are alike.’ 14. ‘The same sort of thing happens

in the world. The Atma pervades the entire world, indeed the entire Universe.

Here and there, it manifests via the “dresses” called bodies, not only of

humans but also animals, insects, etc. Thus, all living beings are the

embodiments of the one Universal Atma.’ 15. ‘Recall what I told you about

clouds changing their shapes with time. The same sort of thing happens to a

living being or the embodied Atma. The being passes through various stages such

as childhood, youth, middle age, and old age.’ 16. ‘When the body becomes

old, the Atma just casts off the body and wears a new “dress”, that is it

acquires another new body!’ 17. ‘Arjuna, I am telling you all this because

you started feeling sad about death. There is no need to because death is just

a change of dress, that is all!’ 18. ‘Your problem is that like all people

you are totally focused on the body. You think you are the body. Tell me; are

those clothes that you are wearing Arjuna? No, it is just your clothing. You

are not the clothes but different from

them.’ 19. ‘In the same way, neither you nor I or for that matter anyone else

is the body. The Atma is our real nature. Death makes people sad because they

foolishly identify themselves with the body and become upset when it is gone or

about to go.’ 20. ‘Arjuna, just think. You are a warrior and you have fought

battles before. I am sure you have on occasions slain people in those battles.

But all that killing earlier does not seem to have bothered you at all. Yet

today, you are feeling miserable even before you have taken the bow in your

hand. Why Arjuna, why?’ 21. ‘Well, you wouldn’t know the answer and so let

Me tell you. Arjuna, you are feeling miserable today because the people likely

to die in this war are yours. It is this feeling of “mine” that is really

troubling and not

death per se. After all, you have slain adversaries before.’ 22. ‘Arjuna,

this feeling of “mine” comes because of body-consciousness or body attachment.

And such an attitude automatically arises when a person thinks he is the body.

But I remind you once again, you are NOT the perishable body but the Eternal

Atma!’ 23. ‘This Atma is indescribably beautiful and wondrous. It is Eternal

and beyond both Space and Time. It is neither born nor does it die. Do you

understand that Arjuna? Drona and Bhisma are all the Atma, just like you and I

are. So how can they die? It is their bodies that would get destroyed, like

clothing becoming worn out. Why feel miserable about something trivial like

that? One day or the other, old clothes have to be thrown away.’ 24. ‘Arjuna,

thanks to this process of casting off bodies one after another, there is a

practically endless cycle of birth and death for the body. But you must not

focus on the superficial aspect. If you focused just on the body, you will see

growth, decay and death. Those changes do not apply to the Atma. Those changes

do not apply to you but only to your body. Focus therefore on the Atma and not

on the body.’ 25. ‘This Atma that I am now talking about cannot be cut. Fire

cannot burn it nor water wet it. It is everlasting and all-pervading.’ 26.

‘In a human being, the Atma shines as the Consciousness and as the Resident of

your Heart. By the way, when I refer to the Heart, I mean your spiritual Heart

and not the physical heart! This Divine

Resident is also sometimes called the In-dweller, or simply as God. Since God is

installed within you, you don’t have to look for Him all over the place; just

look inside, in your Heart!’ 27. ‘Let Me now come down from these sublime

heights to something practical. You must be wondering what exactly you are

since you have a body and I am here telling you that you are the Atma! The

answer is simply this: you are in fact the Atma, but wearing right now clothing

called the body. The Atma with a body is sometimes referred to as the JivAtma,

or an embodiment of the Atma. Jiva means life or a living object; so JivAtma

means Atma within a cocoon called the body. To put it differently, JivAtma

is the Atma wearing the dress of the body and the Mind.’ 28. ‘The JivAtma is

thus like an actor wearing a particular dress. All are actors in this stage

called the world. And all are, without being actually aware of this fact,

playing different roles in the Cosmic Drama, scripted, directed and produced by

God!’ 29. ‘As you know Arjuna, in a play, all actors must speak their lines

properly. In the drama of life, speaking proper dialogue means following one’s

natural Dharma.’ 30. ‘This thing that I have just referred to as natural

Dharma is also called Swadharma or Atma Dharma. It simply means the Dharma of

the Universal Self resident within or, if you prefer, the Atma within.’ 31.

‘In simple terms, Arjuna, you must always act in conformity with Atma Dharma –

that is what speaking the correct lines really means. Are you lost? Are you

confused? Don’t worry; I shall make it simple for you. Following Atma Dharma

simply means following the Path of Righteousness, in a perfectly selfless

manner.’ 32. ‘Consider what you are trying to do right now. A war is about

to start between the forces of Dharma and Adharma, and you are supposed to be

on the side of Dharma. And what are you trying to do? Drop out at the very

last minute, giving all sorts of silly reasons!’ 33. ‘Arjuna, do not forget

that Destiny has made you take birth as a warrior. That is no accident! You

must therefore go through life as a warrior, doing your duty in conformity with

Atma Dharma. What exactly does that mean in the present instance? As a soldier,

it is your duty to fight for Dharma and against Adharma. But you want to

wriggle out of that duty, giving all sorts of lame excuses. Is that correct?

Consider. In a drama, can an actor suddenly say, “I don’t like this part” and

start playing another?’ 34. ‘Let us examine your problem a bit deeper. You

say that Bhishma is your grandfather. That is true but don’t forget that the

relationship is purely one of the body. Next,

even though Bhishma is your grandfather, he has lined up with the forces of

evil. In fact, he is the Commander-in-Chief of the wicked Kauravas. Now tell

Me; what should be your duty? Can you walk away claiming that Bhisma is your

grandpa or should you stand up to the forces of evil and defeat them in

battle?’ 35. ‘The answer is clear, is it not? Arjuna, in life duty must

always be performed, without any trace whatsoever of attachment or selfishness.

In practical terms, you must discharge your duty without a) being bothered about

the outcome, and b) expecting a reward. That really is what Atma Dharma is all

about. Only a selfish person would worry about success, rewards, etc. That

attitude is not correct. Duty for duty’s sake is the proper attitude.’ 36.

‘Arjuna, there are two words that people often use – rights and responsibility.

In the olden days, people always worried about responsibility and duty but these

days people mostly talk about their rights. They constantly say, “I have a right

to do this, I have a right to do that,” and so on. Let Me make one thing very

clear. Man has a right only to duty and nothing else!’ 37. Arjuna asks,

‘Krishna, you make Atma Dharma sound so simple. If it is as simple as all that

how come in this wide world there is hardly anyone who is truly following Atma

Dharma?’ 38. Krishna answers, ‘That is because people get easily deluded by

the senses and the Mind. These two in unholy collusion prevent a person from

looking deep within himself and communing with the Heart.’ 39. ‘Once a person

gets cutoff from the Indweller, his outlook and vision become purely external.

The outside world is full of what is called the pair of opposites like joy and

sorrow, pleasure and pain, success and failure, and so on.’ 40. ‘A person

immersed in the external world is easily overwhelmed by six terrible enemies

that are deadlier than the deadliest serpents. These enemies are: Kama meaning

desires, Krodha meaning anger, Lobha meaning greed, Moha meaning attachment,

Mada meaning pride, and Matsarya meaning jealousy. To these you may add to more

namely, Ahamkara meaning ego and Mamakara meaning the “mine” feeling.’ 41.

‘Arjuna, take it from Me, unless you keep out these enemies and have full

control of yourself, you cannot fight your external enemies, as you have to do

shortly.’ 42. ‘Do you want to know why these internal enemies have to be

vanquished first? Simple; you would agree that when you have to deal with a

crisis, you have to remain cool, wouldn’t you?’ 43. ‘Now what exactly does

remaining cool mean? It means that you should not be disturbed or be bothered

by what is happening around you. It is only when you are cool that you can

think clearly. And unless you can think clearly you cannot really handle a

crisis properly. Agree?’

44. ‘A good leader must not lose his cool. This characteristic does not come

easily, unless one makes a conscious effort to practice detachment. One who is

detached is automatically unaffected by success and failure, joy and sorrow,

pleasure and pain. There is one word that describes such an attitude –

equanimity.’ 45. ‘Arjuna, equanimity is necessary not only for a so-called

leader but for everyone. In a family, the father is a leader. So, equanimity is

needed for the father. What about the children? They had better start copying

their father and learn to get into that groove from an early age! Above all,

equanimity it is that helps the seeker to rise above the world, rise above the

pairs of opposites, and go towards God.’ 46. ‘In life, you don’t see much of

equanimity. Why? Because the internal enemies make sure that you are not strong

enough to practice equanimity – that is why! Take your own case; you want to

run away from duty. Why? Because of attachment. Arjuna, the feeling of “mine”

and “thine” is one of the many weaknesses that one must overcome.’ 47.

‘Never forget that perfection in duty is possible only when there is

equanimity. And duty performed with perfection would please God very much. You

too would feel very happy about having pleased God. This kind of happiness is

unique, and it is called Bliss.’ 48. ‘Arjuna, what

people normally call pleasure, joy, happiness, etc., are all connected with

experiences of the sense organs and the Mind. This joy can never be

re-experienced through recall. Such happiness is always transient. By contrast,

the happiness that you get by pleasing God is an experience of the Heart; it

goes beyond the senses and the Mind. That is why the joy of this experience can

be recalled and relived any number of times. Every time you recall, you will

experience Bliss in all its freshness.’ 49. ‘Equanimity does not come

easily, and requires a lot of practice in regulating the senses and the Mind.

It may not be easy but with determination, it can be achieved. Patience and

perseverance alone lead to Purity!’ 50. ‘Arjuna, you must

be brave and courageous not only in the worldly sense but also in a spiritual

sense. A spiritually brave man is one who is ready to give up even his life for

being true to his Conscience. He is not afraid of anything or anybody, including

death. Internal enemies that I mentioned earlier shudder to come near such a

man. What I mean is that you must be strong and courageous inside before

starting to fight battles outside.’ 51. ‘If the internal enemies gain the

upper hand and begin to dominate you, then there will be nothing but pure

disaster. Take anger for example. Anger can blind reason. You may be the

smartest man on earth, but when blind fury gets hold of you, you can become

dumber than the greatest fool. Fury blunts discrimination, and when that

happens, judgement falters badly; next step, total ruin. This has happened time

and again, innumerable number

of times. But people don’t want to learn from the bitter experience of others.

Don’t you make that mistake.’ 52. ‘To put it all briefly, follow your

Conscience for your Conscience is your true Master. Then you can easily face

the devil, fight him, and finish him off!’ TO BE CONTINUED"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