GITA FOR CHILDREN - I

[Guest guest]

familiar with the material contained in:(a) The Guidebook for Study Circles,

which appeared in H2H as Getting Spiritually Better.(b) The Workbook Companion

of the Guidebook, and© The book entitled Message of the Lord that deals with

the Gita on the one hand and Baba’s Teachings on the other. (The first two

are available from the Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisation while the third can be

obtained from the Book Store in Prashanti Nilayam). Before the commencement of

the course, the Instructor/Teacher should expose the students to the background

of the Kurukshetra war. Many strategies can be adopted as regards taking the

students through the various chapters. These days, students are very sharp and

quick on the uptake. Hence, the following scheme could be tried: 1. The

Instructor first gives an overview of the

chapter under consideration, stressing the most important teachings. 2. A group

of students is then asked to ‘present’ the teachings of the chapter to the rest

of the class in a suitable manner. As a part of the process, there could be

discussions, and also questions from the students not involved in the

presentation.3. After the presentation, the Instructor poses ‘situations’ and

‘dilemmas’ that require solutions using the teachings of the chapter.

Alternately, the students could stage skits, highlighting the important

teachings of the chapter. Experience has shown that the absorption is much

better with student participation. Before moving on to the next chapter, the

Instructor must review all that was said, adding extra comments as required. A

few words now about the text itself. Basically, it represents a synthesis of the

format of the Gita with the spirit of Swami’s Gita Vahini. Thus,

as in the original Gita, there are eighteen chapters, and the Message is

presented as a dialogue between Arjuna and Krishna. However, no attempt is made

to have a one-to-one correspondence with the Slokas of the Gita original.

Instead, the spirit is captured and amplified in the light of Baba’s Teachings.

As even a cursory reading would show, Swami’s sayings have been seamlessly woven

into the texture of the Krishna-Arjuna dialogue practically everywhere. The

liberties taken in the presentation, especially in the use of the current

idiom, would be fully justified, if the Message gets across. Why is the Gita

so important? The answer is simple. The Gita teaches how to face the battles of

life. These battles have been there ever since man appeared, and will continue

as long as the human race exists. Indeed, the battles have become fiercer these

days, with every new generation finding it more and more difficult to stick to

the path of morality. It must be remembered that the Gita is a manual for life

and has nothing whatsoever to do with any particular religion or faith. It

teaches how life can be spirtualised, every minute of it in fact. Thus it is

usable by people everywhere, and at all times. In passing, it is worth

mentioning that Gandhi has demonstrated in a powerful manner, that the Gita is

relevant even in the realm of politics.Today, despite the tremendous progress

in science and technology and the very high standard of living available (at

least in some countries), life has become more difficult all

round, including to the people at the top of the material totem pole. Why?

Because the basics are being ignored. The Gita is a powerful reminder of those

forgotten basics, and what 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. Take success in business for example. For years,

the media was euologising the great go-getters, the high-profile men with huge

bank balances, yachts, penthouses, and their success stories. But one fine day

it was discovered that many of these ‘greats’ were just frauds who had duped

tens of thousands. All of a sudden people began to ask, “Whatever happened to

old-fashioned morality they used to teach in the Business School?” Well, they

stopped teaching that sort of thing a long time ago! If morality is discarded

as being irrelevant, how can it suddenly surface when the going gets rough?

No, morality is not merely a matter of social convenience or just a necessity

for civilized existence. It is something much more than that. Morality is the

very fabric

of life. It is what sustains the Universe. That is why Gandhi always used to

declare, “There is a Moral Law that governs the Universe.” We must be moral

because that is the only way we can be true to our real nature. We all have

come from God; how then can we afford to be immoral? As Swami asks, “How can

you don the form of a human and be a cheat or inhuman?” Whether we like it or

not, mankind can no longer afford to run away from morality as it appears to be

doing at present. This is precisely where the Gita becomes relevant. It teaches

man how to follow Dharma in life, and that is what makes the Gita so very

important. Notwithstanding all this, people who try to conduct classes of this

nature do face some problems. After a while students readily agree that

morality is needed in Society, but when it comes to their own lives, they are

not ready

to stop being selfish. They give many interesting arguments like: How can one

person make any difference to Society? So, what is the point of my trying to be

very moral? I need role models! It is too late to return to morality! Forget

it!! All such answers merely show that conviction is still lacking. Thus, the

acid test of the success of the Gita course would be whether it has enabled at

least a few to develop deep conviction about the importance of and the

necessity for Dharma. 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... With Sai love from Sai brothers –

‘’ Source and courtesy: http://www.radiosai.org/Journals

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