soul

You wish to know the relation between “GOD” and the individualbeing…Well, GOD is the universal soul or Paramatma , and we are all
the individual soul or Jiva atma.

	I have canceled your cancer  of birth and death

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER 18

 

1.
Arjuna says to Krishna, 'Lord, You have been very kind to tell me many
things. As I understand it, I h ave to act, I have to be detached, and
I also have to sacrifice. But I am still a bit confused. Somehow, all
these requirements appear to me to be mutually contradictory. For
example, if I plunge into action, I become fully involved, emotionally.
How then can you expect me to be detached?'

2. Krishna laughs and says, 'Arjuna, you are
just like most of the devotees. They barely listen and that too with
just one ear. So they hardly remember anything of what I say, and also
understand very little. Looks like you need one more revision. But note
this is the very last time. Everyone is itching to fight, and we can't
postpone war too long.'

3. 'You must make a clear distinction between attitude and form. You seem to think that only a Sannyasi
wearing ochre robes and all that can be detached. Detachment is an
attitude and ochre robe is part of a particular appearance. Attitude
and appearances need not always go together.'

4. 'There may be a person who is dressed like a Sannyasi but does that mean he is detached internally? Mental detachment ' that is the important factor. Why do you think aSannyasi alone can be detached mentally? Why can't you, a soldier, be detached likewise?'

5. Arjuna protests and says, 'Krishna, how is that possible? I have a wife and children. Are you asking me to abandon them all?'

6. Krishna
counters, 'Did I ask you to? When did I say that you must abandon your
duty to your family? When did I ask you not to love the members of your
family?'

7. Arjuna
continues to argue and says, "Krishna, that precisely is my point! In
one breath You are asking for detachment, and in the very next You say
love your family! Are these not contradictory instructions?'

8. Krishna
sighs and replies, 'OK, I see your problem. You are getting mixed up
because you are interpreting My advice in a purely worldly manner. You
have to analyse at a much higher level than you are doing at present.'

9. 'To
start with, you should not imagine that a man who has renounced is like
a hard rock or a dry twig. He can be detached and yet be full of Love
and Compassion.'

10. Arjuna is surprised and asks, 'How is that possible?'

11. Krishna
replies, 'Hold on! I am coming precisely to that point! Now, have you
not heard Me say, "All are One. Be alike to everyone?" In the case of
the person who suffers from attachment, he certainly loves his family,
though perhaps in a worldly sort of way. But what about others? Does he
love them like he does the members of his own family? Never!'

12. Arjuna interjects, 'Krishna! Be reasonable, how is that ever possible?'

13. Krishna
replies, 'Why not? Just look at Me. Don't I love all? Am I not the same
to everyone? Don't dismiss this by saying, "Oh, You are different,"
etc. Everyone, yourself included, can emulate Me in loving all and
being alike to all. No question about that; just that most people don't
want to. They say, "What's there in it for me?" This is the bane of
humanity! Selfishness, utter selfishness!'

14. 'So
you see Arjuna, you can do your duty, you can love all, and you can
also serve all. Do all this without fear or favour. Regard everyone as
just yourself. When you are thirsty, you have a drink. When you see
someone else thirsty, imagine that you are thirsty yourself and give
that person some water. See how happy that person becomes. Feel that
happiness and become happy yourself. It is not at all difficult. See Me
in all and help all. People don't try this simple method and on top of
it give all sorts of lame excuses for not trying!'

15. 'This
brings Me to the subject of action and the various ways in which it can
be performed. You see Arjuna, in the end, it all boils down to action.
What one must take care is to engage in proper action, all the time.
That is what living life properly is all about.'

16. 'Thinking
is a kind of action ' it is action at the mental level. Speech is
another kind of action ' it is action at the verbal level. Obviously,
one cannot think one thing and say quite the opposite; you understand
that of course. And finally there is physical action carried out using
the body.'

17. 'Associated
with each type just mentioned, are five factors. They are: 1) The
overall personality of the doer, 2) the doer's body, 3) the doer's
senses, 4) the physical effort put in by the doer, and 5) Destiny. Yes,
in the ultimate analysis, it is Destiny that decides who will do what,
when, where and why.'

18.
'It is common to recognise and accept the role of the first four of the
above, but not everyone concedes the role of Destiny. When they are
successful, such people take all the credit, but when failure haunts
them, they blame it on God! It is all due to attachment to one's body,
also called body-consciousness or ego. True renunciation is giving up
this attachment and body-consciousness.'

19.
'A short while ago, you said that you did not want to fight. Why? You
argued that fighting meant that you would have to kill your cousin,
your grandfather and so on. Your cousin is your cousin on account of
your body. Similarly Bhishma is your grandfather on account of a bodily
relationship. True, these relationships exist and must be respected,
but only up to a point. When that limit is crossed, you must no longer
allow such relationships to come in the way of the duty you are
required to perform.'

20. 'The duty dictated to you by the Atma
overrides every other consideration. In other words, God must always be
priority number one. If father comes in between you and God, God must
be followed and not the father. This precisely is the lesson that the
story of Prahalada and Hiranyakashipu teaches. So it is in every case.'

21. Arjuna
pleads, 'Krishna, please make it simple! Tell me in simple language;
how a person without body-consciousness as You call it, and faced with
the problem I am having, would act?'

22. Krishna
replies, 'Well, such person would say, "I am a solider because Destiny
has willed it be so. That very same Destiny has brought me here to
fight on the side of Dharma. True, over there I see my Guru, grandfather, cousins, etc. But all those relationships are connected with the body. Dharma is God and God is Dharma. Therefore, my duty to Dharma overrides all other considerations. If I have to fight all my relatives for the sake of Dharma, then so be it. Destiny has decided this to be my role, and I cannot back out."'

23.
'Arjuna, it all comes back to knowing clearly what your duty is and
then performing it to the best of your ability, without any other
consideration, including of success, appreciation, reward and so forth.'