oh Krishna!!

The flowers that adorned Your shoulders mighty:
The unerring messengers of Your fragrance earthy;
This slave now holds in her hands blessed,
Even as my heart leaps in joy at Your behest!

The world may call them unworthy
For they now appear variably withered!
But oh! They were on my sweet Sarathy smothered:
Does the damned world know that few are as fortunate and worthy?

The roses that are now half-dead,
Hide the scent of my Lord so unmistakable!
In the yellow flowers that are now black instead,
i feel the force of Your perspiration so recognizable!

In the white flowers that You once adorned with grace:
Wearing them, i rejoice in the warmth of Your embrace!
And o Lord! By the leaves of tulasi betwixt strung,
i taste the dust of Your Holy Feet in my tongue!!

There aren't words to describe Your love,
Or Dearest Krishna! The benovelant boons You bestow!
O Merciful Lord who enchants with Your smile so serene:
Let me please be a lotus for Your beautiful Feet!!

mistakes

How should we deal with our own mistakes and that of others?

When you go to a doctor, you must take the medicine that he prescribes and follow his advice and instructions. There is no use blaming him if you default. How can the doctor cure you if you do not take medicines or follow the diet restrictions and regulate your intake according to his advice? Similarly, follow My advice and then watch the result. Also remember, it is a sign of foolishness to brood over mishaps and mistakes once committed, and punish oneself by refusing to take food and so on. What good is it to ill-treat the body to correct the mind? Even as you deal with your own faults strictly, you should pardon that of others. Do not misunderstand their motives and scandalise them; perhaps their motives might be as noble as yours or their action might be due to ignorance, rather than wickedness or mischief.

True wisdom

What is true wisdom (Jnana)? Where can we find it?

When the senses are brought under control by the mind, the mind itself ceases to function; it disappears as it were. Then man experiences a profound silence. That stillness resulting from the absence of the mind is true Knowledge (Jnana). This knowledge cannot be acquired by intellectual ability or mental agility, nor by following an example. It is sui generis. Consider the ashes which cover a burning charcoal or the moss which covers a sheet of water. The ashes have come from the charcoal. The moss has originated from the water. The cataract that dims the vision of the eye, wherefrom has it come? From the eye itself! When the screen that blinds the vision is removed, the true Self will be seen in its real form. Atma Jnana is not obtainable through books, preceptors or even Paramatma (the Supreme Self). You are yourself the Paramatma, the Jnana, the Atma.

Atma

How do we know that Atma or Divine Self is present in all beings?

You may wonder, ‘How is it that the Atma is present in all?’ When you meditate in solitude on this question, a permanent, unchanging sound arises from the mind. All objects manifest the power of the atom. Every object is composed of atoms. It is the nature of atoms to combine and to separate. But in all human beings there is one unchanging and indivisible divine entity, the Inner Voice. The body undergoes change from infancy to old age, but the Inner Voice remains unchanged. People experience three different states of consciousness in the waking, dreaming and deep sleep states. But the Inner Voice has no change in the gross or subtle states of the body. What is that Voice? It is the divine Inner Voice issuing from the Atma-thathwa (Atma Principle). It is continually declaring: ‘I, I, I..’ - ‘Aham, Aham, Aham’. This is the Truth that is subtler and more fundamental than the atom.

What is the best way to be happy?

It is believed that every man has a free will. This is a mistake. It is also believed that it is through the individual's ideas and efforts that many things are accomplished. This is based on misconceptions regarding man's doership and egoism. Strength derived from the Divine alone is true strength. All else is weakness. To realise the Atma, physical prowess is of no avail. It is only by developing the sense of spiritual oneness, that the Atmic Consciousness can be realised. Today the world is plunged in chaos and conflict because this feeling of oneness has been lost. Man engages himself in strenuous efforts to achieve worldly comforts. But he does not make even a minute fraction of such efforts to meditate on God. How much greater happiness would he enjoy if he were to devote even a few moments to thoughts of God!

Likes n dislikes

Likes and dislikes that you now feel, are just temporary phenomena. They are not permanent. Consider for a moment that at some time you felt very hungry. Now suppose that you were served some food which you found very tasty. What made this food so delicious? If you examine this question carefully you would conclude that it was your hunger that made everything taste so good. As long as you were hungry you found the meal that had been served to you to be most delectable. But after your hunger was satisfied, even if the most sumptuous delicacies were placed in front of you, they would not have appealed to you. When you are hungry, ordinary food will taste quite good, giving you great joy. But once your hunger is satisfied, even the most delicious food is not at all tasty to you. The only way that you can understand this change is that all these likes and dislikes emanate directly from you, the individual. They do not come from the objects as such. All your feelings of joy and sorrow emanate from the inner being, not from the external objects.

Ordinary people think that the joy or pain which they get from being with people whom they like or dislike comes from those people; but it is not so. It is one's own likes and dislikes which are responsible for one's joys and sorrows. It may be observed that when people have a strong liking for others, holding them very dear, then whatever be the attitude or the actions of that person, they will still like them all the same. What is the reason for this unshakable fidelity, this affectionate regard one may have for another person, despite a number of unsavory things which that person may be saying or doing? The reason is that when you like someone, the things which that person says and does will appear sweet to you. When you consider a person as very dear to you, then you feel that you love that person very much. This quality which you call 'love' is really a feeling of attachment in you that you are directing towards the other individual. In such an attachment both the love and the joy which appear to be present, originate only from you. Whether or not the other person has similar feelings, the feelings which you actually experience come from within you, only. They are not a part of the other person, at all. A similar thing was told by a great sage to his wife, in the ancient scriptures.

The sage said to his wife, "Dear one, you do not love me for my sake but for your own sake. Everything you love and hold dear, you love only for the sake of the atma, your highest self;. The atma is the dearest of all, and it is for its sake that someone is dear to you. These feelings you have for others are all just manifestations of that great love you feel for your own true self."

attachment

In the whole world each person, whoever he may be, will love another only for his own sake, not for the sake of the other. If he loves an object, he loves it for the self alone, and not for the sake of that object. That self is the atma, the true self. But, when the pure love of the atma becomes tainted with body consciousness, and the senses hold sway, attachment and selfishness arise. This inevitably leads to sorrow.

The body is impermanent. Death is certain for all. Even if someone were to live for a hundred years, he would still have to face death one day. Everyone knows that. But, isn't it strange that the would-be dying are crying and feeling sorry for those who have already died? Everyone is sure to meet death and so everyone may be thought of as among the dying. Yet, even though they themselves are dying, people feel sorrow and grief when thinking of someone who has died. It is as if death were a totally unusual and unexpected thing, rather than the natural conclusion that must come to all. This sorrow that comes on, particularly when someone near and dear has died, can only be there because of attachment. After knowing full well that death is certain, if you still worry about somebody, it must be due to the attachment which you have developed for that body. It is this attachment which is responsible for all your grief. Therefore, when someone has died the primary cause for sorrow is attachment, not love.

Basically, every human being, at all times, is a seeker of joy. He thirsts for joy and does not ever want sorrow. Man always aspires for profit, never for loss. That is his very nature. Profit, joy and bliss are inherent in his makeup; they are at the very core of his being. Every man, right from the beginning, would like to have only gain, not pain. For a business man, the first thing he thinks of is his profit. Here in India, when measuring out some staple such as rice, if the number of kg's goes above six, then the shopkeeper will not say '7', but '6 + 1'. This is because the word for seven also means 'weeping'. The shopkeeper will use another word to avoid uttering this unhappy word. In this way, man never wants to face unhappiness and loss. He wants only profit and gain, and the happiness they bring.

Of all the possible profits and gains, the supreme profit of all, which gives the greatest joy, is self-knowledge, the knowledge of the atma. That is the joy you must seek and make your own.

Consider a beautiful rose; the moment you look at a rose joy emanates from your heart. Similarly, when you see a handsome person or any beautiful thing in this world, you instantly feel joy. Many people undertake trips to go sight-seeing. Why do they go? In order to derive joy from it. Therefore, you can see beauty in nature and you can see beauty in people, and you can derive great joy from all the beauty that you see. But how long does this kind of joy and beauty last? The rose that you picked today starts to dry out tomorrow; then its beauty gets lost. The moment the beauty fades away, the joy that you previously derived from it also subsides. It is the same with the different stages of life: childhood, youth, adulthood and old age.

Childhood may be said to reflect divinity. During early childhood the individual does not suffer much from hatred, jealousy, anger and so forth. Lord said that since children do not have any really bad qualities, they could be considered divine. During that period of life, there are no bad thoughts or bad traits, either in the mind or in the body. Little children are beautiful because they do not have impure feelings arising out of impure thoughts. As they grow up they gradually develop tainted qualities. The moment such negative qualities grow, the beauty of the small child fades away. Therefore, it is the coming in of impure thoughts which lead to impure words and impure deeds, which then results in the child losing its beauty.

Do your duty!

Krishna gave Arjuna a strong injection of courage to save him from drowning in sorrow and dejection. His immediate first-aid treatment was to teach Arjuna how to discriminate between the true self and the personal self. He said, "Arjuna, as long as you are overcome with fear and anxiety, you will not be able to accomplish anything. Be courageous! Know that you are the atma, not this body; then you will be fearless. I can help you to achieve great things, but only if you base your actions on true knowledge and remain fearless." At this point Krishna was smiling, but Arjuna was weeping.

The one who is always smiling is the Lord. The one who is weeping is man. Krishna is the true self, Arjuna is the false self. One is the embodiment of wisdom and the other is filled with ignorance. Krishna said, "I would like to explain some things to you which are very important. Right now we are behaving in different ways. I am smiling while you are crying. But we could both be alike; either I could become like you or you could become like me. If I should become like you, then I would become weak-minded. But that is impossible! Weakness can never enter into me! On the other hand, if you were to become like me, then you would have to follow me and do as I say." At this Arjuna replied, "Swami, I will do exactly as you say. I will follow all your commands implicitly!" Having given Arjuna sufficient encouragement and strength of purpose, Krishna enabled Arjuna to recover his strong resolve. From that point on, Arjuna undertook to fight, following the directions given by the Lord.

Krishna started his wisdom teachings with some important truths relating to the body and mind. He said, "Arjuna, you think that these people are your relatives and friends. But, what is meant by a relative or a friend? Does it refer to the body or does it refer to the indweller? Bodies are just water bubbles; they come and go. These relatives and friends which you are so attached to now, have all existed before, in any number of births. But were they your relatives and friends then? No. You too have existed countless times before, and I as well. The body, the mind and the intellect are all just so much apparel. They are like the clothes you wear; you change them now and again. They are mere instruments. Why develop a close relationship with these things, getting infatuated with them and then having to suffer so much sorrow and grief?

"Do your duty! All the honor that is due to you as a prince will be bestowed on you. But on the battlefield there cannot be room for any feeling of weak-mindedness and feeble-heartedness. Fighting boldly to preserve righteousness and shrinking in weakness are completely incompatible with each other. To have this timidity on the battlefield is not becoming of a great hero. Your cause is just and you have come to fight. Therefore, fight!" With words such as these, Krishna cured Arjuna of his despondency and helped him to find his strength and courage. When Krishna finished his teaching on the battlefield, Arjuna regained his noble ideals and faced the upcoming fight with renewed valor.