Geeta Jayanti - Day 2

Gist of Talk given by Pt.Satyavan Mishra at Geeta Ashram on 15 Nov 2006
Translated from Hindi by Suresh Kumar Ranga. Chapter 2. 10 minutes
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I bow with respect to Hari Harji Maharaj, Lord Krishna and all Gita devotees who have come to the ashram today.

Arjuna thought that body was the biggest thing (rather than the soul). Relations are created out of our body. Relations like father, mother, brother, sister, husband, wife, son etc. Lord Krishna in this chapter explains to Arjuna, both about the body as well as about the soul.

For example, we see a refrigerator. It has various components inside, the freezer, the cooling section, the racks, the pipes, compressor and so on. What we dont see is the electricity that drives the functions of the refrigerator. If there is no electric supply to the refrigerator, then though still all the parts like the freezer, cooling section, racks, pipes and compressor are still visible to the eye, but yet they dont perform any of their actions. There is no cooling inside. But in our daily life we see and appreciate the refrigerator, forgetting the electricity behind that is making things happen. Similar is body and soul. We keep appreciating the body, and its features, and spend money to beautify it, make handsome the looks, but do not appreciate the soul or the life force energy that is driving all this.

The body is prone to destruction. It was born and will die some day, but the sould is indestructivle (avinashi). Our body has various organs. It generates lots of dirt, waste that has to be excreted daily. It is the life force of soul that does even this cleaning. Assume what happens when the soul refuses to act.

But unfortunately our focus and concentration and worry, all our life is aimed towards our body. We are not so bothered about the soul. Kabir dasji had written in his chaupais, that, when the body burns, it burns with great vigour. It burns of better than the wood. And when people are attending a funeral they feel the uselessness of the body. They think of their life and try to make amends, seeing that body is going to get destroyed some day. This is called Shamshan Vairagya. But unfortunately this spirit is lost once the person returns to normal routine again. Shamshan Vairagya is momentory.

Normally when some near and close one passes away, we cry for him/her. But in our scriptures it is written not to cry for those who have died. In fact to discourage them from crying it is mentioned that, when you cry, the tears, the cough and spit all that comes out, has to be drunk by the dead man. The moral is, we should not cry for those who have gone, because it is the body that has died and not the soul.

Many people say that the Soul cannot be see. In my opinion the soul is visible very clearly. It is crystal clear. The only necessity is the body has to be forgotten. How do we see our soul or how do we feel its existance. Is there a way we can feel it exists even now?

For example, when we go and stay with our friends, as a guest, we tend to agree what the guests say. Even though in our heart we dont agree to 100% what he/she says, but we in general try not to confront. Because we are his guest. So is soul in the body. It has to agree to what the body is doing, but necessarily does not approve it. It resides within but is not the decision maker.

Haven't we seen this around us.

• When are doing something that is not correct, an inner voice in us tells us not to do. To listen or not is our choice.
• People who are dishonest always like to have honest people around them, like to have honest children, honest wife, honest workers etc. Why does not a dishonest man, want all dishonest people around him?

The soul always is this within us that keeps telling us to do the right thing. It exists and hence tells us, but just that it is subtle. We have to give it space and adhere to what it advices.

Coming back to Chapter 2, the last 18 verses of this chapter are a summary of the 18 chapters. Where each verse 55-summary of chapter 1, 56- chatper 2 and so on verse 72 for chapter 18.