On March 23, 2024, Swamiji spoke to AYUDH Americas on how the Bhagavad Gita is more than just a text, but a tool for us to live. In this blog, we’ll go over his message.
The Gita is not just a spiritual text; it is a reference book, a perfect guide for those who live in the world. It’s not just meant for spiritual seekers, but also for those seeking material success.
People who claim to be atheists or secular may say that the Gita promotes war. However, if you look at the history of mankind, there was always conflict; there was always war. Even in the Satya Yuga, millions of years ago, when there was only truth and peace - conflict was not absent from society. There will never be a time when there is no war.
What is time?
When the saints, seers, and scriptures talk about time, it doesn’t refer to a particular point in time, e.g. BC, as the point where everything began. If you regard history as a cosmic process, that is what they mean by time. Krishna tells Arjuna in the 11th chapter, "I am here before you as the world-transforming time and spirit."
Time is a continuous and unbroken activity, just as the mind and thoughts. As long as we are identified with our emotions and mind, our perceived world is not going to be still. There will always be conflict - between the present and future. The past is absorbed into the present and moves forward into the future. The mind is continuously working. There is always activity, shown by our vivid dreams or nightmares even when our conscious mind is asleep. Because of this, the past, present, and future all flow and fight with each other in our minds. It is like a war that is constantly taking place.
Reading between the lines
The Bhagavad Gita is not Krishna, the Yadava hero, advising Arjuna, the most skilled archer of the Pandavas; it is God speaking to man. Read between the lines. This applies to when we listen to Amma as well. We shouldn’t just listen to the words Amma says; we should observe Amma. We need to listen with the mind.
"Itam guhyatamam shastram" - the most confidential and undisclosed law of the universe. When Amma speaks, it is not an individual speaking; it is God speaking through Amma. Knowledge of a language will not help; each word, pause, comma, period - all of these moments are what we need to observe. We have to decode what is being said between the lines.
How we can deal with conflict?
The conflict in the Kurukshetra is an ongoing process. The fight is always happening, since time immemorial. The moment human beings came into existence, the fight began. As long as we’re in this world, non-violence, truth, karma, and love are all relative. This means we can increase the level of our dharma, the subjective feeling of dharma. We can increase the level of our love and decrease our negativities.
Everyone in the Mahabharata was imperfect, even the Pandavas. Krishna was the only exception. God values anything we do, even a little bit of surrender, dharma, compassion - will take you beyond all fears. Amma knows our hearts - our weaknesses, our limitations, and our negativities. What does this mean for us practically? It means be fair, be a just person, and live your life according to dharma – God will take care of the rest.
The expansive universe
Just imagine and visualize this – you’re in a moment of great inner and outer conflict, at the crossroads of life. All of a sudden, the universe materializes in front of you in a human form. Every part of the universe is talking to you in unison. All of nature has a tongue, giving you a divine message. What will you feel at that moment? The first time you hear a cosmic spirit, there are only three emotions that are possible to feel- wonderment (ascharyam), fear (bhayam), and finally, surrender.
For example, stand by the ocean. Look at the ocean without any judgement; what do you feel? It’s such an expansiveness; no words can describe it. It causes wonderment, fear, and the third emotion will be surrender - it’s so vast, profound, and in that feeling, your ego has no choice but to surrender.
This is what happened to Arjuna. We will be pushed out of our comfort zone at some point. We won’t get advanced notice, and we will have to deal with it. Arjuna knew about the war, but when he saw it in front of his face, he collapsed. We need to be prepared for these situations.
Who won the war?
In every single area of life, we should try to create a win-win situation. Family, workplace - wherever it is. If you want to win, and only you want to win, it will be disastrous, and create an imbalance throughout. In this fierce battle, only 8 survived on the Pandavas' side (started with 1,530,900 warriors), and only 4 survived on the Kauravas’ side (started with 2,405,700 warriors).
So, who won the battle? No one. Even the so-called victory of the Pandavas was not a victory at all. There was so much destruction. All of their cousins, children, and grandchildren were killed. Almost the entire race was destroyed - how can you then be happy? They continued ruling the country for 30 years but with no peace of mind. The takeaway here is that we love to compete so much that we miss the joy of participating and enjoying.
Amma says it is not always important to win - rather, it is important to focus on our performance and then do our best. Don’t be result-oriented, be action-oriented. The real sense of gratification needs to be based on our inputs, not the outcome.
Tips from Swami Amritaswarupananda Puri for life
1. Find happiness in what you do.
For example, while going on a trip, the journey should be enjoyable, not just the destination. You only have the right to work, but never its fruits. When you watch people who are experts at their craft, such as Zakir Hussein with tabla – the way they interact with their craft is different. It doesn’t feel like a task, but more like a dialogue of love.
2. Life is all about managing emotions.
A good chunk of the Gita is about managing emotions. Panic can be a killer in a lot of professions. The Gita has a lot of examples to calm people on an emotional roller coaster.
3. Never imitate another person’s life.
A warrior sees a farmer’s life as calm. The farmer sees a warrior’s life as exciting. Instead of seeing the “greener side,” do the best with what we have.
4. Never lose sight of your goals because of imitations.
Stuck by confusion, we give up our dreams and goals so that we can be a better “somebody.” Stick to who we are and be the best version that we can be. Social media has caused the “imitation” game to be much more prevalent today.
5. Treat everyone and everything the same - as much as possible.
If you treat your foe the same way as you do your friend, you’ll have lesser spite about you. So many people walk around with so much guilt and hate - try to see everyone and everything as the same.
6. Do good things without expecting anything in return.
Most religions teach this. The Gita goes into great depths. This is a practical exercise. A gift is pure when it is given from the heart, to the right person, at the right time, in the right place - expecting nothing in return.
7. Always defer to action.
Don’t get stuck in overanalysis. As we keep on gathering information from the world, there won’t be space in us to think properly. The power of discernment then takes a backseat. We see great comfort in talking and analyzing rather than acting on it.
8. Never run away from your duty.
The majority of the Gita talks about duty. Do our duty, and not another’s, even if you can do another’s very well.
9. There is a higher power - always remember this.
We get dejected and desperate, and we throw in the towel, thinking the bad forces will win and we can do nothing about it. Keep doing our duty the best we can, and there will always be a higher power protecting our truth.