The Modern Yogi Podcast

#092 - Arjuna's Surrender to Cosmic Destiny -- Chapter 11: Verses 28 - 34

Krishna helps Arjuna realize that all beings (except the Pandavas) are already destined for destruction by His will. Arjuna seeks refuge in Krishna's mercy and guidance, feeling humbled and overwhelmed by the revelation of Krishna's universal form!

Duration:: 44m
Broadcast on:: 01 Jul 2024
Audio Format:: mp3

(upbeat music) - Welcome to the Modern Yogi Podcast. - Podcast. (upbeat music) - An exploration of ancient wisdom. (upbeat music) - Hello, hello everyone. - Welcome back to the Modern Yogi Podcast. We are on episode number. - 92. - 92. - 92. - 92. (laughing) - That was good. - I liked it. - I liked it. - It was like an Indian mom. - That was your name. - Shout out to my mom. And my name is Shama Sangeeta. (laughing) - My name is Priya Darshanee. - And my name is Shama Lee. - And we are on chapter 11, text number 28. - Whoa, we are moving through this fast, ladies. - We did this. - Seven. - We did like versus last episode. - Faster than our usual. - Fasten our usual, yeah. - Absolutely. - I'm having the time of my life. - Me too. - Because we're flying through these verses. And it's a really interesting chapter. - The time of my life. - I'm having a good time. (laughing) - I thought you were gonna join in. - I'm so sorry I didn't. - I just didn't want this nonsense. - I'm not having the time of my life. - I knew you guys were going to finish this sentence. So that's what I was like, let's keep going. - I don't know the melody. - I am having the time of my life. - Thank you Priya. ♪ And I've never felt this way before ♪ ♪ That I swear ♪ - That's it, we, oh copyright issues. We can't continue. - Okay. - Cut, we got a hand for the producer over there. - I'll stop saying it. - Oh, cut it out. But you know what we can copy right? The Modern Yogi podcast, tongue scraper, okay? (laughing) Would you be available in a store near you? - Okay, we cannot promise that. When we know for sure we'll tell you, but for now it's just a joke. - It's a real, I'm gonna talk to manufacturing about it. (laughing) - All right, quick recap about the last episode, ladies. - Oh yeah, Arjuna speaking. - Well, you know, we talked about how Arjuna has come to a new amount of anxiety that was different than the previous anxiety. - Yeah, he started with anxiety and now we're full circle back to anxiety, but he's different. - Different kind of anxiety. - Different kind of anxiety. - And if you want to find out why, it involves teeth, tongue scrapers, and you just gotta go read the previous episode. - Yeah, listen. - Listen to the primo episode. (laughing) - Or if you want to read the transcript of our previous episode. - Those are not available anywhere, but you know, I mean, just read the video. No, you know what's so crazy is that on Spotify sometimes, if you scroll up, it actually shows the transcript of us talking in real time. - Oh, that's so cool. - It is fascinating, AI is crazy. - So good. - And so, yeah, if you do want, if you want to just hear a word for word speaking, on Spotify, I don't know if it's on the other platforms, but on Spotify, word for word, you can see the transcript link down in real time. - That's amazing. Thank you for sharing that. - Of course. - Appreciated. - All right. We're continuing on the universal form. Ladies, can I have the invocation? (singing in foreign language) Translation, I was born in the darkest ignorance and my spiritual master opened my eyes with a torch of knowledge. I offer my respectful obeisances onto them. All right, chapter 11, text number 28, praise Arshni. - Yes, just a breakfast we were just talking about how Krishna has all the heads of the opposite army and some of the army from Arjuna's on his mouth and that's what Arjuna is seeing right now. - Yeah, I mean, he's seeing a vision, Arjuna's seeing a vision into the future, right? - Yes, yeah. - And he's seeing so many soldiers die, both on his side and the evil side. - But the way he's seeing it is also through Krishna, like they're devouring them. I mean, it's heavy stuff. And if you haven't heard the last episode, we left off on like, yeah, Priya was really feeling the intensity of like, wow, this is a war. What intense situation for Arjuna to be in? Really heavy stuff. - Yeah. Yeah, so now just to give that preface, before we read text 28, so text 28. As the many waves of the rivers flow into the ocean, so do all these great warriors enter into your blazing mouths. So this is, yeah, still more of that and more of that. I mean, that's Krishna's form of the destruction. He's gonna be there to deliver them, to bring their end. - Yeah, the use of imagery is really interesting here, right? As the waves and the rivers flow into the ocean, like that just like, it's a continuous flow, right? And it just happens naturally and it is the way of the universe, right? And so all of these great warriors, this naturally birth death. - Oh, look at you, you poet. - Sanjaya. - Okay, he's got a layer? - Me and Sanjaya, I wish we hung out more. He's been a good influence on me. - No, it is an amazing, like that's really, it honestly gives so much more insight into it, because you're saying it's a natural occurrence for the rivers to flow into the ocean, as it is a natural occurrence for these warriors to die. - Mm, wow. - Die and be born and die and be born. I didn't even think of it that way, they're flowing the rivers. - And you know, it's interesting, 'cause I've shared before that my spiritual master, he wasn't afraid of death because he said, I'm dealing with Krishna here. If I was dealing just with death, that would be one thing, but I'm dealing with Krishna. And I can't help but wonder, he's delivering some of the warriors in this way, because these were the very corrupt evil warriors. Is this the same way that some of the pious warriors would go? - Well, I don't think this is actually, it's not like Krishna's gonna bite these people. I think this is just sort of a imagery for their deaths. - It's not that it's actually happening this way. - Yeah, I think it's symbolic, right? It's symbolic to be like, okay, this is what's gonna happen after they die, right? - Instead of showcasing them killing each other, Arjuna is seeing Krishna being the one to devour them, because at the end of the day, Krishna's the controller and the destroyer and everything else. So, interesting, the beginning, the middle, the end, right? - So it's symbolic of that. - Krishna's showing himself being referenced to another episode, being the thread that's connecting all of the pearls. So instead of showing, yeah, like you said, them killing each other, that makes sense. - Yeah. - Okay, shall we do text 29, Sheamus and Gita? - Yes. Arjuna is still speaking. Arjuna says, I see all people rushing full speed into your mouths as moths dash to destruction in a blazing fire. - Wow. - See, again with the imagery, right? - Yeah, it's like the same, it's meant to be. It's a constant, it's meant to be, it's like a natural flow of life. - Yeah, these are all similes, actually, if you think about it, right? When you use like or as to showcase something similar, these are all similes. So it is very poetic, the way that he's using this language. - Mm-hmm. - It's very direct also. - Mause, yeah, go ahead. - Yeah, Mause dashing, like Mause are attracted to flames, right? And so they run towards the flame, or any sort of light. - Right. - And so all of these warriors are running towards your mouths because that is the inevitable death, yeah. - Ooh, well too shy. (laughing) - Wow, okay. - Text 30, shall we? - Oh Vishnu, again with the Vishnu. Arjuna says, oh Vishnu, I see you devouring all people from all sides with your flaming mouths, covering all the universe with your effulgence. You are manifest with terrible, scorching rays. It's interesting, again, the image of tons of rays of sun, but this time it doesn't feel peaceful and bright and it feels overwhelming and scary. - Can you read it one more time? - Yeah. - Oh Vishnu, I see you devouring all people from all sides with your flaming mouths, covering all the universe with your effulgence. You are manifest with terrible, scorching rays. - There's a lot of mouth and teeth content in this chapter, right? - And we're sure that that's not something that Krishna would do on a subtle layer that's like absolutely just for imagery's sake. - Yeah, but maybe it's a message to everyone listening to go to their dentists. - Yes, yeah, I agree. Or by a modern yogi podcast, "Tongue Scrapers." (laughing) I mean, there's a lot of teeth content and a lot of mouth content, and I feel like at the end of wherever these soldiers go, it's always into the mouth. - Well, I think that's mostly because the first parts in which Arjuna was describing the universal form, he was saying all your heads, right? So I think he's seeing the heads, Krishna's faces, and all of that more prevalent. And if you think about like how to showcase the death of people when you're just seeing like up close features, like they can die from going into his eyes or ears. That's like weird imagery, but the mouth is a way to-- - Right, yeah, and also flaming mouth, right? So in a lot of Eastern traditions, what happens when someone dies is you burn the body, right? You cremate the body. And so like this is this, I think there's a touch of notion of like, oh, cremation, and like that is the burning of the body, that is the death, yeah. - Now, the universal form itself is not just imagery. That's actually real there, how he's being described. That's all real. - Well, he's seeing all of this as real, but it's sort of a vision. Yeah, 'cause that's not how they die. They die in the battlefield. - No, no, I know, yeah. The people die in the battlefield, but Krishna's form with all the heads and all of that, that's real, that's not just real. - It's real, but he's also seeing a vision of it 'cause Krishna's showing him, right? - Right, right. - It's not like, like we said, right? It's something that is existing and not, depending on whether Krishna wants to show it. - Yeah, absolutely. - It's a tangible real, is it really Krishna? Yes, but it's mostly just like Krishna showcasing a vision of the future. - Yeah, right. But his form is real in the sense compared to, okay, him devouring the people, that's not really happening, that's just symbolic. So it's not like the universal form is also symbolic. No, that's his universal form. - Yeah, no, that's like a thing that's there. - Right, but the devouring of the soldiers, then that would be symbolic for how they die. - Vision of the future. Yes, it's symbolic of how they die. - Yes, yes, yes. Okay, yeah, that's it. - Mm-hmm, huh. - Yeah, interesting. - Okay. - Okay, should we keep going? - Yeah. - Priya Darshini, text 31. - Oh Lord of Lords, so fierce of form, please tell me who you are. I offer my obeisances unto you. Please be gracious to me. You're the primal Lord. I want to know about you, or I do not know what your mission is. - Interesting. - This is such a beautiful verse. - Should we break it down? - Yes, one sentence at a time. - Oh Lord of Lords, so fierce of form, please tell me who you are. - That's so interesting, like, even we can feel in relationships in this world, right? When you see another side to someone, depending on how drastic that side is, you might feel like, who are you? - I don't even know. - For good or for bad? - Yeah. - Isn't it the question that we're trying to figure out the most in life with, if we believe in a God, please tell me who you are. And I was just trying to know everything about Krishna. - Right. Wow, 'cause imagine for how old is Arjuna supposed to be here, for however many decades he was in age, he pictured Krishna as this soft, gentle, lovely friend, friend, cousin. - Yeah, and he sees this ferocious form all of a sudden. - And it is like, oh my God, who are you? - Yeah. - It can be disconcerting, like, you can be scary and, yeah, shake you up to not feel like, "Yeah, I don't know you." - Even if you understand the fact that Krishna is God, and he did, I think Arjuna understood this to some degree in previous chapters, I think seeing it is different, right? - Oh yeah. - Hearing, understanding, perceiving it is different. Seeing it in front of your eyes, Krishna as the destruction, is Krishna as all of these things, creation, destruction, all of these things, I think that takes it to a whole other level. - I've never really tried to imagine it this deep before, 'cause I've never had a long conversation about it, like this, yeah, but I can really imagine it's almost like, I don't know Arjuna's psychology in this moment, but I would imagine it's almost like a loss, like you're feeling a loss of the image of who you once thought you knew, and it's almost like a loss of like, but wait, who are you? I'm scared, please be gracious to me, 'cause this is the second time he's repeating, please be gracious to me, he said it already a couple times, so at least once for sure. - I don't know if it's a loss so much as like, I need to understand this better, because I don't understand it right now, it's so new and so scary to me, I just wanna know exactly who you are. - It's kind of like just like, I don't know, picture someone looking at you and just blinking like, what? - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - Wait, what, wait, wait, I thought I knew, but now I know something different, and it is a little scary. Wait, what, who are you, right? - Right. - But then I think the last part for me is really, I mean, obviously I'll keep reading it then, I offer my obeisances onto you, please be gracious to me. So he's showing a reverence, respect, he's showing that he understands that Krishna's the Supreme Personality of Godhead, right? - Right. - And he's also asking because of this fearful position that you're in, please be gracious to me. And then he's saying, you are the primal Lord, which is what Shama was saying earlier, right? You are the main, you're, you're, you're needed, it's a primal need, you're, does that, wait, can you explain primal Lord better? - Isn't that primal like from time immemorial, right? - It's the primal urge, like the most important. - The main emotional, the original, right, the original Lord. - The original Lord, the original Lord. - Yeah. - And then I want to know about you, or I do not know what your mission is. - Right, you see him chomping on heads and you're like, so what's the game plan here? (laughing) - What's the game plan here? Are we just gonna be doing this head-eating thing? 'Cause I just want to prepare myself, you know? - Like I believe in you. - Yeah. - I just love to know the next five steps, just so we're gonna see how to get the hair. - Yeah. - I think that's exactly what he's saying. - Yeah. - He's kind of like, okay, so you are guiding me, but now like what are you doing? Like what is your path? Like what, how do we move forward together? - Yeah. - How do we get from this moment to the head-eating? Like, let's jump that down. - Like he has enough trust in Christian that he's not like, okay, bye, I'm going this way and you do your thing. - I don't even think he can walk away if he wanted to. - Even if he wanted to walk away. - Right. - Like you're turning your back on the Supreme Universal Forum. I don't think he has the choice right now. - But even if he didn't have a choice, I think the incredible amazement that any of us wouldn't walk away because it's so fascinating, interesting, like just right. - Like the eyes would be glued. - Yeah. - Like a picture in a human-to-human relationship that like, let's bring it down to this earthly place. If your partner that you're in a relationship with reveals this whole side of them, the bam, totally bewilders, astonishes you, amazes you, scares you. If it's not solid enough of a relationship, you'd be like, all right, I'm terrified and I'm gonna go this way. - I'm awkward. - But if you have enough faith in the person, and this is something really out of this world and pure and great, you have enough faith to say, okay, show me what to do, where are we going with this? - Yeah. - And if you love the person, you accept all the layers of them, right? And right now, Christian is showing all the layers. Like we're all complex human beings, right? We're like layers of an onion. There are good things and bad things and just so many layers. And I think if he loves him and he trusts this relationship, he's also gonna love all these layers, too. - But before you get to that part, 'cause I feel like I can relate to having that experience, the first thing you go is, wait, what's happening? - Yeah. - What do you mean? - Who are you? Like what does that mean for us? Like all of these questions, right? Before you get to the acceptance of yes, of course, you know, I love you no matter what kind of thing, no matter if you're jumping heads or whatever, I think there's a part of you that's like, I need to understand more. - Yeah, totally, totally. Yeah, and even when I had said earlier, it's almost like a loss. - Yeah, maybe not, loss isn't the word, 'cause a loss sounds negative, but in a way, it is a loss of his previous conception of Krishna that he has to now bridge between, there is a gap or a discrepancy of their stuff I don't know. And that can be scary, the unknown. It's a leap of faith. So Arjuna is taking a massive leap of faith. - And it's about to get scary, yeah. - Oh, remember, remember, whenever you need to do a hymns of communication in your life, you wanna say something to somebody. You remember, you say, please be gracious to me. - Please be gracious to me. - No one can be a butt to you if you say, "Please be gracious to me." Okay, use that, take that and use it in your own personal lives. - And I think it's so powerful when you picture, right now Arjuna's kind of like, we're imagining him, but if you really picture Arjuna, like in all his glory, what he really looked like back then, they described like huge, arms, strong, powerful warrior, and then he's kind of there crippled with fear. Please be gracious to me, like, what did Arjuna say? - Please be gracious. - What did he say? - Please be gracious to me. - That was so beautiful. I love he turned into a little Italian man. - I know, I was like, what was that? - I was like, "Please be gracious to me." (laughing) Mario, please. (laughing) - That was so true, actually. If you think about the strongest person you can think of, whether famous or someone you know in your real life, and you see them always be like strong. - Yeah. - He's supposed to be representing-- - Strong, yeah. - Like, I can defeat anything, I can conquer anything, like, very much that energy, and then he's all of a sudden like, okay, I understand my position. Please be gracious unto me, like, this is no joke, like, there's something more here. - Like, you remember Arjuna's the best of the best of the best of the soldiers. Like, we haven't even gone into his prowess as a warrior, but if you hear the audible or book version of Mahabharat, he knows how to do all these, like, the Brahmastra weapon, how to invocate all these deep prayers to do these mystical weapons that only the demigods know of, like, far out stuff. - Oh, yeah. - And if any one of us was standing next to Arjuna, I would be saying, please be gracious to me, Arjuna. (all laughing) But, so then Arjuna's saying this, that just adds another layer. Sometimes we don't really picture what's happening or the epicness until we really try to paint the image in our minds. - Yeah, and like, imagine being the greatest warrior and you're afraid of something? - Yeah. - That must be really scary, you know? - Oh, yeah. - Yup. - Okay, I think we should go on, text 32. - Think Shama Sangita. - Shama Sangita. - Okay. - No, wow, Krishna is speaking now. - Okay. - Are you ready? - I'm ready. - I'm so excited we're getting ready. - Yeah. - Arjuna's like shaking on my boots, shaking on my boots. Okay, now it's time for Krishna. - Can you do it in the voice you'd imagine Krishna to say it in? - Absolutely not. I feel like that would be blasphemous. (all laughing) But maybe for like this part. - That's a good person to respond. - I didn't expect him, but great answer. - Yeah, I'm trying to get back to Godhead, okay? - Don't drag me down. - I can't come back again because I did this one really problematic voice on this podcast one lifetime and now I'm back again. - Oh no, I made Arjuna sound like an Italian man. - No, but that's okay. This is Krishna. - You didn't read Krishna's words. - Okay, you're right. - You read Arjuna saying something in an Italian voice. You just, you know. - Okay, yeah. - I feel like I've done this before in many other lifetimes and now I'm here as a comedian. So I can't come back again. - Okay, you got this. - Okay, Krishna says, the Supreme personality of Godhead said, "Time I am the great destroyer of worlds "and I have come to destroy all people "with the exception of you, the Pandavas. "All the soldiers here on both sides will be slain." - Whoa, oh my God. - This is the quote from Oppenheimer. Oppenheimer? - Yeah. - Oppenheimer. - Oppenheimer. You've never seen that movie over there about the man that built that bomb, Oppenheimer? - Dear Lord. - Yeah. - Oppenheimer. - This literally is time I am the great destroyer of worlds. - Can you read it one more time? - Dear Lord, the Supreme personality of Godhead said, "Time I am the great destroyer of worlds "and I have come here to destroy all people "with the exception of you, the Pandavas. "All the soldiers here on both sides will be slain." - Wow. - Okay, so I feel like there's two parts of this text, one part in which he's generalizing about in general who he is. So when he says, Krishna says, "Time I am the great destroyer of the worlds." I think, does that mean that in general, like we all go through cycles of death and birth and death and birth and at the end of the day, he is the destroyer? Is that how you guys perceive it? - Well, that could be one, there's so many layers, right? That's definitely there. We know Krishna represents, Krishna is death, so he'll come for us at the end, hopefully in a good way. - He'll come nicely for us, hopefully. - Krishna, please be gracious. - Please be gracious to us. - Yeah. - And what's the other way you think about it? - Well, and then I think the other part of it, he's saying, "I have come here to destroy all people "with the exception of Yupandavas." So that's more in the moment, right? In a general sense, Krishna is time the destroyer of the worlds. And then in this precise moment, he's come here to destroy all people, all soldiers on both sides, except the Pandavas. So like a general and like a very specific to both. - Right, I think that's totally accurate because Krishna did come in this role, in this specific time, in this dynasty, to fulfill also a purpose. He didn't just come to hang out with Arjuna. He needed to kind of cleanse the earth of all the sinful rulers. So that was the purpose. Everyone needed to die except the Pandavas. And in a way, this answers, I think even further, the question Priya when you said, why did it, I think it was the previous episode, why did it have to be Arjuna that had to fight if it was going to happen anyways? Well, there you go. The Pandavas really were the only ones that, one of the only ones, or the only ones that survived. Everyone else was slain. Yeah, actually, Prabhupada says here in the purport, he says, the Lord is saying that even if he did not fight, every one of them would be destroyed for that was his plan, meaning Krishna's plan. If Arjuna stopped fighting, they would die in another way. Death could not be checked, even if he did not fight. - Wow, and the next line is deep. In fact, they were already dead. - There's an interesting comparison of tonality, right? - So the last time Krishna spoke, it was chapter 11, text eight, and he said something so nicely, but you cannot see me with your present eyes, therefore I give you divine eyes, behold my mystic opulence. And then, so just know, like that's like generous, like you can't see me with your eyes. So here, therefore, I'm going to give you this beautiful VR headset where you can see my divine vision. And then shift in tonality, because I want you to imagine this great colossal, big universal form. And the tone of this verse is in that mood of who Krishna is right now, right? Because remember, we're still seeing the universal form. And it's just like, there's no pleasantries. He's like cutting to the chase. It's like, this is who I am, time I am, the great destroyer of worlds. And I've come here to destroy all people. Like the tonality change in the universal form is so different and so contrary to how Krishna was in the beginning of this book, right? - Absolutely, that's a good point, yeah. - It was so powerful. - It's super powerful. And I also think it very much answers a question I had on the previous episode, right? Because I was like, but why does Arjuna have to do this? And I think Prabhupad here and Krishna are both explaining to us that like, I think this is what I'm understanding. So you guys clarify me if I'm understanding it differently. I think Krishna is saying, if they do not, if they were not to die in this battlefield, they would die a different way. It is meant to be that they die in this way. I am sort of resetting humanity. I am resetting, you know, the balances of good and evil. And this is gonna happen whether you fight or not. - Right, right, absolutely. Right, 'cause your initial question was, why did it have to be Arjuna, right? And in a sense, I think Krishna is saying like, just because it's your duty, there is nothing to it about like, if you didn't, this would happen anyway. So you just do your duty. - Yep, right, 'cause the line right before that whole part you read, Priya was basically saying, "Arjuna, no surprise, he wasn't in favor of the fight. "He thought it was better not to fight." And then there would be no frustration, right? Because right, in a way, I think Arjuna thought if the fight didn't happen, his family wouldn't die. - Right, and that would be easier for everybody. - Right, because there was a part, I don't know if it was in the Mahabharata here that Arjuna talked about, "Yeah, what good is it "to have this whole kingdom and all the riches "if my family isn't even alive here? "What good is it?" So right, Arjuna was against it because he thought there would be no frustration because things would continue as they are. - Yeah, it would be a lose. - Right, that's why Krishna replied this that they were already dead. So might as well do it in this way under my instruction. - Which, again, sounds so intense. But if you understand, I guess karma, reincarnation, and everything, he's saying, "First of all, "they were gonna die no matter what, but second of all, "I have decided that this is where everyone's gonna die, "except the Pandavas." So this was gonna happen regardless based on the decision that I made sort of thing. - Interesting, because you know what, we can, and just briefly, we can apply this to our own lives whenever we go through a pain, suffering, if someone hurts us, anything. You might think, "You know what? "This was just the instrument. "This was meant to happen to me one way or another, "whether it was this person or this situation, "or another one. "Krishna will find the way to deliver me "this learning lesson." - For sure. - Yeah, you guys ever seen the movie series, Final Destination? - Maybe. - I know what you're talking about, but no, because I don't like scary stuff. - Oh, yeah, it was in the early 2000s. Anyways, so like, the whole premise is that the way that you're gonna die is already laid out, but it's the moment you try to escape death, it doesn't matter, it's still gonna find you in the way that it was supposed to find you, right? So it's very similar here where it's like, "Okay, this is gonna happen no matter what." Whether you play a role or not, it's gonna happen, yeah. - And in a way, this will be, for them, probably the most auspicious way to die because it's at the hands of Krishna and his eternal associates, you know? And the other death wouldn't be as glorified. - That's fair. Wow, that, krishna came in hard. - No, Krishna's coming in hot in this universal form, okay? And like, the shift in verbiage and tonality is like really emphasizing that, hey, like I know I'm God and I can be gentle and cute and try to guide you and be your friend and all that stuff. But there are so many sides to me. Like when it's time to like deliver karma, like this is the mood that I'm gonna be in. And like, I respect that. That's pretty like boss mentality. - Yeah, it's necessary. - It's necessary, right? Because the world is a harsh place. And if we have a God who's gentle but also tough, then it's like, yeah, he can handle everything. - Yeah. - Also, if I was there, Juna, which, you know, if I put myself in his shoes, you know, last episode, I was like, well, why does it have to be me? And in this, and if I'm more Juna, listening to Krishna say what he just said, I would be like, okay, so I just gotta listen to you. You've told me you are the supreme. You've told me you've decided this. You told me this is my Dharma. I understand this is my Dharma. Okay, I just gotta do it, right? Like for a place, for a person who is in a place of indecision, after hearing and understanding all of that, it's still a hard decision. And Krishna is saying you really don't have, like, whatever choice you choose, it doesn't matter, the outcome will be the same. So just do your duty. - I like Priya that in the previous episode, you expressed that apprehension at, why is Krishna, it sounds harsh that Krishna's pushing him to kill them because it's almost like we're real time experiencing our Juna's emotions with him to the point where really Krishna almost seems inhumane that you're telling him to do this. And then on the flip side, like we think our Juna has points, like, yeah, it makes sense what our Juna is saying, why is Krishna doing this? And then we hear Krishna's argument is like, ah, okay, right, I get it. Like, it's just so interesting that we as the reader go through our Juna's emotions. - Yeah, no for sure. - It's also important to remember that no one is in control except for Krishna. Whether in this situation or in our personal lives, right? There are things that are gonna happen, things that are taken away, things that we get, like bad situations, like car accidents, whatever it is, right? There are things that happen to us. And we have to remember that we are not in control. Whatever karma is meant to play out is meant to play out. - Yeah. - And that is so hard to accept, but the moment we understand it and surrender to it, it's also a blissful way to live too. - Yeah, you apply that very well, Shama, in your life, right? - I try to because I have to remember that I'm not in control. And the moment I think I'm in control of anything, I'm only fooling myself, you know? So like, all I can control are my own thoughts and my own actions. And beyond that, I can't control anything else. - Yeah. - That's it. - We really can't. - Yeah. - Shama? - I think you should read the next one. It's like Krishna is just like, ooh, I'm just coming in. - He's just coming in there. He's coming in high. - Yeah, very. - Coming in high. - Text 33, Shama. - Okay. Krishna says, therefore get up, prepare to fight and win glory, conquer your enemies and enjoy a flourishing kingdom. They are all, they are already put to death by my arrangement. And you, oh, (speaks in foreign language) - Say it again? - (speaks in foreign language) - (speaks in foreign language) can be but an instrument in the fight. - Oh, wow, that was very commanding. - Right? - Yeah, we didn't want that mood. Okay, therefore get up, prepare to fight and win glory, conquer your enemies and enjoy a flourishing kingdom. They are already put to death by my arrangement. And you, oh, (speaks in foreign language) can be but an instrument in the fight. So, interesting. - Okay, first and foremost, I want to say that I, the word (speaks in foreign language) or that, I've heard that term before, but it's like luxury, linga like fashion design. - Oh, interesting. - It's very, very luxurious. - Very, very luxurious brand. And I've never knew that it was related to Krishna in some way. And so it's really cool to see. - It's actually a name for Arjuna. It says refers to one who can shoot arrows very expertly in the field. - Right, that's interesting. And for this verse, it has that meaning that thus Arjuna is addressed as an expert warrior, capable of delivering arrows to kill his enemies and quote, "just become an instrument." - Well, it's very ironic that it's now a luxury, sorry brand, but we're gonna let that one go. - Yeah, and I think in terms of just becoming an instrument, I think it's, again, I'm just feeling Arjuna and I'm understanding it more and more. You have a choice, you could leave if you want to, but if you understand Dharma, you understand, it is your responsibility to fight as like a chadriya, that is your job. But at the end of the day, like what I want you to know is, regardless of whether you fight or not, they will die. And because you know that the best thing that you can do is do your Dharma, continue moving forward and just be an instrument for what decision I've already made. - Totally, totally. - Totally, absolutely. It's so interesting understanding more of, yeah, how Arjuna might be interpreting this, the like Shama, you were saying, the shift in Krishna's tone, things are getting intense, things are getting real. And like you were saying, Priya, how Arjuna's processing it, right, the whole world, Prabhupada said, is moving according to the plan of Krishna and someone who just isn't aware of that, Prabhupada calls them foolish persons, who don't have sufficient knowledge, think that nature is moving without a plan and all manifestations are but accidental formations. And we've already established not a blade of grass moves without Krishna's control. So this is like, why would this be any different? - Yeah, the niceties and the pleasantries are out the window right now. - Right. - It's just like literally, it's just like, therefore get up, prepared to fight and win glory. - Right, yeah. It says, Prabhupada says, "Thus the battle of Grecchitra was fought according to the plan of God." - Mm-hmm, yeah. - He had already made a plan. He already had decided how he was gonna go. - Yeah. - And I think that applies to our life too, right? I think Krishna already has a plan for all of our lives and we just have to do the work, right? And then the rest, we just have to be the instrument. I think an astrologer once told me with regards to my comedy career, he was like, you have to just write, write the jokes without attachment to anything. And Krishna has already laid out that plan for you, but you have to do the work without any attachment to fame or anything in regards to the comedy career. And I was like, we just have to trust that, you know? We just have to do the work and know that Krishna will take care of us at the end. And whatever shape and form, karmically, it needs to manifest. We just need to trust. - Right. - Does that make sense? - Yeah, for sure. And I think that some people, my question, well, what about free will and all of that? I think the reality is Arjuna has free will right now. He's having this conversation because he was choosing, he was going to choose to leave and walk away from all of this and he could still do so. But Krishna is saying, because we have the free will, it's good to inform ourselves and understand the situation and understand what the plan is, right? Ooh, you know what this makes me think of? 'Cause talking about free will, that's a good point. Like, one might think, oh, if everything's predestined, do we not have free will? Yeah, we totally have free will to act in a proper way or act in a way that will acquire more karma, which made me think of the other day we heard Bhaji Narayan Swami talk and he referenced the verse action in action versus not... What's that verse we read that we broke down the super complicated one? In action, in action, in action, in action. So, yeah, so basically action being karma. So the Bhagavad Gita gives us, basically Krishna has given Arjuna the steps prior to this of how to act in a proper way that won't acquire more karma versus not acting at all, which he wanted to run away to the forest, ultimately would acquire, would gain him bad karma, essentially, because he's not doing his duty. So we do have free will, but with that free will, hopefully we will choose to act in accordance to the divine plan being laid out in front of us, which can be really hard to tell in the given moment. Arjuna is having someone tell him exactly what to do, but we don't necessarily have that all the time. Absolutely. So we got to listen to Krishna in our hearts and our guts because Krishna is there to guide us. Yeah. And I get theoretically that Arjuna has free will, but imagine like you've seen a hundred thousand suns and mouths and bellies and teeth and like all these demigods and literally everything that has been laid on the chapter. And then Krishna says something like get up and fight. And like, I don't know, Arjuna would be shaking in his boots. Like, you know, like I would listen to anything that Krishna says at that moment because I need to do it. Otherwise you're going to kill me. Like, I mean, he's not going to kill him. But like, like I would be shaking in my boots right now. If someone yelled at me, it said this. Right, but we're not even done with this buggo. Gita, so who knows what else Krishna will say or how else he'll say it? Oh, I like how, wait, sorry, repeat the last line that you said, Priya? We're not even, I mean, we're almost done, but we're not quite there yet. And so there's so much for Krishna to still say and how he will say it too. 'Cause right now he's like, no, no, there's nonsense anymore. I've been sweet, I've been loving, I've explained all the things, but you have to understand this is going to happen no matter what. Just get up and do what you're supposed to do. But in any conversation, in any maybe arguments or conflict that there might be, there will be a moment in which everything will be very intense. And then it can calm down again. And then it can be like, well, you know what? I love you no matter what. And if I was Arjuna in this situation and knowing me is like super non-confrontational, this is the exact moment in the Gita where I would start crying. (laughing) It had to be important. Like at this moment, I'd be like, okay. (laughing) But like I would just like, ball of tears. You know, I like there's one part of the purport where Prabhupad says, 'cause right, he's basically saying everything's moving in accordance to Krishna's plan. Foolish persons think that maybe it's all by accident. So then Prabhupad says there's many so-called scientists who suggest that, well, perhaps it is this way, all by accident, maybe like that. But there's no question, perhaps, maybe they're theorizing. There is a specific plan being carried out in this material world. And Prabhupad says, what is this plan? That this whole cosmic manifestation is a chance for the conditions and souls to go back to Godhead, back home. And it made me think of, again, 'cause we just heard his talk, what Bhadrinarayan Swami says, that if in nature and physics and all the sciences, there's all of these laws that govern that, right? Numerous laws, I can't even remember. Back to the scientific, every action, there's an opposite and equal reaction, but there's laws that govern the physical world. Why would we think that there are no laws that govern our human bodies? Do we not think we can just go through the world totally free of all governing laws? Like the law of karma, do we think we wouldn't, if laws apply to every aspect of this world, how would we move forwards in life without any laws applying to us? So yeah, basically is trying to fine-tune, what is God's plan? How can I move in accordance to God's plan? And yeah, it's easy here 'cause Arjuna's being told what the plan is. - Yeah, I've literally seen the plans. - Yeah, and we can learn from Arjuna to understand what he was thinking and kind of make all our choices. I am so excited for the next minute, like I'm just looking forward to what else Krishna's gonna say. - Well, should we get to it? - Yes. - Let's do it. All right, Preadarshini text 34, right? - Okay, sure. - Yeah? - Drona, Bhishma, Jayadrata, Karna, and other great warriors have already been destroyed by me. Therefore, kill them and do not be disturbed. Simply fight and you will vanish your enemies in battle. - Banquish. - Banquish. - Your enemies in battle. - Nice. Okay, so all of these people, Drona, Bhishma, these are all the Karna, the Corvas, right? This is on the evil side. And other great warriors have been destroyed by me. Krishna, therefore kill them, do not be disturbed. - He's reiterating the same sort of message just to put his text. - Right, right, right. - Yeah, and the purport suite, 'cause it says every plan is made by the Supreme Personality, by Krishna, but he's so kind and merciful to his devotees that he wants to give the credit to his devotees who carry out his plan according to his desire. Here, it's a little, it feels a little tough love. Like, okay, Arjuna, you gotta go kill him, go kill him for me, in our own lives, it'll be a little more easygoing, whenever we do great things, that was probably Krishna's plan, right? - Like, this podcast is literally just thinking about that. - I wish you the plan, can you just happen to be, you know, in LA. - In LA. - The instruments that Krishna wanted to execute this plan. - Yeah. - Yeah. - He gave us, like, a sound engineer, just like, who, you happen to be married to? And then we're at Ella's house, who just does social media, like we literally, there wasn't a lot of work that it naturally came together. I think Krishna wasn't half a master in all of it. - I think we all felt that it, how seamlessly it came together, Krishna was behind it. - And I gotta say, we get a lot of, I mean, a few at least messages here and there are people who want to do a podcast too. And sometimes it's like a single person, they'll ask me, like, oh, like, how did you guys do it? And sometimes it's, I'm like not sure what to say, because it really was Krishna's plan. Like, the fact that it all came together, there's five of us, each person does something different, and it all comes together, and it is so much work, and everyone's just so happy to dedicate this time, and it's incredible. And I think it would be really hard to recreate, it's hard. - Oh my God, yeah. - Unless you're very determined, or unless Krishna has a plan for you, because it hasn't felt so hard for us. - Yeah, literally Krishna is puppeteering this whole thing, because we didn't do a lot of hard work for it to happen. - Totally. - I mean, we do the hard work now, like that. There is a lot of effort, but in order for it to manifest, it was very, very Krishna's hand. - Oh yeah, so yeah, and Krishna's letting us like, be the faces of it, and take the credit, quote unquote, as Prabhupada says, he's so merciful and loving, but he's really the, he's the silent orchestrator behind it all, and takes no credit for any of it. - Yeah, and if Krishna is our talents, right, then Krishna's speaking through us. - Oh yeah, oftentimes I feel that way. Sometimes we feel more prepared, like we read more, and we highlight more, we do. Sometimes we have a little less, but it does feel like Krishna's speaking, like you, whatever we say, it's like maybe what's just perfectly meant to be said, because then when you say something, you say something that amazes me, and I'm like, wow, I can't, wow, that's amazing. - And that's not me, okay, let me just tell you, okay. It's very like, no, I never plan any of this stuff. Some of this stuff just comes from Krishna through me, and I'm like, whoa, cool, man. - I feel the same way, yeah. - That I feel like that's Krishna in so many ways. I cannot take the credit for that. - That's what all of our spiritual masters and spiritual masters in this whole movement and around the world, they more and more try to get in line with speaking and acting in a way that is their spiritual master working through them, which ultimately it's Krishna. So it becomes a very esoteric process of our words and actions almost, it sounds funny to say, don't even become our own, because we're trying to be in tune with Krishna speaking to us in our hearts. What can I say that's really Krishna's will? And that might feel like I'm giving up my own control, but it's the most liberating feeling when you tap into Krishna's higher power. - Yeah, it is, it's something that we can't control, and I'm so grateful to Krishna for putting us in this position and allowing us to say all these things and to learn from each other, because at the end of the day, whatever Krishna's sending through you, I'm learning from whatever Krishna's sending through me, you're learning, and like in the world, it's just kind of growing from this experience. - Hmm, yeah. And you know, when you were saying, Priya, how do we know, 'cause here Arjuna's being directly told his plan, how should we know it's a little harder for us to know our own plan? So Prabhupad also hints a little bit at, okay, life should move in such a way that we act in Krishna consciousness and under the Supreme personality of God and through the medium of a spiritual master. So the plans of the Supreme are understood by his mercy, and also the plans are devotees of his devotees are as good as his own plans. So that's when we seek guidance by spiritual teachers, by devotees, 'cause it's as good as then hearing Krishna's plan, 'cause when I'm not fine-tuned enough to hear Krishna speaking to me directly, that's why I seek guidance, my spiritual teachers, spiritual friends, and they all go guiding you through his devotees. - I love Prabhupad's specific use of spiritual master, because I think it's a good reminder. Like if you, obviously if you have access, always ask, if you're feeling confused about what to do in your life, ask your spiritual master, and if it's not that person, maybe a mentor, or someone like that, but I think like, now thank you for that reminder, it's really helpful, and I'm gonna go like, what would my guru say in this situation a little bit more for myself? - Yeah, that's Prabhupad's reminder. And then through you. - What can I say? We're all instruments. (laughing) And it feels great to be an instrument. It's a cycle of like just feeling the mercy, 'cause when you feel like Krishna said something through me, it's so empowering. It doesn't take away your own control. And the last line, Prabhupad says, "One should follow such plans and be victorious in the struggle for existence." So we're on the battlefield also ladies. We're trying to be victorious in the struggle of existence. Feels like that, something. - Yeah, the battlefield of our material lives. (laughing) It's not as dangerous, but sometimes it feels like it. - It feels like that. - It feels intense. I'm so excited, guys, because for the next episode, Sanjaya is gonna speak again. - I love me some Sanjaya. - I love him, he's my bestie, it's gonna be great. - Oh, love it. - So excited. - Please join us next time for chapter 11, text number 35. - Hi, Krishna. - See you next time. - Bye. - Bye. (upbeat music) - Hello, beautiful souls. 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