Acharya Prashant: Some battles need to be fought just because they deserve to be fought. Not for the sake of victory but for the sake of the fight itself. Huh? And victory is indeed possible. We are all hypnotized since birth. That's what is called maya. The most fundamental hypnosis. Maya. We are hypnotized. Just as somebody can hypnotize us, somebody can also break the hypnosis. It is possible. Never never lose faith. It's possible.
And even if you perished in the attempt, it's a life well-lived. It's a death well deserved. There is glory not only in living, there is glory also in perishing. What's the problem if one perishes for the right reason or is there a problem?
How long did Bhagat Singh live? Do you look at him as a loser? Oh! loser died just when he was twenty-two or twenty-three, do you say that? Who in his right mind would call Bhagat Singh a loser? Just because he lived only twenty-two years. What's the problem in perishing at twenty-two?
Fight the right battle. That's it. And remember, they don't have some kind of a copyright over victory. Arjuna was never guaranteed a victory. But it turned out that Arjuna won. And Shri Krishna never tells Arjuna, not a single verse in the entire Bhagavad Gita, ‘Arjuna, I am with you. You will definitely win.’ And Shri Krishna could have very easily made that promise. Don't you find it surprising?
Shri Krishna never makes that promise. All he says is you have to fight. You have to fight and I'll not assist you. I'll never pick up weapons. The fight is yours. You will fight it and you must fight. Fight. And he does win. It's possible he might not have won. Still the Gita stands its place.
Let's say Arjuna was killed. Would that undervalue the Gita? Doesn't matter. Doesn't matter. Duryodhana won. Arjuna got killed. Arjuna fought valiantly and was martyred. Fine. Very fine.
So try and don't think too much of the result. The attempt is sufficient. Make it a heartful, honest attempt in love. Love the fight. That's real love. Give all your inner space to something that is beautiful for you. Let there be no vacancy.
Get a headband. No vacancy. Or have a t-shirt. Straight on your heart here. No vacancy, occupied, engaged. The knowers in the spiritual domain, they have said, ‘We are wedded already.’ And not only in the spiritual domain, obviously, you know of Bhagat Singh.
He was just twenty-two or twenty-three when he laid down his life. His mother had approached him once, ‘You'll have to marry, you'll have to marry.’ He said but I already am. And she is shocked. How can my son do that? What's her name? And what did he say? What did he say? Azadi.
So no vacancy. The girls are all beautiful but sorry. No vacancy. Already married. No, we can see and that's why you remember him today and that's why all others have become the dust of time and Bhagat Singh is immortal even though he left his body at twenty-three, yet he is immortal and there were those who lived long lives for ninety years and yet as we say are just the dust of time. Who cares for them? That's the difference.
Have an early wedding. As early as possible. Not the kind of wedding that requires social, religious, and legal sanction and ceremonies and internal wedding. Let nobody know of it. Freedom. Azadi.
What do you think? Bhagat Singh had time to think of miscellaneous things. How occupied he was, you know of it. Even on the eve of his hanging, he was still reading the Bhagavad Gita, a copy of that, in fact, that particular copy is still preserved. Or was he thinking, ‘Tomorrow, I'll die. What will happen, then? Was he thinking?’ No.
He said, "But I still have a few hours. Let me spend these hours with the beloved. I have something very important to do." Or was he doing nothing in particular? Was he doing nothing in particular even in his last hours? No. He said, "Let me spend this time reading." And he was a voracious reader. At your age, he was so well read. Never had any time to waste.
I don't know if this one is from Bhagat Singh or one of the other great revolutionaries. But they actually marked the last page they read in their favorite book. And somebody out of curiosity asked them and said, "Tomorrow you are going to be hanged. You'll be no more. Why are you marking this page?"
And very mystically he said because I have to continue from there. No time for self-pity, inner misery, sad thoughts, no time. I'm busy with the right thing even in my last moments. Huh?
How about such a life? Does it not excite you?