Questioner (Q): Who are the various Gods?
Acharya Prashant (AP): Who is Indra? A power within me! I am asking myself, тАШтАЩPlease, bestow wellbeing on yourself.тАЭ What am I telling myself? тАЬKindly be good to yourself.тАЭ Too much to ask for, too much? We keep wanting others to be good to us, but very rarely do we want ourselves to be good to us. The Upanishads are filling in that small little gap. "Before you want others to help you, come on! Be responsible and help yourself!" Therefore тАШBrihaspatiтАЩ is neither a planet nor a faraway God. WhoтАЩs Brihaspati? Your own potential for wisdom is Brihaspati. IsnтАЩt Brihaspati the God of learning? Now, who would learn for you? Is some deity going to come and learn on your behalf? Tell me, please?
So, when you really want to learn, when you are devoted to learn, you are Brihaspati. Or you can be one of the demons who fights Brihaspati. Brihaspati is a great teacher. The teacher does exist within you, no? IsnтАЩt that what the scriptures repeatedly say? And we fail to comprehend what do they mean when they say, тАЬThe teacher exists within you!тАЭ
Can you be taught without your consent? Tell me! ThatтАЩs Brihaspati within you. The faculty to say тАШyesтАЩ to learning. The ability to exercise the option to learn. To learn from a book, from life, from a person, from yourself, your own life experiences, from anything and everything; thatтАЩs Brihaspati. Getting it?
And then there is Tarkshya, who is called тАШArishtanemi*тАЩ, who doesnтАЩt allow bad things to happen to you. Now, who can prevent bad things from happening to you when all the badness is inside? Obviously,







