You Don't Understand the Bhagvad Gita, But You Still Claim That You Love Krishna?
Questioner: Pranam Acharya Ji, for us, Shri Krishna is the God. We read Bhagavad Gita because it was said by God. When God is not the Truth, how can Bhagavad Gita, His verses, be the truth?
Acharya Prashant: Because the Bhagavad Gita does not demand that you believe in God. The Bhagavad Gita is right there in front of you. It is not demanding any belief of any kind. Are you coming to Bhagavad Gita for what the Bhagavad Gita is? Or are you coming to the Gita because of your belief that it was sent down?
Are you disrespecting the Gita? I'm asking.
Questioner: No, actually, we believe Krishna is God, and whatever He said, it should be Truth.
Acharya Prashant: So, you are believing that God narrated the Gita; therefore, Gita has value.
Questioner: Actually, that is the Truth.
Acharya Prashant: Then why am I speaking to you on the Gita? I'm elaborating the Gita so that you can respect the Gita on its merit, not on its pedigree or ancestry.
What if tomorrow, in some way, it is revealed, just hypothetically, that this one came from Ved Vyasa? Because the entire Mahabharata is coming from Ved Vyasa. The Gita too is a part of Mahabharata, so it came from Ved Vyasa. So, you will say, "No, no, no, I don't want to touch the Gita anymore"?
Doesn't the Gita deserve respect on its own?
If you ask me, "Who is Shri Krishna?" I will say, "The author of Gita." The Gita comes first. Who is Shri Krishna? Somebody says, "Is there any proof that Shri Krishna existed?" The Gita exists, right? So, there will be some author. So, that author is Shri Krishna. No other proof is needed.
God?
If by God you mean the highest, then Truth is God. Truth is God. There is a great difference in these two positions. You say, "God is Truth." Now, that's a statement of belief. And I say, "Truth is God." It's not the same thing as A equals B versus B equals A. No, not the same thing.
You start from your life, right? And you look at falseness. Truth is that which reduces your falseness and, therefore, your suffering. Therefore, Truth is very intimate. And that's why we respect Truth. Because we are living creatures who love life. Therefore, Truth is the highest, because we all want to have a high life.
Truth is God, and the Gita deserves merit for itself. Why? Because the Gita dissolves our falseness and brings us closer to Truth. Therefore, the Gita deserves respect. And who is Shri Krishna then? The author of the Gita. The preceptor, the great teacher. And therefore, Shri Krishna deserves respect.
The model you are operating from is a model that doesn't really respect the Gita. What you are saying is, "I don't know what the Gita says, but I have been told by way of tradition that there exists some God called Shri Krishna, and Shri Krishna gave the Gita, so I'll just respect the Gita."
That's what the Lok Dharmis do. Without understanding the Gita, they keep making a show of respect. They'll keep saying, "Gita ji, Gita ji, Gita ji."
You ask them, "Please tell me a little bit."
"No, no, no, Gita ji. We'll keep the book on the head. Gita ji.”
Sir, the book is meant to be dived deep into. The book is meant to be fallen in love with. The book is meant to be understood to the core. Instead, you have turned it into an object of ritualistic, symbolic affection.
How does that help? It hurts me to hear this. That we respect the Gita because the name of Shri Krishna is attached to it. Shri Krishna doesn't come first; the Gita comes first. Only the Gita can teach you what Krishnatva means. So, tell me who comes first? Tell me who comes first?
Questioner: Gita.
Acharya Prashant: If you'll ask me who is Shri Krishna, I will say the Bhagavad Gita itself is Shri Krishna. If Shri Krishna is Nirguna and Nirakara, formless and attributeless, the Bhagavad Gita is the Saguna Sakara Rupa of Shri Krishna. The words are there, accessible to the senses. Therefore, the Gita is Saguna Krishna.
The Gita comes first. And the Gita will teach you the Truth of Shri Krishna. Gita comes first, then the Gita takes you to Shri Krishna. But you are inverting the whole thing. You are saying, "My belief in Shri Krishna comes first." But all beliefs come from the ego. All beliefs exist to protect the ego. All beliefs are imaginations meant to reinforce the ego. And if Shri Krishna is just your belief, then what are you reducing Shri Krishna to? An object of your own ego. That's disrespect.
Worship the Bhagavad Gita as Shri Krishna himself. And how to worship? By understanding it. Because that's what the text demands. If you bow down to the book ten times a day, what's the point? There is the text. There are the verses. They are written in a particular language. They are intelligible. Comprehend. Interpret. Meditate. Pay attention. Use all your faculties. That's what is worship of the Gita. And worshipping the Gita is the best way of worshipping Shri Krishna. So, understanding the Gita is the best way of worshipping Shri Krishna.
The Bhagavad Gita and Shri Krishna are inseparable. Do you get this? Don't take the inverted route where you say, "I love Shri Krishna because of the stories about Shri Krishna. I love Krishna because of the stories about Shri Krishna. And then the stories also say Shri Krishna wrote the Gita. Therefore, I'm going to Gita."
No, no, no. The Gita stands tall on its own. The Gita deserves respect on its own merit. The Gita needs no stories to support its caliber. Take away all the stories. The Gita still remains equally valuable. You don't need stories to appreciate the importance of the Gita.
Go to the Gita, and the Gita will tell you what Krishnatva means and, therefore, who Shri Krishna is. In fact, there are just so many verses where Shri Krishna introduces himself. You want to know Shri Krishna, understand the Gita.
*Questioner: Namaskaram, Acharyaji. So, you've been doing a wonderful job of teaching spirituality to everyone. So, I find it very good. I speak with other followers, so I was getting a feeling like whatever you are doing with spirituality, you are imparting, some are there other people also doing these things in the whole world, or before you, or afterwards, will anyone else also be doing these things? So, getting resources from other people and giving them to the right people. So, are you the only one who is getting the right thing? Are there other people who are giving the right thing?
Acharya Prashant: I'm so humble. How do I say yes? Can somebody do it for me, please?
Listener: Yes sir.
Acharya Prashant: I'm a shy person. I love to keep to myself. Being here is a duty, a responsibility. I never like to be with crowds, never. I would have never taken this role upon myself had I found somebody deserving enough to be served. And I looked out a lot, and I kept looking out for almost a decade. And it was with great disappointment that I had to take this responsibility upon myself.
Else, I would have served some better and more deserving master. Just that I could not afford to deceive myself and say, "You know, this one is the available option, and since this one is the one available, so I'll go for him." I set my standards high. I said, "It's not about who is available. It's about who is deserving."
Maybe I set the standards too high. I couldn't find anybody deserving. Not somebody who is alive. None at all. Believe me, I won't have held this mic otherwise. Not my job. I love to be with myself, all by myself. I would rather write something.
I remain uneasy within because I cannot write. I love the arts. I would have loved to perform, theatre, drama, there were so many other things. I could have travelled. I've had to sacrifice all of that. I love to play. I gave up all of that because it was needed that I occupy this stage. This stage is not a place I deeply enjoy being at. Though once I'm here, I'm in. It's meditation for me. But given a choice, I would be somewhere else. Unfortunately, the choice didn't exist.
Then the question: there are others doing this. Am I the only one? Only you can judge, sir. Only you can judge. It's not about watching a performance and deciding a winner. It's about taking care of your own suffering. And only you can tell whether and where your suffering has truly been addressed. How do I do that for you?
It's like asking the medicine, "Are you the only medicine?" Only you can tell. Only you can tell who has succeeded in healing you. You are the only judge.
There exist medicines, toxins, and placebos. And only you can tell which one is which because you are the experiencer. It's all about addressing your life, your constraints, your bondages, your darkness.
Only you can tell whether and where your darkness has been illuminated. Who am I to claim something? And if I indeed do claim, let's say, hypothetically, if I claim I am the one and only one, it will be with a heavy heart because I don't want to be the one or the only one. I don't even want to be one among many. Left to me, I would simply disappear. I don't particularly relish being called Acharya Ji because that's not who I am. It's a burden, bluntly put.
My dreams are about flying away and never being seen again. And flying away without leaving a footprint, an imprint, without leaving a trace. Disappearing totally. Never to be found, not even by myself.
Why should one covet being the one if being the one implies answering stupid questions all day? Please tell me. Who would want to swap roles with me? My position is very unenviable. After pouring out my heart for an hour and a half, somebody gets up and says, "You know, you have not explained right."
Didi said she listens to the Gita only because of the name of the publisher. This is after three years of the Gita program. You really think I want to be me? No way. One day, I'll simply beg forgiveness and disappear, as I cannot take it anymore.
How I wish those in charge, formally and officially in charge of religion, did their duty. How I wish. But from where I looked at the teachers and their institutions, they were not just failing, but actually defrauding. Therefore, I had to enter to play a cameo. I don't want to play the lead. You understand a cameo? A little entertaining role, and then just vanishes.
This stage is not mine. I would rather be playing tennis at this time. And this is actually my tennis hour. Why should I be here? Facing double faults. I would rather be serving aces.
In fact, what you are expressing is, in some way, a manifestation of my own desire. I want something within me, want everybody to be so suspicious of me that you all leave me. And that will be my liberation. Let somebody come up with such a huge exposed video or a cover story in an international journal that you all just run away. And I'll be then liberated. Please disappear.
