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(गीता-41) जा, तुझे प्रेम हो जाए || आचार्य प्रशांत, भगवद् गीता पर (2024)
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1 year ago
Nishkam Karma
Selfless Action
Purpose of Life
Shri Krishna
Kabir Saheb
Self-knowledge
Satsang
Prakriti
Description

Acharya Prashant explains that the purpose of human life is to find the right game and play it with all one's heart. He states that life is not meant for decoration and preservation; true beauty lies not in a well-adorned body but in the scars received in a righteous war. He cautions against placing hope in the world, as nothing in it has the capacity to keep its promises, and doing so will only lead to disappointment. To illustrate his point, the speaker narrates a story about a forest fire. A man is seen selflessly fighting the fire and rescuing animals, getting injured in the process. A teenager, initially treating the tragedy as a spectacle for a video, becomes intrigued by the man's actions. He repeatedly asks the man, "Sir, why are you doing this?" but receives no verbal answer. The teenager's perspective shifts when he witnesses the man's complete exhaustion and collapse. This sight moves him to drop his camera, forget his questions, and join the man's cause, taking over the work of fighting the fire. The speaker explains that the answer to life's most profound questions is found not in words but in becoming the answer itself by immersing oneself in the action, which he identifies as Nishkam Karma (selfless action). He explains that a reason for an action exists only when there is a desire; when there is no desire, no reason can be given. This, he says, is love, and the reason for love can only be understood by becoming a lover. He further elaborates using an analogy from Kabir Saheb, comparing the world to a grinding mill (chaki) of duality (Prakriti) where all beings are ground. The only way to be saved is to attach oneself to the central pin (keeli), which represents Nishkam Karma. The speaker explains that the body has a centrifugal force (desires, ego) that pulls one away from the center. To be safe, one must come to the center where this force is nullified. The speaker concludes that two things are essential for this transformation: the company of the enlightened (like Shri Krishna, through scriptures or satsang) and honest self-knowledge. Self-knowledge reveals one's current predicament, while the words of the enlightened show one's true destiny. Knowing both simultaneously is what brings about change.