BG 4.20 | #1 Measure of Your Spiritual Progress per Lord Krishna | Bhagavad Gita Inspiration by Swami Mukundanand
*Main Points*: 1 The results will be of all kinds in the world, sometimes a lot of success, sometimes a lot of failure, sometimes nothing, if you can remain normal through all of this, that is the victory, to remain normal in success is no big deal. Society is teaching us how to be successful but they should teach us how to handle failure because failure is far more common than success, anybody who succeeds actually fails 10 times before reaching that success and they are not taught how to handle failure. Bhagavad-Gita chapter 4 verse 20: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvY8o4GgcSU&t=2 & https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvY8o4GgcSU&t=781 2 such people having given up attachments to the fruits of their actions are always satisfied and not dependent upon external things, despite engaging in activities they do not do anything at all https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvY8o4GgcSU&t=83 3 what an interesting philosophical concept it is, they are doing everything and yet not doing anything at all, why ? because they have given up attachment to the fruits of their activities, so they have given up (worldly) desire, because they know from (worldly) desire will come anger and greed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvY8o4GgcSU&t=111 4 Guru Gobind Singh example, he was the tenth of the Sikh gurus, and he was actually fighting a war, in one such war, he threw the opponent on the ground, and he got onto his chest to kill him, when the opponent spat on him and Guru Gobind singh ji left him there and started walking off, somebody asked you were going to kill him what happened, he said until now it was a dharam yudh, I was just doing my duty but now that he spat on me I have become angry and when I am angry it will no longer remain in dharm-yudh, I'll be acting out of anger, that is why I have just left it, I am leaving so you see there he is fighting a war and yet he is doing nothing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvY8o4GgcSU&t=142 5 BG 18.17: “One who is not motivated by false ego, whose intelligence is not entangled, though he kills men in this world, does not kill. Nor is he bound by his actions” https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/17/ BG 18.11 “It is indeed impossible for an embodied being to give up all activities. But he who renounces the fruits of action is called one who has truly renounced”. https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/11/ somebody who gives up worldly duties as laborious as troublesome, that is one kind of Vairagya https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvY8o4GgcSU&t=220 6 you know why labor so much in the world, become a baba, in India if you are wearing saffron clothes, you'll get two rotis in any case and then if you don't know the Scriptures, it doesn't matter, you become mauni baba https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvY8o4GgcSU&t=264 7 so a very easy way to start a business, when people come, you offer your blessings “baccha, tera bhala ho” Now ten people come. "Babaji, baccha nahi hota." So, offer them all blessings “baccha, tera bhala ho”, now out of 10 by chance, two will have children out of sheer probability, they will go and do propaganda to 100 people, that I got the blessings of that baba and now I have children, so now 100 people will come to baba for the blessings and he tells them all “baccha, tera bhala ho” but now out of the 100, 20 will have out of sheer probability they will go and inform 1000 that is how the business starts, so in case you lose your job here is a job option https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvY8o4GgcSU&t=327 8 this is not the vairagya, running away from the world https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvY8o4GgcSU&t=381 9 Shri Krishna says this is Rajasic tyag, because when you take sannyas and you experience difficulty, then you will do an about turn (U turn) from here go back to the world, easy come, easy go https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvY8o4GgcSU&t=430 10 on the other hand Shri Krishna says what is Sattvic tyag , BG 18.9, “O Arjuna, when one performs his prescribed duty only because it ought to be done, and renounces all material association and all attachment to the fruit, his renunciation is said to be in the mode of goodness”. https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/9/ Arjun one who continues doing the duties and rejects attachment from inside, gives up inner attachment, that I consider Sattvic tyag, so that is the “akarm” that He is talking about where you have given up attachment from inside https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvY8o4GgcSU&t=448 11 of course there is a fourth category as well that is karma sannyas, so the karma sannyasi is the renunciant, the Monk, that is taken under the guidance of the guru, who knows the path and who knows our sanskars and the true motivation for true vairagya,, when the seva bhav develops, the desire to serve has become so intense that the worldly works are now becoming an impediment, we don't have enough time enough energy left to serve and motivated by the desire to serve when you leave the world, that vairagya will be stable that will be karma sannyas and until then we should try to focus on Karma Yoga Reference : "Karm Sanyas" refers to complete renunciation of action, essentially withdrawing from worldly duties to fully dedicate oneself to spiritual practices, while "Karm Yog" means performing actions without attachment to the results, essentially doing one's duty in the world with a selfless attitude, both aiming for spiritual liberation but with different approaches to action; "Karm Sanyas" is considered a more extreme form of detachment from worldly life compared to "Karm Yog" which encourages action within the world. Key points: Karm Sanyas: Focuses on complete renunciation of worldly actions. Suitable for those who have transcended worldly attachments and desire full immersion in spiritual practices. May involve actively withdrawing from social responsibilities. Karm Yog: Emphasizes performing actions without attachment to the outcome. Encourages fulfilling one's duties in the world while maintaining a detached mindset. Considered a more accessible path for most people as it allows for spiritual growth within daily life. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvY8o4GgcSU&t=491 12 so Shri Krishna says practice this much, giving up attachment to the fruits, so what is the proof that we have given up attachment to the fruits, the proof is that when things don't work out the way we want, we are not disturbed, that is the proof. If we become disturbed, that means we are attached https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvY8o4GgcSU&t=556 13 a practical example: for my preaching, my chief organizer, he was a young boy, 20 year old, when my parvachan would not work (,i.e., hardly few people would attend), he would start crying – I used to tell him, if you are so disturbed then you are not doing it for God, you are doing it for your own sake and if you are doing it for God, then what is the reason to be disturbed, maybe He didn't want it, whatever it is, we put in our best efforts that's what God says https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvY8o4GgcSU&t=587 14 Kripalu ji maharaj said, look this preaching is not an easy job, so if you have only eight people who are coming to listen to you, just think that they are the eight Mahasakhis of Radharani, you are lecturing to the Mahasakhis & if there are even less, be happy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvY8o4GgcSU&t=667 15 In case of bad results, people commit suicides because the training to handle failure is not given, but if you are detached, it doesn't matter, all that God sees is did you try your best ? never mind the results. So Shri Krishna says that such wise people who have given up attachment to the fruits, now the externals are less important to them (they do need the external to eat and drink), but it doesn't matter whether somebody is praising or criticizing whether it is hot or whether it is cold and all these things they become Impervious (have no effect) to the external circumstances and that victory over the self is what is spiritual https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvY8o4GgcSU&t=781
Transcript
0:02
The results will be of all kinds in the
0:05
world sometimes a lot of success
0:07
sometimes a lot of failure sometimes
0:10
nothing
0:11
if you can remain normal through all of
0:15
this that is the victory to remain
0:19
normal in success is no big deal
0:22
Society is teaching us how
0:26
to be successful
0:28
but they should teach us how to handle
0:30
failure
0:31
because failure is far more common than
0:34
success
0:36
anybody who succeeds actually fails 10
0:39
times before reaching that success and
0:42
they are not taught how to handle
0:43
failure
0:45
chapter 4 verse 20 chanting is followed by
0:49
translation and commentary by Swami
0:52
mukundananda
0:56
thank you
Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4 Verse 20 Chanting
Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4 Verse 21 Translation by Swami Mukundananda
1:23
such people
1:25
having given up attachments to the
1:29
fruits of their actions
1:31
are always satisfied
1:35
and not dependent upon external things
1:40
despite engaging in activities
1:44
they do not do anything at all
Commentary by Swami Mukundananda
1:51
what an interesting concept
1:53
philosophical concept it is
1:56
they are doing everything and yet not
1:59
doing anything at all
2:03
so
2:05
why because they have given up
2:07
attachment to the fruits of their
2:10
activities
2:12
so they have given up (worldly) desire because
2:16
they know From (worldly) Desire will come anger
2:19
and greed
2:22
Guru Gobind Singh he was the tenth of
2:25
the Sikh gurus
2:27
and he was actually fighting a war
2:29
because at that time India was being
2:31
overrun
2:33
by these cruel Muslim rulers
2:37
so he had actually galvanized the whole
2:40
Army
2:42
and they were fighting these wars to
2:45
protect the Hindus
2:47
in one such War he threw the opponent
2:51
on the ground
2:53
and he got onto his chest to kill him
2:57
when the opponent spat on him
3:00
and Guru Gobind singh ji
3:03
left him there and started walking off
3:07
somebody asked you were going to kill
3:10
him what happened
3:12
he said until now it was a dharam yudh I
3:16
was just doing my duty
3:18
but now that he spat on me I have
3:20
become angry
3:22
and when I am angry it will no longer
3:25
remain in dharm-yudh I'll be acting out
3:27
of anger that is why I have just left it
3:30
I am leaving
3:31
so you see there he is fighting a war
3:35
and yet he is doing nothing
3:37
and that is the state that Arjun is
3:40
Verse BG 18.17
“One who is not motivated by false ego, whose intelligence is not entangled, though he kills men in this world, does not kill. Nor is he bound by his actions”
https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/17/
BG 18.11
“It is indeed impossible for an embodied being to give up all activities. But he who renounces the fruits of action is called one who has truly renounced”.
https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/11/
3:55
somebody who gives up worldly duties
4:00
as laborious as troublesome
4:05
that is one kind of Vairagya
4:09
so Shri Krishna will say in the
4:11
18th chapter, BG 18.8
4:24
you know why labor so much in the world
4:27
become a baba
4:30
in India if you are wearing saffron
4:33
clothes you'll get two rotis in any case
4:44
and then if you don't know the
4:46
Scriptures it doesn't matter
4:48
you become Mauni Baba
4:51
keep the vow of silence
4:55
if somebody comes to shishyas, they will
4:58
say guruji knows a lot but right now
5:00
he's got 12 year maun
5:03
and after 12 years extend it for another
5:06
12 years and after that another 12 years
5:09
and by then the disciples will be so
5:11
many it doesn't matter when anybody
5:13
knows or doesn't know
5:16
see there are all kinds. having
5:20
traveled around for 40 years
5:25
there was one Baba
5:27
so a very easy way to start a business
5:32
just people come
5:34
you offer your blessings “baccha, tera bhala ho”
5:38
Now ten people come. "Babaji, baccha nahi hota."
5:42
So, offer them all blessings “baccha, tera bhala ho”
5:45
now out of 10 by chance two will have
5:48
children out of sheer probability they
5:51
will go and do propaganda to 100 people
5:54
that I got the blessings of that Baba
5:56
and now I have children so now 100
5:58
people will come to Baba for the
6:01
blessings and he tells them all “baccha, tera bhala ho” but
6:04
now out of the 100, 20 will have out of
6:07
sheer probability they will go and inform
6:10
1000 that is how the business starts so
6:13
in case you lose your job here is a job
6:15
option
6:18
so
6:21
this is
6:23
not the Vairagya running away from the
6:27
world
6:29
true Vairagya
6:31
where your motivation is not oh my God
6:35
so many problems
6:39
when I was first preaching in Orissa
6:41
about 35 years ago so there
6:45
was a lot of poverty and people did not
6:48
have jobs
6:50
and the devotional sentiments were there
6:52
in any case so every lecture series I
6:55
would give about five six boys girls
6:58
would come swamiji make me also swamiji
7:03
I would say how do I know that you will
7:05
last
7:07
just running away from worldly duties
7:10
because they are painful Shri Krishna
7:13
says this is Rajasic tyag
7:15
because when you take sannyas and you
7:18
experience difficulty there
7:20
then you will say do about turn from
7:23
here go back to the world
7:25
easy come easy go
7:28
on the other hand Shri Krishna says what
7:31
Is Sattvic tyag BG 18.9
7:45
Arjun one who continues doing the duties
7:50
and rejects attachment from inside
7:55
gives up inner attachment
7:59
that I consider Sattvic tyag
8:02
so that is the “akarm” that he is
8:06
talking about where you have given up
8:09
attachment from inside
8:11
of course there is a fourth category as
8:14
well
8:15
that is karma sannyas so the karma
8:19
sannyas is the renunciant the Monk that
8:24
is taken under the guidance of the guru
8:27
who knows the path and who knows our
8:31
sanskars and the true motivation for
8:36
true vairagya
8:38
when the seva bhav develops the desire
8:43
to serve
8:44
and the desire to serve has become so
8:48
intense that the worldly works are now
8:50
becoming an impediment
8:52
we don't have enough time enough energy
8:55
left to serve and motivated by the
8:59
desire to serve when you leave the world
9:05
That vairagya will be stable
9:07
that will be Karma sannyas
9:10
and until then we should try to focus on
9:14
Karma Yoga
9:16
so Shri Krishna says practice this much
9:21
giving up attachment to the fruits
9:25
so what is the proof
9:27
that we have given up attachment to the
9:29
fruits
9:32
the proof is
9:35
that when things don't work out the way
9:37
we want we are not Disturbed that is the
9:41
proof
9:42
if we become Disturbed that means we
9:45
were attached
9:47
so in India about 20 years ago we used
9:51
to preach the model we would follow
9:54
there was that we go to a new town
9:58
fix some ground out there
10:00
and then my team of boys would go they
10:03
would fill the whole town with posters
10:05
Holdings banners leaflets
10:08
and put a tent
10:09
hoping that we will get four or five
10:11
thousand people
10:13
and sometimes it will work
10:16
sometimes it would not work
10:18
sometimes you just have 200 people there
10:22
so my chief organizer he was a young boy
10:24
20 year old
10:27
now when it would not work I used to go
10:29
on the last on the first day of the
10:31
parvachan and they would go five days in
10:33
advance to set it all up and when it
10:35
would not work he would start crying
10:38
I found it so odd you know young boy
10:41
crying like this
10:44
why are you crying you know the
10:46
pravachan failed
10:49
if you are so Disturbed
10:53
then you are not doing it for God you
10:55
are doing it for your own sake and if
10:57
you are doing it for God then what is
10:59
the reason to be disturbed maybe he
11:01
didn't want it
11:02
whatever it is we put in our best
11:05
efforts that's What God Says
11:07
Kripalu ji maharaj said, look
11:12
This preaching is not an easy job
11:14
so if you have only eight people who are
11:17
coming to listen to you just think that
11:20
they are the mahasakhis of radharani you
11:23
are lecturing to the mahasakhis
11:25
if there are even less be happy the
11:28
first time I started preaching
11:30
I
11:32
didn't know the mechanics of it
11:35
so 150 leaflets got printed and it was
11:40
fixed in one Temple
11:42
and I went and gave the leaflets to the
11:44
pujari that you distribute them to the
11:46
darshnarthis who come
11:49
Now the pujari probably did not, he either threw them
11:52
away or he used them as toilet paper
11:55
but whatever it was when I came for the
11:57
lecture there were seven people
12:00
and kripaluji Maharaj said you know if
12:02
there are eight people you think they
12:04
are the mahasakis and here there were
12:06
only seven people
12:09
so I said nevertheless I am the eighth
12:12
person
12:15
I closed my eyes and started speaking
12:19
and when I opened my eyes there was only
12:22
one person
12:23
so I closed my eyes because if I keep my
12:26
eyes open I may forget what I'm supposed
12:28
to speak
12:29
to keep my focus
12:31
but I opened my eyes after one and a
12:34
half hours I did not use to do a kirtan
12:36
in between
12:37
so when I opened my eyes there was only
12:39
one person I asked him where have all
12:41
the others gone
12:44
he said swamiji you were so boring they
12:46
had to leave they are not detached
12:51
I said why did you not go
12:53
he said you know that seat on which you
12:55
are sitting is my seat you get up then I
12:57
will go
13:01
so the results will be of all kinds in
13:05
the world sometimes a lot of success
13:08
sometimes a lot of failure sometimes
13:11
nothing now if you can remain normal
13:15
through all of this that is the victory
13:18
to remain normal in success is no big
13:22
deal
13:23
Society is teaching us how to be
13:27
successful
13:28
but they should teach us how to handle
13:31
failure
13:32
because failure is far more common than
13:35
success
13:37
anybody who succeeds actually fails 10
13:40
times before reaching their success and
13:43
they are not taught how to handle
13:44
failure
13:46
that's why I've had children of our
13:48
devotees our satsangis, entered College
13:52
had a little failure committed suicide
13:55
people are shocked what is happening
13:57
because the training is not given
14:00
but if you are detached it doesn't
14:04
matter did you try your best
14:08
well you know I could have tried better
14:11
and focus on trying better next time
14:14
never mind the results
14:16
so Shri Krishna says that such wise
14:20
people
14:22
who have given up attachment to the
14:25
fruits
14:27
now the externals
14:30
are less important to them they do need
14:34
the external to eat and drink
14:37
but it doesn't matter whether somebody
14:39
is praising or criticizing whether they
14:43
are receiving accolades or brick bats
14:46
whether it is hot or whether it is cold
14:48
and all these things they become
14:51
impervious
14:53
to the external circumstances
14:57
and that victory over the self
15:00
is what is spiritual
Standby link (in case youtube link does not work): BG 4.20 #1 Measure of Your Spiritual Progress per Lord Krishna Bhagavad Gita Inspiration.mp4
