Saint Charandas

Love is not a mental or physical need. Love is not for the faint-hearted. Love is not for those who fear the loss of relationships, reputation, possessions or life. Love is not for those who are afraid of family, society, or uncertainty. Love is not for those who seek sanction from tradition or culture.

The UGC regulations are only a spark. The explosive material is something far more intimate: the unexamined conviction, lodged in the deepest chamber of the collective psyche, that birth determines worth and that this determination carries divine sanction. The atmosphere itself is the disease; the regulation is at best a painkiller. India’s foundational scriptures contain the strongest possible arguments against caste. The Upanishadic view begins where hierarchy ends.

What is the root cause of unhappiness? Why strength is necessary for liberation? Why ego can not reflect on itself?

Hindi article on restlessness by AP

हमारा मिजाज हमेशा दूसरों और परिस्थितियों पर निर्भर करता है। नतीजे आपकी उम्मीदों के मुताबिक नहीं रहे। इसलिए अब आपको मनोबल बढ़ाने वाले किसी प्रेरक वक्ता की ज़रूरत है। जैसे ही वह व्यक्ति चला जाता है, आपकी ऊर्जा भी थम जाती है। लेकिन जीने का एक और तरीका भी है। अपने भीतर गहराई में, मुझे एक ऐसा बिंदु मिलता है जिसे कोई बाहरी परिस्थिति छू नहीं सकती। जो कुछ भी होता है, वह सतह पर ही घटित होता है। वह स्थिर, उदासीन और तटस्थ बना रहता है। तब आप सचमुच स्वतंत्र होते हैं।

Questioner(Q): What is the process of clarity? Is it just listening with immersion and no resistance? What is Truth? How we decide it?

Acharya Prashant (AP): Listening without effort, plus if there is Truth in what you hear, there is change and transformation, and that Truth becomes the master. We…

You must know what is love. How it shapes your life.

Love would have helped you fly. And now you have captivated love within four walls. As wise men and women, if you are married, wonderful. As wise men and women, if you are not married, wonderful. The point is not really marriage. The point is wisdom. https://dev-main8.vedant.life/en/articles/marriage-and-love-1_0ff5cad

अध्यात्म की रोशनी जीवन के हर क्षेत्र पर पड़ती है, तो राजनीति पर भी पड़ेगी ही पड़ेगी। ऐसा कुछ नहीं है कि आध्यात्मिक आदमी राजनीति के प्रति अंधा हो जाता है। बल्कि हक़ीक़त तो यह है कि राजनीति को आध्यात्मिक लोगों की बहुत सख़्त ज़रूरत है, क्योंकि राजनेता ताक़त की ऐसी गद्दियों पर बैठते हैं, जहाँ से वो आपके जीवन को बहुत तरीके से प्रभावित करते हैं। राजनेता अगर आध्यात्मिक नहीं है, तो देश रसातल में जाएगा। राजनीति त्यागनी नहीं है, सही राजनीति करनी है।https://acharyaprashant.org/en/articles/raajneeti-mein-adhyatm-kyon-zaroori-1_795988a15

How did the Buddha look then? Who is the Buddha? Let’s try to understand with the story of Gautama Buddha, The ‘Shakya Muni Buddha’ as we call him. So, who was he? Let’s look at his central characteristics. One, someone who is well versed in the knowledge of his time. Buddha had deep scriptural knowledge. He was born in a Hindu Kshatriya family, he was a prince and ever since his childhood he was quite talented. So, one thing about him is that he was quite well-read. Second thing is, he was deeply interested in knowing the depths of life. He did not want to remain merely at the superficial levels, so he would observe a lot, he would think a lot. https://acharyaprashant.org/en/articles/todays-buddha-1_4d1b6bf

This article is related to restlessness.

"I am fully in support of learning in all ways from everywhere and everybody but I am not at all in support of foolishness and hypocrisy. Get the difference please. I am absolutely in support of learning from wherever it is possible to learn but I am not at all in support of using the various avenues to learn to not to learn."

Questioner: A lot of students that I talk to — it’s the fear of the society, it’s the fear of the unknown, it’s fear of the expectations that they are carrying, that pushes them to become an engineer and then they figure out that probably this is not something that they wanted to be. And that is the reality of a lot of individuals and not just engineers. Probably, here is something that is stopping me from taking a plunge of starting something of myself, right? Fear is something that is stopping somebody who is in a relationship for ten years to take that step to get married. Where does this fear come from? Acharya Prashant: Lack of love, which comes from lack of self-knowledge. You see, when I tie my sense of existence, my very identity, to something that is unreliable, I will have to be afraid. It’s like putting my heart on this table. Now, how can I live in security? The heart is out there on the table, anybody can take it away, anything can happen to it. Or the heart might grow legs and walk away on its own. My very existence has been subjected to something that is not in my control. Something that is definitely going to deceive me at some point, that is fear. My sense of self-worth comes from my monies, my bank account, I will be afraid. That bank account can be closed anytime, anything can happen. My sense of self-worth comes from my physical appearance. I very well know, time will take it away, I will be afraid. Right? Who am I? I am the one who is praised or worshipped by the society. Oh! I will be so afraid, so afraid! You talked of people working for their images, they would be living a cursed life. Because, their heart is out there in the hands of strangers. Their entire identity is tied to their image and the image is in the eyes of other people. So, the image can be distorted or can disappear any moment. Just imagine, how afraid they would be all the time. That’s with the ego. Because, the ego, as I said, is a fundamental sense of incompleteness. Therefore, to complete itself, it just associates itself to anything possible. And the things that you are associating yourself with, they are not reliable. They belong to the world and the world can take them away. They belong to time. They came with time and with time all those things will disappear. And you have tied your identity to those things. Now how can you rest in peace? That’s fear. If you do not have self-knowledge, you will always be afraid. My identity is linked to my husband’s identity. Now the husband has two legs. And the husband has a brain, a mind of his own. If your identity comes from your husband’s name, as happens in India at least, you would always be afraid as a wife. The husband can change his mind any day. You would always be, you know, having one eye on his secretary, and the other eye in his email and mobile phone. What’s he getting into? Who’s texting him? Why is he on the phone so late in the night? Because you are afraid if husband goes away, what happens to you? Your very existence depends on the husband. That’s fear. When you operate from the ego centre and make something very, very important for yourself and that something belongs to the world, it can go away anytime, and you are afraid. And in that fear, there can never be love, never be love. If you are afraid of losing something, you will be very violent towards it. Nobody lets his money go and have a walk down the road. What do you do? You lock up your money. That’s violence. When something starts becoming very meaningful to you, you lock it up. You don’t want it to have freedom. And that’s violence. So, love and fear just cannot go together. If you are dependent on something or somebody, you will be afraid. And that dependence cannot be called love. And that is a confusion, we often get into it. Just because you depend on somebody and somebody depends on you, you start feeling as if it is love, it is not. Questioner: Just like the way political parties think that people love them but it actually is fear. Acharya Prashant: Exactly! Love is a rare quality and rarer in politics. Questioner: So, if I am interested in a particular profession, do I not pursue it wholeheartedly? Do I pursue it wholeheartedly knowing very well that the results can either be zero or one? Acharya Prashant: One has to go into the very nature of interest. Aren’t we interested in cricket? Aren’t we interested in seeing songs in movies? Practically, everybody in India is interested in cricket, nobody in Brazil is. And nobody in India is interested in ice hockey. So, that’s how flimsy the whole thing about interest is. In India, if you don’t get a movie with songs, you say, “I am disinterested.” The movie would bomb. In Hollywood, if you have a movie with songs, that would raise eyebrows, what’s going on? Occasionally, you have an OD song but typically there is no song. So, that is the nature of interest. It is never something of the heart. Love and interest are not the same thing. Interest is something that is given to you by your body, by your environment, by random chance, your circumstances and all these. So that’s how your interests come to you. So, if you are interested in a vocation, first of all, you have to ask yourself, “Just two years back, I was interested in something else and two years before I was interested in that and when I was four years old, I was interested in becoming a fighter pilot. What happened to all those interests?” Today, I smile at those things and just shrug them off, “I don’t want to be a fighter pilot.” What you want to be today? Oh! I want to be an investment banker. What happened to the fighter pilot? You were so interested in that. And how do you know, tomorrow you will not be looking at this I-banker, just the way today you are looking at the fighter pilot. The self of a five-year old appears so naïve and immature when you are twenty-five. How do you know that at thirty-five, you will not look back at this twenty-five year old self and say, “What the hell! How was I taking this fellow so seriously?” So, interest is something that you must look at with healthy contempt. Interest, mind you, can even be induced in you. Interest can be aroused in you. That’s what the entire advertising industry is about. They can make you feel Interested in things that is intrinsically worthless to you. So, of what value is this thing called interest? But, then in today’s world, we place so much premium on this word 'interest.' Do what interests you, this, that. Whereas, it is wisdom to realize that interest is the last thing that you should ever go after. Then people come up and say, “No, should we do things that we are not interested in? No.

The woman is simpler, more innocent. I would dare to say the woman is simple and innocent just as animals are, because woman, just like animals, is biology-driven. She is emotional, and her emotions do not really arise from understanding, not even from intellect. Her emotions arise from her body, from her biological conditioning, from her hormones.

अब देखिएगा, क्या हो रहा है। कोई कृतज्ञ कब अनुभव करेगा? जब पहले उसकी हालत ख़राब हो और कोई बचाए। आपके भीतर अभी यह इच्छा शेष है कि आप कृतज्ञ अनुभव करती रहें और कृतज्ञता अनुभव करने के लिए ज़रूरी है कि कुछ गड़बड़ हो और फिर उस गड़बड़ से आप उबार ली जाएँ। तो फिर आप कृतज्ञ अनुभव करेंगी कि, अरे, मेरा सौभाग्य कि मुझे किसी ने बचा लिया।

Now, mind is movement, right? Why does the mind move at all? The mind wants to reach somewhere. Where does the mind want to reach? Is that place within the mind? The mind wants to reach somewhere. Every thought, every action, every motivation, every emotion rides on a desire, is…

कृष्ण का खुद ऊँचा होना, कृष्ण के पूरे जीवनवृत्त में, उनकी ज़िंदगी की जो पूरी कहानी है उसमें और श्री कृष्ण की प्रेमकथा में एक सूत्र है जो साझा पिरोया हुआ है। गीता की ऊँचाई, कृष्ण के जीवन की ऊँचाई, और कृष्ण के प्रेम की ऊँचाई तीनों एक हैं। ऐसा नहीं हो सकता कि कृष्ण बहुत ऊँचे हों और उनका प्रेम निचले तल का हो जाए। ये संभव नहीं है।

Overview

Fighting Duryodhana is Dharma. Fight Duryodhana in the way you can, that is swadharma. Dharma is the same for everybody, but swadharma varies according to your physical, social, temporal conditions. But remember that swadharma can never be in contradiction of Dharma; swadharma will always be something…

I had to unlearn a lot of things, and I am grateful to all the sources—the books, the people and the experiences that helped me unlearn. And I am grateful to that within me that had the courage to unlearn.

A lot of unlearning is needed. I often say you…

I had to unlearn a lot of things, and I am grateful to all the sources—the books, the people and the experiences that helped me unlearn. And I am grateful to that within me that had the courage to unlearn.

A lot of unlearning is needed. I often say you…

सङ्करो नरकायैव कुलघ्नानां कुलस्य च ।। पतन्ति पितरो ह्येषां लुप्तपिण्डोदकक्रिया: ।।1.42।।

saṅkaro narakāyaiva kula-ghnānāṁ kulasya cha patanti pitaro hy eṣhāṁ lupta-piṇḍodaka-kriyāḥ

When the castes mix, that spells hell for the family. It destroys the family, in the way that the ancestors all fall because they are deprived of the Pindokdakriya.…

Overview

We want to reach the end of wanting. We want completion, fulfillment in such a final way that we are left with nothing to want anymore. That’s the destination. Born a human being, you will have to act. Act rightly. Act for the right purpose. Live for the right…

प्रश्नकर्ता: प्रणाम आचार्य जी, अर्जुन कहते हैं कृष्ण से कि ‘धृतराष्ट्र पुत्र चाहे मुझे मार भी दें तो भी उनसे लड़ना तो ग़लत ही है।‘ हमारे आम जीवन में भी ऐसे ही चलता रहता है कि हम इमोशनल ब्लैकमेल (भावनाओं से किसी को नियंत्रित करना) करते हैं बहुत बार, या…

प्रश्नकर्ता: कुछ दिन पहले आपने एक उदाहरण दिया था, एम एच ३७० का, कि हम जो खोज रहे हैं वो हमें कहीं मिल नहीं रहा इसलिए यूनिवर्स (ब्रह्माण्ड) इतना बड़ा है कि लगातार हम खोजते जा रहे हैं। तो स्पेस (स्थान) की तो बात उससे समझ में आ रही है।…

प्रश्नकर्ता: अभी आप कह रहे थे कि श्रीकृष्ण अपनी बारी का इंतज़ार कर रहे हैं और बाकी सब लोग अपने बारे में बोले जा रहे हैं। तो क्या इसका सम्बन्ध इससे है कि श्रीकृष्ण का कर्मफल और प्रारब्ध कट चुका है लेकिन बाकी सभी का कर्मफल और प्रारब्ध अभी जारी…

कुलक्षये प्रणश्यन्ति कुलधर्माः सनातनाः।

धर्मे नष्टे कुलं कृत्स्नमधर्मोऽभिभवत्युत ॥४०॥

"कुल के नाश से, चले आ रहे कुल के धर्म नष्ट हो जाते हैं और कुलधर्म के नष्ट होने से पाप समस्त कुल को दबा लेता है।"

~ श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता, अध्याय १, अर्जुन विषाद योग, श्लोक ४०

आचार्य प्रशांत तो अर्जुन के…

आचार्य प्रशांत: श्रीकृष्ण की निकटता सीखनी है अर्जुन से; अर्जुन के भीतर का कोहरा उधार नहीं ले लेना है। और हमारी हालत ज़बरदस्त है, हमारे पास वो सब कुछ है जो अर्जुन के पास है, बस एक चीज़ नहीं है। हम हर मायने में अर्जुन हैं, अर्जुन का पूरा नर्क…

आचार्य प्रशांत: देखिए, बात को समझिए। गीता, सांख्ययोग में, शुरू के कुछ श्लोकों के बाद से भी आरम्भ हो सकती थी। पहला अध्याय तो पूरा ही अर्जुन के विषाद का निरूपण है और दूसरे अध्याय के भी कुछ आरंभिक श्लोकों में अर्जुन की ही व्यथा है। कृष्ण की ज्ञानवर्षा तदोपरांत…

आचार्य प्रशांत: श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता, प्रथम अध्याय, अर्जुन विषाद योग। देखेंगे कि श्रीकृष्ण अर्जुन के सब भावुक, मार्मिक वक्तव्यों को किस प्रकाश में देख रहे हैं। तो अपनी ही मोहजनित पीड़ा को आगे अभिव्यक्त करते हुए अर्जुन कहते हैं:

यद्यप्येते न पश्यन्ति लोभोपहतचेतस: |

कुलक्षयकृतं दोषं मित्रद्रोहे च पातकम् ॥३८॥

यद्यपि ये…

प्रश्नकर्ता: आपकी जो बाकी शिक्षाएँ हैं वो भी मुझे बिलकुल गीता से मिलती हुई लग रही हैं। आप जैसे पहले कहते थे कि हृदय में शिव और भुजाओं में शक्ति। तो अभी आप बोले कि हृदय कोमल होना चाहिए और बलिष्ठ भुजाएँ होनी चाहिए तो बिलकुल वो बातें एक जैसी…

तान्समीक्ष्य स कौन्तेयः सर्वान्बन्धूनवस्थितान्। कृपया परयाविष्टो विषीदन्निदमब्रवीत् ॥27॥

अर्जुन उवाच।

दृष्ट्वेमं स्वजनं कृष्ण युयुत्सुं समुपस्थितम्।

सीदन्ति मम गात्राणि मुखं च परिशुष्यति ॥28॥

वेपथुश्च शरीरे मे रोमहर्षश्च जायते ॥29॥

गाण्डीवं स्रंसते हस्तात्त्वक्चै व परिदह्यते।

न च शक्नोम्यवस्थातुं भ्रमतीव च मे मनः ॥30॥

“जब कुन्तिपुत्र अर्जुन ने अपने बंधु बान्धवों को वहाँ…

यावदेतानिरीक्षेऽहं योद्धकामानवस्थितान्।

कैर्मया सह योद्धव्यमस्मिन् रणसमुद्यमे ॥22॥

“मैं इन सब युद्ध करने की कामनाओं से अवस्थित योद्धाओं को देखूँ कि किन वीरों के साथ मुझे युद्ध करना होगा।”

~ श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता, श्लोक २२, अध्याय १, अर्जुन विषाद योग

आचार्य प्रशांत: क्या जानते नहीं हैं अर्जुन कि किनके साथ युद्ध करना होगा?…

सेनयोरुभयोर्मध्ये रथं स्थापय मेऽच्युत ॥21॥

“हे अच्युत! दोनों सेनाओं के मध्य मेरा रथ स्थापित करें।”

~ श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता, श्लोक २१, अध्याय १, अर्जुन विषाद योग

आचार्य प्रशांत: अर्जुन का ये अनुरोध मेरे मन के बड़ा निकट रहा है सदा से। दो बातें हैं यहाँ पर अर्जुन के विषय में, दोनों ही…

आचार्य प्रशांत: हम सबके भीतर, हम कितना भी छुपा लें, पर होता है कोई जो सत्य को छोड़ नहीं सकता। हम स्वयं को कितना भी भ्रम में रख लें, एक तल पर सच्चाई हम सबको पता होती है। वास्तव में अगर सच्चाई पता ना हो तो स्वयं को भ्रम में…

आचार्य प्रशांत: इन सैकड़ों श्लोकों की यात्रा करेंगे हम। इस यात्रा में ये सोच कर आगे नहीं बढ़िएगा कि आप पहले से कुछ भी जानते हैं। हर जगह रुकिए और पूछिए — ये क्या हो रहा है? उसको आदत-सा बना लीजिए, अभ्यास करिए।

जो अभ्यास आपका बाहर की तरफ़ रहता…

आचार्य प्रशांत: पहले ही अध्याय में, अच्छे से देखिए, दो हैं जो परेशान हैं। कौन? रणक्षेत्र में दो हैं जिनकी चिंता पहले ही अध्याय में हमारे सामने आ जाती है — दुर्योधन और अर्जुन।

इस बात को अच्छे से पकड़िए। चिन्ताग्रस्त होना बुरा नहीं है; दुर्योधन वाली चिंता रखना बुरा…

सञ्जय उवाच।

दृष्ट्वा तु पाण्डवानीकं व्यूढं दुर्योधनस्तदा। आचार्यमुपसङ्गम्य राजा वचनमब्रतीत् ॥२॥

पश्यैतां पाण्डुपुत्राणामाचार्य महतीं चमूम्। व्यूढां द्रुपदपुत्रेण तव शिष्येण धीमता ॥३॥

अत्र शूरा महेष्वासा भीमार्जुनसमा युधि । युयुधानो विराटश्च द्रुपदश्च महारथः॥४॥

धृष्टकेतुश्चेकितानः काशिराजश्च वीर्यवान् । पुरुजित्कुन्तिभोजश्च शैब्यश्च नरपुङ्गवः॥५॥

युधामन्युश्च विक्रान्त उत्तमौजाश्च वीर्यवान् । सौभद्रो द्रौपदेयाश्च सर्व एव महारथाः॥६॥

अस्माकं तु…

Hurt is not automatic. Somewhere there is an admission from you that you are hurt, and that you would be hurt, and that you would call yourself as hurt. Don’t call yourself as hurt, and see what happens.

Hurt is not an obligation. Hurt is a choice. Insecurity, fear, temptations—none…

Most people never evolve beyond their psychological age of three, four, ten, or twelve years. So they have to be consoled like kids.

If a two-year-old is crying, you cannot talk reason to him, can you? What does a two-year-old need? You pick him up, caress him a little, kiss…

She won’t directly say, “Get me a sari.” Often when they need a sari, they do not say they need a sari; they say, “Janu (beloved), you do not love me!” And janu understands: she needs a sari.

Similarly, janu does not need to say…

When you meet a person, meet in friendliness, meet in love, meet to share, meet to play, meet to rejoice. That’s right relationship. Don’t meet to sit at that person’s feet. That’s vulgar. You don’t need to sit at anybody’s feet. This head can bow down only in front of…

You are what you want. If you want to change who you are, then you will have to want something radically different. Your destination, your desire decides your constitution. You become what you intend to achieve and be.

If you love the mud, you will become an earthworm. If you…

A fellow who irritates you and keeps your mind agitated, why is he present in your life as a friend? How exactly is he taking care of you if his presence leads to an unsettled mind? What are these tags?

The only definition of a friend is someone who brings…

Love is when you start seeing the deep desire beneath all your superficial desires. Love is when you start seeing what you are really really thirsty for. Superficially, the desires of different people are different. Deeply, we all share one desire.

So, what is it that happens in love? In…

If you are in a railway coach, and that too an enclosed cabin with two fellow passengers, and it’s just a journey, let’s say, ten hours long, and those two guys are constantly squabbling, what would it do to you? If you are very patient, you will try to sleep.…

To love is to see that the other is in trouble. To love is to extend a helping hand. Love is not about admiring somebody’s physicality or using someone for some means. Love has to be an exercise in compassion.

Only two kinds of associations are right in this world.…

When you don’t operate from a spiritual center, then you operate from an emotional center. These emotions are causing this climate change. You are so emotional about that next foreign holiday, right? That is carbon intensive. You are so emotional about having a good, nice nest of your own—that is…

We need to see a lot of young people traveling on their own. We need to see a lot of young people living all by themselves for very long years, many, many long years. We need to see these things.

And we need to see young people who are much…