Hari om everyone,
Here's our weekly class synopsis. We started class with meditation and chanting the Geeta chapter 5.
Quirky Question (QQ) of the Day: The more you take, the more you leave behind. What am I?
With constant awareness and alertness, we should undertake actions as though we are walking on wind or water, leaving behind no footprints!
We had some interesting answers, like money from the bank, Robinhood—the more he takes, the more he leaves behind for people, etc. :).
The answer we were looking for — Footsteps.
We will connect this to the lesson of the day later.
We continued our discussion by reviewing the last few points from Chapter 3 and continued into Chapter 4.
Krishna had spoken about doing duties without expecting results. We discussed more about this using pertinent examples for students, as this is a pressing question: how can I study without expecting results? For that, we saw how one must focus on learning rather than just grades. Grades are just byproducts; gaining knowledge must be the real focus.
In the larger scheme of life, things look different. To comprehend what the world is really made up of, we took this analogy — If 20 buckets of water are placed in a circle and they all reflect the Sun in the sky, it doesn't mean that now there are 21 Suns in all?! Twenty of them are merely reflections with no existence of their own. How would it be if each reflection thought too highly of itself, and that it makes the planets go around itself?
We understood this with the example of our own reflection in the mirror. What if that reflection starts taking pride in itself - I'm so beautiful, handsome, tall, smart, stupid, etc.?! As silly as this sounds, we make this mistake every moment! We are creations of the Lord. Instead of letting Him function through us, we take pride in who we are, like a reflection that is preening about its appearance, etc..
At all times, we must remember who is the one enabling us to function! Without his grace, we would not exist.
At the beginning of the 4th chapter, Krishna told Arjuna that He taught this knowledge to the Sun God many eons ago. Naturally, Arjuna was confused. He was almost the same age as Krishna. How could he have taught eons ago? Krishna explained to him the theory of rebirth. He said, 'I remember all my births, but you don't.'
We take many births due to our vaasanas, but we don't remember them. The Lord, on the other hand, takes birth to cleanse the world of evil. He recollects them all.
We have to drop 'doer-ship' and 'enjoyer-ship' in order to not accumulate anymore new vaasanas.
"One who sees inaction in action, and action in inaction, is truly wise among men..."
This profound idea reveals that the wise person acts, but without attachment—their actions leave no binding karmic residue.
Footsteps represent actions.
The more you walk (act), the more impressions you leave—unless you're walking in awareness.
A jnani (knower of truth), as described in Chapter 4, performs all duties with detachment, so their footsteps do not bind him. It's like walking on water or wind — present, but leaving no trace.
So while ordinary actions leave behind karma (like muddy footprints), the actions of the enlightened are like weightless steps—they pass through life, active yet untouched.
We discussed the 'varNa system' (NOT caste system, as wrongly taught in schools). We established with the example of a school system how the varNas are very relevant in any society. Even a small unit like a school cannot run without these sections, let alone a society! We saw that each section has different accountabilities, and each is equally important for a school to run smoothly.
Hence, varNas are not a vertical hierarchy of one's superiority over the other, but a horizontal equation where each one has a unique responsibility and obligation towards their duties. Based on people's tendencies, these categories were made by the Lord.
We will continue this discussion next class. Wishing you all a wonderful Spring Break.
Here's a thought to mull over this week -
Regards,
Rashmi.
Rashmi.
