Bhagwad Gita for Children VI

From a series of talks by Sanjay Mehta, transcribed and compiled by Jaya Asthana

Chapter 3 (contd): Karma Yog

In Chapter 2 we saw that I am the Atma, not the body. Just like a bottle is called  water bottle because it holds water, our body is called atman because it has the atma in it.

We keep repeating it because the second chapter is fundamental. It is important to understanding the rest of the Geeta.

Shlok 14:

annād bhavanti bhūtāni parjanyād anna-sambhavaḥ

yajñād bhavati parjanyo yajñaḥ karma-samudbhavaḥ

Shlok 15:

karma brahmodbhavaṁ viddhi brahmākṣhara-samudbhavam

tasmāt sarva-gataṁ brahma nityaṁ yajñe pratiṣhṭhitam

All beings are evolved from food; production of food is dependent on rain; rain ensues from sacrifice, and sacrifice is rooted in prescribed action. Know that prescribed action has its origin in the Vedas, and the Vedas proceed from the Indestructible (Bhagwan); hence the all-pervading Infinite is always present in sacrifice.

We are made of food. Food comes from the crops, and crops come from rain. Rain comes from clouds. Clouds are made by evaporation. Water evaporates from the ocean and forms clouds. That is called action. All our collective action creates the clean atmosphere, and the whole cycle works well. That is good karma. Karma is rooted in the Vedas, and the Vedas are nothing but Bhagwan. So when we offer all our good karma to Bhagwan, we get it back as prasad. In English we can call Prasad as a blessing. Everything we do, we offer to Bhagwan.

But if we pollute the atmosphere, the cycle gets disturbed. This shlok is talking about the ecosystem which is within ourselves. Our body is like an ecosystem, it is perfectly balanced.

Shlok 21:

yad yad ācharati śhreṣhṭhas tat tad evetaro janaḥ

sa yat pramāṇaṁ kurute lokas tad anuvartate

For whatever a great man does, that very thing other men also do; whatever standard he sets up, the generality of men follow the same.

Any person who someone follows becomes a responsible person. I am responsible for many things, watering a plant, keeping the street clean, etc. I am responsible for my action (karma). The result of that action may hurt or help someone. If I throw a banana peel on the street, somebody may slip and fall. So I must be responsible. No matter how old we are, somebody is watching and learning from us. Every action of ours must be thoughtful, because someone may be following us. If we surrender our actions to Bhagwan, they will all be good. At every stage of life, we should be careful, do thoughtful action, keeping Bhagwan foremost in our mind. If we devote all our actions to Bhagwan, it will automatically become good actions (karma).

There was a big snowstorm one day. A man wanted to get something from the barn, which was up on a hill. The snow was heavy and icy. He struggled to walk, sometimes he wobbled and slipped, but managed to regain his steps. The man heard a sound and looked behind him. He saw that his son was walking in his footsteps.  The son cautioned his father to be careful because he was following him.

That is what this shlok says. There are people who follow you, no matter what you do. So make sure whatever you do, you do to the best of your ability, because you don’t know who may be following you.

We are all leaders in some way. This shlok tells us to be careful and perform all our actions as if we are leading, because we never know when someone may be following in our footsteps.