Like the bee
gathering honey
From many
blossoms,
Those who aspire
to be sages
Must take
something of wisdom
From all the
scriptures -
Both the great and
the small. ||Shri Uddhava Gita- 5:10||
It is vital for
the true seeker to keep the company of holy men, be it in the form of
direct association, listening to their recorded talks or reading the
holy scriptures written by the Sages. It is the beauty of Upanisads that most of them were written in the form of logical question
answer discourse. The most famous of the Upanisads is Shrimad BhagwatGita, which is the dialogue between Shri Krishna and his companion, a
young warrior Arjuna. Another important text, which comes from a much
larger text called the Bhagavatha Purana, is Uddava Gita. In the
Uddhava Gita, it is an old friend and humble counselor of Shri
Krishna who asks spiritual advice on the eves of Shri Krishna's
departure from earth. To fully understand the message of Shri
Krishna, we need both the urgent questioning of Arjuna, the young
warrior faced with overwhelming odds, and the gentle probing of the
wise, older man, Uddava.
A beautiful
translation of this wonderful text is written by Swami Ambikananda
Saraswati called “The Uddhava Gita – The final teaching ofKrishna”. I encourage all the seekers to read this beautifully translated
text. Here are a few excerpts from this text:
The devotee
Uddhava asked:
O Radiant One,
Krishna,
Enemy of the
enemies of the Self,
What constitutes
self-control,
And how will I
know
When I have
achieved balance?
What is tolerance
And what is
steadiness?
Tell me please,
Beloved. || 14-28||
What is charity?
What is austerity?
What is courage?
What is honesty?
What is
renunciation?
What is wealth
worth coveting?
What is religious
scrifice,
And what is he
proper renumeration
To the teacher or
the priest?||14-29||
Most Beloved, tell
me,
What is the real
strength of a person?
What is real
profit and gain?
What is real
knowledge
And what is real
humility?
And what is beauty
And what are joy
and sorrow?||14-30||
Who is the true
sage
And who is the
fool?
Which is the
correct path
And which is the
false one?
What is heaven
And what is hell?
Who is truly a
friend
And what may be
called home?||14-31||
Who is rich
And who is poor?
Who is taker
And who is the
giver?
O Ruler of the
Virtuous,
Please answer
these questions. ||14-32||
The Radiant One,
Krishna, replied:
The mind becomes
calm
Only when fixed on
the Self,
The most perfect
self control
Is control of the
senses.
Tolerance is the
bearing of sorrow,
And steadiness is
control of senses,
The tongue and the
sexual impulse. ||14-36||
The greatest
charity
Is to relinquish
any thought
Of violence
towards others.
Austerity is the
renunciation
Of all hopes and
desires,
Courage is
overcoming
One's own
tendencies.
Honesty is looking upon all
With impartial vision. ||14-37||
Truthfulness is is
speech that is kind
And which even the
sages may praise.
Purity is
non-attachment
To the results of
one's actions,
While renunciation
is the acceptance
Of the sannyasa
stage of life. ||14-38||
A spiritual life
is the wealth
That should be
coveted.
I, the supreme
Self,
Am the religious
sacrifice.
The teaching of
knowledge
Is the ultimate
religious renumeration,
And control of the
vitality
Is true strength.
||14-39||
True fortune and
splendor
Are my own divine
Self.
Profit and gain
Are devotion to
me.
Real knowledge
Is the knowledge
which ends
All
multiplicities.
Real humility
Is avoiding
wrongful actions. ||14-40||
True beauty is
desirelessness,
Happiness is
equanimity
In both joy and
sorrow.
Sorrow is the
ceaseless longing
For gratification
of the senses.
A true sage
Is one who can
distinguish
Between bondage
and liberation. ||14-41||
A fool is one who
has identified
With only the body
and personality.
The right path is
that
Which leads to me.
The wrong path is
the one
That causes
confusion.
Heaven is the
sattvic mind. ||14-42||
Hell is the
tamastic mind.
The teacher in
whom I abide
Is the only true
friend.
O Uddhava, the
human body
May be called
home.
One who is
virtuous
May be called
wealthy. ||14-43||
A poor person
Is one who is
never satisfied.
A wretched person
Is one who has
never conquered the senses.
Only those who are
detached from
The objects of the
senses
Are masters of
themselves. ||14-44||
Now I have
answered your questions, Uddhava.
And there is
nothing to be gained
From continuing
the discussion in this direction.
What are the
definitions of good and evil?
Judging another to
be good or bad or evil.
To cease making
judgments between good and bad,
That is true
goodness. ||14-45||
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