www.telugubhakti.com Gita for Children

[Guest guest]

Yea Amma, Kalyani. It is very well written. But, unfortunately, it is a

truncated message. I hope Mr. Ram Chugani will provide us with the remaining or

truncated part of the message also. I await.

 

Love and Love alone....

 

P. Gopi Krishna

 

Kalyani Gopal <kalyani_gopal2k wrote:

 

Well written to convey the message.

Kalyani

--- Ram Chugani wrote:

 

> 1. Arjuna says, Krishna, I want to ask You a

> question about the

> modalities of worship. I have seen two kinds of

> people, who seem to

> worship You in two entirely different ways. One

> group employs

> elaborate rituals and its members assert that unless

> these

> procedures are rigorously followed, God would be

> displeased with the

> worship. The other group does not seem to bother at

> all about

> procedures. Its members behave in strange ways; they

> talk to You,

> sing to You and dance for You. In many ways they

> appear crazy and

> abnormal. Yet some people say that that is the way

> to worship You. I

> am totally confused. Please can You explain how

> exactly are You to

> be worshipped?'

>

> 2. Krishna smiles and replies, `Arjuna, based on all

> the things I

> have told you thus far, you ought to be able to

> figure out the

> answer yourself! Yet, since you have asked Me, I

> shall give the

> answer.'

>

> 3. `There are basically two approaches to worship,

> the external

> approach and the internal approach. The external

> approach relies

> heavily on procedures while the internal approach

> does not bother

> about procedures. Both approaches are acceptable,

> provided Love is

> the basis.'

>

> 4. Arjuna says, `Krishna, this I am unable to

> understand. The two

> approaches appear to be totally contradictory; and

> yet You say both

> are acceptable to You! How can that be? "

>

> 5. Krishna replies, `Oh no, the two approaches are

> not

> contradictory. Let me explain with some detailed

> examples. Let us

> take one form of ritual. In this, the devotee has an

> idol, and

> offers worship to it by chanting various Mantras.

> Instead of

> mechanically uttering the Mantras without

> understanding the meaning,

> try to understand what is being said and done.'

>

> 6. `First you welcome God to your house. You wash

> His feet at the

> entrance and respectfully conduct Him inside. After

> this you offer

> Him a seat. Next you make preparations so that He

> can have a bath.

> After the bath is over, you offer Him new clothes.

> Then flowers,

> incense etc. After this the lunch and so on. All

> this is done via

> suitable Mantras.'

>

> 7. `A person who goes through this routine

> mechanically before the

> idol would not realise that He is actually having

> the Lord as his

> guest. But one who is filled with that feeling does

> not think he is

> uttering routine chants. Instead, he is swept by the

> feeling that he

> is actually playing host to the Lord. No, it is not

> make believe as

> an atheist would imagine. Since I am the Indweller,

> I know exactly

> what the devotee feels. If the devotee is merely

> acting as a

> chanting machine, then the worship remains external.

> But if the

> chants are uttered with feeling, then the very same

> ritual becomes

> internal! See?!'

>

> 8. `Another example. You know Vedic priests perform

> complicated

> rituals called Yajna. These Yajnas are full of grand

> chants that

> proclaim the Glory of God. If the Vedic Mantras are

> uttered with

> feeling, if the one who chants experiences the Glory

> of God while

> chanting, then the Yajna is not a mere Vedic drill

> but a profound

> experience; otherwise it is a ritual that sceptics

> would dismiss as

> extremely wasteful. But if the Mantras are uttered

> with deep

> feeling, then even the atheist would be irresistibly

> moved by the

> majesty of the sound and the power of the words.'

>

> 9. `In short, if Love is made the basis, then it

> really does not

> matter whether the procedure adopted is formal or

> informal. Have I

> not told you earlier that as far as I am personally

> concerned, I am

> delighted if you worship Me with just a flower, a

> fruit, a leaf or

> even just a bit of water.'

>

> 10. `I shall go one step further. You don't have to

> offer Me a

> flower. To get that flower you have to go to a shop

> or a garden.

> Save yourself all that trouble. Just say, " God, I

> offer You one bad

> habit of mine! " God would be quite happy with that!'

>

> 11. Arjuna replies, `Krishna, I know you mentioned

> this before but I

> still think you can't be serious.'

>

> 12. With a big laugh Krishna replies, `No, that is

> not true, and as

> a matter of fact I am quite serious. You see Arjuna,

> when you offer

> Me a bad habit, you become purer to that extent and

> come a bit

> closer to Me. Is it any wonder that I am pleased?'

>

> 13. `Arjuna, for Me the priority is faith plus Love.

> A child is not

> able to speak properly; it is just able to mutter a

> few words

> incoherently. Yet the mother feels deliriously

> happy. Why? Because

> the mother sees Love in the child's words, that is

> why. She is not

> bothered about grammar but Love! Got it?'

>

> 14. `It is the same with Me, naturally! For Me, Pure

> Love is

> primary. If unadorned Love is all that you can

> offer, no problem! I

> am not bothered about the frills.'

>

> 15. `Let us go back to the mother and child example.

> Let us say the

> child has composed a small poem expressing her love

> to her mother.

> The mother is very happy, as happy as she was when

> her daughter was

> a mere baby and was able to only prattle. What the

> poem and the

> prattle have in common is love, and that is what

> really matters.'

>

> 16. `Having said that, I must clarify that I am not

> anti-procedure.

> Just that if procedure is what you want to follow,

> then do so with

> the proper feeling. It is not correct to worship the

> idol thinking

> all the time about other matters. In this case,

> there is a lack of

> harmony between thought and action. As you know I am

> a great

> stickler for harmony of feeling, thought, word and

> deed. That ought

> not to be compromised, ever!'

>

> 17. Arjuna says, `Krishna, if ritualistic procedures

> can make a

> person slip, how come they came into existence in

> the first place?

> What role do they have to play, if at all, in the

> development of

> devotion?'

>

> 18. Krishna replies, `Now that is an interesting

> question, and let

> Me reply to it in some detail. Thousands of years

> ago, the world was

> very different. There were many sages and Rishis

> then, and they all

> adored Me so much that that they spent all their

> time thinking of Me

> and doing My work in many ways.'

>

> 19. `For example, the Rishis would meditate

> intensely for long

> stretches of time, and it was then that I would

> reveal great

>

=== message truncated ===

 

 

 

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