Bhagavagd Gita - Session 24- Track 2407

Question: I am allowed to say so, in the same family; Vibhishana was completely Sattwic; Ravana completely Rajasic; and kumbhakarna completely Tamasic, same family, three brothers and completely different and three very different Gunas, and though Ravana because of knowledge Sattwic also, but kumbhakarna was completely Tamasic, so…

True, but you know the point is that there are major differences between individuals, why is it so, is on different planes. There are many factors as to why in the same family five children show different qualities, even though they have the same environment. So, mere environment is not an answer to the full question. My present question was only limited to environment and I would say that if you can create a better environment that among all the five children they will derive better benefit than if you create a Rajasic atmosphere, or Tamasic atmosphere. To know why are five people, in the same good environment, become still quite different from each other, and they show marked differences and radical differences, you have to go into deeper psychology.

Comment: May be saṁskara

Yes, quite true, there are many reasons; there are deeper reasons.

Sri Krishna says: “I give a birth in a good house because he has made an effort”, svalpam matram preyatnam, He says that because an individual has done and effort, and then fallen; therefore He says, I gave him a birth in a good place. So, it is He who is the cause actually. Sri Krishna Himself induced to give a good birth. Why? Because he has made a good effort in the previous birth.

Therefore, the consequence is that if you do good things now, you will get better results afterwards. Therefore the consequences: you continue to do good things every time; this is the ultimate consequence. At every time, you continue to do good things, and then the good consequences can be expected, whether now, or latter on but this is the key: go on doing the right thing.

Therefore my general proposition is that for children’s education, you provide conditions in which children are in the centre first of all: what I call “sovereignty of the child”. Today in a family child is not the sovereign: the sovereign is the father, and mother, and guest, and other interests, which are constantly inflecting upon the family. But if you say that, well, as a parent your first duty is to be a teacher of the child, this hardly parents accept, they say that they will send the children to school, teachers are doing that work, “we can give them food, clothing, shelter and entertainment, what more do we need to do?” But that is wrong. Basically the parents are the first teacher and the last teacher, and a constant teacher. Other teachers are only your helpers. But responsibility of training the child is squarely on the parents.

We have to create a new society today because of this reason. In the whole world today it is now said that we should create a ‘learning society’: the present society is condemned as something, which has created so much of violence and wars. So, education is at the highest level has come to the conclusion that if you want a better society, you should create a learning society. And what is a learning society? Learning society is one in which education is conceived as a life long educational process, starting from childhood, or even before birth, (prenatal education), and right up to the end. Secondly, every activity of life should be regarded as an educational activity. And thirdly, everybody should regard himself to be teacher and a pupil, everybody: this is the concept of learning society.

So, it is said that if you want to eliminate wars from the society, 2 wars engulfed the whole 20th century, (if there are two important events in the whole 20th century, it is two world wars that took place in the last century) and therefore humanity now has come to the conclusion that in future we should eliminate war. And when best men’s minds were brought together and asked: how shall we build defence of peace in the minds of man? The answer was: create a ‘learning society’. This is the diagnostic of the doctors! that there is no other alternative that if the parents today feel that they cannot be a part of a ‘learning society’, they are out of date. They have to realise that their basic function is to look after the children; their basic function is to be the teachers of the children, and to be able to become good teachers, you have to be good pupils yourselves. Unless you become a good pupil, you cannot be a good teacher.

So, the conclusion is: everybody should find more and more stages where state of equilibrium is increased. It is in the state of learning and teaching that the state of equilibrium becomes predominant: that is Sattwa. In other words, the modern times now impose upon us the necessity of increasing Sattwa, which is a helpful thing. In the process of Yoga, the more you can develop this state of equilibrium, the more you are able to deal with the manas, ahaṁkāra, and the more you are able to come out of the hooking, which has taken place of your soul with the lower of nature, Apara Prakriti.

Is this all right for you? You asked me the question.