HH Sudhanshu JI Maharaj

The Commandments of Lord Krishna – Krishna Janmashtami

Unless a disciple learns to obey the commands of his Guru without any questioning, without any doubts, he cannot become Arjun and emerge victorious in his battles of life. Once a famous psychiatrist undertook a unique experiment on ‘conditioning’. While visiting a market, he saw a man in army uniform shopping in the market, with grocery bags in his hands. The psychiatrist understood- the man is on leave from his duty and is visiting his home. He came just behind that man and yelled at the top of his voice, ATTENTION! In the army this word means a firm order, a command to freeze. As soon as the army man heard ‘attention’, he forgot that he is not on duty and immediately froze still. As a result, the grocery bags fell on the road. Soon he realized what had happened and was furious. Janmashtami

He asked, who uttered the word, ATTENTION? The psychiatrist said, it’s me! The army man asked, what enmity you had with me. All my grocery fell because of you. The psychiatrist replied that he did not say attention to him but was just saying it out loud in the marketplace. The army man was still upset and felt the other person was responsible for all the wasted groceries.

Now the psychiatrist said, even if I uttered the word, why did you obey it? The army man replied, don’t you know, we army men take quick action after hearing a command? We don’t neglect orders. We just take action because serious discipline runs in our body like blood. The psychiatrist smiled, found his experiment successful and ran away.
So, this is the power of a command. In the Bhagavad Gita, Arjun is like that army man obeying the commands of Lord Krishna Janmashtami . Understand that, here Arjun represents all mankind and through him God commands one to perform certain deeds without any questioning. You have no option but to obey His commandments in order to live a glorious life. So, what are Lord Krishna’s commands?

The Commandments of Lord Krishna

Lord Krishna says, the Bhagavad Gita is my manifestation in which you’ll find ME only. The Gita is an unfathomable ocean of wisdom. In fact, an infinite store of knowledge lies imbedded in it… Gita embodies the supreme spiritual mystery and secret. It contains the essence of all the four Vedas…The virtues, glory, essential character, truth, mystery and worship of God as well as the topics of action and Knowledge have been discussed in the Gita in such a way that its parallel can hardly be found in any other scripture or text.

Lord Shri Krishna has stressed on the performance of duty [this is what He tried to explain to Arjuna]. “Sacrifice, charity, penance, study and teaching, giving religious discourses, warfare, governance of the people, rearing of cattle, agriculture, trade service, eating and drinking and all other duties that have been enjoined by the shastras [scriptures] as binding on a particular man with due regard to his grade in society, stages in life, temperament and circumstances, are ‘Nitya Karma’ for him. He who actually gives up these duties fails to discharge his obligations and thereby incurs sin; for such neglect of duty causes a brake in the continuity of action and brings about a chaos in the whole world. Hence it is not advisable to abandon one’s allotted duties”.
Yet, at certain places in The Gita, God is giving straight orders to Arjuna and asks him to follow them without doubting. These are the Commands of Lord Krishna where he says- perform these acts WITHOUT ANY QUESTIONING! These are life-changing commands.

Some Empowering Commands from Lord Krishna

In Chapter 2 God says, “Indomitable strength and an unwavering will can accomplish the seemingly impossible. Your goal is right there before you. March ahead and embrace it. Even if death confronts you, trample upon it. Across the tumultuous ocean of life lies a vast ocean of bliss; so take the intractable plunge, here and now.” Krishna commands that one should never succumb to cowardice. Must face challenges in life courageously. Understand yourself as an ‘Atma-Tatva’, an imperishable element of soul, and fight fearlessly. Refrain from taking decisions under the influence of sentiments and emotions. Yield not to unmanliness. Arise, giving up the petty weakness of the heart.

Again Lord Krishna commands Arjun, ‘Be without the three attributes’; be without any activity, just witness everything and realize your Self. This is unyielding consciousness; the state of absolute Being, the ultimate motive of a fighter. This state of consciousness brings harmony in whatever you do and it glorifies the whole life.
Further Lord Krishna commands, never miss your daily appointment with God and whatever you do, do it for the love of God, keeping in mind His grace. You must rejoice in everything that the will of God Brings to you.

And one of the most important commands

Always maintain a balance, whether it is victory or loss, happiness or distress, honour or dishonour, profit or loss. Stay steady in all sorts of opposites in life; keep a higher goal and do your duty with an unwavering spirit. Live like a warrior throughout your life, you’ll emerge a winner.

Hence, this Shri Krishna Janmashtami, promise yourself that you’ll keep these commands of Lord Krishna in your heart forever and obey them in all walks of life just like a well-disciplined army man. And then you’ll find that no failure, no grief nor any disappointment will be successful in breaking you. You’ll live like a winner and enjoy your life like a winner too.
Wishes for a grand Janmashtami celebrations.
Jai Shri Krishna!