Today's satsang is of a different kind because, as you all know, I've probably had around a thousand such seminars, but this is the first time I'm speaking exclusively on the Gita as a subject, so I feel an immense expression of joy today.
My entire life has been shaped by the Gita, and you all know that I've said many times that the Gita is not merely a religious text. The Gita is a guru of management, and no other religion has given the status of yoga to karma — to the actions we perform.
The Gita is the only scripture in the entire world where Lord Sri Krishna has given karma the status of yoga. So we should feel content that whatever work we do, we do it solely for God, and if there is no desire for its fruits, that too is a yoga. This is what the Gita teaches.
I once watched a video on YouTube where someone was interviewing a Maharaj of the Hare Krishna movement, and the interviewer said, 'You praise the Gita so much and force it into everyone's minds. Don't you think you're brainwashing people?' And the Maharaj gave a wonderful answer.
He said, 'Of course we do brainwash, and we do it vigorously, because this brain has accumulated rust over thousands of births, so it needs to be washed, it needs to be cleansed.' That's why I use the Gita for this washing. So our faith grows when we hear things like this — it increases threefold. Brainwashing, yes! That's what it is.
I was initially scared about how the Swami would answer that journalist, but saints are truly great. As Bhagavan Sri Krishna's spokesperson, the revered Dongreji Maharaj used to say that the Bhagavata is God's verbal form — what God spoke. The Gita is God's verbal form; having a darshan of the Gita means having a darshan of God, because it is His word, His verbal manifestation.
Now, I used to attend satsang for 12 years in Surat at Rani Talar, Parsi Sheri, with Indravadanbhai Soni, who conducted satsangs. From 1982 to 1994 — twelve years — I went there every evening for one hour. Indravadanbhai is no longer in this world, but he ran satsang for 40 years.
I learned time management from there, and his subjects were the Gita and the Bhagavata. He used to say that you should memorize one shloka of the Gita every day and come. We would ask, 'That's fine — we can memorize it in Sanskrit, but we don't understand Sanskrit, so what's the use?'
He explained it very beautifully. He said, 'Brother, we don't even need to understand it, because even what we think we understand, we don't actually act upon.' And in our Kathiawadi language there was a saying: 'One mann of knowledge is less important than fifty grams of practice.' Even if you have one mann of knowledge but no practice, it's of no use.
In Kathiawadi they say that fifty grams of practice is more important than one mann of knowledge. And Indravadanbhai said, 'Brother, this Gita is what God has spoken — and we have to speak it. Its meaning, its depth — that is for the person who understands to explain, but we need to speak what God has spoken. That is the importance of the Gita.'
I heard in a discourse that reading the Gita makes us quick, fast — we gain vision. And not reading the Gita also makes us quick, but what kind of quick? Hasty and angry. Reading the Gita makes us truly quick, and not reading it makes us quick in anger. There's a difference — the reader becomes fast in a good way, and the other becomes fast-tempered.
Morari Bapu used to say that in villages, elders used to sit — this is from 50 years ago — and if a younger person said, 'Grandpa, you're sitting, please stand up,' that was a matter of respect.
In the Gita, from verse 22 of the second chapter, the Lord says that just as a person discards old clothes and puts on new ones, so does the soul leave the old body and take on a new one. This was said when He was explaining to Arjuna.
Arjuna was saying, 'Oh no, they are all my elders and I'll have to kill them. I don't want to fight anymore, I don't want the kingdom, and even if I won, enjoying a kingdom earned by killing them would be sinful. So I don't want to fight.' Then Krishna explained to him, 'Who are you? This human body that we have received is like old clothes being replaced by new ones. Similarly, the soul abandons the old body and takes on a new one.' This is how past lives are discussed.
Now, more than 50 percent of people believe in past lives — or maybe not even 50 percent. I do believe, and here's why: when I first went to IIM in 2013, students asked me my first question — it's on YouTube — 'Govind Dholakia at IIM Ahmedabad.' Every year lectures from IIM are released because I go there annually.
So in 2013, their first question was, 'Is it true that you have the entire Gita by heart?' I said, 'Yes, in Gujarati — chapters 7 to 15, that's 9 chapters in Sanskrit, and the full Gita in Gujarati.' Then they asked a follow-up question — like in the third chapter of the Gita where there are questions and sub-questions.
Their follow-up question was this: 'An industrialist doesn't have the Gita memorized, and no one who has the Gita memorized is ever an industrialist. So how come you are both?' I replied, 'Well, maybe God made some such arrangement that I have to answer what you don't believe in.'
I said, 'Because out of about 125 students sitting here, I feel 80-85 percent will disagree with whatever answer I give.' So I explained the whole thing to them — why I believe in past lives. No one taught me, no one gave me a sermon, I never read about it. I'm telling you from personal experience that past lives are real.
They asked how, and I told them. When I was 10 or 11 years old, our village Dhuilya had a population of 700, with no facilities. No saints ever came to give discourses — nothing like that existed in that tiny village. For 11 years I didn't even have slippers on my feet, and for six years I didn't wear underwear.
When I started school in the seventh grade, for the first time I had to wear underwear, and according to custom, the entire village had to attend. It seems difficult now, but that was our custom at the time. Until then we only wore a loincloth, and it had to be worn by the whole village, not just one person.
Then we went to school, and when we started keeping our hair, the elders said, 'The boys have gone astray, they've become jatiyalas' — meaning long-haired. That was the way back then.
I often tell the elders that in the way the world moves, based on experience, the young are always right, not the elders. The elders are stuck in old patterns and can't break free, so they think they're right and the younger ones have gone astray. But this world belongs to the youth, and the youth are right.
But the one thing that's true is that experience lies with the elders, not the youth. The youth have energy, and if they only use that energy without drawing from the elders' experience, there's a very high chance of an accident. So young people should do their own thing, and elders...
Let me tell you all this right in front of my family — half of them are here — I have never given my children advice, never. And none of you should ever give advice to your children, whether it's a son, grandson, daughter, or granddaughter. Nobody likes advice in this world.
By giving advice we don't become smaller, but we feel that they've done something wrong and we must correct it. What I do is just make a gentle hint — like I did just two days ago.
I got news that the kids had gone out for ice cream. I just sent a message on our family WhatsApp: 'Did the kids go alone at 10:30 at night, or is an elder with them?' That's all I wrote — nothing more, nothing to say to the kids directly.
I got the reply that the older boys were with them, so my thinking was wrong — the kids passed the test. But if I didn't know and had called them to scold them, saying, 'What are you doing, going out at 10:30 or 11 at night, you've gone bad' — that would be wrong. I have never given advice to my children, never.
But when they ask, I pour out everything from my heart. When they ask, they're ready to listen, so we should speak. But elders need not proactively tell the kids anything. If you see them doing something slightly wrong, just smile — they'll understand. No need to say anything.
But that's our nature, isn't it? We can't help it.
I've written this story in my book. When I was in the fifth or sixth grade, there was a Swaminarayan temple — a small 10-by-10 room. Every year a sadhu would come with books and leave them there. Being kids, we were playing and wandering around the temple.
We went into the temple, opened the cupboard, and found four or five books. Out of curiosity we picked them up, and the Gita came into my hands. The Swami must have left it there. And I went into a state of samadhi — total absorption.
Now I realize it was samadhi, but at the time I had no idea — I was just a child. I sat right there in the temple with the Gita and read it cover to cover. I couldn't understand a thing, but I read the whole thing. Meanwhile, the other kids I'd been playing with had gone — I didn't even notice.
That state of samadhi — if past lives don't exist, how can this be explained? No one advised me, no one guided me. It was just an association with the Gita that caused this samadhi, and as a result I read the entire Gita. This is my proof from experience.
I told the IIM students this story. After that experience with the Gita, I felt that rather than just reading it, I should memorize it by heart. So I kept reciting it, and by the age of 16 I had memorized the entire Gita — in a state of ignorance, with no understanding of what I was doing.
So who made this happen? It must be past lives. That is the proof of past lives from my experience. The second time I experienced samadhi is also in my book — I heard the story of Dongreji Maharaj and the voice touched the hairs on my body.
The first time, Alabhai — Morarabhai Kalidas — lived in Limbusheri and was the chairman. Kanaiyalal Modi was the secretary. Together they organized Dongreji Maharaj's kathas, four or five of them. The first kathas gave me great benefit.
Now, getting into the subject of the Gita, the Lord says that this yoga was first taught to Vivasvan — and who is Vivasvan? The Sun God. The Sun has seven names, and Vivasvan is one of them.
So it was first told to Vivasvan, then to Manu, then Manu told it to Ikshvaku, and then over time it was lost. Arjuna then asked, 'Lord, the Sun has existed for crores of years, and you and I are here now — when did you tell this to the Sun?'
Then the Lord says, 'You and I have gone through many births. This is about past lives.' Sri Krishna stamps the seal: 'Many births have passed for both you and me. You don't remember, but I know.' He knows and Arjuna doesn't — that is why we call Sri Krishna God.
In verse 37 of the sixth chapter, Arjuna asks the Lord, 'Lord, if a faithful yogi's mind somehow becomes distracted and strays from yoga, what path does he attain? Does he fall to ruin or not?' Arjuna asks this.
Now, this is the shloka I cite as proof of past lives. Arjuna asks, 'If a very good person practices devotion but somewhere gets distracted, what is his fate? Does he become lost? Does he attain a low path? Or does he remain?'
The Lord answers in verses 40 to 44 of the sixth chapter: 'Neither in this world nor in the next does he perish, because no one who does good deeds ever meets with a bad end.'
Then He says that when such a person meditates, by the merit of his past pious deeds — that means what he had accumulated before — he lives in heavenly realms for countless ages and is then reborn on earth.
He is born into a prosperous family or into the home of great yogis. Such a birth is extremely rare. So Sri Krishna stamps the seal that if in a past life something went wrong and one didn't attain liberation or proximity to God, one doesn't fall to ruin but is born into such a prosperous family or into the home of great yogis.
Just recently, a three-year-old boy came to our house — a Bhagavata prodigy. Just two, three, four days ago, a three-year-old boy came...
The Gita's rapid-fire verses are recited, and we ask, 'Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Hare Hare Krishna.' A three-year-old child says 'Hare Hare Krishna.' What I want to say is that only a soul so refined in yoga could be reborn like that — a three-year-old who has memorized the Gita. If we ask any question, he answers. This is the sign of a yoga-refined soul — that he takes birth in the same place again.
In the Gita, God has described three yogas: Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga, and Bhakti Yoga. These are the three paths to attaining God.
Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga, and Bhakti Yoga. In Bhakti Yoga, there is the spirit of complete surrender — where one has nothing of one's own. When a devotee exists in Bhakti Yoga, there is no devotee left, only God remains — that is Bhakti Yoga.
In Karma Yoga, we must perform all actions. We are all Karma Yogis — we must work, do all our duties, but without hoping for the fruits of those actions. Offer everything to God — 'Tera tujhko arpan kya lage mera' (What is mine to give when everything is yours?) — this is Karma Yoga.
God says we must perform all our duties with full force, work very hard, work fourteen hours, but without hoping for the fruits. Now, there's a story: a mouse gnaws through a rope, a snake eats the mouse, and things turn upside down. 'Hari kare jo thaye' — the mouse did its duty, it gnawed the rope all night. Poor thing, it had been getting fruits daily from gnawing ropes. But one day, it entered a house and a cat caught it. So it did its duty, it did its karma, but we have the right to perform karma, not the right to its fruits. This is the message of the Gita.
In the 18th chapter, in the 11th verse, God says that whoever has taken on a body cannot completely abandon karma without any motivation. So one who renounces the fruits of karma is called a 'tyagi' (renouncer). God himself says: perform karma, but renounce the desire for its fruits. Surrender, as we just discussed — let it come into God's fold. Jnana we already have — in the aarti we say 'Tera tujhko arpan kya lage mera' — this should come into our behavior.
We can do karma, brother. We do many things without knowing what opposite fruits we may receive — they may be good, but it is God who determines. We should focus on our duty, on the work we are meant to do, and not seek any return from God.
God has described things very minutely in the Gita. God has described three types each of knowledge, penance, and yoga. After that, God has even described three types of eating and three types of happiness. The description of happiness: what kind of happiness exists? First, the happiness that seems painful at first but yields very sweet results — that is called sattvic happiness. Like in childhood we may face great hardship, but later life becomes very good — that is sattvic happiness.
When there is great comfort at first and the result is painful — that is rajasic happiness. Many people are born with a golden spoon, everything is great, but when the cycle of time turns, they become destitute and then their days of suffering begin. I have seen this — a friend of mine, here there used to be a mill. The first time he went abroad in the textile business, there was an ad in Gujarat Mitra saying 'Such-and-so chairman is going abroad for business development.' But then his situation changed — after 30 years, his son called me saying, 'I'm 60 now, my sons don't take care of me properly, and they have nothing either. Could you give me some job where I get 10-15 thousand rupees per month?' This is called rajasic happiness — great comfort first, but painful at the end.
And the happiness that comes from laziness, negligence, and sloth at the beginning and in the result is called tamasic happiness. These are the three types of happiness. The one that comes from darkness, from laziness — 'brother, just enjoy yourself' — that tamasic happiness comes from negligence.
Similarly, three types of food have been described. Food that increases life force, vitality, health — wholesome, pleasant, lasting in the body for a long time — sattvic people prefer such food. For rajasic people: spicy, salty, sour, excessively hot, dry food that causes burning. And for tamasic: food that is stale, foul-smelling, leftover, impure — tamasic people prefer that. That is like pani puri.
In Bhakti Yoga, what comes? Surrender to God. In the 9th chapter, verses 26-27, God says: 'If any devotee offers me even a leaf, a fruit, a little water with pure devotion, I accept those offerings.' God himself said this.
So what I am talking about now is a pravachan (discourse). In a discourse, I have observed in this world that speaking is very enjoyable, but listening — nobody likes it. Listening is a great punishment. And when we have to listen — everyone here has come out of love for the Gita, it's not that they were forced. But many think, 'Oh, this brother is going, so I'll have to go with him.' Some think, 'Govind Kaka is there, so we must go.' And some come with overflowing devotion. Among all this, there are sattvic, rajasic, tamasic people — everything is here.
So now let's start a conversation. You should also speak, and we'll all speak — it's not that only I will give answers. The people who have given discourses on the Gita are all here, and more than 50% of the audience has digested the Gita. So if I find anything difficult, I'll say, 'Brother, you all give some answer to this.' So let's start the question-and-answer session. Whatever questions you have about living life, in the context of how we live — what benefit do we get from the shelter of the Gita? Let's discuss that.
As I said before, 'One maund of practice is worth nine maunds of knowledge' — this happened to me personally. When the Gita came into my hands at the age of 10, 11, or 12, it was already written in the Gita itself — in the 6th chapter, verses 10 to 15, God has described how to practice yoga. All of it is written inside the Gita. If you've read it, it clearly says that yoga should be practiced in a solitary place, alone, with senses conquered, without desire for fruits — again the same point about not hoping for the fruits of karma. Without expectation, without attachment to possessions, always engaged in yoga practice.
How should one practice yoga? In a sacred place, first prepare a seat — on the ground, place a deer skin, then spread a cloth over it. Not too high, not too low — find a suitable spot. Sit there with the body, head, and neck straight and steady. Focus your gaze on the tip of the nose, without looking here and there. With a calm mind, fearless, with thoughts fixed on God, concentrating the mind on me — sitting in this manner, the yogi attains the power to stabilize the mind in me.
Now, I already knew this at the age of 10 or 11. I understood this back then, but have I actually practiced yoga since then? God himself has specifically described it, yet we haven't done it. This is the type of yoga. So now, let's talk. Let's stay in satsang, and whatever is in your mind, let's have a conversation. Thank you.
