(A dialogue between a young son and his Father)
Son: Appa!
Father: yes dear!
Son: I am tired of all these that you ask me to do.
Father: What are you tired of?
Son: The daily rituals that you make me do like sandhyavandanam, prostrating before perumal, chant the names of Krishna etc., besides asking me to learn.
Father: Ok. You may choose not to do them.
Son: But would not Krishna be unhappy with me? If He is unhappy not many things would happen to me. That’s what you keep saying.
Father: Hmmm. Who do you imagine Krishna to be?
Son: Hmmm. I think he is a special person with some powers who controls the whole world and He is sitting in a very far off place and took avatar in Dvapara yuga during Mahabharata.
Father: Very good! What if I tell you he is within you, and all of us in fact?
Son: How is it possible?
Father: Ok. Let me explain. First, we must understand this body of ours.
Son: What is there to understand? It has a head, shoulders, arms, stomach, legs etc.
Father: Ha ha ha. Ok. We, the atmas, are the thinking and commanding principle and the body should ideally obey our commands and take us to where we wish to go. Let me explain.
Son: ok.
Father: Visualize yourself to be going in a chariot pulled by five strong horses.
Son: Appa, we don’t have horse carts these days.
Father: That’s why I asked you to imagine.
Son: Ok. Hmm. (Imagines) I am sitting in a nice and big chariot. Very comfortable! The horses look big and strong. There is a charioteer and he has a whip and reins to control them. The chariot has four wheels.
Father: Very good. Now, imagine the horses are pulling the chariot in different directions. What would happen?
Son: But the charioteer is there to control them. Right?
Father: Well! imagine he is weak or tired! The horses don’t listen to his commands. He is unable to pull them.
Son: Oh my God! Then I can’t imagine what would happen. Wait wait! I would take over the charioteer job.
Father: Do you think you can control the wild and strong horses?
Son: (blushing) No way. I am not trained and I am not that strong. Just wishful thinking. Then perhaps my back would be broken! And even the chariot may get broken.
Father: I wish not (smiling). Very good! What if you get a very capable person who is a master of horses and who can always maneuver your chariot in the way it should go!
Son: Well, I would remain happy, free from any anxiety forgetting about the journey as if I travel in a very good express train. I would not even bother to keep a watch on him!
Father: Well. Krishna is that charioteer!
Son: Wait. But that chariot was an imagination. I don’t travel by a chariot.
Father: (Laughing) Our body is that chariot. Krishna is also present in each one of our bodies. The atmas or the thinking principles reside in the hearts of their respective bodies. Krishna is also with us in that tiny space inside the heart and just waiting for us to call for help.
Son: Wow. Very nice.
Father: The Upanishads, a bundle of texts that describe Krishna’s greatness, use this example to make us understand Krishna better. When you think of Srimad Bhagavad Gita what appears in your mind?
Son: Many things. But what I recollect the most is that battle scene with Krishna giving upadesha to Arjuna.
Father: Where exactly are Krishna and Arjuna?
Son: Oh! I get it! Arjuna is in the chariot and Krishna is his charioteer!
Father: Very good! When Arjuna lost his ability to think what is good and bad for him, and the world, he almost swoons as he is unable to decide anything for himself. That is, his buddhi or intellect became weak and it could not control the mind (and the sense organs).
Son: What did he do then?
Father: Then he surrendered to Krishna seeking his guidance. Krishna, with a mischievous smile took charge of the chariot and guided him to victory over his senses too. He gave the right upadesha to Arjuna and made his buddhi stronger for him to take charge from thereof.
Son: Can you please explain more from my point of view?
Father: Yes. We all, like Arjuna, with our limited buddhi think we know what is good for us. We choose to do those activities that brings us satisfaction or pleasure without knowing whether they would really do good for us!
Son: I don’t get it fully. Please tell me more.
Father: We all have these five sense organs namely the eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin. They are the five strong horses of our body, the chariot. Legs and hands are the four wheels. Mind is the reins and buddhi is the charioteer. The sense organs have their own pursuits, like eyes would follow objects and ears would focus on sounds and so on. That is they would be always chasing their pursuits.
Son: Oh! that is why I am not able to concentrate fully while learning.
Father: Yes: They get distracted with all the things and happenings around us if we don’t engage them fruitfully in activities like learning, sandhyavandanam, praying to Perumal etc. The mind, and the body by obeying that mind, become weak due to these relentless and useless pursuits of the sense organs.
Son: What should we do?
Father: We need to engage our senses, mind and body in the above activities. Then as we make progress slowly, with prayers to Krishna, He will make our intellect stronger. If we don’t control the sense organs and mind, our bodies become weaker due to all wrong activities and we won’t have the energy to do any useful activity leave alone kainkarya or service to Krishna and His devotees.
Son: Hmmm. I think I understood something. How do I pray or rather how do I request Krishna to be my charioteer?
Father: Very good question. You may chant the seventh verse of the second chapter of the Gita that begins with the word ‘kaarpanya’. It was the very prayer of Arjuna to Krishna!
Son: How did Krishna get the power to control the horses or our sense organs.
Father: The indriyas or sense organs are called as hrisheeka in Sanskrit and Krishna is called as Hrisheekesha, meaning the Lord of sense organs. Very rightly Sanjaya refers to Krishna as Hrisheekesha in the ninth verse while narrating the act of surrender of Arjuna to Krishna. When you also chant this verse with faith, Krishna would respond to your prayer any time and He would help you with clear buddhi to tackle any situation.
Son: Please teach me that verse appa!
Father: Yes, go wash your hands, legs and face and come with thiruman kappu and srichurnam on your forehead.
Son: Running, yes will be here very soon!
Father: Krishna!
By Dr.Sreeram Jaganathan.
