"Krishna gave only five Shlokas (verses) in the Bhagavad Gita..."

Tuesday, March 13, 2001 

Swami : Where is Vinay?  (A student from Class XII went up to Swami). Very good boy. After 12th class go for IIT Madras or to Bangalore. Do you know Kannada?

Student :  Yes Swami.

Swami :  This boy is very good.  Cent per cent marks.  He will go for IIT. Which exams are going on?  Is it conducted by the Board or us?

Teacher :  Swami, Central Board from Delhi.

Swami :  Then who is conducting the examination?

Teacher : Swami, one examiner is from outside and the invigilators from our Institute are helping him.

Swami :  How did boys do Mathematics?

Teacher :  Nicely, Swami.  Today they had Science paper.

Swami :  I know Science paper for 10th class. Very easy paper. Some will get 100%, except one boy. He will get above 50. May be 55 marks. Others will get above 80, 90. 15 boys wrote very well.  How many of them wrote examination today?

Teacher :  Swami, 40 boys and 30 girls.

Swami :   I know girls have done very well because the teachers there teach nicely.  Anywhere you see, the lady teachers always teach much better than gents.  Teachers in Primary School teach with motherly love. If anyone asks a doubt, they call and explain nicely. But some teachers in Higher Secondary School don’t teach properly.  If anyone gets up and asks any doubt, they bluntly tell them to sit down. (Then Swami asked the Institute teachers sitting in front what subject they were teaching).

Sri Bhagia :  Swami, Leadership.

Prof. U.S. Rao:  Swami, Strategic Management.

Prof. Sudhir Bhaskar :  Swami, Practical Workshop.

Swami :  What Practical Workshop?

Prof. Sudhir Bhaskar : Swami, whatever theory they learn, we teach how to put it into practice like Marketing, company decisions, competition between two companies.

Swami : In competition, there is good competition as well as bad competition. What is leadership?

Sri Bhagia : A person having good fundamental character, individual character, and national character.

Swami : What is individual character?

Sri Bhagia : Swami, one who has sense control, love, compassion, forbearance, and harmony between thought, word and deed.

Swami :  What is fundamental character?

Sri Bhagia : Swami, one should take decisions depending on the environment, international affairs, society and all the living creatures.

Swami : Not all living creatures. Suppose you see a snake, do you look for its good?  No, only human beings (Then Swami asked Prof. Radhaswamy what he was teaching.  He said that he was guiding the research scholars. Then Swami asked Prof. V.E. Ramamoorthy (VER) what he was teaching).

Prof. VER : Swami, Financial Strategy.

Swami : Very big subject. Very important. This morning Bombay Stock Exchange Index went down by 300 points. Finance must be taken care of very carefully. Which class are you teaching? 

Prof. VER :  Swami, M.F.M.

Swami :  Only M.F.M. or some UG (Undergraduation) classes also?

Prof. VER :  No Swami, only M.F.M. and Awareness for M.B.A.

Swami :  What is Awareness?

Prof. VER :  Swami, realisation of the Divinity within.

Swami :  No, what is Awareness? (When the correct answer could not be given, Swami answered) Total understanding is Awareness. What do you teach in the Awareness class?

Prof. VER : Swami, Bhagavad Gita.

Swami : Sometimes Bhagavad Gita also has some seemingly opposite meanings and people get confused. Once it tells you to do Karma. Another time it tells you not to do anything (Karma Acharana, Karma Sanyasa). For example, a certain Brahmin wanted to follow the 22nd Shloka of Chapter 9 of Bhagavad Gita (Ananyas Chintayantomaam…) and followed this for many days. One day he became very poor, his wife was desperate and his children were crying.  He got very furious and told the Lord, “You are not keeping Your word”.  Saying so, he struck out the Shloka in the Gita.  After some days, a fair boy and dark boy came and gave his wife some items for cooking food. She saw that their fingers were cut. She asked them as to who had done it. The boys mentioned her husband’s name. She didn’t believe them and asked her husband. He in turn was surprised. Later when he remembered his striking off the Gita Shlokas, he repented for not being patient. God always does what He says. 

Lord Krishna with Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra

Swami : (Then Swami took off the thin bracelet which a teacher was wearing and converted it into a thicker one. Then Swami said) It was thin and delicate; still he protected it very carefully.  “Shraddhavan Labhate Jnanam”. Actually Krishna had told only five Shlokas. One of the verses is "Yatra Yogeshwara Krishna Yatra Partho Dhanurdharaha, Tatra Shree Vijayobhutihi Dhruva Neetir Matir Mama". This was told by Sanjaya to Dhritarashtra when the war was going on. This Shloka meant that wherever Krishna and Arjuna are there, there is victory. Vyasa composed all the other Shlokas. There are 700 Shlokas in the Gita and only five were told by Krishna. Vyasa wrote the rest. Vyasa is the person who wrote the 18 Puranas (ancient Indian texts eulogising various deities through Divine stories)

Source: Students with Sai: Conversations (2000-2001)