March 10th 2026

Vivekji shared about a movie that is playing in the theatres now called Hoppers, which is about humans that go into robotic animals to help the environment/nature. A line that is shared in the beginning of the movie is from a grandmother (that is aging and passing) with her grand-daughter who is struggling specifically from anger.  She shares that ‘it is hard to be mad when you feel like you are part of something big’. What decides if we ‘feel’ we are part of something or not is not forced but comes from the mind. It is our minds that make us feel included or excluded or confused. What we have engaged in for 21 weeks of this course so far is the training for our mind to feel like it is part of something bigger, and bigness (Brahma). Our mind is the most influential factor in our lives. When our mind is loud, all is tainted with badness , when our mind is quiet all is colored with goodness. This mind has to be worked with. We cannot bypass the mind. We cannot transcend the mind immediately, one has to understand the mind and work with the mind.  Selfish leaders have a lot of influence on certain organizations or certain countries and we cannot bypass them or transcend them immediately. We have to learn who they are and work with them so that there can be growth, although we do not need to agree with them. 

In verse 15, the theme is separation. Pujya Swami Tejomayananda is pointing out how presumptuous we are. We just presume that all we are interacting with is real. The way not to be presumptuous is to pay attention. When we pay attention, we start to presume less. If we say we sleep for 8 hours a day, then for one-third of our lives we are not this body. If we dream for half that time, then one-sixth of our day is not even in this realm. Then how can we be so presumptuous that ‘this is the absolute’!? By paying attention, we presume less and the separation starts to break up. 

In verse 16, the theme is exhaustion. We are presuming all of this is real, and not only real but also happiness. So we go about chasing happiness, and this happiness is a much faster runner than us! So we keep losing the race and get exhausted doing so. Our likes and dislikes start with pleasure. Then they become more toxic with possessions and then most toxic with position (people). The very first pleasure we engage in where likes and dislikes are felt and expressed is food. We should learn not to presume that ‘this food is good and this is bad, this is tasty and this is not’. Then we should keep putting fortresses around pleasure, so that one does not get seduced into this pleasure. Prince Siddhartha’s father created a pleasure palace for him. We should do the opposite and create a pleasure prison! There should be a strong fortress around a certain pleasure, so that there are a lot of barriers for us to engage in that pleasure. Then one is more attentive with it and less presumptuous. 

Verse 17:

The theme of verse 17 is decision. The main teaching is ‘it is our decision to live like this’. 

labhe sukhi tathā duḥkhī hyalābhe priya-vastunaḥ

saṁsāro ayaṁ mayā prāpto mithyādhyāsa-puraḥsaraḥ

Laabhe – to gain

Sukhi- pleasure

Tatha – then

Duhkhi – pain

Alaabhe – did not gain

Priya – dear

VastunaH – articles (beings, circumstances)

First we experience pleasure,  then built into that pleasure is pain. For example, the first plate in a buffet is pleasure, the second plate is more pleasure, but then there is a decreasing return and eventually results in pain. The pain comes from ‘alaabhe’ – because we either did not gain it, or we gained it and it started to slip. This is towards articles, beings and circumstances that we project to be ‘priya’.  When it comes to pleasure, we are always living ‘to’ this. We are planning to this, talking about this and running towards this. When it comes to pain, it is ‘from’ this. We try to move away from this and we try not to talk about this. Our days are really a ‘to’ and a ‘from’. 

Ayam – this

Samsara – that which is ever slipping away

Maya praptaH – this is what i have gained

Mithya – illusory

Adhyasa – to project

purassaraH – reasoning for us feeling samsara

Samasara is like a paper or ball that is being blown away by wind, ever slipping away! By deciding to be presumptuous and project, this is what we have gained and brought into our lives. Samsara feels like purposelessness. The feeling of purposelessness is deeper than anger or sadness. The depth to purposelessness almost feels like we cannot come out of it other than through grace (metaphysical support). We may have been born in samsara, but then it is our ‘decision’ to live in samsara. 

Verse 18: 

The theme for verse 18 is solution. 

upāyaṁ nāradaḥ prāha citta-doṣa-nivṛttaye

yudhiṣṭhirāya prāgeva taṁ smarāmi ca śreyase

Tu – indeed

UpaayaH – there is a means or path

Pura proktaH –  this means was spoken out

The theme for this verse is solution. Separation causes exhaustion. It is my decision to be like this and it is also my decision to not be like this. Hence the solution!

Puraana means ‘pura api nava’. It is ancient and applicable. This dialogue was experienced by Rishi Narada and Raja Yudhishthira. This dialogue is in Srimad Bhagavatam. In Mahabharata, there is a dialogue where Rishi Shaunaka is asking Rishi Ugrashava. And here, Rishi Ugrashava says ‘pura prokta’ meaning this was asked before (by Raja Janamejaya to Rishi Vaishampayana). There are many such references to, ‘this was asked before and this was taught before’. The reason for this is humility and efficacy. We are in a field where we are trying to feel less egotistical but sometimes when someone asks a question, they feel like they are so important! Sometimes the person answering also feels like that! So humility is important (that this was already answered before by Rishi Narada, by Pujya Swami Tejomayananda)  and so is efficacy. Raja Yudhisthira was great, Raja Janamejaya became quiet , Rishi Shaunaka became free – so if it worked for them, it can work for us. 

‘chitta dosha’ means impurity of the mind, ‘nivrutti artham’ means the purpose is to change/let go/freed of the impurities of the mind, and this is what they talked about. 

Smarami tam shreyase – means i am remembering them for my own growth. 

Our minds are filled with impurities , the dominant ones shared are likes and dislikes. These likes and dislikes can be purged only by being active. The impurities of the mind won’t be purged just because we get older. We need to be active towards the path of shreyas. Acharya Shankara’s commentary of the Bhagavad Gita begins at Chapter 2 verse 11, He shares a general introduction of the first 57 verses and shares that some people live for ‘abhyudaya’ (prosperity) but the Bhagavad Gita is not for those who live for abhyudaya, it is for those who live for ‘nisshreyasa’ (to be beyond the path of peace, which is peace). The only people who are not seeking happiness are those who are ‘happiness’. 

That is why Pujya Swami Tejomayananda is sharing that He is not doing this just to teach us but ‘i am doing this for me’ – but the beauty of self development is , it is a direct catalyst to societal development.