'Divine Grace'

   Swami Ranganathananda goes on to explore the concept of 'Divine Grace' in all its different manifestations. His lecture is entirely devoted to the teachings in the Bhagavad-Gita. These are the spoken words of Bhagavan Shree Krishna! In fact, the Lord, assures protection to all. He literally, explicitly, states, "mamupetya Kounteya sarvapappebhyo mokshyishyami…. punarjanma na vidyate |  The Lord assures of taking care of us, not only giving what we want, but also preserving what we have! yogaksemam vahamyaham | is His assurance. But this is not an unconditional one. He looks after the welfare of those who look to Him for guidance, surrender to Him unconditionally! This unconditional surrender of the jiva to the highest power is a must!

   Normally, the jiva begins its journey on this Planet Earth by the divine grace and it is His Will! It is still a mystery how the jiva takes different forms despite the fact that Bhagavan Shree Krishna explains the concept of births and deaths in such a great detail! He says that, "He only manifest in different forms and resides in the hearts of all!" This entire life of a person on this earth is a journey from home and a return journey, back home! Unfortunately, the jiva forgets its path and gets lost in wilderness once it takes its birth on earth. It finds difficult to get back home! It is only the ardent disciple or devotee who cries for help gets His grace and help! The Lord sends a guru to lead His devotee back to 'His Father in Heavens', leading the jiva holding its hand!

   The condition of a person who gets the blessings, 'divine grace', is also explained. Once the 'divine grace' falls on the jiva, it is totally liberated from all dualities. The jiva remains in its form and performs its function normally, but with a difference! It is this unnoticeable difference that makes the liberated soul from an eternally bound one. The liberated soul is a 'sthita-prajnya'. The liberated soul is 'established in its Self, 'Atmanishtha', not interested anymore in the affairs of the external mundane world. It has crossed the dualities of likes and dislikes (raga and dvesha), profit and loss, praise and condemnation (nabhinandati na dveshti), and unperturbed by the happenings in the world at large! He is a yogi, muni, with a stable mind (sthita dheeh, muni). 

   However, this is creating a new problem for the jiva since it is still living in the mundane world with people who cannot understand this situation. The person who is established in his self (Atman), with focused attention on the higher Self (paramatman)appears like a mad person toothers! The normal jiva is conditioned by the maya and the yogi is liberated from the dualities by the divine grace! The yogi is established in 'unity consciousness' (samyak prajnya) and finds no difference between man and man, or man and animal! Once the jiva is liberated and established in 'brahmn' it has reached the end of the journey! 

   Thus, 'divine grace' works wonders on the jiva! The ways of the Lord is still unknown, and remains a mystery forever. He imparts this secret yoga and brahmavidya to Arjuna. He says, "Arjuna, I shall impart the most secret of the secrets (guhyatama guhyamam pravshyami) since you are very dear to Me"!  

(concluded)