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Bhagavad Gita - November 20, 2009 Chapter 4, Verses: 41-42 Swami Yogatmananda Vedanta Society of Providence     Please click the 'Play' button to start. It may take a minute.   Launch in external player   To download the lecture, please right-click here and then click "Save Target As..."     IV.41: O Dhananjaya (Arjuna), actions do not bind one who has renounced actions through yoga, whose doubt has been fully dispelled by Knowledge, and who is not inadvertant. IV.42: Therefore, O scion of the Bharata dynasty, take recourse to yga and rise up, cutting asunder with the sword of Knowledge this doubt of your own in heart, arising from ignorance.   The above image is from Gita Darshan by courtesy of Sri Ramakrishna Math, Hyderabad.   To Order Audio/ Video CDs : bookstore@vedantaprov.org   List of Audio/Video CDs, DVDs

Summary of this lecture: We are used to living in order to satisfy our desires and looking outside ourselves for satisfaction. However, we need a directional shift; we must go inwards, towards the self, which is the source of joy and immortality. Because these instructions are coming directly from Lord Krishna, there is no possibility of mistake. We must be adventurous and test these truths out for ourselves. The doubting nature is a big obstacle that has to overcome. It is one thing to have doubt and to get it clarified; but to maintain doubts at all the times is detrimental to progress - secular or spiritual. In fact these doubts come because we do not actually want to progress. The aspirant who works without attachment, has conquered all doubts by the, and is self-possessed, will not be bound by actions. In the final verse of the chapter, Lord Krishna encourages us to stand up with determination and destroy our doubts with the sword of knowledge. Our human lives are short, so let us use our lives for the great purpose: realizing the Truth.