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Bhagavad Gita - June 18, 2010 Chapter 6, Verses: 40-44 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..."     VI.40: The Blessed Lord said: "O Partha, there is certainly no ruin for him/her here or hereafter. For, no one engaged in good meets with a deplorable end, My son! VI.41: Attaining the worlds of the righteous, and residing there for eternal years, a person fallen from Yoga is born in the house of the pious and the prosperous. VI.42: Or s/he is born in the family of wise togis only. Such a birth as is of this kind is surely more difficult to get in the world. VI.43: There s/he becomes endowed with that wisdom acquired in the previous body. And s/he strives more than before for perfection, O scion of the Kuru dynasty. VI.44: For, by that very past practice, s/he is carried forward even inspite of her/himself. Even a seeker of Yoga transcends the result of the performance of Vedic rituals!   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: In the sixth chapter, Sri Krishna outlines how our progress is dependent upon the degree to which we succeed in bringing the mind under control. Arjuna raises several doubts: Is there any shortcut by which the aspirant can bring the mind under control? No, there is no shortcut! What if the aspirant is working towards the Yoga and is trying to control the mind but dies before reaching the goal? Is all the progress lost? "No", the Lord answers "that progress carries over into the person's next life." In the Indian conception of reincarnation, the soul chooses its next body according to the tendencies of the past life. Thus, Sri Krishna explains that an aspirant will be reborn to parents where the spiritual progress gets facilitated. May be he is born of well to do and spiritually-minded parents; this will allow this soul to live with a family who will encourage and nurture spiritual practice. Or s/he will be reborn into a family of Yogis,- a rare great privilege.. When the soul is reborn, it is again attracted to spiritual practices, takes up the path it began upon in its previous birth, and continues its progress, where s/he left.