Question 3

QUESTIONER: THE OTHER DAY YOU SAID THAT A SOUL IS REBORN WITHIN A YEAR OF ITS LEAVING ITS FORMER BODY, AND JUST NOW YOU SAID THAT A CERTAIN GHOST LIVED IN THE BODILESS STATE FOR ELEVEN HUNDRED YEARS. PLEASE EXPLAIN THE CONTRADICTION.

Yes, there are a few people who have extraordinary memory. People with ordinary memory don't take much time for being born. But those of extraordinary memory, who are few and far between, do take time.

Curzon, a former British viceroy of India, has mentioned an event in his memoirs.

A man of extraordinary memory was once brought to his court from Rajasthan. Even the word "extraordinary" does not rightly describe his memory; it was really incredible. The man did not know any language other than his mother tongue -- Rajasthani. Thirty persons speaking thirty different languages were called to the Viceroy House in Delhi to test this man's memory. Each one of them was asked to formulate a sentence in his own language and keep it in his mind.

The Rajasthani man, a villager who knew no other language than his own, went to each of the thirty persons, one after another. Each of them uttered the first word of his sentence, which was followed by the sound of a gong. Then the villager went to the second man who in his turn said the first word of his sentence. Likewise all the thirty gave him the first word of the sentences they had in their minds, and each word was followed by the gong.

Then he returned to the first man who now gave him the second word of his sentence which was again followed by the sound of the gong. In this way he received the second words from the rest of them. This is how he collected all the thirty sentences belonging to thirty different languages interspersed by the sound of the gong. At the end, the man from Rajasthan correctly repeated each sentence of each language separately before the whole gathering.

When such a person as this Rajasthani villager dies and becomes a ghost he can remember things not only for eleven hundred years but for eleven hundred thousand years. It is a special kind of memory.

The other question is equally significant. It takes four hours to go through the whole of the GEETA. So it is a relevant question: how was such a lengthy dialogue possible in the midst of two inimical armies standing on the battlefield -- ready to begin a decisive war like the Mahabharat? It does not seem probable How could they have suspended fighting for four long hours? Someone must have raised the question: were they there to fight or to listen to a four-hour spiritual discourse? The question deserves consideration.

A historian, would say the dialogue of the GEETA in its original form must have been a brief one, which was elaborated in the course of time. And if we put this question to one who is an authority on the GEETA, he will say the GEETA is an interpolation; it looks completely out of context in relation to the war of the Mahabharat. It seems the Mahabharat in its original text did have the GEETA as one of its parts, and was extended later by some ingenuous poet. It does not fit in where it is found in the Mahabharat. Certainly a war is no occasion for such a long spiritual discourse.

But I don't accept the theory that the GEETA is an interpolation, nor do I believe it to be a later elaboration of a brief dialogue. I would like to explain it with the help of an anecdote from the life of Vivekananda.

When Vivekananda visited Germany, he was the guest of Duschen, a great scholar of Indology. He was as great an authority as Max Muller, and in many respects Duschen possessed deeper insights than Muller. He was the first western scholar who understood the UPANISHADS and the GEETA, and his translations of the UPANISHADS became well-known. It was Duschen's translation of the UPANISHADS that thrilled Schopenhauer so much that he put the book on his head and went dancing in the streets of his town.

Schopenhauer said the UPANISHAD was not a book to be read but a song to be sung, a dance to be danced. And Schopenhauer was not an ordinary man, he was a renowned philosopher known for his very serious and sad temperament. He was a pessimist and a total stranger to things like music and dance. He believed that life is essentially painful, and happiness is just a bait to lure us into suffering. The same person burst into a dance when he first read Duschen's translation of the UPANISHADS. Vivekananda was Duschen's guest.

On a fine morning, Duschen was in his study going through a book in the German language. He had been with this book for some days and had been able to read only half of it. Vivekananda entered Duschen's study to say hello, and Duschen mentioned the book he was reading saying it was a great book. When Vivekananda said he would like to have the book for an hour, Vivekananda knew little of German so his host said that he would not be able to under, stand it. Vivekananda then quipped, "Is it guaranteed that one who knows German well will understand it?" Duschen agreed that it is not. Vivekananda added, "Then the contrary can also be true: that one knowing less of German will understand it. However, you lend me the book."

Duschen asked, "How can you finish reading this book in just two days' time that you are going to spend with me? I have been with this book for fifteen days and have hardly been able to read half of it." His guest said with a grin, "I am Vivekananda, not Duschen." And Vivekananda took the book and left the study.

Vivekananda returned to Duschen's study just after an hour, carrying the book in his hand. When Duschen enquired if he had read the book, Vivekananda said, "I have not only read it, but understood it." Duschen was amazed, but he did not leave Vivekananda before putting him to test if he had really understood the book.

He asked some searching questions from the chapters he himself had read, and he was dumb founded to see that Vivekananda had gotten it so well. He exclaimed, "Vivekananda! It is incredible! How did you work this miracle?" His guest said with a smile, "There are ways and ways of reading -- ordinary ways as well as extraordinary ways."

Most of us are familiar with the ordinary way of reading, and it is enough if we can read and understand even a dozen books in a lifetime. But there are different ways of reading. There are people who take a book in their hands, close their eyes and then throw them away. They are finished with their reading. This is called the psychic way of reading something.

As I understand it, Krishna does not speak to Arjuna through words; he communicates with him at the psychic level. It is such a wordless, silent communication between two persons that a third person standing close by will never know it. No other people present at Kurukshetra could hear it; otherwise a crowd would have gathered round Arjuna's chariot. At least the Pandava brothers were sure to join them. Even the Kauravas would not have resisted the temptation to listen to this unique dialogue. If a spoken dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna had taken place, lasting for four long hours, anything -- including fighting -- could have happened. But nothing of the kind occurred. No, it was an inner communion between the two, a psychic communication,

It is significant that while no one present on the battlefield has any inkling of this dialogue, Sanjaya, who is far away from the battlefield, hears and relates it to Kaurava's blind father Dhritarashtra. Sit ting in his home, Dhritarashtra anxiously asks Sanjaya, "On the field of Kurukshetra my people and the sons of Pandu have gathered together, eager for battle. What are they doing?" They are miles from the battlefield and yet Sanjaya makes a verbatim report to Dhritarashtra. He tells him that when the two armies are arrayed and eager for fight, Arjuna feels depressed and confused and desists from fighting. And Krishna persuades him to come out of his despondency to fight as a warrior should fight. How does Sanjaya know this from such a distance?