Baba says, ““Mine is one Shiv Baba and none other.” Bodies or bodily relationships should not pull your intellects to them.“

It is said: God is the Intellect of the Wise. So the question that arises is: Who would be considered ‘wise’?

In the Mahabharata, it is shown that Arjuna and Duryodhana went to God to ask for His help in winning the war. God promised to help them but He told them that they would need to choose– either Him or the vast army; they couldn’t have both. The vast army in addition to being vast had the best human minds- there were scholars, teachers, strategists, experts…they were all there. And what’s more, they were all closely related to Arjuna and Duryodhana. Nevertheless, Arjuna chose God because He understood that only God could help him win the war. Why? because only God knew him.

No human being, no matter how close they may be to me- my parents, my best friend, my mentors, no matter how smart they may be, or how well-intentioned they may be, no one really knows me as God does. Why? Because only God is my eternal Parent. With every birth I take, my physical relations keep changing but the only constant throughout the cycle of time is God; He was, is and will always be my Father. By virtue of that relationship, He is therefore the only One who knows the beginning, middle and end of my story. To realize this deeply is to be soul conscious. I am a soul, not the body. I, the soul have taken on many bodies through the course of time. I have played my role with my co-actors but they are just that, co-actors; God, is my Mother and Father. He understands my strengths and how to build on them, He knows of all the blind spots, the biases and prejudices hidden away in the corners of my heart and how to enable me to overcome them. That feeling or emotion I’m feeling that I don’t even understand sometimes, but He somehow gets it. He alone gets me.

And so Arjuna asked God to be His Charioteer and guide Him through the course of the war. As a direct outcome of that choice, Arjuna and the Pandavas attained victory. To chose God is wisdom and the outcome is ALWAYS victory.

No, Arjuna didn’t turn his back on his relatives; he still respected them, gave them regard. But he didn’t become subservient to them and follow their ways. He chose God’s way. No, Arjuna didn’t leave his brothers and go at it alone. But he didn’t look to his brothers or his mother or anyone else for advice; he only consulted God; He, was his Charioteer. There was no confusion about which opinion to choose, what to do. There was exactly one conversation- that is the Gita- and it was between exactly two people- God gave Arjuna directions, there was no one else. No, Arjuna didn’t abandon his wife and children like sannyasis would but he didn’t become attached to them or entangled in those relationships. He fulfilled his responsibility to them with love but his obedience was only to God. In fact, it was because he took His directions only from God was he able to fulfill all his relationships whether to his family, to his brothers or to those relatives on the other side.

This is the true Gita episode being played out now, Baba teaches me. The Mahabharata war is being fought now. It is not a physical war of violence; rather, it is an internal war that I fight against Maya. To make God my Charioteer in this war and take my directions from only Him is wisdom, it is being soul conscious. It means I have truly realized and accepted God as my Father, Teacher and Guide. He is also my Friend as He was to Arjuna, He is my constant Companion. “Have all relationships with the Father and your bondages will end.”, explains Baba. “Maya ties you in bondage whereas the Father liberates you from bondage.” Arjuna chose God and became liberated from all bondage or subservience to people, or things. Duryodhana, on the other hand, chose bodily relations and became entangled in them. He depended on their limited intellect for advice, for assurance, for safety but never got it. He lived and fought in fear, continued to make poor choices and became defeated.

“It is very difficult for you to finish your attachment to all bodily beings.“, observes Baba but then it has been done. Brahma Baba also had to make a choice and just like Arjuna, he too picked God. He learnt from God how to live life victoriously, he learnt how to live a life in liberated from bondage to people, to property, to place. He didn’t leave his family behind, he spiritualized his relationships and learnt to live like a lotus flower. He became the first angel of God, and secured his place as the first prince of the golden age.

It is remembered: Follow the Mother and Father. You know that Mama and Baba will become Lakshmi and Narayan. They are the ones who have taken 84 births. The same applies to you. Let me too choose wisely like Father Brahma, that is, mine is one Shiv Baba and none other.