Passage 3

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In plain words

A little later Duryodhana came. "Kṛṣṇa, wherever I look in our kingdom, I see wicked and evil men. I see only men rich in bad conduct. Not one man of good behaviour, not one rich in good conduct, has met my eye," he said. Then Kṛṣṇa said, "Yad bhāvaṃ tad bhavati." Duryodhana's whole sight is filled with evil saṅkalpas, with wicked thoughts, with bad feelings. So everyone appeared to him as a man of evil saṅkalpa. Whatever colour of glasses you put on, in that very colour people appear. So the sight of the wicked is very wicked. Duryodhana was utterly wicked, evil and rich in bad conduct. Dharmarāja. He was one with the qualities of a sādhu. A man of good saṅkalpas. Rich in good conduct. He had taken Dharma itself as his own form. So to him everyone appeared full of good qualities. In short, these sights alone were the root cause of Duryodhana's evil saṅkalpa and Dharmarāja's good saṅkalpa. Every man believes another to be wicked or good on the basis of his own feelings alone. The wicked and the good are not people seen in the world outside. Everything is one's own reaction, reflection, resound.

Our whole Manas is a bundle of saṅkalpas. Our behaviour is the path of Manas; our conduct alone is the root cause of our joys and sorrows. So when the saṅkalpas are good, Manas becomes good. When Manas is good, our conduct will be good. Today many evil ways are seen because of our conduct. It was on this ground that the ancient sages said, Manaṃyeva manuṣyāṇāṃ kāraṇaṃ bandhamokṣayoḥ; since Manas itself is the root cause, first of all we must develop our saṅkalpas into good saṅkalpas. Through food, recreation and reflection our saṅkalpas turn perverse. For our good deeds and for our perversity, Manas itself is the cause. First of all, as soon as saṅkalpas arise, you must take time and enquire, is it good or bad. Haste is never good. If we keep calm, we can enjoy every kind of happiness. Happiness is not something seen with a worldly eye. It is not something that comes by our luck or our lot. So we sow the seeds of saṅkalpa and reap the fruits of karma.