The Empty Boat - Osho.pdf - Oshorajneesh.com

CHAPTER 6. THE NEED TO WIN
Duryodhana, the leader of the other side, was foolish. He thought, ”What will I do with Krishna on
his own? But he has a big army....” And he chose Krishna’s army.
So Krishna was with Arjuna and Arjuna was happy, because one Krishna is more than all the world.
What can armies do – unconscious, sleepy people? One awakened man is worth all.
Krishna became the real help when Arjuna was confused and his mind divided. In the Gita it is said
that looking at these two armies he became puzzled. And these are the words he used to Krishna:
”My energy is drained. I feel nervous, I feel impotent, my power has left me.” And he was a man of
perfect skill, a perfect archer.
His bow was called a GANDIVA. He said, ”The gandiva feels too heavy for me. I have become so
powerless, my body is numb, and I cannot think and cannot see. Everything has become confused,
because these are all relatives and I will have to kill them. What will be the result? Murder, so many
people killed, what will I gain out of it? A worthless kingdom? So I am not interested in fighting, it
seems too high a price to pay. I would like to escape and become a sannyasin, to go to the forest
and meditate. This is not for me. My energy is drained.”
Krishna told him, ”Don’t think of the result. It is not in your hands. And don’t think of yourself as the
doer, because if you are the doer then the end is in your hands. The doer is always the divine, and
you are just an instrument. Be concerned with the here and now, the means, and leave the end to
me. I tell you, Arjuna, that these people are already dead, they are fated to die. You are not going
to murder them. You are just the instrument which will reveal to them the fact that they have already
been murdered. As far as I can see, I see them dead. They have reached the point where death
happens – you are just an instrument.”
Sanskrit has a beautiful word, there is no equivalent to it in English: it is NIMITTA. Nimitta means
you are not the doer, you are not the cause, not even one of the causes, you are just the nimitta. It
means the cause is in the hands of the divine. The divine is the doer, you are just a vehicle of it.
You are just like a postman – the postman is the nimitta. He comes and delivers a letter to you. If
the letter insults you, you don’t get angry with him. You don’t say, ”Why did you bring me this letter?”
The postman is not concerned, he is the nimitta. He has not written the letter, he has not caused it,
he is not concerned at all. He has just fulfilled his duty. You will not be angry with him. You will not
say, ”Why did you bring this letter to me?”
Krishna said to Arjuna, ”You are just like a postman, you have to deliver death to them. You are
not the killer; death is from the divine. They have earned it already, so don’t you worry. If you do
not kill them then somebody else will deliver the letter. If this postman will not do it then someone
else will. If you are away or on holiday or are ill it doesn’t mean that the letter will not be delivered.
A substitute postman will do. But the letter has to be delivered. So don’t you be bothered, don’t
get worried unnecessarily; you are just a nimitta, neither the cause of it nor the doer of it, just an
instrument. Be concerned with the means, don’t think about the ends, because once you think about
the ends your skill is lost.
”You are divided and that is why you are feeling drained, Arjuna. Your energy has not gone anywhere,
it has become a conflict – within, you are divided. You are fighting with yourself. One part says go
ahead, another part says this is not good. Your wholeness is lost. And whenever the wholeness is
lost, one feels impotent.”
The Empty Boat 116 Osho