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At the end of the Mahābhārata, on the battlefield of Kurukṣetra, countless soldiers from both the Kaurava and Pāṇḍava armies lay slain. The scene was terrible and frightening. Large birds gathered to feed, and there were no people left to carry away the dead. It was a dangerous, painful, and fearful situation—such is war. Imagine a great storm that destroys all trees and crops, blows away the roofs of houses, and is followed by an earthquake and a flood. Everything appears terrible. In the midst of this stood Pitāmaha Bhīṣma, a figure from the Mahābhārata, known as Bhīṣma Mahāparātāpa. He was very old, with white hair, and always dressed in completely white, spotless clothes. In his entire life, he had never made anyone unhappy; he was always correct. Arjuna, his very loving nephew and great-grandchild, was the one who, on that battlefield, shot Bhīṣma with hundreds of arrows. The arrows pierced his arms, his whole body, and his legs. He fell, yet could not fall to the ground. His body hung suspended on the arrows, lying upon a bed of them. He possessed the blessing that he would not die unless he wished it. He could not die yet because he wanted to see the dynasty of Hastināpura set in order. Kṛṣṇa was also present on that battlefield. Eventually, everyone left, and Bhīṣma lay alone under the open sky on his bed of arrows, his body suspended. In the night, Kṛṣṇa came to him. Bhīṣma said: "O Kṛṣṇa, O Govinda, O Vāsudeva, Sacchidānanda, I know that you are God. I knew all. But I was bound by my word. I gave my promise. All this suffering I endure is because I promised. I said yes. Do not break your promises. We suffer because we cannot keep our promises, because we promise without thinking it over." He too had promised without thinking, emotionally. He continued: "Kṛṣṇa, you know I have never done anything in my life to hurt others. I always followed dharma—the dharma of the warrior, human dharma. And you know, Kṛṣṇa, I know my one hundred and three past lives, not only this one. All these past lives, which I can see—103 lives—were spotless, like this life. I have never done anything to harm others. Lord, can you tell me why I must suffer now?" Kṛṣṇa replied, "No doubt, you were very honest. But Bhīṣma, why do you not look into your hundred and fourth life? How does that life look?" Bhīṣma said, "Lord, I can only see until the 103rd. I have no capacity to see further." Kṛṣṇa said, "I give you divine chakṣu, divine eyes, now for a few minutes. Look at the 104th life. How does it look?" There, Bhīṣma saw that in that life he was a hunter. He was addicted, like a person drunk or addicted to drugs; it was his hobby. He shot arrows into many, many animals, many reptiles. He shot them and left them lying there until he found another animal. He hung the reptiles on arrows, and they suffered. Bhīṣma opened his eyes. "Kṛṣṇa, I know now. I know those arrows are here. They have come to me now. But still, Lord, bless me and liberate me." We never know from which lives, which deeds, which karmas will suddenly come to us, or which curse will arrive. To become holy and spiritual is not an easy job—and yet it is very easy. Just be kind. Simply be good. That will help us. And pray every day: "Lord, if there is any śrap, any curse in my life, please free me from it. I have done many bad things in the past, but Lord, give me now saddhā buddhi, the positive intellect. God, I have done a lot of bad things in the past, but now give me positive thoughts." Human ego, human desires, human temptations, human greed, human jealousy, and human anger are very dangerous. Whatever problem you have, there must be some reason why you are suffering, why you have this problem. You are jealous—there must be someone or something causing it. You are angry—there must be someone or something that happened. If that did not happen, do you think you would not be angry? If it were not this, then something else would have happened. Whether it happens or not, the seeds are in your consciousness. That is important. It rains and grass grows. The seeds do not come with the rain; they were already in the womb of Mother Earth, and they grow again. Therefore, self-inquiry meditation lies within your consciousness and clears your inner field. That will help you. And repeat mantra, repeat mantra. Through the fire of yoga, you can burn all the seeds of karma. Then you are not bound anymore. Until then, there is a very simple technique I will tell you: do not think negative and do not speak negative. It is very simple. It does not require any physical exercise. It does not need āsanas and prāṇāyāmas. It does not cost money. It does not require time to meditate. You have to do nothing. You have to do nothing. Even the instruction is to not act negative and not talk negative—you have to do nothing. Master yourself, and you will become free from all curses. Recording location: Hungary, Vep, Summer seminar