68/11/23 Los Angeles, Bhagavad-gita 2.8-12
Prabhupada: Somebody come read Bhagavad-gita. You will read? Come on. Our publication by Macmillan Company, Bhagavad-gita, is out.
Devotee: Where shall I read from?
Prabhupada: Introduction.
Devotee: This is the introduction to Bhagavad-gita As It Is.
nama om visnu-padaya krsna-presthaya bhu-tale
srimate bhaktivedanta-svamin iti namine
"The Bhagavad-gita is also known as the Gitopanisad. It is the essence of the Vedic knowledge and one of the most important Upanisads in Vedic literature. There are many commentaries on the Bhagavad-gita, and the necessity for another should be explained in the following basis. An American lady asked me to recommend an English edition of the Bhagavad-gita which she could read. I was unable to do so in good conscience. Of course there are many translations, but of those I have seen, not only in America but those also in India, none can be said to be authoritative, because in almost every one of them the author has expressed his personal opinion through the commentaries without touching the spirit of the Bhagavad-gita as it is. The spirit of the Bhagavad-gita is mentioned in the Gita itself. It is like this: If we want to take a particular medicine, then we have to follow the directions written on the label of the bottle. We cannot take the medicine according to our own directions or the directions of a friend ot in knowledge of this medicine. We must follow the directions on the label or the directions of our physician. The Bhagavad-gita also should be accepted as it is directly by the speaker Himself. The speaker is Lord Sri Krsna. He is mentioned on every page as the Supreme Personality of Godhead or Bhagavan. Bhagavan sometimes means any powerful person or demigod, but here it means Krsna."
Prabhupada: Most of you must have read some editions of Bhagavad-gita. I will give you instances. One of the English translations, commentaries by Dr. Radhakrishnan, in the Ninth Chapter the Lord says,
man-mana bhava mad-bhakto
mad-yaji mam namaskuru
mam evaisyasi kaunteya
asamsaya...
The Lord says that "You, you just always remain thinking of Me." That means always remain in Krsna consciousness. Simply this Krsna consciousness means some way or other you have to think of Krsna always. Some way or other you just engage yourself in some activities so that it can remind you about Krsna. That is the process. Therefore those who are elevated devotees, they, in everything, they remember Krsna. That is the perfection. (Bengali) Here is a light. A perfect devotee sees the light, not the light as it is, but he sees some relationship with Krsna or Krsna in the light. This is stated in the Bhagavad-gita also, that prabhasmi sasi-suryayoh. Raso 'ham apsu kaunteya prabhasmi sasi-suryayoh. Krsna says that "I am the taste of the water." Now the..., when you are thirsty you want water. You feel some nice taste in the water by which your thirst is satisfied, "Yes, now I am satisfied." So Krsna says, "I am that taste." Similarly He says prabhasmi sasi-suryayoh: "The light in the sun, in the moon, that I amthat light." In this way He has described. So when one is highly elevated in Krsna consciousness, in everything, in every action and every phenomenon he will see only Krsna. That is the perfection of Krsna consciousness.
So that is being taught in the Ninth Chapter, and in this verse, man-mana bhava mad-bhakto, "Always think of Me," this is the sum and substance of all spiritual advancement. What is that? Smartavyam satato visnuh. One should always be absorbed in the thought of Visnu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is called samadhi. That is perfection of yoga. The yoga system is the practice of the most lower class of men. I mean to say spiritually, not materially. Because their mind is so much distracted from here and there, they have to concentrate the mind by practice and focus the mind on Visnu. That is the yoga perfection, real. Now they are manufacturing so many other things, but the real yoga practice is this, that you have to draw your attention from everything and focus the same on Visnu form. That is yoga system. Dhyanavasthita manasa pasyanti yam yoginah. This is the definition of yogi. They are in meditation, dhyanavasthita. Dhyanavasthita means meditation. So those who are yogis... You have heard so much about meditation -- there is very popular word in your country -- and what is that meditation? The meditation is to focus the mind on the form of Visnu. Dhyanavasthita manasa pasyanti yam yoginah.
So this instruction you will find in the Ninth Chapter, man-mana bhava mad-bhaktah [Bg. 9.34], "Always think of Me." That is the perfection of life, always thinking of Visnu. But one commentator, very big commentator, he says, "This meditation is not up to Krsna." Just see. Krsna says "Just meditate upon Me," in the Bhagavad-gita, and the commentator says, "It is not up to Krsna." In this way, in similar way or a different way, every commentary on Bhagavad-gita so far published I have seen, their business is how to divert one's attention from Krsna, although in the Bhagavad-gita the main factor is Krsna. That is mentioned here. What is that? Read on. This Bhagavad-gita has come. Yes.
Devotee: The last sentence was, "Bhagavan sometimes mean any, any, means any powerful person or demigod, but here it means Krsna. This is confirmed by all the great..."
Prabhupada: Now this bhagavan, you have heard, many times I have explained, bhaga. Bhaga means opulence. There are six kinds of opulences. What is that? Wealth, and then influence, strength, reputation and knowledge, beauty and renunciation. Is it not six? If a man is wealthy, very rich, just like in your country Rockefeller, Ford, there are many rich men in your, the..., your country is very rich. So if one is very rich he is called opulent. If a man is very reputed, famous man, he is also opulent. If a man is very influential, he is also opulent. If a man is very strong... Now the strong man, formerly strong men had request, ahh, respect. All the kings, they were respected on their personal strength. They used to..., they had to fight with the opponents. So that is also opulence. Then beauty. A very beautiful man or woman, that is also opulence. And wise, very learned, wise man, that is also opulence -- scientist, philosopher, mathematician. So they are also opulent. And renouncer. Renouncer, that one who give up everything, he has everything in his possession, but he disposes himself, that is called renunciation. Just like king, Maharaja Bharata, under whose name India is called Bharata-varsa. He was the emperor of the world, but at the age of twenty-four years only he gave up everything -- his young wife, young children. Lord Buddha, Lord Buddha was prince, but very young boy, at the age of twenty years or something like that, he gave up everything, his father's kingdom. This is called renunciation. At the present moment (chuckles) hardly there is any sense of renunciation, but formerly there were many kings, many princes who renounced everything for spiritual advancement. So these six principles are called bhaga.
So these six principles are there. Just like we are minute part and parcel of the Supreme Lord. Fragment, very small fragment. So every one of us have got some money according to our capacity. Every one of us has got some strength or some reputation or some beauty or some knowledge. Comparatively it may be that your position may be greater than me or other's position may be greater than you, that not all of us on the same level. There are comparative positions. So bhagavan means you go on searching. When you find a person that nobody is richer than Him, nobody is stronger than Him, nobody is richer than Him, nobody is reputed than Him, nobody is wiser than him, nobody is beautiful, more beautiful than Him, and nobody is renouncer than Him, He is Bhagavan, He is God.
So all these you will find in Krsna. That is the significance of Krsna. When Krsna was present on this material world so nobody could excel Him in any of these opulences. Nobody. So far richness is concerned, He exhibited His richness with His (indistinct). He married 16,108 wives, and each wife had a palace, and the palace did not require light. It was bedecked with valuable jewels, so at night the light from the jewels will illuminate the rooms. Can you imagine such house? (laughter) And not only that, that He married 16,000 wives and He was apart from them, no. With each wife He was present. With some wife He is talking, with some wife He is playing, with some wife He is looking after the children. In this way Narada travelled all the houses, all the palaces, he saw Krsna is there engaged. This is called opulence. So far power is concerned, there were so many fights with Krsna, nobody could conquer. So far beauty is concerned, you know Krsna's beauty, even from the picture. And the, all the gopis, in Vrndaana... Krsna at the age of fifteen, sixteenth year, naturally at that time boys are very beautiful, any, any man even. So He was so beautiful that they, all the gopis prayed to Yogamaya. Everyone prayed, "My dear mother, please give me Krsna as my husband." So this is, but (indistinct) significance is the, that the day they prayed the next day there was... Perhaps you know that Krsna's vastranam-lila. Vastranam-lila means... In India still there are places in Punjab when girls and women take bath they keep their clothings in the river, I mean to say, not in the bathroom. In the rivers, they keep their clothings on the shore, on the bank, and they dip into the water completely naked. So that place is completely separate for the women. No man can go there. That is the system still somewhere. They will take bath fully and they will come and again dress. And woman, woman, they are all naked, there was no shame. They, no man and no boy can go there. This vastranam-lila was that Krsna stealthily went there and tookup all their clothes, and got up on a tree, (laughter) (laughs) with the clothings. And they cannot come out of the water. "Krsna, You are very naughty. Give us our clothes. Give us our clothes." That was vastranam-lila.(laughter) The purpose was the, the people interpret in a different way, but the purpose is very significant. Only devotees can understand that all these girls, day before, they prayed to Yogamaya that, everyone prayed, that "Let us have Krsna as our husband." Now Krsna was at that time only 15, 16 years, no older. In India still the boys of 15, 16 years, they are not married. At least he must be 20, 22 years. And girls are married between 12 to 16 years. That is the Vedic system. Neither it was possible for Krsna to marry all the girls, but they all prayed. So how to fulfil their desire? That was vastranam-lila. The vastranam-lila means that according to any human civilization, system, a woman can become naked only before husband. So Krsna fulfilled that, that "You are naked, I am before you,so I am your husband." That's all. Wholesale acceptance. That was the purpose. But the nonsense people they differently, differently interpret.
So Krsna's opulence, beauty, strength, and so far wisdom, at least you can test. Now the wisdom, see preliminary wisdom only. Preliminary talks on spiritual matter is discussed in this Bhagavad-gita. And this book is still read, even after five thousand years, all over the world. Just see His wisdom. That is a test. Big scholars, big religionists, philosophers, they are bewildered still about Bhagavad-gita. Therefore there are so many interpretations. But this, what is this Bhagavad-gita? Bhagavad-gita is the A B C D of spiritual knowledge. It is not very high depth of spiritual knowledge. High depth of spiritual knowledge is in the Srimad Bhagavatam. This is only entrance. Just like children are taught a b c d., or first book of knowledge. It is only the first book of knowledge. And what is that first book of knowledge? The first book of knowledge teaches from the very beginning that you are not this body. That is the beginning of knowledge, spiritual knowledge. And the whole world, great philosophers, the geat politicians... Now yesterday the boys gave me one paper. There is discussion about Transcendental Meditation. There was publication of our activities also, and some others are... So the so-called Transcendental Meditation they are discussing on the mind. And the Bhagavad-gita, mind is immediately rejected as matter. So Transcendental Meditation, they're on the platform of the mind. Just see. And the Bhagavad-gita says that mind is external nature only.
indriyani parany ahur
indriyebhyah param manah
manasas tu para buddhir
yo buddheh paratas tu sah
In the gross material concept of life we are under the impression that "I am this body." Therefore we are concerned with the senses. If our senses are gratified, we think we are now satisfied. So this is the gross type of existence, I mean to say, existence of ignorance. Illusion. Maya. When one is under the thought that "I am this," this is illusion. Illusion means you accept something, something is presented as reality, and you accept it. Just like the example is given water in the desert. Mirage. There is no water, but a, an animal is hankering, is running after water in the desert. That is practical, that due to sunshine there is a reflection, it appears in the desert. Sometimes you might have seen -- not here, in India we have seen several times -- that exactly there is a vast water, and it is reflecting, the reflection. That is called mirage. There is not a drop of water, but the animal, when he is thirsty he..., it thinks that "There is water." He jumps into the desert and the water is going ahead, going ahed, and he is running after it and then dying. So this illusion, that "I am this body." So we are after this sense gratification. Body means the senses. So that is mirage, illusion. Just like the animal is running after water in the desert.
So even this yoga system, the hatha yoga system, that is also based on this illusion. They are trying to put this water under certain exercise and thinking that they are elevating themselves in spirit. But Bhagavad-gita, in the beginning, says that you are not this body, neither this mind. This is the beginning of Bhagavad-gita, and that is a b c d. Any person who does not know that I am not this body he has no even a-b-c-d knowledge of spiritual kingdom. If one is attracted with this bodily function or mind, mental function, he is outside the spiritual purview altogether. He rejected immediately. That test is in the Bhagavad-gita. These people, the so-called yogis, so-called karmis... Karmis means the ordinary worker, those who are running in the street with motor car, this way and that way, very busy. You see. What are they? They are karmis. Karmis means under the bodily concept. They are thinking that comfort of this body and sense gratification is the end of life. That is karmi. If they have got very nice apartment, a nice wife and good bank balance and a very nice dress, oh, there is perfection. That's all. That is karmi. And jnani means that when they are confused. Just like there are a section of people in your country, they have seen enough of this material affair, happiness, or they are searching after something wrongly. But actually those who are intelligent, they don't remain confused. Actually they want to see "What is my actual position." They are called jnani, man of knowledge.
So jnana, or knowledge, is on the mental plane and karma is on the bodily plane. So somebody, some section of people, they are engaged in this bodily platform, and some section of people are engaged in the mental platform. Whatever religion and process of elevation of life we have manufactured, they can be grouped in two ways: mental and bodily. That's all. And Bhagavad-gita is transcendental. Neither on the mental plane nor on the bodily plane. Therefore the last instruction of Bhagavad-gita is sarva-dharman parityajya. Dharma, you have created so many religious principles, so many concocted spiritual ways of life or material ways of life. Somebody are materialists and somebody are so-called spiritualists. So Krsna says that you have to give up all this nonsense -- on the mental platform and bodily platform. You have come to the transcendental platform. And what is that transcendental platform? To understand your relationship with Krsna. That is Krsna consciousness. Read.
Devotee: "This is confirmed by all the great teachers, including Sankara and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. In India there are many authorities on Vedic knowledge and they have virtually all accepted Sri Krsna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. We should therefore accept the Bhagavad-gita as it is, directed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead..."
Prabhupada: And here is an important fact. The other day while I was walking, I saw one advertisement of tourist agent. India, (indistinct) can view wonderful land. The wonderful land. Anyway, so I asked Karttikeya(?), "So India is considered very wonderful?" He said "Yes." Anyway, India is still considered the land of spiritual cultivation. Even one Chinese author, he has written that if you want to study religion, then you have to go India. He is impartial. He is not Indian nor an American or any country. He is Chinese. Chinese are considered to be Communist country, but he has very impartially said that if you have to learn what is religion then you have to go to India. Anyway India, actually it is the land of religion, dharma-ksetra, although it has gone down at the present moment. But anyway, there are two sections in the..., amongst the Indian, bona fide religionists. That means bona fide religionists means those who are following the Vedic principles. They are called bona fide. Anyway, that is, that wa the system in the bygone ages, even one thousand years ago. And now that, just like Buddha, Buddha religion. Buddha religion is also Indian religion. Lord Buddha, He was Indian. He, just like Lord Caitanya began His propaganda from Bengal, Lord Buddha made His propaganda from Bihar. He was Indian. But the defect was that He did not acknowledge the authority of the Vedas. Therefore His philosophy was considered atheism. And this Sankaracarya drove away all the Buddhists from the land of India. Therefore they took shelter in China, Japan, Burma. Outside India. So anyway, strict religionists they are followers of Vedas, and they are divided into two groups: one group led by Sankaracarya and the other group is led by the Vaisnavas, or generally Ramanujacarya, Madhvacarya or Lord Caitanya. They are all the same, Vaisnava. Now all these two groups, following the Vedic principles, they accept Krsna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So far India's authoritative persons are concerned, there is no two opinions, that Krsna is not God. Both of them accept Krsna the Supreme Personality. So far we are concerned, Vaisnavas, we accept. There is no doubt about it. There are four different parties of Vaisnavas. All of them accept Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. There are eight commentaries on the very authoritative, very large commentaries on the Srimad-Bhagavatam of these Vaisnavas, and all of them accept Krsna. So far the other party is concerned, the impersonalists led by Sankaracarya, a great stalwart scholar, he also accepts Krsna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He says, sa bhagavan svayam krsna: "The concept of Personality of Godhead, here is Krsna." And people may misunderstand; therefore he has specifically mentioned Krsna who has appeared as the son of Devaki and Vasudeva. Particularly, just like when you have to put your identification, you have to give the, your father's name or your husband's name. Similarly, the same principle as Sankaracarya has followed. He has said "Krsna, the Krsna who is, wh has appeared as the son of Devaki and Vasudeva." So there is no two opinions. No, "Or this Krsna, maybe another Krsna." No. So that is stated here. Yes. Krsna is accepted the Supreme Personality of Godhead by all the followers of Vedas. That is a fact. Yes.
Devotee: "Now in the Fourth Chapter the Lord tells Arjuna that this yoga system of the Bhagavad-gita was first spoken to the sun-god. The Blessed Lord said, 'I instructed this imperishable science, imperishable science of yoga to the sun-god, Vivasvan, and Vivasvan instructed it to Manu, the father of mankind, and Manu in turn instructed it to Iksvaku. This supreme science was thus received through the chain of disciplic succession and the saintly kings understood it in that way. But in the course of time the succession was broken and therefore the science as it is appears to be lost.' "
Prabhupada: That is the instruction in the Bhagavad-gita, that this science of Bhagavad-gita has to be accepted by disciplic succession. That is the way of accepting any scientific thing. Just like even in material science, suppose if you have to become medical practitioner or a lawyer. So you have to study the law books by the previous lawyers, by the judgments of the courts. One who has studied the previous records of legal implications, he is best lawyer. Similarly a medical practicer, practitioner, who has studied the previous books and knowledge and experience, he is called experienced physician. The same principle is there that the spiritual knowl..., you cannot manufacture any spiritual knowledge. That is atheism. You cannot manufacture any religious principle. It is not possible. That is not accepted in Vedas. Dharmam tu saksad bhagavat-prani. Dharma means the rules and regulation which is given by God. That is accepted everywhere. In Bible, in Koran also. The laws of God. You cannot manufacture. So Krsna said that this principle of Bhagavad-gita... At the present moment Bhagavad-gita is being interpreted by anyone and everyone according to his whims. That is not permissible. That is not Bhagavad-gita. We have to understand this. Simply Bhagavad-gita is that which is received by the parampara system. That is being explained. Go on.
Devotee: "Arjuna was neither a great scholar nor a Vedantist, but a great soldier. A soldier is not supposed to be scholarly, and so Arjuna was selected to understand the Bhagavad-gita because of one qualification only: he was a devotee of the Lord. This indicates that the Bhagavad-gita is especially meant for the devotee of the Lord."
Prabhupada: So this point is described that just like this yogi Maharishi, he has also written one Bhagavad-gita. And what right he has got? He has no right to say anything about Bhagavad-gita because he is not a devotee. Bhagavad-gita is taught to Arjuna. He was neither a yogi nor a scholar nor a Vedantist nor a brahmana even. He was ksatriya. Nor a sannyasi even. He was grhastha. He had three wives and so many children. And he was fighting for kingdom. What is the qualification that Bhagavad-gita was taught to him? Because he was devotee. People have to see how Bhagavad-gita is to be accepted. Specially Krsna mentions in the Fourth Chapter that "I am speaking to you. The disciplic succession is now broken. Therefore I am speaking to you the old system of yoga, Bhagavad-gita, again, unto you." "Why unto me, Krsna?" "Because you are My devotee." That was the answer. So only qualification to understand Bhagavad-gita is to become a devotee of Krsna; otherwise it is not possible. Just give this challenge to everyne: "So what do you understand about Bhagavad-gita? You don't..., you are not devotee of Krsna. How you can understand Bhagavad-gita? So you are speaking of Bhagavad-gita and cheating people."
So bring all the books which is, which are published in your country and find out a single man who is a Krsna's devotee. Nobody of them. Then what authority he has got to write on Bhagavad-gita? He has no right. It is simply poking your nose in other's business. Nonsense. Just challenge these persons, "What right you have got?" He has no right. These, these, these rascals, they say that everyone is God. And how they can be devotee? Does a devotee say that everyone is God? They say "God is one." So you are realizing by meditation, "I am God, you are God, my brother is God, my father is God, my these are God, everyone is God." This, this is the, going on. You want to stop all this rascaldom. That is our challenge. We may not have many followers. We don't care for that. We don't want these nonsense followers, many thousands. What they will do? But if we can turn one man into Krsna consciousness perfectly, he can do tremendous work in the world. That is our principle. We don't want nonsense. So this is the princile of understanding Bhagavad-gita. Go on.
Devotee: "There are three kinds of transcendentalists: the yogi, the impersonalist and the bhakta, or devotee. Krsna says to Arjuna, 'I am making you the first man of disciplic succession. The old succession is broken. I wish to reestablish the line of teaching which was passed down from the sun-god. So you become the authority of the Bhagavad-gita.' The Bhagavad-gita is directed to the devotee of the Lord who is directly in touch with the Lord as a friend. To learn the Bhagavad-gita one should be like Arjuna, a devotee having a direct relationship with the Lord. This is more helpful than yoga or impersonal philosophical speculation. A devotee can be in relationship with the Lord in five different ways. He may have passive..., have a passive relationship..."
Prabhupada: Now here is explained who is a devotee. That is explained. Yes.
Devotee: "He may have a passive relationship, he may have an active relationship. Three, he may be in friendship. Four, he may have the relationship of a parent. And five, he may have the relationship of conjugal lover of the Lord. Arjuna was a devotee in relationship..."
Prabhupada: The passive relationship is simply realizing, "Oh, how God is great". God is great. One is thunderstruck with the greatness of God. That is passive relationship: "God, God is great." When that relationship is enhanced a little, more the next stage is that "If God is great why not give Him some service?" just like we are accustomed to give some service to some person who is greater than me. That is the laws of nature. Just like the animals. The animals are giving service to the man, because the man is supposed to be greater than the animal. Similarly, one man is greater than the other, so the smaller man is giving service to the greater man. That is the law of nature. So when this sense comes, "If God is so great," not that "God is great; therefore exact from God the things of my sense gratification." No. The real love is that "God is great, God is supplying us so many things, all of our necessities, why not render some service to God?" This consciousness is part of development. The next developmen is to give service to God as friend, just like Arjuna is giving. And the next development is to render service to God as parents. And the highest platform of service rendering to God is conjugal love. So there are different stages. That is explained. Go on.
Devotee: "Arjuna was a devotee in relationship with the Lord as a friend. This friendship is different from friendship in the mundane world. This kind of friendship is transcendental. Everyone has some relationship with the Lord. Unfortunately, in our present status, we have forgotten that eternal tie. Yet each of the millions upon millions of living beings has his particular relationship. By the process of service one can revive one's original status with the Lord. Now Arjuna..."
Prabhupada: This relationship is already established, because I am eternal, God is eternal, therefore my relationship with God is also eternal. That relationship is there. Now, due to my covering of this material body or influence of material energy, I have forgotten. This is my position. In the conditioned state, in this material condition of life, our position is that I..., we have forgotten our relationship with God. But therefore you are trying to establish so many relationships with this material world. I am trying to find some relationship with particular type of society, particular type of community, particular type of nation, particular type of family or individuals. So many ways, I am searching where is my relationship, because I have lost my relationship with God. Therefore I have to reestablish, I have to revive my old relationship with Krsna. That is Krsna consciousness. This Krsna consciousness process is to... Just like in darkness you are finding your things, your watch, you cannot find it out. Sometimes you are touching this, sometimes touching this, sometimes touching this, but the real thing you are not touching. So you are bewildered, you are harassed. And now you, if you touch Krsna consciousness, these harassments will be stopped. It is so nice thing. We are giving you your lost relationship, which you are searching out life after life. And you are confused. Take this! You will be happy. You will find your relationship, eternal relationship with Krsna.
Devotee: "Now Arjuna was a devotee, and he was in touch with the Supreme Lord in friendship. Thus the Bhagavad-gita was explained to him. How he accepted it should be noted. This is mentioned in the Tenth Chapter. After hearing the Bhagavad-gita from the Lord, Arjuna accepted Krsna as the Supreme Brahman. Every living being is Brahman, or spirit, but the supreme living being is the Supreme Brahman."
Prabhupada: Now here is another point, that everyone is reading Bhagavad-gita. The..., it is clearly stated how Bhagavad-gita should be accepted. Bhagavad-gita was spoken to Arjuna, and Arjuna accepted it in his own understanding, whatever he understood. That is also stated. Therefore we have to place ourselves in the position of Arjuna and accept the truth as Arjuna directly received it. That is understanding of Bhagavad-gita. That is stated in the Tenth Chapter, how Arjuna accepted Bhagavad-gita and Krsna. That is explained. Yes.
Devotee: "Arjuna accepted Krsna as pure, free from all material contamination, as the supreme enjoyer, as the foremost person, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, never born, the greatest. Now one may say that..., one may say that since Krsna and Arjuna were friends, Arjuna was only saying these things to his friend. But Arjuna mentions that Krsna is accepted as the Supreme Personality of Godhead not only by himself but by Narada, Vyasa and numerous other great persons."
Prabhupada: Authorities. He accepted Krsna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead not because Krsna happened to be his intimate friend but on the authorities of others. And on the statement of Krsna, and by understanding Him fully. He, he did not accept Him blindly. So this is the process of understanding Bhagavad-gita. And although he understood fully, because in future so many rascals will come and proclaim himself that "I am also incarnation of Godhead," therefore in the Eleventh Chapter Arjuna requested Krsna that "If you think, You can show me Your universal form," so that in future others will accept some bogus rascal as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he may test by seeing the, I mean to say, universal form of the person. So who can exhibit this universal form except Krsna?
So we have explained this Bhagavad-gita in the parampara system as we have heard from authoritative sources. So it may be a new contribution to your country, because in every edition they have concocted some ideas about Bhagavad-gita, but we are presenting Bhagavad-gita as it is. That's all. So, any question?
Devotee (2): You commented that, Swami Prabhupada, that everyone has a natural desire to have relationship with Krsna, but that because...
Prabhupada: Not desire, but he is already established.
Devotee (2): Established.
Prabhupada: That is covered. Just like your relationship with somebody as father and son, it is established. You might have forgot, you might have left your home since a very, very long time, and you do not know who is your father, but there is some father. That is a fact. Nobody can say, "No. I, I have, I am born without father." Nobody can say. One has father, but it may be that he has forgotten his father. So this Krsna consciousness movement is that we have got some relationship with the Supreme Lord. That we have now forgotten. So it is not the question of desire. It is there. You don't desire to become one's son, you are already one's son. You simply do not know. Similarly, your relationship with Krsna is there, every one of us, but I have forgotten; I do not know. This Krsna consciousness practice will revive your relationship in what way..., in which way you are related with Krsna. It is not that you have to desire. No. It is already there. You have to desire only how to revive it, that's all. That isKrsna consciousness. It is not an artificial thing. Just like we are establishing some relationship with somebody or you are my father or you are my wife, you are my husband. No. It is already there. Simply we have to find out. That will be revealed when you are perfect in Krsna consciousness, brahma-bhutah prasannatma na socati, you are freed from all material contamination, and you are perfectly situated in devotional service; it will be at once revealed: "Oh, you are related to Krsna." You will have to wait for that.
Child Devotee: Who was Jesus's father?
Prabhupada: Hm?
Child Devotee: Who was Jesus's father?
Prabhupada: God.
Child Devotee: Oh, that's right.
Prabhupada: You do not know that? Oh, he said that "I am son of God." How is that, you are asking for (indistinct). You do not know this? He said himself that "I am son of God." You do not know this?
Child Devotee: Well I didn't really (indistinct). I didn't really..., I didn't, I wasn't thinking about God the father. But don't we all have...?
Prabhupada: What is that, he said?
Child Devotee: Aren't we all the sons of God?
Prabhupada: Yes.
Devotee (2): (to child) You're thinking that Lord Jesus Christ had a relationship with Joseph. Joseph was married to his mother Mary. And so he's thinking what is his, what is Jesus's relationship with Joseph since Jesus is son of God, and Joseph raised him from little boy?
Prabhupada: Yes. Just like every spirit soul is son of God, but materially we think that some..., somebody as father. But real father is God. That is stated in the i:
sarva-yonisu kaunteya
sambhavanti murtayah yah
tasam yonir brahma mahad
aham bija-pradah pita
This mahat-tattva, this material world, just like a child, a child is born, the father gives the seed and mother develops the body. The child's body is developed... Actually all, all of us, we have got this body from mother. Therefore we have got very natural affinity with mother. The child can forget his father, but he cannot forget his mother. Mother's relationship is so intimate. Similarly, this material body we have got from the material energy; therefore we are so much materialist. We are thinking of this country, that community, this family, how materialistic, because this body is material. But so far spirit soul I am concerned, I am the son or the part and parcel of the Supreme. So material nature is the mother and God is the father. And we are exhibited in so many forms, 8,400,000's of forms. So one who has understood this truth, that God is father, he no more looks, "Ah, this is cat," "This is dog," "This is cow," "This is black," "This is white," "This is Chinese," "This is American." No. That is uiversal brotherhood: "Oh, they are my brothers." Brahma-bhutah prasannatma. No more enmity. "They are all my brothers." Samah sarvesu bhutesu. With everyone he sees on the equal level, for "They are spiritual part, part and parcel of my father." This vision makes one advance in Krsna consciousness. This is fact. This is realization. This is universal brotherhood. Everything this is, this Krsna consciousness.
Devotee (4): What is the proper relationship of the devotee to Radha, Radhika?
Prabhupada: Radharani is daivi-maya. Just like we are, in our material conditional life, we are under the material energy. Similarly, in our liberated state we have to become under the spiritual energy. That spiritual energy is Radharani. We are acting at the present moment under material energy, because our body is made of material energy. So when you are liberated you will develop your body of spiritual energy. That spiritual energy is Radharani. So you have to become under some..., under the control of some energy. You are also energy; you are marginal energy. Marginal energy means you may be under the control of the spiritual energy or you may be under the control of material energy -- your marginal position. But when you are under the control of the material energy, that is your precarious condition, struggle for existence. And when you are under spiritual energy, that is your life of freedom. Radharani is spiritual energy, and Durga, or Kali, is material energy. So those who are materialist, they worship Drga, Kali, the material, different forms of material energy. And, so in both the cases... There is a word in Sanskrit, it is called sakta, sakta. Sakta, the word comes from sakti. Sakti means energy.
So there is a division, that those who are worshiper of the Supreme as mother -- just like the worshiper of Goddess Kali -- that means those who are accepting the Absolute as mother, they are called saktas. The sakta... The Vaisnava, they are also sakta, because they are also accepting another pure energy, personal energy, or internal energy of Krsna. That is also sakti. And the materialist also, they are also accepting another energy. The one energy, spiritual energy is in our normal condition, and material energy in..., is our abnormal condition. The Krsna consciousness practice means you have to transfer yourself from this material energy to the..., under the control..., from the control of material energy, under the control of spiritual energy. That's all. That spiritual energy is Radharani. You have to become under the control. That, I'll give you one concrete example. Just like a person is always under the control of government as citizen. When he is outlaw, he is under the criminal law, and who is law-abiding, he is under civil law. He cannot say that "I cannot remain within the law of the government." He has to. That is his position. Artificially he may deny, but he will be forced. Similarly, our position is part and parcel of the Supreme Lord. And as part and parcel we have to render service. If we voluntarily render service, out of love, that is spiritual energy. And we are forced to render service under pressure, that is material energy. In the material energy we are forced. Who wants to become... Suppose you are American. If somebody says, "Would you like to become a dog next life?", would you like? Anybody would like? What do you think? (laughter) But according to his work, he will be forced to accept. There is no saying, "No, no. I don't like this sort of life." No. He will be forced. That is material energy. Forced, just like criminal law. "Oh, you have to go to the prison." "I don't want." You will be forced. "I don't want." He will be arrested, immediately. There is sufficient power. There is police, thre is military, there is so many things. You cannot say no.
So this is intelligence, that I have to serve. Now in my material condition I am serving so many things, especially my senses. So neither my senses are satisfied nor I am satisfied. So this intelligence is not coming to us. They are going on, carvita-carvananam, chewing the chewed. The senses, same sense gratification in different way. In theatre, in stage, in, at home, at club -- everywhere. Simply changing the platform and trying to be happy. How you can be happy? They already distasted. Does it mean that sense satisfaction in an apartment and sense satisfaction in the club is different? It is simply imagination. "Let me go to the club, let me go to the stage, let me go to this Florida beach, and let me go there, let me see the naked dance, let me see that, let me..." That's all. But the platform is there, sense gratification. But he is not intelligent that "I have satisfied my senses in so many different ways. I have served my senses in so many different ways. Neither I am satisfied, neither my senses are satsfied." Therefore the intelligent man says, "I am no more going to satisfy my senses, I will satisfy Krsna." That is Krsna consciousness. Then he gets full satisfaction. This is voluntary. This is called surrender, that "I have tried to satisfy my, the whims of my senses so many lives. I have become frustrated, confused. Let me try this life to satisfy the senses of Krsna." That's all. At least let me give a trial one life, and let me see the result.
So our Krsna consciousness movement means that we are requesting everyone that give a trial this life at least. You have satisfied your senses in so many forms of life, huh? The dogs also satisfied their senses, the cat also satisfied his senses, the tiger, and these civilized, uncivilized, these god, everyone. Now you don't try to satisfy your senses, you try to satisfy Krsna. That's all. And Krsna, being full, complete, if Krsna is satisfied, your senses will be satisfied automatically. Therefore His name is Govinda. Govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami. Govinda means who satisfies the senses. Don't think that your senses will remain unsatisfied. It will be completely satisfied. That is the secret of Krsna consciousness.
So, have some kirtana. Hare Krsna. (end)
>>> Ref. VedaBase => Introduction to Bhagavad-gita As It Is -- Los Angeles, November 23, 1968 (New-2003)
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
"Intro 3 to Bhagavad-gita"
66/02/19-20 New York,
Continuation and end of the first tape recording, done by Srila Prabhupada himself
The example of shadow in the, shadow of water in the desert, suggests that in the desert there is no water, but there is water. Similarly, in the reflection of the spiritual world, or in this material world, there is undoubtedly, there is no happiness, there is no water. But the real water, or the actual happiness, is in the spiritual world. The Lord suggests that one has to reach that spiritual world in the following manner, nirmana-moha.
nirmana-moha jita-sanga-dosa
adhyatma-nitya vinivrtta-kamah
dvandvair vimuktah sukha-duhkha-samjnair
gacchanty amudhah padam avyayam tat
(Bg. 15.5)
That padam avyayam, that eternal kingdom, can be reached by one who is nirmana-moha. Nirmana-moha. Nirmana means we are after designations. Artificially we want some designations. Somebody wants to become sir, somebody wants to become lord, somebody wants to become the president, or somebody wants to become a rich man, somebody wants to become something else, king. All these designations, so long we'll have attachment for all these designations... Because after all these designations belong to the body, and we are not this body. This is the first conception of spiritual realization. So one has no attraction for designation. And jita-sanga-dosa, sanga-dosa. Now we are associated with the three modes of material qualities, and if we become detached by devotional service of the Lord... So long we are not attracted by devotional service of the Lord, we cannot be detached from the three modes of material nature. Therefore the Lord says, vinivrtta-kamah, these designations or these attachments are due to our lust, desire. We want to lord it over the material nature. So, so long we do not give up this propensity of lording it over the material nature, up to that time there is no possibility of going back to the kingdom of the Supreme, the sanatana-dhama. Dvandvair vimuktah sukha-duhkha-samjnair gacchanty amudhah, amudhah padam avyayam tat [Bg. 15.5]. That eternal kingdom, which is never destructible like this material world, can be approached by amudhah. Amudhah means nonbewildered, one who is not bewildered by the attraction of this false enjoyment. And one is situated in the supreme service of the Lord, he is the right person to approach that eternal kingdom. And that eternal kingdom does not require any sun, any moon, or any electricity. That is a glimpse idea of approaching of the eternal kingdom. In another place in the Bhagavad-gita it is also said that
avyakto 'ksara ity uktas
tam ahuh paramam gatim
yam prapya na nivartante
tad dhama paramam mama
[Bg. 8.21]
Avyakta means nonmanifested. Even the part of material world is not manifested before us. Our senses are so imperfect that we cannot see how many stars, how many planets there are in this material universe. Of course, through the Vedic literature we get information of all the planets. We may believe or not believe, but all the important planets in which we have connection, they are described in the Vedic literature, especially in the Srimad-Bhagavatam. But the spiritual world, which is beyond this material sky, paras tasmat tu bhavo 'nyo [Bg. 8.20], but that avyakta, that nonmanifested spiritual sky, is the paramam gatim, that is, one should desire, one should hanker after reaching that supreme kingdom. And once approaching that supreme kingdom, yam prapya, one approaching or one achieving that supreme kingdom, na nivartante, one hasn't got to return back to this material world. And that place which is the eternal abode of Lord, that from where we haven't got to return, that is our, that should be our... [break] Now a question may be raised, what is the way how to approach the supreme abode of the Lord. That is also described in the Bhagavad-gita. It is said on the 8th Chapter, verses 5, 6, 7, 8, the process of approaching the Supreme Lord or Supreme Lord's abode is also given there. It is said like this:
anta-kale ca mam eva
smaran muktva kalevaram
yah prayati sa mad-bhavam
yati nasty atra samsayah
Anta-kale, at the end of life, at the time of death. Anta-kale ca mam eva, one who thinks of Krsna, smaran, if he can remember. A dying person, at the time of death, if he remembers the form of Krsna and while remembering in that way, if he quits the present body, then surely he approaches the spiritual kingdom, mad-bhavam. Bhavam means the spiritual nature. Yah prayati sa mad-bhavam yati. Mad-bhavam means just like the nature or the transcendental nature of the Supreme Being. As we have described above, that the Supreme Lord is sac-cid-ananda-vigraha [Bs. 5.1]. He has His form, but His form is eternal, sat; and full of knowledge, cit; and full of bliss, ananda. Now just we can compare our present body, whether this body is sac-cid-ananda. No. This body is asat. Instead of being sat it is asat. Antavanta ime deha [Bg. 2.18], Bhagavad-gita says that this body is antavat, perishable. And... Sac-cid-ananda. Instead of becoming sat, it is asat, just the opposite. And instead of becoming cit, full of knowledge, it is full of ignorance. We have no knowledge of the spiritual kingdom, neither we have got any perfect knowledge of this material world. So many things unknown to us, therefore this body is ignorant. Instead of becoming full of knowledge it is ignorant. The body is perishable, full of ignorance, and nirananda. Instead of becoming full of bliss, it is full of miseries. All the miseries that we experience in this material world, it is all due to this body. The Lord says that anta-kale ca mam eva smaran muktva kalevaram [Bg. 8.5]. One who quits this material body, simply by remembering Lord Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he at once gets the spiritual body of sac-cid-ananda-vigraha [Bs. 5.1]. The process of quitting this body and getting another body in the material world is also organized. A man dies after it has been decided what form of body he will have in the next life. But that is decided by higher authorities. Just like according to our service we are promoted or degraded. Similarly, according to our acts we are... Acts of this life, the activities of this life are preparation ground for the next life. We are preparing for our next life by our activities of this life. So if we can prepare our this life for getting promotion to the kingdom of God, then surely, after leaving, after quitting this material body... The Lord says yah prayati, one who goes, sa mad-bhavam yati [Bg. 8.5], mad-bhavam, he gets the same spiritual body as the Lord has or the same spiritual nature. Now, there are different kinds of transcendentalists as we have already explained above. The brahmavadi, paramatmavadi and the devotees. In spiritual sky or in the brahmajyoti there are spiritual planets, innumerable spiritual planets, we have already discussed. And the number of those planets are far, far greater than all the universes of this material world. This material world is ekamsena sthito jagat [Bg. 10.42]. This is one-fourth part manifestation of the whole creation. Three-fourths part of the creation is the spiritual world and in the one-fourth part of this creation there are millions of universes like this which we are experiencing at the present moment. And in one universe there are millions and billions of planets. So there are millions and billions of suns and stars and moons in all this material world, but all this material world constitute only one-fourth manifestation of the whole creation. The three-fourths manifestation is in the spiritual sky. Now, this mad-bhavam, one who desires to merge into the existence of the Supreme Brahman, they merge in the brahmajyoti of the Supreme Lord. Mad-bhavam means that brahmajyoti as well as the spiritual planets in the brahmajyoti. And the devotees, who want to enjoy in the association of the Lord, they enter into the planets, Vaikuntha planets. There are innumerable Vaikuntha planets, and the Lord, Supreme Lord Sri Krsna, by His plenary expansion as Narayana with four hands with different names, Pradyumna, Aniruddha, and Madhava, Govinda... There are many innumerable names of this four-handed Narayana. So one of the planets, that is also mad-bhavam, that is also within the spiritual nature. So any transcendentalist who at the end of life, either he thinks of the brahmajyoti or meditates upon the Paramatma or thinks of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krsna, in either case, they enter into the spiritual sky. But only the devotees, those who have practiced personal touch with the Supreme Lord, they enter into the Vaikuntha planets or in the Goloka Vrndavana planet. The Lord says, yah prayati sa mad-bhavam yati nasty atra samsayah [Bg. 8.5]. There is no doubt. One should not disbelieve. That is the question. So you are reading Bhagavad-gita throughout the whole life, but when the Lord speaks something which does not tally with our imagination, we reject it. That is not the process of Bhagavad-gita reading. Just like Arjuna said that sarvam etam rtam manye, "I believe in everything, whatever You have said." Similarly, hear, hearing. The Lord says that at the time of death, whoever thinks of Him, either as Brahman or Paramatma or the Personality of Godhead, certainly he enters into the spiritual sky and there is no doubt about it. One should not disbelieve it. And the process is, general rule is also stated in the Bhagavad-gita, how one can, how it is possible to get into the spiritual kingdom simply by thinking of the Supreme at the time of death. Because the general process is also mentioned:
yam yam vapi smaran bhavam
tyajaty ante kalevaram
tam tam evaiti kaunteya
sada tad-bhava-bhavitah
[Bg. 8.6]
There are different bhavas. Now, this material nature is also one of the bhavas, as we have already explained, that this material nature is also the display of one of the energies of the Supreme Lord. In the Visnu Purana the total energies of the Supreme Lord have been summarized.
visnu-saktih para prokta
ksetra-jnakhya tatha par
avidya-karma-samjnanya
trtiya saktir isyate
[Cc. Madhya 6.154]
All the energies, potencies of the..., parasya saktir vividhaiva sruyate [Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport]. The Supreme Lord has diverse energies, innumerable energies, which we cannot conceive. But great learned sages, liberated souls, they have studied and they have summarized the whole energies into three parts, into three headings. The first is... All the energies are visnu-sakti. All the energies, they are different potencies of the Lord Visnu. Now, that energy is para, transcendental. And ksetra-jnakhya tatha para, and the living entities, ksetra-jna, they are also belonging to the group of that superior energy, as it is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita also. We have already explained. And the other energies, the material energy is trtiya karma-samjnanya [Cc. Madhya 6.154]. The other energy is in the mode of ignorance. So that is material energy. So material energy is also bhagavad-(indistinct). So at the time of death, either we can remain in the material energy, or this material world, or we can transfer into the spiritual world. That is the criterion. So the Bhagavad-gita says,
yam yam vapi smaran bhavam
tyajaty ante kalevaram
tam tam evaiti kaunteya
sada tad-bhava-bhavitah
[Bg. 8.6]
Now, as we are accustomed to think either of this material energy or of the spiritual energy, now, how to transfer the thinking? The thinking of the material energy, how it can be transferred into thinking of the spiritual energy? So for thinking in the spiritual energy the Vedic literatures are there. Just like thinking in the material energies, there are so many literatures -- newspapers, magazines, novels, fictions, and so many things. Full of literatures. So our thinkings are absorbed in these literatures. Similarly, if we want to transfer our thinking in the spiritual atmosphere, then we have to transfer our reading capacity to the Vedic literature. The learned sages therefore made so many Vedic literatures, the Puranas. The Puranas are not stories. They are historical records. In the Caitanya-caritamrta there is a verse which reads as follows. anadi-bahirmukha jiva krsna bhuli' gela ataeva krsna veda-purana kaila [Cc. Madhya 20.117]. That these forgetful living entities, conditioned souls, they have forgotten the relationship with the Supreme Lord, and they are engrossed in thinking of the material activities. And just to transfer their thinking power to the spiritual capacity, the Krsna-dvaipayana Vyasa, he has made so many Vedic literatures. Vedic literatures means first he divided the Vedas into four. Then he explained them by the Puranas. Then for the incapable persons, just like stri, sudra, vaisya, he made the Mahabharata. And in the Mahabharata he introduced this Bhagavad-gita. Then again he summarized the whole Vedic literature in the Vedanta-sutra. And the Vedanta-sutra for future guidance, he made a natural commentation by himself which is called Srimad-Bhagavatam. Srimad-Bhagavatam is called bhasyo 'yam brahma-sutranam. It is the natural commentation of Vedanta-sutra. So all these literatures, if we transfer our thought, tad-bhava-bhavitah, sada. Sada tad-bhava-bhavitah [Bg. 8.6]. One who is engaged always... Just like the materialist is always engaged in reading some material literature like newspaper, magazines, and fiction, novel, etc., and so many scientific or philosophies, all these things of different degrees of thought. Similarly, if we transfer our, that reading capacity for these Vedic literatures, as presented by, as very kindly presented by Vyasadeva, then it is quite possible for us to remember at the time of death the Supreme Lord. That is the only way suggested by the Lord Himself. Not suggested, it is the fact. Nasty atra samsayah [Bg. 8.5]. Undoubtedly. There is no doubt about it. Tasmat, the Lord suggested therefore, tasmat sarvesu kalesu mam anusmara yudhya ca [Bg. 8.7]. He advises Arjuna that mam anusmara yudhya ca. He does not say that "You simply go on remembering Me and give up your present occupational duty." No. That is not suggested. The Lord never suggests something impractical. This material world, to maintain this body, one has to work. The work is divided into four divisions of social order: brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya, sudra. The intelligent class of the society, they are working in a different way, and the administrator class of society, they are also working in a different way. The mercantile society, the productive society, they are also working in a different way, and the laborer class, they are also working in different way. In the human society, either as laborer or as mercantile men, or as politicians, administrators, or as the highest class of intelligent class of men in literary career, scientific researches, everybody is engaged in some work, and one has to work, struggle for existence. So Lord advises that "You need not give up your occupation, but at the same time you can remember." Mam anusmara [Bg. 8.7]. That will make you, that will help you in remembering Me at the time of death. If you don't practice remembering Me always, along with your struggle for existence, then it is not possible." It is not possible. The same thing is advised by Lord Caitanya, kirtaniyah sada harih [Cc. Adi 17.31]. Kirtaniyah sada. One should practice to chant the name of the Lord always. The name of Lord and the Lord is not different. So here the instruction of Lord Krsna to Arjuna that mam anusmara [Bg. 8.7], "You just remember Me," and Lord Caitanya's instruction that "You chant always the name of Krsna." Here Krsna says that "You always remember Me," or you remember Krsna, and Lord Caitanya says, "You always chant the name of Krsna." So there is no difference because Krsna and Krsna's name are nondifferent in the Absolute. In the absolute status there is no difference between one thing to another. That is the absolute status. So the Lord being absolute, there is no difference between His name and Himself. So we have to practice like that. tasmat sarvesu kalesu [Bg. 8.7]. Always, twenty-four hours, we have to mold our activities of life in such way that we can remember it twenty-four hours. How it is possible? Yes, it is possible. It is possible. A very crude example is set by the acaryas in this connection. And what is that example? It is said that a woman who is attached to another man, although she has got a husband, still, she's attached to another man. And this sort of attachment becomes very strong. This is called parakiya-rasa. Either in case of man or woman. If man has got attachment for another woman besides his wife, or a woman has got attachment for another man besides her husband, that attachment is very strong. That attachment is very strong. So the acaryas give this example as a bad character woman who has got attachment for other's husband, she always thinks, at the same time, shows her husband that she is very much busy in the family affairs so that her husband may not doubt her character. So as she is always remembering the time of meeting with her lover at night, in spite of doing all this household work very nicely, similarly one has to remember the supreme husband, Sri Krsna, always in spite of doing his material duties very nicely. That is possible. It requires a strong sense of love. When you have got a strong sense of love for the Supreme Lord, then it is possible that we can go on discharging our duty, at the same time remember the Lord. So we have to develop that sense. Just like Arjuna was always thinking of Lord. He, out of twenty-four hours, not for a second he could forget Krsna. Constant companion of Krsna. At the same time, a warrior. Lord Krsna did not advise Arjuna to give up his fighting, go to the forest, go to the Himalaya and meditate. When yoga system was advised to Arjuna, Arjuna declined, that "This system is not possible for me." Then the Lord said, yoginam api sarvesam mad-gatenantaratmana [Bg. 6.47]. Mad-gatenantaratmana sraddhavan bhajate yo mam sa me yuktatamo matah. So one who thinks of the Supreme Lord always, he's the greatest yogi, he is the supermost jnani, and he is also the greatest devotee at the same time. The Lord advises that tasmat sarvesu kalesu mam anusmara yudhya ca [Bg. 8.7]. "As a ksatriya you cannot give up your fighting business. You have to fight. So at the same time if you practice remembering Me always, then it will be possible," anta-kale ca mam eva smaran [Bg. 8.5], "then it will be possible to remember Me also at the time of death." Mayy arpita-mano-buddhir mam evaisyasy asamsayah. Again He says that there is no doubt. If one is completely surrendered into the service of the Lord, into the transcendental loving service of the Lord, mayy arpita-mano-buddhir [Bg. 8.7]. Because we work not with our body actually. We work with our mind and intelligence. So if our intelligence and mind are always engaged in the thought of the Supreme Lord, then naturally our senses are also engaged in the service of the Lord. That is the secret of Bhagavad-gita. One has to learn this art, how one can be absorbed both by the mind and intelligence twenty-four hours thinking of the Lord. And that will help one to transfer himself into the kingdom of God or in the spiritual atmosphere after leaving this material body. The modern scientists, they are trying for years and years together for reaching the moon planet, and they have no approach as yet. But here in the Bhagavad-gita, here is a suggestion. Suppose a man lives for another fifty years and he... So nobody tries to elevate himself in the spiritual ideas for fifty years. That's a very good idea. But even for ten years or five years one sincerely tries for this practice, mayy arpita-mano-buddhir... [Bg. 8.7] It is simply a question of practice. And that practice can be very easily possible by the devotional process, sravanam. Sravanam. The easiest process is to hear.
sravanam kirtanam visnoh
smaranam pada-sevanam
arcanam vandanam dasyam
sakhyam atma-nivedanam
[SB 7.5.23]
These nine processes. So the easiest process is simply hearing. Hearing of this Bhagavad-gita or Srimad-Bhagavatam from the realized person, that will train up oneself, one, into the thoughts of the Supreme Being twenty-four hours, which will lead one ultimately, anta-kale, to remember the Supreme Lord, and thus leaving this body, he will have a spiritual body, a spiritual body, just fit for association with the Lord. The Lord therefore says,
abhyasa-yoga-yuktena
cetasa nanya-gamina
paramam purusam divyam
yati parthanucintayan
[Bg. 8.8]
Anucintayan, constantly thinking of Himself only. It is not very difficult process. One has to learn this process from the experienced person in this line. Tad vijnanartham sa gurum evabhigacchet [MU 1.2.12]. One should approach a person who is already in the practice. So abhyasa-yoga-yuktena. This is called abhyasa-yoga, practicing. Abhyasa... How to remember the Supreme Lord always. Cetasa nanya-gamina. The mind, the mind is always flying to this, to that. So one has to practice to concentrate the mind into the form of the Supreme Lord Sri Krsna always, or in the sound, in His name which is made easier. Instead of concentrating my mind -- my mind may be very restless, going hither and thither, but I can concentrate my ear into the sound vibration of Krsna and that will also help me. That is also abhyasa-yoga. Cetasa nanya-gamina paramam purusam divyam. Paramam purusa, that Supreme Personality of Godhead in the spiritual kingdom, in the spiritual sky, one can approach, anucintayan, constantly thinking. So these processes, the ways and means, all are stated in the Bhagavad-gita and there is no bar for anyone. It is not that a particular class of men can approach. Thinking of Lord Krsna is possible, hearing of Lord Krsna is possible by everyone. And the Lord says in the Bhagavad-gita,
mam hi partha vyapasritya
ye 'pi syuh papa-yonayah
striyo vaisyas tatha sudras
te 'pi yanti param gatim
[Bg. 9.32]
kim punar brahmanah punya
bhakta rajarsayas tatha
anityam asukham lokam
imam prapya bhajasva mam
[Bg. 9.33]
The Lord says that even a human being in the lowest status of life, lowest status of life, or even a fallen woman, or a mercantile man, or a laborer class of man... The mercantile class of men, the laborer class of men, and the woman class, they are counted in the same category because their intelligence is not so developed. But the Lord says, they also, or even lower than them, mam hi partha vyapasritya ye 'pi syuh [Bg. 9.32], not only they or lower than them, or anyone, it does not matter who is he, or who is she, anyone who accepts this principle of bhakti-yoga and accepts the Supreme Lord as the summum bonum of life, the highest target, highest goal of life, mam hi partha vyapasritya ye 'pi syuh, te 'pi yanti param gatim, that param gatim in the spiritual kingdom and the spiritual sky, everyone can approach. Simply one has to practice the system. That system is hinted in the Bhagavad-gita very nicely and one can adopt it and make his life perfect and make a permanent solution of life. That is the sum and substance of the whole Bhagavad-gita. Therefore, the conclusion is that Bhagavad-gita is a transcendental literature which one should read very carefully. Gita-sastram idam punyam yah pathet prayatah puman. And the result will be, if he properly follows the instruction, then he can be freed from all miseries of life, all anxieties of life. Bhaya-sokadi-varjitah. All fears of life, in this life, as well as he'll get a spiritual life in the next life.
gitadhyayana-silasya
pranayama-parasya ca
naiva santi hi papani
purva-janma-krtani ca
So another advantage is that if one reads Bhagavad-gita very sincerely and with all seriousness, then by the grace of the Lord, the reactions of his past misdeeds will not act upon him. The Lord says very loudly in the Bhagavad-gita in the last portion, aham tvam sarva-papebhyo moksayisyami ma sucah [Bg. 18.66]. The Lord takes the responsibility. One who surrenders unto the Lord, He takes the responsibility to indemnify, to indemnify from all reactions of sins.
maline mocanam pumsam
jala-snanam dine dine
sakrd gitamrta-snanam
samsara-mala-nasanam
One cleanses oneself daily by taking bath in the water, but one who takes once bath in the sacred Ganges water of Bhagavad-gita, his, the dirty material life is altogether vanquished.
gita su-gita kartavya
kim anyaih sastra-vistaraih
ya svayam padmanabhasya
mukha-padmad vinihsrta
Because Bhagavad-gita is spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, therefore people should..., people may not read all other Vedic literatures. Simply if he attentively and regularly reads and hears Bhagavad-gita, gita su-gita kartavya... And one should adopt this means by all means. Gita su-gita kartavya kim anyaih sastra-vistaraih. Because at the present age people are embarrassed with so many things that it is hardly possible to divert his attention in all the Vedic literatures. This one literature will do because it is essence of all Vedic literature, and especially spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
bharatamrta-sarvasvam
visnu-vaktrad vinihsrtam
gita-gangodakam pitva
punar janma na vidyate
As it is said that one who drinks the water of the Ganges, he also gets salvation, then what to speak of Bhagavad-gita? Bhagavad-gita is the nectar in the whole Mahabharata, and is spoken by Visnu. Lord Krsna is the original Visnu. Visnu-vaktrad vinihsrtam. It is coming out of the mouth of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And gangodakam, the Ganges is said to be emanated from the lotus feet of the Lord, and Bhagavad-gita is emanated from the mouth of the Lord. Of course, there is no difference between the mouth and the feet of the Supreme Lord. Still, from neutral position we can study that Bhagavad-gita is even more important than the Ganges water.
sarvopanisado gavo
dogdha gopala-nandana
partho vatsah su-dhir bhokta
dugdham gitamrtam mahat
Just... This Gitopanisad is just like a cow, and the Lord is famous as cow boy, and He was milking this cow. Sarvopanisado. And it is the essence of all Upanisads and represented as the cow. And the Lord being expert cow boy, He is milking the cow. And partho vatsah. And Arjuna is just like the calf. And su-dhir bhokta. And learned scholars and pure devotees, they are to take this milk. Su-dhir bhokta dugdham gitamrtam mahat. The nectar, the milk of Bhagavad-gita, is meant for learned devotees.
ekam sastram devaki-putra-gitam
eko devo devaki-putra ev
eko mantras tasya namani yani
karmapy ekam tasya devasya seva
Now the world should learn from the Bhagavad-gita, the lesson. Evam sastram devaki-putra-gitam. There is one scripture only, one common scripture for the whole world, for the people of the whole world, and that is this Bhagavad-gita. Devo devaki-putra eva. And there is one God for the whole world, is Sri Krsna. And eko mantras tasya namani. And one hymn, mantra, one hymn only, one prayer, or one hymn, is to chant His name, Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. Eko mantras tasya namani yani karmapy ekam tasya devasya seva. And there is one work only, that is to serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead. If one learns from Bhagavad-gita, then the people are very much anxious to have one religion, one God, one scripture, and one business or one activity of life. This is summarized in the Bhagavad-gita. That one, one God, is Krsna. Krsna is not sectarian God. Krsna, from the name of Krsna... Krsna means, as we have explained above, Krsna means the greatest pleasure. So therefore... (break -- end)
>>> Ref. VedaBase => First Tape Recording, Done by Srila Prabhupada Himself (part three)
Continuation and end of the first tape recording, done by Srila Prabhupada himself
The example of shadow in the, shadow of water in the desert, suggests that in the desert there is no water, but there is water. Similarly, in the reflection of the spiritual world, or in this material world, there is undoubtedly, there is no happiness, there is no water. But the real water, or the actual happiness, is in the spiritual world. The Lord suggests that one has to reach that spiritual world in the following manner, nirmana-moha.
nirmana-moha jita-sanga-dosa
adhyatma-nitya vinivrtta-kamah
dvandvair vimuktah sukha-duhkha-samjnair
gacchanty amudhah padam avyayam tat
(Bg. 15.5)
That padam avyayam, that eternal kingdom, can be reached by one who is nirmana-moha. Nirmana-moha. Nirmana means we are after designations. Artificially we want some designations. Somebody wants to become sir, somebody wants to become lord, somebody wants to become the president, or somebody wants to become a rich man, somebody wants to become something else, king. All these designations, so long we'll have attachment for all these designations... Because after all these designations belong to the body, and we are not this body. This is the first conception of spiritual realization. So one has no attraction for designation. And jita-sanga-dosa, sanga-dosa. Now we are associated with the three modes of material qualities, and if we become detached by devotional service of the Lord... So long we are not attracted by devotional service of the Lord, we cannot be detached from the three modes of material nature. Therefore the Lord says, vinivrtta-kamah, these designations or these attachments are due to our lust, desire. We want to lord it over the material nature. So, so long we do not give up this propensity of lording it over the material nature, up to that time there is no possibility of going back to the kingdom of the Supreme, the sanatana-dhama. Dvandvair vimuktah sukha-duhkha-samjnair gacchanty amudhah, amudhah padam avyayam tat [Bg. 15.5]. That eternal kingdom, which is never destructible like this material world, can be approached by amudhah. Amudhah means nonbewildered, one who is not bewildered by the attraction of this false enjoyment. And one is situated in the supreme service of the Lord, he is the right person to approach that eternal kingdom. And that eternal kingdom does not require any sun, any moon, or any electricity. That is a glimpse idea of approaching of the eternal kingdom. In another place in the Bhagavad-gita it is also said that
avyakto 'ksara ity uktas
tam ahuh paramam gatim
yam prapya na nivartante
tad dhama paramam mama
[Bg. 8.21]
Avyakta means nonmanifested. Even the part of material world is not manifested before us. Our senses are so imperfect that we cannot see how many stars, how many planets there are in this material universe. Of course, through the Vedic literature we get information of all the planets. We may believe or not believe, but all the important planets in which we have connection, they are described in the Vedic literature, especially in the Srimad-Bhagavatam. But the spiritual world, which is beyond this material sky, paras tasmat tu bhavo 'nyo [Bg. 8.20], but that avyakta, that nonmanifested spiritual sky, is the paramam gatim, that is, one should desire, one should hanker after reaching that supreme kingdom. And once approaching that supreme kingdom, yam prapya, one approaching or one achieving that supreme kingdom, na nivartante, one hasn't got to return back to this material world. And that place which is the eternal abode of Lord, that from where we haven't got to return, that is our, that should be our... [break] Now a question may be raised, what is the way how to approach the supreme abode of the Lord. That is also described in the Bhagavad-gita. It is said on the 8th Chapter, verses 5, 6, 7, 8, the process of approaching the Supreme Lord or Supreme Lord's abode is also given there. It is said like this:
anta-kale ca mam eva
smaran muktva kalevaram
yah prayati sa mad-bhavam
yati nasty atra samsayah
Anta-kale, at the end of life, at the time of death. Anta-kale ca mam eva, one who thinks of Krsna, smaran, if he can remember. A dying person, at the time of death, if he remembers the form of Krsna and while remembering in that way, if he quits the present body, then surely he approaches the spiritual kingdom, mad-bhavam. Bhavam means the spiritual nature. Yah prayati sa mad-bhavam yati. Mad-bhavam means just like the nature or the transcendental nature of the Supreme Being. As we have described above, that the Supreme Lord is sac-cid-ananda-vigraha [Bs. 5.1]. He has His form, but His form is eternal, sat; and full of knowledge, cit; and full of bliss, ananda. Now just we can compare our present body, whether this body is sac-cid-ananda. No. This body is asat. Instead of being sat it is asat. Antavanta ime deha [Bg. 2.18], Bhagavad-gita says that this body is antavat, perishable. And... Sac-cid-ananda. Instead of becoming sat, it is asat, just the opposite. And instead of becoming cit, full of knowledge, it is full of ignorance. We have no knowledge of the spiritual kingdom, neither we have got any perfect knowledge of this material world. So many things unknown to us, therefore this body is ignorant. Instead of becoming full of knowledge it is ignorant. The body is perishable, full of ignorance, and nirananda. Instead of becoming full of bliss, it is full of miseries. All the miseries that we experience in this material world, it is all due to this body. The Lord says that anta-kale ca mam eva smaran muktva kalevaram [Bg. 8.5]. One who quits this material body, simply by remembering Lord Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he at once gets the spiritual body of sac-cid-ananda-vigraha [Bs. 5.1]. The process of quitting this body and getting another body in the material world is also organized. A man dies after it has been decided what form of body he will have in the next life. But that is decided by higher authorities. Just like according to our service we are promoted or degraded. Similarly, according to our acts we are... Acts of this life, the activities of this life are preparation ground for the next life. We are preparing for our next life by our activities of this life. So if we can prepare our this life for getting promotion to the kingdom of God, then surely, after leaving, after quitting this material body... The Lord says yah prayati, one who goes, sa mad-bhavam yati [Bg. 8.5], mad-bhavam, he gets the same spiritual body as the Lord has or the same spiritual nature. Now, there are different kinds of transcendentalists as we have already explained above. The brahmavadi, paramatmavadi and the devotees. In spiritual sky or in the brahmajyoti there are spiritual planets, innumerable spiritual planets, we have already discussed. And the number of those planets are far, far greater than all the universes of this material world. This material world is ekamsena sthito jagat [Bg. 10.42]. This is one-fourth part manifestation of the whole creation. Three-fourths part of the creation is the spiritual world and in the one-fourth part of this creation there are millions of universes like this which we are experiencing at the present moment. And in one universe there are millions and billions of planets. So there are millions and billions of suns and stars and moons in all this material world, but all this material world constitute only one-fourth manifestation of the whole creation. The three-fourths manifestation is in the spiritual sky. Now, this mad-bhavam, one who desires to merge into the existence of the Supreme Brahman, they merge in the brahmajyoti of the Supreme Lord. Mad-bhavam means that brahmajyoti as well as the spiritual planets in the brahmajyoti. And the devotees, who want to enjoy in the association of the Lord, they enter into the planets, Vaikuntha planets. There are innumerable Vaikuntha planets, and the Lord, Supreme Lord Sri Krsna, by His plenary expansion as Narayana with four hands with different names, Pradyumna, Aniruddha, and Madhava, Govinda... There are many innumerable names of this four-handed Narayana. So one of the planets, that is also mad-bhavam, that is also within the spiritual nature. So any transcendentalist who at the end of life, either he thinks of the brahmajyoti or meditates upon the Paramatma or thinks of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krsna, in either case, they enter into the spiritual sky. But only the devotees, those who have practiced personal touch with the Supreme Lord, they enter into the Vaikuntha planets or in the Goloka Vrndavana planet. The Lord says, yah prayati sa mad-bhavam yati nasty atra samsayah [Bg. 8.5]. There is no doubt. One should not disbelieve. That is the question. So you are reading Bhagavad-gita throughout the whole life, but when the Lord speaks something which does not tally with our imagination, we reject it. That is not the process of Bhagavad-gita reading. Just like Arjuna said that sarvam etam rtam manye, "I believe in everything, whatever You have said." Similarly, hear, hearing. The Lord says that at the time of death, whoever thinks of Him, either as Brahman or Paramatma or the Personality of Godhead, certainly he enters into the spiritual sky and there is no doubt about it. One should not disbelieve it. And the process is, general rule is also stated in the Bhagavad-gita, how one can, how it is possible to get into the spiritual kingdom simply by thinking of the Supreme at the time of death. Because the general process is also mentioned:
yam yam vapi smaran bhavam
tyajaty ante kalevaram
tam tam evaiti kaunteya
sada tad-bhava-bhavitah
[Bg. 8.6]
There are different bhavas. Now, this material nature is also one of the bhavas, as we have already explained, that this material nature is also the display of one of the energies of the Supreme Lord. In the Visnu Purana the total energies of the Supreme Lord have been summarized.
visnu-saktih para prokta
ksetra-jnakhya tatha par
avidya-karma-samjnanya
trtiya saktir isyate
[Cc. Madhya 6.154]
All the energies, potencies of the..., parasya saktir vividhaiva sruyate [Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport]. The Supreme Lord has diverse energies, innumerable energies, which we cannot conceive. But great learned sages, liberated souls, they have studied and they have summarized the whole energies into three parts, into three headings. The first is... All the energies are visnu-sakti. All the energies, they are different potencies of the Lord Visnu. Now, that energy is para, transcendental. And ksetra-jnakhya tatha para, and the living entities, ksetra-jna, they are also belonging to the group of that superior energy, as it is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita also. We have already explained. And the other energies, the material energy is trtiya karma-samjnanya [Cc. Madhya 6.154]. The other energy is in the mode of ignorance. So that is material energy. So material energy is also bhagavad-(indistinct). So at the time of death, either we can remain in the material energy, or this material world, or we can transfer into the spiritual world. That is the criterion. So the Bhagavad-gita says,
yam yam vapi smaran bhavam
tyajaty ante kalevaram
tam tam evaiti kaunteya
sada tad-bhava-bhavitah
[Bg. 8.6]
Now, as we are accustomed to think either of this material energy or of the spiritual energy, now, how to transfer the thinking? The thinking of the material energy, how it can be transferred into thinking of the spiritual energy? So for thinking in the spiritual energy the Vedic literatures are there. Just like thinking in the material energies, there are so many literatures -- newspapers, magazines, novels, fictions, and so many things. Full of literatures. So our thinkings are absorbed in these literatures. Similarly, if we want to transfer our thinking in the spiritual atmosphere, then we have to transfer our reading capacity to the Vedic literature. The learned sages therefore made so many Vedic literatures, the Puranas. The Puranas are not stories. They are historical records. In the Caitanya-caritamrta there is a verse which reads as follows. anadi-bahirmukha jiva krsna bhuli' gela ataeva krsna veda-purana kaila [Cc. Madhya 20.117]. That these forgetful living entities, conditioned souls, they have forgotten the relationship with the Supreme Lord, and they are engrossed in thinking of the material activities. And just to transfer their thinking power to the spiritual capacity, the Krsna-dvaipayana Vyasa, he has made so many Vedic literatures. Vedic literatures means first he divided the Vedas into four. Then he explained them by the Puranas. Then for the incapable persons, just like stri, sudra, vaisya, he made the Mahabharata. And in the Mahabharata he introduced this Bhagavad-gita. Then again he summarized the whole Vedic literature in the Vedanta-sutra. And the Vedanta-sutra for future guidance, he made a natural commentation by himself which is called Srimad-Bhagavatam. Srimad-Bhagavatam is called bhasyo 'yam brahma-sutranam. It is the natural commentation of Vedanta-sutra. So all these literatures, if we transfer our thought, tad-bhava-bhavitah, sada. Sada tad-bhava-bhavitah [Bg. 8.6]. One who is engaged always... Just like the materialist is always engaged in reading some material literature like newspaper, magazines, and fiction, novel, etc., and so many scientific or philosophies, all these things of different degrees of thought. Similarly, if we transfer our, that reading capacity for these Vedic literatures, as presented by, as very kindly presented by Vyasadeva, then it is quite possible for us to remember at the time of death the Supreme Lord. That is the only way suggested by the Lord Himself. Not suggested, it is the fact. Nasty atra samsayah [Bg. 8.5]. Undoubtedly. There is no doubt about it. Tasmat, the Lord suggested therefore, tasmat sarvesu kalesu mam anusmara yudhya ca [Bg. 8.7]. He advises Arjuna that mam anusmara yudhya ca. He does not say that "You simply go on remembering Me and give up your present occupational duty." No. That is not suggested. The Lord never suggests something impractical. This material world, to maintain this body, one has to work. The work is divided into four divisions of social order: brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya, sudra. The intelligent class of the society, they are working in a different way, and the administrator class of society, they are also working in a different way. The mercantile society, the productive society, they are also working in a different way, and the laborer class, they are also working in different way. In the human society, either as laborer or as mercantile men, or as politicians, administrators, or as the highest class of intelligent class of men in literary career, scientific researches, everybody is engaged in some work, and one has to work, struggle for existence. So Lord advises that "You need not give up your occupation, but at the same time you can remember." Mam anusmara [Bg. 8.7]. That will make you, that will help you in remembering Me at the time of death. If you don't practice remembering Me always, along with your struggle for existence, then it is not possible." It is not possible. The same thing is advised by Lord Caitanya, kirtaniyah sada harih [Cc. Adi 17.31]. Kirtaniyah sada. One should practice to chant the name of the Lord always. The name of Lord and the Lord is not different. So here the instruction of Lord Krsna to Arjuna that mam anusmara [Bg. 8.7], "You just remember Me," and Lord Caitanya's instruction that "You chant always the name of Krsna." Here Krsna says that "You always remember Me," or you remember Krsna, and Lord Caitanya says, "You always chant the name of Krsna." So there is no difference because Krsna and Krsna's name are nondifferent in the Absolute. In the absolute status there is no difference between one thing to another. That is the absolute status. So the Lord being absolute, there is no difference between His name and Himself. So we have to practice like that. tasmat sarvesu kalesu [Bg. 8.7]. Always, twenty-four hours, we have to mold our activities of life in such way that we can remember it twenty-four hours. How it is possible? Yes, it is possible. It is possible. A very crude example is set by the acaryas in this connection. And what is that example? It is said that a woman who is attached to another man, although she has got a husband, still, she's attached to another man. And this sort of attachment becomes very strong. This is called parakiya-rasa. Either in case of man or woman. If man has got attachment for another woman besides his wife, or a woman has got attachment for another man besides her husband, that attachment is very strong. That attachment is very strong. So the acaryas give this example as a bad character woman who has got attachment for other's husband, she always thinks, at the same time, shows her husband that she is very much busy in the family affairs so that her husband may not doubt her character. So as she is always remembering the time of meeting with her lover at night, in spite of doing all this household work very nicely, similarly one has to remember the supreme husband, Sri Krsna, always in spite of doing his material duties very nicely. That is possible. It requires a strong sense of love. When you have got a strong sense of love for the Supreme Lord, then it is possible that we can go on discharging our duty, at the same time remember the Lord. So we have to develop that sense. Just like Arjuna was always thinking of Lord. He, out of twenty-four hours, not for a second he could forget Krsna. Constant companion of Krsna. At the same time, a warrior. Lord Krsna did not advise Arjuna to give up his fighting, go to the forest, go to the Himalaya and meditate. When yoga system was advised to Arjuna, Arjuna declined, that "This system is not possible for me." Then the Lord said, yoginam api sarvesam mad-gatenantaratmana [Bg. 6.47]. Mad-gatenantaratmana sraddhavan bhajate yo mam sa me yuktatamo matah. So one who thinks of the Supreme Lord always, he's the greatest yogi, he is the supermost jnani, and he is also the greatest devotee at the same time. The Lord advises that tasmat sarvesu kalesu mam anusmara yudhya ca [Bg. 8.7]. "As a ksatriya you cannot give up your fighting business. You have to fight. So at the same time if you practice remembering Me always, then it will be possible," anta-kale ca mam eva smaran [Bg. 8.5], "then it will be possible to remember Me also at the time of death." Mayy arpita-mano-buddhir mam evaisyasy asamsayah. Again He says that there is no doubt. If one is completely surrendered into the service of the Lord, into the transcendental loving service of the Lord, mayy arpita-mano-buddhir [Bg. 8.7]. Because we work not with our body actually. We work with our mind and intelligence. So if our intelligence and mind are always engaged in the thought of the Supreme Lord, then naturally our senses are also engaged in the service of the Lord. That is the secret of Bhagavad-gita. One has to learn this art, how one can be absorbed both by the mind and intelligence twenty-four hours thinking of the Lord. And that will help one to transfer himself into the kingdom of God or in the spiritual atmosphere after leaving this material body. The modern scientists, they are trying for years and years together for reaching the moon planet, and they have no approach as yet. But here in the Bhagavad-gita, here is a suggestion. Suppose a man lives for another fifty years and he... So nobody tries to elevate himself in the spiritual ideas for fifty years. That's a very good idea. But even for ten years or five years one sincerely tries for this practice, mayy arpita-mano-buddhir... [Bg. 8.7] It is simply a question of practice. And that practice can be very easily possible by the devotional process, sravanam. Sravanam. The easiest process is to hear.
sravanam kirtanam visnoh
smaranam pada-sevanam
arcanam vandanam dasyam
sakhyam atma-nivedanam
[SB 7.5.23]
These nine processes. So the easiest process is simply hearing. Hearing of this Bhagavad-gita or Srimad-Bhagavatam from the realized person, that will train up oneself, one, into the thoughts of the Supreme Being twenty-four hours, which will lead one ultimately, anta-kale, to remember the Supreme Lord, and thus leaving this body, he will have a spiritual body, a spiritual body, just fit for association with the Lord. The Lord therefore says,
abhyasa-yoga-yuktena
cetasa nanya-gamina
paramam purusam divyam
yati parthanucintayan
[Bg. 8.8]
Anucintayan, constantly thinking of Himself only. It is not very difficult process. One has to learn this process from the experienced person in this line. Tad vijnanartham sa gurum evabhigacchet [MU 1.2.12]. One should approach a person who is already in the practice. So abhyasa-yoga-yuktena. This is called abhyasa-yoga, practicing. Abhyasa... How to remember the Supreme Lord always. Cetasa nanya-gamina. The mind, the mind is always flying to this, to that. So one has to practice to concentrate the mind into the form of the Supreme Lord Sri Krsna always, or in the sound, in His name which is made easier. Instead of concentrating my mind -- my mind may be very restless, going hither and thither, but I can concentrate my ear into the sound vibration of Krsna and that will also help me. That is also abhyasa-yoga. Cetasa nanya-gamina paramam purusam divyam. Paramam purusa, that Supreme Personality of Godhead in the spiritual kingdom, in the spiritual sky, one can approach, anucintayan, constantly thinking. So these processes, the ways and means, all are stated in the Bhagavad-gita and there is no bar for anyone. It is not that a particular class of men can approach. Thinking of Lord Krsna is possible, hearing of Lord Krsna is possible by everyone. And the Lord says in the Bhagavad-gita,
mam hi partha vyapasritya
ye 'pi syuh papa-yonayah
striyo vaisyas tatha sudras
te 'pi yanti param gatim
[Bg. 9.32]
kim punar brahmanah punya
bhakta rajarsayas tatha
anityam asukham lokam
imam prapya bhajasva mam
[Bg. 9.33]
The Lord says that even a human being in the lowest status of life, lowest status of life, or even a fallen woman, or a mercantile man, or a laborer class of man... The mercantile class of men, the laborer class of men, and the woman class, they are counted in the same category because their intelligence is not so developed. But the Lord says, they also, or even lower than them, mam hi partha vyapasritya ye 'pi syuh [Bg. 9.32], not only they or lower than them, or anyone, it does not matter who is he, or who is she, anyone who accepts this principle of bhakti-yoga and accepts the Supreme Lord as the summum bonum of life, the highest target, highest goal of life, mam hi partha vyapasritya ye 'pi syuh, te 'pi yanti param gatim, that param gatim in the spiritual kingdom and the spiritual sky, everyone can approach. Simply one has to practice the system. That system is hinted in the Bhagavad-gita very nicely and one can adopt it and make his life perfect and make a permanent solution of life. That is the sum and substance of the whole Bhagavad-gita. Therefore, the conclusion is that Bhagavad-gita is a transcendental literature which one should read very carefully. Gita-sastram idam punyam yah pathet prayatah puman. And the result will be, if he properly follows the instruction, then he can be freed from all miseries of life, all anxieties of life. Bhaya-sokadi-varjitah. All fears of life, in this life, as well as he'll get a spiritual life in the next life.
gitadhyayana-silasya
pranayama-parasya ca
naiva santi hi papani
purva-janma-krtani ca
So another advantage is that if one reads Bhagavad-gita very sincerely and with all seriousness, then by the grace of the Lord, the reactions of his past misdeeds will not act upon him. The Lord says very loudly in the Bhagavad-gita in the last portion, aham tvam sarva-papebhyo moksayisyami ma sucah [Bg. 18.66]. The Lord takes the responsibility. One who surrenders unto the Lord, He takes the responsibility to indemnify, to indemnify from all reactions of sins.
maline mocanam pumsam
jala-snanam dine dine
sakrd gitamrta-snanam
samsara-mala-nasanam
One cleanses oneself daily by taking bath in the water, but one who takes once bath in the sacred Ganges water of Bhagavad-gita, his, the dirty material life is altogether vanquished.
gita su-gita kartavya
kim anyaih sastra-vistaraih
ya svayam padmanabhasya
mukha-padmad vinihsrta
Because Bhagavad-gita is spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, therefore people should..., people may not read all other Vedic literatures. Simply if he attentively and regularly reads and hears Bhagavad-gita, gita su-gita kartavya... And one should adopt this means by all means. Gita su-gita kartavya kim anyaih sastra-vistaraih. Because at the present age people are embarrassed with so many things that it is hardly possible to divert his attention in all the Vedic literatures. This one literature will do because it is essence of all Vedic literature, and especially spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
bharatamrta-sarvasvam
visnu-vaktrad vinihsrtam
gita-gangodakam pitva
punar janma na vidyate
As it is said that one who drinks the water of the Ganges, he also gets salvation, then what to speak of Bhagavad-gita? Bhagavad-gita is the nectar in the whole Mahabharata, and is spoken by Visnu. Lord Krsna is the original Visnu. Visnu-vaktrad vinihsrtam. It is coming out of the mouth of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And gangodakam, the Ganges is said to be emanated from the lotus feet of the Lord, and Bhagavad-gita is emanated from the mouth of the Lord. Of course, there is no difference between the mouth and the feet of the Supreme Lord. Still, from neutral position we can study that Bhagavad-gita is even more important than the Ganges water.
sarvopanisado gavo
dogdha gopala-nandana
partho vatsah su-dhir bhokta
dugdham gitamrtam mahat
Just... This Gitopanisad is just like a cow, and the Lord is famous as cow boy, and He was milking this cow. Sarvopanisado. And it is the essence of all Upanisads and represented as the cow. And the Lord being expert cow boy, He is milking the cow. And partho vatsah. And Arjuna is just like the calf. And su-dhir bhokta. And learned scholars and pure devotees, they are to take this milk. Su-dhir bhokta dugdham gitamrtam mahat. The nectar, the milk of Bhagavad-gita, is meant for learned devotees.
ekam sastram devaki-putra-gitam
eko devo devaki-putra ev
eko mantras tasya namani yani
karmapy ekam tasya devasya seva
Now the world should learn from the Bhagavad-gita, the lesson. Evam sastram devaki-putra-gitam. There is one scripture only, one common scripture for the whole world, for the people of the whole world, and that is this Bhagavad-gita. Devo devaki-putra eva. And there is one God for the whole world, is Sri Krsna. And eko mantras tasya namani. And one hymn, mantra, one hymn only, one prayer, or one hymn, is to chant His name, Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. Eko mantras tasya namani yani karmapy ekam tasya devasya seva. And there is one work only, that is to serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead. If one learns from Bhagavad-gita, then the people are very much anxious to have one religion, one God, one scripture, and one business or one activity of life. This is summarized in the Bhagavad-gita. That one, one God, is Krsna. Krsna is not sectarian God. Krsna, from the name of Krsna... Krsna means, as we have explained above, Krsna means the greatest pleasure. So therefore... (break -- end)
>>> Ref. VedaBase => First Tape Recording, Done by Srila Prabhupada Himself (part three)
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
"Intro 2 to Bhagavad-gita"
66/02/19-20 New York,
Continuation of the first tape recording, done by Srila Prabhupada himself
...muktir hitvanyatha rupam svarupena vyavasthitih [SB 2.10.6]. Svarupena vyavasthitih. Mukti means liberation from the contaminated consciousness of this material world and to become situated in pure consciousness. And the whole instruction, instruction of Bhagavad-gita, is targeted to awaken that pure consciousness. We'll find in the last stage of the instruction of Bhagavad-gita that Krsna is asking Arjuna whether he is now in purified consciousness. Whether he was in purified consciousness. The purified consciousness is to act according to the direction of the Lord. That is purified consciousness. That is the whole sum and substance of purified consciousness.
Consciousness is already there, but because we are part and parcels, therefore we are affected. There is affinity of being affected by the material modes. But the Lord being Supreme, He is never affected. He is never affected. That is the difference between the Lord and the Supreme..., Supreme Lord and the...
Now this consciousness is... What is this consciousness? This consciousness is that "I am." What I am? When in contaminated consciousness this "I am" means that "I am the lord of all I survey." This is impure consciousness. And "I am the enjoyer." The whole material world is moving that every living being is thinking that "I am the lord and I am the creator of this material world." The consciousness has got two psychic movement or two psychic division. One is that "I am the creator," and the other is "I am the enjoyer." So the Supreme Lord is actually the creator and He is actually the enjoyer. And the living entities, being part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, he's not actually the creator or the enjoyer, but he's a cooperator. Just like the whole machine. The part of the machine is the cooperator, is the cooperator. Or if we can study just the constitution of our body. Now, in the body there are hands, there are legs, there are eyes, and all these instruments, working, but all these parts and parcels of the body, they are not enjoyer. The stomach is the enjoyer. The leg is moving from one place to another. The hand is collecting, the hand is preparing foodstuff, and the teeth is chewing, and everything, all parts of body, are engaged in satisfying the stomach because the stomach is the principle fact within the organization of this body. And everything should be given to the stomach. Pranopaharac ca yathendriyanam [SB 4.31.14]. Just like you can see a tree green by pouring water in the root. Or you can become healthy... The parts of the body -- the hands, the legs, the eyes, the ears, the fingers -- everything keeps in healthy stage when the parts of the body cooperate with the stomach. Similarly, the supreme living being, the Lord, He is the enjoyer. He is the enjoyer and He is the creator. And we, I mean to say, subordinate living beings, the products of the energy of the Supreme Lord, we are just to cooperate with Him. That cooperation will help. Just for example, a good foodstuff taken by the fingers. If the fingers think that "Why should we give it to the stomach? Let us enjoy." That is a mistake. The fingers are unable to enjoy. If fingers want the fruit of enjoyment of that particular foodstuff, the fingers must put it into the stomach. So the whole arrangement is that the central figure, central figure of creation, central figure of enjoyment, is the Supreme Lord, and the living entities, they are simply cooperator. By cooperation, by cooperation they enjoy. The relation is just like the master and the servant. If the master is satisfied, if the master is fully satisfied, the servants are automatically satisfied. That is the law. Similarly, the Supreme Lord should be satisfied, although the tendency for becoming creator and the tendency to enjoy this material world is, they are also in the living entities because it is there in the Supreme Lord. He has created, He has created the manifested cosmic world.
Therefore we shall find in this Bhagavad-gita that the complete whole, comprising the supreme controller, the controlled living entities, the cosmic manifestation, the eternal time, and the activities, all of them are completely explained. So the whole thing taking together completely is called the Absolute Truth. The complete whole, or the Supreme Absolute Truth, is therefore the complete Personality of Godhead Sri Krsna. As I have explained, that the manifestation are due to His different energies, and He is the complete whole.
The impersonal Brahman is explained in the Bhagavad-gita that impersonal Brahman is also subordinate to the complete person. Brahmano 'ham pratistha [Bg. 14.27]. Impersonal Brahman is also. It is... The impersonal Brahman is more explicitly explained in the Brahma-sutra as the rays. As there is the rays of the sunshine, sun planet, similarly, the impersonal Brahman is the shining rays of the Supreme Brahman or the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore impersonal Brahman is incomplete realization of the absolute complete whole, and so also the conception of Paramatma. These things are also explained. Purusottama-yoga. When we shall read the chapter of Purusottama-yoga it will be seen that the Supreme Personality, Purusottama, is above the impersonal Brahman and partial realization of Paramatma.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead is called sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah [Bs. 5.1]. In the Brahma-samhita, the beginning is started like this: isvarah paramah krsnah sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah/ anadir adir govindah sarva-karana-karanam [Bs. 5.1]." Govinda, Krsna, is the cause of all causes. He is the primal Lord." So the Supreme Personality of Godhead is sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah.
Impersonal Brahman realization is the realization of His sat part, eternity. And Paramatma realization is the realization of sat-cit, eternal knowledge part realization. But realization of the Personality of Godhead as Krsna is realization of all the transcendental features like sat, cit, and ananda, in complete vigraha. Vigraha means form. Vigraha means form. Avyaktam vyaktim apannam manyante mam abuddhayah [Bg. 7.24]. People with less intelligence, they consider the Supreme Truth as impersonal, but He is a person, a transcendental person. This is confirmed in all Vedic literature. Nityo nityanam cetanas cetananam (Katha Upanisad 2.2.13). So, as we are also persons, individual living beings, we are persons, we have got our individuality, we are all individual, similarly the Supreme Truth, the Supreme Absolute, He is also, at the ultimate issue He is a person. But realization of the Personality of Godhead is realization of all the transcendental features like sat, cit, and ananda, in complete vigraha. Vigraha means form. Therefore the complete whole is not formless. If He is formless or if He is less in any other thing, He cannot be complete whole. The complete whole must have everything within our experience and beyond our experience. Otherwise He cannot be complete. The complete whole Personality of Godhead has immense potencies. Parasya saktir vividhaiva sruyate [Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport]. That is also explained in Bhagavad-gita, how He is acting in different potencies. This phenomenal world, or the material world, where we are now put, is also complete by itself because purnam idam [Isopanisad, Invocation]. The 24 elements of which, according to Sankhya philosophy, the 24 elements of which this material universe is a temporary manifestation, are completely adjusted to produce complete things which are necessary for the maintenance and subsistence of this universe. No extraneous effort by any other unit is required for the maintenance of the universe. It's at its own time, fixed up by the energy of the complete whole, and when the time is complete, these temporary manifestations will be annihilated by the complete arrangement of the complete. There is complete facility for the small complete units, namely, the living entities, to realize the complete. And all sorts of incompleteness is experienced on account of incomplete knowledge of the complete. So the Bhagavad-gita is the complete knowledge of the Vedic wisdom.
The whole Vedic knowledge is infallible. There are different examples how we take Vedic knowledge as infallible. Take for example, so far the Hindus are concerned, and how they accept the Vedic knowledge as complete, here is an insignificant example. Just like the cow dung. The cow dung is the stool of an animal. According to smrti or Vedic wisdom, if one touches the stool of an animal he has to take his bath to purify himself. But in the Vedic scriptures the cow dung is as stated as pure. Rather, impure place or impure things are purified by touch of the cow dung. Now if one argues how it is that in one place it is said that the stool of the animal is impure and another place it is said that the cow dung which is also the stool of an animal, it is pure, so it is contradictory. But actually, it may appear to be contradictory, but because it is Vedic injunction, therefore for our practical purposes we accept it. And by that acceptance we are not committing mistake. It has been found by modern chemists, modern science, one Dr. Lal Mohan Gosal, he has very minutely analyzed the cow dung and he has found that cow dung is a composition of all antiseptic properties. So similarly, he has also analyzed the water of the Ganges out of curiosity. So my idea is that Vedic knowledge is complete because it is above all doubts and all mistakes. So, and Bhagavad-gita is the essence of all Vedic knowledge. The Vedic knowledge is therefore infallible. It comes down through the perfect disciplic succession.
Therefore Vedic knowledge is not a thing of research. Our research work is imperfect because we are searching everything with imperfect senses. Therefore the result of our research work is also imperfect. It cannot be perfect. We have to accept the perfect knowledge. The perfect knowledge is coming down, as it is stated in the Bhagavad-gita, just we have begun, evam parampara-praptam imam rajarsayo viduh [Bg. 4.2]. We have to receive the knowledge from the right source in disciplic succession of spiritual master beginning from the Lord Himself. So Bhagavad-gita is spoken by the Lord Himself. And Arjuna, the, I mean to say, the student who took lessons of the Bhagavad-gita, he accepted the whole story as it is, without any cutting. That is also not allowed, that we accept a certain portion of Bhagavad-gita and reject another portion. That is also not accepted. We must accept the Bhagavad-gita without interpretation, without any cutting, and without our own whimsical participation in the matter because it should be taken as the most perfect Vedic knowledge. The Vedic knowledge is received from the transcendental sources because the first word was spoken by the Lord Himself. The words spoken by the Lord is called apauruseya, or not delivered by any person of the mundane world, who is infected with four principles of imperfectness. A living being of the mundane world has four defective principles of his life, and they are 1) that he must commit mistake, 2) he must be sometimes illusioned, and 3) he must try to cheat others, and 4) he's endowed with imperfect senses. With all these four principles of imperfectness, one cannot deliver the perfect form of information in the matter of all-pervading knowledge. The Vedas are not like that. The Vedic knowledge was imparted in the heart of Brahma, the first created living being. And Brahma in his turn disseminated the knowledge to his sons and disciples as they were originally received from the Lord. The Lord, being purnam or all-perfect, there is no chance of His becoming subjected to the laws of material nature. One should therefore be intelligent enough to know that except the Lord, nobody is the proprietor of anything within the universe. That is explained in the Bhagavad-gita:
aham sarvasya prabhavo
mattah sarvam pravartate
iti matva bhajante mam
budha bhava-samanvitah
[Bg. 10.8]
The Lord is the original creator. He is the creator of Brahma, He is the creator... That is also explained. He is the creator of Brahma. In the 11th Chapter the Lord is addressed as prapitamaha [Bg. 11.39] because Brahma is addressed as pitamaha, the grandfather, but He is the creator of the grandfather also. So nobody should claim to be the proprietor of anything, but he must accept things which are set aside by the Lord as his quota of maintenance. Now, there are many examples how we have to utilize the allotment of the Lord. That is also explained in the Bhagavad-gita. Arjuna, he decided in the beginning that he should not fight. That was his own contemplation. Arjuna said to the Lord that it was not possible for him to enjoy the kingdom after killing his own kinsmen. And that point of view was due to his conception of the body. Because he was thinking that the body was himself and the bodily relatives, his brothers, his nephews, his father-in-law or his grandfather, they were expansion of his body, and he was thinking in that way to satisfy his bodily demands. And the whole thing was spoken by the Lord just to change the view. And he agreed to work under the direction of the Lord. And he said, karisye vacanam tava [Bg. 18.73].
Therefore in this world the human being is not meant for quarreling like the cats and dogs. They must be intelligent enough to realize the importance of the human life and refuse to act like ordinary animal. He should... A human being should realize the aim of human life. This direction is given in all the Vedic literature, and the essence is given in the Bhagavad-gita. Vedic literature are meant for the human being and not for the cats and dogs. The cats and dogs can kill their eatable animals, and for that there is no question of sin on their part. But if a man kills an animal for the satisfaction of his uncontrolled taste, he must be responsible for breaking the laws of nature. And in the Bhagavad-gita it is clearly explained that there are three kinds of activities according to the different modes of nature: the activities of goodness, the activities of passion, the activities of ignorance. Similarly, there are three kinds of eatables also: eatables in goodness, eatables on passion, eatables on ignorance. They're all clearly described, and if we properly utilize the instructions of the Bhagavad-gita, then our whole life will become purified and ultimately we shall (be) able to reach the destination. Yad gatva na nivartante tad dhama paramam mama [Bg. 15.6].
That information is given in the Bhagavad-gita, that beyond this material sky, there is another spiritual sky; that is called sanatana sky. In this sky, this covered sky, we find everything temporary. It is manifested, it stays for some time, gives us some by-product, and then it becomes dwindling, and then vanishes. That is the law of this material world. You take this body, you take a fruit or anything what is created here, it has got its annihilation at the end. So beyond this temporary world there is another world for which the information is there, that paras tasmat tu bhavah anyah [Bg. 8.20]. There is another nature which is eternal, sanatana, which is eternal. And the jiva, jiva is also described as sanatana. Mamaivamso jiva-bhutah jiva-loke sanatanah [Bg. 15.7]. Sanatana, sanatana means eternal. And the Lord is also described as sanatana in the 11th Chapter. So because we have got intimate relation with the Lord and we are all qualitatively one... The sanatana-dhama and the sanatana Supreme Personality and the sanatana living entities, they are on the same qualitatively plane. Therefore the whole target of Bhagavad-gita is to revive our sanatana occupation or sanatana..., that is called sanatana-dharma, or eternal occupation of the living entity. We are now temporarily engaged in different activities and all these activities being purified. When we give up all these temporary activities, sarva-dharman parityajya [Bg. 18.66], and when we take up the activities as desired by the Supreme Lord, that is called our pure life. [break] Therefore, sanatana-dharma, as mentioned above, that the Supreme Lord is sanatana, and the transcendental abode, which is beyond the spiritual sky, that is also sanatana. And the living entities, they are also sanatana. So association of the sanatana Supreme Lord, sanatana living entities, in the sanatana eternal abode is the ultimate aim of human form of life. The Lord is so kind upon the living entities because the living entities are claimed to be all sons of the Supreme Lord. The Lord declares sarva-yonisu kaunteya sambhavanti murtayo yah [Bg. 14.4]. Every living, every type of living entity... There are different types of living entities according to their different karma, but the Lord claims that He is the father of all living entities, and therefore the Lord descends to reclaim all these forgotten conditioned souls back to the sanatana-dhama, the sanatana sky, so that the sanatana living entity may again reinstall in his sanatana position in eternal association of the Lord. He comes Himself by different incarnations, He sends His confidential servitor as sons or associates or acaryas to reclaim the conditioned souls.
And therefore sanatana-dharma does not mean any sectarian process of religion. It is the eternal function of the eternal living entities in relationship with the eternal Supreme Lord. So far sanatana-dharma is concerned, it means the eternal occupation. Sripada Ramanujacarya has explained the word sanatana as "the thing which has neither any beginning nor any end." And when we speak of sanatana-dharma we must take it for granted on the authority of Sripada Ramanujacarya that it has no beginning, nor any end. The word religion is a little different from sanatana-dharma. Religion conveys the idea of faith. Faith may change. One may have faith in a particular process, and he may change the faith afterwards and adopt another faith. But sanatana-dharma means which cannot be changed, which cannot be changed. Just like water and liquidity. Liquidity cannot be changed from water. Heat and fire. Heat cannot be changed from fire. Similarly, the eternal function of the eternal living entity, which is known as sanatana-dharma, cannot be changed. It is not possible to change. We have to find out what is that eternal function of the eternal living entity. When we speak of sanatana-dharma therefore, we must take it for granted on the authority of Sripada Ramanujacarya that it has no beginning nor any end. The thing which has no end, no beginning, must not be any sectarian thing or limited by any boundary. When we hold on the conference on the sanatana-dharma, people belonging to some of the noneternal religious faiths may wrongly consider it that we are dealing in some sectarian thing. But if we go deep into the matter and take everything in the light of modern science, it will be possible for us to see sanatana-dharma as the business of all the people of the world, nay, all the living entities of the universe. Non-sanatana religious faith may have some beginning in the annals of the human society, but there cannot be any history of the sanatana-dharma because it continues to remain with the history of the living entities. So far living entities are concerned, we find it from the authority of the sastras that living entities have also no birth or death. In the Bhagavad-gita it is clearly stated that the living entity is never born, nor does it ever die. He's eternal, indestructible, and continues to live after the destruction of his temporary material body. With reference to the above concept of sanatana-dharma we may try to understand the concept of religion from the Sanskrit root meaning of the word dharma. It means that which is constantly with the particular object. As we have already mentioned, when we speak of fire it is concluded at the same time that there is heat and light along with the fire. Without heat and without light, there is no meaning of the word fire. Similarly, we must find out the essential part of a living being which is always companion with him. That part of constant companion of the living being is his eternal quality, and the eternal part of the living being's quality is his eternal religion. When Sanatana Gosvami asked Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu about the svarupa -- we have already discussed about the svarupa of every living being -- svarupa or real constitution of the living being, the Lord replied that the constitutional position of the living being is to render service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. But if we analyze this part of the statement of Lord Caitanya, we can very well see that every living being is constantly engaged in the business of rendering service to another living being. A living being serves another living being in different capacities, and by doing so, the living entity enjoys life. A lower animal serves a human being, a servant serves his master, A serves B master, B serves C master, and C serves D master, and so on. Under the circumstances, we can see that a friend serves another friend, and the mother serves the son, or the wife serves the husband, or husband serves the wife. If we go on searching in that spirit, it will be seen that there is no exception in the society of the living being where we do not find the activity of service. The politician present his manifesto before the public and convinces voters about his service capacity. The voter also gives the politician his valuable vote on expectation that the politician will give service to the society. The shopkeeper serves the customer and the artisan serves the capitalist. The capitalist serves his family and the family serves the head man in terms of the eternal capacity of eternal being. In this way we can see no living being is exempted from the practice of rendering service to other living being, and therefore we can conclude that service is a thing which is the constant companion of the living being, and therefore it may be safely concluded that rendering of service by a living being is the eternal religion of the living being. When a man professes to belong to a particular type of faith with reference to the particular time and circumstances of birth, and thus one claims to be a Hindu, a Muslim, a Christian, Buddhist, or any other sect, and sub-sect, such designations are non-sanatana-dharma. A Hindu may change his faith to become a Muslim, or a Muslim may change his faith to become a Hindu or a Christian, etc., but in all circumstances such change of religious faith does not allow a person to change his eternal engagement of rendering service to other. A Hindu or a Muslim or a Christian, in all circumstances, he is servant of somebody, and thus to profess a particular type of faith is not to be considered as sanatana-dharma, but the constant companion of the living being, that is, rendering of service, is the sanatana-dharma. So factually, we are related in the service relationship with the Supreme Lord. The Supreme Lord is the supreme enjoyer, and we living entities are eternally His supreme servitors. We are created for His enjoyment, and if we partake, participate in that eternal enjoyment with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, that makes us happy, not otherwise. Independently, as we have already explained that independently, any part of the body, the hand, the feet, the fingers, or any part of the body, independently, cannot be happy without cooperation with the stomach, similarly, the living entity can never be happy without rendering his transcendental loving service to the Supreme Lord. Now, in the Bhagavad-gita the worship of different demigods is not approved, is not approved because... It is said in the Bhagavad-gita [Bg. 7.20], the Lord says, kamais tais tair hrta-jnanah prapadyante 'nya-devatah. Kamais tais tair hrta-jnanah. Those who are directed by lust, only they worship the demigods other than the Supreme Lord, Krsna. We also may remember that when we speak of "Krsna" it is not a sectarian name. The "Krsna" name means the highest pleasure. It is confirmed that the Supreme Lord is the reservoir, is the storehouse of all pleasure. We are all hankering after pleasure. Anandamayo 'bhyasat (Vedanta-sutra 1.1.12). The living entities or the Lord, because we are full of consciousness, therefore our consciousness is after happiness. Happiness. The Lord is also perpetually happy, and if we associate with the Lord, cooperate with Him, take part in His association, then also we become happy. The Lord descends on this mortal world to show His pastimes in Vrndavana full of happiness. When Lord Sri Krsna was in Vrndavana, His activities with His cowherd boys friends, with His damsels, with His friends, damsel friends, and with the inhabitants of Vrndavana and His occupation of cowherding in His childhood, and all these pastimes of Lord Krsna were full of happiness. The whole of Vrndavana, the whole population of Vrndavana, was after Him. They did not know except Krsna. Even Lord Krsna restricted His father, Nanda Maharaja in worshiping the demigod Indra because He wanted to establish that people need not worship any other demigod except the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Because the ultimate aim of life is to return to the abode of the Supreme Lord. The abode of Lord Krsna is described in the Bhagavad-gita, 15th Chapter, 6th verse,
na tad bhasayate suryo
na sasanko na pavakah
yad gatva na nivartante
tad dhama paramam mama
Now the description of that eternal sky... When we speak of sky, because we have material conception of the sky, therefore we think of sky with sun, moon, stars, like that. But the Lord says that the eternal sky, there is no need of sun. Na tad bhasayate suryo na sasanko na pavakah [Bg. 15.6]. Neither in that eternal sky there is need of moon. Na pavakah means neither there is necessity of electricity or fire for illuminating because the spiritual sky is already illuminated by the brahmajyoti. Brahmajyoti, yasya prabha [Bs. 5.40], the rays of the supreme abode. Now in these days when people are trying to reach other planets, it is not very difficult to understand the abode of the Supreme Lord. The abode of the Supreme Lord is in the spiritual sky, and it is named as Goloka. In the Brahma-samhita it is very nicely described, goloka eva nivasaty akhilatma-bhutah [Bs. 5.37]. The Lord, although resides eternally in His abode, Goloka, still He is akhilatma-bhutah, He can be approached from here also. And the Lord therefore comes to manifest His real form, sac-cid-ananda-vigraha [Bs. 5.1], so that we may not have to imagine. There is no question of imagination. The Lord's presence, by His causeless mercy He presents Himself in His Syamasundara-rupa.
Unfortunately, people with less intelligence deride at Him. Avajananti mam mudha [Bg. 9.11]. Because the Lord comes as one of us and just like plays with us as a human being, therefore we need not consider that Lord is one of us. It is His omnipotency that He presents Himself with His real form before us and displays His pastimes, just the prototype of His abode. So that abode of Lord, there are innumerable planets also in that brahmajyoti. Just like we have got innumerable planets floating on the sun rays, similarly, in the brahmajyoti, which is emanating from the abode of the Supreme Lord, Krsnaloka, Goloka, ananda-cinmaya-rasa-pratibhavitabhis [Bs. 5.37], all those planets are spiritual planets. They are ananda-cinmaya; they are not material planets. So the Lord says,
na tad bhasayate suryo
na sasanko na pavakah
yad gatva na nivartante
tad dhama paramam mama
[Bg. 15.6]
Now anyone who can approach that spiritual sky will not be required to come back again in this material sky. So long we are in the material sky, what to speak of approaching the moon planet.... The moon planet, of course, is the nearest planet, but even we approach the highest planet, which is called Brahmaloka, there also we have the same miseries of material life, I mean to say, the miseries of birth, death, old age, and diseases. No planets in the material universe is free from the four principles of material existence. The Lord therefore says in the Bhagavad-gita, abrahma-bhuvanal lokah punar avartino 'rjuna [Bg. 8.16]. The living entities are traveling from one planet to another. It is not that we can simply go to other planets by the mechanical arrangement of the sputnik. Anyone who desires to go to other planet, there is process. Yanti deva-vrata devan pitrn yanti pitr-vratah [Bg. 9.25]. If anyone wants to go to any other planet, say, moon planet, we need not try to go by the sputnik. The Bhagavad-gita instructs us, yanti deva-vrata devan. These moon planets or sun planets or the planets above this Bhuloka, they are called Svargaloka. Svargaloka. Bhuloka, Bhuvarloka, Svargaloka. There are different status of planets. So Devaloka, they are known just like that. The Bhagavad-gita gives a very simple formula that you can go to the higher planets, Devaloka. Yanti deva-vrata devan. Yanti deva-vrata devan. Deva-vrata, if we practice the process of worshiping the particular demigod, then we can go to that particular planet also. We can go to the sun planet even, we can go to the moon planet, we can go to the heavenly planet, but Bhagavad-gita does not advise us to go to any one of these planets in the material world because even we go to the Brahmaloka, the highest planet, which is calculated by the modern scientist that we can reach the highest planet by traveling with sputniks for 40,000 years. Now it is not possible to live 40,000 years and reach the highest planet of this material universe. But if one devotes his life in the worshipment of the particular demigod he can approach the particular planet, as it is stated in the Bhagavad-gita: yanti deva-vrata devan pitrn yanti pitr-vratah [Bg. 9.25]. Similarly, there is Pitrloka. Similarly, one who likes to approach the supreme planet, supreme planet... The supreme planet means the Krsnaloka. In the spiritual sky there are innumerable planets, sanatana planets, eternal planets, which are never destroyed, annihilated. But of all those spiritual planets there is one planet, the original planet, which is called Goloka Vrndavana. So these informations are there in the Bhagavad-gita and we are given the opportunity for leaving this material world and get our eternal life in the eternal kingdom. Now in the 15th Chapter of the Bhagavad-gita, the real picture of this material world is given. It is said there that
urdhva-mulam adhah-sakham
asvattham prahur avyayam
chandamsi yasya parnani
yas tam veda sa veda-vit
[Bg. 15.1]
Now, this material world is described in the Fifteenth chapter of the Bhagavad-gita as a tree which has got its root upwards, urdhva-mulam. Have you experience of any tree which has its root upwards? We have got this experience of a tree, root upwards by reflection. If we stand on the bank of a river or any reservoir of water, we can see that the tree on the bank of the reservoir of water is reflected in the water as trunk downwards and the root upwards. So this material world is practically a reflection of the spiritual world. Just like the reflection of the tree on the bank of a reservoir of water is seen downwards, similarly, this material world, it is called shadow. Shadow. As in the shadow there cannot be any reality, but at the same time, from the shadow we can understand that there is reality...
>>> Ref. VedaBase => First Tape Recording, Done by Srila Prabhupada Himself (part two)
Continuation of the first tape recording, done by Srila Prabhupada himself
...muktir hitvanyatha rupam svarupena vyavasthitih [SB 2.10.6]. Svarupena vyavasthitih. Mukti means liberation from the contaminated consciousness of this material world and to become situated in pure consciousness. And the whole instruction, instruction of Bhagavad-gita, is targeted to awaken that pure consciousness. We'll find in the last stage of the instruction of Bhagavad-gita that Krsna is asking Arjuna whether he is now in purified consciousness. Whether he was in purified consciousness. The purified consciousness is to act according to the direction of the Lord. That is purified consciousness. That is the whole sum and substance of purified consciousness.
Consciousness is already there, but because we are part and parcels, therefore we are affected. There is affinity of being affected by the material modes. But the Lord being Supreme, He is never affected. He is never affected. That is the difference between the Lord and the Supreme..., Supreme Lord and the...
Now this consciousness is... What is this consciousness? This consciousness is that "I am." What I am? When in contaminated consciousness this "I am" means that "I am the lord of all I survey." This is impure consciousness. And "I am the enjoyer." The whole material world is moving that every living being is thinking that "I am the lord and I am the creator of this material world." The consciousness has got two psychic movement or two psychic division. One is that "I am the creator," and the other is "I am the enjoyer." So the Supreme Lord is actually the creator and He is actually the enjoyer. And the living entities, being part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, he's not actually the creator or the enjoyer, but he's a cooperator. Just like the whole machine. The part of the machine is the cooperator, is the cooperator. Or if we can study just the constitution of our body. Now, in the body there are hands, there are legs, there are eyes, and all these instruments, working, but all these parts and parcels of the body, they are not enjoyer. The stomach is the enjoyer. The leg is moving from one place to another. The hand is collecting, the hand is preparing foodstuff, and the teeth is chewing, and everything, all parts of body, are engaged in satisfying the stomach because the stomach is the principle fact within the organization of this body. And everything should be given to the stomach. Pranopaharac ca yathendriyanam [SB 4.31.14]. Just like you can see a tree green by pouring water in the root. Or you can become healthy... The parts of the body -- the hands, the legs, the eyes, the ears, the fingers -- everything keeps in healthy stage when the parts of the body cooperate with the stomach. Similarly, the supreme living being, the Lord, He is the enjoyer. He is the enjoyer and He is the creator. And we, I mean to say, subordinate living beings, the products of the energy of the Supreme Lord, we are just to cooperate with Him. That cooperation will help. Just for example, a good foodstuff taken by the fingers. If the fingers think that "Why should we give it to the stomach? Let us enjoy." That is a mistake. The fingers are unable to enjoy. If fingers want the fruit of enjoyment of that particular foodstuff, the fingers must put it into the stomach. So the whole arrangement is that the central figure, central figure of creation, central figure of enjoyment, is the Supreme Lord, and the living entities, they are simply cooperator. By cooperation, by cooperation they enjoy. The relation is just like the master and the servant. If the master is satisfied, if the master is fully satisfied, the servants are automatically satisfied. That is the law. Similarly, the Supreme Lord should be satisfied, although the tendency for becoming creator and the tendency to enjoy this material world is, they are also in the living entities because it is there in the Supreme Lord. He has created, He has created the manifested cosmic world.
Therefore we shall find in this Bhagavad-gita that the complete whole, comprising the supreme controller, the controlled living entities, the cosmic manifestation, the eternal time, and the activities, all of them are completely explained. So the whole thing taking together completely is called the Absolute Truth. The complete whole, or the Supreme Absolute Truth, is therefore the complete Personality of Godhead Sri Krsna. As I have explained, that the manifestation are due to His different energies, and He is the complete whole.
The impersonal Brahman is explained in the Bhagavad-gita that impersonal Brahman is also subordinate to the complete person. Brahmano 'ham pratistha [Bg. 14.27]. Impersonal Brahman is also. It is... The impersonal Brahman is more explicitly explained in the Brahma-sutra as the rays. As there is the rays of the sunshine, sun planet, similarly, the impersonal Brahman is the shining rays of the Supreme Brahman or the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore impersonal Brahman is incomplete realization of the absolute complete whole, and so also the conception of Paramatma. These things are also explained. Purusottama-yoga. When we shall read the chapter of Purusottama-yoga it will be seen that the Supreme Personality, Purusottama, is above the impersonal Brahman and partial realization of Paramatma.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead is called sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah [Bs. 5.1]. In the Brahma-samhita, the beginning is started like this: isvarah paramah krsnah sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah/ anadir adir govindah sarva-karana-karanam [Bs. 5.1]." Govinda, Krsna, is the cause of all causes. He is the primal Lord." So the Supreme Personality of Godhead is sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah.
Impersonal Brahman realization is the realization of His sat part, eternity. And Paramatma realization is the realization of sat-cit, eternal knowledge part realization. But realization of the Personality of Godhead as Krsna is realization of all the transcendental features like sat, cit, and ananda, in complete vigraha. Vigraha means form. Vigraha means form. Avyaktam vyaktim apannam manyante mam abuddhayah [Bg. 7.24]. People with less intelligence, they consider the Supreme Truth as impersonal, but He is a person, a transcendental person. This is confirmed in all Vedic literature. Nityo nityanam cetanas cetananam (Katha Upanisad 2.2.13). So, as we are also persons, individual living beings, we are persons, we have got our individuality, we are all individual, similarly the Supreme Truth, the Supreme Absolute, He is also, at the ultimate issue He is a person. But realization of the Personality of Godhead is realization of all the transcendental features like sat, cit, and ananda, in complete vigraha. Vigraha means form. Therefore the complete whole is not formless. If He is formless or if He is less in any other thing, He cannot be complete whole. The complete whole must have everything within our experience and beyond our experience. Otherwise He cannot be complete. The complete whole Personality of Godhead has immense potencies. Parasya saktir vividhaiva sruyate [Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport]. That is also explained in Bhagavad-gita, how He is acting in different potencies. This phenomenal world, or the material world, where we are now put, is also complete by itself because purnam idam [Isopanisad, Invocation]. The 24 elements of which, according to Sankhya philosophy, the 24 elements of which this material universe is a temporary manifestation, are completely adjusted to produce complete things which are necessary for the maintenance and subsistence of this universe. No extraneous effort by any other unit is required for the maintenance of the universe. It's at its own time, fixed up by the energy of the complete whole, and when the time is complete, these temporary manifestations will be annihilated by the complete arrangement of the complete. There is complete facility for the small complete units, namely, the living entities, to realize the complete. And all sorts of incompleteness is experienced on account of incomplete knowledge of the complete. So the Bhagavad-gita is the complete knowledge of the Vedic wisdom.
The whole Vedic knowledge is infallible. There are different examples how we take Vedic knowledge as infallible. Take for example, so far the Hindus are concerned, and how they accept the Vedic knowledge as complete, here is an insignificant example. Just like the cow dung. The cow dung is the stool of an animal. According to smrti or Vedic wisdom, if one touches the stool of an animal he has to take his bath to purify himself. But in the Vedic scriptures the cow dung is as stated as pure. Rather, impure place or impure things are purified by touch of the cow dung. Now if one argues how it is that in one place it is said that the stool of the animal is impure and another place it is said that the cow dung which is also the stool of an animal, it is pure, so it is contradictory. But actually, it may appear to be contradictory, but because it is Vedic injunction, therefore for our practical purposes we accept it. And by that acceptance we are not committing mistake. It has been found by modern chemists, modern science, one Dr. Lal Mohan Gosal, he has very minutely analyzed the cow dung and he has found that cow dung is a composition of all antiseptic properties. So similarly, he has also analyzed the water of the Ganges out of curiosity. So my idea is that Vedic knowledge is complete because it is above all doubts and all mistakes. So, and Bhagavad-gita is the essence of all Vedic knowledge. The Vedic knowledge is therefore infallible. It comes down through the perfect disciplic succession.
Therefore Vedic knowledge is not a thing of research. Our research work is imperfect because we are searching everything with imperfect senses. Therefore the result of our research work is also imperfect. It cannot be perfect. We have to accept the perfect knowledge. The perfect knowledge is coming down, as it is stated in the Bhagavad-gita, just we have begun, evam parampara-praptam imam rajarsayo viduh [Bg. 4.2]. We have to receive the knowledge from the right source in disciplic succession of spiritual master beginning from the Lord Himself. So Bhagavad-gita is spoken by the Lord Himself. And Arjuna, the, I mean to say, the student who took lessons of the Bhagavad-gita, he accepted the whole story as it is, without any cutting. That is also not allowed, that we accept a certain portion of Bhagavad-gita and reject another portion. That is also not accepted. We must accept the Bhagavad-gita without interpretation, without any cutting, and without our own whimsical participation in the matter because it should be taken as the most perfect Vedic knowledge. The Vedic knowledge is received from the transcendental sources because the first word was spoken by the Lord Himself. The words spoken by the Lord is called apauruseya, or not delivered by any person of the mundane world, who is infected with four principles of imperfectness. A living being of the mundane world has four defective principles of his life, and they are 1) that he must commit mistake, 2) he must be sometimes illusioned, and 3) he must try to cheat others, and 4) he's endowed with imperfect senses. With all these four principles of imperfectness, one cannot deliver the perfect form of information in the matter of all-pervading knowledge. The Vedas are not like that. The Vedic knowledge was imparted in the heart of Brahma, the first created living being. And Brahma in his turn disseminated the knowledge to his sons and disciples as they were originally received from the Lord. The Lord, being purnam or all-perfect, there is no chance of His becoming subjected to the laws of material nature. One should therefore be intelligent enough to know that except the Lord, nobody is the proprietor of anything within the universe. That is explained in the Bhagavad-gita:
aham sarvasya prabhavo
mattah sarvam pravartate
iti matva bhajante mam
budha bhava-samanvitah
[Bg. 10.8]
The Lord is the original creator. He is the creator of Brahma, He is the creator... That is also explained. He is the creator of Brahma. In the 11th Chapter the Lord is addressed as prapitamaha [Bg. 11.39] because Brahma is addressed as pitamaha, the grandfather, but He is the creator of the grandfather also. So nobody should claim to be the proprietor of anything, but he must accept things which are set aside by the Lord as his quota of maintenance. Now, there are many examples how we have to utilize the allotment of the Lord. That is also explained in the Bhagavad-gita. Arjuna, he decided in the beginning that he should not fight. That was his own contemplation. Arjuna said to the Lord that it was not possible for him to enjoy the kingdom after killing his own kinsmen. And that point of view was due to his conception of the body. Because he was thinking that the body was himself and the bodily relatives, his brothers, his nephews, his father-in-law or his grandfather, they were expansion of his body, and he was thinking in that way to satisfy his bodily demands. And the whole thing was spoken by the Lord just to change the view. And he agreed to work under the direction of the Lord. And he said, karisye vacanam tava [Bg. 18.73].
Therefore in this world the human being is not meant for quarreling like the cats and dogs. They must be intelligent enough to realize the importance of the human life and refuse to act like ordinary animal. He should... A human being should realize the aim of human life. This direction is given in all the Vedic literature, and the essence is given in the Bhagavad-gita. Vedic literature are meant for the human being and not for the cats and dogs. The cats and dogs can kill their eatable animals, and for that there is no question of sin on their part. But if a man kills an animal for the satisfaction of his uncontrolled taste, he must be responsible for breaking the laws of nature. And in the Bhagavad-gita it is clearly explained that there are three kinds of activities according to the different modes of nature: the activities of goodness, the activities of passion, the activities of ignorance. Similarly, there are three kinds of eatables also: eatables in goodness, eatables on passion, eatables on ignorance. They're all clearly described, and if we properly utilize the instructions of the Bhagavad-gita, then our whole life will become purified and ultimately we shall (be) able to reach the destination. Yad gatva na nivartante tad dhama paramam mama [Bg. 15.6].
That information is given in the Bhagavad-gita, that beyond this material sky, there is another spiritual sky; that is called sanatana sky. In this sky, this covered sky, we find everything temporary. It is manifested, it stays for some time, gives us some by-product, and then it becomes dwindling, and then vanishes. That is the law of this material world. You take this body, you take a fruit or anything what is created here, it has got its annihilation at the end. So beyond this temporary world there is another world for which the information is there, that paras tasmat tu bhavah anyah [Bg. 8.20]. There is another nature which is eternal, sanatana, which is eternal. And the jiva, jiva is also described as sanatana. Mamaivamso jiva-bhutah jiva-loke sanatanah [Bg. 15.7]. Sanatana, sanatana means eternal. And the Lord is also described as sanatana in the 11th Chapter. So because we have got intimate relation with the Lord and we are all qualitatively one... The sanatana-dhama and the sanatana Supreme Personality and the sanatana living entities, they are on the same qualitatively plane. Therefore the whole target of Bhagavad-gita is to revive our sanatana occupation or sanatana..., that is called sanatana-dharma, or eternal occupation of the living entity. We are now temporarily engaged in different activities and all these activities being purified. When we give up all these temporary activities, sarva-dharman parityajya [Bg. 18.66], and when we take up the activities as desired by the Supreme Lord, that is called our pure life. [break] Therefore, sanatana-dharma, as mentioned above, that the Supreme Lord is sanatana, and the transcendental abode, which is beyond the spiritual sky, that is also sanatana. And the living entities, they are also sanatana. So association of the sanatana Supreme Lord, sanatana living entities, in the sanatana eternal abode is the ultimate aim of human form of life. The Lord is so kind upon the living entities because the living entities are claimed to be all sons of the Supreme Lord. The Lord declares sarva-yonisu kaunteya sambhavanti murtayo yah [Bg. 14.4]. Every living, every type of living entity... There are different types of living entities according to their different karma, but the Lord claims that He is the father of all living entities, and therefore the Lord descends to reclaim all these forgotten conditioned souls back to the sanatana-dhama, the sanatana sky, so that the sanatana living entity may again reinstall in his sanatana position in eternal association of the Lord. He comes Himself by different incarnations, He sends His confidential servitor as sons or associates or acaryas to reclaim the conditioned souls.
And therefore sanatana-dharma does not mean any sectarian process of religion. It is the eternal function of the eternal living entities in relationship with the eternal Supreme Lord. So far sanatana-dharma is concerned, it means the eternal occupation. Sripada Ramanujacarya has explained the word sanatana as "the thing which has neither any beginning nor any end." And when we speak of sanatana-dharma we must take it for granted on the authority of Sripada Ramanujacarya that it has no beginning, nor any end. The word religion is a little different from sanatana-dharma. Religion conveys the idea of faith. Faith may change. One may have faith in a particular process, and he may change the faith afterwards and adopt another faith. But sanatana-dharma means which cannot be changed, which cannot be changed. Just like water and liquidity. Liquidity cannot be changed from water. Heat and fire. Heat cannot be changed from fire. Similarly, the eternal function of the eternal living entity, which is known as sanatana-dharma, cannot be changed. It is not possible to change. We have to find out what is that eternal function of the eternal living entity. When we speak of sanatana-dharma therefore, we must take it for granted on the authority of Sripada Ramanujacarya that it has no beginning nor any end. The thing which has no end, no beginning, must not be any sectarian thing or limited by any boundary. When we hold on the conference on the sanatana-dharma, people belonging to some of the noneternal religious faiths may wrongly consider it that we are dealing in some sectarian thing. But if we go deep into the matter and take everything in the light of modern science, it will be possible for us to see sanatana-dharma as the business of all the people of the world, nay, all the living entities of the universe. Non-sanatana religious faith may have some beginning in the annals of the human society, but there cannot be any history of the sanatana-dharma because it continues to remain with the history of the living entities. So far living entities are concerned, we find it from the authority of the sastras that living entities have also no birth or death. In the Bhagavad-gita it is clearly stated that the living entity is never born, nor does it ever die. He's eternal, indestructible, and continues to live after the destruction of his temporary material body. With reference to the above concept of sanatana-dharma we may try to understand the concept of religion from the Sanskrit root meaning of the word dharma. It means that which is constantly with the particular object. As we have already mentioned, when we speak of fire it is concluded at the same time that there is heat and light along with the fire. Without heat and without light, there is no meaning of the word fire. Similarly, we must find out the essential part of a living being which is always companion with him. That part of constant companion of the living being is his eternal quality, and the eternal part of the living being's quality is his eternal religion. When Sanatana Gosvami asked Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu about the svarupa -- we have already discussed about the svarupa of every living being -- svarupa or real constitution of the living being, the Lord replied that the constitutional position of the living being is to render service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. But if we analyze this part of the statement of Lord Caitanya, we can very well see that every living being is constantly engaged in the business of rendering service to another living being. A living being serves another living being in different capacities, and by doing so, the living entity enjoys life. A lower animal serves a human being, a servant serves his master, A serves B master, B serves C master, and C serves D master, and so on. Under the circumstances, we can see that a friend serves another friend, and the mother serves the son, or the wife serves the husband, or husband serves the wife. If we go on searching in that spirit, it will be seen that there is no exception in the society of the living being where we do not find the activity of service. The politician present his manifesto before the public and convinces voters about his service capacity. The voter also gives the politician his valuable vote on expectation that the politician will give service to the society. The shopkeeper serves the customer and the artisan serves the capitalist. The capitalist serves his family and the family serves the head man in terms of the eternal capacity of eternal being. In this way we can see no living being is exempted from the practice of rendering service to other living being, and therefore we can conclude that service is a thing which is the constant companion of the living being, and therefore it may be safely concluded that rendering of service by a living being is the eternal religion of the living being. When a man professes to belong to a particular type of faith with reference to the particular time and circumstances of birth, and thus one claims to be a Hindu, a Muslim, a Christian, Buddhist, or any other sect, and sub-sect, such designations are non-sanatana-dharma. A Hindu may change his faith to become a Muslim, or a Muslim may change his faith to become a Hindu or a Christian, etc., but in all circumstances such change of religious faith does not allow a person to change his eternal engagement of rendering service to other. A Hindu or a Muslim or a Christian, in all circumstances, he is servant of somebody, and thus to profess a particular type of faith is not to be considered as sanatana-dharma, but the constant companion of the living being, that is, rendering of service, is the sanatana-dharma. So factually, we are related in the service relationship with the Supreme Lord. The Supreme Lord is the supreme enjoyer, and we living entities are eternally His supreme servitors. We are created for His enjoyment, and if we partake, participate in that eternal enjoyment with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, that makes us happy, not otherwise. Independently, as we have already explained that independently, any part of the body, the hand, the feet, the fingers, or any part of the body, independently, cannot be happy without cooperation with the stomach, similarly, the living entity can never be happy without rendering his transcendental loving service to the Supreme Lord. Now, in the Bhagavad-gita the worship of different demigods is not approved, is not approved because... It is said in the Bhagavad-gita [Bg. 7.20], the Lord says, kamais tais tair hrta-jnanah prapadyante 'nya-devatah. Kamais tais tair hrta-jnanah. Those who are directed by lust, only they worship the demigods other than the Supreme Lord, Krsna. We also may remember that when we speak of "Krsna" it is not a sectarian name. The "Krsna" name means the highest pleasure. It is confirmed that the Supreme Lord is the reservoir, is the storehouse of all pleasure. We are all hankering after pleasure. Anandamayo 'bhyasat (Vedanta-sutra 1.1.12). The living entities or the Lord, because we are full of consciousness, therefore our consciousness is after happiness. Happiness. The Lord is also perpetually happy, and if we associate with the Lord, cooperate with Him, take part in His association, then also we become happy. The Lord descends on this mortal world to show His pastimes in Vrndavana full of happiness. When Lord Sri Krsna was in Vrndavana, His activities with His cowherd boys friends, with His damsels, with His friends, damsel friends, and with the inhabitants of Vrndavana and His occupation of cowherding in His childhood, and all these pastimes of Lord Krsna were full of happiness. The whole of Vrndavana, the whole population of Vrndavana, was after Him. They did not know except Krsna. Even Lord Krsna restricted His father, Nanda Maharaja in worshiping the demigod Indra because He wanted to establish that people need not worship any other demigod except the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Because the ultimate aim of life is to return to the abode of the Supreme Lord. The abode of Lord Krsna is described in the Bhagavad-gita, 15th Chapter, 6th verse,
na tad bhasayate suryo
na sasanko na pavakah
yad gatva na nivartante
tad dhama paramam mama
Now the description of that eternal sky... When we speak of sky, because we have material conception of the sky, therefore we think of sky with sun, moon, stars, like that. But the Lord says that the eternal sky, there is no need of sun. Na tad bhasayate suryo na sasanko na pavakah [Bg. 15.6]. Neither in that eternal sky there is need of moon. Na pavakah means neither there is necessity of electricity or fire for illuminating because the spiritual sky is already illuminated by the brahmajyoti. Brahmajyoti, yasya prabha [Bs. 5.40], the rays of the supreme abode. Now in these days when people are trying to reach other planets, it is not very difficult to understand the abode of the Supreme Lord. The abode of the Supreme Lord is in the spiritual sky, and it is named as Goloka. In the Brahma-samhita it is very nicely described, goloka eva nivasaty akhilatma-bhutah [Bs. 5.37]. The Lord, although resides eternally in His abode, Goloka, still He is akhilatma-bhutah, He can be approached from here also. And the Lord therefore comes to manifest His real form, sac-cid-ananda-vigraha [Bs. 5.1], so that we may not have to imagine. There is no question of imagination. The Lord's presence, by His causeless mercy He presents Himself in His Syamasundara-rupa.
Unfortunately, people with less intelligence deride at Him. Avajananti mam mudha [Bg. 9.11]. Because the Lord comes as one of us and just like plays with us as a human being, therefore we need not consider that Lord is one of us. It is His omnipotency that He presents Himself with His real form before us and displays His pastimes, just the prototype of His abode. So that abode of Lord, there are innumerable planets also in that brahmajyoti. Just like we have got innumerable planets floating on the sun rays, similarly, in the brahmajyoti, which is emanating from the abode of the Supreme Lord, Krsnaloka, Goloka, ananda-cinmaya-rasa-pratibhavitabhis [Bs. 5.37], all those planets are spiritual planets. They are ananda-cinmaya; they are not material planets. So the Lord says,
na tad bhasayate suryo
na sasanko na pavakah
yad gatva na nivartante
tad dhama paramam mama
[Bg. 15.6]
Now anyone who can approach that spiritual sky will not be required to come back again in this material sky. So long we are in the material sky, what to speak of approaching the moon planet.... The moon planet, of course, is the nearest planet, but even we approach the highest planet, which is called Brahmaloka, there also we have the same miseries of material life, I mean to say, the miseries of birth, death, old age, and diseases. No planets in the material universe is free from the four principles of material existence. The Lord therefore says in the Bhagavad-gita, abrahma-bhuvanal lokah punar avartino 'rjuna [Bg. 8.16]. The living entities are traveling from one planet to another. It is not that we can simply go to other planets by the mechanical arrangement of the sputnik. Anyone who desires to go to other planet, there is process. Yanti deva-vrata devan pitrn yanti pitr-vratah [Bg. 9.25]. If anyone wants to go to any other planet, say, moon planet, we need not try to go by the sputnik. The Bhagavad-gita instructs us, yanti deva-vrata devan. These moon planets or sun planets or the planets above this Bhuloka, they are called Svargaloka. Svargaloka. Bhuloka, Bhuvarloka, Svargaloka. There are different status of planets. So Devaloka, they are known just like that. The Bhagavad-gita gives a very simple formula that you can go to the higher planets, Devaloka. Yanti deva-vrata devan. Yanti deva-vrata devan. Deva-vrata, if we practice the process of worshiping the particular demigod, then we can go to that particular planet also. We can go to the sun planet even, we can go to the moon planet, we can go to the heavenly planet, but Bhagavad-gita does not advise us to go to any one of these planets in the material world because even we go to the Brahmaloka, the highest planet, which is calculated by the modern scientist that we can reach the highest planet by traveling with sputniks for 40,000 years. Now it is not possible to live 40,000 years and reach the highest planet of this material universe. But if one devotes his life in the worshipment of the particular demigod he can approach the particular planet, as it is stated in the Bhagavad-gita: yanti deva-vrata devan pitrn yanti pitr-vratah [Bg. 9.25]. Similarly, there is Pitrloka. Similarly, one who likes to approach the supreme planet, supreme planet... The supreme planet means the Krsnaloka. In the spiritual sky there are innumerable planets, sanatana planets, eternal planets, which are never destroyed, annihilated. But of all those spiritual planets there is one planet, the original planet, which is called Goloka Vrndavana. So these informations are there in the Bhagavad-gita and we are given the opportunity for leaving this material world and get our eternal life in the eternal kingdom. Now in the 15th Chapter of the Bhagavad-gita, the real picture of this material world is given. It is said there that
urdhva-mulam adhah-sakham
asvattham prahur avyayam
chandamsi yasya parnani
yas tam veda sa veda-vit
[Bg. 15.1]
Now, this material world is described in the Fifteenth chapter of the Bhagavad-gita as a tree which has got its root upwards, urdhva-mulam. Have you experience of any tree which has its root upwards? We have got this experience of a tree, root upwards by reflection. If we stand on the bank of a river or any reservoir of water, we can see that the tree on the bank of the reservoir of water is reflected in the water as trunk downwards and the root upwards. So this material world is practically a reflection of the spiritual world. Just like the reflection of the tree on the bank of a reservoir of water is seen downwards, similarly, this material world, it is called shadow. Shadow. As in the shadow there cannot be any reality, but at the same time, from the shadow we can understand that there is reality...
>>> Ref. VedaBase => First Tape Recording, Done by Srila Prabhupada Himself (part two)
Monday, October 4, 2010
"Intro 1 to Bhagavad-gita"
66/02/19-20 New York,
First Tape Recording, Done by Srila Prabhupada Himself
Prabhupada:
om ajnana-timirandhasya
jnananjana-salakaya
caksur unmilitam yena
tasmai sri-gurave namah
[I offer my respectful obeisances unto my spiritual master, who with the torchlight of knowledge has opened my eyes, which were blinded by the darkness of ignorance.]
sri-caitanya-mano-'bhistam
sthapitam yena bhu-tale
svayam rupah kada mahyam
dadati sva-padantikam
[When will Srila Rupa Gosvami Prabhupada, who has established within this material world the mission to fulfill the desire of Lord Caitanya, give me shelter under his lotus feet?]
vande 'ham sri-guroh sri-yuta-pada-kamalam sri-gurun vaisnavams ca
sri-rupam sagrajatam saha-gana-raghunathanvitam tam sa-jivam
sadvaitam savadhutam parijana-sahitam krsna-caitanya-devam
sri-radha-krsna-padan saha-gana-lalita-sri-visakhanvitams ca
[I offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of my spiritual master and of all the other preceptors on the path of devotional service. I offer my respectful obeisances unto all the Vaisnavas and unto the six Gosvamis, including Srila Rupa Gosvami, Srila Sanatana Gosvami, Raghunatha dasa Gosvami, Jiva Gosvami and their associates. I offer my respectful obeisances unto Sri Advaita Acarya Prabhu, Sri Nityananda Prabhu, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and all His devotees, headed by Srivasa Thakura. I then offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of Lord Krsna, Srimati Radharani and all the gopis, headed by Lalita and Visakha.]
he krsna karuna-sindho
dina-bandho jagat-pate
gopesa gopika-kanta
radha-kanta namo 'stu te
[O my dear Krsna, ocean of mercy, You are the friend of the distressed and the source of creation. You are the master of the cowherdmen and the lover of the gopis, especially Radharani. I offer my respectful obeisances unto You.]
tapta-kancana-gaurangi
radhe vrndavanesvari
vrsabhanu-sute devi
pranamami hari-priye
[I offer my respects to Radharani, whose bodily complexion is like molten gold and who is the Queen of Vrndavana. You are the daughter of King Vrsabhanu, and You are very dear to Lord Krsna.]
vancha-kalpatarubhyas ca
krpa-sindhubhya eva ca
patitanam pavanebhyo
vaisnavebhyo namo namah
[I offer my respectful obeisances unto all the Vaisnava devotees of the Lord. They can fulfill the desires of everyone, just like desire trees, and they are full of compassion for the fallen souls.]
sri-krsna-caitanya
prabhu-nityananda
sri-advaita gadadhara
srivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrnda
[I offer my obeisances to Sri Krsna Caitanya, Prabhu Nityananda, Sri Advaita, Gadadhara, Srivasa and all others in the line of devotion.]
hare krsna hare krsna krsna krsna hare hare
hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare
[My dear Lord, and the spiritual energy of the Lord, kindly engage me in Your service. I am now embarrassed with this material service. Please engage me in Your service.]
Introduction to Gitopanisad by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, the author of Srimad-Bhagavatam, Easy Journey to Other Planets, editor of Back to Godhead, etc.
Bhagavad-gita is known also Gitopanisad, the essence of Vedic knowledge, and one of the most important of the various Upanisads in Vedic literature. This Bhagavad-gita, there are many commentations in English and what is the necessity of another English commentation of the Bhagavad-gita can be explained in the following way. One American lady, Mrs. Charlotte Le Blanc asked me to recommend an English edition of Bhagavad-gita which she can read. Of course, in America there are so many editions of English Bhagavad-gita, but so far I have seen them, not only in America but also India, none of them can be said strictly as authoritative because almost every one of them have expressed their own opinion through the commentation of the Bhagavad-gita without touching the spirit of Bhagavad-gita as it is.
The spirit of Bhagavad-gita is mentioned in the Bhagavad-gita itself. It is just like this. If we want to take a particular medicine, then we have to follow the particular direction mentioned on the label of the medicine. We cannot take the particular medicine according to our own direction or by the direction of a friend, but we have to take the medicine under the direction given on the label of the bottle and as directed by the physician. Similarly, the Bhagavad-gita also should be taken or accepted as it is directed by the speaker Himself. The speaker of the Bhagavad-gita is Lord Sri Krsna. He is mentioned in every page of the Bhagavad-gita as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Bhagavan. Of course, "bhagavan" is sometimes designated to any powerful person or any powerful demigod, but here bhagavan is certainly designated to Sri Krsna, a great personality, but at the same time we must know that Lord Sri Krsna, as He is confirmed by all the acaryas... I mean to say, even Sankaracarya, Ramanujacarya, Madhvacarya, Nimbarka Svami and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and many others. In India there were many authoritative scholars and acaryas, I mean, authorities of the Vedic knowledge. All of them, including Sankaracarya, has accepted Sri Krsna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Lord Himself has also established Himself as the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the Bhagavad-gita. He is accepted so in the Brahma-samhita and all Puranas, especially in the Bhagavata Purana, krsnas tu bhagavan svayam [SB 1.3.28]. So therefore we should take Bhagavad-gita as it is directed by the Personality of Godhead Himself.
So in the Fourth Chapter of Bhagavad-gita the Lord says,
imam vivasvate yogam
proktavan aham avyayam
vivasvan manave praha
manur iksvakave 'bravit
[Bg. 4.1]
evam parampara-praptam
imam rajarsayo viduh
sa kaleneha mahata
yogo nastah parantapa
[Bg. 4.2]
sa evayam maya te 'dya
yogah proktah puratanah
bhakto 'si me sakha ceti
rahasyam hy etad uttamam
[Bg. 4.3]
The idea is the Lord said to Arjuna that "This yoga, this system of yoga, Bhagavad-gita, was first spoken by Me to the sun-god and the sun-god explained to Manu. Manu explained to Iksvaku, and in that way, by disciplic succession, one after another, this yoga system is coming, and in course of time this system is now lost. And therefore, I am speaking to you the very same yoga system again, the very same old yoga system of Bhagavad-gita, or Gitopanisad. Because you are My devotee and you are My friend, therefore it is possible for you only to understand."
Now the purport is that Bhagavad-gita is a treatise which is specially meant for the devotee of the Lord. There are three classes of transcendentalists, namely the jnani, the yogi and the bhakta. Or the impersonalist or the meditator or the devotees. So here it is clearly mentioned, the Lord says to Arjuna that "I am speaking or I am making you the first man of the parampara. Because the old parampara or disciplic succession is now broken, therefore I wish to establish again another parampara in the same line of thought as it was coming down from the sun-god to others. So you, you take it and you distribute it. Or the system, the yoga system of Bhagavad-gita may now be distributed through you. You become the authority of understanding Bhagavad-gita." Now here is a direction that Bhagavad-gita is especially instructed to Arjuna, the devotee of the Lord, the direct student of Krsna. And not only that, he is intimately in touch with Krsna as friend. Therefore Bhagavad-gita is understood by a person who has similar qualities like Krsna. That means he must be a devotee, he must be in relation, direct relationship with the Lord. As soon as one becomes a devotee of the Lord, he has a direct relationship also with the Lord. That is a subject matter very long, but briefly it can be stated that a devotee is in relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead in five ways. One may be a devotee in a passive state, one may be a devotee in active state, one may be a devotee as a friend, one may be a devotee as parent, and one may be a devotee as conjugal lover.
So Arjuna was a devotee in relationship with the Lord as a friend. The Lord can become a friend. Of course, this friendship and the conception of friendship which we have got in the mundane world, there is a gulf of difference. This is transcendental friendship which... Not that everyone will have the relationship with the Lord. Everyone has got a particular relationship with the Lord and that particular relationship is evoked by the perfection of devotional service. At the present status of our life we have not only forgotten the Supreme Lord, but also we have forgotten our eternal relationship with the Lord. Every living being, out of many, many millions and billions of living beings, each and every living being has got a particular relationship with the Lord eternally. That is called svarupa. Svarupa. And by the process of devotional service one can revive that svarupa of oneself. And that stage is called svarupa-siddhi, perfection of one's constitutional position. So Arjuna was a devotee and he was in touch with the Supreme Lord in friendship.
Now, this Bhagavad-gita was explained to Arjuna and how Arjuna accepted it? That should also be noted. How Arjuna accepted the Bhagavad-gita is mentioned in the Tenth Chapter. Just like
arjuna uvaca
param brahma param dhama
pavitram paramam bhavan
purusam sasvatam divyam
adi-devam ajam vibhum
ahus tvam rsayah sarve
devarsir naradas tatha
asito devalo vyasah
svayam caiva bravisi me
[Bg. 10.12-13]
sarvam etad rtam manye
yan mam vadasi kesava
na hi te bhagavan vyaktim
vidur deva na danavah.
[Bg. 10.14]
Now, Arjuna says, after hearing Bhagavad-gita from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he accepts Krsna as param brahma, the Supreme Brahman. Brahman. Every living being is Brahman, but the supreme living being or the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the Supreme Brahman or supreme living being. And param dhama. Param dhama means He is the supreme rest of everything. And pavitram. Pavitram means He is pure from material contamination. And He's addressed as purusam. Purusam means the supreme enjoyer; sasvatam, sasvata means from very beginning, He's the first person; divyam, transcendental; devam, the Supreme Personality of Godhead; ajam, never born; vibhum, the greatest.
Now one may doubt that because Krsna was the friend of Arjuna, therefore he might say all these things to his own friend. But Arjuna, just to drive out this kind of doubts in the mind of the readers of Bhagavad-gita, he establishes his proposition by the authorities. He says that Lord Sri Krsna is accepted as the Supreme Personality of Godhead not only by himself, Arjuna, but He is so accepted by authorities like Narada, Asita, Devala, Vyasa. These personalities are great personalities in distributing the Vedic knowledge. They (are) accepted by all acaryas. Therefore Arjuna says that "Whatever You have spoken so far to me, I accept them as completely perfect." Sarvam etad rtam manye [Bg. 10.14]. "I take it, I believe it that whatever You have spoken, they are all right. And Your Personality, Your Personality of Godhead, is very difficult to understand. And therefore You cannot be known by even the demigods. You cannot be known even by the demigods." That means the Supreme Personality Godhead cannot be known even by greater personalities than the human being, and how a human being can understand Sri Krsna without becoming His devotee?
Therefore Bhagavad-gita should be taken up in a spirit of devotee of Lord Sri Krsna. One should not think that he is equal, on the same level of Sri Krsna, or one should not think that He is an ordinary personality, maybe a very great personality. No. Lord Sri Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So at least theoretically, on the statement of Bhagavad-gita or on the statement, assertion of Arjuna, the person who is trying to understand the Bhagavad-gita, we should accept Sri Krsna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and then, with that submissive spirit... Unless one receives this Bhagavad-gita in a submissive spirit and aural reception, it is very difficult to understand Bhagavad-gita because it is a great mystery.
So in this Bhagavad-gita... We may survey what is this Bhagavad-gita. This Bhagavad-gita is meant for delivering persons, persons from the nescience of this material existence. Every man is in difficulty in so many ways, as Arjuna also was in difficulty in the matter of fighting the battle of Kuruksetra. And as such he surrendered unto Sri Krsna, and therefore this Bhagavad-gita was spoken. Similarly, not only Arjuna but every one of us is always full of anxieties due to our, this material existence. Asad-grahat. It is... Our existence is in the environment or atmosphere of nonexistence. But actually, we are not nonexistent. Our existence is eternal, but some way or other we are put into this asat. Asat means which does not exist.
Now out of so many human being who are actually inquiring about his position as to what he is, why he is put into this awkward position of suffering... Unless one is awakened to this position, that "Why I am suffering? I do not want all these sufferings. I have tried to make a solution of all these sufferings, but I have failed," unless one is in that position, he is not to be considered a perfect human being. Humanity begins when this sort of inquiries are awakened in one's mind. In the Brahma-sutra this inquiry is called brahma-jijnasa. Athato brahma jijnasa. And every activity of the human being is to be considered a failure without having this inquiry in his mind. So persons who have awakened this inquiry into his mind as to "What I am, why I am suffering, wherefrom I have come or where I shall go after death," when these inquiries come, are awakened in the mind of a sane human being, then he is practically the right student for understanding Bhagavad-gita. And he must be sraddhavan. Sraddhavan. He must have respect, a fond respect in the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Such a person, as the ideal person was Arjuna.
So Lord Krsna, He descends, yada yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavati [Bg. 4.7], just to establish the real purpose of life. When man forgets the real purpose of life, the mission of human form of life, then it is called dharmasya glanih, the disturbance of the occupation of human being. So in that circumstances, out of many, many human being, who awakens, one who awakens the spirit of understanding his position, for him this Bhagavad-gita is spoken. We are just like swallowed by the tigress of nescience, and Lord, being causelessly merciful upon the living entities, especially for the human being, He spoke Bhagavad-gita, making His friend Arjuna as the student.
Arjuna was certainly, being an associate of Lord Krsna, he was above all ignorance. But still, Arjuna was put into ignorance in the Battlefield of Kuruksetra just to question about the problems of life to the Supreme Lord so that the Lord can explain them for the benefit of future generation of human being to chalk out the plan of his life and act in that way so that his life, his mission of human life, can be perfect.
So in this Bhagavad-gita the subject matter is comprehending five different truths. The first truth is what is God. It is the preliminary study of the science of God. So that science of God is explained here. Next, the constitutional position of the living entities, jiva. Isvara and jiva. The Lord, the Supreme Lord, He is called isvara. Isvara means controller, and jiva, the living entities are... Jivas, the living entities, they are not isvara, or the controller. They are controlled. Artificially, if I say that "I am not controlled, I am free," this is not the sign of a sane man. A living being is controlled in every respect. At least, in his conditioned life he is controlled. So in this Bhagavad- gita the subject matter comprehends about the isvara, the supreme controller, and about the controlled living entities and prakrti, the nature, the material nature. And next, the time, or duration of existence of the whole universe, or this manifestation of the material nature, and the duration of time, or the eternal time, and karma. Karma means activity. Everything, the whole universe, whole cosmic manifestation is full of different activities. The living beings especially, they are all engaged in different activities. So we have to study from the Bhagavad-gita, isvara, what is God, jiva, what are these living entities, and prakrti, what is this cosmic manifestation, and how it is controlled by time, and what are these activities?
Now out of these five subject matter, in the Bhagavad-gita it establish that the Supreme Godhead or Krsna or Brahman or Paramatma... You may call whatever you like. But the supreme controller. There is a supreme controller. So the supreme controller is the greatest of all. And the living beings, they are in quality like the supreme controller. Just like the supreme controller, the Lord, He has control over the universal affairs, over the material nature, how the... It will be explained in the later chapters of Bhagavad-gita that this material nature is not independent. She is acting under the direction of the Supreme Lord. Mayadhyaksena prakrtih suyate sa-caracaram [Bg. 9.10]. "This material nature is working under My direction," mayadhyaksena, "under My superintendence." So we, we are mistaken. When we see wonderful things happening in the cosmic nature, we should know that behind these wonderful manifestations, there is a controller. Nothing can be manifested without being controlled. It is childish to, not to consider about the controller. Just like a very nice motor car with very good speed and very good engineering arrangement is running on the street. A child may think that "How this motor car is running without the help of any horse or any pulling agent?" But a sane man or an elderly person, he knows that in spite of all engineering arrangements in the motor car, without the driver it cannot move. That engineering arrangement of a motor car, or in electric powerhouse... Now at the present moment it is the day of machinery, but we should always know that behind the machinery, behind the wonderful working of the machinery, there is a driver. So the Supreme Lord is the driver, adhyaksa. He is the Supreme Personality under whose direction everything is working. Now these jiva, or the living entities, they have been accepted by the Lord in this Bhagavad-gita, as we'll know it in later chapters, that they are parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord. Mamaivamso jiva-bhutah [Bg. 15.7]. Amsa means parts and parcels. Now as a particle of gold is also particle, a drop of water of the ocean is also salty, similarly, we, the living entities, being part and parcels of the supreme controller, isvara, Bhagavan, or Lord Sri Krsna, we have got, I mean to say, qualitatively all the qualities of the Supreme Lord in minute. Because we are minute isvara, subordinate isvara. We are also trying to control. We are just trying to control over the nature. In the present days you are trying to control over the space. You are trying to float imitation planets. So this tendency of controlling or creating is there because partially we have got that controlling tendency. But we should know that this tendency is not sufficient. We have the tendency of controlling over the material nature, lording it over the material nature, but we are not the supreme controller. So that thing is explained in the Bhagavad-gita.
Then what is this material nature? The nature is also explained. The nature, material nature, is explained in the Bhagavad-gita as inferior, inferior prakrti. Inferior prakrti, and the living entities are explained as the superior prakrti. Prakrti means which is controlled, which is under... Prakrti, real meaning of prakrti is a woman or a female. Just like a husband controls the activities of his wife, similarly, the prakrti is also subordinate, predominated. The Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the predominator, and this prakrti, both the living entities and the material nature, they are different prakrtis, or predominated, controlled by the Supreme. So according to Bhagavad-gita, the living entities, although they are parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord, they are taken as prakrti. It is clearly mentioned in the Seventh Chapter of the Bhagavad-gita yes, apareyam itas tu viddhi apara [Bg. 7.5]. This material nature is apara iyam. Itas tu, and beyond this there is another prakrti. And what is that prakrti? Jiva-bhuta, these...
So this prakrti, the constitution of this prakrti is constituted by three qualities: the mode of goodness, the mode of passion, and mode of ignorance. And above these modes, three different kinds of modes, goodness, passion, and, I mean to say, ignorance, there is eternal time. There is eternal time. And by combination of these modes of nature and under the control, under the purview of this eternal time, there are activities. There are activities, which is called karma. These activities are being done from time immemorial and we are suffering or enjoying the fruits of our activities. Just like in the present life also, we enjoy the activities, the fruits of our activities. Suppose I am a businessman and I have worked very hard with intelligence and I have amassed a vast amount of bank balance. Now I am the enjoyer. Similarly, suppose I started my business with a vast amount of money, but I failed to make a successful..., I lost all the money. So I am sufferer. So similarly, in every field of our life we enjoy, we enjoy the result of our work. This is called karma.
So these things, isvara, jiva, prakrti, or the Supreme Lord, or the living entity, the material nature, the eternal time, and our different activities, these things are explained in the Bhagavad-gita. Now out of these five, the Lord, the living entities, and the material nature and time, these four items are eternal. Now manifestation, manifestation of prakrti may be temporary, but it is not false. Some philosophers say that this manifestation of material nature is false, but according to the philosophy of Bhagavad-gita or according to the philosophy of the Vaisnavas, they do not accept the manifestation of the world as false. They accept that the manifestation is real, but it is temporary. It is just like a cloud takes place in the sky and the rainy season begins, and after the rainy season there are so many new green vegetation all over the field, we can see. And as soon as the rainy season is finished, then the cloud is vanquished. Generally, gradually, all this vegetation dry up and again the land becomes barren. Similarly, this material manifestation takes place at a certain interval. We'll understand it, we'll know it, from the pages of the Bhagavad-gita. Bhutva bhutva praliyate [Bg. 8.19]. This manifestation becomes magnificent at a certain interval, and again it disappears. That is the work of the prakrti. But it is working eternally; therefore prakrti is eternal. It is not false. Because the Lord has accepted, mama prakrti, "My prakrti." Apareyam itas tu viddhi me prakrtim param [Bg. 7.5]. Bhinna prakrti, bhinna prakrti, apara prakrti, this material nature is a separated energy of the Supreme Lord, and the living entities, they are also energy of the Supreme Lord, but they are not separated. They are eternally related. So the Lord, the living entity, the nature, material nature, and time, they are all eternal. But the other item, karma, is not eternal. The effects of karma or activity may be very old. We are suffering or enjoying the results of our activities from a time immemorial, but still, we can change the result of our karma, or activity. That will depend on our perfect knowledge. We are engaged in various activities undoubtedly, but we do not know what sort of activities we shall adopt that will give us relief from the actions and reactions of all activities. That is also explained in the Bhagavad-gita.
Now, the position of isvara is supreme consciousness. Position of isvara, or the Supreme Lord, is supreme consciousness. And the jivas, or the living entities, being parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord, he is also conscious. A living entity is also conscious. The living entity is explained as prakrti, energy, and the material nature is also explained as prakrti, but amongst the two, one prakrti, the jivas, they are conscious. The other prakrti is not conscious. That is the difference. Therefore the jiva prakrti is called superior because the jivas has consciousness similar to the Lord. The Lord is supreme consciousness. One should not claim that a jiva, a living entity is also supremely conscious. No. A living being cannot be supremely conscious at any stage of his perfection. This is a misleading theory. This is misleading theory. But he is conscious. That's all. But he is not supreme conscious.
The supreme conscious, it will be explained in the Bhagavad-gita in the chapter where the distinction between the jiva and isvara is explained. Ksetra-ksetra-jna. This ksetra-jna has been explained that the Lord is also ksetra-jna, or conscious, and the jivas, or the living beings, they are also conscious. But the difference is that a living being is conscious within his limited body, but the Lord is conscious of all bodies. Isvarah sarva-bhutanam hrd-dese 'rjuna tisthati [Bg. 18.61]. The Lord lives within the core of heart in every living being, therefore He is conscious of the psychic movements, activities, of the particular jiva. We should not forget. It is also explained that the Paramatma, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is living in everyone's heart as isvara, as the controller and He is giving direction. He is giving direction. Sarvasya caham hrdi sannivisthah [Bg. 15.15], everyone's heart He is situated, and He gives direction to act as he desires. The living entity forgets what to do. First of all he makes his determination to act in a certain way, and then he is entangled in the actions and reactions of his own karma. But after giving up one type of body, when he enters another type of body... Just like we give up one kind of dress, one type of dress, for another type of dress, similarly, it is explained in this Bhagavad-gita that vasamsi jirnani yatha vihaya [Bg. 2.22]. One, as one changes his different dresses, similarly the living entities, they are also changing different bodies, transmigration of the soul, and pulling on the actions and reactions of his past activities. So these activities can be changed when a living being is in the mode of goodness, in sanity, and he understands what sort of activities he should adopt, and if he does so, then the whole action and reactions of his past activities can be changed. Therefore karma is not eternal. Other things, out of the four, five items -- isvara, jiva, prakrti, kala, and karma -- these four items are eternal, whereas the karma, the item known as karma, that is not eternal.
Now the conscious isvara, the supreme conscious isvara, and difference between the supreme conscious isvara, or the Lord, and the living being is, in the present circumstances, is like this. Consciousness, consciousness of, both of the Lord and the living entities, they are, this consciousness is transcendental. It is not that this consciousness is generated by the association of this matter. That is a mistaken idea. The theory that consciousness develops under certain circumstances of material combination is not accepted in the Bhagavad-gita. They cannot. Consciousness may be pervertedly reflected by the cover of material circumstances, just like light reflected through a colored glass may seem according to the color. Similarly, the consciousness of Lord, it is not materially affected. The Supreme Lord, just like Krsna, He says that mayadhyaksena prakrtih [Bg. 9.10]. When He descends in this material world, His consciousness is not materially affected. Had His consciousness been materially affected, He was unfit to speak about the transcendental subject matter in the Bhagavad-gita. One cannot say anything about the transcendental world without being free from the materially contaminated consciousness. So the Lord was not materially contaminated. But our consciousness, at the present moment, is materially contaminated. So whole thing, as the Bhagavad-gita teaches, we have to purify the materially contaminated consciousness and in that pure consciousness, the actions will be done. That will make us happy. We cannot stop. We cannot stop our activity. The activities are to be purified. And these purified activities are called bhakti. Bhakti means they are, they appear also just like ordinary activity, but they are not contaminated activities They are purified activities. So an ignorant person may see that a devotee is working like an ordinary man, but a person with poor fund of knowledge, he does not know that the activities of a devotee or the activities of the Lord, they are not contaminated by the impure consciousness of matter, impurity of the three gunas, modes of nature, but transcendental consciousness. So our consciousness is materially contaminated, we should know.
Now when we are such materially contaminated, that is called our conditioned stage. Conditioned stage. And the false ego, the false consciousness... The false consciousness is exhibited under the impression that "I am one of the product of this material nature." That is called false ego. The whole material activities, yasyatma-buddhih kunape tri-dhatuke [SB 10.84.13]. Yasyatma-buddhih kunape tri-dhatuke, one who is absorbed in the thought of bodily conception. Now, the whole Bhagavad-gita was explained by the Lord because Arjuna represented himself with bodily conception. So one has to get free from the bodily conception of life. That is the preliminary activity for a transcendentalist who wants to get free, who wants to be liberated. And he has to learn first of all that he is not this material body. So this consciousness, or material consciousness, when we are freed from this material consciousness, that is called mukti. Mukti or liberation means to become free from material consciousness. In the Srimad-Bhagavata also the definition of liberation is said, muktir hitvanyatha rupam svarupena vyavasthitih [SB 2.10.6]. Svarupena vyavasthitih. Mukti means liberation from the contaminated consciousness of this material world...
>>> Ref. VedaBase => First Tape Recording, Done by Srila Prabhupada Himself
First Tape Recording, Done by Srila Prabhupada Himself
Prabhupada:
om ajnana-timirandhasya
jnananjana-salakaya
caksur unmilitam yena
tasmai sri-gurave namah
[I offer my respectful obeisances unto my spiritual master, who with the torchlight of knowledge has opened my eyes, which were blinded by the darkness of ignorance.]
sri-caitanya-mano-'bhistam
sthapitam yena bhu-tale
svayam rupah kada mahyam
dadati sva-padantikam
[When will Srila Rupa Gosvami Prabhupada, who has established within this material world the mission to fulfill the desire of Lord Caitanya, give me shelter under his lotus feet?]
vande 'ham sri-guroh sri-yuta-pada-kamalam sri-gurun vaisnavams ca
sri-rupam sagrajatam saha-gana-raghunathanvitam tam sa-jivam
sadvaitam savadhutam parijana-sahitam krsna-caitanya-devam
sri-radha-krsna-padan saha-gana-lalita-sri-visakhanvitams ca
[I offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of my spiritual master and of all the other preceptors on the path of devotional service. I offer my respectful obeisances unto all the Vaisnavas and unto the six Gosvamis, including Srila Rupa Gosvami, Srila Sanatana Gosvami, Raghunatha dasa Gosvami, Jiva Gosvami and their associates. I offer my respectful obeisances unto Sri Advaita Acarya Prabhu, Sri Nityananda Prabhu, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and all His devotees, headed by Srivasa Thakura. I then offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of Lord Krsna, Srimati Radharani and all the gopis, headed by Lalita and Visakha.]
he krsna karuna-sindho
dina-bandho jagat-pate
gopesa gopika-kanta
radha-kanta namo 'stu te
[O my dear Krsna, ocean of mercy, You are the friend of the distressed and the source of creation. You are the master of the cowherdmen and the lover of the gopis, especially Radharani. I offer my respectful obeisances unto You.]
tapta-kancana-gaurangi
radhe vrndavanesvari
vrsabhanu-sute devi
pranamami hari-priye
[I offer my respects to Radharani, whose bodily complexion is like molten gold and who is the Queen of Vrndavana. You are the daughter of King Vrsabhanu, and You are very dear to Lord Krsna.]
vancha-kalpatarubhyas ca
krpa-sindhubhya eva ca
patitanam pavanebhyo
vaisnavebhyo namo namah
[I offer my respectful obeisances unto all the Vaisnava devotees of the Lord. They can fulfill the desires of everyone, just like desire trees, and they are full of compassion for the fallen souls.]
sri-krsna-caitanya
prabhu-nityananda
sri-advaita gadadhara
srivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrnda
[I offer my obeisances to Sri Krsna Caitanya, Prabhu Nityananda, Sri Advaita, Gadadhara, Srivasa and all others in the line of devotion.]
hare krsna hare krsna krsna krsna hare hare
hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare
[My dear Lord, and the spiritual energy of the Lord, kindly engage me in Your service. I am now embarrassed with this material service. Please engage me in Your service.]
Introduction to Gitopanisad by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, the author of Srimad-Bhagavatam, Easy Journey to Other Planets, editor of Back to Godhead, etc.
Bhagavad-gita is known also Gitopanisad, the essence of Vedic knowledge, and one of the most important of the various Upanisads in Vedic literature. This Bhagavad-gita, there are many commentations in English and what is the necessity of another English commentation of the Bhagavad-gita can be explained in the following way. One American lady, Mrs. Charlotte Le Blanc asked me to recommend an English edition of Bhagavad-gita which she can read. Of course, in America there are so many editions of English Bhagavad-gita, but so far I have seen them, not only in America but also India, none of them can be said strictly as authoritative because almost every one of them have expressed their own opinion through the commentation of the Bhagavad-gita without touching the spirit of Bhagavad-gita as it is.
The spirit of Bhagavad-gita is mentioned in the Bhagavad-gita itself. It is just like this. If we want to take a particular medicine, then we have to follow the particular direction mentioned on the label of the medicine. We cannot take the particular medicine according to our own direction or by the direction of a friend, but we have to take the medicine under the direction given on the label of the bottle and as directed by the physician. Similarly, the Bhagavad-gita also should be taken or accepted as it is directed by the speaker Himself. The speaker of the Bhagavad-gita is Lord Sri Krsna. He is mentioned in every page of the Bhagavad-gita as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Bhagavan. Of course, "bhagavan" is sometimes designated to any powerful person or any powerful demigod, but here bhagavan is certainly designated to Sri Krsna, a great personality, but at the same time we must know that Lord Sri Krsna, as He is confirmed by all the acaryas... I mean to say, even Sankaracarya, Ramanujacarya, Madhvacarya, Nimbarka Svami and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and many others. In India there were many authoritative scholars and acaryas, I mean, authorities of the Vedic knowledge. All of them, including Sankaracarya, has accepted Sri Krsna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Lord Himself has also established Himself as the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the Bhagavad-gita. He is accepted so in the Brahma-samhita and all Puranas, especially in the Bhagavata Purana, krsnas tu bhagavan svayam [SB 1.3.28]. So therefore we should take Bhagavad-gita as it is directed by the Personality of Godhead Himself.
So in the Fourth Chapter of Bhagavad-gita the Lord says,
imam vivasvate yogam
proktavan aham avyayam
vivasvan manave praha
manur iksvakave 'bravit
[Bg. 4.1]
evam parampara-praptam
imam rajarsayo viduh
sa kaleneha mahata
yogo nastah parantapa
[Bg. 4.2]
sa evayam maya te 'dya
yogah proktah puratanah
bhakto 'si me sakha ceti
rahasyam hy etad uttamam
[Bg. 4.3]
The idea is the Lord said to Arjuna that "This yoga, this system of yoga, Bhagavad-gita, was first spoken by Me to the sun-god and the sun-god explained to Manu. Manu explained to Iksvaku, and in that way, by disciplic succession, one after another, this yoga system is coming, and in course of time this system is now lost. And therefore, I am speaking to you the very same yoga system again, the very same old yoga system of Bhagavad-gita, or Gitopanisad. Because you are My devotee and you are My friend, therefore it is possible for you only to understand."
Now the purport is that Bhagavad-gita is a treatise which is specially meant for the devotee of the Lord. There are three classes of transcendentalists, namely the jnani, the yogi and the bhakta. Or the impersonalist or the meditator or the devotees. So here it is clearly mentioned, the Lord says to Arjuna that "I am speaking or I am making you the first man of the parampara. Because the old parampara or disciplic succession is now broken, therefore I wish to establish again another parampara in the same line of thought as it was coming down from the sun-god to others. So you, you take it and you distribute it. Or the system, the yoga system of Bhagavad-gita may now be distributed through you. You become the authority of understanding Bhagavad-gita." Now here is a direction that Bhagavad-gita is especially instructed to Arjuna, the devotee of the Lord, the direct student of Krsna. And not only that, he is intimately in touch with Krsna as friend. Therefore Bhagavad-gita is understood by a person who has similar qualities like Krsna. That means he must be a devotee, he must be in relation, direct relationship with the Lord. As soon as one becomes a devotee of the Lord, he has a direct relationship also with the Lord. That is a subject matter very long, but briefly it can be stated that a devotee is in relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead in five ways. One may be a devotee in a passive state, one may be a devotee in active state, one may be a devotee as a friend, one may be a devotee as parent, and one may be a devotee as conjugal lover.
So Arjuna was a devotee in relationship with the Lord as a friend. The Lord can become a friend. Of course, this friendship and the conception of friendship which we have got in the mundane world, there is a gulf of difference. This is transcendental friendship which... Not that everyone will have the relationship with the Lord. Everyone has got a particular relationship with the Lord and that particular relationship is evoked by the perfection of devotional service. At the present status of our life we have not only forgotten the Supreme Lord, but also we have forgotten our eternal relationship with the Lord. Every living being, out of many, many millions and billions of living beings, each and every living being has got a particular relationship with the Lord eternally. That is called svarupa. Svarupa. And by the process of devotional service one can revive that svarupa of oneself. And that stage is called svarupa-siddhi, perfection of one's constitutional position. So Arjuna was a devotee and he was in touch with the Supreme Lord in friendship.
Now, this Bhagavad-gita was explained to Arjuna and how Arjuna accepted it? That should also be noted. How Arjuna accepted the Bhagavad-gita is mentioned in the Tenth Chapter. Just like
arjuna uvaca
param brahma param dhama
pavitram paramam bhavan
purusam sasvatam divyam
adi-devam ajam vibhum
ahus tvam rsayah sarve
devarsir naradas tatha
asito devalo vyasah
svayam caiva bravisi me
[Bg. 10.12-13]
sarvam etad rtam manye
yan mam vadasi kesava
na hi te bhagavan vyaktim
vidur deva na danavah.
[Bg. 10.14]
Now, Arjuna says, after hearing Bhagavad-gita from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he accepts Krsna as param brahma, the Supreme Brahman. Brahman. Every living being is Brahman, but the supreme living being or the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the Supreme Brahman or supreme living being. And param dhama. Param dhama means He is the supreme rest of everything. And pavitram. Pavitram means He is pure from material contamination. And He's addressed as purusam. Purusam means the supreme enjoyer; sasvatam, sasvata means from very beginning, He's the first person; divyam, transcendental; devam, the Supreme Personality of Godhead; ajam, never born; vibhum, the greatest.
Now one may doubt that because Krsna was the friend of Arjuna, therefore he might say all these things to his own friend. But Arjuna, just to drive out this kind of doubts in the mind of the readers of Bhagavad-gita, he establishes his proposition by the authorities. He says that Lord Sri Krsna is accepted as the Supreme Personality of Godhead not only by himself, Arjuna, but He is so accepted by authorities like Narada, Asita, Devala, Vyasa. These personalities are great personalities in distributing the Vedic knowledge. They (are) accepted by all acaryas. Therefore Arjuna says that "Whatever You have spoken so far to me, I accept them as completely perfect." Sarvam etad rtam manye [Bg. 10.14]. "I take it, I believe it that whatever You have spoken, they are all right. And Your Personality, Your Personality of Godhead, is very difficult to understand. And therefore You cannot be known by even the demigods. You cannot be known even by the demigods." That means the Supreme Personality Godhead cannot be known even by greater personalities than the human being, and how a human being can understand Sri Krsna without becoming His devotee?
Therefore Bhagavad-gita should be taken up in a spirit of devotee of Lord Sri Krsna. One should not think that he is equal, on the same level of Sri Krsna, or one should not think that He is an ordinary personality, maybe a very great personality. No. Lord Sri Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So at least theoretically, on the statement of Bhagavad-gita or on the statement, assertion of Arjuna, the person who is trying to understand the Bhagavad-gita, we should accept Sri Krsna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and then, with that submissive spirit... Unless one receives this Bhagavad-gita in a submissive spirit and aural reception, it is very difficult to understand Bhagavad-gita because it is a great mystery.
So in this Bhagavad-gita... We may survey what is this Bhagavad-gita. This Bhagavad-gita is meant for delivering persons, persons from the nescience of this material existence. Every man is in difficulty in so many ways, as Arjuna also was in difficulty in the matter of fighting the battle of Kuruksetra. And as such he surrendered unto Sri Krsna, and therefore this Bhagavad-gita was spoken. Similarly, not only Arjuna but every one of us is always full of anxieties due to our, this material existence. Asad-grahat. It is... Our existence is in the environment or atmosphere of nonexistence. But actually, we are not nonexistent. Our existence is eternal, but some way or other we are put into this asat. Asat means which does not exist.
Now out of so many human being who are actually inquiring about his position as to what he is, why he is put into this awkward position of suffering... Unless one is awakened to this position, that "Why I am suffering? I do not want all these sufferings. I have tried to make a solution of all these sufferings, but I have failed," unless one is in that position, he is not to be considered a perfect human being. Humanity begins when this sort of inquiries are awakened in one's mind. In the Brahma-sutra this inquiry is called brahma-jijnasa. Athato brahma jijnasa. And every activity of the human being is to be considered a failure without having this inquiry in his mind. So persons who have awakened this inquiry into his mind as to "What I am, why I am suffering, wherefrom I have come or where I shall go after death," when these inquiries come, are awakened in the mind of a sane human being, then he is practically the right student for understanding Bhagavad-gita. And he must be sraddhavan. Sraddhavan. He must have respect, a fond respect in the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Such a person, as the ideal person was Arjuna.
So Lord Krsna, He descends, yada yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavati [Bg. 4.7], just to establish the real purpose of life. When man forgets the real purpose of life, the mission of human form of life, then it is called dharmasya glanih, the disturbance of the occupation of human being. So in that circumstances, out of many, many human being, who awakens, one who awakens the spirit of understanding his position, for him this Bhagavad-gita is spoken. We are just like swallowed by the tigress of nescience, and Lord, being causelessly merciful upon the living entities, especially for the human being, He spoke Bhagavad-gita, making His friend Arjuna as the student.
Arjuna was certainly, being an associate of Lord Krsna, he was above all ignorance. But still, Arjuna was put into ignorance in the Battlefield of Kuruksetra just to question about the problems of life to the Supreme Lord so that the Lord can explain them for the benefit of future generation of human being to chalk out the plan of his life and act in that way so that his life, his mission of human life, can be perfect.
So in this Bhagavad-gita the subject matter is comprehending five different truths. The first truth is what is God. It is the preliminary study of the science of God. So that science of God is explained here. Next, the constitutional position of the living entities, jiva. Isvara and jiva. The Lord, the Supreme Lord, He is called isvara. Isvara means controller, and jiva, the living entities are... Jivas, the living entities, they are not isvara, or the controller. They are controlled. Artificially, if I say that "I am not controlled, I am free," this is not the sign of a sane man. A living being is controlled in every respect. At least, in his conditioned life he is controlled. So in this Bhagavad- gita the subject matter comprehends about the isvara, the supreme controller, and about the controlled living entities and prakrti, the nature, the material nature. And next, the time, or duration of existence of the whole universe, or this manifestation of the material nature, and the duration of time, or the eternal time, and karma. Karma means activity. Everything, the whole universe, whole cosmic manifestation is full of different activities. The living beings especially, they are all engaged in different activities. So we have to study from the Bhagavad-gita, isvara, what is God, jiva, what are these living entities, and prakrti, what is this cosmic manifestation, and how it is controlled by time, and what are these activities?
Now out of these five subject matter, in the Bhagavad-gita it establish that the Supreme Godhead or Krsna or Brahman or Paramatma... You may call whatever you like. But the supreme controller. There is a supreme controller. So the supreme controller is the greatest of all. And the living beings, they are in quality like the supreme controller. Just like the supreme controller, the Lord, He has control over the universal affairs, over the material nature, how the... It will be explained in the later chapters of Bhagavad-gita that this material nature is not independent. She is acting under the direction of the Supreme Lord. Mayadhyaksena prakrtih suyate sa-caracaram [Bg. 9.10]. "This material nature is working under My direction," mayadhyaksena, "under My superintendence." So we, we are mistaken. When we see wonderful things happening in the cosmic nature, we should know that behind these wonderful manifestations, there is a controller. Nothing can be manifested without being controlled. It is childish to, not to consider about the controller. Just like a very nice motor car with very good speed and very good engineering arrangement is running on the street. A child may think that "How this motor car is running without the help of any horse or any pulling agent?" But a sane man or an elderly person, he knows that in spite of all engineering arrangements in the motor car, without the driver it cannot move. That engineering arrangement of a motor car, or in electric powerhouse... Now at the present moment it is the day of machinery, but we should always know that behind the machinery, behind the wonderful working of the machinery, there is a driver. So the Supreme Lord is the driver, adhyaksa. He is the Supreme Personality under whose direction everything is working. Now these jiva, or the living entities, they have been accepted by the Lord in this Bhagavad-gita, as we'll know it in later chapters, that they are parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord. Mamaivamso jiva-bhutah [Bg. 15.7]. Amsa means parts and parcels. Now as a particle of gold is also particle, a drop of water of the ocean is also salty, similarly, we, the living entities, being part and parcels of the supreme controller, isvara, Bhagavan, or Lord Sri Krsna, we have got, I mean to say, qualitatively all the qualities of the Supreme Lord in minute. Because we are minute isvara, subordinate isvara. We are also trying to control. We are just trying to control over the nature. In the present days you are trying to control over the space. You are trying to float imitation planets. So this tendency of controlling or creating is there because partially we have got that controlling tendency. But we should know that this tendency is not sufficient. We have the tendency of controlling over the material nature, lording it over the material nature, but we are not the supreme controller. So that thing is explained in the Bhagavad-gita.
Then what is this material nature? The nature is also explained. The nature, material nature, is explained in the Bhagavad-gita as inferior, inferior prakrti. Inferior prakrti, and the living entities are explained as the superior prakrti. Prakrti means which is controlled, which is under... Prakrti, real meaning of prakrti is a woman or a female. Just like a husband controls the activities of his wife, similarly, the prakrti is also subordinate, predominated. The Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the predominator, and this prakrti, both the living entities and the material nature, they are different prakrtis, or predominated, controlled by the Supreme. So according to Bhagavad-gita, the living entities, although they are parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord, they are taken as prakrti. It is clearly mentioned in the Seventh Chapter of the Bhagavad-gita yes, apareyam itas tu viddhi apara [Bg. 7.5]. This material nature is apara iyam. Itas tu, and beyond this there is another prakrti. And what is that prakrti? Jiva-bhuta, these...
So this prakrti, the constitution of this prakrti is constituted by three qualities: the mode of goodness, the mode of passion, and mode of ignorance. And above these modes, three different kinds of modes, goodness, passion, and, I mean to say, ignorance, there is eternal time. There is eternal time. And by combination of these modes of nature and under the control, under the purview of this eternal time, there are activities. There are activities, which is called karma. These activities are being done from time immemorial and we are suffering or enjoying the fruits of our activities. Just like in the present life also, we enjoy the activities, the fruits of our activities. Suppose I am a businessman and I have worked very hard with intelligence and I have amassed a vast amount of bank balance. Now I am the enjoyer. Similarly, suppose I started my business with a vast amount of money, but I failed to make a successful..., I lost all the money. So I am sufferer. So similarly, in every field of our life we enjoy, we enjoy the result of our work. This is called karma.
So these things, isvara, jiva, prakrti, or the Supreme Lord, or the living entity, the material nature, the eternal time, and our different activities, these things are explained in the Bhagavad-gita. Now out of these five, the Lord, the living entities, and the material nature and time, these four items are eternal. Now manifestation, manifestation of prakrti may be temporary, but it is not false. Some philosophers say that this manifestation of material nature is false, but according to the philosophy of Bhagavad-gita or according to the philosophy of the Vaisnavas, they do not accept the manifestation of the world as false. They accept that the manifestation is real, but it is temporary. It is just like a cloud takes place in the sky and the rainy season begins, and after the rainy season there are so many new green vegetation all over the field, we can see. And as soon as the rainy season is finished, then the cloud is vanquished. Generally, gradually, all this vegetation dry up and again the land becomes barren. Similarly, this material manifestation takes place at a certain interval. We'll understand it, we'll know it, from the pages of the Bhagavad-gita. Bhutva bhutva praliyate [Bg. 8.19]. This manifestation becomes magnificent at a certain interval, and again it disappears. That is the work of the prakrti. But it is working eternally; therefore prakrti is eternal. It is not false. Because the Lord has accepted, mama prakrti, "My prakrti." Apareyam itas tu viddhi me prakrtim param [Bg. 7.5]. Bhinna prakrti, bhinna prakrti, apara prakrti, this material nature is a separated energy of the Supreme Lord, and the living entities, they are also energy of the Supreme Lord, but they are not separated. They are eternally related. So the Lord, the living entity, the nature, material nature, and time, they are all eternal. But the other item, karma, is not eternal. The effects of karma or activity may be very old. We are suffering or enjoying the results of our activities from a time immemorial, but still, we can change the result of our karma, or activity. That will depend on our perfect knowledge. We are engaged in various activities undoubtedly, but we do not know what sort of activities we shall adopt that will give us relief from the actions and reactions of all activities. That is also explained in the Bhagavad-gita.
Now, the position of isvara is supreme consciousness. Position of isvara, or the Supreme Lord, is supreme consciousness. And the jivas, or the living entities, being parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord, he is also conscious. A living entity is also conscious. The living entity is explained as prakrti, energy, and the material nature is also explained as prakrti, but amongst the two, one prakrti, the jivas, they are conscious. The other prakrti is not conscious. That is the difference. Therefore the jiva prakrti is called superior because the jivas has consciousness similar to the Lord. The Lord is supreme consciousness. One should not claim that a jiva, a living entity is also supremely conscious. No. A living being cannot be supremely conscious at any stage of his perfection. This is a misleading theory. This is misleading theory. But he is conscious. That's all. But he is not supreme conscious.
The supreme conscious, it will be explained in the Bhagavad-gita in the chapter where the distinction between the jiva and isvara is explained. Ksetra-ksetra-jna. This ksetra-jna has been explained that the Lord is also ksetra-jna, or conscious, and the jivas, or the living beings, they are also conscious. But the difference is that a living being is conscious within his limited body, but the Lord is conscious of all bodies. Isvarah sarva-bhutanam hrd-dese 'rjuna tisthati [Bg. 18.61]. The Lord lives within the core of heart in every living being, therefore He is conscious of the psychic movements, activities, of the particular jiva. We should not forget. It is also explained that the Paramatma, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is living in everyone's heart as isvara, as the controller and He is giving direction. He is giving direction. Sarvasya caham hrdi sannivisthah [Bg. 15.15], everyone's heart He is situated, and He gives direction to act as he desires. The living entity forgets what to do. First of all he makes his determination to act in a certain way, and then he is entangled in the actions and reactions of his own karma. But after giving up one type of body, when he enters another type of body... Just like we give up one kind of dress, one type of dress, for another type of dress, similarly, it is explained in this Bhagavad-gita that vasamsi jirnani yatha vihaya [Bg. 2.22]. One, as one changes his different dresses, similarly the living entities, they are also changing different bodies, transmigration of the soul, and pulling on the actions and reactions of his past activities. So these activities can be changed when a living being is in the mode of goodness, in sanity, and he understands what sort of activities he should adopt, and if he does so, then the whole action and reactions of his past activities can be changed. Therefore karma is not eternal. Other things, out of the four, five items -- isvara, jiva, prakrti, kala, and karma -- these four items are eternal, whereas the karma, the item known as karma, that is not eternal.
Now the conscious isvara, the supreme conscious isvara, and difference between the supreme conscious isvara, or the Lord, and the living being is, in the present circumstances, is like this. Consciousness, consciousness of, both of the Lord and the living entities, they are, this consciousness is transcendental. It is not that this consciousness is generated by the association of this matter. That is a mistaken idea. The theory that consciousness develops under certain circumstances of material combination is not accepted in the Bhagavad-gita. They cannot. Consciousness may be pervertedly reflected by the cover of material circumstances, just like light reflected through a colored glass may seem according to the color. Similarly, the consciousness of Lord, it is not materially affected. The Supreme Lord, just like Krsna, He says that mayadhyaksena prakrtih [Bg. 9.10]. When He descends in this material world, His consciousness is not materially affected. Had His consciousness been materially affected, He was unfit to speak about the transcendental subject matter in the Bhagavad-gita. One cannot say anything about the transcendental world without being free from the materially contaminated consciousness. So the Lord was not materially contaminated. But our consciousness, at the present moment, is materially contaminated. So whole thing, as the Bhagavad-gita teaches, we have to purify the materially contaminated consciousness and in that pure consciousness, the actions will be done. That will make us happy. We cannot stop. We cannot stop our activity. The activities are to be purified. And these purified activities are called bhakti. Bhakti means they are, they appear also just like ordinary activity, but they are not contaminated activities They are purified activities. So an ignorant person may see that a devotee is working like an ordinary man, but a person with poor fund of knowledge, he does not know that the activities of a devotee or the activities of the Lord, they are not contaminated by the impure consciousness of matter, impurity of the three gunas, modes of nature, but transcendental consciousness. So our consciousness is materially contaminated, we should know.
Now when we are such materially contaminated, that is called our conditioned stage. Conditioned stage. And the false ego, the false consciousness... The false consciousness is exhibited under the impression that "I am one of the product of this material nature." That is called false ego. The whole material activities, yasyatma-buddhih kunape tri-dhatuke [SB 10.84.13]. Yasyatma-buddhih kunape tri-dhatuke, one who is absorbed in the thought of bodily conception. Now, the whole Bhagavad-gita was explained by the Lord because Arjuna represented himself with bodily conception. So one has to get free from the bodily conception of life. That is the preliminary activity for a transcendentalist who wants to get free, who wants to be liberated. And he has to learn first of all that he is not this material body. So this consciousness, or material consciousness, when we are freed from this material consciousness, that is called mukti. Mukti or liberation means to become free from material consciousness. In the Srimad-Bhagavata also the definition of liberation is said, muktir hitvanyatha rupam svarupena vyavasthitih [SB 2.10.6]. Svarupena vyavasthitih. Mukti means liberation from the contaminated consciousness of this material world...
>>> Ref. VedaBase => First Tape Recording, Done by Srila Prabhupada Himself
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
