by Pandava Bandhava das
oà ajïäna-timirändhasya
jïänäïjana-çaläkayä
cakñur unmélitaà yena
tasmai çré-gurave namaù
çré-caitanya-mano-'bhéñöaà
sthäpitaà yena bhü-tale
svayaà rüpaù kadä mahyaà
dadäti sva-padäntikam
I was born in the darkest ignorance, and my
spiritual master opened my eyes with the torch of knowledge. I offer my
respectful obeisances unto him. When will Çréla Rüpa Gosvämé Prabhupäda, who
has established within this material world the mission to fulfill the desire of
Lord Caitanya, give me shelter under his lotus feet?
vande 'haà çré-guroù çré-yuta-pada-kamalaà
çré-gurün vaiñëaväàç ca
çré-rüpaà sägrajätaà saha-gaëa-raghunäthänvitaà taà
sa-jévam
sädvaitaà sävadhütaà parijana-sahitaà kåñëa-caitanya-devaà
çré-rädhä-kåñëa-pädän
saha-gaëa-lalitä-çré-viçäkhänvitäàç ca
I offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus
feet of my spiritual master and unto the feet of all Vaiñëavas. I offer my
respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of Çréla Rüpa Gosvämé along with his
elder brother Sanätana Gosvämé, as well as Raghunätha Däsa and Raghunätha
Bhaööa, Gopäla Bhaööa, and Çréla Jéva Gosvämé. I offer my respectful obeisances
to Lord Kåñëa Caitanya and Lord Nityänanda along with Advaita Äcärya, Gadädhara,
Çréväsa, and other associates. I offer my respectful obeisances to Çrématé
Rädhäräëé and Çré Kåñëa along with Their associates Çré Lalitä and Viçäkhä.
he kåñëa karuëä-sindho
déna-bandho jagat-pate
gopeça gopikä-känta
rädhä-känta namo 'stu te
O my dear Kåñëa, ocean of mercy, You are the friend
of the distressed and the source of creation. You are the master of the cowherd
men and the lover of the gopés, especially Çrématé Rädhäräëé. I offer my
respectful obeisances unto You.
tapta-käïcana-gauräìgi
rädhe våndävaneçvari
våñabhänu-sute devi
praëamämi hari-priye
I offer my respects to Rädhäräëé, whose bodily
complexion is like molten gold and who is the Queen of Våndävana. You are the
daughter of King Våñabhänu, and You are very dear to Lord Kåñëa.
väïchä-kalpatarubhyaç ca
kåpä-sindhubhya eva ca
patitänäà pävanebhyo
vaiñëavebhyo namo namaù
I offer my respectful obeisances unto all the
Vaiñëava 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.
çré-kåñëa-caitanya
prabhu-nityänanda
çré-advaita gadädhara
çréväsädi-gaura-bhakta-vånda
I offer my obeisances to Çré Kåñëa Caitanya, Prabhu
Nityänanda, Çré Advaita, Gadädhara, Çréväsa and all others in the line of
devotion.
hare kåñëa hare kåñëa
kåñëa kåñëa hare hare
hare räma hare räma
räma räma hare hare
In his introduction to the Bhagavad-gétä As It Is,
Çréla Prabhupäda has given an analysis of the main points to be understood.
These cover:
1. The spirit in which
the Gétä should be approached.
2. The purpose of the Gétä.
3. The subject matter
of the Gétä.
4. The process of
understanding the Gétä.
5. The result of
understanding the knowledge presented—going back to Godhead.
6. How to practically
apply this knowledge to attain the desired result.
1. The
spirit of Bhagavad-gétä
a)
Kåñëa is the Supreme Lord, Bhagavän.
b)
Gétä is understood by a devotee like Arjuna who is in a
direct relationship with Kåñëa.
c)
Only by the process of devotional service can one
revive one’s relationship with Kåñëa.
d)
Therefore, the Bhagavad-gétä should be taken up in the spirit of
devotion.
We should at least theoretically accept Kåñëa as the Supreme
Personality of Godhead. Otherwise, we will not be able to understand Bhagavad-gétä.
Bhagavad-gétä is also known as Gétopaniñad. It is
the essence of Vedic knowledge and one of the most important Upaniñads in Vedic
literature. Of course there are many commentaries in English on the
Bhagavad-gétä, and one may question the necessity for another one. This present
edition can be explained in the following way. Recently an American lady asked
me to recommend an English translation of Bhagavad-gétä. Of course in America
there are so many editions of Bhagavad-gétä available in English, but as far as
I have seen, not only in America but also in India, none of them can be
strictly said to be authoritative because in almost every one of them the
commentator has expressed his own opinions without touching the spirit of
Bhagavad-gétä as it is.
From the onset of his introduction to the Bhagavad-gita, Srila Prabhupada delineates an
important difference between the Vedic tradition and the contemporary secular
paradigm. Coming to a conclusion regarding the important questions in life is
not welcomed in the postmodern world because conclusion would imply action in
accordance to it. This would mean that one should change many aspects of his
life and change is often a cause of insecurity and fear. Therefore, there is a consensus amongst the
majority of the intellectuals of the modern day that to remain in skeptic
uncertainty about reality is the preferred option, as long as this will allow
everyone to go on with the familiar routine. Questions about truth are a
pleasant aspect of the status quo, rather than a dynamic force that aims at
changing it.
This fear of conclusions is often justified by the
terrible stories of the past, when leaders with firm conviction in their
beliefs persuaded or forced peoples and nations unto their sway, with
disastrous results. Therefore, we are told that having positive answers to all
questions, and the will to implement them in practice, is extremely dangerous
for it is a sign of fanaticism and oppression. Of course, not coming to a
conclusion about the goal of life is a conclusion in itself; it is one that has
plagued the life of contemporary people with uncertainty, emptiness and
despair.
Despite all this, in his introduction Srila Prabhupada
boldly declares that truth is different from illusion. This is confirmed in
Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.1.2:
Completely rejecting all religious activities which are
materially motivated, this Bhägavata Puräëa propounds the highest truth, which
is understandable by those devotees who are fully pure in heart. The highest
truth is reality distinguished from illusion for the welfare of all. Such truth
uproots the threefold miseries.
Since the Lord is the highest aspect of the Absolute Truth,
those who connect with Him are the true proponents of reality. The proponents
of illusion are those who are envious of the Lord. Kåñëa says in Bhagavad-gita
9.1:
My dear Arjuna, because you are never envious of Me
[anasüyave], I shall impart to you this most confidential knowledge and
realization, knowing which you shall be relieved of the miseries of material
existence.
Srila Prabhupada comments:
The Sanskrit word anasüyave in this verse is also very
significant. Generally the commentators, even if they are highly scholarly, are
all envious of Kåñëa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Even the most erudite
scholars write on Bhagavad-gétä very inaccurately. Because they are envious of
Kåñëa, their commentaries are useless. The commentaries given by devotees of
the Lord are bona fide. No one can
explain Bhagavad-gétä or give perfect knowledge of Kåñëa if he is envious. One
who criticizes the character of Kåñëa without knowing Him is a fool. So such
commentaries should be very carefully avoided. For one who understands that
Kåñëa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the pure and transcendental
Personality, these chapters will be very beneficial.
Srila Prabhupada does not claim that his commentary on the
Gita is the only authoritative commentary; therefore, he writes that all
commentaries written by devotees (those who do not envy the Lord) are bona fide. Thus, he cannot be accused of
exclusive sectarianism. At the same time Srila Prabhupada makes it very clear
that every commentary on the Gita written by a non-devotee must be afflicted by
a fundamental flow which renders it unfit for study by devotees or any sincere
seeker of the truth.
The claim that someone can present and represent the
Absolute truth is a startling notion for many people of Kali Yuga. This is
especially true for the various types of materialistic intellectuals and
scientists who sustain their very existence by funding endless, leading to no
definite conclusion, research and debate. They argue against the very existence
of universal truth and against the possibility of its articulation in human
society. Nonetheless, reality must be defined and defended; the Bhaktivedanta
purports to the Bhagavad-gita are in pursuance of this.
The distinguishing factor between proper and improper
understanding of the Bhagavad-gita is the spirit in which the study has been
conducted.
The spirit of Bhagavad-gétä is mentioned in
Bhagavad-gétä itself. It is just like this: If we want to take a particular
medicine, then we have to follow the directions written on the label. We cannot
take the medicine according to our own whim or the direction of a friend. It
must be taken according to the directions on the label or the directions given
by a physician. Similarly, Bhagavad-gétä should be taken or accepted as it is
directed by the speaker Himself. The speaker of Bhagavad-gétä is Lord Çré
Kåñëa. He is mentioned on every page of Bhagavad-gétä as the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, Bhagavän. Of course the word bhagavän sometimes refers
to any powerful person or any powerful demigod, and certainly here bhagavän
designates Lord Çré Kåñëa as a great personality, but at the same time we
should know that Lord Çré Kåñëa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as is
confirmed by all great äcäryas (spiritual masters) like Çaìkaräcärya,
Rämänujäcärya, Madhväcärya, Nimbärka Svämé, Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu and many
other authorities of Vedic knowledge in India. The Lord Himself also
establishes Himself as the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the Bhagavad-gétä,
and He is accepted as such in the Brahma-saàhitä and all the Puräëas,
especially the Çrémad-Bhägavatam, known as the Bhägavata Puräëa (kåñëas tu
bhagavän svayam [SB 1.3.28]). Therefore we should take Bhagavad-gétä as it is
directed by the Personality of Godhead Himself.
For the pious people it is natural to accept that there is
an Absolute knowledge and that this knowledge is revealed in the scriptures.
This acceptance and faith in sastra
is the sign of their virtue. The Lord states in Bhagavad-gita 7.28:
Persons who have acted piously in previous lives and in
this life and whose sinful actions are completely eradicated are freed from the
dualities of delusion, and they engage themselves in My service with
determination.
The absolute knowledge revealed in the Vedas is compared
to a manual, which goes together with an item that has been purchased, or to a
medicine prescribed by the physician. Normal people would read it carefully and
would follow the instructions for their own good. In this way they show their
faith in the person who wrote these texts. In other words, they choose to
cooperate in the reality that has been created by someone else, following the
rules inherent in it and formulated by the person who created the purchased
item.
This is the natural course of action. However, in Kali
Yuga, the majority of people are not pious enough to have such simple faith in
the scriptures. Such faith is called ignorance of the real facts and is deemed
way inferior to a critical, scientific investigation of reality. Instead of
trusting and cooperating with the persons who manufactured and explained the
proper usage of the medicine, most of the inmates of Kali Yuga try to re-create
the reality in their own way. Still, they are confronted by the fact that although
there are many, perhaps countless ways to explain reality, there is very
limited number of ways how to manipulate it successfully; from the ultimate
perspective there is really only one way to do it – the pure devotional service
to Kåñëa.
In the Fourth Chapter of the Gétä (4.1-3) the Lord
says:
imaà vivasvate yogaà
proktavän aham avyayam
vivasvän manave präha
manur ikñväkave 'bravét
[Bg. 4.1]
evaà paramparä-präptam
imaà räjarñayo viduù
sa käleneha mahatä
yogo nañöaù parantapa
[Bg. 4.2]
sa eväyaà mayä te 'dya
yogaù proktaù purätanaù
bhakto 'si me sakhä ceti
rahasyaà hy etad uttamam
[Bg. 4.3]
Here the Lord informs Arjuna that this system of
yoga, the Bhagavad-gétä, was first spoken to the sun-god, and the sun-god
explained it to Manu, and Manu explained it to Ikñväku, and in that way, by
disciplic succession, one speaker after another, this yoga system has been
coming down. But in the course of time it has become lost. Consequently the
Lord has to speak it again, this time to Arjuna on the Battlefield of
Kurukñetra.
Here Srila Prabhupada makes two
important points. First, the perfect transcendental knowledge coming down since
time immemorial from the faultless source of everything has been kept
unadulterated by the disciplic succession of self-realized devotees of the
Lord. Second, even when this knowledge appears to be lost due to the influence
of time, it is not actually lost or contaminated. It exists eternally,
eternally the same.
He tells Arjuna that He is relating this supreme
secret to him because Arjuna is His devotee and His friend. The purport of this
is that Bhagavad-gétä is a treatise which is especially meant for the devotee
of the Lord. There are three classes of transcendentalists, namely the jïäné,
the yogé and the bhakta, or the impersonalist, the meditator and the devotee.
Here the Lord clearly tells Arjuna that He is making him the first receiver of
a new paramparä (disciplic succession) because the old succession was broken.
It was the Lord's wish, therefore, to establish another paramparä in the same
line of thought that was coming down from the sun-god to others, and it was His
wish that His teaching be distributed anew by Arjuna. He wanted Arjuna to
become the authority in understanding the Bhagavad-gétä. So we see that
Bhagavad-gétä is instructed to Arjuna especially because Arjuna was a devotee
of the Lord, a direct student of Kåñëa, and His intimate friend. Therefore
Bhagavad-gétä is best understood by a person who has qualities similar to
Arjuna's. That is to say he must be a devotee in a direct relationship with the
Lord.
Secular scientists and scholars view the world as a morally
neutral place meant for our enjoyment. The world is for us to explore and
conquer. We discover the laws that govern it and we define its meaning and
purpose. We can do this regardless of our moral value system, character or beliefs.
Acquiring knowledge is just a mechanical process depending on our proper
training, intelligence and developed technology. Therefore, mundane scholars
think that they are entitled to study and understand anything according to
their limited materialistic methods. And therefore they generally discard as
nonscientific any reasoning and phenomena that they do not understand.
According to the Vedic version, reality can be known only
by the mercy of the Lord who is the ultimate source and shelter of everything. The
Absolute truth is well beyond the range of the humans’ mind and senses. In order
to know reality, we must accept the Vedic authority, otherwise we will be in
illusion. The Lord states in the Bhagavad-gita:
I am never manifest to the foolish and unintelligent. For
them I am covered by My internal potency, and therefore they do not know that I
am unborn and infallible. (BG 7.25)
As soon as one becomes a devotee of the Lord, he
also has a direct relationship with the Lord. That is a very elaborate subject
matter, but briefly it can be stated that a devotee is in a relationship with
the Supreme Personality of Godhead in one of five different ways:
1. One may be a devotee in a passive state;
2. One may be a devotee in an active state;
3. One may be a devotee as a friend;
4. One may be a devotee as a parent;
5. One may be a devotee as a conjugal lover.
Arjuna was in a relationship with the Lord as
friend. Of course, there is a gulf of difference between this friendship and
the friendship found in the material world. This is transcendental friendship,
which cannot be had by everyone. Of course, everyone has a particular
relationship with the Lord, and that relationship is evoked by the perfection
of devotional service. But in the present status of our life, not only have we
forgotten the Supreme Lord, but we have forgotten our eternal relationship with
the Lord. Every living being, out of the many, many billions and trillions of
living beings, has a particular relationship with the Lord eternally. That is
called svarüpa. By the process of devotional service, one can revive that
svarüpa, and that stage is called svarüpa-siddhi—perfection of one's
constitutional position. So Arjuna was a devotee, and he was in touch with the
Supreme Lord in friendship.
How Arjuna accepted this Bhagavad-gétä should be
noted. His manner of acceptance is given in the Tenth Chapter (10.12-14):
arjuna uväca
paraà brahma paraà dhäma
pavitraà paramaà bhavän
puruñaà çäçvataà divyam
ädi-devam ajaà vibhum
ähus tväm åñayaù sarve
devarñir näradas tathä
asito devalo vyäsaù
svayaà caiva bravéñi me
sarvam etad åtaà manye
yan mäà vadasi keçava
na hi te bhagavan vyaktià
vidur devä na dänaväù
"Arjuna said: You are the Supreme Personality
of Godhead, the ultimate abode, the purest, the Absolute Truth. You are the
eternal, transcendental, original person, the unborn, the greatest. All the
great sages such as Närada, Asita, Devala, and Vyäsa confirm this truth about
You, and now You Yourself are declaring it to me. O Kåñëa, I totally accept as
truth all that You have told me. Neither the demigods nor the demons, O Lord,
can understand Your personality."
After hearing Bhagavad-gétä from the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, Arjuna accepted Kåñëa as paraà brahma, the Supreme
Brahman. Every living being is Brahman, but the supreme living being, or the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the Supreme Brahman. Paraà dhäma means that
He is the supreme rest or abode of everything; pavitram means that He is pure,
untainted by material contamination; puruñam means that He is the supreme
enjoyer; çäçvatam, original; divyam, transcendental; ädi-devam, the Supreme
Personality of Godhead; ajam, the unborn; and vibhum, the greatest.
Now one may think that because Kåñëa was the friend
of Arjuna, Arjuna was telling Him all this by way of flattery, but Arjuna, just
to drive out this kind of doubt from the minds of the readers of Bhagavad-gétä,
substantiates these praises in the next verse when he says that Kåñëa is
accepted as the Supreme Personality of Godhead not only by himself but by
authorities like Närada, Asita, Devala and Vyäsadeva. These are great
personalities who distribute the Vedic knowledge as it is accepted by all
äcäryas. Therefore Arjuna tells Kåñëa that he accepts whatever He says to be
completely perfect. Sarvam etad åtaà manye: "I accept everything You say
to be true." Arjuna also says that the personality of the Lord is very
difficult to understand and that He cannot be known even by the great demigods.
This means that the Lord cannot even be known by personalities greater than
human beings. So how can a human being understand Lord Çré Kåñëa without
becoming His devotee?
Therefore Bhagavad-gétä should be taken up in a
spirit of devotion. One should not think that he is equal to Kåñëa, nor should
he think that Kåñëa is an ordinary personality or even a very great
personality. Lord Çré Kåñëa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So according
to the statements of Bhagavad-gétä or the statements of Arjuna, the person who
is trying to understand the Bhagavad-gétä, we should at least theoretically
accept Çré Kåñëa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and with that
submissive spirit we can understand the Bhagavad-gétä. Unless one reads the
Bhagavad-gétä in a submissive spirit, it is very difficult to understand
Bhagavad-gétä, because it is a great mystery.
Sarvam etad åtaà manye: “I accept everything You say to be
true.” This is the proper mood of understanding the Bhagavad-gita. One should
use his intelligence to understand how the Gita is faultless; the attempts to discover
mistakes and hence excuses why sastra
should not be followed is a misuse of intelligence. The type of acceptance
demonstrated by Arjuna is rare in Kali Yuga because it requires a certain level
of spiritual advancement which does not appear just randomly; it is usually the
result of a long cultivation over many lifetimes. It is rare also because the present age is
meant for people who do not want to have this understanding; rather they want
to forget all about Krishna.
In order to accept the words of the Lord with faith one
has to be situated at least in the mode of goodness. Predominance of the lower
modes will lead to all other ways of interpretations and opinions. The Lord
says in Bhagavad-gita 17.2:
According to the modes of nature acquired by the embodied
soul, one's faith can be of three kinds—in goodness, in passion or in
ignorance.
Having explained the
spirit of the Bhagavad-gétä, Çréla Prabhupäda goes on to outline:
2.
The purpose of the
Bhagavad-gétä
Everyone
is full of anxiety because of material existence. The cause of suffering and the actual
destination of life are proper subjects for enquiry. Kåñëa spoke the Bhagavad-gétä to answer these
queries, and to make Arjuna understand his position, thus relieving him of all
miseries.
Just
what is the Bhagavad-gétä? The purpose of Bhagavad-gétä is to deliver mankind
from the nescience of material existence. Every man is in difficulty in so many
ways, as Arjuna also was in difficulty in having to fight the Battle of
Kurukñetra. Arjuna surrendered unto Çré Kåñëa, and consequently this
Bhagavad-gétä was spoken. Not only Arjuna, but every one of us is full of
anxieties because of this material existence. Our very existence is in the
atmosphere of nonexistence. Actually we are not meant to be threatened by
nonexistence. Our existence is eternal. But somehow or other we are put into
asat. Asat refers to that which does not exist.
The
goal of the Gita is to deliver the mankind from the nescience of material
existence. This goal is given in the Gita itself by the supreme authority, Lord
Krishna Himself. Any other idea on the matter is a symptom of the nescience of
material existence. Such nescience results in what Srila Prabhupada calls
“existence is in the atmosphere of nonexistence”. In Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.85.14
it is stated:
Thus these created entities, transformations of material nature, do not
exist except when material nature manifests them within You, at which time You
also manifest within them. But aside from such periods of creation, You stand
alone as the transcendental reality.
Srila
Sanatana Goswami writes in his commentary:
When the universe is wound up at the time of its periodic annihilation,
all the inert objects and bodies of living beings that hitherto were manifested
by the Lord's Mäyä become disconnected from His sight. Then, since He maintains
no association with them during the period of universal dissolution, they in
fact no longer exist.[1] In
other words, material manifestations have real, functioning existence only when
the Lord turns His attention to the creation and maintenance of the material
cosmos. The Lord is never "within" these objects in any material
sense, but He does mercifully pervade them all as the impersonal Brahman, and
as the Paramätmä He enters within every atom and also accompanies the jéva
souls in their individual embodiments.
To “exist in the atmosphere of nonexistence” means to
identify with matter and as a result to be deprived of the real-life
experience. When the Lord does not connect to the material elements, they do not
truly exist; in the same way, when we do not care to see the connection of our
world to Krishna we exist in a nonexistence. This is deeply troublesome for the
jiva because he is bound to strive
for authentic identity and happiness but these attempts are made in an
atmosphere of void or nothingness. What could be more depressing? It is like
the example of the dwarf trying to reach the moon, only that neither the dwarf,
nor the moon truly exist.
Out of so many human
beings who are suffering, there are a few who are actually inquiring about
their position, as to what they are, why they are put into this awkward
position and so on.[2] Unless one is awakened to this position of questioning
his suffering, unless he realizes that he doesn't want suffering but rather
wants to make a solution to all suffering, then one is not to be considered a
perfect human being. Humanity begins when this sort of inquiry is awakened in
one's mind. In the Brahma-sütra this inquiry is called brahma jijïäsä. Athäto
brahma jijïäsä. Every activity of the human being is to be considered a failure
unless he inquires about the nature of the Absolute.[3] Therefore those who begin to question why they are
suffering or where they came from and where they shall go after death are
proper students for understanding Bhagavad-gétä. The sincere student should
also have a firm respect for the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Such a student
was Arjuna.
Here
we understand that the proper student of the Bhagavad-gita is the person who
has understood, at least to some extend, that he is suffering in the grip of
the material nature. The others, who are still happy in their false
identification with matter, are not proper candidates for spiritual
enlightenment. In other words, the mundane scholars who take the Bhagavad-gita
to be simply another intriguing ancient text worthy of spending some time
speculating upon, are missing the point and are unable to understand and relish
the spiritual reality. Therefore, Srila Prabhupada writes in his purport to Bhagavad-gita
8.28:
Study
of the Vedas is not meant for the recreation of armchair speculators, but for
the formation of character.
Study
of the Vedas is meant to free us from the material world. All the six Vedic
schools agree that the goal of philosophy is liberation, not illusory
improvement of material life by adding some titillating speculation to it.
Therefore, the mundaners are constantly admonished for their arrogant attempts
to understand the Vedas by all Vedic acaryas,
both devotees and impersonalists.
Lord Kåñëa descends
specifically to reestablish the real purpose of life when man forgets that
purpose.[4] Even then, out of many, many human beings who awaken,
there may be one who actually enters the spirit of understanding his position,
and for him this Bhagavad-gétä is spoken. Actually we are all swallowed by the
tigress of nescience, but the Lord is very merciful upon living entities,
especially human beings. To this end He spoke the Bhagavad-gétä, making His
friend Arjuna His student.
Being an associate of Lord
Kåñëa, Arjuna was above all ignorance, but Arjuna was put into ignorance on the
Battlefield of Kurukñetra just to question Lord Kåñëa about the problems of
life so that the Lord could explain them for the benefit of future generations
of human beings and chalk out the plan of life. Then man could act accordingly
and perfect the mission of human life.
With
the overwhelming need for spiritual knowledge clearly established, Çréla
Prabhupäda outlines the contents of the Bhagavad-gétä which can be summarized
as follows:
3.
The subject of the Bhagavad-gétä
a) Éçvara, jéva, prakåti,
käla and karma – the five basic truths:
·
éçvara – Kåñëa
is the controller of everything.
·
jéva – the
living entity is only a subordinate controller; is also prakåti, and is controlled by Kåñëa.
·
prakåti –
material nature constituting of three qualities: sattva,
rajas and tamas.
·
käla –
eternal time, energy of Kåñëa.
·
karma – by a
combination of the three modes and under the control and purview of the eternal
time, there are activities.
b)
The material nature is
eternal and real.
c)
The manifestation of the
material world is real but temporary.
d)
There are intrinsic
differences between the Supreme Lord, the living entities, and material nature.
·
The Lord is supremely conscious (conscious of all
bodies), the living entity is conscious only of his particular body.
·
Even when the Lord descends into the material
universe, His consciousness is not materially affected. (If it were, He would be unfit to speak the Bhagavad-gétä).
But the jéva’s consciousness in
conditional life is materially contaminated.
·
Both the living entities and material nature are prakåti—energies of the Lord, but the living
entity is conscious, whereas material nature is not.
e)
Liberation means freedom
from material consciousness (situation in pure consciousness means acting in
accordance with the instructions of Kåñëa).
·
The jéva’s
consciousness, under the covering of the material circumstances, is pervertedly
reflected.
·
Due to this, he is entangled in the actions and
reactions of his own karma.
·
One must become free from this bodily concept of
life. The living entity, being part and
parcel of the Supreme Lord, is neither the creator, nor the enjoyer but a
cooperator.
·
The relationship is like that of the master and the
servant. If the master is satisfied,
then the servant is also satisfied.
In pure consciousness, the
activity will be dovetailed with Kåñëa and that will make one really
happy. These purified activities, called
bhakti, are transcendental to the
three modes of nature (Srimad Bhagavatam
defines: muktir hitvänyathä rüpaà sva-rüpeëa vyavasthitiù—liberation means
attaining one’s constitutional position of service to the lotus feet of Sri
Hari).
The
devotional service of the Lord is the pure activity of the soul. Many people
think that all activities are inherently contaminated and that spirituality,
therefore, means to become and remain inactive. Of course, it is not actually
possible to remain inactive even for a moment, as it is confirmed by Krishna in
Bhagavad-gita 3.5: “Everyone is forced to act helplessly according to the
qualities he has acquired from the modes of material nature; therefore no one
can refrain from doing something, not even for a moment.” Our only choice,
then, is between proper and improper action. Therefore, Krishna urges Arjuna to
learn the science and art of action: “A man engaged in devotional service rids
himself of both good and bad reactions even in this life. Therefore, strive for
yoga, which is the art of all work.” (BG 2.50)
This
artful work - pure activities in pure devotion of the Supreme - constitute the
real dharma: “O Uddhava, greatest of saints, in a dangerous situation an ordinary
person cries, becomes fearful and laments, although such useless emotions do
not change the situation. But activities offered to Me without personal
motivation, even if they are externally useless, amount to the actual process
of religion.” (SB 11.29.21)
It
is certainly a relief to know that there are pure activities and that we are
not condemned to exist forever in a dreadful impersonal emptiness.
The subject of the
Bhagavad-gétä entails the comprehension of five basic truths. First of all, the
science of God is explained and then the constitutional position of the living
entities, jévas. There is éçvara, which means the controller, and there are
jévas, the living entities which are controlled. If a living entity says that
he is not controlled but that he is free, then he is insane. The living being
is controlled in every respect, at least in his conditioned life.[5] So in the Bhagavad-gétä the subject matter deals with
the éçvara, the supreme controller, and the jévas, the controlled living
entities. Prakåti (material nature) and time (the duration of existence of the
whole universe or the manifestation of material nature) and karma (activity)
are also discussed. The cosmic manifestation is full of different activities.
All living entities are engaged in different activities. From Bhagavad-gétä we
must learn what God is, what the living entities are, what prakåti is, what the
cosmic manifestation is, how it is controlled by time, and what the activities
of the living entities are.
Out of these five basic
subject matters in Bhagavad-gétä it is established that the Supreme Godhead, or
Kåñëa, or Brahman, or the supreme controller, or Paramätmä—you may use whatever
name you like—is the greatest of all. The living beings are in quality like the
supreme controller. For instance, the Lord has control over the universal
affairs of material nature, as will be explained in the later chapters of
Bhagavad-gétä. Material nature is not independent. She is acting under the
directions of the Supreme Lord. As Lord Kåñëa says, mayädhyakñeëa prakåtiù
süyate sa-caräcaram: "This material nature is working under My
direction." When we see wonderful things happening in the cosmic nature,
we should know that behind this cosmic manifestation there is a controller.
Nothing could be manifested without being controlled. It is childish not to
consider the controller. For instance, a child may think that an automobile is
quite wonderful to be able to run without a horse or other animal pulling it,
but a sane man knows the nature of the automobile's engineering arrangement. He
always knows that behind the machinery there is a man, a driver. Similarly, the
Supreme Lord is the driver under whose direction everything is working.
Srila
Prabhupada writes in the above paragraph: “It is childish not to consider the
controller.” The reason for such ignorance is sheer envy. Envy and primordial
anger are among the first creations of Brahma;[6] the conditioned souls are envious of God and angry
that they are not, and never will be, the Supreme Controller and Enjoyer. Envy
and anger are the driving forces behind the demoniac scientific and
technological enterprise of the modern age. Atheistic people are constantly
attempting to prove themselves as the supreme enjoyers and controllers of
material nature. Just as the last thing a thief wants to see is the owner of
the house which he is robbing, the atheistic person does not want to see God
anywhere in His creation, no matter how obvious His presence is. Such people
have a problem even with the conventional concept of God; it is no surprise
that they have even a bigger problem accepting Krishna, the Supreme Enjoyer,
who relished the love of the Gopis, married 16,108 princesses and had
immeasurable opulence, strength, beauty and influence.
Now the jévas, or the
living entities, have been accepted by the Lord, as we will note in the later
chapters, as His parts and parcels. A particle of gold is also gold, a drop of
water from the ocean is also salty, and similarly we the living entities, being
part and parcel of the supreme controller, éçvara, or Bhagavän, Lord Çré Kåñëa,
have all the qualities of the Supreme Lord in minute quantity because we are
minute éçvaras, subordinate éçvaras. We are trying to control nature, as
presently we are trying to control space or planets, and this tendency to
control is there because it is in Kåñëa. But although we have a tendency to
lord it over material nature, we should know that we are not the supreme
controller. This is explained in Bhagavad-gétä.
The
materialists would have us believe that they do not accept God because this is
the inevitable result of their sincere, objective study of reality. The truth,
however, is that they do not accept their natural subordination to God
precisely because of their insincerity. Behind the cloak of all scientific
research, experiments, and philosophical speculation is the plain reality of
sheer enviousness of God, the Supreme Autocrat. To make the matter worse, Kåñëa
is not just the Supreme Autocrat; beyond that He is the Supreme Enjoyer. This
makes Him hard to appreciate even for the religious people, let alone for the
atheists. In most of the religious traditions God exists only as the witness
and judge of our actions thus leaving the pleasures of life for humans to
enjoy. This reduces religion and spirituality to something dreadfully boring
and elevates mundane life to a pedestal of adventure, freedom, and freshness.
But in the Vedic literature this concept is rejected as childish foolishness.
God is not merely the Controller; He finds much more pleasure forgetting all
about His God-ness and freely enjoying with His pure devotees. It is hard
enough to accept that there is a Supreme Person who is in control of our life;
it is even harder to swallow that He is the guy who gets all the money and all
the girls.
What is material nature? This is also explained in
Gétä as inferior prakåti, inferior nature. The living entity is explained as
the superior prakåti. Prakåti is always under control, whether inferior or
superior. Prakåti is female, and she is controlled by the Lord just as the
activities of a wife are controlled by the husband. Prakåti is always
subordinate, predominated by the Lord, who is the predominator.[7]
Subordination does not mean
suppression and exploitation; it means protection. Men and women are meant to
work in cooperation towards the goal of life, pure love for God; they have
different duties and roles to play in the pursuance of that goal. The fact that
this concept becomes increasingly foreign to the population of Kali Yuga is a
symptom of degradation, not of progress, as the proponents of social and gender
equality would have us believe. Still, it is the eternal reality and there is
no way around it.
The living entities and material nature are both
predominated, controlled by the Supreme Lord. According to the Gétä, the living
entities, although parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord, are to be considered
prakåti. This is clearly mentioned in the Seventh Chapter of Bhagavad-gétä.
Apareyam itas tv anyäà prakåtià viddhi me paräm/ jéva-bhütäm: "This
material nature is My inferior prakåti, but beyond this is another
prakåti-jéva-bhütäm, the living entity."
Material nature itself is constituted by three
qualities: the mode of goodness, the mode of passion and the mode of ignorance.[8]
Above these modes there is eternal time, and by a combination of these modes of
nature and under the control and purview of eternal time there are activities,
which are called karma. These activities are being carried out from time
immemorial, and we are suffering or enjoying the fruits of our activities. For
instance, suppose I am a businessman and have worked very hard with
intelligence and have amassed a great bank balance. Then I am an enjoyer. But
then say I have lost all my money in business; then I am a sufferer. Similarly,
in every field of life we enjoy the results of our work, or we suffer the
results. This is called karma.[9]
Acceptance of the law of karma is the only plausible way to
understand material reality. It provides us with answers to all the difficult
questions. Why is there so much suffering in the world? Is God evil or not
all-powerful to allow this? The Vedic answer is that we suffer and enjoy
because of our previous activities. This suffering and enjoyment is illusory
because it pertains to the material body, not to the self. But because of false
identification with the body made of matter we experience it as reality. The
material existence based on the dualities of happiness and distress is compared
to a dream; the experiences in a dream appear real at the time of the dream but
this does not make them factual at all.
The law of karma gives us a proper perspective on social and individual
issues; its acceptance will free the contemporary world from the plaque of the
victim mentality of blaming everybody else for one’s problems. It will create a
healthy and sober outlook of life where performance of one’s duties will become
paramount and replace the endless demand of human rights.
The law of karma and reincarnation also show us the all-compassionate nature
of the Supreme Reality. All souls are provided with infinite opportunities to surrender
to the Lord and thus forever end the painful cycle of birth and death. If they
do not take advantage of this opportunity in this lifetime God does not punish
them by torturing them in hell for eternity without the aim of correcting them;
He gives them another and another chance until they make the right choice in
life and go back home, back to Godhead.
Éçvara (the Supreme Lord), jéva (the living
entity), prakåti (nature), käla (eternal time) and karma (activity) are all
explained in the Bhagavad-gétä. Out of these five, the Lord, the living
entities, material nature and time are eternal. The manifestation of prakåti
may be temporary, but it is not false. Some philosophers say that the
manifestation of material nature is false, but according to the philosophy of
Bhagavad-gétä or according to the philosophy of the Vaiñëavas, this is not so.
The manifestation of the world is not accepted as false; it is accepted as
real, but temporary. It is likened unto a cloud which moves across the sky, or
the coming of the rainy season, which nourishes grains. As soon as the rainy
season is over and as soon as the cloud goes away, all the crops which were
nourished by the rain dry up. Similarly, this material manifestation takes
place at a certain interval, stays for a while and then disappears. Such are
the workings of prakåti. But this cycle is working eternally. Therefore prakåti
is eternal; it is not false. The Lord refers to this as "My prakåti."[10]
This material nature is the separated energy of the Supreme Lord, and similarly
the living entities are also the energy of the Supreme Lord, although they are
not separated but eternally related.[11]
So the Lord, the living entity, material nature and time are all interrelated
and are all eternal. However, the other item, karma, is not eternal. The
effects of karma may be very old indeed. We are suffering or enjoying the
results of our activities from time immemorial, but we can change the results
of our karma, or our activity, and this change depends on the perfection of our
knowledge.[12]
We are engaged in various activities. Undoubtedly, we do not know what sort of
activities we should adopt to gain relief from the actions and reactions of all
these activities, but this is also explained in the Bhagavad-gétä.[13]
The material world is the
inferior energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and therefore it is not
an illusion, it has real existence. Illusion is to consider it separate from
the Lord and to try to use it for our own independent sense enjoyment. The
conditioned soul is convinced that he is the controller and enjoyer of all of
his survey. Even though constantly frustrated in his attempts to become happy
independently from Kåñëa he still believes that this will happen in the future; he
is similar to a poor man who thinks of himself as a “temporarily embarrassed
billionaire”. There is one important difference however – the poor man may
indeed become rich in future; the jiva,
however, will never be happy in the material world. And will never ever become
God, the Supreme Enjoyer.
The position of éçvara, the Supreme Lord, is that
of supreme consciousness. The jévas, or the living entities, being parts and
parcels of the Supreme Lord, are also conscious.[14]
Both the living entity and material nature are explained as prakåti, the energy
of the Supreme Lord, but one of the two, the jéva, is conscious. The other
prakåti is not conscious. That is the difference. Therefore the jéva-prakåti is
called superior because the jéva has consciousness which is similar to the
Lord's.[15]
The Lord's is supreme consciousness, however, and one should not claim that the
jéva, the living entity, is also supremely conscious. The living being cannot
be supremely conscious at any stage of his perfection, and the theory that he
can be so is a misleading theory. Conscious he may be, but he is not perfectly
or supremely conscious.
There is no need to resent this
eternal position of subordination. It is our
position and since it represents us in
the deepest level of our identity, we cannot be truly dissatisfied by it. On
the superficial level of mental conjecture, we will feel discouraged and even
angry for being eternally and solemnly denied the position of the independent
Controller and Enjoyer. This is because the desire to control and enjoy
independently from the Lord is the only reason for our stay in the material
prison of eight elements. But all such desires for independent enjoinment, born
of mental speculation, are to be discarded, as the Lord confirms in
Bhagavad-gita 2.55:
The Supreme Personality of
Godhead said: O Pärtha, when a man gives up all varieties of desire for sense
gratification, which arise from mental concoction, and when his mind, thus
purified, finds satisfaction in the self alone, then he is said to be in pure
transcendental consciousness.
Since the soul is intrinsically
eternal, knowledgeable and blissful, he cannot possibly be dissatisfied in his
constitutional position. (In fact, any feeling of unhappiness is a signal for a
wrong identification.) This constitutional position is of eternal subordination
to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Kåñëa.
But this is not all. By his
loving service, the soul can become the controller of the Almighty God Himself.
This open secret becomes reality for those who have firm faith in the words of
Guru, sadhu and sastra and act accordingly.
The distinction between the jéva and the éçvara
will be explained in the Thirteenth Chapter of Bhagavad-gétä. The Lord is
kñetra-jïa, conscious, as is the living being, but the living being is
conscious of his particular body, whereas the Lord is conscious of all bodies.[16]
Because He lives in the heart of every living being, He is conscious of the
psychic movements of the particular jévas. We should not forget this. It is
also explained that the Paramätmä, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is
living in everyone's heart as éçvara, as the controller, and that He is giving
directions for the living entity to act as he desires.[17]
The living entity forgets what to do. First of all he makes a determination to
act in a certain way, and then he is entangled in the actions and reactions of
his own karma.[18]
After giving up one type of body, he enters another type of body, as we take
off and put on clothes.[19]
As the soul thus migrates, he suffers the actions and reactions of his past
activities. These activities can be changed when the living being is in the
mode of goodness, in sanity, and understands what sort of activities he should
adopt. If he does so, then all the actions and reactions of his past activities
can be changed.[20]
Consequently, karma is not eternal. Therefore we stated that of the five items
(éçvara, jéva, prakåti, time and karma) four are eternal, whereas karma is not
eternal.
The supreme conscious éçvara is similar to the
living entity in this way: both the consciousness of the Lord and that of the
living entity are transcendental. It is not that consciousness is generated by
the association of matter.[21]
That is a mistaken idea. The theory that consciousness develops under certain
circumstances of material combination is not accepted in the Bhagavad-gétä.
Consciousness may be pervertedly reflected by the covering of material
circumstances, just as light reflected through colored glass may appear to be a
certain color, but the consciousness of the Lord is not materially affected.
Lord Kåñëa says, mayädhyakñeëa prakåtiù [Bg. 9.10]. When He descends into the
material universe, His consciousness is not materially affected. If He were so
affected, He would be unfit to speak on transcendental matters as He does in
the Bhagavad-gétä. One cannot say anything about the transcendental world
without being free from materially contaminated consciousness. So the Lord is
not materially contaminated. Our consciousness, at the present moment, however,
is materially contaminated. The Bhagavad-gétä teaches that we have to purify
this materially contaminated consciousness. In pure consciousness, our actions
will be dovetailed to the will of éçvara, and that will make us happy.[22]
It is not that we have to cease all activities.[23]
Rather, our activities are to be purified, and purified activities are called
bhakti.[24]
Activities in bhakti appear to be like ordinary activities, but they are not
contaminated.[25]
An ignorant person may see that a devotee is acting or working like an ordinary
man, but such a person with a poor fund of knowledge does not know that the
activities of the devotee or of the Lord are not contaminated by impure
consciousness or matter.[26]
They are transcendental to the three modes of nature. We should know, however,
that at this point our consciousness is contaminated.[27]
In other words, we should not
proudly try to understand the Absolute Reality by mental speculation since it
is not possible to comprehend something that is way beyond our scope of
comprehension. We, the conditioned souls, should humbly accept that we are
indeed conditioned and submissively listen to the faultless words of the Vedas
transmitted to us by the transparent media of a bona fide Spiritual Master.
When we are materially contaminated, we are called
conditioned. False consciousness is exhibited under the impression that I am a
product of material nature. This is called false ego. One who is absorbed in
the thought of bodily conceptions cannot understand his situation.[28]
Bhagavad-gétä was spoken to liberate one from the bodily conception of life,
and Arjuna put himself in this position in order to receive this information
from the Lord. One must become free from the bodily conception of life; that is
the preliminary activity for the transcendentalist.[29]
One who wants to become free, who wants to become liberated, must first of all
learn that he is not this material body. Mukti, or liberation, means freedom
from material consciousness. In the Çrémad-Bhägavatam also the definition of
liberation is given. Muktir hitvänyathä-rüpaà svarüpeëa vyavasthitiù: [SB
2.10.6] mukti means liberation from the contaminated consciousness of this
material world and situation in pure consciousness. All the instructions of
Bhagavad-gétä are intended to awaken this pure consciousness, and therefore we
find at the last stage of the Gétä's instructions that Kåñëa is asking Arjuna
whether he is now in purified consciousness. Purified consciousness means
acting in accordance with the instructions of the Lord. This is the whole sum
and substance of purified consciousness.[30]
Consciousness is already there because we are part and parcel of the Lord, but
for us there is the affinity of being affected by the inferior modes. But the
Lord, being the Supreme, is never affected. That is the difference between the
Supreme Lord and the small individual souls.[31]
This whole idea of absolute
subordination of the soul to God runs in direct opposition to the postmodernist
concepts such as political correctness. One of the main tenets of political
correctness is that no one should be made to feel bad by placing him in an inferior position. This
leads to attempts to destroy the natural hierarchical structure in society. Of
course, such attempts are futile because society, as well as everything else,
works according to the laws given by God and not by the mental speculation of
atheists. Thus, even the proponents of political correctness do not truly
believe in it because in their own life they do obey certain hierarchies; say
they have to submit to their boss at work, or to the prescription of their
physician. They must obey these rules, which are imposed upon them although
this places them in a subordinate position. The existence of hierarchies is
natural, it stems from the fact that we are obliged to move toward certain goals
all the time; we cannot remain inactive even for a moment:
Everyone is forced to act
helplessly according to the qualities he has acquired from the modes of
material nature; therefore no one can refrain from doing something, not even
for a moment. (BG 3.5)
One of the main reasons behind
all these contemporary attempts to make everyone equal and destroy any type of
authority is that in Kali Yuga people have been abused by their authorities in
the past. Therefore, following the predictions of the Twelfth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam,
they want to break free from any hierarchical structure.
The Vedic concept of hierarchy
is much different; it is meant to point out the natural leaders of society in
the fields of knowledge, administration and economics and to encourage the
common men to take advantage of their guidance and protection. No exploitation
and oppression is intended. If there are goals for all of us to attain there
will be a natural gradation of expertise as to how well and how fast we attain
these goals and how those who are faster in attaining the goals are to help out
those who move at a slower speed; this hierarchical structure is documented in
the sastras and is known as Varsnasrama (sanatana) dharma.
No matter how determined we are
to follow the mental speculations of equality of outcome and political
correctness, we are forced to accept subordinate positions all the time.
Therefore, such concepts are untenable. In the good scenario they originate
from a feeling of misplaced, ignorant compassion. A problem which does not go
beyond the second chapter of the Bhagavad-gita.
What is this consciousness? This consciousness is
"I am." Then what am I? In contaminated consciousness "I
am" means "I am the lord of all I survey. I am the enjoyer." The
world revolves because every living being thinks that he is the lord and
creator of the material world. Material consciousness has two psychic
divisions. One is that I am the creator, and the other is that I am the
enjoyer.[32]
This is the main problem of all
conditioned souls. We are deeply convinced that we are independent controllers
and enjoyers; in other words, we think that we are God. It is simply
astonishing how profound this delusion is, for it reaches the very end of the
subtle body of the jiva – the false
ego (ahankara) and the polluted
consciousness (citta). Even when the
soul rejects the gross and subtle sense enjoinment and accepts and even
realizes his eternal spiritual nature, he can still succumb to this “last snare
of maya”, the stubborn insistence
that he is the independent controller and enjoyer. The only solution of this
primordial problem is the radical shift of the identity of the jiva provided by the process of bhakti-yoga. Still, even when we accept
and practice devotional service, it is very hard to get rid of this “God
delusion”[33];
if you have wondered why Srila Prabhupada seems to repeat the same point in his
books over and over again here you have the answer. We, the conditioned souls,
are very persistent in our ignorance and it usually takes an awful amount of
repetition to accept that we are not God and that Krishna is. Once this is
established there are unlimited varieties of topics for discussion, services to
perform, places to visit and fun to have. The unparalleled expertise of Srila
Prabhupada is that he continually destroys our “God delusion” and at the same
time gives us regular doses of glimpses into the spiritual reality. In this way
he presents to us the essence of all scriptures, – that we should always
remember Krishna and never forget Him.
But actually the Supreme Lord is both the creator
and the enjoyer, and the living entity, being part and parcel of the Supreme
Lord, is neither the creator nor the enjoyer, but a cooperator. He is the
created and the enjoyed. For instance, a part of a machine cooperates with the
whole machine; a part of the body cooperates with the whole body. The hands,
legs, eyes, and so on are all parts of the body, but they are not actually the
enjoyers. The stomach is the enjoyer. The legs move, the hands supply food, the
teeth chew, and all parts of the body are engaged in satisfying the stomach
because the stomach is the principal factor that nourishes the body's
organization. Therefore everything is given to the stomach. One nourishes the
tree by watering its root, and one nourishes the body by feeding the stomach,
for if the body is to be kept in a healthy state, then the parts of the body
must cooperate to feed the stomach. Similarly, the Supreme Lord is the enjoyer
and the creator, and we, as subordinate living beings, are meant to cooperate
to satisfy Him.[34]
This cooperation will actually help us, just as food taken by the stomach will
help all other parts of the body. If the fingers of the hand think that they
should take the food themselves instead of giving it to the stomach, then they
will be frustrated. The central figure of creation and of enjoyment is the
Supreme Lord, and the living entities are cooperators. By cooperation they
enjoy. The relation is also like that of the master and the servant. If the
master is fully satisfied, then the servant is satisfied. Similarly, the
Supreme Lord should be satisfied, although the tendency to become the creator
and the tendency to enjoy the material world are there also in the living
entities because these tendencies are there in the Supreme Lord who has created
the manifested cosmic world.
The above relatively short
paragraph, if reflected upon and applied in practice, has the power to solve
all the problems of contemporary society.
We shall find, therefore, in this Bhagavad-gétä
that the complete whole is comprised of the supreme controller, the controlled
living entities, the cosmic manifestation, eternal time and karma, or
activities, and all of these are explained in this text. All of these taken
completely form the complete whole, and the complete whole is called the
Supreme Absolute Truth. The complete whole and the complete Absolute Truth are
the complete Personality of Godhead, Çré Kåñëa. All manifestations are due to
His different energies. He is the complete whole.
It is also explained in the Gétä that impersonal
Brahman is also subordinate to the complete Supreme Person (brahmaëo hi
pratiñöhäham). Brahman is more explicitly explained in the Brahma-sütra to be
like the rays of the sunshine.[35]
The impersonal Brahman is the shining rays of the Supreme Personality of
Godhead. Impersonal Brahman is incomplete realization of the absolute whole,
and so also is the conception of Paramätmä.[36]
In the Fifteenth Chapter it shall be seen that the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, Puruñottama, is above both impersonal Brahman and the partial
realization of Paramätmä.[37]
The Supreme Personality of Godhead is called sac-cid-änanda-vigraha. The
Brahma-saàhitä begins in this way: éçvaraù paramaù kåñëaù sac-cid-änanda-vigrahaù/
anädir ädir govindaù sarva-käraëa-käraëam. "Govinda, Kåñëa, is the cause
of all causes. He is the primal cause, and He is the very form of eternity,
knowledge and bliss." Impersonal Brahman realization is the realization of
His sat (eternity) feature. Paramätmä realization is the realization of sat-cit
(eternal knowledge). But realization of the Personality of Godhead, Kåñëa, is
realization of all the transcendental features: sat, cit and änanda (eternity,
knowledge, and bliss) in complete vigraha (form).
People with less intelligence consider the Supreme
Truth to be impersonal, but He is a transcendental person, and this is
confirmed in all Vedic literatures.[38]
Nityo nityänäà cetanaç cetanänäm. (Kaöha Upaniñad 2.2.13) As we are all
individual living beings and have our individuality, the Supreme Absolute Truth
is also, in the ultimate issue, a person, and realization of the Personality of
Godhead is realization of all of the transcendental features in His complete
form. The complete whole is not formless. If He is formless, or if He is less
than any other thing, then He cannot be the complete whole. The complete whole
must have everything within our experience and beyond our experience, otherwise
it cannot be complete.
The acceptance of the mayavada
philosophy causes serious problems for the jiva.
First of all, the impersonal process is very hard and dry:
For those whose minds are attached to the unmanifested,
impersonal feature of the Supreme, advancement is very troublesome. To make
progress in that discipline is always difficult for those who are embodied. (BG
12.5)
The soul naturally wants to have loving relationships with
God and all other living entities; he yearns to love and to be loved in return.
The mayavada doctrine puts a stamp of
shame and guilt on all of these natural desires. This results in profound,
existential despair. Krishna states in the Bhagavad-gita:
Not by merely abstaining from work can one achieve freedom
from reaction, nor by renunciation alone can one attain perfection.
Furthermore, the denial of transcendental personal
relationships encourages the perverted dealings of this world:
In modern civilization, sex life is the focal point for
all activities. Wherever one turns his face, he sees sex life predominant. Therefore,
sex life is not unreal. Its reality is experienced in the spiritual world. The
material sex life is but a perverted reflection of the original fact. The
original fact is in the Absolute Truth, and thus the Absolute Truth cannot be
impersonal. It is not possible to be impersonal and contain pure sex life.
Consequently, the impersonalist philosophers have given indirect impetus to the
abominable mundane sex life because they have overstressed the impersonality of
the ultimate truth. Consequently, man without information of the actual
spiritual form of sex has accepted perverted material sex life as the all in
all. There is a distinction between sex life in the diseased material condition
and spiritual sex life. (SB 1.1.1, purp.)
The complete whole, Personality of Godhead, has
immense potencies (paräsya çaktir vividhaiva çrüyate [Cc. Madhya 13.65,
purport]. How Kåñëa is acting in different potencies is also explained in
Bhagavad-gétä. This phenomenal world or material world in which we are placed
is also complete in itself because the twenty-four elements of which this
material universe is a temporary manifestation, according to Säìkhya
philosophy, are completely adjusted to produce complete resources which are
necessary for the maintenance and subsistence of this universe. There is
nothing extraneous, nor is there anything needed. This manifestation has its
own time fixed by the energy of the supreme whole, and when its 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 are experienced due to incomplete knowledge of the complete. So
Bhagavad-gétä contains the complete knowledge of Vedic wisdom. [39]
In order to ensure the
correct appreciation of this knowledge, Çréla Prabhupäda next clarifies:
4.
The process of
understanding the Bhagavad-gétä
a) Vedic
knowledge is infallible, above all doubts and mistakes. The Bhagavad-gétä is the essence of all Vedic
knowledge.
b) Vedic
knowledge is not a question of research.
We have to accept knowledge which comes down in disciplic succession.
c) The Gétä
should be accepted without interpretation, without deletion, and without our
own whimsical participation in the matter.
d) The words
spoken by the Lord are apauruseya—all
perfect transcendental knowledge by revelation.
All Vedic knowledge is infallible, and Hindus
accept Vedic knowledge to be complete and infallible. For example, cow dung is
the stool of an animal, and according to småti, or Vedic injunction, if one
touches the stool of an animal he has to take a bath to purify himself. But in
the Vedic scriptures cow dung is considered to be a purifying agent. One might
consider this to be contradictory, but it is accepted because it is Vedic
injunction, and indeed by accepting this, one will not commit a mistake;
subsequently it has been proved by modern science that cow dung contains all
antiseptic properties. So Vedic knowledge is complete because it is above all
doubts and mistakes, and Bhagavad-gétä is the essence of all Vedic knowledge.
Vedic knowledge is not a question of research. Our
research work is imperfect because we are researching things with imperfect
senses. We have to accept perfect knowledge which comes down, as is stated in
Bhagavad-gétä, by the paramparä (disciplic succession).[40]
We have to receive knowledge from the proper source in disciplic succession
beginning with the supreme spiritual master, the Lord Himself, and handed down
to a succession of spiritual masters. Arjuna, the student who took lessons from
Lord Çré Kåñëa, accepts everything that He says without contradicting Him. One
is not allowed to accept one portion of Bhagavad-gétä and not another. No. We
must accept Bhagavad-gétä without interpretation, without deletion and without
our own whimsical participation in the matter. The Gétä should be taken as the
most perfect presentation of Vedic knowledge. Vedic knowledge is received from
transcendental sources, and the first words were spoken by the Lord Himself.
The words spoken by the Lord are called apauruñeya, meaning that they are
different from words spoken by a person of the mundane world who is infected
with four defects. A mundaner (1) is sure to commit mistakes, (2) is invariably
illusioned, (3) has the tendency to cheat others and (4) is limited by
imperfect senses. With these four imperfections, one cannot deliver perfect
information of all-pervading knowledge.
In other words, the very fact
that one is not a devotee of the Lord proves that he is a defective living
entity and does not have perfect knowledge.
Vedic knowledge is not imparted by such defective
living entities. It was imparted unto the heart of Brahmä, the first created
living being, and Brahmä in his turn disseminated this knowledge to his sons
and disciples, as he originally received it from the Lord.[41]
The Lord is pürëam, all-perfect, and there is no possibility of His becoming
subjected to the laws of material nature. One should therefore be intelligent
enough to know that the Lord is the only proprietor of everything in the
universe and that He is the original creator, the creator of Brahmä. In the
Eleventh Chapter the Lord is addressed as prapitämaha [Bg. 11.39] because
Brahmä is addressed as pitämaha, the grandfather, and He is the creator of the
grandfather. So no one should claim to be the proprietor of anything; one
should accept only things which are set aside for him by the Lord as his quota
for his maintenance.[42]
If the Lord’s words are
accepted in this way, then what follows is:
5.
The result of understanding the Bhagavad-gétä
a) At the
end of the Bhagavad-gétä Arjuna says, karisye
vacanam tava, “I shall act according to Your word.”
b) Like
Arjuna, if we properly utilize the instructions of the Bhagavad-gétä, then our
whole life becomes purified and, ultimately, we will be able to reach the
destination which is beyond this material sky (yad gatvä na nivartante tad dhäma paramaà mama).
c) All the
planets in the material world have the inconveniences of birth, death, old age,
and disease. The abode of Kåñëa has no
such flaws and therefore the Bhagavad-gétä recommends that one must reach this
kingdom of the Supreme, the sanatana-dhäma.
d) Having
once attained this kingdom, the living entity does not return to the material
world; of this, the Lord says, “There is no doubt.”
e) The
eternal jéva has an eternal
relationship with the eternal Lord in that eternal spiritual sky.
f)
Service is the constant companion of the living
being and rendering service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the
eternal religion, sanätana-dharma.
g) By
understanding the instruction of the Bhagavad-gétä, we can revive our eternal occupation (sanätana-dharma). That is the
perfection in life.
Thus, Kåñëa confirms
that the purpose of human life is to return back home, back to Godhead, and to
serve Him there.
There are many examples given of how we are to
utilize those things which are set aside for us by the Lord. This is also
explained in Bhagavad-gétä.[43]
In the beginning, Arjuna decided that he should not fight in the Battle of
Kurukñetra. This was his own decision. Arjuna told the Lord that it was not
possible for him to enjoy the kingdom after killing his own kinsmen.[44]
This decision was based on the body because he was thinking that the body was
himself and that his bodily relations or expansions were his brothers, nephews,
brothers-in-law, grandfathers and so on. Therefore he wanted to satisfy his
bodily demands. Bhagavad-gétä was spoken by the Lord just to change this view,
and at the end Arjuna decides to fight under the directions of the Lord when he
says, kariñye vacanaà tava [Bg. 18.73]: "I shall act according to Your
word."
In the beginning of the Bhagavad-gita
Arjuna was victimized by his misplaced compassion. He thought that he could
benefit his friends and relatives independently of the Lord’s order. In other
words, he thought that he was everyone’s best friend. This is yet another trap for the conditioned
soul. Not only does he think that he is the controller and the enjoyer, he
thinks that he is the best friend of all the humanity as well.
Srila Prabhupada compares this
ignorant so-called compassion with saving the dress of a drowning man. The
spirit soul cannot be happy in the material world no matter how hard he, or the
materialistic philanthropists try. The soul can be happy only in his
constitutional position of pure devotional service in the spiritual world, this
is the eternal law. Therefore, all modern doctrines, which aim at bettering the
human society in denial of Lord’s eternal laws, are examples of sheer ignorance
and envy. In most cases such materialistic attempts are unable to provide even
temporary material relief, not to speak of solving the real problems of life, birth,
death, old age and disease. All such
so-called remedies are worse than the problem itself:
O great one, O Supreme Lord,
because of combination with pleasing and displeasing circumstances and because
of separation from them, one is placed in a most regrettable position, within
heavenly or hellish planets, as if burning in a fire of lamentation. Although
there are many remedies by which to get out of miserable life, any such
remedies in the material world are more miserable than the miseries themselves.
Therefore, I think that the only remedy is to engage in Your service. Kindly
instruct me in such service. (SB 7.9.17)
In this world men are not meant for quarreling like
cats and dogs. Men must be intelligent to realize the importance of human life
and refuse to act like ordinary animals.[45]
A human being should realize the aim of his life, and this direction is given
in all Vedic literatures, and the essence is given in Bhagavad-gétä. Vedic
literature is meant for human beings, not for animals. Animals can kill other
living animals, and 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. In the Bhagavad-gétä it is clearly
explained that there are three kinds of activities according to the different
modes of nature: the activities of goodness, of passion and of ignorance.
Similarly, there are three kinds of eatables also: eatables in goodness,
passion and ignorance. All of this is clearly described, and if we properly
utilize the instructions of Bhagavad-gétä, then our whole life will become
purified, and ultimately we will be able to reach the destination which is
beyond this material sky (yad gatvä na nivartante tad dhäma paramaà mama). [Bg.
15.6]
That destination is called the sanätana sky, the
eternal, spiritual sky.[46]
In this material world we find that everything is temporary. It comes into
being, stays for some time, produces some by-products, dwindles and then
vanishes. That is the law of the material world, whether we use as an example
this body, or a piece of fruit or anything. But beyond this temporary world
there is another world of which we have information. That world consists of
another nature, which is sanätana, eternal.[47]
Jéva is also described as sanätana, eternal, and the Lord is also described as
sanätana in the Eleventh Chapter. We have an intimate relationship with the
Lord, and because we are all qualitatively one—the sanätana-dhäma, or sky, the
sanätana Supreme Personality and the sanätana living entities—the whole purpose
of Bhagavad-gétä is to revive our sanätana occupation, or sanätana-dharma,
which is the eternal occupation of the living entity. We are temporarily
engaged in different activities, but all of these activities can be purified
when we give up all these temporary activities and take up the activities which
are prescribed by the Supreme Lord. That is called our pure life.[48]
The Supreme Lord and His transcendental abode are
both sanätana, as are the living entities, and the combined association of the
Supreme Lord and the living entities in the sanätana abode is the perfection of
human life. The Lord is very kind to the living entities because they are His
sons. Lord Kåñëa declares in Bhagavad-gétä, sarva-yoniñu. .. ahaà béja-pradaù
pitä: "I am the father of all." Of course there are all types of
living entities according to their various karmas, but here the Lord claims
that He is the father of all of them. Therefore the Lord descends to reclaim
all of these fallen, conditioned souls, to call them back to the sanätana
eternal sky so that the sanätana living entities may regain their eternal
sanätana positions in eternal association with the Lord. The Lord comes Himself
in different incarnations, or He sends His confidential servants as sons or His
associates or äcäryas to reclaim the conditioned souls.[49]
Therefore, sanätana-dharma does not refer to any
sectarian process of religion. It is the eternal function of the eternal living
entities in relationship with the eternal Supreme Lord. Sanätana-dharma refers,
as stated previously, to the eternal occupation of the living entity. Çrépäda
Rämänujäcärya has explained the word sanätana as "that which has neither
beginning nor end," so when we speak of sanätana-dharma, we must take it
for granted on the authority of Çrépäda Rämänujäcärya that it has neither
beginning nor end.
The English word religion is a little different
from sanätana-dharma. Religion conveys the idea of faith, and faith may change.
One may have faith in a particular process, and he may change this faith and
adopt another, but sanätana-dharma refers to that activity which cannot be
changed. For instance, liquidity cannot be taken from water, nor can heat be
taken from fire. Similarly, the eternal function of the eternal living entity
cannot be taken from the living entity. Sanätana-dharma is eternally integral
with the living entity. When we speak of sanätana-dharma, therefore, we must
take it for granted on the authority of Çrépäda Rämänujäcärya that it has
neither beginning nor end. That which has neither end nor beginning must not be
sectarian, for it cannot be limited by any boundaries. Those belonging to some
sectarian faith will wrongly consider that sanätana-dharma is also sectarian,
but if we go deeply into the matter and consider it in the light of modern
science, it is possible for us to see that sanätana-dharma is the business of
all the people of the world—nay, of all the living entities of the universe.[50]
Non-sanätana religious faith may have some
beginning in the annals of human history, but there is no beginning to the
history of sanätana-dharma, because it remains eternally with the living
entities. Insofar as the living entities are concerned, the authoritative
çästras state that the living entity has neither birth nor death. In the Gétä
it is stated that the living entity is never born and he never dies.[51]
He is eternal and indestructible, and he continues to live after the
destruction of his temporary material body.[52]
In reference to the concept of sanätana-dharma, we must try to understand the
concept of religion from the Sanskrit root meaning of the word. Dharma refers
to that which is constantly existing with a particular object. We conclude that
there is heat and light along with the fire; without heat and light, there is
no meaning to the word fire. Similarly, we must discover the essential part of
the living being, that part which is his constant companion. That constant
companion is his eternal quality, and that eternal quality is his eternal
religion.
When Sanätana Gosvämé asked Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu
about the svarüpa of every living being, the Lord replied that the svarüpa, or
constitutional position, of the living being is the rendering of service to the
Supreme Personality of Godhead. If we analyze this statement of Lord
Caitanya's, we can easily see that every living being is constantly engaged in
rendering service to another living being. A living being serves other living
beings in various capacities. By doing so, the living entity enjoys life. The
lower animals serve human beings as servants serve their master. A serves B
master, B serves C master, and C serves D master and so on. Under these
circumstances, we can see that one friend serves another friend, the mother
serves the son, the wife serves the husband, the husband serves the wife and so
on. If we go on searching in this spirit, it will be seen that there is no
exception in the society of living beings to the activity of service. The
politician presents his manifesto for the public to convince them of his
capacity for service. The voters therefore give the politician their valuable
votes, thinking that he will render valuable service to society. The shopkeeper
serves the customer, and the artisan serves the capitalist. The capitalist
serves the family, and the family serves the state in the terms of the eternal
capacity of the eternal living being. In this way we can see that no living
being is exempt from rendering service to other living beings, and therefore we
can safely conclude that service is the constant companion of the living being
and that the rendering of service is the eternal religion of the living being.
Yet man professes to belong to a particular type of
faith with reference to a particular time and circumstance and thus claims to
be a Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist or an adherent of any other sect. Such
designations are non-sanätana-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 may
change his faith and so on. But in all circumstances the change of religious
faith does not affect the eternal occupation of rendering service to others.
The Hindu, Muslim or Christian in all circumstances is servant of someone.
Thus, to profess a particular type of faith is not to profess one's
sanätana-dharma. The rendering of service is sanätana-dharma.
One can change his faith in a particular
deity, but one can never change his inherent nature because it is fixed by the
Lord. The eternal never changes. In the Bhagavad-gita the Lord says:
Those who are seers of the truth
have concluded that of the nonexistent [the material body] there is no
endurance and of the eternal [the soul] there is no change. This they have concluded
by studying the nature of both. (BG 2.16)
Material nature consists of
three modes—goodness, passion and ignorance. When the eternal living entity
comes in contact with nature, O mighty-armed Arjuna, he becomes conditioned by
these modes. (BG 14.5)
Sometimes the mode of goodness
becomes prominent, defeating the modes of passion and ignorance, O son of
Bharata. Sometimes the mode of passion defeats goodness and ignorance, and at
other times ignorance defeats goodness and passion. In this way there is always
competition for supremacy. (BG 14.10)
O son of Bharata, according to
one's existence under the various modes of nature, one evolves a particular
kind of faith. The living being is said to be of a particular faith according
to the modes he has acquired. (BG 17.3)
There are different types of
faith according to the modes of nature. Since the gunas are constantly fluctuating, people’s faiths are changing all
the time accordingly. Even when one has materially colored faith in some
demigod, still it is Krishna who makes this faith strong, and it is Krishna
only who authorizes the demigod to bestow the desired result to the
materialistic worshiper. This is because nothing can happen without the
permission of the Lord and because He is the ultimate beneficiary of all
sacrifices and worship.
Factually we are related to the Supreme Lord in
service. The Supreme Lord is the supreme enjoyer, and we living entities are
His servitors.[53]
We are created for His enjoyment, and if we participate in that eternal enjoyment
with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, we become happy. We cannot become
happy otherwise. It is not possible to be happy independently, just as no one
part of the body can be happy without cooperating with the stomach. It is not
possible for the living entity to be happy without rendering transcendental
loving service unto the Supreme Lord.
In this short paragraph His
Divine Grace presents the entire Vedanta philosophy in a nutshell. Understanding
and applying these few sentences are enough to ensure us an everlasting and
blissful existence in pure love for God.
In the Bhagavad-gétä, worship of different demigods
or rendering service to them is not approved. It is stated in the Seventh
Chapter, twentieth verse:
kämais tais tair håta-jïänäù
prapadyante 'nya-devatäù
taà taà niyamam ästhäya
prakåtyä niyatäù svayä
"Those whose intelligence has been stolen by
material desires surrender unto demigods and follow the particular rules and
regulations of worship according to their own natures."
Here it is plainly said that those who are directed
by lust worship the demigods and not the Supreme Lord Kåñëa. When we mention
the name Kåñëa, we do not refer to any sectarian name. Kåñëa means the highest
pleasure, and it is confirmed that the Supreme Lord is the reservoir or
storehouse of all pleasure. We are all hankering after pleasure. Änanda-mayo
'bhyäsät (Vedänta-sütra 1.1.12). The living entities, like the Lord, are full
of consciousness, and they are after happiness. The Lord is perpetually happy, and
if the living entities associate with the Lord, cooperate with Him and take
part in His association, then they also become happy.
The Lord descends to this mortal world to show His
pastimes in Våndävana, which are full of happiness. When Lord Çré Kåñëa was in
Våndävana, His activities with His cowherd boyfriends, with His damsel friends,
with the other inhabitants of Våndävana and with the cows were all full of
happiness. The total population of Våndävana knew nothing but Kåñëa. But Lord
Kåñëa even discouraged His father Nanda Mahäräja from worshiping the demigod
Indra, because He wanted to establish the fact that people need not worship any
demigod. They need only worship the Supreme Lord, because their ultimate goal
is to return to His abode.[54]
The abode of Lord Çré Kåñëa is described in the
Bhagavad-gétä, Fifteenth Chapter, sixth verse:
na tad bhäsayate süryo
na çaçäìko na pävakaù
yad gatvä na nivartante
tad dhäma paramaà mama
"That supreme abode of Mine is not illumined
by the sun or moon, nor by fire or electricity. Those who reach it never return
to this material world."
This verse gives a description of that eternal sky.
Of course we have a material conception of the sky, and we think of it in relationship
to the sun, moon, stars and so on, but in this verse the Lord states that in
the eternal sky there is no need for the sun nor for the moon nor electricity
or fire of any kind because the spiritual sky is already illuminated by the
brahmajyoti, the rays emanating from the Supreme Lord. We are trying with
difficulty to reach other planets, but it is not difficult to understand the
abode of the Supreme Lord. This abode is referred to as Goloka. In the
Brahma-saàhitä (5.37) it is beautifully described: goloka eva nivasaty
akhilätma-bhütaù. The Lord resides eternally in His abode Goloka, yet He can be
approached from this world, and to this end the Lord comes to manifest His real
form, sac-cid-änanda-vigraha [Bs. 5.1]. When He manifests this form, there is
no need for our imagining what He looks like. To discourage such imaginative
speculation, He descends and exhibits Himself as He is, as Çyämasundara.
One can attain partial
realization of Brahman and Paramatma by using his own intelligence.[55]
But in order to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Bhagavan, one
must accept the authority of guru, sadhu and sastra. There is no other way.
Unfortunately, the less intelligent deride Him
because He comes as one of us and plays with us as a human being.[56]
But because of this we should not consider the Lord one of us. It is by His
omnipotency that He presents Himself in His real form before us and displays
His pastimes, which are replicas of those pastimes found in His abode.
Out of His endless compassion Kåñëa,
the Supreme Personality of Godhead, descends to this material world in order to
deliver all conditioned souls. He comes in His beautiful, humanlike form and
displays His humanlike pastimes in order to create a common ground and attract
the innocent people. Unfortunately, the envious do not appreciate how the Lord reaches out to them; they
take Him to be yet another conditioned soul, just like them.
In the effulgent rays of the spiritual sky there
are innumerable planets floating. The brahmajyoti emanates from the supreme
abode, Kåñëaloka, and the änanda-maya, cin-maya planets, which are not
material, float in those rays. The Lord says, na tad bhäsayate süryo na çaçäìko
na pävakaù/ yad gatvä na nivartante tad dhäma paramaà mama [Bg. 15.6]. One who
can approach that spiritual sky is not required to descend again to the
material sky. In the material sky, even if we approach the highest planet
(Brahmaloka), what to speak of the moon, we will find the same conditions of
life, namely birth, death, disease and old age. No planet in the material
universe is free from these four principles of material existence.[57]
The living entities are traveling from one planet
to another, but it is not that we can go to any planet we like merely by a
mechanical arrangement. If we desire to go to other planets, there is a process
for going there. This is also mentioned: yänti deva-vratä devän pitèn yänti
pitå-vratäù [Bg. 9.25]. No mechanical arrangement is necessary if we want
interplanetary travel. The Gétä instructs: yänti deva-vratä devän. The moon,
the sun and higher planets are called Svargaloka. There are three different
statuses of planets: higher, middle and lower planetary systems. The earth
belongs to the middle planetary system. Bhagavad-gétä informs us how to travel
to the higher planetary systems (Devaloka) with a very simple formula: yänti
deva-vratä devän. One need only worship the particular demigod of that particular
planet and in that way go to the moon, the sun or any of the higher planetary
systems.
Yet Bhagavad-gétä does not advise us to go to any
of the planets in this material world, because even if we go to Brahmaloka, the
highest planet, through some sort of mechanical contrivance by maybe traveling
for forty thousand years (and who would live that long?), we will still find
the material inconveniences of birth, death, disease and old age. But one who
wants to approach the supreme planet, Kåñëaloka, or any of the other planets
within the spiritual sky, will not meet with these material inconveniences.
Amongst all of the planets in the spiritual sky there is one supreme planet
called Goloka Våndävana, which is the original planet in the abode of the original
Personality of Godhead Çré Kåñëa. All of this information is given in
Bhagavad-gétä, and we are given through its instruction information how to
leave the material world and begin a truly blissful life in the spiritual sky.
In the Fifteenth Chapter of the Bhagavad-gétä, the
real picture of the material world is given. It is said there:
ürdhva-mülam adhaù-çäkham
açvatthaà prähur avyayam
chandäàsi yasya parëäni
yas taà veda sa veda-vit
Here the material world is described as a tree
whose roots are upwards and branches are below. We have experience of a tree
whose roots are upward: if one stands on the bank of a river or any reservoir
of water, he can see that the trees reflected in the water are upside down. The
branches go downward and the roots upward. Similarly, this material world is a
reflection of the spiritual world. The material world is but a shadow of
reality. In the shadow there is no reality or substantiality, but from the
shadow we can understand that there are substance and reality. In the desert
there is no water, but the mirage suggests that there is such a thing as water.
In the material world there is no water, there is no happiness, but the real
water of actual happiness is there in the spiritual world.
This is one of the differences between
the mayavadis and the Vaisnavas. The mayavadis think that everything is illusion;
the Vaisnavas say that everything is Krishna and His energies; illusion is only
our perverted perception of reality. This illusion makes us think that we can
control and enjoy independently of the Lord.
The Lord suggests that we attain the spiritual
world in the following manner (Bg. 15.5):
nirmäna-mohä jita-saìga-doñä
adhyätma-nityä vinivåtta-kämäù
dvandvair vimuktäù sukha-duùkha-saàjïair
gacchanty amüòhäù padam avyayaà tat
That padam avyayam, or eternal kingdom, can be
reached by one who is nirmäna-moha. What does this mean? We are after
designations. Someone wants to become "sir," someone wants to become
"lord," someone wants to become the president or a rich man or a king
or something else. As long as we are attached to these designations, we are
attached to the body, because designations belong to the body.[58]
But we are not these bodies, and realizing this is the first stage in spiritual
realization. We are associated with the three modes of material nature, but we
must become detached through devotional service to the Lord. If we are not
attached to devotional service to the Lord, then we cannot become detached from
the modes of material nature.[59]
Designations and attachments are due to our lust and desire, our wanting to
lord it over the material nature. As long as we do not give up this propensity
of lording it over material nature, there is no possibility of returning to the
kingdom of the Supreme, the sanätana-dhäma.[60]
That eternal kingdom, which is never destroyed, can be approached by one who is
not bewildered by the attractions of false material enjoyments, who is situated
in the service of the Supreme Lord. One so situated can easily approach that
supreme abode.
Elsewhere in the Gétä (8.21) it is stated:
avyakto 'kñara ity uktas
tam ähuù paramäà gatim
yaà präpya na nivartante
tad dhäma paramaà mama
Avyakta means unmanifested. Not even all of the
material world is manifested before us. Our senses are so imperfect that we
cannot even see all of the stars within this material universe. In Vedic
literature we can receive much information about all the planets, and we can
believe it or not believe it. All of the important planets are described in
Vedic literatures, especially Çrémad-Bhägavatam, and the spiritual world, which
is beyond this material sky, is described as avyakta, unmanifested. One should
desire and hanker after that supreme kingdom, for when one attains that
kingdom, he does not have to return to this material world.
Finally, Çréla
Prabhupäda poses and answers the question, “How does one go about approaching
that abode of the Supreme Lord?”
6.
The process given in the
Bhagavad-gétä for attaining Kåñëa’s abode
a) Simply by
thinking of Kåñëa at the time of death, one can enter the spiritual kingdom.
b) Our
thinking, now absorbed in the material energy, must be transferred to the
spiritual energy. Therefore, we have to
practice remembrance of the Lord by chanting His names (which are non-different
from Him) and molding our life’s activities in such a way that we can always remember
Him.
c)
The Bhagavad-gétä teaches:
· How to absorb the mind and
intelligence in thoughts of the Lord.
·
If the intelligence and the mind are always engaged
in thoughts of the Supreme Lord, then naturally the senses are also engaged in
His service.
·
This practice is the process of devotional service.
·
One must learn this process by rendering service to
and enquiring submissively from a self-realized soul.
Next, one may raise the question of how one goes
about approaching that abode of the Supreme Lord. Information of this is given
in the Eighth Chapter. It is said there:
anta-käle ca mäm eva
smaran muktvä kalevaram
yaù prayäti sa mad-bhävaà
yäti nästy atra saàçayaù
"And whoever, at the end of his life, quits
his body remembering Me alone at once attains My nature. Of this there is no
doubt." [Bg. 8.5]
One who thinks of Kåñëa at the time of his death
goes to Kåñëa. One must remember the form of Kåñëa; if he quits his body
thinking of this form, he surely approaches the spiritual kingdom. Mad-bhävam
refers to the supreme nature of the Supreme Being. The Supreme Being is
sac-cid-änanda-vigraha [Bs. 5.1]—that is, His form is eternal, full of
knowledge and bliss. Our present body is not sac-cid-änanda. It is asat, not
sat. It is not eternal; it is perishable. It is not cit, full of knowledge, but
it is full of ignorance. We have no knowledge of the spiritual kingdom, nor do
we even have perfect knowledge of this material world, where there are so many
things unknown to us. The body is also niränanda; instead of being full of
bliss it is full of misery. All of the miseries we experience in the material
world arise from the body, but one who leaves this body thinking of Lord Kåñëa,
the Supreme Personality of Godhead, at once attains a sac-cid-änanda body.
Therefore, the process of bhakti-yoga is the greatest good fortune
for the conditioned soul for it enables him to attain his eternal spiritual
position in the spiritual world by “sacrificing” his short life span in his
miserable material body (which otherwise would be anyway uselessly wasted in
animalistic sense enjoinment or dry mental speculation, or both) by being fully
engaged in devotional service. The Lord states in Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.29.22:
This process is the supreme
intelligence of the intelligent and the cleverness of the most clever, for by
following it one can in this very life make use of the temporary and unreal to
achieve Me, the eternal reality.
Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti
Thakura elaborates:
He who can receive a thousand coins by giving one coin is said to
be most intelligent and skillful in this world. One who obtains diamonds or a
gold coin in exchange for a small coin is called intelligent and skillful. A person who can take a gold coin from a
sober, intelligent person is called intelligent and skillful. But one cannot
say who is intelligent enough to obtain a cintämaëi or a kämadhenu.
The inhabitants of Bharata-bhümé who are mortal and born in low families offer
to me their bodies not worthy a penny, which are deformed and afflicted with
old age and disease. But they attain me,
the ocean of sweetness. Accepting their offerings, I, who am supposed to be the
cleverest, out of joy give myself, with my priceless ornaments, bracelets and
crown, to the devotees. Such inhabitants
of Bhärta-bhümi are the most intelligent and most skillful! Giving one’s body to the Lord means to engage
the ear and other organs in hearing, chanting, remembering and service. If the tongue is engaged in chanting, if the
ears are engaged in hearing, if the hands are engaged in service, then one is
giving one’s body to the Lord. But the Lord is attained even by offering only
one part of the body! What intelligent
person would not do this?
This verse is the touchstone among verses, the essence of all the
Lord’s teachings. He who has this verse
shining in his heart shines in the assembly of devotees.
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. Higher authorities,
not the living entity himself, make this decision. According to our activities
in this life, we either rise or sink. This life is a preparation for the next
life. If we can prepare, therefore, in this life to get promotion to the
kingdom of God, then surely, after quitting this material body, we will attain
a spiritual body just like the Lord's.
There are different standards of
living according to one’s consciousness. A person who has developed a demigod’s
type of consciousness after death will attain a suitable body. A person who has
developed an animalistic consciousness will have to accept an animal body. It
is not possible to retain a human or a demigod’s standard of life with an
animalistic consciousness.
As explained before, there are different kinds of
transcendentalists—the brahma-vädé, paramätma-vädé and the devotee—and, as
mentioned, in the brahmajyoti (spiritual sky) there are innumerable spiritual
planets. The number of these planets is far, far greater than all of the planets
of this material world. This material world has been approximated as only one
quarter of the creation (ekäàçena sthito jagat [Bg. 10.42]). In this material
segment there are millions and billions of universes with trillions of planets
and suns, stars and moons. But this whole material creation is only a fragment
of the total creation. Most of the creation is in the spiritual sky. One who
desires to merge into the existence of the Supreme Brahman is at once
transferred to the brahmajyoti of the Supreme Lord and thus attains the
spiritual sky. The devotee, who wants to enjoy the association of the Lord,
enters into the Vaikuëöha planets, which are innumerable, and the Supreme Lord
by His plenary expansions as Näräyaëa with four hands and with different names
like Pradyumna, Aniruddha and Govinda associates with him there. Therefore at
the end of life the transcendentalists think either of the brahmajyoti, the
Paramätmä or the Supreme Personality of Godhead Çré Kåñëa. In all cases they
enter into the spiritual sky, but only the devotee, or he who is in personal
touch with the Supreme Lord, enters into the Vaikuëöha planets or the Goloka
Våndävana planet. The Lord further adds that of this "there is no
doubt." This must be believed firmly. We should not reject that which does
not tally with our imagination; our attitude should be that of Arjuna: "I
believe everything that You have said." Therefore when the Lord says that
at the time of death whoever thinks of Him as Brahman or Paramätmä or as the
Personality of Godhead certainly enters into the spiritual sky, there is no
doubt about it. There is no question of disbelieving it.
One should not dismiss something
as untrue just because he does not have capacity to understand it. Rather, one
should accept that there are many things, which stand beyond his present
capacity of understanding and try to qualify himself by following the standard
process. Such an attitude, however, requires humility, and humility is very
rare in Kali Yuga.
The Bhagavad-gétä (8.6) also explains the general
principle that makes it possible to enter the spiritual kingdom simply by
thinking of the Supreme at the time of death:
yaà yaà väpi smaran bhävaà
tyajaty ante kalevaram
taà tam evaiti kaunteya
sadä tad-bhäva-bhävitaù
"Whatever state of being one remembers when he
quits his present body, in his next life he will attain to that state without
fail." Now, first we must understand that material nature is a display of
one of the energies of the Supreme Lord. In the Viñëu Puräëa (6.7.61) the total
energies of the Supreme Lord are delineated:
viñëu-çaktiù parä proktä
kñetra-jïäkhyä tathä parä
avidyä-karma-saàjïänyä
tåtéyä çaktir iñyate
[Cc. Madhya
6.154]
The Supreme Lord has diverse and innumerable
energies which are beyond our conception; however, great learned sages or
liberated souls have studied these energies and have analyzed them into three
parts. All of the energies are of viñëu-çakti, that is to say they are
different potencies of Lord Viñëu. The first energy is parä, transcendental. Living
entities also belong to the superior energy, as has already been explained. The
other energies, or material energies, are in the mode of ignorance. At the time
of death either we can remain in the inferior energy of this material world, or
we can transfer to the energy of the spiritual world. So the Bhagavad-gétä
(8.6) says:
yaà yaà väpi smaran bhävaà
tyajaty ante kalevaram
taà tam evaiti kaunteya
sadä tad-bhäva-bhävitaù
"Whatever state of being one remembers when he
quits his present body, in his next life he will attain to that state without
fail."
In life we are accustomed to thinking either of the
material or of the spiritual energy. Now, how can we transfer our thoughts from
the material energy to the spiritual energy? There are so many literatures
which fill our thoughts with the material energy-newspapers, magazines, novels,
etc. Our thinking, which is now absorbed in these literatures, must be
transferred to the Vedic literatures.[61]
The great sages, therefore, have written so many Vedic literatures, such as the
Puräëas. The Puräëas are not imaginative; they are historical records. In the
Caitanya-caritämåta (Madhya 20.122) there is the following verse:
mäyä-mugdha jévera nähi svataù kåñëa-jïäna
jévere kåpäya kailä kåñëa veda-puräëa
The forgetful living entities or conditioned souls
have forgotten their relationship with the Supreme Lord, and they are engrossed
in thinking of material activities. Just to transfer their thinking power to
the spiritual sky, Kåñëa-dvaipäyana Vyäsa has given a great number of Vedic
literatures. First he divided the Vedas into four, then he explained them in
the Puräëas, and for less capable people he wrote the Mahäbhärata. In the
Mahäbhärata there is given the Bhagavad-gétä. Then all Vedic literature is
summarized in the Vedänta-sütra, and for future guidance he gave a natural
commentation on the Vedänta-sütra, called Çrémad-Bhägavatam. We must always
engage our minds in reading these Vedic literatures. Just as materialists
engage their minds in reading newspapers, magazines and so many materialistic
literatures, we must transfer our reading to these literatures which are given
to us by Vyäsadeva; in that way it will be possible for us to remember the
Supreme Lord at the time of death. That is the only way suggested by the Lord,
and He guarantees the result: "There is no doubt."[62]
tasmät sarveñu käleñu
mäm anusmara yudhya ca
mayy arpita-mano-buddhir
mäm evaiñyasy asaàçayaù
"Therefore, Arjuna, you should always think of
Me in the form of Kåñëa and at the same time continue your prescribed duty of
fighting. With your activities dedicated to Me and your mind and intelligence
fixed on Me, you will attain Me without doubt." (Bg. 8.7)
He does not advise Arjuna simply to remember Him
and give up his occupation. No, the Lord never suggests anything impractical.
Hence claiming that “I have to
be practical therefore I cannot follow all these rules given by Srila
Prabhuadsa and the acharyas” is
simply an excuse for not performing our duties. According to the Bhagavad-gita,
giving up prescribed duties because they are troublesome is in the mode of
passion. The results of activities in passion are always trivial. What we call
impractical is just our laziness and unwillingness to follow the Vedic
authority. Of course, it is presented as being intelligent, independently
thoughtful, progressive, etc., but the reality is that we still want to be the
independent controller and the enjoyer, as well as the best friend of all
living beings. The only practical method for action in the whole cosmos is the
method prescribed by Krishna and His representatives. But in order to
appreciate it we require certain qualification, which becomes more and more uncommon
in Kali Yuga.
In this material world, in order to maintain the
body one has to work. Human society is divided, according to work, into four
divisions of social order—brähmaëa, kñatriya, vaiçya and çüdra. The brähmaëa
class or intelligent class is working in one way, the kñatriya or
administrative class is working in another way, and the mercantile class and
the laborers are all tending to their specific duties. In the human society,
whether one is a laborer, merchant, administrator or farmer, or even if one
belongs to the highest class and is a literary man, a scientist or a
theologian, he has to work in order to maintain his existence. The Lord
therefore tells Arjuna that he need not give up his occupation, but while he is
engaged in his occupation he should remember Kåñëa (mäm anusmara [Bg. 8.7]). If
he doesn't practice remembering Kåñëa while he is struggling for existence,
then it will not be possible for him to remember Kåñëa at the time of death.
Lord Caitanya also advises this. He says, kértanéyaù sadä hariù: [Cc. Ädi
17.31] one should practice chanting the names of the Lord always. The names of
the Lord and the Lord are nondifferent. So Lord Kåñëa's instruction to Arjuna
to "remember Me" and Lord Caitanya's injunction to "always chant
the names of Lord Kåñëa" are the same instruction. There is no difference,
because Kåñëa and Kåñëa's name are nondifferent. In the absolute status there
is no difference between reference and referent.[63]
Therefore we have to practice remembering the Lord always, twenty-four hours a
day, by chanting His names and molding our life's activities in such a way that
we can remember Him always.
How is this possible? The äcäryas give the
following example. If a married woman is attached to another man, or if a man
has an attachment for a woman other than his wife, then the attachment is to be
considered very strong. One with such an attachment is always thinking of the
loved one. The wife who is thinking of her lover is always thinking of meeting
him, even while she is carrying out her household chores. In fact, she carries
out her household work even more carefully so her husband will not suspect her
attachment. Similarly, we should always remember the supreme lover, Çré Kåñëa,
and at the same time perform our material duties very nicely. A strong sense of
love is required here. If we have a strong sense of love for the Supreme Lord,
then we can discharge our duty and at the same time remember Him. But we have
to develop that sense of love.
What to do if we do not have such
an intense love, which would enable us to always think of Kåñëa? Then,
according to Srimad-Bhagavatam, we should serve those who have such love. And
service is something we always do, it is our inherent nature; thus, we cannot
make any excuses:
O twice-born sages, by serving
those devotees who are completely freed from all vice, great service is done.
By such service, one gains affinity for hearing the messages of Väsudeva. Çré
Kåñëa, the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramätmä [Supersoul] in everyone's
heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses desire for material
enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who has developed the urge to hear His
messages, which are in themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted. (SB
1.2.16-17)
Arjuna, for instance, was always thinking of Kåñëa;
he was the constant companion of Kåñëa, and at the same time he was a warrior.
Kåñëa did not advise him to give up fighting and go to the forest to meditate.
When Lord Kåñëa delineates the yoga system to Arjuna, Arjuna says that the
practice of this system is not possible for him.
arjuna uväca
yo 'yaà yogas tvayä proktaù
sämyena madhusüdana
etasyähaà na paçyämi
caïcalatvät sthitià sthiräm
"Arjuna said: O Madhusüdana, the system of
yoga which You have summarized appears impractical and unendurable to me, for
the mind is restless and unsteady." (Bg. 6.33)
But the Lord says:
yoginäm api sarveñäà
mad-gatenäntarätmanä
çraddhävän bhajate yo mäà
sa me yuktatamo mataù
"Of all yogés, the one with great faith who
always abides in Me, thinks of Me within himself, and renders transcendental
loving service to Me is the most intimately united with Me in yoga and is the
highest of all. That is My opinion." (Bg. 6.47)
So one who thinks of the Supreme Lord always is the
greatest yogé, the supermost jïäné, and the greatest devotee at the same time.
The Lord further tells Arjuna that as a kñatriya he cannot give up his
fighting, but if Arjuna fights remembering Kåñëa, then he will be able to
remember Kåñëa at the time of death. But one must be completely surrendered in
the transcendental loving service of the Lord.
We work not with our body, actually, but with our
mind and intelligence. So if the intelligence and the mind are always engaged
in the thought of the Supreme Lord, then naturally the senses are also engaged
in His service. Superficially, at least, the activities of the senses remain
the same, but the consciousness is changed. The Bhagavad-gétä teaches one how
to absorb the mind and intelligence in the thought of the Lord. Such absorption
will enable one to transfer himself to the kingdom of the Lord. If the mind is
engaged in Kåñëa's service, then the senses are automatically engaged in His
service. This is the art, and this is also the secret of Bhagavad-gétä: total
absorption in the thought of Çré Kåñëa.
Modern man has struggled very hard to reach the
moon, but he has not tried very hard to elevate himself spiritually. If one has
fifty years of life ahead of him, he should engage that brief time in
cultivating this practice of remembering the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
This practice is the devotional process:
çravaëaà kértanaà viñëoù
smaraëaà päda-sevanam
arcanaà vandanaà däsyaà
sakhyam ätma-nivedanam
(SB 7.5.23)
These nine processes, of which the easiest is
çravaëam, hearing the Bhagavad-gétä from the realized person, will turn one to
the thought of the Supreme Being. This will lead to remembering the Supreme
Lord and will enable one, upon leaving the body, to attain a spiritual body
which is just fit for association with the Supreme Lord.
The Lord further says:
abhyäsa-yoga-yuktena
cetasä nänya-gäminä
paramaà puruñaà divyaà
yäti pärthänucintayan
"He who meditates on Me as the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, his mind constantly engaged in remembering Me,
undeviated from the path, he, O Arjuna, is sure to reach Me." (Bg. 8.8)
This is not a very difficult process. However, one
must learn it from an experienced person. Tad vijïänärthaà sa gurum
eväbhigacchet: [MU 1.2.12] one must approach a person who is already in the
practice. The mind is always flying to this and that, but one must practice
concentrating the mind always on the form of the Supreme Lord, Çré Kåñëa, or on
the sound of His name. The mind is naturally restless, going hither and
thither, but it can rest in the sound vibration of Kåñëa. One must thus
meditate on paramaà puruñam, the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the
spiritual kingdom, the spiritual sky, and thus attain Him. The ways and the
means for ultimate realization, ultimate attainment, are stated in the
Bhagavad-gétä, and the doors of this knowledge are open for everyone. No one is
barred out. All classes of men can approach Lord Kåñëa by thinking of Him, for
hearing and thinking of Him is possible for everyone.
The Lord further says (Bg. 9.32-33):
mäà hi pärtha vyapäçritya
ye 'pi syuù päpa-yonayaù
striyo vaiçyäs tathä çüdräs
te 'pi yänti paräà gatim
kià punar brähmaëäù puëyä
bhaktä räjarñayas tathä
anityam asukhaà lokam
imaà präpya bhajasva mäm
Thus the Lord says that even a merchant, a fallen
woman or a laborer or even human beings in the lowest status of life can attain
the Supreme. One does not need highly developed intelligence. The point is that
anyone who accepts the principle of bhakti-yoga and accepts the Supreme Lord as
the summum bonum of life, as the highest target, the ultimate goal, can
approach the Lord in the spiritual sky. If one adopts the principles enunciated
in Bhagavad-gétä, he can make his life perfect and make a permanent solution to
all the problems of life. This is the sum and substance of the entire
Bhagavad-gétä.
In conclusion, Bhagavad-gétä is a transcendental
literature which one should read very carefully. Gétä-çästram idaà puëyaà yaù
paöhet prayataù pumän. If one properly follows the instructions of
Bhagavad-gétä, one can be freed from all miseries and anxieties in this life,
and one's next life will be spiritual. Viñëoù padam aväpnoti
bhaya-çokädi-varjitaù. (Gétä-mähätmya 1)
There is also a further advantage:
gétädhyäyana-çélasya
präëäyäma-parasya ca
naiva santi hi päpäni
pürva-janma-kåtäni ca
"If one reads Bhagavad-gétä very sincerely and
with all seriousness, then by the grace of the Lord the reactions of his past misdeeds
will not act upon him." (Gétä-mähätmya 2) The Lord says very loudly in the
last portion of Bhagavad-gétä (18.66):
sarva-dharmän parityajya
mäm ekaà çaraëaà vraja
ahaà tväà sarva-päpebhyo
mokñayiñyämi mä çucaù
"Abandon all varieties of religion and just
surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not
fear." Thus the Lord takes all responsibility for one who surrenders unto
Him, and He indemnifies such a person against all reactions of sins.
mala-nirmocanaà puàsäà
jala-snänaà dine dine
sakåd gétämåta-snänaà
saàsära-mala-näçanam
"One may cleanse himself daily by taking a
bath in water, but if one takes a bath even once in the sacred Ganges water of
Bhagavad-gétä, for him the dirt of material life is altogether
vanquished." (Gétä-mähätmya 3)
gétä su-gétä kartavyä
kim anyaiù çästra-vistaraiù
yä svayaà padmanäbhasya
mukha-padmäd viniùsåtä
Because Bhagavad-gétä is spoken by the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, one need not read any other Vedic literature. One need
only attentively and regularly hear and read Bhagavad-gétä. In the present age,
people are so absorbed in mundane activities that it is not possible for them
to read all the Vedic literatures. But this is not necessary. This one book,
Bhagavad-gétä, will suffice, because it is the essence of all Vedic literatures
and especially because it is spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
(Gétä-mähätmya 4)
As it is said:
bhäratämåta-sarvasvaà
viñëu-vakträd viniùsåtam
gétä-gaìgodakaà pétvä
punar janma na vidyate
"One who drinks the water of the Ganges
attains salvation, so what to speak of one who drinks the nectar of
Bhagavad-gétä? Bhagavad-gétä is the essential nectar of the Mahäbhärata, and it
is spoken by Lord Kåñëa Himself, the original Viñëu." (Gétä-mähätmya 5)
Bhagavad-gétä comes from the mouth of the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, and the Ganges is said to emanate from the lotus feet
of the Lord. Of course, there is no difference between the mouth and the feet
of the Supreme Lord, but from an impartial study we can appreciate that
Bhagavad-gétä is even more important than the water of the Ganges.
sarvopaniñado gävo
dogdhä gopäla-nandanaù
pärtho vatsaù su-dhér bhoktä
dugdhaà gétämåtaà mahat
"This Gétopaniñad, Bhagavad-gétä, the essence
of all the Upaniñads, is just like a cow, and Lord Kåñëa, who is famous as a
cowherd boy, is milking this cow. Arjuna is just like a calf, and learned
scholars and pure devotees are to drink the nectarean milk of
Bhagavad-gétä." (Gétä-mähätmya 6)
ekaà çästraà devaké-putra-gétam
eko devo devaké-putra eva
eko mantras tasya nämäni yäni
karmäpy ekaà tasya devasya sevä
(Gétä-mähätmya 7)
In this present day, people are very much eager to
have one scripture, one God, one religion, and one occupation. Therefore, ekaà
çästraà devaké-putra-gétam: let there be one scripture only, one common
scripture for the whole world-Bhagavad-gétä. Eko devo devaké-putra eva: let
there be one God for the whole world-Çré Kåñëa. Eko mantras tasya nämäni: and
one hymn, one mantra, one prayer—the chanting of His name: Hare Kåñëa, Hare
Kåñëa, Kåñëa Kåñëa, Hare Hare/ Hare Räma, Hare Räma, Räma Räma, Hare Hare.
Karmäpy ekaà tasya devasya sevä: and let there be one work only—the service of
the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
[1] Here we
find the authentic origin of Bishops Berkeley’s esse est pericipi (to be is to
be perceived)
[2]
In
Bhagavad-gita 7.3 it is stated:
Out of many thousands among men, one may endeavor for
perfection, and of those who have achieved perfection, hardly one knows Me in
truth.
It is stated in Çrémad-Bhägavatam (6.14.5):
O great sage, among many millions who are liberated and
perfect in knowledge of liberation, one may be a devotee of Lord Näräyaëa, or
Kåñëa. Such devotees, who are fully peaceful, are extremely rare.
[3] The
occupational activities a man performs according to his own position are only
so much useless labor if they do not provoke attraction for the message of the
Personality of Godhead. (SB 1.2.8)
[4]
Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of
Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion—at that time I descend Myself.
(BG 4.7)
[5] The
spirit soul bewildered by the influence of false ego thinks himself the doer of
activities that are in actuality carried out by the three modes of material
nature. (BG 3.27)
[6] First
of all, Brahmä created from his shadow the coverings of ignorance of the
conditioned souls. They are five in number and are called tämisra,
andha-tämisra, tamas, moha and mahä-moha. (SB 3.20.18)
Srila Prabhupada writes in his purport:
The conditioned souls, or living entities who come to the
material world to enjoy sense gratification, are covered in the beginning by
five different conditions. The first condition is a covering of tämisra, or
anger. Constitutionally, each and every living entity has minute independence;
it is misuse of that minute independence for the conditioned soul to think that
he can also enjoy like the Supreme Lord or to think, “Why shall I not be a free
enjoyer like the Supreme Lord?” This forgetfulness of his constitutional position
is due to anger or envy. The living entity, being eternally a part-and-parcel
servitor of the Supreme Lord, can never, by constitution, be an equal enjoyer
with the Lord. When he forgets this, however, and tries to be one with Him, his
condition is called tämisra. Even in
the field of spiritual realization, this tämisra mentality of the living entity
is hard to overcome. In trying to get out of the entanglement of material life,
there are many who want to be one with the Supreme. Even in their transcendental
activities, this lower-grade mentality of tämisra
continues.
[7] This
material nature, which is one of My energies, is working under My direction, O
son of Kunté, producing all moving and nonmoving beings. Under its rule this
manifestation is created and annihilated again and again. (BG 9.10)
[8]
Material nature consists of three modes—goodness, passion and ignorance. When
the eternal living entity comes in contact with nature, O mighty-armed Arjuna,
he becomes conditioned by these modes. (BG 14.5)
[9] Action
pertaining to the development of the material bodies of the living entities is
called karma, or fruitive activities. (BG 8.3)
[10]
This
material nature, which is one of My energies, is working under My direction, O
son of Kunté, producing all moving and nonmoving beings. Under its rule this
manifestation is created and annihilated again and again. (BG 9.10)
[11] Earth,
water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego—all together these
eight constitute My separated material energies. Besides these, O mighty-armed
Arjuna, there is another, superior energy of Mine, which comprises the living
entities who are exploiting the resources of this material, inferior nature.
(BG 7.4-5)
[12] Even if
you are considered to be the most sinful of all sinners, when you are situated
in the boat of transcendental knowledge you will be able to cross over the
ocean of miseries. (BG 4.36)
[13] The
intricacies of action are very hard to understand. Therefore one should know
properly what action is, what forbidden action is, and what inaction is. One
who sees inaction in action, and action in inaction, is intelligent among men,
and he is in the transcendental position, although engaged in all sorts of
activities. (BG 4.17-18)
[14] nityo
nityänäà cetanaç cetanänäm
eko bahünäà yo vidadhäti kämän
He is the prime eternal among all eternals. He is the
supreme living entity of all living entities, and He alone is maintaining all
life. (Kaöha Upaniñad 2.2.13)
[15] Besides
these, O mighty-armed Arjuna, there is another, superior energy of Mine, which
comprises the living entities who are exploiting the resources of this
material, inferior nature. (BG 7.5)
[16] The Supreme
Personality of Godhead said, This body, O son of Kunté, is called the field,
and one who knows this body is called the knower of the field. O scion of
Bharata, you should understand that I am also the knower in all bodies, and to
understand this body and its knower is called knowledge. That is My opinion.
(BG 13.2-3)
[17] The
Supreme Lord is situated in everyone's heart, O Arjuna, and is directing the
wanderings of all living entities, who are seated as on a machine, made of the
material energy. (BG 18.61)
[18] The
living entity in material nature thus follows the ways of life, enjoying the
three modes of nature. This is due to his association with that material
nature. Thus he meets with good and evil among various species. (BG 13.22)
[19] As a
person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, the soul similarly accepts new
material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones. (BG 2.22)
[20] As a
blazing fire turns firewood to ashes, O Arjuna, so does the fire of knowledge
burn to ashes all reactions to material activities. (BG 4.37)
[22] When
one is not attached to anything, but at the same time accepts everything in
relation to Kåñëa, one is rightly situated above possessiveness. On the other
hand, one who rejects everything without knowledge of its relationship to Kåñëa
is not as complete in his renunciation." (Bhakti-rasämåta-sindhu
1.2.255–56)
[23]
Everyone is forced to act helplessly according to the qualities he has acquired
from the modes of material nature; therefore no one can refrain from doing
something, not even for a moment. (BG 3.5)
[24] When
first-class devotional service develops, one must be devoid of all material
desires, knowledge obtained by monistic philosophy, and fruitive action. The devotee
must constantly serve Kåñëa favorably, as Kåñëa desires.’ (Bhakti-rasämåta-sindhu
(1.1.11)
[25]
Abandoning all attachment to the results of his activities, ever satisfied and
independent, he performs no fruitive action, although engaged in all kinds of undertakings.
(BG 4.20)
[26] There
is no work that affects Me; nor do I aspire for the fruits of action. One who
understands this truth about Me also does not become entangled in the fruitive
reactions of work. (BG 4.14)
[27] There
are two classes of beings, the fallible and the infallible. In the material
world every living entity is fallible, and in the spiritual world every living
entity is called infallible. (BG 15.16)
[28] He
cannot understand his situation because he is on the level of an animal:
One who identifies his self as the inert body composed of
mucus, bile and air, who assumes his wife and family are permanently his own,
who thinks an earthen image or the land of his birth is worshipable, or who
sees a place of pilgrimage as merely the water there, but who never identifies
himself with, feels kinship with, worships or even visits those who are wise in
spiritual truth—such a person is no better than a cow or an ass. (SB 10.84.13)
[29] One who
engages in full devotional service, unfailing in all circumstances, at once
transcends the modes of material nature and thus comes to the level of Brahman.
(BG 14.26)
[30] Arjuna
said: My dear Kåñëa, O infallible one, my illusion is now gone. I have regained
my memory by Your mercy. I am now firm and free from doubt and am prepared to
act according to Your instructions. (BG 18.73)
[31] The
Personality of Godhead said: Many, many births both you and I have passed. I
can remember all of them, but you cannot, O subduer of the enemy! (BG 4.5)
[32] When a
conditioned living being thinks, "I am the enjoyer, and this world is
meant to be enjoyed by me," this conception of life is dictated to him by
Saìkarñaëa. Thus the mundane conditioned soul thinks himself the Supreme Lord.
(SB 5.25.1)
[33]
Therefore the Dawkins book is an accurate description of his own delusion
because his real intention is not to prove that there is no God, but rather to
establish himself as God. “The God Delusion” is a good example for Nietzsche’s
words that every book is an involuntary and unconscious diagnosis of the
particular conditioning of the author. Similarly, Schopenhauer wrote that we
make our passions the axioms of our philosophies. The only remedy for this
unfortunate situation is the method of pure devotional service as described by
Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhupada.
[34] As
pouring water on the root of a tree energizes the trunk, branches, twigs and
everything else, and as supplying food to the stomach enlivens the senses and
limbs of the body, simply worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead through
devotional service automatically satisfies the demigods, who are parts of that
Supreme Personality. (SB 4.31.14)
[35] I
worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, whose effulgence is the source of the
nondifferentiated Brahman mentioned in the Upaniñads, being differentiated from
the infinity of glories of the mundane universe appears as the indivisible,
infinite, limitless, truth. (Bs 5.40)
[36] Learned
transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this nondual substance
Brahman, Paramätmä or Bhagavän. (SB 1.2.11) And I am the basis of the
impersonal Brahman, which is immortal, imperishable and eternal and is the
constitutional position of ultimate happiness. (BG 14.27) The Supreme Lord is
situated in everyone's heart, O Arjuna, and is directing the wanderings of all
living entities, who are seated as on a machine, made of the material energy.
(BG 18.61)
[37] There
are two classes of beings, the fallible and the infallible. In the material
world every living entity is fallible, and in the spiritual world every living
entity is called infallible. Besides these two, there is the greatest living
personality, the Supreme Soul, the imperishable Lord Himself, who has entered
the three worlds and is maintaining them. Because I am transcendental, beyond
both the fallible and the infallible, and because I am the greatest, I am
celebrated both in the world and in the Vedas as that Supreme Person. (BG
15.16-18)
[38]
Unintelligent men, who do not know Me perfectly, think that I, the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, Kåñëa, was impersonal before and have now assumed this
personality. Due to their small knowledge, they do not know My higher nature, which
is imperishable and supreme. (BG 7.24)
Fools deride Me when I descend in the human form. They do
not know My transcendental nature as the Supreme Lord of all that be. (BG 9.11)
[39] The
Personality of Godhead is perfect and complete, and because He is completely
perfect, all emanations from Him, such as this phenomenal world, are perfectly
equipped as complete wholes. Whatever is produced of the Complete Whole is also
complete in itself. Because He is the Complete Whole, even though so many
complete units emanate from Him, He remains the complete balance. (Sri
Isopanisad, Invocation)
[40] This supreme science was thus
received through the chain of disciplic succession, and the saintly kings
understood it in that way. But in course of time the succession was broken, and
therefore the science as it is appears to be lost. (BG 4.2)
[41] It is
He only who first imparted the Vedic knowledge unto the heart of Brahmäjé, the
original living being. (SB 1.1.1)
[42]
Everything animate or inanimate that is within the universe is controlled and
owned by the Lord. One should therefore accept only those things necessary for
himself, which are set aside as his quota, and one should not accept other
things, knowing well to whom they belong. (Sri Isopanisad, Mantra 1)
[43]
Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer or give away, and
whatever austerities you perform—do that, O son of Kunté, as an offering to Me.
(BG 9.27)
[44] I do
not see how any good can come from killing my own kinsmen in this battle, nor
can I, my dear Kåñëa, desire any subsequent victory, kingdom, or happiness. O
Govinda, of what avail to us are a kingdom, happiness or even life itself when
all those for whom we may desire them are now arrayed on this battlefield? (BG
1.31-32)
[45] One who
identifies his self as the inert body composed of mucus, bile and air, who
assumes his wife and family are permanently his own, who thinks an earthen
image or the land of his birth is worshipable, or who sees a place of
pilgrimage as merely the water there, but who never identifies himself with,
feels kinship with, worships or even visits those who are wise in spiritual
truth—such a person is no better than a cow or an ass. (SB 10.84.13)
[46] That
supreme abode of Mine is not illumined by the sun or moon, nor by fire or
electricity. Those who reach it never return to this material world. (BG 15.6)
[47] Those
who are seers of the truth have concluded that of the nonexistent [the material
body] there is no endurance and of the eternal [the soul] there is no change.
This they have concluded by studying the nature of both. (BG 2.16)
[48] The
occupational activities a man performs according to his own position are only
so much useless labor if they do not provoke attraction for the message of the
Personality of Godhead. All occupational engagements are certainly meant for
ultimate liberation. They should never be performed for material gain.
Furthermore, according to sages, one who is engaged in the ultimate
occupational service should never use material gain to cultivate sense
gratification. (SB 1.2.8-9)
When one is not attached to anything, but at the same time
accepts everything in relation to Kåñëa, one is rightly situated above
possessiveness. On the other hand, one who rejects everything without knowledge
of its relationship to Kåñëa is not as complete in his renunciation."
(Bhakti-rasämåta-sindhu 1.2.255–56)
[49]
Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of
Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion—at that time I descend Myself.
(BG 4.7)
[50] It is
the living entity’s constitutional position to be an eternal servant of Kåñëa
because he is the marginal energy of Kåñëa and a manifestation simultaneously
one with and different from the Lord, like a molecular particle of sunshine or
fire. (CC Madhya,
108-109)
[51] Never
was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings; nor in the
future shall any of us cease to be. (BG 2.12)
[52] That
which pervades the entire body you should know to be indestructible. No one is
able to destroy that imperishable soul. (BG 2.17)
[53] Lord
Kåñëa alone is the supreme controller, and all others are His servants. They
dance as He makes them do so. (CC Adi, 5.142)
[54] Engage
your mind always in thinking of Me, become My devotee, offer obeisances to Me
and worship Me. Being completely absorbed in Me, surely you will come to Me.
(BG 9.34)
[55] An
intelligent person, expert in perceiving the world around him and in applying sound
logic, can achieve real benefit through his own intelligence. Thus sometimes
one acts as one's own instructing spiritual master. (SB 11.7.20)
[56] Fools
deride Me when I descend in the human form. They do not know My transcendental
nature as the Supreme Lord of all that be. (BG 9.11)
[57] From
the highest planet in the material world down to the lowest, all are places of
misery wherein repeated birth and death take place. But one who attains to My
abode, O son of Kunté, never takes birth again. (BG 8.16)
[58] And
since we are attached, we are fearful:
Fear arises when a living entity misidentifies himself as
the material body because of absorption in the external, illusory energy of the
Lord. When the living entity thus turns away from the Supreme Lord, he also
forgets his own constitutional position as a servant of the Lord. This
bewildering, fearful condition is effected by the potency for illusion, called
mäyä. (SB 11.2.37)
At the last stage of one's life, one should be bold enough
not to be afraid of death. But one must cut off all attachment to the material
body and everything pertaining to it and all desires thereof. (SB 2.1.15)
[59] Though
the embodied soul may be restricted from sense enjoyment, the taste for sense
objects remains. But ceasing such engagements by experiencing a higher taste,
he is fixed in consciousness. (BG 2.59)
[60]
Prahläda Mahäräja replied: Because of their uncontrolled senses, persons too
addicted to materialistic life make progress toward hellish conditions and
repeatedly chew that which has already been chewed. Their inclinations toward
Kåñëa are never aroused, either by the instructions of others, by their own
efforts, or by a combination of both. (SB 7.5.30)
[61]
Çrémad-Bhägavatam is declared to be the essence of all Vedänta philosophy. One
who has felt satisfaction from its nectarean mellow will never be attracted to
any other literature.
[62] The
person who desires pure devotional service to Lord Kåñëa should hear the
narrations of Lord Uttamaùçloka's glorious qualities, the constant chanting of
which destroys everything inauspicious. The devotee should engage in such
listening in regular daily assemblies and should also continue his hearing
throughout the day. (SB 12.3.15)
[63]
Baladeva Vidyabhusana in his book Siddhanta darpana writes that Krsna is at the
same time vaca and vacika, the word of the Vedas, and their author.
