om ajnana-timirandhasya
jnananjana-salakaya
caksur unmilitam yena
tasmai sri-gurave namah
“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.”
Bhagavad-gita is also known as Gitopanishad. It is the
essence of Vedic knowledge and one of the most important Upanishads in Vedic
literature. Of course there are many commentaries in English on the
Bhagavad-gita, 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-gita. Of course in America
there are so many editions of Bhagavad-gita 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-gita as it is.
The spirit of Bhagavad-gita is mentioned in Bhagavad-gita
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-gita should be taken or accepted as it is directed by the
speaker Himself. The speaker of Bhagavad-gita is Lord Sri Krishna. He is
mentioned on every page of Bhagavad-gita as the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
Bhagavan. Of course the word bhagavan sometimes refers to any powerful person
or any powerful demigod, and certainly here bhagavan designates Lord Sri
Krishna as a great personality, but at the same time we should know that Lord
Sri Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as is confirmed by all great
acaryas (spiritual masters) like Shankaracarya, Ramanujacarya, Madhvacarya,
Nimbarka Svami, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and many other authorities of Vedic
knowledge in India. The Lord Himself also establishes Himself as the Supreme
Personality of Godhead in the Bhagavad-gita, and He is accepted as such in the
Brahma-samhita and all the Puranas, especially the Srimad-Bhagavatam, known as
the Bhagavata Purana (krishnas tu bhagavan svayam). Therefore we should take
Bhagavad-gita as it is directed by the Personality of Godhead Himself. In the
Fourth Chapter of the Gita (4.1–3) the Lord says:
imam vivasvate yogam
proktavan aham avyayam
vivasvan manave praha
manur iksvakave ’bravit
evam parampara-praptam
imam rajarsayo viduh
sa kaleneha mahata
yogo nastah parantapa
sa evayam maya te ’dya
yogah proktah puratanah
bhakto ’si me sakha ceti
rahasyam hy etad uttamam
Here the Lord informs Arjuna that this system of yoga,
the Bhagavad-gita, was first spoken to the sun-god, and the sun-god explained
it to Manu, and Manu explained it to Ikshavaku, 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 Kurukshetra.
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-gita is a treatise which is especially meant for the devotee of
the Lord. There are three classes of transcendentalists, namely the jnani, the
yogi 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
parampara (disciplic succession) because the old succession was broken. It was
the Lord’s wish, therefore, to establish another parampara 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-gita. So we see that Bhagavad-gita is
instructed to Arjuna especially because Arjuna was a devotee of the Lord, a
direct student of Krishna, and His intimate friend. Therefore Bhagavad-gita 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. 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:
- One may be a devotee in a passive
state;
- One may be a devotee in an active
state;
- One may be a devotee as a friend;
- One may be a devotee as a parent;
- 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 svarupa.
By the process of devotional service, one can revive that svarupa, and that
stage is called svarupa-siddhi—perfection of one’s constitutional position. So
Arjuna was a devotee, and he was in touch with the Supreme Lord in friendship.
How Arjuna accepted this Bhagavad-gita should be noted.
His manner of acceptance is given in the Tenth Chapter (10.12–14):
arjuna uvaca
param brahma param dhama
pavitram paramam bhavan
purusham sasvatam divyam
adi-devam ajam vibhum
ahus tvam rsayah sarve
devarsir naradas tatha
asito devalo vyasah
svayam caiva bravisi me
sarvam etad rtam manye
yan mam vadasi keshava
na hi te bhagavan vyaktim
vidur deva na danavah
“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 Narada, Asita, Devala, and Vyasa confirm this truth about You, and now
You Yourself are declaring it to me. O Krishna, 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-gita from the Supreme Personality
of Godhead, Arjuna accepted Krishna as param brahma, the Supreme Brahman. Every
living being is Brahman, but the supreme living being, or the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, is the Supreme Brahman. Param dhama means that He is
the supreme rest or abode of everything; pavitram means that He is pure,
untainted by material contamination; purusham means that He is the supreme
enjoyer; sasvatam, original; divyam, transcendental; adi-devam, the Supreme
Personality of Godhead; ajam, the unborn; and vibhum, the greatest.
Now one may think that because Krishna 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-gita,
substantiates these praises in the next verse when he says that Krishna is
accepted as the Supreme Personality of Godhead not only by himself but by
authorities like Narada, Asita, Devala and Vyasadeva. These are great
personalities who distribute the Vedic knowledge as it is accepted by all
acaryas. Therefore Arjuna tells Krishna that he accepts whatever He says to be
completely perfect. Sarvam etad rtam 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 Sri Krishna without becoming His
devotee?
Therefore Bhagavad-gita should be taken up in a spirit of
devotion. One should not think that he is equal to Krishna, nor should he think
that Krishna is an ordinary personality or even a very great personality. Lord
Sri Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So according to the
statements of Bhagavad-gita or the statements of Arjuna, the person who is
trying to understand the Bhagavad-gita, we should at least theoretically accept
Sri Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and with that submissive
spirit we can understand the Bhagavad-gita. Unless one reads the Bhagavad-gita
in a submissive spirit, it is very difficult to understand Bhagavad-gita,
because it is a great mystery.
Just what is the Bhagavad-gita? The purpose of
Bhagavad-gita 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 Kurukshetra. Arjuna surrendered unto Sri Krishna,
and consequently this Bhagavad-gita 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.
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. 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-sutra this inquiry is
called brahma jijnasa. Athato brahma jijnasa. Every activity of the human being
is to be considered a failure unless he inquires about the nature of the
Absolute. 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-gita. The sincere student should also have a firm
respect for the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Such a student was Arjuna.
Lord Krishna descends specifically to reestablish the
real purpose of life when man forgets that purpose. 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-gita 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-gita, making His friend Arjuna His student.
Being an associate of Lord Krishna, Arjuna was above all
ignorance, but Arjuna was put into ignorance on the Battlefield of Kurukshetra
just to question Lord Krishna 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.
The subject of the Bhagavad-gita 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, jivas.
There is ishvara, which means the controller, and there are jivas, 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. So in the
Bhagavad-gita the subject matter deals with the ishvara, the supreme
controller, and the jivas, the controlled living entities. Prakriti (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-gita we must learn what God is,
what the living entities are, what prakriti 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-gita
it is established that the Supreme Godhead, or Krishna, or Brahman, or the
supreme controller, or Paramatma—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-gita. Material
nature is not independent. She is acting under the directions of the Supreme
Lord. As Lord Krishna says, mayadhyaksena prakritih suyate sa-caracaram: “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. Now the jivas, 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, ishvara, or Bhagavan, Lord Sri Krishna, have all the
qualities of the Supreme Lord in minute quantity because we are minute
ishvaras, subordinate ishvaras. 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 Krishna. 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-gita.
What is material nature? This is also explained in Gita
as inferior prakriti, inferior nature. The living entity is explained as the
superior prakriti. Prakriti is always under control, whether inferior or
superior. Prakriti is female, and she is controlled by the Lord just as the
activities of a wife are controlled by the husband. Prakriti is always
subordinate, predominated by the Lord, who is the predominator. The living
entities and material nature are both predominated, controlled by the Supreme
Lord. According to the Gita, the living entities, although parts and parcels of
the Supreme Lord, are to be considered prakriti. This is clearly mentioned in
the Seventh Chapter of Bhagavad-gita. Apareyam itas tv anyam prakritim viddhi
me param/ jiva-bhutam: “This material nature is My inferior prakriti, but
beyond this is another prakriti—jiva-bhutam, the living entity.”
Material nature itself is constituted by three qualities:
the mode of goodness, the mode of passion and the mode of ignorance. 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.
Ishvara (the Supreme Lord), jiva (the living entity),
prakriti (nature), kala (eternal time) and karma (activity) are all explained
in the Bhagavad-gita. Out of these five, the Lord, the living entities,
material nature and time are eternal. The manifestation of prakriti 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-gita or
according to the philosophy of the Vaishnavas, 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 prakriti. But this cycle is working eternally. Therefore prakriti is
eternal; it is not false. The Lord refers to this as “My prakriti.” 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. 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. 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-gita.
The position of ishvara, the Supreme Lord, is that of
supreme consciousness. The jivas, or the living entities, being parts and
parcels of the Supreme Lord, are also conscious. Both the living entity and
material nature are explained as prakriti, the energy of the Supreme Lord, but
one of the two, the jiva, is conscious. The other prakriti is not conscious.
That is the difference. Therefore the jiva-prakriti is called superior because
the jiva has consciousness which is similar to the Lord’s. The Lord’s is
supreme consciousness, however, and one should not claim that the jiva, 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.
The distinction between the jiva and the ishvara will be
explained in the Thirteenth Chapter of Bhagavad-gita. The Lord is kshetra-jna,
conscious, as is the living being, but the living being is conscious of his
particular body, whereas the Lord is conscious of all bodies. Because He lives
in the heart of every living being, He is conscious of the psychic movements of
the particular jivas. We should not forget this. It is also explained that the
Paramatma, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is living in everyone’s heart as
ishvara, as the controller, and that He is giving directions for the living
entity to act as he desires. 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. After giving up one type of body,
he enters another type of body, as we put on and take off clothes. 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. Consequently, karma is not eternal. Therefore we stated that of the
five items (ishvara, jiva, prakriti, time and karma) four are eternal, whereas
karma is not eternal.
The supreme conscious ishvara 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. That is a mistaken idea. The theory that consciousness
develops under certain circumstances of material combination is not accepted in
the Bhagavad-gita. 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 Krishna says, mayadhyaksena prakritih [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-gita. 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-gita
teaches that we have to purify this materially contaminated consciousness. In
pure consciousness, our actions will be dovetailed to the will of ishvara, and
that will make us happy. It is not that we have to cease all activities.
Rather, our activities are to be purified, and purified activities are called
bhakti. Activities in bhakti appear to be like ordinary activities, but they
are not contaminated. 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. They are transcendental to the
three modes of nature. We should know, however, that at this point our
consciousness is contaminated.
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. Bhagavad-gita
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. 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 Srimad-Bhagavatam also the definition of liberation is given. Muktir
hitvanyatha-rupam svarupena vyavasthitih: mukti means liberation from the
contaminated consciousness of this material world and situation in pure
consciousness. All the instructions of Bhagavad-gita are intended to awaken this
pure consciousness, and therefore we find at the last stage of the Gita’s
instructions that Krishna 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. 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.
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. 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. 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.
We shall find, therefore, in this Bhagavad-gita 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, Sri Krishna. All manifestations are due to His different energies.
He is the complete whole.
It is also explained in the Gita that impersonal Brahman
is also subordinate to the complete Supreme Person (brahmano hi pratishthaham).
Brahman is more explicitly explained in the Brahma-sutra to be like the rays of
the sunshine. 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 Paramatma. In the Fifteenth
Chapter it shall be seen that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Purushottama,
is above both impersonal Brahman and the partial realization of Paramatma. The
Supreme Personality of Godhead is called sac-cid-ananda-vigraha. The
Brahma-samhita begins in this way: ishvarah paramah krishnah
sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah/ anadir adir govindah sarva-karana-karanam. “Govinda,
Krishna, 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. Paramatma realization is the
realization of sat-cit (eternal knowledge). But realization of the Personality
of Godhead, Krishna, is realization of all the transcendental features: sat,
cit and ananda (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. Nityo nityanam cetanas cetananam. (Katha Upanishad
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 complete whole, Personality of Godhead, has immense
potencies (parasya shaktir vividhaiva sruyate). How Krishna is acting in
different potencies is also explained in Bhagavad-gita. 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 Sankhya 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-gita contains the complete
knowledge of Vedic wisdom.
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 smriti, 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-gita 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-gita, by the parampara (disciplic succession). 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 Sri Krishna,
accepts everything that He says without contradicting Him. One is not allowed
to accept one portion of Bhagavad-gita and not another. No. We must accept
Bhagavad-gita without interpretation, without deletion and without our own
whimsical participation in the matter. The Gita 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 apaurusheya, 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.
Vedic knowledge is not imparted by such defective living
entities. It was imparted unto the heart of Brahma, the first created living
being, and Brahma in his turn disseminated this knowledge to his sons and
disciples, as he originally received it from the Lord. The Lord is purnam,
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 Brahma. In the Eleventh Chapter the Lord is
addressed as prapitamaha [Bg. 11.39] because Brahma is addressed as pitamaha,
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.
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-gita. In the beginning, Arjuna decided that he should not fight in the
Battle of Kurukshetra. 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.
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-gita 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, karisye vacanam tava [Bg. 18.73]: “I shall act according to Your word.”
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. 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-gita. 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-gita 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-gita,
then our whole life will become purified, and ultimately we will be able to
reach the destination which is beyond this material sky. [Bg. 15.6]
That destination is called the sanatana sky, the eternal,
spiritual sky. 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 sanatana, eternal. Jiva is also described as
sanatana, eternal, and the Lord is also described as sanatana in the Eleventh
Chapter. We have an intimate relationship with the Lord, and because we are all
qualitatively one—the sanatana-dhama, or sky, the sanatana Supreme Personality
and the sanatana living entities—the whole purpose of Bhagavad-gita is to
revive our sanatana occupation, or sanatana-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.
The Supreme Lord and His transcendental abode are both
sanatana, as are the living entities, and the combined association of the
Supreme Lord and the living entities in the sanatana abode is the perfection of
human life. The Lord is very kind to the living entities because they are His
sons. Lord Krishna declares in Bhagavad-gita, sarva-yonisu. .. aham bija-pradah
pita: “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 sanatana eternal sky so
that the sanatana living entities may regain their eternal sanatana 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 acaryas to reclaim the conditioned souls.
Therefore, sanatana-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. Sanatana-dharma refers,
as stated previously, to the eternal occupation of the living entity. Sripada
Ramanujacarya has explained the word sanatana as “that which has neither
beginning nor end,” so when we speak of sanatana-dharma, we must take it for
granted on the authority of Sripada Ramanujacarya that it has neither beginning
nor end.
The English world religion is a little different from
sanatana-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 sanatana-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. Sanatana-dharma is eternally integral with the living
entity. When we speak of sanatana-dharma, therefore, we must take it for
granted on the authority of Sripada Ramanujacarya 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 sanatana-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 sanatana-dharma is the business of all the people
of the world—nay, of all the living entities of the universe.
Non-sanatana religious faith may have some beginning in
the annals of human history, but there is no beginning to the history of
sanatana-dharma, because it remains eternally with the living entities. Insofar
as the living entities are concerned, the authoritative shastras state that the
living entity has neither birth nor death. In the Gita it is stated that the
living entity is never born and he never dies. He is eternal and
indestructible, and he continues to live after the destruction of his temporary
material body. In reference to the concept of sanatana-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 Sanatana Gosvami asked Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu about
the svarupa of every living being, the Lord replied that the svarupa, 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 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—sanatana-dharma. A Hindu may change his faith to become a
Muslim, or a Muslim may change his faith to become a Hindu, or a Christian 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
sanatana-dharma. The rendering of service is sanatana-dharma.
Factually we are related to the Supreme Lord in service.
The Supreme Lord is the supreme enjoyer, and we living entities are His
servitors. 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 the Bhagavad-gita, worship of different demigods or
rendering service to them is not approved. It is stated in the Seventh Chapter,
twentieth verse:
kamais tais tair hrta-jnanah
prapadyante ’nya-devatah
tam tam niyamam asthaya
prakritya niyatah svaya
“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 Krishna.
When we mention the name Krishna, we do not refer to any sectarian name.
Krishna 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. Ananda-mayo ’bhyasat (Vedanta-sutra 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 Vrindavana, which are full of happiness. When Lord Sri Krishna was
in Vrindavana, His activities with His cowherd boyfriends, with His damsel
friends, with the other inhabitants of Vrindavana and with the cows were all
full of happiness. The total population of Vrindavana knew nothing but Krishna.
But Lord Krishna even discouraged His father Nanda Maharaja 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.
The abode of Lord Sri Krishna is described in the
Bhagavad-gita, Fifteenth Chapter, sixth verse:
na tad bhasayate suryo
na sasanko na pavakah
yad gatva na nivartante
tad dhama paramam 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-samhita (5.37) it is beautifully described: goloka eva nivasaty
akhilatma-bhutah. 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-ananda-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 Shyamasundara.
Unfortunately, the less intelligent deride Him because He comes as one of us
and plays with us as a human being. 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.
In the effulgent rays of the spiritual sky there are
innumerable planets floating. The brahmajyoti emanates from the supreme abode,
Krishnaloka, and the ananda-maya, cin-maya planets, which are not material,
float in those rays. The Lord says, na tad bhasayate suryo na sasanko na
pavakah/ yad gatva na nivartante tad dhama paramam 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.
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: yanti deva-vrata devan pitrn yanti
pitr-vratah [Bg. 9.25]. No mechanical arrangement is necessary if we want
interplanetary travel. The Gita instructs: yanti deva-vrata devan. 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-gita informs us how to travel
to the higher planetary systems (Devaloka) with a very simple formula: yanti
deva-vrata devan. 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-gita 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, Krishnaloka, 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 Vrindavana, which is the original planet in the abode of the
original Personality of Godhead Sri Krishna. All of this information is given
in Bhagavad-gita, 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-gita, the real
picture of the material world is given. It is said there:
urdhva-mulam adhah-sakham
ashvattham prahur avyayam
chandamsi yasya parnani
yas tam 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.
The Lord suggests that we attain the spiritual world in
the following manner (Bg. 15.5):
nirmana-moha jita-sanga-dosa
adhyatma-nitya vinivrtta-kamah
dvandvair vimuktah
sukha-duhkha-samjnair
gacchanty amudhah padam avyayam tat
That padam avyayam, or eternal kingdom, can be reached by
one who is nirmana-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. 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. 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 sanatana-dhama. 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 Gita (8.21) it is stated:
avyakto ’kshara ity uktas
tam ahuh paramam gatim
yam prapya na nivartante
tad dhama paramam 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 Srimad-Bhagavatam, 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.
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-kale ca mam eva
smaran muktva kalevaram
yah prayati sa mad-bhavam
yati nasty atra samsayah
“Anyone who quits his body, at the end of life,
remembering Me, attains immediately to My nature; and there is no doubt of
this.” [Bg. 8.5] One who thinks of Krishna at the time of his death goes to
Krishna. One must remember the form of Krishna; if he quits his body thinking
of this form, he surely approaches the spiritual kingdom. Mad-bhavam refers to
the supreme nature of the Supreme Being. The Supreme Being is
sac-cid-ananda-vigraha [Bs. 5.1]—that is, His form is eternal, full of knowledge
and bliss. Our present body is not sac-cid-ananda. 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 nirananda; 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 Krishna, the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, at once attains a sac-cid-ananda body.
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.
As explained before, there are different kinds of
transcendentalists—the brahma-vadi, paramatma-vadi 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 (ekamsena sthito jagat). 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 Vaikuntha planets, which are innumerable, and the Supreme Lord
by His plenary expansions as Narayana 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
Paramatma or Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krishna. 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 Vaikuntha planets or the Goloka
Vrindavana 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 Paramatma 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.
The Bhagavad-gita (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:
yam yam vapi smaran bhavam
tyajaty ante kalevaram
tam tam evaiti kaunteya
sada tad-bhava-bhavitah
“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 Vishnu Purana (6.7.61) the total energies
of the Supreme Lord are delineated:
vishnu-shaktih para prokta
kshetra-jnakhya tatha para
avidya-karma-samjnanya
trtiya shaktir isyate
–
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 vishnu-shakti, that is to say they are different
potencies of Lord Vishnu. The first energy is para, 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-gita
(8.6) says:
yam yam vapi smaran bhavam
tyajaty ante kalevaram
tam tam evaiti kaunteya
sada tad-bhava-bhavitah
“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. The great sages, therefore, have written
so many Vedic literatures, such as the Puranas. The Puranas are not
imaginative; they are historical records. In the Caitanya-caritamrita (Madhya
20.122) there is the following verse:
maya-mugdha jivera nahi svatah krishna-jnana
jivere kripaya kaila krishna
veda-purana
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, Krishna-dvaipayana Vyasa has given a great number of Vedic
literatures. First he divided the Vedas into four, then he explained them in
the Puranas, and for less capable people he wrote the Mahabharata. In the
Mahabharata there is given the Bhagavad-gita. Then all Vedic literature is
summarized in the Vedanta-sutra, and for future guidance he gave a natural
commentation on the Vedanta-sutra, called Srimad-Bhagavatam. 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 Vyasadeva; 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.”
tasmat sarveshu kaleshu
mam anusmara yudhya ca
mayy arpita-mano-buddhir
mam evaishyasy asamsayah
“Therefore, Arjuna, you should always think of Me in the
form of Krishna 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. 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—brahmana,
kshatriya, vaishya and shudra. The brahmana class or intelligent class is
working in one way, the kshatriya 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
Krishna (mam anusmara [Bg. 8.7]). If he doesn’t practice remembering Krishna
while he is struggling for existence, then it will not be possible for him to
remember Krishna at the time of death. Lord Caitanya also advises this. He
says, kirtaniyah sada harih: [Cc. adi 17.31] one should practice chanting the
names of the Lord always. The names of the Lord and the Lord are nondifferent.
So Lord Krishna’s instructions to Arjuna to “remember Me” and Lord Caitanya’s
injunction to “always chant the names of Lord Krishna” are the same
instruction. There is no difference, because Krishna and Krishna’s name are
nondifferent. In the absolute status there is no difference between reference
and referrent. 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 acaryas 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, Sri
Krishna, 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. Arjuna, for instance, was always
thinking of Krishna; he was the constant companion of Krishna, and at the same
time he was a warrior. Krishna did not advise him to give up fighting and go to
the forest to meditate. When Lord Krishna delineates the yoga system to Arjuna,
Arjuna says that the practice of this system is not possible for him.
arjuna uvaca
yo ’yam yogas tvaya proktah
samyena madhusudana
etasyaham na pasyami
cancalatvat sthitim sthiram
“Arjuna said: O Madhusudana, 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:
yoginam api sarvesam
mad-gatenantaratmana
shraddhavan bhajate yo mam
sa me yuktatamo matah
“Of all yogis, 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 yogi, the supermost jnani, and the greatest devotee at the same
time. The Lord further tells Arjuna that as a kshatriya he cannot give up his fighting,
but if Arjuna fights remembering Krishna, then he will be able to remember
Krishna 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-gita 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 Krishna’s service, then the senses are automatically engaged in His
service. This is the art, and this is also the secret of Bhagavad-gita: total
absorption in the thought of Sri Krishna.
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:
shravanam kirtanam visnoh
smaranam pada-sevanam
arcanam vandanam dasyam
sakhyam atma-nivedanam
– Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.5.23
These nine processes, of which the easiest is shravanam,
hearing the Bhagavad-gita 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:
abhyasa-yoga-yuktena
cetasa nanya-gamina
paramam purusham divyam
yati parthanucintayan
“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 vijnanartham sa gurum evabhigacchet:
tad-vijnanartham sa gurum
evabhigacchet
samit-panih srotriyam brahma-nistham
“To understand these things properly, one must humbly
approach, with firewood in hand, a spiritual master who is learned in the Vedas
and firmly devoted to the Absolute Truth.”
[Mundaka Upanishad 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,
Sri Krishna, 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 Krishna. One must
thus meditate on paramam purusham, 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-gita, and the doors of this knowledge are open for everyone. No one is
barred out. All classes of men can approach Lord Krishna by thinking of Him,
for hearing and thinking of Him is possible for everyone.
The Lord further says (Bg. 9.32–33):
mam hi partha vyapasritya
ye ’pi syuh papa-yonayah
striyo vaishyas tatha shudras
te ’pi yanti param gatim
kim punar brahmanah punya
bhakta rajarsayas tatha
anityam asukham lokam
imam prapya bhajasva mam
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-gita, 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-gita.
In conclusion, Bhagavad-gita is a transcendental
literature which one should read very carefully. Gita-shastram idam punyam yah
pathet prayatah puman: if one properly follows the instructions of
Bhagavad-gita, one can be freed from all the miseries and anxieties of life.
Bhaya-sokadi-varjitah. One will be freed from all fears in this life, and one’s
next life will be spiritual. (Gita-mahatmya 1)
There is also a further advantage:
gitadhyayana-silasya
pranayama-parasya ca
naiva shanti hi papani
purva-janma-kritani ca
“If one reads Bhagavad-gita very sincerely and with all
seriousness, then by the grace of the Lord the reactions of his past misdeeds
will not act upon him.” (Gita-mahatmya 2) The Lord says very loudly in the last
portion of Bhagavad-gita (18.66):
sarva-dharman parityajya
mam ekam saranam vraja
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo
mokshayisyami ma sucah
“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.
maline mocanam pumsam
jala-snanam dine dine
sakrd gitamrita-snanam
samsara-mala-nasanam
“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-gita,
for him the dirt of material life is altogether vanquished.” (Gita-mahatmya 3)
gita su-gita kartavya
kim anyaih shastra-vistaraih
ya svayam padmanabhasya
mukha-padmad vinihsrta
Because Bhagavad-gita 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-gita. 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-gita, will suffice, because it is the essence of all Vedic literatures
and especially because it is spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
(Gita-mahatmya 4)
As it is said:
bharatamrita-sarvasvam
vishnu-vaktrad vinihsrtam
gita-gangodakam pitva
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-gita?
Bhagavad-gita is the essential nectar of the Mahabharata, and it is spoken by
Lord Krishna Himself, the original Vishnu.” (Gita-mahatmya 5) Bhagavad-gita
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-gita is even more important
than the water of the Ganges.
sarvopanishado gavo
dogdha gopala-nandanah
partho vatsah su-dhir bhokta
dugdham gitamritam mahat
“This Gitopanishad, Bhagavad-gita, the essence of all the
Upanishads, is just like a cow, and Lord Krishna, 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-gita.” (Gita-mahatmya
6)
ekam shastram devaki-putra-gitam
eko devo devaki-putra eva
eko mantras tasya namani yani
karmapy ekam tasya devasya seva
– Gita-mahatmya 7
In this present day, people are very much eager to have
one scripture, one God, one religion, and one occupation. Therefore, ekam
shastram devaki-putra-gitam: let there be one scripture only, one common
scripture for the whole world—Bhagavad-gita. Eko devo devaki-putra eva: let
there be one God for the whole world—Sri Krishna. Eko mantras tasya namani: and
one hymn, one mantra, one prayer—the chanting of His name: Hare Krishna, Hare
Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.
Karmapy ekam tasya devasya seva: and let there be one work only—the service of
the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
