CONTENTS:
- Introduction to Bhagavad Gita Part 2;
- Srila Prabhupada's Appreciation;
- Guru Maharaja’s Instructions;
1. INTRODUCTION TO BHAGAVAD GITA PART 2
So as long as the soul is in the body the body is alive. When the soul accepts a new body that is the birth of the body not the birth of the soul. When the soul leaves the body, the body made of dead matter becomes dead again. So that is the reality. That is the first thing that Krishna is instructing in the Bhagavad Gita at the very beginning.
BG 2.13
dehino 'smin yatha dehe
kaumaram yauvanam jara
tatha dehantara-praptir
dhiras tatra na muhyat
dehino 'smin yatha dehe, in this body the soul the owner of the body. Who is the owner of the body? The soul is the owner of the body. Who is the owner of the body? I am the owner of the body. Who am I? I am the spirit soul. We can see that the body changes kaumaram yauvanam jara childhood, youth, old age, the body changes. The childhood body, the little baby body grows becomes a young man’s body then gradually that young man’s body becomes an old body. So, the body is changing but in spite of the changing of the body, we, our actual identity the I am not changing. So that is how Krishna is pointing out the difference between the body and the soul. Although in this material nature we tend to think our actual identity is me the body, the real me is this body but Krishna is reminding not pointing out but reminding us that our actual identity is the soul not the body. And then what is the relationship between the body and the soul? Like a dress, just as we put on a dress and similarly, we are wearing this body. When that dress becomes old, we discard that old dress and put on a new one. Similarly, when this body becomes old and uninhabitable for the soul one leaves that old body and takes up a new body. The soul leaves the old body but that’s not the end, that’s the end of this body but not the end of the soul. The soul transmigrates into another body, dehantara-praptir, transmigration from one body to another body, dehantara-praptir.
Then Krishna is establishing what s the nature of the soul?
BG 2.20
na jayate mriyate va kadacin
nayam bhutva bhavita va na bhuyah
ajo nityah sasvato 'yam purano
na hanyate hanyamane sarire
Na jayate, the soul is never born, it’s the body that is born. The soul is never born. mriyate va kadacin, nor does the soul ever die. So that is the nature of the soul, the soul is immortal, the soul is never born and is never going to die, it has always been there, how it is, we do not know. In the material nature we can not understand that because in the material nature everything has a beginning and everything has an end. But the soul is not a product of this material nature, the soul comes from the spiritual world. Spiritual world is the world of eternity, there, there is no beginning and there is no end what is it like? We won’t be able to understand unless and until we go there.
At least the informations are available and how can we receive the informations? Through hearing and that is why hearing is so important and not just only hearing but hearing from the right source. The person who has knowledge and when he imparts the knowledge then the knowledge becomes meaningful. So that’s the spiritual knowledge must be received from a qualified source, a bona fide source, a bona fide spiritual master.
Krishna also gives the process:
BG 4.34
tad viddhi pranipatena
pariprasnena sevaya
upadeksyanti te jnanam
jnaninas tattva-darsinah
One must approach the teacher, the bona fide spiritual master. How? Pranipatena, in a submissive way, offering obeisances, pranipat means offering obeisances meaning surrendering himself to him. I am ready to receive whatever you are going to give me. Then sincere enquiry pariprasnena, one must question with all sincerity. Sevaya one must serve the spiritual master and then upadeksyanti te jnanam, the spiritual master imparts the knowledge and jnaninas tattva-darsinah, what’s the qualification of a spiritual master? He is situated in knowledge jnanina and tattva-darsinah, he has seen the truth, he has seen the reality. So that is the qualification of the teacher and that is how the student must approach the teacher to receive the knowledge.
So, this is the process and Krishna is again pointing out that spiritual reality is our actual place, we came from the spiritual world, we are not a product of this material nature. The spirit soul that we are is coming from the spiritual world and that spirt soul is never born nor doe sit ever die. The spirit soul is indestructible, that point has been made by Krishna in this way explaining:
BG 2.23
nainam chindanti sastrani
nainam dahati pavakah
na cainam kledayanty apo
na sosayati marutah
nainam chindanti sastrani, the spirit soul cannot be cut by any weapon. nainam dahati pavakah the spirit soul cannot be burnt by fire, even the most intense most powerful nuclear explosion cannot burn the soul, the body may be finished in a fraction of a second but the soul will not be affected. na cainam kledayanty apo, the spirit soul cannot be moistened or drowned in water. na sosayati marutah and it cannot be dried by air, so that is the nature of the spirt soul.
BG 2.24
acchedyo 'yam adahyo 'yam
akledyo 'sosya eva ca
nityah sarva-gatah sthanur
acalo 'yam sanatanah
The soul is totally unaffected by weapons, fire, water, air. The soul is nitya, eternal. nityah sarva-gatah the soul is able to go anywhere. Sometimes people think that only the earth planet has living entities, No, every single space in this universe is spirit soul. Just as although we cannot see when we wave our hand, we are touching innumerable microbes that are floating in the air, even the microbes are living entities, they are also spiritual beings, living entities.
There also is another consideration, what is the sign of a living entity? What is the sign of life? Life has six symptoms: birth, growth, change, reproduction, decay and death. Now let’s consider does a microbe take birth? Yes, we know the amoebas, protozoa and other such unicellular living entities, they born at some point and then they grow. For example, a tree, a seed falls on the ground and a seedling comes out then it grows, a small little seedling grows into a huge tree. Then the tree changes, in autumn the leaves fall off and then in spring new leaves comes then there are flowers and fruits. The flowers gradually transform into fruit and the fruit has a seed and, in the seed, there is a possibility of another tree, reproduction. So, birth, growth, change and reproduction and then decay, in course of time the tree becomes old and then death. These are the six symptoms of life, wherever there is life these six symptoms are there whether it’s a microbe, plant, tree, reptile, bird, animal or human being.
From that what do we understand? That all these living entities have a soul, they all are spiritual beings, spirit souls and then they come to the human form of live. There are different species, grades of living entities. As we said microbes, plants, reptiles, birds and then gradually from animal to human beings. So, when we get the human form of life we are endowed with a very special opportunity. As human beings we have developed intelligence and with that developed intelligence we can understand the spiritual reality. When we hear this message of this spiritual reality, spiritual world when we get to understand the spiritual reality, then only our human form of life becomes successful. The purpose of human life in that way has been described in the Vedas as brahma jigyasa, the human beings are meant to question about the spiritual reality. So that is when the human form of life starts to fulfill its purpose. So, in this way as a human being our most important business should be to receive this knowledge about the spiritual reality. A dog cannot question who am I? Whether I am a spirit soul or this body? No animal has this faculty but every human being at some times questions who am I? And that’s the beginning. Who am I? Am I this body or am I someone beyond this body? Those informations are being provided in the Vedas and that is the purpose of this discussion. Thank you all very much. Hare Krishna.
2. SRILA PRABHUPADA'S APPRECIATION
On Ekadasi, a semimonthly day of increased spiritual focus and fasting from at least grains and beans, the devotees had not been properly informed and had eaten grains for breakfast. Later, when we found out that it was Ekadasi and I informed Srila Prabhupada, he became upset. He called Pradyumna and asked, “What is the point in having a pandita with us if he can’t even figure out when is Ekadasi?”
When Tamal Krishna Maharaja asked Srila Prabhupada what we should do, Prabhupada said that we should fast the next day. He had not had any grains, but since we were not observing Ekadasi that day, he would not either, he would fast with us on the following day. Later, I learned from Hari-bhakti-vilasa, the Vaishnava instruction manual, that people under eight and over eighty years of age need not observe Ekadasi fast. Srila Prabhupada was eighty, but he fasted anyway – for our sake.
(Excerpt from Ocean of Mercy, a book written by HH Bhakti Charu Swami pages 158 and 159)
3. GURU MAHARAJA’S INSTRUCTIONS
At least the informations are available and how can we receive the informations? Through hearing and that is why hearing is so important and not just only hearing but hearing from the right source;
Spiritual reality is our actual place, we came from the spiritual world, we are not a product of this material nature; and
So, in this way as a human being our most important business should be to receive this knowledge about the spiritual reality.
(The content of this E-magazine is based on a lecture given by His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami on 25th May 2018 in DeLand, Florida)
(Compiled and Edited by Hemavati Radhika Dasi)