Topic: Bhagavat Gita
Place: Vail, Colorado, USA
Transcription: Lalitamadhava Dasi, Krishna Dasa, Premalila Dasi, Kalindi Dasi
Editing: Hemavati Radhika Dasi
From today, I thought of conducting the seminar in a special way. I thought, for say about half an hour I will discuss the 7th chapter and then I will divide you all into different groups and then I will speak to all, to discuss among yourselves and bring out the essence of the 7th chapter from that discussion. Do you like the idea?
As I mentioned yesterday, from 7th chapter begins the bhakti essence. The first 6 chapters gradually lead to the bhakti. And how many of you remember the last verse of the previous chapter? How many of you? I ask you to raise your hands, no, just start reciting. So what is the verse? O dattatreya’. What’s the meaning of it?
So what is the purpose of yoga? The purpose of yoga is to become united with Krsna and what is the best way to become united with Krsna. Through love and that love is bhakti. Bhakti is pure and in simple words means love and when that love is for Krsna, it is called bhakti and when that love is expressed through certain love and its expression. It is not just I love you and you love me. It is not that just some empty words. There must be some substance. Ok, you love me what are you going to do about it? You say that you love me and would you give me your bank account? Sometimes Prabhupada used to say that some people used to come from Calcutta to Mayapur, they used to come and they wanted to surrender. And Prabhupada’s question used to be, “What would you be doing with your money?”“Oh, I gave my money to my children”. “So, you gave your money to your children and you have come here to become a burden. That’s not fair!” If you really want to surrender, surrender with wherever your heart is not just some empty false or fake surrender. Because, one thing, we must remember, we can’t cheat Krsna or we can’t fool Krsna. He’s sitting right in the heart. And he knows us better than we do. He knows more than us, what’s going on inside of us. With that understanding we must approach Krsna and that is the actual meaning of the “Krishna’s stealing the garments of the gopis”. Krsna stole the garments of the gopis. The way, they are approaching Krsna, we should be completely naked, nothing to hide and that is the surrender, so that is the meaning of bhakti.
So the 7th chapter is beginning with:
sri bhagavan uvaca mayy asakta manah partha yogam yunjan mad asrayah asamsayam samagram mam yatha jnasyasi tac chrnu
“The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: Now hear o son of Prtha, how by practicing yoga in full consciousness of Me, with mind attached to Me, you can know Me in full, free from doubt.” (BG 7.1)
So, what is the simple meaning of this verse? Your mind fully attached to me. What does it mean? When does the mind become fully attached to somebody? When, we have love for that person. It is due to our love that our mind becomes attracted to him and naturally completely attached to him, obsessed with him.
So, what is the best way of knowing Krsna? By developing love for Krsna. When we develop love for Krsna then our heart will be completely absorbed in his thoughts. When we fall in love with Krsna, then, whatever we do, we simply would want to do it more. That is, what love means and then only will we get to know Krsna. What does it mean, “we’ll get to know Krsna?”
Krsna will reveal Himself to us. What is the best way to know someone? When the person comes and stands in front of us, then you get to know him. Getting to know Krsna means Krsna will come and reveal himself to us. And, that will happen only, when we develop our love for Him. Krsna is assuring Arjuna now. So the word bakshami means, I will tell you
jnanam to ham sa vijnanam idam vaksyamy asesatah yaj jnatva neha bhuyo nyaj jnatavyam avasisyate (BG 7.2)
So vaksyamy, the word vaksyamy means I will tell you. The word asesatah means in full, in complete. Asesatah endless, in complete and this is vijnanam. Vijnanam means knowledge and realized knowledge. Intellectual perception of, intellectually knowing something is jnanam and realising something means vijanam. So, Krsna is not talking about jnanam. He is talking about sa vijnanam. I will tell you about the realisation about myself and when you get to know that, nothing will be left to know. So that is the meaning of Krsna consciousness.
So Krsna is assuring Arjuna, reassuring, but then Krsna is pointing out, manusyanam sahasresu, not everybody wants to aspire for spiritual perfection and those who aspire for spiritual perfection are rarely one who achieve perfection and out of those perfected, one, is very rare to find one who knows Me. On one hand, Krsna is telling, I will give you that knowledge, but, in the next verse, Krsna is telling, how rare that knowledge is.
Then Krsna is imparting the knowledge and this one verse is actually very, very important to understand. The transcendental reality. Transcend means what? Going across. So, at some point, we have to go across this material world. Staying on the material nature means, material nature will never be able to understand the spiritual reality. We have to transcend this platform to go into that platform.
So Krsna is making the transition here.
bhumir apo ‘nalo vayuh kham mano buddhir eva ca ahankara itiyam me bhinna prakrtir astadha (BG 7.4)
This material nature is comprised of earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego. How many did you get? Eight? So this material nature is composed of these eight elements. But then Krishna is pointing out apareyam itas tv anyam. This material nature composed of these eight elements is apara, is inferior but beyond this inferior material nature, there is a superior nature of mine.
And jiva-bhutam maha-baho yayedam dharyate jagat. And the living entities, the jiva- bhutam who are sustaining this material nature, who are exploiting this material nature, they come from there. So you see this point.
Yesterday I mentioned in relation to Sankhya. In Sankhya, what is happening? In Sankhya philosophy, you analyze the whole material nature but then what is the purpose of this analysis? The purpose of analyzing the entire material nature is to transcend the material nature, and come to the spiritual reality. So here Krishna is actually making us transcend the material nature. This material nature consisting of these eight elements is not everything. Beyond this, there is a superior spiritual reality and we all have come from there. We are not a product of this material nature. Unfortunately modern science cannot accept that. They have concluded that living entities are a product of chemical combination. Therefore they will always remain in this endless darkness, eternal darkness. They will never be able to come to the right conclusion. They will never be able to have the proper understanding, right understanding. etad-yonini bhutani sarvanity upadharaya aham krtsnasya jagatah prabhavah pralayas tatha (BG 7.6)
“All created being have their source in these two natures.” Everything has their source and origin in these two natures, material and spiritual. “Of all that is material and all that is spiritual in this world, know for certain that I am both the origin and the dissolution.”
Prabhavah pralayas tatha, I am the prabhavah, I am the origin and I am pralayas cause of destruction. Of course that concept of destruction does not apply in the spiritual reality because that reality is eternal, so there is no consideration of destruction of that nature. So see how systematically Krishna is now giving us this knowledge step by step.
First we are in the material nature. What this material nature, consisting of the eight elements. But beyond this material nature, there is the spiritual reality, and we all came from the spiritual reality, we all are spiritual beings and we are sustaining this material nature. We are exploiting this material nature, we are experiencing this material nature. We are experiencing. material nature relative to our personality.
If there is no one to perceive this, if there is no one here, will the material nature exist or not? It will exist but it will exist in its unmanifested form, unmanifest, not manifest. So what is causing this material nature to manifest? The appearance of the living entities in this nature. And then Krishna is pointing out that of both these material and spiritual nature, He is the origin and He is the cause of destruction. That means everything is maintained and everything is sustained by Him. Then He is saying:
mattah parataram nanyat kincid asti dhananjaya mayi sarvam idam protam sutre mani-gana iva (BG 7.7)
There is no one superior to Me. Krishna is broadcasting. So should you believe in Krishna? Yes. Is there anyone superior to Krishna? No. So that is the identity of Krishna. Akam eva aditya, one without a second. One without a second, supreme param. The expression param indicates that no one is equal to Him and no one is superior to Him. So He is making that point here, mattah parataram nanyat kincid asti dhananjaya. Sometimes people may say “oh you are Hare Krishna, that’s why you say Krishna is the greatest.” Is not our words, it’s Krishna words. And all the great saintly personalities, all the exalted souls in India, greatest spiritual personalities have accepted Bhagavat Gita as the authority. So in the Bhagavat Gita, Krishna is saying no one is superior to Him. So should we accept it? YES. Mattah parataram nanyat kincid asti dhananjaya mayi sarvam idam protam sutre mani- gana iva. So everything is sustained by Me, just as the tread is holding all the jewels, that in the necklace.
Raso ham. Then Krishna is pointing out that how we have to see Him in everything. Krishna, everything is being sustained by Krishna. How everything is being sustained by Krishna, how Krishna is present in everything.
raso ham apsu kaunteya prabhasmi sasi-suryayoh pranavah sarva-vedesu khe paurusam nrsu (BG 7.8)
So Krishna is telling that “O son of Kunti, I am the taste of water, the light of the sun and the moon, the syllable Om in the Vedic mantras, I am the sound in ether and ability in men.”
punyo gandhah prthivyam ca tejas casmi vibhavasau jivanam sarva-bhutesu tapas casmi tapasvisu
I am the original fragrance of the earth, I am the heat in fire, I am the life of all that lives and I am the penances of all ascetics. (BG 7.9)
bijam mam sarva-bhutanam viddhi partha sanatanam buddhir buddhimatam asmi tejas tejasvinam aham
O son of Prtha, know that I am the original seed of all existence, the intelligence of the intelligence and the prowess of all powerful men.(BG7.10)
balam balavatam caham kama-raga-vivarjitam dharmaviruddho bhutesu kamo ‘smi bharatarsabha
I am the strength of the strong, devoid of passion and desire. I am sex life which is not contrary to religious principle, O Lord of the bharata Arjuna. (BG7.11)
ye caiva sattvika bhava rajasas tamasas ca ye matta eveti tan viddhi na tv aham tesu te mayi Know that all state of being be they of goodness, passion or ignorance are manifested by my energy. I am in one sense everything but I am independent. I am not under the modes of material nature for they on the contrary are within me. (BG 7.12)
tribhir guna-mayair bhavair ebhih sarvam idam jagat mohitam nabhijanati mam ebhyah param avyayam
Deluded by the three modes of nature, the whole world does not know me who am above the modes and inexhaustible. (BG 7.13)
daivi hy esa guna-mayi mama maya duratyaya mam eva ye prapadyante mayam etam taranti te
The divine energy of mine consisting of the three modes of material nature is difficult to overcome but those who have surrender unto me can easily cross beyond it. (BG7.14)
na mam duskrtino mudhah prapadyante naradhamah mayayapahrta-jnana asuram bhavam asritah (BG 7.15)
Four kinds of people will never surrender to Krsna. Although Krsna is the Supreme, Krsna is the most merciful shelter of everyone, but still there are some people who will never surrender unto Him. Who are those? Duskritinah, those who are the miscreants. They fall in? There are four catagories of them: mudha, a fool. Mudha , na mam duskritinah mudhah. And naradhamah, nara adhamah they look like human beings but they are not human beings, naradhamah. And mayayapahrta-jnana whose knowledge have been stolen by maya and asuram bhavam asritah those who are demoniac by nature.
catur-vidha bhajante mam janah skrtino ‘rjuna arto jijnasur artharthi jnani ca bharatarsabha (BG 7.16)
And four kind of people who surrender, who are they? They are artha, they’re some people in distress they surrender unto Him. Those who are in need of money, they may surrender unto Krsna, then those who are inquisitive about the spiritual reality, they surrender unto Him, and those who are situated in proper knowledge, they surrender unto Him. So there are four kinds they are sukritinah. The word sukritinah has been translated by Srila Prabhupada as those who are pious. tesam jnani nitya-yukta eka-bhaktir visisyate priyo hi jnanino ‘tyartham aham sa ca mama priyah (BG 7.17)
Of those the one who is in full knowledge and one who is always engaged in pure devotional service is the best. Of all those people those who surrender unto Krsna, one who is in full knowledge and who is always engaged in pure devotional service. Now what is the meaning of full knowledge? Full knowledge is very simple knowledge, Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and we are His eternal servants. Now this is the full knowledge. Full knowledge doesn’t mean we have to have vast intellectual ability. Full knowledge is very simple. When the sun comes up is it very difficult to see everything? No, with the light of the sun we see everything. Similarly with this understanding, everything becomes perfectly understood. Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and we are His servants. And then what happens?
Then eka-bhaktir visisyate, then one becomes engaged in pure devotional service. So who can become a pure devotee of Krsna? Who can recognise his identity as His eternal servant. And he is very very dear to Krsna. Sometimes people make a mistake thinking “oh we have to become very learned in order to become dear to Krsna”, because Krsna is saying of those one who is in full knowledge, so we have to become jnani, NO! we don’t have to become jnani, rather we simply have to understand a very simple point that we are eternal servants of Krsna and we become engaged in His devotional service then we will become perfectly situated and then we will become very dear to Krsna.
udarah sarva evaite jnani tv atmaiva me matam asthitah sa hi yuktatma mam evanuttamam gatim (BG 7.18)
Krsna is now making this point, all these devotees, of all those devotees undoubtedly magnanimous souls, but he who is situated in knowledge of Me, I consider to be just like Me, just like My own self, atmaiva, being engaged in My transcendental service is sure to attain Me, the highest and most perfect goal.
bahunam janmanam ante jnanavan mam prapadyate vasudevah sarvam iti sa mahatma su-durlabhah (BG 7.19)
So what is the ultimate perfection of knowledge? Vasudevah sarvam iti; Vasudeva is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna and He is everything, He is the source of everything, He is the maintainer of everything and He is the shelter of everything. “After many, many births and deaths, he who is actually in knowledge surrenders unto Me, knowing Me to be the cause of all causes and all that is. Such a great soul is very, very rare.”
kamais tais tair hrta-jnanah prapadyante ‘nya-devatah tam tam niyamam asthaya prakrtya 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. (BG 7.20)
So when somebody worships other demigods, kamais tais tair hrta-jnanah, whose knowledge has been stolen by lust. Lust, what is the meaning of lust? Lust simply means the desire to enjoy this material nature. When we have the desire to enjoy the material nature then our knowledge will be stolen hrta-jnanah and what will we do then? We will take shelter of someone other than Krsna, someone other than Krsna, anya-devatah. Anya devatah doesn’t mean just the demigods, even others, your boss you are taking shelter of him. Your political leader, you’re taking shelter of him. So when do we take shelter of others, other than Krsna? Only when our knowledge has been stolen by lust. 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. At least those days they used to surrender to demigods now-a-days they don’t even surrender to demigods, they surrender to their boss, they surrender to the movie stars, they surrender to the politicians, they surrender to everybody else why? Because their intelligence has been stolen by lust. They think that by worshipping them, they will get their desires fulfilled.
yo yo yam yam tanum bhaktah sraddhayarcitum icchati tasya tasyacalam sraddham tam eva vidadhamy aham
I am in everyone’s heart as the Supersoul. As soon as one desires to worship some demigod, I make his faith steady so that he can devote himself to that particular deity. (BG 7.21)
sa taya sraddhaya yuktas tasyaradhanam ihate labhate ca tatah Kaman mayaiva vihitan hi tan
Endowed with such a faith, he endeavours to worship a particular demigod and obtains his desires. But in actuality these benefits are bestowed by Me alone. (BG 7.22) antavat tu phalam tesam tad bhavaty alpa-medhasam devan deva-yajo yanti mad-bhakta yanti mam api
Men of small intelligence worship the demigods, and their fruits are limited and temporary. Those who worship the demigods go to the planets of the demigods but My devotees ultimately reach My supreme planet. (BG 7.23)
avyaktam vyaktim apannam manyante mam abuddhayah param bhavam ajananto mamavyayam anuttamam
Unintelligent men, who do not know Me perfectly, think that I, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, 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)
naham prakasah sarvasya yoga-maya -samavrtah mudho yam nabhijanati loko mam ajam avyayam
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)
vedaham samatitani vartamanani carjuna bhavisyani ca bhutani mam-tu veda na kascana
O Arjuna, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead I know everything that has happened in the past, all that is happening in the present, and all things that are yet to come. I also know all living entities, but Me no one knows. (BG 7.26)
Krishna knows everything, Krishna knows everybody, but no one knows Krishna.
Iccha-dvesa-samutthena dvandva-mohena bharata sarva-bhutani sammohan sarge yanti parantapa
O scion of Bharata, O conqueror of the foe, all living entities are born into delusion, bewildered by dualities arisen from desire and hate. (BG 7.27)
Yesam tv anta-gatam papam jananam punya-karmanam Te dvandva-moha-nirmukta bhajante mamdrdha-vratah
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. (BG 7.28)
jara-marana-moksaya mam asritya yatanti ye te brahma tad viduh krtsnam adhyatmam karma cakhilam
Intelligent persons who are endeavoring for liberation from old age and death take refuge in Me in devotional service. They are actually Brahman because they entirely know everything about transcendental activities (BG 7.29)
sadhibhutadhidaivam mam sadhiyajnam ca ye viduh prayana-kale pi ca mam te vidur yukta-cetasah
Those in full consciousness of Me, who know Me, the Supreme Lord, to be the governing principle of the material manifestation, of the demigods, and of all methods of sacrifice, can understand and know Me, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, even at the time of death. (BG 7.30).
That means even if they did not understand Krishna before, at the time of death they will positively understand Krishna. Why? Because Krishna will come to them.
What I will do now is I will divide you in five groups. How many are there? 47 total here. So nine in each group. Those who are elderly do not have to participate. Who wants to actively participate? Okay, maybe one group can come this side-nine of you-okay one group. How many others want to participate? These are the two lady groups. Men’s group at the other side-Ok, nine of you.