Gita Essence 3 – The transformational power of love – World-knowledge as the vehicle for love

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors. So, thank all of you for coming today evening for the third part of our discussion on the essence of the Gita as manifested through the transformational power of love. In the first part we talked about how self-knowledge is the basis of love. In the second part I talked about world knowledge as the God knowledge. Questioner asks a question inaudible It’s okay. I will let you know. So, God knowledge as the fuel for love. And last is we have, now today we will talk about knowledge of the world as the means for love. That means that when we are practising bhakti, bhakti is not just emotion of the heart. It is an emotion but that emotion has to be expressed through actions. And since we live in this world, so we need to express it through the actions in this world. Now the 11th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita talks about how God pervades this world. After talking about how universal form, the whole universe is present in the Lord. Thereafter it moves on to talk in the 12th chapter. Arjuna asks, O Krishna, if you consider the all-pervasive aspect of the Lord which is manifested in the universal form. The universal form is manifested at the material level. You can see heads and hands and legs. But there is a spiritual all-pervasive manifestation also. There is a Brahman. So which is better? Is it the all-pervasive manifestation in spiritual that is better or is it the impersonal manifestation in the personal manifestation is better? And Krishna’s answer is very clear. Krishna says that both paths are good. Both will lead to elevation. But the path of impersonal elevation, it is laborious. It is difficult. Klesho, Dikta, Rastesha, Avyakta, Sakta, Chetasam, Avyakta, Kikati, Dukham, Dehavad, Bhira, Apyate. Those who are attached to the impersonal aspect, Krishna says, for them progress is very difficult because the soul is by nature active. And activity can be physical, activity can be verbal, activity can be mental. But we are by nature active. And the impersonal understanding holds that ultimately all activity is illusion because everything except Brahman is illusion. So in order to go from illusion to enlightenment, we have to give up all activity. And that is very difficult to do. So Krishna, on the other hand, he says, if you work for me, then I will deliver you. So 12.6 and 7, Krishna says, ye tu sarvāṇi karmāṇi mai sannyasa mad-paraha ananyenaiva yogena māṁ dhāyanta upāsate teśā mahaṁ samudharta mithyo samsāra sāgarāt bhavāṁ nichirārpārtha maiyāveśita cetasām So he says, ye tu sarvāṇi karmāṇi, we all do different kinds of work, and the work is important to do, but mai, ye tu sarvāṇi karmāṇi mai sannyasa, offer the work to me. And then, what does he say? Absorb your mind in me. And for those who do like this, teśā mahaṁ samudharta, I will deliver you then swiftly, achirena, from the cycle of birth and death. So Krishna is telling here that, I will intervene, I will personally help. Krishna is talking about his personal intervention earlier also in 9.22. He says, yogakṣemaṁ vahāmyaham, I will provide what you lack, I will protect what you have. So Krishna is saying, the personal aspect, it’s not just a vague choice. Intellectually some people like the impersonal aspect, some people like the personal aspect. But when we accept the personal aspect, we also understand that the person is a person who loves. And that person will intervene, that person will offer grace, that person will elevate us. So Krishna is essentially recommending the path of action. Do your work, don’t just be inactive. In the impersonal path, the only thing to speak is that there is nothing to speak. The only thing to do is that there is nothing to do. And the only thing to think is that there is nothing to think. So it’s a very difficult path. But in bhakti, we do work and we use it for the service of Krishna. So, Krishna completes this section, teṣāṁ ahaṁ smṛtyu-saṁ mayi āveṣita cetuṣām. teṣāṁ ahaṁ smṛtyu-saṁ mayi āveṣita cetuṣām. Mayi āveṣita cetuṣām. The consciousness fixed on me. The 7th chapter, which actually began this section of the Gita, that started with mayi āsakta manah, and this 12.7 ends with mayi āveṣita cetuṣām. Same point. Consciousness absorbed, mind absorbed. So Krishna has actually completed a cycle over it. And then he says, bhakti itself can be practised at multiple levels. That, he says, first, when we are to serve Krishna, how do we serve Krishna in this world? Using our resources, he says, the best is just fix your mind on me. In 12.8, he gives the highest level. Mayi āsakta manah, tatsvā mayi buddhim neveṣaya, nevasiṣyasi mayeva, ataur dhamme saṁśayaḥ. He says, if your mind and intelligence are fixed in me, then you already live in me. Whatever work we may be doing in this world, the mind and intelligence are fixed in Krishna, then we are already in Krishna. It is not that we will attain Krishna in future, we have already attained him. We are living in me, Krishna says. But how do we do that? What if we are not at that level? Krishna says, okay, then you do sādhanā bhakti. Next verse 12.9 says, ataścittam samādhātum naśakno śrīmai sthiram abhyāsa yogetato mā ucchā tunda nañjaya. He says, if you can’t fix the mind on me, then just do abhyāsa yoga. Try to fix your mind on me, as a practise, as a discipline. Sādhanā bhakti means voluntary force. There is no external force, but it is voluntary force. It’s not a mandatory force that you have to do it. It’s not that like a dictatorial government tells do it. It is we with our free will choose to do it, but sometimes it forces us. So even if the mind goes off, we bring it back. It goes off, bring it back. And by this, Krishna says, your mind will become attached to me. Gradually your mind will become attached to me. By such practise. Somebody may say, what? No, I’m just hearing about Krishna, chanting his name. I can’t do it so much. If you can’t do that, one more level you go. He says, abhyāsepyasamarthose mad-karma-paramobhava mad-arthaṁ api kālaṁ. kuruvaṁ siddhema vāpsisi. They say, if you can’t fix your mind on me, if you can’t steadily practise the sādhanā bhakti, then just work for me. Work for me. That means, you know, we can’t chant Hare Krishna constantly. Okay, then do some seva in that. Work for me. Do something practical. And then he says, mad-karma-paramobhava. By understanding me to be the supreme, work for me. So, always think of me, strive to think of me, work for me. Athaitadapya shaktosikartum adhiyogam āśritah sarva-karma-paladyāgam tathā kuru yatātmavān. He goes one level below. 12.11 he says, if you can’t do that, if you can’t even work for me, then at least sacrifice the fruits of your work for some good cause. Prabhupāda writes over there in the Purport that we may give charity to some cause by which at least we develop a culture of selflessness. We can’t give for Krishna, we can give for some other cause by which we develop some level of selflessness. So basically, the growth of bhakti is essentially a growth in selflessness. Initially I want to do everything for myself. And pure devotion means I do for Krishna. In between we try to grow. So, now Krishna is very accommodating over here in talking about how we can come to Him. Now while functioning in this world, Arjuna has to function here. And in fact, although the Bhagavad Gita stresses bhakti, this chapter is bhakti yoga, but actually Krishna stresses a somewhat unemotional kind of bhakti. Not exactly unemotional, but it is not affected by mundane emotionality. Because for Arjuna what has happened is his material emotions have overpowered him. And because of which in the first chapter his limbs were trembling, his gandhi was slipping from his hand, he was shedding tears, his hair was standing on end. So, he had become overwhelmed by emotions. So, the Gita’s thrust is at this point to help him stabilise himself. So, you see there are worldly emotions which distract our focus from Krishna. Then there is an unemotional, rational, intellectual analysis which helps us understand. This emotionality, mundane emotionality is not good. Let me fix my mind on Krishna. So, that is better than mundane emotionality which is distracting us. And then through that rational, intellectual, logical thinking, then as our mind becomes fixed on Krishna, we become attached to Krishna, then spiritual emotions will awaken. So, Krishna at this stage for Arjuna he tells from 12.12 onwards, 12.13 onwards, 12.20, he gives an analysis of the qualities that endear him to a devotee. What makes a devotee dear to him? And Krishna says, devotee is santushtha sathatam yogi yataatma dhrudhrishtha yahan, one who is satisfied, one who is maanapa maanayo sthulya sthulyo mitrari pakshayo sarvarambha parityagi. So, Krishna says that, like this he says, one who is equiposed in honour and dishonour, in happiness and distress. The idea is that, Krishna, it’s not that we are meant to be heartless or emotionless. It is rather our emotions need to be available for being invested in that which is most worthwhile. Say for example, if I am going on a journey and at the end of the journey I am going to meet someone who is going to give me one million dollars. But on the way, somebody comes and puts their hand in my pocket and gives me five dollars from my pocket. If I start fighting with them and I waste my time in them, I never reach the destination where I will get one million dollars. Or I am on the way and on the side of the street I see five million dollars, five dollars falling over there. And I go to catch it and a wind blows it away. And I start chasing it, start chasing, I keep chasing, chasing, chasing and again I don’t get the one million dollars. So material losses and material gains are like five dollar losses and five dollar gains. But our connection with Krishna, our absorption in Krishna, our love for Krishna is like that one million dollars. So it is not that we are not meant to be emotional. But we all have to decide where we are to invest our emotions. Where investing our emotions will give us the richest returns. And that’s why Krishna says, Okay, you know, five dollars, that’s nice, I would like to have it. No. All that appears to be simple, just bend down and take it. If we try to take it, we will find it is going to take us away from the path. So Krishna says, worldly ups and downs, just be detached. Because when we get emotionally consumed by worldly ups and downs, then we are not, our consciousness is not available for Krishna. We are thinking, oh, this is so nice. Now I become, now I am happy, now I am successful, now I am famous. And we are caught in that. We are not thinking about Krishna. Oh, things are going so wrong, you know, life is so rotten. I am useless, I am a failure. Again, we are not thinking about Krishna. So Krishna says, be equipoised. And this way, when Krishna tells how to act in this world, in this mode of service to him, the world is the medium by which we are going to serve the Lord. We can’t suddenly start thinking about Krishna and start living in Krishna. We have to function in this world. So while functioning in this world, we become unemotional about worldly ups and downs. And to help this understanding, Krishna in the 13th chapter talks about the three modes of material nature. So now the modes have been mentioned repeatedly earlier. Now what exactly are the modes? The modes, gunas, they are subtle forces that shape the interaction between consciousness and matter. So all of us, when we see the same object, we may perceive that object differently. Say, the same object can have different, can build different emotions in different person. Say, there is a young, good-looking woman, you know, a man, a young man who sees it, that seeing her may kindle the mode of passion in him, sexual desire in him. But that same young woman, maybe the spouse of someone, and just now they have had a quarrel. So as soon as her husband sees her, he may get angry. So, in one man, it is triggering rajoguna, mode of passion. There is the urge for action immediately. In mode of ignorance, there is destruction. I just want to destroy things. And yet, that same woman, maybe the child of a boy. And the child is wondering, where is my mother? The child is worried. The child is fearful. As soon as the child sees the mother, he is relieved. He becomes calm. So in that child, the same side is bringing sattvaguna, mode of goodness. So the same object, it can have different effects on different people. Why is that? That is dependent on the mode that we are in. So the modes, what do they do? They shape the interaction between matter and consciousness. When we see a material object, what kind of emotion is induced within us, that is determined by the mode we are in. So, in the 12th chapter, Krishna says, don’t be carried away by material emotions. That same thing Krishna analyses deeper and says, actually the material emotions are not really your emotions. They are emotions induced in you by certain external influences. And just like sometimes, we may do something and after a while we wonder, why did I do that? So, what made me do that? What made me feel like doing it? So Krishna says, it’s the modes which are acting. So, whenever all of us have our modes, most of the people are not aware of the concept of modes. But everybody is aware of modes. We all go through different modes. And nowadays people have dramatic mood swings. One day they are just so sweet and gentle, the embodiment of courtesy. And the next day they are so angry and unpleasant with the embodiment of nastiness. So, what happens is, just the mood has changed. So, Krishna says, these modes will come. They are simply coming because of the modes. So, Krishna says in 13.20-23, he says, what you should do? Prakasham cha pravattim cha moham eva cha pandava adveshtisam pravattani na nivruttani kamsati. This prakasha refers to illumination. That refers to the mode of goodness. Prakasha, pravatti, pravatti is the urge for action. Action, that refers to the mode of passion. And moha is the mode of ignorance. So, all these three, they will come by their own, by their own in force. By their own nature they will come. Sometimes you feel peaceful, sometimes you feel I have to do something in my life. Sometimes you feel, what is the deep meaning? It is that some people make things happen. Some people watch things happen. And some people wonder what happened. So, this is goodness, passion and ignorance. Now, Krishna says, when this happens, what should you do? He says, just be detached. Ok, these emotions are coming, they will go. Don’t identify with the emotions. Don’t get carried away by the emotions. So, actually to become Krishna conscious, we need to become consciousness conscious. Ok, what is my consciousness right now? Rather than just feeling our feelings, we need to become observers of our feelings. Rather than saying, I am angry now. Rather than acting angrily, we just observe ourselves. Ok, I am feeling some anger coming in. Why is this anger coming? Because this person did like this. And why is that made me so angry? Because they promised to do this, but they did this. And ok, they promised, but what is really their problem? They didn’t keep their promise. No, but this didn’t work out. Ok, what is the consequence of that? Yeah, actually I can fix it, isn’t it? So, there is no need to get so worked up about it. So, if we just observe our emotions instead of identifying with our emotions, then we can process them. So, usually we think of emotions only in two terms. Expressing them or repressing them. I express, if I am angry, I express that anger at someone. And that person feels shocked. I mean they get angry and then it just makes things worse. Or sometimes we repress our emotions thinking that I shouldn’t speak this thing, I shouldn’t do this. But then repressed emotions, see anger when repressed becomes hate. But it’s that deep, deep, deep, deep, what happens? It becomes hatred. So, then the concept of the modes when we understand, it opens a third option for us. Beyond expressing emotions and repressing emotions to processing emotions. Processing means analyse. Ok, I am feeling this emotion and we analyse. And then when we process the emotion, it is not that we are not meant to feel emotion. It is not meant that we are to deny emotions. But when the emotions come, we respond appropriately. So, if you are angry with someone, anger rather than acting on the anger, we understand that anger signifies that something is important for you. And when we understand that it is important for me, ok, why is it exactly important? What is it at stake? And how can that which is at stake be taken care of? We process it that way, then we can respond. So, in functioning in the world, Krishna says that we need to distance ourselves from our emotions. And how best can we do it? Krishna says by practising bhakti. So, the more we practise bhakti diligently, maam cha yogya bhicha re na bhakti yoge na sevate, sa gunan samatit yaitan brahma bhuvya kalpate. If we unflinchingly practise bhakti, then we find that the effect of the modes will go down. So, for example, when we are studying scripture, when we are chanting, that time also our modes may influence us. I may not feel like studying scripture. I may not feel like chanting. I may not feel like coming for a programme, for classes. But at that time we apply a little force to push ourselves to do it. Sometimes if you have to lift a big say 20-30 kg weight, it’s difficult. But if I have a lever, and on that lever, I apply the weight, force, and the bag lifts itself up. Now, to lift the two, to push the lever also, I require some force. But the amount of force required to push the lever is far less than the force required to lift the weight. So, similarly, our bhakti activities are like the lever. Now, when we find our modes going here and there, wandering here and there, and sometimes we just get too angry, sometimes we get too greedy, sometimes we get too depressed. So, all these emotions, at that time to battle those emotions is very difficult. Now, battling the emotions even by practising bhakti is difficult. But if at that time we do it, then that is like pressing the lever. And our whole consciousness will rise up. Many of us will experience that, may be earlier we were very short tempered, and after we start practising bhakti, then our capacity to handle difficult situations goes up. Before that, if some difficulty came, we might have just emotionally crumpled. Now, also we are disturbed, but we don’t collapse. We are able to cope with it. So, what is happening? When we try as much as possible to practise bhakti diligently, we basically develop a connection with Krishna. And that connection helps us to resist the distraction that is caused by the modes. It’s like if a boat is there, and the boat is moving. The boat is in an ocean. The waves will cause it to move here and there. But if the boat is anchored, then it will not move that much. It will not shake that much. So, like that the connection with Krishna decreases the distraction because of the mode. Like a boat anchored doesn’t move so much. And that’s why connecting with Krishna may also be obstructed by our emotions. But if we can fight against those emotions there, fighting against the emotions at other places will be much easier. Then, after that, actually, sorry, all that I talked about right now is the 14th chapter, not the 13th chapter. The 14th chapter is the modes of material nature. The 13th chapter is the one before. This is the most analytical chapter. Krishna gives the definitions. You know, prakriti, purusha, kshetra, kshetra jnana, jnana, jnaya. It’s a complicated analysis. It’s from the Upanishads. The Upanishads are especially meant for intellectual people. If you tell them that, you know, intellectual people, you tell them Radha, Krishna are God. What is this? It’s a simple anthropomorphic when you are taking human images and making them into God. So then, you say, Krishna represents the primordial cosmological principle that exists beyond all conceptions of space and time and that which pervades all of existence and exists before existence and exists beyond existence and is the original existence. So, there are some people who just need complicated presentations. So, the Upanishads cater to that kind of people. And Krishna in the 13th chapter is also catering to those kind of people. So, 13th chapter is full with complicated things. Krishna tells, he used to be saying one thing at one place and the next place he says something different. He says at one place that I am inside everything and then he says I am outside everything. bahirantasya bhutanam acaram caramevacam sukshmatvatadvigyam srishnoprabhavishnucha So, I am outside everything. I am inside everything. I am close. I am far away. I am tiny. I am huge. So, it talks about all these contradictory things. Now, actually they are not contradictory. They are paradoxical. Contradiction means there are two opposite statements. Paradox means there are two statements which seem opposite, but at a deeper level they are correct. When you get a deeper understanding then if you see actually they are correct. So, for example, if a teacher may say the least corrected papers are the most correct. Least correct, most correct, how does it make sense? But yes, the teacher has to put least correction on the paper. That means the student has already observed it correctly. So, the least corrected papers are the most correct. And this sounds contradictory, but it is actually a correct statement. So, paradox means you have to go deeper to understand what is being said. So, suppose the standard example is given in Vedic epistemology. Devadatta is a person. So, Devadatta fasts throughout the day. That’s one statement. Statement A. Statement B is Devadatta’s weight is increasing. How do the two go together? So, this is contradictory. It doesn’t work. There is a third statement, an arthapatti, a postulation which will reconcile it. What is the third statement? Devadatta eats secretly at night. So, like that when Krishna says he is inside everything and he is outside everything, this will seem like contradictory. It doesn’t make sense. But what does it mean? How do you understand it? Actually what it means is Krishna has multiple manifestations. As the manifestation of Shirodaksha Vishnu, he is inside everything. As Mahavishnu, he is outside everything. So, there are ways in which it can be understood. Some people may dismiss it as contradictory. But it’s not contradictory. It’s paradoxical. The 13th chapter especially talks about how the soul becomes, how it misidentifies with the world, with the body and with the world because of the desire to enjoy. Purushya prakriti sthohi. Bhunkte prakriti janunam karanam mun sangosya. Sad asad yon janmasu. So, Krishna says that Purushya, the soul, prakriti sthohi, gets caught in prakriti because of bhunkte, the desire to enjoy. Just like a child sitting at home comfortably. Mother is nearby in the kitchen working. A child presses the remote on the TV and starts watching a horror movie. As the child starts watching the horror movie, the child starts becoming horrified. The child gets horrified, starts trembling, starts crying. Now, actually, the child is safe. But as long as the child’s consciousness is caught in that horror movie, in the horror movie, so like that the soul is always safe. Soul is transcendental. But prakriti sthohi, the soul’s consciousness is caught in that. Why? Bhunkte. Because of the desire to enjoy. And because of the desire to enjoy, how does the desire come to? Bhunkte prakriti jan gunan. Because the modes born from prakriti. And the modes are what induce the soul to identify with material objects, to desire to enjoy material objects. And then the soul becomes bound. So that is, 13th chapter sets the basis. For the 14th chapter, Krishna talks about the modes in detail. In the 15th chapter, Krishna talks about himself, Purushottama Yoga. He says this world is like an upside down tree. And upside down tree means there is a real tree. It’s like a bank of an ocean, like a river. The real tree is up there. So like this material world is a reflection, spiritual world is a reality. And Krishna says he exists at the summit of the spiritual world. And we can all approach him, we can all attain him by the practise of art. So Krishna says while functioning in this world, how the soul lives, how the soul acts, how the soul is bound, how the soul can make this entanglement, all this, we need to understand through jnana chakshu, the eyes of knowledge. utkramantam sthitam vapi bhunjanam va gunanitam vimurha nanu pasyanti pasyanti jnana chakshu shaham, jnana chakshu shaham. In the 15.10 he states that the eyes of knowledge. Now what does the eyes of knowledge mean? Actually, in any field, we just don’t see with our eyes. We see with the knowledge that we have. The stock market is there, suppose. And there is some person who has no knowledge of stock market, no knowledge of economics. He just walks into the stock market. And then there is some big screen on which a line suddenly goes down. Everybody catches their head, oh my god, what happened? Just one line went down there, why are you so disturbed? Now, those who know they are lost, I don’t know how much money I have lost, they are shocked. But it requires seeing that line, just by seeing that line one doesn’t see anything. We don’t see with our eyes, we see with our knowledge, it helps us to make sense of what we see. See the word see has two meanings. See can refer to vision and see can refer to comprehension. So for example, if somebody explains something to you, you say I see. I see means I understand what you are saying. So perception can happen. So the people who have invested, the stock broker, the stock investors, they are also seeing the graph going down. And this uneducated person also seeing the graph going down. As far as perception is concerned, for both it is happening. But it is education that transforms perception into comprehension. What we perceive, we comprehend when we have education. And that education is what the Bhagavad Gita provides us. So to see the soul, to see God in action in this world, we need education. With the knowledge of knowledge, we can see. Otherwise we can’t see. And Krishna explains after that how he pervades all of material nature. How he sustains all of nature. And then the chapter concludes with what is called as the Trishloki Gita, 15.16-18. Where Krishna declares his supreme position. There are two kinds of living beings. 15.16-18 is the strongest refutation of impersonalism in the Bhagavad Gita. Because the impersonalists hold, the conditioned souls and the liberated souls. And the liberated souls, they basically become Brahman. They become the absolute truth. But Krishna says, he talks about these things. In 15.16 he says there are two kinds of souls. द्वाविमोः पुरुषवलोकेशरस्चाक्षरेवच चरः सर्वाणि भूतानि कूतस्तो अक्षर उच्छते Some souls are liberated. Some souls are bound in this world. Some souls are liberated, situated above this world. But then he says, उत्तमः पुरुषत्वन्यः परमात्मेति उधारता यो लोकत्रयमाविष्य विभर्त्यवेईश्वर The supreme person is third. Krishna is conditioned, liberated. That’s the two categories that impersonalists have. Impersonalists say that, you know, I was an atheist till I discovered I was God. I discovered I was God. That’s the impersonal idea that, you know, when you become enlightened, when you realise you are a part of that absolute all-pervading oneness, you become God, we say. That’s their idea. But then, Krishna is saying, yes, even if you become liberated, you don’t become God. God is third person. उत्तमः पुरुषत्वन्यः, another person. Named as Paramatma. परमात्मेति उधारता And that person is maintaining all the three worlds. And Krishna stresses that further, यस्माच्रमतितोहं अक्षरादपिछोत्तमः अतोस्मिलोके वेदेच प्रतितपुरुषोत्तमः Krishna says, because I am beyond the fallible and I am beyond the infallible. I am beyond the conditioned, beyond the liberated. Therefore, I am celebrated as the पुरुषोत्तमः, supreme person. So, this is very categorically expressing the transcendence of Krishna’s personality. That it is not that the impersonal is higher than the personal. Rather, beyond the impersonal is the personal. And after describing this, in the 16th chapter, Krishna talks about how the whole section, the second, third section of the Bhagavad Gita is about this material world and how to analyse the material world in a way by which we can stay situated spiritually. So there, in the 16th chapter, he focusses on the divine nature and the demoniac nature. So, first three verses he talks about the divine nature and the remaining chapter he is talking about the demoniac nature. So, he has talked about godly qualities many times earlier. In the 12th chapter he has talked about it, 13th chapter he has talked about it. So, he says, I have spoken this earlier, so I will speak the other in detail. And the point of talking about the demoniac nature is so that you can become distanced from it. Don’t act in this way. So, act in a way which will bring out the godly side. See, all of us, we have within us a good side and a bad side. And we are born with that. Some of us the good side little more, some of us the bad side little more. But we are all both born with that. We are all born with both those sides. Now, depending on our choices, we will bring out either the good side or we will bring out the bad side. So, Krishna talks about the patterns of behaviour of those who have brought out their bad side. And he says that if you behave this way, there is tremendous suffering that results. Now, Krishna, he says that not only suffering will come in future when one becomes, when one suffers the karmic consequences, he says, the suffering will come even now. Chintam aparineyam ca pralayantam apashyatah Kamam pabhog parama etavat iti nishchitah He says that those who think that material enjoyment is the goal of life, such people naturally, they suffer from great anxiety. Chinta, anxiety. Till what point? Aparineyam, immeasurable. It can’t even be counted. So much anxiety is there. And it goes on pralayantam apashyatah, till the moment of death. Why? Because if we think that material enjoyment is the goal of life, then the objects that provide us material enjoyment are outside of us. And we have only limited control over those objects. Therefore, when we think that my life’s success, my life’s pleasure depends solely on objects outside me and I don’t have control over them much. So that naturally causes anxiety. Will I get this object? Will I get it? How long will it stay with me? What if it goes? It’s taken away from me. So this causes anxiety. See, when we pursue only pleasures, there are only three alternatives. One is that we pursue something and we don’t get it. That simply causes frustration. Second is that we pursue it, we get it, but it turns out to be an anticlimax. It turns out to be an anticlimax. The third is we pursue it, we get it and it gives some pleasure. But it is taken away from us. Ultimately it is taken away from us. So, either way, what happens is, the pursuit of worldly pleasures. Now, we all, when we live in this world, it is not that we are meant to starve ourselves of all worldly things. That is not the point. That we will talk about later. Bhagavad Gita’s point is that don’t let the pursuit of worldly things become the primary purpose of your life. By functioning in this world we don’t need worldly things. And naturally we will seek to get them. But don’t seek them disproportionately. Bhagavad Gita is not against ambition. Arjuna, he naturally worked hard, that’s how he became a champion archer. But what Arjuna did not do is, he did not give up for the sake of his archery, he did not give up his spirituality. He managed to balance both. So, actually, if you consider, cancer cells occur in the body. Now, cancer cells also grow. And normal bodily cells also grow. The difference is, the normal cells grow in a proportionate way. Whereas their growth, by which their growth facilitates the growth of the overall body. Whereas cancer cells grow in a disproportionate way. By which their growth damages and destroys the rest of the body. So, as a part of our normal growth in life, you know, we would like to grow financially, we would like to grow socially, we would like to grow emotionally, we also want to grow spiritually. But if one particular ambition, one particular desire, it just consumes our consciousness completely. Then that attachment, that which eventually can become addictive, that becomes like a cancer cell. Its growth destroys everything else in our life. That’s why when people become addicted to something, what happens? Suppose somebody becomes alcoholic, then for the sake of alcohol, you know, they lose their prestigious society, they behave crazily, they lose their money, spend so much money on it, they sometimes spoil their relationships, they can’t keep their word to others, they spoil their health, they ultimately, they may lose everything because of that one addiction. So, the problem is that when our material life or our material desires are not placed within a spiritual context, within a spiritual purpose of life, then if our material desires are within a spiritual context and purpose, we won’t pursue them disproportionately. But if we have a spiritual purpose for our life, then we know how to and how much to pursue our material desires. It is not that all material desires have to be given up. But we have to make sure that they harmonise with our spiritual life. So then actually they harmonise with our spiritual life and they cannot strictly be called material desires also. Because they are all contributing to our spiritual growth. So the godly people, they live, see the devatas also seek worldly pleasures. Devatas seek sense gratification, the asuras also seek sense gratification. The difference is devatas are devoted to the lord. And within a devotional perspective, devotional context, they seek whatever they want. Within a dharmic context. But the asuras do not do like that. Vishnubhakta-sutra-deva, asuras-sutra-viparyaya. Asuras are opposite to devatas. They are not devotees. And therefore Krishna concludes the 16th chapter by telling that live according to shastra. So how do we live in this world? We use scripture as our guideline. tasmāt śāstram pramāṇam te kāryā kārya vyasthitaṁ yātvā śāstra-vidhānoktaṁ karmakartum ihārasi 16.24, Krishna says in the chapter that therefore live according to śāstra. Now all of us have to take decisions in life. Now when we talk about living according to śāstra, what does it mean? Krishna, Arjuna, he had to fight archery. He had to fight using his archery knowledge. Bhagavad Gita is not providing him archery knowledge. Is it? No, it is not. There is no dhanur vidya given in the Bhagavad Gita itself. So what does it mean? See, there are specific activities we have to do in life and for that we may go to specific sources of knowledge. But what is the ultimate purpose for our life? That is what we learn from śāstra. So śāstra, what does it tell us? śāstra tells us what are the values for life. There is material knowledge which can come from various sources. In Vedic times also there was Ayurveda, there was dhanur vidya. There are so many sources of Jyotish. These are not necessarily transcendent. They are material. We live in the material world. But all this was guided within the śāstric world. So we, this is a whole different subject but I will just mention it briefly, that we shouldn’t position scripture as a competitor to science. Science is telling this, scripture is saying this. We don’t have to position scripture as a competitor to science. Science tells us how to function in this world, how to do practical, how to make a car, how to drive a car, how to make a computer, how to use a computer. Scripture tells us why to drive a car, why to use a car, why to live a life itself. So the practicalities of living in this world we may learn from various sources. Arjuna, he did not come to Krishna to learn how to fight Arjuna. He came to Krishna, what am I to do in my life? What is my life meant for? So life’s ultimate purpose that we learn from scripture and how to make choices that help us to live according to that ultimate purpose. That is what we learn from scripture. The scripture gives us a framework for making decisions in life. And the specific aspects about executing those decisions we can learn from various sources. But what to do? Basically three things. Now material sources of knowledge, they cannot answer questions about three things. Origin, value and purpose. Origin means where did I come from? Value means what is right, what is wrong? What should I do, what should I not do? Purpose, where am I ultimately meant to be? This is what shastra primarily tells us. And we take this knowledge from shastra and then we act. So for the materialistic people, for the ungodly people, for the demoniac people, they don’t refer to shastra. They simply act according to the whims of their mind and senses. And thus they get misled. Now in the 17th chapter Krishna has talked about two categories of people. Those who have faith and follow shastra. That is the godly people. And second is those who don’t have faith and don’t follow shastra. They are the ungodly, the demoniac people. In the 17th chapter Krishna asks about the intermediate category. The second last verse of the 16th chapter was 16.23, same first line. Those who reject shastra and act according to their own selfish desires, they are doomed, Krishna says. Therefore Krishna says act according to shastra, that is 16.24. 17.1 Arjuna asks what about this intermediate category? Those who don’t follow shastra but they have faith. So he says that they have faith but not necessarily in shastra, not necessarily in the conclusion of shastra. They have some kind of faith. And based on that faith they act. So what is their destination? So we live, it is very easy, it is intellectually easy to classify things as black and white. This is right, this is wrong. But the real world has many shades of grey in it. So it’s not so easy to say that oh you know, this is good, this is bad. But people, people have various characteristics. For example, now one of the most graphic examples of say shades of grey is Hitler was a vegetarian. Hitler was a person who was responsible for the killing of 10 million people, 5 million Jews and 5 million other people. But he never killed animals for food. So is this a virtue? Vegetarianism is a virtue but it is so insignificant as compared to what he did otherwise. So what happens is when in the real world our moral categories, we cannot just simplistically place them. So Krishna says okay these are godly, these are ungodly. Arjuna asked, there are so many people in between, how do you classify them? Then Krishna tells in this whole 17th chapter, he talks about the three modes of material nature with respect to specific things. Now how people eat, what kind of sacrifices they perform, what kind of austerities they do, what kind of charity they give. And by that he says by this you understand where they are at. Sometimes there may be atheists who may be in the mode of goodness. Sometimes there may be atheists who are in the mode of goodness. And sometimes there may be religionists who are in the mode of ignorance. Now you may say how can atheists be in the mode of goodness? Isn’t atheism itself a sign of ignorance? Yes, as far as their intellectual understanding is concerned, they are in the mode of ignorance. But sometimes as far as practical living is concerned, there may be atheists also who may live regulated lives, who may live simply, who may be very conscious of the environment and who may be courteous towards others. So what happens is that people may choose atheism because of various reasons. Sometimes a person because of past karma or this life’s upbringing may be in the mode of goodness. But they have met some very self-righteous religionists or they have met hypocritical people who pretend to be religious. Their experiences with religion have been very unpleasant and nasty. And because of that they chose atheism. So in terms of lifestyle, their lifestyle may be relatively in goodness. But actually in terms of intellectual orientation, they may be atheistic. So then we have to see, we can’t just simplistically label them as demoniac. So we have to actually be very subtle. There are many subtleties which come up. Sometimes there may be some religious people. They may say, they may make a big show of their devotion to their God. But they may actually be in the mode of dhamma. They may be totally dhamma sick. There are terrorists who in the name of God they kill innocent people. Actually what are they doing? They are simply in the mode of ignorance and they are acting in ungodly ways and their God is actually not the God of revelation. Their God is the God of their imagination. That God, they may say that I am following the scripture and I am worshipping this God. But actually their God is simply a God of their imagination. That God hates those people whom they hate. Their God is simply a projection of their ego. So what happens is their religion is simply a cover up for their destructiveness. They are destructive and they use their religion as a cover up for their destructiveness. And such people, they may profess to be religious but they are actually dhamma sick. Totally in the mode of ignorance. Some religion they say RMA is the only way. If you are not following us, you are going to go to hell. And some fanatical people say not only are you going to go to hell, we will help you get there faster. So if there is indiscriminate destruction, destructiveness, then that is dhamma sick. So Krishna basically, Arjuna’s question and Krishna’s answer introduces us to shades of grey. So real life is messy and we cannot have simple black and white categorisation. There are many shades of grey and the Bhagavad Gita 17th chapter talks about these shades of grey. And that’s why we are not meant to label people simply by their extremes. Some people say people from this religion, people from this community, people from this country, they are like this. If you are saying like that, then what are we doing? We are simply seeing with mundane vision. We are meant to see with philosophical vision. Philosophical vision means in any kind of people, then we have particular religion, particular country, particular community. In any cross section of people, there will be some people in goodness, some people in passion, some people in ignorance. In a particular situation, some particular mode may be more prominent. But that doesn’t mean everybody is like that. So we need to see with philosophical vision. And of course we have to act appropriately. If some people are threatening or violent, then appropriate security measures are required. But we can’t, the Bhagavad Gita doesn’t talk about blanket generalisations. Because it introduces us to shades of grey, to nuances, not blanket generalisations. Because the modes mix with each other and different people are in different modes. Then this is how 17th chapter, 17th chapter subtlety, the 17th chapter subtlety reflects the complexity of real life. And thus Bhagavad Gita is actually a very realistic book. It’s not simply an idealistic book which is just propagating some ideas which are not practical to the real life. And the 18th chapter is actually the most beautiful chapter in terms of its conclusion. At one level the 18th chapter summarises and deepens the earlier discussion. So Arjuna again wants to clarify the question. So Krishna, should I announce action or should I do action? And Krishna tells that renunciation can also be in the three modes. Renunciation can be in the three modes means what? See some, there is a difference between frustration and renunciation. You know, say somebody is fasting because they have taken some religious vow, it’s Ekadashi. And they want to fast for purification. Somebody else is fasting because their stomach is upset. You know, the two fasting are not at the same level. In the second fasting there is a desire to eat and they would very much eat if they could. So that abstinence because of frustration is very different from abstinence because of renunciation. So actually sometimes, once I was in temple, one young man, he never come to temple before. He just comes sometimes just for a time, just for occasionally a few months he would come for a programme. And then he said, you know, I am thinking of becoming a brahmachari. And by the month end I will tell him. What is the process for becoming a brahmachari? Can you tell me? He said, why do you want to become a brahmachari? And what is going to happen by the month end, I asked him. So you know, I have proposed to my girlfriend, if she says no, I am going to become a brahmachari. You know, frustration is not the qualification for renunciation. So actually, Krishna says, if we are frustrated with material life, then we take to spiritual life because of that. Then we renounce material life because of that. Taking up spiritual life is fine. But if we renounce material life because of frustration, what is going to happen? That is simply done out of fear. Because there is so much trouble over here, so I give it up. But then the problem with that is, even in spiritual life there will be trouble. Because we are practising spiritual life also in the material world. So when there is trouble in spiritual life, then where will we go? Now we want to go towards Krishna not because this world is so dreadful. That may be a starting point. You want to go towards Krishna because Krishna is so wonderful. Not just because this world is so dreadful. The problem with thinking that this world is so dreadful, so I want to go towards Krishna. See the world may seem dreadful right now but after some time the world will start seeming wonderful. Because the nature of this world is, see the nature of Maya is, Maya will never make us hopelessly frustrated. She will always make us hopefully frustrated. That means, oh this doesn’t work out. That will work out. And that way frustration will never be a sustainable motivation for practising Bhakti. You want to study and practise Bhakti, you need to actually cultivate attraction for Krishna. Cultivate dedication for serving. And that is the mood of the Bhagavad Gita. Krishna says Arjuna, that is a dedicated way you cultivate a service attitude. As a Kshatriya, you do your Kshatriya duty but do it with detachment. So Krishna talks about the Varanashram in the 18th chapter. And he gives a progression from Karma Yoga through Gyan Yoga to Bhakti Yoga. From Karma Yoga one practises, then one renounces the world. And then after one has renounced the world one comes to the summit of renunciation. Then one comes to Bhakti. Brahma bhuta prasannatma na shochati na kanchati Samah sarveshu bhuteshu mad-bhaktim labhate param Krishna says, so the most impersonalist thing that if I come to the Brahman platform then I have attained perfection. But no, Krishna says, after the Brahman platform one comes to Bhakti. That time one comes to paravarti, pure devotion. And then, this is 18.54-55, so this is the 18th chapter like a recap of the full Bhagavad Gita. So earlier I said how Krishna first talks about in the first six chapters from Karma Yoga, from action through renunciation to devotion. That’s what Krishna has talked about. First five chapters were action. And sixth chapter Ashtanga Yoga is renunciation. And sixth chapter last verse is devotion. Action through renunciation to devotion. Krishna talks about the same hierarchy from 18.1 till 18.55. Action is what he talks about till about 18.47-48. Then 18.49-18.53 he is talking about renunciation. And 18.54-18.55 he talks about devotion. Then just as from the seventh chapter, so action, renunciation, devotion. That is the channel. Then Krishna says, no, but you don’t have to go through this action, renunciation, devotion. From wherever you are, you just start practising devotion. Start practising Bhakti Yoga. That same thing, Krishna starts from 18.56. He says, sarva-karmanya-pisada, kurvano madhya-pashrayah madhya-prasada, dava-apnoti, shashvatam padamaureyu He says, whatever work you are doing, just do that work in a mood of devotion. Take shelter of me. So Krishna doesn’t recommend this action, renunciation, devotion. Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Bhakti Yoga. And Karma Yoga, Ashtanga Yoga, Bhakti Yoga. Krishna says, just practise Bhakti Yoga from wherever you are. You take shelter of me, you will attain me. Krishna says, Arjuna, they are all controlled by material nature. But if you surrender to the controller of material nature, then you will be saved from entanglement. You can function in material world, but you won’t be entangled. And then, tameva sharanam gaccha, surrender unto that Supreme Lord. Then Krishna in 18.63 concludes his message. iti te jnanam akhyatam govindad govindam maya vimrishayita dasheshena yathe chasitha kuru Now I have given you very confidential knowledge. Deliberate deeply and then decide. So here Krishna is revealed as a God who respects human intelligence and human independence. Now you decide what you want. You have your independence. But use your intelligence. Deliberate and decide. The Bhagavad Gita is not so much a book of commandments. It’s a book of choices. Do this or don’t do this. If you do this, this will be the consequence. If you do this, this will be the consequence. Now you decide what you want to do. Now Arjuna starts thinking. He said that Arjuna, deliberate and decide. Arjuna starts thinking. The fifth chapter this was said. The tenth chapter that was said. Of course, he is not thinking fifth chapter and tenth chapter. Because the chapter divisions were done later. It is not Krishna when he is speaking the Bhagavad Gita. Now I have completed the fifth chapter. I have completed the fifth chapter. Krishna doesn’t do that. Krishna is simply speaking. Earlier Krishna spoke this, then he spoke this, then he spoke this. What am I to do? He goes into deep thought. So at that time, Krishna’s heart overflows with compassion. Krishna says, Arjuna, you don’t have to be so confused. I will tell you what to do. I will make it crystal clear. sarvaghuyatam amguyah shrunume paramamvachah ishtosime dhrudhamiti tato vakshamite hitam He says, now I will give you the most confidential knowledge. Why? Because you are very dear to me. I am the ishtosime dhrudhamiti. Ishtosime dhrudhamiti means, you are very dearly loved by me. Another translation would be, I am determined to love you. No matter whatever happens, you may reject me, you may forget me. But I am determined to love you. Out of my concern for you, I will tell you the most confidential knowledge. And then he tells, two verses, which Chakravarthipada explains. There is a treasure chest which contains many jewels within it. But somebody may be too lazy to open that treasure chest and see what jewels are inside. So just to attract people, and on the top also, in the encasement, two jewels are put over there. So that people will say, oh there are jewels, what will be there inside, let me see it. So these are two jewels which are put in the conclusion on the top. Manmana bhau mad-bhakto madhyaji maam namaskuru maam evaishya satyam te patijane priyousime Just always think of me, worship me, offer your homage to me. And you will come to me. Now Krishna has almost said the same verse 9.34. But there the stress is different. maam evaishya satyam te patijane priyousime So initially 9.34 Krishna says, if you do this, devote yourself to me, you will come to me. So there the thrust is on what we have to do. But in 18.65, here the thrust is Krishna is saying, what I will do. If you do this, maam evaishya satyam te patijane priyousime You will come to me, this is my truth, I speak, I proclaim it. Krishna is guaranteeing, if you do this, I will do this for you. And then Arjuna says, I have so many duties, which duty should I follow? He says sarva-dharman parityajya maam ekam sharanam vraja aham tvam sarva-papedhyo moksha-ishyami maashucha He says give up all varieties of religions, just surrender to me. aham tvam sarva-papedhyo moksha-ishyami I will free you from all sinful relations. Now, in the 7th chapter, earlier Krishna has said in the 27-28 verses that actually you have to become free from sinful activities, then you can practise bhakti properly. ye shyam tu antagatam papam jananam punyakarmanam te dvandvamoham nirmuktam bhajante maam vidhavrataham Those who become free from all sins, they can practise bhakti eternally. But now Krishna is saying even if you are sinful, you come to me, I will free you from all sins. So, it is explained that sometimes when a child is growing up, the mother wants to give potty training to the child. When you have to respond to nature, you go there and do the business. But sometimes the child doesn’t understand and the child soils the clothes. The child soils the clothes. Mother will say if you do that, if you soil your clothes, don’t come to me. First, you learn to be clean. So, Krishna is in that mood strictly. First become free from sin, then you will practise bhakti. But if the child has made a mess and the child says, mummy, I don’t know what to do. Mother says, come here, I will clean you. So, Krishna in 18.66 is like that. Even if you have made a mess, come to me. I will clean you. I will free you from all sinful reactions. aham sad sarva-pave piyo bhokshe shami maha-shuja Do not fear. So, this is Krishna’s compassion flowing out of his heart. And then, he is in 18.68, 69, 70, 71. He extends a rope. He says, for those who share this knowledge, they become most dear to me. They will get pure devotional service. They will come to me. And somebody will say, I can’t share this knowledge. If you can’t share it, at least study it. He says, if you study it also, you are worshipping me with your intelligence. adhishya-techa-yemam dharanam samvadhamamayo jnana-yajnate naham ishta-syamti-mehmati So, sometimes people like to do a lot of puja. They like to do aarti offering, fan offering, all that is good. Krishna is saying, there is a way to do puja with your intelligence. And that is by studying scripture. So, it’s like somebody has fallen in the well. The person outside throws the rope down. Just hold this rope and come out. And the person says, no, I can’t hold the rope. It causes too much pain to my hands. So, then he says, okay, just tie this rope around your waist. I’ll pull you out. So, first Krishna says, you preach, you will come to me. He says, I can’t preach. At least you study. And then you tie the rope around. But somebody says, no, if I tie the rope, that causes me too much pain around my waist. So, then what the person does is, they send a bucket down with the rope. You just sit in the bucket, I’ll pull you out. So, like that Krishna says. Somebody says, I can’t study also. Krishna says, you can’t study, at least hear. Just hear. If you hear, by that you will attain perfection. Krishna’s mercy is going lower and lower. He is making himself more and more accessible. That is 18.72. And then 18.72, Krishna says, Arjuna, have you heard? Have you understood? kacchidaita chudam partha tvayi ekagrena cetasa kacchida jnana sammoha pranashtas te dhananjaya Have you understood, Arjuna? When he hears this, as Acharya has explained, Arjuna, Krishna is asking with great concern. He says, if you have not understood, I will repeat whichever part you have not understood. If you have not understood, I am ready to repeat the whole Bhagavad Gita. Krishna is so concerned. And then Arjuna replies, what does he say? He says, nashto mohasmute nabdhato prasadam yanchuta sitos milata sandeha kareeshe vacinanta I will do your will. Arjuna surrenders. You know, Arjuna surrenders also is very significant. He is not just saying, I will fight. So Arjuna is not thinking of himself as a fighter, as a Kshatriya who has to fight. Arjuna is thinking of himself as a devotee who is doing the will of the Lord. And that particular situation, the will happens to be to fight. So kareeshe vacinanta The Bhagavad Gita concludes with Arjuna’s surrender. But his surrender is how? His surrender is not like Draupadi raising her hands in helplessness. His surrender is of picking up his bow in readiness to fight. And that’s what is this concluding image of the Bhagavad Gita. The concluding image is what? Yatra yogeshwara Krishna Yatra partha dhanur dhara Tatra shri jayo bhutir Dhruvani tirma tirma ma Wherever there is Krishna, the supreme mystic, wherever there is Arjuna, the great archer, there will be victory. So Arjuna had put aside his bow in discouragement earlier. But by the end of the Bhagavad Gita, what has happened? He has picked up his bow. He has raised his bow in readiness to fight. And because of his readiness to fight, his victory is eventually guaranteed. So this is the transformational power of the Bhagavad Gita. The transformational power of love as demonstrated in the Bhagavad Gita. What is it that transforms Arjuna? It is Krishna’s love. Similarly, when we understand that Okay, I am feeling so many things, I am facing so many things in life. Whatever we are feeling, whatever we are feeling internally, whatever we are facing externally, beyond it all is the reality of Krishna’s love for us. And when we realise that, when we understand that, as shown in the Bhagavad Gita, then we can face, we can face, we can the feelings and whatever problems we are facing, we can all go through that guaranteed, determinedly like Arjuna went through. The Bhagavad Gita, whatever situation we are in, we can be transformed by realising Krishna’s love for us. And by becoming determined to offer our love to him, to redirect our love from this world to Krishna. So Arjuna’s love was spread over. I love Vishnu also. I love Drona also. How can I fight against them? Yes, but your first love is Krishna. Put Krishna first and everything else will fall in place. So Arjuna when he says, He is putting Krishna first. He puts Krishna first, then his determination gets restored. So when we face difficulties, Should I do this? Should I do that? I don’t know what I should do. We get confused. But we put Krishna first. Krishna, whatever happens, I am your servant. Please guide me how I can serve you. So when we chant Hare Krishna, what are we doing? Krishna, please engage me in your service. How can I serve you? If we get to that fundamental, if we just get caught in this, should I do this or should I not do this? Or should I do that? That will confuse us. But if we move back, Krishna, I am your servant. Please guide me how I can serve you. That is returning to our fundamental identity that will calm us down. And that will gradually give us the clarity by which we can make right choices. Prabhupada was asked once, What is the best prayer that you can offer Krishna? What can we pray to Krishna for? Prabhupada said, pray to Krishna, please give me the strength to serve you. So when you pray to Krishna, please give me the strength to serve you. Then, whatever be the form of service we need to do, we will be guided. And we will be able to move forward in our lives. Just as Arjuna picked up his bow, ready to fight, we also need to pick up our bow. Pick up our determination. Be ready to do whatever it takes to serve Krishna. So I will summarise. I spoke today about, from the chapters 12 to 18, spoke about first, how the Bhagavad Gita takes things to the summit. Clearly it says, the personal aspect, worshipping is better than being personal because the personal Lord will intervene and lift us out of this world. And it offers us a, while practising bhakti, it tells us to become relatively unemotional with respect to material emotions. Instead of chasing after 5 dollar gains or lamenting about 5 dollar losses, focus on the million dollar gain that lies ahead. So if material emotions of gain and loss, pleasure and pain consume us, then we won’t be emotionally available for connecting with Krishna. And for emotionally connecting with Krishna, we need to understand how most of the emotions that we experience are superficial. They are induced by the moods. So the moods, we have to become, to deal with the moods, we have to become conscious of our consciousness. And just like a lever, when we apply the weight, apply force at the right place, we can lift huge weights. So like that, controlling our moods is difficult. Our emotions go here and there. But if in the practise of bhakti, if we use our willpower and control our emotions and connect with Krishna, that connection will give us the stability, it will become like the anchor so that the waves, the stormy waves of the boats will not shake us too much. And the Gita in the 13th chapter presents in a very intellectual way for the jnanis the various concepts. And the idea is that the soul is transcendental, but just like a child watching a horror movie becomes horrified, like that we become horrified when we get, we become filled with all kinds of emotions when we get caught by the worldly desire to enjoy the worldly pleasures. Scripture doesn’t contain contradictions, it contains paradoxes. And when we go to the deeper point, we will reconcile whatever seems contradictory. Radha Gopinath, Bhagavan Anukim, Gita. In the 15th chapter, Krishna talks about jnana chakshu. How the soul is acting in this world, we need to see with the eyes of knowledge. It’s like a stock market crash. The line doesn’t mean anything. It is education that transforms vision into comprehension. And Krishna, 16th to 18th, the Trishloka Gita, which very categorically establishes the transcendence of the personality of God beyond the conditioned and beyond the liberated is Krishna. 16th chapter talks about the divine and demoniac natures. We all need to make choices that bring out the higher side within us, not the lower side. If you are materialistic, then in the future we will get reactions, but even in the present we will get the reaction of anxiety. Because we are seeking pleasure in the thing which is not in our control. It’s not that we have to give up worldly pleasures, but we shouldn’t let worldly pleasures consume our consciousness. They become like cancer cells. They destroy the body. And to regulate our worldly desires, we need to take guidance from scripture. Scripture doesn’t tell us specifics about how to fly a plane. It may tell, but that’s not the purpose of scripture. Scripture tells us origin, value, purpose. How to make decisions. Why to live, why to do what we need to do. That’s what scripture tells us. How to execute those decisions, that we may learn from other sources. And even while telling us about moral categories, this is right, this is wrong, the seventeenth chapter introduces us to subtleties which reflect the complexity of real life. That there are three modes and based on those three modes we need to understand who is situated where. Or they simplistically label people as demoniac or something like that. In the eighteenth chapter, Krishna talks about, he summarises the full Gita, his frustration is not renunciation. And then he again recaps the succession from action through renunciation to devotion and then says, devotion can be practised directly. And he gives the initiative to Krishna to choose using his intelligence and he guides Arjuna to choose by revealing his heart, by bearing his heart in 65 and 66. He says, I will protect you. Just surrender to me. And then he offers Krishna like a descending rope of mercy, more and more easy. You share this mercy. If you can’t share, study. If you can’t study, just hear. And then by seeing Krishna’s loving outpouring of his heart, Arjuna’s heart melts, his confusion dissipates and his morale becomes restored. He doesn’t just say, I will fight. He says, I will do your will. And that is the conclusion of the Gita. When we surrender to Krishna, just as Arjuna’s morale was restored, he picked up his Gandiva, readiness to fight. Similarly, whatever we are feeling, whatever we may be feeling or whatever we may be facing, we become ready for fighting those things. When we are guided by the confidence, boosted by the confidence that Krishna loves us and Krishna is with us. So, when the world’s perceptions, they delude us, they say, they delude Arjuna, we need to hear from scripture. Illusion comes from the eyes, illumination comes from the ears. The more we hear, the more we will become confident to serve Krishna diligently. And when we serve Krishna diligently, then Krishna will help us face whatever problems right now. Because Arjuna is feeling the problem is very big, but Bhagavata reveals, reveals our problems to be small by revealing the greatness of Krishna. So, when with our eyes we feel the problems are so big, how can I deal with them? Krishna’s vision? We see Krishna is so big. So, Krishna’s greatness, Krishna’s sweetness, when we understand it, then we can transcend whatever problems we are facing. So, don’t tell God how big your problems are. Tell your problems how big God is. And that, how can you tell it? By hearing the Gita. So, when we are conscious of Krishna’s greatness, Krishna’s sweetness, then we will always be confident to do whatever it takes to persevere in His service. Thank you very much. Hare Krishna. So, any questions or comments? Yes. My question is how do we distinguish between emotional responses which are fuelled by material modes as opposed to those which are genuinely spiritual? So, how can we while practising bhakti differentiate between the emotions that have come from the modes and the emotions that have come from our spiritual practise? Where the emotions come from is not as important as where the emotions take us. If we just become too much analytical, where are these emotions coming from? Say for example, in a class somebody makes a joke. And I start thinking, am I laughing for my pleasure or Krishna’s pleasure? We don’t have to do that. So, as long as it is within the context of Krishna Bhakti, that’s perfectly fine. So, rather than worrying where these emotions come from, if we need to trace, we can trace. Our focus should be where does this emotion take me. So, sometimes I come to take darshan of Krishna. I feel so good in my heart. I feel so sweet. I feel so blissful. Now, is this sahajiyaic? Is it like sentimentality or is it authentic spirituality? What do I do after that? Do I tell the world, oh no, I was so ecstatic, now I have got your devotee. Rather instead if we focus upon how Krishna is so kind, bhakti is so sweet, let me dedicate myself to serving Krishna. Then that emotion has energised us, stimulated us to follow more brilliantly the process that will take us to Krishna. So, that is fully in the parijata. In terms of fruit, it is favourable. So, if Krishna comes in our dream, now can Krishna come in our dream? Who are we to stop Krishna from coming in our dream if he wants to, isn’t it? Krishna can come in our dream, that’s wonderful if he comes. Now, is it just we are imagining something or Krishna has really come in our dream? And the important thing is not whether Krishna comes in our dream or not. The important thing is after we wake up, what we do? Isn’t it? After I wake up, I just tell the whole world, oh, Krishna came in my dream. That means I am a pure devotee, offer all my senses now. If I am doing like that, then that is simply increasing my ego. But if I think Krishna is so kind, I become more devoted to Krishna. If whatever spiritual experiences, whatever emotional experiences we get, if they inspire us to follow the process more diligently, then we should see that as favourable to God. Then we can accept those emotions. But if those emotions make us think that now I have become so advanced that I don’t need to follow the process. You know, for the neophyte devotees, they need to chant Hare Krishna. Now Krishna is coming in my dream. I have transcended all this now. And that is unfavourable. So basically without worrying too much about where the emotions are coming from, we can focus on where the emotions are taking us. You were saying that we are supposed to practise Krishna consciousness because Krishna is so wonderful. This is the reason why we are not out of frustration. But then you just said that we are supposed to go around Krishna. So when I said that we should practise bhakti because Krishna is so wonderful, not because the world is so dreadful, but as in one of the categories of people who come, Krishna is because they are distressed. And then he will release. Yes. Now Krishna does say that the distress comes to him. But he doesn’t say that the distress stays with him. For them to stay with him, it may take bahunam janmanam aniti, jnanavan mam prapadyam. The initial, they start doing some bhajan. Chaturvidha bhajanite mam. They start practising something. But their practise is only initial. They are not surrendering. For surrender it may take many lifetimes. So suffering is for most of us an initial impetus. It starts our spiritual journey. But the initial impetus will not fuel our spiritual journey or lock. At the starting point frustration is fine. So say like I give the example. Somebody says, oh I was frustrated in the relationship so I want to become a brahmachari. No, if you are frustrated in the relationship, start developing the relationship with Krishna. Not that you have to renounce the world. And then start developing the relationship, start practising bhakti, start living the life of a devotee. And then afterwards if you get sufficient attraction, show sufficient dedication, then you may consider full time practise of bhakti as a brahmachari. But the important thing is that for whatever reason people come to Krishna, we welcome them. But for sustainable practise of bhakti, one needs to have more of a positive motivation than a negative motivation. So from the platform of practising bhakti because I am distressed, to the platform of practising bhakti because I love Krishna, because I want to serve Krishna. That is a long journey because ultimately when we love someone, we are not simply concerned about being free from distress. Love means that we are often ready to take up distress for the sake of our love. When a mother has a child, at that time, mother mostly loses a lot, loses peaceful night’s sleep, loses peace, loses routine. But there is love over there. So like that, if we come to Krishna simply for freedom from distress, then our connection with Krishna will be there. When the distress goes away, we land the connection. But even if the connection stays, we will not really become very deep or committed. Because we will always be looking, even Krishna bhakti, I don’t want any distress. I don’t want any trouble. But one extent of, one aspect of love is, we are ready to sacrifice, we are ready to take up trouble for the love’s sake. If Prabhupada wanted a distress-free life, he could have just stayed in Vrindavan chanting Hare Krishna. When he came to America, that really took a lot of trouble. So distress can be a good initial motive but it’s not a sustainable motive. Sustainable motive is that Krishna is so wonderful that I want to love Krishna. Even if I don’t feel Krishna is wonderful, at least intellectually I understand Krishna is wonderful. And I want to connect with him. That will sustain us in bhakti. Nancy, question? So can we say from these four categories of people that some would stay, or one category would stay? Okay. So among these four categories of people who come to Krishna, is it that one category will stay? No, it is not that necessarily only one will stay. It is from that category, if the others all come towards the category of Jnanavan, those in knowledge. So the distressed are there, the inquisitive are there, the wealth seekers are there. To the extent they come to the level of becoming knowledgeable, to that extent they will become fixed in their bhakti. Others, you see many people, they come to the temple, if you ask them, you come regularly to the temple, they say regularly I come. How regularly? Once a year on Janmashtami. That is their idea of regularity. But if somehow they associate with devotees, they hear the philosophy, then they start practising bhakti much more religiously. So it is like the cultural practise of bhakti and there is the spiritual practise of bhakti. And what takes people from the cultural practise of bhakti, it is what we have always done and we are doing it now. It is a part of our culture. The spiritual practise of bhakti means we do it because I want to develop a spiritual relationship with Krishna. What takes us from the cultural practise of bhakti to the spiritual practise of bhakti is the intellectual understanding of bhakti. The philosophical understanding is very important. And that is what was Srila Prabhupada’s special contribution. He said temples should not just be cultural centres, they should be educational centres. And to the extent you can offer this intellectual understanding, to the extent people will become more and more steady in their commitment. So people may come because of artha, because they are distressed. But if they hear the philosophy, people may come because of this equal, if they hear the philosophy, they come because who are these Hare Krishna, they just want to check them out. If they hear the philosophy, they will become steady. So the association of devotees and understanding the philosophy in association is what will make people steady. They will move towards the category of jnana, of knowledge, of the knowledgeable. And that’s how they practise bhakti steadily. Nancy, Krishna? Can I ask one more? Yeah, definitely. So, before Bhagavad Gita, you know, Arjuna was there and Krishna was giving direct instruction. He was, at the end, Krishna surrendered and was able to perform his duty. Of course, it was to please Krishna. But at the end of it all, he knew what would please Krishna by bhakti. So, in our lives, how do we come to the point of understanding what is our duty to serve Krishna? For example, you know, I might think that pleasing Krishna might be to stay in my house, and just chat Hare Krishna, and come and join Bhaktsami and go to Him, and that’s my duty, you know. So, how do I come to that point, where Arjuna… Okay, yeah. So, Krishna was there to instruct, Arjuna directly. Then we don’t have that, how do we know what is it that will please Krishna? Generally, Krishna and Krishna’s heart is revealed to us through the devotees. So, those who are dear to Him. From there, we come to know Krishna’s desires. vāniṁ janāṁ kathane śravaṇaṁ kathāyāṁ It’s a verse in the 10th canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. dṛṣṭi satāṁ darshane tu bhavatanonāṁ The last line he says is that seeing your devotees, O Lord, is like seeing you. So, what it means is that Krishna, he basically, when we have the parampara, how it works is, Krishna manifests His will through the parampara. Krishna accepts, so the will manifests down from Krishna to the parampara. Our service goes up from down to up to Krishna through the parampara. And then Krishna’s mercy comes down through the parampara. So, first comes His will, then comes our service and reciprocation, and then comes His mercy down. So, now, what this means is that we are, actually, we are living in a community of devotees. And we have a spiritual master, we have spiritual guides, and we want to serve in a way that pleases devotees. So, if devotees are pleased, then Krishna yasya prasāda, bhagavata prasāda, as we say. So, now, in our situation, we may or may not have the direct guidance of the spiritual master on a day-to-day basis. So, what we do is, see, ultimately, Krishna doesn’t want to keep us in indecision or confusion. Krishna wants to guide us. But Krishna also wants to see whether we want guidance. So, there are certain situations when we know what we should do and what we should not do. If in those situations we are doing those things, then by that we are showing Krishna, that Krishna, I want to be guided by you. I want to serve you. So, when we take guidance when it is available, when the things are clear about what we should do, then Krishna will see that and Krishna will guide us when the guidance is not available to us. dāmi buddhi-yogam tam yeda mā upayāmi te I will give the intelligence by which you can come to me. Now, in practise, usually, even our spiritual master or spiritual guides may not give us direct specific instructions. They may also, bhakti is ultimately a cooperative process. So, cooperative process means the soul serves Krishna through the spiritual master. But the soul also has one’s own nature. Spiritually, each soul is an individual. So, basically, we need to, from our side, be surrendered and ready to serve whatever, ready to do whatever we are told. At the same time, the spiritual authorities, whoever they are, they should also be observing to find out how we can serve happily. That means it’s a cooperation between the individual and the authority. So, both of them try to find out. The goal should be, sometimes when a project is in a stage of major expansion or stage of beginning, at that time devotees may just be told to do whatever is required. And that’s important to do. So, that is the surrender to the devotees to do whatever they are told to do. But over a period of time, if devotees are to sustain themselves in the practise of bhakti, then it is best that they will engage according to their nature, according to what they are inspired to do. So, both the individual and the guide, both of them need to work cooperatively to discover what service can this devotee do in the best possible way. So, we have to know that our spiritual growth is ultimately our responsibility. It is not Krishna’s responsibility. It is not our spiritual master’s responsibility. It is our responsibility. Our spiritual master is there to assist us. Then he shows the way, gives the mercy. But it’s our responsibility. So that means we have to take stock of ourselves and by doing various services we observe ourselves. What is it that I am good at? What is it that I can do well? What is it that I feel comfortable doing? So, guna-karma-vibhaga-sahavise, called guna-karma, one another described it. So, guna we can say it refers to internal comfort. I feel comfortable doing something. And karma we can say it refers to external competence. I am good at doing it. So, what is it that I am comfortable doing and what is it that I am competent doing? And when we find that, gradually we gravitate towards that service. It is not that suddenly, this is not my nature, that is my nature, so I will do that service. It shouldn’t be suddenly giving up of services and taking up. But gradually we move towards the services which are according to our nature. Because what happens, if we do it abruptly, we fall for the tricks of the mind. If we ask the mind, what is my nature? What are the services according to my nature? Mind will say, the service you are doing, that is not your nature. So, the mind will basically use that as an excuse for laziness. This is not your nature, so don’t do this. This is not your nature, so don’t do this. Actually, even to understand our nature, we need to have some level of sattva guna, some level of the mode of goodness. And that’s why initially we just do whatever we are told to do. By that we become purified. By that purification we come to the mode of goodness. And when we come to the mode of goodness, we can observe. And if we consider, this is the realm of services for Krishna. And within that we can find, this is my individuality. This is what I like, this is what my interests are, this is what my ambitions are. We find out what is the intersection point between the two. And we situate ourselves in that. Then, if there is something which we feel inspired to do, then we will ourselves do it enthusiastically. No one will have to follow us up. Have you done it? Have you done it? Have you done it? No. We will feel inspired to do it. And Prabhupada also encouraged this. There is an incident in the 7th volume of the Indra Amrit. There is one devotee, Ishan Prabhu. He lives in Alachu. I met him. He told me the same incident again. So, he said that he was in London. And London was at that time the European headquarters for our movement. The devotees from France, from Germany, from Netherlands, they had all come there. And they were all reporting. Preaching here is going like this. Preaching here is going like that. And Ishan Prabhu was saying that everybody has something to do for Srila Prabhupada. But I don’t have anything to do. So, he asked Prabhupada, Prabhupada, everyone has something to do. Please give me some service. So, Prabhupada looked at him and said, what do you want to do for Krishna? He said, no Prabhupada, whatever you tell I will do. Prabhupada again asked, what do you want to do for Krishna? He told me, Prabhupada is testing me. His idea was that if you want to do something, maybe it is sense gratification. Whatever you tell I will do. Prabhupada said, no, I am asking you, what do you want to do for Krishna? He said, our philosophy is, find out what you want to do and do it for Krishna. He said, he had never thought like this. He said, Prabhupada, I will think about it. And then, after a couple of days he came back. He said, Prabhupada, you know, I think that, you know, we have these Mridangas which we get from India, they often break. So, I am thinking I can make them with, make Mridangas here itself with some local material. And I can make them with material that will not be so easily breaking. Prabhupada said, you know, your godbrothers are very passionate. So, they will break Mridangas. So, make the Mridangas so strong that even if you throw it down, it will not break. So, Prabhupada basically affirmed what he said. So, then that became his service. He found a way to make Mridangas and he started making them. So, the idea is that on one side, we surrender. Whatever the spiritual master tells us, we do that. That is one aspect of bhakti. But the other aspect of bhakti is also, Prabhupada wanted us to be independently thoughtful. You know, find out what we can contribute to Krishna. So, over a period of time, the individual and the guide, both of them cooperatively come to an understanding of how this devotional service is sustained. And then when we are devotifying sustainable service, then they will be inspired to continue even when there are difficulties. Because that is their inspiration. That is what they want to offer to Krishna. So, how do we know that we are pleasing Krishna? We do what we are told to do. Along with that, we keep exploring. Because it is not that Krishna’s pleasure necessitates our displeasure. It is not that Krishna wants us to be miserable and that proves our love for him. No, it is that Krishna wants us to be happy. But a part of a relationship is sometimes we have to do something which we don’t like to do also. So, we focus on how we can develop a sustainable relationship with Krishna. And if we are sustainably practising bhakti, we can understand that Krishna is pleased with us. Because if Krishna were not pleased, we would not be able to practise sustainably. Our lower desires will come up, they will interfere, they will drag us away. If we are practising sustainably, that means Krishna is pleased with us. And if we bring out our talents, use them in his service, then that pleases him all the more. We have to say that what we are is God’s gift to us. What we become is our gift to God. So, we find out what is Krishna’s gift to us, our talents and use them in his service. Does it answer your question? Thank you. Are there any other questions? How to understand the holy name purely? How to chant the holy name purely? Actually, you are asking the wrong person. Because I am struggling also. We all are struggling. But I would say that there are two different things over here. Chanting the holy name itself properly and seeing chanting as a part of our relationship with Krishna. No. You know, Atamal Krishna Maharaj once went to Prabhupada when he was managing for the Juhu temple in India. And he told Prabhupada, Prabhupada, they were having a lot of difficulty getting permissions and building the temple over there. He said, Prabhupada, all this building business, all these buildings is causing me so much anxiety that is disturbing my chanting. Prabhupada told him, it is disturbing my chanting also. I was shocked. I didn’t know what to say. And Prabhupada said, your anxiety for serving Krishna will take you to Krishna. That means that, yes, we want to chant wholeheartedly, chant attentively, chant purely. Because that is how we are calling to the Lord. That’s how we are calling the Lord. But at the same time, we also have a relationship with Krishna. And that relationship with Krishna means that we take up anxiety for Him. Relationship means that we take up responsibility. And every responsibility to some extent brings anxiety with it. So, if we are taking up responsibility for Krishna’s sake and sometimes the anxiety caused by the responsibility is what is distracting us from our chanting, we shouldn’t think that that is a defect in our bhakti. So, that is actually a connection with Krishna. So, chanting, if we think of simply isolated activity, how can I pronounce the word clearly? How can I hear the sound attentively? If we see that only in those terms, then we are hearing only fragmented understanding of chanting. Yes, those things have to be done properly. Pronounce clearly, hear attentively. But we see that chanting is a part of a process of developing a relationship with Krishna. And to the extent we are serving Krishna and connecting with Him in a relationship, to the extent automatically our chanting will become better. And so, with respect to pure chanting, it’s a symbiotic process. That means, we endeavour to chant purely. At the same time, we also try to serve diligently. The more we serve diligently, our chanting will become pure. The more our chanting becomes pure, the more we will be able to serve diligently. So, rather than taking one out of the other, we just see it as a part of a life of devotion to Krishna. And specifically, we can at least during time of chanting try to minimise or avoid impure thoughts. So, how do we do that? It’s very difficult to focus on the holy name consistently. The mind will wander here and there. So, what we can do is, there is a point of concentration and there is a circle of concentration. Circle of concentration means that if I can’t fix the mind on the holy name, then rather than letting it wander all over the universe, I let it focus on something related to the holy name. I let it wander to something related to the holy name. So, we can have a picture of the deities, we can have the Hare Krishna mantra written down, we can have a picture of our spiritual master, we have a picture of our initiation, we can have some Tulsi Devi, we can have some impetuses, some things which remind us of Krishna. That way, even if the mind wanders away from the sound of the holy name, it will go to something connected with Krishna and from there it will come back to Krishna. So, that way we can, see it’s like our consciousness is like a sine wave. Sometimes we feel very good, sometimes we feel very bad. So, what we are trying to do is, we can’t just make the consciousness suddenly a flat wave. We can try to decrease the amplitude of the sine wave. The mind is going to wander, but let it wander less. We give it some devotional avenue for wandering. And through the devotional avenue we get it back. And especially it is very helpful to meditate, to nourish our intelligence. Jiva Goswami says that the pure devotees, they stay on the spiritual platform because of their priti. Because they have affection for Krishna, they have love for Krishna. But the sadhakas, they stay on the spiritual platform because of their buddhi, because of their intelligence. So, if we regularly read about the importance of chanting, about the importance of developing our relationship with Krishna, the importance of remembering Krishna, we nourish our intelligence. Then that nourished intelligence will be better able to focus the mind on the holy name. When the mind wanders, if our intelligence is also weak, we will let the mind wander. But if our intelligence is strong, we will get the mind back. It’s like the chariot body analogy. The charioteer is weak, the horses will go here and there. The charioteer is strong, the horses will pull back. So, like that even if our mind wanders, if we are regularly hearing the philosophy, not just philosophy in general, but the philosophy about bhakti directly, about connecting with Krishna, about remembering Krishna. And that will give us the impetus to drag our mind back wherever it wanders. And purity is not again like a zero-one state. It’s a progression. It’s slowly becoming. Every day that we are chanting, we are becoming pure. Every day that we are chanting, there is purity that is happening. The sun of Krishna’s love is rising in our heart. It’s like in the morning, we may wake up and if we are waking up very early, it’s dark, it’s dark, it’s dark. And then suddenly we realise, hey, it’s daytime. Actually the sun has been rising continuously. But our realisation that the sun has risen, it happens at one moment. Oh, the sun has risen. So, like that the process of bhakti is evolutionary. Every day that we are practising, our consciousness is evolving. The process is evolutionary. The result is revolutionary. Suddenly we realise, oh, the sun has risen. Okay, this desire was tormenting me for so long. It’s gone now. Become pure. So, like that purity will arise in our heart eventually. We just focus on practising the process diligently. Thank you. So, shall we stop here? Any other questions? Thank you very much for your kind attention and for your thoughtful questions. Srimad Bhagavad Gita Ki Shila Prabhupada Ki Gaur Bhakta Vrinda Ki Skandhri Nidhara Bhakta Vrinda Ki Jai Gaur Premananda So, during the course of my class, if I have spoken anything inappropriately, please forgive me and please give me your blessings so that I can continue my service to Krishna. Please accept my humble obeisance.