Gita 18.67 Though ultimately every heart longs for divine love, not every heart is presently ready for divine love

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
So, Krishna has concluded His description over here of the message of the Bhagavad Gita in 18.66 and now He is giving the phalashruti, the fruit of hearing.
But He gives a precautionary note here. First, idam te na tapaskaya. Actually, however, these are not the ways, that this knowledge is not to be given to those who are na tapaskaya, those who are not austere.
Na bhaktaya kadachana. That those who are not devoted. Nacha shushru shave vacham.
Nor is it to be given to those who are not shushru shave. That those who are not having a service attitude. Nachamamyam dhrisu yati.
And certainly not to those who are envious. It’s interesting, Krishna has so disarmingly opened His heart in the previous verses to give such a message of love and yet after giving that message, He seems to be checking Himself. He is not moving forwards to speak, to continue that.
Instead, is His tone changing over here? No, it is not changing. The language of love is not understood by everyone in the sense that people have to be at a particular level of consciousness to appreciate what is being spoken. Otherwise, no matter what else is done, they will simply not connect.
We may have a utopian idea that the language of love can transform all hearts, but that is just not true. Now that we all have to work to purify ourselves. And unless we do so, we can’t move on in our lives.
So, it is vital for us to take things forward in a steady and regulated way by which there is a realistic change in life. If somebody is a criminal and they have done a grievous wrong, at that time, unless there is a magical transformation of the heart brought about by some miracle or done by a problem, it is important that unless such a thing happens, it is important that they go through the necessary purification so that they can experience elevation. Similarly, for us, for each one of us, it is important that in our interactions with others, we recognize that not everybody is capable of understanding the divine message of love.
Although ultimately, everybody has a heart that longs for love, presently, not every heart is ready for love. A person who is out to murder someone is unlikely to hear the words of love. They need to be, first of all, disciplined.
And of course, even discipline may need to be given in a way that gives an opportunity for love to be seen. But the reality of the perversity of the human heart is something that we see every day. And that’s not something that we can simply wish away or deny.
It has to be acknowledged and it has to be dealt with appropriately. For all of us, in our daily practice of bhakti, it is important that we take the necessary steps to move towards Krishna and thereby grow in our spiritual life, grow in our devotional life. But the important thing is that Krishna is telling here that don’t speak to this knowledge to those who are not ready or receptive.
Ultimately, whatever treasure a parent has, the treasure is meant to be an inheritance to their child’s children. But suppose a child is a drunkard, a child is a drug addict, and that child comes to know that there is a lot of money stored in some treasure, some chest, some locker. Now, that child is not in a position to use that money well and thus the child will end up misusing the money.
Similarly, we all, if we are not cautious, we will end up misleading ourselves in the hope of some idealistic conceptions. So Krishna’s message of requires a somewhat receptive consciousness and if that is not there, people will simply misunderstand it and become more envious. That’s why when Krishna is saying here that don’t share this knowledge with everyone, that simply means that he’s acknowledging that not everybody would be able to relish or even appreciate the message of pure love that he is speaking.
And such people are not to be rejected or condemned, that they need to be accommodated in the appropriate level. And there are various other processes for engaging them in the Vedic system, there is the worship of the devatas, there are various kinds of worships in the modes of goodness, passion as well as ignorance by which people can be elevated. So the important thing is that we all need to move forward in our lives, taking things progressively so that we can learn and grow and so that we give others the opportunity to learn and grow at their level.
So the heart that is too filled with lust, anger, greed will not be presently ready to be elevated to understand the message of divine love. Therefore Krishna says that those who do not have a service attitude, those who have envy, those who are not ready to perform some austerity, the service attitude is simply a way of expressing the devotion of one’s heart through one’s actions. Devotion, of course, is understood.
If somebody is eager to hear about the Lord, then hearing about his love and hearing about his glories is the most relishable nectar for them. But for those who are not at that level, to speak about this will simply alienate them. So whatever Krishna is talking about, envy is clear.
Envy means that directly there is antagonism towards God, there is no austerity, no service attitude, no devotion means there is no inclination towards God. So slowly, gradually that inclination is developed and people can move towards Krishna and ultimately they can attain Krishna. That is the hope and that is the purpose of this cautionary note that the cautionary note is not to deprive people of spiritual wisdom, of spiritual nectar, this is to ensure that those who are not receptive to it don’t become further antagonistic towards it by being presented something which they are utterly unready for right now.
So we see this as a not a restriction but a caution, not as a discrimination or condemnation but as a realistic recognition of the variety of human consciousness and the variety of the receptivity of people according to their consciousness level. Thank you. Hare Krishna.