Bhagavad Gita Introduction

Podcast

Today we start with the Bhagavad Gita as a part of our Bhakti Shastri course. So we’ll start with a prayer which refers to Lord Krishna as the speaker of the Bhagavad Gita and every class we’ll start with this prayer.
The Lord became the saarthi of Arjuna and then after that in the beginning he did that. He gave the nectar of the Gita. For what purpose? For the sake of the benefit of all the three worlds.
And to that Krishna who is the soul of all existence. Krishna says mamatma bhuta bhavana. Actually he is the soul of all existence.
Krishna atma nena maha and to that Lord Krishna offer obeisances. So today I’ll discuss briefly with the introduction and the preface. We will not be able to go fully into the details of that but we’ll just look at a topic wise overview to be able to understand in what mood Srila Prabhupada is presenting the Bhagavad Gita.
And in that I will also talk about the setting of the Bhagavad Gita, the background, its importance in terms of the overall Vedic context and then we will start with the Bhagavad Gita after that. So in the book there is, in Prabhupada’s Bhagavad Gita as it is, there is a preface and there is an introduction. So generally when books start off there can be various things that come before the book which are also written but there can be a prologue.
Prologue generally comes in a novel or a story where some part of the event is told beforehand, some part of the storyline is told beforehand or something which sets up the scene is told beforehand. So here we have setting the scene that gives the introduction which is not written by the author but is written by publishers and then along with that there can sometimes be a foreword. So if a foreword is there, the foreword is normally written by somebody other than the author.
So setting the scene can be written by the author sometimes but generally foreword means that some other person writing the word in the beginning, fore is beginning. So the idea of a foreword is that somebody whom the author is connected with well or somebody who respects the author and somebody whom the audience respects. So the foreword is a bridge between the author and the audience.
So in the foreword the author is introducing the author to the audience and telling about the book to the audience. So apart from that there is the introduction. So normally if we have a class then we often have the introduction of the preacher.
So that introduction of the speaker is like the foreword of a book. So that introduction, normally speaking people don’t introduce themselves, somebody else introduces that person. So like that in the foreword is basically an introduction of the author and introduction of the book also.
So in Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad Gita as it is, we have a setting the scene which describes, which is written by the publishers, which describes how Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad Gita is important and basically it describes the background. This was written especially for Western audience because in the West Bhagavad Gita at that time was not so familiar and suddenly what happened on the battlefield, that’s what the book starts with, it seems a little odd. So setting the scene basically gives the historical context of the Bhagavad Gita, how there is a war between the two dynasties or the two branches of the Kuru dynasty and how that came to a head at Kurukshetra and just before the war was about to start the battle took place.
So the historical background is given setting the scene. Now introduction is something which Srila Prabhupada wrote with the book and preface is something which Srila Prabhupada wrote just before he published the book. So in a sense both are introductions, but the introduction is much more directly focused on the content of the book and the preface is focused much more on the historical context or the origins for which the book is written.
So the preface is something which Srila Prabhupada has written and it is shorter, much shorter than the book and then in the introduction. So I will talk just two three points from the preface and then I will go to the introduction which is quite long and we will try to have a overview of the introduction. So through both the preface and the introduction Srila Prabhupada is preparing the audience by getting them in the right mood to understand the Bhagavad Gita as it is.
So Srila Prabhupada called this Bhagavad Gita not just Bhagavad Gita but Bhagavad as it is because several people had commented in improper and incorrect ways and Srila Prabhupada wanted Krishna’s message as it is originally intended to be presented to the people and that’s what he tries to do in his presentation of the Bhagavad Gita. So let us look at the preface first. So in the preface we have, so there is setting the scene, there is dedication, there is preface.
So in the preface we will see Srila Prabhupada is describing the background in which the book was written and that background is also quite adventurous. So originally the book was written in the format that I was presented. So this preface was not there in the first publication of the book.
So the book story of how Bhagavad Gita was written is also very interesting. Srila Prabhupada was in India and in 1965 he left India. Before that in the previous three years he published one one volume of the Bhagavatam.
Actually it was the first canto produced in three volumes and when he had the first canto translations ready, translation commentaries ready, then he felt himself equipped just for going to this transcendental ammunition to blow apart the illusion in the minds of people, the effects of moral passion and ignorance. Now when Srila Prabhupada went to America he got followers after a lot of struggle but from 66 onwards he started getting followers. But he was in a peculiar situation there in the sense that in India he was a published author and he has a respected author.
His book with Bhagavatam volumes had been sent to government libraries. He had given a copy to the Prime Minister of India, to the President of India and to many respectable people and they had even written positive statements about the book. But in America he was relatively unknown and his disciples were all relatively uninfluential and unconnected.
They were mostly hippies who had a lot of sincerity but they did not have any material contacts and not so much material competence also. So Srila Prabhupada started asking them to do the back to Godhead which he had started earlier and had stopped to start focussing on his books. But then he wanted his books published.
Even when he was in America, he would very diligently make time, especially in the early morning hours to write his commentaries. So when he was writing in this way, just there was no way the book was working out. His disciples had no idea how they would publish the book.
They went to some publishers but now the American publishers had no reach in India and because Srila Prabhupada was not a very famous Swami at that time, the American publishers were thinking that who will take such a book and how will it be distributed. So the prospects were not very bright. So Bramhananda Prabhu, Haigalya Prabhu, all of them were trying to find out some way and one day the devotees got a letter from Macmillan.
Macmillan was one of the biggest publishers at that time. Even now it is quite respected. So they said that we please come to our office.
We are interested in your book. So it was a Macmillan letter and the devotees went very enthusiastically there and there disappointment awaited them. They found there was only one clerk in Macmillan’s office who wanted a Bhagavad Gita for himself.
They were so disappointed. They had already told Prabhupada. They were excited.
What will he tell Prabhupada? But as the clerk was talking with the devotee who had come to give him a copy of the book also, suddenly the clerk became tense and he became very respectful and then he saw a person walking behind and he said that’s the chief officer. He said that’s our boss, one of the biggest persons in Macmillan. So that person just walked away into his office and Bramhananda Prabhu was thinking, can I somehow get to meet him? So as he was thinking about it, can I meet him? He said no, he is very busy.
It takes a long time to get an appointment with him. At that time, that person, he came out. He said, are you connected with some Swami? He said, yes.
He said, I am a disciple of Bhaktivedanta Swami. And he said, a real Swami? He said, yes, yes. You know, we are making a collection of books on the scriptures of the world.
So we have a book on the Bible. We have published a Bible. We have published a Quran.
We have published for various religions, but we don’t have anything on the Hinduism. So we want a Bhagavad Gita. Has your Swami written anything on the Bhagavad Gita? He says, yes, I have got a book.
Full commentary on the Bhagavad Gita? He says, yes. He said, okay, come and show it to me. And they showed it.
Normally, if a publisher has to publish, they go through a long editorial process. The publisher will say, do this, do that. But they said, okay, if you got it, then they actually went through it quite fast.
But they told one thing. He says, we have got a standard length for all our books. It’s something like 400-500 pages.
And he said that your Swami’s commentaries are too big. So tell him to cut the commentaries and make the book to our pre-specified length. So then Haigre Prabhu writes in his Hare Krishna Exhortation that he had the doleful task of deciding which of Srila Prabhupada’s purports were unnecessary.
Somehow he did that. And then Macmillan published the book. So after Macmillan published the book, the devotees were very happy.
Prabhupada also got a lot of respectability by that. And at that time, the four words written by Allen Ginsberg, who was a famous hippie musician, could say famous or infamous, but he appreciated Prabhupada. And there are two other people also relatively well known, who also wrote four words.
And then the book was published. Now, when the book was published, it got positive reviews from many people, many scholars also. And in the book’s demand, the book was wanted more and more.
And then Prabhupada felt that now that he had got the first breakthrough, he decided that rather than getting the book published through Macmillan, he decided that as it is, they had cut down on the purports and much of what he had given was not there. So Prabhupada decided to start his own publishing house, which at that time was called Scon Press. Later on, that was renamed as Bhakti Vedanta Book Trust.
So through Scon Press, then he published the full Bhagavad Gita as it is. And that full Bhagavad Gita as it is had all the purports. So essentially, Prabhupada was writing that when this book was first published, the original manuscript was unfortunately cut short to less than 400 pages, without illustrations and without explanations for most of the original verses.
So that had happened because Macmillan had a particular length that they wanted a book to be. So this preface is not there in the Macmillan published Bhagavad Gita. It was there in the Scon Press published.
Subsequently that was published by Prabhupada, by Bhakti Vedanta Book Trust. And that’s how it has been published. So Prabhupada writes that many scholars wanted the full manuscript.
That’s how I am representing it right now. And then he further writes that whole Krishna Consciousness Movement is being accepted by people all over the world. And many intelligent people, even what had happened at that time, many hippies were there.
And the hippies were a peculiar phenomena, alarming phenomena for many in American history. They had rebelled against what America had stood for and the values of material progress and material happiness. They wanted something more.
And in the hope of something more, they had been allured by drugs. And drugs were taking them down, not up. So many of them were coming to grade.
So Prabhupada writes that many of my students’ parents have come and appreciated me for how their lives have been transformed. And then he says, there’s no credit for me. Actually, the credit is that I have repeated the message of my spiritual master.
And then Prabhupada makes a very basic point that people are misinterpreting the Bhagavad Gita. And that’s the point which he will repeat again and again in his purpose. And finally, he says, our only purpose, our only purpose is to present the Bhagavad Gita as it is in order to guide the conditioned soul to the same purpose for which Krishna descends to this planet once in a day of Brahma or even 8.6 billion years.
So actually, Prabhupada is suddenly taken from a historical context which people can relate. In the West, people do not understand. What do you mean by this 8.6 billion years? Who is Brahma? What is this? But Prabhupada is not just connected with the reality of the world around.
He is also connected with the reality of the tradition that he represents. And it’s just seamlessly from here to there. And he says, this is a historical book.
It is spoken by the Supreme Lord who descends once and we are trying to fulfil that same purpose. And he says, if you understand, if you understand such understanding of Bhagavad Gita, that means what is such understanding? Understanding the understanding of what purpose Krishna has spoken is really profitable and authorised for the welfare of human society in fulfilling the mission of life. So what that mission of life will be, we will talk about it later.
And then he talks about how we are all servants of Krishna and we are meant to serve him. And if we do that, then we will be able to be happy. Otherwise, we will not be happy.
And then he talks about, if we go down below, the Lord, Lord wants this and the Lord demands it. One has to understand the central point of the Bhagavad Gita. What is the central point of the Bhagavad Gita? That actually we are parts of Krishna and we are meant to serve Krishna.
And if we don’t serve Krishna, we become miserable. When we start serving Krishna, then we will become happy. So Prabhupada, the Lord wants it and the Lord demands it.
Sarva-dhaman parityajya, when he’s saying that at the end of the Bhagavad Gita, that’s what he’s calling, just come to me, be happy with me. And he says that, actually speaking, even if one person becomes a devotee, that’s the last sentence that Prabhupada writes, if even one man becomes a pure devotee of the Lord, we should consider our attempt a success. So this is Srila Prabhupada’s goal.
It’s not to become a famous scholar, a popular author. Prabhupada’s goal in presenting Bhagavad Gita is to fulfil the purpose of Krishna. And what is the purpose of Krishna? That we all return back to him.
And returning back to him means becoming the pure devotees of Krishna. That is what Srila Prabhupada is presenting through his books. So let us look at the introduction now.
Now, in the introduction, Srila Prabhupada starts with his prayers. And here there is a prayer to Radharani. And actually speaking, in the full Bhagavad Gita, as it is, this is the only reference to Radharani.
Afterwards, Srila Prabhupada doesn’t refer to Radharani even once. And of course, indirectly, he will refer and we’ll discuss in the Bhagavad Gita also how at some level there is a reference to Vajapakti. But the point is, Prabhupada doesn’t refer to all this so much.
And then after all the prayers, now Srila Prabhupada explains the point that the Bhagavad Gita is like a manual or a prescription. So now when a prescription is given, the potency of the prescription will be valid when it is followed. And what does it mean to follow? Okay, whatever is the doctor said over there, we have to find out what the doctor meant over there.
Okay, take this three times a day, morning, afternoon, evening. Now, if I start thinking, morning, what does morning mean? Actually, in India, morning time is different. Africa, morning time is different.
And America, morning time is different. So actually, morning means evening. And as medicine is not very good, and if I start thinking, the doctor said, don’t take sugar.
Oh, actually, sugar, you know, what is sugar? Sugar is simply a white substance. So the idea is that the substances which are of a particular colour should not be taken. So if you take sugar, but you put some coating on it, so that it is no longer white in colour, then you can take it.
Now, if I start interpreting and misinterpreting the doctor’s prescription like this, I won’t get the benefit. Similarly, Prabhupada explains that the prescription has to be followed if we want to benefit. And for that purpose, he is presenting the Bhagavad Gita according to the prescription which has been given in the Gita itself.
And what is the prescription? Prabhupada quotes from the fourth chapter where he says that actually bhakto sime sakha cheti, this has to be in a mood of devotion. Without that mood of devotion, the import of the Bhagavad Gita will remain lost. And then what is this mood of devotion? Prabhupada talks about the five rasas.
And right now in the Bhagavad Gita itself, the introduction he introduces the point that we are eternal, God is eternal, we have an eternal relationship with God. And it’s that eternal relationship which is to be developed. So he talks about the five rasas and then he moves forward.
And he talks about how Arjuna has also accepted Krishna as the Supreme Lord. And then he talks about Krishna’s supreme position. Now, the whole point of this discussion till here, unless one reads the Bhagavad Gita in a submissive spirit, it is very difficult to understand Bhagavad Gita because it is a great mystery.
Submissive spirit is the same as this content spirit of devotion. Then Prabhupada talks about the, after setting this mood, first he has himself offered devotional prayers. And after offering those devotional prayers, then he has said that this is the devotional mood in which one should understand.
And then after that he starts. Now, what is the Bhagavad Gita? The purpose of the Bhagavad Gita is to deliver mankind from the nescience of material existence. This is the fundamental purpose of the Gita, to deliver people from the miseries of material existence.
And then Prabhupada talks about how we are all in misery, but very few people think about spiritual enquiry. And those who are all, Prabhupada writes, all about to be devoured by the tigress of ignorance. But we should enquire about spirituality.
So, he writes over here, actually, actually we are all swallowed by the tigress of nescience. But the Lord is very merciful upon human beings, especially human beings. So, what does the tigress of ignorance mean? It is, of course, a metaphorical usage.
The tigress of ignorance refers basically to the fact that we have forgotten our spiritual identity. And the Bhagavad Gita is meant to rescue us from that. And then Prabhupada goes to Baldev Vidyabhushan’s introduction.
Prabhupada is dedicated his Bhagavad Gita to Baldev Vidyabhushan, who gave the go in the Bhashya commentary on the Vedanta Sutra. And in Baldev Vidyabhushan’s Gita Bhukshan, which is his commentary, he describes that the Bhagavad Gita deals with five basic truths. So, now, analytical frameworks are always helpful for us to understand spiritual truths.
What do we mean by analytical frameworks? Whenever a subject to be discussed, so, for example, when a speaker is giving a class, so, in any mode of functioning or communicating or even thinking, basically, there are two things in operation. There is analysis and there is synthesis. So, analysis means taking things apart.
And synthesis means bringing them together. So, for example, we may say that today I will speak about five points. One, two, three, four, five.
So, analysis means, okay, these are the points we have spoken. But synthesis means, okay, how are these points connected together? If somebody says, today I will speak about five points, I will speak about, you know, what is the prospect of India’s cricket team winning the 2015 World Cup? Then I will talk about what is happening in Uttaranchal after the floods were there. Then I’ll talk about the political situations in Bombay.
Then I’ll talk about the state of the mafia controlling Italy. And then I’ll talk about terrorism in Pakistan. What is the connection? We see that this is basically becomes like a news report.
So, now, news report, you know, it’s not like a person is reading out a news report. There is a flow from this point to this point. Just one news is over, next news starts.
Even in the newspaper, sometimes you’ll see that there are, you know, sometimes it looks so terrible. A news flash is there, the cricket score given, and below that, there is a given say 139 for three India. And then below it is 139 people killed in earthquake.
So, from the news perspective, there’s just two news. There are human lives which have been killed. But sometimes the cricket score will be higher than the news, than the news of people being killed.
Because for the, it’s just figures. So, now, analysis just doesn’t mean separating. It is also separating in terms of conceptual thinking.
But the point synthesis means how does it come together? So, generally the scriptures present knowledge in a synthetic way. Synthetic way means that things are presented as a living culture. So, for example, when a child learns language, when a child, when a baby is learning to speak, the mother doesn’t tell, okay.
But now, a child, I’ll tell you, this is a noun, this is a verb, this is an adjective, this is a pronoun, this is an adverb. Now, yes, the baby says, mama, papa, dada, dadi, you know, and the child starts speaking. And after the child grows, then, and the child has already learned language, then analysis comes afterwards.
Okay, you learned the sentence, you know, this is first part of it is a subject, this part is a predicate. And subject generally, there is a preposition, there may be a noun, and linking the two is a verb. And again, there will be a noun, or there may be a phrase, there will be a clause.
So, all these concepts come afterwards. So, analysis is generally what we do to get a clearer understanding. But when it comes to functioning, we need synthesis.
So, the Bhagavad Gita is presented as a synthetic body of knowledge. And the acharyas do analysis to help us understand, to help us get a conceptual foothold. And after we get the foothold, then we have to integrate it all.
And then we’ll get a better understanding. So, Prabhupada quotes from Valladevidya Bhushan and says that there are these five subjects that have been talked about. So, what are those five subjects? He says, Prabhupada does not quote Valladevidya Bhushan over here, but he says entails the comprehension of five basic truths.
So, what are these basic truths? They are actually Ishvara, Jiva, Ishvara, Prakriti, Kaala and Karma. So, Jiva is the soul, Ishvara is the living entity. Now, among these five, if you see, Jiva and Ishvara are conscious.
Prakriti, Kaala and Karma. Now, Prabhupada says Prakriti and Kaala are also eternal, like Jiva and Ishvara. Karma is not eternal.
Karma is temporary. And exactly what are these and how they are related, that is what we discussed in the Bhagavad Gita. And Prabhupada makes some important points about it in this purport.
So, as far as Ishvara is concerned, Prabhupada quotes the Bhagavad Gita to show how Krishna is the Ishvara. And then what is Jiva? Jiva is a part of the Ishvara, just as Prabhupada used two examples. A particle of gold is also gold, a drop of water is also salty.
Similarly, air parts of gold. And Prakriti is material nature. So, Prakriti also belongs to Krishna and Prabhupada introduces the modes right now in the purport itself.
And then he says what is Karma? When we act under Prakriti for some desire, that is called Karma. Now, after describing this, he talks about the relationship between Jiva and Ishvara. So, he finally says, the conscious he may be, but he cannot be perfectly or supremely conscious.
So, right in the beginning only of the Bhagavad Gita, Prabhupada is pointing out there is a difference between the Jiva and the Ishvara. They are not the same. So, he is refuting Mayavada over here.
And again, he makes the same point, we should not forget this. And then he talks about how a devotee is transcendental to the material modes. So, when we are materially contaminated, we are called conditioned.
So, it is interesting, we use the word conditioned soul very often. So, what does the word conditioned soul mean? Generally, when we talk about our conditions, in some advertisements, it means the conditions apply or sometimes we have the word conditions used for some treaties are made. This agreement, contract will be made.
These conditions are there. So, in what context is, what sense is Prabhupada using the word conditioned over here? So, it is in the context that, in what sense or it is and the soul’s happiness depends on so many conditions that are not in the control of the soul. When I am a conditioned soul, first of all, if I want to enjoy, my body has to be healthy.
Not only that, apart from that, I also have to have a sense of just I want to enjoy, sense of just have to be a good enough quality. And the circumstances have to be suitable for enjoyment. And after that I get enjoyment.
And even then also, because the body’s capacity to enjoy is limited, my enjoyment also remains limited. So, in that sense, I do not get really as much of the enjoyment as I would like to get. This is the meaning of condition.
Now, we are all called conditioned souls. And to become liberated does not mean to merge into some formless, as Prabhupada says, Prabhupada quotes from the Bhagavatam, bhukte bhitva anyatha rupam svarupena yavasthati. We are peacefully instated in our svarupa as the servants of the Lord.
Then that is actually real liberation. And what is contaminated consciousness, Prabhupada explains. In contaminated consciousness, I am means I am the Lord of all I survey, I am the enjoyer.
So, I am the controller, I am the enjoyer. And then Prabhupada, basically in this introduction, Prabhupada is giving the whole introductory philosophy of Krishna Consciousness in a nutshell. So, he also gives the example of the stomach and the hand.
All of us know that example, the hand needs to nourish the stomach, not just nourish itself separately. So, it is remarkable how much the Prabhupada condenses in the introduction. So, he gives practically the whole philosophy of Krishna Consciousness in a nutshell over here.
He talks about the Lord’s satchitananda vigraha. The Lord is not impersonal. Now, here is a nice, very good sutra like statement.
Then he talks about, well, prakriti he talks about. Prakriti is complete. There is complete facility for the small complete units to realise the complete and all sorts of completeness are experienced due to incomplete knowledge of the complete.
So, this is something similar to what Srila Prabhupada has said in the Isopanishad introduction, Om Purnam Adah Purname Amah. So, there is complete facility for the complete, small complete units, living entities to realise the complete. So, we as souls can realise the Supreme Lord.
What do we mean by a complete facility? We have the capacity for we have the advanced spiritual consciousness by which each one of us can realise the absolute truth and by that we can experience happiness. So, only when we realise the Supreme Lord, do we attain completeness and all sorts of incompleteness that we experience right now. So, I don’t have this, I don’t have that, I don’t have that, I don’t have that.
They are incomplete, they are experienced due to incomplete knowledge of the complete, to incomplete knowledge. That means people do not have proper understanding of what is what are the values and goals of life and that’s why they are suffering right now. Incomplete knowledge of the complete.
And then Prabhupada talks about the infallibility of Vedic knowledge that we have discussed in the Isopanishad introduction. And then this is actually very similar to the introduction of the Isopanishad where Prabhupada talks about how we should rise above the animal platform and come to the human platform. So, what is Prabhupada doing over here? He is actually essentially explaining how, what kind of karma we should do in the world.
And then he talks about Sanatana Dharma. This is a very important point that what do we mean by Sanatana Dharma? Prabhupada, Sanatana Dharma does not refer to any sectarian process of religion. It is the eternal function of the eternal living entities in relationship with the eternal Supreme Lord.
So, here it’s important to understand that the Bhagavad Gita is not teaching any sectarian religion. You know, we know very well that the Bhagavad Gita doesn’t talk about Hinduism. Bhagavad Gita was spoken thousands of years ago and the word Hindu has come into the vocabulary less than thousand years ago.
It’s relatively very recent entry into the vocabulary of any of the Indian languages. So, the Bhagavad Gita is talking about universal truths and Prabhupada elsewhere differentiates between religion and Dharma. So, Dharma itself refers to something that is intrinsic, that which is unchangeable, that which is eternal.
And Sanatana Dharma emphasises that all the more. So, we will discuss about the concept of Sanatana Dharma later when we talk about Dharma in the Bhagavad Gita. But suffice it to say over here that this word Dharma refers to intrinsic nature and Sanatana Dharma refers to the intrinsic set of activities that are intrinsic nature for all of eternity.
That which is intrinsic will not be go, will not be changed. And Prabhupada quotes Sanatana Goswami saying that Sanatana Dharma is unchangeable. It has no limitations.
So, Prabhupada says limitation means there’s no change also. So, other dharmas can change. And what is Sanatana Dharma? Prabhupada quotes Chetan Charitama saying that actually we are all the servants of the Lord.
Then he addresses some technicalities from the Bhagavad Gita saying that how there is a spiritual world and demigod worship is not desirable. Demigod worship does not lead to Sanatana results. Only the worship of Krishna will lead to Sanatana results.
And then after that, he says that it is for the goal of life is to go back to the spiritual world. This material world is like a reflection of the spiritual world. And we need to surrender to Krishna, then we will attain the spiritual world.
And how do we remember Krishna, surrender Krishna by remembering Him constantly. So, then he talks about various spiritual lists. And then he says basically we have to contemplate, remember Krishna.
This is the practicality of the message of the Gita that we have to remember Krishna, along with that we have to serve Him. And then here itself Prabhupada gives a very esoteric example. So, it is actually quoted by Rupa Goswami, quoted by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu to Rupa and Sanatana Goswami.
When they asked him, how can we stay beautiful to you while being engaged in the material world? And he told him that actually you can do that by practising the devotional service, the way a woman loves her paramour. A married woman loves her paramour. So, this is at the very least an inflammatory example.
You know, why do they use, why would Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who practised the highest levels of morality, that he was a strict sannyasi, that one time in a trance, when he heard the Gita Govinda being sung, he ran towards the sound of the Gita Govinda. And then his servant stopped him and he said, it’s a woman. And Chaitanya Mahaprabhu froze at that time.
He said, if I had done anything inappropriate, I would have died. You have saved my life. So, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was so strict about the rules of morality.
Why is he giving an inappropriate example? An example that seems to be inappropriate to us, that just as a paramour, a woman who has a lover other than her husband, and she is thinking of her husband, but she doesn’t want her, she’s thinking of her lover, but she doesn’t want her husband to be suspicious. So, she does all her duties at home, not only with normal attention, with better attention, so that her husband doesn’t suspect anything. And then she is thinking of a paramour and whenever she gets him, it’s a paramour.
So now, why would somebody give an example of something immoral to teach something which is spiritual? The point is that the Acharyas will use, as Chaitanya Mahaprabhu himself, as God himself, they will use examples which convey the point. So now, that there is promiscuity in the world, that there are affairs and there are extramarital relationships, this is simply a fact of life. It’s definitely not a pleasant, it’s definitely not a moral or recommended thing to do, but it’s simply a fact of life.
So, what is a fact of life? And what can be used to convey a point in an unforgettable way? You know, somebody gives an example like that, which, first of all, few things attract people’s attention as much as male-female interactions. If we could go into look at people’s minds and look at what is their favourite list. So, male-female interactions will be a perpetual top ranker.
So, any example that will involve male-female interaction, that will immediately catch people’s attention. And basically, the point is to convey a message. So, it’s not in any way to condone, condone means to allow or worst still to recommend that sort of action.
The point is to convey a message and the message that is conveyed is very clear. The message is that just as a woman, now, these are the sort of things happen in life. This is a woman, actually, when she’s attracted to a man other than her husband, what does she do? She does a duty to her husband, well, because she doesn’t want to hurt him to be suspicious, but at the same time, that attraction, because that attraction she thinks of her lover also.
So, similarly, a devotee has two duties, the material duties and the spiritual duties. So, the material duties are important at our level and we have to do them well. At the same time, the material is foreign to our nature.
Because the material is foreign to our nature, it is alien and the spiritual, the devotional is actually our true nature. But right now, we are caught in shackles, we are caught in the shackles of matter and we cannot reach them out. So, a devotee is internally thinking of Krishna while externally engaging in the material world.
So, the essence of the example is not the morality or the immorality. The essence of the example is the intensity of the remembrance and how that intense remembrance can be invoked by strong affection, by strong attraction, by intense desire. So, Prabhupada writes immediately after the example that actually, the art of Krishna consciousness, even Arjuna says that I cannot remember Krishna, then he says this is the art, if the mind is engaged in Krishna service, the senses automatically engage in Krishna.
This is the art and this is also the secret of Bhagavad Gita, total absorption in the thought of Sri Krishna. So, the point of the example is not to condone morality, it is to give an example of absorption in something different from what one is doing, at the same time being able to do what one is doing well. So, that’s how a devotee doesn’t give up material duties.
A devotee is absorbed in Krishna, at the same time the devotee does also the material duties well. It’s the art and the art has to be done. Somebody may say, what do I do? How do I do like this? Do I develop a spirit personality? I’m doing my work on my computer in my office, at the same time I’m thinking of Krishna.
How do I sort of create two lanes in my consciousness? One doing my material duties and the other doing my spiritual duties? No, we don’t have to bisect our consciousness like that. Bhakti actually integrates the whole thing. Now, we see our office and our profession and our worldly responsibilities also as a part of our long-term welfare.
You know, also a part of, how is a part of a long-term welfare? All the soul and the body are different. Bhakti is so wonderful and the body and everything in relation with the body can also be used for Krishna’s service. How do we use that in Krishna’s service? That is the art.
So, when we make ourselves devoted to Krishna, when we do sadhana bhakti seriously and by that we become fixed in the devotion of Krishna, then with our mind attached to Krishna, everything else also becomes connected with Krishna. We understand this is not just my job. I’m doing this for Krishna’s service.
This is not just my family. There are Krishna’s family members. This is not just my house.
This is Krishna’s house. So, the purpose of the example is to demonstrate how one can be totally absorbed in Krishna. And Prabhupada makes a very interesting statement that, modern man has struggled very hard to reach the moon, but he has not tried very hard to elevate himself spiritually.
So, now, here still Prabhupada is giving a very powerful example to illustrate the point that, you know, something which people are very proud of, oh, we have gone to the moon. So, and then it has been years and years, decades of research and endeavour. Why thousands of scientists went into that? So, Prabhupada is giving an example.
There also elevation is there. So, here also elevation is there. So, if we were ready to put into effort for that, why not put an effort for this? So, by comparing the elevation of consciousness to that which is considered the crowning achievement of the 20th century, in fact, many people consider it to be the crowning achievement in the history of humanity, that to try to go to the higher planets, go to reach the moon.
So, he puts the Krishna conscious achievement also as a challenge. Yes, it is not easy absorbing the mind in Krishna. But if you can endeavour so much for something material, why not endeavour something similarly for something spiritual? And then he says there is a sadhana bhakti by which you can do it, Shravanam Kirtanam Vishnu, and he says this is actually all-encompassing.
Everybody can practise it, even, and he quotes from the Bhagavad Gita itself, and even the women, the children, women, Vaishya, the Shudras, all of them can practise it. So, no material disqualifications are there, which matter in the process of bhakti. Everybody can be incorporated in the process of bhakti.
And then he quotes from the Gita Mahatmya, which comes in the Padma Purana, and he says, he talks about various glories of the Gita. So, if somebody studies the Gita, then one’s past life karma will not affect that person. And then further, so, first, what are the Gita Mahatmya’s points? The first point, first verse we didn’t discuss is So, if one studies the Bhagavad Gita, what will happen? Person will become free from bhaya and misery.
Now, how that will happen in the next verse? Actually, the sinful reactions won’t come. And third is, not only sinful reactions won’t come, but sinful desires will also go away. So, So, first is our past reactions won’t come, that will stop some suffering.
Then also, our sinful desires will go away. This is more important. Then, as further glorification, if so many gifts are available, then why does one need anything else? That, when the Supreme Lord has Himself spoken the Bhagavad Gita, why do we need anything else? Why do we need anything else? This Supreme Lord has Himself spoken, This one book is enough for us.
Now, what does it mean? If you are reading too many books, understand essential principles of this book. And then, of course, you can read Bhagavatam and CC, their elaboration on the principles. So, the point is, be focused to understand the fundamentals.
And then, you can’t understand them by reading too many books running here and there. Focus on this. And then, he further says that the ultimate result will be That, if one drinks nectar of the Bhagavad Gita, one will not have to take birth again.
Then, we have quoted this also earlier in our Shastra also, how all the Upanishads are like a cow. I just said, the essence of a cow is available in the milk. So, the nectar of the Bhagavad Gita is like the milk, just like the milk is the essence of the cow.
Similarly, Gita Upanishad is the essence of all the Upanishads. And therefore, it concludes by saying that, let there be only one scripture for the world, Bhagavad Gita. That’s enough.
That can deliver all people from material existence. And let there be one work service to Krishna. Let there be one God, Krishna.
And let there be one mantra that is connected with Krishna. And Prabhupada says that mantra is the Hare Krishna mantra. So, this is how Sri Prabhupada, in his introduction, sets up a devotional mood for the studying of the Gita.
He introduces us to the purpose of the Gita, rescues from material existence, then talks about the five tattvas and how they interact. And then, when he talks elaborately about the karma which people are doing, and then he says the karma should be made in accordance with our Sanatana Dharma. So, instead of doing any and every karma, we choose to do the karma that will be Sanatana Dharma.
And that will give us the result of going back to the spiritual world. And then, in that, he contrasts Sanatana and non-Sanatana dharmas. And then, finally, he focusses on, after telling the essential message of the Gita, then he focusses on the glories of the Gita as have been told in other scriptures.
Now, Sri Prabhupada’s Bhagavad Gita has become by far the most widely distributed Bhagavad Gita in the English language. And it has also become one of the most important works, not just within the Krishna Consciousness movements, but in the study, in the history of Gita’s reaching out to the wider world. It has become one of the most important works in modern Gita scholarship.
And also, it represents our vast tradition. So, in our Sampradaya, let us look at the Bhagavad Gita’s role before we conclude. The Bhagavad Gita is a broad Vedic book.
It does talk about Krishna’s supremacy, but also talks about other paths. So, because it talks about other paths also, it is an integrated presentation, which ultimately, after talking about other paths, establishes the supremacy of bhakti. So, in our tradition, the Bhagavad Gita is quoted, okay, it is one of the important books and it is quoted sometimes in the Chaitanya Charitam.
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu quotes from it several times. But the Sandarbhas are the places where Jiyu Goswami also quotes from the Bhagavad Gita quite a few times. The first commentary in our Sampradaya on the Bhagavad Gita was written by Pichunachakira Thakur.
So, he wrote Sarartha Varshini and Sarartha Darshini, the commentaries in the Bhagavad Gita and the Bhagavatam. So, Sarartha Varshini was his commentary. Sarartha, the essential meaning, Varshini, that is show us.
Then that was the commentary which he wrote. Now, of course, before this, before our Sampradaya, by our I am talking Gaudiya Sampradaya. Before that, of course, we have Shankaracharya who has written his commentary, then Ramacharya has written his commentary, Madhacharya has written his commentary and there are many, many commentaries in the Bhagavad Gita written historically also.
So, we are talking right now about our Sampradaya. So, after Pichunachakira Thakur, Baldevidya Bhushan also wrote a commentary on the Bhagavad Gita and Prabhupada said the disciple generally does not write a commentary on the book on which the spiritual master has written unless it serves some specific purpose. Like we see that Bhaktsananda Thakur has written a commentary on the Chaitanya Charita Amrit, but Prabhupada also wrote a commentary on the Chaitanya Charita Amrit.
Now, Prabhupada largely takes his commentary from Bhaktsananda Thakur’s commentary only. But that is not the only thing that he does. He takes from, he also integrates with his insights and he also gives instructions to his contributors, a specific say with respect to interaction with Gaudiya Math, other Gaudiya devotees.
But essentially, it is not wrong to comment if the context requires and Baldevidya Bhushan is like a Siddhanta. He was here to establish the authenticity of Sampradaya. So, every Sampradaya for it to become authorised, consider authorised in the traditional Vedic circles, it has to have its commentary on Shruti, Smriti and Nyaya.
So, among the Shrutis, Baldevidya Bhushan commented on the Upanishads, several Upanishads. Smriti, Bhagavad Gita is a book there, he commented on that also. And Nyaya is Vedanta Sutra, Baldevidya Bhushan commented on that also.
So, that way he established in the intellectual circles of his time, the respectability, the credibility, the authenticity of the Gaudiya Sampradaya. And it is for that purpose that his commentary was written, it is called Gita Bhushan. And although there is Vishwanath Chaturvedi’s commentary, which is quite rassic in many ways, we will discuss the difference in one of the verses in the first chapter when we come to that.
But Baldevidya Bhushan’s commentary focusses more on Tattva, it goes more into the philosophy, Chakravarti Path’s commentary goes more on Rasa, both are important. But Baldevidya Bhushan’s purpose primarily was to establish solidly the philosophical foundations of our Sampradaya. And accordingly, he presented his commentary.
And then Bhaktanath Thakur wrote brief commentaries. They were actually, when he was going through Baldevidya Bhushan and Chakravarti Path’s commentary, he basically translated that and added notes at several places. So those, he wrote two books like that, one is called the Vidvat Ranjan and the other is Rasik Ranjan.
So Vidvat Ranjan is based on Baldevidya Bhushan’s commentary, Vidvat is wise, Ranjan is those who delight, the delight of the wise. And Rasik Ranjan is the, Rasik is those who are the relishers, those who enjoy Rasa. So the Ranjan, the delight for those who are the relishers of mellows, he wrote commentary on that also.
And then Prabhupada wrote a commentary, of course, his Bhagavad Gita as it is. And he derives his commentary primarily from Baldevidya Bhushan’s commentary wherever he talks about the Acharyas. Of course, it refers to various Acharyas also.
But primarily his commentary derives from Baldevidya Bhushan as well as from other sources. And of course, Prabhupada is presenting it all for the modern context. Now, in Shloka Prabhupada’s Bhagavad Gita as it is, he has given us a devotional understanding of the Bhagavad Gita, emphasising systematically and repeatedly how Bhakti is the essence of the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita.
And that’s why he also establishes credibility of what is presentation by giving the disciplic succession right in the beginning of the Bhagavad Gita. So we will begin our discussion of the Bhagavad Gita from our next class.