Bhakti Shastri (004) – Sri Isopanisad Mantra 02

Podcast

Hare Krishna. So, to continue with our discussion on the issue of Nishit, we have discussed three classes till now. First, the introduction, then the invocation, which discussed about how the material world is also perfect for its purpose, and then we discussed about the Ishavasya principle in the earlier class, that was in Mantra 1. Now we discuss Mantra 2. So before we go to Mantra 2, let us have a quick overview of this first section of the issue of Nishit.
The first section is basically talking about the Ishavasya principle and learn to live in harmony with Ishvara. So what is the Ishavasya principle? Everything is perfect, that is talked in the invocation, and everything belongs to the Ishvara is talked in the first verse. Now in the second mantra, it is said that how living in harmony with it, with that Ishavasya principle, with the Ishvara, will benefit us.
And in the next verse, it will be talked how living in disharmony with Ishvara will lead to suffering. So let us discuss this sutra about how living in harmony with Ishvara will benefit us. So, kurvan eveha karmani, yuji vishecha tam samaha, evam tvayi nanya the thosthi, na karmanipyate nare.
So kurvan eveha karmani, kurvan means to do, eva iha, certainly in this way, karmani, working in this way. Now what is this way? So this is a continuation of the previous verse. So the previous verse says that, bunjuthe ma durdha, don’t enroach upon others’ property.
tena tyaktena bunjita, accept what is your quota. So kurvan eveha karmani means that, accepting your quota, not enroaching on other quota, when one lives like that, yuji vishecha, one can live, or one can desire to live, chatam samaha, chata is transformation of shata, shata means century, hundred. One can desire to live for hundreds of years, samaha, period, evam tvayi nanya the thosthi, apart from this, there is na anyatha, anyatha means alternative, there is na anyatha, there is no alternative, asti, there is, na karmanipyate nare, that, because when one works like this, lipyate means to be bound, when one works like this, one will not become bound.
So what is the essential meaning of this verse? Working in this way, one can desire to live for hundreds of years, and there is no alternative for this to man, human beings, because otherwise, one will become bound by karma, and working in this way, one will not become bound by karma. So, now, we would say that everybody wants to live for hundreds of years, so if everybody wants to live for hundreds of years, then what is the point in saying that, if you live in this way, then you should desire to live for hundreds of years, actually, if people are living ignorantly, if people are living sinfully, then the longer they live sinfully, the more karmic bondage they are creating, and the more they will have to suffer as a consequence of their bad karma. So if a person is acting sinfully, for that person to live longer will mean prolonging the miseries of material existence for a much longer time in future lives.
On the other hand, if a person is living harmoniously, then the person is not creating any bad future for oneself, and along with that, that person is also contributing to the good of society. And because the person is in this way doing good for oneself as well as others, for such a person to live for a long time is a blessing, is something which is desirable for that person, and other people also desire, let this person live for a long time. So when the verse says, evam tvayi na anyathe thosti, that there is no other way to live, now we know that people are living in other ways, there are people who live godlessly, so what does it mean, there is no other way to live? What it means is, there is no other intelligent way to live.
If somebody is in the 20th story of a building, and the only way to come down is by staircase, somebody tells that there is no other way to come down from the building, there is another way also. You can just jump down from the terrace of the 20th story, you’ll come down and you’ll never come up again, you’ll die. So, that means if one chooses some other way to come down from the 20th story of a building, that is fraught with danger, even bound to disaster.
So similarly, what is being said over here is, if we don’t live harmoniously, there is no other way to live, because the other way is the way to disaster. And this is the way by which there is no karmic bondage, na karma lipyate nare, Krishna Prabhupada translated, one may aspire to live for hundreds of years, if he continuously goes on working in that way. So, yee jee vishech tam savahar, one may aspire to live for hundreds of years, if he continuously goes on working in that way, kurvan eveha karmaani, for that sort of work will not bind him to the law of karma, na karma lipyate nare, there is no alternative this way for man.
Now, nithetho sthi, so let us look at what Srila Prabhupada is saying in the parpot. So the parpot can be divided into five sections again. The first paragraph in the parpot talks about how karma bandhan causes death.
So the connection is, yee jee vishech tam samahar, people want to live for hundreds of years, nobody wants to die, so but why there is death, that is what is the connection between this point in the parpot and the verse, mantra. Now human life offers liberation through akarma, so the second paragraph talks about, nobody wants to die, nobody wants to be bound in the cycle of birth and death, so how does one come out of it, by akarma. So now the question may come up, how will we learn about akarma, well the Vedas teach that.
The Vedas lead ultimately to akarma, the Vedas teach many things, but their conclusive teaching is akarma. Now people cannot, what akarma is we will discuss in detail, but essentially it is pure devotional service. So people cannot start practising akarma immediately, so therefore it says first begin by bringing God into sense gratificatory life, that means, ok when you want sense gratification, fine, but when you want sense gratification, don’t do it in a religious way, do it in a God conscious way.
So that is the first stage of spiritual life. Now if one doesn’t practise this first stage of spiritual life also, then everything that one does is in vain, this is evam tvayi nanyathe thosthi. So if one doesn’t have God, then whatever one does will become in vain, and therefore Prabhupada finally concludes by saying, make all altruisms into karma yoga, altruisms means different kinds of benefactory activities which you want to do for others, bring God into them and then they will become spiritualised, then they will give lasting benefit, otherwise the benefit from that will be still fleeting.
So the whole theme of the purport is that acknowledge Ishwara, live according to Ishavasya principle. So let us look at each of these points one by one now. So actually Prabhupada starts the purport by saying, no one wants to die.
So now, how karma vandana causes death? The soul is eternal. So the soul is say here, and the body is in front. So Bhagavad Gita gives the example that, just as the sunlight illuminates the whole universe, similarly the soul illuminates the body.
yatha prakashyate kakritsnam lokam imamravih kshetram kshetrittha kritsnam prakashyati bharatah So in 13th chapter 34, Swarup Krishna gives this and the other example of ether, pervading nature. So these two examples he gives for how the soul interacts with matter. So just as the sun illuminates and activates the whole universe, the soul illuminates and activates the body with consciousness.
The soul is eternal, the body is temporary. Now the soul doesn’t have to die because the soul is sat, however the soul experiences death, the misery of death because of attachment to the body. Just like when a person is watching a movie, and in that movie there is a hero, and the hero is so heroic that the audience gets attracted to the hero.
And then suddenly in the middle of the hero, in the middle of the movie, there is a fight going on and suddenly the villain hits a big blow on the head of the hero, and the head just parts apart. And the hero dies. Then everybody in the audience will get shocked, how did the hero die? So what happened over there? Because the audience was emotionally attached to the hero, so what happened in the screen, which actually had nothing to do with them, nothing has happened to them when they are sitting on their chairs in the theatre.
But because they are emotionally attached to the hero, when something happens to the hero, they feel affected by that. Similarly, the soul is like the audience, and the body is like the character in the movie theatre. So because the soul is attached to the body, so when the body undergoes an injury, the body undergoes destruction, the soul gets traumatised.
So who is it that suffers, say when we are sick or when we die? Is it the body or is it the soul? Actually the body is dead, the body can’t suffer. The soul is Anandi, Satchitananda, the soul cannot suffer, and who suffers? Actually the soul who identifies with the body and mistakes the events happening to the body to be events happening to itself, is the soul who suffers. So we suffer because of misidentification.
The first point Aishwarya Prabhupada makes is that to the extent we desire to enjoy material things, we become bound by karma, to that extent. It is because a person desires to watch the movie and hopes that through watching the movie I will get happiness, so the person starts watching the movie and if the movie turns out to be a horror movie, where the hero suffers terribly and eventually is killed, then the person gets traumatised. The spectator feels suffering, although the spectator didn’t have to suffer.
So like that the soul comes into material existence, soul desires to watch the movie. Watch the movie means the soul desires to do materialistic activities, desires to do karma to get material enjoyment, and when the soul doesn’t get material enjoyment, the soul suffers and the material life is like a horror movie. We undergo so much suffering here and to the extent we identify with the body, to the extent our suffering increases.
Ultimate suffering is death. When the body is destroyed, the soul feels traumatised. So the immortal soul suffers the pain of mortality because of the desire for enjoying matter and the desire for enjoying matter is the cause of karma and karma bandhana.
So that is what binds the soul to material existence. So now when the soul is bound to material existence, no living being wants to die and yet all living beings have to die. So although all living beings die, still what do we do? Human life offers liberation through our karma.
We when we come to the human form of life, then we can perceive a higher reality. We can perceive the eternal beyond the temporary. We can perceive the spiritual beyond the material and we can realise that by doing a karma.
So now let’s look at this word. There are three types of activities, three types of karma. So now the word karma can have four different meanings.
In this itself you will see that the word karma is used in two different senses. So for example, karma can mean action of any kind. Any action can be called karma.
Sometimes when we are suffering, we say I am suffering because of my karma. There what we are referring to is not karma but the reaction to our karma. So the word karma can refer to our actions, the word karma can refer to our reactions or we say the law of karma is inescapable.
Here we are referring to the system of action-reaction that can also be called as karma. And beyond that, the fourth meaning of the word karma is what is given over here. So within the generic word karma, there are three kinds of activities.
One of them is also called as karma. So this can also be called su-karma, buddha karma. Prabhupada explains this in the Parpottas.
Actions which are performed in terms of unprescribed duties as mentioned in the religious scriptures. So we do good karma when we act according to scripture. We act morally, responsibly, doing activities, that is karma, that is su-karma or good action.
And the opposite of that is v-karma, v-karma is bad action, actions which are performed by the misuse of one’s freedom which direct one to the lower life forms. So when people say, eat abominable foodstuffs, eat meat, then nature may give them the body of a lion or a tiger because that is more suited for eating meat. So that is v-karma.
Now a-karma doesn’t mean inaction, it means action which brings no reaction. So the a-prefix is not directly modifying karma in the first sense of action, it is modifying karma in the sense of reaction. So a-karma means action that produces no reaction.
So actions, as Prabhupada says, which free one from the cycle of birth and death. So how does that happen? That we will discuss later. But essentially a-karma means when we act for the pleasure of Krishna, then we don’t have to suffer any reactions because Krishna is working for our purification and elevation, He is staying in our heart and He wants to liberate us.
So when we start working for Him, it is like the patient cooperating with the doctor. When the patient starts cooperating with the doctor, naturally the patient’s recovery is smoother, quicker and better. So like that, when we start cooperating with Krishna, then by doing a-karma, then we can be liberated from material existence.
So going back earlier to the movie example, a-karma means the person decides, now I don’t want to watch the movie anymore. So I just want to come out of the theatre. Then whatever suffering is going on in the movie, that will not affect the person because that person has understood now that I don’t want to watch the movie, I am not interested whether it is good or bad on that day, it is illusion, let me get out.
So a-karma is that kind of activity. So let’s move back now and we will see that human form or human life offers liberation through a-karma. So how exactly do we perform a-karma? Srila Prabhupada explains that a-karma essentially means doing activities on behalf of God.
So for example, if I am working in the army and while working in the army I shoot an enemy soldier, at that time because I am working on behalf of the army, I am not held responsible. In fact, if I shoot many enemy soldiers, I may even get a medal of honour from the government because I have served the government in a very important way in a particular battle. So on the other hand, if I come back and I shoot a neighbour in our argument, then I will be punished because I am doing that on my own account.
So when we act on our own account, we become bound. When we act on behalf of Krishna, we become unbound, we become liberated. So the whole purpose of the Vedic literature is ultimately to teach a-karma.
So a-karma refers to those activities which bring about liberation. Now, Srila Prabhupada writes that such liberating work is described here in the pages of Sri Isopanishad and Prabhupada immediately correlates with Bhagavad Gita. Srila Prabhupada will do this repeatedly in his Isopanishad paraport that he will again and again refer to the Bhagavad Gita to elaborate the concepts which are talked about over here.
So now, Srila Prabhupada makes a significant statement. Factually, no one has to do anything more than render devotional service to the Lord. However, in the lower stages of life, one cannot immediately adopt the activities of devotional service, nor can one completely stop fruitive work.
So what does this mean? Often, people ask, is spiritual life a supplement for material life or a complement for material life? Supplement means something which is an addition, a dietary supplement. Normal diet is there, take something extra. So is spiritual life a supplement or is it a complement? Complement means that which completes.
So for example, if I am eating and there are some essential dietary elements that are missing in my diet, then whatever I add, it makes the diet complete, so it’s a complement. So is spiritual life a supplement, something which is additional, or is spiritual life a complement? That means something which is essential, which completes our material life. So what is the answer? Is it a supplement or is it a complement? Actually, it is neither.
Spiritual life is a replacement for material life. Ultimately, we as souls are spiritual and material life is artificial for us. It is unnatural for us.
And in our pure eternal stage, we are meant to be liberated from material existence and to return back to the spiritual world, to live entirely spiritually. So the ultimate goal of spiritual life is that spiritual life should act as a replacement for material life. We become liberated from material existence and we return back to the spiritual world.
But before we come to that, initially, we may think of spiritual life as a supplement. You like to practise spirituality? Fine. I don’t like to practise spirituality.
I won’t practise. So you think it is an optional, additional activity that some people may do, some people may not do. So that is an initial and ignorant vision.
But actually, it is a, even in the material level of existence, spiritual life is a complement to material life. It is essential that we bring God into our lives, otherwise our lives will remain incomplete. And Srila Prabhupada makes the next point, the Vedas lead ultimately to Akarma.
The Vedas talk about religion at multiple levels. So Srila Prabhupada says that these isms, this is a very interesting statement by Srila Prabhupada, these isms refer to altruism, socialism, communism, nationalism, humanitarianism. So these isms are certainly very attractive forms of Karmabandhana.
This is like an iron feast in a velvet glove. So what is happening? An iron feast in a velvet glove means there is something which seems very soft, but it is very hard hitting. So now normally people think of altruism, humanitarianism as very good things, nationalism also is good.
But Srila Prabhupada says they are very attractive forms of Karmabandhana, they are also forms of bondage. Why? Because if I am attracted to my nation, then all that will happen is I will not become liberated, I will become reborn in the country again as some other species depending on the kind of Karma I have done, or if I have not done too much bad Karma, I may be born as a human being, but still I continue on with my existence. So even nationalism is a form of Karmabandhana, it does not lead to liberation.
And that’s why we have to add God to whatever we do. So without adding God, without acting according to the Isha Vastu principle, one will not be able to stay on without Karmic bondage. So let’s look at how this is done in the Bhagavad Gita.
Srila Prabhupada explains now that spiritualise all isms. So sense gratification plus God will be Karmakanda. That means, okay, I want a good spouse, I want a lot of wealth, I want power, that’s what materialistic people want.
But then scriptures say, okay, if that’s what you want, we’ll provide you that. You do these rituals, you worship this devata, you do this yajna, and you get these things. So here what is happening? So you can visualise one circle, this is circle of sense gratification.
And then there is another circle of dharma. So dharma is religion, sense gratification is another circle. Now the area where these two circles will intersect, that is Karmakanda.
That means dharma is one circle, sense gratification is another circle. The area where the two intersect, the intersection area will be dharmic sense gratification. Religious materialism, that is the beginning of most people’s spiritual life.
Most people come to God not because they love God. Most people come to God because they love the things of this world and they are unable to get it themselves. So they think maybe God will give this to me.
So that is the beginning. So when religion and sense gratification intersect, and the intersection set of that is called as Karmakanda. So Prabhupada says that even if one wants sense gratification, one must bring in God into it, otherwise the sense gratification will be the cause of bondage.
If one does it dharmically, at least there will be some elevation that will happen gradually. And similarly, if one wants to do any kind of altruism, any kind of good work for society, for nation, then one has to keep God in the centre. Actually Prabhupada would encourage Indians as well as Americans.
He would tell them that all of you are Indians, in India he will say, no this Bhagavad Gita is your own cultural legacy. People from all over the world are practising it, not only they are practising it, they are announcing everything, what will be enjoyable, and they are becoming missionaries and centering all this, sharing this message all over the world. And you Indians, why don’t you do that? Share Krishna Consciousness with the world.
Become teachers of the Bhagavad Gita, understand it and teach it. So Srila Prabhupada would encourage Indians based on their pride of Indian identity. When 1970s Srila Prabhupada was preaching at that time, there was the war for the separation of Bangladesh and eventually Bangladesh became separate from Pakistan, a separate country.
That time Srila Prabhupada was giving a class and he said that you people are concerned that we lost one part of our country as Pakistan, but you see now if you just share this Krishna Consciousness, I am an old man, lone man, and I have done what I can to share Krishna Consciousness, so many people all over the world have become devotees. If all of you share Krishna Consciousness with everyone else, then the whole world will become Hindustan. So this was Srila Prabhupada encouraging people to take to God Consciousness based on their preconceptions.
So their preconception is, okay, India is my country, it is great, fine, you think that India is great, that is okay, but use that nationalistic pride, nationalistic attraction to be within the precincts of Dharma. Similarly, when Srila Prabhupada would have his American disciples and they were doing this big Hare Krishna Pandal festival in Mumbai, at that time Prabhupada told them, you are Americans, you are used to doing some wonderful things, so do something here that people will never forget. What is the use of your being Americans if you don’t do something wonderful? So what is Srila Prabhupada doing over here? He is using the Americans’ attraction to America to engage them in devotional service.
Similarly Srila Prabhupada predicted about China, that China is people, when they start taking God Consciousness, they will take it up very fast. So here, the same strategy of spiritualising all isms is adopted even in the Bhagavad Gita. So, Aparadharma means lower religion, Paradharma is higher religion, higher religion is just pure devotional service, pure devotional service is, I am servant of Krishna and I don’t have to do anything except serve Krishna, but Aparadharma is, I have a family, I have a country, I have a race, I have a community and I have duty towards all of them.
These are important, although they are not all important. So now, these Aparadharma are spiritualised. Let us see how it is spiritualised even in the Bhagavad Gita.
So, 2.13 in the Bhagavad Gita is the famous verse which tells, you are not the body. Vahinnosmin yatha dehe, kaumaram yavanam janam, yatha dehaantara-praptir, dhirastha-tranamuhinyate. So Krishna is telling that inside the soul there is a body and that body doesn’t change even when the, sorry, inside the body there is soul and that soul doesn’t change even when the body keeps changing.
So this is solid philosophical knowledge, which if you are just objective, analytical, detached, philosophical, you will say, this should reject all bodily designations. But surprisingly, in the very next verse, Krishna uses two bodily designations to refer to Arjuna. So next verse is, matra sparshastra kaunteya, sheetha vishnu sukha dukkha daha, agama payeno anitya sthamsa tiksha svabharata.
So here Krishna is telling that just as summer and winter come and go, similarly happiness and distress will come and go, oh Kaunteya, oh Bharata, tolerate it. Actually Kaunteya and Bharata are entirely bodily designations. Arjuna is the son of Kunti and he is a descendant of the king Bharata.
So now, just after telling Arjuna that you are not the body, why is Krishna referring to Arjuna with a bodily designation? Is Krishna contradicting himself? No. Actually, although we are not the body and although all bodily designations are ultimately illusory, still, the fact is that we do identify with the body. We can’t just wish away our bodily identity.
So what the Bhagavad Gita does is that use our bodily identity to elevate people towards God Consciousness. So that means, okay, now, yes, oh Arjuna, you are the soul, but you are, as a body you have been born in this family, connected with Kunti, connected with Bharata, such great people. So therefore, act in a great way, therefore Arjuna, tolerate.
So what we should do is, we should pat the false ego onwards spiritually. We don’t massage the false ego, we don’t pinch the false ego. What is the false ego? The false ego is the idea that I am the body.
When the soul identifies with body, that bond of misidentification comprises the false ego. So massaging the false ego means what? Oh, you are an Indian, India is such a great country, India is the greatest country in the world. India was the ruler of the whole world.
Everything good that is there, everywhere in the world is because of India and India is so great and you are so great. And when you massage people’s false ego like that, what happens is, their simply illusion increases, that’s all that happens. So we don’t want to massage people’s false ego.
On the other hand, pinching the false ego means, somebody says that I am Indian, what Indians? Indians are sold their soul, Indians are simply imitating the West, India is useless, India is so dirty, there is so much traffic, there is so much pollution, there is so much mismanagement, how the poor people are starving, so much corruption, everything is disgusting in India. So you think you are Indian, you are an ignorance, you are a soul, you have nothing to do with India. When we sort of condemn people’s bodily identification, that becomes grating and denigrating.
Grating means, sometimes when we hear a harsh sound, that is grating, somebody has a bitter voice and that is grating to the ear, it is jarring to the ear. And it appears like grating and denigrating, denigrating means it appears insulting. Most people, whatever we say, they do emotionally identify with their social circles, it may be country, it may be community, it may be race, it may be dynasty, whatever.
So when they identify with that, suddenly telling them it’s all false, that can be quite a jolt to them. So this is pinching the false ego. So the Bhagavad Gita neither massages the false ego, nor pinches the false ego.
What does the Bhagavad Gita do? Pats it onwards. Pats it onwards. Means what? That, oh yes, you are so great, you are born Indian, therefore learn Bhagavad Gita and teach Bhagavad Gita.
You are born an American, Americans are used to doing extraordinary things. Please do something extraordinary in the glorification of Krishna. So similarly, Krishna is using the strategy over here, oh, you are a son of the great Kunti, you are the descendant of the great Bharata, therefore act in great way.
What is the way to act in great way? Don’t get caught in bodily misidentification. Understand and act according to the glory of your position as a soul. So here, the whole strategy, the whole principle is somehow or the other, get people to practise Dharma.
So, rather than rejecting people’s material identity, use that material identity, use the emotional affection, use the pride of that material identity to get people to act in responsible, respectable, spiritually elevating ways. So, as devotees, Anshula Prabhupada is setting an example for us about how we should also share Krishna Consciousness with others. Whatever isms people are doing, we can encourage them to spiritualise those isms.
To the extent they spiritualise those isms, to that extent, they will have transcendental value. For example, Anshula Prabhupada went to a Akhada, Akhada is a place where people do body building, traditional body building and they become wrestlers and strong men like that. So, now somebody may say, what is this vague body building, it’s just useless, you are not the body.
But what did Anshula Prabhupada do? Anshula Prabhupada went, there was a Hindi lecture, Anshula Prabhupada was saying, oh, so all of you are doing body building, very good. In society, Kshatriyas are required, all of you are becoming trained to be Kshatriyas, very good. So, he said that we are training people to become Brahmanas and you are training people to become Kshatriyas.
So, Brahmanas and Kshatriyas, when they come together, society can be administered very well. And then he said, oh, your ideal is Hanuman, so you see, they had a small image of Hanuman over there. Now, Hanuman did superhuman skills of huge strength in the service of Lord Rama.
So, Prabhupada told them, just see your ideal is Hanuman, Hanuman, what is he doing? He is always chanting the names of Rama. So, whenever you are doing your exercises, you are doing your push-ups, chant Rama, Rama, Rama, Rama, Rama. So, remember Lord Rama, chant Lord Rama and do your push-ups, do your exercises, do your sit-ups, whatever you are doing, physical exercises, remember Rama and do it.
So, what is Anshula Prabhupada doing over here? Anshula Prabhupada is using people’s mental identification to get them to practise Dharma. That means they identify themselves with the body, they think we have to have a strong body. With a strong body, we can serve the country, we can serve the society, fine, but spiritualise their urge for having a strong body.
How? Tell them that, like Hanumanji, you also should. Chant the name of Rama. So, we don’t have to be dismissive about material endeavours if they can be spiritualised.
So, if somebody is wanting to distribute food, free, so what should we tell them? What is the use of distributing food free? You give food to them and after six hours that food will pass out of the stool. And a person is still counting on ignorant metal lenses, what is the use? Now, that would be a very dismissive way. And the person may have come with a tender heart, thinking, I want to give charity, so many people are starving, I want to give them food.
And if you speak like this, that person will be shocked and that person may just go away. So, I tell them, yes, you want to give food? Very good. You know, anna daan is very much glorified in the Vedic literature.
And it is described that the best kind of anna daan that we do is not just a daan for the body, it is also a daan for the mind and the soul. And how can anna be of help to the mind and the soul also? If it is made into prasad. So, if the food is offered to God and then the prasad is offered to people, then that prasad not only nourishes their body, it purifies their mind and it awakens their soul.
So, oh really? Why not, yes? Offer the food to God and distribute prasad. So, the person is a little religiously minded will agree. And in that way, that charitable activity can be spiritualised.
So, we cannot expect people to come from the kindergarten of religious life suddenly to the doctorate level. The doctorate level of spiritual life is what? Is pure devotional service. Sarva dharman paratya jaman ekam saranam rajam.
Just practise devotional service, there is nothing else to do. The kindergarten of spiritual life is, actually there is God, there is a life after this and we are accountable for our activities and we should act in such a way that we can return back to God. This is the beginning stage of spiritual life.
So, for people who don’t even believe in God, suddenly if we tell them, give up everything for the sake of God, they will give up God only at that time. They will say, how can I do that? So, the Vedic scriptures offer multi-level spirituality. Multi-level spirituality that slowly takes people step by step by step upwards.
The first step is, ok, you want material things, fine. You want material things, religion will provide you material things. And by that you will get elevated.
So, we can warn people also at this level. If you don’t bring religion into your material life, then the material life is going to be doomed. Srila Prabhupada, we know, gave the example of so many zeros.
If there is no one in front of the zero, even if we have a hundred zeros in a sequence, still it all remains zero. It’s only when we bring the one, then the zeros acquire value. Similarly, it is only when we bring God into our religious life, into our material life, does the material life acquire value.
So, Srila Prabhupada writes over here, There is no harm in becoming a family man, or an altruist, a socialist, a communist, a nationalist, or a humanitarian, provided that one executes his activities in relation with Ishavasya, the God-centred conception. So here, Srila Prabhupada is setting an example of how we can encourage people to begin their spiritual lives. So, to get Godless people upwards, we have to ask them to bring God into their lives.
So, we don’t have to speak against, for example, Grahastha Ashram. If somebody is inclined towards Grahastha Ashram, and we tell that person about negative things about Grahastha Ashram, that person will simply have a negative conception of Krishna, Kamsa and God. So, there is no harm in becoming a family man.
Keep God in the centre. So, actually, how do things progress? First, a person just thinks, my home is everything. There is no God, I don’t care for God.
Maybe God exists or not, I don’t care. But, you know, God is there, there is a temple of God, I should go to the temple. So, then one understands, not just the temple, God should be in my house also.
So, then God comes in the house, there is an altar. Then, God comes in the centre of the house. Then, slowly, from there, one doesn’t think that there is the temple, my house is also a temple.
And then, after that, the next step is, not only is my house a temple, my heart should be a temple. And then that person becomes a surrendered devotee. So, it’s a progression.
A person who has never come to the temple, tell him that, God should be the master of your life and you give up everything for the sake of God. That person doesn’t make sense. So, first tell that person, come to the temple.
And tell him, bring the temple to your home. And then, bring the temple to your heart. So, like that, there is progression in elevation.
Now, in the next paragraph, Shri Prabhupada explains that, without God, everything is in vain. So, with God, we flourish. Without God, we perish.
With God, we flourish. Whatever we do, it will stay with us for a long, long period of time. In 2.40, Krishna describes, as Shri Prabhupada quotes in this paraphrase, So, Krishna describes that, on this path, this is the path of spiritual advancement, this path, there is no loss or diminution.
And even the smallest progress can save one from the greatest danger. So, actually speaking, in spiritual life, whatever little we do, it can give us eternal benefits. We see Ajam just called, he gave his son the name Narayan, and he chanted the name Narayan at the moment of death.
And he was saved from, he was saved from the danger of going to hell, because the Vishnudas intervened over there. So, similarly, with God, we flourish in whatever we do. Without God, we perish.
So, Shri Prabhupada explains, without God, everything is in vain. So, how is that? Shri Prabhupada, here, gives a memorable statement, last sentence of this paragraph. A humble God-centred life is more valuable than a colossal hoax of a life dedicated to Godless altruism or socialism.
A humble God-centred life. The person may not be very famous, may not be very well-known, but the person is devoted to God, and is chanting the names of Gods, that person will attain an eternal destination. On the other hand, a person may be a big social worker, but that person doesn’t care for God.
At a material level, social work may be of some use, but at a spiritual level, it’s not going to help. The person is going to go on a cycle of birth and death. We’ll discuss about social service in detail in one of our future classes in Ishopanishad itself, but here the point is, if God is not there, then whatever we do is not good enough.
It may be good, but it is not good enough. Not good enough to get us out of karmic bondage. I may serve my family, I may serve my country, I may serve my society, but if I don’t bring God in, I’m still going to stay within the zone of material things.
I have to go on a cycle of birth and death. A colossal hoax of a life dedicated to godless altruism or socialism. Prabhupada doesn’t recommend that.
Before that, Srila Prabhupada quotes a Bhagavatam verse. This is the verse at the start of the second canto of Srimad Bhagavatam. Prabhupada is paraphrasing it.
A tree lives for hundreds and hundreds of years. But Prabhupada says there is no point in living a long time like trees. This is correlated with the point is made here that a person may want to live for hundreds of years, but if a person is living like a vegetable, not really doing anything for one’s spiritual advancement, then what is the use of such a long life? There is no point in living long like that.
What makes a life valuable is not its length, but its content. It doesn’t matter how long a person lives, it’s how a person lives. Srila Prabhupada would quote how Chaitanya Mahaprabhu lived for only 48 years, Jesus Christ lived for around 33 years, Shankaracharya lived for 32 years, but the contributions they made for the world are unparalleled.
So the content of their lives was precious. So the length is precious when the content is good. And then the person lives for a long time also.
That’s even more glorious. Ramanacharya lived for more than 100 years, he was a Vaishnava, he was sharing pure God Consciousness with everyone. That was glorious.
But just living for a long time is not of much use. What is the use of such a kind of life? Somebody may say that the trees don’t breathe, we human beings breathe. So he says that there are the bellows of the blacksmith, when the air comes in and out of them, it appears as if they are breathing.
They are not actually breathing, but it appears as if they are breathing. But what are they doing? They are not conscious, they are not making any spiritual advancements, what is the use of that? Somebody may say, no, but actually I eat, I produce children. But even the other animals, like the cats and dogs, they also do these things.
So what is so great about it? So living like an animal, or just living like a tree, is nothing glorious. So if we human beings live like that, then we are depriving ourselves of life’s higher potential. And that’s why that is not at all recommended.
That is actually in many ways discouraged, and even castigated. And this castigation, this condemnation, this shock treatment will become stronger in the next verse, next mantra. Now here Srila Prabhupada explains that even though such God-centred activities may be half-finished, they are still good for the executor, because they will guarantee him a human form in his next life.
In this way one can have another chance to improve his position on the path of liberation. So this is talked about in the Bhagavad Gita, 6.37 to 6.45, that how a yogi who is not able to complete the spiritual journey in this life still continues on in the next life, either in a wealthy family, a brahminical family, or in a devotee family. And in that way a person keeps making spiritual advancement.
So that means, Srila Prabhupada is giving three steps. First is, whatever you want to do, add God into it. That will be good for you.
That will spiritualise you. Then he says, if you don’t add God into it, everything is a waste. And then he says, if you add God into it, even if you do it partially, still that will benefit, still you will not be lost.
So in this way, basically, the whole focus of this verse is, act with Isha Avasya, live in such a way that you can live in harmony with God, you can live in harmony with Dharma. So now, we conclude, Srila Prabhupada will say over here, how can one execute God-centred activities, elaborately explained in the Bhakti Rasaam, by Srila Prabhupada Swami. We have rendered this book in terms of the Nectar of Devotion.
Now, let’s understand this statement. When we read the Nectar of Devotion, we will find that it doesn’t talk anything about Karma Yoga. It actually talks about Bhakti Yoga.
And even it talks about very intimate, exalted and intricate details about Bhakti Yoga. So, what is Srila Prabhupada doing here? Here, he is just talking about Karma Yoga. That means, in your Karma, bring Yoga.
You are doing your Karma, bring God into it, bring connection with God into it. That is quite a preliminary level of spirituality. But he is making the argument in such a way that people will find it intelligible.
Even if people have a little religious inclination, they will say, yes, this makes sense. I should work for eternal purposes also, not just for temporary purposes. But once they get into it, once they understand a third of his argument, when they want to know more, Srila Prabhupada has quoted Bhagavad Gita here, and now he is quoting Bhakti Saamsindhu.
Now, if people read Bhakti Saamsindhu, then they are going to get a complete understanding of Bhakti. So, Srila Prabhupada is creating the foundation by which people can come to the Bhakti platform. So here, in this purport, Srila Prabhupada is not directly glorifying Bhakti.
When we go into an enemy territory, when I say there is a war between India and Pakistan, and India wants to attack Pakistan, then it is not that suddenly we go into the capital. First, we go into a small place which is weak, and we penetrate that, we conquer that, and then we go further, and then further. So like that, what Srila Prabhupada is doing is over here, people who are very attached to their material life, they think that their material life itself is their duty, and this is what they should be doing.
Yes, your family, your dynasty, your country, all those are important, but bring God into them. And then they say, yes, yes, I should bring God into them. How to bring God? That is talked about in Bhakti Samhita.
So now, if they read Bhakti Samhita, they will understand, okay, what to speak of doing Karma Yoga, actually, Karma and Jnana, everything is illusory, everything is temporary. I have to practise Bhakti, and Bhakti I have to practise, Kevala Bhakti, pure golden service. So, Srila Prabhupada’s purport is a masterpiece of gradually elevating people upwards.
Not in a dismissive, rejecting sort of way, but in a gentle, prodding, elevating sort of way. Now, interestingly, as I had mentioned earlier, this Ishopanishad was a book that Srila Prabhupada wrote, not as a book, but as a series of purports in his original Back to Godhead magazine. Now, when Srila Prabhupada was publishing the Back to Godhead magazine, before he started his con, from 1944 to 1955, at that time, he had not written the NOD.
So, Bhakti Samhita Sindhu is a Sanskrit book, and Srila Prabhupada has given that in English, not as a word-to-word sentence translation purport, but as a general summary study, as nectar of devotion. So, this paragraph is not there in Srila Prabhupada’s Back to Godhead magazine. It has been added later by the editors, especially this sentence about we have translated this book into English as nectar of devotion, and we recommend this valuable book to all who are interested in performing their activities in the spirit of Sri Ishopanishad.
So, there is a masterpiece progression within the Vedic literature, and Srila Prabhupada is demonstrating that progression more explicitly to us through the purports. So, what is that progression? A person wants to enjoy material things. Rather than telling him, everything material is nonsense, tell that person, you want to enjoy material things? Worship God, you will get that.
So, by that, the person brings God into the material life. And then gradually, the person, yes, I should bring God. How do I bring God in? Then, lead that person to books, to literature, to forums, where that person understands how God is meant not to be a facilitator of my material life, God is meant to be the ultimate goal of my life.
See, Karmakand, the idea is what? God, I want to perform pastimes in this world, and you descend over here and you perform pastimes for me. You help me in the pastime that I want to perform here. Whereas, actually, pure devotional service is, Krishna is in the spiritual world, Krishna is performing pastimes there, and he is telling us, I am performing pastimes, you come and join me there.
So, actually speaking, this is the spiritual world, this is the material world. The ultimate goal of dharma is to take us from the material world to the spiritual world. So, as I said, the ultimate goal of spiritual life is to act as a replacement for material life.
But, till then, people are at this level, so bring God to this level and tell them, you want to practise material life, but add God into it, and by that you will become elevated. So, to summarise in this purport, what did we discuss? We first talked about how karma-bandhana causes death. So, in that we discussed how the soul is eternal, but because of the desire to enjoy matter, the soul becomes bound in material existence.
Then we discussed about how a karma leads to liberation. So, by understanding that I have a life beyond material, I turn away from matter, and that’s how I become liberated. Now, everybody can’t practise a karma immediately, so the Vedas lead people gradually and ultimately to a karma.
So, the beginning of that karma is to practise karmakanda. It is that within sense gratificator life, we start bringing God in. And when we bring God in, then God slowly comes in through a crack in our life, and then He expands His place in our life, and then He takes over our heart.
And when He takes over our heart, that is the ultimate success of our life. So, to enable God to take over our heart, first give Him a foothold, and then tell people that if there is no God, everything will be in vain. And then, whatever you do, even if it is social service, even if it is nationalism, it will all be of no use, but bring God into your life, and then God will bring you into His life.
That means God will take us back to the spiritual world, where we will be able to live eternally with Him. So, this is the wonderful magic of the Vedic literature. First, bring God into your life, and then God will bring you into His life.
To bring God into our life means, I want to practise material life, I bring God in. Yes, God will help me in my material life. Fine, He will help us.
But ultimately, God will bring us in His life. He will lift us out of this world, back to His eternal abode, where we will have eternal love and eternal happiness. Thank you very much.