Bhakti Shastri (076) – Bhagavad Gita Chapter 05 Text 08 to 14

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Hare Krishna.
Kasmi Krishna Mani Yama Hare Krishna. Welcome back to our Bhagavad Gita Bhakti Shastri course. We are now into the fifth chapter.
We discussed the first seven verses of the fifth chapter. Let’s have a quick overview. Once again, before we move forward and look at the sections.
So, the first section was Karma Yoga is equal to but easier than Gyan Yoga. Then we are now discussing how Karma Yoga keeps a person free from bondage. Second section, 7 to 16.
By fixing the mind on Atma, Karma Yogi stays free from bondage. So, seventh verse we discussed was Kurvan Apinalipati. Let’s go to the 8th and 9th verse now.
These two are clubbed together by Shri Prabhupada. Naiva Kimjit Karo Mithi Yukto Manye Tattva Vith Pashyam Shranvams Prashyam Jigran Ashnam Gachchhan Swapan Swashan Pralapan Visrujan Grihanan Unmishan Nimishan Api Indriyan Indriya Artheshu Vartant Itidharayan So, Naiva Kimjit Karo Mithi Naiva, certainly not Kimjit, even a little. Karo Mithi, I am doing.
Karo means I am doing. I do. Mithi, one doesn’t think like this.
So, Yukto Manye Tattva Vith Tattva Vith is the person who is the knower of the truth. The person thinks what? The person who is well engaged thinks that I am not the doer of anything. And what are the things which he is talking about? Pashyam Shranvams Prashyam Jigran So, these are actions of the various senses.
So, first, there are the senses which take things inward. Knowledge acquiring senses. Pashyam is seeing.
Shranvam is hearing. Sprushyam is touching. Jigran is smelling.
Ashnan is eating. So, these are the ways in which we take things inside the body. And then, Gachyan is going here and there.
Gachyan Swapan Swashan Swapan is Swapan Swapan is sleeping, dreaming. Swasan is the breathing. Then, Pralapan.
Pralapan is talking. Vishrujan is giving up. Ugran is accepting.
So, these are the various ways in which we can take things inside the body and send things outside the body. Unmishan is closing the eyes, opening the eyes. Indriyan indriyaartheshu vartanta iti dharayan.
So, dharayan, what does one understand? Yuktattavit, the person who is the knower, understands that simply the senses are coming in contact with the sense objects. Nothing more is happening. So, actually, what is Krishna telling over here? That the wise person understands that when so many things happen with the body, I am not actually the doer of those things.
If we think I am the body, for example, I think I am speaking right now and I am using this body for doing various things. Now, at one level it is true, I am speaking, but that is hardly the complete picture. Modern science, we will understand it at different levels.
We will first understand it at a scientific level, then we will understand it at a philosophical level. So, if you look at scientific level, in the body, there are different kinds of activities that happen. So, there are some activities which you do consciously.
For example, now I want to explain something with an expression, then I will raise my hand or I will move my hand. There are things which I do consciously. And then there are some things which happen subconsciously in the body.
For example, while I am speaking, I do not forget to breathe. It is not that I have to remember to breathe, it is just that it happens subconsciously. So, now, there are various kinds of diseases in the body where sometimes, in some people because of some brain damage or some nervous tissue damage, the nervous system damage, the people, whatever is happening involuntarily in the body, that, they cannot make it happen.
That means, whatever happens involuntarily in the body, it does not happen involuntarily, they have to do it consciously. For example, there is a disease when people they will stop breathing if they are not conscious about it. They have to consciously remind, I have to breathe.
And these people, whenever they fall asleep, they will die of breathlessness if they fall asleep. Because their body, in a sense, because of some damage to the nervous system, the involuntary nervous system, the body forgets to breathe. It is a nightmarish kind of disease where the person just can’t sleep.
And there are, in some cases, people, every time they sleep, they have to put an artificial respiration system and only then they can breathe. And the artificial respiration system, if it doesn’t work, then the body will forget to sleep and in the sleep only they will die and no one will come to know about it. They will not realise it also.
So now, researchers have found out that if we had to be consciously aware so that the various bodily functions could happen, then we would have such an overload on our brain that we would become dysfunctional. We would not be able to do anything. For example, when we eat food, we may have to remind ourselves, okay, I have to chew it.
That also happens most of the time subconsciously only. And generally, if we forget it, we will just gulp the food down very fast. We will not be very conscious of its taste.
But either way, the food goes down the body. After that, what happens? After that, nobody knows what happens actually. We don’t know at least.
Some researchers may know. But now if we had to remember, oh, now the food is going down the alimentary canal. Now the alimentary canal has to compress.
Then it has to expand. It has to compress. Then it has to expand.
And then the appropriate reactions have to happen in the stomach. If we had to be conscious of all these things, we would not be able to be conscious of anything else in life. Now if we had to be conscious about breathing, about digestion, about blood circulation, now you must beat.
Now compress. Now expand. Now compress.
Now expand. And that’s how the blood will go all over the body. Now if we had to be conscious of all these things, we would have a tremendous overload on our brain.
So it’s a great relief that we don’t have to be conscious of all these things. But how do these things happen? Scientists say that they’re just automatically happening. Actually, we discussed earlier how automatically simply means that we don’t know who is in control and how that control is happening.
It doesn’t mean, automatically it doesn’t mean absence of control. Automatically simply means absence of awareness of control. Absence of awareness of control.
So who is controlling? Actually it is Supersoul who is controlling. Mayadhyakshenaprakruti. Mayadhyakshenaprakruti.
So actually even through, that refers to 9.10 in the Bhagavad Gita where Krishna says I am the controller. So in this way if we think deeply there is so much in our own body that is happening that is not although it is necessary for it to be done so that the body can function but it happens without our conscious awareness. So we are not even aware of it.
In fact we eat food and we enjoy the taste if it is good and we curse the taste if it is bad. But afterwards who does the digestion? Actually the only time we think about digestion is when it doesn’t work. Oh my stomach is upset today.
Why is the stomach upset? So practically the only time we think about digestion is when it doesn’t work. But at other times when the digestion does work at that time what happens? We don’t even think about it. So who is doing all this? It is not actually we who are doing it.
So with respect to these things we can say that I am not the doer. So actually science tells us how much is happening in the body for which we are not the doers. So I am not doing any of these things.
We can say this. So to some extent science makes us aware of our own ignorance with respect to the complexity of the mechanisms by which the body works and repairs itself. When a wound happens we might just decide okay I will put some turmeric, I will put some band-aid, I will put some antiseptic.
That’s all that we do. But what does our medication do? The medication basically would be useless if there would not be an inbuilt healing process. The WBCs are there in the body.
The clotting takes place in the body. So if these mechanisms were not there then the body would not be able to function. Our medication primarily assists the body in healing itself.
The doctor who has said that most of medicine is essentially entertaining the patient while the body heals itself. So most of medicine is what? Entertaining the patient. Don’t let the patient get too worried.
This will go wrong, that will go wrong. It will be alright. Keep taking these medicines.
So actually the medicines are not the primary cure. The body’s own healing system is the primary cure. The medicines do help, no doubt.
And we should take the medicines responsibly because the body’s healing system may need some assistance at times. But the medicines would not be of much help if the body’s healing system itself is not working. And that is what happens sometimes in diseases like AIDS.
When people get AIDS, at that time, the immune system that is there, the immunodeficiency system of the body, that stops working. And then what happens is any small infection can turn out to become lethal and then fatal. So actually the body’s defence mechanism itself collapses then medicines can go only so far in helping the person.
They can’t help beyond a particular point because the body’s defence mechanism itself has collapsed. So that way we can see there is so much in the body for which we are not the doers. नहीं वकिन्चित करोगी थी Now beyond what happens at an unconscious level, at what happens at an involuntary level, even what happens at a voluntary level, we are not always in control.
For example, I am moving my hand right now. So now if suppose I get an ache or I get a paralysis, then I can’t move my hand. I am here, my hand is here but I can’t move it.
Or sometimes people get some disease like Parkinson’s. When they get the disease then what happens is one loses control of one’s motor nervous system. That time also we can understand, oh I am not the doer.
I thought I was moving my hand around but I lost that power. So now we may say, oh those are unnatural conditions. Naturally we are the doers but in certain unnatural conditions we stop being the doers.
However, our living in the body itself is temporary. So when our stay in the body is temporary, our association with the body is temporary, within that temporary association with the body, for some time we are able to do some things, for some time we are not able to do some things. So what essentially is the difference? How do you say that one is natural and one is unnatural? Both things happen.
And yes, for majority of people that things may not happen but that doesn’t mean that they are the doer. That simply means that the system is in place by which the illusion that they are the doers can continue. And when the system changes its way of functioning, then they cannot continue the illusion.
So that is all at a scientific level. Now looking at a philosophical level, we can understand that the material nature is working. Now I as a soul don’t really have much to do with the body.
I’m just currently in a body. A person may be in a soul, may be a non-human body and then comes to human body and may then again go back to non-human body. So the soul in a say a dog’s body, can’t do anything except bark if it wants to communicate.
It can’t speak in any of the human languages. So how do I, if I am in a human body, in the next life I can go to a dog’s body or I go to a horse’s body where I’m going to neigh. So how do I produce that particular sound? I don’t know anything about it.
It’s just that along with that body, sharir bandha, you know, sharir yogam, when you become mound in the body, when you get connected with the body, whatever are the faculties that are associated with the body, the soul starts expressing its desires according to those faculties. So actually that means the body is a mechanism and according to that mechanism people work. So when we understand this then we understand that actually I am not the doer.
I am not the doer. Indriyan indriyartheshu vartanta ikidharayan. let’s try to understand this concept of doership more.
So now if we look at this point of who is the doer? So we have discussed this briefly earlier but let’s focus on this now. The soul is not the doer, it raises several questions. Whose reaction is the soul getting? And whom are the scriptures meant for? So if it were an absolute statement the soul is not the doer at all, then if the soul is not the doer then the soul should not be the reaper of the reactions also.
Yet we say that the soul will get the reactions, isn’t it? We say that the soul gets the reactions and the scriptures also consider the soul to be responsible. You should do this, you should not do this. So the point is not to say that the soul is in absolute sense a non-doer.
The point is to convey that the soul is not the karta means the soul is not the satantra karta is not the independent doer. Soul is a dependent doer. Soul works in coordination with other elements.
Let’s understand this with example. Soul is not the independent doer. How is not the independent doer? Let’s look at it.
So now we discuss this. If the tree is the karta sorry the tree is cut, axe is the instrumental cause and woodcutter is the initiating cause. So both causes are important.
For actions in the world prakriti, material nature is the instrumental cause and jiva is the initiating cause. So if a soul is in a human body and a soul was in a dog’s body in a human body and then goes into a horse’s body. So now the soul is the initiating cause.
Say the soul wants to communicate something. So now that soul is the initiating cause with the desire to communicate. But the instrumental cause is different.
So in a dog, the dog’s voice box is different. The human being’s voice box is different. And a horse’s voice box is different.
Therefore, the sound that comes out will be different. So the instrumental cause is different. So when somebody wants to cut a tree somebody may use an axe.
Somebody may use a machine axe and somebody may use a tree. Somebody may use a huge bulldozer sort of thing which just blows down trees. That may vary.
So the instrumental cause can be different. And the way the action will work out will be different accordingly. So we have been given a particular instrument.
And it’s the instrument that is primarily acting. Although our desire is the initiator. But it is the instrument that is the executor.
So now moving forward with this understanding. Another example is now when a criminal is put into jail. When a criminal is put in jail, who is the doer at that time? The police is the instrumental cause.
The judge is the sanctioning cause. And the criminal is the initiating cause. So now all three are involved.
Isn’t it? So if the criminal had not done a wrong then the criminal would not have gone into jail. The criminal is the initiating cause. But even after the criminal does something, it is the police who have to arrest.
So the police are the instrumental cause who take the criminal to the jail. Catch the criminal, put him in jail. And then the sentence in jail is sanctioned by the judge.
So in the act of jailing the criminal, all three are involved. The police, the judge and the criminal. So like that when a soul suffers, material nature is the instrumental cause.
Somebody gets a cough, somebody gets a stomach upset. It is the body that is suffering. So the material nature is the instrumental cause.
Super soul is the sanctioning cause. Super soul is the sanctioning cause. Super soul sanctions.
Upadarshta, anumantacha. And soul is the initiating cause. So actually it is we who have done certain karma for which we are meant to get certain reactions.
So we get the reactions according to time, place, circumstance and according to what is best for our eventual reformation. So in this way we understand who is the karta. The karta is actually all three.
Let’s understand this with one more example now. This is a diagrammatic depiction of this over here. So here what you see in the shade of blue, that whole box, rectangular box, that is the conditioned soul.
The conditioned soul and the conditioned soul is in the body at that time soul is there, super soul is there and then material nature is there. Now how do things work? There is a sense object which is perceived and the soul perceives the input of the sense object comes in and the input comes in of the sense object. So the input comes in from here like this.
Then after that the soul desires. And the soul of course desires the sense object. That means desire goes outward.
But the chain of execution, how it works? When the soul desires, the soul intends that is perceived by the super soul which is present in the heart. And then the super soul sanctions. When the super soul sanctions at that time material nature then executes it.
And then the person engages in sense gratification. This is how we engage in activities. So now if you look at this carefully, who are all the doers? The soul is the doer in the sense of being the desirer, in the sense of being the initiator.
Super soul is the sanctioner and material nature is the executor. So all three are the doers. Now what is the point of the Gita verse over here? naiva kinchit karo meeti So what it means is indriyan indriyartheshu vartanta iti dharayan vartanta iti dharayan The senses are coming in contact with the sense objects.
So what does it mean is that there is no there are some inevitable needs of the body which have to be fulfilled. And those are fulfilled. But beyond that, there is no further requirement to try to engage in sense gratification because the soul is not motivated by material desire.
When the soul is not motivated by material desire, there is no further stimulation to do sensual activities. And that’s why the person stays protected. So person doesn’t get bound.
So in this case, what will happen for a detached soul? What will happen for a detached soul? So actually, that means there is no there is no desire for sense gratification. There is indriyan indriyartheshu So material nature means the senses. So then the body needs some food.
So then material nature basically the soul is inside the body. The soul is here. And the body is a vehicle.
And the body needs some fuel for the vehicle. So then the food comes inside the body. And when the food is going inside the body, the person doesn’t think, Oh, I’m going to enjoy this food.
Indriyan indriyartheshu vartantayidharaya The senses are coming in contact with sense objects. Now you wonder, if a person doesn’t desire, how can one eat food? One will have to have some desire to eat food. Yes, the desire to eat food can be there.
But the desire while eating food can be to eat to live or eat to enjoy. So now when we eat to live, there is no enjoying mentality over there. When there is eat to enjoy, then the enjoying mentality comes, takes hold.
And then that can implicate one in karmic bondage. indriyan indriyartheshu vartantayidharaya indriyan indriyartheshu vartantayidharaya When one is in contact with senses and sense objects, then there is no bondage involved over there. indriyan indriyartheshu vartantayidharaya So now, let’s understand this more.
This is a very important concept to understand in the Bhagavad Gita. Prabhupada explains how a devotee acts for the sense gratification of Krishna, for the pleasure of Krishna. This is all in Krishna’s service.
That Krishna we will introduce, we will point to in the next verse. brahmanyadhaya karamani sangam tyaktva karotiya lipyatena sapapena padmapatramimambhasa padmapatramimambhasa So, when the soul offers the karma to whom? brahmanyadhaya karamani adhaya means to offer, to resign, to hand over. So when one does one’s karma, this is for the absolute truth.
Prabhupada explains this from the devotional perspective. sangam tyaktva karotiya So when one gives up attachment and acts, such a person lipyatena sapapena such a person doesn’t become bound by karma. Why? Because that person padmapatramimambhasa So ambhasa, ambhasa is water, padmapatra is lotus.
padmapatramimambhasa So brahmanyadhaya So brahmanyadhaya karamani So when we offer the work to the absolute truth, now the word brahman, the acharya, different acharyas explain brahman in different ways. It will depend on what is the conception. For a bhakta, bhakta will understand brahman is actually Bhagwan.
And Prabhupada is explaining from that perspective. For the brahman, for the bhakta, brahman being Bhagwan, the devotee offers all the work to Krishna and uses all the sensory activities for Krishna’s pleasure. The karma yogi may not know at this stage that actually the absolute truth is Bhagwan.
So what does the karma yogi do? The karma yogi will work understanding that it is material nature that is acting. So the word brahman can also be used to refer to material nature. This will happen in the 14th chapter, 3rd and 4th verses Krishna talks about where brahman refers to material nature.
He says that So there he says There he says that So the great womb, that womb is referring to, he uses the word brahman to explain that, but that womb refers to So basically Krishna is saying All living beings, what happens? They get their forms within the womb of material nature. So the murtaya refers here to the form. So they get the form through material nature.
And the great womb, aham bhija pradapita, Krishna says, I give the seed and who is it that gives the seed? It is actually Krishna who gives the seed. And who is it that uses the seed? The person who uses the seed is that is material nature. Material nature is referred to by the word brahma over here.
So aham bhija pradapita brahma mahadyonir So the word brahma can refer to material nature also. And here, if the person doesn’t know about the absolute truth, the person may think, okay, it is material nature acting. So I am not acting in this way.
So when one thinks in this way, so when one doesn’t get oneself emotionally involved in the actions of material nature, one doesn’t think that I am the doer, I am the enjoyer. Then that person doesn’t become bound. And the example for that is given is padmapatram ivambhasa padmapatra Padma is lotus.
So now lotus has this characteristic that even if water falls on it, water just slips away. The lotus flower doesn’t stay wet for very long. In fact, there is some dirt on it also.
The dirt also gets washed off and the water also gets washed off. So it doesn’t stay wet. So padmapatram ivambhasa means the karma doesn’t bind to the soul.
The karma just washes off. Because there is no emotional attachment which will bind the soul. So now actually this property of lotus is so remarkable that it has been utilised even by the commercial industry.
There are researchers who have observed how is it that lotus it doesn’t, water doesn’t stick to it. And by observing the way a lotus leaf is constructed, then its surface density, its surface tension and its surface construction and all those things, by observing them, researchers have replicated that. And then they make big skyscraper buildings.
Now these skyscraper buildings are meant to look very good also. But they have to be cleaned. How will you clean them? How will somebody clean them? You can’t have people climbing on ladders every day to clean these skyscraper buildings.
So they are designed with lotus and facades. They are called lotus and facades. Facades means front face.
Lotus and means they are like lotus. So if just water is sprinkled from above, then that water they are made in the facade, their walls are made in such a way that nothing sticks much to them. So when water goes off, water slips off and along with that water cleanses away whatever dust particles are there on it.
And this way they stay clean. So padmapatram ivambasa. So a devotee who is working in the material world can similarly stay detached, can say padmapatram ivambasa if that devotee works in this way.
In what way? So Prabhupada quotes how? Krishna is reiterating what he has said in 3.30. So Prabhupada translates Brahmanya as Supreme Personality of Godhead and for that he correlates this with 3.30 saying that Krishna already says give your work to me and same thing is being said over here. And Prabhupada also quotes that he quotes material world is sum total manifesting in 3 modes of material nature, technically called Prabhan. And the Vedic hymns sarvam ye tad brahma tasman ye tad brahma naam roopam annam chajayate and in the Bhagavad Gita, mam yonir mahad indicate that everything in the material world is manifestation of Brahman.
So that means even the material nature is manifestation of Brahman. Prabhupada does not develop that point over here but he does mention that point. So in this way Krishna is addressing Arjuna’s question of how a person while working in the material world can stay free from bondage.
So now what is the motivation for such a person to work? If one is not going to be involved, one should not have emotional desire for the result and should not be attached to the result. What is the motivation for working? Krishna says purification. That he addresses in this verse.
kaayena manasa buddhya kevalaih rindriyai rapi yoginah karma kurvanti sangam tyakto atma shuddhaya so kaayena manasa So with the body, with the mind, with the intelligence and even with the senses kevalaih rindriyai rapi yoginah karma kurvanti The yogi work for what purpose? sangam tyakto If I have given up the attachment then there is no reason for me to work but I work for atma shuddhaya for the sake of purification atma shuddhaya So now you know we can practise spiritual life at various levels. We know that we discuss fear, desire, duty and love. So fear is if I don’t obey God I’ll be punished.
Therefore let me obey God. Desire is actually where if I obey God he’ll give me some good results. Duty is the level where sadhana bhakti is performed.
Duty refers to the level where, now duty can mean various things but for us as transcendentalists who are practising bhakti yoga, it is at the level of duty where our motivation for practising spiritual life is I want to follow the instructions of my spiritual master, of Krishna ultimately so that I’ll become purified so that I’ll become elevated so that I’ll ultimately become liberated and return back to Krishna. So kevalaih indriyai rapi indriyai rapi So why indriyai rapi? Now it is remarkable the senses can also be involved. The idea is that there can be two meanings of this.
One meaning is that even if the mind is not involved, at least let the senses be involved. That means that suppose we are chanting Hare Krishna and somehow we are not able to concentrate while chanting. So okay, even if we are not able to concentrate, at least do the external ritual.
At least chant. At least let the senses be involved. Kevalaih can mean at least the senses.
Or kevalaih can mean even the senses. So normally the idea is that in spiritual life the senses are the cause of bondage and one should have minimum engagement for the senses. But the process of purification the active method of yoga there is active method of yoga and there is a contemplative method of yoga.
The contemplative method of yoga is centred around more of the jnani process. One sits and ponders I am not the body, I am the soul. Naiti, naiti.
That is one way of doing things. Other way of doing things is active. Use the senses in Krishna’s service.
So use the eyes to behold Krishna’s form. Use the tongue to speak about Krishna. And in this way, sangam tyaktvaatmi shuddhaye.
We can work for our purification. So even the senses which normally cause bondage can lead to liberation if we engage them properly. So at the final stage when we are purified the senses themselves can bring us ecstasy.
You know the senses cause bondage and agony in material existence. At the pure stage the senses can bring us ecstasy. So we have Rupa Goswami for example saying that there is a famous verse Tunde tandavaneerat tundavaleelabdaye He says that when I chant the holy names I get so much nectar in chanting of holy names that I feel that I should have hundreds and thousands of mouths.
And I should have crores of ears. Why? So that I can relish the nectar. The nectar is so much that noo jaane janita kiya amritai krishne amriti varanadvai I do not know how much nectar is there in these holy names.
So now this is a statement of ignorance which is not a statement of ignorance actually. It is a statement of amazement. It is a statement of wonder.
So somebody who dives into the ocean and goes deep and deep and deep and really realises how big the ocean is. That person comes out and says I do not know how big this ocean is. It’s amazing.
So I do not know how big the ocean is. When I understand this, at that time I become purified because I know that actually this ocean is so big so I say that it is not big enough. So that is the way the senses, kevalai rindriye ravi I act according to my senses because I act according to the senses because senses give me ecstasy.
So currently our senses cause agony. We see sense objects and we crave for them and we want them and no we are not meant to take them and enjoy them and there is so much battle. They cause agony.
At the pure stage they will bring us ecstasy. But in between to go from agony to ecstasy through the senses we have to have tolerance. We have to have patience.
We have to have determination. So steadily we engage in the process of bhakti, the process of purification. So even the senses can be engaged.
Normally the senses are to be put aside. We have discussed this principle in 2.58 in the Bhagavad Gita when it is said that just as a tortoise withdraws all its limbs inside. Just as a tortoise withdraws all its limbs inside.
Similarly we can also withdraw all our limbs inside. All our senses inside. So that’s one way of acting.
But here the point is even the senses can be engaged for purification. The process of bhakti is in many ways sensory spirituality. Now this word sensuous refers to that which is sensory and sensuous.
Both are adjectives that come from sense. Senses. We have senses, we have eyes, ears.
So the word sensuous is generally used to refer to that which is materially titillating. So sensuous. Sensuous forms.
Sensuous objects. That means those which attract the senses. Which agitate the senses.
Sensory is used more in the functional sense. So functional means sensory perception we say. We don’t say sensuous perception.
Sensory perception means whatever we are perceiving with our senses. So bhakti is sensory spirituality. Sensory spirituality means the senses are very actively involved in the process of spirituality.
In the process of purification. And in this way one makes spiritual advancement. And one returns back to Krishna.
Gradually. So here the remarkable point is even the senses can be involved. Even the senses.
So kevalair indriyair api. Kevalair in this way by engaging in this way we become purified. So the same tongue which is causing us bondage by speaking nonsense.
That same tongue when we speak about Krishna can purify us. It can elevate us. It can liberate us.
So now Prabhupada again quotes the verse from Prabhupada Goswami about jivanmukta. So we discussed about different kinds of muktas. Earlier we mentioned in the Bhakti Samhita 12187 says that here also the point is one is using the gira.
The body, the mind and the senses when one engages such a person is jivanmukta. Such a person is actually liberated. So there are various different kinds of muktas.
So who are the different kinds of muktas? So we discussed about jivanmukta and videhamukta. So jivanmukta is the person who has a deha, who has a body but is liberated from all material attachments and so all practical purposes are liberated. So that person is in the body but is liberated because the person has no material attachments.
What causes bondage is the attachments. Videhamukta is the person who has left the body and has gone back to the spiritual world. Now Jiva Goswami also talks about three types of Mahabhagavatas.
So he talks about those who are gunatita and svarupa siddha. Then he talks about those who are gunatita but not svarupa siddha. Then third is non-gunatita, not svarupa siddha but still they are sthira.
Let’s see what this means. Those who are gunatita and svarupa siddha means that they have transcended the three modes and they have realised the svarupa in the spiritual world. See, we discussed earlier about the negative axis and the positive axis.
So gunatita means one has gone from the negative axis to zero. And svarupa siddha means one has advanced from the positive axis till one has realised one’s svarupa. All of us have an eternal spiritual relationship with Krishna and that is based on a particular form that we have.
It can be a Gopal or a Gopi or whatever. Our svarupa is in the spiritual world and we all have that svarupa and as we make spiritual advancement we will realise what is our svarupa. So there are these souls who have not only moved out from the negative but they have also moved forward in the positive.
They are gunatita and they are svarupa siddha also. So these are souls. They may be in the material world but they are actually for all practical persons in the spiritual world.
Now we have past times of say Raghunatha Das Goswami. At such times he says that he was a very austere person who practically ate a little buttermilk once in 2-3 days. But at one time he was sick and the doctor who came there said that he has got stomach upset because of over eating.
Now all the disciples and associates of Raghunatha Das Goswami are so angry with the doctor. What kind of nonsense diagnosis are you doing? But he eats nothing. It is almost like blasphemy of Raghunatha Das Goswami.
How can you say that he eats? He doesn’t eat anything practically. How could he have over eaten? And Raghunatha Das Goswami has told about this. He said yes.
Actually you know there is a festival in the spiritual world and the spiritual world Radharani and Raksakis had cooked and they had cooked kheer and I ate a lot of kheer. So when I ate a lot of kheer that’s why my stomach has got upset. So actually what has happened in the spiritual world.
Now it is not that in the spiritual world we will have Raghunatha Das Goswami as Raghunatha Das Goswami. He is not a Goswami over there. He is a Manjari over there.
He is a Manjari. He is an intimate associate of Radharani and the Gopis. So that means he is here acting as a Goswami but he is also aware of his Svarupa and he is acting at the level of Svarupa also.
So when the soul becomes Svarupa Siddha the soul has the capacity to act at both levels. At Svarupa Siddha level and at this level also. So these are souls whose both feet are situated in the spiritual world.
The soul is as good as back in the spiritual world only waiting just for the body to exhaust its tenure in the material world and once its tenure is exhausted the soul will return back to the spiritual world. Then there is Gunatita but not Svarupa Siddha. There is a second category.
That means that the person has gone through the negative axis, beyond the negative axis but has not yet advanced very far in the positive axis. That means he has not realised the Svarupa till now. That person is also actually considered Jeevan Mukta because the person is no longer influenced by the three modes.
And then there can also be a third category. These people are also considered great souls. They are not Gunatita and they are not Svarupa Siddha.
So the second category is the soul whose one leg is in the spiritual world, one leg is in the material world. But for those who are third category, both their legs are in the material world but their eyes are fixed on the spiritual world. They are not looking here and there to see what is the pleasure available in the material world.
Their eyes are fixed on the spiritual world. On the spiritual world and on the spiritual world alone. So they are the topmost souls.
Not Gunatita, they are the topmost among all the souls who are still in the condition stage and they are moving towards liberation. As well as liberated because they are not craving for the things of this world. So of course the highest is Gunatita and Svarupa Siddha but all three are to various degrees Jeevan Mukta.
So here Krishna is saying that souls who get this conception they work for the process of purification and they attain liberation. That he will tell in the next verse. So … … … … … … … … So Yuktaha, which is a person who is well situated, connected to the absolute truth.
… … … … … … … … … … … The person who is Ayuktah. The person who is not connected with the absolute truth. The person acts because of lust, of selfish desire and because the person is motivated by is motivated by the desire for the fruit.
So nibadhyate. Nibadhyate means such a person becomes bound. So there is a difference between the two kinds of people.
And Krishna is telling that now Krishna in this verse is offering a comparison between the fruitive worker and the karma yogi. In 5.6 there is also a comparison. There the comparison was between the karma yogi and the jnana yogi.
And Krishna in 5.6 said that, 5.6 was that, it said that actually the person who is ayogataha, the person who is not practising karma yoga, who is trying to do inactivity, that person will find it very difficult to become free from bondage. In 5.2 Krishna said yes, both paths are good but karma yoga is better. Why? That he has told in 5.6. It is better because ayogataha will lead to dukkham, it will be difficult.
Whereas when one practises yoga, when activity is natural and then that will, one will happily sukham bandhahatram uchyate. Now somebody may say that oh but I am going to act. Won’t action cause bondage? That’s what Krishna has explained.
It is not action that causes bondage, it is motivation that causes bondage. And when the person doesn’t have a selfish motivation then the person will not get bound. And Krishna is going to tell over here now in this verse that a person who doesn’t have selfish motivation, that person will not get bound.
So here what he says, yukta karma phalam tyaktva. So because this person has no selfish motivation, that person doesn’t get bound. And when the person doesn’t get bound, shanti maapnoti naishtikim.
So Krishna knows that Arjuna has a longing for peace. But he is telling you will attain the supreme peace. He has used the word param shantim in 4.39. And now here he is using a similar superlative.
He is using an epithet for describing. He is saying naishtikim. Naishtikim means unshaken, unshakeable, very deep, unflinching.
So people may have put on a facade of peace in this world, but when there are big agitations that come up, then they will also get disturbed. But when a person has no agitation, then nothing of the world can disturb him. Shanti maapnoti naishtikim.
So Krishna is telling Arjuna don’t think that you will get peace simply by avoiding war. Actually, even if you avoid the war, as long as one has material attachments, one will be agitated. But if you activate karma yoga and purify yourself of material attachments, then what you will attain is shantim naishtikim.
You will attain unshakeable peace. On the other hand, ayuktaha, your person is not connected. So here the comparison is between karma yogi and fruity worker, the karmakandi.
Or it can be the materialist also. Ayuktaha, kama karena. If a person works out of material desire.
If a person works out of material desire, what happens? Falesakto. Because the person is attached to the fruit, then nivadhyate. So a person becomes bound.
So Krishna is very categorically comparing and explaining that what causes bondage is not action, but motivation. If one is more kama karena, falesakto, then there is bondage. But when one is ayuktaha and then karma phalam tyaktva, then there is no bondage.
So Prabhupada explains this in the point in the purport. Prabhupada makes a very profound statement over here. This is the secret of Krishna consciousness.
Realisation that there is no existence besides Krishna is the platform of peace and fearlessness. Realisation that there is no existence besides Krishna. What does this mean? It means that ultimately everything is working under Krishna’s sanction.
Whatever happens, it cannot happen when the Krishna’s sanction is there. And whatever exists is Krishna’s energy. So when we see something as separate from Krishna, that is illusion.
When we see everything is connected with Krishna, that is a reality. And that reality. Realisation that there is no existence besides Krishna is a platform of peace.
Now peace he is talking about, already shanti. But Prabhupada says peace and fearlessness. Why fearlessness? Because naishti ki.
So what takes away our peace is fear. What if that goes on? What if that goes on? What if that goes on? That causes fear. And these fears take away peace.
But one must understand there is nothing beyond Krishna. And Krishna is always my well-wisher. Then there is no loss.
It’s the platform of peace and fearlessness. Peace and fearlessness. So now Krishna will talk about how one can stay detached further.
We will give another example now to illustrate this point. Sarva-karmani manasa. Sanyas-tyas-te sukham vashi.
Navadwari-pure-dehi. Naiva-kurvan-nakarayan. So Krishna says sarva-karmani manasa.
So how should one work? All the work with the mind. What should you do? Sanyas-tyas-te. So Krishna is talking about here manasa-sanyas.
Just as we have manasa-pooja. Manasa-pooja means if a devotee cannot do, cannot worship Krishna directly, then the devotee can worship Krishna in the mind. So if you cannot offer beautiful jewel necklaces to Krishna because we don’t have the financial resources to do that, then we can do it in the mind.
Krishna, beautiful deity and I want to offer this to you. Please accept this. So that is accepted because Krishna sees our intention and when Krishna sees that our intention is to serve him, to glorify him, then Krishna accepts that intention.
So manasa-sanyas-tyas-te. So manasa-sanyas-tyas-te. So what we similarly, that is at a devotional level, at a karma yogi level.
Okay, I am not the doer. Sarva-karmani manasa-sanyas-tyas-te. So when I understand that actually I am not the doer, the body has certain needs and those needs need to be fulfilled.
So whatever needs are required for the body, I fulfil those needs. Sukham Vashi, which a person will be able to stay happily. Sukham Vashi.
How happy? Because there is no messing up with the troublesome sense objects, especially in terms of emotional entanglements with them. We will function the material world, but we will be emotionally entangled in them. Navadwara-pure-dehi.
So Navadwara. Navadwara refers to nine doors. So pure-dehi.
Pura is a city. Like we have Jagannath, Puri. So the city of Lord Jagannath.
So Puri refers to a place. So Pura also refers to a place. So Navadwara-pure-dehi.
The city of nine gates. So the dehi is the soul who lives in the city of nine gates. So nakurvanai-vakurvan-nakarayan.
Which a person will not be the doer and will not be the motivator for doing to others. That means Krishna is saying that you will not be the doer, I will not be also doer. Krishna is asking, why are you asking me to fight such a fight, such a ghastly war? Ghora karma, why are you asking me to do it? Krishna has asked in the third chapter.
Tat kim karmani ghorae maa, yo jai sikhe shiva. He has asked in 3.1. So Krishna is saying, when you understand this philosophically, then you will not think that you are the doer of anything, nor will you think that I am making you do anything. Because you will understand it is the material nature that is acting.
Sanyasya aaste sukham vashi. So to the extent we think that we are going to enjoy the sense objects, to that extent we think I am doing things. And to the extent we think that I am doing things, to that extent we will get entangled, we will become bound in material existence.
But to the extent we don’t think this, to that extent we will not become bound. So, now what is this navadwara pure dehi? Now navaja and navadwara, they are the nine holes in the body. So Prabhupada explains this.
This is quote from Sri Tasharupanishad. Navadwara pure dehi, ham solela te bahi, vashi sarvasya lokasya, dhavarasya charasya cha. So this verse talks about the navadwara pure dehi.
And now the same phrase that is there in this verse, in the C part, so 5.13 C is repeated in Sri Tasharupanishad 3.18 A. Navadwara pure dehi, ham solela te bahi. So what is described over here, the Lord is situated in this body and vashi sarvasya lokasya, dhavarasya charasya cha. So when the living entity, vashi sarvasya lokasya, so actually when the living entity Prabhupada explains is situated in the conditioned stage, then identifies with the body, thinks I am this body.
So what are the nine gates to the body? The nine gates here are two eyes, two nostrils, two ears, one mouth and anus and the genitals. So these are the nine holes in the body. And just as in a city, we may have different entrance gates.
Sometimes city has a northern gate, a southern gate, a eastern gate, a western gate. Those are the ways from which people can come inside the city. Especially some cities like a fort where there are walls around it.
Then those gates are the way from which people can come inside. In the past since it had to be defended, the forts would be built. So the gates would be the main entry points.
So that way the entry points for coming into the body for the external world’s impressions are the entry points and the exit points. So why the emphasis on entry and exit points? Because it is through these that we interact with the world. And it is through these that we become bound in the world.
When we find good looking sense objects in this world, we become attracted. I want to enjoy, I want to enjoy, I want to enjoy. And then when we may get into the physical enjoyment, so with Gyanendriya, we pursue, so some sensory impressions come inside.
And then we engage in Dhritapti and certain sensory impressions go out and then sensory actions go out and then we become bound. So the interaction of the soul with the external world happens through these gates. So just as every well protected gate, a city will not allow anyone and everyone to come inside, nor will it allow anyone, anything and everything to go outside.
Say in a country the foreign exchange situation is delicate and the country will not allow too much money to go out of it. So like that there is a regulation. Similarly, when one understands that this body is like a city and one needs to regulate what is going inside, what is coming out of the body, then we can stay free from bondage.
When we understand that this body is like a city. So actually whatever necessary functions that are happening for the body, let them happen. When I am going around, walking around, I have to look at the path.
I cannot close my eyes and walk. So necessary functions have to happen. But sarva karmaani manasa sanyasyaas te.
These are necessary functions that happen for the body. Indriyan indriyaartheshu. Necessary contact with the senses and sense objects has to happen.
But beyond that, I will not become emotionally involved. I won’t think that okay the contact with senses and sense objects, that’s what will lead me to happiness. So sarva karmaani manasa sanyasyaas te sukham vashi.
It’s like if a person is watching TV, then now the TV may go on if the person understands, okay this TV programme is not going to make me happy. Then the person, the TV may go on, but the person will not get emotionally involved in it. So like that, the things have to go on at the material level.
But as long, if we are not emotionally involved, if we are renounced, then we won’t get compound. So this is what Krishna is saying, nakurvan naivakurvan nakarayan. You will not be the doer and you will not make others do also.
Now Krishna is telling Arjuna to fight. So what does it mean? Krishna is saying, I am not the doer in making you do things. So Krishna is actually telling Arjuna, see you have a body, that is Kshatriya’s body right now.
Kshatriya body is going to act according to a particular nature and that nature is the nature of fighting. So you can’t resist that nature, but don’t become so identified with the nature that you become consumed by it, that you identify yourself entirely as a Kshatriya. See Arjuna is a soul, but that soul is right now in a Kshatriya body.
So that body has to function as a Kshatriya. If Arjuna tries to reject that and say, I will act as a sanyas, it will not work because the body is a certain way of working. At the same time, if Arjuna entirely identifies with the Kshatriya conception, then what happens, it becomes a bodily conception and then one can’t make much of an advancement.
So understand that you have a particular body and when you have a particular body, you have to work in a particular way. But don’t become bound with that conception. Naivakurvan nakarayan.
So I am not making you do things because I am simply encouraging you to act according to your nature, but act in such a way that you are not emotionally involved. So then you won’t get entangled karmically and that way you will stay free from bondage and you will keep moving forward in your spiritual journey. So naivakurvan nakarayan.
So Krishna in this way, he’s telling here that act Arjuna, but act without the principle of bondage, act without the principle of entanglement. So now Krishna continues this thread of thought in the next verse. Nakartrutvam nakarmani lokasya srujati prabhu, nakarma phala sanyogam svabhavastu pravartate.
So now you may say, is God not the doer? Nakartrutvam nakarmani lokasya srujati prabhu. No, he says no. Prabhu he refers to the Supreme Lord.
No, actually the Prabhu is not the doer. So actually it can refer to the master of the city of the worlds. So it can, now Krishna talk about this word Prabhu can refer to the Supreme Lord, it can refer to the soul also.
Now in this case Prabhupada is using the word to refer to the master of the city of the nine gates. In that sense the soul is the Prabhu. The soul is not the doer.
So nakartrutvam nakarmani lokasya srujati prabhu. So actually the soul neither does things nor makes others do things. Why? Because nakarma phala sanyogam svabhavastu pravartate.
All this happens by svabhava. Svabhava refers to one’s materialism. So it is not that we do things, it does not make others do things and it doesn’t become attached to things.
Who is this liberated soul or enlightened soul? The soul is not doing all these things. So the soul is never the doer but as long as soul thinks I am the doer, the soul becomes the bearer, the reaper of the consequences also. But if the soul understands I am not the doer, the soul will not be the reaper of the consequences.
So svabhavastu pravartate. Svabhavastu pravartate means material nature is acting. So the Bhagavad Gita is offering a very profound vision over here.
Sometimes we think, Bhagavad Gita, just chant Hare Krishna and be happy. Yes, that is true. Definitely that is true.
We can chant Hare Krishna and experience advancement and become happy. But that doesn’t mean that there is no metaphysical depth over here in the Bhagavad Gita. That is the conclusion.
The conclusion is profoundly simple. But at the same time, it can be very deep also. So Krishna is sitting over here.
The Bholi is a machine and it will act in a particular way. Svabhavastu pravartate. So when the soul identifies with that, the soul becomes bound.
But if the soul doesn’t identify with that, the soul utilises that, then the soul doesn’t become bound. So Krishna says, Arjuna, understand that you are not the doer in the sense that the body has certain propensities. The body will act according to those propensities and you stay detached.
When you stay detached, then you will stay free from bondage. So Prabhupada writes in the Parpot, what is the nature of the soul? He is simply in the midst of the material ocean struggling for existence. The waves of that ocean are tossing him and he has no control over them.
So his best solution is to get out of the water by transcendental Krishna consciousness. So we are all in the ocean. And what are the waves that the ocean refers to? Of course, material existence.
What are the waves? The waves are the waves of three worlds. Sometimes suddenly we feel passionate. Sometimes suddenly we feel, I just don’t want to do anything.
I want to show the world who I am. I’m just a famous person, just a powerful person, just a talented person. I want to show the world.
Sometimes we feel like that. Other time, we feel, who bothers? What makes any difference? Just let me sleep. Just relax.
Not do anything. That relaxation can be very well tamasic. Just let things happen.
On the other hand, there can be transcendental. Transcendental means one understands that actually I am, or we can be in a mood of goodness, a mood of contemplating, understanding the deeper truths of life. So the mood like that, we will see our mood just come and go, and they toss us up and down.
To the extent we can strengthen and steady our Krishna connection, to the extent we get a boat by which we can come out of this material ocean. Otherwise we are helpless. So Krishna says, so the Varanashram Dharma recognises that we are all subject to certain modes, but offers a pathway by which we can serve Krishna, steady our connection with Krishna,