Bhakti Shastri (085) – Bhagavad Gita Chapter 06 Text 33 to 36

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Welcome back to our Bhagavad Gita Bhakti Shastri course. We are now in the 6th chapter where we are studying the concerns of Arjuna about practising Ashtanga Yoga. So we discussed several verses yesterday about progressive realisations.
Let’s have a quick recap of those verses and their thought flow. So, in the progressive realisation of the Absolute Truth, the verses 27 and 28 talk about Brahman realisation. Then verse 29 talks about Parmatma realisation.
Verse 30 to 31 talks about Bhagavan realisation. So, 27 and 28 talk about Sukhena Brahmasamsaparsham Atyantam Sukham Ashnutey. Then 29 talk about Sarvabhutastham Atmanam, that all living beings are situated at the spiritual level.
And 30 and 31, the word maam comes very clearly. So, in both cases the maam is coming very explicitly and that’s how we can understand that this is referring to the Bhagavan realisation. And then 32 gives the conclusion that one should see all living beings equally based on their spiritual equality as parts of Krishna.
As particles of the Absolute Truth, depending on what is the level of realisation of the yogi. Now, one thing we have to understand here, when we say this refers to Brahman realisation, this refers to Parmatma realisation, this refers to Bhagavan realisation. Actually, the names Brahman, Parmatma and Bhagavan, they are used interchangeably within the Vedic literature.
This is an important concept to understand, that there are names, there are terms and there are concepts. So, just like in the Bhagavatam, we will see that in the beginning it says Krishna is the source of all incarnations. In the third chapter, the first canto, Krishna stu Bhagavan soya, it makes it clear over there.
But afterwards, the Bhagavatam uses the terms Krishna and Vishnu interchangeably. So, even in the past time of Prahlad Maharaj, the name Krishna may come, Krishnagrahasatatma. And there Vishnu name may also come and eventually Narasimhadeva appears.
So, after giving a technical classification of the terms, then it is not that the Bhagavatam, because it involves multiple speakers, multiple contexts, multiple threads of conversation. The terms may not always be used in the same technical sense everywhere. So, in one sense, we have a technical differentiation between Krishna and Vishnu.
Krishna is the source of all incarnations. But then after making that one point, the Bhagavatam, for all practical purposes, uses the terms interchangeably. So, in the Rasa Panchadhya section, the term Krishna or Govinda, these are the terms which are used, names which are used, but then at the end Vishnu is used.
So, the point here is that we should understand that names, the terms and concepts. So, concepts are intellectual, terms are verbal. And they are both tools for comprehension.
So, they are what? Tools for comprehension, tools for gaining a deeper understanding. Now, when we use terms and when we use concepts, we are all trying to gain an understanding of the deeper absolute truth. And these terms may not always be used in the same sense and at all times.
Just like when Krishna may be used to refer to Vishnu and Vishnu may be used to refer to Krishna. Although there is a technical differentiation, in a normal conversational sense, it is not that the technical differentiation will always be adhered to. So, similarly, when the words Brahman, Paramatma and Bhagavan are used, sometimes the word Brahman may also be used to refer to the absolute truth in the personal aspect.
And the word Paramatma may also be used to refer to the absolute truth in the personal aspect. Krishna may be referred to as Paramatma. Krishna may be referred to as Brahma.
We see in Vishnu Sahasranam, it is not that Vishnu will always be referred to as Bhagavan only. Vishnu may be used to refer to as Brahma also as Paramatma also. So, the point is, we have to look at the meanings of words.
We have to understand the broad philosophy and the specific concepts and then we can understand what this word refers to. So, we have to understand first the overall philosophical message. What is the message? And then we have to look at the specific context.
And then we understand, okay, this is the term that is used and in this term, in this context, this term means this. The scriptures have to be understood always in context. The text and the context are integrally related.
If we separate the two, then we do not get proper understanding. So, text and context have to be brought together. Now, Brahman, Paramatma, Bhagavan, these are progressive levels of realisation.
We understand this from the understanding of what the word Brahman means, what the word Paramatma means. So, Brahman means all-pervading, non-personal effulgence of the Absolute Truth. Then Paramatma refers to the localised manifestation of the Absolute Truth.
And Bhagavan refers to the all-attractive transcendental person. All three are transcendental. All three are spiritual.
And when one pursues a particular level, then one is at a Brahman level. Then one pursues the next level, one is at Paramatma level. One pursues the complete Absolute Truth at the Bhagavan level.
So, in these verses, 27-28, which talks about Brahman, 29 talks about Paramatma, 30-31 talks about Bhagavan, the point is that the yogi is moving higher and higher in spiritual realisation. So, these verses can be interpreted differently. And different Acharyas will interpret in different ways to develop the flow of thought.
So, this is one way of looking at it where we understand the progression systematically. Now, when we talk about different Acharyas interpreting things differently, the point is that Krishna’s words can have unlimited import. Unlimited doesn’t mean that any and every import is right.
Krishna’s words have unlimited import, but ultimately Krishna’s message has a conclusion. And whatever import is in consistency with that conclusion, we can use that. But whatever import is not in consistency with that conclusion, that import will not be usable, acceptable.
So, unlimited doesn’t mean that even the Mayavadi interpretations are right. The interpretations have to be consistent with the overall philosophical message. But once it is consistent, the words can have different meanings.
So, we are looking at a particular flow of thought, which is based on the Acharyas’ commentaries, no doubt. But the Acharyas have different contexts and they have different meanings. So, I don’t quote in my classes here.
I’m planning to write a book eventually where we’ll talk more critically, more systematically. In the classes, we are trying to get an overall understanding without going too much into technical nitty-gritties. So, we are analysing a flow which helps us to understand how the Bhagavad Gita’s thought is, you know, evolving.
So, Brahman, Paramatma and Bhagavan. Yogi moves forward higher and higher in the realisations. So, the word Samadarshan, as I mentioned, it was used in 5.18 and it is used again in 6.29. So, darshan refers to direct sight or it can refer to philosophical insight.
It has both meanings. When we use the word darshan, when we go and take darshan of the deities, that time we are referring to direct sight. But it can also refer to philosophical insight.
When we actually take, there are six philosophical systems, Shat Darshanas, they are called. So, philosophy is meant to give us insight. So, darshan can refer to both.
And here the word Samadarshan, that is used. Equal vision can result from seeing the Supersoul or the soul or both. So, in 5.18 both are there and 6.29 talks primarily about the Supersoul.
So, 5.18 was Vidya Vinaya Sampanne. That was the verse, well-known verse. And one can see the Supersoul and the Supersoul and thereby see with equal vision.
In 6.29 it is primarily vision of Supersoul that is there. So, then after that, now 6.29, Does it support Mayavada? Oh, one sees the absolute truth everywhere. Actually, Mayavada’s propositions are much more insidious than just a sense of oneness.
A devotee also has a sense of oneness. What characterises Mayavada is not just sense of oneness, but also the sense that everything else is illusion. There is only Brahman and the Tattvatraya, the Jiva, Jagat and Jagdish.
All three are illusion. That is the proposition of Mayavada. That is offensive proposition.
That is definitely not supported by the Bhagavad Gita. So, now let’s look at where all Krishna is being talked about in the Bhagavad Gita. So, there is a lot over here.
Till now, where all has Krishna come? The mention of Krishna is self-reference, maam. Where all has it come in the Bhagavad Gita? In the sixth chapter in Dhan Yoga, in 6.14 and 6.15 it has come. This came in 6.14. So, there it can refer to Krishna as the object of meditation.
It doesn’t have to be the goal of meditation. What is the difference between object and goal? What is the difference between object and goal? A student may have physics as the object of study. But the goal of study is not physics.
The goal of study is maybe the student wants to go to America. And in America, the student wants to be prosperous, be famous, get a lucrative job. So, that physics may not be the object of interest primarily.
The object of interest is just money and fame. And physics is a tool to that. So, in the process of yoga, the yogi can have two attitudes towards Krishna.
One attitude is that Krishna is the absolute truth who is my goal. And the other is Krishna is the object of meditation. And eventually, by using this object of meditation, I will go to a higher reality.
So, it’s not necessary. And Matsamstham Adhigacchati is talked about in 6.15. 6.15 is Matsamstham Adhigacchati. So, attains my abode, attains my position.
That is the spiritual sky that’s talked about over there. Now, in 6.30, Krishna talks about Yomampashyati Sarvatra Sarvam Jami Pashyati. One who sees me everywhere and sees everything in me.
This is the culmination of Dhyan Yoga. So, ultimately, Dhyan Yoga leads to Samadhi. So, of course, Srila Prabhupada, when he was correlating Dhyan Yoga with Bhakti Yoga, he would generally quote 6.47, which is very categorical.
Among all yogis, Bhakti Yoga is the highest. One of the things about me that is Bhakti Yoga is highest. That 6.47, we will come to later.
But here the point is there is culmination of Dhyan Yoga. When Krishna is in that progression, he is leading to Bhakti Yoga. And then after that, the significance of 6.31, if you are to see, 6.29 says sees all beings in the Atma.
6.30 says sees all beings in me, a yogi. And then the all-pervading one is equal to me. So, the seer is the yogi who is always situated in me.
That means, what Krishna is saying that the person who is having the vision of 6.29 and the vision of 6.30, they are the same. First, we see all-pervading being as Atma. Here Atma refers to the Paramatma.
And then, Paramatma and I are the same. So, there is a progression over here. Now, let us go to Arjuna’s question.
So, Arjuna is going to ask here. So, Arjuna watches. So, what you have told me, O Krishna, this system, Yogas, what you have talked about me, so it focused on Samya, a oneness of perception.
So, Krishna has talked about Samadarshan. So, Samya has come again and again. Equanimity, equality of emotion and perception.
I do not see it. So, now it is interesting, Krishna uses, Arjuna uses the word Pashyami. Krishna has used the word Pashyami just two verses earlier.
This is 6.33 and three verses earlier. 6.33 and 6.33. I see everything. But Krishna has used the same, Arjuna has used the same word.
So, Krishna is telling that you are saying that I should be able to have equal vision everywhere. So, I do not think it is possible for me. I cannot see like this.
I cannot see everyone equally. Mind is not stable. It is not in a steady situation, it is in a restless situation.
It is constantly restless. So, now Krishna is being told by Arjuna, you are saying I should see all living beings equally. But I do not think I can see Yudhishthira and Duryodhana equally.
I cannot see Karna and Bhima equally. I cannot see Shakuni and people on my side equally. I cannot see them equally.
It is difficult. So, it does not seem practical to me. So, we see Arjuna is expressing submission as well as preservation.
Submission means I will do whatever you say. Preservation means I cannot do what you say. So, we may say how can both be there? Actually, there is submission and preservation.
Submission means yes, I am not saying what you are saying is wrong. So, when we say that what somebody is saying is wrong, that can be offensive. So, Arjuna is not offensive, he is submissive.
He is expressing submission, yes, what you are saying is okay, but it is not practical for me. It is not possible for me. So, there is submission, yes, you have spoken this, but preservation is I cannot do this.
So, it is an interesting combination, submission and preservation. And we see this even in Dhruva Maharaj, when Narada Muni gives him two sets of instructions, of two levels. He says that actually a child, sometimes parents chastise the child.
Narada Muni tells this to Dhruva Maharaj. Sometimes children, in joking also, they say this and that. And what happens between parents and children is not to be taken so seriously.
You couldn’t, just a small thing, you couldn’t sit on your father’s lap. Next day your father will allow you to sit. And he says that, that is child, children don’t take such things seriously.
Children sometimes, when they quarrel, sometimes they say, cut you, now I am not going to talk with you. So, when they say, I am not going to talk with you, and we will see after 3-4 days both the children are playing together, not just talking but playing happily together. So, he says children don’t take such things seriously.
What happens between children is not taken seriously. And he says, if you think you are not a child, if you are grown up, if truly grown up, not just physically but also spiritually, then you should know for such people, honour and dishonour is the same. So, even if you have been dishonoured, don’t bother about it.
You know, treat honour and dishonour equally. So, when Narada Muni tries to test Dhruva by checkmating him, if you are at this level, still you should not take it seriously. If you are at this level, you should not take it seriously.
And what does Dhruva Maharaj say? He is not Maharaj at that time. He is a small child, Dhruva at that time, 5 years old. So, what does he say? He expresses submission but he also expresses reservation.
He says, yes, but actually I am an intrepidity at stage. Kshatriya blood is running within me. And because the Kshatriya blood is running, I cannot tolerate insult.
So, just accepting it is not possible for me. I need a way to get even. I need a way to show father and others that I can get a kingdom bigger than theirs.
What to speak of sitting on the throne, on the lap of my father who is sitting on the throne, I want a throne for a kingdom which is bigger than my father’s. I don’t want to… Actually, my idea was that you sit on the throne, the father is sitting on the throne, and the son sits on the lap of the father. Even that was not allowed for me.
But what I want is, I will sit on the exclusive throne for a kingdom which is bigger than my father’s. In fact, not just my father, my whole dynasty. That is the only way a feeling of insult, a feeling of dishonour that is burning my insides will be resolved.
So, please tell me a way, Bhaiji. So, you accept that what your instructions are true, but I am not at that level to follow the instructions. So, sometimes when we are told, when you are given instructions, just follow the instructions.
It is a good attitude to aspire for, but whether we can do that, it is not that, Prabhupada, we have to always put aside our intelligence when we are given instructions. If we feel that this is not practical for me, we have the right to express our reservations. Sometimes we may hear in some classes, somebody would say, everybody should chant 64 rounds every day.
Now, yes, it is a good aspiration to chant 64 rounds, but it may not be practical all the time. So, we have to… Arjuna expresses realistic reservations over here. See, our aspiration is very lofty.
We want to be pure devotees of Krishna, constantly absorb the remembrance of Krishna. So, we want to go towards that, but how do we go towards that? See, in spiritual life, there are the stars and there are the stairs. The stars are what we aspire to be.
Stairs are the steps that we take to go there. The stars and the stairs. So, if we just look at the stars, then don’t look at the stairs, then we will never move up.
We will say, oh, it is so high level. And if we look only at the stairs and don’t look at the stars, then we will not feel inspiration. Oh, I can get there also.
Just by doing one step at a time, one step at a time, I can eventually get there. So, we need the stars and the stairs. So, here Arjuna is expressing submissive reservation.
He says, I can’t see this practical for me. It is not practical for me because the mind is restless. chanchalatvat sitimsthiram chanchala chanchala is restless.
And then he elaborates on this. So, Prabhupada explains in the purport that it was difficult even for Arjuna. Now, some people may argue, Prabhupada writes in various places that there is no record of Arjuna having practised the system of Ashtanga Yoga.
Ever. Now, some people may say that Arjuna, he went into the forest, if you read the Mahabharata, and he would do meditation. For example, he went to the, when he was in the Himalayas, where he was doing austerity so that he would please Lord Shiva.
So, he was sitting in a yogic asana and he was doing meditation. Or he was doing other kinds of austerities which involve yogic meditation. So, you have to understand that that is not Ashtanga Yoga.
See, sitting in a, sitting in a yogic asana doesn’t make a person a yogi. Necessarily a person has to be a, sitting in a yogic asana doesn’t make a person a practitioner of Ashtanga Yoga. A devotee may also sit in a yogic asana and do other kinds, do bhakti yoga.
So, when we see that in the Mahabharata, Arjuna is sitting in a yogic posture and meditating on Lord Shiva so that Lord Shiva will grant him weapons. And then he wants to meditate on Lord Indra so that Indra will give him weapons. That is in the Vanvas, when the Pandavas are there, Pandavas are in Vanvas at that time.
So, Arjuna’s goal is not yogic meditation so that one can get samadhi and brahman realisation. He is doing demigod worship at that time. And why is he doing demigod worship? That is a part of bhakti yoga for him.
So, he wants to serve Krishna and whatever is required for the service of Krishna, he is ready to do that. So, if he wants to, if he needs weapons, then he takes the weapons from Shiva, he takes the weapons from Indra. So, in the Mahabharata, what is demonstrated is the devotee is not deprived of the benedictions of other devatas also.
The devotee is quite capable of worshipping the other devatas and getting their benedictions also. But ultimately, what empowers the devotee is Krishna’s mercy. So, Arjuna is not doing ashtanga yoga.
Arjuna is not doing demigod worship. Arjuna is simply doing devotional service. But he is using the limbs of other he is using other aspects of Vedic culture as a part of his devotional service.
So, that is not objectionable. And Arjuna doesn’t do yogic sadhana with the yogic sadhya in mind. So, he says yama and niyama, these can be practised by people from other paths also.
Bhaktis, bhakti yogis can also practise yama and niyama. So, like that, sitting in yoga asana can also be done by Arjuna. That doesn’t make Arjuna a yogi.
So, the point we are saying is Arjuna never practised ashtanga yoga as a sadhana for getting liberated from material existence. He may have done some tapasya to appease Lord Vishnu. At that time, he might have sat in yogic asanas.
But that doesn’t make Arjuna ashtanga yogi. So, now Arjuna will give one more graphic verse which tells his concerns. What is the problem with that? Why is he saying the mind is restless? That’s why I can’t practise this.
He will describe in the next verse. So, chanchalam, the mind is restless, he is saying. And then what kind of restlessness? He is giving actually four serious describers.
First is restless, chanchalam, then is pramathi. Pramathi is wild, agitating. Mallavat is strong.
And drudham is obstinate. So, let’s look at each of these to understand their distinctive implications. See, chanchalam is like a child.
Chanchala, we say child is restless. Child is chanchala. So, child says, sit down over here.
Mother says, sit down over here. I want to do some work. Will the child sit down quietly? Child, okay, let me see what is this toy over here.
Let me play with this. Let me go here. Let me go there.
Let me do all these things. So, a child is restless and often the restlessness leads to mischief. Restlessness leads to maybe fun for the children, mother and father.
What is my child doing now? And restlessness may also lead to some kind of occasional danger. The child may fall off from a… Child is sitting on a bed and just falls off the bed. These things are possible.
So, there may be a little danger. But chanchala, the mind is restless. It will go one thing, second thing, third thing, fourth thing.
The mind just goes everywhere trying to explore. There is a childish curiosity. It can be dangerous, but often it is innocent.
So, Arjuna uses the first word, yes. Is the mind just like an innocent child? Chanchala. Childish, naive curiosity is there.
No, it is not that much at all. That is one feature of the mind. But the mind, what makes the mind dangerous is that it is not just like a child in curiosity.
It is also like a bull in strength. It is chanchala, pramati, palavadram. So, the second describer is mad.
Pramatta is mad. Nunam pramatta kurute vikarma. The word pramatta is used in unmatta and pramatta is used in many places in the scriptures and generally first.
Matta is intoxicated, maddened. Pramatta. Pramatta.
So, pramati, it is maddened over here. So, it is agitated to the point of being mad. Sometimes.
Now, when we talk about madness, there are different levels of madness. There are some people who are having some dysfunctionality in their brain because of which they are admitted to some mental asylums and they just, they are completely disconnected from reality. So, let me say that.
I am the president of India. I am the president of America, somebody may say. So, actually these sort of statements, they are indicating a madness.
In madness, people get disconnected from reality and they live in an illusory world. Now, in that illusory world, what thought will come to them and how they will act, nobody knows. So, I say sometimes mad people are dangerous because they think that, suddenly a mad person may think that I am in a war field and the person next to me is my enemy and I have to find a gun and shoot the enemy and I am going to save a country and then I will get the paramvir chakra.
It is such a, we may say it is so ridiculous. But the mad people can get any idea and act in any way. So, a child is not necessarily mad, a child is just innocent.
But Krishna is saying the mind is not just like a child, it is like a mad, it is a pramati, it is mad. So, you know, there are these kind of people who are put in mental asylum, so completely disconnected from reality. But we can see that we also go mad sometimes.
That means, say, a person becomes obsessed by anger. And the person starts thinking such things, such crazy things, so anger is like temporary madness. It is temporary insanity.
When it comes over us, we may do such things, speak such things, that we can’t even conceive of, we wouldn’t even have dreamt of doing such things at other times. But at that time we do it. So, what makes us do it? It is just madness.
So, pramati, the mind is mad. So, it is not just restless in an innocent, childish sense, it is restless in a dangerous, devilish sense. The mind is not just childish, but devilish.
Now, pramati, and then after that, sometimes a mad person is there, even an ordinary mad person, when the person becomes mad, 2-3 people and their employees in the asylum are required to get the person to calm down. Sometimes people have to tie the hands and legs of the person to get the person to calm down. But imagine if the person were a big bully, maybe a boxing champion, huge muscles, and then the person balavad, and that person goes mad, then it would be very, very difficult to keep the person under control.
So, the mind is balavad. It is extremely powerful. In fact, in the 11th canto, in the Avanti Brahmana prayers, there is a reference, it says, the verse says, the mind’s god-like power.
The mind’s god-like power. It is a very significant usage, because the mind, when it takes control of us, it almost becomes omnipotent. And it says, God’s command cannot be disobeyed, because the mind’s command is almost impossible to disobey.
The mind’s god-like power. God-like power. So, what is the god-like power of the mind? It is so ferocious, it is so irresistible.
Like the Bhagavad Gita, also in the 10th chapter, when Shri Krishna says, among the senses, I am the mind. So, the mind represents the supreme power of Krishna. So, balavad.
For all practical purposes, maya, we can say, is equivalent to the mind. How does maya come? It is not that maya is there outside. Yes, maya, we can say, is there outside.
The simplistic way of looking at maya is for men to think of women as maya. And maya, we know, she is female. So, it is very easy for men to think of women as maya.
But then, we also see Saraswati is also female. And Saraswati is the goddess of learning. She gives knowledge.
So, we can’t just equate the females with maya. Yes, maya is a goddess, she has a service. So, Prabhupada, with the Bhagavatam, can also explain that for a woman, a man can be a maya.
And for a man, a woman can be a maya. The important point is maya is that which takes us away from Krishna. And more important than the external thing that takes us away from Krishna is the internal thing that takes us away from Krishna.
And that is the mind. That’s why, for all practical purposes, maya means the mind. So, ontologically, ontologically means in terms of existence, in terms of the nature of reality, yes, there is an energy.
She is a goddess. Her name is Maya Devi. She is actually the consort of Lord Shiva, Durga Devi.
She functions as Maya Devi also. So, there is a being named maya. And she manifests in various ways.
So, ontologically, yes, there is an entity called maya. And she is quite different from the manna. But functionally, practically, for all practical purposes, the mind is maya.
The mind is what makes us act restlessly, irrationally, suicidally, self-destructively. So, Brahma, Vallabhadra is very powerful. So, maya is all-pervasive like Krishna.
Within the material world, maya is omniscient, maya is omnipotent, maya is omnipresent. Just like God. How is that? Maya knows our weaknesses.
Because Krishna has given us free will and Krishna has given us the material world as an arena to choose how to act according to our free will. So, we can choose to serve Krishna, choose to serve maya. Just as if a person is in jail, the jail has the vigilance system by which the jail knows where is which prisoner and what is that prisoner doing.
So, like that, within the material world, which is like a jail, maya has a vigilance. And maya knows everything. She is given that power by Krishna.
So, because she knows everything, she can be extremely dangerous for us. Dangerous in the sense that maya can act through our mind and trap us. Maya’s goal is not to trap us, maya’s goal is to promote us.
But the way it is done is through testing. So, palavada. Palavada is powerful.
Now, sometimes a powerful person may also listen to good reason and argument and understand, okay, this is what, I have strength and I can do this, but when I see this sense, okay, this doesn’t make sense, so I won’t do it. But Krishna says here, the mind is obstinate. Dhrudham, since the word dhrudha has come earlier, dhrudha can mean determined in a positive sense.
So, dhrudha is a word which can connote determination, but in this context, it means obstinacy. So, dhrudha will come, the word dhrudha will come several times in the Bhagavad Gita. One prominent place where it comes is in 9.14, where Krishna is describing the external characteristics of a pure devotee and he says, dhrudhavata is resolute determination.
The vav of determination, dhrudhavata. Determined vav, we serve with determined vav. So, dhrudham is determined.
So, here Krishna is using word dhrudha in a sense of obstinacy. Obstinate or obstinacy. So now, what is the difference between determination and obstinacy? Generally, one is used in a positive sense.
Determination is something which is good, something which is noble, something which is laudable. When a person faces failures repeatedly in trying to do that and still seeks to do that, that is called determination. But obstinacy means when something is undesirable and a person should give that up and one gets a lot of lessons from different places, indicators, warnings, that one should give this up.
But one doesn’t. That is called obstinacy. So, we say that Ravana’s obstinacy in not giving up Sita.
Ravana got so many warnings, so many cautions. First of all, he knew that he did not have any protection from Manavas and he had already seen, he had already heard about the power of Ram from various sources. He had heard about the power of Ram from his own general, Akampana, who told him that Akampana was the only general who survived the carnage of the Rakshasas that Lord Ram single-handedly did in the Dandakaranya.
So, all the others, Kharadusha, Sudhakarama, Kharadusha and everybody else, the only general who remained was Akampana. When Akampana came running to the palace of, to the court of Ravana, Akampana was doing all, he was fearfully trembling. And as he was so fearful, what happened? Even he told him, you cannot face him head-on.
You will be destroyed. Maricha also told him, you will be destroyed. You cannot face him head-on.
Then, Vibhushana told him, you will be destroyed. Then, his own generals, those who had gone, Shuka and Saruma had gone as spies, they told him, Ram’s army cannot be faced. Hanuman came, Hanuman told him, surrender or you will be destroyed.
And Hanuman showed his prowess also. Just one, one spy coming in destroyed nearly half of his kingdom. Then Angad came, Angad gave him a warning.
And his generals couldn’t even move the feet of Angad. It’s a long story. Then still he got so many warnings, but he did not take even one of them.
That is obstinacy. That means, the difference between obstinacy and determination is primarily, whether the track one is going on is right or wrong. So when a person is going on the wrong track and still goes on the right track, despite having been given good instructions, and despite giving not just instructions, but also demonstrations.
Ravana got both, but he just did not listen. Similarly, Duryodhana, he saw so many occasions when all his attempts to try to push down the Pandavas failed. Still after that also, he kept coming back and doing the same things, trying to push the Pandavas down.
This is obstinacy. The mind is obstinate. That means, when the mind gets attached to some idea, I want this enjoyment.
Then the mind just doesn’t listen to anything else. I want this, come what may. I don’t care.
The mind gets hooked to a particular idea. It’s obstinate. So actually this combination of four things, restlessness, madness, then power, and then obstinacy.
This makes the mind extremely dangerous. So Krishna, Shalya, Arjuna, all these four are there. All these four are there.
Dealing with the mind is impossible. So we have our worst enemy right inside us. And Arjuna may be asked by Krishna, no matter how formidable the enemy is, you can always deal with that enemy.
You have some extraordinary weapons. With those weapons you can control the enemy. So you have celestial weapons.
Krishna said, Arjuna said, nothing, all these will work. Actually he says, So, by that, the wind blows off. When the wind is blowing off, if I try to raise my hand, stop, wind, stop, I try to check the wind.
Not only can we not stop the wind, many times the objects they blow away because of the wind. We can’t stop them also. If I have a heap of papers, I can catch one paper, second paper, third paper, but they are just blowing away so fast.
So like that when the wind blows, we can’t hold on to anything. So even when holding on to the wind, it’s difficult often to hold on to things which the wind causes to blow also. So he says, the mind itself is like the wind and tak, just blows off.
Now it’s interesting, Krishna has used a metaphor related with the wind in this chapter itself in 6.19. What was the 6.19? So there he has said, that just as the mind, just as the lamp kept in a windless place does not flicker but stays steady, similarly, he said that the mind of a yogi stays fixed on the Self. So there he has compared the wind to material desires. And he says that, 6.18 that was.
So there he has said that one becomes peaceful, steady, when one understands that the mind is free from material desires and the mind becomes steady, peaceful. So here Arjuna is telling actually what to speak of no wind at all. He says there is such a wind that is irresistible.
A windless place, he contrasts a windless place with a place that is hit by a hurricane or a tornado or a cyclone. The wind is so forceful that nothing can be done to check with it. Check it.
So actually, वायो रिवसु दुश्चर like wind. Impossible. Even Arjuna says that I have got certain celestial weapons by which I can unleash a storm or I have got certain celestial weapons by which I can check a storm but none of these weapons will control the mind.
The mind is impossible to control. So here, Arjuna is expressing, because the whole process of Ashtanga Yuga is centred on control of the mind. Our mana has come so many times.
Mana or its cognates, cognates means equivalents, have come so many times in this chapter. So now, Arjuna’s question will be answered by Krishna. So let us see how Krishna answers the question.
Prabhupada quotes the famous verse in the Purport about controlling the mind. In the Katha Upanishad, the verse is there 1, 3 and 4. This is the chariot body metaphor. आत्मानाम्रतिनम्विद्धि शरीरं रतमेवच्य वुद्धिमितुसारति विद्धिमितुसारति मनः प्रग्रहमेवच्य इंद्रियानिपयानाहुर् विशयांस्तेशु गोचरान आत्मेविद्धि मनो युप्तम् भुक्तेत्याहुर् मनीशिनः आत्मानाम्रतिनम् रतिनम् So the soul is like the chariot here.
शरीरं रतमेवच्य The body is like the chariot. वुद्धिमितुसारति विद्धि The intelligence is like the सारति. मनः प्रग्रहमेवच्य प्रग्रह is that which controls, the reins.
So that is the mind. इन्द्रियाणि हयाणाहुर् Senses are like the horses. विशयांस्तेशु गोचरान So the sense objects are the objects towards which the horses want to run, the senses want to run.
आत्मेविद्धि मनो युप्तम् भुक्तेत्याहुर् मनीशिनः So this मनीशिनः Those who have conquered the mind They try to भुक्तेत्याहुर् मनीशिनः Those souls who have conquered the mind Those who are seers The seers give this metaphor. And what is the metaphor? So it is understood by the great thinkers. So what do they understand? आत्मेविद्धि मनो युप्तम् The soul equipped with the mind and senses, आत्मा युप्तम् with what? भुक्तेत्याहुर् The soul tries to enjoy the sense objects.
Of course, sometimes the soul gets enjoyment, most of the time the soul gets suffering. So here it is very difficult to control the mind. And the chariot body metaphor is given.
And we will see how the chariot body metaphor will develop later in the Bhagavad Gita sections. Now let us look at Krishna’s answers. So Krishna first empathises with Arjuna.
And first he says, yes, Arjuna, it is difficult to control the mind. But it is possible. Let me describe to you how it is possible.
So, when a disciple expresses some doubt, there has to be sympathy. I can’t do it. Somebody says, actually, I get angry so easily.
What should I do with my anger? What? What is the use? Chanting ten years and still you get angry? You should be able to control your anger. If you can’t control your anger, you are a fallen leaf. We can’t give responses which dishearten people.
Ultimately, the responses should be encouraging. And to be encouraging, they have to be empathetic. Empathetic means they understand their position.
See, sympathy generally means that I am at a high level and I offer down sympathy. But empathy means I come down to the level of that person. Sometimes when you are talking with children, when you are talking with children, generally children are physically small and if you want to become close to children, one of the easiest ways is to come down to them, to kneel down, to sit down.
And if they have to talk, then they look up. And that itself creates a discomfort. So, one of the best ways to get close is to come down to them and talk with them.
Similarly, when we want to share Krishna consciousness, our philosophy is laughter. But at the same time, we have to bring it down to their level. Help them understand how at their level how they can practise.
And then, initially we come down to the level of children, but the children are also growing. They will grow. So like that, we present the philosophy at their level, at the level of people.
And then help them grow. As they grow, their level also will increase. So what does Krishna say over here? So, undoubtedly, oh Arjuna, oh Arjuna, undoubtedly, without any doubt, it’s very difficult to control the mind.
It’s restless. However, he says, So, what does Krishna do over here? Krishna tells Arjuna, yes, it’s difficult, but it’s not impossible. It’s possible by right things, avyasa and vairagya.
So actually, Krishna uses very generic terms over here for telling how to control the mind. He’s not using bhakti-specific terms or yoga-specific terms, ashtanga yoga-specific terms. He’s using generic terms.
By avyasa and by vairagya, it’s possible. So what is Krishna recommending a specific process over here? No, he’s just giving a general answer. Arjuna’s question is also general.
Can the mind be controlled? Yes, it’s possible by practise and by detachment. So what does this practise and detachment, avyasa and vairagya, refer to? These are generic principles in all paths. We discuss about, if there is a medicine, if a person is sick, then the person has to take the treatment, the therapy.
That is the avyasa. And the person has to avoid the items which the person is not to do. So if a person has got a fracture and the person has to be cured, how will the person be cured? A person may tell therapy, walk a little bit.
Walk in this way. Exercise the leg in this way. Move these fingers.
So that is the avyasa. And then there is the vairagya. Don’t try to exert yourself too much.
Don’t do activities that will damage the ligament. So in one sense, avyasa and vairagya is the prescriptions and the proscriptions. So with respect to bhakti yoga, this will apply that when we are trying to practise spiritual life, avyasena tu kaunteya vairagyena chukrohyate.
So avyasa. We keep practising to try to bring the mind under control. Mind goes off, we bring it back again.
It goes off, we bring it back again. Avyasa, avyasa. And vairagya means, we try to follow the regularity principles.
We avoid the activities that agitate our mind disproportionately. Vairagya, vairagya. So now we may say that actually it is because of the mind only that I can’t do avyasa and I can’t have vairagya.
So the very thing that I am not able to do, if I am told to do, how will it work? No, that’s why there is procreation. It’s like a person who’s got a fracture, and the person who’s got fracture and is getting cured is told, now walk slowly. He says, no, because of fracture only I can’t walk, so how can you tell me to walk as a cured fracture? Whatever you can walk, you walk.
Walk a few steps. Walk a few steps. Don’t walk till it pains too much, but walk a few steps.
And by walking a few steps, gradually the strength recovers. And then the person begins to walk. Similarly, we may feel that actually you are telling me to chant Hare Krishna to control the mind, but it’s because of uncontrolled mind only I am not able to chant.
So what to do? No, keep chanting. We may not have full control over our mind, but certainly we can have some level of control. And that level of control can keep increasing as we move forward.
So abhyasena dukaunte, and then vairagyena chigruhimate. Vairagya means detachment. Detachment.
No, I will not get involved in these things. There are certain activities which are undesirable, doing which will get us simply entangled. Unnecessarily, ceaselessly entangled.
So we don’t want to get involved in those activities, so vairagyena chigruhimate. So by abhyasena and by vairagyena one can steadily move forward in one’s spiritual life. Steady.
Without much difficulty. Abhyasena and vairagyena. So in this way if one moves forward, one will be able to control the mind, Krishna is saying.
So Prabhupada explains from the bhakti perspective, what is abhyasena and what is vairagyena in the purport. And then Prabhupada says that actually when we practise spiritual life, Prabhupada quotes from the Bhagavatam, this attachment is called pareshanubhava. So bhakti pareshanubhava viraktiranyatra ca.
So the exam this verse comes in the 11th canto which says that how does one, what does one do when one feels weak? One eats. When one eats, one gets taste, one gets strength and one’s hunger disappears. So like that, one’s hunger disappears, one gets taste and one gets strength.
Oh, so delicious. And then one’s strength, one gets nutrition also. So like that when we fix the mind on Krishna, when we actually remember Krishna all these things happen.
What all happens? Firstly, when we remember Krishna, we get yes, we feel strengthened. Our hankering goes away. We are hankering for so many objects in this world.
When we get Krishna, yes, I’m satisfied. I don’t need anything more. The hankering goes away.
Then after that, we start getting taste. Oh, so, so nice. Remembering Krishna is so nice.
And we feel stronger. Whatever temptations come, I can face them. So Prabhupada gives that example over here to say that the more we engage in devotional service, the greater the satisfaction that we get.
And we use the disease metaphor also over here. Now Krishna will conclude this in one more verse, after which Arjuna will ask another question. So Krishna will general point away.
पश्यात्मनातुयतताः शक्तुवाप्तुपायतः So he says, असंयत असंयत means unbridled, uncontrolled. So when the mind is uncontrolled, योग दुश्प्राप that perfection of yoga is impossible to attain. पश्यात्मनातुयतताः However, if one brings the mind under control and यतता, one endeavours, by endeavouring one brings the mind under control, शक्तुवाप्तुपायतः शक्तुवाप्तुपायतः one will be able to attain.
So, what is the point of this verse? The point is that if the mind is uncontrolled, yogic perfection is दुश्प्राप, is impossible to attain. But if one controls the mind, पश्यात्मनातुयतताः, by proper endeavour, by proper process, शक्तुवाप्तुपायतः, it is possible to attain the success. शक्तुवाप्तुपायतः means possible.
So, the point which Krishna is making is that he is being encouraging without being compromising. He is encouraging. Yes, it is possible if you endeavour in the right process.
But it is also uncompromising. So, A and B are uncompromising. If you can’t control the mind, you will not attain yogic perfection.
So, one who doesn’t control, one will not attain. That means it is a requirement which has to be met. So, he is uncompromising.
But at the same time, he is also understanding and encouraging. There is a right process. If you follow that process, you will be able to control the mind.
पश्यात्मनातुयतताः, bring the mind in control and endeavour. You will attain success. So, Krishna is offering encouragement to Arjuna over here.
Yes, it is possible for you to do it, Arjuna. If you just keep practising, just keep practising, you will definitely achieve it. So, what is the process? That Krishna will talk about later in the Bhagavad Gita.
He is not talking directly over here. It will come several times. And most directly, yoga, ashtanga yoga and bhakti yoga will be contrasted in the 8th chapter.
And there in 8.14, Krishna will tell, what is the process? The easy way. Here, Arjuna has said, it is difficult to do this. Krishna has said, it is easy to do.
What is easy to do? Bhakti yoga. The verse, ननिचीतासपतम्योमामस्मर्ति नित्युक्तस्याहं सुलभापार्थ नित्युक्तस्योगिना In the whole Bhagavad Gita, this is the only verse which talks about the attainment of spiritual realisation being easy. सुलभापार्थ How does it become easy? For one who remembers Krishna and uses that remembrance of Krishna to control the mind.
So, here, Krishna concludes this question of Arjuna. It is a two-verse question and a two-verse answer. In two verses, Arjuna expresses apprehension and in two verses, Krishna gives clarification and encouragement.
So, he says it is difficult, no doubt, but by the right process it is possible. Just like the example of darkness and light. Darkness is impossible to remove if we don’t have the right process.
By punching the darkness, by cursing the darkness, by kicking the darkness, we can’t remove it. We need to get light. So, Krishna says, if we don’t use the right process, then we can’t remove the darkness.
We have to have the right process. Sometimes people feel that I have got some anarthas, I just use willpower to deal with them. See, willpower alone is not enough.
We have discussed this earlier also. If somebody has got cough, somebody has got loose motion, by willpower, by willpower, I can’t deal with disease. Willpower is required, but willpower has to be coupled with a process, a curative process.
Take this medicine, take this medicine, then I’ll be able to cure. So, willpower alone is not enough. Willpower coupled with a process will lead to elevation for us.
So, Krishna is saying, shakhyo vaptam. It’s possible, but how? Yetatta, endeavour. Endeavour vasyatmana.
Bring the mind under control. Endeavour with the right process and then you will attain perfection. So, after hearing this, Arjuna will ask another doubt and that we will discuss in the next class.
Thank you very much.