Bhakti Shastri (087) – Bhagavad Gita Chapter 06 Text 46 to Chapter 07 Text 01

Podcast

Hare Krishna. Welcome back to the Bhagavad Gita Bhakti Shastra course.
We are now to complete the 6th chapter, last two verses and then we’ll start with the 7th chapter. 6th chapter has 47 verses. So, let’s start with the 46th verse.
37 to 46 answered Arjuna’s 6th question. Arjuna’s second question, rather. First, in 33-34, Arjuna asked a question that the mind is difficult to control and the second question he asked from 37 to 39 is what happens to a person who is not able to succeed in the path of yoga, in the path of transcendence in general.
And that Krishna answered from 14 to 45. And now Krishna gives the conclusion of this chapter in 46 and 47. Let’s look at the verses.
So, Tapasvi. Tapasvi is a person who performs austerities. So, better than a person who performs austerities is a person who does yoga.
Adhiko yogi. Better than a person who is a jnani. Jnani bhyopi matodhikah.
Greater than a jnani is a person who is a yogi. And greater than a karmi is also a person who is a yogi. And therefore Arjuna should be a yogi.
So, in this chapter, Krishna seems to be offering a very strong endorsement of yoga. Naturally, the chapter is about yoga. So, naturally, Krishna will talk about yoga.
At the same time, he will see in the next verse that he is talking about a yoga which leads to a particular perfection. So here, the word yoga primarily focusses on the concept of a connection with the absolute truth. So, having a connection with the absolute truth through yoga, whichever form of yoga one might follow, having a connection is more important than just doing austerities, than just cultivating knowledge or just doing work.
So, the point here is connection with the absolute truth is preferable to any other things which may be considered spiritual by others. So, the point is the connection. Yoga means, as we know, connection.
So now, in the proportion, Prabhupada emphasises this point very clearly. Basically, when we speak of yoga, we refer to linking our consciousness with the supreme absolute truth. And then, it is possible by various processes.
So, Prabhupada explains here what are the problems with other processes. So, asceticism without self-knowledge is imperfect. That means, one is doing austerity, but one is not actually connecting with one’s inner reality.
One is not connecting with the supreme inner reality, that is, Krishna. Then, self-knowledge actually refers not just to the knowledge of Atma, but also refers to knowledge of Atma as a part of the supreme. So, mere asceticism is not of much use.
It may be used in terms of improving one’s health, but from the transcendental perspective, it is not of much use. medhas cheda phalani avagah nani jagat sananam So, in Kula Shekhar Maharaj’s Mukunda Mala Stotra, he says that without remembrance of Krishna, fasting is simply an exercise for fat removal. It is not medhas cheda phalani Medha is fat.
Actually, cheda, to get rid of it. So, it is not actually going to lead to any spiritual advancement in and of itself. There are people who fast for health benefits.
In fact, just like we have japa retreats, yoga retreats, there are doctors who specialise in what they call as fasting retreats. So, what are these fasting retreats? The idea is it’s derivative from natural therapy. The idea is the body has healing capacity within itself.
And if you just allow the body free reign, then the body will heal whatever damaging stimuli are there. So, then the idea is that as long as you are eating new food, then the body’s energies get diverted to digesting that food. A person fasts, then under a doctor’s supervision, then the body’s energy is no longer caught up in digesting new food.
The body’s energy is available for healing itself. Cleansing itself and healing itself. Repairing itself, basically.
So, the point is this may be popular among some people and it may work also at the physical level. There are instances where people had diseases which were incurable by normal means, which got cured just by fasting for a substantial amount of time. So, people may fast for health reasons and that has got nothing to do with spiritual realisation.
Similarly, people may fast just to negate the drives of the body. Just to prove that, yeah, I can control myself. So, of course, the most popular reason people may fast nowadays is just to get down weight.
Our society is a society where obeys people. People who are fat are almost treated like untouchables. Not just untouchables, unseeables.
People who are too fat, even if they don’t speak directly, the way people are looked down at, it is quite mortifying. And actually people are caught in a catch-22 situation. Because on one side, we have so many advertisements which are glamorising and propositioning and tempting.
Eat this, eat that, eat that. And most of the food that are advertised nowadays, they are all very tempting food which are not just tempting, but which are also fat-inducing. So, on one side, there is the, enjoy, enjoy, enjoy, eat this, eat that, and enjoy.
Fast food is there. But fast food is also mostly fat food. Fat-inducing food.
So, anyway, people may fast to get rid of their extra fat. And that is not considered spiritual at all. So, asceticism without self-knowledge is imperfect prophecy.
Yes, the capacity to do asceticism may be useful on the spiritual path. Prabhupada would recommend us to do tapasya in terms of fasting on Ekadashi and also fasting on holy days. Fasting as a tool for health can be adopted by devotees also.
Devotees can use yoga as a tool for health. But the important point is that devotees don’t get caught up in that alone. And they don’t divorce it from its spiritual purpose.
So, we understand that fasting or yoga, our primary goal is Krishna. And we want to make spiritual advancement and return towards Krishna. And along the way, whatever is required to keep our body healthy, we may do that.
Then Prabhupada makes the next point. Empiric knowledge without surrender to the Supreme Lord is also imperfect. So, empiric knowledge Prabhupada is referring here, he is using the word for gyanibhya.
So, one who is a jnani, that person, generally jnana leads to the conception that I am God. Aham Brahma Asmi. So, the conception of Brahma may be different among different people.
But quite often the conception is that it is I who am the absolute truth. So, then that is definitely not correct. That is imperfect.
So, Prabhupada is mildly critical of this. He is not saying it is useless, it is a waste of time. It is imperfect.
He uses a stronger critique in the next. So, for karmibhya, he says, fruity work without Krishna consciousness is a waste of time. Shrama evahi kevalam, as the Bhagavatam says.
Shrama is labour. Kevalam. Kevalam is only shrama.
Generally we do labour for some fruit. But if there is only labour and there is no fruit, then that is useless. So, that’s how Prabhupada translates shrama evahi kevalam as waste of time.
Fruity activities. So, now, after describing this and giving this endorsement to the path of yoga. Now, there may be yoga which involves different conceptions.
Some yogis are impersonalists, some yogis are personalists. So, different yogis may have different conceptions. So, is Krishna giving a blanket endorsement for yoga in general? No.
He recommends yoga but then what he is implying by yoga to understand that, we have to look at the next verse. There are many yoga teachers who actually, when they want to prove that Bhagavad Gita recommends yoga, endorses yoga, glorifies yoga, they quote Bhagavad Gita and they quote only 6.46. They don’t quote 6.47. 6.47 says, yoga is the best path. Why? Krishna says that.
Better than tapasvi is a yogi. Better than a jnani is a yogi. Better than a karmi is a yogi.
So, therefore yoga is the best path and we should all follow yoga. That’s what they say. But actually, Krishna says, what kind of yogi one should be? And then if we look at the next verse, it is clear that Krishna is referring to a bhakti yoga.
Bhakti yogi. So, this is an example of quoting out of context. Krishna is definitely recommending yoga but if we look at what he is recommending in the context, then he is not just recommending yoga as a sadhana process centred on ashtanga yoga.
He is using yoga as a method of connection and that connection should be with the personal absolute truth. That is what will become clear in the next verse. That is 6.47. This is one of the almost oft-quoted verses from the Gita by Srila Prabhupada.
And especially whenever Prabhupada would ask any question about yoga, Prabhupada would take out this verse to underscore the point that yoga should culminate in bhakti, in bhagavan. So, 6.47. yoginam api sarvesham madgaten antaratmana shraddhavan bhajate yo mam same yuktatam omataham So, yoginam api sarvesham among all kinds of yogi. madgaten antaratmana That antaratmana, within oneself, madgaten One thinks about me.
Makes me the gati. Makes one be the goal. Shraddhavan With faith.
What does one do with faith? Bhajate yo mam One worships. Same yuktatam omataham. Such a person is the most intimately united with me.
Yuktatama. There are many significant words in this. Let’s move from downward.
Yuktatama So, generally there are degrees of endorsement. So, there can be good, there can be better, and there is best. So, best is the highest endorsement.
It is superlative. Good, better, best. Similarly, in Sanskrit, there are superlatives.
Yukta. Yukta is good. It’s a good, well situated, well connected.
Krishna has used the word repeatedly in the Bhagavad Gita, in this chapter itself as well as elsewhere. In this chapter itself, such a person is called yogi. Krishna has used twice.
Once he has used in 6.8 and again he has used in 6.18 So, let’s look at these two uses to understand. When Krishna says something is good, and then something he says is good, better, and best. So, if you have no frame of reference, something is good, oh, that’s very nice.
But then when Krishna says, oh, this is the best, somebody says, this is the best, oh, that means, okay. This is good, but this is the best. So, we will look at what Krishna has called yukta, and then we will see what he has called as yukta-tama.
So, in Sanskrit, yukta is like good, yukta-tara is like better, and yukta-tama is like the best. So, the word yukta has been used many times in the Bhagavad Gita, but this is called as yukta. Such a person is yukta, in that specific way.
In this particular chapter, let’s look at the places where it is used. So, 6.8 is jnana-vijnana-trupta-atma kutastha-vijite-indriya yukta-ityucchate yogi samanushtha-asmaka-anjanah So, here Krishna is talking about who is yukta? One who is detached. One who is disconnected from material things.
The person has knowledge, the person has realisation. And because of knowledge and realisation, the person is satisfied. Trupta-atma.
And because the person is trupta-atma, jnana-vijnana-trupta-atma kutastha is well situated, highly situated, high above the material things. And vijite-indriya, the person has conquered the senses. And the person is yukta-ityucchate, the person is called yukta.
And then what is the nature of the yukta person? samanushtha-asmaka-anjanah The person sees everything material equally, whether it be stones or pebbles or gold, the person sees all of them equally. And then in the next time when he uses the word yukta, now there are many places using yukta, we are just looking at this chapter. Earlier also Krishna used yukta in 5.24 also, one who controls material desires.
praaksharir vimokshana This is 5.23 actually. praaksharir vimokshana kama-krodha-odbhavam-vekam yukta-hasya-sukhe-na-raha So one who can tolerate the forces of desire and anger, such a person is yukta, well situated. Then in this chapter also he uses vidha-vinityam-jittam atmanyeva-vatishthate nispruha-sarva-kaamebhyo yukta-ithyuchyate tadah So again, the point is negative.
Negative means the point is a disconnection. So when a person is disconnected vidha-vinityam-jittam when one has controlled one’s consciousness, one’s mind atmanyeva-vatishthate, fixed it on the self, nispruha-sarva-kaamebhyo one is free from all desires. Then yukta-ithyuchyate tadah, such a person is yukta, well situated.
So Krishna has used the word yukta over there. Now let us see where he is using the word yukta-tama. So here he is using the word yukta-tama.
That means that was good, but this is the best. So disconnection from matter is good. Krishna recommends that.
Such a person is well situated. At least the person will not become more entangled. But connection with the absolute truth is best.
So that is good, but this is the best. Yukta-tama. Yukta-tamo-matah, such a person is best among all the well connected persons.
So what is it that makes the best? Krishna is not talking here in terms of disconnection. He is talking in terms of connection. Not in terms of disconnection with matter, but in terms of connection with him.
Yoginam, what is he saying? Among all the kinds of yogis. So those are disconnected from matter, they are yukta, but among all such yogis, yoginam is sarvesham mat gaten antaratmana They live in me, mat gaten. So Prabhupada, interestingly the word to word translation of mat gaten he says, abiding in me and always thinking of me.
So abide means to live in me. To live in harmony with me. So by thinking of Krishna, we live in Krishna.
Mat gaten antaratmana within oneself. Shraddhavan bhajatey omam So with faith one worships the supreme lord, bhajatey and engages in transcendental service to the lord. Prabhupada translates bhajatey as Bhagir.
So now, Krishna is there in the heart of everyone. But there can be many levels of understanding. At a faithless level one may think, oh, I don’t know whether Krishna exists in the heart.
At another level one may say, yes, Krishna exists in the heart, but Krishna is just a conception. That means, yes, it is good to think about God, but ultimately one has to go beyond God. So Prabhupada sees through a facade and they say that mayavadis are also atheistic.
Because they ultimately want to reject God. The atheists reject God by saying God doesn’t exist. The mayavadis also reject God by saying that God doesn’t exist because we have to go beyond God to a higher reality.
So they say God is just a transitional reality, not an ultimate reality. So they may claim themselves, we are not atheistic, we are trans-theistic. Right? As we go beyond belief in God.
Well, whatever the terminology, but the point is they are rejecting the personal God. And Krishna is saying that sort of conception is not proper. Shraddhavan.
A person should be faithful. And what should be the faith? Yes, the Lord who is conceiving in the heart, that is the ultimate truth. That is the object of my service and worship and surrender and devotion.
So bhajate. With faith one worships. The yogis, the many yogis who are impersonal say yes, we have to conceive of the impersonal, conceive of the personal Vishnu in the heart.
But after that we have to go beyond. No, there is no going beyond. Krishna is saying that one who thinks about me is the highest.
One who thinks about me is the highest. One who worships me. Such a person is the highest.
Now, Sri Prabhupada’s purport has many sections. So Prabhupada initially focusses on the third. Bhajate.
So Prabhupada says bhajate doesn’t just mean worship. Bhajate means service. So we can worship many people, but we have to serve the absolute truth.
And he connects this word bhajate with another verse from the Bhagavatam, the 11th canto, 11.5.3. So यईशाम् पुरुष्यम् साक्षाद आत्मप्रभावमि ईश्वरम् नभजन्त्यवजानन्ति स्थानाद् भ्रष्टः पतन्त्यधा यईशाम् पुरुष्यम् साक्षाद So this is the glorification of the Supreme Lord and this is the absolute truth पुरुष्यम् साक्षाद, he is the original person Prabhupada translates it as primaeval lord आत्मप्रभावमि ईश्वरम् So he is the controller he is the Ishwara and he is आत्मप्रभावम् आत्मप्रभावम् means the source of all living beings So if one doesn’t worship a japa person, नभजन्ति and what does one do? Defies because of ignorance, not just ignorance but misunderstanding, अवजानन्ति so one misunderstands one defies the Supreme Lord and what happens? स्थानाद भ्रष्टः स्थानाद भ्रष्टः means to fall away so योग भ्रष्टः was the word which is used in this chapter also one who is deviated from the path of yoga one who falls from the path of yoga, one who becomes corrupted so स्थानाद भ्रष्टः means one who becomes corrupted and falls away पतन्त्यधा means one falls down so now Prabhupada says we will certainly fall down so भजन्ति refers to the worship Prabhupada says, not just worship that भजन्ति refers to worship is what common people think but भजन्ति refers to service so one can worship some देवता, one may choose not to worship some देवता, that’s up to a person but when we understand that we are intrinsically connected to the Supreme Lord and we are forever meant for love and service so if we don’t love and serve the Supreme Lord, then we fall away from our spiritual position and we fall back to the material world of temptations and Prabhupada explains how ultimately all yogas are meant to culminate in भक्ति yoga, so here Prabhupada is using the word yoga in the sense of the process, there is ज्ञान योगा there is श्टान योगा so these are all, if we imagine a ladder or a staircase which goes to multiple stories so first story, second story third story, fourth story, like that there are multiple stories in the staircase so the topmost story the topmost floor is the place where one wants to go, so that topmost level of realisation is the Bhagwan realisation and now to just enhance this metaphor consider that there is there is a staircase sometimes there are staircases which don’t go all the way up so imagine there are four levels there are four stories from the ground story onwards, ground floor, first floor, second floor, third floor, fourth floor now there is one staircase which goes only to the first floor, the second staircase goes only to the second floor the third staircase goes only to the third floor and there is one staircase which goes to the fourth floor so now the staircase which goes out, now the first floor we could say like Swarga, and there is Brahman and there is Paramatma and there is Bhagwan so the staircase of Karmakand that will take one to Swarga the staircase of Jnana will take one to Brahman the staircase of Yoga will take one to Paramatma and the staircase of Bhakti alone will take one to Bhagwan so the building itself has multiple stories and one has to go to the highest so what is Ashtanga Yoga? ultimately there is only one goal that is to go up so that is to go up that is the only goal and one ultimately wants to get to the topmost level because that is where we will get the topmost fulfilment but to get there to the topmost level one has to go in different ways and what does different way mean? actually those who take a staircase which takes one to the first floor then what happens? it is not that they are permanently trapped over there you know these floors are connected and they can find out where is the other staircase which will take them to the fourth floor and then they will reach the fourth floor so when you talk about different yogas we can talk about them in two different ways one way is that these other yogas are themselves independent path which takes us to particular destinations and also the other understanding is they are assistant paths which can help one ultimately to reach the highest destination if one has Bhakti element within oneself if one eventually takes to the Bhakti path not Bhakti elements one takes to the Bhakti path now when I say the other yogas are independent they are not entirely independent we will look in the later chapters especially in the 9th chapter how other yogas also need to have Bhakti element within them to be successful that will come repeatedly in the 8th chapter it will come but the point is that here that means we can look at these paths as two different ways that as separate staircase which takes to a particular level but ultimately one wants to go to the 4th floor so if one wants to go to the 4th floor then it is best to take the staircase which takes one directly to the 4th floor if one takes a staircase which takes one to the 1st floor one goes up, looks around oh I reached here, I came here oh this is swarga and afterwards one comes back down one thing I went to swarga, I came back no, that’s not the goal there is something higher than swarga so, Prabhupada says over here in the paraphrase now with this example we can understand that actually means bhakti yoga all other yogas are progressions towards the destination of bhakti yoga from the beginning of karma yoga to the end of bhakti yoga is a long way to realise here, like climbing up the multiple story building so now what Prabhupada says, let’s try to understand this with a slide over here so bhakti yoga is the most complete yoga, why? it involves action, introspection and meditation which are the limbs of the other yogas so action in karma yoga karma yoga is going to do action and that’s a positive aspect of karma yoga then there is introspection introspection means thinking within and speculation contemplation, all that is there so to try to understand what is absolute, there is jnana yoga and meditation meditation is more directed thinking which tries to go towards the absolute truth that is also there so now actually bhakti yoga is the highest because all these three are included within bhakti yoga there is action, introspection and meditation and beyond that ultimately ultimately all our faculties follow the heart whatever we want to do, ultimately if our heart is in something everything else comes in when we love something or someone, naturally we physically render service to that person we mentally think about that person we intellectually connect with that object of love so the heart, the body, the mind intelligence, everything follows the heart so if the heart is involved then all other beings are ultimately involved because the heart is the governing faculty for us so for all of us even people who are intellectuals they are primarily head driven they also have a heart and actually their heart may not be very active regularly, that means they may not be too emotional, normally speaking but when they do become emotional their emotions do take control of their lives and certainly when material emotions take control that is undesirable, but spiritual emotions taking control is supremely desirable so that’s why our ultimate goal is to connect with Krishna and everything follows the heart so that’s how bhakti yoga because it activates the heart in bhakti yoga we connect with our heart towards Krishna, that’s why it is the top most of all yogas so in this way, Prabhupada explains in the purport that how in the first time in the Bhagavad Gita he will talk about how Krishna is all beautiful so the ideal yogi Prabhupada explains, what does that mean? the ideal yogi concentrates the attention on Krishna who is called Shyamsundar so basically Prabhupada is giving the description of Brahma Samhita over here with some other things added and then the Brahma Jyoti comes from him and then he incarnates in the incarnation he is known as the son of mother Yashoda he is called as Krishna Govinda Vasudeva then Prabhupada talks about how can one contemplate like this through the process of bhakti so here records from the famous verse from the Sri Tashadur Upanishad 6.23 so those who are implicit faith in the spiritual master so so one has para bhakti for the dev and along with that one has bhakti similarly for the guru the artha of all this will be illumined, will be revealed mahatmana so interestingly here, those who have faith, even if they are seekers and they are striving for understanding they are referred to as mahatma in this verse so Prabhupada is explaining here about the point of shraddha so he is taking systematically first he talked about the point of bhajate then he talked about madgate, who is the person who has to meditate on and now he is talking about shraddhavan bhajateyoma shraddha, that means faith so the faith that actually by the mercy of Krishna and by the mercy of guru things will be revealed to us and then Prabhupada quotes a famous definition of bhakti from the Gopal Tapani Upanishad now there are 11 principle Upanishads and there are many other Upanishads which are among the 100 Upanishads which are also important so among those important Upanishads which especially talks about the worship of Gopal is called Gopal Tapani and it is frequently quoted by our Acharyas so let us see what the Gopal Tapani Upanishad says it gives a definition of bhakti also bhakti asya bhajanam tat iha mutropadhi nairasena amushmi manah kalpanam etad evaneshkaram so bhakti asya bhajanam so bhakti means devotional service and iha and amutra iha and amutra this usage came in the Bhagavad Gita also in 6.40 when Krishna showed Arjuna that either in this world or in the next world iha amutra that in this or the next world transcendentalists will not meet with disaster so bhakti asya bhajanam we worship the supreme lord we serve the supreme lord tat iha amutra it means one does not have nairasya one does not have desires for gain either in this world or in the next world in this life or the next life and then manah kalpanam etadevaneshkaram so you absorb the mind in Krishna without any desire for fruitive activity that is actually naishkaram that is actually bhakti so this is the perfection now if you are describing this very categorical way so this is the first time in very categorical, emphatic way Krishna has said that connecting with him is the highest truth he has talked about fixing the mind earlier on him but earlier when he had talked about it, it was more of in 2.61 he talked about fixing the mind on him so that one could become sense controlled so like that he has talked about connecting with him on several occasions, where all has he talked as I said 2.61 so that is very helpful that somebody who wants to control senses yukta seetha mat paraha so that person should fix the mind on me but here also Krishna has not revealed himself as the ultimate truth to humanity he said okay, those who want to sense control, they can fix their mind on me then they will be able to control the senses so like that he is referred again in 3.30 that he has said that you should offer the fruits of the work to me there also yes, is the goal of the fruits of work but again further, nothing clearly has been mentioned, in the 4th chapter also Krishna says you should have faith in me faith in me and my words and he is talking about how in 4.48, Krishna talks about his position several times, but we are talking now here about fixing the mind on Krishna so in 4.9 he says that one should understand my work janma karma chame devyam, then that person will attain liberation and then for that manmaya mam upashruta, he says in 4.10 fix the mind on me and then many in the past have become liberated, so you can also become liberated, in 4.35 Krishna says that in 4.34 surrender to the Guru and then what is the result of surrendering to the Guru, in 4.35 Krishna says that this person sees all living beings to be situated in me he sees all living beings as spiritual atmani and dhomai in me, so he is talking about the relationship of all living beings with him in the 5th chapter he has also said that, actually there is only one reference to maam in the 5th chapter where at 5.29 he says that everything should be offered to me I am the ultimate bhoktaram beke tapasam sarva-loka-maheshwaram sudham sarva-bhutaanam yatvam aam shanti micchati I am the bhokta of everything so in this way Krishna has talked repeatedly in the previous chapters, but never as emphatically he is talking about it in the 6th chapter also we discuss where all Krishna talks about maam, he mentions it in 6.14-15 we have discussed this, I will not repeat that, first is yuktaasita matparah and matsamsthamadigachyati then again he talks about maam in 6.30-31-32 where is yo maam pashyati sarvatra and sarva-bhutasthitam yo maam bhyati ekatumastithah and 6.30-31 he talks about maam so the maam has come again and again, but it has never come as emphatically as it is coming here here at the end of the chapter Krishna is telling, one who thinks about me, one who abides in me with faith serving me, shraddhaavan bhajateyo maan samaya yuktata maumata which person is most intimately connected with me, so if you look at the flow of the chapters so what is happening in the first 6 chapters Krishna is recommending to Arjuna something far more subtle, sophisticated sublime, satisfying empowering and just the dialectic dialectic means choice okay, debate two opposites in a debate Arjuna’s dialectic was action or renunciation so either should I act or should I renounce that was the only thing that Arjuna was thinking about but Krishna has revealed something much more subtle, he said don’t think of action and renunciation actually action can be what Arjuna thought as two options, Krishna has explained that actually action and renunciation are not just two options he said within action also there can be variety, there can be renunciation in action so what was two Krishna brings the third one which integrates the two instead of action or renunciation you can have action with renunciation or renunciation in action and that has been the overall turnover and the connection with Krishna has been just talked about briefly but now in this verse and from here we’ll start the 7th chapter, the focus will become much more on Ma so now it’s not just renunciation in action from now onwards it will be devotion in action that means one performs action with devotion in turn not just renunciation I’m not connected with the world and still I’ll act, yes I’m not connected with the world but I want to be connected with Krishna and the more I’m connected with Krishna the more I’ll make spiritual advancement so spiritual advancement will not be in the bhakti section which is start from 7.1 spiritual advancement is judged not by how much one is disconnected from the world but by how much one is connected with Krishna so we’ll see from the 7th chapter itself a new mood develops in the Bhagavad Gita the mood is till now it has been of disconnection, rejection detachment but now from 7.1 onwards it will be connection, attachment devotion and this inaugurates so the first 6 chapters are actually setting the scene for the heart of the Bhagavad Gita, that is 7th chapter 7 to 12 chapter 7 to 12 are the chapters talking about bhakti and these chapters will reveal will put the spotlight on Krishna, so the Bhagavad Gita’s flow is such that Arjuna’s spotlight is on the body, Krishna moves the spotlight from the body to the soul in the second chapter onwards and then the spotlight focusses on the soul ok how can the soul be liberated? that is by Karma Yoga, not just by simple renunciation but by sublime action and then while focussing on the Atma now Krishna moves the spotlight further from the Atma to the Paramatma and that Paramatma is revealed to be Krishna himself so in this way the flow of thought of the Bhagavad Gita will move on so let’s look at the 7th chapter so in the 7th chapter let’s look at the overview of the 7th chapter there are two broad sections in the 7th chapter first is no Krishna in full, that is from verses 1 to 12 and then from 13 to 25 the second section talks about surrender to Krishna and in that now each of these two sections there are further subdivisions which you can have so in no Krishna in full first is 1 to 3 is the glory of knowledge about Krishna then 4 to 7 what does knowledge of Krishna mean? it means that Krishna is the source of everything material and spiritual and then 8 to 12 talks about how Krishna pervades everything Krishna doesn’t just exist but he pervades everything and then 13 to 25 talks about surrender to Krishna so in 13 to 25 first 13 to 14 is why surrender? now 15 is one verse which just refers to those who don’t surrender 16 talks about those who do surrender then 20 to 25 talks about those who surrender to Krishnitara Krishnitara means those who surrender to something other than Krishna so actually there are 30 verses in this chapter so there are 3 sections third section doesn’t have any divisions directly third section is from 26 to 30 which talks about how the soul gets liberated by knowledge about Krishna so this chapter talks about gives the spotlight to knowledge about Krishna and as the chapter is called as knowledge of the absolute so there will be 10 chapters which will call as opulence of the absolute where the focus will be in the vibhuti of Krishna but here the focus is on general knowledge about Krishna so there is of course general and specific knowledge but the focus is on knowledge about Krishna so first you get knowledge about Krishna then knowledge should not just remain theoretical knowledge should be transformational so that transformation is surrender to Krishna that’s described in second section and then how the transformation ultimately leads to liberation that is discussed in third section so in this way the 7th chapter of Bhagavad Gita shows how one can attain the perfection which yoga promises so the connection between the 6th and 7th chapter is that in the 6th chapter Krishna has said that as Yogi he is talking about Yogi will always live in me Yogi will always be liberated Sarvatah Vartamano Pisayogimai Vartate he talked about it in 6.31 he will always stay in me so he is talking about liberation in the 6th chapter now Krishna will give another process of liberation based on knowledge about him one doesn’t have to go through the laborious process of Ashtang Yoga going to the forest and renouncing everything Krishna will offer an alternative process over here so that alternative process is described in starting from the 7th chapter it is indicated, it will be described further in detail in 9th chapter again in 12th chapter but here the point is Krishna has a particular thought flow going on and he is now giving Arjuna an alternative that not just renunciation in action but devotion in action so let’s look at 7.1 this is among the verses on which Sri Prabhupada gave the maximum classes 7.1 in the Bhagavad Gita Sri Bhagavan Vaja Mayi Asapta Manaha Partha Yogam Yunjan Madhashrayaha Asamshayam Samad Brahma Yatha Gyasya Sita Chidulo So Mayi Asapta Manaha So with I attached to me, O Partha Yogam Yunjan Madhashrayaha Engage in Yoga Taking shelter of me Asamshayam Samad Brahma You will become free from all doubt Asamshayam Samad Brahma Gyasya See, then you will know me completely How all that will happen? Here So now we can have an alternative way of looking at this verse This verse is a direct call for hear By hearing one will attain glory So hearing is important But how is hearing important? Hearing is the means by which Krishna will tell how this will work and hearing is also the means by which we will move along Hearing tells us the path but hearing is also the path That’s interesting Hearing shows the path and hearing is the path What is the difference between the two? By hearing you come to know How will I make spiritual advancement? How will I move closer to Krishna? That is true but along with that hearing is the path also Why? Because hearing itself increases our attraction to Krishna Shrunu By hearing It is one of the limbs of bhakti Prahlad Maharaj described the nine limbs of bhakti and he says hearing is one of them and Prabhupada often would say that Everything begins with hearing So hearing shows the path and hearing is the path By the path is not the only path There are nine limbs of devotional service But hearing is one of the very important limbs So when we want to look at hearing as is the path Krishna is saying Hear about how all this will happen Touch, hear or how You will come to know me in truth You will become free from doubt Your mind will become attached to me Hear about it Hearing shows the path But if we want to look at hearing as the path We can look at the flow of this verse in a different way And that flow will connect it with the previous chapter So in the previous chapter Krishna has said that the yogi who always thinks about me is the topmost yogi So now in this chapter Krishna will say Now if one is always thinking about Krishna One naturally has to be attached to Krishna We cannot think about something constantly unless we have a affection for that thing So similarly Krishna is telling over here that if you want to become attached to me What is the process? This is the process I will tell you So let us look at this process So what we are doing is from the first chapter to the sixth chapter there has been a flow which is going up How to How to Always thinking about me So now but that process involves Karma yoga, then Ashtang yoga, then detachment and then attachment to Krishna Detachment Complete indifference to material reality and attachment to spiritual reality Now Krishna will describe another process to reach the same ladder So we often talk about the example of a staircase and elevator Bhakti yoga is like the elevator and the other yoga processes are like a staircase That is true. So here we will see how Krishna will not outline the elevator So the goal which is glorified in the sixth chapter at the end is That thinking of oneself within the law of the lord within one’s heart within oneself and faithfully intelligently serving that lord So that is centred on attachment How one will get attachment? Let’s look at this verse from a different perspective So is the goal. So let’s look at the verse from bottom up So By hearing what will happen We keep hearing regularly Then We will know Krishna properly.
We will know Krishna completely and when we know Krishna properly we will become free from doubts. The more our knowledge increases, our doubts decrease They get clarified, they get removed, they get purified and when we understand Actually Krishna is Krishna is my greatest well-wisher Krishna is the ultimate object of my love Then naturally what I will do is I will take shelter of him When we take shelter of Krishna Shelter of Krishna Shelter of Krishna is not just an abstract conception It is a practical action So that is Yogam Yunjan We practise devotional service Yogam Yunjan And then what happens by the practise of devotional service Asakta Malaha Our mind will become attached to Krishna So In this way through these six stages One will attain perfection Asakta Malaha One will attain perfection That is what Krishna is talking about over here So The goal is Asakta Malaha Now let’s look at this progression once again When we hear about Krishna, what happens? By hearing about Krishna By hearing about Krishna Krishna We get samagram The more we hear, we understand We hear past tense about Krishna We hear the philosophy about Krishna All this deepens our understanding So our gyana increases And samagram, we know him in full What does full mean? Full doesn’t mean complete In the terms of knowing Krishna completely No one can know Krishna completely In the 10th chapter Arjuna will say That That only you know yourself Nobody else knows Actually the Gaudiya Vaishnava Siddhanta says that even God doesn’t know himself fully Because God’s energies are expanding So Here when the samagram means we will know fully according to our capacity So we cannot know the absolute truth in totality But we can know him in full according to our capacity And when we know him in full according to our capacity we become purified by that And what are the impurities that are removed? That is samshaya So the doubts Now Doubts can be from very basic to complex also Does God exist? Does God care for me? There can be kind of doubts Is the holy name so powerful that it will give ultimate liberation? Is the holy name the only way to liberation? Ultimately in this Kaliyugam Is Krishna the highest aspect of the absolute truth? So all these if we keep hearing Shrunu then asam nishayam, the doubts will go away The Acharyas have written so many books and so many devotees have studied these books and their scholarship is available to us if we just seek it Then does this go away? Then we will have Ashraya So So when we want to learn about Krishna we don’t want to learn about Krishna just for the sake of entertainment We want to learn about Krishna for the sake of attainment of shelter It is not entertainment but it is attainment Attainment of what? Shelter Krishna has become our ultimate shelter So when we get the shelter of Krishna, Ashraya then Yoga means wholeheartedly start practising Yoga Which Yoga? That is Bhakti Yoga That is Yoga which will lead to Asat Tamanah which will make our mind attached to Krishna So getting the mind attached to Krishna is the perfection of our spiritual life It is the perfection. Once your mind is attached to Krishna it will not get distracted to anything else When the mind is not distracted to anything else we will attain constant not just peacefulness but joyfulness because Krishna is supremely joyful So by connection with Krishna we will attain the supreme joyfulness.
Let us look at Prabhupada’s purport here Now Prabhupada explains that Prabhupada also points to the connection between these two One should therefore begin Yoga practise as directed in the last verse of the 6th chapter What was directed over there? Madgatenantaratmana Fix the mind on the Supreme Lord And then he says that concentrating your mind upon Krishna is possible by prescribed devotional service in nine different forms of which Shravanam is the most important. That is what Krishna is saying over here And now Prabhupada quotes this section of verse which we have discussed in our Ishopanishad study How the heart becomes purified. Let us look at this briefly This is actually section chapter 2 of the first canto 1.2.17-21 These verses are actually the most quoted verses from the Bhagavatam by Srila Prabhupada Any one section that Srila Prabhupada quotes the most from the Bhagavatam if we look at it consistently this was 1.2 chapter and the verses starting from 5 to 21 roughly 6 to 21 These verses are quoted very frequently by Srila Prabhupada and there is a series of lectures also he gave that is called as the book Dharma the way of transcendence So here Krishna describes the process How Shrunu, so now this verse is saying from Shrunu mayi asakta manaha will come.
So how that will happen that is elaborated in the sequence of verses So let us look at the verses shurvatam svakatha krishna so when we hear about Krishna now this is described from the perspective of Krishna that is svakatha for Krishna it is own katha so just hearing this katha and speaking this katha is purifying it is purifying in and of itself they are pious activities but additionally when we hear about Krishna that that lord he is situated in our own hearts and what does he do he removes he washes away cleanses away our badra our impurities and why does he do that he is the well-wisher of all living beings but he is especially the well-wisher of those who are transcendentalists he wants the welfare of all living beings a doctor wants to cure all people but if a patient is especially cured, cooperative a person is diligent naturally the doctor his therapy works more doctor is also a person if a patient is far from being cooperative is hostile shirkarsing and kicking not at all cooperating then naturally what happens is the doctor will still do the duty so like that Krishna is present in the heart of all living beings always irrespective of whether they glorify him or defy him but still naturally Krishna is a person and those who cooperate and those who try to devote themselves to him Krishna reciprocates we say you want to be helped I will definitely help you so for those who hear about Krishna the purification happens in two ways just sound vibration itself is purifying but along with that our submissive reception of the sound vibration activates the presence of Krishna within our heart and then Krishna also purifies us internally and then what happens nashta prayeshu abhadreshu nityam bhagavata sevaya bhagvati ruttama shloke bhaktir bhavati naishti ke so nashta prayeshu so most of the anarthas praya, praya means most of them abhadreshu they get destroyed bhagav nityam bhagavata sevaya by serving the bhagavata, so who is the bhagavata over here it is the book bhagavata but essentially it is also the person bhagavata so both of them we get to hear Krishna katha so the same process is being continued, so first it is we are talking about by hearing Krishna cleanses our heart but then this one goes on for bhagvati ruttama shloke bhaktir bhavati naishti ke so what happens after that is that lord ruttama shloke for him bhakti awakens in our heart so first it talks about we become detached from the negative and we become attached to the positive bhaktir bhavati naishti ke so what is required for naishti ke bhakti why don’t we have naishti ke bhakti right now, naishti ke means steady, unshakeable so that we don’t have because the modes are interfering with our connection with Krishna so what happens by the practise of bhakti strategy is so because of the modes of passion and ignorance there is kama and lobha they go away we become freed from them and we become situated in sattva and what is the way we are situated in sattva prasidati the mode of goodness itself makes us joyful in the 14th chapter we will see that one of the characters of the mode of goodness is sukhe sattvam sukhe sanjayati so when there are no longer the pulls of the lower modes and when we are situated in sukha we can move forward steadily sattvam sukhe prasidati sitvam sukhe prasidati so we become joyfully situated in goodness and actually resentful devotional service doesn’t lead to much spiritual advancement joyful devotional service leads to spiritual advancement resentful means why is Krishna the enjoyer why only Krishna has to enjoy I want to enjoy also so that sort of devotional service is resentful but when devotional service is joyful then we make rapid spiritual advancement so evam prasanna manaso when we are engaging in devotional service thus evam prasanna manaso by the practise of bhakti yoga we engage in bhagavad tattva vijnanam mukta sangasya jayate mukta sangasya jayate so when with a pleasant mind we engage in devotional service then bhagavad tattva vijnanam the scientific knowledge about Krishna awakens in our heart and when that scientific knowledge about Krishna awakens mukta sangasya jayate then we become liberated from all kinds of contamination mukta sanga mukta sanga means any contact with matter so earlier it was described that one becomes freed from the lower modes but now it is described once we become situated in goodness and practise of devotional service then we become free from all contaminations all kind of sanga will become victim and then what happens is most dramatic here now prabhupada is using this to shrunu and asamshaya to explain these two words from the bhagavad gita 7.1 bhidhyate hridaya granthes chidhyante sarvasamshaya shiyante chasya karmani drishtrem atmanishvare bhidhyate hridaya granthes so all the attachments that are there in the heart they get cut off bhidhyate attachments that are there in the heart they are all what keep us bound to the material world but chidhyante but when we understand Krishna and we become enlivened by that knowledge of Krishna then all the attachments fall away and then doubts also go away chidhyante sarvasamshaya chidhyante cut off so the doubts are also destroyed and then naturally when the desires and the doubts go away then we don’t do any activity apart from Krishna apart from service to Krishna so chidhyante chasya karmani therefore all fruitive activity stops and drishtrem atmanishvare so one gets the transcendental vision one understands and becomes attached to Krishna so this is how this wonderful process of bhakti works we will continue discussing this in the next chapter.