Bhakti Shastri (096) – Bhagavad Gita Chapter 08 Text 23 to 28

Podcast

Hare Krishna kurvan geetam ratam dadau lokatrayopakaraya vismai krishnatmane namaha Hare Krishna welcome back to the Bhagavad Gita Bhakti Shastri course we are now into the 8th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita the last section so let’s have a quick overview of the 8th chapter before we move forward so we will discuss till now how in the 8th chapter there are several sections, the primary focus is on remembrance of Krishna so we discussed how, first Krishna answers Ajna’s 6 questions till verse 4 then the 7th question, how to remember Krishna at the time of death is from 5 to 8 then remembrance by Yoga Mishra Bhakti then remembrance by Shuddha Bhakti then remembrance by comparing natures of material and spiritual worlds and then remembrance by Bhakti Yoga is easier than by Ashtang Yoga that is the concluding section which we will discuss today 23 to 28 now let’s look at this the 23rd verse yatra kaale tu anavrttim avrttim jaiva yoginah prayatayanti tam kalam rakshami bharatah shabha so yatra kaale tu anavrttim so what is the time at which anavrttim one will not come back avrttim jaiva yoginah and one will come back prayatayanti tam kalam rakshami bharatah shabha so Arjuna, I will explain to you the time at which the yogi departs, the yogi will return and the time at which the yogi departs, the yogi will not return, I will explain this to you, rakshami bharatah shabha so now Prabhupada explains that if the yogi is perfect he can select the time and situation for leaving this material world but if he is not so expert his success depends on his accidentally passing away at a certain suitable time and now Prabhupada also quotes something interesting over here, according to Acharya Baldevidya Bhushan, Sanskrit word kaal here refers to the presiding deity of time so here we are going into foreign territory in the sense that what Krishna will be discussing over here involves a lot of preliminary Vedic knowledge which we are not familiar with in the normal course of our Krishna conscious study, so I’ll talk about so this is basically what Krishna will talk in the next verses about, the two Vedic paths called Devyan and Pitrayan so I’ll discuss about those two paths but before that let’s discuss a little bit more about the path of yoga now every particular path when a person follows, there is a worldview associated with it so for example when a person wants to be a materialist, there is a particular worldview associated with materialism, that may be godless materialism or that may be pious materialism, religious materialism or atheistic materialism, but there is a worldview associated with that so say if there is a godless materialist and the worldview is that there is no god, there is no soul and this life is a competition as a survival of the fittest and we have to fight to enjoy in this world and whatever success we get in this world, that is the only success and happiness that we will have and when we die everything is finished, this is the worldview like that, now in many ways a worldview is like a map a map helps us in some ways to navigate territory but if the map is wrong then we cannot really navigate the territory properly if I am travelling in Mumbai and I have got the map of Calcutta, then no matter how much I try to go follow the map, I just not make any headway so first of all I have to have a correct map but then even if a map is correct, the map may not be appropriate for me what does it mean? See there is a difference between correct map and appropriate map if I want to find my way in a city and for that I have got a map if I am looking at if I have got a map which is primarily talking about geographical features you know, where there is plateau where there are plains, where there are rivers where what is the kind of soil that is there where there are fault lines under the soil, if that kind of topographical features are the primary focus of a map, then if I am in a city trying to find the house of a friend that will not be helpful for that now that map is not incorrect that map will be correct but it is not appropriate for me so the map which we have should not only be correct but it should also be appropriate so now in the Vedic culture there are multiple correct maps that are given but not all are appropriate for our spiritual advancement in Kalyuga by the practise of Bhakti Yoga in Krishna Consciousness so the process of Yoga has a particular kind of map what is that map? That map involves like we discussed yesterday the various chakras are there and these chakras help this is one particular way of looking at the body so now if we look at it from a scientific perspective we may say actually if I study the science it just talks about glands and it talks about circulation and talks about nerves and blood and such things like that, there is no concept of chakra there so again it is a different map, to understand this concept of a map we have to understand that the focus when we look at a particular world in our view what we can know depends on what we know what we can know depends on what we know that means if a car is giving a strange noise while driving an ordinary person may think why is this car making a strange noise? it is irritating but a trained mechanic may say oh there is some problem in its carburetor or maybe there is some other technical problem in some other part because of which he is seeing the problem so now because the mechanic already has certain knowledge because of that when some further stimulus, some further information comes up then one is able to understand it better so what is just an irritating sound for an ordinary driver is a sound that indicates what is wrong and what needs to be corrected for a mechanic so what we can know from a particular situation depends on what we know so in the modern scientific way of looking at the body the body is primarily seen as a biochemical system, it is an organism but it is basically a biochemical system so essentially the whole functionality of the body is considered to be based on the proper balance, circulation and integration of its biochemicals so chemicals refer to substances that we study in chemistry they are natural and conscious substances and biochemicals refers to substances that contribute to, that are studied in biology that contribute to life or living systems to be more precise so biochemicals it is basically a system of biochemicals and all diseases are seen to be caused by some anatomical or physiological dysfunction so anatomy refers to internal structure physiologically refers to internal functioning so when there is a fracture there is anatomical problem, that may also lead to when there is indigestion or something like that when there is low blood pressure when there is anaemia that is largely physiological so either way, the point is everything in the body is seen from a biochemical perspective a structural, it may be structural also problem but ultimately structure is also comprised of biochemicals of different kinds so this is a reductionistic view of looking at the world and at the body Ayurveda has a different way of looking at the body Ayurveda focusses on seeing the body in terms of Kapha, Vata and Pitta so now Kapha can be compared roughly with Kapha is basically referring to the solid content in the body Vata refers to the air content and Pitta refers to the heat content it is a rough correlation and in Ayurveda the idea is when Kapha, Vata and Pitta are balanced then the body will function effectively and when Kapha, Vata and Pitta are in imbalance then the body cannot function properly so now it is a well known experience fact that people do get cured by practising Ayurveda also and people get cured by doing allopathy also now of course some devotees may choose allopathy some devotees may choose Ayurveda Prabhupada preferred Ayurveda but he was not fanatical about it, he was pragmatic use whatever works so the point is both are maps and both maps look at the body in a particular way in a distinctive way and they try to solve the problems that are there in the body so how now how do we reconcile these two maps we understand that it is the same body but depending on the framework with which one is looking, one will see the body differently now even the allopathic person will recognise that there is some heat in the body now we know that the body temperature is important if the temperature goes up it indicates that there is fever and that indicates something wrong inside the body so the concept of heat in the body as connected with health is accepted in allopathy also but the whole point that certain substances generate heat and the concept of fire itself that may not be so directly understandable for allopathy but there can be rough correlation now whatever are the organs that are talked about whether it is allopathy or Ayurveda there is a kidney which does certain functions there is a liver which does certain functions heart does certain functions there are certain things which are similar but the way of looking at the two is different so both work in their own way and both focus on trying to take care of the body now Ayurveda it certainly talks about material physical balance but also takes into consideration psychological and spiritual aspects not all Ayurvedic physicians necessarily talk about God and soul but if we study the original Ayurvedic scriptures Ayurvedic books that are there they do talk about the mental and spiritual aspect also although that is not their emphasis it is a medical book but that is mentioned over there so just as Ayurveda offers one way of looking at the world now because science is largely reductionistic so even when Ayurveda offers medical benefits and heals it is considered one of the alternative treatments which is quite successful in many ways but still people are suspicious because we have been brought up in a particular world view so we may not be able to appreciate Ayurveda easily but just as Ayurveda works although there is a different way of looking at the body similarly there is another way of looking at the body which in some way is connected with Ayurveda some way is different that is the yogic way of looking at the body it involves seeing the body in terms of its energy centres so let us understand this we will see first of all how even in science there are different ways of looking at the body in terms of not in terms of allopathy but in broad understanding of what the body is let us look at it so the point which I was making of there being different maps here we will see the same human body but depending on what is the focus we will see that the body will be seen differently now if I want to focus on nervous system this is what I will focus on in the body now if I want to focus on the cardiovascular aspects the respiration and other things like that then this is what I will focus on if I want to look at what are the internal organs this is the viscera, this is what I will focus on if I want to look at the lymphs then this is what I will focus on now if we look at it you know if we were to just look at each of these separately we would think that these are quite different so they are different and yet they are connected also how they are connected? because they are all talking about the same body ultimately but when there is a different focus at that time we will look at the body in different ways depending on the specific focus so now what we want to do in a particular territory will determine what kind of map will be most appropriate for us so now just as there is one way of looking at the body in terms of the physical functions similarly there is another way of looking at the body in terms of energy fields so this might seem a bit eerie or scary but there is nothing apprehensive about it actually this is talking about the energy fields now what do we mean by these energy fields actually we will see over here first there is a shape around this person and then further rays are going out this is like an aura of the person and here we will see basically energy fields that are around the person so this is energy radiating outwards or rather shadow of the person and this is the overall field that are around the person energy fields lets understand this a little bit more now see even according to modern science the whole universe is filled with vibrations and everything that we do it sets off vibrations right now i am speaking so this is sound vibrations but even without speaking if i move my hand the movement of my hand it creates ripples in the air around me that also creates vibrations just the movement of any object that also sets off vibrations and anyway there are vibrations which are constantly there the whole system of telecommunication is based on electromagnetic vibrations we call people by cell phone and such similar things happen because there are vibrations which travel around so just as a person needs to understand needs to have some understanding of physics to know electromagnetic vibrations, electromagnetic waves and to tap into them, to utilise them similarly we need other aspects also what do we mean by other aspects? by other aspects what we mean is that there are other ways of looking at the world at the body also so when we talk about Vedic culture we broadly talk about the three modes of material nature so that is also one way of analysing especially the psychological characteristics of things modes are known as psychological characteristics and they have wide ranging effect on everything and we will discuss about the mode later when we come to the 14th chapter but here we all know about the modes and broadly we know ok this behaviour is good, this behaviour is bad this is ignorance, whichever way it might be but the important point in all cases is that we work primarily on the on the map that we are using depending on how I look at the world and accordingly I function so in the process of yoga the purpose is that one has to channelise one’s energies and what are these energies? these are psychic energies subtler energies, not physical energies so there is some recent research that is happening in mapping auras of people many times we see in say Amar Chitra Katha or in some movies if we see some saintly people we will see some light around them it’s called a halo so it’s said that they give out an effulgence it may also be called as an aura so now if we have the appropriate technology we will find that every person has an aura every person has some kind of vision around that person what is this aura exactly? that aura refers to the kind of effect the person has around due to around in the environment that one is around sometimes we find that if we go in the presence of pre-advanced devotees then just by being in their presence we feel calm we feel we feel spiritual by that now sometimes it may happen even when we go to a temple we just go in the temple, outside it may be just a rush and there is honking and there are crowds and there is pushing and there is some just enter the temple atmosphere and suddenly we feel something different it is so peaceful, what is making it peaceful like this? so what is it that makes us peaceful like that? actually it is something which is very distinctive even materialistic people when they go to temple they feel this vibrations here are different they say, now what is it that makes them feel peaceful like that? actually it is the presence of spiritual vibrations it is the presence ultimately of Krishna now materialistic people may when they don’t have proper understanding of deity worship they feel that ok this place is spiritual they don’t think necessarily that deity is spiritual that deity’s presence is there actually it is chanting of Hare Krishna the glorification of Krishna the prayers and the meditation the devotees have done over there all those create vibrations which help in which help in creating a spiritual setting, so the important point is to recognise that wherever we are we, there are vibrations around that, so this vibration need not be just physical vibrations or the kind of vibrations that are studied in physics there can be subtler vibrations also so the energy fields refer to these kind of vibrations that we set off in a subtler level science in and of itself doesn’t study everything that we know about there is much that is beyond the scope of science as it is studied today even emotions are difficult for science to comprehend what to speak of things beyond that, so this is another way of looking at the world and in the path of yoga it is understood that these energy fields that we have these energy fields can be maximised or minimised for our benefit and for others benefit so when we say that certain yogis, when they advance in yoga, they can get siddhis so what is a siddhi actually when the yogis get some siddhi what exactly happens you see that when we can get access to subtler or higher dimensions then we can do things which are not so easily possible in lower dimensions for example, if I am in this room now if assume this is a small room and if I want to go from the right top corner of the wall to right top corner of the room to the left bottom corner of the room so from one end to the other end now actually if I have to if I can travel diagonally I can go like this if I don’t travel diagonally if I have to go just like this then first I will have to come down an ant will have to climb down like this in the vertical dimension and then move horizontally and come here but if there is a mosquito that is flying, mosquito just fly from here to here so it has access to because it has capacity to fly it doesn’t have to stick to the ground so basically the point is the diagonal decreases the distance and enables one to go faster so similarly when there is the access to higher dimensions then that which is not normally easily accessible becomes easily accessible so even in science there is a concept called as wormhole what is this wormhole? in most science fiction movies or science fiction novels there is the hope of space travel and travel to distant planets where there are other kinds of life forms and going there and staying there that kind of things fascinate people so when they are talking about such things so at that time how are these things done? what is the practical way in which these things are done? they are done by the practise of certain things, certain concepts which they call as wormhole so the idea is that Einstein has proposed that space time is like a circle so now currently space travel is limited by the by the upper limit of the speed of light so if one cannot now if you just go by the speed of light then what happens? then some stars are said to be thousands of light years away so what does it actually mean? it means that when we see a star in the sky, if it is a thousand light years away that means we are not seeing the star as it is the light from the star, it took thousand years to come here that means we are not, when we look at the sky we are not looking at the present, we are looking at the past we are seeing the star as it was thousand years ago and even if we go at the speed of light we will go there after thousand years and who knows, the stars may have exploded and may not be there only so actually space travel in science and science fiction, it is limited by the upper limit of the speed of light so therefore, the scientists have thought of a concept called a wormhole that means if space time is like a sphere then normally one has to go like this from the top of the sphere one has to go from one end to the other end but if a worm has to go a worm can bury or make a hole and just go to the hole and just instead of going all around the circumference of the sphere just go right through the in a diagonal line and just in a radial way from one end to the centre and then from the centre to the other end that will be much shorter, so that is called a wormhole so now of course wormhole right now is entirely a concept and whether wormholes exist and whether space time is actually spherical and whether one can find the areas where wormholes are possible and whether one can travel to a wormhole all these are speculations right now, we don’t know what it is, but the point which I am making through all these examples is that by access to some some different kind of reality our normal way of functioning can be changed things can be expedited so for example when there is prapti siddhi prapti siddhi means what happens see somebody, Prabhupada said Prabhupada also said he met yogis, if somebody wants a date from Kabul that yogi will be sitting in the room and suddenly the yogi will stretch his hand and right now the dates will appear and he will give the dates so now in many cases people who claim to do this are just doing magic, they have dates hidden somewhere and they just connect it and they mislead the people and they show the dates so yes there are people who are magicians who do these things but along with magicians there are also other people who do it genuinely they are capable of doing it so how do they do that? actually when the yogis by the development of their process of by their development in terms of subtle energies they can access subtler dimensions when they access subtler dimensions they can travel faster, not just faster but they can take shortcuts that are not accessible to those who exist in lower dimensions this is Apoorv Prabhu and Swamiji Prabhupada’s scientist disciples and he has talked about this in several of his books and there are VTG articles also which talk about this, diagrammatically he also explains these things we are not going to go into technicalities here because our focus is not Vedic science, our focus is Bhagavad Gita here it’s certainly not yogic science but the important point is when we have access to subtler dimensions, the things which are not possible with normal means are possible in those by access to those dimensions just like if one is studying if one is working on a computer in a computer there can be multiple levels of users so some users they just have access to the basics data entry, or other somebody more advanced user that person may be given access to not just data entry, but you can look at the code also and you can change the code if it is required and some user may be like a meta user, the biggest user, person has access to everything, so even a simple machine, we can arrange systems in such a way that depending on one’s level of authority one’s level of responsibility in Sanskrit this level of responsibility or authority is called as Adhikar, so depending on one’s Adhikar one will be able to do things differently so therefore one will get access to more things and will be able to do more things that way so Yogis are those who tap their subtle powers by a certain process and when they do that then they are able to have some Siddhis also, now if you look at the Yoga Sutras carefully even in the Yoga Yogic path, the Siddhis are considered to be distractions they are not the ultimate goal because ultimately Siddhis many people think Siddhis are spiritual, but Siddhis are not spiritual they are material why? because the Siddhis are focussing on material things it is the ability to manipulate matter and the ability to manipulate matter is ultimately material but in the Chakra system, there are subtler energies so first point I made is that Chakra system is a different way of looking at the body, it is a different map, and in this map there are subtler energies, when we tap those subtler energies then we can do things which are normally not possible because we get access to higher dimensions the word dimension we use here is not exactly in terms of, exactly identical to the way in which we use it in science, but even in science, when we talk about string theory especially we talk about 11 dimensions, 17 dimensions and scientists themselves talk about higher dimensions but how those dimensions can be conceived is something which even the scientists can’t understand or explain properly but there is a concept of higher dimensions so the Vedic understanding of higher dimensions is not exactly similar but it is something which is in that direction so the basic point is when one’s subtler energies are activated and one has access to higher dimensions then one can do certain things at that time let’s look, come back to this now this concept of energy fields so once one understands the concept of energy fields so we discussed this chart yesterday now let’s look at the I mentioned about Chakra, Sanyasa Chakra the human Chakra system so here this is described in the Vedic text now we talked about Chakras and in the in the scientific understanding there are various glands that are there so there is a correlation between the two a rough correlation so now in the Muladhara Chakra that can be roughly correlated to the adrenal glands the Hadishtana Chakra is correlated to the gonads and Manipura accordingly the Anahata Chakra is correlated with GIS and Pancreas the Anahata with Thymus the Vishuddha with Thyroid and Parathyroid the Agnya with Pituitary and the Sahasra with Hypothalamus and Pituitary so now each of these Chakras have certain hormones associated with them not the Chakras, the glands have the hormones associated with them so basically what we are trying to do over here is what this chart explains is that these two systems it’s not that one is scientific and other is unscientific you know they can be correlated but because the world views underlying them are different so there are there can be some differences also but both within their world views they stand intellectual scrutiny and there is possibility to access power so just as when we study science so the doctors who have studied the physical body extensively they have power the ordinary person doesn’t know what to do why there is pain in my stomach and the doctor knows and the doctor may give some injection or does some surgery and the pain goes away so just as this knowledge gives us an understanding of the body which gives some power similarly the understanding of the Chakras also gives a kind of knowledge which gives power so this correlates with metabolism now after understanding this basics of the yogi system the purpose of understanding this yogi system is the whole principle in yoga is that it is focussing a lot on material although the ultimate aim is spiritual the focus is quite a bit on material regulating the breath sitting in a particular asana and then trying to activate the chakras and then to get the prana to rise to the highest chakra now in all this the focus on remembrance of Krishna becomes substantially lowered and that is unfortunate so if somebody can focus on remembering Krishna and by remembering Krishna one returns back to Krishna that is the best but if one doesn’t focus on Krishna then that can lead to problems because one relies too much on one’s own endeavours and if one’s own endeavours don’t work out properly then one will not be successful so now with this understanding of the material factors so the material factors are quite important in the path of yoga because the path of yoga doesn’t rely primarily on the grace of the Lord and it doesn’t take shelter of transcendental bhakti it focusses on material readjustment, redirection of the bodily energies so therefore at a material level adjusting things at the time of death becomes important Krishna has said earlier that one who remembers me will come back to me but for those who do not focus on that devotional injunction just remember me for them they have to do other things what are those other things that will be discussed in the next verse let’s look at this verse now tatra prayatah gacchanti brahma brahma vidaujanah agnir jyotir aha shukla agni is fire, jyoti is light aha is day, shukla is the white fortnight we have shukla and paksha, so this fortnight refers to the phases of the moon so shukla paksha and krishna paksha shanmasa uttarayanam so we know that from the point of view of the earth the sun, depending on the way the earth’s angular tilt is 23.5 degrees relative position of the moon relative position of the sun, so there is uttarayanam and dakshinayanam sun appears to be moving the whole celestial arrangement seems to be moving toward uttar or the dakshin depending on tatra prayatah gacchanti if one goes away during that period brahma brahma vidaujanah and such a person is brahma vidau and such a person attains the brahma so then krishna says that they attain, prabhupada says that they attain the supreme what happens, they attain that supreme so prabhupada also makes a point over here when fire, light, day and the fortnight of the moon are mentioned it will be understood that all of them are that over all of them there are various presiding deities who make arrangements for the passage of the soul so now now this is krishna is not talking about devotees over here krishna is talking primarily about yogis, see what is going on in this chapter is a comparison of the path of yoga and the comparison of the path of bhakti, yoga refers to ashram yoga, so krishna recommends the easiest steps the fixing of the mind on him but he also analyses the path of yoga and his goal is to compare and establish how bhakti yoga is easier so here when he is talking about the process of yoga, he is describing how the yogis depart so when the soul departs within the path of yoga, it is described in the vedas that in the shrutis primarily that there are various devatas who supervise the pathways that are used by the departing soul just like if a person is going in a train then there are different railway stations along the way and there are station masters of each railway station and they overall look after the rails over there and the passage of the trains over there, similarly when we go after death, after that when the soul departs, then how the soul goes which pathway the soul takes that is determined by certain the pathway is overseen different parts of the pathway are overseen by the presiding deities so here krishna when he is referring to day and night and utrayana and light and such things, this is referring to not just this particular phenomena cosmic phenomena but he is also referring to the deities in charge of those phenomena that means when a person is brahmavito, when a person knows the absolute truth and then one has one’s consciousness such that one has propitiated these particular deities and those particular deities guide the person along the path ultimately to brahman, the focus is taking the soul ultimately to brahman, that is the focus and how is that focus fulfilled, that is by purification so yoga also involves some level of purification yogic austerity brings out purification, the requisite qualification and then yogi goes along in that way, so now if the yogi is not so advanced then the yogi does not these particular presiding deities don’t guide that person, what happens then another set of deities guide the person who are those deities that is described in the next verse so there is a different path, when one takes a devyan, so previously I was talking about a devyan path, yana means path you know we have and nowadays there are missions you know which are Chandrayan or Mangalayan is the isuru is setting up missions like that, so they say we want to go to the moon we want to go to the mars, so the idea is that devyan is a particular path which ultimately leads to liberation, vitrayan is another path which leads to heaven but it doesn’t lead to liberation, so here it is dhumoratris dhumoratris tatha so here what happens, dhumoratris tatha krishna, so dhumo is smoke, dhumena vriyate vahner, we discussed this earlier in 3.48 3.38 how one of the ways the soul is covered by, that is meant the smoke covers fire ratri night is krishna so here krishna is not referred to krishna it refers to the dark fortnight, you know.
So Shukla and Krishnapaksha, the fortnight of the Rahu. Chanmasa Dakshinayanam, so as contrasted with Uttarayana is Dakshinayanam, Tatra. What happens to such people? Chandramasam, Jyotir.
Chandramasam is the moon planet. And the yogi prapya nivartate. So what happens to the yogi is, the person who goes there, the person as Prabhupada mentions, goes to the moon planet and then lives for 10,000 years according to God’s calculations and then returns back.
Yogi prapya nivartate. This is another path. That means the yogi who has done austerities and who has timed the death at the right time, but not exactly at the right time, so that one can attain liberation.
So in that sense it’s the wrong time. But still it’s a time by which the yogi gets fruits. It’s not that there is zero results.
Yogi also gets results. But what is the result? The yogi gets elevated to Chandraloka. That means the yogi goes to heavens.
But after staying in heavens, the heavens are not eternal, remember. They are long-lasting, but they are not eternal. From there, the yogi comes back to the earth.
And in that way, yogi prapya nivartate. And Krishna will describe in the next verse. He contrasts the two paths in one verse.
Shukla krishne gati aete, jagat atyeti means more than that, beyond that, superseding or surpassing that so whatever results one gets by all these things one will supersede that, surpass that if you understand this and practise it yogi, in addition what will happen? paramsthanam upaiti chaadhyam yogi will attain the paramsthana so here Krishna is telling that the focus on transcendence will give us a far greater result than what can be got by doing activities for material kunya so in this way, in this chapter Krishna shifts Arjuna’s focus decisively from acting in the world to acting for the goal beyond the world and now what kind of yoga there is to be practised? Krishna has mentioned the word sulabha in 8.4 in remembrance of him but in the 9th chapter Krishna will describe this further what is the means by which one can get this result paramsthanam and 9th chapter is rajavidyaraj it’s called the king of knowledge the most confidential knowledge, Prabhupada translates it so there it’s clearly talking of bhakti yoga so this 8th chapter concludes with a call to practise yoga here yoga doesn’t necessarily always have to mean ashtam yoga what it mentions is focus on the transcendental goal and stay connected to the transcendental goal so Prabhupada’s purport is beautiful over here it’s progressive purport so Prabhupada summarises the Vedic process over here he says that how a brahmachari practises brahmacharya ashram and then a person gradually moves forward and then Prabhupada writes study of the Vedas is not meant for the recreation of Arjuna and Jyotish but for the formation of character so when one studies the Vedas under the master for a period of from 5 to 20 years so that means that is brahmacharya life the person becomes a man of good character and then one comes to grahastha ashram and then one retires from grahastha ashram and then one moves forward to sanyasa while Prabhupada says the beauty of Krishna consciousness however is that in once, that by one stroke by engaging in devotional service one can surpass all the rituals of the different orders of life that means essentially what Prabhupada says is that this progressive yajna dhaan tapa karma which is done in the Vedic pious life doing punya the ashram brahmacharya grahastha and sanyasa which are embraced all these are good but they are progressive however if one gets bhakti then it’s one step up one can quickly move forward and in one stroke get the result of devotional service by engaging in it that is the supreme result of life one will get love of Krishna one will get paramsthanam so it’s like when a person gets million a million dollars then five dollars ten dollars hundred dollars five thousand dollars all of them are included in that so like that one gets this paramsthanam the love of Krishna then everything else that is there it is automatically included in that and then Prabhupada says that one should begin by studying the Bhagavad Gita from a devotee so one should learn Bhagavad Gita from a devotee and not from a mental speculator this is a sign of faith and probably Prabhupada discusses how we study the Bhagavad Gita and then the doubts disappear and love for Krishna eventually emerges and then paramsthanopadhyayam Prabhupada says this highest perfection stage of life what is that? completely in love with Krishna what is mentioned in the previous verse this is the highest perfection stage of life and when we are completely in love with Krishna and even the devotee will transfer to Krishna’s abode in the spiritual sky where the devotee becomes eternally happy that is the ultimate goal so in the eighth chapter Krishna tells Arjuna that yes there can be material adjustments and by different kinds of material adjustments one can get different material results and by this onerously one can gradually even attain Brahman but just by staying fixed steadily in yoga one can get the result of the other parts of other activities beyond that one can get the transcendental result also therefore stay fixed in yoga and how the best yoga is bhakti yoga that was mentioned in the sixth chapter and that will be reiterated in the ninth chapter which we will discuss in the next class.