Bhakti Shastri (098) – Bhagavad Gita Chapter 09 Text 03 to 10

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Thank you very much welcome back to our Veda Bhakti Shastra course in the ninth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita the most confidential knowledge we discussed 9.1 and 2 the glories of the knowledge that Krishna is going to give this will free one from all inauspiciousness this will burn away all sinful reactions like that now let’s Krishna will glorify this knowledge by talking about its converse that if one does not have faith in this knowledge doesn’t imbibe this knowledge then what will happen that he will describe in the next verse 9.3 let’s start with it Ashraddha Dhaana Purusha Dharmasyasya Parantapa Apraapya Maam Nivartante Vritthu Samsara Vartamani so Ashraddha Dhaana Purushaha so that person who is not having faith Ashraddha Dhaana Dharmasyasya Parantapa that in the Dharma the person doesn’t have faith Apraapya Maam Nivartante which person will not attain me but will instead what happen Vritthu Samsara Vartamani will continue on in the cycle of birth and death so here Krishna describes the consequence of faithlessness as the continuation in the cycle of birth and death so normally if we don’t put faith in the medicine then we can’t be cured then our disease continues same way Krishna is telling this medicine can cure you but if you don’t take the medicine if you don’t have faith in the medicine you will not take the medicine and if you don’t take the medicine then you will have to continue on two things will happen Apraapya Maam will not attain me only when we attain Krishna we go out of the cycle of birth and death if we don’t attain Krishna Nivartante will return back where Vritthu Samsara Vartamani the path of birth and death Prabhupada’s Parpot elaborately talks about faith and he talks about faith in terms of the three Adhikaris Kanishtha, Madhyama, Uttama we have already discussed this in Nectar of Instruction so we will not go into the discussion of those stages here but Prabhupada emphasises interesting point he says the development of that faith is the process of Krishna Consciousness that means what? what is process of Krishna Consciousness? supposed to do it is meant to develop that faith and if we are developing faith then we are actually doing Krishna Conscious activity so naturally if you are practising Krishna Conscious sincerely then we will be experiencing purification we will be experiencing pacification we will be experiencing satisfaction and that will keep increasing our faith just as a patient who is cured of a disease keeps experiencing and relishing the cure so Prabhupada writes what is the faith that is being talked about over here? we discussed earlier about how faith being at multiple levels can say faith that God exists faith that God is a person there can be different levels of faith here the faith which is talked about is faith in Bhakti Yoga so faith Prabhupada correlates with the Bhagavatam verse yatha tarora mula nishechanena trupyanti tatskandha bhujo upashankhaha pranopahara chithen jnanam dhaiva sarvarham chithej this is 4.31.14 in the Bhagavatam yatha tarora tarora is a tree just as when we take a tree and mula nishechanena we water the root of the tree nishechanena is watering the root and trupyanti satisfied tatskandha bhujo upashankhaha then the remaining parts of the tree the branches the twigs the leaves all of these become satisfied by the practise of watering the root of the tree similarly pranopahara chithen jnanam so pranopahara that means when we satisfy the stomach then jnanam all the senses of the body become satisfied dhaiva sarvarham chithej similarly everybody is worshipped and satisfied by satisfying lord achyuta so this verse is talking about a principle of spiritual mysticism what is spiritual mysticism? we may wonder how is it possible that by satisfying Krishna everyone will be satisfied that is actually mystical but it is mystical not in the sense that it is misty it is unclear but it is that it has to be experienced it is devotional mysticism devotional mysticism is not just that somebody can you know float in the sky suddenly a person is sitting and the person levitates that may be one level of mysticism but how much satisfaction is that going to give anyone just a little bit of attention from above you can levitate just accomplish yogi somebody can have some prapti siddhi or something like that all that cannot give lasting satisfaction but when we understand internalise and realise this principle that by satisfying Krishna I will become satisfied then we gain lasting happiness and faith in that principle is Prabhupada says the faith that has been talked about so faith that by glorifying Krishna by serving Krishna by loving Krishna we will gain the highest happiness and this faith progressively increases from the Kanishta to the Madhyama to the Uttamadhikari and Prabhupada talks about the third Kanishta Adhikari that those who have no faith even after hearing about Krishna and the excellence of devotional service who think that it is simple eulogy so here the word eulogy is used in sense of empty praise exaggeration find the path very difficult even if they are supposedly engaged in devotional service for them there is very little hope of gaining perfection thus faith is very important in the discharge of devotional service so what is Prabhupada talking about over here it is even a scary statement that there is very little hope for gaining perfection the point is that actually devotional service is not just a matter of external engagement it is also a matter of inner involvement I may chant Hare Krishna I may go to a temple I may dance in Kirtan all this is good all this is essential also but through all this ultimately my heart has to be involved and if I am just going through the motions of doing these things and internally I am being eaten away by doubts then eventually those doubts will manifest externally and we give up those activities so that is why if somebody is not working on resolving the doubts working on developing faith then if the person is supposedly engaged in devotional service for some other motive apart from purification and elevation then one will not be able to continue for very long so how do we work on our faith we have to find out what are the things that increase our faith and do those activities just like muscles we have discussed earlier by exercising the muscles grow similarly we find out what is it that increases our faith it will be studying the philosophy more it will be associating with particular devotees doing certain activities that actually help us feel the purification the satisfaction in the heart by that we increase our faith and there are certain issues which we can put in the state of suspended judgement if they trouble us too much and keep forward keep moving forward and doing those things which help us develop our faith so let’s look at the section overview of the 9th chapter that will understand what is happening we discussed the first section now developing Kevala Bhakti and knowledge about Krishna section was the glory knowledge about Krishna what will it lead to it will lead to pure devotional service and that is what this is going to talk about now the second section will talk about Krishna’s inconceivable relationship with the material world let’s look at this now so mayatatam idam sarvam jagadavyakta-murtina mat-sthani sarva-bhutani vajaham teshva-vasthitaha so here Krishna is telling mayatatam idam sarvam this sarvam this whole sarvam jagat is parabhedra by me avyakta-murtina in my unmanifested form mat-sthani sarva-bhutani that the whole world is situated in me mat-sthani sarva-bhutani vajaham teshva-vasthitaha but I am not situated in this in this world now what is this referring to Krishna is starting the description of his relationship with the material world by explaining that mayatatam idam sarvam he parabhedras all of existence now how does Krishna parabhedra there are various levels now one is actually whatever exists is energy only material and spiritual that he has talked about in 7th chapter already and there also he says sutremani ganaiva that he is parabhedring everything is immanence we talked about avi is aso apsu kaunteya and those things are verses from 7.8 to 11 he is like the thread in a necklace similarly he is underlying unifying aspect of all of creation so that is there here mayatatam idam sarvam jagad avyakta-murtina so avyakta-murtina means unmanifested form so that is referring to generally speaking referring to brahmajyoti this can also be used to refer to energies of the lord prabhupada in different context he says actually everything that exists is Krishna’s energy that’s why everything is meant to be used in Krishna’s service so jagad avyakta-murtina in general this can be used to refer to brahmajyoti Krishna is parabhedring all of existence brahmajyoti and mat-sthani sarva-bhutani mat-sthani that sarva-bhutani that actually all living beings are situated in me how are they all situated in me? they are situated in me this can be said to refer to the super-soul aspect super-soul is the rest of all living beings it sustains everything mat-sthani sarva-bhutani na ca ham teshva-vastatha but I am not situated in them I am not situated in them means what? this refers to Krishna’s transcendence Krishna exists beyond the material world he exists in the spiritual world so I am not situated in these things na ca ham teshva-vastatha I am not situated Krishna has talked about this point in the 7th chapter also when he talked about his relationship with the modes in 7th point 12 and 13 12 he said ye chaiva sattvika bhava raja-sastana-sastriye mat-taye reti-tan-vidhi na ca ham teshu-temai na ca ham teshu I am not situated in them they are situated in me so he is saying first of all that he is not exhausted by pervading in material existence the next verse he says tri-bhir-guna-maya-irbhavai-dehi sarvam-idam-jagat mohitam-na-bhijanati mam-edhya-param-amvayam I am beyond all this I am transcendental to the 3 modes all living beings are bewildered by 3 modes but I transcend the 3 modes and here he is saying na ca ham teshva-vastatha na ca ham that I am not situated in this now Krishna Prabhupada emphasises the point that actually Krishna cannot be understood by material sense perception it is understood by spiritual revelation so svayam eva sphuraty adhya is quoted several times he quotes once again over here in this purport and then Prabhupada would often give example of the pervasiveness through influence, through power so king pervades the establishment or the king kingdom or the owner pervades the establishment that he owns through the influence that is there so that is one way in which Krishna pervades through his energies whatever is happening it is the interaction of his energies and that is how he controls now the next verse reveals the inconceivability of this point further na ca mat-sthan-bhutani vasyam-e-yoga-vaishvaram bhuta-bhrin-na ca bhuta-stho mam-atma-bhuta-bhavana so na ca mat-sthan-bhutani not situated in me na ca mat-sthan-bhutani they are not situated in me vasyam-e-yoga-vaishvaram that just see my yoga-vaishwarya the inconceivability of my power yoga-vaishwarya what is further he elaborates bhuta-bhrin-na ca bhuta-stho bhuta-bhrin I am the maintainer of all living beings but na ca bhuta-stho I am not situated in the cosmic manifestation mam-atma-bhuta-bhavana actually I am the source of all manifestations there is a lot of conceptual concentrated insight in this verse let us look at one by one first line is na ca mat-sthan-bhutani now there cannot be a more direct contradiction of a previous statement as it is here Krishna has said in 9.4 9.4c na ca mat-sthan-sarva-bhutani na ca aham-teshva-vasita so 9.4c was mat-sthan-sarva-bhutani all living beings are situated in me but here in 9.5a what is he saying? na ca mat-sthan-bhutani this is a direct contradiction now how can Krishna contradict? is it that sometimes when we are giving classes we make some mistake and say actually I didn’t mean that I mean this is Krishna making a mistake over here? no Krishna doesn’t make any mistakes he is God, he is omniscient he is actually through contradictions helping us to rise to a higher level of understanding a higher level of understanding we discussed about artha-patti now artha-patti is that when two contradictory statements are made so as to forcefully point one’s attention draw one’s attention to a deeper unifying truth a deeper truth that reconciles both the statements so suppose we have a statement devadatta does not eat food throughout the day statement A statement B is devadatta’s weight is increasing now how can these two statements be true? the person is not eating food the weight cannot increase so either the first statement is not true or the second statement is not true but if we are told both statements are true then how do we understand it? how do we understand it? then we have to propose a third statement which reconciles it so what is the third statement? devadatta eats secretly at night so he eats secretly at night throughout the day he doesn’t eat but his weight is increasing so now the third statement is not directly stated in either of these two statements but it is implied and if both are true then this has to be true so that both of them can be reconciled so Arthapatti is called as postulation and postulation is a form of one of the sub-pramanas one of the ways of acquiring knowledge so Arthapatti is often used in scripture to make to reveal the harmony in apparently contradictory statements how is that done? by the postulation of a third statement for example, scriptures say that God does not have a form Arupa and then the scriptures also say Ururupa Kajendranath Prayer says Arupaya Ururupaya Nama Aschare Karmane Arupa is not a form and he has many forms so how are these two statements to be reconciled? the reconciliation is by the point that actually both of them are pointing to certain aspects so it does not have a material form but has many spiritual forms so Urupa is that the Lord has a form that is not material but spiritual that is how these two can be reconciled so similarly we can reconcile different statements when they seem to be superficially contradictory so you know there are these statements if we just try to understand them at the literal level literal means not that we have to go to metaphorical or figurative but if we just try to if we get hung up with them this must be wrong this cannot make sense then these are like banana peels you know when you walk on a banana peel you slip and fall so like that if we are not guided by Guru Sadhya Shastra and we try to study scripture then in scripture often we will find many philosophical banana peels what do you mean by philosophical banana peels? that means these are concepts when we try to walk on them conceptually, intellectually then our intellect slips and it falls so if you don’t want that to happen then we have to be careful what we have to do is we have to understand that this has to be understood through Guru Sadhya Shastra so Artha Patti may be required so the philosophical banana peels rather than seeing them as a sign that oh scriptures are contradictory they don’t make any sense we should say that actually you know where there is a banana peel there must be a banana somewhere so what that means is there is a deeper insight to be had over here let me be patient let me be submissive let me be inquisitive let me find out what is the real deeper understanding so that way we will be able to understand how we can move forward so here Prabhupada gives a song the reconciliation he says what does it mean nijamastani bhutani he explains that burdens do not burden the Lord nijamastani sarva bhutani all living beings are situated in Him so this might convey the idea to some people that if all living beings are situated in Him then will the Lord get burdened so Prabhupada talks about the Greco-Roman conception of Atlas where Atlas is supposed to be carrying the globe actually the whole map of the Earth one of the names for it is Atlas and that name comes from that Greco-Roman conception of Atlas as one of the Gods so Atlas is carrying the globe on shoulder Atlas is burdened by carrying it for a long time so that conception should not be entertained about Krishna because Krishna is not burdened nijamastani bhutani Krishna is actually transcendental and by His energies everything happens svabhavaki jnana bala kriyaca svabhavaki naturally it happens Krishna does not have to endeavour Krishna does not have to strive and struggle and strain and sweat to get things done no sathya sankalpa His desires iccha nirupam api ishta tesa what happens is described by Durga Devi Ramasamhita describes that iccha nirupam api ishta tesa and according to His iccha nirupam api ishta tesa material energy does all the endeavours and things are done nijamastani bhutani refers to how Krishna is not burdened by the burden of by the burden of maintaining material existence it happens by His energies and then pasyame yogam aishwaram Krishna rather than being sometimes when we make a mistake we need to be apologetic oh I said that it doesn’t make sense let me correct myself but Krishna far from being apologetic what is Krishna doing over here Krishna is saying this is my celebrating this contradiction Krishna is not minimising or hushing or covering up the contradiction sometimes when we make a mistake then we say oh actually you didn’t hear me properly I didn’t say that I meant this but Krishna doesn’t hush up Krishna doesn’t cover it up Krishna celebrates the contradiction by saying pasyame yogam aishwaram just see my opulence what is this yogam aishwaram now normally we talk about yoga in terms of connection and the process that we follow by which we connect with the Lord so there is bhakti yoga there is jnana yoga there is karma yoga so these are all the activities that we do centred on bhakti, karma, jnana by which we are able to do yoga by which we are able to connect with the Lord but here Krishna is talking about yoga from his side so what is this referring to pasyame yogam aishwaram so actually Krishna also reveals himself so that we can become connected with him so that will be called as his yoga aishwarya so how does Krishna help that yoga to happen yoga means connection so for the connection between the Lord and the soul to happen the soul has to endeavour and the sadhana that the soul does through various paths the paths get the name accordingly karma yoga, jnana yoga, jnana yoga, whatever bhakti yoga but the Lord also reveals himself so that we can know him so that revolution from the Lord that can also be called as yoga because that is also helping us to connect so Krishna is saying this is my mystic opulence so Prabhupada translates the word yoga here as mystic so now mystic is not in terms of unclear, it’s mysterious it’s astonishing, it’s achyantya it’s wonderful and this sort of understanding increases the level of appreciation for the Lord that how wonderful the Lord is you see the simple faithful appreciation in the story of Narada Muni and the cobbler the cobbler when he was told that what was Lord Narayan doing Narayana told him I will not repeat the whole story but he said that actually he was threading an elephant to the hole of a needle he did not ask how is that possible he said oh yes, how wonderful my Lord is and how is it possible he said you know this huge banyan tree is there it just comes from tiny corn seeds so if the Lord can put such a big tree with a tiny seed then why can’t he do that also he can do that so in this way it’s explained so when we see Krishna’s capacity to do extraordinary things that increases our appreciation you know sometimes when people hear the pastimes of Krishna especially the miraculous pastimes the for example the pastime like lifting overhead or doing other such activities which seem to contradict the laws of nature so there is a school there is a class of thinkers who say yes Krishna existed and Krishna spoke of Agnita he is a very wise person but all these pastimes of Krishna perform miracles they are exaggerations which have been added later so they say the original Krishna was a very wise person very intelligent person a great diplomat but he was over glorified and after all these supernatural ideas were added there so they want to remove the supernatural aspect from Krishna and they just want to make him another human being so why do they want to do that because they don’t understand Krishna’s divinity so these people want to approach Krishna in a utilitarian way they may have nationalistic purpose political purpose social purpose whatever and for that purpose they want to use Krishna as a model Krishna we can learn from Krishna about these things also but we don’t have to reduce Krishna to these roles alone Krishna is transcendental when people reduce Krishna to this role then they try to divorce his supernatural activities from his personality and that is because they don’t understand that God means God can do anything so rather than feeling apprehensive or apologetic you know actually our scriptures have some stories which were probably not too mythological or whatever so being apologetic or apprehensive we can be assertive why assertive? because if he is God he can do anything and the more amazing the things that he is reported to have done the more it is evident that he is God and the more it is evident that he is God yes that’s what if he is God if he is omnipotent then shouldn’t he be able to do extraordinary things and the very fact that he is able to do extraordinary things that increases our appreciation increases our devotion increases our faith so we don’t have to be apologetic or like that apprehensive we can be assertive yes this is proof of Krishna’s divinity that Krishna has done all these activities as Krishna says yoga maheshwar this is Krishna’s mystical potency that he is celebrating the contradiction and then the next line describes bhuta bhrin achyabhutastho bhuta bhrin bhuta bhrin is Krishna’s I am the maintainer of all living beings achyabhutastho but I am not situated in them so what is the contradiction over here actually normally if somebody is a maintainer of something then that person is caught up in that thing when a person when the head of a family maintains the family at that time naturally there is attachment consciousness is right in the family so you say no I am not like that bhuta bhrin achyabhutastho I am not attached I am not entangled mamatma bhuta bhavanah and he says actually I am the source of all living beings I am the source of all existence but I am transcendental so Krishna doesn’t get attached although he is maintaining all living beings Krishna has made this beautiful creation but he has entrusted it to us and if we want to mess up with it Krishna allows us to do that of course when we mess up with it we are doing bad karma we will get reactions but Krishna allows us to do bad karma if an artist has made a beautiful painting the artist won’t want others to come and mess up with it but Krishna is not attached Krishna creates arrangements for the living entities to be maintained in the best possible way within material existence but if the living entities mess up things then he allows them to do that because he has given them freedom so he is not attached bhuta bhrin achyabhutastho now the last line has an interesting usage mamatma bhuta bhavanah mamatma Krishna is saying mamatma is my soul so now why is Krishna using such a word mamatma my soul does this give credence to the notion that some mayavadis have that actually we don’t have to surrender to Krishna we have to surrender to the unborn within Krishna so is Krishna referred to as something like that that he has a atma and that is the source of everything and he is different from the atma actually Krishna Achyut Thakur explains in his commentary that here just like sometimes in scriptures the word is used Rahu’s head you know Rahu’s head appeared over there now actually we may use the word Rahu’s head but Rahu is nothing but the head you know the story in the Amrit Manthan Leela that when the demigods and demons were both being were quarrelling for nectar so the god came as Mohini Murthy and he told them you both sit in the queue and I will serve both of you and Mohini Murthy started serving the nectar fully to the demigods themselves so Rahu and Rahu understood at that time oh what is happening and then Rahu came along to that side and started and dressed like a demigod and started asking for the nectar sitting in the queue so Surya saw it and Surya pointed it out and when Mohini Murthy saw it immediately Chakra appeared and cut off the head but what had happened was the nectar had gone till the the nectar Rahu had already taken the nectar had gone till the head that’s why Rahu did not die so the head was there now we may use the word Rahu’s head because normally a person with a head has a body but in the case of Rahu the head is non-different from Rahu because Rahu is nothing but the head similarly Mama Atma is used in that sense that actually Krishna is the Atma Krishna when you see we use the word Atma sometimes in literal sense and sometimes also in figurative sense non-literal sense put your heart and soul in doing service when we say it’s not that you have to take the soul out of the body and put it in the service you can’t take it literally over there what it means put your spirit put your essence so Krishna is telling Mama Atma Bhuta Bhavana so he is telling over here that actually I am the my my essential being which is me only nothing different from me Krishna has if there was some Atma which were higher than Krishna Krishna should have stated by now Krishna has stated the opposite repeatedly Krishna has said that in 7.7 Mattah Paratharam Nanyat Kinchi Dasthi Dhananjaya there is no truth higher than Mattah Paratharam Nanyat similarly in 10.8 he will say later on Aham Sarvasya Prabho everything comes from me it’s not that I come from something everything comes from me and 15.19 also he will say again later that Yo Mameva Samudho Janaati Purushottamam Sasarva Ved Bhajati Maam Sarva Bhavena Bharata one who understands me is the Purushottama Sasarva Ved one who understands me is Purushottama he is Sarva Ved that person knows everything Bhajati Maam and worships me Sarva Bhavena Bharata with all the emotions of the heart wholeheartedly so the important point is Sarva Ved that person knows everything it is not that somebody who thinks that there is something higher than the Purushottama that is Sarva Ved one who knows Purushottama is Sarva Ved so if you look at the overall flow of the Gita then we understand otherwise we just take one verse out of context then that might lead to confusion so Mamatma refers to Krishna himself Krishna says actually I myself and nothing apart from me is the source of everything Bhuta Bhavana now after describing this Krishna will now talk about an example which will illustrate this point of how he is how is Yoga my Swaraj so let us look at that example yatha akasha sthito nityam vayu sarvatra go mahan yatha sarvam bhutani mat sthanityo padharya yatha akasha sthito nityam just as is situated in the sky akasha sthita what is situated in the sky vayu sarvatra go mahan the vayu the wind sarvatra go the wind flows everywhere mahan it is great it is powerful but the wind can go in all directions and still the wind remains situated in the sky similarly yatha sarvam bhutani similarly all living beings mat sthanityo padharya they are situated in me mat sthanityo padharya so what does this refer to this refers to restriction not on movement but on the perimeter of movement what does it mean perimeter means the overall area see when we talk about the word sky what is it referring to over here sometimes the word akash akash kham these are translated differently now from the modern point of modern scientific perspective actually there is no such thing as a sky what we see in the sky is an illusion because it is just an extending space forever and ever so Sanskrit terms they are not always very easily translatable into English we discussed earlier about how the word avatar it cannot be accurately translated as incarnation because it is not in the flesh but Srila Prabhupada would use familiar handles and familiar concepts so as to not complicate things we discussed earlier that terms are mental sorry terms are verbal and concepts are mental so terms are handles for concepts try to carry something if there is a handle I can carry it easily so similarly terms help us to communicate concepts terms are handles for concepts so generally if a concept is new and the term is also new then it will become a little more difficult for people to appreciate it so what Srila Prabhupada would do when foreign concepts have to be conveyed to people that means the concepts are in the Vedic thought and they are in Sanskrit terminology and while conveying it Prabhupada would use familiar handles familiar terms even if those terms were not entirely accurate because those terms have different meanings in English then what was conveyed by the Sanskrit means Srila Prabhupada would use that why? so to make sure that people would understand the point easily at least get a start on understanding the point so Prabhupada would prefer familiar handles to unfamiliar concepts so that the understanding would move forward at least from the basic point of view now the point which is being made over here is that Akasha when we talk about sky from the scientific point of view from the technical point of view there is no such thing as a sky but from the general normal conversational point of view yes we say the sky is what exists we look up and we see the sky now the air moves around in the sky so if we have a bowl and a large bowl and then we put it upside down so it becomes something like a dome which covers things then the air inside the bowl the air is able to move around it can move up it can move down it can move right it can move left but its area of movement its perimeter of movement is limited so like that the souls in this world Matsthani so Krishna has used the word Matsthani three times now in 4th, 5th and 6th verses 4th was in 4C Matsthani Sarvabhutani and then 5A was Nachamatsthani Bhutani and now in here in 6D its actually situated in me so Krishna is using it three times here and what is he conveying by this the apparent contradiction in 4D and 5 4C and 5A Krishna is showing us how a higher understanding reconciles it so Krishna says that all living beings are situated in me what does it mean? Krishna says that I give them freedom within limitation so there is for the living entities unlimited freedom within a limited framework what does it mean unlimited freedom within a limited framework if a horse is tied to a pole horse is here tied to a pole with a rope now within the radius of the rope the horse has freedom the horse can move right, left towards the pole, away from the pole so the horse has for all practical purposes unlimited freedom as soon as the radius of the rope is reached beyond that the horse cannot go so like that the living entity has unlimited freedom within a limited framework it says the air can move in all directions but air is still contained within the sky overall so the word Akash, technically speaking would refer to ether, because ether is a substratum where everything is present and whatever moment happens, it happens within that substratum which ether provides, but the point is we can use sky in a conversational sense over here and similarly tatha sarvani bhutani matthanitya padharya, all living beings are situated in me, that means they are given freedom by me and within the area, within the freedom that I give them, they can act so they have freedom within a limited framework like that now we we are sitting and discussing this class if one of us want we can just walk away from here we can go to sleep during this class also or we can just walk away mentally during the class and go anywhere, we can do whatever we want, we have the freedom, but there is a limitation caused by the human body that we have, we may want to go but we can’t suddenly develop wings and fly in the sky so there are limitations so we have an unlimited framework but with the unlimited freedom within the limited framework that way matthanitya padharya so Devi and Krishna is describing the mystical relationship that there is matsthani machamatsthani how is that reconciled? by having some restriction and some freedom and how does Krishna do this? he does this based on his compassion on his compassion normally when parents maintain a child, parents become attached to the child, but Krishna doesn’t become attached what Krishna has said, yoga maishwarya see my mystical potency so if it is a mystical potency then what is mystical about it? if it can be explained with an example like this that the air and the sky then it is no longer inconceivable it is no longer aishwarya, Krishna says no but actually it is inconceivable because actually neither the air nor the sky are conscious when there is consciousness and there is interaction then affection and attachment develops so when Krishna doesn’t become attached to anyone, although Krishna maintains all living beings, he is not attached to them that capacity to maintain without becoming attached that is the inconceivability of Krishna’s relationship with the world now Prabhupada quotes here the point of how the lord is in control matsthani, so he quotes several verses he quotes Taittiriya Upanishad yad bheesha va yad bheesha va taha pavate yad bheesha bheesha is a reference to fear va taha pavate, wind blows out of the fear of the lord and then Prabhupada quotes from the Brahadaranyaka Upanishad also etasya va aksharasya prashasane gharge suryachandramasau vidrutau tishthata etasya va aksharasya prashasane gharge suryachandramasau vidrutau tishthata so, by his order the moon, the sun and the other great planets are moving, similarly Prabhupada quotes Brahma Samhita for the same point now, after describing this matsthanityopadharya this is with respect to the normal maintenance, now in creation there are different phases so in material existence there are different phases, there is maintenance there is also creation and there is also destruction, so after describing how Krishna maintains all living beings within material nature also, now Krishna will talk about creation and destruction let’s look at the creation and destruction sarvabhutani kaunteya prakritim yanti mamikam kalpakshay punasthani kalpada kalpada visrajamyaham sarvabhutani kaunteya so all living beings go there, prakritim yanti mamikam prakritim yanti they enter into my nature kalpakshay at the end of the kalpa and punasthani kalpada visrajamyaham and at the beginning of the kalpa I create them again so here something interesting is happening Krishna is taking the development of thought to a more theistic more personal level the similar point was said in the 8th chapter let’s compare these two verses same point was talked about in the 8th chapter in the context of talking of Krishna of the supreme lords sorry of the cyclic nature of material existence so there it was described how at the end of the creation everything is destroyed destroyed and at the start of creation everything is created but then the difference was that actually it was just talked about as under the influence of material nature so let’s look at this verse here let’s compare these two verses here what is saying is 8.19 we discussed earlier so it is describing the whole of material existence so at the arrival of night, night refers to night of brahmaji everything is destroyed helplessly it is all created at the start of the day so like that is talked about now what is the difference in 9.7 when it is talked about over here here it is said yes same point is there and then at the end of a kalpa there is destruction that is talked about at the beginning of a kalpa there is creation that is talked about but the important point is so everything is withdrawn into me and everything is created by me so the difference is in terms of development of thought there in the 8th chapter the primary focus was not on explaining who is in control of material nature the point was there of how material nature is temporary and one needs to transcend material nature so therefore there the focus was that brahmaji’s life will be very very long but ultimately even his abode is destructible and all of creation is destructible therefore one should seek the indestructible abode and then Krishna said that is my abode and you should aspire to go there so there when Krishna was talking the focus was not on understanding Krishna’s role in material nature but the focus was on going beyond material nature to the spiritual world at that time Krishna did not focus on who is in charge of this and whose will this creation destruction happen this creation destruction happening nothing is eternal so don’t focus on this look beyond this to the eternal but here what does Krishna do? Krishna is now focussing on his glory such that he exists in his eternal majesty in the spiritual world but along with that he is also in charge of the material world so there is a development of thought and it is described how a huge creation with all its magnificence and mystery is created and destroyed under the will of the lord all living beings now Sri Prabhupada would use this verse often to counter the theory of evolution in the theory of evolution the idea is that different living beings are created at different stages in the unfolding of creation so originally there was just unicellular species unicellular species came along and then from there multicellular and then gradually all the variety of species came about over millennia so this is the idea as Sri Prabhupada is saying here actually I create all living beings so now the important point is that Krishna is saying that material nature is under his control so let’s move forward now Krishna continues this theme about how material nature is under his control so actually it all enters into me what does enter into me refer to we know that when the whole creation is run its course at that time when there is cosmic destruction that happens at that time there is a cosmic substratum that is withdrawn into the living entity into the body of Mahakrishna just as all the living entities are withdrawn into the body of Mahakrishna so I create it all again and again this is all of material existence cosmic all this everything about it so so means helplessly there is no control and then there is no control from our perspective when a cosmic devastation will happen all of us will be destroyed so nobody will survive but actually it is the power of nature and two words of Krishna will tell that power of nature is under his control so in this way Krishna is telling that this material nature is not only the sustenance done by me in 4, 5, 6 he talks about sustenance how he is doing sustenance now 7 and 8 he is talking about how he is overseeing even the creation and destruction then after that Krishna says that actually still I am not entangled because I am not attached this is an important verse to demonstrate Krishna’s transcendence actually all this karma all this action that is being done this doesn’t bind me now it comes in the previous line but this doesn’t bind me, why? Krishna says I am neutral I am situated as if neutral asaktam teshu karmasu I am not attached we have discussed earlier the difference between asakta and asakta asakta is attached asakta is detached so Krishna is udhaseena udhaseena Krishna is detached like a judge so material nature has its own system and it acts according to that system it is under Krishna’s supervision but Krishna is not having any personal agenda, Krishna doesn’t have any bhendita against someone you defied me therefore I will punish you there is a law of karma Krishna lets the law of karma run its course so Krishna is saying that I do not become bound because I am udhaseena normally if one person kills somebody else that person will get karmic reactions now we may say that somebody destroys a big house somebody sets fire to a whole house that is quite a serious crime arson and if there are people who die in the fire then it is even a greater crime so we may say this is a serious crime and what to speak of if somebody destroys a whole city then we may say that actually here Krishna when he sets up the material nature not just one house or one city or one country or one continent or one planet or one planetary system or even one actually all of universe is destroyed and not just one universe like that all universes are ultimately destroyed so is Krishna culpable if Krishna is causing all this destruction he is causing all this suffering no Krishna says udhaseena udhaseena I am causing it, it is actually happening by the course of material nature but Krishna is only in charge of material nature so then if Krishna is in charge of material nature then whatever material nature it is, isn’t it Krishna causing it? No actually Krishna has set up a particular system but he hasn’t forced us to get into the system what does that mean? In a jail there is suffering but if the prisoners are suffering in the jail can the king be held responsible for that? No, because the king did not force the prisoners to go into the jail the jail system is under the king and if there is suffering in the jail yes, the king knows about it that is a part of the system but the king did not force the prisoners to go into the jail the prisoners did wrong doing did wrong actions and because of that they went to the jail. Similarly the souls who are in this world they are suffering because they chose to defy the lord and they sought to enjoy separate from him so Krishna, the king doesn’t have any personal vendetta against the prisoners there is a law, those who abide by the law they are protected by the king, those who defy the law they are accordingly sent to correction centres so similarly this world is like a correction centre and whatever happens the point here is Krishna says it’s not that I am karmically implicated because Krishna is not emotionally driven in this Krishna is the aseen he is detached and therefore I do not become bound by all this then after describing this Prabhupada again quotes the same verse which is quoted earlier from Vedanta Sutra actually there is no partiality in the supreme lord and then Krishna concludes the section with the famous verse which Prabhupada would quote quite often etu na nila kaunteya jagad viparivartate so maya adhyakshe under my supervision, prakriti so prakriti works under my supervision suyate saccharacharam suyate means it manifests saccharacharam, saccharachara the moving and the non-moving etu na nila kaunteya and for that reason under that etu kaunteya jagad viparivartate so parivartan refers to change viparivartate means cycle of change it’s working, it’s going on so Krishna concludes the section by saying all this viparivartate so that means this has maintenance which is talked about from 4, 5, 6 and then the destruction which is talked from, the creation destruction which is talked from 7, 8, 9 all this is happening this is jagad viparivartate, all this happening is under my supervision maya adhyakshe, prakriti is happening under my supervision when it is happening under my supervision the word supervision is important adhyakshata so overseer or supervisor is not necessarily involved he is still hands on that person is overseeing the word overseer means over and see, to see from over so like that Krishna oversees maya adhyakshe, akshe is eyes so Krishna oversees from above above means he is also present inside, so he is also seeing from inside but when he is seeing from inside also he is not attached, he is not entangled he is as if above he is above material consciousness even if he is present within matter he is still above because he is not caught up in material consciousness and suyate saccharacharam all of creation is happening under his will so as devotees what is the implication of this understanding sometimes we may think that ok, I am trying to serve Krishna and his material nature is the place where I am currently trapped and I have to go from this material world to spiritual world but I am fighting so many battles internally my mind is troubling me externally in the world there are so many hostile forces, how can I continue fighting this battle all alone it is difficult we may feel sometimes lonely and destitute but we should know that actually we are not lonely and destitute why? because Krishna is with us how is he with us? even in material nature whatever is happening is ultimately under his will, under his supervision it is not his will it is sanction as we discussed subtle difference between will and sanction but overall he is supervising and he is there with us so we will see later on that Krishna is personally involved for his devotees for others he is dispassionately overseeing but for his devotees he is passionately involved and that will be the endearing aspect of Krishna’s glory that he is involved he is concerned for the devotees he is hands on at the same time even for everyone else Krishna is there, he is in charge of creation in charge of existence and ultimately even the jail the king may not be directly hands on involved in the jail, the purpose of the jail is what? it is to reform the prisoners so that they can come out and become good citizens similarly, this world is a place of suffering and all the destruction and misery that is there, it is ultimately a part of the arrangement to reform the souls, so there is no need to feel destitute or lonely Krishna is there within our heart and Krishna is involved Krishna cares and in fact the whole system of material nature has been created by him so as to provide a facility for us to turn back to him when we turned away from him he could have just left us he didn’t do that, he created a system by which we could try out our desires for independent enjoyment, when those desires are exhausted we can return back to him so therefore Krishna helps us and Krishna is there to help us so even his apparent detachment even his detachment for the karmis for those who are not his devotees that is also a part of his compassion only because that’s what they want they don’t want God to be involved in their life, they want to play out their fantasies independently Krishna says, ok, I will provide you an arena for trying it out try it out and when you are fed up then I will be there waiting in your heart for you to turn to me and return back to me and for the devotees he is eagerly acting constantly to help them come back to him how he especially shows his grace to his devotees that will be part of the later section of this chapter and we will discuss subsequent verses in the next class