Bhakti Shastri (106) – Bhagavad Gita Chapter 10 Text 12 to 18

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thank you very much, hare krishna hare krishna welcome back to the bhagavad gita bhakti shastri course we discussed in the previous class about the chatu shloki bhagavad gita and how it gives the essence of the gita based on its context and its content so the context was how it comes after krishna has said that i am going to speak the paramam macha these are the supreme words and arjuna gives his understanding conclusive understanding after that and the content is it covers sammanda vidheya prayojan it shows how jnana is a part of bhakti and it is integrated into bhakti so lets look at one more aspect of this jnana and then we will move forward to the next verse there is a symbiotic relationship between knowledge and devotion 10.8 describes knowledge leads to devotion iti matva bhajan temam budha bhava samanvitaha iti matva one who understands this what does one understand? that krishna is the source of everything he is the ultimate reality bhajan temam bhava samanvitaha a person acquires knowledge and becomes wholeheartedly devoted to me so here krishna is telling that knowledge about me will lead to devotion but then in subsequent verses 10.8 to 10.10 and 11 what does he say? he says devotion will lead to knowledge so he says that if you practise devotional service to me, serve me with affection then that knowledge will devotion will give knowledge so how is this going about? first krishna says knowledge leads to devotion, then devotion leads to knowledge so what comes first? actually there has to be some basic philosophical understanding about krishna but as we render service, knowledge deepens and the knowledge increases our affection further and when we serve krishna with affection then krishna gives greater knowledge to us, so there is a symbiotic relationship between the two this knowledge which krishna is talking about both in the beginning and in the end this has got nothing to do with impersonal jnana because the first knowledge he is talking about is the knowledge of krishna’s glories that is i am the source of everything i am the sustainer of everything and then after that second knowledge that is talked about is buddhi this is also knowledge which enables one to come closer to krishna to return back to krishna, so this is also bhakti anukul jnana so either way there is knowledge of how glorious krishna is and knowledge of how to go closer to krishna this is not talking about impersonal jnana, so bhakti yoga integrates within it jnana but it is not dependent on jnana, it is bhakti yoga in and of itself is independent of jnana because bhakti yoga is independent process, in fact all other processes depend on bhakti yoga so whatever knowledge is required even when whatever knowledge is acquired say for example when we are studying philosophy right now, are we doing following the process of jnana yoga no, we are doing shravanam kirtanam vishnu smaranam we are doing bhakti so our purpose is krishna, our process is krishna and the source is also krishna that means knowledge we are getting is not from some impersonal source it is from krishna itself and then our purpose is also not that we want to go to some light beyond krishna, it is krishna and our process is also centred on krishna we are discussing about krishna so in that sense it is not bhakti pratikul jnana it is bhakti anukul jnana so now after this arjuna speaks his understanding of the essential message of the bhagavad gita so arjuna uvaca param brahma param dhama pavitram paramam bhavan purusham shashvatam divyam adi devam ajam vibhum ahustvam rishaya sarve devarshir naradas tatha asito devalo vyasa svayam chaiva brahmishime so here it is described arjuna is saying param brahma so you are the supreme brahman now the mayavadis and the impersonalists are very fond of speaking the vedic aphorism aham brahmasmi, it is definitely true we are brahman and this has been considered by shankaracharya as one of the mahavakyas of the upanishads, which is also fine but then what is its meaning it is not saying aham param brahmasmi it is simply aham brahmasmi so I am brahma, that is definitely true but beyond my being brahma there is a higher reality and that higher reality is the reality of Krishna who is the param brahma so I may say that I am an Indian and the prime minister of India so if I say I am an Indian therefore I conclude I am the prime minister no, that is not correct in brahma also there is diversity amidst unity there is in spiritual level there is all the unity of everything is brahman but within that brahman there are levels of reality, there is diversity amidst unity param brahma param dhama dhama means abode you are the supreme abode as Krishna has told earlier in the 9th chapter matsthani sarvabhutani in one sense everything resides on him and then he is the supreme in the sense of the maintenance of the universe Krishna is ultimately maintaining everything of course he is not burdened as Krishna has also said in the 9th chapter we discussed that inconceivable relationship earlier but the important point is that param dhama he is the ultimate abode he is the abode for all of us he is non different from his abode Goloka Vrindavan is non different from Krishna that is where we want ultimately to go, that is the supreme destination where we will become happy and he is also the supreme abode for our hearts aspirations we pin our hopes on some person or some plan or something once I get my own house, once I get my own car once I get the job once I get that spouse we pin all our hopes on those things those become the abode of our aspirations, abode of our dreams but actually they are all fallible shelters they cannot give us permanent solace but Krishna is param dhama, he is the ultimate abode pavitram paramam bhavan pavitram paramam pavitram paramam at the supreme supreme pavitram and paramam so pavitram paramam can be seen as you are the purest and the greatest so pavitra is actually we have discussed apapavidham that ashnaviram shuddham apapavidham kavibhir manishi paribhu svayambhu yatha titho arthaan vidhachyachyotibhya samabhya so apapavidham shuddham, prabhupada translated as prophylactic and antiseptic in the isopanishad in mantra 5 so apapavidham parigachukramakayamavrnam ashnaviram shuddham apapavidham kavir manishi paribhu svayambhu so actually this mantra 8 where it talks about the learned person understands the absolute truth to be supremely pure so pure and purifying whatever impurities are there in the past they will be removed and once we have krishna in the heart no further impurities will come in also so in this way what krishna is telling over here is what arjuna is saying here about krishna pavitram you are pure and paramam so the word pavitram indicates that now krishna will not be having any sinful desires like we have that is not the context of the word pavitram pavitram means in general any kind of contamination so even from the point of view of transcendence even goodness is a contamination so krishna is uncontaminated by any of the modes paramam, he is supreme bhavan, so bhavan is a respectful address, you oh lord, you are all this and purusham shashvatam devyam adi devam ajam vibhum so purusham shashvatam so the word purusha is against a very clear personalist designation, personalist reference so now krishna is clearly telling arjuna is clearly saying bhavan to you he is saying, he is not saying that oh there is some impersonal light within you which is the supreme reality no you are the param brahma you are as if that were not clear enough just like the two people standing in front of vishnu and having a discussion and one is referring to the other and saying bhavan and he is also using the very personal reference purusham and what kind of purusham are you shashvatam, so it is not that from the impersonal some light is manifested from the impersonal light some personal form is manifested temporary, no shashvatam eternally this and devyam and this form which you have, you who are my lord you are transcendental the word devyam is the same as krishna has used in 4.9 devyam, for his past times so adi devam so krishna has earlier said that aham adirhi devanam harshinam ca sarvasah in 9.2 he says i have come before everyone else, so here is krishna, arjuna is saying yes you are adi devam there are many gods but you are the source of all gods ajam so so in 9.3 krishna had said that you are that one who understands me to be aja and anadi, that is beyond the dimension of time, such a person will become free from all sins will be unbewildered so krishna, arjuna is saying the same thing you are anadi sorry you are an ajam ajam and anadi are in nature so he is also saying you are ajam and adi devam ajam vibhum vibhum you are the great discuss how anu is used to refer to the jiva and vibhu is used to refer to the lord now now sometimes when two friends are discussing and one friend speaks gives a eloquent speech the other friend in just the mood of friendly banter may say you are the greatest speaker in the whole world you just want to encourage the friend and when among friends there might be some exaggeration also that is understood so is it like that over here krishna and arjuna are friends arjuna just wants to eulogise even if it is not true and even if it involves some exaggerations so somebody might argue like this but actually this discussion which is happening is a very serious discussion right in the start of the discussion when it was on a casual front when it was on a friendly front krishna did not give any instruction krishna says come on kutasthva kashmalamidam n2.2 n3 krishna said that don’t be weak minded come on buck up and fight but then arjuna took that discussion to a deeper level by saying pruchyamitam dharmisam mudhachetaha he says i am going to i am asking you what is dharma and i am surrendering to you shishyasteham shadhimam tam prapannam he says i am becoming your disciple instruct me i am surrendering to you so arjuna has taken that decision to a very serious level and if you look what krishna has spoken from 2.11 onwards till 10.11 actually krishna is not just having some friendly chit chat krishna is having very deep philosophical discussion so if you look at what the nature of the discussion then we will understand that this is not most unlikely that it will be just some insubstantial exaggeration but arjuna he also speaks something else which counters this point he says that sometimes a friend may say oh my friend you are the world cricket you are the world’s best batsman now one friend may say that to another person but if that says all the world’s best cricket commentators all the world’s best cricket experts they all say the same thing why would they say such a thing they don’t have to exaggerate they are experts in that subject if they are saying it then this person must really be among the best batsmen in the world so now arjuna is saying that it’s not i alone who is saying this actually the great authorities who have studied the vedic subject very exhausted they are saying it so that he correlates here by saying that ahustvam rishaya sarve ahustvam rishaya sarve ahustvam rishaya sarve all the great sages have said this and he gives some specific names also devarshir naradas tatha narada has said this asito devalo vyasa asito devalo vyasa now among the narada and vyasa their names will come again in the same chapter as the vibhutis of krishna devarshir namaham narada krishna will describe that among the sages among the celestial seers i am narada and muni namapyam vyasa among the great munis i am vyasa he is describing so there are also vibhutis of krishna the point is even krishna acknowledges this special position and that’s what arjuna is also now so when arjuna is quoting them he is he is actually quoting very great people over here and we study the mahabharat there are many occasions where arjuna has heard the same thing about krishna from these great sages the mahabharat is a massive book 110,000 verses huge the world’s longest poem not just the world’s longest poem before the western world came to know about the mahabharat iliad and odyssey were considered to be among the longest poems but the mahabharat is 7 times longer than both these germanic sagas iliad and odyssey combined together it’s massive and in that mahabharat narada makes his appearance at various points vyasa makes his appearance at various points and they have all spoken the glories of krishna at various places so this is narrated in the mahabharat arjuna has also heard about it in various occasions so he is saying and you yourself have spoken this that means that krishna i am saying this but what is the basis for my saying it it’s not just my understanding it’s what the sages have said and it’s what you have said just now so how does this add to the authority that you yourself have said it krishna if krishna is the absolute truth and then he is speaking something while giving a philosophical explanation of reality then that has to be taken as an absolute authority krishna’s authority is the ultimate authority because he is the absolute truth so in this way arjuna is giving the understanding that krishna is the absolute truth he is personal, he is transcendental, he is eternal he is pure he is the supreme brahman and he is the ultimate truth overall so this is what krishna is krishna’s discourse has produced this understanding in arjuna and prabhupada gives various explanations of these terms and so prabhupada talks about the obstinate conviction so unfortunately he says we have to understand this through discipleship but unfortunately those proud of academic education despite so much evidence in vedic literatures stick to their obstinate conviction that krishna is an ordinary person so conviction in the right thing is good conviction in the wrong thing becomes obstinacy and obstinacy can keep us bound till our grave and beyond our grave in our next lives also to mistaken beliefs so krishna is not an ordinary person and it is only unfortunate that some people are obstinate there are evidences that vedic literature give and then further there is the experiential evidence which you can get also if we try to devote ourselves to krishna so one time prabhupada was in a morning walk and he asked the devotees why do you consider krishna to be god so prabhupada sometimes takes the role of atheist so that he would speak he said why do you accept krishna as god so he said everybody started ok they said that different devotees have different reasons you know the great acharyas have accepted krishna has six opulences krishna is all attractive krishna has sweetness which other aspects sweetness in krishna is very special so prabhupada said no this is all as i said you know ok the vedas and bhagavad gita i don’t believe the bhagavad gita prabhupada took the role of atheist then prabhupada finally said that why do you accept krishna as god when we chant hare krishna we experience the ecstasy that’s why krishna is god so the devotees were surprised at this kind of answer and they all started discussing oh nice answer and then prabhupada went to another part of the world there also in the morning walk and prabhupada raised the same question why do you accept krishna as god and now devotees are giving different answers then there was one devotee who had been on that earlier morning walk also so he was just waiting when will prabhupada ask me then i will give the answer so finally prabhupada told yes what is your answer prabhupada when we chant hare krishna we experience the ecstasy that’s why krishna is god so prabhupada says your ecstasy is an illusion i don’t believe your ecstasy this devotee is completely shaken what is this then prabhupada said it is because bhagavad gita declares that krishna is god therefore we accept krishna as god so what is going on here actually prabhupada through different conversations is driving home the point that both are important now there is scriptural evidence and there is personal experience and when both are combined together then the conviction becomes very deep so whatever we believe we believe first based on scriptural evidence and after that it is not just a matter of belief where the scriptural also gives a process for inner transformation and when there is inner transformation there is personal experience that comes out so scriptural evidence plus personal experience leads to conclusive understanding so that way that’s how a devotee’s conviction becomes very deep so we start from we have to have scriptural authority and along with that experience if we only argue based on scriptural then there can be an endless debate going on because anybody who wants to claim any belief that person will draw some scriptural quotation from somewhere and try to demand this is the reality this is the reality this is the reality there is a professor Stoll with whom Prabhupada had a debate, the devotees wanted to arrange with the university so that they could have a course on Krishna Consciousness as a part of the curriculum of a university so when that was going on so there was this professor Stoll who was a respected professor of Hinduism and he said that you know these devotees spend too much time uttering a mantra the devotees wanted that, those who joined the course they also had to chant Hare Krishna regularly, they are spending too much time, instead of studying Hinduism they are just chanting mantras, that is not required and he said anyway in the Hindu scriptures the mantra chanting is not told and then when the devotees reported to Prabhupada, Prabhupada gave a long list of verses telling how these all talk about the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra and then that professor he replied back, he said no you said this mantra but it actually, you quoted this verse but it actually means this and you quoted this verse but it actually means this and then when he wrote back then Prabhupada wrote back and he said that you know actually these are verses and meanings are clear enough and he says whenever there is a law, whenever there is a court case, you know that different lawyers will present the arguments from different perspective present their respective arguments but then the decision is made by authority that is a judge, so he says that for us the judge is Lord Chaitanya and he is told that actually there is no process as potent as chanting of the holy names Harer Nama Harer Nama Harer Namaeva Kevalam Kalahu Naasteva Naasteva Naasteva Gathir Anyatha so chanting of the holy names there is no other way both of them are said three times over here so he said that this is our authority and then process of debate doesn’t lead to any conclusion so Prabhupada had a few exchange of letters and after that it dropped off but Prabhupada said the scriptural basis for Krishna consciousness Prabhupada had this conversation published as a booklet also at those times and it comes in science of self-realisation also now if you read it, it may appear as if Prabhupada has not really refuted that Stahl’s explanations, Prabhupada has given adequate evidences and reasoning but Prabhupada just makes the point over there that if somebody just wants to go around arguing based on quotes, it can be endless Bahu Shastra Bahu Vakya Chitta Brahma Hai Sadhana Sadhya Srishtana Hai Nischa Hai so Shastras, there are many scriptures and Bahu Vakya, within that also there are many meanings Bahu Shastra, Bahu Vakya and each of them each verse can be interpreted in different ways and because of that Bahu Shastra, Bahu Vakya Chitta Brahma Hai Brahma Hai, one will not know what is the conclusion Sadhana Sadhya Srishtana what is the ultimate what is the best means, what is the ultimate goal Na Hai Nischa Hai one will not be able to understand so therefore what one has to do is one has to focus so actually when one focusses on the essence what is that essence if you look at the scriptures, there is adequate evidence for the chanting of the holy names and one focusses on the chanting of the holy names, one gets purified and one gets the inner experience so there is scriptural evidence and there is personal experience and that leads to the conviction so if we just go for scriptural evidence without trying out any process then one will stay simply at the mental intellectual platform and one will not get any conclusive understanding and if one decides one will only focus on personal experience our personal experience can delude us because we may get some experience for a few days, for a few weeks but after that experience may go away somebody might go to the go to some retreat where some Baba is made into God and people are chanting kirtans for that Baba and it’s a nice scenic natural place with sweet music going on in the background and people may say oh tears came in my eyes and I felt so good over there, I never felt so good now that was the transformational experience, I accepted that person as God now actually speaking we can’t rely only on our experience, experience is no doubt important but experience has to be based on scripture because otherwise the experiences may just be mental experience which will come once and they will go away they will not be repeated so what differentiates the experience in the path of bhakti, in the path of bhakti yoga specifically bhakti yoga is a process of devotional the devotional service by which we connect with God is that the experiences are repeatable they are verifiable and they are also in a general sense, predictable the process that we are following is well delineated, so that rarely happens when people have these sentimental kinds of experiences, so when both are there, then it’s a very potent process, then it’s a very potent way of deepening our conviction so now this is the essential conclusion of the Gita, that Krishna is the absolute truth and Arjuna will make it clear again in the next verse further sarvam etad ritam manye yanmam vadasike shava nahite bhagavan vyaktim vidur devana dhanavaha so sarvam etad ritam manye sarvam etad, all that you have said ritam, ritam means actually I accept it, it is true it’s all true, ritam manye yanmam vadasike shava mam vadasi, what you have spoken to me okay shava, I accept it all nahite bhagavan vyaktim oh you absolute truth oh you oh supreme person your person whatever you have revealed to me vidur devana dhanavaha actually this is not easy for even the gods to understand or to speak of the demons devana dhanavaha so the point is, Krishna is telling I accept everything that you say I accept everything that you say nahite bhagavan vyaktim that actually bhagavan vyaktim your personality your nature the way you have manifested yourself what you have revealed to me about your absolute truth, bhagavan vyaktim it’s not easy to understand so there are two different points in this verse first is that my dear lord I accept what you say and then I also acknowledge that it’s not easy to understand you so what is the connection is saying that when we accept Krishna it’s not necessary that we have to understand everything what Krishna has said there will be some things which we will not be able to understand so then rather than saying that they are false we just suspend judgement about them we understand that certain things may require some purification for us to be able to understand them so we suspend judgement about them I accept what you say but how it is true there are things about you that even the devatas can’t understand or to speak of me and now Krishna goes Prabhupada says that this is the way bhagavata is to be understood not half logic half logic we know is that just take one part of the Gita whatever is convenient whatever agrees with our philosophy and whatever doesn’t agree we reject it so if one has that kind of attitude then person cannot make much spiritual advancement so if somebody says that people think that they have their own opinion about God and there was a Christian talk show like a TV radio show where people come and ask questions or some person said that you know I am I believe in Jesus but I am not a part of any church so the pastor was there he asked him cautiously so if you believe in Jesus why are you not a part of any church he says I haven’t found any church that agrees with my understanding of Jesus this is a very interesting standard I have a certain understanding of Jesus and somebody else has to agree with that and I have to find a church which agrees with that so it’s like saying that I am a patient and I am not taking any treatment why because I haven’t found any doctor who agrees with my diagnosis the doctor is is the doctor supposed to agree with the patient’s diagnosis or patient with the doctor’s diagnosis now it may happen today there are many religious organisations which may be interpreting things improperly and people have to be people have to be cautious about it and such kind of scepticism may be warranted in many occasions but the point is ultimately the patient has to agree with the doctor not the doctor with the patient I have to find a doctor who agrees with my diagnosis then you have got the whole thing upside down we have got the idea that the horse has to the carriage has to come before the horse so the horse is going to pull the carriage not the carriage the horse he says I accept everything that you say now here let’s look at one important point how do we understand that some section of the Gita is its conclusion so we will see here how can we know the Gita’s meaning there are three different ways in which check the Gita’s message itself check the understanding of the original student and check the actions of the original student so we will see that what is the Gita’s message the Gita’s message if you see there is a flow in it and Krishna teaches various things but then if there is any clear categorical unequivocal declaration that is made that is made at the end of the Gita in 18.66 when Krishna tells give up everything else sarva dharman parithaja mam ekam sarva dharman parithaja give up all varieties of religion and just surrender to me me alone mam ekam so it’s a very categorical yes there are many paths talked about but this is the conclusion generally there can be many things for example when a teacher is trying to instruct a student, teacher may instruct at various levels but what the teacher teaches at the end that is the conclusion and especially the teacher also says that ok whatever I have taught you, forget it this is what I want you to do so 18.66 is like that and apart from that also we can see what is the if you want to know there is a conversation between two people, teacher and student what was the essential message that was taught we can look at what came at the end conclusion of the teacher’s statements then we can see what was the student understood if the student gave some understanding, if the student’s understanding was wrong then teacher would have corrected the understanding so now here Krishna has spoken and Arjuna is giving his understanding param brahma param dhava so do we see Krishna correcting, oh no no no don’t think that I am param brahma, there is some brahma which is beyond me and that is what you have to meditate on Krishna doesn’t correct Arjuna like that so what is whatever understanding Arjuna has given, Krishna accepts that this is the correct understanding so the understanding of Arjuna that is spoken by him that is told over here and then we can also look at the action of the original student if somebody speaks this is my understanding that may be twisted and misinterpreted but then we can look at the action so what is the action, we don’t see at the end of the Bhagavad Gita Arjuna trying to do some impersonal jnana meditation Arjuna acts in devotional service to Krishna so we have to look at the action of the original student and the actions are very clear he acts in devotional service he works and his work is also in the mood of devotion so before that we can look at the Mahabharata also what happened afterwards so essentially if we let the Bhagavad Gita speak for itself, it is very clear that Krishna is the absolute truth and devotional service to him is the best means to that absolute truth so now if we look at the importance of 18.66 as I was mentioning sometimes some people say there are some verses which seem to be contradictory which seem to contradict each other so if contradictory statements are present in the conversation of the book how to resolve, the normal logic is the later statement is given higher precedent than the earlier statement why, because the conversation is developing another point is, here with respect to 18.66, the irrefutable logic is that later statement rejects the earlier statements and that’s what 18.66 does so now let’s move forward to the next verse so swayam evatmanatmanam vittatvam purusha uttama bhuta bhavana bhutesha deva deva jigatpate so swayam evatmanatmanam so actually you alone know your glory, so Krishna is telling Arjuna that actually or to speak of, I not know, I am not understanding fully the dana was not understanding fully actually no one except you alone understand you so Krishna has told it from his side that vedaham samatitani I know everything, so Krishna is acknowledging this, Arjuna is acknowledging this over his he says, swayam evatmanatmanam vittatvam purusha uttama you are purusha uttama and you alone know your glories and then he gives various describers, bhuta bhavana bhutesha deva deva jigatpate so four actually five epithets are used here by Arjuna to glorify Krishna, first is purusha uttama, there are many purushas, I am also purusha but you are purusha uttama supreme purusha so purusha uttama and then after that bhuta bhavana bhuta bhavana means you are the source of all living beings that Krishna has talked about several times in the Gita that all living beings come from him and not only are you the source of all living beings father may have begotten some children but the children go out of control father cannot control them, Krishna is not like that bhuta bhavana bhutesha bhutesha you are the controller of all living beings deva deva jigatpate deva deva you are the god of all gods so what Krishna has earlier told about how he himself gives devatas give blessings, it is he who is giving power to the devatas to give blessings that he is the ultimate object of worship, so Arjuna is acknowledging deva deva jigatpate jigatpate, you are the master of the universe so you are the best among all persons, not just the best among all persons, actually you are the source of all persons, not just the source of all persons actually you are the controller of all persons and there may be many controllers who have some power to control the various gods but you are the god of all gods, even the gods worship you we know whenever the rakshatas become extremely powerful and malevolent at that time, the devatas go to Vishnu for help, so you are deva deva and then you are jigatpate you are the master of the whole universe so actually each of these is used by Arjuna to demonstrate and emphasise how Krishna is the absolute truth so now after this here in this verse more or less Krishna concludes his understanding and Prabhupada explains how each of these words mean different things now from here onwards to the next few verses Arjuna will make a request he is now Arjuna has given his understanding from 12, 13, 14, 15, 4 verses but now he starts making a request he says you know speak my dear lord in detail divine indeed are your own glories so the word atma can refer to soul or atma can refer to one’s own see the word soul this is my life and soul so a mother may say to a child you are my life and soul, what does it mean it is not that the soul of the mother has come out of the body and is staying in the child, actually that is a way of saying that the word soul sometimes used in metaphorical sense you are the life of my life, you are my essence so like that so your opulence is by your opulence you have pervaded the whole of existence please speak about them please speak about your opulences and how should you speak about them you deserve to speak in detail without keeping anything holding anything back, just speak speak undeservedly your divine opulences and what kind of opulences by which you have pervaded this world so from here onwards Arjuna is actually accepted Krishna’s conclusion and Arjuna has become enlightened, but Arjuna is thinking about common people and is thinking how will they understand Krishna’s glory how will they be able to meditate on him so then with that in mind Arjuna is making this request, my dear lord you have pervaded all of creation so people can look around and think about the world they can think about how extraordinary the world is so therefore what are they doing over here he is saying that they can look around the world and they can connect what they see in the world with Krishna then that will enable them to begin and continue their god consciousness their Krishna consciousness so now Krishna Arjuna will make that request next verse how can I know yogims it is it is interesting that normally the word yogi is used to refer to a seeker, the person who is seeking yoga one who is practising yoga that person is called a yogi now why is Krishna being called yogi over here actually Krishna is also desiring yoga, not for any realisation of oneself but to help us get realisation Krishna has used the word yoga to refer to his revelation also see my mystical opulence so you are mysteriously connected with all the universe actually Arjuna will Sanjay will refer to Arjuna Sanjay will refer to Krishna also as Yogeshwar and in the 11th chapter we will see in Krishna displays his universal form at that time Sanjay will use the word Mahayogeshwar to refer to Arjuna to refer to Krishna and then in the conclusion of the Bhagavad Gita in 18.78 also Sanjay will refer to Krishna as so there also Lord Krishna is referred to Yogeshwar so that Krishna is not like any ordinary yogi that is understood he is Yogeshwar he is lord of all the yogis but here the word yogi is used in the sense that Krishna is also a person who is connected with everything yoga means connection so we are seeking connection with the absolute truth the absolute truth is also connected with us and the absolute truth is connected with all of existence matter and spirit both so that connection of the absolute truth is a mystery and that mystery is unravelled by our purification and by Krishna’s revelation so that process of Krishna’s revelation by which firstly how Krishna is connected and how we understand their connection that involves yoga also yoga from Krishna’s part so in that sense yogis yogis how can I meditate on you constantly when we have love for Krishna then we will be able to naturally meditate on him at all times directly but otherwise when we are in the material world our consciousness will inevitably connect with material things so then so here the word bhava the bhava can mean emotions bhava can mean nature also so here it refers to material nature oh Bhagwan how can I while in material manifestations while observing the material manifestations think of you so Arjuna’s question is specific over here generally our journey to spirit doesn’t happen just spontaneously we generally move from matter towards spirit in our own observations through this world so Krishna is being requested by Arjuna please give us a process by which we can understand you that way so Prabhupada also points to the explanation of the word yogi here he addresses Krishna specifically as yogi because Krishna is he is covered over by he is the master of yoga maya so because he is the master of yoga maya so he can reveal himself if he so desires and that is the desire of the lord over here desire of Arjuna over here so he is the master of the yoga maya energy by which he is covered and uncovered to the common man so now because materialists cannot understand Krishna spiritual they advise to concentrate on physical things and try to understand, try to see how Krishna is manifested by physical representations so the question here so vistaren atmano yogam vistaren means in detail atmano yogam means your own glory your own mystic power you are the maintainer of all living beings speak about your vibhuti now the word bhuya had been spoken right in the beginning of this chapter bhuya eva maha baho shunme paramam vachaham bhuya Krishna was saying that again hear oh Arjuna I am going to speak my supreme words to you so bhuya again so please please speak it again kathayatruptirhi shunvatonastime amritam when your katha is there when I am hearing it actually I am not satisfied shunvatonastime amritam actually there is no there is I am not satisfied I want to hear more and more and more about it so the nature of krishna katha is that it gives us more and more relish constantly no good books people want to read them carefully not wanting to miss any sentence because every sentence is meaningful great books they want to read it again we read them again and again why? because when we read them there are multiple layers of meanings fresh reading this meaning didn’t strike me there are classics in literature which people want to read again and again but when we come to the greatest book bhagavad gita the process of discovery is not just one way it’s two ways what does that mean? it’s not just that we who are searching it’s not if we are careful reading I didn’t think about this so every time we read the bhagavad gita we can get new new meanings not just because we are discovering new new meanings over there but because bhagavad gita is a manifestation of krishna it’s a self revelation of krishna and krishna reveals new new meanings you know if shakespeare has written hamlet people say I will read hundred times that book because there is so much depth in the poetry and imagery and meaning now shakespeare is not present in hamlet it’s not that shakespeare will do the dhami buddhi yogam will give some intelligence to people to understand that no and of course shakespeare is not god and whatever the whatever the artistry the poetry the imagery that is there at a material level where it is there we give credit for that and people can read it many times and they will relish it but when it comes to krishna’s words krishna’s words are extraordinary and that’s why people can relish it more and more day in and day out more and more day in and day out why? not just because we are trying to discover new meanings and we are discovering because there is so much meaning within those words but along with that there are many many levels of meaning ok this point I can connect with this point this word and we get so much nectar over there but actually it is krishna also reveals and that’s why there is no end to the relishing once we start developing a taste for krishna katha then that taste goes on and on and on and whatever is the consciousness of arjuna over here that same consciousness is expressed by suta goswami in among the sages of naimisharanya vayam tunavit he quotes over here prabhupada quotes from 119 in the bhagavatam vayam tunavitrupyam uttam shloka vikrame yashrunvatam rasat jnanam swadu swadu pade pade vayam tunavitrupyam navitrupyam i am not satisfied we are not satisfied uttam shloka vikrame the glories of uttam shloka we are not satisfied with them why? yashrunvatam rasat jnanam this knowledge is not this rasa jnanam there is so much rasa there is so much nectar in this and what will happen by that swadu swadu pade pade that at every step there is so much nectar swadu swadu pade pade so we just have to get a taste for krishna katha by gradual purification that taste will come and once that taste comes it will just go stronger and stronger and we will relish it more and more so prabhupada writes how puranas are histories of bygone ages that relate to the past times of various incarnations of the lord in this way the reading matter remains forever fresh despite repeated readings why? because it is the past time of krishna it is krishna himself who is manifesting through those wonderful past times and giving us the opportunity to relish those past times to relish his own glories so we see how chaitanya maha prabhu you would like to hear the past time of dhruva maharaj, the past time of pralada maharaj hundreds of times and why was he so eager? because he was relishing it was not just not just some theoretical intellectual understanding that he was getting it is actually a a revelation of the sweetness of one’s object of love that is what he was getting so actually people generally have a concept of newness in terms of externals people want to have something new, i want to have a new dress a new watch, a new cell phone a new computer, a new house a new spouse i want something new, new, new so people think of newness only in terms of externals but actually even if they get all these new things, internally what is happening? all these new things boil down to the same old experiences isn’t it? all these new things, what experiences they can offer us? they can offer only the experiences of eating, the pleasures of eating sleeping, mating, defending what is a person going to do with all these new things? ultimately it all boils down to these pleasures only so therefore the externals may be new but the internals are not new for a devotee externally we may seem to be doing the same activity going to the same temple we are worshipping the same deities, chanting the same mahamantra we are hearing the same stories but externals may be old but the internals become new why? because as our love for Krishna becomes awakened, by hearing the Krishna katha more and more the impurities go away our original love for Krishna becomes revived, awakened and by that we connect more and more with Krishna, because Krishna is unlimited, therefore the joy that we get from connection with Krishna is also unlimited people think that people don’t unless one is experiencing it internally, one will not be able to understand or relish it, we have to see it not from outsiders perspective but from insiders perspective Bhagavan’s talk will give the example of a trying to lick a honey bottle from outside without opening the lid so when we actually are emotionally and devotionally connected with Krishna then the same activities can give us richer and richer experiences and of course in devotional service also there is variety, it’s not that the same thing all the time there are so many books on giving pastimes to the Lord, there are so many holy places that we can go to there are so many incarnations of the Lord, there are so many holy names of Krishna also, so there is variety also but our goal is not newness in the external sense, it’s newness in the internal sense and that newness in the internal sense is relished when we go deep in our relationships with Krishna, so generally for example people in science when they want to discover some new concept, they discover a new concept and think oh this is so wonderful I discovered this concept so actually the exciting thing is the discovery once some equation has been discovered then after that okay it becomes a mathematical mechanical function you use it to calculate things then the thrill goes out and then we want to make some new discovery new discovery so in material life the excitement is in discovery so we may feel is there something new to discover in spiritual life also actually in spiritual life it’s not so much a discovery of a new concept as it is a recovery of a lost map it’s not a discovery of a new concept but the recovery of an old map this map is the map which shows us the pathway to Krishna so we get the map and then we move along the map when we move along the map steadily steadily steadily onwards then what happens ultimately we reach Krishna and Krishna is our long lost beloved so if we had a childhood friend and after that we meet that person after a long long long time then that person still knows us and remembers us and loves us then when we meet that person actually there is a joy in that reunion similarly when we reconnect with Krishna the greater our reconnection the greater is the joy and Krishna is not like any ordinary person his glories are not limited his glories are unlimited and that’s why the joy that comes in relishing his glories is also unlimited and it is that joy that Arjuna is relishing and Krishna, Arjuna is requesting Krishna please describe to me his glories so that I will relish them and world will also come to know how they can think of you and they can also join us join me and all the devotees in relishing your glories so in response to this Krishna will start speaking in the next verse describing his glories in the next several almost 20 verses 21 verses of this chapter that we will discuss.