Bhakti Shastri (137) – Bhagavad Gita Chapter 17 Text 14 to 22

Podcast

you very much welcome to bhagavad gita bhakti shastri course we are now in the 17th chapter of the bhagavad gita we’re discussing about yajna dana tapa in the three modes so we discussed about yajna now as a part of tapa we’ll be discussing about austerity of body austerity of mind and austerity of speech so let’s start that discussion now 17.14 in the bhagavad gita we discuss the 13th verse so deva dvija guru prajna so they are describing that we should respect pujanam pujanam means it doesn’t necessarily have to mean doing puja literally that can also be one aspect of it so it is necessary when doing worship but it basically means respecting so doing puja is one way of expressing respect so who are all the people to be respect they were they were can refer to the supreme lord they were can refer to the devatas also so prabhupada explains that they were refers to supreme lord because ultimately the supreme lord is the greatest of all the devas so they were they were he’s also referred to when we want to contrast and establish a supreme position but they were is also one way to refer to the supreme lord so they were dvija guru prajna dvija are the brahmanas guru is all brahmanas in general are spiritual teachers but there’s one particular brahman who becomes our specific spiritual master deva dvija guru prajna and in general anybody who’s advanced in knowledge so janaki panit says that uh a powerful person may be respected in his own area but knowledgeable person is able to earn respect everywhere because of the wisdom that that person has so prajna one who is wise is respected so these are all people we should respect prajna cleanliness cleanliness means as we have talked about this repeatedly several times it has come in the bhagavad-gita internal and external cleanliness arjavam arjavam is as prabhupada translates over here simplicity or straightforwardness this is also quality we mentioned earlier and brahmacharyam ahimsa cha shari ram tapa uchyate so all these are shari ram tapa they are austerities of the body what is it so brahmacharyam ahimsa cha so brahmacharya and ahimsa it’s interesting that krishna has coupled them together over here earlier we saw how krishna was coupling in kama and krodha together so kama krodha vimuktanam kama krodhod bhavam vegam so he has been coupling kama and krodha together several times in the bhagavad-gita so kama the the way to control kama is to practise brahmacharya the way to control krodha is to practise ahimsa so brahmacharya ahimsa cha shari ram tapa uchyate shari ram tapa these are austerities of the body so in general all our activities can be classified into these three categories those which we do with the body with the speech and with the mind so we also discussed about these three these different vegas which bhakta sudhanshu thakur also classifies into bodily mental and verbal so the sannyasis also have the tathridanda which also indicates that they will which has three parts in it and which indicates they will serve the lord with their body with their mind and with their speech so what is prabhupada telling over here in his purport let’s have a look briefly so prabhupada says one should offer or learn to offer and prabhupada also includes god or the demigods that means what offer or learn to offer that means austerity is also something which we may not feel like doing but we do it now when the devotee is asked actually you know prabhupada told the devotee the etiquette of offering obeisances to the spiritual master and the devotee is asked but they don’t feel like doing it one devotee asked prabhupada prabhupada you know i don’t he was devoted on offering obeisances so prabhupada asked him why are you not offering obeisances prabhupada had to educate devotees himself had to ask so at that time the devotee said that prabhupada i didn’t i didn’t feel like offering obeisances so prabhupada said you do offer obeisances then gradually the feeling will come so it is said that when the deities come in front of us when the darshan opens now the advanced devotees you know they feel so ecstatic they feel so overwhelmed with joy that often they faint in ecstasy which is like sometimes when you would get darshan of krishna you just run in that direction and then suddenly faint completely so that is the idea that when pure devotees advanced devotees they get darshan of krishna they faint and if we can’t faint then at least we fall down so when there is pure love there will be ecstatic fainting but at least if not then there is falling falling in obeisances this is austerity when we don’t feel like doing you do it what will happen by this itself a proper set of culture our cultural impressions are created within our minds so we learn to offer respect all these are bodily austerities so ahimsa means somebody gets somebody provokes us at that time it is it is it requires willpower and discipline to not lash out and hit out at somebody who has provoked us so how do we avoid that provocation that is an austerity how do we avoid getting provoked when somebody in the provocation comes that is an austerity now in general in material life people messages that count till 10 so that you don’t come to anger that may help a devotee may chant hare krishna mahamantra 10 times a devotee may remember some verses which talk about the danger of anger danger of anger but in general all every devotee has to develop one’s own pause button you know pause button means just like when a movie is playing and then we don’t want it to move onwards so pause so like that when we are moving forward at that time we realise that oh i’m not going the right i’m going the wrong direction i’m doing something which if i move in this direction i will end up doing something dangerous so then we have to have our own pause button which checks us so what does the pause button mean pause button doesn’t necessarily mean that we have to become motionless completely pause button means we have to stop our mind from following its default trajectory towards a temptation and then fall fall down so that pause button maybe for some devotees by chanting for some devotees by hearing kirtans by by maybe reading one’s own some inspirational passages which we have taken from scripture which we have some some motivational points we have heard in classes all of us have to this is where the individual aspect of krishna consciousness comes up now i have my mind you have your mind and the way you will fight with your mind will be different from the way i will fight with my mind so we all have to find out our ways and fight according to our ways whatever those ways may be so it’s how we fight against the mind and we make spiritual advancement so we’ll have to individualise although the principles are universal but the specific ways in which you apply them may be may be different for different individuals but this is austerity of the body so it’s interesting now that what is put in simplicity now arjuna can be translated as straightforwardness which will be more a inner attribute arjuna can be translated as simplicity also so now the word arjuna is related with the word arjuna arjuna arjuna so they have a similar cognate sense the idea is that arjuna means simplicity so you know the more simpler we live the more we have time for higher thought simple living and higher thinking simple living and high thinking why is it mentioned prabhupada also talks about plain living and high thinking why because the simpler are living the more we have time for high thinking the more complex are living then the more our thoughts get caught up in the living only so this doesn’t mean that a devotee cannot use technology a devotee cannot have opulence now what is required what is required at the media pressure the cultural pressure is such that today that people acquire gadgets and conveniences and trinkets just for the sake of glamour just for the sake of prestige i will discuss earlier about shopaholism so for a devotee what will simplicity be that will vary according to time place circumstance and every devotee has to decide now what level of engagement with material things is necessary for my my service my social position and what necessary level of engagement is sucking me in so that is something which every devotee has to decide and accordingly live we may not be able to disconnect ourselves entirely from material from technology and such things but that doesn’t necessarily mean that we have to entangle us let ourselves get completely entangled in them so instead of simple living and high thinking many people end up simply living and hardly thinking simply living hardly thinking what does that mean that way in a social it’s not that people are hardly thinking they’re not thinking see everybody thinks we are all the time thinking even when a he-dog is attracted to a she-dog the he-dog is thinking so when a male is attracted to female or female is attracted to male they’re thinking but that thinking is not really considered thinking because it’s simply at the bodily level it’s at the animal level and there’s nothing very exalted about that so therefore real thinking is thinking at the spiritual level and simple living facilitates high thinking and the living is complex then oh i have to do this also i have to manage that also i have to take care of this also i have to do so you know to do that the material level itself becomes so many and so complex and they suck our mental energy so Prabhupada is talking here about Arjuna’s simplicity generally the more wealth we earn the more we rise in social status but then the more we have to struggle to maintain that social status also and that also brings its own entanglements that also brings its own irritations that also brings its own complications and agitations that’s why a devotee tries to live as simply as is possible given the given the limitations of time place and circumstance now after describing this now of course we will not go too much into brahmacharya because that has been topic which were discussed repeatedly over here we’ll try to live on the spiritual platform that is a brahmacharya then anudvega means to decrease the agitation that which does not cause agitation the words which do not agitate others then satyam those which are truthful priya those which are pleasing and then those which are beneficial swadhyaya abhyasanam chaiva that means words which involve swadhyaya study and then abhyasanam practise so Prabhupada translates this as recitation of scripture regular reciting of scripture swadhyaya abhyasanam chaiva we study and then we recite scripture all this is vanmayam tapa uchyate vanmayam tapa austerity of the speech we have discussed earlier how the materialistic tendency is to talk about hundreds and millions of things and spiritual reflection is to keep the speech chaste and focused on Krishna and things related with Krishna so here Krishna is not necessarily talking about bhakta he is talking in general about austerity and he is talking about how even from material point of view one should be able to discipline and regulate oneself so anudvegakarambakyam how should one speak generally speaking sarcasm and sarcasm is often considered to be a sign of intelligence where people want to hurt others and they speak in such a way that the more they can hurt others the more they think they are clever but actually to be sarcastic may require cleverness but that’s not that’s not really the desirable use of cleverness the desirable use of cleverness is to bring others closer to us and closer to Krishna through us or even closer to the right track in general even at the material level so by agitating people whether that is going to happen it’s unlikely very often we may end up not educating but alienating people if we speak strongly sometimes we talk about how the spiritual master or the sadhu cuts so the sadhu cuts and what does the sadhu cut? the material attachments of the conditioned souls and the sadhu cuts the material attachments of the conditioned souls and helps them to come closer to Krishna so that is used that example of that in the first canto of Srimad Bhagavatam Vidura speaks strongly with Dhrashtra and gets him out of his attachments so that is good to get somebody out of material entanglement but we see that Vidura before that had a long history of a very deep and intimate relationship with Dhrashtra and then when he spoke those words those words penetrated otherwise the words don’t penetrate we may end up sometimes when we chastise people instead of cutting their anarthas we may end up cutting their bhakti lata abhij bhakti lata abhij is that which is to be nourished and that which should grow grow grow but when people are reckless then while cutting our intention may be to cut the anarthas but our speech may discourage people so much in the name of chastising and disciplining and correcting that we end up cutting the bhakti lata abhij only and we cut the bhakti lata abhij and then people can get lost we may think that I have spoken Krishna’s message for that other person’s good but good intentions are not good enough people should feel the trust in us people should feel that we are their well wishers then they will be able to see our good intentions otherwise they will see us through their default filters of suspicion and scepticism and then when we speak strongly what they feel as harshly insensitively then they may just close down and then they will go away from Krishna by that and this is not just with respect to Krishna consciousness, even in normal human relationships there are most of the relationship conflicts within a family within any social circle most of the relationship conflicts come up because of carelessness in speech because of insensitivity in dealing with people whenever we have to speak it’s not that we have to speak false just to make sure that people’s mind don’t get agitated but Krishna is putting the first he is putting is speak in a non agitating way that doesn’t mean speak false speak the truth what is this you speak the truth but speak it palatably, speak palatable truth if some truth is unpalatable then better not speak it don’t speak false just because it is palatable this is eternal principle as Chanakya Pandit says that the most important if somebody wants to rule the whole world the most important power for that person is the power of proper speech a person who has the power to speak properly that person can strike alliances, make friendships forge treaties, build bridges and mobilise people and resources to be able to eventually rule the whole world it’s not just by sheer power or just by brute force that one can conquer others now we may say as devotees Prabhupada would also say a devotee should call a spade a spade, that is true but we also have to see that there are many times when Prabhupada was sensitive in his preaching Prabhupada could differentiate between philosophical differences and cultural etiquettes even when initially Prabhupada was with Dr. Mishra in New York when Prabhupada came initially to New York at that time he was staying with Dr. Mishra at that time Dr. Mishra was a Mayavadi and Prabhupada would have strong philosophical differences but then in spite of that when they were living together Prabhupada was cooking for him Prabhupada was serving him food and he said that my timings were so regulated that I would have fallen sick and I would not have lived also whereas Prabhupada practically by his regulated eating habits and he would force me to and that’s how I survived so Prabhupada did not think oh this person is a Mayavadi, let him starve to death no, Prabhupada did not Prabhupada was as a person, as a human being was very cordial and congenial as a matter of philosophy there might be differences but that doesn’t mean that we have to forget basic human etiquette in relationship with others so Prabhupada had a heart of compassion and people could feel that compassion when they interacted with him because of his purity and potency now we, if we think that preaching gives us a licence to speak harshly then we are completely mistaking what preaching means. Preaching means speaking in a way that helps people to come closer to Krishna certainly this requires at times for us to speak not so it does require sometimes for us to speak things that are going to be unpalatable to people but that doesn’t mean that we have to make a machine of speaking those things sometimes when we have to give feedback to people so I am editor for Back to God so when people submit articles the articles come to us then we give feedback, in general we try to follow a formula of plus minus plus plus means tell some positives which will encourage people, then tell some rules for improvement and then tell some positive again. So often it works that at least there should be some room for improvement some positive, some appreciation should be given and along with that some room for improvement may also be given.
So generally if we just keep agitating people then we will not be able to elevate them, we may end up alienating them more and more so even if our intention is to do good still by non-agitating speech we help people to calm down we help people to open their minds and open their hearts and then speak the truth, speak pleasing truth in a way that is beneficial, just like a doctor a doctor a doctor it is said a doctor’s behaviour itself should be such that the patient feels reassured and comforted by that you know if a patient has got a diagnosis of cancer and the doctor becomes agitated and scared then the patient will just lose heart completely at that time. Now of course if the doctor is just stone hearted and doesn’t show any compassion any emotion, that is also not proper but the doctor has to have maintain some level of objectivity, even if the doctor has to give bad news still it can be done in a non-agitating way as much as possible so Anudvega Karam Vakyam Satyam Priyahitam Jayat and Swadhyaya Abhyasanam Jayava Swadhyaya is study, Abhyasanam is repetition or practise so how do we study and practise, in this case Prabhupada translates it as by memorising and reciting scripture so Srila Prabhupada himself in the early days of the movement recited initially when he started he would just give the classes and he would quote the shlokas but once he started the Bhagavatam class then Srila Prabhupada took some extreme some step which was quite dramatic as well as a bit alarming for devotees he started having the Bhagavatam shloka written down and he would ask all devotees to recite the shloka, so he would recite it and not only would he recite it afterwards he would ask all devotees to recite it and this was in Los Angeles and the devotees in Los Angeles were quite wild as compared to the lower east side in New York, the Hethashpuri area in Los Angeles was much more wild the hippies in that generation were completely into all kind of things when a person would go high on drugs that person would be considered to be LSD saint LSD saint means just like there can be a bhakti saint or a gyana saint there will be somebody who by some method has got some very great realisation, so after taking LSD whatever the person speaks this is actually the person’s wisdom speaking from within people who treat people who had gone high on LSD like saints so in such a culture to infuse the appropriate amount of gravity in the study of scripture was difficult Prabhupada would give classes but there were some people who were just becoming devotees, they might be coming down for drugs or some other people who were just walking in and just seeing what is going on so the mood was very adequate gravity was not there, so what did Srila Prabhupada do he made everyone recite and not only would everyone have to recite, if somebody would recite a verse wrong, Prabhupada would correct their pronunciation not like this, speak like this and then all the devotees were forced to become serious generally hearing is a passive activity just sit and hear and unless there is some exam or something like that, nobody can find out also how much we heard it is that ok, I have to sit and hear but when there is something after hearing we have to speak something then the whole thing becomes much more serious and we have to take things much more attentively, much more gravely so Prabhupada introduced this recitation of scriptures and he wanted devotees also as much as possible to recite scripture to memorise scripture sometimes you feel oh memorising is such a big strain for my head I can’t memorise it is very difficult to memorise verses well it may be true that it is difficult to memorise verses but actually the fact is nothing worthwhile is easy in this world, we have to put in efforts if we want something worthwhile in life the fact is that memorisation of verses will not burden the head, it will unburden the heart, it will not burden the head, it will unburden the heart, how will it unburden the heart, because when we memorise scripture at that time we will find that this memorised scripture will become a shelter for us in times of stress and distress when we feel too much burdened by too many things or when we feel that everything has gone wrong and we are feeling disheartened, when there is stress or there is distress, at that time if we if we recite appropriate verses from scriptures when we are feeling too much troubled we think one who doesn’t get agitated amidst misery and pleasure such a person will attain eternity just reciting this verse will calm us down or we can recite how Krishna memorising verses like that can have a tremendously calming and comforting effect on us but even meditating on the translations like that or reciting the translations may also help at the same time the origin of Sanskrit itself has its potency, either way the point is that knowledge in books is like knowledge in the bank account knowledge in the memory is like money in the pocket so money in the bank account means it is there but I have to do some processes by which I will get the money out of the bank account but money in the pocket means it is much more readily accessible, so like that if we have memorised verses that is like money, that is readily accessible spiritual resource for us when an enemy attacks suppose two soldiers of two groups of armies are fighting on the battlefield and the soldier says wait I forgot to get my weapon, let me go get my weapon then we will fight you go and before you go to the go to your encampment you will go to the next world soldier will shoot you, shoot the enemy like that so we need to be ready so memorised verses can act as weapons for us which enable us to take shelter of Krishna in whatever situations we may be in so Prabhupada also explained this means that one should quote scripture one should quote scripture a process of speaking in spiritual circles is to say something upheld by the scriptures one should at first quote from scripture authority to back up what one is saying so that is then let us look at austerities of the mind so means satisfaction means without being duplicitous towards other Prabhupada translated this also as simplicity but this is a different kind of simplicity, we will come back to it maunam is silence or Prabhupada translated as gravity self-control and then bhavasam shuddhi bhavasam shuddhi is a purification of existence that is this is a austerity of the mind let us look at these one by one satisfaction manah prasad many times we feel I am not satisfied in life I am not satisfied even as devotees sometimes we may not feel satisfied so we have to recognise that satisfaction is not just emotion satisfaction is also a decision what does that mean satisfaction is not just emotion it is a feeling that will come on its own satisfaction is also a choice, it is a decision for example if I have a house of a particular size and say my relative has got a bigger house if I constantly keep thinking my relative has got a bigger house then what will happen I cannot be satisfied, but if I take a decision my goal in life is not to get the biggest house in the world how big my house is it is not going to matter ultimately in regards to how how happy I am going to be in life so what will matter is actually we are determined not by our possessions, but our decisions our decisions our values, our commitments they determine who we are so if we keep them straight and focused then we can achieve a lot no matter what be the situation in our life otherwise therefore, Manaprasada Prabhupada writes in his purport that the more we think of sense enjoyment the more the mind becomes dissatisfied the more we think of sense enjoyment if we meditate on the objects of senses we will become agitated but satisfaction of the mind can be obtained only by taking the mind away from thoughts of sense enjoyment only by taking the mind away from thoughts of sense enjoyment so in general our mind has a default to see what we don’t have and to crave for that so these objects of sense enjoyment I don’t have, this I don’t have that I don’t have, that I don’t have but if I think of what all I have that’s how satisfaction will come so in general the whole advertising industry is a dissatisfaction producing industry in fact customer dissatisfaction is the fuel that runs today’s consumer economy but actually consumer economy is not the most essential economy the most essential aspects of the economy is necessities economy necessities is food, clothing, shelter and what we need biologically biologically and physically for living they are the necessities most consumer products are not really necessities, they are luxuries which because of today’s social conditions may seem like necessities but ok I need a cell phone but it is not that I need the I need to keep getting the latest cell phone every single time some new development happens and some new feature is added to a cell phone I can freeze this is what I want, this is what my functions are required I’ll use them, that’s good enough for me so manaprasada in this way we can have manaprasada so Prabhupada says how can we develop this manaprasada, it’s not just don’t think of things, don’t think of things or don’t think of those things we have to think of something so Prabhupada says think about Krishna’s pastimes Krishna is all attractive and the more we think of his pastimes the more our mind becomes and heart becomes satisfied so in general the important point is to recognise that all of us will have to battle with dissatisfaction but that battle with dissatisfaction will be much lesser or much less which will be not so difficult to win if we have a satisfying alternative object of thought so Krishna and Krishna’s pastimes are that satisfying object of thought and the more we absorb ourselves in Krishna’s pastimes the less we will be caught in less we will feel agitated by material thoughts manaprasada, saumyatvam saumyatvam is softness, gentleness simpleness as Prabhupada translates over here, Krishna has already talked about saumyarupa, oh Arjuna Krishna please show your gentle Krishna has been told by Arjuna, Arjuna says to Krishna please you have shown your ugrarupa the kalarupa which you showed in the 11th chapter very frightening, now show your saumyarupa, please show your gentle form so like that saumyatvam saumyatvam saumyatvam will help us and then gentleness and then simplicity now simplicity is also a state of the mind in general if we think harsh thoughts about others we get complex and don’t get into complexities ultimately one of the complexities we get into is trying to get into philosophical integrities of everything we are not God and we can’t understand everything about everything we have to focus on what are the most important things for me in my spiritual life and focus on them and utilise them and then now it’s interesting, mauna literally means like we say mauna vrata that means silence now if we want to talk about mauna mauna would normally be an austerity of the speech but Krishna has put it here as austerity of the mind and Prabhupada aptly in Krishna’s context is translating that as gravity so mauna is not just a state of speech, it’s a state of mind sometimes some people may take a mauna vrata but then they may use a slate for writing and communicating and with the slate they write so much that they end up speaking more than what they would have spoken they take more trouble also for speaking and others also have more trouble because first somebody writes and then you read and then again it just makes things complicated so is it really serving a purpose? that is the question so mauna is not just physically shutting the mouth actually sometimes it is said that people speak because they find sound more tolerable than silence people speak because what is happening is inside their mind is wild, their mind is agitated so much anxiety, so much passion, so much irritations their mind is crying and squealing and screaming and screeching and shouting and they just can’t tolerate that just get away from the mind speak something, you speak something, I’ll speak something and I’ll get away from the mind or if there is no one to speak then turn on a television and let it speak and what happens somehow get away from the mind get away from the mind so real mauna is not just a state of the speech it is a state of mind state of the mind so when the mind is peaceful as if Prabhupada talks about gravity and the opposite of gravity is frivolity or levity frivolity means when the occasion is serious, for example there is a funeral and somebody has died and suddenly somebody starts telling a joke and laughing over there a group of people laughing that is so insensitive over there to do something like that now if that joke is about that departed person and we are somehow appreciating that person, that is a different issue but if it is something not related to that at all it is very inappropriate, it is very insensitive so in general we are all on the verge of death we don’t know who of us is going to die when and it can happen anytime so when we understand the impermanence and the fragility of material existence then that makes us grave gravity, so Prabhupada writes another way of becoming grave is by thinking about the welfare of others and generally if we are just thinking about ourselves then oh my problem the problem with the problems is that the more we think about the problem the bigger the problems become generally if we are not having a clear plan and steady commitment to deal with the problem then just thinking about the problem makes the problem bigger and bigger and bigger and we don’t solve the problem at all in this way so it’s better that we don’t think about the problem instead we think about Krishna and we think about Krishna it’s difficult for us to think about Krishna how do I think? Krishna’s flute is long or Krishna’s flute is short Krishna’s complexion is blue that is one way we can think about Krishna which is good if we can but it may not be possible to meditate on Krishna unless we have love for Krishna to meditate for a long time is difficult so then we can think about how we can connect others with Krishna how we can benefit others let’s say a doctor thinks about how I can cure my patients how I can help my patients similarly a person can think about how I can help others and that is very auspicious for us as well as for others so in this way we can move forward in our spiritual life maunamaatma vinigraha aatma vinigraha is self-control again Krishna is putting that in the category of the mind why? because all falls begin with the mind there is contemplation on the sense objects now thoughts of the sense objects may have sources from outside or sources from inside so the sources may be something which I see or sources may be something which is a flashback in the memory from the past but whatever the source is but after that there is contemplation and it is that contemplation that leads to eventually if that contemplation is unchecked, it will lead to degradation so aatma vinigraha self-control means that we don’t frivolously think about sense objects, we focus on thinking about Krishna and how to connect others with Krishna and then bhava samshuddhir tyetat bhava samshuddhir purification, again purification Krishna is saying it is primarily the austerity of the mind why? because impure and pure actions begin with impure or pure thoughts so if we think purely, it may not always be easy but as soon as we realise, ok the mind has gone off track, then bring it back on track don’t let the mind go on the impure thoughts for too long, bring it back on track so then that is tapo manasa muchyate, all this is austerity of the mind so this way Krishna gives a clear understanding of how one can practise Krishna consciousness so for a devotee, mauna means in terms of not just silence but gravity, and gravity comes by meditating on Krishna, thinking about Krishna and talking about Krishna also so mauna can also be talking about Krishna now Krishna describes ok these are in general faculties of attributes of body, mind and speech so how do the austerities be performed? so Krishna says that this can be performed in the three modes so when one performs it in goodness then that is, that will be austerity in the mode of goodness so so that means with great faith with strong faith it translates as transcendental so that which is executed austerity means the three kinds of austerity that we talked about earlier those human beings when they perform this without the that is so again and again Krishna talks about how austerity should be performed in goodness characteristic is non-attachment to the results attachment is primarily to Krishna not to the results, non-attachment to results that is auspicious and then now we wonder that if the austerity is in goodness, how can the faith be transcendental? if the faith is transcendental, won’t the austerity be transcendental? yes, it will gradually become transcendental when the person goes to transcendental consciousness sometimes we may by the association of devotees have faith in transcendence even when we ourselves are not at the transcendental level so that’s how we may have faith in transcendence so we may practise the principles of pure devotional service although we are not yet pure because we are inspired by a pure devotee so that’s how transcendental then Krishna will describe in the mode of passion satkar is respect satkar especially means in a public forum person is felicitated, honoured, respected so maan is honour and puja is worship and perform one’s austerity for that so one is actually motivated by damba by the desire to show off with pride then one does this all this rajasam chalam adhruvam this is rajasam chalam this is rajasam in the mode of it’s flickering and it is adhruvam it is not factual, it won’t last for long why? because sometimes we take a resolution say I will never eat sweets again in my lifetime we take that austerity we decide why like that we want to show others how austere I am I don’t take any sweets and then one day, two day, one week, two week one month it goes on and then after that what happens is maybe in private we take it all with instalments also as if it all compensated so idea is that it’s not the devotees against sweets of course if a devotee wants to avoid sweets for some reason that’s also ok the point which I am making is sometimes we do austerity for the sake of getting honour sometimes I may fast on Ekadashi and then if I am going on fasting on Ekadashi and I am seeing who all are eating how much no sense control so much eating this person is doing so if that is my attitude then what am I doing? my body may be fasting but my ego is feasting my ego is feasting and actually that fasting rather than helping me to make spiritual advancement will become a big hurdle in my spiritual advancement that fasting will boost my ego and fasting is generally good but any kind of austerity if it is done with passionate intentions then if it leads to increase of passion that will be unproductive and counterproductive so what we do is important but why we do what we do is even more important so we can’t just reject if somebody is doing fasting we shouldn’t think that’s for sure that person is doing that person just wants a reputation that I am such a self control person that is not how we should think about others that person is maybe advanced or that person has a serious commitment because of which he wants to advance and that’s how he is doing this but for ourselves we should be more introspective then so so hmm they arranged to be worshipped by subordinates and let them wash their feet at offerages sometimes there are pictures of some sadhus the picture themselves they are both raising their legs as if showing oh my aashirvaad is there all of you take my charan dhuli and get aashirvaad this is not at all actually a saintly attitude a true saint isn’t actually a disciple may allow to a true saint will allow to touch the feet raising one’s legs this is generally not a very devotional attitude so in some cases some devotees may photograph the lotus feet of the spiritual master and that is ok but posing like that is very it can very often be just tapo dambhe na chahiye it can be out of dambha that is unfortunate then Krishna talks about austerity in the mode of ignorance modha grahena atmanoyam peedaya kriyate tapah parasya utsad anarthamva tatha ma samudharitam so modha grahena modha means modha is foolishness so that austerity is performed with foolishness which is performed with grahen there is a lot of endeavour in all of it atmanoyat peedaya peedaya kriyate that which leads to tormenting of oneself not only does it torment oneself parasya utsad anarthamva so one also wants to cause destruction parasya utsad anarthamva annihilation tatha ma samudharitam so austerity which a person performs because of for destroying others that is austerity in the mode of ignorance so Prabhupada gives the example of Hiranyakashipu in the parpot and also there is the example of how Mrukasar he did austerity to please lord Shiva and what was the first one, what was the kind of austerity both are there, peedaya peedaya kriyate so what was the peedaya actually he was just cutting off his own flesh, he was cutting off his own flesh and offering into the fire and then finally he was about to cut off his own head and lord Shiva appeared not because he was pleased but he felt pity for him why should a person kill oneself like this so lord Shiva appeared and then lord Shiva said what did he say whoever I touch let that person die, this is example of parasya utsad anarthamva penman does austerity for the causing of distress and devastation to others we know how jealousy works, envy works there is that anecdotal story of it may be apocryphal but illustrates the principle that there is one person who meditated and did austerity and pleased god and then god appeared in front of him and said what do you want, he says I will give you whatever you want but on one condition whatever you get, your neighbour will get the double of that so the idea is that god wanted to inculcate him in a feeling of bonding between the two so what did this person think he said oh god, please break one of my eyes and make that eye blind what was the idea, if I lose one eye my neighbour will lose both eyes what is the standard parasya utsad anarthamva so one thing that others misery is one’s own pleasure so this is tamasam tamasamchit this is in the mode of ignorance now after talking about tapa, now Krishna will talk about so first he is talking about yajna now he will talk about dana so let’s look at the dana quickly dhiyate anupakarine deshe kalecha patrecha taddanam sattvikam smritam dhatavyam iti dhanam dhatavyam, that means it is worth giving it is appropriate to give dhiyate anupakarine when we give we do anupakarine we don’t expect others to give us something back anupakarine deshe kalecha patrecha according to time, place and circumstance deshe kalecha patrecha taddanam, that dana is sattvikam smritam that dana is in goodness so again, the commonality we see is what that it is first of all, the commonality which we see with all goodness earlier is that there is no attachment one is not expecting a material result from it and one gives deshe kalecha patrecha so actually austerity sacrifice and charity should be given to the right person at the right time so for example, it is told that on Ekadashi one can give charity to Brahmana and things like that the idea is, when we do these things, these are activities which can benefit others and we do them at the right time, then we get more benefit because according to certain time, place and circumstance, certain activities are considered more auspicious and less auspicious at certain times so so now Prabhupada will talk about, there is no recommendation for giving charity indiscriminately now we may wonder if the poor are starving shouldn’t they be given charity? the point is not that they shouldn’t be given charity the point is that it should be given in a way that helps others so in general, in Vedic culture poor people are given food now generally people who are of a Shudra mentality if they get money, they will misuse it there are so many families even in today’s society where the husband is alcoholic and then the husband is alcoholic what does the husband do? the husband gets money uses that money to maybe abuse the wife abuse the children and then spends all the money on alcohol such people, giving them money can be a curse for them better that instead of giving them money give them give them resources that can’t be misused so if food is given then that can’t be misused so when it is talked about goodness, passion, ignorance the point is not that we have to be hard hearted and insensitive to others suffering but we also have to be intelligent so that what we are offering to help others actually helps others then Krishna talks about yathu pratyupkarartham phalam uddhishyavapuna dhyate cha pariklishtam tad dhanam raja samsmritam yathu pratyupkarartham so when one gives charity with the expect of pratyupkarartham as I am giving something you will give me something back pratyupkar so opposite of that is pratyupkarartham so one expects something in return for that phalam uddhishyavapuna yathu pratyupkarartham one expects something I will get in return for dhyate cha pariklishtam pariklishtam means grudgingly resentfully tad dhanam raja samsmritam so pariklishtam means I don’t want to give charity but because of social pressure because of some other factors I have to give some charity so internally I am resenting it so as we discussed earlier our actions are important but our motivations are even more important so when the motivation is not proper in passion what happens is the focus is what will I get in return so if my if I am trying to get material honour and material returns then I am always calculating if I give this much in the future I will get that much like for something that I am doing a savings bank so if I put this much money then it will increase and then I can get this much back on the other hand if I put so the idea is if I give charity to some religious thing and the idea is maybe God will increase it 10 times and give it to me in the future again so that is the idea which people have if that is the motive which people are giving then that is not really a noble motive and then what happens if one doesn’t have that faith that I will get something in return or one doesn’t feel that okay maybe this is not the kind of investment that I want to make then parikalishtam I am forced to give grudgingly one gives and that grudging attitude creates an impression which doesn’t allow us to it doesn’t allow us to move forward in spiritual life it doesn’t allow us to rise above the mode of passion then Krishna talks about charity in the mode of ignorance so without considering the right place the right time when one gives charity one gives to an unworthy person without respect, without proper attention now what is respectful attention means? for example now if a drunkard is going to a bar and then along the way after drunkard comes out with 4-5 bottles of liquor to go back to home and then drink more and then sees a beggar along the street and he says half open bottle is there he says take this take and drink and enjoy so what kind of charity is that? a person is giving something, he is going to harm others, so that kind of charity is in the mode of ignorance so one doesn’t give it proper attention, proper respect sometimes when charity is given those who are getting the charity they are made to grovel fall at the feet, beg bootlicking person has to come 10 times, 20 times, 100 times and then after that give something to that person so when does it respect the person properly then that is also not considered proper charity because the whole idea of charity is not that we are just giving to that person, we understand what we have got from Krishna I have to offer back to Krishna so when I learn to respect other people also firstly as human beings and then as parts of Krishna then even if I am wealthy and even if I am doing others a favour that doesn’t mean that I have to push my foot into their throat and assert my authority no, I have to actually be properly respectful so earlier it was one sees, one doesn’t see the Desh, one doesn’t see the Kaala and one gives charity Desh Kaala Patra is important here in charity, in ignorance, there is no Desh Kaala Patra consideration and that is very misleading, that is very unfortunate so such charity is in the mode of ignorance now after describing this charity, Krishna will now move forward and describe about how whatever activities are done we can make them transcendental by reciting Om Tatsa, that we will discuss in our next class, thank you very much