Bhakti Shastri (138) – Bhagavad Gita Chapter 17 Text 23 to 28

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Hare Krishna Hare Krishna welcome back to the Bhagavad Gita Bhakti Shastri course we are now going to go to the last section of the 17th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita the 17th chapter discusses faith in three modes, Shraddha, Trayya Vibhaga, Yoga so in the 17th chapter, Krishna has started by talking about how faith is in three modes, Arjuna’s question was at the start of the 17th chapter those who have faith and those who don’t have faith those two extremes are talked about in the 16th chapter, divine and the demoniac nature, but what about those who are in between, those who have faith but not in scripture, what happens to them so Krishna responds by telling about the three modes of material nature and how by observing the modes we can understand what the situation of a person is and accordingly that person’s faith will be in that particular mode, so we discussed about Aahaar, Yajna Daana and Tapa, now Krishna comes to the solution part in the last section wherein he says what if somebody’s faith is not scriptural somebody’s faith is not transcendental and how can that person elevate oneself, increase one’s faith, that is by doing by reciting Om Tat Sat so that means there can be non-scriptural faith, there can be scriptural faith and there can be transcendental faith so non-scriptural means somebody has some faith in something which comes in one’s own tradition or culture or whatever scriptural faith doesn’t always have to be transcendental, in this chapter itself Krishna has said of so he describes faith in three modes how people in goodness worship devatas, people in passion worship them and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and non-scriptural faith to transcendental faith so let us see, how this happens in the series of verses 17.23, we will begin with Om Tat Sat Ni tou Brahma Om Tat Sat are all three references to the absolute truth and nirdesho, nirdesho, indicated or referred to. The absolute truth is referred to by this.
Now the word brahmana can have many meanings. It can refer to the person who is a brahmin. It can also refer to the brahman, the absolute truth which is known as brahman.
So, in the second line of this verse, that is 17.23b, brahmanas refers to the absolute truth, brahman, supreme. And brahmanas refers to brahmins, the people who are having brahminical qualities. So brahmanas, brahmanas trividhah smritah.
So, that brahman is trividhah, in three ways it is nirdesho, it is referred to. Smritah, it is said like this. So, it is said that the brahman can be referred to in three ways, it is said that.
What are three ways? Om tatsat. And brahmanas tena vedas ca. And yajnasya vihitah purah.
Purah means in the past. This is how it has been used, brahmanas tena vedas ca. So, by the brahmanas, by the vedas, in the yajnas, this is how om tatsat has been used.
So here, Krishna is now explaining how things work in spiritual life, in terms of the gradual progression. The gradual progression is that one is first just materialistic without any reference to any faith in anything higher, then one comes to some kind of faith which is not scriptural, then one comes to a faith that is scriptural, and then one comes to a faith that is transcendental. So, faithless, non-scriptural faith, scriptural faith, transcendental faith.
You could have four levels like this. So, now here Krishna is describing that om tatsaditi nirdesho brahmanas trividhah smritah. So, he says that om is a very familiar incantation in the Vedic literature.
And what is its purpose? Krishna Prabhupada also uses the word om tatsat at the end of many of his introductions. For example, at the end of the introduction of the Bhagavatam, he concludes with om tatsat. Other places also he does that.
So, it’s a familiar Vedic invocation. It’s even today used within Hindu society quite often. So, om tatsat.
So, here Krishna says, in broad terms, first point he says is, it refers to the absolute truth. Brahmanas trividhah smritah. It refers to the absolute truth.
So, when people want to chant, they are referred to the absolute truth. They can refer to the absolute truth in a personalist sense as Krishna, as Vishnu, as Ram. That is possible.
But when people do not want to refer to the absolute truth in personalist terms, or they do not know about the personal aspect of the absolute truth, then at such times, they may refer to om tatsat. So, om is a non-personal. We won’t use the word impersonal.
Non-personal because there is no direct reference to personality. But om itself is not necessarily an impersonal reference. The word om is cognate.
It’s related with the words that refer to God, even in the various world religions. For example, in English, we see the word omni. Omni means all.
So, God is omnipotent. He is supremely powerful. He has all power, in fact.
He is omniscient. He knows everything. So, omni is related with om.
If you see semantically as well as vocally, the two sounds are the same. Omni, same sense, everything. So, om, that which pervades everything, that which subsumes, includes everything.
Then, there is also the, in Islam as in Christianity, in the Abrahamic religions in general, there is ameen or amen. So, there also the sound is, om is there, so am, a, a, m is there over there. The roots are the same.
So, in general, the idea of referring to the absolute truth by using non-specific designations. Non-specific means that, ok, what does om refer to? You know, Krishna refers to a specific person. Om does not necessarily refer to Krishna.
At least, that’s not the understanding of all people when they recite the word om tatsat. But even if people don’t understand it, if they understand that I am referring to the absolute truth by this. So, Bhaktanath Thakur talks about two kinds of names of the Supreme Lord.
He talks about primary names and secondary names. So, Krishna, Yashodanandan, Radhika Vallabh, these are primary names. They are references to Krishna with respect to his personal life in the spiritual world, with respect to his pastimes with his devotees.
Whereas, Paramatma, Param Purusha, Jagat Purusha, Jagat Vyapi, these names are secondary names. Why are they secondary names? Because they refer to the attributes of Krishna which are not directly connected with his pastimes in the spiritual world. They are connected more with his administration in this world.
So, there is no Paramatma required in the spiritual world to escort all the living beings. There is no supervisor required for the Upadrishta, Anumantacha, like that. It’s spiritual world.
Because everybody is serving Krishna lovingly over there. Krishna is omniscient in the spiritual world also, whenever Dila wants him to be omniscient. But overall, Krishna doesn’t have to supervise anyone over there.
So, that’s how the spiritual world is transcendental. Now, whereas in the material world, Krishna’s functions in the material world are referred to in the secondary names. So, the secondary names, Om, Tatsad, these are the secondary names.
So, Om is a reference to the Absolute Truth. Sometimes the word is used, Om is used along with some other words. Om Namo Narayanaya.
This is the mantra which Ramavicharya got from his gurus. And similarly, there are other mantras also. So, which begin with Om.
Om Namo Bhagvate Vasudevaya. Now, Krishna has earlier explained that Om refers to the Himself. Pranava Sarva Videshu, Shabda Khyapa Urusham Rishu.
In 17.8, when he is describing the essence of everything, at that time, I described the essence of everything. Therefore, that time he described that. Pranava Sarva Videshu.
Among all the Vedas, I am Pranava. So, Pranava refers to Krishna. So, Krishna has, that’s just one reference.
In 10th chapter also in the Vibhuti Yoga, a reference comes about how Krishna is Om. And in this way, Krishna has made it clear what Om refers to. Now, Iti Nirdesho.
Iti Nirdesho means that this is how the Absolute Truth is referred to. Brahmanas Tri Vidha Smita. Tri Vidha, three names.
Tat is also a name of the Absolute Truth. Tat refers to, as we know, Tat Tom Asi, you are that. You are that means you are that, that’s what the way the Mayavadis interpret it.
You are his. You are not he, you are his. Tat Tom, Tom means you.
Tat refers to that Asi. So, Mayavadis say you are that. But we are that in qualitative sense, not in the quantitative sense.
You are the, you are the source of the, you are, you are of the same quality as the Absolute Truth. You are not he, you are his. Tat Tom Asi.
That is the Vaishnava understanding of the Tat Tom Asi. Sat. Now, Sat refers also to the Absolute Truth as the eternal underlying cause and source of everything.
So, Om Tat Sat. These are three ways to refer to the Absolute Truth. And in one sense, through this, Krishna is talking about the chanting of the holy names and the potency of the chanting to elevate the faithless to the faithful and non-scripturally faithful to the scripturally faithful level.
That is, people can all make spiritual advancement through chanting of the holy name. So, this is a very inclusive understanding of Bhakti wherein in Srila Prabhupada, we see that when people would ask, say, Christians or other people of other religious faith, they would ask, do everyone have to chant the name of Krishna itself? No, Prabhupada said. You can chant the name of the Lord according to your tradition.
So, Srila Prabhupada was once in Iran and at that time, when he was talking with some devotees, at that time, in the background, the Namas started. As the prayers were being offered, Prabhupada closed his eyes, folded his hands and became absorbed deeply in it. And then he heard the full recitation of the prayers of Namas.
And when it got over, then he opened his eyes and Prabhupada’s eyes were bright and he said, wasn’t that beautiful? So, the devotees were a little taken aback and the devotees said, but wouldn’t it have been better if they had been chanting Hare Krishna? One of the devotees asked. So, Prabhupada looked hurt and Prabhupada said, why are you making me sectarian? They are glorifying God in their way and we are glorifying God in our way. So, why are you making me sectarian? It’s a very deep point which Srila Prabhupada is making over here.
Actually, as long as the principle of the glorification of God is there, that principle has to be focused on. The form in which glorification happens, that is different for different people. So, now the name Krishna does refer to the form of the Lord which is there in the highest abode in the spiritual world.
So, there is some speciality to the name Krishna. But when we are talking from universalist perspective, at that time we should understand what to present when. So, when we are talking with people from different faiths, we don’t have to impose our faith on them.
Our goal is not to just spread one organisation. Our goal ultimately is to raise global consciousness. Now, Prabhupada gave the name of the organisation also as International Society for Krishna Consciousness.
So, the goal is not just to spread the organisation, but to spread the consciousness. So, now to spread Krishna Consciousness. Now, at one level Krishna Consciousness, for some people it’s just God Consciousness.
They may not be conscious that God is Krishna. So, if some people can be elevated from level of faithlessness to faith level of God Consciousness, then why not? That is good for them. Now, we will see also that Srila Prabhupada’s approach to people of other religions was different depending on the level of commitment of those people.
Say, if somebody was just a nominal Christian, that means maybe born in that faith, occasionally going to the church, not a very serious practitioner, then Prabhupada would say, yes, practise Krishna Consciousness. We can develop love for God by practising Christianity also, by practising Krishna Consciousness also. But this is Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s mercies available here.
He is a Yuga Avatar and the holy name can give us access to Goloka Vrindavan. So, he would recommend that. But on the other hand, if he met Christians who were committed practitioners, for example, somebody is a Christian pastor, a Christian monk, a Christian teacher, Prabhupada would not try to convert them.
Prabhupada would say that, no, follow the Bible more faithfully, understand the universal principles of God Consciousness. And Prabhupada would say that, you can read the Bhagavad Gita, the science of God. By studying the Bhagavad Gita, it will help you to become a better Christian.
So, in that sense, the focus of a devotee in the outreach is to elevate global consciousness by helping people to come closer and closer to Krishna, according to their level. If they can come directly to Krishna, they can take the elevator, that’s wonderful. But if they can’t, then whatever level they are, they can elevate themselves.
So, now, some devotees consider, have this perspective that other religions are all bad. For example, even Gaudiya Vaishnavism and Hinduism in general has borne the brunt of Islamic vandalism and fanaticism. Many temples were desecrated.
Many deities had to be removed so that they were not desecrated. We know many of the down deities are now in Jaipur. That was because the Islamic invaders were fanatical at that time.
So, now, we see that this is there. But Srila Prabhupada’s attitude, Srila Prabhupada acknowledges this point in Chaitanya Charita Amrit, but he does not harp on it. In every religion, there are sectarian, fanatical, exclusivist elements.
Exclusivist means, my way is the only way. And these statements like that, they have to be understood in proper context. So, Krishna also says, Sarva Dharmaan Parityajya Maam Ekam Visharanam.
Surrender only to me, somebody can constitute. This is a fanatical statement. Surrender only to me means that, don’t surrender to Jesus, don’t surrender to Mohammed, don’t surrender to anyone else, surrender only to me.
But actually when Krishna is saying, surrender only to me, it is through his representatives. And his representatives can come in different ways at different times. And they can elevate people gradually.
So, when a statement like this comes, surrender only to me, or say, Bible says, I am the way and the light, none shall go to the father except through me. So, this statement simply refers to this fact that in this world, we need to follow the word of God. Just like, if a patient goes to a doctor and the doctor says, okay, this is your ailment and this is the medicine.
But the patients are saying, no, I went to that doctor and the doctor said that was the problem. And then I went to that doctor and the doctor said that was the problem. And I went to that doctor and the doctor said that was the problem.
But the doctor will say, forget everything else, just follow what I am telling you, you will get cured. Now, this does not necessarily mean that all the other doctors are false. But that’s exclusive sort of a statement, forget everything else, just follow what I am telling, that is meant to create a focus.
Now, take one doctor’s treatment, you will get cured. So, Prabhupada also had the same focus. One time when Prabhupada was in America, after in New York, he gave a class and after that one hippie sitting at the back, he said, Swamiji, your philosophy sounds like the philosophy of Buddha.
So, Prabhupada said, do you follow Buddha? He was taken aback, he said, no. Prabhupada, follow Buddha, follow Jesus, follow Krishna, follow someone, don’t just talk. Don’t just talk.
Because if you just go and talk with a doctor, that’s not going to cure us. We have to follow someone. And if the doctor, it’s possible, unfortunately, sometimes the doctor may be a quack, doctor may be bogus.
But how will we understand he is bogus? Either we have to intellectually scrutinise the philosophy and see whether it doesn’t make sense, then we can understand. Or we take the medicine, we understand it’s bogus. So, just by talking, we will neither understand the truthfulness, nor the falsity of anything.
So, we have to practise. So, Prabhupada would encourage people to take up God Consciousness, whatever level they are at. So, when we are talking about, say, Islamic fanaticism, we have to recognise that these statements which are there, they are meant to create a focus.
Follow this path, don’t bother about others. That doesn’t necessarily mean that all other paths are wrong. Although some fanatical followers within a particular religion may construe those statements that way.
And that may even be the means to understanding among some people in some areas of the world who are followers of that religion. But we have to understand overall the point that we, if somebody else is following God Consciousness, we appreciate that. And Shri Prabhupada in the Chaitanya Charita Amrit, in his purport to the Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s discussion, Chandakasi, he describes that, you know, the scriptures of the Mlecchas and the Yavanas are the Old Testament, the New Testament and the Quran.
And he says that these scriptures are not eternal and they are not necessarily perfect. So, they are recently composed. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu himself is talking this and Shri Prabhupada elaborating over there.
So, they are not necessarily perfect, they are not eternal and they don’t contain much advanced knowledge about God. And that’s why people who want to know scientifically about God, they are not satisfied by these books. That’s what Prabhupada says over there.
So, Prabhupada is candid. But where is he speaking these things? He’s speaking this in his Chaitanya Charita Amrit purport, not in his Bhagavad Gita purport, not in his public classes. Because how it is that somebody who doesn’t have any faith in God, we have to help him to come one step upward, one step upwards.
But if somebody can take up Krishna Consciousness, then we don’t have to let that person go to some other path. So, when somebody is reading Chaitanya Charita Amrit, that person is quite interested in the serious Krishna Consciousness. So, they understand that thing.
So, that other religions, they can also elevate people. But ultimately, elevation is dependent on one’s devotion to God. So, if one doesn’t have devotion, then how much can there be the elevation? So, if there is devotion, then whatever be the tradition one is following, one will get elevated.
But in general, in many religions, we see that the religion is often a tool for material aggrandisement. Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha is the Karmakanda level of religion. And that’s what is largely the level at which most religions practise today.
So, people say that if we serve, if we follow the rules of God, if we worship God, then we’ll go to, we’ll go to paradise, we’ll go to Jannat. And there we’ll be able to enjoy. There are many Islamic Jihadis who believe that based on some interpretation of some Quranic verses that actually, if we die in Jihad, then we’ll be able to enjoy with 73 virgins in Jannat for all of eternity.
Now, this is, this is not love of Allah. This is love of virgins. And this is definitely not a very, this is not definitely the level of faith that any religion ultimately aims for.
Mohammed also talks about ultimately surrender to God, pure surrender to God. That’s what the Quran also teaches. But that’s not the emphasis.
So, Vaishala Prabhupada is saying that the scriptures of the Mlechas and Yavanas have limitations. He’s simply pointing out an objective fact. This is not a sectarian imposition.
It’s an objective fact. Anybody can study the extent of knowledge of God that is given in the Vedic scriptures and the extent of knowledge that is given in the non-Vedic scriptures. And you can see that the richness of depth and detail is far greater in the Vedic scriptures.
And therefore, if somebody wants to know about God, let that person come to Krishna. And somebody may say that, no, no, no, but some people, some Christians may ask that, okay, Jesus, He did not say that Krishna is God. You know, we say that Krishna is the father and Jesus is the son.
Jesus said, I am the son of God. So, Jesus did not say that, that Krishna is the father. So, there are different perspectives.
First is Jesus himself said, I have much to say, but you have not the ears to hear. Jesus actually preached only for five years, practically speaking. And in that, he gave whatever knowledge he could.
But what happened, he gave some knowledge. And he says, he reiterated the commitment, thou shall not kill, and people killed him only. So, how much could he give in those five years? And again, objectively speaking, suppose somebody is studying computer engineering, say that person studies computer engineering and IIT.
And then the person comes to know that there’s advanced computer engineering available in MIT in America. Now, will that person say, oh, I am from IIT, I will study only in IIT. I study only in IIT.
No, the person say, my interest is computer science. So, wherever I can get knowledge of computer science, I’ll take that. Whether it is an IIT or that is an MIT, I’ll do my knowledge, my interest is in knowledge.
So, similarly, different religions are like colleges for coming to know about God and for learning to love God. So, if based on objective observation, we find that say, in the Vedic tradition, as compared to the non-Vedic tradition, in the Vedic tradition, there is more knowledge of God available. Then why not take that knowledge of God and increase one’s devotion to God based on that knowledge? So, somebody says, no, no, no, this is not taught in our religion.
And you have to ask that person, are you interested in knowledge? Or are you interested in college? You know, what is the interest? We are not interested in college primarily. The college is a means to the knowledge. We are grateful to the college which has given us the knowledge, but still the focus is on the knowledge.
So, if in the Vedic tradition, there is more knowledge about God, if somebody says, no, I will not take this knowledge because it’s not in my tradition, then that person is being sectarian. We are not being sectarian in saying that Krishna is God. Prabhupada would say, when somebody would ask, why do you consider Krishna to be God? Prabhupada would say, is God all-attractive? Is God all-beautiful, all-powerful, all-wealthy, all-knowledgeable, like that? Six opulence is all-renounced.
So, now, which religion will say that God does not have these attributes? There are universal attributes which are understood and agreed upon by all religions. So, when we understand that all the religions agree to these attributes, then the question comes up, okay. So, where is there a description of a person with these attributes? For example, now, if somebody says, I am the Prime Minister of India, then the person would say, I am the Queen of England.
It is nonsense. Where is the power that you show in the Prime Minister of India? So, if I say, there is a description of a post, what is the power of the Prime Minister of India? The Prime Minister of India can by one command cause the Indian Air Force, the Indian Naval Force, the Indian Army to immediately start action to attack or they can declare the emergency and stop the suspension of most governmental functions all over the country. So, like that, there is a description of the power of the person.
And then, if you find here is a person who has that power, this person can get the army to move, army to stop, can get the air force to move, air force to stop. You say, okay, here is a description of a person and here is the person who fits the description. Then you can say, this person is God.
So, similarly, here is the description of God as having six opulences. And here is a person, Krishna, who exhibits the six opulences. So, why not accept this as God? Prabhupada would say, if you don’t want to accept Krishna as God, then you give us a better conception of God.
Is there any sweeter, better conception of God available in the world religions? If there is a better conception of God available, we will accept that. So, the point is, this is universal knowledge. And Om Tat Sat is a universal way of addressing God.
In the sense that, even if one doesn’t know that there is God is a person and his name is Krishna, one can refer to God by the generic names. And by referring to God by those generic names, one can become spiritually elevated. So, from non-scriptural to scriptural faith.
So, from faithlessness to non-scriptural faith, from non-scriptural faith to scriptural faith, from scriptural faith to transcendental faith, like that, one can get elevated. So, let’s look at the next verse now. So, 17.24. Tasmād omity udārÅ«tya yajña-dāna-tapah kriyā pravartante vidhānokta satataḥ brahma-vādÄ«naṁ So, tasmād omity udārÅ«tya.
So, therefore, by uttering Om, what would people do? Yajña-dāna-tapah kriyā. These are kriyas, these are actions in the Vedic tradition which are considered to be pious. Yajña-dāna-tapah kriyā.
So, yajña-dāna-tapah. Pravartante vidhānoktaḥ. Pravartante means to begin.
Vidhānokta. Vidhān refers to scriptural direction. Vidhānoktaḥ.
Satataṁ brahma-vādīnām. Brahma-vādīnām here refers to those who are seeking after the Brahma. Brahma means the absolute truth.
So, brahma-vādīnām refers to those who are trying to seek the Brahman. They may seek the Brahman by the rapid method, that is, the method of direct transcendental path. Or they may seek it by the gradual method, dharmārtha-kāma, gradually.
So, brahma-vādīnām can refer to those who are transcendentalists in the sense that they are connected with transcendence in some way or the other. So, all such people, om ity udhārūtyaḥ, whenever there is a yajña-dāna-tapah, they do it with, starting with om. And pravartante vidhānoktaḥ.
They do it on a scripture, Krishna is saying. So, what is the point of Krishna? He is setting precedents. This is how om has been chanted earlier.
And this is how om can also be chanted by those who want to elevate the level of their faith. Brahma-vādīnām. Now, this word brahma-vādī does not necessarily refer to the same sense in which we use the word brahma-vādī.
Now, we use the word māyā-vādÄ« and brahma-vādÄ«. So, māyā-vādÄ« refers to those who consider everything except Brahman to be māyā. And brahma-vādÄ«s are those who may know about the personal aspect of the absolute truth, but they don’t offend the personal aspect of the absolute truth.
However, they themselves feel attracted to the impersonal aspect. Those are brahma-vādīs. Satatam brahma-vādīnām.
So, here brahma-vādīnām refers to those who are adhering to scripture or those who are aiming for practising spiritual life in general, so that ultimately they can become transcendental. Then, So, tad ity abhisandhāya. Abhisandhāya means without desiring, with attachment, phalam.
So, without desiring the fruits. What are the fruits? Yajna-tapa-kriyā. So, dāna-kriyāśca-vidhā.
So, Kṛṣṇa is again referring to yajna-dāna-tapa. Kriyante. Now, the difference between this is, here specifically Kṛṣṇa is mentioning mokṣa-kāṅkṣi-bhī, those who are seeking liberation.
So, abhisandhāya refers to attachment. Abhisandhāya. And anabhisandhāya refers to without attachment.
And Kṛṣṇa says phalam yajna-tapa-kriyā, anabhisandhāya. So, without attachment to the fruits of yajna-dāna-tapa, when one chants tad, then one can attain transcendence. Or those who want to attain transcendence, those who want to attain liberation, they chant in this way.
So, that means, Kṛṣṇa is talking here about mokṣa-kāṅkṣi-bhī. So, if somebody wants the material results also, one does yajna-dāna-tapa for material results, that time also one can chant Aum and one will get those material results. The word tad also refers to the Absolute Truth.
And tad can be chanted, so that one can get liberation. So, tad refers to the Absolute Truth. And when one chants the name of that Absolute Truth, that can elevate one towards liberation.
So, this is, Kṛṣṇa is talking about religious faith. So, then you can have religious faith, we can have scriptural faith, we can have transcendental faith. Religious means having some kind of faith.
It need not always be scriptural faith. Then, 36 and 27. So, sad-bhāve sad-bhāve ca.
This is poetic here. Sad-bhāve sad-bhāve. Bhāva-bhāva coming twice.
So, in the sense, sad-bhāve, that means when one is referring to the Absolute Truth. Sad is the Absolute Truth, the Supreme. Sādhu is the devotee, sad-bhāve ca.
So, the word sad, it is used. So, when one is doing work, very different kinds of work, one uses this. So, the sound sad is used.
So, what is happening here? Kṛṣṇa has first talked about om, then He’s talking about tad, now He’s talking about sad. And then He’s describing, yajñe tapasidāne ca sthiti-sad-ityojyate. That sad is used, ucchate is pronounced, when yajñe tapasidāne ca, while doing yajñe tapasayan dāna, karma-caiva tad arthiyam.
Karma-caiva and while doing karma, for what sad-ityevābhidiyate. While one is doing karma also, the sad is indicated through this. So, Prabhupāda translates this as, the Absolute Truth is the objective of devotional sacrifice and it is indicated by the word sad.
The performer’s sacrifice is also called sad, as are all works of sacrifice, penance and chatare, which, true to the Absolute Nature, perform to please the Supreme Person, O Sona, PrÅ«thā. So, here, prasasate karmāṇi refers to the prescribed duties. The prescribed duties that we perform are for various purposes.
They are for, they are material sva-dharma and there is transcendental sva-dharma. Material sva-dharma is according to our varanāya and our āśram, we do specific duties. And transcendental sva-dharma is what we do for practising bhakti, ultimately gaining liberation from material existence.
So, prasasate karmāṇi, so whatever karma one is doing according to one’s material or spiritual nature, that karma, we can actually, we can actually connect with the Absolute Truth. So, of course, the spiritual sva-dharma is directly connected with the Absolute Truth, because it is meant for the ultimate spiritual reality, that is Krishna. The material dharma also we can connect.
So, the starting question at the start of the chapter was, what is the, what is the nature and destination of a person who has faith, but not in scripture? So, Krishna is telling over here, ultimately, one has to come from non-scriptural faith to scriptural faith. And the chanting of Om Tat Sat can help one to come from non-scriptural to scriptural faith. So, chanting Om Tat Sat, within the specific Vedic context, Om refers to certain things, Tat refers to certain things, Sat refers to certain things, that those specific references are true.
At the same time, they can also be generically used to refer to the secondary names of God. So, in different traditions, God may be referred to by different names. And Prabhupāda would say, any authentic name of God, if we chant, that will elevate us.
And what is the basis of authenticity? Whether it is referring to the attributes of God, to a person with those attributes, to a truth with those attributes. So, Allah, Jehovah, these names, I should refer to God as all-merciful, all-powerful. So, they are referring to God’s attributes, which are in harmony with the understanding given in scripture about God’s attributes.
So, in different languages, in different cultures, say the Aztecs, they may have a different name to refer to God. The Native Americans may have a different name to refer to God. All these names can be accepted if they are referring to God’s attributes in terms of what is correct according to scripture.
So, there is universal understanding of God’s attributes. And when one recognises that understanding and harmonises with it, then whatever names one is referring to, that is fine. Just like the sun can be referred to by Surya, Ravi, Bhāskara, SÅ«raja, by different names.
Similarly, the absolute truth can also be referred to by different names. So, Prabhupāda says, actually, once one starts doing something for a transcendental purpose, just like Krishna has told in 4.24 that, that one can actually do Brahma Karma if one has a spiritual consciousness. All of one’s work becomes spiritualised when one does work in spiritual consciousness.
So, similarly, whatever yajñāna tapasÄ«jā, whatever yajñāna tapasÄ«jā, if you do it for the purpose of the absolute truth, then we will become elevated and liberated by that over a period of time. Now, Krishna will conclude, if somebody says, I won’t have any faith at all, then what happens? No, he says, the faith is absolutely essential. And best is if the faith is transcendental, otherwise it’s scriptural.
Or at least some kind of faith is required. So, Krishna says, what happens if there is no faith at all? That which is performed without shraddhā, hṛtaṁ, hṛtaṁ means offered in sacrifice, means given in charity, whatever austerity is also performed. Then it is considered asat, it is considered not of much use, it is temporary or false, as Prabhupāda translated over here.
Pretya means after death. And iha is in this world, it means neither in this world nor the next world. Tapas taptam ká¹›tam chayyat.
If one is faithless, as Krishna has earlier said also in 4.40, somebody is filled with doubts, that person cannot gain any good result either in this life or in the next life. The person cannot get happiness either in this or next life. The same point Krishna is reiterating over here.
Not neither in the next life nor in this life. If one is faithless, one will not be able to function anyway. Now, what is Krishna saying by faithless over here? Now, in principle, we can say faithlessness is impossible.
Because even an atheist has some kind of faith. Even an atheist, atheism is the religion of faith in faithlessness. What do you mean by faith in faithlessness? That means the atheist has faith that there is no God.
Now, it is an article of faith. How can anyone prove that there is no God? There is no experiment by which one can conclude that there is no God. So, it is an article of faith.
Now, somebody may say because of this, this, this, because there is so much suffering in this world, therefore there is no God. But that is a logic and that logic is flawed. We just said there may be a doctor in a city and despite the doctor’s presence in the city, still there will be sickness.
So, why is that? Because the patient is not going to the doctor. Similarly, just the presence of sickness does not prove the absence or non-existence of a doctor. Similarly, the presence of evil does not necessarily disprove the existence of God.
There can be alternative explanations. So, same way, the point is that one has to come to some logical arguments and inferences and those inferences are flawed. So, ultimately, it is a matter of faith.
So, even when a person is an atheist, atheist is also having faith. So, the atheist may designate themselves as non-believers. Non-believers means what? Actually, it is not that they are without belief.
They have the belief in disbelief. Their faith in faithlessness, their belief in disbelief. That means they do not believe in any religion, any God.
That is why they call themselves non-believers. But in principle, nobody is a non-believer because everybody believes in something. Nobody can base all of one’s life and all of one’s activities without faith.
Just by seeing things, if you have to believe only in things which you see, then nobody would ride a plane because gravity is something which you cannot see. And without gravity, without mechanics, without many of the concepts of science, which are invisible most of the time, we would not be able to function in today’s technological world. So, therefore, we need help in terms of faith.
So, we have to have faith in something. But when the word faithless is used in a general sense, often it is referred to lack of faith in anything spiritual, anything connected with God. That kind of faith, Ashraddhaya.
So, in a broad spiritual sense, faithlessness is impossible. Because faithlessness means not having any faith, but nobody can live without faith. Even an atheist has faith in the non-existence of God, has faith in faithlessness.
So, that is in a broad sense. In an intermediate sense, faithless can refer to one who does not have faith in God, faith in spirituality, faith in faith in adhering to God. So, in that sense, faithless can be used to also use the word, generally we also use the word non-believer to refer to that.
That is the faithless in the sense in which Krishna is using it here. But now the word faithless can also be used in a much narrower sense to refer to faith specifically in Krishna. In Chaitanya Charita Amrit, in Chaitanya Charita Amrit, in Krishna’s Charita Amrit, when Swami defines faith, he says, Shraddha shabde vishwas kahe sudrudha nishchaye, Krishna bhakti kaile sarva karma krutahaye.
So, he says, Shraddha shabde vishwas kahe. What is faith? Faith is unshakeable confidence in something transcendental. Vishwas kahe sudrudha nishchaye.
Sudrudha, determined, unshakeable, nishchaye, strong determination. But what is that? He says, that is Krishna bhakti kaile, that if one does Krishna bhakti, then what happens by doing Krishna bhakti? Sarva karma krutahaye. All other work is done.
So, this faith he’s talking about is similar to the faith that is exhibited by the Gopis. The Gopis of Vrindavan, when they left home, you know, they left their duties as wives, they left their duties as mothers, they left their duties as female members of a community, and just went to Krishna. And they had confidence that if we serve Krishna, then everything else is done.
When I water the root of the tree, all the parts are watered. Similarly, when I satisfy Krishna, everyone will be satisfied. Krishna bhakti kaile, sarva karma krutahaye.
All work will be done. And it is this faith that actually Krishna also calls upon at the end of the Bhagavad Gita. Sarva dharmaan parityajya maam ekam sharanam vraja.
When he’s saying, give up all varieties of religion and surrender unto me, he’s calling for this level of faith. That is, forget everything else, forget all other religions. If you surrender to me, everything will be done.
Maam ekam sharanam vraja. Then aham tvam sarva papebhyam moksheshyam. Even if you feel that because you have not done this duty, you have not done that duty, so some sinful reactions will come.
I will take care of those sinful reactions. Don’t worry. Don’t worry about that.
Just serve me. So Krishna is telling about that level of faith. And he will talk about it in the 18th chapter when he comes to sarva dharmaan parityajya.
So that means when you talk about faith, faith is not just a monovalent term. It’s a polyvalent term. Monovalent means having only one specific meaning.
Polyvalent means having many meanings. So the word faith at an initial level can just mean, okay, there is something beyond this world. There is some higher spiritual reality.
There is some, there may be some God. I want to know about it. So if you look at the nine stages of bhakti, the first stage is shraddha, adhau shraddha, ratha sadhu sangha bhajana kriya narthani vittesya, ishta ruchi, asakti bhaav, and prema.
Nine stages are there. So first is shraddha. And Prabhupada translates this as favourable curiosity.
Favourable curiosity. He starts off with that curiosity. Okay, what is there? I want to know about it.
So that is the beginning. That is also at one level faith. When the Bhagavad Gita also uses the word, the bhakta, sam, vich, sindhu, while describing the nine stages, also uses the word nishtha.
And nishtha is strong, unshakeable faith. So at the stage of shraddha, the faith is like a banana tree, shakable. At the stage of nishtha, the faith is unshakeable, like a banyan tree.
So nishtha is very strong faith. It is a realised faith, internalised faith. It is not just inquisitiveness.
It is actually assimilated and internalised internally, and thereby realised. So after this, the next stage is at the ultimate level is shraddha matures, shraddha nishtha matures into prema. When we love, when we love someone, we’re ready to give up everything and anything for that person.
You know, that’s what makes romance movies or romance novels attractive. A boy and a girl, a man and a woman attract each other. And one of them may be from a wealthy family, another from a poor family, but the wealthy person is ready to give up everything for that other person.
So that is what we talk about love. Now that is, of course, in a material sense. But the point is, that is understood to be love, means that we are ready to give up everything else.
And in love, faith is implied, at least at that level. So when Krishna talks about prema, when the bhakta, sam, vich, sindhu talks about prema as the ninth level, so in love, that level of love means faith is completely implied over there. There can be some loves in which faith may not be there.
How is it? Can there be love without faith? Yes, it’s possible that say, when a mother loves a child, the mother genuinely cares for the child, but the mother doesn’t have faith in the child, because the child is not, intelligence is not grown up. Mother may not let the child go near fire. The mother may not let the child play with a knife.
So there can be love without faith. And similarly, there can be faith without love. Faith without love means, one may have faith, okay, I go to a doctor, doctor treats me.
So I have faith in the doctor. It is not that I love the doctor. I am grateful to the doctor.
But it is not that I love the doctor. So these two are not necessarily entirely identical, faith and love. There can be love without faith, and there can be faith without love.
But at the highest level, when love is there, faith is implied in that. The devotee, when Bhaktanath Thakur is saying, praying, you can destroy me, or you can protect me. Whatever is your desire, what does this indicate? It indicates such an implied and implicit level of faith that one knows without any doubt that whatever Krishna does is for my good.
And therefore, I will not oppose it. I’ll accept it. I’ll accept it gracefully and gratefully.
So that is a very advanced level of faith, where one accepts Krishna’s will. And the Bhagavad Gita will talk to us in the conclusion, what it says, Arjuna says, I will do your will. This is actually an even higher level of faith.
In the Bible, when Jesus is going to be crucified, the next morning he is going to be betrayed by Judah, and then he is going to be crucified. So the previous night he says that, let thy will be done, my dear Lord, not my will. Let thy will be done.
That is considered to be an exalted expression of surrender. Let thy will be done. The Bhagavad Gita acknowledges this when Krishna says, do my will.
But what Arjuna says further is that not only let your will be done, Arjuna says, I will do your will. It’s a higher level. Let thy will be done means, okay, whatever you want to happen, let it happen.
But when Krishna says, he’s talking about something deeper. He’s saying that not only let your will happen and you make it happen. He says, I will make your will happen.
So there can be various levels of faith. And the whole process of spiritual advancement is in gradual increase, increase, increase of faith. So faith is like our muscles, you know, muscles.
The more we exercise the muscles, the stronger the muscles become. Similarly, all of us know a certain activity which we do, they will increase our faith. If we associate with devotees, study scripture, you know, learn from those devotees who have knowledge and faith and conviction, then our faith will increase.
So just as when we exercise muscles, muscles increase. That is how faith increases by human endeavour. But the other aspect also faith increasing by divine grace, a certain moment, certain transformational experiences which we have in our life.
We go to the yatra, we have some darshan, we have some very thrilling experience in spiritual life, spiritual experiences. They can make our faith boost up in rapid steps forward. So it is, faith is both a result of human choice and divine grace.
And what we do is, for us, we have chanting of the holy names in the most potent way. If we chant the holy names and study the scriptures and associate with devotees, we go to the holy places and worship the deity. These are the five potent forms of devotional service we are talking about in Bhakti Saam Sindhu.
By this, faith can be increased tremendously and over a period of time, it will mature into nishtha, unshakeable faith and finally into love.