Bhakti Shastri (139) – Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18 Text 01 to 09

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And that is life’s first supreme perfection. Thank you very much.
Hare Krishna. Hare Krishna. Welcome back to our Bhagavad Gita Bhakti Shastri course.
Now we are about to begin the last chapter of the Bhagavad Gita or the 700 verses that are there in the Gita. The 78 verses are present in the last chapter. So the 18th chapter is the longest chapter, second longest in the second chapter with 72 verses.
And then there are the chapters, the 11th chapter has 55 verses like that. So this is by far the longest. And this is also a chapter that gives an overview of the whole Bhagavad Gita and then it concludes in Bhakti.
So this chapter is called as Moksha Sanyasa Yoga. So that kind of renunciation which will lead to liberation and Prabhupada translates it as the perfection of renunciation. So let us look at the chapter overview before we move forward into the contents of the chapter.
So in this first 12 verses talk about Karma Yoga. Essentially they talk about how by doing Karma Yoga one can stay free from bondage. Then this point is explained philosophically further in the second section where it describes what keeps a Karma Yogi free from bondage is the Gyan of the Karma Yogi.
So that is talked about in verses 13 to 17 which describe the five factors of action and they describe how when one understands these five factors of action properly and then acts, one will stay free from bondage. Then in verses 18 to 40, the Gyan of a Karma Yogi, second part is talked about. Second part is what is the Gyan that the Karma Yogi needs to have, this is about the modes of material nature.
So in this case, this analysis of further of what are the elements of action and how those elements of action like Karma, Karta, Gyan, then Dhruti, Determination, Knowledge, Doer, Action and ultimately Happiness, how all these things affect a person when that person is doing activities and then accordingly how depending on which mode these are done in, there is an appropriate result that comes about. Then 41 to 48 talks about Karma Yoga offered to Krishna. So after describing an overview of the previous chapters with some deep understanding of Karma Yoga, now this chapter moves on to an explanation of how Karma Yoga can be offered to Krishna.
Then after that 49 to 55 talks about how Gyan Yoga with Bhakti can be offered to Krishna, how one can perform Kyan Yoga and how it ultimately leads to Bhakti and then the last section 56 to 78 talks about the glory of Bhakti So let’s look at these chapters by looking at these verses starting from the first verse So I want to understand the truth of renunciation the truth of renunciation and then he used another word also I want to understand Tyaga, renunciation and Prathak. Prathak means the difference. So I want to understand renunciation and I want to understand the Tyaga.
Prabhupada translates this as the purpose of renunciation and the renounced order of life So the renounced order of life is Anyasa and renunciation itself is Tyaga. So Prathak Keshi Nishudana, so in this verse three names of the Lord are used over here which all indicate the Lord’s capacity to destroy the demon of doubt. So the Lord is Mahabaho, he has very powerful arms, then he is Keshi Nishudana, he is the killer of Keshi and Rishikesh.
So he is the Lord of the senses and senses are very formidable and the senses need to be controlled. So like that Prathak Keshi Nishudana. Now when we talk about this what exactly is the question and how is it related with what has been talked about earlier.
In this chapter when we talk about Krishna and Arjuna’s discussion the 17th chapter ended with a mention that Krishna recommends sacrifice according to scripture and if one is not doing sacrifice according to scripture then gradually by having Om Tat Sat, by chanting of the names of the Lord one can spiritualise the sacrifices. So there is no immediate connection between Krishna’s concluding verse of the 17th chapter and the 18th verse, the 18th chapter’s first verse. Arjuna’s question is generic.
Arjuna’s question is generic in the sense that it is not related specifically to what has happened earlier but Arjuna wants a conceptual clarification of what should be his ultimate course of action. So Arjuna has definitely got some understanding by this time. In fact as we know when he speaks at the end of the Jata Shloki Bhagavad Gita in 10.12 and 13.
So like that when he glorifies the supreme position of the Supreme Lord, the Acharyas explain at that time Arjuna’s illusion is gone. So Arjuna has understood the essential message of the Gita and he himself is expressing that message but then the subsequent questions are as the Bhagavatam says Lokahitam Rupa for the benefit of other people or the Bhagavad Gita uses the word Lok Sangraha for the maintenance of the world. How? It said by providing insights of how a person can live in a proper way as per scriptural guidance.
That is what is talked about in the subsequent chapters based on the way Arjuna asks questions. So Arjuna is taking broad concepts, broad terms that are known in the Vedic context but that are not always available in terms of a holistic understanding. So here Krishna is giving Arjuna holistic understanding and in that connection is asking what is Tyaga and what is Sannyasa.
So now after describing this that means Arjuna’s essential question is should I fight or should I not fight? So should I just renounce in spirit or should I renounce in deed also? So that is the question. Now we will see how Krishna responds to this. So 18.2 So Kamyana Karmana Myasam.
So Kamyana Karmana means for Kamyakarma. Myasam means renunciation. So the wise declare that what is Sannyasa? Sannyasa means to give up Kamyakarma and Sarvakarmaphala Tyagam and giving up all kinds of work that is Prahus Tyagam Vichakshana.
Tyagam Vichakshana that is actually Tyag. So what is Krishna talking about essentially in this chapter? Let us try to understand this over here. Tyaga versus Sannyasa.
So there are two different types of Karma. Karma here refers to fruitive activity or rather fruitive activity is according to scripture direction. Not all fruitive activity is sinful especially if the fruitive activity is according to scriptural direction that is good.
So in that there is Nityakarma and there is Kamyakarma. So Nityakarma is standard prescribed duty like say Sandhyavandan. So the Brahmana was supposed to do Gayatri every day and that Sandhyavandan is a Nityakarma in the sense that it has to be done every day and it is considered to be a lifelong duty that a Brahmana performs.
On the other hand there is Kamyakarma. Kamyakarma is that which is that kind of religious activity that Karma which is done to fulfil a particular Karma. Like we have the Dharma Artha Karma progression.
So Dharma can also be performed to get a particular Kama, particular desire fulfilled. So here Putra Kama Ishti Yajna is talked about. Ishti is the desire, Putra Kama Ishti.
That means when a king performs a Yajna so that he will get a Putra, he will get a son. It is called Putra Kama Ishti. So now so what Krishna is telling over here is if you go back to the verse here you will see So among these two kinds of Karma, Kamyakarma and Nityakarma, Sanyasis are meant to give up the in the Sanyas Ashram one gives up the Kamyakarma.
So for example a Sanyasi doesn’t actually continue with the actions of the householders. The householder obviously a Sanyasi will not be doing a Putra Kama Ishti. But there are other Yajnas also which a Sanyasi does not do because Sanyasi gives up all material desires in the sense of doing specifically to do anything to fulfil those desires.
Sanyasi wants to give up material desires also but at least the fulfilment of those desires and striving for that fulfilment is something which one has to give up in the Sanyas Ashram. And Sarva Karma Pala Tyagam What this means is what is Tyaga? Sarva Karma Pala Tyagam. So that means Krishna defines Tyaga more as not just renunciation of action but renunciation of attachment in action.
So when one is not attached then one is not actually doing, one is actually a Tyagi, Krishna is using the word so essentially Krishna says the difference is one is to give up a particular kind of Karma the other is to do Karma but then to do it without attachment. Sanyasis give up Kamyakarma. Those who are not Sanyasis but those who have the spirit of Tyaga they may do Kamyakarma also but they do not do it for the sake of material desires.
They do it for the sake of spiritual achievement, for the sake of purification, for the sake of realisation, for the sake ultimately of liberation. Let us look at the next verse. So now Krishna is giving opinions of different people over here.
Eke and Apare. Eke means one kind of people. Apare means another kind of people.
So Tyagam. That Doshavad, faulty. Some people say that giving up Karma is recommended because Karma is Doshavad.
Prahur means they say. Now interestingly Krishna uses the word Manishinaha. Although he is quoting some people he is not saying that they are foolish people who say that he should renounce the work.
He is saying they are also Manishinaha. That means Mana-Isha. Isha is controller, Mana is mind.
So they are not ordinary people. They are thoughtful people. They are thinkers.
Now Krishna is not necessarily saying that their thinking is correct but he is acknowledging that they are thinkers. As we will see Krishna does not support their thinking. Krishna does not conclude their thinking is correct.
Krishna says that it is not Dosha. It is Doshavad. Even if it is Doshavad Krishna will say that we should not give up Karma.
That is Krishna’s conclusion. So what is significant is that Krishna recognises that opinions that are different from what he is going to give, they can also be held by people who are Manishinaha. There is a significant point here that generally we try to think that my opinion is right and especially people who are autocratic, totalitarian.
If a company boss is totalitarian, what will happen is my way or the highway. My way or I fire you. And people tend to have that sort of attitude even in religious circles.
My God is only true God. If you don’t believe then you are going to go to hell. Not only are you going to go to hell, we will help you get there faster also.
So that is an intolerant attitude people can have. So that sort of recognising that there can be opinion different from ours and that opinion even if it is wrong, it deserves to be respected. That spirit is demonstrated here by Krishna when he uses the word Manishinaha to refer to those people who is going to contradict actually as we will see in the later verses.
So here the Bhagavad Gita does take a stand. We will see Krishna altar at the end of the Bhagavad Gita. So Bhagavad Gita takes quite an assertive stand.
This is what you should do. But taking an assertive stand doesn’t mean that one has to throttle all opposing voices or even throttle means choke all the voices or one can be respectful and Krishna shows that respectfulness Manishinaha. Now being respectful doesn’t again mean that we agree with something.
There are those people also they are having a different perspective looking at things. We appreciate this perspective and those who are holding this perspective can also be intelligent. But just because they are intelligent that does not mean that their intelligence is conclusive or is it correct.
It is correct. It may be deficient in some ways and that deficiency has to be acknowledged if we want to seriously pursue towards the ultimate truth, the conclusive truth. But just because somebody has an opinion that is different from the conclusive scripture opinion does not mean that the person has to be necessarily foolish.
That person can be a serious seeker who has not yet come to the level of understanding the glory of scriptural wisdom. So we have to respect serious thinking wherever we find it. So Krishna was also earlier we see the same spirit in the fifth chapter when he is talking about comparing Karma Yoga and Gyan Yoga.
He says both are good. That both Karma Yoga and Gyan Yoga are conducive for liberation. Then he says but among the two this is better.
Karma Yoga is better than Karma Sanyasa. So similarly Krishna is saying some people say, some wise people, some Manishinahas say that all work should be given up. And others say yajna, dana, tapa, karma, na tyajyam iti chaapare.
Apare means some other people they say that na tyajyam that actually yajna, dana, tapa these are prescribed duties and they are important for one to do and one should never give them up. So now Krishna will describe after describing these two competing schools of opinion. He will describe what one should do next.
So he said I will give the conclusion. So let us see how he after quoting the two different opinions how he continues the thread of thought. nishchayam shrunume tatra tyage bharata sattama tyago hi purusha vyagra trividha samprakeertitaha so nishchayam shrunume tatra nishchayam shrunu here for me definitely.
You are here the conclusive understanding of nishchayam means certainty. So tatra in this subject in the subject where different people have different opinions what is the conclusion tyage bharata sattama so tyaga what is actually tyaga bharata sattama bharata sattama is the west among the bharata dynasty tyago hi purusha vyagra purusha vyagra is a very beautiful describer I will come to that trividha samprakeertitaha that tyaga is of three types trividha samprakeertitaha. So we will see again and again that krishna while trying to while doing any analysis of anything after he’s introduced the concept of three modes in the 14th chapter or rather explained that he’s in has been referred to repeatedly but he’s introduced and explained in the 14th chapter then he’s coming back to that reference point again he’s done that in 17th chapter and he’s doing that again again in the 18th chapter so here we’ll do it for tyaga and later he will do it for some other elements also so trividha samprakeertitaha they are of three types and those three types will be goodness passion ignorance but here the important point which relevant to us is purusha vyagra this is the only place where arjuna is referred to by this particular name now vyagra means tiger tiger so krishna is telling arjuna you are a tiger among men a tiger is a strong ferocious animal and in the vedic context for a king or a kshatriya to be compared to be a tiger is a matter of great honour because that indicates that the kshatriya is praiseworthy as powerful as a tiger as ferocious as a tiger as fearless as a tiger so purusha vyagra so here we see another point of respectfulness is that even when somebody is a student krishna is giving instruction to arjuna arjuna is a student but just because a student somebody is in a subordinate position doesn’t mean that we have to make that person feel small or bad where the person is qualified and has abilities they can be recognised and appreciated that’s why krishna repeatedly referred to arjuna throughout the bhagavad-gita by names which are epithets which are which are appreciating and glorifying the qualities of arjuna also so krishna is glorifying arjuna arjuna is also glorifying krishna so purusha vyagra or tiger among men just as a tiger cannot be overcome by small small animals or small small ninjas that are there in the jungle similarly a person is a tiger among men will not be overcome by small small animalistic animal small small animalistic or animal like misconceptions so krishna says that you purusha vyagra you’re a tiger among men you can conquer over all misconceptions and understand the conclusive truth that i am going to tell you now so nishchayam shunume tatra so what how does krishna begin continue this let’s look at the next verse now so yajnadanatapakarma nathajyam karyam evatad yajnodanam tapaschaiva pavananimaneshinam yajnadanatapakarma nathajyam karyam evatad that this was not work which is which is to be given up tyajyam means that which is that can be given this should be given up no tyajyam this is not work that should be given up yajnodanam tapaschaiva that actually these three activities yajnadanatapa pavananimaneshinam so it’s interesting that the same word manishina is used that those manishina who think that that yajnadanatapa is dosha vat actually which is when he referred to two verses earlier 18.3 here he is telling that it can purify even them even the great souls can be purified so nobody goes beyond the power of the rituals you know in bhakti also we have rituals yajnadanatapa at one level can refer to specific rituals that are performed in the vedic context so one may go beyond them in the sense that one may not require karmakandi rituals but then one practises bhakti also bhakti is not just an emotion of the heart it’s an emotion of a heart but also has expression as an art and that is done through various ways there are rituals you know we fold our hands you offer obeisances we do our these are our rituals so even advanced devotees do this because it can always keep purifying them nobody can say that none of us as seekers can say that i’m so pure now i don’t need this no pavanani manishinam everyone can become purified by this pavanani manishinam and yajnadanatapa shiva so these three are the parts of the kama generally this is how kama karma is performed so a person may do these kind of specific activities like the ekadashi vrata is there as devotees we do ekadashi for the sake of purification for the sake of going closer to krishna we want we do ekadashi so that put aside our other activities on which we which we do for the body we minimise those activities like say eating and if possible sleeping and other bodily activities so that we can have more time for bhakti more time for focussing on krishna but there are others also who do ekadashi vrata for the sake of material benefits and in fact there are books like ekadashi mahatmya which are accepted but not necessarily recommended by our vaishnavacharyas they contain stories as mahatmya of a particular ekadashi what will happen if one does this on this ekadashi what will happen if one does this on this ekadashi they are helpful but in the sense that they may inspire some people to do ekadashi vrata seriously but generally that is not the primary recommendation for a devotee so it is said that if one fasts on this ekadashi one will get this benefit and fast on this ekadashi one will get this benefit so devotees don’t go too much into those benefits we focus primarily on the supreme benefit of bhakta of prema pumartha mahan of love for krishna and for the sake of prema we are ready to do whatever is required and ekadashi is also done that way and can purify so yajna dana tapa these pavanani manishinam so what is krishna going to say krishna asked what i’ll give my definite opinion and he says that he begins by saying that actually not one should not give it activity because the proper scripturally ordained activity can purify even the great souls pavanani manishinam and prabhupada used the example so vivaha yajna the marriage ceremony is meant to regulate the human mind so that it may become peaceful for spiritual advancement it’s a profound statement what does it mean that actually the mind is often excited about the pleasures of the world and if one has not experienced the pleasures of the world then one starts having one has a hyperactive mind which fantasises about many things oh maybe this pleasure will be like this this pleasure will be like this this pleasure will be like this and that hyper fantasization keeps one restless constantly but when one gets some gratification within a dharmic perspective within a dharmic framework that means through marriage then one starts one gets the experience the satisfaction of that hankering and there is also along with that the realisation that there is nothing as great as the mind it made it out to be nothing as great as the mind has made it out to be and now if people are unfortunate then they start thinking especially it happens in today’s society where people get to compare themselves with the best in the world for example if you see on the television television will they show the on the movies they’ll show the most good looking men and the most good looking women and then people compare their spouses with the models that they see in these media and then they think oh my sir maybe you know because of this person my problem is coming so then i’m not getting satisfaction but maybe if i had a relationship with that person i would get satisfaction and then therefore what happens is the mind doesn’t become regulated mind starts thinking okay maybe with that person i’ll be better maybe better but if a person understands that takes this marriage seriously then rather than blaming oneself or blaming someone else one starts recognising okay i had some infatuation i had some fantasies and now from fantasy i’m coming to reality so things could have been much worse also things could have been better but this is what i have let me accept this and move forward but this doesn’t necessarily mean that one has to accept abusive situations not at all but important point is that one shouldn’t think that just because i didn’t get the pleasure here let me try somewhere else and i’ll get the pleasure over there or i’ll get the pleasure over there in general dharma the dharmic yajna helps to regulate the mind okay there’s nothing so great that i have to become excited about it no need to get excited let me just continue on in my spiritual duties and over a period of time i’ll get purified and experience higher spiritual happiness so the purpose of making the mind peaceful is also for spiritual advancement or if the mind is too restless excited about this sense object in that sense object then the mind cannot experience the calmness that is required to focus on krishna of course by focussing on krishna also our mind becomes calm that means i’m agitated right now and i chant krishna’s names and that will also help me to become calm but often if the mind is constantly agitated then that prevents us from focussing ourselves on krishna but once the excitement is exposed to be not so exciting then one can become peaceful and one can practise a spiritual life so that’s what prabhupada is vivaha yajna and vivaha yajna this is one example it should not be given up the prabhupada sanyasi and he himself would conduct the marriage ceremonies of his disciples he’s written in his book that sanyasis are not meant to do this but who will do it there was no one at the time at that time sanyasis he was the only spiritual master during his time and he was the he was the leader all his disciples depended on him for everything and he did the best that he could for them that means he himself arranged marriages for them so now sanyasi is not meant to of course engage in a decision of the opposite sex but that doesn’t mean that is forbidden for everyone there is another ashram and if the disciples can make the best advancement possible for that particular those particular disciples in the ashram and that’s what is recommended for them so now after describing this let’s see what happens in the next verse so certainly of all these activities certainly that means one gives up one’s attachment and one does these activities means when understand this is my kartava this is what i should be doing this is my definite matha krishna says krishna is giving quite a conclusive understanding you understand this is what i want you to do the definite opinion is that do what is required as understanding it to be one’s duty and krishna had earlier used the word this is my conclusive understanding at work with detachment don’t get entangled and prabhupada writes everything that leads to krishna consciousness should be encouraged through the activities without attachment and now krishna will give analysis of tyaga in terms of the three modes so 18.7 is so now krishna has earlier told that one should not give up it should not be given up but if somebody gives it up with what is prescribed one gives that up that activity which is not deserved to be given up that which is not worthy of being given up means that such tyaga is out of illusion and that is declared to be in the mode of ignorance it is known to be now what does it mean this kind of renunciation so generally you would think of renunciation as something good renunciation renounced or glorified quite a bit in the scriptures and we see how even great kings who respect the saintly people but then the bhagavad-gita is quite penetrating going beyond superficial analysis where it describes that one should recognise that even renunciation can be in the three modes and if renunciation in the mode of ignorance then that doesn’t lead to any elevation so renunciation is ultimately meant to help to facilitate devotion to facilitate liberation so shilpa upada would sometimes say that even the hippies they had done sarva dharman parityaj but that did not make them followers of the bhagavad-gita they had to do the second part then they became followers of the bhagavad-gita so to do sarva dharman parityaj alone you know they had given up their duty to the nation they had given it to the family to their even their religion to their education to their to their culture also to some extent whatever culture was there at that time so this was terrible that is tamasik and most of the hippies were living in terrible conditions where shilpa prabhupada went in first in the lower east side and then in new york and then they were in san francisco both places they had become places of great degradation so they had given up their duties there might have been some sparks of spiritual hankering initially in these people but over a period of time when they got into drugs they went so deep and deep and deep into drugs that they lost the opportunity to rise further and all that happened was there was no there was very little spirituality and there was just mostly drugs only and along with that there was of course free sex which involved as we discussed the only regulatory principle was to break all the regulatory principles so it became quite degraded so just giving up one’s activity is not renunciation or that’s not the renunciation that is the glorified renunciation of vedic literature it is tamasic renunciation so krishna condemns this this is out of illusion that is not over so this mohatha’s word is important because mohatha was used earlier also to characterise the mode of ignorance so when krishna uses one word to characterise each of the modes he says prakasha illumination for goodness pravrtti action for passion and moha a delusion or illusion for ignorance so krishna using the same word mohatha over here and it now generally speaking most people think most people who are in a pious culture they think that if a person has become renounced then what is the reason for the renunciation oh this person has got some great wisdom maybe this person has become enlightened maybe this person has got some extraordinary knowledge and because of that illumination within that person has become renounced but krishna is underscoring that renunciation is not always because of illumination it can be of because of illusion also so that means illusion means one has to do some duties but one rejects those duties out of irresponsibility and that is tamasic and krishna doesn’t at all recommend that let’s look at the next now after talking about renunciation in the mode of ignorance now he’ll talk about renunciation in the mode of passion naiva tyaga phalam labhed that somebody thinks oh this work is very troublesome and one thinks oh this involves too much kaya kalesh kaya kalesh means this much this involves too much trouble for the body and because there is so much trouble for the body so i will not do this activity and that kind of an attitude is sakritva rajasam tyagam this is this is tyaga in the mode of ignorance in the mode of passion and naiva tyaga phalam labhed so this will not lead to the fruit of renunciation the fruit of renunciation refers to renunciation itself is not the goal renunciation lead to some should lead to some other goal that is liberation so if one is doing giving up activities because of the responsibility in terms of not just illusion but evasion evasion means one doesn’t want to do hard work one wants to evade okay i meant to do this but i will not do this one wants to be evasive evasive means not doing what one is expected to do evade responsibility as we say so this is kaya kalesha this is very troublesome sometimes some people feel that say it sometimes happens that some people they are having some they’re trying to have some love affair with some say some boys trying to have a love affair with some girl and then that love affair doesn’t work and that boy thinks that okay now i’ll become a now i’ll become brahmachari brahmachari is not just frustration is not enough for renunciation frustration may lead to an initial spark towards renunciation but that way that is not going to last somebody may think somebody’s working in a very demanding job 12 hours 14 hours 16 hours the job takes and then the person thinks you know why should i work like this i just go to the temple and chant and dance and sing and i’ll be happy why do i have to work so hard so this kind of evasion if it is there one wants to one finds material life too troublesome and because of the troublesomeness of material life one decides to take up renunciation krishna says this is rajasam now we wonder why is it rajasam i don’t aren’t we meant to understand how this world is and then turn from this world to the spiritual world towards this take of spiritual life so that’s true definitely philosophically we have to understand this world is more of a more is a place of suffering and then one has to turn towards the spiritual world that is definitely required but that philosophical understanding of this world as a place of misery comes when one is in the mode of goodness or when is one is cultivating goodness when one wants sense gratification and when one gets frustrated in sense gratification both of these the craving for sense gratification and the frustration sense gratification both of these are characteristic of the mode of passion so the infatuation sense gratification is itself characteristic of the mode of passion as krishna says in the third chapter 37th verse that so kama and krodha how do they come about wherever there’s the mode of passion that’s where they emerge so the point which you’re making here is that kama and krodha they emerge from the mode of passion so kama is the desire for sense gratification and krodha is the anger the frustration when the desires for sense gratification are not fulfilled so both are in the mode of passion that krodha can go down to ignorance also of course but the point is that this whole frustration which comes when one finds material the pursuit of material enjoyment too troublesome and because of that one wants to give it up if one’s overall consciousness and lifestyle is in the mode of passion then that frustration is not going to last because what happens is that simply one is thinking that okay this particular enjoyment opportunity for enjoyment didn’t work out but maybe some other opportunity will work out this did but someone else will or maybe it’s not working for me but for others it is working so we are not we are not really when a person in the mode of passion the person is not convinced that this world is dukkha le that person is simply thinking my world is dukkha le so my world oh there is dukkha in my world but only if my world would become something different that means okay i’m living in a small city if i can go to a big city oh i’m living in india if i can go to america so then my world is dukkha le but outside if i go somewhere else there it will be dukkha le i’ll experience dukkha over there so this is actually the mode of the mode of passion as we say that grass is always greener on the other side that things always look better at other places apart from where we are so this when a horse is grazing the horse is eating some grass the horse is a river and other side of the river also there the grass looks so green so like that we always think such other situations are always better but that’s not true necessarily that doesn’t mean that never situations can be better definitely certain situations may be preferable certain things may not be preferable but that has to be decided based on calm deliberation not impulsive impulsive illusion that means when we talk about realising this world is dukkha layam that is based on philosophical introspection that is based on deep understanding of the philosophy and then observation and realisation of that scriptural teaching based on our own our own experiences in the world so that is that requires a healthy amount of goodness whereas when there is frustration and mode of passion that frustration doesn’t last but that when maya is also so cunning that she will never make us hopelessly frustrated maya will keep us hopefully frustrated that means we’ll get some one suffering second suffering third suffering fourth suffering and then thinking oh this world is suffering only i’ll get out of this world at that time i’ll give some pleasure oh i can get happiness also over here i can get pleasure over here and then i think and then just when my hopes will rise up i’ll get happiness then again suffering suffering suffering suffering that’s how maya works so we can’t really get out of these clutches of maya very easily so maya is so experts you’ll never make us hopelessly frustrated so sometime the question is asked is there happiness in this world or there’s no happiness in this world so actually there is enough happiness in this world to make us forget that it is a miserable place so the world remains a miserable place but if we get a temporary high oh that high seems so good it’s like a intox like a person who is drunk when the person is drunk at that time the person may fall in the gutter and gutter water is going through the mouth and the person says somebody else comes out my dear friend why are you suffering like this come who is suffering get out i’m enjoying what is the enjoyment there the person is such a mortifying terrible situation but that’s what is the personal illusion thinking so now if alcohol did not offer that high that feeling of exhilaration that comes after a person takes alcohol if the alcohol did not offer that exhilaration then that person would never take alcohol but what happens is when a person takes alcohol one gets a little exhilaration and if a person is not really astute person not seriously a thinker not a deep thinker then one doesn’t realise there is there may be that high there will be that kick there may be that exhilaration but there’s so much trouble before and after before that i have to find out i have to shell out my hard-earned money i have to waste so much of my time maybe i have to become disgraced uh when i go to a bar and then after that take up something also then i i sometimes some people get hangovers will vomit people babble all sorts of crazy things when they’re intoxicated and they get health problems in long run also apart from the headache that they get next morning hangover so many issues come up but what happens is for a person who’s addicted that little spike of happiness that has come that seems to be worth it nothing matters it’s worth it whatever it is it’s good enough for me so i don’t care what is the price that i have to pay for it so this is worth it but it’s not worth it so as long as a person thinks okay whatever trouble i’m getting before and after it’s worth the pleasure that i get over there that person until that time cannot become elevated cannot become free from the addiction to alcohol but by serious thinking and by acceptance of that thinking i should not just accept that thinking this trouble is much much greater than whatever pleasure is there and then it’s not worth it so once we understand this so there can be the frustration of a person after taking alcohol and getting a hangover that frustration is temporary after that the when the next temptation comes again the person will drink alcohol so that frustration during the hangover alone is not enough to make the person sober sober means free from the alcoholic addiction so for that one requires a lot of determination sometimes because some person may require counselling and a person may require even sometimes a retreat you know away from one’s immediate vicinity to go to some place to some de-addiction centre for some time and whatever measures are required people may have to take that so of course if a person takes shelter of krishna then the holy name can act very powerfully and purify one of the other desires but but i’m comparing here to this point that just as the frustration of the alcoholic during the hangover is not enough to help the alcoholic keep the habit of and skip the habit of alcoholism that can be a beginning point but for a sustainable process sustainable progress towards sobriety sobriety means freedom from addiction one needs a process and one needs determination one needs to fill one’s day with something much more positive it’s the same way one can get frustrated in material life with its problems with its illusions but that alone is not enough for one to reject material life completely everybody gets frustrated sometime or the other but to learn to pinch one’s hope on krishna to learn to do things which will please krishna and which will comprise service to krishna to be able to do that one has to turn from this world towards krishna and that doesn’t happen just by frustration with this world and there has to be proper philosophical education and there has to be devotional purification then there is a turning of heart from the world to krishna that happens and that’s why if one just because of trouble decides to renounce the world that renunciation is in the mode of passion because one’s overall consciousness is in the mode of passion and that’s why as ISKCON as a movement is evolving especially in india where there are people who there are young people young boys who are interested in becoming brahmacharis so they have also told earlier in our movement when especially when it happened in the west and people wanted to join and they wanted to join immediately they were allowed to join and in india also initial days that how it happened but over a period of time it’s being recognised that if the devotees are joining as brahmacharis is there to continue then it’s not that just they become frustrated with material life and get an impulse to join and they join no they should prove their commitment by practising devotional service seriously for several years and then after they’re observed by senior devotees then they can join and often it’s best recommended that somebody is taking some education then it’s best that they complete the education because one’s dedication should not just be impulsive it should be sustained so if one just gets introduced krishna mahasaya chanting dancing singing yes that is there but there is a whole complex of the mind to deal with so one cannot just forget the the problems the mind is likely to create and we had put conditionings so if one is able to practise it sustainably for a good amount of time one is also able to do one’s duties and then after that one can join so in the in america generally even by the star by the time when the hippies were there the the joint family system was not there much so generally there the sons would not have the responsibility to the parents but in india and in other traditional cultures also the sons are expected to take care of the parents and the parents grow old so that responsibility and also cannot just be abandoned so it’s good if the sons do some work get some experience in the world of working also what it is like in real life in the spiritual in the material world so that they don’t have any illusions of grandeur of how they could have enjoyed metal and also they earn and they provide for some financial security for their family members for their parents and then they join so the idea is one should be able to continue for a regular amount of time and especially grahasthas cannot take their cannot become irresponsible in the name of becoming transcendental or renounced if somebody is a grahastha one has to do one’s family duties and one cannot think that because i’m a grahastha you know i’ll go for yatras it’s good to go for yatras but not too many one cannot shirk one’s responsibilities so one will need the guidance of senior devotees counsellors of where one is shirking responsibility and where one is becoming over ambitious in material life and neglecting one’s spiritual life so we don’t want either extreme that one neglects spiritual life entirely in the name of material life and one neglects material life entirely in the name of spiritual life that balance one has to learn through guidance from seniors as well as by one’s own experience so over a period of time we learn that balance individually but one should not mistake just frustration with material life as the qualification for renunciation the actual renunciation is not so cheap one has to qualify for that in terms of positive spiritual attachment to krishna let’s look at the next verse satyagah satvikoumata so karyam ity evayat karma when one understand that this is a prescribed duty and it is prescribed for me it is what it is what i must do and one does that arjuna that one gives up twitter attachments and does the activity satyagah satvikoumata such tyag is in the mode of goodness so in this way krishna has endorsed activity in the mode of goodness even renunciate tyagah also renunciation in the mode of goodness and what is that renunciation mode of this means action in renunciation not renunciation of action but renunciation in action that means one is one does action in a renounced spirit so in this way what is arjuna’s answer arjuna’s question arjuna’s question was please explain sannyasa please explain tyagah so actually krishna doesn’t go into a technical hair splitting analysis of both the terms but he gives an understanding of the broad principle if we look at the seventh verse which we discussed earlier there in the same words krishna uses the word sannyasa as well as tyagah so here using niyata sannyasa and here using the parityagas there also is the tyagah so krishna uses this two words to ref and you are using these two words the same words and if you look at the meaning krishna uses the two words interchangeably that means he says if one does sannyasa of the karma then that is tyagah in tamoguna so that is so that means sannyasa is and tyagah krishna uses equivalently the way in his answer is so instead of going into a hair splitting analysis of terms krishna takes to the broad principles of the three modes of material nature and analyses arjuna and answers arjuna’s question so how krishna continues his analysis of karma yoga we will discuss in