From karma to Krishna – the human search for understanding | Bhagavatam 2.10.22 | Chowpatty, Mumbai

Thank you very much. Hare Krishna.

In this particular section, how the creation unfolds is being described. In the second canto, which has 10 chapters, what is happening is that the conversants, Parikshit Maharaj and Shukdev Goswami are settling down for a long discussion. It is not that when Shukdev Goswami came, he came with a plan that I am going to sit for 7 days.

Parikshit Maharaj had decided that I am going to renounce the world, and I am going to focus these 7 days on the pursuit of transcendence. And he wanted to know what is the best way to pursue transcendence. And then the different sages had different deliberations going on, and then when Shukdev Goswami came, everybody deferred to him.

And he told that Harikatha is the best way. And then Parikshit Maharaj asked some questions, and he answered those questions. And by that time, in the middle of the second canto, the conversation could have gotten over, and Parikshit Maharaj could have on his own remembered Krishna.

But Parikshit Maharaj asked many detailed questions. And then as those questions were asked, gradually the Bhagavatam unfolded. And then Parikshit Maharaj stayed on till almost the end of the 7th day.

And then he departed, and then the Takshaka body came. So, in the Bhagavatam, for the remembrance of the Lord, two distinct approaches are taken. Krishna consciousness can be cultivated in two ways.

One is, bring Krishna into our consciousness. That is what we try to do most of the time. Say, we are hearing about Krishna, we come and behold the deities of Krishna, we listen to Krishna's names, and then we bring Krishna into our consciousness.

That's one way, and that's a vital way. But the other way is also there, bring what is in our consciousness to Krishna. That means, there are many things already in our consciousness.

We don't necessarily have to eliminate or drive them away. There are many things in this world that can be connected with Krishna. So, primarily the 2nd canto, 3rd canto and 5th canto, they take this approach.

In the Samambonam, the Bhagavatam, Raghupath called the Bhagavatam itself the Samambonam, but within that the 10th canto is the heart of the Bhagavatam. So, it's all about bringing Krishna into our consciousness. In the 2nd canto, the focus is on the Virata Rupa.

We look at the universe, and for many people, their spiritual journey begins with the universe. Okay, the universe is so great, where did it come from? So, how can the universe point us towards Krishna? So, one concept is the Virata Rupa, and second is the Sankhya. That's 3rd canto, the teachings of Kapila to Devahuti.

And 5th canto is the cosmology, where the universe is described, and then through the description of how across the universe, wherever we go, there is dharma and devotion prevailing. So, like that, bring Krishna into our consciousness or bring what is in our consciousness to Krishna. So, these are 2 approaches to Krishna consciousness.

This particular canto is primarily using the 2nd approach. And within that, in this particular chapter, Bhagavatam is the answer to all questions. The theme over here is that the universe has ultimately unfolded for the purpose of bringing us towards Krishna.

See, basically, the universe has 2 distinct purposes. One is experimentation. We want to try out different things.

What will make me happy? And we try out food, we try out sense enjoyment, we try out fame, we try out this, we try out that, and then ultimately, it's a redirection. So, this is indicated in 15.7 in the Gita. When we are trying out various various things, there is Karshati.

We struggle. So, we eventually realise, oh, the things of this world won't give me happiness. But then we turn towards Krishna.

So, in this particular verse, so, we started with the big picture of the Bhagavatam, then the specific approach in this canto, in this chapter, then we'll move towards this particular verse now. Here, the focus is on sense perception. So, it's described how sense perception originates.

Now, Sankhya is a complex worldview. And I will not go into the technicalities of the Tvacha and all those things over here. But I'll focus on the broader principle.

The principle is, the Bhagavatam is spoken to help Parikshit Maharaj remember Krishna. So, in the unfolding of creation, it is described that even the sense perception is manifesting by the arrangement of the Lord. So, sense perception is where, say, with my eyes, I'm looking at you, with your eyes, you're looking at me or you're sleeping, whatever it is, but that there is sense perception happening.

Okay, there's a dream perception if you're sleeping, but some kind of perception is happening. Now, when this is happening, the senses come in contact with some objects, here specifically the skin is being talked about, sparsha, touch. So, we will talk today about how sense perception can be a path toward Krishna, how normally sense perception works and how it can work to take us toward Krishna.

So, I'll talk about this using an acronym lit, how our path toward Krishna can be lit through our sense perception. Now, sense perception is often associated with, basically, if we are here, in front of us, there is the visible world. Now, the visible world is, to a large extent, the world of Maya and the visible world has three attributes.

It is active, it is attractive and it is addictive. So, so many things are happening in the visible world and it's not just random things happening. There are so many things that are attractive within the world and especially in today's world, the attractiveness is also designed in such a way as to be addictive.

So, the soul can get, the consciousness can get locked onto the visible. The idea is that when we are trying to practise bhakti, our consciousness can get completely locked onto the visible. And when that happens, then it becomes a problem.

So, we don't want that to happen. Our consciousness can just get locked over here. That's why sense perception, we are cautioned against it.

So, even the caution, it's, it's logical. Nowadays, physically, people can get caught in watching TV, can get caught on the phone. It's like some people, their faces are glued to their phones.

You cannot pull it out. So, there is that way. Now, another thing is many people say seeing is believing.

Have you heard this? Yes, seeing is believing. If somebody says seeing is believing, the first thing I have to tell them is, well, give up your phone, give up your TV, give up science. Because science itself advances by moving from visible phenomena to invisible principles.

In fact, this is the background for all knowledge. So, seeing is believing. Yes, we do see and seeing is important.

If we are driving a car, we have to see who is coming in front from where. So, seeing is important for a functional perspective. Our sense perception is required for our survival.

However, the same sense perception can become the cause of our death. Like a moth is attracted to fire. And what happens is the moth dies because it is attracted to fire.

So, at a functional level, we need our senses to survive. But at a functional level, the senses can make us dysfunctional also. So, seeing is believing reduces all of our perception to only the visible.

I was in London last month. We passed by the tree where Newton is said to have seen or felt the apple fall. Most such stories are apocryphal, that is, they are imaginary, exaggerations.

But anyway, that tree or the descendant of the tree is still there. And that place has become like a pilgrimage place for scientists. Oh, Newton was so brilliant.

You know, if I go there, I'll get some scientific insight. Well, possible. But if you look at what Newton did, the apple falling is a visible phenomena.

And gravity, can anyone see it? It's invisible. So, almost everything that we call as the laws of physics, the laws of thermodynamics are all invisible. So, even science advances by moving from visible phenomena to invisible principles.

So, seeing is believing. There are two problems with it. Yes, we do need to see to understand things.

But the problem is that one is that there is much which can't be seen, but is believed. Like, say, the principle of gravity. None of us can see electromagnetism.

We cannot see electromagnetic waves. But our phone works. It works with electromagnetism.

There is much which can't be seen, which is to be believed. And there is much which is seen, but not to be believed. For example, there are mirages.

We go in a desert and we see a mirage. It seems that the water is there, but it's actually not there. So, sense perception is useful, but it is not always reliable.

It has to be intelligently used. So, now, when we go through life, we all want to make sense of life. In one sense, many people ask, what is the need for philosophy? OK, you know, you learn some engineering, you get a job, you learn economics, you can do something tangible with it.

What is the point of philosophy? OK, you go to philosophy and get a philosophy job in a university. But apart from that, what is the point of philosophy? Well, philosophy is meant to help us make sense of things that don't make sense. The whole point of philosophy is this, to make sense of things that don't make sense.

The normal course of life, we go through life, OK, I eat this, I take this job, I marry this person, I relocate over there. And suddenly something happens. Somebody gets some terminal cancer, somebody dies.

Why did this happen? What's going on in life? So, when things don't make sense and still we need to make sense, what is life all about? That is the time we turn towards philosophy, to make sense of things that don't make sense. So basically, quite often, even the philosophical search begins through sense perception, but through sense perception, things don't make sense. I'm using my senses, but I'm not able to make sense of what I see with my senses.

That's when questions start coming up. So I will take the principle of karma over here as an example of how sense perception can take us towards Krishna. So till now I was talking about, I said I'll use the acronym LIT.

So I was talking about, first point is logic. So through logic, we can understand that there are realities beyond the visible. The falling of objects is visible.

Gravity is invisible. So there are realities beyond the visible. They also matter.

They are also important. I need to understand them. So for all of us, there are many philosophical questions we may come across at different times.

But one of the biggest questions that comes is, why do things happen the way they do? Why do, if I'm a good person, why do bad things happen to me? I was in Australia. That's not my question. I'm not interested in why do bad things happen to good people.

So my question is, why do good things happen to bad people? So the suffering of the world is a question. It raises questions. But what raises a bigger question is the unfairness in the suffering.

It's like, you know, why am I suffering more than this person? So it raises questions. And then how do we seek answers to this? So in one sense, when we have sense perception, we try to make sense of things. So if we look at karma, at one level, it is simply the principle of there is cause and there is effect.

There is action and there is result. So if I put my hand and say there is a fire over here, or there is some live electrical object over there, I put my hand, I get some burning sensation, I get a shock, I move my hand away. So I understand, OK, if I do this action, I get a result.

When a newborn baby is there, developmental psychology is quite fascinating. So a newborn baby, maybe the baby is sitting in a, lying down in a particular way and then the baby feels some pain. And then the mother moves the baby.

On one side, the shoulder will get frozen. The baby feels a little more comfortable. Now, maybe there is a blanket.

And initially the baby just exists, doesn't understand anything else. But then maybe the blanket is there, the arm is coming out and then the baby moves the arm under the blanket. Oh, now I feel good.

So I start thinking, OK, this is here. So one of the key steps in growing is recognising the link between cause and effect. OK, my hand is here, it's cold.

If my hand is here, it's not cold. So the baby feels hungry. Now the discomfort is in the belly.

But then the comfort does not come in the belly. It comes in the mouth. So initially when the baby feels uncomfortable, I just surprise.

But the mother gives food after some time. OK, the discomfort is here, the comfort will come over here. So the cause effect is not immediate.

Like when it's cold, the hand is here, I just move the hand here. My belly is uncomfortable. You can't just put some food on the belly.

That doesn't work. So basically, as we grow, we start understanding that cause effect may be a little distance from each other. So the hunger is here, but the food has to come here.

As we grow, we start getting a bigger and bigger picture of reality. So if I'm being polite with someone and that person is being rude with me. Why is this person being rude with me? I'm being polite.

So normally you would expect if I am polite, the other person should be polite. But then we try to figure out, OK, maybe, you know, last time I was in a little upset. So maybe I was a little rude at that time.

So the cause effect is not just this framework, this interaction. That is the previous time interaction. So basically, as we grow, essentially, if there is an action and there is a reaction.

Now, that could be put in the immediate framework. That could be put in a bigger framework. That could be put in an even bigger framework.

So we start understanding that the same action can be put in bigger frameworks. Some people are just habitually rude. You know, whether you are polite, you are nice, it doesn't make any difference.

Then we understand this is the nature of this person. As there are two kinds of people. Some people bring happiness wherever they go and some people bring happiness whenever they go.

So in general, when things happen, we start attributing things to different causes. So expanding the framework for cause effect. That is something which there is sense perception, there is protection.

But that there is anuman also. So anuman is basically inference. Negatively it is speculation, but positively it is inference.

OK, if this person is behaving like this, why is he behaving like that? So we understand that there is bigger framework over there. And like that, the expanded framework, it can expand to various distances. So, for example, somebody smokes and nothing happens to me.

OK, nothing happens to you right now. But maybe 25 years down the line, not just something happens, everything happens. Find that instead of lung, you just have a big hole over there.

I'm oversimplifying. But the idea is that sometimes actions may not have immediate results. So when we are trying to make sense of things, it is sometimes you can get completely glued in the visible, caught in the visible.

But sometimes the visible can point us toward the invisible. Like in science, the growth happens how? You don't just look at visible phenomena. Visible phenomena is observation.

But from that you propose invisible theories. So like that, when the visible doesn't make sense, we move toward looking at the invisible. So, for example, when things happen, there is action and there is a result.

Say, if I do action worth 10, I get a result worth 10. If I'm polite with someone, that person is polite with me. But sometimes we will see that I do an action worth 100 and I get a result worth 10.

I'm working so hard, but my boss is not recognising me, boss is not giving me any raise, no appreciation, no promotion. Now, this is where life can seem very unfair. Most of us, we have times when we feel unrecognised or at least under-recognised, unvalued or undervalued.

So, what we are putting in and what we are getting, they are not proportionate. That's the time question comes up. Why does this happen? So, I was in America and I was in a college doing a programme.

So, after that, one boy came. He was doing a series of programmes there. So, this boy became really friendly.

He said, I'm an atheist. OK. I said, which God do you not believe in? I said, all of them.

OK. I said, OK, but tell me what is the conception of God that you don't believe in? He said, I don't believe in a God who sends you to hell if you don't believe in him. So, I said, even I don't believe in such a God.

See, in the Vedic tradition, hell is not for non-believers. Hell is for wrongdoers. So, even if somebody may not believe in God, Krishna did not fight the Kurukshetra War because Duryodhana didn't believe except Krishna was God.

It was because Duryodhana was doing wrong things. Duryodhana was doing horrendous things. So, if people go to hell, it is because of their karma.

Hell is not for non-believers. Somebody may be a non-believer, but they can be sattvic and they will get result according to their moods. It is for wrongdoers.

Those who give in to their lust, those who give in to their anger. So, he said, OK. And Duryodhana asked him, OK, what turned you away from God? So, most people, when they are atheists, their atheism is very rarely philosophical.

It is mostly psychological. What do I mean by philosophical? It's not that they have done some elaborate reasoning and that's how they turned toward atheism. It is psychological means that quite often they have had some bad experiences.

So, he told me I was born in a Christian family, but when I was five, both my parents died in an accident. Why would God do something like that to me? After that, I stopped believing in God. I said, that's tragic.

I'm sorry to hear that. Now, he was in a good university. I said, what happened to you? How did you come to this university? He said, after my parents died, I went to orphanage and then I was at various foster homes.

And when I was around 12, 12 and a half, 13, I was adopted by a very good family. I was very lucky. And then they supported me.

That's how I'm in this university now. I said, well, if you are adopted at the age of 13, so what is the chance of someone getting adopted at that age? So he said, it's very rare. People who want to adopt also, they want to adopt a small child.

They want to have the joy of raising the child. They also want to give the samskaras to the child. They may not know the word samskaras, but they understand that you want to train the child.

Once kids enter teens, their chances of getting adopted are very less. So he said, yeah, it's very, very less. But I was very lucky.

I said, think about this. You said that God was not fair to you, that your parents died when you're so young. So are you being fair to God? What do you mean? He said, when something bad happened to you, you're saying, why did God do this? But when something good happened to you, you're saying it was your luck.

You know, be consistent. Either attribute the death of your parents and your adoption both to chance. Sometimes it's bad luck and sometimes it's good luck.

You want to attribute, then attribute both to God. Don't be unfair to God. He said, I never thought about it that way.

He said, I'll have to think about it. So the point is that if you look at this, when we have done a lot of effort and we got a lot of little result, we remember those incidents. But we all can, if we're honest, we can think about times when we did little effort and we got a lot of result.

Sometimes we study very little for an exam and what we study comes in the exam and then we do well. So the point is that now this may not be equally distributed throughout life, but we have examples of both. Sometimes I got a lucky break.

Well, what does that mean? Is it I was just lucky? Well, it's not that simple. See, when results come upon us, it is whenever any situation comes, it's a combination of present karma and past karma. So when I get the result, the result is due to present action and past action.

And both of these combined together to give us the result. So now let's take some simple examples to illustrate this. Let's say somebody has a lot of musical talent.

Maybe they have talent, they have practised it and they pick up a new instrument. And in a few minutes they get it. On YouTube sometimes India has got talent.

Britain has got talent. America has got talent. All these are small kids.

It's just so brilliant. So they just pick it up and they play it and they are good at it. Now somebody else picks up a musical instrument and they start playing it and they say, it's so hard.

And people say, it's so hard to hear. So now both of them, the present action is the same. They picked it up and they played it.

But why is the result different? Because the past action is different. Maybe this person has some natural ability. They have done some natural training.

They have done some conscious training beforehand. So we understand that the result doesn't come from this same action alone. That's why we say practise makes one.

I don't know if anyone becomes perfect, but practise makes one better at least we can say. So the idea is our results that we get, they're not determined by our present actions alone. There are past actions also which play a role.

Now, how much present action, how much past action, that combination is unpredictable. So in this case, when we did something worth 100 and we got a result worth 10, that means from our past, minus 90 came in. And that is why we got less results.

So it's like, say, we go to a particular place where the people over there have a bias or a prejudice against the community we belong to. Now, you are very selfish, you are very unreliable, you are very untrustworthy. Now, we may be acting in trustworthy ways, but we may have to work extra hard to earn that trust because that minus 90 has been created by something from the past.

You see, I didn't do anything, but it is there because of whatever actions or whatever conceptions are there. So this principle that our present actions alone don't determine the results, that's a logical principle. We all have experience of that.

So the idea here is that our present actions alone don't determine the results. Our past and present both combines together. So when we do 10 and we get a result, that means from our past, from our past, if this 10 is there, then 90 has come from our past, positive or negative.

So specifically, it's a complex combination of past and present. Say, if on a cold night, somebody eats 10 ice creams. Oh, ice cream, so nice.

Next morning, they wake up. Ice cream! They scream in pain. Now, if they've got a terrible throat, is that because of their past karma? Well, yes, but past night karma, not past life karma.

So basically, there is a complex combination of past and present actions. Now, exactly how that combination will work in whose life, that we don't know. So through the point we're discussing is how sense perception can point us toward Krishna.

So logically, we can say that there is something higher going on. That yes, that higher sometimes works in my favour, sometimes it works against me. But there's something higher going on, that there is invisible beyond the visible.

So that's the first point of logical. What is the acronym? LIT. We want our way to be LIT.

So the next is inconceivable. Now, inconceivable means that exactly how things work. It is very difficult to figure out.

Krishna says, gahana karman hogati. Gahana is very complex, very deep. So the principle of karma has a particular purpose.

And if you forget that purpose, then we will be deceiving ourselves. What is the purpose? The purpose is to help us get the confidence that our actions matter. Whatever I do matters.

I'm working so hard, but people do not value what I'm doing. I'm being so diligent, I'm being virtuous, I'm being ethical, but still I'm not being rewarded. But if we are doing good, the results will come.

Sometimes the results manifestation may not be there because some negative karma from the past is coming. But the principle of karma, its emphasis is our actions matter. When someone is suffering, the principle of karma is not meant to pile on the top of that person and burden them with further guilt.

That is not the intention of karma. Just in South India, there was this recently there was an incident where some Vedic teacher was invited to a school and he was speaking. And he said, talking about the principle of karma, he said, if somebody is physically handicapped, that's because they have done something sinful in the past.

And then there's a teacher who was physically handicapped and there's a whole outrage. He was insisted he has to apologise. In UK, it happened that many years ago, 10 years ago, some football coach who said something like this and it was such a furor, he was forced to resign in disgrace.

Now, when somebody is suffering, what is the exact cause of the suffering? Now, Krishna is saying it's Ghana. Dharma himself in the first canto, when he's talking with Parikshit Maharaj and Parikshit Maharaj asked him, now what is the cause of your suffering? Dharma is coming as a bull personified or Dharma is personified as a bull. So, at that time, he says, Vakyabhedam Mohita.

He says, there are different theories about the cause of suffering. And it is very difficult for us to know. Which is, therefore, I do not know.

So, in the face of suffering, it's important that we don't jump to simplistic conclusions. As far as I have seen, nowhere in Shastra is somebody suffering and others are saying it's because of your karma that you're suffering. When Draupadi is dishonoured, nobody tells her, it's your own karma because of which you are suffering.

When Sita is abducted, Ram doesn't think it was her own karma she got abducted. Let us say abducted. No.

See, when there is, it's very important, there is philosophy and there is the purpose of philosophy. Krishna talks about Gyanam, Jeyam, Gyanagamyam. So, Gyanagamyam is the purpose of philosophy.

It is important to know the philosophy, but it's also much more important to know what philosophy is meant for. Hiranyakashipu talks about the immortality of the soul to Hiranyakashipu's wife and children. And what is his conclusion? He says, Vishnu has become partial and Vishnu needs to be killed.

He says, Vishnu is extremely powerful. How are you going to kill him? He says, I am going to perform Tapasya. It will take a long time to perform Tapasya.

No problem. The soul is eternal. I will keep performing Tapasya lifetime after lifetime till one day I will become powerful enough to kill Vishnu.

So, what is happening is the immortality of the soul is used not to attain the immortal, but to kill the immortal. Isn't it? So, philosophy and the purpose of philosophy. So, philosophy can be anything.

It can be Atma Gyan, it can be Karma Gyan. Ultimately, it should lead to a Seva Bhav. It should lead to a service attitude.

So, when someone is suffering, if somebody is suffering, then our focus, our focus in suffering, in other suffering should not be what is their Karma. It should be what is our Dharma. It is what is my duty in this situation.

Maharaj Rishabhdev, Maharaj, not Rishabhdev, Rantidev, when some starving people come to him, he doesn't say, it's your own Karma you are starving. When Maharaj Pruthu, his whole populace is starving because of famine, he doesn't say, it's your own Karma. He says, I am a king and what is my Dharma.

So, our focus should be always on our Dharma. If you start going back to everything that is happening, you just ascribe it to past Karma, where are we going to stop then? If, say, a mother has a newborn baby and the baby is crying, should the mother think the baby is crying because of past Karma? No, nobody is going to do that. Some people may say, that is what philosophy of Karma means.

Okay, they are giving a class and a baby starts crying in the class. They say, take the baby out. No, it's your Karma that the baby is crying.

So, it doesn't work like that. See, there is a complex combination of past Karma and present Karma. The idea is, we need to focus on doing what is in our control.

Say, if some very senior, advanced devotee gets cancer, should we think, I thought you are a very advanced devotee, you got such a terrible disease, that means you must be very sinful. I'll stop respecting you now. That would be a horrendous way of looking at things.

Say, you know why this is happening? It's inconceivable to me. But what should I be doing? My mood is, I focus on, oh, this devotee is having some trouble. This is an opportunity for me to serve.

So, rather than jumping to explanations about causes, why did this happen? We need to acknowledge that things in life, while there is some logical expression of things, there is much inconceivability also. So, therefore, our focus is on our service attitude. That our dharma, we have many dharmas, but ultimately underlying all dharmas is the seva bhava, the service attitude.

So, that's how the philosophy of karma won't make us hard-hearted. Otherwise we become very calculative and hard-hearted. We want to become compassionate and soft-hearted, not calculative and hard-hearted.

So, that's the inconceivable part. We are discussing how sense perception can take us toward Krishna. There are some things that from the visible world, they will point us toward the invisible.

But sometimes, exactly how the visible points to the invisible, that may not be very easy. So, if something has happened, something has gone wrong, then is there something in our present action that we can do to fix it? Let's focus on that. That is our dharma.

So, don't jump to, so, when I say inconceivable, some people equate inconceivable with illogical. But that is not, there is logic, but inconceivable means basically translogical. That logic goes to a particular distance, but beyond that, when it doesn't go, then I don't rely on logic.

Okay, I understand something is mysterious in this world. And let me focus on my service attitude, my dharma and move forward. Then that brings us to the last part.

So, lit acronym T is transcendental. Transcendental means that, yes, the karma exists and it is an invisible governing principle. However, above karma is Krishna.

So, based on our karma, destiny is formed, based on our destiny, we get certain reactions to certain actions. All that is undoubtedly true. In the Mahabharata war, on the 13th day, or on the 14th day, Drona asked, Drona was asked by Duryodhana, He said, I had such experienced warriors, I had almost double the forces.

And he said, why is it that I'm not able to succeed? He said, you had promised that you will arrest Yudhishtira and bring him before me. Why are you not able to do that? So, he said, Drona said, O Duryodhana, we can only endeavour. And results are determined by destiny.

And the Lord of destiny is sitting on the chariot of Arjuna. So, there is destiny, but there is the Lord of destiny. And there is karma.

And in karma, different things can happen. And we don't know how karma will work in whose life. But we understand that karma is not just a mechanical principle.

It is governed by a personal reality. And Krishna's purpose in transcendental means, his purpose is not simply retribution. Retribution is like revenge.

You did this much, you have to suffer this much. That is not the purpose of Krishna. Krishna's purpose is reformation.

He wants us to change. Sometimes we feel, I'm practising this much bhakti, but somehow nothing seems to be happening. Why am I getting this problem? Why am I getting that problem? See, many people, when they come to Krishna, they don't come to hear from Krishna.

They come to make Krishna hear. Krishna, why are you not helping me? Come on, I have done this, I have done that, I'm such a good person. They come to pray to Krishna, that is, you hear me, Krishna.

You understand how wrong you are? You fix yourself. That's many people's idea. Don't be that blunt.

Arjuna was protesting, Arjuna was speaking to Krishna. In the first chapter, Krishna hardly speaks anything in the Bhagavad Gita. Krishna only speaks, yeah, okay.

Vāchapārtha paśyaitān paśyaitān. Just see. You wanted to see? After coming in the middle of the battle, we'll see.

But then Arjuna realised that I can't figure things out myself. He says, I just don't know what is going on. Should I fight, should I not fight? I can't figure it out.

Therefore, kārpaṇya-dauṣo bhata-svabhāvaḥ. puruṣhāmi tvaṁ dharma-sammūrchitaḥ. I want to know what is my dharma.

I surrender to you. So Krishna has his plan and Krishna has his purpose. When we are going through life, what is happening, why? It's very difficult to figure out.

We use our intelligence as far as it goes. But beyond that, it is, we understand that Krishna has his plan. When Śrīla Prabhupāda went to America, at that time, if you look at his life, he had tried repeatedly to try to do various things to serve his Guru Mahārāja's mission.

He had a business which he tried very hard to develop. That just didn't work. See, this is a map of India.

So Prabhupāda was in Kolkata. From there he came to Mumbai. Then he went to Prayag.

Now, I have a friend who has specialised in pre-independence history. And at that time, people didn't move so much. They had government jobs, the government would transfer them.

Then they would just relocate and the government would provide quarters and everything. But if somebody has a business, with a full business to relocate to another part of the country and re-establish the business, relocate one's family, it's not easy. So Prabhupāda had business in three different places.

His hope was that he would earn money and support his Guru's mission financially. It just didn't work. Then Prabhupāda tried to preach directly.

He tried to start the League of Devotees. That didn't work. He tried to run back to Godhead.

That didn't work. He tried to work with his Godbrothers. It didn't work.

He wrote the Bhagavatam. And he got some endorsements from the Prime Minister and the President of India. That seemed to be significant.

But then, not many people seemed to be reading it, going to the libraries or staying in the libraries. Prabhupāda didn't just want to become a celebrated author itself. He wanted to inspire people to take up bhakti.

Then Prabhupāda decided at age to go to America. And then, when he came to America, he sang that song, Markine Bhagavad Dharma. So he says over there, So he's saying, Krishna, you must have some purpose for me.

And the word he's using is anumāne. Anumāne is guess. So now, yes, Prabhupāda is a pure devotee.

Prabhupāda has complete faith in Krishna. Then why is he guessing? Well, faith, as I said, karma, what happens to us, is a combination of past action and present action. So, faith is also a combination of certainty and uncertainty.

A devotee who has faith has certainty that Krishna will protect. But there is uncertainty about how Krishna will protect and when Krishna will protect. So, Prabhupāda, it is not that Prabhupāda had a hotline to Krishna and Krishna is telling, okay, now you have to turn left.

You are talking with this person, this person is not going to become a devotee. Don't talk with him. Don't talk with this person.

No, it is not like that. Prabhupāda was a real individual person and he was observing, he was inferring. Okay, is this working? Is this working? He is trying different things.

So Prabhupāda is saying, I am doing anumāne. At this age, at the age of 70, that you have brought me to America, that itself is extraordinary. You must have some purpose.

Now, what is the purpose? Prabhupāda said that there is, I can see temples. Only time is separating us. But even Prabhupāda didn't specifically know how much time is separating.

Isn't it? So, faith has that combination of certainty and uncertainty. And exactly how Krishna will work, that Krishna only knows. svayam evātmanātmānaṁ viddhatvaṁ puruṣottamaḥ Arjuna, after hearing the Chaturthi Shloka Gita says, Krishna, only you know yourself.

Bhishma tells Yudhiṣṭhira that nobody knows Krishna's plans. Only Krishna knows his plans. So, when we understand things are transcendental, that means our material calculations, they may work sometimes, they may not work sometimes.

For us, okay, what I have done, sometimes we may have lived a very good life and something terrible happens. See, what karma could I have done that I deserve something like this? And it may be very difficult to figure things out. But the important thing is that when we understand Krishna is transcendental, means that Krishna is not materially motivated.

Krishna is not selfishly motivated. Krishna is surudham sarvabhūtānām. Krishna is always benevolent.

He is always disposed for our ultimate good. So, when we understand Krishna's transcendence, then our vision rises up. That, okay, this what is happening, I can't necessarily figure it out.

But Krishna exists above all this. And Krishna is overseeing what is happening. Krishna is guiding what is happening.

So, essentially, faith means that there is the invisible where Krishna is there and Krishna is in charge. We know that. But how in the visible Krishna will manifest? How things will unfold? We have to accept a certain level of uncertainty.

But if you focus on Krishna, then everything about karma and all these things, we won't get caught in that. I was once giving a class in one leftist college. Most of our outreach is in the STEM fields, engineering colleges.

So, there is not much leftist indoctrination. So, I was giving a class here and then one boy said, he said, you were talking about philosophy, Bhagavad Gita, karma. He said, but when you came in, I saw that you read crutches, you are physically handicapped.

That means you have done some bad karma in the past. So, if you have done some bad karma, what right do you have to tell us to not do bad karma? So, I told him, yes, it's probably true. I must have done something in the past.

But the important thing is that whatever I may have done in the past, Krishna has still accepted me. You are not anything like me. Krishna will accept you even faster.

I said, focus on Krishna, not on karma. Our purpose, Prabhupada started the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, not International Society for Karma Consciousness. So, yes, the emphasis of karma is forward looking.

My actions matter even when they don't seem to matter. But the situations that are coming in my life, why exactly they are coming, how they are coming, that's difficult to figure out. So, if you forget everything from this class, based on the certainty and uncertainty, just try to remember one thing.

We hold our plans lightly and we hold our Lord tightly. So, we all make plans. We have our intelligence and we need to use our intelligence to make plans.

But Krishna has bigger plans and sometimes his plans may be different. Sometimes what happens is we hold our plans tightly and we hold our Lord lightly. And you say, you know, why is my plan not working? Where is Krishna? Why is Krishna not helping me? Krishna is telling us, I am in the spiritual world.

Come and join me in my pastimes. Krishna, Krishna, I want to perform pastimes here. You come and assist me here.

So, hold our plans lightly and hold our Lord tightly. That's what is the conclusion of the Gita where Arjuna says, karishe vachanam tava. I don't know why I am fit to fight this war.

See, Krishna spoke the entire Bhagavad Gita. Krishna did not give any mystical past life revelation. Oh, Bhishma was so and so in this life and Drona was so and so in this life and you were so and so in that life and you had this interaction.

That's why you have to fight against. So, Krishna did not go into that. This is the situation.

This is the given. Accept it. Now make the best of what you can.

And by serving, having that service attitude, Arjuna fought the war. So, that ultimately the way to make sense of things that don't make sense is by surrendering to Krishna. Karishe vachanam tava.

Krishna, I will do your will. So, I'll summarise quickly. I discussed four main points today.

Our discussion was broadly on the topic of how sense perception can take us to Krishna. The first I talked about the Bhagavatam structure and approach. How the Bhagavatam is focussing on Krishna consciousness in two ways.

Bring Krishna into our consciousness or bring what is in our consciousness to Krishna. So, especially this particular section is focussing on the second approach. So, in that I talked about three ways in which our consciousness, our sense perception can take us to Krishna.

L was what? Logic. So, we discussed through logic. We basically start making the link between cause and effect, action and result.

And as we grow, we start understanding that the cause effect framework can be bigger and bigger. That it can grow bigger. So, maybe pain is in the belly, but the relief will come from the mouth.

So, like that, we start understanding that sometimes when there is action and then there is result. It's a combination of present actions plus past action. So, karma in that sense is logical.

But then it's also inconceivable. Because exactly what proportion of which action has contributed to this result? We can't figure that out. And that's why our focus should not be on others' karma.

It should be on our dharma. It is ultimately the purpose of philosophy is to increase our sevabhaav. We are servants of Krishna, we are meant to serve Krishna.

So, if something is happening that just doesn't make sense to us, then rather than giving simplistic explanations, all your own karma. OK, we don't know why this is happening. But what we do know is our actions matter.

That is the essential implication of karma. Even when they don't seem to, our actions matter. So, let's try to do the best actions that we can.

And T was transcendental. That beyond karma is Krishna who is the lord of karma. And Krishna's purpose is not just retribution.

That you have done this much bad, so you have to suffer this much. It is reformation. And how exactly he works, it's very difficult to figure out.

That's why when we have faith in Krishna, it's a complex combination of certainty that Krishna will protect, but uncertainty about when and how he will protect. That's why we hold our plans lightly and we hold our lord tightly. Thank you very much.

Do we have a few minutes for questions? Any questions? Yes, please. OK, there's a question there. You can ask the question and pass it to him.

Thank you for this wonderful lecture. So, in the last line, you said Krishna, I will do your will, holding to our plans lightly and holding to our lord tightly. As you explained Prabhupada's journey, that Prabhupada went, tried so many different things.

And then he finally went to New York and he gave us, this is gone. So should we also like Prabhupada do different things and tried out everything and we will get what Krishna want to us? Or we will get science in those things that Krishna want us to do this or Krishna don't want us to do this. So is there any science or we just go and try different things? Well, three different things.

And when we are trying something out, see, first of all, when we say Krishna's plan or Krishna's will, it's not like one thin line. It's like a broad direction. It's a broad path.

Krishna basically wants to use us, to use our individuality, our initiative, our intelligence in Krishna's service. It's not that when the Gopis cook for Krishna, everyday Krishna gives a detailed menu. You know, you have to cook this, this, this, this, this.

No, the Gopis know what Krishna likes. The Gopis know what they can cook and based on what they feel inspired to they cook and they please Krishna. So it is not that our individuality is erased because we are doing Krishna's will.

So Krishna's will is more like a broad direction. It is the direction of selfless service rather than selfish aggrandisement. But specifically, it depends on our individuality.

Now, having said that, if we look at Prabhupada's life itself, there was a broad instruction given to him. Preach in the West, preach in English language and among the various things Prabhupada tried, it was basically within that broad parameter. So we may or may not get an instruction, but then everybody in Prabhupada's mission has an instruction broadly to share Krishna consciousness.

So there is broad guidance that we get from instructions. And then after that, there is, we use our own intelligence to observe what are our talents, what are our interests, and then we see where there is reciprocation. So there is, we all observe where do things work, where do things don't work.

And there could be some normal signs which come up, there could be some paranormal signs which come up. But what, like Prabhupada sometimes said, a postman told him that, you know, if you write magazines, people will throw it away. You write books, people will keep the books.

So according to one devotee who was researching, when they were trying to find out, Satsvaru Maharaj was writing the first volume, they were trying to find out who was the postman. 250 postmen said I was the postman. So everybody wants to take credit for that.

But the point is that that postman was not some, Prabhupada didn't go, oh, you are the representative of my guru, so I'll follow you now. You tell me for the rest of my life. No, Prabhupada took that as Krishna speaking.

So if there is yes, as guru speaking or Krishna speaking, so Prabhupada was using his intelligence, yeah, this makes sense. So it's like, yes, basically, we take some guidance and use our intelligence and then we observe where there is reciprocation. And that's how we move forward.

Yes. Mike has gone there. Thank you, Prabhuji, for the class.

Prabhuji, you mentioned that we should focus on our dharma more than, you know, somebody else's karma or more than trying to find out the reason of why something by some reversal is happening in your life. So when there is a reversal in our life, the impact or the frustration or the irritation that it causes makes us focus on, you know, the cause of it. You know, why is it happening? So what I want to ask is, we have a faint idea of what our dharma should be in that condition.

Maybe the way I should respond to this situation or to the person or how I should act. We have a faint idea. But also sometimes we feel that we don't have the ability to respond in that way or we don't have the strength to respond in that way.

So what can we do so that, you know, we can we can maybe increase the strength or we can somehow respond in the way which we logically know that this is the right way to respond or this is the right thing to do. So the first thing is, I didn't say that we shouldn't try to figure out. My point was, don't arrive at simplistic answers.

Of course, we have been given intelligence and we want to figure out why some things are happening. So Prabhupada was figuring out, OK, I'm trying to do outreach in India. It's not working.

What is the reason? Could have come up with many reasons. He said, OK, I'm preaching in India. Very few people know Indian.

So maybe I should start preaching in Hindi and then I'll get more following. Now, Prabhupada, the reason he came up with was Indians are infatuated by the West. So let me go to the West.

Prabhupada came up with a solution. So what the point I was saying is that the inconceivability is not illogical. It doesn't mean we give up our intelligence.

It's just that we don't arrive at pat answers or this is the cause. Yeah, this is my understanding. This could be contributing to the cause and let me address this.

But to say this is the sole cause, that is not healthy. It is called ekamulik nyaya in logic or single factor analysis. Reduce the complexity of reality to just one factor.

So can past karma contribute? Yes, of course, it can contribute. But if somebody has got a disease because, say, they took a vaccine and the vaccine turned out to be bad. Then is it because of past karma? Well, yes.

But does that mean the doctor should not reform themselves? Does that mean that they should not sue the doctor? Well, it's not like that. We have to see what works. We have to see what works and do whatever it can to fix the situation.

So now regarding dharma, it doesn't have to be that I am here and dharma has to be here and I have to take a huge leap to come up to here. And in trying to take that leap, I end up going further down. It doesn't have to be like that.

OK, so what I can do is from here I can take small steps upwards. Shanai Shanai Ruparame gradually. Krishna says 326 is that na buddhi-bhedam janaye dhagyanaam karma-sanginam, joshaye sarva-karmani vidwan-yukta-samajam.

Don't give others instructions that are impossible for them to follow. If they are attached and they're ignorant and you are enlightened and you are detached, you can't expect them to jump to their level. And what applies to others also applies to ourselves.

No, we can't. We can't make ourselves our slave. And you have to do this.

We have to understand where we are, what state of mind we are in and what can we do. So take small steps forward. When Abhimanyu was killed, Arjuna was shattered.

He was shattered not just that Abhimanyu had died. Arjuna was a warrior whose life was to protect others. And the sense of failure that comes when he was not even there to protect his son.

Just completely devastated. He lashed out even at his brothers. He said, are all your ornaments, are all your weapons just mere ornaments? Could not one of you protect my son? Fire on all of you.

So his words were like lashes for Yudhishthira and Bhima especially. And then Krishna pulled Arjuna into a side arc. Krishna said to Arjuna, O Partha, in this world, adversity befalls everyone, the wise and the unwise.

The difference between the two is that amid adversity, the unwise act in ways that make things worse. The wise act in ways that make things better. O Arjuna, look at the faces of your brothers.

They are in pain because of Abhimanyu's death just as you are. Please don't speak words that will increase their pain. So when Krishna was consoling Arjuna, Krishna didn't go into any past life, karma and philosophy.

Very pragmatic approach. So what does dharma mean? At a basic level, if Krishna is the surdham sarva bhutana, Krishna is the well-wisher of everyone. Krishna wants the best for everyone.

If we are the servants of Krishna, then as our service to Krishna, Krishna wants the best for us and Krishna wants us to the best to the best for everyone else. So in my situation, what can I do to make things better? Maybe I don't have the capacity to do the best thing right now. No, I can do some things to make things better.

If somebody is suddenly got some terrible disease and they are reduced to a bed and they can't do anything. Now, we can't expect them to be cheerful and happy at that time. That might be too much to expect.

But if some people are sick and they make their caregiver sick of them, they're constantly blaming and criticising and complaining. But even if we can't be cheerful, we can still be polite. If somebody is taking care, we can be grateful for them, we can thank them.

So whatever is in our capacity, we can try to do. And gradually our capacity will also grow by Krishna's grace. OK, last question.

Let the mic come to you. Yeah, the mic is coming. So thank you for the enlightening class, Hare Krishna.

I have a doubt that in the end you said hold your plans lightly and lord tightly. So regarding this, I want to ask that if I'm putting efforts to achieve a goal in my life and if I'm not getting that goal, so should I stop putting efforts thinking that maybe lord don't want me to reach that goal? Or should I keep trying that thinking that maybe lord wants to reform me to achieve that goal till I achieve it? So where the demarcation line should come that I should put on efforts and then I should stop putting efforts? So, difficult question. I will answer.

Difficult is something that will take some time to answer. I'll try to see. In 1814, Krishna talks about five factors that from action to result.

He says Adishtanam tatha karta. If you consider this action to be like one mountain and result to be like another mountain, you want to build a bridge and that bridge has five planks in it. You know, a plank is like a wooden thing which helps us go from one place to another.

So these five planks that are there, karta is the soul. The last is daiva, is destiny. So Adishtanam tatha karta, karanam cha pratak vidha, there are senses.

Then vidha cha pratak cheshta, there is a place, Adishtanam and that is the endeavour. So basically, Krishna says these three factors. So senses, broadly, they represent our talents.

When somebody is a singer, it's not that if you do an x-ray of their throat, you will find some gold particles in their throat. When you say they have a golden voice. So the senses basically refer to the talents that are there.

So if we are not succeeding, broadly, there could be, we are in an incompatible, we are in an incompatible work. We just don't have the talent for that work. That could be one possibility.

Another possibility could be, we could be in an inhospitable place. Till IPL and these things started, India's sports career was not very viable. If somebody wants to become a sports career, it's not the most hospitable place.

So in America, somebody wants to become a cricketer. What do you mean? You want to go and hunt crickets? For them cricket is an insect. So, you know, maybe till then, or it could be our endeavour is insufficient.

So when we are not getting success, these three factors could be there. Like if I'm gardening and nothing is rising, then it could be that I got the wrong seeds. Or it's just the soil is just not fertile.

Or maybe I'm not watering properly. Or maybe I'm not protecting properly. Three factors are there.

So we have to figure out which factor is there that is not working. When Prabhupada was a businessman, you know, Prabhupada wanted to serve his Guru Maharaj. But you know, Prabhupada was by nature a preacher.

So when his customers would come, he would start preaching to them. So that was incompatible. Of course, Prabhupada is transcendental and Krishna has his own plan.

But we are just trying to understand from a way which we can learn for ourselves. So that was being a businessman was not compatible for Prabhupada. That was not what his primary talent was.

Then when he was preaching in India, at that time, India was just not ready for philosophical spirituality. Culturally, India had some spirituality, but the philosophical spirituality. So Prabhupada moved from India to America.

Now, even when he went to America, it was not that he immediately got results. For the first one year, it was an immense struggle. But Prabhupada kept endeavouring.

Prabhupada had a two-month visa and every time he had to extend it, he was thinking, should I go back to India, should I extend? So that time he saw it as insufficient endeavour. So we need to pray to Krishna and evaluate that what is it that is preventing us from getting results? Is it I am in the wrong place? Is it that I am pursuing something for which I don't have the gifts? Or is it that I just not putting enough efforts? So it's not easy, but if you do some praying and then analysing, you'll be able to figure out. Thank you.

We'll ask you a question. We'll stop at that. It's permission to ask the question.

Yes. You have told me that it is a visible and invisible function. So how I can judge myself, which is the visible and which is invisible.

How can you judge means see what we can see with our eyes is visible. Yeah. So basically when something happens.

Yeah. I was in UK and I was meeting one devotee. He said, today is my wife's wedding anniversary.

I said, what do you mean? What do you mean? He said, your ex-wife is none of my wife's. That means yours also. He said, I don't believe in such things.

It's all sentimental. So then he was telling me that, you know, actually, I got married, but my wife is not cooperating at all. I think Krishna gave me an uncooperative wife so that I can become detached.

I said, wait a minute, wait a minute. You know, don't jump to Krishna's action when it could be your action also. Then I talk with his wife also and she is not a devotee when she got married, but she is very intelligent and quite open.

And as I was talking with her, I realised that that he was in the name of bhakti, not doing some basic things that are expected in the rest of the life. I said, see, don't jump to an invisible cause that there is this Krishna's plan for you to become detached. It could be that in the name of being detached, you are being irresponsible right now.

So then we have addressed the visible cause. Sometimes it's possible that we have not done our part and that's why the problems are coming. Sometimes we have done our part and in spite of that, the problems are coming.

So generally in Nyaya, in logic, the idea is we need to move from visible causes to invisible cause. Like I gave the example of a newborn baby crying. Now, if the baby is crying, the mother should immediately comfort the baby, do whatever it takes to comfort.

But sometimes the baby may have a disease which is difficult to diagnose, which is difficult to cure. Then at that time, maybe some karma is going on. Let's hope we can figure out what it is and deal with it.

But till then, the mother may have to endure. It's painful for the baby and painful for the mother also. But the point is, we need to look at visible causes first and try to figure out what is it that is actionable for me.

And after we have done our part, the Pandavas tried their best to avoid the war. They tried peace negotiations. But when Duryodhana was just not ready to listen, then they moved to, OK, this is what is meant to happen.

We'll fight the war. So whatever is actionable, we consider as visible. And then if the visible doesn't make sense, visible does not have the result, then we can infer that there is something more going on over here.

That there is something coming from past karma or destiny over here. Thank you so much for taking your time. Incompatible work, inhospitable place or insufficient effort.

We have to evaluate which one it is. Now, suppose all three seem OK. I mean, there is a I'm doing work which I am good at.

I am in the right place also and I am putting sufficient effort. But still the plan is not happening. So at that point, what is the right response? Should we say that, OK, I continue doing because now I have to hold on to Krishna tightly.

Or should I leave my plan and just allow destiny to take its course? What is the right course of action? Yeah, it depends. Once Prabhupada asked, Prabhupada was told by one of his disciples, Bhaktivinoda Thakur preached in Bengal. You preached, Bhaktivinoda Thakur preached in India.

You have preached all over the world. Therefore, you are greater than all of them. So Prabhupada said, never think like this.

He said that it is by their mercy that I was able to do this. It's like a Krishna has a multi-lifetime plan or multi-generational plan. And within Krishna's plan, Prabhupada had a particular role to play.

Triptika Satcharita had a particular role to play. So was it that Bhaktivinoda Thakur was not successful because he did not preach all over India or all over the world? No, that was at that particular time. That was Krishna.

That was the role that Krishna wanted him to play. If we know when Ganga came to the earth, there are so many kings who performed tapasya lifelong. And they kept performing tapasya and they passed away also.

It was finally who got the Ganga to the earth? Bhagirath. So he gets the glory. But if we consider, does that mean that others don't get? It's like if you consider life to be like a relay, Krishna's service to be like a relay race, you know, everybody is carrying the torch for some time.

And now in Krishna's eyes, in the world's eyes, the person who carries the torch across the finish line, that person gets the world's glory. However, in Krishna's eyes, everyone gets glory because everyone has played their part. So sometimes it may be that we may not, within Krishna's plan, we may not be destined to get that result.

That's why destiny is also one factor. Now, Prabhupada was spectacularly successful in what outreach he did. But if you consider, Prabhupada worked so hard to build the Juhu temple and it was almost near completion.

And Juhu temple was inaugurated in February, Jan-Feb and Prabhupada departed in November. Prabhupada could have said, Krishna, just let me live for a few more months. Let me see the temple.

But when the time came, Prabhupada was asked, kuch icha nahi. So Prabhupada, Prabhupada himself is an example of hold our plans lightly. The lightly doesn't mean Prabhupada didn't care for the plan.

Prabhupada fought like a commander to make sure the temple was built. But this is Krishna's plan, we accept it. So hold our Lord lightly.

Thank you. Yes, you have the mic here. Hey Krishna, very nice lecture.

Prabhuji, we are always in three stages, either past, future or present. He said that to think of future is mystery, to think of past is history and to be in the present is victory. Yes.

Thank you. So ultimately the Bhagavata, many places say that Krishna is the Lord of past, present and future of all the three phases of time. Yes.

So in general, when we are looking at the past and we are looking at the future. So we can look at the past and some people may look at it with regret or this happened, that happened. We may look at the future and we may look at it with anxiety.

But for us, above the past, present and future, in all phases of time, there is Krishna. That's why even if in our past there are some bad things that have happened, we can know that Krishna is working even through that past. Krishna will use our past for something good.

And we can't know what the future holds, but we can know who holds the future. So if we hold on to Krishna, then whatever the future brings, Krishna will guide us through it. Thank you.

Thank you very much.