Gita 02.43 – The Vedic masterplan uses dharma to raise people from kama to prema

Verse. Thank you. Bhagavad Gita 2.43 So, Krishna is using the word here that for these people, Kama is like their Atma.

The desire for material enjoyment has permeated into the very core of their heart, their very existence, it is filled with the desire for Kama. So, Kama Atmanah Swarga Parah. And so, they desire to attain Swarga.

That is their, they consider that to be the ultimate goal of their life. And for that Janma, and they think what will happen in Swarga, Janma Karma Phala Pradham. They think that in the Swarga, they will get Janma and they will be able to do the Swargiya Karma.

Now, what is the Swargiya Karma? There are Apsaras and one can enjoy those Apsaras in the Nanda Kayan gardens of the heavens. And for this, what they do? Kriya Vishesh Bahulam. And they Kriya, Kriya refers to the Vedic rituals.

So, they perform those Kriya Vishesh, so special. So, in the Vedic scriptures that are mentioned, oh, you do this ritual and you will get this, you do this ritual and you will get this. And in that, where it is talked about Vishesh, Kriya Vishesh, Bahulam, there are many different rituals that are talked about, many, multifold.

So, they are special and opulent and different for different attainments. But basically, the common denomination is to get, common denominator in them is to get heavenly pleasures. Bhog Aishwarya Gatim Pratih.

Their goal is to get Bhog Aishwarya Gatim. That is their goal. Oh, in the heaven, we will have huge opulence.

I will be seated on a throne like Indra. And then there will be so many Apsaras with whom I can enjoy. So, the whole idea is person has a very materialistic consciousness.

And with that materialistic consciousness, that person seeks to pursue Vedic rituals. So, our desires determine our destinations, not only the destination that we will eventually achieve, but also the destination that we pursue also. So, those who, now in this world, people who want material enjoyment, they think that, oh, many people think that, oh, America is the land of freedom and wealth and liberality.

And there I can enjoy. So, for many people in this world, America is almost like heaven. And people even worship the gods to go to heaven, which for them is America, because that is what is Pushpavacham.

We are talking about Indians over here who have the desire like that. So, they hear from their childhood about how America is such a prosperous place. And often with the desire for sense gratification, they go there.

So, Kama Atman. So, our desires determine our destination in the sense that where we desire to go also is determined by our Kama, our desires. And eventually, where we go, that depends.

Now, so many people may desire to go to America, but people have to do some qualification, either get a job in America or get a scholarship to go to America, or get some way to get some admission in Symbolic America and then start off from there. So, Kama Atman, Swarga Para. Now, those who were in the Vedic cultural context and had faith in the Vedas, so then there they heard descriptions of the heavens and they desired to go to the heavens.

So, their goal in going to heavens is Bhoga Aishwarya. So, it's interesting that the Vedas are so inclusive that for those who are not yet ready to give up sense gratification, the Vedas provide the facility for sense gratification through the rituals of the Karmakand. And through these rituals, they are able to rise to heaven and by rising to heaven, they can enjoy over there.

So, Kama Atman Swarga Para. Now, that means Karmakand is like the intersection between Kama and Dharma. So, Kama is material desire and people who have material desires and normally we think of Kama as that which leads one to sin.

But the Vedic scriptures also provide a jurisdiction where one can actually enjoy within the precincts of Dharma. So, one practices Dharma and while practicing Dharma, one seeks spiritual, one seeks material gratification. So, for example, in many religions, it's talked about how if you follow God and if you are good, then you will go to heavens and you will enjoy over there.

So, that level of religion is talked about in the Vedas also. Now, the whole idea is that people should be connected with Dharma from whatever level they are at. So, if they are at the level of, they are so co-infatuated with sense gratification, with material enjoyment, then if they tell them to give up sense gratification, then they will give up Shastra only, they will give up Dharma only.

So, then create for them an intersection between Karmakanda and Dharma, between Kama and Dharma. And by that, they at least come into the circle of Dharma. And then Dharma has a pushing mechanism by which gradually, it may take many lifetimes also, they go to heaven, enjoy over there, realize the futility of heavenly enjoyment and then come back here and then desire to go, then do some Karmakanda again, go up there and gradually, they realize, oh, this heavenly enjoyment doesn't really help.

There must be something higher in life. And what is that higher? I want to know that. I want to achieve that.

And for that purpose, they start exploring thereafter. And when they start exploring like this, then is the time when their spiritual quest actually begins. When they look beyond material enjoyment to something which is going to last, which is at the level of something more enduring than the body, that is eternal.

So, then for such people, Upanishads are there. The Upanishads talk about Gyanakanda and they focus on how all material enjoyment is actually a cause of entanglement. It is a cause of illusion.

And therefore, give it up. Even the promises of immortal pleasures in heavens are also false because even heavens are not immortal. It's just very long, but it's not immortal.

So, here, that means, there is a circle of karma and a circle of dharma. Now, when people move from the Vedas to the Upanishads, then they come further in the circle of dharma, but they come out of the circle of karma. So, it's a progression.

They give up karma because they understand, oh, this doesn't lead to happiness. And the Upanishads are in the beginning, in the middle, they often seem to be impersonalistic, but towards the end, they conclude in personalism and they push towards bhakti. And the summation and the culmination of the scriptures, of the wisdom of the scriptures is found in bhakti.

And that bhakti Krishna will talk about in the Bhagavad Gita and subsequent chapters, where one actually learns to love the eternal, realizing the eternal to be an eternal, all-attractive person. And in that loving reciprocation finds the highest happiness. So, in this way, those who are caught in karma, they progress through karma kanda, through jnana kanda, to bhakti, to parabhakti, wherein they attain eternal happiness.

But if they think that, oh, there is nothing higher than karma kanda in the scriptures, as was said, in the previous verse, it was said, they think there is nothing higher. And if they think bhogaishvara gatim prati, if they think bhoga and aishwarya is itself the goal, and there is no other gati, no other goal beyond that, then their progress becomes difficult. Then they stay entangled, and they get distracted, even self-righteously distracted from the right path.

So, it is their fate that Krishna is talking about over here. And he says that whatever they gain, they may do elaborate rituals, and they may even succeed in going to heaven, but that stays also temporary. And because they lose the opportunity for the eternal in the human form, we have the developed consciousness to pursue, perceive, and to pursue the eternal.

But because they give it up just for the better material thing, which is still temporary, they are considered avipashita, and they are unfortunate. And that is why they cannot attain the highest destination because of their misdirected desires, even when they are in the purview of dharma. So, Arjuna, do not practice dharma for the sake of going to heavens, seek the eternal destination.

That is the essential message of this verse, subtext, and how Krishna s argument progresses, we will discuss in our.