Gita 14.26 – Bhakti is both a state and a process

[Talk in Toronto, Canada]

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Bhagavad Gita 14.26 this is the penultimate verse of the 14th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita which is entitled Prakriti Traiguna Vibhaga Yoga the three modes of material nature Srila Prabhupada translates it into English Prakriti Traiguna Vibhaga Yoga the yoga which talks about the three divisions of material nature in terms of three modes Traiguna Vibhaga Krishna has analyzed three modes in terms of their functional characteristics their inherent characteristics in 14.678 then he is talking about in terms of their consequential characteristics what kind of consequence they have on us from 14.11 to 14.17 and then he talks about the destinations then after that he talks destinations based on the modes and towards the end of this chapter after describing the characteristics of the person who has transcended the modes in 14.21 Arjuna asks three questions he asks, O Krishna what are the characteristics of a person who has transcended the three modes what are the characteristics what is the behavior and what is the method for transcending the modes so he asks Krishna answers those questions in 14.22 to 14.25 14.22 to 14.23 talks about the internal characteristics and 14.24 to 14.25 talks about the external behavior and then 14.26 talks about the methodology, the process for transcending the modes and he says one who is one who is undistracted and serving me in bhakti yoga without distraction that person that person will go beyond the modes and then brahma bhuyaya kalpate will reach the brahman level there is the transcendental level of devotion and there is also the utilitarian co-option or adoption of devotion that means that devotion is the super most transcendental reality that Krishna will talk about later in the 18th chapter when he says that in 18.50 devotion that bhakti is a transcendental reality which exists beyond three modes of material nature but along with that there may also be a utilitarian co-option or adoption of devotion for the purposes of transcending the modes that is what Krishna talks about in 14.26 and he states that those who practice bhakti undeviatingly they by that practice will transcend the modes so if bhakti itself is attained by those who have transcended the modes then how can those who are within the modes practice bhakti to transcend the modes it’s like if somebody says that when you get to the bus stop you will catch the bus you will get the bus there after getting the bus stop you will get the bus that doesn’t make sense do we get the bus at the bus stop or do we get the bus to go to the bus stop so do we get bhakti after transcending the modes and transcendental level is like the bus stop or do we get bhakti right now and with it we get to the bus stop we get to the level of transcending the modes so we have to understand that bhakti is not a monolithic entity bhakti itself is understood at multiple levels devotion is like education so devotion is not just it’s not a state, although it is a state it’s not just a state, it’s also a process in that sense we could say devotion is like education say by education we get graduation and on graduation we get our education because our education is completed at that stage so it is education in that sense is a process as well as the state education is a process by which one attains the status of having attained education so in this verse Krishna is talking about how by the practice of bhakti one can transcend the modes so here there is a utilitarian co-option of bhakti and this is how many seekers who are not devotees necessarily they also practice bhakti they practice bhakti because they feel it is a way to transcend the modes it is a way to rise to a higher level of consciousness after which they can move towards whatever perfection their heart aspires whatever perfection they consider attractive or ultimate now in our practice of devotions this is the 14th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita chapters 13 to 18 are considered to be a part of the, to comprise the jnana section of the Gita actually it’s not just the jnana section the section in which how one moves from jnana to bhakti is talked about and some seekers or jnanis who come to the level of bhakti and some seekers who are jnanis who may not come to the level of bhakti they may just conceive of perfection with the conception of jnana, the framework of jnana and thus they may seek merging in the absolute or some other impersonal or that kind of impersonal conception of ultimate achievement but even they can practice bhakti and Krishna is saying here that by the practice of bhakti one can transcend the modes so another question comes up on hearing this verse is that how can someone who is actually within the modes of material nature how can they practice aglabhichari bhakti uninterrupted devotion because after all it is the modes that interrupt our devotion when we feel passionate we get attracted to sense objects and then that interrupts our focus on Krishna when we succumb to the mode of ignorance then also we get irritated, we get depressed we get vengeful we get lethargic and that also interrupts our connection with Krishna so how exactly can somebody who is in the modes practice uninterrupted devotional service so actually it is more a matter of intention here than of action Krishna sees not just our feelings he also sees our feelings about our feelings that means that certain feelings may come upon us we may feel bored we may feel seduced not seduced in terms of action but we may feel attracted, allured in terms of the emotion being generated within us but we can either embrace those emotions or we can eschew those emotions we can either dive into those emotions or we can distance ourselves from those emotions so Krishna has talked about the latter distancing oneself from the emotions earlier in the same section, 4 verses earlier in 14.22-23 he states that prakasham cha pravartim cha moham eva cha pandava na dveshti sam pravartani na nirutani kankshati udasinam vadasinam gunairyo na vichalyate gunavartam ditteva yo vatishthati na ingate so he says that prakasham pravartim and moham these are short hands by which Krishna refers to 3 modes sattva guna, rajo guna and tamo guna sattva guna is characterized by prakash, illumination rajo guna is characterized by pravarti activity and moha, delusion that is the characteristic of tamo guna so when these come prakasham cha pravartim cha moham eva cha pandava na dveshti sam pravartani when they come one doesn’t get excited by that nirutani kankshati and when they go away one doesn’t crave for that how is that to understand udasinam vadasinam gunairyo na vichalyate understanding that these are the modes acting and because of the modes certain things certain emotions are being felt by me gunavartam ditteva yo vatishthati na ingate but one who stays fixed not being shaken by the modes such a person can progress towards perfection to understand how we can distance ourselves from the emotions generated by the modes to understand how we can practice agobichari bhakti even when the modes are influencing us we can consider the effect of the modes on us to be like our emotional weather or emotional climate just like we can have our environmental climate when it’s too cold, it’s too hot, it’s too rainy we adapt ourselves appropriately we wear the right kind of dress for that weather we may have heating or cooling arrangements but after doing whatever adaptation is possible then we move onwards then we pursue our purpose of life just as we don’t let the environmental weather change the purpose of our life we have to go for work, we have to go for shopping we have to go to school to fetch our kids we have to go to temple, whatever it is we do that and sometimes we may not be able to do it but our intention remains and as soon as the weather becomes better then we do it we need to adapt ourselves to our emotional weather the climate of our emotions within our consciousness may sometimes change unpredictably by factors far beyond our control just as the weather also changes unpredictably by factors beyond our control but just as the change of the environmental weather doesn’t change our essential purpose similarly the change of our emotional weather needn’t change our essential purpose so in terms of intention if a devotee doesn’t let the doesn’t let oneself be swayed from the purpose of serving Krishna and that itself is avibhichari bhakti so we may not be pure devotees right now but we can be potential pure devotees if our intention our aspiration is pure devotion so Krishna says that if we persevere thus in the practice of bhakti then by that avibhichari bhakti that will act like a medicine which will cure our consciousness by healing our consciousness it will raise it to the level of transcendence thus bhakti is the ultimate remedy for the malady of the malinfection by the moles thank you