Gita 17.18 The show of austerity without the substance of spirituality points to superficiality or even hypocrisy

Transcript

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done in the mode of goodness Bhavita 17.18 Krishna is talking here about austerity done in the mode of passion or done with the purpose of being passionate so one does it out of wanting honor I mean publicly out of wanting being respected by everyone and being specially fetted for being so special to the point of being worshipped as if one were a celestial being or a divine being when one performs austerity with Dambha Dambha means one doesn’t have the virtue but one pretends to have the virtue so that one will be honored so one who does like this then that austerity is it is called as it is flickering its fruits are flickering and that which endures is true that which perishes is considered false Krishna has said earlier in the second chapter of the Bhagavata 2.16 so here the point is that when we do the external show of austerity without seeking the substance of purity then that austerity becomes hypocrisy so the show of austerity without the substance of purity breeds only temporary results such as prestige but no lasting results such as spiritualities, just spiritual consciousness being enhanced in people so we need to have the balanced understanding that the external actions are important in themselves because they are the means by which the internal emotions can be developed they are important every tradition has some rituals, some practices and those practices help in taking our consciousness upwards towards our lord at the same time those actions alone are not enough if the actions are not done in conjunction with inner growth of virtues then the result is that we end up doing things but not learning from those things we end up moving forwards in the external performance of those things but not in the internal purification and elevation of consciousness that is meant to result to those things we could consider this external-internal difference at multiple levels one is having the external doing the external and seeking the internal the highest would be that we do the external with the intention of expressing the internal so we bow in front of the lord because we have devotion for him we have so much love for him that we actually want to bow for him we sing his glories because we have love for him and we delight in his glories second is we do the externals seeking the internals third is that we do the internals to seek to cover up the lack of the internals without really seeking to get the internals then it becomes simply ritualistic it’s superficial so we go into the temple, bow down because if we don’t bow down people, especially if we live in a pious culture people will criticize us people will look down upon us, they will call us an impious heathen or something like that every culture has some term by which it brands outsiders of that culture the fourth, which would be the we could say the most damaging, when one has the externals one is not even seeking to get the internals and one is simply doing the externals so that one gets prestige so when we do the externals when we are doing it ritualistically we may not do it very well also because we just want to get it over with but when we want to put a facade before the world then we may do it well also in the sense that put on a very impressive display of doing the externals in a way that it appears as if we are actually having the internals but we do that performance so that we can attract external themes we can attract external prestige, external results through the external performance we have neither the internal substance nor do we desire the internal substance that means when normally people do austerity it is meant to be done so that one abstains from worldly indulgences so that one can pursue an otherworldly goal but if one has no interest in otherworldly goals one has interest simply in the worldly goals only of name, fame and glory then that will result in our getting deluded by our inability to grow spiritually and to still collect from the world the prestige as if we have already grown spiritually thus we will end up misled and misleading others and misleading ourselves also because others may offer us the respect that we are spiritually exalted but internally we are not spiritually exalted in fact there may be a great spiritual vacuum inside us which prevents us from doing anything constructive for our spiritual growth so the actions that we do which seem to be spiritual to the external world may actually contribute very little or nothing to our spiritual growth in fact they may cause the growth of our ego which may lead to the obstruction of our spiritual growth so therefore every one of us needs to have a strong sense of purpose and that sense of purpose needs to be perused under the light of scripture by which we re-examine our motivation and realign it with our values then we will be able to pursue our goal in a way that is conducive, we will do the externals and we will poster the internals here people may do the externals they may build a big temple or sponsor a huge deity for the temple but they will want their name to be prominently enshrined there and for them the deity or the temple is not as important as the enshrinement of their name on the temple or the deity and thus the result will be that we will be caught in illusion and we will stay in illusion, those who do like this will stay in illusion because they are missing the whole point of building the temple somebody may fast but while fasting their purpose is not to refrain from their bodily needs so that they can focus on their spiritual need of connection with Krishna and absorption in Krishna they are abstaining from their bodily needs so that they will be glorified by the world as being so austere so while their physical body may be starved their ego may be acting like a glutton which is just feasting and thus the ego will become a huge barrier between them and Krishna and their fasting which is meant to raise them from material consciousness to spiritual consciousness will actually increase the obstacle between them and their spirituality because of their misdirected intentions Thank you