Gita Overview Mumbai 14.22-27 Become an observer of the consciousness

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
shloka shloka shloka so we come to the last part of the 14th chapter we discussed krishna’s or rather arjuna’s question shloka so his question was what are the characteristics in terms of inner characteristics what is the behaviour and what is the process by which one can transcend the modes so let’s see the answer of krishna shloka shloka shloka shloka shloka shloka shloka shloka shloka yo vatiṣṭhati nengate sama-duḥkha-sukha-svasthā sama-loṣṭhāṣṅa-kāñcana tulya-priyā-priyo-dhīras tulya-nindātma-saṁsthuti mā nāpa-mānayo sthulyas tulya-mitrā-rī-pakṣayo sarvārambha-parityāgi guṇāti taha sa ucyate So, now if you see, Krishna has more or less used certain words, one-one word to characterise each moment.
So, the word used to characterise goodness is prakāśa. The word used, this is used in 14.11, the word used to characterise passion is pravṛtti. So, prakāśa means illumination, pravṛtti means action.
And then the word he uses to characterise ignorance is aprakāśo apravṛttiśca mohaṁ eva ca pāṇḍavī. In 14.13, he uses moha. So, here now Krishna uses these three representative words for each of these modes.
And he says prakāśam ca pravṛttiśca mohaṁ eva ca pāṇḍavī. That means, all the three modes he is referring to and he is saying, what is the characteristic of a person who has transcended these three modes? na dveṣṭi sampravṛttāni na nivṛttāni kāṅkṣati Sampravṛttāni means when they arrive. So, when any of these arise, one doesn’t become resentful of that.
And when these symptoms depart, na nivṛttāni kāṅkṣati, one doesn’t become, one doesn’t hanker for them. So, now generally we think of hankering and lamenting for things, isn’t it? Okay, I wanted to come first in my exam. I wanted to get the first prize.
I wanted this particular thing to work out this way. I didn’t want that to go wrong. So, we hanker and lament either for things or for events or for people.
But Krishna is talking, taking things at a subtler level. And he is saying that when a person truly wants to become detached, then he should not hanker even for certain subtle states of mind. You know, some people, for example, they may, they like to be excited.
And that’s why many people before say they have a big event, they may drink a little bit of tea or they may drink a little bit of alcohol because they say that stimulates them. And so, now this psychological condition is a product of a mode, say it could be a mode of passion. The people want to feel, say, I want to feel high, I want to feel sharp, I want to feel alert.
Now that is good. We should be sharp and high and alert for serving Krishna. But as a devotee, Krishna is telling that one should not even be attached to material states of consciousness.
So, material states of consciousness are also material and they are the products of the modes. So, as Krishna is saying that now it is not that a devotee should not be illumined. Let’s look at each of them one by one.
You know, certainly certain modes are favourable to the cultivation of devotional service. And some modes are unfavourable. So, naturally, if we want to practise Krishna consciousness properly, we need Prakash.
We need proper discrimination, which will be based on the mode of goodness to a large extent. What could be the problem? Hare Krishna. Is it okay now? The point which Krishna makes over here is that one should not be attached to these particular mentalities also, internally.
That means sometimes certain services may require us, they may take away our peace of mind. And they may force us to take up anxiety. Then if I say that I am attached to a calm, clear disposition of the mind, then I may not be able to take up some services.
Krishna is not talking here about our innate psychophysical tendencies. He is talking about specifically the modes. All of us have particular psychophysical tendencies.
And the purpose of an ashram is to engage people according to their nature, so that they can become steadily and happily situated in devotional service to Krishna. So, that is fine. But we are talking about once a person is situated in a particular mode, for example, I may like to write, somebody else may like to manage, somebody else may like to counsel.
Even when I am doing that, which is according to my psychophysical nature, that which I like to do, that which I am good at, even within that my mind will trouble me. It is not that the mind will stay steady just before I am doing something which I like to do. Because even if I am doing something that I like to do, there will be ups and downs.
That’s the nature of the world. And those ups and downs will agitate my mind also. So, apart from that, apart from the external problem, the mind comes up with its own problems also.
So, in a sense, life in the material world is always difficult, no matter what we do. But when there is a mismatch between our inclination and our vocation, our inclination is our internal temperament and vocation is our external occupation, external roles that we play, services that we do. When there is a mismatch between our inclination and our vocation, then that makes life even more difficult.
So, material life is as it is difficult for everyone. But when there is a mismatch between our inclination and vocation, that makes things all the more difficult. So, we are not talking about intentionally creating this mismatch over here.
Krishna has told Arjuna that as a Kshatriya, you should fight. That is taken. But even as a Kshatriya, a Kshatriya may be subjected to anger.
A Kshatriya may be subjected to lamentation. A Kshatriya may sometimes start feeling that the Brahmanical mode of functioning where one can be very calm and reflective and focus on scripture, maybe that is better. So, a person will start feeling like that.
But these are passing phases of the mind’s emotions and one should not get influenced by them. And the influence of them comes in two parts. One is hankering and the other is resenting or lamenting.
So, Krishna is telling that one just understand that these modes. So, first line he says that these three modes neither hanker nor lament. Why one should not hanker or lament or how one should not hanker and lament? Both the two are related, he says.
So, understand that one is transcendent. Udāsīna vadāsīno. Now, this phrase udāsīna vadāsīno is significant because this is complete, this thing you can ask.
That Krishna has used this verse phrase for himself. Now, how he situates himself in material existence. In 9.9 he said, Udāsīna vadāsīno tattvamāṁ tāni karmāṇi nivadnanti dhananjaya Udāsīna vadāsīno sattvam teṣhu karmaśu.
So, he has used this phrase for himself. How he situates himself in material existence. Udāsīna vadāsīno.
He is detached. So, Krishna is telling the seeker, the aspiring transcendentalist, that just as I am transcendental, you also try to become transcendental. So, try to situate yourself in a detached platform from the material ups and downs.
So, this is actually, modern psychologists have tried to study what is the difference between humans and animals. And although from the evolutionary point of view, the idea is that humans are just more evolved apes or ancestors of those beings who now became apes. So, still they have found that there is a substantial difference between them.
And one of the reasons why the theory of evolution was proposed by two scientists, by Alfred Wallace and Charles Darwin. But as Wallace investigated further, he felt that the theory was untenable. And that’s why he withdrew from that theory.
And he actually strongly requested Darwin also that this theory is not based on evidence. And one of the many objections he had was that the cognitive capacity, the intellectual, the information processing and the thinking capacity of the human brain is far, far greater than that of the simian brain. And if you just look at the complexity, certainly the human brain is much more complex than the simian brain.
But still, just that alone cannot account for the level of complexity that is present in the human brain. So, when he sent a letter like this to Darwin, Darwin replied that, you know, I hope that by this observation you have not killed our baby. What is our baby? Our baby is a theory of evolution.
So, you know, if you don’t want to support, don’t support it, but don’t kill the baby. Then Wallace withdrew his name from it. So, the point which is to be made over here is that humans have some capacities which animals don’t have.
And one of those capacities is self-awareness. Self-awareness means to think about ourselves. For example, I can, I cannot physically move myself from here and look at my, say, I cannot think that I am floating over there, I am looking at Chaitanya Charan over here.
I cannot physically go there, but I can conceptually sort of distance myself from my thoughts and take a look at my thoughts. For example, now, if I am feeling a little irritated, I am trying to explain this concept, but there are two problems that I am facing. First problem, I am verbalising my own thoughts right now.
So, I am facing two problems. First is I am not able to get the right words to express. And I think that most of the audience is not understanding what I am saying.
So, because of that, I am feeling irritated. Now, when I look at my irritation and I try to verbalise my irritation, then by that I can analyse my emotion and then that helps me to deal with it. The point is that actually we can examine our thoughts.
We cannot examine consciousness. We cannot examine the thinker. We cannot examine the seat of consciousness, from where consciousness is originating.
But what is happening in that consciousness, I can see what is happening externally and I can also look at my own thoughts internally. I can try to identify my thoughts and then correct my thoughts. This capacity of being aware of our mental life and of being able to correct our mental life, that is not present in animals.
That’s what is the observation of the… There is a branch of scientists who study animal behaviour and that is called ethologists. Not ethnology, ethology. The word ethnic refers to races and ethics refers to morality.
They are two different things. This is the third thing, this is ethology. Ethology is the study of animal behaviour.
So, the ethologists have found that animals are not capable of introspection. They cannot look at themselves and investigate their behaviour. That’s why, for example, I frequently have given this example that tomorrow is Ekadashi.
So, if a cat sees a rat, the cat cannot think, oh, today is fasting. Because it doesn’t have the capacity to look at its impulses and to think whether its impulses are desirable or undesirable, right or wrong, and then to choose them or to curb them. It doesn’t have that capacity.
We human beings have that capacity. So, this sort of analysis which Krishna recommends us to do, it requires the evolved consciousness of human beings by which we can distance ourselves from our mind and look at our thoughts. It is the whole genre of self-help and positive thinking that has become very popular in modern times that is based on this understanding that we can actually change our thoughts.
We can change our thought habits. We can change our mental patterns. And by that we can change our life and our destiny ultimately.
Yes. So, what do we mean by intelligence? Intelligence actually means choosing the right course of action. But the right course of action is also chosen based on the right emotion.
Okay. Now, do the animals not have intelligence? There is a difference. Animals have the intelligence to discriminate for eating, sleeping, mating, depending.
There is a risk to their life. They will discriminate and this is dangerous if not dangerous. In fact, their capacity may be more developed than humans also.
If an animal is in a jungle, the animal has the innate capacity to know, okay, this food is edible for me, this food is not edible for me. Human beings don’t have that capacity. And if we are lost in a jungle, I look at, okay, are these leaves, are these roots, are these fruits edible? There is no way to find out.
We can’t make it innately. Somebody has to tell us or maybe we have to chew it and then it’s very complex. We can’t find out directly.
So, with respect to eating, sleeping, mating, depending, they have intelligence. And that intelligence to a large extent is instinctive. Instinctive.
That means, you know what? They are to a large extent born with only. They may build upon it slightly by training. You know, as the consciousness, like we have an x-y axis, all living beings have two characteristics.
One is the inherited characteristics and the second is the learned characteristics. So, in general, the lower the species on the scale of consciousness, the inherited characteristics are more and more and more. And the learned characteristics are less and less and less.
So, as this species moves upward, for example, parrots, they will naturally make some sounds. But by training by humans, they may be able to speak some human sound also. So, they have some capacity for learning, for developing learned characteristics.
This capacity is maximum in humans. We also get some inherited characteristics. But the whole capacity of human beings to change the direction of their life is based on the significant amount of acquired characteristics that shape our behaviour.
And that acquired characteristics, learned characteristics can be changed. By acquired, I don’t mean acquired genetically. Acquired through conscious cultivation or learning.
Or it can also be unconscious association also. I just see some people and I associate with them and I get their tendencies. Why are the aquatics put in lower consciousness? There are two reasons primarily.
Firstly, in general, this sort of classification is not primarily by physical characteristics. It is by the level of consciousness. And generally, all the efforts for self-realisation and all the facilities for self-realisation happen on the land.
So, the aquatics live further away from the arena of self-realisation. And that’s why even incidental ajnana chukruti is less likely for aquatics than it is for even plants. When Haridas Thakur and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu are discussing as revealed in Audipa Mahatmyam, they all say… So, he says that the trees are echoing the holy names.
The puritan is happening, the trees are hearing and they are echoing it. So, even the trees get to hear the holy name. They get to form the ajnana chukruti.
But the aquatics don’t get that. So, this is from the proximity of the facility for self-realisation. So, aquatics are further away.
That’s the first point. Second point is related. Generally, the aquatics… Actually, when we have this classification, it is not necessarily watertight.
In the sense that… When we talk about this classification, when you have plants, animals, when you have plants, trees, animals, reptiles, birds, humans, like that. So now, whenever there is any typology there, this is called taxonomy, science of classification. So, in taxonomy, there will always be marginal cases.
Marginal cases means that certain birds may have scales, but they may not have beaks. Certain birds may not have feathers and they may have some other characteristics of reptiles. That also creates evolutionary enigmas and evolutionary theories.
But the point is that this taxonomy is not always watertight. That’s why we have to be… So, it’s not necessary that all aquatics will have a lower level of consciousness as compared to all other plants or all other species. But the level of consciousness within one particular member of a species may vary depending on the nature of that species.
It’s like some humans may have a level of consciousness lower than animals. So, like that, there are some, for example, they may have whales or dolphins. Their consciousness seems to be quite evolved.
It’s almost like human consciousness. So, this taxonomy, there are always borderline cases where things may vary. So, when we say aquatics are lower, that doesn’t necessarily mean that all aquatics are lower.
It is a generic thing, but specific cases may vary. This is a generic facility for self-healing. Now, gunavartante evam yo atishthati nengate gunavartantam Everyone understand that this is all affected by the modes.
gunavartante evam yo atishthati nengate So, atishthati, one is situated, nengate, one is not shaken. This is how Krishna says that if one is very psychologically observant, then one can understand that one can distance oneself from one’s thoughts. So, this has been a subject of a lot of psychological study and the concept of modes has not really been studied by the mainstream academic community till now.
But this can open new vistas in psychological understanding. So, essentially, whatever happens externally for us, we have three freedoms. Yeah.
So, the question is that if fish have lower consciousness, then they can be killed and eaten. Can they? That is one reason that certain people within the Vedic culture, when they eat meat, that’s one of the reasons that they kill for eating fish. They don’t eat meat, but they eat fish.
So, the understanding here is twofold. First is that we don’t necessarily use, we don’t necessarily extrapolate from one hierarchy to another. See, for example, Prabhupada asked this question that a cow is dear to Krishna and cow’s stool is sacred.
So, brahmana is also dear to Krishna. So, is brahmana’s stool also sacred? So, Prabhupada said don’t speculate. So, the point is that every taxonomy has a particular purpose and you cannot extrapolate from one taxonomy to another.
Similarly, there are many examples of how extrapolation from one taxonomy to another can lead to absurdities. I can’t think of any immediately, but the first point is this that you cannot extrapolate from one taxonomy to another. There are principles which are there in every kind of action and those are what have to be chosen.
So, from the scriptural point of view, fish eating is not recommended. The antajas and lekshas, they do that. But it is a tradition within those who are practising sattvaguni religion that they don’t eat fish.
So, now within the Vedic culture, people used to eat meat. It is not that meat eaters were unheard of. But what is given is not this Vedic culture, it is the best of Vedic culture.
It is basically the sattvaguni aspect of Vedic culture. In Tamogana, people used to eat meat. In Tamasic worship also, fish is an ingredient that is offered to the lord.
Not to the lord, to Shiva and Kali and things like that. So, that is a rationalisation that can be made. But it is one thing to say that something is allowed in Vedic culture and it is another thing to say that that is a standard in Vedic culture.
They are two different things. You remember in the earlier classes, I discussed about the difference between a recommendation and a concession. Concession is what you want to do, I allow it.
Recommendation is what is good for you, I tell you to eat. So, those who want to eat fish, there is allowance for that within Vedic culture. In Tamagodi formula for here, meat eating is, see the four regulatory principles are primarily for those who want to worship in the mode of goodness.
In the mode of ignorance, meat eating is allowed. Yeah, of course, of course, of course, that is implied. That is implied.
See, there is, whenever we talk about any form of worship, there are rules and regulations. And there are rules and rituals and accordingly they bring about some regulation. So, generally speaking, the fisherman community, there was a fisherman community, just like there was a cobbler community in Vedic culture, there was a fisherman community also.
And they would do that, but they would not be considered a part of mainstream Vedic culture. That would be even lower than Shudra, generally speaking. They would be like almost on the borderlines of an ashram, below Shudras.
So, now, we are talking about these, all of us, you know this, if we try to become the observers of our consciousness, then basically there are three freedoms which can never be taken away from us. All of us have three inalienable freedoms. That means whatever happens to us, now somebody may be put in a torture chamber, somebody may be put in a concentration camp, somebody may be put wherever, nobody can control what we think about.
What we think about, that is something which is, we are always free. Second is, how we look at our situation. We are also free in this.
Now, I may get a terrible disease, and I may think this is so unjust, this is so unfair, I have been singled out and I can become miserable. Or I can take that as an opportunity to go deeper in my spiritual life. How I look at my situation.
And third is, how we respond to the situation. Respond means act. How we respond to the situation.
So, these three are our freedoms which nobody can take away. So, there was a German Jewish psychologist, Viktor Frankl, he has written a book called Man’s Search for Meaning. It is considered to be one of the best books of the 20th century.
This Viktor Frankl was a Jew and he was arrested during the Nazi control of Germany. And he was taken to the Auschwitz concentration camps. And life was extremely miserable.
Almost every day they would make a random queue of people, left, right, left, right, they would randomly sit. Anybody who would say fall on left, they would just be taken to the gas chambers, and they would be burned. I mean, they would just be gassed, and many of them, they would not even be buried.
They would just be sort of put in an oven where they would just be reduced to steam. And who would be like that, they wouldn’t know. And they would not get proper food to eat, and the living conditions were terrible.
And then, so, he writes how he survived in there. He says, at that time when I was under total captivity, that was the time when I realised that I observed people around me. So, because there were so many prisoners, so many of these Jews were taking prisoners.
So, when the Jews had to be fed also, so, at that time, they would hire, they would ask some of the Jews only, you only feed your other Jews. So, they would have some sort of soup with some vegetable scoops in it. So, he said that when they would be serving, his fellow Jews would be serving, he said, that I observed that there were different kinds of people.
Some people, when they would be serving, they would actually just give the liquid to others. So that when they would be eating, they will get all the solids. So, they will get better to eat, and they will nourish themselves.
And some others, all of them were prisoners, all of them were having the same misery and uncertainty about their future. Some others, they would just mix it fully, and they would get equally. Others would also get some liquid and some solids, and they themselves would get some liquid and some solids.
There is a third category of people, even on the prisoners, they would actually serve the solids to others and keep the liquid for themselves. They are selfless at that time. So, he said, when I observed this, it struck me that even in such a situation, we always have freedom.
They don’t have the freedom to have a career or have a good life, but there are core values which human beings have, and these cannot be changed. These can be exhibited even in such a situation. And somehow he survived, and then he was released, and afterwards he wrote this book, and basically his idea was that we have these three freedoms.
Viktor Frankl, man’s search for meaning. So, he gave these three points, but what I am going to talk about here is how we may understand this in principle, but to apply it in practise, Krishna consciousness empowers us internally. Because I may decide I have other things to, I can think about anything, but how practical is it if I am attached to my body and my conceptions, if I am just in a miserable cram in a hospital where I have become crippled or paralysed or otherwise incapacitated, if I have not really developed the life of the mind, I mean, I have not really developed my mental life, then my thoughts will again and again come back to my situation, and I will feel miserable.
But even if I want to think of something else, it is Krishna consciousness that provides us the ultimately satisfactory object for thought. The biggest problem in life is not the shortage of money or food or clothing, that is a problem. But ultimately what all of us need is a satisfying object of thought.
If we have a satisfying object of thought, then we can stay so free. And in modern society there is nothing that is satisfying to think about. Whatever we think about is agitated.
So, when Krishna is telling us manmana bhava mad-bhakto, he is actually opening the whole, Krishna consciousness itself opens a whole new universe of thought for us. There is so much to think about in Krishna consciousness. So, first of all, we may understand that I have freedom, I don’t have to think about my situation.
But if I don’t know something ideal to think about, I just come back again and again to the same situation. And secondly, how we look at our situation. The Vedic philosophy helps us through the knowledge of the law of karma to understand that whatever happens is not really unjust.
I must have done something because of which it has come upon me. And okay, whatever has happened, the reaction is coming, let me tolerate it. Otherwise, you know the question, why? It just cripples a person completely.
Why me? Why this? Why now? The three questions. Why me? Why did this happen to me only? Okay, problem, why this? Some other problem could have come. Problems could have come, but why now? So, why me? Why this? Why now? This why, why question makes people whine.
You know, whine means complain. And it just saps away their mental energy. But in Krishna consciousness, actually the understanding of the law of karma and beyond that, the understanding that Krishna is always there with us, no matter whatever happens, that just frees us from this problem.
And that’s why we can look at our situation, not from the perspective of resentment or injustice, but we can see it, okay, this is an opportunity for me to deepen my situation. And then, how do we respond to the situation? That also, we can get guidance from scripture and we have models from scripture. When we look at Prahlad Maharaj, you know, he was so persecuted, but the way he responded was so exemplary.
So, we have models and we have guidelines by which we can respond in an exemplary way to the situation. So, actually, developing the life of the mind, life of the mind doesn’t mean the mind, I’m not talking in terms of the way we use the word mind, I’m talking about the inner life. By developing that, we can actually gain access to these freedoms which most people never access.
And that’s why devotees can be in a physically troublesome situation, but still they can be having rich and satisfying lives. And materialistic people, you know, for example, if a person is very addicted to something, let’s say a person is addicted to alcohol, or to drugs, or a person is just addicted to sex, then the person is constantly thinking about that, thinking about that, thinking about that, and what happens by that? The person has very little mental freedom. So, again and again, the thought goes to that, and Prabhupada writes in 17.16, he’s talking about the austerity of the mind.
So, there he says that the manaprasada saumyatvam, manaprasada, satisfaction, is one of the austerity of the mind. And Prabhupada says, the more we think of the sense objects, the more we become dissatisfied. Satisfaction comes by not thinking of the sense objects.
And there he uses an alternative. The Puranas contain many satisfying stories about the past, about the Supreme Lord. So, when we think about those past times, then we can gain satisfaction and avoid contemplation of the dissatisfaction in using sense objects.
So, addiction is a thing which really shrinks people’s inner independence and makes them completely bound. So, what Krishna is talking about in these verses is tapping our inner freedom by becoming observers of our consciousness. Then, if somebody has become like this or not, how will we know? By observing the external behaviour.
How do we know if somebody is internally equipoised? We can only see the externals. We see externals, samadukha, sukha, swastha, samaloshita, ashmak, anjana. So, sukha, dukha is equal.
How is it equal? Swastha is situated in the self and happens in distress and then samaloshita, ashmak, anjana. Gold and stone are equal to such a person. It’s really honour, dishonour, what is dear and not dear, what is pleasant and unpleasant.
Now, is there any difference between ninda and stuti and maan and apman? They seem to be similar. They are, the focus is different. So, ninda and stuti is how others behave.
Maan and apman is what I perceive. Ninda and stuti is what somebody speaks. He is criticising me.
So, when somebody criticises, people say it’s almost natural that I will feel dishonoured. And when somebody praises, I will feel honoured. But it’s not necessarily like that.
Somebody may speak some glorification in a sarcastic way. And that may be meant to insult me. The whole genre of satirising is there.
Satire. So, somebody may speak criticism in a way that is actually meant to educate and illuminate. And as somebody may criticise, you know, there are some people who correct us.
But because we know that they love us, so we don’t feel disgraced or angered by their corrections. We feel educated and uplifted by that. Yeah.
Correct. Nityanand Rao, when he kicked Sivanand Sen, his wife was very disturbed. Sivanand Sen considered it to be a mercy.
So, similarly, I think Srikanth Sen also couldn’t. Srikanth Sen only, he also couldn’t understand Nityanand Rao’s behaviour. So, that’s true.
So, ninda and stuti is whether people are praising me or criticising me, person is equally poised. And whether a person is honoured or dishonoured, it’s not that the person is blind to that. The person is aware of that, but the person doesn’t get carried away by that.
So, ninda, atma, samstuti and then maana, vamana. And then he says, tulya mitraari pakshayo. So, friends and enemies, the person becomes equal.
And sarvarambha parityagi. So, all material endeavours, the person gives up. So, sarvarambha parityagi had come also in the 12th chapter, in the characteristics of a devotee.
Gunaati, the first, a person is transcendental to the most. Then he will describe the process by which one can become transcendental. maam chayogya vichare na maam chayogya vichare na bhakti yoge na sevate sagunan samteet yaitan sagunan samteet yaitan brahmabhuyaya kalpate brahmabhuyaya kalpate So, remember I mentioned earlier the difference between vyabhicari bhakti and ahaituki bhakti.
What is the difference? Undistracted and uninterrupted or undistracted and unmotivated. So, again Krishna tells over here avyabhicari bhakti. So, now this seems to be a little self-contradictory or self-defeating because Krishna is telling by practising unbreakable devotional service, you will go beyond the modes.
But actually it is the modes that break our devotional service. Isn’t it? When I get affected by passion or I get affected by ignorance, then I can’t practise devotional service. I want to chant Hare Krishna nicely and the mode of ignorance just puts me off to sleep.
That creates a break in my devotional service. So, it seems that Krishna is telling that which is the goal is the path. Isn’t it? Actually, when we transit the modes then we will come to unbreakable devotional service.
Till we are under the influence of the modes, we will have breaks in our devotional service because of the modes. Then how can we practise unbreakable devotional service so that we can go beyond the modes. So, there is a philosophical answer to this and there is a devotional answer to this.
So, I will first tell the devotional answer then I will go to the philosophical answer. The devotional answer our Acharya described is that actually this avyabhicari bhakti comes not just by gyana, by analysis. Okay, this is the mode of passion coming along.
This is the mode of ignorance coming along. I will not get influenced. He says this avyabhicari bhakti comes by the service attitude towards the spiritual master because when one feels I respect and love my spiritual master and I cannot displease him and if I do so and so, it will displease him.
So, what makes our devotional service unbreakable is not our expertise at philosophical analysis. What makes our devotional service unbreakable is our dedication to the service of the spiritual master. So, when we understand that there is a relationship and I have made certain commitments to my spiritual master and I cannot break those commitments no matter what happens.
And that sense of commitment enables us to stick despite the influence of ignorance. And actually when there is a sense of commitment, we see that people fight back the lower modes. Even materialists are also not, they are much more subjected to the mode than we are.
But they are also not entirely slaves. They can choose between passion, ignorance or goodness. So, a student, when the student is trying to study for the exam, at that time the student is so tired and I just don’t want to study.
I don’t care whether I get good marks or not, I am not going to study. I am just fed up with the whole thing. I want to watch a cricket match, I want to go to Mumbai, I want to enjoy.
But then the student may think no, actually my parents have spent so much for my studies and they are expecting so much from me and therefore, they have worked so hard for my education, let me study. So, that sense of commitment to a relationship compels the student to say, no, let me study. Similarly, in family life, you know, actually when a husband is there taking care of the family, the husband is giving us so much trouble over in the family life.
But then they think, I have my children, I have my wife, I have to take care of them. And that sense of commitment, that sense of relationship, a person may get frustrated because of passion or ignorance, but people overcome that by a sense of commitment. To some extent, relationships are extremely important in curbing our impulses, even in material life.
In general, it has been found that people who fall prey to addictions are generally the people who have not developed good relationships or people who have suffered frustrations in their relationships. Why? Because when there is no satisfaction that comes from relationships, then one wants satisfaction that comes just from sensations, physical sensations, eating something, rubbing something against the body, gulping something down, taking some drugs, drinking something. So, these sensations are largely induced by the moods.
So, even material relationships can help a person to some extent in fighting the influence of the moods. And what to speak of spiritual relationships. So, that’s why to the extent we are strongly connected with the community of devotees and with some devotees at least with whom we can inspire.
And then that enables us to resist the pull of the moods. That’s why attachment to the spiritual master or attachment to senior Vaishnavas is very auspicious. What does the third canto Kapila’s teaching say? So, prasangam ajaram pasham.
Pasha is noose or bondage. So, it says that the bondage to the matter is ajaram. Jara means what? Old age.
So, ajaram means that the attachment to material things never grows old. It’s ajaram. Our body grows old, but our attachments don’t grow old.
In fact, the older the attachments grow, the stronger they become in age. They don’t become weaker. So, prasangam ajaram pasham.
A person with addiction for a long time, it keeps getting stronger and stronger. Atmana kavayo viduh. The wise people know that it is very difficult to give up ajaram, but sa eva sadhu shuddhu.
When the same attachment is directed towards the sadhus, then moksha-dvara-vapavratam. The doors to liberation open. So, how we practise abhichari bhakti as bhaktas is by the commitment to our relationship with devotees, with the spiritual master and his representatives.
Now, at the jnani level where Krishna is talking about over here, he talks about one has to actually become very expert in philosophical analysis. And, you know, to transcend the modes, we basically need two things. 26, 27.
So, we need conviction and commitment. So, actually conviction taps our intellectual side. And commitment taps our emotional side.
And that’s how you know, you have this verse which Krishna says mayi arpita mano buddhir. Repeatedly Krishna talks about it. So, basically conviction means yes, actually there is no happiness in material existence.
But sometimes when we hear some very solid philosophical points which illuminate us, we feel convinced. This analysis was so good, now I am really convinced. In Japanese it is translated as Then, the desire itself may not go away, but at least we get the commitment to fight, we get the determination to fight the desire.
No, I am not going to circumvent this because there is nothing over there. So, that conviction comes by hearing and studying. When we hear and study the philosophy of Krishnamoji, we get the conviction.
And that’s important because that and actually this is just the influence of the modes. Let me not get into it. But, that conviction alone is not enough.
Because although I may understand that there is nothing in it, but still my emotions keep dragging me along. So, we need to tap both these aspects. In the inner life, there is the intellectual aspect and the emotional aspect.
And both need to be taken care of. If we take care of only one side and neglect the other, then we will become unbalanced. For example, if somebody says Bhakti is just about offering their heart to Krishna.
I will be happy when I serve Krishna. I will do that. I don’t get into all these philosophies.
What else? Chetan Chardhan would say So, he says Don’t be lazy about a Siddhanta because by that by this you will be able to fix your mind. You will become determined. So, conviction is important.
At the same time, conviction alone is not enough. Because ultimately, the goal of spiritual life is to develop relationships. The relationship with Krishna.
So, the relationship is essentially about commitments. There cannot be any relationship without commitments. No relationship which is a serious relationship is possible without commitments.
So, the commitments may be formal or informal. Informal means that when a mother gives birth to a child there is no official vow or formal function that I will take care of this child. But just the blood relationship, the mother takes care of the child.
And if the mother doesn’t take care, then the relationship will not be there. When a man and woman get married, then there is a formal commitment that we will be faithful to each other. We will take care of each other.
Similarly, when there is initiation, there is a relationship between the spiritual master and the disciple, then actually it’s a mutual commitment. The disciple says that I will follow the instructions of the spiritual master and the spiritual master says that I will take care of the disciple. So, in this way, actually bhakti taps both these.
So, here when Krishna is talking about avyapacharini bhakti, for the jnanis, they have only this one side. Conviction. By conviction, I will not succumb to the modes.
But bhakti enables us to get the second aspect also. The commitment aspect also. And by that we can become more fixed in our devotional life.
So, generally, we, if we find that our inner determination, inner resolve in the practise of Krishna consciousness is lacking, it’s usually because of one of these two things. Either we have not studied the philosophy very, we are not studying the philosophy seriously and that’s why our convictions have become wishy-washy. We have become fuzzy in our thinking.
Or we have become very impersonal and we are not really having satisfying interactions with devotees. Then what happens is our heart becomes a little hard. And then we can’t focus.
We don’t feel a sense of community and a sense of warmth and a sense of richness in our life. And then again we become weak in our spirit. So, we need these both.
So, we need regular philosophical study and we need the, as we say the Shadvidha Pritilakshana Dati Pratikaranati. And by that we can say studying spiritual life. Now, because in this chapter, Krishna is primarily, this whole section is a section of Jnana.
So, in this chapter, which is building up from the 13th chapter. 13th chapter was talking about bhakti as a means for cultivation of Jnana. So, by that same thread, Krishna will talk about here that by the practise of Avyabhicari Bhakti, one will attain the Brahman platform.
Because the Jnanis are not yet interested in Bhagwan. That’s why normally you would think Avyabhicari Bhakti will take us to Goloka. It will take us to spiritual world.
But Krishna tells over here that you will come to the Brahma Bhuyaya Kalpati. You will attain the Brahman platform. That means, there is ignorance, passion, goodness.
Then there is the Brahman platform and in the Brahman platform itself, there is the spiritual world, the spiritual sky, the spiritual world. So, Krishna is telling over here that by the practise of devotional service, you will come to the Brahman platform. Now, after this, he will describe that actually this Brahman platform is supported by me.
Brahmanohi Pratishtham Pratishtham Amritasya Vyasyacha Shashvatasya Dharmasya Sukhasya Ikanti Kasyacha Sukhasya Ikanti Kasyacha So, Brahmanohi Pratishtham Pratishtha, many words in Sanskrit and English may seem similar, but the meanings are different. Like, what are the examples? Raga. Raga in Hindi or Marathi means anger, you know.
In Sanskrit, it means attachment. So, Pratishtha in vernacular languages, it means prestige or honour. But in Sanskrit, Pratishtha means support.
So, Brahmanohi Pratishtham I am the support of Brahman. So, this is the part that Sri Prabhupada quotes the most. This is a very explicit section part of a verse in a Gita or verse fragment in a Gita which says that Brahman is supported by Krishna.
Brahman is dependent on Krishna. And the further evolution of this Jnani, Krishna will talk about this in 18.54 and 18.55. 18.54 Krishna tells that Brahmabhoota prasannatvana sochiti na kankshiti samasarveshu bhuteshu madbhaktim labhate param. Krishna is telling over here actually it’s a little paradoxical again.
Krishna says by avyabhicari bhakti, you will come to Brahman platform. And there he says by coming to the Brahman platform, you will attain parabhakti. So, that parabhakti is avyabhicari bhakti.
That is, here it is unbreakable or uninterrupted devotional service. There it will be unmotivated, pure devotional service. Parabhakti.
And then Krishna says by that parabhakti bhaktyam avyayanati yavanyas chasmi tatvataha by that bhakti you will know me and you will fall in love with me. So, that Krishna talks later. So, here he is not, in this whole chapter he is not talking about himself as the goal of spiritual life.
Just as in the first six chapters Krishna doesn’t talk about himself as the goal of spiritual life directly. There is a flow of thought that is going. Similarly, in this section also there is a flow of thought that is going.
In the Jnana section. So, what will happen? First he tells what are the characteristics of Brahman. Brahmanohi patishtaha.
And amrutasya veyasya cha. So, this is amruta, this is immortal, avyaya, it is imperishable. Shashvatah, dharma.
So, now these are all characteristics of the Brahman. And now one characteristic seems a little puzzling. Sukhasya ikantika satya.
Ikantika means ultimate. So, is the Brahman the platform of the ultimate happiness? Sukhasya ikantika satya. Actually, at the jnani level, the Brahman happiness is the highest happiness.
So, the word Brahman, it doesn’t necessarily always have to refer to Brahmajyoti only. There is a Brahman platform. And the word Brahman, you could translate it generally to the spiritual level.
So, there is a spiritual sky, there are spiritual planets. On the spiritual planets, there is spiritual happiness. The word spiritual is common for everyone.
So, sukhasya ikantika satya means that at the Brahman platform one experiences the ultimate happiness. But one has to do something at the Brahman platform. It’s just like, a person works very hard, a person is a copper.
And by working very hard, the person becomes a millionaire. Now, the person has become a millionaire, it’s valid. But if he wants to enjoy, then he has to act like a millionaire.
If he just keeps all his millions of dollars in a safe, and he continues to live like a popper, then he is not enjoying being a millionaire. So, you know, being a popper is like being a materialistic person, being in material consciousness, where one is constantly craving, craving, craving for things. Coming to the Brahman platform means realising that I am spiritual, I am Atma.
But actually, just knowing that I am the Atma is not enough, I have to act at the level of the Atma. Acting at the level of the Atma means serving Krishna. That is action at the spiritual level, that is life of the soul proper.
And when one practises that life, then there is sukhasya ikantika satya. The sukhasya, the Brahman platform is like the launching pad. It itself is not the destination for where one gets highest happiness.
It is a launching pad where one will eventually get the highest happiness. Sukhasya ikantika satya. So, naturally Prabhupada explains from the… from the… Rasamyevayam ladvanandibhavati.
This is what he called it. Actually, the Brahman is founded in Krishna who is rasaraj, who is filled with rasa. And that is the supreme person.
At the end of this chapter, Krishna has told that by the practise of bhakti, one will transcend the modes. So, after describing the modes, in the next chapter, he will describe the tree of material existence by which the soul gets bound. So, we will discuss that in our tomorrow’s class.
Thank you very much. It is for… Brahman platform is the launching pad for going into the spiritual planets and performing devotional service. So, Brahman platform is like becoming a millionaire.
And practising devotional service is like acting like a millionaire. That’s when one experiences happiness. Yeah, so devotional is… Philosophical is only that you focus on convictions.
How does one practise conviction? By convictions. But in devotional, the convictions are important, but the even more important thing is the commitment, the relationship. Thank you.